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By India Today Web Desk: BJP president Amit Shah today claimed former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited more countries than his successor Narendra Modi, but the perception grew otherwise because the former's visits were not covered by media as much as Modi's.

"Our opponents make an issue of PM Modi's foreign visits but as per figures, Manmohan Singhji visited more countries than Modiji. The number of PM Modi's foreign visits appear higher because when Manmohan Singhji used to go, no one got to know when he went or came back," Shah said.

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Shah's claims may have some truth in them. Most of Modi's foreign trips have been marked by a wooing of diaspora and non-resident Indians abroad, and a high-decibel media coverage.

According to the list provided by the government, Modi has - in the three years of his tenure since assuming office in May 2014 - already visited 56 countries, including four so far to the US, and Nepal, Japan, Russia, Afghanistan and China two times each.

On the other hand, Manmohan Singh spent 144 days in foreign visits and visited 35 countries during his first term. In his second term, he spent 161 days in foreign visits and visited 38 countries, according to the data provided by IndiaSpend.

BJP veteran AB Vajpayee, during his entire tenure as the prime minister of the first NDA government during 1999 to 2004, had made 19 trips to 26 countries.

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Watch the video here: India Today Rocks 2017: Congress mukt bharat for a good bharat, says BJP MP Poonam Mahajan

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Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 3

The government tonight notified the 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) with revised emoluments for the three armed forces, while addressing a few core anomalies and leaving out some for resolution later on.

The pending ones include non-functional upgrade (NFU), a kind of pay increase without promotion as given to civilian employees. Also on the pending list is higher military service pay (MSP) for junior commissioned officers (JCOs). They rise from the lower ranks (jawans). The 7th CPC has clubbed the MSP of JCOs and jawans at Rs 5,200. The demand is to have it at Rs 10,000 for the JCOs.

Announcing the changes, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said the issue of NFU was sub judice but added three of the demands had been accepted.

Jaitley listed these saying the pay matrix had been extended from 24 to 40 stages (allowing the pay scale to grow); the index of rationalisation of pay for Lieutenant Colonels and Colonels will be fixed at a ratio of 2.67 instead of 2.57; and pay protection for Major Generals, who on getting promoted from the rank of Brigadier used to see their pay getting reduced.

The Cabinet also approved the retention of percentage-based regime of disability pension implemented post 6th CPC, which the 7th CPC had recommended to be replaced by a slab-based system.

A slab-based system would have resulted in reduction in the amount of disability pension for existing pensioners and a reduction in the amount for future retirees. The benefit of the proposed modifications will be available with effect from January 1, 2016, that is the date of implementation of the 7th CPC recommendations.

The CPC for the forces had been held in abeyance since August when the Chiefs of the three armed services  Army, IAF and Navy  collectively wrote to the PM seeking redress.

Pension revision formulation

The Cabinet has approved changes to the method of revision of pension of pre-2016 pensioners and family pensioners based on suggestions made by the committee chaired by Secretary (Pensions) constituted with the approval of the Cabinet. The modified formulation of pension revision approved by the Cabinet will entail an additional benefit to the pensioners and an additional expenditure of Rs 5,031 crore for 2016-17 over and above the expenditure already incurred in revision of pension as per the second formulation based on fitment factor.
Patna, May 4

With alcohol out of bounds for people in Bihar, rodent denizens of police stations are on a binge defying the ban and guzzling down seized liquor as the role of the police too came under a cloud.

With the rats running riot and the men in uniform not above suspicion, policemen in police stations would now be subjected to random breath analyser test to check whether they too had a swig or two of the confiscated booty, Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj told PTI today.

Maharaj who met new Patna range Deputy Inspector General of Police Rajesh Kumar said the police would approach courts to seek permission for destroying the heap of alcohol bottles kept in police stores at small intervals.

Regular audit of "malkhana" (store room in police station) is another remedy thought to check any misuse of the stocked liquor, Maharaj said.

Meanwhile, the state police headquarters has ordered a probe into the incident.

"We have asked Patna zonal IG to inquire into the matter. Based on his findings, the state police headquarters would initiate further action," Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters) S K Singhal told PTI today.

The fact that rodents were making merry in the dungeons came to light following media reports that they had overrun the 'Malkhana' (store) of the police stations and had guzzled down a large amount of the more than 9 lakh litres of alcohbol seized by the police.

Media reports said that in the last 13 months, a whopping 9.15 lakh litres of alcohol, domestic as well Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), have been seized in Bihar following the ban.

It emerged at the recent crime meeting of the state police that while a major portion of the seized liquor got destroyed on way to police stations, an equally large amount was consumed by rodents in the store of the police stations.

Meanwhile, the police arrested President of Bihar Police Men's Association on charge of consuming liquor.

Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj said that a police team arrested Police Association President Nirmal Singh and a member of the Association Shamsher Singh today from police line for consuming liquor.

The two were produced in the court of Judge of Special Excise Court Ravindra Nath Tripathi and have been remanded in judicial custody till May 18.

The two have been taken to Beur jail under new Excise Act 2016 on the basis of the court order.

The Nitish Kumar government clamped total prohibition in Bihar since April last year. In order to enforce the liquor ban, a special drive has been launched by the police as well Excise department across the state.  PTI
Mumbai, May 4

The UP Anti-Terrorism Squad in a joint exercise with Maharashtra Police carried out overnight raids and nabbed a suspected ISI operative in Mumbai, who was part of an espionage racket linked to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.

Three ISI suspects have been arrested since Wednesday as the UP ATS launched a massive crackdown to smash the espionage racket.

Related story: UP ATS arrests suspected ISI agent from Faizabad

Acting on leads provided by ISI suspect Aftab Ali, arrested from Faizabad, 120 km from here, the UP ATS picked up Altaf Qureshi late on Wednesday from Masjid Bunder area in south Mumbai and Javed Iqbal from Yusuf Manzil building at Agreepada this morning, IG UP-ATS Aseem Arun said in Lucknow.

He said the trio was involved in an espionage racket, with Aftab, believed to have been trained by Pakistan's spy agency ISI, maintaining constant touch with officials in the Pakistan High Commission.

Hinting that officials of Pakistan High Commission were in direct touch with the ISI agent, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Aditya Mishra said, "One of the officials of Pakistan High Commission Meharban Ali was in touch with the agents."

Ali asked them to gather information about army movements and military installations in and around Lucknow and Faizabad.

Subsequently, Ali was expelled from India along with eight other embassy officials of different countries.

Ali had promised Aftab that he would arrange a visa for him.

"But, after Ali left India, he was replaced by another handler," Mishra said at a media briefing here.

When asked whether the new handler is attached with the Pakistan High Commission, he said, "This aspect is also being looked into".

"Some of the relatives of Aftab are living in Pakistan, and he wanted to meet them. His visa was rejected three times.

In the fourth attempt, his visa was approved, and it was during this time that he was actually indoctrinated.

"Aftab went to Pakistan for first time on May 1, 2014. He went to Lahore via Wagah border and stayed in Karachi's Green Town. There he came in touch with ISI agent and was imparted training. Aftab returned to India on June 28, 2016, and was constantly in touch with officials of Pakistan High Commission," the ADG said.

He said the army intelligence played a key role in busting the ISI activities.

"Some of the information which Aftab had passed to his Pakistan handlers included posting of different battalions of army in Lucknow and Faizabad, military installations and Army platoons in Amritsar," he said.

On whether any woman was used as "honey trap", Mishra said: "We do not have any information in this regard. We have photographs and call details as evidence".

Pictures of the cantonment area in Faizabad have been recovered from Aftab's mobile phone and more clues are likely to be found through his mobile chats, he said.

Following Aftab's interrogation, Qureshi, a hawala operator who also allegedly worked for ISI was held in Mumbai, while Iqbal, the third suspect, is an aide of Qureshi, IG-ATS Arun said.

Qureshi had allegedly deposited money in the bank account of Aftab for carrying out espionage activities.

ATS officials seized a cell phone and Rs 71.57 lakh in cash from the house of Qureshi, who was in hawala business at the behest of one Jawed Naviwala, the officer said.

During the duo's interrogation, it was found that Javed used to get instructions from Pakistan and at his behest Qureshi often deposited money in Aftab's bank account, he said.

Police were questioning Qureshi to know on whose directive he had deposited the money in Aftab's account.

Javed was in constant touch with ISI officials in the neighbouring country, he said.

During their interrogation, names of some more persons cropped up, the official said, adding more arrests are likely.

Aftab, booked under the Official Secrets Act, had allegedly passed on information about Indian Army's movements to officers posted at Pakistan High Commission and also to ISI, the official claimed.

He had allegedly provided information about the army's movements and units in Faizabad, Lucknow and Amritsar, he said.

Aftab is a resident of Khwaspura area of Faizabad, Arun said.

The ATS was continuously getting reports about military information being leaked to intelligence officials in the Pakistani High Commission and ISI and the agency was working on it through electronic surveillance.

The ATS got cracking after Uttar Pradesh Police recently issued a warning of a possible terror attack in the state by ISI-trained terrorists.

"The group, allegedly trained by Pakistan's ISI, has reportedly been asked to target Ayodhya, Varanasi, Vrindavan, and the Taj Mahal in Agra," UP police said.

Acting on intelligence inputs, security was upgraded at several religious places  including Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura  and also at vital installations, including airports, bus and railway stations.

Central intelligence agencies have been sharing inputs with the UP Police since February about increased activity of terrorists in the state.

A Khurasan module was unearthed after Saifullah's death in March. Recently, some self-radicalised youths were also arrested by the UP Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).  PTI
New Delhi, May 4

The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought the CBI's response on a bail plea of a convict serving life term in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gital Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra issued notice to the agency on former Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar's plea seeking two-month bail to look after his wife, who has to undergo operation on May 15.

Khokhar, who is aged, has urged the court to release him on bail to look after his wife after she undergoes the operation at a city hospital.

To this, the Bench asked CBI to verify the convict's contention and file a report by May 11, the next date of hearing in the matter. It also directed the Tihar Jail authorities to place before it the nominal rolls with regard to Khokhar.

Khokhar, a retired naval officer Captain Bhagmal, Girdhari Lal and two others were held guilty in a case relating to the murder of five members of a family in Raj Nagar area of Delhi Cantonment on November 1, 1984, after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

They had challenged their conviction and the award of life sentence by the trial court in May 2013.

The trial court had acquitted Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in the case but awarded life term to Khokhar, Bhagmal and Girdhari Lal and awarded three-year jail term to two others  former MLA Mahender Yadav and Kishan Khokhar.

The convicts have filed their appeals before the High Court while CBI has also filed an appeal, alleging they were engaged in "a planned communal riot" and "religious cleansing".

The agency has also appealed against acquittal of Kumar.

The high court had on March 29 also issued show cause notices to 11 accused, including Khokhar and Yadav, in five 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases. The accused, who were acquitted of the charges, were asked why the court should not order reinvestigation and retrial against them as they faced allegations of "horrifying crimes against humanity".

The Bench had issued notices on the complaints filed regarding rioting incidents on November 1 and 2, 1984 in Delhi Cantonment area.

It had asked the police to produce the complainants in the cases, along with the status of the accused, who were acquitted by the trial court in all the cases.  PTI
Sarbjit Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 4

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is set for an organisational shake-up in the state. Sources said party convener Arvind Kejriwal would meet AAP MLAs in New Delhi on May 8 to discuss the restructuring of the state unit. The sources said Kejriwal would hold one-on-one meetings with the legislators, besides seeking their collective opinion on party matters.

For the past two days, Kejriwal and other senior leaders have been holding meetings to tackle the growing resentment at various levels in the party, especially in Punjab.

Recently, AAP MP Bhagwant Mann had said the party failed to come to power in the state due to a historical blunder by certain top leaders.

Sources said today that Mann held a meeting with Kejriwal on the revamp of the state unit. Instead of the convener, the party would appoint the state president. Mann is said to be one of the main contenders for this post, besides Sukhpal Khaira. Currently, Gurpreet Singh Waraich is the state AAP convener. Sources said the opinion of the 20 MLAs would matter the most in the appointment of the new state chief.

The AAP high command wants to act fast because the MC elections are due in June-July, while the Gurdaspur bypoll is expected to be held in August.

State unit taking own decisions: Phoolka

Patiala: Leader of Opposition HS Phoolka said the state AAP was now taking all Punjab-related decisions on its own and there was no interference from the Delhi leadership. He claimed that there was no internal bickering in the party and they were gearing up to contest the MC elections. TNS
Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Malout, May 3

A day after the Patiala robbery, six armed men today looted Rs 10.27 lakh and gold from a bank at Sarawan Bodla village in Muktsars Lambi Assembly constituency. Notorious gangster and Nabha jaibreak mastermind Vicky Gounder belongs to this village.

Eyewitnesses said the robbers came on three motorcycles, wearing sunglasses and their faces covered with a cloth. At 2.40 pm, five of them entered the SBI village branch. Some of them carried .12 bore rifles. The sixth attacker stood guard at the door.

They kept the bank staff in detention, snatched their cellphones and disconnected the landline phone even as two customers, too petrified to move, looked on helplessly. The robbers took away the digital video recorder (DVR). The bank, which also has an ATM vend, doesnt have a security guard. Its alarm system was not working. Three of its six employees were on leave. Though the bank branch is not allowed to keep more than Rs 5 lakh, yet double that amount was released by the main branch today. Curiously, the cash van had arrived about 40 minutes before the robbery. Senior officers, including the DIG, Bathinda Range, Ashish Chaudhary, Muktsar SSP Sushil Kumar and Malout SDM Vishesh Sarangal, rushed to the crime site. A forensic team arrived there

too. I was inside the bank when the robbers struck. They asked us to turn our faces towards the wall, demanded keys from the bank staff, collected the money and left. It all took about 15 minutes, said Labh Singh. The SSP said the police were scanning the ATM vend's CCTV footage for clues.

It seems, the bank had been exempted from deploying a security guard. It was to make a payment of Rs 5 lakh today. Hence, cash had been released to the bank in excess of the Rs 5 lakh limit, the SDM said.

No clue on Banur robbery

The police have yet to make a breakthrough in the Rs 1.33 crore robbery that took place on the Banur highway on Tuesday.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 4

The Punjab Government on Thursday issued the order to appoint 246 employees in the Health and Family Welfare Department.

Announcing this, Health Minister Brahm Mohindra said the Congress Government is committed to providing quality health services to the people of Punjab, hence the approval regarding appointments to these important posts.

He said 90 radiographers, 118 operation theatre assistants, 33 ECG technicians and five dental hygienists had been appointed.

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The minister said that after some far-reaching decisions that were under consideration, the functioning of the Health Department would become all the more transparent.

He said the priority is to provide health services, especially in rural areas. He said the posting of these staff at the crucial places would immensely benefit the public.

Batting for transparency in the recruitment process, the minister said the vacant positions would be displayed on screen before the newly appointed candidates to help the candidates in giving their choices for the suitable posting in the request letter.

Mohindra said the recruitment process would definitely bolster the OPD and IPD services of government hospitals.
Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 4

Britain has agreed to share information on Sikh separatist organisations operating on its soil with India, a top government official said on Thursday.

At a press briefing called on Thursday, Ministry of Home Affairs Advisor Ashok Prasad said that Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi had spoken to his UK counterpart Pasty Wilkinson about the need to rein in such organisations operating in the country.

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"Sikh militancy did come up for discussion and it was decided to step up information sharing between agencies of the countries," Prasad said, adding that the two countries agreed that there was a need to improve the general framework under which the agencies of the two countries worked.

The two also discussed extradition and deportation issues, although Prasad denied that they specifically discussed embattled India businessman Vijay Mallya, who had been arrested by the Scotland Yard last month over a criminal case of loan fraud.

Once dubbed The King of Good Times, Mallya left the country in March last year after banks decided to approach Supreme Court over Rs 9,000 crore of unpaid loans against his now-defunct company, Kingfisher Airlines.

Mallya also faces criminal charges for suspected loan fraud at IDBI bank for not paying back Rs 720 crore the bank had extended.

A special court had issued a non-bailable warrant against Mallya in January this year.  (With agencies)
People falling in 10 categories approved by the Supreme Court are set to get relief, government sources told Mail Today.

By Priyanka Sharma: The list of people exempt from standing when the national anthem plays in a cinema hall has been fine-tuned and those falling in 10 categories approved by the Supreme Court are set to get relief, government sources told Mail Today on Wednesday.

People with cerebral palsy, Parkinson's disease, muscular dystrophy, day blindness, hearing loss, autism, locomotive disability (wheelchair-bound), multiple sclerosis, as well as leprosy-cured persons and those with intellectual disability (learning disorder) will be allowed to stay seated.

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Sources say the top court has also directed the Union ministry of social justice and empowerment to prepare a final report on whether any other disabled category can be included in the list. On November 30, the SC ordered that cinema halls across the nation play the anthem before every movie screening and the audience rise out of respect.

The ruling provoked arguments between those who view it as an infringement of individual rights and others sympathetic to a surging tide of nationalism in the world's second-most populous country.

EXTEMPTION TO TEN CATEGORIES

"The ministry of home affairs is now going to issue a circular exempting these 10 disabled categories from the purview of earlier submissions," said a government official.

"There is an order from the Supreme Court to find out if any other category can be included. Accordingly, the ministry of home affairs in consultation with the ministry of social justice and empowerment is preparing a revised circular for the purpose."

Playing Jana Gana Mana in movie theatres was common in the 1960s, but the practise fell out of favour as fewer and fewer people paid attention.

The ministry of social justice and empowerment is going to submit its final view to the MHA by Friday, said sources.

"While these 10 disabled categories are finalised for exemption, the MHA will inform the high court and Supreme Court before issuing the final circular, which is likely to done by next week," said an official.

The SC ordered last year that every person must stand when the national anthem is played in a movie theatre.

"The people should stop following individual notions of freedom and have a sense of committed patriotism," the judges said.

INSTANCES OF ASSAULTS, ARRESTS FOR NOT STANDING

Following this, there were reported instances of people in cinema halls being assaulted and arrested for not standing during the anthem.

The court later passed an order excluding people with certain disabilities.

"It is a good clarification and differently-abled people do not have to undergo unnecessary sort of inconvenience and possible harassment," said activist Javed Abidi.

"We are satisfied and happy too as the Supreme Court issued these orders after a lot of clarifications and considerations with the ministry of social justice and empowerment," he added.

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NEXT HEARING ON AUGUST 23

Sources say the Centre has two weeks to revert. The next date of hearing is on August 23.

The home ministry had issued guidelines in January regarding conduct while the national anthem is played at movie theatres, which had left many differently-abled people ill at ease.

Dr Ish Anand, head of neurology at Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said, "Most of the people suffering from cerebral palsy, Parkinson's disease or any other brain disorder need wheelchairs and support for movement."

"If we are talking about standing for the national anthem in movie theaters or any other public places, then these patients are not able to stand or sit immediately," he added.

"They take longer than others to adjust themselves in a standing posture and similarly they take a while to sit comfortably. I think it is a good order by the Supreme Court to exclude differently-abled people to avoid inconveniencing them," he further said.

ALSO READ | No need to stand up for national anthem if it is part of a film: Supreme Court

ALSO READ | Disabled people need not stand for national anthem, says Supreme Court

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ALSO WATCH | Jammu University tense after ABVP activists halt sports event over national anthem

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Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 4

The Uttarakhand Government today directed private helicopter operators flying pilgrims to the Himalayan shrine of Kedarnath to restrict the flight of helicopters in the range of 600 metres when approaching the area falling between Gauri Kund and Rambara that also encloses Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary.

The directives issued by Chief Secretary S Ramaswamy are aimed at complying with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) orders that had found the noise created by helicopters unbearable for animals residing in the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary known for musk deers.

All helicopters flying in the area, including private ones, will have to comply with the directives but the restrictions will not remain while landing and take-off. These restrictions will ensure lessening of noise and smoke pollution, said S Ramawamy.

Further, the private operators have also been asked to ensure that their pilots enter the detail in the log books, in case they are forced to break the restrictions during bad weather conditions. A GPS system will also be put in place to ensure the operators to comply with the directives.

Significantly, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) had carried out a study on the impact of noise pollution created by helicopters plying in Kedarnath on the animals residing in the sanctuary.

The report by the Dehradun-based WII, an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), has recommended to the government to shift the Sersi helipad as the noise from the low flying choppers was disturbing the fauna of the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary.

In its order on December 10, 2015, the NGT had asked the state government to frame an aviation policy to check noise pollution.
Dehradun, May 4

The new District Magistrate SA Murugasen today took stock of the arrangements under way for the two-day visit of President Pranab Mukherjee beginning tomorrow.

At a meeting held today at the Police Lines, the District Magistrate held confabulations with police officials and other associated departments. A mock drill was also held to pinpoint the weak links in the arrangements under way.

Talking to district officials, the District Magistrate laid stress on coordination between the district administration and the police. The President will arrive at the Jolly Grant airport in the morning, from where he will move to Raj Bhavan and later to the FRI for the convocation. The President will fly back to New Delhi the next day. Earlier, the district officials welcomed the new District Magistrate SA Murugasen, who took charge today.  TNS
Kabul, May 4

A former warlord branded the Butcher of Kabul returned to the Afghan capital this morning, two decades after leaving the city where he is accused of carrying out war crimes.

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former prime minister, has returned to mainstream political life after his dormant Hezb- i-Islami militant group signed a peace deal with the government in September.

His convoy to the capital today, comprising several hundred vehicles, mainly pickup trucks equipped with machine guns, was greeted by hundreds of onlookers, including supporters bearing the green party flag and flowers.

A controversial figure, Hekmatyar earned his bloody nickname for laying siege to the capital while premier during the countrys 1992-1996 civil war. Hekmatyar returned to public life on Saturday at a gathering in Laghman province, two hours east of Kabul. As it progressed through the city today, his convoy was joined by hundreds of cars of supporters bearing flags over their windows, singing the national anthem or chanting Welcome to Kabul, Honourable Hekmatyar in Pashto.

He is later set to travel to the presidential palace to meet and shake hands with President Ashraf Ghani.

Hekmatyar is the latest in a series of controversial figures that Kabul has sought to reintegrate by granting judicial immunity for past crimes.

The peace agreement inked in September marked a symbolic victory for the government, which has struggled to revive peace talks with the more powerful Taliban.

But it has sparked revulsion from human rights groups and residents of the capital who survived the civil war. In the week ahead of his return, huge billboards sprang up around the city but were quickly covered in paint or mud, testament to the polarising nature of the peace deal.  AFP
Beijing, May 4

China said on Thursday it wants to be good neighbours with North Korea, after the isolated country's state news agency published a rare criticism of Chinese state media commentaries calling for tougher sanctions over the North's nuclear programme.

The United States has urged China, North Korea's only major ally, to do more to rein in its neighbour's nuclear and missile programmes, which have prompted an assertive response from the Trump administration, warning that an "era of strategic patience" is over.

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A commentary carried by North Korea's KCNA news agency referred to recent commentaries in China's People's Daily and Global Times newspapers, which it said were "widely known as media speaking for the official stand of the Chinese party and government".

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China's position was consistent and clear.

"China's position on developing friendly, good-neighbourly relations with North Korea is also consistent and clear," Geng told reporters, in response to a question about the KCNA commentary.

China was unswervingly devoted to the denuclearisation of the peninsula and maintaining peace and security and resolving the issue through talks, Geng added.

China has repeatedly said that while it is happy to help arrange talks, it is ultimately up to the United States and North Korea to sort out their differences.

Diplomats say Washington and Beijing are negotiating a possible stronger UN Security Council response, such as new sanctions - to North Korea's repeated ballistic missile launches in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.

The KCNA commentary charged that the Chinese articles had attempted to shift the blame to Pyongyang for "deteriorated relations" between China and North Korea and U.S. deployment of strategic assets to the region.

It also accused China of "hyping up" damage caused by North Korean nuclear tests to China's three northeastern provinces.

Chinese state media calls for North Korea to dismantle its nuclear programme were "a wanton violation of the independent and legitimate rights, dignity and supreme interests" of North Korea and constituted "an undisguised threat to an honest-minded neighbouring country which has a long history and tradition of friendship", KCNA said.

The United States has sent a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to Korean waters and a pair of strategic US bombers flew training drills with South Korea and Japan in another show of strength this week.

"The reckless military provocation is pushing the situation on the Korean peninsula closer to the brink of nuclear war," KCNA said on Tuesday.

Tension on the Korean peninsula has been high for weeks, driven by concern that North Korea might conduct its sixth nuclear test, also in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.

Reuters
Istanbul, May 4

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said a Moscow-backed plan to set up so-called de- escalation zones inside Syria would "50 per cent" solve the six-year conflict, in comments published on Thursday.

Erdogan on Wednesday discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin a plan floated by Moscow for "de-escalation zones" to be set up in several areas in Syria.

Speaking to Turkish reporters aboard his plane flying back from the meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Erdogan said such zones would include Idlib, part of Aleppo province, El-Rastan in Homs province, a part of Damascus and part of Daraa.

"I hope that if this is implemented then 50 per cent of the Syrian issue can be solved," he said in comments published on the websites of the Hurriyet and Yeni Safak dailies.

Details on what the de-escalation zones would comprise have been thin so far but Erdogan described the plan as a "new concept" and distinct from Ankara's previous proposals for terror-free safe zones.

Turkey and Russia have been on sharply opposing sides in the Syria conflict, with Moscow supporting President Bashar al-Assad but Ankara pushing for his ouster.

Relations reached a dangerous low in November 2015 when Turkish warplanes shot down a Russian fighter jet over the Syrian border.

But a normalisation deal was reached last year and the two sides have been working ever more closely in a joint effort to end the fighting in Syria.

Yet tensions remain, and Erdogan said he had personally shown Putin at the talks a photograph purportedly showing Russian forces in Syria with Kurdish militia that Ankara deems to be a terror group.

He said Putin promised that Russian weapons were not ending up in the hands of the Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) and vowed to investigate the picture.

Turkey and Russia have also championed peace talks taking place in the Kazakh capital Astana but these hit a snag Tuesday when pro-Ankara Syrian rebels said on Wednesday they were suspending their participation after air strikes.

But Erdogan said the issue had been solved after intervention by Turkey's powerful intelligence chief Hakan Fidan.

"Mr Hakan immediately stepped in, had discussions and the opposition were again satisfied to take part in the talks," Erdogan said. "So Astana is going to continue."  AFP
Los Angeles, May 4

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that he will be hiring 3,000 additional employees over the next year to monitor content and remove violent videos, the media reported.

"Over the last few weeks, we've seen people hurting themselves and others on Facebook, either live or in video posted later. It's heartbreaking, and I've been reflecting on how we can do better for our community," Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

"If we're going to build a safe community, we need to respond quickly. We're working to make these videos easier to report so we can take the right action sooner, whether that's responding quickly when someone needs help or taking a post down," ABC News quoted Zuckerberg's post as saying.

The new hires will join Facebook's community operations team. They will review the "millions of reports" Facebook receives each week regarding posts that may violate its terms of service, in addition to the 4,500 employees who already review posts. The move will hopefully "improve the process for doing it quickly," Zuckerberg said.

"These reviewers will also help us get better at removing things we don't allow on Facebook like hate speech and child exploitation. And we'll keep working with local community groups and law enforcement who are in the best position to help someone if they need it, either because they're about to harm themselves, or because they're in danger from someone else," he said in the Facebook post.

In addition to hiring more reviewers, Zuckerberg said Facebook will also be "building better tools to keep our community safe." "We're going to make it simpler to report problems to us, faster for our reviewers to determine which posts violate our standards and easier for them to contact law enforcement if someone needs help," he said.

"No one should be in this situation in the first place, but if they are, then we should build a safe community that gets them the help they need." The social media giant has been criticised for not doing enough to prevent videos showing violent incidents, including a murder in Cleveland, Ohio, and a killing of a baby in Thailand, from spreading on the social network, reports ABC News.

The company does not allow videos and posts that glorify violence, but this content is often only reviewed and possibly removed if users report it.

IANS
Islamabad, May 4

A 35-year-old Hindu man in Pakistan has been arrested for allegedly sending blasphemous contents through WhatsApp.

Prakash Kumar, a shop owner, was arrested on Wednesday in Hub area of Lasbela district in south-western province of Balochistan.

Senior Superintendent of Police Lasbela Zia Mandokhel confirmed the arrest after a compliant was registered by the local people against him.

"Police registered a case and started a probe after arresting the accused. The cellphone used to send alleged content was also seized," he said.

A local court has sent the suspect to jail for further interrogation in the case.

Kumar owns a shop in Hub where local people also organised a rally in protest against him. The protesters staged a demonstration outside a police station in Hub, demanding the closure of the shop owned by Prakash.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Lasbela Jan Mohammad Khosa and other officials were injured as the protesters hurled stones at them during the demonstration, The Express Tribune reported.

The controversial blasphemy laws were introduced in Pakistan by former military ruler Zia-ul Haq in the 1980s and anyone charged under the laws became an easy target for extremists.

The laws have been misused by miscreants and efforts to reform them have failed due to opposition by religious groups.

Former Governor Punjab Salman Taseer was killed by his police guard in 2011 for criticising the blasphemy laws.

Last month, a university student was killed by fellow students in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province for alleged blasphemy.  PTI
Seoul, May 4

North Korean state media have issued a stinging denunciation of the country's chief ally and diplomatic backer China, saying Beijing should be grateful for its protection.

The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) carried a bylined commentary warning of "grave consequences" if China tests its patience further.

Also read: After North Korea criticism, China says wants to be good neighbour

Beijing and Pyongyang have a relationship forged in the blood of the Korean War, and the Asian giant remains its wayward neighbour's main provider of aid and trade.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

But ties have begun to fray in recent years, with China increasingly exasperated by the North's nuclear antics, fearful of a regional crisis.

Beijing regularly calls for parties to avoid raising tensions, remarks that can apply to both Washington and Pyongyang, and in February it announced the suspension of coal imports from the North for the rest of the year, a crucial foreign currency earner for the authorities.

Chinese state-run media have called for harsher sanctions against the North in the event of a fresh atomic test, urged Pyongyang to "avoid making mistakes at this time", and spoken of the need for it to abandon its nuclear programmes.

The KCNA commentary bylined "Kim Chol", believed to be a pseudonym, denounced the "reckless remarks" and said nothing will shake Pyongyang's determination.

"The DPRK will never beg for the maintenance of friendship with China, risking its nuclear programme which is as precious as its own life," it said, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The commentary late Wednesday added that Pyongyang had acted as a buffer between Beijing and Washington since the Korean War in the 1950s, "contributed to protecting peace and security of China" and that its ally should "thank the DPRK for it".

Beijing should not try to test the limits of the North's patience, it said, warning: "China had better ponder over the grave consequences to be entailed by its reckless act of chopping down the pillar of the DPRK-China relations."

The text is a sign of the level to which ties between the two have deteriorated, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has yet to visit Beijing, more than five years after taking power.

Washington is, meanwhile, pushing Beijing to put more pressure on Pyongyang.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson last week warned the UN Security Council of "catastrophic consequences" if the international community, most notably China, failed to pressure the North into abandoning its weapons programme.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi brushed aside Tillerson's comments, saying that "the key to solving the nuclear issue on the peninsula does not lie in the hands of the Chinese side". AFP
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, May 3 (PTI) The North Delhi Municipal Corporation today launched a two-month long special sanitation drive in view of the impending monsoon season as well as to augment efforts under the Swachh Bharat mission.

The NDMC said the drive would be launched in coordination with all departments of the corporations, NGOs, RWAs, market associations and other stakeholders.

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North Delhi Municipal Commissioner Praveen Gupta said the drive is being launched to augment the efforts under ongoing Swachh Bharat Mission and all zonal authorities and officers at headquarters have been requested to undertake the sanitation work on a priority basis.

He said a comprehensive action plan has been prepared for strict compliance of all components of the drive.

"A special focus of the drive is to seek maximum possible participation and involvement of citizens. Special areas that would be attended during the drive are removal of malba and garbage from public places and dhalaos, silt removal and lifting, sweeping and cleaning of roads, pavements, lanes, bylanes, religious places etc and cleaning of public conveniences, public toilets by spray of disinfectants," the NDMC said in a statement.

"Repair or maintenance of roads, painting of tree guards, road side dustbins etc, upkeep of streetlights, maintenance of water harvesting points, upgrading or rectification of road signages and road marking would be taken care of by engineering department of NDMC during the drive," it said.

"Pruning of trees, cutting of grass and removal of horticulture waste from parks, roadsides and plantation of trees is another important aspect of the two-month drive. Removal of illegal posters/banners/handbills, encroachment from public roads and unauthorised vehicles would be part of the drive," the statement said.

A special focus of the drive would be on anti-larva measures on stagnated water to prevent breeding of mosquitoes, and curb the menace of dengue, malaria and chikungunya.

Besides, impounding of stray cattle and curbing illegal slaughtering and sterilisation and vaccination of stray dogs would be given special attention during the drive, NDMC said.

For ensuring public participation, RWAs, NGOs, market associations and senior citizens would be roped in.

Zonal deputy commissioners would carry ward-wise inspection daily along with their subordinate staff to monitor the drive and ensure its implementation at the ground level. PTI KND SRY

--- ENDS ---
Astana, May 4

Syrian regime allies Russia and Iran and rebel supporter Turkey today signed a memorandum on a Moscow-backed plan to create safe zones in Syria to bolster a fragile truce.

An AFP reporter at peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana saw the heads of the delegations sign the document. However a member of the rebel delegation left the room, shouting against regime ally Iran, the AFP reporter saw. The Syrian government and rebel delegations are not signatories.

The Kremlin has been touting a plan to create safe zones in Syria that is aimed to further pacification and cessation of hostilities.

Over the past two days, the participants in the Astana talks reviewed the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the cessation of hostilities, Kazakhstans foreign minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said of a frail truce brokered by Moscow and Ankara in December.

As a result the guarantor countries agreed to sign a memorandum on the creation of de-escalation zones in Syria.  AFP
Washington, May 4

President Donald Trump vowed on Wednesday to do whatever is necessary to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians as he hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House, but gave no sign of how he could revive long-stalled negotiations.

In their first meeting, Trump pressed Abbas to do more to stop incitement to violence against Israelis and, according to the White House, urged him in private to halt payments to families of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, a demand long pressed by Israel.

Even as Trump boldly predicted he would achieve peace where other presidents had failed, he stopped short of explicitly recommitting his administration to a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict, a long-standing foundation of US policy. Some Palestinians said they were disappointed by the omission.

Despite what many experts see as a long-shot bid, Trump told Abbas: I will do whatever is necessary. ... I would love to be a mediator or an arbitrator or a facilitator, and we will get this done.

Abbas reasserted the goal of a Palestinian state, saying it must have East Jerusalem as its capital with the borders that existed before the 1967 Middle East war. Most Israelis want all of Jerusalem as their capital and reject a full return to 1967 borderlines as a threat to their security.

Trump has faced deep skepticism at home and abroad over the chances for him to achieve any quick breakthrough, not least because his administration has yet to articulate a cohesive strategy for restarting the moribund peace process.

Abbas White House talks followed a February visit by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, who moved to reset ties after a combative relationship with the Republican presidents predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama. The meeting with Abbas was another test of whether Trump is serious about pursuing the kind of comprehensive peace deal that eluded his predecessors.  Reuters

Strengthening relations
The Delhi Police was also sent a notice for failing to register an FIR in the case.

By Ram Kinkar Singh: The Delhi Commission for Women has sent notice to AIIMS director and Delhi Medical Council asking for clarification in a case where a woman who gave birth to twins but was handed over only one baby by Safdarjung Hospital staff while the second was stolen. The Delhi Police was also sent a notice for failing to register an FIR in the case.

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Delhi Police informed DCW that they have sent a report of the case to AIIMS and Delhi Medical Council asking for clarification. They have also requested AIIMS management to form an inquiry committee to look into the case.

Earlier, the Delhi Commission for Women had asked the Delhi Police to register an FIR against Safdarjung Hospital. But, the Delhi Police has not registered an FIR till date hence DCW has again sent a notice to the Delhi Police asking them to register an FIR.

--- ENDS ---
Mercedes Benz Actros cabover fitted with Daimler AGs Highway Pilot Connect autonomous-driving system. Photo: David Cullen There is a mechanical engineer and professor of mechanical and electrical engineering whose distinguished and globe-trotting career has already spanned over 40 years who can simply and succinctly explain how autonomous driving technologies will actually make it onto a road near you and sooner than you might think possible.

Bharat Balasubramanian, PhD., laid out his road map to the fairly near future in a colorful and engaging talk (complete with comical video clips) on May 1 at the National Private Truck Councils annual meeting in the historic Netherlands Plaza hotel in downtown Cincinnati.

The arc of Balasubramanians global automotive career is the stuff of a Bollywood epic, or at least of a recruiting video for a top-notch engineering school.

Bharat Balasubramanian, PhD. Photo: University of Alabama

Born and raised in India, he attained a degree in mechanical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai. He then followed his passion for automotive design to one its epicenters Germany-- where he went on to earn a masters and then a doctorate in engineering and launched a 38-year career in research and development with Daimler AG.

Balasubramanian retired in 2012 as group vice president of research and advanced engineering for Daimler. Not content to rest on his corporate laurels, Balasubramanians next move was to accept an engineering professorship at the University of Alabama as well as the post of executive director of UAs Center for Advanced Vehicle Technology.

The long and the short of his resume is that he knows a thing or two about applying technology to make driving safer.

Increasing safety and the [SAE] levels of autonomous driving are two facets of an identical technology set using advanced sensors, actuators and ECUs with slightly different software, is how Balasubramanian said he sees technology converging to make operating vehicles far safer than they are today.

Balasubramanian contends that self-driving and safety advances should not be viewed in isolation. He said flat out that current discussions on autonomous driving revolve too much around an all or nothing approach."

Rather than see it that way, he suggested that "the true advantage in deploying advanced driver assistance systems [ADAS] lies in their ability to dramatically reduce the number of accidents and fatalities  and this [occurs] with every incremental piece of safety technology [introduced].

He pointed out as well that typically, implementing truck safety technology lags cars by 10 to 20 years. But with [the rollout] of autonomous driving technologies, these times will probably be cut dramatically through legislative and societal pressures.

Depending on road and traffic complexities, [SAE] Level 4 High Automation mode [coupled] with high automation [installed] on parts of Interstate highways from entry to exit could be achieved by 2022, he predicted.

On the other hand, Balasubramanian said that in other [less advanced] scenarios, the vehicle may only operate in Level 2 Partial Autonomous mode, such as on city streets.

Leap ahead to 2022  only five years hence  and picture those highly autonomus trucks plying "entry to exit" stretches of Interstate (OK, well let's just say they'll be doing so during clear weather). Now that you have that view in mind, is it really so hard to leap to picturing other trucks in other duty cycles running with various levels of task-oriented automation? Especially if it makes the roads safer for all? I, for one, think not.

FYI: Here are the SAE J3016 Levels of Automation for on-road motor vehicles:
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 ...
The accused were awarded death sentence in September 2013; the sentence was upheld by the Delhi High Court as well in 2014. The four whose fate will be decided tomorrow are Vinay Sharma, Mukesh, Pawan, and Akshay Thakur.

While others waited for their fate, Ram Singh, one of the six accused, hanged himself in his cell inside the Tihar Jail in March 2013.

The remaining four - the lone juvenile has served his sentence in a Delhi remand home - now await the Supreme Court decision, where they have appealed for commutation to life sentence.

The parents of the 23-year-old victim have repeatedly said they want to see "all of the convicts dead so that they could take a sigh of relief".

Last year, one of the four convicts in the case, Vinay Sharma, had also tried to commit suicide by hanging himself inside his cell in a high-security ward situated in Jail No 8 in Tihar jail.

Asked about his reaction to Sharma's suicide attempt, the victim's father had said: "If he was committing suicide, he should do it. Not only he, I want see all the convicts dead so that we can take a sigh of relief."

The brutal rape by six persons, including the juvenile, was committed inside a moving bus when the victim along with her male-friend were returning home from watching a movie and had boarded the bus at Munirka bus stop in south Delhi.

The gangrape had triggered protests across the nation and she was also mourned the world over. She came to be known as 'Nirbhaya' for her astonishing zeal to live despite grave injuries inflicted upon her.

The incident, which engulfed the media space like a wildfire for months, also resulted in a committee for reappraisal of the laws on rape, known as Justice J.S. Committee, which submitted its recommendations on January 23, 2013.
The book - "Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama" written by David J Garrow - shares for the first time the story of the woman Sheila Miyoshi Jager, his love interest, with whom Obama lived in Chicago, The Washington Post said in a review.

By Press Trust of India: Michelle was not the only women in Barack Obama's life and he had been in a serious relationship before he met his future wife, according to an upcoming biography of the former US president.

The book - "Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama" written by David J Garrow - shares for the first time the story of the woman Sheila Miyoshi Jager, his love interest, with whom Obama lived in Chicago, The Washington Post said in a review.

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Jager tells author David Garrow, "In the winter of 86, when we visited my parents, he asked me to marry him."

Jagers parents objected to the union, believing her to be too young, as she was in her early 20s and two years younger than Obama, according to the review.

She was 23 and Obama was 25.

Their romance continued, but Jager says Obama's political ambitions got in the way. Possessed by a sense that he was destined to a life in politics, and could even become the first African-American president, she says race soon cast a shadow over their relationship.

"I remember very clearly when this transformation happened, and I remember very specifically that by 1987, about a year into our relationship, he already had his sights on becoming president," Jager told Garrow.

Obama eventually asked Jager to marry him again before he departed for Harvard Law School. He wanted her to go with him, she says, despite their increasingly fraught relationship, "mostly, I think, out of a sense of desperation over our eventual parting and not in any real faith in our future."

After his first year at Harvard, Obama returned to Chicago as a summer associate at a prestigious local law firm. There he met Michelle Robinson, the future first lady and an employee at the firm, the report said.

Their relationship quickly became serious, although he still saw Jager when she arrived at Harvard on a teaching fellowship.

"I always felt bad about it," Jager tells Garrow.

Eventually, Obama and Robinson got married in 1992.

Also read:

Barack Obama makes no mention of Donald Trump in first major post-presidential appearance

Barack Obama posts farewell letter on Facebook

WATCH | An emotional Barack Obama delivers his last speech as the US President

--- ENDS ---
Someone who bought a Powerball ticket in Southern California has won a record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot. The winning numbers drawn Tuesday morning at the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee were: white balls 10, 33, 41, 47 and 56, and the red Powerball was 10. The jackpot ticket was sold at Joes Service Center in Altadena, northeast of Los Angeles. The business will receive a maximum Powerball bonus of $1 million. The Multi-State Lottery Association said Monday nights scheduled drawing was delayed by nearly 10 hours until Tuesday because a participating lottery had issues processing sales. The jackpot was by far the largest lottery jackpot ever won, topping the previous record $1.586 billion prize won by three Powerball ticketholders in 2016.
Tulsa author Carol Mersch has her lunar Bibles back, ending a long legal battle with the state of Texas.

After sitting for six years in a safe at the Tulsa County Courthouse, a white envelope containing 10 microfilm Bibles that have been to the moon, potentially worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, was handed to Mersch on Wednesday.

Mersch, her attorney Doug Dodd, and Vicki Goodson, first deputy county court clerk, sat at a table and went over each item in the envelope, checking them against a list of contents.

It was a bittersweet victory for Mersch, who paid legal fees for years in Texas and Oklahoma to recover the Bibles, taken from her under court order.

As she walked out of the court clerks office, she said she was feeling a mixture of relief and resentment.

The fact that they savaged my reputation and my bank account, and then slunk off into the woods, is hardly a cause for rejoicing, she said.

What will she do with the Bibles?

Theyre going straight to my safe deposit box, and then Im going to take a deep breath, she said.

The Bibles that Mersch received Wednesday were locked up at the courthouse while she and the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS) fought over their ownership.

Mersch became interested in the Apollo program, and the initiative to take Bibles to the moon, in the late 1970s when she heard Apollo 14 lunar module pilot Edgar Mitchell speak.

Merschs Bibles are part of a group of 100 postage-stamp-sized microfilm Bibles that Mitchell took to the surface of the moon in 1971 at the request of NASA Chaplain John Stout, founder of the Apollo Prayer League. In 2014, one of those Bibles sold for $75,000 at a Dallas auction.

While doing research for a book about the lunar Bibles, Mersch found Stout and his wife living in a small apartment in Texas filled with NASA memorabilia. She visited the couple numerous times over nearly two years, developing a close friendship with them.

During that period, she says, Stout gave her several Bibles, including the 10 Bibles she received at the courthouse Wednesday.

The state of Texas got involved when Stouts son became suspicious of Merschs relationship with his parents and asked the state to look into it.

DADS visited the couple and determined they were not competent to care for themselves. They became wards of the state and, according to news stories at the time, were held incommunicado after that.

DADS took possession of all the materials of the Apollo Prayer League, which were in the Stouts apartment, and sued Mersch, obtaining a court order to take possession of the Bibles that Stout had given to her.

Texas dropped its lawsuit this spring. On Friday, Tulsa County District Judge Linda Morrissey ordered the Bibles returned to Mersch.

Dodd said he thinks Texas dropped the lawsuit because it was acting as guardian of Stout, and he died in December.

But the legal battle is not over.

Mersch has a separate lawsuit pending against Texas demanding the return of more lunar Bibles and artifacts  all the Apollo Prayer League materials.

Stouts small Faith Presbyterian Church, under which the Apollo Prayer League was legally formed, took Merschs side in the dispute, and church leaders voted in 2014 to sign over to her all property and materials of the league.

Merschs ongoing lawsuit is an effort to regain possession of that collection.

She said she estimates DADS still possesses more than 100 lunar microfilm Bibles, a red hardback Bible carried to the moon by Alan Bean on Apollo 12 and several more Apollo 13 Bibles.
Dr. Margaret E. Hudson instituted a priority on child and maternal health in Tulsa after World War II, the impact of which is still felt today.

While most Tulsa residents know of the nearly 50-year-old social program named in her honor that assists teen mothers, not many know about her.

Hudson was a physician during a time when not many women earned medical degrees. She led a division of the Tulsa City-County Health Department  a rare woman in government administration.

She was a woman of action over outspokenness. Archived stories usually quote the nurses or other clinicians working under supervision.

A 1949 story about Child Health Day describes Hudson as a quiet-spoken, mild-mannered woman whose work is never done. She repeats a line about the importance of maintaining the health of children.

Im just one person in an organization that is charged with a great responsibility, she stated in a May 1949 story. All of us realize the importance of the work were trying to do successfully.

Roots in medicine: Born in rural Pennsylvania in 1898, Hudsons father was a physician. She taught in a one-room school before entering Pennsylvania State University.

Both her parents died by 1916  her dad of an automobile accident and her mother of cancer.

In 1920, Hudson entered Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore. This was a good decade for women, starting with the right to vote in 1920. By 1928, about 39 percent of college degrees went to women, up from 19 percent at the turn of the century.

Hudson met her husband, David V. Hudson, while both attended medical school, and they married in 1923. She graduated in 1924 with a class of 80. Out of those, 12 were women.

Hudson completed an internship in preventative medicine and hygiene, and her husband finished a surgical residency. They then went to Iowa as university instructors.

In 1930, the couple moved to Tulsa where Hudson worked in a medical laboratory and her husband entered a private urology practice.

Both became interested in public health.

After World War II, they were hired at the Tulsa City-County Health Department, where they earned their professional reputations.

Hudson, known as Dr. Margaret when she started, led the maternal and child division starting in 1946, and her husband headed the department of communicable disease.

At the time, the only health department childrens program was for disabled children, so she started expanding access to health care and education.

By 1948, at least 400 children were visiting health department clinics held monthly at locations around the city. These were what would be considered well-child visits  preventative care and parenting education.

Health is a state of complete of physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease of infirmity. The requirements for health now go beyond old definitions, Hudson told a Tulsa World reporter in May 1949.

Hudson took an interest in the special needs of teenage mothers. She witnessed the poor health status of babies born to young girls, who were often under-educated and then trapped in a cycle of poverty.

She and her husband were advocates for health care access to the under-served. Their granddaughter, Janet Hudson Colton, said in a video that her grandmother would often call private doctors for patients she encountered at the health department.

Margaret and David were concerned for the people who could not afford medical attention, health care or even food for their families, Colton said. Margaret spent a lot of time at health conferences examining babies and giving new mothers valuable tips on how to care for them.

Hudson retired in 1962 due to poor health and died in 1973. Her husband died three years later. They had two children and one granddaughter.

In 1968, the health department named a new program serving teen mothers after Hudson to recognize her efforts. It was originally financed through Model Cities; the Oklahoma Crime Commission; Health, Education and Welfare; and private donors.

In 1970, the program became an independent nonprofit.

Living legacy: It was announced Monday that the Tulsa Margaret Hudson program would be closing, though its Broken Arrow campus will remain open.

This doesnt mean teen pregnancy isnt a concern. With the second-highest rate in the country, it remains a problem in Oklahoma.

More options are available to teen mothers, and the stigma isnt what it once was, though the challenges are still just as significant.

The Tulsa campus will be missed. Since its beginning, the Margaret Hudson program has served more than 10,000 teen mothers.

Think about that number and how the benefits of the programs multiplied through the decades. The program was given its name as a living memorial to Dr. Margaret Hudson.

Generations of healthy Tulsa families are the best tribute she could have received.
OKLAHOMA CITY  Gov. Mary Fallin on Wednesday said she will veto any budget that contains deep cuts to state agencies.

Lawmakers have been in session since February, but the governor said they have not sent her any substantial revenue-raising measures in the face of an $878 million budget hole.

I know it is a hard vote, Fallin said at a Capitol news conference surrounded by state employees, heath care providers, agency heads and others. I have had to make a lot of hard votes, too.

But I am willing to stay here at this Capitol as long as I need to, and if I have to veto the budget because we dont get our work done and we devastate our state agencies and not fund core mission services our citizens actually demand that we do, then I am willing to veto the budget. I am willing to stay as long as we need to until we get our job done.

Fallin said 17 days remain in the legislative session, but revenue-raising measures cant be voted on in the five final days.

Revenue-raising measures are tax increases, which require a supermajority in both houses. They must start in the House of Representatives, where 76 votes are required. While Republicans control the chamber, they need Democratic votes to meet the requirement.

Cutting agencies by $878 million would be an 18 percent reduction on top of other cuts handed out over the years, Fallin said.

We have a crisis, she said. We have an emergency. We need to deal with it now. I have told our legislators that next year is an election year. If you think we are going to fix the budget next year, God help us all. It is just not going to happen.

Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, had no comment on Fallins remarks, said Jason Sutton, his spokesman.

Aaron Cooper, a spokesman for Senate President Pro Tem Mike Schulz, D-Altus, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mike Neal, president and CEO of the Tulsa Regional Chamber, praised the governors approach.

Gov. Fallin understands our state cannot survive another round of drastic cuts to education, transportation and health care, Neal said. We at the Chamber thank the governor for her leadership, and we applaud her vow to veto any budget that does not fund government to the level our businesses and citizens demand. We believe strongly that there must be a legislative focus on bipartisanship in order to find viable revenue sources and fund vital, core services.

Fallins comments came after House Democrats said they will not provide the needed votes for a bill that would increase the gasoline and diesel tax by 6 percent and the cigarette tax by up to $1.50.

House Minority Leader Scott Inman, D-Del City, said his caucus is willing to negotiate a cigarette tax increase if the gross production tax is increased between 5 percent and 7 percent on wells currently taxed at 2 percent.

Both are contained in House Bill 2365, which was on the agenda but was not brought up because it didnt have enough votes to pass.

The budget should not be balanced on the back of working families, said Inman, who is running for governor. Budget solutions need to share the burden, he said.

Inman said the budget situation is self-inflicted and the result of Republican leadership that gave tax breaks to the wealthy and most powerful.

We will not  I repeat, we will not vote to raise taxes on the back of middle-class families to balance this budget at the same time that the Republican majority lets the Oklahoma oil and gas companies off the hook, he said.
Mayor G.T. Bynum wants Tulsa to help panhandlers by offering them day-labor jobs, a program pioneered by leaders in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

You go around finding people that are panhandling, and you offer them an honest days work, Bynum said. While youre doing that, you also connect them with social services. ... Its a win-win and at a remarkably low cost.

Bynum said that after he was elected, he was inundated by emails and social media posts telling him to explore the program created by Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry.

So he did.

Bynum and others in his administration went to Albuquerque before his inauguration to learn about the program.

Now, in his budget proposal made last week, the mayor has pitched a Tulsa program that emulates the Albuquerque approach.

When the Tulsa program would start depends entirely on partnering with a local nonprofit to run it  all to be decided during the next year, Bynum said.

Alan Armijo, director of constituent services for the Albuquerque Mayors Office, said the program started as a two-day-a-week service that has expanded through donations from Albuquerque residents to four days a week.

A van driver sets out toward a park or a highway stretch that needs cleaning or some other service, stopping where panhandlers are and asking them if they want to work, Armijo said.

The panhandlers who opt to work get breaks and a free lunch where coordinators try to connect them with various social services, he said.

At the end of the day, they go to St. Martins (hospitality center) and get paid, Armijo said. If they need more services, they connect with them there.

The process is pretty straight forward and workers are paid in cash, $9 per hour, with no documentation or extra paperwork needed, he said.

The program is run completely through a nonprofit, with some city support, which ensures the city doesnt share liabilities that come with paying people cash and working with those who may suffer from health issues.

I caution people to not make it more complicated than it needs to be, he said.

As the Better Way program has gained national popularity and pilot programs have begun in other cities, Armijo said he urges leaders to warn residents that the program isnt intended to bring an end to panhandling. It is one piece of a larger puzzle to address issues including chronic homelessness, drug abuse and other social inequities.

There are people out there that dont want to do this program, Armijo said. There are handicapped, elderly or people under the influence of drugs that cant work.

Armijo also encourages leaders to communicate the programs goals clearly to residents.

Make sure that you let the public know this is just one component of trying to help people get into housing and get off the street, Armijo said.

He said the mayor also conducted a public campaign, telling residents to indirectly help panhandlers instead of handing them cash.

Get the public to get involved. Tell them to donate $5 or $10 to the United Way and have it earmarked for Better Way.

Albuquerque residents who have embraced the program donated $60,000 last year. Local employers have even started working directly with Better Way to try to connect the programs customers with permanent work, Armijo said.

We are looking at a second van, Armijo said. So many of those people want to work. They say, I dont want to be out on the street.
By Press Trust of India: Islamabad, May 2 (PTI) Pakistans Supreme Court today set up a special cell to help constitute the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his familys alleged corruption in the Panama Papers case.

The Supreme Court Additional Registrar Mohammad Ali was appointed as the coordinator and would be responsible for facilitating all communication between the JIT and the Supreme Court bench.

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The six-member JIT would be constituted at the earliest, as Justice Ejaz Afzal, who is a main member of the Supreme Court bench, has returned from Turkey, GEO TV reported.

In its April 20 judgment, the apex court had ordered the formation of the JIT to probe offshore assets of the prime minister and his two sons.

Sharif, 67, had got a temporary breather from the Supreme Court which said there was "insufficient evidence" to remove him from office but ordered setting up of a JIT to probe the graft allegations against his family.

The high-profile graft case is about alleged money laundering by Sharif in 1990s when he twice served as the Prime Minister to purchase assets in London. Information about the assets surfaced when Panama Papers last year showed that they were managed through offshore companies owned by Sharifs children.

Prime Minister Sharif has denied any wrongdoing since the scandal first surfaced.

The JIT would comprise representatives from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), as well as officials from the Military Intelligence and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

The JIT would submit its report on the progress in the probe to the coordinator every 15 days.

The team would begin the investigation as soon as it is constituted. The Supreme Court has tasked the team to submit a report every two weeks to a special bench of the apex court.

It has also been given a 60-day deadline to file its final report.

It is rare and unprecedented that a sitting prime minister would be quizzed by officials from civil and military institutions for his offshore companies, the Dawn newspaper commented.

The scandal involving the Sharif family first surfaced when documents from a Panamanian legal firm was leaked by a consortium of international investigative journalists in April last year. PTI AKJ AKJ

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A 12-year-old girl who was struck Monday by a driver allegedly under the influence died Wednesday evening in a central Arkansas hospital, according to Westville police.

Police arrested Daniel Perez, 33, of Westville, on complaints of driving under the influence causing great bodily injury and leaving the scene of an injury accident, according to Westville Police Chief Scott Mitchell.

Westville officers tracked down a black Chevrolet Tahoe that Perez was allegedly driving. They allegedly found an open container of alcohol in the vehicle, according to a news release from the police chief. The vehicle had front-end damage.

Westville authorities expect additional elevated charges to be filed against Perez.

Authorities arrested Perez initially on suspicion of driving under the influence after he allegedly hit the 12-year-old girl.

Emergency responders transported the girl from Westville, about 15 miles south of Siloam Springs, to a Little Rock hospital in "grave condition," according to an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation news release.

The girl was walking with a friend Monday evening in the 300 block of Locust Street. The driver left the scene after hitting the child, according to the release.

Westville police located Perez in the area of McNair Circle in Westville, Mitchell states in the release.

"He (Perez) was irate and showed signs of intoxication," Mitchell states. "Officers detained Perez, and he was booked into the Adair County Detention Center."
Sonic screwdriver at the ready The Doctor is getting more interactive with his fans.

The BBC has launched its first ever Doctor Who Bot in conjunction with Skype.

A new six-part adventure, especially written for the initiative, sees The Doctor invite players to help him save the Universe.

Players will experience The Doctor communicating with them directly and setting them challenges, logic puzzles, and quizzes, revolving around the search for a mysterious artefact known as the Key To Time. Scattered throughout time and space, users must locate all six segments of the Key and restore it, in order to save the Universe.

The bot will feature voice-overs from Peter Capaldi, and is creatively developed by writing talent Joe Lidster (The Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood).

Following the launch today, a new Chapter will be released every week shortly after episodes air on ABC (Australia).

Jaclyn Lee-Joe, Chief Marketing Officer at BBC Worldwide said Its hugely exciting to be launching a Doctor Who Bot on Skype  which gives us the opportunity to deliver a new form of digital story-telling with our cutting-edge brand. Through this new innovation we get to experience first-hand how bots can help deliver digital first content, and immerse audiences, old and new, in the Doctor Who universe like never before.

Steven Abrahams, Group Product Manager, Studios and Strategic Partnerships for Skype said Our goal is for everyone in the world to experience the best Skype has to offer and the Doctor Who bot with BBC Worldwide brings a range of new features and functionality. Were excited to see the bot bring users and fans one step closer to meeting the iconic Doctor.

To add the Doctor Who Bot manually, users need to search for Doctor Who Bot in the Skype Bot Directory, read the bots profile and terms, and then click Add to Contacts. To see new updates as they begin to roll out, users need to be on the latest Skype app for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, or Web.
A new series of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown begins on Discovery shortly.

The 8 part series sees the famed chef in Greece, USA, Georgia, plus stops in Manila, Cologne, Senegal and Buenos Aires.

Discovery Channel takes a trip to explore exotic global destinations through the unique lens of world-renowned chef, Anthony Bourdain, in a new season of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, as he travels across the globe to uncover little-known areas of the world and celebrate diverse cultures through food and dining rituals. Known for his curiosity, candor, and acerbic wit, Bourdain takes viewers off the beaten path of tourist destinations, including some war-torn parts of the world, meeting with a variety of locals to offer a window into their lifestyles, and occasionally communing with an internationally lauded chef on his journeys.

Bourdain kicks off his travels on the idyllic islands of Greece, enjoying Greek specialties such as octopus salad, salatouri and mashed fava beans, and joins a local wine producer at a village party, to celebrate the summer the way Greeks have always done dating back generations. Tony heads to Chicago, USA, to reveal the city through stories of the people who live there; he visits Big Sky Country: Montana to uncover the states rich history; and travels to the post-Soviet satellite country of Georgia, strategically located at the crux of ancient spice routes from Russia, Asia and the Middle East. His journey this season also takes viewers to Manila, Cologne, Senegal and Buenos Aires  its going to be a trip to remember!

Sundays from 14 May at 7:30pm on Discovery
Two black colour bags were spotted just a few yards away from Mamoon Cantt in Pathankot. Police have sounded an alert in the region and looking for the owner of the bags.

By Manjeet Sehgal: Security alert was sounded in Pathankot early today when two suspicious bags were found lying unattended just a few yards away from the military base.

According to reports, locals spotted two black colour bags near Mamoon Cantt and informed the police. Cops immediately rushed to the spot. The area was cordoned off.

The police recovered mobile tower batteries from the bags. Security has been beefed up in the area and a search operation is underway to find the owner of the bags.

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On Tuesday, an abandoned Scorpio SUV was found in Gurdaspur district. Security agencies had then launched a manhunt after reports of 5-6 suspicious men being spotted near the vehicle.

Punjab: Unidentified bag recovered near Mamun army cantonment in Pathankot, police found 2 mobile tower batteries from the bag after search pic.twitter.com/lT5bWouu3z ANI (@ANI_news) 4 May 2017

The SUV reportedly broke a police barrier before it was stopped. An officer said there were at least six people inside the vehicle when it jumped the barrier. The SUV was later found abandoned.

"It had a fake registration number plate. The car was stolen at knife-point from a person in Vijaynagar area of Jammu," the officer said.

Seven jawans were killed and over 37 people were injured in a terror attack on Pathankot air base in January last year.

WATCH: Pakistani intruder shot dead by BSF in Gurdaspur

ALSO READ:

Punjab Police launch search operation after suspicious men spotted in Pathankot, Gurdaspur

Punjab: Firing in Gurdaspur jail as inmates clash, city on alert

--- ENDS ---
Harvard University's Wireless Club, W1AF, has sponsored its first Amateur Radio Symposium last Saturday, April 29 in Cambridge, MA. The symposium featured speakers from Harvard and other universities.

It included appearance from incoming W1AF president Ben Lee, K7JS and outgoing president Douglas Maggs, KK4UHK. The Yale University Amateur Radio Club (W1YU) President Scott Matheson, N3NFP also joined the symposium along with First Vice President James Surprenant, AB1DQ and past president Martin Ewing, AA6E. They talked about the distinguished histories of the two collegiate Amateur Radio clubs.

University of Aveiro's Flavio Jorge, CT7ATQ, also discussed about microwave propagation for space systems during his presentation. One of the guests featured was Paul Horowitz, W1HFA, an Emeritus professor of electrical engineering. Horowitz discussed about the ultimate DX, which is the monitoring the universe in a search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

ARRL reported Matheson and Ewing participated in a round table forum about Youth in Amateur Radio and was later joined via Skype by Martin Atherton, G3ZAY, the master of Cambridge University's G6UW and two of his student colleagues. Vasiljie Perovic, M0HZC, also spoke on the topic of Extremely Low Frequency meteor detection, while William Eustace, M0WJE, discussed about the LoRa spread spectrum radio.

The University of Aveiro also had two speakers such as Daniela Marcelino, CR7AQM, and Micael Rebelo, CR7AQL, while Nicolas Weninger, KC1GLI, and Saahil Mehta, KG5HEW, represented Harvard.

ARRL CEO Tom Gallagher, NY2RF, was also on board and presented his progress report from League Headquarters. He emphasized the need to welcome new hams into the Amateur Radio community. After the show Gallagher said the Harvard Wireless Club made a strong show with excellent material and a fast-paced program that never bogged down.

It was a full day of accomplished and proficient speakers that enlightened listeners with their topics. The American Radio Relay League announced last fall its Collegiate Amateur Radio Initiative that aims to assist college and university ham radio clubs in collaboration and networking.

The community has grown rapidly and membership grew fivefold. ARRL will sponsor another forum at Hamvention on May 20in Xenia, Ohio at 12:30 PM in Room 4.

Click here to watch W1AF Radio Symposium.
Researchers have discovered that there is now a second branch on the huge crack in an Antarctic ice shelf just recently. If the crack completely shears off, it could create one of the largest icebergs in history.

Antarctic Larsen C Ice Shelf Main Crack Gets Second Branch

The main crack of the Antarctic Larsen C Ice Shelf is currently 110 miles long and now it was revealed that a new branch has been observed by the Project MIDAS research team. They revealed that the iceberg that will break free within the next few months will be the size of the state of Rhode Island. Only a small 12 miles of ice remain connected to the shelf, and it is the only thing that is keeping the nearly 2,000 square mile piece from floating away, according to the official blog of the British Antarctic research project.

Project MIDAS member Adrian Luckman said in a statement that a new branch of the rift has been initiated while the previous rift tip has not advanced. It is approximately six miles from the previous tip, which is heading towards the ice front, USA Today reported.

Since the crack's significant appearance in February, this new one is the first significant change to it. The length of the crack remained steady for several months, but it has been steadily widening at rates in excess of three per day.

Antarctic Ice Shelves Details Revealed

The ice shelves are the permanent floating sheets of ice that are connected to a land mass. Luckman explained that studying them is important because these shelves hold back the glaciers that feed them. If they disappear, the ice will flow faster from the land to the ocean, and that will increase the rise of the sea levels.

Antarctic Ice Shelf Could Lose Large Area

Luckman revealed that if the crack will calve, the Larsen C ice shelf will lose more than 10 percent of its area. This new event will even change the landscape of the Antarctic Peninsula in the future. There is good scientific evidence that climate change was the cause of the thinning of ice.

Antarctic Icebergs to Be Towed To UAE For Drinking Water

In other related news, the United Arab Emirates is planning to tow some icebergs from Antarctica to solve their drinking water problems. The National Advisor Bureau Limited company plans to use this tactic to give the region a new source of fresh water. They also plan to mine the iceberg for creating more drinking water, Independent reported.

Check out the Larsen-C Crack video below:
Pretty much the same as the robotic arm of famous "Star Wars" character, Luke Skywalker, the Newcastle University builds the new generation of artificial limbs. Electrodes wrap around the nerve endings in the arm, making it the first time for the brain to directly communicate with a prosthetic.

Biomedical engineers at Newcastle University tested the new generation of prosthetics that allows users to reach for objects automatically. Simply put, it functions like a real hand. Experts from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council led the study. Apparently, the artificial limb also features an artificial eye that takes pictures of the object in front of it.

Through the installed camera, the robotic arm can assess the shape and size of its target. Recent statistics show that roughly 600 new upper-limb amputees are reported each year in the UK. Fifty percent of these cases are aged 15 to 54. On the other hand, the US accounts for about 500,000 upper-limb amputees annually.

According to Science Daily, the bioengineers programmed the hand to perform four different types of grasps. The first two were the palm wrist neutral and the palm wrist pronated grabs. The former is used when picking a cup while the other happens whenever people hold things like a TV remote control. Meanwhile, the other two grasps were the tripod (use of the thumb and two fingers) and the pinch (use of the thumb and first finger).

Now, through the 99p camera, the hand "sees" the object and freely decides what type of grab is appropriate for it. Interestingly, the work is just part of a larger project that aims to develop a prosthetic limb that can sense pressure and temperature. The Newcastle University has worked with the University of Leeds, University of Essex, Keele University, University of Southampton, and the Imperial College London.

Per BBC, Dr. Kianoush Nazarpour said that prosthetic limbs have changed very little in the past century. Additionally, one of the most significant downsides of artificial arms is responsiveness. Now, however, that problem might have been solved. Below is the official video of the project from Newcastle University:
The Opposition is slowly getting united under the chairmanship of Sonia Gandhi. In what can be seen as a precursor of the Opposition unity before 2019 general elections, JD-U chief Nitish Kumar is made the convenor of the front.

By Anindya Banerjee: As hectic parleys are on in the national capital over the next Presidential candidate, both the treasury benches and Opposition side are busy strategising. The Opposition is slowly getting united under the chairmanship of Sonia Gandhi. In what can be seen as a precursor of the Opposition unity before 2019 general elections, JD-U chief Nitish Kumar is made the convenor of the front.

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Sharad Yadav's name is doing the rounds as the Presidential nominee from the Opposition camp.

Though, Yadav himself is not giving a stamp on it, yet. In a special interview to India today, Sharad Yadav said, "The name of the Presidential nominee is not important, but what is important is the Opposition unity. We need to be united at this point of time and that is what we all are doing right now."

Meanwhile, Sonia Gandhi is also in touch with CPI-M boss Sitaram Yechury apart from JD-U chief Nitish Kumar. Contacts are also been made with the CPI. Meanwhile, contact is also being established with Mamata Banerjee of the TMC, who in turn is talking to the BJD. Sources tell India Today that Samajwadi Party is also been contacted. While Sonia Gandhi is talking to Mulayam Singh Yadav, it's upto her son Rahul Gandhi to talk to Akhilesh Yadav with whom he shares a good rapport.

Meanwhile, TRS has made the matter all the more complicated. It's MP Jitendra Reddy speaking to India Today said, "We will support the candidate who ever will work for the betterment of Telangana." This is in stark contrast of his earlier statement saying they will support the NDA candidate. Jitender Reddy maintained the candidate can be either from the Opposition or the NDA fold, but support will only be extended after due evaluation.

But, Sharad Yadav has alleged that Enforcement Directorate and CBI is being used to extract support from TRS. Jitender Reddy though has rubbished those allegations.

For now, its wait and watch game for both the camps. And its not only the Delhi summer that is heating up, but also the Presidential race that is witnessing quiet some heat.

Also read:

India's next President, Vice President: Sonia, Rahul make conference calls for common Opposition candidate

Why BJP may surprise again with its pick for President of India's post

TRS leader says his party may support NDA in prez poll

--- ENDS ---
Malia Obama has been hired as an intern for The Weinstein Company, a film studio company. She will be going through the program during her gap year before she goes to Harvard University this fall.

Earlier this year, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that former President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama's eldest daughter has secured an internship with Harvey Weinstein, a Hollywood producer. She was to begin working in the New York office of The Weinstein Company in February.

It was noted that, back in 2015, Malia Obama was an intern in New York on Lena Dunham's HBO series "Girls." She also worked on the Los Angeles set of Halle Berry's CBS drama series "Extant."

She was spotted last month heading to work on Thursday by the Daily Mail. The publication stated that Malia Obama's internship has entered its final weeks. Before heading to Harvard this fall, she will be going back to Washington D.C. first where her parents are staying while waiting for her younger sister, Sasha, to graduate from high school.

Quartz reported that it is still unknown what role the young Obama did at the production house. It may be a calculated career move as the film and TV industry has been steadily rising up due to streaming services like Amazon and Netflix.

Malia Obama's foray into the field was also described as "noteworthy" since women, especially women of color, are still not well-represented in major film and TV productions in terms of behind-the-camera roles. A study by the University of Southern California last year found that women just make up about 20 to 26 percent of top executives in film, TV and streaming industries.

Meanwhile, in behind-the-camera roles in Hollywood productions, women writers and directors are still underrepresented but may be slowly rising up in terms of numbers. However, no data was available for female show creators.
Flying a doctor to the location of a stroke patient is better than transporting the patient to the hospital. A new study claims that ambulance helicopters could save more critical time with this new method.

The experts at Johns Hopkins Medicine conducted what is believed to be the first test of physician transportation by helicopter to perform a standard first aid to strike victims. They stressed that "helistroke service" will both save money and provide life-saving procedures in a faster time. Previous research warned that the survival of people with heart problems is crucial within the next 100 minutes after the attack.

Per Science Daily, persons experiencing an acute ischemic stroke are often taken to the nearest available hospital via ambulance helicopter services in the current procedure. In the hospital, the doctor inserts a catheter into the groin of the patient and threads it up through blood vessels to the blood clot in the brain. Once the catheter is placed, they physician delivers the drugs that break up the lump of blood.

However, patient transport time can be significant in the success rate of the treatment. Unfortunately, upon the arrival of the patient in the hospital, others are then taken to a specialized center by road. Thus, delaying the cure and decreasing the odds of recovery even more.

The experts say that there is a 91 percent chance of recovery if stroke patients get there blood flow restored within 150 minutes. The next 1 hour of delay results in a 10 percent reduction of a good outcome. Now, another 60 minutes of delay adds a 20 percent fewer chance of a good outcome. Therefore, the advisable response time for paramedics and physicians is 1 hour and 40 minutes.

To test the theory, the Johns Hopkins Medicine research team planned to fly an air ambulance from the Johns Hopkins Lifeline from Baltimore to a National Institute of Health Stroke Center at Suburban Hospital in Washington D.C. All in all, the journey to treat the stroke patient is 39.4 miles. The test occurred last January, MPR reported.

The ambulance helicopter was alerted around 12:07 p.m. to 12:13 p.m. The weather clearance was obtained at 12:24 p.m. The flight took a total of 19 minutes.

Dr. Ferdinand K. Hui, M.D., associate professor of radiology and radiological science at the Johns Hopkins University, inserted the catheter at 1:07 p.m. and completed the treatment at 1:41 p.m. The total time between the decision-to-treat and the completion of treatment was 77 minutes. Indeed, the "helistroke service" does not only reduce transport time but also increase the rate of survival.
Wick is home to Scotlands second largest, classical Georgian planned town. Larger than Inveraray, its order extends across history and a dramatic topography in which the town embraces the harbour.



This significant historical context informed the planning of the new campus and schools as much as their location on the edge of the town facing the North Sea. Thomas Telford, was the engineering genius who created the visionary community of Pulteney Town, which both supported and enabled Wicks rapid 18th Century economic expansion through the fishing industry and trade with the Baltic.



With the addition of the new campus and two new primary schools alongside the new nuclear archive, the town has the renewed facilities to support and enable the wider community. Creating a series of facilities  a community resource beyond the standard education product is the bedrock for supporting the cultural and economic regeneration of Caithness.



Noss Primary School is the northern component of that strategy. It is a new primary which replaces two schools serving the junior population north of the River Wick. The form is composed of a series of extruded linear wings, above which a lightweight roof weaves and folds up and down in conjunction with the contours of the gently sloping site.



The roof appears to separate from the east and west facades, accentuated by the contrasting black soffit which is carved out to form shelters and courtyards. A repeated cranked joint is used as a motif and a mechanism to join the aluminum facade and roof seamlessly and to create a homogenous skin tautly wrapping the entire form. The scale of the building sits comfortably within the two storey housing it serves.



The staggered arrangement of accommodation creates a physical link between each wing, from which a series of dynamic internal and external assembly and interaction spaces are located.



Internally, the roof form is apparent in all keys spaces - emphasized by roof lights and the use of color on a flank wall to each classroom. Light entering the classrooms is controlled to achieve maximum impact at such a northern latitude.



Colour is best appreciated around the building envelope, as it varies between each classroom, drawing inspiration from the changing hues of the Northern Lights. The use of glulam timber and polycarbonate internally, creates a warm and calming environment in the shared breakout spaces. A vertical emphasis in the use of timber, glass and polycarbonate, breaks down the buildings length and reflects a scale representative of its context and its young users.



In terms of sustainability the proposals meet the requirements of the Highland Council and ECS to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating. This comprises approximately 40% improvement in overall building fabric U Values.



More than 50% improvement in air tightness and more than 25% improvement over regulatory CO2 emissions targets.



With an EPC A rating, more than 30% of energy consumption is generated from renewable sources with biomass boilers covering 100% of the heating and hot water demand. Approximately 80% of the floor plate is naturally ventilated.
A smoked glass office block at 150 St Vincent Street is in line for a dramatic overhaul at the hands of Sheppard Robson and LDA Design to better complement the surrounding conservation area..

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Glasgow Academy is to erect a new sports building at its Kelvinbridge campus to mark the centenary of the school's re-establishment following the First World War..

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Raveena Tandon's mismatched outfit looks so ethereal, we're wondering if mismatching is the key to dressing well.

By Shivani Chhabra: Amish Tripathi, the author of the bestselling Shiva Trilogy, can safely take the onus of reintroducing Hindu mythology with a twist to the current generation.

He launched the Rama series with his book, The Scion of Ishvaku, and is all set to release the third book of the series, Sita: Warrior of Mithila.

At the cover launch of his book, Amish said, "The popular version of Sita's character from Ramayana looks like a character of 1990s television serial, whereas, she was a strong lady who fought with a group of people but was outnumbered, got kidnapped. In fact, the cover of the book depicts that episode."

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Amish plans to reinstate the idea of strong women existing in ancient India, reestablishing the fact that women have always been strong.

Also Read: Prachi Desai is a little too cute to be true in this pink dress

While the readers are anxiously waiting to discover the courageous side of Sita, we couldn't take our eyes off the beautiful woman gracing the event--actress Raveena Tandon.

Photo: Yogen Shah Photo: Yogen Shah

Raveena looked gorgeous in a bright-yellow peplum top and a magenta, long skirt. The furiously bright colours were so mismatched that they actually looked good together! Who knew such a thing were possible?

We are still trying to figure out how a golden-bird embroidered skirt with a wrap-around, side-knot top can look so appealing.

She accessorised the ensemble with a chunky pair of silver earrings, which were a little off, but the bright-yet-lovely colour combination neutralised the effect.

The neat, braided bun she was sporting looked just so right with the loud attire; we don't know anyone else who would or could pull off that ensemble.

In a nutshell, Raveena looked ravishing, while seeming immensely impressed with the idea of presenting the valorous, unseen side of Sita.

Photo: Yogen Shah

Also Read: 6 times Anushka Sharma's fashion game was more relatable than any other celeb

She was quoted as saying, "In our ancient society, women had right to make their choices and they were treated as equal counterparts of men. They were brave. So by celebrating the powerful side of women through this book, I am sure Amish is conveying the idea of powerful women."

While Raveena talked about Sita, we had a hard time deciding what to concentrate on--Sita's battles or Raveena's beauty.

(With inputs from IANS)

--- ENDS ---
UW Solar Eclipse Expert to Visit Gillette

This is a photo of a total solar eclipse as observed from Africa by Tim Slater, Wyoming Excellence in Higher Education Endowed Chair in Science Education at the University of Wyoming. (Tim Slater Photo)

How far would you travel to see a total eclipse of the sun?

Tim Slater, the Wyoming Excellence in Higher Education Endowed Chair in Science Education at the University of Wyoming, has traveled into deeply rural Africa to catch a glimpse of the disappearing sun. In May, hes traveling across Wyoming to visit schools, campuses, public libraries and community centers to build awareness, generate excitement and help children, parents, teachers and community leaders to prepare for the upcoming total eclipse of the sun.

Slater is scheduled to speak about the nature of eclipses in Gillette Tuesday, May 16. He will visit students and teachers at Campbell County High School from 8-11 a.m.; speak with the public at the Campbell County Public Library from 4-5:30 p.m.; and lecture at the Campbell County School District Planetarium from 7-8 p.m. His trip is sponsored by the UW College of Education, the Wyoming NASA Space Grant Consortium and local entities.

In his lectures, he describes how to safely observe the Aug. 21 eclipse of the sun and uses scientific digital visualization simulations to explain why scientists from all over the world are coming to Wyoming to observe this once-in-a-lifetime event.

Visible from much of Wyoming and known as the Great North American Solar Eclipse, this rarely visible sky event occurs midday Aug. 21.

For several hours, the moon will slowly cover and uncover the sun, causing skies to darken dramatically. In the middle of the event -- for just about two minutes -- the moon will completely block the sun, if you are standing in the right part of Wyoming, says Slater, an internationally recognized expert on the teaching of astronomy.

Tim Slater, Wyoming Excellence in Higher Education Endowed Chair in Science Education at the University of Wyoming, will speak about the nature of eclipses in Gillette May 16. (UW Photo).

Eclipses of the sun by the moon occur about twice each year. However, eclipses can only be observed from narrowly specific locations on Earth. UW astronomy Associate Professor Mike Pierce is coordinating nine scientific telescopes run by high school teachers and students spread across Wyoming in a collaborative effort to carefully monitor the sun continuously.

Its awe-inspiring, Pierce says. You see a part of the sun that is never seen. This will be something that people will tell their grandchildren about.

This August, scientists and sky-watching enthusiasts from all over the world will make Wyoming their destination, resulting in full hotels, busy restaurants and overburdened highways across the state. However, as Slater points out, It might be difficult and time consuming for families to make their way to a prime viewing location, but it is totally worth the effort to briefly stand within the dark moons shadow once in your life.

For more information, contact Slater at (307) 314-9831 or tslater@uwyo.edu.
UWs Moorhouse Receives Ellbogen Meritorious Classroom Teaching Award

Eric Moorhouse, a UW professor of mathematics, is one of three recipients of the 2017 John P. Ellbogen Meritorious Classroom Teaching Award. (UW Photo)

Whether he makes mathematics applicable to the real world or creates his own course materials to fit his students needs, Eric Moorhouse, a University of Wyoming mathematics professor, is praised by colleagues and students alike.

Dr. Moorhouse is a professor who is unparalleled; his personality is of one that you find in grade school, where teachers foster and value the relationships with their students, says Lucas Burge, a former UW student who took some of Moorhouses classes and is now a secondary mathematics teacher at the Metropolitan School of Panama. Eric, as he insisted we call him, would join in with us for a late-night study session in our dorm and would come with snacks so we were not neglecting our stomachs as we dived into finite and axiomatic geometries.

Moorhouse is one of three recipients of the John P. Ellbogen Meritorious Classroom Teaching Award, established in 1977 by businessman John P. "Jack" Ellbogen to "foster, encourage and reward excellence in classroom teaching at UW." Other Ellbogen winners are Paul Dellenback, Department of Mechanical Engineering associate professor, and Yan Zhang, Department of Modern and Classical Languages senior lecturer.

I strive to impress upon students that the answer to a math problem is really not a number, but an explanation, Moorhouse says. I feel this is important because, in their lives beyond UW, most of our students will have more need for clear communication skills than they will have for any particular formulas or mathematical constructs.

Russell Johnson, a former student and nominator, recalls how Moorhouse, during an information theory course, used simple slide animation to explain the theory of how Capt. Kirk in Star Trek transported himself from a starship to the surface of some distant planet.

I am impressed by how engaged his students are, especially given the abstract and challenging nature of the topics, says John Hitchcock, a UW professor of computer science who sat in on two of Moorhouses classes, and who nominated him for the award. This reflects Erics enthusiasm for these areas.

Moorhouse came to UW in 1989 as an assistant professor of mathematics. His mathematical interests have included projective geometry, codes and designs, nonassociative structures, algebraic combinatorics and information theory. He attempts to use a variety of tools, both experimental (practical programming with computers) and theoretical (methods from group theory, algebraic geometry, number theory and mathematical logic). He loves teaching at all levels of the mathematics curriculum, both graduate and undergraduate.

Much of the mathematical content that I teach involves abstract concepts, and the abstract tends to provoke looks of puzzlement in the faces of students, Moorhouse says. I have always tried to represent abstraction as another name for generalization, while emphasizing that this is the feature that gives mathematics its power -- encapsulating an idea from one aspect of our human experience and using it in a great many other contexts.

Moorhouse received his Ph.D. and masters degree in mathematics, and his bachelors degree in mathematics and statistics, all from the University of Toronto.

I feel truly fortunate to have landed in Laramie. Based on my experience of the teaching environment at a dozen other universities, I have no hesitation in saying that the culture at UW holds teaching excellence in higher regard than any other comparable institution I know, Moorhouse says. In my 27 years here, I have known a great many outstanding teachers who have inspired me to do better than my best. It is an honor to call myself one of their colleagues.
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One in every three women and girls said they were victims of domestic violence.

By Reuters: More than half of Rohingya Muslim girls who fled violence in western Myanmar ended up becoming child brides, according to a United Nations survey that also showed widespread domestic abuse.

Since 2012, violence and communal clashes in Myanmar's Rakhine state have forced more than 168,000 of the ethnic Muslim Rohingya minorities to flee, including a rising number of women and girls, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR.

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In a survey of 85 Rohingya women and girls who have fled to India, Malaysia and Indonesia, UNHCR found about 60 percent married before the age of 18. The average age that they gave birth to their first child was 18.

One in every three women and girls also said they were victims of domestic violence, according to UNHCR's 2016 Report on Mixed Movements in Southeast Asia.

"We generally counsel them about their options and, if they agree, refer them to a partner or shelter that cares for vulnerable women," UNHCR Asia spokeswoman Vivian Tan told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

VULNERABLE TO EXPLOITATION

The growing number of Rohingya women and girls fleeing persecution in Buddhist-majority Myanmar has raised concern that they may be vulnerable to human trafficking, sexual exploitation and child marriage, activists say.

UNHCR said the interviews with the 85 women in its latest report were to assess "continuing vulnerabilities" they face.

There are about 8,000 Rohingya women and girls aged between 14 and 34 in India, Indonesia and Malaysia - the countries where the study was carried out late last year.

The findings showed while the majority of the Rohingya girls in India said they chose their husbands, 76 percent in Malaysia said their marriage was arranged by families or brokers, giving rise to fears of human trafficking.

Rights groups said they have seen an increase in the number of child brides among Rohingya refugees as violence in Rakhine worsened, with human traffickers selling girls to Rohingya men as brides.

As Rohingya refugees are denied formal employment in many of the host countries, only 7 percent of the women polled said they were earning an income, even though two-thirds said they desired their own income.

The plight of the Rohingya hit international headlines again in recent months after Myanmar security forces were accused of carrying out mass killings and gang rapes during their campaign against Rohingya insurgents. The military has denied the accusation.

ALSO WATCH:

Centre exploring ways to deport 40,000 Rohingya Muslims

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ALSO READ:

Fate of 40,000 Rohingyas from Myanmar to be sealed soon

Sri Lanka seizes Indian vessel with Myanmar Rohingya refugees

--- ENDS ---
Turkey and Russia are deeply entangled in the war in Syria, including each having troops on the ground there Ankara supporting various Syrian opposition factions and Moscow backing President Bashar Assad's forces.

Turkey and Russia are deeply entangled in the war in Syria. (Photo: Reuters)

By Reuters: The presidents of Russia and Turkey have said they support the creation of safe-zones in war-torn Syria as a delegation of Syrian rebels walked out of ceasefire talks with the Damascus government underway in Kazakhstan, citing repeated violations of a similar truce agreed on in December.

Meeting in the Russian resort town of Sochi, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin on Wednesday expressed hope the Syrian government and rebels would adopt this latest proposal to "de-escalate" the conflict, which has run now for six years and claimed some 400,000 lives.

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Turkey and Russia are deeply entangled in the war in Syria, including each having troops on the ground there Ankara supporting various Syrian opposition factions and Moscow backing President Bashar Assad's forces.

Before the rebels suspended their participation at the talks in Astana, the Kazakh capital, Russian representatives had presented the rebels with a proposal for four "de-escalation zones" in Syria where the warring sides would be separated by "security lines."

The Astana talks are proximity talks, with Syrian government representatives and the rebels separately meeting with Russian officials and other representatives.

The rebels demanded a halt to the government's bombardment of opposition zones in Syria.

In Sochi, Putin said Russian and Syrian government jets would halt flights over the specified zones if all sides respect the ceasefire.

ASSAD'S GAIN IN WARS

Russia's 2015 military intervention in Syria and its air campaign have significantly boosted Assad's gains in the war.

However, human rights groups say Russia is implicated in targeting hospitals and schools, and using indiscriminate cluster munitions and incendiary weapons against civilian areas as well.

The proposal presented to the rebels in Astana delineates four zones in Syria where front lines between the government and rebels would be frozen and fighting halted, according to a statement made by rebels. The four include areas in the provinces of Idlib and Homs, the eastern Ghouta suburbs outside Damascus, and an area in the south of the country.

The zones, according to the document received by rebels, would be monitored by international observers and allow for the voluntary return of refugees.

Late yesterday, Syria's Foreign Ministry said Damascus is "fully backing" the Russian initiative on the four cease-fire areas, according to the state-run SANA news agency.

But Ahmed Ramadan, an opposition representative, told The Associated Press that rebels requested a written answer on a number of questions, including why the cease-fire would only be in effect in the four areas instead of a nationwide truce.

Ramadan also urged that the sides respect an earlier cease-fire deal which was reached in December and which also included provisions for the release of detainees. He clarified that the rebel side, though it suspended its participation in the talks, would wait in Astana for a reply.

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FOURTH ROUND OF TALKS IN ASTANA THIS YEAR

This is the fourth round of talks in Astana since January. Separately, there have been five rounds of U.N.- sponsored Syria peace talks in Geneva since 2012 but none have led to a sustainable cease-fire.

Later on Wednesday, the UN Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, called on the rebels to return to the talks in Astana "because what is important is also to look at the possibility of an outcome on a de-escalation." He stressed the importance of not destroying "the opportunity of good news" related to this issue.

The United States has sent a senior State Department official to the talks for the first time, after President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart signaled greater cooperation on Syria in a phone call on Tuesday. The White House said the two discussed setting up safe zones in the country.

The Tass news agency reported that Stuart Jones, an assistant US secretary of state, has already met separately with Russia's representative. Syrian TV said the Astana talks began with a meeting between delegations from Russia and Iran, another close ally of Assad.

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Meanwhile, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a car bomb went off in the town of Azaz, close to the offices of the Syrian interim government, which represents the opposition in rebel-held areas, killing at least five people and wounding others. The Observatory and the activist- run Azaz Media Center confirmed the toll, saying it was likely to rise.

Azaz lies on a key opposition supply route and is a hub for fighters and opposition activists. It also hosts people displaced from fighting elsewhere in the country. The town has been the scene of several attacks, some claimed by the Islamic State group. A huge explosion in January killed at least 50 people there.

MOSCOW, ANKARA DRIFTED APART

A video of the aftermath of yesterday's explosion posted online by the Azaz Media Center shows charred cars and firefighters struggling to put out a blaze. In the footage, gunfire rings out as ambulances arrive and people gather at the scene.

The Turkish Dogan news agency said some of the wounded were taken to the state hospital in the Turkish border town of Kilis for treatment.

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Relations between Moscow and Ankara deteriorated after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane at the Syrian border in November 2015 and Russia responded with trade and tourism sanctions.

But Putin said on Wednesday that relations have been restored.

ALSO READ | Trump, Putin discuss Syria ceasefire in first talks since US air strikes

ALSO READ | Syria chemical attack unacceptable, crossed many lines, says US President Donald Trump

ALSO WATCH | US launched over 50 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Syria airbase in retaliation to chemical gas attack

--- ENDS ---
By Parmita Uniyal: Shilpa Shinde has been around in TV industry for more than a decade, but there is no denying the fact that her most memorable role is that of Angoori Bhabhi in Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hai. Ironically, the show that made her a household name, also proved to be her most controversial stint. Shilpa and controversy have become best friends of late, especially after she walked out of Bhabi Ji after accusing her producer Benaifer Kohli of mental torture. Even after one year of her exit from the show, Shilpa is making news more for her controversies than her work.

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1. Expelled from CINTAA

Shilpa Shinde, who was elected as one of the members of CINTAA's Executive committee, was expelled from her post weeks after she was elected. She was accused of "constantly engaging in defamatory activities against the association and its executive committee members."

Also read: Shilpa Shinde accuses Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hai producer of sexual harassment; wife refutes charges

2. When Shilpa walked out of Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hai, and all hell broke loose

Shilpa Shinde walked out of the show, citing health problems. Producer Benaifer then accused her of breach of contract and slapped a legal notice against the actress. After this Shilpa accused the producer of giving her tough time and mentally torturing her. After she refused to report to the shoot for several days, CINTAA issued a non-cooperation directive against her which meant that she would not be able to work on TV again. Later, CINTAA denied having issued such a directive. However, due to this entire controversy, an offer to work with The Kapil Sharma Show slipped from her hands.

3. When Shilpa accused Bhabi Ji producer of sexual harassment

A month back, Shilpa accused her Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hai producer of sexual harassment. The actress in her FIR claimed that Sanjay Kohli not only called her hot and sexy, but also tried to get intimate with her. She also alleged that his wife and co-producer Benaifer Kohli threatened to destroy her career.

4. When Shilpa fought with a co-star Shilpa Shinde also made news over an ugly tiff with her co-star Neha Bamb, who played her sister in Maayka. Apparently, after the tiff, the two stopped being even on talking terms.

5. When Shilpa had a whirlwind romance and a messy breakup

Shilpa also made news for her affair and split with Maayka co-star Romit Raj. They both were engaged to get married and reportedly even the wedding cards were ready. But the wedding was called off for unknown reasons and Romit moved on and got married.

--- ENDS ---
British Prime Minister Theresa May greets EC President Jean-Claude Juncker outside 10 Downing Street on April 26, 2017. Following leaks about a disastrous dinner, May said Juncker would soon find out she can be a 'bloody difficult woman' AFP/Justin TALLIS

Unveiling his negotiating mandate for two years of talks, France's Barnier denied the bloc was punishing Britain but insisted it must settle its accounts.

London in return hotly rejected a reported 100-billion bill from the other 27 European Union states and warned it could simply walk away from negotiations if it is bullied.

"Some have created the illusion that Brexit would have no material impact on our lives, or that negotiations can be concluded quickly and painlessly. This is not the case," Barnier told a news conference in Brussels.

He refused to give an overall figure for what Britain must pay, but said this was not tantamount to demanding a "blank cheque" to end its four decades of membership.

"There is no punishment, there is no Brexit bill. The financial settlement is only about settling the accounts," the former European Commissioner and French government minister said.

Barnier warned that the "clock is ticking" for a settlement, saying there had been "10 months of uncertainty" since Britain narrowly voted to leave the EU in a referendum in June.

'NOTHING TO BE PAID'

Barnier's proposed negotiating mandate closely follows the political guidelines unanimously agreed at a summit on Saturday by the leaders of the other 27 EU nations without Britain.

It demands that before talks on a future trade deal can start, Britain must first settle divorce terms on money, the rights of EU citizens living in Britain, and the border in Northern Ireland.

British Prime Minister Theresa May wants the talks to run in parallel.

Britain's Brexit minister David Davis said his country could simply walk away from the negotiations, following a report in the Financial Times that the estimated bill for Britain's departure had soared from 60 billion to 100 billion (US$109 billion).

"We will not be paying 100 billion," he told British media. "In the walk-away circumstance there is nothing to be paid."

May, who has called a snap election for next month, has warned that she would rather Britain exit the EU without any agreement on future ties than accept a "bad deal".

But she was put on the defensive this week after leaks about a disastrous dinner in London with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Barnier.

The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said Juncker left last Wednesday's dinner meeting "10 times more sceptical" about the prospect of a Brexit deal and told German Chancellor Angela Merkel that May was in a "different galaxy".

Juncker took a lighter tone on Wednesday, describing her as a "tough lady".

But Juncker warned Davis, who is likely to be the man opposite Barnier during the talks, against further threats.

"I don't think that David was right when he was threatening that he would be ready to go out. My experience in politics always was that those who are going out have to come back," he said.

LIFETIME GUARANTEE

Barnier said that while there was no overall figure at the moment, calculations of what the EU says Britain owes would be based on "rigorous methodology".

The EU says Britain must cough up for financial commitments made during its membership, including for the EU's budget until 2020, a year after it leaves the bloc.

Barnier called on Britain to guarantee "for life" the rights of three million EU citizens living in Britain, who are currently allowed to live, work and study there freely under EU rules - and for a deal to secure the rights of more than one million Britons living on the continent.

Barnier will also visit Ireland next week for talks on avoiding a hard border with Northern Ireland which could jeopardise the peace process in the British province.

The EU will formally give Barnier a mandate to start talks on May 22 but they will not actually begin until after Britain's general election on Jun 8.

Barnier said he hoped to get the divorce phase over by October or November so he could move on to trade talks.

The EU says it needs to wrap up all talks by October 2018 to get any Brexit deal through the European Parliament in time for Britain's scheduled departure from the EU on March 29, 2019.

Merkel last week also warned Britain against having "illusions" about the talks, prompting May to hit back by accusing the EU 27 of ganging up against her country.
According to the Ministry of Planning and Investments Department for Industrial Economics (DIE), in the years first four months, the countrys trade picture remained quite bright, with imports and exports of both local and foreign firms rising.

Specifically, the countrys total import turnover reached more than $64 billion, up nearly 25 per cent year-on-year. Of this, the domestic sectors imports was nearly $25.78 billion, up 24.4 per cent year-on-year, and that of the foreign sector hit nearly $38.3 billion, up 25.3 per cent year-on-year.

Imports of many key items saw significant rises, such as oil-based products (26.2 per cent), chemicals (37.7 per cent), fertiliser (35.1 per cent), equipment and machines (38.8 per cent), and rubber products (21 per cent).

Nguyen Viet Thang, head of manufacturing firm 26 JSCs Planning Department, told VIR that in the years first four months, the firm spent millions of dollars importing machinery and materials from mainland China and Taiwan for production of garments, furniture, and plastics. Our spending increased about 20 per cent year-on-year.

We are boosting production in order to meet delivery deadlines. The firm has landed many contracts from Japan, Thailand, and Eastern Europe, said Thang.

Also in this years first four months, the firms total export turnover climbed by double digits, which Thang said is about 15 per cent higher than in the same period last year.

26 JSC is one of many firms in Vietnam that have enjoyed a strong export performance.

According to the DIE, in the years first four months, the countrys total export turnover reached more than $61.34 billion, up 15.4 per cent year-on-year.

In which, the export turnover of the local sector was $17.23 billion, up 13.7 per cent year-on-year, and that of the foreign sector totalled over $44 billion (including crude oil exports), up 16.1 per cent year-on-year.

The export turnover of some of the economys key items increased compared with the same period last year, such as textiles and garments ($7.47 billion  up 9.1 per cent), footwear ($4.2 billion  up 9.6 per cent), industrial machinery and equipment ($4.1 billion  up 39 per cent), steel (up 31.4 per cent), and electronic products (up 44.3 per cent).

In the first four months, the country witnessed a trade deficit of $2.7 billion, equal to 4.4 per cent of the total export turnover.

Meanwhile, in last years corresponding period, Vietnam enjoyed a trade surplus of $1.46 billion, equal to 2.76 per cent of the total export turnover.
illustration photo

THE PRIME MINISTER

------- SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM

Independence - Freedom - Happiness

----------- No.: 11/2017/QD-TTg Hanoi, April 11, 2017

DECISION

ON MECHANISM FOR ENCOURAGING SOLAR POWER DEVELOPMENT IN VIET NAM

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated June 19, 2015;

Pursuant to the Law on Electricity dated December 3, 2004; The Law Amending and Supplementing to a Number of Articles of the Law on Electricity dated November 20, 2012;

Pursuant to the Law on Investment dated 26 November 2014;

Pursuant to the Law on Construction dated June 18, 2014;

At the request of the Minister of Industry and Trade;

The Prime Minister promulgates the Decision on mechanism for encouraging solar power development in Viet Nam.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope

This Decision stipulates mechanisms for encouraging the development of solar power projects in Viet Nam.

Article 2. Subjects of application

The subjects of application of this Decision are organizations and individuals involved in the development of solar power projects in Viet Nam and other related organizations and individuals.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

In this Decision, the terms below are construed as follows:

1.Electricity buyers are the Viet Nam Electricity Group or an authorized member unit.

2.Electricity sellers are organizations and individuals licensed to conduct activities generating electricity from solar power plants connected to the grid, and organizations and individuals having solar roof projects that sells surplus electricity to Electricity buyers.

3. A solar power project is a project to produce electricity from solar panels that convert light energy into electricity.

4. A solar rooftop project, hereinafter referred to as rooftop project, is a solar power project installed on a rooftop or on a construction works and directly connected to grids of the Electricity buyer.

5. Solar grid-connected projects, hereinafter referred to as grid-connected projects, are solar power projects which are connected to the national power grid or electricity grids of the Electricity buyer, except for the projects specified in Clause 4 of this Decision.

6. Connection point is a point where the Electricity sellers line connects to the Electricity buyers power system.

7. Power point is a point for installing power measuring device and agreed upon in a power purchase agreement in order to determine the electricity output sold by the Electricity seller.

8. Power purchase agreement template for grid-connected projects and rooftop projects is a power purchase agreement issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade as the foundation for electricity trading transactions between the Electricity seller and the Electricity buyer.

9. Feed in Tariff rate (FIT) for solar power project is a fixed price that the Electricity buyer has to pay to the Electricity seller.

Chapter II

PLANNING AND INVESTING IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOLAR POWER PROJECTS

Article 4. Solar Power Development Planning

1. Solar Power Development Plannings include the National Solar Power Development Planning and Provincial Solar Power Development Plannings. Solar Power Development Plannings are the foundation for investment in solar power development, which shall be adjusted in line with feasibility studies and assessments of solar power projects in each period.

2. The National Solar Power Development Planning and Provincial Solar Power Development Plannings shall be developed once for the period until 2020 with a vision to 2030 and adjusted and supplemented when necessary. For the successive planning phases, Solar Power Development Plannings shall be integrated into Provincial Electricity Development Plans and the National Power Development Plan.

3. Solar Power Development Plannings apply only to grid-connected projects, not to rooftop solar power projects.

Article 5. Development, approval and publicization of Solar Power Development Plannings

1. The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall organize the development of the National Solar Power Development Planning and submit it to the Prime Minister for approval, then publicize and guide, monitor and inspect the implementation of the approved National Solar Power Development Planning.

2. The People's Committees of provinces and centrally-governed cities (hereinafter referred collectively to as provincial-level People's Committees) shall organize the development of provincial-level Solar Power Development Plannings and submit them to the Minister of Industry and Trade for approval.

3. The publication and adjustment of the plannings shall comply with the current regulations.

4. Main content of Solar Power Development Plannings

a) Key contents of the National Solar Power Development Planning:

- Solar power potential of localities;

- A list of solar power projects;

- Orientation for the connection of solar power projects to the national power system.

b) Key contents of a Provincial Solar Power Development Planning include:

- Solar power potential of the province;

- The total area and boundaries of areas for development of solar power projects;

- A list of solar power projects;

- Capacity of each solar power project and the connection to the national power grid.

5. The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall specify the contents, order and procedures for development, appraisal and approval of Solar Power Development Plannings.

Article 6. Funding for the development of Solar Power Development Plannings

1. Funds shall be allocated from the central budget for the development, appraisal, publication and adjustment to the National Solar Power Development Planning.

2. Funds shall be allocated from budgets of provinces and centrally-run cities for the development, appraisal, publication and adjustment to Provincial Solar Power Development Plannings.

3.It is encouraged to mobilize other lawful funding sources for the development of Solar Power Development Plannings.

Article 7. Investment in the construction of solar power projects

1.Investment in the construction of grid-connected projects must be aligned with Electricity Development Plannings approved by the competent agencies.

2.Investment in the construction of solar power projects shall comply with the current legislation on investment, construction, fire prevention and fighting, environmental protection and other related regulations.

3.Main equipment of solar power projects must meet technical standards of solar power. Electricity quality of solar power projects must meet technical requirements on voltage, frequency and other relevant requirements according to current regulations.

4.Electricity sellers shall have to invest in and install electricity-measuring and -counting equipment, organize the inspection, calibration and testing of electricity-measuring and -counting equipment in strict compliance with current regulations on measurement.

5.Organizations and individuals investing in the construction of solar power projects, which have the responsibility to install solar power equipment, must ensure safety of structure and works according to the current regulations.

6. Investment in the construction of rooftop projects must meet the following requirements:

a) Roofs or structures constructed with solar panels must have the capacity to bear the load and structure of solar panels and associated accessories.

b) Electricity safety regulations must comply in accordance with current regulations.

c) Surrounding landscape and environment must be preserved.

Article 8. Connection of solar power projects to the power system

1. Electricity sellers shall be responsible for the investment, operation and maintenance of transmission line and transformer station (if any) from the powerhouse of the Electricity sellers to the point of connection with electricity grid of the Electricity buyers.

2. Connection points shall be agreed upon by the Electricity sellers and the Electricity buyers according to the principle that a connection point is the nearest point connected from the Electricity sellers line to the power grid of the Electricity buyers, ensuring the electricity transmission capacity of the Electricity sellers and in alignment with the approved electricity development plan. In case the connection point is different from that of the measuring equipment, the Electricity sellers shall bear the loss of power on the connecting line and the loss of the transformer. The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall promulgate the method of calculating loss on the connection line.

Chapter III

MECHANISMs FOR ENCOURAGING SOLAR POWER PROJECTS

Article 9. Responsibility to buy electricity from solar power projects

1. Electricity buyers are responsible for purchasing all electricity generated from solar power projects. Priority shall be given to exploiting the full capacity and electricity generated by solar power projects for commercial operation.

2. The sale and purchase of electricity shall be made with a solar power purchase agreement made under the solar power purchase agreement template for solar projects issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

3. Within 30 days after the Electricity seller has collected all dossiers and documents for electricity sale, the Electricity buyer and seller shall sign power purchase agreement according to current regulations.

4. Duration of a power purchase agreement for solar power projects is 20 years from the date of commercial operation. After 20 years, the two parties can extend the agreement period or sign a new agreement in accordance with current regulations.

Article 10. Incentives on investment capital and taxes

1. Mobilization of investment capital: Organizations and individuals participating in the development of solar electricity projects are entitled to mobilize lawful capital from domestic and foreign organizations and individuals for investment in the implementation of electricity projects in accordance with the current legislation.

2. Import tax: Solar power projects are exempted from import duties on goods imported to create fixed assets for the project, must comply with the current regulations on import tax and export tax on goods imported for production of projects with raw materials, input supplies and semi-finished products which can not be produced domestically.

3. Corporate income tax: The exemption and reduction of corporate income tax for solar power projects shall be the same as for projects in the categories eligible for investment preferences under current tax regulations.

Article 11. Land incentives

1. Solar power projects, transmission lines and transformer stations for connection with power grids shall be entitled for exemption or reduction of land use levy, land rents and water surface rents according to the current regulations for projects in the investment incentive sectors.

2. Based on plannings approved by competent authorities, provincial-level People's Committees shall create favorable conditions for arranging land funds for investors to carry out solar power projects. Compensation and support for ground clearance shall be implemented in accordance with the current land legislation.

Article 12. Electricity Price of Solar Power Projects

1. For power grid-connected projects

a) The Electricity buyers shall have the responsibility to purchase all of the electricity generated from power grid-connected projects at the purchase price of VND 2,086/kWh (excluding value added tax, equivalent to approximately 9.35 US cents/kWh at the current VND/USD exchange rate of VND 22,316/USD announced by the State Bank of Viet Nam on April 10, 2017). Electricity price will be adjusted in line with the VND/USD exchange rate, and only applies only to power grid-connected projects with the cell efficiency above 16 percent or productivity module over 15 percent.

b) Adjustment of electricity prices based on exchange rate fluctuation of the Vietnamese dong against the US dollar for grid-connected projects shall comply with the power purchase agreement template issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

2. For rooftop projects

a) Rooftop projects shall apply net-metering mechanism for two-dimensional meter system. The excess amount of electricity generated from rooftop projects after subtracting the consumption amount in a billing cycle will be transferred to the next billing cycle. At the end of the year or upon the termination of the power purchase agreement, the excess electricity amount shall be sold to the Electricity buyers at the selling prices prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.

b) Annually, based on the central exchange rate of the Vietnamese dong against the US dollar announced by the State Bank of Viet Nam on the last exchange rate announcement date of the previous year, the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall issue the purchase and sale price of solar power rooftop projects for the following year.

3. Electricity purchasing cost from solar power projects mentioned in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article shall be calculated and included in the input parameters of the electricity price scheme of the Viet Nam Electricity Group.

4. The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall monitor and propose adjustments of electricity trading prices specified at Point a, Clause 1 of this Article to the Prime Minister for review and decision if necessary.

Chapter IV

TERMS OF ENFORCEMENT

Article 13. Responsibilities of state management agencies

1. The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall

a) Organize, guide and coordinate with the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities in inspecting and supervising the implementation of this Decision.

b) Promulgate a power purchase template for power grid-connected projects, rooftop projects and guidelines for implementation.

c) Promulgate a methodology to calculate losses on the line in case the measurement points do not coincide with connection points.

d) Promulgate technical standards on solar power, regulations on electricity metering for solar power projects and guidelines on procedures for connecting and installing meters and calculating net-metering mechanism for solar rooftop projects.

dd) Study bidding process of solar power projects and organize the implementation thereof with an appropriate roadmap in order to increase investment efficiency and reduce the cost of solar power projects.

e) Study and propose mechanisms to encourage the development of solar power projects for the period after June 30, 2019.

g) Discuss with the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities to agree on the land fund for solar power projects and ensure the implementation progress of projects according to the approved planning.

h) Promulgate electricity prices for solar projects based on exchange rate fluctuation of the Vietnamese dong against the US dollar for the following year.

i) For solar power projects that are not included in the approved list of Solar Power Development Planning and the Electricity development plan, the Ministry of Industry and Trade shall review and approve supplementary planning of solar power project with capacity less than or equal to 50 MW, and submit to the Prime Minister for approval of the supplementary planning of solar power projects with capacity over 50 MW.

2. The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall

Lead and coordinate with other Ministries and sectors in formulating mechanisms to encourage investment in development of production of solar electric equipment in Viet Nam and report them to the Prime Minister for consideration and approval.

3. The Ministry of Finance shall

Lead the studying and supplementing to tax and fee exemption regulations for rooftop projects (with the total capacity of less than 50 kW) and submit them to competent authorities for consideration and approval.

4. The People's committees of provinces and centrally-governed cities shall

a) Coordinate, support investors in compensation, ground clearance, infrastructure, human resources to invest, implement and develop solar power projects in the area.

b) Arrange and publicize land fund used for solar power projects in land use planning.

c) Monitor, supervise and inspect the implementation of local solar power projects within their authority.

d) Perform state management of activities related to solar power in their respective localities as stipulated by the current regulations.

e) Before January 31 every year, the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities shall report to the Ministry of Industry and Trade on the total installed capacity of solar power grid-connected and rooftop projects in the province as of December 31 of the previous year.

Article 14. Responsibilities of other concerned organizations and individuals

1. The Viet Nam Electricity Group and its member units shall be authorized to

a) Negotiate and sign power purchase agreements with Electricity sellers under power purchase agreements according to the template prescribed in Article 12 of this Decision if the Electricity sellers satisfy the conditions for investment in constructing Solar power projects stipulated in Article 7 of this Decision.

b) The Viet Nam Electricity Group shall be responsible for calculating the electricity purchase cost of solar power projects and inputting input parameters in the annual electricity price scheme of the Viet Nam Electricity Group, and submitting to the competent authorities for approval.

c) Prior to 31 January every year, the Viet Nam Electricity Group shall report to the Ministry of Industry and Trade on the total installed capacity of solar power projects as of 31 December of the previous year.

2. Electricity sellers shall

a) Negotiate and sign power purchase agreements with Electricity buyers under the power purchase agreement template and sale prices specified in Article 12 of this Decision.

b) Install a system of energy meters in accordance with the current regulations to measure the amount of electricity consumption for payment.

c) Send 01 copy of the signed power purchase agreement to the Ministry of Industry and Trade within at least 30 days from the date of signing for grid-connected projects.

d) Comply with regulations on operation of the power system, regulations on power transmission system, electricity distribution system, metering system and related regulations issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Article 15. Transitional Provision

For power grid-connected projects and roof-based projects with power purchase agreements signed before the effective date of this Decision, the two Parties shall have the responsibility to discuss and sign revised agreements in accordance with provisions of this Decision.

Article 16. Enforcement

1. This Decision shall be effective from June 01, 2017 to June 30, 2019.

2. Ministers, Heads of the ministerial-level agencies, Heads of the agencies under the Government, Presidents of the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities, Heads of agencies, units and organizations directly involved in the development of solar power projects in Viet Nam shall be responsible for the implementation of this Decision.

PRIME MINISTER

(Signed)

Nguyen Xuan Phuc
The rating actions follow Moodys affirmation of Vietnams B1 sovereign rating, and change in the outlook for the sovereigns rating to positive from stable on April 28.

Bank Changes in ratings An Binh Commercial Joint Stock Bank - BCA and Adjusted BCA at b2, no change - Affirm foreign currency long-term bank deposit ratings at B2; outlook stable - Affirm local currency long-term bank deposit ratings at B2; outlook positive - Affirm local and foreign currency long-term issuer ratings at B2; outlook positive - Long-term CR Assessment at B1(cr), no change - Affirm local currency and foreign currency short-term deposit ratings at NP - Affirm local currency and foreign currency short-term issuer ratings at NP - Short-term CR Assessment at NP(cr), no change - Outlook changed to Stable(m) from Stable Asia Commercial Bank - BCA and Adjusted BCA at b2, no change - Affirm foreign currency long-term bank deposit ratings at B2; outlook stable - Affirm local currency long-term bank deposit ratings at B2; outlook positive - Affirm local and foreign currency long-term issuer ratings at B2; outlook positive - Long-term CR Assessment at B1(cr), no change - Affirm local currency and foreign currency short-term deposit ratings at NP - Affirm local currency and foreign currency short-term issuer ratings at NP - Short-term CR Assessment at NP(cr), no change - Outlook changed to Stable(m) from Stable Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam - BCA and Adjusted BCA at b2, remained review for upgrade - Affirm foreign currency long-term bank deposit ratings at B2; outlook stable - Affirm local currency long-term bank deposit ratings at B1; outlook positive - Affirm local and foreign currency long-term issuer ratings at B1; outlook positive - Long-term CR Assessment at B1(cr), remained review for upgrade - Affirm local currency and foreign currency short-term deposit ratings at NP - Affirm local currency and foreign currency short-term issuer ratings at NP - Short-term CR Assessment at NP(cr), no change - Outlook changed to Stable(m) from Stable Bank for Investment & Development of Vietnam - BCA and Adjusted BCA at caa1, no change - Affirm foreign currency long-term bank deposit ratings at B2; outlook stable - Affirm local currency long-term bank deposit ratings at B1; outlook positive - Affirm local and foreign currency long-term issuer ratings at B1; outlook positive - Long-term CR Assessment at B1(cr), no change - Affirm local currency and foreign currency short-term deposit ratings at NP - Affirm local currency and foreign currency short-term issuer ratings at NP - Short-term CR Assessment at NP(cr), no change - Outlook changed to Stable(m) from Stable Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank - BCA and Adjusted BCA at b2, no change - Affirm foreign currency long-term bank deposit ratings at B2; outlook stable - Affirm local currency long-term bank deposit ratings at B2; outlook positive - Affirm local and foreign currency long-term issuer ratings at B2; outlook positive - Long-term CR Assessment at B1(cr), no change - Affirm local currency and foreign currency short-term deposit ratings at NP - Affirm local currency and foreign currency short-term issuer ratings at NP - Short-term CR Assessment at NP(cr), no change - Outlook changed to Stable(m) from Stable Vietnam International Bank - BCA and Adjusted BCA at b2, no change - Affirm foreign currency long-term bank deposit ratings at B2; outlook stable - Affirm local currency long-term bank deposit ratings at B2; outlook positive - Affirm local and foreign currency long-term issuer ratings at B2; outlook positive - Long-term CR Assessment at B1(cr), no change - Affirm local currency and foreign currency short-term deposit ratings at NP - Affirm local currency and foreign currency short-term issuer ratings at NP - Short-term CR Assessment at NP(cr), no change - Outlook changed to Stable(m) from Stable Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade - BCA and Adjusted BCA at b2, no change - Affirm foreign currency long-term bank deposit ratings at B2; outlook stable - Affirm local currency long-term bank deposit ratings at B1; outlook positive - Affirm local and foreign currency long-term issuer ratings at B1; outlook positive - Affirm foreign currency senior unsecured rating at B1; outlook positive - Long-term CR Assessment at B1(cr), no change - Affirm local currency and foreign currency short-term deposit ratings at NP - Affirm local currency and foreign currency short-term issuer ratings at NP - Short-term CR Assessment at NP(cr), no change - Outlook changed to Stable(m) from Stable Vietnam Technological and Commercial JSB - BCA and Adjusted BCA at b2, no change - Affirm foreign currency long-term bank deposit ratings at B2; outlook stable - Affirm local currency long-term bank deposit ratings at B2; outlook positive - Affirm local and foreign currency long-term issuer ratings at B2; outlook positive - Long-term CR Assessment at B1(cr), no change - Affirm local currency and foreign currency short-term deposit ratings at NP - Affirm local currency and foreign currency short-term issuer ratings at NP - Short-term CR Assessment at NP(cr), no change - Outlook changed to Stable(m) from Stable

The baseline credit assessments (BCAs), adjusted BCAs and counterparty risk assessments assigned to the eight banks are unaffected by todays rating actions.

The credit ratings, assessments and outlooks assigned to the other seven Moodys-rated banks in Vietnam are unaffected by the outlook change on the Vietnam sovereign rating. These seven unaffected banks are: (1) Ho Chi Minh City Development JSC Bank (B2 stable), (2) Saigon  Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (B2 stable), (3) Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint-Stock Bank (Sacombank, B3 negative), (4) Tien Phong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (B2 stable), (5) Vietnam Maritime Commercial Joint Stock Bank (B3 positive), (6) Vietnam Prosperity JSC Bank (B3 stable) and (7) Orient Commercial Joint Stock Bank (B2 stable).

Todays rating actions on the eight Vietnamese banks are driven by Moodys affirmation on April 28 of Vietnams B1 sovereign rating, and the change in the countrys rating outlook to positive from stable on the same date.

Vietnams sovereign credit strength is a key input in Moodys deposit and issuer ratings for Vietnamese banks, because the countrys credit strength affects Moodys assessment of the governments capacity to provide support to the banks in times of stress.

Moodys revision of the outlook on Vietnams B1 sovereign rating to positive from stable signals the governments potentially higher capacity to provide such support to the banks.

The positive outlook on the Vietnamese government rating is based on Moodys expectations that strong foreign direct investment inflows, fostered by ongoing economic reform, will continue to diversify the economy and enhance economic performance when compared to rating peers; macroeconomic and external stability will be maintained; and the resulting strong growth and stable macroeconomic environment will help stabilise government debt around current levels.

The B2 foreign currency deposit ratings of the eight Vietnamese banks were affirmed with stable outlooks, because these ratings are constrained by the B2 foreign currency deposit ceiling for Vietnam.

If the B1 rating on the Vietnamese government is upgraded, Moodys will likely upgrade the long-term ratings of the eight Vietnamese banks stated above, by incorporating additional notches of public support uplift.

The long-term ratings of the eight Vietnamese banks could be downgraded if there is a severe deterioration in their credit fundamentals, and Moodys assesses that government support for the banks has weakened.
US President Donald Trump meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas (L) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP)

"We will get it done," Trump said, flaunting his deal-making prowess during a first meeting with the veteran Palestinian leader that marked the start of an ambitious - some say quixotic - presidential effort.

Brushing aside the complexities of a decades-old conflict that has beguiled successive US leaders, Trump told Abbas that together with the Israelis they could bag "the toughest deal to make."

"It is something that I think is frankly, maybe not as difficult as people have thought over the years," Trump said, exuding his trademark bravado.

Eighty-two-year-old Abbas - a veteran of innumerable US, European, UN and Arab peace initiatives - echoed Trump's upbeat tone.

"Our strategic option, our strategic choice is to bring about peace," he said, praising Trump's "courageous stewardship" and "great negotiating ability."

"We believe that we can ... be true partners to you to bring about a historic peace under your stewardship."

But there was also a hint of the thicket that awaits the neophyte US president.

"Mr President, it's about time for Israel to end its occupation of our people and our lands," Abbas said, listing demands that the current Israeli government has baulked at.

Among them, the right of return for Palestinians to lands currently held by Israel and the establishment of a Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem and based on 1967 borders.

'GAP NEVER GREATER'

The two men's upbeat tone contrasted sharply with that of veteran Middle East watchers.

According to former White House official Dennis Ross, the gap between Israelis and Palestinians "has probably never been greater."

"As someone who's worked on this for the last 30 years, I don't think we've ever been at a lower point," he said ahead of the meeting.

Trump's long-shot effort to bring Middle East peace got off to a rocky start when he renounced support for a Palestinian state and vowed to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, breaking two tenets of American policy held for decades.

But receiving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House early in his term, Trump also showed he was willing to press Israel on West Bank settlement building, a longstanding concern of Palestinians and much of the world.

On Wednesday, Trump offered no prescriptions for what a deal should look like, only saying that he would play the role of "a mediator, or an arbitrator, or a facilitator."

"Any agreement cannot be imposed by the United States, or by any other nation," Trump said.

During his four months in office, Trump has struggled to translate his skill in achieving business deals into effective governance.

Efforts to overhaul health care, the tax system and government spending have faltered, despite Trump's Republican party controlling not only the White House but both houses of Congress.

Hady Amr, who had three decades of Middle East experience before working on the peace process full time for secretary of state John Kerry, told AFP that Trump's Middle East push could similarly falter.

"When I was put into this job 24/7, three a half years ago," Amr said, it was even more complex than he had thought.

"I hope I'm wrong, but I think that the president will discover, as he discovered about health care, that there is a reason it hasn't been solved."

'HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY'

Abbas also makes an unlikely dealmaker. He made the trip to Washington while politically unpopular back home, with polls suggesting most Palestinians want him to resign.

His term was meant to expire in 2009, but he has remained in office with no elections held.

Palestinians are watching closely, including the leader of the radical Hamas movement Khaled Meshaal, who called on Trump to break with past approaches to Middle East peace.

"This is a historic opportunity to pressure Israel ... to find an equitable solution for the Palestinian people," he told CNN.

Hamas on Tuesday released a policy document that for the first time indicates a willingness to accept the idea of a Palestinian state within the borders that emerged after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, although it stops short of recognising Israel.

But Abbas will be encouraged that Trump did not publicly demand that the Palestinians cut funding to prisoners and their families.

That could pose major domestic political headaches for Abbas, as he battles unpopularity and challenges from rival factions.

"Mr President, I affirm to you that we are raising our youth, our children, our grandchildren on a culture of peace," Abbas said.
The information was shared by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in a report to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

By India Today Web Desk: Nearly 10 days after 25 CRPF jawans were ambushed and killed by Naxals in Sukma, 10 Naxals, believed to be involved in the attack, have been arrested.

The information was shared by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in a report to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

In neighbouring Jharkhand, security forces today recovered a cache of over a dozen arms and more than 3,000 rounds of ammunition as part of an anti-Naxal operation in Lohardaga district.

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In the joint operation by CRPF and state police, a light machine gun (LMG), a semi-automatic US made rifle, an AK 47, a self loading rifle (SLR), three INSAS rifles, six other guns and some communication gadgets were seized from a hideout.

HAVE TO STOP NAXAL ATTACKS

Minister of State (Home) Hansraj Ahir is in Chhattisgarh to review the anti-Naxal strategy. He is also expected to visit Bastar, the Naxal stronghold.

After visiting the injured jawans in Raipur, Hansraj Ahir said, "It has become our duty to stop these Naxal attacks".

In a message to Naxals, Ahir was quoted by ANI as saying, "What they are doing is unnecessary. Everything can work according to the Constitution".

Following the April 24 attack by Naxals, the Ministry of Home Affairs had sought a report from the CRPF on what went wrong in Sukma.

The 74 Battalion of CRPF was ambushed by Naxals between Burkapal and Chintagufa in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh.

The Naxals triggered an IED blast and then started firing indiscriminately at the CRFP jawans. According to a CRPF jawan who survived the attack, Naxals had first sent villagers to trace the location of the battalion.

INTELLIGENCE FAILURE

The MHA felt that the Sukma attack points to a leadership failure and calls for a need to overhaul the anti-Naxal strategy in Maoist-infested regions.

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

According to sources in the CRPF, senior officers in the force felt that its men were let by Chhattisgarh Police who failed to provide intelligence on a possible attack.

The village near which the attack took place was nearly empty when Naxals attacked the CRPF battalion.

(Inputs from Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu)

ALSO READ:

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

Amit Shah to India Today: Sukma attack a reflection of the suppression of Maoists and Naxalism

After Sukma attack, CRPF gets new director general to fight Naxal menace

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Watch Video: CRPF nabs 4 Maoists involved in Sukma attack that killed 25 jawans

--- ENDS ---
Waste-to-power will draw on the three million tonnes of waste produced annually- Photo: Le Toan

Sydney-based Trisun Energy announced plans last week to build up to 20 green energy waste treatment plants across Vietnam. These energy power generators could replace the need for coal-fired power plants in the future.

We plan to build the second plant in Hanoi and then spread to other locations throughout the country, said a statement on the companys website.

Trisun is currently completing a comprehensive study of a waste-to-power plant in Ho Chi Minh City. The company expects to spend around $520 million equipping the facility with plasma torches that reach temperatures of 3,000-7,000 degrees Celsius. The torches will be used to incinerate up to 2,000 tonnes of waste per day.

According to the company statement, Trisun expects that each of the plants will employ more than 200 staff and become a major employer in the regions where its plants are built over the next five-to-10 years.

Trisun also plans to set aside a fund for ongoing sustainability, and research and development in environment-related industries and sciences.

Trisun has set its ambition on becoming the main supplier of clean electricity in Vietnam in the years to come. The company aims to put a stop to the trend of burning fossil fuels, which produces toxic emissions and other environmental pollutants. Trisun believes this change in practice will ultimately improve air quality and eliminate the need for landfills that leach chemicals into water.

The Japanese company Toyobo Co., Ltd. last year planned to invest in a waste-to-power plant in Ho Chi Minh City. Toyobo proposed treating waste in the city by using microbial fermentation, and then converting the resulting products into organic materials used to generate energy.

Another Japanese investor, Hitachi Zosen Corporation, has also shown interest in building a waste-to-power generation plant in Ho Chi Minh City.

This particular plant would process up to 1,000 tonnes of waste per day, and produce between 20,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) and 30,000kWh of power  enough to meet the power demand of nearly 10,000 homes in the area.

Notably, these projects are coming to fruition in the context of Vietnams rapid urbanisation. Urbanisation which has led to ever-growing amounts of industrial waste combined with the increasing concerns regarding power shortages.

Vietnam currently produces three million tonnes of industrial waste per year. Hanoi alone is expected to treat an estimated 2.7 million tonnes of waste per year by 2020.

Countries in Southeast Asia still employ the use of waste landfills, but a lack of land and increasing concerns over contamination are starting to emerge. Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam are increasingly turning to renewable energy solutions that also manage the waste problem, according to Japans New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation.

Vietnams first green energy waste-to-power facility in the Nam Son waste treatment complex began supplying electricity to the national power grid last week. This $29.2 million project was developed by Japans Hitachi Zosen Corporation and Hanoi Urban Environment Company.


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Workers from some 20 unions and workers associations gathered on Monday in central Phnom Penh to demand better working conditions and protections.

The peaceful march was met by more than 100 riot police equipped with shields, batons and smoke grenades who blocked the march to parliament, where protesters had planned to deliver a petition calling for a minimum annual salary of $3,000, claiming they were a threat to national security.

The petition also called for better social security and healthcare provision, a revision of the trade union law, and increased occupational safety protections.

Doak Sovann, a garment worker who was one of an estimated 1,000 attendees, said she had joined the march to demand better wages and conditions.

Workers have not yet accessed working rights at their workplace and the factories do not respect workers rights, she said. Workers are still being threatened, especially the leaders of unions.

Lawmakers from the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party accepted the petition and ordered police to break up the march at about 11am.

Lork Kheng, a CPP spokeswoman, promised protesters that she would deliver the petition directly to Heng Samrin, president of the National Assembly and the Prime Minister Hun Sen to facilitate the development of our nation.

Ath Thorn, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union, said the official obstruction of the march was a restriction of freedom of expression and assembly and unconstitutional.

I hope that parliament and the government will resolve the problem. If they dont resolve the problem, support from workers will decrease. If they want to keep their seats in parliament, lawmakers, senators, the prime minister, and other authorities must resolve the problem, he said.
A Cambodian court on Tuesday issued a warrant for the arrest of a prominent U.S.-based journalist accused of posing as a politicians assistant to gain access to political prisoners.

Huot Vuthy, known by his pen name Chun Chanboth, the vice president of Radio Free Asia Khmer service, allegedly posed last month as an assistant to an opposition MP to gain entry to Prey Sar prison, where several opposition members and dissidents are being held on questionable charges.

He was called to appear in court on Tuesday, but had left Cambodia on Friday, according to officials.

The warrant, issued by Phnom Penh Municipal Court deputy prosecutor Seang Sok, calls on law enforcement to arrest Vuthy on false declaration or fraud charges, which are punishable by up to three years in prison and a fine.

Vuthy and Radio Free Asia have denied the allegations and said he would not attend legal proceedings in Cambodia.

A statement from Radio Free Asia said it feared the politicization of the case ahead of local elections in June.

By pursuing this case against him, despite widespread opinion that his alleged actions do not merit prosecution, authorities have only underscored the poor state of free press in Cambodia, it reads.

Rohot Mahajan, a Radio Free Asia spokesman, said the broadcaster had employed the services of a well-known law firm with a view to having the charges dropped.

We are working with the BNG law firm with, as I understand it, the possibility of having the charges and/or case dismissed, he said.

Chin Malin, justice spokesman, said that despite Vuthy leaving Cambodia the court can still sentence him in absentia once the court determines he was involved.

Vuthy could not be reached for comment.

The two opposition lawmakers who organized the prison visit, Mu Sochua and Long Ry, were also summoned for questioning last week.

Cambodia dropped four places in Reporters Without Borders annual World Press Freedom Index last week, falling behind the Philippines and Myanmar.
Two disused shipping containers were dumped in the waters off the island of Koh Rong Sanloem last Saturday in an effort to create a better marine environment and protect coral reefs, a navy official said.

Tea Sokha, the son of navy commander Tea Vinh and nephew of defense minister Tea Banh, who led the project, told VOA Khmer that the containers were placed in the ocean to encourage the growth of coral, which has been damaged by fishing off Cambodias southern coast.

He said coral had been artificially placed on the containers in the hope it would provide food and shelter to other marine wildlife.

Some fishermen do not understand how coral works. They drag [fishing nets] that affect the coral reef. On the other hand, [we] dropped the containers to preserve some [marine] lives. We also planted coral reefs on the containers, which will become a shelter for marine lives and coral reefs, he said.

He added that a large boat would also be sunk into the water off the island, a popular diving spot for tourists, in an attempt to repair the damage done by fishing.

Yes, there will be boat ... that the fish could get in and live there, he said, adding that as well as protecting the areas biodiversity, officials hoped the move would encourage tourism.

Well drop [them] where it works and where it could also attract tourists who like to come and dive in the sea, so they could see [marine lives] easily.

Yun Min, Preah Sihanouk provincial governor, appealed to fishermen to help protect our sea.
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The U.S. president and the leader of the Palestinian Authority pledged Wednesday at the White House to try to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough for Middle East peace. The meeting comes a couple of months after Donald Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. VOA White House bureau chief Steve Herman reports.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said his first meeting with President Donald Trump left him hopeful, but he did not appear to have come away with any achievements that move the needle on Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Abbas said he believes the Trump administration can play an important role as a mediator, and the U.S. president indeed restated his ambition to facilitate the deal that has eluded negotiators for over two decades.

But he also said outsiders cannot impose terms on the parties - which some see as a coded warning that there are limits to the U.S. willingness to invest political capital. Some peace proponents on both sides have concluded that only massive international, regional or American pressure or enticements might break the impasse.

Abbas also does not appear to have secured U.S. backing for pressure on Israel to end settlement construction in the lands the Palestinians claim for a future state - a major goal for the embattled Palestinian leader.

Still, the very fact that the meeting was held was an improvement for Abbas over the early weeks of the Trump administration, when the Palestinians felt ignored and frozen out. And Trump does appear to be stalling on his stated intention to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which the Palestinians fervently oppose.

Trump struck an optimistic note Wednesday, saying he believes an Israeli-Palestinian deal can be reached. He did not explain what type of solution he envisions.

Abbas told reporters after the White House meeting that "what is needed is to bring the two parties together, to bring them closer and then to facilitate things between them."

The Palestinians want to set up a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. Abbas reiterated the demand as he stood next to Trump at the White House.

However, there have been no serious negotiations since gaps widened with the 2009 election of Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel's prime minister. Netanyahu rejects the 1967 frontier as a baseline for border talks and rules out a partition of Jerusalem where Palestinians hope to establish a capital. The Netanyahu government, like those before it, have expanded settlements on war-won lands, despite U.S. appeals to curb construction.

Despite the lack of specifics, Abbas described his meeting with Trump as positive and said that "we build hopes on it."

"So far, we didn't talk about a mechanism, but the contacts between us and the Americans began and will continue," he said.

Abbas said he is ready to meet with Netanyahu, and suggested the Israeli leader is avoiding such talks.

"We had planned to meet in Moscow, but he didn't show up," Abbas said, referring to Russian efforts several months ago to set up such a meeting.

Netanyahu has said he is willing to meet with Abbas. In the past, Abbas balked at the idea of such a summit, saying it would be pointless without general agreement on the framework of negotiations and a significant curb in settlement construction. Abbas did not explain his apparent shift in position.

On Thursday, Netanyahu said he looks forward to discussing with Trump the "best ways to advance peace." Trump is reportedly visiting Israel at the end of the month, although no official announcement has been made.

He said Abbas's comments Wednesday that Palestinians are cultivating a culture of peace "are unfortunately not true," pointing to Palestinian schools named after militants who killed Israelis. "But I hope that it's possible to achieve a change and to pursue a genuine peace. This is something Israel is always ready for, Netanyahu said.

U.S. officials said ahead of the meeting that Trump would press Abbas to end payments to families of Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails. Three Republican senators urged a halt to such payments in a letter to Trump that reflected widespread opinion in Congress.

A senior U.S. official said Tuesday that the issue of payments had been raised in preliminary talks with the Palestinians in Washington. Abbas has said the issue was not raised in his talks with Trump. However, officials close to the talks said it would be addressed in future meetings.

Abbas' positive portrayal of the meeting with Trump may not be enough for a skeptical public at home. Many Palestinians have become disillusioned with Abbas' strategy, after two decades of intermittent U.S.-led negotiations ended in failure while Israeli settlements keep expanding.

In the West Bank, the main focus appears to be a hunger strike by hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, now in its 18th day.

At the time of the Abbas-Trump meeting, several thousand Palestinians attended a solidarity rally for the prisoners, with speakers calling for a new campaign of civil disobedience against Israeli rule.

The hunger strike is led by imprisoned uprising leader Marwan Barghouti, widely seen as the most popular choice to succeed the 82-year-old Abbas one day. Barghouti, in prison since 2002, is serving five life terms after an Israeli court convicted him of directing attacks that killed five people during a Palestinian uprising against Israel.

The turnout at the rally "reflects the people's support for the prisoners at a time when the Palestinian leadership failed in everything," said Sharif Suleiman, a 32-year-old project manager who attended the gathering. "They failed in negotiations, in building institutions and in reforms."

Abbas also faces fierce opposition from his main political rival, the Islamic militant group Hamas, which seized Gaza from him in a 2007 takeover. Hamas has dismissed Abbas' strategy of negotiations as a waste of time and said he does not represent the Palestinians.

After a decade of failed reconciliation attempts, Abbas recently adopted a tougher stance toward Hamas, saying he would use financial pressure to force the militants to cede ground.

His West Bank-based autonomy government announced this week that it will stop paying for electricity Israel sends to power-starved Gaza - about $11 million a month.

Hamas has said it would not bow to pressure from Abbas.
As Africa grapples with a severe drought, and famine threatens millions of people, experts at the World Economic Forum on Africa this week in the South African city of Durban say food security needs to be a major part of discussions on advancing the continent economically.



The annual World Economic Forum in Switzerland is usually a high-powered event, but at this weeks Africa meeting of the international organization, the continents big players are welcoming the humble farmer, now known as the agripreneur.



Agricultural economist Paul Makube, with South Africas First National Bank, told VOA it makes sense to talk about farming when discussing building competitive markets, and boosting innovation and technology.



For business to prosper, you need a situation where there is stability, and in terms of food supply, and also production, for the various regions of Southern Africa and Africa as a whole, he said.

Economists and agricultural experts say, Africas current food crisis cannot be blamed solely on a drought that has devastated large swaths of the continent. Drought, along with serious conflict, has doomed millions of people to dire hunger in Somalia, South Sudan and the Lake Chad Basin of West Africa. But, experts say, there are serious problems in African farming  mainly the inability of subsistence farmers to make the leap into making a profit.



Their obstacles include a lack of infrastructure to get goods to markets, competition from cheap imported food, government policies that do not offer enough support, unavailability of farmers insurance, and limited access to technology.





The Grow Africa partnership works to increase private sector investment in agriculture, and its executive director, William Asiko, said he has seen the success of farming cooperatives in his native Kenya.



Supporting smallholder commercial farmers has got much more benefit for countries, certainly it has worked in East Africa, where you have a lot of subsistence farming and you are now producing surplus with all the work that has been done with productivity. It is about making sure the cooperative system is working well so that farmers can aggregate their produce, get a better price at the market, and then working with processors and making sure the policies are in place for them to invest and work with these farmers, he said.



And the problem is demographic, said Birju Patel of the South Africa-based Export Trading Group.



The average age of small-scale farmers in Africa is between 60 to 65 years. That is retirement age for everyone in this room, right? Now, how do you engage the youth to get involved in farming? So that is the big challenge for us now. And, obviously moving ahead with how the rest of the world is progressing, we feel technology is going to play a big part in that, said Patel.



Growing Africas next crop of agripreneurs will not be easy, experts say. It will take major investments in money, time, and attention, but they say the fruits of this labor are necessary to feed this continents economic growth.
Sources said commanders in the Valley are feeling the impact of the order as officers are hesitating in taking strict measures while dealing with terrorists' sympathizers.

By Ajit Kumar Dubey: The Indian Army is studying the implications of a Supreme Court direction for mandatory registration of FIRs against armed forces personnel in encounter deaths even in areas where the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) is invoked as it feels its operations in places like Jammu and Kashmir may get tied up.

"We are doing a detailed analysis of the Supreme Court order as we feel that this may tie down our men and officers in the areas like Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast. We will seek clarity and directions from the government in this regard as the protection given to us under the AFSPA seems to be getting away," sources in the Army told Mail Today.

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Sources said the commanders on ground in the Valley, which is going through a turbulent period, are feeling the impact of the order as officers are hesitating in taking strict measures while dealing with terrorists' sympathizers and stone-pelting mobs out to attack military personnel and vehicles.

"The matter has already been brought to the notice of the top brass in the force and they are planning to take it up with the Defence Ministry for issuing further instructions to the forces deployed there," they said.

NO TO EXCESSIVE OR RETALIATORY FORCE

The Supreme Court decision restrains the army from using "excessive or retaliatory force" in the country's conflict regions and ordered investigations into hundreds of alleged extra-judicial killings in Manipur between 1979 and 2012.

In July last year, the apex court had ruled that despite AFSPA, the armed forces cannot use "excessive and retaliatory force" in Manipur.

The AFSPA was first invoked in 1958 for dealing with the insurgency in Nagaland while it was later extended to Manipur and then to Jammu and Kashmir in 1990 after Pakistan-supported Islamic terrorists started attacks on military and Hindus there.

"When the Army was deployed there, the troops would be working under the protection of the AFSPA but after this order, it seems the immunity given to the troops for ensuring national security under pressure conditions would be blown away," the sources said.

The AFSPA provides immunity to Army men from inquiry by police for deaths and excesses committed during operations against insurgents and militants.

"The order seems to have changed the law enacted by Parliament of India and we will have to ask government as to how do we fight terrorists and handle the situation in the areas impacted by this order," the sources said.

CENTRE OPPOSED THE SC DIRECTION

The Centre had also opposed the direction in the court saying this could jeopardise efforts to maintain peace and security in these areas. The Centre had filed a curative petition in the apex court on the issue last week. A curative petition is the last legal recourse available after a litigant exhausts all remedies such as appeals and review pleas.

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The Centre had said, "If the position maintained by the impugned order continues, it may one day be well-nigh impossible to maintain peace and security."

"The Indian Army has to, in given circumstances, take quick decisions which cannot be dissected later on like an ordinary murder appeal. In other words, the scope of judicial review against active military operations cannot be on the same parameters as in other situations.

Therefore, action taken by Army during operations cannot be put to judicial scrutiny," the government argued.

In the recent times with rising violence levels at the behest of Pakistan Army and Islamic terror groups based across the border, the need for giving more freedom to the forces operating there has been felt but the order may result otherwise.

In the last few years, there have been demands from several quarters, including the mainstream parties in Jammu and Kashmir, to repeal or relax the AFSPA from certain parts of the state. Human rights groups have also called the law draconian. But the security forces have staunchly opposed the removal of the law.

ALSO READ | India hits back after jawans mutilated on LoC; Army kills 7 Pakistani soldiers, destroys 2 enemy bunkers

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ALSO READ | Krishna Ghati beheadings: Indian Army prepared to give befitting reply to Pakistan

ALSO WATCH | Jammu and Kashmir: 2 jawans killed as Pakistan fires rockets at Indian posts in Poonch

--- ENDS ---
An American company that was paid nearly $700 million to secure an Iraqi base for F-16 fighter jets turned a blind eye to alcohol smuggling, theft, security violations, and allegations of sex trafficking  then fired investigators who uncovered wrongdoing, an Associated Press investigation has found.

Documents and interviews with two former internal investigators and a half-dozen former or current Sallyport Global staff describe schemes at Iraqs Balad Air Base that were major contract violations at best and, if proven, illegal.

The fired investigators, Robert Cole and Kristie King, said they uncovered evidence that Sallyport employees were involved in human trafficking for prostitution. Staff on base routinely flew in smuggled alcohol in such high volumes that a plane once seesawed on the tarmac under the weight. Rogue militia stole enormous generators using flatbed trucks and a 60-foot crane, driving right past Sallyport security guards.

 Online: Read documents about Sallyports activities in Iraq

From Iraq to Virginia

The trouble stretches to headquarters in Reston, Virginia, say the investigators and other ex-employees interviewed by AP. They say much of what they uncovered was not revealed to the U.S. government, which was footing the $686 million contracting bill, until early this year  after an auditor started asking questions.

The investigators were fired abruptly March 12  just two months ago  and immediately flown out of Iraq. They say they had been looking into timesheet fraud allegations and were set to interview company managers, whom they considered suspects.

I feel like they got us out so quickly because they feel like we knew too much, King said in an interview. When we finally got the idea that they were hiding all of the stuff from the U.S. government, it was mind-blowing.

Sallyport statement

In a statement to the AP, Sallyport said it follows all contracting rules at the base, home to a squadron of F-16s that are indispensable to the operations of the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State group.

Sallyport has a strong record of providing security and life support services in challenging war zones like Iraq and plays a major but unheralded role in the war against ISIS, Chief Operating Officer Matt Stuckart wrote. The company takes any suggestion of wrongdoing at Balad very seriously.

In one allegation, informants told the investigators that flight line staff, who directed airplanes on the runways and handled cargo, were showing up drunk. At one point they passed around a bowl of gummy bears soaked in vodka .

Alcohol on base was restricted, but the booze was everywhere, smuggled in by plane, several former employees told The AP. According to investigative documents and witnesses, empty suitcases were loaded onto Baghdad-bound roundtrip flights. The bags returned packed with alcohol-filled plastic water bottles that skirted security  a significant risk in a war zone.

Stuckart said Sallyport stood by its security procedures and got high marks from the U.S. Air Force.

But Steve Anderson, who worked on flight logistics, says he was told by managers to sign off on manifests he knew had been falsified to hide alcohol and guns. The planes were so heavy that one tipped over nose-first while parked, like a seesaw, he recalled.

When he raised concerns, it was suggested he find a new job, said Anderson, whose position was soon eliminated.

Under Iraqi control

Balad is controlled by the Iraqi government. Americans have been there off and on since 2003. The base was evacuated in June 2014, when IS began overrunning Iraqi territory.

When the Americans returned, Sallyports job was to keep Balad safe for the F-16s  and their Iraqi pilots. The contract required investigations into potential crimes and contract violations. That was the job of Cole and King.

On July 13, 2015, four F-16s landed at the base, the first of a planned 36 from the U.S. Trouble came within 24 hours, when a long skid mark appeared on the tarmac, stopping about 45 yards from a jet in the no-go area.

A truck driver had lost control of his vehicle, but never reported it.

Three months later, Cole reported the theft of an armored Toyota SUV assigned to VIPs. His chief suspect was a Sallyport bodyguard. The Toyota was recovered within days; Cole was called off the case.

A former senior manager defended that order, telling the AP that negotiations with the militias were sensitive and needed Iraqi cooperation. He said the chief suspect was banned from the base, but Cole later saw the man walking around freely.

Security breaches continued. On Nov. 15, 2016, just before 2 a.m., militia drove three flatbeds onto the base, one equipped with a crane. After lifting three enormous generators onto the trucks, the militia drove away unchallenged.

Coles reports noted lax protection for the F-16s. Despite requirements to report major security breaches, the U.S. government was not informed until early this year about the truck skidding so close to an F-16, according to Cole and two other former Sallyport employees. Both spoke only on condition of anonymity because they did not want to jeopardize their current jobs.

Stumbling on to prostitution

As Cole and King sought to get to the bottom of the alcohol smuggling, they stumbled across a prostitution ring in Baghdad whose customers included Sallyport employees, informants said. They learned that four Ethiopians who had previously worked as prostitutes at the hotel had moved to Balad and were doing the same while moonlighting as Sallyport housekeepers.

Before either investigation was completed, a Sallyport executive in Virginia shut them down, they say. Stuckart said the prostitution allegations were not substantiated.

It is absurd to suggest that the company would shut down an inquiry into a matter of such gravity, he said.

By then, Cole and King had begun their investigation into complaints that Sallyport managers were falsifying timesheets and people were getting paid without working.

The investigators say company lawyers ordered them to keep two sets of books, which they interpreted as an attempt to deceive auditors.

One for the government to see and one for the government not to see, King said.

The company said that the investigators misinterpreted the instructions.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeatedly has warned that force will be used to end the presence of Kurdish groups YPG and PKK in Syria and Iraq.

"We do not differentiate between terrorist organizations. Daesh, YPG, al-Qaida are all the same for us," Erdogan said Wednesday at a press conference, with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.



Erdogan said the nation's forces will continue to carry out military operations across its southern borders. "It is better for them to live in fear than us being worried about terror attacks, Erdogan said Sunday, warning of a military cross-border operation.

Turkish jets struck the Iraqi Sinjar region last month, targeting the Syrian Kurdish militia the YPG and PKK.

Ankara asserts that the YPG is an affiliate of the PKK, which is fighting the Turkish government for greater minority rights, and is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union.

But Washington views the YPG as the most effective force in fighting so-called Islamic State in Syria.





Backed by U.S. forces, the Kurdish militia has made sweeping gains in the region against the jihadists.

As we speak, the PKK is building a new state, according to political consultant Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners, who says such success is forcing Ankaras hand.

I understand the Syrian Kurds' own aspirations to form a new state. But the human infrastructure, or governance infrastructure, is captured by PKK. The PYD and YPG is nothing but PKK, and Turkey cannot allow that, said Yesilada.

Turkish infantry and armor are steadily being built up along the border of regions under YPG control. Analysts suggest any incursion could seek to break up the corridor of territory carved out by the Syrian Kurdish militia, with Turkish forces seeking to work with local Arab tribes in the region.

In a move widely seen to deter further Turkish military action against the YPG, Washington and Moscow have deployed armed forces in Syrian and Iraqi Kurdish regions close to the Turkish frontier.

The deployment is part of a growing U.S. military presence, In Northern Syria there are four forward operation bases used by US armed forces as well as two military airstrips expanded, so the deployment is not insignificant, points out Aydin Selcen, a former senior Turkish diplomat who widely served across the region.



A Turkish presidential advisor has warned US forces could be inadvertently hit by future attacks. "It doesnt matter whether they [U.S.] are patrolling there. If those PKK terrorists continue their activities within Turkey, said presidential advisor Ilnur Cevik in a radio interview Wednesday. "Suddenly you could happen to see there are few missiles that hit them [Americans] accidentally, too!

Cevik later attempted to walk back the comment in a tweet,Turkey has never and will never hit its allies anywhere, and that includes the U.S. in Syria.



Experts warn that any cross-border operation carries major risks.

This would be an adventure, because Turkey has enough problems within the country, and Turkey has enough problems beyond its borders. Already there are substantial Turkish forces in Syria, said retired general Haldun Solmazturk, a veteran of past Turkish military incursions into Iraq against the PKK. "The last thing Turkey needs is a further intervention and further escalation, not only with the United States, but with Russia, with Damascus, with Arab countries, or Iran. I mean Turkey has already isolated itself enough."



During his Sochi meeting, Erdogan reportedly challenged Putin over Russian forces supporting Syrian Kurdish militia the YPG. Erdogan also is expected to press the issue during his meeting later this month with President Donald Trump.

Analysts suggest the threats to use the large Turkish military deployments on the Iraqi and Syrian border could be just a ploy by Erdogan to gain leverage with Moscow and Washington. But last month's Turkish airstrikes in Iraq, which took Turkeys allies by surprise, are a warning of the unpredictability of Ankara.

It also gives signal to the world, to coalition partners, that if Ankara believes it's being pushed into a corner, it can resort to military means, and so it keeps all options open on the table, oberved retired senior Turkish diplomat Selcen.



The growing centralization of power in Erdogans hands, which got a further boost in last months referendum, is seen as another factor making it hard to determine whether the president is bluffing over a cross-border operation.

"It cannot be ruled out, because President Erdogan is the single ultimate decision maker within the Turkish political system, points out Solmazturk, who heads the Ankara based think tank 21st Century Turkey Institute. "He is able to make any decision personally alone, overruling any opposing views. He has proven as before an unpredictable person, proven to change his mind from this hour to the next."

With rumors of a possible early election, the Turkish president also is courting nationalist voters.



Analysts point out Erdogan is well aware that the Turkish armys Operation Euphrates Shield into Syria, against both the YPG and IS, was overwhelmingly supported by the public.
The Asian Development Bank is holding its annual meeting in Japan, where bankers and leaders are assessing how they can support growth as income inequality grows in both rich and poor countries.

The ADB has worked for a half-century to fight poverty and support the regions ascent as a global center of growth, but poverty remains a daunting problem for such lenders. It estimates more than $26 trillion will be needed by 2030 to build roads, ports and other infrastructure required to support economic growth and cope with the repercussions of climate change.

The Manila, Philippines-based ADB began its annual meeting in Yokohama Thursday. In 2016, the ADB issued loans totaling $31.7 billion, up 18 percent from the year before.

Poverty a considerable burden

Asia needs all the help it can get in fighting poverty as both wealthy and poor nations grapple with widening inequality, former ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda, who is now Japans central bank governor, said in a speech earlier this week.

Poverty continues to be a considerable burden in Asia, he said.

The ADB has dozens of member nations but has been led by Japan and the U.S. since its founding in 1966.

Among many other projects, the ADB over the years has financed maternity clinics in Bangladesh, flood-control work in Chinese cities, tuna fishing in Indonesia, irrigation repairs in Nepal and fiber-optic cable connecting Tonga to the rest of the world.

It has begun co-financing some projects with the China-backed Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, which some critics view as a rival to traditional lenders like the ADB and World Bank.

Share of global commerce doubles

The past 50 years have seen Asias share in global commerce more than double to nearly a third of the total in 2015. Meanwhile, average lifespans have growth to 74 years in East Asia and the Pacific and to 68 in South Asia, from 49 years and 45 years, respectively.

But about 60 percent of the 1.5 billion people living in extreme poverty, on less than $1.90 a day, are in Asia.


Family lawyers often advise clients in an acrimonious divorce to keep face-to-face contact with estranged spouses to a minimum  best to leave the lawyers to handle the ugly financial details. Alas, last week a squabbling pair failed to heed the sage advice.

Britains Prime Minister Theresa May and the European Unions Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, had a dinner to discuss the terms of Britains exit from the EU. It wasnt a success.

According to media accounts, Juncker told May on his departure, I'm leaving Downing Street 10 times more skeptical than I was before. And the morning after the dinner, he informed German Chancellor Angela Merkel that May was living in another galaxy and a parallel reality. Since then both sides have been busy briefing the media with their version of what was said at the dinner and who is at fault for mounting tensions between London and Brussels.

Upcoming election



On Wednesday, May, who had avoided commenting directly herself on the dinner, leaving it to aides to do so, kicked off her partys election campaign with a full-blown and unusually strong attack on EU officials, accusing them of seeking to meddle in the British elections, wreck Brexit talks and damage Britain's economy.

No one believed Britains Brexit negotiations, slated to last two years, would be painless. But the sharp rhetoric in recent days, even before formal talks are entered, and the rising acrimony between London and Brussels, is beginning to persuade some that the chances of Britain crashing out of the EU without an exit agreement, and without a crucial trade deal, are mounting by the day.

Financial risks



International bankers think the risks are high. They are factoring in the strong possibility that Britain won't secure so-called passporting rights allowing financial institutions headquartered in London to trade in the EU as though Britain were still a member.

On Wednesday, the U.S. banking giant JP Morgan became the latest international financial company to say it would be moving some staff ahead of Britains formal exit from the EU.

Some of the insults being traded between Brussels and London should be seen as maneuvering ahead of serious negotiations.

The EU has hardened its stance noticeably. Brussels officials have increased in just a week the exit bill alone for Britain from $78 billion to $130 billion to cover liabilities and money London already committed for various EU projects and loans. They have also announced Britain will have no share in any EU assets after Brexit.

And its chief negotiator Michel Barnier has warned the exit bill is, in fact, non-negotiable and the consequences for Britain would be explosive, if it leaves the EU without paying it.

A new Thatcher?

Likewise, May is in a threatening pre-talks mood, presenting herself as the incarnation of the tough-minded Margaret Thatcher in a British election campaign that started formally on Wednesday, says Guardian newspaper columnist Jonathan Freedland.

What could be more exquisitely Thatcheresque than Theresa Mays promise to be a bloody difficult woman during upcoming Brexit negotiations? The phrase is a downmarket version of the Iron Lady sobriquet so gleefully embraced by Britains first female prime minister. They both tap into an archetype with deep roots in the national mythology: the warrior queen who defiantly defends these islands from hostile foreigners  Boudicca, Elizabeth I, Victoria, Britannia herself, he argues.

Launching her election campaign, May played to the idea that shes the only one able to defend Britain from Brussels. The choice the country faces now is very simple because there are only two people who can be prime minister after June 8 to negotiate Brexit. It is a choice between me and [Labour leader] Jeremy Corbyn, she said.

Maneuvering or not, acrimony can get out of control, sending squabbling, divorcing couples down trajectories they never planned on taking. And personal animus appears to be creeping in. Juncker on Wednesday tried to strike a more conciliatory tone, praising the tough British leader and saying he has deep respect for May. But theres deep anger on both sides  British officials were furious with leaks about last weeks dinner and accuse Juncker and his aides of being behind them.

Dan Mulhall, Irelands ambassador to Britain, called on leaders on both sides to take a deep breath and calm down. But it isn't clear the main players are ready to listen.
In Uganda, the case of a university lecturer jailed last month for allegedly insulting the president on Facebook has revived concern over what civil society groups say are growing efforts to limit freedom of expression in the country.

Civil society groups in Uganda continue to campaign for the release of Stella Nyanzi. She remains behind bars awaiting a bail hearing, charged over allegedly calling President Yoweri Museveni a pair of buttocks in an online post. The university researcher had been on a public campaign to urge the president to fulfill his promise to provide sanitary pads to poor school girls.

We are seeing a state that is increasingly becoming intolerant of free speech, of right for association and so we demand that Stella Nyanzi is freed, explained Catherine Kanabahita, the Executive Director of the Development Network of Indigenous Voluntary Association.

Ugandas constitution guarantees freedom of speech and expression, which the U.S. ambassador to Uganda, Debora Malac, pointed out during an event Wednesday for World Press Freedom Day.

Dr. Nyanzis case, however, shows that such constitutional rights and freedoms apparently have limits particularly when those opinions are critical of the countrys leaders, said Malac.

But deputy government spokesperson Colonel Shaban Bantariza told VOA social media must be regulated.

If you write insults for example in this newspaper, I can sue you, but am I able to sue you if you throw something on social media. Is there any law that would protect me and I would use to defend myself if I went to court against you? Its still hazy. Anybody who wants to insult others using social media, certainly the law must shut his mouth. If thats stifling, thats justified, he said.

The Public Order Management Act of 2013 limited public gatherings and demonstrations, something that rights activists say has pushed more Ugandans to express themselves online.

And the number of smartphone users has grown to 22 million, according to government statistics.

Jeff Wokulira Ssebaggala is the Chief Executive Officer of the Unwanted Witness, which seeks to create secure, uncensored online platforms in Uganda.

In a span of less than year, we have seen over five citizens have been arrested, have been summoned, have been interrogated, have been charged. And the popular charge has been offensive communication, he said.

Uganda is not alone. Cameroon, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia are among the other African countries that have begun policing online discourse. During the contested 2015 elections, Uganda cut access social media sites for days at a time. The government cited national security reasons.

Last month, parliament passed an amendment to the Uganda Communications Commissions Act that gives the Minister for Information, Communications and Technology enhanced power to regulate and restrict social media use without needing to seek the approval of parliament. That new law is currently before the president for his signature.

Ugandan human rights lawyer Nicholas Opio said attempts to police the internet may prove futile.

Presently what they are using is a raft of laws including the Computer Misuse Act, including Penal Code Act. So there is no single legislation yet, so what they are doing is resorting to other criminal laws to try and restrict social media, but I dont think people are going to be cowed away. They can threaten a few people but many more people are going to come, said Opio.

He pointed to the emerging use of pseudonyms to post online about the government and controversial topics in Uganda. Attempts over the past two years to identify the person behind one of the most well-known accounts, "Tom Okwalinga Voltare," have failed.
Farmers in some parts of Afghanistan are trying to revive pistachio crops as an alternative to the opium poppy crops, but they are running into problems with Taliban taking a cut to supplement its income.

"We work hard here to cultivate pistachio and benefit well," said Ata Mohammad, a farmer in Herat province's Karrokh district. "This crop is better than others. This is a productive and Halal [legitimate or religiously legal] crop."

The pistachio, a hardy tree that is more like a bush, originated in Central Asia and the Middle East. While California's crop helps the United States rank second in global production behind Iran, the nuts from traditional producers in the region are generally more coveted by connoisseurs. Herat's crop is exported to the Gulf countries, India, Turkey and some European countries, including Germany.

The trees used to grow wild in Afghanistan and were harvested by local villagers, but fell victim to a combination of drought, war and neglect. Forests, which once covered 450,000 hectares, were cut in half, according to the Agriculture Ministry. Many trees were felled for firewood.

The country now ranks ninth in worldwide production with a small fraction of the crop. Processing plants and marketing are scarce.

The national government, along with aid agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development, have been trying to nurture a resurgence to help Afghans find a sustainable, healthy and lucrative food source and to undercut the poppy crops that yield an estimated 90 percent of the world's heroin.

They have helped plant hundreds of thousands of seedlings, and there are plans for construction of storage facilities.

But safeguarding the pistachios has been a challenge, with the government shifting its security priorities to urban areas and leaving much of the rural area to the Taliban, which is now estimated to hold at least 40 percent of the country.

Herat Chamber of Commerce officials say most of the province's pistachio trees are in insurgent-dominated areas. They estimate that the Taliban is making several million Afghanis  less than $100,000 from the nuts  but other estimates suggest the insurgents could be making millions of dollars a year.

The situation has led to premature harvesting that officials say has cut pistachio hectares in the province from 15,000 to 12,000, impacting the country's reputation for quality. Herat exported only 120 tons of pistachio nuts last year.

"Unfortunately, due to insecurity and lack of government authority, the pistachio harvest is done prematurely, and it damages the agriculture and economy of Afghanistan enormously," said Saad Khatabi, president of the Herat Chamber of Commerce.

Jilani Farhad, spokesperson for Herat's governor, admits that insecurity exists and insurgents destroy the pistachio trees.

"God willing, the security will be ensured to safeguard pistachio tree terrains, and insurgents will be prevented from getting access to the area," Farhad said.

Farmers elsewhere in the country have similar complaints. In Kunduz province, they say the Taliban go around the areas they control and collect one-tenth of the harvest by force. Farmers say if they pay, Taliban use the money to buy weapons, prolonging the conflict. If they don't pay, however, there is a risk they would be killed.

Taliban fighters appeared during the harvest collection and beat those farmers who refused to pay the one-tenth of their harvest. Others also were threatened with jail time and torture if they refused to pay.
El Salvador proposed new measures on Wednesday to track criminal deportees from the United States as part of a bid to keep violent street gangs known as "Maras" from expanding as U.S. President Donald Trump vows to kick them out.

Salvadoran Vice President Oscar Ortiz said the government wants to create a database of criminal deportees overseen by police to make sure they do not join gangs after returning.

Ortiz said that deportees with criminal records would be classified according to the crime for which they were deported and may be forced by court order to appear before the police every month.

"The measure seeks to ensure that they are not engaged in illegal activities. That's to say, they should be making an effort to reinsert themselves into society, to build a normal life with their family," Ortiz told journalists.

A spike in deportations from the United States has stoked fears in El Salvador that the ranks of Maras, also known as the Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13, and other gangs may swell.

Last month Trump said that immigration policies under former President Barack Obama had allowed Maras to take root in U.S. cities.

"We are removing them fast!" Trump said on Twitter.

Ortiz did not specify when the proposal would be sent to Congress.

El Salvador has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, with some 81.7 out of 100,000 people murdered, according to the United Nations.

Deportations of Salvadorans from the United States rose 13 percent in the first four months of 2017 to 6,559, according to official immigration figures in the Central American country.
For the first time in years, piracy has returned to the coast of Somalia, with as many as six incidents reported in the last two months. But the European Union naval force patrolling the region, EU NAVFOR, says it continues to be successful in escorting ships carrying food aid to drought-stricken Somalia.

A spokesperson for the EU force, Lieutenant Commander Jacqueline Sherriff, told VOA's Somali Service that the force has not experienced a single attack on aid ships since it began protecting World Food Program (WFP) vessels in 2008.

Our warship will actually sail alongside a ship very closely to stop any pirates approaching but we also have another way of doing it...We can put a military protection team on board the WFP vessel itself," she said.

With two EU vessels patrolling Somalias coastal waters, helicopters overhead and help from partner nations, Sherriff believes the mission scares off most would-be pirates. In fact, she said, during one recent attack, pirates boarded a vessel and then fled when they heard over the radio that an EU warship was en route.

They know that were off the coast, so were hoping, were trying to deter them from coming out to sea in the first instance, she said.

The work is essential. Somalia is in the midst of a prolonged drought that has left about half of its 12 million people food insecure, the WFP reported. About 363,000 children below the age of 5 are acutely malnourished.

For affected people, food aid is a lifeline that is constantly in peril due to piracy and onshore violence.

Piracy had been virtually non-existent off the coast of Somalia since 2013 until earlier this year when the Aris 13, a Comoros-flagged tanker was hijacked, held briefly and then released along with its crew.

It is unclear what has caused the recurrence of attacks, but Sherriff believes it is a reminder that continued vigilance is needed.

The pirates, we believe, saw what they thought [were] opportunities to once again start attacking ships because theres lots of instability in the region and they felt that it was an opportunity to perhaps come out at sea, she said. So what they have been doing is launching their pirate action groups, you know, in groups of skiffs coming out and trying to attack ships. They have been successful but thankfully the vessels were not held for too long.

Illegal fishing

In addition to monitoring piracy, EU NAVFOR monitors the region for signs of illegal fishing. Recently, the force helped catch a Greek-owned trawler, GREKO 1, which was fishing illegally and was later fined $60,000.

Many Somalis, including pirates, blame illegal fishing for depleting the ocean and stealing wealth from the nation.

If we see a fishing vessel that is actively engaged in fishing off the coast of Somalia, we make a note of the vessel's name, the location and what type of fishing equipment it had deployed, Sherriff said.

She says the information is passed on the EU director general of maritime affairs, which assesses whether the vessel is engaged in illegal fishing.

This report was produced in collaboration with VOA's Somali Service.
Family members of San Bernardino terror attack victims sued Facebook, Google and Twitter, accusing the companies of providing platforms that help the Islamic State group spread propaganda, recruit followers and raise money.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Los Angeles alleges that the companies aided and abetted terrorism, provided material support to terrorist groups, and are liable for the wrongful deaths of three of the 14 victims killed in the Dec. 2, 2015, attack on a health department training event and holiday party.

Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, the husband-and-wife shooters who carried out the attack with high-powered rifles, were inspired by the Islamic State group, authorities said. Malik had pledged her allegiance to the group on her Facebook page around the time of the shooting, which also wounded 22 people.

The lawsuit mirrors claims targeting social media providers in courts around the country for deaths in attacks abroad and at home. The same lawyers have sued the same companies for the 2016 massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

Some of those lawsuits have been dismissed because federal law shields online providers from responsibility for content posted by users.

Facebook said it sympathizes with the victims and their families and that it quickly removes content by terrorist groups when it's reported.

"There is no place on Facebook for groups that engage in terrorist activity or for content that expresses support for such activity," the company said in a statement.

Google and Twitter didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

The lawsuit claims the companies don't do enough to block or remove accounts by the Islamic State group and they profit from ads placed next to IS postings. It also says Google shares revenue with the group.

"Without defendants Twitter, Facebook, and Google [YouTube], the explosive growth of ISIS over the last few years into the most feared terrorist group in the world would not have been possible," the lawsuit said, using an acronym for Islamic State.

The suit filed by relatives of Sierra Clayborn, Tin Nguyen, and Nicholas Thalasinos seeks unspecified monetary damages.
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey testified Thursday before the House Intelligence Committee in a closed-door session, part of the investigation into Russias activities during the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Representatives Mike Conaway and Adam Schiff said after Thursdays hearing that it provided committee members with a valuable opportunity to ask follow-up questions after an opening hearing with Comey and National Security Agency Director Michael Rogers last month.

In a joint statement, the representatives say the committee remains committed to working with the FBI as they continue their investigation to ensure that no stone is unturned.

The statement said the next step of the investigation is to hold witness interviews and an open hearing with former acting Attorney General Sally Yates, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and former CIA Director John Brennan.

Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday it makes him "mildly nauseous" to think his agency might have had an impact on Donald Trump winning the U.S. presidential election, after it reopened a probe into Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton days before the vote.

WATCH: Comey on his actions' impact on 2016 election



Comey told the panel he agonized over disclosing the new investigation into Clinton's handling of classified information on her private email server during her time as U.S. secretary of state. The renewed investigation came months after the FBI had cleared her of wrongdoing.

Comey said he decided it would have been "catastrophic" to conceal the information after having assured Congress the probe had been completed.

"It was a hard choice, but I still believe it was right," he said.

The FBI normally tries not to disclose investigations of candidates shortly before an election so it won't affect the outcome. But Comey said "not for a moment" did he consider whether the new probe might help Trump defeat Clinton in the November vote.

Comey made his revelation 11 days before the election, after investigators found thousands of Clinton's State Department emails on the computer of a disgraced former congressman, Anthony Wiener, the estranged husband of Clinton aide Huma Abedin.

On Tuesday, Clinton had partly blamed her loss on Comey.

A combination of Jim Comeys letter on October 28 and Russian WikiLeaks [of hacked emails related to her campaign] raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me but got scared off, she said. And the evidence for that intervening event is, I think, compelling and persuasive.

Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he did not see a way for him to take no action.

"I cant consider for a second whose political fortunes will be affected and in what way," he said. "We have to ask ourselves, what is the right thing to do? And do that thing."

Comey announced shortly before election day that the result of the new investigation was the same conclusion the FBI had reached earlier, that Clinton was "extremely careless" in handling her email but that no criminal charges were warranted.

Lawmakers also asked him Wednesday about the FBI's ongoing investigation of Russian meddling in the election to help Trump win, and possible collusion between Trump campaign aides and Russian interests. Comey said the FBI did not reveal the existence of that probe before the election because it had not been completed, and still hasn't been.

He was also critical of WikiLeaks, saying the organization's methods of publishing information make it a "conduit for the Russian intelligence services or some other adversary of the United States just to push out information to damage the United States."

Trump, in Twitter comments Wednesday, offered a distinctly different view than Clinton of Comey's actions, saying the FBI director "was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds!" when he cleared her of any wrongdoing in July.

Trump has largely dismissed FBI and congressional investigations into the U.S. intelligence community's finding that Moscow interfered to help him win.

"The phony Trump/Russia story was an excuse used by the Democrats as justification for losing the election," he said in a tweet. "Perhaps Trump just ran a great campaign?"



The FBI and congressional investigators have focused some of their attention on links between Trump's first national security adviser, retired Army General Michael Flynn, and Russia. Flynn accepted more than $30,000 to attend a 2015 dinner in Moscow celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Kremlin-controlled RT television network, sitting next to Russian president Vladimir Putin, and more than $500,000 to represent Turkey.

But Trump ousted Flynn after 24 days on the job when it was learned that he lied to Vice President Mike Pence and others about his contacts with the Russian ambassador to Washington in the weeks before Trump assumed power.

The Defense Department inspector general's office has opened an investigation into whether Flynn sought any permission, as he was specifically told to do when he retired from the military, to accept the payments from foreign governments.

The White House has said that in naming Flynn to the top White House security post, it relied on a security clearance he was given in 2016 by the Barack Obama administration.
It was a mix of awareness, implementation of laws and some deft administrative thinking on part of civic authorities in Indore and Bhopal that helped the cities move up in rankings over 2016.

By Rahul Noronha: Madhya Pradesh's top two cities, Indore and Bhopal have been rated number 1 and 2 respectively in the country in a survey conducted by the Urban Development Ministry under the Swacha Bharat Abhiyan. Indore was rated 25 last year while Bhopal was ranked 21.

So what brought about the massive jump in rankings with Indore moving 24 places and replacing Mysuru as the cleanest city in the country?

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It was a mix of awareness, implementation of laws and some deft administrative thinking on part of civic authorities in Indore and Bhopal that helped the cities move up in rankings over 2016.

"We decided to move to a garbage bin free approach to cleanliness," said Commissioner, Indore Municipal Corporation, Manish Singh, adding that having no bins made the door to door garbage collection in the city many times more efficient.

" Besides this, we ran a number of awareness campaigns on radio and TV. Civil society in Indore is very strong and political support to tough decisions such as imposing spot fines was also key in ensuring the improvement," he said.

In Bhopal, Municipal Commissioner Chhavi Bharadwaj gave credit to her organization and awareness among citizens as being responsible for the improvement.

" It is primarily about how much citizens own up to cleanliness in the city. Our effort has been associate citizens with the swachata process. A heightened sense of awareness about keeping the city clean and a motivated workforce driven by a will to make an impact helped us do better," she said.

A total of 434 cities were surveyed in 2017. The Union Urban Development ministry said that 80% of the 18 lakh people surveyed were happy with Swacha Bharat Mission.

MP has a total of 8 cities in the top 30. While Indore and Bhopal are ranked 1 and 2 respectively, Ujjain is at 12, Khargone is at 17, Jabalpur is at 21, Sagar is at 23, Katni is at 21 and Gwalior is at 27.

Also read:

Swachh Survekshan Survey 2017 says Indore India's cleanest city, Gonda in UP the dirtiest: All you need to know

India's cleanest cities announced, Indore tops the list. Has yours made the cut?

--- ENDS ---
Former President Barack Obama's national security adviser, Susan Rice, on Wednesday declined an invitation to testify at an upcoming Senate hearing on Russia's interference in the 2016 election.

Rice's attorney notified the senators leading the hearing of her decision not to attend in a letter. Two other former Obama administration officials are scheduled to testify before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee Monday. The subcommittee is one of three congressional panels investigating Russia's role in the 2016 election.

Rice's refusal to testify is the latest twist in the congressional investigations into possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign and the debate over whether the probes are truly independent and bipartisan. Rice was invited to testify only by the Republican chairman of the subcommittee, and not by the top Democrat on the panel, her attorney said.

CNN first reported Rice's decision.

Rice became a central part of the Russia investigation when President Donald Trump said she might have committed a crime when she asked intelligence analysts to disclose the name of a Trump associate mentioned in an intelligence report. Rice has said she did nothing improper. But she has become a key former Obama administration official in a position to answer questions from lawmakers.

Probe supported

Rice's attorney, Kathryn Ruemmler, said Rice was supportive of the committee's investigation, but it is rare for Congress to ask for testimony from a former president's national security adviser.

The request for Rice's testimony also stood out, Ruemmler wrote in the letter, because it came after the hearing was announced and well after the other two witnesses  former acting Attorney General Sally Yates and former National Intelligence Director James Clapper  had agreed to appear. But unlike invitations extended to Yates and Clapper, Rice was invited to testify solely by subcommittee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., not jointly with the panel's top Democrat, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Ruemmler said.

Ruemmler said in the letter that Whitehouse notified Rice in writing that he did not agree with Graham's invitation, which Ruemmler described as a "significant departure from the bipartisan invitations extended to other witnesses.''

Spokespersons for Graham and Whitehouse did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

Yates' and Clapper's public testimony is much anticipated. They were both scheduled to speak before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in March. But that hearing was canceled, some Democrats think, because the White House wanted to limit what Yates could say. The House intelligence committee has yet to reschedule the hearing.

Comments on Flynn

Yates is expected to give senators details about her January 26 conversation with the White House counsel about Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn. She is expected to say that she saw discrepancies between the administration's public statements about Flynn's contacts with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. and what really transpired, a person familiar with that discussion and knowledge of Yates' upcoming testimony told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the hearing.

Yates is expected to say that she told White House counsel Don McGahn that she was concerned Flynn's communications with the Russian ambassador could leave Flynn in a compromised position as a result of the contradictions between the public depictions of the calls and what intelligence officials knew to be true, the person said.

White House officials have said publicly that Yates merely wanted to give them a "heads-up'' about Flynn's Russian contacts, but Yates is likely to testify that she approached the White House with alarm, according to the person.

The White House has said Flynn was later fired for misleading the vice president about the content of Flynn's discussions with the ambassador.
Deep inside the Rock of Gibraltar is a room known as The Vault. Dug by the British army in World War II, the room now houses servers that power the websites of dozens of international online gambling companies.



Those companies were lured to this speck of British territory on Spains southern tip by its low taxes and its unimpeded access to the European Unions single market of around 500 million people.



Its a flourishing and hugely important business for Gibraltar, accounting for around 25 percent of the economy, some 40 percent of corporate tax revenues and almost 3,000 of its 26,000 jobs.



And the European market is only set to get bigger. According to market data company H2 Gambling Capital, it could be worth around 30 billion euros ($32.5 billion) a year by 2021, nearly double current levels.

Brexits effect

Britains looming departure from the EU, therefore, has cast a cloud over Gibraltars future because Brexit could see it shut off from the rest of the EU. That possibility is having an indirect impact on Gibraltar, by magnifying the appeal of other low-tax jurisdictions such as Malta.



Nobody is panicking yet, and no gambling company has said it intends to leave Gibraltar while EU and British officials negotiate Brexit.





Senior executives of 888, which runs one of the worlds biggest online casinos, have sounded the alarm about potential dangers, however.



Earlier this year, they warned that 888s reach into the EUs other 27 member countries could be limited in the event of a so-called hard Brexit scenario whereby Gibraltar, like the rest of Britain, sees trade disrupted by the imposition of tariffs and businesses potentially becomes ineligible for regulatory licenses in some EU countries.



In its full-year financial report, 888 said it would reconsider the appropriateness of remaining registered, licensed and operational in Gibraltar in these circumstances and added that Malta may be considered as an alternative dot com licensing jurisdiction.

Malta ready to step up



Malta, a small island nation in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, stands ready to attract Gibraltars gambling firms. The Maltese government is another champion of the online gambling sector, which represents 11 percent of the nations GDP and employs 8,000 people.



Two other gambling industry big-hitters, Ladbrokes Coral Group and William Hill, say they are monitoring the Brexit negotiations, and, like 888, have no plans at the moment to depart.



William Hill has set up a Brexit Working Group to assess Brexits possible financial, operational and regulatory consequences and make sure that suitable arrangements are in place should there be disruption to the Gibraltar (border) crossing or the availability of any services offered through Gibraltar.

Border with Spain



For those working in the sector, the coming two years are likely to be a worrisome period. After all, 1,800 staff  nearly 60 percent of the sector  commute from Spain to their workplaces, which are often in office blocks overlooking the Bay of Gibraltar where elegant yachts bob on the calm waters.





Their fate, and the industrys, depends to a large degree on whether Madrid opts post-Brexit to hinder cross-border traffic, as it has occasionally in the past.



That is the real worry for employees, says Mark Jordan, the head of gambling industry analysis at PwC in London: How difficult will Spain be?



Gibraltar has been a thorn in the side of U.K.-Spain relations for decades. In 1969, Spanish dictator Gen. Francisco Franco slammed the border shut in an attempt to wreck its economy and snatch the territory from Britain.



Gibraltar holds its nerve



The Gibraltar government has made no secret of the importance of the EU. On its website, it still lauds the benefits of EU membership as one reason why firms should set up on The Rock. The people of Gibraltar clearly think its important  nearly 96 percent of Gibraltarians voted to remain in the EU in last Junes referendum.



No wonder: The territory has prospered under Britains rule and free trade with the EU.



For now, Gibraltar officials are holding their nerve.



Phill Brear, the territorys Gambling Commissioner, says it is sensible, prudent management for the online gambling industry to be making arrangements for potential Brexit outcomes.



Theyre hedging their bets, he told the Associated Press, noting how many are taking out Malta licenses alongside their Gibraltar ones.



Brear notes that Gibraltar will still have access to U.K. customers, who account for around 40 percent of the entire EU market in financial terms, according to H2 Gambling Capital data.
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a Republican bill to repeal and replace large parts of the nations health care law, giving President Donald Trump his first major legislative victory.

Six weeks after it was left for dead, the American Health Care Act, was approved Thursday by a narrow 217-213 margin, the first step toward fulfilling a nearly seven-year Republican promise to replace the Affordable Care Act, former President Barack Obamas signature domestic achievement.

President Donald Trump tweeted that "the Republicans will be having a big press conference" at the White House after the vote.

The bill now goes to the Senate, where its fate is far from certain.

The bill was approved after it was amended Wednesday to add a modest $8 billion dollars to help people with pre-existing health conditions. After negotiating the terms of the amendment with President Trump at the White House, two prominent moderate Republicans, Fred Upton and Billy Long, reversed course and threw their support behind their party's health care bill.

Upton's reversal was particularly significant because he is a respected voice on health care issues and former chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Several other Republican lawmakers subsequently followed suit, as Trump worked the phone constantly" in attempts to garner more support, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Wednesday.

Before the vote, Republican Congressman David Brat was asked if he was concerned millions of Americans could become financially insolvent if they lost medical coverage, as the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicted would occur if an earlier version of the bill became law.

I have major concerns about people going broke because this country has turned toward socialism away from free markets, Brat said.





House minority leader Nancy Pelosi described the pre-vote debate as a great civics lesson for America at her weekly news briefing.

They will find out their congressperson voted to gut key protections. Trumpcare destroys protections for pre-existing conditions" and guts essential health benefits such as maternity care, prenatal, prescription drug and emergency coverage.

During debate, Pelosi warned lawmakers who supported the bill they "have walked the plank from moderate to radical" and they would find it difficult to avoid unwanted attention in their home districts. "You will glow in the dark on this one," she said.

The Republican bill, the American Health Care Act, was passed despite expected opposition from every Democrat and more than a dozen Republicans. Numerous organizations representing patients, doctors and hospitals lobbied against the bill, as did the American Association of Retired People.

The debate centered on an amendment that would give states the ability to apply for exemptions from "essential" benefits in the current law, such as emergency and maternity care, and from uniform insurance rate requirements for people of the same age -- regardless of their health conditions.

"Lets return power from Washington to the states," House Speaker Paul Ryan said during the debate.

These waivers would allow insurers to charge people with pre-existing illnesses significantly higher rates than heathy customers. Insurers would also be able to hike prices for older consumers to levels they desire and ignore the mandate that requires insurers to cover services considered essential under the current law.

It is not publicly known at this time how many states would seek waivers.

The Republican bill would eliminate tax penalties on people who dont buy medical insurance and eliminate tax increases on higher earning people. It would cut Medicaid, a social health care program for low income people, and allow states to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients.

The measure would transform subsidies partially based on income for millions of people buying insurance under the current law, the Affordable Care Act, into tax credits that rise with consumers ages.

The bill would retain the current laws requirement that family policies cover grown children until age 26.

It would end federal payments to Planned Parenthood for one year, a victory for many anti-abortion Republicans.

The current law, commonly known as Obamacare, provides health insurance to about 20 million Americans.

The non-partisan CBO estimated last month the Republican bill would eliminate coverage for 24 million people over a decade. The CBO also concluded the bills subsidies would be less generous for many Americans, particularly lower income people and those under 65 but who still qualify for Medicare due to certain disabilities.

A CBO estimate for the cost of the latest version of the Republican bill was not ready before Thursdays House approval.

Approval of the bill came one day before the House goes on an 11-day recess.
Indonesia's foreign minister expressed satisfaction after a meeting Thursday with the leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, saying that Speaker Paul Ryan had affirmed he does not see the Muslim faith as the source of Islamist radicalism.

"There is a strong message that Paul Ryan delivered at the meeting, that overcoming radicalism and terrorism is not [to be done] by positioning Islam as the enemy," Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told VOA's Indonesian service after the meeting. "This ideology can be adopted by anyone. There is no link between Islam and radicalism."

Speaking in the Indonesian language, the minister said the 15-minute Capitol Hill meeting had left her with the belief that the United States understands that Indonesia is a strong, pluralistic and democratic country, and that Islam, the predominant faith in Indonesia, is not an obstacle to positive relations with the United States.

She said the two agreed that Indonesia, with the world's largest Muslim population, could play a "very important" role in the fight against international terrorism, "especially through 'soft power,' because that's where our strength is."

Travel ban

Retno's remarks masked her reaction to the Trump administration's initial travel ban covering seven Muslim-majority nations. In January, she said, "We have deep regrets about the policy."

And, although Ryan stressed the need for Indonesia to use "soft power" to counter "radicalism and terrorism," Indonesia has faced an increase in religious intolerance since the end of Suharto's secular dictatorship in 1998. Salafism, which is much stricter than Indonesia's traditional practice of Islam, has been growing in part because of Saudi Arabian funding.

Retno said she and Ryan also discussed efforts to maintain and strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries, cooperation on trade and investment cooperation, and the long-running dispute between Israel and the Palestinians.

The minister's two-day visit to Washington follows a visit to Jakarta last month by Vice President Mike Pence. In addition to her meeting with Ryan, Retno met with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Talks with Pence and Thomas P. Bossert, President Donald Trump's presidential adviser on counterterrorism, were also on her agenda.

The meeting between Retno and Ryan came two weeks after Islam played an unprecedented role in the election of a new governor of Jakarta, Indonesia's largest city.

Ahok defeated

In last month's runoff, Anies Baswedan, a former minister of education and culture, beat Chinese-Christian Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, who became acting governor after his boss, Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, won the 2014 presidential election.

Ahok campaigned while being tried on a blasphemy charge, which originated in a campaign speech when he quoted the Quran. Islamist hard-liners seized upon a video clip, and the Islamic Defenders' Front (FPI), once a fringe group, organized two enormous protests in Jakarta, where it called for Ahok to be jailed and even killed.

The verdict and sentencing are scheduled for Tuesday, amid growing popular support for Sharia, the Islamic legal code, which is what the Trump administration hints at in its attacks on "radical Islamic terrorism."

An October 2016 study found nearly 80 percent of Islamic education teachers in five of 34 Indonesian provinces supported implementing Sharia. In much of Indonesia, religion is taught in public and private schools.
A civil rights group has sued a Massachusetts sheriff who joined a federal immigration enforcement program and offered to send inmates to help build President Donald Trump's proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice sued Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson on Thursday to obtain public records related to Hodgson's participation in a program that will allow his staff to identify and detain inmates who may have entered the country illegally.



The group alleges that Hodgson violated the state's public records law by refusing to release documents in response to its request.



Hodgson announced in January that his office would join the immigration enforcement program.



A spokesman says Hodgson will respond after he has reviewed the lawsuit.
An explosion tore through a coal mine in northern Iran on Wednesday, killing at least 35 miners and injuring many more, according to Iranian state media.

Sadegh Ali Moghadam, head of the emergency department of Golestan Province, said 22 bodies were recovered from the mine following the explosion, according to Press TV, the English-language arm of Iranian state television. He said about 14 people were believed to still be trapped in the mine.

Moghadam warned of the "possibility of the death toll rising'' as authorities estimate that a total of 35 miners were inside the mine at the time of the explosion.

"We are trying to inject oxygen into the tunnel to increase the chances of survival for people who are trapped in the mine,'' he said.

There was confusion about how many miners had been trapped inside. Hossein Ahmadi, head of the provincial Red Crescent, told state TV that about 26 were believed to be trapped. But other officials provided significantly higher estimates, including one from Pir Hossein Kolivand, who runs Iran's emergency department and who said as many as 80 miners could be trapped in two sections of the mine.



Separately, at least 25 people who had entered the mine to try to save those trapped had to be taken to the hospital after inhaling the gas, said Hamidreza Montazeri, the deputy head of the emergency management department in Golestan.

More than 500 workers are employed at the Zemestanyurt mine, which lies 14 kilometers from Azadshahr. Golestan sits along Iran's northern border with Turkmenistan and along the shore of the Caspian Sea.
The wife of jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez rushed to Caracas military hospital late Wednesday seeking information on her husband after a report on social media said he had been taken there with a medical emergency  a scare that proved to be wrong.

Please, can you inform us if anyone brought Leopoldo here? Did he enter or not? Lilian Tintori could be heard pleading tearfully through the metal bars at the hospitals entrance.

Video ends speculation

Within hours, the leader of Venezuelas ruling socialist party, Diosdado Cabello, deflated the frenzied rumors by showing on state television a 20-second video in which Lopez appears in good health and says he is speaking at May 3 at 9 p.m.

I dont understand why they want me to send a proof of life, Lopez said, looking muscular in a white tank top and standing with arms crossed in front of prison bars. Im sending this message to my family, to my kids, to say Im fine. The video cuts off abruptly.

Tweet starts rumors

A scramble to find out about Lopezs status was set off by a tweet from one of Venezuelas most-prominent journalists, Leopoldo Castillo, who said the politician had been taken from the military jail outside Caracas to the hospital without vital signs for what the government believed was an intoxication.

My account hasnt been hacked, Im sorry to share this information, the now Miami-based journalist said in a later tweet responding to a firestorm on social media seeking to confirm the information.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican who accompanied Tintori at a White House meeting with President Donald Trump in February, seemed to validate the rumor, saying in a series of tweets that he had confirmed the jailed activist was in a grave condition.

Anti-Maduro protests

The uproar came as Venezuela is being roiled by almost-daily protests that have shaken President Nicolas Maduros grip on power and left more than 30 people dead. The crackdown by security forces is the bloodiest since Lopez led weeks of protests in 2014, for which he was jailed and later sentenced to nearly 14 years for what are widely seen as trumped-up charges of inciting violence.

Cabello, even before showing the proof of life video, seemed to relish the desperation felt by his political enemies, accusing them of trying to stage a political show over Lopez.

Hes there in his cave, stuck there for the next 13 years like he should be for being an assassin, Cabello said on his weekly TV program.

Just before midnight, Tintori and Lopezs mother attempted to reach Ramo Verde demanding to see Lopez, who they said had been barred from receiving visitors the past month. Standing next to a line of riot police blocking their access, they accused Cabello and the government of kidnapping Lopez to silence Maduros opponents.
The wife of jailed Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez stood outside a military hospital in Caracas late Wednesday after an unconfirmed report on social media said her husband was taken there with a medical emergency.

Lilian Tintori had tweeted earlier that she was heading to the hospital to ask about her husband, but her message had no information about Lopezs condition or even whether he was at the hospital. She later was seen at the hospitals gates in tears trying to obtain information about his health.

Please, can you inform us if anyone brought Leopoldo here? Did he enter or not? she could be heard saying through the metal bars at the entrance.

Earlier, one of Venezuelas most-prominent journalists, Leopoldo Castillo, said on Twitter that Lopez had been taken from the Ramo Verde military jail outside Caracas to the hospital without vital signs for what the government believed was an intoxication.

My account hasnt been hacked, Im sorry to share this information, he said in a later tweet responding to a firestorm on social media seeking to confirm the report.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, who accompanied Tintori at a White House meeting with President Donald Trump in February, said he had confirmed that the jailed activist was in very serious condition.

The Associated Press was unable to confirm the report in repeated messages left with people close to Lopez.

The leader of Venezuelas ruling socialist party, Diosdado Cabello, said nothing had happened to Lopez, who he called the Monster of Ramo Verde. Cabello accused the opposition of trying to stage a show.
Laura Poitras announces early in her Julian Assange documentary Risk: "This is not the film I thought I was making."

"I thought I could ignore the contradictions," the Oscar-winning Citizenfour filmmaker says in a voiceover. "I thought they were not part of the story. I was so wrong. They are becoming the story."

Decoding "the story" when it comes to the WikiLeaks founder has never been easy. It's evolving even now, just as Poitras' six-years-in-the-making documentary  one made with rare access to an explosively controversial figure under ever-increasing international pressure  is hitting theaters.

Following WikiLeaks publishing of a trove of CIA hacking documents in March, the Department of Justice is reportedly preparing to seek the arrest of Assange, who has been holed away in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London for nearly five years to avoid extradition to Sweden. On Tuesday, Hillary Clinton blamed "Russian WikiLeaks" for swaying November's election by publishing hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee. (Assange, responding Wednesday on Twitter, told Clinton to "Blame yourself.")

Also on Wednesday, FBI director James Comey, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the FBI had "high confidence" Russia was behind the DNC hacking. Comey said WikiLeaks was publishing damaging "intelligence porn." Assange responded Thursday on Twitter, accusing Comey of lying during his testimony.

'Very complex picture'

Poitras, whose Citizenfour went behind the headlines to reveal NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden, initially hoped that Risk would do something similar for Assange. She was making an intimate documentary about a brave visionary who risks everything in his crusade to make governments transparent. But, like many others who have been confounded by the WikiLeaks founder, Poitras underwent an evolution in her opinion of Assange. It's a journey she documents in the film, running right up until now.

"The ambivalence and struggle, I share that. I did try to let the audience see a very complex picture. And I grapple with it," Poitras said in an interview Tuesday. "For me, I absolutely support and defend their right to publish and I think that they have brought forward extraordinarily important information through their publishing. And I'm also disturbed by some of the things that are said in the film and I didn't want to exclude those things. That's not my job, to paint a simplistic portrait."

Poitras first contacted Assange in 2010 after WikiLeaks published the Collateral Murder video, which showed a U.S. helicopter in Iraq shooting several men, including two Reuters journalists. Poitras, who became focused on making films about post-9/11 surveillance, was welcomed into Assange's inner circle. Risk captures some of the inside drama behind many earth-shattering WikiLeaks publications; it opens with Assange trying to reach Clinton at the State Department ahead of the imminent leak of thousands of diplomatic cables.

It also shows Assange in a bracingly intimate, sometimes surreal way: getting his hair cut by his loyal followers; disguising himself before fleeing to Ecuador's embassy; being interviewed by Lady Gaga. There are hints, too, of the accusations that have often followed him, like that he runs WikiLeaks like its own intelligence agency.

Early reaction to film

Poitras first premiered the film a year ago at the Cannes Film Festival, where it was received largely positively. But some questioned whether Poitras was too closely aligned with her subject. Variety wondered if it was a "glorified fan film." The Guardian labeled it "an embedded report that sacrifices impartiality for access."

"I never define myself as an activist. I define myself as a journalist and a filmmaker," said Poitras. "There's a long tradition of journalism that's first-person perspective. I don't think that journalism is by definition activism. I think it's just stories that are told from a subjective point of view."

But developments that followed that premiere led Poitras to recut her film. She added the voiceovers that question and occasionally distance herself from Assange. She updated the film to include the DNC leak and allegations of a Russian connection, and even late last month went back in to include Attorney General Jeff Sessions vow to make Assange's arrest "a priority."

Numerous alleged victims also came forward to accuse Jacob Appelbaum, a WikiLeaks insider and significant personality in the film, of sexual harassment and bullying. (Appelbaum has denied it.) Poitras added to the film her acknowledgement of a previous relationship with Appelbaum and said he was abusive to someone close to her after their relationship ended. A representative for Appelbaum didn't respond to a request for comment about the film or abuse allegations.

Slate, however, still criticized the updated Risk as "what happens when a filmmaker gets too close to her subject." Yet Risk also repeatedly shows questionable behavior by Assange. In one scene he calls the rape allegation in Sweden, which he has denied, "a thoroughly tawdry radical feminist political positioning thing."

Assange calls film 'a threat'

Poitras has shown him multiple cuts of the film. Before the Cannes screening, he texted her that he considers Risk "a threat" to him personally.

"There were pressuring demands that I remove scenes from the film  that I didn't  that involved what he was talking about in terms of the Swedish case," said Poitras. "I don't think he has legitimate reason to [perceive the film as a threat]."

Assange and WikiLeaks also did not respond to requests for comment.

Citizenfour came about while Poitras was working on Risk. She was contacted by Snowden, who said he wanted to leak NSA documents to her, and she put him in touch with reporter Glenn Greenwald and documented their clandestine meetings in a Hong Kong hotel room.

"I got pulled into the story in a way that I never anticipated. Being pulled into the story led to all different types of conflicts and shifting relationships that happened that are in the film," said Poitras. "I'm part of the story now."

She nearly abandoned the Assange project but, convinced of its value to history, eventually returned to it.

"This is a moment of shifting power dynamics and how the internet is impacting that, for better and for worse," said Poitras. "We have a president now who communicates through Twitter. The film, I think, is trying to capture that historical moment."
U.S. authorities have not been able to find any trace of ill-gotten assets belonging to jailed drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, Mexico's attorney general said on Wednesday.

Before he was captured last year and extradited to the United States in January to stand trial, Guzman was one of the world's most wanted drug traffickers and believed to have accumulated a fortune from reigning over his Sinaloa Cartel over many years.

As of today, U.S. authorities have not found not even one dollar of El Chapo's assets, Mexican Attorney General Raul Cervantes said in an interview with top local broadcaster Televisa.

Mexico has only found minor assets belonging to Guzman, Cervantes said.

His money hasn't been found because he didn't use the financial system, he added.

A federal indictment in the United States seeks the forfeiture of more than $14 billion of drug proceeds and illicit profits allegedly derived from the Sinaloa Cartel's activities.

Guzman, who broke out twice from prison in Mexico, was recaptured for the last time in January 2016. He was extradited to the United States to face charges there on Jan. 19, the eve of Donald Trump's inauguration as U.S. president.

In the same interview, Cervantes said that the relative upstart Jalisco New Generation Cartel is now Mexico's largest criminal organization, eclipsing the country's more familiar criminal syndicates like Sinaloa or the Zetas.

On Tuesday, Mexican security forces arrested Damaso Lopez, who the United States once described as Guzman's right-hand man but had been locked in a bloody struggle for control of the Sinaloa Cartel against the sons of El Chapo.
Every year, cities and towns across India are awarded with the title of 'Swachh Cities' on the basis of their cleanliness and sanitation drive as a part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

By India Today Web Desk: Cente today released the list of cleanest cities of the country as a part of Swachh Survekshan Survey.

Every year, cities and towns across India are awarded with the title of 'Swachh Cities' on the basis of their cleanliness and sanitation drive as a part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

Venkaiah Naidu, Union Urban development minister, released the list, which was finalised by the Quality Council of India based on the level of cleaniless in 434 cities.

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Topping the list is Indore in Madhya Pradesh while Gonda in Uttar Pradesh is the dirtiest city.

Bhopal, another city from MP, ranked second, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Surat in Gujarat have emerged as the third and fourth cleanest cities.

Happy to announce results of #SwachhSurvekshan2017 survey. I would call these results as 'Citizens' Verdict' on sanitation in Urban areas! pic.twitter.com/YbYfD3n57s- M Venkaiah Naidu (@MVenkaiahNaidu) May 4, 2017

HERE IS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW: In comparison to the rankings of 2016, the top six cities--Indore, Bhopal, Visakhapatnam, Surat, Tirupati and Vadodara-- have improved their sanitation rankings. Gujarat has maximum of 12 cities among top 50 clean cities followed by Madhya Pradesh with 11 and Andhra Pradesh with eight. Uttar Pradesh's Gonda dirtiest city, preceeded by Bhusawal in Maharashtra are the dirtiest cities according to the cleanliness survey. 50 of the 62 cities/towns surveyed in UP are ranked at 305 and below. UP's 41 cities and towns are among the bottom 100 cities. Only saving grace is Varanasi at rank 32. 19 of 27 cities and towns surveyed in Bihar are ranked beyond 300 with best rank in the state being 147 for Biharsharif. The Quality Council of India deployed 421 assessors for on the spot assessment of 17,500 locations in 434 cities and towns. In addition to that, 55 persons were appointed to regularly monitor the survey process real time. The criteria of the rankings are as follows: 45 per cent marks for open defecation free, solid waste management, education and capacity building, another 25 per cent marks for field inspection and 30 per cent for citizen feedback. At least 18 lakh citizens across the cities gave their feedback about the sanitation in their respective cities and towns. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency Varanasi has been named India's Fastest Moving City with more than 10 lakh population In 2015 and 2016, Mysuru had topped the list of cleanest cities with Dhanbad in Jharkhad being the dirtiest. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched Swachh Bharat campaign in 2014 and this cleanliness survey was to check which states have taken PM's campaign seriously.

India's cleanest cities announced, Indore tops the list. Has yours made the cut?

Cleanliness ranking for 73 cities is out. Mysuru cleanest, Modi's Varanasi among dirtiest

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The leader of Mozambique's Renamo opposition party and rebel movement said Thursday that he was extending a cease-fire indefinitely, part of an agreement reached in talks with the government to end violence since a disputed 2014 election.

Renamo and the ruling Frelimo party fought on opposing sides of a civil war from 1976 to 1992 in which a million people died before a peace accord ended the fighting.

But fighting has sporadically flared since Renamo challenged results of the southern African nation's 2014 elections. Till now, Renamo had renewed the cease-fire each 60 days during peace talks. Thursday was the latest deadline.

"This truce will be different from those we announced in the past. I am now declaring a truce without deadline," Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama told reporters during a conference call from his hideout in the Gorongosa area of central Mozambique.

A long-term deal would strengthen President Filipe Nyusi's position before a conference of the Frelimo party in September at which he is expected to be re-elected leader despite a high-profile debt scandal hanging over him.

Complaints from businesses

Dhlakama said businesses had complained about insecurity and the difficulty of working with looming cease-fire deadlines. "They were apprehensive about what would happen after 60 days. Peace is beginning and it will be an effective peace," Dhlakama said.

Beginning Monday, troops from Renamo's militia will start leaving positions around the mountains of Gorongosa, where Dhlakama has been holed up since fleeing a siege in the port city of Beira, and all troops will be gone by June, he said.

Dhlakama said progress in peace talks was slow but had been progressing. "I believe, I am motivated, that things will end well," he said of the talks.

Issues still being discussed include plans to decentralize powers, constitutional reforms to allow provincial governors to be elected and reintegrating Renamo's staff into the police and army.

Renamo wants governors to be elected in 2019, seeing it as a chance to rule areas where it has popular backing.
Ever since he can remember, Richard Saunders has seen families cross the fence on his Native American reservation in southern Arizona, where the U.S.-Mexican border splits his tribe's land in two, to seek work, see a doctor or go to school.

Laborers from Mexico would stop by his grandfather's house on the U.S. side of the reservation, the ancestral home of the Tohono O'odham nation, which today is marked off by a barrier of loosely spaced metal bars designed to block vehicles between the two nations.

"He'd stand out there and converse with them, take a shot of tequila. Grandma would make them some burritos, and they'd be on their way," recalled Saunders, a senior figure in the nation's administration, heading its public safety department.

But Saunders and other nation members fear U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to sever their land with a border wall will be no different to slicing through their culture and their community.

"If I was to walk into your home and build a wall right in the middle of your house, how would you like that?" said Verlon Jose, vice chairman of the Tohono O'odham, whose name means "Desert People."

"Over my dead body will this happen," Jose told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

For more than a century, the Tohono O'odham - like other Native Americans - have seen their ancestral lands shrink as a result of hundreds of broken land deals with the U.S. government in its westward expansion in the 1800s.

Of the 2,200-mile (3,500-km) border wall that Trump says will stop drugs, crime and rapists from Mexico, 62 miles (100 km) would run through Tohono O'odham land, putting most of the reservation, which is slightly larger than Lebanon, in the United States and a smaller piece in Mexico's Sonora state.

For now, the border barrier, with three gates for the American Indians to use, zig-zags around cactus, river beds and ancient burial sites, letting through the desert's jaguar, deer, pig-like javelinas, venomous Gila monster lizards and poisonous sidewinder snakes.

Francine Jose, 50, a cousin to the tribe's vice chairman, lives about four miles from the border. About 10,000 people live north of the border, where the schools, commerce and services are located, and another 2,000 live on the Mexican side.

"I think about the Berlin Wall," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "Why do we have to hate or be mad at the country next to us?"

Opposition

The Tohono O'odham's government has not ruled out a high-profile protest similar to one which began last August in the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, where activists camped for months in opposition to a proposed oil pipeline in North Dakota.

At its height, thousands of protesters gathered at Standing Rock, and more than 700 were arrested. The protest ended after efforts to stop the pipeline lost in court.

"It could turn into that," said Jose, 50. "If we're to see bulldozers start to come in, we will not be standing alone."

However, he is encouraged by Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who recently said it was "unlikely that we will build a wall or physical barrier from sea to shining sea."

A suggestion by Department of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke that electronic monitors may be used in some sections has also helped to allay concerns.

Tribal leaders say the border could be best protected with high-powered surveillance cameras, better access roads and more personnel.

The harsh desert itself, with no year-round sources of running water, is an effective deterrent. Once across the border, the nearest main roads lie 20 miles north.

Last year, the bodies of 85 migrants were found on the reservation compared with 16 so far this year, significantly down from years when more than 100 were found, Saunders said.

Even though barbed wire along the border was replaced by the sturdier vehicle barrier in 2006 - in response to the rise of Mexican drug-smuggling cartels and security fears following the 9/11 attacks - evidence of stealthy crossings is easy to spot.

Drug traffickers leave behind cloth slippers with carpeted soles, used to obliterate their footprints.

Abandoned black plastic water jugs are strewn amid the towering Saguaro cactus, poignant signs of thirst that can kill in the desert where summer temperatures are typically well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius).

Crisscrossed with dry stream beds, or washes, that flood during the violent summer monsoon season, the landscape burns under a relentless sun. Turkey vultures circle, and a few longhorn cattle huddle under the mesquite trees.

Broken Treaty?

Tohono O'odham was under Mexican jurisdiction before its modern borders around 2.8 million acres (1.13 million hectares) of territory were laid out in a 19th century land deal between the neighboring nations.

Under U.S. law, Native American reservations are sovereign nations that govern themselves, and building a border wall through Tohono O'odham land would amount to a treaty being broken by the U.S. government, said Carlos Velez-Ibanez, Regents' Professor and Founding Director Emeritus of the School of Transborder Studies at Arizona State University.

"Indigenous populations on their land have treaty rights, and they're treated as nations, and they're recognized as nations," he said. "Trump and Co. would in fact be violating the treaty rights of indigenous nations."

Asked about Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain's position on the reservation wall, McCain's office did not respond. He told CNN the wall was not a "viable" option" and that border security needs technology and drones.

The state's other U.S. Senator, Republican Jeff Flake, said in an email that the most effective border security "might mean a wall in some places or a fence in others, as well as the right combination of manpower and surveillance."

"Arizona communities along the border should be a part of the discussion and planning as they are of the most affected," he wrote.

Tohono O'odham Tribal Police, with nearly 100 officers, work with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which has more than 1,000 agents at the reservation, said Saunders.

It's only fitting that the Tohono O'odham, who have hunted, gathered food and grown crops for thousands of years in the region, are caught up in issues of border protection, Jose said.

"It is embedded in our culture to protect. Not to own, but to protect," said Jose. "That is what we are doing."
What makes a country? What's to stop you from planting a flag in your own front yard and declaring your home a sovereign nation?

It seems like a ridiculous question, but it has merit. In the past 25 years, the world has recognized dozens of new countries, and mapmakers have been scrambling to keep up.

The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 created 15 new republics. Countries, it turns out, come and go. And on today's maps, there are plenty of wannabe countries that are struggling for recognition. South Sudan, for instance, has only been a nation since 2011. Many others are lesser known, or completely unnoticed.

Lost lands in fiction and reality

British photographer and writer Nick Middleton is trying to change all that. His new book, The Atlas of Countries that Don't Exist: A Compendium of Fifty Unrecognized and Largely Unnoticed States, explores the struggle of 50 of those places to become recognized countries.



He came up with the idea of profiling wannabe countries when he read the children's classic The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe to his young daughter.

"The nub of the story hinges on there being a secret land at the back of the wardrobe in an old English country house," he explained. "This appealed to my daughter and it also appealed to me."

It was not in Narnia, but on the Isle of Man that Middleton discovered that countries which aren't countries actually exist.

"It's an odd place because it's not a part of the U.K. nor is it a part of the European Union," he observed, "yet they use the British pound, they have passports that look very much like ours, and yet they have a great degree of autonomy. In fact, the Isle of Man has the world's oldest continuously operating parliament, which goes back to the 8th century, if you believe it. So, it's sort of a strange limbo land. It has a high degree of autonomy and yet it's not a separate country."

The atlas includes places that make headlines  like Northern Cyprus and Catalonia  and many others that don't. Such places include Christiania, a communal self-governing society in Denmark; Forvik, a Shetland island created by an English yachtsman; and Seborga, a principality that declared independence from Italy after a referendum in 1995.

What they all lack is international recognition.

"Recognition is a critical issue most of these would-be wannabe nation states are desperate for, to the extent whereby some of them have set up their own parallel organizations to diplomatically recognize each other," he pointed out. "So there is an Unrepresented United Nations, a UUN, with several dozen members. There is an Unrepresented Nations and People Organization, UNPO, with a similar number of members."

Africa's unnoticed countries

There are 54 countries on the African continent, plus the Indian Ocean island of Mayotte, which chose to forgo independence from France with the other Comoros islands in 1975; Barotseland, a monarchy on the border between Zambia and Angola; Ogoniland, an indigenous Niger Delta kingdom; and Somaliland.

"Somalia as a country was independent in 1960," Middleton said. "It was put together because ethnic Somalis lived in what was British Somaliland, and what was Italian Somaliland. They went together as Somalia until, sadly, the country started pulling to bits in a civil war. And in 1991, the north Somaliland broke away from the South. It's been running its affairs very well ever since. It's relatively peaceful, it's stable. It has democratic elections, they have its own currency, their own police force, their own schools, yet no other country in the world would recognize it."

Lakotah Sioux's sad story

Four unrecognized countries in North America belong to indigenous people.

The Lakotah Sioux signed a treaty with the U.S. government in the 1860s, granting territory in the Black Hills to the Lakotah Sioux "in perpetuity." But when gold was found in the Black Hills, as Middleton puts it, "all bets were off," and fortune hunters poured into the territory.

In the 1970s, a U.S. court ruled that the seizure of the Black Hills was unconstitutional and the U.S. government needed to pay the tribe compensation. The total was more than half a billion dollars now, but the Sioux wouldn't take the money. They just want their land back. They're still fighting that battle.

The independence dream

The author says that of all the countries he profiled, just one is likely to achieve international recognition as a nation: the island of Greenland, an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.

"It may happen in our lifetime," Middleton said. "A year to look out for is the year 2021, because it's the 300th anniversary of the beginning of the Danish colonial rule in Greenland."

It is said that history belongs to the victors, but maybe it belongs to the mapmakers. Middleton says his book is an attempt to acknowledge some of those unnoticed, unofficial countries still working to make their mark on the world map.
Former U.S. president Barack Obama officially endorsed French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron Thursday, calling a victory by Marcon very important to the future of France and the values we care so much about.

Obama said he admired Macrons liberal values and said Macron is committed to a better future for the French.

Because of how important this election is, I am supporting Emmanuel Macron to lead you forward, Obama said, noting that Macron appeals to peoples hopes and not fears, a seeming jab at right-wing candidate Marine Le Pen.

Obamas last minute intervention comes a day after Le Pen and Macron faced off in a scathing two hours of televised debate, and just days before they face each other in a runoff election.

Le Pen portrayed her opponent as a heartless capitalist who is weak on terrorism, while Macron called her a liar and a dangerous extremist.

Le Pen in her opening statement called the former economy minister Macron "the candidate of savage globalization." Macron called Le Pen, who once was forced to kick her extreme-right father out of their National Front political party, the heir to France's far-right faction.



The country's high unemployment rate was on the agenda. Macron called for simplified government regulations and small and medium-sized businesses, while Le Pen promised to tax the products of companies that outsource jobs.

Regarding terrorism, which has taken at least 240 French lives in the past two years, Le Pen called for closing mosques suspected of fostering extremism, expanding prisons, and securing France's borders. Macron called for better online surveillance, more police officers, and better intelligence sharing.

The debate between the far-right Le Pen and her centrist rival Macron could be the climax of the heated campaign, as the two candidates attempt to shore up support from France's voters - 18 percent of whom are estimated to be undecided.

An opinion polling average shows Macron with a 60 percent to 40 percent lead over Le Pen, though that lead has shrunk by about three percentage points since the first round of voting on April 23.

In a poll done immediately after the debate for BFM TV, 63 percent of those surveyed found Macron more convincing compared to 34 percent for Le Pen.

The debate Wednesday night was broadcast to about 20 million viewers on France's two largest television stations. It was billed as a showdown between the two candidates in their first face-to-face appearance.
A meeting of Organization of American States (OAS) members expected later this month could result in a joint position and change the situation in crisis-stricken Venezuela, Peru's Foreign Minister Ricardo Luna said on Wednesday.

In televised comments, Luna said the planned meeting of 19 foreign ministers of OAS countries, first proposed late last month, would take place the third week of May, likely on the 21st or 22nd, in order to make sure all the countries can participate.

I think the foreign ministers' meeting that week  we don't know if it will be the 21st or 22nd  will in some way establish a position and possibly a mechanism that changes the situation, Luna told journalists, referring to the situation in Venezuela.

The Washington-based OAS floated the idea of a foreign ministers' meeting last week, prompting Venezuela to announce plans to withdraw from the organization.

OAS chief Luis Almagro had earlier threatened to kick Venezuela out of the body if it did not swiftly hold general elections amid an economic crisis.

At the time, Venezuela said its decision to withdraw from the OAS was a response to a U.S.-backed campaign to trample on its sovereignty. The socialist government has grown more diplomatically isolated in Latin America as the region has shifted to the right in recent years.

At least 34 people have been killed and hundreds injured since unrest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro began in early April. Thousands marched on Wednesday against Maduro's plans to create an alternative popular congress, which opponents see as a ruse to dodge elections and cling to power.

Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, a former Wall Street investment banker who took office last year, has been one of the region's more vocal critics of Maduro, and Peru recalled its ambassador to Venezuela in late March.

On Wednesday, Luna said Maduro's attempt to change the constitution was an effort to stifle the opposition.

It's a rule change that everyone, and above all the opposition, classifies as arbitrary and authoritarian, a type of coup-within-a-coup, Luna said. The situation in Venezuela has intensified, there is an incessant polarization that is worrisome for other country's in the region.
A top Philippine official is to face questioning next week at the U.N. Human Rights Council on issues such as extrajudicial killings and vigilante justice alleged to be occurring in President Rodrigo Dutertes deadly fight against illegal drugs.

The Philippines is one of 14 countries whose records are being examined in the latest session of the Universal Periodic Review, which examines issues in all 193 U.N. member states. Britain is on tap Thursday, and the Philippines anti-drug campaign and moves to restore the death penalty are among the issues set for discussion Monday.

Menardo Guevarra, a senior deputy executive secretary in Dutertes office, is leading the delegation. Also participating is senator and staunch Duterte supporter Alan Peter Cayetano, who told reporters our strategy is simple: The facts being said about the campaign against drugs are wrong.

HRW: Denounce war on drugs

Human Rights Watch on Thursday called on the U.N. to denounce the Philippines war on drugs that it said has left more than 7,000 suspected drug dealers and users dead since Duterte took office June 30 and to urge the country to support an international investigation into the killings.

The U.N. review of the Philippines is critical because of the sheer magnitude of the human rights calamity since President Duterte took office last year, said Phelim Kine, Human Rights Watchs deputy Asia director. Dutertes war on drugs has been nothing less than a murderous war on the poor.

Amnesty International Philippines says the review should highlight persisting problems, including the high number of extrajudicial executions and moves to reinstate the death penalty.

Government data

The government is also releasing new data in an attempt to refute death tolls ranging from more than 7,000 to 9,000 cited by human rights groups and the media that were based on previous numbers released by police.

The presidential palace, the Philippine National Police and other government agencies said Tuesday nearly 4,600 people have been killed in drug-related crime since July 1 and more than 1.2 million drug suspects have surrendered.

The government said more than 2,700 suspected drug dealers and users had been killed in police operations and 1,847 homicides had been investigated and found to be drug-related.

Police said 19.6 percent of the countrys 9,432 recorded homicides from July 1 to March 31 were drug-related. About 20 percent of homicides were unrelated to drugs, while the rest are still under investigation.

The higher figures released by police earlier and cited by media and human rights groups included deaths still under investigation, which officials now clarify were not all drug-related.

The fact that the new PNP figures are inconsistent with the numbers released by the media or human rights organizations on extrajudicial executions, or even their own previous numbers, means that there may be more unreported cases, not less, said Amnesty International Philippines head Ritz Lee Santos, III.

He said the police should send a clear message that the state-sponsored unlawful killings of alleged offenders are never justified and are equivalent to extrajudicial executions which they should vow to end.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is reported to be in talks with the Trump administration to keep American troops in Iraq after the fight against Islamic State in the country is over.

Citing U.S. and Iraqi officials, The Associated Press reports that talks are ongoing, but the agreement could conclude that, in contrast to the U.S. withdrawal in 2011, a longer-term presence of U.S. troops is needed to ensure security in Iraq.

The decision to withdraw U.S. combat forces was implemented by former President Barack Obama after Iraqi and U.S. negotiators could not agree on details for extending an immunity agreement covering U.S. forces and U.S. contractors.

"So perhaps we shouldnt have gone in, and certainly we shouldnt have left," Trump said in March during a White House meeting with Iraq's prime minister. "We should never ever have left, and the vacuum was created."

Iraqi forces have been battling Islamic State militants on the ground with the backing of airstrikes from a U.S.-led coalition. The major focus of that campaign is the offensive to retake the city of Mosul from IS militants, who swept into the city in mid-2014.

Talks on keeping U.S. forces in Iraq after the fight against IS involve U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Iraqi officials over "what the long-term U.S. presence would look like,'' a U.S. official told AP, adding that discussions were in early stages and "nothing has been finalized.''

Trump administration officials have not yet commented publicly on the AP report.

At the height of the Iraq war, more than 170,000 U.S. troops were in Iraq. Currently, there are several thousand American troops in the country.
Hundreds of Romanians rallied outside government headquarters in Bucharest late on Wednesday to protest against a proposal to widen a draft bill on prison pardons to include corruption offenses.

Romania is seen as one of the European Union's most corrupt states and Brussels keeps its justice system under special monitoring. While the European Commission has repeatedly praised the judiciary for progress stamping out graft, it has noted parliament has a track record of trying to weaken legislation.

On Wednesday, the senate's legal committee approved amendments to the bill to include influence peddling and bribe-taking on the list of pardonable offenses.

The senate will now vote on the bill before it goes to the lower parliamentary house, which has the final say on whether it becomes law.

Three months ago the cabinet of Social Democrat Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu approved a decree that would have shielded dozens of public officials from prosecution, drawing international criticism and triggering the largest nationwide protests in decades.

The ruling coalition eventually rescinded the decree and reshuffled the cabinet.

Reuters journalists saw more than 1,000 people gathered on Wednesday in the capital city's Victory square, the epicenter of the earlier protests, waving Romanian and EU flags and chanting "We don't want to be a nation of thieves."

Hundreds more gathered in other cities across the country.

The government has said it does not support the latest amendments, though it was unclear whether the ruling coalition of Social Democrats and junior partner ALDE would back them in parliament.

In its initial form, the prison pardons bill covered all sentences of up to five years except for corruption, violence, treason, genocide and other serious crimes, as well as repeat offenders.

The amendments were mainly drafted by Social Democrat senator Serban Nicolae and opposition senator and former President Traian Basescu.

Basescu told senators on the legal committee that politicians used alleged bribes to buy electoral gifts such as umbrellas and coats for their party supporters.

He said prosecutors were acting as if "Virgin Mary is here, untouched, and ... this has created an atmosphere of submission for the political class."

Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea, who received a two-year suspended sentence in a vote-rigging case and is currently on trial in a separate abuse of office case, said late on Wednesday on his Facebook account that he categorically disapproved of the amendments.

Prosecutors' investigations in recent years have showed mayors, county councilors, lawmakers and ministers favored certain companies for public works deals and demanding a percentage of the contracts as bribes.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that the Finnish capital Helsinki would be an appropriate venue for a possible meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, should such a meeting be proposed by Washington.



Lavrov said however that there were no specific plans for the two presidents to meet within the next couple of months.
Researchers from Harvard University, Princeton University and the Environmental Defense Fund proposed a new, more precise way to measure the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on Earth's climate in an article published on Thursday in the academic journal Science.

The proposal would create a two-digit measurement system the scientists likened to blood pressure readings in medicine, which show the pressure on blood vessels both during heartbeats and in between them. It would help scientists and policymakers account for the fact that some greenhouse gases last longer than others in the atmosphere.

"Different gases have widely different lifetimes in the atmosphere after emission and affect the climate in different ways over widely different time scales," said co-author Michael Oppenheimer, a geosciences professor at Princeton.

The system would show the effects of greenhouse emissions on a 20-year scale and a 100-year scale. Having a measurement that shows both numbers, the scientists argued, would let governments and other institutions trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow global warming decide which policies would be best in the short term and which should be adopted over the long term.

Opposing groups' methods

It would also help in disputes between opposing advocacy groups. For example, according to the researchers, advocates for using natural gas as an energy source base their arguments on a 100-year timescale. But their opponents, activists lobbying against natural gas, use a 20-year time scale to show the effects of burning natural gas on the climate.

An overwhelming majority of scientists believe emissions of gas like carbon dioxide, which is produced from burning fossil fuels, are contributing to global climate change, triggering sea level increases, droughts and more frequent violent storms.

For the two-value proposal to be successful, the scientists argued, it would have to be widely adopted, not only by individual government agencies like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, but also by international bodies like the United Nations and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change.

Science is a weekly, peer-reviewed journal published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The fear of failed crop and no money to pay his debt, Selvaraj hung himself at his home when no one was around.

By Akshaya Nath: Ten days back in Tanjore, Selvaraj, a 58-year-old sugarcane farmer after checking all the possible options decided to increase the depth of the borewell in his farm for water. This was the last option before him to save his 6-acre farming land which had sugarcane sown in it.

For the last two years, this land and the sugarcane produced in it had been the sole source of Selvaraj's income. While he had been a regular in dispersing his raw materials to the sugarcane factory, he never got over Rs 1 lakh from the factory. Added to this, he had borrowed money and spent Rs 1.5 lakh to increase the depth of the borewell. From 45 feet, he dug it further to 110 feet and yet was disappointed with the result.

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The worst drought in 150 years that has struck the state of Tamil Nadu again ensured that his borewell was dry even at 150 feet deep.

The fear of a failed season and lack of money to repay his debt, Selvaraj, like many others in the state decided to call it quits. At his residence when no one was around, the father of three hung himself. Selvaraj is one among the 400 odd farmers who committed suicide in the state of Tamil Nadu.

As of now the government of Tamil Nadu has identified 89 deceased and ex-gratia of Rs 3 lakh has been given to the families of those identified by the state.

STATE ASSISTANCE

Over the last six months, the farmers across the state have been protesting seeking assistance due to the poor weather conditions that the state has been facing. Apart from the extreme drought in the state, it is seen that the water from neighbouring states has also not been released. "We are like the second class citizens of the country and no one cares about our needs. We live or die, it will be the same," said a farmer from the Cauvery delta region.

Although the farmers protested at Jantar Mantar for over a month, which captured the attenton of the media across the country, but the farmers returned disappointed unable to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Repeated promises and the following inaction of the state government has pushed the farmers to edge. As the political turmoil in the state continues, horrific stories of farmers ending their lives has become a regular news.

Also read: Tamil Nadu: Protesters burn CM Palaniswami's effigy over state petition on farmer suicides

Also read: Telangana: Chilli farmers protest over fall in prices, torch crop stock in Khammam agricultural market

--- ENDS ---
Macedonia's parliament speaker urged the country's president on Thursday to recognize a new majority of Social Democrats and parties representing ethnic Albanians so they can form a government and end a volatile political stalemate.

Almost five months after a December 11 parliamentary election, Macedonian nationalists unhappy about the inclusion of minority Albanians are blocking the formation of a new government, compounding the worst crisis in the small Balkan country since it narrowly averted an ethnic civil war in 2001.

The election last week of Talat Xhaferi, a former ethnic Albanian guerrilla, as speaker prompted nationalists to storm into parliament where they assaulted MPs. More than 100 people were injured and the European Union and NATO  both of which Skopje aspires to join  condemned the violence.

Letter to president

In a letter on Thursday, Xhaferi urged President Gjorge Ivanov, a nationalist though not affiliated with any party, to acknowledge the new majority bloc and allow Social Democratic leader Zoran Zaev to form a cabinet.

"I expect the president to act, according to the constitution," Xhaferi said in a statement before heading to Brussels to meet EU officials including Johannes Hahn, the commissioner in charge of EU enlargement.

After the December election in the former Yugoslav republic, Zaev engineered a coalition with two parties representing ethnic Albanians, who make up a third of the 2.1 million population.

The pact, among other things, envisages a law that would allow wider use of the Albanian language, something that has triggered daily street protests by Macedonian Slav nationalists.

But Ivanov refused to give a government mandate to Zaev, saying the coalition deal threatened the country's sovereignty.

Territorial guarantees

Zaev, however, said Thursday that he expected a government to be established this month.

"I am ready, if necessary, to see Ivanov and offer guarantees that the territorial integrity of Macedonia will be respected," Zaev told reporters in Skopje.

Macedonia has been without a functioning government since 2015, when it fell into turmoil over a wiretapping scandal that brought down the ruling nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party bloc.

Efforts to advance toward membership of the EU and NATO have faltered in part over a row with Greece over Macedonia's name, which it shares with a northern Greek province.

The EU has become alarmed in recent months about growing instability in the Balkans, two decades after the devastating ethnic wars caused by Yugoslavia's breakup. The EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said the violence in Macedonia was "particularly worrying" and the crisis "dangerous."
Amid the Trump administrations conflicting signals on whether or not it will ask South Korea to pay more for a controversial American missile defense system, experts suggest restraint and caution to avoid eroding the Washington-Seoul alliance, a change that could impede efforts to counter nuclear-armed North Korea.

Earlier this week, the U.S. military said the Terminal High Altitude Defense (THAAD) system has "the ability to intercept North Korean missiles and defend [South Korea]," though work will continue in the coming months to make the system fully operational. The U.S. and South Korea have been installing key components of the system, located some 125 miles southeast of Seoul, since they agreed to deploy the missile shield against Pyongyang last July.

That announcement came after President Donald Trump alarmed Seoul when he said last week Seoul should pay an estimated $1 billion for THAAD. Seoul repudiated Trumps remark, and White House National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster reassured his counterpart Kim Kwan-jin the current agreement  the U.S. will deploy the anti-missile battery while South Korea will provide the land and pay for its operation and maintenance  stands.

Burden sharing-responsibility

But McMaster later qualified the statement, telling Fox News on Sunday the U.S. would keep its word "until any renegotiation."

"What the president has asked us to do, is to look across all of our alliances and to have appropriate burden-sharing responsibility," McMaster said.

While campaigning, Trump called for fairer cost-sharing with Seoul, which paid roughly $821 million in 2016, or about half the cost of South Korea stationing for U.S. troops.

Trump is trying to get Seoul "to recognize that it needs to be investing more [in defense]," Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the Rand Corporation, told VOA. "He's trying to sensitize them to the fact that the American taxpayers are paying an awful lot of money to support Korea," and the relationship needs balance.

In 2005, South Koreas total 2006-2020 defense budget was estimated at 621 trillion won, but Bennett expects Seoul will spend around 500 trillion, meaning Seoul is underinvested in military capability compared to threats it faces from the North. "Ideally, what South Korea would want to do is to buy their own THAAD battery to cover the Seoul area, while the U.S. covers the area down around Busan," he said.

Need for clarity, transparency

Joseph DeTrani, a former U.S. special envoy for negotiations with North Korea, said the current THAAD deal should not be scrapped because of the controversy surrounding the cost. But, he added, this may be the right time for Washington and Seoul to discuss misunderstandings about defense-cost sharing.



"There needs to be clarity on a division of labor, a division on a financial responsibilities and so forth," DeTrani said during an interview with VOA. "Maybe this is a good time to ensure that there is transparency in understanding, indeed, if future missile defense systems are deployed. I think everybody has to understand that who has what responsibility in regards to financing those systems."

Some analysts said Trumps THAAD demands carry no weight. They also suggested the Trump administration should avoid further criticisms of Seouls contributions to their defense.

Douglas Paal, director of the Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Trumps surprising cost-sharing demand was "an impulse." He suggested the president will eventually recant his demands to the South Korean government as he has in the past with such suggestions as South Korea develop its own nuclear weapons to counter the North.

Eroding the alliance

Analyst Paal warned that Trump's demands on THAAD deployment could influence the outcome of Seouls election scheduled to take place May 9. In addition, he said it will impede Washington's progress with the regimes nuclear ambitions.

"A weak U.S. and South Korean relationship will be a signal to China, to Russia, and even to Japan that there's something not coherent about our policy and therefore efforts to get all of these countries in concert to increase pressure on North Korea will be less successful," Paal said. "And when we have to deal with the consequences of North Korea's continued development of these weapons systems, we've eroded the alliance basis for dealing with that."

Speaking to VOA, John Delury, a professor of international relations at Yonsei University in Seoul, noted a Washington-Seoul alliance under massive stress can also send a message of division and weakness to Pyongyang, which is "very good at exploiting divisions among neighboring countries."

"These two need to be coordinated and if the alliance is under massive stress over who pays for THAAD, then it's going to hamper those efforts."

This report originated with VOA's Korean Service.
Wednesday was World Press Freedom Day, but in South Sudan, journalists say freedom to do their work has all but disappeared.

Alfred Taban, editor in chief of the independent Juba Monitor, says his English-language newspaper is routinely censored by security agents prior to publishing.

Taban was arrested last year for writing an editorial calling for South Sudans leaders to step down.

In July when I wrote that President Kiir and the then-First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar should be removed because they have failed to bring peace to this country, on that same day I was arrested. And I stayed in detention for close to two weeks," he tells VOA's South Sudan in Focus.

Freelance journalist Gale Julius, who writes for the Catholic-owned Bakhita Radio in Juba, says he got into trouble several times for snapping photos in the capital, Juba.



Once instance came during a trial of officials accused of trying overthrow President Salva Kiir. "That was a day when one of the big men in national security came to testify and they told me they did not want their photos taken. When they took me to the security offices they didnt beat me, but it was what they said about journalists, the names they call us. It is really very disturbing, Julius says.



Julius was also arrested for taking photos of Juba residents who spent the night a makeshift clinic offering free medical services. He says security agents did not want him to report the true picture of how desperate South Sudanese are for health care.

Government says journalists are free

South Sudan Information Minister Michael Makuei insists that contrary to reports like these, journalists working in South Sudan are free.

"The way people behave undermines the law. Journalists are free, but it is not absolute freedom. If there is any country in the world where there is absolute freedom of press, you can inform me, he told South Sudan in Focus.

World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the U.N. General Assembly in 1993. Besides promoting the rights of journalists, the day also pays tribute to reporters who have been killed.

The Committee to Protect Journalists ranks South Sudan as the 5th most dangerous country for journalists in its annual index. Seven South Sudanese journalists were killed by unknown gunmen in 2015. Another was killed in July 2016.

Despite the dangers, many reporters told VOA they will carry on, because they believe journalists play a critical role in the drive to achieve peace in conflict-ridden South Sudan.



Mary Ajith, deputy chairman of the Association of Media Development in South Sudan, said peace should be the core responsibility of every journalist.



Through the articles we write, whether on the website or in newspapers, these articles work towards peace in our country, Ajith tells South Sudan in Focus.



Koang Pal Chang is an editor at Eye Radio, a station shut down last year by national security operatives after it aired the voice of rebel leader Riek Machar.





Pal said despite the hardships, he will not give up his work.



People want to know what is happening with the peace agreement, with the national dialogue, what is happening with my neighbor, what is happening in that state, what is this U.N. doing? said Pal.

Rachel Alek works at She magazine, which covers womens issues. She encourages other South Sudanese journalists to not choose a tribal line reporting kind of habit, just present what is right and do what you think is ethical.

Nabeel Biajo, Waakhe Simon Wudu, Ayen Bior contributed to this report.
Three cases in which white police officers killed black men are in the public spotlight this week, highlighting the difficulties of determining when officers should be criminally prosecuted in such instances and renewing questions over the Trump administrations commitment to counter civil rights violations by police officers.

In one of the most highly publicized police shootings in recent years, Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old African-American street vendor, was shot and killed by two white police officers last July as he allegedly reached for his gun while pinned to the ground by the officers outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The shooting, captured on video and widely circulated on social media, sparked days of protests and calls for an investigation.

But the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Wednesday that its 10-month investigation into the shooting found insufficient evidence to bring civil rights charges against the two officers involved in the killing.

The announcement came a day after a former South Carolina officer pleaded guilty to a civil rights offense for shooting an unarmed black man last year, and followed the killing over the weekend of an African-American teenager by a white police officer in a Dallas suburb.

In the South Carolina case, former Officer Michael Slager of the North Charleston police department pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights offense for killing Walter Scott Jr. last April, the Justice Department announced on Tuesday.

The announcement said that Slager stopped Scott over a broken brake light and then shot him eight times as he fled the scene even though it was objectively unreasonable under the circumstance.

In the Dallas case, Jordan Edwards, a 15-year-old high school freshman, was shot and killed Saturday night by a white police officer as Edwards and his elder brother drove away from a party the police had come to investigate for underage drinking.

The officer, Roy Oliver, was fired on Tuesday but has not been charged. The Dallas County Sheriffs office and the Dallas County District Attorney are investigating.

Lauren Hagee, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Dallas field office, said the bureau is "prepared to investigate" the case if local law enforcement agencies uncover information about a potential civil rights violation.

Shootings trigger protests, debate

The three cases with three different outcomes mirror a spate of similar shootings in recent years that sparked angry protests, gave birth to the Black Lives Matter movement, and led former President Barack Obama's Justice Department to investigate and impose reform measures on a number of embattled police departments.

Ngozi Ndulue, the senior director of Criminal Justice Programs for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the nations largest civil rights organization, said that while the outcome of the South Carolina shooting case was encouraging, she was troubled by the Justice Departments decision not to charge the two officers in Louisiana.

Referring to the shooting outside Dallas, she said, We have this homicide where we have on camera who committed it and yet no arrest. Thats very troubling.

Randy Sutton, national spokesman for Blue Lives Matter, a police support organization that was started in response to the Black Lives Matter movement that led protests against police shootings, hailed the Justice Departments decision to close the Louisiana investigation.

When an individual is armed with a gun and violently resists arrest and attempts to get a hold of the gun, then police officers have every right in the world to defend themselves, Sutton said.

On the other hand, he called the South Carolina officers guilty plea a valid prosecution and said he was disturbed by the shooting of the black teenager outside Dallas. This is one of those tragic sets of circumstances that makes every police officer cringe, he said.

Deadly police shootings are not uncommon. The Washington Post has tracked 333 fatal police shootings in 2017, including 83 shootings of African-Americans. No federal criminal charges have been announced in connection with any of these cases.

Since January, the Justice department has announced at least six cases involving charges brought against law enforcement officers. But all appear to have been originated under the Obama administration.

The Justice Department declined to comment.

Violent crime

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has vowed to make fighting violent crime a priority for the Justice Department and pledged support for law enforcement agencies but he has also said he remains committed to holding law breaking police officers to account.

As our department works to support the courageous and professional law enforcement personnel who risk their lives every day to protect us, we will also ensure that police officers who abuse their sacred trust are made to answer for their misconduct, Sessions said Tuesday in announcing the guilty plea in the South Carolina case.

But Sutton said the Justice Department is unlikely to investigate police shootings on a routine basis as it once did under the Obama administration.

The Obama administration weaponized the Department of Justice against law enforcement in a way that I have never seen ever before and it had a very destructive effect on the criminal justice system, Sutton said.

But Ndulue said the criticism is unfair.

The Obama administration really took pains to ensure that there was a conversation begun around how law enforcement and communities can work together for public safety, she said, mentioning Obamas creation of a task force on 21st-century policing in the wake of a spate of police shootings of blacks.
The United States is rallying Southeast Asian countries to advance Washington's approach to address North Korea's threats and to uphold principles including freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in his first meeting with all members of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Thursday, asked the bloc to speak in one voice to tackle North Korea's nuclear and missile proliferation.

Very specifically, the U.S. is asking countries, including our partners in ASEAN, to take efforts to deny the revenue streams that North Korea has enjoyed around the region, and to take a look at the diplomatic relations to minimize them, Patrick Murphy, deputy assistant secretary of state for Southeast Asia, said in a telephone briefing on Thursday.

So that North Korea does not gain benefit from its diplomatic channels for its nuclear and missile aspirations, Murphy added.



All ASEAN members have diplomatic relations with North Korea. Eight of them host North Korean embassies and five have embassies in Pyongyang.

A shared concern



Washington said there was a shared concern among the Southeast Asian bloc that North Korea's provocation has threatened the stability and peace in the Asia-Pacific region and around the globe.

Some countries have told the U.S. they are taking measures and steps, relooking (at) the size of North Korea's diplomatic presence in individual countries, their activities, their commercial transactions that are conducted under diplomatic cover in the light, Murphy said.

On the South China Sea, Secretary Tillerson made a particular appeal to his counterparts that all parties involved to stop militarization, construction and reclamation of land in the South China Sea area while talks are going on.

Principles reaffirmed

State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said principles were reaffirmed during the U.S.-ASEAN ministerial meeting, including peaceful resolution of disputes, with full respect for legal and diplomatic processes, and in accordance with international law.

The secretary and the ministers stressed the need for ASEAN member states and China to ensure the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea in its entirety, and took note of efforts towards the early conclusion of a meaningful Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, Nauert said.



In 2002, China and ASEAN adopted a declaration of conduct in which all parties agreed to avoid activities that would escalate disputes, including refraining from inhabiting the presently uninhabited islands, reefs, shoals, cays and other features.

However, a legally binding code of conduct has yet to be worked out.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said the South China Sea issue is neither a problem between China and ASEAN, nor between the U.S. and ASEAN.

The South China Sea issue involves China and a few members of ASEAN, said Geng at a daily briefing, adding, we hope that countries outside the region could respect efforts made by countries in the region for peace and stability in the South China Sea.



A week ago, leaders from ASEAN sidestepped criticizing China over its expansion in the disputed the South China Sea, in a mildly worded statement after the summit in the Philippines.

Tillerson to visit Philippines



The top U.S. diplomat planned to visit the Philippines in August to attend several ASEAN regional meetings.

This announcement came after the White House was under fire for inviting Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to the U.S.



Duterte has been scorned internationally for his war on drugs, which has featured the extrajudicial killings of thousands of people.



Tillerson said on Wednesday that while the U.S. is not leaving America's core values on the sidelines, sometimes if the U.S. conditions too heavily that others must adopt this value, It really creates obstacles to U.S. ability to advance its national security interests.

ASEAN celebrates 50 years

ASEAN will celebrate its 50th year of existence. The U.S. and ASEAN will celebrate a concurrently 40-year anniversary of relations.



Founded in 1967, the ASEAN bloc is America's fourth-largest export goods market.

Washington established its relations with this bloc in 1977 through the ASEAN-U.S. Dialogue. The U.S. and ASEAN also share nearly 100 sister city or sister state partnerships.
U.S. President Donald Trump could be a key factor in next weeks South Korean presidential election on May 9.

Trump has alienated many in South Korea with his recent demand that the Seoul government pay $1 billion for the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Defense (THAAD) anti-missile defense system being deployed on the Korean Peninsula, his criticism of the U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement, and even his praise for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as well as for expressing a willingness to meet Kim without first consulting his key military allies in Asia.





Trumps controversial criticisms of South Korea seem to be helping the presidential candidate most opposed to the U.S. hard-line policy on North Korea.



Dancing liberals



Moon Jae-ins supporters were literally dancing in the street at a campaign event in Seoul. The liberal Democratic Party of Korea candidate surged to 41 percent approval rating in the Dailian Internet news site survey taken on Tuesday, the last day polls are allowed prior to the election. Moon now has a 20-percentage point lead over his closest rivals.

The human rights lawyer supports the U.S. alliance. But he argues that U.S. policies emphasizing military pressure and sanctions alone will not resolve the North Korean nuclear threat.

Moon wants to ease tensions through dialogue and engagement and has said he would consider reopening the jointly run Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea, which was closed following Pyongyangs fourth nuclear test in 2016.

He also called for delaying the THAAD anti-missile battery currently being deployed in the southeastern region of the country, until the next president takes office.



Moons reluctance on this issue had run counter to increasing South Korean support for THAAD in the face of continued North Korean ballistic missile tests. But his supporters credit him for standing up for local opponents concerned about possible public health effects from the weapon systems powerful radar, and for wanting first to study the security benefits of THAAD, versus the risk of further provoking North Korea and alienating China, which has reportedly retaliated by limiting tourism and some imports.

Our party thinks (THAAD) must be renegotiated to adjust any cost sharing expenses, as it was done by the previous government, said Song Jung-Bin, a Moon supporter with the Democratic Party Of Korea.



After President Trumps $1 billion THAAD demand, Moons lead in the polls increased.

Liberal rival

Liberal rival Ahn Cheol-soo, the Peoples Party candidate, supported more pro-U.S. positions on THAAD and boosting defense spending, while at the same time also advocating dialogue and intense diplomacy to peacefully resolve the longstanding division at the heart of this crisis.

But Ahns rating in the last poll fell to only 19 percent. Even though he sharply opposed Trump's $1 billion demand, some critics say his vague move to the center was not enough to attract enough either conservatives or liberals.

Shy conservatives

The conservatives, lead by Liberty Korea Party candidate Hong Joon-pyo, have struggled to regain public trust in the wake of the impeachment of ex-President Park Guen-hye over an alleged corruption scandal, that precipitated this early presidential election.

Hongs supporters say their candidates hardline support for THAAD, and for deploying tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea, will win support from a pro-national security silent majority overlooked by the liberal media.

Currently in South Korea [many people] are hiding their thoughts and votes, said Lee Sung-Kook, a Yangcheon-gu district committee member of Liberty Korea Party.

But Trumps comments, not just on THAAD, but also calling North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a smart cookie for brutally consolidating power, has depressed support for the United States among some far right conservatives occupying a protest camp in front of Seouls city hall.

I am heartbroken over the U.S. because of [Trump's] recent comments, said Hwang Eung-Joo with the Patriotic Camp that was originally set up to protest Parks impeachment.

Anxiety over Trump may further depress the conservative vote while energizing liberals that want the next South Korean president to stand up to American pressure.

Youmi Kim in Seoul contributed to this report.
President Donald Trumps pick to marshal the governments response to the opioid epidemic and assist people with mental illness doesnt quite fit the mold of some of his other nominees.



Psychiatrist Elinore McCance-Katz isnt an outsider bent on disrupting the system.



Instead, shes an academic expert on addiction with extensive state government and federal experience, and a reputation for relying on science. She spent time at the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the agency she has been nominated to lead.



The strongest opposition to her nomination isnt coming from Democrats and advocacy groups, but from a Republican who says shes been part of the problem.

Helped draft action plan

McCance-Katz, 60, now serves as chief medical officer for the Rhode Island agency responsible for substance abuse and mental health services. She was on a task force that produced a nationally recognized opioid action plan for the state.



After a stint at SAMHSA during the Obama administration, McCance-Katz penned an article last year strongly critical of the federal agency, alleging hostility toward psychiatric medicine and failure to address the treatment needs of mentally ill people.



That may have caught the eye of the White House, along with a post-election piece that cast Trumps victory as positive change for people with mental illness. Now the president wants to send McCance-Katz back to SAMHSA.

Coordinating 112 programs



Congress recently elevated the job of agency director to a new position with the higher rank of assistant health secretary, requiring Senate confirmation. Lawmakers want an executive to instill coherence and coordination among 112 federal programs for people with serious mental illness. Up to now, the main purpose of the roughly $4-billion agency has been to distribute grants.



Advocates for people dealing with mental illness and substance abuse see an opening. They were heartened that the White House invited advocacy groups to meet as officials were sifting candidates for SAMHSA.

The early signs that we are seeing are that the importance of mental health is recognized, said Ron Honberg, a senior policy adviser with the National Alliance on Mental Illness, which is supporting McCance-Katz. The administration has come out very strongly on the opioid issue. The budget deal increased federal spending.

On Capitol Hill

In the Senate, the nomination of McCance-Katz goes to the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., a committee member active on mental health issues, called her a qualified and experienced leader who will make mental health reform a reality.



But in the House, Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., says he was stunned. The congressman earlier had led an investigation of SAMHSA that revealed poor coordination of mental health programs and gaps in the oversight of grants. Although McCance-Katz criticized the agency after she left, Murphy says she failed to say anything while she was there, serving as chief medical officer.



Advocates say the problems Murphy highlighted have been addressed, and McCance-Katz would find the agency in better shape than she left it.



Within the mental health community, theres a longstanding tension between those who favor medical treatment for problems like addiction, and those who favor peer support. The latter involves approaches similar to Alcoholics Anonymous, while the treatment usually involves medication. McCance-Katz is seen as firmly in the treatment camp.

The Rhode Island plan McCance-Katz helped develop starts with steps to curtail prescriptions of highly addictive drugs, promotes the antidote naloxone as the standard of care for overdose rescue, provides medication-based treatment for criminal justice inmates, and expands peer support services.
In a surprise announcement Thursday, the White House said President Donald Trump's first overseas trip will be to Saudi Arabia, where he will meet with leaders from numerous Muslim nations to discuss a coordinated ideological campaign against radical Islam. The trip is scheduled for later in May.

The rest of his journey also will have religious overtones, with visits to the Holy Land  to try to jump-start the Middle East peace process  and an audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican.

Trump told a National Day of Prayer gathering Thursday in the White House Rose Garden that his foreign travels as president "will begin with a truly historic gathering in Saudi Arabia with leaders from all across the Muslim world."

The president said Saudi Arabia was chosen because it is "the custodian of the two holiest sites in Islam, and it is there that we will begin to construct a new foundation of cooperation and support with our Muslim allies to combat extremism, terrorism and violence, and to embrace a more just and hopeful future for young Muslims in their countries."

Coalition against terrorism

The task of the United States, Trump added, "is not to dictate to others how to live, but to build a coalition of friends and partners who share the goal of fighting terrorism and bringing safety, opportunity and stability to the war-ravaged Middle East."

During his campaign for the presidency, Trump repeatedly indicated he wanted the United States to draw back from solving all the world's major problems, proposing a more nationalistic and isolationist agenda.

" 'America First' is fully compatible with American leadership in the world," a senior administration official told reporters Thursday at the White House.

Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia will be historic "by every measure," said that country's foreign minister, Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir. He added that he had noticed increased support "from day one" from the Trump administration for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.

A former U.S. principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, Jerry Feierstein, said the Trump visit "makes perfect sense."

"Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states are going to figure prominently on whatever policy this administration is going to develop," Feierstein told VOA.

The visit will also send a very clear message to Tehran, just after Iran's presidential election.

The Sunni-led Saudis and Shia Iranians are engaged in a regional struggle for influence. The Trump visit will signal closer cooperation between the United States and Iran's adversaries.

"The Iranians will read it for what they are intended to read it as," said Feierstein, also a former U.S. ambassador to Yemen and now at the Middle East Institute.

After Saudi Arabia, Trump will visit Israel, "where he will further strengthen the United States-Israel partnership," according to the White House. He also is to meet with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, presumably in the West Bank. Dates were not announced.

Trump met at the White House in February with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and on Wednesday hosted Abbas.

During the Israel visit there will be a discussion about "ways to advance a genuine and lasting peace between the Israelis and Palestinians," according to the White House.

After leaving the Middle East, the president will meet Pope Francis at the Vatican. Also in Rome, Trump will meet with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, who hosts this month's G-7 summit in Sicily. The Group of Seven industrialized democracies consists of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom.

Before returning to Italy for that meeting of world leaders, Trump will stop in Brussels for a NATO summit and also meet with European Union heads of government.
Bilateral relations between the United States and Thailand, after what analysts view as a "lost decade," have entered a "new era" following the recent contact by President Donald Trump and Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.

In his telephone conversation with Prayut, the White House said President Trump highlighted the long standing alliance between the U.S. and Thailand and a "shared interest in strengthening the trade and economic ties between the two countries."

Trump, in a formal invitation to Prayut to visit the White House, also "reaffirmed" the U.S. commitment to an "active and leading role in Asia" in close partnership with the region.

Readjustment in US-Thai relations

The contact marked a major thawing in bilateral ties after Thailand faced diplomatic isolation over the military's intervention in politics over the past decade.

The U.S. administration under President Barack Obama had been critical of Thailand's human rights policies by the military since it took power in May 2014, with the suppression of public debate and bans on political activities.

Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University, said Thailand was keen to take up the offer of the U.S. re-establishing links.

Thailand enthusiastic

"The U.S, initiative, overture has been received immediately. And General Prayut  the Prime Minister  has agreed right away to take up the offer of visiting Washington that President Trump has handed. Thailand has been wanting the U.S. to show some accommodation and this has been the kind of gesture they have been looking for," Thitinan said.

Panitan Wattanayagorn, a security advisor to Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsawan, said the renewed high level contact marked a "new era" in bilateral ties.

"Differences and changes in domestic settings and different policies that created friction and tensions between the two countries are now seemingly over. This is a new era built upon old ties but looking forward for better cooperation and challenges in the years ahead," Panitan told VOA.

He said the recent turbulence in bilateral ties had marked a "decade lost" in areas of closer cooperation in security, economics, politics and social contacts.

"This is why the two countries are very serious about picking up the pieces and move on. This is not only to Thailand with many countries in ASEAN, the U.S. is looking to do the same," he said.

Asian initiative not limited to Thailand

President Trump has also invited the Prime Minister of Singapore and the President of the Philippines to make official visits. In addition, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is hosting ASEAN foreign ministers in Washington Thursday.

Analysts say Thai officials have been working to rebuild diplomatic links with the U.S. soon after the Trump administration took office earlier this year.

Kraisak Choonhavan, a former senator and senior member of the Democrat Party, said a souring in ties with the U.S. dates back to the coup in 2006 and ouster of the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

But rights groups also accused Thaksin of human rights abuses, including a war on drugs in 2003 that left over 2,500 killed and charges of mishandling security in Thailand's troubled southern border provinces.

Kraisak said during the Thaksin era the U.S. had appeared to set human rights aside in favor of supporting an elected government.

The May 2014 coup that brought Prayut to power was also marked by automatic U.S. cuts in military ties as well as criticism of the military by European and Australian allies. This led Thailand to strengthen links with Russia and China.

The growing ties with China included increased military cooperation, supplanting those traditional links with the U.S.

Growing ties between China, Thailand

Recent military purchases from China include ordering of three Chinese made submarines valued at close $1.0 billion, Chinese made tanks and moves to establish the production of military hardware in Thailand.

Kraisak said given the long history of relations between the U.S. and Thailand, the renewed ties are welcomed.

"It's welcoming for the Thais. I do think it is an impossibility to ignore us, and it be only single minded concentrating on the return of democracy in Thailand is gone now with the new approach from Trump," he said.

But observers says concerns remain about human rights, people trafficking, and other social issues.

Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for the New York based Human Rights Watch, was critical of Trump's initiatives.

"The really telling point here is that it appears further evidence of Donald Trump's effective abandonment of human rights as a core principle of U.S. foreign policy, contravening a tradition of foreign policy that has been implemented by both conservative and progressive presidents," Robertson said.

Analysts say the renewed bilateral contacts are also seen against the backdrop of offering a counter balance to China's regional influence, especially in Southeast Asia, and galvanizing support in the U.S.'s diplomatic stand-off with North Korea.
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on religious freedom Thursday at a National Day of Prayer event.

A handout distributed to journalists by the White House late Wednesday said the order declares that it is the policy of the administration to protect and vigorously promote religious liberty.

Christian conservatives have been hoping to see a sweeping executive order that would permit groups and business owners to cite their religious faith as a reason to refuse services and goods to people.

This executive order isnt about discrimination, said a senior administration official briefing reporters late Wednesday. Anything currently illegal under current law would still be illegal.

Legal challenges planned

Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union and the Human Rights Campaign said they plan to immediately file legal challenges against the order, if it is as broad as a draft that leaked earlier this year. Theyre concerned Trumps actions will enable discrimination against members of the LGBTQ community and religious minorities, and allow many employers to deny birth control services in the health care plans they offer to workers.

The White House handout said the order will provide regulatory relief to religious objectors to Obamacares burdensome preventive services mandate, which requires employers to provide access to birth control in the health care plans they offer to employees.

The official added, It provides regulatory relief for religious objectors to Obamacares burdensome preventive services mandate, which is a position supported by the Supreme Court decision in Hobby Lobby.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Hobby Lobby case, saying that certain employers could, on religious grounds, choose not to pay for employee contraception, which was mandated under the Affordable Care Act.

Sarah Warbelow, Human Rights Campaigns legal director, said, If this executive order is anything like the one that was leaked in February, it would create an unprecedented license to discriminate with taxpayers funds, undermine womens health care and elevate one narrow set of religious beliefs over all others.

It would promote and encourage discrimination by government contractors employees against people who are LGBTQ, as well as open the door to a wide range of discrimination against women, unmarried couples, single parents and religious minorities, Warbelow added.

Johnson Amendment

Trump has promised to totally destroy an Internal Revenue Service regulation that threatens the loss of tax-exempt status for religious organizations and other nonprofits that endorse political candidates.

The White House handout said the order will direct the IRS to exercise maximum enforcement discretion to alleviate the burden of the Johnson Amendment.

The regulation, named for then-Senator Lyndon Johnson, was enacted in 1954 and prohibits partisan political activity for churches and other tax-exempt organizations. It still allows for advocacy on a wide range of political issues, but it bars outright electioneering and political endorsements by religious organizations.

If signed, the executive order will represent a major triumph for Vice President Mike Pence, whose push for religious-freedom legislation backfired during his tenure as Indiana governor.
Politicians here are believers of astrology despite the leaders of these parties espousing rationalism.

By Akshita Nandagopal: Astrology and politics have a long history in Tamil Nadu. And so when there's uncertainty in the air, politicians have flocked to astrologers to predict what the stars have in store for them.

"It's an open secret that politicians here are believers of astrology despite the leaders of these parties espousing rationalism," observes political analyst Sumanth C Raman.

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Politicians across party lines are now knocking on the doors of renowned astrologers in Chennai as they struggle for the seat of power in Tamil Nadu and interestingly enough, almost every politician wants the answer to one question - Will I become the next CM or not?

"It's a clear reflection of the insecurity among the politicians today considering the prevalent political atmosphere. It's clearly a great time to be an astrologer," adds Raman.

Renowned astrologer Sehlvi, who has a number of political clients, says these leaders approach him with the hope of some good news.

"A great leader has passed away so each of these politicians believe they have a chance and come to us. But these politicians only want good news. The moment we ask them to wait or give them the bad news, they consult another astrologer to hear what they want," says Sehlvi.

And if you're wondering when the political instability will end! Well out of sheer curiosity we asked Sehlvi and according to his prediction, the turbulence will end on November 26.

Post November may be Tamil Nadu netas can rest easy and know their political fortunes. They may have failed to carry forward Jayalalithaa's political legacy but they definitely seemed to have instilled their faith in the stars much like their Amma.

ALSO READ:

Akhilesh Yadav's kundali cautions Uttar Pradesh CM to tread carefully in war with father Mulayam

Modi will be strong leader but will face problems: Astrologers

--- ENDS ---
Last week, the White House unveiled what it called the largest tax reform in U.S. history. Gary Cohn, who heads the President's National Economic Council said, Were going to cut taxes for businesses to make them competitive and were going to cut taxes for the American people, especially low- and middle-income families.

But analysts say to call the one page proposal a plan, may be a bit of a stretch.

Policy documents from the White House usually provide pages of detail says Scott Greenberg, a tax analyst at the conservative leaning Tax Foundation. He says it' s more of a wish list.

Analyst: Trump Tax Plan Benefits Skew Toward the Wealthy

"That being said, it opens a window onto what the administrations main priorities are," he said.

Aside from simplifying the nation's notoriously complicated tax forms, the plan includes doubling the current standard deductions. For individual tax filers, that means zero taxes on the first $12,000 of income, and for couples filing jointly, no taxes on the first $24,000.

According to Greenberg, We estimated that the average household making between the 40th and 60th income percentile, so households right in the middle would be about 1.3 percent richer as a direct result of the various tax cuts.

But the Tax Foundation's estimates show wealthier Americans would enjoy much larger gains, up to 16 percent more of their after tax income.

William Gale, a senior fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution says, Its basically a massive tax cut for the very highest income households.

While Trumps tax plan eliminates some loopholes used by wealthy Americans, the Tax Foundation says the proposal aims to level the playing field for high income earners who have traditionally shouldered the country's tax burden.

But given the widening income gap, Gale says it makes no sense to reward wealthier Americans with more tax breaks.

"Theyve done enormously well over the last two, three, four decades, their average tax rates is actually lower now than it was in the past," he said.

Without corresponding cuts to government programs, analysts say the Trump tax cuts are likely to "blow a hole in the deficit" (expand the deficit shortfall).

New estimates show the revenue lost to tax cuts would add between $5 to $7 trillion to the U.S. debt over 10 years. But U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says tax reforms combined with sensible trade policies would, over time "help the economy grow at a sustained rate of three to four percent", a claim many economists say is unrealistic.

"What I like about this plan is that it is bold in attempting to lower the business tax burden in the United States and to create a more competitive economic climate. In that I think perhaps the heart of the plan is in the right place," says Greenberg.

Small business owners like Rick McVey who runs the Dilly Lily Flower Shop says the tax cuts would help his business grow.

"I think with the decrease in the tax rate, I may be able to re-invest the money to buy some capital equipment," he said.

And Donna Seabusch, the owner of Cookie Creations in Atlanta, says tax cuts will help businesses still trying to recover from the downturn.

"The economy was so bad several years ago, it hurt everyone. And I think this is going to give people a jump start. When your taxes are lowered - from your income tax, corporate taxes - it gives more people more money to spend," she said.

The administration says slashing the the U.S. corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent could also potentially bring back trillions of dollars from companies that have moved capital and investments offshore in search of lower tax rates. But William Gale, who is also co-director at the Tax Policy Center, says it's a mistake to think other countries will not respond.

"If we cut our rate to 15 percent other countries are going to cut theirs, and we'll end up in a sort of race to the bottom on the corporate rate," he said.

Analysts who spoke with VOA believe there is little chance the president's tax reform proposal will become law in its current form. But at a recent panel discussion hosted by the Conference Board on the president's first 100 days, William Hoagland at the Bipartisan Policy Center added yet another political wrinkle.

Hoagland told the audience, "I think its going to be very difficult for Congress and Democrats to provide that 60 votes for tax reform unless the president of the United States releases his tax forms."
Russia, Turkey, and Iran agreed to a Moscow-proposed deal Thursday to establish so-called de-escalation zones in Syria to try to end the six-year conflict in the country.

Representatives of the three Syria cease-fire guarantor nations signed a memorandum to that effect at the end of the latest round of peace talks in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

The proposal calls for taking measures to reduce fighting in four designated areas of Syria where rebels not associated with Islamic State terrorists control significant territory.

Progress on peace?

Despite what appears to be progress after four rounds of talks in Astana, there remains a great deal of skepticism about whether such a deal can be implemented.

No details were released on how the three countries, which support different sides in the conflict, would attempt to end the violence. And while the Syrian government voiced its support for the agreement, neither Damascus nor the Syrian rebels signed any deal.

Members of the Syrian opposition delegation in Astana walked out of the meeting Thursday, shouting their dissatisfaction with Iran being part of the talks. The head of the opposition delegation, Mohammed Alloush, did not attend the second day of talks.

The rebel delegation suspended its participation on Wednesday over ongoing airstrikes but members returned to the table for the final day of talks.

While Russia and Iran support the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Turkey backs the rebels.

Turkey, Russia agree on Syria?

But during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans joint press briefing with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi Wednesday, Erdogan concentrated on condemning terrorism rather than Assads government.

We never drew distinctions between terrorist organizations, whether (the Kurdish) YPG, ISIS (Islamic State) or al-Qaida. They are all the same to us, said Erdogan. They all feed on blood, chaos and tears. It is our common responsibility to eradicate these terrorist organizations.

And while Erdogan condemned a suspected chemical weapons attack early last month on civilians in Khan Sheikhun, and said Putin agreed those responsible must be punished, he did not call out Damascus as the culprit.

Despite an earlier fallout over Syria, Putin declared a returning to normal cooperation with Turkey and expressed confidence they could set up de-escalation zones.

As guarantors of the cease-fire, Turkey, Iran, and Russia, will do their best to ensure that these mechanisms get better and are effective. We will support this proposal, said Putin.

Much work ahead

But analysts say there is much yet to be negotiated on Syria and remaining differences between Turkey and Russia.

The Russian concept differs from that of both Turkey and the United States, says Alexander Shumilin, head of the Center for the Analysis of Middle East Conflicts at the Institute for U.S. and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

What Russia suggests is aimed at the reduction of the level of tension by maintaining control over certain territories by the main international players like Russia, Iran and Turkey. The Turkish view is to create no-fly zones as well as territories to collect refugees. They could be controlled solely by international organizations, Shumilin said.

Syrian rebels have said they would not accept Russian or Iranian monitors on the ground and voiced doubts that the Syrian government or its Russian backers would stop bombing them. Damascus has rejected previous suggestions of establishing no-fly zones in Syria. Putin said the grounding of aircraft would be conditional.

With regard to a no-fly zone, if this is a de-escalation zone, then aircraft will not operate there either, provided that these zones show no sign of military activity, Putin said at the joint briefing Wednesday.

US participation

The United States and some Arab countries are also backing rebel groups that want to overthrow Assad. The U.S. sent its highest-level official yet to observe the talks in Astana - Acting Assistant Secretary of State Stuart Jones.

The Kremlins plan is similar to calls by U.S. President Donald Trump for safe zones in Syria, and Putin said Trump seemed to support the idea when the leaders talked Tuesday by phone.

More details, concerns and objections are expected to be aired in the coming weeks.

Kazakhstans Foreign Ministry said the next round of expanded Syria talks in Geneva is set for late May while the next Russia, Turkey, and Iran-brokered Astana meeting is set for mid-July.



Olga Pavlova contributed to this report.
The U.N. Security Council headed to Colombia on Wednesday to demonstrate its commitment to the peace agreement between the government and the countrys largest rebel group and to promote efforts at reconciliation.

British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft, who is co-leading the visit, said council members want to listen to the parties and the people, and are going with a message of encouragement to carry on implementing the peace agreement despite the challenges, and to keep going until every vestige of this conflict is in the past.

Request for UN

In January 2016, the Colombian government and the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia jointly asked the United Nations to monitor any cease-fire and disarmament process  a rare request to the U.N. for help.

In September, the Security Council authorized a mission made up of 450 observers and a number of civilians to oversee the laying down of arms by FARC guerrillas and other aspects of the agreement. The peace agreement was signed that month and formally signed Nov. 30.

Help for other conflicts

Uruguays U.N. ambassador, Elbio Rosselli, who is co-leading the visit, said that if other parties to conflicts around the world asked the U.N. for help implementing a peace deal it would be great.

More than 50 years of war in Colombia caused more than 220,000 deaths and displaced nearly 6 million people. An amnesty law covering most offenses committed by FARC fighters  a key step in implementing the peace deal  was adopted Dec. 28.

Rosselli told reporters that council members would spend Thursday in Bogota, where they schedule calls for meetings with President Juan Manuel Santos, government and legislative officials, civil society representatives and others. On Friday, the council plans to visit a site where rebels are handing over their weapons and meet with FARC representatives.

In early April, the U.N. envoy for Colombia, Jean Arnault, told the council that consolidating peace will be a long-term process but in the short-term its key to lay the foundations by ensuring that the rebels lay down their arms and are reintegrated into society. He said the registration of arms that FARC combatants turned in at camps was almost completed and the next step was to collect weapons and unstable armaments in caches.
African-Americans and Hispanics, the largest racial and ethnic minorities in the United States, made positive strides economically and educationally during the past year but continue to lag behind whites, a civil rights group's annual study contends.

"The theme of this year's State of Black America report is 'protecting our progress,'" National Urban League CEO Marc Morial said.

In its study, released Tuesday, the league found the standard of living for African-Americans was 72.3 percent of that of whites, on average. For Hispanics, the equality index was a bit higher, at 78.4 percent. The index measures quality of life for blacks and Hispanics in terms of economics, health, education, social justice and civic engagement.

Minority employment is at its highest level in almost a decade, but "any progress made towards racial equality is increasingly under threat." Morial said. More minorities have health care at a time when efforts are underway to roll back expanding coverage, he added.

Improvements in education

The report indicated that African-Americans made gains in education, with a growing percentage of blacks staying in school and obtaining associate degrees.

According to the report, racial disparities plague minorities in terms of social justice equality. As examples, the report noted that more blacks are jailed after being arrested than is the case with whites, and that whites posted a greater decline than blacks in their likelihood of being victims of violent crime.

The study also found a troubling rise in hate crimes committed against members of religious and racial minorities. "A nation of a great mosaic that the United States of America represents cannot tolerate hateful incidents. It is corrosive, it is divisive and it is un-American," Morial said.

The Trump administration has proposed major budget cuts to government programs that help low-income Americans, who are disproportionately black. The civil rights organization said it would press lawmakers and private groups to invest $4 trillion over the next 10 years in job training, enhanced education programs and infrastructure projects to revitalize minority communities.
The U.S. Senate cast aside partisan acrimony Thursday and overwhelmingly passed a trillion-dollar spending bill that keeps the federal government funded through September.

The 79 to 18 vote came one day after the House of Representatives approved the measure, which now awaits President Donald Trumps signature to become law.

This represents the first demonstration of Republicans and Democrats in both houses of Congress working with the White House in order to pass an important piece of legislation and keep the government up and running, said Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas.

It [the spending bill] is proof that Washington can work when we work together, said Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat. In my view this is a very good bill for the American people.

The product of weeks of negotiations between congressional leaders and the White House, the bill boosts U.S. military spending and provides increased funding for U.S. border security.

This funding will help the Department of Homeland Security hire more border patrol agents and customs officials, improve the infrastructure at our ports of entry and checkpoints, and hire more immigration judges to process more immigration cases, Cornyn said.

To the delight of Democrats, the bill sidesteps numerous promises made by Republicans in general and Trump in particular. There is no money for constructing a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and no provision to punish local governments that refuse to cooperate with federal authorities in identifying and removing undocumented immigrants. The spending bill continues funding for Obamacare as well as Planned Parenthood, a womens health organization that performs abortions.

Not only does it preclude funding for an unnecessary and ineffective border wall, it increases investments in programs that the middle class relies on, Schumer said. The National Institutes of Health will get an additional $2 billion. Infrastructure programs  will get an increase.

Democratic Senator Bill Nelson, whose home state of Florida includes Cape Canaveral, praised a boost in funds for NASA.

We now stand on the precipice of a new golden age of exploration and discovery, Nelson said. The can-do little agency, NASA, is now on the way [for a mission] to Mars.

But the bills bipartisan nature rankled hardline conservative Republicans who argued minority Democrats won too many concessions.

Last November, the American people voted to give Republicans control of both houses of Congress and the White House, said Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas in a statement. We should be funding our priorities, not perpetuating Democrats big government programs.

Taking to Twitter, Trump has praised the spending bill but also said a government shutdown may be necessary at the beginning of the next fiscal year, which begins October 1.

Senators of both parties rejected the presidents thinking.

We were elected to govern, not to shut down the government, Cornyn said.

Schumer said that if congressional leaders work as well on the 2018 budget as we did on the 2017 budget, we will have a product we can be proud of with no worries about any kind of government shutdown.
International students are welcome and safe at American universities, say educational experts who specialize in the foreign student population at their schools.

Speaking at a Voice of America international student town hall at George Washington University Wednesday, the experts from a wide range of colleges said international students add value to American society.



I truly believe that international students bring such value and enrichment to this country and to our institutions, said Sam Brown, director of international scholars and services at Brigham Young University. While there might be some questions and some misunderstandings, and people that dont quite understand what culture you come from and, perhaps, a religious background, you have an opportunity to share what that is.

Brown and six other educators appeared at VOAs Education Destination: USA, a 90-minute broadcast and livestream about the challenges and hurdles of coming to the U.S. to participate in higher education.

Watch video report:

VOA receives questions every day about receiving an education in the U.S. and about the experiences of international students in the country.

The international student town hall let foreign students in the United States and those hoping to study at U.S. colleges and universities a chance to pose questions directly to a panel of experts in higher education through digital platforms and channels, including Facebook.

Helping people connect

Questions included one from Iran, where a student asked if he would be allowed to study in the U.S., given immigration hurdles. President Donald Trump issued a revised executive order that restricted travelers from six Muslim-majority countries in March, but federal courts have prevented the ban from being enforced.

A Chinese student in the live audience asked the panel what universities were doing about the travel ban and xenophobia.

The upper levels of university administrations need and want to maintain a welcoming environment, said James Dorsett, director of international students and scholars at Michigan State University in Lansing. Its the responsibility of the whole institution as a learning institution to be a welcoming and supporting place for all students.

Dorsett pointed to the You are welcome here video campaign that many U.S. schools participated in to promote inclusion for international students who might have felt fearful when the executive order was announced.

Our campus and most campuses provide a prayer room and places where students of different faiths can go and participate in their religion, Brown told a student from Indonesia who asked if she would be allowed to wear hijab, or a head covering, while in the U.S. I think youll find that across the board in most institutions.

Other panelists at the town hall included Paul T. White, assistant dean for admissions at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; Susan Zuffante Pabon, director of the Slater International Center at Wellesley College; Bianca Schonfeld, manager for the Office of International Student Services and Study Abroad at Houston Community College; Raj Bhargava, entrepreneur and teacher of Stanford University pre-collegiate courses; and Doug Shaw, senior associate provost for International Strategy at the George Washington University and assistant professor of International Affairs.
Apple Inc. reported a surprise fall in iPhone sales for its second quarter on Tuesday, indicating that customers may have held back purchases in anticipation of the 10th-anniversary edition of the company's most important product later this year.

Under pressure from shareholders to hand over more of its $250 billion-plus hoard of cash and investments, Apple boosted its capital return program by $50 billion, increased its share repurchase authorization by $35 billion and raised its quarterly dividend by 10.5 percent.

Investors were unmoved, sending shares of the world's most valuable listed company down 1.9 percent at $144.65 in after-hours trading.

Apple sold 50.76 million iPhones in its fiscal second quarter ended April 1, down from 51.19 million a year earlier.

Analysts on average had estimated iPhone sales of 52.27 million, according to financial data and analytics firm FactSet.

Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri argued the decline was not as bad as it looked, given the peculiarities of how phone sales are calculated.

The company reports what are called "sell-in" figures for the iPhone, a measure of how many units it sells to retailers, rather than "sell-through" figures, which measure how many phones are actually sold to consumers.

Maestri said the company reduced the volume of inventory going through its retail channel by about 1.2 million units in the quarter, meaning the company sold about 52 million phones to customers on a sell-through basis.

Despite the dip in unit sales, iPhone revenues rose 1.2 percent in the quarter, helped by a higher average selling price.

10th anniversary



Expectations are building ahead of Apple's 10th-anniversary iPhone range this fall, with investors hoping that the launch would help bolster sales.

Apple typically launches its new iPhones in September.

A big jump in sales usually follows in the holiday quarter, before demand tapers over the next few quarters as customers hold back ahead of the next launch.

Apple's 10th-anniversary iPhone range might sport features such as wireless charging, 3-D facial recognition and a curved display.

"There is a general softening in phone demand to contend with as well as expectations of a big upgrade, all of which softens the blow of this quarter's miss," said James McQuivey, a Forrester Research analyst. "If we see Apple downplaying expectations before the next upgrade cycle, it might mean that the company isn't confident it will beat those expectations."

The company forecast total revenue of between $43.5 billion and $45.5 billion for the current quarter, while analysts on average were expecting $45.60 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Analysts on average expect the company to sell 42.31 million iPhones in the current quarter, according to FactSet.

For the second quarter, the company's net income rose to $11.03 billion, or $2.10 per share, compared with $10.52 billion, or $1.90 per share, a year earlier.

Analysts on average had expected $2.02 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose 4.6 percent to $52.90 billion in the quarter, compared with analysts' average estimate of $53.02 billion.

A 17.5 percent jump in the company's services business - which includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud  to $7.04 billion, boosted revenue.

"We are particularly encouraged by the fact that service revenue is nowhere near as cyclical as product revenue," Neil Saunders, Managing Director of GlobalData Retail, wrote in a note to clients.

Apple's revenue from the Greater China region fell 14.1 percent to $10.73 billion in the quarter, as cheaper rivals in the region chipped away at sales.

Maestri said that sales of Macs and the company's services were strong in China during the March quarter. The performance were seeing in China should get better going forward this year, he said.



Apple's gross margin hit 38.9 percent, slightly ahead of analysts' average expectation of 38.7 percent, despite higher prices for memory chips. The company said it expects gross margins next quarter between 37.5 percent and 38.5 percent, versus analysts' expectation of 38.3 percent, according to FactSet.

NAND and DRAM [memory chips] are under pressure right now in terms of some price pressure. We saw that in the March quarter and expect that to continue into the June quarter, but for all the other commodities, we see prices declining, Maestri said.




President Robert Mugabe has dismissed assertions that Zimbabwe is a fragile state, saying the country is instead one of the most developed nations in Africa.

Speaking in a panel discussion on fragile states at the ongoing 27th edition of the World Economic Forum on Africa in Durban, South Africa, Mr. Mugabe laughed off suggestions that his country was listed by some organizations as a fragile state.

According to the World Economic Forum website and the South African Citizen newspaper, the 93 year-old president noted that Zimbabwe has huge resources, a large number of universities, high literacy rate, and as a result, was one of the most developed African countries after South Africa.

Zimbabwe is one of the most highly developed countries in Africa, and after South Africa. I want to know which country has that level of development that you see in Zimbabwe. We have got universities, our literacy rate is over 90% and is the highest in Africa. Dont talk of us as a fragile state from an economic point of view. Yes, we have our problems, but we have achieved a lot.

We have resources, perhaps more resources than the average country in the world, gold, diamonds, chrome, coal, et cetera. Were utilizing that, and our agriculture is very powerful.
By Akshaya Nath: The region between northern Sri Lanka and Rameshwaram has been a subject of intense activities with regular arrests made by both the sides. With Indian fishermen not venturing into the sea for 60 days, the regular fishermen arrests have come down, but today the Indian Custom's official have caught 5kg of gold which was smuggled from Sri Lanka to India.

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The Customs officials said that an investigation is underway and they will soon be getting hold of a racket that has been smuggling goods into the two countries. Apart from this, a suspect was apprehended with over 1 kg of heroin by a group of Naval personnel attached to the Sri Lanka Coast Guard in coordination with Kotawila Police. The apprehended suspect and heroin were handed over to the Kotawila Police for further investigations.

With the Indian Coast Guards hovercraft getting damaged, it is seen that there is an alleged difficulty in the patrolling and this has further increased the presence of smugglers in the region.

The fishing ban period already kicking in is seen that the regular arrests of fishermen that usually take place has come down. The arrest of five fishermen a few days back though has caused a lot of protest across the fishing community in the state. Apart from the arrests of Indian fishermen, close to 140 boats have been kept under the Sri Lankan custody and getting them back has been a regular demand of the Indian fishermen.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting Sri Lanka on 11th of May it has been announced that there will be release of the boats as a goodwill gesture.

While this has brought in some relief for the fishermen, the region becoming a smuggling ground is causing a lot of fear and unhappiness.

Also read:

Tamil Nadu: Coast Guard hovercraft damaged, patrolling along international border to take a hit

DRI seizes 16 kgs of gold smuggled from Sri Lanka

--- ENDS ---
Equality Means Business: Front Line Staff Training on Disability Awareness

Government have announced further disability awareness training opportunities that form part of the Ministry of Equalitys Equality Means Business series of awareness seminars. Paul Hawkins, from the UK charity Attitude is Everything, has once again been invited to deliver bespoke training to both the public and the private sector.

This forms part of the Ministrys initiative and drive to raise awareness and promote inclusion of individuals with disabilities in our community.

The Disability Bill 2017, which will shortly be taken before Parliament, imposes significant obligations on everyone to work proactively towards the improvement of the quality of life of people with disabilities. The underlying objective is to promote the inclusion and participation of people with disabilities in the community as well as to promote their equality of opportunity and independence.

This training is aimed at frontline staff who are in direct contact with members of the public and would like to be made aware of how to assist potential customers who happen to have a disability. The training will consist of the following:

 Looking at what having a disability entails

 Discussing the social model of disability

 Looking at case studies and giving guidance and best practice solutions

 Language and terminology

Training for the private sector will be held at the Gibraltar University on Thursday 25th May from 10:30am. The training is envisaged to last around two and a half hours. Space on this course will be limited and anyone interested is advised to contact the Ministry of Equality on telephone: 200 70112 or e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to secure a space.

The Minister for Equality, the Hon Samantha Sacramento MP, said: This Government is pleased to offer further training opportunities on disability awareness for the private sector as well as the public sector. Not only is inclusion the right thing to do morally and legally, it also makes good business sense. It has now been four years since we started offering training in disability awareness and we are already beginning to see a significant change in many peoples attitudes to disability. Nevertheless, we cannot become complacent and so further training programmes will be announced throughout this year to complement the training we have provided so far.
Environment Launches Wildlife Cameras

The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Climate Change (DEHCC) has today launched the second phase of its Gibraltar Nature Cameras Project with the installation of two live-feed cameras showing the nests of one of Gibraltars most well-known visiting birds, the Pallid Swift. These fast moving, sickle-shaped birds, signal the start of the spring and are a characteristic feature of the Spring and Summer skies of Gibraltar.

Following the earlier deployment of the greatly successful live marine camera, the initiative will be used as part of the Departments wider Environmental Education Programme aiming to increase knowledge of and protect both our natural and urban environments. It is hoped that the live-feed Swift cameras will help raise awareness on the fascinating lives of these birds, as well encourage the wider public to protect them and their nest sites. Swifts fly all the way down to tropical Africa and back every single year, and once they leave the nest as youngsters are known to spend several years continuously on the wing.

Two species of swifts have historically nested in built-up areas in Gibraltar; the Common Swift characterised by its dark, almost black colour and the Pallid Swift, which is paler brown. Older buildings in Gibraltar were constructed using traditional methods, leaving gaps under the eaves and gables. These have long been used by swifts for nesting. However, modern building styles and techniques have had an adverse effect on the local swift population by decreasing the habitat that these birds use for nesting. Government is placing nests around Gibraltar and it is the policy of the Development and Planning Commission to require the installation of swift nests in all new construction. There is a third species, the larger and much rarer Alpine Swift, which nests in crags on the east side of the Rock.

Additional cameras showcasing Gibraltars rich wildlife, such as birds of prey, will be launched later this Spring. The Swift cameras can be viewed online from the DEHCCs Thinking Green website www.thinkinggreen.gov.gi

Minister for the Environment, Dr John Cortes said, These cameras will bring our urban wildlife right into our homes. We will be able to follow the development of these swifts from eggs to fledging. In Gibraltar, we love our swifts. We do a great deal to protect them and their nests, so its only right that we should get to know them better.
Photo-Illustration: Art Handler/Patrick McMullan

Dennis Lehane moved from Boston to Southern California three years, nine months, and two days ago, he says, and the specificity of his answer gives him away. He knows it; hes not hiding anything. But he is feeling a bit unsettled. Its a brisk Friday afternoon in Santa Monica, and he has no obvious reason to be at loose ends: His 14th novel, Since We Fell, is due out any minute; hes working with David E. Kelley (Ally McBeal, Big Little Lies) on a ten-episode adaptation of Stephen Kings 2014 novel Mr. Mercedes; hes got a vacation to Hawaii coming up, and he has nothing pressing he needs to finish. And yet thats the problem, or one of them. I have a very hard time not working, he concedes, in a voice that bears a trace of Boston, where he was born and where nearly all his most-celebrated books, such as Mystic River and Gone, Baby, Gone, take place. You dont want to be around me if Im not working. I start to lose my identity fast.

Lehane, whos 51, is best known for his novels, but hes spent the past decade or so carving out a parallel career in film and television, starting in 2004, when he began writing for The Wire. Several of his novels have been adapted into features  Mystic River in 2003 by Clint Eastwood, Shutter Island by Martin Scorsese in 2010  which is why Lehane came west in 2013, where he now pursues a bifurcated existence: a New Englander in California; an author seeking to balance the isolation of writing prose with the collaborative nature of TV. Ive been doing it so long, for 31 years, I dont know how to not, he says of writing fiction. Scripts are all about advancing the narrative. But I need to just write a nice clean line now and then.

Lehane is talking about art, and hes talking about business, but hes also talking about finding a comfort zone. This is an ongoing theme in his life these days: the matter of expatriation, even exile. His school-age daughters are happy in the west. The work is plentiful and good. If I go back, I give all that up. As for the restlessness, it has always been a part of what drives him, and a key factor in his fiction: Its very hard for me to drill down on a character whos not an outsider. I dont function well with people who fit.

His work often centers on characters who are unsure of what they want or what they have, and Since We Fell features such a figure: a former investigative reporter named Rachel Childs. It moves from her childhood with a withholding mother, to her experience covering the 2010 Haiti earthquake, to her marriage to a mysterious man who has a talent for turning up where he should not. The novel sprang, he says, from a desire to do a Hitchcock  to tell a story where the danger is related to the personality of the main character, a mystery in which the risk is psychological and physical.

Since We Fell is a departure for Lehane  part thriller and part domestic drama, its largely the saga of Rachels complicated marital life. Perhaps not coincidentally, Lehane finds himself at a new imprint with a new editor. The book also benefited from what he calls happy accident, the moment the narrative begins to assert itself. He cites the first 100 pages, which detail Rachels early years. They were not part of the original draft but grew from a scene in which the character confronts the memory of her mother. It was a great feeling, because I felt: Im not writing for plot anymore. Its like my first drafts are base coat. Asked to elaborate, he breaks the process into two parts: plot and the interior narrative. First, get why they read down. Then get why you write down.

For Lehane, this is an increasingly essential balance, between crime fiction and social narrative. It was only after I finished Mystic River that I realized I was writing about the vanishing of a culture. Its like that great Tony Soprano line: Im getting the feeling that I came in at the end. Thats what I was writing about  a group of people who felt they came in at the end. Now he wants to cast the net more widely to write about people he hasnt addressed. The idea of the white male working-class crime story, he says, I cant wrap my arms around it anymore.

There it is again, that uneasiness, that restlessness. The Red Sox are on TV, and Lehane checks the score, then tells a story about his father, who constantly talked about going back to Ireland every day from the time he landed in Boston. The immigrants lament. After his first flush of success, Lehane offered to buy his father a property in Ireland, only to be rebuffed. Why the hell would I want that? the older man said to him, as if complaining had been the point. I worry, Lehane says with a chuckle, that Im that guy now.

Since We Fell will be published on May 9 by Ecco.

*This article appears in the May 1, 2017, issue of New York Magazine.
The competition is heating up. Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia

One Directions Niall Horan just released his next solo single Slow Hands  calm down, its not an Interpol cover  after coasting on the fumes of his debut solo acoustic sing-along This Town for some months. And the timing couldnt be better: Next week, his 1D bandmate Harry Styles will release his debut solo album. Harry and Niall are the two band members most likely not to wander too far from that 1D sound. The proof is already in what weve heard: Harrys first three songs have all been soft mid-tempo rock ballads in the vein of Story of My Life (though Sign of the Times has the spirit of rock theater). His latest, Sweet Creature, is a generous riff on Ray LaMontagne and Vance Joy, not unlike Nialls This Town.

Slow Hands is more of the same  its acoustic, slow-burning, a bit of a rocker, but also, finally, sexy. That last bit has so far been uncharted territory for Harry in his solo work. Nialls new song, however, is about a one-night stand initiated by a woman at a bar because, of course, Harrys not the only feminist to emerge from this group. Harry and Niall might not consider themselves in competition  few former boy banders would ever admit they care about what the other is doing  but its sounding more and more like weve finally got a game.


When Samantha Bee enters a dramatically lit parking lot looking for an inside scoop on President Trumps connection to Russia, her anonymous source (Andy Richter) keeps getting interrupted by other eager leakers. Hows a whistle-blower supposed to reveal state secrets when FBI agents, Starbucks baristas, and Julian Assange (played by a rather convincing rat) keep one-upping you at every turn? And, does it really count as a leak if the average reader doesnt care about the flood of scandalous information it contains? What is the weather like tomorrow, anyway?
Even though President Trump wasnt able to convince Congress to include his southern border wall in their recent government funding deal, he might soon be looking at a deal with health care. Sure, the zombie health-care plan will do away with some of the Affordable Care Acts more popular elements, but Republicans on the Hill and in Trumps administration have answers. Unfortunately, some of those explanations, as Seth Meyers points out in his Closer Look Late Night segment, dont really hold up under closer scrutiny. Who knew that implying people with preexisting conditions got sick because they live bad lives wouldnt win over hearts and minds?
Sometimes, the most powerful thing a television show can do is to let the audience know they arent losing their minds. Shots Fired does that in its seventh episode by establishing a growing consensus that Preston and Ashe might not be doing the best job in Gate Station. The people of Gate Station have long been suspicious of their investigation, owing to the perception that the Department of Justice is only making a big deal out of the Jesse Carr case because he was white. (Theyre only half-wrong, since its more about Officer Becks race than Jesses, but still.) But now the lack of movement on either case has Preston and Ashes superiors feeling anxious, so the DOJ wants to send in a new team to replace them. It isnt the worst idea.

At the same time, theres something wistful and utopian about the Shots Fired universe given recent developments in real-life police shootings of unarmed citizens. Former South Carolina officer Michael Slager pleaded guilty to the murder of Walter Scott after initially claiming that Scott reached for a weapon when he shot him eight times in the back. There will be no such justice for the family of Alton Sterling, whose tragic and needless shooting resulted in no federal charges against the officers in question. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has notified police departments nationwide that they neednt worry about increased oversight, and President Trump has made clear he thinks the problem is that police officers are undeservedly scrutinized.

The DOJ in Shots Fired is a remnant of the Obama administration, which unlike the current administration, believed that a pattern of abusive policing is more likely than a pattern of black men reaching for nonexistent firearms despite such obvious and grave consequences. Have Preston and Ashe mounted a flawless investigation into the murders of Jesse and Joey? They certainly have not, as their agenda includes more sex and sightseeing than the average expat who retired to Panama. But dammit, they care. They are furious about the violence that has erupted in Gate Station, but they are just as furious about the unanswered police violence that has stoked frustration in this community for such a long time. Preston and Ashes bumbling doesnt always make for the best storytelling, but on a week like this, their empathy and good intentions feel like a balm.

I realize thats a long way of saying that Shots Fired is still a show that works better in theory than in practice. Content of Their Character is a weirdly paced episode, even for a show that tends to struggle with pacing in general. The seventh episode of a ten-part murder mystery is bound to emphasize table setting, since the biggest reveals have to be saved for the final push. But its still a bit of a slog, and it only serves to set up the shows latest obvious red herring. After weeks of being the loudest voice in the local Justice for Joey movement, Pastor Janae is now the No. 1 suspect in Joey Campbells murder.

The Pastor Janae reveal should be a huge moment, but it doesnt feel like one despite being executed as a shocking cliffhanger. For one thing, while Janaes motives have always been a bit sketchy, to go from being Joeys biggest advocate to a suspect in his murder is a huge leap. Im not sure if were supposed to actually consider Janae as a potential suspect, or be shocked by the desperation and dishonesty of the sheriffs department. But its the kind of cliffhanger that feels more bewildering than thrilling.

It doesnt help that the notion of Janae as an evil actor wasnt introduced until this episode. At the beginning of the hour, Preston gets a tip that Pastor Janae encouraged someone to lie to the cops to cover up the murder of another drug dealer she wanted banished from her community; by the end of the episode, shes being led away in handcuffs. There just isnt enough connective tissue between those two events. Sheriff Platt says his department was tipped off about the murder weapon, so theres presumably more explanation forthcoming, but Im not sure Im interested in whatever facts supposedly tie Janae to Joeys murder.

The Janae angle feels like a waste of time because while the police are still evaluating a long list of suspects, the audience has already been directed to one: Arlen Cox. Preston and Ashe havent been able to rattle Coxs cage enough to get him to talk. They try yet again to get answers, but Cox is as smug as ever, convinced his money and influence will insulate him from punishment. As far as Im concerned, though, Cox is the killer  and if he isnt, Shots Fired has an even bigger problem. Cox might be too convenient a villain, but hes convenient because he embodies all of the themes the show explores. He participated in the safari-like tours of the Houses and he runs a massive for-profit corrections company, so hes been positioned as the shows Big Bad. The killer may not be Pastor Janae, but if its anybody besides Cox, that would be a twist too far.

Shots Fired is a bit lopsided because it focuses on two murder mysteries, but one is a whodunnit while the other is a whydunnit. As we wait to find out who actually killed Joey, were also waiting to find out why Officer Beck killed Jesse Carr. In the episodes other major development, Ashe discovers a video clip on Jesses phone that shows the moments immediately before he was killed. (What would be referred to on the nightly news as graphic cell phone video.) Beck approaches Jesses car and asks him what hes doing around the Houses, insisting he doesnt look right in the neighborhood. When Jesse talks back, Beck appears to snatch him out of the car, then the video cuts out, giving way to the audio of the gunshots.

The video doesnt tell the whole story, but it suggests a racially motivated police shooting of an unarmed man, and Preston and Ashe want to see justice served in that case as well. Even if Shots Fired doesnt wind up being the show it hopes to be, it offers an all-too-rare glimpse into an alternate universe where claims of racially biased policing arent treated as an equally weighted debate.
By India Today Web Desk: Actress Monica Castelino, who's last seen in Life OK's Har Mard Ka Dard is the latest addition to The Kapil Sharma Show.

It's said that desperate times call for desperate measures, and TKSS might have just done that by roping in Monica Castelino. It has been reported that Monica will play the role of a glamorous girl in the show.

Actress Monica Castelino has been roped in for The Kapil Sharma Show. Picture courtesy: Facebook/castelinomonica

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Monica is known for her bold roles and has earlier appeared in soft porns like Kama Sundari and a sex-comedy film called Men Not Allowed.

Monica Castelino has earlier appeared in a sex-comedy film Men Not Allowed with Payal Rohatgi.

For the past few episodes, even the level of jokes on the show has gone down and ratings have dipped drastically. We still hope that our favourite show finds its lost sheen and gets back on track.

Also read: TKSS: Kapil and team fail to pull off the show, villains come to their rescue

TKSS has constantly been in the news since the mid-air feud between Kapil and his team members became public. After the incident, members from the core team of TKSS like Sunil Grover, Chadan Prabhakar, Ali Asgar and Sugandha Mishra quit the show. But few artists like Upasana Singh and Raju Srivastava have recently joined the team. We can only wait and watch what difference will Monica bring to the show.

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Stephen Colbert Photo: Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images for Montclair Film

During tonights Late Show, host Stephen Colbert responded to the controversy thats broken out over his Monday night quip about President Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the phrase cock holster. Some Trump supporters have been vocal in their objections to the joke, saying it crossed a line in terms of acceptable attacks on the president. But Colberts remarks have also come under fire for what some saw as a form of homophobia, since the hosts joke suggested  well, its pretty obvious what it suggested. During a taping of tonights show, Colbert made it clear he had no regrets about dissing Trump. The language he used and what it implied? For that, Colbert did seem to wish for a do-over. Read Colberts statement, provided to Vulture by CBS, below. A CBS rep also said the topic of the joke came up briefly at the start of Colberts interview tonight with The Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons.

Welcome to The Late Show. Im your host, Stephen Colbert.



Still? I am still the host?



Im still the host!!



Now, if you saw my monologue Monday, you know that I was a little upset at Donald Trump for insulting a friend of mine. So at the end of that monologue I had a few choice insults for the president in return. I dont regret that. He, I believe, can take care of himself. I have jokes; he has the launch codes. So, its a fair fight.



So while I would do it again, I would change a few words that were cruder than they needed to be. Im not going to repeat the phrase, but I just want to say for the record, life is short, and anyone who expresses their love for another person, in their own way, is to me, an American hero. I think we can all agree on that. I hope even the president and I can agree on that. Nothing else but that.



Update: Watch Colbert make the remarks at the start of his monologue below.
Stephen Colberts shoulder with Daily Show pals, Rob Corddry, Jon Stewart, Ed Helms, and Samantha Bee in 2005. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

While Stephen Colbert might be finally leading the late-night rating wars, the Late Show host remembers where his successful career began. According to Deadline, on Tuesday, May 9, Colbert will mark his 20th anniversary of making folks laugh before bedtime with his old co-workers Jon Stewart, Samantha Bee, John Oliver, Rob Corddry, and Ed Helms. Colbert joined The Daily Show in 1997 and served as a correspondent until his conservative blowhard alter-ego, also named Stephen Colbert, got his own spinoff on Comedy Central. Bee and Oliver also have their own notable politically charged late-night programs, while Corddry and Helms have ventured more into television and movies. The report didnt mention an appearance by Colberts Even Stevphen partner, Steve Carell, but that wont stop us from hoping.
By Press Trust of India: Kolkata, May 4 (PTI) The BJP today accused the Trinamool Congress of not respecting the Opposition and killing democracy in West Bengal.

"In a democracy the Opposition plays an important role. But in Bengal the Mamata Banerjee-government bulldozed the Opposition. Here the rule of law does not prevail," BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said.

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He was speaking at a meeting to protest against alleged "kidnapping and forcing" of the Naxalbari tribal couple, who had hosted BJP president Amit Shah during his recent visit, to join the TMC.

He said that BJP workers had gone to the Naxalbari police station to file an FIR and alleged that the police did not even register it.

West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh had stated yesterday, "We had reports that they were being threatened by the TMC goons. They had been missing for the last two days. They were kidnapped by the TMC and forced to join the party. We condemn such an act."

Vijayvargiya, who hailed from Madhya Pradesh, said, "The BJP was in opposition in that state when the Congress was in power but the Congress used to give us respect".

"But in Didis Bengal, there is no respect for the Opposition. Violence was unleashed against opposition party workers", he said, adding, "We are not scared. We cannot be cowed down. The BJP is the worlds biggest political party. We will not say eye for an eye but we have to save democracy".

The BJP leader alleged that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was practicising appeasement politics for garnering votes.

"The students were facing problem in performing Saraswati puja in educational institutions and restrictions were imposed on immersion of Durga idols. The people also faced difficulty in taking out Ram Navami processions," he alleged.

Vijayvargiya said the BJP would not allow anyone to raise slogans against India.

In an apparent reference to Narada and chit fund scams, he said that the ministers (of the TMC government) who were involved in it would go to jail one by one.

On the demonetisation issue, he said the World Bank had praised it but "here Mamataji had opposed it". PTI SUN MD IKA

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A Texas State Technical College student was killed Wednesday when she was struck by a motorcyclist on an Interstate 35 access road, authorities said Thursday.

Janette Curtis, 27, of Temple, was struck by a 21-year-old motorcyclist when she was putting gas into her car near the 4800 block of I-35, north of Crescent Street, at about 5:30 p.m., Lacy Lakeview Police Chief John Truehitt said. He declined to release the motorcyclist's name as he remains under criminal investigation for the fatal crash.

A TSTC official identified the motorcyclist as Harley McKinney.

Curtis was taken to Baylor Scott & White Hillcrest Medical Center after the crash, where she was pronounced dead. The motorcyclist, who was wearing a helmet, was also taken to the hospital with severe injuries, police said.

Witnesses told police the woman was parked on the shoulder of the access road and was using a portable gas container to put gas in her car, Truehitt said. The motorcyclist struck Curtis, a mother of three, while she was outside her vehicle.

"We have opened an accident investigation with a very experienced officer with experience in motor vehicle crash investigations," Truehitt said. "From all indications at this point, speed does not appear to be a factor, the weather does not appear to be a factor and the road was dry."

Traffic was moderate at the time of the crash, Truehitt said.

TSTC Provost Adam Hutchison tweeted condolences in regards to Curtis' death. He issued a statement to faculty and staff Thursday morning identifying Curtis as a culinary arts student and McKinney as an automotive technology student.

"The TSTC community is shocked and saddened by the news of the accident involving two of our students this evening," Hutchison wrote in the statement. "Janette and Harley are part of the TSTC family, and faculty, staff and administrators share in the grief of this tragedy.

"Our deepest condolences go out to Janette's family during this extremely difficult time. Our thoughts are also with Harley, who remains hospitalized, and we pray for his complete recovery. The college will coordinate for counselors to be available for employees and students."

McKinney remained in critical condition Thursday morning, hospital officials said.
24-year-old Amreen Bano from Meerut filed an FIR against her husband, alleging that he abused, thrashed and tortured her everyday.

By India Today Web Desk: Amidst the ongoing debate around triple talaq, the practise of Muslim men getting instant divorce from their wives, a woman from Meerut said 'talaq, talaq, talaq' to her abusive husband.

Amreen Bano, (24), filed an FIR against her husband, alleging that he abused, thrashed and tortured her everyday. She even suffered a miscarriage.

"My husband does not say anything. He does not give me, my kids or my nephew, nieces any money. I want him to go to jail and I want to give talaq to my husband. Like in the Muslim community a man gives talaq by saying it three times. I want to do the same," Bano said.

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Amreen and her sister Farheen were married to two brothers from a neighbouring village in 2012. Both the sisters alleged that since the wedding, they have been frequently beaten and abused by their husbands, Sabir and Shakir respectively.

Yesterday, the sisters went to meet a senior police officer, alleging that no action had been taken by the local police on their complaint.

MODI'S TAKE ON TRIPLE TALAQ

Earlier, Prime Minister Modi also appealed to the Muslim community to find for proper solution to end the practice of triple talaq.

"I believe people from Muslim community would come up with a solution to solve the issue of triple talaq and act as savior for the Muslim women in this crucial period," PM Modi has said in an address.

He had further gone on to say that there should be no discrimination in the country, adding that 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas' was the motto of his government and it would fulfill the promises made to the people without any discrimination.

A five-judge constitution bench of the apex court will start hearing the petitions against Triple Talaq from May 11.

The court will hear pleas filed by several Muslim women challenging the practice under which men can divorce their wives instantly by uttering the word 'Talaq' thrice.

Thousands of Muslim women across the country have formed pressure groups and spearheaded signature campaigns demanding the abolition of the controversial practice.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) claims Shariat law upholds the validity of triple talaq - under which a Muslim husband can divorce his wife by merely pronouncing the word "talaq" three times.

Talaq or divorce can be obtained in either of two ways. Under 'talaq-ul-sunnat', there has to be a three-month period called 'iddat' between the pronouncement of talaq by a husband and a lawful separation. But 'talaq-e-bidat' authorises a man to do so in a single sitting.

The AIMPLB has issued appeals to all maulanas and imams of mosques to read out the code of conduct during Friday 'namaz' and emphasise on its implementation.

The board has made it clear that it will not tolerate any interference in the Shariat laws, and claimed that majority of the Muslims in the country do not want any change in their personal law.

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(With inputs from ANI)

Also read

PM Narendra Modi on triple talaq: Muslim community should come forward to protect its women

Muslim body to PM Modi: Focus on education and other basic issues, not triple talaq

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By Press Trust of India: Chennai, May 4(PTI) Brown sugar weighing around two kilograms was seized from two Colombo-bound passengers at the airport here today, airport officials said.

A team of DRI sleuths intercepted two men on suspicion, when they arrived at the airport to board a flight to Sri Lanka, they said.

Officials found the contraband concealed in their baggage, they added.

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The narcotic substance was seized and the duo, one hailing from Devakottai in Sivaganga district and another from here were being questioned, officials said.

The duo are expected to be handed over to anti-narcotics authorities for further action, they added. PTI COR VGN ROH

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Photography & Words by Matt Savage

There was a sense of trepidation as April 23, 2017 dawned a grey and foggy day in Kyneton, a small country town nestled in the Macedon Ranges an hour North-West of Melbourne. Six months earlier (to the day!), the airshow was due to be held to celebrate the Kyneton Aero Clubs 50th Anniversary but had been cancelled due to a prolonged soaking from the heavens over several weeks, rendering the airfield unsafe for the show. Eventually the overcast broke and the rains stayed away, allowing the show to commence.

Almost 5000 visitors were on hand to witness the first airshow held at Kyneton in over a decade, and it certainly left a positive impression on those who came. A wide variety of aircraft were on display throughout the day, including many antique and ex-military aircraft, along with a number of amateur-built types. Many of the hangars on the field were also open for the public to inspect.

Steve Edmonds, President of the Kyneton Aero Club, very excited with the event, after months of planning and following the cancellation of the show planned for last October due to poor weather. It was a fantastic combined effort of the aero club and the Woodend and Kyneton Rotary Clubs, we couldnt have done it without them, Mr Edmonds said. The Rotary guys were just outstanding, they just brought everyone together, and everything went so smoothly it was a credit to everyone.

After an opening speech by Cr Mandi Mees of the Macedon Ranges Shire Council the flying display commenced in earnest, with a display by model aircraft from the Central Highlands Aero Model Plane Society (CHAMPS!). Regrettably, the only incident of the day occurred on the very first flight when a jet-powered model vacated the runway on its takeoff roll and was damaged. The show quickly went on after this, with the models defying the laws of physics with their very energetic displays. The CHAMPS would fly their models on several occasions during the airshow.

Two of Australias best aerobatic pilots were on hand to make scintillating displays, with Paul Bennet flying his Wolf Pitts Pro (one of only two in the world), and Chris Sperou in his Pitts Super Stinker. Straight and level flight is a concept lost on both aviators as they both danced through the sky in solo high-energy displays. Sperou, a 13-time Australian Aerobatic Champion, also flew a dynamic formation display with Warren Stewarts Beech B33 Debonair called Sky Blazers; their signature manoeuvre is Chris rolling closely around Warrens aircraft.

Warbirds of several different types flew aerial displays throughout the day, representing the length and breadth of Australian aviation for the last century. David Marshalls Sopwith Pup replica was the up first, followed by an antique flypast from a de Havilland Tiger Moth, Auster IIIF & Ryan PT-22 taildraggers. The RAAF Heritage Trainers flew a four-ship formation of Antipodean-designed pilot trainers, the Commonwealth CA-25 Winjeel from Australia, and the NZAI CT-4 Airtrainer from New Zealand. The Airtrainer is itself based upon an Australian design by Henry Millicer, the Victa Airtourer. Solo aerobatic displays from both types also featured after the formation flypasts.

A number of GA types flew displays throughout the day, with a handling display made by the Mahindra Aerospace Airvan 8 utility aircraft, and also a pair of amateur-built Corby Starlets with a Vans RV-6. Kyneton Aero Clubs Chief Flying Instructor Michael Burke made a number of passes in the ubiquitous Cessna 182, while Murray Wallace flew his flamboyant Italian hotrod, the Siai-Marchetti SF-260.

A number of heavy-metal warbirds performed during the show, with Paul Bennet in his General Motors TBM-3E Avenger, Chris Godfrey in his camouflaged North American T-28D Trojan, and Doug Hamilton flew his recently-restored Curtiss P-40N Warhawk. This P-40 is the only example in Australia that has a second seat behind the pilot and is also full equipped in the back so pilot training can be conducted. It is also scored a kill on a Japanese fighter in New Guinea shortly before it too was shot down during the same battle.

Chris T-28D Trojan has been a part of the Australian warbird scene on and off for many years. Originally imported by a syndicate that included warbird legend the late Col Pay from Laos during the 1980s, she was originally built in 1951 as a T-28A before being rebuilt as a T-28D with strengthened wings to allow for the carriage of ordnance. She was then sent to Thailand in 1970 for use by Air America in Laos, before being impressed into service with the Royal Laotian Air Force in 1971. The aircraft was reportedly shot down on operations in 1972, but was recovered, repaired and flying operations again by the end of that year, flying on until the RLAF ceased to exist in 1975. Chris acquired the aircraft in 2012 and, after some restoration work, ferried the aircraft to his Victorian home in 2016.

Spaning 54 2, a length of 40 11.5 and powered by a Wright R-2600 Twin Cyclone radial engine, Paul Bennets TBM Avenger torpedo bomber was by far the behemoth of the airshow. Built in 1943 by General Motors (under contract by Grumman Aerospace), little is known about her US military service. Post-war, she spent a number of decades in both the US and Canada as a firebombing aircraft, prior to being purchased and restored to her military configuration by warbird identity the late Steve Searle. Like his impressive aerial displays in his Wolf Pitts Pro, Paul threw her around the sky like a fighter with the display starting from the moment the landing gear started coming up!

Matt Henderson flew a salute to the veterans of the Vietnam War in his Cessna O-1G Birddog, painted in US Air Force colours and sporting a pair of 2.75 White Phosphorus rockets under each wing. These were used to designate targets for other Allied attack aircraft, before the age of laser targeting systems. The aircraft was operated in Vietnam by the 504th/19th TASS and based at Bien Hoa.

Congratulations to Kyneton Aero Club, Kyneton and Woodend Rotary, Paul Bennet Airshows Mount Macedon Shire Council, and all who participated and supported for putting together this highly successful event. The question on the lips of many members of the public was When is the next show? Hopefully, sooner than another decade!

Many thanks Matt Savage for bringing us this article, along with his marvelous photography! To see more of Matts photography, please click HERE.

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Some of the suspects broke out during interrogation and disclosed that the two dreaded naxal commanders were killed in the incident.

By India Today Web Desk: Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldiers had gunned down two Naxal commanders in retaliatory action during the April 24 attack Chhattisgarh's Sukma district when 25 jawans were killed in an ambush.

The revelation comes from 11 suspects who have been caught by the police for questioning in the last week's attack.

Some of the suspects broke out during interrogation and disclosed that the two dreaded naxal commanders were killed in the incident.

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"During interrogation, some suspects revealed that two naxal commanders were killed in the Burkapal incident," Sukma Superintendent of Police Abhishek Meena told PTI.

He further claimed that those killed were identified as Anil, a commander of military platoon 24 of Maoists and divisional committee rank member, and Ravi, Cherla LOS (local organisation squad) commander.

While Anil was a native of Usoor area of the Bijapur district, Ravi was from Bhadrari district of neighbouring Telangana, the SP said.

CRPF and police officials had claimed earlier that several naxals were also killed in the Burkapal incident but their colleagues managed to drag their bodies inside the forests after the attack.

Preliminary interrogation has "established" that some of these suspects were allegedly involved in the Burkapal attack but once the interrogation process is completed, they will be arrested and produced before the court.

Their interrogation may reveal crucial details about the incident, he added.

(PTI inputs)

ALSO READ:

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

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

Amit Shah to India Today: Sukma attack a reflection of the suppression of Maoists and Naxalism

Also watch:

CRPF nabs 4 Maoists involved in Sukma attack that killed 25 jawans

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New York: Brad Pitt has opened up for the first time about his divorce from Angelina Jolie, admitting to heavy drinking and pot smoking and a lifetime of cutting himself off emotionally from others.

The 53-year-old actor told GQ Style in an extensive interview released on Wednesday that he had quit drinking, was undergoing therapy, and that he and Jolie were committed to resolving matters amicably and privately.

"I just started therapy," the Moneyball star said in the interview for the summer issue of GQ Style. "I love it. I love it. I went through two therapists to get to the right one."

Jolie's sudden announcement in September 2016 that she was filing for divorce sent shockwaves through the celebrity world. The couple known as Brangelina, who married in 2014 and have six children, embarked on a bitter child custody dispute and Pitt was investigated for possible child abuse after losing his temper in front of some of the children.
The City of Bayswater council has been criticised for voting on marriage equality and making donations to overseas charities rather than focusing on local ratepayer issues.

North Ward Councillor Brent Fleeton said two motions passed at a recent council meeting were outside the parameters of local government, and were purely an act of 'empty symbolism.'

The City of Bayswater passed a vote supporting marriage equality.

"Councils do things like deciding on planning applications and lobbying state and federal governments for help in building new infrastructure. This level of government isn't sexy and most of the time it's not even that contentious," he said.

"When I won [the election] I certainly didn't expect my role to be anything more than representing locals on these issues, but my job changed last week when we met to discuss two bizarre motions from my colleagues.
Western Australians travelling to Bali have been put on high alert following a confirmed measles outbreak in the region. A WA traveller is the latest confirmed case of the disease, and triggered a 'public health emergency' warning from the Department of Health. The infected patient was at Loftus Recreation Centre in Leedervile on April 29. Credit:City of Vincent The Department said people could have been exposed to the recent case if they visited the following locations in Perth between April 27 and April 30: Thursday April 27: around 3pm at the Coles supermarket in Fitzgerald Street, North Perth

Friday April 28: around 8am at the IGA supermarket in Second Avenue, Mount Lawley

Friday April 28: around 3pm at Vintage Cellars in Second Avenue, Mount Lawley

Saturday April 29: between 9am and 10.20am at Loftus Recreation Centre in Leederville

Saturday April 29- around 6pm to 7pm at Domino's Pizza in Beaufort Street, Inglewood

Sunday April 30- around 2pm at the Coles supermarket in Guildford Road, Maylands

WA Health medical epidemiologist doctor Gary Dowse said while public health staff had been attempting to warn people who had been potentially exposed to the disease, it was not possible to identify and specifically warn people who were in the listed public places. There have been more than 20 separate importations of measles from Bali to WA since 2014, with seven already this year. "Unfortunately it is not unusual for Australians to be infected with measles overseas, including in Bali, but the increase in the number of cases in WA and other states in recent months suggests there is an ongoing measles outbreak in Bali," he said. Doctor Dowse said it was important for anyone who thought they may have been infected to call their GP surgery or emergency department ahead of time to prevent spreading the disease, and to make sure they were up to date with their vaccinations. Loading
Premier Mark McGowan said a review of the WA public service will "get in there with a machete" and slash the number of government boards and committees in an effort to save more $750 million from the sector.

The review, which will cost $500,000 and take five months to be completed, will be headed by former New Zealand state services commissioner Iain Rennie along with former Indigenous Land Corporation chief executive Michael Dillon and former UWA senior deputy vice chancellor Professor Margaret Seares AO.

Premier Mark McGowan has unveiled the details of its public sector shake-up. Credit:Bohdan Warchomij

The premier said the service priority review would examine the operations and culture of the public sector, which could lead to further agency mergers.

New key performance indicators will also be developed and linked to the salaries of directors general and chief executive officers.
WA Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan has reiterated his calls for the state government to fund a new $90 million forensic science centre after a police DNA bungle led to a man accused of hiding nearly $3 million worth of methamphetamine in his roof walking free.

The meth was reportedly placed on an exposed table during a search of the convicted drug dealer's home, which led the defence to argue it could have been contaminated with the accused's DNA at that point.

The value of the test continues to grow as knowledge of the genome increases. Credit: Supplied

Mr O'Callaghan told Radio 6PR on Thursday the case would be peer reviewed by the major crime squad to determine what went wrong.

"It certainly looks like a potential for contamination," he said.
Le Pen retorted that Macron represented only corporate interests. "You do not think of the best interests of the nation," she said. "You defend private interests." She referred sarcastically to "your friends with whom you get drinks at La Rotonde," referring to a dinner Macron had at a ritzy Paris restaurant after the first round of the election, a meal that has been used to portray him as out of touch. The conversation then turned to a Whirlpool tumble dryer factory in Amiens, Macron's hometown, that is threatened with closure. Le Pen made a surprise visit to the plant last week as Macron was meeting with union leaders; some workers jeered him, although he mollified some of them by discussing their concerns. In one exchange, Le Pen said that she would tax the products of companies that outsourced jobs and that she wanted to set up a sovereign investment fund, led by chief executives, to invest in struggling French companies. Macron said such programs already existed. As the exchange became increasingly heated, Macron accused Le Pen of peddling "nonsense" and she shot back,"Don't play with me." "I'm not playing, unfortunately it's sad," he said.

"I see that you are trying to play student and teacher with me, but as far as I'm concerned it isn't particularly my thing," Le Pen continued, in what could be seen as an implicit reference to Macron's wife, a former drama teacher whom he met while in high school. Some of the sharpest exchanges occurred around the topic of terrorism, which has claimed about 240 lives in France since the beginning of 2015. Le Pen called for stripping the French citizenship of people of dual nationality who are suspected of terrorist activity; closing mosques suspected of fostering extremism; expelling hate preachers; securing France's borders; and expanding prisons. Macron called for better intelligence gathering and sharing, the hiring of more police officers, and intensifying online surveillance of extremist activities. "We must attack the root of evil, the root of the evil is the exponential development of Islamic fundamentalism on our territory," Le Pen said. Macron, citing the findings of Gilles Kepel, a scholar of Islam, said that a victory by Le Pen, with her anti-Islamic message, was a fervent wish of jihadis who wanted a war of religions. He said Le Pen's proposal to strip citizenship from suspected terrorists would do nothing to stop a determined suicide bomber, and he called her anti-terrorism proposals "snake oil."

France's history also came up. Le Pen accused Macron of propagating hatred by calling France's colonization of Algeria a crime against humanity; Macron said he regretted any offense he had caused. Soon after, Macron attacked Le Pen's denial of French responsibility for the roundup of French Jews during World War II. "France was not guilty of this appalling horror," Le Pen said of the notorious 1942 roundup of Jews in a stadium known as the Vel' d'Hiv. She said that she blamed the collaborationist Vichy regime for the roundup, and said she did not consider it to have been the legitimate government at the time. (Charles de Gaulle's government-in-exile in London was, she added.) The two candidates clashed on the euro and on the European Union; Macron said that European institutions needed reform, while Le Pen said he would bend to the will of Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel. France's real competitor is China, not Germany, he replied. Macron said a strong and united Europe would be the best response to the populist message put forth by President Donald Trump, and he castigated Le Pen for her coziness with Russia's president, Vladimir Putin. Le Pen said France should be "equidistant" from both Russia and the United States. "Russia has not expressed hostility toward France," she said. "I do not care what the relations between the United States and Russia are."

Macron came in first, and Le Pen placed second, in the first round, on April 23, edging out nine other candidates, including Fran??ois Fillon from the center-right Republicans; Beno??t Hamon, the Socialist candidate; and the far-left candidate Jean-Luc M??lenchon. Sunday will be the first runoff election in the history of the French Fifth Republic, which began in 1958, without a candidate from the two major parties participating. Fillon and Hamon have thrown their support to Macron, but M??lenchon has demurred, saying only that he could not vote for Le Pen. Le Pen, unlike Macron, is a political veteran, and has more debates under her belt. But this is the first time that a far-right politician has made it to the second round of a debate. In 2002, when Le Pen's father reached the second round of the elections, his center-right opponent, Jacques Chirac, refused to debate him, saying that to do so would contribute to the normalization of "hate and intolerance." Jean-Marie Le Pen called it a "pathetic cop-out." While Macron and Marine Le Pen jousted twice in the first-round debates alongside some or all of the nine other candidates, they have never faced off head-to-head.
It was the split second that claimed five lives, and saw their last moments frozen forever.

An army photographer captured the moment she and four others were killed in Afghanistan, with the photo now being released by the US army nearly four years later.

The photo taken by Hilda Clayton at the moment she was killed when a mortar tube accidentally exploded during an Afghan National Army live-fire training exercise. Credit:US Army

On July 2, 2013, a mortar tube accidentally exploded while Specialist Hilda Clayton was photographing a live-fire training drill in Afghanistan with four Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers, one of whom she was training in combat photography.

Now, the photos taken by 22-year-old Clayton and the trainee have been published in the May-June edition of the Army's Military Review journal.
May said the events of the last few days had shown that whatever Britain's wishes, there were some people in Brussels who did not want Brexit talks to succeed.

By Indo-Asian News Service: British Prime Minister Theresa May made her most stinging remark so far against European Union (EU) "bureaucrats" in Brussels, accusing them of trying to ruin Brexit talks.

May was speaking outside 10 Downing Street after meeting with Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday on the day British Parliament was dissolved ahead of the June 8 snap general election.

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In her briefing, May said the events of the last few days had shown that whatever Britain's wishes, there were some people in Brussels who did not want Brexit talks to succeed and did not want Britain to prosper, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The European Commission's negotiating stance has hardened. Threats against Britain have been issued by European politicians and officials," May said.

The British Prime Minister said these acts had been deliberately timed to affect the result of the upcoming general election.

May said: "Whoever wins on June 8 will face one overriding task, to get the best possible deal for this United Kingdom from Brexit. And in the last few days, we have seen just how tough these talks are likely to be."

"By contrast, I made clear in my letter to the President of the European Council invoking Article 50 last month that, in leaving the EU, Britain means no harm to our friends and allies on the continent," she said.

May and the Conservative Party remain well ahead in the opinion polls, pointing to a victory for May with an increased majority on June 8 if the pollsters are right.

ALSO READ | UK PM Theresa May files formal Brexit divorce papers, 'we already miss you' says EU

ALSO READ | British PM Theresa May calls for early election on June 8

ALSO WATCH | UK PM Theresa May encounters first parliamentary defeat over Brexit talks

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India makes no distinction between caste, creed, colour or religion of a citizen, the Attorney General said.

By India Today Web Desk: Under criticism from Pakistan over treatment of minorities, India today told the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that it is a secular state with no state religion.

At the 27th session of the Universal Periodic Review Working Group at the UNHRC in Geneva, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said safeguarding the rights of minorities forms an essential core of India's polity.

WHAT INDIA SAID AT UNHRC: Rohatgi, who led the Indian delegation at the UN Human Rights Council, said the Indian Constitution enshrines various provisions for the protection of the rights and interest of the minorities. He said India makes no distinction between caste, creed, colour or religion of a citizen. "India is a secular state with no state religion," he said, adding that the Indian constitution guarantees freedom of religion to every individual. He said the right to free speech and expression occupies its rightful place in the core of the Indian Constitution. "As the world's largest multi-layered democracy, we fully recognise the importance of free speech and expression. Our people are conscious of their political freedoms and exercise their choices at every opportunity," Rohatgi told the member states. The Pakistan delegation raked up the Kashmir issue and demanded a ban on the use of pellet guns by Indian security forces. It also asked India to allow a UNHRC fact-finding team to visit Kashmir and review the situation. It also raised the issue of "mob violence" against the minorities Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Dalits in India. "We believe in peace, non-violence and upholding human dignity. As such, the concept of torture is completely alien to our culture and it has no place in the governance of the nation," the Indian delegate said. On the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, Rohatgi said the Act is applied only to disturbed areas and these areas are very few and in proximity to some international borders. "Whether this Act should be repealed or not is a matter of on-going vibrant political debate in my country," he said.

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(PTI inputs)

Also read:

India ranks lower than Pakistan and Bangladesh in UN's World Happiness Report

India's no to US mediation proves its claim on Kashmir is weak, says Pakistan

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As part of its Capacity Building programme, the WCO organized a Leadership and Management Development (LMD) workshop from 18 until 28 April 2017 in Mangochi, Malawi. Twenty senior and promising middle managers of the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) were inspired to strengthen their leadership and management capacities, as well as their personal effectiveness to drive reforms within their organization.

In the LMD workshop participants learned that knowing yourself and self-awareness, managing strategically, people management, outstanding communication skills, negotiation skills and change management are very important to address the organisations future challenges. The participating managers were very participative and showed a strong motivation and commitment to know, improve and manage themselves as well as to better understand others in order to have more influence and impact. The courage it takes to demonstrate these leadership skills was one of the important themes in this LMD workshop.

According to their recently updated vision statement, MRA strives to be the best performing Revenue Authority, one of the reasons why in this LMD workshop managers from the different divisions of MRA participated. Another important element of MRAs strategy is excellent service delivery, for which the foundations and requirements were discussed at several moments during the workshop, especially on the topic of integrity.

During the opening ceremony of the workshop, the Deputy Commissioner General of MRA, Mrs. Roza Mbilizi, and the Commissioner Customs, Mr. Fatch Valeta, stressed on the importance of improving leadership and management skills for driving MRAs reforms. As part of the closing ceremony, participants testified on the progress they made during the LMD workshop, after which Mrs. Mbilizi closed the workshop with a personal testimony from her side. She emphasized how the importance of knowing yourself, being aware, having the courage to be different and demanding concrete results, define her own leadership style and how proud and happy she was recognizing this same development in the participating managers.

The LMD workshop was made possible with the financial support of the Finnish government, as part of the project to progress the TFA in the ESA Region.

For more information on the WCO Leadership and Management Development Programme, please contact Capacity.Building@wcoomd.org
A village panchayat in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura district has decided to impose a fine of Rs 2.51 lakh on anyone involved in cow slaughtering. The panchayat also decided to impose fine on girls caught talking on mobile phones.

Madora village panchayat also decided to impose fine on girls caught talkig on mobile phones. (File Photo/PTI)

By India Today Web Desk: A village in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura district has decided to impose a fine of Rs 2.51 lakh for cow slaughter. The Madora village panchayat took the decision during a meeting earlier this week. The village with a population of over 3000 is dominated by Muslims.

During the meeting, the village elders suggested supporting Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's campaign against cow slaughter.

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"Of the total Rs 2.51 lakh penalty, Rs 51,000 will be given to the person who provides information about the cow slaughter," The Indian Express quoted Mohammed Gaffar, a former village pradhan, as saying.

Village pradhan Usman said that the key agenda was to prevent cow slaughter and robberies in the region.

FINE ON GIRLS FOR TALKING ON MOBILE PHONE

The panchayat members also decided to impose Rs 21,000 fine on girls who will be seen talking on mobile phones while walking on the street. The idea was to reduce the rate of crime against girls and elopement, said villagers.

The quantum of punishment apart from the penalty would be decided by the entire panchayat.

WATCH: Now cow slaughter will attract life imprisonment in Gujarat ALSO READ:

Gujarat: Cow slaughter now a life term offence after Assembly amends law

Long before Yogi Adityanath, a Congress CM banned cow slaughter in UP against Nehru's wishes

Mohan Bhagwat: Condemn violence over cow slaughter, but want law banning it across India

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The decision to hold a vote comes after key moderate lawmakers met with Trump on Wednesday and said a revised bill might win approval.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Republican leadership is confident there is enough support for the bill to pass. (Photo: Reuters)

By Reuters: In a possible breakthrough for US Republicans' effort to roll back Obamacare, the House of Representatives plans to hold a vote Thursday on compromise legislation, potentially ending a logjam that has delayed advancing President Donald Trump's campaign promise to repeal the law.

The decision to hold a vote comes after key moderate lawmakers met with Trump on Wednesday and said a revised bill might win approval as conservatives voiced no objections.

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House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Republican leadership is confident there is enough support for the bill to pass.

Keen to score his first major legislative win since taking office in January, Trump has been personally engaged in building support among fellow Republicans in the House for an effort that has already twice collapsed.

Aides said Trump has been furiously working the phones, trying to make good on a key promise to voters: overhauling former President Barack Obama's signature domestic legislation. The effort is showing Trump how hard it is to manage factions among the Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress.

HOUSE BILL CHANGED SEVERAL TIMES

The House bill has been changed several times as Republicans have tried to balance demands by conservatives for a maximum Obamacare rollback with moderates' worries about angering voters who like parts of the law, formally known as the Affordable Care Act and enacted in 2010.

One popular feature of the law lets young people stay on their parents' plans until age 26; another protects people with pre-existing health conditions, a provision defended by late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, who tearfully revealed on Monday his newborn son had a congenital heart condition.

Kimmel's monologue has been viewed nearly 19 million times on his show's Facebook page and on Wednesday morning was the No. 1 trending story on YouTube.

Trump met at the White House with two key House Republican moderates, Michigan's Fred Upton and Missouri's Billy Long. Speaking to reporters afterwards, they said Trump has endorsed their plan to add $8 billion over five years to help cover the cost for people with pre-existing illnesses who could otherwise be priced out of insurance markets.

Upton said it seemed likely the bill would pass the House, although Long said Republicans still seemed short of votes.

Long said he had opposed the legislation until the pre-existing conditions coverage was added. He said he had resisted Trump's arm-twisting, but that he now supported the bill. "The president said, 'Billy we really need you, man,'" Long said.

Conservatives who have stymied rollback efforts before said they support the moderates' latest plan, including the pre-existing conditions provision.

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"We see that as being a net plus in terms of the vote count," said Representative Mark Meadows, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, a conservative faction.

Even if the bill passes the House, it faces an uphill battle in the Senate, where Republican leader Mitch McConnell has repeatedly said that if the House passes a healthcare bill, the Senate would work on one, but that it would be difficult.

UNCERTAINTY FOR STOCKS

Health insurers, such as Anthem Inc, UnitedHealth Group Inc, Aetna Inc and Cigna Corp, have faced months of uncertainty over healthcare's future. So have hospital companies, such as HCA Holdings Inc and Tenet Healthcare Corp.

An initial rollback attempt failed in the House and was withdrawn by Republican leaders in March when conservatives opposed it, a defeat that clouded Trump's first 100 days.

Republicans renewed negotiations last month, but failed to round up enough support for a vote before a two-week recess in April. Republicans are now hoping to get something passed before they leave for another recess on Thursday evening.

Millions more Americans got healthcare coverage under Obamacare, but Republicans have long attacked it, seeing it as government overreach and complaining it drives up costs.

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On Wednesday, Aetna said it will exit the Obamacare individual insurance market in Virginia next year, citing "growing uncertainty" and expected losses this year.

House Democrats rejected the latest change to the Republican legislation on Wednesday, saying it appears to protect patients with pre-existing conditions but some could still be pushed off their insurance in certain states and face higher costs.

"This is deadly," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi told a news conference. "No Band-Aid will fix it."

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated an earlier version of the Republican bill would leave 24 million more people without insurance in 2026. It was unclear if a new estimate would be made before a vote on the House floor.

Called the American Health Care Act, the Republican bill repeals most Obamacare taxes, including a penalty for not buying health insurance. It slashes funding for Medicaid, the program that provides insurance for the poor, and rolls back much of Medicaid's expansion, while swapping Obamacare's income-based tax credits for flat age-based credits. It also allows insurers to raise premiums by 30 percent for those who have a lapse in insurance coverage of about two months or more.

An amendment recently added to win over the Freedom Caucus lets states opt out of Obamacare's mandate that insurers charge sick and healthy people the same rates. But Wednesday's amendment from Upton aimed to assuage moderates' concerns about that by providing a way for people with pre-existing conditions to get financial help to afford insurance. Others said the $8 billion over five years was not enough.

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ALSO READ | Obamacare remains for now: Donald Trump tastes failure as US House healthcare bill collapses

ALSO READ | Republican plan to repeal Obamacare would leave millions uninsured

ALSO WATCH | Donald Trump's bid to do away with Obamacare fails

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Tatum's 39 points help Celtics hold on to beat Grizzlies 109-106
By Kentucky News Network May. 04, 2017 | 04:57 AM | LOUISVILLE, KY

Republican Governor Matt Bevin is calling those questioning the legitimacy of a deal he made on his Anchorage home "asinine".Speaking on Louisville radio station WHAS on Wednesday, the governor addressed recent reports that he and former homeowner Neil Ramsey had negotiated a deal on the home just after Bevin appointed him as a board member for the Kentucky Retirement System.Ramsey had sold the home to himself under a company called Anchorage LLC for $3 million in 2013. In March, Bevin bought the home from Ramsey for a little over half of the price Ramsey had bought it for.Bevin says "the foolish people" will always ask about his taxes, qualifications and home, but he will never give them answers.The governor says the people of Kentucky do not care about his home, but instead care about cleaning up Frankfort.
The government seems to be exploring all options for Vijay Mallya's extradition from UK. Mallya, who owes Indian banks over Rs 9000 crore, sneaked out of the country last year.

By India Today Web Desk: Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi met his British counterpart Patsy Wilkinson in New Delhi today to push for fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya's extradition.

During the meeting at the North Block, Mehrishi asked Wilkinson to ensure that the UK should make an early extradition of Mallya, who has been living in London since March last year.

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The meeting comes just a day after a joint team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) reached London with evidence against Mallya, who owes Indian banks over Rs 9000 crore.

Sources said that Indian agencies are working on a two-fold strategy to counter any possible move by Mallya seeking a political plea to halt his possible extradition both in London and in Delhi. Mallya had sneaked out of India in March last year, a couple of days before Indian banks moved Supreme Court with a plea to pass an order banning the former Rajya Sabha member's movement outside the country.

Mallya, the boss of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines, was arrested on April 18 by Scotland Yard in London upon India's request to extradite the 'international businessman' from Britain. He was released on bail few hours after arrest.

Soon after getting bail the flamboyant businessman, who once called himself 'The King of Good Times', sent out a defiant tweet.

"Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in Court started today as expected," he tweeted.

WATCH: India to ask UK to extradite Mallya during Home Secy-level talks

ALSO READ:

CBI team reaches London ahead of hearing on Vijay Mallya's extradition in UK court

Vijay Mallya arrested in London, gets bail; usual Indian media hype, he says

The flight and fall of Mallya

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Sarah Crompton, WhatsOnStage



"The anticipation surrounding Jez Butterworth's new play The Ferryman has been epic. His first three-hour, three-act play since the blistering Jerusalem in 2009 is directed by Sam Mendes... It promised to be a huge event."

"And so it is. Literally so. Huge in the scale of its cast, of its ambition, of its rich themes. But above all, massive in its capacity to hold an audience rapt, in silence, telling them a story. It is, like Jerusalem before it, an extraordinary, thrilling act of belief in the power of theatre to gather people in a room and make them listen."

"Butterworth's writing, both flexible and controlled, makes every moment, whether funny, tender or tragic worth leaning forward to catch. He creates a world where banshees are as real in the wandering reminiscences of Brid Brennan's Aunt Maggie Far Away, as the brother who died in the Easter Uprising."

"Mendes' direction brings poetry to the most immensely detailed naturalism. The acting is so realistic that it seems to spring from the very soul of people. Paddy Considine, making his stage debut, displays extraordinary stillness and presence as Quinn; his scenes with Laura Donnelly's Caitlin have a gentle grace that is utterly heart-breaking."

"There are odd moments when the tension slackens... But these are small cavils in what is a triumphant, bold piece of theatre, an old-fashioned play full of life and heart and passion."

Henry Hitchings, Evening Standard



"...it's a triumphant show that fully justifies the hype  and even manages to debunk the old platitude that you should never work with animals or children.

"At the outset we learn that the body of Seamus Carney, missing for ten years, has been located. Though his brother Quinn  an astonishingly focused Considine, brooding but also tender  is now a farmer, the discovery of Seamus's pickled corpse reconnects him to an ugly past he'd hoped to put behind him."

"Of the more mature characters, Brid Brennan's Aunt Maggie Faraway is especially memorable, mostly static yet capable of summoning up the past with ghostly eeriness. Meanwhile, among the younger generation, it's newcomer Tom Glynn-Carney who stands out as the eldest of the visiting Corcoran brothers, a livewire who's alarmingly susceptible to the lure of fanaticism."

"There are some similarities here to Butterworth's last smash hit, Jerusalem, not least a sense of the mystique of rural life. Yet The Ferryman has its own distinct tang of humour and menace. A feast of intricate storytelling, it's absorbing, soulful and ultimately shattering."

Michael Billington, The Guardian



"...behind the box-office glamour of a work co-produced with Sonia Friedman and already destined for the West End lies a rich, serious, deeply involving play about the shadows of the past and the power of silent love. Only in the final moments of a play that runs well over three hours did I question Butterworth's mastery of his material."

"Butterworth is not the first person to dramatise the intersection of politics and private life in Northern Ireland... But what gives Butterworth's play such shattering force is its Hardyesque love of rural rituals and its compassionate exploration of unspoken love. At the heart of the play lies the tender relationship between Quinn, whom Paddy Considine endows with an unflinching integrity, and his brother's wife, Caitlin, beautifully played by Laura Donnelly. The idea of secret passion extends to two aunts who, in different ways, lost their loved ones."

"It reaches its fulfilment, however, in the captivating moment when a slow-witted English factotum reads Sir Walter Raleigh's poem "The Silent Lover" at the harvest home."

"Astonished gasps greet the presence of real rabbits, a goose and even a baby on stage. But one tiny moment illustrates Mendes's microscopic approach: the way Genevieve O'Reilly, as Quinn's ailing wife, quietly averts her gaze as Donnelly's Caitlin bustles about their communal kitchen speaks volumes about the plight of two women in love with the same man."

"But, if Butterworth's engrossing and haunting play tells us anything, it is that the violent past can no more be suppressed than the private passions that we are afraid to articulate."

Andrzej Lukowski, Time Out



"There is a live goose in The Ferryman. And a live rabbit. And a live baby. None of these things are particularly important in and of themselves, but I guess I have to start somewhere in describing this enormous, shattering eruption of a play from Jerusalem playwright Jez Butterworth."

"The Ferryman is vast, a play that's formally conventional but has an ambition that's out of this world, a sense that it wants to be about EVERYTHING. And insofar as is realistically possible, it succeeds."

"Like most of Butterworth's work, it is funny, with much of the humour here coming from its child cast swearing like troopers."

"This is not a rehash of Jerusalem... And while Considine's performance - full of tenderness, authority, and suppressed violence - is remarkable, he is not a 'Rooster' Byron but a little part of a big, scary, beautiful world."

"The play is vast - three-and-a-half-hours - but even though lengthy stretches are nothing more than generations bickering at the breakfast table, nothing feels wasted, every strand is respected, Mendes choreographs everything to perfection."

"And when the climax you half suspect is coming, comes, it is like a final, epoch ending volcanic eruption, the play's carefully constructed emotional checks and balances detonating in a maelstrom of violence and feeling that left me genuinely stunned."

Ann Treneman, The Times



"Butterworth gives us two sides of Ireland, hard men and warm hearths, plus much in between. It's a big Catholic family, three generations rubbing along, secrets barely hidden, whiskey on tap."

"At the heart of it all is Quinn Carney, played with power and finesse by Considine, as a man with a past who just wants to enjoy harvest day. So much exuberance and, just, life in one day and, as it unfolds, Butterworth infiltrates it with stories, an uncle in the uprising, an aunt who loved a ghost, until there is a sprawling homemade quilt of family history before us."

"Among many fine performances are Laura Donnelly as Quinn's sister-in-law and Tom Glynn-Carney as Shane, a crackerjack teenage firebrand. This is a serious, seriously good, grown-up play. The set, by Rob Howell, is so realistic that you feel you've drunk a cup of tea, or something stronger, there yourself. The three and a half hours do not drag. I would, happily, go back to spend time in that kitchen. So, yes, it is something special."

Dominic Cavendish, The Telegraph



"Jerusalem gave us the "full English"  14 characters, a sprawling state-of-the-nation epic... Journeying to Armagh, Northern Ireland and taking us back to the harvest of late August 1981... The Ferryman, serves up, you could josh, the full Irish, with director Sam Mendes bringing it to table with elan and a crack ensemble."

"At times, it's as if we're watching the Armagh equivalent of The Archers: there's a real-life goose and rabbits  the latter clutched by an otherworldly English neighbour called Tom Kettle."

"What I can openly observe is that there is a new warmth about Butterworth's writing  which eschews the self-aware dialogue of yore and taps his own Irish-Catholic provenance (and arguably Irish masters like Friel and McGuinness too) for a vitality that memorably manifests itself in wild Dionysiac outbreaks of dancing."

"Considine, making his stage-debut, and Laura Donnelly are perfect as the unrequited in-laws, Dearbhla Molloy is waspishly entertaining as a black-clad, die-hard Republican aunt and flame-haired Tom Glynn-Carney makes his libidinal mark as the most unruly of the teen visitors."

"As good as Jerusalem? Well, perhaps not, but that's beside the point. Miss this and you've missed a marvel."

Natasha Tripney, The Stage



"Sam Mendes, returning to stage after helming two James Bond films, directs a production of abundance. He knows how to orchestrate large group scenes. There are over 20 characters, a whole troupe of weans, numerous scenes of dancing and brawling, a real live goose and a real live baby."

"The acting is pretty spectacular all round. Paddy Considine is contained, quiet yet charismatic as Quinn, but it's Laura Donnelly's Caitlin  in love with man she can't have, while tied to man she has long since done her grieving for  who makes the play's heart beat."

"It's a handsomely designed show too, with Peter Mumford's lighting spilling through the windows of Rob Howell's detailed brick-and beam farmhouse set."

"Though The Ferryman is compelling even in its quiet moments, the play doesn't entirely justify its mammoth running time and the violent tying together of the various threads feels a little hurried  if genuinely upsetting."

"There's a sense too that Butterworth is repurposing some of his former tricks  but that's what all magicians do."

The Ferryman runs at the Royal Court until 20 May and then transfers to the Gielgud Theatre from 20 June to 7 October.
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The anticipation surrounding Jez Butterworth's new play The Ferryman has been epic. His first three-hour, three-act play since the blistering Jerusalem in 2009 is directed by Sam Mendes, making his return to the British stage after a long sojourn with James Bond. It became the fastest-selling show in the history of the Royal Court, and its transfer to the West End was announced long before it opened. It promised to be a huge event.

And so it is. Literally so. Huge in the scale of its cast, of its ambition, of its rich themes. But above all, massive in its capacity to hold an audience rapt, in silence, telling them a story. It is, like Jerusalem before it, an extraordinary, thrilling act of belief in the power of theatre to gather people in a room and make them listen.

After a brief prologue, its opening scene is almost dizzying. On Rob Howell's beautifully detailed, cluttered set, that perfectly evokes a farmhouse in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, in 1981, a man and a woman, Quinn and Caitlin, are playing a drunken game. A lamp catches fire, and they dance, he looking at her with longing and love.

You think you are heading in one direction, then suddenly the stage is literally full of people, children appearing from every direction, old Uncle Pat wandering down the stairs talking about river gods, Aunty Pat appearing with pursed lips and a radio glued to her ear, moaning about the lack of story in his story-telling, and listening with fierce anger to Margaret Thatcher refusing to treat the IRA hunger strikers in the Maze prison as anything other than common criminals.

A battered eccentric Englishman appears, and produces not just apples but a live rabbit from his long coat. There's a baby and a goose, and many jokes and much shared history and it is astonishing to see it all unfold. This is the Carney clan gathering for their traditional harvest meal but this year's event is stalked by death and by the past; the body of Seamus Carney, Quinn's brother, has been discovered in a bog, perfectly preserved, ten years after he disappeared, with a gunshot in the back of his head. The repercussions of that discovery ring loud and clear, bringing the IRA's involvement in the lives of this family, and the dreams of justice and freedom that the hunger strikers are dying for take on new resonance as a long day journeys into night and well beyond into the following morning.

The story is so compellingly intricate that it would be a shame to give more away. Butterworth's writing, both flexible and controlled, makes every moment, whether funny, tender or tragic worth leaning forward to catch. He creates a world where banshees are as real in the wandering reminiscences of Brid Brennan's Aunt Maggie Far Away, as the brother who died in the Easter Uprising. History and its effects shape and warp personal relationships, binding them to the Troubles of Ireland itself, but also lending a strong sense of continuity to the ties of community that bind the family together. Love too haunts the action, taking different forms, involving sacrifice and sadness far more than joy.

The play is in its own way haunted by its past, by all the Irish plays that have gone before it, by Yeats and Friel, Eugene O'Neill and Tom Murphy, by Martin McDonagh and Conor McPherson. But it has its own tone and texture too, and by the time its ending comes, and the children all appear once more in a darker configuration of the joyful opening, it has covered enormous swathes of ground.

Mendes' direction brings poetry to the most immensely detailed naturalism. The acting is so realistic that it seems to spring from the very soul of people. Paddy Considine, making his stage debut, displays extraordinary stillness and presence as Quinn; his scenes with Laura Donnelly's Caitlin have a gentle grace that is utterly heart-breaking. Dearbhla Molloy brings both caustic wit and heart-felt passion to Aunty Pat; the moment when she interrupts the wild and whirring dancing to intone the names of the dead hunger strikers is truly chilling. The children are, without exception, the most unaffected and convincing I have ever seen.

There are odd moments when the tension slackens; the long section at the start of the third act where the city boys boast of their exploits in the pursuit of the republican cause feels prolix and I was sorry Aunt Pat vanished from the action. But these are small cavils in what is a triumphant, bold piece of theatre, an old-fashioned play full of life and heart and passion.

The Ferryman runs at the Royal Court until 20 May and then transfers to the Gielgud Theatre from 20 June to 7 October.
By Devina Gupta: At a time when the United States is flexing its muscle on the H1B visa norms, Australia and New Zealand are also aggressively posturing to restrict entry of skilled labours to promote local hiring while India is fighting back.

In a clear directive from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the thrust is now to create jobs in India. The new policy states that government sops will now come with a non-negotiable rider of a 'job audit'.

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"Jobs in India have largely been in the organised sector. Incentives given for industrial investments earlier used to be on capital expenditure. Now the PM has been telling us that it is not good enough. There will also be an audit on how many jobs these investments create and unless a proposal comes with it, the details of the kind of jobs that you are going to create, he wouldn't even look into it," said Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry to India Today.

GOVERNMENT BANKING ON 'MAKE IN INDIA"

With visa curbs on the anvil at popular job destinations for skilled Indians, the government is banking on its 'Make in India' campaign to fill the void. But only 2 lakh jobs were created in the past 10 months and the pressure is high.

"Every Cabinet note nowadays is also inclusive of that one assessment that we do. Just as we do it for the costing, we do it for potential employment creation, direct and indirect. So that is the level to which the PM has gone to say that let us be clear that everything will have to have an outcome on employment," said Sitharaman.

Government's think tank Niti Aayog has pegged India's unemployment rate between 5 per cent and 8 per cent. It has recommended that India should work towards creating jobs as companies shift base from China due to high wages and ageing population.

"Changes are going to take time but we are focused," assured Sitharaman.

Also read: Trump to sign order that will make getting H1B visa harder for Indians

Also read: Nasscom refutes allegations of H1B visa norms violation by TCS, Infosys

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, May 4 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has allocated two districts each to all cabinet ministers, entrusting them with the responsibility to monitor progress of government works in their respective regions.

"The measure has been taken to ensure development across UP," state power minister Shrikant Sharma told reporters here.

He said the chief minister has entrusted all cabinet ministers and ministers of state with independent charge with the responsibility for development of two districts each in the state.

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The remaining ministers of state have also been given responsibility to monitor development works in one district each, Sharma said.

"All of them have been asked to review the progress of their allocated districts with the local officials and the MLAs on regular intervals," he said.

There are total 75 districts in the state.

The Adityanath-led government has 22 cabinet ministers, 9 ministers of state with independent charge and 13 ministers of state, besides two deputy chief ministers.

Sharma also informed that electricity is being provided without any cuts from 7 PM to 5 AM across the state.

"During the ongoing summer season, we want to ensure smooth power supply especially at nights in the residential areas between 7 PM to 5 AM, without any cuts," Sharma said.

The government, he said, is already providing 24-hour power supply to the industry and also to all hospitals in the state.

He added that it has also been ensured to provide uninterrupted supply in schools and colleges. PTI JTR KIS

--- ENDS ---
Pakistani comedian Yasir Hussain cracked a disgusting joke about child molestation at the recently concluded Hum Awards. After he began getting flak for it, he took to Instagram to apologise.

By India Today Web Desk: At the recently concluded 5th annual Hum Awards, the host, comedian Yasir Hussain had a foot-in-the-mouth moment, when he cracked a disgusting joke about child molestation.

So, actor Ahsan Khan went up on stage to accept the award for Best Actor In A Negative Role for his performance as the villain in the film Udaari which revolves around sexual abuse of children.

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At this point, Yasir Hussain said, "Itna khoobsurat child molester, kaash mein bhi bachcha hota" (what a beautiful child molester, if only I was also a child).

The outrage at Yasir Hussain's comment was swift as Twitterati went on a rampage blasting the comedian's comments. While some directly attacked Yasir Hussain, others took on the audience at the show, some of who were heard laughing at the quip.

Host Yasir Hussain after Ahsan Khan wins award fr Udaari: "Aisa khoobsurat child molester; kash mein bhi bacha hota" WHATTHEFUCK #HumAwards- Hassan Choudary (@hassanchoudary) April 29, 2017

Who the eff is Yasir Hussain and can he please be lobotomised? https://t.co/2V8tfeHeu0- CeciN'estPasUneTweet (@monadarling) April 30, 2017

All that outrage (rightly) directed at Yasir Hussain also needs to be targeted at the morons in attendance that laughed heartily at the joke- Mani Khawaja (@manikhawaja17) May 2, 2017

Last night #HumAwards when Ahsan Khan won for #Udaari, host Yasir Hussain joked "Itna khobsurat child molester, kash main bhi bacha hota"- M. Jibran Nasir (@MJibranNasir) April 30, 2017

Even more outrageously than the joke was the fact that majority of the attendees laughed at the joke despite their exposure and education- M. Jibran Nasir (@MJibranNasir) April 30, 2017

Some media personalities are clearly immature, ignorant and insensitive and needs educate themselves. They are ambassadors of Pakistan- M. Jibran Nasir (@MJibranNasir) April 30, 2017

Yasir Hussain then took to social media to apologise for his comments. First he uploaded a short clip on Instagram where he looked into the camera and said that he is as against child abuse as any other person is.

I strongly feel against child abuse and I will make sure to work in adding awareness of this issue! #ahsankhan #thewinner #udaari ???????? A post shared by yasir hussain (@yasir.hussain131) on Apr 30, 2017 at 6:05am PDT

Then he wrote a text apology which, in a way, only made matters worse as Yasir established that much of the show was scripted and his joke was not part of the script.

#yasirhussain #humawards A post shared by yasir hussain (@yasir.hussain131) on Apr 30, 2017 at 11:55am PDT

"I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I regret saying it, as it was not a part of the script, and was more of a slip of tongue that happened in the spur of the moment," Yasir Hussain wrote.

ALSO SEE: Pak actor Saba Qamar calls Salman chhichhora, insults Emraan and Hrithik

WATCH: Pakistani actor Fawad Khan clears his stand on Uri attacks

--- ENDS ---
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/05/2017 (2015 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Toronto author David Laytons new novel The Dictator, which hits stores on Tuesday, has been a long time coming.

The books genesis coincided with a trip Layton took to the Dominican Republic in the 1980s, when he was in his 20s.

Supplied Author David Layton will be at the Prairie Theatre Exchange on Sunday morning.

It was long before thinking I was going to write any book, Layton says by phone from his Toronto home before his appearance in Winnipeg on Sunday as part of Spur, a multi-city festival with events taking place in Winnipeg, Toronto and Calgary this year.

I ended up in a town called Sosua totally by chance, which was just beginning to be a burgeoning vacation spot. One day I walked past a small, but lovely, synagogue. I didnt know why it was there. I started to dig into the story and it became ever more fascinating for me. He would return many times to talk to refugees, settlers and their children in researching The Dictator.

The novel details three generations of one family as they struggle to come to terms with each other, and begin to learn about the past of long-absent and mentally declining patriarch Karl Kaufmann. Karls story spans three continents and many decades, and includes escaping Austria in the 1930s as the Nazis advanced and becoming a refugee in the Dominican Republic in a Jewish settlement called Sosua, where he marries and has a child. Karl then leaves the Dominican Republic alone, moves to Toronto, gets married and starts a new family  including his son Aaron  before once again retreating and reappearing decades later.

It is the strained relationship between Aaron and Karl, as well as Aarons daughter Petra, that makes up the emotional core of The Dictator.

Layton is the author of the memoir Motion Sickness as well as the novel The Bird Factory. Hes the son of renowned Canadian poet Irving Layton, who won the inaugural Governor Generals Award for poetry in 1959 and was nominated for the Nobel Prize for literature in 1981.

After his initial visit, the younger Layton became interested in the plight of the Jewish refugees in the Dominican Republic, as well as why they were there in the first place. He learned that Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Trujillo brought in the Jewish refugees in part as a response to his armys massacre of thousands of Haitians in 1937. While his gesture outwardly resembled one of goodwill at a time Jewish refugees were being turned away by many, it was, in fact, to help whiten the population.

The ratio between men and women in the Jewish colony was about two to one. So youve got an isolated colony that doesnt have enough women, Layton says. Many of the male refugees ended up with Dominican wives.

Supplied The Dictator by David Layton.

Trujillo provided a plot of land for the refugees, who then had to figure out how to survive. Part of my fascination with the story was how a bunch of people from cities, and from a totally different climate, get thrown into a tropical setting and become self-sufficient working in agriculture, without any prior knowledge, Layton says.

But its the strained relationship between Karl and Aaron that ended up becoming the core of the novel. That relationship between Aaron and Karl helped me move this story from the past into the present, Layton says

The father-son dynamic has been working its way through most of my books. I didnt want to turn this into a father-son story, but I think in a way thats what happened.

In addition to the always-looming Trujillo, who makes a cameo early in the novel, both Karl and Aaron grapple with notions of their own authority as parents. Every father is, in a sense, a dictator when youre younger, and we struggle to get out of the dominion of the dictator, Layton says.

Then if you have your own children, you eventually become a dictator yourself. I wanted to play that out.

For his Winnipeg appearance, Layton will be joined by Winnipeg lawyer and community activist Laurelle Harris for a conversation about The Dictator on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. at Prairie Theatre Exchange.

ben.macphee-sigurdson@freepress.mb.ca
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This article was published 04/05/2017 (2015 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The cover of Vancouver-based indie folk band Said the Whales new record, As Long As Your Eyes Are Wide, is a photograph of a group of bison, taken in Yellowstone National Park sometime during the 1960s.

At first glance, its just a beautiful image of bison that looks more like a painting than a photo, but there was a reason the band decided it would make the perfect album art: there are three bison boldly in the forefront, while two others fade into a snowy background, a subtle acknowledgement the former quintet is now a trio after two members  Nathan Shaw and Spencer Schoening  called it quits before the album was made.

That is exactly what we were thinking, says vocalist/guitarist Tyler Bancroft of choosing the album art with band members Ben Worcester (guitar/vocals) and Jaycelyn Brown (keys). I was just struck by the photo and we thought that was kind of representative of what was currently going on within the band.

As Long As Your Eyes Are Wide is the bands fifth full-length release since forming in 2007, and is a different kind of Said the Whale record for a host of reasons  most obviously, the introduction of a more electronic, synth-heavy sound as opposed to their past folk-influenced work. Moreover, the new album is more emotionally tuned-in than ever before, presumably after pulling inspiration from the changes within the band as well as a host of even more personal issues.

The indications were that heavy things were happening around us, and I know that Ben and I write from our own experiences, always, says Bancroft. We rarely fabricate universal tales just to create music, our music is a documentation of our lives. So, you know, looking around at us and what was going on and life happening as it does, I had some indication there were going to be some heavy themes tackled on the record for sure.

One of the most powerful tracks is Miscarriage  a pull-no-punches song Bancroft wrote after he and his partner went through the difficult experience of a miscarriage. Its not something that is often discussed openly, let alone in such plain and heartbreaking terms, but Bancrofts words have the weight of first-hand knowledge and are as painful as they are supportive and beautiful.

And when the heartbeat slowed down slowly / I wanna to tell you thats natural and everything in time / And that well always be a family, no matter the design, he sings.

I wrote the song and it was cathartic and therapeutic to write it, and at the time of writing it I didnt even know I kind of didnt even think it would be a Said the Whale song. I wrote it because I needed to, says Bancroft.

After showing the lyrics to some friends, Bancroft says it became apparent people were responding in a very strong and positive way to the message.

So it kind of just made sense to put it on the record, but I do obviously think about how that affects my partner and how she wants that stuff aired publicly because it is miscarriage is one of those things, it doesnt get talked about a lot because theres a lot of shame associated with it, for women especially, and because nobody talks about it, that makes it harder to go through and then, you know, deciding to talk about it is a very personal position, he says.

Bancrofts partner wrote a blog post about her experience and found peace in discussing it publicly.

I think maybe that opened the door to me to do the same thing, he says.

But Bancrofts story does have a happy ending  he and his partner welcomed a baby boy last year, who was happily squeaking and squawking in the background as his dad fielded questions over the phone from Vancouver prior to the bands Winnipeg show May 7 at the Park Theatre.

That is, more or less, the theme running through the entire album: dark moments that also carry within them a sense of optimism and the potential for a happy ending, explains Bancroft, using album opener, Step Into Darkness, as an example.

That song also for me kind of sets the tone for sad songs with more upbeat instrumentation and songs that are wrestling with light and dark and encompassing an underlying hopefulness, he says. It sets the tone for this sad record, but ultimately hopeful record.

erin.lebar@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @NireRabel

Band encourages fans to listen, party

TABY CHENG PHOTO Said the Whale members, from left, Jaycelyn Brown, Ben Worcester and Tyler Bancroft are releasing their fifth album.

When Said the Whale were thinking about how to approach the release of their newest record, As Long As Your Eyes Are Wide, they had the idea to send a digital preview copy of the album to fans who agreed to have a listening party.

That was just sort of an idea that came to all of us while we were on a long snowy drive a couple months ago, just trying to think of how when we were growing up as teenagers we would actively go sit down and listen to music with each other as an activity, says Tyler Bancroft.

Im pretty sure the first time Ben and I ever met, it was like, Hey, why dont you come to my house and check out my CD collection? and we just listened to CDs and that was just something that we did. So we were trying to think of a way to encourage that behavior among younger fans perhaps, or older fans, or anybody. We just tried to encourage anybody to sit down and listen to music because it is a record were very proud of: were proud of the sonics, were very proud of the lyrics and we wanted to think of a way to get people to listen to it a bit more in depth.

Around 85 people reached out and agreed to host a party, so the band uploaded 85 copies of the record  the groups first since 2013s Hawaii  on Soundcloud and sent each person a private link three weeks before the album was set to officially drop.

Fans took the idea and ran with it  some hosted casual affairs, playing the record for friends before a night out, while others went full-tilt, decorating their house with rooms themed to match Said the Whale album titles or pairing each song with a different wine. There were parties in New Zealand, Madagascar, the U.K. and all over Canada and the U.S., and not one copy of the album was leaked to the public.

I would call the initiative a huge success, Im really glad we did it, I think it was a great way to get supporters back on our side after being away so long, says Bancroft.

It was so successful, in fact, that it seems Canadian indie-darling Leslie Feist has adopted the idea and is running a similar campaign gearing up to the release of her new album, Pleasure.

I kinda tried to subtly take credit for that on Twitter, but I dont think anybody quite got it, laughs Bancroft.

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Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/05/2017 (2015 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Immigration and Refugee Board has set out ground-breaking guidelines to help LGBTQ refugee claimants fleeing persecution make their case to stay in Canada.

This is the first time in Canadian immigration and refugee law that LGBT peoples rights have been safeguarded, said Winnipeg immigration lawyer Bashir Khan, who has represented many LGBTQ refugee claimants. These guidelines provide guidance to adjudicating board members in refugee claims in how they should assess and examine LGBT refugee claimants refugee claims.

The guidelines issued May 1 are designed to help promote greater understanding of cases involving Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) and the harm individuals may face due to their non-conformity with socially accepted SOGIE norms. They apply to decision-makers and other personnel who are involved in processing or adjudicating cases before the board.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS As a gay man, Samer Habib says he would face persecution in the military and by his own family if he were to return to Egypt.

The guidelines should prevent a refugee claimant whos not heterosexual from being grilled on intimate details of their sex lives, Khan said.

For example, a board member would no longer be able to ask probingly graphic questions about the sexual habits of a claimant, which was akin to an inquisition where ones sexuality was put in trial, Khan said.

He recalled one hearing where a board member asked a client how often they engaged in oral sex and to describe it in graphic detail. The guidelines should restrain the actions of a board member in what they can and cant ask of an LGBTQ claimant, Khan said.

This guides the mind of adjudicating board members to the heart of the matter  what kind of mistreatment refugee claimants could face in their country and future, he said.

Knowing about the guidelines is some comfort to Samer Habib, a gay man from Egypt whose refugee protection hearing is happening Friday.

To delve into very intimate details, even if youre in fear for your life  it would still feel uncomfortable talking about that, said Habib, who came to Canada as a student in 2011. Knowing there are certain limits, that is a good thing.

Hes still nervous about the hearing, which will decide whether he can stay in Canada, where he is openly gay, in a relationship with a man and working full time.

Im terrified. Its like going into a dark cave and I dont know if I will ever get out, the 23-year-old Habib said.

After graduating in 2014, he applied to the provincial nominee program to become a permanent resident. He was approved by the province in January, but was told it could take 16 months for the federal government to process his application. He cant wait that long.

My passport expires next month, and I cant renew it here. He would have to return to Egypt where, as a gay man, he faces persecution in the military and by his own family, he said.

As soon as Habib presents his passport in Egypt, he would be flagged for mandatory military service, which includes anal exams for those suspected of being gay.

Even if I try to act straight, I cant fake who I am, he said.

After working up the courage to reveal his sexual orientation to his dad over the phone from Canada, it didnt go well, Habib said.

He said if I tell anyone, he would silence me. Thats what scared me.

Habib said he found out about the new LGBTQ guidelines Tuesday night.

Reading it made me feel like theres going to be a bit more integrity in the process and it will be a lot more fair for gay men, he said.

What jumped out for me is theyre not going to be using stereotypes as much  someone could say youre supposed to look this way or act this way, stuff like that. They understand a bit more what a gay refugee claimant goes through.

He said he has all the facts and evidence to back up his claim of having a real fear of persecution if hes returned to Egypt, but he isnt sure that will be enough to convince an adjudicator.

Its all up to one persons opinion and what they think about me and my situation.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/05/2017 (2015 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba Metis Federation says evidence shows two hunters were framed for night hunting with a forged confession and is calling on the province to investigate.

MMF president David Chartrand made the dramatic accusation at a news conference Thursday with Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Derek Nepinak.

There is not a doubt that forgery took place here. It is very clear these officers were following a message and being overzealous, to make criminals (out of Metis hunters). From my side, its clear there is something very wrong with our system. Imagine how many more have gone through this without being able to defend themselves, Chartrand said.

BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Manitoba Metis Federation president David Chartrand

Chartrand said hunting rights are protected for indigenous hunters under the Constitution but tensions over those rights are rising to alarming levels in rural Manitoba.

Im hearing so many stories out there amongst my harvesters across this province, where senior officers in (Manitoba Sustainable Development) are threatening them, verbally abusing them and trying to stop them from the right to harvest because they dont believe in it, Chartrand said.

He demanded the province investigate the three conservation officers who stopped the hunters in the case.

In November 2015, officers were on a stakeout for illegal night hunting when they stopped a vehicle on a side road near Lundar in the Interlake region. They arrested the three occupants and seized a hunting rifle, a spotlight and the vehicle at the scene, reporters were told.

The three men were out for a drive on the night and were not hunting, Chartrand said.

Two Metis hunters and a third, non-indigenous hunter were acquitted of illegal hunting at night with a spotlight after the Crown abruptly withdrew the confession last month when the case came to trial.

The MMF contends the sudden withdrawal of the key evidence against the men happened after the MMF disclosed an analysis by an American handwriting expert they hired to challenge the confession. She concluded the signature on the confession from one of the two Metis hunters was false.

If anyone else in the Manitoba committed a similar act of fraud, theyd been charged without question Im not letting this go, Chartrand said. They probably believe these are working poor Metis who dont have the money to defend themselves. Will the government of Manitoba hold themselves responsible? Im hoping the premier will jump on this case.

Sustainable Development Minister Cathy Cox defended the provinces conservation officers, saying they follow a strict code of conduct and work hard to do their jobs fairly and honestly.

If such accusations are true, Cox said, There would be very serious concerns by our department and our government, and we would follow up on it.

Currently, the province has no plans to launch an investigation, Cox told reporters Thursday afternoon.

Well wait and see. Thats part of the court process, and Im not going to pre-judge that at this point, Cox said, even though the men were acquitted.

Jordan Thorsteinson, the Metis man whose signature was allegedly forged, is now working in Newfoundland. His mother, Susie Thorsteinson, said he did not sign the confession.

Jordan had to go away to work. There was nobody going to hire him here, she said Thursday.

Mitchel Lestrat, the other Metis man charged, recounted the incident for reporters Thursday. He said conservation officers pulled over the vehicle they were driving about 10 p.m. and that they were simply out for a drive to pass the time.

Officers ordered the men to throw the ignition keys to the ground and then approached them with a drawn gun, Lestrat said.

The three men were ordered out of the vehicle, and the three officers searched it. One officer removed a hunting rifle from the trunk, placed it on the back seat, removed a spotlight and took photographs, Lestrat said.

Lestrat said he had never before been charged with a criminal offence and neither had his friends. The evenings events intimidated all three men, he said.

Both families said despite the acquittal, their reputations have been ruined by the case. They said one of the three conservation officers shamed the families in a public restaurant, accusing the men of telling an elaborate story in court.

Lestrat said he and Thorsteinson were volunteer firefighters and working men with reputations in the community.

Im not going to let this run me off, but you only have your name and your word, and I dont have that any more, he said.

Both Chartrand and Nepinak said the case underscored tensions around indigenous hunting rights that Premier Brian Pallister inflamed with recent remarks.

In January, Pallister came under fire from indigenous leaders and opposition politicians for saying tensions around night hunting were leading to a race war.

He later said he chose his words poorly but never apologized for saying it. He then denied making subsequent remarks that indigenous hunters, most with criminal records, were responsible for the bulk of the illegal hunting.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca
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This article was published 04/05/2017 (2015 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One patient recently arrived at the Misericordia Health Centre in a shopping cart.

People living under the nearby bridge come to be treated in the middle of the night. And more than 10,000 of the urgent care centres annual patients are low-income, diverse residents of the inner city who walk to get treatment because they cant afford a bus ticket, a rally was told Thursday afternoon.

Health-care unions barbecued hotdogs for Misericordia staff on their lunch break and community members who pleaded with Premier Brian Pallister to keep the urgent care centre open.

TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Supporters rally to save the Misericordia urgent care facility Thursday.

Misericordia will lose the centre in the next six to 24 months in a massive reorganization of facilties that includes closing three emergency rooms.

Area MLAs organized the rally, including Liberal Jon Gerrard and New Democrats Rob Altemeyer and Wab Kinew.

Far too often, the citys vulnerable people do not have a voice, nurse Andrea Farrell said in an impassioned speech.

The urgent care centre receives 39,000 patients a year, of whom 30 per cent are core area residents, many of them indigenous or new Canadians, said Farrell, who works in the urgent care centre and is president of Local 2 of the Manitoba Nurses Union.

Many of these people do not have the means to travel to the north and south of the city to find an urgent care or emergency room under the Tories planned reorganizations of health-care facilities, she said.

The majority arrive on foot. We recently had one arrive by shopping cart, Farrell said. The bridge people are living under is right outside our front door.

Dr. Michelle Georgi said many of the patients at the urgent care centre cant afford bus tickets.

How are these people supposed to get to the Health Sciences Centre or the Vic (Victoria Hospital)? she asked.

An optometrist, Georgi said she sends her patients to the Misericordia because she knows it has the citys shortest waiting times.

Ive brought my own children to urgent care, Georgi said.

A month after Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen announced plans to close urgent care at the Misericordia, We are no closer to understanding how closing our urgent care centre makes sense, Georgi said.

Georgi said she is a member of the board of the Misericordias volunteer foundation, which raised $1.5 million to renovate the triage area of the urgent care centre.

Resident Zainab Mansaray was appalled when she heard the urgent care centre would be closed. She said she has written to Pallister and will go to the legislature to challenge him in person if the premier doesnt reverse the closing.

Pallister, save the lives of the people. These people are your people, she said Thursday.

Gerrard, who is a medical doctor, told the crowd Misericordia has served the community well for 20 years. You have built up an extraordinary centre of excellence in urgent care.

It fits in well with having the best eye-care centre in all of Manitoba in the same facility, Gerrard said.

You want to build on centres of excellence. You dont want to batter them down and break them up. Theyd better change it, if they have any sense at all, Gerrard said.

Altemeyer said, You know a government has made a bad decision when you get multiple parties working against it.

In the April 2016 election, Kinew said, No one would have voted to close the Misericordia urgent care centre.

He exhorted the crowd to dig in. In this new era, eating hotdogs is an act of resistance, he chortled.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca
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This article was published 03/05/2017 (2016 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The biological family of a Winnipeg man who was shot by police earlier this week has been told they cant visit him in hospital, the mans uncle said Wednesday.

Josh Pardy, 25, was shot by police after he waved a weapon inside a downtown optometrists office Monday afternoon. He was in stable condition Wednesday but was not allowed to have visitors, his uncle, Lawrence Disbrowe said.

I dont know why, he said. They wouldnt even give us any information as to how he was.

FACEBOOK Josh Pardy, 25, was shot by Winnipeg police inside a downtown optometrist's office Monday.

Disbrowe said his nephew, the biological son of his brother, was born in Winnipeg but was placed in the care of Child and Family Services as a young child and was adopted by a family in Newfoundland and Labrador. Disbrowe said Pardy returned to Winnipeg last year to reconnect with his biological father, who died soon after.

A man reached by phone in Happy Valley-Goose Bay identified himself as Pardys father but declined to comment, saying he loves his son but hasnt yet been able to speak to him since the shooting.

In a confrontation with police that began in a downtown skywalk at 266 Graham Ave. and continued inside the nearby optometrists office, Pardy held a long pole with a large pair of scissors taped to it. He appeared to be undone and completely irrational as police shouted at him to drop the weapon, optometrist Dr. Robert Lecker previously told the Free Press.

Pardy had been using methamphetamine and had worn out his welcome at Disbrowes home because of his drug use, his uncle said. He came to Winnipeg to reconnect with his blood relatives but fell into the wrong crowd, he said.

Josh is a good kid. You know, if they want to do something, they should try and clean up the drug business in this community, he said.

Disbrowe, 57, said he was shocked to hear his nephew had been shot by police and couldnt believe hed try to hurt anyone. Disbrowe said he was a special constable with the RCMP in Berens River for eight years. He said Pardys biological father, Neil Disbrowe, served with the Lac du Bonnet RCMP for 15 years.

I thought the police were trained to a higher standard, he said. Its sad, because we never had to shoot anybody. If youre a police officer, they train you how to deal with people. Obviously, the Winnipeg police dont have that kind of training, Disbrowe added, though he said hes grateful his nephew wasnt killed.

The police that went to take care of my nephew, I respect them, but you know what, they didnt need to shoot him, he said.

The police gotta remember when they take that gun out of their holster, theyre pointing it to a person thats a son, uncle, nephew, brother, and he has family, he added.

Manitobas Independent Investigation Unit is investigating the shooting and has asked for witnesses with information or video footage of the incident to call 1-844-667-6060.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay
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This article was published 03/05/2017 (2016 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For the first time in Canadian history, there are more seniors than children. But you probably couldnt tell if you wandered around the Rural Municipality of Stanley, where every year 20 or 30 youngsters show up for the first day of kindergarten.

In 2016, there were 5.9 million seniors, compared with 5.8 million children under the age of 15, according to new census figures released Wednesday by Statistics Canada. While seniors have overtaken children in most provinces because of aging baby boomers and declining birth rates, that isnt the case in the Prairies.

In Manitoba, kids made up 19.1 per cent of the population, while seniors made up just 18.1. In communities like Stanley, that gap widens significantly. The RM, which encompasses Winkler and Morden, as well as a dozen villages, is 33.4 per cent kids and just 4.2 per cent seniors.

Morris Olafson (pioneeronline.com)

Yeah, yeah, we notice there are more kids around, Reeve Morris Olafson said, chuckling. Primary schools are overflowing with them, he said.

Stanley was one of four kid-filled municipalities Statistics Canada highlighted in its report and one of two in Manitoba (the other two were in Alberta). The municipality of Rhineland, which borders Stanley, also earned mention for being composed of 31.6 per cent children.

Olafson said he thinks the volume of kids has to do with an influx of immigrants  particularly Mexican Mennonites  who, for cultural or personal reasons, have bigger families. Were not seeing the one or two kids or three, he said. They have six to 10 kids.

Hes likely right, said Patrick Charbonneau, an analyst working in Statistics Canadas demographics division. Mennonite communities tend to have a higher number of kids and these municipalities have a higher number of Mennonites.

Canada right now is going through a generational shift, Charbonneau said, but this is not the case yet in Manitoba Likely due to the fact that in Manitoba, as in other Prairie provinces, fertility remains higher.

Charbonneau attributes high fertility in southern Manitoba to Mennonite communities, while high fertility in the north is likely the result of rates among the many northern indigenous communities.

The Prairie provinces also bucked national trends with respect to millennials (ages 15 to 34). While most provinces had more baby boomers (ages 51 to 70) than millennials, the opposite was the case in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta because of fertility, immigration and more Canadians moving to the Prairies  likely in search of a good paycheque.

BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES

Still, Michelle Porter, director of the University of Manitobas Centre on Aging, said people shouldnt concentrate just on the negatives often associated with older populations: fewer people working and paying income tax, more people straining health care resources.

People who have lived a long time (have) garnered a lot of knowledge over that time, Porter said.We tend to think of spending money on making spaces accessible as costs that have no benefits, she said, but if our stores are made to be more accessible, there might be more older people going to them. If our transportation systems are more accessible, people are more likely to get out and be active consumers.

The next Statistics Canada census release is slated for May 10 and will deal with agriculture. Results pertaining to families, households, marital status and language are slated for an early August release.

jane.gerster@freepress.mb.ca
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This article was published 03/05/2017 (2016 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It wasnt that long ago that they fled war-torn Syria, but newly arrived refugees in Winnipeg are already stepping up to showcase their culture and heritage.

At noon Friday at the Manitoba legislature, the Kurdish Refugee Youth Dancers are helping to kick off Asian Heritage Month. Its the first time Syrians are taking part in the month-long activities in this province, said Maysoun Darweesh, a Syrian-Canadian who recently joined the Asian Heritage Society.

Most people think of China, the Philippines, India and Pakistan when they think of Asia, but the Middle East is a part of that continent and one thats rich in diversity, too, said Darweesh, a Syrian Arab who is married to a Syrian Kurd and excited to celebrate their heritage.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS From left, Juan Ali, Rouden Bouza, Estirvana Abdo, Semin Kolo, Hevin Ali, Showkhan Irandost and Basil Bouza at a backyard rehearsal of a dance called Azadi that theyre performing Friday at the legislature to kick off Asian Heritage Month. Theyre all Kurdish refugees from Syria whove arrived in Manitoba in the last year.

We want to share our best and share it with everyone, said Darweesh, who fled Syria as a refugee to Macau before coming to Canada and settling in Winnipeg. She said she was honoured to be invited to join the Asian Heritage Society. Its a great experience for me.

Once the Syrian community gets established, she expects theyll have a pavilion at Folklorama one day, too.

This is the diversity that we want to present, said Darweesh. This is Canada.

To see an Asian Heritage Month events calendar, go to www.asianheritagemanitoba.com.
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This article was published 03/05/2017 (2016 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A councillor pounded his fist on the table and called Ritchot Mayor Jackie Hunt a fg bitch in a public forum a week before her resignation, the Free Press has learned.

The comment was made in front of about 80 people gathered in St. Adolphe to hear an application for a conditional use permit for an outdoor skating rink.

As well, Coun. Ernie Dumaine, who made the derogatory remark, gave Hunt the finger at a previous council meeting.

IAN FROESE / CARILLON FILES Former Ritchot Mayor Jackie Hunt, shown in 2015, resigned after being the target of derogatory remarks in a council meeting.

The incidents show how toxic debate had become on council in the RM of Ritchot. Sources say what surfaced publicly was only the tip of the iceberg of what was being said in-camera and at committee meetings.

People who have been in contact with Hunt, who issued a statement but is refusing interviews, say the vulgar put-down was the last straw for her. On Friday, she tendered her resignation.

When a council cannot function as a group, and when mediation does not work, and when name-calling and belligerent behaviour become the norm, it is time to re-evaluate your spot at the table, she said in a prepared statement.

She called her decision to resign heartbreaking.

Ritchots council has been divided since the last municipal election. On one side were Hunt and councillors Jeannot Robert and Ronald Mamchuk, who have all resigned. On the other side are councillors Dumaine and Corinne Webb, who still hold their positions but cannot form a quorum.

The three elected officials did not resign as a block. Hunt quit on her own believing she would leave council deadlocked at 2-to-2 until the next mayor was elected, said a source close to her. She had no idea Coun. Jeannot Robert would follow her and resign, too.

That left Mamchuk. He was staring at losing every future council vote 2-to-1 and giving undisputed power on council to Webb, a former Canada Revenue Agency auditor, and Dumaine.

So he resigned and left the two remaining councillors unable to form a quorum. The monthly council meeting scheduled for this week had to be cancelled.

The province must now appoint an administrator to run the municipalitys day-to-day affairs until a byelection is held.

Dumaine and Webb have not responded to interview requests.

Under Section 208 (3) of the Municipal Act, once a council falls below a quorum and an administrator is appointed, the remaining councillors are supposed to be considered resigned. That means they must stand for re-election if they wish to remain on council.

The challenge for the province is Section 208 primarily concerns a municipality in financial difficulty, which Ritchot is not. As well, provincial governments are reluctant to remove councillors out of respect for the democratic process.

Former Toronto mayor Rob Ford is a recent example of that. No matter how rude or belligerent Ford acted toward other councillors, and even after he was caught smoking crack cocaine on video, he was not removed as mayor.

Hunt alluded to this predicament in her statement, saying some mechanism is needed to maintain respect in council deliberations.

I gave up my seat so that it might start a conversation at the municipal and provincial levels of government about how to better protect the residents that want to serve our communities, she said. We are trying to encourage people to run for public office, and we need to ensure they are protected from bullying and inappropriate behaviour while serving their communities.

On social media, people such as Jeff Leclerc called on Dumaine and Webb to do the right thing and resign their seats and stand for re-election if they wish to remain on council.

Three people who I respect have stepped away because of the situation on council. I think the two that are left should step aside and let the community elect a council to represent them, Leclerc said in an interview.

Leclerc, a former Ritchot councillor, said debates were never so hostile when he served on council.

I think people should serve in these roles free from intimidation. In any other workplace, people would be disciplined and removed from their role for the type of behaviour exhibited by Dumaine, Leclerc said.

Leclerc noted that resignation leaves just 14 women heading Manitobas 137 municipalities.

This doesnt help bring women into these roles, if these roles are subject to this kind of toxic behaviour, he said.

At the meeting where Dumaine slurred Hunt, a community group was seeking a conditional use permit for a skating rink in what is called a tot lot  open lots developers leave for communities to make into mini-parks or recreation spaces.

Dumaine and Webb suggested Hunt and Mamchuk refrain from voting because they live in St. Adolphe, where the ice rink is located. No such regulation exists, however. An elected official is only required to abstain when there may be some financial benefit to that councillor. In this case, the skating rink is a public property that benefits the public at large.

Much of the construction preceded council votes for both a variance and conditional use permit. As well, the skating rink is almost too large for the small parcel of land, and owners of a neighbouring home complain its too close to their property.

Hunt acknowledged at the meeting mistakes had been made but sought the opinion of a municipal lawyer who recommended council proceed with the conditional use permit. That caused Dumaine to explode with an obscenity.

The time when Dumaine gave Hunt the finger was regarding a motion for remuneration of municipal staff. Dumaine initially voted in favour, then asked afterwards if he could change his vote.

Hunt said that was against the rules, at which point Dumaine gave her the finger. Hunt relented, and the vote passed by a 3-to-2 vote instead of 4-to-1.

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca
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This article was published 03/05/2017 (2016 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg police officers used, or threatened to use, force to subdue an individual once every 240 calls for service in 2016, and most of those instances involved an open hand or fist.

Thats the summation of a new report from Winnipeg Police Service Chief Danny Smyth, which will be presented to Fridays meeting of the Winnipeg Police Board.

Smyth said in the report officers last year were able to resolve issues without the use of force in 99.58 per cent of all calls for service.

John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press Files A new report states Winnipeg Police officers did threaten to use their guns 21.87 per cent of the time when the use of force was required.

While police members strive to resolve incidents without applying physical force, occasionally it is required, Smyth said in the report, adding only 0.42% of calls required the use of or a presentation of force.

When weapons were required, officers most often relied on a conducted electrical weapon, commonly known as a Taser.

The report said there were 205,641 calls for service in 2016 (an increase from 201,175 in 2015) and force was used or threatened in 855 of them (a decrease from 933 in 2015).

The report states officers were not required to shoot at, kill or grievously injure any individuals in 2016 but did threaten to use their guns once in every five instances (21.87 per cent) when the use of force was required.

Smyth noted officers are relying less on their batons and more on the Tasers, without a substantial change in the number of instances where individuals were injured.

The report states subjects were injured in 236 instances (27.6 per cent) in 2016, compared with 239 instances (25.6 per cent) in 2015.

Smyth said while the number of individuals injured during calls of service has remained consistent over the past five years, there has been an increase in the number of officers reporting injuries.

It is concerning to note that the five-year-average for officer injuries is 9.6 per cent and this appears to be on the rise, Smyth said in the report.

The 97 officer injuries in 2016 is a five-year high and equates to 11.3 per cent, he said, adding the increase is likely a result of officers using less force than what is required.

While officers are still using force, the men and women that are hired and trained by the service routinely put themselves in harms way in the interest of reducing or eliminating subject injury.

WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Winnipeg Police Chief Danny Smyth.

Officers used their batons in 16 instances in 2016, the same number of times as the year before but a decrease from 25 in 2013.

Officers threatened to use Tasers 103 times. They were deployed 69 times when probes fired and used 30 times as a stun gun. The report notes while the latter method is used to inflict pain on individuals, it is not as effective as when probes are fired, which temporarily incapacitates individuals.

Pepper spray was used only in two instances in 2016, the same number of times it was deployed the year before.

Police dogs were used in the arrest of 234 individuals. The dogs bit individuals in 19 instances, an increase from 13 such incidents in 2015.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca

CoW+WPS+Use+of+Force+2016
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/05/2017 (2015 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sitting around at Grant Park High School has taken on a colourful new meaning.

A yellow Friendship Bench, part of a national campaign to open up conversations with youth about mental health, is being installed at the Winnipeg school Thursday.

The Friendship Bench is billed as serving to remind students of the power of hello and encourage them to talk with one another about depression and suicidal thoughts as part of Mental Health Awareness Week, which runs May 1 to 7.

It is one of five benches being installed at five schools in five days across Canada by Sam Fiorella, founder of the in the #YellowIsForHello campaign.

We are very excited about it. We feel mental health is a big issue for our youth and we want people to talk about it, said Phyllis Hidichuk, head of student services at Grant Park.Its not a secret, its not a mystery. We want students and parents to be aware of whats out there and how we can help them. We want people to start talking about it. In talking about it, it becomes less of a problem and they can get help. Its a preventative thing as well.

She said the school of about 1,200 students in grades 7-12 were selected by the Winnipeg School Division to be the recipient of the Friendship Bench in recognition of the leadership role the school has been taking in providing numerous mental wellness supports for students.

In addition to Grant Park in Winnipeg on Thursday, Friendship Benches have already been placed at Sutherland Secondary in Vancouver, Strathcona High School in Edmonton and Saskatchewan Polytechnic in Regina. The fifth and final placement will be at Gonzaga High School in St. Johns, N.L., Friday.

A press release said the Teens Talk 2016 Survey from A Kids Help Phone found that one in five Canadian teenagers seriously considered suicide in the past year and that most children struggling with depression suffer in silence.

The release stated that each Friendship Bench is a permanent symbol to encourage students to take minute of out their day to sit, breathe and talk (or think) about their mental health and that of their peers.

The five benches installed this week are joining 27 benches that have been put in place on school campuses across Canada in the past two years during Mental Health Week.

The benches and the #YellowIsForHello campaign are designed to serve as resources to open up conversations between students about mental health, connect students with available on-campus mental-health support services through the web-address/hashtag on the benches, and be tools to help inspire and support existing mental-health awareness efforts on school campuses.

Fiorella came up with the idea to start the The Friendship Bench initiative after he lost his son Lucas in 2014. Lucas, a second-year university student at the time, had been suffering from depression, but his family wasnt aware of his problems.

The shock and overwhelming loss shook Sam to his very core, the press release stated.

Fiorella decided to find a way to try to help others facing the same struggles and do it in his sons memory.

As a parent, learning that your child is suffering alone, when if you only knew, you could have helped, is your worst fear, Fiorella said in a statement. You cant rewrite the past but you can certainly change the future. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among Canadians aged 15-34. No parent should find out their child is suffering when its too late to do anything about it.

Fiorella believes youth today may not want to hear first from clinicians or parents and might prefer to initially crowd-source everything. Without being able to search for information on their own, they are less likely to ask for or accept help. He said the number of students asking for help seems to be rising in the schools where #YellowIsForHello benches have been donated.

Hidichuk said her experience, in line with Fiorellas theory, is that students will often interact with each other first.

They are their first support system. I think hes right in that they will approach each other first. They get talking, they see things and that there are supports out there and its to empower them to come forward. Its OK to talk about it, Hidichuk said.

Canadian Mental Health Association data show only one in five children who need mental-health services actually obtain them, the release stated.

All Friendship Benches include a plaque with a link to www.yellowisforhello.org, which provides links to mental-health support services on and off campus.

While Lucas was silently dealing with depression, we learned from friends that he made an effort to help others who were also suffering. Each conversation started with a simple hello,' Fiorella said. No one knows for certain how much impact they have on the lives of other people, but we have to at least try our best and start with a hello.

For more information about #YellowIsForHello initiative, go to www.yellowisforhello.org or for more information about The Friendship Bench go to www.thefriendshipbench.org.
Opinion

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This article was published 04/05/2017 (2015 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ive no doubt she thinks she is qualified. Politics is not really all that different from advertising, right? You promote handbags; you promote nice causes. Women entrepreneurs, friendship between nations, edgy earrings  whatever. These are all part of a lifestyle that everybody wants, and its a lifestyle that Ivanka Trump has been selling, for profit, for most of her life.

But when Trump appeared on a podium in Berlin last week, purportedly to discuss women in the workforce, she did not seem qualified. On the contrary, she provided a shocking reminder of the damage that the Trump lifestyle brand will do (and has already done) not just to Americas image but to Americas reputation as a serious country, even to Americas reputation as a democracy.

Why was she there at all? The other panelists  the Canadian foreign minister, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund and German Chancellor Angela Merkel  raised no eyebrows, because their official functions explain themselves. But Trump was there as first daughter, a notion which the moderator of the panel  another impressive woman, the editor of a business magazine  at one point asked her to explain. The German audience is not that familiar with the concept, she said. Who are you representing, your father as president of the United States, the American people or your business?

MARKUS SCHREIBER / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Canada's Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland (from left), Ivanka Trump, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, at a conference in Berlin.

Trump has enough media training to know what to deny. Certainly not the latter, she said quickly (only to contradict herself, a few moments later, by saying, as she is no doubt accustomed, Speaking as an entrepreneur). But the question never got a real answer.

As everyone in the room knew perfectly well, Trump was not on the panel because she is an entrepreneur, or because she represents the American people or even because she speaks for her father, which is far from clear. She was on the panel because Merkel, ever the pragmatist, realizes President Trump is not interested in history, ideas, policy or any of the other things that have long tied the United States to Germany. To maintain its deep political and economic relationship with this American administration, Germany therefore needs to be solicitous of Trumps daughter.

There are sinister precedents here. Daughters have long been used cynically to humanize thuggish men. The presidents strategically meaningless but politically useful bombing raid on Syria was justified on the grounds that Ivanka Trump had seen pictures of dying children and prevailed upon his softened heart, as in a fairy tale, to do something. Journalist Sarah Kendzior has laid out the remarkable similarities between Trump and Gulnara Karimova, the Uzbek dictators daughter, a cosmopolitan socialite who married into a powerful business family before making her mark as a fashion designer. Like Trump, Karimova also masks brutal practices under the pretext of a soft feminism' and styles herself an ideal modern woman.

But the real problem with Ivanka Trump is not what she and her husband, Jared Kushner, contribute to the presidents image, but what their presence says about the culture of this White House. One of the things that distinguishes rule-of-law democracies from personalized dictatorships is their reliance on procedures, not individual whims, and on officials  experienced people, subject to public scrutiny and ethics laws  not the unsackable relatives of the leader. That distinction is now fading.

No ordinary public official would be allowed to dine with the leader of China, as Ivanka Trump did, on the same day China granted valuable trademarks to her company. No civil servant would be able to profit from the jewelry she advertises by wearing on public occasions. Only in kleptocracies are sons-in-law with broad international business interests allowed to make foreign policy.

Yes, sure, the Clintons did it  and look how that turned out. Former first lady Hillary Clintons attempt to craft a health-care policy ended in fiasco largely because her mixed roles created hostility. Even though she acquired genuine legitimacy by being elected senator and serving as secretary of state, that hostility remained. The suspicion of nepotism haunted her throughout her career, and it probably cost her the presidency.

For all I know, Ivanka Trump might really care about the lives of working women, though she has never demonstrated much interest in how they are treated at the factories that produce her products in China (so much for America first). But it makes no difference. When she plays with the role of public official as if she were trying on a new hat, she demeans the public servants who take their jobs seriously, who acquire them through expertise and competition, who work for salaries and obey ethics laws.

The presence of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner in the White House, particularly in a White House that has failed to nominate hundreds of senior officials, is a glaring symbol of democratic decline, and around the world it is already recognized as such.

Anne Applebaum writes a biweekly foreign affairs column for The Washington Post.
Opinion

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This article was published 04/05/2017 (2015 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Those who tuned in to watch this years White House Correspondents Association dinner on Saturday heard my name called as I took the stage to accept a journalism scholarship. They didnt see my portfolio of work, and they will likely forget my name. But theyre sure to remember one thing about me: my headscarf.

Some may call it symbolic that a Muslim-American journalist will be recognized at the annual dinner the same year that U.S. President Donald Trump declined to attend. Trump is breaking from a long tradition of presidents meeting with the award recipients.

And as I prepare to attend, I know some at the event may not perceive me as a fellow reporter who, like them, relishes the thought of meeting journalists I admire. Muslims dont have the luxury of being a fusion of their achievements, interests and uniqueness. Rather, in the eyes of others, we are only Muslim.

TWITTER 2017 White House Correspondents' Association Scholar Sawsan Morrar

Ive faced this challenge before. After doing some pre-reporting over the phone, I encounter surprise when I meet my subjects in person. Who is she, they wonder? Where is the reporter? Often an interview subject, government official or employer will grow cool once it becomes clear I am a Muslim.

On hearing that I would attend the dinner, a seasoned journalist asked what I think about Trump  not because I am a reporter, but because I am a Muslim who has made the conscious decision to wear my faith. Another journalist asked me whether the frequency of my negative experiences in the field has increased since Trump took office.

Just last month, while travelling to Malaysia on assignment, I was asked to board an empty plane only to be met by three Department of Homeland Security agents on the jet bridge. They took me through an inconspicuous, concrete stairway and asked me repeatedly who was funding my trip and why. Was it so hard to believe that a Muslim woman wearing a headscarf was sent to report on climate change?

Microaggressions happen so often to me that I simply dismiss them and put them behind me. Many Muslims argue that the racism we experience is so commonplace that we sometimes stop identifying it as such.

Still, while the vilifying of Muslims long predates Trump, the recent rise in Islamophobia has contributed to increased accounts of profiling. Research shows that mentioning being Muslim on a resume drastically reduces ones chances of being called for an interview. One study found that up to 80 per cent of media coverage about Muslims is negative. This makes my job all the more difficult.

When I am on the job, I am a journalist first. I am objective, inquisitive and meticulously professional  maybe too professional, because I know I have more to lose if I make a mistake.

I made the decision to go to the White House correspondents dinner before I knew Trump would abstain. It was something I debated, especially given his attempts to ban travel from several Muslim-majority countries, his infamous Islam hates us comment and his viral tweet calling the media the enemy of the American people. But I realized I shouldnt let all that deter me from attending an event that honours the freedom of the press.

My hope was that when I was called onstage at the dinner, I would be recognized for my achievements in journalism and not used to portray some striking juxtaposition between the Trump administration and the Muslim community. And I wouldnt be alone. The nights host was comedian Hasan Minhaj, also an American-born Muslim and, coincidentally, a former college classmate of mine.

Yes, we are Muslim, but we are professionals invited to represent the work we are passionate about.

Sawsan Morrar, a multimedia journalist at the University of California at Berkeleys Graduate School of Journalism, was chosen as a 2017 White House Correspondents Association Scholar.
Opinion

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This article was published 04/05/2017 (2015 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

And so, it has come to this: members of this countrys Senate must decide whether the behaviour of one of their own is so egregious that it merits the most severe punishment available under the upper chambers rules: expulsion.

It has never happened before. But the Senates ethics committee has concluded that the actions of Sen. Don Meredith, a 52-year-old married Pentecostal pastor who engaged in a years-long inappropriate sexual relationship with a teenage girl, have brought disrepute to himself and the institution and therefore merit his permanent removal.

No lesser sanction than expulsion would repair the harm he has done to the Senate, the committees report concluded.

Colin Perkel / The Canadian Press files Sen. Don Meredith

That this extreme measure has never been employed in the chambers 150-year history says as much about the Senates inability  or, perhaps, unwillingness  to police itself as it does about the noxious nature of Mr. Merediths misdeeds. And the manner in which the upper houses members decide Mr. Merediths fate will have a significant impact on the publics perception of a body whose reputation has long been in tatters.

The facts of the Meredith case are both troubling and tawdry, recounted in great detail in the inquiry report prepared by Senate ethics officer Lyse Ricard. In summary, Mr. Meredith engaged in a two-year relationship with a young woman he met at a public function in Ottawa in 2013, when he was 48 and she was 16; the teen, identified in the report only as Ms. M, approached the senator after the event with the intention of shaking his hand and getting a photograph. He gave her his business card and asked her to contact him.

What followed was a lengthy interaction during which Mr. Meredith sought to befriend the teen and gain her trust; in addition to steering the relationship toward its inevitable sexual conclusion, the report found he also offered to use his political position to help Ms. M and her family in personal and business pursuits.

Ms. Ricards report, based on interviews with both Mr. Meredith and Ms. M, concludes that he engaged in frequent and often explicit text and video (via Skype and Viber) communications with the girl, and had sexual intercourse with her three times  once when she was 17 and twice after her 18th birthday.

Ottawa police investigated the Meredith case but concluded that since no laws had been broken, no charges should be laid.

When the story of the illicit entanglement was first reported in 2015, Mr. Merediths initial reaction was to describe himself as a victim of racism. He quickly abandoned that ill-advised defence and sought new legal counsel, but continued to employ an evade-and-deny strategy when questioned by the ethics officer. Throughout her report, Ms. Ricard finds the testimony of Ms. M more credible than that of Mr. Meredith.

And now the Senate must decide.

The recommendation of the five-member panel that released its report Tuesday observes that, Because senators are appointed, and not elected, the public imposes on the Senate and senators a considerable degree of responsibility and faith that senators will do the right thing. The public needs to be able to believe that senators will protect the weak, the voiceless and the vulnerable from the personal and parochial interests of the powerful.

It should not have come to this. Mr. Meredith should long since have ceased his flailing quest to cling to his Senate seat. So his colleagues must do what they must do. For the first time ever, a senator must be expelled.
With 13 thriving flour mills, Winona County held great stature in the grain market at its peak in the industry during the late 1800s.

Winona once stood strong as the fourth most important grain market in the United States, just behind Milwaukee, Chicago and Toledo, Ohio.

In its early days, Winona was perfectly poised to gain its powerful status in the flour-milling industry.

Southeastern Minnesota provided excellent farmland for growing wheat.

And Winonas prime location on the Mississippi River made it the best marketplace available for farmers.

Winonas only competition came from small milling operations in towns such as Chatfield and Stockton.

But those smaller operations couldnt beat the prices offered by larger Winona businesses.

When the rail connections to Chicago and Minneapolis opened in 1872, Winonas market grew even stronger.

This opened up more of Minnesota as grain markets for the Winona flour mills.

Another important factor in Winonas success was the creation of local grain elevators that stored the wheat before shipment.

Initially, these elevators were owned by the railroads, but then flour mills in Winona and other cities took them over.

To compete in trade nationally, every large mill in Winona joined in developing the line, a series of grain elevators in towns that stretched into the Dakotas.

Winonas first flour mill, Goffs Mill, was established in 1856.

The citys earliest flour mill was started before market conditions were favorable, however, and the struggle to keep the business operating ended when the mill burned in 1863.

By 1874 the marketplace proved more ready, and other flour mills began to be successfully established in Winona.

By then the city had transformed into a large primary market for grain.

In addition, what was known as the new process method of milling began.

This process was undertaken by one of the most important mills in Winonas history, the Mowbray and Porter Mill, later organized as the L.C. Porter Co.

One of the owners, A.G. Mowbray, was influential in the flour trade as the developer of the new process, through which white flour (called patent) was ground into bread.

The mills in Winona ground many grades of flour; most of the products were patent, the highest grade.

Along with the Mowbray and Porter Mill, other prominent mills in the city were the Winona Milling Co. and the Bay State Milling Co. Founded in 1899, Bay State Milling is the only mill in Winona today.

The company is still owned and operated by the Rothwells, the family that established the mill.

Headquartered in Boston, Bay State Milling is the sixth-largest flour producing company in the United States, with mills located in Florida, New Jersey, North Carolina, Texas and Arizona.

Producing 2.6 million pounds of flour every day, Bay State Milling is the 12th-largest individual flour mill in the country.

The operation runs 24 hours a day and employs about 100 people.

Though Bay State Milling remains a successful enterprise, a variety of factors contributed to the closing of Winonas other once thriving four milling operations.

In 1890, the Winona Milling Co. plant burned.

The operations leaders decided the future for local milling didnt look bright, so they didnt rebuild.

Later, the L.C. Porter Mill closed in about 1896.

Changes in the states agricultural landscape were a factor in these closings.

The amount of farmland used to grow wheat peaked in the late 1870s and then declined significantly by 1890.

This was caused by low prices, as well as by technological and scientific advances that affected the techniques of production.

Young enterprising farmers also began moving to western Minnesota or the Dakotas to expand the amount of land they could cultivate for wheat.

While the expanding railroad systems initially contributed to the success of Winonas flour milling industry, they eventually caused a decline in the market.

The railroad created conditions that moved the grain-marketing center to Minneapolis.

The Twin City markets, as well as the Duluth area, could offer a better price than the smaller Winona markets.

The Winona mills faced a distinct disadvantage: Mills in Minneapolis had waterpower to run them; Duluth millers had access to a cheap supply of coal.

Winona mills were dependent on sawmills for sawdust and waste products, which fluctuated in prices.
With only a few weeks left in the legislative session, the students, faculty, staff, and various communities of Winona State University are facing high stakes in a game of chance.

WSU is not alone in this mess, but as we face $4 million in cuts for next year and with legislative leaders offering more delays for the Education Village, it is clear that higher education is caught in a partisan scramble.

What is really at stake is the quality of academic programs, access to, and affordability of those programs, all of which are at risk with the erosion of state funding.

Was it too much to expect that legislative leaders might use some of the $1.65 billion state surplus to repair the damage of the past?

Here is what we mean by damage. In the early 1980s, the state paid for nearly 80 percent of the cost of Minnesota colleges and universities. Throughout the 1980s and most of the 1990s, this figure gradually declined and the students picked up the balance in higher tuition. From 1999 to 2013, the state continued its retreat, and students again faced higher tuitions, at nearly a 100 percent increase from 2002 to 2014, and record levels of student debt. Today, students cover 53 percent of the costs of state colleges and universities, and the state covers 47 percent. The colleges and universities owe students much for picking up the tab, but it was an unnecessary debt.

The upshot is that our colleges and universities have all of the constraints and bloat of a centralized public bureaucracy, but our campuses have become largely privately funded by students and families that deserve better  that is damage.

Winona area legislator, Rep. Gene Pelowski has been leading the resistance against this damage for years. In fact, there were two important exceptions to the states funding retreat. When Rep. Gene Pelowski chaired of the House Higher Education Committee in the late 1990s, he stopped the reduction in state funding for FY 1999. Again, in 2013, when he chaired the committee again in 2013, he stopped the decline for FY 2014.

This is what higher education legislative leaders do: they fight hard for their priorities even when the partisan scramble creates setbacks. Real leaders look beyond the next election and consider how educated citizens add value to Minnesota. Real leaders take a balanced look at state surpluses and consider how they can help repair the states physical and educational infrastructure. Real leaders are aware that by next year, 70 percent of all jobs will require a post-secondary education and, at the same time, understand that it will take more, rather than less, higher education to meet that goal.

The question today is who among Republicans will step up to be an advocate and true leader for higher education? Governor Dayton cannot alone stop the retreat with his veto pen. We need reasonable voices from both political parties to put higher education funding back on track as we face the very real prospect of a legislative meltdown.

We would ask that Winonans voice their support for both of our area legislators  Deputy Majority Leader, Sen. Jeremy Miller and Rep. Pelowski. We cannot expect miracles but if the communities of WSU speak up now to support a bipartisan strategy to stop the retreat in higher education funding, at least we have asked for what we need. That is what citizens do. To the legislators who put us in this mess, please step aside and stop gambling with Minnesotas future.
A firm that manages student housing on two University of Wisconsin campuses has settled a lawsuit with three subcontractors who said they were never paid for work done on one of the dorms.

One of the subcontractors said hes pleased to have finally been paid, but is disappointed companies that were not party to the lawsuit still have not been made whole.

Not everybody got paid, and thats what Im unhappy about, said John Nikolai, owner of the Marshfield-based McMillan Electric.

In January, Nikolais firm and two other subcontractors filed a lawsuit in Sauk County Circuit Court against Bluffstone, an Iowa firm that developed and manages dorms at the University of Wisconsin-Baraboo/Sauk County and the University of Wisconsin-Marshfield/Wood County.

The subcontractors threatened to foreclose on the Baraboo dorms if they were not paid more than $360,000 in construction liens, plus other costs, they said they were owed.

Nikolai said he received nearly $250,000 under terms of the recent settlement. Zimmerman Plumbing owner Sarah Johnson said her firm was paid more than $43,000. A representative of the third plaintiff, A. Glewen and Sons Excavating, of Waupun, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

We are satisfied in that we got paid, Johnson said. Were certainly are not satisfied in how this whole thing was handled.

Bluffstones attorney, Kyle Engelke of Madison, said he could not comment Wednesday on behalf of his client. A request for comment from Bluffstone officials placed through Engelke was not returned.

The Baraboo college campus is jointly owned by the city of Baraboo and Sauk County. Local government and university officials entered a deal with Bluffstone in 2013 in which they leased the dorm property to the Iowa firm. In exchange, the company agreed to construct and manage the dorm at no cost to taxpayers.

In 2015, state lawmakers requested that the Wisconsin Department of Justice investigate after subcontractors that worked on the Baraboo project  and a similar one on the Marshfield campus  were never paid.

Local law enforcement officials later revealed they had opened investigations in conjunction with the Department of Justice. In February, a Baraboo Police Department representative said a detective was working with prosecutors to bring about charges in the matter.

Meanwhile, some of the firms that worked on the dorm projects remain unpaid for their work.

We have not been paid, said Scott Katzenberger, owner of Gaffney Plumbing of Marshfield. He said his company still is owed nearly $19,000, but he decided not to file a lawsuit because attorney fees likely would exceed that amount.
Guitar star Dylan Doyle delights audiences, but frustrates anyone trying to define his sound.

Doyle said his trios style of music lies somewhere between roots rock and jam funk. It evokes Woodstock but also dips into southern soul. Its a uniquely American sound Doyle calls a big melting pot.

It isnt the 19-year-olds job to define it. Its his job to play it. And thats what the Dylan Doyle Band will do Saturday night at the Al. Ringling Theatre.

The band will come to Baraboo between tour stops in Dubuque, Iowa and Benton, in southwestern Wisconsin. Although Doyle is a New Yorker, he knows all about this area as the son of a Shullsburg native. Everyone is so genuinely nice, Doyle said.

It wasnt far from this neck of the woods that Bill Greenhalgh, an Al. Ringling Theatre Friends board member, saw Doyle in concert. After seeing Doyle perform in Iowa in September, Greenhalgh  chair of the boards programming committee  recommended booking him.

I am always looking for up-and-coming acts that are of very high quality who will appeal to a wide range of our audience, Greenhalgh said. Dylan hits the mark perfectly. He is a superb talent who I think will be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame someday.

Spectators hiring the trio after hearing it is becoming increasingly common, Doyle said. Its a good sign and a good feeling, he said. You never know whos in the crowd.

Doyle started playing professionally at age 13, and began touring two years later. His influences range from Bob Dylan to Bill Withers to Jimi Hendrix to The Band. He has played blues festivals and headlined the Midwests largest Grateful Dead festival.

His music appeals to a huge age group, ranging from our local high school kids getting their first live taste of a rock guitar virtuoso to all us baby boomers who grew up loving classic rock, Greenhalgh said.

Pursuing his passion for live performance forced Doyle to complete two years of high school via home school, but he knew from his first tour he wanted to do nothing else. I would be happy playing six nights a week all year long, he said.
We seem to have averted a crisis in trade relations with our North American neighbors. But theres a cautionary tale to be found within the news.

A dairy group says most of Wisconsins 58 dairy farms desperately looking for new milk buyers before Mondays deadline found them, the Associated Press reported.

The Dairy Business Milk Marketing Cooperative said in a news release April 27 the group believes most farmers dropped by Grassland Dairy earlier this month found new buyers.

Grassland notified the farms itd stop buying their milk after Canada changed its dairy pricing policy to favor domestic milk. The farms scrambled to find companies that would take their milk. Many faced having to shut down.

Grassland had to make cuts after Canada, a major trading partner, changed its pricing policies, the Capital Times reported April 24. Grassland provides Canada with ultra-filtered milk, a specialized milk type used to make cheese and yogurt.

Since 2011, Canada has encouraged U.S. producers to provide ultra-filtered milk, said Ben Brancel, Wisconsin secretary of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Wisconsin producers did just that, building processes around the product and increasing volume to 365 million pounds exported to Canada in 2016.

But last year, a Canadian policy lowered prices for Canada-made ultra-filtered milk, effectively edging out American producers.

Brancel said that starting last year when Canada began considering the change, he had met with Canadian officials numerous times to try to convince them to consider the seriousness of the matter for American farmers.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said the problem lies with Americas own dairy surplus. The U.S. has a $400 million dairy surplus with Canada, so its not Canada thats the challenge here, he said.

President Donald Trump has called on Canada to do more for American dairy farmers, and threatened to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement before changing his mind. Trump tweeted early Thursday that he has agreed to remain a partner in the much-discussed trade agreement in calls he received from Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

If President Trump wishes to renegotiate aspects of NAFTA, thats worth considering. But termination of the agreement entirely would almost certainly have a serious impact on the U.S. economy. U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, was correct April 27 when he characterized U.S. trade with Mexico as 10 times greater, in dollar terms, than it was before NAFTA.

That being said, protectionist policies by our next-door neighbors, to the north or south, in a given economic area might best be met by some protectionism of our own.

Trudeaus government seems to be looking out for the best interests of Canadian dairy farmers, in the form of favoring them over American dairies. If that continues to be the case, the Trump administration should look into doing the same for dairy farmers in Wisconsin and throughout the United States.

Its not a North American free-trade deal if one of the North American partners is at a significant disadvantage.
Stewart Thompson, a former Mauston teacher charged with sexual assault of a student, was in court May 2 to waive a preliminary hearing and plead not guilty.

Thompson, 25, also faces charges of child enticement-sexual contact and a charge for exposing a child to harmful material. Thompson, a former high school social studies teacher, allegedly engaged in a relationship with one of his students. He was arrested by the Juneau County Sheriffs Office and charged in late January.

In court with lawyer Lester Pines, Thompson pleaded not guilty to all three charges. A pre-trial conference was set for June 14 at 9 a.m. in District Attorney Ken Hamms office and Thompson will have a plea hearing on July 5 at 12:45 p.m. at the Juneau County Justice Center.

Circuit Court Judge Paul Curran asked both Pines and Hamm, who is serving as the prosecutor, if they would rather have him step down from presiding the case. Curran explained he met Thompson and talked to him briefly at school functions prior to him being charged, but doesnt know him well. The judge also said he knows the alleged victim and her parents, but has only had brief conversations with them in passing.

We may have met casually in the past, but I dont feel like that impedes my judgment in this hearing, Curran said.

He also said Thompson was professional and courteous in the short interactions he had with him.

That being said, that in no way affects my feelings in this case, Curran said.

Hamm, Pines and Thompson didnt have an objection to Curran presiding. Curran explained to Thompson the benefits of having a preliminary hearing; that charges may be reduced or dismissed, but the defendant signed a waiver to dismiss May 2.

During the plea hearing on July 5, Curran said the court will be looking for a plea from Thompson or decide whether to bring the case to trial.
State Assembly Republicans have unveiled a sprawling plan to revamp how fuel sales are taxed, provide a long-term funding infusion for roads and bridges and steer the state toward a flat income tax.

Broad outlines of the plan emerged earlier this week, but new details emerged Thursday. The plan includes major tax cuts for top earners, a new fee on hybrid and electric vehicles and elimination of tax credits aimed at homeowners.

It also would cut the existing per-gallon fuel tax while applying the 5 percent state sales tax to fuel purchases.

Titled The Road to a Flat Tax, the plan was released by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and its architect, Rep. Dale Kooyenga, after a press conference at the state Capitol.

Many of its provisions differ sharply from what Gov. Scott Walker laid out in his 2017-19 budget plan, and those differences frame an impending budget battle between statehouse Republicans.

Vos, backed by more than 40 Assembly Republicans, said Thursday that everyone should agree Wisconsins roads are deteriorating, construction delays are massive and repayments on road borrowing eat up more than 20 percent of revenues. This means more money is needed to fix the transportation system, Vos said.

We cannot repair our roads by borrowing our way into prosperity, Vos said.

Walker spokesman Jack Jablonski said the complex proposal was being reviewed.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said in a statement that the plan includes good ideas that he plans to review.

But Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, blasted the proposal, saying in a release that its proposed income-tax changes would lead to many middle-class families actually paying more.

Assembly Democrats also hammered the proposed income tax changes as a massive giveaway to the wealthiest Wisconsinites. The plan would eliminate the states alternative minimum tax for top earners and cut income tax revenues $2.4 billion from current levels by 2030.

Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, said in a statement that the plan will not solve the transportation funding problems we have in Wisconsin.

Instead, it gives tax breaks to the richest and raises certain taxes for thousands of Wisconsin families, Barca said.

Sales tax applied to gas

The plan would apply the 5 percent state sales tax to fuel sales while cutting the 30.9-cent per-gallon fuel tax by 4.8 cents.

Together, those changes net an increase of about $380 million in revenue for roads, bridges and transit over the next two years, according to an estimate from the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

Most of that would be used to reduce, from $500 million to $200 million, the level of transportation borrowing that Walker proposes for the next two-year budget. It would also eliminate a transfer of funding from the general fund to the transportation fund.

Kooyenga said applying the sales tax to gas would allow revenue to grow with inflation over time. He said he would support a price cap for the tax to avoid the potentially volatile fallout of gas prices spiking and dropping, which happened during the Great Recession.

The plan would create an annual fee of $30 for hybrid vehicles and $125 for electric vehicles, yielding about $4.8 million over the next two years.

Other parts of the plan would repeal the prevailing, or minimum, wage for workers on state-funded construction projects, give local governments control over roundabout construction and seek federal approval to begin tolling U.S. interstates in Wisconsin. The plan also would replace 180 state Department of Transportation engineer positions with private contractors  a reversal from four years ago when the state hired those positions to save on costs.

The plan also calls for rolling back the states minimum markup requirement for fuel sales, which Assembly Republicans predict will cause the overall price of fuel to decline, despite the new sales tax on fuel. The current required markup under the Unfair Sales Act is 9.18 percent, which would decline to 3 percent under the plan.

Craig Thompson, director of the Wisconsin Transportation Development Alliance, said he welcomes the proposals focus on more long-term funding for roads and bridges. But Thompson said the proposal may not prevent delays to large freeway projects, especially in southeast Wisconsin, that Walker proposed in his budget.

Tax code overhaul

The plan would overhaul the state tax code to move, over the long term, toward a 3.95 percent flat income tax. It calls for eliminating a variety of taxes, tax credits and deductions, including the alternative minimum tax, the married couple credit and two credits that lower property taxes.

In the upcoming biennium the number of tax rates would drop from four to three ranging from 3.95 percent to 7.02 percent, with the tax rate on a single persons income above $253,760 continuing to drop each year to 3.95 percent by 2029.

In the next biennium the tax code changes would cost the state $15.4 million in revenue. By 2029 the annual reduction in revenue would near $2.4 billion.

Wisconsins income tax structure includes four rates ranging from 4 percent to 7.65 percent. For a single person, the first $11,120 of taxable income is taxed at the lowest rate, the next $11,110 is taxed at 5.84 percent, income between $22,230 and $244,750 is taxed at 6.27 percent and higher income is taxed at the top rate.

Walker has proposed cutting the lowest income tax rate to 3.9 percent. In an interview with WTAQ in Green Bay on Wednesday, Walker signaled an interest in creating a flat tax and simplified tax system that could be filed on a postcard.

Thats a worthy debate in the future, Walker said. Id love to have not only in Wisconsin, but nationally a flat tax  You dont have to worry about everyone in the world getting a thousand different loopholes and exemptions.

Kooyenga, the architect of the plan, is an accountant who is open to a possible run for U.S. Senate against Tammy Baldwin in 2018.

Transportation conundrum

Walkers budget calls for closing a nearly $1 billion shortfall in the transportation fund with $500 million in borrowing, delaying some major projects and transferring money from the general fund. He also is increasing funding for county and municipal road aid, though local government officials have said its not enough to address their long-term costs.

The transportation funding issue has been festering for years as cars have become more fuel efficient and the nations interstate system is due for reconstruction.

Walker opposes raising the gas tax or vehicle registration fees, but said he is open to changing the way transportation is funded, especially if the proposal lowers the gas tax. During the 2014 gubernatorial election he floated a similar idea of replacing the gas tax with a sales tax.

Vos said Thursday that the Assembly GOP plan is a starting point, not an end point, to negotiations.

Kooyenga noted many of the Assembly Republicans at the press conference dont agree with certain provisions in the plan.

Is this perfect for anybody? Kooyenga said. No. But were Wisconsinites and we get along with our neighbors and we understand that we compromise and we move forward as a team.
Wisconsins U.S. representatives toed party lines Thursday in a historic U.S. House vote to undo much of former President Barack Obamas health care law.

Meanwhile, advocates expressed concern about the direction the House would take health care.

All five Republicans from Wisconsin, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Reps. Sean Duffy, Mike Gallagher, Glenn Grothman and Jim Sensenbrenner voted for the bill.

The three Democrats, Reps. Ron Kind, Gwen Moore and Mark Pocan, were opposed.

Pocan, of Black Earth, assailed his GOP colleagues for rushing to pass the measure before its financial impact is known.

To not know how its going to directly affect your constituents is really political malpractice, Pocan said.

Grothman, of Glenbeulah, said he voted for the bill because the current system is unsustainable.

With our vote today, the House has ensured that individuals and families will no longer be forced into expensive, inadequate Obamacare plans they do not want and cannot afford, Grothman said.

Sensenbrenner, of Menomonee Falls, called the bill an important first step in fulfilling the promise we made to the American people to repeal and replace Obamacare.

This bill is a free-market solution that works for the people, not the government, Sensenbrenner said.

Wisconsin health care advocates said they were especially concerned about the bills Medicaid cuts, which include a per-capita spending cap for many enrollees and are estimated to total $800 billion over 10 years.

The Medicaid cuts will gradually result in rationing of care and threaten services for 460,000 children on BadgerCare, said Jon Peacock, research director of Wisconsin Children and Families.

The Medicaid changes would also harm people with physical and developmental disabilities, according to the Survival Coalition, which represents people with disabilities.

A cut to federal Medicaid funding is a cut to the Wisconsin programs that help people with disabilities get out of bed in the morning, go to school, work and lead independent lives in the community, said Beth Swedeen, a co-chair of the coalition.

By preventing people on Medicaid from using Planned Parenthood for birth control, cancer screenings and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, the bill would make it harder to prevent unintended pregnancies and have healthy pregnancies, said Nicole Safar, government relations director for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin.

Lisa Lamkins, advocacy director at AARP Wisconsin, said 2.1 million people estimated to have pre-existing conditions in the state would find insurance unaffordable or unavailable. The bill would significantly increase premiums for the 132,000 Wisconsinites ages 50 to 64 who get their insurance in the individual market, Lamkins said.

One part of the bill, creating high-risk pools for people with pre-existing conditions, is not new to Wisconsin.

The states Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Plan, or HIRSP, insured about 21,000 people whose medical conditions prevented them from getting insurance on the individual market until the federal health laws exchanges started under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, in 2014.

While Wisconsin had the second-highest per-capita participation among 35 states with high-risk pools, HIRSP was too expensive for many people and left more than half a million residents uninsured, said Donna Friedsam, health policy programs director at UW-Madisons Population Health Institute.

Wisconsins high-risk pool had a six-month waiting period for coverage of pre-existing conditions and a lifetime cap of $2 million, similar to high-risk pools in other states but unlike coverage under the federal health law.
Republican state lawmakers have unveiled a pair of bills they say would prevent owners of big-box retail stores from lowering their property tax bills while shifting local tax burdens to small businesses and homeowners.

Rep. Rob Brooks, R-Saukville, and Sens. Duey Stroebel, R-Saukville, and Roger Roth, R-Appleton, announced the legislation at a Capitol news conference Wednesday. At least one Democrat, Oshkosh Rep. Gordon Hintz, also supports the measures.

Opponents of the bills fault activist assessors for creating the problems the bills are meant to address: the so-called dark store strategy.

In recent years, owners of big-box retail stores have used that strategy  stemming from a court ruling about a Madison Walgreens store  to lower their assessments to reflect the value of other stores that are dark, or vacant. The ruling was in 2008, when the state Supreme Court found Madison city assessors had overvalued a Walgreens store.

The bills opponents, which include Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the states powerful business lobby, say they amount to a tax increase on businesses.

But Roth said the current standard  which owners of huge commercial properties are using to appeal to lower their tax bills  shifts the cost of paying for city services to other property owners.

We do not want to see that cost shift go to our residential property taxpayers, Roth said. That, fundamentally, is why I support this bill.

One of the bills would overturn the 2008 court ruling, writing in law that property be assessed at its highest and best use, according to a summary prepared by the bills authors.

It also would clarify that, for property tax purposes, real property includes any leases, rights and privileges pertaining to the property.

The other bill would require assessors to value property based on comparable properties within the same market segment and similar to the property being assessed with regard to age, condition, use, type of construction, location, design, and economic characteristics, according to the summary. Vacant stores could not be used as comparable properties for valuing open stores under the bill.

Officials for Wisconsin municipalities said the dark store strategy is causing their municipalities to be bombarded with assessment appeals for big-box stores, which in turn is burdening them with legal costs.

Wauwatosa Mayor Kathy Ehley said her city has seen an increasing number of appeals of its valuations of large retail stores, which is causing the city to spend more on legal bills. Successful appeals shift the tax burden to small businesses and individuals, Ehley said.

Madison Ald. Mark Clear said the city refunded almost $500,000 in property taxes to Walgreens after the 2008 court case. Clear said he hopes Dane County lawmakers will support the bill.

Its a very nonpartisan issue that affects all cities in the state, and Madison has been hit especially hard by it, Clear said.

Gov. Scott Walker has not taken a position on the bills, according to a spokesman, Jack Jablonski.
Information is taken from the records of the Portage Police Department and does not represent a comprehensive list of police activity. Each individual named in this report is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

The Portage Police Department is asking for public assistance in identifying a suspect in a hit-and-run. On Monday evening at 8:11 p.m. police received a report of a pedestrian struck by a northbound vehicle turning from West Cook Street to DeWitt Street. The suspect is described as a black male driving a silver Honda. Anyone with information is asked to call 608-742-2174, or contact Columbia County Crimestoppers.

Between 7:09 a.m. Friday and 7:23 a.m. Tuesday police responded to 138 calls.

Boeck Road: Police on Friday at 9:40 a.m. responded to a report of an online threat made against employees of Portage Plastics. Peter Raschk, 51, of Oxford, was cited for telephone misuse and obscenity.

Village Road: Police on Saturday at 12:52 a.m. responded to a report of suspicious behavior in which Harley Schrank, 21, of Portage, was arrested and cited for possession of marijuana with intention to distribute, possession of cocaine as a repeated offense, possession of drug paraphernalia, and felony bail jumping. Brianna Mootz, 22, of Portage, was arrested for violation of probation.

West Oneida Street: Police on Saturday at 4:35 a.m. responded to a domestic dispute in which a 35-year-old Portage man was arrested and cited for domestic disorderly conduct and felony threatening an officer.

Divine Savior Healthcare: Police on Saturday at 11:15 a.m. responded to a threat resulting in the building going into lockdown. Allen Kowald, 69, of Poynette, was contacted by a Columbia County Sheriffs deputy and was issued a citation for making a bomb threat.

East Wisconsin Street and Pauquette Street: Police on Saturday at 11:35 p.m. stopped Brandon Radmer, 23, of Waukesha, for following a vehicle too closely. Radmer was arrested and cited for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated as a first offense, registering .116 on a preliminary breath test.

West Conant Street and Pierce Street: Police on Saturday at 11:52 p.m. stopped Brett Haggerty, 26, of Poynette, for driving with a defective brake light and lane deviation. Haggerty was arrested and cited for having an open intoxicant in a vehicle and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated as a first offense, registering .28 on a preliminary breath test. Passenger Marissa Jankowski, 20, of Green Bay, was cited for underage possession of alcohol as a first offense and possession of an open intoxicant by a passenger.

Highway 16 and Interstate 39: Police on Sunday at 8:59 p.m. stopped Rebecca Denman, 27, of Portage, for a registration plate violation. Following a search of the vehicle Denman was arrested and cited for possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and two counts of misdemeanor bail jumping.

Walmart: Police on Monday at 8 p.m. responded to a reported theft in which Christina Hileman, 32, of Portage, was arrested and cited for shoplifting and trespassing.

East Cook Street and Jackson Street: Police on Tuesday at 2:18 a.m. stopped Stanley Steinhorst, 64, of Randolph, who was arrested and cited for operating a vehicle while intoxicated as a second offense, registering .191 on a preliminary breath test.
A Rio woman has been charged with two counts of sexual assault of a child as a persistent repeater, which immediately followed a case with three counts of failure to update sex offender registry information.

Lindsey Harwood, 35, appeared in Columbia County Circuit Court on Tuesday facing three felony counts of registry violation, each carrying up to six years in prison.

There are three counts charged and there probably could be many more, said Assistant District Attorney Crystal Long, outlining that Harwood has been on the registry since 2005 and on probation since 2009, and a prior conviction for the same offense in 2014. She was non-compliant with registry for three months this particular time and specialists made several attempts to contact her by phone or by mail.

Authorities were able to contact her by phone at which point Harwood allegedly said that there was a problem with the mail. This was followed by a visit by police, who were told that Harwood moved out weeks prior  before the earlier conversation had happened.

My suspicion is that the reason why she didnt tell them she was living at that residence is that there was a 14-year-old girl living there, said Long, and tomorrow I will be filing charges for sexual assault of that child as a persistent repeater, which is a lifetime incarceration.

The girl had told authorities, Long said, that Harwood had made comments about planning on changing her name and moving to Texas, Kansas, California or Colorado once the child turned 18.

This is obviously somewhat of a strange circumstance, said Judge W. Andrew Voigt. We are only talking here  and I say only loosely  on charges the defendant is presently facing and not the charges that Ms. Long alluded to that are likely to come tomorrow.

Harwood appeared in court again on Wednesday on charges of repeated sexual assault of a child as a persistent repeater and sexual assault of a child under 16 as a persistent repeater, each carrying the possibility of life without parole.

Between August 2016 and April 2017 Harwood lived in the upstairs of a town of Lewiston house and a woman and her 14-year-old daughter lived in the downstairs. Following Harwoods eviction in April, they shared the downstairs area. The mother reported to authorities that they had gotten along and that Harwood had seemed to be, as an aunt according to the girl. Something appeared to be wrong more recently, according to the mother, as the girls grades dropped in the third quarter of school.

What began with requests for massages reportedly escalated over time with the girl telling investigators with the Columbia County Sheriffs Office that sexual contact between the two began in January and continued until Harwood abruptly moved out in the middle of April. She later was located by authorities at a Rio residence.

Harwood was convicted of second-degree sexual assault on Dec. 22, 2005, following an incident in November 2004, receiving a withheld sentence and four years on probation.

There is little question that these are serious allegations with serious consequences for a fairly important reason, said Voigt in the first of the two hearings. The point, obviously, of a sex offender registry in the first place is, as Ms. Long indicated, is to try to keep the world advised about the location of people who have been convicted of this type of offense to avoid future victimization. If its not that, I dont know what the point of a sex offender registry would be.

On Wednesday, Voigt ordered Harwood to be held in jail in lieu of $50,000 cash bond.
Technology education teacher Rich Hemler of Portage High School was named SkillsUSA Advisor of the Year in Wisconsin for 2016-17.

Hemler received the award at last weeks SkillsUSA state conference held in Madison, where eight of his students competed. While no Portage students will move on to nationals this year, to be held over the summer in Louisville, Kentucky, the recognition speaks to the overall success of the program and its student members, Hemler said.

Im honored, humbled, and I think it represents more the tech-ed department here in Portage than it does me, he said of the award, which was presented to him by Brent Kindred, a Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction technology and engineering education consultant. SkillsUSA advisers across Wisconsin were considered for the award, Hemler said.

Hemler is a 1993 graduate of Portage High School and is in his 20th year teaching in the district. Hes been the schools SkillsUSA adviser for seven years and has been involved in the program for his entire teaching career at PHS.

Hemlers teaching approach is all about making sure students are not only college ready but career ready. Making sure students at the very least investigate opportunities in the skilled trades is the single most important thing in my job, Hemler said, to show students other avenues to success  and not only success (in education) but lucrative success.

An example of that could be found at the state conference, where students competed in events tailored to engineering, automotive, outdoor power equipment, welding and more. Several representatives of the skilled trades industry were on hand throughout the event.

The students Ive seen who have entered workforce right out of high school or even just after one year of training, how successful they are, at 19 to 20 years old, its really gotten to point now where companies are ready to hire, train and get them started right away.

Collin Deming, a senior, finished in the top 10 percent of competitors in the welding competition, which Hemler said is one of the most difficult categories, along with automotive, due to the number of competitors. Deming was selected recently to be part of the John Deere program at Madison College.

That in itself is an amazing thing, Hemler said, noting the dealership will train him in how to work on all of John Deeres heavy equipment.

Hemler serves as a high school chairman for the welding contest and sees firsthand how companies send judges to the various competitions because they want to know who those students are at the top of the pack.

Im sure theyll be talking to those students about these job opportunities, he said. So what the state contest does for students is, if you do really well for welding, for example, we have people from welding company there saying, Hey, are you interested in our company?

District reaction

District Administrator Charles Poches and School Board President Steve Pate in a district news release this week commended Hemlers commitment to developing student interest in skilled trades.

I cant say enough about the trades, Pate said, and we see in the news every day that in the industrial environment, there is such a demand for a skilled workforce. We need a higher degree of emphasis placed in the high schools on this need, and SkillsUSA provides a great opportunity for students to explore their abilities in these areas.

As a leader of the districts technology and engineering program, Hemler is a strong advocate for enhancing student experience in programs like SkillsUSA, Poches said. In a community such as Portage where manufacturing is so strong, SkillsUSA not only provides students with skills necessary for life after high school, but also develops a talent pool for our local employers.

Portage High School Principal Robin Kvalo said Hemler has worked tirelessly to connect students with people in industry.

His courses are relevant to what students will do beyond PHS, she said.
A stabbing Wednesday night at a Lake Delton apartment complex sent the victim to UW Hospital in Madison via Medflight, according to a news release the Lake Delton Police Department.

The unidentified male victim was found by village police with stab wounds lying in the parking lot next to an apartment building on West Adams Street. The police had responded at 8:50 p.m. to a verbal disturbance at the complex.

The victim was taken to St. Clare Hospital in Baraboo by Dells-Delton EMS where he was subsequently transported to UW-Hospital in Madison by Medflight, according to the news release, which was posted Thursday morning on the departments Facebook page. The victim is being treated at this time, and there is no update on his condition.

Lake Delton police detectives are investigating the stabbing as a dispute among acquaintances, the news release, signed by Police Chief Daniel Hardman, said.

There is no risk to the community as all subjects involved have been identified, the release said.
Despite slowing growth in China, the economic prospects in Asia continue to remain bright, the chief economist at the Asian Development Bank said.

The economic growth in Asia is still promising, Yasuyuki Sawada, who has served as the ADBs chief economist from March, said.

Asia has, without doubt, become the center of the global economy, and the regions presence in the world will increase even further in the years ahead, Sawada said in a recent phone interview with The Japan Times. In the past, many Asian countries were low-income economies. But today, many of them have become middle and even high-income countries.

Established in 1966, ADB has financed both the public and private sectors in Asia and the Pacific to foster their development projects such as infrastructure. With Japan and the U.S. being its two main shareholders, the Manila-based international financial institution membership is comprised of 67 countries and regions  48 within Asia and the Pacific and 19 outside.

A former University of Tokyo professor who studied international economics, Sawada took over the chief economist role from Chinese economist Shang-Jin Wei in March to become the first Japanese to hold the office.

As the chief economist, Sawadas role in the ADB is to provide research and analysis that help the ADB and member countries reach reasonable decisions, in addition to serving as the official spokesman for the international bank.

Sawada said the recent economic growth in Asia and the Pacific has changed the region from the worlds manufacturing base to key consumer market.

Although Asia continues to play a significant role as a production hub, it has also emerged as a place that generates a substantial amount of consumption as peoples income levels have increased, he said. Most of the worlds middle-income population today lives in Asia. What we need to pay attention to is the fact that economic activity within Asia has become the core of the global economy.

The statistics certainly support Asias growth prospects. According to the ADBs annual Asian Development Outlook report published in April, gross domestic product (GDP) growth in Asia and the Pacific would remain at 5.7 percent in 2017 and 2018, although the figure drops 0.1 percent from the 5.8 percent registered in 2016. It also forecasts the continued growth in Asia would deliver 60 percent of the global economic growth.

Another ADB report published in February forecast that Asia would need $26 trillion in investment from 2016 to 2030, or $1.7 trillion per year, on infrastructure such as transportation, power, telecommunications, water supply and sanitation if it maintains the current growth momentum.

However, one concern is slower economic growth in China. The ADB report in April forecast the growth of China will slow to 6.5 percent in 2017 and 6.2 percent in 2018, down from 6.7 percent growth in 2016.

Sawada said he believes the slowdown would not signal a weakening Chinese economy nor affect future growth of Asia, as it is largely due to Chinas strategy to shift its economic model from a production-driven economy to a consumption-driven economy, likening it to Japans economic shift after its rapid growth period in the mid-1970s.

I think the Chinese economy is at the phase of moving from a production-focused economy to a service-industry-driven economy  the phase that many of todays developed countries have undergone, he said.

Meanwhile, China is increasing its presence in Asia as it established the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which opened in January 2016.

A year after its launch, the Chinese-led international financial institution has attracted 70 membership countries and regions, already exceeding the ADBs membership of 67. Japan and the United States are the only G-7 countries that are not members of the AIIB.

Despite Chinas growing presence as an investor in Asia, Sawada said the ADB should continue to invest in the country to assist its growth because China is such a significant player in Asias economy.

While China is evolving from a low-income economy to a middle-income economy, it still needs to change its industries to be more adaptable to climate change. And I believe ADB still has a role to play in these areas, he said.

Sawada also said that the AIIBs role in Asia would not collide with ADB activity. Rather, he said the ADB and the AIIB would become collaborators to boost Asias further development together.

There are $1.7 trillion per year in infrastructure needs in Asia. But I believe support solely by multilateral development banks would not suffice, as currently they have only provided less than 10 percent of needed investment, he said.

I believe the AIIB and the ADB would need to collaborate together to fill the abundance infrastructure needs, he said.

In fact, the two investment banks have already established co-financing relationships on some of Asias development projects.

In June, the ADB announced it would partner with the AIIB on a highway development project in Pakistan as the first co-financing project between the two banks. Additionally, in November they agreed to co-finance a project in Bangladesh to boost that countrys natural gas supply.

As the AIIB is still young, I believe the ADB can help it by providing some know-how while collaborating together, he said.

Sawada didnt go into much detail regarding how U.S. President Donald Trumps protectionist policies would affect the ADBs investment policy, saying, Its still too early to judge, as the overall picture of his economic policy package has yet to be seen.

In March, Trump signed an executive order to roll back former President Barack Obamas climate change regulation policies so as to lift the restrictions on American energy, to reverse government intrusion and to cancel job-killing regulations, according to the White House.

Trumps position on climate change conflicts with the environmental policy of the ADB that states environmental sustainability is a prerequisite for economic growth and poverty reduction in Asia and the Pacific. In 2016, the organization invested over $4.4 billion for mitigation and adaptation to environmental issues.

I cannot say how (Trumps) policies would impact the ADB at this point, Sawada said, but added that he believes they would not pose significant risks to ADB activities.

With the economies in Asia and the Pacific having shown signs of improvement, the next challenge is how to avoid the middle-income trap, where the growth of a developing country slows after reaching a certain level, Sawada said.

The key is to pursue more efficiency in economies by beefing up investment in such areas as innovation, education and vocational training, as well as infrastructures to improve peoples basic standard of living.

The situation of poverty in Asia and the Pacific is dramatically improving from a quarter century ago, mostly thanks to the improving economy in China. But, despite undeniable economic growth, the regions have more than 300 million people who are living below poverty line  $1.90 or less per day, he said.

Although the situation is improving, we need to continue our efforts to eradicate poverty as long as there are people who are suffering, he said. As the ADBs chief economist, I need to provide scientific evidence that help policymakers implement effective measures.

Download the PDF of this 50th ADB annual meeting
Scientists find genetic mutation responsible for rare skin disease in Afrikaners

Scientists have discovered the genetic mutation that causes the rare skin disease, keratolytic winter erythema (KWE), or Oudtshoorn skin, in Afrikaners.

Researchers at the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience and the Division of Human Genetics at Wits, in collaboration with peers in Europe, the US and Canada published this research in the May issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics.

KWE causes a redness of the palms and soles with consecutive cycles of peeling of large sections of thick skin, often exacerbated during winter months. Oudtshoorn is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa where the disorder was present in large families.



Afrikaners are Afrikaans-language speakers descended from predominantly Dutch, German and French settlers, who arrived in South Africa in the 17th and 18th centuries. Afrikaners have a high risk for several genetic disorders, the best known being familial hypercholesterolaemia (inherited high cholesterol leading to heart attacks early in life) and porphyria (sensitivity of the skin to ultra-violet exposure and adverse reactions to specific drugs).

These disorders are common because of founder mutations brought to South Africa by small groups of immigrants who settled in the Cape of Good Hope and whose descendants are now spread throughout the country. KWE is one of these less well-known founder genetic disorders.

KWE was first described as a unique and discrete skin disorder in 1977 by Wits dermatologist, Professor George Findlay. He noticed that it occurred in families and had a dominant mode of inheritance  i.e., on average, if a parent has the condition about half the children inherit it in every generation.

In addition to identifying the genetic mutation for scientific purposes, this research now enables dermatologists to make a definitive diagnosis of KWE in patients. It further enables researchers to understand similar skin disorders and is a starting point for developing possible treatments.

Gene mutations

Since the late 1980s, three MSc and three PhD students at Wits researched the disorder, firstly under the supervision of Professor Trefor Jenkins and from about 1990 guided by Professor Michele Ramsay, Director and Research Chair in the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience.

In 1997, Wits MSc student Michelle Starfield and a group in Germany mapped the KWE trait to a region on the short arm of chromosome 8. The researchers showed that it was likely that the South African families all had the same mutation but that the German family had a different mutation. This research preceded the sequencing of the human genome and subsequent research focused on characterising this region of the genome and examining good candidate genes. The KWE mutation remained elusive.

In 2012 Thandiswa Ngcungcu, then a Wits MSc student in Human Genetics whom Ramsay supervised, chose KWE as a topic for her PhD. Ngcungu's research involved large-scale DNA sequencing during an internship on the Next Generation Scientist Programme in Novartis, Basel. The mutation was not detected by conventional data analysis so copy number variants (genetic changes)  where regions of the genome are duplicated or deleted  were investigated. Ngcungcu and the researchers then discovered a mutation in a region between genes that was present in all South African KWE-affected individuals studied.

During this time Dr Torunn Fiskerstrand, University of Bergen, Norway, independently discovered the genetic cause of KWE in Norwegians. Ramsay and Fiskerstrand collaborated. The different DNA duplications in the South African and Norwegian families overlapped at a critical genomic region called an enhancer (which switches on the gene)  providing strong evidence that this was, in fact, the KWE mutation.

For over a year the scientists researched how this duplicated enhancer caused KWE. They demonstrated that the mutation causes a nearby gene to produce more protein than normal and that this abnormal expression was the likely cause of the skin peeling. Exactly twenty years after determining that the KWE mutation lies on chromosome 8, the mutation that causes KWE was identified and published.

Solving the mystery of KWE was a journey of data analysis, ancestry mapping, genomic comparison and global collaboration. Ngcungcu continues her work as a postdoctoral fellow examining the genetics of another skin disorder, albinism, and as a lecturer in the Division of Human Genetics at Wits from July 2017.
PulteGroup, Inc., through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the homebuilding business in the United States. It acquires and develops land primarily for residential purposes; and constructs housing on such land. The company also offers various home designs, including single-family detached, townhomes, condominiums, and duplexes under the Centex, Pulte Homes, Del Webb, DiVosta Homes, American West, and John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods brand names. As of December 31, 2021, it controlled 228,296 lots, of which 109,078 were owned and 119,218 were under land option agreements. In addition, the company arranges financing through the origination of mortgage loans primarily for homebuyers; sells the servicing rights for the originated loans; and provides title insurance policies, and examination and closing services to homebuyers. PulteGroup, Inc. was formerly known as Pulte Homes, Inc. and changed its name to PulteGroup, Inc. in March 2010. The company was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
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.
KBR, Inc. provides scientific, technology, and engineering solutions to governments and commercial customers worldwide. The company operates through Government Solutions and Sustainable Technology Solutions segments. The Government Solutions segment offers life-cycle support solutions to defense, intelligence, space, aviation, and other programs and missions for military and other government agencies in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Its services cover research and development, advanced prototyping, acquisition support, systems engineering, cyber analytics, space domain awareness, test and evaluation, systems integration and program management, global supply chain management, and operations readiness and support, as well as command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance services. This segment also provides various professional advisory services to deliver high-end systems engineering, systems assurance, and technology to customers across the defense, energy, and critical infrastructure sectors. The Sustainable Technology Solutions segment holds a portfolio of approximately 70 proprietary process technologies for ammonia/syngas/fertilizers, chemical/petrochemicals, clean refining, and circular process/circular economy solutions. This segment also includes advisory and consulting practices that focuses on energy transition and net-zero carbon emission consulting; and provides engineering, design, and professional services, as well as industrial solutions through KBR INSITE, a proprietary, digital, and cloud-based operations and maintenance platform that identifies opportunities for clients to achieve sustainable improvements in production, reliability, environment impact, energy efficiency, and profitability. KBR, Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
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AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacturing, and commercialization of prescription medicines. Its marketed products include Calquence, Enhertu, Faslodex, Imfinzi, Iressa, Koselugo, Lumoxiti, Lynparza, Orpathys, Tagrisso, and Zoladex for oncology; Brilinta/Brilique, Bydureon/Byetta, BCise, Byetta, Crestor, Evrenzo, Farxiga/Forxiga, Komboglyze/Kombiglyze XR, Lokelma, Onglyza, Qtern, and Xigduo/Xigduo XR for cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism diseases; Bevespi Aerosphere, Breztri Aerosphere, Daliresp/Daxas, Duaklir Genuair, Fasenra, Pulmicort, Saphnelo, Symbicort, and Tudorza/Eklira/Bretaris for respiratory and immunology; and Andexxa/Ondexxya, Kanuma, Soliris, Strensiq, and Ultomiris for rare diseases. The company's marketed products also comprise Synagis for respiratory syncytial virus; Fluenz Tetra/FluMist Quadrivalent for Influenza; Seroquel IR/Seroquel XR for schizophrenia bipolar disease; Nexium, and Losec/Prilosec for gastroenterology; and Vaxzevria and Evusheld for covid-19. The company serves primary care and specialty care physicians through distributors and local representative offices in the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Australasia. It has a collaboration agreement with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to research, develop, and commercialize small molecule medicines for obesity; Neurimmune AG to develop and commercialize NI006; Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to develop eplontersen, a liver-targeted antisense therapy in Phase III development for the treatment of transthyretin amyloidosis; Proteros Biostructures GmbH to jointly discover novel small molecules for the treatment of hematological cancers; Sierra Oncology, Inc. to develop and commercialize AZD5153. The company was formerly known as Zeneca Group PLC and changed its name to AstraZeneca PLC in April 1999. AstraZeneca PLC was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Cambridge, the United Kingdom.
Schlumberger Limited provides technology for the energy industry worldwide. The company operates through four divisions: Digital & Integration, Reservoir Performance, Well Construction, and Production Systems. It offers software, information management, and IT infrastructure services; consulting services for reservoir characterization, field development planning, and production enhancement; petro technical data services and training solutions; reservoir interpretation and data processing services; asset performance solutions; open and cased-hole services; exploration and production pressure and flow-rate measurement services; pressure pumping, well stimulation, and coiled tubing equipment for downhole mechanical well intervention, reservoir monitoring, and downhole data acquisition; and integrated production systems. The company also provides mud logging and engineering support services; drilling equipment and services for shipyards, drilling contractors, energy companies, and rental tool companies; land drilling rigs and related services; drilling tools; well cementing products and services; and well planning and drilling, engineering, supervision, logistics, procurement, contracting, and drilling rig management services, as well as supplies engineered drilling fluid systems; and designs, manufactures, and markets roller cone and fixed cutter drill bits. In addition, it offers well completion services and equipment; artificial lift production equipment and optimization services; valves; process systems; and integrated subsea production systems comprising wellheads, subsea trees, manifolds and flowline connectors, control systems, connectors, and services, as well as designs and manufactures onshore and offshore platform wellhead systems and processing solutions. The company was formerly known as Societe de Prospection Electrique. Schlumberger Limited was founded in 1926 and is based in Houston, Texas.
The following companies are subsidiares of CVS Health: ACS ACQCO CORP., ADMINCO Inc., AE Fourteen Incorporated, AHP Holdings Inc., AMC - Tennessee LLC, APS Acquisition LLC, ASCO HealthCare LLC, ASI Wings LLC, AUSHC Holdings Inc., Accendo Insurance Company, Accordant Health Services L.L.C., Active Health Management Inc., Administrative Enterprises Inc., AdvancePCS SpecialtyRx LLC, AdvanceRx.com L.L.C., Advanced Care Scripts Inc., Aetna, Aetna (Beijing) Enterprise Management Services Co. Ltd., Aetna (Shanghai) Enterprise Services Co. Ltd., Aetna ACO Holdings Inc., Aetna Asset Advisors LLC, Aetna Behavioral Health LLC, Aetna Better Health Inc., Aetna Better Health Inc., Aetna Better Health Premier Plan MMAI Inc., Aetna Better Health of California Inc., Aetna Better Health of Florida Inc., Aetna Better Health of Illinois Inc., Aetna Better Health of Indiana Inc., Aetna Better Health of Kansas Inc., Aetna Better Health of Missouri LLC, Aetna Better Health of Nevada Inc., Aetna Better Health of North Carolina Inc., Aetna Better Health of Oklahoma Inc., Aetna Better Health of Tennessee Inc., Aetna Better Health of Texas Inc., Aetna Better Health of Washington Inc., Aetna Capital Management LLC, Aetna Card Solutions LLC, Aetna Corporate Services LLC, Aetna Dental Inc., Aetna Dental of California Inc., Aetna Financial Holdings LLC, Aetna Florida Inc., Aetna Global Benefits (Asia Pacific) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Bermuda) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Europe) Limited, Aetna Global Benefits (Middle East) LLC, Aetna Global Benefits (Singapore) PTE. LTD., Aetna Health Holdings LLC, Aetna Health Insurance (Thailand) Public Company Limited, Aetna Health Insurance Company, Aetna Health Insurance Company of Europe DAC, Aetna Health Insurance Company of New York, Aetna Health Management LLC, Aetna Health and Life Insurance Company, Aetna Health of California Inc., Aetna Health of Iowa Inc., Aetna Health of Michigan Inc., Aetna Health of Ohio Inc., Aetna Health of Utah Inc., Aetna HealthAssurance Pennsylvania Inc., Aetna Holdco (UK) Limited, Aetna Holdings (Thailand) Limited, Aetna Inc., Aetna Insurance (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Aetna Insurance Company Limited, Aetna Insurance Company of Connecticut, Aetna Integrated Informatics Inc., Aetna International Ex Pat LLC, Aetna International LLC, Aetna Ireland Inc., Aetna Life & Casualty (Bermuda) Ltd., Aetna Life Assignment Company, Aetna Life Insurance Company, Aetna Medicaid Administrators LLC, Aetna Network Services LLC, Aetna Partners Diversified Fund LLC, Aetna Pharmacy Management Services LLC, Aetna Resources LLC, Aetna Risk Assurance Company of Connecticut Inc., Aetna Rx Home Delivery LLC, Aetna Services (Thailand) Limited, Aetna Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Aetna Student Health Agency Inc., Aetna Ventures LLC, Aetna Workers Comp Access LLC, Alabama CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Alaska CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Allina Health and Aetna Health Plan Inc., Allina Health and Aetna Insurance Company, Allina Health and Aetna Insurance Holding Company LLC, American Drug Stores Delaware L.L.C., Arbor Drugs, Arizona CVS Stores L.L.C., Arkansas CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Badger Acquisition LLC, Badger Acquisition of Kentucky LLC, Badger Acquisition of Minnesota LLC, Badger Acquisition of Ohio LLC, Banner Health and Aetna Health Insurance Company, Banner Health and Aetna Health Insurance Holding Company LLC, Banner Health and Aetna Health Plan Inc., Beauty Holdings L.L.C., Best Care LTC Acquisition Company LLC, Busse CVS L.L.C., CCI Foreign S.a R.L., CCRx Holdings LLC, CCRx of North Carolina LLC, CHP Acquisition LLC, CP Acquisition LLC, CVS 2948 Henderson L.L.C., CVS 3268 Gilbert L.L.C., CVS 3745 Peoria L.L.C., CVS AL Distribution L.L.C., CVS AOC Corporation, CVS AOC Services L.L.C., CVS Albany L.L.C., CVS Bellmore Avenue L.L.C., CVS Cabot Holdings Inc., CVS Cabot Holdings Inc.  Coram Clinical Trials Inc. 99.72%/Aetna Inc. .28%, CVS Care Concierge LLC, CVS Caremark Advanced Technology Pharmacy L.L.C., CVS Caremark Indemnity Ltd., CVS Caremark Part D Services L.L.C., CVS Caremark TN SUTA LLC, CVS Foreign Inc., CVS Gilbert 3272 L.L.C., CVS Health Applications LLC, CVS Health Solutions LLC, CVS Health Ventures Fund GP LLC, CVS Health Ventures Fund LP, CVS Health Ventures Management LLC, CVS Indiana L.L.C., CVS International L.L.C., CVS Kidney Care Advanced Technologies LLC, CVS Kidney Care Health Services LLC, CVS Kidney Care Home Dialysis LLC, CVS Kidney Care LLC, CVS Management Support LLC, CVS Manchester NH L.L.C., CVS Media Exchange LLC, CVS Michigan L.L.C., CVS Orlando FL Distribution L.L.C., CVS PA Distribution L.L.C., CVS PR Center Inc., CVS Pharmacy Inc., CVS Pharmacy Overseas Online LLC, CVS RS Arizona L.L.C., CVS Rx Services Inc., CVS SC Distribution L.L.C., CVS Shaw Holdings Inc., CVS Shaw Holdings Inc.  Coram Clinical Trials Inc. 99.72%/Aetna Inc. .28%, CVS State Capital L.L.C., CVS TN Distribution L.L.C., CVS Transportation L.L.C., CVS Vero FL Distribution L.L.C., CVS-SHC Kidney Care Home Dialysis of Austin LLC, CVS-SHC Kidney Care Home Dialysis of Los Angeles LLC, CVS-SHC Kidney Care Home Dialysis of Philadelphia LLC, CVS-SHC Renal Holdings LLC, Campos Medical Pharmacy LLC, Canal Place LLC, Care Pharmaceutical Services LP, CareCenter Pharmacy L.L.C., Carefree Insurance Services Inc., Caremark Arizona Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Arizona Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark California Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Florida Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Florida Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Hawaii Mail Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Hawaii Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark IPA L.L.C., Caremark Illinois Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Illinois Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Irving Resource Center LLC, Caremark Kansas Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark L.L.C., Caremark Logistics LLC, Caremark Louisiana Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Maryland Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Massachusetts Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Michigan Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Minnesota Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark New Jersey Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark North Carolina Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Ohio Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Pennsylvania Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark PhC L.L.C., Caremark Puerto Rico L.L.C., Caremark Puerto Rico Specialty Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Redlands Pharmacy L.L.C., Caremark Repack LLC, Caremark Rx L.L.C., Caremark Tennessee Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Texas Mail Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Texas Specialty Pharmacy LLC, Caremark Ulysses Holding Corp., Caremark Washington Specialty Pharmacy LLC, CaremarkPCS Alabama Mail Pharmacy LLC, CaremarkPCS Health L.L.C., CaremarkPCS L.L.C., Central Rx Services LLC, Cofinity Inc., Compscript LLC, Connecticut CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Continental Life Insurance Company of Brentwood Tennessee, Continuing Care Rx LLC, Coram Alternate Site Services Inc., Coram Clinical Trials Inc., Coram Clinical Trials Inc.  CVS Pharmacy Inc. 75%/Aetna Life Insurance Company 25%, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Alabama, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Florida, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Greater D.C., Coram Healthcare Corporation of Greater New York, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Indiana, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Massachusetts, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Mississippi, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Nevada, Coram Healthcare Corporation of North Texas, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Northern California, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Southern California, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Southern Florida, Coram Healthcare Corporation of Utah, Coram LLC, Coram Rx LLC, Coram Specialty Infusion, Coram Specialty Infusion Services L.L.C., Coventry Consumer Advantage Inc., Coventry Health Care National Accounts Inc., Coventry Health Care National Network Inc., Coventry Health Care of Illinois Inc., Coventry Health Care of Kansas Inc., Coventry Health Care of Missouri Inc., Coventry Health Care of Nebraska Inc., Coventry Health Care of Virginia Inc., Coventry Health Care of West Virginia Inc., Coventry Health Plan of Florida Inc., Coventry Health and Life Insurance Company, Coventry HealthCare Management Corporation, Coventry Prescription Management Services Inc., Coventry Transplant Network Inc., Credentials Inc., D & R Pharmaceutical Services LLC, D.A.W. LLC, Delaware CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Delaware Physicians Care Incorporated, District of Columbia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., E.T.B. INC., Echo Merger Sub Inc., Eckerd Corporation of Florida Inc., Employee Assistance Services LLC, Enloe Drugs LLC, Enterprise Patient Safety Organization LLC, EntrustRX, Evergreen Pharmaceutical LLC, Evergreen Pharmaceutical of California LLC, Express Pharmacy Services of PA L.L.C., First Choice of the Midwest LLC, First Health Group Corp., First Health Life & Health Insurance Company, Florida Health Plan Administrators LLC, Garfield Beach CVS L.L.C., Generation Health L.L.C., Geneva Woods Health Services LLC, Geneva Woods LTC Pharmacy LLC, Geneva Woods Management LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Alaska LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Washington LLC, Geneva Woods Pharmacy Wyoming LLC, Geneva Woods Retail Pharmacy LLC, Georgia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., German Dobson CVS L.L.C., Goodhealth Worldwide (Asia) Limited, Goodhealth Worldwide (Global) Limited, Goodyear CVS L.L.C., Grand St. Paul CVS L.L.C., Grandview Pharmacy LLC, Group Dental Service Inc., Health Care Management Co. Ltd., Health Data & Management Solutions Inc., Health Re Inc., Health and Human Resource Center Inc., HealthAssurance Pennsylvania Inc., Highland Park CVS L.L.C., Holiday CVS L.L.C., Home Care Pharmacy LLC, Home Pharmacy Services LLC, Hook-SupeRx L.L.C., Horizon Behavioral Services LLC, Idaho CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., IlliniCare Health, Indian Health Organisation Private Limited, Innovation Health Holdings LLC, Innovation Health Insurance Company, Innovation Health Plan Inc., Interlock Pharmacy Systems LLC, Iowa CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., JHC Acquisition LLC, Kansas CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Kentucky CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., LCPS Acquisition LLC, Langsam Health Services LLC, Lo-Med Prescription Services LLC, Lobos Acquisition LLC, Longs Drug Stores, Longs Drug Stores California L.L.C., Louisiana CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., MHHP Acquisition Company LLC, MHNet Specialty Services LLC, MHNet of Florida Inc., Main Street Pharmacy L.L.C., Managed Care Coordinators Inc., Managed Healthcare LLC, Martin Health Services LLC, Maryland CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Med World Acquisition Corp., Medical Arts Health Care LLC, Medical Examinations of New York P.C., Melville Realty Company Inc., MemberHealth LLC, Mental Health Associates Inc., Mental Health Network of New York IPA Inc., Meritain Health Inc., Merwin Long Term Care LLC, Minor Health Enterprise Co Ltd., MinuteClinic, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Alabama L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Arizona LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Arkansas LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Colorado LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Florida LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Georgia LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Hawaii L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Illinois LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Kentucky L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Louisiana L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Maine L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Maryland LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Massachusetts LLC, MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Nebraska L.L.C., MinuteClinic Diagnostic of New Hampshire L.L.C., 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Healthcare of Ohio LLC, NCS Healthcare of South Carolina LLC, NCS Healthcare of Tennessee LLC, NCS Healthcare of Wisconsin LLC, NIV Acquisition LLC, Navarro Discount Pharmacy, Nebraska CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., NeighborCare Pharmacy Services LLC, NeighborCare of Indiana LLC, NeighborCare of Virginia LLC, New Jersey CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Niagara Re Inc., North Carolina CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., North Shore Pharmacy Services LLC, NovoLogix LLC, OCR Services LLC, Ocean Acquisition Sub L.L.C., Ohio CVS Stores L.L.C., Oklahoma CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Omnicare, Omnicare Indiana Partnership Holding Company LLC, Omnicare LLC, Omnicare LLC  Aetna Inc 0.28%/CVS Cabot Holdings Inc. 49.86%/CVS Shaw Holdings Inc. 49.86%, Omnicare Pharmacies of Pennsylvania West LLC, Omnicare Pharmacies of the Great Plains Holding LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy and Supply Services LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy of Tennessee LLC, Omnicare Pharmacy of the Midwest LLC, Omnicare Property Management LLC, Omnicare of Nebraska LLC, Omnicare of Nevada LLC, Omnicare of New York LLC, Oregon CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., PE Holdings LLC, PHPSNE Parent Corporation, PP Acquisition Company LLC, PRN Pharmaceutical Services LP, PT Aetna Management Consulting, Pamplona Saude e Beleza LTDA, Part D Holding Company L.L.C., PayFlex Systems USA Inc., Pennsylvania CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Performax Inc., Pharmacy Associates of Glenn Falls LLC, Pharmacy Consultants LLC, Phoenix Data Solutions LLC, Precision Benefit Services Inc., Prime Net Inc., ProCare Pharmacy Direct L.L.C., ProCare Pharmacy L.L.C., Prodigy Health Group Inc., Professional Risk Management Inc., Puerto Rico CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Red Oak Sourcing LLC, Resources for Living LLC, Rhode Island CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Roeschens Healthcare LLC, RxAmerica, Schaller Anderson Medical Administrators Incorporated, Scrip World LLC, Sheffield Avenue CVS L.L.C., Shore Pharmaceutical Providers LLC, Silverscript Insurance Company, Soma Intimates, South Carolina CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., South Wabash CVS L.L.C., Specialized Pharmacy Services LLC, Stadtlander Drug Company, Stadtlander Pharmacy, Sterling Healthcare Services LLC, Superior Care Pharmacy LLC, Sutter Health and Aetna Administrative Services LLC, Sutter Health and Aetna Insurance Company, Sutter Health and Aetna Insurance Holding Company LLC, T2 Medical Inc., TCPI Acquisition LLC, TargetPharmacy, Tennessee CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Texas Health + Aetna Health Insurance Company, Texas Health + Aetna Health Insurance Holding Company LLC, Texas Health + Aetna Health Plan Inc., The Vasquez Group Inc., Thomas Phoenix CVS L.L.C., Three Forks Apothecary LLC, U.S Healthcare Holdings LLC, U.S. Healthcare Properties Inc., UAC Holding Inc., UC Acquisition LLC, UNI-Care Health Services of Maine LLC, Universal American - Medicare Part D Business, Utah CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., VAPS Acquisition Company LLC, Value Health Care Services LLC, Vermont CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Virginia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Virtual Home Healthcare LLC, Warm Springs Road CVS L.L.C., Washington CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Washington Lamb CVS L.L.C., Weber Medical Systems LLC, Wellpartner LLC, West Virginia CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Westhaven Services Co LLC, Williamson Drug Company LLC, Wisconsin CVS Pharmacy L.L.C., Woodward Detroit CVS L.L.C., Work and Family Benefits Inc., ZS Acquisition Company LLC, Zinc Health Services LLC, Zinc Health Ventures LLC, bSwift LLC, and iTriage LLC.

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First Horizon Corporation operates as the bank holding company for First Horizon Bank that provides various financial services. The company operates through three segments: Regional Banking, Specialty Banking, and Corporate. It offers general banking services for consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments. The company also underwrites bank-eligible securities and other fixed-income securities eligible for underwriting by financial subsidiaries; sells loans and derivatives; and offers advisory services. In addition, it offers various services, such as mortgage banking; title insurance and loan-closing; brokerage; correspondent banking; nationwide check clearing and remittance processing; trust, fiduciary, and agency; equipment finance; and investment and financial advisory services. Further, the company sells mutual fund and retail insurance products; and credit cards. It operates approximately 500 banking offices in 22 states under the First Horizon Bank brand; and 400 banking centers in 12 states under the FHN Financial brand in the United States. The company was formerly known as First Horizon National Corporation and changed its name to First Horizon Corporation in November 2020. First Horizon Corporation was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.
Doctoral candidate Schmitt awarded Mellon/ACLS Fellowship

Many apply, few chosen Ph.d. candidate Casey Schmitt is one of just 65 students (out of 1,000 applicants) to receive a 2017 Mellon/American Council of Learned Societies Dissertation Completion Fellowship. Photo by Jim Ducibella Photo - of - Hide Caption

In Casey Schmitts mind, something doesnt make sense. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the American Council of Learned Societies recently offered her the tools to prove it.

Schmitt, a Ph.d. candidate in History at William & Mary, is one of only 65 scholars to receive a 2017 Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship. Chosen from a pool of more than 1,000 applicants, Schmitt will receive $30,000 and up to $8,000 in research funds and university fees to help with her final year of dissertation writing.

The 11-year-old program, which is made possible by a grant from The Mellon Foundation, also includes a faculty-led academic job market seminar, hosted by ACLS, to further prepare fellows for their postgraduate careers.

Schmitt, who earned her undergraduate degree at Arizona State University and her masters at the University of Utah, said she came to William & Mary in part because of its amazing early American history program. The Omohundro Institute gets scholars in all the time. Its an incredible environment.

As for her research, Schmitt said that traditional accounts of the Caribbean in the 17th century portray it as either lawless and infested with pirates, or settled by distinct empires. Schmitt had issues with both portrayals.

In the 17th century, many Caribbean islands were shared by people from different parts of Europe, whether French, British or Spanish. St. Kitts, for example, was French and English. This meant that many places developed local understandings about the legality of slavery and servitude.

In fact, it wasnt until near the end of the 17th century that these empires began exerting substantially more influence over their colonies than before. This meant drafting formalized laws for issues such as slavery, which superseded earlier ways of managing labor.

In the Caribbean in the early 17th century, people on the ground werent lawyers referring back to legal statutes in Europe, said Schmitt. They were working things out on the ground. Im arguing that theres actually a group of people who had a way of doing things and then empires told them not to, and that makes it look illegal by the time you get to the 18th century.

Schmitt felt so passionately about her theory that she decided to write her dissertation on the subject. Then the issue became how to prove her argument.

She traveled to England, looking for material from before the 1660s. She found very little. She traveled to France, with the same result. Documents from that period housed in Caribbean archives generally hadnt survived because of the excessive humidity.

I went through almost an entire year of I dont know what Im doing, dont know if Im going to be able to write this project, she said.

But Schmitt also reads Spanish, and on a whim journeyed to Seville last spring. There she found what she called this huge trove of documents.

What would happen is that English and French mariners who were populating the islands would be captured because they were pirates as far as the Spanish were concerned, she said. Theyd be interrogated, and these interrogations are 20 pages long, describing what the islands looked like, what kind of laws were in place, what the populace was like, information on fortifications, the things the Spanish of the day are concerned with.

For me, this is a rare window into what this early period looks like.

Schmitt will soon be traveling to The National Archives in England and the Archives Nacional dOutre Mer in France to compare what she found in Spain to a few additional collections there.

Should all go well, Schmitt will finish her dissertation within a year.

Ive been really lucky to work with great people, like my advisors Brett Rushforth and Paul Mapp, she said. Both have really helped me develop this project.




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IAEA notes improved Swedish nuclear security

04 May 2017

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The Swedish framework for physical protection and computer security at nuclear power plants, other nuclear facilities and for nuclear material in transport continues to show good progress, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report concludes following a mission there last year.

An IAEA International Physical Protection Advisory Service (IPPAS) team completed a two-week follow-up mission in October 2016 to review the legislative and regulatory framework for nuclear security in Sweden. The previous IPPAS mission to the country was conducted in May 2011.

IPPAS missions are intended to help IAEA member states strengthen their national nuclear security regime through peer review advice and IAEA guidance. A team of international experts assesses a nation's physical protection systems, compares it with international best practices and recommends improvements. IPPAS missions are conducted both on a nationwide and facility-specific basis.

The purpose of the latest IPPAS mission, as agreed with the Swedish government, was to: assess progress in addressing the recommendations and suggestions identified in the 2011 mission; assess the current state of Sweden's nuclear security regime at a national level; and, assess the implementation of physical protection measures at the Ringhals nuclear power plant.

On completing the mission, the IAEA subsequently submitted its latest mission report to the Swedish government. The country's Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) has now made the report publicly available on its website.

According to the IAEA's report, Sweden has made good progress in implementing the recommendations of the previous IPPAS mission. It said it had identified several good practices, but made a number of new recommendations and suggestions for continuous improvement.

The mission found that many of the previous recommendations have led to tangible improvements to the Swedish system of physical protection. Examples include better collaboration between public authorities, development of more clearly defined requirements, and security measures taken at nuclear power plants.

The new recommendations relate to issues such as society's capability for sufficiently rapid and robust response to combat malicious acts, assigning priority to safety culture and conducting efficient and effective inspection work.

"The open, transparent and honest engagement with the State, [the] competent authority and the team at the Ringhals plant are indicative of a culture working to continuously improve," the IAEA report says. "Physical protection at the facility level is broadly in line with international consensus recommendations. At the national level, nuclear security culture could be strengthened within the overall organisational culture by strong leadership over the next several years to give an appropriate focus to nuclear security, especially as operators move to decommission some of the older nuclear power plants, to address the long standing issues."

SSM director Johan Anderberg said, "The results from the IPPAS mission are an important element of our work to continuously improve Sweden's nuclear security regime. We are currently working on an action plan for dealing with the new suggested improvements."

Researched and written

by World Nuclear News

Related topics
Tourism In China

From 1949 until 1974, China was closed to most tourists. This country only began developing its tourism industry in the late 1970s in order to generate foreign exchange. Since then, it has become the third most popular tourist destination in the world. The World Tourism Organization expects China to take first place as a global tourist destination by 2020. In 2010, China received 55.98 million international tourists, generating $45.8 billion in revenue. This article takes a closer look at where those tourists come from and where they visit in the country.

Tourist Destinations In China

China offers tourists a wide range of tourist destinations from natural wonders to urban landscapes and historical sites. Some of its most well-known natural sites include the Three Gorges area of the Yangtze river and the terraced rice paddies of Yunnan. The principal historical tourist attraction here is the Great Wall, which is the worlds biggest national defence infrastructure built in the last 2,000 years. Additionally, tourists come to China in order to learn about the diverse cultures living here. Some popular cultural destinations include the Water Sprinkling Festival of the Dai and the Mosuo matriarchal society at Lugu Lake.

Top Source Countries For Tourists To China

South Korea

The largest percentage of international tourists to China come from South Korea. In 2016, over 14.56 million South Koreans visited this country. Although tourism in China is expected to grow, the number of South Korean travelers is likely to decline. This decline is due to a current dispute between the two countries over a US missile defense system implemented in South Korea. In response, China has initiated a travel ban against South Korea, which may affect the number of South Korean tourists traveling to China on vacation as well.

Vietnam

Vietnam sends the second largest group of international tourists to China. In 2016, approximately 8,735,821 Vietnamese traveled to this country. These two countries have a connected tourism industry, as China is the number 1 source of source of tourists to Vietnam. The reason for this high level of tourist travel between these countries is that they share a border. Because of this shared border, the governments of China and Vietnam have established a special type of border travel, which does not require passports or visas.

Japan

The third largest source country for travelers to China is Japan, which sent 5,622,777 tourists in 2016. This is a significant number despite the continued presence of some animosity in China over Japans invasion during the 1930s. Japanese tourists enjoy visa free travel to this country as long as they come through the ports of entry designated for foreigners and stay for no more than 15 days..

Malaysia

Malaysia is the fourth largest source for tourists to China. Records indicate that 3,322,616 Malaysian tourists visited this country in 2016. Citizens of Malaysia may visit China without a visa if they are traveling with a group tour to Hainan Province for no more than 15 days. Additionally, the tour operator must be approved by the National Tourism Administration of China and registered with Hainan Province.

The chart published below offers a more extended list of the top source countries for tourists to China.
An emirate is a territory or state under the jurisdiction of an Emir. An emirate is the dignity, office, quality, or territorial competence of an Emir. An emirate is also used to describe any province of a state administered by a ruling class member, especially of a royal descent like in Saudi Arabia.

Who Is An Emir?

An Emir is the head of state of an emirate. The Emir could be a king, prince, commander or governor.

List Of Emirates

1. The United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates is a nation composed of seven emirates. It has a coastline on the Oman and Persian Gulfs. The following Emirates make up the UAE:

Umm al-Quwain.

Ajman.

Dubai.

Ras Al Khaimah.

Abu Dhabi.

Fujairah.

Sharjah.

The Emirates became a federation on December 2, 1971. Every emirate has an Emir and maintains autonomy, even over oil revenues. The King of Abu Dhabi is elected as President while Dubai provides the Prime Minister. These posts are thus de facto hereditary.

2. Kuwait

Kuwait is found in western Asia at the tip of the Persian Gulf. Kuwait borders both Saudi Arabia and Iraq. It is home to a high-income economy and has worlds sixth largest oil reserves. In fact, the Kuwait dinar is the most valued currency today. The World Bank estimates that Kuwait has the fourth highest per capita income in the world ($68,940).

Kuwait is a constitutional emirate. It has ta semi-democratic political system where the Sheikh or Emir oversees the state functions. Kuwait has a hybrid political system divided between the appointed government and the elected parliament. With this form of governance, Kuwait has the most transparent and accountable government in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries. Kuwait is also the most democratic country in the region regarding political rights and civil liberties.

The legislature is comprised of the National Assembly where the government executes the executive power. The prime minister is an appointee of the Emir and in turn, appoints the ministers who make up the government.

3. Qatar

Qatar is a sovereign country bordered by Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Gulf. Qatar is an absolute or constitutional monarchy. The Al Thani family has been in power since its establishment in 1825. In 2003, 98% Qatari voted for a new constitution that allowed for the direct nomination of three-quarters (30) of the legislative chamber (40 members). Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is the current Emir.

The supreme executive authority is composed of the supreme chancellor who appoints (or demotes) the prime minister and cabinet ministers. The Council of Ministers makes up the legislature. Majlis Al Shura (Advisory Council) proposes laws and decrees, and the Emir ratifies them. The Consultative Assembly has the limited authority of drafting and approving laws, but the final decision ultimately lies with the Emir. Currently, all members of the council are direct appointees by the Emir as Qatar has had no legislative elections since 1970. The Qatari law forbids any political body or trade unions. Sharia law is applicable in the country. However, the world views Qatars legal system as a mixture of Sharia and civil laws.
A Brief Overview

The Republic of Uzbekistan is one of the two double locked countries in the world. It is bordered by the five landlocked countries of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan. It is a presidential constitutional republic with the president heading both the state and the government. The executive powers are with the government while the legislative power is with the two chambers of the Supreme Assembly. The judiciary is made up of the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court, and the Higher Economic Court. The government of Uzbekistan ensures guidance over the effective functioning of the countrys economy, implementation of the law, and social and cultural development.

The Government of Uzbekistan has its legal basis in the Constitution of Uzbekistan. The government is in three levels: the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branch. The 1992 constitution officially created a separation of power among the three arms of government. Although the names of government institution have changed since independence in 1991, the institutions are still similar to the ones that existed before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The major roles of the government include ensuring progressive economic, social, and cultural growth and implementation of the laws and policies of the Supreme Assembly.

The Executive Branch Of The Government Of Uzbekistan

The executive branch comprises of the president, the premier, ministers, and deputy ministers. The president is elected for a five-year term by popular vote in a free and fair election. He or she appoints the prime minister and deputy minister who form part of his cabinet. The president is granted supreme executive powers by the constitution. He or she also has the power to appoint judges of the national courts, declare war or a state of emergency, and to dissolve the parliament. The executive branch remains the most powerful branch of government with some of the executive decrees superseding some democratic features in the constitution. The president, prime minister, ministers, and deputy ministers forms the Cabinet of Ministers are responsible for the effective functioning of the country.

The Legislative Branch Of The Government Of Uzbekistan

The legislative branch of the Uzbekistan Government is referred to as the Oliy Majlis, or the Supreme Assembly. The Supreme Assembly succeeded the Supreme Soviet in 1995 and remained unicameral until January 2005. The parliament has 150 members in the Legislative Chamber and 100 members of the Senate elected from territorial constituencies and at the session of districts respectively for a five-year term. 84 members of the Senate are elected directly while 16 are appointed by the president. Both the Legislative Chamber and the Senate are headed by Chairmen who do not have a term limit. The legislature meets only a few days in a year and has little powers to shape the law since the power is with the executive branch.

The Judicial Branch Of The Government Of Uzbekistan

The judicial branch of the Uzbekistan Government is made up of the Supreme Court, the Constitutional, and Higher Economic Courts. The courts exercise the judicial powers although the powers have been overshadowed by the executive branch. The judiciary lacks independence since the president has the powers to appoint and dismiss the judges of the national court.
Overview

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was a non-aggression agreement signed between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany on August 23, 1939. The pact was signed in Moscow by foreign Ministers Joachim von Ribbentrop from Germany and Vyacheslav Molotov from the Soviet Union. Germany and the Soviet Union signed the non-aggression pact which assured each party that neither of them would attack one another. The pact also allowed for neutrality in case one country was attacked. The pact would ensure both countries were free from interference in their invasions of other countries.

Background

Germany and the Soviet Union had tense political relations after WWI which declined further with the rise of the Nazi regime. Despite their different political and economic ideologies and other various tensions between them, the Soviet Union sought to develop political and economic ties with Germany. The Soviet Union needed a market for its exports while Germany needed a source of raw materials, food, and military supplies. The size and location of Germany caused the country to be disadvantaged in the case of a war breaking out since supplies would not reach the country. The two political factions were brought together by the fact that both faced common threats to their power and had common enemies such as Poland. The signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact was also inspired by the fears of French and Poland armies which were considered among the strongest in Europe at the time.

The Secret Protocol

The secret protocol was a part of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact that divided Eastern Europe into German and soviet spheres of influence. The secret protocol was amended two more times on September 28th, 1939 and on January 10th, 1941. Soviet Unions spheres of influence included a smaller part of Poland, Bessarabia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Parties to the non-aggression pact denied the existence of the secret protocol for several years after the world war until 1989 when it was acknowledged and denounced again.

Termination of the Pact

The pact was established to last for a ten year period after which the period would be automatically extended for five years. However, the pact could be terminated after ten years once one of the parties sent a withdrawal notice one year before the end of the ten-year period. While the pact seemed to foster close relations between Germany and the Soviet Union, the Germans had a great mistrust of the actions and intentions of the Soviet Union. This lead to the termination of the pact on June 22, 1949. Hitler broke the non-aggression agreement by launching an attack against the Soviet Union under the code name Operation Barbarossa.

Impact of the Pact

The pact is regarded as the primary trigger for World War II. Since Germany was assured that the Soviet Union would not oppose its efforts of expansion, it became easier to invade Poland and engage the French and British in war. The Soviet Union also pursued its expansionist ambitions, confident that Germany would not pose any threat to its pursuits. However, pursuits by Soviets Joseph Stalin triggered Hitlers mistrust leading to the attack on the Soviet Union in 1941. After the attack, relations between Germany and the Soviet Union deteriorated further with Soviet losing most of its acquired territories.
Women stripped naked during arrest

By: William Martin WorldWideWeirdNews.com

Police launched an investigation after a video showed a group of police officers brutally attacking several women, according to police in Zimbabwe.

A human rights activist, who was only identified as Chofamba, posted the video clip, showing police officers dragging the women to waiting trucks.

According to witnesses at the scene, police showed up at the womenas homes early in the morning in order to arrest them for an undisclosed crime.

After the women put up a fight, police stripped them naked and beat them up. They were the dragged in the street to waiting trucks.

The video shows children running around and crying as they watched their mothers being humiliated in public. One child was naked from the waist down and only had a torn undershirt.

Human rights activists condemned the violent arrest as a violation of human rights. Police are investigating the violent nature of the arrest, but so far no charges have been filed.
Last week Australians were subjected to the annual Anzac Day glorification of militarism and war by the government and corporate media. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Labor Party opposition leader Bill Shorten remembered military veteransliving and deadwhile using the occasion to pledge their loyalty to the US-Australia military alliance and their commitment to current and future wars.

Anzac Day venerates the first military combat by Australian and New Zealand troops during World War I as part of the British-led invasion of Gallipoli in Turkey in April 1915. The incursiona military disaster in which more than 130,000 troops were killed on all sides, including 8,000 young Australians and about 2,700 New Zealanders killedis proclaimed as the birth of the nation and regarded as the touchstone of patriotic loyalty.

Australian authorities are spending just over $500 million to celebrate the 100th anniversary of WWI and the glorification of a century of Australian involvement in military conflicts. The clear message is that everyone, young and old, should follow the example of those who died in combat and be prepared to sacrifice for the nation.

Notwithstanding the multi-million dollar four-year promotion of this nationalist and militarist propaganda, there is no widespread popular support for war.

In fact, attendances at last weeks military marches, which were held against the backdrop of escalating US war threats against North Korea and Washingtons recent military assaults on Syria and Afghanistan, were the lowest since the WWI centenary began. Thousands of workers and youth are beginning to realise that Canberra is locked into Washingtons reckless military aggression and that war between nuclear armed powers is a real and present danger.

Uneasy about this deep-seated and growing anti-war sentiment, particularly among young people, official government statements on this years Anzac Day and the blanket media coverage said as little as possible about what actually happened on the war front in 1917. And no mention was made of the political issues that gripped Australia in that year.

Nothing was said about the growing opposition to the war in every country as the unimaginable battle-field slaughter dragged on and working-class struggles erupted against the poverty and attacks on democratic rights produced by the war.

Moreover, there was a deafening silence about the impact on the Australian population of the 1917 February Revolution, which ended the Tsarist autocracy, and the October Revolution that overthrew capitalism in Russia nine months later.

The years 1916 and 1917 are rightly known as The Great Slaughter, because of the deaths of hundreds of thousands of troops on all sides of the conflict.

After the disaster at Gallipoli, most of the Australian and New Zealand troops were dispatched to Europes Western Front, where millions of soldiers were bogged down in rat-infested trenches, subjected to constant artillery bombardment and ordered to make futile and suicidal charges against enemy lines.

In the Battle of Verdun, for example, which began in early 1916 and continued for over 300 days, almost 800,000 French and German soldiers were killed or woundedabout 70,000 casualties per monthwith no real military gains by any of the combatants.

On July 19, 1916, more than 5,500 Australian troops were killed or wounded at Fromelles, in Australias first major involvement on the Western Front. This bloodbath was followed by othersat Pozieres and Mouquet Farmwith 8,000 Australian soldiers sent to their deaths between late July and September 1916.

Commenting on the slaughter at Pozieres, Australian military historian Charles Bean wrote: The men were simply turned in there as into some ghastly giant mincing machine. They have to stay there while shell after huge shell descends with a shriek close beside them  each shrieking tearing crash bringing a promise to each maninstantaneousI will tear you into ghastly woundsI will rend your flesh and pulp an arm or a legfling you half a gaping quivering man (like those that you see smashed around you one by one) to lie there rotting and blackening like all the things you saw by the awful roadside, or in that sickening dusty crater.

While the Western Front battlelines largely remained unchanged throughout 1917, the human carnage continued unabated, as thousands were killed and wounded on a daily basis.

Australian troops were involved in the two British-led battles for Bullecourt, and in the Third Battle of Ypres during 1917, at the cost of almost 50,000 casualties and no real strategic gains.

In total, over 22,000 Australian troops died on the Western Front in 1917, the highest casualty rate in Australian military history, and from a country with just under five million people.

The year 1917, however, saw rising anger and opposition to the death, destruction and hellish conditions facing the troops, with mutinies and riots among Allied forces, including British, Australian and New Zealand soldiers. The largest of these involved French troops, who, in early May at Chemin des Dames, began disobeying orders to attack their German counterparts. The revolt spread like wildfire, and, by the end of the month, involved 21 divisions and tens of thousands of soldiers.

Inspired by the February Revolution, some French units established soldiers councils and began raising demands for an ending of the war. French authorities brutally crushed the rebellion, arresting tens of thousands, court-martialling 23,000, executing several key figures and suppressing all news of the mutinies.

The massive loss of life during 191617 greatly depleted the various national armies and saw generals and politicians demanding more and more recruits.

When the war broke out in 1914, Australian workers, like their counterparts in Europe, were caught up in a wave of patriotism and joined the military in large numbers. This was under conditions where most political parties of the working class, including the Labor Party in Australia, supported the war.

However, news of the death toll at Gallipoli and the Western Front saw a huge fall in military volunteers. In Australia, the numbers dropped from 165,912 new recruits in 1915, to 124,352 in 1916 and then plummeted to just 45,101 and 28,883 in 1917 and 1918 respectively.

Under pressure from Britain to provide more cannon fodder, Labor Prime Minister Billy Hughes called for conscription for overseas service. Hughes, who was expelled from the Labor Party over this demand, took the conscription issue to two national referendain October 1916 and December 1917. But Australians, including substantial numbers of soldiers on the frontlines, consistently rejected conscriptionthe second vote by a larger majority than the first.

While the anti-conscription campaign was not a politically homogenous movementit involved socialists, members of the revolutionary syndicalist Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), pacifists and Irish nationalistsit was an expression of the deepening anti-government sentiment and class tensions over a range of basic issues. Those opposing conscription participated in some of the largest mass rallies up to that point in Australias history.

Contrary to nationalist mythology and current government claims, the purpose of Australias involvement in the war was not to defend democracy and freedom, but to expand the territorial ambitions and profits of the Australian capitalist class. As domestic opposition mounted against the war and military conscription, the Australian government used the so-called War Precautions Act and other anti-democratic measures to crack down on dissenters.

Prime Minister Hughes and William Hollman, the New South Wales (NSW) state Labor premier, mobilised the state apparatus to try and crush the most militant anti-conscriptionists. Scores of IWW members were victimised and sacked in 1916. In Sydney, the organisations central leadership was jailed on frame-up charges of forgery, treason, felony, conspiracy and bogus claims that they were planning arson attacks on the city. Hughes told the Australian parliament that the IWW was holding a dagger at the heart of society and vowed to destroy the organisation.

In August 1917, four months before the second conscription referendum, an estimated 15,000 women marched in Melbourne in protest against rising food prices and war profiteering. By that year the cost of living had climbed by more than 30 percent on pre-war prices, while wages had been suppressed and productivity increased.

Although the police violently broke up the demonstrations, riots erupted in the city and continued over several nights. City authorities banned public meetings and mobilised volunteer police to patrol the streets. The governor-general, in a fearful reference to the February Revolution in Russia, declared that Australia was in the same boat as Russia.

In fact, the February Revolution, as it did all around the world, had a galvanising political impact on the Australian working class, with resolutions carried at NSW and Victorian Labor Party conferences congratulating the Russian workers for overthrowing the autocracy. The NSW resolution explicitly blamed the war on the capitalist system, and declared that peace could only be accomplished by the united efforts of the workers of all the countries involved.

Strikes began erupting across the countryin mining, on the waterfront and in other strategic industriesover wages and working conditions in 1917. These reached a high point in early August, when 60,000 rail and tramway workers in NSW struck in protest against management speed-up demands.

The NSW government denounced the rail and tramway workers as extremists, who had lost all sense of patriotism and were aiding the enemies of civilisation.

However, the strikers, who were joined by about 100,000 other workers in a de-facto general strike across Australia, were betrayed by the tram and railway unions, which ended the strike on September 9, capitulating to all the demands of the government and state transport management.

While workers came forward to fight the war-time assault on living standards, increased exploitation and attacks on democratic rights, they were unable to defeat the government and employers, and challenge the entire profit system, because they lacked revolutionary leadership.

Although the most militant and politically advanced workers rejected the Labor Party, there was no party in Australia based on the program and perspectivedeveloped by Lenin, Trotsky and the Bolsheviksthat led the Russian working class to power in the October Revolution.

Under the leadership of Lenin and Trotsky, the Russian working class opened a new chapter in world history. Based on the program of proletarian internationalism, and conceived as the opening shot of a world socialist revolution, the October Revolution radicalised workers in every country and sparked a wave of revolutionary struggles throughout Europe.

The central purpose of Australias WWI centenary celebrations is to saturate the population with militarism and patriotic propaganda in preparation for new imperialist wars. In line with this agenda, the ruling elite and all its political agencies do their utmost to downplay, distort and cover-up the real history of 1917 and, in particular, the lessons of the Russian Revolution, the most significant political event, not just of that year, but of the 20th century.

Workers and young people seeking to understand the class nature, causes and consequences of WWI, and how to prevent future and even bloodier catastrophes, need to study this key strategic experience of the international working class.

The author also recommends:

19172017 Russian Revolution Centenary: International Online Lecture Series

Australias Anzac Day and the glorification of militarism and war

[25 April 2015]
Former soldier Alexander Blackman, jailed in 2013 for the murder of an injured Afghan Taliban prisoner of war, emerged from prison last Friday having served just three and a half years of an original 10-year sentence.

A seasoned soldier in the Royal Marineshe had performed six tours of duty in Iraq and AfghanistanBlackman admitted to breaking the Geneva Conventions and was filmed by another soldier as he committed the crime.

Nevertheless, in March, five senior judges at Londons Court Martial Appeal Court downgraded the original finding from murder to manslaughter, accepting a plea of diminished responsibility.

The entire medialed by its most right-wing sectionshave dealt with the case on the supposed basis of Blackmans mindset and mental health. His war crime, for which he should have served the full prison term, was ultimately the product of much bigger war crimes: the illegal invasion and wars against Afghanistan and Iraq, whose main perpetrators, former US President George W. Bush and former UK prime minister Tony Blair, have never been called to account. These wars resulted in over a million deaths, and brought about an unprecedented refugee crisis.

The killing, which took place in 2011, was captured on the helmet video camera of one of Blackmans regiment, and was discovered by chance a year later by military intelligence. Blackman was involved in an operation searching for the Taliban fighter, who had been shot by an Apache helicopter.

The victim is seen being mocked and verbally abused, then as the Apache moved on and had no visuals of the ground, he was shot in the chest by Blackman at close range as he lay convulsing.

The video evidence recorded Blackman saying, There you are. Shuffle off this mortal coil, you c**t. Its nothing you wouldnt do to us. He then addressed his companions: Obviously this doesnt go anywhere... fellas. Ive just broken the Geneva Convention.

The Geneva Conventions, incorporated into UK law as the Geneva Convention Act 57, determine that captured or wounded prisoners of war shall not be mistreated or subject to summary execution.

The Geneva Conventions have been repeatedly flouted since the so-called war on terror began in 2001, and the reclassification of enemy soldiers by the US government as terrorists and illegal combatants.

The wars that followed were in breach of the Conventions and international law from their outset.

In November 2001, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld declared, terrorists do not deserve to be treated as prisoners of war. Bush later signed an executive order saying the US would not honour the Geneva Conventions with regard to the treatment of captured Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

It is well documented that both the US and UK military have tortured prisoners as a matter of course during their years of occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq. The British perfected their torture techniques during imperialist counterinsurgency operations in Borneo, Malaya, South Arabia, Palestine, Cyprus and Northern Ireland.

The vast majority of such abuses and war crimes have never reached a courtroom. An exception was the horrific murder of Baha Mousa, an Iraqi receptionist, who died in September 2003 from asphyxia after being hooded, bound, severely beaten and forced into a stress position. A single low-ranking soldier, Corporal Donald Payne, shouldered the blame and was jailed for a yearthe only conviction of a British soldier by the International Criminal Court established after the Nuremberg Trials.

The Nuremberg Trials were organised after World War Two by the Allied powers. Prominent Nazi leaders such as Hermann Goring, Rudolf Hess and Joachim von Ribbentrop, were charged with war crimes, including genocide against the Jews and waging aggressive or pre-emptive war. Twelve were hung for these crimes.

In 2003, despite massive anti-war protests, Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair took Britain into the Iraq war on the basis of the fraudulent claim Iraq possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). According to the Chilcot Inquiry into the war, which reported its findings last year, the invasion took place before peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted. It also found that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein did not represent an imminent threat; claims that Iraq possessed WMD were not justified; and that [i]ntelligence and facts were fixed around the policy of Bush for regime change.

This was clearly a war crime of immense proportions.

The release of Blackman must be seen in the context of the drive to militarism and war by the British ruling elite.

To this end, the conference of the ruling Conservative Party in October last year agreed to take Britain out of the European Convention on Human Rights in order to exempt the military from prosecution for crimes committed while on duty. In future, not only will soldiers like Blackman be able to carry out war crimes with impunity, such barbarous acts are tacitly encouraged.

This is in line with government plans for more UK military interventions, wherever the US and its own predatory interests dictate, be it Syria, Afghanistan, the Korean peninsula or even military conflict with nuclear-armed Russia and China.

When asked during the debate on the renewal of the Trident nuclear missile system last year if she was prepared to press the nuclear button and incinerate 100,000 men, women and children, Prime Minister Theresa May replied with gusto, Yes.

The Chilcot Report into the Iraq war, finally published last year, provided devastating confirmation of the illegal character of the war and the criminal role of those officials, both British and American, who organised and led it. It has since been buried to facilitate such barbaric war crimes in future.

Strenuous efforts are being made to sweep the crimes of the Iraq War under the table and ensure its perpetrators remain unaccountable. The UK governments top legal officialthe Attorney General Jeremy Wright QCis going to court to oppose the bringing of a private prosecution of Blair, former foreign secretary Jack Straw, and former Attorney General Lord Goldsmith over the Iraq war. The prosecution, based on the findings of the Chilcot Report, accuses Blair of the crime of aggression.

In this noxious atmosphere, sections of the right-wing mediathe Daily Mail, Sun and Daily Expressin alliance with the Royal Marines and prominent military figurescampaigned for Blackmans release on the basis of glorifying the military. Blackman also had the vocal backing of several Labour and Conservative Members of Parliament as well as former UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage.

After the Daily Mail launched a campaign of justice, raising 800,000, the first appeal in May 2014 reduced Blackmans sentence to eight years on the grounds he had suffered combat stress.

On October 28, 2016, an unprecedented demonstration of more than 2,000 former and serving Royal Marines, the majority wearing regimental berets, was held in Parliament Square outside the House of Commons to demand a further appeal. The police turned a blind eye on what was an illegal, but increasingly common, venture into politics by the armed forces.

At the final appeal, the judges made explicit their main concern in this case was the need to defend the reputation of the army and the raison detre for past, present and future military interventions abroadthe so-called war on terror.

There can be no doubt that the way in which the appellant acted, knowingly in contravention of the Geneva Conventions ... has had a material adverse effect on the views that many hold about the conduct of HM Armed Forces...

Their ruling went on to praise the courage and sacrifice of Marine A [Blackman], without whom we would all be at the mercy of the new barbarians.

The judges falsely claimed the vast majority of right-thinking ordinary men and women recognise that our way of life and our values, and even perhaps our civilization, is today under threat as rarely before by dark forces.

On the contrary, the majority are opposed to the predatory wars of the past 25 years, which have brought untold misery to tens of millions. Dark forces is an epithet that more aptly describes the imperialist leaders responsible for the death and destruction wrought on Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen and Somalia.

On the release of the Chilcot report, the WSWS wrote, The verdict should be clear enough: Blair, Bush, et al are war criminals. They, along with their co-conspirators, should face immediate trial. We reiterate that today.

The author also recommends:

UK judges overturn murder conviction of war criminal Alexander Blackman

[23 March 2017]

The Chilcot verdict on Iraq: A war crime by British and US imperialism

[7 July 2016]

Washingtons use and abuse of the Geneva Conventions

[29 March 2003]

US flouts world opinion and Geneva Convention in treatment of Afghan war prisoners

[22 January 2002]
Ratcheting up tensions with the European Union (EU), Conservative UK Prime Minister Theresa May made an unannounced statement Wednesday outside 10 Downing Street.

After visiting the queen to formally declare the closure of parliament, she asserted that representatives of the EU were deliberately seeking to influence the outcome of the upcoming general election.

In her brief address to the media, May said that talks over the terms of Britains exit from the EU have been tough:

The European commissions negotiating stance has hardened. Threats against Britain have been issued by European politicians and officials. All of these acts have been deliberately timed to affect the result of the general election that will take place on 8 June.

May portrayed her own position as the epitome of sweet reason, declaring that in leaving the European Union, Britain means no harm to our friends and allies on the continent and that she wanted to maintain a deep and special partnership with the European Union. But there are some in Brussels who do not want these talks to succeed: Who do not want Britain to prosper.

Mays intervention plays to a domestic political audience and were shaped by electoral imperatives. Her allegations were followed by a repeat of her mantra that a vote for the Conservatives would deliver the strong and stable government needed to make Brexit a success that is central to our national interest.

To choose Jeremy Corbyns Labour Party would mean a hung parliament and a coalition of chaos that would let the bureaucrats of Brussels run over us. ...

Mays speech was denounced for placing party considerations over the national interest she claims to defend. Labours shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, joined Corbyn, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron and Nicola Sturgeon of the Scottish National Party in attacking May for making such preposterous, paranoid and xenophobic claims at the first sign of difficulty in her talks with Brussels. ... Instead of alienating our European partners...she should be working to build effective relationships and make meaningful progress.

But for May to accuse the EU of interfering in the UK general election in language hitherto reserved for Russian President Vladimir Putin testifies to a real escalation of hostilities with Europe. Indeed, over the past days, much of Britains media has been dominated by accusations that differ from Mays only in that the Tory press has not shied away from naming Germany as the moving force in efforts to undermine the government for its hard Brexit stand.

May viewed the support of US President Donald Trump for Brexit, his hostility to Germany and promise of a trade deal with the UK as her ace in the hole in negotiations over Brexit that would help secure access to European markets. But she massively misjudged Berlins preparedness to reject the UKs demands as a threat to Germanys domination of the EU.

On April 22, sources close to the White House reported that German Chancellor Angela Merkel leaked to the Times how, in March, she had in fact convinced Trump that a trade deal with the EU was far more important for the US than one with the UK post-Brexit.

In the German parliament last Thursday, Merkel then announced that no concessions would be made in negotiations with the UK and that her warning was necessary because some in the UK still have illusions.

Saturday saw the 27 EU member states agree in a matter of minutes to a hardline framework for negotiations drawn up in Berlin. These included a declaration that substantive negotiations on post-Brexit trade and economic relations would not even begin until the financial details of the withdrawal were clarified. This is opposed to Mays insistence that separation payments would be agreed on at the end of the planned two-year interim talks.

It then emerged that Merkels statement last Thursday followed a telephone call between her and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, regarding talks with May and her leadership team over dinner at Downing Street last week.

Merkel's people leaked the contents of the discussion to the Frankfurter Allgemeine, which published an account on Sunday. It reported Junckers view that May was in a different Galaxy, that Brexit Secretary David Davis should be removed and that Juncker was 10 times more sceptical that a settlement could be arrived at after the Downing Street dinner.

On the morning of Mays Downing Street declaration, the Financial Times added to her woes by estimating that the divorce settlement with the EU would likely amount to 100 billion using the EUs negotiating guidelines, the more detailed draft mandate for the blocs negotiator, Michel Barnier.

Mays claim that forces in the EU are trying to engineer the election of Corbyn is far-fetched. But the same is not true of her charge that the past week of leaks has been deliberately timed so as to fire a shot across the governments bow.

Berlins decision to make public its willingness to punish the UK has a broader political aim. Coming just days before Sundays vote in the second round of the French presidential election, it serves as an implied threat to anyone reluctant to vote for Emmanuel Macron, an economic liberal advocate of austerity and closer ties with Germany.

Hostility to Macron is such that the once unthinkable prospect of a victory for Marine Le Pen of the far-right and anti-EU National Front is considered a serious possibility. Le Pen prepared for her televised debate against Macron last night by telling the French media that she is the best candidate to face the new world dominated by US President Donald Trump and Russias Vladimir Putin and to talk to the Britain of May.

The Conservatives are entering an election that, according to the polls, should be a walkover thanks to a 15-20 points lead over Labour. But May must win decisively to extend her wafer-thin majority and maintain control over a deeply divided party: one in which the pro-Brexit forces dominate and champion a hard Brexit involving quitting the Single European Market which is opposed by big business and the City of London.

Mays brinksmanship is a measure not only of her own underlying political weakness, but that of British imperialism, which is still heavily dependent on EU trade and cannot rely on the US to step up and fill the void that would be left by the failure to secure an agreement.

Gary Gibbon of Channel Four News warned of growing fears that May is pushing herself into a hardline position on the EU negotiations that could make a deal impossible. ... [T]here has been one school of thought that says Mrs. May is fighting for a big mandate in this election so she can make the concessions in the negotiations which she couldnt make if held to ransom by a small number of Brexit hardliners exploiting her small majority. Adherents of that view may be scratching their heads after that Prime Ministerial address wondering if theyve quite called it right.

Whatever happens, the national tensions revealed in the bitter exchanges between London and Berlin will continue to escalate, not only placing a question mark over the fate of post-Brexit Britain but over the long-term survival of the EU itself.
These remarks were delivered by Johannes Stern, a leading member of the Sozial istische Gleichheitspartei , the German section of the ICFI, at the first public meeting of the Parti de legalite socialiste on May Day in Paris.

As todays international speaker I first of all want to extend the warmest international greetings to you from the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (SGP), the German section of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) and from the entire IC. I am proud to participate and speak at this first public meeting of the Parti de legalite socialiste (PES) in Paris, at such a critical political juncture.

The PES is clearly the only party intervening in the elections with a revolutionary perspective for the working class. As comrade Alex Lantier has explained, our call for an active boycott is made, not from the standpoint of parliamentary calculations, but from the dynamic of the class struggle.

It is clear that a bitter confrontation is being prepared between the next French government and the working class. Workers and youth understand that they face two right-wing candidates, the neo-fascist Marine Le Pen and the banker Emmanuel Macron, who are deeply hostile to their interests. According to polls, 69 percent of the electorate are dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied, with the choice of candidates in the second round.

I mainly want to elaborate on one point: why are we not joining the entire bourgeois, liberal and pseudo-left camp, which seeks to portray Macron as the lesser evil compared to Le Pen, and urging workers and youth to vote for the former? Our answer is clear: very simply, Macron is not the lesser evil. He is the candidate of austerity and war! Like Le Pen, he poses a mortal danger to the working class.

On the question of austerity, I want to quote from a recent article in the New York Times. It is titled How Macron would fix the French economy and sums up what the international financial elite expects from their candidate.

Clearly the case for change has grown more urgent  Over the last decade state spending has grown even more, to 57 percent of gross domestic product, up from 51 percent. Thats higher than any other nation in the world, and 18 percentage points higher than the average for developed nations. Its tough to say how much state spending is too much, but France has clearly fallen out of balance, and Mr. Macron is right that the trend is no longer sustainable. The public payroll is similarly bloated, and Mr. Macron aims to rebalance the economy by cutting 120,000 public sector jobs, streamlining the pension system and dropping state spending back to 52 percent of GDP.

On the issue of war, lets listen to Mr. Macron himself. In a public meeting six weeks ago in Paris, he said: We have entered an epoch in international relations where war is again a possible outcome of politics. At the same meeting he pledged to bring back the draft and demanded that France maintain independent capacities to conceive, decide upon, and execute military action.

These are precisely the reasons why the entire international ruling establishment is backing Macron. Since he is an advocate for the EU and European militarism, Berlin, in particular, sees him as an ally in its megalomaniac project to militarize and dominate the EU in order to become a world power.

We will only have influence if we jointly, Germany and France in particular, make Europe a genuine actor in the world, stated German President and former Social Democrat Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, just days before the first round of the election, in an interview with Sud Ouest.

Given the United States new orientation, a united Europe becomes even more important, Steinmeier continued, referring to the aggressive America First policies of Donald Trump. If the unification of Europe fails, as nationalist and populist parties want in France, we will not be players but the pawns of other powers, he warned.

In other words, while Germany prepares for conflict with the other major powersincluding the USits opposition to Le Pen is based purely on geo-strategic calculations. It has nothing whatsoever to do with concerns over Le Pens extreme right-wing and xenophobic positions, or the fascist origins of the National Front.

In fact, as German and European militarism rearm, the ruling elites are increasingly rehabilitating and implementing extreme right-wing and fascistic policies themselves. Alex already referred to Le Pens invitation to the Elysee Palace, the imposition of a state of emergency by the PS government, and its plan to inscribe a law revoking citizenship into the constitution.

The entire capitalist European Union is not a means to unify Europe and bring about social justice and peace, but a breeding ground for nationalism, xenophobia, social counterrevolution, law-and-order policies and war. The austerity measures dictated by Brussels and Berlin have destroyed entire countrieslike Greeceand thrown millions into poverty. The brutal anti-refugee policies of Fortress Europe have turned the Mediterranean into a mass grave, where more than 25,000 people have drowned in recent years. The detention centers and camps for refugees all over Europe recall the pictures of the concentration camps set up by the Nazis before World War II.

Like in France, the rise of far right and fascist forces, such as Pegida and the AfD in Germany, is an expression of a shift of the entire ruling establishment far to the right. In Germany, this is perhaps most sharply expressed in an attempt to rewrite history, and even to downplay the crimes of the Nazis and rehabilitate Hitler.

Here is a recent quote by a German professor: Ive compared Hitler to Stalin. Stalin was a psychopath, Hitler was not. Stalin enjoyed violence, Hitler did not. Hitler knew what he was doing. He was a pencil pusher who did not want to know about the bloody consequences of his deeds.

Already in 2014, this same person told Germanys most widely read weekly magazine, Der Spiegel: Hitler was not a psychopath, he was not vicious. He did not want to talk about the extermination of Jews at his table.

These monstrous statements about the Nazi leader and greatest mass murderer in history do not come from a man who is primarily active in right-wing extremist or neo-fascist circles. The author in both cases is Jorg Baberowski, who holds the chair of Eastern European history at Humboldt University in Berlin. He has close links to the German military and the German government, and is even invited to speak and defended as a great intellectual by leading politicians of the Left Party.

Currently, the social-democratic president of Humboldt University, Sabine Kunst, is seeking to suppress any criticism of Baberowskis statements by the IYSSE on campuswith the support of the SPD-Green-Left Party coalition government in Berlin. The IYSSE is the youth and student movement of the ICFI and the SGP, and has been waging a powerful campaign against the very threatening developments at Humboldt University, winning the support of students, not only at Humboldt, but at universities throughout Germany and among workers and youth all over the country.

The IYSSE and the SGP have explained that the revision of history in Germany is directly linked to the return of German militarism. We have explained that the German bourgeoisie needs a new historical narrative to overcome the broad hostility to militarism and war. They have to erase from memory the crimes of German militarism in two world wars, in order to prepare for new crimes and wars.

Three years after then German president Joachim Gauck and the German government proclaimed the end of military restraint at the 2014 Munich Security Conference, the far-reaching implications of this foreign policy shift are becoming clear. At the end of last year, the German government announced that the defence budget was to be almost doubled and the Bundeswehr massively rearmed. The Defence Ministry plans a substantial build-up of the army, navy and air force. The media is discussing the reintroduction of conscription and Germany acquiring its own nuclear arsenal.

In the meantime, media pundits and foreign policy advisors are making statements of which the Nazis would have been proud. A major foreign policy publication titled Germanys new foreign policy, which includes contributions by German President Steinmeier, Finance Minister Schauble, Defence Minister von der Leyen, along with leading politicians of the Greens and the Left Party, complains that in Germany, the neurotic striving to remain morally clean permeates almost every domestic and foreign policy debate.

Whoever goes to war, usually has to be responsible for the death of humans, including the deaths of nonparticipants and innocents, the publication declares. Particularly in times of new strategic uncertainty, it is necessary to elevate the military, not only because societies demand such harsh trials, but rather because it is ultimately the most difficult, the most demanding and, undoubtedly, the crowning discipline of foreign policy.

The conclusion of the publication can only be read as a threat: In the years to come Germany must undertake much more politically and militarily and will face foreign and security policy issues that the country could not possibly imagine in its worst nightmares.

With this, I want to return to my opening remarks. I have referred to these developments in order to underscore that there is no lesser evil candidate for the working class in the second round. The policies of Macron are the same reactionary EU policies of war and militarism that are most aggressively being spelled out in Berlin.

As before the First and Second World Wars, all the major capitalist states are preparing for war. Just three days ago, Donald Trump stated: There is a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea. Absolutely. The semi-fascistic billionaire-turned-president of the United States doesnt seem to be bothered by the fact that a major conflict with North Korea would mean nuclear war, possibly also with Russia and China, threatening the very existence of mankind.

As the ruling elites prepare for war, the working class must be mobilized to prevent it, comrade David North stressed in his contribution to the International May Day online rally held by the ICFI yesterday. He continued:

The essential foundation for the struggle against war is an understanding of its causes. As Lenin explained in 1917, war is the product of the development of world capitalism and of its billions of threads and connections. It cannot be stopped, he said, without overthrowing the power of capital and transferring state power to another class, the proletariat.

Therefore, the fight against war poses, in the sharpest form, the fundamental political problem of this historical epoch: the resolution of the crisis of revolutionary leadership. Never has the contradiction between the very advanced state of the crisis of capitalism and the subjective consciousness of the working class been so great. But it is this very contradiction that provides the impulse for an immense and rapid development in political consciousness.

As Trotsky explained in 1938, when the Fourth International, as the World Party of Socialist Revolution, was founded here in Paris, the decisive task was to resolve the crisis of political leadership in the working class. This is the significance of the founding of the PES last August, and its call for an active boycott in the run-off of the presidential elections. I urge all of you to study the founding document of the PES and its election program, and help build the only organization in France that represents the continuity of Trotskyism and advances a revolutionary program for the working class.
Amid the US military escalation and growing nuclear war tensions in the Korean peninsula, the French Socialist Party (PS) government has sent a Mistral-class warship to join exercises led by the US military alongside the Japanese Navy. The Mistrals are amphibious assault helicopter carriers that participated in the Libyan War in 2011.

On Saturday, the ship reached the Sasebo naval base in Japans western island of Kyushu to join with US armada threatening North Korea and China. It will participate in joint military exercise from the second to the third week of this month, alongside the US, Japanese and British navies near islands including Guam and Tinian in the western Pacific, around 2.400 km from Japan.

This deployment is an unambiguous threat to North Korea and China. Reuters News commented that the move is intended send a clear message to China.

Frances Socialist Party (PS) government and its political ally, PS-backed presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron, are accomplices in the war drive led by billionaire US President Donald Trump. After its unprovoked bombing of Syria on April 7, Washington turned its attention back to North Korea and Trump recently threatened the nuclear-armed country with major, major conflict.

Behind the backs of the French people, the French army and the ruling elite are threatening countries that have carried out no military action against France. As the media demands voters back Macron to keep Marine Le Pen of the neo-fascist National Front (FN) from coming to power, voters are not being told that Macrons militaristic program is part of an imperialist offensive taking the world to the brink of nuclear war.

The PS government has spent years developing its ties to Washingtons main allies in its pivot to Asia aimed at China, including Australia, India, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan. Echoing US and Australian officials rhetoric that the encirclement of China is aimed at maintaining freedom of navigation, PS Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian pledged last year that France would be sailing its ships and flying its planes wherever international law will allow, and wherever operational needs request that we do so.

In order to carry out this dangerous foreign policy, the Hollande administration plunged billions of euros into defense spending increases and ordered the construction of a new Hexagon command center for the military in Paris. At the same time, it imposed tens of billions of cuts in essential social programs, devastating the working class.

To carry out this reactionary agenda in the face of explosive social anger, the PS imposed and maintained a state of emergency, deployed the army inside France, and invited Le Pen to the Elysee palace. The PSs rush to join the war drive in Asia makes clear that, overseas no less than at home, Macron is just as great a danger to workers as Le Pen.

Macron proposes to bring back the military draft in France and to massively boost military spending. Like his predecessors in the First and Second World Wars, Macron and the French ruling elite want to use the youth as cannon fodder to expand Frances imperial reach.

Frances war posture underscores the correctness of the Parti de legalite socialiste s (PES) call for a boycott of the French presidential elections. There is no lesser evil in this election. Both presidential candidates are representatives of a tiny financial elite, preparing dictatorship and wars that pose mortal dangers to the working class.

The only way forward for the working class, as the PES has explained in its statement, is an active boycott of the French presidential election. This requires encouraging political opposition in the working class and youth and supporting strikes and protests to mobilize the working class in revolutionary opposition to whichever reactionary candidate wins the elections.

The demands for peace and social equality that underlie deep popular anger with the French elections will bring the working class into an explosive collision with the war agenda being pursued by the entire ruling class, its social-democratic factions no less than the neo-fascist ones.
Learn2Work project to train 50 NEETs in footwear

Europe

The European funded project aims to address two increasing problems across Europe; the growing NEETs (Not in Education, Employment of Training) group and the lack of young skilled workers in the shoe manufacturing industry.

The innovative learning methodology based on learning by doing is to act as a bridge for NEETs to discover and enter the footwear industry, hence, create or retaining more jobs in Europe. Learn2Work is being implemented in Portugal, Spain, and Italy until March 2018. Belgium and Denmark provide their expertise in management of training and educational programmes.

The European project is run by Edit Value in partnership with ThinkYoung, Produktionsskole Foreningen, the Portuguese Footwear Technological Centre (CTCP), Arsutoria School (Italy), the Technological Institute for Footwear and Related Industries (INESCOP) in Spain, and the European Confederation of the Footwear Industry (CEC).

To be able to foster NEETs and give them future career perspectives in the footwear industry, Learn2Work is to adapt and use the methodology from the Danish Production schools; their innovative pedagogics is believed to be of great use in manufacturing training within the Vocational Education and Training (VET) systems in Portugal, Spain and Italy. The 50 NEETs participating in the three pilot centres in Portugal, Spain and Italy will learn by doing, breaking the traditional learning method of a teacher telling students. Instead, they will become the lead characters of their learning process, and through their experiences, success and mistakes, will develop critical thinking and acquire technical and soft skills, says a statement from CEC.
An explosion yesterday at an Iranian coal mine in Golestan Province, in the countrys north, has killed at least 23 workers and injured many others. While initial reports are scanty, it appears that dozens remain trapped in the mine, prompting fears that the death toll will rise dramatically in coming days.

The disaster reportedly occurred during a shift change at around 12:45pm, at the Zemestan-Yurt mine, close to the town of Azadshahr. As many as 500 workers are employed at the site, located in a region heavily dependent on coal mining, which is needed for the countrys industrial production, including steel manufacturing.

Accounts by Irans Fars news agency and other media reports indicate the blast may have been triggered by the jump-starting of a locomotive that ignited a gas leak. The explosion rapidly tore through the mine.

Most of the 23 workers whose bodies have been recovered died while attempting to rescue their trapped colleagues from the mine. They were hit by a series of tunnel collapses.

Images published online showed badly burned, semiconscious miners covered in coal dust being carried from the site by health workers and colleagues. Some were treated for the effects of gas inhalation. As many as 69 workers are thought to have been injured, with limited information on the severity of their conditions.

It is unclear how many workers are still in the mine. State authorities released contradictory estimates throughout Wednesday afternoon. Initial reports indicated as many as 80 workers, aside from those who perished, were unaccounted for. That figure was later scaled down to 50, and then 26.

However, no reason was provided for the changed toll, and there were no reports of additional rescues later in the day. Those who remain in the mine are reportedly up to 1.3 kilometres underground. They are imperilled by noxious and volatile gases and the prospect of further tunnel collapses at the unstable site.

Local officials and mine authorities claim to have cleared a section of the mine, and are reportedly digging a tunnel to gain access to the trapped miners. Rescue workers, along with ambulances, helicopters and members of the Red Crescent organisation, have been dispatched to the scene.

There are already reports of anger over the official response to the tragedy, with some describing it as slow and inadequate. Many questions remain over the conditions that led to the disaster.

The government fears the accident could become a focal point for wider anger over dangerous industrial conditions and a deepening social crisis afflicting the working class. President Hassan Rouhani yesterday sent the labour minister, Ali Rabiei, to the site to personally oversee the official response.

The accident occurred two weeks before presidential elections, slated for May 19. All the major candidates have adopted a posture of concern over industrial accidents and deaths.

On January 19, the 17-storey Plasco Building in the capital Tehran was engulfed in flames before collapsing. The disaster killed more than 20 fire fighters and injured up to 194 people.

The historic building was owned by a foundation with close ties to state authorities. Its offices had been transformed into sweatshops for clothing manufacture.

According to Tehran municipal authorities, the buildings owners had ignored up to 30 warnings over safety breaches. Jalal Malekias, a fire brigade official, told the press: Even in the stairwells, a lot of clothing is stored and this is against safety standards. The managers didnt pay attention to the warnings.

The accident prompted a social media campaign calling for the resignation of Tehran mayor, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, and widespread denunciations of the authorities for not enforcing safety standards.

Mine accidents are no less politically sensitive, due to the importance of resource extraction for the Iranian economy, and widespread knowledge of the dire conditions confronting coal miners. Like their counterparts internationally, they are forced to work in dangerous environments, with exposure to coal dust and gases and the constant risk of accidents.

Iranian mines produced 1.68 million tonnes of coal in 2016, a substantial increase over the previous year. Much of that went to domestic consumption, including for steel manufacture and other industry.

While mining has expanded in recent years, little has been done by authorities to boost safety standards. Mining accidents in 2009 killed around 20 workers, while in 2013, 11 workers died in two separate incidents.

A 2012 survey of the safety of Iranian mines, published in the International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion, found an increase in mining accidents over the previous year.

According to figures cited in the report, the number of active mines in Iran increased from 4,974 to 5,246 between 2011 and 2012. Over the same period, the annual injury rate rose from 106 per 10,000 workers in 2011, to 164 of 10,000 miners in 2012. Coal mines were among the most prone to fatal and injury-causing accidents.

In 2011, just 12 percent of mines had health and safety departments. In 2012, the percentage decreased to 10 percent of sites. According to the report, only 7 percent of accidents took place at sites with a health and safety department.

The plight of Iranian coal miners is paralleled by that of workers internationally. Dozens of coal workers have died in accidents in recent months. Among the disasters are:

 In December 2016, 23 workers were killed at the state-run Lalmatia mine in Jarkhand, in east India. Workers said that they warned managers of the imminent danger that the mine would collapse, but were ordered back to work.

 In March 2017, 17 Chinese miners were killed when the lift in which they were travelling fell at a state-owned mine in Heilongjiang province in the countrys northeast. Two welders were scapegoated for safety violations that caused the accident. A disaster in the same province in December 2016 claimed 32 lives.

 In March 2017, a blast at a coal mine in eastern Ukraine killed eight and injured others. The accident was ascribed to outdated equipment and lax safety measures.

 This year, three coal miners have died in accidents in the US, two of them in the impoverished state of West Virginia.

In other words, the subordination of workers safety to the dictates of major coal producers is leading to an expanding tally of dead and injured miners.
This speech was delivered by Kristina Betinis, from the Socialist Equality Party (US), to the 2017 International May Day Online Rally, held on April 30.

The crisis of the world capitalist system finds its sharpest expression in the United States. The American ruling class is engaged in unending war in every corner of the globe, and it is engaged in a vicious conflict within the United States itselfa war against the working class; a social counter-revolution.

The Trump administration in the US represents the rule of the oligarchy in naked form. Its tax proposals, unveiled last week, express the aspirations of this oligarchy, which can be summed up in four words: We want more money!

May Day 2017 Kristina Betinis

The administration is setting the pace for the turn by capitalist governments all over the world to policies of extreme reaction.

Grotesque levels of social inequality are painted into the fine details of the entire social order. The United States is a society in which 20 individuals have more wealth than the bottom half of the population. This new aristocracy owns both political parties, controls the entire state, and has countless media pundits and columnists at its beck and call.

Just hours after Trumps tax plan was announceda plan that will shift trillions of dollars from the federal Treasury to the bank accounts of the richAmazon CEO Jeff Bezos became the second highest net worth individual in the world, based on overnight trading. Bezos is now worth more than $80 billion. Last year his personal income, counting profits and rising stock prices, was greater than the combined income of all the workers in the Amazon offices and warehouses throughout the world.

Beyond the ruling oligarchy, the top 10 percent of income earners have a larger share of wealth than the rest of the population combined.

The upper middle class live up to 15 years longer than the working class, their children have access to decent education, they have medical and dental care, and clean, safe drinking water, access to higher education and safer neighborhoods. Such basic social rights are out of the reach of a growing majority .

For the working class, life expectancy is lower, general health and well-being is poorer, educational, employment and cultural opportunities are far more limited. For the bottom one half of income earners, it is hunger and homelessness that are the greatest worries.

As the financial aristocracy tries to rob older workers of their pensions, the burdens of student loan and medical debt on younger workers has meant delaying, or giving up on, buying a home or starting a family. The Democrats and Republicans alike, eager to cover up the yawning chasms of class division, make pitiful attempts to pit urban and rural populations against one another, as if there is no shared experience of a struggle for jobs and decent education, amid crumbling social infrastructure, drug epidemics and murderous police forces.

Democrats and Republicans together force states like Illinois, and municipalities all over the country, to limp along without official budgets, effectively slashing social services and college and university systems through non-payment. Public schools are routinely closed and teachers are scapegoated for the social problems their students battle with.

In Chicago, where unemployment among minority youth is the highest in the country, there is an epidemic of violence, mainly fueled by gang conflict. But even this is moved by the deep sense of frustration and hopelessness young people feel about the future. This is a city that has been ruled for eight decades by the Democratic Party and maintains a notoriously violent police force, which has, no doubt, been emboldened by Trumps authoritarian politics.

Immigrant workers, in addition to facing all of the challenges and deprivations of working class life, have even fewer rights and much higher rates of exploitation, wage theft and other abuses, including blackmail and extortion. Arrests and detainment in terrible internment conditions have doubled this spring under Trump, on the heels of Obamas record-breaking deportation numbers.

In four decades of counterrevolution, in which the gains workers had fought for throughout the 20th century have been clawed back by the financial aristocracy, the Republican and Democratic parties have worked together to do the bidding of the financial elite.

No serious opposition to the national chauvinism, rapacious greed or open warmongering is to be found anywhere in the political establishment. After the 2016 presidential election, when a stunned population woke up to a President Trump, it was Obama, himself, who said that the bitter election was just an intramural scrimmage, and that were all on the same team.

After leaving office, Obama has shifted quickly into money-making mode, pulling in $400,000 each for two speechesmore than the majority make in an entire year, or even ten years. Such is American politics today.

Trump does not represent a sudden departure in American politics, but rather the culmination of social processes over decades.

Obama oversaw the greatest transfer of wealth from the working population to the multimillionaires and billionaires. He continued the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, while adding Libya, Yemen and Syria to the battlefield. Twenty-five years of constant war are incompatible with democracy. The methods of repression to brutalize people abroad are being brought home to use against us.

The nationalist poison that comes out of the mouth of the billionaire Trump, in all its arrogant stupidity, is the undisguised voice of the decadent, violent and backward ruling class of this country. Combining threats to use unlimited military force and CIA torture and assassinations, with the promotion of America First nationalism, Trump has called for the building of a wall on the border with Mexico and police-state measures against American Muslims and all immigrants.

The Socialist Equality Party calls for the defense of the social rights of the entire working classuniting workers native and foreign-born, black, white and brown, of all sexes and orientations. In this, we fight to raise the political consciousness of the international working class: to oppose all forms of national chauvinism, racism and anti-immigrant baiting; linking workers and youth in the US with those around the world, to oppose imperialism and the growing threat of world war.

We stand by the principle of the international unity of workers of all lands. Workers and young people in Latin America, Asia and the Middle East are not the enemies of working people in the United States. It is not they who have robbed us of our wages, slashed our social programs and dismantled our public education. It is not they who have destroyed the Constitution, erected massive surveillance systems to spy on our communications, and monitored our activity. It is not they who send young people off to kill and be killed in an effort to control the world.

The ruling class is preparing to suppress opposition, rejecting the rule of law, and attempting to make authoritarian rule official. This is their response to the crisisnot jobs, education, healthcare and peacebut austerity, repression and war.

There is a powerful social force to oppose all of this: it is the working class. The policies of the ruling class are not popular and there is deep opposition among millions of workers and young people. This opposition must be mobilized and organized, given conscious political form and directed against the capitalist system, which is the source of war, inequality and dictatorship.

Workers need a party that represents them internationally, in order to meet the threat posed to human life by the world capitalist system. This party is the Socialist Equality Party, and it can and will unite workers internationally in the fight against war and for socialism.
Wednesday nights debate between the ex-banker Emmanuel Macron and National Front (FN) leader Marine Le Pen marked a new low in the French presidential elections. A former minister of France's discredited Socialist Party (PS) government and a neo-fascist shouted and traded insults in a raucous debate that left the moderators, journalists Nathalie Saint-Cricq and Christophe Jakubyszyn, looking on in stunned silence.

During the 150 minutes in which they called each other liars and criminals without revealing anything new about their political platforms, the candidates made clear that they are impervious and hostile to mounting social and political discontent in the population.

Macron insisted he would use the PSs labor law, passed last year in the face of mass protests, to work with the unions and rule by decree, tearing up contracts and imposing speed-ups to boost corporate competitiveness. Macron, who is calling for the return of the draft, boasted that he spoke for a French spirit of conquest: France has always succeeded in the world, its language is spoken on every continent.

Le Pen, after briefly denouncing Macron as a representative of the PS and the ruling elite, turned to stoking xenophobia and nationalist hatred. She repeatedly denounced foreign workers and expressed hopes that by leaving the euro currency and re-establishing the French franc, France could seriously damage Germany's economy and European export markets.

This thoroughly debased TV debate is a symptom of the deep rot of the French political system. The candidates of the two parties that have ruled France over the last half-century, the PS and the Gaullist The Republicans (LR), were eliminated in the first round, and both parties are deeply divided and discredited by decades of austerity and war policies.

As the Parti de l'egalite socialiste (PES) has explained in its call for an active boycott of the second round, the fact that two candidates as reactionary as Macron and Le Pen advanced to the second round shows that a bitter conflict is being prepared between the next president and the working class. The essential task is to develop opposition among workers and youth to both candidates and mobilize it in struggle against whoever wins the elections on Sunday.

Macron and Le Pen are unanimous in supporting war and dictatorship. Neither candidate mentioned that France is under a state of emergency imposed by the PS that suspends basic democratic rights, or that NATO war threats against Syria or North Korea could escalate into wars with nuclear-armed Russia or China. The French ruling elite supports these policies, and neither Saint-Cricq nor Jakubyszyn saw fit to raise them.

Both candidates called for a massive state build-up and criticized each other for not fighting terrorism aggressively enough. When Le Pen attacked Macron for being complicit with Islamic fundamentalism and lax on law-and-order issues, Macron hit back at her by boasting: Since 2015 we have reestablished the control of our borders and stopped 60,000 people.

Macron stressed that more cooperation between EU member states is needed to control the terrorists who go from one country to another and cross borders and accused Le Pen of not backing greater police powers for the EU.

On foreign policy, the two accused each other of subordinating France to other powers and called for a more independent strategy of French imperialism. Le Pen demanded that France has to take back its independence and should submit neither to Germany nor to the United States. Macron for his part accused Le Pen of accepting the diktat of Putin and called for a strong and credible France in Europe able to fight wars in the Sahel, Syria and in Iraq.

The fact that this debate even took place itself points to a broad shift to the right in ruling circles over the last 15 years. In 2002, the first time that the PS presidential candidate was eliminated in the first round, setting up a second round between right-wing president Jacques Chirac and then-FN leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, it provoked not only mass protests by millions of people, but concern in the ruling class.

Based on fear of the popular reaction and the resulting desire to cultivate Gaullist references to the French Resistance to the Nazi occupation, Chirac refused to participate in the traditional TV debate with Jean-Marie Le Pen, on the grounds that he refused to debate with a fascist.

The International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) issued a call for an active boycott of the 2002 elections to mobilize the working class and prepare it for a political struggle against the next government. That call was rejected by organizationslike the petty-bourgeois Revolutionary Communist League (LCR), Workers Struggle (LO), and Workers Party (PT)that aligned themselves with the PS campaign for a Chirac vote to halt the FN's rise.

Their alignment with the bourgeois parties completed their integration into the PS periphery and allowed the FN to pose as the sole oppositional party in France, with devastating consequences.

Since then, the political establishment has shifted so far to the right that it was not even a question of Macron refusing to debate Marine Le Pen. The French ruling class has repudiated any semblance of an attachment to democratic rights, as ever wider layers of the ruling class in France and across Europe have sought to re-evaluate and rehabilitate fascism.

Significantly, during the debate, Macron went so far as to claim that he was uninterested in the issue of the history of Le Pen's FN, whose roots go back directly to collaborationist forces that ruled France during the Nazi Occupation. This reflects the deep economic and political crisis that has developed in Europe over the last decade and a half, and particularly since the 2008 Wall Street crash and economic collapse.

French governments of all stripes took over the political agenda traditionally associated with the far right in an earlier period: police-state rule, free-market austerity, and imperialist war. Since coming to power in 2012, outgoing PS President Francois Hollande relied on the FNs far-right populist rhetoric as a mechanism to stabilize his deeply unpopular PS government. He invited Le Pen to the Elysee presidential palace twice in 2015, taking over large portions of the FNs program to legitimize the neo-fascists as part of the French political mainstream.

The experiences since the 2002 crisis, including of last nights reactionary debate, underscore that the march towards dictatorship and neo-fascistic forms of rule cannot be stopped by offering support to any faction of the ruling class.
The fifth in the International Committee of the Fourth Internationals series of online lectures marking the centenary of the Russian Revolution will take place this Saturday, May 6.

Russian Revolution Centenary Online Lecture Series: Lecture 5 - The April Theses

James Cogan, the National Secretary of the Socialist Equality Party in Australia, will deliver the lecture on Lenins April Theses.

The lecture will be broadcast live at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (time zone conversions here).

To listen to the lecture and ask questions, click here at the time of the event.

The sudden eruption of the February Revolution occurred while Lenin was living in exile in Switzerland. In his absence, the Bolshevik Party, led by Stalin and Kamenev, advocated support for the new bourgeois Provisional Government and for the continuation of Russias participation in the world war.

This course was bitterly opposed by Lenin, who, after his return to Russia in a sealed train, launched an extraordinary struggle to reorient the Bolshevik Party toward the overthrow of the capitalist government by the working class. The adoption of the strategy of permanent revolution prepared the ground for the socialist uprising of October.

Dont miss this important event! To register for the lecture series, visit wsws.org/1917.
The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) held a well-attended meeting to mark May Day in Colombo on May 1. The meeting was held after the successful online May Day rally organised by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) through the World Socialist Web Site.

In preparation for the meeting, SEP members and supporters campaigned at universities in Colombo, workplaces and in working-class neighbourhoods. Nearly 200 workers, youth and housewives participated in the meeting and SEP members and supporters in Jaffna listened to the meeting online.

K. Ratnayake, the WSWS national editor, welcomed the audience and extended greetings to the other sections of the ICFI. He explained that the central theme of the Colombo meeting and the ICFIs online May Day was the struggle to mobilise the working class on the basis of socialist internationalism against the danger of a Third World War.

Ratnayake explained that under US President Donald Trump, war tensions had reached a qualitative new stage after a quarter century of American wars that intensified under Barack Obama. He pointed to the US cruise missile attack on a Syrian airbase, the dropping of the largest conventional bomb in the world on eastern Afghanistan and the tense US confrontation with North Korea. The real targets, however, are China and Russia, in order to assert the hegemonic position over the world by the US, the speaker said.

Kapila Fernando, the IYSSE convener, explained that the ICFIs analysis of the global economic crisis and the drive by imperialist powers to war had been thoroughly vindicated. He warned that nationalism, protectionism and chauvinism were being promoted in preparation for war and to gag the working class.

Turning to the role of the pseudo-left Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) and its Inter University Students Federation (IUSF), Fernando said: The policies of the Sri Lankan capitalist class and the government have been determined by the international crisis. However, the thoroughly nationalist FSP and IUSF ignore this crisis and trap students and youth by appealing to the government and thereby politically disarming them.

M. Thevarajah, an SEP Political Committee member, pointed to the explosive political developments in France, where, in the first round of the presidential election, the traditional Socialist and Republican parties collapsed. The neo-fascist Le Pen and the banker Macron are running in the second round. Opposition is developing among the masses, particularly among youth, he explained.

Our young French section, the Socialist Equality Party, has launched a powerful campaign for an active boycott of this election in its fight for the political independence of the working class and to build a new revolutionary leadership. This struggle has lessons for workers and youth in every country.

Thevarajah pointed out the degeneration of Sri Lankas Tamil bourgeois parties, which are serving the interests of American imperialism and the pro-US government in Colombo. Struggles are developing in the war-ravaged north and east and in the south, but the urgent need is building the revolutionary party, he emphasised.

Vilani Peiris, also an SEP Political Committee member, highlighted the recent fatal tragedy involving the collapse of a garbage dump at Meethotamulla on the outskirts of Colombo to explain how the gutting down of social services was creating disastrous conditions for working people.

She said that 30 bodies had been found, including women and children, more people were feared dead and around 1,000 people were homeless. As they do in other struggles of workers and students, the FSP organised protests to demand solutions from the very government that is slashing social services. People in many areas in and around Colombo came out to protest against this tragedy showing they are not ready to accept these conditions.

Preparations for war and attacks on social and democratic rights are the two sides of the same coin. These attacks are being unleashed in every country. The only alternative to war and social counterrevolution is the fight for international socialism.

Peiris announced that the SEP will launch a workers inquiry into the disaster to expose the role of government, companies and profit system in creating the conditions for it to occur.

Wije Dias, the SEP general secretary, was the main speaker. He began by pointing to the historic decision taken by the Second International in 1889 to designate May Day as a day of solidarity of the international workers movement. It anticipated the international revolutionary insurrection of the proletariat, which was required 25 years later, when the contradictions of world capitalism exploded in the form of World War I in August 1914.

Only the Bolshevik Party unwaveringly adhered to the internationalist principles adopted at the world congresses of the Second International, between 1908 and 1912, against the imperialist war and called on the working class to adopt the policy of revolutionary defeatism and turn the imperialist war into civil war, Dias said. That was why the Bolsheviks under Lenin and Trotsky were able to lead Russian workers to overthrow the capitalist government and establish workers power in Russia in October 1917 at the head of the multimillioned peasantry.

Herein lies the historic importance of the online International May Day held by the ICFI, using Internet technology, to build a strong unified international movement of the working class on the unshaken foundation of a socialist program against imperialist war and authoritarianism.

After explaining that the ruling elites in all the major capitalist countries were adopting protectionist policies and waging social counterrevolution, Dias turned to South AsiaIndia and Sri Lanka in particular. He said that rapid changes in interstate relations and the form of rule within the countries were taking place under conditions of an aggressive US intervention that has intensified under the Trump presidency.

The Hindu chauvinist government of Narendra Modi in India has, without hesitation, embraced the US as a major defence partner. As the main policeman of the region, Modis rule, on behalf of the US imperialist master, had now assumed the role of dictating political terms to neighbouring states.

In 2014-15, India helped the US in its regime-change operation in Sri Lanka to oust Mahinda Rajapakse as president, due to his close relations with China, and install Maithripala Sirisena, who shifted foreign policy toward Washington, Dias said. New Delhi coerced Nepal to distance itself from China. Moreover, Indias aggressiveness, abetted by the US, toward Pakistan threatened a nuclear war that could potentially bring major powers into conflict.

The speaker explained that the pro-US government in Colombo, painted as the saviour of democracy by all the pseudo-left groups and trade unions, was fulfilling the political and economic agenda of finance capital and is rapidly moving toward authoritarian rule. Many repressive laws were in the pipeline while the army was being further strengthened.

Not a single day passes without a protest being held by some section of the people in some area of the island, Dias said. It is in this context that President Sirisena has invited the former army commander Sarath Fonseka to assume special repressive powers for two years to discipline the country.

Dias said the proposal immediately brought to mind what the late Prime Minister Sirima Bandaranaike, in her desperation, told media in 1964, just before she called on the treacherous left leaders to join her government. She said: Some feel that these [strike] troubles can be eliminated by the establishment of a dictatorship... Still others maintain that a national government should be formed to solve this problem. I considered these ideas, but my conclusion is that none of these solutions will help. Therefore, gentlemen, I decided to initiate talks with the leaders of the working class

Dias explained that the ruling class in Sri Lanka had tried the last two solutions. It formed the coalition government with the left leaders in 1964 to stifle the powerful working-class movement against the government. Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the leaders of the two main bourgeois parties, formed the current national government. After several decades, the ruling elite was now returning to the first alternativebrutal dictatorship.

The speaker called on the audience to support the campaign for the release of the framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers in India and to join the struggle to establish a socialist republic of Sri Lanka as part of the fight for a union of Socialist Republics of South Asia and internationally.

In conclusion, Dias emphasised the historic significance of the international May Day rally held by the ICFI and the ongoing centenary celebration of the 1917 Russian Revolution on the World Socialist Web Site to politically educate the new generation of working people and youth internationally.

Before and after the meeting, many workers and youth signed the online petition demanding the immediate release of the Maruti Suzuki workers. When the chair announced a 200,000-rupee fund to finance this campaign, the audience responded by contributing nearly 30,000 rupeesabout two months salary for a Sri Lanka worker.
Immanuel Ness, a professor of political science at Brooklyn College, City University of New York, has written extensively on the class struggle in India, including in the countrys newly developed, globally connected automotive sector. As a member of an international team of lawyers and labor rights advocates, Ness travelled to India in May 2013 to investigate the persecution of workers at the Maruti Suzuki car assembly plant in Manesar, near Delhi.

In July 2013, the New York-based International Commission for Labor Rights issued a report Merchants of Menace: Repressing Workers in Indias New Industrial Belt, which detailed the mass arrests and sackings that followed a company-provoked confrontation on July 18, 2012 and the death of human resource manager Awanish Dev.

Professor Ness is also the author of the 2015 book Southern Insurgency: The Coming of the Global Working Class. It includes case studies of worker struggles in India, China and South Africa. He recently spoke with World Socialist Web Site reporter Jerry White about the Maruti Suzuki case and its implications for workers around the world.

Explaining his involvement in the case, Ness said, I was one of the eight people from the international community who conducted an impartial investigation in India about 10 months after the July 18, 2012 incident. We wanted to determine the credibility of the government of India, the state of Haryana and the corporations contentions that these workers were involved in the killing of a human resource manager. At that time, there were 150 arrested and jailed workers.

Commenting on the brutal sentences an Indian district court meted out on March 18 of this year to the 13, including all 12 elected leaders of the Maruti Suzuki Workers Union, Ness said, It was shocking that 13 workers would be condemned to life imprisonment when the evidence shows they had absolutely no involvement in the asphyxiation of the manager, who to a large extent supported the workers efforts. He died in a fire due to smoke inhalation. Even if a worker had started a fire, which is not the case, that would be one worker, not 13.

When someone is killed, you take it seriously, I certainly do. Among the members of the commission, however, there was unanimity that these workers were not involved in it, that the government had engaged in violations of their rights, and that the workers should have restitution. We found that Maruti Suzuki had violated international labor provisions that relate to the right of workers to organize, engage in collective activity, and protest.

Anyone who reads the court documents, who has interviewed the workers will recognize that the July 2012 conflict was initiated by what is referred to in India as bouncers or company thugs dressed in workers clothes. They went on a rampage in the factory, I would argue, to disrupt the organizing campaign. The workers had already filed a petition to form the Maruti Suzuki Workers Union in the Haryana state capital in Chandigarh. This was done to stymie their organizing, and subsequently there has not been any organization of workers there, not that there havent been any efforts.

After the incident hundreds of workers, and not just workers, but their family members, were rounded up. The workers at the plant, both the full-time and contract workers, were completely replaced. So, anyone who engages in protests at that factory or probably anywhere at Maruti Suzuki, will be replaced.

Ness then turned to the real motives behind the legal witch-hunt. During the trial, as you have pointed out on your web site, the prosecutor and Haryana officials made references to the concerns of the Indian ruling class about maintaining a friendly business environment for foreign investors.

In 2012 and again in 2017 there was a large push for India to industrialize and create exports mainly for the imperialist countries and the profits of Wall Street and the City of London. Maruti Suzuki is owned by Suzuki, which is one of the most rapacious Japanese companies in the way they treat Japanese workers. They have implemented conditions of extreme speed-up and a lot of things that workers in the United States have experienced in the past, only to an even higher degree now in India. The Indian government is trying to encourage Foreign Direct Investment from auto firms, electronic firms and beyond.

The discussion then turned to the conditions of the family members of the arrested workers. When we were there in May 2013 there was a great degree of suffering among family members. You had women with infant children who never saw their fathers. You had family members who had to live together because they could not afford rent or food costs. There was a tremendous amount of psychological, emotional and physical suffering among family members, especially younger women whose husbands had been arrested and jailed. These women have been separated from their husbands for long periods of time. This pattern, which still exists, was detailed in Rahul Roys film, The Factory.

We visited Kaithal, an administrative center in Haryana, in May 2013 where shortly before police had arrested people engaged in solidarity actions in support of the Maruti Suzuki workers. They were rounded up and put into jail in abysmal conditions. The delegation visited a jail and a police commissioner.

The commissioner had a basic line: the Maruti Suzuki workers were guilty (of the murder and other grave criminal charges laid against them) and, the people who blocked the road to protest in their defence were also guilty. There was absolutely no effort to take into consideration the rights of protesters and there was a fixed opinion among the employers, the police, and the Labor Department around this. It really revolved around the issue I pointed out earlier, the importance that the Indian ruling class attaches to foreign investment. They would stop at nothing to ensure that that business-friendly environment is safeguarded.

This reporter pointed out that this is the official policy of all the capitalist parties whether it is the Congress Party, the traditional party of the Indian ruling class, which led the Haryana and the national government during the height of the persecution of the Maruti Suzuki workers, or Narendra Modi and his Hindu-chauvinist BJP, which came to power at the centre in May 2014.

I would argue that the Modi government is probably worse on this question, said Ness. But, yes, there really is no difference between both parties, and even some of the regional parties on the question of workers right to organize. There is very little justice in that system especially towards workers.

Ness described the young workers who labor in the new Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and Export Processing Zones (EPZ) that surround Indias mega-cities. In Delhi and Haryana, for example, many workers are from Bihar and parts of Uttar Pradesh and beyond. They come from rural villages and, in many cases, are forced to go to the cities to survive when the farms no longer have work for them.

Pointing to their conditions, Ness said, You have high levels of pollution, almost unbearable, and slums all around. Most workers in these zones are contract workers who are unemployed for much of the year. It depends on the zone, but a lot of the workers who are employed in the factories go to the Indian Technology Institute to get formal training. But by the time they are aged 30 to 35 the companies want to dispose of them because their wages will have risen.

Even workers who have been trained with high levels of skill have been turned into contract workers. Some of the other zones have even poorer conditions. Around Chennai you have workers who by the age of 25 have become expendable to their employers. The work life of an Indian worker in these sectors is from age 18 to 25, and in some cases, up to 35. Then your life as a worker in these kind of facilities is over. Then you become further marginalized as a contract worker.

These are the conditions that led the Maruti Suzuki workers to repeatedly mount protests and strikes. There have been efforts over the last 12 to 15 years to organize unions, first at the original plant in Gurgaon and then in the Manesar plant, which was opened in 2006. At the first plant, it ended with the creation of a company dominated union, the Maruti Udyog Kamgar Union (MUKU). At the newer plant there were continuous efforts, starting in 2009, by workers to organize into independent unions, which culminated in 2012 with the establishment of the Maruti Suzuki Workers Union (MSWU).

The traditional unions, Ness said, have proven incapable of organizing contract workers, which make up 94 percent of Indias workforce, because of the degree to which the Indian state prevents the mobilization of workers in these newly advancing industrial sectors.

This reporter suggested that an even more significant reason is that the major labor federations, including the Stalinist-led Centre of India Trade Unions (CITU) and All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), are frightened by and hostile to the militant strivings of these young contract workers. This is because the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM have repeatedly aligned with the Congress Party, including to prop up a Congress-led national government from 2004-08, and share it and the Indian bourgeoisies program of making India into a cheap-labour hub for global capital.

Ness replied, I would argue that the existing unions, irrespective of their political orientation, are at best social democratic and that they are not communist or engage in the type of policies they espouse. That was certainly true of the CITU union, whose party (the CPM) was in power in West Bengal for years, and no longer has any base whatsoever.

Ness went on to describe the growing struggles of workers in the Special Economic Zones. In the specific area around Delhi there are significant labor struggles continuouslywith dozens or more strikes going on regularly, including right now, as well as employer lockouts in the auto industry and what is referred to as the two-wheeler or motorcycle industry, and in auto-rickshaw production. I met with Honda parts workers this past January. These are highly skilled workers who are being displaced with contract workers. One of the key questions in India is that there is a great need and possibilities among contract workers for advancing their role through political activity.

At Maruti Suzuki many people talk about the mobilization of the permanent workers in favor of the contract workers, but it should also be noted that the contract workers also mobilized. When you talk about 80 percent of the workforce, the contract workers are highly consequential. If those workers go on strike it would create the basis for a major rebellion or perhaps even more. I think the possibilities in India, China and elsewhere are extremely robust for worker mobilization.

There is an air of rebellion. Go to a place like Gurgaon and go to a park and you will find hundreds of workers sitting around in circles talking about their conditions, about politics, about the possibilities of socialism and how to get there.

Ness rejects the demoralized claims by some academics that the working class and the class struggle have disappeared. While many of the worlds production facilities have moved outside of Western Europe and North America, he says, the hundreds of millions of highly-exploited workers in Asia, Africa and Latin America are emerging as a powerful social force.

In India, the level of organizational activities is far higher than in other places. Weve also found this in South Africa. The research that I and others have done around the mine workers, the platinum workers, and in places like Brazil and Mexico, have uncovered that there are vast mobilizations going on, which frequently dont make it to the front pages.

We have wildcat strikes that take place spontaneously. But how do we build from that? I think we need to create organizations and there are a great number of workers who believe that. In India and here in North America people are moving to the notion that to advance workers struggles you need new organizations and that the existing unions are not capable and not interested in doing that. The unions are very weak in this country as they are in the rest of the world.

Taking up this theme, this reporter discussed the analysis made by the International Committee of the Fourth International in the early 1990s, of the failure of all nationally-based unions and labor parties in the face of globalization and the emergence of transnational corporations. How did Ness see the issue of an international strategy to unite the working class?, this reporter asked.

I have a lot of faith in the workers themselves. In each of these struggles workers are going to fight and build solidarity amongst themselves. That is the key question: if they can build solidarity in their locations, they will have the capacity to engage in the kind of internationalism you are referring to.

But we have very few examples of international solidarity and that has a lot to do with the nature of the AFL-CIO in this country, the fact that the AFL-CIO supports the United States government as opposed to workers movements. There has been this kind of clamp on the ability of independent unions to engage in that kind of solidarity.

There is a need to educate workers about the connection between the super-exploitation of workers outside of the United States, North America and Europe and how important it is to advance their conditions, to improve the position of the international working class.

In drawing the discussion to a close, this reporter pointed to the perspective advanced by the World Socialist Web Site. Historical experience has proven, and this is the case in India, China, South Africa and most recently in Egypt in 2011, that without a revolutionary leadership the enormous militancy and self-sacrifice of workers will be defused, channeled behind one or another section of the ruling elite, and contained and crushed. For the working class to realize its strivings to end exploitation, state repression and war, it needs to be organized in its own international party to take power and replace capitalism with socialism.

I think these are very crucial questions that we need to address, Ness responded, adding that he enjoys reading the World Socialist Web Site and strongly recommends the site to others. Thank you very much for having me.
The arrest of a German army officer suspected of plotting the assassination of leftist politicians and high-ranking state officials has exposed the operations of neo-Nazi forces at the highest levels of the German military (Bundeswehr).

The information that has emerged thus far indicates that the suspected officer-terrorist was part of a broader network of fascists within the Bundeswehr, and that his activities were known to his superiors and covered up by them.

Most astonishing is the official reaction to these alarming revelations. They have prompted an outpouring of anger in the German media and from the establishment parties directed not at the existence of this network and evidence of its toleration by high-level state forces, but at mild criticisms of the military by Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen.

Given the historic crimes of German imperialism in the 20th century and the current revival of militarism in Germany, it is remarkable how little attention has been paid to these developments in the American and international press.

Lieutenant Franco A., 28, was arrested last week after coming to the attention of Austrian police when he sought to retrieve a weapon hidden at the airport in Vienna. It quickly emerged that the officer had been leading a double life. In addition to his activities in the Bundeswehr, Franco A, who does not speak a word of Arabic, had registered as a Syrian refugee and been recognized as such.

He apparently intended to carry out a terror attack under a false flag. A police search of his home uncovered a list of possible targets, which included, together with leftist politicians and activists, Justice Minister Heiko Maas and former German President Joachim Gauck.

Franco A. did not operate alone. The police have recovered shells and handguns from a 24-year-old accomplice, who was also arrested. The Defence Ministry has informed the parliamentary defence committee that the arrested officer may be part of an ultra-right network within the Bundeswehr.

The reaction of the military leadership suggests that this network is far more extensive and reaches much higher than has thus far been revealed. Defence Minister von der Leyen cancelled a planned trip to the US and invited 100 high-ranking military officers to Berlin on Thursday to discuss the implications and consequences of the accumulated cases in the Bundeswehr.

It is now clear that, for some time, Franco A.s superiors were aware of his fascistic views and shielded him. As far back as 2014, his graduate thesis at the French military university Saint-Cyr was rejected on the grounds that it was not a scholarly work, but rather a radical nationalist, racist appeal, calling for existing conditions to be adapted to the alleged natural law of racial purity. The responsible French general advised Franco A.s German superiors to sack him, but the latter concluded that he was not a racist. They hushed up the case and promoted his military career.

The neo-Nazi views of the first lieutenant were an open secret in the French town of Illkirch, where he served in a Franco-German unit. Investigators from the Bundeswehr have found indications of right-wing and racist ideas in his room. In addition to a swastika carved on an assault rifle, they discovered pictures glorifying Hitlers army, the Wehrmacht.

Racist and authoritarian views and the glorification of violence are not only widespread in the Bundeswehr, they are actively encouraged by its leaders. The military intelligence service is currently investigating 275 extreme right-wing suspects. These investigations are exercises in damage control. Charges were dropped against one soldier who placed a photo of a machine gun on the Internet with the caption: The fastest German asylum procedure: rejects up to 1,400 requests per minute.

The tradition of Hitlers Wehrmacht continues to be officially cultivated in the Bundeswehr. Many barracks bear the names of military officers who were implicated in the Nazis genocidal racial and war policies.

The universities of the Bundeswehr in Munich and Hamburg have repeatedly generated headlines by promoting right-wing extremism. In Munich, there was a controversy in 2011 surrounding the student magazine Campus when three of its editors expressed their support for the Conservative Revolutionary movement, one of the leading ideological forbears of the Nazis.

In Hamburg, the book Armee im Aufbruch (Army on the Move) was published in 2014 with contributions from sixteen officers who studied at the Bundeswehr University there and had combat experience in Afghanistan. The book is full of language typical of Nazi literature glorifying war.

The officers consider themselves to be an elite, opposed to a hedonistic and individualistic society focused on self-gratification, consumption, pacifism and egoism, a society that has no appreciation for the striving for honour through great sacrifice, for a patriotic attitude to the people (Volk) and Fatherland and for courage, loyalty and honour.

There was no protest against the book within the German political establishment. The right-wing, dictatorial standpoint it expressed is shared across the political spectrum.

When Defence Minister von der Leyen, a member of the ruling Christian Democratic Union, responded to the exposure of the Franco A. case by warning that the German army has an attitude problem and it apparently has weak leadership at different levels, she provoked a storm of protest. She may well lose her post, not because terror attacks on the former president and current ministers and members of parliament were planned from within the ranks of the Bundeswehr, but because she spoke out too sharply against it!

The Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens and the Left Party are protesting the loudest against von der Leyen. SPD Chairman Martin Schulz accused the defence minister of lacking a sense of responsibility. SPD defence expert Rainer Arnold called on her to apologise to her troops. Former Deputy Juso (SPD Young Socialists) Chairman Lars Klingbeil accused von der Leyen of stabbing hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the back.

The Green Party defence expert Tobias Lindner declared, It is not the Bundeswehrs fault if it is increasingly attractive to right-wing extremists. His colleague from the Left Party, Alexander Neu, proclaimed his opposition to placing all soldiers under general suspicion due to the case of Franco A.

These developments reveal the enormity of the swing to the right by the entire German ruling class and the advanced state of its campaign to again make Germany the hegemon of Europe and a world military as well as economic power. The deepening crisis of world capitalism and rising economic and geo-political tensions are tearing Europe apart and fracturing the Atlantic alliance, increasingly pitting Germany against the United States.

Under these conditions, German imperialism must seek to sanitize its criminal past and rewrite its history to rehabilitate fascism, as it transforms the Bundeswehr into a lethal force of professional killers, capable of waging war all over the world.

Claims that the German ruling class learned its lesson from the Holocaust and the crimes of the Nazis, and that the military had purged itself, are exposed as myths.

In a commentary on Tuesday, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung co-editor Berthold Kohler derided the fantasy image of the Bundeswehr as a kind of missionary military that spreads the gospel of the German constitution so that the German spirit shall heal the world. He wrote: Whoever sends soldiers into crises and wars must prepare themselves and the soldiers for the harshness and cruelty that awaits them. Because the Bundeswehr has to teach its recruits to fight and kill  it must be able to go to the limits of what is permissible in terms of hardship in training its fighting units.

The spread of militarism into all spheres of society is an international phenomenon. In the US, Donald Trump, the most right-wing president in American history, has appointed generals to all the main security-related ministries, as American imperialism spearheads the drive to World War III. In France, heavily armed soldiers routinely patrol the streets since the imposition of a state of emergency a year and a half ago.

The general silence to date of the international media on the growth of fascistic forces within the German military is itself an expression of the turn by the ruling classes of the world toward war and dictatorship.
A federal prosecutor announced Wednesday that the Department of Justice would not bring federal civil rights charges against the two white police officers who shot and killed 37-year-old Alton Sterling in July last year while he was selling CDs outside a Baton Rouge, Louisiana convenience store.

Baton Rouge Acting US Attorney Corey Amundson announced at a press conference that investigators had found insufficient evidence to warrant a prosecution.

Shortly after Wednesdays announcement, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landy announced that Louisiana State Police would now begin their own investigation, nine months after the killing, having been prohibited from investigating until the federal probe had concluded.

Sterling, who was African-American, had been selling CDs outside the Triple S Food Mart in a poor working class area of the city, struggling to get by day-to-day. Shortly after midnight on July 5 Sterling was approached by two Baton Rouge police officers, Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake. They were reportedly responding to a 911 caller who said that Sterling had threatened someone with a gun.

While Sterling was armed with a gun, as is legal in the state of Louisiana, eyewitnesses immediately disputed the police contention that he had threated the officers or anyone else with his weapon. Hes not that type of person. It would have been a very big problem to pull his gun out, Abdullah Muflahi, the store owner, told the Daily Beast shortly after the shooting.

Cell phone videos of the killing show that, after a brief initial encounter, the officers tasered Sterling and then tackled him, slamming him onto the hood of a nearby car and wrestling him to the ground. With Salamoni and Lake pinning Sterling to the ground, one of the officers then yelled out Hes got a gun! Gun! Salamoni screamed out, Lake, he's going for the gun! The officers then pumped six bullets into Sterling. As the officers fall away, Sterling can be seen lying motionless on the ground with a gaping wound in his chest.

The entire encounter lasted less than 90 seconds. Sterling, a father of five, lay bleeding out on the pavement. He was dead by the time paramedics arrived on the scene a few minutes later.

Salamoni and Lake were placed on paid administrative leave and will remain so until the Louisiana Attorney General completes its own investigation.

While the officers claimed that Sterling had been reaching for a gun, which was pulled from his right front pants pocket by one of the officers after the shooting, none of the videos show him reaching for his pocket.

The prosecutors argued that proving whether the officers violated Sterlings civil rights hinged on whether or not he had reached for his pocket during the confrontation. Despite the video evidence and a number of eye witness accounts, the federal prosecutors claimed they were unable to determine this key fact.

Given the totality of the circumstancesthat the officers had been fighting with Sterling and had attempted less-than-lethal methods of control; that they knew Sterling had a weapon; that Sterling had reportedly brandished a gun at another person; and that Sterling was much larger and stronger than either officerthe Department cannot prove either that the shots were unconstitutional or that they were willful, a DOJ report released Wednesday argued, justifying the brutal killing.

News of the decision not to bring federal charges leaked Tuesday evening, sparking protests outside the store where Sterling was killed as well as in front of the Baton Rouge Police Department headquarters. Three protesters were arrested late Tuesday night, charged with aggravated obstruction of a highway, among other violations.

More protests are expected in the coming days. Its Rodney King 2.0, Jo Hines, the artists who spray-painted a mural of Sterling on the Triple S convenience store, told the Washington Post. Hines was referring to the acquittal of the police officers responsible for the infamous beating in Los Angeles, caught on tape, which sparked six days of unrest in 1992. We just havent had the riots yet, he concluded.

Sterlings murder sparked large protests in Baton Rouge, a midsized city of less than 230,000 people, last July. Police in tactical gear assaulted protestors and arrested nearly 200 people over several nights.

Republican President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have denounced popular protest against police violence, have pulled back from any pretense of federal oversight of local police forces, and have promised law and order. However, the decision not to bring civil rights charges in the Sterling case follows the pattern set by the Obama administration of whitewashing police killings.

The Obama Justice Department sided with the police in every case that came before the Supreme Court. It refused to bring civil rights charges in case after case, including the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. The Obama administration also worked with state and local politicians and police forces to suppress mass opposition to police violence.

Even though police killings are a tragic fact of daily life impacting the poor and working class in cities large and small across the United States, prosecutions at the state and federal level are rare, and convictions are even more uncommon.

Only in the rarest occasions are charges brought. Even with clear video evidence, as in the Sterling case, a prosecution is not guaranteed and rarest of all is a criminal conviction. Between 2005 and 2015, there were only 13 police officers convicted of murder or manslaughter for on-duty shootings. Police killed an estimated 1,000 people on average per year during this period.
This speech was delivered by Peter Schwarz, Secretary of the International Committee of the Fourth International, to the 2017 International May Day Online Rally, held on April 30.

In the 20th century, Europe was the origin, and the main battlefield, of two imperialist world wars. In 1945, the continent, which was the centre of the industrial revolution and at the forefront of cultural progress, lay in ruins. Between 80 and 100 million people were killed in the two wars. Germany, which had once been proud of its culture, its writers and its composers, had become the centre of the most barbaric crimes humanity has ever seen.

May Day 2017 Peter Schwarz

No more fascism; no more war!this slogan was supported by millions at the end of the war. It was widely understood at the time that fascism and war were the product of capitalism. Particularly in Italy and France, where the Communist Parties had mass support, and wheredespite the treachery of Stalinismthe memory of the October Revolution was still alive, workers were determined to settle accounts with the bourgeoisie and establish socialism. In Germany, anti-capitalist sentiments were so strong, that even the conservative CDU felt obliged to inscribe into its program that capitalism had failed.

But the Stalinist and reformist leaders of the workers movement blocked these socialist aspirations and worked closely with their respective governments to stabilize the capitalist system. They promoted a number of mechanisms which, as they claimed, would overcome the national and social antagonisms that had led to fascism and war.

Social reformsrather than social revolutionwould gradually overcome social inequality and create prosperity and equal opportunities for everyone; the economic integration of the continent on a capitalist basisthe European Unionwould overcome the national antagonisms that had destroyed Europe.

Seventy years later all these promises lie in tatters.

Social inequalityboth across the continent and in every individual European countryis greater than ever before. The average wage in Bulgaria is more than ten times lower than the average wage in Denmark; and even in rich countries, like Germany, millions live in poverty, work at sub-minimum wages and in precarious jobs. Unemployment is high; in some European countries, more than fifty percent of young people are without work.

The danger of war is bigger than ever since 1945. Every single European country is massively increasing its military budget; European troops are engaged in imperialist wars in the Middle East and in Africa; and for the first time since the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, the Western imperialist powers are deploying troops to the Russian border.

The threat of a military confrontation between the two largest nuclear powers of the world, the United States and Russia, is no longer a hypothetical possibility but a real danger. It would transform Europe into a nuclear battlefield.

Not only the threat of war with Russia, however, but also the danger of war between Europe and the United States, and within Europe itself, is growing. Tensions between the United States and Europeand Germany in particularhave been increasing for a long time. But with the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States, they have acquired a new dimension.

Germany has reacted with an aggressive foreign and military policy. It is massively increasing its military budget and is trying to transform the EUor at least its corefrom an economic into a military alliance, dominated by Germany and coequal to the US.

The European Uniononce advertised as a means of unifying Europehas emerged as a breeding ground for nationalism, xenophobia, social regression, law-and-order policies and war.

The austerity programs dictated by Brussels and Berlin have devastated entire countrieslike Greece. The brutal rejection of refugees by Fortress Europe has created conditions where more than 5000 people have drowned in the Mediterranean within a single year. The only field where the EU is making real progress is the build-up of a vast police and surveillance machine.

Europe is bristling with social tensions. It is like a ticking time bomb. The gap between the political and economic elites and the vast majority of the people is huge. This is expressed in the collapse of political parties that have been in government for decadeslike, most recently, the Socialist Party in France.

But social discontent, outrage and anger find no progressive political expression. This is due to the right-wing policies of the political parties and trade unions that once claimed to take care of the social interests of the working class, and of the pseudo-left organizations of the middle class. They play a central role in attacking the working class and promoting militarism and war.

This was most clearly demonstrated in Greece. Faced with the alternative of accepting the austerity diktat of the EU, or mobilizing the Greek and European working class against it, the Coalition of the Radical LeftSyrizadecidedly opted for the first. The affluent middle class layers, which Syriza represents, are ten times closer to the corporate and financial elites, represented by the EU, than to the working class.

The utter bankruptcy of the reformist and pseudo-left organizations has created the conditions where far right forceslike the Front National in France, the Freedom Party in Austria, the AfD in Germany, UKIP in Britain, or Geert Wilders in Hollandhave been able to capitalize on social discontent, and profit from hostility to the EU.

They stand for xenophobic, chauvinistic and even fascistic policies and are a big danger. But they cannot be stopped by supporting their bourgeois rivals. To rely on pro-EU parties to fight the nationalist far right, is like relying on an arsonist to extinguish a fire.

The growth of far-right parties does not mean that there are no left-wing sentiments. But to the extent that they find expression within the present political setup, they are immediately betrayed. In Greece, Syriza was elected into government because it promised to oppose austerityonly to implement even more ferocious attacks on the working class.

In France, the vote for Jean-Luc Melenchon has more than doubled since the beginning of the year, because he has made anti-war and anti-austerity noises. In the end, only 1.7 percent separated him from Marine Le Pen, the Front National candidate. But, as a seasoned bourgeois politician, who has been in business for more than 40 years, the last thing Melenchon wants is an independent movement of the working class.

The urgent task now posed in Europe, as everywhere in the world, is the building of sections of the ICFI that can provide the working class with an internationalist socialist orientation in the coming social eruptions.

Our answer to the crisis of the EU is the United Socialist States of Europe. This is not a rhetorical slogan, but a political perspective.

We fight for a mass movement of the working class against war, dictatorship and social inequality, that is politically independent of all the parties of the bourgeoisie and their pseudo-left, petty-bourgeois agents.

We fight for the unity of the European and international working class against any form of nationalism.

And we fight for the overthrow of capitalism and the establishment of a socialist society, based on social need instead of private profit.
This is the third in a series of articles on the recent San Francisco International Film Festival, held April 5-19. The first part was posted April 26 and the second on April 29.

 Burning farms, wasted fields, shrieking women, slaughtered sons and fathers, and drunken soldiery, cursing and carousing in the midst of tears, terror, and murder. Why does the stately Muse of History, that delights in describing the valor of heroes and the grandeur of conquest, leave out these scenes, so brutal, mean, and degrading, that yet form by far the greater part of the drama of war?  Thackeray

The reality of the past quarter-century of wars, much less the threat of even greater ones, is a subject still rarely treated by filmmakers. And when it is treated, even excluding the obviously dishonest, jingoistic and nationalistic movies, the approach is often limited or wrongheaded. Honest films about the character and impact of the brutal neo-colonial wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and elsewhere, are extremely hard to come by.

The Stopover (Voir du pays)

One such sincere work screened at this years San Francisco film festival was French filmmakers Delphine and Muriel Coulins The Stopover (Voir du pays), a fiction film dealing with a French unit of young soldiers given three days of decompression leave after a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

The movies production notes explain that since 2008, French soldiers returning from war zones are taken to five-star hotels to undergo programs devised by army psychologists. It is part of an effort to eradicate or at least minimize the effects of psychic trauma before the service members are sent home.

The Coulin sisters film is set in Cyprus. The decompression involves the individual soldier reliving his or her worst experiences guided by therapists who manipulate virtual reality video imagery to correspond to the soldiers narrative.

During their down time, the unit members intermingle with rich young tourists, and, in the case of two female soldiers, Aurore (Ariane Labed) and Marine (Soko), venture outside the hotel grounds to party with the locals. Fun in the sun for the body and psychological computer games for the mind wont make us forget the war, one says. The damaged psyches containing bottled-up horrors eventually explode, leading to an appalling incident between platoon members. Despite going from burqas to thongs, the question commonly asked is, What the hell was I doing in Afghanistan?

During one session, a soldier describes how for days and nights on end an Afghan man was tortured. When they stopped, the guy went mad, and their fing 3-D images cant show that.

In the production notes, the directors, acknowledging that these young people are totally unprepared for what awaits them on the front lines, assert that we have forgotten Afghanistan, almost forgotten Iraq, just as we would like to forget Syria. But these wars cannot be waged without consequences. It is impossibleand perhaps not really desirableto forget war, these wars, whether we have participated from near or afar. We are reminded of this every day. The Stopover addresses this issue: how can we manage to live despite having experienced such a violent episode?

Wars are spreading and multiplying everywhere. The inhabitants of countries at war are seeking asylum, passing through Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus. There is a link between these wars that we have waged and our current situation, which we refuse to see.

This is a serious effort.

Marie Curie

Directed by French filmmaker Marie Noelle, Marie Curie: The Courage of Knowledge treats six years in the life of the renowned physicist and chemist Marie Sklodowska Curie (1867-1934).

Having gained access to Curies diaries, the director has crafted an intelligent, engaging movie about a pioneer in the discovery and study of radioactivity, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize and the first person to win it twice. As the film makes clear, both Marie (Karolina Gruszka) and her husband Pierre (Charles Berling) were determined that their groundbreaking work should be used in the treatment of diseases such as cancer (explore the healing force of radium), proclaiming that were scientists, not profiteers.

The films central drama occurs after Pierres untimely death in a traffic accident. Being Polish and a woman, Marie perseveres against all obstacles in the male-dominated French scientific establishment.

This was the period of the anti-Semitic Dreyfus affair, which shook France from 1894 to 1906, during which right-wing elements attempted to whip up every ounce of chauvinist and xenophobic backwardness to counter the growth of socialism in the working class. The reactionary press speculated that Curie was Jewish, which she was not, and she was later attacked as a foreigner and an atheist. She once commented, After all, science is essentially international, and it is only through lack of the historical sense that national qualities have been attributed to it.

In Noelles film, Curie has further cause to stand up to the scandalmongers when she unrepentantly begins an affair with a married colleague and mathematician, Paul Langevin (Arieh Worthalter). Shocked, the Swedish Nobel Academy insists that she forgo making the journey to Stockholm to receive her second Nobel award.

An encounter with Albert Einstein (Piotr Glowacki) is a charming moment in the film.

In an interview, the filmmaker Noelle observed that when World War I started, she rebuilt and repurposed cars into mobile X-ray labs and went to the front line. This way, she saved the lives of many soldiers and spared them from amputations. She had to fight for that because many doctors didnt want to have a woman on the front line. Curie even brought her 16-year-old daughter with her, who also worked there.

The movies postscript notes that Maries daughter, Irene Joliot-Curie, and her son-in-law, Frederic Joliot-Curie, went on to jointly win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935. These were all remarkable figures.

The Force

Other lesser films at the festival include The Force by Peter Nicks, a documentary about the Oakland, California police force. Embedded in the police department from 2014 to 2016, the filmmakers were following these cops around and trying to understand who becomes a cop and why, which was the central question of the initial concept of the film, according to Nicks.

His diffuse liberal outlook, however, proves thoroughly inadequate in the face of Oaklands high levels of poverty and the anger of its residents against their treatment at the hands of the police. Nonetheless, the only protests his camera manages to capture are those led by the middle class racialists of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The movies screening in San Francisco was followed by a question-and-answer session in which a number of the policemen featured in the film, as well as a clergyman, who was shown preaching non-violence, were brought onto the stage as sort of Blue Lives Matter heroes. Missing were any of the family members of the numerous victims of law enforcement.

From Spain: the most notable and intriguing features of Chico Pereiras Donkeyote are its clever title and the donkey around which the story revolves.

Manolo, a 73-year-old man in northern Spain, has a plan to spend his retirement years following the 2,200 mile Trail of Tears (the series of forced removals of Native American populations in the American South during the 1830s). But the problem is how to bring along Manolos adorable donkey, Gorrion. Its possible that the filmmaker intended to make a statement about the irrationality of borders, among other issues, but if so, the message does not come across especially loudly or clearly.

Somewhat more substantial is The Cinema Travellers from India by Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya. The documentarys subject is the Indian phenomenon of mobile tent cinemas, which attemptapparently without a lot of successto show movies in far-flung and poor villages. The traveling cinemas now face extinction and the protagonists trying to eke out an existence in this cottage industry with a long tradition are not always the most savory human specimens, a reality that makes the movie less emotionally accessible.

Jem Cohens World Without End (No Reported Incidents) is a picturesque but condescending documentary focusing on a few quirky residentsCohens direction, in many cases, undoubtedly makes them appear more quirky than they arein Southend-on-Sea, forty miles east of central London.

Filmed in the seven years since the massive, deadly 2010 earthquake, Owsley Browns Serenade for Haiti is a well-intentioned, but politically and socially blunt documentary about a Port-au-Prince music school and its impact on a ravaged population.

And Half-Life in Fukushima is a passive nonfiction film by Mark Olexa and Francesca Scalisi about the life of a Japanese farmer who attempts to salvage his property in the deserted radiation red zone five years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Images of the lifeless, post-catastrophic landscape are chilling.

To be continued
US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, discussed a proposal Tuesday for the creation of safe zones, or de-escalation zones, in Syria.

The conversation was the first between the two heads of state since the Pentagon on April 7 rained 59 cruise missiles on a Syrian air base where Russian troops were deployed. The attack was carried out on the pretext of retaliating for a chemical weapons attack that Washington blamedwithout providing any substantive evidenceon Syrian government forces. Moscow denounced the strike as an act of aggression and broke off its contact with the US military command overseeing American operations in Syria.

The White House described the conversation between Trump and Putin as very good, saying it included the discussion of safe, or de-escalation, zones to achieve lasting peace for humanitarian and many other reasons. The Kremlin merely characterized the phone call as businesslike and constructive.

In apparent response to the discussion, Washington, for the first time, dispatched a senior-level official to the Syrian peace talks being held in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, which are jointly sponsored by Russia, Turkey and Iran. Acting Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Stuart Jones arrived at the talks on Wednesday. Previously, Washington sent only its ambassador to Kazakhstan as an observer.

Putins conversation with Trump followed on the heels of talks he held the same day in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, which also touched on the Syria question, as well as Ukraine.

On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan paid a surprise visit to Sochi, where he joined Putin in supporting the creation of de-escalation zones. The Turkish daily Hurriyet quoted sources familiar with the talks as saying that Putin had urged Erdogan to deploy Turkish troops alongside Russian forces as part of a truce-monitoring mission.

Putin announced at the meeting that full relations between Russia and Turkey had been restored for the first time since the 2015 Turkish shoot-down of a Russian fighter jet on the Syrian-Turkish border. Erdogan was reportedly pushing for a full lifting of Russian sanctions imposed after the military action, which brought nuclear-armed Russia and Turkey, a member of the US-led NATO alliance, to the brink of war. Restrictions on Turkish agricultural exports as well on Russian visas for Turkish citizens, however, remain in place.

A memorandum on the creation of the de-escalation zones was discussed Wednesday at the talks in Astana, and there were reports that an agreement could be reached on Thursday.

The zones would reportedly be set up in areas held by Western-backed rebels in northwestern Idlib province, Homs province in western Syria, the East Ghouta suburb of the Syrian capital of Damascus and southern Syria.

Despite the apparent agreement between Moscow, Washington and Ankara on the creation of so-called safe zones as a path toward ending the six-year-old Syrian war, which has killed hundreds of thousands and turned millions into refugees, the opposing interests of the Russian, US and Turkish states make it highly improbable that they genuinely concur on either the character or the purpose of such zones.

Washington and its allies incited and orchestrated the war for regime-change in Syria, funneling arms, money and foreign fighters to Islamist militias, including those affiliated with Al Qaeda, which served as proxy forces in the drive to overthrow the government of President Bashar al-Assad and install a more pliant puppet regime.

Turkey played a key role in supporting the so-called rebels, who moved freely across its border with Syria. At the same time, Ankara has intervened militarily in Syria to attack the Kurdish militia, the YPG, in a bid to prevent the consolidation of an autonomous Kurdish region on its southern border. The Turkish government has charged that the YPG is a terrorist organization, a branch of the PKK, the Kurdistan Workers Party, which is outlawed in Turkey. The Pentagon, meanwhile, has relied on the YPG as its main ground force in the US-led campaign against ISIS.

The tensions between the two NATO allies have risen sharply with Washingtons deployment of US Army Rangers equipped with Stryker armored combat vehicles in northern Syria to act as a buffer between Turkish forces and the YPG.

Erdogan publicly protested the presence of US armored vehicles flying the American flag and intermingling with the Kurdish militia. A sense of Ankaras increasing hostility was provided by Ilnur Cevic, chief adviser to the Turkish president, who told a radio interviewer that if our forces push far enough [into Syria], and US armored vehicles are already there[y]ou may see several missiles accidentally hitting them.

The interviewer, taken aback, commented that the advisor had expressed himself in a very severe manner. Cevic stood by his comment, declaring, If they act in this way, what would you do?

Two of the areas where the proposed de-escalation zones would be established have been dominated in recent days by violent clashes between rival Islamist militias fighting for control. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced Tuesday that it was suspending its activities in the rebel-held Damascus suburb of East Ghouta after armed Islamist militants stormed its hospital there, seeking out wounded rival militants to kill and stealing the facilitys ambulance.

It was reported Monday that the rebels opened fire on civilian demonstrators calling for an end to the fighting, which has killed dozens. Similar clashes have erupted in the northwestern province of Idlib.

These clashes are symptomatic of the disintegration of the Islamist forces upon which Washington and its allies relied in their bid to effect regime-change. With the fall of eastern Aleppo at the end of last year, they control no urban areas and have continued to lose ground to Syrian government forces backed by Russia and Iran.

Notwithstanding Washingtons expression of support for Russias proposed safe zonesand Trumps on-again, off-again expressions of hope for improved ties with MoscowUS imperialism is by no means resigned to ceding Syria, not to mention the broader Middle East, to Iran and Russia. If the Pentagon becomes involved in the creation of such zones, it will be for the purpose of expanding US military operations in Syria and potentially partitioning the country as part of a broader campaign to militarily impose US hegemony over the region.
The World Socialist Web Site spoke to teachers on Monday night at the first of the Australian Education Union delegate meetings, where the union is seeking to ram through its sell-out agreement with the Victorian state Labor government.

Finn, a music teacher at Thornbury Secondary College, attended a delegate meeting on Monday evening in Abbottsford, along with two of his colleagues, and was one of many teachers who spoke against the agreement during the meeting.

Teacher members and supporters of the Socialist Equality Party won considerable support from other teachers when they exposed the reactionary character of the agreement and the unions complicity in the drive, by successive state and federal governments, to dismantle the public education system through the promotion of performance pay and standardised testing. (See: Teachers oppose Australian Education Union sell-out deal at Victorian delegates meeting)

Commenting on the inclusion in the deal of four extra Professional Practice days for teachers, Finn said, The union says the deal addresses workload. It doesnt. As far as the four Professional Practice days they have offered a year, to supposedly address workload, we think that this might create more work for us. It doesnt address class sizes and the number of meetings [we have to attend after school hours]. Some teachers like me, who have worked for 8 to 10 years, are thinking about leaving the profession. Some are thinking, what to do next?

In our particular department, he continued, we run a curriculum that only four state schools run, a free music education for Year-7s, [providing] all instruments. Our new principal really supports that. But how long can we keep up this situation in regards to workload. Were all performing arts teachers; were already doing the concerts, already doing rehearsals, all of that stuff.

Finn criticised the fact that the union had organised a mass advertising campaign calling for teachers to vote yes to the agreement, including with leaflets outside the delegate meeting venue. We are paying members. Membership is not cheap in this organisation. I dont need to be persuaded. I can read and I can debate that myself. I was really annoyed; the union flyer must have cost thousands of dollars. He added: I said on the way hereno way are they going to actually have people handing out leaflets.

Finn added: Our school is highly unionised94 percent union membersand a lot of older members are saying, why am I paying? Our branch voted unanimously no against the agreement.

I have concerns about what is happening in educationover the public versus private, he said. If you make education a commodity and your parents and students as stakeholders, then you are going to start to put Thornbury High up against Northcote Secondary. Well start to say We have this music program, come to us and not them. In essence, the public-school systems meant to suit the public around its community, whatever that might be. Its not supposed to be advertising to get more numbers. Unfortunately, when youve got public versus private, and money is driving everything, theyre going to promote go here, dont go here.

If you dont have the money, public education cant continue. If you continue to sell education, thats a huge problem of ours. Im quite fearful of that.

Finn commented that prior to the delegates meeting he was not aware that teachers were being forced to vote on a package of improvement side-agreement, of which the overwhelming majority of teachers have no knowledge. The issue was raised in the Abbotsford meeting by SEP members, who explained that the side-deal referred to recommendations in the Bracks review, which calls not only for teachers pay increases to be tied to performance, but for accelerated school amalgamations and other attacks on working conditions. (See: The Victorian teachers agreement and performance payWhat the Australian Education Union is suppressing)

Thats certainly something that I will check out, Finn said. Ive been teaching for eight years now, so NAPLAN [a standardised testing system established by the former Labor government in 2009] had just come in, and I was just hanging on to get a job, doing as much as I could getting a job. Reflecting upon it now, there does seem to be a huge push in regards to data, and linking that. Obviously, a school like ours, which is completely diverseyou could have class 7C and 7E, [where] the data is going to be completely different. Irrespective of what your teaching abilities are, its not going to truly reflect, and it cant reflect, the real situation. 7C could have 8 children with disabilities, 7E wont. This happens across the board.

If that is the agenda, I would be very fearful of continuing, he concluded. The person appeasing the principal will get the best class. It opens the floodgates for all that workplace bullying, for that person to be removed, where they say, lets give them 7E next year, and well be able to move that agenda. For me, its quite fearful. Im sure that happens at all schools, across the board.

Peter, a teacher at an inner-suburban school, attended the same delegates meeting. There hasnt been any honesty about where their [the AEUs] ideas have come from, he said. I think we should be wary, particularly given the direction of the US and Britain. Peter raised his concern that, while not acknowledging it, the agreement was supporting precisely that direction.

The ratification meeting occurred one day prior to the state budget, he commented. I havent seen anything in the budget about a large sum of $300 million, which is what the union said would cover the CRT [casual relief teachers] costs [for an additional four Professional Practice days per year]. Either the government is being silent about this or the union is being disingenuous. Schools will be given a lump sum. This will mean that schools, in order to have more funds, will be keen for teachers to have those professional development days when they have a smaller amount of classes, meaning that less coverage is required. Teachers wont have choice over this.

Jane, a teacher at another inner-suburban school in Melbourne, spoke to WSWS reporters on her way into the meeting. I dont think the union has given us expressly whats contained within this agreement, she said. In terms of our workload, apart from getting a day off a term, thats the only concrete thing that I can see were getting.

Rebecca, referrred to the so-called 30 plus 8 rule in the agreement: What theyre doing is putting the onus on teachers to change the culture in the workplaces. Theyre coming up with this 30 plus 8 rule, where you do 30 hours of face-to-face teaching and eight hours of admin, and when you get to the end of your eight hours, no matter what more work youve got to do, you are supposed to stop and say to your principal, Im finished now, Ive done my 8 hours. Its just ludicrous. Theres nothing in the agreement apart from the one day a term thats of any benefit.
A new study published by the Regional Science and Urban Economics journal reveals the degree to which social inequality and poverty determine the likelihood of being killed by a tornado.

The study, titled Double danger in the double wide: Dimensions of poverty, housing quality and tornado impacts, is written by Michigan State University academics Jungmin Lim, Scott Loveridge, Robert Shupp and Mark Skidmore.

It was published in April, as tornado season begins in the United States. Last weekend, tornadoes and floods left at least 15 dead, including many children, across impoverished parts of East Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Tennessee.

The number of people crushed to death or swept up and killed by tornadoes is staggering. Between 1980 and 2014, 2,718 people were killed and 39,635 injured by tornadoes in the worlds wealthiest country. In a three-day period in April 2011, 351 tornadoes killed 316 people.

The studys authors explain, While it is clear that some places are simply more prone to tornadoes due to climatic reasons, this does not fully explain the difference in fatalities across the region.

The report notes that poor people tend to cluster in high tornado risk areas across the Midwest and South. For the most part, the wealthiest Americans live in major coastal cities where tornadoes do not occur. Those who remain in tornado alley do so in part because the risk of tornado is factored into the lower cost of living. A 2016 study revealed that half of Americans cannot afford the cost of a $400 emergency expense like travel, hotel and meal expenses during a storm evacuation.

But this does not fully explain the differences in fatalities across the regions, the study says, because the areas with relatively high tornado fatalities do not necessarily match up with the areas with the highest tornado intensities. The studys conclusion is that areas with higher poverty and inequality are more vulnerable to deaths during tornadoes due to a large number of people living in mobile homes and a lack of infrastructure and government programs.

Poor and working class residents of tornado-prone areas are less likely to evacuate in the face of tornado warnings, mostly due to constraints placed by a lack of transportation and affordable refuge options, the studys authors write, citing an earlier study. In addition, even if families had money saved to evacuate, many workers simply cannot afford to take time off work, even to escape a tornado.

Even after controlling for the likelihood that residents of areas with a history of tornadoes are more likely to be prepared, the report notes that for each one percent increase in the poverty rate, the number of tornado fatalities increases by two percent.

Further, the report notes: people living in mobile homes are more vulnerable to natural events such as tornadoes because mobile homes typically have no foundation or basement and can be more easily destroyed and the rate of death from tornadoes in mobile homes is about 20 times higher than in site-built homes.

Controlling for other factors, a one percentage point increase in the proportion of mobile home owners to total housing units leads to a five percent increase in tornado fatalities. Roughly one-half of all tornado deaths from 1996 to 2000 were in mobile homes. Particularly concerning is the fact that more households are choosing this type of housing arrangement over time and thus vulnerability may be increasing.

Lower levels of local government spending on public safety and welfare had a significant impact on tornado fatalities, increasing the likelihood of death. Counties with less educated residents and more female-headed households were also more likely to experience fatalities when tornadoes strike. Only in Minnesota and a small number of individual counties in other states are mobile home park owners required to provide storm shelters for residents.

Perhaps most notable is the correlation between social inequality and tornado-induced deaths. The study found that a 1 percent increase in the share of income controlled by a countys wealthiest 10 percent increased the average deaths from tornadoes by 14.8 people over a five-year period.

Holding other factors constant including per capita income and the poverty rate, a higher top ten percentile income level means a larger lower-middle income group, which indicates wider income disparity in the community. Our estimates suggest that greater income inequality tends to exacerbate the impacts of disasters.

This key fact underscores the disastrous impact of social inequality on elements of social life that may not initially appear to be directly impacted by social relations. Those areas most affected by tornadoes are the rural and semi-rural towns spread out across the American South and Midwest where infrastructure is collapsing, social services are limited and poverty is widespread.

Though storms do not select their victims, capitalism does. The few wealthy people who live in these regions own mansions with large basements and storm shelters. There is little question whom the police and National Guard will rescue first in the event of a natural disaster, while public shelters are largely unavailable. Over 60 percent of Oklahomas public schools have no storm shelter, for example.

But the majority of people in these parts of tornado alley either work low-wage jobs at grocery stores, fast food restaurants and other service sectors, or they join the military or National Guard. Ten to 30 percent of people live in mobile homes because they cannot afford to buy homes. Healthcare costs and opioid abuse are on the rise, while life expectancy for middle-aged white men is declining. Local, state and federal government propose new budget cuts that axe emergency relief programs.

One professional estimate shows that the cost of installing a 700-person storm shelter at a public school would be $1 million. Constructing the 25,000 large shelters capable of housing the entire 17 million population of tornado alley would cost $25 billion. This equals just 1.25 percent of the wealth of the 400 richest Americans, valued at about $2 trillion.
In recent comments on American history, President Donald Trump conflated the era of Andrew Jackson with the Civil War and insisted that the latter, known then and since as the irrepressible conflict, could have been avoided.

Why was there the Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out? Trump asked in his May 1 interview on Sirius satellite radio. He went on to assert that the Civil War upset his hero Andrew Jacksonwho had been dead for 16 years at the wars outbreak.

Trump said: I mean, had Andrew Jackson been [president] a little later, you wouldnt have had the Civil War.... He was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War. He said, Theres no reason for this.

It hardly seems necessary to correct Trumps false statements, which follow February 1 remarks revealing that the president does not know who the famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass was. As for his assertion that the Civil War was a calamitous errorin other words, that there was nothing historically necessary about the bloodiest war in American history, the Second American Revolution that ended slaverythis is a reactionary and discredited interpretation with its own sordid history.

There is a more salient point: The president of the United States is completely ignorant of the basic facts and chronology of his own countrys history, including its most significant event, the Civil War.

From this troubling fact other inescapable conclusions must be drawn. It is clearly impossible for Trump to draw, in any meaningful way, on the experience of history. He cannot possibly place current events in any broader political and historical context. And if American history is so foreign to him, one can be certain he knows nothing of the history of the countries he menaces with trade war or military attack: Mexico, Germany, North Korea, Iran, China, Russia, etc.

In a narrow sense, Trumps ignorance is unsurprising. Like the billionaire and multi-millionaire investors and entrepreneurs he represents, and for whom money-making is the true and only God, the real estate swindler and reality television personality-turned commander in chief surely sees little use for the past. To the extent that he turns to history, it is transactional. Much like the sale or purchase of a hotel, to Trump every historical event is a unique episode to be selected and interpreted impressionistically from the standpoint of immediate gain.

In a broader sense, however, Trump only epitomizes the long-term decline of historical knowledge in the American ruling class. Consider his predecessor in the White House. While it may be true that Barack Obama did not make such clamorous factual errors as Trump, one will search his speeches in vain for a single memorable or profound reference to the past.

Obamas knowledge of history was hardly less superficial or dishonest than Trumps. How could it be otherwise? How could the president who, in the bailout of Wall Street, oversaw historys greatest transfer of wealth from the working class to the wealthy honestly equate himself to Lincoln, who, in the emancipation of the slaves, carried out the largest seizure of private property in world history prior to the Russian Revolution? How could a president who proclaimed his right to assassinate without trial those he alone claimed to be terrorists appeal to the democratic legacy of Jefferson and Madison, the authors of the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights, respectively?

To put such names in the same paragraphTrump and Obama on one side; Lincoln, Jefferson and Madison on the otheris to be reminded of the breathtaking decline in the personnel of the American presidency. Lincoln, though largely self-taught, was an assiduous student of Shakespeare, mathematics and history. Jefferson and Madison ranked among the great thinkers of their day, their huge and well-used libraries filled with volumes on science, philosophy and classical antiquity.

The decline after Lincoln has been steep and protracted. There has not been a real student of history in the White House in the half century since the truncated administration of John Kennedy (1961-1963), who, like Franklin Roosevelt (1933-1945) twenty years before him, was at least able to convey the appearance of an individual at ease speaking about the past. Before them, in the Progressive Era, Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) and the professor-turned-president Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) wrote volumes on history and were named presidents of the American Historical Association after their years in the White House.

These presidents use of history was always in the service of an American ruling class, whose revolutionary days had died with Lincoln. For example, Wilson, in his historical scholarship, promoted the myth that the Civil War was a mistakea false interpretation that Donald Trump now embraces. Wilson did so as part of a larger academic project that sought to bury the revolutionary and egalitarian significance of the Civil War. This was done in the context of the emergence of the US as an imperialist power waging bloody colonial wars abroad while conducting industrial warfare against the working class at home.

Even so, Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt sought to promote the idea that their policies were the outcome of the progressive development of US and world history, a process in which they imagined American capitalism and its governmental forms would go on playing a special, even messianic role. They mustered their idealistic interpretations to contend with scientific socialism, whose materialist approach to history, discovered by Karl Marx, attracted intellectuals, artists and growing numbers of workers and youth.

For these and other reasons, presidents in an earlier period promoted the study of history in the classroom. Not so today. It is not just that the White House in more recent decades has been occupied by individuals ignorant of history, including some whose ignorance was of historical dimensions. The presidency is now a bully pulpit in the attack on the teaching of history, as well as art and music, in the elementary and high schools, colleges and universities.

Compare Theodore Roosevelts remarks on teaching history and art, delivered at the American Historical Association annual conference in 1912, to Obamas insipid comment on the same subject, delivered in 2014.

Roosevelt: History, taught for a directly and immediately useful purpose to pupils and the teachers of pupils, is one of the necessary features of a sound education in democratic citizenship few inscriptions teach us as much history as certain forms of literature that do not consciously aim at teaching history at all. The inscriptions of Hellenistic Greece in the third century before our era do not, all told, give us so lifelike a view of the ordinary life of the ordinary men and women who dwelt in the great Hellenistic cities of the time as does the fifteenth idyll of Theocritus.

Obama: [A] lot of young people no longer see the trades and skilled manufacturing as a viable career. But I promise you, folks can make a lot more, potentially, with skilled manufacturing or the trades than they might with an art history degree Im just saying you can make a really good living and have a great career without getting a four-year college education as long as you get the skills and the training that you need.

It is not that Roosevelt overlooked the necessity of industrial work. But he paid lip service to the ideal, and backed it up with a degree of government funding, that broad access to history and culture was a positive good. In word and in deed, the recent presidentsTrump, Obama, George W. Bush, etc. attack the teaching of history and the idea of a liberal education. Educational reforms such as Obamas Race to the Top have brought layoffs for tens of thousands of social studies teachers and blocked a generation of history, literature, music and art majors from finding work.

Here it must be added that the attack on history has also been waged from within the walls of the Ivory Tower. Highly paid practitioners of postmodernism and identity politics, many of them the leading theorists and most highly compensated professors at elite universitiesnot only in the US, but also in Great Britain, France and Germanyinsist that there is no objectively understandable history at all. It is all simply a narrative that one creates or discards for present purposes. The archival record left behind by past generations is treated in the most cavalier manner and the pursuit in history of objectivity, facts and truthterms that are inevitably placed within quotation marks in postmodern textsis treated with contempt.

If the postmodernist premise about history is true, then why should Trumps deeply false narrative of American history be less valid than any other? Or, for that matter, German historian Jorg Baberowskis narrative of twentieth century history, which relativizes the crimes of the Third Reich? How is Trumps argument that the Civil War was all a big mistake fundamentally different from that of the advocates of identity politics, such as Michael Eric Dyson, who view American history as a story of unchanging and unending white racism?

It might appear ironic that as history closes in on the ruling class, its understanding of its own history erodes, a process embodied in the American presidency itself.

It is not at all ironic. History is a most unwelcome guest at the lavish banquet where the rich gorge themselves at the expense of the working masses. Its most basic lessons must fill the billionaires and their politicians with dread: That times change and at certain points the oppressed revolutionize their times, that masses of people can learn from history and assimilate its strategic experiences, and that the richest and seemingly most timeless oligarchies have fallenamong them the Capetian dynasty of the ancien regime in France, the Romanov dynasty of Tsarist Russia, and, of course, the old slave-owning elite with which Trump so identifies.
Tenured and tenure-track faculty at the University of Illinois-Springfield (UIS) went on strike Tuesday, largely over the refusal of the University of Illinois administration to incorporate protections for promotion and tenure into the contract.

UIS faculty are hoping to force the university to move more quickly in negotiations over what is to be their first contract. The university has so far managed to drag the process out over the course of 20 months since the union, UIS United Faculty, which is affiliated with the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT), was certified in February of 2015.

The strike began Tuesday morning, and will likely wipe out the final week of class for many courses, as the next bargaining session between the union and administration is scheduled for Friday. Final exams are scheduled to occur the following week.

The results of the strike authorization vote were announced on April 14, and according to the union, faculty voted overwhelmingly to approve striking, although vote totals have not been released. There are 168 tenured and tenure-track faculty at UIS.

Kristi Barnwell, a history professor at UIS and vice-president of the union, stated, We did not want it to come to this, but Chancellor Koch and the U of I administration forced the strike by dragging its feet and playing games at the bargaining table. Our students deserve this to be settled and we hope that management will change course and agree to a deal that's fair to the faculty, our students, and the community.

Negotiations between the two sides apparently broke down on Monday. According to Barnwell, on Friday the union proposed a committee made up of faculty and administrators from within UIS who would examine cases where the personnel policy has been violated in cases of reappointment, tenure, and promotion. After initially seeming open to the idea, they then backed out of discussions on it.

On its own FAQ regarding the strike, the U of I clearly states its opposition to including any language relating to appointment, reappointment, tenure and promotion in faculty contracts at any of its campuses, claiming, Including the tenure and promotion process in a union contract would open such decisions to grievance procedures involving outside judgments by an arbitrator who may have little or no knowledge of the university and whose participation could potentially undermine the Board of Trustees ultimate responsibility for confirming such decisions.

Indeed, the ultimately capricious nature of the Board of Trustees and its decisions is no doubt precisely why the UIS faculty are seeking protections of this kind. Members of the U of I board are appointed by the state governor, and are routinely chosen for their wealth and political connections. Not one of the members of the current board has any substantial experience in higher education, but represent the interests of the banks, private equity, and agribusiness, among others.

In recent years, under the leadership of former university board chairman Christopher Kennedy, the son of Robert F. Kennedy and current Democratic candidate for governor of Illinois, the board made several attacks on tenure and academic freedom. The most substantial of these was the boards 2014 vote to rescind a tenured job offer at the Urbana-Champaign campus to Steven Salaita over tweets he made that were critical of Israeli government policies against Palestinians, effectively destroying Salaitas academic career. The university ultimately settled Salaitas resulting lawsuits for $875,000.

In the same year, the university board also demanded that James Kilgore, an adjunct instructor at Urbana-Champaign, be fired for his former participation in the Symbionese Liberation Army. According to a report from the American Association of University Professors, his job was only saved because administrators were fearful of repercussions after the Salaita decision.

Back in 2010, Kennedy also worked to make sure that Bill Ayers, former radical and Weather Underground member, was denied emeritus status after retiring as a professor from the University of Illinois-Chicago, for personal and political reasons. In explaining his decision, Kennedy referred to Ayers lack of remorse over his actions in the 1970s, and particularly over the inclusion of a dedication to Sirhan Sirhan, his fathers assassin, in a book Ayers co-authored with other members of the Weather Underground.

Faculty at UIS claim they are merely trying to get the official current policy on tenure and promotion back into the contract, as it was before 1995 when the former Sangamon State University was taken over by the University of Illinois to become UIS.

Aside from job protections, faculty are also seeking higher wages. Associate Professor of Health Heather Dell told local media, I've worked here for 17 years and I've really never gotten a raise. Average faculty pay at UIS is much lower than at the other U of I campuses, with the lowest paid assistant professors making about $50,000 per year in positions often requiring a PhD or other advanced degrees.

Tenured and tenure-track faculty at UIS were recently left out of a wage increase announced in December that was supposed to apply to faculty across the U of I system currently without a contract.

There is no doubt that under Governor Bruce Rauner, who has opposed employment protections of for public employees, the attacks on tenure and academic freedom will continue. This strike also occurs in the middle of a budget impasse, which has drastically reduced funding and caused enrollment declines at all public community colleges and universities, including UIS.

The starving of Illinois higher education is part of a concerted effort by the corporate and financial elite to dismantle public education at all levels and turn back the clock to the days when only the children of the wealthy could hope for an education.

UIS faculty should beware of any attempts by the Democratic Party, which has spearheaded the attack on public education, with the collusion of the American Federation of Teachers and its state and local affiliates. They should organize rank-and-file committees to take control of the strike and appeal directly to other workers in Springfield, the US and internationally to support their fight.
FBI Director James Comey lashed out at WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange, calling the anti-secrecy organization a hostile intelligence service and suggesting that Assange would have been taken into custody if he had not taken sanctuary in the Ecuadorian embassy in London nearly five years ago.

Comeys diatribe came during testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, its annual hearing to conduct oversight into all operations of the FBI. The committee hearing was dominated by wrangling among Republican and Democratic members over the FBIs role during the 2016 election, about which the WSWS will have more to say.

The question of Julian Assange came up during questioning of Comey by Senator Ben Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska who occasionally postures as a libertarian, and who refused to support Donald Trump during the presidential campaign. In relation to WikiLeaks, however, Sasse adopted a fascistic tone, demanding to know why the FBI has not yet crushed the organization.

He led Comey through a series of declarations, asking him to agree that WikiLeaks is a known outlet of foreign propaganda, that it has released sensitive and classified information, and that the groups disclosures have endangered American lives and/or put at risk American interests, before concluding with the question, Can you help me understand why Julian Assange has not been charged with a crime?

Comey gave a carefully worded response, saying, I dont want to comment on the particular case, because I dont want to confirm whether or not there are charges pending. He hasnt been apprehended because hes inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

Sasse then criticized the intelligence community for inaction in relation to WikiLeaks, and asked, Is the FBI participating in any interagency dialogue about whether or not Assange has committed crimes?

Comey replied, I dont know where you got that impression, but WikiLeaks is an important focus of our attention.

Sasse then declared that he was turning over the remainder of his question time to allow Comey to discuss at what point an allegedly journalistic organization crosses a line to become some sort of a tool of foreign intelligence. There are Americans, well-meaning, thoughtful people who think that WikiLeaks might just be a journalistic outfit. Can you explain why that is not your view?

After paying lip service to the First Amendment, Comey echoed recent comments from other US officials to the effect that it does not apply to WikiLeaks and Assange.

To my mind, it crosses a line when it moves from being about trying to educate a public and instead just becomes about intelligence porn, frankly, he said. Just pushing out information about sources and methods without regard to interest, without regard to the First Amendment values that normally underlie press reporting. And simply becomes a conduit for the Russian intelligence services or some other adversary of the United States just to push out information to damage the United States.

And I realize, reasonable people as you said, struggle to draw a line. But surely, theres conduct thats so far to the side of that line that we can all agree theres nothing that even smells journalist about some of this conduct.

In response to further questions, Comey concluded, in my view, a huge portion of WikiLeakss activities has nothing to do with legitimate newsgathering, informing the public, commenting on important public controversies, but is simply about releasing classified information to damage the United States of America...

American journalists do not do that. They will almost always call us before they publish classified information and say, is there anything about this thats going to put lives in danger, thats going to jeopardize government people, military people oror innocent civilians anywhere in the world. And then work with us to try and accomplish their important First Amendment goals while safeguarding those interests. This activity Im talking about, WikiLeaks, involves no such considerations whatsoever.

The final statement amounts to a damning description of the collaboration of the so-called mainstreami.e., corporate-controlledmedia in the United States with the intelligence apparatus. WikiLeaks and Assange have proceeded in the tradition of actual journalism: collect facts and publish them, regardless of whose ox is gored. The American journalists praised by Comey are accomplices and stenographers of the military-intelligence apparatus. If, as Comey says, they almost always call us before they publish, it is because they, too, serve the interests of American imperialism.
Lenins Return to Russia and the April Theses  Online Lecture by James Cogan
Current President Rouhani secured Irans Nuclear Deal, the JPCOA, with 6 world powers, including the US. It was believed to be a positive development by many Iranians, as it lifted various economic sanctions and opened up the possibility of bringing foreign investment into Iran, which would have a positive impact on employment and the economy.

However, stories continue to filter out of Iran about the billions of dollars that were released as part of the agreement being spent on Irans military objectives, instead of its people. Business continue to shut down, and workers that arent being paid a fair wage.

The gap between rich and poor has widened in Iran said Ebrahim Raisi. Monthly cash handouts to poor people should be tripled. Raisi, a candidate in the election, rose to prominence in the Iranian judiciary, but was also part of the 1988 Death Commission who ordered the deaths of thousands of political prisoners. Raisi continued, One of the main priorities of the Islamic Republic is to preserve social justiceSteps should be taken to protect poor people. We need to overhaul the economic system.

His position is interesting because of statements made about the corruption within the Iranian government, such as one made recently by Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, the Mayor of Tehran, The government of Iran in 2016 loaned 530,000 billion of Tomans (about 140 billion dollars) and nobody knows who they are. Ghalibaf added, The wealth and power of the Iranian society is in the hands of 4% of the population.

According to the International Monetary Funds statistics, Irans real gross domestic product grew by 7.4% over the past year, driven mainly by oil exports, not job-creating investment. Officially, unemployment is at just over 12%, however, independent analysts put it at around 20%.

Rouhani says that foreign investors are key to economic growth, yet foreign investors are reluctant to do business with Iran because of a variety of reasons:

 First is the United States, who lifted some sanctions, but kept many more in place. These sanctions open a legal can of worms that most companies are unwilling to become involved in. Despite Iran having the second largest population in the Middle East, the U.S. marketplace is seen as worth more to companies than the Iranian market.

 Secondly, the role that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other hardline institutions play in the economy crates additional obstacles to doing business with Iranian banks.

Although several candidates have promised, if elected, to create millions of jobs, economists claim these promises are unrealistic. Much of the Iranian population is experiencing increasing illiteracy. According to former Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Mostafa Mirsalim, more than 10 million Iranians are considered illiterate.

President Rouhani was billed as a moderate, but executions remained steady during his presidency and human rights violations continued. Yet, Iranians fear a hardline president will usher in even more repression and isolation in the international community.

The need to use social justice to reduce the gap between the social classes and the corruption, was discussed by Raisi. 16 million people are living on the outskirts of the cities, and many people are living on a base of only 45,000 Tomans (about $15), he said. Remember, this is the same man who agreed to the execution of thousands of political opposition members, which leaves his talk of social justice falling a bit flat.

The presidential candidates offer little significant change for the Iranian people. Instead. Infighting and power grabs for the election drive the factions within this group.

Repression of human rights activists and those who protest the conditions of the economy and environment continue, despite the Iranian governments claims that they care for their people.

While each of the candidates talk about reform, social justice, and job creation, the the supreme leaders approval would be a necessary component for change, and history shows that he prefers things remain as they are.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Governor Rick Scott is poised to sign a bill that will require the public to receive notification of pollution spills within two days of discovery.

The Florida Legislature passed a bill Wednesday that requires polluters to notify the Department of Environmental Protection within a day of a spill. The DEP would then have a day to report it to the public.

The legislation comes in the wake of a massive sinkhole at a fertilizer plant last year near Tampa that sent millions of gallons of contaminated water into Florida's main aquifer. The incident went unreported for a month.

Companies that don't comply could face fines of up to $10,000 for each day a spill goes unreported.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) -- On Saturday, May 6 at 11 a.m., the Delta Kappa Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated will be hosting their 2017 Scholarship and Awards Reception.

At the ceremony, the sorority will award more than $10,000 dollars in scholarship funds to 13 local high school seniors.

The ceremony will be held out at the Providence Community Service Center, the address is 1908 Highland st. Tallahassee, Fla.

One of the sorority's international program initiatives is educational enrichment.

Applicants were selected and awarded scholarships based on their academic performance, leadership experience, and communication skills demonstrated in a written essay.

All school officials, family, and friends are invited to celebrate with award recipients for their academic success.

Those receiving the scholarship are listed below:

Scholarship Recipient - High School Affiliation

Elora Swanson - Chiles

Deja Uzzell - Chiles

Bethanyanne Chandler - Godby

David Liburd - Godby

Matthew Lucas - Godby

Sidney Lyght - Godby

Jordyn Berrian - Leon

Craig Mitchell - Leon

Brianna Surrency - Leon

Nia Close - Lincoln

Samantha Crawford - Lincoln

Christian Hall - Lincoln

Tiarrah King - Rickards
TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) -- Earlier this week, six fraternities at Florida State University donated more than $20,000 to the College of Business. This donation was the final contribution in a contractual agreement made a couple of years ago.

During this time, the six fraternities were hoping to raise $50,000 to help create a lab in Legacy Hall. Because of the donation and commitment, this new lab will now be named after the six fraternities.

It's the naming of the lab that has some sorority members upset. The final fundraiser in raising this money was Line Dance, a Greek-run philanthropic effort. This event was able to happen because of the help from the sororities. These women created and learned dance routines for the show. Not only that, but they attended countless profit shares, bought t-shirts for, attended other events to support these fraternities, and still had to pay to watch the Line Dance performances.

In a written statement, Katie van Dijk the Linedance Chair of Gamma Phi Beta, says, "I believe I can speak for almost all Linedance Chairs when I say that all of this money is going to a good cause. What I do have a problem with is people stating how much money the fraternities donated, because although they may have put on the event, without the sororities there is no Linedance at all."

It is understandable that the sororities are upset that their hard work, and the money they used to support the fraternities aren't being recognized by the lab name in Legacy Hall.

As for Legacy Hall, it is expected to be built near the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center with construction beginning in a few years.
GADSDEN COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) - Arraignment was held on the morning of Thursday, May 4, for the individuals charged with the murder of Javontez Tyrie Thomas.

All persons have pled not guilty to the crime and a case management hearing is scheduled for Thursday, July 6.

Michael Butler and Sabrina Robinson were present for arraignment, but Christina Harris did not attend.

A mother and two others are facing murder charges after Gadsden County deputies found a malnourished 17-year-old boy dead.

A Gadsden County grand jury indicted Sabrina Robinson, 17-year-old Javontez Tyrie Thomas's mother, her boyfriend, Michael Butler, and the teen's sister, Christina Harris.

All three are now facing charges for murder, aggravated child abuse and child neglect. There were all arrested back in October 2016.

Deputies said they went to Robinson's home in Havana and when they arrived, paramedics on the scene had already pronounced her son dead.

They said that the child was 45 pounds at the time of his death.

Further investigation revealed that the body was already beginning to break down. A early autopsy showed that the boy had suffered from severe malnutrition and injuries that matched up with their suspicions of severe neglect.

All three are scheduled for a plea hearing on May 4th.
The IRGC have been involved in Bashar al-Assads civil war in Syria, as well as with the Shiia militias in Iraq, the Houthi rebels in Yemen, and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Designation of the IRGC as an international terrorist organization is being discussed in Washington.

In an article for United Press International by Struan Stevenson, president of the European Iraqi Freedom Association, and former member of the European Parliament representing Scotland (1999-2014), he writes, But now the fascist regime in Iran has resorted to even more desperate tactics. The cruel assassination of a young television executive in Istanbul last week has unveiled a new and ruthless strategy to silence all critics. Saeed Karimian, a 42-year-old Iranian-born TV mogul and director of GEM Group, a Persian-language satellite TV network, was gunned down together with his Kuwaiti business partner in Istanbul on Saturday evening.

The assassination carries all the trademarks of an IRGC clandestine operation, according to Stevenson. Western soap operas and other cultural programs are beamed into Iran via Karimians GEM satellite TV network, and are deemed as anti-Islamic by the regime. Stevenson claims that, for a number of years they have carefully laid the groundwork for his assassination by spreading fake news about the TV mogul.

Karimian was accused of being a key member and supporter of the main Iranian opposition group, the Peoples Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI or MEK). Stevenson says that a fake photograph of Karimian standing alongside the Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi was published. In reality, the photograph was taken in the Belgian Senate on March 27, 2013, when Rajavi met with MEP Gerard Deprez and other Belgian politicians. Karimians face was crudely doctored over the image of Deprez. It was used as evidence of Karimians alleged treachery, despite the fact that the TV mogul was never involved in politics and had no connection whatsoever with the MEK.

The regimes key news agencies were allegedly able to report the exact nature of the killing, despite denials of regime involvement in the assassination. Before any information was released by the Turkish authorities, it was reported that Karimian had been machine-gunned in his car by unknown assailants and that the assassins burned-out getaway car had been found on the outskirts of Istanbul.

The killing of Karimian is symptomatic of the new paranoia gripping the theocratic regime. Indeed, such is the palpable alarm in Tehran at the hard-line approach to their vicious regime from the Americans that the ruling mullahs are now beginning to thrash around like dangerous wounded animals. After eight years of hand-wringing appeasement by the Obama administration, the litany of human rights violations within Iran has accelerated. More than 3,000 people have been executed since the so-called moderate Hassan Rouhani took office as president in 2013. Ten executions have taken place in the past week and a 22 year-old man has been sentenced to have his hand amputated. Two women were hanged on Wednesday, writes Stevenson.

With presidential elections going up on May 19, Tehran fears another uprising, similar to what took place following the second election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009. The regime is afraid that hundreds of thousands may once again protest oppression and corruption, especially with Irans devastated economy, its impoverished people, and harsh human rights policies.

Stevenson concludes, The visible opulence and corruption of the millionaire mullahs who have drained the countrys resources and oppressed the Iranian population, while exporting terror across the zone, has turned Iran into a ticking time-bomb, ready to explode at the slightest spark. Fake news, lies and murderous attacks are the characteristic signs of a regime clinging to power by its fingernails. The killing of Karimian may yet become the final milestone in the blood-soaked journey of this cruel and pious dictatorship.
George Hansen and his attorney David Allen stand as jurors leave a Yakima County Superior Courtroom Tuesday. Hansen is accused of sexually assaulting an employee of his law firm. (DONALD W. MEYERS/Yakima Herald-Republic)
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its Quds Force branch are of particular concern to the West. They are involved in all conflicts that are happening in the region. Bashar al-Assad in Syria is being backed by the IRGC as are the Shiia militias in Iraq, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

Washington has been considering designating the IRGC as an FTO (Foreign Terrorist Organization) for all of its meddling in the affairs of other countries, its export of terrorism and its fundamentalism.

The regimes malign activities do not stop here. Last week, a young television executive aged just 42, was shot in Istanbul. Saeed Karimian was an Iranian-born television mogul and was the director of a Persian-language satellite TV network called GEM Group. He was killed along with his Kuwaiti business partner on Saturday night.

It appears that the Iranian regime will go to any length to repress. The GEM network airs Western-type soaps and other such programs in Iran. The Iranian regime, of course, views this as anti-Islamic and has spent years spreading lies about Karimian in what appears to be a scene to justify his murder.

They said that Karimian was a key member of the Iranian opposition  the Peoples Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI or MEK). He was not a member and he never got involved in politics. There were also false photos of him and the opposition leader Maryam Rajavi circulating. The doctored photo was originally a photo of Mrs. Rajavi at the Belgian senate in 2013. Karimians face was put on top of MEP Gerard Deprezs.

It is clear that the IRGC was responsible for the murder. Forgetting that the crime was carried out in a way that screams the IRGC, it is very telling that Iranian state news agencies were able to report the exact details of the murder before any information had been released by Turkish authorities.

The assassination is also proof that the Iranian regime is crippled with paranoia and is in a very weak position. Its reactions are panicked and it clearly is lost now that it is faced with the new policies of the Trump administration. For the eight years of Obamas presidency, the Iranian regime felt secure in the knowledge that Obama would do its utmost to appease Iran.

Now the Islamic Republic is verging on the edge of an uprising like the one in 2009. The Iranian regime is at tipping point and grasping for dear life.
Quixote Village was built in Olympia in 2013 on the site of what had been a transient tent village. (Submitted photo)
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The presidents of Russia and Turkey said on Wednesday they support the creation of safe-zones in war-torn Syria as a delegation of Syrian rebels walked out of cease-fire talks with the Damascus government underway in Kazakhstan, citing repeated violations of a similar truce agreed on in December.

Meeting in the Russian resort town of Sochi, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin expressed hope the Syrian government and rebels would adopt this latest proposal to "de-escalate" the conflict, which has run now for six years and claimed some 400,000 lives.
According to initial reports, the terrorist charged at a group of IDF soldiers while carrying a dud grenade and brandishing a knife.

IDF Border Police soldiers standing at a military post near the cave opened fire and neutralized him. No other injuries were reported.

The terrorist was evacuated to hospital.
Israeli officials expressed doubt over the sincerity of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbass remarks Wednesday evening at a press conference with US President Donald Trump , during which he said he welcomed making peace with Israel.

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"Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) talks about 'peace' but continues to finance murderers and terrorists," said Minister Uri Ariel (Bayit Yehudi).

President Trump and President Abbas (Photo: AP)

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) also criticized the PA chairman saying: "Abu Mazen goes to Washington while he continues to transfer money to the families of the terrorists. It is clear to anyone with intelligence that Abu Mazen is not interested in peace.

Minister Ariel, whose party advocates unrestricted Israeli construction in the West Bank and promotes a more religious platform, pointed out that Abbas is still unwilling to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

While Abu Mazen says that he recognizes the State of Israel and seeks to renew negotiations, the Palestinians Authority is funding murderers and terrorists and refusing to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, he said. This needs to stop immediately and at the same time, we need to increase building of communities in Judea and Samaria.

Hotoveli added that Palestinian textbooks and payments to terrorists point to the unwillingness of Abbas to achieve peace.

Referring to the remarks made by Abbas in which he described to Isreals occupation Hotoveli said that she categorically rejected the charge, deriding it as nonsense.

I reject outright Abbass nonsense on ending the occupation, because Israel is not occupying its own country, she insisted. We have a deep connection with the land that is 3,000 years old and we will continue to live in it and to settle in it.

Other Israeli lawmakers were more emphatic in their calls on the Netanyahu government to show flexibility and work with Abbas to forge a lasting peace.

Tzipi Hotoveli (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

MK Omer Bar-Lev (Zionist Union) urged Netanyahu to cooperate in any peace talks and not to wait for his joint statement with US President Trump, but to precede it with a declaration stating that Israel is officially ready to meet with Abbas without delay in the presence of President Trump.

Bar-Lev assured that "the opposition headed by the Zionist Union will allow Netanyahu a safety net in any political move that seeks to end the conflict."

During the joint press conference between Abbas and Trump at the White House, Trump repeated that he remains determined to bring about peace, or in his words, to get it done, while Abbas expressed his desire to see the creation of a two-state solution.

According to Abbas, who spoke after the closed-door meeting with the press , the talks went smoothly, but no mechanisms were discussed to boost negotiations.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said during a press briefing at the White House that Trump had conveyed his deepest concern that the PA was paying money to families of Palestinian prisoners convicted of terrorism, adding that this problem had to be solved.
WASHINGTON

Donald Trump lacks any deep knowledge about the roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, its history and the great dreams that were shattered. He is unaware of the emotions creating the animosity and is ignorant about the injustices that have been caused for decades. The rivers of blood that fed the never-ending battles over the land and over honor were something he sort of heard about, in his impatient manner, in a short report.

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And he doesnt really care. His ambition is to score an impressive foreign policy achievement, a success of his own, which he will be able to put his name on in golden letters, as he likes to do. After a little over 100 days of a chaotic presidency, with record-low approval ratings, Trump is in desperate need of a victory shot.

For some reason, he marked the Middle East as his first target: He began pushing for a deal, whichin his opinionhe is the only one capable of reaching, in a bid to show the world not only whos boss but also that the great Donald is the only one who can succeed where everyone else has failed. In the conflict, he sees elements of a real estate deal: An acre here, an acre thereand something great will suddenly develop between Israel and the Palestinians.

Trump-Abbas meeting. The US president threw words of optimism and hope into the air, but didnt present a plan or describe the nature of the peace agreement (Photo: Reuters)

After a series of failures by American presidents to bring about a breakthrough and help the warring sides reach a peace agreement, Trump entered the ring like a neighing horse. In his meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, he spread in all directions something that this battered region has been lacking for years: Optimism and hope. He didnt say how he would do it, he didnt present a plan or describe the nature of the agreement he had in mind, he didnt say who would have to make concessions and where. All he did was throw different words into the air, such as: A successful deal, something new, peace for all children of the region, calm, commitment, an end to violence, an end to hatred, the time has come. Music to the ears of a region whose inhabitants are certain that the world has long forgotten about them.

Others have uttered these words before him, but Trump said them without preaching, without pointing an accusing finger. He didnt say who were the good guys and who were the bad guys, he didnt try to outline borders prematurely or divide Jerusalem before placing it on the negotiating table. He is doing it his way, as he used to do when he built skyscrapers: He is the ultimate ribbon cutter of successful deals, and now he has come to a tough neighborhood.

low-spirited Abbas stood next to him, leaning over his papers. Time and the long struggle seemed to have left their mark on him. Over the years, he received more than enough promises and castles in the air. He looked and sounded like an exhausted warrior. There was something heart-rending about his attempts to praise the American president for his leadership and courage. Thats how he was prepared for the meeting, he was urged to give Trump what he likes besta great stroke to his ego.

That was not the only thing he brought along to the meeting, however. Unlike Trump, who kept all the cards close to his chest, Abbas put on the tablein front of the mediathe only possible solution as far as he is concerned: Two states, east Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, the 1967 borders, a solution to the refugee problem, and an Israeli recognition of the state of Palestine like the Palestinians recognize the State of Israel.

If Trump only understood that this is the exact solution Prime Minister Netanyahu doesnt want and cant accept, he would have realized at this stage that it would be pointless to dip his toes in the Middle Eastern swamp. But Trump, whose power is in his ignorance, hasnt studied anything thoroughly and therefore possesses the optimism reserved for people with no knowledge: He doesnt let the details get in the way. He is certain that if he offers himself as a middleman, the parties will do whatever he says. Thats what he is used to from his time as the greatest king of business. With the enthusiasm of a child who just got a new toy, he is grabbing the conflict with both hands and promising to do everything in his power to end it with a peace agreement. Perhaps this approach will work, after everything else has failed.

And if Trump's new toy breaks into pieces, it wont be that bad as far as he is concerned. Hell just find a different toy. Meanwhile, we will keep bleeding because of leaders who lack any courage or wisdom and who dont mind running head-first into a wall, along with us.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has signalled that he is "making no promises" that he won't meet with left-wing Israeli organizations ahead of planned talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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Israel sought assurances from Berlin after a recent diplomatic clash between the two nations in which a meeting between Prime Minister Netanyahu and German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel was cancelled after the latter met with representatives of B'Tselem and Breaking the Silence.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier (L) shaking hands with Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo: Reuters)

Steinmeier, who served in the past as Germany's Foreign Minister, is set to arrive in Israel on Sunday for his first visit to the country as president.

It was reported Thursday by Yedioth Ahronoth that government officials attempted to discern whether Steinmeier intends to meet with Breaking the Silence and B'Tselem or send someone to meet them on his behalf. Officials tried to urge against it, but Steinmeier's representatives apparently refused to make any promises one way or the other.

Due to the fact that Steinmeier's visit schedule has not yet been finalized, officials in Jerusalem have become increasingly concerned that he may fill remaining openings in his itinerary to meet with the groups at the last moment, in a repeat occurrence involving the foreign minister just over a week ago.

Sigmar Gabriel, before his meeting with President Reuven Rivlin (Photo: EPA)

Despite their concerns and Steinmeier's noncommittal stance on the matter, state officials believe that he will show the appropriate sensitivity and refrain from meeting the groups, knowing that it could serve as a prelude to yet another diplomatic conflict with Israelsomething that Steinmeier, an experienced diplomat, will probably aim to avoid.

Steinmeier is set to meet Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin during his visit, and is planning to give a speech at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is also set to visit Givat Haviva and meet with Jewish and Arab children.

(Translated & edited by Lior Mor)
Israel Meteorological Service data indicate that the country has entered a drought year, showing that the annual rainfall stands at only about 71 percent of the cross-year average.

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Due to the worrying situation, the Water Authority is mulling over a plan to pump tens of millions of cubic meters of desalinated water into the Kinneret in order to prevent it from drying up.

A drought is formally announced by a joined committee of the ministries of agriculture and finance, after they have identified certain areas that were harmed by itfor compensation purposes. But by the standards of climate organizations and the Water Authority, a year that had rainfall of less than 80 percent of the cross-year average is considered a drought year.





The Kinneret (Photo: Ido Erez)

Data show that in the Kinneret area, as well as areas from which rainfall flows into the Kinneret, rainfall was measured at only 70 percent of the average. The low point was measured in the Shfela region, which experienced only 50 percent of the cross-year rainfall average.

The shortage of water in the lake is causing an increase of salt levels in the water and could lead to environmental degradation and render the water unusable for irrigation or drinking.

Israel is not suffering from water shortages thanks to its desalination facilities, though there is no guarantee that the facilities will be able to keep up with demands. This is the fourth year in a row that the northern region is hit by drought, and the results can be seen in the sad state of the Kinneret and the area's streams and springs.

The forecast for the coming years is a continuous decline in rainfall in the northern region, so even if the country won't experience a drought, there will still be a shortage of water flow into the Kinneret.

Photo: Ido Erez

The Water Authority has been trying unsuccessfully in recent years to get approval for a new desalination facility in the north, which will serve as an additional emergency water source for the Kinneret, but local residents have been pushing back against the plan.

With the looming danger of the Kinneret's declining water levels that could lead to degradation in the quality of its water, the Water Authority is also examining a plan to pump up to 50 million cubic meters of desalinated water into the lake in next winter, should the desalination facilities have a surplus of unused water.

There are a few potential problems with this plan. The plan is to get the water into the lake via the Tzalmon Stream, but the water might percolate into the stream bed without reaching the lake.

Another possible problem is that the desalinated water lacks basic minerals, and research is still needed to conclude what sort of effect it could have on the lake and the local fauna and flora.

The low water levels have already led the Water Authority to almost completely halt all drawing of water from the lake.

(Translated & edited by Lior Mor)
The problem with the two-state solution creating a sovereign independent Palestinian state west of the Jordan Riveris that a Palestinian state already exists east of the Jordan River; its called Jordan. Its population is predominantly Palestinian and it is located in the eastern part of what was once called Palestine. Demographically and geographically, therefore, Jordan is a Palestinian state.

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The Oslo Accords, however, removed the Jordanian option from the range of possible alternatives. Instead, Yasser Arafat, the PLO and the Palestinian Authority (PA) were installed as the rulers of what was intended to be another Palestinian state west of the Jordan River. The peace plan failed not only because of Palestinian terrorism, but also because of the opposition to Israels existence. Moreover, the PAwhich includes Hamas and other Arab terrorist organizationsand the PLO never intended it to work. Their goal is to destroy Israel.

Prime Minister Netanyahu and Jordans King Abdullah. A two-state solutionIsrael and Jordanis in the national interests of both countries

Although Arafat signed the Oslo Accords on behalf of the PLO, and the PLO was obligated to remove the clauses in the Palestinian National Covenant which call for the destruction of Israel, it never did. Although an ad hoc form of the PLO's Palestinian National Council (PNC) met in April 1996 and approved amending the Covenant in principle, it did not change the Covenant; it merely gave a PNC committee authority to do so or to draw up a completely new charter. Nor did they specify which particular articles would be changed or how that would be done. By leaving the Covenant intact, the PLO sends a clear message that it has not renounced violence nor accepted Israel's right to exist.

Moreover, since the PA did not sign the Oslo Accords, it is not bound by them. It is accountable, if at all, only to the PLO, which Mahmoud Abbas heads as well.

Rather than understand why the Oslo accords and what became known as the two-state-solution failed, and reconsider alternatives, its architects, planners and supporters cling to their fantasies. Coaxing and bribing Palestinians to make a deal always fails because that would mean ending the conflict and accepting Israela betrayal of what Palestinianism is all about.

Establishing a second Palestinian state, or third if one includes Hamastan in the Gaza Strip, would lead to destabilization and increase the chances for violence between competing entities, gangs and militias which could spill over into Israel. Jordan might seek to expel its Palestinian citizens to the new state, and a power struggle would ensue over which state represents the Palestinians, and what constitutes the territorial basis for Palestinian national identity. With Islamist forces waiting to take advantage of any power vacuum, the area would plunge into a Somalia-like chaos.

'Their goal is to destroy Israel' (Photo: Reuters)

Rather than abandon the idea of achieving Palestinian self-determination by establishing another failed state, the problem can be resolved by changing one word: The to a. Recognizing that Jordan fulfills the definition of a Palestinian state would defuse the toxic demand for another Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank of Jordan).

A "two state solution" approach accepts the idea of "two states for two peoples" based on the reality of an already existing sovereign state on territory designated as "Palestinian," where the majority of its inhabitants are "Palestinian." Arabs in Israel and PA-controlled areas who consider themselves "Palestinian" and seek national self-determination can affiliate with a Palestinian-Jordanian state, and move there if they wish. Those who prefer to stay in Israel will be allowed to do so with full civil but not national rightsas is now the case.

Promoting Jordan as the Arab Palestinian state is consistent with international law and the British Mandate which created Jordan in 1922 as part of a two-state solution. It would resolve the problem of national self-determination both for Arabs living in Judea and Samaria and for those in Israel.

This plan does not require anyone to move or border changes. Jordan recognized the Jordan and Yarmouk rivers, the Dead Sea and Arava as the international boundary in its peace treaty with Israel. The PA can continue to function as a political entity on condition that all incitement and terrorist activity cease.

Recognizing Jordan as a Palestinian state while maintaining its status as a monarchy reflects the national identity of a majority of its population. Highly popular Queen Rania is considered a Palestinian (via her parents). Palestinians are a growing segment of Jordans political life and its parliament. Jordan is viable with a relatively stable economic and political structure. It has vast areas of unused land but lacks people and water.

In order for Jordan to absorb large numbers of people and flourish, it needs water which would allow it to extend its population centers eastwards. Utilizing abundant water sources in Turkey, eastern Jordan could become an oasis, providing agricultural products, enabling business and industrial centers, and creating regional stability and economic development.

The possibility that Jordan could become an economic trade center was recently given gravity when Israels minister of transportation proposed a rail link between Haifa and Jordan that would link European markets with Jordan and from there to the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia. The recently rebuilt rail line between Haifa and Beit Shean is the beginning of this plan.

Non-Israeli Arabs who wish to remain under Israeli sovereignty as permanent residents could apply for Israeli citizenship; or they could choose to remain as citizens in PA administrated areas; or they could continue as Jordanian citizens living in Israel. The choice should be theirs.

Arabs living in UNRWA-administered towns in Lebanon and Syria should be given the opportunity to become citizens in their host countries; they should be absorbed into the countries where they exist or allowed to emigrate. International aid programs should be operated only by countries.

Let there be no misunderstanding: I oppose Palestinianism and a Palestinian state anywhere, because its only purposeaccording to the PLO and Hamas Chartersis the eradication of Israel. Preaching hatred and fomenting terrorism in their schools and their media, it glorifies jihadism and promotes martyrdom. Why support that?

I do not suggest or intend in any way the overthrow of the current Jordanian government. Jordan is a strategic partner and hopefully will continue to be. The Jordanians, however, have a responsibility towards Arab Palestinians and should not expect Israel to bear the burden of providing them with a national homeland.

A two-state solutionIsrael and Jordanis in the national interests of both countries. It will bring peace and prosperity and ensure the security and stability of the region. A Jordanian-Israeli confederation will replace failure and despair with opportunity and hope; it will inspire creativity and cooperationthe only raison detre of nation-states.

Moshe Dann is a historian, writer and journalist. His latest short story appeared in the October 2016 issue of Commentary.
Information about Palestinians responsible for killing Israelis listed on Israels left-wing BTselem human rights website has been found to contain incomplete details, omitting references to known murderers as terrorists.

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The phenomenon was discovered when an IDF soldier who fought alongside Lt. Daniel Mandel who was killed at the age of 24 in a shootout with terrorists in Nablus on April 15, 2003searched on the internet for information about his fallen comrade as the Mandel Team Nahal reconnaissance unit prepared to mark the 14th anniversary since his death.

Archive photo of terror attack in Tel Aviv in 2003 (Photo: Abigail Uzi)

Mandel, who is buried near the top of the small hilltop cemetery of Kibbutz Kfar Etzion, was killed by Mazen Freitah, who was then one of the commanders of the militant Tanzim faction of the Palestinian Fatah movement.

On BTselems website, he is not listed as a terrorist, despite being responsible for multiple murderous attacks.

Instead, Freitah appears on the groups website under the category entitled Palestinians killed by the Israeli security forces, unknown whether they participated in fighting in the West Bank.

Terror attack in Tel Aviv club in 2005 (Photo: Amit Shabi)

He does not appear under more appropriate sections on the site, such as Palestinians who participated in hostilities and were killed by the Israeli security forces or even Palestinians who were the target of assassination.

Freitah is not the only one who appears to have been misplaced. The names of numerous other terrorists who participated in the killing of Israelis and who planned to carry out murderous terror attacks appear in the same misleading category.

According to BTselem there could be no certainty as to whether they were involved in hostilities, leaving open the possibility that they may have been innocent,

By contrast, some of the names of people appearing on the list about whom BTselem states there is a degree of ambiguity, appear on the Shin Bet lists as active terrorists.

Moreover, many of the names on the Shin Bet list can also be searched for on the internet where a history of their murderous past is readily available.

Terror attack in Kfar Saba in 2002 (Photo: Shaul Golan)

On its summary of the incident that took place in April 2003, BTselem identifies Mandels killer as Mazen Abu Freitah and offers the following brief biography:

"25-year-old resident of Nablus, killed on 15.4.2003 in Nablus. Additional information: Killed during an exchange of gunfire.

According to the Shin Bet, Freitah was a resident of the Yasmina neighborhood in Nablus, and belonged to the Tanzim group in the city, which was responsible for carrying out attacks in Israeli territory and carrying out attacks against IDF forces in the Nablus area.

Speaking in an interview with Yedioth Ahrononth, one of the soldiers who fought with Mandel said: I myself saw the terrorist Freitah shoot. I am 100% sure that Lt. Daniel Mandel fell as a result of his shooting, and every investigation led to that conclusion. In that skirmish he also dropped his gunhe had an M-16 and a handgun. It is absolutely incorrect to say that it is not certain that he (Freitah) was involved in hostilities.

Also appearing under the unknown' category alongside Freitah on BTselems website is Naif Abu Sharah who was killed by the IDF in 2004.

According to the Shin Bet however, Sharah was the commander of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Nablus, an armed wing of Fatah, and was responsible for planning and executing a string of suicide bomb attacks in Israel. Some of these attacks were directly funded by Hezbollah from Lebanon and by officials in the Palestinian Authority.

So well known is Sharah's murderous record, that it is not just the Shin Bet that has tracked his past activities. Sites such as Wikipedia acknowledge his position in the brigade.

Luay Jihad Fath-Allah al-Saad, the one-time leader of a Islamic Movements military infrastructure in Tulkarman infrastructure that was directly responsible for a series of serious terror attacksis also listed on BTselem as a person who was killed by the IDF but whose participation in terror activities is supposedly unknown.

One of the IDF soldiers involved in taking al-Saad out in a battle in the Tulkarm refugee camp told Yedioth Ahrononth that he engaged the IDF in a prolonged shootout. There is no dont at all that he was involved in fighting. If that is not a terrorist, I dont know what is, he said, before expressing his thoughts on BTselem.

I am shocked at what BTselem has written about him. It is both a personal and national insult.
A bullet alongside a note bearing the threatening words "price tag soon" was found placed in a plastic bag and attached to the vehicle of Ramat Hasharon Mayor Avi Gruber.

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The term "price tag" is commonly used by Jewish or political extremists in carrying out a revenge attack for a specific act.

Accompanying the phrase that was spry-painted on the building next to where the car was parked were the words "Bar Yohai," which authorities believe was a reference to Gruber's apparent attempt to shut down an illegal yeshiva in the Bar Yohai Synagogue.

"I am shocked. All lines have been crossed. This is an act of terrorism in every sense of it," said Gruber in response to the incident.

Ramat Hasharon Mayor Avi Gruber (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

Officials also believe that another reason for the threat has to do with Gruber's refusal to erect a separate stage for the religious sector in the city's Independence Day celebrations.

Kehilat Reshit, a yeshivat hesder (an Israeli yeshiva program which combines advanced Talmudic studies with military service in the Israel Defense Forces) in Ramat Hasharon responded to the incident, saying "we were shocked to hear about the serious and criminal threat against our city's mayor.

'price tag Bar Yohai', written with a spelling error

"Like everyone, we are positive that the police will apprehend the criminal and make him stand trial. We call on the municipality's spokesman to apologize for the contemptible attempt to tie a certain populace to the incident with no certified evidence."

(Translated & edited by Lior Mor)
Israeli security forces discovered lethal weapons, including an M-16 assault rifle, hidden inside childrens beds during a house raid operation in pursuit of a three-man terror cell, it was cleared for publication on Thursday.

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The men were arrested in a joint operation carried out by the IDF and the Shin Bet and are believed to have used the M-16 to fire shots at Israeli communities and IDF bases in the Samaria region of the West Bank.

Israeli forces arrived last month at the homes of two of the suspects and arrested them during a raid in which weapons were found concealed in the pink-covered beds.

M-16 found in children's bed (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

During April this year, around ten shooting attacks were carried out against Israeli civilian settlements and against IDF forces in the Jenin area, Nablus and Tulkarm. While none of the shots resulted in injuries, damage was caused to property.

An investigation launched by the Shin Bet revealed that the terror cell comprised three residents of the Fahma village in the region, two of whom were identified as Luay Ahmed shafiq Sa'abaneh (34), a lawyer by profession and affiliate of the terror group The Popular Front, and his cousin Shafiq Mahmoud Shafiq Saabaneh (26).

Two of the suspects in the terror cell (Photo: Shin Bet)

During the arrests security forces discovered and confiscated a number of weapons and also appropriated vehicles, some of which were used by the cells members to carry out the attacks.

The Shin Bet investigation exposed the full extent of the cells operations which also included firing shots at IDF vehicular patrols.

Bed used for storing weapons (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

The main Israeli settlements which found themselves in the crosshairs of their rifles were Shaked, Hermesh and Shavei Shomron.

The cell also planned attacks which involved shooting at moving civilian vehicles. One of the members predicted that he would be killed during one of his missions and therefore prepared a will which he kept in his home. Indictments are expected to be filed against the suspects.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he hoped US President Donald Trump's meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will "achieve a change" that would allow Israelis and Palestinians to "pursue a genuine peace."

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"This is something Israel is always ready for. Im always ready for genuine peace," Netanyahu said during a meeting with Romanian Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu. "I look forward to discussing with President Trump the best ways to advance peace. This is something we fervently share with the president."

The Israeli prime minister, however, once again criticized the Palestinian leader, saying "I heard President Abbas yesterday say that they teach, Palestinians teach their children peace. Thats unfortunately not true. They name their schools after mass murderers of Israelis and they pay terrorists."

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During their White House meeting on Wednesday, Trump and Abbas discussed the need to reach a peace agreement. Trump vowed he will "do whatever is necessary," being a "mediator, an arbitrator or a facilitator" to reach a deal between Israel and the Palestinians.

In his own speech, Abbas focused on specific demands that the Palestinian Authority will be sticking to in talks with Israel: namely, that Israel returns to its 1967 borders, ends the 50-year "occupation" and that a two-state solution be considered with east Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state.

Prime Minister Netanyahu, right, meets with his Romanian counterpart Sorin Grindeanu in Jerusalem (Photo: Marc Israel Sellem)

"I believe that we are capable under your leadership and under your courageous stewardship and your wisdom as well as your great negotiating ability ... I believe we can be partnerstrue partners to youto bring about a historic peace treaty," Abbas said. "Now, Mr. President, with you we have hope."
BAGHDAD -- A US and an Iraqi government official say Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is in talks with the Trump administration to keep American troops in Iraq after the fight against the Islamic State group in the country is concluded.

The officials emphasize the discussions are ongoing. But the talks point to a consensus by both governments that, in contrast to the U.S. withdrawal in 2011, a longer-term presence of American troops in Iraq is needed to ensure Iraq's security.
WASHINGTON -- Donald Trump's first foreign trip as US president will include Israel, the Vatican and Saudi Arabia, a senior administration official said on Thursday.

Trump will also attend a NATO meeting in Brussels on May 25 and the Group of Seven summit in Sicily on May 26, the official said.
The US Air Force (USAF) intercepted four Russian planestwo bombers and two escort fighter jetsover Alaska's Air Defense Zone Wednesday night.

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According to a report by Fox News, the Russian formation was intercepted by two USAF F-22 stealth fighter jets that were already conducting a patrol about 50 miles southwest of Chariot, Alaska.

Photo: Shutterstock and Reuters

NORAD and USAF officials claimed it was the first time American forces had seen the advanced Russian Su-35 fighter jets escort Cold War-era bombers near Alaska. Officials clarified that the jets were unarmed.

This is not the first time Russian air power has encroached upon US soil.

According to Fox, about two weeks ago, American media reported that two Russian bombers capable of carrying nuclear bombs flew near Kodiak Island, Alaska. Additionally, in July 2015 two other Russian jets came within 65km of Mendocino, California.
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SRINAGAR -- Thousands of Indian government forces cordoned off at least two dozen villages in southern Kashmir on Thursday while they hunted for separatist militants believed to be hiding in the area, but called off the operation after about 10 hours without finding any, police said.

They said rebels later ambushed and shot at an army patrol as it was returning from the operation in the Shopian area. The soldiers retaliated but the attackers fled from the area, police said.

A civilian driver hired by the army was killed in the ambush and at least two soldiers were reportedly injured.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has decided not to meet with representatives of Breaking the Silence, according to reports.

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The decision comes a week after German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel met with members of the organization causing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel their meeting.

German President Steinmeier (Photo: AFP)

While Steinmeier's office said the president will not meet the left-wing group, he will highlight the organization's activities and its importance to democracy in a speech at Hebrew University.

Steinmeier's spokesman said that he intends to meet with representatives of other left-wing civil society organizations.

In response to the reports of Steinmeier's cancellation, Breaking the Silence issued a statement saying, "While Netanyahu is busy destroying Israel's strategic diplomatic relations, we will continue to collect and publish testimonies of soldiers who served in the territories that expose the injustices of the occupation and its immorality. This is another opportunity to remind Bibi that the only way to stop soldiers from breaking the silence is to end the occupation."

Steinmeier, who served in the past as Germany's foreign minister, is set to arrive in Israel on Sunday for his first visit to the country as president.

Steinmeier is set to meet Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin during his visit. He is also set to visit Givat Haviva and meet with Jewish and Arab children.
Uri Biv, 31, a son of immigrants from Ethiopia and a member of the Nazareth Illit city council, will leave next week on a campaign to encourage immigration to Israel (and to Nazareth Illit in particular). Bivs destination is Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.

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Biv was born in Kfar Saba to parents who immigrated to Israel during Operation Moses. When he was four, the family moved to Nazareth Illit. He studied political science at Emek Yezreel College and married Gili Segal three and a half years ago. He was first elected to the city council three years ago.

Uri Biv (Photo: Zohar Shachar)

Biv is to attend a conference in Kiev attended by hundreds of Jews from all over Ukraine. The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is a partner in financing the trip. When the mayor suggested that I go on a delegation to encourage immigration to Israel, it was unexpected because I was a member of the opposition. He put politics aside and made a decision for the good of the city, he said.

Biv is not concerned about the language problem. I speak fluent English, and a translator will join me to help me with the immigrants, he explained. As a young man of Ethiopian origin, integration into Israel was not easy. I reached where I am, and Im an example of successful absorption in Israel.

As the son of immigrants, this is the most important Zionist mission I could have. Ill do everything I can to convince the Ukrainian immigrants to come to Nazareth Illit.

A few days before the flight to Kiev, Biv met with new immigrants from the former Soviet Union who were studying at the absorption center in the city and received a few tips from them. Alexander Smolensky, 23, who immigrated to Israel from Ukraine three months ago, said, I never encountered an emissary of Ethiopian origin. It could be very successful.

Ronen Plot, the mayor of Nazareth Illit, said, I chose Uri Biv to go on the mission and to encourage immigrants from Ukraine to come to Nazareth Illit because he is a successful example of absorption.

(Translated and edited by J. Herzog)
Over the past four years I've listened to Governor Ricketts talk about the importance of crop and livestock production, which makes up our number one industry in Nebraska, and is responsible for one in every three jobs in the state.

I've appreciated the governor's continued commitment to achieving water sustainability over the next several years, which will place Nebraska in the best position to feed the citizens of Nebraska, as well as a significant percentage of the people of the world. I believe this is a noble mission, second only to the mission of the church. I'm confident that any suggestion to cut the funding for reaching water sustainability would not come from Governor Ricketts. He has stated publicly his commitment to accomplishing water sustainability and keeping agriculture our most important industry. I believe he also understands the importance of education. That commitment will help keep the University of Nebraska moving forward to provide the necessary leadership, throughout the world, to help agriculture produce more with less water. It is the key to world survival and is a vital ingredient for future economic progress in our state.

Our success in years to come depends on a strong agricultural sector along with a sustainable water plan to assure profitability, which gives all of us a better life, and a future that is financially secure.

If your state senator is concerned about the reality of an adequate food supply for future years, ask him or her to vote against a cut to the Water Sustainability Fund and against a further cut in funding for the University of Nebraska.

We all understand that the revenue shortfall we face today is a result of low commodity prices in agriculture. When crop and livestock producers fail to make profits, the impact of them paying less taxes, is significant, and the Nebraska economy suffers. When producers are profitable, the entire state benefits. We must support agriculture as well as UNL's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Respectively submitted,

Former State Senator Tom Carlson
YORK  Dustin Braddock, 21, of Geneva, has been sentenced to jail for attempted possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver.

He admitted to the charge in February.

According to court documents, an investigation was underway involving the Rural Apprehension Program (RAP). An officer working with RAP was in contact with a confidential informant who indicated he or she could purchase marijuana from Braddock.

The investigator says in court documents that on two separate occasions, the confidential informant met with Braddock in a business parking lot in York in order to make the transactions.

Both times, the investigators watched the transactions, which were also recorded.

On two occasions, the confidential informant gave Braddock $120 for the marijuana.

Judge James Stecker sentenced Braddock to one year in jail, with credit for 38 days already served. After he is released from custody, he will be under post-release supervision for 18 months, as part of his sentence.
This has been a long time in the making, but in our continuing pursuit to bring only the best of firearms, 2nd Amendment and defence related news to our readers, we are very excited to announce the next step in our evolution as a company.

As of 2020, Minuteman Review is now the proud owner and operator of Your Defence News, a website with a long history of breaking huge news stories and investigative journalism.

We hope you are equally as excited as us.

This means that now the teams of Minuteman can combine with the firepower of Your Defence News to stay at the absolute forefront for our readers.

Keep an eye. Big things are coming soon. We couldn't be more excited.

In the meanwhile, here are some of our most popular posts and categories to keep you busy.

Happy shootin' my friends!

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Chinese developers and local property investors are swooping in on the suburb of Badgerys Creek amid speculation that property prices in the area could double by the time the Western Sydney Airport is completed in 2026, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Local agents told the newspaper theyve been fielding calls from offshore investors and land bankers after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull confirmed this week that the federal government would be responsible for building the airport.

Two in three residents across Sydneys west support the need for a second airport, and the same number agree it would create thousands of jobs in the area.

A December focus group study commissioned by the Infrastructure Department showed that 63% of respondents strongly agreed that the proposed airport was necessary to maintain [Sydneys] global competitiveness, and would bring greater numbers of people and businesses to the area.

Additionally, there was a 6% drop in the number of Western Sydney residents who were worried that the new airport would make it harder to live and work in the areajust 28% of respondents in December 2016, compared with 34% in April 2016.

Urban Infrastructure Minister Paul Fletcher said the new airport was about jobs, economic growth and economic opportunity for Western Sydney. He went on to say that the new airport would generate 9,000 jobs by the early 2030s.

In percentage terms, the growth rate in Chinese buyer inquiries in the Priority Growth Area around the airport was more than 1500% year-on-year in 2016. That seems incredible but is due to the fact that our Chinese buyers made virtually no buying [inquiries] at all in the Priority Growth Area around the airport in 2015, while in 2016 they made a large number, said Dave Platter, communications director for Chinese-language property website Juwai.com.

"To be clear, the area still receives a relatively small number of Chinese buyer inquiries compared to other Sydney locationslike already developed parts of Western Sydney, the North Shore and the inner city. One reason is there isnt yet much product on the market. That will change in future years, as residential development gets under way in earnest, said Platter.

The new airport has become a significant driver of Chinese interest in Western Sydney, according to Platter. From China we see family investors, owner occupiers, land bankers, commercial property investors and residential developers all expressing an interest in the airport. Inquiries have increased at least twofold over the past year in that region of Sydney. We know of several Chinese investors seeking land in the vicinity of the airport, to develop or resell later when values have risen.

Related Stories:

NSW Excerpt From The 2017 May Market Report

Third Melbourne Airport To Attract Investors, Developers, And Businesses
Zabka, Warszawa, 166 m2

Lokal znajduje sie w budynku apartamentowym Unimax Development w inwestycji Viva Vitolin, przy ul. Grochowskiej 87 w Warszawie. Bedzie dostepny w 4Q 2023 roku (podpisanie umow przeniesienia wasnosci).
Kathmandu: Nepal police on Thursday stepped up security across the Himalayan nation ahead of the first phase of the crucial local body elections to be held on May 14 after a gap of 20 years.

Around 44,000 persons filed their candidacies on Tuesday for 13,556 seats up for grabs in the first phase.

"We are yet to count the number of nominations filed in few districts. So far, the tally is 43,700," Election Commission Secretary Gopinath Mainali said.

In the first phase, elections are being held for 283 local units in three provinces - 3, 4 and 6. There are a total of 4,956,925 registered voters in these provinces.

The Metropolitan Police Office beefed up security in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. It deployed a total of 6,980 police personnel and 4,268 temporary cops with major focus on sensitive areas to ensure that voting takes place in a free and fair manner at all polling centres.

Acting Police Commissioner Deputy Inspector General Bam Bahadur Bhandari summoned security officers of all ranges, circles and sectors and chalked out a detailed security plan yesterday.

Control room vehicles equipped with Global Positioning System have been deployed round-the-clock in 72 places of the Kathmandu Valley that would act as a first responder if there is any untoward incident.

According to the Metropolitan Police Office, three-tier security arrangements will be put in place to ensure fool- proof security in and around polling and vote counting centres.

The government has announced a public holiday on May 14 to facilitate smooth polling.

The local level election is taking place across Nepal after a gap of 20 years. Due to political instability in the country, they have been halted since May 1997.
New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government on Wednesday notified the pending implementation of the 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) recommendations for the 14-lakh armed forces.

The government has agreed in-principle to address three major grievances of the armed forces relating to their salary structure including providing pay protection to those getting promotion from the rank of brigadiers.

As per media reports, the government has conveyed to the armed forces that the remaining anomalies are likely to be addressed separately.

After a meeting of the Union Cabinet, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley also assured that the government was addressing the demand of extending pay matrix from 24 years to 40 years and carrying out rationalisation of pay Lt Colonels and Colonels.

"There are three concerns of armed forces which government has accepted -- two before the Cabinet and one an executive decision...," the Finance Minister said.

"One relates to the pay matrix -- increasing it from 24 to 40; second is an index of rationalisation for Colonels and Lieutenant Colonels from 2.57 to 2.67; and third, pay protection to those who are protected from Brigadier rank upwards because they lost the military service pay. Obviously you can`t get promoted and be paid less," he said.

The armed forces had demanded that defence pay matrix should be brought in sync with the civilian pay matrix. The defence pay matrix in the 7th Pay Commission has only 24 pay levels, while on the other hand, the civilian pay matrix has 40 levels.

The Cabinet also approved the retention of percentage-based regime of disability pension implemented post 6th CPC, which the 7th CPC had recommended to be replaced by a slab-based system.

The issue of disability pension was referred to the National Anomaly Committee by the Ministry of Defence on account of the representation received from the Defence Forces to retain the slab-based system, as it would have resulted in reduction in the amount of disability pension for existing pensioners and a reduction in the amount of disability pension for future retirees when compared to percentage-based disability pension.

The decision which will benefit existing and future defence pensioners would entail an additional expenditure of approximately Rs 130 crore per annum.

The government was under attack from the opposition parties as well as the military establishment over slab-based system following which the matter was referred to the National Anomaly Committee by the Ministry of Defence.

The armed forces felt the new system would result in reduction in the amount of disability pension for existing as well as future retirees compared to percentage-based disability pension.

The military personnel were upset as civilian pensioners were to be paid pension according to the earlier percentage system.
New Delhi: After creating remarkable feat in space, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), in an attempt to promote the use of renewable energy sources, has come up with a solar hybrid electric car.

The Solar Hybrid Electric Car, designed and developed using in-house expertise, was successfully demonstrated recently in a test drive at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram.

Since conventional vehicles using fossil fuels cause problems to environment and life, an ideal transportation system should envisage zero emission without any pollution, said ISRO.

To run the car, energy was supplied to the vehicle by lithium ion batteries, which can be recharged using sunlight, connected across high power density super-capacitors.

Other technologies that went into the vehicle include designing a solar panel on top of the car, integral gearbox, control electronics for the battery and solar panel, and a conversion kit for fitting an electric motor to a vehicle with an internal combustion engine (ICE).

The demonstration of the environment-friendly car, which also included a successsful uphill drive, was held in the last week of March.
YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. Czech tourists can be interested in mountain climbing or extreme tourism of Armenia.

The regional tour packages, such as Georgia-Armenia or later also Armenia-Iran, can be quite prospective, Armenias Ambassador to the Czech Republic and Slovakia Tigran Seyranyan told Armenpress.

According to him much depends on the countrys tourism infrastructure development. The Czech Republic is a developed tourism country, last year 31 million foreign tourists visited the country. Czech people also like to travel, however, they prefer to spend summer holidays in coastal states, for instance in Croatia, the Ambassador said.

He said Slovaks can be interested in Armenias religious tourism, whereas the Czech people may be more interested in mountain climbing.

I must highlight the role of Robin Bohnisch, MP of the Czech parliament, Head of the Czech Republic-Armenia friendship group, in the field of tourism. He visits Armenia several times a year, taking with him his friends, including the Czech MPs and officials, Ambassador Seyranyan said.

On April 19 presentation of Robin Bohnischs book (Czech and English) entitled Armenia  Country of Mountains, Monasteries and Wine was held, some part of the book is dedicated to Artsakh. According to the Ambassador, the book will become a unique tool to attract tourists to Armenia.
YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. On May 4, in accordance with the agreement reached with the leadership of the Republic of Artsakh, the OSCE Mission conducted a planned monitoring of the line of contact between the armed forces of Artsakh and Azerbaijan, in the direction of Askeran region, south-east of Akna, press service of the Artsakh MFA told Armenpress.

From the positions of the Defense Army of Artsakh, the monitoring was conducted by Field Assistant to the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Mihail Olaru (Moldova) and Personal Assistant to the CiO Personal Representative Simon Tiller (Great Britain).

From the opposite side of the line of contact, the monitoring was conducted by Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, his Field Assistant Ghenadie Petrica (Moldova), and staff member of his Office Martin Schuster (Germany).

The monitoring passed in accordance with the agreed schedule. No violation of the ceasefire regime was registered.

From the Artsakh side, the monitoring mission was accompanied by representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense.
Most read of the week
YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. An investigation is underway in Syuniks regional investigative departments Goris unit to determine the circumstances of the fatal car crash which killed two people.

Police were notified at 09:20, May 4, that a car has crashed from the bridge in Vorotan village and two people have died.

The Investigative Committee told ARMENPRESS law enforcement officers were immediately dispatched to the scene.

According to initial reports, a citizen of Kajaran town, identified as A. Mirzoyan, was traveling to Goris from Vorotan village in his Toyota Prado, along with three passengers.

The vehicle lost control in the outskirts of the village and crashed into the Vorotan River.

Davit Mkrtchyan and Astghik Mkrtchyan were killed instantly in the crash, while the driver has been hospitalized.

A criminal case has been launched.
YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. Within the frames of ongoing investment program in a priority field, the Government of Armenia provided a privilege to Sevan Trout CJSC by exempting the company from customs duty for the imported technological equipment, their components, raw material and delaying the payment of Value Added Tax (VAT) for 3 years, reports Armenpress.

Within the framework of the program Sevan Trout will invest 682 million AMD which will result in creation of 23 jobs, with 290.000 AMD average salary, Suren Karayan, Minister of Economic Development and Investments said.

The company will add the necessary equipment of processing industries, will establish a breeding farm in the upcoming years.

The PM commented on the decision calling it a good deal.
YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. Armenia will send new humanitarian assistance for the Syrian population.

The government approved the relevant draft at the Cabinet meeting.

Foreign minister Edward Nalbandian said 43 million drams will be provided to the foreign ministry for transferring it to the Hayastan All Armenian Fund to send humanitarian aid to Syria.

The finances will be allocated from the governments reserve fund.

Armenia has sent humanitarian aid to Syria for several times.
YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan sent a letter of condolences to First Vice President of Iran Eshaq Jahangiri over the coal mine explosion which killed dozens of people, press service of the Government told Armenpress.

The PMs letter reads: On behalf of the Government of Armenia and personally myself, I extend deepest condolences to you and the people of Iran. I wish endurance to the family and relatives of the victims, and speedy recovery to the injured.
YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Armenias Parliament Galust Sahakyan on May 4 sent a letter of condolences to President of the Parliament of Iran Ali Ardeshir Larijani, press service of the Armenian Parliament told Armenpress.

The letter says:

Dear colleague, I learnt with pain about the coal mine explosion in Irans Golestan province which claimed numerous lives.

On behalf of the Parliament of Armenia and personally myself, we extend our deepest condolences to you and friendly people of Iran, wish endurance to the families and relatives of the victims and speedy recovery to the injured.
YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. Boiko Borisov, leader of the center-right GERB party that won Bulgarias parliamentary election, became the countrys new Prime Minister, TASS reported.

His candidacy was approved by the parliament through a voting.

133 MPs voted in favor of Borisov, and 100 votes against.

Thereafter, the lawmakers supported the Cabinet proposed by Borisov which includes 18 ministers.
YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. The budgetary support loan program provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to Armenia ends this year, but Armenias government wants to continue it, Finance Minister Vardan Aramyan told reporters after the Cabinet meeting on May 4, Armenpress reported.

We have voiced our desire to our partners that we will want to start a new program with the IMF. Why, because here not only money is important which comes directly to the Central Bank and is added to our foreign reserves, but also we have a vision and agenda of reforms with the IMF. This program is an anchor for our further actions, the Finance Minister said.

According to the Minister, it is important that the government has a joint program of macro-economic predictions with the IMF, outlines what steps to take so that to have a sustainable economic environment in a medium-term which is the first precondition for investments.

At the same time, the Minister informed that government will discuss the new IMF program in September.
YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan received on May 4 the delegation of Tavitian Fund headed by Aso Tavitian, President of the Foundation, and Adm. James Stavridis, Dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Armenpress was informed from the press service of the Government of Armenia.

Greeting the guests the PM thanked for the implementation of educational programs assisted by the Tavitian Foundation in the sidelines of which over 300 government employees have already been trained in the spheres of international relations, economics, law and public policy. I attach great importance to the cooperation between the Tavitian Foundation and Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. The Foundation enjoys great popularity in Armenia. The reforms and programs of the Government of Armenia are firstly aimed at raising the efficiency of governance. We are interested in the Foundation to expand the scope of its activities in Armenia and the continuity of your programs, the Head of the Executive said.

Karen Karapetyan presented the reform agenda of the Cabinet, referring particularly to the modernization of the governance system, measures to improve business environment, the activities of the Strategic Initiatives Center operating in the format of public-private partnership.

Aso Tavitian thanked the Premier for the appreciation of his activities, saying The goal of the Tavitian Foundation is to foster Armenias development through educational programs. We are ready to continue and expand the initiatives aimed at capacity building of young specialists.

The interlocutors exchanged ideas over the development vision and prospects of Armenia, highlighting the role of education in withstanding the existing challenges and the preparation of young professionals with broad worldview and thinking.

The Premier expressed readiness to discuss the possible new programs and support their implementation.
YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. Spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia Tigran Balayan has commented on the recent developments over the closure of the OSCE Office in Yerevan. As Armenpress was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia, Balayan answered the question of news.am.

Question: How would you comment the recent discussions at the OSCE Permanent Council on OSCE Office in Yerevan?

Tigran Balayan: Due to its extremely destructive stance Azerbaijan finds itself in a total isolation. OSCE Chairmanship, participating States, Secretariat support activities of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, and it is solely Azerbaijan that abuses the OSCE principle of consensus, singlehandedly blocking the decision on the continuation of activities of the OSCE office in Yerevan thus opposing to the whole Organisation.

Today, the Representative of the OSCE Austrian Chairmanship delivered a statement at the Permanent Council meeting announcing that despite exerted efforts, it has not been possible to reach an agreement on the extension of the mandate of the OSCE Office in Yerevan. As at the Permanent Council meeting in January, also today the Austrian Chairmanship praised the constructive efforts of Armenia aimed at finding a solution to the issue. Likewise, the constructive approaches of Armenia were commended by other participating States.

The Armenian Delegation to the OSCE made a statement reflecting on all steps undertaken by Armenia together with previous - German and current - Austrian Chairmanships aimed at ensuring the extension of the mandate of the OSCE Office in Yerevan. Armenian side recalled actions of Azerbaijan aimed at closing the Office which increasingly enhanced, although the OSCE Austrian and the German Chairmanships clearly refuted Azerbaijani false allegations targeting the Office.

After closing the OSCE Office in Baku and blocking also the activities of the Office in Yerevan, Azerbaijan deprives the OSCE of fully-fledged presence in the South Caucasus, which will have a detrimental impact not only on the activities of the Organisation in our region but the OSCE as a whole and its structures.

All efforts by the Austrian Chairmanship and the participating States to make Baku to act constructively and refrain from hampering the activities of the OSCE Office in Yerevan have failed.



Both in foreign and domestic policies Azerbaijan on a daily basis violates the principles and commitments of the OSCE, including fundamental freedoms and as a result faces constant international criticism. Now again by impeding and challenging the OSCE activities, Azerbaijan scores another failure, thus deepening the gap between itself and the international community.

As an active OSCE participating State, Armenia will continue to contribute to the realization of the OSCE goals. We will consider new avenues of implementing OSCE projects in Armenia as have been also proposed by participating states at the Permanent Council.
YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan received on May 4 the delegation of Czech company Zetor engaged in production of agricultural machines.

As Armenpress was informed from the press service of the Government of Armenia, cooperation opportunities in the sphere of agriculture were discussed at the meeting. The representatives of the company noted that they are interested in entering the Armenian market, launching long-term mutually beneficial partnership and implementing investment programs.

The premier saluted the readiness of Zetor to launch activities in Armenia, highlighted precise projects and instructed the Minister of Agriculture to discuss further actions jointly.
YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Christine Muttonen (MP, Austria) and Special Representative on the South Caucasus Kristian Vigenin (MP, Bulgaria) expressed regret about todays announcement that it has not been possible to reach agreement to extend the mandate of the OSCEs Office in Yerevan, Armenpress was informed from the press service of OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

The Office is expected to close in the coming months. I regret the fact that despite lengthy and extensive efforts, the Permanent Council has been unable to reach consensus on the continuation of the OSCE Office in Yerevans important work, President Muttonen said. The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has repeatedly called for OSCE field operations to be given robust mandates and all the resources they need to allow them to perform their vital tasks, and yet, regrettably, another field operation is being closed. Vigenin noted how important the Office in Yerevans work is for Armenia and the OSCE, and stressed that the OSCE PA will remain actively engaged in the region. Following the closure of OSCE field operations in Georgia and Azerbaijan in past years, the Office in Yerevan has both a symbolic and practical importance that should not be overlooked. Personally, I have benefited from the Offices expertise when carrying out diplomatic visits, and hope that the interim period before the final closure of the mission can be used to find a compromise solution so that the country can continue benefiting from its support, Vigenin said. In its Baku Declaration of 2014 the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly called for the OSCE to adopt full, effective, and long-term mandates for OSCE field operations, reiterating similar previous appeals.
HOUSTONFollowing the success of her weekly segment Pillow Talk on The Blitz, ESPN 97.5FM Houston , Beth Lieblingowner of Darling Way, a romantic boutique in the Houston Heightsis getting her own talk radio show.

Love and Laughter with Beth premieres at 10 p.m. Saturday, May 6. Liebling, a licensed attorney who ran a solo family law practice for more than 12 years, is the owner/founder of Darling Way, and is ready to give Houston what its been yearning for.

Hosting a call-in radio show is literally a dream come true! Beth said. The fact that we will be able to spend time exploring topics that are absolutely essential to our physical and emotional well-being but so often ignored or trivialized, is an incredible opportunity for me personally, but also for our soon-to-be listeners.

Beth is comfortable talking about anything with anyone. One of her greatest gifts is her innate ability to listen and make people feel safe and comfortable enough to divulge private details that they would normally not dare discuss. She has been putting this gift to use on Pillow Talk on Wednesdays at 6:15 p.m. on ESPN 97.5FM with DJs Fred Faour and AJ Hoffman. You never know where the conversation will go; topics have ranged from kissing after oral sex to flogging and BDSM. Beth actually brought a local dominatrix for a guest appearance on the show and was flogged live on air.

I try to give Pillow Talk a different perspective than what listeners are used to, Liebling said. I do try to keep it intriguing and educational at the same time.

After months on Pillow Talk and taking into account the listeners needs and wants, Beth came to the conclusion that a long-format talk show is what the conversation was missing. ESPN 97.5FM Houston and Beth Liebling have decided to partner up and bring you Love & Laughter With Beth Saturday nights at 10 p.m. starting May 6, 2017. Nothing is off limits with Beth. The show will offer a wide range of discussions each week related to love, romance, sex, health and much more. Some topics will include: first times, saying bye bye to boring romance, loving a military man, romantic explorations, good loving through the family years, and the list goes on. The talk show will also feature guests such as doctors, therapists, and sexperts.

Love and Laughter with Beth will provide the support, education, resources and encouragement to people wherever they may be, Liebling said. Romance, love and intimacy are the most beautiful gifts provided by this life and to not celebrate them openly, respectfully and with a lot of joyful laughter would be wasteful. This wont be a boring educational nor a raunchy talk show. This will be real life, real love conversations.

Catch Love and Laughter with Beth Saturday nights on your radio or by streaming it on your computer, phone or tablet. If you aren't going out, it's the perfect way to start a stay home date night after the kids go to bed. So grab your beloved one and snuggle up for some giggles and grins, but be prepared for some exciting heated fun after the show signs off.
LOS ANGELESWicked Sensual Caremakers of an award-winning line of lubricants and enhancershas tapped Eropartner to provide distribution of its products.

Were excited to have Eropartner on board as a distribution partner in Europe, said Wicked Sensual Care Marketing Director Cassie Pendleton. With their industry reputation and enthusiasm for the brand, they will no doubt be an instrumental part of our growth in this territory.

The deal comes as the brand continues to solidify its relationship with European distribution giant Scala as well.

Wicked Sensual Care offers a beautiful range of intimate lubricants, enhanced with natural ingredients that are paraben free, vegan and PETA certified," enthuses Eropartner's Elcke Wieffering. "We are very pleased that we can offer this line to our retailers and their customers as we see a growing interest in natural products.

As a market leader in navigating the crossroads of change, Eropartner Distribution possesses a proven track record for empowering retailers, driving profitable growth and providing a seamless shopping experience.

Eropartner is the perfect ongoing home for Wicked Sensual Care products, in which proprietary formulas using the highest quality ingredients available in the personal care market are carefully blended to complement and enhance consumers' most intimate needs.

For his part, Wicked Sensual Care Vice President of International Sales and Licensing Steven Vlottes is excited about the prospects of this arrangement.

Having Scala and now Eropartner as distributors of our brand in Europe, along with Cassie being based in England for support, were starting to see the growth were after in this part of the world, he said.

For more, visit WickedSensualCare.com.
Archived Results for 2009

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Archived Results for 2011

Immortals A few minutes into the movie and I got a little worried. The dialogue, especially during the first few scenes really made me want to cringe. By: Kevin Swann

Search Terms: mickey roarke Search Terms: immortals
Archived Results for 2012

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Archived Results for 2013

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Archived Results for 2014

CommenTerry: Volume Thirty-nine State legislators should be congratulated for eliminating the 100-school cap on charters and tweaking the charter school law over the last four years. North Carolina's charter school community is thriving thanks to their work. By: John Locke Foundation

Search Terms: Search Terms: commonterry
Archived Results for 2015

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Archived Results for February 2017

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Archived Results for March 2017

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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.
Governing Beaufort County

Related to: Government



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A less subjective view of governing and the policies that influences the lives of Beaufort County residents to a degree far greater than many realize and far more than some care to admit.
Guest Editorial

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Well developed, well considered and finely written editorials from our readership, who, as individuals, have transitioned into our colleagues. hat have t
In Concert

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In this ongoing treatise on the performing arts, we examine the best performing musicians upon the stage.
Public Issues

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Public issues are important to every citizen.
Discovering Beaufort County

Related to: Community



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A look at the people, geography and history of a large familiar county separated by one big flowing river.
A Historical Perspective

Related to: Native Front



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History is the social genetic code of who we were, who we are, and ultimately, who we will become.
Regional Business

Related to: Business



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We wish to expose the various businesses providing the variety of services that support the marketplace within the various communities of northeastern North Carolina, which is the region that Beaufort County NOW serves.
Civitas Institute

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The vision of the Civitas Institute is of a North Carolina whose citizens enjoy liberty and prosperity derived from limited government, personal responsibility and civic engagement. The mission of the Civitas Institute is to facilitate the implementation of conservative policy solutions to improve the lives of all North Carolinians.
Press Releases: Candidates seeking political office

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Beaufort County Now will publish every press release, which is within their power to do so, from every candidate seeking political office, irrespective of political party.
The Hood Territory

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It is a land where individual freedoms are celebrated, and the raising of an individual's taxes are not.
Stupid as Charged

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Come here for to seek what cannot be understood by the normal mind.
News Services

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At BCN, we sparingly rely on news services for the bulk of our articles; however, on occasion, we find it helpful to employ their service, and provide a back-link to the original source.
The Daily Haymaker Guest Editorial

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Our GUY IN CHARGE - editor and publisher Brant Clifton - has marched to the beat of a different drum from very early in life. The grandson of a Democrat party machine boss, Mr. Clifton registered Republican at 18 and campaigned for Ronald Reagan and George Bush. He worked for the late U.S. Senator Jesse Helms in Washington during and right after college.Mr. Clifton took on the liberal media as an analyst with The Media Research Center, then jumped into a lengthy career with the "drive-by media". His work has appeared in local newspapers in The Carolinas. He has done on-camera work for ABC's Good Morning America, and print work for national publications such as US News & World Report and People magazine. Mr. Clifton has also worked as a correspondent for AP, UPI, Reuters and Agence France Presse.
My Spin

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"My Spin" is the creation of media impresario Tom Campbell, who has plied his craft in communication delivery systems of: newspapers, television and television.Now Impressario Campbell tries on the Internet, via Beaufort County NOWw, and our sister NOWs.Check in from time to time, and get an idea just what is Tom's current "spin."
Outlying Politics

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In the elective process, other counties from regions far away, there is government, and there are politics.We examine both here.
North Carolina History

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By using outstanding resources, such as the John Locke Foundation sponsored North Carolina History Project, and photos by our publisher, Stan Deatherage, BCN will endeavor to help make history real for our readers, and try to afford them some small measure of understanding where we come from here in the Old North State.
Bloodless Warfare: Politics

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The mechanism for the orderly operation of a transitional government of the people is politics. Whether you like, or understand politics is not the issue: The issue is that it initiates change.
North Carolina Health

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A healthier North Carolina is the ambition of our state's wise citizens to live a more fulfilling life, while reducing the cost of overall health care.
Public Utilization

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The Federal and independent state governments of these States United are purposefully tasked with enforcing certain guidelines and statutes that walk a tight line between the public domain and the free markets of a healthy republic.
A Commissioner's View

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We will provide an opinion, through the experience of 4 term county commissioner Stan Deatherage, that will provide an insider's approach to problem solving through governing.
Clarion Call

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There are times in one's life, should they hear the call, when seemingly complex issues become clear; and should one heed that call, it is incumbent upon them to express their knowledge of the truth as best they can, as often as they are able and willing to do so. You can also visit Stan's Governing /Political knowledge here: https://beaufortcountynow.com/category/343/stans-well-considered-rant.html
Across North Carolina

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Stan Deatherage takes pictures all over North Carolina, from the mountains to the coast and very much in between. Here, we explore what goes on within the photographer's eye of this Tar heel traveler, who valiantly shoots first and uploads later.
Individual History

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A small, but very real history originates with every new story of each person's life, thus building an interlinking system of experiences - learned and taught.
Politics with Rod Eccles

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Rod Eccles is the Host of The Nationally Syndicated Radio Show The Rod Eccles Show. He is The Coolest Most Politically Incorrect Conservative Black Man on the Planet and he is being dubbed the new Black Rush Limbaugh of our time. He is one of the leading voices in the Conservative Movement.He just published his first book titled The Conservative ECCLESiastes: Logic and Wisdom from the Coolest, Most Politically Incorrect, Conservative Black Man on the Planet. This year his show was added to the list of Top Talk Conservative Radio Show Hosts on Top Talk.com. Currently, Rod is traveling around the country making Key Note Speeches to Tea Party and Republican Organizations to fire up the base for the 2016 elections.
The Marketing of Things

Related to: Business



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Online representation of products and professional services is in its infancy, and while the Social Media mavens all endeavor to guide clients all to one side of the marketing boat, we will guide those unaffected to the other side of the boat to search for an admirable bounty of prospects, who need and deserve good products and service.
Health and Fitness

Related to: Native Front



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In body, mind and spirit do we, humans, experience life and by that experience examine a purposeful future.
Film Reviews

Immortals A few minutes into the movie and I got a little worried. The dialogue, especially during the first few scenes really made me want to cringe. By: Kevin Swann

Search Terms: mickey roarke Search Terms: immortals

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Current films that can be reviewed by our reviewers at the theater of their choice on the big 'silver screen' that is an incomparable experience ... if the film is good.
Government

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Regional Health System

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In Short: The Beaufort County Hospital Board.
Combat Crime

Related to: Community



beaufort county arrests nc

beaufort county crime stoppers

beaufort county jailbird

beaufort county nc arrest records

beaufort county nc arrests

beaufort county nc mugshots

washington nc arrests

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The purpose of this category is to help the public learn about injustices in the criminal justice system and to brainstorm and come up with meaningful solutions.
Our Founding Principles

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This ongoing examination into what influenced the United States of America to become a nation of such profound greatness is a group effort. Please join us.
Vidant Beaufort Hospital

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We endeavor here to express to the community the events that are ongoing at the Vidant Beaufort Hospital here in Washington, North Carolina in Beaufort County.
Business

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County Commissioners

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This body politic is the governing board that all other boards must at some time answer to.
When you are full of yourself, someone is bound to shoot you down. I learned an important lesson during my "Kiss Years as a swinging single".While I was living at Oak Creek Singles complex just off Memorial Drive on Northern Avenue, in 1972, there were many opportunities to meet and greet girls. The complex covered both sides of Northern Avenue and had two pools and one large clubhouse.Almost everyone had a roommate back in those days since very few of us were far along in a career to live alone. Of course anyone who has ever had roommates, know that they come and go on a regular basis.I guess the fact that there was a road between the two sections of the complex led me to the false assumption that dating multiple girls in the same complex was appropriate. This was at a time when "going steady" was not the operative word for dating.I had been "dating" several girls in the complex without any real commitment either way, but I thought discretion was the better approach to take so I kept what I thought was a low profile at the clubhouse.To be clear, it was not really lying about the situation, it was more like benign neglect of the truth.As with all bad intentions, this one blew up in my face in a rather unique way. It seems that all three girls needed roommates at the same time and decided to move into a three-bedroom apartment together.Of course, it did not take long before each of them knew my transgressions. One night I got an invite from one of the girls for dinner at her apartment. I was never one to turn down a free home cooked meal.I arrived with the appropriate bottle of wine and noticed the table set for four people. When I asked who the other two people were, the other two girls came out of the back of the apartment and sat down at the table.Realizing that I had been caught red handed; I could only try to make the most of the situation and saidI was able to get a few bites down before they threw me out.It went over as you might expect. That ended my arrangement rather quickly, however I was later able to make amends with one of the girls, but the other two always treated me somewhat chilly after that.The freewheeling 1970's had a way of making us all feel like Hugh Hefner but in my defense, the women in the complex were no less ambitious in their "dating" habits and the tables were turned by me several times as well.
Loretta Lynch, as Hussein Obama's top lawyer at the DOJ, which means political muscle above the law, stays in her patent Alinsky political vein after President Trump takes office and pledges to return America to a Nation of Laws: Above.

The United States Supreme Court: Above. photo by Stan Deatherage

Is the concerted Democrat plan to obfusticate the purpose of government by the unprecedented delaying of President Trump's appointments, while galvanizing with the organized protesters' directive to obstruct the process of governing, at the federal level, working for the Democrat brand? Yes, Democrats will finally create a Socialist Progressive utopia if they remain banded together. No, the nation is in dire straits, on so many levels, and needs immediate repair. I'm busy with my important life, such as it is, and don't care. 68 total vote(s) What's your Opinion?



From Capitol Hill, to indoctrinated college campuses' intellectual safe spaces; to the radical, reactionary and intolerant Left; to Democrat leadership calling for "blood in the streets" of America's cities , Socialist Liberals are obstructing the governing process as best they can, however they can. Never before, in modern times, has the opposition party been so reluctant to accept defeat; actually, a total defeat at all levels of government, have they created a toxic environment where there will possibly be two paths forward - the destruction of our United States Republic or the dissolution of the crumbling Democrat party.Should I have to pick between the two possible inevitable eventualities, I, like all patriots, vote for the dissolution of the diseased Democrat party, and plan to hasten that process as best that I can in whatever manner possible. Could it be that I am that much of a devotee to the Grand Ole Party that I wish to see the toxicity of Democrat party dissolve away from this American political landscape?Hardly. As a multi decade Republican, I am plenty perturbed by leadership at all levels, as the Republican brand has been tarnished by some ineffective, occasionally vapid politicians, and stained by pathetic leadership here in North Carolina, at the ready to sacrifice core Conservative principles for the sake of "big tent" inclusion. However, the one thing that keeps the Republican Party from unraveling at the seams is the party's diversity of intellectual abilities, where often our best are rewarded to ascend to serve, while still too many of our least capable inextricably are elected as best they can; but, no political party will ever be perfect; we must all accept that truth.We must also accept the reality that when a political party becomes so toxic, such a perahia of perpetual impropriety, it deserves to be put down; put down permanently, irrespective of what might arise from its putrid ashes. Today's Democrat is at that irrevocable point. That party has long past the point of no return, its path forward is a bumbling, non patriotic plod to perfect oblivion.After eight years of the most ineffective two term president, barack Hussein Obama, in the history of the United States; the most scandal ridden president in the history of the United States, and, as the greatest of all ironies, received less relative First Amendment scrutiny than any president in the history of the United States, the Democrat party, bolstered by the Democrat media wrongly feels emboldened to obstruct and delegitimize the presidency of Donald J. Trump to the point that our American Republic would be placed in great jeopardy.If one or the other must fail, it will be my personal maxim that it be the Democrat party, their overwhelming non patriotic status , which they revel in, be damned. Here begins the series on such, which is only heightened by the intellectual debilitating effect of their chronic mass hysteria of TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome).In this series, we shall examine as much of the process of Democrat obstruction, elevated to hysterical proportion by the collusion of the unprincipled Democrat Media, and we will do it by using truth, not the conjectural false narratives feeding their toxic hysteria, a toxic hysteria, which is humorous to watch, but will eventually lead to destruction of the Republic that so many patriots do so dearly love, and have sacrificed everything to preserve.This series is for the patriots of the United States of America.
Tom Campbell

In 1973, Senator Sam Ervin, a self-described "country lawyer" from Morganton, was chosen to head the Senate Select Committee investigating the Watergate break-in. That investigation ultimately led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon and propelled Ervin, along with his minority co-chair, Howard Baker from Tennessee, into the national spotlight.Senator Richard Burr, from Winston-Salem, is head of the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee and is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 elections, as well as what, if any, involvement the Trump campaign may have had in that interference. One has to wonder if history might be repeating itself.Burr, like Ervin, has never been the flashy representative who constantly seeks the cameras to gain notoriety. The Winston-Salem native is best known for his workmanlike approach in delving into issues like health care and tax reform. His down-to-earth persona is demonstrated by his penchant for wearing loafers without sox and off-the-rack Costco shirts.In the Watergate investigation Ervin continually pledged to let the facts take them to whatever conclusion was called for. Similarly, Burr and minority leader Mark Warner from Virginia have pledged to do the same with the Senate Intelligence Committee investigation. To date they appear to be living up to that posture, unlike their House counterparts. We can all hope that the investigation will be conducted in a fair, bipartisan, truth-seeking manner.Burr readily acknowledges that this is the most important assignment he has undertaken, first as a Congressman and now as a U.S. Senator. The American people deserve and need evidence that our Congress can work together to uphold our laws and protect our rights as citizens. It is also an opportunity to demonstrate to North Carolinians that our elected representatives stand for truth and justice.When Senator Sam began the Watergate hearings, few expected the "smoking gun" revelations that emerged, directly connecting a sitting U.S. President to criminal activities and a cover-up by lying to the people. Few expect that same outcome to result from this investigation, but we do deserve to be able to trust what is concluded from these investigations. Senator Burr is in the spotlight and all will be watching to see how he handles this responsibility. We pray he will continue his pledge to prevent this from becoming a circus-like affair that devolves into the partisan, ugly atmosphere we see too often in Washington and Raleigh.
Citizen Group Files Suit Against Beaufort County Board of Commissioners

Suit alleges multiple violations of state Open Meetings Law



Washington, NC, April 13, 2017: The Citizens for Better Government of Beaufort County, NC ("CBG"), with the assistance of the Civitas Institute, has filed suit against the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners. The suit alleges that the Board has, on numerous occasions, violated North Carolina's Open Meetings Law. Specifically, the suit alleges that the Board has illegally entered into closed session on several occasions.



The Board closed its meetings to the public four times in 2015. A review of the redacted minutes of the closed sessions revealed discussions that should have taken place in view of the public.



CBG is represented by Jonathan Strange of The Strange Law Firm and Elliot Engstrom of Engstrom Law, PLLC.



"Decisions made in backrooms out of the public's view are bad business," said CBG Chairman Ray Leary. "The CBG originated as the "Stop the Jail Committee". As we worked on that issue we came to realize that the problem was not so much the bad decision on the jail as it is the culture that has developed with the County Commission to make their decisions outside of their public meetings. This interferes with the Board's accountability to the public.



We have tried on repeated occasions to get the Board to comply, without success. We believe, and North Carolina law requires, that the public's business should be conducted in public. We are determined to make sure that the Board will conduct the public's business in open meetings as required by North Carolina law."



"We are honored to partner with the CBG in this important effort. Government that operates with transparency and citizen oversight is more likely to be thrifty and efficient in the use of public resources," said Francis X. De Luca USMCR(Ret), President, Civitas Institute.



The suit seeks an injunction requiring the Board to comply with the Open Meetings Law.



"CBG is not seeking monetary damages from Beaufort County," Leary said. "We are simply asking the commissioners to follow the statutes governing closed meetings and public records."



Contact: Ray Leary

Citizens for Better Government of Beaufort County NC



(252) 402-5662  willeary@suddenlink.net



PO Box 954

Chocowinity, NC 27817


Company Will Invest $1.8 Million in Global Headquarters and Bring 130 Jobs to Wake County

Contact: Ford Porter

Ford Porter govpress@nc.gov

CARY: Trilliant Networks will establish its global headquarters in the Research Triangle Area, creating 130 jobs over the next five years, Governor Roy Cooper announced today. The smart grid software and communications company will invest $1.8 million at its current offices in Cary to accommodate for this expansion of corporate operations.said Governor Cooper.Trilliant offers the energy industry's only enterprise-wide Smart Communications Platform for connecting the internet of things (IoT) through a secure, standards-based, multi-technology, open-spectrum solution. Trilliant maximizes smart grid and smart city investments and makes operations future-ready.said Trilliant CEO Andy White.Trilliant will hire several positions to support world-wide operations of the company. Salaries will vary by position, with a total annual payroll impact of more than $13 million. Wake County's overall average wage is currently $53,783 per year.said North Carolina Commerce Secretary Anthony M. Copeland. N.C. Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership of N.C. led the state's support for the company's expansion.Trilliant's expansion in Wake County will be facilitated, in part, by a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) approved by the state's Economic Investment Committee earlier today. Under the terms of the JDIG, the company is eligible to receive up to $1,329,000 in total reimbursements. Payments will occur in annual installments over 12 years pending verification by N.C. Commerce and N.C. Revenue that the company has met incremental job creation and investment targets. JDIGs reimburse new and expanding companies a portion of the newly created tax-base with the goal of increasing the overall revenue benefit to the state of North Carolina.By law, JDIG projects must result in a net revenue inflow to the state treasury over the life of the award. For projects in Wake and other Tier 3 counties, 25 percent of the eligible grant is directed to the state's Industrial Development Fund-Utility Account to help finance economic infrastructure in rural counties. Trilliant's expansion could provide as much as $443,000 in new funds for the Utility Account. More information on county tier designations is available here said N.C. Senator Jay Chaudhuri.said N.C. Representative Duane Hall.Partnering with N.C. Commerce and the EDPNC on this project were the North Carolina General Assembly, the North Carolina Community College System, Wake County Economic Development, Town of Cary, Wake County, Cary Chamber of Commerce, E4 Carolinas and the Research Triangle Cleantech Cluster.
Company Will Invest More Than $40 million in Manufacturing Operations in Morganton

Contact: Ford Porter

Ford Porter govpress@nc.gov

RALEIGH: International automotive supplier Continental will launch a major expansion of its manufacturing facility in Burke County, creating 160 new jobs over the next five years. The company will invest more than $40 million at its Morganton operations.Governor Cooper said.Continental, with North American headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan, is one of the top five automotive suppliers worldwide. The company's Morganton facility produces the most progressive advanced brake engineering for all classes of vehicles, from compact cars to light trucks. The company currently employs more than 400 people in Morganton.said North Carolina Commerce Secretary Anthony M. Copeland.N.C. Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership of N.C. led the state's support for the company's expansion.Continental will hire all levels of advanced manufacturing positions from machine operators to skilled maintenance workers to support the expansion of the company. Salaries will vary by position, with a total annual payroll impact of more than $5 million.said Samir Salman, CEO of Continental, North America.Continental's expansion in Burke County will be facilitated, in part, by a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) approved by the state's Economic Investment Committee earlier today. Under the terms of the JDIG, the company is eligible to receive up to $1,604,700 in total reimbursements. Payments will occur in annual installments over 12 years pending verification by N.C. Commerce and N.C. Revenue that the company has met incremental job creation and investment targets. JDIGs reimburse new and expanding companies a portion of the newly created tax-base while still increasing the overall revenue benefit to the state of North Carolina.By law, JDIG projects must result in a net revenue inflow to the state treasury over the life of the award. For projects in Burke and other Tier 2 counties, 10 percent of the eligible grant is directed to the state's Industrial Development Fund - Utility Account to help finance economic infrastructure in rural counties. Continental's expansion could provide as much as $178,300 in new funds for the Utility Account. More information on county tier designations is available here.said N.C. Senator Warren Daniel.said N.C. Representative Hugh Blackwell.Partnering with N.C. Commerce and the EDPNC on this project were the North Carolina General Assembly, the North Carolina Community College System, Burke Development, Inc., Burke County, City of Morganton, Western Piedmont Council of Governments, Western Piedmont Community College, and ElectriCities.
UNC system President Margaret Spellings is ECUs Spring Commencement speaker. (Contributed photo)

University of North Carolina system president Margaret Spellings will deliver the commencement address at East Carolina University's Spring Commencement ceremony. The event will take place at 9 a.m., May 5 in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.Spellings was named president of the 17-campus system in March 2016 and in partnership with the UNC Board of Governors has launched a new strategic planning process focused on making North Carolina the nation's leader in affordability, accessibility, student success, economic impact, and excellent and diverse institutions.said ECU Chancellor Cecil Staton.Nationally known as an education thought leader and public policy expert, Spellings served as president of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Texas, where she planned, managed, and implemented programs on economic growth, education reform, global health, and special initiatives focused on women and military service. Her work at the Bush Center included the 2014 launch of the Presidential Leadership Scholars program, a one-of-a-kind leadership program born out of the first-ever partnership of multiple Presidential Centers.Spellings was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, but spent much of her childhood in Houston. She is a graduate of the University of Houston and received an honorary doctorate and Distinguished Alumna Award from the university in 2006.Early in her career, Spellings served as legislative director and chief committee clerk for the Texas House of Representatives, special projects director for Austin (TX) Community College, and led governmental and external relations for the Texas Association of School Boards. From 1995 to 2000, she was senior advisor to then-Governor George W. Bush of Texas.Following his election as president, Spellings served in key positions in the Bush Administration. As White House Domestic Policy Advisor, from 2001 to 2005, she led the development of the President's domestic policy agenda. Her areas of responsibility included education, transportation, health, justice, housing and labor. In that role, she oversaw the development of the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the development of a comprehensive immigration plan, and numerous other initiatives.From 2005 to 2009, Spellings served as U.S. Secretary of Education, the nation's senior policy official on all aspects of education-primary, secondary, and post-secondary. During her tenure she led the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act, a national bipartisan initiative to provide greater accountability for the education of 50 million U.S. public school students.As secretary, she also launched a national conversation on the future of higher education that resulted in an action plan to address challenges of access, affordability, quality, and accountability of our nation's colleges and universities. In addition to developing and implementing international education agreements on behalf of the president, she also helped manage the federal role in the aftermath of crises including Hurricane Katrina, the credit crunch in the student loan industry, and the Virginia Tech shootings.From 2009 until joining the Bush Center in 2013, Spellings was president and CEO of Margaret Spellings and Company, a Washington, D.C. consulting firm that provided strategic guidance on a variety of domestic policy matters, particularly those related to education and workforce issues. During much of this same period, she served as a president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, leading its initiatives to drive effective education and workforce training reform.Many of ECU's colleges, schools and departments will hold unit recognition ceremonies during commencement weekend. A complete listing can be found at http://www.ecu.edu/commencement
Bay State not connected to the electrical supply lines where solar power from Currituck County will go



The 60 MW Summit Farms Solar facility in Currituck County covers more than 650 acres. (CJ photo by Don Carrington)

Three parties are claiming that energy from the 60 megawatt Summit Farms Solar project in Currituck County will offset a portion of their "carbon footprint": the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Boston Medical Center, and the Post Office Square Redevelopment Corporation.MIT says the solar power purchased from the Currituck facility will equal 40 percent of the institute's current electricity use. Boston Medical and the redevelopment group say the Summit Farm power will offset 100 percent of their electricity use.But none of the electricity generated at Summit Solar Farms will supply energy to those Massachusetts facilities. It will not even be on the electrical grid they use. MIT will continue to power its campus with an on-campus natural gas generation system, supplemented by power from a local Massachusetts utility. The medical center and the redevelopment group will continue to power their facilities with electricity from a local utility.Power from Summit Solar Farms, when it's available, will go on the PJM power grid which serves the mid-Atlantic states.The 650-acre project, containing 255,000 individual solar panels, is five miles south of the Virginia border, two miles south of Moyock, North Carolina, and adjacent to three residential neighborhoods.The project is approximately two miles long and one-half mile wide.As Carolina Journal has reported , opposition to this and other local solar facilities led the Currituck County Board of Commissioners in February to place a moratorium on construction of new solar plants. Residents consider the facilities to be nuisances and worry about potential harm to water supplies and property values.The project, started in 2015 as a project of Duke Energy, is in Dominion's service territory. Duke sold it to SunEnergy, a North Carolina-based solar company owned by Australian race car driver Kenny Habul. In August 2016, SunEnergy transferred ownership of the project to Dominion Solar Projects, LLC, a Dominion Power subsidiary, but retained ownership of the real estate.MIT, Boston Medical, and the redevelopment group announced in October 2016 they had formed an alliance to buy the electricity from Summit Farms,according to a release from the MIT News Office. Dominion Power will own and manage the facility andaccording to MIT. MIT committed to buy 73 percent of the MWh, Boston Medical 26 percent, and the redevelopment corporation 1 percent.The project is owned and managed by Richmond, Va.-based Dominion Power. The three entities in Massachusetts entities signed a 25-year contract with Dominion to buy all the power, estimated to be 146,000 MWh per year, which then will be resold and added to the regional electrical grid. MIT's investment in solar is part of the school's effort to address climate change.The deal was arranged by CustomerFirst Renewables, a Maryland-based company launched in 2010, that allows businesses to "switch to renewable energy" without physically switching.Responding to written questions, MIT Director of Sustainability Julie Newman said she was not able to disclose the price MIT and the other partners pay Dominion for electricity, how much they expect to sell it for, or the projected net loss on the arrangement.said Maria Zuber, MIT's vice president for research said in an October news release. Zuber is leading the implementation of the MIT's Plan for Action on Climate Change.How reliable is the generation from this solar facility? A 60 MW generation project running at full capacity for the full 8,760 hours in a year would produce 525,600 MWh, but solar projects only generate when the sun is shining. MIT's estimate of 146,000 MWh per year represents available usage, or capacity factor, of 27.7 percent. In other words, the project sometimes will produce a full 60 MW, sometimes 0 MW, but on balance it will produce about 27.7 percent of the full capacity.According to MIT, the project generated 5,312 MWh in January, 7,729 MWh in February, and 12,509 MWh in March.
Provisions expanding self-distribution removed from legislation

Rep. Chuck McGrady, R, Henderson, tried hard to smile this week while presenting the plundered remnants of House Bill 500 The bill, which at first carried much hope and optimism for beer brewers, ended looking much like a Kmart toy aisle on the last day of a going-out-of-business sale.All the good stuff was gone.said McGrady, a primary sponsor.The House voted 95-25 Wednesday night to approve the watered-down plan, which heads to the Senate.McGrady said Tuesday in an Alcoholic Beverage Control Committee hearing.Call it what you will, but reality says the brewers were simply outmanned and outgunned, disheartened by a process that often enriches only lawyers and lobbyists and leaves entrepreneurs on the outside of the debate, disappointed and pessimistic.North Carolina's brewers can produce no more than 25,000 barrels of beer before they must procure a distributor, a move brewers close to that threshold say unfairly inhibits growth, compromises their brand, and runs counter to the core tenets of a free market.H.B. 500 would have raised that cap to 200,000 barrels, but the state's distributors - who said the increase would place their own businesses in jeopardy - along with religious objectors who see alcohol as morally abhorrent - persuaded lawmakers to eliminate the provision.said John Marrino, who owns Olde Mecklenburg brewery in Charlotte and has purchased a $3 million property in Cornelius, where he plans to build a second brewery.The scant remains of the bill includes provisions that authorize tastings during brewery tours, gives brewery taprooms the option to sell other alcoholic beverages, and lets "farm breweries" in dry counties or cities sell their products on the premises. Farm breweries are breweries on agricultural land that use some of the grains or fruits grown on the property in their beer or cider.One lawmaker even tried to kill that provision, Section 10 of the bill, which mirrors the rules letting wineries offer tastings and glasses in dry counties.Rep. Pat Hurley, R-Randolph, tried a couple of times to push through an amendment removing the farm brewery provision, which calls for a public hearing before a local board can approve sales and tastings in a dry county.she said Tuesday, referring to local referendums and residents' choice of elected representatives in Raleigh."I think the vote of the people is still very important in North Carolina."The Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League, routinely rails against any legislation that he perceives promotes the use of alcohol.he asked lawmakers Tuesday.Fellow lawmakers pointed out the local boards and council are, too, elected by the people.For now, brewers are disappointed, yet there's little sense of despair. They haven't conceded the issue and show no intention of giving in.Policy, said NoDa brewing's Todd Ford, will prevail over crony politics.And, toward that end, a lawsuit over the barrel provision is a near certainty.
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Gurkha Cigars finally has a factory of its own. Today the company announced it has acquired the American Caribbean Cigars factory out of Esteli, Nicaragua. Its a factory Gurkha has been working with for the past five years.

Our company has seen rapid growth despite its boutique approach, said Kaizad Hansotia, CEO of Gurkha Cigars in a press release. Owning our own factory is a natural transition and the next strategic step in being able to continue to satisfy the needs of Gurkha fans worldwide.

American Caribbean Cigars started producing cigars for Gurkha five years ago. During the first year, the factory produced about 150,000 cigars, but since then that number has increased to 5 million cigars annually.

According to Gurkha, the factory will be the location where its small batch boutique blends are created.

I have always supported Gurkha owning our own factory, said Juan Lopez, National Sales Director of Gurkha Cigars. Owning our own factory allows us to have better control over our quality and consistency of our product. I have no doubt that the future is bright for Gurkha.

We have a strong and loyal following with our Gurkha Nation, said Eddy Guerra, Director of Marketing, Gurkha Cigars. This purchase allows us to lift the veil and give a peek to our fans so they can see more of what exactly makes Gurkha so great. We are very proud of the quality produced out of American Caribbean Cigars and they have been outstanding partners for Gurkha.

American Caribbean Cigars has produced lines for companies such as Leccia Tobacco and Torano Family Cigars. In addition, the factory produced its own brand, La Rosa de Santiago.
Anthony Ray Hinton

Alabama recently took a small but important step forward in reforming its criminal justice system when the legislature voted to eliminate judicial override in capital cases last month, but all of that progress could come to a screeching halt if the Fair Justice Act is allowed to pass. The deceitfully named bill (it is neither fair nor just) would shorten the time for appeals and reduce already inadequate resources that death row prisoners have when appealing their convictions. Alabama has clearly put its head in the sand and is ignoring its own disgraceful experience with wrongful convictions and the death penalty, as well as current recommendations from other states.





The Act, also known as SB 187, creates a unitary appeals process, which means that a capital defendant would pursue a direct appeal and post-conviction litigation simultaneously. It also imposes deadlines on filing the two separate processes, and additionally imposes deadlines for judges to rule on post-conviction litigation. Fast-tracking capital cases right to the execution chamber may be appealing to some, but these timelines ignore the purpose of the separate processes, the realities of capital litigation, and the risk these changes would pose to innocent defendants.





SB 187 has many flaws and the experiences of Colorado and Oklahoma highlight some of the worst. A unitary appeals system requires two attorneys to be appointed simultaneously for a single capital defendant. Both attorneys will require access to the defendant and access to copies of trial files and the record, which can be lengthy and expensive to procure. This is where wasted resources come into play. In a consecutive appeals process, attorneys often pass along the compiled files to the next attorney in line  here there will be two copies of everything, and who pays for that? The people of Alabama.





In a recent op-ed, Attorney General Steven Marshall argues that Alabama needs the Fair Justice Act, falsely stating that Anthony Ray Hinton, recently freed after spending 30 years on death row, would actually have been freed sooner under this Act.





Mr. Hinton has written an opinion piece too, noting that under the Fair Justice Act he likely would have been executed for crime he didnt commit. He writes: We do need significant reforms in Alabama but the legislation pending before the State House of Representatives is not the right way to proceed and would almost certainly have gotten me killed. Hinton is one of six men who were wrongfully sentenced to death in the state since 1976.





Hinton, who has more moral authority on this subject than anyone in Alabama, stresses: Executions are carried out in the name of the people of Alabama and we should all be concerned if we make our system less reliable and the execution of innocent people more likely.





If Alabama lawmakers are genuinely interested in fair justice, they would not ignore the numerous reforms recommended in the 294-page report recently issued by the bipartisan Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission. And they certainly should be interested in fully funding a statewide public defender system with qualified counsel.





Because of the problems created by Oklahomas unitary appeals process  similar to that proposed in SB 187  the Oklahoma Commission is recommending reverting back to a system where direct appeal and post-conviction processes would proceed consecutively  a system Alabama already has in place.





Colorado, which two decades ago adopted a unitary process much like the one set out in SB 187, learned a similar lesson. Now, even the original supporter of the law, former Colorado state representative Jeanne Adkins, admits that it has failed.





Last week, in stunted debate before the Alabama House Judiciary Committee, this relevant and compelling evidence about the failure of a unitary appeals process  as experienced by other states  was ignored and this morally objectionable legislation advanced.





If this Act passes, it will put innocent men like Anthony Ray Hinton at risk and it will move Alabama backwards and undermine much of the progress that has been made. Hopefully, reasonable lawmakers in the House will take a closer look and recognize that this "Fair Justice Act" is neither of those things and vote no.





Source: Montgomery Advertiser , Opinion, Ronald Sullivan Jr., May 3, 2017. Mr. Sullivan is a professor at the Harvard Law School, where he serves as the Director of the Criminal Justice Institute.

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MINSK, 3 May (BelTA) - Death penalty issues were discussed in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus on 3 May.





Attending the meeting were MPs and foreign experts, BelTA has learned. Andrei Naumovich, Chairman of the Human Rights, National Relations, and Mass Media Commission of the House of Representatives, stated that a working group on death penalty was set up in the new-convocation parliament.





The working group will inform the public on the aspects of the punishment and provide a full-fledged monitoring of the situation.





MPs will hold meetings in constituencies, study people's opinion in the regions. The matter requires a wide-ranging discussion with the people of the Republic of Belarus, Andrei Naumovich said.





He also mentioned that this issue was discussed during the recent visit of Andrea Rigoni, Rapporteur on Belarus of the Political Affairs and Democracy Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), to Belarus.





MPs and senators expressed their opinions on the matter during today's meeting.





One of the key speakers was member of the Death Penalty Expert Group at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Parvais Jabbar.

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Source: Belarus News , May 3, 2017
Ledell Lee

Ledell Lee s first hard-knock moment came even before he was born. His mom, 16 and on her third pregnancy by a man years older than she was, drank and smoked through his pregnancy. Because of her substance abuse, Ledell was born with a fetal alcohol syndrome disorder, a medical condition that left him with brain dysfunction and intellectual disability.





Twenty-eight years later in 1993, Ledell Lee was arrested for the murder of Debra Reese. And on Thursday night, just before midnight, the state of Arkansas killed Ledell in a gross miscarriage of justice.





From the beginning, Ledell proclaimed his innocence and wrote to everyone he could think of, beseeching lawyers to fight for him. His journey through the legal system consisted of an unbroken chain of drunk, conflicted, and grossly incompetent attorneys. No one who represented Ledell ever looked at the chasm between the states theory of guilt and the proof presented at trial. For instance, the crime scene was drenched in blood , but the state witnesses who put Ledell at the scene said he didnt have any blood on him. None of the limited forensic evidence tested, like fingerprint analysis, at the time matched him. Ledell has been asking for DNA testing for decades.





Until last week, when our team joined his defense and began to frantically investigate the case, no defense lawyer had ever hired a psychologist to test Ledells intellectual disability. And no court had ever been troubled by the one pertinent claim his former counsel had raised : that a member of the prosecution team was having an affair with the trial judge at the time of Ledells trial.





As a death penalty lawyer who handles death penalty cases exclusively, I am all too familiar with the story of poor lawyering and court failures. That said, the facts of Ledells case stand out and are an indictment of the system that put him to death. Serious questions of guilt, conflicts of interest by defense counsel, a deeply biased judge, and never presented evidence of intellectual disability: Any one of these bases should be enough to pause an execution. It is profoundly disturbing that even taken together, they werent enough to move the courts or the governor to spare his life.



I got involved in the case two weeks before Ledells execution after reading that he was about to die without any lawyer ever having investigated the fact that he might have an intellectual disability. I called a friend who is a life history investigator in capital cases, and together we decided that we should see if there was anything we could do to help Ledell. We knew we would be running against strong headwinds: Courts are hostile to any claims close to an execution date, and we were incredibly close. But we thought if there was a small chance we could do something, we had to try. We made contact with Ledells Arkansas counsel, who had only been appointed months before, and who readily welcomed our assistance.



The more I learned about his case, the more troubled I felt. There were gross, shocking abuses throughout. I discovered that Ledells relationship with his lawyers had broken down over his insistence on defending his innocence. His lawyers had requested to withdraw and stopped working on his case. The judge, the same one having an affair with the prosecutor, wrote to the Arkansas Supreme Court and opposed new counsel for Ledell. He did so while personally disparaging him. The same judge then presided over Ledells trial. This was not normal, and far outside of the bounds of the kind of impartiality we expect from judges.



The history of Ledells defense provided a tour of the worst our profession has to offer, including a lawyer who was stumbling and slurring due to alcohol consumption during his representation of Ledell and another who was sanctioned by the bar for their terrible performance in his case.

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Source: ACLU, Cassandra Stubbs, Director, ACLU Capital Punishment Project, April 24, 2017
Ali Maleki (Photo: Iran Human Rights)

Iran Human Rights (MAY 4 2017): On Wednesday May 3, eight prisoners, including two unidentified women, were reportedly hanged at Karaj's Rajai Shahr Prison.





According to close sources, the majority of these prisoners were executed on murder charges. Five other prisoners, including Mehdi Bahlouli, were returned to their cells after their execution sentences were halted.





The men who were executed were among a group of 11 prisoners who were transferred to solitary confinement on May 29 in preparation for their executions. Iran Human Rights had reported on these imminent executions.





Close sources have identified the men as: Maziar Alaie Bakhsh, Jabbar Mollahashemi, Shayan Shaddel, Mohammad Jegarki, Mahmoud Bayat and Ali Maleki.





"In September 2012, Ali (pictured) got involved in a group fight situation to defend his little brother. At that time, he had accepted responsibility for the murder that occurred, in order to protect his brother," a family member of Ali Maleki tells Iran Human Rights."





The names of the two women who were also executed are not known at this time.





A prisoner has reported to Iran Human Rights that these two women were transferred to Rajai Shahr Prison from Gharchak Varamin Prison.





Close sources say that they were sentenced to death on murder charges.





Execution Sentences of Five Prisoners Halted





Five prisoners, including Mehdi Bahlouli and Majid Agharahimi, were temporarily spared from execution.





Iranian official sources, including the media and the Judiciary, have not announced any of the executions or imminent executions mentioned in this report.

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Source: Iran Human Rights , May 4, 2017
Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty for Patrick Schroeder, the inmate facing murder charges in the strangling death of his cellmate last month.





After a brief hearing Wednesday, Schroeder was whisked away and headed back to the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution north of town.





In the hallway, Mike Guinan of the Nebraska Attorney General's office said they, along with Johnson County Attorney Rick Smith, are pondering whether to file aggravators necessary to make it a capital case and would decide by Schroeder's arraignment in June.





"We are looking at the aggravators, yes," he said.





On April 15 just after 7:30 p.m., Terry L. Berry, 22, was found unconscious on the floor with a towel around his neck in the cell he shared with Schroeder, according to court records. He was taken to a Lincoln hospital, where he died 5 days later.





Investigators said Berry had injuries that were consistent with being strangled, a court document says.





An autopsy confirmed the cause of death to be strangulation, and the manner of death to be homicide.





It's unclear why Berry, who was serving a short sentence on a forgery charge and up for parole a month later, shared a cell with Schroeder, who was serving a life sentence for killing a 75-year-old Pawnee City farmer in 2006.





The cell in the prison's special management unit -- used to separate inmates who break rules or pose a risk to staff or other inmates or for an inmate's own protection -- was built to house a single inmate.





"Almost immediately it did raise some concerns and raised concerns with a lot of people looking at corrections," Doug Koebernick, the inspector general for Corrections, said Wednesday.





He's investigating why Berry was placed at Tecumseh and what he was doing in restrictive housing, in addition to what happened the night he was killed.





"I'll be trying to get to the bottom of it," Koebernick said.





The issue seems likely to be raised should the case go to trial.





"We are asking the same questions," said Schroeder's attorney, Sarah Newell of the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy.





It also could be a question for the grand jury that will be called to review Berry's death.





Johnson County Attorney Rick Smith said he hasn't yet requested a grand jury in Berry's killing, or in the killings of 2 inmates at the Tecumseh prison March 2.





He said the investigations are all still pending, as is 1 looking into the killing of 2 inmates during a Mother's Day riot in 2015.





Last month, Omaha Sen. Bob Krist called for a reopening of the special legislative investigative committee to look into the continued problems at the prisons.





"We need to make sure that there's accountability for the (inmate) lives that have been lost in the last 2 1/2 years," he said within days of Berry's killing.





On the floor of the Legislature then, he asked who was responsible for the pairings of inmates and, on Wednesday, said he still questions how the 2 ended up in 1 cell.





Krist said he's since learned that Berry was a "pretty obnoxious person." Some wouldn't even sit at dinner with him because he constantly chattered and was an antagonist, Krist said.





"So why would you put a convicted murderer in the same cell?" he asked. "My basic point is that I don't even think you should double bunk in administrative segregation cells. They're too small. You're asking for problems."





After Berry's killing, Corrections Director Scott Frakes said double bunking in the segregation unit at Tecumseh was very limited and defended its use.





He said "using the correct tools and in the right setting and with the right population, it's safe and it's OK to house people in a restrictive housing setting with 2 people in a cell. Just like it is in general population."





On Wednesday, prison spokeswoman Dawn-Renee Smith said state law prevents her from speaking directly about the circumstances in this case, but said generally that numerous factors are considered when making cell assignments, including things like criminal history, institutional behavior and gang affiliation.





As for double bunking in restrictive housing, she said, it's done at prisons around the country.





"It is a more efficient use of space and it can lessen the feeling of isolation when another person is in the cell," Smith said.





In June 2015, she said, the prison made a change to allow all restrictive housing cells to be double bunked. There currently are about 100 cells that are double bunked in Tecumseh's restrictive housing unit. At the end of last week, only 10 had 2 inmates in them.





The practice also is done at the Nebraska State Penitentiary, Omaha Correctional Center and Lincoln Correctional Center.

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Source: Lincoln Journal Star, May 4, 2017
Oklahoma's death chamber

Most Oklahomans believe the devil is real.





State Rep. Mike Ritze thinks that's why they overwhelmingly support capital punishment, despite highly publicized problems with lethal-injection drugs that prompted state officials to put a temporary moratorium on executions in 2015.





"Because of our faith-based population, we believe there is evil in the world," said Ritze, a Southern Baptist deacon who co-authored a pro-death-penalty measure supported by 66 % of voters in the November general election.





"We believe in a devil, and we believe in a God," the Republican lawmaker said. "As a result, I think Oklahomans are very supportive of the death penalty."





But last week - just as neighboring Arkansas finished executing four death-row inmates in 8 days before 1 of its lethal-injection drugs expired - the Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission recommended that the moratorium be extended.





The commission cited "the volume and the seriousness of the flaws" in the state's capital punishment system. The bipartisan group of Oklahoma leaders, organized by the Washington, D.C.-based Constitution Project, made 46 recommendations to revamp the process.





"Many of the findings of the commission's 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," according to the in-depth report.





In some cases, "Oklahoma prosecutors have invoked inflammatory language to minimize the jurors' sense of responsibility in capital cases, such as invoking God and the Bible in arguing for the death penalty," according to a discovery cited on Page 81 of the 272-page document.





The group noted that Oklahoma - with 112 death sentences carried out since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976 - boasts the nation's highest per-capita execution rate.





However, the state's last execution, in January 2015, made international headlines when a newspaper revealed, 9 months later, that the wrong drugs were used to put Charles Frederick Warner to death





"My body is on fire," Warner said as the drugs flowed, prompting claims of "cruel and unusual punishment" from death penalty opponents.





The execution of Warner, who killed a baby in 1997, followed a botched April 2014 lethal injection in which Clayton Darrell Lockett writhed and moaned on the gurney , after he'd been declared unconscious.





Connie Johnson, chairwoman of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, said the commission's findings have "opened up all kinds of possibilities that can lead to justice."





Johnson, a former Democratic state senator, is a longtime member of the Church of the Living God in Oklahoma City and the sister of a murder victim. She said she forgave the man who killed her brother, just as she believes Jesus died so that her own sins could be forgiven.





"As an abolitionist, I can speak from a position of been there, done that," Johnson said. "So when people say, 'You would feel differently if someone killed your loved one,' I can say, 'Well, I did have a loved one killed, and the death penalty isn't the right way.'"





Former Gov. Brad Henry, a Democrat whose administration presided over 40 executions from 2003 to 2011, served as 1 of 3 co-chairs for the 11-person death penalty review commission.





Henry, who taught Sunday school at his hometown Baptist church before moving into the governor's mansion, described the drug snafus that gave rise to the investigation as manifestations of a larger problem.





"There are systemic flaws throughout the entire death penalty process, beginning with interrogations, beginning with eyewitness identifications, beginning with various forensic techniques that have been used that have been debunked as valid science," Henry told reporters.





"There were members of this commission that would advocate for the abolition of the death penalty," the former governor added. "There were members of this commission that were staunch defenders of the death penalty. But what we all agreed on is, if you're going to have the death penalty, it ought to be done right."





Gov. Mary Fallin, the 2-term Republican who succeeded Henry, and her general counsel's office will review the private commission's report, Fallin's press secretary Michael McNutt said this week.





Nationally, support for the death penalty has hit its lowest level in 4 decades, with 49 % of Americans favoring it and 42 % opposing it, according to the Pew Research Center. 2/3 of U.S. states have paused executions or stopped them altogether, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.





But in Oklahoma - where 4 out of 5 residents characterize themselves as "very religious" or "moderately religious," according to Gallup polling - most residents view the death penalty as a just form of punishment.





"Just because there have been mistakes made in the process doesn't mean there's a mistake in the policy or the principle," said Bill Hulse, senior pastor of Putnam City Baptist Church in Oklahoma City.





"Consequences are necessary," said Hulse, whose Southern Baptist congregation averages 700 people in attendance on Sundays. "I know prison may not be the best place to be, but for some people, that isn't much of a consequence. They're going to get cable TV, medical care, and 3 squares a day."





But religious leaders who oppose capital punishment voiced hope the commission's report will cause the majority of Oklahomans to reconsider their position.





"I'm hopeful our state will eventually rely on other available ways to administer just punishment without resorting to lethal measures," said Paul S. Coakley, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Oklahoma City. "We don't end the cycle of violence by committing more violence.





"In all of these crimes, we lost a life, and the death penalty only serves to further devalue human dignity," Coakley added. "Justice can never be achieved by killing a human being."





Jon Middendorf, senior pastor of Oklahoma City's First Church of the Nazarene, said he opposes abortion and the death penalty.





Middendorf, whose progressive evangelical congregation claims 1,300 members, predicts support for the death penalty will decline - even in Oklahoma - as younger Christians gain power.





"I think things are changing and will change," he said, "because I think there is a frustration with an older, more fundamentalist, legalistic version of evangelicalism."





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Source: Sojourners, May 4, 2017
Al-Shabaab militants

Mogadishu  SOMALIA is under criticism following the execution of some children suspected to be members of the Al-Shabaab terror group.





Five boys, aged between 14 and 17, have been [executed] in the northeastern Puntland region for their alleged role in the killing of three senior administration officials in February. A military tribunal meted the sentences.





There are plans to execute two more boys Muhamed Yasin Abdi (aged 17) and Daud Saied Sahal (15) also for their alleged membership of the Al-Shabaab and the killing of government officials.





Rights group, Amnesty International, said the boys were executed following a fundamentally flawed process during which they were tortured to confess, denied access to a lawyer and additional protections accorded to juveniles, and tried in a military tribunal.





"The lives of the remaining two boys must be spared," said Michelle Kagari, Amnesty International's deputy regional director.





Kagari said authorities should halt the executions and retry the boys in fair proceedings in a juvenile civilian court without recourse to the death penalty.





"The Puntland authorities must not allow more blood on their hands." Amnesty nonetheless demanded those responsible for killing the three administration officials be identified and be brought to justice. "Torturing juveniles to confess, subjecting them to an unfair trial and then executing them does not ensure this."





According to family members, the boys, who they denied were members of the Al-Shabaab, were subjected to electric shock, burnt with cigarettes on their genitals, beaten and raped into confessing to the murders.

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Source: CAJ News , May 2, 2017
A month after a ruling against Texas' standards for determining when someone is intellectually disabled  and, therefore, ineligible for the death penalty  justices sent a case back to Alabama courts for further review over similar questions.





A US Supreme Court decision from March over Texas' death penalty standards  specifically, how the state determines who is intellectually disabled  could have a ripple effect into another state with one of the country's largest death-row populations.





The Supreme Court on Monday ordered Alabama courts to reconsider whether the state's process for determining if a person is intellectually disabled, and thus ineligible for the death penalty, is constitutional in the wake of that March ruling.





Nearly 15 years ago, the Supreme Court held that it was unconstitutional for states or the federal government to execute intellectually disabled people. In that case  Atkins v. Virginia  and a follow-up case barring states from using a strict cut-off IQ measurement to determine intellectual disability, the court had left open questions about how a state could determine whether a person is intellectually disabled.





This past fall, however, the justices considered whether Texas used appropriate standards in making intellectual disability decisions in death penalty cases. The so-called Briseno factors used by Texas courts  a series of questions addressing adaptive skills  overemphasized a focus on adaptive strengths, the Supreme Court held in March, and were not appropriate.





Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing for the court's five-justice majority, wrote that the use of the factors "creat[ed] an unacceptable risk that persons with intellectual disability will be executed." Even Chief Justice John Roberts, who dissented from the court's ruling along with Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, wrote that he "agree[d] with the Court ... that those factors are an unacceptable method of enforcing the guarantee of Atkins."





The court sent Bobby James Moore's case back to the Texas courts to address his sentencing in light of the decision.





While Moore's case was pending before the justices, the lawyer for Taurus Carroll  on death row in Alabama  asked the justices to review Carroll's case on similar grounds. Carrol's lawyer, Benjamin Maxymuk, wrote that if the Supreme Court sided with Moore, Carroll "will be entitled to similar relief from his death sentence."









The justices did not take Alabama's advice. The court granted Carroll's case on Monday, vacated the lower court's judgment, and remanded the case to Alabama's Court of Criminal Appeals "for further consideration in light of Moore v. Texas."



Such a move is not uncommon when the justices issue decisions that have a bearing on similar laws in other states or affect related cases. Alabama balked, writing one day before the decision in Moore's case was handed down that Carroll's case "is distinguishable from Moore because the Alabama courts do not require a consideration of the seven evidentiary factors developed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in Ex parte Briseno"  in other words, Alabama did not use the Texas standards.The justices did not take Alabama's advice. The court granted Carroll's case on Monday, vacated the lower court's judgment, and remanded the case to Alabama's Court of Criminal Appeals "for further consideration in light of Moore v. Texas."Such a move is not uncommon when the justices issue decisions that have a bearing on similar laws in other states or affect related cases.





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Source: BuzzFeed News, Chris Geidner, May 3, 2017
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The disease is characterized by inflammation and a buildup of tissue around the eyes that cause them to bulge painfully from their sockets.

There has never been a safe and effective treatment for Graves' eye disease, also known as thyroid eye disease, for the one million Americans with the condition. Patients see inconsistent benefit from anti-inflammatory medicines and complex orbital surgery helps give some a more natural appearance once the disease has run its course.

The results of a clinical trial led by the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center offers hope for those with moderate-to-severe active TED. Patients had a significant reduction in eye symptoms after treatment with teprotumumab, a study drug the U.S. Food and Administration called a "breakthrough therapy."

Most study patients in the trial who got the active drug instead of a placebo had reduced eye bulging, eye pain and swelling and improved quality of life, the study's primary and secondary end points.

For some, the therapeutic benefit was rapid, occurring within six weeks of intravenous infusions of the drug that blocks what researchers say is an autoimmune attack on muscles around the eyes.

Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the clinical trial data represents 25 years of research led by the lead study author the Kellogg Eye Center's Terry J. Smith, M.D., an endocrinologist and Frederick G.L. Huetwell Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences.

TED is a rare condition associated with Graves' disease, an autoimmune disorder that causes an overproduction of thyroid hormone, or hyperthyroidism. Symptoms include swelling of the eyelids, constant stare, bulging eyes, eyelid retraction, optic neuropathy, double vision and other symptoms.

Approximately 25 to 50 percent of those with Graves' disease will develop TED, most of them women.

Previous findings in Smith's laboratory suggested that an insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R) plays an important role in Graves' disease and other autoimmune diseases.

"Specifically, we have found that there is an unusually high presence of IGF-1 receptors on cells surrounding the eye in TED," says Smith, who is widely recognized for his groundbreaking research on treatments for TED and related autoimmune disorders.

Building on this discovery, an outgrowth of basic science research conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles, and then at the Kellogg Eye Center, Smith and study author Raymond Douglas, M.D., Ph.D., a Graves' eye disease specialist and renowned oculoplastics surgeon, initiated the study of thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy.

"The eyes are particularly susceptible to Graves' disease because the autoimmune attack often targets the eye muscles and connective tissue surrounding the eye," Douglas says. "This occurs as a consequence of these tissues containing proteins that are shared with the thyroid gland."

The study, lasting 24 weeks and involving 88 patients, was the largest multi-center Graves' eye disease trial. Patients were recruited between July 2, 2013 and Sept. 23, 2015, from 15 sites across the United States as well as Italy and Germany and the United Kingdom.

Study investigators examined the benefit of teprotumumab, a monoclonal antibody shown to inhibit IGF-1 function and was originally developed as a cancer drug.

Although teprotumumab failed to exhibit efficacy in patients with cancer, the team believed it might be useful in interrupting the TED disease process.

At the end of the trial, 69 percent of study patients receiving infusions of teprotumumab once every three weeks had reduced eye bulging (proptosis) and increased quality of life compared to 20 percent in the placebo group.

Patients were randomly assigned to receive either a placebo or an active drug. Neither participants nor researchers knew which medicine was being used so they could describe what happened in the trial without bias.

Some participants had results after two injections at week six when, according to the study, a reported 43 percent of patients in the treatment group compared to 4 percent in the placebo group had a response.

Patients who responded to the treatment reached the study's primary end point of a reduction by 2 points or more in the severity of the disease, which was measured on a 7-point Clinical Activity Score, and reduction by 2 mm or more in the degree of proptosis. Secondary end points included better quality of life.

Those in the treatment group had a baseline Clinical Activity Score of 5.1. The marked reduction in proptosis is similar to the kind of results surgical patients would expect, authors note.

"The findings have implications for other autoimmune diseases in which IGF-1 reception has already been implicated such as rheumatoid arthritis," Smith says.

The most common side effect of treatment was nausea. Muscle spasms and diarrhea were also reported, particularly among patients with gastrointestinal disease. The only drug-related adverse event was hyperglycemia in patients with diabetes; these events were controlled by adjusting medication for diabetes.

The results provide inroads for a new therapy to safely minimize the severity of the eye condition.

"The study is one of two pivotal clinical trials needed to achieve registration of teprotumumab as the first approved therapy to prevent TED symptoms," says David Madden, president and chief executive officer of River Vision Corporation, which has entered an agreement to manufacture the drug with CMC Biologics in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The drug cannot be prescribed currently for TED patients. A follow-up clinical trial is underway, but not recruiting participants, and is expected to be complete in 2018.

###

River Vision sponsored the study and collaborated with academic researchers on the study design. Researchers received grants from the National Institutes of Health, Research to Prevent Blindness, the FDA's Office of Orphan Products Development, and others.
One of the last dinosaurs living in Africa before their extinction 66 million years ago has been discovered in a phosphate mine in northern Morocco. A study of the fossil, led by the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath, suggests that following the breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana in the middle of the Cretaceous period, a distinct dinosaur fauna evolved in Africa.

The new species, Chenanisaurus barbaricus, was of one of the last dinosaurs on Earth and among those species wiped out when an asteroid hit 66 million years ago

It is the smaller African contemporary of the North American T. rex

Fossil is evidence of distinct fauna in southern hemisphere at this time

Almost nothing is known about the dinosaurs that lived in Africa at the end of the Cretaceous period 66 million years ago, just before they were wiped out by the impact of a giant asteroid. At this time sea levels were high, and so most of the fossils come from marine rocks.

Among these are the phosphate deposits of Morocco -- remains of an ancient seabed, laid down 66 million years ago. The phosphate is harvested from vast strip mines and is used in everything from fertilizer to cola drinks.

Last year, Dr Nick Longrich, from the Milner Centre for Evolution and the Department of Biology & Biochemistry at the University of Bath, studied a rare fragment of a jaw bone that was discovered in the mines at Sidi Chennane in the Oulad Abdoun Basin, Morocco. In collaboration with colleagues based in Morocco, France, and Spain, Longrich identified it as belonging to an abelisaur.

Abelisaurs were two-legged predators like T. rex and other tyrannosaurs, but with a shorter, blunter snout, and even tinier arms. While the tyrannosaurs dominated in North America and Asia, the abelisaurs were the top predators at the end of the Cretaceous in Africa, South America, India, and Europe.

Dr Longrich explained: "This find was unusual because it's a dinosaur from marine rocks -- it's a bit like hunting for fossil whales, and finding a fossil lion. It's an incredibly rare find -- almost like winning the lottery. But the phosphate mines are so rich, it's like buying a million lottery tickets, so we actually have a chance to find rare dinosaurs like this one."

"We have virtually no dinosaur fossils from this time period in Morocco - it may even be the first dinosaur named from the end-Cretaceous in Africa. It's also one of the last dinosaurs in Africa before the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs.

"It's an exciting find because it shows just how different the fauna was in the Southern hemisphere at this time."

Named Chenanisaurus barbaricus, the newly discovered dinosaur stood on two legs and had stumpy arms. Dr Longrich added: "Abelisaurs had very short arms. The upper arm bone is short, the lower arm is shorter, and they have tiny little hands."

The teeth from the fossil were worn as if from biting into bone, suggesting that like T. rex, Chenanisaurus was a predator. However, unlike the partially feathered T. rex, Chenanisaurus had only scales, its brain was smaller, and its face was shorter and deeper.

The research project was carried out as part of an international scientific collaboration that is helping create and study paleontology collections in Morocco with the aim of conserving the country's rich fossil heritage. The specimens used for this study are conserved in the Office Cherifien de Phosphates paleontological collection in Morocco.

###

The team has published their results in the journal Cretaceous Research: Nicholas Longrich (University of Bath, UK), Xabier Pereda-Suberbiola (Universidad del Pais Vasco/EHU, Bilbao Spain), Nour-Eddine Jalil (UCA, Morocco - Museum national d'Histoire naturelle, France), Fatima Khaldoune & Essaid Jourani (OCP S. A, Morocco) (2017) "An abelisaurid from the latest Cretaceous (late Maastrichtian) of Morocco, North Africa" http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2017.03.021
The state's main funding bill advanced Wednesday night to final reading in the Legislature with more than a third of the senators dissenting.

Those who objected seemed to agree there should be more cutting and less spending.

They failed to adopt an amendment introduced by Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard, on a 19-10 vote, that would have carried over the budget amounts in effect this fiscal year to the 2017-19 budget, with the only increases for salaries and health insurance payments for state employees.

Twenty-five votes were needed to pass the amendment.

Senators then voted 28-18 to advance the bill (LB327). If it doesn't get 33 votes on final reading to enact an emergency clause, it would not go into effect for three calendar months after the Legislature adjourns, and the state could go without an effective budget for two months.

"You people don't have the guts to make cuts," Erdman told senators. "This budget is not going to work. When this budget doesn't work, don't blame me."

The vote seemed to go the way much of the session has gone, with many conservative Republican senators going their own way, frequently siding with Gov. Pete Ricketts on a number of issues.

Ricketts has been saying senators need to cut the budget more, rather than balance it by shifting funds and lowering the minimum reserve. The vote on a proposal by Appropriations Chairman John Stinner to lower the minimum reserve to 2.5 percent will come Thursday.

The Legislature spent hours of debate Wednesday on an amendment aimed at freeing the mainline budget bill of intractable wording addressing Title X women's health funding.

Stinner had come up with an amendment that would take the wording out of the bill (LB327) and ensure the issue was studied by a committee over the interim and put in the form of a standalone bill for next session.

The original language, which came from Ricketts' budget proposal, came to the attention of the Appropriations Committee late in its talks, and several members said they weren't given a good explanation of the meaning of the language.

In essence, Ricketts' wording would allow the Department of Health and Human Services to prioritize health clinics that give "comprehensive" women's care for federal Title X funding. The wording would also allow the department to spend "up to" a designated amount each year for the health services. Some senators feared that could allow the department to cut out certain clinics, such as Planned Parenthood and other clinics in smaller communities.

The Legislature had already spent a lot of time debating the issue last week, and was told then by Speaker Jim Scheer that senators on opposing sides must get together and come up with a compromise. That didn't happen.

Instead, anti-abortion senators came together and wrote their own amendment, filed by Omaha Sen. Joni Craighead. Her amendment would allow the department to disperse funds to a public or private facility that does not provide comprehensive care "if necessary to prevent severe limitation or elimination of access to services" in any region of the state.

Stinner's amendment first failed to get the 25 votes needed to be adopted. But after Lincoln Sen. Kate Bolz asked to reconsider the vote, senators gained the two votes necessary to pass the amendment.

That means the issue will be studied over the interim by a committee, most likely either the Judiciary or Health and Human Services committees, and come back as a policy issue rather than a budget issue.

As the time dragged on through the late afternoon Wednesday, Scheer told senators he supported Stinner's amendment and was critical of the way the women's health funding language entered the bill.

"I'm actually quite perturbed that this would slip into a budget bill. It was an intentional action," he said.

If Ricketts or Lt. Gov. Mike Foley or the Catholic Diocese wanted the language, they should have put it in a separate bill, he said.

"From my perspective, and I'm going to sound like Sen. (Ernie) Chambers, you're being used," Scheer said.

"They know darn well that the budget has to get passed at some time. This is the wrong way to do business. We can all talk about the Nebraska way. Well, this sure as hell is not the Nebraska way."




antarctica larsen c ice shelf rift nov 2016 john sonntag nasa gsfc

A crack in Larsen C, one of Antarctica's largest ice shelves, could shed a block of ice twice the size of Rhode Island.

The crack recently split in two and forked northward.

When the ice calves, more ice behind the block could destabilize and push into the sea.

A slab of ice nearly twice the size of Rhode Island is breaking off a massive Antarctic glacier, and new satellite images do not bode well for the block's survival.

The giant ice block is part of the Larsen C ice shelf, which is the leading edge of one of the world's largest glacier systems. A single large crack in the ice shelf has rapidly developed since 2010, lengthening to about 120 miles.

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.

Now scientists say that a 6-mile fork in the rift has formed at its leading edge. While the main part of the rift doesn't seem to have grown over the past couple of months, the new branch points northward, toward the Southern Ocean  making it seem more likely the ice block will break off.

"When it calves, the Larsen C ice shelf will lose more than 10% of its area to leave the ice front at its most retreated position ever recorded," scientists Adrian Luckman and Martin O'Leary, both with Swansea University in the UK, wrote in a blog post. The post, published Monday, said that when the slab breaks off, it "will fundamentally change the landscape of the Antarctic Peninsula."

Other satellite data shows the block moving toward the Southern Ocean faster than the rest of Larsen C, widening the rift.

"Although the rift length has been static for several months, it has been steadily widening, at rates in excess of a meter per day," Luckman and O'Leary wrote for the Melt on Ice Shelf Dynamics and Stability project, or MIDAS. "This widening has increased noticeably since the development of the new branch."

Story continues

The Larsen C ice shelf is located off Antarctica's prominent peninsula and is called a shelf because it floats on the ocean. It's normal for ice shelves to calve big icebergs as snow accumulation gradually pushes old glacier ice out to sea. But the consequences of this ice block splitting off could be huge.

A growing rift

larsen c ice shelf diagram antarctica

The piece of floating ice in question is colossal  it's at least 1,100 feet thick at the edge (it grows thicker inland) and roughly 2,000 square miles in area. It's destabilizing quickly, a process likely accelerated by human-caused climate change.

Previous satellite images suggest the crack in Larsen C opened around 2010 and had lengthened by dozens of miles by June 2016. In November 2016, a team of scientists in NASA's Operation IceBridge survey flew over the rift and confirmed that it was at least 80 miles long, 300 feet wide, and one-third of a mile deep.

Then in January 2017, another group of researchers  the MIDAS group, based out of Swansea University  revealed that the entire block of ice was hanging on by 12 miles of unfractured ice. Luckman, a glaciologist with MIDAS at Swansea, began sounding the alarms.

"If it doesn't go in the next few months, I'll be amazed," Luckman said in a January 6 press release. "It's so close to calving that I think it's inevitable."

This graphic shows the crack's progression until Monday using data from the US Geological Survey's Landsat-1 satellite and the European Space Agency's Sentinel-1 InSAR satellite:

antarctica larsen c ice shelf crack midas sar rift map 2017 05 01

In the Sentinel-1 satellite data depicted below, the white, hot pink, and magenta colors show the places where the ice's surface is moving the fastest  and where the ice block is threatening to break off.

Red and orange show relatively quick speeds, while the slowest speeds are shown in yellow, green, and blue.

antarctica larsen c ice shelf crack midas sar rift map february april may 2017 luckman midas swansea labeled

Luckman and O'Leary say it's difficult to get an exact read on the crack's progress because it's currently winter in Antarctica, making it tough to see.

NASA's Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite, or ICESat, used to provide more current, year-round views of Antarctic ice. But that mission ended in 2009, so researchers now have to fly over the region to confirm estimates of the crack.

The next similar satellite, ICESat-2, isn't scheduled for launch until 2018. President Donald Trump's transition team in December 2016 suggested the administration might strip NASA of funding for such earth science missions, which date back to the formation of the space agency 59 years ago. However, Trump's signing of a new NASA law may mean the program will continue.

"Rifting of this magnitude doesn't happen so often, so we don't often get a chance to study it up close," Joe MacGregor, a glaciologist and geophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, previously told Business Insider in an email. "The more we study these rifts, the better we'll be able to predict their evolution and influence upon the ice sheets and oceans at large."

NASA's program to fly over the ice with airplanes is funded through 2019 and is (poetically) called IceBridge.

The big breakup

antarctica larsen c ice shelf rift crack nov 2016 john sonntag nasa gsfc.JPG

When the block breaks off, it could be the third-largest in recorded history.

MacGregor said it would then "drift out into the Weddell Sea and then the Southern Ocean and be caught up in the broader clockwise ... ocean circulation and then melt, which will take at least several months, given its size."

Computer modeling by some researchers suggests the calving of Larsen C's big ice block mightdestabilize the entire ice shelf, which is about 19,300 square miles  roughly two times as large as Massachusetts  via a kind of ripple effect.

But MacGregor and Luckman have both downplayed this possibility.

"We would expect in the ensuing months to years further calving events, and maybe an eventual collapse  but it's a very hard thing to predict, and our models say it will be less stable," Luckman said in the release, adding that it wouldn't "immediately collapse or anything like that."

However, a rapid ice-shelf collapse would not be unprecedented.

In 2002, a large piece of the nearby Larsen B ice shelf snapped off, but within a month  and quite unexpectedly  an even larger swath of the 10,000-year-old feature behind it rapidly disintegrated. The rest of Larsen B may splinter by 2020.

If there's any good news about the rift in Larsen C, it's that the ice shelf "is already floating in the ocean, so it has already displaced an equivalent water mass and minutely raised sea level as a result," MacGregor previously said. In other words, when the iceberg melts, it won't cause the sea level to rise any further.

The bad news is that if all of Larsen C collapses, the ice it holds back might add another 4 inches to sea levels over the years  and that it's just one of many major ice systems around the world affected by climate change.

NOW WATCH: Antarctica is melting more than scientists thought, and its creating giant waterfalls





More From Business Insider
Steve Bannon with his whiteboard

A tweet on Tuesday offered a glimpse into the policy priorities of President Donald Trump's chief strategist, Steve Bannon.

Shmuley Boteach, a prominent Orthodox rabbi, met with Bannon on Tuesday and posted a photo of the two in front of a whiteboard on the wall of Bannon's White House office.

The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza reported in March on the existence of the whiteboard, which he said Bannon had installed after removing much of the furniture in the office.

Lizza said Bannon had scrawled on the board every campaign promise Trump made. CNN reported last week that the whiteboard had four column headings: "Make," "America," "Great," and "Again."

Boteach's photo is the first photographic evidence of its existence.

By looking closely at the photo, it's possible to make out lists of pledges on Obamacare, tax reform, infrastructure, and immigration.

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available on iOS and Android.

There are checkmarks next to several immigration priorities, some of which have not been achieved, such as "suspend the Syrian refugee program," and others that have been or are coming to fruition, including "end 'catch and release,'" "hire 5,000 more border patrol agents," "triple the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents," and "restore the secure communities program."

One of the most notable priorities reads, in part, "build the border wall and make Mexico ... "

The visible parts of the whiteboard don't contain any surprises  all are campaign promises or stated goals of the Trump administration.



With Steve Bannon and Debbie at the White House on #IsraelIndependenceDay2017. Thank u Steve for your love of Israel pic.twitter.com/xrU4nLUyYU

 Rabbi Shmuley (@RabbiShmuley) May 2, 2017

Boteach's photos made the rounds on Twitter, with Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" tweeting an edited photo with fake to-do list items like "repeal and replace First Amendment" and "find new host body."

Story continues



Steve Bannon's whiteboard to-do list exposed pic.twitter.com/pCXsZXk4bs

 The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) May 3, 2017



Bannon planning whiteboard accidentally revealed... https://t.co/Gtmrq5tcPI

 DRUDGE REPORT (@DRUDGE_REPORT) May 3, 2017

NOW WATCH: Spicer struggles to clarify remarks after falsely claiming that Hitler didnt use chemical weapons



More From Business Insider
LIMA, May 3 (Reuters) - Peru's Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday in favor of a farmer who Newmont Mining Corp claimed had illegally occupied its land, dealing a blow to the U.S. miner's long-stalled efforts to build a $5 billion gold mine in the Andean country.

A lower court had ruled in favor of potato farmer Maxima Acuna in 2014, a decision Newmont appealed. While the court's Wednesday ruling upholding the lower court's decision in the criminal case is final, two civil cases to determine ownership of the land are still winding through the courts.

Newmont put plans to build its Conga mine on hold after violent protests broke out in Peru's northern Cajamarca region, one of the country's poorest and its second-largest in gold production. Environmentalists said the mine would poison local water sources and displace people living and farming there.

Acuna had said her home was destroyed as part of the mine's construction, and that the family's attempts to rebuild it have been blocked. Newmont's Peruvian unit Minera Yanacocha SRL, in which Peru's Buenaventura SAA is a junior partner, took her to criminal court, saying she had "usurped" its land.

"I feel happy and relieved that here in the capital [the court] has also provided justice," Acuna, who won the Goldman Prize for environmental activism last year, said after the court hearing on Wednesday. "I only hope not to suffer more abuse from the company."

Speaking to reporters after the court decision, Yanacocha lawyer Christian Schroder said the company considered the disputed lands part of its property. Yanacocha is open to "dialogue with the family to not continue all these cases underway," he said.

Yanacocha's namesake mine, also in Cajamarca, has historically been the country's largest, but production has fallen in recent years. Conga has been expected to offset dwindling output at the aging Yanacocha, and Buenaventura told Reuters earlier this year it was studying a long-term business plan with Newmont that could include Conga. In a statement, Yanacocha said it would respect the Supreme Court decision and would "continue defending the company's rights" through the pending civil court cases. (Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Luc Cohen; editing by Diane Craft)
DAKAR, May 2 (Reuters) - Senegal's President Macky Sall dismissed his energy minister on Tuesday, the president's office said in a statement that gave no reason for the sudden move.

Thierno Alassane Sall, an aeronautical engineer by training who is not related to the president but is among his longtime collaborators, had been in the post since 2015.

Senegal is on the verge of a potential oil and gas boom, as newly discovered fields off its Atlantic coastline are expected to begin production within the next decade.

Companies including British-based Cairn Energy and Dallas-based Kosmos Energy have reported a string of successful finds in recent years that could transform Senegal's agricultural economy.

The energy portfolio will now be managed by Prime Minister Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne, the statement said. (Reporting by Diadie Ba; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Catherine Evans)
Danish English

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, May 4, 2017 - Bavarian Nordic A/S (OMX: BAVA, OTC: BVNRY) announced today its interim financial results for the first three months of 2017. Below is a summary of the financial performance for the period and business progress for the last quarter. The full interim report is attached as a PDF file and can be found on the company's website, www.bavarian-nordic.com.

Key highlights from the report

In April, a Phase 2 combination study of PROSTVAC, ipilimumab and nivolumab was initiated at the National Cancer Institute.

In March, a drug supply agreement was entered with Roche, providing Tecentriq  (atezolizumab) for a planned Phase 2 combination trial of CV301 in bladder cancer.

In February, updated Phase 1 data for MVA-BN RSV were reported, demonstrating that the vaccine induced a durable immune response lasting at least 6 months; a period spanning a normal RSV season. Furthermore, additional T cell responses were reported, showing that MVA-BN RSV induced a strong (3-5 fold) booster response to all five RSV proteins included in the vaccine.

In January, Henrik Birk was appointed Chief Operating Officer

"I am very pleased with the progress at the company, year to date. We continue to execute on our CV301 strategy, with the addition of Roche as a clinical collaborator, and we are preparing for the numerous milestones throughout the rest of the year. With key events including proof of concept data for RSV, interim and final readout for PROSTVAC, as well as final phase 3 data for liquid-frozen IMVAMUNE, we have a diverse and rich pipeline and remain very excited about the prospects to come," said Paul Chaplin, President & Chief Executive Officer of Bavarian Nordic.

Financial performance

Revenues in the first quarter of 2017 were largely derived from the sale of IMVAMUNE bulk drug substance to U.S. Government, contributing to a break-even result for the period, which was in line with the Company's expectations. There were no revenues from sale of IMVAMUNE bulk drug substance during the same period in 2016.

DKK million USD million 3m 2017 3m 2016 3m 2017 3m 2016 Revenue 198 23 28 3 EBIT (3) (153) 0 (22) Cash preparedness, period-end 2,448 1,365 352 196

Outlook for 2017

The Company maintains its financial expectations for 2017. For detailed assumptions, refer to the 2016 Annual Report.

2017E DKK million USD million Revenue 1,300 187 EBIT 350 50 Cash preparedness, year-end * 2,400 345

* Cash preparedness includes cash, cash equivalents, investments in securities and the aggregate amount of undrawn credit lines. This includes a EUR 50 million unsecured loan from the European Investment Bank, which the Company anticipates drawing on.

Danish kroner (DKK) is the Company's functional currency. All USD figures provided above are based upon an assumed exchange rate of DKK 6.96 per 1.00 USD, which was the exchange rate as of March 31, 2017.

Conference call and webcast

The management of Bavarian Nordic will host a conference call today at 2 pm CEST (8 am EDT) to present the interim results followed by a Q&A session. Dial-in numbers for the conference call are: Denmark: +45 32 71 16 60, UK: +44 (0) 20 3427 1911, USA: +1 646 254 3364. Participant code is 7659153. A live and archived webcast of the call and relevant slides will be available at http://www.bavarian-nordic.com/investor/events.aspx?event=5049.

About Bavarian Nordic

Bavarian Nordic is a fully integrated biotechnology company focused on the development, manufacturing and commercialization of cancer immunotherapies and vaccines for infectious diseases, based on the Company's live virus vaccine platform. Through long-standing collaborations, including a collaboration with the U.S. government, Bavarian Nordic has developed a portfolio of vaccines for infectious diseases, including the non-replicating smallpox vaccine, IMVAMUNE, which is stockpiled for emergency use by the United States and other governments. The vaccine is approved in the European Union (under the trade name IMVANEX) and in Canada. Bavarian Nordic and its partner Janssen are developing an Ebola vaccine regimen, which has been fast-tracked, with the backing of worldwide health authorities, and a vaccine for the prevention and treatment of HPV. Additionally, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute, Bavarian Nordic has developed a portfolio of active cancer immunotherapies, including PROSTVAC, which is currently in Phase 3 clinical development for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. The company has partnered with Bristol-Myers Squibb for the potential commercialization of PROSTVAC. For more information visit www.bavarian-nordic.com or follow us on Twitter @bavariannordic.

Forward-looking statements

This announcement includes forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of our control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning our plans, objectives, goals, future events, performance and/or other information that is not historical information. All such forward-looking statements are expressly qualified by these cautionary statements and any other cautionary statements which may accompany the forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances after the date made, except as required by law.

Contacts

Rolf Sass Srensen

Vice President Investor Relations (EU)

Tel: +45 61 77 47 43

Seth Lewis

Vice President Investor Relations (US)

Tel: +1 978 341 5271

Company Announcement no. 11 / 2017
Awilco Drilling PLC's First Quarter 2017 report will be released prior to market opening on Thursday 11 May 2017. A quarterly presentation will be held on Thursday 11 May 2017 at 10:30 CET in Awilhelmsen's offices at Beddingen 8, Aker Brygge, Oslo, Norway. Please send an e-mail to ch@awilcodrilling.com by 9 May if you wish to attend the presentation.



A conference call will be held on Thursday 11 May 2017 at 14:00 UK time (15:00 CET / 09:00 EST). The presentation will be available for download on the Investor Relations section (go to "Press Releases") at www.awilcodrilling.com prior to the call. There will be a Q&A session after the presentation.



Click this link to register for the conference call, or copy and paste the following address into your browser:

http://members.meetingzone.com/selfregistration/registration.aspx?booking=LN6lmtWbyEiqCOFnRTyp1BzBtm2b3ooR0kp9AIN2WyI=



Once registered, you will receive an email with dial-in numbers and pins.



Aberdeen, 4 May 2017





For further information please contact:



Jon Oliver Bryce, CEO

Phone: +44 1224 737900



Cathrine Haavind, IR Manager

Phone: +47 9342 8464



This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
ASKER, NORWAY (4 May 2017) - TGS will release its Q1 2017 results at approximately 07:00 CEST on 10 May 2017. CEO Kristian Johansen and CFO Sven Brre Larsen will present the results at 09:00 CEST at the Hotel Continental, Stortingsgata 24/26 in Oslo, Norway. The presentation is open to the public and can be followed live on the internet at www.tgs.com.

The slides from the presentation will also be available in PDF format at both the TGS and Oslo Stock Exchange websites.

CEO Kristian Johansen and CFO Sven Brre Larsen will host a conference call on 10 May 2017 at 15:00 CEST (09:00 EDT). Attendees may want to call 5-10 minutes before to ensure registration and access.

Norwegian attendees are invited to call +800 51084 or +47 2350 0296

International attendees are invited to call 0800 279 7204 or +44 (0)330 336 9412

US attendees are invited to call +1 800 730 9234 or +1 719 325 4746

Participants will need to quote the following confirmation code when dialing into the conference: 6000372.

A Q&A session will follow a short introduction, based upon the presentation issued in the morning. To pose a question, please press *1.

A replay of the conference call will be available shortly after. To access replay of the TGS conference call,

dial +47 23 50 00 77 (Norway), +44 (0) 207 660 0134 (International) or +1 719 457 0820 (US)

replay access code 6000372 followed by # (pound-sign).

A replay of the conference call will also be available at www.tgs.com.



Company summary

TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company (TGS) provides multi-client geoscience data to oil and gas Exploration and Production companies worldwide. In addition to extensive global geophysical and geological data libraries that include multi-client seismic data, magnetic and gravity data, digital well logs, production data and directional surveys, TGS also offers advanced processing and imaging services, interpretation products, and data integration solutions.

For more information visit TGS online at www.tgs.com.







Forward-looking statements and contact information

All statements in this press release other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, which are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict, and are based upon assumptions as to future events that may not prove accurate. These factors include TGS' reliance on a cyclical industry and principle customers, TGS' ability to continue to expand markets for licensing of data, and TGS' ability to acquire and process data products at costs commensurate with profitability. Actual results may differ materially from those expected or projected in the forward-looking statements. TGS undertakes no responsibility or obligation to update or alter forward-looking statements for any reason.

TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company ASA is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSLO:TGS).

TGS sponsored American Depositary Shares trade on the U.S. over-the-counter market under the symbol "TGSGY".



For additional information about this press release please contact:



Sven Brre Larsen

Chief Financial Officer

Tel: +47 90 94 36 73

Email: sven.larsen@tgs.com

Will Ashby

VP HR & Communication

Tel: +1 713 860 2184 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Email: will.ashby@tgs.com

This information is subject of the disclosure requirements acc. to 5-12 vphl (Norwegian Securities Trading Act)
How I got a 750 (Q49, V42) on the GMAT. [ #permalink

17 Kudos 13 Bookmarks

Background

I am a married father of 2 kids and I am in the military. I grew up in an African country and went to college there as well, graduating with a GPA of 3.74/4.00. I decided to take the GMAT in the Fall of 2015 but it was not until March 2016 that I started studying for the test. Because of the nature of my job, that is being constantly out in the field where study conditions are abysmal and usually working late nights and early mornings - as early as 5 am- whenever I was back at home, I knew that I needed a lot of time to study and immerse myself in it before I could take the test. I did not want to waste money taking tests I was not prepared for. So, I gave myself a year to study.



I split my studying into 4 stages:

1) knowing and understanding all the concepts that the GMAT tests;

2) applying the concepts by practicing GMAT questions;

3) gaining mastery by using specialized prep material and practicing 700 Level questions

4) taking full-length practice tests to include AWA and IR.





Materials that I used for Stage 1: knowing the concepts

1. Strategy Guides to include the Foundations of GMAT Math and Verbal: this is the singular best introduction to GMAT concepts but in my opinion, it is not enough.

2. GMATPrepnow by Brent Hanneson: He has tons of free videos on Youtube. I would listen to this while I drove in my car. He has mastered the art of simplifying the GMAT material

3. by Jeff Sackmann



Materials that I used for Stage 2: applying the concepts

1. 2017

2. Quant Review for Official Guides 2017

3. Verbal Review for Official Guides 2017

4. GMATClub Forum Questions: ( now you have to be careful here so that you don't go crazy as there are a lot of questions. So I decided to solve and understand 50 questions per concept and mostly choose questions from reputable test prep companies)



Materials for Stage 3: Gaining Mastery

1. Bible: the most important thing I learned from Powerscore is that once you identify the conclusion, your job is half done.

2. Question Pack 1 (494 Questions): while is good, this is better. If you really want to help yourself, invest in this

3. GMATClub Forums (700 Level Questions): I tried to master and mirror Bunuel's problem-solving skills.

4. : I only used the quant tests and I never did take the full-length tests. I was more interested in solving the questions and understanding how Bunuel arrived at his solutions so easily. Bunuel has quantitative eloquence and if you really want to score high in GMAT Quant, try and read everything he has solved on the GMATClub.



Materials for Stage 4: Practice Tests

1. GMATPrep Software Exams 1 and 2

2. Exam Pack 1 and 2



I think the best practice tests are the GMAT's tests. After finishing a test. I would reset and the software would spit out new questions. Some of the questions were repeated and my scores were no longer accurate but I just wanted access to the questions. I did this for about 4 times for each test and I made sure to review over and over again those I got wrong and even some that I got right because there is a tendency to forget how you solved some questions.



These were my scores:

GMATPrep Exam 1 : 710 (March 4, 2017)

GMATPrep Exam 2 : 690 (March 27,2017)

GMATPrep Exam 3 : 730 (April 16, 2017)

GMATPrep Exam 4 : 690 (April 21,2017)



Needless to say, I was very discouraged with the 690 scores and I had to persuade myself to keep on practicing, reviewing and mastering the aspects of the tests that I found challenging.

I decided to stop taking the practice tests because it was too close to my test date and I did not want to be discouraged if I scored below my target range of 730-760. Because of that I never used Exam Pack 2; I still have it unopened. One thing I learned from taking the practice test is that your GMAT Score bounces within a certain range and the score you get on a certain day is dependent on factors such as chance and mental preparedness.



Study Schedule

Because of my work schedule, I knew I would have to study for awhile before I was ready to take the test. The disadvantage with this strategy was that the longer I studied, the more prone I was to forget the materials that I first learned. So to fight this, I became adept at note-taking and constantly reviewing the study materials.

So this was my study plan:

Monday to Fridays, 2 hours minimum daily and usually from 3 am to 5 am.

Saturdays and Sundays, 6 hours minimum. 4 am to 8 am before my family woke up and 2 hours later in the day depending on how things turned up.



I still had to be there for my family. Just because I was studying did not mean I stopped being a father or husband, but my family also made a lot of sacrifices to accommodate my study schedule. Now I must tell you that although this was what I tried to achieve, it didn't always work out as I planned. There were times when I did not study for a long time like when I traveled out of the country for 3 weeks, or when I had my second child and I couldn't study for a full month or the 3 times I was out in the field. But I always resumed my studies with a vengeance.



Things I learned

1. The GMAT has a finite number of concepts that it tests but an infinite way of testing these concepts, so the only way to answer these questions in the shortest time possible is to develop a sense of pattern recognition and this is only possible by only immersing yourself in the test preparation. Practice, practice, and practice. Understanding the concepts is not enough, you have to apply these concepts through practice questions, over and over and over again. They have to become a part of you.

2. I decided later during my preparations to stop using third party questions and tests for my verbal prep because I realized that the GMAT has a unique way of writing their verbal questions that other prep companies have failed to replicate. I continued using third party tests and questions for quant.

3. Note-taking is very important. I never knew how valuable this was until the final hours of my study when I started going through all of my notes and the concepts just came alive in my mind. It gave me a certain mental calm. I did not go into the test hall feeling empty and this prevented anxiety.

4. Brent Hannesson's gmatprepnow is fantastic. If there is one resource you want to use for GMAT preparation, then use this. Nobody will teach you permutation, combinations, and probability better than he taught me. He essentially boiled everything down to counting. Like I said earlier, he has mastered the art of simplifying GMAT material.

5. Read the review of by mcelroytutoring. It did fantastic things for me.

6. Finally, pick a concept and hammer it till you know it dead cold. Stop jumping around without mastering the concepts.

7. For Sentence Correction, I would solve like 70 questions at a go, identify my mistakes and start solving all over again. After awhile, I recognized the patterns and common traps. For RC, immerse yourself in the passage, understand it, love it, let it be the most important thing in the world to you at that moment and then go onto the questions. There are times I would spend 5 mins to understand a passage and then answer the questions in less than 30-35 seconds each. It was eventually more efficient than having to bounce between the questions and passage. CR was the toughest challenge for me in the verbal section but again, review, review, and review because it is all about understanding the concepts, understanding your errors and pattern recognition.





Test Day

I scheduled the test 24 hours before I took it because I just got tired of studying and angry at the 690 score I got some days earlier. I figured that I wouldn't get smarter between now and another 7 days and I wanted to find out where I stood. I broke the rule of resting before testing; I didn't sleep for more than 3 hours the night prior to the test because I wanted to review everything I had invested time in studying. I was worked late and also had to take my daughter to a program in her school so I stayed up till 1 am and I woke up 4 am. I drove 90 mins to the test center, began my test at 8 am, took a quick break after every section to use the bathroom and drink water.



I finished and saw my scores: Q 49, V 42 and IR 6. Total 750 (98 percentile). Official Score came out today and I scored 5 on AWA.

I was more relieved than happy in the first few seconds because it meant that I could sleep well that night.
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
Mayor Chris Beutler said Thursday he wants Lincoln to continue as an open sanctuary to refugees from a diverse array of backgrounds.

Beutler said he hopes everyone does their part to build a welcoming, supporting community for all those who would call this place home during the 33rd annual Mayors Interfaith Prayer Breakfast.

Beutler quoted the famous inscription engraved on a plaque inside the Statue of Liberty's pedestal and said the words are still as relevant as ever.

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.  To many, this phrase is America, he said. We have truly lost our bearings if our nation is no longer willing to play that important role in the world.

This years prayer breakfast theme was Building Community in a Divided World. It featured Lincoln native and the co-founder and president of Social Emergence Corporation, Preeta Bansal.

Bansal discussed how changes within individuals can promote unity and acceptance. Hundreds of community and religious leaders attended the event at the Cornhusker Marriott Hotel.

Bansal was raised in Lincoln and attended Lincoln East High School before attending Harvard Law School.

She argued cases in the U.S. Supreme Court, helped with former President Barack Obamas campaign in 2008 and traveled the world to address U.S. foreign policy concerns relating to religious extremism and human rights. Yet she still didnt feel like she was making enough of a difference.

All of that was very much focusing on how I change the world, how I make my mark on the world, how I make the world a better place  but I started feeling, in some ways, it feels like a zero-sum game, and it feels fleeting, she said. Some laws can come and change it all and undo it with a stroke as a pen, as weve seen.

So Bansal decided to return to Lincoln and focus on making changes on a smaller scale.

I started feeling that the biggest transformations in history have come from transformation within the human heart. And because of that, I started realizing in my own transformation, was to go from this feeling of big to small and to go from outside in to inside out," she said.

Bansal referenced Albert Einsteins theory of relativity and quantum physics in her argument. Because all matter is the same, the barriers between us are permeable, she said. So while peoples opinions or beliefs may differ, Bansal said, were all interconnected parts of a whole.

Every single interaction I have with a so-called other is an interaction I have with myself, she said. So we should love thy neighbor as thyself because thy neighbor is thyself.

Bansal said studies have shown that tiny shifts in the community can make huge shifts overall. One study in Washington, D.C., found that after thousands of people started meditating regularly in the city, the violent crime rate went down, she said.

A small, critical mass of people can change the energy of a community," she said. "Real change happens from the inside out, and from the small to the big.
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 ...
A man was pulled out of a grain bin in Raymond Thursday afternoon after being stuck for about two hours.

Raymond Fire and Rescue Assistant Chief Nick Monnier said the man,55, was stuck below his waist and his injuries weren't life-threatening.

The Lancaster County Sheriff's Office and fire departments from Raymond, Malcolm, Valparaiso, Ceresco and Lincoln assisted the man at Farmers Cooperative, 14540 Union Pacific Railroad.

The co-op moved grain from one bin to another when the auger got plugged, Monnier said. While unplugging it, the grain began moving again, trapping the man.

One co-op member was able to help the man free one leg before crews arrived, but grain continued to fall.

Shutting off the auger helped tremendously, Monnier said. "We were lucky enough that someone was there with him."

The center of the bin was down about 5 to 6 feet, but sides were about 20 feet high with grain, Monnier said. Three holes were cut on one side of the bin to get grain out.

The man had been stuck in the bin since about 11:15 a.m., LSO said.

Lincoln Fire and Rescue's technical unit, a Star Care helicopter and a K2 Construction vacuum truck also assisted.
Immunohistochemistry for alpha-synuclein showing positive staining (brown) of an intraneural Lewy-body in the Substantia nigra in Parkinson's disease. Credit: Wikipedia

A study published in February in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that doxycycline, an antibiotic used against bacterial infections for over a half-century, can be prescribed at lower doses for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

According to the authors, doxycycline reduces the toxicity of -synuclein, a protein that, under certain conditions, forms abnormal accumulations of aggregates in central nervous system cells, which are damaged as a result. The death of dopaminergic neurons (which produce the neurotransmitter dopamine) is the main event relating to the development of symptoms including tremor, slow voluntary movement and stiffness, among others. There are currently no drugs capable of halting the progress of this degenerative process.

Three Brazilian scientists participated in the study, which was supported by FAPESP: Elaine Del-Bel, affiliated with the University of Sao Paulo's Ribeirao Preto Dental School (FORP-USP), and Leandro R. S. Barbosa and Rosangela Itri, at the same university's Physics Institute (IF-USP) in the city of Sao Paulo.

"We have exciting data from experiments with mice and great expectations that the neuroprotective effect will also be observed in human patients," Del-Bel said. "This treatment could stop Parkinson's from progressing, and we therefore plan to start a clinical trial shortly."

The discovery occurred five years ago, when Marcio Lazzarini, a former student of Del-Bel, was pursuing postdoctoral studies at the Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine in Germany. While looking for possible alternative treatments for Parkinson's in experiments with mice, the group used a well-known model for inducing a similar condition. The model consists of administering 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), a neurotoxin that causes the death of dopaminergic neurons.

"To our surprise, only two of the 40 mice given 6-OHDA developed symptoms of Parkinsonism, while the rest remained healthy," Del-Bel said. "A lab technician realized the mice had mistakenly been fed chow containing doxycycline, so we decided to investigate the hypothesis that it might have protected the neurons."

The group repeated the experiment, adding a second group of animals that were given doxycycline in low doses by peritoneal injection instead of receiving it in their feed. Both cases were successful.

Understanding the mechanisms behind the neuroprotective effect of doxycycline was the focus of the most recent studies, conducted in collaboration with the group led by Rosana Chehin, a researcher at the University of Tucuman in Argentina, as well as Rita Raisman-Vozari and Julia Sepulveda-Diaz, researchers at the Brain & Bone Marrow Institute (ICM) in Paris, France.

In these new trials, which involved structural and spectroscopic characterization methods, the focus was the protein -synuclein, considered one of the leading causes of dopaminergic neuron death. "-Synuclein is a small, unstructured protein that, in the presence of the cellular membrane, aggregates to form fibrils with multiple regularly ordered layers of beta sheets along the axis. We call these amyloid fibrils. It's been proven that large amyloid fibrils of this protein aren't toxic to cells; what damages cells is the so-called oligomeric stage formed by small amounts of aggregated -synuclein. These oligomers can damage neuron membranes," Itri said.

The researchers synthesized small oligomers of -synuclein and conducted in vitro trials to find out whether doxycycline interfered in the process of aggregation and fibril formation.

With a combination of three techniquesnuclear magnetic resonance, X-ray scattering and infrared spectroscopythey were able to observe two distinct situations. In medium without doxycycline, -synuclein aggregated and began forming amyloid fibrils. In medium containing the antibiotic, -synuclein formed another type of aggregate with a different shape and size. "In the tests with cultured cells and model membranes, we observed that they caused no damage to the cell membrane," Itri said.

The tests in culture were performed in immortalized human neuroblastoma cells. Using transmission electron microscopy, the group observed that the presence of doxycycline in the culture medium reduced -synuclein aggregation by more than 80 percent. "As a result, cell viability increased by more than 80 percent," Del-Bel said.

Del-Bel has more deeply investigated the effects of treatment with doxycycline on mice. "We haven't published any data yet, but I can say right away that doxycycline improves the symptoms of the disease in the animal model," Del-Bel added. "Preliminary results suggest that besides its anti-inflammatory action via a reduction in the release of some cytokines, doxycycline also alters the expression of key genes for the development of Parkinson's."

According to Del-Bel, evidence in the scientific literature shows that -synuclein aggregates on and causes damage to not just neurons but also astrocytes and other glial cells. Besides Parkinson's, therefore, the process is associated with the development of other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Lewy body dementia (LBD), the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's. Future studies will investigate whether doxycycline can also have a beneficial effect in these other situations.

More information: Florencia Gonzalez-Lizarraga et al. Repurposing doxycycline for synucleinopathies: remodelling of -synuclein oligomers towards non-toxic parallel beta-sheet structured species, Scientific Reports (2017). Journal information: Scientific Reports Florencia Gonzalez-Lizarraga et al. Repurposing doxycycline for synucleinopathies: remodelling of -synuclein oligomers towards non-toxic parallel beta-sheet structured species,(2017). DOI: 10.1038/srep41755
An international study involving Sarah B. Mulkey, M.D., Ph.D. aims to answer one of the most vexing questions about Zika: If babies' brains appear "normal" at birth, have they survived Zika exposure in the womb with few neurological repercussions? Credit: Children's National Health System

Fattened up on bites of potatoes, yucca and chicken starting at 4 months, some of the babies wearing sporty clothes and frilly dresses are rolly-polly chubby. As striking as their sizable girth are their heads, beautifully round and fully formed with none of the deep skin folds that corroborate the Zika virus' devastating ability to halt normal brain expansion as infants develop in utero.

During a recent trip Sarah B. Mulkey, M.D., Ph.D., made to Colombia, where Children's National Health System researchers are collaborating on a clinical study, she tested Zika-affected babies' motor skills as they sat, stood, and lay facing upward and face down. The international study aims to answer one of the most vexing questions about Zika: If babies' brains appear "normal" at birth, have they survived Zika exposure in the womb with few neurological repercussions?

"We don't know the long-term neurological consequences of having Zika if your brain looks normal," says Dr. Mulkey, a fetal-neonatal neurologist who is a member of Children's Congenital Zika Virus Program. "That is what's so scary, the uncertainty about long-term outcomes."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in 10 pregnancies across the United States with laboratory-confirmed Zika virus infection has resulted in birth defects in the fetus or infant. For the lion's share of Zika-affected pregnancies, then, babies' long-term prospects remain a mystery.

"This is a huge number of children to be impacted and the impact, as we understand, has the potential to be pretty significant," Dr. Mulkey adds.

Dr. Mulkey, the lead author, will present the research group's preliminary findings during the 2017 annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS). The presentation is among a number during the meeting that will focus on the Zika virus. Roberta L. DeBiasi, M.D., M.S., chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Children's National, organized two invited symposia devoted to the topic of Zika: Clinical perspectives and knowledge gaps, and the science of Zika, including experimental models of disease and vaccines. Dr. DeBiasi's presentation will include an overview of the 68 Zika-exposed or infected women and infants seen by Children's multidisciplinary Congenital Zika Virus Program.

"As the world's largest pediatric research meeting, PAS2017 is an ideal setting for panelists to provide comprehensive epidemiologic and clinical updates about the emergence of Congenital Zika Syndrome and to review the pathogenesis of infection as it relates to the fetal brain," Dr. DeBiasi says. "With temperatures already rising to levels that support spread of the Aedes mosquito, it is imperative for pediatricians around the world to share the latest research findings to identify the most effective interventions."

As one example, Dr. Mulkey's research sought to evaluate the utility of using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to evaluate fetal brain abnormalities in 48 babies whose mothers had confirmed Zika infection during pregnancy. Forty-six of the women/infant pairs enrolled in the prospective study are Colombian, and two are Washington, D.C. women who were exposed during travel to a Zika hot zone.

The women were infected with Zika during all three trimesters and experienced symptoms at a mean gestational age of 8.4 weeks. The first fetal MRIs were performed as early as 18 weeks' gestation. Depending upon the gestational age when they were enrolled in the study, the participants had at least one fetal MRI as well as serial ultrasounds. Thirty-six fetuses had a second fetal MRI at about 31.1 gestational weeks. An experienced pediatric neuroradiologist evaluated the images.

Among the 48 study participants, 45 had "normal" fetal MRIs.

Three fetuses exposed to Zika in the first or second trimester had abnormal fetal MRI:

One had heterotopia and an early, abnormal fold on the surface of the brain, indications that neurons did not migrate to their anticipated destination during fetal brain development. This pregnancy was terminated at 23.9 gestational weeks.

One had parietal encephalocele, a rare birth defect that results in a sac-like protrusion of the brain through an opening in the skull. According to the CDC, this defect affects one in 12,200 births, or 340 babies, per year. It is not known if this rare finding is related to Zika infection.

One had a thin corpus callosum, dysplastic brainstem, heterotopias, significant ventriculomegaly and generalized cerebral/cerebellar atrophy.

"Fetal brain MRI detected early structural brain changes in fetuses exposed to the Zika virus in the first and second trimester," Dr. Mulkey says. "The vast majority of fetuses exposed to Zika in our study had normal fetal MRI, however. Our ongoing study, underwritten by the Thrasher Research Fund, will evaluate their long-term neurodevelopment."

Adre J. du Plessis, MB.Ch.B., M.P.H., director of the Fetal Medicine Institute and senior author of the paper, notes that this group "is a very important cohort to follow as long as Dr. Mulkey's funding permits. We know that microcephaly is among the more devastating side effects caused by Zika exposure in utero. Unanswered questions remain about Zika's impact on hearing, vision and cognition for a larger group of infants. Definitive answers only will come with long-term follow-up."

Many of the Colombian families live in Sabanalarga, a relatively rural, impoverished area with frequent rain, leaving pockets of fresh water puddles that the mosquito that spreads Zika prefers, Dr. Mulkey adds. Families rode buses for hours for access to fetal MRI technology, which is not common in Colombia.

"The mothers are worried about their babies. They want to know if their babies are doing OK," she says.
New research indicates that sustained fluid overloadwhen there is too much fluid in the bloodmay increase the risk of early death in kidney failure patients on hemodialysis. The findings, which appear in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN), point to the importance of monitoring and treating fluid overload in these patients.

Sustained fluid overload can have a variety of consequences, including swelling, discomfort, hypertension, and heart problems. Although it is a major cause of concern for patients with kidney failure who are on hemodialysis, only a few small studies have looked at the relationship between fluid overload and premature death in these patients.

To investigate, Carmine Zoccali, MD (CNR-IFC, Clinical Epidemiology and Physiopathology of Renal Diseases and Hypertension of Reggio Calabria, Italy) and his colleagues examined an extensive clinical database of a large international dialysis network. The team's analyses were based on more than 200,000 measurements of fluid status in 39,566 patients initiating hemodialysis in 26 countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America.

The researchers studied the relationship between fluid overload measured just once at the start of regular dialysis treatment and mortality, as well as the relationship between cumulative exposure to fluid overload over 1 year and mortality. They found that cumulative fluid overload over 1 year predicted a higher risk of death than the single measurement made at the start of regular dialysis treatment. "Ours is the first study providing information about the risk of persistent fluid overload in dialysis patients," said Dr. Zoccali. "Remarkably, the excess risk for death attributable to persistent fluid overload was similar to the risk observed with coronary artery disease, heart failure, and being 12 years older."
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

As the number of smart phones, tablets, electronic games and other handheld screens in U.S. homes continues to grow, some children begin using these devices before beginning to talk. New research being presented at the 2017 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting suggests these children may be at higher risk for speech delays.

Researchers will present the abstract, "Is handheld screen time use associated with language delay in infants?" on Saturday, May 6 at the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco. The study included 894 children between ages 6 months and 2 years participating in TARGet Kids!, a practice-based research network in Toronto between 2011 and 2015.

By their 18-month check-ups, 20 percent of the children had daily average handheld device use of 28 minutes, according to their parents. Based on a screening tool for language delay, researchers found that the more handheld screen time a child's parent reported, the more likely the child was to have delays in expressive speech. For each 30-minute increase in handheld screen time, researchers found a 49 percent increased risk of expressive speech delay. There was no apparent link between handheld device screen time and other communications delays, such as social interactions, body language or gestures.

"Handheld devices are everywhere these days," said Dr. Catherine Birken, MD, MSc, FRCPC, the study's principal investigator and a staff pediatrician and scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). "While new pediatric guidelines suggest limiting screen time for babies and toddlers, we believe that the use of smartphones and tablets with young children has become quite common. This is the first study to report an association between handheld screen time and increased risk of expressive language delay."

Dr. Birken said the results support a recent policy recommendation by the American Academy of Pediatrics to discourage any type of screen media in children younger than 18 months. More research is needed, she said, to understand the type and contents of screen activities infants are engaging in to further explore mechanisms behind the apparent link between handheld screen time and speech delay, such as time spent together with parents on handheld devices, and to understand the impact on in-depth and longer-term communication outcomes in early childhood.

Lead author Julia Ma, HBSc, an MPH student at the University of Toronto, will present the abstract, "Is handheld screen time use associated with language delay in infants?" at 10:30 a.m.
Credit: New York University

In the United States (U.S.), one in every five households speaks a language other than English at home. Research has shown, as English language proficiency decreases, positive healthcare outcomes also decrease. Limited English proficiency (LEP) patients are at higher risk of 30-day readmissions, longer length of stay in both the inpatient and emergency room settings, and adverse events.

The adverse effects of language gaps may be most pervasive in home health care settings where the implementation of interpreter services is difficult and highly inconsistent, making effective communication between healthcare professionals and patients challenging. There is a paucity of research in this area, according to New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing (NYU Meyers) researcher Allison Squires, FAAN, PhD, RN.

"The lack of research about the impact of language barriers on patient outcomes in home health care represents a point of vulnerability for LEP patients as they transition through the healthcare system," said Dr. Squires.

"This is an ongoing challenge for health care providers," commented Dr. Penny Feldman of the Center for Home Care Policy and Research at the Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY), who noted that VNSNY deploys bilingual clinicians and interpreters where possible.

In a recently published paper in Home Health Care Management and Practice, Dr. Squires and her team from NYU and the VNSNY aimed to fill this knowledge gap.

"In the study, we explored the potential vulnerability in home health care service delivery by examining the frequency of language-concordant visit patterns among home health patients using electronic health records and organizational administrative datasets," notes Dr. Squires.

The study, "An Exploratory Analysis of Patient Provider Language-Concordant Home Health Care Visit Patterns," examined language concordance visits for registered nurses (RN) and physical therapists (PT). They defined a language-concordant visit as a duty call where the provider spoke the same language as the patient, or an interpreter accompanied the provider. The study used data from home health care services in the New York City area, representing the dominant immigrant demographics: English, Chinese, Italian, Greek, Korean, Patois, Russian, Spanish, Yiddish, and others.

According to the results, only 18.1% of RN visits and 26.7% of PT visits with LEP patients were language concordant. Korean speakers had the highest percentage of language-concordant visits by RNs, with 31.3% of visits in that category, followed by Russian (22.4%) and Chinese speakers (18.7%). Despite the fact that Spanish is the second most spoken language in the U.S., only 13.1% of RN visits with Spanish speaking patients were language-concordant.

Among LEP patients receiving PT services, Koreans also had the highest percentage of language-concordant visits at 45.1%, with Chinese (30.1%) and Russian (25.1%) speakers also rounding out the top three. Only 12% of PT visits with Spanish speakers were language concordant. Dr. Squires notes that these findings also point to a lack of understanding of the language-capacity of the U.S. healthcare workforce, and calls for more research on this subject, as it is an integral piece to determining the impactand how to increase the percentage oflanguage-concordant healthcare visits.

"The broader significance of these findings is that as societies diversify through immigration, the demand for language-concordant health services will rise," said Dr. Squires. "Locations that are 'new' to managing the linguistic diversity brought about by changing immigration patterns, can learn from organizations in locations with more experience handling the issue and potentially find mutually beneficial solutions to addressing the problem," agreed Dr. Feldman.

Frequency (or lack thereof) of language-concordant health care encounters also has the potential to highlight cultural competence, unconscious bias, and discrimination in health services. How the language barriers in health care delivery are addressed from the nursing assistant up through the Chief Executive Officermay reflect broader attitudes within the organization toward racial, ethnic, and linguistic minorities.

"A failure to adequately respond to demand for language-concordant services could, for example, be a reflection of how staff deliver and organize care or an organization's operational philosophy around addressing health disparities in the populations they serve," said Dr. Squires. "More research is needed to determine the right 'dose' of bilingual home care visits to optimize home care outcomes and establish a standard for care."

Ensuring that language-concordant encounters happen across the care continuum is an important strategy for increasing access to care at the earliest stages, thereby reducing readmission risks, and improving care transitions throughout the healthcare system.

The researchers note that by exploring this phenomenon in the home health care setting, this study provides a solid starting point for addressing the problem of lack of concordant-language encounters and may inform how data related to language are managed in other health care settings. It is the hope of Dr. Squires and her team that this data will serve as a foundation to build a better understanding of the complexity of this issue.

More information: Allison Squires et al. An Exploratory Analysis of Patient-Provider Language-Concordant Home Health Care Visit Patterns, Home Health Care Management & Practice (2017). Allison Squires et al. An Exploratory Analysis of Patient-Provider Language-Concordant Home Health Care Visit Patterns,(2017). DOI: 10.1177/1084822317696706
Credit: Imperial College London

Chemistry students are making compounds that may help treat diseases thanks to an open collaboration with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative.

The Open Synthesis Network (OSN) is a partnership between the non-profit research and development organisation Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) and five universities from the UK, US and India.

Both undergraduate and Masters students at Imperial, which is DNDi's UK partner, design and synthesise potential anti-parasite compounds that the DNDi is interested in testing.

In its first year, the students have been working on compounds targeting the neglected disease visceral leishmaniasis  an illness that kills up to 30,000 people yearly. The disease is caused by parasites transmitted by sandflies, and is characterised by prolonged fever, enlarged spleen and liver, substantial weight loss, and progressive anemia, eventually leading to death if untreated.

Students investigated compounds that kill Leishmania donovani and Leishmania infantum, the parasites that cause visceral leishmaniasis.

The OSN process involves DNDi sharing data on existing compounds from one of its active research projects with all university participants. These existing compounds have anti-parasite properties, but tweaks to their structure or make-up could make them more effective.

Visceral leishmaniasis causes enlarged spleen and liver and substantial weight loss. Credit: WHO

DNDi thus have a list of 'wanted' compounds that they would like to test. It is these compounds the students try to synthesise. Students at Imperial on the MSci Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry synthesise a compound over several weeks as part of their third-year project.

Masters students on the MRes Drug Discovery and Development collaborate with the DNDi to design and synthesise new compounds, and also to investigate parasite chemical and molecular biology to identify drug targets.

All work generated by OSN will be published in the public domain in real time and remain free of intellectual property, allowing faster development.

Professor Ed Tate, Course Director for the MRes Drug Discovery and Development said: "These projects allow our students to do real innovative science at the cutting edge of drug development. They have access to every part of the process, including designing, synthesising and testing.

"Our students get the opportunity to work with a global organisation doing the best science for the most neglected tropical diseases, contributing to international development and networking with their peers across three continents.

"In return, the students provide the DNDi with the opportunity to investigate aspects of potential drug molecules that they would not have the resource to look at in detail themselves. We could open up a new avenue of collaborative discovery if we find something of interest, which they could then quickly move into preclinical development."

Leishmaniasis is transmitted by sandflies. Credit: CDC PHIL

"This is the first open, ongoing project of its type, and could provide an interesting template for future collaboration with the pharmaceutical industry."

Dr David Mountford, Senior Teaching Fellow and admissions tutor for the MSci Chemistry with Medicinal Chemistry said: "New and novel initiatives such as this train students to an exceptionally high level, such that they are more than capable of becoming the drug discovery champions of the future."

The Open Synthesis Network brings together five universities: The Shobhaben Pratapbhai Patel School of Pharmacy & Technology Management at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) in Mumbai, India; the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) in Hyderabad, India; Imperial College London, UK; Northeastern University in Boston, USA; and Pace University in New York City, USA.

Ben Perry, Senior Discovery Manager at DNDi said: "Through the Network, students contribute to a real-life medicinal chemistry project with the potential to make a concrete impact with the results of their lab work.

"DNDi gets to access their creativity and the collective synthetic power of university training in a way that could resolve some of the research and development challenges we are facing in our quest to bring new treatments to neglected patients."
Polygenic Risk Scores for ER+ and ER- Breast Cancer. Credit: Study authors

Although the odds of developing breast cancer are nearly identical for black and white women, black women are 42 percent more likely to die from the disease. This mortality gap - driven by social and environmental, as well as biological factors - continues to persist.

A large, multi-institutional study, published on-line May 4, 2017, in JAMA Oncology, was designed to understand this gap by beginning to unravel the germline genetic variations and tumor biological differences between black and white women with breast cancer. This is the first "ancestry-based comprehensive analysis of multiple platforms of genomic and proteomic data of its kind," the authors note.

Findings from this study could lead to more personalized risk assessment for women of African heritage and hasten the development of novel approaches designed to diagnose specific subtypes of aggressive breast cancers early and treat them effectively.

One new finding is that black women with hormone receptor positive, HER2-negative breast cancer had a higher risk-of-recurrence score than white women. The study also confirmed that black patients were typically diagnosed at a younger age and were more likely to develop aggressive breast-cancer subtypes, including basal-like or triple-negative cancers (tumors lacking estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors and HER2), as well as other aggressive tumor subtypes.

"People have long associated breast cancer mortality in black women with poverty, or stress, or lack of access to care, but our results show that much of the increased risk for black women can be attributed to tumor biological differences, which are probably genetically determined," said study author Olufunmilayo Olopade, MD, professor of medicine and human genetics at the University of Chicago.

"The good news," she said, "is that as we learn more about these genetic variations, we can combine that information with clinical data to stratify risk and better predict recurrences - especially for highly treatable cancers - and develop interventions to improve treatment outcomes."

"This is a great example of how team science and investments in science can accelerate progress in identifying the best therapies for the most aggressive breast cancers," said co-author Charles Perou, PhD, a member of the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and professor of genetics, and pathology & laboratory medicine at the UNC School of Medicine.

"In the largest dataset to date that has good representation of tumors from black women, we did not find much difference between the somatic mutations driving tumors in black and white women," he added. "Yet black women were more likely to develop aggressive molecular subtypes of breast cancer. Now we provide data showing that differences in germline genetics may be responsible for up to 40 percent of the likelihood of developing one tumor subtype versus another."

The study used DNA data collected from 930 women - 154 of predominantly African ancestry and 776 of European ancestry - available through The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), established by the National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute. The researchers combed through the data methodically, looking for racial differences in germline variations (normal DNA), somatic mutations (tumor acquired), subtypes of breast cancers, survival time, as well as gene expression, protein expression and DNA methylation patterns.

Study author Olufunmilayo Olopade, M.D. is a professor of medicine and human genetics at the University of Chicago. Credit: The University of Chicago Medicine

"Most significantly," explained first author Dezheng Huo, MD, PhD, associate professor of public health sciences at the University of Chicago, "we observed a higher genetic contribution to estrogen-receptor negative breast cancer in blacks."

Black women were more likely to get these highly aggressive cancers. This is one of the first studies to connect genetics to this racial difference in tumor subtype frequencies.

The study also revealed 142 genes that showed differences in expression levels according to race. One gene, CRYBB2 (Crystallin Beta B2), was consistently higher in tumors from black patients within each breast cancer subtype, as well as in normal tissues, suggesting it may be a race-specific gene.

The researchers also found somatic mutations in 13 genes or DNA segments that differed in frequency in tumors from black and white women. One of them, a mutated gene called TP53, was more common in black women (52%) than white women (31%) and was a strong predictor of disease recurrence.

"Despite the relatively short follow-up time in the TCGA dataset, we were able to detect a significant racial disparity in patient survival using breast cancer-free interval as the endpoint between patients of African and European ancestries," said co-first author Hai Hu, PhD, vice president for research at the Chan Soon-Shiong Institute of Molecular Medicine at Windber. "Most of the worst outcomes came from basal-like subtype breast cancer patients of African Ancestry."

"Black women in all categories, including the most common breast cancers, were likely to have a worse prognosis," Olopade said.

"Understanding the basic, underlying genetic differences between black and white women, the higher risk scores and the increased risk of recurrence should lead us to alternative treatment strategies," said Perou.

The crucial long-term benefit of this study, according to Olopade, is that "it is a step toward the development of polygenic biomarkers, tools that can help us better understand each patient's prognosis and, as we learn more, play a role in choosing the best treatment."

"Genes matter," she added. "This is a foot in the door for precision medicine, for scientifically targeted treatment."

"This study now outlines a path for us to personalize breast cancer risk assessment and develop better strategies to empower all women, especially black women, to know their genetics and be more proactive in managing their risk," Perou said.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

New research has revealed that apps installed on smartphones can be used to significantly reduce anxiety.

Joseph Firth, from The University of Manchester, led the first ever meta-analysis of all published evidence on the effect of smartphone-based therapies on anxiety in 1,837 people.

The study, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, is a collaboration between The University of Manchester, Harvard University, University of Melbourne and the Black Dog Institute in Australia.

It showed that overall, smartphone interventions reduced anxiety significantly more than control conditions  suggesting new digital therapies could be useful for managing the condition.

Smartphone apps, argue the team, may be best used for augmenting face-to-face therapy and other psychological treatment  rather than replacing standard care.

Because psychologists are seeing increasing numbers of young people suffering from anxiety disorders, mental health services struggle to meet their needs.

But up to now, the effectiveness of using apps to reduce and manage anxiety as a possible solution to the problem - has been heavily disputed.

Joseph Firth said: "Smartphones could be a novel way to help treat anxiety: they are now owned by the majority of people, and are particularly popular with younger people.

"And that presents a new opportunity for psychological care provision in a non-stigmatizing, self-managing format.

"Looking at individual studies we find that smartphone apps which aim to promote overall mental health and well-being, rather than focusing specifically on anxiety alone, may be most consistently effective.

"There is currently no evidence to suggest that using apps alone can outperform standard psychological therapies, or replace the use of anti-anxiety medications. This is an area for future research to explore."

Dr. John Torous from Harvard University said "As digital technologies continue to advance, and our scientific understanding of mental health deepens, smartphones may well present a novel method for wide-scale delivery of personalized, effective and affordable treatment for anxiety and other mental disorders."

More information: Joseph Firth et al. Can smartphone mental health interventions reduce symptoms of anxiety? A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials, Journal of Affective Disorders (2017). Journal information: Journal of Affective Disorders Joseph Firth et al. Can smartphone mental health interventions reduce symptoms of anxiety? A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials,(2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2017.04.046
LSTM, University of Washington and international researchers publish the most comprehensive international analysis on artemisinin combination antimalarials safety in pregnancy

Malaria is more common and severe in pregnant women, increasing their risk of miscarriage and other adverse outcomes. The adverse consequences of malaria in pregnancy require prompt, safe, and effective treatment. However, limited data on the safety of the most efficacious and widely used antimalarial medications, artemisinin combination therapies (ACTs), has prevented ACTs from being recommended in the first trimester except in life-saving circumstances. The World Health Organization currently recommends the use of ACTs in pregnant women in the 2nd or 3rd trimester.

An international collaboration led by first authors Stephanie Dellicour of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK, and Esperanca Sevene of the Manhica Health Research Centre/Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique, and senior author Andy Stergachis of University of Washington School of Pharmacy and School of Public Health released the largest meta-analysis of all observational studies-to-date showing there was no difference in the risk of miscarriage, still births or major birth defects associated with the use of artemisinins anytime during the first trimester, compared with quinine. The study, "First- trimester artemisinin derivatives and quinine treatments and the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes in Africa and Asia: A meta-analysis of observational studies," was published in PLoS Medicine and coordinated through the Malaria in Pregnancy Consortium, established in 2007 at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to improve the control and prevention of malaria in pregnancy.

"This study is clearly significant and reflects many years of work in Thailand and Africa by a large group of scientists," said LSTM's Professor Feiko ter Kuile, head of the Malaria in Pregnancy consortium. "We have been able to show that artemisinins, which we know to improve outcomes in malaria, are as safe to use in the first trimester as quinine, which is currently recommended in the first trimester, but needs to be taken 3 times per day for 7 days. Quinine is associated with transient side effects such a ringing in the ears and dizziness, leading women not to complete their treatment course and risking inadequately treating their malaria. The artemisinin-based combinations are more efficacious, much better tolerated and can be taken over three days."

The team analyzed data from five studies involving 30,618 pregnancies: four studies from Zambia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, and one large study from the Thailand based Shoklo Malaria Research Unit. They examined the records of women who had taken artemisinins for malaria, including during the first trimester of pregnancy. In malaria endemic countries, many early pregnancies are advertently or inadvertently exposed to artemisinins because women are not aware they are pregnant or do not report an early pregnancy.

The team summarized all available safety data on the effect of artemisinin exposure in the first trimester and compared the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, and major congenital anomaly for pregnancies treated with artemisinin, quinine, or no antimalarials in the first trimester.

Through their meta-analysis, they determined the risk of miscarriages, stillbirths, and major anomalies associated with first-trimester artemisinin treatment versus quinine. The results were then combined with summary effect estimates from the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit on the Thailand-Myanmar border.

They found no increase in the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, or major birth defects associated with the use of artemisinins anytime during the first trimester compared with the use of quinine during the same gestational period. These findings suggest that the artemisinin class of antimalarials should be considered for treatment of malaria in the first trimester of pregnancy. The limited data on the risk of birth defects require further observational studies.

Limited safety data on the use of artemisinins in human pregnancies have historically prevented health authorities from recommending these therapies for malaria treatment in the first trimester, except in life-saving circumstances. It is possible that this study may result in a major change to recommended guidelines for the administration of artemisinins in the first trimester of pregnancy.

"Our results show that artemisinins can now be formally considered for first trimester treatment," said Andy Stergachis, Professor of Pharmacy and Global Health, University of Washington. While there is more work to be done in terms of monitoring birth defects, the available evidence suggests that the benefits of using this class of antimalarial are likely to outweigh any adverse outcomes and could help save the lives and maintain the pregnancies of women when they are most vulnerable to malaria."

More information: Stephanie Dellicour et al. First-trimester artemisinin derivatives and quinine treatments and the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes in Africa and Asia: A meta-analysis of observational studies, PLOS Medicine (2017). Journal information: PLoS Medicine Stephanie Dellicour et al. First-trimester artemisinin derivatives and quinine treatments and the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes in Africa and Asia: A meta-analysis of observational studies,(2017). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002290
(HealthDay)A controversial new Netflix series, "13 Reasons Why," has renewed public focus on the tragedy of teen suicideand a new study suggests its release is timely.

The report finds that the number of American kids admitted to children's hospitals for suicidal thoughts or self-harm more than doubled during the last decade.

Diagnoses of suicidal thoughts or attempted self-harm increased from 0.67 percent of all kids treated in 2008 to 1.79 percent in 2015, according to data from 32 children's hospitals across the United States.

Suicidal thoughts or attempts among kids appear to fluctuate with the school calendar, reaching their lowest levels during the summer and spiking in the fall and spring, said lead researcher Dr. Gregory Plemmons. He is an associate professor of pediatrics at Vanderbilt University, in Nashville, Tenn.

"Clearly, school can be a driver" for teen suicide, Plemmons said, although he added that the reasons behind this association are unclear.

"You can't point your finger at any one thing," Plemmons said. "For some kids, academic performance and stress is being reported as a trigger. For other kids, it may be cyberbullying through social media and other things that aren't as common in the summer as during the school year."

Psychologists and educators have been concerned that "13 Reasons Why," adapted from a best-selling young adult novel, is glamorizing suicide. As a result, Netflix announced Monday that it is adding viewer warnings to the show's opening, to deter copycat behavior.

The series centers on the suicide of a teenage girl who leaves behind 13 cassette tapes, each addressed to a person who she claims played a role in the decision to end her own life.

Teen suicide "has been in the media" with the new series, which "a lot of teenagers have been watching," Plemmons said.

"You want to increase awareness," he said. "We don't want to minimize the very real issues that teenagers are struggling with, with depression and suicide. We certainly don't want to glamorize suicide, but the more we can reduce the stigma associated with mental illness and depression, hopefully the better prevention will be."

In the study, Plemmons and his colleagues found over 118,000 hospital encounters between 2008 and 2015 where a child was diagnosed with suicidal thoughts or self-harm. The findings were scheduled for presentation May 7 at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting, in San Francisco. Research presented at meetings is considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Slightly more than half of the patients with suicidal thoughts or actions were between the ages of 15 and 17, while another third were aged 12 to 14. An additional 13 percent of patients were between the ages of 5 and 11, the findings showed.

Significant increases were found in all age groups, but tended to be higher among older children. Teens aged 15 to 17 had the largest increase, followed by 12- to 14-year-olds.

Dr. Victor Schwartz, chief medical officer of the JED Foundation in New York City, believes academic pressure plays a large role in childhood stress, particularly in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. The JED Foundation is a national suicide prevention nonprofit.

"Kids have a tremendous uncertainty about what their job and economic futures are. If you don't excel and don't get in that group of winners, you're not going to be in a good place," Schwartz said. "For a lot of these kids, it always feels like it's a very high-stakes game. There's no room for making mistakes or having things go wrong or getting a B or C in a class."

The largest increase seemed to be among teenage girls, an observation consistent with other studies, Plemmons said.

"We certainly know puberty is a driver for suicide," Plemmons said. "The average age at which females reach puberty has shifted over the last several decades. Girls are now going into puberty earlier, so that's one consideration."

However, these numbers also might have increased because health care professionals are becoming more adept at detecting kids at risk, Plemmons added.

"We are hopefully screening more for it, and if you screen more you're going to pick up more kids with these thoughts," he said.

A second study presented at the meeting illustrated the challenges in detecting teenagers who might be at risk for suicide.

Researchers found that few teenagers will actually reach for the word "depressed" to describe negative emotions that are weighing them down.

Parents, educators and doctors instead must rely on other clues that indicate depression, said study co-author Daniela DeFrino, an assistant professor of research in the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine and College of Nursing.

Teens suffering from depression are more likely to say they are "stressed" or "anxious" or "down," DeFrino said.

"We found that it might be easy to miss some of the ways teens are talking about how they are feeling," DeFrino said.

Other common clues of teen depression included:

Increased anger and irritability.

A loss of interest in activities once enjoyed.

Altered sleep patterns, including insomnia or oversleeping.

Two-thirds of the teens also had visited their doctor for physical illnesses, such as ulcers, migraines, stomach pains and fatigue.

Researchers drew these clues from interviews conducted with 369 teens aged 13 to 19 at risk for depression who participated in a federally funded clinical trial.

The teens often noted school pressures, family turmoil and the deaths of those close to them as sources of stress or difficulty.

Schwartz said it makes sense that kids might not use the same words as adults to express sadness or depression.

"It's not self-evident that young kids and teens always have the language to talk about their emotional experiences," Schwartz said.

More information: For more on teen suicide prevention, visit For more on teen suicide prevention, visit youth.gov

Copyright  2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Physician administers vaccine to adolescent. Credit: Black Patterson, Flickr

Of the millions of people at risk for contracting tuberculosis each year, many are already infected with helminths, parasitic worms including Schistosoma flatworms. In some cases, parasite infections can impair the ability of an immunization to work. But adolescents infected with Schistosoma mansoni respond as well as uninfected teens do to a candidate booster tuberculosis vaccine, according to a new study in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Helminths infect over a billion people worldwide, and hundreds of millions of people in Africa require treatment for schistosomiasis each year. Tuberculosis is a similarly widespread global health problem, with an estimated 9.6 million new cases and 1.5 million deaths in 2014. Efforts to develop a tuberculosis vaccine focus among others on adolescents, who have a transmissible form of the disease, but who also have a high prevalence of helminth infections in countries where helminths are endemic. The existing Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine prevents against severe tuberculosis in childhood but not the transmissible form common in teenagers and young adults.

In the new phase II open label trial, Anne Wajja, of the MRC/UVRI Uganda Research Unit, and colleagues tested the investigational tuberculosis vaccine MVA85A on 36 healthy adolescents from Uganda who had all previously received the BCG vaccine. Half had no helminth infections and the other half were infected only with Schistosoma mansoni. The researchers measured the immune response to the vaccine in each patient and recorded any adverse events.

All patients had an immune response to the tuberculosis vaccine, with no difference between those infected with Schistosoma mansoni and those uninfected. Moreover, there were no serious adverse events during the course of the study.

"These findings are important and encouraging for the development of TB vaccines in general," the researchers say, "and support the further development of booster TB vaccines for populations in tropical countries."

More information: Wajja A, Kizito D, Nassanga B, Nalwoga A, Kabagenyi J, Kimuda S, et al. (2017) The effect of current Schistosoma mansoni infection on the immunogenicity of a candidate TB vaccine, MVA85A, in BCG-vaccinated adolescents: An open-label trial. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 11(5): e0005440. Journal information: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases Wajja A, Kizito D, Nassanga B, Nalwoga A, Kabagenyi J, Kimuda S, et al. (2017) The effect of current Schistosoma mansoni infection on the immunogenicity of a candidate TB vaccine, MVA85A, in BCG-vaccinated adolescents: An open-label trial.11(5): e0005440. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0005440
Transmission electron microscope image of negative-stained, Fortaleza-strain Zika virus (red), isolated from a microcephaly case in Brazil. The virus is associated with cellular membranes in the center. Credit: NIAID

A new model for assessing real-time risk of a Zika virus epidemic in the United States is described in research published in the open access journal BMC Infectious Diseases. The computer simulation, based on data from Texas including population dynamics, historical infection rates, socioeconomics, and mosquito density, is designed to help policymakers gauge the underlying epidemic threat as cases first appear in US cities.

In 2016, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that public health officials trigger epidemic intervention when two non-familial locally-acquired cases of Zika are reported in an area. However, Zika importation and transmission rates vary widely, meaning that two such cases may pose very different threats in different locations. In this study, the authors describe a computer model that can be used to calculate the probability that the presence of two Zika cases in a given area will lead to an epidemic, based on real-time simulations of all the counties in the state of Texas.

Across the 254 counties in the state of Texas, the model predicted that Harris County, which includes the city of Houston, and Travis County, which includes the city of Austin, have the highest rates of Zika introductions by infected travellers. The counties located in the southeastern area of Texas were found to have the highest risk of Zika transmission from one person to another. The one Zika outbreak that occurred in Texas in Cameron County in November of 2016 falls within this region.

By combining all the data, the researchers found that the risk of a Zika epidemic varies widely across Texas counties. Even if two cases are reported locally, most Texas counties will have nearly no risk of an epidemic, while a few will have greater than 50% epidemic risk.

Spencer Fox, co-lead author and PhD Student at the University of Texas at Austin, said: "Our model was designed to quantify the risk of local Zika outbreaks as cases accumulate across Texas, taking into account international travel patterns, mosquito habitat, and the low detection rate of Zika infections. Its flexible framework can be readily applied to other US states and adapted for risk assessments of other emerging arboviruses, including Chikungunya, Dengue, and Yellow fever."

Lauren Castro, co-lead author and PhD student at The University of Texas at Austin, said: "The CDC's recommendation to intervene following two reported Zika cases should ensure early action everywhere, even though Zika epidemic risk can vary enormously, even within a single state. Our model quantifies that variation in risk and can help officials prioritize high risk areas for monitoring and intervention resources."

Dr. Lauren Ancel Meyers, senior author and Professor at The University of Texas at Austin, added: "Zika outbreaks require the importation of the disease by infected travellers followed by local mosquito-borne transmission. Our model combines these processes to estimate local emergence risk. It enables policymakers to think carefully about risk tolerancethe certainty required before intervening and the potential consequences of premature or delayed interventions."

This is the first study to assess both the risk of Zika arrival to an area and the risk of local spread by mosquitoes. The flexibility of the model design means that as new information becomes available on Zika dynamics, epidemiology and biology it can be updated to help public health officials assess situational awareness, according to the researchers

More information: Lauren A. Castro et al, Assessing real-time Zika risk in the United States, BMC Infectious Diseases (2017). Lauren A. Castro et al, Assessing real-time Zika risk in the United States,(2017). DOI: 10.1186/s12879-017-2394-9
Effective Measure has released its website traffic statistics for April 2017, which show that News24 is the largest website in South Africa  with 7 million unique local browsers.

Effective Measure is the official traffic measurement partner of the IAB South Africa and provides accurate traffic and demographics statistics for SAs top websites.

Gumtree ranked second with 4.3 million local browsers, followed by TimesLive with 3.5 million.

The table below shows the top websites in South Africa, based on South African unique browsers.

Only IAB-affiliated websites running Effective Measures tracking code are included in the table.

A comprehensive look at South Africas websites and their visitor numbers is available here: South African Internet Map.

Biggest South African Websites Websites Unique SA Browsers Page Views news24.com 6 966 197 77 327 960 gumtree.co.za 4 343 686 106 876 557 timeslive.co.za 3 468 303 21 535 766 iol.co.za 2 735 660 15 374 039 ewn.co.za 2 596 615 13 460 092 msn.com 2 400 602 38 014 163 enca.com 1 891 157 7 235 389 fin24.com 1 794 144 7 314 187 citizen.co.za 1 756 089 6 976 357 sowetanlive.co.za 1 741 791 13 871 553 mybroadband.co.za 1 676 445 6 354 425 autotrader.co.za 1 572 884 61 057 130 soccerladuma.co.za 1 571 325 34 310 975 supersport.com 1 443 112 30 831 442 huffingtonpost.co.za 1 379 072 4 562 020 dstv.com 1 306 398 11 408 072 Cars.co.za 1 305 480 46 251 739 Careers24.com 1 286 348 18 934 049 Huisgenoot 1 278 267 7 624 252 sport24.co.za 1 261 240 9 333 148

Top online publishers in South Africa

Effective Measure also tracks statistics for online publishers, showing the total reach of a publishers websites.

The table below details the top online publishers in South Africa, ranked according to local readership.

Biggest South African Publishers Publisher Unique SA Browsers Page Views 24.com 16 762 784 413 438 800 Times Media LIVE 5 823 893 48 856 844 Caxton Digital 5 245 946 27 214 187 Gumtree 4 350 388 107 000 922 Kagiso Media Limited 4 264 961 62 828 658 365 Digital Media 3 281 354 16 532 562 Independent Online 3 158 513 17 978 771 DStv Digital Media 2 901 273 44 172 642 MyBroadband 2 403 881 8 666 789 Sabido 2 194 944 17 396 436 Auto Trader 1 647 692 73 588 491 Soccer-Laduma 1 590 796 36 166 494 Cars.co.za 1 309 568 46 350 879 Maroela Media 1 221 138 11 405 589 BBC Sites 1 180 646 10 551 683 SABC 1 091 421 4 783 345 Mail & Guardian Online 1 087 690 3 655 499 Perform Sports Group 1 007 695 28 000 617 PNet 1 002 581 18 553 493 The Daily Maverick 971 755 4 179 906

Now read: Top technology and computing sites in South Africa
U.S. cut its oil production forecast in 2023

Gen. of Justice: Armenia is already going to abyss

MFA says Russia promotes comprehensive settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations

Australia to ban former military pilots from working in China

Ministry: 1,034 participants of 44-day Karabakh war declared disabled

Russian Security Council Secretary accuses Western intelligence services of organizing unrest in Iran

Seventh meeting of Eurasian Alliance of Ombudsmen to be held in Moscow on November 1

'Armenia' bloc: Authorities going to peace at any cost legitimize change of power

Dollar falls, euro rises in Armenia

FT: Taiwan plans to establish drone production, allocated $1.6 billion

Azerbaijan's 'Horst Wessel' for Iran: Baku media replicates 'murder story'

Tesla recalls 40,000 electric cars because of problems with power steering

Sky News: Russia handed over Javelin, NLAW and Stinger missiles to Iran in exchange for drones

Russia has record number of Armenia migrants outflow

Stoltenberg says NATO summit will be held in Vilnius on July 11-12, 2023

Iranian Interior Ministry: Organizers of riots in Iran were trained in 8 unfriendly countries

Europe fills its gas storage facilities almost 100% before cold season

Greece MPs visit Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan

Strasbourg city council adopts resolution on supporting Armenia

Ohanyan: We see hope in Armenia-Russia-Azerbaijan format regarding Karabakhs future

Turkey says it will not focus only on Russian gas

David Babayan says Azerbaijan makes propaganda against Russian peacekeepers in Artsakh

Former ECHR judge: UN Security Council does not consider Karabakh's separation illegal

Shavarsh Kocharyan says current PM took step of declaring Armenia aggressor

AraratBank underwrites FINCA UCO bonds

First ombudsperson says current Armenian authorities are illegitimate

Armenian National Committee of America: Dr. Oz Defeated in Pennsylvania Senate race

Head of Turkish Ministry of Agriculture: 10.1 million tons of grain exported from Ukrainian ports

Putin and Lukashenko discuss upcoming CSTO meeting by phone

Armenia legislature discusses issues of residents of Karabakhs Kashatagh region handed over to Azerbaijan

President pays tribute to martyrs of 3rd Artsakh war

Australian pedophile sentenced to 129 years in Philippines

Japan says North Korea launches alleged ballistic missile

British cabinet minister resigns after recent harassment allegations

Eleving Group member Mogo applies the best practices in Armenia

Artsakh FM: Azerbaijan will have to take new realities into account in near future

Iran MFA. Azerbaijan president's reaction is incomprehensible

Parliament speaker considers transit visa requirement for Armenia citizens at Poland airports worrisome

Pashinyan: Armenia-Cambodia warm relations have great prospects for development

Karabakh state ministers advisor: Aliyev statement was once again filled with confessions of use of force

Javier Colomina: NATO supports normalization of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations

Copper falls in price

Iran official: Goal of $3bn trade with Armenia will be realized under this government

Karabakh FM: Azerbaijan has become more aggressive, brazen with Turkeys support

MOD: Artsakh army units did not open fire towards Azerbaijan positions

Oil prices go down

Armenia Security Council chief briefs Poland Senate vice-speaker on regional developments

Azerbaijan fires at Armenia positions

Gold prices go down

Newspaper: Armenia law enforcement agencies operative intelligence teams to enter several officials houses

US midterm elections virtually over, counting of votes underway

US State Department: Armenia, Azerbaijan FMs agreed to continue meetings, direct dialogue

India's Supreme Court releases men sentenced to death for rape and murder

Global South needs $2 trillion year to fight climate crisis

McDonald's releases chair for gamers with burger stand

The Telegraph: Rishi Sunak to announce major natural gas deal with US after COP27 summit

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
The Nebraska Environmental Trust will provide $16.7 million in lottery proceeds to support 85 projects across the state this year.

The Environmental Trust's board voted in April to approve 33 newly funded grants and 52 carry-over projects, all of them dedicated to preserving and protecting the state's air, water and land.

Grants include $975,000 to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission for development of an outdoor venture park at Schramm State Recreation Area and $494,000 to the Lincoln Children's Zoo for expansion plans.

Using revenue from the Nebraska Lottery, the Environmental Trust has provided grants to more than 2,000 projects totaling over $265 million in 24 years. Anyone can apply for funds to protect Nebraskas natural habitat, improve water quality and quantity or find ways to manage our waste.

For a list of all approved grants, go to www.environmentaltrust.org.
YEREVAN.  Any real reduction in financial aid by State Department is not the most important element of Armenias economic and trade relations with the United States, Director of the Regional Studies Center (RSC) Richard Giragosian told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

His response came in response to the request to comment on a leaked document that indicates Trump administrations intention to drastically cut State Departments assistance to developing countries. According to the document, in fiscal year 2018 aid to Armenia will be cut for 77%.

The expert believes that although the Trump Administrations plan to reduce U.S. foreign assistance to Armenia does raise concern over U.S. support for reform and economic development, this possible reduction in aid is not very significant, for several reasons.

First, such a move by President Trump to cut aid to Armenia is neither a surprise nor a strategy. In other words, Trump is seeking to reduce a large number of U.S. foreign aid programs and this is not directed at Armenia specifically. But second, any such move to reduce aid to Armenia by the Trump White House will face opposition by powerful pro-Armenian members of the U.S. Congress, and they may actually force the president to back down, he said.

According to him, there is an even more important factor that means that such a reduction in aid will not necessarily be serious for Armenia. The important programs are related to the U.S.-Armenia agreements on trade and investment, including a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) an agreement on trade relations, an Agreement on Trade Relations, an Investment Incentive Agreement, and a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT).

And these ties are not only important for Armenia, but they are also significant for the United States. This is evident in the meetings of the U.S.-Armenia Joint Economic Task Force (USATF), for example, which covers mutual areas of cooperation in energy, trade, and investment, the analyst said.

Armenia and the United States have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on unconventional and conventional energy resources, which aims to enhance cooperation between U.S. and Armenian experts to assess Armenias potential energy resources, including shale gas. And Armenia has been designated as a beneficiary country under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, under which a range of products that Armenia might seek to export are eligible for duty-free entry to the United States. The GSP program provides an incentive for investors to produce in Armenia and export selected products duty-free to the U.S. market.

Therefore, these factors actually show that any real reduction in aid is less serious as it seems, and also that such aid is not the most important element of Armenias economic and trade relations with the United States, Giragosian explained.
Police in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey, have shot and wounded a former police chief.

Ex-police chief Arif Aygun, who was dismissed some time ago, saw police officers in front of him, and he started running away in fear, according to Cumhuriyet (Republic) daily of Turkey.

Police ordered him to stop, but he did not, and therefore they shot Aygun in the leg.

The wounded former police chief was hospitalized under police escort.

Later it turned out that an arrest warrant was issued for Arif Aygun, and that this was why he had run away when seeing police officers, and the latter had thought he was a terrorist and fired shots at him.
YEREVAN.  Chamber of Advocates of Armenia can be characterized as an institution with unhealthy environment. Any criticism is ruled out, attorneys are persecuted, news articles are ordered, a smear campaign is organized, while selected attorneys even face disciplinary proceedings, Attorney Tigran Atanesyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Last month Atanesyan and lawyer Armen Soghomonyan were assaulted in his office by School of Advocates Director Simon Babayan, Chamber of Advocates chairmans advisers Gevorg Mkrtchyan and Vrezh Khachikyan, and attorney Arsen Harutyunyan.

It is unhealthy environment that led to unacceptable process of electing the board of Chamber of Advocates.

This shows that the pressure and the atmosphere is such that the freedom is jeopardized And, it is natural that the job of lawyers is threatened amid constant pressure and persecutions. The body, which is supposed to protect us, has become our number one rival. In addition, the situation in social networks is rather unpleasant and serious as well. A network of 20-30 trolls has been assigned by the Chamber to attack the critics. An atmosphere of fear has been created which led to an atmosphere of insecurity, Atanesyan said.

Speaking about other deficiencies of the Chamber of Advocates, he noted overstaffed departments, recruitment of the relatives of the chairman. Over 26 people are registered as workers of the Chamber at the expense of the attorneys, let alone absolute lack of transparency and lack of information.

For example, in 2015-16 there were 225 applications for disciplinary proceedings, and only 40 cases have been filed. However, the principle of initiating the cases and punishing attorneys by fines is still unknown, he said quoting the example of an attempt to deprive lawyer Armen Soghomonyan from a license.

Atanesyan believes that the abovementioned is the reason for an assault on him and attorney Armen Soghomonyan.

This was not a usual argument that might happen in our country. The matter is that I was attacked by people whom I did not know. This resembles a squad that is ready to attack any attorney or any law firm at the order of the chairman of the chamber, the lawyer emphasized.

He explained that a law firm has a special status, and it is even not subject to a search.

This was an organized attempt to attack me. I was lucky enough not to be alone in the office. Now they are trying to tell fairy tales to avoid the truth, he said, adding that the attackers were definitely supported by the chairman of the Chamber of Advocates. There are not idiots and realized the consequences of their actions. Therefore, they were given assurances that no punishment would follow.

Earlier investigation committee has launched criminal proceedings on beating charges based on the application filed by Tigran Atanesyan and Armen Soghomonyan, while another case was filed by persons who had attacked the lawyers.

Atanesyan said they called police immediately, just 2-3 minutes after the incident occurred, while the assaulters waited for a couple of hours to file a complaint to police, reporting about alleged chin fracture. They also applied to the hospital in Nor Nork district, although the incident occurred in downtown Yerevan.

It is clear that they were trying to present it as an interpersonal matter, he said.

Following the incident, chairman of the chamber Ara Zohrabyan said disciplinary proceeding was launched in relation to all six lawyers involved in the incident.

I am confident that Ara Zohrabyan is behind this. His workers are afraid of their boss, they cannot make a move without his approval. His actions are targeted at covering up the reality, showing that he has control of the situation pretending to be a respected chairman. This is not true, we do not respect him at all. It is really sad to tell this. I did not want this to be so. He had to be respected by everyone, he emphasized.

Asked about their future actions, Atanesyan said they would follow the criminal proceedings and continue our fight against the disgraceful phenomena.

We are going to court, we have already prepared three lawsuits against the Chamber, Atanesyan said, adding that they also plan to question the diploma of Ara Zohrabyan. We found out that he had served in the army during the study.

The attorney assures that their actions would be public, although they are expected to face a tough struggle given that Ara Zohrabyan has a certain support from state.

Attorney Lusine Sahakyan represents Tigran Atanesyan in the case launched by the investigation committee.

Talking to Armenian News-NEWS.am Lusine Sahakyan said the charges of beating are unacceptable.

This is an unprecedented case. Being well aware of the attack on Atanesyan and Soghomonyan, the second criminal case is being launched in other court so that another party could be named an injured party, she said.

Lusine Sahakyan assured they would fight till the end so that those guilty would be held accountable.

In fact it was an assassination attempt against Tigran Atanesyan. Armen Soghomonyan suffered serious injuries, everyone saw it, Sahakyan said.

She does not rule out that it might turn out that Soghomonyan had not been hurt at all. Lusine Sahakyan said that the attackers have no right to be lawyers and should be stripped of their license. The lawyer is also confident that the incident occurred with tacit approval of Ara Zohrabyan, as his behavior and statements as well as interview following the incident proved his engagement.

This is the result of unhealthy environment in the Chamber, she assured urging to hold the attackers accountable in order to avoid similar incidents in the future.
YEREVAN.  There was an assassination attempt Wednesday in Ararat Province of Armenia, and a resident of the province was hospitalized.

At 7:10pm, police received a report from the Artashat town hospital that K. Z., who had gunshot wounds, was brought to this medical center, Police of Armenia news service informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

The police officers that were dispatched to the scene found out that unidentified persons had blocked the path of the car driven by K. Z. with another vehicle and fired shots toward the car, on the motorway leading from Verin Artashat village to Artashat.

These persons are being searched for.

And according to shamshyan.com, the mayor of Norashen village, in Aragatsotn Province, was inside the attacked car, and the person that sustained gunshot wounds is his driver.
Norik Grigoryan, the mayor of Norashen village in Aragatsotn Province of Armenia, has no idea who could have made the assassination attempt against him, on Wednesday evening.

Grigoryan told Armenian News-NEWS.am that he had no enmity with anyone.

I believe those shots were directed at me, not my driver, said the village mayor. I cant say who they were. I dont suspect anyone because I havent had any enmity, or problem, with anyone.

To note, Norik Grigoryans driver, Karen Ghazaryan, 33, had sustained gunshot wounds in the attack.

As reported earlier, on Wednesday at 7:10pm, police received a report from the Artashat town hospital that K. Z., who had gunshot wounds, was brought to this medical center.

The police officers that were dispatched to the scene found out that unidentified persons had blocked the path of the car driven by K. Z. with another vehicle and fired shots toward the car, on the motorway leading from Verin Artashat village to Artashat.

These persons are being searched for.
Ekaterina Lapshina, the wife of blogger Alexander Lapshin who is in custody in Azerbaijan, provided the latest information on the condition of her husband.

Although his [health] condition is not good now, Sasha is not in severe depression, Lapshina commented, in particular, on her Facebook page. Your words of support and all your [good] wishes, which I always convey to him, certainly raise his mood and give the strength to endure.

After his visits to Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) in 2011 and 2012, blogger and journalist Alexander Lapshinwho is a citizen of Russia, Israel, and several other countrieswas blacklisted by Azerbaijan.

In June 2016, however, he paid a visit to Azerbaijan--but with a Ukrainian passport--and, subsequently, he published several articles criticizing the Azerbaijani authorities.

Afterward, Azerbaijan issued an international search for this famous blogger. On December 15, 2016, Lapshin was detained in the Belarusian capital city of Minsk, and based on this search.

On January 26 of the current year, the Minsk city court dismissed the blogger's appeal of the Belarusian General Prosecutor's Office decision to extradite him to Azerbaijan.

On February 7, the Supreme Court of Belarus dismissed the appeals that were filed into this case, and upheld the aforesaid decision by the General Prosecutors Office.

And on the evening of the same day, Belarus extradited Alexander Lapshin to the Azerbaijani capital city of Baku, where he was taken into custody.
STEPANAKERT.  In accordance with the arrangement reached with the authorities of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic/NKR), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) mission on Thursday conducted a planned monitoring of the Line of Contact between the armed forces of Artsakh and Azerbaijan, in the direction of the Askeran Region of the NKR, southeast of Akna.

From the positions of the Defense Army of the Republic of Artsakh, the monitoring was held by Mihail Olaru (Moldova), Field Assistant to the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office (CiO); and Simon Tiller (Great Britain), Personal Assistant to the CiO Personal Representative, the Artsakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

From the opposite side of the Line of Contact, the monitoring was conducted by Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, Personal Representative of the OSCE CiO; his field assistant Ghenadie Petrica (Moldova); and Martin Schuster (Germany), a staff member of his office.

The monitoring passed in accordance with the agreed schedule, and no ceasefire violation was recorded.

From the Artsakh side, the monitoring mission was accompanied by representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense.
Sixteen national organizations joined an Armenian National Committee of America Eastern Region (ANCA-ER) initiative earlier this year to prevent genocide denial ads from appearing in American newspapers, billboards and other media. Unlike 2016 and previous years, no major media carried genocide denial advertising in April 2017.

We are thankful to our coalition partners who are principled in the matter of inadmissibility of genocide denial in any form, said ANCA-ER Chairman Steve Mesrobian. Genocide denial is not provocative or scholarly debate, but deeply offensive hate speech and we are glad to see such positive results from our ongoing anti-defamation activities. We are committed in ensuring that the memory of all the innocent victims of the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, and all other genocides are properly commemorated and remembered.

A coalition of sixteen national anti-genocide and human rights organizations joined the ANCA-ER in efforts directed at major newspapers and advertising companies in the US. The initiative sought to heighten awareness of attempts to place genocide denial advertising and to urge these companies not to accept such ads.

In April 2016, the ANCA-ER led a successful grassroots mobilization in Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, and other areas to force media giants like ClearChannel to immediately bring down genocide denial billboards and issue an apology. After the appearance of similar advertising in The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, and The Philadelphia Inquirer in late April 2016, the ANCA-ER assembled a coalition of 14 anti-genocide and human rights groups which called upon the newspapers to formally review their advertising polices to prevent the placement of genocide denial ads in the future.

Earlier this year the ANCA-ER, together with its coalition partners, proactively reached out to media outlets across the US to remind them not to accept such advertising.
YEREVAN. - Due to its extremely destructive stance Azerbaijan has found itself in a total isolation, Spokesman for the Armenian MFA, Tigran Balayan, told the aforementioned to Armenian News  NEWS.am, referring to the recent discussions at the OSCE Permanent Council on OSCE Office in Yerevan.

Due to its extremely destructive stance Azerbaijan finds itself in a total isolation. OSCE Chairmanship, participating States, Secretariat support activities of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, and it is solely Azerbaijan that abuses the OSCE principle of consensus, singlehandedly blocking the decision on the continuation of activities of the OSCE office in Yerevan thus opposing to the whole Organisation, he said.

In the Spokesmans words, the Representative of the OSCE Austrian Chairmanship on Thursday delivered a statement at the Permanent Council meeting announcing that despite exerted efforts, it has not been possible to reach an agreement on the extension of the mandate of the OSCE Office in Yerevan. As at the Permanent Council meeting in January, also today the Austrian Chairmanship praised the constructive efforts of Armenia aimed at finding a solution to the issue. Likewise, the constructive approaches of Armenia were commended by other participating States, Balayan noted.

The Armenian Delegation to the OSCE made a statement reflecting on all steps undertaken by Armenia together with previous - German and current - Austrian Chairmanships aimed at ensuring the extension of the mandate of the OSCE Office in Yerevan. Armenian side recalled actions of Azerbaijan aimed at closing the Office which increasingly enhanced, although the OSCE Austrian and the German Chairmanships clearly refuted Azerbaijani false allegations targeting the Office.

After closing the OSCE Office in Baku and blocking also the activities of the Office in Yerevan, Azerbaijan deprives the OSCE of fully-fledged presence in the South Caucasus, which will have a detrimental impact not only on the activities of the Organisation in our region but the OSCE as a whole and its structures.

All efforts by the Austrian Chairmanship and the participating States to make Baku act constructively and refrain from hampering the activities of the OSCE Office in Yerevan have failed.



Both in foreign and domestic policies Azerbaijan on a daily basis violates the principles and commitments of the OSCE, including fundamental freedoms and as a result faces constant international criticism. Now again by impeding and challenging the OSCE activities, Azerbaijan scores another failure, thus deepening the gap between itself and the international community.

As an active OSCE participating State, Armenia will continue to contribute to the realisation of the OSCE goals. We will consider new avenues of implementing OSCE projects in Armenia as have been also proposed by participating states at the Permanent Council, he noted.
RACINE  A Racine man, accused of killing a 3-month-old baby, is scheduled to face a Racine County Circuit Court judge today in a preliminary hearing to determine if enough evidence will force the defendant to stand trial.

Josue Santiago-Vazques, 30, of the 1000 block of Park Avenue, is facing a felony charge of first-degree reckless homicide after a doctor told police the childs head injuries were related to Santiago-Vazques shaking the baby.

Meanwhile, child advocates are concerned following a similar incident in a Mount Pleasant just two weeks before, during which foster father Sean McIntosh, 44, of the 300 block of Oregon Street, allegedly admitted to police to shaking a 5-month-old child in his care.

McIntosh pleaded not guilty to abuse of a child causing great bodily harm during his April 27 arraignment. The child was already recovering from a fractured skull from a previous incident of abuse at a home in Union Grove, which initiated the foster care.

Cases preventable

Michelle Beauchamp, a mother of four who works with at-risk Head Start students for the Next Door Foundation in Milwaukee, said shaking a baby is preventable and stems from frustration.

In shaken baby cases, there is a parent or caregiver who is frustrated or becomes frustrated because the baby is crying and they dont know how to react, Beauchamp said.

What surprises parents is when Beauchamp tells them its OK to put a baby down, she said.

When its not working, put the baby down in a safe place. Its OK to walk away for a little bit. Count to yourself or ask for help from another person, Beauchamp said.

Beauchamp trains caregivers and parents in a class to prevent shaken baby syndrome, in which a child experiences head trauma and potential brain damage from whiplash or other injury associated with forcefully shaking the child.

Normal crying

Rebecca Murray, associate director of the state Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board, said the first strategy is to ensure all parents and caregivers watching a new baby understand that crying is normal and many babies cry for a long period of time.

There is a normal infant crying curve that all babies go through. Some cry a lot and some cry far less, Murray said.

Murray said the curve usually starts around two weeks of age, peaks between two and three months and then declines.

Some babies may cry daily for up to six hours during the peak period of the curve, Murray said.

Every baby is different and sometimes it surprises parents when a second child cries more than the first, Beauchamp said.

Its frustrating and people need ways to cope with that, Beauchamp said.

Coping tips

The most important thing is stay calm, Murray said. She offered these tips:

See if your baby is hungry or needs a diaper change.

Calmly hold your baby close.

Rock, walk or talk with your baby.

Gently rub your babys tummy or head.

Listen to music, running water or some other white noise.

Murray said parents should think about talking to people who care for their children.

Talk to all of the individuals they leave their baby with about crying and reinforce these strategies, Murray said. Its normal to need support when you are parenting a new baby.

Parents should have their babys clinic number readily available and at least two people they could call when they are feeling overwhelmed, Murray said.

Residents can visit www.preventionboard.wi.gov for more information.

Santiago-Vazques remained in custody as of Wednesday night at the County Jail, court records showed. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at 9 a.m. today at the county Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave.
All the candidates of Tsarukyan Bloc, who submitted to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) statements on self-recusal, wrote and signed those statements themselves.

Elected deputy from Tsarukyan bloc, Iveta Tonoyan, told the aforementioned to Armenian News  NEWS.am.

Earlier, twelve of the 23 Tsarukyan Bloc MPs, who had petitioned to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Armenia and for renouncing their parliamentary mandate, withdrew their respective petitions at the subsequent session of CEC on Wednesday.

In the MP's words, the community can assess their steps best of all, juxtaposing the fact, realia and simple truth. ''As to the further steps and possible cooperation in the parliament, I should say that in any case it is not the Tsarukyan bloc but the people, who carried out these actions, who should think about this. They should think that they violated the political agreements and skirted human relations. Tsarukyan bloc will carry out its actions in the parliament as it was planned earlier, that is, effectively and with active legislative initiatives in favor of the country and people,'' Tonoyan said.

Asked whether this means that Tsarukyan bloc will not cooperate with the eight deputies who received mandates, she said: ''Since this process took place yesterday, this topic has not yet been discussed within the bloc and with Mr Tsarukyan personally. If someone is to worry, it is certainly not Tsarukyan bloc.'' At the same time, she added that Tsarukyan has been informed about the situation and is aware of these processes.

Responding to the question on the legal consequences, considering the fact that the deputies note that they didn't sign the statements on self-recausal, Tonoyan stressed: ''If they make such claims, they are free to turn to law enforcement authorities and find out who signed the statements by means of a handwriting examination. But they won't do that. I think, everything is apparent. All of them wrote and signed the statements themselves.''
Happy Cinco de Mayo, one of Americas favorite days for eating and drinking.

Its certainly a big day for the margarita. According to the Distilled Spirits Council, its estimated that up to 47 percent of all drinks ordered on Cinco de Mayo are margaritas. In fact, tequila sales easily double during the week leading up to the holiday. The same is true for avocados. The California Avocado Commission reported that 87 million pounds of avocados are purchased for Cinco de Mayo. Holy guacamole!

Planning to celebrate? Purchasing spirits directly from a restaurant when you order carry-out helps their bottom line considerably, so please do so when you can. However, if you need more ideas for spots to get margarita kits and more, we've got some suggestions.

Level up by patronizing one of Milwaukee's many Mexican-owned restaurants. They need your business more than ever, so it's the perfect time to show your support.

Choose to accept this mission? Great, here are some delicious options to mull over.

Antigua Latin Inspired Kitchen

6207 W. National Ave, West Allis, (414) 321-5775

antiguamilwaukee.com

Antigua is offering carry-out and curbside pick-up. Family meals and wine by the bottle are also available. Call the restaurant to place your order. Delivery is also available through Grubhub or DoorDash.

Botanas

816 S. 5th St., (414) 672-3755

botanasoriginal.com

Botanas is offering carry-out beginning at 11 a.m. daily. Call to place your order for pick-up. And watch their Facebook page for current menu, updates and specials.

Chilango Express

7030 W. Lincoln Ave., West Allis, (414) 541-8201

chilangoexpresswi.com

Chilango Express is offering curbside pick-up during regular operational hours. Delivery is also available through DoorDash.

Cielito Lindo

733 S. 2nd St., (414) 649-0401

cielitolindomilwaukee.com

Cielito Lindo is offering their full menu for pick-up Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Call to place your order.

Conejitos Place

539 W. Virginia Ave., (414) 278-9206

conejitos-place.com

Conejito's is offering their full menu for carry-out seven days a week beginning at 11 a.m., plus discounted margaritas and beer with food orders. Call the restaurant to place your order for pick-up.

C-Viche

2165 S Kinnickinnic Ave., (414) 800-7329

www.c-viche.com

C-Viche is offering a condensed Pan-Latin menu for pick-up on Tuesday and Thursday from 2:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 2:30 to 9 p.m. Place your order online and pick-up at the brand new enclosed pick-up window on the C-Viche patio. Walk-up orders are also accepted.

El Senorial

1901 S. 31st St., (414) 385-9506

El Senorial is offering carry-out daily from 10 a.m. to close. Call to place your order.

Fiesta Cancun

159 E Wisconsin Ave., Oconomowoc, (262) 569-9740

fiestacancun.com

Fiesta Cancun is open daily for carry-out. View their menu online and call to place your order for pick-up. Also watch their Facebook page for updates and specials.

Guanajuato Mexican Restaurant

2317 S. Howell Ave., (414) 482-2269

guanajuatomke.com

Guanajuato is offering carry-out and curbside pick-up. Call the restaurant to place your order (and specify which style of service you'd like). You can also watch their Facebook page for updates.

Habanero's Mexican Kitchen

869 N. Mayfair Rd., (414) 607-9025

habanerostosa.com

Habanero's is offering carry-out Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 9 p.m. View the menu online annd call to place your order for pick-up. Follow Habanero's on Facebook for specials.

Jalapeno Loco

5067 S Howell Ave., (414) 483-8300

jalapenolocomilwaukee.com

Jalapeno Loco is offering carry-out daily from 11 a.m to 7 p.m. View their carry-out menu on their website and call to place your order.

Judy's on North

2207 E. North Ave., (414) 291-0645

jaliscosonnorth.com

Judy's on North is offering curbside pick-up Monday thru Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Watch their Facebook page for updates and specials.

Kompali Taqueria

1205 E. Brady St., (414) 210-3010

kompali.com

Kompali is offering pick-up and delivery daily from 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Margarita kits, beer and wine are also available for carry-out. Orders can be placed online.

La Estacion

319 Williams St., Waukesha, (262) 521-1986

laestacionrestaurant.com

La Estacion is offering curbside pick-up and local delivery Sunday through Wednesday fron 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. View their menu online and call to place your order.

Lazo's Taco Shack

641 N. James Lovell St., (414) 988-6567

facebook.com/Lazos-Taco-Shack

Lazo's is offering carry-out and curbside pick-up of their menu Monday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Their menu is on Facebook. They are also offering delivery through Uber Eats and Eat Street. Call the restaurant directly for pick-up orders.

Little Cancun

7273 S. 27th St., Franklin, (414) 761-6200

littlecancunrestaurant.com

Little Cancun is offering carry-out at its Franklin location from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Follow them on Facebook for updates. Note: The Bay View location is temporarily closed.

Los Paisa Restaurant & Bar

600 W. Brown Deer Rd., Bayside, (414) 540-2125

www.lospaisa.com

Los Paisa is open for carry-out orders Thursday through Saturday from 4 to 8 p.m. Call the restaurant to place your order. You can also keep an eye on their Facebook page for updates.

Luna's Mexican Restaurant

4048 S. Packard Ave., Saint Francis, (414) 486-1380

Luna's is offering carry-out. View their Facebook page for current hours. Call the restaurant to place your order.

Mara's Grill

3441 N 84th St., (414) 810-0031

marasgrillwi.com

Mara's Grill offers carry-out Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Call to place your order for pick-up.

Margarita Paradise

Milwaukee Public Market, 400 N. Water St., (414) 226-2422

milwaukeepublicmarket.org/margarita-paradise

Margarita Paradise is offering curbside pick-up daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. View their menu online and call to place your order for pick-up.

Mazatlan Mexican Restaurant

601 Milwaukee St., Delafield, (262) 646-9687

mazatlanauthenticmexican.com

Mazatlan is offering carry-out daily from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Mazorca Tacos

Zocalo Food Park, 636 S. 6th St.

mazorcatacos.com

Tacos are available seven days a week with hours Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Order online through the CashDrop app or through EatStreet at MazorcaTacos.com.

Mexic 103

3506 E. Layton Ave., (414) 231-9101 or (414) 748-2030

facebook.com/Mexic103

Mexic 103 is offering curbside pick-up Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. View their full menu on Facebook. Place your order by phone and the restaurant will text you when your food is ready.

Mis Suenos

7335 W. Greenfield Ave., (414) 763-5150

missuenosrestaurant.com

Mis Suenos is offering pick-up daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Call to place your order. Watch their Facebook page for current menu and specials.

Riviera Maya

2327 S Kinnickinnic Ave., (414) 294-4848

riviera-maya-milwaukee.com

Riviera Maya is offering take-out Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Watch their Facebook page for updates and specials.

Sabrosa Cafe & Gallery

3216 S. Howell Ave., (312) 834-1929

sabrosa.cafe

Sabrosa is offering carry-out, plus free delivery within a 5-mile radius of the restaurant. You can place your order online. Watch the Sabrosa Facebook page for daily specials.

Taco Amigos

2104 W. Silvernail Rd., Pewaukee, (262) 544-0104

tacoamigo.hrpos.heartland.us

Taco Amigo offers carry-out, curbside pick-up Monday through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Delivery is also available through DoorDash, Grub Hub and Uber Eats.
Kohler Co. has appointed Chef Doug Stringer as head chef for The Immigrant Restaurant at The American Club.

Stringer, who joined Kohler Co. in 2015 as sous chef of the private restaurant Riverbend, brings more than seven years of fine dining and hospitality experience to the position, including five years at The Grandview Restaurant and Lounge at the Geneva Inn.

"Chef Stringer has exemplified his dedicated passion, drive and creativity throughout his tenure with Kohler Co., and we are thrilled to see him take the lead at the Immigrant Restaurant," said Tom McGinty, director of food and beverage operations at Destination Kohler in a release on the appointment.

"The Immigrant Restaurant is one of our premier dining offerings, and were confident that Chef will continue to elevate the illustrious program with his innovative approach to fine dining."

New menu

Under Stringers leadership, The Immigrant will launch a new menu this week featuring appetizers including a mixed green caprese salad ($15), roasted beet ravioli with chevre artichoke, spiced walnuts and gooseberry buerre blanc ($16), radish carpaccio with spring onions, petite greens, feta, honey, lime and dill ($15), and King crab with jicama, arugula, cucumber, citrus and brown butter ($26).

Among the entrees is roasted lamb loin with ramps, morels, arugula, spring onions, fava beans and Cabernet reduction ($50), American red snapper with black rice, carrot tops and bottoms, candied shiitakes and miso broth ($47), braised veal with farrow, arugula, gooseberries, tomatoes, sunchokes and jus ($46) and a 30-day aged prime tenderloin with wild mushroom cake, potato crisp, pearl onions, truffled greens and smoked onion cream ($62).

A tasting menu features a choice of five or seven courses ($120/$230) with beverage pairings for an additional $70/100. Featured items include deviled egg with osetra caviar; lobster bisque; red wine and rosemary-braised quail with kumquats, pine nuts, spinach and quinoa or lemon and ricotta tortellacci with romanesco, olives, smoked tomato buerre blanc and Perigord Australian winter truffles; and pan-seared sea bass with carrot puree, baby bok choy, bamboo rice risotto and chinese mustard greens or A-5 Wagyu wellington with spinach gratin, wild mushrooms and demi-glace

The Immigrant Restaurant is open Friday and Saturday evenings from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Reservations are required and can be made by calling (800) 344-2838.
Trueman McGee, Milwaukee native and owner of Funky Fresh Spring Rolls, is in a pretty good place. He owns a successful small food business, and through that business, he helps others in the community to eat more healthfully.

To top things off, he received notice last week that hes one among 10 winners nationally for the fifth annual FedEx Small Business Grant Contest. Among his winnings are a $7,500 grant and $1,000 in FedEx Office services. The hope is that both of those could help him get his product on grocery shelves in the future.

But, not long ago, things were different for McGee, who just four years ago found himself at a crossroads. Hed been laid off from his job as a sheet metal worker, work that hed been doing for the previous 10 years.

"I was done," he says. "I didnt like what I was doing. I was also at my heaviest weight. I weighed 300 pounds at the time. And I knew I needed to make some changes. In the end, I realized we only have one life, and I needed to start living like every day was my last."

Gettin' Tired

So, McGee made a shift. With the help of "Big Bertha," an old tractor tire he got from a friend, he began working out. And, thanks to cooking skills gleaned from his mother, a teacher who made extra money running a catering business during the summer, he also began eating better.

And, as the pounds melted off, people began to take note.

"I was eating healthier and working out all around the city," he says. "And I had a lightbulb moment one day while I was with Bertha at Bradford Beach. I realized I was tired. I was tired from working out. But, I was also tired of making excuses."

Gettin Tired became not only McGees motto, but also the name of his personal training business. Along the way, McGee says, he noticed that his clients not only needed help learning to work out, but they also needed guidance in healthier eating. And Funky Fresh Spring Rolls was born.

"The business didnt have a name then. It wasnt even really a business," he says. "But, my clients started asking me about food. And Id bring in things I was eating. It started with a sweet potato and black bean burrito. And then I started to think: wow, this would be great as a spring roll."

Now McGee runs a successful small business, making and selling healthful grilled spring rolls in flavors like sweet potato black bean, Buffalo chicken and kale, chicken club and chicken broccoli mushroom, which he sells alongside his Funky Fresh sauces, which are made from non-fat Greek yogurt.

He says he was tipped off to the FedEx grant program by his mentor, Cheryl Mitchell from the UWM Small Business Development Center, who sent him information about the contest and urged him to enter.

From there, he says he "went crazy" promoting the contest to friends, family and fans via social media, earning him a place in the FedEx top 100. From there, he submitted an elevator pitch video to the judges which, combined with his story, gave him a leg up on the competition.

"One of the things we loved about him was that when he was in a situation that was difficult, he used it as an impetus to really make changes in his life," notes Bonnie Voldeng, director of marketing for FedEx. "One of the things we look at is where people are trying to make a difference or make a positive difference in their communities.

"We thought he would be great to work with given his unique background, as well as the challenges he faces in getting his product into retail establishments. At FedEx, we have a packaging lab where we work with business owners to assist them in creating packaging design that really works for them. We knew that hed be a good fit for that program, and were looking forward to working with him."

McGee, who makes his spring rolls from scratch using a variety of fresh ingredients from local farmers markets, says that in 2015 he sold over 20,000 spring rolls at area farmers markets.

This year, he says that in addition to selling at a variety of markets, hed also love to establish his own commercial kitchen so that he can get his product on grocery shelves as a frozen product. Its a dream he hopes the FedEx grant will facilitate.

You can find Funky Fresh Spring Rolls at area markets including the Outpost Makers Market on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 1617 W. North Ave. (through the end of July).

Beginning this summer, McGee will also have stands at farmers markets in Brown Deer, Enderis Park, Shorewood and Waukesha. McGee, who also sells his product online for local delivery says hes also up for private catering, which includes options like salads, spring rolls and quinoa bowls.

You can find Funky Fresh Spring Rolls online at funkyfresh.kitchn as well as on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Its National Burger month, and that means its time for the Georgie Porgies annual burger contest.

Do you have a red hot idea for a burger youd love to see on the menu? If so, youre in luck. Entries are being accepted on the Georgie Porgie's web site through Wednesday, May 17.

Entries will be considered first by the Georgie Porgies team, who will select five favorites from those submitted. The final five will be presented to a panel of local celebrity judges during a special event on Thursday, May 25 at 11:30 a.m. at the Oak Creek restaurant 9555 S. Howell Ave.

The 2017 judging panel includes Fox 6 Real Milwaukees Brian Kramp, WISN 12 Meteorologist

Lindsey Slater, OnMilwaukees own senior dining writer Lori Fredrich and Ed Sedar and Marcus Hanel of the Milwaukee Brewers.

The burger contest judging will coincide with the grand opening of Georgie Porgies new addition, Georges Garage. The event is open to the public and all in attendance will have the opportunity to sample the top five burgers.

The burger selected as the favorite by the judges will be featured as the restaurants burger of the during the month of June and will be featured on the menus at both the Oak Creek and Mount Pleasant locations. The winning entry will also receive a free burger of the month for an entire year along with a party for 20. All other finalists will receive a $25 Georgie Porgies gift card.

"This contest is a great way for members of our community to share their delicious burger ideas with us" said co-owner Pete Liapis.

"Our staff always loves creating ideas, but its even more fun to have the ideas come from our customers and members of the community. And the prize attached to it just adds some extra fun to an already cool opportunity," added co-owner Lou Liapis.

The 2016 Georgie Porgie's burger winner was the Taste O Wisconsin, a -pound sirloin patty topped with caramelized onions, Door County tart cherries and Wisconsin blue cheese served on a locally-baked pretzel bun (pictured above).

To enter, visit georgieporgies.com.
This article originally ran in 2017.

Were pretty good at adopting other cultures holidays, it seems, and turning them into annual drinking events. It is often said, for example, that the Irish dont celebrate St. Patricks Day like Americans do (though that appears to be changing).

Consider, too, Cinco de Mayo, which takes place this week.

"Cinco de Mayo, which is Spanish for May 5," wrote German Lopez in Vox a couple years ago, "is supposed to celebrate Mexican heritage, (but) it has become Americanized  that is, hijacked into another excuse to party, eat and drink, all while getting sweet discounts at some restaurants. (It is so Americanized, in fact, that it's actually celebrated more in the U.S. than in Mexico.)"

Is it true that Mexico doesnt celebrate it like Americans do?

I wanted to find out, so I called the United Community Center, 1028 S. 9th St. in Walkers Point, which offers a wide range of services and cultural programming to the Hispanic community on the near South Side  which has a large Mexican-American population  and spoke to Executive Director Ricardo Diaz.

"It's always been an opportunity for the Americans to have a nice party and go out and celebrate," he told me. "It is confused with the independence of Mexico, which is Sept. 16, which is a real holiday that is celebrated in Mexico."

Cinco de Mayo celebrates the unexpected and unlikely victory of Mexican troops over French forces in the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War in 1862. While the Puebla still marks the occasion, it does so in a more solemn way than we do here.

"It's usually with parades and events of that kind," said Diaz, who is of Cuban descent himself and has been UCC director for 14 years. "It is not a federal holiday, it's a normal day of work. Banks are open, governmental offices are open. It is not like when we celebrate the Fourth of July or anything like that."

In the United States, some non-Mexicans prefer to celebrate the day with a Corona or six. I asked Diaz if thats a point of contention among Mexican-Americans.

"People joke around in the population at large, it's more for the beer companies and others to celebrate it as such, not the Mexican population itself," he said.

"I don't know that when its that kind of a discussion, that someone starts to give it a lot of thought other than kind of laugh it off, so to speak. I don't know that a lot of time is spent thinking about it."

Even if Mexico itself doesnt give Cinco de Mayo more than a passing nod, Diaz said that Mexican-Americans have embraced it.

"It became popular in the U.S. through Mexicans here in the U.S., who took it as a way to celebrate their culture," he said, "and its taken on a kind of life of its own. Non-profit organizations use it as a way of celebrating culture."

And thats just what the United Community Center is doing.

The UCC hosts its annual Anniversary Dinner at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 5 with a reception, dinner and program that will include performances by the Latino Arts String Program, Proyecto Bembe and the Bruce-Guadalupe Community School Jazz Band.

The event will also recognize accomplishments in education and health care.

"We always celebrate our annual dinner the last week of April, or first week of May, in that time period, usually depending on when Easter falls," Diaz said. "We thought it would be a wonderful opportunity because of the kind of cultural and artistic organization that we are with our kids."

More than 200 students from the UCC charter schools will perform.

"It's an opportunity for us to showcase those talents, and it happens to coincide. So, we are able to bring those two together, and celebrate it, "Diaz said. "We're celebrating our 47th anniversary. We're the 17th largest Hispanic organization in the country. So it really is an opportunity for us to tell the story annually of the success of a lot of kids.

"It really is a proud, very talented group of children that are giving meaning to the holiday, and really what it means, it's really the celebration of a wonderful culture and heritage."

For more on the UCC event visit unitedcc.org/2017AnniversaryDinner.htm.
RACINE  It was originally built as a bank in 1923. Now, The Branch is open for customers to enjoy breakfast and lunch.

The Branch converts the old bank building into a cafe while staying true to the buildings roots. Located at 1501 Washington Ave., owner Kristina Campbell was working behind the counter serving the first patrons who entered during a soft opening Wednesday.

Its quiet on the street, Campbell said. Were just feeling the pulse of the neighborhood.

Campbell, who is also owner of the Pleasant Prairie-based Funkytree Event and Design, recently purchased the building which originally housed American Bank and Trust Co. It later became the short-lived Geralds Smokehouse Cuisine.

With just a sign on the sidewalk, word of mouth and Benjamin Beer Co. brews on tap, Campbell is trying to use the business to highlight Racine.

I want to bring in some local products, Campbell said, adding two of her bakers rent out the kitchen for their own business as well as baking for the cafe.

The Branch is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. Besides beer from Benjamin Beer Company, the Branch also serves wine.

Were still critiquing and tweaking some things, Campbell said. Were getting peoples opinions.

Campbell said it will be available for private events like weddings and graduation parties on evenings and weekends.

Artwork from Racine Lutheran High School students is on display on the second floor. The pieces are scheduled to remain up until May 12, Campbell said.

A grand opening hasnt been scheduled yet, but Campbell said the restaurant plans on inviting the local community in with a big event in June.
Greetings from Family Travel Week, sponsored by The Family Backpack, a new online guide that connects you to the best family travel blog posts. Enjoy seven days of family travel stories that will help you plan your next adventure, reduce pre-vacation stress and provide useful tips for once you arrive at your destination. Wheels up!

Please consult your pediatrician before administering supplements or medications to children.

I thought about praying to the international sleep fairies to ensure my kids would sleep on the plane and not suffer from the "jet lag crabbies" once we landed, but it turns out all we needed was melatonin.

Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone that our brains produce to help regulate sleep and wake cycles. Kids melatonin is available in chewable "gummies" or dissolvable tablets. The brand I chose is Superior Source, 3 mg, and its an instant dissolvable tablet (Mirco Lingual).

A good friend of mine who has been traveling back and forth to Greece since her now college-aged children were babies swears by it. I can attest it has worked for my family, as well. But Im not a doctor so please do your own research and consult a physician if you plan to try this.

Prior to our trip to Madrid this summer, I cleared it with our pediatrician, including dosage amounts and I gave it to all three kids  ages 9, 6 and almost 3  about two hours into the seven-hour flight. They all fell asleep within 30 minutes of when I gave it to them. I was amazed! (And rested! Hallelujah!)

We then used it for our first two nights in Madrid and, once again, everyone was asleep within 30 minutes. Poof, that was it. We rolled right into the time change and it was the best transition we have ever had. Sweet dreams!

Here are some other great articles to back this up, which also give advice on jet lag:

Wheels up!

What does "wheels up" mean? Go here.
Greetings from Family Travel Week, sponsored by The Family Backpack, a new online guide that connects you to the best family travel blog posts. Enjoy seven days of family travel stories that will help you plan your next adventure, reduce pre-vacation stress and provide useful tips for once you arrive at your destination. Wheels up!

I have always enjoyed writing, especially when I travel. My grandmother traveled to Japan in the 1950s and journaled the whole trip. I still have those journals. Perhaps thats what inspired me.

Since my first trip to Europe in high school, I have journaled about my experiences, the places I liked, the food I tried, made comparisons to my own country and whatever else came to mind. In a world where it seems like everything is now on a screen, its nice to go back and read a handwritten journal.

Two years ago, when we took our two boys to Turkey, I decided to get my oldest a travel journal. He was 7 at the time, and so I researched a journal that would provide writing space but also activities. The journal I liked the best was "My Travel Journal, A World of Activities."

Every night at dinner I would bring the travel journal for him to write in and then do some of the activities. The fact that the journal had additional activities for him to complete extended the time he spent on it. For my 5-year-old, I brought along a notebook and had him draw pictures from the days experience. People raved about how well-behaved they were at the restaurants we visited. Thank you, travel journal, as this is not always the case.

Details: Recommended for ages 8-11 (I found it fine for my 7-year-old). Its 124 pages and has games, mazes, story prompts, information about foreign currencies around the world and more. Get it for $12.99 here.

Wheels up!

What does "wheels up" mean? Go here.
Two Sydney fellas have traveled to North Korea with the express purpose of landing slick new dos, in an attempt to debunk a widely-circulated rumour that the isolated nation only allows its male citizens to rock certain haircuts.

In a mini-documentary outlining their equally bonkers but intriguing mission  and, make no mistake, everything about the hermetic North Korea is intriguing to punters in a Western democracy like our own  Aleksa Vulovic and Alex Apollonov demonstrated that even well-maned blokes from Newtown can land themselves whatever haircut they like in Pyongyang.

via Boy Boy / YouTube.





via Boy Boy / YouTube.

YEP.

The goal, according to Vulovic, was to critique a media environment which he believes seizes upon sensational yarns about the troubling state. He said what the haircut law and all these other amazing stories share in common is that at the very centre of this media whirlwind, theyre based on absolutely nothing.

While its one thing to doubt the laws regarding citizens hair, its another thing entirely to discount North Koreas aggression towards what it considers to be adversarial nations. Still, securing a cheeky trim does a pretty decent job of humanising the regular folk in a country many of us only hear about in (possibly) hyperbolic media accounts.

Kim Jong Un remains a fucking bastard, though.

Watch the entire doco right here. If youre just keen to see the trim itself, skip to the ten minute mark:

Source: 9 News.

Photo: Boy Boy / YouTube.
In an increasingly competitive international environment, providing workers with the right mix of skills can help ensure that globalisation translates into new jobs and productivity gains rather than negative economic and social outcomes, according to a new OECD report launched today in London in partnership with the University's Institute for Policy Research (IPR).

The OECD Skills Outlook 2017 report reveals big differences in the extent to which countries are equipping workers with the right skills to benefit from the globalisation of production chains.

Aligning skills mix with skills requirements

It finds a country with a skills mix that is well aligned with the skills requirements of technologically advanced industries can specialise in these industries on average 8 per cent more than other countries, and up to 60 per cent more than countries with a low alignment between countries' skills mix and these industries requirements.

Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director for Education and Skills explained: "Countries increasingly compete through the skills of their workers. When workers have a mix of skills that fits with the needs of technologically advanced industries, specialising in those industries means a comparative advantage.

"Equipping workers with new skills in areas like decision-making can also reduce their vulnerability to the risks of offshoring."

Professor Nick Pearce, Director of the IPR, said: "We are very pleased to be joining with the OECD to launch its 2017 Skills Outlook. This is an important biennial report that contains significant policy lessons for all the OECD countries, not least the UK. How workers' skills are developed and used is a major issue for the UK government, given our relatively weak productivity performance and falling real wages.

"Brexit also brings these debates into sharp relief. If the UK withdraws as planned from the European Union single market and customs union, it will need to place even greater emphasis on the skills of the workforces of UK-based companies that have integrated supply chains across the Europe. The OECD 2017 Skills Outlook will be an important reference point in public policy debates on these issues."

Andrew Wyckoff, OECD Director for Science, Technology and Innovation added: "In Global value chains (GVCs), where multiple inputs may cross borders many times before a final product reaches consumers, and where, on average, one-third of jobs in the business sector depend on demand in foreign countries, innovation is key for employment. Employment grows even in the more routine occupations, when sectors innovate. And innovation will not happen in the absence of the right skills and skills mix."

Embracing GVCs for boost to labour productivity

The Skills Outlook finds that GVCs, where workers dotted across different countries contribute to the design, manufacture and sale of a single product, generally lead to productivity gains and job creation as small companies and countries are connected with global markets. GVCs can also cause job losses or wage stagnation when workers are ill equipped to respond to changing demands.

It shows that countries that strongly embraced GVCs over 1995-2011 saw a boost to labour productivity growth in industry. The extra growth ranged from 0.8 percentage points in industries with the lowest potential for fragmentation of production to 2.2 percentage points in those with the highest potential, such as high-tech manufacturing.

To get the most out of GVCs, industries need workers with literacy, numeracy and problem solving skills, prowess in management and communication and a readiness to keep learning. The more firms that have workers with these skills, the more productivity gains from GVCs will spread across whole economies. Yet OECD analysis has found that about one adult in four across OECD member countries have low literacy or numeracy skills.

The Skills Outlook finds that countries which have benefited from GVCs by increasing their specialisation in technologically advanced industries, improving the skill mix of workers and achieving good social or economic outcomes include Germany, Korea and Poland.

Conversely, Finland and Japan have highly skilled workers but could benefit more from GVCs if they deepen their specialisation in high-tech industries. Countries where worker skills are best aligned with the needs of high-tech industries include the Czech Republic, Estonia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand.

Investing in skills, along with increased participation in GVCs, is particularly important in developing economies that tend to be at the lower end of value chains and where working conditions are more often poor.

On average in OECD countries, one third of jobs in the business sector depend on demand in foreign countries and 30 per cent of the value of OECD country exports comes from abroad.

The report is part of the OECD's biennial Skills Outlook series that expands on the findings of the 2013 OECD Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), testing the skills of more than 150,000 adults in 24 countries. The 2017 report also uses the OECD-WTO Trade in Value Added (TiVA) database, which measures trade according to the value added each time a product or service is exported or imported within a global production chain.

More information: The report is available at: www.oecd.org/edu/oecd-skills-o  9789264273351-en.htm
Less affluent countries are more committed to conservation of their large animals than richer ones, a new Oxford University research collaboration has found.

Researchers from Oxford's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) have assessed how much, or little, individual countries contribute to protecting the world's wildlife. Working in partnership with Panthera, the only organisation dedicated to protecting wild cats, they found that in comparison to the more affluent, developed world, biodiversity is a higher priority in poorer areas such as the African nations, which contribute more to conservation than any other region.

Led by Panthera Research Associate Dr Peter Lindsey, the team created a Mega-Fauna Conservation Index (MCI) of 152 nations, to evaluate their conservation footprint. Since a high proportion of mega-fauna species, such as tigers, leopards and gorillas face extinction, the team focused their research on the protection of large mammals. The benchmarking system evaluated three key measures: a) the proportion of the country occupied by each mega-fauna species that survives in the country (countries with more species covering a higher proportion of the country scoring higher); b) the proportion of mega-fauna species range that is protected (higher proportions score higher); c) and the amount of money spent on conservation - either domestically or internationally, relative to GDP.

The findings show that poorer countries tend to take a more active approach to biodiversity protection than richer nations. Ninety per cent of countries in North and Central America and 70 per cent of countries in Africa were classified as major or above-average in their mega-fauna conservation efforts.

Despite facing a number of domestic challenges, such as poverty and political instability in many parts of the continent, Africa was found to prioritise wildlife preservation, and contribute more to conservation than any other region of the world. African countries made up four of the five top-performing mega-fauna conservation nations, with Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe topping the list. By contrast, the United States ranked nineteenth out of the twenty performing countries. Approximately one-quarter of countries in Asia and Europe were identified as significantly underperforming in their commitment to mega-fauna conservation.

Dr.Lindsey said: 'Scores of species across the globe, including tigers, lions and rhinos, are at risk of extinction due to a plethora of threats imposed by mankind. We cannot ignore the possibility that we will lose many of these incredible species unless swift, decisive and collective action is taken by the global community.'

Human impact continues to have a devastating effect on the natural world, with wildlife species across the globe under threat from poaching, hunting and the consequences of climate change. Recent studies indicate that 59 per cent of the world's largest carnivores and sixty per cent of the largest herbivores are currently threatened with extinction.

Professor David Macdonald, Director of WildCRU and co-author of the paper, said: 'Every country should strive to do more to protect its wildlife. Our index provides a measure of how well each country is doing, and sets a benchmark for nations that are performing below the average level, to understand the kind of contributions they need to make as a minimum. There is a strong case for countries where mega-fauna species have been historically persecuted, to assist their recovery.'

The study also goes some way to explaining why the regional disparities occur. Mega-fauna species are associated with strong 'existence values', where just knowing that large wild animals exist, makes people feel happier. In some cases, such as the African nations, this link explains why some countries are more concerned with conservation than others. Larger mammal species like wild cats, gorillas and elephants play a key role in ecological processes as well as tourism industries, which are an economic lifeline in poorer regions.

The conservation index is intended as a call to action for the world to acknowledge its responsibility to wildlife protection. By highlighting the disparity in each nations' contributions to conservation the team hopes to see increased efforts and renewed commitment to biodiversity preservation.

Addressing how countries can improve their MCI scores, Dr Peter Lindsey said: "There are three ways; Firstly, they can 're-wild' their landscapes by reintroducing mega-fauna and/or by allowing the distribution of such species to increase. They can also set aside more land as strictly protected areas. And they can invest more in conservation, either at home or abroad."

At the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, developed nations promised to allocate at least $2 billion (USD) per annum towards conservation in developing nations. However, current conservation contributions from developed nations sit at just half of the proposed amount, $1.1 billion (USD) per year.

Discussing how the scores were tallied, Professor Macdonald added: "These countries have achieved high scores in a variety of ways - some by setting aside vast protected area networks, others by allowing mega-fauna species to occupy high proportions of their landscape, and others by investing significant funding in conservation either domestically or internationally. Our hope is that this will be produced annually to provide a public benchmark for commitment to protecting nature's largest, and, some would say, most charismatic wildlife. The way the index has been structured means that as countries of the world do more, the average benchmark will increase encouraging underperformers to try harder."

Professor William Ripple, Co-author and Oregon State University Professor concluded: "The Megafauna Conservation Index is an important first step to transparency - some of the poorest countries in the world are making the biggest investments in a global asset and should be congratulated, whereas some of the richest nations just aren't doing enough."

More information: Relative efforts of countries to conserve global megafauna, Global Ecology and Conservation, 27 April 2017
Common roaches -- a widespread freshwater fish. Credit: Jakob Brodersen

Fish that show bravery often become prey themselves, whereas shyer individuals survive to a greater extent. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have now successfully established a connection between bold personalities and the risk of being killed by a predator in the wild.

The researchers marked common roaches, a widespread freshwater fish, and studied their personalities. After investigating which individuals then became food for cormorants, the biologists at Lund University were able to show that the bravest fish run twice the risk of being eaten compared to the shyest individuals.

Common roaches, just like human beings, are individuals with different personalities and traits. One of these is courageand not all common roaches are equally bold.

For a long time, researchers have assumed that the inclination to expose oneself to risks is a compromise between the actual risk itself and any associated consequences on the one hand, and the potential reward on the other. Boldness and the willingness to take major risks are thus a strategy which can lead to something really tasty to eat or a partner with whom to mate. But it can also end badly.

Until recently, there have only been a few research findings from wild populations to support this assumption. That is, until now, when the biologists studied personalities among common roaches in Krankesjon lake in southern Sweden.

Cormorants on the small island where they rest between searches for food. Credit: Aron Hejdstrom

Captured common roaches were taken to a lab and placed in a dark concealed area. Then, the researchers measured how long it took each fish to swim out of the concealed area. The bolder the individual, the less time it took. Each common roach was subsequently implanted with a microchip and released in Krankesjon lake.

At the lake, plenty of fish-eating cormorants ate the tagged common roaches. The birds then regurgitated fully functioning microchips on the small island where they rest between searches for food. By using a portable reader, the researchers were able to identify which common roaches had fallen victim to the cormorantsthe bolder or the shyer individuals.

Relating the behaviour of a certain individual to the risk of being killed by a predator is a major challenge. A number of previous studies have instead focused on how morphological characteristics (appearance and shape) are linked to the risk of being eaten by a predator.

"Our study is unique in that we focus on an important behaviour and not morphology, but also because we allow the interplay between predator and prey to take place in their natural habitat, their home lake", says Kaj Hulthen, one of the researchers behind the study.

More information: Kaj Hulthen et al. A predation cost to bold fish in the wild, Scientific Reports (2017). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-01270-w Journal information: Scientific Reports
University of Illinois Steven L. Miller Chair of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Huimin Zhao, left, with Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology Research Fellow Tong Si in front of the Illinois Biological Foundry for Advanced Biomanufacturing (iBioFAB) robotic system. Credit: Kathryn Faith

One of humankind's oldest industrial partners is yeast, a familiar microbe that enabled early societies to brew beer and leaven bread and empowers modern ones to synthesize biofuels and conduct key biomedical research. Yeast remains a vital biological agent, yet our ability to explore and influence its genomic activity has lagged.

In a new article in Nature Communications, University of Illinois researchers describe how their successful integration of several cutting-edge technologiescreation of standardized genetic components, implementation of customizable genome editing tools, and large-scale automation of molecular biology laboratory taskswill enhance our ability to work with yeast. The results of their new method demonstrate its potential to produce valuable novel strains of yeast for industrial use, as well as to reveal a more sophisticated understanding of the yeast genome.

"The goal of the work was really to develop a genome-scale engineering tool for yeast . . . traditional metabolic engineering focused on just a few genes and the few existing genome-scale engineering tools are only applicable to bacteria, not eukaryotic organisms like yeast," said Steven L. Miller Chair of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Huimin Zhao, who led the study. "A second innovation is the use of synthetic biology concepts, the modularization of the parts, and integration with a robotic system, so we can do it in high-throughput."

The team focused on yeast in part because of its important modern-day applications; yeasts are used to convert the sugars of biomass feedstocks into biofuels such as ethanol and industrial chemicals such as lactic acid, or to break down organic pollutants. Because yeast and other fungi, like humans, are eukaryotes, organisms with a compartmentalized cellular structure and complex mechanisms for control of their gene activity, study of yeast genome function is also a key component of biomedical research.

"In basic science, a lot of fundamental eukaryotic biology is studied in yeast," said Tong Si, a Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology Research Fellow. "People have a limited understanding of these complicated systems. Although there are approximately 6,000 genes in yeast, people probably know less than 1,000 by their functions; all the others, people do not know."

The group took the first step toward their goal of a novel engineering strategy for yeast by creating what is known as a cDNA library: a collection of over 90% of the genes from the genome of baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), arranged within a custom segment of DNA so that each gene will be, in one version, overactive within a yeast cell, and in a second version, reduced in activity.

Zhao and colleagues examined the ability of the CRISPR-Cas system, a set of molecules borrowed from a form of immune system in bacteria (CRISPR stands for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, describing a feature of this system in bacterial genomes). This system allowed Zhao to make precise cuts in the yeast genome, into which the standardized genetic parts from their library could insert themselves.

"The first time we did this, in 2013, there was no CRISPR . . . the best we could get was 1% of the cells modified in one run," said Si. "We struggled a little on that, and when CRISPR came out, that worked. We got it to 70% [cells modified], so that was very important."

With gene activity-modulating parts integrating into the genome with such high efficiency, the researchers were able to randomly generate many different strains of yeast, each with its own unique set of modifications. These strains were subjected to artificial selection processes to identify those that had desirable traits, such as the ability to survive exposure to reagents used in the biofuel production process.

This selection process was greatly aided by the Illinois Biological Foundry for Advanced Biomanufacturing (iBioFAB), a robotic system that performs most of the laboratory work described above in an automated way, including selection of promising yeast strains. Use of iBioFAB greatly accelerated the work, enabling simultaneous creation and testing of many unique strains. The iBioFAB was conceived and developed by the Biosystems Design research theme at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB), which is led by Zhao.

With support from the High Performance Biological Computing Group at Illinois, Zhao, Si and their colleagues analyzed the modified genomes of their most promising yeast strains. They identified combinations of genes whose altered activities contributed to desirable traits; the functions of some of these genes were previously unknown, demonstrating the technique's ability to generate new biological knowledge.

"I think the key difference between this method and the other existing metabolic engineering strategies in yeast is really the scale," said Zhao. "The current metabolic engineering strategies are all focused on just a few genes, dozens of genes at most . . . it's very intuitive. With this we can explore all the genes, we can identify a lot of targets that cannot be intuited."
A hermit crab exploring the shell of a potential opponent. Credit: Luis Miguel Burciaga

Sheer aggression rather than pure muscle strength often gives hermit crabs living in broken shells the edge during a fight. Broken shells constrain crabs' activities because they are heavy and a large portion of them unusable. Crabs living in broken shells value an intact shell and will fight more aggressively to get a better one. This is according to research conducted by Guillermina Alcaraz of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in Mexico and Gaston Ignacio Jofre of Texas A&M University in the US. Their findings are published in Springer's journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

The life of a hermit crab is mostly dictated by the search for a better fitting and more intact shell. When a hermit crab wants to take another crab's shell, it attacks by tapping on the shell vigorously and with great energy. During such shell fighting, attackers will try to evict opponents in a manoeuvre that seems to require high muscle strength.

Previous research conducted by Alcaraz showed that crabs that occupy broken shells in the wild have reduced metabolism, low energy levels, and poor nutritional intake. Despite this, they still outperform ones that occupy intact shells during fights. "Broken shells have some of their surface absent, leaving a reduced internal volume that is useful for the crab's protection; therefore, crabs use a relatively small part of the broken shell, but still have to carry the whole structure," explains Alcaraz.

Alcaraz and Jofre therefore set out to explain this seemingly incongruent fighting dynamic by exploring aspects of muscle strength and aggression. The authors hypothesized that carrying a broken shell would be a type of 'resistance training' for the crabs and make them better fighters. They collected male hermit crabs off the coast of Mexico. Crabs in broken shells and in intact shells were then coerced into leaving their current shell homes to move into an empty one which was attached to a thread. The thread connected to a pulley and a dynamometer to help the researchers measure the muscle strength of each crab. In a further part of the experiment, fights between crab duos were orchestrated. Unexpectedly, crabs with broken shells were found to have weaker muscle strength than those with intact ones, even though they were habituated to carry around much more weight. These crabs were however much more aggressive and fought at a higher intensity, even against larger contestants. This behaviour increased their chances of winning the fight in conditions of an apparent disadvantage.

"Prolonged poor conditions following the use of a broken shell seem to increase aggressiveness by affecting the long-term subjective value of a resource, which increases the motivation to fight" concludes Alcaraz.

Jofre comments: "Our findings highlight the role of the recent past associated with the fighting performance."

More information: Guillermina Alcaraz et al, Aggressiveness compensates for low muscle strength and metabolic disadvantages in shell fighting: an outcome of the individual's past, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology (2017). DOI: 10.1007/s00265-017-2311-7 Journal information: Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology

Provided by Springer
Electron microscopic image of a single human lymphocyte. Credit: Dr. Triche National Cancer Institute

Most tumors contain regions of low oxygen concentration where cancer therapies based on the action of reactive oxygen species are ineffective. Now, American scientists have developed a hybrid nanomaterial that releases a free-radical-generating prodrug inside tumor cells upon thermal activation. As they report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, the free radicals destroy the cell components even in oxygen-depleted conditions, causing apoptosis. Delivery, release, and action of the hybrid material can be precisely controlled.

Many well-established cancer treatment schemes are based on the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which induce apoptosis for the tumor cells. However, this mechanism only works in the presence of oxygen, and hypoxic (oxygen-depleted) regions in the tumor tissue often survive the ROS-based treatment. Therefore, Younan Xia at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, USA, and his team have developed a strategy to deliver and release a radical-generating prodrug that, upon activation, damages cells by a ROS-type radical mechanism, but without the need for oxygen.

The authors explained that they had to turn to the field of polymerization chemistry to find a compound that produces enough radicals. There, the azo compound AIPH is a well-known polymerization initiator. In medicinal applications, it generates free alkyl radicals that cause DNA damage and lipid and protein peroxidation in cells even under hypoxic conditions. However, the AIPH must be safely delivered to the cells in the tissue. Thus, the scientists used nanocages, the cavities of which were filled with lauric acid, a so-called phase-change material (PCM) that can serve as a carrier for AIPH. Once inside the target tissue, irradiation by a near-infrared laser heats up the nanocages, causing the PCM to melt and triggering the release and decomposition of AIPH.

This concept worked well, as the team has shown with a variety of experiments on different cell types and components. Red blood cells underwent pronounced hemolysis. Lung cancer cells incorporated the nanoparticles and were severely damaged by the triggered release of the radical starter. Actin filaments retracted and condensed following the treatment. And the lung cancer cells showed significant inhibition of their growth rate, independently of the oxygen concentration.

Although the authors admit that "the efficacy still needs to be improved by optimizing the components and conditions involved," they have demonstrated the effectiveness of their hybrid system in killing cells, also in places where the oxygen level is low. This strategy might be highly relevant in nanomedicine, cancer theranostics, and in all applications where targeted delivery and controlled release with superb spatial/temporal resolutions is desired.

More information: Song Shen et al, A Hybrid Nanomaterial for the Controlled Generation of Free Radicals and Oxidative Destruction of Hypoxic Cancer Cells, Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2017). DOI: 10.1002/anie.201702898 Journal information: Angewandte Chemie , Angewandte Chemie International Edition

Provided by Wiley
A fungus gnat trapped in amber some 45-55 million years ago is carrying on the upper portion of its severed leg a pollen sac from an orchid  the oldest evidence of the flower ever discovered. Credit: Oregon State University

The orchid family has some 28,000 species  more than double the number of bird species and quadruple the mammal species. As it turns out, they've also been around for a while.

A newly published study documents evidence of an orchid fossil trapped in Baltic amber that dates back some 45 million years to 55 million years ago, shattering the previous record for an orchid fossil found in Dominican amber some 20-30 million years old.

Results of the discovery have just been published in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society.

"It wasn't until a few years ago that we even had evidence of ancient orchids because there wasn't anything preserved in the fossil record," said George Poinar, Jr., a professor emeritus of entomology in the College of Science at Oregon State University and lead author on the study. "But now we're beginning to locate pollen evidence associated with insects trapped in amber, opening the door to some new discoveries."

Orchids have their pollen in small sac-like structures called pollinia, which are attached by supports to viscidia, or adhesive pads, that can stick to the various body parts of pollinating insects, including bees, beetles, flies and gnats. The entire pollination unit is known as a pollinarium.

In this study, a small female fungus gnat was carrying the pollinaria of an extinct species of orchid when it became trapped in amber more than 45 million years ago. The pollinaria was attached to the base of the gnat's hind leg. Amber preserves fossils so well that the researchers could identify a droplet of congealed blood at the tip of the gnat's leg, which had been broken off shortly before it was entombed in amber.

At the time, all of the continents hadn't even yet drifted apart.

The fossil shows that orchids were well-established in the Eocene and it is likely that lineages extended back into the Cretaceous period. Until such forms are discovered, the present specimen provides a minimum date that can be used in future studies determining the evolutionary history and phylogeny of the orchids.

This microscopic view shows pollinarium  a cluster of pollen found in orchids  that will stick to the legs and body of pollinating insects. Credit: Oregon State University

How the orchid pollen in this study ended up attached to the fungus gnat and eventually entombed in amber from near the Baltic Sea in northern Europe is a matter of speculation. But, Poinar says, orchids have evolved a surprisingly sophisticated system to draw in pollinating insects, which may have led to the gnat's demise.

"We probably shouldn't say this about a plant," Poinar said with a laugh, "but orchids are very smart. They've developed ways to attract little flies and most of the rewards they offer are based on deception."

Orchids use color, odor and the allure of nectar to draw in potential pollinating insects. Orchids will emit a scent that suggests to hungry insects the promise of food, but after entering the flower they will learn that the promise of nourishment was false.

Likewise, female gnats may pick up a mushroom-like odor from many orchids, which attracts them as a place to lay their eggs because the decaying fungal tissue is a source of future nutrition. Alas, again it is a ruse. In frustration, they may go ahead and lay their eggs, dooming their offspring to a likely death from a lack of food.

Finally, male insects are attracted by the ersatz scent of female flies and they actually will attempt to copulate with a part of the orchid they think is a potential mate.

All three of these processes are based on deception, Poinar said, and they all have the same end result.

"Though the deception works in different ways, the bottom line is that the orchid is able to draw in pollinating insects, which unwittingly gather pollen that becomes attached to their legs and other body parts, and then pass it on to the next orchid flowers that lure them in," he said.

"Orchids are, indeed, pretty smart."
WATERFORD  Three houses and one business, Country Auto Repair, 404 E. Division St., were evacuated for approximately an hour Thursday morning after an excavator hit a gas line in Waterford.

At 10:33 a.m., the Waterford Fire Department responded to the 400 block of East Division Street after a contractor from Town of Burlington-based Wanasek Corporation, 29606 Durand Ave., struck a 2-inch steel gas line, officials on the scene said.

Darla Yanny, owner of Waterford Unique Antique Market, 209 N. Milwaukee St., said she knew something was wrong when all the fire trucks showed up and people were leaving their houses with pet carriers.

Im glad nothing happened and everybody is OK, Yanny said.

With the gas shut off by We Energies crews about 11:20 a.m., the all-clear was sounded and people were allowed back into their homes.

The construction crew was working on street repairs associated with the River East Project, a village redevelopment project east of the Fox River in Waterford.

Service Outage

Amy Jahns, spokeswoman for We Energies, said at the height of the service disruption 111 gas customers were affected in the Waterford area.

Repairs are done but crews are walking to each home to turn the service back on to each meter, Jahns said. Customers have to be home otherwise well put a placard on the door.

Residents were encouraged to shut off their furnaces until crews could drop by and relight their pilot lights and other appliances.
A basin in the Falkland Islands exhibits traits of a large impact crater, according to a new analysis by a team of scientists. The structure measures approximately 250 kilometers, or more than 150 miles, in diameter and is described in the latest issue of the journal Terra Nova.

"If the Falklands basin is really an impact crater, and it has some of the most telling features, then it is one of the largest known," observes Michael Rampino, a professor in New York University's Department of Biology and one of the paper's co-authors.

The researchers, who also include Max C.L. Rocca of Argentina's Planetary Society and Paraguay-based geologist Jaime Baez Presser, acknowledge that samples from the site are necessary to confirm the conclusions of the analysis.

The basin is situated on the Falkland (Malvinas) Plateau to the northwest of West Falkland (Gran Malvina) Island. Seen in seismic-reflection profiles, and in gravity and magnetic surveys, it has traits that are consistent with impact craters, which are caused by collisions with asteroids and comets. Approximately 200 such craters have been discovered on Earth.

The scientists estimate the age of the basin to be from the late Paleozoic Eraapproximately 270 to 250 million years ago.

"If the proposed crater turns out to be 250 million years old, it could correlate with the largest mass extinction everthe Permian extinctions, which wiped out more than 90 percent of all species," observes Rampino.

He and his colleagues also point to specific features that indicate the basin is an impact crater.

They note that it is completely buried by sediments from more recent eras, which indicates it was formed long before its surroundings, and that it has no topographic expression on the present sea floor.

Key to the basin's identification as a potential impact crater are the decrease in the strength of Earth's gravity over the site, indicating a large basin filled with younger low-density sediments, and a strong increase in the strength of Earth's magnetism at the site. The latter is characteristic of large impact structuresnotably, the 66-million-year-old, 200-kilometer diameter Chicxulub impact crater discovered in the Yucatan in the late 1970s.
The DNA from over 1 500 forgotten tomato breeds are being used to create resilient, nutritious and flavour-filled varieties. Image courtesy of TRADITOM

Local farmers and researchers are foraging through forgotten crops to recover long-lost flavours.

Lessons from traditional farming are revealing how agricultural diversity can make food production healthier, tastier and more environmentally sustainable.

While there are over a million varieties of fruits and vegetables catalogued in European seed banks, only a handful of them ever find their way to supermarket shelves.

According to Professor Antonio Granell at the Institute for Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology in Valencia, Spain, modern crops made the cut because they boost the yields of large fields with minimal hassle. The man-made hybrids on our plates can typically grow throughout the year, adapt to different soils, and withstand diseases, pesticides and long periods of refrigeration.

In spite of these perks, Prof. Granell said that crops in the shops typically lack one key quality: they don't taste very good.

'The market currently rewards farmers for quantity, not quality,' said Prof. Granell. 'Fruits and vegetables can be delicious, but most fine-looking varieties sold today taste like water.'

Traditional genomes

In an attempt to recover lost flavours, Prof. Granell is combing through tomato DNA in search of genes that affect taste.

Pinpointing slight variations among the genome's 900 million base pairs is like searching for a needle in a haystack. To speed up the process, the EU-funded TRADITOM project has widened the search by comparing a broader range of tomato varieties.

Although there are precious few varieties of tomato growing on Europe's fields today, over the past 40 years researchers have stored the seeds of local predecessors for safekeeping. By tapping into these repositories, TRADITOM partners have gathered DNA from over 1 500 forgotten breeds and started replanting many in the laboratory.

By drawing on the diversity of their chemical properties, Prof. Granell hopes to cross-breed resilient, nutritious and flavour-filled tomatoes.

Some traits combine well. According to Prof. Granell, much of the antioxidants and branches of amino acids that make tomatoes healthy also taste good. The big challenge is to grow them at a bargain price.

When farmed over industrial scales, traditional crops typically yield less food, are more vulnerable to disease and parasites, and spoil sooner than modern varieties. Any losses inevitably inflate the price of produce that does reach the market.

'The problem is that genes that offer resilience often compromise on taste,' said Prof. Granell. He expects that selective breeding can play down some of these drawbacks but that bringing down prices further will ultimately require changes in how the crops are grown and sold.

While the one-size-fits-all approach of industrial farming is ill-suited to diversifying farming techniques or distribution channels, other agricultural experts have already warmed to the idea.

Agroecology

'For 15 years, we have been working with local farmers on what we call agroecological techniques,' said Dr Veronique Chable at the French National Institute for Agricultural Research in Rennes. 'One thing that we have learnt is that nature needs diversity to remain resilient.'

Dr Chable works with rural associations across Europe to help breed, grow and market organic crops. She and her colleagues advise farmers on statistical methods to check the efficiency of traditional farming practices and how best to cross new populations. The seeds and farming techniques that come out of this research remain natural and environmentally responsible.

'Crops sustain vast populations of pollinating insects and life-giving microbes in the soil,' said Dr Chable. 'The homogeneity of factory farming threatens these species. It is not just a matter of taste, we have to reconnect with food diversity if we are to protect the ecosystems that feed us.'

To explore new ways of reintroducing diversity in the food chain, the EU-funded DIVERSIFOOD project has brought together farmers, bakers, scientists, consumers and local governments across the EU. Together they are helping agroecological networks share seeds, food processing machinery, expertise and new ideas on how to bring their produce to the market.

'Some farmers have branched out into bakery,' said Dr Chable. 'By selling crops as traditional bread instead of organic grain, they can market the superior quality of their product while competing with the price of a supermarket baguette.'

Quality labels, farmer markets and on-site product transformation are some examples of how DIVERSIFOOD partners are broadening the appeal of traditional food. In France alone, the number of farmers involved in organic networks has grown over the past decade from a few dozen to several thousand. Demand for their produce continues to outstrip supply.

According to Dr Chable, interest in food diversity is emerging globally. She is involved with agroecological networks across Europe, has met with peers as distant as North Korea, and points out that most of the crops consumed around the world are still grown from traditional seeds today.

'Traditional agriculture requires manpower, reorganised food markets and informed consumers,' said Dr Chable. 'But it is sustainable, it is healthy and it also tastes better.'
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Evidence-based science is at the heart of discoveries that transform our world. From the development of life-saving antibiotics to the resolution of climate change issues; from the reversal of social injustices to the furthering of space exploration, collaborative research has set the foundation for a brighter future.

On April 22, 2017, the March for Science took place in Washington, DC and more than 600 satellite events around the world. These events were the start of a movement that aims to highlight the vital role of evidence-based policy in the public interest and the role science plays to improve our everyday lives. Hundreds of organizations, including many scientific and scholarly societies, have partnered with the March to continue to expand the impact of research.

"Science plays a significant role in our everyday life," says Ed Liebow, PhD, Executive Director of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), one of the official partners of the March for Science. "Our association stands firmly behind the need for evidence-based policy to serve the public interest."

Eric Davidson, PhD, President of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) adds, "Science is essential to public health, global and economic security, and the livelihood of communities around the world. The March for Science is an unprecedented call to action for all people, not just scientists, to make a strong statement in support of informed, evidence-based science and of the people and programs who make it possible."

"Science is a global endeavor with the March for Science highlighting how we use science to support people's lives," says Professor Lisa Bero, co-chair of the Cochrane Governing Board. "This is the essence of Cochrane's missionto synthesize scientific evidence to address specific health questions that help people make informed decisions about their physical and mental wellbeing."

"Scientific progress has lifted humanity throughout historymarching is a first step toward developing sustained, energetic support for evidence-based truth," says Douglas Braaten, PhD, CSO, Scientific Publications at the New York Academy of Sciences, which is celebrating 200 years of advancing science in the service of humanity.

"Scientific methods don't care about politicsthey're an independent point of view," says Dr. Chris Crandall, President of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI). "SPSSI members are proud to support the March for Science because social research contributes to a strong and effective democracy."

As Wiley President and CEO, Mark Allin says, "We work alongside our society partners to protect collaborative, independent scientific research. Wiley is a pro-science partner, committed to advancing knowledge and supporting scholarly communication." Leveraging our partnerships to support the March for Science and its continued program of activities and outreach will benefit the research ecosystem in which all of us are proud to operate.

In addition to supporting scholarly societies at the March, Wiley is pleased to release the report entitled "Building Momentum: Advocacy Resources for Societies." This report, featuring contributions from the organizations mentioned above, will serve as a sustained resource for societies.

Provided by Wiley
Snow is on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, Hawai'i. Credit: Gisela Speidel

Daydreams of the tropical paradise of Hawai'i rarely include snow in the imagery, but nearly every year, a beautiful white blanket covers the highest peaks in the state for at least a few days. However, systematic observations of snowfall and the snow cover dimensions on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa are practically nonexistent. A group of climate modelers led by Chunxi Zhang from the International Pacific Research Center (IPRC) at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa used satellite images to quantify recent snow cover distributions patterns. They developed a regional climate model to simulate the present-day snowfalls and then to project future Hawaiian snowfalls. Their results indicate that the two volcano summits are typically snow-covered at least 20 days each winter, on average, but that the snow cover will nearly disappear by the end of the century.

To evaluate the current situation, Zhang and his colleagues examined surface composition data retrieved from satellite imagery of Hawai'i Island from 2000 to 2015 to construct a daily index of snow cover. They used this data compilation to evaluate the quality of their regional atmospheric climate model, based on global climate projections that included several scenarios of anticipated climate change. Zhang then ran simulations representative of the end of the 21st century, assuming a moderate business-as-usual scenario for greenhouse gas emissions projections, to establish how long Hawai'i might enjoy its occasional glimpses of white-topped mountains.

"We recognized that Hawaiian snow has an aesthetic and recreational value, as well as a cultural significance, for residents and visitors," explained Zhang. "So, we decided to examine just what the implications of future climate change would be for future snowfall in Hawai'i." Unfortunately, the projections suggest that future average winter snowfall will be ten times less than present day amounts, virtually erasing all snow cover.

Long term annual snowfall on Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea on Hawai'i Island. a) Current average snowfall (in mm of liquid water equivalent) b) Projected snowfall by 2100, from model run with moderate emissions scenario. Topographic contour interval is 200 m. Credit: Zhang, et al. (2017)

The findings were not a total surprise, with future projections showing that even with moderate climate warming, air temperatures over the higher altitudes increase even more than at sea level, and that, on average, fewer winter storm systems will impact the state. However, the group's new method for establishing the current snow cover on these Hawaiian mountains provides another avenue for monitoring the progression of climate change in the region. Ultimately, this study also illustrates the benefits of the recent trend in model downscaling, highlighting the regional and local effects of global climate change.

More information: Chunxi Zhang et al, Monitoring and Projecting Snow on Hawaii Island, Earth's Future (2017). DOI: 10.1002/2016EF000478
Berkeley Lab Scientists Jackie Gates, left, and Kenneth Gregorich work on FIONA, a new device at the Labs 88-Inch Cyclotron. FIONA is designed to precisely measure the mass number of the periodic tables superheavy elements, and could also be useful for other types of explorations of superheavy elements. Credit: Marilyn Chung/Berkeley Lab

A new tool at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) will be taking on some of the periodic table's latest heavyweight champions to see how their masses measure up to predictions.

Dubbed FIONA, the device is designed to measure the mass numbers of individual atoms of superheavy elements, which have higher masses than uranium.

"Once we have determined those mass numbers, we will use FIONA to learn about the shape and structure of heavy nuclei, guide the search for new elements, and to give us better measurements for nuclear fission and related processes in nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry research," said Kenneth Gregorich, a senior scientist in Berkeley Lab's Nuclear Science Division who has been involved in building and testing FIONA.

FIONA's full name is "For the Identification Of Nuclide A." The "A" is a scientific symbol representing the mass numberthe sum of protons, which are positively charged, and neutrons, which do not have an electric charge in the nucleus of an atom. The proton count, also known as the atomic number, is unique for each element and is the basis for the arrangement of elements in the periodic table.

FIONA builds on a long history of expertise in heavy element discoveries and nuclear physics research at Berkeley Lab. The Lab's scientists have been involved in the discovery of 16 elements and also various forms of elements, known as isotopes, which have different numbers of neutrons.

Jackie Gates, a Berkeley Lab staff scientist, points to a branching region of the periodic table that is populated by isotopes of superheavy elements. Credit: Marilyn Chung/Berkeley Lab

Nuclear physicists have used the known masses of radioactive decay "daughter atoms" as a framework for determining the masses for these heavier "parent" elements.

Previous experiments have also helped to home in on the masses of some of the superheavy elements. But determining the mass number of some of the heaviest elements has remained out of reach because it is challenging to produce isolated atoms and to measure them before they rapidly decay.

FIONA's measurements are expected to provide a better fundamental understanding of the makeup of these manufactured superheavy atomic nuclei.

"We will be exploring the limits of nuclear stability, answering basic questions such as how many protons you can put in a nucleus," Gregorich said.

Chemistry World magazine visited Berkeley Labs 88-Inch Cyclotron to discuss how superheavy elements are made and studied. Credit: Chemistry World

A holy grail in this field is to reach the so-called "island of stability," an as-yet unexplored realm in the chart of nuclei where human-made isotopes are theorized to be long-lived.

"We will perhaps be probing the edge of this 'island'informing theories that predict such things so they can be refined," Gregorich said.

FIONA was installed in November 2016 at Berkeley Lab's 88-Inch Cyclotron, which produces intense particle beams for nuclear physics experiments and to test the radiation-hardness of computer chips for use in satellites, and has since undergone a range of tests to prepare it for a first round of experiments this summer. FIONA is an enhancement to a long-running machine called the Berkeley Gas-filled Separator (BGS) that separates atoms of superheavy elements from other types of charged particles.

"The separator's job is to separate the heavy elements of interest from the beam and other unwanted reaction products," Gregorich said, and FIONA is designed to move the desired atoms away from this "noisy" environment and to quickly measure them within about 10 thousandths of a second.

Jeffrey Kwarsick, a graduate student, works on the installation of FIONA at Berkeley Labs 88-Inch Cyclotron. Credit: Marilyn Chung/Berkeley Lab

This is important because the human-made superheavy elements discovered so far have very short half-lives, in some cases decaying down to lighter elements on scales measured in thousandths of a second.

FIONA components include a new shielding wall that is designed to reduce background noise from other charged particles, a specialized trapping mechanism for atoms, and a sensitive silicon-based detector array that can measure the energy, position, and timing of the decay of radioactive atoms.

Several components of FIONA were constructed under contract with Argonne National Laboratory, and the mass analyzer was designed and built at Berkeley Lab.

"The design for FIONA is practical, flexible, and unique," Gregorich said. "We were looking at different ways to perform mass separation, and everything else was either more expensive or more difficult."

A view of FIONAs detector components. Credit: Marilyn Chung/Berkeley Lab

The initial beams that will be produced at the 88-Inch Cyclotron for the early FIONA experiments will use an isotope of calcium that is accelerated to strike a target containing a heavy elementtypically human-made americium, which is heavier than plutonium. This bombardment fuses some of the atomic nuclei to produce even heavier atoms.

Jackie Gates, a staff scientist in the Nuclear Science Division and a leader of the FIONA team, said, "Some other devices have a much higher mass resolution but a lower efficiencyFIONA will have the highest efficiency." This higher efficiency means that FIONA can isolate and measure more atoms of a specific superheavy element in a given time than comparable devices.

Even so, the creation of the heaviest atoms yet discovered is challenging: Of all the particles pouring through the separator, perhaps one in a quintillion (one followed by 18 zeros) reaching the experiment will form a superheavy element of interest.

That translates into the production of possibly one atom of interest per day, and several detections will be needed to determine the mass number, Gates said.

After separation in the Berkeley Gas-filled Separator, atoms of interest are trapped, bunched, and cooled in a device known as a radiofrequency quadrupole trap.

They are then sent through the FIONA mass separator, which contains crossed electric and magnetic fields. In the separator, the ions take on a looping trajectory, sending them to the detector with positions determined by their mass-to-charge ratio. The position in the detector at which the superheavy element radioactive decay is detected gives the mass number.

FIONA's commissioning should wrap up this spring, Gates said, and one of the headline experiments for the new device will be to study decay processes associated with element 115, recently named moscovium (its periodic table symbol is "Mc").

"The Berkeley Gas-filled Separator gave us 20 years of science," Gates said, "and now we are looking at extending this another 10 to 20 years with FIONA."
An unmanned aerial vehicle launches from a multi-utility tactical transport vehicle after exiting an autonomous assault amphibious vehicle during the Ship-to-Shore Maneuver Exploration and Experimentation (S2ME2) Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (ANTX) 2017 at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. S2ME2 ANTX brought together industry, academia and the Naval Research and Development Establishment to demonstrate emerging technology and engineering innovations. Credit: (U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams/Released)

Autonomous vehicles, augmented reality systems and advanced wireless networks were among over 50 new technologies showcased during the Ship-to-Shore Maneuver Exploration and Experimentation Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (S2ME2 ANTX) 2017a series of amphibious beach landings held recently at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in California.

S2ME2 ANTX brought together industry, academia and the Naval Research and Development Establishmentwhich includes the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and various research laboratories associated with the Department of the Navyto demonstrate emerging technology innovations. The exercise involved hundreds of Sailors, Marines and Department of Defense civilian employees and contractors.

By using direct feedback and technical evaluations from participating warfighters and senior leadership in attendance, S2ME2 ANTX also may change the way the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps look at prototyping and rapidly acquiring technology.

"The large scope of this exercise allows the Navy and Marine Corps to make informed decisions about future generations of technology for use by the warfighter," said Dr. David E. Walker, ONR's director of technology. "This pairing of Sailors and Marines with scientists and technologists will help move innovation at a faster pace."

S2ME2 ANTX focused on five capability areas of amphibious operations: ship-to-shore maneuver; weapons fire support and effects; clearing assault lanes; command and control; and information warfare. Demonstrated technologies included unmanned and autonomous vehicles equipped with sensors to gather intelligence in the air, on land and underwater.

During each amphibious beach demonstration, unmanned surface and underwater vehicles approached the shore first, collecting intelligence about battlespace conditionsincluding threats and obstaclesproviding an accurate picture of what warfighters would face when leaving their vessels and vehicles.

Several ONR- and Naval Research Laboratory-sponsored systems were demonstrated at S2ME2 ANTX, including:

BEMR Lab: BEMR stands for Battlespace Exploitation of Mixed Reality. This cutting-edge technology merges virtual reality (complete immersion in a simulated/virtual world) and augmented reality (where virtual objects are imposed onto real-world vision), through the use of Oculus Rift goggles.

Mine Warfare Rapid Assessment Capability (MIW RAC): A small quadcopter is outfitted with an ultra-sensitive magnetometer and sensors to detect mines and provide real-time data to a handheld Android device.

Coalition Tactical Awareness and Response (CTAR): This system uses satellite imagery to conduct surveillance of large areas of open ocean. CTAR processes image data to generate detailed reports about maritime activity in these ocean areas, and can share this information with partners and allies.

Technologies that performed well at S2ME2 ANTX potentially could be featured at Bold Alligator 2017, a multinational series of amphibious exercises led by U.S. Fleet Forces Command and U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command, scheduled for the fall.
The RAISE payload, partially enclosed in a clean tent, is shown after completion of testing before going to the launch pad. Credit: Amir Caspi, Southwest Research Institute

On May 5, 2017, scientists will launch a sounding rocket 200 miles up into the atmosphere, where in just five minutes, it will take 1,500 images of the sun. The NASA-funded RAISE mission is designed to scrutinize split-second changes occurring near the sun's active regionsareas of intense, complex magnetic activity that can give rise to solar flares, which eject energy and solar material out into space.

Several missions continuously study the sunsuch as NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, and the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or STEREObut certain areas of the sun demand especially high-cadence observations in order to understand the rapid changes occurring there. That's where RAISEshort for Rapid Acquisition Imaging Spectrograph Experimentcomes in.

"Dynamic processes happen on all timescales," said Don Hassler, principal investigator for the RAISE mission at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. "With RAISE, we'll read out an image every two-tenths of a second, so we can study very fast processes and changes on the sun. That's around five to 10 times faster than comparable instruments on other sounding rocket or satellite missions."

RAISE images are used to create a data product called a spectrogram, which separates light from the sun into all its different wavelength components. By looking at the intensity of light at each wavelength, scientists can assess how solar material and energy moves around the sun, and how that movement evolves into massive solar eruptions.

RAISE goes through a spin-balance test in the Sounding Rocket Payload Facility at the White Sands Missile Range. Credit: Amir Caspi, Southwest Research Institute/Joy Ng, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

"RAISE is pushing the limits of high-cadence observations, and doing so is challenging," Hassler said. "But that's exactly what the NASA sounding rocket program is for."

The flight of a sounding rocket is short-lived, and has a parabolic trajectorythe shape of a frown. Most sounding rocket flights last for 15 to 20 minutes, and just five to six of those minutes are spent making observations from above the atmosphere, observations that can only be done in space. In RAISE's case, the extreme ultraviolet light the instruments observe can't penetrate Earth's atmosphere. After the flight, the payload parachutes to the ground, where it can be recovered for use again.

This will be the RAISE mission's third flight, and the scientists have continuously updated its technology. For the upcoming flight, they have refurbished the detectors and updated the flight software, and the payload carries a new diffraction grating, which reflects light and separates it into its separate wavelengths.

The launch window for RAISE opens at 2:25 p.m. EDT at the White Sands Missile Range near Las Cruces, New Mexico. The precise timing of the launch depends on weather conditions, and coordinated timing with other space observatories such as NASA's SDO and IRIS, as well as the joint Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency/NASA's Hinode.
Credit: Washington University in St. Louis

The United States is the world's leader in incarceration, spending $52 billion a year on correctional supervision and another $948 billion in related social costs.

What can be done to shrink the prison system?

New guideposts developed by an expert on prison reform at Washington University in St. Louis suggest that smart decarceration of America's prisons is the answer.

A smart decarceration strategy will dramatically reduce the number of people who are imprisoned and enable the nation to embrace a more effective and just approach to public safety, argued Carrie Pettus-Davis of the Brown School.

"As the era of mass incarceration appears to be coming to an end, promoting smart decaraceration in the United States requires deliberate action," said Pettus-Davis, assistant professor and director of the Institute for Advancing Justice Research and Innovation.

Pettus-Davis is co-author of "Guideposts for the Era of Smart Decarceration: Smart Decarceration Strategies for Practitioners, Advocates, Reformers, and Researchers," along with Matthew Epperson of the University of Chicago and Annie Grier, project manager at the Brown School's Center for Social Development.

The three lead the Smart Decarceration Initiative, a partnership between the Brown School, the University of Chicago and the Center for Social Development.

"We developed this report for wide public distribution because we knew that the exponential increase in those interested in criminal justice reforms needed to be paired with guideposts upon which people can draw," Pettus-Davis said. "We formed these guideposts by conducting a national study of perspectives from experts in criminal justice and decarcerative reforms."

The report offers actionable and concrete strategies to be used by reformers, researchers, policymakers and practitioners to accelerate evidence-driven change, she said.

Smart decarceration will only be achieved when three simultaneous goals are accomplished, Pettus-Davis said.

Those are: to substantially reduce the incarcerated population in jails and prisons; to redress race, economic and behavioral health disparities of those involved in the criminal justice system; and to maximize public well-being and public safety.

"This report compiles the current thinking of leaders at a time in which the United States is on the cusp of smart decarceration," Pettus-Davis said. "Implementing components of these guideposts into meaningful action will require the commitment and engagement of state and local officials, community-based providers and organizations, scholars committed to applied research, and advocates and formerly incarcerated leaders."
While just recently returning to Denmark, wolves are found in other Nordic countries

At least five wolves, including one female, have returned to Denmark for the first time in two centuries, a zoologist who has obtained DNA evidence said on Thursday.

The predators came from Germany to settle in western Denmark's agricultural region, the least densely populated in the Scandinavian country.

Peter Sunde, scientist at the University of Aarhus, told AFP the wolves must have walked more than 500 kilometres (310 miles).

"We think these are young wolves rejected by their families who are looking for new hunting grounds," the researcher added.

Scientists have established a genetic profile from the faeces of five wolvesfour males and one femalebut there could be more.

Sunde said researchers had suspected since 2012 that wolves had entered Denmark. "Now we have evidence (including) that there's one female," signalling the possibility of giving birth this spring, he said.

Proof was also established through the wolves' fingerprints and video surveillance showed their location, which scientists refuse to reveal out of fear that it will attract hunters.

"We're following that. The wolf is an animal we're not allowed to hunt so we must protect it," Henrik Hagen Olesen, spokesman at the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, told AFP.

Exterminated by hunters, wolves had been completely extinct in Denmark since the beginning of the nineteenth century.

In other Nordic countries with a higher wolf population, culling the species, protected by the Bern Convention, is under a fierce debate between inhabitants, farmers, hunters, the government, the European Union and wildlife activists.

 2017 AFP
RACINE  In a victory for House Speaker Paul Ryan and Republicans, the U.S. House passed Thursday its proposed replacement for the Affordable Care Act.

The vote came as opponents, including those gathered outside Ryans Racine office, vowed to continue to fight as the legislation moves to the Senate, where changes are expected.

The American Health Care Act was revamped over the last six weeks to attract most hard-line conservatives and some GOP centrists. Passage was a product of heavy lobbying by the White House and Republicans leaders, plus late revisions that nailed down the final supporters needed.

Ryan, who represents Racine County in Congress, said the bill delivers on the promises that we have made to the American people.

A lot of us have been waiting seven years to cast this vote, Ryan said on the House floor. Many of us are here because we pledged to cast this very vote  to repeal and replace Obamacare, to rescue people from this collapsing law.

As House members cast their vote  the bill passed 217-213, with 20 Republicans voting no  about 40 opponents of the legislation held a news conference outside Ryans Racine office, 216 Sixth St.

Robert Kraig, executive director of liberal advocacy group Citizen Action of Wisconsin, said public pressure helped make the vote as close as it was. He expects that will continue as the bill moves to the Senate.

This is far from over and theyre not winning the public opinion battle at all, Kraig said. They just won one legislative fight with all of the money, all of the pressure they have, all of the leverage of President Trump, and every piece of patronage the House speaker has to squeak this through.

Kraig said the bill would especially hurt seniors and those with pre-existing conditions.

Under the legislation, states could get federal waivers freeing insurers from other Obama coverage requirements. With waivers, insurers could charge people with pre-existing illnesses far higher rates than healthy customers, boost prices for older consumers to whatever they wish and ignore the mandate that they cover specified services like pregnancy care.

In a final tweak, leaders added a modest pool of money to help people with pre-existing medical conditions afford coverage, a concern that caused a near-fatal rebellion among Republicans in recent days.

The bill also would eliminate tax penalties in Obamas law which has clamped down on people who dont buy coverage and it erases tax increases in the Affordable Care Act on higher-earning people and the health industry.

It cuts the Medicaid program for low-income people and lets states impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients. It transforms Obamas subsidies for millions buying insurance  largely based on peoples incomes and premium costs  into tax credits that rise with consumers ages.

It would retain Obamas requirement that family policies cover grown children until age 26 and block federal payments to Planned Parenthood for a year, considered a triumph by many anti-abortion Republicans.

Impact unclear

GOP presidential candidates, including Trump, put repealing Obamas health care law at the top of their campaign pledges, contending its a failing system thats leaving people with rising health care costs and less access to care.

Democrats defended Obamas law, one of his crowning domestic achievements, for expanding coverage to 20 million Americans and forcing insurers to offer more generous benefits. They said the GOP measure would toss millions off coverage while delivering tax cuts to the wealthy.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated in March that the GOP bill would end coverage for 24 million people over a decade. That office also said the bills subsidies would be less generous for many, especially lower-earning and older people not yet 65 and qualifying for Medicare.

A CBO estimate for the cost of the latest version of their bill was not ready before the House vote.

Earlier this week, moderates objected that constituents with pre-existing conditions could effectively be denied coverage by insurers charging them exorbitant premiums.

But GOP leaders seemed to win over a raft of wavering lawmakers after adding $8 billion over five years for state high-risk pools, aimed at helping seriously ill people pay expensive premiums. That was on top of $130 billion already in the bill for states to help customers, though critics said those amounts were insufficient.

The House overwhelmingly approved a second bill that Republicans wrote to snuff out a glaring political liability. The measure would delete language in the health care measure entitling members of Congress and their staffs to Obamas coverage requirements, even if their home states annul them.
China's President Xi Jinping on Wednesday hailed the "dialogue" between Beijing and Manila over their border dispute in the South China Sea during a phone call with Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte, state media reported. Duterte is loosening the Philippines' long alliance with the United States while strengthening ties with China and Russia, saying this week he might turn down an invitation from President Donald Trump to visit the US. The call came two days after Duterte toured a visiting Chinese warship on the southern Philippine port of Davao in a display of warming ties with Beijing. "The mutual political trust (between China and the Philippines) continues to grow and our cooperation is flourishing in all areas," Xi said, according to Chinese state media. "Channels of dialogue and negotiation on the South China Sea issue have also been set up, which will benefit the fundamental interests of our two countries," he said. In contrast to his predecessor Benigno Aquino, Duterte has pursued close relations with China despite its extensive island-building in disputed parts of the South China Sea. China claims nearly all of the strategically vital waterway, even waters approaching the coasts of its neighbours, despite partial counter-claims from several regional states such as the Philippines. Duterte has secured promises of billions of dollars' worth of investments from China in return for the diplomatic realignment. Aquino in 2013 took China to a United Nations-backed arbitration tribunal over the maritime row. The tribunal last year rejected China's claim over most of the South China Sea, but Beijing has ignored the ruling. Duterte vowed after his election last year not to "taunt or flaunt" the ruling, saying he did not want to go to war with China. On Monday the Philippine leader said he could not commit to visiting the US president because of a busy schedule, even though no firm date has yet been proposed. Nevertheless, Duterte said relations with the United States were improving now that Trump had taken over from Barack Obama, who criticised the Philippine president for his anti-drug war that has claimed thousands of lives. Rights groups have warned Duterte may be orchestrating a crime against humanity, with police and vigilantes committing mass murder, and Trump's invitation has stirred controversy in Washington. Duterte denies his government is committing extrajudicial killings.
MoneyTable Co-founder Tridbodi Arunanondchai to speak in Echelon Thailand about raising US$1.5M in seed funding early 2017. . Read on to find out more.

Raising funds is an important activity for startups. Seed funding, in particular, is essential for business growth and is used for various purposes such as development of the product and hiring key personnel. Venture capital seed funding not only provides the needed cash to startups but is also a risk that investors take on the potential of the startups product or service. It is also one of the hardest funds to raise especially if the product have yet to progress from the idea stage.

Join Tridbodi Arunanondchai, Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer of MoneyTable, as he shares their fundraising experience at Echelon Thailand 2017. Gain insight from the startup that raised US$1.5M in seed funding and get tips that you can apply to your own business.



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.

About Tridbodi

Tridbodi Arunanondchai is a Stanford Engineering and Stanford MBA graduate who have been working in the banking sector for more than 10 years and has a strong passion for finance and entrepreneurship. He has co-founded Privepass.com (Online Travel Club), ATIZ Innovation (Censor and Imaging Provider), and Play Media (Digital Agency) and has worked for HSBC Investment Bank in London, McKinsey & Co in Hong Kong and AIG Private Equity and Finansa Securities in Thailand.

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Tridbodi is Co-founder and current Chief Commercial Officer of MoneyTable Public Company Limited, a leading Thailand-based fintech Company focussing on big data and techno lending. Apart from that, hei is also an Entrepreneur in Residence for Kejora Ventures, a leading SEA VC fund and the Executive Director of Pinnacle Hotel Group, a leading hotel chain based in Thailand with over 10 properties in its portfolio.

Want to be part of the ecosystem?

Save 10% on Echelon Thailand passes just for being our favourite e27 reader! Register NOW.

The post MoneyTable Co-Founder to speak in Echelon Thailand 2017, to talk about how they raised the largest seed round in Thailand appeared first on e27.
NIA solidifies its support of the local and regional ecosystem by bringing together the tech, entrepreneurship and investment communities for Echelon Thailand 2017.

With Thailands National Innovation Agency (NIA) adding its name to the pool of government bodies in the region pushing for innovation and technology adoption towards corporates and SMEs, expect greater cross border collaboration.

NIA and e27 is proud to announce a collaboration on Echelon Thailand  e27s flagship conference series that has been running since 2012. NIA will enter as the title sponsor of the conference for 2017.

Both parties believe that having hailed from amongst the most fast paced, maturing startup ecosystems in Southeast Asia  namely Thailand and Singapore, learning from each other through co-creation, networking, fostering, and partnering different organisations, is ever important.

NIA is an autonomous agency established by the Ministry of Science and Technology that works to promote economic vibrancy by partnering with business in various industries to promote economic competitiveness. It wants to use innovation as the principal tool to enhance the quality of life and driving Thailand towards an increasingly competitive economy, and towards an ASEAN Start-up Hub.

Through NIAs partnership with e27, we would like to showcase Startup Thailand as a governmental open platform for all startups considering Thailand as a cradle for innovation and business growth across Asia. It is dynamic and change is a norm, shares Dr. Pun-Arj Chairatana, Director of NIA.

Thailands growing involvement in Asias ecosystem through partnering with regional players  including the likes of SPARK  Israel-led global acceleration programme, and e27  Southeast Asias tech and startup resource platform, in order to showcase and open market access to the Thailand ecosystem, is truly heartening, Thaddeus Koh, Co-Founder, e27 shares, and we are honoured to have received NIAs support on furthering e27s role in this endeavour.

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Also read: Thailands National Innovation Agency and Israels AGW Group team up for global acceleration programme

e27 believes this partnership with NIA will be the start of a great year ahead, and an even better way to kickstart Thailands line up of activities throughout and beyond Bangkok to showcase the best of what the ecosystem has to offer  not only at the conference  but online on e27.cos digital platform, throughout the year.

In line with NIAs support of Echelon Thailand, the team would like to invite associations and founders looking to expand into Thailand to attend the Echelon Thailand conference this May 15-16 at C asean. Business association, embassy, or lead a strong community group across Asia? Email marketing@e27.co now to find out how to get your community involved  for free.



Secure your Delegate, Startup, Investor and Corporate passes NOW! Limited passes left.

NIA & Startup Thailand presents Echelon Thailand 2017 is organised by e27, a digital insights, connections, talent and funding platform and power-packed two day conference set to empower entrepreneurs with the tools to build and grow their companies across Southeast Asia and beyond. The conference is held on 15-16 May at C asean, and is set to host over 1,500 attendees consisting of digital professionals, students, startup founders, investors and corporate representatives from over 20 countries. Echelon is supported by NIA, GoodShift Ventures, InVent, Krungsri Finnovate, 500 Startups, Techstars and many more.

Photo credit: Kawee Wateesatogkij / 123RF



The post National Innovation Agency of Thailand partners e27, aims to advance Thai startups across SEA through Echelon Thailand appeared first on e27.
ASTANA (Reuters) - Syria's armed opposition on Thursday rejected a Russian plan to create safe zones in Syria, calling it a threat to the country's territorial integrity, and said it would also not recognise Iran as a guarantor of any ceasefire plan. Turkey, which supports Syrian rebels, and Iran, which backs Syrian President Bashar Assad, agreed earlier in the day to Russia's proposal for "de-escalation zones" in Syria, a move welcomed by the United Nations. "We want Syria to maintain its integrity," opposition delegate Osama Abu Zaid said after Russia, Turkey and Iran - the sponsors of talks in the Kazakh capital Astana aimed at ending Syria's fighting - signed a memorandum on creating safe zones. "We are against the division of Syria. As for the agreements, we are not a party to that agreement and of course we will never be in favour (of it) as long as Iran is called a guarantor state," Abu Zaid said. He also cited what he called "a huge gap" between the promises of Russia, which intervened militarily in 2015 on Assad's side and gave him back the upper hand in the conflict. "We have an agreement already (in) our hands, why isnt it implemented? There is an agreement...signed five months ago, why hasn't it been implemented?" he said, referring to a truce deal announced by Russia in December that was largely ignored on the ground. "Why are we jumping now to safe zones?" "Russia was not able to or does not want to implement the pledges it makes, and this is a fundamental problem." Several opposition delegates walked out in protest, briefly interrupting the signing of the safe zones memorandum. Russia, Turkey and Iran did not immediately publish the memorandum, leaving its details unclear. But the safe zones appear intended to be conflict-free in order to help widen a ceasefire, and would potentially be policed by foreign troops. Senior Russian negotiator Alexander Lavrentyev told reporters on Thursday that under the plan Russia could send observers to safe zones. Third-party monitors could also be invited provided Iran and Turkey agreed, he said. (Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov and Raushan Nurshayeva; writing by Dmitry Solovyov; editing by Vladimir Soldatkin and Mark Heinrich)
A Thai human rights lawyer could be sentenced to a maximum 150 years in prison after he was charged with a record ten counts of royal defamation, a rights group said Wednesday. Prawet Prapanukul, a well-known critic of the law under which he is now being prosecuted, was detained by soldiers and police at his Bangkok home on Saturday. Activists called for the release of the 57-year-old as authorities refused to disclose his whereabouts or the charges he faced. But on Wednesday afternoon he appeared in court charged with ten counts of royal defamation and a separate charge of sedition. He was charged with ten counts of 112 and for 116, Anon Numpa, from Thai Lawyers from Human Rights, told AFP. Section 112 of the criminal code outlaws any criticism of the king, queen, heir or regent. Each count carries up to fifteen years in jail and it has been used with particular ferocity in recent years. Section 116 outlaws sedition, a law that has also become increasingly wielded since an ultra-royalist military junta seized power in 2014. Ten royal defamation charges is the most anyone has ever faced in Thailand since the law become increasingly used. The UNs rights body, which began monitoring cases in 2006, says the previous record was six charges for six separate Facebook posts written by a woman in 2015. At the end of her trial she received a 60-year jail sentence that was halved after she pleaded guilty. Rights groups expressed shock at the latest charge. Imprisonment is never a proportionate penalty for the exercise of free expression, let alone the unthinkable possibility of 150 years, Kingsley Abbott, from the International Commission of Jurists which has monitored lese majeste trials, told AFP. He added the UN had just last month criticised use of the law. It is not known what Prawet said or wrote. However media inside Thailand must heavily self-censor when reporting on the monarchy, including repeating any content deemed defamatory. Trials are often held behind closed doors and acquittals are rare. Prosecutions have skyrocketed since the juntas takeover. Critics say the legislation has been used to stifle political opponents rather than protect the monarchy. Last October Thailands widely revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej passed away after seven decades on the throne. His crown has passed to his son Maha Vajiralongkorn, who has yet to attain his fathers widespread popularity.
The Vatican and Myanmar established full diplomatic relations on Thursday in the latest step in the former pariah Asian state's rehabilitation by the international community. The Vatican said it would appoint a papal nuncio to Yangon and that the country would open an embassy at the Vatican, formally wrapping up an accord approved by Myanmar in March. The move came as Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi met Pope Francis on the latest leg of a European tour overshadowed by her country's treatment of the Rohingya, a persecuted minority Muslim group in the 90-percent Buddhist country. Pope Francis has spoken out in the past on behalf of the Rohingya while Nobel peace prize winner Suu Kyi has come under fire for not condemning repression of them by her country's security forces. Kuu Syi and a small group of officials spent around 20 minutes in Thursday's audience with the leader of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics. Francis presented the former dissident with a bronze medallion with an image of a blooming desert. Suu Kyi had talks on Wednesday with Italian foreign minister Angelino Alfano and with EU and Belgian officials in Brussels on Tuesday. She is also due to visit Britain. In Brussels she reiterated her opposition to a decision by the UN human rights body to send a fact-finding mission to Myanmar to investigate allegations of murder, rape and torture against the Rohingya in Rakhine state. Alfano said in a statement he had discussed the process of national reconciliation in the country formerly known as Burma, without elaborating. Francis denounced the treatment of the Rohingya in February, describing them as "brothers and sisters" who were were being tortured and killed for their faith. - Education issue - He described the Rohingya as "good and peaceful people who have suffered for years," and urged Catholics to pray for them. Estimates of the number of Roman Catholics in Myanmar vary between 500,000 and 800,000. According to the CIA, Christians of all sorts make up around 6 percent of the population of 57 million with groups of Baptists and other Protestants concentrated among ethnic minorities. Christians say they are subject to some of the same persecution and discrimination faced by the Rohingya. The Holy See's request for diplomatic relations dates back to 1990 and, until now, its interests have been represented by an "apostolic delegate" - a rank below a Nuncio or ambassador - with the role filled by the ambassador to neighbouring Thailand. A key issue for the Church in Myanmar is its ability to support Catholic education. All Church schools were nationalised in 1965 following the 1962 military coup in the former British colony. The Church has recently been able to invest in schools again but supported establishments have to be registered in the names of private individuals rather than being officially run by the Church. "We hope to obtain equality of treatment with respect to other religions in this respect," the archbishop of Yangon, Charles Bo, said in a March interview with French website Eglises d'Asie (Churches of Asia). The establishment of ties leaves only strongly Muslim Brunei and the officially communist regimes of China, Laos, North Korea and Vietnam as the only Asian states not to have full diplomatic relations with the Vatican.
Successful unionization movements require a vote in which a majority of workers agree to establish a union and then the negotiation of a union contract between the employer and the union. This contract can cover everything from wages and benefits to dispute resolution processes to disciplinary action guidelines. This process gives employees a greater level of influence over organizational decisions and spending, so some employers prefer to avoid or discourage unionization.

The right to attempt to form a union is protected federally in the United States, however, and there are some lines that companies must not cross when an organization attempt begins in their facility or industry.

Read the Article

Related: Legal Challenges Limit Security Officers Authority

Recommended: Protection of Assets: Online Information Sources for Investigations
RACINE  A couple and four children under the age of 6 escaped a fast-moving fire that broke out Wednesday in a multi-unit residential building in the 1300 block of Michigan Boulevard.

Racine fire investigators said the fire started after a 5-year-old child was playing with a lighter and accidentally sparked the blaze.

Cliff Gardley, a resident in the upper flat, said his wife, Alicia Miles, was cooking lunch for her grandchildren when they were surprised by the smoke detector sounding just after 3:30 p.m.

"She was cooking grilled cheese and all of a sudden the smoke detector is going off. Then I looked in the bedroom and said, 'That ain't no grilled cheese burning,'" Gardley said.

Miles said her daughter just left for work when the fire broke out.

"All of a sudden I hear, 'It's a fire, it's a fire!' It started in her bedroom but nobody was in there," Miles said.

As Miles got the young children out of the home, Gardley tried putting out the fire.

"The end of the bed was on fire. Her blanket was smoking. I went and got water," Gardley said.

Gardley said he tried to smother it with a blanket but knew it was time to go when the smoke got too thick.

"That smoke was choking me," Gardley said.

The couple managed to get the children down the steps to safety before the fire engulfed their home, and damaged the unit next door and the one below.

Dog revived

Racine firefighters busted into the other upper unit to rescue a small dog. Neighbors gasped in horror as firefighters brought the unconscious dog out to the street and worked to save him. Amanda Thomas, a neighbor, said firefighters gave the dog oxygen.

"They were trying to bring the dog back to life," Thomas said. "The dog's name is Lucky."

Lucky lived up to his name and survived. Thomas volunteered to take care of the dog until the neighbors came home from work.

"I'm not leaving his side," Thomas said. "They just moved in. It is a shame."

A passerby, who declined to give her name, helped watch the children who escaped the fire so the adults could make phone calls.

"I just wanted to help," she said.

Gardley said he's pleased with the community effort.

"Somebody driving by wanted to make sure we were all right," Gardley said. "Everybody is out, but we've got nothing now."

The Red Cross is assisting 10 people, including five children, who lived in the building and were displaced by the fire.

Damage is estimated at $55,000, according to the Fire Department.

This story was updated to reflect the correct spelling of the fire victims' names.
You dont need to be a champion in business to know that you should pick up the phone.

But did you know that most phone calls placed to small businesses go unanswered?

Thats right. An eye-popping 62 percent of all phone calls to small businesses just keep ringing and ringing and ringing 

This data was revealed during a webinar  5 Fabulous Habits of Small Business Champions held in conjunction with National Small Business Week 2017. The webinar was sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration, SCORE, and YP (Yellow Pages).

If you dont answer your phone, you dont deserve to have those customers, webinar co-presenter Rieva Lesonsky said. You are showing on your phone behavior, what kind of service (your customers) are going to get.

Lesonsky is cofounder and CEO of GrowBiz Media. Shes also a contributor to Small Business Trends. Small Business Trends is also a co-sponsor of National Small Business Week 2017.

Here are the 5 habits local business champions should have, according to the webinar.

Be Consistent, Be Accurate

It cant be understated how important consistency in your message is to your company and brands reputation. And being inaccurate about any information about your company will raise skepticism and drive customers away.

Your Business Has A Story Tell It

Your companys website should tell the story of your business. And your smartphone is really the only tool you need to help convey it. Take photos, record videos, and share.

Bring your story to life, Lesonsky said. Your phone will take excellent pictures and video.

Web Design Matters

Use calls to action and tell visitors what you want them to do on your site. Keep your design clean and simple. Make sure it has all the relevant information, including a physical address.

Lesonsky said, Your site is like a store. no one is going to walk into a dirty store.

Answer Your Phone

Webinar co-presenter and vice president of Portfolio Marketing at YP Holly Bowyer added, That personal touch is so important.

Social Media Best Practices

Check out this slide from the webinar on some good habits for local businesses on social media.

This webinar was part of a week-long series hosted by the SBA and SCORE. Each webinar features a different corporate partner. There are three more webinars being held May 4. Check out the rest of the schedule here.

A recording of this webinar will be uploaded here by the end of the week.
Increasingly, I have noticed that more and more entrepreneurship professors are making angel investments. That got me wondering: Do academics approach angel investing in a different way than non-academics?

To answer this question, I queried some members of the entrepreneurship division of the Academy of Management  a group of business school professors who teach and research entrepreneurship  that make angel investments about their approach. For the most part, I found that academic angels approach the process very similarly to other angels. There was one big difference: academic angels tend to focus their investments on their former students.

Academic angels are less likely than non-academics to invest in a stranger with a good idea. Here is how one academic angel put it, I think non-academic business angels are more comfortable with investing in people they dont know, but in ideas that attract them.

Why Faculty Angel Investors Bet on Former Students

By contrast, academic angels tend to focus on investing in ventures that emerged from their institutions. As one academic angel put it, I think most of the faculty who I know who invest end to invest in projects where they know one of the co-founders through their academic institutions.

The focus on former students has several root causes. The first is that this is where the angels have private information. As one academic angel explained, we invest in businesses of former students because we have some insight into the team.

This focus might also exist because academics do not have operating experience in the industries in which they are investing. As one academic angel put it, I suspect that like most business endeavors, most academics in business schools have little experience with actually performing the activity they study in a rigorous way. This makes it difficult for them to judge which startups are better than others.

Lacking knowledge of what really matters, they focus on the people. As one academic angel explained, Academics often ask questions that do no matter for the commercial success of a venture. Overall, I see them investing just like inexperienced angels, focusing on people they like.

The focus on former students also can be explained by the different goals of academic and non-academic angels. One academic angel explained that she and her colleagues invest to have access to angel investors and promising startups for research.

In addition, academic angels see investing in start-up companies as an extension of their efforts to teach. One academic angel said, As a professor, I was always keen to develop the potential of my students, and to encourage them to pursue entrepreneurial careers where it made sense. I guess that at some point, this mentoring role in class extended beyond the classroom into their entrepreneurial careers. In many cases, my former students are still in touch and look for advice. It seems only natural that, at times, this extends to helping them financially.

Furthermore, being an angel helps academics to be better teachers of entrepreneurship by increasing their credibility. As one academic angel explained, professors often lack credibility as experts on the entrepreneurial process because few entrepreneurship professors have built substantial companies. By being angel investors, she explains, professors build legitimacy with entrepreneurship students.
Fico did not get the idea to monitor NGOs from his Hungarian counterpart. But if he proceeds this way, he will turn into Orban.

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The prime minister does not like NGOs, we know that much. It was obviously not Viktor Orban who convinced him to come up with the idea to publish the financing of NGOs. Smer has been repeatedly calling for some ostentatious transparency of the third sector.

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For instance, when Deputy PM Peter Pellegrini utters in a discussion that a complaint came from a watchdog with a certain IT company in the background, the audience will be able to add the political links alone.

Read also:

Read also: Government to look at financing NGOs Read more

Or when the prime minister noted that a certain anti-corruption organisation could - again through that IT company - support Andrej Kiskas campaign. And we have already heard MP Dusan Jarjabek announce that there was political pressure behind the anti-corruption march.

Smer does not need to go to Orban for advice, they already share the same view of what politics is. They deny the third sector and the media, or individuals - their own head. They always look for a central brain, the mover.

Moreover, they seek to confront themselves with it using a simple formulation - we have won the election, so we have the mandate to make politics here. Everyone else is doing it unauthorised, or with an interest to replace us.

If the civil society pushes for transparency - publishing contracts, order in tenders, a clearly stated final beneficiary - they want to push as well. But it should also be said that financing of NGOs can easily be looked up with a couple of clicks. If there are concerns about security, there are the respective bodies to deal with that.

It is true that funding from Visegrad, the EU, or Norway, is not the same as the usually much less exposed sources from the eastern neighbour with a moveable border. But the prime minister is unlikely trying to warn us about the threat of propaganda and undermining of the EU; he has had chances to do so before.

The issue of NGOs is, obviously, a juicy one for analysts. Yes, emerging NGOs can be perceived as part of yet another wave of 'turbomodernisation', like the few that this region has already seen and absorbed before.

Yet criticising the time of transformation in this way may be interesting and useful for the self-awareness of the region. We can ask if it was not the modernisation expectations of the western countries that pushed the conservative and nationalist agenda to the margins as an unintended effect. And then the eastern power came to pick it up, dust it, and embrace it.

But this is a discussion that media, academia, and the public should lead and not let the ruling party politicise it. Because that brings a threat that it will embrace this issue as a tool to foster its power: We will rid you of the pest, we will sink the flagships of foreign interests, we will strengthen unity.

This whole Orbanisation leads to transferring the media into state hands - we also see those efforts here in Slovakia - and to weakening the critical power of the civil society.

So beware about where the classical Fico ends and where the piquant Orban begins.

Sme
Graduates of the Faculty of Mass Media Communication at the University of Ss Cyril and Methodius in Trnava have returned the award from the school due to editor-in-chief of the conspiracy magazine Zem a Vek being asked to participate.

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Rostas gave a speech at the university annual international conference, Megatrends and Media  held on April 25 and 26 in nearby Smolenice, the Sme daily wrote.

The ex-students Veronika Pizano, Jakub Ptacin and Radovan Andrej Grezo decided to return the Pomegranate of Marian Matyas award, which they received for spreading the good reputation of the school because they believe that the arguments of the school are misleading. The school had argued earlier that it sees no problem in Rostas participation. The students agree that Rostas, too, has the right to freedom of speech but insist that a man who despises facts has no place at a scientific conference.

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Unfortunately, the events of past weeks surrounding the participation of the conspirator Rostas, discouraged our pride in the Faculty of Mass Media Communication at the University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius (FMK UCM), they write in their letter. A scientific conference should respect science  and this means people who honour facts. Rostas is a human being who constantly proves that facts, science and truth mean nothing to him. The graduates also write in the letter addressed to the Dean of the Faculty, Dana Petranova, that her reactions  and those of her colleagues and subordinates  during the debate at the conference showed arrogance and contempt for the more than 2000 graduates who have been spreading the good name of the school.

They want to donate the sum of 1,250  that was part of the award  to blogger Jan Bencik and activist Juraj Smatana to support their fight against disinformation, the daily wrote on May 3.
The events in the mining town of Kremnica on May 3 were reminiscent of a western movie: the armed robbery of a local bank ended with the suspect being shot in the leg by town police.

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The attempt of a man, identified as Jaroslav from Ruzomberok, aged 44, to rob a VUB bank on the morning of May 3, ended with a shoot-out outside the bank's Kremnica branch, spokesperson of the Police Corps in Banska Bystrica, Petra Kovacikova, informed the TASR newswire.

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An armed man entered the bank, asking for money. He ran out of the bank where the town police patrol used guns to constrain and calm him down, Kovacikova said.

Jaroslav, shot in the leg, was brought to the hospital in Ziar nad Hronom. The seized gun and other items were sent for examination and a prosecution for robbery and illegal possession of firearms has been opened, the spokesperson added.

Head of the Kremnica Town police, Roman Brhlik, said that they had learned about the situation from a phone call. The town police patrol who were in the town centre at that time took bullet-proof vests, and waited for the perpetrator at a gate, as they did not wish to enter bank premises for fear they may put some innocent people in danger, he explained.

When the robber saw the town police officers, he changed the direction of his escape and headed for Stefanikovo Sqaure. All of a sudden, he took his gun and started waving it at the patrol, Brhlik said for TASR, adding that after he did not react to police calls to put down the gun, they used their ordnance guns, shot the man in the leg, pacified and disarmed him.
Slovakia allocated 99,396,970 for official development aid last year, meaning an increase of 21.2 million euros compared to 2015, or about 27 percent.

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The reason is that Slovakia has increased its contributions to international organisations, the SITA newswire wrote. Among the priority countries, the most resources were directed to Ukraine, Kenya, and Moldova, according to the Foreign Ministrys Report on Official Development Cooperation for 2016, approved on May 3. As the document further elaborates, the share of development aid of the gross national income amounted to 0.125 percent, while in 2015 it was 0.103 percent. Thus, Slovakia still lags behind in the fulfilment of its targets to which it has committed itself at the level of the European Union. The goal is to achieve a share of official development cooperation on gross national income of 0.33 percent by 2030.

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Out of the total sum for development aid, 80.153 million went to multilateral and 19.243 million to bilateral official development aid programmes, the TASR newswire wrote. As for the insufficient fulfilling of pledges, upon joining the EU, Slovakia pledged to spend 0.17 percent of GNI on development aid by 2010 and 0.33 percent by 2015, but in reality the country spent only 0.103 percent of GNI  which stood at almost 80 billion  in 2016. But the other newer EU member states are faring no better, however.

If Slovakia wished to maintain the dynamics of the current growth in expenditures, it would have to allocate up to 126 million in development aid in 2017, according to the ministry. The challenge for this year lies in maintaining the extent of involvement of the country in the process of addressing the most urgent global crises, otherwise, Slovakia runs the risk of seeing its GNI share of development aid drop significantly in 2017.

A potential enlargement of the territorial scope of Slovak development aid hinges on the need to allocate more resources to SlovakAid budgeting. Therefore, mid-way into the implementation of the mid-term strategy we dont recommend any substantial intervention in the current structure of territorial priorities, which would simultaneously pave the way for ensuring the effectiveness of our developmental interventions, reads the document elaborated by the ministry.

What has remained without change is the focus on three programme countries; Afghanistan, Kenya and Moldova. Due to recent developments, Syria was included in 2016 on the list of countries with extraordinary humanitarian and development needs, TASR wrote.
He attempted to bribe a second party into not calling the police after a car accident in 2016.

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This case started with an accident in January 2016 when Jan Slota, ex-mayor of Zilina and former chairman of SNS, crashed his Porsche into two cars and refused an on site breathalyser test. Another person involved in the accident claimed Slota left his car and offered him money if he did not call the police and reached an agreement with him, the aktuality.sk website wrote. After the accident, Slota was hospitalised at the Teaching Hospitals emergency reception in Zilina where he spent three hours, accompanied by police  the reason being an alleged heart attack .

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As Slota refused to take the breathalyser or to give blood for testing, he was considered to be a drunk-driver and sentenced to a 6,000 fine, a six months conditional sentence (postponed for one year) and a driving ban for six years. However, the prosecutor could not accept this and lodged an appeal for a stricter sentence. This succeeded and the case went to trial, aktuality.sk wrote.

As for the charge of offering a bribe, the Specialised Criminal Court studied the case for several months and on may 4, it issued its verdict, according to the cas.sk website. The court replaced the first verdict of the Zilina Regional Court concerning the drunk-driving charge, and merged them into a single one, with a stricter sentence.

"A judge from the Specialised Criminal Court issued a criminal order on April 21, 2017 in the case of a misdemeanour of bribery, spokesperson of the Court, Katarina Kudjakova, told cas.sk. It found the defendant guilty and gave him a summary prison sentence of one year, with a conditional reprieve of two years, she said.

The verdict is not yet in effect, as Slota still has the right of appeal; if he does so, a main session will be ordered and a new verdict reached.
Opposition OLaNO MP is one vote away from being losing his parliamentary seat as a punishment for having an active business licence. The ruling Smer has been building a case against him, accusing him of tax fraud.

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The fate of MP Igor Matovic is in the hands of his fellow deputies in the parliament. At their May plenary session they are expected to vote on whether he should remain one of them, or leave the house altogether.

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Matovic, the leader of the opposition Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OLaNO), faces being stripped of his parliamentary mandate as a punishment for his business licence having been active in conjunction with his previous election tenure, which is prohibited by law. He has already been fined 12,000 for the year 2013 when his business licence was active for 21 days after the start of his election term. The fine was later confirmed by the Constitutional Court. Shortly after the first fine, the information surfaced that Matovics business licence was restored again last September.

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He has a chance to prove whether the mistake was deliberate or unintentional, said Smer MP Jozef Burian, as quoted by Sme, speaking after the session of the parliamentary committee on conflicts of interest that on March 28 approved the proposal to strip Matovic of his mandate.

The parliament would have to approve such a step with the qualified majority of at least 90 votes in the plenum of 150 MPs. Though opposition MPs will not vote in favour of the motion, it is unclear what MPs of the coalition Most-Hid will do, while the extremists from LSNS might also become a decisive factor in the vote.

Smer and SNS, meanwhile, speak to the effect that their MPs will vote for ousting Matovic. Especially Smer has been targeting the MP in recent weeks. Observers tend to see their recent attacks on Matovic, particularly on the part of Interior Minister Robert Kalinak and Kosice Mayor Richard Rasi, as an attempt to spin the event in their favour, and present Matovic as a fraudster who only went into politics to avoid punishment for his alleged murky business practices.

Case against Matovic

In the weeks running up to the vote on Matovics future in the parliament, several politicians of the ruling Smer party have called for his departure. They say it is necessary to also take into account the suspicions of tax evasion raised against Matovic in the past.

This happened shortly after several media outlets received anonymously a police decision which indicated that the criminal prosecution in Matovics case of alleged tax fraud, which was medialised repeatedly over the past seven years, was stopped because it was time-barred.

The deed has happened, Smer MP and Kosice Mayor Richard Rasi, who served in the past as health minister, told the April 20 press conference, as quoted by Sme. Igor Matovic really committed tax crimes, he robbed the state and his past is catching him up.

Tax officers investigated Matovic in connection with entering three items into the company accounts between the years 2002 and 2004: a printing press, travel compensation for driving a company car, and a transformer station.

The last problem concerns the statement about the kilometres driven in a company car which Matovic borrowed from his cousin, Martin Viskupic. In this case there was a suspicion that he decreased the taxes payable by 12,000, according to Dennik N.

Back in 2004 Matovic claimed that he drove more than 200,000 kilometres with the car, which accounts for some 600 kilometres a day. This, however, does not seem very probable even though Matovics company has subsidiaries across Slovakia and in that year he had to travel to Germany often due to the printing machine.

Smer MPs also pointed to the fact that in 2016 the number of driven kilometres on the car was very low. Yet the fact is that before 2016 the vehicle had changed hands several times and the new owners could have manipulated the number of driven kilometres, Dennik N reported.

This case is related to another accusation of Smer deputies, who have claimed that Matovic misused his mother when committing tax fraud. They used the information that Matovic was often accompanied by his mother when travelling, according to the daily.

Matovic responded to Rasis accusations, saying that he will not give up his mandate. Moreover, he is ready to submit a criminal complaint against Rasi, for false accusation. The MP also told the press on April 20 that investigator Stefan Mencik, who according to Matovic has been dealing for the past two years only with his cases, has recently been promoted to the post of leader of the West division of the National Anti-Corruption Unit.

He pointed to the fact that Mencik first supervised Matovics own criminal complaint submitted against Radoslav Prochazka in connection with financing his presidential campaign. At the time, Mencik swept it under the carpet, as reported by TASR.

He allegedly later published the recording Matovic made when meeting Prochazka and sent a police raid to his company. One month before the elections, the investigator started acting as a dogsbody of PM Robert Fico, Matovic claimed.

One day later, Interior Minister Robert Kalinak responded to the claims by saying that no politician in any country can afford to attack an individual police investigator about whom he or she knows they cannot defend themselves.

This can be done only by a coward, said Kalinak, as quoted by TASR, adding that Matovic has been blackmailing several politicians as well as journalists.

Police Corps President Tibor Gaspar, who also attended the press conference, has rejected any suspicions of Mencik being promoted as a reward. He explained that the investigator has been serving in various posts during his 12-year police career.

Kalinak also denied Matovics claim that Smer had been keeping the evidence against him since 2010 in a drawer, because at that time they worked on the Roma reform together. In the end, the deeds became time-barred. He also said that Matovic probably entered politics just to avoid sanctions for his frauds.

The interior minister also said that Matovic is bold enough to make such statements only from the parliament as he knows he cannot be prosecuted for them due to immunity, as reported by TASR.

Matovic responded by saying he would submit a criminal complaint against Kalinak for his statements concerning the alleged threats against politicians and journalists, and called on Gaspar to start a criminal prosecution against him in this matter.

He claimed that altogether 17 lies were said during Kalinaks press conference. As he wanted to prove that he does not try to seek immunity, Matovic spoke to journalists in front of the parliaments building. He called Kalinak corrupted and called on him to submit a criminal complaint, as reported by TASR.

Meanwhile, another opposition party, Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), claimed that the police led by Kalinak and Gaspar intimidate and oust opposition representatives based on a political order.

The case of opposition politician Igor Matovic is a living testimony that nothing can stop Robert Kalinak and that he is ready to use any, even the dirtiest, methods to get rid of anybody who stands in his way or the way of somebody from his party, said SaS MP Lubomir Galko, as quoted by SITA.

Smer MP goes without fine

While Matovic might lose his mandate due to an active trade licence, the parliamentary committee for incompatibility of functions did not proceed in such a strict manner in the case of a Smer MP. They decided not to impose a fine of 108,000 on MP Stanislav Kubanek, as originally proposed by committee members.

Coalition MPs supported him, and MP Jozef Burian of Smer proposed on April 4 to launch a new proceeding against him, in which Kubanek would get two fines: one for not suspending his licence, and another one for being a legal representative of a trade company.

OLaNO claims that the ruling coalition has double standards for its own, and for opposition MPs.

The coalition uses two unequal metres for the situation, OLaNO MP Jozef Lukac said, pointing out that Stanislav Kubanek has been violating the law by not suspending his licence for 3,285 days, thus facing a fine of 108,000.

On the other hand, Matovic had his self-employment licence active simultaneously with his parliamentary mandate for a mere 21 days, yet the result is the loss of his mandate, and a fine of 12,000.

Government MPs are only looking for a way to reduce or cancel his fine... While he has been violating the law for nine years, Viskupic told SITA, adding that Matovic's mistake was a formality but Kubanek was, in all likelihood, really doing business.

Opposition: He should stay

The opposition criticised the attempts to rid Matovic of his mandate. The chair of the committee, Martin Poliacik of Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) said Matovic has not violated the law twice during the same election tenure. Thus, he should have received only a fine, as reported by Sme.

Smer MP Robert Puci indicated that Matovic knew about his business licence being renewed and is only setting out to provoke with this case.

Matovic, however, reiterated that he did not earn a single euro as he actually did not do any business. He compared his case with that of Interior Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer) and his dubious trade with businessman Ladislav Basternak for which he has not been punished by the committee.

If Matovic loses his mandate, he may still turn to the Constitutional Court and sit in parliament until the court issues a ruling.
In characteristic fashion, Igor Matovic may be felled by his own hubris - but still manage to make himself look like the victim.

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In its recent story about student-organised anti-corruption protests in Slovakia, the New York Times described opposition OLaNO leader Igor Matovic as a member of Slovakias Parliament whose small party was formed seven years ago to combat corruption.

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Leaving aside the fact that small OLaNO won the third largest number of seats in last years election, that plucky image is not quite how most Slovaks would characterise the relentlessly self-publicising Matovic. What no one can deny is that Matovic sure knows how to make a lot of noise. The way that this previously unknown businessman, who used editorials in the advertising freesheets his firm distributed to Slovak households to catapult himself into national politics, illustrates this well enough. After securing the last four places  i.e. typically, the no-hopers slots  on the 150-candidate slate of the then-greenhorn Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party, he used his weekly opinion pieces to get himself and three allies into parliament in 2010 based on preference votes  an unprecedented achievement. Those same four MPs, with Matovic the undoubted star, proceeded to found their own movement, which has remained a fixture on the Slovak political scene ever since  again, no mean achievement.

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Over seven years, Matovic has inserted himself into nearly every controversy that has emerged in Slovak politics. For instance, has has accused the prime minister and his wife of having millions in a bank account in Belize  but then failed to provide any of the evidence he promised; and he has helped to destroy the political (and very possibly, nascent judicial) career of one-time presidential contender Radoslav Prochazka by secretly recording their conversations.

So to characterise Matovic as an anti-corruption fighter does not really do justice to this very colourful politician.

But a politician he is, whatever he may claim as he stands proudly on the castle hill, against blue skies and the white parliament, in a smart black coat and trademark everyman jeans (as the New York Times chose to depict him).

He has certainly been tireless at pointing fingers at other politicians, from across the spectrum, and accusing them of corruption and lack of transparency. Just last week he and his party colleagues revealed that parliamentary officials have been opening, reading and withholding MPs mail, supposedly for security reasons. He blames the speaker, a key figure in the governing coalition.

In keeping with his rebellious image, Matovic now faces being only the second MP in modern Slovak history to be stripped of his parliamentary mandate. The previous ejectee, Frantisek Gaulieder, lost his seat in the 1990s in a move that was later ruled unlawful by the Constitutional Court but marked a significant moment in Slovakias Meciar-era flirtation with authoritarian government.

Unfortunately for Matovic, his case is very different from Gaulieders. As one veteran of the Meciar era, journalist Marian Lesko, pointed out in an opinion piece for the Trend weekly, no one has helped put Matovic in this predicament more than Matovic himself. For some unfathomable reason, he made the mistake of having his business licence active while he was an MP  not once, but twice. Is that enough of a reason to expel him from parliament? Strictly speaking, it is  although no one seems to be arguing that he actually did any business while an MP. At the end of the day, it will be up to his fellow MPs to decide if he deserves leniency or not.

So now, after seven years of grandstanding, buffoonery, non-conformism, and generally acting the big-mouth, enfant terrible of Slovak politics, Matovic is facing what is basically unprecedented in Slovak politics. Smer, which has been building the case against him through the media  and employing underhand tactics involving police investigations and leaked tax documents to which it has privileged access  faces its own dilemma: should it force the expulsion from parliament of one of its noisiest critics (and in the process lend Matovic more fuel for his own self-stoked fire of victimhood), or make the whole issue go away more or less silently and deny Matovic another reason to point his accusing finger?
The package should save businessmen 44 million on costs.

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Not only employees but also employers will have something to look forward to. After Prime Minister Robert Fico introduced a social package of measures designed to allow ordinary people to enjoy Slovakias economic growth on May 1, Economy Minister Peter Ziga has now introduced a package of measures to reduce red tape for businessmen and simplify business itself in Slovakia.

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The package includes 34 measures that should reduce costs for businesses by 44 million and will apply to all businessmen, Economy Minister Peter Ziga (Smer) told a news conference on May 4, as cited by the TASR newswire.

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The measures have been divided into five groups. They concern public administration services, increasing competitiveness, the hire of employees, as well as tax and business support.

Ziga pointed to the fact that the draft measures are a result of a wide consensus between central state administration authorities, institutions and the business sectors representatives.

We want these measures to be fast, said Ziga. We are not going to make structural changes to any system or any crucial laws. Only 10 measures involve changes in legislation, while the remaining ones are about improvement.

The first measure is aimed at revising health supervision through occupational health services for employees in both the first and second work categories. Another measure is to increase the so-called super-deduction of expenditure on research and development to 100 percent.

Today it amounts to 25 percent and a proposal that has been discussed with our partners is that it should equal 100 percent of these expenditures, said the ministrys state secretary, Rastislav Chovanec. Just this particular measure should have a positive impact on the business environment to the amount of 7 million from tax savings.

The next measure introduces the monitoring of changes in the letters of ownership in the real estate cadastre.

Citizens and companies should be informed about any changes within the cadastre, explained Chovanec.

The measures should also make the process of acquiring construction permits more efficient and it will simplify the process of permitting smaller constructions.

The Interior Ministry suggests introducing the possibility of acquiring extracts from the Business Register at integrated service points, which should be promoted more.

The Finance Ministry proposes revising the frequency of submission of reviews of advanced payments from individual and corporate income taxes.

The Environment Ministry suggests reducing red tape for businessmen related to the law on waste.

Ziga stressed that the main goal of these measures is to create a stable environment where businessmen will be able to operate without any useless bureaucracy.

The document will be submitted for an interdepartmental review and some measures will subsequently be discussed by the government and parliament.

We want to help businessmen in every field, said Ziga, adding that they are already working on a second package to be introduced during the first quarter of 2018.

The first package should go for inter-departmental review next week.

The business sector does not yet know the details of the package.

Peter Kremsky, executive director of the Business Alliance of Slovakia (PAS) welcomes the initiative.

We do not know exactly what will be included but if is there something that business people have already talked about, the package might help businesses in the reduction of red tape and the administrative burden, said Kremsky as cited by the SITA newswire.
Andrej Danko, the Speaker of Parliament, did not face a no-confidence vote.

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The special parliamentary session aimed at removing the Speaker of Parliament, Andrej Danko, from his post should have taken place on May 4 but in the end, Danko did not face a no-confidence vote.

The Opposition initiated the vote after the leader of the opposition party Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OLaNO) Igor Matovic went public with a claim that Danko had ordered parliament office chief, Daniel Guspan, to introduce a policy of opening letters addressed to individual MPs if they were sent by private individuals or if they are apparently anonymous.

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The opposition claims that the constitutional right of citizens to the secrecy of correspondence has been violated, the TASR newswire reported.

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Guspan said in response, that neither the employees of his office nor Danko reads the letters addressed to MPs.

MPs failed to pass a no-confidence vote as only 54 out of the 131 present voted for it on May 4. The Coalition parties of Smer-SD, the Slovak National Party (SNS) and Most-Hid were against it.

Danko subsequently claimed publicly that he has never read any of those letters and he also had not ordered parliament empolyees to do so. He added that if the accusation of the opposition was proven he would leave his position.

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If I knew about anyone who invades the privacy of correspondence, I would take measures, Danko said, as quoted by TASR, adding that firstly police would have to investigate the case.

The parliament office subsequently introduced changes to the procedures for opening letters. When a letter has to be opened due to security reasons, the MP will have a chance to be present while the letter is opened.

If anyone does not agree with our solution, the parliament office will establish a PO Box at the post office and the office will be no longer responsible for security checks, stated the parliament office in the announcement, as quoted by TASR.
Slovak police succeed in uncovering the first case of gun and drug dealing via the dark web.

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Two Bratislavan men were caught illegally dealing guns and drugs abroad. They traded via the anonymous, highly protected and hard to access part of the internet called the dark web, full of illegal activities.

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The police in cooperation with German Europol, accused 33-year-old Adam and 28-year-old Lukas of dealing drugs and guns in March. The men are currently in prison and could face sentences of 10 to 15 years for drug dealing and 3 to 8 years for dealing in arms.

During a domiciliary search in September 2016, the police found dozens of cannabis plants equal to 15,000 doses, LSD amounting to 117 doses, 5 guns and 600 rounds of ammunition. The police also logged onto the server which the criminals used to trade on the Internet and found 203,000 euros in bitcoins used for anonymous payments and also identified other buyers and sellers of drugs, guns and explosives.

Criminals like to use these open websites for illegal activities, said Jari Liukku from Europol, as quoted by the TASR newswire. Illegal online shopping is spreading according to him.

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Thats why he wants the cooperation between EU countries to become better. They want to focus on migrants, smuggling, human trafficking, document forgery and money laundering on the Internet.

We realize that crimes are moving into the Internet environment, said police chief Tibor Gaspar, as quoted by TASR. He wants to enlarge the department for the investigation of Internet crime to 30 policemen.
State lost around 1 million on deal, according to opposition.

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The Interior Ministry has purchased flats in a suspicious transaction that appears linked to the family of Ladislav Basternak, the businessman accused of tax fraud with connections to the Interior Minister, Robert Kalinak of Smer, Sme daily reported on its website on May 4.

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The minister was in a rush when securing apartments for police officers in late 2016, the Plus 7 dni tabloid daily reported on May 3. Instead of selling or auctioning two plots of unused land on Rajska and Bajkalska streets which would enable him to gain the maximum possible sum, Kalinak exchanged these plots for four apartments in the Bratislava borough of Vrakuna and got a surcharge up to the sum set in the experts opinion.

The market price for the land is 1.5 million but the ministry exchanged it for flats worth 500,000. The State thus lost around 1 million, according to the opposition. The Interior Ministry claims that the real price for these two pieces of land is lower and actually the state lost nothing.

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The lucrative land originally belonging to the state slipped into the hands of the firm Ivanska Cesta, the authorized representative of which is businesswoman Zuzana Kurucova who ran for a coalition led by Smer in the past. Her husband, Martin Kuruc, is the mayor of Vrakuna and an ex-MP who also has close ties with Basternak. He admitted that they were hunting together.

The administrator of the block of flats where all four flats are situated is the firm, House services, run by Peter Basternak, Ladislav Basternaks brother.

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Ladislav Basternak is accused of tax fraud committed during the purchase of seven other flats which he allegedly bought for an exceedingly high price and then received a high tax return from the state.

When the Financial Administration notified the National Criminal Agency (NAKA) about that complaint, it was refused in 2014. After the media reported the events in March 2016, the police reopened the case. The Opposition blames Kalinak for halting the investigation in 2014.
With the retail share of responsible investment doubling to 26 per cent in 2016, ethical, responsible and Islamic fintech can support further growth to deliver the financial products, experts said at a summit in Zurich, Switzerland.



The Responsible Finance & Investment (RFI) Summit opened yesterday (May 3) with leaders from across the responsible investment, impact investment and Islamic finance sectors gathering to discuss how to promote greater awareness of and engagement within responsible finance.



The first days sessions focused on ethical, responsible and Islamic fintech and the power they harness which can disrupt financial services and in doing so address the inequities in society and support equitable, inclusive and sustainable economic growth.



During his Opening Remarks on ethical fintech, Dr Jarmo Kotilaine, chief economist of the Economic Development Board of Bahrain noted that digitalization of emerging markets can deliver new value of $4 trillion to GDP by 2025 and this digitalization will help the financial sector better fulfil its role as the cardiovascular system of the economy.



The sessions that followed Dr Kotilaines remarks looked at the role for responsible fintech to deliver impact and ESG integration to a much wider segment of the population. The final sessions of the day addressed how regulators and the innovation ecosystem can support fintech development and encourage more responsible fintech. This development can be supported both by better regulation and building appropriate incubation ecosystems that focus on responsible fintech.



Before the opening of the RFI Summit, together with INCEIF, the global university of Islamic finance, the organizers hosted interactive Executive Sessions focused on the cooperative roles that impact investing and awqaf can play to address the Sustainable Development Goals. During the Sessions, participants discussed how to use the financial resources held by impact-focused investors and awqaf to address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).



The Summit will also feature presentations by the finalists in the Support Disruption for GoodChallenge, which identified innovative fintech startups focusing on financial inclusion and the SDGs.  TradeArabia News Service


Oman Investment Fund (OIF) has closed the syndication of $600 million of conventional and Islamic facilities for its wholly owned subsidiary United Telecommunication Limited (UTL).



The proceeds of the transaction were used towards the acquisition of a 51 per cent stake in Oman Telecommunications Company SAOG (Omantel) from the Ministry of Finance of the Sultanate of Oman. The transfer of the 51 per cent stake in Omantel was disclosed on the Muscat Stock Exchange.



The facilities raised by UTL have a 5.25 year tenor, split between a conventional facility of $450 million and an Islamic facility of $150 million.



The financing was initially provided to UTL on a sole basis by Citi as initial Underwriter to meet the timeline to close and fund the acquisition of the 51 per cent stake in Omantel. Subsequent to this, Banca IMI/ Intesa Sanpaolo, Kuwait Finance House and National Bank of Abu Dhabi joined the transaction as Underwriters and Bookrunners.



General syndication was launched in February and received an overwhelming response from the market despite tight pricing. The transaction ultimately was more than 2x oversubscribed as it received significant interest from banks in Asia in addition to Middle Eastern and International banks.



Hassan Al-Nabhani, CEO of the Oman Investment Fund, said: We are extremely pleased to have received such overwhelming support initially from Citi and subsequently from the incoming syndicate bank group. The fact that the transaction had such strong demand and was ultimately oversubscribed is a testament to the continued demand for Omani credit in the bank market and reflects the high creditworthiness of OIF and Omantel.



Nigel Govett, CFO of Oman Investment Fund, said: OIF is proud of the new relationships it has managed to build with strong partners in the Far East and to continue the trusting relationship with existing banks. Our attractive final pricing reflects the strength of the transaction structure, the exceptional credit of Omantel and Oman Investment Fund and the attractiveness of the broader Omani market.



Naveed Kamal, Citis head of Banking for Oman and UAE and Public Sector Head for the Middle East, said We are delighted to have been given the opportunity to be part of this landmark transaction for a key client and to continue to support the Government of the Sultanate of Oman and its related entities.



Despite a significant re-pricing of Middle East bank market liquidity in 2016, OIF was able to achieve extremely attractive terms by approaching new investors from China, Korea and Taiwan in addition to Middle East banks. The strong transaction structure and OIF support allowed for a hugely successful deal. With 25 lenders in the deal, this is one of the most successful GCC syndicated loan deals in the recent past, he added.  TradeArabia News Service
The recently launched Bahrain Investment Markets innovative trading platform unlocks previously untapped and potentially lucrative opportunities, said its CEO Shaikh Khalifa bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa.

He was addressing members of the Bahrain Association of Banks (BAB) who got an up-close look at the investment opportunities offered by Bahrain Bourses (BHB) newly-launched Bahrain Investment Market (BIM), an equity market for growing business ventures in Bahrain and the wider Mena region.

The presentation, which took place at the BHB on Thursday (May 4), is part of the BHBs stakeholder outreach and engagement campaign about the BIM.

Shaikh Khalifa said: The Bahrain Investment Markets innovative trading platform unlocks previously untapped and potentially lucrative opportunities for institutional and individual investors around the world to invest in proven businesses that are ready to take the next step in their growth and share in their future success.

In offering dedicated, reliable and efficient capital markets platforms, the Bahrain Bourse gives the private sector an even broader range of capital-raising solutions to select from in order to fuel its future growth and development. It is important that the banking sector is aware of these investment options and how they work together towards a building a private sector that is more dynamic and sustainable, Shaikh Khalifa added.

The Bahrains Investment Market was officially launched in March 2017. It is specifically designed for companies who are looking to raise capital to fund their future growth, such as entrepreneurial ventures and mature family businesses. Among its numerous benefits and features are easier admission and financial disclosure rules, access to global investors, guidance services through specialized professional advisory firms, and a dedicated Tamkeen support program.

The Bahrain Investment Market model is an integrated world-class ecosystem which is accessible to companies and equipped with the necessary safeguards to protect investors. We placed great importance on ensuring end-to-end transparency to allow investors to quickly evaluate and benchmark the eligible companies, from the initial listing documents to audited financial reports after listing, Shaikh Khalifa noted.

Operated by the BHB and licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain, the Bahrain Investment Market is underpinned by a national financial regulatory framework that ranks among the very best in the world and complemented by one of the worlds top countries in terms of ease of doing business, the statement said.

According to the Index of Economic Freedom 2016, a report published by The Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation which evaluates countries in four broad policy areas that affect economic freedom, Bahrain ranks 18th globally and is the only country from the Mena region to feature in the Top 20.

The report noted the ability of foreign and domestic investors have access to modern financial services, the presence of a streamlined regulatory framework, allowance for 100 per cent foreign ownership, as well as other factors, the statement said.

BAB chairman Adnan Ahmed Yousif commented: These kind of seminars comes within the associations role to ensure that its members are up to date with the investment opportunities available in the Kingdom of Bahrain and to strength networking and relations with the various economic and financial organization. As the representative body of Bahrains financial institutions, we view the Bahrain Investment Market as a significant addition to the kingdoms already well-regarded financial sector, as it adds to the diversity of available financial services and products and strengthens Bahrains position as a leading regional and global financial hub.



Bahrains financial sector includes over 400 financial institutions which contribute just over 17 per cent towards Bahrains $31.1 billion GDP.  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


Umm Al Quwain Free Trade Zone Authority has conducted an investors' meet in Guangzhou, China, in conjunction with Canton Fair.



The fair, which kicked off on April 15, will conclude tomorrow (May 5).



In attendance at the investors' meet were government officials and dignitaries along with business and thought leaders and investors from all over China, said a statement from the authority.



Amongst those present were members from Guangzhous Municipal Board for International Investment, Guangzhou Chamber of Commerce for Overseas Chinese Enterprises and Guangzhou Bozhan Industrial Corporation Limited, it said.



Many investors had shown keen interest in learning about available investment opportunities in relation to the development of UAQs Free Trade Zone as well as subsequent interest in investing in projects within the free zones premises.



Umm Al Quwain Free Trade Zone is participating in the Canton Fair, co-hosted by the Ministry of Commerce of PRC and the Peoples Government of Guangdong Province, organised by the China Foreign Trade Centre.



Known to be a comprehensive international trading event reputed for having the longest history and being conducted over the largest scale in China, the fair covers a total area of 1,180,000 sq m.



Globally, China is a major driving force of the world economy. Last year achieving a growth rate of 6.9 per cent which overall contributed to over 30 per cent of global growth. China has been the second-largest trading partner of the UAE since 2011.



We as UAQ Free Trade Zone, look forward to providing the perfect infrastructure and contribute towards that growth and ensure we create a streamlined and seamless process for businesses and investors from China interested in investing in UAQ and overall in UAE, said Johnson George, general manager of UAQ Free Trade Zone Authority, who led the team which represented the UAQ Free Zone in China.



The UAE at large is a global hub for trade, finance and investment and UAQ Free Trade Zone Authority with its transparent, efficient and modern legal framework and accessibility would be a perfectly positioned partner to assist businesses looking to invest in the UAE.



George added: UAQ is strategically located at driving distance from the major hubs in the UAE with access to a network of air, sea and road links which enables seamless connectivity not only through the GCC but also with the rest of the world.



Our generous investment incentives; such as 100 per cent foreign ownership, 0 per cent corporate and personal tax, 100 per cent repatriation of capital and profits, no exchange control, no restriction on investment in any sector are further evidence of our openness towards international investors, he concluded.  TradeArabia News Service
Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), the Bahrain-based international aluminium smelter, is a key sponsor and participant at the ongoing 22nd World Aluminium Conference, being held in London, UK.



The three-day event, organised by Commodity Research Unit's (CRU), will conclude tomorrow (May 5), and is being held at the London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square.



Albas chief executive officer Tim Murray is attending the event, along with other members of the company, said a statement.



This year, the conference covers the outlook for aluminium markets, prices and premiums as well as addresses the issue of sustainability in the aluminium sector, it said.



Murray said: The conference is a well-known event that brings key decision makers from around the world on a single platform.



This event allows aluminium producers in the Middle East to highlight the potential for their growth all the while presenting opportunities to learn of the latest technologies and innovations, he added.



Every year, our company looks forward to partner with CRU and boost its relations with key members of the aluminium industry as well as interact with potential trade partners, he concluded.  TradeArabia News Service
M&C Saatchi PR has officially announced the opening of its UAE office, the latest expansion in the agencys international growth.



The dedicated PR team will bolster M&C Saatchis existing business in the UAE, offering clients across the region a range of fully integrated creative communications.



Molly Aldridge, global CEO, said: M&C Saatchi PR is an agency driven by passion, created in a modern time for the modern age. Our happy and connected teams across the globe are already delivering impactful work for some of the worlds biggest brands, with the UAE now representing the next chapter in our ambitious global growth story.



Scott Feasey, CEO M&C Saatchi UAE, added: While we have already delivered integrated campaigns for some of our biggest clients in the region, the launch of a dedicated PR agency demonstrates the groups commitment to offering existing and new clients in the region an exceptional one-stop shop for creative communications.



Appointed to lead the charge across the offices in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi is Amy Brill. In her role as head of PR, UAE, Brill will be responsible for driving new business growth and ensuring the delivery of quality, creative work that has a real impact on brands.



Brill brings a wealth of big brand and multi-market experience for clients such as Hilton, Diageo, Kimberly Clark, Kelloggs and Kenyas Ministry of Tourism. She will report to M&C Saatchi PRs global CEO Molly Aldridge, who commented on her appointment: Were super excited that Amy has joined us to lead the charge across the UAE- she shares the same fearlessness and passion we have to deliver great work for clients across a key growing and evolving region.



Set to take the industry up a gear, the agency has also announced details of its flagship client, Abu Dhabi Motors, the most successful BMW Group importer in the Middle East. M&C Saatchi PR will be responsible for handling publicity and content creation for the dealerships Rolls-Royce brand. -TradeArabia News Service




Euro Motors, the sole authorised dealer of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in Bahrain, was awarded Provenance Dealer of the Year at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Global Dealer Awards for 2016.

The event was held during the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars annual World Dealer Conference in London recently.

Euro Motors were presented with a specially-commissioned award, featuring a contemporary interpretation of the iconic Spirit of Ecstasy, which was conceived by the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Design team at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, West Sussex.

Torsten Muller-Otvos, chief executive officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said: I am proud to announce the results of our Annual Global Dealer Awards for 2016 and would like to congratulate all the winners. The success of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has been built on the backbone of the commitment of our dealer partners, who serve as ambassadors for our marque in every corner of the world.

Provenance is the marques official pre-owned certified programme which merges both Rolls-Royce Motor Cars uncompromising standards with its drive for excellence. To be included in the Provenance Programme, the vehicles must meet stringent criteria set by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in order to attain the Provenance title, offering customers the same uncompromising standards, quality and excellence of a brand-new Rolls-Royce, said a statement.

All Provenance cars must have been maintained in strict adherence to Rolls-Royces servicing requirements and are only sold through the international network of authorised Rolls-Royce Motor Cars dealers, including Euro Motors. The programme not only delivers total reassurance but - combined with a minimum two-year servicing and warranty cover - is also a sound investment for the future.

Paul Yates, general manager of Euro Motors, said: Provenance underpins our confidence in the quality of Goodwood manufactured, pre-owned Rolls-Royces. As Sir Henry Royce famously said the quality remains when the price is long forgotten. It seals the next chapter of the story with peace of mind and allows the Rolls-Royce journey to continue.  TradeArabia News Service


Qatar-based Al Meera Consumer Goods Company recently received an accolade from Forbes Middle East in recognition of its efforts and winning achievements for the company, the retail sector and developing the countrys economy.



Forbes Middle East, in partnership with the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, recognized Qatars top 40 listed companies in a ceremony titled Celebrating Qatars Success, held recently at St Regis Doha.



Al Meera took home the coveted trophy during a special ceremony that celebrated individuals and businesses that have made strides in taking the peninsulas economic and social status to greater new heights.



The year 2016 has witnessed Al Meeras crossing of several milestones, continued growth, and solid financial results. In addition to growing net profit attributable to equity holders of the parent by 22.9 per cent and achieving a record-breaking QR2.6 billion ($713 million) in sales, the leading retail chain is nearing completion of its current 5 store expansion phase, which is part of the larger and purposeful 14-branch expansion plan, announced during 2015.



Before the end of 2016, Al Meera opened two new branches, starting with the Bu Sidra Branch in October, followed by the North Sailiya (Al Miarad) Branch in December, which together contributed QR7.5 million to the years total sales. Shortly after, Al Meeras Umm Salal Ali branch was launched in January 2017, followed by the launch of the Al Wakra (East) Branch in March 2017, and is now in the final stages of preparations for one more store located in Leaibab 2, which is expected to launch within the upcoming days.



The companys ambitious and steadfast expansion plan not only helps fulfil Al Meeras growth strategy, but more importantly contributes to the urban development of the countrys various territories as well as its economic progress, in line with the Qatar National Vision (QNV) 2030.



Moreover, in the course of diversifying the countrys national economy and supporting local startups, Al Meera signed a first-of-its-kind MoU with QDB in December 2016, through which the Company is poised to play a pivotal role in promoting Qatari products by providing entrepreneurs with an established platform for marketing their products and facilitating the integration of incubated SMEs into its value chain.



On the community development front, Al Meeras unwavering commitment to playing a positive role in the lives of the community in which it operates, culminated in winning the 2016 Qatar Social Responsibility Award for the Large Enterprises category. Moreover, Al Meera was recently honoured with the CSR Responsible Leadership Award by Qatar University, in recognition of its leading part in that field.



The success of the Companys growth strategy, economic diversification initiatives and its multi-faceted Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program, resulted in Al Meeras recognition as one of five Qatari firms in Marmore Mena Intelligences 30 most valuable non-banking companies in the GCC list.  TradeArabia News Service
One of the two Airbus 330 planes that Iran Air recently received from the French airplane manufacturer made its first international flight on Wednesday, a report said.



The Airplane left Tehrans International Imam Khomeini Airport at 7:30 local time for Stockholm, Sweden, reported Irna, the official Iranian news agency.



Following the implementation of Iran nuclear deal  known as JCPOA  and the removal of arbitrary sanctions on Tehran, Iran Air began renovating its fleet signing contracts for purchase of 200 modern airplanes from Boeing, Airbus and ATR.



Three of the purchased planes from the French aircraft manufacturer have been delivered to Iran Air so far, two of which are Airbus 330 and the other one is Airbus 321 with 190 seats and is being used in domestic lines.



Boeing is also due to deliver the first aircraft to the Iranian national carrier in 2018, the report said, noting that four of the planes purchased from ATR are scheduled to arrive in the country within the next few days.






The Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) is representing the kingdom as a guest of honour in the 34th Innovation Salon for Handicrafts Industries that is being held in the Republic of Tunisia, from April 28 to May 7.



The opening ceremony was hosted by the president of the Republic of Tunisia, Beji Caid Essebsi, who was received by Shaikha Wafa bint Saif Al Khalifa, director of the Handicrafts Directorate at the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority, and Khalil Ibrahim Butarada, Charge d'Affaires of the Bahrain Embassy in the Republic of Tunisia.



Essebsi expressed his appreciation for the kingdoms participation in this event which represents the strengthening of ties between the two nations. During his tour of the Bahraini pavilion, he also commended the distinctive crafts and products on display that reflect the originality of the Bahraini heritage.



The kingdoms pavilion showcased a variety of traditional handicraft products such as the crafting of traditional wooden boxes, wooden ships, ceramics, weaving, and a live performance by a folklore band.



We are delighted to participate and represent the Kingdom of Bahrain in this regional exhibition, which provides an important platform to share experiences and ensure the sustainability of traditional Bahraini industries through innovation and development, said Shaikha Wafa.



The pavilion attracted a large number of visitors who voiced their admiration for the high level of local craftsmanship and the diversity and quality of the handicrafts being exhibited. - TradeArabia News Service


Flydubai plans to launch flights to Batumi in Georgia, Qabala in Azerbaijan and Tivat in Montenegro, beginning in June, for the summer season.



The new destinations, which will be available till September, were showcased at the recently concluded Arabian Travel Market, which toook place in Dubai.



At flydubai we remain committed to providing our passengers with a variety of destinations to travel to, especially during the summer season, said Ghaith Al Ghaith, chief executive officer at flydubai. The decision to launch our seasonal routes to complement our existing network is a direct response to customer feedback and we hope our passengers enjoy what these hidden gems have to offer, he added.



Flydubais popular leisure destinations reflect the diversity of its network. Last year, its top four destinations for a beach getaway in terms of passenger numbers were Colombo, Salalah, Male and Zanzibar. The airline has seen passenger numbers to Colombo grow by 24 per cent in 2016 compared to the previous year, with passenger numbers to Salalah and Male increasing by 40 per cent and 29 per cent respectively during the same period.



For those looking for a city break, Amman, Tbilisi and Beirut were amongst the most visited destinations in 2016. The number of passengers travelling to Amman grew by 7 per cent in 2016 compared to the previous year along with Tbilisi which saw passenger numbers double for the same period. Other popular destinations included Istanbul and Bucharest, with passenger growth figures of 21 per cent and 37 per cent respectively in the same period. The highest growth of passengers in 2016 was seen by Azerbaijans capital Baku, which saw six times the number of passengers travel in 2016 compared to the previous year due to changes in visa requirements.



While the majority of our passengers travel point to point, our connecting passengers are able to benefit from our interline agreements, which provide opportunities for onward travel to more than 200 destinations, said Jeyhun Efendi, senior vice president commercial (UAE, EU, ME, CIS) at flydubai. This is especially beneficial to the passengers of the 62 previously underserved markets we operate to who are now able to access Dubais efficient aviation hub and explore destinations that were previously out of reach.



Along with a diverse network, flydubai continues to enhance its product offerings for passengers. Forty-eight out of flydubais 58 aircraft are now equipped with wi-fi and Live TV services, providing passengers with greater connectivity throughout their journey. Flydubais Business Class continues to offer passengers a personlised travel experience with increased comfort and added convenience. Open, flydubais new rewards programme, has been well received across the region since its launch in October 2016 and has been designed to make earning and spending reward points simple and straightforward.



Our latest product offerings continue to reflect the growth and maturity of our airline, said Sudhir Sreedharan, senior vice president commercial (GCC, Subcontinent and Africa) at flydubai. With passengers being able to benefit from connectivity in the air, comfort in Business Class and more options for travel on our network, we continue to give passengers more reasons to fly with flydubai. - TradeArabia News Service
Middle East Airlines and Turkish Airlines today signed a codeshare agreement, covering routes between Turkey and Lebanon, and expanding the travel opportunities for the passengers of both airlines.



Middle East Airlines chairman and director general, Mohamad A. El-Hout and Turkish Airlines deputy chairman and CEO, Bilal Eksi signed the agreement in the presence of senior officials from both sides at MEA Head Quarters in Beirut.



This new codeshare agreement, which will come into effect on May 15, will broaden the commercial partnership between the two companies and their respective countries. At the same time, passengers of both airlines will be given more travel options between Lebanon and Turkey.



Under the terms of the agreement, Middle East Airlines and Turkish Airlines will place their codes on the flights of Middle East Airlines on Beirut  Istanbul v.v. and on the flights of Turkish Airlines on Istanbul  Beirut v.v. route. Turkish Airlines will operate three daily flights on Istanbul-Beirut-Istanbul route, while MEA will be operating 2 daily flights Beirut - Istanbul Beirut route.



El-Hout expressed the importance of this agreement, as being a step in stimulating the economic cooperation between Lebanon and Turkey, and will enable both airlines to further accommodate the needs of their loyal passengers



Eksi said: We are pleased to sign this codeshare agreement with Middle East Airlines and aim to improve our partnership to maximize the travel opportunities offered to our passengers through our flight networks. Moreover, we believe that this partnership with Middle East Airlines will not only maximize the travel opportunities offered to our passengers through the networks of both airlines but also bring enormous benefit from a commercial perspective.



Eksi also stressed that travellers of both airlines will experience a streamlined level of services covered by the agreement onboard two modern fleets of aircraft and he expressed his hope that this step will be the first on the way to further enhancing relations between two airlines in the future. - TradeArabia News Service


(Adds details on possible suitors, context, background)

By Clara Denina and Nicole Mordant

LONDON/VANCOUVER, May 3 (Reuters) - Mining-trading group Glencore Plc (Frankfurt: 8GC.F - news) has hired the Bank of Nova Scotia to sell a portfolio of royalty assets, including one for the Antamina copper-zinc mine in Peru, four people familiar with the process have told Reuters.

The Antamina mine royalty makes up the bulk of the value of the package and could fetch up to $250 million, the sources said. The portfolio includes several much smaller royalties from other mines and exploration assets owned by Glencore around the world, they added.

It is not clear whether Glencore will sell 100 percent of the royalties, which gives the owner the right to receive a percentage of production from a mining operation, or retain a stake in them.

There is no certainty the process will result in a deal, the sources said. The people, whom Reuters spoke to over a period of several days, declined to be named as the talks were confidential.

Glencore declined to comment. Bank of Nova Scotia did not have an immediate comment.

The London-listed miner owns and operates nickel, zinc, copper and coal mines around the world and also owns royalties on several operations.

Glencore is looking to maximize the value of its assets as it moves from cost-cutting to pursuing growth. Following the commodities crash of 2015 and early 2016, the company sold off assets to cut debt after its earnings and shares were pummeled by a commodities downturn.

Potential buyers of the royalty portfolio could include mining royalty and streaming companies such as Canada-based Franco-Nevada Corp and Silver Wheaton Corp (Xetra: A0DPA9 - news) , the sources said. Streaming, like royalties, is a type of alternative finance for the mining sector.

Franco-Nevada is interested in looking at any royalty being offered, its chief executive officer, David Harquail, said. "It is only a question of price," Harquail said in an emailed response to a question from Reuters.

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Silver Wheaton declined to comment.

Glencore owns a 33.75 percent stake in Antamina and has monetized a portion of the mine's output. In November 2015, it agreed to sell future silver output from Antamina, a by-product of the mine, to Silver Wheaton for $900 million in cash to reduce debt. Franco-Nevada bought a $500 million precious metals stream from Glencore last year.

Glencore's partners in Antamina are Anglo-Australian miner BHP Billiton Plc (NYSE: BBL - news) with a 33.75 percent stake, Canadian miner Teck Resources Ltd, with 22.5 percent and Japan's Mitsubishi Corp (LSE: 7035.L - news) with 10 percent. (Reporting by Clara Denina in London and Nicole Mordant in Vancouver; Additional reporting by John Tilak in Toronto and Barbara Lewis in London; Editing by Denny Thomas, Bill Rigby and Jeffrey Benkoe)
By Steve Slater

LONDON, May 4 (IFR) - The Bank of England will soon publish final guidance for how much loss-absorbing debt Britain's major banks will each need to hold, as part of plans to better protect savers and taxpayers.

It is a key issue for the capital planning of the likes of HSBC, Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) and Standard Chartered (BSE: 580001.BO - news) , and could see an additional 150bn of loss-absorbing debt issued.

The BoE set out guidelines in November on what banks will need to hold for so-called minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL).

MREL requirements are similar to and overlap with global rules requiring banks to hold total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC). The central bank told UK politicians last week it will "shortly" publish loss-absorbing requirements for individual firms to improve transparency. Industry sources said they expect it in the coming weeks, maybe even this week. The BoE declined to comment on specific timing.

HSBC indicated on Thursday the final guidelines will be favourable for the industry - at least compared to previous expectations.

HSBC said after new guidance from the BoE (Shenzhen: 000725.SZ - news) it now expects issuance of MREL-eligible debt to be near the lower end of its previous guidance of US$60bn-$80bn.

"Theres no question the guidance is helpful and it would indicate were going to be at the lower end of the range we have indicated, Iain Mackay, finance director, told reporters after first-quarter results.

HSBC issued US$31bn of the debt last year, and expected to issue about US$30bn this year and any remaining requirement in 2018. Mackay said this year's issuance would now be reduced, and it had already met its 2019 MREL requirement.

The bank previously said the interest costs for TLAC issuance could rise to US$900m this year from US$400m in 2016. Mackay said it was now likely to be US$500m-$600m.

RESOLUTION PLANNING

The BoE's response to a UK Treasury Committee's inquiry into bank capital, published last week, said major banks had issued a further 65bn of senior unsecured holding company debt over the past two years, which qualifies as MREL.

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It estimated the banks will need to issue around an additional 150bn of MREL-eligible equity and debt to meet a loss-absorbing requirement of 28% of RWAs, which will mostly involve replacing and restructuring maturing debt rather than issuing net new debt.

The key issue for the requirements of individual banks relates to whether the BoE makes adjustments to Pillar 2A capital. Pillar 2A covers risks that are not captured under core capital requirements for credit, operational and market risk, and gives regulators tools to deal with areas such as systemic, strategic, liquidity or concentration risks.

The purpose of both MREL and TLAC is to allow regulators to intervene when a firm gets into trouble, and force bondholders to take losses and prevent a repeat of the taxpayer bailouts seen during the 2008/09 financial crisis.

The BoE said in November that big banks will be required to meet MREL of twice their Pillar 1 plus Pillar 2A capital, or the higher of twice any leverage ratio requirement or 6.75% of leverage exposures. They need to meet that by 2022.

It also set a transitional requirement. By the start of 2020, banks need to meet an MREL of two times their Pillar 1 plus one time their Pillar 2A add-ons, or twice their leverage ratio requirement. (Reporting by Steve Slater)
By Brendan Pierson NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former Guinea government minister was convicted on Wednesday of laundering $8.5 million in bribes that U.S. prosecutors say he took in exchange for helping a Chinese conglomerate secure mining rights. Jurors in federal court in Manhattan convicted Mahmoud Thiam, 50, of one count of money laundering and one count of engaging in transactions in property with a criminal source. The case is one of several corruption cases around the world tied to Guinea's mining sector. Aaron Goldsmith, Thiam's lawyer, said he would move to overturn the conviction. "We are deeply disappointed," he said, adding that Thiam maintains his innocence. Thiam, a U.S. citizen, testified during the trial that he returned to his native Guinea in 2009 to serve as minister of mines after working for years as an investment banker in New York. Prosecutors sought to prove that Thiam took bribes from Chinese tycoon Sam Pa, and that in exchange Thiam helped secure lucrative mining rights in Guinea for a joint venture of the China International Fund and China Sonangol, closely tied to Pa. The prosecutors presented bank records showing that Thiam opened a bank account in Hong Kong to receive the money and later wired it to the United States. They said he used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle, including a mansion north of New York City and private schools for his children. Thiam admitted on the witness stand that he had taken money from Pa, but said it was a personal loan. He said there was no written agreement, interest or due date for the loan, and that he never repaid it. Thiam also admitted that he lied repeatedly to banks about the source of the money and concealed the fact that he was a government minister in Guinea. Nonetheless, Thiam said he never abused his position as a government official in exchange for the money. "While there was a lot of evidence brought in about bank records and transactions, the root of the case lies in whether or not there was a bribery, for which there was absolutely zero evidence," Goldsmith, Thiam's lawyer, told reporters after the verdict. Thiam is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 11 by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote. (Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)
By Alexandra Ulmer and Diego Ore CARACAS (Reuters) - Supporters of jailed Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez held a vigil outside his prison demanding to see him on Thursday after rumours about his health rattled the protest-hit country where the death toll from anti-government unrest rose to 36. Lopez's wife and mother rushed to a military hospital in Caracas and then the hilltop Ramo Verde jail overnight, after a journalist tweeted Lopez had been taken to a medical centre without vital signs. President Nicolas Maduro's leftist government, facing a wave of major opposition protests since last month, later issued a short "proof of life" video in which Lopez said he was fine. Officials accused Lopez's family of stirring up a media frenzy to get attention and further stoke the protests. "Today is May 3, it's 9 p.m. ... I'm sending a message to my family and my children that I am well," said Lopez, 46, standing cross-armed in front of cell bars and looking healthy in a sleeveless white T-shirt. But Lopez's wife Lilian Tintori, who says she has not been allowed to see him in over a month, rejected the video as "false" and spent the night outside the jail. "The only proof of life that we will accept is to see Leopoldo," she tweeted, as she and Lopez's mother faced a line of green-clad National Guard soldiers at the prison. They later rotated out with some supporters to get sleep. Lopez is Venezuela's most prominent imprisoned politician, and U.S. President Donald Trump in February called for his release after a White House meeting with Tintori. Venezuelans, already on tenterhooks after the unrest that has killed protesters, government supporters, bystanders and security officials, were shaken by the rumours over Lopez, who was jailed in 2014 during the last major round of protests. The U.S.-educated economist and leader of the hard-line Popular Will party is accused of inciting violence, and in 2015 was sentenced to almost 14 years behind bars. The government says he is a dangerous agitator, pointing to his involvement in a brief 2002 coup against the late Hugo Chavez, when Lopez even helped arrest a Cabinet minister. "They're inventing that something or other has been done to Leopoldo to put together a big, pretty show, so that we forget the 43 deaths he caused," said Socialist Party No. 2 Diosdado Cabello, in reference to those killed during unrest in 2014. Lopez's supporters say he was tried in a kangaroo court because he had been viewed as a future presidential hopeful and a threat to Maduro. Others in the opposition deem him a divisive hothead who took to the streets too early and say his supporters exaggerate incidents to get support. HUNDREDS JAILED Over 1,700 people have been arrested, with 597 of them still jailed, since the unrest began in early April, according to rights group Penal Forum. Hundreds have been injured, often in confusing street melees between stone-throwing youths and security forces firing tear gas and water cannons. Maduro's call on Monday to rewrite the constitution has energized the protest movement, and images of a military vehicle running over a demonstrator on Wednesday caused further outrage. The opposition is so far maintaining momentum despite fatigue, injuries, disruptions to daily life, and fears that protests will end up flopping like so many times in the past. Still, none of their demands have been met so far and Maduro has said he will not bend to them. Demonstrators are seeking early elections to remove Maduro and bring an end to a devastating recession that has food and medicine running short. The government says the opposition wants a coup and many demonstrators are simply vandals. Various groups of students took to the streets on Thursday. One group of several hundred from Venezuela's Central University tried to reach a highway but were blocked by National Guard soldiers firing tear gas. "We're going to stay here until this corrupt and lying government falls," said Ines Delgado, 22, with anti-acid indigestion medicine smeared on her face to neutralise the effects of tear gas. The death toll in violent Venezuela's month of unrest has been creeping up, reaching at least 36 after two latest cases. A 38-year-old policeman in Carabobo state, Gerardo Barrera, died overnight after being shot during a protest, the public prosecutor's office said on Thursday. And Juan Lopez, a 33-year old president of a student federation at a university in the western Anzoategui state, was gunned down during a student assembly on Thursday, the public prosecutor's office added. A member of the public approached him, shot him several times, and then fled on a motorcycle. With international pressure piling on Maduro, famed Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel, who directs the Los Angeles Philharmonic, came out against him in a letter decrying repression. (Additional reporting by Andrew Cawthorne, Andreina Aponte, Corina Pons, Eyanir Chinea, Brian Ellsworth; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by W Simon, Andrew Cawthorne and Andrew Hay)
ASTANA (Reuters) - The Syrian armed opposition said on Wednesday it had suspended its participation in peace talks being held in Kazakhstan and demanded an end to government bombing of areas under its control. A senior official from Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry, however, told reporters he expected Syrian opposition figures to return to the talks on Thursday. Another diplomat close to the talks also said the rebels were not walking out completely. "The delegation has suspended its participation after presenting a memorandum for a total commitment to stopping (government) bombardments," Ahmad Ramadan, a spokesman for the opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC), said. In the memorandum, the rebels demanded "clear implementation procedures" for matters such as enforcing a ceasefire, withdrawal of government forces from areas taken by them since Dec. 30 last year, and release of detainees. They also again insisted on President Bashar Assad's departure and objected once again to Iran's role in the process, describing it as an "aggressor state". Iran, along with Russia, are Assad's main supporters against rebels trying to topple him. In a phone call on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to defuse tension arising from U.S. air strikes on Syrian government forces in April, expressing a wish for a ceasefire and safe zones for the civil war's refugees. ELUSIVE TRUCE With a ceasefire ever elusive in Syria, the White House said Washington would send a representative to truce talks in the Kazakh capital Astana on Wednesday and Thursday. The State Department said acting Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Stuart Jones would attend as an observer. Aidarbek Tumatov, head of the Asia and Africa department at the Kazakh Foreign Ministry, told reporters the rebels had met the U.S. and U.N. delegations on Wednesday. "Tomorrow, I hope, the (Syrian) opposition will also take part (in the talks)." U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura also voiced hope that the rebels would return to the negotiation table. "I hope they will because what is important is also to look at the possibility of an outcome on de-escalation," his office quoted him as saying. "Every time  every time  we have been having a meeting or a discussion about cessation of hostilities or de-escalation in this case, there have been some incidents produced by one side or the other. The secret is to try to make sure that those incidents stop but also do not kill the opportunity for good news related to that." The talks in Astana are sponsored by Russia, Iran and Turkey, which - like the United States - backs the rebel side. Also on Wednesday, Putin met Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in the Black Sea resort of Sochi and they reaffirmed their commitment to working together to end Syria's war. [L8N1I55X6] Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters on the sidelines of the Sochi meeting that the sponsors of the Astana talks had already agreed three documents and were discussing a fourth. "On this de-conflicting issue we are having discussions in Astana (which are) very positive and I'm hopeful we will reach an understanding on this as well," he said. Russia's lead negotiator in Astana, Alexander Lavrentyev, said he hoped the sides would sign a memorandum on safe zones on Thursday. He dismissed the rebels' ultimatum as a bid to put pressure on Moscow, Ankara and Tehran. "The Syrian opposition must participate in the talks," he said. "We hope common sense prevails." (Reporting by Raushan Nurshayeva and John Davison; writing by Dmitry Solovyov and Olzhas Auyezov; editing by Andrew Osborn and Mark Heinrich)
By Gabriel Stargardter MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The United States is plotting an ambitious attempt to shore up Central America, with the administration of President Donald Trump pressing Mexico to do more to stem the flow of migrants fleeing violence and poverty in the region, U.S. and Mexican officials say. The U.S. vision is being shaped by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary John Kelly, who is due to give a speech about his goals for Central America in Washington on Thursday. Kelly, who knows Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador well from his time as chief of the U.S. Southern Command, helped the administration of former President Barack Obama design his Alliance for Prosperity. That $750-million initiative sought to curtail Central American migration through development projects as well as law-and-order funding to crack down on the region's dominant gangs. Kelly aims to re-tool the Obama-era alliance without a large increase in American funding by pressing Mexico to shoulder more responsibility for governance and security in Central America, and by drumming up fresh private investment for the region, U.S. and Mexican diplomats say. "What we're going to see is ... greater engagement directly between the Central Americans and Mexican government ... (and) a more intense effort to integrate the economic side of this effort with the security side," William Brownfield, the U.S. assistant secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, told Reuters. "We're going to see a strategy that has already been developed, but it is going to be pushed harder and more aggressively in the coming year, and the year after." The reshaped alliance stands in contrast to some of the isolationist views jostling for power in the White House. Still it's consistent with Trump's foreign policy efforts to pressure China to do more to tackle the North Korea nuclear threat and to get European allies to pick up more of the tab for NATO. The plan also puts Mexico in a delicate spot. President Enrique Pena Nieto has repeatedly expressed his desire to preserve the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which has become a pillar of Mexico's economy. But he must avoid the appearance of capitulating to Trump, who has enraged the Mexican public with his threats to withdraw from NAFTA and force Mexico to pay for his proposed border wall. "We want to be on good terms with them, because we're dealing with a much more important issue," said a senior Mexican diplomat who was not authorized to speak publicly. "In return, we want a beneficial NAFTA renegotiation." Neither Kelly nor the DHS responded to requests for comment. "The prosperity and security of Central America ... represent a priority of Mexico's foreign policy," the country's foreign ministry said in a statement. "The Alliance for Prosperity ... is a valuable tool that can be strengthened with the participation of other governments." A MAN WITH A PLAN The new-look Alliance will be firmed up in Miami next month, when U.S., Mexican and Central American officials will meet to negotiate various issues, including Mexico's role, according to a draft U.S. schedule obtained by Reuters. Mexico's Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray has said publicly Mexico is willing to work with the United States in stabilizing Central America, without giving much detail. In private, though, local officials say cash-strapped Mexico lacks the money to invest significantly in the region - a fact that hasn't eluded the United States. "We do not have significant expectations of major ... financial contributions by the government of Mexico at this time," Brownfield said. However, he said it was reasonable to expect Mexico to help train Central American officials, and deepen coordination along its southern border. Mexican government agencies could also work more closely with their southern counterparts, he added, citing the example of Colombia, which is training Central America's police forces at the United States' behest. Brownfield said the re-designed plan would be executed by the State Department and development agency U.S. AID, working closely with the DHS. The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) is working with U.S. AID to design mechanisms for luring fresh investment, he added. IADB President Luis Alberto Moreno told Reuters the Miami meeting, coordinated with DHS officials, aimed to deliver "an investment shock" to create jobs and prevent migration. However, the Mexican diplomat who requested anonymity expressed concern the new plan could presage a deeper militarization of Central America. The region's armies have launched violent attacks on the powerful "Mara Salvatrucha" and "Calle 18" gangs, sparking accusations of rights abuses. Mexico, which is also grappling with widespread violence, is open to training Central American security forces, the diplomat said, but won't send troops to fight the gangs given its long-standing policy not to intervene in foreign conflicts. The "Alliance for Prosperity" was cooked up by the Obama administration after a 2014 surge in child migrants from Central America. It aimed to stabilise Central America with funding for security and development. But critics say the focus skewed heavily towards funding for tackling drug smuggling and gangs. Brownfield pointed to falling homicides in Honduras, where the murder rate has dropped to 59 killings per 100,000 people last year from 90.4 in 2012, as evidence it is starting to yield results. Still, Central America remains one of the most violent regions on earth. Mexican diplomats say U.S. and Central American officials for years quietly pressed Mexico to join the alliance - pressure they ignored until Trump was elected, threatening to scrap NAFTA. "Now we're facing a different scenario because we have an American government pressuring us on lots of issues," said the Mexican diplomat. "We want to be on good terms with the United States." (Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle in Washington; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Marla Dickerson)
JUBA (Reuters) - Unknown assailants attacked a U.N. operating base in northern South Sudan overnight, showing "callous disregard" for civilians and aid workers, the head of the U.N. mission said. The assault in the town of Leer, which lies in an oil-producing region, was repelled by Ghanaian peacekeepers. There were no reported injuries. The assailants' identity was not clear. David Shearer, head of the U.N. mission, said the attack overnight from Wednesday into Thursday was launched from the direction of a nearby government-held town. "We call on all parties to the conflict to respect the sanctity of U.N. premises," Shearer said in a statement. "We are here to protect and support the people of South Sudan," he added. "It is clear the attackers have no consideration for their plight, given those who most desperately need help will suffer more because of a likely resulting delay of humanitarian aid." Government officials were not immediately available for a comment. South Sudan's main rebel force, SPLA-IO, denied any involvement. "UNMISS (the U.N. mission) is protecting our civilians in government areas while we protect the ones in the liberated areas. Therefore, we can't attack their base in any way," deputy SPLA-IO spokesperson Lam Paul Gabriel said. Separately on Thursday, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein called on the Juba government to halt offensives towards Aburoc in the northern Upper Nile region, which borders Sudan, where between 35,000 and 50,000 people have sought refuge. "Civilians in Aburoc are at serious and imminent risk of gross human rights violations, inter-ethnic violence and re-displacement," Zeid said in a statement. "The civilians in Aburoc have nowhere left to go, with the (army) closing in from the south and options to flee northwards severely limited and fraught with danger," Zeid said. Civil war erupted in South Sudan in late 2013. The fighting has forced more than 3 million people to flee their homes and plunged parts of the country into famine, creating Africa's biggest refugee crisis since the Rwandan genocide in 1994. (Reporting by Clement Uwiringiyimana; Editing by Richard Lough and Andrew Heavens)
Supreme Court Justice Annette Ziegler is giving back to campaign donors most of the money she received from them during her recent re-election campaign, which she ran unopposed.

A campaign donor and political expert said the move is unusual.

Ziegler is giving her donors the opportunity to get back 70 percent of their donations to her campaign because she spent about 30 percent of what she raised for the race, according to a letter she sent last week.

Ziegler donor John Bentz, of Madison, provided a copy of the letter to the Wisconsin State Journal.

As Im sure you know, I ended up not having an opponent this year, Ziegler wrote. I am sure because of your commitment and early support is a big reason why I did not draw any opposition.

Ziegler also wrote that donors have until the end of May to request the portion of their donation back. Otherwise, the money in her campaign will be donated and the account will be closed in June. She did not specify to what cause or where the remaining money would be donated.

Bentz, 91, donated $15 to Zieglers campaign in December and said he notified the State Journal about the request from Ziegler because he had never heard of such a thing.

Its quite amazing, Bentz said. I never heard of anything like that before but then again, generally my contributions have been to politicians and ... Ive never regarded her as a politician, but because of the way things work she still generally has to campaign.

Bentz also donated money to Rep. Todd Novak, R-Dodgeville, and Gov. Scott Walker last fall.

Ziegler campaign spokesman Mark Graul said all donors received the letters. He said he didnt know what kind of response the campaign has received.

UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden said he cant remember another time a candidate returned donations so quickly after a campaign, either.

This is certainly unusual, he said. Sometimes candidates donate unused funds to charity when they retire, but seldom do they donate funds immediately, let alone issue refunds to donors. Normally candidates hold funds in a war chest as a way to prepare for the next campaign.

Burden said the move might signal that Ziegler is not planning to run for re-election in 2027, when her second 10-year term expires when she is 63, but Graul said its typical for Supreme Court justices to close their campaign accounts in between election cycles because of the length of time in between.

It might also be a way to deflect some of the conflict-of-interest concerns that have been raised about Supreme Court justices hearing cases involving entities who also donated to their campaigns, Burden said.

Ziegler is one of five conservative- leaning justices who recently voted to reject a petition from former judges to require all judges and justices to recuse themselves from cases involving big donors to their campaigns. Rejecting the petition kept in place rules the court adopted  and Ziegler supported  in 2010 that say campaign donations from people or groups with cases before the Supreme Court are not reason enough to require judges to step aside.

The Wisconsin Justice Initiative, which advocates for impartial courts, in January called for Ziegler to return campaign donations she raised in 2016, before Ziegler knew she was running unopposed, to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Keeping the money ... will increase doubts about your independence and ability to judge fairly, wrote executive director Gretchen Schuldt.

Graul said Ziegler made the decision simply because the uncontested race did not require all of the money raised ahead of the April 4 election.

Zieglers campaign had $284,057 as of March 20, according to campaign finance records.
SANTA FE  Closing two Santa Fe elementary schools as a cost-saving measure because of a projected shortfall in next fiscal years budget is off the table, bringing relief to parents, students and staff at E.J. Martinez and Nava elementary schools.

The Santa Fe school board on Wednesday voted 4-1 to eliminate the closures as an option, though the decision may only delay eventual shutdown of the schools.

Consideration of closing the schools arose only about a month ago out of doubt about whether cuts to public education might be coming with the state budget unresolved. Gov. Susana Martinez vetoed a portion of the budget the Legislature presented her and promised to call lawmakers back for a special session to give her a budget without revenue enhancements.

The school district staff presented the school board with four options to consider with cuts to the districts budget ranging between $1.78 million and $5.51 million. While the board will revisit the matter during a study session Monday, and make a final decision on May 16, closing schools will no longer will be considered.

Maureen Cashmon cast the lone vote against eliminating closing schools as an option. She said because the state budget hasnt been finalized  and, in fact, is at the center of a lawsuit over the governors vetos that will be heard by the state Supreme Court on May 15  eliminating that option wouldnt be prudent. I think we are adopting a risky strategy, she said. Taking the option off the table is premature.

Board member Linda Trujillo, who is also a member of the state House Representatives, said she felt confident that further cuts to public education were highly unlikely. Its in our best interest to work off the budget we already have, she said. School board President Lorraine Price said that it would be unfair to close the schools on such short notice but acknowledged closures could be on the horizon.

Board members appear to be leaning toward an option that calls for cuts of $1.78 million. Exactly where those cuts would come from without school closures is unclear, though staff has identified a $700,000 reduction in administration and special education and about a $450,000 in savings from consolidating the districts alternative high schools.

Superintendent Veronica Garcia said the former Alvord Elementary School, now the site of Tierra Encantada Charter School, could be used as a home for the alternative schools. Had the board decided to close the elementary schools next school year, Nava was the preferred location for the alternative schools. The staff had identified E.J. Martinez and Nava as schools that could be closed largely due to declining enrollment and because of the ages of their buildings.
SANTA FE  State Police have identified the Santa Fe police officer and the stolen vehicle suspect he fatally shot near Eldorado on Saturday night, four days after the shooting occurred.

Officer Leonardo Guzman, a three-year SFPD veteran, fired one round into 33-year-old Andrew James Lucero's abdomen around 10 p.m. Saturday after Lucero got into Guzman's patrol car and knocked Guzman down while driving forward, a statement released by State Police on Wednesday said. Lucero was pronounced dead at the scene.

State Police had refused to release the suspect's name until he was identified by the Office of the Medical Investigator and said they wouldn't release the names of the officers until they were interviewed by investigators. The Santa Fe police also refused to name any SFPD officers, citing a 10-year-old agreement between news organizations and the Department of Public Safety that the city wasn't a part of. News organizations and the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government have rejected the city's legal stance.

Santa Fe police started pursing a stolen Mercedes through town around 9:20 p.m. Saturday. The driver, now identified as Lucero, led officers though city streets and at one point dropped off two passengers. Police called off the pursuit when Lucero started driving north in the southbound lanes of Interstate 25 with no headlights.

State Police said Wednesday that Agent Jeremy Stricklin, a three-year State Police veteran, was on his way to Pecos when he saw SFPD emergency lights. Stricklin contacted Guzman and Alexis Carlos, identified as an SFPD recruit officer of only 12 days who was with Guzman, and learned that they were looking for a stolen car.

Guzman and Stricklin found the Mercedes in the driveway of 12 Chaparral Drive near Eldorado. Guzman broke one of the windows and Lucero got out of the car with his hands up, the State Police release says. But Lucero turned and ran toward Guzman's patrol car, and was able to get in the driver's seat and put the car in drive. Stricklin entered the passenger side and tried to take control of the car, and a physical altercation ensued.

Stricklin was able to put the car in park, but Lucero put it in drive again, causing the car to move toward a tree, the State Police said. Guzman was pinned between a car door and the tree, and was knocked down. He got back to his feet and fired a round, hitting Lucero in the abdomen. Guzman and Stricklin performed CPR, the news release says, but Lucero was later pronounced dead at the scene by medical personnel. Guzman was treated at the hospital for a sprained leg ligament, while Stricklin was treated for ringing in his ears.

A man named Andrew James Lucero has an extensive criminal history in the Santa Fe area, court records show, but that man is not 33 years old, the age the State Police gave for the suspect shot by Guzman.
KANSAS CITY, Mo.  Josh Stewart differs from most atheists. Hell tell you there is no God.

But when he gets together with other faithless folks in the Kansas City Atheist Coalition, they color code their name tags. One hue for those who are proudly public about their beliefs, another for whom photographers are asked to avoid.

It is an issue, said the 31-year-old Westport resident and coffee shop worker. Theyre worried how their boss or their family or somebody else might react. Its not always good.

Even in anonymous surveys, atheists tend to keep their views secret.

Theres a lot of atheists in the closet, University of Kentucky psychologist Will Gervais, whose research suggests their numbers are undercounted, told Vox. If they knew there are lots of people just like them out there, that could potentially promote more tolerance.

Yes, America is becoming steadily less religious.

Fewer parents raise their children in the church. Those kids grow up less likely to worship. Its not just that more people self-style their faith outside sect or denomination  although thats happening, too. More people reject faith in the supernatural entirely.

Yet even as their numbers grow, researchers continue to find atheists a particularly unpopular lot.

Americans, pollster Gallup reports, would vote for a Catholic, a woman, an African-American, a Jew, a Mormon, a gay or lesbian person, an evangelical Christian or a Muslim  in that order  before theyd consider an atheist president. Only socialists ranked in less regard.

Sociologists and opinion researchers define an atheist as someone who doesnt believe in God. Yet even in anonymous telephone interviews, people are a third as likely to accept the label as to concede the belief (or lack thereof). Said one researcher: Theyre hiding it.

A research group surveyed Americans in 2004 and again in 2014. The numbers remained virtually unchanged and declared a clear preference for the faithful over the irreligious.

A quarter of those surveyed thought atheists didnt share their values. More than a third said atheists held a different vision for the country. A third said they lacked a moral center. Nearly half dont want their children to marry an atheist.

A recently published study based on 2,000 interviews suggested that a quarter of Americans or more are atheist  multiples of what other surveys have found.

Gervais and fellow University of Kentucky psychologist Maxine Najle posed a list of innocuous statements  I own a dog, I enjoy modern art  and asked how many of the declarations applied to a respondent. Then they put the same statements to another group but added the statement, I believe in God.

By comparing the results, they concluded that 26 percent of the U.S. population doesnt believe in God. Previous surveys in 2015 by Pew and Gallup asked directly about the belief in God and found the number of atheists at between 3 and 11 percent.

Obtaining accurate atheist prevalence estimates may help promote trust and tolerance of atheists  potentially 80 million people in the USA and well over a billion worldwide, the study said.

For now, though, atheists remain largely out of view and broadly disliked.

Anti-atheist sentiment is still really high, said Penny Edgell, a sociologist at the University of Minnesota. That doesnt decrease with exposure, doesnt change as the number of atheists grow. That stigma is why there could be quite a few people out there who dont identify as atheist. Theyre not comfortable.

She sees a religious and political polarization at work. Christians are likely to see faith in the teachings of the New Testament as central to their identity. The same is true for Muslims and the Quran. So when atheists suggest there is no higher power, Edgell said, people of faith often take that as an attack.

Atheists who draw the most attention tend also to be those not just skeptical of Gods existence, she said, but also those who belittle religion and faith.

Richard Dawkins, author of books such as The God Delusion, presses aggressively on the idea that belief in God equals a rejection of science. The late Christopher Hitchens spent the final years of his life in public arguments, including in the book God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, railing against the religious majority.

Or how is a religious person supposed to react to An Atheist Manifesto, in which writer Sam Harris imagines a little girl abducted, raped and killed while her parents hold faith that God will look out for their child?

Is it good that they believe this?

No.

The entirety of atheism is contained in this response, Harris continues. Atheism is not a philosophy; it is not even a view of the world; it is simply a refusal to deny the obvious.

One social psychologist calls people like Harris fundamental atheists who aggressively make the argument that belief in God is for suckers.

Those people are more rare than other atheists  but they represent the only time someone knows theyre hearing from an atheist, said Jordan LaBouff, a University of Maine psychology professor who has studied religion and prejudice.

He said even growing contact with more ordinary atheists  people who often buy the ethical truths of religious Scripture even if they cant accept supernatural elements as fact  might not dramatically reduce prejudice.

People implicitly trust members of other religions more than they trust an atheist, LaBouff said. We sort of assume that people who dont believe in a big scary God that might punish you for bad behavior are going to be less moral. (A 2014 study found that religious and non-religious people were equally likely to perform moral or immoral acts.)

Those factors, researchers say, help explain why so many atheists keep their non-beliefs quiet.

Still, atheists may become increasingly unavoidable. Young adults of the millennial generation attend church less than their parents did at the same age, pray less on their own and are less likely to believe in God.

Theyre the least religious generation weve ever seen by virtually every measure, said Daniel Cox, the research director for the Public Religion Research Institute. Theres no indication that there will be a rush back to the church.

Thats partly, he said, because their baby boomer parents were less likely to raise them in religious teaching. Often, people return to church when they marry or begin to raise children. But Cox said fewer people hold church weddings or fall into the other religious patterns of earlier generations.

Stewart, the Westport atheist, was raised by devout Christians and now takes an approach to telling people about atheism much like a preacher. Hell sometimes stand on a street corner with signs such as Im an atheist. Ask me anything or No God, no problem.

The resulting conversations can get rough. Stewart insists hes not trying to talk somebody out of their faith. Rather, he aims to get people beyond their anti-atheist prejudices.

Its real common to get a kind of hostile reaction, he said. But ultimately I dont want to have a fight. I want to have a conversation.
Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

A high-powered rifle with a sniper scope was stolen from an Albuquerque Police Department majors police vehicle, but he didnt have to pay a fine or pay for a replacement like other officers in the department have been required to do after their weapons were stolen.

APD says the difference is that Maj. Tim Gonterman was not found to be negligent in how he stored his weapons.

Gonterman reported on Feb. 22 that his work vehicle had been burglarized. He told the responding officer that he noticed as he was preparing for work at 7 a.m. that his trunk was open and so was the secure storage compartment inside the vehicle where he kept an MK1 .223 Wylde rifle  also called a PWS Mark 1 223 caliber rifle in police documents  and a beanbag shotgun. Both weapons were missing, according to the responding officers police report.

That officer wrote in the report that there were no signs of forced entry on the vehicle or the gun safe inside it. Gonterman told the officer that he locked the vehicle the night before.

The next day, Assistant Police Chief Robert Huntsman signed a property replacement form that said Gonterman wasnt negligent and didnt have to pay for the weapon to be replaced.

The president of the Albuquerque Police Officers Association said he was astonished the department did not seek compensation from the high-ranking officer after the weapon was stolen.

I think its an obvious double standard, and its  one of the examples why APD has such a horrible morale level, said Shaun Willoughby, president of the police union. We hold our officers to such high expectations and scrutiny in the Albuquerque Police Department; we should do the same for our administrators.

Gontermans rifle had an AimPoint M4 sniper scope and a TLR light and four loaded magazines. The police report lists the total value of the stolen property at about $1,500.

APD policy says that if city property is lost, damaged of stolen because of neglect, carelessness or misuse, then the officer has to pay for the item at a price set by the departments property/inventory section.

According to a review of police reports and forms, at least three other officers whose weapons were stolen from their vehicles since December had to pay either a fine or an amount to replace their weapons.

Celina Espinoza, a police spokeswoman, said that because Gonterman reported that both his police vehicle and gun safe inside were locked, he wasnt found to be negligent and didnt have to pay to replace the equipment.

We dont know how the thief got into the car or the safe, she said.

She said that in other cases in which officers had to pay fines or replacement fees when guns were stolen, the officers had improperly secured their weapons.

In December, a cadet on her way to work reported that her car had been burglarized. The night before, she had put her work supplies, including her firearm, into the trunk of her personal vehicle. But in the morning, her car showed signs of forced entry and weapons were missing, according to a police report.

A sergeant, lieutenant, commander and deputy chief all found that she was negligent and she had to pay the city, according to a police document.

In January, a beanbag shot and gas grenade launcher were stolen from an officers marked police vehicle, whose window was broken to gain entry, according to a police report. A sergeant and lieutenant found the officer wasnt negligent and that the officer didnt have to pay for the weapon to be replaced.

But later, a commander and major  the signature appears to be Gontermans  overruled that finding and said the officer had to pay the city $300, according to a police document.

In February, a cadets personal vehicle was broken into and a weapon and police computer were stolen. About a week later, his chain of command found him to be negligent and he had to buy another weapon, according to a police document.

There was also a case earlier this year in which a ceremonial gun used by the police honor guard was reported missing. That weapon had been used by an officer who retired, and it was then passed around among several officers until it was reported missing, according to a police report.

No one has had to pay for that weapon, but further investigation was ordered, according to police records.

Police Chief Gorden Eden created the rank of major and hired Gonterman for one of the positions in May 2014. The major oversees three of APDs six area commands.

Gonterman was one of three officers who were sued in connection with an arrest of a homeless man, who was detained in 2002 for various crimes, including public nuisance, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and criminal trespassing. During the arrest, police repeatedly used a Taser on the man, which caused him to lose part of his ear, according to Journal archives. A federal jury awarded the man a $300,000 judgment in the case after a 2006 trial.

Gonterman said at the time of his promotion to major that he had learned from the incident and later became a use-of-force instructor and was taught crisis intervention techniques.

APD officers weapons lost/stolen

Missing weapons reported since December

12/23/2016 Police cadet/M&P 9mm

1/24/2017 Field services officer/bean bag shot and 40mm gas gun

2/4/2017 Police cadet/M&P 9mm

2/13/2017 Retired honor guard member/ceremonial 870 Remington

2/22/2017 Police major/ MK1 .223 Wylde and beanbag shotgun
WASHINGTON  A massive grab bag of federal spending with money for New Mexicos weapons labs, arts programs, firefighting efforts and more cleared the U.S. House on Wednesday and is headed for likely passage in the Senate today.

The $1.1 trillion spending commitment fleshes out 11 unfinished appropriations bills pending in Congress for 2017 and reflects priorities ranging from the military to health research, heating assistance for poor Americans and disaster relief for war-torn Sudan and Somalia.

The bill would provide $50 million for the Albuquerque Rapid Transit project and continued funding for the popular Community Development Block Grant program that helps cities and towns pay for local projects.

New Mexicos House Democrats  Reps. Ben Ray Lujan and Michelle Lujan Grisham  voted for the spending bill Wednesday, and Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich have said they also will vote in favor when the bill arrives on the Senate floor, likely today. Rep. Steve Pearce, New Mexicos only Republican in Washington, voted against the spending plan.

Without offering specifics, Pearce said the bill passed by the Republican-controlled House contained frivolous spending that reflected politics in Washington, not the needs of everyday Americans.

Its truly unfortunate that the House was unable to produce a budget plan that adequately supports the policies and priorities of the people who elected us to get the job done, Pearce said.

While the legislation falls far short of President Donald Trumps preferred spending amounts for the military and border security, it contains increases in both areas and represents a status quo or more approach to funding much of the rest of federal government.

Congressional Republicans lauded the bills increased border and military spending, but the conservative Heritage Action group in Washington said it woefully fails the test of fiscal responsibility and does not advance important conservative policies.

Democrats described the deal as a victory for a wide array of their spending priorities.

Its good for New Mexico, and its good for the country, Udall, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which crafted the budget document, told the Journal on Wednesday. We (Democrats) made our principles clear. We were really firm that we were opposed to throwing billions of dollars away on a border wall that even some Republicans didnt want. We got a good result. No one wanted a shutdown.

Although the bill doesnt contain money explicitly for Trumps proposed wall along the Mexican border, it does include $1.5 billion for enhanced border security. It directs the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to have obligation plans for the cash infusion within 45 days of the bills enactment.

Of the $1.5 billion, the legislation sets aside $487 million for Border Security Assets and Infrastructure, but its unclear how much of that amount would be spent in New Mexico.

This legislation will allow us to substantially strengthen the border, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. It contains the largest increase in border-security resources in a decade, allowing us to address high-priority security needs, crack down on illegal border crossings, and strengthen the border with everything from upgraded physical infrastructure to high-tech biometric and surveillance technology.

Overall, the Department of the Interior  an agency with a large presence in New Mexico  would get a small budget bump, from $12 billion in 2016 to $12.2 billion in 2017. The bulk of that increase is in the budgets of the National Park Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Udall said he persuaded congressional negotiators to aside $407 million in emergency funding to protect Western communities from the most devastating wildfires. The bill also contains $160 million to combat the prescription opioid addiction epidemic nationwide, and some of the strongest funding in years for the Land and Water Conservation Fund  including $2 million for acquisitions in Rio Grande del Norte and Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks national monuments.

The total 2017 budget for the Department of Energys nuclear weapons programs, including those at Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories in New Mexico, is set at $12.9 billion, an increase of $400 million over current-year spending.

Waste cleanup at Los Alamos is set at $194 million in the 2017 spending bill, an increase of $9 million over current-year spending and $5 million more than Trumps request.

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad would receive $324 million, or $53 million more than Trump asked for in his first budget proposal earlier this year. That amount includes nearly $27 million to settle with New Mexico over a 2014 accident that shut down the facility for three years.

Don Hancock, director of the nuclear waste safety program at the Southwest Research and Information Center in Albuquerque, noted that the bill does not include any money to open the long-closed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump in Las Vegas, Nev., which the Trump administration has proposed reopening. It also does not contain money for construction of a repository for high-level defense nuclear waste in New Mexico.

The Environmental Protection Agency is largely spared in the 2017 budget compromise, taking a cut of just 1 percent. But the White House has suggested steep cuts for water, renewable energy, national parks, wildlife and other programs next year.

The White House has also proposed eliminating federal funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, but each agency would get a $2 million increase under the latest spending bill, bringing their respective budgets to $150 million in total. The NEA helps underwrite dozens of arts programs in New Mexico.

This bill puts us in a strong position as we start working on the 2018 appropriations bill  and that will likely be a tougher fight, Udall said.

Congress will need to clear the 2017 spending package before current appropriations expire under a continuing resolution at midnight Friday.
CHEYENNE, Wyo.  Canadian mining company Cameco has taken steps to prevent a repeat of two radioactive sludge leaks from a truck along a route from Wyoming to Utah and shouldnt be fined for the spills, company officials told U.S. regulators Thursday.

The measures will include putting the barium sulfate waste into bags inside a shipment container that has a wide lip at the top to prevent any loose material from sloshing over the edge.

The leaks of low-level waste didnt endanger anybody, an attorney for the company emphasized during a public conference with U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials in Arlington, Texas.

Our view is that we should be focusing on actual consequences here, which are low, attorney Tyson Smith said.

The NRC has identified nine possible rule violations by Saskatoon, Canada-based Cameco related to the spills in 2015 and 2016. Both spills occurred along the route between a processing plant for a Wyoming uranium mine and a disposal facility near Blanding, Utah.

The truck also crossed part of Colorado. Follow-up tests along the roughly 600-mile route revealed no elevated radioactivity.

The company has halted shipments of barium sulfate waste since the more recent spill in March, 2016.

The possible violations considered by regulators include not shipping the material in appropriate containers.

NRC officials plan to decide in the next six weeks what civil penalty, if any, they plan to pursue against Cameco. The conference Thursday was a routine part of the NRCs enforcement process, NRC spokeswoman Maureen Conley said.

The white, paste-like sludge that spilled is a normal byproduct of in-situ uranium mining, a process that involves pumping water mixed with oxygen and baking soda into uranium-bearing sandstone deposits. A solution containing uranium is then pumped to the surface and processed into yellowcake, which can be processed further into nuclear fuel.

Wyoming is the top uranium-mining state in the nation and Cameco Resources Smith Ranch-Highland mine in eastern Wyoming is the biggest in-situ uranium mine by production volume in the U.S.

The 2015 spill occurred when the truck driver braked hard to avoid hitting a deer and sludge sloshed over the back of the shipping container. The 2016 spill resulted from a faulty seal along the bottom of the container door, company officials told the NRC.

In both cases, workers at White Mesa Mill identified the spills while the truck was still parked alongside U.S. 191 and cleaned up the material, according to a report by mill owner Colorado-based Energy Fuels Resources.

An NRC inspection identified a variety of possible problems besides the container design, including how Cameco tested and documented the radioactivity of the material.

Still, the company urged the NRC to classify any violations on the lowest of the agencys four scales of severity  a classification that doesnt result in a fine.

Ultimately there was low actual safety significance. There were no exposures to members of the public, Smith said.

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Follow Mead Gruver at https://twitter.com/meadgruver
A hold that was temporarily placed on former New Mexico Rep. Heather Wilsons nomination to become Air Force secretary has been removed and her final confirmation vote is now slated for Monday.

After reporting the hold earlier this morning, I was told that the hold has been removed and the Senate will vote on Wilson Monday. A Senate official with knowledge of the matter confirmed that in an email moments ago.

Although some members of the Senate Armed Services Committee questioned Wilson about her post-congressional contract work with Sandia National Laboratories she is widely expected to win confirmation. If confirmed on Monday, Wilson would be the first secretary of a military service branch to start work under President Donald Trump.

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A Democratic senator has put the brakes on former New Mexico Rep. Heather Wilsons nomination to become U.S. Air Force secretary, according to a report in Defense News.

Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, told the military trade publication this week that legislators need to work through questions about Wilsons nomination before she can receive a confirmation vote.

Its not clear which senator placed the so-called hold on Wilsons nomination. Individual senators can delay nominations by requesting a hold from their partys leadership in the Senate. Holds on nominations are usually resolved but they require additional procedural steps  such as the filing of a cloture motion that requires 60 votes  to clear a path to confirmation.

McCain told the publication that the snag was related to an Air Force base in the state of the senator who placed the hold, and that the issue was close to being resolved.

There was one senator who had questions about a facility in her state, and so we are trying to work through that, McCain told Defense News.

That senator is being reasonable, he added.

During her March 30 confirmation hearing, Wilson came under questioning for work she did for Sandia National Laboratories after leaving Congress in 2009.

A 2013 Department of Energy inspector generals report found that Sandia, then run by defense giant Lockheed Martin, had inappropriately paid Wilson about $226,000 in consulting fees beginning in January 2009, to lobby for Sandia to take on new assignments for the federal government. Sandia and Wilson have said no prohibited lobbying occurred.

However, Sandia reimbursed the government more than $226,000 for fees paid to the consulting company run by Wilson, who was not mentioned in the settlement agreement between the Justice Department and Sandia Corp. Lockheed Martin later agreed to pay $4.7 million to settle charges that it used government money illegally to lobby top federal officials for an extension of its Sandia contract.

Wilson, 56, has been serving as president of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City since 2013. She represented New Mexico in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1998 to 2009, serving on the Armed Forces and Intelligence committees. She lost a bid for the U.S. Senate to Democrat Martin Heinrich in the 2012 general election.

If confirmed, she would be the first of Donald Trumps nominees to lead a military service branch to actually start the job. At least two other service branch nominees have withdrawn and Trumps second pick to lead the Army is currently mired in controversy over statements he made about LGBT issues, Islam and evolution.
LAS CRUCES  The Las Cruces Sun-News announced a change in newsroom leadership on Wednesday.

Sylvia Ulloa, managing editor of the Sun-News, said she will voluntarily step away from the position shes held since November 2013.

It has been my sincere honor to be managing editor of the Sun-News over the past three and a half years and to work with the dedicated and talented journalists who are covering our community, she said. I know they will continue to contribute to the well-being of Las Cruces and Dona Ana County with their watchdog stories and delight readers with great articles, photos and videos about people in our community. I wish them all the best.

Sun-News president Rynni Henderson said she has the utmost respect for Ulloa.

It has been an honor and a pleasure to work closely with Sylvia, Henderson said. She will be missed, and we wish her all the best.

Ulloas statement comes on the same day the USA TODAY NETWORK announced it would be eliminating three positions in the Sun-News newsroom.

The Sun-News, like many companies, is learning to do more with less, but our commitment to the community is as strong as ever, Henderson said. We are evolving and will continue to deliver breaking news and the best local news and information available.

News director Lucas Peerman will lead the newsroom in the interim.

Peerman, a Las Cruces native, joined the Sun-News as Pulse editor in December 2004. He has held various roles at the paper, including copy desk chief, features editor and digital editor. Contact Peerman at lpeerman@lcsun-news.com or 575-541-5446.



2017 the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.)

Visit the Las Cruces Sun-News (Las Cruces, N.M.) at www.lcsun-news.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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BEIRUT  The presidents of Russia and Turkey said on Wednesday they support the creation of safe-zones in war-torn Syria as a delegation of Syrian rebels walked out of cease-fire talks with the Damascus government underway in Kazakhstan, citing repeated violations of a similar truce agreed on in December.

Meeting in the Russian resort town of Sochi, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin expressed hope the Syrian government and rebels would adopt this latest proposal to de-escalate the conflict, which has run now for six years and claimed some 400,000 lives.

Turkey and Russia are deeply entangled in the war in Syria, including each having troops on the ground there  Ankara supporting various Syrian opposition factions and Moscow backing President Bashar Assads forces.

Before the rebels suspended their participation at the talks in Astana, the Kazakh capital, Russian representatives had presented the rebels with a proposal for four de-escalation zones in Syria where the warring sides would be separated by security lines. The Astana talks are proximity talks, with Syrian government representatives and the rebels separately meeting with Russian officials and other representatives.

The rebels demanded a halt to the governments bombardment of opposition zones in Syria.

In Sochi, Putin said Russian and Syrian government jets would halt flights over the specified zones if all sides respect the cease-fire.

Russias 2015 military intervention in Syria and its air campaign have significantly boosted Assads gains in the war. However, human rights groups say Russia is implicated in targeting hospitals and schools, and using indiscriminate cluster munitions and incendiary weapons against civilian areas.

The proposal presented to the rebels in Astana delineates four zones in Syria where front lines between the government and rebels would be frozen and fighting halted, according to a statement made by rebels.

The United States has sent a senior State Department official to the talks.

_WebHeadline>EXCERPT: Syrian government representatives and the rebels separately meeting with Russian officials and other representatives
Rep. Steve Pearce, a Republican member of the House Freedom Caucus that helped kill an earlier attempt to replace the Affordable Care Act with a GOP alternative, is likely to vote for the latest version of the bill, his office said today.

Republicans now say they have enough votes to send their latest Obamacare replacement legislation to the Senate.

Hes a lean yes on this bill, said Pearce spokeswoman Keeley Christensen in an email to the Journal this morning. While it still isnt perfect, it allows states to tailor their plans to the needs of the people who live there.

Last month, Pearce was among about two dozen conservatives who opposed a version of the health care legislation that was supported by President Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan.

New Mexicos Democratic Reps. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Ben Ray Lujan oppose the GOP bill set for a vote today.
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump said Thursday his first foreign trip as president will feature stops in Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican, where he will meet with Pope Francis, an ambitious foray onto the world stage that will include meetings with NATO and a summit in Italy.

Senior administration officials said Trump chose Saudi Arabia as his first stop to show his commitment to improving U.S. relations with the Muslim world. Trump will meet with Saudi Arabias King Salman and other leaders where they are expected to discuss efforts to defeat terrorism and discredit radical ideologies, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe internal planning.

Trump, joining religious leaders in the Rose Garden on Thursday, said his first foreign trip would begin with a truly historic gathering in Saudi Arabia with leaders all across the Muslim world.

Saudi Arabia is the custodian of the two holiest sites in Islam and it is there that we will begin to construct a new foundation of cooperation and support with our Muslim allies to combat extremism, terrorism and violence and to embrace a more just and hopeful future for young Muslims in their countries, Trump said.

The weeklong trip will mark the presidents first trip abroad and come about six weeks after the U.S. launched Tomahawk missiles against a Syrian air base in the aftermath of a chemical weapons attack in the war-ravaged country.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Trumps visit would send a clear message that the U.S. harbors no ill will toward Muslim countries, which he said was a misconception spread by Iran and extremists like the Islamic State group.

This historic summit is going to change the narrative in the Islamic world and in the world, he told reporters in Washington.

The trip will inject Trump into the thorny quest for Middle East peace, a prospect that has proven elusive for Trumps predecessors.

The announcement follows Trumps meeting on Wednesday with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and his optimistic pledge to mediate peace efforts between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Trump has sought to forge strong ties with Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the start of his presidency in hopes of facilitating peace. The visit to Israel will reinforce that alliance, officials said.

Our task is not to dictate to others how to live but to build a coalition of friends and partners who share the goal of fighting terrorism and bringing safety, opportunity and stability to the war-ravaged Middle East, Trump said.

The Palestinians want to create a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. Abbas noted that demand when he joined Trump at the White House.

But Netanyahu has rejected the 1967 frontier as a baseline for border talks and ruled out partitioning Jerusalem where Palestinians hope to establish a capital. Netanyahus government has expanded settlements despite U.S. efforts to curb the construction.

The White House had said previously that Trump would travel to Belgium for the NATO meeting and Italy for the G7 summit before Memorial Day. The president previously called NATO obsolete but has since recanted after listening to European leaders make the case for the military alliance.

Trump will be making his first overseas trip late into the start of his presidency compared to his predecessors. Former President Barack Obama visited nine countries by late April 2009, his first three months in office, meeting with allies such as Canada, Britain and Germany. The last first-term president to wait until May to venture abroad was Jimmy Carter in 1977.

His visit will also give him the opportunity to connect with Roman Catholics with his visit with Pope Francis at the Vatican. The White House said the president met privately Thursday with Roman Catholic cardinals.

Trump and Francis couldnt be more different in their approaches to some of the pressing issues of the day, with immigration and climate change topping the list.

Francis has spoken of the need for bridges between nations, not the walls that Trump has called for. He has called for an end to the use of fossil fuels, while Trump has pledged to cancel payments to U.N. climate change programs and pull out of the Paris climate accord.

But both share a populist appeal and speak with a down-to-earth simplicity that has endeared them to their bases of supporters. And both share a common concern about the plight of Christians in the Middle East at the hands of Islamic militants.

Francis recently called for the U.S. and North Korea to step away from the brink and use negotiations and diplomacy to diffuse tensions on the Korean peninsula  an issue that is likely to feature in any Vatican audience.

During the campaign, when asked about Trumps border wall with Mexico, Francis famously said anyone who wants to build a wall is not Christian. Trump shot back that it was disgraceful for a religious leader to question someones faith.

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Associated Press writers Nicole Winfield in Vatican City and Josh Lederman in Washington contributed to this report.

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On Twitter follow Ken Thomas at https://twitter.com/KThomasDC

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This story has been corrected to show that Benjamin Netanyahus title is prime minister, not president.
LAS CRUCES, N.M.  A former New Mexico high school teacher who pleaded guilty to charges of manufacturing and possessing meth says he never successfully produced the drug.

John W. Gose, 56, says attempting to produce meth had been merely an intellectual experience, The Las Cruces Sun-News reported (http://bit.ly/2qJq18A ) Wednesday.

I dont have the chemistry skills to do that, Gose said. Just because I taught intro to chemistry to a bunch of ninth-graders doesnt mean I ran a full-blown meth lab.

Gose had no intention of selling meth if his experiment had been successful, he said. Gose has suffered from drug addiction for about 20 years.

I got hooked on it quickly, he said. Its made a big mess of my life.

A judge has ordered Gose to undergo a 60-day diagnostic evaluation before sentencing. He pleaded guilty Monday to four meth-related charges.

Las Cruces police arrested Gose last October after a traffic stop.

Officers reported finding an ice chest in Goses car containing tools to manufacture methamphetamines.

Police later searched his property and found meth ingredients.

Gose said he took issue with how his case played out in court. The allegations against him made it appear as though he operated a rolling meth lab, he said.

I would love to tell you that I was a big crook, but Im not, he said.

Gose taught science at Camino Real Middle School from August 2013 through February 2016. Although Gose could serve up to 20 years and six months in prison, he said he would like to teach again.

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Information from: Las Cruces Sun-News, http://www.lcsun-news.com
NORFOLK, Va.  NORFOLK, Va.  In a story May 4 about a plea deal for Navy Lt. Cmdr. Edward C. Lin in military court, The Associated Press reported erroneously that Lin became a U.S. citizen in 2008. He became a citizen in 1998 and enlisted in the Navy the following year, according to his attorney, Larry Youngner.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Taiwan-born Navy officer admits lying, mishandling secrets

A Taiwan-born Navy officer accused of espionage struck a deal with the U.S. government and agreed Thursday to plead guilty to several charges, but not espionage involving China or Taiwan

By BEN FINLEY

Associated Press

NORFOLK, Va.  The U.S. Navy abandoned efforts to convict a Taiwan-born Navy officer of spying for China or Taiwan, striking a plea deal on Thursday instead that portrays him as arrogant and willing to reveal military secrets to impress women.

The agreement was a marked retreat from last years accusations that Lt. Cmdr. Edward C. Lin gave or attempted to give classified information to representatives of a foreign government.

But it still appears to end the impressive military career of a man who came to America at 14. Lin joined the staff of an assistant secretary of the Navy in Washington, and later was assigned to a unit in Hawaii that flies spy planes.

Lin, 40, now faces dismissal from the Navy and up to 36 years in prison at his sentencing, scheduled for early June.

During the daylong court-martial in Norfolk, Lin admitted that he failed to disclose friendships with people in Taiwans military and connected to its government. He also conceded that he shared defense information with women he said he was trying to impress.

One of them is Janice Chen, an American registered in the U.S. as a foreign agent of Taiwans government, specifically the countrys Democratic Progressive Party.

Lin said he and Chen often discussed news articles she emailed him about military affairs. He admitted that he shared classified information about the Navys Pacific Fleet.

He also divulged secrets to a woman named Katherine Wu, whom he believed worked as a contractor for Taiwans Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She actually was an undercover FBI agent.

I was trying to let her know that the military profession in the United States is an honorable and noble one, Lin told Cmdr. Robert Monahan, the military judge. Lin said the military is less prestigious in Taiwan.

Lin also had friends with other connections, including a woman living in China whom he met online, and a Chinese massage therapist who moved to Hawaii.

Lin said he gave the massage therapist a large sum of money at one point, although he didnt say why.

Lin also admitted to lying to superiors about flying to Taiwan and planning to visit China. But he said he did it only to avoid the bureaucracy that a U.S. military official must endure when traveling to a foreign country.

Sir, I was arrogant, he told the judge.

A 2008 Navy press release about a speech Lin gave in December 2008 to new citizens in Hawaii said he was 14 when he and his family left Taiwan. His attorney, Larry Youngner, said Lin became a U.S. citizen in 1998 and enlisted in the Navy the following year.

I always dreamt about coming to America, the promised land,' Lin was quoted as saying when speaking at the 2008 ceremony for other immigrants. I grew up believing that all the roads in America lead to Disneyland.
NEW YORK  Donald Trump turned his first trip home as president into a victory lap on Thursday, returning to the city that has largely opposed him while celebrating House passage of legislation undoing much his predecessors health law.

Trump only received 18 percent of the vote in New York in Novembers presidential election. Multiple modest protests were held across the city during his visit, some visible from the presidential motorcade as it roared past Wall Street and Manhattans famed skyscrapers.

His visit was shorter than first expected so that he could commemorate the House vote with a Rose Garden event, the White House eager for the appearance of a victory after an uneven first 100 days in office. Slated to be in Manhattan only a few hours, Trump did not visit his home at Trump Tower and pushed back his first-time meeting with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull by several hours.

In those Pacific waters we forged iron bonds between our two countries, Trump said. Few peoples in the world share ties in history, affection and culture like the Americans and the Australians. Those ties are sealed with the blood of our grandfathers and fathers and those same ties are now the priceless heritage we celebrate so beautifully tonight.

Earlier, he also downplayed the contentious call he had with Turnbull in January, dismissing the reports of tension as fake news.

The leaders spoke aboard the USS Intrepid, a decommissioned aircraft carrier, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of a World War II battle that reinforced the ties between the U.S. and Australia. Both countries warships and fighter planes engaged the Japanese from May 4-8, 1942, forcing the Japanese navy to retreat for the first time in the war.

Trump paid tribute to the heroism of the battles veterans and also pointed to the Intrepid, which survived being hit by four separate Japanese kamikaze attacks during the war, as a need for the U.S. to keep its military strong and pledged that he would continue to boost defense spending.

His triumphant appearance aboard the World War II carrier came just hours after jubilant Republicans bused in from Capitol Hill to the White House for the victory lap, an unusually early celebration for the passage of a bill through just one house of Congress. The legislation, which was met with sharp Democratic opposition, squeaked through the House by a vote of 217-213 and faces an uncertain fate in the Senate.

Trump said he was so confident that the measure would pass the Senate and vowed that premiums and deductibles would come down.

People are suffering so badly with the ravages of Obamacare, Trump said.

At one point the president turned to the representatives lined up behind him and, suggesting the victory was especially impressive for a novice politician, exclaimed: Hey, Im president! Im president! Can you believe it?!

House leaders came through with the votes to give Trump a major political win more than a month after Republicans first attempt to pass a health care bill went down in a humiliating defeat.

Known as the American Healthcare Act, the bill has yet to receive a price tag from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and is opposed by a number of physician and health care groups, including the American Medical Association, amid concerns it could strip millions of Americans of their coverage, including those with pre-existing medical conditions.

Trump and Turnbull were expected to discuss North Koreas missile testing and security and economic issues, as well as Turnbulls deal with Obama for the United States to resettle up to 1,250 mostly Muslim refugees from Africa, the Mideast and Asia who are housed in immigration camps on the Pacific island nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

The agreement was a source of friction when Trump and Turnbull spoke by telephone shortly after Trump took office Jan. 20. The conversation made headlines, and Trump later tweeted about the dumb deal. But Vice President Mike Pence assured Turnbull during a visit to Australia last month that the Trump administration will honor the deal, but that doesnt mean we admire the agreement.

Manhattan is where Trump made a name by transforming himself from real-estate developer into a celebrity businessman and now president. During the campaign, Trump would fly thousands of miles back to New York to sleep in his own bed, leaving the impression that he would make frequent trips home after he became president.

But he hasnt set foot in the city since leaving on Jan. 19 for Washington to be inaugurated into office the following day. Now deeply unpopular in his hometown, Trump said in an interview last week that he so far has avoided returning to the city because the trips are expensive for the government and would inconvenience New Yorkers.

Some protesters lined up along the West Side Highway, confined to pens near the Intrepid while holding up signs saying Dump Trump and chanted Not my president. Some passing cars honked in support.

We want him to know the resistance remains, even in his hometown, said Ruthie Adler, 30, a Manhattan waitress.

Instead of sleeping at the Manhattan skyscraper that bears his name, Trump ended the night at his golf club an hour away in Bedminister, New Jersey.

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Associated Press writers Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, and Deepti Hajela and Deniz Cam in New York contributed to this report.

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Follow Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap and Lemire at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire
WACO, Texas  Prosecutors say an ex-business manager for a nonprofit Central Texas arts group must serve two years in federal prison for stealing $1.3 million from the volunteers-led organization.

Aileen Denise Snyder was sentenced Wednesday in Waco. Snyder must also repay $470,000 for what investigators say involved nearly 700 unauthorized ATM withdrawals from a Temple Civic Theatre account.

Prosecutors say Snyder, who pleaded guilty to access device fraud, spent the money gambling, traveling and paying personal bills.

The Temple Daily Telegram (http://bit.ly/2paGNwl ) reports Snyder worked for the group from mid-2006 until her May 2014 firing. Theater officials described unexplained missing funds, including a $25,000 dip in one month.

Investigators say Snyder, who was arrested in Washington County, Utah, was the only person with access to and login information for the online bank account.

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Information from: Temple (Texas) Daily Telegram, http://www.tdtnews.com
Officers are investigating after neighbors say a young woman was shot near Zuni and Pennsylvania SE Thursday afternoon.

Her condition is unknown.

Simon Drobik, a spokesman for the Albuquerque Police Department, said officers were called to the scene for reports of gunfire. He did not have any other information about the call.

Liesa Martinez-Reece lives nearby and said that she saw two men and a woman waiting in an apartment complex parking lot on the corner of Bell and Grove SE.

She said she saw one of the men approach a car that had driven up and stopped in the street near by.

As soon as I shut the door one round went off, Martinez-Reece said. I went to the balcony and before I could get there I heard another round of shots. And then when I looked out the window I saw someone running around the the building.

Martinez-Reece said she saw a young woman lying on the ground screaming that she had been shot and several neighbors were rushing to help her.

The woman was taken away in an ambulance, Martinez-Reece said.

Zuni was closed between Grove and San Pablo SE, according to APDs Twitter feed.

Crime scene investigators and officers can be seen searching the streets for evidence.
Two worker rights groups and an Albuquerque voter are asking a judge to throw out a lawsuit filed in April that seeks to keep Albuquerques proposed sick leave ordinance off the ballot.

OLE, El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos and Rebecca Glenn, all proponents of the ballot initiative, filed motions in state District Court in Albuquerque Thursday seeking to intervene in the case and asking a court to throw out the lawsuit. They contend the suit is without merit.

We want to prosper and thrive in our communities and have our work respected and honored, Alicia Saenz, a custodial worker and member of El Centro, said through an interpreter during a news conference in front of the courthouse on Thursday afternoon. We ask all folks in Albuquerque to unite with us and say no to the greed of these businesses and the associations and say yes to workers.

The lawsuit was initially filed by the Association of Commerce and Industry, the New Mexico Restaurant Association and NAIOP, which represents commercial real estate developers.

Attorney Pat Rogers, representing the plaintiffs, filed an amended complaint on Thursday that adds Kaufman Fire Protection Services and Don Kaufman as plaintiffs. It also drops individual city councilors as defendants and adds City Clerk Natalie Howard as a defendant. Other defendants are the city of Albuquerque and the City Council.

The suit alleges the proposed Healthy Workforce Ordinance is a form of voter fraud known as logrolling because it lumps 14 different issues as one.

The lawsuit also asks a judge to declare unenforceable the Albuquerque Minimum Wage Ordinance that voters approved in 2012, alleging logrolling in that measure as well. The current minimum wage is set at $8.80 an hour.

The lawsuit also alleges that home rule municipalities do not have the power to enact voter-initiated legislation.

Barring intervention from a judge, the proposed sick time ordinance is to appear on the Oct. 3 municipal ballot.

If approved by voters, it would require employers to allow workers to earn paid sick time off. It would apply to full-time, part-time and temporary workers at any business with a physical presence in Albuquerque.

Opponents argue the ordinance would hurt businesses because of higher costs and record-keeping requirements.

Albuquerque and New Mexico cant afford the sick leave ordinance, Rogers told the Journal on Thursday. Its the most extreme, and expensive version in the United States.

Tim Davis, attorney with the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty, said thousands of voters signed the petition to get the sick leave question on the ballot. He added that if the plaintiffs were to succeed in blocking the minimum wage ordinance, Albuquerques minimum wage would drop to the state minimum $7.50, and those workers would lose about $2,700 a year.
Religious, civic and business leaders called for the nation to seek solutions through faith Thursday as hundreds gathered in Civic Plaza to observe the National Day of Prayer.

Several speakers called for strength and support for civic leaders, law enforcement officers, first responders and members of the armed services.

Kindly look over our country as we seek to live out the vision of our founders, a vision forged several hundred years ago by those unafraid to give their all that we might know the freedoms known only to a few in our fragile world, Archbishop of Santa Fe John C. Wester said.

See in us here today a symbol of all your people who yearn to live, one day, in lasting peace with each other, Wester said.

The Albuquerque event, with several hundred in attendance, was one of an estimated 30,000 such observances around the country, which is held the first Thursday each May.

The Rev. Danny Sanchez, pastor of Victory Outreach Church of Albuquerque, reminded people that too many New Mexicans are lost to drug addiction, crime and prison.

Today as we pray, let us be mindful of those who are lost in addiction, Sanchez said. Addiction is a plague across our nation. As we pray, let us keep this in focus, that God will be able to save the criminal, save the addicted, save the lost.

The Rev. Skip Heitzig, founder and senior pastor of Calvary of Albuquerque, said that President Lincoln first authorized a day of prayer during the darkest days of the Civil War.

He felt that Americans were too proud to pray to the God that created our nation, Heitzig said. We were given our nation not by government, but by God.
WASHINGTON  Determined to exert greater economic pressure on North Korea, the Republican-led House on Thursday overwhelmingly voted to impose new sanctions on Pyongyang targeting its shipping industry and use of slave labor.

Lawmakers approved the measure on a 419-1 as tensions continued to mount over North Koreas advancing nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Adm. Harry Harris Jr., the top American military officer in the Pacific, has warned lawmakers that its a question of when, not if, Pyongyang successfully builds a nuclear-tipped missile capable of striking the U.S.

The Senate must take up the measure next.

The bipartisan legislation is aimed at thwarting North Koreas ambitions by cutting off access to the cash the regime needs to follow through with its plans. The measure is sponsored by Rep. Ed Royce of California, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Eliot Engel of New York, the committees senior Democrat.

The bill bars ships owned by North Korea or by countries that refuse to comply with U.N. resolutions against it from operating in American waters or docking at U.S. ports. Goods produced by North Koreas forced labor would be prohibited from entering the United States, according to the legislation.

Anyone who uses the slave labor that North Korea exports to other countries would be subject to sanctions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the bill states. At times when the nation is facing unusual or extraordinary threats, the president has wide authority under the law, including the power to block or prohibit transactions involving property located in the U.S.

Goods produced by North Korean forced labor would be barred from entering the United States, under the bill.

Royce said companies from Senegal to Qatar to Angola import North Korean workers, who send their salary back to Pyongyang, earning the regime billions of dollars in hard currency each year

This is money that Kim Jong-un uses to advance his nuclear and missile program, and also pay his generals, buying their loyalty to his brutal regime, he said. That is what the high-level defectors that I meet with say. So lets squeeze his purse.

The bill also requires the Trump administration to determine within 90 days whether North Korea is a state sponsor of terrorism. Such a designation would trigger more sanctions, including restriction on U.S. foreign assistance.

In a separate but related move, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson pressed Southeast Asian governments during a working lunch to ensure leak-proof enforcement of sanctions against North Korea and to prevent the pariah nations diplomats from conducting business that could benefit its weapons programs.

Tillerson called on foreign ministers of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, to minimize diplomatic relations with Pyongyang, so that North Korea does not gain benefit from its diplomatic channels for its nuclear and missile aspirations, senior State Department official Patrick Murphy said after Thursdays meeting at the State Department.

That was the latest salvo in the Trump administrations push to get the international community to intensify diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons program before it can pose a direct threat to the American mainland.

Last weekend, a North Korean midrange ballistic missile apparently failed shortly after launch, the third test-fire failure this month but a clear message of defiance. North Korean ballistic missile tests are banned by the United Nations because theyre seen as part of the Norths push for a nuclear-tipped missile that can hit the U.S. mainland.

The launch comes as both sides in the escalating crisis are flexing their military muscle. President Donald Trump has sent a nuclear-powered submarine and the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group to Korean waters. North Korea last week conducted large-scale, live-fire exercises on its eastern coast.

The U.S. and South Korea are installing a missile defense system and their two navies are staging joint military drills.

The missile defense system, known as THAAD, employs six truck-mounted launchers that can fire up to 48 interceptors at incoming missiles detected by the systems x-band radar.

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Associated Press writer Matthew Pennington contributed to this report.

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Reach Richard Lardner on Twitter: http://twitter.com/rplardner
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.
FBI investigations often call for cracking into mobile devices without the owners permission, but over 3,000 devices have managed to thwart the FBIs efforts to date this year. 3,000 doesnt sound like a lot on paper, but that number is about half of the total mobile devices that they tried to get into so far this year. Powerful device security is commonplace these days, but FBI Director James Comey wasnt looking to revive the backdoor debate. Instead, he said in a letter that the better alternative would be for device makers to work with the FBI and help them hack into otherwise secure devices.

Comeys suggestion seems safe enough, but if any of the work done to that end between the FBI and OEMs finds its way out onto the internet, the security hole used will have to be patched, and users will be in danger of hacking or data theft in the interim. While many devices in the wild are already vulnerable in many ways, it may take a great deal of work to crack newer devices. Android phones and iPhones both feature powerful encryption and security administered on a fix-by-fix basis and delivered in ongoing patches, making them fairly secure. Still, vulnerabilities do slip through; one example is a recent sampling of apps from the Play Store wherein hundreds of apps were found to have vulnerabilities that left ports open and allowed malicious code execution.

Mobile device security is great for consumers wanting to keep their data out of the wrong hands, but it can prove to be troublesome for law enforcement. Recent cases in San Bernardino, California and Paris, France highlight the possible benefits of law enforcement agencies being able to extract data from mobile devices involved in criminal cases. For time time being, the bottom line seems to be that nobody can find a realistic and reliable way to allow entities like the FBI to access user data when authorized without opening the door to agents whose intentions are a bit less honorable. Until this state of affairs changes, the debate is unlikely to make any meaningful progress. There are also individuals like Edward Snowden standing as an X factor of sorts, who insist that nobody should have access to a users data except that user, without the users permission.
Facebook on Wednesday started rolling out its Reactions feature to comments, some users of the social network are reporting. The Menlo Park, California-based social media giant is seemingly releasing the functionality on a global level, though the staged rollout may take several days to be completed. Comment reactions are reportedly only being added to the desktop browser version of Facebook and its currently unclear how long will it take for the company to debut the same feature in its Android and other mobile apps.

The functionality itself works just like post Reactions already do; users are able to hover over the Like button beneath every comment on their News Feed or any other screen, which will prompt an overlay window that will offer them to choose between a number of different Reactions. A similar solution rolled out to Messenger users last month, allowing users to react to private messages received through Facebooks instant messaging (IM) app. Following the latest turn of events, Facebook users are currently able to interact with almost all content using Reactions, making this feature one of the most universally liked functionalities that the Menlo Park company introduced in recent years. Facebook has yet to officially announce the rollout of comment Reactions, but the firm will likely detail the feature in the coming days.

According to previous reports, Facebook itself was surprised by the popularity of Reactions that it initially started rolling out to select users last year. With the feature now being available across the majority of Facebooks ecosystem, the companys next move might be focused on functionality instead of availability, with some industry watchers predicting that the firm will be looking to expand its portfolio of Reactions in the future. Facebook already experimented with alternative reactions during special events like Halloween, but the company has yet to expand on the regular Reactions lineup. Given the firms recent focus on video content and ephemeral messaging, its possible that Facebook will attempt to combine those elements in the future or maybe even bring Reactions to some of its other services like WhatsApp and Instagram, which wouldnt be an unprecedented move.
Google has released an official statement regarding the widespread phishing effort which uses a fake Google Docs app. In the official statement released on Google Docs twitter account, it has announced that the search giant has taken action to stop the phishing email, which involved disabling offending accounts, likely those behind the phishing email, and improving users protection against the email impersonating Google Docs. In addition, the search giant has said that they have removed fake pages, pushed updates to Googles Safe Browsing, and alerted its security team against possible similar attacks. Google also encourages its users to report any phishing email attempts in the future.

The statement was released after a phishing email impersonating Google Docs became widespread. The search giant had moved swiftly to put an end to the phishing attempt before it could spread to more people. The scenario starts with users receiving an email stating that somebody in their contacts has shared a document with them. Within the said email was a link to the fake Google Docs apps, which looks very similar to an ordinary Google Docs link. Once the link was clicked, users will proceed to a login page asking the users to give the fake Google Docs app access to the email information. If the user decides to grant the fake app access to certain email information, it will send the same email, containing the link to the fake Google Docs app, to the email addresses stored in the contacts of the affected user.

This is not the first time that a phishing attempt was able to circumvent the otherwise very secure 2-step authentication used by Google and other websites. In a report released by TrendMicro, a group of Russian Hackers known as Fancy Bear gained access to the sensitive email information of certain high-profile individuals by tricking them to give fake apps like Google Defender access to their email account. This time, the phishing attempt is more widespread and otherwise harder to identify as a scam since the email containing the link to the fake app was sent by people in their contacts. In the case of any similar phishing attempts in the future, it is advised to always take extra caution regarding the links included in their emails and ensure that these apps, especially those named after Google services, are not fake.
Although Nokia itself has not officially commented on the news yet, union sources and at least one government official have now come forward saying that the tech giant has plans to sell one of its network cable divisions. The undersea cable network division in question, which is still known as Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), was valued at around $870 million as of the last valuation and obtained by Nokia in 2016 as part of the companys acquisition of Alcatel. No buyers have come forward yet and Nokia is not in any particular rush to be rid of the division, according to the sources, but the company also doesnt consider ASN to be an integral part of its core business strategy. The sources continued to say that Nokia has been discussing the sale of the division informally with state and relevant stakeholders, including the staff.

Nokias been in the networking and mobile industries for a long time, so it stands to reason that theyd have built up assets that no longer suit the long-term goals of the company  or that were not important to the core business of the company from the outset. The company also seems to be returning a substantial amount of its effort to the mobile market with recent releases of its Nokia 3, 5, and Nokia 6 devices. However, it doesnt seem as though any kind of deal or even the intention to sell will be announced anytime soon. In light of the French governments stance on the undersea cable network, Nokia will likely choose to take its time to ensure a clean break from responsibility for the networks. ASN, having been previously owned by the French company to which it owes its namesake, is considered to be an important part of maintaining cyber-surveillance and security for the country  in addition to being a guarantee for connections with overseas territories and Africa.

Even though an undersea cable network doesnt seem to line up with Nokias overall business goals and the possibility of a sale has reportedly been discussed informally, its important to remember that Nokia has not officially commented on this. It is also worth mentioning that although ASN is currently owned by Nokia and despite that it employs around 1,000 French and British workers and seven cable maintenance vessels, it is managed separately from Nokia. So it also doesnt have much overall effect on Nokias business. ASN just seems to represent assets that the company reportedly feels it doesnt need.
It seems Qualcomm is reportedly planning to try and stop the importation of iPhone units from China to the US by Apple. The information comes from a report out of Bloomberg which in turn credits a person familiar with the companys strategy for the details. According to those details, Qualcomm will seek to obtain an outright ban by the International Trade Commission (ITC).

While not confirmed, this is understood to be the latest move by Qualcomm in what is not only a continuing battle between Qualcomm and Apple, but also an escalating one. Apple had originally filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm over what it claimed to be unfair tactics in relation to its licensing agreements. A move which was followed by Qualcomm counter-suing Apple. Since then, it is been reported that Apple has been withholding royalty payments to Qualcomm, which in turn led to Qualcomm reducing its revenue outlook. Now, as a means to bring a close to the situation (one way or the other) Qualcomm could be looking to apply pressure to Apple through this ban.

Of course timing is also a factor here as Apple is preparing to release its next-generation iPhone soon, and if Qualcomm was planning on initiating such a move, then it would likely want to have any successful action in place before the next iPhone does come to market. However, whether Qualcomm will be able to have such a ban granted remains to be seen. Although, if Apple is indeed holding back owed royalties and by doing so, is in breach of its licensing agreements with various Qualcomm licensees, then this presumably would provide grounds for such a request to, and have action taken by, the ITC. In either case, what is clear is that Apple has just recently announced a decrease in year-over-year sales for the iPhone line and if Qualcomm was successful in enacting a blanket ban on US imports of the smartphone, it would certainly lead to significant decrease in global sales for Apple, with the US understood to occupy the lions share of iPhone sales. Although by the same token, if Apple continues to withhold licensing payments to Qualcomm, while selling its latest version, then it would be Qualcomm who would likely continue to decrease its revenue outlook. Which highlights just how serious the issue is now becoming for both parties involved.
Waymo, the unit of Alphabet Inc. responsible for developing self-driving vehicles, has argued in federal court that Uber and former Google executive Anthony Levandowski conspired to steal its trade secrets even before the latter left Google. Waymo must prove this argument to show the need for an injunction to be issued by the federal court to prevent Uber from further developing its automated vehicles. In an effort to prove collusion between Uber and Levandowski, Waymo attorneys presented the court with internal Uber emails and documents to prove that Uber and Levandowski were already communicating even when he was still at Google. The internal emails Waymo cited in the court have shown that communication between Levandowski and former Uber executive Brian McClendon already existed during that period, with their contents implying an effort to steal Waymos trade secrets. Another document Waymo lawyers presented to the court shows that Uber granted Levandowski company shares immediately after he resigned from Google.

Uber, for its part, countered Googles accusations regarding the stock grant saying that the company only awarded the shares after Levandowski sold Otto, the startup he created after leaving Google, to Uber, with the shares serving as payment for Levandowskis management of Otto prior to its acquisition by Uber. Meanwhile, Uber continued to withhold more than 3,000 documents, claiming that they have a legitimate privilege to keep the documents from being presented to the court. This move by Uber, along with Levandowskis repeated assertion of his right against self-incrimination, has hampered Waymos ability to prove to the court that Uber knew about Levandowski downloading sensitive files from his former employer.

The recent hearing is part of a continuing legal saga between Waymo and Uber which revolves around a lawsuit that alleges Uber is using self-driving vehicle technologies developed by Alphabets self-driving vehicle unit. At this point, Waymo is seeking an injunction against Uber, which could seriously delay the San Francisco-based firms efforts to develop its own self-driving vehicles. This is something that Uber is obviously trying to avoid, given that the ride-sharing company views self-driving vehicles as an important component of its future as a viable business.
After announcing plans to open over 200 Mi Home Stores in China this year, tech giant Xiaomi sent out press invites earlier today for the launch of its first such store in India. The first Mi Home Store in the country will be opened in the city of Bengaluru, Karnataka, and will be unveiled by the Managing Director of Xiaomi India, Mr. Manu Jain, who was also recently appointed as the companys Group Vice President following the resignation of the firms former Vice President of Global Operations, Mr. Hugo Barra. Xiaomi already operates around 80 Mi Home Stores in China and opened its first Mi Home Store outside its home country last October in Singapore. The company has also unveiled similar stores in Hong Kong and Taiwan over the past few months.

While Xiaomi hasnt said anything about what to expect from its first Mi Home Store in India, reports in the countrys online tech media seem to suggest that besides showcasing the companys popular mobile accessories, the store will also feature some of the other popular devices from the companys portfolio, like the Mi Purifier 2 and the Mi Band 2. While accessories like power banks and headphones will be readily available for purchase from the upcoming store, it isnt immediately clear whether the company will also sell its smartphones directly to customers from its all-new brick-and-mortar outlet. Xiaomi also hasnt announced its plans to open Mi Home Stores in other cities around the country, but recent reports suggest that an expansion is planned for the near future.

India was the very first international market Xiaomi expanded into when it entered the country with the Mi 3, Redmi 1S, and the first-generation Redmi Note back in 2014. The country has already become Xiaomis second largest market after China, thanks largely to the remarkable success of the companys budget phablets  the Redmi Note 3 and the Redmi Note 4. According to recent market reports, Xiaomi is currently the second-largest smartphone brand in the country after Samsung thanks to the sheer strength of its online sales. Xiaomi is also the best-selling smartphone brand in India in terms of online distribution, with an almost 30-percent share of the countrys online smartphone market. Given that the Indian smartphone market is still growing at a decent pace, it is not surprising that Xiaomi is planning to expand its operations in the country with the launch of its retail stores.
First opened in 1886, Chesters Grosvenor Museum has been telling the story of the historic city for more than a century. Lucia Marchini tours the archaeological collections.

The Romans who founded a legionary fortress, Deva Victrix, at Chester in the AD 70s left their mark on the city. More than half of the line of the Roman defensive walls remains, and the pattern of streets largely follows that set out by the Romans. There are clear vestiges beyond the fortress walls too, such as the remains of the amphitheatre, the largest known from Roman Britain.

One of the best places to get acquainted with Devas inhabitants is the Grosvenor Museum. This lofty red-brick Victorian building was constructed in 1885-1886 to house the collections of the Chester Archaeological Society and the Chester Society of Natural Science, Literature, and Art. A timeline gallery introduces visitors to the areas history from prehistory up to the 21st century, with a selection of artefacts representing the various periods, including a Bronze Age stone axe from Fordsham, an early 3rd-century Roman pottery stamp used to mark food, a fragment of a Saxon cross, a 1950s ration book, and an early mobile phone. Upstairs, there is a room dedicated to 400 years of hallmarked silver from Chester, the citys main contribution to British art, and an art gallery, where paintings by Jacob van Oost the Elder and attributed to Jan Havicksz Steen, and two exquisite Wedgwood vases in black basalt, can be seen. At the rear of the museum is 20 Castle Street, a period house, built around 1680 and incorporated into the museum since 1955, with nine rooms presenting interiors from the 17th century to 1925.

Life in the legion

The highlight of the museum, though, is its Roman collections. These are divided into two main galleries. The first, the Newstead Gallery of Roman Chester and the Roman army, explores everyday life in the fortress, as well as the legion it housed, which, for most of its history, was the Legio XX Valeria Victrix. Material mentions of the legion, previously based in Colchester, Usk, and Wroxeter, and involved in the construction of Inchtuthil, include a roof tile stamped LEG XX VV, and the fragment of an antefix decorated with a boar, the legions emblem. Luggage labels attached to baggage in transit also carry the names of their owners and their cohort, century, or legion.

Some cavalry equipment has been found at Chester, but it is not known whether this belonged to a full cavalry regiment stationed at Deva or the 120 horsemen that formed part of the legion. Among these finds are bronze bells, a pendant, and a terret ring (all would have been attached to a horse harness), a cavalry sword, and a chape (a strengthening cap from the bottom of a sword sheath) made out of bone and decorated with a pattern associated with the cavalry.

Keys and locks, coins, and cooking utensils speak of ordinary life in Deva beyond military activity, while a selection of reddish and glossy Samian ware imported from Gaul suggest wealthy inhabitants. This Samian ware was so expensive that it was often repaired when broken rather than discarded, as can be seen in one bowl on display that was mended with lead rivets.

A bust of the museums first curator, Robert Newstead, stands at the entrance of the gallery bearing his name. He was curator of the Grosvenor Museum between 1886 and 1909, and carried out numerous excavations in Chester after the First World War, working on archaeological sites right up to his death in 1947, and retaining his finds for display in the museum. New research has since revised some of Newsteads interpretations, but his care for artefacts and his investigations have helped improve our knowledge of ancient Chester.

In the gallery there is a display devoted to Newstead, showcasing the work involved in preparing displays, including cleaning and mounting objects, writing labels, and drawing diagrams. Found in 1935 in Chesters Deanery Field, the fragments of late 1st-century AD painted wall plaster are presented quite charmingly with Newsteads handwritten label. Similarly, the fragment of the rim of an olla-like vessel is placed on a drawing showing how the whole pot would have looked, while the fragment of a box-flue tile from the site of a bathhouse is accompanied by a sketch to illustrate how such tiles worked.

Death in Deva

Leaving this retro display case and moving into the second Roman galley, visitors are presented with a much more modern space and a thematic shift, transitioning from life in Deva to the realm of death. Between 1883 and 1892, during repairs to the city walls, over 150 Roman tombstones used as infill in the walls were discovered. The stones would originally have stood outside the fortress walls, either as a single grave-marker or as part of a larger tomb. Dating from the founding of the fortress through to the early 3rd century, the inscriptions commemorate soldiers, slaves, women, and children. Most of the carvings are still relatively sharp, leading experts to believe they were only exposed to the elements for a century or two. This suggests that in the 4th century the Romans repaired their wall using material from the cemetery outside the fortress, a pragmatic approach that seems to be widespread in the period.

Among the memorialised individuals are horsemen, including a Sarmatian rider carrying a dragons head standard that would have emitted a terrifying noise as air rushed through it; a man who died at sea; an optio (a junior officer identifiable from the tablet he would have used for book-keeping); and a centurion (recognisable from his vine staff) and his wife.

One common funerary motif is the banquet in the afterlife. We see a woman, Curatia Dionysia, commemorated in this way, and Marcus Aurelius Lucius, who holds a scroll (probably his will) in one hand and who, judging by his hair, may come from a barbarian background. A particularly touching banquet tombstone is that of Flavius Callimporphous and his son Serapion. This was found not with the bulk of the stones during the city wall restorations, but in 1874 when a sewer was being laid.

Another moving inscription is one in which a master dedicates a single stone to three slave boys. Protus died aged 12, while Antilianus and Antitilianus were both ten when they passed away. The extreme closeness of the names and ages of the younger two boys suggests that they were twins.

These tombstones, recovered from the wall that preserved them for centuries, stand to be seen once more in this informative gallery, a lasting and fitting memorial to Devas ancient dead.

The Grosvenor Museum is open daily (10.30am-5pm Monday-Saturday; 1-4pm Sunday). Entry is free, but donations are welcome. Visit grosvenormuseum.westcheshiremuseums.co.uk for more information.

This review was published in CA 326.
The Pictish carvings etched near the summit of Trustys Hill, a vitrified hillfort in Dumfries and Galloway, are as enigmatic as they are striking, located far to the south of where you would expect to find this kind of artwork. But how old are the carvings, are they even genuine, and what can archaeology tell us about their links to a lost kingdom? Ronan Toolis reports.

Take a walk in the Boreland hills, just outside Gatehouse of Fleet in south-west Scotland, and you may come across Pictish symbols carved at the entrance of a small hillfort known as Trustys Hill. Etched into an exposed face of bedrock we find a distinctive motif known as a double disc and Z-rod, as well as images of a dragonesque creature and a sword. Yet while some of these symbols are common representations from the Pictish repertoire, they are a unique find for this region of Scotland, located far to the south of where such carvings normally occur.

It was this that first drew us to Trustys Hill in 2012, when the Galloway Picts Project was launched by the Dumfries and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society as part of its 150th anniversary celebrations. This community archaeology project  a collaboration with GUARD Archaeology Ltd  set out to establish some kind of context for the carvings, and to see if we could shed any light on their meaning.

We were not the first to excavate the hillfort: in 1960, Charles Thomas  then of the University of Edinburgh  opened several trenches across the site. The artefacts he recovered, including a handful of stone tools, the lower half of a rotary quern, and a small quantity of animal bones, did not reveal much about the precise date of the forts occupation, or the nature of settlement there. However, he also uncovered sections of heat-affected ramparts and, abutting these, a promising layer of charcoal-rich soil. It was this latter feature that we hoped might yield more evidence during our investigations.

As Trustys Hill is a scheduled monument our excavations could be only limited in scope. We were granted permission just to reopen Charles Thomass trenches  but these still held the potential for unexcavated deposits that might provide some good radiocarbon-dating evidence. As it turned out, although the area we were able to investigate totalled little more than 1% of the site, our discoveries far exceeded our expectations.

Pictish pictures

Given the unusual location of the carvings, it has long been speculated that they might be modern forgeries. Laser scans carried out during our project demonstrated that they did not cut through any of the 19th-century graffiti surrounding them, however, while specialist analysis revealed detailed knowledge and understanding of Pictish artistic traditions that is inconceivable for the late 18th century when the carvings here were first recorded. Their subject matter is not entirely typical: while the double disc and Z-rod symbol is a trope familiar from other Pictish inscriptions, the dragon and sword combination is unique. It could be that we are seeing a blend of diverse elements taken from broader traditions  perhaps the Trustys Hill symbols were not carved by a Pict at all, but by someone among the local Britons who was sufficiently familiar with Pictish art to express local ideas in this style. There was one more surprise to come: the carvings employ a blend of traits that today are categorised as Class I and Class II  which from an art-historical perspective would imply quite a late date, perhaps in the 8th or 9th century. The archaeology tells a different story, however.

Reopening Charles Thomass trenches uncovered a wealth of new information about the forts construction: the eastern and western sides of the summit had been fortified with a timber-laced stone rampart in c.AD 600, while around the same time, the lower-lying slopes were enhanced with other defences and enclosures. These developments transformed Trustys Hill into a nucleated fort, a type of elite early medieval secular settlement found only in Scotland. The prodigious use of mature timber in the sites ramparts also hints at it being a place of some importance; at a time when wood was locally in short supply, this ostentatious consumption was a clear indication of the households wealth and control of nearby natural resources.

Further clues to the sites status came with the discovery of the remains of a workshop producing prestigious metalwork. Fragments of crucibles and other metalworking detritus, including moulds for fine jewellery, were subjected to X-ray fluorescence to identify the metals being worked. This revealed that lead, tin, and copper were being combined to create leaded bronzes, while traces of gold- and silverworking were also evident. Isotope analysis of a lead ingot demonstrated that it had been mined relatively close by, in the Leadhills area, and it may be that some of the sources of copper ore recorded around the site were being exploited at this time too. Evidence of ironworking, both smithing and smelting, completed this picture  clearly Trustys Hill was an important and productive centre for metalwork in the 6th and early 7th centuries.

This was much more than a highly skilled workshop, however. While other industrial activities  from wool spinning to the preparation of leather  have left their mark at the fort too, there was also evidence of a more social side to the settlement, with quantities of animal bone and domestic debris speaking of lavish feasts. From their rubbish, we can tell that the Trustys Hill community were eating predominantly cattle over sheep and pigs, and oats and barley in preference to wheat  a menu largely indistinguishable from that of their Iron Age ancestors, and identical to what was being eaten by other high-status households in Scotland at this time.

Wealth of evidence, evidence of wealth

Although we were not able to excavate enough of the forts interior to reveal any complete footprints of structures, the discovery of postholes and interior stonework, combined with the domestic material as well as the concentrated distribution of the metalworking debris, allows us to reconstruct the summit as a space divided between a domestic zone  probably located along the highest portion of the site  and a workshop built on a lower shelf.

The high-quality products being made at Trustys Hill may have made it an attractive centre for local and further-reaching trade; the discovery of a sherd of E Ware pottery from western France places our site in a trade network stretching between western Britain, Ireland, and Continental Europe. Certainly we know from previous work that Gaulish merchants were making a beeline for the Galloway coast during the 6th and 7th centuries, perhaps attracted by the local availability of valuable materials like copper and lead. Such lucrative contacts would have been a key aspect of the Trustys Hill households control over the local area  something that they may have shored up with gifts, promises of protection, and bounties amassed through raiding other groups. Whatever steps they took to ensure this primacy, however, it was not to last, and when the end came, it was a fiery one.

The hillfort bears eloquent witness to the fact that, at some point in the early 7th century, it had been set alight in what appears to have been an act of deliberate destruction  subjected to such sustained burning that the timber-laced stone rampart encircling its summit actually melted, a process known as vitrification. At the same time, we can clearly see evidence for the destruction of the sites interior and an abrupt end to any occupation of the summit. What did Trustys Hill do to merit such a brutal end? We suggest that, as well as being a successful trading site, the fort may have been a focus of political power, perhaps attracting more dangerous rivals  something that brings us back to the Pictish carvings.

The symbols lie opposite a large sunken feature that Charles Thomas interpreted as a guard hut. We contend it was something rather less prosaic, however. Further investigation of this circular hollow revealed a rock-cut basin defined by a drystone revetment. This wall leads out towards the Pictish carvings, but is itself overlain by the foundations of another stone bank marking part of the elaborate entranceway to the summit  an entranceway that was destroyed when the forts timber-laced rampart was burnt. It therefore seems likely that the basin and the carvings can be tied to the sites late 6thto early 7th-century occupation. But what do they mean?

A tale of two citadels

At first glance the rock-cut basin might appear to be a convenient source of water for the local community  yet the fact that it lies in a vulnerable, exposed spot beyond the forts defences suggests otherwise, as do its shallow dimensions  measuring just 80cm deep and 1.8m across  and the lack of any natural spring at its bottom. What, then, was it for? The drystone revetment around its northern edge may be a clue: it represents a significant effort to define the space, and could imply a degree of formality to the feature. Perhaps this formality might even reflect a ceremonial role: it is recorded that a number of silver coins were found here in 1794, which could hint at the water being used for votive offerings. It is known that customs derived from Galloways Celtic heritage continued deep into the medieval period and beyond, and the deposition of similar caches of coins in holy wells occurred throughout the region into the 16th century. Might this too have been a site with special significance?

Certainly, the presence of carved symbols near an entranceway and opposite a rock-cut basin has parallels in other early medieval Scottish power centres: it mirrors the context of the Inauguration Stone at Dunadd  a hillfort in Argyll and Bute that became the royal stronghold of the kings of the Scots of Dal Riata around the same time. There we find enigmatic markings including a carved footprint, a Pictish boar symbol, and an ogham inscription, close to a rock-cut basin that, like at our site, lies at the entrance to the summit enclosure. This combination of features has been interpreted as marking a place where royal inauguration rituals took place. Given Dunadds other similarities with Trustys Hill, in the imported goods it had access to and the high-quality metalwork that it was producing, might our site have had a similar role?

Pictish carvings were also found at the foot of Edinburgh Castle Rock  another site attested to be an elite stronghold of this period, and one that also lies outside the traditional territory of the Picts  while in the heart of Pictland itself we find the early 6th-century royal site of Rhynie (see CA 289), where an impressive carved stone stands at the entranceway to a complex enclosure that has yielded a familiar array of Continental imports, fine metalwork, and evidence for skilled metalworking.

These parallels make a persuasive case that we could view the approach to the Trustys Hill summit as a symbolically charged entranceway, a literal rite of passage for the inauguration of kings  and it is in this context that we suggest the sites carved symbols should now be viewed. While their literal meaning will probably never be known  short of finding a Pictish Rosetta Stone  the evidence from Trustys Hill and the known royal sites provide significant clues to cross-cultural exchanges taking place between Britons, Scots, and Picts; connections that helped to forge notions of kingship in early medieval Scotland.

If Trustys Hill was a royal stronghold, though, which kingdom did it belong to? Historical documents provide no easy answer  unlike almost all the other kingdoms of Scotland, there are no written records attributed to Galloway during this period. Might archaeology hold the key?

Of all Britains 6th-century kingdoms, Rheged is the most elusive. On one hand, it was the cradle of some of the earliest surviving medieval poetry to be composed in Britain, inspiring the bard Taliesin, who composed praise poems extolling the prowess of its king, Urien. Fragmentary historical sources also tell of Uriens dominance of southern Scotland and northern England. On the other hand, however, little material evidence for the kingdom has been found, meaning that its actual location has long been shrouded in mystery. So much so that some historians have dismissed its existence entirely.

For those who do accept the existence of this powerful kingdom, some have sought to trace it through the place-names mentioned in Taliesins poetry, championing areas as diverse as Carlisle and Cumbria, Galloway, and Lancashire as the focus of its influence. This is by no means an exact science  many of the names are non-specific topographical words that are easy to apply to anywhere  but the archaeological record is less ethereal. If we are looking for a contender for a kingdom that was pre-eminent among the northern powers in the 6th century, Galloway has a persuasive claim.

Across the region we find monastic settlements  Whithorn, Kirkmadrine, Ardwall Isle  that provide evidence not just for a sophisticated ecclesiastical hierarchy, but the earliest evidence of Christianity and literacy in Scotland, as well as some of the oldest evidence of direct trade between Scotland and Continental Europe. On the secular side, we also have elite centres like the Mote of Mark, a fortified workshop with abundant evidence of high-status metalworking and Continental trade links, while numerous other vitrified and nucleated forts are clustered in Galloway, awaiting excavation. This evidence for a dynamic and wellconnected network of sacred and secular 6th- to 7th-century sites is unmatched anywhere else in southern Scotland and northern England, and entirely absent from Cumbria where Rheged is normally said to have been: taken together, we can argue that this archaeological kingdom without a historical record in Galloway, and Rheged, a historical kingdom without an archaeological record, may in fact be one and the same.

How the mighty fell

If this identification holds true, it provides a political context to the wealth and sophistication of post- Roman Galloway, explaining why the region was so attractive to Continental traders, and why Christianity seems to have flowered here so early  something that could not have happened without a powerful secular presence providing land and resources to the fledgling church. In drawing together literary, historical, and archaeological evidence, we begin to hear tantalising echoes of a vibrant and influential culture that is entirely consistent with a powerful kingdom like Rheged.

Despite its success, however, the spectacular destruction of Trustys Hill and its nearby contemporary, the Mote of Mark  a fate that can also be surmised for the other, as-yet unexplored, vitrified forts in the region  is a visceral reminder that the demise of this once-mighty kingdom came with sword and flame. As for who their conquerors were, while there is plenty of evidence for aggression by various groups of Picts, Scots, and Britons during this period, it was in the 7th century that the kings of Northumbria finally overwhelmed the British powers to the north  including Galloway  turning them into tributary states. The fact that all the areas vitrified forts lie within or very close to parishes with place names suggesting concentrations of early Anglian settlement corroborates our laying this destruction at Northumbrias door. It also tallies with accounts like Bedes Ecclesiastical History, and the Life of Wilfred, which attest that Northumbrian dominance was achieved largely through violent overthrow and the subjugation of the local ruling elite. In that respect, it comes as no surprise that one Anglian noble associated with these events, who might be identified with King Ida of Bernicia, was known to his British enemies as Fflamddwyn  the Flame- Bearer. Perhaps Ida brought fire and destruction to Trustys Hill too  and perhaps what attracted his attention was its status as the main power centre of the kingdom of Rheged.

Further reading

Ronan Toolis and Christopher Bowles, The Lost Dark Age Kingdom of Rheged, Oxbow Books, 35.00, ISBN 978-1785703119.

This is an extract from a feature published in CA 327. Read on in the magazine. Click here to subscribe.
YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijani forces made over 40 ceasefire breaches in the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact.

The defense ministry of Artsakh told ARMENPRESS Azerbaijani forces used different caliber firearms, firing more than 460 shots at Artsakh military positions on May 3 and overnight May 4.

The Artsakh Defense Army forces mostly refrained from taking countermeasures and continued their service, the defense ministry said in a statement.
YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. The Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) and the Armenian Revolutionary federation (ARF) have completed talks on signing a coalition agreement, RPA spokesperson, Vice President of the National Assembly of Armenia Eduard Sharmazanov told the reporters after the Executive Body meeting of the party. The talks are already over; I can say the document is already ready. It will be promulgated in the near future, Armenpress reports Sharmazanov saying.

He added that the document to be signed between the two parties will be called a coalition agreement. The Republican Party and the ARF will sign a coalition agreement for 2017-2022, Sharmazanov said.

According to him, issues about the National Assembly President, Vice Presidents or Chairmen of Standing Committees were not discussed at the session.

Sharmazanov did not rule out the number of the National Assembly Standing Committees may be cut, considering the fact that the new parliament will have 150 seats against the for 131 seats of the previous convocation.
The revised website is dedicated to over 5,000 members spread across 29 countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and can be read in four different languages - English, French, German, and Spanish.Members must sign in with a username and password, but theres also a public version of the website which is available to anyone to learn about some of the news and events.Owners of new or used Indian motorcycles can join the IMRG for free for the rest of 2017 by visiting the online platform and filling in their details like bike model, registration plate, and date of purchase.If you own a vintage Indian, made before Polaris took over the company, you are welcomed to join the community as well. People who dont own an Indian but love the brand can still join, but will be allowed starting 2018 and must pay a Community Membership fee of 40 per year.Each member of the IMRG gets a membership card by post along with a Welcome Pack that can be collected from their local dealer containing an official patch and label pin.From 2018 onwards, members will get further benefits like an annual patch, a renewal gift, roadside assistance, discounts on official events, garments, and accessories.Indian will offer a free one-year membership to those buying a current bike model, which also applies to a named passenger. After the year is up, the owner will need to pay 50 for the member status.Second-hand owners will also need to pay for a yearly membership as of 2018, which is 40.Indian Motorcycle said that work will continue to develop the IMRG website and there are already plans to place the riders groups into a network that will allow more members to connect and communicate.
Well, after Chinese carmaker (yup, it had to be China) Geely (Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, to give you it's full nomenclature) finished paying the last dollar of its Volvo transaction, it got a brilliant idea. On the one hand, it had the fine expertise of the Swedish brand, and on the other, the financial and manufacturing might of its lesser Chinese peer. How about meeting the two in the middle?Enter Lynk & Co, a company whose products will be targeted at young people from various markets, including the US, thus tapping into a demographic that would have been hard to get considering the higher prices of the Volvo models.Not much is known about the Lynk & Co 03 at the moment other than the fact it was previewed by the concept car we've mentioned earlier. The 03 should come to market right after the 01 , the crossover which is expected to have its commercial debut later this year. Like its sibling - and all other Lynk & Co cars to follow - the 03 comes with permanent free Internet connectivity as well as an unlimited warranty offer.No announcements have been made regarding the vehicle's underpinnings, but expect it to ride on a version of the CMA platform that non-90 Volvo models use. Even though nothing is known about the powertrain options at this time, common sense tells us that it should use more accessible options, since the plan is to keep the price of Lynk & Co products down as much as possible.The Sweedo-Chinese company is trying to make itself noted by departing from the traditional dealership-based method of selling cars, much like Tesla has been doing for a while. How exactly will that work remains to be seen once Lynk & Co starts the actual sales, but the lifetime warranty should definitely come in handy under these circumstances.Even though completely under wraps, the real-world 03 appears to remain true to the concept it's based on, which we think is by no means bad news. In fact, if they moved those headlights from up top over to that mid black strip, we think the Lynk & Co 03 would be quite a looker. The concept's interior wasn't that bad either, and it definitely looked doable.It's too early (and a bit too Chinese) to get excited about this new company, but you can't help notice it has a few things going for it. We'll keep an eye out for further developments.
More on this:

1 The Challenges Faced by Automakers in Their Switch to Euro 6c

2 Michigan Driver Loses Appeal Against Ticket For Idling Car In Driveway

3 Incompetent Burglar Gets Stuck In Snow, Asks Victim For Help

4 Tesla Supercharger Idling Fee Set for $0.4 per Minute, Five Minute Grace Period
President Trump will sign an executive order Thursday designed to make it easier for religious groups to participate in politics. A senior administration official told reporters Wednesday night that the order directs the IRS to "exercise maximum discretion" in enforcing the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits groups with tax-exempt status from endorsing candidates.

The official said Trump's order was "about keeping his campaign promise." He pledged to "utterly destroy" the amendment on the campaign trail.

The order will also "provide regulatory relief" for employers that object to the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive mandate, the official said.

The ACLU has already said it will challenge the order on the grounds that it facilitates discrimination, per CBS' Mark Knoller.
4 May 2017 18:14 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Armenian militaries fired at residents of Azerbaijan's Aghdam region, where the villagers were repairing artesian wells.

The incident happened in Ahmadagali village, which is situated near the line of contact between the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, Report informed on May 4.

Thus, during the repair works carried out with financial support of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Armenian side opened fire on employees and techniques of Irrigation Department of Water Management JSC in Aghdam. The ICRC representatives were also at the scene.

No one was injured during the shelling but the equipment and facilities were damaged.

Such attacks show that the Armenian side seeks to cause harm to Azerbaijan and its citizens by making life near the border difficult and risky for them. The Armenian side constantly tries to provoke and sabotage the Azerbaijan Armed Forces on the contact line, but always receives a strong rebuff.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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4 May 2017 14:06 (UTC+04:00)

The 7th Caspian International Power and Alternative Energy Exhibition, Caspian Power 2017, the only event in the Caspian region specialized in energy efficiency and renewable energy, will be held at Baku Expo Center on May 31 June 3.

The exhibition is part of a series of major energy events from the leading exhibition company ITE Group and is a proven brand among industry companies. The exhibition is organized by Iteca Caspian and its partner, ITE Group (UK).

Traditionally, the Caspian Power exhibition will take place on the same platform as the largest event in the Caspian region's oil and gas sector - Azerbaijan International Oil and Gas Caspian Oil&Gas exhibition.

The relevance of the exhibition is preconditioned by the launch of the new power plants, the use of hybrid power stations, and the installation of wind turbines and solar panels in Azerbaijan. The Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the State Agency for Alternative and Renewable Energy Resources officially support the exhibition.

The leading vendor companies in the field of power engineering from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Turkey and other countries are among the exhibitors. The exposition of the exhibition will present hydra and heat to the electric power industry, nuclear power engineering, instruments and means of measurement, control, automatic regulation, industrial and household energy, energy saving technologies, radio frequency cables, cables for industrial automation and much more.

The Caspian Power 2017 exhibition provides a unique opportunity to meet with leading specialists of the electric-power industry, to get information about the latest technological developments and strategies for the development of the electric power industry, and to expand and establish new effective and mutually beneficial contacts, as well as to enter into prospective contracts.

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4 May 2017 11:21 (UTC+04:00)

By Sara Israfilbayova

Business circles of Azerbaijan and Indonesia discussed expansion of trade and economic relations during a business forum held in Guba on May 3.

A number of entrepreneurs representing various sectors of the Indonesian economy came to Azerbaijan to participate in the forum.

The sides discussed expansion of trade relations, as well as opportunities of making the mutual investment between Azerbaijan and Indonesia.

Indonesian Ambassador Husnan Bey Fananie, addressing the event, highlighted bilateral relations between the two countries, saying there are great prospects for further boosting these bonds. He also praised development of economic ties between the two countries.

The ambassador went on to say that he is periodically informed about Indonesian businessmens investments in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijani-Indonesian relations were officially established in 1992. Both countries are members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Non-Aligned Movement.

The trade between Azerbaijan and Indonesia is mostly related to the energy sector, as Azerbaijan emerged as the second biggest supplier of crude oil to Indonesia in 2011 after Saudi Arabia.

In March, 2016, Azerbaijan and Indonesia drafted a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to further deepen cooperation in the energy and mineral resources sectors. Moreover, the Indonesian government encouraged the countrys state oil and gas company Pertamina to invest in Azerbaijans oil and gas projects.

The trade turnover between Indonesia and Azerbaijan for the first quarter of 2017 amounted to $9.2 million, according to the State Statistics Committee of Azerbaijan.

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4 May 2017 13:18 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

YARAT Contemporary Art Space invites everyone to attend the next event within Meet the artist programme that will allow art lovers to familiarize with various mediums and techniques used by contemporary artists.

The next event will be held in YARAT Contemporary Art Space on May 9.

Those interested are kindly invited to attend event with participation of young artist Butunay Hagverdiyev.

Butunay Hagverdiyev graduated from British Higher School of Art and Design, Moscow (2001) and Azim Azimzade Art college, Painting faculty (Baku 2005, 2009).

He has been invited to a number of international residencies, including a residency in gallery Svalbard (Svalbard is. Norway).

The artist's works have been exhibited both locally and internationally. Selected list of exhibitions includes: Azerbaijani carpets in art exhibition in Cannes festival palace 2015; Crossing solo exhibition in Q gallery (Baku, 2014); 55th Venice biennale Azerbaijan national pavilion ; the International Salon in Central House of Artists, (Moscow, 2013); Zavod contemporary art exhibition. Yarat. (Baku, 2012); End of the year show Artplay, BHSAD (Moscow, 2012); Group exhibition Legacy in Euro Union embassy. (Baku); Situational Sculpture group exhibition, Artplay (Moscow, 2012); On soz contemporary art exhibition. Yarat (Baku, 2011); Before, During, After Personal exhibition , Contemporary Art Centre(Baku, 2010)

Moreover, Butunay also curated a number of exhibitions in frames of Yar Ad An project, gallery and space for young artists, including Resonance group exhibition , Yar Ad An (2009) and  ( Flight) group exhibition.

He has gained extensive experience in fresco painting and restoration in 2003  2008, when he was working in a group of artists in orthodox church of St. Bartholomew, Baku.

The event will start at 19:00.Admission is free.

For more information, please contact:

+99412 505 1414

YARAT is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to nurturing an understanding of contemporary art in Azerbaijan and to creating a platform for Azerbaijani art, both nationally and internationally. Based in Baku, YARAT (meaning CREATE in Azerbaijani) was founded by Aida Mahmudova in 2011.

YARAT realizes its mission through an on-going program of exhibitions, education events and festivals. YARAT facilitates exchange between local and international artistic networks including foundations, galleries and museums.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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4 May 2017 14:31 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

The Third Meeting of the International Network for the UNESCO Silk Roads Online Platform has kicked off in Baku.

Focal Points from 25 member states were in attendance, representing their respective countries, along with academics and experts who exchanged experiences and good practices in promoting and implementing activities related to the Silk Roads.

The main objective of this meeting is to discuss the implementation of the 2016-2018 Action Plan of the International Network that was adopted during the second meeting of the Network in Valencia in June 2016. The participants also reviewed the most significant initiatives undertaken by focal points and their partners since the last meeting of the Network.

Addressing the event, Azerbaijan`s Permanent Representative to UNESCO Anar Karimov drew the audience`s attention to the country`s contribution to the promotion of intercultural dialogue.

He said the Baku Process has become an important platform for addressing global problems and challenges.

Politicians of many countries, representatives of international organizations, influential social and political figures are gathering here to exchange opinions on issues and problems affecting our life, and are looking for ways to solve them, he noted.

The official added that Azerbaijan always contributes to the development of intercultural dialogue in the world and the holding of the next Forum demonstrates the countrys commitment to this process.

The 4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, titled Advancing Intercultural Dialogue  New avenues for human security, peace and sustainable development kicked off in Baku on May 4.

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4 May 2017 15:37 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

The fifth season of Azerbaijan Fashion Week is scheduled for May 23-27 in Baku.

The fashion shows will be held at city's best venues, including the Stone Chronicle Museum and Icherisheher, Trend Life reported.

The large-scale event will feature grandiose events with participation of foreign and Azerbaijani designers, who continue to conquer the fashion industry. AFW aims to increase interest in country's national values among foreign guests.

The last season was highly appreciated by such international publications as VOGUE, Elle, Buro 24/7, L'officiel, TheNewYorkPost and others.

Azerbaijan Fashion Council, a new organization that will bring together fashion industry leaders, as well as representatives of the financial sector, potential investors and producers of light industry goods will be also presented as part of the event.

The permanent partner of the fashion week, Collezione Italia Baku, will present the project Design Week, which will be attended by the designers of the interior, applied arts and others.

AFW showroom will be opened where guests will get a chance to buy trendy fashion style clothes presented at the shows. A number of afterparties will be held in Pasifico Lounge & Dining, Eleven, Floor Two, MAYA Mexican Restaurant & Bar, LaVida Tequila Bar, organized by VKLYBE.TV.

The event will be supported by Azerbaijan's Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Administration of Icherisheher State Historical-Architectural Reserve.

Azerbaijan Fashion Week is held twice a year in November and May. More than 40 designers from Azerbaijan, Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, France and Spain participated in last two seasons.

The main purpose of the Week is to popularize growing fashion industry in Azerbaijan and give an opportunity to young and talented designers to show their work to the world. It's a place that gathers local and international buyers, press and fashion critics together.

Applications for participation in Azerbaijan Fashion Week as sponsors or volunteers can be sent here: [email protected]

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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4 May 2017 15:26 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

The OSCE monitoring held along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops passed without incidents on May 4, Azerbaijans Defense Ministry reported.

The monitoring was held under the mandate of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative in Azerbaijans Aghdam district, the ministry said.

On the Azerbaijani side, the monitoring was held by Andrzej Kasprzyk, OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative, as well as Gennady Petrica and Martin Schuster, field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative.

On the Azerbaijani territories occupied and controlled by Armenian armed forces, the monitoring was held by Simon Tiller and Mikhail Olaru, field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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4 May 2017 12:18 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

A nationwide conference on the topic "Heydar Aliyev - the first Azerbaijani general of the state security bodies" was held in Baku on May 3.

The conference was organized by the State Security Service of Azerbaijan, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the State Agency for the provision of services to citizens and social innovations under the President of Azerbaijan and the Heydar Aliyev Center.

The activity of the national leader of the Azerbaijani people, Heydar Aliyev, has left an indelible mark in all spheres of the social and political life of the country, the head of the State Security Service, Lieutenant-General Madat Guliyev said when addressing the event.

Noting that Heydar Aliyev has created a large school for future generations, Guliyev said that the great leader devoted 25 years of his exemplary life to service in security agencies.

"During all periods of being in power, Heydar Aliyev always kept the development of security agencies in the spotlight, and attached great importance to their formation," he said.

Guliyev emphasized that during the period when Heydar Aliyev was in power, he carried out a policy of nationalization in all bodies, paid special attention to the preparation of national personnel for Azerbaijan.

"At that time, forces that tried to disable outstanding personalities of Azerbaijan along with national and spiritual values, opposed this courageous step of Heydar Aliyev. But, despite this pressure, the national leader while being the head of State Security Committee continued the policy of nationalization," he said.

Guliyev noted that during the Soviet period, Heydar Aliyev always saved socio-political figures, representatives of the intelligentsia of Azerbaijan from persecution and pressure.

"The great leader served the purpose of forming the scientific, technical and military potential of Azerbaijan," he continued.

Guliyev stressed that Heydar Aliyev carried out such important activities as preventing the surrender of the Azerbaijani lands to Armenia, the use of the national language at official events, the protection of eminent personalities and etc.

The national leader saved Azerbaijan from the threat of fragmentation, destruction, gave impetus to broad reforms, and brought the army, law enforcement agencies and security forces in line with the requirements of the present day. The role of great leader Heydar Aliyev in the history of Azerbaijan is well known," he said.

Speaking at the event, Azerbaijani Presidential Aide Ali Hasanov said that independent and democratic Azerbaijan, which is the outstanding creation of national leader Heydar Aliyev, for which he fought, which he saved from grave tragedies, political, socio-economic and psychological crisis, today develops and achieves new successes, while the people of Azerbaijan live in conditions of safety and well-being.

"Despite the fact that officially Azerbaijan regained its independence in October 1991, in fact, the beginning of this path to independence was laid by national leader Heydar Aliyev in the 1970s. During those years, Azerbaijan, which had been living on the subsidy of the Union republic, turned into a fully capable leading country, there was created a soil for the economic sovereignty of the country, the Azerbaijani economy was diversified, the oil production was expanded, and many plants were commissioned in the country. The transport network of Azerbaijan created in those years also plays a role in the transformation of Azerbaijan into one of the transport centers of the region and the world," Hasanov said.

Hasanov noted that Heydar Aliyev's service to the motherland and the people is considered to be a real example for each of us, especially for younger generation.

The national leader also left us an example of the citizenship, a real politician, a true statesman in Azerbaijan. His charismatic leadership, firm will, political foresight, managerial talent, leadership of the country, global outlook were most clearly manifested in the early 1990s - during the struggle of Azerbaijan for independence and national statehood. During the period when the Azerbaijani people stood in the face of serious and fatal problems, Heydar Aliyev, thanks to his unprecedented historical merits in preserving the independent statehood, national unity of Azerbaijan, carried out a mission to save the people from the threat of destruction, Hasanov said.

He noted that one of the greatest merits of the national leader to the Azerbaijani people is that for the first time in the political history of the country, he achieved the nationalization of security agencies.

When Heydar Aliyev became the head of Azerbaijani security bodies, the representatives of the titular nation - Azerbaijanis among the employees were so few that they could have been counted on the fingers of one hand.

"Of course, we do not deny the job of non-Azerbaijani people who worked in this system and served Azerbaijan, on the contrary, we express our gratitude for their services. However, it is no secret that the creation of a negative image of the security system in the public consciousness as an apparatus of repression against Azerbaijanis was the result of the activities of the surnames holders in the 30s and 40s, which it is difficult even to pronounce," he said.

Hasanov stressed that with the advent of Heydar Aliyev, the security system was nationalized, and competent, professional national cadres began to be nominated while the security service became the body protecting the nation from threats that patronize the emerging national and cultural elite of the people.

The security organs played an exceptional role in the formation and preservation of the national cultural and political elite - those who contributed to the acquisition and preservation of the country's independence, in the direction of their activities in an expedient way.

First of all, this is the result of the titanic work of Heydar Aliyev in transformation in accordance with the national interests of the system, once known as a punitive apparatus.

Hasanov noted that after returning to the leadership of the country Heydar Aliyev was concerned with the activities of the security bodies, his attention was always focused on the technical support of these structures, the education of new young personnel, along with the preservation of the professional staff formed in the Soviet period.

"Following the decree of the national leader in 1998 the Academy of National Security was established," he recalled.

He added that the policy pursued by the national leader was successfully continued, according to the new requirements, with Ilham Aliyevs coming to power.

The concept of national security was prepared and adopted in accordance with the presidential order. The concept was prepared to define the goals, principles and approaches of the policy aimed at protecting the independence, territorial integrity, the constitutional order of the state, the national interests of the country and the people from internal and external threats, and provides for the development of a security system that meets the challenges of the 21st century. The necessary legal basis has been created in this direction, the work on technical support and a personnel training has been launched in accordance with the new requirements.

Reforms implementation and staff improvement in the security system are also in focus of the country's leadership. We are confident that the National Security Service will continue to fulfill its tasks and commitments in the name of preservation and successful development towards new goals," Hasanov concluded.

The event continued by speeches of other participants, dedicated to the life and activities of national leader Heydar Aliyev.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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4 May 2017 10:36 (UTC+04:00)

By Rashid Shirinov

Modern military equipment for various purposes, delivered to Azerbaijan in accordance with the agreement on military-technical cooperation with Russia, was accepted into the armament by the units of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan on May 3.

The Defense Ministry reported that all firings conducted with the purpose of testing the weapons and military equipment were completed successfully.

Russia delivered the military equipment and ammunition to Azerbaijan on April 26.

The Azerbaijani Army, which today is considered the most modern army in the Caucasus, consists of Air Force and Air Defense Forces, the Navy, and the Land Forces.

Today, Azerbaijani Army is one of the most powerful, highly disciplined armies in the world and the leading army in the region, which is equipped with modern military machinery.

The skills and combat readiness of the Azerbaijani army are growing year by year, as the countrys Armed Forces regularly conduct military exercises. The army building process in Azerbaijan is progressing as well.

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4 May 2017 10:39 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijan has become an excellent venue for hosting events on inter-religious tolerance and intercultural dialogue, said Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Yousef Al-Othaimeen as he met with Azerbaijan`s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in Baku.

The sides discussed the development of high level cooperation between Azerbaijan and OIC, Azertac reported.

Al-Othaimeen highly appreciated praiseworthy efforts of Azerbaijan for promoting Islam as a religion of peace, cooperation and friendship and presenting true values of Islam.

Mammadyarov noted that Azerbaijan pays special attention to the comprehensive development of relations with the OIC and in this regard, characterized the OIC as a unique platform in advancing bilateral and multilateral cooperation with Islamic world.

He also recalled the declaration of 2017 as a year of Islamic Solidarity Year in Azerbaijan by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and added that opening ceremony of the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games will be held on May 12.

The minister further stressed Azerbaijans interest in enhancing the OICs role in the international arena and said that during its presidency in the UN Security Council, at the initiative of Azerbaijan a high-level meeting of the Security Council convened on the theme of Strengthening partnership synergy between the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

He added that the initiative itself demonstrates the strategic nature of the OIC-Azerbaijan partnership, as well as contributes to the enhancement of the OIC-UN cooperation.

Mammadyarov put special accent to unambiguous and unanimous condemnation by the OIC the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan and support for the Justice for Khojaly International Campaign. He also talked about the importance of establishment of Contact Group on the aggression by Armenia against Azerbaijan at the OIC Istanbul Summit in April 2016.

The minister mentioned that Armenia is pursuing the policy of destruction of Islamic cultural heritage and places of worships in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, he recalled the relevant resolutions adopted by the OIC and stressed the importance of efforts by all member states to make Armenia end the vandalism acts.

Yousef Al-Othaimeen reiterated the OIC firm support to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan.

The sides also exchanged views on development of sectoral cooperation, structural reforms within the OIC and cooperation with the other international organizations.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations with a membership of 57 states spread over four continents. The organization protects the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony among various people of the world.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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Around 44,000 nominations filed for May 14 polls

The number of nominations filed for the first phase of local level elections is three times more than that of seats up for grabs, the Election Commission (EC) said on Wednesday, a day after parties and individuals filed candidacies for elections to be held in 283 local units of three provinces3, 4 and 6on May 14.
4 May 2017 12:42 (UTC+04:00)

By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijans Ambassador to Lithuania Hasan Mammadzade has met with mayor of Birstonas Nijole Dirginciene to discuss the establishment of relations between Birstonas and a city in Azerbaijan.

The ambassador hailed bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Lithuania, and commended the activities of bilateral intergovernmental commissions and inter-parliamentary friendly groups.

Mammadzade also highlighted Azerbaijan's achievements in the economic and social fields.

Dirginciene, in turn, stressed hospitality shown to her during her visit to Azerbaijan, adding that she was impressed by Baku.

She provided information about the history, cultural monuments, socio-economic development and tourism potential of the city. The mayor stressed that Birstonas is ready to receive tourists from Azerbaijan.

Birstonas is a balneological resort and a spa town in Lithuania. The city is the administrative centre of the Birstonas municipality.

The city is known for its mineral water. This water is used by sanatoriums for mineral water pools and baths. There are three large sanatoriums in Birstonas  Tulpe, Versme and Egle. All of them offer halotherapy, therapeutic mud bathes, mineral water pools, baths, massages, and a wide range of curative procedures.

Birstonas promotes many cultural events including ongoing concerts, artistic performances and shows, an annual town festival and annual national sport dance competition, as well as the renowned International Jazz Festival held every other even numbered year.

There are also shops, police department, library, theatre, clinic, pharmacy, book store, schools, museums, cafes, restaurants and the City Hall.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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4 May 2017 10:52 (UTC+04:00)

By Amina Nazarli

The 4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue kicked off in Baku on the theme Advancing Intercultural Dialogue  New avenues for human security, peace and sustainable development.

The three-day forum aims at further promoting and sustaining understanding and dialogue within and between cultures.

The forum is organized in cooperation with UNESCO, the UN Alliance of Civilizations, the UN World Tourism Organization (WTO), the Council of Europe, the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the North-South Center of the Council of Europe, Azertac reported.

The agenda includes topics such as the role of faith, religions, migration, human security, sport, education, art, sustainable development, preventing violent extremism, business in building trust and cooperation among cultures and civilizations.

The forum will see the launch of a global call for prevention of violent extremism through girls education. The call will be made by Azerbaijans First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva and UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova at a high-level meeting on the prevention of violent extremism, migrant and refugee problems.

A special plenary session co-organized with UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will be held as part of the Forum. Intercultural dialogue, food security and community resilience: Essential elements in achieving sustainable development and TBC peace (UN FAO-Azerbaijan) will take place for the first time. The project will be implemented through support of Vice President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and FAO Goodwill Ambassador, Leyla Aliyeva.

Besides, Baku Process award for leadership in intercultural dialogue will be announced during the 4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in Baku this week. The award will be presented to a famous figure in 2018.

The forum brings together nearly 120 officials from foreign countries, representatives of 39 international organizations and more than 50 non-governmental organizations, heads of governments, ministers, senior policy makers, cultural professionals, goodwill ambassadors, experts, journalists, practitioners, prominent intellectuals and activists.

The event aims to be an international platform to enable and encourage people, countries and organizations around the globe to take concrete actions to support diversity, dialogue and mutual understanding among nations by raising awareness on the importance of intercultural dialogue worldwide.

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4 May 2017 11:43 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy Tacan Ildem in Baku on May 4, Azertac reported.

Tacan Ildem said he is pleased to pay his first visit to Azerbaijan as NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy. He said that despite two years passed since his last visit, he observed great development processes in the country.

Tacan Ildem conveyed greetings of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to the head of state.

President Ilham Aliyev hailed NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy Tacan Ildem`s participation in the 4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in Baku.

The head of state touched upon relations with NATO, saying Azerbaijan has fruitfully cooperated with this organization for many years, acting as a reliable partner in peacekeeping operations under various programs, including Partnership for Peace program. The head of state noted that Azerbaijan makes significant contributions to freight transport for peacekeeping operations. The President said Azerbaijani servicemen contribute to ensuring security in Afghanistan, adding that the country expands its cooperation with Afghanistan in various areas.

The importance of the Baku-hosted 4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue was stressed, and they said it plays a significant role in strengthening relations among countries and nations.

They also exchanged views over the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

President Ilham Aliyev thanked for the greetings of Jens Stoltenberg and asked Tacan Ildem to extend his greetings to the NATO Secretary General.

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4 May 2017 11:48 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received Chairman of the US-based Foundation for Ethnic Understanding Marc Schneier in Baku on May 4, Azertac reported.

They emphasized the contribution of the Baku-hosted 4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue to the strengthening of international cooperation.

The fact that representatives of different nationalities and religions live in an atmosphere of brotherhood in Azerbaijan was hailed. High tolerance existing in the country was described as an example to the world.

They also praised successful development of Azerbaijan-US bilateral relations in a variety of fields.

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4 May 2017 17:14 (UTC+04:00)

By Sara Israfilbayova

A delegation headed by President of the National Assembly of Djibouti Mohamed Ali Houmed is on visit to Baku to mull the development of the bilateral ties.

Speaker of Azerbaijan`s Parliament Ogtay Asadov met the delegation on May 3, noting that reciprocal visits contribute to development of bilateral bonds

He said the visit of the President of the National Assembly of Djibouti will open new page in development of inter-parliamentary ties.

The speaker highlighted developing relations between the two countries in the humanitarian, economic fields across the last years. He stressed the importance of boosting economic cooperation.

On establishment of inter-parliamentary friendship group, the Speaker emphasized the significance of reciprocal visits of MPs, as well as arranging the economic forums. He said the resolution adopted by the Djiboutian parliament is indicative of the friendly ties between the two countries.

In turn, Mohamed Ali Houmed said both countries are bound together by religious and cultural ties and stressed the importance of further strengthening these bonds. He said current level of relations gives the impression that these ties have a long history.

During the Baku visit, the delegation was earlier received by President Ilham Aliyev, who expressed a confidence that the visit will play a significant role in the development of Azerbaijan-Djibouti relations.

Azerbaijan and Djibouti signed a bilateral intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in civil aviation on February, 2017. 30 tons of Azerbaijani goods produced under the brand Made in Azerbaijan were delivered to Djibouti via the first cargo flight.

Presentation of Azerbaijani goods in the new market gives momentum to the development of bilateral trade relations between the two countries and will stimulate the growth in trade turnover. The sides believe that the establishment of air transportation between Azerbaijan and Djibouti will also contribute to the development of political and cultural relations between the two countries.

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4 May 2017 17:47 (UTC+04:00)

By Sara Israfilbayova

The potential of the tourism industry of Azerbaijan was presented in Tashkent during the conference "Tourism Education: Problems and Prospects" held by Tashkent State Economic University.

The conference was attended by representatives of the State Committee of Uzbekistan for Tourism Development, the Azerbaijan Cultural Center and leading travel agencies of Uzbekistan.

Representative of the Azerbaijan Cultural Center named after Heydar Aliyev, Kifayat Pirmammadova made a presentation on the University of Tourism and Management. The report described tourism education in Azerbaijan organized in accordance with world standards, the process of education in higher education institutions and the progress achieved in this field.

Director of the Center Samir Abbasov stressed that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to cooperation with Uzbekistan in the field of tourism development, as well as tourism education.

The diplomat noted that large infrastructure projects in the field of tourism are being implemented in Azerbaijan, the cities of the country have been transformed, and in recent years the flow of tourists to Azerbaijan has increased.

Abbasov recalled that a memorandum on cooperation between the Tashkent State Economic University and the University of Tourism and Management of Azerbaijan was signed within the framework of the tourism exhibition held in Tashkent in early April.

The participating universities plan to intensify bilateral relations, including organization of joint conferences and seminars on topical issues in the field of tourism education, the exchange of scientific publications, the organization of joint summer schools and in the future the implementation of activities on student exchange.

An exhibition "Museum under the open sky" organized within the framework of the conference presented mock-ups of the most famous architectural monuments of Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan.

Tourist associations of Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan signed a memorandum on the development of relations on April, 2017.

The document provides for the exchange of experience and information in the development of the tourism industry, organization of joint tours and activities related to the promotion of tourism, the organization of mutual trips, the promotion of health tourism between the two countries and the provision of mutual support in strengthening the flow of tourists.

So far, the two countries have signed over 100 bilateral documents to promote trade operations.

Uzbekistan exports vehicles, non-ferrous metals, pharmaceutical products, fertilizers, electrical and mechanical appliances, agricultural products to Azerbaijan, provides services in the transport, tourism and other spheres. Azerbaijan's export to Uzbekistan mainly consists of mechanical devices, confectionery products, various organic and chemical compounds, tannic and dye extracts.

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4 May 2017 15:21 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

The talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi has served as an opportunity to assess the progress in normalization of relations, outline new goals for joint work for the future, and exchange views on key international and regional issues.

The two leaders have agreed that their countries have overcome a period of difficulties in bilateral relations and have returned to "normal partner interaction."

"Some time ago, our bilateral relations were tested for their strength," Putin told a press conference following his meeting with Erdogan. "Now we can confidently say that the restoration period in Russian-Turkish relations has been completed and we are returning to normal partner interaction."

Before the meeting, Putin hailed the restoration of what he called "full-format" relations.

Erdogan, in turn, told journalists that he and Putin agreed to lift all remaining trade restrictions, except for a ban on imports of Turkish tomatoes to Russia.

The president voiced belief that "temporary solutions" could be found to address that issue as well.

Putin explained that "we need to consider the investor who took out loans but we will lift the ban on tomato import from Turkey once the process is concluded."

Trade restrictions and barriers lifting were discussed along with the possibility of making settlements in national currencies. The two leaders reached agreement on a number of topics such as creation of the joint investment fund of $1 billion, Turkish Stream project, Akkuyu nuclear power plant and tourism.

Russia and Turkey agree upon comprehensive settlement of restrictions in bilateral economic relations while trade in national currencies was also considered.

In late December 2016, Erdogan called on Turkey's main trade partners, Russia, Iran and China, to use national currencies as the medium of exchange for bilateral trade.

"We have decided to strengthen our trade and use our national currencies," Erdogan stated.

Moreover, Russia will invest $22 billion in the construction of Turkey's Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, Putin revealed.

Finally, Russian president stated that even though the visa regime will continue for a while, Russia will liberate the visa requirement for Turkish citizens but it will depend on the cooperation between the two countries' security forces.

Syria crisis

The Syrian conflict was high on agenda at the talks. The two agree that the conflict in Syria can be settled only by political and diplomatic means.

Putin recalled that efforts by Russia, Turkey and Iran put an end to combat operations in Syria and brought the authorities in Damascus and the armed opposition to the negotiating table in Astana, where much attention was paid to the struggle against international terrorism.

"It was agreed to enhance interaction along these lines between the special services and defense ministries. In particular, inter-departmental consultations on anti-terrorist operations will continue to be held on the regular basis," he said.

These talks reflect possible growing cooperation between nations once deeply at odds over Syrias conflict  with Turkey backing rebel factions and Russia providing key military support to the Assad government.

Russia hopes that participants in the inter-Syrian conflict settlement talks in Astana will come to a decision of setting up de-escalation zones where combat aviation will not be operating, according to Russian leader.

"About terrorists, in spite of creation of these zones the war on terror will be ongoing - against such organizations as so-called Islamic State, Jabhat al-Nusra (banned in Russia) and those ones that are put on the list of terrorist organizations approved by the United Nations," Putin said.

The sides also discussed the recent chemical attack in Khan Sheykhun.

The Turkish leader, in turn, stated that fighting terrorism is our responsibility.

He said that certain circles spend their energy on disrupting the Astana process and the chemical attack in Khan Sheykhun was an obvious example of that.

The Turkish President went on to add that this attack shouldnt remain unpunished.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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4 May 2017 13:32 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has signed a decree to approve the countrys hydropower engineering development program for 2017-2022, the press service of the Uzbek president said.

The program envisages construction of new hydroelectric power plants and modernization of existing ones through wide use of environmentally friendly renewable energy sources.

Overall, it is planned to build 42 new and modernize 32 existing hydroelectric power plants within the program.

The construction and modernization of hydroelectric power plants should be carried out with the introduction of modern and well-grounded scientific and technical solutions, while ensuring preservation of the existing flora and fauna during the construction of hydraulic structures.

Uzbekistan is one of the few countries which are fully self-sufficient in energy resources. It is the second largest of the Caspian gas producers (after Turkmenistan) and its abundant natural gas resources are used both for domestic consumption and export.

Uzbekistan is the second largest electricity producer in Central Asia. Currently, 45 power plants with the capacity of nearly 13,000 megawatts, including 16 power plants of Uzbekenergo with the total capacity of 12,040 megawatts, operate in Uzbekistan's power supply system.

Up to 90 percent of electricity is produced by 10 thermal power plants of Uzbekenergo with the total installed capacity of 10,600 megawatts. The company's 29 hydropower plants with the installed capacity of 1,400 megawatts are mostly united within hydropower plant cascades.



The rest of the electricity is generated by autonomous thermal power stations of the industrial enterprises and small hydroelectric power stations belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources.

The electricity is transmitted and distributed through power transmission lines whose voltage ranges between 0.4 and 500 kV and whose total length currently exceeds 243,000 km.

Uzbekistans electricity capacity is expected to increase thanks to the modernization of old facilities. Uzbekenergo is currently implementing 28 large-scale investment projects.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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4 May 2017 16:27 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

The fourth round of Syria peace talks sponsored by Russia, Turkey and Iran continue in Astana.

The countries acting as guarantors of the Syrian ceasefire have reached a consensus on some memorandum provisions and the work on the document is nearing completion, TASS reported referring to a source close to the talks.

The sides plan to sign a document later in the day. The Syrian government supported the decision to set up zones to ease tensions and reiterated its commitment to the ceasefire.

The next meeting on Syria in the Astana format can be held in a months time, in early June, according to the source.

Al-Jazeera TV channel said that four safe zones or de-escalation zones will be established between Idlib and Aleppo, near Hama and Homs and east of Damascus and on the outskirts of Daraa in south Syria.

In the past two months, government forces and armed opposition groups have been engaged in fighting in those areas.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow expects the talks on Syria to be successful.

"We look forward to the success of the next round of talks in the capital of Kazakhstan, which is currently underway in Astana, first of all, in terms of consolidating the ceasefire regime, agreeing on a mechanism for responding to violations and carrying out demining activities," he said after talks with Foreign Minister of Finland Timo Soini..

The nationwide Syrian ceasefire regime was introduced on December 30, 2016, with Russia, Iran and Turkey serving as its guarantors. The UN Security Council passed a resolution in December supporting the effort.

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.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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4 May 2017 17:22 (UTC+04:00)

By Kamila Aliyeva

Iran is in talks with Britain's export credit agency to facilitate the financing of aircraft sales to state airline IranAir as part of its pact with world powers to lift sanctions over its nuclear program, Iran's Deputy Transport Minister Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan said, Reuters reported.

IranAir's plan to buy more than 180 jets from Airbus [AIR.PA] and Boeing (BA.N) is the most visible economic deal on the table after major powers last year lifted most sanctions on Iran in return for restrictions on its nuclear activities.

But financing for the purchases has been hard to secure because most Western banks are holding back, concerned about the future of the 2015 agreement after U.S. President Donald Trump called it a bad deal and ordered a review.

So far, IranAir has taken delivery of just three Airbus jets, for which it paid cash, industry sources say.

Deputy Roads and Urban Development Minister Asghar Fakhrieh-Kashan said the UK's export credit arm, UK Export Finance (UKEF), had tentatively offered support for least some Airbus jets built in Britain, France, Germany and Spain. It could also offer some support to Airbus's U.S. rival, Boeing, he added.

"We have received some offers from UKEF, that is under review by Iran," Fakhrieh-Kashan told Reuters.

Two aircraft industry sources who asked not to be named also confirmed talks were taking place.

UKEF and both major planemakers declined to comment.

Countries in parts of the world where banks don't invest often turn to European and U.S. governments for export credits or loan insurance when they want to buy big-ticket items like aircraft from those countries' companies.

About 6 percent of aircraft deliveries depend on such support, which removes some but not all of the risks that banks face in lending to airlines with poor credit, helping to grease the wheels of trade.

Iran, UK elections

Speeding up aircraft deliveries is seen as a priority for Tehran as President Hassan Rouhani's government seeks to show results from the sanctions deal ahead of elections on May 19.

Iran says the prospect of buying Western jets to renew its decaying fleet was built into the 2015 nuclear deal and that any barriers to completing the purchases would undermine the accord.

On the UK side, Prime Minister Theresa May's recent decision to hold a snap election in early June means any new funding deal is unlikely to be finalized before then.

UK government agencies like UKEF avoid major new initiatives during campaigning and a deal involving a topic as sensitive as trade with Iran would need approval before it could go ahead.

Airbus said last week on an investors' call that it hoped to receive some support from European export financing agencies this year.

But a source familiar with the process said it remained unclear how quickly UKEF would lift a temporary ban on Airbus funding as the UK and French fraud investigation continues.

If UKEF provides support for Boeing deliveries, it would not be the first time, but it would be rare. The main proviso is that a certain proportion of parts in each jet need to be made in Britain - usually 20 percent.

For Boeing exports, that would typically mean the jets would have to have Rolls-Royce (RR.L) engines. The Boeing planes ordered by Iran all have engines made by U.S. supplier General Electric (GE.N) or GE and its French partner Safran (SAF.PA).

UKEF has said in the past it recognizes the need to be flexible on foreign content in view of global supply chains. People who have dealt with the agency before say it may be able to consider equipment bought by Boeing from British companies.

Iran has several private and public airline companies in operation, among which IranAir is the oldest one. The number of operational airports in the country is 46.

Since sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic were lifted last year, Iran began to take steps to upgrade its air industry, revamp an aging airline fleet, equipment and airports.

On April 4, Iran signed an agreement with Boeing for buying dozens of the companys twinjet narrow-body passenger planes.

The agreement involves the purchase of 30 Boeing 737 MAX planes as well as the purchase rights for an additional 30 planes of the same class. It was signed between Irans Aseman Airlines and Boeing in Tehran.

Boeing is to provide 50 planes of the same type to Iran Air through a similar agreement. The overall value of Iran Airs order that also involves 30 long-range wide-body 777 aircraft is estimated to be $16.6 billion.

During a January 2016 visit to Paris by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Tehran also signed a major contract with Airbus worth about $27 billion to buy 118 planes.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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Bharatpur NC cadres protest central decision to forge electoral alliance with Maoist Centre

Nepali Congress (NC) cadres in Chitwan expressed their dissatisfaction over the electoral alliance between the NC and the CPN (Maoist Centre) in four metropolitan cities.




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
Constitution amendment : Bill to be put to vote today? Govt indecisive

With nominations for the first phase of local level elections scheduled for May 14 concluded on Tuesday, the poll cycle has moved one step ahead, but some concerns still remain regarding the second phase which has been announced for June 14.
A conservative pastor, an atheist academic and why they could get along

What's the most pressing need in the world?

After the basic requirements for life that too many are denied  food, water, shelter  then surely the most urgent need is for us to learn how to live with difference.

In the United States, there is a chasm between voters on the coasts and those in the South and Mid West. In the UK the division is between those who voted Brexit and those who voted Remain.

But these aren't the only fault lines running through our societies.

Young people are in an increasingly parlous financial position while older people seem to be doing better, financially, than ever.

Race is still a festering faultline  especially in America  where the events of the past few summers and the development of the Black Lives Matter movement have drawn attention to injustices which remain generations after the end of slavery.

Let's move on to think about one of the biggest divisions in the world: religion.

Whether in America, Europe, The Middle East or beyond, faith is one of the biggest factors which divides societies internally and which keeps nations apart from each other.

The division of Nigeria into Christian and Muslim areas seems to have been deadly. The battle for supremacy in the Middle East between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran is one of the main driving forces in massive conflicts such as that in Yemen.

The Israel-Palestine conflict has its roots in land disputes, but the religious elements cannot be ignored. Atheist China's persecution of Christians and other religious minorities is yet another example of a clash between faiths  or more accurately, the oppression of minority faiths by a majority faith.

This is a pressing concern for many reasons  not least that violent repression of one faith group by another is a major human rights issue. In addition  the world is not getting less religious as the confident assertions of sociologists assured us a few generations ago. Instead, in many parts of the world, not least China, religious faith is on the rise.

What then can be done?

Enter one of the most high profile pastors in the world and an atheist, Jewish academic.

Dr Tim Keller is the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York and the author of many books including The Reason For God. Professor Jonathan Haidt from New York University is also a best selling author, including such essential reading as The Righteous Mind.

Recently, the two men got together to discuss the issue of pluralism  whether it is possible for groups with different views and beliefs to live alongside each other in peace.

Keller's contention was that America was at a turning point. Having gone from an era where White Anglo-Saxon Protestant religion and morals were broadly the default and other groups were to an extent excluded, Keller said the risk is that now secular humanism is the default cultural paradigm, it will do the same to orthodox Christians.

Haidt himself shared some of these worries  at one point even admitting that he was worried about expressing his views too clearly, should he fall foul of social media caricatures of his views.

More than their arguments, though, the tone of the debate was the most impressive thing. Here are two academics from different worlds who don't agree on a number of areas. Yet their dialogue was respectful and engaging, to the point that there were frequent laughs for the audience.

They were proving that not only is pluralism desirable but also that it is possible. In a report for the British think tank Theos, David Barclay argued that rather than seeking to achieve agreement on every issue, the task facing different religious and secular groups was to form 'political friendships'. These would involve actually getting together and doing things, rather than sitting at arms length and arguing. It is in this spirit that Keller and Haidt recently debated and it is in this spirit that Christians should be seeking to engage the world.

Confident in our faith, our aim should be to reach out to Muslims, atheists and everyone else with the good news. But we must also be willing to listen, to act together for justice and always, always, to respect their differences from us. Thanks to Keller and Haidt for showing us the way forward. You can watch the whole discussion below.
Archbishop of Canterbury prays for peace as he visits Christian, Jewish and Muslim sites in Jerusalem

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby visited some of the holiest sites in Christianity, Judaism and Islam on Thursday as part of a 12-part tour of the Middle East.

Wonderful ecumenical welcome at Church of the Holy Sepulchre in #Jerusalem yesterday with Archbishop Suheil. pic.twitter.com/xP4NnHGVbc  Justin Welby  (@JustinWelby) May 4, 2017

The head of the global Anglican church joined Catholic, Orthodox and Coptic traditions in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre  the site where Jesus was crucified and buried according to tradition. Welby prayed for peace alongside Archbishop Suheil Dawani, the fourteenth Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem, in the Church.

Together we pray for the peace of the risen Christ in our world today. #Jerusalem pic.twitter.com/5mEgezRxSs  Justin Welby  (@JustinWelby) May 4, 2017

The ecumenism of action is to go in love to those that have no love - even those who want no love - and say that Christ is risen. pic.twitter.com/LQdAHO8TAZ  Justin Welby  (@JustinWelby) May 4, 2017

He then went on to visit Haram al-Sharif, the ancient holy site venerated by Muslims, Jews and Christians within the Old City of Jerusalem in Palestinian territory. Welby made a point of referring to the site by its Islamic name, rather than its Jewish name of Temple Mount.

Visited Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem with Archbishop Suheil yesterday  grateful for tour with Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib, Director of the Waqf. pic.twitter.com/LqNVoqu7Ie  Justin Welby  (@JustinWelby) May 4, 2017

Welby will be hoping to stave off criticism from his previous trip in 2013, where he was accused of ignoring the Palestinian Christian communities, by visiting Bethlehem next week, where he will meet with the Palestinian Christians and the city's Christian Mayor, Vera Baboun.

He is expected to comment on the plight of Palestinian Christians.

Yesterday he prayed with Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, before visiting the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum where he spoke against antisemitism as 'the root of all racism' at the world-renowned and haunting museum.

Calling for bridges to be built between the Christian and Jewish peoples, Welby said: 'Within European culture, the root of all racism, I think, is found in antisemitism. It goes back more than 1,000 years in Europe. Within our Christian tradition, there has been century upon century of these terrible, terrible hatreds in which one people, who at the same time have contributed more to our culture as a people than almost any other that one can identify, that one people are also hated more specifically, more violently, more determinedly, more systematically than any other people.'
Australia needs 'audit of its soul' after leaked reports reveal scale of refugee child abuse

Human rights campaigners have responded to revelations of the appalling abuse of children at one of Australia's offshore detention camps with calls for a radical reform of its refugee policy.

Among them is pastor and justice activist Jarrod McKenna, who told Christian Today that the revelations meant Australia must "take an audit of its soul".

Australia has a draconian refugee policy that sees would-be asylum seekers fleeing repressive regimes held in two offshore centres, one of them the remote Pacific island of Nauru. It has been repeatedly criticised by the UN among other organisations.

Now more than 2,000 leaked incident reports from the camp have been published by The Guardian. They reveal assaults including sexual assault and self-harm. According to the Guardian, the files paint a picture of "routine dysfunction and cruelty".

It says children are "vastly over-represented in the reports", with children featuring in more than half of them, though children made up only 18 per cent of detainees on the island during the period covered.

Among other incidents reported, a guard threatened to kill a boy. Others slapped children's faces. A guard laughed at a girl who had sewn her lips together.

There are seven reports in the files of sexual assault of children, 59 reports of assault on children, 30 of self-harm involving children and 159 of threatened self-harm involving children.

McKenna told Christian Today: "$1.2 billion of our taxes are going into a system we can no longer deny is abusing children who are needing safety. Pause for a moment and let that sink in. Let it bring you to your knees in prayer for these children.

"Australia, fun-loving-easy-going-sun-and-surf-Australia, is spending over a billion dollars in locking up people in situations of systematic abuse when they were simply seeking safety. This must end. Now. Matthew 25 makes it clear, Jesus comes to us as the refugee and, not only has Australia rejected him, we have turned away as the abuse is ongoing. As a nation we must repent."

He encouraged campaigners to use the hashtags #naurufiles & #DonDale  the latter referring to the youth detention centre in the Northern Territory where abuse was also uncovered.

"Without naming this any talk of who we can be is just a cover up," McKenna said. "As a nation we need a conversion to compassion and decency. We must, '#BringThemHere'."

The Australian government's Department of Immigration and Border Protection said in a statement: "The documents published today are evidence of the rigorous reporting procedures that are in place in the regional processing centre - procedures under which any alleged incident must be recorded, reported and where necessary investigated.

"Many of the incident reports reflect unconfirmed allegations or uncorroborated statements and claims - they are not statements of proven fact."
Australia's anti-refugee policy under strain as state governor offers sanctuary

Public pressure is growing on the Australian government to rescind its intention to deport 267 asylum seekers, including 80 children, to the Pacific island of Nauru.

Ten churches, including Brisbane Cathedral, offered sanctuary to the asylum seekers. The Anglican Dean of Brisbane, Peter Catt, said: "We offer this refuge because there is irrefutable evidence from health and legal experts that the circumstances asylum seekers, including children, would face if sent back to Nauru are tantamount to state sanctioned abuse."

Now the premier of the State of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, has called on the federal government not to return the refugees, who had been brought to Australia from Nauru island for medical treatment.

"Victoria stands ready to assist and care for the children and their families," Andrews wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that Andrews posted on his Twitter account.

His state would take full responsibility for their housing, health and education, he said.

"Sending these children and their families to Nauru is not the Australian way... It's wrong. Medical professionals tell us this. Humanitarian agencies tell us this," he said.

The detention center on Nauru houses about 500 people and has been widely criticised by human rights activists for harsh conditions and reports of systemic child abuse.

Andrews said sending the group, including 37 children born in Australia, to Nauru "will needlessly expose them to a life of physical and emotional trauma".

Australia takes a hard line on asylum seekers, saying it prevents deaths at sea by discouraging others from making the journey.

Last Wednesday, the High Court rejected a legal test case that challenged Australia's right to deport detained asylum seekers to Nauru, about 3,000 km (1,800 miles) northeast of Australia, a decision that drew outrage from campaigners.

Andrews' intervention was praised by refugee rights groups. "This is fantastic wonderful news,"said Pamela Curr, an advocate at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. "First legal, churches, community groups, grandmothers, unions, schools, and now a state premier."

Additional reporting by Reuters.
Why Christian leaders must help the fight back against 'fake news'

Christian leaders have a special responsibility to counter 'fake news' across news and social media, according to the latest research from Barna.

Nearly one in four people believe fake news is produced by mainstream liberal media.

But among evangelical Christians in particular, more than half blame liberal journalism. Four in 10 practising Christians overall believe liberal journalism is the problem, along with nearly half of all Republicans.

Barna reports that what is surprising is that Democrats, liberals and those of no faith are not quite as willing to similarly blame rightwing media for fake news.

These groups instead believe that fake news stems from mishandling of information on social media.

Barna reports that television news remains the most trusted source for reliable information, even for President Trump himself. This is followed by local and then national newspapers. However, even though TV is trusted, Americans spend more time browsing the web than watching television.

Further, web-based content is competing with local and national papers as a trustworthy source, says Barna.

On moral and religious issues, Americans look to their families or a book over online sources.

The report comes as figures show two-thirds of American adults now use social media to get their news headlines, and one in five use social media web sites like Facebook or Twitter throughout the day to learn something new or get new information. Six in 10 never listen to podcasts.

The term 'fake news' has become a political weapon.

Popular fake news stories include a report that Pope Francis endorsed Donald Trump for president and a claim that Ireland was welcoming Americans fleeing a Trump presidency.

Roxanne Stone, editor in chief at Barna Group, said: 'Fake news is not a new thing.

'There have always been proliferated conspiracy theories, exaggerated statistics and reporting errors. However, there has never before been such easy access to, nor ease of distribution for, those stories. The democratisation of media via the internet  the ability for anyone to search for and find news from every news source, and the ability for anyone to create, post and/or share media with everyone  has allowed fake news to spread much faster and much farther than ever before.

'This democratisation of the media landscape has also challenged notions of authority, of who is allowed to generate the news. The traditional gatekeepers, all of whom have their own biases and privileges, are no longer the only purveyors of news. There is good here: stories from minorities and those long ignored by mainstream media are now gaining a platform. Yet there is also a negative side: with fewer gatekeepers, it's become increasingly hard to discern what's trustworthy. Which presents an increasing need for leaders, at church, in the media, in schools, who can help others make sense of the world in generous and discerning ways.'

She said Christians and spiritual leaders could help people counter the popular tendency to misunderstand or exaggerate fake news social media. 'To be a good steward of our social media platforms includes a responsibility to do our research: to fact-check a story before sharing it, to double-check a news source to make sure it's a credible one, to attempt to widen our circles and our reading outside our own echo chambers and biases.'
Evangelical pastor found guilty after he threw naked woman into fire to exorcise her from demons

A pastor has been found guilty of murder after an exorcism in remote Nicaragua led to the death of a 25-year-old mother of two.

Evangelical pastor Juan Rocha and four followers were convicted in Managua on Wednesday after the ritual was carried out in the village of El Cortezal in northeastern Nicaragua.

Rocha and three of the others were also found guilty of illegal detention.

The trial has gripped the central American state, with it being broadcast on live television since it began on April 25.

The defendants, Rocha, Tomasa Rocha, Franklin Jarquin and Esneyda Orozco, all deny committing murder and say the woman, Vilma Trujillo, was demon possessed.

'I'm innocent of what I'm accused of,' Orozco pleaded.

But witnesses said the woman had been tied up for days without food or water and was then thrown naked onto a fire. She died a week later in a Managua hospital from her injuries.

Prosecutors asked Judge Alfredo Silva who is handling the case to hand down the maximum penalty of 30 years for murder and a further six for illegal imprisonment. They say the men had all acted cruelly and with premeditation.

Judge Silva will deliver his sentence next Tuesday.
Franklin Graham says conservative Christians in US are being persecuted for opposing 'LGBT agenda'

Evangelist and Samaritan's Purse founder Franklin Graham has said that conservative American Christians are being 'persecuted' for their opposition to the 'LGBT agenda'.

Graham was speaking on the radio programme Washington Watch, according to the The Christian Post. He was discussing the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's (BGEA) World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians, being held in Washington DC from May 10-13.

The conference will draw together over 600 people from more than 130 countries worldwide, sharing their own experiences of persecution.

Addressing both domestic and international persecution, Graham said: 'We need not only put a spotlight on what is happening around the world but what is happening here in this country, where Christians are being persecuted, but in a different way.

'Like you said, it's not with a gun or a sword but they are being forced out of business because they did not support the gay-lesbian agenda.'

Show host Tony Perkins, vocal conservative and president of the Family Research Council, said that 'indifference' to religious freedom concerns within the US sent 'a message to the terrorists and the tyrants abroad that they are free to do as they please when it comes to Christianity'.

Graham pointed to different public controversies in which Christians have allegedly been marginalised for their socially conservative convictions. He gave the example of the Christian bakers fined $135,000 by the state for refusing to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding, and the Catholic pharmacy in Washington which attempted to sue after a state law demanded all pharmacies provide morning-after contraceptive drugs.

'It's over and over and over again across the country where Christians are being singled out, their businesses, because they won't support the agenda of another group of people,' Graham said. 'We need to protect them. We need to protect the Christians in this country and abroad.

Graham added: 'I think, by putting a spotlight on it, it's going to help. It's not going to hurt. It's going to help get the word out and get the voices of those who have suffered to give them a platform to speak.'

Graham urged a religious freedom bill that would 'protect Christians' and 'protect the Christian faith'.

There has been rumour that such a bill, in the form of a controversial executive order, could be signed by Donald Trump today on the National Day of Prayer.

Elaborating on the forthcoming summit, Graham said: 'I want our politicians to see what is happening and I want the voices of these people who have been persecuted, I want their voices to be heard.

'I want to give them a stage for them to be able to tell their stories and do it right there in Washington, where hopefully, we can see some policy changes.'
Jerry Falwell 'divides American Christians on racial lines' says Sojourners' Jim Wallis

Jim Wallis, celebrated evangelical author and speaker, has turned on Jerry Falwell Jr accusing him of preaching a 'different gospel' and of stoking racial divisions.

In a hard-hitting article on his website, the Sojourners founder accused Falwell, who is president of the evangelical Liberty University, of 'dividing American Christians on racial lines'.

Writing after Falwell said in Donald Trump 'evangelicals have found their dream president', Wallis said: 'Jerry Falwell Jr has once again shown himself to be nothing more or less than a Republican political operative, interested in advancing his preferred policy agenda much more than examining what it means to be a Christian.'

Wallis pulled no punches as he accused Falwell of 'moral hypocrisy' and of preaching a different gospel.

He said Falwell's endorsement of Trump 'symbolizes the white ethno-nationalism' the Republican President appeals to and reveals the 'racial idolatry of white American evangelical Christianity, which clearly excludes American evangelicals of color and the global majority of evangelicals'.

He wrote: 'Falwell is explicitly and proudly saying that white evangelicals voted for Trump not in spite of his racist and xenophobic rhetoric about undocumented immigrants, but because of this rhetoric,' he wrote. 'How that relates to Christians, including evangelicals, who are in direct relationship to the undocumented immigrants and refugees that Trump wants to deport or keep out of our country, Falwell didn't say.'

Wallis went on to refer to the outright racist views of Falwell's father, Jerry Falwell Sr, who opposed the civil rights movement, argued for racial segregation and opposed sanctions on apartheid South Africa, though he later distanced himself from those views.

'Racism is not a gospel issue to the Falwells, and never has been,' wrote Wallis.

He went on: 'Racism and racial bigotry is a gospel issue, and overcoming our human divisions in a new multi-cultural community was at the center of the vocation of the early church.'

Speaking of his own opposition to Trump he wrote: 'It is important to remember that the majority of American evangelicals of color, and the 19 percent of us white evangelicals who voted with them  against Trump  did so because we are pro-life and pro-family. For all of us, Trump's racial bigotry was a deal breaker and disqualifier of a Christian vote. That only a few conservative evangelical leaders, like Southern Baptist Russell Moore, took that stance was one of the saddest things about the 2016 election.'

Wallis added: 'It's time for other white evangelicals to call out the white American evangelical leaders who have yet to speak out against the racial politics of President Donald Trump in his campaign, in his first 100 days, and going forward. The integrity of the church is at stake, as is our relationship with our brothers and sisters of color in United States, and our loyalty to the global multi-color majority of the body of Christ.'
Jesus said the truth really matters. Do our politicians agree?

''If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.' These familiar words from John 8 are easy to skip over. In reality though, they are vital.

As usual with Jesus, there is so much going on in just a few lines that whole books could be written. Here we get to see one of the themes that he returns to again and again.

Truth is an integral part of His message. It's so integral, in fact, that when he was asked by the disciple Thomas, 'How can we know the way?' Jesus responded, 'I am the way and the truth and the life.'

Clearly, truth was of such importance to Jesus not only because it was a good attribute to have, or even because it was embodied within the 10 Commandments ('Thou shalt not bear false witness'). For Jesus, it was bigger than that  in a real sense, he is the embodiment of truth itself.

With this in mind, Christian parents have always discouraged children from lying. We feel especially cheated by Christian leaders who fail to live up to the standards Jesus sets on truth  by living one way in secret and publicly proclaiming something different. It's also why, however tenuously, those societies which have a basis in Judeo-Christian ethics prize truth-telling.

It's that last point where things really seem to be falling apart in 2017. Jesus told truth even when it was far from convenient  think of the heavy questioning Pilate put him under, yet he stuck to his guns  'For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.'

The Fake News phenomenon which has become such a sensation over the past few months appalls and intrigues us in equal measure because of the brazen way in which the truth is disregarded in favour of getting clicks and therefore money (Jesus had that one covered too  'the love of money is the root of all evil').

It isn't just the fake news merchants, though. Our political leaders seem to be in the grip of an epidemic of fibbing.

Donald Trump's tendentious relationship with facts has been well documented. Politifact.com, a site which covered the truthfulness of President Obama's statements, has been keeping a close eye on Trump, too. It currently calculates that around seven out of 10 of the statements from Trump it has analysed are at least 'mostly false.'

Those of us on this side of the pond shouldn't be smug. This week a minister, Dr Liam Fox, was live on Sky News when he claimed he hadn't sent a tweet. The tweet was on the screen behind him as he was speaking.

His colleagues in government also managed to tie themselves in knots explaining why the decision to raise National Insurance contributions on self-employed people didn't breach a manifesto commitment which said the government, 'will not raise VAT, National Insurance contributions or Income Tax.' With one minister even claiming the government should apologise, the policy was dropped in a fairly astonishing U-Turn.

This cavalier approach to truth isn't limited to the political right of course. The most calamitous foreign policy decision since the Suez Crisis, the 2003 invasion of Iraq, was sold to Parliament and the British people by a Labour administration. The recent Chicot inquiry found that the case made by Tony Blair at the time wasn't fully true. 'The severity of the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction  or WMD  were presented with a certainty that was not justified' as the BBC reported.

The political commentator Peter Oborne has been chronicling the descent of mainstream politics in books such as The Rise of Political Lying and The Triumph of the Political Class. Oborne explains the lack of truth-telling at the top in stark terms. 'This involves an attack not just on truth but on democracy itself,' he says. 'Citizens have a right to form a fair and balanced judgment, and are therefore entitled to be informed about their political choices. Lying disempowers and therefore debases those who are lied to. Politicians who lie to voters deprive them of the ability to reach a well-informed decision. In doing so, they convert them into dupes... This is not just morally wrong, it is politically disastrous.

If we are to take Jesus seriously, then we must demand better from our politicians than this. We don't presume we will always agree with them, let alone like what they have to say. But we have a right to expect the truth.
Brokerage firms start operations from 18 cities

Forty-two stockbrokers have started providing services from different locations outside the Kathmandu valley.
John Piper's message about hell to six-year-olds is dangerous  and perhaps even abusive

I have four children, and they've all so far processed the Christian story in remarkably different ways. For reasons of which I'm still not entirely sure, one of them has found the story quite difficult and upsetting. As much as his experience of church, children's Bibles and fun Sunday morning kids' groups have focused on the positives of the faith, he's zeroed in on its agonising centrepiece: the death of Jesus on the cross.

From the first moment that he heard that Jesus was crucified, he's been upset and even frightened by the idea at its every mention. Where the other three have taken this story in their stride, he has viscerally identified with the pain of his 'friend' Jesus being beaten and nailed to a cross. He's six years old.

So when American pastor and conservative hero John Piper suggested recently that we should encourage the fear of hell in our six-year-olds, you can imagine that I had something of a vested interest. Piper responded on his 'Ask Pastor John' podcast segment to the question 'How can I talk to my six-year-old son about hell?', posed by a listener named Michael. The questioner acknowledged that since his child has 'extreme anxiety about death', he was afraid that talking about hell might make him even more anxious. Explaining that his son also gets upset when he makes mistakes, he added: "I do not want him to worry that if he disobeys, that he will be sent to hell.'

Michael's son sounds a bit like mine. These precious children are still just getting started in life, just beginning to form their understanding of this world  let alone the spiritual world beyond it. They find the idea of death frightening, and they're soft-hearted boys, empathetic and predisposed to try to do good. They need to be treated with care, kindness and great love, and they both need reassurance that light triumphs over darkness; that ultimately we're on a trajectory where fear will be extinguished.

So what is Pastor John's advice to Michael as he seeks to address the topic of hell (not because the child has asked, but because he feels he can't lie about the eternal destination of their deceased non-Christian friends)? Does he perhaps suggest that this isn't an issue that needs to be addressed until the child himself raises it? That might seem like a simple solution. Or does he tell the man to focus on building up his son's emotional resilience, and on the wonderful positives of the Good News of Jesus?

No. John Piper suggests that talking with an anxious six year-old about hell is a 'golden opportunity'. A wonderful chance to reach into those fears and anxieties to point to the great darkness behind them, and then to illustrate the contrast with God's offer of eternal life with him. And he really does think it's golden. He uses that word a remarkable 12 times in the space of a relatively brief answer, as if he's got some sort of sponsorship deal with Fort Knox. Talking about hell with a six-year-old is apparently a 'golden moment'.

I presume  or rather I hope  that as a man in his seventies, John Piper hasn't counselled a lot of small boys about this issue in recent years. Because I find his approach absolutely horrifying.

First, Piper says that far from wanting to protect our children from anxieties and fears, we should embrace them because they help a child to know that they are in world where all is not well. This might seem like a smart statement, but the problem is that children don't yet possess the faculties to understand that the darkness in the world can be overcome. They look to their parents as a source of protection and light, and trust in us to reassure them.

When my nine-year-old daughter cried at the breakfast table because the media coverage around Donald Trump's election had told her this was bad news for her entire sex, I didn't tell her that this was why she had to get involved in politics. I hugged and reassured her. Piper says that hell is as true for a six-year-old as for a 60-year-old, but the truth is that the emotional and rational capacities of those two types of brains are markedly different.

Over the next few minutes, Piper explains that the doctrine of hell is useful in clarifying a series of 'great realities' about life and God. I don't want to argue with any of these - I agree whole-heartedly with his points that God is great, that sin is serious, that the Bible talks about a final judgment, that the Cross is God's great rescue plan, and that the Christian life ultimately offers a route to overcoming fear. This is all good and orthodox theology, even if we might disagree a bit on its application. The problem is where and how he's pitching it  at a frightened six-year-old, who gets anxious when he takes an extra cookie from the jar. Piper is hitting a matchstick with a sledgehammer.

Piper's answer lacks any emotional nuance, or any real ability to engage with the individual. Perhaps as a mass-scale minister, that's not all that surprising.

But what concerns me is how excited he seems to get about preaching hell, even to a scared little boy. The idea that we might take an already-anxious child, and fill his head with news of a fiery pit of torment to which his 'unsaved' friends and beloved family members are heading isn't just problematic, it's theological child abuse. It's like forcing a child to touch a boiling hot stove without warning so that they'll learn how dangerous it is by virtue of being burned.

As parents we are given an awesome responsibility for our children's development, and piling on eternity-shaped anxiety to an already worried little boy is a dereliction of that duty.

I'm certainly no universalist, but I do sometimes wonder if my brothers and sisters at the more conservative end of the theological spectrum have grown to love the idea of hell a bit too much. Perhaps it's the only way they can reconcile their frustration at the hedonistic pleasure that others around them derive from life, or at how much Rob Bell is earning these days. I understand the anxiety  partly initiated by Bell's book Love Wins  around losing touch with the doctrine of hell. Francis Chan's excellent follow-up book Erasing Hell made a strong and important counter-case. As a Christian, I'm perfectly comfortable with  if devastated by  the idea that hell is a real place.

But whatever you think that means, or whoever you think gets sent there, hell is not the starting point of the Christian story. The message of God's love for the world, expressed through Jesus' life, teaching, death and resurrection, is infinitely more compelling than the message of a fear to run from. As parent's we have a golden opportunity to tell our children and young people that story, one which rightly will help them to sleep better at night.

John Piper's gospel of fear and escaping the flames is entirely the wrong way around. A child who forms a Christianity based on these things will grow up prioritising rule-keeping over grace and relationship. And isn't moving past that kind of faith exactly why Jesus came to die on the cross?

Martin Saunders is a Contributing Editor for Christian Today and the Deputy CEO of Youthscape. Follow him on Twitter @martins
Majority Of Evangelical Christians Believe Trump's Claim That Journalists 'Make Up' Quotes

More than half of evangelical Christian Americans believe Donald Trump's claim that journalists 'make up' quotes in their articles, according to a poll.

A Morning Consult/Politico survey conducted between March 2-6 shows that 54 per cent of evangelicals agreed that it is 'likely' that journalists 'make up' anonymous quotes.

Overall, 44 per cent of registered voters agreed, while 56 per cent disagreed or said they had no opinion on the question.

The number of voters who describe themselves as Christian who agreed with the claim was higher, at 49 per cent.

By party, 65 per cent of Republican voters and 24 percent of Democratic voters believe that journalists are creating fake news.

Meanwhile, only 32 per cent of Americans responded that they believed it was appropriate to use anonymous sources in stories about government business, with 50 per cent against the practice.

Some 41 per cent of self-described government employees said it was appropriate, with 37 per cent disagreeing.

President Trump made his claims during a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February.

'They have no sources,' the new President said. 'They just make them up when there are none.'

Trump implied that the mainstream media have developed a culture of lying, and said his administration would take action to curtail the use of anonymous sources.

Since Trump's rise to power, social media have been rife with talk of 'fake news' with both Trump supporters and opponents claiming that the other side is purveying misleading information.

The President's press secretary, Sean Spicer, has banned a range of media outlets from attending White House 'huddle' briefings, including the BBC, The Guardian, Mail Online, CNN and The New York Times.

The poll, published on Wednesday, asked questions of 1,992 registered voters.
Mom causes a stir when she breastfeeds her baby during church service

Is it OK for a woman to breastfeed her baby inside a church while service is going on?

Annie Peguero, a 42-year-old mother from Dumfries, Virginia, thinks so, and she did just that last week inside Summit Church in Springfield.

In an emotional Facebook Live video, Peguero described to her social media followers what happened when she decided to breastfeed her 19-month-old daughter Autumn at the sanctuary inside the church.

She said the church workers who saw her nursing her baby appeared scandalized by what they saw and tried to find ways to cover her up.

Peguero said a woman came over to cover up her daughter with a fleece blanket.

The woman then allegedly told her that the church does not allow breast-feeding without a cover because it could make men, teenagers or new churchgoers "uncomfortable."

Peguero said she was also told that the sermon was being live-streamed and that the church would not want her to be seen breast-feeding.

She claimed that she was shamed for breastfeeding without a cover, according to Faithwire.

A law passed in Virginia in 2015 gave mothers the right to breast-feed their children anywhere in the state that they have a legal right to be, including inside a church, according to the Washington Post.

After the church workers pressed Peguero to stop nursing the baby, the mother of two said she left her seat in the back of the church and fled, embarrassed and in shock.

Peguero is now asking church leaders to issue a statement and change their approach to the breast-feeding of children inside the church.

"I feel like my rights as a mom have been violated," she said.

The Washington Post sought the church's comment on the incident. Executive pastor Tony Trayers said the church was not aware of the law that allows breast-feeding everywhere, including churches, in Virginia.

Peguero, a personal trainer and fitness and nutrition specialist, said before she was forced to leave the church that Sunday, she never had a problem nursing in public.

"I have breast-fed in a few different countries. I have breast-fed all over the place," she said. "No one has ever said anything to me."

Virginia was one of the last states in America to pass a law that protects a woman's right to breast-feed in public.

Before the law was passed in the state, women only had the right to nurse their babies on state-owned property, but not in restaurants and other privately owned businesses that were open to the public.
New Bishop of Sodor and Man announced as 'focus of unity' for Church

Downing Street has announced the new Bishop of Sodor and Man as the Ven Peter Eagles, currently archdeacon for the army.

Eagles replaces Robert Paterson, who retired as bishop in November last year.

Currently an honorary canon of Salisbury Cathedral, Eagles said he was 'thrilled and deeply honoured' by the appointment.

'My hope is that I may support the people of the Isle of Man in their spiritual and historic identity and in looking confidently to the future,' he said.

'Among many other tasks, the bishop is to be chief pastor, a focus of unity, and a leader of mission. I therefore hope to encourage all Christians on the island, to support everyone who lives here, and to lead the Church in its work of caring for people in every community.'

The Archbishop of York John Sentamu praised Eagles' experience and said he has many spiritual gifts to bring to the role.

'The Diocese of Sodor and Man can look forward to working with a bishop who will lead in the way of Christ with insight and oversight with a readiness to lead and be led,' he said.

The Church of England will hope the appointment concludes a difficult time for the diocese after vicar Jules Gomes was barred from ministry after being found guilty of unbecoming conduct as a priest on the Isle of Man.

In a radio interview Gomes described then Bishop Paterson as vindictive and compared the CofE's approach to disciplinary issues with Sharia law.

The chairman of the tribunal dealing with Gomes' case, Geoffrey Tattersall QC, said he had an 'over-inflated view of his own self-importance', and dealt with people with 'little or no compassion or pastoral concern'. He was also found to have lost his temper and displayed anger even to supporters.

Paterson retired as bishops weeks later.

After his announcement as bishop, Eagles confirmed he would ordain both men and women clergy equally.

'As the sole bishop in this diocese (and consistent with Paragraph 11 of the Declaration), and trusting in the grace of God to sustain the increasing number of vocations, I will ordain all who are called to be deacons and priests,' he said.

'The Church of England is committed to all orders of ministry being open equally to all while ensuring that those who cannot receive the ministry of women priests or bishops are able to flourish, and petitioning parishes within the Diocese of Sodor & Man will of course be able to request the ministry of the Bishop of Beverley or the Bishop of Maidstone.

'I am entirely supportive of this Declaration, which enables women to exercise a full ministry as priests and bishops. The Declaration also allows for a traditionalist who does not ordain women to the priesthood to be a diocesan bishop in any diocese where there is a suffragan to ordain women as priests, and where the will of the diocese for such an appointment is reflected through the Crown Nominations Commission and the consultation process.'
Queen's Speech: 'Jesus Christ's Example Shows Me Value Of Small Things With Great Love'

The Queen has said Jesus Christ's example helps us to see the value of doing small things with great love.

In her annual Christmas address broadcast at 15.00GMT, the Monarch spoke of her own faith and how she takes inspiration from his life and teaching.

Her Majesty used Christ's example to encourage people into "small acts of goodness" which she said can make a difference even when the world's problems seem so vast.

The Queen also praised the achievements of British Olympians and Paralympians in the summer games in Rio.

"Having discovered abilities they scarcely knew they had, these athletes are now inspiring others," she said.

But she went on: "Even with the inspiration of others it is understandable that we sometimes think the world's problems are so big we can do little to help.

"On our own we cannot end wars or wipe out injustice.

"But the cumulative impact of thousands of small acts of goodness can be bigger than we imagine.

"At Christmas our attention is drawn to the birth of a baby some two thousand years ago.

"It was the humblest of beginnings. His parents Joseph and Mary did not think they were important. Jesus Christ lived obscurely for most of his life and never traveled far.

"He was maligned and rejected by many though he had done no wrong.

"Yet billions of people now follow his teaching and find in him the guiding light for their lives

"I am one of them because Christ's example helps me to see the value of doing small things with great love whoever does them and whatever they themselves believe."

Her Majesty also mentioned the achievements of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, which celebrated its 60th anniversary this year and The Prince's Trust, which passed its 40th anniversary.

The Queen did not attend church on Christmas Day for the first time in nearly 30 years. A Buckingham Palace spokesman said she is still suffering from a heavy cold.

The message was recorded before the news that her granddaughter, Zara TIndall and her husband Mike, had lost their baby.

The couple had been expecting their second child in late spring. It would have been the Queen's sixth great-grandchild.

"Very sadly, Zara and Mike Tindall have lost their baby. At this difficult time, we ask that everyone respects their privacy," a spokeswoman said.

This year's alternative Christmas message on Channel 4 will be given by Brendan Cox, widower of murdered MP Jo Cox. He will call for an end to the "rise in hatred" as well as paying tribute to his late wife.
Russian TV pulls Simpsons episode where Homer plays Pokemon Go in church

A Simpsons episode in which Homer plays a version of 'Pokemon Go' in a church service has been pulled by a Russian TV channel after clerics said it was offensive.

The ban comes after a popular Russian vlogger was imprisoned to three-and-a-half years in jail after he filmed himself playing Pokemon Go in a Russian Orthodox Church.

In the Simpsons episode, Homer wanders into the local church, playing 'Peekimon Get' with the character Jeffrey Albertson, known as 'Comic Book Guy'. When the two are asked to refrain from their game, Albertson says 'Look, this game is  or at least was  bigger than Jesus'.

Reverend Lovejoy responds: 'Hmm. It's a pretty low bar these days'.

Leaders from the Russian Orthodox Church complained to the cartoon channel 2x2, who then withdrew the episode, according to Russian news source RBC, cited by the Daily Mail.

The incident comes after Ruslan Sokolovsky, 22, last August posted a video online of himself playing Pokemon on his mobile phone inside Yekaterinburg cathedral, a church built on the spot where the last Russian tsar and his family were killed in 1918.

In the video, which contains strong language mocking Christianity, Sokolovsky likens Jesus Christ to a Pokemon character and says he had decided to play the popular game inside the church because he had seen a news report saying people who did so could be fined or jailed.

Sokolovsky, an atheist, was then charged by state prosecutors with inciting religious hatred. He told the court he was 'in shock' at the prosecution.

'I have been in jail, I was there for three months, and it is the doorway to hell,' he said.

'I do not consider myself an extremist, maybe I'm an idiot, but not in any way an extremist.'

Amnesty International described his detention as 'a farcical attack' on freedom of expression, and Russian Orthodox church leaders called for his release.

The court is expected to issue a verdict on Sokolovsky on May 11.
Trump's religious liberty order: Most Americans oppose allowing business to refuse gay people services

Most religious Americans oppose allowing businesses to refuse gay couples services based on their religious beliefs, a new poll reveals ahead of an executive order that could do just that.

President Donald Trump is set to sign a 'religious liberty' order on Thursday that will lift restrictions on churches and other tax-exempt organisations from political campaigning.

Conservative evangelical faith leaders were invited to the White House for the long-awaited order's unveiling which coincides with the National Day of Prayer.

But as opponents lined up to criticise the highly controversial bill, new data revealed most religious Americans, apart for white evangelicals, oppose it.

Around 61 per cent of Americans think businesses should not be allowed to refuse gay people goods or services, even if doing so violates their religious beliefs, the survey from PRRI found.

Unitarians were the most strongly opposed with 87 per cent saying they disagreed with the plan but even more socially conservative groups such as black Protestants (66 per cent), white Catholics (61 per cent) and Muslims (60 per cent) did not agree.

White evangelical Protestants stand alone as the only religious group where a majority do not oppose the move but even there the support was split with 50 per cent saying they were in favour and 42 per cent opposed.

The figures highlighted suspicions that Trump's move is only backed by a tiny proportion of Americans but is aimed at appeasing his core base  white evangelicals, 81 per cent of whom backed him in the presidential election.

Although the text of the order was being finalised this week, there have been suggestions it could also lift restrictions on churches' ability to join, fund and promote political campaigns.

The limits, laid out in the Johnson Amendment, have long angered conservative evangelicals who see it as a restriction on free speech.

But many clergy welcome the amendment and see it as a necessary divide between church and state.

Michael Wear, President Barack Obama's faith adviser when he was in the White House, said any move to relax rules on churches endorsing candidates was unwanted and should be rejected.

'Repealing or weakening the Johnson Amendment will harm the church by making pulpits campaign platforms,' he said on Twitter.

Rather than acting to strengthen rel freedom so faith groups & ppl can carry out their mission, this measure primarily profits politicians  Michael Wear (@MichaelRWear) May 3, 2017
What did Jesus and the disciples eat at the Last Supper?

Apart from unleavened bread and wine that Christians have long established from Scriptures, what other food was served at Christ's Last Supper? A recent investigation into Palestinian cuisine in Jesus' time sheds some light on what could have possibly been on the menu during one of the most important meals in history.

Generoso Urciuoli, an archaeologist at Italy's Petrie Center, and Marta Berogno, an Egyptologist at the Egyptian Museum in Turin, explain that Jesus and his disciples did not sit at a rectangular table nor did they line up on one side of the table as shown in most religious art.

"At that time, in Palestine, the food was placed on low tables and the guests ate sitting in reclining position on floor cushions and carpets," Urciuoli said. Moreover, the diners surrounded the table and were positioned in a manner that the most important guest was seated beside the main guest.

"Verses from the gospels of John indicate Judas was very close to Jesus, probably to his immediate left. Indeed, we are told that Judas dipped bread into Jesus' dish, following the practice of sharing food from a common bowl," Urciuoli said. This and other lesser known important facts are compiled in their book, "Jerusalem: the Last Supper."

Urciuoli and Berogno used Biblical passages, including the Feast of Tabernacles, the wedding of Cana, and Herod's banquet, to draw their conclusions. They also put together historical data and clues from artwork to reconstruct food and eating habits in Palestine 2,000 years ago, Seeker reported.

From the data collected, they concluded that the Last Supper's menu also included beans stew, olives, bitter herbs, and fish sauce. Based on the Gospel of Mark, the Last Supper took place on the "first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb." This means that the menu likely included lamb meat.
Why God's sovereignty does not make him responsible for tragedy

There's a French film directed by Jaco Van Dormael, The Brand New Testament (Le tout nouveau testament) in which God appears as a bad-tempered, vindictive, sweary, unkempt middle-aged man who delights in finding new ways to torment human beings. The scene in which he sits at his computer making up new laws  dropped bread always falls jam side down, the other queue always moves faster  is killingly funny.

Not remotely funny is the case of Ian Paterson, convicted last week of 17 counts of wounding with intent and three counts of unlawful wounding involving 10 patients. Paterson was a surgeon who conducted breast operations. Many of them were unnecessary. Others were botched or ineffective and left his victims in permanent pain or with life-changing injuries. He lied to and manipulated patients and NHS managers failed to stop him. Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has promised an enquiry if the Tories are returned at the election; it's hard to see a Labour health secretary doing otherwise. Paterson was described as having a 'God complex' and 'playing God'.

We know, in context, exactly what that means. He assumed an absolute right over his patients' futures. He was free, he believed, to treat them however he wanted. The power of life and death was in his hands, and he used it, as far as we know, without pity or remorse.

This image of God as an uncaring manipulator of human destiny is as old as human history. Shakespeare's Earl of Gloucester says in King Lear: 'As flies to wanton boys are we to th' gods; they kill us for their sport.' Thomas Hardy outraged Victorian England with the closing lines of Tess of the D'Urbervilles, saying of the death of his tragic heroine: '"Justice" was done, and the President of the Immortals (in Aeschylean phrase) had ended his sport with Tess.' The reference is to the Greek tragedian, who also portrayed human beings as being the gods' playthings.

This sense of being the hapless victims of divine whimsy is built in to the human psyche. Things happen to us that we don't understand and can't control. We look for someone to blame. If it's God, or the gods, it's somehow more bearable.

At one level, this is true. If we can believe that God's purpose for us is ultimately to bless, it might help us cope with the bad things more easily. 'And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose,' Paul tells the Romans (8:28). It's a precious thought, and we believe it.

Where this goes wrong is when we make God the author of evil as well as good. There's a warped view of God's sovereignty that makes him responsible for everything that happens in the world. Your husband or child dies? God planned it. You lose your job? That's him too.

A video on The Gospel Coalition's website puts it like this: 'What does it mean to be sorrowful, yet always rejoicing? Must a father with a cancer diagnosis be glad he may not live to walk his daughter down the aisle? If God controls everything, it means he has ordained even our suffering. Should this doctrine comfort us or infuriate us?' Its answer is pretty clear from the piece's title: 'Why 'God Didn't Ordain That Tragedy' Is Terrible News'.

But it's the idea that God ordains this or that tragedy that's terrible news. It makes him like the deity in The Brand New Testament, gleefully thinking of new ways to plague us. All human beings can do in the face of tragedy is submit to God's righteous judgment; after all, he's God.

When we play up this theology we're allowing the world to present God as just the sort of uncaring, manipulative being assumed in that description of Ian Paterson, or in Lear or Tess. Free will is an illusion: what we really are is victims, and all we can do is learn to accept it  to be 'glad', as TGC's piece puts it.

There's another way of looking at tragedy, and another way of looking at God. He does not will people harm. His sovereignty does not mean he controls everything. That he chooses not to intervene to stop tragedy is undeniable, but that's a long way from saying he actively inflicts it.

And people are genuinely free. God does not have a God complex. He doesn't act to frustrate us or torment us. He allows us to act even when what we do is bad for us or other people. His involvement in our lives is loving, generous and grace-full. It is Jesus-like.

Somehow we've allowed the expression 'playing God' to become a negative one, used when someone interferes in the natural order of things and causes harm. But if we really played God, we would come alongside people in need, help them through their pain and help them to grow, not leave them broken under the irresistible power of divine wrath.

Follow Mark Woods on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods
Why is Australia favouring Christian refugees over Muslims?

Australia is favouring Christian refugees over Muslims according to data obtained by the New York Times.

Like other Western countries, Australia has taken in a number of refugees from Syria and Iraq, but unlike others, seems to be offering a better chance to Christians.

Data obtained through Australia's freedom of information law shows that '78 per cent of the approximately 18,563 refugees from Syria and Iraq granted entry from July 1, 2015, to January 6 of this year identified themselves as Christian'  a far higher proportion than would be expected based on the region's relative Christian and Muslim populations.

The report goes on to suggest that the Australian government is comfortable with the situation. 'Australia's conservative coalition government has never denied that religion is an important factor in choosing who will be admitted from Syria and Iraq,' it says. 'The favoritism is justified by the claim that Christians are more at risk from the Islamic State and other groups that engage in indiscriminate murder.'

However, Elaine Pearson from Human Rights Watch Australia told the paper: 'Chrisitans from conflict zones in Syria and Iraq aren't persecuted more than others... Muslims have overwhelmingly borne the brunt of most of the atrocities by ISIS and by the Assad regime.'

The report suggests the policy is being driven by a belief that Christians are more likely to integrate into Australia's Anglo-Christian-dominated culture than Muslims.

There have been calls for the British government to adopt an approach which favours Christians, but this has not been implemented. In the US, President Trump has intimated that Christians would be favoured in the process for deciding who to accept into the country. However, that idea was denounced by a group of religious leaders, including major Christian organisations.
Contempt of court case against Kantipur daily

The Supreme Court on Wednesday initiated hearing on a contempt of court application filed against the Kantipur daily. A case was registered at the apex court on Tuesday claiming that a news report on senior most SC Justice Gopal Parajulis certificate archive had defamed the court.
Campus Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know, by Jonathan Zimmerman (Oxford University Press, 146 pp., $16.95)

Over the last two years, American universities have been roiled by student protest, largely focusing on race relations. The election of Donald Trump inspired hostility unseen in decades. Most recently, a number of respected conservative speakers have been shouted down and even attacked at elite campuses when attempting to deliver talks.

A common lexicon of grievance has emerged, derived from the vocabulary of social-justice movements, identity politics, and therapeutic culture. Students speak of feeling unsafe, of facing hostile environments, of lacking agency, of suffering trauma, and of being triggered. In response, institutions routinely validate student complaints with apologies, resignations, firings, concessions, promises, and simple groveling. In no instance, writes Jonathan Zimmerman in his 2016 book, Campus Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know, did a prominent college leader take issue with the protesters; instead, every president and dean dutifully lined up behind them.

Since Trumps election, dozens of colleges have sent campus-wide emails ostensibly aimed at helping students cope with the emotional turmoil occasioned by his presidency, axiomatically understood as disastrous. Priority is given to emotional comfort rather than putting current events in a historical context. Iowa State University, for example, created a relaxation station, where students can color and sculpt with Play-Doh while soothing music plays.

Whereas previous generations of student activists typically fought to remove administrative rules and restrictions on campus . . . todays students often demand more of them, writes Zimmerman. Indeed, almost every published demand during the November 2015 protests against college administrations actually required more college administration. Moreover, activists often seem unwilling to pay any serious price for their activism. They demand (a favorite activist verb) that absences be excused, that material be re-taught, that exams be delayed or dismissed, and that expectations for performance be lowered and grading standards eased.

A professor of education and history at New York University and author of a 2002 book on the culture wars in American schools, Zimmerman has published widely on the education systems handling of controversial material and programs. His new books question-and-answer format (standard in Oxfords useful What Everyone Needs to Know series) should prove especially friendly to general readers. For example, the ripped-from-the-headlines chapter Psychology and Campus Politics poses and answers the following questions: When did the psychology of college students become a public issue? What are microaggressions? How did microaggressions become a cause of campus concern? What are trigger warnings? Are todays students coddled? The book is reasonably well indexed and contains useful source notes.

Though a man of the Left, Zimmerman writes even-handedly. Liberals often defend political correctness as nothing more than decency and politenesskindnessmaliciously mislabeled by bigots and racists. While recognizing the obviousthat ugly epithets and stereotypes hold no place in civil discourseZimmerman nevertheless demurs, asserting that PC spawns ideological orthodoxy, closing down the range and terms of debate deemed permissible by students and professors alike. He quotes Harvard professor Randall Kennedy, who recognizes that students are manipulating the administration and professoriate with hyperbolic claims of victimization. Kennedy warns that in the long run . . . reformers harm themselves by nurturing an inflated sense of victimization. Zimmerman ruefully notes that, even though federal courts have repeatedly struck down speech codes, many universities retained [them] or added new ones, even in the face of judicial decisions prohibiting them.

Zimmerman reminds readers that most college students have no time to create lists of unreasonable (and unreasoned) demands. They are too busy taking classes, working part-time or even full-time jobs, looking after family members, and volunteering in community or campus organizations while they work toward a degree. The struggling part-time student enrolled at Northwest State Universitys Anywhere Branch Satellite Campus is far more typical of American college students than the screaming, hyper-privileged co-ed on the Yale quad. Most college students remain normal, reasonable young peoplethough the loudest voices have undoubtedly had a disproportionate effect.

The authors evenhandedness seems to desert him, though, in his discussion of Middle East Studies programs, in which he sides with the defenders against the detractors, who charge that these programs are biased and politicized. He says too little about the role social media play in campus political turmoil. And he ignores the issue of hoax racial incidents, an underreported scandal. Zimmerman has done an admirable job of showing why minority students might feel aggrieved or excluded and why white students report that they are walking on eggshells, always afraid of being called racist. Surely hoaxes do nothing to alleviate either situation.

Zimmerman concludes with a heartening vote in favor of the sort of robust freedom-of-speech protection recently championed at the University of Chicago. The best route to real civility, he writes, turns out to be free speech, which teaches us how to disagree across our differences instead of keeping silent about them. This vote of confidence in free expression is badly needed in a time when so many faculty seem willing to condone violations of it.

Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
For CBS, the Stephen Colbert scandale was far south of Dan Rathers use of forged documents in 2004 and just a tad north of Janet Jacksons Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction that same year.

After President Trump referred to Face the Nation as Deface the Nation, Colbert took it upon himself to defend the news shows host, John Dickerson. Donald Trump, declared the night show emcee, John Dickerson has way too much dignity to trade insults with a president of the United States to his face. I, sir, am no John Dickerson.

Colbert then delivered his tirade: Youre not the POTUS, he declared. Youre the BLOTUS. Youre the glutton with the button. Youre a regular Gorge Washington. Youre the presi-dunce but youre turning into a real prick-tator.

He took a breath and resumed. Sir, you attract more skinheads than free Rogaine. You have more people marching against you than cancer. You talk like a sign-language gorilla that got hit in the head. And then came the killer line: In fact, the only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putins cock holster.

The audience responded with the expected uproar of laughter and applause. Colbert, who has always known which side of the butter his bread was on, has recently made a good living by attacking Trump. According to Nielsen, his ratings have risen by the week.

But the next morning, the unexpected torrent of vulgarity was attacked not only by conservatives but also by LGBT spokespersons, demanding that CBS get rid of Colbert as it had Rather. James Michael Nichols, an editor for the Huffington Posts Queer Voices section, spoke for many of his colleagues: Colberts decision to make this kind of joke illustrates a kind of casual homophobia that permeates American cultureeven among supposed liberal allies with massive media platforms.

Colbert fans wondered what would happen the following night. Would their icon be contrite? Or would he double down on his assertions? As things turned out, Colbert refused to apologize, but he also failed to double down. Instead, he singled down. Im not going to repeat the phrase, he announced, and then proceeded vigorously to defend homosexuality, as if the Supreme Court and the entirety of mass media culture hadnt done so before then. I just want to say for the record, life is short, and anyone who expresses their love for another person, in their own way, is to me, an American hero. I think we can all agree on that. I hope even the president and I can agree on that.

Lost in all this was Colberts other persona. The 54-year-old actor/comedian has long let it be known that despite his progressive pronouncements, he is a very-married New Jersey suburbanite, practicing Roman Catholic, and protective father of three. Indeed, when he played a harrumphing right-winger on the Colbert Report, he saw to it that his children werent watching. Kids cant understand irony or sarcasm, he explained, and I dont want them to perceive me as insincere.

But surely Colbert, who is effortlessly contemporary, knows that video broadcasts can easily be streamed and accessed by almost anyone at any time, and that even small children know exactly what buttons to push to watch those shows. Which raises an interesting question: If Colbert, a highly skilled performer, was playacting as a conservative, is he now camping up his role as the ur-liberal of the Resistance enraged, semi-coherent, foul-mouthed, egging on street agitators and violent campus activists? Or does he really mean what he spews? If so, how sincere can he be about his ordinary home life? Does he not, in fact, truly care about minors and what they watch, as long as he sustains his popularity? Between the poses falls a shadow. Or maybe its just a station break.

Photo by Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images
WWF has joined the ranks of living wage employers in the sector and been accredited by the Living Wage Foundation for going further than the legal minimum.

The organisation has been accredited by the Living Wage Foundation, with all staff receiving a minimum hourly wage of 8.45 - regardless of whether they are permanent employees or third-party contractors.

This is higher than the mandatory national minimum wage rates of 7.05 for 21 to 24 year olds and 7.50 for over 25s.

Karen Garforth, WWFs head of human resources, said: By committing to pay the living wage we are ensuring all our employees  including our interns - are able to earn enough to live on.

Katherine Chapman, Living Wage Foundation director, said: We are delighted to welcome WWF to the Living Wage movement as an accredited employer.

The best employers are voluntarily signing up to pay the Living Wage now. The Living Wage is a robust calculation that reflects the real cost of living, rewarding a hard days work with a fair days pay.

We have accredited nearly 3,000 leading employers, including WWF, ranging from independent printers, bookshops and breweries, to well-known companies such as Nationwide, Aviva and SSE.

See in Charity Finance

These businesses recognise that clinging to the National Living Wage is not good for business. Customers expect better than that."

Other charities that have agreed to pay staff a living wage rate include Christian Aid, RNIB and Lankelly Chase.

The living wage rate is calculated annually by the Resolution Foundation and overseen by the Living Wage Commission, based on the best available evidence on living standards in London and the UK.

Civil Society Media is hosting its People & Culture Conference on 20 September 2017. For more information, and to book, click here.
It isnt just Americans who are riveted by the day-to-day reality show that has become the Trump presidency.

Trump has also taken up an inordinate share of the international news cycle. The tenor of the coverage has been mixed, from the Russian TV host who praised Trump for avoiding the word democracy in his inauguration speech to the German reporter who was hailed as a hero at home for her tough questioning of Trump during a press conference and the Australian newspaper that reopened its Washington bureau to take advantage of the Trump bump.

Media Tenor International, a monitoring firm based in Switzerland, has been tracking Trump coverage in Europe and the US since Trump announced his run. Founder and CEO Roland Schatz says there has been more coverage of Trump in European media than any other US presidentmost of it negative.

According to Media Tenors analysis of more than 13,000 reports on TV news  as well as in the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal  since June 2015, Trump enjoyed something of a honeymoon period in US media between the election and inauguration, as journalists praised Trumps win and were mostly neutral on policy issues. Conversely, it was during this period that European outlets began questioning Trumps suitability to govern, and the role of the US in world affairstopics that received scant coverage at home.

Once Trump took office, those issues took center stage in Europe, along with a focus on Trumps proposed border controls. In February, the German political magazine Der Spiegel, known for its provocative cover illustrations, published a widely circulated editorial arguing that Trump is a liar and calling for Germany to stand up in opposition to the 45th president of the United States. At the same time, negative coverage of Trump resumed in the US and positive coverage of Trump in Europe ceased almost entirely. The degree to which American politics has been damaged since [Trump] has been in office is much greater than even it was under George W. Bush, says Schatz, and the European media already had the impression back then that it was the end of the world.

Top 3 Topics in US and European Trump Coverage

Campaign (Jun 16, 2015  Nov 7, 2016) US Europe 1. Election Campaigns 1. Election Campaigns 2. Public Opinion Polls 2. Personality 3. National Election 3. Public Opinion Polls

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Election to Inauguration (Nov 8, 2016  Jan 20, 2017) US Europe 1. Election Outcomes 1. National Election 2. Constitution 2. Personnel Decisions 3. National Election 3. Election Outcomes

First Weeks in Office (Jan 21  Mar 14, 2017) US Europe 1. Immigration 1. Border Controls 2. Constitution 2. Suitability to Govern 3. Personnel Decisions 3. Role of the US

While European TV media has been particularly critical of the administrations proposed travel ban, the continent is hardly alone in its opposition. During Trumps first month in office, a quarter of all editorials in Canadas largest newspaper, the Toronto Star, focused on the Trump administration, and the editorial board repeatedly urged the Canadian government to position Canada as an open-armed alternative to the closed border policies Trump was espousing. The federal government should heed the call of legal and human rights experts and ensure that those who cannot now count on safe haven in the U.S. can find it here, it wrote.

On the other side of the ideological divide, Trump began his presidency as something of a darling of Russian media, which is tightly controlled by the government (it ranks close to the bottom of the press freedom index compiled annually by Reporters Without Borders). In January it was reported that Trump was mentioned 202,000 times in Russian mediamore than Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Since then, Russian coverage became more measured as Putins government, along with the rest of the world, struggled to get a handle on what Trumps foreign policies actually are, and what they could portend. Following Trumps Syria strike and Trumps posturing about North Koreas nuclear weapons program, Russian state-controlled media has begun to show outright hostility to Trump. The Moscow Times called out the U-turn: After spending months preparing the nation for a detente under President Trump, Russian television pundits and producers are now hurrying to demonize the US leader.

Similarly, Trump was received positively by the Chinese around the time of his election. But after Trumps phone call with Taiwans leader Tsai Ing-wen soon after the election, and his subsequent flip-flopping over his intentions in the South China Sea, media coverage took on a more cautious tone.

Sevanti Ninan of Indian media watchdog The Hoot told CJR in March that while Trump has received a lot of attention from the Indian press, its not uncommon for American politics to be well-covered in the subcontinent given how many families have relatives living in the US. She says the tone of stories about Trump were negative in the lead up to the election, and have since been tinged with concern. First there was some incredulity that he was actually doing things he said he would do. Now there is alarm at the attacks on Indian immigrants in the US, [which] are seen as an offshoot of his pronouncements. Stories such as the firing of Preet Bharara and the H1B visa issue have ensured that the amount of coverage has held steady since Trump took office.

Indian journalists see some parallels between Trumps treatment of the US press corps, and their own experiences with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Trump attacks the press, the Indian prime minister treats them as irrelevant to his connection with the Indian people, says Ninan. Many of us here can see that journalists in the US stand their ground much more than our tribe does here.

While the enthusiasm towards Trump has cooled overseas, his accusations that news outlets that print information he doesnt like are sharing fake news have proved contagious. In February, the Russian government launched a website highlighting foreign news reports about Russia with the word fake stamped in big, red letters across a screenshot of the article. The phrase has also been used by politicians in Australia, the UK, and China. Media Tenors Schatz says Europeans are sensitive to the fake news moniker due to their history with the use of the word lugenpresse (lying press), an accusation leveled against German media by the Nazis. We have a history of that, says Schatz. It [wasnt used] for 60 years because everybody knew it was ridiculous, and then the right-wing extremists started to use it [again] during their protest movements.

As the Trump show continues, and the US press corps struggles to keep up with the news generated by Trumps domestic policies, the foreign press offers up insights on how the Trump presidency is affecting US relations abroad, and its standing in the world. Just like American citizens at home, the world is watching.

Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today

Shelley Hepworth , formerly a CJR Delacorte Fellow, is Technology Editor at The Conversation in Australia. Follow her on Twitter @shelleymiranda.
Alibaba Group is entering the Chinese cruise market in a partnership with Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.

"The two companies will leverage Norwegian's expertise in providing exceptional vacation experiences and its innovative and award-winning cruise offerings along with Alibaba's unparalleled insights into the wants and needs of the Chinese consumer to deliver the cruise industry's most-customized product for the local China market," said a press release.

The companies will also collaborate to provide Alibaba customers with new and unique online-to-offline (O2O) experiences at sea across Norwegian's China-based and global fleet.

"We are pleased to partner with Norwegian Cruise Line on this tremendous initiative," said Michael Evans, President of Alibaba Group. "Our expanded relationship is another example of how Alibaba is helping international brands to reach Chinese consumers through our robust data, marketing and technology. We look forward to further strengthening our collaboration with Norwegian in the future."

"The partnership with Alibaba complements our strong, existing relationships with our loyal travel agents to provide unmatched insight into what Chinese travelers look for in a vacation experience," said David Herrera, President, NCLH China. "The combination of Norwegian's expertise in delivering memorable vacation experiences, Alibaba's insights into Chinese consumer behavior and our travel agents' knowledge of the preferences of Chinese travelers will create a cruise product unequaled in China."

Norwegian took delivery of Norwegian Joy on April 27, after which the ship began her repositioning from the shipyard in Germany to her home port of Shanghai.
DPM Nidhi takes back his resignation

In a sudden turn of events, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bimalendera Nidhi has decided to withdraw his resignation on Thursday.
EC asks govt to shut schools on May 8-14

The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday asked the government to shut down the schools and colleges in provinces 3, 4 and 6 from May 8-14 as most of the educational institutions would be used as polling centres for the local polls.
Four thousand employees to be mobilized in Kathmandu elections

A total of 4,119 employees are being mobilized for the local-level elections taking place in Kathmandu district.
Govt decides to hand over Kathmandu-Tarai Fast Track to NA

The government has decided to hand over the much touted Kathmandu Tarai Fast Track road project to Nepal Army.
India hails local polls for grassroots democracy

India on Wednesday said it was ready to provide all kinds of support to the local level elections scheduled to be held in Nepal on May 14 and June 14.
Ecommerce giant Amazon has agreed to commitments with the European Commission relating to how it releases e-books.

The EU's antitrust commissioner Margrethe Vestager agreed to drop an investigation into the Seattle-based company after receiving assurances from the firm that it would drop certain clauses in its contracts for electronic publications.

Clauses associated with Amazon's e-book business models, contracts, commissions and promotions will be removed from deals with publishers, ensuring an even playing field, according to Vestager.

"Today's decision will open the way for publishers and competitors to develop innovative services for e-books, increasing choice and competition to the benefit of European consumers," Vestager said.

The EU's antitrust commissioner Margrethe Vestager agreed to drop an investigation into the Seattle-based company

"Amazon used certain clauses in its agreements with publishers, which may have made it more difficult for other e-book platforms to innovate and compete effectively with Amazon. We want to ensure fair competition in Europe's e-books market worth more than 1 billion euros."

An investigation was opened into Amazons e-book practices in 2015 after the Commission expressed concern about possible breaches of competition rules.

The commitments from Amazon will be valid for a period of five years, and the company said it was pleased to have reached an agreement with the Commission.
The US House of Representatives voted to pass legislation overnight which will fund the federal government with $1.1trn through to the end of September, narrowly averting a shutdown on Friday.

The legislation is the first major bipartisan bill to be pushed through Congress during Donald Trumps presidency.

Representatives voted to pass the bill 309-118 in the Republican-dominated chamber, which will now go to the Senate where it is widely expected to be approved.

Although the bill excluded a number of the President's top priorities, House speaker Paul Ryan hailed the bills passing as a victory for conservatives.

"No longer will the needs of our military be held hostage by the demands for more domestic spending," Ryan said. "In my mind, that is what's most important here."

The bill excluded funding for the Mexican border wall and the $18bn of domestic spending cuts Trump wants.

On the plus side for the GOP, $21bn of extra defence spending, including $6bn pencilled in under the Obama administration, was passed, along with $1.5bn for border security, a denial of new money for Obamacare and job cuts to for the Environmental Protection Agency.

HEALTHCARE VOTE

Meanwhile, on Thursday the House will face another significant vote. This time it is the turn of a revised health care bill that was previously voted down in an embarrassing defeat for Trump, who had promised to repeal the landmark Obamacare legislation of his predecessor.

Lawmakers in Washington were busy negotiating on several facets of the new bill, with a deal announced on Wednesday appearing to have support of most high-profile Republicans in the House.

Majority leader Kevin McCarthy emerged from a series of meetings late on Wednesday night in a confident mood, saying that "we will be voting on the health care votes tomorrow. Because we have enough votes. It'll pass.

A White House official Wednesday night claimed at least 218 votes, which would be enough to ensure passage.

Barack Obama introduced the Affordable Care Act to plenty of scorn from those on the Republican side during his presidency, and the replacement and repeal of the healthcare legislation was one of the pillars of Trumps election campaign.

Even if the bill makes it out of the lower chamber of Congress, it remains a distance short of the votes needed to be passed in the Senate, where considerable opposition remains due to estimates showing Trumpcare would leave 24m more people without insurance within a decade and push up premiums for those on lower incomes.
French centrist presidential candidate Emmanuele Macron's party will be the largest in the lower house of the French legislature, a first poll result showed.

The poll from OpinionWay-SLPV Analytics for daily Les Echos showed Macron's En Marche! was expected to make off with between 249 to 286 seats in the chamber out of a total of 577.

However, the poll only reflected the voting intentions of Frenchmen on the Continent, whose representation accounts for 535 seats, and not those living in the overseas territories.

Le Pen on the other hand was only seen obtaining between 15 to 25 seats and the Socialists anywhere from 28 to 43.

Centrist and conservative parties would win between 200 to 210 seats.

Macron, who was set to face-off against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen on 7 May in the run-off vote of the French presidential contest, was expected to make off with roughly 60% of the ballots versus 40% for her.

Yet many market observers were concerned that even if Macron came out on top on Sunday his lack of a political base would see him turn into a 'lame duck' president, a poor result for a country in need of a concerted push back towards a stronger growth track.

Thursday's poll was the first covering the 11 to 18 June elections.
Firm under spotlight after engineer paid 671m to settle bribery allegations

Britain's accounting watchdog said it would investigate KPMG's audit of Rolls-Royce after the engineer paid millions to settle a bribery case with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).



The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said it was looking at KPMG's audit of Rolls-Royce for the year ended 31 December 2010 and of Rolls-Royce Holdings for the years ended 31 December 2011 to 31 December 2013.

The decision to investigate followed Rolls' decision to pay 671m in fines and sign a deferred prosecution agreement with the SFO relating to offences including conspiracy to corrupt and a failure to prevent bribery, the FRC added.

KPMG said it was important that regulators acting in the public interest should review high profile issues.

We will co-operate fully with the FRCs investigation, which follows the SFOs investigations into Rolls-Royce. We are confident in the quality of all the audit work we have completed for Rolls-Royce, including the 2010-2013 period the FRC is considering.

The FTSE 100 engineer in January said it had reached a voluntary provisional agreement to suspend prosecution if it fulfilled certain requirements, including payment of the penalties to the SFO, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) and Brazil's Ministerio Publico Federal.

As well as agreeing a settlement that was said to be a record of its kind, chief executive Warren East apologised "unreservedly" for the bribery schemes, which first came to light in 2012.

Britain's High Court heard of bribery and corruption in Indonesia, Thailand, India, Russia, China, Nigeria and Malaysia.

Rolls-Royce had admitted, the DoJ said, to shelling out more than $35m in payments and paying officials at state-run energy companies in Angola, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Iraq, Kazakhstan and Thailand in order to win contracts.
As animals increasingly acquire interacting mutations that result in loss of gene function, the relative decline in their fitness may only be exacerbated, a new study in humans and fruit flies suggests. The results help explain why sex and genetic recombination are advantageous. Epistasis is a phenomenon in which the effect of one gene is dependent on the presence of one or more other genes. When epistasis is not in play, genetic selection acts on different mutations independently, so that each additional mutation could cause the same decline in relative fitness. By contrast, if synergistic epistasis between harmful mutations is in effect, each additional mutation could cause a larger decrease in relative fitness. Even understanding this, it has been difficult to come to a definitive conclusion about the processes that result in the greatest relative declines in fitness, because neither mutation burden nor fitness level can be easily measured. Here, Mashaal Sohail and colleagues analyzed full genomes of humans from three established datasets in Europe, and the genomes of Zambian fruit flies from another dataset. They computed the mutation burden, focusing on rare groups of genes for coding synonymous, missense, and loss-of-function (LoF) mutations, and compared these mutations to "essential" genomes of the two species. Based on the dispersion of LoF mutations across both genomes, the authors conclude that selection in humans and flies is indeed synergistic; that is, that an individual's relative decline in fitness increases with each additional mutation.

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Research being presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies 2017 Meeting suggests treating opioid-exposed newborns based on how well they can sleep and be consoled also helps avoid drug-based therapy

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - New research suggests a revamped, "common sense" approach to treating newborns suffering opioid withdrawal--gauging whether the baby can eat, sleep and be consoled within 10 minutes before administering drugs to wean them off exposure--may safely reduce the length of hospitalization they need.

An abstract of the study, "A Novel Approach to Evaluating and Treating Infants with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS)," will be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies 2017 Meeting in San Francisco on Sunday, May 7.

An estimated 95 percent of U.S. hospitals use the Finnegan Neonatal Abstinence Scoring System (FNASS) to guide treatment, based on 21 symptoms of opioid withdrawal. These include tremors, seizures, excessive crying, diarrhea, vomiting, congestion, sneezing and other symptoms that can make it difficult for the baby to eat and sleep. Babies with severe symptoms are started on pharmacologic therapy, typically using the narcotics morphine or methadone.

Researchers at Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital examined whether more non-pharmacologic interventions for NAS in a modified approach called the Eat, Sleep, Console (ESC) model, such as providing a low-stimulation environment, having mothers room-in with their infants and feeding them frequently, could help infants go home sooner.

Fifty babies were included in the study between March 2014 and August 2015. The researchers determined traditional FNASS guidelines would have indicated starting morphine treatment in 30 (60 percent) of the infants. With the ESC guidelines used instead, however, morphine was started on just 6 patients (12 percent).

The study also found that of the 301 patient days evaluated, the FNASS score recommended starting or increasing morphine therapy on one-quarter of the days. Instead, following the ESC model, morphine was started or increased on just 3 percent of the days.

Using the alternative approach helped reduce the length of hospitalization for infants with NAS from 22.5 to 5.9 days without an increase in readmission rate, said Matthew Grossman, MD, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine and Quality and Safety Officer for the hospital who launched the ESC model there in 2011.

Abstract author Matthew Lipshaw, MD, FAAP, said the findings are particularly important with the current opioid epidemic in the United States. The incidence of NAS increased fivefold between 2000-2015 in the United States, Dr. Lipshaw noted, resulting in an estimated $1.5 billion in hospital charges in 2012 alone.

"We found that a common sense approach based on the functional well-being of infants is a safe and more effective way to treat NAS than traditional treatment guidelines, substantially reducing exposure to opioids in these infants and better meeting patient needs," Dr. Lipshaw said.

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Dr. Lipshaw will present the abstract, "A Novel Approach to Evaluating and Treating Infants with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome," between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 7, at the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco.

Reporters interested in an interview with Dr. Lipshaw may contact him at 231-881-1305 or matthew.lipshaw@yale.edu. To reach Dr. Grossman, contact him at 201-824-8507 or matthew.grossman@yale.edu.

Please note: only the abstract is being presented at the meeting. In some cases, the researcher may have more data available to share with media, or may be preparing a longer article for submission to a journal. Contact the researcher for more information.

The Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) Meeting brings together thousands of individuals united by a common mission: to improve child health and wellbeing worldwide. This international gathering includes pediatric researchers, leaders in academic pediatrics, experts in child health, and practitioners. The PAS Meeting is produced through a partnership of four organizations leading the advancement of pediatric research and child advocacy: Academic Pediatric Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Pediatric Society, and Society for Pediatric Research. For more information, visit the PAS Meeting online at http://www.pas-meeting.org, follow us on Twitter @PASMeeting and #pasm17, or like us on Facebook.

ABSTRACT

TITLE: A Novel Approach to Evaluating and Treating Infants with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

CURRENT CATEGORY: Hospital Medicine

KEYWORDS: Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, Drug Exposed Neonate, Methadone.

Background: Infants born to mothers who used opioids in pregnancy may develop neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), a constellation symptoms associated with opioid withdrawal. Most institutions use the Finnegan Neonatal Abstinence Scoring System (FNASS) to guide treatment.

Objective: At our institution, we developed a novel approach to treating infants with NAS. Instead of the FNASS, management decisions were evaluated using a new approach which relied on 3 factors: eating, sleeping and consolability (ESC). The purpose of this study was to describe our novel approach and to compare this approach to one based on the FNASS.

Design/Methods: We conducted a retrospective study comparing our novel approach vs the FNASS guided approach for the treatment of infants with NAS. The study population included all infants born at >35 weeks' gestation at Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital with a diagnosis of NAS from March 2014-August 2015 who were cared for in both the well newborn nursery and the general inpatient unit. FNASS scores were obtained during the hospitalization but did not guide management. We measured the number of incidences when using the FNASS approach would have led to starting or increasing medication as well as the number of times morphine was actually started or increased using the ESC approach.

Results: We reviewed 50 patients with prenatal exposures to opioids with a total of 301 hospital days. FNASS scores indicated starting morphine in 30 infants (60%). Morphine was actually started on only 6 patients (12%) (p< 0.0001) based on the ESC approach. The FNASS led protocol directed initiating or increasing meds on 24.6% of days compared to 2.7% of days using the ESC approach (p< 0.0001). The FNASS approach directed that morphine was either not started or decreased on 65.8% of days compared with 94.4% of days using the ESC approach (p< 0.0001). There were no readmissions or reported adverse events.

Conclusion(s): The FNASS has been used to guide the management of infants with NAS since its development in the mid-1970s. Despite its wide acceptance, the FNASS has never been validated nor have its widely used score cutoffs been tested. We suggest that non-FNASS based NAS protocols, using novel evaluation and treatment approaches such as our ESC approach, can decrease medication administration and resource utilization for NAS without leading to significant adverse events. Further work is needed to assess long term neurodevelopmental outcomes associated with various evaluation and treatment approaches.
SAN FRANCISCO - Survival rates have risen dramatically in recent years among children who develop sepsis, a severe, life-threatening immune reaction to an infection somewhere in the body. But new research being presented at the 2017 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting shows that recovery remains a long haul for patients, with many still feeling effects on their physical, social, emotional and school functioning for months after they are discharged from the hospital.

Researchers will present the abstract, "Illness Severity Associated with Deterioration of Health-Related Quality of Life Following Pediatric Sepsis" on Monday, May 8, at the Moscone West Convention Center.

Lead author Elizabeth Killien, a pediatric critical care medicine fellow at the University of Washington School of Medicine, said that while it is increasingly rare for children to die from severe infections in the United States, the number of children experiencing sepsis actually is increasing.

"Although the number of children surviving sepsis is rising dramatically," Killien said, "we know very little about what happens to these children after they're released from the hospital."

Reviewing electronic health records, the researchers identified 778 children admitted to Seattle Children's Hospital between 2012 and 2015 who met the criteria for sepsis within four hours of arrival. They compared the patients' reported, baseline health-related quality of life, a collection of factors that describe a child's overall level of functional well-being, with similar measurements taken 2 weeks and 5 months after hospital discharge.

"What we found was that more than 23 percent, or nearly a quarter, of the patients hospitalized with sepsis have a significant decline in quality of life after hospitalization that can last several months after discharge," Killien said.

Among factors that most strongly predicted failure to recover to baseline health-related quality of life, Dr. Killien said, was the severity of a patient's sepsis. For example, fully 50 percent of patients who developed septic shock, in which blood pressure plunges and organ damage can occur, were still below their baseline functional health status nearly five months after discharge. An even higher amount (56 percent) of patients who had sepsis that involved infections in their blood also had failed to fully recover, as did 53 percent of those who had central nervous system infections.

Identifying which factors predict declines in quality of life, Dr. Killien said, can help the medical community recognize which children are most at risk for prolonged recovery.

"We've always focused on reducing deaths from pediatric sepsis, but it's becoming increasingly clear that children who are surviving sepsis experience many lasting effects on their health and quality of life," she said. "Knowing that sepsis can have such a significant impact on children's long-term well-being can help us better support them during and after a hospitalization to help improve outcomes among survivors."

Dr. Killien will present the abstract at 1:45 p.m.

Please note: only the abstract is being presented at the meeting. In some cases, the researcher may have more data available to share with media, or may be preparing a longer article for submission to a journal. Contact the researcher for more information.

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The Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) Meeting brings together thousands of individuals united by a common mission: to improve child health and wellbeing worldwide. This international gathering includes pediatric researchers, leaders in academic pediatrics, experts in child health, and practitioners. The PAS Meeting is produced through a partnership of four organizations leading the advancement of pediatric research and child advocacy: Academic Pediatric Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Pediatric Society, and Society for Pediatric Research. For more information, visit the PAS Meeting online at http://www.pas-meeting.org, follow us on Twitter @PASMeeting and #pasm17, or like us on Facebook.

ABSTRACT

TITLE: Illness Severity Associated with Deterioration of Health-Related Quality of Life Following Pediatric Sepsis

Background: As mortality from pediatric sepsis has declined, the number of children surviving sepsis is rising dramatically. Little is known, however, about long-term morbidity among survivors. This investigation aimed to measure the incidence of and risk factors for deterioration of health-related quality of life (HRQL) following pediatric sepsis, hypothesizing that sepsis severity would be associated with a decline in HRQL.

Design/Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of children admitted to Seattle Children's Hospital with community-acquired sepsis from 2012-2015 using electronic health records to identify patients meeting 2005 consensus sepsis criteria within 4 hours of presentation. We assessed HRQL with the PedsQLTM for pre-admission baseline and 0.5-5 month post-discharge status, and identified patients who failed to recover within 4.5 PedsQLTM points of their baseline (the minimally clinically significant difference). We determined associations between patient and illness characteristics and failure to recover (FR) from baseline to follow-up in univariate analyses and a multivariable generalized linear model, and determined mean difference in PedsQLTM using linear regression modeling.

Results: Failure to recover occurred in 23.4% of 778 included patients and persisted for up to 140 days post-discharge. Factors associated with FR included sepsis category (septic shock 50%, severe sepsis 30.3%, sepsis 21.9%, p=0.001), ICU admission (36.7%, p=0.003), site of infection (blood 55.6%, CNS 52.9%, p<0.001), immune compromise (39.6%, p<0.001), Pediatric Medical Complexity Algorithm category (complex chronic 30.3%, p=0.01), longer length of stay (LOS) (p<0.001, Fig1), and shorter time to follow-up (p=0.02, Fig2). In multivariable regression, FR was associated with septic shock (RR 1.64 [1.04-2.58]), CNS infection (RR 1.92 [1.13-3.24]), and immune compromise (RR 1.80 [1.35-2.41]). LOS was associated with FR among non-ICU patients only (RR 1.04/day [1.01-1.07]). Lower severity of illness as measured by MPEWS score 4-6 for non-ICU patients (RR 0.69 [0.50-0.95]) and PRISM <5 for ICU patients on linear regression (+1.09pts [0.002-2.17]) was protective.

Conclusion(s): Nearly one-quarter of children surviving community-acquired sepsis experience a clinically significant decline in HRQL persisting up to 4.5 months following hospital discharge. Identification of the potentially modifiable factors associated with HRQL deterioration is essential to guide interventions to improve long term outcomes.
SAN FRANCISCO - Visits by teens to a Colorado children's hospital emergency department and its satellite urgent care centers increased rapidly after legalization of marijuana for commercialized medical and recreational use, according to new research being presented at the 2017 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting in San Francisco.

The study abstract, "Impact of Marijuana Legalization in Colorado on Adolescent Emergency Visits" on Monday, May 8 at the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco.

Colorado legalized the commercialization of medical marijuana in 2010 and recreational marijuana use in 2014. For the study, researchers reviewed the hospital system's emergency department and urgent care records for 13- to 21-year-olds seen between January 2005 and June 2015. They found that the annual number of visits with a cannabis related diagnostic code or positive for marijuana from a urine drug screen more than quadrupled during the decade, from 146 in 2005 to 639 in 2014.

Adolescents with symptoms of mental illness accounted for a large proportion (66 percent) of the 3,443 marijuana-related visits during the study period, said lead author George Sam Wang, MD, FAAP, with psychiatry consultations increasing from 65 to 442. More than half also had positive urine drug screen tests for other drugs. Ethanol, amphetamines, benzodiazepines, opiates and cocaine were the most commonly detected.

Dr. Wang, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, said national data on teen marijuana use suggest rates remained roughly the same (about 7 percent) in 2015 as they'd been for a decade prior, with many concluding no significant impact from legalization. Based on the findings of his study, however, he said he suspects these national surveys do not entirely reflect the effect legalization may be having on teen usage.

"The state-level effect of marijuana legalization on adolescent use has only begun to be evaluated," he said. "As our results suggest, targeted marijuana education and prevention strategies are necessary to reduce the significant public health impact of the drug can have on adolescent populations, particularly on mental health."

Dr. Wang will present the abstract, "Impact of Marijuana Legalization in Colorado on Adolescent Emergency Department (ED) Visits," from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Numbers in this news release reflect updated information provided by the researchers.

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Please note: only the abstract is being presented at the meeting. In some cases, the researcher may have more data available to share with media, or may be preparing a longer article for submission to a journal. Contact the researcher for more information.

The Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) Meeting brings together thousands of individuals united by a common mission: to improve child health and wellbeing worldwide. This international gathering includes pediatric researchers, leaders in academic pediatrics, experts in child health, and practitioners. The PAS Meeting is produced through a partnership of four organizations leading the advancement of pediatric research and child advocacy: Academic Pediatric Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Pediatric Society, and Society for Pediatric Research. For more information, visit the PAS Meeting online at http://www.pas-meeting.org, follow us on Twitter @PASMeeting and #pasm17, or like us on Facebook.

ABSTRACT

TITLE: Impact of Marijuana Legalization in Colorado on Adolescent Emergency Department (ED) Visits

Background: According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, approximately 1.8 million adolescents (7%) aged 12 to 17 are current users of marijuana. National data does not appear to demonstrate state legalization impacting use rates. The percentage of adolescents in 2015 who were current users was similar between 2004 and 2014. However, the state level effect of marijuana legalization on adolescent use has only begun to be evaluated.

Objective: The objective was to evaluate the impact on adolescent ED visits Colorado, a state that has legalized both medical (2000) and recreational marijuana (2014).

Design/Methods: This was a retrospective review of adolescents presenting for an ED or Urgent Care (UC) visit at a tertiary care children' children's hospital or their surrounding satellite UC. Subjects were ? 13 years and < 21 years presenting to the ED or UC from 2005 through June 2015. ED and UC visits were determined as marijuana-related if they had and ICD-9 code for marijuana use (305.20, 969.6 or E854.1), or a positive urine toxicology screen for marijuana (tetrahydrocannabinol). ED visits were also noted if a psychiatry consultation was performed (for drug use or behavioral health concerns). Annual visit data was reported as total number of visits, and as visits per 1000 to adjust for yearly changes in volume

Results: During the study period there were 3,443 individual patients who were evaluated in the ED (3137, 91%) or UC who either had only an ICD-9 code related to marijuana use (881), or both a ICD-9 code and positive THC on urine toxicology screen (2562). The mean age of patients evaluated was 16.2 years. Of these patients, 2345 (68%) were also evaluated by psychiatry. The annual number of ED visits related to marijuana use increased from 106 in 2005 to 631 in 2014, with psychiatry consultations increasing from 65 to 442.(Figure 1). Rate of visitation per 1000 ED/UC visits increased from 0.95 visits per 1000 visits in 2009, to 4.01 visits per 1000 visits in 2015.

Conclusion(s): ED and UC visits with adolescent marijuana use in Colorado increased at a rapid rate after commercialization of medical marijuana and legalization of recreational marijuana. Adolescents with psychiatric illnesses were comprised a large proportion of marijuana exposures. Targeted education and prevention strategies for marijuana use are necessary in adolescent population to reduce the public health impact.
Ring Road expansion: Koteshwor-Ekantakuna road stretch likely to be completed by mid-June

The five-kilometre Koteshwor-Ekantakuna road segment under the first phase of the Kathmandu Ring Road Improvement Project (KRRIP) is all set to come into operation by mid-June.
New research being presented at the 2017 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting suggests the more time children under 2 years old spend playing with smartphones, tablets and other handheld screens, the more likely they are to begin talking later

SAN FRANCISCO - As the number of smart phones, tablets, electronic games and other handheld screens in U.S. homes continues to grow, some children begin using these devices before beginning to talk. New research being presented at the 2017 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting suggests these children may be at higher risk for speech delays.

Researchers will present the abstract, "Is handheld screen time use associated with language delay in infants?" on Saturday, May 6 at the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco. The study included 894 children between ages 6 months and 2 years participating in TARGet Kids!, a practice-based research network in Toronto between 2011 and 2015.

By their 18-month check-ups, 20 percent of the children had daily average handheld device use of 28 minutes, according to their parents. Based on a screening tool for language delay, researchers found that the more handheld screen time a child's parent reported, the more likely the child was to have delays in expressive speech. For each 30-minute increase in handheld screen time, researchers found a 49 percent increased risk of expressive speech delay. There was no apparent link between handheld device screen time and other communications delays, such as social interactions, body language or gestures.

"Handheld devices are everywhere these days," said Dr. Catherine Birken, MD, MSc, FRCPC, the study's principal investigator and a staff pediatrician and scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). "While new pediatric guidelines suggest limiting screen time for babies and toddlers, we believe that the use of smartphones and tablets with young children has become quite common. This is the first study to report an association between handheld screen time and increased risk of expressive language delay."

Dr. Birken said the results support a recent policy recommendation by the American Academy of Pediatrics to discourage any type of screen media in children younger than 18 months. More research is needed, she said, to understand the type and contents of screen activities infants are engaging in to further explore mechanisms behind the apparent link between handheld screen time and speech delay, such as time spent together with parents on handheld devices, and to understand the impact on in-depth and longer-term communication outcomes in early childhood.

Lead author Julia Ma, HBSc, an MPH student at the University of Toronto, will present the abstract, "Is handheld screen time use associated with language delay in infants?" at 10:30 a.m.

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Reporters interested in an interview with one of the authors can contact Caitlin Johannesson, Media Relations, The Hospital for Sick Children, at caitlin.johannesson@sickkids.ca

Please note: only the abstract is being presented at the meeting. In some cases, the researcher may have more data available to share with media, or may be preparing a longer article for submission to a journal. Contact the researcher for more information.

The Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) Meeting brings together thousands of individuals united by a common mission: to improve child health and wellbeing worldwide. This international gathering includes pediatric researchers, leaders in academic pediatrics, experts in child health, and practitioners. The PAS Meeting is produced through a partnership of four organizations leading the advancement of pediatric research and child advocacy: Academic Pediatric Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Pediatric Society, and Society for Pediatric Research. For more information, visit the PAS Meeting online at http://www.pas-meeting.org, follow us on Twitter @PASMeeting and #pasm17, or like us on Facebook.

ABSTRACT

TITLE: Is handheld screen time use associated with language delay in infants?

Background: In recent years young children have been increasingly exposed to various handheld devices. The relationship between television time and expressive language delay is well established in young children. Studies examining the relationship between handheld screen time and language outcomes in infants are lacking.

Objective: To determine the association between handheld screen time and communication problems in children 6-24 months of age.

Design/Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used. Parents of children 6-24 months participating in the TARGet Kids! practice based research network were included during scheduled health supervision visits between September 2011 and December 2015. Parents reported their child's typical daily handheld screen time use and communication problems were assessed by the Infant Toddler Checklist (ITC), a validated questionnaire for detecting expressive speech delay and other communication concerns. Expressive speech delay was indicated by a score below the 10th percentile in the speech domain of the ITC and other communication concerns were indicated by a score below the 10th percentile in the symbolic, social or the total score of the ITC. A logistic regression model was used to examine the association between handheld screen time and communication problems adjusted for the covariates infant non-handheld screen time, parent handheld screen time, infant temperament, maternal education, and family income.

Results: This study included 1077 children with a median age of 18.4 months; 580 (54%) were male. 744 (69%) children did not have any handheld screen time while 219 (20%) had a daily mean handheld device use of 27.8 minutes (SD=33.5). Adjusting for covariates, we identified a significant association between handheld screen time and expressive speech delay (OR=1.49, 95% CI: 1.02-2.16); this relationship was more pronounced among children who reported any handheld screen time (OR=2.11, 95% CI: 1.10-4.05). No relationship was observed between handheld screen time and other communication delays in infants for the entire cohort (OR=0.86, 95% CI: 0.54-1.39) and among those with any handheld screen time (OR=0.73, 95% CI: 0.27-1.96).

Conclusion(s): Infants with more handheld screen time have an increased risk of an expressive speech delay. Additional research is needed to inform recommendations limiting handheld screen time in infants.
SAN FRANCISCO - New research being presented at the 2017 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting suggests online health information can influence whether parents trust a diagnosis made by their child's doctor, potentially leading to delayed treatment.

The study abstract, "Paging Dr. Google: The Effects of Online Health Information on Parental Trust in Pediatrician' Medical Diagnoses," will be presented at the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco.

Using the Mechanical Turk online research platform, researchers recruited 1,374 parent participants who were presented with a vignette of a child who "has had a rash and worsening fever for 3 days." The participants, who averaged 34 years of age and had at least one child under age 18, were then divided into groups.

In the first group, participants received screen shots of internet information describing some symptoms of scarlet fever, an infectious disease linked to Strep throat that causes rash and fever. Unless treated with antibiotics, scarlet fever can develop into rheumatic fever and, in some cases, lead to heart damage.

The second group of participants received screen shots listing select symptoms of Kawasaki disease, a condition in which blood vessels throughout the body become inflamed. It also is accompanied by fever and rash. Prompt treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs is needed to help prevent life-threatening complications such as aneurisms.

A third set of parents, the control group, received no internet screen shots. All participants then read that the doctor had diagnosed the child with scarlet fever. Compared to the control group, in which 81.0 percent of parents reported trusting the physician, 90.5 percent of parents who had received scarlet fever symptom screen shots reported trusting the physician. Furthermore, fewer parents in the scarlet fever cohort answered that they were likely to seek a second opinion (21.4 percent), compared to the control group (42.0 percent).

Conversely, only 61.3 percent of participants who had viewed the screen shots listing rash and fever as symptoms of Kawasaki disease reported trusting the doctors' diagnosis, and 64.2 percent reported that they were likely to seek a second opinion.

Lead author Ruth Milanaik, DO, FAAP, an associate professor at the Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, said that although there are many advantages of having easily accessible medical information available on the internet, the study's findings show that "internet-driven interpretation of symptoms" can compromise trust between a doctor and patient.

"The internet is a powerful information tool, but it is limited by its inability to reason and think," Dr. Milanaik said. "Simply entering a collection of symptoms in a search engine may not reflect the actual medical situation at hand. These computer-generated diagnoses may mislead patients or parents and cause them to question their doctors' medical abilities and seek a second opinion, thereby delaying treatment."

Pediatricians should encourage parents to share all concerns they have, Dr. Milanaik said, so they lead them through the differential diagnosis process, and why others diagnoses were ruled out.

"Parents who still have doubts should absolutely seek a second opinion," she said. "But they shouldn't be afraid to discuss the result of internet information with the physician."

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Please note: only the abstract is being presented at the meeting. In some cases, the researcher may have more data available to share with media, or may be preparing a longer article for submission to a journal. Contact the researcher for more information.

The Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) Meeting brings together thousands of individuals united by a common mission: to improve child health and wellbeing worldwide. This international gathering includes pediatric researchers, leaders in academic pediatrics, experts in child health, and practitioners. The PAS Meeting is produced through a partnership of four organizations leading the advancement of pediatric research and child advocacy: Academic Pediatric Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Pediatric Society, and Society for Pediatric Research. For more information, visit the PAS Meeting online at http://www.pas-meeting.org, follow us on Twitter @PASMeeting and #pasm17, or like us on Facebook.

ABSTRACT

TITLE: Paging Dr. Google: The effects of online health information on parental trust in pediatricians' medical diagnoses

Background: In today's technology-laden world, parents are likely to seek health information online. Although online information may help parents make informed decisions about their child's healthcare, few studies have examined the impact this information has on the parent-pediatrician dyad.

Objective: To examine how online information that either supports or contradicts a doctor's medical diagnosis (Dx) affects parental trust in the doctor's Dx and parents' likelihood of seeking a second opinion (SO).

Design/Methods: The study was released on Amazon's Mechanical Turk to parents of at least one child <18 yrs. All participants were presented with a vignette of a child who "has had a rash and worsening fever for 3 days." Each participant was then assigned to 1 of 3 cohorts. The "Scarlet Fever (SF)" and "Kawasaki Disease (KD)" cohorts received screenshots of doctored internet results suggesting that the child's symptoms indicated either SF or KD. The control cohort received no internet results. All cohorts then read that the doctor had diagnosed the child with SF. Each participant was subsequently asked to rate their level of trust in the Dx from 1 (Not at all) to 7 (Completely). They were also asked to rate their likelihood of seeking a SO regarding the Dx, from 1 (Extremely Unlikely) to 7 (Extremely Likely). Mean trust and mean likelihood ratings were analyzed across cohorts using a Kruskal-Wallis Test with Dunn's Test for multiple comparisons.

Results: The sample included 1374 participants, (46.9% male, mean age 34.3 yrs). Overall, the three cohorts significantly differed in reported trust in the doctors' Dx (p < .001) and reported likelihood of seeking a SO (p < .001; Fig. 1). Compared to the control group, mean trust in the Dx was higher in the SF cohort and lower in the KD cohort, and reported likelihood of seeking a SO was lower in the SF cohort and higher in the KD cohort.

Conclusion(s): After reading online search results, parents were more inclined to trust their doctors's Dx when online information supported their doctor's Dx and less inclined when information contradicted the doctor. Parents were also more likely to seek a SO if internet results contradicted the doctor's Dx. Although it is imperative that parents participate in the medical decision-making process, conflicting online information could in some cases delay necessary medical treatment. Physicians must be aware of the influence the internet may have on parents and ensure adequate parental education to address any possible concerns.
Research at 2017 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting finds that teens developing depression likely to use terms such as feeling 'stressed' rather than 'depressed'

SAN FRANCISCO - While it's estimated at least one in 10 teens in the U.S. suffer from depression at some point, few will use the word "depressed" to describe negative emotions hanging over them. Instead, new research at the 2017 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting in San Francisco suggests, they're likely to use terms such as "stressed," or "down," and other words that may sound like ordinary teen angst but could be a signal of more serious, pre-depressive symptoms.

Researchers will present the abstract, "Understanding teen expression of sadness in primary care: A qualitative exploration" on Sunday, May 7, at the Moscone West Convention Center. For the study, they analyzed a sample of screening interviews with 369 teens ages 13 and 18 at risk for depression who participated in the Promoting Adolescent Health Study (PATH), a large, randomized control trial funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health.

"Much of what a teen is feeling and experiencing is easy to attribute to the ups and downs of teen angst," said abstract co-author Daniela DeFrino, PhD, RN, an assistant professor of research in the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine and College of Nursing. "But, sometimes, there is so much more under the surface that can lead to depression," she said.

For the PATH study, adolescents who reported feeling down irritable or hopeless during the past two weeks in private, written responses to two brief screening questions received a call from the study team. During the call, researchers used validated measures to screen for those at risk for depression.

"Teens rarely stated they were depressed, but described bursts of feeling stressed and sad that often came and went," DeFrino said. For example, a teen might say, "I always find somehow to go back to stressful mode," DeFrino said, or, "I get really mad at people very easily. They don't understand why I'm upset. Sometimes I don't either."

Other common symptoms the teens in the study reported:

Increased anger and irritability toward others.

Loss of interest in activities they previously enjoyed.

Marked difficulty falling and staying asleep, as well as sleeping too much.

Recruited from the Chicago and Boston areas, PATH study participants were 68 percent female, 21 percent Hispanic, 26 percent African-American and 43 percent white. More than half of the teens' mothers and fathers (60 percent and 54 percent, respectively) were college graduates.

DeFrino said the teens often noted school pressure related to homework and expectations to succeed as sources of stress and difficulty. Arguments with parents, verbal and emotional abuse, divorce, separation, neglect, sexual abuse and home relocation were among major reasons cited for worsening mood. Teens also often attributed new feelings of sadness to deaths from illness and suicides of family members or friends.

The researchers also noted that, unrelated to expressed feelings of depression, two-thirds of the teens had visited their primary healthcare providers for physical illnesses such as ulcers, migraines, stomach pains and fatigue. These visits could offer an opportunity for a health care provider to identify feelings and check in with mental health concerns as well, DeFrino said.

"Teens may be experiencing a lot of internal turmoil and difficult life stresses that we can easily overlook if we don't probe with sensitive questioning and understanding," DeFrino said. "Reframing these feelings as outward symptoms of pre-depression by the primary care provider would allow for connection to and discussion about the importance of mental health with the teen and parent."

Dr. DeFrino will present the abstract, "Understanding teen expression of sadness in primary care: A qualitative exploration," at the Mental Health/Substance Use poster session from 4:15 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

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Please note: only the abstract is being presented at the meeting. In some cases, the researcher may have more data available to share with media, or may be preparing a longer article for submission to a journal. Contact the researcher for more information.

The Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) Meeting brings together thousands of individuals united by a common mission: to improve child health and wellbeing worldwide. This international gathering includes pediatric researchers, leaders in academic pediatrics, experts in child health, and practitioners. The PAS Meeting is produced through a partnership of four organizations leading the advancement of pediatric research and child advocacy: Academic Pediatric Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Pediatric Society, and Society for Pediatric Research. For more information, visit the PAS Meeting online at http://www.pas-meeting.org, follow us on Twitter @PASMeeting and #pasm17, or like us on Facebook.

ABSTRACT

TITLE: Understanding teen expression of sadness in primary care: A qualitative exploration

Background: The lifetime and 12-month prevalences of depression in adolescents are believed to be 11% and 7.5%, respectively. The prevalence of teen depression in primary care settings is estimated as twice that in community samples. It is the role of the Primary Care Provider (PCP) to recognize and investigate early signs of depression in adolescents. However, there are barriers such as time, inadequate training, dearth of referral sources, and lack of health care coverage. Understanding how adolescents express pre-depressive symptoms and coping strategies may help PCPs in depression prevention.

Design/Methods: The PATH study (Promoting Adolescent Health Study)--a large, multi-site, NIMH-funded, depression prevention trial of N=446 adolescents--was completed in 2016. The screening process for PATH included semi-structured diagnostic hour-long Kiddie-Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children interviews. We chose N=24 of these interviews for qualitative content analysis to explore how adolescents express pre-depressive symptoms and coping. Analysis was conducted until data saturation occurred and patterns emerged.

Results: Teens rarely stated they were "depressed," but used terms such as "stressed" or "sad" to describe feelings that came and went, often in "bursts." The majority noticed increased anger and irritability toward others. Teens mentioned new feelings of apathy toward prior interests. They overwhelmingly discussed marked difficulty falling and staying asleep. Consistently they noted school pressure related to homework and expectations to succeed were sources of stress and difficulty. Family discord was a major stressor related to mood worsening. Examples include: arguments with a parent or in the household, divorce, separation, neglect, sexual abuse and moving. Notably many teens had visited their PCPs for physical illnesses such as ulcers, migraines, stomach pains, difficulty sleeping, and fatigue - all unrelated to expression of feelings of depression. Having friends to spend time with and talk to helped the teens cope with stressors.

Conclusion(s): The findings identify often common and seemingly innocuous topics and feelings PCPs should tune into with teens, exploring with inquiry and probing, during both annual and episodic visits. Reframing of these feelings as outward symptoms of pre-depression by the PCP would allow for connection to mental health and allow for opening the discussion of mental health with the teen and parent.
A new American Cancer Society study concludes that sugar-sweetened beverages have become more affordable in nearly every corner of the globe, and are likely to become even more affordable and more widely consumed. The study appears in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease, and concludes that without policy action to raise prices, global efforts to address the obesity epidemic will be hampered.

For the study researchers analyzed both real prices of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) as well as relative income prices, based on annual per capita income in 40 high-income and 42 low-income and middle-income countries around the world between from 1990 to 2016. They used Coca-Cola as a proxy for all sugar-sweetened beverages because it is the most globally recognizable sugar-sweetened beverage brand and widely available worldwide, comprising more than one-fourth (25.8%) of the global market in 2014, more than double its closest competitor.

They found sugar-sweetened beverages became more affordable in 79 of 82 countries between 1990 and 2016, most often due to a combination of increases in income and decreases in price. Real prices dropped in 56 of the 82 countries.

"Overall in the countries we studied, a person in 2016 could buy 71 percent more sugar-sweetened beverages with the same share of their income than they could in 1990," said Jeffrey Drope, Ph.D., study co-author. "Sugary drinks became even more affordable in developing countries, where 2016's income could buy 89 percent more sugar-sweetened beverages than in 1990. That's essentially half-price."

"Although the increase in affordability is partly due to economic progress that resulted from rapid global economic development, it is also attributable to a lack of action taken by policy makers to affect the price of sugar-sweetened beverages," write the authors. "We argue and the scientific literature strongly suggests that this environment of increasingly affordable sugar-sweetened beverages will inevitably drive increased consumption of such products and will certainly hamper global efforts to address the overweight and obesity epidemic."

The authors also reviewed price trends for bottled water comparing them to SSBs to provide a control, and found that bottled water is typically more expensive and less affordable than sugar-sweetened beverages.

Because rising incomes are a positive sign of growth, the authors say "the logical intervention is for governments to affect prices through excise taxation, as they have done with other unhealthful products such as cigarettes."

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Article: Blecher E, Liber AC, Drope JM, Nguyen B, Stoklosa M. Global Trends in the Affordability of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages, 1990-2016. Prev Chronic Dis 2017; 14:160406. DOI: 10.5888/pcd14.160406.
A Baycrest Health Sciences researcher and clinician has developed the first group language intervention that helps individuals losing the ability to speak due to a rare form of dementia, and could help patients maintain their communication abilities for longer.

Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) is a unique language disorder that involves struggles with incorrect word substitutions, mispronounced words and/or difficulty understanding simple words and forgetting names of familiar objects and people. With PPA, language function declines before the memory systems, which is the opposite of Alzheimer's disease.

Dr. Regina Jokel, a speech-language pathologist at Baycrest's Sam and Ida Ross Memory Clinic and a clinician-scientist with the Rotman Research Institute (RRI), has developed the first structured group intervention for PPA patients and their caregivers. This intervention could also help treat patients with other communication problems, such as mild cognitive impairment (a condition that is likely to develop into Alzheimer's). The results of her pilot program were published in the Journal of Communication Disorders on April 14, 2017.

"This research aims to address the needs of one of the most underserviced populations in language disorders," says Dr. Jokel. "Individuals with PPA are often referred to either Alzheimer's programs or aphasia centres. Neither option is appropriate in this case, which often leaves individuals with PPA adrift in our health care system. Our group intervention has the potential to fill the existing void and reduce demands on numerous other health services."

Language rehabilitation has made headway in managing the disorder, but there are limited PPA treatment options, adds Dr. Jokel.

Dr. Jokel is one of the few researchers in the world studying this disease. She was motivated to acquire her PhD. and devise the intervention after encountering her first PPA patient more than 25 years ago.

"When I realized the patient had PPA, I ran to the rehabilitation literature thinking that he needed to start some sort of therapy. I ran a search and came up with nothing. Absolutely nothing," says Jokel. "That's when I thought, 'It's time to design something.'"

The 10-week intervention included working on language activities, learning communication strategies and receiving counselling and education for both patients and their caregivers. During the pilot program, patients either improved or remained unchanged on communication assessments for adults with communication disorders. Their caregivers also reported being better prepared to manage psychosocial issues and communication challenges and had more knowledge of PPA and the disease's progression.

"In progressive disorders, any sign of maintaining current level of function should be interpreted as success," says Dr. Jokel. "Slowing the progression and maintenance of communication abilities should be the most important goal."

For the study's next steps, Dr. Jokel has received support from a Brain Canada-Alzheimer's Association partnership grant to assess the therapy's impact on the language skills of PPA patients. With support from the Ontario Brain Institute, she is also collaborating with RRI brain rehabilitation scientist, Dr. Jed Meltzer, to explore the effect of brain stimulation on patients also undergoing language therapy.

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About Baycrest Health Sciences

Baycrest Health Sciences is a global leader in geriatric residential living, healthcare, research, innovation and education, with a special focus on brain health and aging. Fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, Baycrest provides excellent care for older adults combined with an extensive clinical training program for the next generation of healthcare professionals and one of the world's top research institutes in cognitive neuroscience, the Rotman Research Institute. Baycrest is home to the federally and provincially-funded Canadian Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation, a solution accelerator focused on driving innovation in the aging and brain health sector, and is the developer of Cogniciti - a free online memory assessment for Canadians 40+ who are concerned about their memory. Through its dedicated centres, the organization offers unmatched global knowledge exchange and commercialization capacity. Founded in 1918 as the Jewish Home for Aged, Baycrest continues to embrace the long-standing tradition of all great Jewish healthcare institutions to improve the well-being of people in their local communities and around the globe. For more information please visit: http://www.baycrest.org

About Baycrest's Rotman Research Institute

The Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Health Sciences is a premier international centre for the study of human brain function. Through generous support from private donors and funding agencies, the institute is helping to illuminate the causes of cognitive decline in seniors, identify promising approaches to treatment, and lifestyle practices that will protect brain health longer in the lifespan.

For media inquiries:

Jonathan MacIndoe

Baycrest Health Sciences

416-785-2500 ext. 6579

jmacindoe@baycrest.org
Did Nazi-era physicians study medical ethics? Does the concept of medical ethics exist independently of political systems? These were the questions driving Dr. Florian Bruns of Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin and Dr. Tessa Chelouche from the University of Haifa in Israel when they embarked on their recent collaboration. Their study, Lectures on Inhumanity: Teaching Medical Ethics in German Medical Schools Under Nazism, has been published in the Annals of Internal Medicine*.

Today, we find it virtually inconceivable that physicians under the Nazi regime should have been discussing or studying medical ethics. However, using archived historical documents, this is precisely what the two researchers were able to confirm. 1939 saw the introduction of mandatory lectures on medical ethics at all German universities, including at the Berlin Faculty of Medicine.

The aim of these lectures was for future physicians to gain an understanding of the ethical and moral values underpinning Nazi medicine. These included the notion of human beings having unequal 'worth', and the assumption that the health of the 'people's body' (i.e. the community) is always more important than that of the individual. The authoritarian role of the physician, the exclusion of all alien 'races', and the individual's obligation to stay healthy also counted among the moral values imparted as part of these lectures. Physicians who were early members of the Nazi Party, and thus considered ideologically reliable, were chosen to deliver these lectures.

"Our research shows that medical ethics is merely a reflection of the current societal zeitgeist, and that humane principles do not constitute a universal construct that can be taken for granted. Rather, it must be constantly renegotiated and defended," says Dr. Florian Bruns of Charite's Institute for the History of Medicine and Medical Ethics.

The project entitled 'GeDenkOrt.Charite - Responsibility in Science' (GeDenkOrt.Charite - Wissenschaft in Verantwortung) addresses this challenge. The aim of this project is to encourage students and physicians to become aware of, and remain vigilant against, threats to ethical principles within the biomedical sciences and technology and, above all, to commit to upholding the principles of professional conduct in medical practice, research and teaching. In 2015, Charite also created the first Chair in Medical Humanities in Germany.

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*Bruns F, Chelouche T. Lectures on Inhumanity: Teaching Medical Ethics in German Medical Schools Under Nazism. Ann Intern Med. 2017 Apr 18;166(8):591-595. doi: 10.7326/M16-2758.

Contact:

Dr. Florian Bruns

Institute for the History of Medicine and Medical Ethics

Charite - Universitatsmedizin Berlin

Tel: +49 30 450 529 045

Florian.Bruns@charite.de

Links:

http://annals.org/aim/article/2618421/lectures-inhumanity-teaching-medical-ethics-german-medical-schools-under-nazism

GeDenkOrt.Charite - Science and Social Responsibility

Institute for the History of Medicine and Ethics in Medicine
First COBRE of its size, only in the US to focus on women's health

Pregnancy is a critical time in a woman's life and is recognized as a window into her future health. Although the overwhelming majority of patients have a healthy outcome, pregnancy complications have been on the rise globally. New and emerging data strongly suggest significant maternal health consequences after pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia, diabetes and preterm birth. Likewise, children born to mothers experiencing these conditions are at significant risk of developing chronic diseases, including neurological, metabolic and cardiovascular disorders. Surprisingly, there is still little information about the causes of these pregnancy-associated disorders, as well as prediction and treatment.

Toward conducting research that will shed light on these disorders and their potential future health implications, Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island has been awarded a $12.2 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) grant to boost interdisciplinary research related to women's reproductive health. (NOTE: This grant was previously reported on March 29, 2017 as $11 million.) The programmatic and scientific goals of this COBRE for Reproductive Health are to develop research infrastructure for a center that supports a multidisciplinary, translational and innovative program in women's reproductive health. This is the first COBRE of its size and the only one to focus on women's health.

"Pregnancy is an important time in a woman's life, and while there are physiological changes in response to pregnancy, some of these changes persist later in life," said Surendra Sharma, MD, PhD, a research scientist and professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Women & Infants Hospital and The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. "The question that remains unanswered is how complications suffered by a woman during pregnancy provide insight into other future adverse health outcomes."

Dr. Sharma will serve as the principal investigator for the COBRE for Reproductive Health. Maureen G. Phipps, MD, MPH, chair and Chace-Joukowsky Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and assistant dean for Teaching and Research in Women's Health at the Warren Alpert Medical School, professor of epidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health, and chief of obstetrics and gynecology at Women & Infants Hospital and Care New England Health System, will serve as Deputy Director of the program.

According to Dr. Sharma, the overarching research goals of this COBRE include the use of well-defined, pre-clinical models to understand mechanisms of preeclampsia, gestational diabetes and prematurity; identification of functional predictive biomarkers; and application of contemporary computational approaches to enhance understanding of the networks and pathways underlying these devastating pregnancy complications.

Four investigators will be participating in this COBRE for Reproductive Health at Women & Infants Hospital:

Lynae Brayboy, MD, a reproductive endocrinologist in the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at Women & Infants Hospital and an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Warren Alpert Medical School, proposes an intriguing new study on the prediction of preeclampsia and gestational diabetes in in vitro fertilization (IVF) patients.

Shibin Cheng, MD, PhD, a research scientist at Women & Infants Hospital and assistant professor of pediatrics at the Warren Alpert Medical School, will continue his studies into preeclampsia. Interestingly, his study also focuses on the concept that preeclampsia may be a prelude to Alzheimer's disease, a significant disease affecting women later in life.

Beatrice Lechner, MD, a neonatologist at Women & Infants and assistant professor of pediatrics at the Warren Alpert Medical School, will continue her studies into complications causing pre-term birth. Dr. Lechner's work represents cutting -edge science. Along with a high rate of mortality in newborns, preterm birth has also been associated with a high rate of mortality in mothers, suggesting its long-term health effects on women.

Jessica S. Schuster, PhD, is an instructor of pediatrics and a computational biologist in the Department of Pediatrics at Women & Infants Hospital. Her study focuses on women diagnosed with severe preeclampsia and on using contemporary mathematical and computer science approaches to find answers to scientific questions related to preeclampsia.

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About Women & Infants Hospital

Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, a Care New England hospital, is one of the nation's leading specialty hospitals for women and newborns. A major teaching affiliate of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University for obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics, as well as a number of specialized programs in women's medicine, Women & Infants is the ninth largest stand-alone obstetrical service in the country and the largest in New England with approximately 8,500 deliveries per year. A Designated Baby-Friendly USA hospital, U.S.News & World Report 2014-15 Best Children's Hospital in Neonatology and a 2014 Leapfrog Top Hospital, in 2009 Women & Infants opened what was at the time the country's largest, single-family room neonatal intensive care unit.

Women & Infants and Brown offer fellowship programs in gynecologic oncology, maternal-fetal medicine, urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery, neonatal-perinatal medicine, pediatric and perinatal pathology, gynecologic pathology and cytopathology, and reproductive endocrinology and infertility. It is home to the nation's first mother-baby perinatal psychiatric partial hospital, as well as the nation's only fellowship program in obstetric medicine.

Women & Infants has been designated as a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiography; a Center of Excellence in Minimally Invasive Gynecology; a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence by the National Institutes of Health (NIH); and a Neonatal Resource Services Center of Excellence. It is one of the largest and most prestigious research facilities in high risk and normal obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics in the nation, and is a member of the National Cancer Institute's Gynecologic Oncology Group and the Pelvic Floor Disorders Network.
One of humankind's oldest industrial partners is yeast, a familiar microbe that enabled early societies to brew beer and leaven bread and empowers modern ones to synthesize biofuels and conduct key biomedical research. Yeast remains a vital biological agent, yet our ability to explore and influence its genomic activity has lagged.

In a new article in Nature Communications, University of Illinois researchers describe how their successful integration of several cutting-edge technologies--creation of standardized genetic components, implementation of customizable genome editing tools, and large-scale automation of molecular biology laboratory tasks--will enhance our ability to work with yeast. The results of their new method demonstrate its potential to produce valuable novel strains of yeast for industrial use, as well as to reveal a more sophisticated understanding of the yeast genome.

"The goal of the work was really to develop a genome-scale engineering tool for yeast . . . traditional metabolic engineering focused on just a few genes and the few existing genome-scale engineering tools are only applicable to bacteria, not eukaryotic organisms like yeast," said Steven L. Miller Chair of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Huimin Zhao, who led the study. "A second innovation is the use of synthetic biology concepts, the modularization of the parts, and integration with a robotic system, so we can do it in high-throughput."

The team focused on yeast in part because of its important modern-day applications; yeasts are used to convert the sugars of biomass feedstocks into biofuels such as ethanol and industrial chemicals such as lactic acid, or to break down organic pollutants. Because yeast and other fungi, like humans, are eukaryotes, organisms with a compartmentalized cellular structure and complex mechanisms for control of their gene activity, study of yeast genome function is also a key component of biomedical research.

"In basic science, a lot of fundamental eukaryotic biology is studied in yeast," said Tong Si, a Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology Research Fellow. "People have a limited understanding of these complicated systems. Although there are approximately 6,000 genes in yeast, people probably know less than 1,000 by their functions; all the others, people do not know."

The group took the first step toward their goal of a novel engineering strategy for yeast by creating what is known as a cDNA library: a collection of over 90% of the genes from the genome of baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), arranged within a custom segment of DNA so that each gene will be, in one version, overactive within a yeast cell, and in a second version, reduced in activity.

Zhao and colleagues examined the ability of the CRISPR-Cas system, a set of molecules borrowed from a form of immune system in bacteria (CRISPR stands for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, describing a feature of this system in bacterial genomes). This system allowed Zhao to make precise cuts in the yeast genome, into which the standardized genetic parts from their library could insert themselves.

"The first time we did this, in 2013, there was no CRISPR . . . the best we could get was 1% of the cells modified in one run," said Si. "We struggled a little on that, and when CRISPR came out, that worked. We got it to 70% [cells modified], so that was very important."

With gene activity-modulating parts integrating into the genome with such high efficiency, the researchers were able to randomly generate many different strains of yeast, each with its own unique set of modifications. These strains were subjected to artificial selection processes to identify those that had desirable traits, such as the ability to survive exposure to reagents used in the biofuel production process.

This selection process was greatly aided by the Illinois Biological Foundry for Advanced Biomanufacturing (iBioFAB), a robotic system that performs most of the laboratory work described above in an automated way, including selection of promising yeast strains. Use of iBioFAB greatly accelerated the work, enabling simultaneous creation and testing of many unique strains. The iBioFAB was conceived and developed by the Biosystems Design research theme at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB), which is led by Zhao.

With support from the High Performance Biological Computing Group at Illinois, Zhao, Si and their colleagues analyzed the modified genomes of their most promising yeast strains. They identified combinations of genes whose altered activities contributed to desirable traits; the functions of some of these genes were previously unknown, demonstrating the technique's ability to generate new biological knowledge.

"I think the key difference between this method and the other existing metabolic engineering strategies in yeast is really the scale," said Zhao. "The current metabolic engineering strategies are all focused on just a few genes, dozens of genes at most . . . it's very intuitive. With this we can explore all the genes, we can identify a lot of targets that cannot be intuited."

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The work, which was funded by the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, IGB, Defense Advanced Research Program Agency, and National Academies Keck Futures Initiative on Synthetic Biology, paves the way for similar approaches to broad-scale, automated genome engineering of other eukaryotic species.
The European XFEL, the biggest X-ray laser in the world, has reached the last major milestone before the official opening in September. The 3.4 km long facility, most of which is located in underground tunnels, has generated its first X-ray laser light. The X-ray light has a wavelength of 0.8 nm - about 500 times shorter than that of visible light. At first lasing, the laser had a repetition rate of one pulse per second, which will later increase to 27 000 per second.

European XFEL Managing Director Prof. Robert Feidenhans'l said: "This is an important moment that our partners and we have worked towards for many years. The European XFEL has generated its first X-ray laser light. The facility, to which many countries around the world contributed know-how and components, has passed its first big test with flying colours. The colleagues involved at European XFEL, DESY, and our international partners have accomplished outstanding work. This is also a great success for scientific collaboration in Europe and across the world. We can now begin to direct the X-ray flashes with special mirrors through the last tunnel section into the experiment hall, and then step by step start the commissioning of the experiment stations. I very much look forward to the start of international user operation, which is planned for September."

Helmut Dosch, Chairman of the DESY Directorate, said: "The European X-ray laser has been brought to life! The first laser light produced today with the most advanced and most powerful linear accelerator in the world marks the beginning a new era of research in Europe. This worldwide unique high-tech facility was built in record time and within budget. This is an amazing success of science. I congratulate all those involved in the research, development, and construction of this facility with passion and commitment: the employees of DESY, European XFEL, and international partners. They have achieved outstanding results and demonstrated impressively what is possible in international cooperation. The European XFEL will provide us with the most detailed images of the molecular structure of new materials and drugs and novel live recordings of biochemical reactions."

The X-ray laser light of the European XFEL is extremely intense and a billion times brighter than that of conventional synchrotron light sources. The achievable laser light wavelength corresponds to the size of an atom, meaning that the X-rays can be used to make pictures and films of the nanocosmos at atomic resolution - such as of biomolecules, from which better understandings of the basis of illnesses or the development of new therapies could be developed. Other opportunities include research into chemical processes and catalytic techniques, with the goal of improving their efficiency or making them more environmentally friendly; materials research; or the investigation of conditions similar to the interior of planets.

The X-ray laser light of the European XFEL was generated from an electron beam from a superconducting linear accelerator, the key component of the X-ray laser. The German research centre DESY, the largest shareholder of the European XFEL, put the accelerator into operation at the end of April.

In a 2.1 km long accelerator tunnel, the electron pulses were strongly accelerated and prepared for the later generation of X-ray laser light. At near-light speed and very high energies, the intense electron pulses entered a photon tunnel containing a 210 m long stretch of X-ray generating devices. Here, 17 290 permanent magnets with alternating poles interacted with the electron pulses from above and below. The magnetic structures, known as undulators, bring the electrons into a slalom course, and with every turn they release extremely short-wavelength X-ray radiation, which intensify across the length of the undulator stretch. For the first lasing, the X-ray light was absorbed and measured shortly before arriving in the underground experiment hall.

The 3.4 km long European XFEL is the largest and most powerful of the five X-ray lasers worldwide, with the ability to generate the short pulses of hard X-ray light. With more than 27 000 light flashes per second instead of the previous maximum of 120 per second, an extremely high luminosity, and the parallel operation of several experiment stations, it will be possible for scientists investigate more limited samples and perform their experiments more quickly. Therefore, the facility will increase the amount of beamtime available, as the capacity at other X-ray lasers worldwide has been eclipsed by demand, and facilities have been overall overbooked.

At the start of September, the X-ray laser should officially open. At that point, external users can perform experiments at the first two of the eventual six scientific instruments.

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About DESY

Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY is the leading German accelerator centre and one of the leading in the world. DESY is a member of the Helmholtz Association and receives its funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) (90 per cent) and the German federal states of Hamburg and Brandenburg (10 per cent). At its locations in Hamburg and Zeuthen near Berlin, DESY develops, builds and operates large particle accelerators, and uses them to investigate the structure of matter. DESY's combination of photon science and particle physics is unique in Europe. DESY is the largest shareholder of the European XFEL and operates the research facility's superconducting particle accelerator.

About European XFEL

The European XFEL, currently being commissioned in the Hamburg area, is an international research facility of superlatives: 27 000 X-ray flashes per second and a brilliance that is a billion times higher than that of the best conventional X-ray sources will open up completely new opportunities for science. Research groups from around the world will be able to map the atomic details of viruses, decipher the molecular composition of cells, take three-dimensional "photos" of the nanoworld, "film" chemical reactions, and study processes such as those occurring deep inside planets. The construction and operation of the facility is entrusted to the European XFEL GmbH, a non-profit company that cooperates closely with the research centre DESY and other organizations worldwide. The company, which has a workforce of about 280 employees, expects to start user operation of the facility in the second half of 2017. With construction and commissioning costs of 1.22 billion euro (at 2005 price levels) and a total length of 3.4 kilometres, the European XFEL is one of the largest and most ambitious European research projects to date. At present, 11 countries have signed the European XFEL convention: Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. Germany (Federal Ministry of Education and Research as well as the federal states of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein) contribute 58% of the costs, Russia 27%, and the other partner countries between 1% and 3%. For more information, go to http://www.xfel.eu.
Geneva, Switzerland, May , 2017 - Osimertinib improves cancer-related symptoms in patients with advanced lung cancer, according to an analysis of patient-reported outcomes from the AURA3 phase III clinical trial presented at the European Lung Cancer Conference (ELCC).1

"With my past experience conducting clinical trials, I often see new treatments that might be more effective, but are also usually more toxic," said lead author Dr Chee Lee, Medical Oncologist, St George Hospital Cancer Care Centre, New South Wales, Australia. "Osimertinib not only increases progression-free survival but it is well-tolerated, which makes a big difference for our patients."

AURA3 included 419 patients with advanced epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who had progressed after first-line EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy. They were randomised to receive the oral TKI osimertinib or chemotherapy. Patients taking osimertinib had significantly longer progression-free survival of 10.1 months versus those on chemotherapy with 4.4 months (hazard ratio 0.30; 95% confidence interval 0.23, 0.41; p<0.001).2

Today researchers presented the findings on patient-reported outcomes from the AURA3 trial. Information was collected using two standardised European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) questionnaires, the QLQ-LC13 that assessed lung cancer specific symptoms and the QLQ-C30 that assessed general cancer symptoms. Patients completed both questionnaires at baseline and then at regular intervals until disease progression and beyond. The researchers then analysed the findings to see if control of symptoms was better with osimertinib or chemotherapy.

The researchers found that osimertinib significantly reduced many lung cancer symptoms, primarily appetite loss, fatigue, breathlessness and chest pain. There was a trend for osimertinib to reduce cough but it was not statistically significant. Dr Lee said: "It generally took longer for these symptoms to get worse in patients taking the osimertinib tablet compared to chemotherapy."

In patients who had symptoms at the start of the study, appetite loss improved significantly faster on osimertinib compared to chemotherapy, and patients became less fatigued and less breathless.

Compared to chemotherapy, osimertinib significantly improved global health status, physical functioning, role functioning and social functioning scores. There was a trend towards improved emotional and cognitive function with osimertinib but it was not statistically significant. "Patients taking osimertinib were more able to do normal daily activities and socialise than those on chemotherapy," said Dr Lee.

He continued: "Patients with metastatic lung cancer receiving first-line treatment are really quite sick. Patients in the AURA3 trial had progressed on first-line treatment and were receiving second-line therapy, so they were even sicker. To be able to reduce cancer symptoms and improve quality of life in addition to progression-free survival for these patients is a major leap."

Dr Lee concluded: "For patients with incurable cancer, prolonging only progression-free survival probably has very little meaning for them. However, treatment that can additionally improve symptoms and maintain quality of life probably means a lot for these patients."

Commenting on the importance of the trial, Prof Solange Peters, Head of Medical Oncology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland, said: "The AURA3 trial has made it clear that when patients progress on first-line targeted therapy for EGFR mutation NSCLC with a T790M resistance mutation, they should stay on targeted therapy using a new generation inhibitor rather than switching to traditional chemotherapy for the second line of therapy. Patients taking second-line osimertinib had longer progression-free survival and less toxicity than those on chemotherapy."

"The data presented today shows that second-line osimertinib also significantly improved time to deterioration of important lung cancer symptoms like cough, chest pain and dyspnoea, and improved general health status," continued Peters. "Before these results clinicians had the feeling that second-line osimertinib would be efficient and better tolerated than chemotherapy but it was a subjective assumption. We now have proof that the drug has better activity, less toxicity, and improves quality of life."

Regarding the need for future studies, Peters said: "Patients with EGFR mutation NSCLC should now receive frontline TKI (first or second generation) and second-line osimertinib when they have a T790M resistance mutation. We need to know if there are options other than chemotherapy for the subsequent third line of therapy."

"We also have to keep in mind that osimertinib is only effective in the 55% of EGFR mutation NSCLC patients whose resistance to frontline TKI is caused by this T790M gatekeeper mutation," she continued. "More research is needed to find better second-line treatments for patients with a different mechanism of resistance, for whom chemotherapy is currently the only option. Finally, the opportunity for frontline prescription of osimertinib in all EGFR mutated NSCLC will be described by the FLAURA trial which is comparing first generation TKI to osimertinib as the very initial treatment and should report later this year."

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Notes to Editors

References

1 Abstract 85O - 'Patient-reported symptoms and impact of treatment with osimertinib vs chemotherapy for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer, 'will be presented by Dr Chee Lee during the Proferred Paper session 'Immunotherapies and targeted therapies in advanced NSCLC' on Saturday, 6 May, 14:45 (CEST).

2 Mok TS, et al. Osimertinib or platinum-pemetrexed in EGFR T790M-positive lung cancer. N Engl J Med. 2017;376(7):629-640. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1612674.

Disclaimer

This press release contains information provided by the authors of the highlighted abstracts and reflects the content of those abstracts. It does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of ESMO or IASLC who cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the data. Commentators quoted in the press release are required to comply with the ESMO Declaration of Interests policy and the ESMO Code of Conduct.

About the European Lung Cancer Conference (ELCC) 2017

The European Lung Cancer Conference (ELCC) is the reference event in Europe for professionals treating lung cancers. It is organised by the European Society for Medical Oncology and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer in partnership with ESTRO and ETOP. ELCC provides a comprehensive multidisciplinary overview of the latest as well as of the state-of-the-art knowledge in thoracic malignancies, covering different aspects such as prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment modalities and the results of basic, clinical and translational research, presented by top international academic experts. Around 2,000 attendees are expected from throughout Europe and the rest of the world.

About the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO)

ESMO is the leading professional organisation for medical oncology. With more than 15,000 members representing oncology professionals from over 130 countries worldwide, ESMO is the society of reference for oncology education and information. We are committed to supporting our members to develop and advance in a fast-evolving professional environment. http://www.esmo.org

About the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC)

The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) is the only global organization dedicated to the study of lung cancer. Founded in 1974, the association's membership includes more than 5,000 lung cancer specialists in over 100 countries. Visit http://www.iaslc.org for more information.
Maina case forwarded to High Court

A case of Maina Sunuwar, who was killed in detention of the Nepal Army in 2004, has been moved to the High Court under the regular judicial procedure.
Geneva, Switzerland, 05 May 2017 - White blood cell counts can predict whether or not lung cancer patients will benefit from immunotherapy, according to research presented at the European Lung Cancer Conference (ELCC).1

"Immune checkpoint inhibitors such as nivolumab and pembrolizumab significantly improve overall survival in some - but not all - patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)," said lead author Dr Marcello Tiseo, Coordinator of DMT Thoracic Oncology, University Hospital of Parma, Italy. "Researchers are looking for a predictive biomarker to select patients that will benefit from this treatment to avoid unnecessary toxicity and a waste of resources in patients who will not respond."

He continued: "PD-L1 expression in a biopsy of tumour tissue is used to select patients but it is not completely accurate, possibly because it does not reflect the evolving immune response. Biomarkers in the blood are easier to obtain and may be better indicators of immune response."

This study assessed the ability of white blood cell counts to predict whether lung cancer patients responded to treatment with nivolumab. The study included 54 patients with NSCLC who received nivolumab at a dose of 3 mg/kg every 14 days. White blood cell counts were performed at baseline, after two nivolumab cycles, and after four nivolumab cycles. The researchers compared white blood cell counts between responders and non-responders to nivolumab.

The researchers found that white blood cell counts at baseline and during therapy predicted whether patients would respond to nivolumab treatment. A greater number and concentration of natural killer cells at baseline was associated with response to nivolumab, as was an increase in the number of natural killer cells during treatment. Responders to nivolumab also had a greater number and concentration of CD8 positive T cells that expressed PD-1.

Tiseo said: "The number and function of natural killer cells and the frequency of PD-1 expression in CD8 positive T cells could be predictive biomarkers for nivolumab treatment in advanced NSCLC. The identification of a panel of blood predictive biomarkers would enable the early identification of patients most likely to benefit from anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 treatment."

Commenting on the findings, Dr Stefan Zimmermann, Senior Consultant, Medical Oncology Department, HFR - Hopital Cantonal, Fribourg, Switzerland, said: "In the current era of precision medicine and increasing healthcare costs we urgently need proper predictive biomarkers to select patients that will benefit from a specific therapy."

He continued: "This study found that baseline levels of certain white blood cells do have a role in predicting response to immunotherapy in patients with lung cancer. These new factors should be investigated in future clinical trials, together with tumour PD-L1 expression and other markers that constitute the cancer immunogram predict whether or not patients will benefit from treatment."

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Notes to Editors

References

1 Abstract 30PD - 'Circulating immune-profile as predictor of outcome in NSCLC patients treated with Nivolumab' will be presented by Dr Marcello Tiseo during the Poster Discussion session 'Epidemiology and innovations in biomarker development' on Saturday, 6 May, 16:45 (CEST).

Disclaimer

This press release contains information provided by the authors of the highlighted abstracts and reflects the content of those abstracts. It does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of ESMO or IASLC who cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the data. Commentators quoted in the press release are required to comply with the ESMO Declaration of Interests policy and the ESMO Code of Conduct.

About the European Lung Cancer Conference (ELCC) 2017

The European Lung Cancer Conference (ELCC) is the reference event in Europe for professionals treating lung cancers. It is organised by the European Society for Medical Oncology and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer in partnership with ESTRO and ETOP.

ELCC provides a comprehensive multidisciplinary overview of the latest as well as of the state-of-the-art knowledge in thoracic malignancies, covering different aspects such as prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment modalities and the results of basic, clinical and translational research, presented by top international academic experts. Around 2,000 attendees are expected from throughout Europe and the rest of the world.

About the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO)

ESMO is the leading professional organisation for medical oncology. With more than 15,000 members representing oncology professionals from over 130 countries worldwide, ESMO is the society of reference for oncology education and information. We are committed to supporting our members to develop and advance in a fast-evolving professional environment. http://www.esmo.org

About the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC)

The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) is the only global organization dedicated to the study of lung cancer. Founded in 1974, the association's membership includes more than 5,000 lung cancer specialists in over 100 countries. Visit http://www.iaslc.org for more information.
Vienna Austria: Around half of women who have been treated for locally advanced cervical cancer suffer from symptoms of insomnia, fatigue or hot flushes at some point, according to new research presented at the ESTRO 36 conference.

Cervical cancer affects more than 500,000 women around the world each year [1], with an average age at diagnosis of 50. Survival rates, even in women where the cancer has begun to spread to nearby tissue, have increased [2] meaning women are living with side-effects for longer.

Dr Stephanie Smet, a resident in radiation oncology at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, who presented the research, says that these symptoms may have a substantial impact on patients' daily lives and they need to be better recognised and treated when necessary.

The study [3] involved 1,176 patients with locally advanced cervical cancer, treated at 22 centres around the world between 2008 and 2015. All received the gold-standard treatment of radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy, followed by brachytherapy, where an MRI scanner is used to guide a radioactive implant to the site of the cancer to deliver a high dose of radiotherapy. Patients were followed up for an average of 27 months.

They were assessed for symptoms by their doctors and filled in questionnaires themselves. The results show that 64% of women were experiencing fatigue to some degree at least once during their regular follow-up examinations in the years after treatment. For insomnia, the figure was 43% and for hot flushes it was 50%. These symptoms were mainly in the mild to moderate range. Severe or disabling symptoms were rare at 4%, 3% and 2% respectively.

Patients were on average 49 years old, ranging from 22 to 91, and the results show that younger women were more likely to experience these symptoms.

Dr Smet told the congress: "Our study shows that around half of women with locally advanced cervical cancer are, at some point, suffering from mild to moderate fatigue, insomnia and hot flushes. These symptoms could have a serious impact on patients' daily life, possibly influencing how they feel in their professional, social and family life.

"More and more women diagnosed with this type of cancer are surviving for longer, thanks to advances in radiotherapy. This is a relatively young group of patients, so many will possibly face decades of coping with their symptoms.

"It is important to realise that these symptoms can already exist before patients start the treatment, sometimes even before they are diagnosed with cancer. It is difficult to distinguish whether and to what extent these symptoms are caused by the cancer itself, by the treatment or by other factors. In most cases, it is probably a combination."

Until now, research in this area of radiotherapy has primarily focused on symptoms related to nearby organs at risk such as the bladder, bowel, rectum or vagina. Dr Smet continued: "We hope that by presenting our report we will create more awareness for these under-recognised symptoms.

"There has been a great deal of research on treating cancer-related fatigue and insomnia, and treatment options include drugs, physical exercise and psychological counselling. Hormone replacement therapy can be a safe and effective treatment for hot flushes, if it administered as soon as the menopause begins and for a period of four to five years."

Dr Smet told the congress that more work is needed to decipher which patients are most at risk of developing these symptoms and to tailor support accordingly.

She also said that the study could help understand the symptoms experienced by other cancer patients who are treated with pelvic radiotherapy. This includes other gynaecological cancers as well as rectal and prostate cancer.

President of ESTRO, Professor Yolande Lievens, head of the department of radiation oncology at Ghent University Hospital, Belgium, said: "Thanks to advances in treatment, cancer survival is improving, which makes us aware of the fact that besides the loco-regional side effects we are typically focusing on, we should also be vigilant for more general side effects. These results highlight how important it is to follow cancer survivors in the long term. Medical teams who look after patients treated for cancer of the cervix, and by extension other gynaecologic and pelvic cancers, need to be aware of symptoms such as fatigue, insomnia and hot flushes, and be able to advise on management and treatment options."

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Although radiation therapy is an essential part of modern cancer treatment, and is indicated for about half of all new cancer patients, facilities for its provision are sadly lacking in many countries worldwide. Indeed, 29 out of 52 African nations have no radiotherapy facilities whatsoever. At the ESTRO 36 conference today (Friday) leaders of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) will announce plans for a partnership to tackle the global problem of access to radiotherapy, with the ultimate aim of saving one million lives by 2035.

The Global Impact of Radiation in Oncology (GIRO) partnership aims to unite leaders in radiation oncology in order to create awareness of current problems and help provide solutions. "First of all, we need to understand what are the barriers to an adequate provision of radiotherapy and define how we can best tackle them, as well as outlining actions that the healthcare community can take to improve the current situation, both in their own countries and across the world," says ESTRO President Professor Yolande Lievens of Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium, who is also a member of the project steering committee.

ESTRO already has considerable experience in this field at European level through the Health Economics in Radiation Oncology (HERO) project, which addresses the availability, the need for, the cost, and the cost-effectiveness of radiation therapy across Europe. GIRO takes the idea to a higher level, not just in its global reach, but also by concentrating on creating awareness of the problem of lack of access in countries where there may be not only little understanding of the scale of the problem, but also a lack of knowledge of the benefits of radiotherapy.

"It will be very important to increase understanding of the advantages of radiation therapy among patients as well as healthcare professionals in certain countries," says Edward Naessens, patient representative on the ESTRO Radiation Oncology Safety and Quality Committee, and soon to be chair of the society's Patient Advisory Group. "Imagine that you come from a country with no radiotherapy facilities; how much are you likely to know about its potential contribution to your cancer treatment? We need to ensure that everyone concerned is properly informed on what is possibly the best-kept secret in cancer cure and management, as well as providing them with the tools that can help bring about change for the better."

The GIRO project will now apply data in pilot cases, and then be able to provide tools to enable decision-makers to address the problems of gaps in access to radiotherapy in a practical way. These data have been gathered at European level by HERO, and at global level by the Global Task Force on Radiotherapy for Cancer Control, convened by the board of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), and chaired by Professor Mary Gospodarowicz, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.

"Radiotherapy is an essential part of any successful cancer control programme," says Prof Lievens. "ESTRO and our partners in GIRO consider it our duty to use the knowledge we have gained over many years to help others who have been less fortunate. We are determined to make this project work for the benefit of all."

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Opening Ceremony, 18.15 hrs (CEST) Friday 5 May, Auditorium.

ESTRO 36 is attended by about 5000 participants from 80 countries. It features new research results in clinical radiation oncology, radiobiology, physics, technology, and brachytherapy, presented by top doctors and scientists from all over the world.
A new analysis of decades of data on oceans across the globe has revealed that the amount of dissolved oxygen contained in the water - an important measure of ocean health - has been declining for more than 20 years.

Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology looked at a historic dataset of ocean information stretching back more than 50 years and searched for long term trends and patterns. They found that oxygen levels started dropping in the 1980s as ocean temperatures began to climb.

"The oxygen in oceans has dynamic properties, and its concentration can change with natural climate variability," said Taka Ito, an associate professor in Georgia Tech's School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences who led the research. "The important aspect of our result is that the rate of global oxygen loss appears to be exceeding the level of nature's random variability."

The study, which was published April in Geophysical Research Letters, was sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The team included researchers from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the University of Washington-Seattle, and Hokkaido University in Japan.

Falling oxygen levels in water have the potential to impact the habitat of marine organisms worldwide and in recent years led to more frequent "hypoxic events" that killed or displaced populations of fish, crabs and many other organisms.

Researchers have for years anticipated that rising water temperatures would affect the amount of oxygen in the oceans, since warmer water is capable of holding less dissolved gas than colder water. But the data showed that ocean oxygen was falling more rapidly than the corresponding rise in water temperature.

"The trend of oxygen falling is about two to three times faster than what we predicted from the decrease of solubility associated with the ocean warming," Ito said. "This is most likely due to the changes in ocean circulation and mixing associated with the heating of the near-surface waters and melting of polar ice."

The majority of the oxygen in the ocean is absorbed from the atmosphere at the surface or created by photosynthesizing phytoplankton. Ocean currents then mix that more highly oxygenated water with subsurface water. But rising ocean water temperatures near the surface have made it more buoyant and harder for the warmer surface waters to mix downward with the cooler subsurface waters. Melting polar ice has added more freshwater to the ocean surface - another factor that hampers the natural mixing and leads to increased ocean stratification.

"After the mid-2000s, this trend became apparent, consistent and statistically significant -- beyond the envelope of year-to-year fluctuations," Ito said. "The trends are particularly strong in the tropics, eastern margins of each basin and the subpolar North Pacific."

In an earlier study, Ito and other researchers explored why oxygen depletion was more pronounced in tropical waters in the Pacific Ocean. They found that air pollution drifting from East Asia out over the world's largest ocean contributed to oxygen levels falling in tropical waters thousands of miles away.

Once ocean currents carried the iron and nitrogen pollution to the tropics, photosynthesizing phytoplankton went into overdrive consuming the excess nutrients. But rather than increasing oxygen, the net result of the chain reaction was the depletion oxygen in subsurface water.

That, too, is likely a contributing factor in waters across the globe, Ito said.

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. OCE-1357373 and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under Grant No. NA16OAR4310173. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

CITATION: Takamitsu Ito, Shoshiro Minobe, Matthew C. Long and Curtis Deutsch, "Upper Ocean O2 trends: 1958-2015," (Geophysical Research Letters, April 2017).
Xiaoyen Zheng, Ph.D., will begin her latest research to understand the mechanisms behind the Hedgehog receptor in May 2017

WASHINGTON (May 4, 2017)-- Among scientists specializing in the area, the mechanisms behind the signaling function of the Hedgehog (Hh) receptor pathway remain a mystery. Xiaoyen Zheng, Ph.D., assistant professor of anatomy and regenerative biology at the George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), who recently received a $1.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health and National Institute of General Medical Sciences, is determined to learn more about the Hh pathway.

With this funding, Zheng will develop a comprehensive understanding of the pathway's underlying mechanisms. Previous research has shown that the Hh receptor, Patched, regulates pathway activity. Studies have also shown that Hh pathway components are trafficked through the cilium of cells. This led Zheng to look at the possibility of ciliary trafficking as a crucial regulation point for the Patched component. The focus of her research is to look at the primary cilium's role as the cellular platform for the process. Over the course of the study, Zheng and her team will employ the use of both cell lines and mouse models.

"A comprehensive understanding of the signal transduction will provide a better basis for the design and implementation of effective therapeutic approaches to diseases caused by malfunction of the Hh signaling pathway," Zheng said.

The Hedgehog receptor plays an important role in embryonic development and adult stem cell function. A loss of signaling during development can result in birth defects, such as holoprosencephaly and congenital heart disease. Post-development loss is associated with a variety of cancer types.

Zheng received seed funding from the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences and from GW Cancer Center to begin her research. Her mentors and colleagues at SMHS also provided feedback during the proposal process. Zheng also gives credit to Peter Nemes, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry at the GW Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, who has collaborated on the proposed research.

The project, titled "The Role of Ciliary Trafficking in Hedgehog Receptor Function" will be funded for a five-year period.

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Media: To interview Dr. Zheng, please contact Ashley Rizzardo at amrizz713@gwu.edu or 202-994-8679.

About the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences:

Founded in 1824, the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) was the first medical school in the nation's capital and is the 11th oldest in the country. Working together in our nation's capital, with integrity and resolve, the GW SMHS is committed to improving the health and well-being of our local, national and global communities. smhs.gwu.edu
Already extolled for their health benefits as a food compound, omega-3 fatty acids now appear to also play a critical role in preserving the integrity of the blood-brain barrier, which protects the central nervous system from blood-borne bacteria, toxins and other pathogens, according to new research from Harvard Medical School.

Reporting in the May 3 issue of Neuron, a team led by Chenghua Gu, associate professor of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, describes the first molecular explanation for how the barrier remains closed by suppressing transcytosis--a process for transporting molecules across cells in vesicles, or small bubbles. They found that the formation of these vesicles is inhibited by the lipid composition of blood vessel cells in the central nervous system, which involves a balance between omega-3 fatty acids and other lipids maintained by the lipid transport protein Mfsd2a.

While the blood-brain barrier is a critical evolutionary mechanism that protects the central nervous system from harm, it also represents a major hurdle for delivering therapeutic compounds into the brain.

Blocking the activity of Mfsd2a may be a strategy for getting drugs across the barrier and into the brain to treat a range of disorders such as brain cancer, stroke and Alzheimer's.

"This study presents the first clear molecular mechanism for how low rates of transcytosis are achieved in central nervous system blood vessels to ensure the impermeable nature of the blood-brain barrier," Gu said. "There is still a lot we do not know about how the barrier is regulated. A better understanding of the mechanisms will allow us to begin to manipulate it, with the goal of getting therapeutics into the brain safely and effectively."

The blood-brain barrier is composed of a network of endothelial cells that line blood vessels in the central nervous system. These cells are connected by tight junctions that prevent most molecules from passing between them, including many drugs that target brain diseases. In a 2014 study published in Nature, Gu and colleagues discovered that a gene and the protein it encodes, Mfsd2a, inhibits transcytosis and is critical for maintaining the blood-brain barrier. Mice that lacked Mfsd2a, which is found only in endothelial cells in the central nervous system, had higher rates of vesicle formation and leaky barriers, despite having normal tight junctions.

Unfavorable conditions

In the current study, Gu, Benjamin Andreone, a neurology student at Harvard Medical School, and their colleagues examined how Mfsd2a maintains the blood-brain barrier.

Mfsd2a is a transporter protein that moves lipids containing DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid found in fish oil and nuts, into the cell membrane. To test the importance of this function to the barrier, the team created mice with a mutated form of Mfsd2a, in which a single amino acid substitution shut down its ability to transport DHA. They injected these mice with a fluorescent dye and observed leaky blood-brain barriers and higher rates of vesicle formation and transcytosis--mirroring mice that completely lacked Mfsd2a.

A comparison of the lipid composition of endothelial cells in brain capillaries against those in lung capillaries--which do not have barrier properties and do not express Mfsd2a--revealed that brain endothelial cells had around two- to five-fold higher levels of DHA-containing lipids.

Additional experiments revealed that Mfsd2a suppresses transcytosis by inhibiting the formation of caveolae--a type of vesicle that forms when a small segment of the cell membrane pinches in on itself. As expected, mice with normal Cav-1, a protein required for caveolae formation, and that lacked Mfsd2a exhibited higher transcytosis and leaky barriers. Mice that lacked both Mfsd2a and Cav-1, however, had low transcytosis and impermeable blood-brain barriers.

"We think that by incorporating DHA into the membrane, Mfsd2a is fundamentally changing the composition of the membrane and making it unfavorable for the formation of these specific type of caveolae," Andreone said. "Even though we observed low rates of vesicle formation and transcytosis in blood-brain barrier cells decades ago, this is the first time that a cellular mechanism can explain this phenomenon."

By revealing the role of Mfsd2a and how it controls transcytosis in the central nervous system, Gu and her colleagues hope to shed light on new strategies to open the barrier and allow drugs to enter and remain in the brain. They are currently testing the efficacy of an antibody that potentially can temporarily block the function of Msfd2a, and whether caveolae-mediated transcytosis can be leveraged to shuttle therapeutics across the barrier.

"Many of the drugs that could be effective against diseases of the brain have a hard time crossing the blood-brain barrier," Gu said. "Suppressing Mfsd2a may be an additional strategy that allows us to increase transcytosis, and deliver cargo such as antibodies against beta-amyloid or compounds that selectively attack tumor cells. If we can find a way across the barrier, the impact would be enormous."

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This work was supported by The National Institutes of Health (grants F31NS090669, NS092473), the Mahoney postdoctoral fellowship, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Kaneb Fellowship, Fidelity Biosciences Research Initiative and the Harvard Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator.

Additional authors include Brian Wai Chow, Aleksandra Tata, Baptiste Lacoste, Ayal Ben-Zvi, Kevin Bullock, Amy A. Deik, David D. Ginty and Clary B. Clish.

Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School has more than 11,000 faculty working in 10 academic departments located at the School's Boston campus or in hospital-based clinical departments at 15 Harvard-affiliated teaching hospitals and research institutes: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Cambridge Health Alliance, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Hebrew SeniorLife, Joslin Diabetes Center, Judge Baker Children's Center, Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Schepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, McLean Hospital, Mount Auburn Hospital, Spaulding Rehabilitation Network and VA Boston Healthcare System.
The synthetic biologists from Imperial College London have re-engineered yeast cells to manufacture the nonribosomal peptide antibiotic penicillin. In laboratory experiments, they were able to demonstrate that this yeast had antibacterial properties against streptococcus bacteria.

The authors of the study, which is published today in the journal Nature Communications, say their new method demonstrates the effectiveness of using this kind of synthetic biology as a route for discovering new antibiotics. This could open up possibilities for using re-engineered yeast cells to develop new forms of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs from the nonribosomal peptide family.

Nonribosomal peptides are normally produced by bacteria and fungi, forming the basis of most antibiotics today. Pharmaceutical companies have long experimented with nonribosomal peptides to make conventional antibiotics. The rise of antimicrobial resistance means there is a need to use genetic engineering techniques to find a new range of antibiotics from bacteria and fungi. However, genetically engineering the more exotic fungi and bacteria- the ones likely to have antibacterial properties -- is challenging because scientists don't have the right tools and they are difficult to grow in a lab environment, requiring special conditions.

Baker's yeast on the other hand is easy to genetically engineer. Scientists can simply insert DNA from bacteria and fungi into yeast to carry out experiments, offering a viable new host for antibiotic production research. The rise of synthetic biology methods for yeast will allow researchers to make and test many new gene combinations that could produce a whole new range of new antibiotics.

However, the authors are keen to point out that the research is still in its early stages. While this approach does show promise, they have so far produced nonribosomal peptide antibiotic penicillin in small quantities. More research needs to be done to see if it can be adapted to finding other compounds and to get production up to commercially viable quantities.

Dr Tom Ellis, from the Centre for Synthetic Biology at Imperial College London, explains: "Humans have been experimenting with yeast for thousands of years. From brewing beer to getting our bread to rise, and more recently for making compounds like anti-malarial drugs, yeast is the microscopic workhorse behind many processes.

"The rise of drug-resistant superbugs has brought a real urgency to our search for new antibiotics. Our experiments show that yeast can be engineered to produce a well-known antibiotic. This opens up the possibility of using yeast to explore the largely untapped treasure trove of compounds in the nonribosomal peptide family to develop a new generation of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories."

Previously, scientists have demonstrated that they could re-engineer a different yeast to make penicillin. However, that species of yeast is not as well understood or amenable to genetic manipulation compared to baker's yeast, used by the authors in today's study, making it less suitable for the development of novel antibiotics using synthetic biology.

In their experiments, the team used genes from the filamentous fungus, from which nonribosomal peptide penicillin is naturally derived. These genes caused the yeast cells to produce the nonribosomal peptide penicillin via a two-step biochemical reaction process. First the cells made the nonribosomal peptide base -- the 'backbone' molecule -- by a complex reaction, and then this was modified by a set of further fungal enzymes that turn it into the active antibiotic.

During the experimentation process, the team discovered that they didn't need to extract the penicillin molecules from inside the yeast cell. Instead, the cell was expelling the molecules directly into the solution it was in. This meant that the team simply had to add the solution to a petri-dish containing streptococcus bacteria to observe its effectiveness. In the future, this approach could greatly simplify the molecule testing and manufacturing process.

Dr Ali Awan, co-author from the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London, explains: "Fungi have had millions of years to evolve the capability to produce bacteria-killing penicillin. We scientists have only been working with yeast in this context for a handful of years, but now that we've developed the blueprint for coaxing yeast to make penicillin, we are confident we can further refine this method to create novel drugs in the future.

"We believe yeast could be the new mini-factories of the future, helping us to experiment with new compounds in the nonribosomal peptide family to develop drugs that counter antimicrobial resistance."

The team are currently looking for fresh sources of funding and new industrial collaborators to take their research to the next level.

Dr Ellis added: "Penicillin was first discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming at St Mary's Hospital Medical School, which is now part of Imperial. He also predicted the rise of antibiotic resistance soon after making his discovery. We hope, in some small way, to build on his legacy, collaborating with industry and academia to develop the next generation of antibiotics using synthetic biology techniques."

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The research was carried out in conjunction with SynbiCITE, which is the UK's national centre for the commercialisation of synthetic biology.

Colin Smith

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Notes to editors:

"Biosynthesis of the Antibiotic Nonribosomal Peptide Penicllin in Baker's yeast" published in the journal Nature Communications on [insert date].

[1] [2] Ali R. Awan, [1] [2] Benjamin A. Blount, [1] [3] David J. Bell, [1] [4] Jack C. Ho, [1] [4] Robert McKiernan, [1] [2] Tom Ellis. [1] Centre for Synthetic Biology and Innovation, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ [2] Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ [3] SynbiCITE Innovation and Knowledge Centre, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ [4] Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ

About Imperial College London:

Imperial College London is one of the world's leading universities. The College's 16,000 students and 8,000 staff are expanding the frontiers of knowledge in science, medicine, engineering and business, and translating their discoveries into benefits for society.

Founded in 1907, Imperial builds on a distinguished past -- having pioneered penicillin, holography and fibre optics -- to shape the future. Imperial researchers work across disciplines to improve health and wellbeing, understand the natural world, engineer novel solutions and lead the data revolution. This blend of academic excellence and its real-world application feeds into Imperial's exceptional learning environment, where students participate in research to push the limits of their degrees.

Imperial collaborates widely to achieve greater impact. It works with the NHS to improve healthcare in west London, is a leading partner in research and education within the European Union, and is the UK's number one research collaborator with China. Imperial has nine London campuses, including its White City Campus: a research and innovation centre that is in its initial stages of development in west London. At White City, researchers, businesses and higher education partners will co-locate to create value from ideas on a global scale.

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Postdoc Joel Alwen and Professor Krzysztof Pietrzak -- together with their US collaborators -- have been awarded the best paper award at the Eurocrypt '17 conference. Their prize-winning work proves the existence of "memory-hard" functions, cryptographic functions that are designed to be "egalitarian" in the sense that they can't be computed at lower cost on dedicated hardware as compared to standard CPUs. These functions are crucial to securing password servers and have applications in the next generation of decentralized cryptocurrencies.

A server will usually not store a user's password in the clear, but will instead apply a cryptographic hash function to it and store only the output, known as the hash value. This way a server can still verify a password by applying the hash function and checking if the output is the same as the stored value. However, if the password file is stolen -- something "which unfortunately seems to happen pretty much constantly," says Pietrzak -- the passwords are not immediately compromised: To find the password corresponding to a hash value, the adversary must hash different password candidates until the hash matches the stored value. For a typical human-generated password this requires hashing in the order of a billion values. Unfortunately a billion is not really much, so to make the adversaries task even harder, one uses a "moderately hard" hash function, which is expensive, but not too expensive, to compute -- this is not much of a burden for the server, who computes the function once per login attempt, but should make computing billions of hashes extremely costly for the adversary.

The classical approach towards constructing moderately hard functions is to simply iterate a standard hash function a few thousand times. Unfortunately, this does not gain nearly as much security as one might hope: while servers use standard CPUs, an adversary can use special-purpose hardware on which evaluating such functions is several orders of magnitude cheaper in terms of hardware and energy cost. Thus brute-forcing passwords was nowhere near as costly as anticipated! To address this problem, in 2009, Colin Percival put forth the notion of "memory-hard" functions (MHFs)--moderately hard functions whose evaluation cost is dominated by memory cost. MHFs would be egalitarian: as memory cost is about the same over different hardware platforms, having special hardware would no longer benefit the adversary. Moreover, Percival also proposed a candidate MHF called scrypt, which became widely deployed.

A first formal definition capturing memory-hardness (called parallel cumulative memory complexity) was only given six years later, in 2015, by IST Austria postdoc Joel Alwen and Vladimir Serbinenko of ETH Zurich. A variety of candidate MHFs--including a winner of a two-year password-hashing competition--were shown to not meet this definition. The status of Percival's original function scrypt, however, remained unresolved. In 2016, the cryptography groups at IST Austria and the University of California Santa Barbara presented initial progress in this direction. Now, a year later, together with Leonid Reyzin of Boston University -- who in 2016 spend a sabbatical at IST Austria -- they have succeeded in making the final steps, and have finally proved that scrypt is memory-hard.

Their result, which will be presented in Paris at this year's Eurocrypt conference -- one of the two main cryptography conferences -- enhances our understanding of memory-hard functions in general, and scrypt in particular. This not only increases our trust in using scrypt for password hashing, but also a variety of decentralized cryptocurrencies, such as Litecoin and Dogecoin, already make use of scrypt.

"This line of research still holds many exciting open problems that we are currently working on" says Pietrzak, "for example, the current models only capture hardware cost, but achieving egalitarianism in terms of energy cost is not yet well understood."

Joel Alwen joined IST Austria as a postdoc in 2014, and has interests ranging from lattice-based cryptography to leakage resilience. He has also been involved a variety of programming projects, including the Netflix Challenge and designing attacks on password hashing functions. Professor Krzysztof Piertzak has headed the cryptography group at IST Austria since 2011, and explores a broad range of theoretical and practical aspects of cryptography, including memory-hard functions, cryptography for lightweight devices, symmetric cryptography, and sustainable cryptocurrencies.

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IST Austria

The Institute of Science and Technology (IST Austria) is a PhD granting research institution located in Klosterneuburg, 18 km from the center of Vienna, Austria. Inaugurated in 2009, the Institute is dedicated to basic research in the natural and mathematical sciences. IST Austria employs professors on a tenure-track system, postdoctoral fellows, and doctoral students at its international graduate school. While dedicated to the principle of curiosity-driven research, the Institute owns the rights to all scientific discoveries and is committed to promote their use. The first president of IST Austria is Thomas A. Henzinger, a leading computer scientist and former professor at the University of California in Berkeley, USA, und der EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland.

More information:

Original publication:

"Scrypt is Maximally Memory-Hard"

Joel Alwen (IST Austria), Binyi Chen (UCSB), Krzysztof Pietrzak (IST Austria), Leonid Reyzin (Boston University), Stefano Tessaro (UCSB)https://eprint.iacr.org/2016/989
A new study in Science from Karolinska Institutet maps out how different DNA-binding proteins in human cells react to certain biochemical modifications of the DNA molecule. The scientists report that some 'master' regulatory proteins can activate regions of the genome that are normally inactive due to epigenetic changes. Their findings contribute to a better understanding of gene regulation, embryonic development and the processes leading to diseases such as cancer.

The DNA molecule carries information in the form of a sequence of four nucleotide bases, adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G) and thymine (T), which can be thought of as the letters of the genomic language. Short sequences of the letters form 'DNA words' that determine when and where proteins are made in the body.

Almost all of the cells in the human body contain the letters in precisely the same order. Different genes are however active (expressed) in different cell types, allowing the cells to function in their specialised roles, for example as a brain cell or a muscle cell. The key to this gene regulation lies in specialised DNA-binding proteins -- transcription factors -- that bind to the sequences and activate or repress gene activity.

The DNA letter C exists in two forms, cytosine and methylcytosine, which can be thought of as the same letter with and without an accent (C and C). Methylation of DNA bases is a type of epigenetic modification, a biochemical change in the genome that does not alter the DNA sequence. The two variants of C have no effect on the kind of proteins that can be made, but they can have a major influence on when and where the proteins are produced. Previous research has shown that genomic regions where C is methylated are commonly inactive, and that many transcription factors are unable to bind to sequences that contain the methylated C.

By analysing hundreds of different human transcription factors, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have now found that certain transcription factors actually prefer the methylated C. These include transcription factors that are important in embryonic development, and for the development of prostate and colorectal cancers.

"The results suggest that such 'master' regulatory factors could activate regions of the genome that are normally inactive, leading to the formation of organs during development, or the initiation of pathological changes in cells that lead to diseases such as cancer", says Professor Jussi Taipale at Karolinska Institutet's Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics who led the research.

The results pave the way for cracking the genetic code that controls the expression of genes, and will have broad implications for the understanding of development and disease. The availability of genomic information relevant to disease is expanding at an exponentially increasing rate.

"This study identifies how the modification of the DNA structure affects the binding of transcription factors, and this increases our understanding of how genes are regulated in cells and further aids us in deciphering the grammar written into DNA", says Professor Taipale.

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The study was supported by the Academy of Finland Center of Excellence in Cancer Genetics and the ERA SynBio project MirrorBio, Karolinska Institutet's Center for Innovative Medicine, Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, Goran Gustafsson Foundation, and the Swedish Research Council.

Publication: Yimeng Yin, Ekaterina Morgunova, Arttu Jolma, Eevi Kaasinen, Biswajyoti Sahu, Syed Khund-Sayeed, Pratyush K. Das, Teemu Kivioja, Kashyap Dave, Fan Zhong, Kazuhiro R. Nitta, Minna Taipale, Alexander Popov, Paul A. Ginno, Silvia Domcke, Jian Yan, Dirk Schubeler, Charles Vinson, and Jussi Taipale. 'Impact of cytosine methylation on DNA binding specificities of human transcription factors'. Science, 5 May 2017.
Nearly 5 times as many adults age 50 and older who have been incarcerated say they have no retirement accounts at all, compared to those who haven't spent time in prison

Americans age 50 and older who report that they have been incarcerated at some point in their lives are more likely to express anxiety about several aspects of retirement, to have experienced unemployment in the recent past, and to have fewer sources of income for retirement than those who have not, according to a new national survey of Americans age 50 and older from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The survey offers a rare look at the effects of incarceration on older Americans' work life and retirement outlook.

"This new survey provides important data on the lasting impact incarceration has on older Americans long after they are released," said Trevor Tompson, director of The AP-NORC Center. "We have seen difficulties for many Americans in planning for retirement, but those are magnified when someone spends time in jail or prison."

Key findings from the survey include:

Fifty-seven percent of those who have served time in prison or jail say they are more anxious than excited about retiring, while 53 percent of those who have not been incarcerated say they are more excited than anxious.

One in 4 adults age 50 and older who have been incarcerated say they have no retirement accounts at all, compared with just 5 percent of older adults who have not been incarcerated.

One-third of those who have been incarcerated lost a job as a result of being imprisoned.

Forty-four percent of those who have been incarcerated say that they have looked for a job in the past five years, compared with only 24 percent of those who say they have not been incarcerated.

Fifty-four percent of those who have served time in prison or jail say they are not confident their savings will last through the entirety of their retirement, compared with 37 percent of those who have not been incarcerated.

About 1 in 3 Americans age 50 and older with a family member who has served time have had to borrow or withdraw money from a retirement plan, compared with 24 percent of those who have not had a family member incarcerated.

The 2017 study, funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, is a continuation of and expansion on the 2013 and 2016 surveys from The AP-NORC Center. The 2017 study extends the previous research and examines new topics, including older workers' experiences with unemployment and saving for retirement, as well as how experiences with the penal system affect the retirement planning of older Americans. The survey also tracks a number of attitudes and behaviors that were examined in 2013 and 2016 surrounding issues facing older workers.

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About the Survey

This survey, funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, was conducted by The AP-NORC Center between February 14 and March 13, 2017, with adults age 50 and over representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Staff from NORC at the University of Chicago, The Associated Press, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation collaborated on all aspects of the study. This work is part of The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research Journalism Fellowship on the Economics of Aging and Work. The current fellow is journalist Maria Zamudio. Survey Methodology

Panel members were randomly drawn from AmeriSpeak, and 1,683 completed the survey--1,049 via the web and 634 via telephone. The sample also included 332 African Americans and 308 Hispanics. For purposes of analysis, African-American and Hispanic respondents were oversampled in this poll and then weighted back to their proper proportion according to the U.S. Census. In total, 157 respondents said they have personally served time in prison or jail, and 276 respondents said they have an immediate family member who has served time in prison or jail. Interviews were conducted in both English and Spanish, depending on respondent preference. The overall margin of sampling error is +/- 3.0 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level, including the design effect. Among subgroups, the margin of sampling error at the 95 percent confidence level is +/- 3.5 percentage points for African Americans and +/- 4.6 percentage points for Hispanics.

About The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research

The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research taps into the power of social science research and the highest-quality journalism to bring key information to people across the nation and throughout the world.

http://www.apnorc.org

The Associated Press (AP) is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world's population sees news from AP.

http://www.ap.org

NORC at the University of Chicago is an objective and non-partisan research institution that delivers reliable data and rigorous analysis to guide critical programmatic, business, and policy decisions. Since 1941, NORC has conducted groundbreaking studies, created and applied innovative methods and tools, and advanced principles of scientific integrity and collaboration. Today, government, corporate, and nonprofit clients around the world partner with NORC to transform increasingly complex information into useful knowledge.

http://www.norc.org

The two organizations have established The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research to conduct, analyze, and distribute social science research in the public interest on newsworthy topics, and to use the power of journalism to tell the stories that research reveals.

Contact: For more information, contact Eric Young for NORC at young-eric@norc.org or (703) 217-6814 (cell); Ray Boyer for NORC at boyer-ray@norc.org or (312) 330-6433; or Lauren Easton for AP at leaston@ap.org.
Maoist Centre mayoral candidate withdraws nomination in Pokhara

CPN (Maoist Centre) candidate for the post of mayor in the local level elections from Pokhara Metropolitan City withdrew his nomination on Thursday.
A comparative cross-cultural study conducted by the HSE International Laboratory of Positive Psychology of Personality and Motivation has found that Russians tend to be as open with their friends as Americans, but unlike Americans, Russians prefer to hide their happiness when talking to strangers or government officials. These findings were published in the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology in the paper Russians Inhibit the Expression of Happiness to Strangers: Testing a Display Rule Model. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0022022117699883

The first attempts at studying happiness and psychological wellbeing date back to the 1960s, while systematic research in this field began in the 1980s, in particular thanks to pioneering work by American psychologist Ed Diener. At about the same time, large-scale comparative studies were undertaken to examine various value-based and socioeconomic predictors of wellbeing. Comparative cross-cultural studies help researchers pinpoint the socioeconomic factors which can affect the human mind and sense of wellbeing.

'Comparison of data from different cultural contexts makes it possible to draw interesting conclusions on how culture and society can influence people's behaviour and outlook on life,' according to Evgeny Osin, leading researcher at the HSE International Laboratory of Positive Psychology of Personality and Motivation and co-author of the paper. 'Happiness is not some kind of an admirable but distant goal, but a real psychological phenomenon which can have a significant impact on society and economy of a particular country. Many countries conduct surveys regularly in order to find out how satisfied and happy their citizens are and how new laws and policies affect these parameters. Happiness and unhappiness come with multiple social consequences -- according to research, an unhappy person can be more prone to alcoholism, drug addiction, risky behaviour and negative forms of social interaction; in contrast, happy people are more likely to succeed in life and maintain good health.'

Between 2014 and 2016, researchers of the HSE International Laboratory of Positive Psychology of Personality and Motivation led by Professor Ken M. Sheldon of the University of Missouri-Columbia, studied emotional inhibition tendencies in different cultures and social situations. They surveyed 1,500 Russian students from Moscow, Tomsk, Omsk, Biysk, and Petropavlovsk and some 500 American students at the University of Missouri. According to the study authors, although all respondents are undergraduates, the samples are comparable and can support informed conclusions about certain behavioural differences between Russians and Americans.

A questionnaire was designed, consisting of six groups of statements measuring the tendency to inhibit the expression of happiness or unhappiness in various social situations, e.g. with friends, strangers or authorities. The respondents were asked to agree or disagree with the following types of statements: "When I'm happy, I try not to show it to my friends." The questions varied with respect to state of mind (happiness versus unhappiness) and social situation (with friends, strangers in public places or government authorities).

The main finding is fairly optimistic: Russians may actually be happier than they appear -- they just prefer not to show it. 'Looking at our gloomy faces one might assume that many Russians are unhappy, but the real reason may be that we tend to reveal our happiness only to family and friends and only when feel really good,' Osin suggests. 'This trait makes us similar to members of collectivistic East Asian cultures, such as Japan and China, where hiding certain emotions to maintain harmony in the group is considered the cultural norm.'

The study also reveals that unlike the USA, where the tendency to inhibit the expression of happiness is associated with lower levels of subjective wellbeing -- i.e. dissatisfaction with life, predominance of negative emotions, unmet basic needs -- no such association has been found in Russia. In other words, Americans tend to hold back the expression of their positive emotions only when something is wrong, while Russians find it perfectly normal to hide their happiness regardless of how they feel.

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On May 5, 2017, scientists will launch a sounding rocket 200 miles up into the atmosphere, where in just five minutes, it will take 1,500 images of the sun. The NASA-funded RAISE mission is designed to scrutinize split-second changes occurring near the sun's active regions -- areas of intense, complex magnetic activity that can give rise to solar flares, which eject energy and solar material out into space.

Several missions continuously study the sun -- such as NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, and the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or STEREO -- but certain areas of the sun demand especially high-cadence observations in order to understand the rapid changes occurring there. That's where RAISE -- short for Rapid Acquisition Imaging Spectrograph Experiment -- comes in.

"Dynamic processes happen on all timescales," said Don Hassler, principal investigator for the RAISE mission at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. "With RAISE, we'll read out an image every two-tenths of a second, so we can study very fast processes and changes on the sun. That's around five to 10 times faster than comparable instruments on other sounding rocket or satellite missions."

RAISE images are used to create a data product called a spectrogram, which separates light from the sun into all its different wavelength components. By looking at the intensity of light at each wavelength, scientists can assess how solar material and energy moves around the sun, and how that movement evolves into massive solar eruptions.

"RAISE is pushing the limits of high-cadence observations, and doing so is challenging," Hassler said. "But that's exactly what the NASA sounding rocket program is for."

The flight of a sounding rocket is short-lived, and has a parabolic trajectory -- the shape of a frown. Most sounding rocket flights last for 15 to 20 minutes, and just five to six of those minutes are spent making observations from above the atmosphere, observations that can only be done in space. In RAISE's case, the extreme ultraviolet light the instruments observe can't penetrate Earth's atmosphere. After the flight, the payload parachutes to the ground, where it can be recovered for use again.

This will be the RAISE mission's third flight, and the scientists have continuously updated its technology. For the upcoming flight, they have refurbished the detectors and updated the flight software, and the payload carries a new diffraction grating, which reflects light and separates it into its separate wavelengths.

The launch window for RAISE opens at 2:25 p.m. EDT at the White Sands Missile Range near Las Cruces, New Mexico. The precise timing of the launch depends on weather conditions, and coordinated timing with other space observatories such as NASA's SDO and IRIS, as well as the joint Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency/NASA's Hinode.

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RAISE is supported by NASA's Sounding Rocket Program at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. NASA's Heliophysics Division manages the Sounding Rocket Program.
A basin in the Falkland Islands exhibits traits of a large impact crater, according to a new analysis by a team of scientists. The structure measures approximately 250 kilometers, or more than 150 miles, in diameter and is described in the latest issue of the journal Terra Nova.

"If the Falklands basin is really an impact crater, and it has some of the most telling features, then it is one of the largest known," observes Michael Rampino, a professor in New York University's Department of Biology and one of the paper's co-authors.

The researchers, who also include Max C.L. Rocca of Argentina's Planetary Society and Paraguay-based geologist Jaime Baez Presser, acknowledge that samples from the site are necessary to confirm the conclusions of the analysis.

The basin is situated on the Falkland (Malvinas) Plateau to the northwest of West Falkland (Gran Malvina) Island. Seen in seismic-reflection profiles, and in gravity and magnetic surveys, it has traits that are consistent with impact craters, which are caused by collisions with asteroids and comets. Approximately 200 such craters have been discovered on Earth.

The scientists estimate the age of the basin to be from the late Paleozoic Era--approximately 270 to 250 million years ago.

"If the proposed crater turns out to be 250 million years old, it could correlate with the largest mass extinction ever--the Permian extinctions, which wiped out more than 90 percent of all species," observes Rampino.

He and his colleagues also point to specific features that indicate the basin is an impact crater.

They note that it is completely buried by sediments from more recent eras, which indicates it was formed long before its surroundings, and that it has no topographic expression on the present sea floor.

Key to the basin's identification as a potential impact crater are the decrease in the strength of Earth's gravity over the site, indicating a large basin filled with younger low-density sediments, and a strong increase in the strength of Earth's magnetism at the site. The latter is characteristic of large impact structures--notably, the 66-million-year-old, 200-kilometer diameter Chicxulub impact crater discovered in the Yucatan in the late 1970s.

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Research from NYU and the Visiting Nurse Service of New York examines language barriers' impact on patient outcomes; notes a vulnerability gap for patients with limited English proficiency

In the United States (U.S.), one in every five households speaks a language other than English at home. Research has shown, as English language proficiency decreases, positive healthcare outcomes also decrease. Limited English proficiency (LEP) patients are at higher risk of 30-day readmissions, longer length of stay in both the inpatient and emergency room settings, and adverse events.

The adverse effects of language gaps may be most pervasive in home health care settings where the implementation of interpreter services is difficult and highly inconsistent, making effective communication between healthcare professionals and patients challenging. There is a paucity of research in this area, according to New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing (NYU Meyers) researcher Allison Squires, FAAN, PhD, RN.

"The lack of research about the impact of language barriers on patient outcomes in home health care represents a point of vulnerability for LEP patients as they transition through the healthcare system," said Dr. Squires.

"This is an ongoing challenge for health care providers," commented Dr. Penny Feldman of the Center for Home Care Policy and Research at the Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY), who noted that VNSNY deploys bilingual clinicians and interpreters where possible.

In a recently published paper in Home Health Care Management and Practice, Dr. Squires and her team from NYU and the VNSNY aimed to fill this knowledge gap.

"In the study, we explored the potential vulnerability in home health care service delivery by examining the frequency of language-concordant visit patterns among home health patients using electronic health records and organizational administrative datasets," notes Dr. Squires.

The study, "An Exploratory Analysis of Patient Provider Language-Concordant Home Health Care Visit Patterns," examined language concordance visits for registered nurses (RN) and physical therapists (PT). They defined a language-concordant visit as a duty call where the provider spoke the same language as the patient, or an interpreter accompanied the provider. The study used data from home health care services in the New York City area, representing the dominant immigrant demographics: English, Chinese, Italian, Greek, Korean, Patois, Russian, Spanish, Yiddish, and others.

According to the results, only 18.1% of RN visits and 26.7% of PT visits with LEP patients were language concordant. Korean speakers had the highest percentage of language-concordant visits by RNs, with 31.3% of visits in that category, followed by Russian (22.4%) and Chinese speakers (18.7%). Despite the fact that Spanish is the second most spoken language in the U.S., only 13.1% of RN visits with Spanish speaking patients were language-concordant.

Among LEP patients receiving PT services, Koreans also had the highest percentage of language-concordant visits at 45.1%, with Chinese (30.1%) and Russian (25.1%) speakers also rounding out the top three. Only 12% of PT visits with Spanish speakers were language concordant. Dr. Squires notes that these findings also point to a lack of understanding of the language-capacity of the U.S. healthcare workforce, and calls for more research on this subject, as it is an integral piece to determining the impact--and how to increase the percentage of--language-concordant healthcare visits.

"The broader significance of these findings is that as societies diversify through immigration, the demand for language-concordant health services will rise," said Dr. Squires. "Locations that are 'new' to managing the linguistic diversity brought about by changing immigration patterns, can learn from organizations in locations with more experience handling the issue and potentially find mutually beneficial solutions to addressing the problem," agreed Dr. Feldman.

Frequency (or lack thereof) of language-concordant health care encounters also has the potential to highlight cultural competence, unconscious bias, and discrimination in health services. How the language barriers in health care delivery are addressed --from the nursing assistant up through the Chief Executive Officer--may reflect broader attitudes within the organization toward racial, ethnic, and linguistic minorities.

"A failure to adequately respond to demand for language-concordant services could, for example, be a reflection of how staff deliver and organize care or an organization's operational philosophy around addressing health disparities in the populations they serve," said Dr. Squires. "More research is needed to determine the right 'dose' of bilingual home care visits to optimize home care outcomes and establish a standard for care."

Ensuring that language-concordant encounters happen across the care continuum is an important strategy for increasing access to care at the earliest stages, thereby reducing readmission risks, and improving care transitions throughout the healthcare system.

The researchers note that by exploring this phenomenon in the home health care setting, this study provides a solid starting point for addressing the problem of lack of concordant-language encounters and may inform how data related to language are managed in other health care settings. It is the hope of Dr. Squires and her team that this data will serve as a foundation to build a better understanding of the complexity of this issue.

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Researchers: Allison Squires, PhD, RN, FAAN1, Timothy R. Peng, PhD2, Yolanda Barron-Vaya, MS2, and Penny Feldman, PhD2

1 New York University, New York City, NY, USA

2 Visiting Nurse Service of New York, New York City, NY, USA

Declaration of Conflicting Interests The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding The author(s) received financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Funding for this work was received from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), #R01HS023593.

About New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing

NYU Meyers College of Nursing is a global leader in nursing education, research, and practice. It offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a Master of Science and Post-Master's Certificate Programs, a Doctor of Philosophy in Research Theory and Development, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. For more information, visit https://nursing.nyu.edu/
ARLINGTON, Va.--Autonomous vehicles, augmented reality systems and advanced wireless networks were among over 50 new technologies showcased during the Ship-to-Shore Maneuver Exploration and Experimentation Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (S2ME2 ANTX) 2017--a series of amphibious beach landings held recently at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in California.

S2ME2 ANTX brought together industry, academia and the Naval Research and Development Establishment--which includes the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and various research laboratories associated with the Department of the Navy--to demonstrate emerging technology innovations. The exercise involved hundreds of Sailors, Marines and Department of Defense civilian employees and contractors.

By using direct feedback and technical evaluations from participating warfighters and senior leadership in attendance, S2ME2 ANTX also may change the way the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps look at prototyping and rapidly acquiring technology.

"The large scope of this exercise allows the Navy and Marine Corps to make informed decisions about future generations of technology for use by the warfighter," said Dr. David E. Walker, ONR's director of technology. "This pairing of Sailors and Marines with scientists and technologists will help move innovation at a faster pace."

S2ME2 ANTX focused on five capability areas of amphibious operations: ship-to-shore maneuver; weapons fire support and effects; clearing assault lanes; command and control; and information warfare. Demonstrated technologies included unmanned and autonomous vehicles equipped with sensors to gather intelligence in the air, on land and underwater.

During each amphibious beach demonstration, unmanned surface and underwater vehicles approached the shore first, collecting intelligence about battlespace conditions--including threats and obstacles--providing an accurate picture of what warfighters would face when leaving their vessels and vehicles.

Several ONR- and Naval Research Laboratory-sponsored systems were demonstrated at S2ME2 ANTX, including:

BEMR Lab: BEMR stands for Battlespace Exploitation of Mixed Reality. This cutting-edge technology merges virtual reality (complete immersion in a simulated/virtual world) and augmented reality (where virtual objects are imposed onto real-world vision), through the use of Oculus Rift goggles.

Mine Warfare Rapid Assessment Capability (MIW RAC): A small quadcopter is outfitted with an ultra-sensitive magnetometer and sensors to detect mines and provide real-time data to a handheld Android device.

Coalition Tactical Awareness and Response (CTAR): This system uses satellite imagery to conduct surveillance of large areas of open ocean. CTAR processes image data to generate detailed reports about maritime activity in these ocean areas, and can share this information with partners and allies.

Technologies that performed well at S2ME2 ANTX potentially could be featured at Bold Alligator 2017, a multinational series of amphibious exercises led by U.S. Fleet Forces Command and U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command, scheduled for the fall.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio - Whether rich or poor, one thing unites Americans of all economic classes: Our love for fast food.

A new nationwide study of young baby boomers contradicts the popular belief that fast-food consumption is concentrated among the poor.

Results showed that middle-income Americans were most likely to eat fast food, although the differences from other groups was relatively small. Even the richest people were only slightly less likely to report fast food consumption than others.

"It's not mostly poor people eating fast food in America," said Jay Zagorsky, co-author of the study and research scientist at The Ohio State University's Center for Human Resource Research.

"Rich people may have more eating options, but that's not stopping them from going to places like McDonald's or KFC."

Zagorsky, who also has an appointment with the Ohio Education Research Center, conducted the study with Patricia Smith of the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Their study was recently published online and will appear in the November 2017 issue of the journal Economics and Human Biology.

The researchers used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, which has questioned the same group of randomly selected Americans since 1979. The NLSY is conducted by Ohio State's Center for Human Resource Research.

In the study, Zagorsky and Smith used data from about 8,000 people who were asked about their fast-food consumption in the 2008, 2010 and 2012 surveys. Participants, who were in their 40s and 50s at the time of the surveys, were asked how many times in the past seven days they had eaten "food from a fast-food restaurant such as McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut or Taco Bell."

Results were compared with the participants' answers to questions about their wealth and income. While there were some slight differences in how wealth and income were related to fast-food consumption, Zagorsky said the results were similar.

Overall, 79 percent of respondents ate fast food at least once and 23 percent ate three or more meals during any one of the weeks recorded in the study.

In one analysis, the researchers divided the participants into 10 groups based on income. About 80 percent of those in the lowest 10 percent of income ate at least once at a fast-food restaurant, compared to about 85 percent of those who were ranked near the middle (40 to 50 percent) in terms of income. Of the richest 10 percent, about 75 percent reported eating at least one fast-food meal.

The number of fast-food meals eaten during the three weeks of the study showed a similar pattern. The lowest 10 percent in terms of income ate about 3.6 fast-food meals during the three weeks of the survey, compared to about 4.2 meals for middle-income people and three meals for the richest 10 percent of participants.

Another key finding was that people whose income or wealth changed dramatically during the four years of the study - either going way up or way down - didn't change their eating habits.

"If you became richer or poorer, it didn't change how much fast food you ate," Zagorsky said.

One hallmark of the heavy users of fast food was a lack of time.

The study found that fast-food eaters tended to have less leisure time because they were more likely to work and work more hours than non-fast-food eaters.

The researchers also found an interesting tidbit that should be of interest to people who saw the 2004 documentary Supersize Me. In the movie, Morgan Spurlock documented what happened to his body when he ate nothing but McDonald's for 30 days.

"I thought that was just a publicity stunt, but we found real people out there who seem to eat all their meals at fast-food restaurants," Zagorsky said.

In 2008, 10 respondents claimed to eat three times a day at fast-food restaurants, as did five people in 2010 and two in 2012.

Given that about 8,000 people participated in the survey, that suggests there may be quite a few people in the United States who go through periods of time during which they eat only fast food, Zagorsky said.

Zagorsky cautioned that there are some limitations to the study. For one, the participants were not asked what they ate at the fast-food restaurants. Some may choose healthier options such as salads, or they may sometimes just go for a cup of coffee.

Also, this study included only people in their 40s or 50s. Consumption habits may be different for people at different ages.

Zagorsky said he hopes the results of this study can help guide policymakers when they come up with laws regarding how to prevent obesity or guide nutritional choices for Americans.

"If government wants to get involved in regulating nutrition and food choices, it should be based on facts. This study helps reject the myth that poor people eat more fast food than others and may need special protection," he said.

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Contact: Jay Zagorsky, 614-442-7332; Zagorsky.1@osu.edu

Written by Jeff Grabmeier, 614-292-8457; Grabmeier.1@osu.edu
As United States policymakers debate how to devote money and resources to the Zika virus outbreak, understanding the potential economic impact of the virus in the US is key. Now, using a new computational model described in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, researchers have calculated that Zika, depending on the rate at which it infected people in at-risk states, could result in total costs ranging from $183 million to over $1.2 billion.

Since 2015, a strain of Zika virus originating in Brazil has been spreading internationally, with cases now confirmed in more than 40 countries, including the US. Six states -- Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas -- are at greatest risk of local Zika emergence. Zika can lead to a range of symptoms including fever, muscle pain, and headaches that have repercussions on medical costs and productivity. In addition, the virus has been linked to more serious Guillain-Barre Syndrome and severe birth defects.

In the new work, Bruce Lee of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Alison Galvani of Yale School of Public Health, and colleagues developed a computational model of the economic burden of Zika in the six most at-risk states under a range of hypothetical scenarios. They were able to calculate economic costs to the country under different infection rates, and determine what infection rates would be needed to reach certain cost thresholds.

Across the six states, they calculated that an attack rate of 0.01% would cost society $183.4 million, including both direct medical costs and lost productivity. An attack rate of 0.025% would cost $198.6 million, 0.1% would cost $274.6 million, 1% would cost $1.2 billion, and 2% would exceed $2 billion. For comparison, the attack rate of Zika in French Polynesia and that of chikungunya -- a similar virus--in Puerto Rico have both exceeded 10%. The numbers reported in this new study did not include any potential impact on tourism or travel, any impact beyond the six most at-risk states, nor lost productivity and medical costs associated with fear of Zika or infected family and friends.

"As we aimed to be conservative in our estimations, our model in many ways may underestimate the economic burden of Zika," the researchers say. "Our analyses indicate that the health and economic burden of even low attack rates of Zika in the Continental US would be both substantial and enduring."

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In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases: http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0005531

Citation: Lee BY, Alfaro-Murillo JA, Parpia AS, Asti L, Wedlock PT, Hotez PJ, et al. (2017) The potential economic burden of Zika in the continental United States. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 11(4): e0005531. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0005531

Funding: This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH U01 GM087719, U01 GM105627, U54HD070725, U01 HD086861). Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ R01HS023317), and USAID via grant AID-OAA-A-15-00064. The funders had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; and preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript.

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Sheer aggression rather than pure muscle strength often gives hermit crabs living in broken shells the edge during a fight. Broken shells constrain crabs' activities because they are heavy and a large portion of them unusable. Crabs living in broken shells value an intact shell and will fight more aggressively to get a better one. This is according to research conducted by Guillermina Alcaraz of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in Mexico and Gaston Ignacio Jofre of Texas A&M University in the US. Their findings are published in Springer's journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

The life of a hermit crab is mostly dictated by the search for a better fitting and more intact shell. When a hermit crab wants to take another crab's shell, it attacks by tapping on the shell vigorously and with great energy. During such shell fighting, attackers will try to evict opponents in a manoeuvre that seems to require high muscle strength.

Previous research conducted by Alcaraz showed that crabs that occupy broken shells in the wild have reduced metabolism, low energy levels, and poor nutritional intake. Despite this, they still outperform ones that occupy intact shells during fights. "Broken shells have some of their surface absent, leaving a reduced internal volume that is useful for the crab's protection; therefore, crabs use a relatively small part of the broken shell, but still have to carry the whole structure," explains Alcaraz.

Alcaraz and Jofre therefore set out to explain this seemingly incongruent fighting dynamic by exploring aspects of muscle strength and aggression. The authors hypothesized that carrying a broken shell would be a type of 'resistance training' for the crabs and make them better fighters. They collected male hermit crabs off the coast of Mexico. Crabs in broken shells and in intact shells were then coerced into leaving their current shell homes to move into an empty one which was attached to a thread. The thread connected to a pulley and a dynamometer to help the researchers measure the muscle strength of each crab. In a further part of the experiment, fights between crab duos were orchestrated. Unexpectedly, crabs with broken shells were found to have weaker muscle strength than those with intact ones, even though they were habituated to carry around much more weight. These crabs were however much more aggressive and fought at a higher intensity, even against larger contestants. This behaviour increased their chances of winning the fight in conditions of an apparent disadvantage.

"Prolonged poor conditions following the use of a broken shell seem to increase aggressiveness by affecting the long-term subjective value of a resource, which increases the motivation to fight" concludes Alcaraz.

Jofre comments: "Our findings highlight the role of the recent past associated with the fighting performance."

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Reference: Alcaraz, G. & Jofre, G.I. (2017). Aggressiveness compensates for low muscle strength and metabolic disadvantages in shell fighting: an outcome of the individual's past, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. DOI: 10.1007/s00265-017-2311-7.
We might be forgiven for thinking that a dog's sense of smell is more sensitive than our own.1 After all, our other senses seem to dominate daily life. But, the human nose is a powerful analytical tool which can, at times, drastically impact human interactions, and can be used for targeted artefact detection in modern materials and processes, explains Andrea Buettner, editor of the recently published Springer Handbook of Odor, a compendium of smell research including the chemistry and origin of what smells, the physiology and psychology of odor perception, and the application of scents and their measurement, but also the avoidance of odor nuisances.

"The relaxing or stimulating powers of smell fascinated me early on," says Buettner, who grew up loving the smell of cut wood from her father's carpentry workshop. Her research as a food chemist and aroma researcher now additionally focuses on the smells of the modern world, more precisely, the investigation of new substances and their physiological and toxicological effects, as well as the psychosomatic effects of offensive or irritating smell exposure.

The field of odor science is vast and Buettner explains that the most exciting research arises at the interfaces between disciplines. For example, between architecture and physiology where researchers show how sensual perception can be used as an architectural design method so that a successful building design has to consider the context of the building and the whole human body.2 Or between medicine and chemistry, where research into how analyzing the chemical molecules in our exhaled breath can help us diagnose certain diseases.3

Potential research topics in odor science are "practically endless," explains Buettner, who highlights the applications such research can have in our daily life.

"People should be more aware of their sense of smell, start training this sense early on in their youth, not only because it is good to know the different smells better but also because it adds another dimension to the quality of life!"

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Andrea Buettner is deputy director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging (IVV) and professor at the

Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany

Full interview with Andrea Buettner is available here.

Buettner A (ed) (2017) Springer Handbook of Odor. Springer International Publishing

Further information

The research and researchers mentioned above feature in the Springer Handbook of Odor. Further details about the researchers and their work, as well as pdfs of their respective chapters in the Springer Handbook of Odor are available on request.

1. Humans can smell as well as dogs (Matthias Laska, Linkoping University, Sweden) Our human sense of smell is much better than we traditionally thought. In fact, for certain odorants our human nose is even more sensitive than a dog's. We cannot predict how good the sense of smell of a species is from neuroanatomical features, such as size of brain structure or genetic features. Instead, the behavioral relevance of odors seems to determine the sensitivity of an animal's sense of smell.

2. Why should smell be incorporated into building design? (Katinka Temme, University of Augsburg) investigates how sensual perception can be used as an architectural design method. Any successful building design has to consider the context of the building and the whole human body together with its senses as important design parameters. Incorporating smell and our other senses into buildings creates spaces where we feel welcomed and healthy.

3. Disease diagnostics via exhaled breath (Jonathan Beauchamp, Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV, Germany) Exhaled breath contains many chemical molecules. This research focuses on the sources of these molecules which are metabolism, the microbiome, or environmental factors, amongst others. Imbalances in the body due to illness can alter the type and quantities of these exhaled chemicals, and therefore how breath analysis offers a potential non-invasive diagnostic aid for certain diseases.
Proactive Coping Attenuates Anxiety

Anxiety disorders are commonly treated with exposure therapy, during which patients confront their fears in a safe environment. Although exposure therapy can be effective in the short term, fears often return with time and in new situations. In this study, researchers explored whether a proactive coping mechanism called active avoidance, which diminishes fear responses in rodents, could be translated to humans. Healthy young adults first learned that pictures of a particular face were followed by a shock. One group learned to perform a simple task to prevent the shock, while in the other group the shocks eventually stopped and the participants learned to dissociate the face from the shock (emulating exposure therapy). When presented with the faces, both groups showed reduced anxiety as measured by the conductivity of their skin. The next day, those who had learned how to prevent the shocks maintained low responses to both the same faces and to new faces paired with an unpreventable shock. In contrast, the other group reacted strongly to both familiar and novel faces. Brain imaging showed that active avoidance engages the striatum, a region involved in learning to respond to threats or rewards. These findings suggest that having a sense of control over a threat may be an effective strategy for treating anxiety and for dealing with everyday challenges.

Corresponding author: Catherine A. Hartley, cah369@nyu.edu

Marker of Brain Health in the Blood

The number of Americans age 65 and older is expected to reach nearly 100 million by 2060, more than double the present elderly population. Brain health is a key concern for an aging population, however it is very expensive to assess the integrity of brain tissue in living individuals. Using data from a large study of Mexican-American families living in San Antonio, researchers compared individuals' chronological age to their "biological age," a calculation based on analysis of DNA from blood samples. They find that individuals with a biological age greater than their chronological age have reduced integrity of the structural connections in the brain, known as white matter. Although the researchers observe a correlation, and more research is needed to determine the biology linking these processes, their work provides a potential biomarker for assessing brain health throughout aging.

Corresponding author: Karen Hodgson, hodgson.karen@gmail.com

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The Journal of Neuroscience is published by the Society for Neuroscience, an organization of nearly 37,000 basic scientists and clinicians who study the brain and nervous system.
NAC asks AAR Corp to extend payment deadline

Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) has asked aircraft supplier US-based AAR Corp for 15 more days to send the pre-delivery order fee as its planned loan has been delayed.
HUNTSVILLE, TX (5/4/17) -- Ph.D. Student Lindsay Glicksberg of Sam Houston State University received the Emerging Forensic Scientist Award from the Forensic Science Foundation for her research on the stability of "bath salts" in biological evidence.

Glicksberg, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Forensic Science, earned the 2017 award for "Synthetic Cathinone Stability in Blood Using Liquid Chromatography/Quadrupole Time-Of-Flight/Mass Spectrometry (LC/qTOF/MS)." She studied the stability of 22 synthetic cathinones, a dangerous class of designer drugs that emerged in the US in 2009. Glicksberg's study found that specimen pH, temperature and chemical structure had a significant influence on drug stability. The study was funded by the National Institute of Justice.

"Many factors affect the stability of a drug, especially time and storage temperature, and the project was designed to assess these factors," said Glicksberg.

There has been a rise in the use and media coverage of bath salts, a class of drug that produces a wide range of stimulant effects, similar to methamphetamine, which has resulted in intoxication and death. In 2011, the Drug Enforcement Administration banned the use of some synthetic cathinones, and many states also have enacted their own laws against these chemicals. Despite these bans, people are still using these life-threatening drugs.

The Emerging Forensic Scientist Award focuses on the reliability and validity of techniques, processes or methods in forensic science. It is presented by the Forensic Science Foundation, the educational, scientific, and research arm of the American Academy of Forensic Science (AAFS), a prominent professional organization in the field. Glicksberg's research was presented at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the AAFS in New Orleans.

"Cathinone stability in biological evidence is of critical importance," said Dr. Sarah Kerrigan, Department Chair of the Department of Forensic Science and the Director of the Institute for Forensic Research, Training and Innovation at SHSU. "Changes in concentration that take place after a specimen is collected from a living or deceased person can influence how we interpret the results. We see cathinones in a wide variety of criminal investigations, ranging from impaired driving and sexual assault to death investigations and fatalities."

In addition to the award, Glicksberg recently co-authored an article on the ability to identify and measure these chemicals in biological evidence in the crime lab. "Identification and quantification of synthetic cathinones in blood and urine using liquid chromatography-quadrupole/time of flight (LC-Q/TOF) mass spectrometry" which was coauthored by Kerrigan and Kelsie Bryand of the Department of Forensic Science, was published in the Journal of Chromatography B at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27697731.

Designer drugs pose a growing problem to crime laboratories and medical examiners' offices. By the time the drug is identified and banned, clandestine drug chemists have synthesized new alternatives, in an attempt to circumvent the law.

"Our findings are particularly important because we were able to identify characteristics of the molecule that influence its stability," Kerrigan said. "Not only were we able to identify the drugs which were the most unstable, but our research might help predict the stability of future synthetic cathinones that have yet to emerge."

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It was already known that people affected by Parkinson's disease, when subjected to deep brain stimulation, gained weight, but it was less clear why that was so. Thanks to new research by the International School for Advanced Studies - SISSA in Trieste (Italy), it has been realized that the weight gain after implant has a multifactorial origin. The study, published on the scientific journal Cortex, monitored for the first time a group of patients before and after the intervention, assessing cognitive, psychological and behavioural aspects. The results show that weight gain is associated with an increased desire for food and level of impulsiveness, as well as with the duration of the disease and the reduction of pharmacological treatment, thereby providing important elements for preventative purposes.

"The alteration of body weight is one of the potential complications of deep brain stimulation as a treatment of Parkinson's disease", explains Marilena Aiello, SISSA researcher and first author of the research. "The origin was initially traced to the substantial reduction in motor symptoms, overlooking the role of the brain stimulation area -- the subthalamic nucleus -- in the reward system. Our intention was to assess the overall picture before and after the operation, from a clinical as well as a cognitive, psychological and behavioural viewpoint".

The study -- conducted in collaboration with the Santa Maria della Misericordia University Hospital in Udine, under the leadership of Raffella Rumiati, in charge of SISSA neuroscience and society lab -- has involved 18 Parkinsonian patients who underwent deep brain stimulation and 18 healthy volunteers.

"The patients have been assessed in three distinct phases: prior to the operation, 5 days after the operation, and 3 months thereafter. They were always under pharmacological treatment, gradually reduced, whereas, at the time of the latest survey, the stimulator, too, was active" Aiello went on to state.

Participants were subjected to some questionnaires used at clinical level to assess their levels of depression, anhedonia -- i.e. the inability to experience pleasure -- and impulsiveness. In addition, they undertook some tasks assessing food reward sensitivity and impulsive reactions to food.

"Our results have confirmed a significant weight gain during the months following the operation. In line with an alteration of the reward system, the weight variation has proved more consistent in those patients who, after the operation, have displayed an increased desire for food. However, we have also noted the importance of individual characteristics, such as attentional impulsiveness - i.e. the tendency to take sudden decisions -- and of characteristics related to the disease, such as its duration and the reduction in the pharmacological load".

The researcher concludes thus: "Our results have proved the multifactorial nature of the post-operation weight gain, and offer important tools to identify the patients under greatest risk and accordingly prevent an excessive or anyway debilitating weight gain".

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Full paper: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010945217301193
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) co-hosted a United Nations-supported international conference recently on the challenges and opportunities of ocean and coastal sustainable development under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG) Agenda.

Held on the campus of PolyU, the "Healthy Oceans - Healthy Coast" International Leadership Conference on 25-26 April 2017 was attended by around forty experts from the United Nations and related government and non-government representatives from overseas and the Chinese mainland. The discussion focused on UNSDG which provides guidelines and targets for all countries to adopt and achieve in accordance with their own priorities and the environmental challenges of the world at large.

The Conference was supported by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), an authoritative knowledge-based institution, to help shape current policy debates and development strategies, with a particular focus on ensuring that domestic policies and international action are mutually supportive in bringing about sustainable development. Other lead organisers were the International Ocean Institute and Shenzhen World Health Foundation.

Faculty and graduate students from PolyU's Department of Logistics and Maritime Studies and Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development shared their research work on green shipping and high-density coastal development.

PolyU's Vice President (Student and Global Affairs), Professor Angelina Yuen, said, "PolyU has always been committed to the sustainable development of the community. We are honoured to have taken part in and contributed ideas to the global discussion on issues relating to the oceans. With concerted efforts, I am confident that together we can make progress on this important global challenge."

The conference concluded with the drafting of a summary document which will be shared at the upcoming United Nations Oceans Conference co-hosted by the Governments of Fiji and Sweden at the UN Headquarters in New York on 5-9 June 2017 to support the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

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Media enquiries:

Mr David Joiner

Director of International Affairs Office

Tel: (852) 2766 4393

Email: david.joiner@polyu.edu.hk
PHILADELPHIA  Babies born to women who have used opioids at any point during pregnancy are at risk of suffering withdrawal symptoms  collectively called neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS)  that can cause serious problems in the infant. To reduce the severity of these symptoms, infants are treated with opioids and then slowly weaned off over the course of about a month, requiring a prolonged hospital stay. New research published May 4 in the New England Journal of Medicine demonstrated that a more effective treatment can safely cut the duration of therapy nearly in half.

This is a practice-changing advance for treatment of babies with NAS, says the lead author of the study Walter Kraft, M.D., Professor and Director, Clinical Research Unit in the Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics in the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University. We predict that buprenorphine will become the new standard of care for NAS.

The current standard of care for infants who experience withdrawal symptoms, or NAS, is treatment with morphine until the symptoms subside. However, because pediatric populations are difficult to study, robust evidence from clinical trials supporting morphine were lacking.

Testing therapeutics in infants has always been challenging. Families are understandably apprehensive about entering their infants into clinical trials, says Kraft. But it is essential that we study whether these therapies are effective, because infants are not simply smaller versions of adults. Their physiology is unique and we need to continue to build evidence for their treatment. Improving care based on solid evidence was at the heart of this study.

The clinical trial was designed with multiple checks and balances to ensure the results were not skewed by the perception of the families or the health care providers. Between October 2011 and May 2016, the investigators enrolled 63 infants in the study and divided them into two treatment groups. Infants with withdrawal symptoms were treated with either morphine or buprenorphine in a blinded fashion so that neither the health care providers nor the families knew which treatment was given after all of the data was collected.

The research team found that the 30 infants treated with morphine required the therapy for an average of 28 days before their withdrawal symptoms were under control and they were fully weaned. Whereas the 33 infants allocated to buprenorphine only required an average of 15 days of the medication. The buprenorphine reduced treatment time by 47 percent.

We suspect that buprenorphine is more effective because it works a little differently at the opioid receptor. It is also a longer lasting drug than morphine, requiring a dose every eight hours rather than the four required for morphine, says Kraft. The trial found buprenorphine to be as safe as morphine. Though not tested in this study, treatment of infants at home with buprenorphine may eventually be possible due to these favorable characteristics.

"The beauty of our results is that the drug is immediately readily available, unequivocally effective, non-invasive and safe. This could impact standard of care for and the financial cost of neonatal abstinence syndrome," said Michelle E. Ehrlich, M.D., from The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who had initiated research on buprenorphine at Jefferson with Dr. Kraft before moving to New York. In future studies, Dr. Kraft and I hope to research how genetics may inform and influence an infants response to medication.

Many mothers with substance abuse history who enrolled their infants in the study were treated with counseling, medication and group therapy at the Maternal Addiction Treatment Education and Research (MATER) program at Jefferson led by co-author Diane Abatemarco, Ph.D. This nationally-recognized program recently received a Center of Excellence grant from the State of Pennsylvanias Department of Human Services to strengthen care coordination.

Jefferson has led the charge on treating neonatal abstinence syndrome since the 1970s, says Dr. Kraft. Research within this population is challenging and the strength of the results speaks to the clinical staff who worked with the families and helped them feel fully supported by our team, in a way that was non-judgmental. This partnership was essential to finding such meaningful results.

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Authors who contributed to this study include:

Susan C. Adeniyi-Jones, M.D., and Jay S. Greenspan, M.D., hold joint appointments at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, and Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children; Inna Chervoneva, Ph.D., Diane Abatemarco, Ph.D., and Karol Kaltenbach Ph.D., are with the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University; and Michelle E. Ehrlich M.D. is with The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Article reference: W.K. Kraft, et al., Buprenorphine for the treatment of the neonatal abstinence syndrome, New England Journal of Medicine, DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1614835. 2017.

The study was funded by National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA02976). Indivior supplied buprenorphine, but was not involved in the study design; data collection, analysis, or interpretation; or manuscript preparation. The authors report no other conflicts of interest.

About Jefferson

Jefferson, through its academic and clinical entities of Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health, including Abington Health and Aria Health, is reimagining health care for the greater Philadelphia region and southern New Jersey. Jefferson has 23,000 people dedicated to providing the highest-quality, compassionate clinical care for patients, educating the health professionals of tomorrow, and discovering new treatments and therapies to define the future of care. With a university and hospital that date back to 1824, today Jefferson is comprised of six colleges, nine hospitals, 34 outpatient and urgent care locations, and a multitude of physician practices throughout the region, serving more than 100,000 inpatients, 373,000 emergency patients and 2.2 million outpatients annually.
Professor Seyun Kim's team from KAIST reported the mechanism by which cellular signaling transduction network is exquisitely controlled in mediating innate immune response such as sepsis by the enzyme IPMK (Inositol polyphosphate multikinase) essential for inositol biosynthesis metabolism.

In collaboration with Professor Rho Hyun Seong at Seoul National University, the study's first author, Eunha Kim, a Ph.D. candidate in Department of Biological Sciences, performed a series of cellular, biochemical, and physiological experiments searching for the new function of IPMK enzyme in macrophages. The research findings were published in Science Advances on April 21.

Professor Kim's team has been investigating various inositol metabolites and their biosynthesis metabolism for several years and has multilaterally identified signaling actions of IPMK (Inositol polyphosphate multikinase) in the control of cellular growth and energy homeostasis.

This research showed that specific deletion of IPMK enzyme in macrophages could significantly reduce levels of inflammation and increase survival rates in mice when they were challenged by microbial septic shock as well as endotoxins. This suggests a role for IPMK enzyme in mediating innate inflammatory responses that are directly related to host defense against pathogenic bacterial infection.

The team further discovered that IPMK enzyme directly binds to TRAF6 protein, a key player in immune signaling, thus protecting TRAF6 protein from ubiquitination reactions that are involved in protein degradation. In addition, Kim and colleagues successfully verified this IPMK-dependent immune control by employing short peptides which can specifically interfere with the binding between IPMK enzyme and TRAF6 protein in macrophage cells.

This research revealed a novel function of IPMK enzyme in the fine tuning of innate immune signaling networks, suggesting a new direction for developing therapeutics targeting serious medical conditions such as neuroinflammation, type 2 diabetes, as well as polymicrobial sepsis that are developed from uncontrolled host immune responses. This research was funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.

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(New York, NY - May 4, 2017) -- Immunotherapy, which has achieved remarkable results in late-stage lung cancer patients, can also hold great hope for newly diagnosed patients, cutting the deadly disease off before it has the chance to take hold and offering a potential cure, according to a new Mount Sinai study published today in Cell.

Researchers at The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai discovered that some of the same immune cells that allow immunotherapy to turn around some late-stage lung cancers are also present just as the disease takes hold. Before now, little was known about the immune response in early lung cancer, said Miriam Merad, MD, PhD, Professor of Oncological Sciences and of Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology) at The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai.

Dr. Merad and a multidisciplinary team of thoracic surgeons, pathologists, and scientists devised a comprehensive study that began when patients went into surgery to have cancerous lesions removed. The patients' lung tumor samples, samples of surrounding healthy lung tissue, and blood samples were immediately analyzed on a cellular level to map out the immune system components present.

The team of researchers crafted a barcoding method that attaches cells in each sample to a different metal isotope, allowing the samples to be pooled for a simultaneous analysis of cells from all three tissue types. The scientists combined this barcoding approach with high-dimensional profiling to map the complete immune landscape to search for tumor-driven changes that would be vulnerable to targeted immunotherapy.

The analysis of the samples showed that stage I lung cancer lesions already harbor immune system components that likely compromise anti-tumor T cells' ability to fend off cancer. These single-cell analyses offered unprecedented detail of tumor-driven immune changes, providing a powerful tool for the future design of immunotherapies such as checkpoint inhibitors, particularly those that target the PD-1 and PD-L1 proteins that shield cancer from the immune system; these checkpoint inhibitors have shown great promise in later-stage cancers.

"Immunotherapy has mostly been used in advanced or metastatic lung cancer, but its benefit in early-stage tumors remains unknown," Dr. Merad said. "The standard treatment for early lung cancer is normally surgical removal of the lesions--sometimes with chemotherapy and radiation. Our study reveals that early lung lesions are heavily infiltrated with many different immune cells, suggesting that immunotherapy could also work on very early lesions and potentially lead to a cure by heading cancer off at the pass before it really takes root in the lungs."

This new research also identified a multitude of additional immunotherapy targets to increase the number of patients that would significantly benefit from immunotherapy, which at the moment remains fairly small. This research is being used to develop immunotherapy trials with early lung cancer patients.

"About 50 percent of patients with small lung cancer lesions relapse," Merad said. "And when lung cancer is advanced, chemotherapy does not have a great success rate, so knowing how to attack the cancer at an early stage could have huge impacts on the number of patients relapsing and their overall survival. Our research further corroborates the belief that immunotherapy agents are most efficient at early stages of cancer, particularly in patients who have never been treated with chemotherapy."

Raja M. Flores, MD, Chair of the Department of Thoracic Surgery at Mount Sinai Health System, and his team contributed significantly to the study by identifying patients and providing their tissue samples. Mount Sinai's Human Immune Monitoring Center (HIMC) also played an integral role, by providing a platform to analyze patient samples using quality control assays and cutting-edge technology. Through the HIMC, Dr. Merad plans to build a portal to share the results of this study and of other HIMC research to collaborate with colleagues at other cancer centers in the hopes of promoting further cancer and immunology research.

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This study was funded by Foundation pour la Recherche Medicale DEA20150633125 and NIH grants R01, R01 CA173861, U19AI128949, U24 AI 118644, U19 AI 117873-01.

About the Mount Sinai Health System

The Mount Sinai Health System is an integrated health system committed to providing distinguished care, conducting transformative research, and advancing biomedical education. Structured around seven hospital campuses and a single medical school, the Health System has an extensive ambulatory network and a range of inpatient and outpatient services--from community-based facilities to tertiary and quaternary care.

The System includes approximately 7,100 primary and specialty care physicians; 12 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 140 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. Physicians are affiliated with the renowned Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which is ranked among the highest in the nation in National Institutes of Health funding per investigator. The Mount Sinai Hospital is on the "Honor Roll" of best hospitals in America, ranked No. 15 nationally in the 2016-2017 "Best Hospitals" issue of U.S. News & World Report. The Mount Sinai Hospital is also ranked as one of the nation's top 20 hospitals in Geriatrics, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Nephrology, Neurology/Neurosurgery, and Ear, Nose & Throat, and is in the top 50 in four other specialties. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 10 nationally for Ophthalmology, while Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke's, and Mount Sinai West are ranked regionally. Mount Sinai's Kravis Children's Hospital is ranked in seven out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report in "Best Children's Hospitals."

For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
WASHINGTON -- Today, there is great interest in using distributed sensors to continually monitor the structural health of large structures such as dams or bridges. With 1 million sensing points, a newly developed fiber optic distributed sensor could offer significantly faster detection of structural problems than is currently available.

"With fiber-based sensors, it is possible to precisely detect erosion or cracking before a dam fails, for example," said Alejandro Dominguez-Lopez from the University of Alcala (UAH) in Spain, from the research team that developed the new sensor. "Earlier detection of a problem means it might be possible to prevent it from getting worse or could provide more time for evacuation."

Fiber optic distributed sensors are ideal for monitoring infrastructure because they can be used in harsh environments and in areas that lack a nearby power supply. If a single fiber is placed along the length of a bridge, for example, changes in the structure at any of the sensing points along the optical fiber will cause detectable changes in the light traveling down the fiber. Although the popularity of fiber optic distributed sensors is growing, they are currently used primarily to detect leaks in oil pipes and to monitor for landslides along railroads.

In The Optical Society (OSA) journal Optics Letters, Dominguez-Lopez and his colleagues from UAH and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) report the first fiber optic distributed sensor that can sense strain and temperature changes from 1 million sensing points over a 10-kilometer optical fiber in less than 20 minutes. Strain, which is a measure of deformation, indicates how much mechanical stress is on an object or structure.

The new sensor is about 4.5 times faster than previously reported sensors with 1 million sensing points. Although there isn't a magic number, more sensing points means fewer fiber-optic units are needed to monitor an entire structure. This simplifies the overall sensing scheme and could potentially reduce costs.

"Because we have such a large density of sensing points -- one per centimeter -- our optimized sensor could also be used for monitoring in applications such as avionics and aerospace, where it's important to know what is happening in every inch of a plane wing, for example," said Dominguez-Lopez.

Improving sensor performance

The new sensor uses an approach known as Brillouin optical time domain analysis, which requires pulsed and continuous wave laser signals to interact. The researchers discovered that the traditional method of generating the continuous signal caused distortions in the system at higher laser powers. These problems could be avoided by changing the way that laser signal was generated, allowing them to increase the laser power and hence improve the sensing performance.

"The detrimental effects that we studied and corrected have been affecting the performance of commercially-available Brillouin optical time domain sensors for some time," said Dominguez-Lopez. "If manufacturers incorporate our optimization into their sensors, it could improve performance, particularly in terms of acquisition speed."

Using the new approach, the researchers demonstrated that they could measure the temperature of a hot spot to within 3 degrees Celsius from the end of a 10-kilometer long fiber.

New applications ahead

The researchers are now working to make the sensor even faster by looking for ways to further reduce the acquisition time. They also want to increase the density of sensing points to more than one per centimeter, which could allow the technology to expand into completely new areas such as biomedical applications.

The optical fibers could also potentially be adapted for use in textiles, where the sensors could help to monitor a person's health or screen for disease. For example, the researchers think it might possible to use the fiber optic sensors to detect temperature deviations that are present in breast cancer. For this type of application, more sensing points in a smaller area would be more important than using a particularly long fiber.

"In our paper, we not only identified a major limitation of this sensing technique but also demonstrated a way to overcome that constraint," said Dominguez-Lopez. "The new sensor could enable improved structural monitoring and help move this sensing technology into exciting new research areas and applications."

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Paper: A. Dominguez-Lopez, M.A. Soto, S. Martin-Lopez, L. Thevenaz, M. Gonzalez-Herraez "Resolving 1 million sensing points in an optimized differential time-domain Brillouin sensor," Opt. Lett., Volume 42, Issue 10, 1903-1906 (2017). DOI: 10.1364/OL.42.001903.

About Optics Letters

Optics Letters offers rapid dissemination of new results in all areas of optics with short, original, peer-reviewed communications. Optics Letters covers the latest research in optical science, including optical measurements, optical components and devices, atmospheric optics, biomedical optics, Fourier optics, integrated optics, optical processing, optoelectronics, lasers, nonlinear optics, optical storage and holography, optical coherence, polarization, quantum electronics, ultrafast optical phenomena, photonic crystals and fiber optics.

About The Optical Society

Founded in 1916, The Optical Society (OSA) is the leading professional organization for scientists, engineers, students and entrepreneurs who fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate achievements in the science of light. Through world-renowned publications, meetings and membership initiatives, OSA provides quality research, inspired interactions and dedicated resources for its extensive global network of optics and photonics experts. For more information, visit: osa.org.

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A recent study, affiliated with UNIST has engineered a self-sustaining sensor platform to continuously monitor the surrounding environment without having an external power source.

This research has been led by the team of Professor Jaehyouk Choi of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UNIST in collaboration with Professor Wonjoon Choi of Mechanical Engineering at Korea University. The findings, published in the March issue of the prestigious journal, Nano Energy note that the proposed platform is expected to contribute to advanced sensing functions of a self-sustaining system for various targeted-ambient elements.

In the study the research team presented a self-sustaining water-motion-sensing (SS-WMS) platform to monitor and display the time-varying dynamics of water-motion, such as frequency and amplitude, using only the energy harvested from the water-motion itself.

A self-sustaining sensor platform is a core component for Internet-of-Things (IoTs) and smart-grid systems. The existing sensor platforms require energy to operate and display the detected information. Therefore, monitoring, processing, and displaying the minute changes of a targeted-environmental element in a real-time fashion without the use of external power sources or energy storages, like batteries has been challenging.

The research team solved this problem with the use of energy harvesting, an essential technology for permanent sensor platforms. Energy harvesting, also known as energy scavenging, is a technology for the harvesting of energy from various sources in the ambient environment, such as wind, water, light, heat, and mechanical energy for conversion into convebient use electric energy.

"It is virtually impossible to manually power a large number of sensors or periodically replace the batteries," says Professor Choi at UNIST. "The newly-developed semiconductor circuit is capable of performing multiple functions simultaneously, which include energy harvesting and analysis of dynamics."

The proposed sensor platform consists of a water-contact-based triboelectric nanogenerator (WC-TENG), a self-sustaining water-motion sensor integrated circuit (SS-WMS IC) on a test printed circuit board (PCB), and an LED array for displaying the detected frequencies and amplitudes of water motion.

The circuits that store the harvested electrical energy and simultaneously analyze the signals are made using CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) process. CMOS is an economically feasible method used in the production of semiconductors, as well as analog and digital circuits. It is composed of P-type and N-type transistors and can be designed as circuits that process various signals. Moreover, due to the low cost of manufacturing, it is also advantageous for commercialization.

In this study, Professor Choi's team designed the SS-WMS IC based on standard 65-nm CMOS technology, so that one CMOS semiconductor chip about the size of a grand of sand to perform multiple functions simultaneously.

According to the research team, their newly-developed SS-WMS platform has overcome the intrinsic limitations of prior self-sustaining sensors by improving the reliability and the continuity of real-time operation and delivering more useful and sophisticated information of the targeted ambient elements.

It is also capable of conducting energy generation and harvesting, capacitor charging, water motion analysis, as well as LED control for displaying sensed information without hampering the mobility of sensors or demanding significant efforts and costs for follow-up management, respectively

Moreover, because the integrated one-platform concept requires no external power source and significanly reduces energy storage requirements, it can be applied to wireless or no-power sensor platform and grid-scale renewable energy plants, the research team notes.

Professor Choi notes, "This newly-developed sensor platform is a low-power device that is operated solely by the energy harvested from the water-motion itself." He adds, "It can be used as an environmental sensor platform for continuous monitoring of the flows of water or currents, the total amount of rainfall per hour, as well as a leak or accidental spill of hazardous waste at industrial sites."

"The entire platform operation can be powered solely by the harvested energy from the WC-TENG," says Professor Choi. "We expect this platform can contribute to the development of new types of self-sustaining sensing platforms for liquids, such as seawater and wave dynamics, rainfall tracking, and permanent liquid-leakage monitoring systems."

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This work has been supported by the Basic Science Research Programs through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), funded by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning.

Journal Reference

Dongjoon Shin,Taeho Seong, Jaehyouk Choi, and Wonjoon Choia, "Self-sustaining water-motion sensor platform for continuous monitoring of frequency and amplitude dynamics," Nano Energy, (2017).
Although the odds of developing breast cancer are nearly identical for black and white women, black women are 42 percent more likely to die from the disease. This mortality gap - driven by social and environmental, as well as biological factors - continues to persist.

A large, multi-institutional study, published on-line May 4, 2017, in JAMA Oncology, was designed to understand this gap by beginning to unravel the germline genetic variations and tumor biological differences between black and white women with breast cancer. This is the first "ancestry-based comprehensive analysis of multiple platforms of genomic and proteomic data of its kind," the authors note.

Findings from this study could lead to more personalized risk assessment for women of African heritage and hasten the development of novel approaches designed to diagnose specific subtypes of aggressive breast cancers early and treat them effectively.

One new finding is that black women with hormone receptor positive, HER2-negative breast cancer had a higher risk-of-recurrence score than white women. The study also confirmed that black patients were typically diagnosed at a younger age and were more likely to develop aggressive breast-cancer subtypes, including basal-like or triple-negative cancers (tumors lacking estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors and HER2), as well as other aggressive tumor subtypes.

"People have long associated breast cancer mortality in black women with poverty, or stress, or lack of access to care, but our results show that much of the increased risk for black women can be attributed to tumor biological differences, which are probably genetically determined," said study author Olufunmilayo Olopade, MD, professor of medicine and human genetics at the University of Chicago.

"The good news," she said, "is that as we learn more about these genetic variations, we can combine that information with clinical data to stratify risk and better predict recurrences - especially for highly treatable cancers - and develop interventions to improve treatment outcomes."

"This is a great example of how team science and investments in science can accelerate progress in identifying the best therapies for the most aggressive breast cancers," said co-author Charles Perou, PhD, a member of the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and professor of genetics, and pathology & laboratory medicine at the UNC School of Medicine.

"In the largest dataset to date that has good representation of tumors from black women, we did not find much difference between the somatic mutations driving tumors in black and white women," he added. "Yet black women were more likely to develop aggressive molecular subtypes of breast cancer. Now we provide data showing that differences in germline genetics may be responsible for up to 40 percent of the likelihood of developing one tumor subtype versus another."

The study used DNA data collected from 930 women - 154 of predominantly African ancestry and 776 of European ancestry - available through The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), established by the National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute. The researchers combed through the data methodically, looking for racial differences in germline variations (normal DNA), somatic mutations (tumor acquired), subtypes of breast cancers, survival time, as well as gene expression, protein expression and DNA methylation patterns.

"Most significantly," explained first author Dezheng Huo, MD, PhD, associate professor of public health sciences at the University of Chicago, "we observed a higher genetic contribution to estrogen-receptor negative breast cancer in blacks."

Black women were more likely to get these highly aggressive cancers. This is one of the first studies to connect genetics to this racial difference in tumor subtype frequencies.

The study also revealed 142 genes that showed differences in expression levels according to race. One gene, CRYBB2 (Crystallin Beta B2), was consistently higher in tumors from black patients within each breast cancer subtype, as well as in normal tissues, suggesting it may be a race-specific gene.

The researchers also found somatic mutations in 13 genes or DNA segments that differed in frequency in tumors from black and white women. One of them, a mutated gene called TP53, was more common in black women (52%) than white women (31%) and was a strong predictor of disease recurrence.

"Despite the relatively short follow-up time in the TCGA dataset, we were able to detect a significant racial disparity in patient survival using breast cancer-free interval as the endpoint between patients of African and European ancestries," said co-first author Hai Hu, PhD, vice president for research at the Chan Soon-Shiong Institute of Molecular Medicine at Windber. "Most of the worst outcomes came from basal-like subtype breast cancer patients of African Ancestry."

"Black women in all categories, including the most common breast cancers, were likely to have a worse prognosis," Olopade said.

"Understanding the basic, underlying genetic differences between black and white women, the higher risk scores and the increased risk of recurrence should lead us to alternative treatment strategies," said Perou.

The crucial long-term benefit of this study, according to Olopade, is that "it is a step toward the development of polygenic biomarkers, tools that can help us better understand each patient's prognosis and, as we learn more, play a role in choosing the best treatment."

"Genes matter," she added. "This is a foot in the door for precision medicine, for scientifically targeted treatment."

"This study now outlines a path for us to personalize breast cancer risk assessment and develop better strategies to empower all women, especially black women, to know their genetics and be more proactive in managing their risk," Perou said.

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The study was funded by the National Cancer Institute, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure, the American Cancer Society and the U.S. Department of Defense. Also contributing were Toshio Yoshimatsu and Jason Pitt from the University of Chicago; Katherine Hoadley and Melissa Troester of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Jianfang Liu, Yuanbin Ru, and Lori Sturtz from the Chan Soon-Shiong Institute of Molecular Medicine at Windber, Windber, PA; Suhn Rhie of the University of Southern California; Eric Gamazon of Vanderbilt University; Andrew Cherniack from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Tara Lichtenberg from Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio; Carl Shelly from the University of Wisconsin; Christopher Benz from the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, Calif.; Gordon Mill from The MD Anderson Cancer Center; Peter Laird from the Van Andel Research Institute, Grand Rapids, MI; and Craig D. Shriver from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD.

To reach co-author Charles Perou, PhD, of the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and professor of genetics, and pathology & laboratory medicine at the UNC School of Medicine, contact Laura Oleniacz, Science Communications Manager, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, 919-445-4219, laura_oleniacz@med.unc.edu.

To reach co-author Hai Hu, PhD, vice president for research at the Chan Soon-Shiong Institute of Molecular Medicine at Windber contact Natalie Bombatch, Communications & Marketing Manager, Chan Soon-Shiong Institute of Molecular Medicine, Windber, PA, 814-467-3447, nbombatch@windbercare.org.
Daydreams of the tropical paradise of Hawai'i rarely include snow in the imagery, but nearly every year, a beautiful white blanket covers the highest peaks in the state for at least a few days. However, systematic observations of snowfall and the snow cover dimensions on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa are practically nonexistent. A group of climate modelers led by Chunxi Zhang from the International Pacific Research Center (IPRC) at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa used satellite images to quantify recent snow cover distributions patterns. They developed a regional climate model to simulate the present-day snowfalls and then to project future Hawaiian snowfalls. Their results indicate that the two volcano summits are typically snow-covered at least 20 days each winter, on average, but that the snow cover will nearly disappear by the end of the century.

To evaluate the current situation, Zhang and his colleagues examined surface composition data retrieved from satellite imagery of Hawai'i Island from 2000 to 2015 to construct a daily index of snow cover. They used this data compilation to evaluate the quality of their regional atmospheric climate model, based on global climate projections that included several scenarios of anticipated climate change. Zhang then ran simulations representative of the end of the 21st century, assuming a moderate business-as-usual scenario for greenhouse gas emissions projections, to establish how long Hawai'i might enjoy its occasional glimpses of white-topped mountains.

"We recognized that Hawaiian snow has an aesthetic and recreational value, as well as a cultural significance, for residents and visitors," explained Zhang. "So, we decided to examine just what the implications of future climate change would be for future snowfall in Hawai'i." Unfortunately, the projections suggest that future average winter snowfall will be ten times less than present day amounts, virtually erasing all snow cover.

The findings were not a total surprise, with future projections showing that even with moderate climate warming, air temperatures over the higher altitudes increase even more than at sea level, and that, on average, fewer winter storm systems will impact the state. However, the group's new method for establishing the current snow cover on these Hawaiian mountains provides another avenue for monitoring the progression of climate change in the region. Ultimately, this study also illustrates the benefits of the recent trend in model downscaling, highlighting the regional and local effects of global climate change.

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NC, Maoist Centre forge electoral alliance in Makwanpur

Ruling Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoist Centre) have forged an electoral alliance for mayor and deputy mayor post in Hetauda Sub Metropolis and Thaha Municipality in the district.
Less affluent countries are more committed to conservation of their large animals than richer ones, a new Oxford University research collaboration has found.

Researchers from Oxford's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) have assessed how much, or little, individual countries contribute to protecting the world's wildlife. Working in partnership with Panthera, the only organisation dedicated to protecting wild cats, they found that in comparison to the more affluent, developed world, biodiversity is a higher priority in poorer areas such as the African nations, which contribute more to conservation than any other region.

Led by Panthera Research Associate Dr Peter Lindsey, the team created a Mega-Fauna Conservation Index (MCI) of 152 nations, to evaluate their conservation footprint. Since a high proportion of mega-fauna species, such as tigers, leopards and gorillas face extinction, the team focused their research on the protection of large mammals. The benchmarking system evaluated three key measures: a) the proportion of the country occupied by each mega-fauna species that survives in the country (countries with more species covering a higher proportion of the country scoring higher); b) the proportion of mega-fauna species range that is protected (higher proportions score higher); c) and the amount of money spent on conservation - either domestically or internationally, relative to GDP.

The findings show that poorer countries tend to take a more active approach to biodiversity protection than richer nations. Ninety per cent of countries in North and Central America and 70 per cent of countries in Africa were classified as major or above-average in their mega-fauna conservation efforts.

Despite facing a number of domestic challenges, such as poverty and political instability in many parts of the continent, Africa was found to prioritise wildlife preservation, and contribute more to conservation than any other region of the world. African countries made up four of the five top-performing mega-fauna conservation nations, with Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe topping the list. By contrast, the United States ranked nineteenth out of the twenty performing countries. Approximately one-quarter of countries in Asia and Europe were identified as significantly underperforming in their commitment to mega-fauna conservation.

Dr.Lindsey said: 'Scores of species across the globe, including tigers, lions and rhinos, are at risk of extinction due to a plethora of threats imposed by mankind. We cannot ignore the possibility that we will lose many of these incredible species unless swift, decisive and collective action is taken by the global community.'

Human impact continues to have a devastating effect on the natural world, with wildlife species across the globe under threat from poaching, hunting and the consequences of climate change. Recent studies indicate that 59 per cent of the world's largest carnivores and sixty per cent of the largest herbivores are currently threatened with extinction.

Professor David Macdonald, Director of WildCRU and co-author of the paper, said: 'Every country should strive to do more to protect its wildlife. Our index provides a measure of how well each country is doing, and sets a benchmark for nations that are performing below the average level, to understand the kind of contributions they need to make as a minimum. There is a strong case for countries where mega-fauna species have been historically persecuted, to assist their recovery.'

The study also goes some way to explaining why the regional disparities occur. Mega-fauna species are associated with strong 'existence values', where just knowing that large wild animals exist, makes people feel happier. In some cases, such as the African nations, this link explains why some countries are more concerned with conservation than others. Larger mammal species like wild cats, gorillas and elephants play a key role in ecological processes as well as tourism industries, which are an economic lifeline in poorer regions.

The conservation index is intended as a call to action for the world to acknowledge its responsibility to wildlife protection. By highlighting the disparity in each nations' contributions to conservation the team hopes to see increased efforts and renewed commitment to biodiversity preservation.

Addressing how countries can improve their MCI scores, Dr Peter Lindsey said: "There are three ways; Firstly, they can 're-wild' their landscapes by reintroducing mega-fauna and/or by allowing the distribution of such species to increase. They can also set aside more land as strictly protected areas. And they can invest more in conservation, either at home or abroad."

At the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, developed nations promised to allocate at least $2 billion (USD) per annum towards conservation in developing nations. However, current conservation contributions from developed nations sit at just half of the proposed amount, $1.1 billion (USD) per year.

Discussing how the scores were tallied, Professor Macdonald added: "These countries have achieved high scores in a variety of ways - some by setting aside vast protected area networks, others by allowing mega-fauna species to occupy high proportions of their landscape, and others by investing significant funding in conservation either domestically or internationally. Our hope is that this will be produced annually to provide a public benchmark for commitment to protecting nature's largest, and, some would say, most charismatic wildlife. The way the index has been structured means that as countries of the world do more, the average benchmark will increase encouraging underperformers to try harder."

Professor William Ripple, Co-author and Oregon State University Professor concluded: "The Megafauna Conservation Index is an important first step to transparency - some of the poorest countries in the world are making the biggest investments in a global asset and should be congratulated, whereas some of the richest nations just aren't doing enough."

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Notes to editors

TITLE OF PAPER: Relative efforts of countries to conserve global megafauna

JOURNAL: Global Ecology and Conservation

PUBLICATION DATE: 27th April 2017

About WildCRU

David Macdonald founded the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) in 1986 at the University of Oxford. Now the foremost University-based centre for biodiversity conservation, the mission of the WildCRU is to achieve practical solutions to conservation problems through original research. WildCRU is renowned for its specialisation in wild carnivores, especially wild cats, for its long-running studies on lion and clouded leopard, and for its training centre, where early-career conservationists, so far from 32 countries, are trained by experts to become leaders in conservation, resulting in a global community of highly skilled and collaborative conservationists. Visit wildcru.org

For interviews or supporting images please contact: Lanisha Butterfield, Media Relations Manager on 01865 280531 or lanisha.butterfield@admin.ox.ac.uk

The Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division (MPLS) is one of four academic divisions at the University of Oxford, representing the non-medical sciences. Oxford is one of the world's leading universities for science, and MPLS is at the forefront of scientific research across a wide range of disciplines. Research in the mathematical, physical and life sciences at Oxford was rated the best in the UK in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) assessment. MPLS received 133m in research income in 2014/15.

About Panthera

Panthera, founded in 2006, is devoted exclusively to preserving wild cats and their critical role in the world's ecosystems. Panthera's team of leading biologists, law enforcement experts and wild cat advocates develop innovative strategies based on the best available science to protect cheetahs, jaguars, leopards, lions, pumas, snow leopards and tigers and their vast landscapes. In 50 countries around the world, Panthera works with a wide variety of stakeholders to reduce or eliminate the most pressing threats to wild cats--securing their future, and ours. Visit panthera.org.
Most tumors contain regions of low oxygen concentration where cancer therapies based on the action of reactive oxygen species are ineffective. Now, American scientists have developed a hybrid nanomaterial that releases a free-radical-generating prodrug inside tumor cells upon thermal activation. As they report in the journal Angewandte Chemie, the free radicals destroy the cell components even in oxygen-depleted conditions, causing apoptosis. Delivery, release, and action of the hybrid material can be precisely controlled.

Many well-established cancer treatment schemes are based on the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which induce apoptosis for the tumor cells. However, this mechanism only works in the presence of oxygen, and hypoxic (oxygen-depleted) regions in the tumor tissue often survive the ROS-based treatment. Therefore, Younan Xia at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, Atlanta, USA, and his team have developed a strategy to deliver and release a radical-generating prodrug that, upon activation, damages cells by a ROS-type radical mechanism, but without the need for oxygen.

The authors explained that they had to turn to the field of polymerization chemistry to find a compound that produces enough radicals. There, the azo compound AIPH is a well-known polymerization initiator. In medicinal applications, it generates free alkyl radicals that cause DNA damage and lipid and protein peroxidation in cells even under hypoxic conditions. However, the AIPH must be safely delivered to the cells in the tissue. Thus, the scientists used nanocages, the cavities of which were filled with lauric acid, a so-called phase-change material (PCM) that can serve as a carrier for AIPH. Once inside the target tissue, irradiation by a near-infrared laser heats up the nanocages, causing the PCM to melt and triggering the release and decomposition of AIPH.

This concept worked well, as the team has shown with a variety of experiments on different cell types and components. Red blood cells underwent pronounced hemolysis. Lung cancer cells incorporated the nanoparticles and were severely damaged by the triggered release of the radical starter. Actin filaments retracted and condensed following the treatment. And the lung cancer cells showed significant inhibition of their growth rate, independently of the oxygen concentration.

Although the authors admit that "the efficacy still needs to be improved by optimizing the components and conditions involved," they have demonstrated the effectiveness of their hybrid system in killing cells, also in places where the oxygen level is low. This strategy might be highly relevant in nanomedicine, cancer theranostics, and in all applications where targeted delivery and controlled release with superb spatial/temporal resolutions is desired.

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About the Author

Dr. Xia is the Brock Family Chair and Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) Eminent Scholar in Nanomedicine in The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. The Xia group's research activities center on the design and synthesis of novel nanomaterials for a broad range of applications, including nanomedicine, regenerative medicine, cancer theranostics, tissue engineering, controlled release, catalysis, and fuel cell technology. Dr. Xia has received many prestigious awards.

http://www.nanocages.com/
Men and women differ in obvious and less obvious ways -- for example, in the prevalence of certain diseases or reactions to drugs. How are these connected to one's sex? Weizmann Institute of Science researchers recently uncovered thousands of human genes that are expressed -- copied out to make proteins -- differently in the two sexes. Their findings showed that harmful mutations in these particular genes tend to accumulate in the population in relatively high frequencies, and the study explains why. The detailed map of these genes, reported in BMC Biology, provides evidence that males and females undergo a sort of separate, but interconnected evolution.

Several years ago, Prof. Shmuel Pietrokovski and Dr. Moran Gershoni of the Weizmann Institute's Molecular Genetics Department asked why the prevalence of certain human diseases is common. Specifically, about 15% of couples trying to conceive are defined as infertile, which suggested that mutations that impair fertility are relatively widespread. This seems paradoxical: Common sense says that these mutations, which directly affect the survival of the species by reducing the number of offspring, should have been quickly weeded out by natural selection. Pietrokovski and Gershoni showed that mutations in genes specific to sperm formation persist precisely because the genes are expressed only in men. A mutation that is problematic for only half the population, no matter how detrimental, is freely passed on to the next generation by the other half.

In the present study, the researchers expanded their analyses to include genes that, though not necessary for fertility, are still expressed differently in the two sexes. To identify these genes, the scientists turned to the GTEx project -- a very large study of human gene expression recorded for numerous organs and tissues in the bodies of close to 550 adult donors. That project enabled, for the first time, the comprehensive mapping of the human sex-differential genetic architecture.

Pietrokovski and Gershoni looked closely at around 20,000 protein-coding genes, sorting them by sex and searching for differences in expression in each tissue. They eventually identified around 6,500 genes with activity that was biased toward one sex or the other in at least one tissue. For example, they found genes that were highly expressed in the skin of men relative to that in women's skin, and they realized that these were related to the growth of body hair. Gene expression for muscle building was higher in men; that for fat storage was higher in women.

Yet another difference

The two then looked at tendencies to accumulate mutations, to see if natural selection puts more or less pressure on genes that are specific to men or women. That is, to what extent are harmful mutations weeded out or tolerated in the population? Indeed, the researchers found that the efficiency of selection is weaker in many such genes. "The more a gene was specific to one sex, the less selection we saw on the gene. And one more difference: This selection was even weaker with men," says Gershoni. Although they do not have a complete explanation for this additional difference, the researchers point to a theory of sexual evolution first proposed in the 1930s: "In many species, females can produce only a limited number of offspring while males can, theoretically, father many more; so the species' survival will depend on more viable females in the population than males," explains Pietrokovski. "Thus natural selection can be more 'lax' with the genes that are only harmful to males."

Aside from the sexual organs, the researchers discovered quite a few sex-linked genes in the mammary glands -- not so surprising, except that about half of these genes were expressed in men. Because men have fully fitted but basically nonfunctional mammary equipment, the scientists made an educated guess that some of these genes might suppress lactation.

Less obvious locations included genes that were found to be expressed only in the left ventricle of the heart in women. One of these genes, which is also related to calcium uptake, showed very high expression levels in younger women that sharply decreased with age; the scientists think that they are active in women up to menopause, protecting their hearts, but leading to heart disease and osteoporosis in later years when the gene expression is shut down. Yet another gene that was mainly expressed in women was active in the brain, and though its exact function is unknown, the scientists think it may protect the neurons from Parkinson's -- a disease that has a higher prevalence and earlier onset in men. The researchers also identified gene expression in the liver in women that regulates drug metabolism, providing molecular evidence for the known difference in drug processing between women and men.

"The basic genome is nearly the same in all of us, but it is utilized differently across the body and among individuals," says Gershoni. "Thus, when it comes to the differences between the sexes, we see that evolution often works on the level of gene expression." Pietrokovski adds: "Paradoxically, sex-linked genes are those in which harmful mutations are more likely to be passed down, including those that impair fertility. From this vantage point, men and women undergo different selection pressures and, at least to some extent, human evolution should be viewed as co-evolution. But the study also emphasizes the need for a better understanding of the differences between men and women in the genes that cause disease or respond to treatments."

Prof. Shmuel Pietrokovski's research is supported by the Leo and Julia Forchheimer Center for Molecular Genetics; and the estate of Georges Lustgarten. Prof. Shmuel Pietrovski is the incumbent of the Herman and Lilly Schilling Foundation Professorial Chair.

The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world's top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions. Noted for its wide-ranging exploration of the natural and exact sciences, the Institute is home to scientists, students, technicians and supporting staff. Institute research efforts include the search for new ways of fighting disease and hunger, examining leading questions in mathematics and computer science, probing the physics of matter and the universe, creating novel materials and developing new strategies for protecting the environment.

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Cattle processors in Northern Ireland cannot get enough beef cattle to meet demand, but it could lead to farmers bargaining for better prices, according to a farming union.

Ulster Farmers Union beef and lamb chairman Crosby Cleland says that currently processors cannot get enough beef cattle to meet demand and that this puts farmers in the driving seat to bargain for better prices.

He said: There is definitely upward momentum in the price of beef cattle at the minute as processors aggressively compete for cattle in order to keep up with customer demands.

The UK market continues to respond positively and the exchange rate is also working in favour of farmers.

'Flexibility'

Mr Cleland says: We have a very good opportunity to push for better prices at this time. Anyone with a batch of good quality cattle is readily being quoted 360p/kg and there will be opportunities to squeeze out more for heifers.

Processors are also starting to show more flexibility in their specifications with some producers being given flexibility to hold cattle to heavier weights.

Mr Cleland is also encouraging farmers to make the most of the situation and to maximise returns by striving for better technical efficiencies on farm.

Improving soil fertility, grassland management and genetics are the big drivers of profit on livestock farms and as farmers we can all do more to help ourselves.
As food provenance becomes increasingly important for customers around the world, Manx produce will stand out from the crowd thanks to a new food label launched.

The provenance label, featuring the outline of the Isle of Man and the Three Legs of Mann, tells shoppers that the produce is Manx and buying it supports the local economy.

Versions of the label would distinguish between products whose ingredients are grown, reared, caught and processed on the Island (Product of Isle of Man) and those with some imported content thats then turned into the finished product locally (Made in Isle of Man).

The labels creation is a major milestone in the delivery of the Food Matters strategy, which aims to grow the Isle of Mans food and drink sector by 50 million over a decade.

The Island is famous for food including queen scallops, Manx cheese, kippers and the native Loaghtan lamb; produce that is exported and famed around the world.

Jewel of the Irish sea

The Isle of Man Government has helped encouraged entrepreneurship, innovation and market focus through its grants systems.

As a result, new and artisan businesses are sprouting on the Island, and in 2016 13 Manx businesses won 28 Great Taste Awards  making the Isle of Man the highest achieving region of the British Isles per capita.

Furthermore, in 2016 the Isle of Man became the only nation to be awarded UNESCO status as a world biosphere region, in part for the acknowledgement of its care, cultivation and conservation of farmland, fertile northern and southern plains, sea, native species, flora and fauna.

Isle of Man Chief Minister Howard Quayle MHK launched the label at an event attended by representatives of the food and drink and hospitality sectors.

He said: "From traditional produce thats been around for generations, and for which the Island is known, to new and artisan brands, Isle of Man food and drink is flourishing. Growth in food and drink is creating jobs, giving consumers greater choice and boosting our reputation as a special place to live, work and visit.

"This label will play a major part in helping shoppers to support local businesses and the economy."
Arla urges government to tap into energy potential of manure and slurry
NC, Maoist Centre to forge electoral alliance in 4 metropolises

Coalition partners Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoist Center) have agreed in principal to form electoral alliance in four metropolitan cities including capital Kathmandu.
Mapping problems continue to dog the application process for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) in England, with the 15 May deadline fast approaching.

Some farmers are finding their claims are taking far longer to complete than in the past because of confusing changes to their digital maps.

The NFU is urging farmers yet to start their application to get on with it as soon as possible and to check their land details closely.

See also: Farmer demands answers on Basic Payment inspection hold-up

Guy Smith, NFU president, said: Judging by the traffic into our call centre, there are clearly too many farmers out there mystified by what they see as Rural Payments Agency [RPA] mapping irregularities and coding errors.

Weve got too many members telling us the RPA satellite needs to go to Specsavers.

While the advice at this late stage has to be to get applications in as best you can as soon as possible, for the third time of trying the system is still letting too many down.

Worse than ever

Arable farmer Edmund Lindley from Melwood Grange, Epworth near Doncaster, said he was finding the application process worse than ever before.

Mr Lindley said he accepted that his application was complex as about half of his 400ha farm includes traditional strip farming, where the boundary between strips is marked only by a ploughed furrow.

However, this year he was facing a myriad of system and map problems, including lost fields and disappearing permanent ineligible features (PIFs).

This weekend alone I spent 20-25 hours working on it, he said.

Mr Lindley said he was particularly frustrated that he had been forced to wait on the phone for 40 minutes while trying to reach the RPA. It is just depressing, he added.

An RPA spokesman said: BPS 2017 applicants must check maps covering their land are correct and claim based on the position on the ground on 15 May 2017.

The deadline for applications without penalty is midnight on 15 May and full guidance is available on Gov.uk.

EFA maps

In Scotland, farmers have been offered a last-minute reminder to include a map of their ecological focus areas (EFAs) with their application or risk disallowance.

NFU Scotlands combinable crops policy manager Peter Loggie said: We cant stress enough to those applying for greening the importance of including a map of your EFA with the application.

If the EFA map is missing, the result can be a total loss of the whole greening element because it is deemed that the application for greening has not been made on time.

In addition, from this year, a penalty on top of that can be applied, even if all EFA rules have been complied with fully on the ground. We urge all applicants to take this seriously.




Haiti - Politics : Launch of the Caravan of Change





Monday, President Jovenel Moise, accompanied by Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant, members of the Ministerial Cabinet, the Speaker of the National Assembly Senator Youri Latortue and Vice President Cholzer Chancy, members of the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSPJ), representatives of the diplomatic and consular corps, representatives of the major organs of the state, parliamentarians, has proceeded to the official launch of the Caravan of the change in the locality of Lagrange, 5th communal section Bocozelle (Saint-Marc).



The ceremony, that coincided with the celebration of Agriculture and Labor, brought together the inhabitants of Bocozelle and its surroundings, local authorities, members of the Civil Society and representatives of peasant and social organizations, who have not hid their satisfactions and their faith in the will of President Moise.



Various agricultural products will be encouraged within the framework of this caravan, alongside the production of rice. Several thousand planters will work in the Artibonite Valley. A giant step according to the Federation of Associations of Irrigators of Artibonite.



The President of the Republic believes that Haitians can not continue to live under these conditions. With the support of all, he promises to drain, irrigate and provide the farmers with all the supports necessary for their development. The Head of State believes that it is time to put an end to the hypocrisy and the mentality "Chak koukouy klere pou je l" He is convinced that the Haitian people are a working people who have always wanted to live of its workforce.



"[...] I announce to you that the Caravan will not leave the valley of the Artibonite until the irrigation canals are completed, as well as the roads and drainages https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20811-haiti-politics-caravan-of-change-d-day.html to put the 32,000 hectares of land in the Artibonite Valley into value. When I will have the guarantee of the development of these lands [...] I would come to see you again to celebrate together [...]" declared the Head of State.



Ceremony of the start of the caravan :







See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20811-haiti-politics-caravan-of-change-d-day.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20796-haiti-security-pnh-launches-operation-hurricane-against-crime.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20725-haiti-flash-100-million-gourdes-for-intelligence-and-security-activities.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20689-haiti-politics-d-13-at-cne-cuban-mechanics-working-tirelessly.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20627-haiti-politics-visit-of-jovenel-moise-to-the-national-center-of-equipments.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-20616-icihaiti-agriculture-works-tour-of-moise-in-the-artibonite.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20527-haiti-agriculture-tour-of-moise-of-projects-in-progress-of-the-artibonite-valley.html



HL/ S/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Heritage : Jeu de baton a fighting art of the native army





Monday in Lagrange (Artibonite Department), as part of the Day of Agriculture and Labor, the National Bureau of Ethnology (BNE) in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Culture organized a show of Jeu de baton (stick game). This tradition that has existed since the colonial period in St Domingue, was also a means of combat used by the native army during the war of independence. It is also a martial art inspired by the forms of African combat. A variety of stick styles such as : "Baw Blan", "Migel" and "Pati kola" were used during this activity. An intangible cultural heritage strongly practiced and preserved in the Artibonite. Jessy C. Menos, the Minister who traveled to encourage stick Practitioners and BNE dancers, said the show "is part of a promotion of the 'Jeu du baton' and a duty to remember."



According to Erol Josue, the Director General of the BNE "This ritual was the means of combat of the native army" recalling that "Gran Toya", great aunt of the Emperor Jean Jacques Dessalines, was a great warrior and would have initiated the Emperor at this game from a young age. Other peoples like the Amazons of the former Dahomey also practice stick fighting.



From this collaboration around the development of Ethno-Tourism in Haiti, an inventory of cultural practices and sites will be launched, which will begin in the Department of Artibonite in order to highlight the riches Haitian heritage.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20822-haiti-politics-launch-of-the-caravan-of-change.html



HL/ S/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





Floods in Bois Neuf 5 victims

According to Nadia Lochard, Departmental Head of Civil Protection, the last floods killed one person in Bois Neuf, in the commune of Cite Soleil, and four others were injured. However, the person in charge was not able to confirm the information that two other people were killed in Martissant.



JC Moise finds outrageous the Caravan costs...

Jean-Charles Moise, expressed doubts about the seriousness of the "Caravan of Change" initiative, describing it as a veritable scandal the enormous cost of the operation.



New DG at CONATEL

Tuesday was installed Engineer Jean David Rodney as new Director General of the National Council of Telecommunications (CONATEL). He replaced Jean-Marie Altema.



$4 million public beach

Ministers Jude Alix Patrick Salomon (Economy) and Aviol Fleurant (Planning) are expected again in Parliament on Thursday, May 4,concerning the management of a $4 million fund for the construction of a public beach in Port-Salut.



St. Jude's sand quarries, 3 ministers convened

The Deputy Printemps Belizaire (Fanmi Lavalas) announced that he will convene the Ministers Fritz Caillot (Public Works), Pierre Simon Georges (Environment) and Carmel Andre Beliard (Agriculture) so that they provide information on the steps they have adopted in order to prevent the exploitation of sand quarries in the St-Jude area which threatens the population in times of rains.



Corruption, support of the United Kingdom

Tuesday the Primature, the Prime Minister, Jack Guy Lafontant, received the British Ambassador Sharon Campbell, as part of a courtesy visit. She pledged UK support for efforts to increase transparency and halt corruption in Haiti



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Economy : Towards cost-effective projects in Haiti





Wednesday, as part of the presentation of the first results of the project "Haiti Priorise" Aviol Fleurant, Minister of Planning and External Cooperation and Bjorn Lomborg, the founding President of Copenhagen Consensus Center (CCC), accompanied by experts in economics, Haitians and foreigners including Ketleen Florestal, P. Raymond Magloire, Kesner Pharel and Dr. Vernon Smith, Nobel Laureate in Economics 2002 gave a joint press conference.



It should be noted that "Haiti Priorise" is a research project funded by the Government of Canada which aims to establish a bank of development projects according to the methodology set up by the CCC for the benefit of all the institutions concerned with the development of the country, particularly the Haitian state.



As part of this project, more than seven hundred 700 ideas have been proposed by experts of the country who include government officials, NGOs, companies, multilateral organizations, donors and academics. This group included over 40 prominent Haitian and foreign economists who worked on some twenty themes in order to identify and evaluate the best proposals likely to improve the socio-economic and environmental well-being of Haiti.



In his speech, Minister Fleurant said the initiative was timely and will contribute to enrich the training in cost-benefit analysis of projects, concerning the effectiveness of public investment in Haiti, recalling that "If the increase in production is rightly, raised to the rank of government priorities, the establishment of a Project Bank should be the first step because only projects that have passed the comparative advantages stage and undergoed the cost-benefit review will be able to have an impact both on growth and on poverty reduction."



For his part, Bjorn Lomborg stressed that Haiti has every interest to invest in growth sectors capable of generating profits in the long term. One way, he said, to improve the difficult socio-economic situation of the Haitian population.



On the basis of studies and interviews, five priority areas were identified : EDH reform, wheat flour fortification, expansion of access to early childhood education, the raining of rescuers for first aid and the increase of the immunity coverage of infants and 80 projects that can be financed for Haiti have been retained.



Thumbnail photo from left to right : Bjorn Lomborg, CCC President, Vernon Smith, Nobel Laureate of Economics and Minister Aviol Fleurant



HL/ TB/ HaitiLibre


















Hindus need to be prepared for prevention of conversion in tribal areas of Nandurbar !  MLA- Shri. Rajasingh Thakur, BJP

Nandurbar : We can recognize enemy who are in round caps; but enemy that converts many villagers at night should also be recognized by us. Hindus have to be prepared to prevent their conversion happening speedily in tribal areas of Nandurbar. Children should be taught matters related to Dharma and culture in schools, stated MLA Rajasingh Thakur while addressing Hindu Dharmajagruti Sabha (Sabha) held on 30th April at Gyarah Mills compound area in the holy land of King Nandgawali i.e. Nandurbar. He warned fanatics to say Vande Mataram if they wanted to stay in Bharat. The sabha was attended by more than 3200 devout Hindus.

Shri. Rajasingh further said,

1. It is our goal to establish undivided Hindu Rashtra. I am ready to sacrifice my life so also take lives if necessary, to accomplish that goal.

2. It is shameful that slaughter-houses are run in almost every house here. Hindus should inform police stations and insist to take action against them. Come together in large numbers in case no action is taken. It will be a merit even if we lose life while protecting cows.

3. How a chowk in this city has been named after Tipu Sultan? His name-board should be removed.

4. If pro-Pakistani fanatics face financial boycott, they would bow before us in 1-2 years, acclaiming Bharatmata.

The sabha was started with blowing of conch by Shri. Shreyas Pisolkar; followed with recitation of Veda-mantras by Shri. Shreyas Pisolkar along with Shri. Ishan Joshi. Sanatan Sansthas Pujya Nandkumar Jadhav lighted the lamp. MLA Rajasingh Thakur first paid obeisance to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and garlanded the statue. The sabha was compeered by Shri. Shreyas Pisolkar and Kum. Tejaswini Tambat. Dr. Narendra Patil of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) explained the problem of chaotic work of Postal Department. Shri. Jitendra Rajput of Shiv Senas Vahatuk Sena felicitated all dignitaries by presenting sword for foundation of Hindu Rashtra. Participating devout Hindus raised slogans of Jai Bhavani, Jai Shivaji, Jayatu Jayatu Hindu Rashtram, Rama Rama Jai Shriram etc in support of speakers.

Honour and felicitations !

Sanatan Sansthas Saint Pujya Nandkumar Jadhav was felicitated by Shri. Harish Harale, a devout Hindu. MLA Thakur was welcomed by Shri. Chandrashekhar Behare, Editor of Dainik Taapi-kaath, a senior journalist and former District Chief of Shiv Sena who is also a staunch Hindutvavadi. Kum. Rageshree Deshpande of Ranaragini Division was felicitated by Sou. Swati Gholap whereas Shri. Sunil Ghanvat, State Coordinator of HJS was felicitated by Shri. Pramod Thakur. Pujya Nandkumar Jadhav felicitated a devout Hindu Shri. Ramesh Mali and Shri. Rajasingh Thakur felicitated another devout Hindu, Shri. Ganesh Harale.

Speakers were taken in a procession in the presence of hundreds of devout Hindus. Devout youth raised slogans like Kaun aayaa re kaun aayaa, Owaisi ka baap Aayaa resonating the ground.

Guidance by dignitaries

Be prepared to fight against evil tendencies in society !  Pujya Nandkumar Jadhav, Sanatan Sanstha

Progressive parasites hatched a plot to destroy Sanatan Sanstha; but as per the saying Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitah, Sanatan cannot be eliminated since Bhagavan Shrikrushna is protector of Sanatan Sanstha. Sanatan seekers are unnecessarily oppressed though there are no proofs against them. Sadhvi Pradnya Singh, Dhananjay Desai have also been implicated under false accusations. It is time to awaken valour amongst Hindus. A movement has to be staged with unity for fighting against anti-social tendencies.

Hindu women should dress up as per Indian culture !  Kum. Rageshree Deshpande, Ranaragini Division

Present period spells danger for Hindu women, not only at night but also in the day. Women are responsible for this situation. Hindu women are forgetting Hindu culture. Todays girls feel that applying kumkum, wearing bangles or plaiting hair are all signs of backwardness; but girls should dress up as per Indian culture instead of blindly following western culture. They should also get trained in self-defence.

Pakistan should be declared as an enemy country !  Sunil Ghanavat, HJS

If all of us come together as Hindus, we can trample Pakistan by 2023 and establish Hindu Rashtra. Why doesnt anyone from progressive factions say anything about Kulbhushan Jadhav ? Where were these progressive people hiding ? Pakistani accused or criminals should be hanged in the middle of the road to release Kulbhushan Jadhav. Not only progressive people are killed in this country but several Hindu leaders have been murdered in Kerala. Pakistan should be declared as an enemy country, is our demand. Extend support to those who take action against Tipu Sultan Chowk.

Anti-Hindus trying to foil sabha at Nandurbar !

Anti-Hindus tried to create obstacles in sabha by misleading people in the following manner.

1. Police have refused permission to hold sabha.

2. Organizations of other parties are purposely holding this sabha.

3. MLA Rajasingh Thakur will not be attending this sabha.

4. Hindu Dharmajagruti Sabha has been cancelled.

Foiling the plans of anti-Hindus, despite anti-Hindu parasites trying their best, devout Hindus kept on advertising about the sabha resolving to make it a success with the grace of Bhagavan Shrikrushna. They countered the false propaganda of anti-Hindus and devout Hindus gave an apt reply by attending the sabha in large number; paying no heed to anti-Hindus.

Participating dignitaries

Shri. Vijay Chaudhari, BJPs OBC-Morchas regional President, Shri. Depak Gavate, PR Chief of Shiv Sena, Shri. Vikrant More, District-Chief of Shiv Sena, Shri. Mohan Khanwani, city-President of BJP, Devendra Jain, Arjun Marathe, BJP- womens wings Chief Sou. Uma Chaudhari, Saint Daga Maharaj Parivars Mohan Jain, Pankaj Chaudhari of Yuva Sena

Highlights

1. Shri. Rajasingh Thakur recited few lines from the verse Mandir Wohi Banayenge. Participating devout Hindus joined him in reciting few lines which created new enthusiasm in the atmosphere.

2. More than 150 devout Hindus attended the review meeting held after the sabha. Many showed interest in starting Dharmashikshan and self-defence classes in their villages so also in holding similar Dharmajagruti Sabha.

3. Participating devout Hindus were given the oath of establishment of Hindu Rashtra.

4. Two fanatics were video-recording sabha hiding behind the side-curtain. When they were questioned about it, they ran away from the place.

5. Support extended by Sanatan Sanstha and HJS to Sadhvi Pradnya singh was commended so also views expressed through Sanatan Prabhat.

6. Child-seekers were managing a Cell on need to abide by Indian culture which drew attention of the participants. Women police on duty also lauded them whereas eminent personalities video-recorded the Cell.

Questions asked to Shri. Rajasingh Thakur during review meeting

Q: How can the name of Tipu Sultan Chowk at Nandurbar be changed ?

Shri. Rajasingh Thakur (RK): We should make people aware of who was Tipu Sultan; how he oppressed Hindus etc. We should forget our differences and unite to stage extensive movement for solving the problem.

Q: Society is divided in castes. What is the solution on the same ?

RK: We should write about us as only Hindus instead of mentioning our caste. Social websites can be used for the same. I also upload my posts in the name of Rajasingh Hindu. It can create feeling of brotherhood amongst Hindus and eradication of caste system will be possible.

Q: What can be done to teach Deva-bhasha Sanskrut in schools ?

RK: A subject has to be taught as per the rule if demand for teaching the same is high. Muslims demand for teaching of Urdu is high; therefore, their demand is fulfilled. If we demand teaching of Sanskrut, it too can be fulfilled.

Obstacles in sabha were removed due to remedies of H. H. Pande Maharaj !

Black clouds started gathering before the sabha, leading to possibility of rain-fall. There was pressure in the atmosphere; but with the remedies advised by His Holiness Pande Maharaj, black clouds got dispersed within short time and sky became clear, reducing pressure in atmosphere.
NC mayoral candidate from Bharatpur Metropolis withdraws nomination

Baratpur Metropolitan Citys mayoral candidate Dinesh Koirala of Nepali Congress has accused the party of doing injustice to him.
ICBA's Camden Fine Announces 2018 Retirement

Posted by Press Releases on Thursday, 05-04-2017 1:15 pm

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Camden R. Fine, the longtime president and CEO of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), today announced his plans to retire in May 2018. Concurrent with his retirement announcement, ICBA Chairman Scott Heitkamp, president and CEO of ValueBank Texas, announced that the ICBA Executive Committee has named Rebeca Romero Rainey, a third-generation community banker, as Fines successor. Romero Rainey is owner, chairman and CEO of Centinel Bank of Taos, N.M., and ICBA immediate past chairman.Fine, a native Missourian and longtime community banker and bank owner before coming to ICBA in May 2003, announced to more than 1,000 bankers at the 2017 ICBA Capital Summit that he would step down on his 15th anniversary on May 5, 2018. Fine emphasized that he will remain fully engaged as ICBA CEO over the next year.Fine, who has been named a Top Lobbyist by The Hill newspaper for nine consecutive years, said he is proud of his accomplishments through the years, including waging a campai...

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MaidPro Named One of the Best Places to Work in Massachusetts for 2017

Posted by Press Releases on Thursday, 05-04-2017 1:40 pm

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The Boston Business Journal has named MaidPro one of the 2017 Best Places to Work in Massachusetts.BOSTON, MA (PRWEB) MAY 02, 2017The Boston Business Journal has named MaidPro one of the 2017 Best Places to Work in Massachusetts. This is the ninth year MaidPro has been recognized by the Boston Business Journal for its remarkable dedication to employee prosperity and happiness.The 80 honorees were divided among five different categories ranging from extra small (2049 employees) to extra large (1,000+ employees), MaidPro was ranked in the small category (5099 employees) and selections were based on survey responses provided by employees. The Boston Business Journal will honor MaidPro and count down each categorys top ranked places to work during its annual Best Places to Work event on Thursday, June 22 at Symphony Hall in Boston.The best way to attract and retain talented, diligent, loyal employees is to create a workplace culture that is supportive and meets all their needs, said M...

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Category: Master's Program with Emphasis on HR LEAD Award Rank: 3 Organization: Saint Joseph's University Program: Master of Science in Strategic Human Resource Management Program Director: Jeannine Lajeunesse Contact: Erivan K. Haub School of Business, Saint Joseph's University, 5600 City Avenue, Mandeville 280, Philadelphia, PA 19131 Call: 610) 660-1626 Visit: www.sju.edu Developing HR Leaders Our editorial team interviewed Dr. Eric Patton from Saint Joseph's University at the LEAD 2017 Awards this past February. Here are some excerpts from the exclusive interview. What is the overall objective of your program? The objective of our program is to develop HR leaders who are both experts in the field (and this can be in general or in a particular area of HR such as training, recruitment, performance management) and also strategic thinkers who are comfortable dealing with decision makers and being a decision maker at the highest level of organizations. The strategic element is a common thread throughout, and there is enough flexibility for our students to take a deep dive into a particular area as well. We are looking to develop a new type of HR leader who is both an expert in people management and has strong business acumen. Who do you impact with your program? This programs target audience has changed somewha...
Category: Degree Program with Emphasis on HR LEAD Award Rank: 2 Organization: Florida International University Program: Landon Undergraduate School: BBA, Human Resource Management Program Director: Marc Weinstein, Ph.D. Contact: MANGO 465, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th St. Miami, FL 33199 Email: weinstei@fiu.edu Call: 305-348-4952 Visit: http://www.fiu.edu/ Creating Tomorrows HR Professionals Our editorial team interviewed Marc Weinstein from Florida International University at the LEAD 2017 Awards this past February. Here are some excerpts from the exclusive interview. What is the overall objective of your program? The undergraduate curriculum in Human Resources has dual objectives. The first is to ensure that graduates of the program develop strong general analytic and communication skills required of professional employees in the 21st century. This is realized through the integration of individual and group assignments that not only provide students with knowledge of global affairs and business-specific content, but also foster the development of a broad range of competencies including business communication, leadership, presentation skills, mastery of business software applications, and group collaboration. In addition to general coursework in business and commerce, undergraduate HR stude...
Nearly-finished Birgunj ICP lacks power supply

Construction of the Integrated Check Post (ICP) on the Nepal side in Birgunj is nearing completion, but it still does not have an electricity connection. Officials said that delays in connecting the power supply would leave the ICP non-operational.
News Burma and The Vatican Establish Diplomatic Ties

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Pope Francis in the Vatican City / Reuters

VATICAN CITY  The Vatican and Burma established full diplomatic relations on Thursday, minutes after Pope Francis met with the countrys leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

The surprise move means that the Vatican will have much more diplomatic influence in Burma.

There are about 700,000 Catholics in Burma according to the countrys cardinal, Charles Maung Bo, out of a total population of some 51.4 million, the majority of whom are Buddhist.

The Vatican had previously been represented in Burma by an apostolic delegate to the local church who was based in Thailand. The move means the Vatican and Burma will each appoint a fully-fledged ambassador.

The announcement came shortly after Pope Francis met Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto leader of Burmas civilian government and also its foreign minister.

The Nobel Peace laureate talked privately with the pope for about half an hour in his study in the Apostolic Palace.

In February, Francis issued a stinging criticism of the treatment of the Rohingya, saying they had been tortured and killed simply because they wanted to live their culture and Muslim faith.

On Thursday, Francis gave Daw Aung San Suu Kyi a copy of his 2017 message for the Churchs World day of Peace, whose title is Non-violence: a style of politics for peace.

His remarks in February came shortly after a UN report that said security forces in the north of the country had carried out mass killings, gang rapes, and had burned villages.

On Tuesday, the European Union clashed with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi by publicly supporting an international mission to look into alleged human rights abuses against the Rohingya.

The EUs top diplomat Federica Mogherini, speaking at a news conference with the State Counselor, said an agreed resolution of the UN Human Rights Council would help clear up uncertainty about allegations of killings, torture and rape against Rohingyas.

On the basis of that resolution, the top UN human rights body will send an international fact-finding mission to Burma despite Daw Aung San Suu Kyis reservations.

She said Burma was disassociating itself from the resolution.
Burma Burmese President's Resignation Rumors to Prompt Legal Action

U Win Htein talks to the media on Thursday. / Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy

NAYPYIDAW  The spokesperson for Burmas ruling National League for Democracy party said actions would be taken against those who spread rumors that the countrys President U Htin Kyaw would be replaced with a former general who is close to State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

For several days, it circulated on Facebook that President U Htin Kyaw would step down due to poor health. The widely-shared post added that the partys spokesperson U Win Htein had accepted the Presidents resignation and awaited Daw Aung San Suu Kyis approval to install former general Thura Shwe Mann.

U Win Htin told the media in Naypyidaw on Thursday that he personally called Home Affairs Minister Lt-Gen Kyaw Swe to tell him to find the person responsible for the original post and take legal action.

As far as Im concerned, it was done by people who are trying to politically destabilize the country while Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is away, he said.

The State Counselor has been in Europe since Sunday. She is now in Italy before heading to the UK.

President U Htin Kyaw is one of Daw Aung San Suu Kyis confidantes, and he was believed to be handpicked by the Nobel laureate as she is barred from the presidency by the countrys 2008 military-drafted Constitution.

Thura Shwe Mann was a powerful general who became chairman of the then-ruling Union Solidarity and Development party in 2013. He has since built a relationship with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. He was purged from the USDP in 2015 and now serves as chairman of the Legal Affairs and Special Cases Assessment Commission, formed by the Union Parliament after the NLD came to power in 2016.
Burma Karen Rights Group: Challenges Persist Despite Ceasefire

Many landmines are believed to have been planted in Karen States Mae Tha Waw village during fighting in September 2016. / Saw Yan Naing / The Irrawaddy

MAE THA WAW, Thailand  The ceasefire between the Burma Army and the countrys oldest ethnic armed group the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) in Karen State has had both positive and negative effects on the lives of local civilians, according to a Karen rights group.

The Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), which has been documenting the human rights situation in Karen State for years, told The Irrawaddy that while local ethnic Karen now have greater freedom of movement they suffer from displacement, land disputes, continued militarization, and landmines.

The recent clashes in Mae Tha Waw led to the displacement of more than 5,000 civilians who are still displaced and dare not to return to their own villages due to fear of landmines and possible new clashes, said Naw Htoo Htoo, program director of KHRG.

Antipersonnel landmines, unexploded ordnances and other remnants of wara great danger which has affected southeast Burma for decadesare still prominent after years of ceasefire, said Naw Htoo Htoo.

Villages remain displaced in Myaing Gyi Ngu and Mae Tha Waw villages of Hlaingbwe Township near Hpa-an from September 2016 clashes between a joint force Burma Army and Border Guard Force (BGF) and a breakaway Karen armed group who split from the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA).

Naw Htoo Htoo, however, recognized some improvements in KNLA-controlled areas after the bilateral ceasefire and nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) were signed by the KNLAs political wing the Karen National Union and the Burmese government in 2012 and 2015 respectively.

Villagers are able to travel freely in some areas and have resumed their livelihoods in relative stability and freedom, she said.

There are fewer reports of killings, theft and looting, enforced disappearances, forced labor, arbitrary arrests and detention, abuse, rape, and torture, according to the rights activist. The recruitment of child soldiers has also reduced.

Relative peace, however, led to land confiscations from largescale development projects, such as the Asian Highway, hydropower dams, palm oil and rubber plantations, and natural resource extraction such as mining and logging, she pointed out.

It is worrying that some communities in Burma are being sued by companies for trespassing on their own land which was confiscated in the past. A lot of land confiscation cases before the ceasefire are still not resolved, said Naw Htoo Htoo.

The placement of landmines and reluctance by the Burma Army to remove them as well as the presence of unexploded ordnance and remnants of war on villagers lands is another continuing post-ceasefire threat.

Villagers told the KHRG that the Tatmadaw (Burma Army) had been enlarging nearby bases and amassing rations and ammunition since signing the NCAmaking villagers doubtful of the peace process.

They [villagers] felt that even though there is a ceasefire, it is not a genuine ceasefire because villagers still feel afraid to work on their land near the army bases and areas where supplies and ammunition are transported, said Naw Htoo Htoo.

After the NCA was signed, the Burma Army troops also gained increased freedom to travel in areas previously contested by the KNLA, according to the KHRG, which also reported that Burma Army troops used local villagers as human shields during operations in 2016.
Burma Analysis: Conflict at Home Leads to Criticism Abroad for Burmas State Counselor

State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and EU chairman Donald Tusk meet during the State Counselor's trip to Europe on May 2, 2017. / Ministry of Foreign Affairs Myanmar / Facebook

During State Counselor and Foreign Minister Daw Aung San Suu Kyis European tour this week, she has highlighted her governments peace efforts, and defended her approach to addressing conflict in Arakan State.

The State Counselor was in Belgium on Tuesday, where she met EU leadership before proceeding to Italy on Wednesday. She will then travel to the UK, where she will receive the freedom of the city of London award on Monday, May 8, before concluding her trip.

The visit to Europe comes as she faces criticism for being unable to bring all ethnic armed groups together for peace negotiations in Burma. She is also under fire from international rights activists for what they have described as her failure to confront reports of abuses by state security forces in Arakan State, after she publicly announced she would not take sides in the conflict.

The EU and Burmas Path to Peace

While peace talks are ongoing, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has kept to the path laid out in the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) by the former government, and will convene the second round of the 21st Century Panglong peace conference on May 24. She invited all the non-signatory ethnic armed groups to sign the NCA before this summit, a move that many of the organizations critical of the ceasefire see as an obstacle in moving forward.

Stakeholders from among Burmas many ethnic nationalities have stated that countrys peace process must be all-inclusive, involving armed groups, civil society and womens organizations. Only this approach, they say, can bring genuine peace and democratic federalism to the country.

It is good that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is prioritizing the peace process, said Nant Zoya Phan, campaign manager for the London-based Burma Campaign UK, but it was a mistake to just carry on with [former president] Thein Seins process, which is not designed for genuine peacejust to get ceasefires and exploit our natural resources.

The EU has been supportive of Burmas peace process since the countrys transition from a military dictatorship to a quasi-civilian government six years ago, and has allotted some 103 million euros to support the governments peace initiatives until 2020.

The EUs funds are now channeled through the international peace funding body known as the Joint Peace Fund. EU ambassador to Burma Roland Kobia was also present at the signing ceremony of the NCA in October 2015.

However, longtime ethnic Karen activist Nant Zoya Phan would like to see a shift in the EUs role in the process.

Europe needs to change the way it has been supporting the peace process, as it is very one-sided, working mainly with the government and following their agenda, she explained.

The EU has also supported police reform in Burma by providing crowd management training to the police since 2014. The move has been welcomed by some, seen as a step toward prioritizing the protection of civilians, following a brutal crackdown by the police force on students marching to demand reform of the education law under the previous government in March 2015.

The police force reform should have been done long ago, said U Aung Myo Min, director of rights group Equality Myanmar.

Analysts have questioned whether the support for the police force came from an agreement between the State Counselor and Burma Army chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, who controls three ministriesdefense, border and home affairs. Burmas police fall under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

We dont know what agreements they have had, said Khuensai Jaiyen, an adviser for the Committee for Shan State Unity.

The Tatmadaws hold on these three key ministriesin accordance with the 2008 Constitutionhas arguably delayed the success of any peace building process in the country. Yet the State Counselor continues to proclaim 2017 as a year of peace.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on the Defensive

Although Daw Aung San Suu Kyis visit this week aimed to strengthen bilateral relations and collaboration between EU countries and Burma, the trip has placed her on the defensive in response to international allegations that she has not sufficiently confronted rising conflict in Arakan State.

The State Counselor knew she could be asked questions about reports of security forces atrocities against the Muslim Rohingya in the region, as other Burmese activists have experienced on their own trips to the West.

After she met with EU leadership, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi reaffirmed that her government would not accept the United Nations March resolution calling for an international fact-finding mission to investigate UN reports of rights abuses against the Rohingya in western Burma.

We are disassociating ourselves from the resolution because we dont think the resolution is in keeping with what is actually happening on the ground, the State Counselor said in response to a reporters question at the press conference at the EU office on Tuesday.

She has said her government would totally accept the recommendations of the former UN secretary general Kofi Annan-led advisory commission on Arakan State, which was formed by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to explore the current crisis and identify factors that have contributed to violence, displacement and underdevelopment. This commission, she said, reflects the real needs of the region.

Those recommendations which will divide further the two communities [Buddhist and Muslim] in Rakhine [State] we will not accept, because it would not help us to resolve the problems that are arising all the time, she said.

In her response as to whether the government would allow full media access to the conflict areaone of the Kofi Annan commissions 12 recommendationsshe stressed how local interviewees were reportedly beheaded by extremist groups after they spoke to journalists in December 2016 and March 2017.

After attacks on border police outposts in Maungdaw Township in October 2016, Burmese security forces carried out clearance operations in northern Arakan State, during which, multiple reports of rape, torture, and murder of the Rohingya were published. The Muslim minority are locally referred to as Bengali, and characterized as migrants from neighboring Bangladesh.

In response to an international outcry concerning reports of widespread abuse, the government formed the Arakan State Investigation Committeeheaded by military-appointed Vice President U Myint Sweto look into allegations against the military and border police involved in the clearance operations. However, there has been no independent inquiry led by internal actors or by international experts.

We have allegations and denials on the rights abuses on both sides, recorded by NGO groups. We need those with expertise, who are unbiased, fair and independent to inquire about the situation, said rights advocate U Aung Myo Min. He said that although the UN could carry out their own investigation, it may not result in a win-win outcome.

More comprehensive findings could be done with the collaboration of the [Burmese] government, he said.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi emphasized that her government is implementing the recommendations made in the Kofi Annan commissions interim report submitted in March as quickly as possible and reporting progress to the group regularly.

You have to be aware of the difficulties that we face, the danger that we face in coping with a situation where two communities have been distrustful of each other for decades and decades, she said at the press conference.

The deep-rooted problems in Arakan State cannot be resolved overnight, the State Counselor said at the press conference, adding, All we ask for is time.
Burma Burmese Fortune Teller ET Appeals to Thai King in Koh Tao Murder Sentencing

ET, second from left, holds a photo of Thailands King HM Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, with the Thai ambassador to Burma, Jukr Boon-Long, second from right. / Htoo Chit / Facebook

Well-known mystic and fortune teller Daw Swe Swe Winpopularly known as ETmet the Thai ambassador to Burma yesterday in Rangoon, delivering a petition intended for Thailands king. The letter requested amnesty in the case of two Burmese migrants sentenced to death for the double-murder of two British backpackers on the Thai island of Koh Tao in 2014.

ET handed her statement to H.E. Jukr Boon-Long, who will deliver the petition to the Thai king, HM Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun.

Burmese migrant workers Win Zaw Htun and Zaw Lin were sentenced to death for the crime, but their lawyers have appealed to Thailands Supreme Court, citing discrepancies in the investigation and in the preservation of the chain of evidence. They maintain that the defendants are innocent.

In her petition letter, ET said that Win Zaw Htun and Zaw Lin had been falsely arrested and convicted in the murder case, which has been ongoing for nearly three years. The two young men were arrested in October 2014, one month after the crime took place. On Dec. 24, 2015, it was announced that they would receive the death sentence. A petition against the sentencing followed in May 2016, but was rejected in the township court.

ETs petition letter said that the people of Burma anticipate hearing a positive outcome in the appeal process from the King, and that she had prayed at pagodas in Thailand, making a solemn wish for justice and truth in the case, so as to advance the reputations of both Thailand and Burma.

ET has been consulted as a fortune teller for both Burmese and Thai figures, including former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

We do appreciate fortune teller ET and her teamit will be very helpful for the case, wrote U Htoo Chit on Facebook, director of the Foundation for Education Development, an organization assisting Burmese migrant workers in Thailand. He also has been providing assistance in the two convicted migrant workers legal case, and added that he hoped ETs petition would help Win Zaw Htun and Zaw Lin.
Burma Concerns Surface Over U Wirathus Visit to Arakan State

U Wirathu and his entourage step off the plane in Sittwe airport on their way to visit Maungdaw Township in Arakan State. / RMC / Facebook

RANGOON  U Wirathu, an ultranationalist monk notorious for his inflammatory anti-Muslim rhetoric, is visiting Maungdaw Township in Arakan State, where mostly stateless Muslims that identify as Rohingya have been the targets of deadly riots and an army crackdown.

Border police are providing security for the monk, a high-profile member of Buddhist nationalist group Ma Ba Tha, who was banned from delivering sermons for a year starting in March because of his religious hate speech.

U Wirathu will stay at Alodaw Pyei monastery in downtown Maungdaw, which is constantly under police watch, according to a local resident. He has asked authorities for permission to visit northern Arakanese villages.

Most Arakanese Buddhists strongly deny the claim of the regions Rohingyaroughly 1 millionto belong in Arakan and, like the government, refer to the minority as Bengalis, a term suggesting they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

The Burma Army began a clearance operation in Arakan State after militants attacked border police outposts there on Oct. 9; a Rohingya group calling itself Harakah al-Yaqin claimed responsibility for the attacks. During the operations by security forces that followed, hundreds of Rohingya were reportedly killed and about 75,000 fled to Bangladesh, according to the United Nations.

A Maungdaw police officer said that U Wirathu had brought rice to donate to the Arakanese community. Local media reported the amount of rice as 3,000 bags.

Ma Ba Tha follower Ko Phoe Thar, who is travelling with U Wirathus entourage, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that the group was waiting for permission from the state government to visit Arakanese villages in the area. Without naming the locations, he added that authorities had designated some areas off-limits because of safety concerns.

We have been facing some inconveniences here. We suggested somewhere to visit and the authorities responded by giving us permission to visit another place instead, he said.

He declined to provide details about the length of the trip and about whether the monk had plans to speak out in the area. Local media reported that the trip would last for six days.

The intention of this trip is to make donations to Arakanese villages. I cannot provide further information right now. Sayadaw [U Wirathu] might hold a press conference in Maungdaw this afternoon, he said early in the day.

Separately, Ahnu Lamar, the 60-year-old owner of one of two houses that were destroyed in a fire in Sittwes Muslim quarter on Wednesday night, has been detained for questioning.

Deputy police Maj Cho Lwin said Ahnu Lamar was visiting his daughter when the fire broke out in Aung Mingalar quarterknown locally as Ambala. He said that it might have been caused by a faulty solar panel.

Hundreds of residents came out to see the fire and one was hit and wounded by a small stone, said Major Cho Lwin, adding that Border Affairs Minister Col. Htein Lin deployed 50 officers to break up the crowd.

Local Rohingya resident U Kyaw Hla Aung told The Irrawaddy over the phone on Wednesday that some Arakanese people threw stones at the burning homes as Muslims tackled the blaze.

He is concerned that U Wirathus visit will embolden nationalist groups in Maungdaw, adding that many Arakanese reportedly support the monk because he said the Rohingya should be deported to Bangladesh.

The government is responsible if something bad happens during Wirathus visit, said U Kyaw Hla Aung.

On April 28, four Ma Ba Tha followers were trialed under Article 505(b) of Burmas Penal Code in Rangoons Kamayut Township courthouse for intent to cause fear or alarm to the public whereby someone may be induced to commit an offense against the State.

They are being charged for protesting outside the US Embassy in Rangoon last April against the American missions use of the word Rohingya.

U Wirathu arrived at the court hearing wearing a surgical mask, which he later removed to reveal tape covering his mouth to protest the gag order on his sermons put forward by the State Sangha Nayaka Committee (Ma Ha Na).

The same day, authorities sealed off two madrasas in Thaketa Township near downtown Rangoon as an alleged Buddhist nationalist group marched on the area, claiming the Islamic schools were operating as mosques, without official permission.

Two days later, U Wirathu and about 10 other Ma Ba Tha monks, along with their followers, boarded a flight from Rangoon to Thandwe Township in Arakan State, then traveled to the state capital Sittwe before taking a boat to Buthidaung Township and driving to Maungdaw on Wednesday.

U Wirathu visited Maungdaw several times following rioting in 2012 between the Buddhist and Muslim communities in Arakan State. During the visits, he blamed the clashes on Muslims, demanded their deportation, and stirred up ultra-nationalist sentiment.
Burma Military Submits Complaint to Press Council Over Satirical Article

The illustration that ran along with The Voice Dailys satirical piece by British Ko Ko Maung. / The Voice Daily

RANGOON  In the latest dispute between the military and a local daily, the Myanmar Press Council mediates a complaint over a satirical piece questioning the countrys ongoing peace process, a member of council leadership said.

The piece titled Kyi Htaung Su Thitsarmeaning oath made in a nation of bulletswas published in the March 26 edition of The Voice Daily newspaper and written by the papers regular satire columnist who goes by the pen name British Ko Ko Maung.

It was the third complaint from the militaryfollowing two others filed against separate private media organizations in 2015 and 2016highlighting its intolerance of criticism, fearing a negative portrayal of the institution.

The piece was titled satirically after an army-produced film Pyi Htaung Su Thitsar that can be translated as Union Oath, which aired on state- and military-owned television channels in early March, commemorating the countrys 72nd Armed Forces Day.

The piece satirized the long-running civil war and that different ethnic groups are united simply to fight one another.

It also mocked that people inside the country are so united that they do not need to leave the country to fight wars when they can just make a one-day drive to reach the frontline. Lower-ranking soldiers die in ongoing battles on the frontlines while Top Leaders of respective armed groups hold peace talks and exchange smiles, the columnist portrayed.

According to Dr. Myo Thant Tin, a press council deputy chair, the council received a complaint from the militarys Rangoon regional command just before the Burmese New Year holiday in early April, in which the military expressed its discontent with the article. He refused to disclose specific details of the complaint.

However, according to a DVB report last week quoting U Myint Kyaw, a member of the council, the military said the article could cause divisions between military officials and their subordinates because it implied that lower-ranking soldiers are the ones who actually have to die in battle while officials do not really have to fight.

Ko Aung Soe, executive editor of The Voice Daily, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that the news outlets editorial team was informed by the council about the complaint on April 25 and replied to the council two days later.

We explained in our reply that there are different standards and qualifications between news stories and satirical articles, Ko Aung Soe said, adding that the military might have misinterpreted the article.

While the satirist mocked the situation with humor and creativity, it was constructive and in no way intended to harm the image of the government or army, Ko Aung Soe emphasized.

Satirist Ko Ko Maung told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that his article did not name any specific institution, group or army, but satirized a generic situation regarding all armed groups with humor.

I heard [the military] complained to the press council that my article could cause divisions between military officials and their subordinates but my intention was to urge the end of civil war, he said.

According to the press councils complaint committee, it will organize a face-to-face meeting between the two parties by the end of next week. According to media law, the press council has to take action against any complaint received within 15 days and settle between respective parties within 60 days, Dr. Myo Thant Tin said.

In June 2016, the army sued the local private newspaper 7 Day Daily for publishing a story about former general Shwe Manns message to graduates of the Defense Services Academy, which urged his former colleagues to work in conjunction with the countrys newly-elected democratic government.

The military claimed the article could lead to disunity in the army and encourage treason, and filed a lawsuit under Section 131 of Burmas Penal Code against the newspaper. The lawsuit was later dropped following negotiations, but the newspaper printed an apology to the military in state media as part of the settlement.

Prior to the 7 Day Daily incident, the movie Twilight over Burma was banned from being screened publicly and removed from a film festival by a censorship board, which alleged that the film could damage the image of the army and harm ethnic unity. The film tells the story of ethnic Shan leader Sao Kya Sengwho was arrested by the Burma Army during Gen Ne Wins coup and later disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

In 2015, local private newspaper The Myanmar Times apologized for a cartoon published in its Burmese-language weekly, drawn by artist Htoo Chit featuring a husband and wife discussing the conflict in Laukkai between the military and ethnic Kokang armed forces.
Burma Peace Commission Reaches Out to Wa-Led Committee

Dr. Tin Myo Win led a four-member delegation from the governments National Reconciliation and Peace Center to meet the United Nationalities Federal Councils delegation for political negotiation in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand in late April. / Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy

RANGOON  The governments peace commission is approaching the Wa-led political negotiation committee for talks on Burmas peace process.

We are trying to contact the Wa-led political negotiation committee. The earlier we can meet, the better. Currently, we are still holding internal discussions about it, peace commission adviser U Aung Kyi told The Irrawaddy.

Burmas largest ethnic armed organization (EAO), the United Wa State Army (UWSA), leads seven armed groups in the committee, none of which have signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA).

We are taking all the factors into consideration, including the advantages and disadvantages. We are also considering holding talks without any restrictions, said U Aung Kyi.

As the peace commission has been assigned to facilitate the peace process, it would meet all EAOs and not just certain ones, said U Aung Kyi.

Formed at the fourth Panghsang Summit held in April, the Wa-led committee comprises seven EAOs based in northern Burma and along the China-Burma border.

The committee has representatives from the UWSA, the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army-North (SSPP/SSA-North), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA), and the Arakan Army (AA).

The groups rejected the path to peace initiated by the former President U Thein Seins government. Instead, they want to sign ceasefire agreements at the state and Union levels, and enter political dialogue with the government to discuss their stances, policies and demands.

The Burma Army has refused to hold peace talks with the MNDAA, the TNLA, and the AA, stating that the three groups had formed after the quasi-civilian government took office in 2011.

The military demanded the three groups lay down their arms, but they refused and joined the Wa-led committee. U Aung Kyi said the Burma Army has not given the peace commission specific instructions concerning these three groups.

We take action independently on our own initiative. We have not received any particular instructions like who and who not to meet, said U Aung Kyi.

The Wa-led political negotiation committee is waiting for the governments invitation for talks, said TNLA Vice-Chairman Brig-Gen Tar Jok Jar.

Seven EAOs at the Panghsang Summit in April agreed on a paper defining policy on political dialogue and the Wa-led committee wanted to discuss the details of the paper with the government.

The paper outlines rights of ethnic states, ethnic groups, equality, constitutional amendments, including changing the eligibility criteria for the president and lawmakers, and civilian governments control over the military, and assigning ethnic troops for security in states.

The Wa-led committee has stated it wants to hold talks with the government as a whole and not as separate groups. According to the peace commission, the government will meet all the EAOs based in northern Burma and along the China-Burma border, including the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO).

Our leaders are discussing the possibility of talks thoroughly, U Aung Soe, a Lower House lawmaker and member of the peace commission, told The Irrawaddy. If there are talks, both the government and the military will join. But I dont know when the meeting can take place. I hope it will take place before the 21st Century Panglong.

The second session of the 21st Century Panglong peace conference is scheduled to commence on May 24.

The KIO and the Burma Army will meet separately soon, according to sources, but the venue and date are yet to be confirmed.

Kyaw Kha contributed to this report.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko
Guest Column Why Education Reform is so Important for Myanmar

Youth at work at a teashop in Yangon. / Reuters

I was born in the small town of Kanyutkwin in Bago Division, Myanmar. I left the country in 2005 to further my education in Singapore. When I came back to Yangon to work as a research officer at Consult-Myanmar, a Myanmar-based research and consultancy firm, I noticed that the streets were more crowded, the traffic was worse, there were more high-rises in the downtown area and Yangon was teeming with foreigners. But I realized that some aspects of the country have never really changed. The persistence of poor quality education is one of them, leaving profound impacts on the development of Myanmar  both as a society and as an economy.

Although US sanctions were lifted on Oct. 7, 2016, Myanmars economy is still struggling to take off. Foreign investment for the year ending on March 31, 2017 is predicted to be 30 percent lower than that of the previous fiscal year. Foreign investment is still largely focused on extractive industries such as oil and gas. A concrete plan for diversification is nowhere to be seen.

After almost 50 years of economic mismanagement and under-investment, Myanmars infrastructure is creaking alone under the load of a growing population and increased foreign investment in factories and real estate  all of which demand even more power and a sound infrastructure.

Most of these problems in infrastructure and investment can be traced to one single root  quality of education. All of the private schools, language centers and vocational schools that were contacted by Consult-Myanmar for our research on education responded with the unequivocal answer that the current education system is no longer adequate to support the growth of Myanmar into an industrialized economy and cannot be relied upon to reduce Myanmars dependence on the export of natural resources which are being depleted every day.

The previous government did try to tackle the problem by embarking on education reforms such as allowing private schools to operate. But, more needs to be done and Myanmar cannot afford to drag and delay the implementation of comprehensive reforms in the education sector.

Notwithstanding some entrenched problems, Myanmar, as a latecomer, can leapfrog in education just as it did in telecommunications. The fact that mobile phone penetration jumped from a mere 7 percent at the end of 2013 to 90 percent at the end of 2016 and that 4G is widely available in Yangon, Mandalay and Naypyidaw  in such a brief time  is nothing short of breath-taking, even if it was achieved mainly as a result of foreign investment and talent brought in by multinational telecommunications firms like Telenor and Ooredoo.

Where education is concerned, Myanmar need not look far for inspiration. Among Myanmars ASEAN neighbors, Singapore and Vietnam provide encouraging examples. Even though Singapore topped the PISA 2015 (Program for International Student Assessment) in all subjects, Vietnam was the surprise. As a lower-middle income country, its performance was expected to be in the same league as Indonesia, Kosovo, Moldova and Tunisia, as PISA performance is correlated to GDP per capita and how affluent the country is. However, Vietnam surprised everyone by coming ahead of advanced countries like Germany and Switzerland in science and ahead of the US in science and math.

Professor Paul Glewwe from the University of Minnesota found that the parents of the Vietnamese students taking part in the exam had a much lower educational background and less wealth than their peers in other countries. The 10 percent of the most disadvantaged children in Vietnam  and they grow up in very poor households  those children do better than the average American child, OECD Education Director Andreas Schleicher said, as cited by CNN. Vietnam shows that one does not need a developed economy to have a quality education, he said.

What many researchers found was that there were certain commonalities in the education systems of Singapore and Vietnam. One of them is curriculum. Their curricula are focused on both academic as well as practical skills. In other words, they are designed for students to gain deep understanding and knowledge of core theoretical concepts as well as the ability to apply them in real life situations. As a result, students love to inquire, learn and apply their knowledge.

Myanmars curriculum, on the other hand, is outdated and disconnected. Take high school math for example. Each chapter is treated as entirely separate from another and questions do not test students ability to use various concepts from different chapters to solve real-life problems.

English is the language of science and technology. It is also the language of the Internet. If you have a good command of English and a good Internet connection, you can educate yourself by using free education websites like Khan Academy, Coursera and so on. Google search and the worldwide web have allowed students to move away from mere memorization to focusing on query, learning, collaboration and application. However, the teaching of English in Myanmar schools leaves much to be desired.

To gauge the level of English literacy among Myanmars working youth, I surveyed job applicants at Consult-Myanmar in February. Ten out of 11 shortlisted applicants had attended at least one English course and were able to produce certificates of completion. They were also asked, before sitting for a simple English test, to rate their English language ability  only 1 chose basic; 6 fair; 3 good; and 1 excellent. The test results are not encouraging in spite of the candidates modest confidence. None of them was able to get a perfect score, even though the comprehension passage was fairly easy. They all stumbled over open-ended writing, being unable to write more than three to four sentences, not to mention that those sentences were full of grammatical mistakes.

I have always been skeptical of the quality of most private English courses in Myanmar that sprang up amid lack of government regulation of private schools and language centers. The test results reinforce my hypothesis that most Myanmar youths command of English is still basic despite what they say about how good their English is and how many external courses they take.

In addition, Vietnam and Singapore have also focused on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) in their push for industrialization and modernization and continue to do so. It is no different for Myanmar. Only STEM skills can push the country towards industrialization, modernization and improvements in the standard of living over a period of time. Qualified engineers must build all of the new towns, Special Economic Zones, power stations, bridges and roads that Myanmar desperately needs. Starved of a curriculum that can produce STEM-strong engineers, the country will not be able to build the foundation for economic growth.

Myanmar currently does not have this sort of curriculum. For example, my friend, a civil engineer graduate from a Myanmar university, was offered the position of site engineer in Singapore by a Japanese construction firm about three years ago. His joy of landing an overseas job was short-lived as he soon came to realize that the brick building techniques he learned in the Myanmar university cannot be applied to the steel structures that grace modern cities.

In my interview with Neelam Bhusal, the co-founder of Impact Skill Development Centre, which offers a variety of high quality English courses, she agreed that Myanmar needed to upgrade its provision of STEM skills. Only then will the country be able to rely upon its own skilled workforce needed in finance, construction, scientific research and many other job sectors as the economy grows, she said.

It is also to be noted that qualified and committed educators are to a good curriculum as wheels are to an engine. Well-trained teachers and a great curriculum are never mutually exclusive. In the case of Vietnams education reforms, the government regularly offers overseas scholarships to promising teachers who later return to assist in imparting knowledge and skills necessary to raise the standard of education in the country.

Myanmar should do likewise by asking for teaching scholarships from friendly countries supportive of reforms. The tendency of government scholars to not return home from overseas tenure can be resolved by a bond system which make the parents or guardians the guarantor. It is, after all, for the good of the country and not too stringent a term to ask. Most importantly, returning scholars must commit by going to rural areas and under-performing schools and working hard to close the gap between the elite schools and the poor mans schools. That is the most towering achievement of both Singapore and Vietnam, where neighborhood or rural schools perform just as well as elite schools. One is a democratic country and the other is a socialist country. But, there is one thing that they agree upon: their education systems must serve the rich and the poor alike and provide everyone the same level of quality education, regardless of their class or religion.

Lastly, education reforms also entail educating the public  especially the poor  to change attitudes towards education. Phung Xuan Hua, Vietnams education minister, has said: Vietnamese parents can sacrifice everything, sell their houses and land just to give their children an education. I dont doubt that many middle and lower-middle class families in Myanmar can do the same. But, the same attitude must seep in to the poor class.

But now, some poor families in Myanmar ask their children to work as indentured labor and collect in advance from business owners about six months of the childs salary. As a result, children are seen as an economic unit that must be put to work to support families. Consequently, child labor is rampant. Scenes of kids working days and nights at the tea shops that dot the country are not uncommon. This is a practice that must be stopped and children must be enrolled in school. Otherwise, Myanmar will have a group of uneducated, unskilled workers who are not employable in the offices and factories of the future.

Even if all these suggested reforms are implemented, the country will not reap maximal benefits unless it addresses the problem of low morale and work ethics of its citizens. Thailands Institute for Promotion of Teaching and Science and Technology found that the work ethic of Vietnamese teachers is admirable. They rarely take time off. Whereas in Myanmar, citizens are still upset over the reduction of the New Year holidays from 10 to 5 days even though the total number of public holidays remains at 28 days a year, which is already one of the highest in the world.

Under the previous regime, the government provided the people with more holidays along with cheap liquor and cigarettes. Myanmar should now be more circumspect and improve morale slowly by weaning its citizens off those cheap drugs. Myanmar needs to look at how it can improve its citizens work ethic so that its workforce becomes more productive. It can become a mecca for manufacturers globally, only if endemic problem of low motivation to work hard is addressed.

In conclusion, Myanmar is at an inflection point after 50 years of a downward slide; it has the opportunity to turn its education and economy around with a government that is elected by the people. There will not be any shortcut or silver bullet that will make everything better overnight. However, what the educational success of Vietnam and Singapore has shown is that with a well-designed curriculum, qualified and committed teachers, self-sacrificing parents and industrious teachers and students alike, significant improvements can happen in Myanmars education sector, thereby paving the way for an economic miracle many Myanmar citizens are waiting for.

Brandon Aung Moe was born in Myanmar and educated in Singapore. He is an engineering graduate from the National University of Singapore. The above article is part of a research project on education reform in Myanmar that Brandon was involved with during his time at Consult-Myanmar Co Ltd in Yangon.

This article originally appeared in Tea Circle, a forum hosted at Oxford University for emerging research and perspectives on Burma/Myanmar.
Nepali media still under threat, remains unsecure

Impunity for crimes against journalists is still a big concern for the stakeholders in Nepal, says a report released on Tuesday.
Sam Seder | (Majority Report) | (Video News Clip) |  

In this Majority Report clip, we watch FBI Director James Comey defend his decision to send a letter to Congress (which was immediately leaked by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) alerting them that the investigation into Hillary Clintons emails was re-opened FOR A WEEKEND while the FBI looked through Huma Abedins forwarded emails to Anthony Weiner. The FBI concluded that there was no criminal intentso, the situation was exactly the same as it was before Comey sent the letterbut the damage was done. Also, the FBI is still investigating collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.

We need your help to keep providing free videos! Support the Majority Reports video content by going to Patreon.com/MajorityReport!

Watch the Majority Report live MF at 12 p.m. EST at youtube.com/samseder or listen via daily podcast at http://Majority.FM
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Via | The Watchers: Watching the World Evolve and Transform |  

Historic flooding hits Missouri and Arkansas, more heavy rain on the way

Parts of Missouri and Arkansas are experiencing historic flooding after a powerful storm produced deadly tornadoes, strong winds and heavy rain, leaving at least 20 people dead and dozens injured. Although flooding in some areas already reached historic levels, this event is still not over as another storm is set to drop heavy rain on already soaked Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Illinois and Indiana through the rest of the week.

Hundreds of roads were closed in Missouri, Arkansas and Illinois over the weekend as dangerous weather system rolled in with strong winds and heavy rain. Some areas saw as much as 280 mm (11 inches). The rain caused a sudden rise in rivers, some of which already reached historic levels before the next round of heavy rain hits the region. The nations biggest rivers are flooding, too.

As of 21:00 UTC on May 3, 31 river gauges reported major flooding, 96 moderate, 160 minor and 233 near flood stage. Most of them in Missouri, Arkansas, and Illinois.

River gauges, USA  May 3, 2017

A mandatory evacuation order was issued Tuesday, May 2, 2017, for the east part of the town of Pocahontas (population 6 500) in Arkansas, some 201 km (125 miles) northeast of Little Rock, as the Black River rose to nearly 9 m (29 feet), a record.

This is a historical crest. The levees werent designed for overtopping, Randolph County Judge David Jansen said. When they go, were going to have a wall of water pouring out. On Wednesday, the levee on the Black River at Pocahontas failed and water gushed into the town.

Significant flooding is expected by the end of the week on the Mississippi River south of St. Louis, Missouri, including the towns of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and Cairo, Illinois, as the massive amounts of water move downstream. Forecasters say the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau is on track to crest at just over 15 m (48 feet) on May 6, which would be a near record.

Several points on the Missouri River in eastern Missouri are expected to rise 3 m (10 feet) above flood stage or higher by the end of the week.

St. Louis County officials say 200 homes along the Meramec have been damaged in the flooding and another 1 500 are potentially in harms way.

Residents of West Alton (population 500), 32 km (20 miles) north of St. Louis on the Missouri River are being asked to evacuate today as authorities fear a breach of a nearby levee.

Another levee breached in Franklin County, southwest of the city, early Wednesday, but flooding mostly affected farmland, The Weather Channel reported.

The flooding has forced Missouri transportation officials to close Interstate 55, along with other major routes Wednesday, effectively cutting off St. Louis from any roads to the southeast.

According to Missouri transportation officials, I-55 closed at 12:00 local time Wednesday after rising water levels on the Meramec River inundated numerous roads. MoDot says the roads will remain closed for the remainder of the week. A 92-km (57 miles) stretch of I-44 from central to southern Missouri is also closed, along with a 37-km (23 miles) stretch in suburban St. Louis.

Along the Meramec River, in suburban St. Louis, thousands of sandbags are protecting homes and businesses in Eureka, and authorities fear a breach on a levee in nearby Valley Park where the river crested at just over 13 m (43 feet) on May 2, just shy of a record.

After flooding smashed records that had stood for over 100 years, more heavy rain is headed toward the Ozarks and mid-Mississippi Valley, bringing a threat of renewed flash flooding and adding to already swollen rivers and reservoirs, says weather.com senior meteorologist Jon Erdman. So far, 14 flooding records have been broken and several more are expected in the coming days, Erdman said.

Via The Watchers: Watching the World Evolve and Transform



Related video added by Juan Cole:

ABC: Record Flooding wreaks havoc in Missouri
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TeleSur |  

TeleSUR spoke with two French voters to discuss Sundays second-round presidential election in France and lesser evil voting.

French voters are confronted with a difficult choice on Sundays runoff presidential election: Emmanuel Macron, a neoliberal former investment banker who served as an economy minister in the current  and historically unpopular  government, and the leader of the far-right, xenophobic, anti-EU National Front Marine Le Pen.

Facing the National Front leader was supposed to make Macrons victory easier, but the candidates arrogance and tactical mistakes have dangerously boosted voters intentions to abstain. On Tuesday, an internal poll of supporters of defeated far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon showed that just over 65 percent will either spoil their ballots or stay at home. Communist-backed Melenchon, who leads the "France Insoumise," or Unbowed France movement, won more than 7 million votes as he finished fourth in the elections first round on April 23.

While the French mainstream media and political elites have started a campaign shaming leftists for allegedly paving the way to the election of Le Pen, teleSUR contacted two of them in a bid to better understand the political landscape.

Diane Scott, editor-in-chief of Incise magazine, voted for the Anti-Capitalist Partys candidate Philippe Poutou in the first round, although she claims to be happy with Melenchons good score. She said she refuses to choose between the two candidates and has decided to abstain on Sunday. She recently explained her decision in an article published by Mediapart.

Olivier Tonneau, lecturer in modern languages at Homerton College, is a member of Melenchons "Parti de Gauche," or Left Party, and the Peoples Assembly Against Austerity. After destroying the arguments shaming abstention in articles for Mediapart and The Guardian, he confessed that he will eventually vote for Macron on Sunday, because he fears that Macrons mistakes will end up electing Le Pen.

The priority is to fight the far-right vote on the long term, and understand people who would rather abstain, he told teleSUR.

1. Macron is not representing the people, he was imposed by finance capital

With their discourse, Macrons supporters are turning democracy into what they imagined it should have never stopped being: a useful illusion, said Scott, comparing the current presidential campaign with the 2005 campaign in favor of the neoliberal European Constitutional Treaty. When voters rejected it in a popular referendum, the mainstream media criticized their decision with classist disdain, before the political elites approved the treaty in Congress despite the result, in a total denial of democracy. Now, said Scott, the didactic disdain turned into hateful shaming.

Meanwhile, added Tonneau, the mainstream media tried hard to discredit Melenchon as soon as he surged in the polls as a challenger. For instance, Melenchons proposal to solve Guianas difficulties (a former French colony located in South America) with economic cooperation and solidarity with the members of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples, or ALBA, was translated in the French media as: if Melenchon is elected, France will join a military alliance, ALBA, including Iran and Syria.

2. Macron participated in a government responsible for human rights abuses and undermining democracy.

Personally, since the state of emergency and the labor reform, I vowed not to vote for the Socialist Party whatever happens, said Scott. Shall we accept the dictatorship and the restoration of slavery in the name of the fight against the National Front?

She also recalled the killing of an environmental activist by the military police and the numerous cases of Black or Arab citizens killed or raped by police officers while the Socialist Party government of Francois Hollande was in power.

Hollande also repeatedly resorted to using executive orders and a constitutional article in order to bypass a parliamentary vote to ram through unpopular laws, while the state of emergency  prolonged several times justified violent police raids in peaceful Muslim homes, and even the house arrest of dozens of environmental activists across the country.

I dont underestimate the threat (of a National Front government)," said Scott, but she added that the Hollande government has crossed the line multiples times in ways that undermined democracy and Macron represents a continuation of this.

Tonneau, like Scott, pointed out that Macron has already announced he will not hesitate to resort to executive orders if elected. Macron also insisted that he wanted voters to support him only if they supported his program  a dangerous strategy that alienated potential leftist voters ahead of the May 7 vote.

3. Fighting fascism is part of the establishments strategy to remain in power

Melenchon himself was victim of this hateful shaming after he refused to tell his supporters to vote for Macron against Le Pen, like he did in 2002 when he encouraged them to vote for the incumbent President Jacques Chirac in order to block Jean-Marie Le Pens election.

But 15 years later, noted Scott, the scenario is quite different: while the 2002 results shocked everyone, this time the traditional parties and mainstream media prepared and expected a secured victory against the far right.

This argument was shockingly evidenced by Macrons triumphant celebration of the first rounds results in a fancy restaurant of Paris, yet with less than a quarter of support, already taking for granted the anti-Le Pen vote in his favor for the second round.

The strategic anti-Le Pen vote is meaningless, argues Scott, because Le Pen is part of the strategy of the mainstream parties to keep power and carry out their neoliberal agenda. Macron, a former investment banker at Rothschild, may not be officially part of such parties, but he inspired most of the economic policies of the socialist government.

The finance world does not even make the effort to produce politicians but seeks them out straight at the source, said Scott.

As for Tonneau, what causes the surge of the far right across the world is not the abstention of leftist voters, but the dictatorship of the finance world, which Macron represents. Moreover, if Melenchon had ordered support for Macron, he would have likely lost a lot of support among the Unbowed militants, as they refuse to bow to the system.

We are not your sweeper-car, picking up the trash behind you as you are destroying society little by little, said Tonneau.

4. Why not shame right-wing voters who will vote for Le Pen?

Last but not least, Macron makes no effort to woo potential left-wing votes. He affirmed that he will not change his program, nor negotiate with other candidates in a bid to appeal to the three-quarters of French people who did not vote for him on April 23.

One must ask themselves why this vote shaming campaign has only be directed at the leftist voters, and not to supporters of conservative Francois Fillon (20 percent in the first round) who will either abstain (26 percent of them, according to an Ifop survey released Tuesday) or vote for Le Pen (30 percent). Meanwhile, the same voices do not seem to have any interest in convincing Le Pens core supporters to change their minds.

Melenchons political movement, however, managed to convince abstentionists and National Front voters more than any other party, reflected by an astonishing 9-point surge in the polls in less than a month before the first round, recalled Tonneau. Voters abandoned by the Socialist Party  like the working class, the youth and the generations of French immigrants living in the marginalized suburbs  voted for Melenchon instead of an expected blank vote or a Le Pen vote, according to various studies.

Via TeleSur

-

Related video added by Juan Cole:

TRT World: French Presidential Election: Fierce final debate between Le Pen and Macron
TORONTO, May 4, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Richmont Mines Inc. (TSX: RIC) (NYSE: RIC) ("Richmont" or the "Corporation") announces operating and financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2017, driven by solid results from the Island Gold Mine. The Corporation will host a conference call and webcast on Thursday, May 4, 2017, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time (details below.) (All amounts are in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise indicated.)

First Quarter Highlights

Company-wide production of 29,401 ounces of gold (28,528 ounces sold), primarily driven by solid production from the Island Gold Mine of 23,772 ounces of gold (22,649 ounces sold).

Company-wide cash costs 1 of $791 (US$598) per ounce, positively impacted by low cash costs of $668 (US$504) per ounce from the Island Gold Mine.

of per ounce, positively impacted by low cash costs of per ounce from the Island Gold Mine. Company-wide All-In-Sustaining-Costs 1 ("AISC") of $1,124 (US$849) per ounce, positively impacted by low AISC of $848 (US$640) per ounce from the Island Gold Mine.

("AISC") of per ounce, positively impacted by low AISC of per ounce from the Island Gold Mine. Richmont reported first quarter revenues of $46.5 (US$35.1) million .

. Earnings of $5.5 (US$4.1) million , or $0.09 (US$0.07) per share.

, or per share. Operating cash flow 1 (before non-cash changes in working capital) was $16.4 (US$12.4) million , or $0.26 (US$0.20) per share.

(before non-cash changes in working capital) was , or per share. Richmont maintained a strong cash balance of $75.2 (US$56.5) million , in line with the prior quarter; working capital increased to $66.3 (US$49.7) million .

, in line with the prior quarter; working capital increased to . Effective March 15, 2017 , Richmont appointed Mr. Robert J. Chausse as Chief Financial Officer, further strengthening the senior management team.

"We started the year with a solid quarter reported from both assets, particularly at our cornerstone Island Gold Mine. The ongoing transformation of the Island Gold Mine continues to advance and we remain on schedule to release our Expansion Case Preliminary Economic Assessment ("Expansion Case PEA") in the second quarter, which will support our overall objective of positioning the Island Gold Mine as one of the lowest cost underground gold producers in the Americas," stated Renaud Adams, CEO. He continued, "Our focus remains on creating sustainable shareholder value through enhancing operational and cost efficiencies throughout the organization while maintaining our disciplined approach to capital allocation. Over the balance of the year, we will continue to focus on positioning the Island Gold Mine for long-term success that drives shareholder value creation, which is supported by a solid balance sheet and a disciplined management team."

1 Non-IFRS performance measure. Refer to the Non-IFRS Performance Measures section contained in the Q1 2017 Management's Discussion and Analysis.

Financial Highlights

(in thousands of $, except per share amounts) Quarter ended

March 31, 2017 Quarter ended

March 31, 2016 Revenue from mining operations 46,462 52,634 Net earnings per share, basic 0.09 0.15 Operating cash flow, per share(1) 0.20 0.30 Operating cash flow (before non-cash changes

in working capital), per share(1) 0.26 0.36 Net free cash flow, per share(1) 0.01 0.02 Revenue from mining operations (US$) 35,097 38,329 Net earnings per share, basic (US$) 0.07 0.11 Operating cash flow, per share(1) (US$) 0.15 0.22 Operating cash flow (before non-cash changes

in working capital), per share(1) (US$) 0.20 0.26 Net free cash flow, per share(1) (US$) 0.01 0.01

(1) Non-IFRS performance measure. Refer to the Non-IFRS performance measures section contained in the Q1 2017 Management's Discussion and Analysis.

Operational Highlights

Quarter ended

March 31, 2017 Quarter ended

March 31, 2016 Gold produced (oz) 29,401 32,369 Gold sold (oz) 28,528 32,239 Average cash costs per ounce ($)(1) 791 800 Average AISC per ounce ($)(1) 1,124 1,094 Average realized gold price per ounce ($) 1,624 1,629 Average cash costs per ounce (US$)(1) 598 583 Average AISC per ounce (US$)(1) 849 797 Average realized gold price per ounce (US$) 1,227 1,186

(1) Non-IFRS performance measure. Refer to the Non-IFRS performance measures section contained in the Q1 2017 Management's Discussion and Analysis.

Island Gold Mine Highlights

Island Gold MINE Quarter ended

March 31, 2017 Quarter ended

March 31, 2016 Gold produced (oz) 23,772 26,589 Gold sold (oz) 22,649 26,031 Cash costs per ounce ($)(1) 668 667 AISC per ounce ($)(1) 848 848 Realized gold price per ounce ($) 1,624 1,628 Cash costs per ounce (US$)(1) 504 486 AISC per ounce (US$)(1) 640 618 Realized gold price per ounce (US$) 1,227 1,186 Underground tpd 1,019 853 Mill tonnes 83,365 75,906 Mill tpd 926 834 Head grade (g/t gold) 9.18 11.31 Recoveries (%) 96.7 96.3 Sustaining costs ($000's) 4,072 4,713 Project costs ($000's) 5,929 6,987 Non-sustaining exploration ($000's) 3,762 3,770 Sustaining costs (US$000's) 3,076 3,432 Project costs (US$000's) 4,479 5,088 Non-sustaining exploration (US$000's) 2,842 2,745

(1) Non-IFRS performance measure. Refer to the Non-IFRS performance measures section contained in the Q1 2017 Management's Discussion and Analysis.

Island Gold Mine Highlights

Production for the quarter was 23,772 ounces of gold (22,649 ounces sold). The mine is now well positioned to achieve the high-end of production guidance for the year of 87,000-93,000 ounces.

Cash costs for the quarter were $668 (US$504) per ounce, below guidance for the year. The operating unit costs for the quarter were $181 (US$137) per tonne milled, in line with the 2017 mine plan.

per ounce, below guidance for the year. The operating unit costs for the quarter were per tonne milled, in line with the 2017 mine plan. AISC for the quarter were $848 (US$640) per ounce, below guidance for the year.

per ounce, below guidance for the year. For the quarter, expansion capital was $5.9 (US$4.5) million and exploration expense was $3.8 (US$2.8) million .

and exploration expense was . Mill head grade for the quarter was 9.18 g/t gold, representing an in line grade reconciliation (mined vs. December 31, 2016 Mineral Reserves) for the quarter. The 2017 mine plan continues to forecast an average mill head grade for the year of approximately 8.90 g/t gold.

Mineral Reserves) for the quarter. The 2017 mine plan continues to forecast an average mill head grade for the year of approximately 8.90 g/t gold. Underground mining and milling productivities for the quarter, averaged a record 1,019 and 926 tonnes per day, respectively, with lower-grade underground ore stockpiled for future processing, resulting in an improved overall mill head grade for the quarter.

During the quarter, long-hole stope mining continued in the first and second mining horizons and development in ore was advanced as planned in the higher-grade third mining horizon. Stoping in the third mining horizon is expected to begin in the fourth quarter.

The development of the main ramp reached a vertical depth of 860 metres at the end of the quarter, which is in line with the 2017 development plan and as contemplated in the upcoming Expansion Case PEA.

Mineral Reserves (as at December 31, 2016 ) at the Island Gold Mine increased by 34% (net of depletion) to 752,200 ounces of gold, at an increased grade of 9.17 g/t gold. Inferred Resources increased by 30% to 995,700 ounces of gold at an increased grade of 10.18 g/t, and at an average discovery cost of less than $35 (US$26) per ounce. ( see press release dated January 31, 2017 and the technical report titled "Technical Report on the Mineral Reserve and Resource Estimate as of December 31, 2016 for the Island Gold Mine" dated March 17, 2017 ).

) at the Island Gold Mine increased by 34% (net of depletion) to 752,200 ounces of gold, at an increased grade of 9.17 g/t gold. Inferred Resources increased by 30% to 995,700 ounces of gold at an increased grade of 10.18 g/t, and at an average discovery cost of less than per ounce. ( ). New high-grade mineralization located, approximately 800 metres east of the main Island Gold deposit, was identified by recent exploration drilling. Hole GD-640-05 intersected 20.6 g/t gold over 11.3 metres (core length), demonstrating significant potential for near-term and continued resource growth. Additionally, early results from delineation drilling completed within the Expansion Case PEA area, indicates the significant potential to further expand our reserves at higher than current average grades. ( see press release dated March 30, 2017 ).

). Expansion Case PEA : The Corporation is well advanced to release the results of the Expansion Case PEA during the second quarter, as previously disclosed. The study considers the most cost and capital effective strategy to mine the portion of the mineral resources that is located within the main area of interest over four mining horizons, to a maximum depth of 1,000 metres below surface, using the current mine infrastructure. The Corporation remains focused on transforming the high-grade Island Gold Mine into one of the lowest cost underground gold producers in the Americas. Recent achievements include: The integration of the December 31, 2016 Mineral Reserves and Resources into the 1,100 tonnes per day mine plan has been completed. The required permit amendments that allow for an ore mining and processing increase to 1,100 tonnes per day were received in December. Accelerated development of the underground ramp system has advanced as planned. Engineering and identification of the main equipment required for the mill expansion is well underway and expected capital requirements for the expanded milling capacity remains below the $15.0 million , as previously disclosed. The 2017 mine plan and the Expansion Case PEA are focused on optimizing cash flow generation that would fully fund current and future production as well as all strategic exploration programs.

The Corporation is well advanced to release the results of the Expansion Case PEA during the second quarter, as previously disclosed. The study considers the most cost and capital effective strategy to mine the portion of the mineral resources that is located within the main area of interest over four mining horizons, to a maximum depth of 1,000 metres below surface, using the current mine infrastructure. The Corporation remains focused on transforming the high-grade Island Gold Mine into one of the lowest cost underground gold producers in the Americas. Recent achievements include:

Beaufor Mine Highlights

Beaufor MINE Quarter ended

March 31, 2017 Quarter ended

March 31, 2016 Gold produced (oz) 5,629 4,615 Gold sold (oz) 5,879 5,037 Cash costs per ounce ($)(1) 1,265 1,396 AISC per ounce ($)(1) 1,580 1,728 Realized gold price per ounce ($) 1,625 1,648 Cash costs per ounce (US$)(1) 956 1,017 AISC per ounce (US$)(1) 1,194 1,259 Realized gold price per ounce (US$) 1,228 1,200 Underground tpd 354 323 Mill tonnes 30,009 29,318 Head grade (g/t gold) 6.00 4.96 Recoveries (%) 97.2 98.7 Sustaining costs ($000's) 1,854 1,674 Non-sustaining exploration costs ($000's) 140 - Sustaining costs (US$000's) 1,401 1,219 Non-sustaining exploration costs (US$000's) 106 -

(1) Non-IFRS performance measure. Refer to the Non-IFRS performance measures section contained in the Q1 2017 Management's Discussion and Analysis.

Beaufor Mine Highlights

Production for the quarter was 5,629 ounces of gold (5,879 ounces sold), in line with previously disclosed plans to ramp-up production and achieve increased production in the second half of the year.

Cash costs of $1,265 (US$956) per ounce achieved during the quarter, in line with 2017 plans to return the mine to free cash flow generation status in the first half of the year.

per ounce achieved during the quarter, in line with 2017 plans to return the mine to free cash flow generation status in the first half of the year. AISC for the quarter were $1,580 (US$1,194) per ounce.

per ounce. Exploration expense was $0.3 (US$0.2) million for the quarter.

for the quarter. Underground productivity increased to 354 tonnes per day (403 tonnes per day in March). During the quarter, the majority of the mining activities were transitioned into the new Q Zone and additional haulage and mucking mobile equipment were commissioned. Underground productivity and operating costs are expected to continue to improve over the balance of the year.

The Corporation is also considering other strategic alternatives regarding the Beaufor Mine and Camflo Mill.



Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders

Richmont's annual and special meeting of shareholders will be held on Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 10:30 a.m. E.T. at the St. Andrew's Club & Conference Centre (27th Floor, Caledonia Room) at 150 King Street West in Toronto.

Upcoming News

Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders ( May 4 )

) Expansion Case PEA Results (Q2 2017)

Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis

The financial statements and related Management's Discussion and Analysis can be found on the Corporation's website at www.richmont-mines.com or under the Corporation's profile on www.sedar.com and with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.

2017 First Quarter Results Webcast and Conference Call

Senior management will discuss the first quarter financial results in a webcast and conference call to be held on Thursday, May 4, 2017 starting at 8:30 a.m. E.T.

Webcast access:

http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=1405031&s=1&k=2945B7DDFBDA291E4DB85CDEFA27826D

Telephone access:

Toll free ( Canada & U.S.): 1-888-390-0546

& U.S.): 1-888-390-0546 Toronto local & International: 1-416-764-8688

A replay will be available until May 18, 2017 by dialing 1-416-764-8677 (Toronto local and international) or 1-888-390-0541 (toll free in Canada and U.S.), using pass code 134044#. The webcast and presentation slides will be archived on the Corporation's website at www.richmont-mines.com.

About Richmont Mines Inc.

Richmont Mines currently produces gold from the Island Gold Mine in Ontario, and the Beaufor Mine in Quebec. The Corporation is also advancing development of the significant high-grade resource extension at depth of the Island Gold Mine in Ontario. With 35 years of experience in gold production, exploration and development, and prudent financial management, the Corporation is well-positioned to cost-effectively build its Canadian reserve base and to successfully enter its next phase of growth.
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA--(Marketwired - May 4, 2017) - Erdene Resource Development Corp. (TSX:ERD) ("Erdene" or "Company") is pleased to announce initial results from the Company's 2017 drill program at its 100%-owned Bayan Khundii Gold Project ("Bayan Khundii") in southwest Mongolia, and to announce changes to its management team in Mongolia.

Highlights (see attached plan map and cross-sections for reference)

Drilling confirms that the Midfield Zone continues down dip to the south potentially connecting with the Striker Zone

Drilling establishes presence of wider, higher-grade quartz adularia "feeder" veins at the Midfield Zone

Confirms greater depth potential south of the Midfield Zone

Improves confidence in continuity of the high-grade zones within Midfield

Second drill rig now operating and testing the previously announced high-grade intersection in the Discovery Zone at the Company's neighbouring Altan Nar gold-polymetallic project

Company strengthens management team in Mongolia

Table 1. Highlights for holes drilled within Midfield Zone (see attached map and section)

Drill Hole From (m) To (m) Interval (m) (1) Gold (g/t) BKD-98 39 170.5 131.5 3.86 incl 42 122 80 6.03 incl 86 87 1 11.1 incl 111 119 8 51.0 incl 112 114 2 192 BKD-99 53 158.4 105.4 3.55 incl 56 112 56 6.13 incl 87 91 4 69.0 incl 111 112 1 12.9 BKD-101 54 200.4 146.4 0.84 incl 134 144.1 10.1 4.84 incl 139 144.1 5.1 8.70 incl 142 144.1 2.1 19.1 incl 182 185 3 4.28 BKD-102 0 20 20 0.40 and 44 183.2 139.2 0.74 incl 131 163 32 2.06 incl 142 146 4 7.40 incl 145 146 1 16.2

(1) Reported intervals are not true width. At this time, there is insufficient data with respect to the shape of the mineralized system to calculate true orientations in space. They represent drill intersection widths from holes drilled at a dip of -45 to -55 and oriented to the north-northeast. The Bayan Khundii mineralization is interpreted to be moderately dipping (approximately 40 to 50 degrees to the southwest).

2017 Drill Program Update

Since the beginning of the 2017 program, drilling at Bayan Khundii has been focused in the area between, as well as west of, the Midfield and Striker zones, with 11 drill holes completed and three additional hole extensions. The Company has also commenced drilling with a second drill rig at its Altan Nar gold-polymetallic project, 16 kilometres northwest of Bayan Khundii, where three holes have been completed targeting the high-grade gold zone intersected in Q4-2016 within the Discovery Zone (hole TND-101).

Results reported today are from the first six new holes at Bayan Khundii including: two holes drilled within Midfield; two holes testing the down-dip extension of Midfield towards the Striker Zone; one west of Midfield and one hole testing a geophysical target outside of the main northeast trend. As shown in the attached plan map and cross-section, the five holes completed within the Striker-Midfield area (BKD-98 to BKD-102) were drilled on 20 to 40-metre centers and with a dip between -45 to -55 degrees oriented towards the north-northeast to intersect the mineralized zones approximately perpendicular to their interpreted orientation (dipping approximately 45 degrees to the southwest). The reconnaissance hole was drilled at -85 degrees to the north.

The drilling results for Midfield are significant in that they have extended the area of gold mineralization down dip to the south. They have also begun to confirm that gold mineralization continues within the approximately 170 metre un-tested area between Striker and Midfield, the two most prominent gold mineralized zones identified to date within the 2 kilometre by 1.8 kilometre Bayan Khundii prospect area. The results also strengthen the continuity of the high gold grades reported previously in the central Midfield area, and support the observation that this area contains the most intense hydrothermal activity and the most pervasive gold mineralization at Bayan Khundii. This observation is now supported by the repeated intersection of up to 8 metre wide, high-grade gold zones centered on quartz-adularia veins (BKD-98: 111 m to 119 m; 51.0 g/t gold). Hole BKD-100 tested the western edge of Midfield and intersected intrusive syenite at shallower depths than expected, truncating the down-dip western extension in that area. However, drilling further west intersected anomalous gold in Devonian volcanics at greater depths, suggesting the intrusive bodies are relatively restricted in extent.

Current drilling also confirmed that gold mineralization continues at greater depths to the south of Midfield. The intrusion intersected in previous drilling at Midfield is deepening to the south where up to 162 metres (vertical thickness) of altered and mineralized Devonian volcanic units have been intersected.

The Midfield Zone is located under younger, post-mineralization cover and has provided some of the highest grades and longest, continuously mineralized intervals intersected to date. It is located approximately 200 metres north of the original discovery area, which includes the Striker and Gold Hill zones where gold mineralization is exposed at surface. An additional mineralized zone is located 600 metres northeast of the Midfield Zone where limited exploration has been completed (Northeast Zone), with the area between covered by younger Cretaceous (post mineralization) units.

The reconnaissance hole drilled in the northwest portion of Bayan Khundii is one of many holes that will test targets outside the main trend of mineralization in the coming months. These holes are designed to test new concepts but also to provide data to support the Company's broader understanding of the alteration and mineralizing event. This hole was drilled 400 metres west of the Northeast Zone and 300 metres north of the Midfield Zone. While not hosting anomalous gold values, it did intersect a sequence of weak to moderately altered tuffaceous rocks and dacite intrusions, starting at 12 metres depth beneath younger cover. Locally, zones of intense silicification, mica and magnetite alteration were encountered confirming that hydrothermal fluids did penetrate this far from the known mineralized zones. Similar indications have been observed at the bottom of the most western hole (BKD-75), 300 metres west of Midfield, where the hole encountered higher gold values at the end of the hole (185 metre vertical depth), up to 0.5 g/t gold over 2 metres.

Dr. Jeffrey Hedenquist and other renowned experts, including Imants Kavalieris and Dr. Khashgerel Bat-Erdene, will be visiting the project again in the coming months to continue to assist the Erdene technical team in improving its understanding of the controls on mineralization which will be used, in part, to direct the Company's reconnaissance drilling program.

2017 Drill Plans

The initial phase of 2017 drilling includes the completion of a series of holes in the untested areas around the original discovery areas at Bayan Khundii in order to expand and increase confidence in the continuity of the following areas; between Striker and Midfield, north of Midfield, west and northeast of Striker, and between Gold Hill and Striker. As that work progresses, the second rig, which commenced drilling in late April, will complete a series of holes at the Discovery Zone at Altan Nar (16 kilometres north of Bayan Khundii) and the new Altan Arrow gold discovery (3.5 kilometres north of Bayan Khundii) before joining the drill program at Bayan Khundii in mid-May. The second rig will then begin systematically testing geophysical targets throughout the 2 kilometre by 1.8 kilometre Bayan Khundii area, while the first rig commences more detailed infill work around the new and existing high-grade zones at Midfield, Striker, and Gold Hill. As the field season progresses and results are received, the program will be refined and expanded where necessary to concentrate additional drilling around the highest priority targets at Bayan Khundii, Altan Nar and Altan Arrow. A follow-up second phase program will be defined and implemented in early Q4-2017, based on the results from the Q2-Q3 exploration program.

Mongolia Management Team Strengthened

On May 1, the Company made several changes to its management team in Mongolia, including the hiring of Jon Lyons as Vice President Regulatory Affairs and Strategy. The changes are aimed at preparing the Company for a transition into permitting and development related work in the coming months and years. The appointments include:

Bayarmaa Bagabandi - Ms. Bagabandi has been appointed Chief Administrative Officer for Erdene Mongol LLC, the Company's main Mongolian subsidiary, responsible for overseeing all financial, legal and human resource responsibilities. Bayarmaa earned an MSc in International Economics from Korea's Sogang University and has been employed with the Company for the past 12 years. Bayarmaa has been involved in the administrative side of Mongolia's resource industry for the past 17 years.

Jon M. L. Lyons - Mr. Lyons will take on the role of Vice President Regulatory Affairs and Strategy, responsible for managing the various government permitting processes required to advance Erdene's mineral exploration and mining projects. Jon will also be responsible for oversight of Health, Safety, Environment, and Community areas for the Company, especially to ensure compliance and cultivate shared value for all stakeholders. Most recently, Jon was with the Global Green Growth Institute as Country Representative to Mongolia. Jon has lived and worked intermittently in Mongolia and the region, including a previous posting with the Company, since 2001. Jon earned an MBA from Maastricht University and the EuroMBA consortium and a B.A. (summa cum laude) in physics and anthropology from Wheaton College, MA, and is fluent in Mongolian and Russian.

Bilguun Ankhbayar - Mr. Ankhbayar has been appointed Vice President Business Development, responsible for assisting the Company's CEO in advancing Erdene's projects to development, including economic evaluations, strategic market analysis, investor and other stakeholder relations and business development in the local communities. Bilguun graduated from Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2007 with a B.Comm in Finance. He worked in the resource investment industry in Toronto, Canada before returning to Mongolia to become CEO of the Mongolian International Banking Group (MIBG). Bilguun became a strategic advisor to Erdene in 2016, and is now taking on increased responsibilities.

Erdenebileg Pagva - Mr. Pagva has been appointed Senior Representative for Bayankhongor, the province that hosts the Company's Bayan Khundii, Altan Nar and other projects. Erdenebileg's responsibilities include managing the Company's stakeholder relations in Bayankhongor, and ensuring alignment of the Company's business activities with local and regional development trends. Erdenebileg has worked in Mongolia's mineral exploration and gold mining sector for nearly 25 years, and holds a BSc in Geology and Mine Engineering from the Mongolian University of Science and Technology.

Background on Bayan Khundii Gold Project

In Q2-2015, Erdene conducted an initial exploration program on the southern portion of the Company's 100%-owned Khundii exploration license in southwest Mongolia. An early rock-chip sampling program revealed multiple very high-grade surface quartz veins that returned up to 4,380 g/t gold, leading to a comprehensive exploration program that has included: geological mapping; soil geochemical surveys; additional surface rock chip sampling; a ground magnetic survey; gradient array and dipole-dipole induced polarization surveys; and the completion of 11,300 meters of drilling in 96 drill holes (as of Q4-2016). In addition to this work, a series of detailed follow-up studies have also been completed, predominantly on drill core and minor surface outcrop, including: petrographic and mineralogical analyses; a fluid inclusion study; SEM gold composition analysis; Short-Wave Infra-Red Analysis (SWIR); structural analysis; and overall petrogenetic analysis. Drilling has revealed the presence of very high gold grades, with up to 306 g/t gold over 1 metre intervals, within broad mineralized envelopes, with up to 65 metres averaging 6.3 g/t gold, including 12 metres of 29 g/t gold. Detailed studies indicate the mineralized zones can be characterized as low-sulphidation, quartz-sericite (illite)-adularia type mineralization that was formed in a back-arc extensional environment.

In Q1-2016, the Company concluded preliminary metallurgical test work at Bayan Khundii, indicating that gravity concentration and cyanidation of the gravity tails yielded very good overall gold recoveries for both high-grade and low-grade composites: 99% gold recovery from the high-grade composite (24.9 g/t gold), and 92% gold recovery from the low-grade composite (0.7 g/t gold). Additional metallurgical work is underway with completion anticipated in Q3.

The Bayan Khundii license has a 2% net smelter returns royalty ("NSR Royalty") in favour of Sandstorm Gold Ltd., with a buy-back option to reduce the NSR Royalty to 1%.

Qualified Person and Sample Protocol

Michael MacDonald, P.Geo. (Nova Scotia), Vice President Exploration for Erdene, is the Qualified Person as that term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. All samples have been assayed at SGS Laboratory in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. In addition to internal checks by SGS Laboratory, the Company incorporates a QA/QC sample protocol utilizing prepared standards and blanks.

Erdene's sampling protocol for drill core consisted of collection of samples over 1 metre or 2 metre intervals (depending on the lithology and style of mineralization) over the entire length of the drill hole, excluding minor post-mineral lithologies and un-mineralized granitoids. Sample intervals were based on meterage, not geological controls or mineralization. All drill core was cut in half with a diamond saw, with half of the core placed in sample bags and the remaining half securely retained in core boxes at Erdene's Bayan Khundii exploration camp. All samples were organized into batches of 30 samples including a commercially prepared standard, blank, and either a field duplicate, consisting of two 1/4 core intervals, or a laboratory duplicate. Sample batches were periodically shipped directly to SGS in Ulaanbaatar via Erdene's logistical contractor, Monrud Co. Ltd.

About Erdene

Erdene Resource Development Corp. is a Canada-based resource company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of base and precious metals in underexplored and highly prospective Mongolia. In addition to Bayan Khundii and Altan Nar, the Company has three other exploration licenses and a mining license in southwest Mongolia. Other deposits and prospects within these licenses include: Khuvyn Khar - an early-stage, copper-silver porphyry project with multiple drill targets and significant copper intersections; Nomin Tal - a narrow, high grade copper-gold discovery; Zuun Mod - a large molybdenum-copper porphyry deposit; and Altan Arrow - an early-stage, high-grade, gold-silver project. In addition to the above properties, the Company has an Alliance with Teck Resources Limited on regional copper-gold exploration in the prospective Trans Altai region of southwest Mongolia. For further information on the Company, please visit www.erdene.com. Erdene has 145,550,586 issued and outstanding common shares and a fully diluted position of 156,592,160 common shares.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - May 4, 2017) - Asanko Gold Inc. ("Asanko" or the "Company") (TSX:AKG)(NYSE MKT:AKG) reports its first quarter ("Q1") 2017 operating and financial results. The Company released its production and revenue results for Q1 on April 18, 2017. All amounts are in US dollars unless otherwise stated. Management will host a conference call and webcast today at 9am Eastern Time, further details below.

Q1 2017 Highlights:

One lost time injury in the quarter maintaining industry leading safety statistic of 0.21 per million man hours worked.

Record gold production of 58,187 ounces in line with 2017 production guidance of 230,000 - 240,000 ounces.

Gold sales of 57,812 ounces, generating $69.3 million in gross gold revenue at an average realized price of $1,199/oz.

Earned net income of $7.8 million ($0.04/share).

Exceptional gold recovery of 95%, 1% higher than Q4 2016 and 2.5% higher than design.

Processing plant continued to operate at 20% above design, resulting in acceleration of the tailings dam lift.

AISC 3 increased to $956/oz (Q4: $893/oz) primarily due to the impact of accelerating the tailings dam lift; adjusting AISC for this impact would result in AISC $922/oz for Q1.

increased to $956/oz (Q4: $893/oz) primarily due to the impact of accelerating the tailings dam lift; adjusting AISC for this impact would result in AISC $922/oz for Q1. Operating cash costs 2 and total cash costs 2 increased to $578/oz (Q4: $524/oz) and $638/oz (Q4: $584/oz) respectively predominantly as a result of the drawdown of inventories in the processing facility during Q1, a mill re-line and maintenance costs being brought forward.

and total cash costs increased to $578/oz (Q4: $524/oz) and $638/oz (Q4: $584/oz) respectively predominantly as a result of the drawdown of inventories in the processing facility during Q1, a mill re-line and maintenance costs being brought forward. Cash provided by operating activities of $14.4 million ($28.8 million before working capital changes).

Strong balance sheet with cash and immediately convertible working capital 1 balances of approximately $65 million composed of $48.2 million in cash, $11.5 million in gold receivables and $5.3 million in dore (with a market value of $7.7 million).

balances of approximately $65 million composed of $48.2 million in cash, $11.5 million in gold receivables and $5.3 million in dore (with a market value of $7.7 million). Infill drilling increased Akwasiso Mineral Resources by 79% to 322,500 ounces and Mineral Reserves by 62% to 214,500 ounces at 26% higher grades.

New global Mineral Resource and Reserve Estimate published for year ending December 2016 - global reserves decreased by 2%.

Available ore reserve inventory containing over 500,000 ounces across multiple pits, being more than sufficient to feed plant upgrade to 5Mtpa until Esaase and conveyor come into operation in 2019.

Permits received for Esaase and the conveyor route.

Commenting on the Company's performance, Peter Breese, President and CEO, said "I am pleased to report a strong start to the year. Q1 marked the third consecutive quarter of record gold production and gold recovery (at 58,187 ounces and 95% respectively), as a result of the plant continuing to operate significantly above design. This has necessitated the acceleration of budgeted capital expenditure on the tailings dam lift to commence a quarter earlier than planned, which negatively impacted our AISC for the period.

We continue to see 2017 as a year of two halves from both a cost and production perspective. In May we commenced the western wall pushback of the Nkran pit where the majority of mining will be in softer oxide material. In H2 we bring Dynamite Hill and its lower cost oxide ores into production. These modifications to the production plan, together with the early commissioning of Project 5 Million, will increase our production profile in H2 and reduce the associated operating costs. We therefore maintain our annual guidance of 230,000 - 240,000 ounces at an AISC of $880 - $920/oz.

Looking ahead to our near-term fully funded growth projects, construction has started on Project 5 Million and the Esaase conveyor and both are progressing well. We expect some benefits in terms of volumetric upgrades from Project 5 Million in early Q3 2017 with the overall project completion expected to be Q4 2017, a quarter ahead of schedule. In anticipation of the plant upgrade to 5Mtpa, we now have access to pre-developed ore reserves in Nkran of 166,000 ounces. These together with at surface quality ounces from both Dynamite Hill and Akwasiso gives us access to over 500,000 ounces of ore reserves, which is more than sufficient to feed the plant over the next two years until Esaase commences production during 2019. Importantly, these multiple ore sources considerably de-risk our production profile, and ensure we have substantial mining and processing flexibility during the construction of the conveyor and development of Esaase."

This news release should be read in conjunction with Asanko's Management Discussion and Analysis and the Condensed Consolidated Interim Financial Statements for the quarter ended March 31, 2017, which are available at www.asanko.com and filed on SEDAR. There are no comparative numbers presented in this press release as commercial production was declared on April 1, 2016 and therefore not considered operating for financial reporting purposes.

Key Operating and Financial Highlights

Asanko Gold Mine

Q1 2017 Q4 2016 Waste Mined ('000t) 5,620 5,931 Ore Mined ('000t) 1,017 1,300 Strip Ratio (W:O) 5.5:1 4.6:1 Mining Cost ($/t mined) 3.89 3.88 Ore Treated ('000t) 908 901 Gold Feed Grade (g/t) 2.05 2.1 Gold Recovery (%) 95 94 Processing Cost ($/t treated) 13.36 12.80 Gold Production (oz) 58,187 57,178 Gold Sales (oz) 57,812 58,483 Average Realised Gold Price ($/oz) 1,199 1,199 Operating Cash Costs2 ($/oz) 578 524 Total Cash Costs2 ($/oz) 638 584 All-in Sustaining Costs ("AISC")3 ($/oz) 956 893 All-in Sustaining Margin ($/oz) 1 243 306 Gross Gold Revenue ($m) 69.3 70.1 Production Costs, including Royalties ($m) 37.7 34.5 Income from Mine Operations ($m) 15.1 6.3 Net Income (Loss) ($m) 7.8 (8.5 ) Net Income (Loss) per Share $0.04 $(0.04 ) Adjusted Net Income1 (Loss) ($m) 7.8 (4.1 ) Adjusted Net Income1 (Loss) per Share $0.04 $(0.02 ) Cash provided by Operating Activities ($m) 14.4 23.4 Cash provided by Operating Activities b/f working capital ($m) 28.8 29.2 Cash provided by Operating Activities per share $0.07 $0.12

Q1 2017 Operating Results

Industry-leading safety record maintained, despite one lost time injury reported during the quarter, and a rolling 12 month LTIFR of 0.21 per million man hours worked.

Record gold production (58,187 ounces), record gold recovery (95%) and sustained processing plant operations 20% above design (new monthly record of 315,000 tonnes - 3.7Mtpa on an annualised basis).

Mining rates now converging with ore feed requirements. Mining operations continued to focus onthe bottom centre and internal west portions of the pit during the quarter. The next cutback commenced in Q2 on the Western side of Nkran.

Pre-developed ore at Nkran now provides access to more than 166,000 in pit ounces. Combined with at surface deposits of Dynamite Hill (135,000 ounces) and Akwasiso (214,500 ounces) this equates to available ore Reserves in excess of 500,000 ounces that do not require any substantial developmental work. In addition, a strategic stockpile of 1.6Mt is available.

Tailings Dam lift commenced during the quarter and is tracking ahead of schedule.

Q1 2017 Financial Performance

Net income was $7.8 million or $0.04 per share ($Q4: ($0.02) per share).

Unit costs of production for mining and processing were in-line with expectations, averaging $3.89 per tonne mined and $13.36 per tonne milled respectively for the quarter.

Operating cash costs 2 and total cash costs 2 increased to $578/oz (Q4: $524/oz) and $638/oz (Q4: $584/oz) respectively, predominantly as a result of the drawdown of inventories in the processing facility during Q1, a mill re-line and increases in maintenance costs due to operating plant above capacity.

and total cash costs increased to $578/oz (Q4: $524/oz) and $638/oz (Q4: $584/oz) respectively, predominantly as a result of the drawdown of inventories in the processing facility during Q1, a mill re-line and increases in maintenance costs due to operating plant above capacity. AISC 3 increased to $956/oz (Q4: $893/oz), largely due the acceleration of the tailings dam lift and associated maintenance costs necessitated by the process plant running above design. AISC, if adjusted for the impact of Tailings Dam lift, would be $922/oz, marginally above the upper end of guidance.

increased to $956/oz (Q4: $893/oz), largely due the acceleration of the tailings dam lift and associated maintenance costs necessitated by the process plant running above design. AISC, if adjusted for the impact of Tailings Dam lift, would be $922/oz, marginally above the upper end of guidance. Gold sales of 57,812 ounces at an average realized price of $1,199/oz (Q4: $1,199/oz). With gold revenues, net of royalties of $65.8 million (Q4: $66.8 million).

Total cost of sales (including depreciation and depletion) was $50.9 million. Cash provided by operating activities was $14.4 million or $0.07 per share. Cash provided by operating activities before working capital adjustments was $28.8 million.

Q1 2017 Liquidity and Capital Resources

The balance sheet at March 31, 2017 remains strong with immediately available cash and equivalents amounting to $65 million comprising cash of $48.2 million, unrefined gold dore on hand with a cost of $5.3 million (and a market value of $7.7 million) and $11.5 million in receivables from gold sales.

Within 4 days of the quarter-end, the Company received cash from gold sales of $10.6 million, and in addition a VAT refund cheque amounting to $12 million was received in early May.

The working capital position1 of the Company as at March 31, 2017, continued to improve to $76.8 million from $72.3 million, as at December 31, 2016.

2017 Outlook and Opportunities

The Company re-iterates its 2017 guidance of 230,000 - 240,000 ounces at AISC of US$880 - US$920 per ounce.

The expansion projects are progressing well. Construction of Project 5 Million recently commenced and is on track for commissioning in Q4 2017, a quarter ahead of the original schedule. We expect to see some partial volumetric increases commencing in early Q3 2017. Ore feed for the upgraded plant will be provided by Nkran, Dynamite Hill (starting in Q3) and Akwasiso. Bush clearing for the conveyor linking Esaase to the processing facility is underway and already nearly 50% complete. The Expansion Definitive Feasibility Study is due to be published in Q2. Importantly Project 5 Million, construction of the conveyor and development of Esaase are expected to be fully funded from current cash resources and cash flow from operations in 2017 and 2018. The Company expects to end the year with available liquidity of between $49 million and $62 million after the 2017 capital program, which will be more than enough to fund the remaining 2018 capital program, amounting to $63 million.

The Akwasiso infill drilling campaign was completed during Q1, resulting in a significant increase in Mineral Resources and Reserves to 322,500 ounces (79%) and 214,500 ounces (62%) respectively. This increase in Akwasiso's reserves further boosts the near-term ore inventory available to support the mine production profile at increased levels through until 2019 as Asanko becomes a multi-pit operator.

Notes:

1Non-GAAP Performance Measures

The Company has included certain non-GAAP performance measures in this press release, including working capital, adjusted net income (loss), adjusted net income (loss) per share, operating cash costs, total cash costs, all-in sustaining costs per ounce of gold produced and all-in sustaining margin. These non-GAAP performance measures do not have any standardized meaning. Accordingly, these performance measures are intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP.

2Operating Cash Costs per ounce and Total Cash Costs per ounce

Operating cash costs are reflective of the cost of production, adjusted for share-based payments and by-product revenue for each ounce of gold sold. Total cash costs include production royalties of 5%.

3All-in Sustaining Costs Per Gold Ounce

The Company has adopted the reporting of "all-in sustaining costs per gold ounce" ("AISC") as per the World Gold Council's guidance. AISC include total cash costs, corporate overhead expenses, sustaining capital expenditure, capitalized stripping costs and reclamation cost accretion for each ounce of gold sold.

2017 Q1 Financial Results Conference Call and Webcast Details Thursday 4 May at 9am Eastern Time US/Canada Toll Free: 1 800 896 6826 UK Toll Free: 0800 496 0825 International: +1 212 231 2910 Presentation available here: http://www.asanko.com/ Webcast: Please click on the link: https://cc.callinfo.com/r/z99g68ieotfj&eom Replay A recorded playback will be available approximately two hours after the call until April 16, 2017: US/Canada Toll Free: 1 800 663 8284 International: +1 406 977 9140 Passcode: #21851179

Enquiries:

For further information please visit: www.asanko.com, email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

About Asanko Gold Inc.

Asanko's vision is to become a mid-tier gold mining company that maximizes value for all its stakeholders. The Company's flagship project is the multi-million ounce Asanko Gold Mine located in Ghana, West Africa. The mine is being developed in phases. Phase 1 commenced gold production in January 2016 and declared commercial production on April 1, 2016. Ramp-up to steady state production was achieved in Q2 2016.

Asanko is managed by highly skilled and successful technical, operational and financial professionals. The Company is strongly committed to the highest standards for environmental management, social responsibility, and health and safety for its employees and neighbouring communities.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - May 4, 2017) - Irving Resources Inc. (CSE:IRV)(CSE:IRV.CN)(CNSX:IRV) ("Irving" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Irving Resources Japan GK, has recently acquired a new gold project, on Sado Island, Japan.

Sado Island Gold Project

Irving recently filed applications for 25 mineral prospecting licenses totaling 86.53 sq km (865,301 hectares) covering a prospective area on Sado Island, a small island west of Honshu Island, Japan (Figure 1). All applications have been accepted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry ("METI"), Kanto Bureau, and a multi-step review now begins for the final approval. Mitsui Mineral Development Engineering Co., Ltd. ("MINDECO") is assisting the Company throughout the process.

Sado Island is host to the Sado Kinzan gold mine (Mitsubishi Materials Corporation) and around 30 smaller mines. Gold was discovered at Sado Kinzan in 1601 and was mined continuously for 388 years making it one of the longest lived gold mines on earth. Recorded production totals 2.51 million oz Au (average grade 5.2 gpt) and 74 million oz Ag (average grade 153 gpt). Veins at Sado Kinzan are classed as epithermal (Figure 2) but are unusual because they were productive over vertical distances of several hundred meters. Such vertical continuity is typical of some alkaline gold deposits. Extensive potassic alteration in the form of adularia, potassium-rich feldspar, is common at Sado Kinzan, and gold and silver telluride minerals are present. Adularia and tellurides are common to alkaline gold deposits. Such attributes form Irving's view that Sado Kinzan is a hybrid epithermal-alkaline gold deposit.

Recent field inspection of Irving's newly staked ground identified areas of significant adularia alteration in and around locations of historic alluvial gold mining activity. Therefore, Irving believes its new licenses are prospective for vein mineralization similar to that at Sado Kinzan. Reconnaissance fieldwork is planned for later this year.

Quinton Hennigh (Ph.D., P.Geo.) is the Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101 responsible for, and having reviewed and approved, the technical information contained in this news release. Dr. Hennigh is a technical advisor and director of Irving Resources Inc.

About Irving Resources Inc.:

Irving is a junior exploration company searching for opportunities in certain countries, including Japan. In addition to its Japanese precious metals projects, Irving holds, through a subsidiary, three Project Venture Agreements with JOGMEC for joint regional exploration programs in the United Republic of Tanzania, the Republic of Malawi and the Republic of Madagascar. JOGMEC is a government organization established under the law of Japan, administrated by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, and is responsible for stable supply of various resources to Japan through the discovery of sizable economic deposits of base, precious and rare metals.

Additional information can be found on the Company's website: www.IRVresources.com
Vancouver, British Columbia / TheNewswire / May 4, 2017 - Harvest Gold Corporation (TSX.V: HVG) ("Harvest Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has appointed Len Brownlie, Ph.D., to act as a consultant to the Company.

Len Brownlie has been in the exploration and mining business for the past 25 years. Until January of 2016 he was the President and CEO of Goldrush Resources Ltd., a gold focused exploration Company that raised over $14 million for gold exploration in Burkina Faso and then defined and sold the 0.4M ounce Ronguen gold deposit before merging with First Mining Finance Corp. He has also been on the Board or senior management teams of Discovery PGM Resources, Skygold Ventures and Sherwood Mining Corp.

Importantly to Harvest Gold and its stated property investigation objectives, Dr. Brownlie was the Corporate Secretary and a Director of First Silver Reserve Inc. First Silver Reserve Inc was a Mexican silver mining company that produced 2M ounces of silver annually from the San Martin Mine and was merged into NYSE listed First Majestic Silver Corp. in 2006.

Harvest Gold's' President and CEO Rick Mark states: "I have known Len over the past 10 years during his time with Goldrush and have always appreciated his ability, from a scientific background, to understand the mining exploration business. He has a proven ability to see value in management teams and opportunities in various environments. Recently, he has been assisting us in evaluating gold/silver opportunities in Mexico and it is time to formalize Harvest's relationship with Len. I am delighted he has agreed to join us as a Consultant and I look forward to continuing our work together."
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - May 4, 2017) - Aurania Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:ARU) ("Aurania" or the "Corporation") announces that the annual and special meeting (the "Meeting") of the shareholders of the Corporation will be held at the Albany Club, Sir John A. Macdonald Room, 91 King Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M5C 1G3 on May 26, 2017 at 4:00 p.m. (Toronto time).

Business of Meeting and Information Circular

At the Meeting, shareholders will be requested to approve the appointment of auditors, election of directors, confirmation of the Corporation's stock option plan, acquisition of EcuaSolidus S.A. ("ESA"), completion of a debt settlement and adoption of a restricted share unit plan (the "RSU Plan"). Details of these matters are disclosed in the information circular for the Meeting which is dated April 25, 2017 and posted under the Corporation's profile on www.sedar.com (the "Circular").

Update on the Acquisition of EcuaSolidus S.A.

On March 2, 2017, the Corporation announced the acquisition of ESA subject to regulatory and shareholder approval. On April 20, 2017, the Corporation announced the completion of a $6.4 million oversubscribed brokered and non-brokered offering of Subscription Receipts for the acquisition of ESA, and for property exploration, loan repayments and working capital.

ESA is the holder of the Lost Cities - Cutucu Project comprising 42 mineral exploration licences covering 207,764 hectares (approx. 2,080 square kilometres) over the core of the Cordillera de Cutucu, a mountain range in the foothills of the Andes, in Ecuador.

Technical Report

In support of the technical disclosure in the Circular, a technical report has been prepared for the Lost Cities - Cutucu Project in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects entitled, "Technical Report on the Lost Cities - Cutucu Exploration Project, Province of Morona-Santiago, Ecuador" (the "Technical Report"). The Technical Report was prepared by Karl John Roa, EurGeol, an independent consultant and a "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101, and dated April 23, 2017. The Technical Report has been posted under the Corporation's profile on www.sedar.com.

Description of the RSU Plan

As of the date of this press release, there are no RSUs outstanding under the RSU Plan. The purpose of the RSU Plan is to (i) encourage the attraction and retention of officers, directors, employees, consultants and other persons to serve the Corporation and its subsidiaries; and (ii) encourage such persons to improve the business results and earnings of the Corporation, by providing to such persons an opportunity to acquire or increase a direct interest in the operations and future success of the Corporation. To this end, the RSU Plan provides for the grant of restricted stock units ("RSU") which shall represent one common share of the Corporation. Any of these awards of RSUs may, but need not, be made as performance incentives to reward attainment of annual or long-term performance goals.

The maximum number of common shares available for issuance under the RSU Plan shall be 2,275,973. The number of common shares issued or to be issued under the RSU Plan and all other security based compensation arrangements, at any time, shall not exceed 20% of the total number of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Corporation. The total number of common shares issuable to insiders under the RSU Plan, at any time, together with any other security-based compensation arrangements of the Corporation, shall not exceed ten percent of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Corporation. The total number of common shares issuable to insiders within any one-year period under the RSU Plan shall not exceed ten percent of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Corporation. The total number of common shares issuable to any person within any one-year period under the RSU Plan shall not exceed one percent of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Corporation. The total number of common shares issuable to all persons within any one-year period under the RSU Plan shall not exceed two percent of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Corporation. Neither awards nor any rights under any such awards shall be assignable or transferable.

If any common shares covered by an award are forfeited, or if an award terminates without delivery of any common shares subject thereto, then the number of common shares counted against the aggregate number of common shares available under the RSU Plan with respect to such award shall, to the extent of any such forfeiture or termination, again be available for making awards under the RSU Plan. The RSU Plan shall terminate automatically after ten years and may be terminated on any earlier date or extended by the Board.

The board of directors of the Corporation (the "Board") may at any time, in its sole discretion and without the approval of shareholders, amend, suspend, terminate or discontinue the RSU Plan and may amend the terms and conditions of any awards thereunder, subject to (a) any required approval of any applicable regulatory authority or the Exchange, and (b) approval of shareholders of the Corporation, provided that shareholder approval shall not be required for the following amendments and the Board may make changes which may include but are not limited to: (i) amendments of a 'housekeeping nature'; (ii) changes to vesting provisions; (iii) changes to the term of the RSU Plan or awards made under the RSU Plan; or (iv) changes to performance criteria term. The Board may amend, modify, or supplement the terms of any outstanding award.

The RSU Plan requires disinterested shareholder approval. At the Meeting, shareholders will be asked to approve an ordinary resolution to adopt the RSU Plan. The votes attaching to shares beneficially owned by (i) insiders to who options may be granted under the RSU Plan; and (ii) associates of persons referred to in (i) will be excluded from voting on the approval of the RSU Plan.

Further details regarding the RSU Plan are disclosed in the Circular.

About Aurania

Aurania Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:ARU) is a junior exploration mining company engaged in the identification, evaluation, acquisition and exploration of mineral property interests, with a focus on precious metals.
VANCOUVER, May 3, 2017 /CNW/ - Nevsun Resources Ltd. (TSX:NSU) (NYSE MKT:NSU) (the "Company" or "Nevsun") is pleased to announce the results of voting at its annual general meeting of shareholders which was held on May 3, 2017, in Vancouver, British Columbia (the "Meeting"). A total of 69% of outstanding shares were voted at the Meeting which showed a high participation of shareholders and evidenced strong support for the election of its nominees as directors and for Nevsun's approach to executive compensation.

Election of Directors

The eight nominees for director listed in Nevsun's management proxy circular were elected as set out in the following table:

Director Votes For % R. Stuart Angus 164,019,377 93 Ian R. Ashby 171,967,488 97 Geoffrey Chater 168,726,678 95 Clifford T. Davis 171,841,039 97 Anne E. Giardini 175,702,208 99 Ian W. Pearce 174,028,087 98 Stephen V. Scott 160,740,832 91 David S. Smith 175,422,540 99

Appointment of Auditors

KPMG LLP was appointed as auditors of the Company and the directors of the Company were authorized to fix the remuneration of the auditors by a 95% majority of the votes cast.

Advisory Vote on Executive Compensation

Nevsun's approach to executive compensation (say on pay) was accepted by a 90% majority of the votes cast at the Meeting and shows its shareholders are confident in Nevsun's approach to executive compensation. The Company also received valuable input from shareholders as part of the process. The primary objective of the Company's compensation program, including the executive compensation program, is to attract and retain qualified employees that fit in with the Nevsun corporate culture in order to achieve its corporate objectives and increase shareholder value and to promote greater alignment of interests between its executive officers and shareholders.

Confirmation, Ratification and Continuation of the Company's Shareholder Rights Plan

The shareholder rights plan of the Company (the "Rights Plan") was approved, ratified and confirmed by a 66% majority of the votes cast. The purpose of the Rights Plan is to encourage the fair treatment of shareholders in connection with any take-over bid for the Company, assuring adequate time to shareholders and the board of directors of the Company to assess a take-over bid and consider any alternatives to promote fairness and maximize shareholder value.

About Nevsun Resources Ltd.

Nevsun Resources Ltd. is the 100% owner of the high-grade copper-gold Timok Upper Zone in Serbia and 60% owner of the high-grade copper-zinc Bisha Mine in Eritrea. Nevsun is well positioned with a strong debt-free balance sheet to grow shareholder value through advancing the Timok project to production.
Parliament meet put off till tomorrow

The Legislature-Parliament meeting scheduled for 3 pm today, has been postponed till tomorrow morning.
Toronto, Canada - May 4, 2017 - Savary Gold Corp. (TSX-V: SCA) ("Savary" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the final set of drill results from its 9,496 metre, phase 2, 92-hole drill program that commenced at the end of January on the Karankasso JV Project in south western Burkina Faso. This news release presents results for 24 holes totalling 2,375 metres that were completed between January 29 and March 30, 2017. The phase 3 drill program, of approximately 125 holes totalling up to 8,000 metres, is estimated to commence in mid-May.

A summary of select results, in the order they were drilled, are presented below (see Figure for locations).

S-Nosa Zone area

HE-RC-17-084 - 2.43 g/t gold over 7 metres

HE-RC-17-085 - 13.05 g/t gold over 4 metres

HE-RC-17-089 - 4.32 g/t gold over 3 metres (new)

Kueredougou West Zone area

HE-RC-17-02 - 2.96 g/t gold over 7 metres

"The final part of our phase two drill program focussed on follow-up and new target testing in the S-Nosa area as well as expanding the mineral resource* footprint of the now 2,600-metre-long Kueredougou West Deposit. At S-Nosa, we have begun to extend the mineralized zone along strike and down dip with two good, gold-bearing holes and intend to follow-up with additional holes. At Kueredougou West, we have extended the zone to the north and south with a strong intercept at the north end of the zone and will continue to step out along strike." stated Don Dudek, President and CEO of Savary. Mr. Dudek further noted "We are excited about our phase 3 drill program, estimated to commence in mid-May. This program will follow-up all of the new discoveries from the phase 2 program, continue to drill test for extensions to our current resources and complete a first pass test of all of the strongest gold-in-auger anomalies. Approximately 125 RC and AC holes are planned for this part of the exploration program. Our mandate is to continue to build value at the end of the drill bit."

Figure 1 - Karankasso JV Project - Locations of Kueredougou West and S-Nosa 2017 Drill Intercepts.





Phase 2 of the program was completed at the end of April with 92 holes totalling 9,496 metres, drilled. A summary of significant results from these latest holes, predominantly using 0.5 g/t gold cut-off, are presented in Table 2 at the end of the release.

Project Advancements since Q4, 2015 Resource Estimate of In-pit Inferred Mineral Resources of 671,000 ounces* grading 2.28 g/t gold in six zones (Karangosso, Diosso South, West Trend, Kueredougou West, Kueredougou, Kien East) using a 0.5 g/t gold cut-off (see Savary News Release Oct. 8, 2015 and Figure 2, for zone locations)

Zone Summary Details or Next Steps Karangosso zone ~75% increase in strike length zone extended from ~700 metres to 1,250 metres

zone extended to depth below currently modeled in-pit resource estimate Diosso South Zone ~120% increase in strike length from ~860 metres to 1,900 metres Still open along strike West Trend Zone New area of gold mineralization with three parallel lenses discovered Currently 300 metres long and open along strike and to depth with more testing planned Kueredougou West Zone ~50% increase in strike length from ~1,800 metres to 2,700 metres Still open along strike Serakoro 1 Main Zone ~3,500-metre long mineralized structure with 1.4 g/t gold to 5.17 g/t gold over 2 to eight metres wide potential for higher grade zone to be tested Serakoro 1 West Zone Two new discoveries, 2.55 g/t gold over 17 metres and 1.85 g/t gold over seven metres associated with 2.0 and 1.6 km long gold-in auger anomalies, respectively. Follow-up holes planned S-Nosa Zone expanding with two new intercepts of 13.05 g/t gold over 4 metres and 2.43 g/t gold over 7 metres. Follow-up holes planned Six New Gold-in-auger hole drill targets Targets are between 1.0 to 3.8 km long, gold-in auger targets with gold values to 2,211 ppb gold and only two partially tested (Serakoro 1 West discoveries) to date. All of these targets will be tested in the Phase 3 program.

Figure 2 - Karankasso Gold Zone locations and select results





S-Nosa Zone

New drill intercepts from this zone comprise 13.05 g/t gold over 4 metres and 2.43 g/t gold over 7 metres (see Figure). Both holes were drilled as follow-up to a 2015 core hole that returned 1.34 g/t gold over 11.6 metres. These holes are 100 metres apart, were drilled to test a mineralized structure that trends 045 degrees azimuth and are located approximately 425 metres east of the north end of the Kueredougou inferred mineral resource estimate pit. Management believes this mineralized direction is important as it is the first time that strong gold mineralization was noted along this structural direction. This mineralized trend correlates with a northeast-trending induced polarization chargeability high and a northeast-trending airborne vertical gradient magnetic high. Both of these geophysical trends intersect the south end of the Kueredougou Zone trend where follow-up drilling is planned during the phase 3, 2017 drill program.

The third intercept in the S-Nosa area, 4.32 g/t gold over 3 metres, was returned from a separate north and northeast trending structure located 400 metres to the northwest of the S-Nosa Zone.

In this area of the property, there are at least six north- to northeast-trending gold-mineralized structures, not including the nearby Kueredougou Zone. The structures are associated with shallow artisanal mining zones. A total of 7 short holes, totalling 582 metres, were drilled to test five of the gold mineralized structures in the S-Nosa Zone area. Additional evaluation of this structurally complicated area is required.

Kueredougou West Zone

Highlights of this phase of the drill program include 2.96 g/t gold over 7 metres in a 100 metre step out, along strike, at the north end of the zone. Another hole, drilled 100 metres south of a previous hole that returned 3.00 g/t gold over 4 metres, returned 0.98 g/t gold over 4 metres approximately 40 metres from surface, within a larger, lower grade, sericite-altered zone that returned 0.36 g/t gold over 19 metres. The wide alteration zone suggests reasonable potential for additional gold mineralization.

The remainder of the holes drilled during the phase 2 drill program were designed to add information both along and below the current pit-constrained mineral resource estimate. These holes intersected the gold-bearing lenses where expected generally returning narrow gold-bearing intercepts that are believed to be supportive to the overall resource, but will not materially add to it.

Additional holes are planned at both ends of the Kueredougou West Zone. This zone has been traced for approximately 2,700 metres from an original strike length of approximately 1,800 metres, an increase of approximately 50% in strike length. Phase 3 drill holes will further test a 1,000-metre gap between the Kueredougou Zone to the north where the southern-most holes intersected 4.04 g/t gold over 5 metres and 12.8 g/t gold over 2 metres, and the Kueredougou West Zone, where the northern-most hole intersected 2.96 g/t gold over 7 metres (see Figure).

Kueredougou Zone

A recent review of artisanal mining activity at the north end of the Kueredougou Inferred resource estimate pit indicated that the area of artisanal mining has extended for an additional 300 metres north of the current pit limits. Material being mined and added to the waste pile is strongly sericite altered and contains 1 to 10% pyrite and trace to 1% arsenopyrite. This area is part of a 600-metre drilling gap at the northern end of the Kueredougou Zone, where the next hole, along the trend, had returned 2.94 g/t gold over 15 metres (see Figure). Two holes, 100 metres apart, are planned to further test the northern extension of the Kueredougou Zone.

The Kueredougou Zone area has returned some of the highest grades from drilling (to 83.35 g/t gold over 4 metres un-cut) on the Karankasso Project and has always been considered to have some of the most potential for higher grades. However, with the high grades, this area is the most impacted by artisanal mining.

Phase 3 Drill Targeting

The Phase 3 drill program, of approximately 125 holes totalling up to 8,000 metres, has been designed to both follow-up on extensions to zones with a current pit constrained Mineral Resource estimate*, follow-up new gold zones/drill intercepts and to test approximately 68 gold-in-auger anomalies containing >100 ppb gold. The gold-in-auger anomaly targets comprise seven mineralized trends ranging from 1,000 to 3,800 metres long and one distinct Kueredougou West Trend area target. A summary of the currently planned holes by area, including contingency holes, is presented in Table 1, below.

Table 1 - Phase 3 drilling planned holes

Phase 3 Holes # of holes # of metres AC follow-up Gold-in-Auger(RC drill with AC head adapter) 68 2856 Diosso South 17 1069 Serakoro 1 West 9 910 Serakoro 1 Main 6 760 Kueredougou West 5 485 Kueredougou 3 360 S-Nosa 3 240 West Trend North 4 295 Contingency 10 800 Totals 125 7775

QA/QC Comments

Savary's procedure for handling reverse circulation drill chips comprises initial riffle splitting of the rock chips from one metre drill length samples into approximately 2.5 kilogram samples, as well as description and logging into a database. A duplicate 2.5-kilogram sample, prepared at the same time as the assay sample, is kept as a reference for each sample. NQ-size core assay samples are first logged into a database and then are sawn in half with half of the core submitted for analysis; the length of the core samples depends on logged geological controls with samples varying from 0.3 metres to 2.0 metres in length. A sample duplicate and assay blank was inserted sequentially every 5 to 14 samples and an assay standard was inserted every 29 to 34 samples. This results in 8% of the assayed samples being reference/blank/control samples. Blanks and duplicates were preferentially inserted in visually mineralized zones to better test the assay results. This sampling procedure was periodically reviewed by Savary's President and CEO, and the Company QP, Don Dudek, P. Geo. All assay samples were collected at site by staff from SGS Burkina Faso SA ('SGS') from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso where sample preparation and analysis were performed. Each sample was dried, crushed to 75% passing 2 mm and then split to 1.5 kg by rotary splitter. This split was pulverized to 85% passing 75 ?m. Fifty grams of the pulverized material was analysed for gold via fire assay with an atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) finish. SGS operates according to ISO 17025 standards and institutes a full Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) program consisting of insertion of internal blanks, standard reference material, repeats and reject splits which in total account for up to 25% of all determinations conducted. All standards and blank control samples returned results within expected ranges.

About Savary Gold Corp.

Savary is a Canadian exploration company which, along with JV partner Sarama Resources Limited, is focused on exploring and developing the Karankasso Gold Project in Burkina Faso. Upon closing, it is anticipated that the Karankasso JV Project will be approximately 69.5% owned by Savary and 30.5% owned by Sarama Resources Limited ("Sarama") with Savary as operator. The Project is located within the Birimian age, Hounde Greenstone Belt, which hosts Semafo's Mana mine, Roxgold's Yaramoko Mine and additional gold deposits that are presently subject to production decisions and extensive exploration efforts (including Endeavour Mining's Hounde Project, Orezone's (acquired by Sarama) Bondi Project and Sarama's/Acacia's South Hounde Project, which is adjacent to Savary's property). The Project contains an Inferred open pit constrained mineral resource estimate of 9.16 million tonnes grading 2.28 g/t gold (Savary news release November 24, 2015). For additional information please visit our website at www.savarygold.com.

* Open pit constrained Mineral resource estimate presented in Savary news release dated October 8, 2015

Don Dudek, P.Geo., President and CEO of the Company and a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this press release.

Table 2 - Summary of Significant Intercepts

Hole # From To Length Au g/t Target Area HE-RC-17-001 55 58 3 0.53 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-001 136 138 2 1.39 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-001 146 153 7 0.91 Kueredougou West incl. 152 153 1 2.86 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-002 6 8 2 1.17 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-002 20 27 7 2.96 Kueredougou West incl. 21 24 3 6.45 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-003 18 20 2 1.47 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-003 33 34 1 1.52 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-003 60 61 1 0.74 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-004 35 37 2 0.52 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-004 38 39 1 2.74 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-004 48 52 4 1.22 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-005 78 79 1 0.54 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-005 83 85 2 1.69 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-005 115 116 1 0.66 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-074 NSV Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-075 129 130 1 0.6 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-076 NSV Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-077 32 33 1 0.96 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-077 39 40 1 0.55 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-077 43 44 1 0.55 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-077 47 51 4 0.98 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-078 32 33 1 0.30 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-078 43 45 2 0.48 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-079 33 35 2 0.79 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-080 85 86 1 0.40 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-081 79 80 1 0.99 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-081 82 84 2 1.32 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-082 56 59 3 1.09 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-084 50 51 1 0.52 South Nosa HE-RC-17-084 69 71 2 0.76 South Nosa HE-RC-17-084 75 90 15 1.34 South Nosa incl 80 87 7 2.43 South Nosa incl 83 87 4 3.37 South Nosa HE-RC-17-085 73 76 3 1.49 South Nosa HE-RC-17-085 79 80 1 0.93 South Nosa HE-RC-17-085 95 99 4 13.05 South Nosa incl 95 98 3 17.15 South Nosa HE-RC-17-086 68 70 2 0.91 South Nosa HE-RC-17-087 9 10 1 1.06 South Nosa HE-RC-17-088 0 3 3 0.86 South Nosa HE-RC-17-088 55 56 1 1.06 South Nosa HE-RC-17-089 30 33 3 4.32 South Nosa HE-RC-17-090 NSV Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-091 23 24 1 0.96 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-091 28 29 1 0.61 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-091 36 37 1 0.62 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-091 49 50 1 0.61 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-091 70 72 2 0.72 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-092 106 108 2 1.9 Kueredougou West HE-RC-17-092 109 110 1 0.69 Kueredougou West

* true widths are estimated at 65% to 80% of drilled widths
TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - May 03, 2017) - Kinross Gold Corporation (TSX: K) ( NYSE : KGC) has announced the detailed voting results of the election of its Board of Directors, which took place at the Company's Annual Meeting of Shareholders held in Toronto on May 3, 2017.

The nominees listed in the Management Information Circular dated March 16, 2017 were elected as directors of Kinross at the meeting. Voting results were as follows:

Board of Directors elected

Nominee Votes for % for Votes withheld % withheld Ian Atkinson 706,716,208 99.09 6,479,958 0.91 John A. Brough 672,001,056 94.22 41,195,110 5.78 John M.H. Huxley 672,096,570 94.24 41,099,596 5.76 Ave G. Lethbridge 702,170,590 98.45 11,025,575 1.55 Catherine McLeod-Seltzer 686,939,700 96.32 26,256,466 3.68 John E. Oliver 674,258,649 94.54 38,937,516 5.46 Kelly J. Osborne 705,760,110 98.96 7,436,056 1.04 Una M. Power 705,005,940 98.85 8,190,226 1.15 J. Paul Rollinson 701,725,983 98.39 11,470,182 1.61

Voting results at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders approving "Say on Pay", an advisory resolution on executive compensation, and the appointment of the auditors, were as follows:

"Say on Pay" advisory resolution

Votes for % for Votes against % against 671,073,007 93.93 43,359,461 6.07

Appointment of auditors

Votes for % for Votes withheld % withheld 787,831,302 99.04 7,670,502 0.96

A report on all matters voted on at the meeting has been filed on SEDAR.

About Kinross Gold Corporation
TORONTO, May 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- McEwen Mining Inc. (NYSE:MUX) (TSX:MUX) is pleased to report consolidated financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017. Increased investments in exploration and project development, particularly related to our Los Azules copper project, were the key feature of the quarter. As a result, the Company reported a net loss of $3.0 million or $0.01 per share and negative cash flow of $8.6. million or $0.03 per share.

During the quarter McEwen Mining achieved consolidated production of 29,733 gold equivalent ounces(1). The Company remains on track to meet production and cost guidance for 2017. The El Gallo mine produced 9,808 gold equivalent ounces(1) and reported earnings from mining operations of $8.2 million(2)(4) and the San Jose mine produced 19,925 gold equivalent ounces(1) and reported earnings from mining operations of $5.7 million(2)(4).

Our quarterly management conference call will take place today at 11 am, EDT.

Webcast and call-in details are provided at the end of this news release.

Q1 2017 Operating & Financial Highlights

Comparative production and cost results for the first quarter, the same period last year, and our guidance for the full year 2017 are shown in the table below. Cost guidance is disclosed on an individual mine basis due to regulatory requirements.

For our SEC Form 10-Q Financial Statements and MD&A refer to:

http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000314203

Q1 2017 Q1 2016 Guidance

2017 Corporate Total Gold ounces produced 20,096 28,975 99,700 Silver ounces produced 722,767 673,767 3,324,000 Gold equivalent ounces produced(1) 29,733 37,958 144,000 El Gallo Mine - Mexico Gold ounces produced 9,730 20,015 49,700 Silver ounces produced 5,794 6,448 24,000 Gold equivalent ounces produced(1) 9,808 20,101 50,000 Gold equivalent total cash cost ($/oz)(1)(4) $ 564 $ 432 $ 760 Gold equivalent co-product AISC ($/oz)(1)(4) $ 668 $ 532 $ 900 San Jose Mine(3) - Argentina Gold ounces produced 10,366 8,960 50,000 Silver ounces produced 716,973 667,319 3,300,000 Gold equivalent ounces produced(1) 19,925 17,857 94,000 Gold equivalent total cash cost ($/oz)(1)(4) $ 915 $ 762 $ 780 Gold equivalent co-product AISC ($/oz)(1)(4) $ 1,165 $ 936 $ 990

Silver production is presented as a gold equivalent. The silver to gold ratio used for 2016 and 2017 is 75:1. All amounts are reported in US dollars unless otherwise stated. Includes portion attributable to us from our 49% interest in the San Jose Mine. Earnings from mining operations, total cash costs per ounce, and all-in sustaining costs (AISC) per ounce are non-GAAP financial performance measures with no standardized definition under U.S. GAAP. See Cautionary Note Regarding Non-GAAP Measures for additional information, including definitions of these terms.

Treasury

As of March 31st, 2017 we had $55.1 million in cash, investments and precious metals valued at the spot prices; and no debt. This compares to liquid assets of $58.8 million and no debt at the end of Q4 2016.

Ounces Produced

Consolidated gold equivalent production in Q1 2017 totaled 29,733 ounces, which consists of 9,808 gold equivalent ounces from the El Gallo mine, and 19,925 gold equivalent ounces attributable to us from our 49% interest in the San Jose mine.

Production Costs

For our El Gallo mine in Q1 2017, total cash costs and all-in sustaining cash costs were $564 and $668 per gold equivalent ounce, respectively. For our San Jose mine in Q1 2017, total cash costs and all-in sustaining costs were $915 and $1,165 per gold equivalent ounce, respectively.

Earnings from Mining Operations

In Q1 2017, earnings from mining operations from our El Gallo mine were $8.2 million, compared to $12.4 million in the same period in 2016; and earning from mining operations from our 49% interest in the San Jose mine were $5.7 million, compared to $7.0 million in the same period in 2016.

Net Income/ Loss

Our consolidated net loss for Q1 2017 was $3.0 million, or $0.01 per share, compared to a net income of $13.0 million, or $0.04 per share for the same period in 2016. The net loss was mainly due to a $6.4 million decrease in sales of gold and silver by our El Gallo mine; coupled with a $6.7 million increase in exploration costs, mostly related to the drilling campaign performed at the Los Azules project, compared to the same period during 2016.

Cash Flow

Net cash used in operations was $6.9 million in Q1 2017, compared to net cash provided by operations of $14.7 million for the same period in 2016. In Q1 2017, our El Gallo mine contributed $14.8 million in gold and silver sales to operating cash flow, compared to $20.3 million in the same period in 2016. The significant change in cash flow quarter over quarter related mainly to a reduction in the number of ounces sold from the El Gallo mine, coupled with lower VAT collection from our Mexican operations and the increase in metals inventory. In Q1, 2017 our 49% interest in the San Jose mine contributed $2.5 million in dividends to operating cash flows, compared to $2.6 million in the same period in 2016.

Average Realized Prices

Average realized prices in Q1 2017 were $1,220 per ounce of gold sold, and $17.54 per ounce of silver sold at our El Gallo mine; and $1,253 per ounce of gold sold and $18.18 per ounce of silver sold for the San Jose mine. In comparison, the average realized prices in the same period in 2016 were $1,171 per ounce of gold sold, and $14.64 per ounce of silver sold at El Gallo mine; and $1,257 per ounce of gold sold and $15.29 per ounce of silver sold for the San Jose mine.

Return of Capital

The fourth return of capital installment of 1/2 per common share was paid on February 14, 2017. To date a total of $6 million has been returned to share owners.

Production Guidance

Production for 2017 is expected to be 49,700 ounces of gold and 24,000 ounces of silver from the El Gallo mine, and 50,000 ounces of gold and 3,300,000 ounces of silver from the San Jose mine. Using a silver to gold ratio of 75:1 for the year 2017, this represents projected consolidated production of 144,000 gold equivalent ounces.

Cost Guidance

For 2017, total cash costs and all-in sustaining costs at the El Gallo mine are forecast to be $760 and $900 per gold equivalent ounce, respectively; and total cash costs and all-in sustaining costs at the San Jose mine are forecast at $780 and $990 per gold equivalent ounce, respectively. Our guidance is based on an average silver to gold ratio of 75:1.

Strategic Acquisition of Timmins Projects

On April 26, 2017 the acquisition of Lexam VG Gold Inc. was completed. This represents a strategic acquisition of former producing mine properties (brownfield sites) in the heart of the world class Timmins gold mining district in Canada. Situated within a mile radius around our newly acquired assets are large former and currently producing mines with past gold production in excess of 55 million ounces.

Our Timmins brownfield sites have good access to roads, power and nearby experienced workforce. Some of the properties have mine infrastructure in place, such as existing shafts, ramps and pits from previous mining activities. This should reduce future development costs. The current NI 43-101 resources are: 1.5 million gold ounces in the Measured and Indicated categories, and 1 million gold ounces in the Inferred category. For 2017, we have budgeted $3.0 million for exploration and development related activities in Timmins. Of particular interest are the high grade drill intercepts of past exploration programs.

Operations & Projects

Mexico

El Gallo Gold Mine (100%)

Production at the El Gallo Gold mine for Q1 2017 declined quarter over quarter by 51% to 9,808 gold equivalent ounces, due to slower than planned access to higher grade ore. However, the mine is on track to meet our 2017 production guidance of 50,000 gold equivalent ounces. The El Gallo gold mine is a mature operation that has mined and depleted most of its oxide resources. While ore grades processed during Q1 2017 averaged 1.28 gpt gold, compared to 3.62 gpt gold in Q1 2016, the grade is projected to increase to 2.5 gpt in the second half of 2017. Optimization work is ongoing to maximize the profit in light of the decreasing production profile.

Exploration efforts are now focused on defining resources in sulfide and transitional mineralization that could extend the asset life, and, as such, we have budgeted a total of $1.8 million for exploration activities at the El Gallo mine, and $2.0 million for sustaining capital expenditures for 2017.

El Gallo Silver Project (100%)

During Q1 2017, work continued on the El Gallo silver project to identify opportunities to reduce the initial capital investment required to start the project and reduce its projected operating cost. Our 2017 budget for El Gallo Silver is approximately $7.8 million, comprised of $4.8 million for exploration and $3.0 million for development.

Argentina

San Jose Mine (49%)

Gold and silver production attributable to us from our 49% interest in the San Jose mine for Q1 2017 increased quarter over quarter by 12% to 19,925 gold equivalent ounces. During Q1 2017 we received $2.5 million in dividends from the San Jose mine.

For the remainder of 2017 we expect to continue to receive dividends from our 49% interest in San Jose. We anticipate receiving dividends totaling $10.0 million or more, with the final amount being determined by the mines profitability, treasury position, and decisions on capital and exploration investments.

Los Azules Project (100%)

During Q1 2017 we spent $6.3 million at the Los Azules project on a combination of infill and exploration drilling, significant advances were made in determining the best logistics, power and infrastructure options and further economic and engineering modeling of the production. Results from the drilling campaign are expected to be finalized during the second half of 2017.

Gold Bar Project, Nevada, U.S. (100%)  Advancing Towards Construction

During the quarter, the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) published the Draft Environmental Impact Statement in the Federal Register on March 3rd, 2017 and subsequently closed the 45-day public comment period. Comments received during the public comment period are now being addressed and will be incorporated in the final Environmental Impact Statement. Gold Bar permitting continues to move forward and remains on schedule to receive a Record of Decision from the BLM in the third quarter of 2017 enabling project construction to start.

During Q1 2017 we spent $0.9 million on various requirements to complete our permitting process for Gold Bar. We also expect to spend an additional $1.1 million in permitting activities during the remainder of 2017.

McEwen Mining will be hosting a conference call to discuss the Q1 2017 results and project developments Q1 2017 Conference Call Details Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 11:00 am EDT WEBCAST: http://edge.media-server.com/m/p/j7quncwr TELEPHONE: Participant Dial-in numbers: (844) 630-9911 (North America) / (210) 229-8828 (International) Conference ID: 16037372 REPLAY: Dial-in numbers: (855) 859-2056 (North America) / (404) 537-3406 (International) Conference ID: 16037372 From 05/04/2017 14:00 EDT to 05/11/2017 14:00 EDT



About McEwen Mining (www.mcewenmining.com)

McEwen Mining has the goal to qualify for inclusion in the S&P 500 Index by creating a high growth gold and silver producer focused in the Americas. McEwen Mining's principal assets consist of the San Jose mine in Santa Cruz, Argentina (49% interest), the El Gallo Gold mine and El Gallo Silver project in Sinaloa, Mexico, the Gold Bar project in Nevada, USA, the Timmins projects in Ontario, Canada and the Los Azules copper project in San Juan, Argentina.

McEwen Mining has a total of 312 million shares outstanding. Rob McEwen, Chairman and Chief Owner, owns 25% of the Company.

Technical Information

The technical contents of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Nathan M. Stubina , Ph.D., P.Eng., FCIM, Managing Director and a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian Securities Administrators National Instrument 43-101 "Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects".

Reliability of Information Regarding San Jose

Minera Santa Cruz S.A., the owner of the San Jose mine, is responsible for and has supplied to the Company all reported results from the San Jose mine. McEwen Minings joint venture partner, a subsidiary of Hochschild Mining plc, and its affiliates other than MSC do not accept responsibility for the use of project data or the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Non-GAAP Measures

In this report, we have provided information prepared or calculated according to U.S. GAAP, as well as provided some non-U.S. GAAP ("non-GAAP") performance measures. Because the non-GAAP performance measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by U.S. GAAP, they may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies.

(1) Total Cash Costs and All-in Sustaining Costs

Total cash costs consist of mining, processing, on-site general and administrative costs, community and permitting costs related to current explorations, royalty costs, refining and treatment charges (for both dore and concentrate products), sales costs, export taxes and operational stripping costs. All-in sustaining cash costs consist of total cash costs (as described above), plus environmental rehabilitation costs, amortization of the asset retirement costs related to operating sites, sustaining exploration and development costs, and sustaining capital expenditures. Total cash cost and all-in sustaining cash cost per ounce sold are calculated on a co-product basis by dividing the respective proportionate share of the total cash costs and all-in sustaining cash costs for the period attributable to each metal by the ounces of each respective metal sold. We use and report these measures to provide additional information regarding operational efficiencies on an individual mine basis, and believe that these measures provide investors and analysts with useful information about our underlying costs of operations. A reconciliation to the nearest U.S. GAAP measure is provided in McEwen Mining's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2017.

(2) Earnings from mining operations

The term Earnings from Mining Operations used in this report is a non-GAAP financial measure. We use and report this measure because we believe it provides investors and analysts with a useful measure of the underlying earnings from our mining operations. We define Earnings from Mining Operations as Gold and Silver Revenues from our El Gallo Mine and our 49% attributable share of the San Jose Mine's Net Sales, less their respective Production Costs Applicable to Sales. To the extent that Production Costs Applicable to Sales may include depreciation and amortization expense related to the fair value increments on historical business acquisitions (fair value paid in excess of the carrying value of the underlying assets and liabilities assumed on the date of acquisition), we deduct this expense in order to arrive at Production Costs Applicable to Sales that only include depreciation and amortization expense incurred at the mine-site level. The San Jose Mine Net Sales and Production Costs Applicable to Sales are presented, on a 100% basis, in Note 5 of McEwen Mining's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2017.

(3) Average realized prices

The term average realized price per ounce used in this report is also a non-GAAP financial measure. We report this measure to better understand the price realized in each reporting period for gold and silver. Average realized price is calculated as sales of gold and silver (excluding commercial deductions) over the number of ounces sold in the period (net of deduction units). A reconciliation to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measure, Sales of Gold and Silver, is provided in McEwen Mining's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2017.

(4) Cash, investments and precious metals

The term cash, investments and precious metals used in this report is a nonGAAP financial measure. We report this measure to better understand our liquidity in each reporting period. Cash, investments and precious metals is calculated as the sum of cash, investments and ounces of dore held in inventory, valued at the London P.M. Fix spot price at the corresponding period. A reconciliation to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measure, Sales of Gold and Silver, is provided in McEwen Mining's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2017.


Gov't, businesses urged to work together to fix market policies



By Kim Jae-kyoung



SINGAPORE  South Korea used to be touted as one of the four Asian tiger economies together with Singapore, but the two countries have been walking on divergent paths since 2000.

Singapore is seeking to become Asia's digital hub by housing innovation centers of multinational firms. Also, it is using robotics to innovate in key industries, such as tourism and artificial intelligence.

In contrast, South Korea has fallen into a structural low growth trap struggling to find a new growth engine. Despite its technology sophistication it is lagging behind in the global race of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

What has made such a difference?

Paul Evans, emeritus professor at INSEAD, one of the world's leading business schools, said education was the key, adding that Korea has failed to reform its education system in a way to support its economy and new work environments created by technology innovation.

This means that South Korea is not as competitive as other countries in the quality of talent it can "grow, attract and retain" and lacks the ability to turn technological advances into job creation.

"Korea may lead in technological sophistication, but that technology in the shape of algorithms, digitization, and robots are changing the work scene," he said.

"All routine work is rapidly being taken over by machines  not just in factories, but in the professions and government and business," he added. "Korea is the most regimented system country in the world producing factory and routine workers."

According to the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) announced by INSEAD, South Korea ranked 29th among 118 countries evaluated, while Singapore was the world's second-most talent-competitive country, the only Asian country on the top 10 list.

The GTCI was produced in partnership with The Adecco Group and the Human Capital Leadership Institute of Singapore. The theme of this year's GTCI is "Talent and Technology: Shaping the Future of Work."

Korea is the lowest-ranking high-income country in Asia. Despite being the top country with world-class R&D investments, the country ranked 70th in the pillar of "attract," which evaluates the competitiveness in luring valuable resources from abroad.

Korea was also performing poorly at 48th and the 35th in the pillars of "retain" and "vocational and technical skill," which track the quality of life and quality of skills people have, respectively.

Korea's zigzag policy

In order to improve Korea's talent competitiveness, Korea should come up with long-term reform plans, and implement them in a consistent manner.

"The Korean government knows the problems well but it zigzags in policies by trying to get quick fixes," Evans said, calling for a new South Korean president not to tinker with the system, as previous governments have done.

In particular, Evans, the academic director and co-editor of the GTCI, said that the government needs to make society and systems more open to the broader population.

"Korea also remains too closed internally and externally  those who are well-off open up possibilities for their children, but those from poor and rural backgrounds are shut out," he said.

"Social mobility is low, and Korea is one of the poorest countries in the world in terms of business opportunities for women who constitute half of the population," he added. "The new president must also have these challenges in mind, otherwise insecure people will be on the streets in protest."

Experts said that in order to remain competitive in the rapidly-changing world, it is important for governments and business players to work together to build educational systems and labor market policies that are fit for purpose.

"The fast advance of automation and artificial intelligence are the sources of the most disruptive changes of our time in the way we live and work," Alain Dehaze, Adecco Group Chief Executive Officer, said.

"The transition will be rocky, so governments and businesses must act. Education system reforms are urgently needed to provide the right technical and people skills, and the ability to adapt to change," he added.

One of the key messages from the 2017 GTCI report is that educational and employment policies must adapt to the transformational changes of the Fourth Industrial Revolution."

"Educational systems need to produce talent with technical skills and the ability to collaborate with others from different disciplines. They need to foster a sense of personal vocation and flexibility or learning agility," it said.

"Employment policies need to combine labor market flexibility with social protection and above all active labor market policies that facilitate mobility, retraining, entrepreneurship, and adjustment to market needs."





Lessons from Singapore, Denmark

Citing Peter Drucker's remark "the greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence  it is to act with yesterday's logic," the GTCI report called for countries to develop a new model of education.

"Much of our institutional structure, from educational and social security systems to employment laws, was designed for the industrial age. Organization, business, and work models have changed, and policies must adapt accordingly," it said.

"Education is one of the slowest institutions to change in society. That mismatch in clock speed between education and technology is something we need to work very hard on," it added. "How to adapt to both social protection and active labour market policies to the new world of employment where many are free agents is another challenge for most nations."

The report stressed that only countries willing to embrace these changes will be leading the trend and will survive as a winner in the coming decades.

It suggested that Korea can take a lesson from Singapore's well-developed regulatory and market landscape for global talent to thrive and its ability to anticipate the movements of the economy.

Referring to the recent report by Singapore's Committee on the Future Economy, Wong Su-yen, CEO of the Human Capital Leadership Institute, said that building strong digital capabilities is one of the key strategies that will propel Singapore's growth for the next two decades.

"Digital technologies will help small and exposed economies like Singapore punch above their weight by creating the means for their businesses and talent to reach out to the global market," she said.

"Countries must continue to up-skill their workforce so that they can adapt to the digitisation wave and the sweeping structural changes that are poised to shakeup traditional work arrangements."

Regarding a labour market policy, Evans said that Korea should take a hint from Denmark's Flexicurity policy. Flexicurity is the term coined by the Prime Minister of Denmark Poul Nyrup Rasmussen in the 1990s.

He pointed out that one of the key elements of the Danish Flexicurity approach is the universal right of access to welfare services  social benefits are not tied to a particular employer.

"This makes workers much more mobile. Escaping from the historic legacy of tying people to organizations, workers are free to search for new jobs if they become dissatisfied with current employers," the report said.

"Thus, in Denmark most workers take the initiative to leave a job, and few become unemployed as a result of being fired. Mobility is encouraged. The proportion of job-hoppers to total employed is high primarily because people are looking for opportunities to cultivate new skills."



Top-performing countries

According to the GTCI report, high ranking countries share key traits, including educational systems that meet the needs of the economy, employment policies that favor flexibility, mobility and entrepreneurship, and high connectedness of stakeholders in business and government.

"This year's GTCI report shows that countries in the Asia-Pacific region demonstrate strong talent readiness for technology," said Ilian Mihov, dean of INSEAD.

"It also highlights the important role of education. Educational systems have to revamp to help learners foster learning agility and adjust on the fly of changing conditions."

What Korea needs to pay attention to is the group of best performers in the GTCI 2017  Switzerland (1), Singapore (2), Luxembourg (7), Iceland (15) and Austria (18).

The report said that many of them are landlocked, or quasi-island economies with a scarcity of raw materials but they overcame such challenges by developing socio-economic policies in which talent growth are central priorities.

Larger economies in the top 20 include countries with a strong immigration tradition and a longstanding reputation in higher education  the UK (3), the U.S. (4), Australia (6) and Canada (13)

Four Nordic countries  Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway  were in the top 10.

"Education in these countries doesn't standardize children. It is based on individual-based learning and difference is respected. This is absolutely the opposite of Korea," said Evans, academic director and co-editor of the GTCI. "The value there is to get rid of standardized tests."
Chinese soldiers practice making arrests during a drill at the Chinese border town of Dandong opposite the North Korean town of Sinuiju Oct. 20, 2006. / Korea Times file



By Lee Han-soo

Chinese soldiers stationed along the North Korean border are learning Korean in case North Koreans cross the border to flee any U.S. attacks, according to a Japanese news outlet Tuesday.

The Yomiuri Shimbun said the soldiers are memorizing phrases such as "Stop" or "Don't move or I'll shoot" in Korean, citing sources familiar with China's People's Liberation Army (PLA).

"The PLA is teaching Korean to soldiers near the North Korean border in case North Korean refugees start flocking into China if a military conflict arises between the U.S. and North Korea," the newspaper said.

"Korean lessons are known to be happening throughout the Chinese-North Korea border given by ethnic Koreans living in China as instructors."

The PLA has been on its second-highest alert level since April, which is implemented when a direct military threat is imminent, the report said.
By Choe Chong-dae





I recently took an incredible journey to Chiang Khong, a city in Chiang Rai Province in the far north of Thailand, where I had the opportunity to enjoy diverse aspects of Lao, Thai and Burmese culture. Known as the Golden Triangle, this scenic landscape is hilly and divided by the Ruak River that flows into the Mekong River. Both rivers form a natural boundary between the three countries-Laos lies to the east of the Mekong, Myanmar to the north of the Ruak, and Thailand to the west of the Mekong. What a romantic and exotic experience floating down the Mekong River from Chiang Khong to Huay Xai, the Lao capital of Bokeo Province, in a small and slow boat. While in Huay Xai, I was fascinated by its bucolic scenery, fabulous temples, vibrant markets and tranquil riverside towns, as well as the unique flavor of Lao beer.

What impressed me the most in Laos was "the Plain of Jars," an archeological site dating back to the Iron Age (500 BC to 500 AD). One of the most enigmatic sights on Earth, the thousands of megalithic stone jars are scattered across approximately one hundred sites deep in the mountains of Phonsavan city, Xiang Khouang Province in northeastern Laos.

Laos developed its culture and customs as the inland crossroads of trade and migration in Southeast Asia over millennia. It has about 50 ethnicities divided into 149 sub-groups and 80 different languages. The traditional Lao culture is considered one of the Indic cultures along with Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia. This immense diversity is what makes Laos so culturally rich. Laos is also a biodiversity hotspot with many exotic animals since about 80% of the country is covered with forests.

A celebration commemorating the Lao New Year or Water Festival was held at the Ministry of National Defense Convention Center on April 7, 2017. It was hosted by Khamsouay Keodalavong, ambassador of the Lao People's Democratic Republic to Korea, in collaboration with Lee Gun-sick, president of CMSK Co. Ltd. Many Lao students in Korea were there to share traditional Laotian cuisine and culture with distinguished guests. The Lao New Year falls on April 13-15 on the lunar calendar of this Buddhist year of 2560, which is 543 years ahead of the Christian Common Era year of 2017. During these festive holidays, Lao family members reunite and celebrate the joyous occasion together at home and other convenient places. Irrespective of social standing, lineage, gender, age and education, everyone plays happily with water. The Water Festival is the New Year's celebration that takes place in East and Southeast Asian countries such as China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. People splash and/or pour water on one another as part of the cleansing ritual to welcome the New Year, an expression of the desire for good luck and prosperity.

Water is for washing Buddha images, monks, friends, passers-by and homes. Young people first pour water on their elders as a sign of respect then on monks for blessings of long life, good health and prosperity. Last of all, they throw water on each other for fun. The majority of people prefer flowers in the water to have a naturally pleasant fragrance, and some add cologne or perfume.

As a member country of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), Laos has now become a significant player in the region due to its growing economy and being an attractive tourist destination. Through international cooperation and strategic planning, Laos has cultivated friendly relations with many nations, including Korea. The social, economic and cultural exchanges between Laos and Korea will continue to strengthen the ties between Laotians and Koreans. Here's to a happy and prosperous new year.





Choe Chong-dae is a guest columnist of The Korea Times. He is President of Dae-kwang International Co., and Director of the Korean-Swedish Association. He can be reached at choecd@naver.com
Playing with our future

Perhaps it is because public schools have been disproportionately affected by the quakes that the authorities response has been so slow
San Diego, CA A proposed A proposed California labor law class action will have to wait a little while yet before the rubber stamp comes down to mark settled following yet another refusal by a US District Court judge in California to approve a proposed settlement due to inconsistencies between governance in the claims, and the language contained therein.

The California labor lawsuit was filed by Douglas Thompson, the lead plaintiff in what was proposed as a class action against Costco Wholesale Corp. (Costco). Thompson is acting on behalf of 900 current, or former fleet drivers of Costco who made allegations of wage theft and other compensation claims under the California labor code. According to court documents, those allegations were amended during the course of negotiations to focus solely on a minimum wage claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a federal statute.A settlement worth $2 million was reached, with the defendant seeking to be released from future liability, including but not limited to the FLSA claims. However the judge, US District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo declined to approve the deal when she initially considered the settlement in February due to a lack of distinction between FLSA collective actions and Rule 23 class actions.There is a difference, the judge said back in the winter  and she felt that parties wholly ignored those differences.To wit, judgments in Rule 23 class actions bind all class members unless they opt out of the California labor lawsuit. By contrast, plaintiffs in FLSA collective actions must opt into the lawsuit in writing. Thus  unlike a class action  only plaintiffs who expressly join the collective action are bound by its results.Judge Bencivengo noted the initial settlement lacked an appropriate opt-in procedure for the FLSA collective, requiring Rule 23 class members to release FLSA claims, in exchange for nothing simply to participate in the settlement of the Rule 23 class claims.The parties went back and amended the language in their settlement agreement. However, on April 26 the judge turned it down yet again. While the parties had correctly established a separate fund within the settlement for the FLSA collective, together with revising the opt-in procedure, Judge Bencivengo nonetheless found the release language in the amended settlement document remained less-than-adequate and still needed work.These deficiencies further underscore the difficulty (if not impossibility) of maintaining a Rule 23 class action and an FLSA collective action in the same lawsuit, Judge Bencivengo said. Ultimately, however, any effort to settle the claims of a Rule 23 class as well as FLSA claims in a collective manner using only one settlement agreement must account for these differences.While going into fair detail as to what the remaining deficiencies are, Judge Bencivengo offered an express solution in order to reign in the language in the settlement agreement, allowing the two parties to move forward. The easiest way in which to correct the continuing deficiencies in the California labor employment law action, she said, might be to include an express statement in the release that notwithstanding any other terms in the agreement, participating class members who do not opt-in to the FLSA collective do not release any FLSA claims against Costco.She gave them a deadline of May 10 to get it done, and submit a fresh motion for preliminary approval of the California labor law settlement. After which, the settlement would be in the pipeline for final approval.The case is, Case No. 14-cv-2778, in the
Ottawa, ON Were coming up to the one-year anniversary that Health Canada, the Canadian equivalent to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), released a guidance review and summaries pertaining to in-depth analysis of the Were coming up to the one-year anniversary that Health Canada, the Canadian equivalent to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), released a guidance review and summaries pertaining to in-depth analysis of the inferior vena cava filter landscape in Americas northern-most neighbor. Akin to the FDA, Health Canada maintains concern for the length of time retrievable filters are left in place.

Over the years the IVC filter has evolved from a primarily permanent device, to one that is designed to be inserted in order to ward against deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and IVC filter pulmonary embolism (PE). While DVT and PE can also be treated with anti-coagulant drugs (blood thinners), not all patients can tolerate blood-thinning medications. While use of an inferior vena cava filter can be a greater risk than blood thinners (especially if the IVC filter is left in too long), the risk is less than leaving a potentially deadly condition untreated. In this way the benefit outweighs the risk  but the risk is palpable nonetheless.The use of IVC filters, a spider-like device placed into the inferior vena cava artery to entrap blood clots migrating up from the lower extremities before they have a chance to reach the heart or lungs, have swung with increasing frequency to the retrievable filter. However, a host of reports associated with IVC filter side effects have prompted both the FDA and Health Canada to release guidance on device removal, and timelines.Leaving an IVC filter in for too long can result in compelling, and grievous consequences. Health Canada, in guidance posted July 25 of last year, included in a list of serious consequences caval perforation, caval thrombosis, filter fracture and fragment embolization, intracardiac migration, cardiac perforation, cardiac tamponade, and death.The small, thin tines on the spider-like device have been known to pierce the arterial wall. In other cases, as Health Canada has alluded, the structure of the IVC filter has failed, with fragments breaking away from the device and migrating to internal organs, such as the heart and lungs. In rare cases the entire device has dislodged and migrated along the inferior vena cava, to sometimes disastrous consequences resulting from IVC filter migration.The Canadian regulator holds that retrievable filters should be removed as soon as risk for blood clot, DVT and PE has passed  optimally at 30 days following insertion, or as soon after the thirty-day mark as is conceivably possible.Many of [the above-noted] complications occurred with long-term (greater than 30 days) filter implantation, Health Canada says.Amongst the devices referenced in the Health Canada guidance is the Bard G2 IVC filter, a device that was introduced to replace a previously-available product that was alleged to have design defects, but was never formally recalled. There was no IVC filter recall, and given the prevailing belief that the Bard G2 filter is not much better than the product it was designed to replace, many an IVC filter lawsuit has been fought alleging IVC filter side effects. Plaintiffs assert that inferior vena cava filter manufacturers  C.R. Bard and Cook Medical Inc. among them  knew about deficiencies and design flaws with their IVC filters but failed to alert consumers in a timely manner and allowed defective products into the market.The Cook Celect Platinum Vena Cava Filter System and Cook Medical Vena Cava Filter are two other products identified by Health Canada as remaining under the microscope of the Canadian regulator.As of June 6, 2016, Health Canada has received 121 incident reports of serious complications associated with IVC filters, Health Canada says. These complications have also been reported internationally.Such complication continues to result in IVC lawsuits. A few of the more recent actions are, Case No. 1:17-cv-01304 filed April 25th, and, Case No. 1:17-cv-01305, also filed April 25th inThere are also a plethora of IVC filter lawsuits against C.R. Bard in the judicial pipeline, harbored within multidistrict litigation.
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The student movement in Canada is going through an important development that has been prepared over the last six years. Beginning in 2011, revolutionaries organized with Fightback/La Riposte socialiste magazines have been engaging in systematic organizing on university and college campuses across the country. These efforts have resulted in the establishment of active groups on over 15 campuses, with plans to expand further.

These advances have prepared the foundation of a country-wide movement for socialist revolution among students in Canada and Quebec. It is worth appreciating the challenges faced to get to the present point where the launch of a national student organization has become possible.

Fighting to defend and promote the ideas of class struggle, socialist revolution and Marxist theory in general was no easy task. The student movement outside of Quebec has been at a low point for the last two decades. Furthermore, the level of worker struggles has been very low with the exception of Quebec. This had an important impact on the kind of ideas present on the campuses.

It was common for academics to argue that the working class no longer existed and that Marxism was an outdated ideology. Many student activists accepted these theories. Activism became more liberal and reformist. Instead of united class struggle, the focus was placed on identities and bureaucratic representation. In Quebec, the ideas of syndicalism, anarchism, left-nationalism and academic Marxism were strong, including within the leadership of the mass student movements. There was a general hostility to the idea of a revolutionary organization and the requirement to overthrow capitalism on the basis of working class struggle.

The small forces of Marxism had to fight tooth-and-nail to defend our ideas. Patience was not the least of the traits needed by those who carried forward this work in the face of hostility of the university administrations as well as the lefts. Over the past two decades the ideas of Marxism only attracted a tiny minority of students. The situation is now changing with the deepening world crisis of capitalism.

The development of class struggle around the world, including in Canada, is revitalizing the Marxist movement and pushing radicalized students towards the class struggle. In Quebec, the mass movements from 2012-2015 (and even prior) have had a profound impact on the consciousness of the youth, and many lessons are being drawn from the advances and defeats faced during these struggles.

The situation is becoming more and more favourable for the growth of revolutionary ideas and organization. This was demonstrated this past February in Montreal where Fightback hosted its annual Marxist Winter School. This event brought 200 revolutionaries together, the vast majority of whom were students. This was the largest gathering of organized Marxists in Canada in recent years.

At this years Marxist Winter School, a session was held on the need to build a national student organization of Marxist students that could unite all of our activities under a single banner. A plan was proposed to launch Socialist Fightback Students/ La Riposte socialiste etudiante. This would serve as a united banner to appeal to more students and to get more campuses organized. A resounding show of hands and enthusiasm met the proposal once it was put to the floor.

This proposal is now being put into action. Socialist Fightback Students is being officially launched on May 1, 2017. This date is quite appropriate for two reasons - May 1st is International Workers Day (or May Day) which is a day marked by mass demonstrations across the world to advance workers struggles and assert the international unity of the working class.

The launch also coincides with an important centenary, the Russian Revolution of 1917, in which the working class for the first time in history was able to seize and hold power, by sweeping away the capitalists, the landlords and the Tsarist state. The international ruling class has never forgiven the Russian workers and the Bolshevik Party for this revolution and they constantly heap slander on it despite the fall of the Soviet Union twenty-five years ago. The hatred for the Russian Revolution isnt simply because the workers and toiling masses had the audacity to fight  which has happened many times in history - but that they actually won.

The occasion is therefore quite appropriate for the launching of this new student organization. Socialist Fightback Students stand on the principles of May Day  that internationalism and working class struggle are the only means of overthrowing capitalism and fighting for a socialist society. The most important reference point for todays revolutionary movement is the October Revolution of 1917 precisely because it was able to prevail over the counter-revolution. One hundred years later, the ideas, methods and traditions of the Bolshevik Party of Russia continue to provide a foundation upon which revolutionary organization must be built today.

What are our Principles?

The principles of the Socialist Fightback Students (the SFS) are a significant change and advance on the ideas that characterize most activism in the student movement in Canada and Quebec.

Firstly, we dont believe that the solution to the problems of inequality, war, racism, sexism, poverty and environmental destruction can be resolved under capitalism. We do not believe that the solution is to reform capitalism or to create a moral capitalism. In our view it is utopian to think that an economic system based on private ownership, the free market and the nation-state could resolve these problems. We believe that the only genuine solution is the overthrow of capitalism and the establishment of a socialist society. That doesnt mean that the SFS ignores the fight for reforms. On the contrary, Marxists are the most consistent fighters for reforms that improve the standard of living of the working class and oppressed. We help connect various struggles around reforms to the necessity for the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism. In our view, it is precisely through the fight for reforms that workers and the poor develop class-consciousness and organization, which facilitates the development of the revolutionary movement.

Secondly, the SFS stands on the principles of internationalism and the unity of the working class and oppressed. The only way to fight the ruling class, exploitation and the various forms of oppression we face (racial, gender, national, sexual, etc.) is to unite in a common struggle. The ruling class tries to divide us and scapegoat certain groups as a means to maintain their dominant class position. Unfortunately, the prevalent ideas within the campus left tends to be a reformist post-structuralist ideology that divides and separates people into groups and organizations on the basis of their identities.

Marxists understand that experience shapes consciousness and each person has a particular path coming into the revolutionary movement, but it is vital to unite people from different backgrounds and identities into a common struggle if we are going to be able to win. In this spirit, the SFS unites with Marxist and revolutionary student organizations from around the world to co-ordinate common campaigns, solidarity efforts and to learn from each others experiences.

Overcoming the national divide between Anglophones and Francophones is very important to the SFS. Student, worker and revolutionary movements have historically been unable to break through this divide, and the Anglophone ruling class (as well as the Quebecois ruling class) try to maintain this division to weaken our struggles. The fact that the SFS is being launched at a time where a solid base has been established in both French and English Canada is of great importance and cannot be overestimated.

The way to overcome artificial divisions and forge a united struggle against capitalism is by standing on the principles of genuine internationalism. This means waging a united struggle against national oppression, chauvinism and racism faced by the Quebecois. It also means fighting against the oppression of immigrants, indigenous peoples, the black population and other racial and religious minorities.

Thirdly, we commit ourselves to both theory and activism. The relationship between the two is vital to conducting effective struggle. Without theory, activists are fighting with a blindfold on, unable to understand the nature and origins of the problems that they are trying to resolve, nor determine solutions to those problems. Without activism, theory is stale, abstract, incorrect and frankly useless. Theory is sharpened through engagement with the real world, and its correctness is confirmed by being able to predict and transform social phenomenon. The one-sided focus on activism is common among student activists, while the one-sided focus on theory is typical among academics.

Finally, the SFS stands on the principle that the working class is the fundamental force that can transform society. Only the working class has the collective power  through its position in production, transportation, etc. - to paralyze capitalism and to overthrow the capitalist class. The conditions of life for the working class push its consciousness towards class struggle, socialism and internationalism. The students, in isolation, do not have the power to overthrow capitalism because they are separated from socialized production. This separation of the students from production also tends to lead to individualistic consciousness and methods of struggle.

The SFS is therefore committed to mobilizing students to support working class struggles, on and off campus. This means going to the picket lines, workplaces and neighbourhoods when struggles are developing. We must spread the radicalism of the youth to the broader working class. One of the main lessons of the Quebec student movement of 2012 was that it was necessary to spread the student strikes to the working class - if the movement was going to develop to the point where it could bring down the ruling class. A strike of 5,000 workers would cost the ruling class much more in a single week, than the strike of 200,000 students in Quebec cost them in a few months.

Plans Moving Forward

The SFS will be the banner of the umbrella network bringing together socialist students across the country. At a time of growing interest in radical politics, there is a pressing need for a grassroots vehicle for revolutionary activism. With the launch of a national banner, it should become easier to overcome the isolation that young people can often feel and assist them in developing local organizations more rapidly.

The SFS will also assist socialist-minded youth by connecting them more easily with more established groups, especially in Toronto and Montreal where organizing efforts have been occurring for a longer period of time. There are over 10 student clubs between these two cities. Furthermore, there are active clubs in Hamilton, Waterloo, Oshawa, Edmonton and Victoria. The members of these clubs will help new members of the SFS get organized and active.

We are appealing to individual or groups of students interested in socialism who attend colleges, universities or high schools where no club exists, to directly contact us. The SFS will do its best to provide assistance, advice and resources to help start a local chapter. We are in the process of developing a starter kit for new clubs to help with these initiatives.

We also aim to carry out more co-ordinated activities. For example, it is common for students in the different clubs in Toronto or Montreal to join forces in joint action for demonstrations, strikes and other protest actions. Often student clubs from neighbouring cities will send a delegation over as well! Discussions are also being held regarding hosting conferences or day schools of the SFS to ensure that political education is at the centre of our activities.

Additionally, there is much to be learned from the experiences of our different clubs. Drawing lessons from local initiatives and struggles, comparing tactics and ideas, sharing resources and designs, and sending activists from one campus to another are important ways to strengthen our collective efforts. We plan on using social media to highlight the activities and experiences of our different clubs, and as a first step, a national Facebook page will be launched for the SFS.

Resources available for public and internal distribution will also help each group of activists draw on the collective experience and analysis developed by the SFS. Finally, official statements of the SFS will be released in response to important events relevant to the student movement as a whole.

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The fight against capitalism cannot be local. We cannot overthrow the capitalist class if we restrict our struggles to one campus or school. The efforts of revolutionary youth have to be organized and co-ordinated on a national scale and the launching of the SFS will be an important step in this direction.

Help Build Revolutionary Politics in Canada and Quebec!

Students interested in radical politics need to be aware of the significance of the historical conjuncture in which we find ourselves. Since 2008 capitalism has entered into a deep organic crisis that will be prolonged. This will mean declining living standards, rising unemployment, austerity measures, intensified regional wars, nationalism and xenophobia. The economic crisis has spread to the realm of politics and society. While the process is less developed in Canada, it is heading in the same direction.

This will mean that Canadian society will become polarized in a similar fashion to the process we have witnessed in countries such as Spain, Greece, Britain, France and the United States, and mass social, industrial and political movements will erupt as a result. This process has already developed in Quebec, which points the way forward for the rest of Canada.

This is an exciting time to be involved in the revolutionary movement. It also gives us a burning sense of urgency to the task we have set ourselves. The struggle will occur with or without us. However, without a revolutionary organization, history has shown that the struggle will not succeed in defeating the capitalist class. The willingness of the working class to struggle and make sacrifices to advance the movement is vital but, in itself, is not sufficient.

The relationship between the class struggle and revolutionary organization can be compared to steam and a piston box. Steam will dissipate, but if it is channeled into a piston box, it can propel a train forward. Revolutionary ideas, program, organization and leadership become decisive in a period of intensified class struggle, revolution and counter-revolution where time is of the essence as the ruling class moves to undermine and crush the struggle.

This is what the Socialist Fightback Students are building. We are enthusiastic, we are growing and we have the ideas and organization that can prepare the grounds for the defeat of the capitalist system. We need your involvement in the struggle to realize this potential. Our first task is to strengthen the existing student clubs and expand onto new campuses to solidify our national presence.

Young people are becoming more radicalized with each passing week. They desperately need a revolutionary vehicle through which they can learn and fight for the emancipation of the working class and the oppressed. Commit your mind and energy to the most pressing task facing our generation; that of burying a sick, dying capitalist society in order to give birth to the future socialist society!
PM Dahal, UML Chair Oli discuss contemporary issues

Prime Minister and CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and main opposition CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli held a meeting to discuss contemporary political issues on Thursday.
Despite persistent problems with offensive video content and fake news, Facebook easily beat analysts earnings expectations for its first quarter.

We had a strong first quarter and a great start to the year, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg told analysts on a Wednesday earnings call. During the quarter, the social giant reported earnings per share of $1.04 on revenue of about $8 billion.

Mobile ad revenue represented about 85% of all ad revenue for the first quarter -- up from approximately 82% of all quarterly ad revenue, year-over-year.

Year-over-year, Facebook saw average daily active users (DAUs) grow 18% to 1.28 billion in March. Monthly active users (MAUs) increased 17% to 1.94 billion, year-over-year.

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By the end of March, Facebooks workforce had grown by 38% to 18,770 employees, year-over-year.

Facing growing criticism for its failure to stop the spread of offensive video, Facebook just promised to hire another 3,000 human content monitors. Over the next year, we'll be adding 3,000 people to our community operations team around the world, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg promised in a blog post. That adds to the 4,500 or so people who already make up Facebooks community operations team.

For Facebook, the hiring spree is part of a larger effort to curb the spread of murders, rapes, and similarly unsuitable video.

The tech titan is also working with local community groups and law enforcement who are well-positioned to act on threats or acts of violence.

Facebook is also building what Zuckerberg insists are better tools to keep community members safe. Working with local law enforcement, Zuckerberg said Facebook was recently able to prevent one community member from acting on his expressed suicidal ideations.

That said, In other cases, we weren't so fortunate, Zuckerberg admitted.

Indeed, Facebook has recently served as a platform for teens streaming their own suicides, as well as the broadcast of a young woman being raped, and a young man with special needs being tortured. Just last month, Facebook also unwittingly made it possible for an Ohio man to distribute video footage of a murder.

In its statement, Facebook noted that while the assailant did use its Live service, he did not actually broadcast the act of violence live. Still, questions remain about why video of the crime remained on Facebooks platform for part of the day.

Expanding its war on false news, Facebook also recently released a broad plan to stop bad actors from spreading misinformation on its platform.

Facebook is increasingly relying on Instagram to drive revenue growth. In fact, the picture-based network will make up 20% of Facebooks domestic mobile revenue this year -- up from 15%, last year -- eMarketer estimates.

Fortunately for Facebook, Instagram just recently surpassed 700 million monthly active users, while the network is adding MAUs at a record rate. Facebooks CFO David Wehner told analysts on Wednesday: Were seeing great growth there.

This past quarter, Facebook also unvieled an AR app marketplace at its F8 conference.

Were going to start today with all the basic effects that youre used to, [including] facemasks, art frames, and style transfers, Zuckerberg told F8 attendees, last month. The AR marketplace will initially look a lot like Snapchat, which is best known for such tools.

In the future, more of us are going to contribute to culture and society in ways that are not measured by traditional economics and GDP, Zuckerberg said, last month.


by Sara Guaglione , May 4, 2017

Time Outis expanding into Austin, Texas, with the launch of its first, quarterly free print magazine in the city. It debuts May 11 with a circulation of 75,000 copies and covers fun summer things to do in the capital.

The print product is an addition to the Time Out Austin site and a live events program in the city.

We hope people will use our first issue as a trusted guide to come back time and time again this summer as we share the best events to check out ... favorite restaurants and bars to visit and more, stated Erin Kuschner, editor of Time Out Austin. Shecalled the city robust in its cultural offerings with an ever-changing food, drink, music and theater scene.

The magazine will be available at restaurants, bars, coffee shops, retailers, hotels and cultural institutions across Austin.

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Time Out relies on a rather aggressive distribution strategy, including street teams who hand out copies in areas that get heavy foot traffic. In Austin, they will hit Downtown Austin and on South Congress.

Time Out Austin will feature articles recommending the best events, movies, concerts, theater and art in the city, as well as the latest eating and drinking trends. The new issue will include a list of Austins best ice cream shops, a guide to the citys trendiest neighborhoods and a look at its rising female DJ crews.

Time Out has magazines in 108 cities across 39 countries with a global monthly audience reach of 156 million, the company claims. Time Out London went free in 2012, followed by Time Out New York and Time Out Chicago in 2015 and Time Out Los Angeles and Time Out Miami last year.

Christine Petersen, who was named CEO of Time Out Groups business division Time Out Digital earlier this week, stated: Magazines are a fantastic marketing channel for us as it is simply unique to get such a highly curated product packed with positive, inspirational content and great advertisement into the hands of millions of consumers.

She added that demand from advertisers has been strong.
by Sara Guaglione , May 4, 2017

Airbnb is partnering with Hearst to produce Airbnbmag, a new magazine scheduled to hit newsstands May 23. The magazine was first teased by Hearst Magazines chief content officer Joanna Coles last November.

Airbnbmag is part guidebook/part travel magazine; it is targeted to adventurous travelers, rather than luxury-focused editorial common with popular travel publications.

This approach is more likely to attract fans of Airbnb, a company and Web site founded in 2008. It connects people looking for accommodation with hosts that have anything from a couch to crash on to an empty home, as well as a few castles and treehouses.

The aim is for every Airbnb host to have the magazine on their coffee tables. Airbnbmag is also a way for Airbnb to market its new Trips feature, which provides travelers with a range of experiences, tours and activities. The company produces listings in more than 65,000 cities and 191 countries.

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The first issue of the print-only publication, kicks off with a guaranteed circulation of 350,000. It includes 45 pages of advertising from destinations, airlines, credit cards, technology and beauty. A second issue is slated for release in September. If the pub clicks with advertisers and readers, it will increase its publishing schedule in 2018.

Priced at $3.99, it will be available at Barnes & Noble locations, supermarkets, mass retail stores, airports and train terminals and newsstands across the U.S. and Canada.

A Hearst spokesperson told Publishers Daily that Airbnb and Hearst Magazines will work side by side on the development, creation and production of the magazine. Both companies have a team of editors, writers, designers and marketers to work on Airbnbmag, overseen by Coles, Michael Clinton, president of marketing and publishing director, and Airbnbs CEO and head of community Brian Chesky.

The first issue spotlights Havana, Austin, Australia, Bali, Cuba, London, Malibu, Savannah and Seattle.

Airbnbmag will have four sections: The Local, which gives advice on how to eat, play and shop from a locals perspective; Stay, which features Airbnb properties, as well as tips and hacks on how to feel at home while traveling; Roam, featuring stories and destinations to inspire readers to plan their next trip; and Belong, which spotlights real-life adventures.

The magazine also has a column called Not Yet Trending, which profiles a location that has recently spiked in popularity according to Airbnb data, but isnt yet a mainstream travel destination.

Airbnb is changing the way we travel, the way we connect, and the way we see the world, stated Coles. People want to be adventurers, explorers and locals, not tourists. Airbnb is at the leading edge of travel and Airbnbmag is the future of travel media.

This isnt Airbnbs first magazine.

In 2014, it introduced Pineapple, a publication filled with travel stories and editorial features from hosts and travelers, with a primary focus on London, Seoul and San Francisco, according to travel site Skift. Only one issue of Pineapple made it to print. Some 18,000 copies were distributed to Airbnb hosts; others were available for purchase on newsstands.


by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, May 4, 2017

Family members of three people killed by a terrorist in San Bernardino, California have sued Twitter, Facebook and Google for allegedly their platforms to be used for recruitment and fundraising by ISIS members.

"Without defendants Twitter, Facebook, and Google (YouTube), the explosive growth of ISIS over the last few years into the most feared terrorist group in the world would not have been possible," the family members allege in a complaint filed this week in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

The lawsuit was filed by relatives of Sierra Clayborn, Tin Nguyen, and Nicholas Thalasino -- three of the 14 people who were killed in the December 2015 shooting. "Twitter, Facebook and Google have "knowingly and recklessly provided the terrorist group ISIS with accounts to use its social networks as a tool for spreading extremist propaganda, raising funds, and attracting new recruits," the complaint alleges.

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The platforms also allegedly profited from ISIS by surrounding terrorists' posts with ads, according to the complaint.

Tech companies have faced similar lawsuits before, but so far the cases haven't been successful. Twitter recently defeated a lawsuit brought by the widows of Lloyd Carl Fields, Jr. and James Damon Creach -- who were killed in 2015 by a terrorist in Amman, Jordan.

U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick in the Northern District of California ruled in that matter that the Communications Decency Act immunizes Twitter from liability based on users' activity. "In substance, plaintiffs aim to hold Twitter liable as a publisher or speaker of ISISs hateful rhetoric," Orrick wrote in a 19-page decision dismissing the case. "Such liability is barred by the CDA."

The family members have appealed the dismissal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Twitter, Google and Facebook also face a separate lawsuit brought by family members of three people killed in terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels. That matter is pending in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu in Oakland, California.

The major tech platforms recently said they would cooperate in an effort to remove terrorist propaganda.
Were excited to announce that metalbulletin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com.

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RPP leaders quit govt

Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) leaders on Wednesday tendered their resignations to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. The RPP, the fourth largest party in Parliament, on Monday announced that it was pulling out of the Dahal government.
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.
Travis Perkins plc distributes building materials to the building, construction, and home improvement markets in the United Kingdom. It operates through, Merchanting, and Toolstation segments. The Merchanting segment distributes interior building products, which include drywalls, ceilings, external envelopes, fire protection products, flooring and partitioning products, and tools and accessories to professionals within the construction industry; civil, drainage, and heavy building materials to specialist contractors and trade professionals; and pipeline and heating solutions. This segment also distributes building materials, plumbing and heating products, landscaping materials, timber and sheet materials, painting and decorating products, dry lining and insulation products, doors and joinery, and hand and power tools to trade professionals and self-builders. The Toolstation segment supplies products to the trade, home improvers, and self-builders industry through approximately 500 branches, as well as online, call centers, and a mobile website. It also offers kitchens and joinery products to specialist joiners, kitchen fitters, house builders, local authorities, and national house builders. The company was formerly known as Sandell Perkins Public Limited Company and changed its name to Travis Perkins plc in October 1988. Travis Perkins plc was founded in 1797 and is headquartered in Northampton, the United Kingdom.
The following companies are subsidiares of Quanta Services: (De) Lazy Q Ranch LLC, 1 Diamond LLC, 1Diamond AS, 618232 Alberta Ltd., 8246408 Canada Inc., Advanced Electric Systems, Advanced Electric Systems LLC, Advanced Utility Testing & Maintenance LLC, Alexander Publications LLC, Allteck GP Ltd., Allteck Limited Partnership, Apprenticeship Programs Inc., Arby Construction, Arcanum Chemicals LLC, Arnett & Burgess Oil Field Construction Limited, Arnett & Burgess Pipeliners (Rockies) LLC, Arnett & Burgess Pipeliners Ltd., B&N Clearing and Environmental LLC, Banister Pipelines Constructors Corp., Banister Pipelines Constructors GP Ltd., Banister Pipelines Limited Partnership, Brent Woodward Inc., Brink Constructors Inc., Brink Constructors Inc. 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Limited Partnership, Coe Drilling Pty Ltd., Computapole, Conam Construction Co., Consolidated Power Projects Australia Pty Ltd, Conti Communications Inc., Crux Subsurface Canada Ltd., Crux Subsurface Inc., Cutting Technology - 1 Diamond LLC, DB Utilities Inc., DE Lazy Q Ranch LLC, DNR Pressure Welding Ltd., Dacon Corporation, Dashiell (DE) Corporation (Dashiell Corporation), Dashiell Corporation, Dashiell Corporation DBA Dashiell (DE) Corporation, De Mears Group, De Mears Group Inc., Delaware Quanta Technology LLC, Delaware Underground Construction Co., Didado Utility Company Inc., Digco Utility Construction L.P. Digco Utility Construction Limited Partnership, Dorado Specialty Services L.P., Dorado Specialty Services Ltd., Dorado Specialty Services Ltd. L.P., Dorado Specialty Services Ltd. Limited Partnership, Dorado Specialty Services. Ltd. L.P., Driftwood Electrical Contractors, EHV Power ULC, ELITE PIPING & CIVIL L.P., ELITE TURNAROUND SPECIALISTS LTD, Elite Fabrication Ltd. 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Limited Partnership, Energy Consulting Group LLC, Enscope, Enscope Pty Ltd, FIC GP LLC, Field Personnel Services LLC, First Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC, First Infrastructure Capital GP L.P., Five Points Construction Co., G-Tek, G-Vac, GEM Engineering Co., Grand Electric Inc., Great Lakes Line Builders, Grid Creative Inc., Grid Manufacturing Corporation, Grid Training Corporation, H.L. Chapman Pipeline Construction Inc., Haverfield Aviation, Haverfield Aviation Inc., Haverfield International Incorporated, Heritage Midstream LLC, IM Electric Inc., IUC ILLINOIS LLC, IUC Nebraska LLC, InfraSource Construction LLC, InfraSource Field Services LLC, InfraSource Services LLC, InfraSources Construction LLC, Infraestructura ETP de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V, Infrasource Engineering Company PC, Infrasource Iowa Underground LLC, Infrasource Of Pa LLC, Integracion Tecnologica del Peru SAC, Intermountain Electric Inc., Intermountain Electric Inc. A Corporation of Colorado, IonEarth LLC, Irby Construction Company, Irby Construction Company Inc., Iron Mountain M.J. Electric LLC, Island Mechanical Corporation, J.C.R. Construction Co. Inc., J.C.R. Utility Construction Co., J.W. Didado Electric Inc., J.W. Didado Electric LLC, J.w. Didado Electric, JBT Electric LLC, Kingston Contracting Inc., Lazy Q Ranch LLC, Lazy Q Training Center LLC The Lazy Q Lineman School, Legend Foundation Services, Lex Engineering Ltd., Lindsey Electric L.P., Logical Link, Longfellow Drilling, M. G. Dyess Inc., M. J. ELECTRIC LLC IRON MOUNTAIN, M. J. Electric LLC, M. J. Electric LLC - Iron Mountain, M. J. Electric LLC DBA M. J. Electric Iron Mountain LLC, M.J. Electric LLC DBA M.J. Electric Iron Mountain, M.J. Electric LLC Iron Mountain, MTS Field Services, MTS Field Services (Richmond Co), MTS Quanta LLC, Manuel Bros. Inc., Marathon Construction Services, Mears Canada Corp., Mears Equipment Services LLC, Mears Group Inc., Mears Group Pty Ltd, Mears Installation LLC, Mearsmex S. de R.L. de C.V., Mejia Personnel Services LLC, Mercer Technical Services, Microline Technology Corporation, Mid America Energy Services Inc., NACAP Niugini Ltd., NC Northstar Energy Services Inc, NGI Construction, NGI Construction Inc., NGI Construction Inc. (FN), NLC CA. Inc., NLC FL. Inc. Northwest Lineman Center, NLC ID. Inc. Northwest Lineman College, NLC TX. Inc., NPC Energy Services LLC, Nacap Australia, Nacap PNG Limited, Network Communication Services, North Houston Pole Line L.P., North Houston Pole Line Limited Partnership, North Sky Communications, NorthStar Energy Services Inc., Northern Powerline Constructors Inc., Northstar Energy Solutions LLC, Northwest Lineman Center, Northwest Lineman College, Northwest Lineman Training Center, Northwest Lineman Training Center Inc., Nova Constructors LLC, Nova Constructors LTD, Nova Equipment Leasing LLC, Nova Group Inc, Nova Group Inc (CA), Nova Group Inc., Nova Group Inc. DBA NGI Construction, Nova NextGen Solutions LLC, O. J. Pipelines Canada Corporation, O. J. Pipelines Canada Limited Partnership, O.J. Industrial Maintenance, O.J. Pipelines Canada, One Call Locators Canada Ltd., P.D.G. 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Ltd., QSI Finance I (US) LP, QSI Finance II (Australia) Pty Ltd., QSI Finance II (Lux) S.a r.l, QSI Finance II (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., QSI Finance III (Canada) ULC, QSI Finance III (Lux) SARL, QSI Finance IV (Canada) ULC, QSI Finance IX (Canada) Limited Partnership, QSI Finance V (US) L.P., QSI Finance VI (Canada) ULC, QSI Finance VII (Canada) Limited Partnership, QSI Finance VIII (Canada) ULC, QSI Finance X (Canada) ULC, QSI Inc., QSN Lux Holdings I SCSp, QSN Lux Holdings II SCSp, QSN Lux Holdings III SCSp, QSN Lux Holdings IV SCSp, QTSL LLC, QUANTA FOUNDATION SERVICES, Quanta APL GP II Ltd., Quanta Asset Management LLC, Quanta Associates L.P., Quanta Aviation Services LLC, Quanta Canada GP ULC, Quanta Canada Holdings III Limited Partnership, Quanta Canada Holdings LP, Quanta Canada III GP Ltd., Quanta Capital GP LLC, Quanta Capital LP L.P., Quanta Capital Solutions Inc., Quanta Cares, Quanta EPC Services, Quanta Electric Power Construction LLC, Quanta Electric Power Construction Management Inc., Quanta Electric Power Services LLC, Quanta Electric Power Services West LLC, Quanta Energized Innovations Ltd., Quanta Energized Services U.S. LLC, Quanta Energized Services of Canada Ltd., Quanta Energy Services LLC, Quanta Environmental Solutions, Quanta Equipment Company LLC, Quanta Government Solutions Inc., Quanta Holdings I (Netherlands) B.V., Quanta Holdings II (Netherlands) B.V., Quanta Infraestructura de Chile SpA, Quanta Infrastructure Services LLC, Quanta Infrastructure Services S. de R.L. de C.V., Quanta Inline Devices LLC, Quanta Inspection Services, Quanta Insurance Company Inc., Quanta International Holdings (US) LLC, Quanta International Holdings II Ltd., Quanta International Holdings Ltd., Quanta International Limited, Quanta Kingsvale LP Ltd., Quanta Lines Pty Ltd., Quanta Maine Services LLC, Quanta Middle East LLC, Quanta Pipeline Services Inc., Quanta Power Australia Pty Ltd, Quanta Power Generation Inc., Quanta Power Inc., Quanta Power Solutions India Private Limited, Quanta Resource Development, Quanta Services Africa (PTY) Ltd., Quanta Services Australia Pty Ltd., Quanta Services Chile SpA, Quanta Services Colombia S.A.S., Quanta Services Costa Rica Ltda., Quanta Services Guatemala Ltda., Quanta Services International Holdings II LP, Quanta Services International Holdings LP, Quanta Services Management Partnership L.P., Quanta Services Netherlands B.V., Quanta Services Panama S. de R.L., Quanta Services Peru S.A.C., Quanta Services Puerto Rico LLC, Quanta Services of Canada Ltd., Quanta Subsurface Canada Ltd., Quanta Subsurface LLC, Quanta Tank Services, Quanta Technology Canada ULC, Quanta Technology LLC, Quanta Technology UK Ltd., Quanta Tecnologia do Brasil Ltda., Quanta Telecom, Quanta Telecom Services, Quanta Telecommunication Services, Quanta Telecommunication Services LLC, Quanta Telecommunications Services LLC, Quanta Underground Services, Quanta Underground Services (Culpeper Co), Quanta Underground Services (Spotsylvania Co), Quanta Underground Services Inc., Quanta Utility Engineering Services Inc., Quanta Utility Installation Company Inc., Quanta Utility Operation LLC, Quanta West LLC, Quantecua Cia. Ltda., R. R. Cassidy Inc., RMS Holdings LLC, RMS Holdings LLC (Delaware), RMS Welding Systems, RMS Welding Systems LLC, Ranger Directional, Realtime Engineers Inc., Realtime Utility Engineers Inc., Redes Andinas de Comunicaciones S.R.L., Riggin & Diggin Line Construction, Rms Welding LLC, Rms Welding Systems LLC, Road Bore Corporation, Ryan Company Inc. The, Ryan Company Inc. of Massachusetts, Ryan Company Inc.(The), Seaward, Seaward Corp, Seaward Corporation, Service EC (DE) Inc., Service Electric Company (DE), Service Electric Company Inc., Service Electric Company of Delaware, Servicios Par Electric S. de R.L. de C.V., Servicios de Infraestructura del Peru S.A.C., Southwest Trenching Company Inc., Specialty Tank Services L.P., Specialty Tank Services LP, Specialty Tank Services Limited Partnership, Specialty Tank Services Limited Partnership, Specialty Tank Services Ltd., Specialty Tank Services Ltd. (LP), Specialty Tank Services Ltd. L.P., Specialty Tank Services Ltd. 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Sharma recommended for Auditor Generals post

A meeting of the Constitutional Council on Wednesday recommended Tanka Mani Sharma as next Auditor General. Sharma, currently a secretary at the Prime Ministers Office, had earlier held the post of secretary at the Ministry of General Administration.
Conagra Brands, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a consumer packaged goods food company in North America. The company operates in four segments: Grocery & Snacks, Refrigerated & Frozen, International, and Foodservice. The Grocery & Snacks segment primarily offers shelf stable food products through various retail channels in the United States. The Refrigerated & Frozen segment provides temperature-controlled food products through various retail channels in the United States. The International segment offers food products in various temperature states through retail and foodservice channels outside of the United States. The Foodservice segment offers branded and customized food products, including meals, entrees, sauces, and various custom-manufactured culinary products packaged for restaurants and other foodservice establishments in the United States. The company sells its products under the Birds Eye, Duncan Hines, Healthy Choice, Marie Callender's, Reddi-wip, Slim Jim, Angie's BOOMCHICKAPOP, Duke's, Earth Balance, Gardein, and Frontera brands. The company was formerly known as ConAgra Foods, Inc. and changed its name to Conagra Brands, Inc. in November 2016. Conagra Brands, Inc. was founded in 1861 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. designs, engineers, manufactures, and markets commercial aerostructures worldwide. It operates through three segments: Commercial, Defense & Space, and Aftermarket. The Commercial segment offers forward, mid, and rear fuselage sections and systems, struts/pylons, nacelles, and related engine structural components; and wings and wing components, including flight control surfaces, as well as other structural parts. This segment primarily serves the aircraft original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) or engine OEMs of large commercial aircraft and/or business/regional jet programs. The Defense & Space segment provides fuselage, strut, nacelle, and wing aerostructures primarily for U.S. Government defense programs, including Boeing P-8, C40, and KC-46 Tanker. This segment also engages in the fabrication, bonding, assembly, testing, tooling, processing, engineering analysis, and training on fixed wing aircraft aerostructures, missiles, and hypersonics works, such as solid rocket motor throats, nozzles, re-entry vehicle thermal protections systems, forward cockpit and cabin, and fuselage work on rotorcraft aerostructures. The Aftermarket segment offers spare parts and MRO services, repairs for flight control surfaces and nacelles, radome repairs, rotable assets, engineering services, advanced composite repairs, and other repair and overhaul services. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. has a strategic partnership with Sierra Space to enhance access to commercial space economy of the future. The company was formerly known as Mid-Western Aircraft Systems Holdings, Inc. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas.
Two internationally acclaimed models, Gisela Emefa Gagakuma and Prince IB, will represent Ghana at the International Best/Male Model of the World competition which will be held in the Spanish city of Alicante from Friday, May 5 to Monday, May 15.

While in Spain, the models will also take part in the Costa Blanca Fashion Week, which will feature the works of several prestigious designers at the Oscar Espala auditorium in the city of Benidorm.

An initiative of Sukier Model International, the International Best World Model Competition which chooses male and female models of the world, attracts the attention of the mass media around the globe.

Awards will be given under various categories to both male and female models. Indeed, they will be offered contracts with a prestigious modelling agency and will be promoted all over the world.

A former Miss Africa, Gisela Emefa is an international model and pageant girl. She has represented Ghana in four international competitions since 2012. These include Model of the World (China), Miss Intercontinental (Germany) and Beauty Queen Universe (Spain).

Currently the CEO of TM Model Management in Accra, Prince IB was adjudged the model of the year for 2014 and 2015. He has participated in the Durban Fashion Show (South Africa), FIMA (Niger), Glitz Fashion Week (Ghana) and fashion shows in other parts of Africa.

Supporting designers include Ophelia Crossland, Agatha Moreno, Hall of Peters, Linian, Nallem Clothing and Body Fuel GH.
UK-born Ghanaian gospel musician, Niiella Coffie, says it feels very good to return home (Ghana) to pursue her music career.

According to her, gospel music brings her joy and coming to Ghana to pursue that music dream is even refreshing.

I wanted to do gospel music because growing up was rough but then gospel music makes me happy. It always makes me feel good and it uplifts my spirit. I want other people to feel the same when they listen to my music, Niiella disclosed.

It is God who chose me to come to Ghana. It is not necessarily about the money and all those things. I feel that if you are at the right place that God wants you to be at the time, He will make provision for everything to work out, she told NEWS-ONE in an exclusive interview.

The talented songstress was born Niiella Dankwah Coffie in the UK into a Christian family of seven.

Her mum and dad are both pastors. Most of her other siblings are also into music. They either sing or play instruments.

Niiella started singing at a very tender age. She revealed that I have always sung when I was a kid but then I started taking it seriously from when I was 15. I started writing songs and I was 19 when I came to Ghana to join 'Stars of The Future' reality show season 5 and I was the first runner-up. After that I decided that I really want to do music and then I decided on gospel music.

She is currently getting to release her album titled 'Shades Of Mercy' which consists of nine songs. The songs, she said, are all about the different shades of God.

I am inspired by so many things. I am not one of those people who are boxed into one particular type of music. I like all kind of beats from Ghanaian rhythms to hip-hop to worship and all kinds. If you listen to my album, it is very diverse and I believe everyone will find something in there, she stated.

Niiella grew up listening to the likes of Elder Mireku, Daughters of Glorious Jesus, Tagoe Sisters, Francis Adjei, among others, from Ghana. Beyond Ghana, she also listens to Kirk Franklin, Mary Mary, among others.

I listen to very broad spectrum of music and it's always in the kind of music I do, she added.

By Francis Addo (Twitter: @fdee50Email: [email protected] )
The children's ministry of Action Chapel International, Spintex, Accra, over the weekend emerged winners at the grand finale of a keenly contested dance competition dubbed 'save the last dance for Jesus'.

They received a trophy, a certificate of participation and products donated by the sponsors of the event.

Two other children's ministries from Ebenezer Methodist, Madina and the Ghana Police Church, Accra, came second and third respectively, taking home a trophy and a certificate of participation, including products donated by the sponsors.

Kakra Opoku-Agyakwa, Programmes Coordinator for Youth Link Ghana, mentioned that the event is held annually as a platform to bring the various children's ministries together to unearth their creative talents through music and dancing.

According to him, eight children's ministries from participating churches within Accra took part in the event which was held at the Church of Pentecost International Worship Centre, Burma Camp, Accra.

We are happy to bring these future leaders together to a common platform for socialisation but more importantly to encourage them to consider making a move which will lead to pooling resources to support some members of the society who need such a service, he remarked.

He explained that the winner of the contest, Action Chapel, is mandated to undertake a fundraising initiative for a project which will meet a need of their preferred beneficiary.

By Solomon Ofori


The seventh edition of the 'Ghana Meet Naija' musical concert which was introduced seven years ago to celebrate and unite artistes in Ghana and Nigeria was launched last Tuesday at the premises of the Unibank at Kokomlemle in Accra with mouthwatering packages from the sponsors.

'Ghana Meets Naija' is perhaps the biggest musical concert on the African continent where the very best of artistes with smashing hits from the two countries are assembled on one platform to entertain thousands of music enthusiasts.

The sixth edition took place last year on May 21 in Accra at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) with a packed crowd; everlasting performances, coupled with mindboggling stagecraft from various top artistes.

Last year, 'Ghana Meets Naija' exceeded all expectations and became the biggest and most exciting concert in Ghana.

This year's edition is scheduled for the same venue, the AICC, on Saturday, May 27. The concert sees Ghanaian artistes pitching against their Nigerian counterparts to determine who has the upper hand in the music industry.

This year, Ghana is fielding some of its top music icons which include Shatta Wale, M.anifest and a host of other winning artistes.

Nigerian artistes billed for the event will be led by Davido of 'Dami Duro' fame, Falz, Tiwa Savage, among others.

It is sponsored by uniBank Smile and Mastercard, Alomo Gold, Natural Herbs and Fruits, Paba Cosmetics, the luxurious Tang Palace Hotel, Nasco Mobile, Kasi Express, 7Fold, Emerge Ghana and Maaha Beach Resort.

By George Clifford Owusu
Sugar smuggling rife at Biratnagar customs

Sugar smuggling through Biratnagar customs point is on the rise, thanks to lax revenue administration and weak border security. A number of importers have been found evading taxes by importing sugar declaring the produce as rice at the customs office.
It was another moment of worship without walls as scores of worshippers thronged the Mount Olivet Methodist Church last Sunday to join Eugene Zuta and friends to spend time in Gods presence at the 2017 edition of the Adoration worship concert. With the Moko be hitmaker Minister Nii Okai and Sunny FMs Kojo Oppong Agyei as MCs, the night couldnt have been more engaging.

For most of patrons, the opportunity for worshippers to come together as one body, defying denominational barriers, was unifying and offered the perfect platform to celebrate Gods goodness and extol his majesty. The night was also spiced with a diverse line-up of jazz and drama performances from some talented young performers.

This years Adoration was the third in the series. It was the night of the double as this years coincided with the launch of Eugene Zutas latest album More Than Enough. Ahead of the main event, patrons were treated to an hour of soothing Jazz session to pave way for the first package which started with Olivet Voices, the resident choir of Mount Olivet Methodist Church, Dansoman.

This would pave way for an hour long package which saw the convener of Adoration Eugene Zuta and other worship greats Joycelyn Armah, Ps Isaiah Ofosu-Kwakye and Michael Antonio livened up the congregation in moments of singing, adoration, reflection and prayers.

Eugene Zuta performed renditions of his known songs such as Mosom Wo and other popular Ghanaian worship songs which got the audience stand, sing along and pray throughout the performance. The worship flowed seamlessly as Joycelyn Armah took over from Zuta to perform her own version of Brooklyn Tabernacle Choirs More than Enough before handing over to the ever endearing Pastor Isaiah Ofosu Kwakye who treated the crowd to some soul searching tunes after which the young guitarist, Michael Antonio performed to end the first package.

A ten minute hilarious, engaging and educative drama by a group known as Contagious on the theme for the night More than enough, to herald the nights exhortation by Rev Dr. Ivy Amenyah.

Minister Zuta returned for the second package, treating the audience to an exclusive performance from his latest album leading to the official launch of More than Enough. Bishop Okoe Mensah of the Lighthouse Chapel International prayed and launched the album which has songs like Nkunim, Woye Onyame and 'Oga'. The event climaxed with a performance from Takoradi based sensation, KODA who dished out some danceable tunes from his collections and led the ecstatic crowd to dance the night away. KODA brought the curtains down in style, in what could best be described as an Adoration with a difference.

This is why we live  to worship and adore our maker all day, all year through. I was humbled by the great outpouring of the spirit. The presence of God was greatly felt and I am glad that the numerous hearts that filled the Mount Olivet Methodist church had a reason to be glad for participating in Adoration 2017, Said Eugene Zuta.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all who attended for the massive show of love and for sowing into this album. I have been overwhelmed by the massive show of support for this latest work and I bless the Lord, my ministry fathers and all those who make Adoration 2017 a great success. I am already upbeat Adoration 2018. He added.

About Eugene Zuta

Eugene Zuta has over the last decade led several choirs and churches across the country in various worship encounters. Noted for his humble and calm disposition, Eugene Zuta is loves the Lord and lives to worship. He now has three albums to his credit and heads the Eugene Zuta Ministries which was founded in 2012 with a focus of reaching out to meet the needs of young people spiritually, physically and mentally.
04.05.2017 LISTEN

Clitoridectomy and female circumcision, practices often labeled as female genital mutilations, are not just controversial cultural rites performed in foreign countries

medical historian reports that American physicians treated women and girls for masturbation by removing the clitoris from the mid-19th century through the mid-20th century. And physicians continue to perform female circumcision (removal of the clitoral hood) to enable women to reach orgasm, although the procedure is controversial and can result in lasting problems such as painful intercourse for some women

The medical view was to change the female body to treat a girl or womans faulty sexual behavior, such as masturbation or difficulty having an orgasm, rather than questioning the narrowness of what counted as culturally appropriate behavior, said Rodriguez, who also is a lecturer in global health studies at Northwesterns Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. This practice is still alive and well in the United States as part of the trend in female cosmetic genital surgery (Marla Paul, Clitoridectomy and Female Circumcision in America: Centuries-old Procedures Reflect Views of Appropriate Female Sexuality, December 1, 2014).

INTRODUCTION

The issue of female genital mutilation, a practice encompassing a partial or complete removal of the clitoris, has been a tricky and contentious subject for many people across diverse religious, political, and ideological persuasions.

According to the World Health Organization, An estimated 100 to 140 million girls and women worldwide are currently living with the consequences of FGMIn Africa, about three million girls are at risk for FGM annuallyIt is mostly carried out on girls sometime between infancy and age 15 years.

Therefore, given these staggering statistics, the World Health Organization should monitor countries identified with the practice of female genital mutilation by educating their populace on the dangers to which infant girls and young women are inevitably subjected to and the need to minimize or eliminate them.

Then also Ghana News Agency (GNA), in 2013, reported an increase in cases of the practice in spite of a ban imposed on it. According to the GNA, a UNICEF multiple Indicator Cluster (MICS) puts FGM at 3.8 per cent for women between 15 to 49 years and four per cent for the most recent survey of 2011 (See also Article 39 of the Constitution; and the so-called Maputo Protocol (2007). We should also remember that Ghana abolished the practice as far back as 1994, under the administration of Rawlings).

This report further mentioned the three northern regions (the Northern Region, the Upper East Region, the Upper West Region), the Brong Ahafo Region, and Zongo communities in certain urban centers of the country, Ghana, where the practice still goes on. (see Rogaia M. Abusharafs edited volume Female Circumcision: Multicultural Perspectives for a much broader discussion of the subject matter across Africa).

Perhaps Adelaide Abankwahs disgraceful case has not completely died yet. Adelaide, whose real name was Regina Norman Danson, from Biriwa in the Central Region of Ghana, used the female-genital-mutilation excuse to apply for political asylum in the US only to be found out, a case that unleashed a chain reaction of outright lies on the part of the asylee and embroiled Ghana in an international ignominy of sorts. How sad that Hillary Clinton and Julia Roberts publicly defended her. This author met in person with a Somali-American City College professor of African and African-American history who appeared on Gil Nobles Like It Is to defend the fraud.

Finally, we should also want to make it clear that female genital mutilation was and still is practiced among whites, and in the white world at large, in the West (see Sarah Rodriguezs book Female Circumcision and Clitoridectomy in the United States: A History of a Medical Treatment. Dr. Rodriguez teaches in the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, USA; Readers may also want to take a look at Isaac B. Browns book On the Curability of Certain Forms of Insanity, Epilepsy, Catalepsy, and Hysteria in Females for more information on clitoridectomy in 19-century Europe, Britain to be precise).

Well, this two-part article takes a general look at the practice.

NEED FOR CHANGE

The dilemma here is that proponents advance their arguments without evidently paying sufficient attention to what the practice actually is and to the enduring health hazards and psychological disequilibrium to which these female infants and young women are constantly exposed.

Indeed, some of these arguments are subtly constructed to further complicate the subject; for instance, the case is often made that male circumcision is no different from the female version, yet nowhere is it mentioned that the consequential long-lasting medical and psychological hazards resulting from the latter far outweigh those from the former (PalMD, 2008).

The following arguments therefore provide the requisite grounds for the active monitorial presence and educational intervention of the World Health Organization in countries known to tolerate the practice.

The first issue is the four major classification groups subsumed under female genital mutilation. These four groups are very important for the debate because they provide us with a vivid picture describing in some detail the various forms under which mutilation of the female genitalia is generally conducted.

In most of these cases the same excision instrument is used on several persons without the benefit of sanitization. In this regard, representatives from the World Health Organization should team up with the clergy, traditional rulers, lawyers, politicians, local scientists, and the like to collect and collate data in order to objectify the health hazards of the practice, as could be deduced from the following four broad categories defined by The Center for Reproductive Rights:

Type I (also referred to as clitoridectomy): the excision of the prepuce with or without excision of the clitoris.

Type II (also known as excision): the excision of the prepuce and clitoris together with partial or total excision of the labia minora.

Type 111 (otherwise termed infibulation): the excision of part or all of the external genitalia and stitching or narrowing of the vaginal opening.

Type IV: all other procedures involving partial or total removal of the female external genitalia for cultural or any other non-therapeutic reasons.

The second pertinent controversy commonly encountered in the heated debates associated with female genital mutilation concerns the serious nature and permanency of the psychological perturbations many of these women inescapably inherit from the largely anesthesia-free surgeries, as well as from the multifariously severe medical consequences.

For the most part, these victims are surprisingly left to fend off these deleterious effects without the timely medical and legislative interventions required of the medical establishment and lawmakers, respectively, and the lack of political action or will on the part of politicians to reverse age-old cultural norms that have long provided the necessary ideological leverage for the practice.

In fact, supporters of the practice are quick to cite a plethora of reasons including custom and traditions, among others, as viable justifications for its incessant observation.

Here, for instance, the World Health Organization can wreck the cultural foundation of female genital mutilation by the sheer invocation of statistics exposing the cultural vacuity of the practice.

This suggestion is strongly supported by facts presented in the article Female Genital MutilationThe Facts, a piece authored by Laura Reymond, Asha Mohamed, and Nancy Ali. They write:

Intense pain and/or hemorrhage that can lead to shock during and after the procedure: A 1985 Sierra Leon study found that nearly 97 percent of the 269 women interviewed experienced intense pain during and after FGM, and more than 13 percent went into shock.

Hemorrhage can also lead to anemia.

Wound infection, including tetanus: A survey in a clinic outside of Freetown (Sierra Leone) showed that of the 100 girls who had FGM, 1 died and 12 required hospitalization. Of the 12 hospitalized, 10 suffered from bleeding and 5 from tetanus. Tetanus is fatal in 50 to 60 percent of all cases.

Damage to adjoining organs from the use of blunt instruments by unskilled operators: According to a 1993 nationwide study in the Sudan, this occurs approximately 0.3 percent of the time.

Urine retention from swelling and/or blockage of the urethra.

Third, statistical validation from the medical profession establishing the causal relationship between female genital mutilation and the psychological health of victims is not extensive enough to merit considerable quotation here for purposes of serious analysis, since such data from the medical literature are shockingly lacking.

However, some evidence does seem to suggest that the causal relationship is there, but has not been thoroughly studied.

Therefore, there is the need for more research resources to be made available to those with the expertise to study the correlation between these two variables.

For this reason, the World Health Organization can provide much-needed technical assistance in this area. Despite this constraint, the Center for Reproductive Rights has this to say:

There have been few studies on the psychological effects of FGM. Some women, however, have reported a number of problems, such as disturbances in sleep and mood.

Furthermore, Reymond, et al., relate this causal relationship to their readers:

Some researchers describe the psychological effects of FGM as ranging from anxiety to sever depression and psychosomatic illnesses. Many children exhibit behavioral changes after FGM, but problems may not be evident until the child reaches adulthood.

Fourth, what is more, a constellation of problems of infertility, death, increased risks of maternal and child morbidity and mortality resulting from obstructed labor, painful or blocked menses, post-coital bleeding, tissue damage, urine retention, urinary infection, and difficult penetration during sexual intercourse have all been identified with FGM (Reymond at el.).

The practice also reeks of sexism and violation of girls and womens rights (WHO). Also, in some of the areas where the practice is still deeply entrenched, for instance, in Somalia, the level of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, have increased because of the failure of traditional circumcisers to sterilize excision tools between surgeries.

The gravity of this claim demands the undivided attention of the World Health Organization and FGM-prone national governments in addressing this complex issue, especially as it relates to the curtailment of disease transmission. It is reported in the piece, Somali-SomalilandExcisionAIDS: Female Genital Mutilation: Cause of Increased HIV/AIDS in Somalia: Doctors, that:

Objects used for the excision are not sterilized and at the same could again be used to mutilate more women, who could already be HIV-positive.

Additionally, Margaret Brady, a nurse practitioner, with a masters in nursing and extensive experience in her field of expertise, concurs in her masterfully written expose, Female Genital Mutilation: Complications and Risk of HIV Transmission:

It has been postulated that FGM may play a role in the transmission of HIV. One recent article which, was presented at the International Conference on AIDS 1998, was a study performed on 7350 young girls less than 16 years old in Dar-es-Salaam. In addition to other aspects of the research, it was revealed that 97% of the time, the same equipment could be used on 15-20 girls. The conclusion of the study was that the use of the same equipment facilitated HIV/AIDS/STD transmission.

As a final point, the UNFPA also reports:

A recent study that surveyed the status of FGM/C in 28 obstetric centers in six African countriesBurkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudanfound that women who had undergone FGM/C were significantly more likely than others to have adverse obstetric outcomes such as Caesarean sections, post-partum hemorrhaging, prolonged labour, resuscitation of the infant and low birth weight and in-patient prenatal deaths. The inquiry also discovered that the risks seemed to increase among women who had undergone more extensive forms of FGM/C.

Fifth, why does female genital mutilation continue to exist despite widespread backlash against it? Part of the answer relates to the ideological, cultural, and psychological manipulation of the citizenry.

The other part lies with the immense power vested with traditional practitioners to carry out the mutilations, in addition to the attractive financial incentive and coveted social prestige they stand to gain.

Accordingly, any fruitful attempt designed to ameliorate female genital mutilations harmful consequences or to extirpate the practice from the unfathomable recesses of mans consciousness must ultimately come from a frank and profound familiarity with the realistic interplay of these socio-cultural and economic elements.

Therefore, a defensive maneuver calculated to enervate proponents viewpoints and to divest them of their flimsy ideological clothes must surely connect well with these noble objectives. This is also why the following reasons presented by the World Health Organization should be challenged:

It endows a girl with cultural identity as a woman.

It imparts on a girl a sense of pride, a coming of age and admission to the community.

Not undergoing the operation brands a girl as a social outcast and reduces her prospects of finding a husband.

It is part of a mothers duties in raising a girl properly and preparing her for adulthood and marriage.

It is believed to preserve a girls virginity, widely regarded as a prerequisite for marriage, and helps to preserve her morality and fidelity.

Not unsurprisingly, however, these misguided claims are made without any concrete allusion to scientific verification or approbation, even though they may possess some measure of anthropological verity.

Yet the harsh realities on the ground do not impute substantial health benefits to anthropological claims of the practice, let alone be used to justify it.

Thus, the preceding analyses can provide the World Health Organization with indubitable moral and political impetus, at least from the perspective of this essay, to monitor and educate countries associated with the practice and the masses populating them.

Moreover, the challenge now is to formulate a corrective framework within which the World Health Organization should operate in order to bring about the needed changes. This concern is expressed below.

We shall return with Part 2, the concluding segment.
Numbi (DR Congo) (AFP) - In the lush hills of eastern DR Congo, where the trade in rare minerals has long fed unrest, miners complain that recent US rules against "conflict minerals" have bitten into their meagre income.

"Since they brought in this law, things did get worse," said miner Ombeni Chikala in South Kivu, the troubled mineral-rich eastern province of Democratic Republic of Congo.

Introduced in 2010, section 1502 of Washington's Dodd-Frank law -- known to the self-employed miners as "Obama's law" -- requires companies listed on the US stock exchange to report any use of conflict minerals to regulators.

However the US government this year said the law was under review.

Situated to the west of Lake Kivu, the green hills surrounding the small mining town of Numbi in South Kivu are dotted with mining sites -- some just holes in the ground, others large hills reduced to quarries.

Chikala, 32, digs for cassiterite and coltan near Numbi in sites validated as free of conflict minerals by the United Nations and USAID.

Cassiterite (used for tin) and coltan (for tantalum), along with gold ore and wolframite (for tungsten), are the four most common "conflict minerals" extracted by tens of thousands of Congolese miners.

Trade in the minerals, which power the world's consumer electronics, have helped fund and trigger foreign and local wars in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in which millions of people have been killed and displaced in the last decades.

'Tagging is killing us'

Sorting and washing rocks at a cassiterite mining site near Numbi in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

"In the past you could dig 100 kilos (220 pounds), you could take it wherever you want and sell it to anyone you want," said Chikala.

But under the new rules, the miners must comply with a traceability scheme set up by British organisation ITRI Ltd under which minerals are sold down the consumer chain via a system of "bag-and-tagging".

"This tagging system really is killing us," said Chikala's co-worker Byamungu Kabyona, 42.

"In the past we used to work freely, you can dig your stones," Kabyona said.

"You get your stones or you buy your stones, you can sell them to anyone you want, you can take them wherever you want as long as you have the card from the mining ministry and other documents from the government," he added.

Others argue however that the new system helps the small-scale miners.

A repeal of the US regulation would be "a tragedy for the artisanal mining sector," said Fidel Bafilemba, founder and director of the Support Group for Traceability and Transparency in the Management of Natural Resources, known by its French acronym GATT-RN.

"The region has been known for violent artisanal exploitation and if we have made any improvements, it's solely due to the pressure of this US law," he said.

'Completely chaotic'

But local miners are not the only critics.

The immediate consequences of Dodd-Frank were "completely chaotic", said John Kanyoni, managing director of mining company Metachem Sarl and vice president of the Chamber of Mines.

He said economic activity had slumped, with loans lost and "thousands and thousands" of diggers out of work.

In 2014, Kanyoni helped draft a letter signed by 70 industry representatives, researchers, journalists and members of civil society criticising section 1502 and calling for a "more nuanced and holistic approach" with greater local consultation.

Though he acknowledged that the bill had been a "kind of catalyst" for positive change, he stressed that it was often the diggers who had to bear the costs of traceability and transparency.

'Not fair'

"In the end, the diggers (are) the ones who will be losing more," said Kanyoni. "If you're getting two dollars more, three dollars more, this money will be going to the traceability, due diligence and certification schemes.".

Bafilemba, of GATT-RN, agreed, saying self-employed miners earn less for the minerals they sell because of ITRI fees imposed on exporters.

"This money is ... charged back to the miners. So in principle, it's the miners who are paying this money. It's not fair. It should be on the end-users, the giant electronic companies to pay this amount," Bafilemba said.

But while digging near Numbi, 33-year-old Salomon Kahizi said that though the prices had dropped, the area was safer nowadays for these lone miners, who had frequently been victims of robbery in the past.

"When you'd be digging or working they might show up and take everything... But nowadays, those kinds of attacks, we don't see them anymore," Kahizi said.
Banki (Nigeria) (AFP) - The Nigerianarmy calls it "New Banki City", an optimistic name conjuring up visions of modern housing. The reality is an overcrowded camp for 32,000 desperate people made homeless by Boko Haram.

In this ravaged corner of northeast Nigeria, the Islamists frequently launch attacks on military convoys, unleash suicide bombers and litter the surrounding roads and arid bush with mines.

Even the most mundane tasks are treacherous. Desperate for firewood to cook food, 25-year-old Bulama Zarami didn't make it far out of the camp before he triggered a mine.

Shifting from side to side in pain, Zarami says he still feels shrapnel from the explosive in his wounded left leg, which is swollen at the knee and wrapped with blood-stained gauze.

"With Boko Haram we face danger," Zarami told AFP.

The Nigerian military recaptured Banki in September 2015 after fierce battles with the Islamist militants, whose insurgency has killed at least 20,000 in Nigeria alone since 2009.

Along with other towns in Borno state including Monguno, Dikwa and Rann, Banki is an example of the enormous challenge facing Nigeria as it tries to resuscitate civilian life.

"We can't say peace has returned," warned Commander Kenechukwu Otubo, from the 152 battalion stationed in Banki. "They (Boko Haram) have a lot of hideouts we can't get to."

Banki is a mix of bombed-out concrete buildings and white tents protected by a four-metre-high (13 feet) barricade

In Banki, the army's urgent priority isn't to build schools or construct homes, it's digging a trench around the ever-expanding perimeter swollen by internally displaced people (IDPs).

"The unit (battalion) is still faced with the challenge of protecting IDPs, it becomes inevitable to keep expanding and barricading all entry and exit points," said Captain Aminu Abdulmalik.

"If the town is not excavated in the nearest future, we will be exposed to suicide bomb attacks and supporters of Boko Haram terrorists."

Presumed guilty

Banki was recaptured by the army in September 2015 but many are still injured by mines when venturing out

Banki, located on the southeastern rim of Borno state, used to be a bustling trading town but today is one of the last vestiges of Boko Haram's dominance in the region.

It's part of a crescent of off-limits territory that arches past Lake Chad where the battle against Boko Haram is still raging, despite contrary claims from the military and government.

With the enemy so close, everyone is presumed guilty in Banki camp, a mix of bombed-out concrete buildings and white tents protected by a four-metre-high (13 feet) barricade of corrugated metal sheets.

No-one is allowed to leave the patrolled perimeter without permission or keep cell phones out of fear of contacting Boko Haram.

There are few men of fighting age because most have been taken to army-run detention centres.

What remains are the elderly, women and children, who draw eerie pictures of war on the walls with charcoal, depicting swarms of helicopters and men firing lines of bullets into the sky.

Children are estimated to represent a third of the population in Banki. They wear tattered clothes and roam the sandy streets of the camp in packs.

Much of Banki was totally destroyed during battles between the Nigerian army and Boko Haram insurgents.

Without school, they have nothing else to do.

The older generation worries that the inertia of camp life will provide more recruits for the jihadists, who want to create a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria.

"The issue of Boko Haram happened as a result of staying idle without any education," said 56-year-old teacher Alhaji Bulama. "A lack of orientation will make the children join them."

Influx of refugees

No-one is allowed to leave the patrolled perimetre of Banki without permission. There is no school for the children

Current conditions in Banki may soon get worse when some 78,000 Nigerian refugees return from across the border in Cameroon.

The influx of people, who will likely be in desperate need of food and medical care, is "definitely a concern", said Henry Kwenin, of the International Organization for Migration.

It will strain already over-stretched troops and supplies just before the rainy season, which floods roads and makes humanitarian access difficult, if not impossible.

"Banki isn't a place with enough infrastructure to receive those people," said Kwenin in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri.

They have reason to be concerned.

Just a year ago, 10 people were said to be dying of hunger every day in Banki.

Waiting for food distribution in Banki

The UN said in April there was a growing risk of mass deaths in Nigeria, where famine-like conditions have been reported.

Those returning, though, are hoping for a return to normal life.

Trader Abubakar Madu was able to afford the 4,000-naira fee ($13, 11 euros) for himself and his family to take the 24-hour journey by road from Minawao camp in Cameroon.

"I want to live happily with my family," he said but concluded it was hard to say when that might happen.
Emirates SkyCargos freighter aircraft A6-EFL, also nicknamed Rosie because of her rose decal, made a special appearance in Barcelona on the occasion of The Day of the Rose. The Catalan festival, originally St Jordis Day, is celebrated on the 23rd of April every year with locals gifting roses and books to one another.

Earlier this year, Emirates SkyCargo unveiled the rose decal on the Boeing 777F aircraft in Dubai on Valentines day. The decal which was the first of its kind for Emirates SkyCargo highlights the carriers contribution to the global floriculture industry by transporting fresh flowers across the world. In 2016, Emirates SkyCargo transported over 70,000 tonnes of fresh flowers including roses across its network of over 150 destinations across six continents.

Rosies journey

In the two months since the installation of the rose decal, Rosie has been playing her part in facilitating global trade. During this time the aircraft has travelled around the world to over 35 cities in 25 countries across six continents ranging from Australia to the United States. Rosie has also carried over 7,000 tonnes of cargo ranging from general cargo to perishables and even horses. True to her name Rosie has also transported over 550 tonnes of roses over multiple flights between Nairobi in Kenya, Quito in Ecuador to the global flower hub in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Barcelona Freighter Operations

Emirates SkyCargo has been operating a weekly freighter service to Barcelona since March 2016. This service enables the carrier to move large volumes of exports out of Barcelona to other global destinations. Notable exports carried by Emirates SkyCargo from Barcelona include fashion garments, perfumery products, electrical and mechanical products and pharmaceuticals. The freighter allows for customers in Barcelona and the surrounding regions to transport outsized, heavy or unusual cargo that may not fit in the belly hold of the passenger aircraft. In addition to the freighter, Emirates SkyCargo offers customers cargo capacity on its twice daily passenger aircraft to the city.

Emirates SkyCargo is at the forefront of the air cargo industry and operates a modern fleet of 15 aircraft -13 Boeing 777-F and two Boeing 747-400ERFs. In addition to state of the art facilities at its cargo hubs in Dubai, the carrier also offers specialized transportation solutions for the food, pharmaceutical and automotive industries.
04.05.2017 LISTEN

This is sequel to my previous article captioned, "To Suggest That Ibrahim Mahama Should Be Prosecuted - Let Alone Jailed - Is Epitome Of Blatant Ignorance"

If anything at all, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, the MP for Assin Central, compromised the sacred function of the pertinent state institution/s to deal with the apparent 'tax evasion' by CEO of Egineers & Planners, Mr. Ibrahim Mahama. That is to say, if we should afford Kennedy Agyapong the benefit of the doubt that indeed there was wrong doing on the part of the businessman, the best Hon. Ken would have done, was to provide the otherwise evidence of tax-fraud, in secrecy to appropriate organ to deal with Mr. Ibrahim according to constitutionally established Ghanaian anti-fraud laws. But the fact that Hon. Ken could make such wild allegation openly on Tv set smacks the usual unfornate propaganda of calumny on national body politics, the so-called "gutter politics"

But George Loh, former legislator of North Dayie, put the mirror squarely in front of us so that we could appreciate the fact that there wasn't any doubt about the real reflection of what exactly transpired between Ghana Revenue Authority and the business guru. Mr. Loh made two important assertions to clarify things: 1; he actually won a case in our court similar in nature. 2; He argued that when a businessman's cheque bounces, it wasn't the same as a scumbag who goes about defrauding people with dud cheques and the Ghanaian Judge agreed.

Now, the former MP of North Dayie's assertion is what we call in hispanic judicial parlance as "no hay mas pregunta." I don't know if we have same emphatic Ghanaian judicial puntuation which is used to hammer home a point, to wit, 'I rest my case.' In other words, Loh's statement was enough to dispel any figment of doubt on the mind of his colleagues on JoyFm News Programme and those "concerned" Ghanaians, it takes a little bit of extra urge to figure it out - myself as businessman, I have none

Needless to say, Ghana Revenue Authority just like any other internal revenue service elsewhere has the authority/power to place embargo on Mr Ibrahim's assets and aution them to defray existing debt but the stage where the tax official could do that is not reached yet. So I find it be 'administrational tergiversation' that EOCO detained and interrogated the CEO of engineers and Planners. Curiously EOCO actions came the same time the actual president was hosting former presidents. The fact that time of hosting the all former presidents coincided with the detention of Mr. Mahama made many of us to wonder, rather than a call of national atmosphere of conviviality, there was orchestrated agenda to embarrass the immediate past president John Dramani Mahama--the beleaguered businessman's brother

I sincerely expected Messrs. Fadi Dabbosusi, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako and lawyers: Bentil and Ampaw not only to question the intentions of EOCO, also, whether the detention and interrogation of Mr. Ibrahim was in line with constitutional provision of Ghana. For starters, it is national security (police, BNI and military personnel) who are equipped with dissuading tactics to detain and/or psychological techniques to interrogate.

In other words, EOCO detention and interrogation of Mr. Mahama was violation of his constitutional rights. Even if EOCO is mandated by law to detain and interrogate any individual, group or organisation, that legislation must carefully be reviewed. Am compelled to believe a report making rounds that EOCO unilaterally took that decision on its own, and that, GRA didn't pass on any directive to it, because as l said earlier, GRA has its own power of embargo and forfeiture hence wouldn't need intervention of Economic and Organized Crime Ofice(EOCO)

At worst, it would have forwarded the case to court as we have seen SSNIT do. In the West, SSNIT(social security), municipal assembly together with internal Revenue service, all have power of embargo and forfeiture, so l expect those in my motherland also do. The question that majority of Ghanaians especially those in the Diaspora are asking is; "why all anti-corruption organs in the country have failed, that is, why hadn't they been able to even curb corruption to minimal level if we don't want to talk about total elimination of corruption? And the answer is, the likes of EOCO etc. - am surmising- are either even more corrupt than the individuals and institutions they are purported to be policing or they are merely incompetent. That is why l have suggested to the new president, Nana Addo that, save the yet to be established prosecutors office is implemented in the manner that answers why the current anti-corruption institutions have failed, it will fail too

I reproach EOCO for what l consider as face-saving act to cover up perennially institutional failures. Failures that led to invitation of experts from abroad to investigate recent rush of fire in the country. The basic steps of any fire investigation is what is denominated as "point of origin." That is where the fire started, is the basic clue of any comprehensive fire investigations. Myself, not fire service personnel know that. So l was mesmerized and ground away in utter disbelief at the news that we had intention to invite experts from abroad to investigate "common" fire

Is there any wonder why the findings are not made known to the public since the investigation concluded many years ago? Am alleging that the results are what any well-meaning Ghanaian could envisage; substandard wires from China, bad connection and overloading of electrical appliances in electricity connection point might have dominated the findings. The findings no matter how embarrassing they may be, must be made public because the bills were footed with public (pardon the pun) purse

As for yet to be established prosecutors office, my advice to the president is take and train some state attorneys and national security, possibly BNI officials in anti-corruption forensic investigation. In that, national security will do 90% of the work while state attorneys will do 10% in court. And should we need experts, don't hesitate to use university professors we have all over the country. That is how the accolade of 'police state' came into being in the Western countries. After all, wasn't the police who arrested, indicted and arraigned former french president Nicholas Sarkozy before court? In Israel, police are about to indict Prime Minister Netanyahu's wife, the First Lady before court, in Spain, the police haven't arrested PM Mariano Rajoy because of national pride. But the police has hinted something to that effect. Now the question is could any civil institutions anywhere of the type "EOCO" dream of arresting a pet of the aforementioned personalities and your guess will be as mine

Finally, no discerning Ghanaian writing about issues that bother on national interests can afford to miss out the raging NPP war against Galamsey. Fortunately the debate on JoyFM Newsfiles programme was also centered on the War Against Galamsey of which l agreed with the panalists irrespective individual stance. I commend the sector minister Hon. Peter Amewu and most especially the president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for his courage

I believe, within the dynamics of NPP, there was consensus that enough of the arm-twisting; when foreigners take advantage of hospitality of our people, first it was Europeans who came to exploit our natural resources and sold our people into slavery, and now we have the Chinese following the steps of European colonial masters with their illegal activities of surface mining called Galamsey

But that resolve is in sharp contradiction with solicitation of Mr. Fadi Dabbousi to belittle our people and institutions. Due to "presumption of innocence" stipulated by our constitution, Mr. Fadi should have captioned his article using the word "prosecute" instead of "jail" in his reference to allegedly Mr. Ibrahim Mahama "tax fraud"

Agobodzo, Richard

Agobodzo Richard is concerned Ghanaian businessman based in Europe. You can contact Agobodzo Richard through [email protected] or www.facebook.com/Agobodzo Richard
The newly confirmed mayor of cape coast metropolitan Assembly Mr. Ernest Arthur has called on support from the people of Cape Coast both home and abroad to be united to back him address problems with in his jurisdiction for rapid socio-economic development.

He made this call after he secured an irresistible endorsement by the Assembly members to confirm his appointment as current Metropolitan Chief Executive for Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly on Tuesday.

He said Once the selection process is over and having been duly elected, I wish to call on all and sundry to be united as we build a new Cape Coast. To other applicants for this position, I pledge my commitment to work with you to bring Cape Coast to a worthy state, he urged

He said the support will also empower him to address the problems of falling standards of education, joblessness, poverty and poor sanitation in the metropolis.

Mr. Ernest Arthur who was one of the 212 nominees for the position of MMDCEs announced by the President, Nana Akufo-Addo garnered 98.6% of the total votes cast by the Assembly Members which a total of 58 members voted for his nomination while two voted against him, and three ballots declared rejected by the electoral commission with three absenteeism.

In his accepting speech, he also thanked the chiefs and people of Cape Coast and assured to run all-inclusive and translucent administration without animosity.

The Mayor expressed his commitment to build on the works of his predecessors, adding that, at this point, ours is to take the lessons from the past and put them into good use as we seek to address the problems of our people.

According to Mr. Arthur, Cape Coast is open for investments and his administration will do everything realistically possible to assist the investors to ensure that they succeed in the metropolis he added.

Mr. Arthur expressed gratitude to the president for his nomination and also to the immediate past MCE of the CCMA, Hon. Priscilla Arhin-Korankye for her hard work.

HIS BACKGROUND

Hon. Ernest Arthur is a graduate of Cape Coast Technical University formerly Cape Coast Polytechnic. He continued his education at Atlantic International University, United States of America with specialization in Marketing Studies.

He will graduate from Atlantic International University in August this year with a Masters Degree in Marketing Studies.

He is a businessman with interest in Oil and Gas. He is the owner and Chief Executive Officer of ERNART Enterprise Ltd and Fish Farming.

In 2010, Mr. Ernest Arthur, won the Best Fish Farmer award in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly. Between 2005 and 2008, he worked as a Deputy Western Regional Premix Coordinator. Currently, Hon. Ernest Arthur is the Constituency Chairman of the Cape Coast South for New Patriotic Party.

THE CENTRAL REGIONAL MINISTER

The Central Regional Minister, Hon. Kwamena Duncan, also commended the Assembly members for colossally endorsing the Presidents nominee and called on them to offer their persistent support to the new chief executive for a successful administration.

ELECTION OF PRESIDING MEMBER

The Assembly had also at long last elected Mr. Joel Eshun as its Presiding Member (PM) on that same day after several attempts to elect Lawrence Ampah for presiding member position had proved futile.

Mr Eshun polled 58 votes of the total 61 votes cast while two voted against him and three ballots declared rejected with also three absentees.

It was a thrill when Cape Coast District Court judge, Ms. Gloria Mensah-Bonsu administered the oath of office to both the new Mayor and the new presiding member for the Assembly at the same day.
The Minister of Energy, Hon. Boakye Agyarko, together with his Ghanaian delegation including Deputy Energy Minister in charge of Petroleum, Hon. Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, Deputy Energy Minister in charge of Finance and Infrastructure, Hon. Joseph Cudjoe, and other technocrats represented Ghana at this years Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston Texas, United States.

The conference which is scheduled from May 1, 2017 to May 4, 2017 is the largest event in the world for the oil and gas industry featuring more than 2,300 exhibitors, and attendees representing 100 countries.

The Minister and his team met with key stakeholders in the global oil and gas landscape to, amongst other things, promote Ghanas oil and gas sector. Hon Agyarko also had meeting with major oil companies both those operating in Ghana currently as well as new entrants to attract investment in Ghanas petroleum sector.

Founded in 1969, OTCs flagship conference is held annually in Houston. OTC has expanded globally with the Arctic Technology Conference, OTC Brasil, OTC Asia, and d5.

Hon Boakye Agyarko (middle), Hon Mohammed Amin Adam (5th Right), Hon Joseph Cudjoe (3rd Left) And Other Dignitaries After A Meeting At The Otc

Energy Minister In A Meeting Together With The Ghanaian Delegation
The notorious Alfred Agbesi Woyome is on record to have been aided by some NDC gurus and/or government appointees to dupe Ghana out of GHS51.2 million. His swindling of Ghana was conspicuously facilitated by Mrs Betty Mould-Iddrisu, the then Attorney General, with Barton Odro and Alex Segbefia playing their own little collusive roles. In the end, Alfred Agbesi Woyome, the self-styled principal financier of the NDC, a braggart of course, was unearthed to have simply hatched and executed a teamwork plan to steal money from Ghana to help himself, to help the NDC party and to help some individuals within the NDC party hence a criminal and an unmatched expert swindler in the financial history of Ghana.

When he acknowledged on Peace FM to have not signed any contract with the government of Ghana nor worked for the nation to qualify for the money he had defrauded Ghana of, we still had and have some NDC members and his tribesmen rallying support for him to intimidate people into believing that he had rightly obtained the money. He started blowing hot and cold air about his acquisition of the money  sometimes bragging that he was rightfully entitled to the money so fraudulently acquired and at other times being a bit remorseful but threatening to expose many people should he be prosecuted without NDC doing anything to block it.

This attitude made it difficult for the NDC government to successfully prosecute him or to retrieve the money from him until today.

From the look of things and how things are unfolding with regards to Ibrahim Mahama, the younger brother of former President John Dramani Mahama, he is on track to outpace Alfred Agbesi Woyome in the race of swindlers of Ghana.

Ibrahim Mahama imported heavy duty machineries into the country without paying the requisite import duties on the items. To make matters worse in proving his evil intents and how he was abusing his powers for the fact that his brother was the President hence could commit crimes with impunity, he issued about forty-four dud cheques in payment of the goods so imported.

When a computation was made consequent upon the evidential information made available to the public and the relevant government organisations, Ibrahim Mahama owed the government in excess of GHC12 million in unpaid duties on his imported goods since year 2015. Again, he had not paid his workers their insurance contributions totalling about GHC2 million to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT).

The price for the 30-acre land he purchased from the Tema Development Corporation (GHC10,000 per acre) to shortly sell them to a foreign Electricity Company for an alleged US$300 million for the 30-acre land and refilling of the site makes one perceive the degree and extent that Ibrahim Mahama could go to rip off Ghana.

Was he not the same person who part-contributed to the collapse of the Ghana Merchant Bank only to later buy the bank with some NDC crooks when the bank went into administration and/or bankruptcy?

I am sure many more of his committed crimes to swindle Ghana will keep coming out and in the end he may have outpaced Alfred Agbesi Woyome. This is the extent that former President Mahama, a corrupt person himself, could go to allow his cronies, family members and his party members enrich themselves illegally at the expense of the Ghanaian taxpayers.

If NDC had won Election 2016, Alfred Agbesi Woyome would never pay back the money he so fraudulently deprived Ghana of with Ibrahim Mahama on the other hand getting mired in his evil ways of duping the nation and the taxpayers of preciously needed money to carry out essential developments in the country.

I say, shame on Ibrahim Mahama, Mr alias Pepeni no. 1 and Pepeni no. 2. What a crook!

Could the British bookmakers tell me which of the mentioned two individuals here (Alfred Agbesi Woyome and Ibrahim Mahama) will win or is winning the race to have swindled Ghana most?

Ibrahim Mahama and Alfred Agbesi Woyome, on your marks, get set, prrrrrrrr go! Who is winning the race of the greatest swindler of Ghana? Let us hold our breath waiting for who reaches the finishing touchline first, thus, who emerges as having defrauded Ghana most in terms of the quantity of money that person has dubiously acquired.

Rockson Afdofo

(Written on Thursday, 2017)
A GNA feature by Mohammed Abdul Rashid

Accra, May 3, GNA - The mass media is the primary means through which the public is educated, enlightened and shapes opinion.

The 1966 coup that ousted the first President - Dr Kwame Nkrumah, succeeded largely through the use of the media to announce the change in government.

The 2008 post-elections violence in Kenya was said to have been precipitated by longstanding historical issues played out through violence along ethnic lines.

However, the media were accused of wafting the flames.

In 1964, the Nigeria government media were used to announce that more than 50 per cent of the candidates of the ruling party in the Federal House of Representatives were returned unopposed without voting.

It is clear therefore that the media have positive and negative effect on the society.

One positive effect of the media is the effect on government efforts to end illegal mining popularly referred to as galamsey.

On March 23 there was a media report with a banner headline: 'Graphic, GIBA, media to stop galamsey.'

Members of the coalition includes: The Private Newspaper Publishers Association (PRINPAG), Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) and News Times Corporation.

The members came together to sensitise the public about the horrors of galamsey and seeks support to uproot the illegal miners from Ghana.

It is by this far I believe that, the fight against corruption can only be achievable if the media stage the same campaign against it as against the galamsey menace, to educate the public on the dangers of the act.

Those in the high offices and staging the many fights against corruption need to be aware of the power of the media to aid in the fight.

The media may not be at the fore front in the fight against corruption, however, their works are crucial in achieving the cultural change that must be accompanied by legislation to facilitate the institutional arrangements that are needed for the fight the canker.

The media are watchdogs, agenda setters, and gatekeepers that can monitor the quality of governance, set stages for the discussion of corruption, and as well as lend voice to a wide range of perspectives and arguments.

The media can be crucial in changing people's beliefs about the prevalence and legitimacy of corruption.

It is widely believed that, every society is built on norms which are standards of expected behaviours and thus regulate the way we interact with each other and deal with issues.

The tendency of people accepting corruption, or standing up against it depends on whether they are aware that it is wrong.

It is therefore important that the media launches another campaign and this time not against some individuals or group of individuals but against every Ghanaian involved in corruption.

GNA
UML Chair Oli issues ultimatum to govt to withdraw impeachment motion

CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli has said that his party would not allow the parliament to function unless the impeachment motion against Chief Justice Sushila Karki is withdrawn.
The taxi driver Mr. Johnson Afeti who drove under three minutes into the yard of the Fire Service Head Office to alert them of the fire outbreak at the Coconut Groove Hotel has described media reports purpoting to bring the name of the Chief Fire Officer into disrepute as unfortunate and baseless.

The Coconut Grove Regency Hotel in Accra tasted a touch of hell when fire gutted sections of the building which houses a branch of Dr. Nduoms GN Bank and also one of his fleet of stations, Business Television Africa (BTA)

Speaking in an interview with Mr. Afeti in the aftermath of the doused fire, he told The New Crusading GUIDE that at the time of the fire outbreak, he was supposed to pick someone from around the hotel but when he showed up he realized that the person was not ready from where he was driving by on the street he saw the flames at first hand and didnt hesitate to drive straight to the fire service yard because it was just a few meters away from the Coconut Grove Hotel.

He said, it was when he was leaving that he saw that the workers of Group Nduom were running helter skelter from the TV studios I saw people running gigidi from the top to down and also heard the receptionist shouting whats the number for fire service.

According to him, he drove straight to the headquarters of the Fire service and made a report where a certain woman he referred to as madam attended to him. Mr. Afeti said, before he could finish his narrative, the madam raised the alarm and the firemen zoomed out of the premise to the fire scene. It was after they had left that she took my details as the one to have first reported the matter to them.

In a separate interview with one of the fire officers (name witheld) who was part of the service men deployed on the scene, he said that they did their best to contain the fire upon arrival at the fire scene and thats why I didnt spread to the main hotel area except the places where it was mostly wooden structures.

But since we are dealing with humans you will always have those who will criticize your work and those who will praise you because while we were busy approaching the situation from purely professional and technical angle, there ordinary citizens who were also standing by and trying to direct us as to where we should be spraying the water but it doesnt work like that, he opined.

As for those who are busy trying to denigrate our Chief fire officerin the media we can live with that after all its that time and season where people do all sorts of machinations for political appointments at the expense of the incumbent but all shall pass, he emphasized.

The fire officer officer also bemoaned the rumours that they arrive with empty tenders but there were five tender stationed and fighting whiles the other nine were running to and fro to replenish the stationary ones with water and thats why people thought we arrived with empty tanks which is not true.

He added that over the period, the service had chalked successes and improved upon response time due to availability of fairly new vehicles and this can be confirmed by the efficient operational response in controlling the Ashiaman Tanker fire, La gas explosion, Ashfoam fire and the June 3rd which earned the appreciation and admiration of the Ghanaian public.
The Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) of commercial banks is likely to worsen if government fails to stop the illegal trade in the petroleum downstream sector.

According to the Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMCs), the development has made it difficult for their members to repay debts due to the low sales.

The caution by the OMCs follows the surge in the illegal sale of petroleum products by unregulated businesses.

It's a very dire situation in that if this one continues we will not be able to service our debt obligation as we ought to because we rely on this sale of fuel to generate our revenue. So if the revenue is not forth coming it remains difficult to determine where you could get money to service your debt on a monthly basis, the CEO of the AOMCs, Kwaku Agyeman Duah said on Business Today.

Already the NPLs of banks have increased by about 36 percent as at February this year 2017.

Some banks have also cited the huge debt burden in the energy sector as reasons for their non performance in recent years.

Mr. Agyeman-Duah further cautioned that the banks would be compelled to shy away from granting credit in order to avert the huge losses.

It's a chain reaction to affected banks, the non-performing loans of the banks will also be higher and if we don't take care we will have our banks recoiling to their old selves as they used to be, he observed.

The unbridled activities carried out by the illegal traders have made the genuine businesses uncompetitive.

This is largely due to the fact that the products of the genuine companies have been rendered uncompetitive as their products are relatively expensive compared to the illegal ones.

The OMCs have also threatened of job layoffs which are likely to affect at least 4000 employees in the sector.

They have since appealed to the Presidency to intervene after a two day ultimatum to get their concerns addressed.



By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
04.05.2017 LISTEN

The day before yesterday we were told by the First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, that her husband was not as ill as most of us believed and that despite his obvious challenges he has continued to "carry out his responsibilities".

On the same day the media went to great lengths to convince us, without providing any pictures, that the President had resumed work and that he had had a series of fruitful and productive meetings with his Minister of Justice and the Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) respectively.

They assured us that he would definately preside over the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting which was scheduled to hold the following day.

All of these assertions proved to be false. Buhari has now missed his FOURTH Federal Ececutive Council meeting in a row due to his chronic and debilitating ill health.

Whoever is holding this poor, frail, sick and elderly man to ransom and keeping him in the Presidential Villa, probably against his will, is wicked and ungodly and he or she is committing a grave sin against God and the Nigerian people.

It is clear that the President is no longer fit to govern. It is obvious that his time is almost up. It is self-evident that for him the bell is tolling.

It is incontrivertable that those around him have held him captive and are indulging in what I once described in an essay that I wrote seven years during the last days of President Umaru Yar'adua as "corpsocracy". The essay was titled ''Corpocracy: A Gift From Umaru To The Modern World''.

Simply put corpsocracy means the rulership of the living by the dead. It is the art of hiding a walking corpse, a comatose zombie or what some have described as the "living dead" in a cupboard in the Presidential Villa, telling the world that it is hale and hearty and then ruling and running the country in its name.

This is what happened during Yar'adua's last four months on earth whilst he still had one foot in the land of the living and it is happening to Buhari today.

Such was the ruthless and cold-blooded deception that Yar'adua's inner circle brought into the equation that they managed to convince the Nigerian people and indeed the entire world that a President that was totally comatose and literally brain-dead managed to sign the 2010 budget all the way from dream-land.

They also managed to conjure up a fake but convincing telephone interview with the BBC television service which millions of unsuspecting viewers, including yours truly, watched and listened to from all over the world.

Such was the angst of the management of the BBC when the truth was unearthed and they finally discovered that they had been misled, conned, duped and used that the northern Nigerian woman that organised the so-called "interview", passing off Yar'adua's brother's voice as Yar'adua himself, was expeditiously and unceremoniously sacked.

Her name was Jamilah Tangaza and she was the head of the BBC Hausa service at the time. She was also a double agent of both the MI6, the United Kingdom's secretive international spy agency and Nigeria's external spy agency known as the National Intelligence Agency (NIA). One is constrained to ask: what have the Nigerian people not been subjected to or seen?

All these dirty games conducted in a sqaulid and sordid attempt to hold on to power at all costs. Yet worse of all are the nauseating mendacities that the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, keeps churning out. Yesterday he told us that Buhari did not attend the FEC meeting this week because he was "still resting".

Equally amusing was the absurd assertion from the Minister of Transport, the pot-bellied creek-Haramite known as Rotimi Amaechi, who claims that he "is not corrupt" and that he "does not like money" and who told Nigerians that Buhari was now "putting on weight", was "much better" and that he was "fit enough to run for the Presidency in 2019".

Honestly one wonders if these creatures have any genuine love and compassion for their principal because if they did instead of telling us lies about his medical condition they would simply get on their knees and beg him to resign.

One wonders if they have any shame. It is very clear to me that they are all under an accursed hex or Luciferean spell. They have been bound and blinded in body, spirit and soul.

This is a classic case of the Living God hardening Pharaoh's heart unto destruction. Yet sadly those in power, including Buhari himself, are so obsessed with that power that they cannot see it.

Instead of letting God's people go and bringing to an end the wickedness, persecution, slaughter and destruction of their perceived enemies, the Buhari administration has gone into full throttle and unleashed even more havoc on members of the opposition and those that they hate.

A few examples will suffice.

A couple of weeks ago when my younger brother Mr. Deji Adeyanju, the stormy petrel of Nigerian political activism, together with his equally dynamic colleague Mr. Ariyo Dare Atoye, organised protest marches across the country demanding for the release of the great Biafran leader and irrepressable Igbo nationalist Prince Nnamdi Kanu, they were both promptly arrested and briefly detained by the police.

The same thing happened to them again in Abuja a few days later after they organised yet another demonstration, this time calling for the release of two online bloggers and journalists, Mr. Austin Okai and Miss Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo.

It didn't stop there. Two days ago the Southern Kaduna's Peoples Union (SOKAPU) went on a march in Unity Square, Abuja protesting about the continued mass murder, genocide, butchering and ethnic cleansing of their Christian brothers and sisters and people by Buhari's kinsmen, the Fulani militias and herdsmen.

Amongst their ranks was the courageous, refreshing, young, articulate, brilliant and bright rising star of Nigeria's Middle Belt zone, Miss Ndi Kato.

Sadly instead of being treated with sensitivity and compassion and being given assurances that the killings would stop and the killers would be brought to justice, they were insulted, beaten, brutalised and dispersed with batons and tear gas by the Nigerian police.

When elements of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group led by Mrs. Aisha Yesufu joined them as a mark of solidarity, they were brutalised and dispersed as well.

Worse still Aliyu Babangida, the former Governor of Niger State, Sule Lamido, the former Governor of Jigawa state, Ibrahim El Zak Zaky, the leader of Nigeria's Shiite Muslims, Sambo Dasuki, the former National Security Advisor to President Goodluck Jonathan and countless other opposition leaders and opponents of the government remain languishing in detention cells and prisons all over the country whilst plans are afoot to frame up and arrest numerous others like the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.

This is clearly a government and a President of "no going back". Like Shakespeare's Macbeth they are "so far steeped in blood that should they wade no more, returning would be as tedious as to go over.

Yet the price for their chosen path, their sheer cruelty and callousness and their sanguine disposition is very high.

It is not just a matter of Buhari possibly dying in office as a consequence of whatever it is that has afflicted him but also what the aftermath of his death will bring.

Baba Bisi Akande, a leading member of the APC and one of the most reverred and credible figures in the country, has already fired a warning shot on behalf of the Vice President and the south-west by saying that nobody should mistake 2017 for 1993.

For those that are too young to know what he is saying is that if Buhari dies no-one should dream of scuttling Professor Yemi Osinbajo's succession and thereby deprive the south-west of the Presidency like they did in 1993 when Chief MKO Abiola's mandate was annuled by the northern military simply because they did not want a southern President.

This is a timely and useful intervention by Baba Akande but sadly it has fallen on deaf ears. The cabal and the ultra-conservative core north (which is the constituency that Buhari represents) has already made up its mind.

As a matter of fact the spokesman of the Northern Patriotic Assembly issued a prompt response to him yesterday and warned him and other "leaders from the south-west" to desist from making what they described as "such immoral and despicable statements".

Again at the instance of the northern elders and leaders, the APC Youth Wing issued an even sterner warning and advised Akande to "go for a physchiatric test" for suggesting that the ill health of the President was taking its toll on the nation.

As far as these people are concerned the Presidency of Nigeria belongs to the north and whether Buhari lives or dies, it must stay there.

Worse still their view is that if they cannot have it then nobody will. That is the beastly mindset of those that we are contending with. And those that suffer from it will certainly come to an equally beastly end.

The truth is that President Muhammadu Buhari, his evil administration and those that they represent are venal and malevolent. They have been rejected by the Living God.

His is a government of compulsive liars, sadistic tyrants, blood-thirsty pyschopaths, closet kleptomaniacs, ethnic supremacists, radical Islamists, skull and bone diviners and voodoo merchants.

The fact of the matter is that whether they like it or not we are entering the end game. Everything is coming to a head. The next few months will be instructive and critical and much will happen that will surprise and shock the world and the Nigerian people.

To the spiritually sensitive and discerning one thing is clear: this dispensation is almost over. The beast is dying. The flesh is rotting. The vultures are gathering. The sky has turned black and a new era approaches.

Yet even in sickness, death and decay the tyrant and his followers revel in deception, treachery, doublespeak, blood-lust and wickedness.

My advice to them is to humble themselves and FEAR GOD before it is too late!

My counsel to them is to let this sick and elderly man resign in peace and allow him to go home to take care of his health and make his peace with God.

My appeal to them is to be sensitive to the Spirit and to recognise the fact that he has been struck and mortally wounded by the sword of the Lord.

My prayer to them is to accept the fact that he has been pierced with the arrow of God, he has been hit by the east wind of destruction, he has been afflicted with a deep spiritual wound and he is suffering from God's judgement: it is time for him to GO!
GENEVA, 4 May 2017 - The Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue (The Geneva Centre) will convene, in cooperation with the UNESCO Liaison Office in Geneva, the International Bureau of Education (IBE) - UNESCO and the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United Nations Office in Geneva, a panel discussion aimed at reviewing the role of education in enhancing equality of citizenship rights and diversity within communities affected by inter-communal civil strife.

The panel discussion, entitled Human rights: Enhancing equal citizenship rights in education, will take place on Friday 12 May 2017, from 12:00 to 14:00, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva (Room XII).

It will be organized at the sidelines of the 27th session of the Universal Periodic Review under the Human Rights Council, scheduled to take place from 1 to 12 May 2017.

The Chairman of the Geneva Centres Board of Management, H. E. Dr. Hanif Al Qassim, the Director of the UNESCO Liaison Office, Mr. Abdulaziz Almuazaini, and the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United Nations Office in Geneva, H. E. Ambassador Yusuf Abdulkarim Bucheeri, will deliver inaugural addresses.

The panel will consist of experts with extensive knowledge in the field of education, particularly in post-conflict situations and reconciliation in community settings. The following panel members will participate at the panel session:

Dr. Fawzi Rahman Al Jowder , Acting Undersecretary for Education and Curricular Affairs at the Ministry of Education of the Kingdom of Bahrain ;

, Acting Undersecretary for Education and Curricular Affairs at the Ministry of Education of the Kingdom of Bahrain Dr. Ana Maria Velasquez, Associate Professor at Universidad de los Andes (Colombia);

Associate Professor at Universidad de los Andes (Colombia); Prof. Sunethra Karunaratne, Former Professor at University of Peradeniya (Sri Lanka);

Former Professor at University of Peradeniya (Sri Lanka); Mr. Renato Opertti, Senior Programme Specialist at IBE-UNESCO;

Senior Programme Specialist at IBE-UNESCO; Prof. Osman El-Hajje, Vice-President of Ius Primi Viri and President of the Human Rights Centre of Jinan University (Lebanon);

Vice-President of Ius Primi Viri and President of the Human Rights Centre of Jinan University (Lebanon); Ms. Kristina Kaihari , Counsellor of Education - History and Citizenship Education at the National Agency of Education (Finland);

, Counsellor of Education - History and Citizenship Education at the National Agency of Education (Finland); Mrs. Samar Kildani, the National Director of the El Hassan Youth Award in Jordan, will be the discussant of the meeting.

The focus of the panel discussion will be on three case studies - Bahrain, Colombia, and Sri Lanka - to assess their respective attempts to promote equal citizenship rights as part of human rights education in their national curricula.

The discussion will draw on the pilot expertise of Finland as a model of successful integration of human rights and citizenship values within national curricula.

The purpose of the panel debate will be to analyse the impact of training to promote equal citizenship as part of human rights training in school curricula and teaching methodologies with the broader aim of promoting a culture of peace and developing healthy, inclusive and fair societies. It aims at broadening the discussion on human rights and global citizenship education to encompass the promotion of equal and inclusive citizenship rights through education within national societies. Enhancing equal and inclusive citizenship rights fits against the backdrop of education on human rights and global citizenship, echoing at the domestic level the same ideals of a more tolerant, cohesive, and peace-driven world.

The Executive Director of the Geneva Centre Ambassador Idriss Jazairy stated that the panel debate is a timely opportunity to discuss the role of education in promoting and in enhancing at the domestic level equal and inclusive citizenship rights. Education has the potential of playing an important role in strengthening inter-ethnic and inter-religious cooperation in societies permeated by conflict and violence. We need to further explore the transformative power of education in building societies based on the principles of peace, tolerance and social harmony.
Some residents of Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo regional has commended journalists in the region for their hardworking and huge contribution of requisite information, they give to the public.

They residents said, now a days it is hardly to see an information delivered by journalists to the public been palpably falsehood, because of that they (residents) are so proud of having them (Journalists) in their midst since any information going around the Region and the country as a whole is not hindered to them.

They said, despised all the emotional terrible events like accidents, beatings denial of information they require, strained relationship and physical symptoms like headaches and nausea they go through before they get the information items to feed us made it clear evidence that the Brong Ahafo regional press is performing extremely marvelously well.

They made this known during an interview with Metro 90.5FM Sunyani based radio in Sunyani to commemorate world press freedom day celebration which aimed to evaluate press freedom around the world, to defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession.

They added that the freedom for the press is at risk hence a collective effort must be done by government, corporate bodies and all who matters to come in the aid of the press to make an amendment to the rules and regulation that governs the press and its freedom, so as to enable the media personnel to work wholeheartedly without feeling of fear and panic.

We are urging the lawmakers and government workers to make media a freedom friendly by given them needed information and protection they need, they stated, for them(Press) to work harder to uplift the banner of peace in the country the concluded.

They also advised medias who are not performing well to exhibit objectivity, re-strategize and be guided by their ethics of the profession.


President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Tuesday arrived in the Togolese capital, Lome, to a rousing reception by residents at the commencement of his three-day visit.

President Akufo-Addo, who made the trip to Togo by road, was met at the Aflao border by the Togolese President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe, together with hundreds of Ghanaians and Togolese who had lined up the principal streets of Aflao to Lome.

President Akufo-Addo with President Faure Gnassingbe

Amidst the waving of miniature flags of the two countries, Presidents Akufo-Addo and Gnassingbe acknowledged the cheers from the ecstatic residents, as the two leaders made their way to the presidential palace for their first meeting.

They were met at the palace by Togolese politician, Gilchrist Olympio, son of Sylvanus Olympio, Togos first President.

President Akufo-Addo at the presidential palace with President Gnassingbe

President Akufo-Addo, President Gnassingbe and Gilchrist Olympio at the presidential palace

Gilchrist Olympio was a long-time opponent of the regime of Gnassingbe Eyadema, and was President of the Union of Forces for Change (UFC)  Togos main opposition party from the 1990s till 2013  when he responded to the calls by President Faure Gnassingbe, son of the late President Eyadema, for national reconciliation, which saw him take a senior position in the Togolese State.

President Akufo-Addo's visit to Togo is part of the first phase of his tour of countries in the ECOWAS region.

The visit will afford him the opportunity to formally introduce himself as the new Ghanaian leader to the governments and peoples of Ghana's neighbouring countries, explore and deepen bilateral relations with them, and reiterate Ghana's full commitment to the ECOWAS project.

Day two of President Akufo-Addo's tour yesterday saw him visiting the Noepe border post, accompanied by President Faure Gnassingbe, before they held bilateral talks at the presidential palace.

Foreign Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway; Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kyerematen; National Security Minister, Albert Kan Dapaah; Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery; Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul; Sanitation and Water Resources Minister, Kofi Adda, are among President Akufo-Addo's delegation.

President Akufo-Addo being welcomed by Trade and Industry Minister

President Akufo-Addo welcomed by Foreign Affairs Minister at Aflao

The president will also be taken on a tour of the harbour at Lome before interacting with the Ghanaian community in Togo.

A state dinner hosted by the Togolese president was held in honour of the Ghanaian head of state.

Nana Akufo-Addo departs this morning for Ouagadougou to begin his two-day working tour of Burkina Faso.
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Maputo (AFP) - Mozambique's opposition leader Afonso Dhlakama on Thursday extended indefinitely a unilateral truce he first announced in December, calling it the "beginning of the end" of the war between his rebels and the government.

"Today I announce an indefinite truce. It is not the end of the war, but it is the beginning of the end," Dhlakama, whose Renamo party is the main opposition in the country, told journalists.

"This is great news for the people of Mozambique," he said, speaking from his hideout in central Mozambique at a news briefing transmitted to the media assembled at Renamo headquarters in the capital Maputo.

Dhlakama had retreated in October 2015 to the central Gorongosa mountain range with 800 former fighters demanding a greater share of power.

His former rebel fighters -- who waged a bloody 1976-1992 civil war that claimed one million lives -- took up arms again in 2013 against the ruling Frelimo party, accusing its leaders of enriching themselves at the expense of the southern African country.

The fighting had often focused on the country's main roads, with Renamo attacking government convoys and civilian vehicles, and soldiers accused of ruthlessly targeting suspected rebels in nearby villagers.

The violence sent thousands of people fleeing to government-run camps, relatives' homes or across the border to Malawi and Zimbabwe.

Dhlakama first declared a ceasefire in December, and renewed it twice for two months in January and in March to allow time for peace negotiations with the government.

In February President Filipe Nyusi announced a new round of peace talks, but minus the international mediators who had previously been involved in the process in 2016.

Apart from a few isolated incidents, the truce has generally held since Christmas eve.

'No more shooting'

Dhlakama on Thursday admitted there was "no political agreement yet" to mark the end of the war.

But he stressed the importance of the truce.

"An open-ended truce means that there is no more shooting, that people can move freely, that investors -- if still scared -- can return," he said.

He was optimistic that government would soon pull out its troops from the centre of the country where they had been deployed.

"Government is committed to the complete withdrawal from all its military positions in Gorongosa region," he said, adding that by June all government soldiers would have returned to their base camps.

Dhlakama however did not say when he would return from his hideout.

Renamo and the government had previously signed a ceasefire on the eve of the October 2014 general elections.

But then Renamo refused to accept the results of the poll when it was beaten once again at the ballot box by Frelimo, the ex-Marxist party, which has been in power since the former Portuguese colony's independence 40 years ago.

Renamo spokesman Antonio Muchanga, said the latest truce would help speed up the negotiations towards a definitive end of the conflict, expressing the hope that "by the end of this year everything will be resolved".

Mozambique ranks among the eight poorest countries in the world.
04.05.2017 LISTEN

United Bank for Africa (UBA) Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of the UBA Plc, which is one of Africa's leading financial institutions has been nominated for the 'Best Retail Bank in Africa' Award 2017 by the prestigious African Banker Magazine.

The Awards, which are hosted by the African Banker Magazine, will be held during the Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB) on Wednesday 23 May at the Regency Hyatt in Ahmedabad, India.

This is the first time the AfDBs Annual meetings will be held in India, and more precisely in the Gujarat State, which is where Prime Minister Narendra Modi used to be Governor.

As a shareholder in the African Development Bank, the Indian government offered to host this years Annual Meetings with the aim of strengthening economic ties between India, one of the worlds fastest growing countries with a population of 1.4bn, and with historic trading, economic and political ties with African countries.

The awards which are held under the high patronage of the African Development Bank are sponsored by the African Guarantee Fund, the Bank of Industry, the PTA Bank, the African Trade Insurance Agency and the Ecobank-Nedbank alliance.

The Gala Dinner and Awards presentation will take place at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Ahmedabad, on the evening of 23rd May.
The only improvement on the press terrain since the last celebration of World Press Freedom Day has been arguably our proximity to the passage of the Right To Information bill.

This time we have been assured adequately that the promise is real  the assurance emanating from a new set of politicians anyway.

During previous celebrations, the highlights of speeches by politicians at the helm have been centred on promises about the bill on the verge of being passed  something we took with a pinch of salt.

All other things remain constant although we pray that with a change in the political direction of the country many things would alter for the good of media practice in a congenial atmosphere in which there is no looking over the shoulder for the overwhelming image of a state secret police.

We have long departed from this system of media practice not however the apprehension of being dragged to the law courts where the journalist stands the risk of being slapped with an impossible amount of money to pay or alternatively thrown to jail with nobody coming to his rescue, not even public opinion.

Although the National Media Commission (NMC) is empowered to arbitrate in matters bordering on disagreement between the media and individuals or corporate institutions, many aggrieved persons have preferred going to court to seek their pound of flesh.

Some of the fines are so outrageous that they can lead to annihilation of the media establishment concerned should pressure be exacted for their settlement.

We cannot feign ignorance of the overzealousness of some media houses as they constitute themselves into media bullies.

They unleash so much pressure on the political terrain and even individuals that they can spell the end of the careers of individuals who dare them.

Let those who are aggrieved over reports filed in the media go to the NMC for mediation. Seeking to be too hard in the face of disagreements would be taking a path that does not inure to the enhancement of the press freedom and by extension, democracy.

Since January 7 when President Akufo-Addo assumed the political leadership of the country, we have not noticed a physical assault of a journalist by a state security operative or the destruction of their tools by an overzealous government appointee.

We doubt whether we would record yet again such a nasty development, given the nature of the new leadership and its appreciation of the role of the media in national development.

We now have a President who did a yeoman's job in nullifying the Criminal Libel Law and therefore we can look forward to brighter days for media practice; the icing on the cake being the eventual passage of the RTI by the end of the year.

Yesterday the world marked World Press Freedom Day  a day on which we take stock of how free the media has been allowed to operate. The freedom at the disposal of the media to operate or serve the people and the cause of democracy is an apt gauge of the level of political civilization of a country.

The absence of the Criminal Libel Law has gone a long way in shaping the practice of democracy in the country: for which the credit goes to President Akufo-Addo, whose appreciation of the freedom of the press dates back to several years.

A free press is a critical adjunct of an enhanced democracy and so any impediment to its existence must be fought by everything at the disposal of its cherishers.
UML leader files independent candidacy

Uday Shrestha, the CPN-UML Syangja district vice-chairman, has filed his nomination for the post of Waling Municipality mayor as an independent candidate after the party refused to grant him the ticket to contest for the position.
Hon. Alban. K. Bagbin declared his interest in becoming president during a media interview recently. Not surprisingly this has sent ripples across the political spectrum particularly within the NDC. This is not surprising for two reasons: (a) Bagbin's stature in the party and (b) the current open slot within the opposition party as they plot towards 2020. Here we examine the case for and against Hon. Alban Kingsford Sumani Bagbin, MP for Nadowli-Kaleo and Second Deputy Speaker of Ghana's Parliament.

Pro: The case for Bagbin

Name recognition and popularity

Honourable Bagbin is wildly popular. His name recognition in Ghana is through the roof. As a seasoned politician and henchman for the NDC especially within parliament over the past decades, his name is immediately recognizable. Mr. Bagbin would easily pass one of the first tests in campaign politics that many unknown, fresh-faced or little know politicians face: the name recognition or popularity test. He has a constituency and a base to start from though he would have to strengthen his party machinery reach. Bagbin would start the race extremely well known.

Experience

There are very few politicians in this country with the kind of experience Bagbin boasts of. His legislative track record is unmatchable; his executive experience is doubtless and his political skills are well honed. Mr. Bagbin will come to the presidency with quite a long CV and an enviable track record.

Substantive

Mr Bagbin is no lightweight. He has earned his stripes as a serious player since his hey days as a minority leader in the Kufuor era. Some will remember his famous statement to the late Right. Hon. Speaker Peter Alan Adjetey . We will go after him. To be honest, Honourable Bagbin belongs to the golden era of Ghanas parliament. He is intelligent. He is knowledgeable. He is assertive. He will come to the presidency with a great deal of insights about the workings of our country.

Oratory

If communication is central to unlocking the goodies of the political world then Bagbin has got the keys. He speaks clearly, simply but brightly. He is quite a natural in varying forms of political communication: whether in the media, on the legislative floor or on the political podium. He is never one to disappoint. These skills will serve him well on the campaign platform and certainly at the presidency where language and persuasion are key.

Con: The case against Bagbin

Establishment candidate and old school

Mr. Bagbin has pretty much been part and parcel of the old political class in Ghana. For many looking forward to a break from the past, he will come off as stale. Bagbin will struggle with this class of voters.

Going Rogue

There was a time, not too far off actually, when Bagbin was anti-establishment. He famously called his own governmentthe Mahama regimethe government of family and friends. That is not all. He has gone on to make some pretty controversial statements (example: President is naked saga) which could come back to haunt him. In a party primary with long memories, people dont easily forgetor forgive.

The Northern factor

The NDCs most recent presidential candidate was from the Northern region. Their leader in parliament, a very strong position for a party in opposition, is from the Northern sector. The vibe you get from the party especially post-election 2016 is the idea that some hard core grassroots members would want to take a different turn by breaking a perceived Northern stranglehold. This may seriously hamper Bagbins chances.

Charisma

Hon. Bagbin has a ready smile, is not too stack up and releases some good measure of humour every now and again but he is not as widely charismatic as J.J Rawlings or John Mahama. Maybe its got something to do with his storied legislative image where house affairs mostly turn dense and technical. Bagbin immediately reminds one of former US Congressman and House Speaker Newt Gingrich: fierce debater, great oratory and widely knowledgeable but limited in charisma. This is important if he has to connect or electrify.
A security analyst, Nana Owusu Sekyere says the erratic power supply which hit the nation Wednesday night poses a security threat.

According to him, the situation provided a perfect environment for armed robbers to carry out their criminal activities.

Majority of Ghanaians went to bed without power Wednesday night after what appeared to be a nationwide blackout hit the West African nation. The lights went off around 9:pm.

The last time a nationwide blackout hit Ghana was in January 2016 as a result of system failure.

But it is with this failure that the security expert said if the unfortunate act was deliberate then there is a cause to be alarmed.

He added that, regardless, if it isnt mere malfunctioning of electrical equipment then a thorough yet rapid investigation must be conducted to ascertain the cause of the major power cut.

The blackout had social economic implications and would have been a perfect opportunity for any adversary that had criminal plans. If it was deliberate or planned then it means that the adversary had created the atmosphere to take advantage of that to perpetuate their organized crime

If its a deliberate act then we have an issue, but if its not and its just malfunctioning of equipment then we need to do thorough rapid investigations to ascertain what actually happened he maintained.

According to Mr Owusu Sekyere, the government needs to place security measures as one of the priorities guarding the country against terrorist attacks hence there is the need to have alternative measures against total black out.

He further advised the security personnel to devoid of sleep when such occurrences come into play since they are to keep the country from harm for peace to prevail.

VRA is the powerhouse of Ghana. Practically, if you take VRA out we have nothing. If an adversary or a terrorist drops one missile in VRA then it means we are finished. It shuts down. These are some of the things we should be thinking about.

I feel sad that those supposed to protect us were asleep. How safe are we? These arent petty issues, they are very serious. We need to have security conscious solutions. We need to be actually looking at security as a front burner. The problem is I always think that some of us need to engage those in the security sector to see how they can be addressed he addressed.
Accra, May 4, GNA - President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, making good on his commitment to strengthen the ECOWAS Community on Wednesday called for the 24-hour opening of the borders between Ghana and Togo, to promote regional cohesion and economic development.

He explained that such a move would boost trade and tourism, and ensure that the people of the two nations reaped the economic benefits thereof.

'The opening of our borders will give true meaning to the ECOWAS Protocols on Free Movement of Goods and Persons, and will spur on progress and prosperity for our people,' he stated when he delivered a brief speech at a State dinner held in his honour by his Togolese counterpart, President Faure GnassingbA.

President Akufo-Addo was in that country on his first-leg of a three-nation tour of Ghana's immediate neighbours-Togo, Burkina Faso and Cote d'Ivoire- in a wider move to introduce himself to and deepen relations with countries in the ECOWAS region.

The three-nation tour is the first phase of the President's quest to strengthen bilateral ties and to restate Ghana's commitment to the ECOWAS project. He would in the month of May, pay official working visits to seven other countries including Nigeria, Senegal, Guinea, Benin, Cape Verde, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

President Akufo-Addo noted that it was extremely important for the welfare of the 350 million people living in West Africa, that its leaders showed strong political will to make ECOWAS an economic and political success, and to make the integration real.

'I am fully committed, and I know President Faure GnassingbA is too. With West Africa's population set to reach some 500 million people in 20 years time, there are immense opportunities to bring prosperity to our region with enterprise and creativity. The time for West African integration is now. Ghana and Togo should take the lead in converting ECOWAS into a true regional market, and, indeed, in helping to facilitate the wider efforts at continental integration and unity,' he added.

In President Akufo-Addo's view, a functioning, common regional market in ECOWAS, had to be a fundamental objective of all of the people and governments in ECOWAS, and it was for this reason that 'I am very much for the 24-hour opening of the borders between our two countries. This will boost trade, tourism, and, then can we reap the economic benefits.'

He expressed the hope that during his term of office and that of President Faure GnassingbA, Ghana and Togo would search for ways to co-operate and harness fully the benefits of their shared resources.

'The resources of the Volta Basin, the exploitation of our mutual iron ore deposits, the rapid construction of dams to extend the supply of electricity to the northern parts of our countries, the joint respect of our maritime borders, the completion of the construction of water treatment plants to deliver potable water, as well as the sharing of knowledge and information, will create jobs and wealth for our people,' he said.

To this end, President Akufo-Addo told his Togolese counterpart that 'it is not right that the last meeting of the Permanent Joint Commission of our countries was held in 2009, some eight years ago. It would give me great pleasure to welcome your team to Accra for the next Joint Commission meeting, hopefully in July. We must hasten the process of the attainment of our shared objectives.'

President Akufo-Addo praised the Togolese President for promoting a spirit of national reconciliation amongst the Togolese people, a reference to the presence of the erstwhile leader of the Togolese opposition, Gilchrist Olympio, who was also present at the State dinner.

'They have both exhibited considerable courage in bringing the process this far. They have demonstrated that the forward movement of this country is their only and utmost concern. Long may they continue on this path,' he added.

President Akufo-Addo noted that 'Africa is breeding a new generation of leaders', adding that 'this generation of African leaders must not fail the long suffering African masses. They must help bring dignity and prosperity to our continent and its peoples.'

He noted that the new generation of leaders emerging on the continent were committed to governing their peoples according to the rule of law, respect for individual liberties and human rights, and the principles of democratic accountability, and are looking past commodities to position their countries in the global marketplace.

He added that this new breed of African leaders were determined to free their people from a mindset of dependence, aid, charity and hand-outs; were bent on mobilising Africa's own immeasurable resources to resolve Africa's problems; and recognise the connectedness of their people and economies to those of their neighbours.

GNA

By Ken Sackey, GNA
The Vision for Alternative Development (VALD) a non-governmental organization lauds the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) on its recent decision meted on the manufacturers of Adonko Bitters after a concert organized by the Company at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi on Easter Monday April 17, 2017 which left most of the youth passing out as a result of excessive intake of the alcoholic product.

In a statement issued by FDA stating that the criterion for gaining access to the concert was solely on condition that each individual purchased a 750ml bottle of the alcoholic beverage at a cost of GH10, a situation which resulted in the alcoholic beverage being sold to minors as well. It also resulted in excessive consumption, clearly putting the consumers at risk of flouting the caution of drinking responsibly.

It is clear from the FDA guidelines that Adonko Bitters violated the rules that governs their operations and engagement with the public. Section 3.2.19 of the FDA guidelines for the advertisement of food products, states: No alcoholic beverage shall be advertised in relation to a public function where persons under the legal drinking age are likely to attend.

and section 3.2.12 also states that for the Advertisement of Food products, which prohibit the use of well-known personalities in the marketing of alcoholic beverages.

VALD is highly surprised about some public comments to the effect that the action taken by FDA is harsh, unfair and some even went as far as claiming that FDA is collapsing businesses.

We have a different opinion: some learned men are now encouraging lawlessness or are they saying that the actions by Adonko Bitters was right and must go unpunished. Is it wrong to suspend the registration and advertisement license of Angel Group of Companies whilst investigations into the incident continues?

We think that Ghanaians should rather be worry about the influx of advertisement of alcoholic beverages which have taken over our airwaves in recent times. Only few programmes on TV and radio are aired without an advert on alcoholic products. We must be mindful that our kids who are the future generations are glued to TV every day from morning to evening.

The harmful use of alcohol has been a cause for great concern globally and even at the national level- Our Parliamentarians recently called for regulation of the industry on our airwaves. The current trend of consumption and the inadequate regulation of alcohol advert in both the print and electronic media is a source of worry. The misuse of alcohol causes many problems ranging from serious health and socio-economic effects which ends up affecting the family, community and society as a whole. Consumption of alcohol is one of the major cause of Non Communicable Diseases in the world today.

Scientific evidence have proven that before the ages of 25 years, the human brain is still undergoing development. The prefrontal cortex is the area of the brain that governs judgment and decision-making, and it is the last part of the brain to develop. This amongst other reasons why people less than 25 years old are more prone to risk-taking behaviours like the use of psychoactive substances leading to addiction. This also explains why persons 25 years and below are particularly vulnerable to alcohol and drug abuse, and why exposure to alcohol and other psychoactive drugs before this critical time of their lives may cause future substance use issue.

It is important to also note that the world over have recognized the harm alcohol imposes on us as human, that is why the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) specifically Goal 3.5 states Strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol. Alcohol is a major obstacle to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

We are very much concerned about the medium to long term effects of alcohol use which will negatively affect the development of our dear nation.

We at VALD supports the action of the FDA because its position is for public health unlike the manufacturer whose interest is to make profit at the expense of its consumers.

We urge the FDA to be resolute and protect the good people of Ghana. We also call upon all well-meaning Ghanaians and civil society organizations to support this cause to save present and future generations from the devastating health and economical hazards.

We also wish to urge the Ministry of Health to as a matter of urgency take active interest in the development of the Alcohol Regulation to effectively regulate the alcohol industry.
Madam Valentina Mintah, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of West Blue Consulting, a world class business and IT-consulting and technology firm has been awarded the Chief Executive Officer of the Year 2016-Business and IT Consulting Services Award at the prestigious Ghana Entrepreneur Awards 2016 held in Accra last night.

The Award presented to her by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic Turkey to Ghana, H.E Nesrin Bayazit seeks to recognise Madam Mintahs outstanding achievement, vision, innovation and growth in the trade facilitation and customs modernisation in Ghana. She received a certificate and a coveted plaque.

The seventh Ghana Entrepreneur & Corporate Executive Awards 2017 which was organised by the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Ghana (EFG) in association with the OmniBank seeks to reward excellence among the most committed and dedicated entrepreneurs and corporate executives in Ghana.

The award is in collaboration with the Ministries of Trade and Industry and Finance, according to the organisers.

Commenting on her award, Madam Mintah said: I am very honoured and thankful to God; family and friends; my amazing staff, clients and government for creating the enabling environment for private businesses to thrive.

I dedicate the award to all who dare to dream, she stated.

In all, about 30 other entrepreneurs and business executives were awarded in various categories including entrepreneur of the year, mining, insurance and banking and finance.

Why she picked the award

Industry watchers were not surprised at her picking the prestigious award based on her track records in Ghana and abroad.

West Blue Consulting which Madam Mintah headed is the technical partner of the Ghana National Single Window (GNSW) project which has been contracted by the Government of Ghana to run the five year project.

Initially, she led her team to successfully develop and implement the Pre-Arrival Assessment Reporting System (PAARS) last year.

The PAARS, according to the senior officials is a modernized system that has been developed by the Customs Division of GRA as part of the implementation of the GNSW project to enhance revenue mobilization, improve border security and customs clearance, overcome duplication across regulatory agencies and promote trade facilitation.

Since the introduction of the GNSWs PAARS last year, traders are able to access Customs Classification and Valuation Report (CCVR) within 48 hours.

In some cases, within an hour that is substantial improvement from the previous situation whereby it used to take traders more than a week or two weeks just to get their CCVR.

The system has brought some efficiency at the ports, reduced time, reduced corruption, and cost of doing business.

Another significant achievement Madam Mintah chalked was the countrys historic performance on the recent World Banks Ease of Doing rankings.

Ghana had moved an impressive 13 places up on the Trading Across Borders in the latest World Bank Ease of Doing Business Report. The report accredited the performance to the GNSW project initiated by the government.

The Doing Business 2017 report, titled Equal Opportunity for All, showed that Ghana was placed at position 108 out of 190 countries surveyed in the Overall Ranking of Ease of Doing Business  an improvement from 111 in the previous report.

In the sub-Saharan Africa sub-region, Ghana ranked in the Top 10, coming 9th, out of the 47 countries ranked in the region. This is evidence that the Government of Ghana is pursuing active reforms to ensure the Ease of Doing Business in Ghana.

The Customs Division of GRA took over the processing of the CCRV from the destination companies in September 2015.

The CCRV replaced the destination inspection report also known as the Final Classification and Valuation Report (FCVR). In spite of the successes chalked so far through the implementation of the PAARS, West Blue is still working hard to facilitate trade and maximise revenue for the government.

Based on the experience of the Single Window implementations in other countries, West Blue estimated that the GNSW project would reduce the cost and time of international trade (import, export and transit) in Ghana by 50 per cent and 25 per cent respectively over the next five years.

Instructively, the GNSW project was initiated on 1st September 2015 by the Government of Ghana to enhance the countrys trade and economic development and secure and increase government revenue. It was officially launched in 1st December, 2015.

Indeed, the Single Window concept was developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) in 2005 as an effort to simplify, harmonise and standardise international trade procedures and associated information flows between trade and government and within government itself.

UNECE, through its UN Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT), defined Single Window as a facility that allows parties involved in trade and transport to lodge standardised information and documents with a single entry point to fulfill all import, export, and transit-related regulatory requirements. If information is electronic, then individual data elements should only be submitted once.
Ibadan, Nigeria, 26 April 2017  Access to financial sources is not always the main key to ensuring the sustainability of agribusiness ventures launched by young African entrepreneurs. This is the main finding of the second day of the African Youth Agripreneurs Forum held in Ibadan, Nigeria, from 25-26 April 2017.

During a session on Financing Youth in Agribusiness, the forum explored the financial aspect of agripreneurship. Loans, credit lines, equity were among the ideas discussed. But how about starting a business with creativity as your only capital?

Cote d'Ivoire-based CEO, Samuel Martin, argued that while it is difficult, it is entirely possible. By managing resources already available in the market and brokering other businesses, Martin started a small company that gave school kids in his home country access to computers. Not only his first business was a success, he later built ten other businesses, both at home and abroad, on the same zero-capital model and went on to study the concepts of this model in graduate school in the United States. Today Martin runs a foundation in Cote d'Ivoire that helps young Africans start a business capitalizing on creativity.

In fact, creativity seems to be the most essential requirement when facing financial limitations. The director of the social impact investor Acumen Fund, Godfrey Mwindaare, argued that mitigating the risks associated with investing in agriculture can go a long way to make up for funding that a young agripreneur does not have. Chief among the points Mwindaare gave is that when seeking financing, young agripreneurs should pursue financing that comes with technical assistance and room for capacity building. Another important point is that financing should be patient and not too susceptible to currency depreciation.

The fact that most investors are more willing to give money to businesses with a successful track record and very little risk, is to the disadvantage of the majority of African agriprenuers. Meanwhile, thanks to technology, the businesses with most potential are the new ones; either created over the past five years or the ones to be created in the near future. The founder and CEO of Ubuntu Capital Mamadou Kwidjim calls this gap the dilemma and mismatch paradox of African entrepreneurs. Ubuntu Capital focuses on helping young entrepreneurs who cannot find access to financing. Its model attempts to provide not just access to capital but also skills development, policy advocacy and advisory services.

Towards the end of the forum, the question of the future of African agripreneurship had to be explored. The session was titled The future of youth in networked agribusiness economies and focused on envisioning a new Africa approach driven by agriculture.

The future of African agribusinesses is invariably linked to maximizing the use of technology in form of mechanization and ICT systems, argued Hemant Nitturkar, Project Director at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture. A young computer engineer on the panel, Lilian Uwintwuali, was quick to agree with Nitturkar. She added that when ICT experts work with farmers to understand their problems, innovative solutions can be devised to overcome various challenges.

The demographics of Africa present both an opportunity to invest in a growing young population and an impending crisis of not having enough food to go round. Edson Mpyisi, an agricultural economist with the African Development Bank, describes this double-edged demographic sword as demographic dividend and demographic disaster.

It is estimated that by the year 2030 the food industry will be worth one trillion dollars. It therefore only makes economic sense that the African Development Bank invest in the youth and in agriculture as the safest bet to avert a food crisis by capitalizing on Africas immense demographic dividend.

A number of partner organizations participating in the Forum pledged to support the agripreneurs. Daniel Karanja of the Initiative for Global Development (IGD) pledged to sponsor the top 5 AgriPitch competitors to attend the Durban IGD Frontier 100 Leaders and Farming is Cool event at the World Economic Forum in Durban in May 2017. The President of the Brazil-Africa Institute, Joao Bosco Monte, offered to organize a two-month training for 30 agripreneurs on cassava with Embrapa in Brazil. The Ministry of Youth Promotion of Cote d'Ivoire has offered to host the next AYA Forum (AYAF-2) in 2018 in Abidjan.

By all accounts, the AgriPitch segment at the end of the African Youth Agripreneurs Forum represented the exciting climax of the two-day deliberations. Ten agripreneurs had a chance to present proposals that they have worked on in the past two months before a panel of judges. The three winners will move on to work closely with the African Development Bank on their ideas on how Africans can improve the way they produce, process and distribute African agrifood products.

The African Youth Agripreneurs Forum comprises of the following: the AYA Forum, a 2-day Conference/Workshop with thematic discussions and presentation of success stories; Agri-Pitch Entrepreneurship Competition that will lead to a selection 3 finalists for presentation at the AfDBs Annual Meetings in India in May 2017; and side events including a mentor and incubator training programme. It is organized by the AfDB, in cooperation with the IITA, the African Agribusiness Incubators Network and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA).
04.05.2017 LISTEN

Prof. Kofi Kissi Dompere, ranked among the Worlds Top 100 Leading Thinkers, is also a world-famous Afrocentrist, economist, mathematician, philosopher, statistician, management scientist, logician, financial and policy analyst widely known for the analytic rigor of his high caliber scientific papers and dense, highly technical, scientific textbooks on economic theory, mathematics, finance and democracy, philosophy, management science/operations research, decision and systems theory, history, cost benefit analysis, and a host of other complex topics.

Then again, Prof. Dompere, who wrote his doctoral dissertation on categorial conversion, and whose academic and scholarly works are widely used around the world by doctoral students and universities and scientists and public policy researchers, brings his sophisticated and erudite multidisciplinary expertise to bear on his recent publication of two extremely important and powerful books on Nkrumaism, both of which are also, as a matter of fact, dense and highly technical, scientific and philosophical texts based on a rigorous discursive investigation and (re)interpretation of Kwame Nkrumahs Consciencism: Philosophy And Ideology Of De-colonization And Development.

Lets just say here for emphasis, that Prof. Dompere more than makes up for the totality of erudite mathematics Nkrumah did not have and yet needed for, perhaps, his most audacious undertaking, the widely read but grossly misunderstood academic text Consciencism.

What is more, the widely respected Prof. Dompere made optimal use of some of the latest discoveries made in science, logic and mathematics, while he invents or originates his own mathematical models and ideas where there exists none to make a forceful case on certain aspects of Nkrumaism.

In fact these exquisitely written two books, which are to be in every library and pored over and widely discussed both on the continent and in the African diaspora, are the best on Nkrumaism thus far:

The Theory Of Categorial Conversion: Rational Foundations Of Nkrumaism In Socio-Natural Systemicity And Complexity.

The Theory Of Philosophical Consciencism: Practice Foundations Of Nkrumaism In Social Systemicity.

In these timely works of profound scholarship the multifaceted genius Prof. Dompere has once again demonstrated beyond all reasonable doubt that, indeed, the incomparable Nkrumah was ahead of his time. Here, Prof. Domperes good friend Dr. Molefi Kete Asante, the worlds leading authority on the Theory of Afrocentricity, another multifaceted genius duly recognized as One of the Most Influential Leaders in the Decade as well as one of the 100 Leading Thinkers in America, agrees when he wrote in the eulogistic piece Nkrumah Celebration, a paper he presented at the Schomburg Research Center for Black Culture, New York, during Nkrumahs centennial anniversary:

It is rare in human history that one discovers a philosopher-political leader whose voice resonates with that of his people as clearly as that of Nkrumah. He is at once a consummate political activist and a master of the internal tensions of history and politics; these qualities made him an advance signal for a continuing victory sign

Nkrumah was a prophet of realityNkrumah gave meaning and direction to our best political and philosophical ideals and raised the level of thinking about a United AfricaThis is why I am an ardent celebrator of Nkrumahs life and voice because in celebrating him we celebrate the best in us. This giant was real, genuinethe essence of African intelligence

In the meantime, we will like to remind our dedicated readers from around the world that weve published widely on our good friend Prof. Dompere and his corpus of scholarly works right here on Ghanaweb and on other major web portals, and therefore for this reason we shall not belabor them here again for lack of time and for other reasons owing to the burdensome boredom of repetition.

Having said that, we also to inform our readers that Prof. Dompere and Howard University, in conjunction with the Center for African Studies and the Department of Economics, will be organizing a book launch and a presentation based on the afore-referenced books (However, we should like to add that Prof. Dompere was generous enough to send us autographed copy of his books. We take this opportunity to thank him).

Most importantly, we want our dedicated readers to take note of the following additional information:

VENUE (USA): Howard University Bookstore, 2225 George Ave NW, Washington, DC 20059

TIME: 1:00pm2:00pm

DATE: MAY 9, 2017 (TUESDAY)

PHONE NUMBER: (202) 238-2640

Please we want you all to be there!

Thank you!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kofi Kissi Dompere is a professor of economics at Howard University.

He has authored a number of scientific and scholarly works on economics, philosophy, and decision theory and related fields. He has also authored a number of monographs including twelve monographs with Springer Science Publishers, three with Greenwood Publishers, and two with Adonis-Abbey Publishers.

His teaching areas include Economic Theory, Mathematical Economics, International Economics and Cost-Benefit Analysis as decision theory.

His current research foci are on Theory of Development Process, Qualitative mathematics of transformations, epistemics and mathematics of fuzzy phenomena and their application in economic decision, mathematics of transformations and General information theory.

He is the producer and host of a radio program African Rhythms and Extensions on WPFW 89.3 FM, in Washington D.C., USA, a member of Pacifica Foundation.

IN PRAISE OF DR. KOFI KISSI DOMPERE

The bulk of Professor Domperes research and publications lie within the highly technical field of fuzzy systems researchThis degree on specialization is part of a complicated process that hopefully leads to further insights and what we proudly admire as scientific progress when all works wellOne must try to assess not only the value of a persons contribution to work going on in a specialized field, but also the likely value of the specialized area to the profession as a whole

The works I have reviewed, as well as the publication and conference participation records, clearly demonstrate that Professor Dompere is a valuable contributor to fuzzy systems theory. His paper, The Theory of Fuzzy Decisions published in Approximate Reasoning in Decision Analysis (M.M. Gupta and E. Sanchez editors, North-Holland, 1982) is a clearly early valuable contribution written at the highest mathematical level.

However, this is a field that requires not only high level math skills but also considerable philosophical sophisticationWhat is more interesting is Professor Domperes work applying the theoretical insights he developed early in his career to a number of areas of economic research. He demonstrates how insights from fuzzy systems theory clarify overlooked complexities in capital theory in However, several new developments indicate that the work of Professor Dompere and others in fuzzy systems theory may be of greater importance than most economists realized only a few years ago.

In conclusion, Professor Dompere has been a valuable contributor to a highly specialized field of economics that has recently proven to be of far greater interest and value than most economics expected (Robin Hahnel, Professor Emeritus, Department of Economics, American University/Portland State University)

Pan-African Analysis: This provocative and idealistic question leads to Prof. Domperes two works on African Union and Polyrhythmicity. I studied African politics and literature at Penn and Morgan State, and have a deep admiration for some of the historic figures and ideas that Dompere that celebrates in these two books. I will not comment on them, other than to make two observations. First, what shines through here is the vision of Kwame Nkrumahand of other legendary figuresthat insisted on Pan-Africanism as a crucial element in Africas effort to break away from colonialism and neo-colonialism, in its effort to develop and to become prosperous.

Second: in this respect, the effort at thinking of African development as a whole, as having a collective logic and as demanding from its people that they think collectively of all Africans collective well-being, is completely consistent with the national social planning approach that Prof. Dompere has been working out in his formal economic-theory work. In effect, one solution among others is a Pan-African approach; and this will be best for Africa. In these works, of course, this prescription comes fully charged by the authors love and devotion for the poetry, beauty, literature, and vitality of Africa.

But then, what do we do if micro-structures dont work like that-dont function as component parts of optimizing social matrices? Domperes answer, as a man of Africa, is that we must fight for Africaor if we are not from there, for AmericaOne is the beautiful cloud of the dream of a Pan-African path to development, arrived at as colonial empires crumbled. The other is the n-dimensional cloud of mathematical symmetry and elegant possibility, arrived at through mental exercises in thinking the world of production and consumption. On these clouds, I feel at home and yet above the earth.

And perhaps that is the role of a theorist and a meta-historianto remind his readers what is possible, what can be and even what could not be, so they have something to hold onto as they make their way along the alleyways and streets down on the hard, cold ground (Gary A. Dymski, Professor of Economics, Executive Director, University of California (Riverside).
The Communications Minister has pledged the support of her Ministry to work with GCNet to ensure the smooth implementation of Total Revenue Integrated Processing Systems (TRIPS) and Ghanas business automation project as part of eGhana project.

Owusu-Ekuful said the goal of her Ministry is to address all outstanding issues mitigating against the e-Ghana project to enhance transparency drive.

She stressed on governments commitment to use technology to facilitate government business to ensure Ghanas improves its business competitiveness and the ease of doing business in the country.

She added that it was critical for all stakeholders to work together to realise the revenue target set for 2017 so government could deliver on its promise to build a prosperous, self- reliant and vibrant economy that creates opportunities for all.

Mrs. Owusu- Ekuful made these comments when she received the General Manager of the Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet), Alwin Hoegerle at her offices to discuss matters of mutual interest.

Mr. Hoegerle briefed the Minister that GCNet was implementing the e-Registration component of the e-Ghana project with the Registrar Generals Department.

He said significant progress has been made including the full automation of business registration processes on the eRegistrar platform, rollout of the eRegistrar to the Registrar General Department (RGD) in Accra, Kumasi, Tamale and Takoradi.

Mr. Hoegerle said it would also help in the provision of public online services via the eRegistrar portal including  name search, name reservation, business registration, regulatory filing, change in particulars, conversions and ePayments.

Mr. Hoegerle also shared progress update on the implementation of the Total Revenue Integrated Processing System project being deployed by GCNet.

He told the Minister that Government realised more than GHS12 billion in 2016 through TRIPS which accounted for 75 percent of domestic tax revenue having migrated about 34 GRA tax offices onto the platform with about 30 more offices to be hooked onto the system.

The Deputy Ministers of the Ministry, George Andah and Vincent Odotei also urged GCNet to work harder in deploying more innovative e-solutions that will facilitate the automation of government machinery to deliver better services to the citizenry.

They noted that GCNet managed a rich database which government can tap into and assured Government would leverage on GCNets experience especially in the design of the national identification project to ensure there is full maximisation and value for the country.

On his part, the Tema Branch & Transit Manager of GCNet, Mr. Jimmy Allotey called for the establishment of revenue courts at the ports as part of the measures to address leakages in the revenue mobilisation chain.

The GCNet team also used the opportunity to formally invite the Minister of Communications and her team to visit and acquaint themselves with the operational processes of the company.

GCNet is implementing the TRIPS and e-Registration components of the e-Ghana project through the National Information Technology Agency (NITA) under the Ministry of Communication.

The beneficiary institutions include the Domestic Tax Revenue Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority and the Registrar General Department as well as its original mandate to provide a complete IT solution for GRA Customs which has been ongoing for the past 15 years.

GCNet is also a founding member of the African organization, African Alliance for eCommerce (AACE) that seeks the roll out of Single Window systems in Africa and have been operating the Single Window in Ghana.

The visit was in line with the strategic direction of Executive Management of GCNet to deepen and sustain its relations with Government.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com
The Police in Enchi in the Western Region have arrested four galamsey operators, including a Togolese, who allegedly robbed a gold dealer of his money and gold at gunpoint last Tuesday.

The police have identified the suspects as Bawah Sulley and Kofi Combart (both 32), farmers and galamseyers from Garu Tempani in the Northern Region.

The rest are Awudu Bashiru (35), a Togolese and galamseyer and Emmanuel Essuman (25), a gold buyer based at Gomoa Obuasi in the Ashanti Region.

Modus operandi

The Enchi District Police Commander, Superintendent of Police Mr Raymond Kofi Erzuah, told the Daily Graphic that with the clampdown on galamsey, the operators had devised ways of deceiving prospective and unsuspecting gold buyers into galamsey areas to buy the gold they had in their possession.

After their victims had bought gold, the district commander said, the galamsey operators then mobilised their men to lay ambush with guns and rob the buyers of their belongings.

According to Supt Erzuah, the police retrieved two pump action guns, 33 pieces of live AA and BB cartridges, one double-barrelled locally made pistol and one SB Baikal shotgun from the suspects.

Also in their possession was gold valued at GH1,025 and cash of GH14,660 belonging to a gold dealer they had robbed.

The district commander said the gold dealer (name withheld) reported to the police that two men had robbed him at gunpoint on his way to Abokyia, near Enchi.

He said the victim initially went to the community and bought GH5,000 worth of real quality gold and was later contacted that they still had more for sale.

The plan

The victim said Bashiru planned with the other suspects to rob him and urged his accomplices to lead the way, since he (buyer) knew him.

Supt. Erzuah said Bashiru picked his victim (the gold buyer) on a motorbike with registration number M-5434-16.

The victim, who had been to the community before, drew the attention of Bashiru and the rider that they had taken the wrong turn, but he gave an excuse.

Upon reaching Bawah Farms Cottage, near Kwahu in Enchi, the other accomplices appeared in mask, attacked and took away the money and the gold.

Preliminary investigations

The district police commander said preliminary investigations revealed that Bashiru had planned the onslaught with the other two. Upon that intelligence, the police swooped on his house in the night and discovered the stolen items, including the arms and ammunition.

The police said the four suspects had confessed to the robbery.
Conakry (AFP) - A new outbreak of the Ebola virus is "inevitable" but a new vaccine and rapid-response measures mean it will be more effectively contained, the head of the World Health Organization said Thursday.

The Ebola crisis that began in December 2013 killed 11,300 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia and has left thousands more survivors with long-term health problems.

The WHO was criticised at the time for responding too slowly and failing to grasp the gravity of the outbreak.

Speaking at an event in the Guinean capital dedicated to individuals who fought to control the disease in their communities, WHO chief Margaret Chan also thanked the Guinean government for its role in developing the vaccine, announced in December, but added a note of caution.

"Scientists do not yet know exactly where in nature the Ebola virus hides between outbreaks, but nearly all experts agree that another outbreak is inevitable," she said, speaking to an audience of scientists, Ebola response coordinators and dignitaries.

"When this occurs, the world will be far better prepared," Chan added.

In a major clinical trial using an innovative "ring", or group method, nearly 6,000 people in Guinea were given the test vaccine in 2015, during which not one of them contracted the disease.

Even with an "initially limited" first batch of the vaccine, Chan said, health authorities had another option in their arsenal "beyond isolation and quarantine".

First identified in 1976 in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Ebola virus erupted periodically in outbreaks of up to a couple of hundred cases, mainly across west and east Africa.

In early 2014, however, a handful of infections in southern Guinea mushroomed rapidly into an epidemic.

Chan emphasised that another positive outcome of the Ebola crisis was renewed focus and funding for vaccines against other contagious diseases, including the fatal Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) as well as the Lassa and Nipah viruses.

"These significant spillover effects strengthen the world's collective defences against the never-ending threat from emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases," she said.

Also speaking at the event, President Alpha Conde said it was "time Africa benefited from cutting-edge technology, notably in the field of biomedical sciences," and called on industrialised nations to share their expertise.
Will obstruct House unless impeachment motion against CJ Karki recalled: Oli

CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli has said that his party would not allow the parliament to function unless the impeachment motion against Chief Justice Sushila Karki is recalled.
Juba (AFP) - The UN peacekeeping force in South Sudan said Thursday it had repelled a "callous" attack by armed assailants on a base in the north of the country.

The attackers struck late Wednesday on a temporary base operated by Ghanian forces for the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), next to a camp for people displaced by the country's civil war.

UNMISS said in a statement the attack had been "carried out with callous disregard for the lives of civilians as well as UN and humanitarian workers".

It said it had not identified the attackers, but that they fired from the direction of the nearby town of Leer, which is held by the government. There were no reported victims.

"We strongly condemn the attack, and call on all parties to the conflict to respect the sanctity of UN premises," David Shearer, the head of the mission, said in a statement.

The area has long been riven by fighting between forces loyal to President Salwa Kiir and those who support his former deputy Riek Machar.

Aid groups have denounced a "man-made" famine caused by the conflict that has forced at least 1.7 million people to flee the country.

"The people are hungry and deprived as the result of the famine. However, it is clear the attackers have no consideration for their plight," Shearer said.

He added that an inquiry was underway, which would determine if UNMISS would reinforce the base at Leer.
President Akufo Addo has disclosed that his government plans to make the study of French language compulsory in all Senior High Schools.

According to him, the government intends to make significant progress by making the language compulsory from next academic year in September.

Akufo-Addo made the remarks in Togo on a two-day official visit to that country.

The compulsory study of French language in Ghana is currently limited to some basic public schools. The language is also an examinable subject at the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

In spite of this, most Ghanaians are not proficient in the language, a situation Nana Akufo-Addo says is unacceptable.

According to him, Ghana, which is surrounded by three francophone countries must not be seen to be lagging behind in communicating in the French language.

[I'm] strongly for making French a compulsory language in our schools right up to the end of Senior High School. I'm fortified in taking this decision because as far back as 10 years ago when I left Ghana into la Francophone, I did so in Bucharest. The decision was that the Francophone organization will help us with the teachers of French in the schools because at the end of the day, everything you did in the education always comes back to the teachers, he said.

Mathew Opoku Prempeh, the minister for education, has it as a major priority on his agenda so I think that between now and hopefully the next academic year, some positive development is going to come out of it because to me it is absolutely essential that we do so, so that we empower our population with the capacity to survive in this ECOWAS environment. People speak English, but we don't speak French. It is not good; and I think that we have to go about it that way, he added.

Meanwhile, the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), has welcomed the decision by the government. The General Secretary Ofori Acheampong in an interview on the subject, said the idea is long overdue.



By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
04.05.2017 LISTEN

Sunyani, May 4, GNA - Journalists have been called to uphold and adhere to ethical standards, as nations across the globe mark 2017 World Press Freedom Day.

Mr Raphael Godlove Ahenu, the Chief Executive Officer of the Global Media Foundation (GLOMEF), an anti-corruption media advocacy non-governmental organisation, said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency.

May 3, marks the World Press Freedom Day as declared by the United Nations General Assembly back in 1993.

It is set aside to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom to evaluate press freedom around the world to defend the media from attacks.

Mr Ahenu said journalists would be free from violence and to contribute to peace, sustainability, poverty eradication and human rights, if the media remained neutral and are guided by acceptable standards.

He said since the media continues to be a major influence in globalization, there is the need to strengthen free and quality journalism to enable the practitioners and reporters to contribute effectively to nation building.

Speaking on the theme for the 2017 World Press Freedom Day 'Justice for all as a prerequisite for freedom of expression and sustainable development', Mr Ahenu said African journalists would get support from the society if they discharged their duties in a more responsive and professional manner.

He said the media could contribute significantly to accelerated national development if it worked in tandem with the fundamental principles of contemporary journalism.

GNA

By Dennis Peprah, GNA
04.05.2017 LISTEN

Abesim (B/A), May 4, GNA - Abesim, a farming community in the Sunyani Municipality was thrown into a state of grief and mourning, when well wishers joined families and friends for the interment of the late Andrew Kwasi Oppong-Ababio, the former Municipal Chief Executive last Saturday.

The late Oppong-Ababio, 63, died after a short illness at the Regional Hospital in Sunyani, on Saturday January 21, 2017. He left a widow and four children.

Thousands of supporters from the political divide, including both NDC and NPP could not control their tears, when family members of the late Sunyani MCE took turns to read a memorial in honour of the deceased.

Clad in NDC party colours and mourning cloth, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, the General Secretary of the NDC led a delegation of Party members to tribute to the late MCE.

In a burial mass, the Reverend Father Augustine Ansu Gyamoah, Parish Priest of the Abesim Roman Catholic Church, described the late Oppong-Ababio as 'truthful, friendly, strong and brave politician'.

He said the death of the former MCE was a big blow to the church, and also was an indication that 'death is inevitable', and asked the mourners to prepare so that they could enjoy heavenly comfort when they die.

GNA

By Christopher Tetteh / Daniel A. Asheitey, GNA
Sunyani, May 4, GNA - The Assistant Commissioner of Fire (ACF) James Owusu-Agyei, the acting Brong-Ahafo Regional Commander of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), says the Service has introduced rapid response teams to rescue accident victims.

The teams are positioned at major accident prone areas and highways in the Region to handle accident victims professionally and to save lives.

They include Techiman- kintampo, Kintampo-Buipe, as well as Wenchi- Bole-Bamboi highways, ACF Owusu-Agyei stated during the 2016 annual review meeting of the Service in Sunyani.

He explained that investigations had proven that many accidents victims died because of the poor manner in which rescuers handled them.

The Acting Regional Fire Commander said his outfit attended to about 63 road accidents in the Region last year and because of the professional way the fire personnel handled the victims, many lives were saved.

ACF Owusu-Agyei explained that rapid respond teams would ensure prompt responds, extrication and transportation of accidents victims to health facilities.

He appealed to the public to assist the teams to acquire logistics, such as pick-up vehicles and motorbikes to facilitate their movements.

GNA

By Regina Benneh, GNA
Koforidua, May 4, GNA - The Eastern Regional Manager of Presbyterian Schools, Mrs Ivy Asantewaa Owusu, has urged heads of the schools to ensure that the Presbyterian principles which uphold discipline, hard work and integrity were not compromised.

She said the Presbyterian principles of education was firmly rooted in the spirit of Protestantism which 'upholds the centrality of the word of God, discipline, hard work, integrity, morality and democratic principles' and must, therefore, be inculcated in all children who passed through a Presbyterian institution.

Mrs Owusu, who was addressing an annual review meeting of heads of Presbyterian schools in Koforidua, said those principles were in line with the Code of Conduct and education policy of the Ghana Education Service (GES) and, therefore, very relevant to the cause of education in Ghana.

She said some heads of Presbyterian schools refused to adhere to those principles and cautioned them to do the right thing to 'bring back that famous Presbyterian discipline in the system.'

Mrs Owusu said education required that key stakeholders agreed on principles that could sustain quality education delivery and its consequent positive outcomes, hence the need to adhere to the principles of both the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and the GES.

She said the standard of education and its outcomes as far as the Basic Education Certificate Examination was concerned had fallen considerably and urged the heads to put in efforts to identify the problems and resolve them improve performance.

She advised the heads to form learning communities in their various districts to share ideas and treat the children under their care as their own.

GNA
Esther, an orphan turned queen saved an entire Jew generation in one act of bravery that left a man, Haman hanged on his own gallows.

Several centuries down the line, another woman, Rebecca, exalted in her high office of the First lady has taken a bold step, this time to save a whole Ghanaian generation of pregnant women and their newborn babies who are appointed to die not through the treacherous plan of another man but through a deadly congested facility meant to save the lives it takes.

S ave a child, s ave a mother, campaign, is a Rebecca Akufo-Addo and The Multimedia Group initiative meant to minimise , hopefully end, the heartbreaking story of death at child birth at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.

The facility built in 1954 and served only six million people at the time is now serving 30 million others with no marked expansion arrangement.

The space for mother and children at KATH remain the same in structure but has become a symbol of emotional and psychological torture for many pregnant women.

The structure which should serve as a place for saving lives, a refuge for joy and happiness for families and an orchestra that produces rhythmic sounds of crying of babies, has now become a Gethsemane, place of pain, for many adults who prayed for the fruit of child birth but cursed the pain of child and maternal deaths.

They came gleaming with hope but left with a grimace of hopelessness, dreading the adventure of going through another nine month miracle of child birth that may never be.

Such is the horrifying uncertainty families go through anytime the hour comes for a pregnant mother to give birth at the mother and child unit of KATH.

So when Rebecca, turned Esther announced her campaign to save lives, she saw the possibility of saving a generation, and restoring in mothers, the faith of hearing the piercing cries of their healthy babies and going home alive and kicking with them.

She was heartbroken by the chilling documentary "Next to die" by Joy News' Seth Kwame Boateng which captured how mothers and their babies die each day as if they were shot by enemy bullets at the war front from a distant target.

It was not a battleground. It was only a place of birth now turned into a dungeon of death because of lack of requisite facilities at Ghana's second largest and reputable hospital.

Through the save a child, save a mother campaign, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo is promising, with the help of an army of philanthropists, business men, to build a one storey maternity ward at a cost E10 million.

That ward will have five maternity beds, three operating rooms, four emergency delivery beds, 20 incubators and 20 phototherapy units.

It will be an insulated building with forced cooling and it will reduce avoidable deaths by 60-80 percent.

The old dungeon had only two maternity beds, two operating rooms, two incubators with tens of pregnant women queuing, sometimes to be operated upon in a period of an emergency.

In a contest of who can give well and give best, Ghacem, Promasidor, First Atlantic Bank, Interplast, Perez Chapel, announced all lined up with a token contribution to save a new generation of mothers and their unborn children.

Seated on a dais in a colourful sea-blue fitting outfit, the gorgeous, beautiful queen of a first lady dazzled her troops into making offers, cash and pledges towards a worthy cause.

Anchored by a beautiful blend of a smooth and hard-talking moderators- Kojo Yankson of Joy FM and Afia Pokua, of Adom FM managed to drain the pockets of all who came to save a life.

They came ready to give but had to be caressed in their most sensitive areas- their pockets- in a not too sound economic dispensation.

Ghacem pledged to donate all the cement needed to complete the project. Other companies and diplomatic missions came with cash and pledges amounting to about GHS 7,695,444 on the first day of fund raising.

The donors include,one Foreign mission which doesn't wish to be mentioned but donated 3.5 million cedis. The Japanese Embassy in Ghana also donated $500,000. Ghana Lotteries Authority gave GHS20,000 and pledged to give GHS200,000 more at a later date. Interplast Ghana gave GHS85,000 worth of pipes and paints. Gloria Bartels gave GHS10,000. Apostle Kojo Sarfo gave GHS30,000, GOIL gave GHS250,000, GHAPOHA gave GHS200,000, ZONTA Ladies gave GHS20,000, Unilever Ghana gave GHS20,000, Tony Oteng Gyasi gave GHS25,000, GHACEM promised to provide cement for the project. Perez Chapel gave GHS10,000.

Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline.com|Nathan Gadugah
Kano (Nigeria) (AFP) - Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau appeared in a new video published online on Thursday, rejecting claims he had been injured in an airstrike in remote northeast Nigeria.

The jihadist chief was said to have been wounded and one of his deputies killed when two air force jets bombarded fighters at Balla village, on the edge of the Sambisa Forest in Borno state, last Friday.

Surveillance footage showed missiles being fired on what the air force said were Boko Haram fighters, while the army announced it had "neutralised quite a number of terrorists", including in Balla.

"There were indications that quite a number of the terrorists' key leaders have either been killed or wounded," army spokesman Brigadier-General Sani Usman said earlier Thursday, without naming Shekau.

But in a 14-minute video, the shadowy Boko Haram leader claimed ignorance of both the incident and the location, insisting he was not injured and that none of his key lieutenants was harmed either.

"I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive," he said, wearing his trademark camouflage jacket and cradling an assault rifle.

"I'm alive, you have not killed any of my men. I didn't even know this incident you are talking about ever happened.

"What surprises me is your claim that I'm nursing wounds. Look at me well. Look at my sitting posture."

There was no indication where the video was shot.

In it, Shekau was flanked by two masked, armed men, sitting against what appeared to be a desert camouflage net and Boko Haram's black and white insignia.

He spoke in Hausa and Arabic.

The Nigerian authorities' reticence about naming Shekau is likely to come from previous occasions when his death has been announced prematurely, only for him to reappear in video messages.

He has rejected military claims the rebels are depleted and in disarray as a result of a sustained counter-offensive that began in early 2015 and recaptured swathes of territory.

A source with links to the Islamist militants told AFP on Wednesday that Shekau narrowly escaped death when the second missile hit as he was on his way to preach at Friday prayers.

"It's bloody propaganda," he said of Shekau's video denial.

"Shekau hurt his back from the impact of the second strike. He was injured in the back and then taken out of the area to a place around Kolofata (near the Cameroon border)," he added.

"You can see he is not the same Shekau we were seeing in other videos. He didn't exude the same energy."

The Boko Haram insurgency has left at least 20,000 people dead and made more than 2.6 million others homeless since 2009, devastating the region and leaving millions dependent on humanitarian aid.
Vocus Group Ltd [ASX:VOC] fell 29.7% today, to a low of $2.35. The drop saw the company shed more than $500 million from their market cap.

What happened to Vocus Group ?

On 2 May 2017, Vocus revised their profit guidance for the financial year 2017. The company is now expecting a revenue shortfall of $100 million.

After reviewing their accounts, Vocus found a number of major contracts would have to be recognised in a future financial year.

Net income for FY17 is now expected to be in the range of $160165 million, more than 20% lower than its original guidance.

What now for Vocus Group shares?

Is Vocus an attractive investment? Well, at first, you might think it is. If revenue and profit was affected in FY17 due to accounting technicalities, there could be a chance investors are worrying over nothing.

However, its not just accounting technicalities causing investors to sell.

As reported by the Australian Financial Review:

The trading update, released after the market closed, follows a weaker-than-expected trading outlook issued in late November. Back then, chief executive Geoff Horth told investors that the companys full-year results would be skewed to the June half. However, Tuesdays profit downgrade suggests a major deterioration in the performance of the business.

So you might not be getting the company at a bargain. But such a drop in share price does warrant further investigation. It might even turn out that investors have overreacted to Vocus downgrade.

But youll only know that if you do a bit more digging.

Regards,

Harje Ronngard,

Junior Analyst, Money Morning

PS: If you want to lay down a little money on the hottest corner of the ASX right nowbut you dont know your way around the small-cap sectorthis report is for you. Get access now (free).
Washington, DC  Mother Lode Congressman Tom McClintock is speaking out against legislation approved in the US House this week, which was negotiated to avoid a government shutdown.

House Resolution 244 is a short-term spending plan that will keep the federal government operational through September 30. The $1.1-trillion spending plan was approved in the House of Representatives by a count of 309-118. Republicans were divided on the bill, with 131 in favor and 103 opposed. Democrats were more in favor, with 178 for and 15 against.

In order to gain Democratic support, HR 244 did not include some of President Trumps campaign promises, such as money for a border wall with Mexico, and a de-funding of Planned Parenthood.

Mother Lode Republican Congressman Tom McClintock indicates that the bill does little to reduce the role of the federal government. The Congressman says, Sadly, it continues a spending trajectory in which deficits are expected to hit trillion-dollar annual levels within just a few years  risking a sovereign debt crisis that has proven devastating to economic growth and often fatal to other countries. As with any complex appropriations act, the pros and cons involve an enormous amount of subjective balancing. Although an argument can be made that this bill moves us slightly closer to Republican policies, it is largely indistinguishable from the spending priorities set during the Obama administration.

The legislation is now moving over to the US Senate, where a vote is expected this week.
To farm or not to farm is no longer the question. More people are realising that among the various sectors of economic development in Nigeria, agriculture comes out on top as the most profitable. Agriculture has been identified as the largest employer of labor in Africa, particularly Nigeria. A lot of analysts called this sector a gold mine, awaiting to be fully explored.

Agricultural loans in Nigeria

The available land for farming activities in Nigeria is simply overwhelming. A recent report revealed that Nigeria has about 84 million hectares of arable land, of which only about 40% has been cultivated. Add our favorable climatic conditions that sustain the growth of agricultural products such as groundnut, rice, cassava, cocoa, cashew, palm oil, to mention but a few, and you begin to get the picture  Agriculture in Nigeria is a profitable business.

The problem young people face when they think of going into entrepreneurship is no longer whether agriculture business is worth investing in. The problem is twofold:

What type of agriculture business to start? How to raise capital to start an agriculture business?

In this post, we will explore some government grants and loans available for Nigerian farmers to keep their business booming.

Government Loans And Grants In Nigeria

One of the most reliable strategies that any government can use to encourage its citizens participation in agricultural practices and farming is creating avenues where they can access government grants and loans.

To fast-track the development of the agricultural sector, and to encourage farmers and investors to embrace agriculture, the federal government of Nigeria has set up different schemes and programs to provide funds regarding loans and grants to large and small-scale farmers.

READ ALSO: Fastest growing business in Nigeria 2017

These credit facilities are made available by the federal government to the public and cover a range of agricultural practices including crop cultivation and livestock rearing. There are a lot of avenues the government has provided for individuals and corporate bodies to access agricultural loans. Some of them include:

CBN agricultural loan to farmers in Nigeria.

Bank of Agriculture loan

1. CBN agricultural loan

This loan scheme was set up by the federal government to provide low-interest loans to farmers in Nigeria. To achieve this, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has recently approved the disbursement of about 75billion naira as the loan to farmers and cooperative societies in the 36 state and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). This loan can be accessed directly from the Bank of Agriculture.

2. Bank of Agriculture (BOA) loans

The Bank of Agriculture of Nigeria is the main channel that the government uses to provide loans and grants to the public. The bank is owned by the federal government, with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Federal Ministry of Finance incorporated as shareholders.

The bank's activities are controlled by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. When thinking of government loans, the BOA should be your first choice.

Requirements for Bank of Agriculture (BOA) LOANS

You must have maintained a minimum customer account relationship for about six months You must have deposited at least 20% of the required loan amount into the account You must provide collateral, excluding land. You must submit a detailed business plan.

However, the requirements for obtaining a loan are subject to negotiations and may depend largely on the feasibility of your agricultural venture. Further details about the BOA loans are available on the BOA website.

Apart from the BOA, there are other ways of acquisition of agricultural loans.

The federal government through the Bank of Agriculture and the bank of industries have partnered with different commercial banks to help farmers with the acquisition of loans. Some of the commercial banks you can approach to access loans are:

Union Bank; First Bank; Zenith Bank; UBA; Stanbic IBTC.

Requirements for accessing loans from commercial banks

Commercial banks also give loans to individuals and cooperatives for agricultural purposes. There is a variety of credit facility that you could apply for from commercial banks, this include:

short-term loans;

medium-term loans;

long-term loans.

The general requirement for all the commercial banks include:

Open an account with the bank; Submit a loan application; Deposit at least 10% of the total money you applied for; Provide the bank with collateral; Provide a detailed business plan with a complete feasibility study.

For more information on available government loans from commercial banks, you can contact any branch of the bank in your area for more information.

3. Agricultural co-operative societies

The easiest and surest means of securing agricultural loans is through cooperative societies. Credits given to these communities come as grants. As a rule, the cooperative societies could be provided with the grants by the banks who will then distribute it to each member on the basis of contributory payments.

Some of the most important agricultural cooperatives that you can join to access loans are:

All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN); Youth Empowerment in the Agricultural Program (YEAP); FADAMA.

Accessing government loans and grants from banks by cooperative societies are relatively simpler  the basic requirements include:

Form a cooperative society;

Submit a loan application I writing with the cooperative letterhead to the bank. The application should be signed by the cooperatives representative;

Submit a detailed feasibility study on the business.

The federal government is paying increasing attention to the agriculture sector by making loans and grants available. Many savvy farmers have taken advantage of this opportunity and now simply enjoying the benefits. You can get started today and enter your own world of wealth.

READ ALSO: Solution to economic recession in Nigeria: 10 steps to be made

Source: Legit.ng
- Chief Edwin Clark lashed at Obasanjo for saying Jonathan lacked trust and honour

- He accused Obasanjo of initiating corruption in the country

- The Ijaw chieftain said the former president lacked the honour to criticise anyone

Chief Edwin Clark has lashed out at former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo for comments he made about Goodluck Jonathan in Segun Adeniyis new book, Against the Run of Play.

In the book, Obasanjo was quoted as saying he did not support Jonathans re-election bid in 2015 not only because it was against he had earlier made but because he was incapable of holding on to the presidency for seeing the world through the prism of the Ijaw nation.

READ ALSO: See list of 5 companies Babachir Lawal used in grass-cutting scandal

This Day reports that the Ijaw chieftain in his reaction said everyone had the right to support whoever they want and that Obasanjo had no right to criticise it.

He said: In your narration in Adeniyis new book, theres nothing you said which you had not said in your despicable and false and self-aggrandised book containing assertions and character which you do not possess yet you are assassinating the character and libeling of patriotic and decent leaders and people of Nigeria including the innocent late President YarAdua and Jonathan.

What character has a man who was a head of state and president of a country with over 180 million people and who is now 80 years old being accused by his own eldest son, Mr. Gbenga Obasanjo, of sleeping with his wife and thereby doubting the paternity of his children and leading to the divorce of the marriage of which you did not show any remorse.

Your eldest daughter Senator Iyabo Obasanjo whom you alleged in your book: Under My Watch that she was been used by the government to assassinate your character. Again I ask what character has this man. However, you concluded that Iyabo fell into the trap of the government because she has the same character as her mother.

Jonathan was my candidate and I have a right to campaign for him and there was nothing that we said to infuriate or insult Nigerians as you are falsely and maliciously impressing on Nigerians. You said in Adeniyis book that the late DSP Alamieyeseigha, former governor of Bayelsa State, whom you hated and destroyed, had no reason to say that theres no vacancy in Aso Rock on 21st May 2013 when he was campaigning for Jonathan.

Whereas another PDP leader from Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu also stated on September 18, 2014 that there was no vacancy in Aso Rock when he was addressing youths of Niger State who wanted him to contest the Presidency. Whereas also in 2003, Chief Anthony Anenih also declared there was no vacancy in Aso Rock because you must be returned as President of Nigeria.

The same Anenih told Atiku during his campaign for Jonathan in 2014 that there was no vacancy in Aso Rock in 2015. As Nigerians, we are free to campaign for any candidate we believe in whether he or she is from our ethnic nationality, from our zone, from our state or the same religion as us and or political party. This is the situation all over the world.

Clark also lashed out at Obasanjo for saying Jonahan lacked trust and honour insisting he was the architect of corruption in the country.

Nigerians who are worshipping you should re-examine themselves. What do they owe to you? You, who sold all national assets of Nigeria including the Nigerian shipping line, Nigerian Airways, Nitel, Nigeria houses and institutions, you sold everything except Aso Rock.

You sold Delta Steel Company (DSC) through your son to the Indians who could not pay for it and manage it. Same thing you did with Ajaokuta Steel. So who are you to talk about corruption in Nigeria? You appointed your daughter as the director of a non-existing LNG in Olokola. You should re-examine yourself if you are well. No sane man will parade himself as an honest man when he knows that he is a corrupt man.

READ ALSO: Opinion: Nigeria is broken but Biafra is not the answer

You sold Nicon Nuga Hilton which became Transcorp Hilton to yourself and others against the advice given to you by your kitchen cabinet. You are a fellow who must not speak when decent Nigerians are speaking. You caused all the problems of Nigeria. You are the initiator of corruption in Nigeria. You masterminded it, legalised it and what corruption is today you caused it. And you pretend as if you are not corrupt. You corrupted the National Assembly then you turned round to call them armed robbers and thieves.

What do you really want from Jonathan and the Ijaw people? Most of the various issues you raised in Olusegun Adeniyis book, Against the Run of Play are mere re-visitation of the many things you did and failed to do in your eight years of mis-governance.

Legit.ng spoke with some Nigerians about whether they feel the country is out of recession.

Watch their reactions below:

Source: Legit.ng
Six dynamic young women have been recognized as Africas top female innovators in 2017.

These women are innovators from a range of field including agriculture, health, solar power and others. They are from South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda.

South Africa and Nigeria had two winners each while Kenya and Uganda had one winner each.

They will be contributing to discussions and generating action plans that will boost entrepreneurship in Africa at the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa taking place in Durban, South Africa.

The winners are:

1. Oluwayimika Angel Adelaja - Fresh Direct, Nigeria

Fresh Direct has helped urban populations gain access to high-quality produce

She is the founder and Executive Director of Fresh Direct Produce and Agro-Allied Services. It is an indigenous agricultural production and processing company that bring together communities and advanced technology to provide exquisitely grown organic fruits, vegetables and meats and processed end products.

READ ALSO: 11 things you must NEVER put on your Facebook

She has pioneered stackable container farms and helped urban populations reduce stress on land use and also gain access to high-quality produce. According to company, its organic urban farms use less water and land than conventional farming while producing a 15 times higher yield.

2. Temie Giwa-Tubosun - LifeBank, Nigeria

Temie is working hard the change the health sector in Nigeria

She is one of the young ladies in Nigeria working hard to change things in the health sector. She is the founder and CEO of LifeBank which is deploying the latest in digital supply chain thinking to deliver blood and other high-value medical products to hospitals and health centres.

Using an app, LifeBank provides records of blood banks available all over Lagos, which allows health centres to find the relevant blood types and order for delivery. It also ensures health workers get the life-saving inputs they need before they even arrive at the hospital.

READ ALSO: Atiku gives account about 53 suitcases saga imported into Nigeria

3. Esther Karwera - Akorion, Uganda

Akrion's growth is supported by a network of village-based service providers

She is a software developer, energetic entrepreneur and co-founder of Akorion Company limited. Akorion is an ICT company which aims at improving the livelihood of smallholder farmer, reduce costs of transaction and increase efficiency along the agricultural value chain in Uganda.

Akorion has developed software that integrates smallholder farmers into digital value chains, helping them sell directly to agribusinesses. The companys growth is supported by a network of village-based service providers.

4. Darlene Menzies - FinFind, South Africa

The company has been able to improve entrepreneurs access to vital capital

She is a technology innovator with firsthand experience in what it takes to start and grow a business. She has used this experience to develop practical, easy-to-use software tools for small businesses.

READ ALSO: SEE the 11 most GOOGLED people in Africa

FinFind is a one-stop solution for access to finance for small business, which aims at helping SMEs and start-ups secure financing. It brings together the providers and seekers of SMME finance with a focus on readying small businesses to access finance. The company has been able to improve entrepreneurs access to vital capital and help lenders identify a pipeline of quality loan leads.

5. Aisha Pandor - SweepSouth, South Africa

SweepSouth has helped create flexible working opportunities and elevated the status of cleaners in South African society

Since she founded SweepSouth in June 2014, the company has created employment opportunities for 3,000 domestic cleaners. SweepSouth is an online technology platform for booking, managing, and paying for domestic cleaning services within a few minutes from your laptop, phone or tablet.

Clients are connected with domestic cleaning professionals who go through a rigorous interview process and are experienced. Think of it as the Uber of cleaning.

6. Charity Wanjiku - Strauss Energy Limited, Kenya

Charity is the CEO and co-founder of Strauss Energy

She is the CEO and co-founder of Strauss Energy, a startup which deals in renewable energy solutions. Strauss Energy manufactures, sells and installs 2-in-1 Stima roofing tiles with integrated solar cells to affordably tap solar energy from the estate roofs, and have the solar power evacuated back to the national grid. Its proprietary solar roofing tiles are able to undercut conventional solar tiles by 30 percent.

READ ALSO: These 6 sculptures from this Nigerian artist are totally genius (photos)

This is the second year the WEF is running this competition. The search was initiated to demonstrate the positive role that women are playing in helping drive growth, create employment and prepare the region for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The criteria for the challenge required entrants companies to be less than three years old, be earning revenue for at least a year, and have proven innovation and positive social impact.

Five winners were selected from the 2016 #WEFAfrica Forums challenge to find Africas top women innovators.

Last years winners were inspiring women working on everything from solar-powered vending carts to paperless health insurance.

So who will be the 2017 #WEFAfrica2018 Innovators in Africa?

What is trending on Nigerian social media these days? Watch this Legit.ng video below:

Source: Legit.ng
After four years of striving for excellence in the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka (UNIZIK), Legit.ng gathered that two young men who were roommates defied the odds to graduate with a first class.

Apart from sharing the same middle name, Henry Ikenna Ozor and Joshua Ikenna Akuchi, seem to have a lot in common.

The two were classmates were classmates in secondary school, and when they met as undergraduates in the faculty of Engineering of UNIZIK, they became roommates.

Years down the line, the pair conquered expectations when they both graduated with first class degrees, and even finished as best graduating students from their departments.

Henry Ikenna Ozor, finished with a first class from the Chemical Engineering department of UNIZIK

Henry who hails from Iwollo in Ezeagu local government area of Enugu state, finished with a 4.85CGPA to become the best graduating student in the entire faculty of Engineering. While Joshua who hails from Ezza North local government in Ebonyi state, finished with a 4.66CGPA and emerged the best graduating student of the Mechanical Engineering department.

READ ALSO: Woman climbs husbands car to stop him from leaving with his mistress

The pair seem to always challenge each other, because when they represented UNIZIK at the national Engineering competition which was organised by the Committee of Deans of Engineering and Technology (CODET), Joshua emerged the first runner-up while Henry came in second.

Henry (left) and Joshua (right) finished as best graduating students from their different departments

Narrating their journey and their success story to CAMPUSLIFE, the pair who went to school on scholarship said:

Henry: As an indigent student, I had a challenge of paying my fee. I remember I could not pay school fees and house rent when I was in 100-Level. I would have lost my admission, because I had no financial support. I searched for scholarship, and I wrote many examinations as possible. By the grace of God, I got scholarship from ABC Transport Company, Shell Petroleum Development Company and Chevron/Agbami Joint Venture. I was also encouraged and financially supported by Allied Energy. The money I got from these companies yearly helped me to pay my fees and buy books.

Joshua: I squatted in a friends hostel for about eight months when I was in 100-Level until I got money to pay my rent. Like Henry, I also applied and wrote many scholarship examinations. I was able to get Agbami Chevron/Agbami Joint Venture scholarship, which helped to pay my school fees.

READ ALSO: Okorocha's first son bags MSc in Mechanical Engineering from British university

Henry gave the valedictory speech at UNIZIK's 11th convocation ceremony

When asked how their parents reacted to news that they were the valedictorians of their departments, they said:

Henry: My parents were over excited, because of the challenges they experienced in getting me to the level I am today.

Joshua: My mum was overjoyed, though she expected it. She could not believe it when it was confirmed. My dad said he wanted to keep hearing the testimony of how I made it happen and each time he hears it, it is breaking news to him.

READ ALSO: Young lady caught on camera drunk after drinking spree

Joshua finished with a 4.66CGPA to emerge as the best graduating student of his department

Sharing the secret of their success, they said:

Henry: I have always had successful and hardworking people around me. So, I draw energy and motivation from them. I would say that Gods favour made it happen, but I enjoy reading in the night except at weekends. Most of the time, I came back from night class around 5:30am to sleep before going for lectures. After lectures, I would return to my hostel to prepare for night reading. After sleeping for two to three hours, I would wake up to go for fellowship. From there, I would go for night reading till the following morning.

Joshua: My daily routine is similar to Henrys; only that I slept for more hours than I studied.

The pair opened up on their sole desires, they hope their academic records will be broken soon by their junior colleagues.

READ ALSO: Why will you aim to graduate with a second class upper when it is possible to grab a first class? - UNIPORT's best graduating student

Joshua finished as the best graduating student in Mechanical Engineering

Henry: The only thing that kills a mission is distraction. I will advise my junior colleagues to design a plan and timetable, because they cannot be reading at random and expect to have a well-structured result. They should try to summarize their lecture note and textbooks in their own understanding for better concentration, comprehension and retention.

If, after reading, and one cannot clearly understand key concepts and highlights of a course, then it is a clear sign that such a person did not understand it or he may be cramming. I equally believe that everyone has its own way of achieving excellence. What is needed is self-discovery.

Joshua: Academic excellence is achievable for students who wish to attain enviable feat and height in their studies. They must carefully choose their friends, dedicate quality time to studies and be ambitions. They must always make up for lost time. The Almighty God is the pillar of all wisdom and knowledge.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng recently met with some Nigerians who were rewarded by the British Council, for distinguishing themselves during their course of study in the UK:

Source: Legit.ng
Editors note: Information and Communication Technology has played a vital role in connecting the world especially in this 21st century. Many Nigerians at home and abroad have proven that Nigeria should not be underrated when it comes to technological development.

In a message sent to Legit.ngLegit.ng, a Facebook user, Najib SG Mohammed explains how he started building helicopters, flying drones, Office Pac and how he intends to rule the world through his work if he could get assistance from Nigerians

I am Najib Saleh Gaiya Mohammed and I believe I am the Nigeria's most talented due to my profession as a Social Science student and also as a science student. I studied both science and social science and presently an inventor that creates almost everything.

I am the C.E.O and founder Global Technology (got talent project). People should not be surprised as all these drones are made up with very light cans such as Maltina, Amstel Malta, Smirnoff ice cans etc.

READ ALSO: PDP crisis: Tension as Supreme Court begins hearing on leadership tussle

The boards, propellers, receivers for remote and the remote control is all got inside scrap DVD and scrap FM radio boards while radio antennas, super glue and super glue cover is what I use to make the little handle holding the propellers and the motors which I also got inside the same scrap DVD.

Amazing! Meet 22-year-old Nigerian who built Helicopter, flying drones

View the pictures below and see how I transform each and every material I mention into drones like airplanes, helicopter and quadcopters and I can sell each one between N150 to N300 that is for the well customized ones with cameras.

From the pictures, you can see my uncompleted humanoid robot and one single bomb detector and one metal detector robotic cars. The ones without paint, propellers and tires are the newly improved and advanced drones I am still working on. But I will announce the lunch date by the end of this week by Gods grace.

I am about to write jamb this year. I just need sponsorship, encouragement and support. Please help me broadcast this because I need to finish the project I stated and to finish my own industry, my factory for making and producing all kind of technology. I make them according to the way people want it to function for them.

This is the first Nigerian made office Pac. It functions like phone but the difference is that the office Pac does not have cameras because it has no screen and it is used for office and school use.

The uses and importance of Office Pac include:

1. You can use it to communicate from one office to another, it replaced wired telephones that people use to communicate from one office to another, it makes it easy to communicate cos it is wireless and it uses no simcard. You communicate with it like Walkie talkie.

2. It has clock with calendar which u can see your time and date.

3. It has reading bright light that u can use to help u see when der is no light at night. It helps you see what ever u want to write or read.

4. It is rechargeable. U can charge it when d battery is low.

5. It has power bank that u can use to charge your phone or use to charge itself storage battery. So it charges itself also from it storage battery to its battery.

6. It has MP3 player. U can use it to listen to your audio music when you feel like. Also it has FM radio stations and audio recorder to record conversations.

7. The Office Pac has light indicators that show light of the entire instrument you remove. It will remind you to return the pencils or biros u remove n forgot to return.

8. You operate it using the instrument. So you press the instrument to operate it likethe button in phones etc.

Amazing! Meet 22-year-old Nigerian who built Helicopter, flying drones

9. For school use u can use it to communicate or lecture your student when busy at office or staff room.. So if each n every student in class has it u can lecture them by talking through your own office pac to your student in class without coming to d classroom. So you can dictate their note while in your office.

10. It has all the writing instrument your need to write with or draw with.

READ ALSO: Alleged certificate scandal: Group wants Shehu Sani suspended, prosecuted

Please nothing like this in the world and this is the first in d world. I call it the Office Pac and not digital mathematical set anymore.

My rechargeable reading and chess board are used for reading without light at night and playing chess when having nothing doing. Legit.ng you are my last hope. I am just a student about to go to the university so my English is a little not too perfect m still studying. So please if you wouldn't mind with the arrangement of the writings please. My project is to build Nigeria's technology and to encourage others. Thanks a lot.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily represent the editorial policy of Legit.ng.

Your own opinion articles are welcome at info@corp.legit.ng  drop an email telling us what you want to write about and why. More details in Legit.ngs step-by-step guide for guest contributors.

Were ready to trade your news for our money: submit news and photo reports from your area using our Citizen Journalism App.

Contact us if you have any feedback, suggestions, complaints or compliments. We are also available on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to Legit.ng Opinion page!

Watch this Legit.ng video of a man on the streets of Lagos who has harsh words for President Buhari who he believes is not doing so well for the masses.

Source: Legit.ng
- The leader of the Indigenous People (IPOB) of Biafra Nnamdi Kanu has traveled back to the South-East region of Nigeria

- Nnamdi Kanu left Abuja for Enugu on Thursday, May 4

- He visited the Cenotaph Hilltop in Enugu for private prayers and respect for fallen heroes who died during the Nigeria -Biafra civil war

The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu was at the Cenotaph Hill Top in Enugu on Thursday, May 4.

Kanu arrived Enugu from Abuja six days after his release from Kuje Prison in Abuja.

READ ALSO: How the plan to kidnap Jega during 2015 election announcement FAILED (People involved)

Legit.ng gathered that the IPOB leader visited the Cenotaph to pray and have some private time.

A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains were buried somewhere else.

The leader of the Indigenous People (IPOB) of Biafra Nnamdi Kanu has traveled back to the South-East region of Nigeria

READ ALSO: You should re-examine yourself if you are well  Edwin Clark blasts Obasanjo; defends Jonathan

It can also be an initial tomb for a person who has been buried elsewhere especially groups of individuals or soldiers lost by a country or an empire.

Nnamdi Kanu left Abuja for Enugu on Thursday, May 4

Sources also told Legit.ng that as custom, Kanu visited the Cenotaph anytime he comes back home.

"IPOB Leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu prayed at the Biafra Cenotaph Hill Top Enugu upon his safe arrival into Biafraland. Anytime Kanu comes into Biafraland, he would first visit the Cenotaph for private prayers.

"Biafra Cenotaph Enugu is the commemorative site of the fallen heroes of Biafra," the source said.

The source said the Kanu said his prayers at the cenotaph at exactly 12 noon today, April 4.

He visited the Cenotaph Hilltop in Enugu for private paryers and respect for fallen heroes who died during the Nigeria -Biafra civil war

"Kanu went to present himself before the Almighty God and to pay his respects to Biafran soldiers and IPOB activists that fell in defence of our freedom," the source added.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: Govt. shutdown looms as Senate fails to pass 2017 budget hours to expiration of 2016's

Recall that the IPOB had earlier announced that it will embark on a sit-at-home protest on May 30.

The group said the protest will be in remembrance and honour of those who lost their loved once during the civil war.

Watch this Legit.ng video of the Jewish Rabbi who stood as surety for Nnamdi Kanu speak:

Source: Legit.ng
- A religious group has concluded its plan to hold a intercessory night of Prayers for President Muhammadu Buhari

- The prayer session will take place at the Nyanya Prayer Ground, Abuja on Saturday, May 13

- The session which will include supplication thanksgiving for Nigeria and President Buhari two years in office

A religious group has concluded its plan to hold a intercessory night of Prayers for President Muhammadu Buhari.

The group, Northern Inter-Faith and Religious Organization said, the prayer session, which will include supplication thanksgiving for Nigeria and President Buhari two years in office will take place at the Nyanya Prayer Ground, Abuja on Saturday, May 13.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja, the national coordinator of the group Musa Fomson said there is need to pray for the president's health.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: Olu Obanure, Pastor Adeboye's assistant GO dies 9 months after appointment

Fomson, a Bishop said, Nigerians must learn to ask God to strengthen President Buhari in his strive to champion the affairs of the nation.

"Our economy needs prayers too. It has taken only the grace of God and the prudence of President Muhammadu Buhari's government to keep Nigeria from the brink economically.

We thank God for this because we did not end up like Venezuela which has similar configuration as us. While thank God for this good fortune we nonetheless recognize that our economy needs prayers," Fomson said.

Legit.ng gathered that the Bishop also called on Nigerians to come together and pray to God to heal the land and free Nigeria from the hands of "evil men whose aim is to hold back Nigeria's progress".

It has taken only the grace of God and the prudence of President Muhammadu Buhari's government to keep Nigeria from the brink economically.

He said prior to the 2015 elections there were doubts which overwhelmed the land.

READ ALSO: JAMB releases 2017 mock examination results JAMB releases 2017 mock examination results

He also stressed that at that time, it was almost concluded that the election or its outcome will break up the country but God intervened through prayers.

"We are again confronted by not too pleasant situations brought about by human interference with the divine. Some persons have made it their life ambition to truncate the anti-corruption fight that the entire nation yearned for.

"Their contamination of the process is evident in the frustration of investigations. We see it in the bizarre rulings in our law courts. The din of pro-corruption protesters echoes across the world. The anti-corruption crusade needs prayers," he said.

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Nnamdi Kanu leaves Abuja, visits Enugu Cenotaph for private prayers (photos)

He said God has used President Buhari to seal the mouth of some "evil men" who cause anguish to Nigerians through the instrumentality of terrorists and insurgents.

"They make the blood of Nigerians flow to drink in their wicked covens. In this we again thank God for President Buhari, whose competent military chiefs have pushed back the evil.

We however do not lose sight of the truth. These evil people are beyond the ordinary, the security breaches in Nigeria have their spiritual connections.

The Bishop also urged all Nigerian to join the group in praying for the nation and its leadership.

"We invite Nigerians of all faiths to join us on this night as it is important that we pray for President Buhari's health and quick recovery because of the many things that God is planning to use him for beyond 2019," he said.

Watch this Legit.ng video of Nigerians reacting to President Buhari's health condition:

Source: Legit.ng
President Muhammadu Buharis continued absence from public view is raising fresh doubts about his health status.

Some are wondering if he is really fit to rule the country.

For the third time in a row, he was absent at weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, thus raising speculations that his health might have deteriorated.

According to the minister of information, Lai Mohammed, Buharis doctors have advised him to take some rest.

He said the president will continue to rest until he has fully recovered and is fit to work based on his doctors advice.

Legit.ng has compiled six reasons Buhari needs to continue to rest and they are:

1. He is sick

There is no denying that Buhari is sick, though the presidency has refused to disclose what is really wrong with the presidents health. When he returned from his 51 days medical leave in London, Nigerians could see he was looking frail. His wife, Aisha, recently disclosed that his health was not that bad as is being speculated. However, the truth still remains that the president is sick and sick people need to rest.

2. Buhari is not getting any younger

As people age, they become more susceptible to disease and disability than younger adults. We all know that age is not on the presidents side. At the age of 74, he does not need to be exposed to all these type of extreme stress. What he really needs is rest.

3. His Vice President can do a very good job

When Buhari was away in London on medical leave, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was widely commended for doing a good job as acting president. He was said to be performing better than his boss. During Buharis absence Nigerians did not really miss because Osinbajo was more than capable to do the job.

Some even suggested that Buhari should retire and allow Osinbajo continue while others said he should remain in London.

READ ALSO: FG approves N1.5bn for maintenance, 4 other projects in aviation sector (see list)

4. Doctors advice

The president has been advised by his doctors have advised him to take some rest. Explaining why Buhari was absent from FEC meeting, Mohammed said the president was merely following his doctors' advice to take more rest. The president really needs to continue to rest based on his doctors advise.

5. Nigeria is a complex nation

Leading Nigeria is not an easy task, especially with all its challenges. You have to deal with security issues ranging from Boko Haram insurgency to militancy and Fulani Herdsmen attacks. There is the issue of corruption and we cannot forget the economic recession. With all these problems, ruling Nigeria is not for someone with health issues. Buhari really needs all the rest he can get.

READ ALSO: 'Against the run of play' author Adeniyi drops bombshell about President Buhari

6. He just needs to continue to rest

He will work better after a good rest. Allowing your body to get enough rest and sleep is essential to good health. If Buhari is allowed to continue to rest, he will return to work refreshed and more committed to fighting corruption which has eaten deep into the society.

Fifty-one days after he left Nigeria on leave, Buhari on Friday, March 10, returned into the waiting hands of Osinbajo, ministers and service chiefs.

Nigerians were glad to have their president back as there were so many unpleasant rumours flying all over. One of such was that the president was not alive.

The presidency quickly debunked this rumour, saying the president was alive and well.

Watch this Legit.ng video of a random Nigeria lamenting about the country's problems:

Source: Legit.ng
- Emefiele met with President Buhari behind closed doors to discuss the issue of Nigeria's FOREX and naira rates

- The apex bank boss says the president is quite please with the new stability the institution has achieved

- President Buhari was absent at Wednesday's Federal Executive Council meeting despite returning to work on Tuesday, May 2

The Nation is reporting that President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday, May 4, received briefings from the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele in a closed-door meeting.

According to the report, Emefiele briefed the president on the stability in the Foreign Exchange market and additional activities of the apex bank.

READ ALSO: Edwin Clark blasts Obasanjo; defends Jonathan

He told State House correspondents that the President was delighted at how stable the FOREX market had become.

President Buhari returned to office for a meeting with CBN boss Emefiele who briefed on the naira rates and FOREX market

He said: Basically as it is expected what we normally do is from time to time to brief the President about activities about the Central Bank of Nigeria particularly at this time as it relates to the efforts that the Central Bank is doing to stabilise the forex market

We briefed him regarding the activities so far and he was very delighted to hear that the market is stabilising at the level that it is right now and I am saying the parallel market which currently stabilises at between N380 and N385.

Emefiele said the sudden rise in crude oil production and the subsequent increase in export of the commodity are the major factors that led to the stability in the FOREX market.

READ ALSO: UPDATED: Hours to expiration of 2016 budget, Senate steps down presentation of appropriations report

He added: Given what we have right now the fact that the revenues are looking good, the state of the economy is good and I believe that we are going to pull out of the problem in due course.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported earlier that after almost two years, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has lifted the restriction on 41 items listed as ineligible for foreign exchange.

The apex bank in a circular said: Importers of items classified as not valid for forex with transactions value of $20,000 and below per quarter shall now qualify for allocation of foreign exchange.

Consequently, the restriction still exists for businesses with transaction value above $20,000 per quarter.

Source: Legit.ng
- Legit.ng gathered that the Benue state House of Assembly has banned open rearing and grazing in the state

- Offenders upon conviction will be sentenced to 5 years imprisonment with a fine of 1 million

- Where damage is done to crops, the farm will be evaluated and the manager of the livestock be compelled to pay

The Benue state House of Assembly has passed the bill prohibiting open rearing and grazing into law.

This is in efforts to stop the conflicts between farmers and Fulani herdsmen in the state.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: Olu Obanure, Pastor Adeboye's assistant GO dies 9 months after appointment

The house received the report of its committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources on the bill to prohibit open grazing in the state and the title of the bill was changed from Livestock Promotion, Development and Regulatory Agency establishment bill, to a bill to prohibiting open rearing and grazing of livestock.

Offenders upon conviction will be sentenced to 5 years imprisonment with a fine of 1 million offenders

The bill provided for the establishment of ranches and livestock administration, regulation and control.

According to the lawmakers, the bill will end the protracted war between Benue farmers and herdsmen.

Nobody will be permitted to carry out open grazing outside the permitted ranches.

Any person who contravenes this act shall be guilty and upon conviction be sentenced to 5 years imprisonment with a fine of 1 million.

Where damage is done to crops, the farm will be evaluated and the manager of the livestock be compelled to pay.

READ ALSO: FG approves N1.5bn for maintenance, 4 other projects in aviation sector (see list)

Movement of livestock on foot within the state is hereby prohibited. Any person who contravenes this shall be sentenced to one year imprisonment or pay a fine of N500,00

Any livestock owner or manager who carries firearms shall be treated under the penal code. All ranchers shall engage the services of security agencies.

Any person who rustles cattle shall be sentenced to 5 years imprisonment or pay a fine of N100,000 per cow. Any livestock wandering shall be impounded by the department of livestock.

Any livestock impounded and the owner not found shall be auctioned to the public and the proceeds be deposited into the state consolidated revenue account.

They shall be established, a special open prohibition TAX FORCE that will enforce this laws as stipulated.

In the Legit.ng video below, Nigerians disclose how convicted looters should be punished. Watch the video:

Read more:

Source: Legit.ng
OPINION: Saint Peter Obis epistle and the parable of 1 wristwatch and 2 shoes

Editors note: Mixed reactions have continued to greet former Anambra state Governor, Peter Obis comment at Platform that he used a wrist watch for seventeen years. Many Nigerians have vented their anger over what they termed as blatant lies coming from someone who rule a state for eight years.

In an article sent to Legit.ng, Churchill Okonkwo writes about the drama that played out at the forum.

Okonkwo is the Managing Editor, Climate Sense Afrique African Center for Climate Science and Policy Research Washington DC.

He could be contacted via: http://www.quantumafrica.org/, Churchill.okonkwo@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @churchillnnobi.

As I bent down to tie one of my 17-year-old shoes, I heard the voice of the Lord, loud and clear, saying; you must not be terrified about this parable of 1 wristwatch and 2 shoes. Rather, you should testify this Epistle from God to all Nigerians. Do not be afraid, you are the oracle  Peter okwute.

So, it came to pass that God commanded all imams and men of God; take this third letter of Saint Peter, sorry Senator Peter, whats wrong with me, President, Peter whatever, just take this letter to all the churches and mosques. Say unto them, go yea into the high mountains and announce to Naija people, the coming of a 2-shoed messiah on good governance.

READ ALSO: How God used Buhari to expose Mbaka, Pastor Tunde Bakare's hypocrisy  Reno Omokri

The Lord said you should look at my shoes closely. I bought that shoe for $49.99 at Marks and Spencer near the banks of Agulu Lake, finish. That is the epitome of simplicity and good governance.

Former Governor of Anambra, Peter Obi

Behold, Senator Peter Obi, the economic messiah will accelerate economic development and boost local shoe production in Aba by mandating all Nigerians to go shoeless.

When God created Adam did He provide shoes for him? Even if we need to wear shoes, why should we have more than one? Is the purpose of a shoe not to protect the leg from being hurt? Why do you think I campaigned for the re-election of shoeless President Joe?

The answer is simple: to save money for Nigerians. The level of corruption in Nigeria has made it very imperative that we should be electing only shoeless politicians. Forget about our wives, like mama Patience.

Just in case you dont know, I lease an apartment in the dilapidated Osborne Towers Ikoyi, close to apartment 7B dash-dash. To demonstrate my cost-cutting ingenuity, I pay a chicken change of about ten million Naira (only) a year.

I dont even live there and I dont need it. If you doubt, ask EFCC. It is just for my wife and children, even though they dont need it too. Thats why you should trust me as the best brain in Nigeria when it comes to economic management.

When I boasted in the Lord that I spent N2.8 billion on schools in Anambra State, I forgot to let you know that the money was used to buy over the Anglican and Catholic churches. That was the smartest covert political operation in Nigeria. In the process, I demonstrated my good governance credentials by re-establishing the churches, not save Anambra citizens, but to rule the state.

The Lord said you should see me as a political genius. I re-engineered these churches to lay down the cross and pick up the sword. Forget about the old doctrine that the existence of the church is meant to glorify God.

The existence of the church in Anambra according to the gospel of Saint Peter Obi is meant to keep me happy. The good governance legacy I left in the state has enticed men of God to lay down their bibles in lieu of Benjamins from Government House Awka.

If you doubt, ask my former boy, Governor Obiano. He has been using that single strategy to hold onto power by doling out millions to churches under the cover of maintaining schools.

As the political power struggle for the 2017 election in Anambra State heats up, I have initiated moves to use the churches in my back pocket to settle scores with that ingrate.

The bishops I gave billions of Naira in the last three years of my administration have agreed to convince their diocesans to pull the rug under that champagne Governor that build bridges for car-less Anambra citizens. He has been wasting state resources on aides. A smart Governor does not need aides.

Just before you start distorting and gossiping about this parable of 1 wristwatch and 2 shoes in 17 years, the Lord is warning all Nigerians that gossip is cancer in the body of Christ. James said the tongue is a fire (James 3:6). So my quest for political power should not turn Anambra State into a gossip mill. This is the command from God.

The Lord has given me power over Governor Obiano and Victor Umeh. The Lord has commanded Ndi Anambra to stop supporting the clown, Victor, wasting money on long red caps and feathers.

The Lord said I should not forgive Governor Obiano and Victor Umeh. Rather, He as commanded that the gospel of Christ be used to make me the Senator representing Anambra Central.

The good Lord said I should warn all Nigerians not to own more than one wristwatch. Why would you keep a watch at home? Whose time is it keeping? As a matter of fact, you dont even need a wristwatch.

How do I know? I know because I am a philosopher from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where as a student, I invented the old fashioned way of telling time by simply looking at the location of the sun.

This parable over wristwatch is an Act of an Apostle. Dont mind those mischief makers circulating my pictures with different expensive watches in social media. The good Lord has commanded me to tell you that those watches you saw were borrowed from the galleries. I have since returned them to keep the Covenant I made with God.

Now that I have finished tying my shoes, the Lord whispered to me to command you to go back and look at my pictures from the talk on The Platform Program. Look closely at my dress. See how simple I am? I have been wearing that dress now for over ten years, even before I became Governor of Anambra State. The color and simplicity is a hallmark of good governance.

By the way, I heard that one Kemi, an ordinary Finance Commissioner that was elevated to an office bigger than her by Asiwaju questioned my credentials. Kemi that does not know the number of shoes, pieces of jewelry and watches in her wardrobes. Good-for-nothing, wasteful economic light-weight.

How could Kemi forget that I am the only wise man from the east? Did I intimidate her? Thats how they messed up the corruption-free vibrant economy my shoeless President built.

So, whenever Mr. President is done with working from the other room, Pastor Osinbajo should tell him that the Lord has sent his chosen one, the shoeless economic maestro, the chameleon from the tribe of Arewa, the apostle that lies with sincerity, the I was that I am.

READ ALSO: Revealed! How Oonis humiliation, miminum wage top Google search

Let Kemi remind Mr. President that I single-handedly transformed the economy of Anambra State to the Dubai of West Africa. What else are they waiting for?

Verily, verily, I say unto you, unless the remnants of this battered Nigerian economy are entrusted into my safe hands, this current recession will not cease until the second coming of the Lord.

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to Saint Peter Obi. Mr. President, in waiting.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily represent the editorial policy of Legit.ng.

Your own opinion articles are welcome at info@corp.legit.ng  drop an email telling us what you want to write about and why. More details in Legit.ngs step-by-step guide for guest contributors.

Were ready to trade your news for our money: submit news and photo reports from your area using our Citizen Journalism App.

Contact us if you have any feedback, suggestions, complaints or compliments. We are also available on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to Legit.ng Opinion page!

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
Burton Watson, whose spare, limpid translations, with erudite introductions, opened up the world of classical Japanese and Chinese literature to generations of English-speaking readers, died on April 1 in Kamagaya, Japan. He was 91.

His death was confirmed by his nephew William Dundon.

For nearly six decades, Mr. Watson was a one-man translation factory, producing indispensable English versions of Chinese and Japanese literary, historical and philosophical texts, dozens of them still in print. Generations of students and teachers relied on collections like Early Chinese Literature (1962), Chinese Lyricism: Shih Poetry From the Second to the Twelfth Century (1971), From the Country of Eight Islands: An Anthology of Japanese Poetry (1981) and The Columbia Book of Chinese Poetry: From Early Times to the 13th Century (1984).

He rendered the poems of such classic Chinese writers as Su Tung-po, Po Chu-I and Du Fu and the Japanese poets Ryokan and Masaoka Shiki in a contemporary idiom informed by his wide reading in modern American poetry. In Nineteen Ways of Looking at Wang Wei (1987), the essayist Eliot Weinberger described Mr. Watson as not only a prolific and particularly fine translator but also the first scholar whose work displays an affinity with the modernist revolution in American poetry: absolute precision, concision, and the use of everyday speech. His admirers included the poets Gary Snyder and W. S. Merwin.

In 2015, the literary organization PEN awarded Mr. Watson its Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation, calling him the inventor of classical East Asian poetry for our time.
THURSDAY PUZZLE  I have this theory that once you start solving crossword puzzles regularly and you push past the early week puzzles, you will look at words much differently than you did before you started. Its hard to avoid, and the tendency to look at a phrase like office temp and not chase someone down the hall at work and say, Hey! Youre an office temp? You know, office temp contains the word ice, and whats left makes up two complete words, off and temp. Its possible that people might get off the elevator a floor early, just to avoid those conversations.

My point is, its an addictive habit.

You might not even be interested in making puzzles of your own, but its hard to play with words day in and day out and not see how they can be manipulated and parsed differently. Today, Loren Muse Smith and Tracy Gray collaborate to show you just how artfully that can be done.

Todays Theme

Im not great at rebus themes, but I conquered this one without much slipping or sliding around. A word is hidden in four of the black squares, and Ms. Smith and Ms. Gray are warning you to watch your step.

Thats because four of the squares in todays puzzle are made of BLACK ICE (the revealer is in plain sight at 44A), that dastardly winter driving hazard. Its up to you to determine which ones they are. And to avoid wiping out on them.
Its a disease of a lifetime, said Dr. Yuli Kim, director of the adult congenital heart disease center at the University of Pennsylvania.

Before the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, federal law required employer-sponsored plans to cover newborns regardless of their health status as long as their parents enrolled them within 30 days, said Karen Pollitz, a senior fellow at the Kaiser Family Foundation.

If parents switched jobs, their new insurers could not impose waiting periods or charge more for sick newborns.

But things were different for parents who bought their insurance individually.

All 50 states had laws requiring newborns to be covered under a parents insurance policy and not to be charged more if they were sick, if they were enrolled within 30 days. But if a parent switched plans after a babys birth, the new insurer could refuse to cover the care for an ill infant for an initial period of time or charge more, Ms. Pollitz said.

They could also do so if the parents were uninsured to begin with.

Lifetime limits on coverage were a problem, too. In both individual and employer-sponsored plans, some critically ill children met policy limits within the first few years of their lives.

Ms. Pollitz pointed out, however, that about half of all newborns were and still are insured by Medicaid, which basically says whatever the kid needs is covered. Many infants with severe congenital defects require home care provided under the program, as well.
Its a distinction that restaurants do their best to blur. You even hear it when youre standing in line at Chipotle or some place like it: May I help the next guest, please? But at Union Square Cafe, the choice of words has unique resonance.

After the restaurant opened in its original location on East 16th Street, in 1985, Mr. Meyer worked hard to instill a certain ethos in his employees. It borrowed from Boy Scout law (helpful, friendly, courteous, kind) and served as a polite Midwestern demurral to the notion that New Yorkers went out to eat in order to be intimidated by frighteningly attractive servers whose cheekbones could slice shallots.

The servers at Union Square Cafe werent like that. They were boy- and girl-next-door types. They didnt shovel your driveway or walk your dog. But theyd do just about anything else to win you over. When it worked, you left convinced that youd gotten something more than youd paid for.

Mr. Meyer eventually settled on a word to sum up that something more and enshrined it in the name of his company, the Union Square Hospitality Group. From there, the notion of hospitality as the prime directive of restaurant service spread through the land, trickling down to your corner burrito chain.

In the meals I ate before writing my Union Square Cafe review, I experienced that hospitality over and over. In one case, I wasnt quite the right audience for it. Id ordered a slice of the espresso chocolate cake, and was asked if Id like a cold glass of milk to go with it. Well, no, I would not. The thought makes my tongue wrinkle for some reason. But lots of people love the idea, and Union Square Cafe is there to tell them to go right ahead, and drink milk with dessert if thats what you want.
Deadpan humor is a slippery creature; miss the tone by just a little, and the potential wriggles away. Take Me, an extremely droll parody of a male-female cat-and-mouse thriller, is a case in point.

Pat Healy plays a sad sack named Ray with a kidnap-fantasy business: He abducts people at their request for therapeutic or thrill-seeking purposes. Anna (Taylor Schilling of Orange Is the New Black, who is the best thing about this movie) requests his services, but she doesnt want merely the usual eight-hour adventure. She wants an entire weekend, and she wants it rough.

Thus begins a blunder-filled odyssey that soon has Ray and, presumably, the viewer wondering who is manipulating whom and whether Ray has even snatched the right person. Parts of it work, but the overall package is never really suspenseful enough to have you on edge or overtly funny enough to be a lark.

Mr. Healy also directed, which might have been a mistake. Another set of eyes might have coaxed more complementary performances out of the two leads, who individually are amusing but seem as if theyre operating on different comedic planes. Still, the movies moderately diverting, and the veteran actor Jim OHeir is funny as another client of Rays who requests a kidnapping as a means of eating healthier.
Dear Diary:

I was a student at Bay Ridge High School, an all-girls school, from 1941 to 1945. There were a lot of students from Italian families. Concetta and Marie were common names.

At the beginning of each term, the teacher would call each students name so that she could place that students Delaney card in a slot on a seating chart.

One day, the teacher called for fe-MAHL-ee. She called it once and then called it again. No takers. When she added a surname, one girls hand shot up.

It seemed that when I and other boys and girls my age had been born, in the late 1920s, parents did not have to immediately register a given name. As a result, many children had simply been registered as Male or Female.
Of all the stresses that humans have inflicted on the worlds oceans, including pollution and global warming, industrial fishing ranks high. For years, trawlers capable of scouring the ocean floor, and factory ships trailing driftnets and longlines baited with thousands of hooks, have damaged once-abundant fisheries to the point where, the United Nations says, 90 percent of them are now fully exploited or facing collapse.

The damage is not just to the fish and the ecosystem but also to people who depend on them for food and income. This is particularly true in Africa. In 2008, in two striking articles, The Times reported that mechanized fleets from the European Union, Russia and China had nearly picked clean the oceans off Senegal and other northwest African countries, ruining coastal economies.

Its still happening, but now, according to a report by The Timess Andrew Jacobs, China stands alone as the major predator.

With its own waters heavily overfished, and being forced to forage elsewhere to feed its people, the Chinese government commands a fleet of nearly 2,600 vessels, 10 times larger than the United States fleet, all heavily subsidized. As Zhang Hongzhou of Singapores Nanyang Technological University observes, For Chinas leaders, ensuring a steady supply of aquatic products is not just about good economics but social stability and political legitimacy.
I guess Mnuchin rules are made to be broken. But he is not alone.

This is a targeted tax deduction for the middle class, the White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, said Sunday on ABCs This Week, in another huge misstatement of what the Trump bill would do. (He meant reduction, not deduction.)

In an interview Monday on CBS This Morning, Gary Cohn, the former Goldman Sachs president who is now director of the National Economic Council, argued that the increase in the standard deduction qualified Mr. Trumps plan as a middle-class tax cut.

The problem, as David Kamin quickly pointed out in Democracy, is that a family of two or more pays less tax under current law than it would under Mr. Trumps plan because of the availability of both a standard deduction and personal exemptions, which Mr. Trump said in the campaign he would end.

All told, the Trump tax initiative to date has been a tale of broken promises and obfuscation about its true impact.

Perhaps we shouldnt be surprised. Misleading the public about the true nature of its policies has become a hallmark of this administration. In recent days, Mr. Trump has been routinely misstating the effect that the current draft of a new health care law would have on those with pre-existing conditions.

Whats particularly odd about Mr. Trumps approach to taxes is that the plan he announced as president is far less detailed than what he put forward as a candidate. Typically, when a president makes a proposal, it has more specifics than a campaign agenda item.
NATIONAL

An article on Wednesday on the debate within the Trump administration over the Paris climate agreement misquoted Todd D. Stern, the lead climate negotiator in the Obama administration. He said it would be a serious mistake to leave the Paris agreement; he did not say lowering United States commitments under the agreement would be a serious mistake.



An article on Wednesday about recent changes in American naval activity in the South China Sea referred imprecisely in some copies to the timing of President Trumps Twitter post reacting to a North Korean missile test. He posted the message at 4:26 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, April 28 (5:26 a.m. Saturday in Korea); he did not write the message on Saturday.

THE ARTS

A report in the Arts, Briefly column on Wednesday about the New York Theater Workshops next season described incorrectly a production of the musical Hundred Days at the Under the Radar Festival this year. That was the shows first New York run, not its premiere. Hundred Days first ran at Z Space in San Francisco in 2014.

SCIENCE TIMES

An article on Tuesday about odor detection to diagnose disease misspelled the name of a foundation that awarded a grant to advance work on a prototype odor sensor that detects ovarian cancer in samples of blood plasma. It is the Kleberg Foundation, not Kleburg.
SAN FRANCISCO  While on the campaign trail last year, Donald J. Trump lamented the loss of manufacturing jobs in the United States and set his sights on companies like Apple to help rectify the situation. Im going to get Apple to start making their computers and their iPhones on our land, not in China, he said.

On Wednesday, Apple appeared to meet President Trump halfway.

While it did not announce a new manufacturing facility with thousands of manufacturing jobs, Apple, the worlds most valuable public company, said it planned to dedicate resources to American job creation with a $1 billion fund to invest in advanced manufacturing in the United States. The company said it would announce the first investment from its new fund later this month.

The fund can be the ripple in the pond, Timothy D. Cook, Apples chief executive, said during an interview with CNBC in which he announced the new fund. Those manufacturing jobs create more jobs around them because you have a service industry that builds up around them.
Google said it was investigating an email scam winding its way through inboxes across the country and had disabled the accounts responsible for the spam.

The scheme emerged Wednesday afternoon, when spammers dispatched malicious email, appearing to come from people the recipients knew, beckoning them to click on what appeared to be a shared Google document.

Recipients who clicked on the links were prompted to give the sender access to their Google contact lists and Google Drive. In the process, victims allowed spammers to raid their contact lists and send even more email.

We are investigating a phishing email that appears as Google Docs, Google said statement posted on Twitter. We encourage you to not click through and report as phishing within Gmail.
SAN FRANCISCO  In the fight over the future of self-driving vehicles, a bare-knuckled brawl between Uber and Waymo is coming to a head.

That was clear in a federal courthouse in San Francisco on Wednesday as the two companies clashed at a crucial hearing in a case that could halt the progress of Ubers autonomous-vehicle research efforts. The hearing was expected to be the final court session before a federal judge decides whether to temporarily shut down Ubers work on self-driving cars.

At the center of the dispute are allegations by Waymo, the self-driving car unit spun off by Googles parent company, that Uber was using stolen trade secrets to develop autonomous vehicles.

The thief, Waymo maintains, is Anthony Levandowski, a former top Google engineer whose start-up was acquired by Uber last year to work on self-driving technology. Waymo has accused Mr. Levandowski of illegally downloading 14,000 documents from Google and then applying those stolen secrets at Uber.
Is $8 billion enough to get the House health bill passed? And is it enough to ensure that people with pre-existing medical conditions will still be able to get insurance if Congress repeals the Affordable Care Act?

The answer to the first question is maybe. On the second, its very likely to be no.

A recent amendment to the Republican bill would allow states to waive an Obamacare rule that forbids charging sick people higher insurance prices, as long as the states set up a special insurance pool for those customers. Some Republican lawmakers worried these high risk pools would be inadequate. To win over the holdouts, the Republican leadership added another amendment that would provide an extra $8 billion over five years to states that choose to set up the pools.

Two of the holdouts, Representatives Fred Upton of Michigan and Billy Long of Missouri, now seem convinced. On Tuesday, both said they could not support the Republican bill because it would make people with pre-existing health conditions too vulnerable. Now, they say they will vote for the bill with the new amendment. The vote could take place on Thursday.

The $8 billion is not the only money that the health bill would make available to states. The American Health Care Act would also provide $100 billion to states over a decade to stabilize their markets, though states would have to match some of the federal spending. Amendments to the bill will provide another $30 billion to states, with only a few strings attached. If states pieced together all of the money and used it all for high-risk pools, about $138 billion would be available for such programs.
Tony Alamo, a onetime street preacher whose apocalyptic ministry grew into a multimillion-dollar network of businesses and property before he was convicted in Arkansas of sexually abusing girls he considered his wives, died on Tuesday in federal prison in North Carolina. He was 82.

The United States Bureau of Prisons said he died in a prison hospital in Butner, northeast of Durham.

Mr. Alamo was convicted in 2009 of taking girls across state lines for sex. One was a 9-year-old. A judge sentenced him to the maximum 175 years in prison.

Tony Alamo Christian Ministries attracted hippies and alienated youngsters when it started on the streets of Los Angeles in the 1960s before it became widely reviled for its leaders actions and teachings.
WASHINGTON  While House Republicans lined up votes Wednesday for a Thursday showdown over their bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Vickie Glenn sat in her Murphysboro, Ill., office and prayed for it to fail.

Ms. Glenn, a Medicaid coordinator for Tri-County Special Education, an Illinois cooperative that helps more than 20 school districts deliver special education services to students, was worried about an issue that few in Congress were discussing: how the new American Health Care Act, with its deep cuts to Medicaid, would affect her 2,500 students.

With all the sweeping changes the Republican bill would impose, little attention has been paid to its potential impact on education. School districts rely on Medicaid, the federal health care program for the poor, to provide costly services to millions of students with disabilities across the country. For nearly 30 years, Medicaid has helped school systems cover costs for special education services and equipment, from physical therapists to feeding tubes. The money is also used to provide preventive care, such as vision and hearing screenings, for other Medicaid-eligible children.

If I could have 10 minutes with President Trump, I could help him understand what we do, why its important, Ms. Glenn said. If he understood, he would protect it, because this isnt Republicans and Democrats. Its just kids.
WASHINGTON  The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, provided his first public explanation Wednesday of why he revealed days before the election that he had reopened the investigation into Hillary Clintons emails, saying he could not risk concealing newfound information from Congress.

In nearly four hours of testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mr. Comey was also asked about the F.B.I.s investigation into links between President Trumps associates and the Russian government, among other issues.

Here are five highlights from Mr. Comeys testimony:

1. Hed Do It All Over Again

Mr. Comey was adamant that if he had to choose again, he would still have informed Congress 10 days before the election that he had reopened the investigation into Mrs. Clintons emails. His decision prompted a flood of news coverage, and supporters of Mrs. Clinton later accused him of costing her the presidency.

I could see two doors, and they were both actions, Mr. Comey said. One was labeled Speak; the other was labeled Conceal.
The chaotic episode unfolded just after midnight on April 23 when a group of seven bounty hunters swarmed a Nissan sedan in a Walmart parking lot in Clarksville, Tenn. They believed they were closing in on a wanted man, according to the Clarksville Police Department. A number of the bounty hunters fired into the car as they tried to serve an arrest warrant, striking two of the four men inside the Nissan, the police said.

The sedan sped out of the parking lot and away from the Walmart, the police said, and the bounty hunters jumped into two cars and chased after it.

For more than six miles, the bounty hunters continued to fire at the Nissan and rammed it during the chase, The Associated Press reported.

When the driver of the Nissan pulled over six miles later, it was discovered that a passenger in the back seat, Jalen Johnson, had been fatally shot, and the driver wounded. Mr. Johnson, 24, a father of three, died at a hospital, the police said; the driver was treated at the scene.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan  Pakistani authorities on Wednesday revoked the license of a high profile but controversial news network whose parent company has been dogged by a scandal involving the sale of fake online degrees.

The license of the network, Bol TV, was canceled by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority after the Interior Ministry refused to give a required security clearance to the four directors of the network.

The move also came after the regulator received a string of complaints about the networks news content and accusations that its top anchors were using hate speech.

The network has been beleaguered by controversy since its inception and was able to go on air only late last year. Its parent company, Axact, was embroiled in a criminal investigation in 2015 after The New York Times published an article revealing that Axact was making tens of millions of dollars a year selling fake degrees and diplomas online. Government investigators moved quickly against the company and shut down its offices across the country.
It is time for the next wave to roll in at the Brooklyn Academy of Music: Joseph V. Melillo, who has helped shape the academys cutting-edge aesthetic for more than three decades, will announce on Friday that he plans to step down as executive producer at the end of 2018.

Mr. Melillo, 70, is the last link to the organizations impresario and visionary leader, Harvey Lichtenstein, who hired him in 1983 as the founding director of the pathbreaking Next Wave Festival. In 1999, Mr. Lichtenstein anointed him as his successor.

As executive producer, Mr. Melillo was a lower-key presence than his mentor, but the academy remained a place to catch the vanguard, as well as to see Derek Jacobi as King Lear and Simon Russell Beale as Hamlet.

With Mr. Melillos departure, the academy will truly enter the post-Harvey era. (Karen Brooks Hopkins, Mr. Lichtensteins chosen successor as the institutions president, stepped down in 2015.) It will have to find ways to keep its cutting-edge reputation now that it is part of the establishment, and to continue refreshing its avant-garde roster to keep it from seeming old guard.
As collectors go, Ashley Bouder is still young. But this dynamic New York City Ballet principal loves art. She visits museums and galleries, and she has gone one step further with her compulsion: In 2011, she organized Emerging Creatives Collide, an exhibition that featured works by Chrissy Angliker, David Foox and others at the William Bennett Gallery. Her Upper West Side apartment, which she shares with her husband, Peter de Florio, and their year-old daughter, Violet Storm, is full of paintings, drawings and large-scale photography.

Ms. Bouder, 33, hasnt tackled buying sculpture yet, but it is on her list. I wish I had a house, she said. In New York and with a little one? I just cant. But that is something I would love to get more into.

Ms. Bouders dancing is bold and full of technical wizardry; some of her artwork reflects that, like a swirling purple painting by Kathleen Werner. But there is also an array of landscape photography by Daniel Sutherland, who specializes in shots of Nantucket. (He also happens to be her husbands stepfather.) They bring her, she said, a sense of peace. I think a lot of people buy art because its popular or they think this is what Im supposed to like, but at the end of the day, youre the one who has to look at it, she said. They live in your house.

When did you start collecting?

As soon as I was able to get a place that I could decorate and have some cohesion. I was 25ish. Before then, it was family pictures. I was getting older, and I wanted to do my own thing.
Frieze New York is a commitment. Now in its sixth year, with more than 200 galleries showing Modern and contemporary art from 30 countries, this fair is like a small city set up in a lavishly sculptural tent on Randalls Island. Yet its organizers have realized that visitors generally come for only one day. So this year Frieze is shorter, opening to the public on Friday and running through Sunday.

Where Frieze has expanded is in its attention to 20th-century art and in its deeper coverage of Latin American art, especially from Brazil. On the subject of Latino and Latin American art in the giant fall exhibition Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA, at the Getty Museum and other institutions across Los Angeles, Frieze has organized a symposium with the Getty and the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University.
Here are some of the strongest booths at this first Tefaf for moderns.

BERNARD GOLDBERG FINE ARTS, NEW YORK This specialist in prewar American art displays three showstopping mural panels by Thomas Hart Benton, the Missouri-born regionalist (and professor to Jackson Pollock) whose muscly, elongated figures can appear as an American translation of Tintoretto and Veronese. Most of the panels from The American Historical Epic are at the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City, Mo., but the three here, from the mid-1920s, suggest the scale of Bentons national imagination. Clearing the Land features lumberjacks hacking down trees, but the smoke and stumps express an ecological regret that negates any pride in Manifest Destiny. Planting, in which a Native American appears in the foreground, continues the theme of Western settlement, while in The Witch, chilling and surreal, a young woman in white begs forgiveness on her knees as pilgrims prepare her for the scaffold.

PETER FREEMAN INC., NEW YORK Sometimes dealers pair older and newer art to sex up the former and goose the latters prices. But this astute and revealing two-hander of the fin-de-siecle Italian sculptor Medardo Rosso and the contemporary German artist Thomas Schutte goes far beyond the usual exercise by concentrating on both artists deformed, arresting busts. Rosso, a key figure in the Met Breuers inaugural show Unfinished, created discomfiting bronze and wax statues which dissolved the subjects faces into landscapes of crags and divots. Mr. Schutte (who will have a retrospective at MoMA next year) also drowns individuality into twisted form, whether in glazed ceramic masks or in an astounding bust of green Murano glass, displayed on its side as if bowled over.
In the 1980s in the New York art world and other cultural spheres, black was the new black, and the designer most responsible for this state of affairs was Rei Kawakubo. Born in Japan in 1942, Ms. Kawakubo studied fine arts and aesthetics in college and segued into clothing design with no more formal training than having worked briefly as a freelance stylist. She later said she wanted to do more, and she did.

In 1969, Ms. Kawakubo introduced her first womens wear designs under the Comme des Garcons label  which translates as Like Some Boys  in Tokyo, with ready-to-wear collections presented there from 1975 to 1999. She made her Paris runway debut in 1981, and her clothes soon were available in New York, first in a small boutique at Henri Bendel, then in 1983 at her own big, minimalist concrete-on-concrete store, on Wooster Street near Prince, when the SoHo gallery scene was at its height.

The black garb became a running art-world joke, but for many of us the clothes were a revelation, exhilarating and empowering in their intelligence, unstructured ease and worldliness. Combining aspects of mens wear, traditional Japanese garments and the early modern designs of Madeleine Vionnet and Paul Poiret with punkish holes (and the occasional third sleeve), they were in sync with a time of expanding feminism, appropriation aesthetics and increasingly visible art by women.

But the 1980s were only the beginning. Since then, few designers have pushed clothes to such social, sculptural and even architectural extremes, and now her spirit of defiance is on bold display in Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art of the In-Between, a magnificent, challenging show that is the latest offering from the Metropolitan Museum of Arts justifiably famed Costume Institute. Like me, you may miss the 80s era in this show, but there is too much else going on to feel deprived. The stripped-down presentation of some 120 often strange, extravagant (and sometimes black) garments rifles through the history of clothes and art, combines fabrics in unimagined ways and confounds expectation. Consider it one of several surveys needed to fully account for Ms. Kawakubos multifaceted achievement.
Conversation-setting modern and contemporary art galleries from cities across the world will transport some of their most striking and valuable works to 256 acres of parkland in the middle of the East and Harlem Rivers May 5 to 7 for Frieze New York.

Upward of 200 galleries will participate in this years international art fair, which grew out of the success of a similar festival in London. As the events profile continues to rise, its organizers have attracted leading galleries like David Zwirner of New York, the Modern Institute of Glasgow and Spruth Magers of Berlin. Scattered performance pieces and interactive installations also enliven the proceedings.

But one of the major draws of Frieze New York, taking place in Randalls Island Park, is its Frame section, a space reserved for solo shows of promising artists, mounted by the young galleries that represent them.

Jacob Proctor, the curator of the Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society at the University of Chicago, and Fabian Schoneich, the curator of the Portikus contemporary art center in Frankfurt, make recommendations to the fair organizers about galleries applications for Frame. Nudges from the two men may also provide the impetus for a gallery to apply. Their suggestions on which artists in a gallerys stable would make for the most promising bid carry significant weight with the applicants.
Alan Gilberts tenure as music director of the New York Philharmonic culminates next month with a Concert for Unity that will involve musicians from around the world, including Iran and Israel, China and Cuba. But the theme of unity, and its brutal opposite, also defined the first of Mr. Gilberts farewell programs on Wednesday night at David Geffen Hall.

The main work was Beethovens Ninth Symphony. But Mr. Gilbert opened the concert with Schoenbergs A Survivor From Warsaw, a shattering piece for narrator, male chorus and orchestra with a text drawn from the report of a Jew in Nazi-occupied Warsaw en route to extermination. All men are brothers, the chorus sings in Beethovens setting of Schillers idealistic Ode to Joy in the finale of the Ninth Symphony. Schoenbergs Survivor says, We all on the ground who could not stand up were then beaten over the head.

Schoenbergs piece, composed in 1947 and last played by the Philharmonic in 1974, lasts just under nine minutes, while Beethovens symphony is more than an hour. But in this pairing the works had comparable power, especially since they were performed without a break. That Schoenberg employs his 12-tone technique in this score is the least important thing to know about it. Sounding searing under Mr. Gilbert, the music is anguished, vehement and sometimes delicately poignant.

The narrator delivers the text, written by the composer in English and German, in Sprechstimme, halfway between speaking and singing, and the Tony-winning actor Gabriel Ebert gave a riveting account, enunciating the words with chilling crispness. A male chorus enters at the end, as the narrator describes Jewish prisoners singing a Hebrew prayer as they are marched to the gas chambers. In this performance, the men of the impressive Westminster Symphonic Choir marched down the aisles of the hall, then stood there, in the midst of the audience, to sing that prayer with stentorian fervor.
EVES HOLLYWOOD

By Eve Babitz

296 pages. New York Review Books. $17.95.

I have a well-read friend, a former used-book dealer in New Orleans, who is of the opinion that the person with the best literary taste in America is Edwin Frank, the editor of New York Review Books Classics. Im in no position to argue.

Since 1999, Franks imprint has reissued hundreds of out-of-print books, many of them foreign-language volumes in their first American translations. Theres been nary a misfire in the bunch. Several of these handpicked books, including John Williamss novel Stoner, originally published in 1965, have become not just critical but commercial successes.

The books are beautifully designed, as distinctive in their way as are Penguin Classics. Merely holding one to your forehead raises your I.Q. by a standard deviation.

I have Frank to thank for introducing me, through his series, to a writer whos given a steep amount of pleasure over the past year. That writer is the Los Angeles-born glamour girl, bohemian, artist, muse, sensualist, wit and pioneering foodie Eve Babitz, whose prose reads like Nora Ephrons by way of Joan Didion, albeit with more lust and drugs and tequila.
Six new paperbacks to check out this week.

BLACK HOLE BLUES: And Other Songs From Outer Space, by Janna Levin. (Anchor, $16.) Levin tells the story of gravitational waves  ripples in the fabric of space-time first theorized by Einstein  and the scientists who built a machine to detect them nearly 100 years later. The collision of two black holes in 2015 allowed researchers to record the first sounds from space, concluding a 50-year experiment.

MY STRUGGLE, BOOK 5: Some Rain Must Fall, by Karl Ove Knausgaard. Translated by Don Bartlett. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $18.) In the 14 years that this volume spans, the one constant is Knausgaards drive for literary success; the book, the penultimate installment of his autobiographical work, follows him from age 19 through the end of his first marriage, and sees him enter a prestigious writing program and secure a book deal.

IN PRAISE OF FORGETTING: Historical Memory and Its Ironies, by David Rieff. (Yale University, $16.) Rieff, who as a journalist witnessed firsthand the atrocities of the Bosnian war, outlines a humane case against memorializing tragedies. Rather than helping people to heal, he argues, collective memories can often stoke generational hatred; common defenses of public memorials, such as the hope of preventing future atrocities, are naive.

RAZOR GIRL, by Carl Hiaasen. (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, $15.95.) A cast of comic, only-in-Florida characters carry out this novels elaborate farce: Lane, a Hollywood agent kidnapped in error after a fender-bender; his client, the star of a lowbrow reality show; and the woman of the title, who takes Lane hostage. Hiaasens prose helps to keep everything at the right temperature, our reviewer, Terrence Rafferty, wrote. In Florida, you have to know how to stay cool.
1. House Republicans celebrated a major victory as they narrowly passed a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

It passed 217-213 and goes to the Senate next, where there is little guarantee of the bills survival in its current form.

The vote lends momentum to President Trumps Capitol Hill agenda, but it could also leave moderate Republicans facing a backlash from their constituents.
 President Trump is back in New York for the first time in his presidency to meet with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia  briefly.

Mr. Trumps arrival was pushed back by a signing ceremony after the House passed a health care bill.

He canceled one meeting with Mr. Turnbull and reduced the visit to a 30-minute sit-down ahead of a dinner speech for military veterans.
The bank, which is based in Britain but generates much of its profit in Asia, attributed the decline to a change in how it calculated the fair value of its debt and to the sale of its Brazilian business last year.

Shares of HSBC increased nearly 4 percent in afternoon trading in Hong Kong on Thursday afternoon and rose 3 percent in early trading in London.

Profit also was down at Societe Generale in its first quarter as the French bank increased its litigation provisions after a settlement of a lawsuit with the Libyan Investment Authority.

The Libyan sovereign wealth fund had sued Societe Generale in London over a series of trades totaling $2.1 billion from 2007 to 2009.

The authority had separately pursued a similar lawsuit against Goldman Sachs, but a judge in London came down heavily in the Wall Street banks favor last year.
Puerto Rico has done what no American state or territory has done before  it is essentially seeking bankruptcy relief.

The island is petitioning for relief under a federal law for insolvent territories, called Promesa, which contains certain bankruptcy provisions but also recognizes that Puerto Rico, a commonwealth of the United States, is not part of any state and must be treated like a sovereign nation in some ways.

The scale of Puerto Ricos debt is also unusual: it has about $123 billion in debt and pension obligations. For comparison, Detroit had $18 billion of debt in 2013.

Any relief could eventually help the island return to solvency.

Before then, however, government workers will have to forgo pension payments, while public health and infrastructure projects will go unfunded. The brain drain could intensify as well.
Speculate no more. Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, the co-hosts of Morning Joe on MSNBC whose off-air relationship had been the source of rumors, are now engaged.

An MSNBC spokeswoman confirmed the engagement. In an interview in Vanity Fair, the couple described how their relationship evolved.

Over the past year and a half, I realized I had to face these feelings and that it was time to stop putting them in a box, Ms. Brzezinski told the magazine. It was not an easy process and it was not an easy set of decisions for either of us. It was something I couldnt deny anymore.

Mr. Scarborough, who has been married twice before, told Vanity Fair he thought he would never, ever do this again in a million years.
HONG KONG  Han Dong was operating a crane in Chinas rust belt last August when he heard about a chance to make it big in America.

Local recruiters told him he could make as much as $2,900 a month, or nearly four times the average wage in China  and could even eventually apply for an American green card.

Instead, Mr. Han said, he ended up working on the construction site of a casino on Saipan, part of an American commonwealth in the Pacific Ocean, where federal officials are investigating working conditions at a project managed by Chinese construction firms. An American green card, which would allow him to be employed legally there or anywhere in the United States, no longer appears very likely.

They tricked us to come here, Mr. Han said of the agents that transported him to Saipan, where he put up scaffolding for 12 hours a day in the tropical heat. Before the fees he paid out to middlemen to get hired, he made only half what he was promised, he said.
One prominent example, involving a former branch manager, Claudia Ponce de Leon, was not investigated because her claim was subject to a confidential proceeding before the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the lawyers didnt have access to her submission. In a 78-page preliminary finding, recently disclosed by American Banker, an OSHA administrator ruled that there was reasonable cause to believe that Wells Fargo had engaged in retaliation when Ms. Ponce de Leon was fired in 2011 after raising questions about fraudulent account openings; Wells Fargo is contesting that ruling.

Apart from the footnote, the report is a thorough  and blistering  critique of upper management, especially Carrie L. Tolstedt, the former head of community banking, where the scandal was centered, and John G. Stumpf, the former chief executive. Both were ousted last year, and the board is withholding some of their multimillion-dollar exit packages.

But Shearman & Sterlings findings about Wells Fargos treatment of whistle-blowers would seem, at best, premature.

Stuart J. Baskin, the partner at Shearman & Sterling who headed the investigation, told me that the investigation of whistle-blowers was continuing, and that the firm would report to the board when it finished. Mr. Baskin added that whistle-blower cases are very enigmatic, very difficult to prove, something OSHA has struggled with for years.

Its not clear how many cases of retaliation would amount to a pattern, but even one would seem too many, given the signal such actions send to other employees to keep their mouths shut, especially when employees wielding the hatchet kept their jobs and were in some instances promoted.

In Ms. Ponce de Leons case, Wells Fargo insisted that she was fired for excessive drinking and for a long, well-documented history of unprofessional conduct, according to the preliminary OSHA ruling. But the evidence does not support that assertion, the administrator concluded.
Now that the dust has settled from the Met Gala, with all the excitement over Kylie Jenners bathroom selfie and Rihannas body-swallowing Comme des Garcons florals, it is worth pausing to consider a red carpet moment most people missed: the entrance of Joe Gebbia, co-founder and chief product officer of Airbnb, with Yeonmi Park, a North Korean refugee and international refugee activist.

Refugees and human rights are not really part of our pop culture conversation, said Ms. Park, who was born in Hyesan, North Korea, in 1993 and fled the country with her family when she was 13. Now living in the United States, Ms. Park, 23, said she somehow wanted to connect those things using the industrys language, which is fashion.

So when Mr. Gebbia  who has spearheaded Airbnb social innovation projects like the Disaster Response Program, which provides temporary housing for displaced people and for relief workers during emergencies  invited her to attend the annual fund-raiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Arts Costume Institute, she accepted.

Both saw Monday evening as an opportunity to gain access to a powerful part of the Hollywood/style nexus  and potentially lobby them for the cause. They suited up in a Balenciaga blazer and Haider Ackermann pants (for him) and a spring 2017 couture Alexis Mabille gown, courtesy of the stylist Renelou Padora (for her), and off they went to celebrate the museums exhibition, Art of the In-Between, on Rei Kawakubos designs for Comme des Garcons.
Street

For His Next Trick . . .

At 19, Blondey McCoy is a busy teenager. He creates art. He skateboards with the collective Palace Wayward Boys Choir. He models for Valentino. And he designs clothes for his own brand, Thames London, offering his takes on street-wear basics, from graphic T-shirts to oversize flannels. He took a moment to talk with Pulse.

Youre a skater, model, artist and now designer. Which comes first?

I feel an equal compulsion to do all of them, so I see them as codependent professions. At this point, my art acts as merchandise to my label, and vice versa. Everything complements each other. Its in finding the balance that things get professionally tricky.
What was left behind when this machinery was removed were enormous volumes.

We often say how grateful we are for your presses, said Lisa Truitt, a former National Geographic executive. She is now the chief creative officer at SPE Partners, which is a partner in Times Square Attractions Live.

Tickets to Ocean Odyssey begin to go on sale next month, on a reserved and timed basis. Prices will range from the low $30s for children to the low $40s for adults. Visitors will be guided through Ocean Odyssey in groups of 25.

The journey begins in the basement, in shallow seagrasses off the Solomon Islands. The next stop is the coral reef, where visitors can induce computer-generated plankton and jellyfish to move around large screens embedded into the three-dimensional reef.

After the profound darkness of the deep sea, visitors will emerge into the middle of a battle involving Humboldt squids, which plays out on two concave projection screens about 20 feet long. Pressmen, who could do battle themselves, would have known this area as the pressroom office and the middle units of Press P-13 and its folder, a machine in which newspapers were folded and formed as they came off the press.

An actual descent follows, down through a kelp forest and into the subbasement, past the Hawaiian Islands and off to the California coast, where visitors can direct the motion of realistic-looking sea lions.
From this vantage point on a South Texas ranch, immigration looks a lot different than it does on the news. The flow of men, women and children across the border ranchlands has been just as desperate, hopeful and horrifying as other mass migrations around the globe. The scale is smaller but no less dramatic and no less tragic.

On their journey through the Texas brush, migrants have succumbed to the heat or the cold and have died. One immigrant who had gotten lost told a 911 dispatcher he was so dehydrated he had been drinking his own urine. Women have been raped. A pregnant migrant gave birth in the bucket of a backhoe on one ranch, then continued hiking, holding her baby.

Billy Griffith, 68, who manages a ranch in South Texas, recalled the day he and a group of hunters heard what sounded like a woman crying.

She was laying by the fence there at the house, and she was almost out of it, said Mr. Griffith, who called the Border Patrol. We gave her something to drink because she was dehydrated, and I got a couple granola bars and gave them to her. By the time they got out here, she had left. She had walked off, and she was gone. Then we found another lady the next day who was holding herself up with a stick.

Ryan Weatherston, 35, the ranch foreman who looks after the Encino cabin, never learned the names of the three teenage girls who broke in. He said they were between the ages of 16 and 18. He was driving by the lodge that day when he noticed clothes drying on a fence. He turned his truck around as the girls rushed outside. They thought he was with the Border Patrol.

They were on their way to Houston, Mr. Weatherston said. One of them was pregnant and just couldnt go any farther. Theyd already used the house phone to turn themselves in. They were done. They wanted some medical attention for that one girl.

The Border Patrol agents eventually arrived and took the girls away.

Mr. Weatherston leaves the doors of the cabin unlocked now. Almost four years later, the dent on the door is still there. The bench is still on the patio. And the letter, on the back side of the phone list, is still pinned to the bulletin board.
Risk will take you back, briefly, to that era. It is possible to imagine circumstances  a different result in the 2016 presidential election, say, but not only that  in which this movie would be a more or less straightforward prequel to Citizenfour, Ms. Poitrass Oscar-winning documentary about Edward J. Snowden. That film is in a sense tucked inside Risk, as Ms. Poitras abruptly leaves London, where she met with Mr. Assange, for Hong Kong, summoned by a message from an anonymous whistle-blower who will turn out to be Mr. Snowden. She sees less of Mr. Assange after that, and you get the impression that he was not altogether pleased with the shift in the filmmakers (and the rest of the worlds) attention away from him.

It would be simplistic to describe Risk as the chronicle of Ms. Poitrass disillusionment with Mr. Assange. She is a discreet and careful observer, inserting herself into the story only when it might seem evasive to do otherwise and refraining from passing judgment on Mr. Assange. But any interesting portrait is necessarily the record of a relationship between artist and subject, each of whom is invested in controlling the outcome. And to some degree in spite of Ms. Poitrass journalistic intentions  though very much as a consequence of her rigorous honesty  the picture that emerges is complicated, unsettling and intriguingly ambivalent.

Why does he trust me? Ms. Poitras asks in one of the voice-over diary entries that punctuate Risk. I dont think he likes me. That is hard for the viewer to judge, since the filmmaker doesnt appear on camera and her subject does not exactly exude warmth. But the trust is evident in his candor and in the remarkable access she was granted, both in the estate in Norfolk, England, where Mr. Assange was confined during his period of house arrest and in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where he sought asylum to avoid extradition to Sweden.

With weary impatience, Mr. Assange describes the sexual assault allegations against him as the product of a feminist conspiracy. Risk takes them seriously, and sheds light on the ugly thread of misogyny and predation that runs through so much of the tech world  in Silicon Valley executive suites as well as in gamer message boards and hacker collectives  and that has been dismissed or denied for far too long.

The movie also examines  not always explicitly, and not entirely by design  the workings of a contemporary personality cult. Mr. Assange, who muses on his god complex and his capacity for martyrdom, likes to surround himself with disciples. Fidelity to the message melts into loyalty to the messenger, even if the message itself can sound a bit blurry. In one interview, Mr. Assange explains the need to balance principles and pragmatism, and in another he speaks of the necessity of a global outlook in trying to change the world. But he demurs when asked about the changes he would like to see come about, and never arrives at a clear articulation of principle. He insists on transparency while choosing to remain opaque.
The TV journalist Bill Moyers once said of the mythologist Joseph Campbell that he was one of the most spiritual men I ever met, but he didnt have an ideology or a theology. The same might be said of Thomas Lennon, who directed Sacred, a kaleidoscopic travelogue depicting demonstrations of faith worldwide. Mr. Lennon (no relation to the Reno 911! comedian) enlisted 40 filmmakers in 25 countries to record scenes large and small, and the results are surprisingly cohesive.

You wont find greedy televangelists or much about militant theocracies here. Sacred, comprising three segments, celebrates perhaps the most worthy of religions functions: providing ceremonies for rites of passage. Initiation concerns birth, glimpsing, among other things, an Ethiopian baptism, a bris in New York City, an Egyptian fathers chanting the call to prayer to his newly born son. Practice visits a Hasidic gathering in Ukraine where men meet prospective wives, and follows a married Japanese couple at the Mara Kannon Shrine in Yamaguchi, where phallic statuary is said to promote fertility. In Passage, a wizened Ethiopian man ends a pilgrimage for absolution, while a Connecticut woman with emphysema extols the value of prayer.

There are excesses: in the Philippines, a grisly re-creation of Christs Crucifixion on Good Friday, and, in Sierra Leone, a belief that the recent Ebola epidemic was a manifestation of divine anger. But mostly we see personal quests for grace and meaning, evident in scenes of a solitary Buddhist monk at Mount Hiei in Japan, completing circuits around the mountain to attain enlightenment. During such intimate moments, outside of organized hierarchies, Sacred succeeds most.
The documentary filmmaker Wang Bing is a dogged chronicler of Chinas downtrodden: His Tie Xi Qu: West of Tracks was a nine-hour look at the decline of an urban industrial district, while Til Madness Do Us Part offered a nearly four-hour immersion in a mental hospital that resembled a prison or a purgatory.

His Taang also documents a kind of limbo. During armed clashes in Myanmar in February 2015, refugees from the Taang and other ethnic minority groups in the countrys northeastern Kokang region fled across the border into China.

Mr. Wang spends time on the Chinese side, observing daily life in refugee camps and at other sites along the mountainous border. The refugees cut sugar cane to sell and scrounge for money for personal transport. We learn of separated families. Its a mild shock whenever someone uses a cellphone  a rare reminder of modernity.

Incorporating his typically arduous, slow-paced style, Mr. Wang doesnt make things easy for viewers. His subjects arent identified directly; the person speaking is frequently off camera. This vagueness may be a universalizing strategy, reflecting a place where people are, in one mans words, here one minute, gone the next. But its also a double-edged sword that prevents most participants from standing out.
The New Wonder Woman

You might not know the name Gal Gadot right now, but youve probably seen her in The Fast and the Furious movies. Now comes the biggest moment in her career: the title role in Warner Brothers Wonder Woman, due in June. It will be the first live-action superhero movie in more than a decade led by female talent in front of and behind the camera. Our reporter Roslyn Sulcas was on set during production and asked her whether she was feeling any pressure to prove that men arent the only ones who can succeed with such a franchise. Ms. Gadot laughed and said, When you put it like that, yes! Read more here.
Wonder Woman squared her shoulders, stared grimly across a war-torn desolation, then began to sprint, holding her shield high against a rain of bullets coming from German guns.

Yes! Go, Gal! shrieked Patty Jenkins, director of the new Wonder Woman, who was wrapped in a duvet-thick coat and staring at the action on a monitor. Minutes later, Gal Gadot (pronounced gah-DOTE), the Israeli actress who plays the title superhero, was being draped in her own padded coat and given a hot drink while her hair and headpiece were adjusted. Brrrrrr, Ms. Gadot said with a smile. This is fun.

[ Read our review of Wonder Woman ]

The temperature was hovering just above freezing on a February morning last year, outside the Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, England, and Ms. Gadot, clad in Wonder Womans outfit of leather bustier, very brief skirt and knee-high boots, had just finished the umpteenth take of her heroic dash across a stretch of muddy ground.

The cold, ugh, that was the hardest thing about shooting the movie, Ms. Gadot said during an interview in Los Angeles in early March. Tall and rangy, she was eight months pregnant (she has since given birth to her second daughter), with hair scraped back in a ponytail and her face free of makeup. Eagerly eating eggs and fruit (Im starving all the time), she chatted easily about the role that might turn her into a household name after Wonder Woman is released on June 2.
As a young actress, Zoe Saldana didnt imagine being painted green, or blue. But, she said, playing sci-fi characters the hue of bright Crayolas helped her avoid being trapped in a box  or the pain of being rejected for roles because of her skin color.

Rather than dealing with that heartache, I did rely spiritually and artistically on the freedom that these science-fiction roles gave me with their different colors of skin, she said. And it challenges me as an artist putting voices to those roles of females that are more action driven and diverse in a way that defies gravity.

In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Ms. Saldana flies high again as Gamora, Marvels mean, green killing machine and a major player in the galactic team of heroes led by Peter Quill (Chris Pratt). Her biggest enemy this time is her sister, Nebula (Karen Gillan), who has vowed to fight Gamora to the death. Chances are shell survive: Ms. Saldana will reprise the role in Avengers: Infinity War, as well as return as the cerulean-splashed Neytiri in three Avatar sequels.

The forthright Ms. Saldana, 38  born in New Jersey and reared in Queens and in the Dominican Republic  now nests in Los Angeles with her artist husband, Marco Perego, and their three young sons. In a phone interview from London, where she was recuperating from a manic premiere party, she spoke about female empowerment and raising men. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
I recognize that the SAMs impose burdens on defendant that an average general population prisoner does not have to bear, but the SAMs, as a whole, are rationally connected to a legitimate government objective, Judge Cogan wrote in an order filed in Federal District Court in Brooklyn. That objective, he wrote, was to prevent Mr. Guzman from running the Sinaloa cartel from prison, coordinating any escape from prison, or directing any attack on individuals that he may believe are cooperating with the government.

Mr. Guzmans case is only a few months old, but it has already been imbued with a circuslike ambience, as teams of armed guards and hordes of reporters have descended on the federal courthouse in Brooklyn for hearings, the next of which is scheduled for Friday.

At the center of the excitement is the diminutive defendant  El Chapo means Shorty in Spanish  who is accused of making billions of dollars and killing thousands of people as the biggest drug dealer in the world.

But the proceedings against Mr. Guzman have so far consisted largely of a steady stream of incremental litigation, much of it over his confinement in what is called 10 South, the super-secure, 10th-floor wing of the Metropolitan Correctional Center, the federal jail across the river from the Brooklyn courthouse.
Gustave Newman, a goateed criminal defense lawyer in a host of headline-grabbing cases who genially cajoled skeptical juries and cowed hostile witnesses with his booming baritone, died on Monday in Manhattan. He was 90.

His death was confirmed by his son, Eric.

A lion of New Yorks white-collar criminal defense bar, Mr. Newman achieved one of his greatest courtroom successes in 1993, when, after a contentious five-month trial, he managed to win the acquittal of Robert A. Altman, a Washington lawyer who, with Clark M. Clifford, a former defense secretary, had been accused in a scandal involving global money-laundering and illegal transfer of capital. The episode, involving the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, cost depositors an estimated $12 million.

His legal strategies also led the federal government in 1991 to drop its fraud and embezzlement case against Representative Floyd H. Flake, a Queens Democrat. He persuaded a jury to acquit Dov Hikind, a Democratic state assemblyman from Brooklyn, on charges of taking illegal payoffs in 1998; and convinced another jury to acquit Judge Nora S. Anderson, of the Manhattan Surrogates Court, on charges of lying about contributions made to her campaign in 2010.

Mr. Newman had a reputation for tackling the toughest cases. Accordingly, he lost some.

Among his convicted clients were Bernard Bergman, who headed a nursing home empire and was found guilty in 1975 of filing more than $1 million in phony Medicaid claims; Anthony Anastasio, a dock union official, who was accused of taking kickbacks from a ship repair company; and Samuel D. Wright, a city councilman who, as the head of a Brooklyn community school board, had been charged with extorting $5,500 from a textbook supplier. (Mr. Wright claimed that the fee, which he had declared on his tax return, was an honorarium for a speech, although the main speaker at the same event, a United States senator, received only $2,500.)
I had a face-lift last week, and now Im trying to figure out the best cover story so nobody will know.

My nurse suggested the taxi partition whack. I came out of surgery with a half-dozen Steri-Strips across my nose, a Jack Nicholson Chinatown look, and the nurse said shed had a patient once who actually had slammed into a taxi partition and looked just like me.

I tried that for a few days, but I wasnt really comfortable with it. It raised a serious question: Why is it better to present myself as an idiot who doesnt wear a seatbelt than somebody who got a little work done because I hated my neck? What is this ridiculous bias against cosmetic surgery? Am I going to besmirch the entire taxi industry because I am desperate for a cover story?

Anyway, there are scarves.

Excuse me, I have an I.M. from a devoted fan:

Joyce, you vapid, self-absorbed, car-loving, coyote-indifferent elitist; there are people who are unable to afford lifesaving medical care, and you do this. This really is a problem of the 1 percent.
The group of animal rights activists that pushed most strongly for a horse-carriage ban in New York City  providing Bill de Blasio a crucial early boost in his bid to be mayor, only to be let down when he failed to deliver the ban  is gearing up to play a role in the election this year.

But the leaders of the group, New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets, known as NYClass, said they did not intend to try to unseat Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, even though he had not fulfilled his campaign pledge.

Obviously were very disappointed that the mayors not done anything at this stage, Wendy Neu, a NYClass leader, said. We have very loyal supporters that would like to go after the mayor and hold him accountable.
Converting biomass feedstocks to biofuels is an environmentally friendly process. So is using biofuels for transportation. When we use bioethanol instead of gasoline, we help reduce atmospheric CO 2. 

These confident assurances come from Biofuels: A Solution for Climate Change, a paper published in 1999 by the Clinton administrations Department of Energy. Feels a little dated in its scientific assumptions, doesnt it?

I raise the subject of biofuels since the subject of science  what we know as opposed to what we think we know about it  has been on my mind in recent days. Ive been accused of obscurantism, closet climate denialism and willful misdirection  all for the crime of insufficiently attesting to the dangers of a warming trend I do not deny.

I plead guilty to trying to maintain some historical perspective.

So lets talk about ethanol and other biofuels, a subject some climate-change activists might prefer to forget. In 2007, George W. Bush used his State of the Union speech to call for huge increases in the production of renewable and alternative fuels such as ethanol. Democrats were firmly on board, and President Barack Obama pursued a largely similar course in his first years in office.
To the Editor:

Re Life in College After a Life in Foster Care (On Campus, nytimes.com, April 25):

Noel Anayas experience is the norm for too many youths in foster care. All children deserve to reach their full potential, including being able to go to college and succeed there if they wish.

The landmark federal Fostering Connections to Success Act, which I helped implement in the Obama administration, provided a critical framework to address the educational needs of youths in foster care, minimizing school transfers and building stronger partnerships between child welfare agencies and schools.

We have to do more to create pathways for success through setting high expectations with the support to match them. This means building partnerships among the child welfare system, educational systems, the philanthropic community and business sectors.

Last year, New York City provided assistance to a set of young people in foster care to attend the City University of New York with tuition, year-round housing and living expenses covered. We partnered with CUNY and community-based organizations to provide specialized resident advisers for these students, helping connect them with employment and internship opportunities, as well as support services.
As President Trump ended his first 100 days in office last week, I found myself in China, a good place to judge how he has transformed the presidencys bully pulpit.

During the campaign, Mr. Trump denounced Chinese trade policies, saying he would not allow Beijing to rape our country any longer. In early April, when President Trump met President Xi Jinping of China at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Fla., he continued the tough talk. He and his aides told the Chinese delegation that the administration would impose restrictions on Chinese investments in the United States if Beijing did not lower its barriers to American investments in China.

It is too soon to tell whether the Chinese will change their policies. But there are signs that the presidents antagonistic approach has opened the door to strategic cooperation on one of the worlds biggest problems: North Koreas nuclear weapons program.

China already has suspended coal imports from Pyongyang in compliance with United Nations sanctions, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that China would impose more sanctions if North Korea continues its nuclear testing program. Chinas foreign ministry spokesman said last week, I can say in terms of solving the North Korean crisis, Chinas efforts cant be overstated.
To the Editor:

Re Comey Stands By F.B.I.s Disclosure That Jolted Race (front page, May 4):

James Comeys account of his horrendous choice whether to speak or conceal makes me mildly nauseous. He excluded the benign option of reviewing the emails before he opened his mouth and reversed the course of history.

The F.B.I. actually completed that task several days before the election, but Im sure that putting a few extra agents on the job could have gotten it done sooner, as the vast majority of the emails were instantly dismissible.

It is tough enough for the rest of us to live with the consequences of his folly without having to listen to his absurd self-justification.

HOWARD M. RICHARD, TUCSON

To the Editor:

I am willing to take James Comey at his word and accept that he believes he made the right legal and ethical decision when he notified Congress of the reopening of the Clinton email investigation.
The House speaker, Paul Ryan, and other Republicans falsely accused Democrats of rushing the Affordable Care Act through Congress. On Thursday, in a display of breathtaking hypocrisy, House Republicans  without holding any hearings or giving the Congressional Budget Office time to do an analysis  passed a bill that would strip at least 24 million Americans of health insurance.

Pushed by President Trump to repeal the A.C.A., or Obamacare, so he could claim a legislative win, Mr. Ryan and his lieutenants browbeat and cajoled members of their caucus to pass the bill. Groups representing doctors, hospitals, nurses, older people and people with illnesses like cancer opposed the bill. Just 17 percent of Americans supported an earlier version of the measure, and Republicans have made the legislation only worse since that poll was conducted. Neither Mr. Trump nor Mr. Ryan seemed bothered by this overwhelming criticism of their Trumpcare bill, the American Health Care Act. They seemed concerned only about appeasing the House Freedom Caucus, the far-right flank of their party.

Mr. Trump in particular has been spreading misinformation and lies about health care, arguing that the legislation would lower costs while guaranteeing that people with pre-existing health conditions could get affordable health insurance. It would do the opposite. Here is what the bill actually does:

Takes a machete to Medicaid. The bill would cut $880 billion over 10 years from Medicaid, the program that provides health care to about 74 million poor, disabled and elderly Americans. Thats one-fourth of its budget. As a result, 14 million fewer people would have access to health care by 2026, according to a C.B.O. analysis of the earlier bill, which contained similar Medicaid provisions. The cuts would also hurt special education programs, which receive about $4 billion from Medicaid every year.
Pakistani society is still deeply divided over what the Taliban represent. Some see them as barbarians at our door who want to destroy the last vestiges of our faltering democratic and civil order. Others think of them as our misguided brothers: The Taliban, too, want a just society; its only their methods that are unacceptable. They are brave, and we are a little bit proud of them: In Afghanistan, these fallen brothers, our creation, are still managing to keep America at bay.

But when they wage the same brave fight in Pakistan, we recoil.

The Taliban were supposed to be our assets in our historic feud with India. When India and Pakistan were on the verge of another war in 2008, the Taliban leaders of the day vowed to fight alongside Pakistans soldiers.

If they dare to attack Pakistan, then, God willing, we will share happiness and grief with all Pakistanis, said Maulvi Omar, the Pakistani Talibans spokesman then. We will put the animosity and fighting with the Pakistani army behind us, and the Taliban will defend their frontiers, their boundaries, their country with their weapons.

Today, while the nation is still trying to decide if yesterdays monster can be todays patriot, the Pakistani Army has already made it clear that it wants to have the last word on the subject.

The leading English daily Dawn reported last year that the civilian and military leaderships were divided over what to do with Pakistani anti-India militant groups, which are often accused of waging attacks in India. The army declared that the story was a national security breach, and demanded stern action against both the people who had leaked information about those disagreements and the people who had dared to write about them. A high-powered investigation was set up to look into what has come to be known as the Dawn Leaks.

Last week, after reviewing the results, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered the removal of two of his close aides and referred a journalist to a newspapers representative body. The army spokesman tweeted: Notification is rejected. The army wont abide any discussion with civilians over who is a good or bad militant, or a good or bad Pakistani.

Many Pakistanis still love the army. And many politicians fear it. They look to it to remove their rivals, accusing one another of being security threats, if not outright traitors. Many political parties are asking for Mr. Sharifs head for daring to have a closed-door discussion about what might be wrong with the armys idea of good and bad.

Most countries have an army, but in Pakistan its the army that has a country, goes the saying. If the politicians want to take the country back, theyll have to stop calling one another traitor just to please the army.
The political success or failure of the Trump administration will be determined in large part by the answer to a simple question. Is Trumps ability to give voice to the anger and resentment of his constituents adequate to offset his broken promises and what his enemies trumpet as his failure to improve the lives of those who voted for him?

No one is more aware of this issue than President Trump himself. His strategy for dealing with it was on full display last week after Congress delayed action on his bill to replace Obamacare  a prime example of legislation that will inflict costs on his own supporters.

At an open-air rally in Harrisburg, Pa. on Saturday that was timed as a counterstrike to the White House Correspondents Association dinner, Trump pounded home his core message  that no matter what he does and no matter what Washington tries to do to him, he and he alone is on the peoples side.

A large group of Hollywood celebrities and Washington media are consoling each other in a hotel ballroom in our nations capital right now, Trump said. Looking out at his audience, with its Make America Great Again caps and its Deplorable Lives Matter T-shirts, Trump made the contrast between his people and Washingtons even more direct:

I could not possibly be more thrilled than to be 100 miles away from Washingtons swamp, spending my evening with all of you and with a much, much larger crowd and much better people.

His goal, of course, was not only to ally himself with the crowd against the black-tie-wearing media celebrating at the Washington Hilton, but to goad and troll his opponents.
As historian Cassius Dio wrote, This man was not naturally wicked, but, on the contrary, as guileless as any man that ever lived. His great simplicity, however, together with his cowardice, made him the slave of his companions, and it was through them that he at first, out of ignorance, missed the better life and then was led on into lustful and cruel habits, which soon became second nature.

Sound like someone we know?

There has been no shortage of pieces written that use lessons from the ancient world to explain our current predicament.

In May, Andrew Sullivan summoned the teachings of Plato in a fascinating piece for New York magazine about how tyrants rise in late-stage democracy:

He is usually of the elite but has a nature in tune with the time  given over to random pleasures and whims, feasting on plenty of food and sex, and reveling in the nonjudgment that is democracys civil religion. He makes his move by taking over a particularly obedient mob and attacking his wealthy peers as corrupt. If not stopped quickly, his appetite for attacking the rich on behalf of the people swells further. He is a traitor to his class  and soon, his elite enemies, shorn of popular legitimacy, find a way to appease him or are forced to flee. Eventually, he stands alone, promising to cut through the paralysis of democratic incoherence. Its as if he were offering the addled, distracted, and self-indulgent citizens a kind of relief from democracys endless choices and insecurities. He rides a backlash to excess  too much freedom seems to change into nothing but too much slavery  and offers himself as the personified answer to the internal conflicts of the democratic mess. He pledges, above all, to take on the increasingly despised elites. And as the people thrill to him as a kind of solution, a democracy willingly, even impetuously, repeals itself.

Sound like someone we know?

My colleague Paul Krugman wrote in December about the fall of the Roman Empire under the headline How Republics End, explaining: Republican institutions dont protect against tyranny when powerful people start defying political norms. And tyranny, when it comes, can flourish even while maintaining a republican facade.

But it is the film and not actual history that sprang to mind this week. In the same way that Commodus tussled with the senate in the film, Trump tussled with the U.S. Senate.
Recently it was reported that the office of the district attorney of Orleans Parish is arresting and incarcerating victims who get scared and refuse to come to court to testify. Court Watch NOLA, a community group of volunteers who monitor New Orleanss criminal courts, issued a report showing that in 2016 alone, our prosecutor arrested and jailed six victims after they refused to come to court to testify for the prosecution. Four of these victims were survivors of attempted murders, one victim was a rape survivor, and the last survivor had a gun aimed at her. Our district attorneys office tried to arrest nine other crime victims for failing to cooperate, but could not find them.

Image Deborah Cotton self portrait Credit... Deborah Cotton

Arresting victims for failing to testify for the prosecution fosters a sense of powerlessness by further victimizing the person. And it is a show of aggression by our elected officials who are supposed to be the authorities we turn to so that our sense of stability in our community can be restored. These old-school tough-on-crime prosecutors are behind the times. They approach crimes with a heavy-handedness. They ignore feedback from the community on what type of recovery is needed.

New Orleanians have legitimate cause for concern when reporting a crime. Our police department has been under a federal consent decree since 2012, which means our police departments track record for civil rights abuses has been so bad that the federal government has had to intervene. If we cant depend on our police force and our prosecutors to not attack or take advantage of us, how are we supposed to trust them with the who did it information that could get us killed?

The district attorney in New Orleans is not the only prosecutor jailing crime survivors when they get too scared to testify in court. The district attorney of Harris County, Tex., arrested and incarcerated a rape victim for failing to return to the stand to testify against her assailant. The rape victim had a mental breakdown when she was forced to testify in court; her trauma and fear were just too overwhelming, the support she was offered by the prosecution insufficient. That district attorney lost her re-election in part for jailing that rape victim. Harris Countys new district attorney, Kim Ogg, was elected based on her promise to never arrest victims for failing to come forward.

When it came to my own cooperation with the prosecutor, I was reluctant. Id finally clawed myself out of a pit of grief, despair and PTSD and I wanted to live again. Why should I risk my health to testify for the prosecution? In my case, there were more witnesses and victims than normally would agree to cooperate. The outrage caused by perpetrators opening fire into a crowd of innocent New Orleanians on Mothers Day broke down the communitys reluctance. Additionally, our United States attorney, not our local district attorney, prosecuted the case. That made a difference, too.
PARIS  Last month, the face of Marine Le Pen appeared on my computer screen. The headline under the picture read, Marine Le Pen in Round 2. The leader of Frances far-right National Front, she had advanced to a runoff vote in the presidential election. I immediately thought of my father, a hundred miles away.

I imagined him bursting with joy in front of the TV  the same joy he felt in 2002 when Jean-Marie Le Pen, Marine Le Pens father and the previous leader of the National Front, also made it to the second round. I remembered my father shouting, Were going to win! with tears in his eyes.

I grew up in Hallencourt, a tiny village in Northern France where, until the 1980s, nearly everyone worked for the same factory. By the time I was born, in the 1990s, after several waves of layoffs, most of the people around me were out of work and had to survive as best they could on welfare. My father left school at 14, as did his father before him. He worked for 10 years at the factory. He never got a chance to be laid off: One day at work, a storage container fell on him and crushed his back, leaving him bedridden, on morphine for the pain.

I knew the feeling of being hungry before I knew how to read. From the time I was 5 my father would order me to go down the street and knock on the door of one of my aunts to ask if she could spare some pasta or bread for our table. I was sent because he knew it was easier to pity a child than an adult. Every year the amount of his workers compensation decreased. I have four siblings, and in the end, my father couldnt feed a family of seven. My mother didnt work; my father said a womans place was in the home.
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By the time I got home, I had three or four listings in my inbox, she said.

Mr. Chadwick lined up some buildings to see. He urged Ms. Ray to be open-minded about co-ops.

They began at a small, renovated walk-up condo building on East 124th Street. A two-bedroom there on the top floor had almost 750 square feet and a private rooftop patio. The price was $539,000, with monthly charges of around $800.

Ms. Ray travels often for her job, and was daunted by the need to lug her heavy bags upstairs. It later sold for $498,000.

She agreed to see a two-bedroom co-op in a Harlem building that fit her criteria. She liked the layout, with boxy rooms and a small hallway, covering just over 850 square feet. The unit included a stacked washer-dryer and the building, clean and well maintained, had a gym. The Central Harlem location, in the West 130s, was ideal.
Julius Youngner, an inventive virologist whose nearly fatal childhood illness destined him to become a medical researcher and a core member of the team that developed the Salk polio vaccine in 1955, died on April 27 at his home in Pittsburgh. He was 96.

His death was confirmed by his son, Dr. Stuart Youngner.

Dr. Youngner was the last surviving member of the original three-man research team assembled by Dr. Jonas Salk at the University of Pittsburgh to address the polio scourge, which peaked in the United States in the early 1950s when more than 50,000 children were struck by it in one year. Three other assistants later joined the group.

Dr. Salk credited his six aides with major roles in developing the polio vaccine, a landmark advance in modern medicine, which he announced on April 12, 1955.

The announcement  that the vaccine had proved up to 90 percent effective in tests on 440,000 youngsters in 44 states  was greeted with ringing churchbells and openings of public swimming pools, which had been drained for fear of contagion. Within six years, annual cases of the paralyzing disease had declined from 14,000 to fewer than 1,000.
President Trump has made American jobs  keeping them, promoting them, bringing them back  a central theme of his young presidency. And he has prodded some companies into cooperating by calling them out on Twitter or in other public venues, or by pressuring them with his policies.

Several tech companies have appeared to respond to Mr. Trumps speech and actions around jobs in recent months. Asian companies including Alibaba and SoftBank have promised thousands of new jobs in the United States. In February, Intel, the worlds largest computer chip manufacturer, said it would invest $7 billion to finish a factory in Arizona, adding 3,000 jobs.
The digital call to arms came shortly after the first round of the French presidential election.

On an online message board frequented by extremists in the United States, an anonymous user last month urged others to bombard social media sites in France in support of Marine Le Pen, the far-right French candidate, by using memes, hashtags and other digital tricks that they successfully employed during last years American presidential election. Within days, the online thread  and similar discussions across the internet  was flooded with hundreds of users in the United States offering to help the digital campaign.

But the American tactics have not translated overseas.

Despite such efforts, the far right in the United States and elsewhere has so far failed to reach much of the French electorate ahead of the countrys vote this weekend, according to a review of social media activity done for The New York Times. The analysis, which was based on a review of millions of Twitter messages related to the election since last summer, showed that more than one-third of posts linked to certain political hashtags originated from the United States, although few went viral in France.

Theres a big cultural gap that these groups have to jump over to expand their message, said Ben Nimmo, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a think tank, who has studied the far rights recent efforts in France. The language and iconography of the alt-right is pretty specific. Most of it just isnt going to translate well.

The French presidential election is the latest front in the digital assault by the American far right or alt-right, a diverse and loosely connected group of internet-based radicals who have garnered attention by using memes  online satirical photographs with often biting captions  and other tactics to further their views worldwide. The activists, a combination of white supremacists, anti-Semitic campaigners and other far-right types, were closely linked to the presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump, although the extent of their influence remains unclear.
The arrival of tapas on a weekday afternoon last April at Tinta Fina, a restaurant in the heart of Granada, Spain, happened leisurely. A heaping plate of cuttlefish fritters, glistening with oil, arrived with the first glass of wine, a Spanish rose. With the second glass, this time a crisp white from the countrys Galicia region, the bartender presented cubes of manchego cheese and a pile of anchovies marinated in a peppery olive oil. Another drink and, an hour later, we were onto meaty rings of fried calamari and hunks of crispy dogfish.

We hadnt ordered any of these tapas, but in Granada, locals rarely do. In a culture almost unique to the city, situated in the province of Andalusia in southern Spain, bars and eateries around town serve tapas to patrons at no cost, whenever they order a drink. With every drink comes a different tapa, often more substantial than the one before, and several rounds of drinks means a full meal can be had,  the only cost being the couple of euros paid for every glass of wine.
CHICAGO  More than 760 people were murdered in this city last year, and the pace of bloodshed in 2017 has barely relented. Children in large portions of Chicago grow up afraid to venture outside. Teenagers are buried with numbing regularity.

The root causes of the violence are familiar, and they can seem intractable: poverty, segregation, subpar education, distrust of the police.

Several local leaders spoke on Wednesday in Chicago with journalists from The New York Times about efforts to reduce the bloodshed at an event arranged by the newspaper and the University of Chicago Crime Lab. The conversations revealed anecdotal signs of progress, uncertainty about the months ahead and vigorous debate about the best ways to intervene. (Watch the full event here.)

Still, the shootings persist. During Wednesdays event, which lasted about two and a half hours, at least three people were shot in Chicago.
Chinas booming economy has increasingly allowed more of its young men and women to seek a college education in the West; 329,000 now study in the United States, more than five times the number recorded a decade ago. By far the largest contingent of foreign students, they can be an economic lifeline for colleges, since they usually pay full tuition, and they can provide a healthy dose of international diversity.

But those students often bring to campus something else from home: the watchful eyes and occasionally heavy hand of the Chinese government, manifested through its ties to many of the 150-odd chapters of the Chinese Students and Scholars Associations.

The groups have worked in tandem with Beijing to promote a pro-Chinese agenda and tamp down anti-Chinese speech on Western campuses. At Columbia a decade ago, the club mobilized students to protest a presentation about human rights violations in China, urging them to resolutely defend the honor and dignity of the Motherland. At Duke, the group was accused of inciting a harassment campaign in 2008 against a Chinese student who tried to mediate between sides in a Tibet protest. More recently in Durham, England, the group acted at the behest of the Chinese government to censor comments at a forum on China-Hong Kong relations.

In rare instances, members of the student group have been accused of spying.

The organizations influence troubles some China scholars and human rights activists, who say it wields outsize sway over American campuses because of the sizable tuition paid by Chinese students abroad, a group recently exhorted by Chinas government to increase their patriotism and devotion to the Communist Party.

I basically dont think that any student organizations that are controlled by their government  which clearly the C.S.S.A. is  should have a presence on foreign university campuses, said Jeffrey Henderson, a professor of international development at the University of Bristol in England.
Following a water crisis that saw sky-high levels of lead contamination in Flint, Mich., many homes in the city still do not have access to safe tap water.

But that doesnt mean theyre not being charged for it. And if they cant pay in time, they may lose their homes.

The city has mailed 8,002 letters to residents in an effort to collect about $5.8 million in unpaid bills for water and sewer services. If homeowners do not pay by May 19, property liens are transferred to tax bills, which begins a process that can end with residents losing their homes unless they pay their outstanding bills before March 2018.

Flint generally sends these letters annually to property owners whose payments are at least six months late. But because Flint skipped this process in 2016, this years letters cover two years of past-due balances.
The House on Thursday passed a new version of a healthcare bill after the first one in March failed to get enough Republican support. This time, the debate hinged on Americans with pre-existing conditions. Heres a look at how the whole dynamic played out over the last few days: Republican leaders scrambled to scrape up support from two house republican factions: the conservative Freedom Caucus, and the more moderate Tuesday Group. Two new amendments were tacked on, making it palatable to both. The first amendment includes a waiver for states to opt out of covering patients with pre-existing conditions, a win for the Freedom Caucus. Democrats were quick to jump on this. Pelosi: This is deadly. Trumpcare means heart-stopping premium increases from anything from asthma to cancer and the list goes on along the alphabet and no Band-aid amendment will fix it. And then it was the moderates turn to balk. They made it clear they wouldnt vote for it. Fred Upton (radio intv on Tuesday): Ive supported the practice of not allowing pre-existing illnesses to be discriminated against from the very get-go. This amendment torpedoes that. Its not going to get my Yes vote the way that it is. (assuming well ID him and party affiliation w/ L3) Billy Long: I was always for the underlying bill. When they made what I consider the change to pre-existing conditions, thats when I said Im a no. But by Wednesday, they had a solution. Mr. Upton, an influential house veteran, convinced Trump and other leaders to add another amendment  $8 billion of funding to help cover insurance costs for people with pre-existing conditions. The last-minute amendment got moderate republicans to back the bill, seemingly satisfying both factions of the republican house. The bill passed in the House 217 to 213, and now moves to the Senate for a vote. Senators will likely heavily revise it, removing and changing certain provisions and amendments to create their own palatable version and then send it back to the House .. and the process there will likely repeat itself. So for now, Obamacare will still remain the law of the land.
WASHINGTON  As House Republicans on Thursday shoved their health care bill across the finish line, stuffing it with amendments and extra dollars to secure a hard-won majority, the lawmakers who will inherit the legislation delivered their own message from across the Capitol:

Thats cute.

On the Senate side, where several Republicans have long been deeply skeptical of the House effort, the bill is expected to undergo sweeping changes that might leave it unrecognizable  perhaps stripping away some of the provisions that helped earn the support of hard-right House members and ultimately secure its passage.

The Republicans narrow 52-member majority in the Senate leaves little room for defections, and several Republican senators have worried aloud about the House measure. Their concerns include insurance costs for poorer, older Americans and funding issues in states with high populations of hard-to-insure people.
A narrow victory in the House

With the vote Thursday, Republicans recovered from their earlier failures and moved a step closer to delivering their promise to reshape American health care without mandated insurance coverage.

The vote, 217-to-213, on President Trumps 105th day in office, keeps alive the Republican dream of unwinding the signature legislative achievement of former President Barack Obama. The House measure faces profound uncertainty in the Senate, where the legislations steep spending cuts will almost certainly be moderated. Any legislation that can get through the Senate will again have to clear the House and its conservative majority.
This has been tolerated so long, and it is so ingrained in the E.P.A. culture to look the other way, he said. Theyre going to need outside pressure to act and enforce existing laws.

The councils report found that there were around 80,000 reported violations of drinking water safety regulations in 2015. Of those, more than 12,000 were health-based violations, or cases that involved actual contamination problems. In addition, the N.R.D.C. said, repercussions for violations were virtually nonexistent. Nearly nine in 10 violations were subject to no formal action.

Ms. Wu said that data is not sexy, making it hard to use in pushing for meaningful actions like investment in national infrastructure maintenance. For drinking water infrastructure, like the pipes and the mains, its out of sight, out of mind  until the main breaks outside your house, and you cant drink your own water, she said.

She added that part of the difficulty in fixing these problems comes down to a complicated regulatory system, in which the responsibility to monitor adherence to federal laws falls largely to states. The report, which relied on data collected by the E.P.A. itself, includes a list of 12 states with the most water safety violations based on population; it is topped by Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Andrea Morrow, a spokeswoman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, said the state has been in charge of enforcing the Safe Water Drinking Act since 1977. Asked about cases like the high arsenic levels documented in some parts of the state, she said that Texas was working with finite amounts of groundwater, adding that as of March 2017, 96 percent of Texas population is served by public water systems that are meeting drinking-water standards.

President Trump has said he is in favor of infrastructure investment, and he told The Times last year on the campaign trail that crystal clear water was important to him. But both he and the new E.P.A. administrator, Scott Pruitt, support proposals to cut the E.P.A. budget by as much as 31 percent, something the N.R.D.C. says represents a new threat to the nations water supplies.

And if the report did not shy away from politics, neither did the E.P.A.

Under the new leadership, the E.P.A. has made clear it is getting back to its core mission, which includes protecting Americas drinking water. Unfortunately, this is an area in which the past administration failed, said Lincoln Ferguson, an E.P.A. spokesman, in an emailed statement responding to the report.
RuPauls Drag Race

When to watch: Friday at 8 p.m., on VH1.

Add it to your Watchlist

Its a match made in 90s heaven: a Beverly Hills, 90210-themed episode, with Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth (pictured, with RuPaul) as guest judges. Some fans have found this season of Drag Race a bit slow  I disagree!  but Fridays episode delivers everything you could want from the show: a sprinkling of salty Hollywood gossip, solid zingers and radical, sincere acceptance among the contestants.
MOGADISHU, Somalia  Somalias minister of public works, a 31-year-old former refugee who was the youngest cabinet member in the countrys fragile government, was shot to death by soldiers on Wednesday, officials said.

The soldiers  who were guarding another official, the auditor general  shot the minister, Abbas Abdullahi Sheikh Siraji, near the presidential palace.

A government spokesman, Abdirahman Omar Osman, confirmed Mr. Sirajis death following gunfire from soldiers. He said Mr. Siraji had a full and promising future ahead of him.

The death stunned Somalia; it caused the president to cut short an official visit to Ethiopia, and it prompted the United States Mission to issue a statement mourning Mr. Siraji, whom it described as a rising star.
Mr. Hekmatyar is a skillful orator who has written dozens of books. His speech was a mix of pledges to end the war, advice for the political leaders sitting in front of him and explanations of how their coalition government was not working, and a call for the Taliban to join the peace process.

Mr. Hekmatyar also addressed accusations about past abuses, including accusations that his men had splashed acid on the faces of women who were active in public life. He said he did not disagree with women attending school or going to work. Officials said his wife and daughter were at the ceremony, almost unheard-of for his generation of warlords.

Anyone who has sprayed acid on the faces of girls  goddamn them, Mr. Hekmatyar said.

Mr. Hekmatyar appeared in eastern Afghanistan last week  his previous whereabouts has yet to be explained  and then drove to Kabul in a convoy of about 200 vehicles and hundreds of heavily armed men. Helicopters hovered above as the convoy entered the city, the streets along the route heavily guarded and cleared of even pedestrians, and made its way to a residence prepared for him in the west near the Afghan Parliament and Mr. Ghanis residence.

Mr. Hekmatyar is not the only person with a controversial past to return to the political arena. Many of those attending Mr. Hekmatyars speech were part of factions in the civil war that have also been accused of atrocities, but they have sanitized their images over the last 15 years by siding with the United States and the government it supports here. Many have profited from billions of dollars in American aid and military spending that have poured into Afghanistan.

None of the factions involved in the civil war of the 1990s have apologized, calling it a legitimate struggle. The only faction leader who came close to an apology was Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, who issued a letter expressing remorse for all who have suffered on both sides of the wars during the election campaign of 2013. He became vice president and is now accused of abducting, torturing and raping a political rival.

Patricia Gossman, a senior researcher on Afghanistan for Human Rights Watch, said Mr. Hekmatyars return underlined the culture of impunity in Afghanistan.
Moon Jae-in, the Democratic Party candidate, who surveys project will be the winner, has also vowed to meet Mr. Trump in one of his first acts as president. But he indicated that he would be more confrontational. He has said that instead of avoiding friction with Washington, South Korea should learn to say no.

He and many South Korean voters have been outraged by Mr. Trumps recent suggestion that their country pay $1 billion for a missile-defense battery the United States installed last week. Mr. Moon told a cheering crowd at a campaign rally this week, Which candidate can do a proud diplomacy, saying what we need to say to the Americans?

Mr. Moon represents liberal political forces in South Korea who say that under its conservative and pro-American leaders, the countrys alliance has become too hierarchical and too tilted in Washingtons favor. Liberals have also called for dialogue with North Korea, saying that Mr. Trump was wasting his time if he was waiting for China to enforce United Nations sanctions forcefully enough to stop the Norths nuclear program.

Mr. Moon seeks to bring back a version of the Sunshine Policy, under which South Korea promoted dialogue and economic exchanges with the North from 1998 to 2008 to help build trust and lessen Chinese influence on the northern half of the divided peninsula.

Those on the left view the Trump administrations talk of a military option against the North as dangerous. They also do not want their country dragged into a hegemonic struggle between the United States and China, its biggest trade partner.

Mr. Trumps rough diplomacy could shake a delicate balance in northeast Asia, prompting South Korea to redefine its alliance with Washington and move closer to China, analysts say.
China should acknowledge in an honest manner that the D.P.R.K. has just contributed to protecting peace and security of China, foiling the U.S. scheme for aggression by waging a hard fight in the front line of the showdown with the U.S. for more than seven decades, and thank the D.P.R.K. for it, it said. Some theorists of China are spouting a load of nonsense that the D.P.R.K.s access to nukes strains the situation in Northeast Asia and offers the U.S. an excuse for beefing up its strategic assets in the region.

In February, KCNA carried another commentary bitterly critical of China after Beijing announced that it was suspending all coal imports from North Korea for the rest of the year. But at the time, it did not mention China by name.

The commentary on Wednesday did not directly attack the government or the Communist Party of China, instead criticizing commentaries and some ignorant politicians and media persons in China. But it pointedly noted that these opinions were carried in publications widely known as media speaking for the official stand of the Chinese party and government and accused China of insincerity and betrayal.

In the North Korean state media, a commentary by an individual writer does not carry as much weight as an official government statement. But such bylined commentaries closely follow an official script, and the government in Pyongyang often uses them to voice its view indirectly.

Kim Chols commentary is the latest sign that North Korea fears China will acquiesce to American pressure for more vigorous sanctions enforcement, especially after Mr. Trumps summit meeting last month with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping. Last month, The Associated Press reported from Pyongyang that drivers were scrambling to fill their tanks as gas stations began limiting services, an apparent response to reports that Beijing might use its oil supplies as leverage to force North Korea to stop developing nuclear weapons.

The KCNA commentary on Wednesday was the Norths most bitter and categorical criticism of China in recent memory, said Cheong Seong-chang, a longtime North Korea analyst at the Sejong Institute, a South Korean think tank.

It has been a long-established tradition between North Korea and China that even if they held grudges against each other, they didnt voice them in public, Mr. Cheong said. This shows that the current North Korea-China relations are bad enough for both sides to break that tradition.
President Trump and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia on Thursday played down the testy phone exchange that began their working relationship as they met face to face aboard the aircraft carrier Intrepid in Manhattan.

We get along great. We have a fantastic relationship, I love Australia, I always have, Mr. Trump told reporters who witnessed a portion of the meeting between the two wealthy, iconoclastic, deal-making politicians in a room near the ships main dining area.

The two attended a dinner aboard the Intrepid, now a museum docked in the Hudson River, to honor the 75th anniversary of the strategic victory of the United States and Australia over Japan in the Battle of the Coral Sea during World War II.

Their earlier encounter, an acrimonious first phone call in February, was spoiled by Mr. Trumps hostile reaction to a deal with Australia that President Barack Obama negotiated in the final weeks of his second term. In it, the United States agreed to take in as many as 1,250 refugees that Australia was holding at offshore detention centers.
 Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia is in New York preparing to meet President Trump for the first time since they had a testy phone call in January. The meeting on Thursday is the highlight of Mr. Trumps first trip back to New York since he moved to the White House in January.

 The two leaders are scheduled to meet at 4 p.m. New York time at the Peninsula Hotel in Manhattan before heading to the U.S.S. Intrepid, a decommissioned aircraft carrier, for a reception dinner to mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea, in which the United States and Australia fought Japan during World War II.

 Here is a taste of what to expect:
PARIS  A milestone in French politics was reached in the countrys verbally violent presidential debate Wednesday night, but not the expected one.

The shock in the postdebate commentaries, in print and across the airwaves, was revealing: France had never witnessed such a brutal political confrontation in real time.

The consensus was that, far from being the knockout blow Marine Le Pen needed and many anticipated, the result was the opposite. The candidate of the far-right National Front had not improved her already difficult position against the centrist former economy minister Emmanuel Macron.

With her sneering mockery of Mr. Macron, her tone and her use of epithets, she had revealed something essential about herself despite years of effort to soften her partys image, in the view of commentators.
Approximately half an hour after the departure, the migrants indicated with bangs and cries that they were running out of oxygen, the statement said. The signals were heard by the driver, a 25-year-old Bulgarian identified only as l. and a forerunner, said to be a 38-year-old Bulgarian identified only as T., who apparently accompanied the truck in a separate vehicle.

Through their Bulgarian boss, they reported the problem to the Afghan head of the criminal organization who ordered them several times not to open the door, the statement added, to ignore the people suffocating there and to reach Western Europe as soon as possible.

Even though they could have helped the victims, the driver and the forerunner complied with the instruction of their boss and the Afghan leader, the statement said. The 71 victims, it said, suffocated in horrendous conditions three hours from departure.

They died while the truck had still been in Hungary, it added.

The two Bulgarians crossed into Austria and parked the truck on the side of the highway close to an outlet shopping mall in Parndorf, southeast of Vienna. They then returned to Hungary using the forerunner vehicle, the statement said.

The Austrian police noticed and opened the truck the next day.

Even as Europeans reeled in shock from the discovery, the smuggling of refugees went on uninterrupted. In order to make more money, the following morning the members of the criminal organization loaded 67 migrants into an unventilated, closed refrigerator lorry near Morahalom, the prosecutors said.

The defendants turned a blind eye to the fact that because of the inhuman conditions, migrants had got into life-threatening medical conditions, and transported them to the town of Gols, Austria. This time, the migrants could kick the door of the load area open, thus no one died.

The statement said nine of the suspects were in custody in the town of Kecskemet, southeast of Budapest on the main route to the Serbian border. The two others should be tried in absentia, it added.
PARIS  Marine Le Pen is showing a little leg.

Thigh, actually, in a new campaign poster of her in a short skirt that encapsulates her calculated, canny use of gender in her uphill campaign for the French presidency.

Though she usually wears pantsuits, her aides were quick to spin the image as a blow against Islamic fundamentalism, championing womens rights to dress as they choose.

The feminization of Marine Le Pen in the current campaign is a tactical shift, but an important one. The poster is part of a broader strategy to draw more female voters and soften the image of a party long treated as a pariah in France. The poster also showed her deliberate appropriation of feminism in the service of her partys Islamophobic message.

Before now, Ms. Le Pen has mainly transcended the barriers that hobble many other Frenchwomen in politics, somehow managing to be both woman and genderless at the same time.
PARIS  Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen represent sharply contrasting visions for the future of France  and of Europe  showcased in a bruising debate on Wednesday ahead of the final round of the countrys presidential election on Sunday.

Ms. Le Pen, the far-right candidate of the National Front, is campaigning on a bellicose security platform, emphasizing her anti-immigration, anti-European Union, anti-globalization bona fides. Mr. Macron, a former economy minister and investment banker, is pro-business, in favor of free trade and open to reinforcing economic and security ties with Europe.

Here is a breakdown of the candidates divergent views on major issues.

The State of Europe

The European Union is going to die, because the people dont want it anymore.  Ms. Le Pen

Ms. Le Pen has pledged to hold a national referendum on taking France out of the bloc  a so-called Frexit, which is widely seen as a trigger to the breakup of the European Union. She also wants France to abandon the euro, which she called the currency of bankers, and bring back a national currency  an idea that has rattled business leaders and financial markets. She has declared her intention to begin negotiations with Brussels to overhaul European institutions as soon as she is elected, and said she would pull France out of European trade agreements that, in her view, harm its interests.
PARIS  Frances top court ruled on Thursday against granting an intersex person born with a genital malformation the right to be recognized by the state as being of a neutral sex.

The plaintiff, going by the name Gaetan Schmitt, was registered at birth as a man but has argued he perceives his sexual identity as being neither female nor male.

Mr. Schmitt, a 66-year-old psychotherapist, first took legal action in 2015 to obtain civil status as neutral sex. A regional court in Tours granted him the status, but the decision was overturned on appeal by a court in Orleans in 2016.

The plaintiff, who is married and has adopted a child, brought the case to the Cour de Cassation, Frances supreme court, this year.
Brusque, avuncular, and with a reputation for being overly plain-speaking, Prince Philip has over seven decades been a formidable presence at the side of Queen Elizabeth II as she made the countless round of dinners, ceremonies and other engagements expected of the British monarch.

A product of the stiff upper lip era, the prince, 95  who Buckingham Palace announced on Thursday was stepping back from his public duties  has over the years produced a remarkable collection of politically incorrect, tone deaf and, on occasion, outrageous one-liners that have been gleefully recorded by generations of British journalists.

We have compiled some notable examples here.

I declare this thing open, whatever it is.

 On a visit to Canada in 1969

Everybody was saying we must have more leisure. Now they are complaining they are unemployed.

 During the 1981 recession

It looks as if it was put in by an Indian.

 Pointing to an old-fashioned fuse box in a factory near Edinburgh in 1999

Deaf? If you are near there, no wonder you are deaf.

 To young deaf people in Cardiff, Wales, in 1999, referring to a schools steel band
About a thousand people took to the streets of Bucharest, the capital, to oppose the amendments, just months after protests rocked the country after the passage of an emergency measure relaxing penalties for official corruption.

Those protests in February, which at times drew more than half a million people and lasted for more than two weeks, were the largest the country had seen since the fall of communism more than two decades ago. The government rescinded the emergency decree and was forced to fend off a no-confidence motion.

The protests on Wednesday were far smaller, but organizers said they were prepared to urge people to the streets if necessary.

This decision of the judiciary committee is very important, said Cristian Pirvulescu, the dean of the political science department at the National School of Political Studies and Public Administration in Bucharest. Politicians, Mr. Pirvulescu said, probably believed the civic movement was finished and they could restart disruptions against the rule of law.

We had a small but very determined protest, and the reaction was very rapid, he added.

Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu and Liviu Dragnea, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, both quickly spoke out, saying they did not support pardons for those convicted of corruption.
Iraqi forces opened a new front in western Mosul on Thursday in a major shift intended to accelerate an operation that had slowed to a crawl, leaving hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped on an urban battlefield.

The attack began early in the day as the Ninth Division of the Iraqi Army and Interior Ministry troops who had been pulled from another combat assignment started pushing into Mosul from the north, according to an Iraqi military statement.

The Iraqi Counterterrorism Service has been clawing its way from the south, and the goal of the new operation is to force the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, to fight in multiple directions and collapse its defenses.

Hinting at the change of strategy, Lt. Gen. Othman al-Ghanmi, the Iraqi Armys chief of staff, recently told a state-run newspaper that the battle for Mosul, now in its seventh month, would be won in a maximum of three weeks.
BEIRUT, Lebanon  Russia, Iran and Turkey signed a memorandum on Thursday to create four de-escalation zones in Syria, to reduce bloodshed in a war now in its seventh year, but many questions remained about the plan.

Presented at talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, the memorandum was the most ambitious of recent proposals, but it was not signed by the Syrian rebels or government. Rebel representatives said it left too many loopholes for the Syrian military to continue what the rebels called indiscriminate bombings of civilian areas.

The memorandum calls for a pause in fighting, including government airstrikes, and for unhindered aid deliveries in and around the four main zones still held by rebels unaffiliated with the Islamic State. It also calls for all parties to fight jihadists like the Islamic State and the Qaeda-linked group once known as the Nusra Front.

The top United Nations envoy dealing with Syria, Staffan de Mistura, called the memorandum an important, promising, positive step in the right direction.
Reprinted from shadowproof.com by Kevin Gosztola

FBI Director James Comey offered some of the clearest indications yet that the United States government remains committed to prosecuting WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange. He stated WikiLeaks is an "important focus" of intelligence agencies.

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Comey attempted to distinguish WikiLeaks from outlets like the New York Times or the Washington Post. He acknowledged the First Amendment rights journalists have in the U.S. while arguing WikiLeaks does not engage in journalism.

Republican Senator Ben Sasse asked Comey why Assange has not been charged with a crime. Comey did not want to confirm whether there were charges pending but came pretty close by saying Assange "hasn't been apprehended because he's inside the Ecuadorean embassy in London."

Assange has been in the Ecuador embassy under asylum since August 2012. He has claimed that he fears if he went to Sweden to face allegations related to sexual assault claims he will be extradited from Sweden to the U.S. The Swedish claims against Assange have kept him in limbo. The testimony from Comey essentially affirms concerns that many of WikiLeaks' fiercest critics have treated as unfounded.

Sasse went above and beyond to create a moment where the FBI director could argue WikiLeaks is a threat to the United States, not a "journalistic outfit."

SASSE: There is a room for reasonable people to disagree about what point an allegedly journalistic organization crosses a line to become some sort of a tool of foreign intelligence. There are Americans, well-meaning thoughtful people, who think that WikiLeaks might just be a journalistic outfit. Can you explain why that is not your view? COMEY: I want to be careful that I don't prejudice any future proceeding. It's an important question because all of us care deeply about the First Amendment and the ability of a free press to get information about our work and publish it. To my mind it crosses a line when it moves from being about trying to educate a public and instead becomes about intelligence porn. Just pushing out information about sources and methods without regard to interests, without regard to the First Amendment values that normally underlie press reporting and simply becomes a conduit for the Russian intelligence services or some other adversary of the United States just to push out information to damage the United States. And I realize reasonable people struggle to draw a line but surely there's conduct that's so far to the side of the line that we can all agree that there is nothing that even smells journalist about some of this conduct.

Referring to the release of emails from Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and Democratic National Committee documents, Comey previously stated, "We assess [WikiLeaks] used some kind of cutout. They didn't deal directly with WikiLeaks, in contrast to DC Leaks and Guccifer 2.0."

But whether the government has any clear evidence of a "cutout" with ties to Russian intelligence is called into question by officials like Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who testified, "The WikiLeaks connection, evidence there is not as strong , and we don't have good insight into the sequencing of the releases or when the data may have been provided."

Assange claims, "We have said clearly that our source is not a member of the Russian state. And even the U.S. government is not suggesting that our source is a member of the Russian state."

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This is a reprint from NewsBred.

Kapil Sibal, former telecom minister in the UPA government, in an Oped article in Times of India (May 2, 2017), today, has urged "Asli Hindus" to distance themselves from Hindutva, which, in his view, is nothing but fundamentalism in the name of Hinduism and mirrors intolerance, casteism and a sedition-happy government.

The trouble is Sibal saying so is like the devil quoting from the scriptures. He was the father of the notorious amended 66A section of the IT Act under UPA, which could land anyone in jail for three years for "offensive" tweets. Anyone arrested had to apply for a bail under this cognizable offence.

The need for this draconian measure was to crush dissent against the corruption in the UPA government. A Jadavpur University Professor, Ambikesh Mohapatra was arrested in April 2011 for merely forwarding on email a cartoon on Mamata Banerjee. Similarly, cartoonist Assem Trivedi, in solidarity with Anna Hazare's crusade against corruption, was arrested and had to shut down his website.

This was like an emergency; a true muzzling of freedom of speech and expression. In the end, Supreme Court had to step in and squash the amended 66A Act, terming it "unconstitutional."

This "unconstitutional" move went all the way up to your door, Mr. Sibal. It isn't like Una, Dadri or Alwar, where Modi government is being dragged for no role of their own.

Indeed, so outrageous were your moves and utterances as a minister that Supreme Court had to intervene once again and bring the guilty to book. I of course am referring to the 2G Scam. It was you, as telecom minister, who rubbished all the investigations under the 2G-spectrum scam, be it of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), CBI, Justice Shivraj Patil report, or by the one of telecom regulator, TRAI. You even made the absurd claim that your predecessor A. Raja's spectrum allocation in 2008 caused no loss to the exchequer!!! It was only after Supreme Court bristled in anger that you had to buckle down. It's a reminder to you readers that 2G scam was worth 170,000 crores.

After such a "distinguished" record as one against the dissent or contempt for authorities such as CAG and TRAI, don't you think your moral stances are a little facile? Do I need to remind you of the "intolerance" of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru against iconic poet Majrooh Sultanpuri who was put behind bars in Arthur Jail Road in Mumbai for a year for a rebellious poem penned by him? The poem went something like this:

"Aman kaa jhandaa is dharti pe

kisney kahaa lahraane na paae

ye bhii koii Hitler kaa hai chelaa,

maar le saathii, jaane na paae!

Commonwealth ka daas hai Nehru

maar le saathii jaane na paae!"

(Who has stopped the flag of peace from blowing in the air on this land? Is this someone a disciple of Hitler and we must not let him get away with this. Nehru is no better than a slave of Commonwealth and he ought not to be allowed to get away with it.)

Do I need to remind you of the number of sedition cases that were filed while UPA was in centre? Or films that were banned by Congress? And who amended Article 19 (I) to rob people further of their freedom of speech?

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As former US president Barack Obama's second term drew toward its close last July, he exercised his veto power for the eleventh of 12 times, shutting down "The Presidential Allowance Modernization Act of 2016." The bill, which easily passed both houses of Congress, would have reduced former presidents' pensions and staff allowances dollar for dollar if their other incomes exceeded $400,000 per year.

In the wake of Obama's decision to accept a $400,00 fee for a Wall Street speaking engagement this September, the bill's sponsors plan to reintroduce it. But neither the speaking fee nor the veto are what we should be noticing. The real scandal is how lucrative retirement has become for American politicians.

Under the aptly named Former Presidents Act, former presidents receive pensions equal to the salaries of cabinet secretaries. Right now, that's more than $200,000 per year. They also receive $150,000 per year for staff and office space. That's not counting the costs of Secret Service protection security for life, managing their monuments (the construction of presidential libraries is privately funded but the government pays their costs of operations to the tune of nearly 20 times those pension costs), etc.

Members of Congress are also eligible for pensions after as little as five years in office. Those pensions aren't quite so lavish as rumor sometimes has it, but for politicians with long careers they can exceed $100,000 per year. As of 2013, the average congressional pension was about $60,000 per year.

Why on Earth should politicians receive taxpayer funded pensions at all?

More than half the members of Congress are already millionaires when they are elected to office, and most of them can expect great job offers as lobbyists and so forth after they leave.

Whether a president is wealthy or not prior to his inauguration, he's certainly going to be after leaving office. That $400,000 speech of Obama's is chump change compared to the $65 million joint book deal he and former First Lady Michelle Obama signed barely a month after moving out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (Bill Clinton and George W. Bush apparently only knocked down $10 million each on their books, poor guys).

There's good reason to treat Congress, the presidency and the vice presidency as, to steal a line from James Madison in The Federalist #62, "an assembly of men called for the most part from pursuits of a private nature, continued in appointment for a short time" -- as temporary "public service," not the kind of lifelong career from which one "retires."

As of 2015, the median US household income was (according to the US Census Bureau) $55,775. Why are those households paying former members of Congress that much or more, and former presidents nearly four times as much? Their paychecks should end when their terms in office end.
Supposedly the National Security Administration is going to stop collecting certain internet communications that merely mention a foreign intelligence target.

Privacy advocates are hailing it as a major victory for Americans whose communications have been caught in the NSA's dragnet.

If this is a victory, it's a hollow victory.

Here's why.

Since its creation in 1952, the NSA has been covertly spying on Americans, listening in on their phone calls, reading their mail, and monitoring their communications.

In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, George W. Bush secretly authorized the NSA to conduct warrantless surveillance on Americans' phone calls and emails.

Nothing changed under Barack Obama. In fact, the violations worsened.

The NSA cannot be reformed.

This is an agency whose very existence--unaccountable and lacking any degree of transparency--flies in the face of the Constitution.

Even if the NSA could be reformed, however, the problem of government surveillance goes far beyond the criminal activities of this one agency.

In fact, just about every branch of the government now has its own surveillance sector authorized to spy on the American people.

Fusion and counterterrorism centers gather all of the data from the smaller government spies--the police, public health officials, transportation, etc.--and make it accessible for all those in power. And then there is the complicity of the corporate sector, which buys and sells us from cradle to grave, until we have no more data left to mine.

Consider that on any given day, the average American going about his daily business will be monitored, surveilled, spied on and tracked in more than 20 different ways, by both government and corporate eyes and ears. A byproduct of this new age in which we live, whether you're walking through a store, driving your car, checking email, or talking to friends and family on the phone, you can be sure that some government agency, whether the NSA or some other entity, is listening in and tracking your behavior.

Corporate trackers monitor your purchases, web browsing, Facebook posts and other activities taking place in the cyber sphere.

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In this present age of evidence-based medicine, the value of Intuition in medical practice is under-rated. Generally, it is regarded with indifference if not contempt. An experienced doctor will know the importance of an intuitive approach to the patient and the patient's problem. He can differentiate between intuition and a blind guess. Delving into and understanding Intuition is essential to make the best use of it.1

What is Intuition and where does this come from? From the medical stand-point, Intuition can be considered to be the feeling within oneself about the nature of a disease or its management. It is based on one's past knowledge and experience. This knowledge or experience might have been acquired in the recent or remote past and one may not be consciously remembering as to when exactly it was acquired.

The process of acquiring knowledge may vary from being purely logical (based on evidence), to being intuitive and corroborated by the intuitive experience of others. In the present day, most of the medical knowledge in use is apparently of the first type. However, much of the knowledge we presume as being evidence-based can be shown to be intuitively acquired in the first place.

An example is the use of several drugs that are derived from herbs. For centuries, they have been used intuitively (e.g. ginger, turmeric, aloe vera).2 Only recently the active ingredients have been isolated and their chemical structure and mechanism of action understood. Here we see that logic has merely fine-tuned the knowledge acquired by intuition.



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In fact, any new discovery is first 'intuitive' for the discoverer but later is put to test and accepted, based on 'evidence'. Intuition precedes logic. 'Knowledge' is acquired when the understanding is 'meaningful', whether by intuition or logic. The present tendency to glorify logic at the expense of intuition smothers creativity, makes the academic approach mechanical and reduces learning to mere acquisition of recorded information. At the field level, this allows medical practice to be converted into protocols that are convenient for use and can be legally and commercially exploited.

The flawed approach to academic and consequently practical medicine entails setting up of logic-based goals, while dampening intuition and freedom of the creative spirit. Curricular evaluations tend to become stereotyped and reproduction of known information accepted as evidence of learning. Inevitably, doctors are being 'produced' through a conveyor belt process where the students are made to 'learn, reproduce and forget' on their way to become 'qualified doctors'. Even practical and clinical exams tend to become stereotyped. Instead, actual work-based evaluations help encourage creative and intuitive learning.

Predominantly evidence-based medicine makes clinical practice mechanical, distancing the doctor from the patient and contributing largely to physician dis-satisfaction. Intuitively applying whatever knowledge one has acquired allows creativity in clinical approach, makes it patient-friendly, ensures physician satisfaction and is cost-effective. Being open to Intuitive medicine allows the seamless practice of Body medicine (that constitutes only about two-thirds of medicine) alongside Mind-Body and Mind-Body-Spirit medicine (constituting the remaining one-third of medicine).3,4

While logic cannot be sacrificed and there is need for basic fundamentals, medicine needs to be open-ended in theory and practice with a fine balance between logic and intuition allowing creativity at all levels. Excessive emphasis on evidence-based medicine tends to worsen the problems plaguing the field of medicine, while increased emphasis on Intuitive medicine tends to simplify them. The paradigm of Intuitive medicine needs to be strengthened at all levels.

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"I'm sad that I'm not on television anymore" -- Bill O'Reilly

Re: Talking Points Memo:

I have to believe that even his fans always felt that there was something a bit strange about Bill O'Reilly. It is based solely on the high likelihood of each of them knowing they worship a man who can't tell his "loofah" from his "falafel."

But if, indeed they'd sensed O'Reilly to be a cranky, strangely-confused odd fellow whose hubris would eventually send him down in flames, they probably assumed he'd flame out Howard Beale style -- straight-jacketed and ranting -- rather than go out the way his pal Roger Ailes would have if life was a bit more fair; leg irons and a long overcoat over a pair of boxer shorts.

And that goes double for the ones who've consistently doubled down on the claim that there's absolutely no angle to the spin O'Reilly put forth each weeknight for the past 20 years from a TV soap box he'd have us all believe was a "No-Spin Zone." I speak of the ones totally at home with the thought that the sanctimonious windbaggery he delivered on his show was pure, non-partisan, middle-of-the-road "political analysis," and not just his own interpretation of cultural conservatism's philosophical litmus test.

The fact is "The Factor" -- like a preposterously puffed up resume -- was always far less fact than fiction. At least the "no-spin" part of it anyway. Each weeknight Bill O'Reilly would warn us: "CAUTION. YOU'RE ABOUT TO ENTER THE NO-SPIN ZONE! Yet, we never seemed to get there. Rarely has a segment tease gone the way of the recent Fyre Festival fiasco by promising so much yet delivering so little. It was like being handed a manuscript said to be "good and original" only to find that the good stuff isn't original and the original stuff isn't good.

Perhaps that's because the possibility of a "no-spin zone" in an outfit with journalistic cred as yellow as that of the Fox News Channel is nothing but raw spin from its top spin-doctor -- Bill O'Reilly. As it turned out, the contrition-free exit statement he released just after being fired for sexual harassment only added to the incredulousness of O'Reilly's clumsily-honed straight-shooter character narrative.

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Reprinted from wallwritings.me

It is a well-known fact of history that to the victor belongs the spoils.

And one of those spoils is the ability to reshape history. Donald Trump has won the presidency. He is now busy reshaping history.

On Wednesday, President Trump met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House. The usual "we want peace" talking points were exchanged. The word "justice" was not included.

Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike were ignored by Trump. Sean Spicer, Trump's press spokesman later claimed the President suggested to Abbas that he cease funding families of political prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Since that would be both inhumane to the prisoners and politically devastating to President Abbas, he most certainly would have brushed aside such an idea.

President Trump began his cordial welcoming words to President Abbas with one of those blatant distortions of history that good staff work might have avoided. Unless, that is, the distortion was deliberate.

This is the way President Trump welcomed President Mahmoud Abbas to the White House: "Almost 24 years ago, it was on these grounds that President Abbas stood with a courageous peacemaker, then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Here at the White House, President Abbas signed a Declaration of Principles -- very important -- which laid the foundation for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians."

Not content with this shading of truth, Trump sought to link the Oslo Accords to what he believes could be his own Trumpian contribution to history:

"Mr. President, you signed your name to the first Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. You remember that well, right? And I want to support you in being the Palestinian leader who signs his name to the final and most important peace agreement that brings safety, stability, and prosperity to both peoples and to the region."

There is a problem with this recall of history. It writes former Palestinian President Yasar Arafat out of a major moment of history.

Abbas was, indeed, a member of the Palestinian delegation which traveled to the White House for the historic September, 1993, signing ceremony.

Abbas was certainly in the Palestinian delegation headed by then-PLO leader Yasar Arafat. He most certainly did not sign with "a courageous peacemaker, then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin".

And, he did not stand with Yitzhak Rabin. That would be Yasar Arafat, as the historic picture (above), clearly demonstrates.

Rabin did not sign the statement. Arafat did not sign it. They had representatives to do the signing for them.

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By Robert Weiner and Ryan Powers



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Article originally published in the San Antonio Express-News

During the election, candidate Donald Trump expressed that he planned to tax wealthy universities that did not use a sizable portion of their endowment to support low-income students. In October, he proposed that borrowers repay no more than 12.5 percent of their annual income over the span of 15 years, forgiving all additional debt.

The new administration's budget proposal has no such plan for higher education.

On March 29, billionaire Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, tweeted at the president to ask when the Trump administration will address the rising costs of college and student debt.

President Trump repeatedly says how proud he is of his Wharton degree. If higher education is the key to success, then growing college expenses are an unavoidable issue the Trump administration must address.

In Texas, only 27.6 percent of residents have an accredited degree from a four-year university. By this standard, the state ranks 29th out of 50 states, according to recent census data.

At St. Edward's University in Austin, tuition for a full-time undergraduate student in fall 2009 totaled $24,040. In fall 2016, this figure sat at $55,800. Next year, it will cost a projected $58,700. For low-income students, a college degree becomes less attainable every year.

The Trump administration's budget proposal would end the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Program, a critical funding aid to low-income students. It would reduce funding for the federal work-study program, which employs hundreds of thousands of students unable to afford the full expenses of college.

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Beer titan Anheuser-Busch InBev announced today their purchase of Asheville, N.C.s Wicked Weed Brewing.

While the financial specifics of the deal were not made public, the U.S. Department of Justice still needs to give their blessing (as they typically do these days) before the acquisition can go through. If successful, the southern brewery will go on to join The High End, Anheuser-Busch InBevs craft- and import-focused brand. Wicked Weed co-founder Walt Dickinson spoke about the planned sale in a press release put out this morning:

This is an exciting time for the entire brewing team. Our ability to create a wide range of really well executed beers that are focused on creativity, quality and drinkability is what makes Wicked Weed great. We have chosen to partner with The High End to position ourselves to make Wicked Weed what we imagined it could be when we first sat at a craft beer bar and talked about opening a brewery. As a brewer, giving our team more resources to continue innovating our portfolio and the ability to reach more craft drinkers, allows us to keep putting the beer and the people first.

You can read Anheusers full announcement here, and for our glowing take on one of Wicked Weeds brews, check out our write-up of their Golden Angel in our recent ranking of 20 of North Carolinas best beers.
The burgeoning American left needs a coherent anti-war strategy; that much is obvious. But beyond that, it needs an answer to a more important question: how do we begin the long work of dismantling American empire and creating a more equitable, just, and all-around decent society here at home?

Take Donald Trumps decision last month to fire fifty-nine Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian air base because he became extremely concerned about the children of war in the Middle East. The move didnt get much opposition from progressive Democrats: in a FiveThirtyEight analysis of Senators statements after the air strike, only five DemocratsKirsten Gillibrand, Tom Udall, Chris Murphy, Brian Schatz, and former vice presidential candidate Tim Kainejoined Republican Rand Paul in outright opposing the action.

Most Democratsincluding progressive standard-bearers Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warrendidnt oppose the strikes, but rather raised questions about Trumps strategy and the fact that he didnt ask Congress for approval before taking action. Accordingly, Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, is pushing for a new Authorization of Military Force that would repeal the 2001 and 2002 authorizations for use of military force against terrorists and Iraq, in favor of one that specifically targets ISIS, the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. Schiffs new AUMF would expire after three years.

Right now, one party craves endless war and the other only wants to do a little bit of war. No one can ever say we dont have options.

This reflects a broader problem for the American left. On the social safety net, progressives and socialists have solutions that at least steer us in the right direction towards a more democratic, humanitarian economy: Medicare-for-all, free public tuition, and the protection of public schools and labor unions, both of which have long been ignored by Democrats.

These are important steps. But when it comes to foreign policy and security, the people currently at the forefront of the progressive movement havent had as many answers, and thats going to be more and more of an impediment as Trump falls further in line with the Bipartisan Raytheon Caucus. So what, then, could a truly left foreign policy look like?

Sanders has captured the imagination of class-conscious progressives on economic issues. But by virtue of no full-throated alternative to the hawkish inclination thats prevalent in both parties, progressives have ceded the ground of non-interventionism and a humanitarian foreign policy to libertarians and paleoconservatives. You can look no further for evidence of this than the fact that all 100 US Senators signed a letter condemning the BDS movement and asking for the UN to improve its treatment of Israel, or Sanderss disastrous explanation of giving the letter his signature to AJ+.

As is the case with popular progressive proposals such as Medicare-for-All, theres a huge disconnect between Congressional Democrats and the progressive base on Syria. A snap poll right after the strikes found that just 37% of Democrats supported the strikes, statistically the same amount as those who said Obama should do the same back in 2013. There was also a rash of protests in major American cities after the strike.

As Voxs Jeff Stein suggested, part of that has to do with age. To put it simply, young Americans have war fatigue: a recent YouGov poll showed that 47% of people under thirty think that US efforts to solve problems around the world usually end up making things worse, while just 27% think those problems would be even worse without U.S. involvement.

Aside from the moral obligation of reducing the number of deaths were responsible for around the world and the hefty toll that maintaining American influence is taking on more pressing issues here at home, being anti-intervention is also a politically popular position. Its no coincidence that the last time liberals made massive gainsthe 2006 midterms and Obamas election two years laterit was on a wave of discontent with the Iraq War.

The first step is recognizing that Americas excursions into the affairs of other countries have routinely helped to destabilize those countries for decades. One doesnt need to defend the actions of dictators like Bashar al-Assad to see that the United States doesnt really have any kind of moral authority to bomb a Syrian air base in the name of Syrian children when were simultaneously killing children in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen with drone strikes.

Its also destabilized our own politics. Much has been made of Trumps unorthodox positionsfor a Republicanon trade, but its also worth repeating that Trump won the Republican partys primary while saying the Iraq war was a mistake, and ran on a confusing strain of non-interventionism. Of course, Trump torpedoed that notion quickly, but the reaction of the alt-right to the air strikes shows theres a growing strain of white nationalists who have realized that endless war is bad and will eventually become unpopular, if it isnt from the outset. Because of that, its easy to imagine a scenario where Trumps (presumably smarter) neofascist successors make it an important part of their program.

The problem that Democrats have with immediately calling out Trumps foreign policy failuresand there will be manyis that it requires them to look inward. Former president Barack Obama rode a wave of anti-war sentiment to win the Democratic primary in 2008 over Hillary Clinton, one of many Democrats to vote for the Iraq War back in 2003. And in some ways, Obama may have been the president least inclined to push military intervention since Carter.

But thats not saying much: Obamas use of drones, his support of the Saudi war in Yemen, and a disastrous intervention in Libyaa country that now has bonafide slave trading again all symptoms caused by Obama falling in line with an American foreign policy thats been championed by liberal and conservative presidents alike since at least the end of World War II.

One area where Sanders has been good is through his longtime proposal of drastic defense cuts, something that drew the ire of hawks during the primary. Apart from working to end these AUMFs and taking a consistent anti-intervention position no matter who the president is, perhaps the best way the left can build support for its foreign policy program is to tie defense cuts to the fortunes of social democratic policies here at home: the long-cursed F-35, for example, is expected to cost well over $1 trillion total over the next 55 years, more than the GDP of Australia.

The military represented over half of all federal discretionary spending in 2015, and there are a ton of possibilities of what you could do with the money. As TIME pointed out last year, the lifetime cost of the F-35 program is enough to wipe out student loan debt, or cover about half of the cost of our many, many infrastructure needs. Part of the money saved could go towards jobs and training programs for soldiers and civilians who rely on the military for income.

Or we could invest more money in foreign aid  which would arguably do more to avert terrorism in the United States and elsewhere long-term than dropping a 21,000 pound bomb every once in a while  and more time and energy into diplomacy. The Iran deal and the restoration of relations with Cuba, both good moves by the Obama administration, proved that there are a lot of possibilities for making peoples lives better, both here and abroad, that arent the abstract need to do something that drives liberal interventionist thinking.

The silver lining is that it appears Americans no longer trust the political establishment to make the right decisions with regard to the military, and that confidence is not likely to grow given the fact that a confused old TV man is calling the shots. If the left wants to beat the white nationalists to filling that void, it needs to recognize the missteps liberals and conservatives alike have made in the past, and offer a vision for the future where America isnt on a permanent war footing. The only alternative to this is the ultimate failure of the left.
The end of their hibernation is here. Grizzly Bear have released a new track, "Three Rings", off their upcoming LP that's set to be their most recent release in five years. Listen below:

The single is an intense and majestic departure from their usual sound, but one that echoes their melancholic nature regardless. It's an exciting peak into the current mindset of the Brooklyn band, who've been somewhat MIA since their 2012 release Shields.

So what have Grizzly Bear been up to in this five year interim, anyway? Occasional frontman and guitarist Daniel Rossen embarked on his very own solo tour, following the release of his solo debut EP Silent Hour/Golden Mile. Drummer Christopher Bear worked on arranging soundtracks for the HBO series High Maintenance. Lead vocalist Ed Droste, amidst all the Swift backlash that (wrongfully) kicked him off Twitter, collaborated with a variety of performers, such as DEDE (which you can listen to here). They also created an Instagram where they've been posting snippets of upcoming tracks to mess with our hearts a little bit.

For a while, things for Grizzly Bear weren't looking so great - there were no signs of the band planning to record, and little comment whenever they were asked. The band themselves were scattered around the US - while two members still live in New York, the other two including Droste have relocated to Los Angeles.

However, in a 2015 interview with Droste for The Standard, the skies cleared. "We're feeling more adventurous with the sonic directions, changing it up a little bit  not like, a techno dance album...it's in the beginning stages," he said. "Only a couple songs have started to take shape and it's gotta be like, a good dozen or so before we get the picture."

They've certainly seemed to get a hold of the big picture now. If "Three Rings" is any indication of what's to come, we're pretty sure this might just be the Grizzly Bear album we've been waiting for.

Find Grizzly Bear on Twitter, Instagram and official website.
There's a family in Wisconsin where the young kids talk about Guam as an island they'd like to visit someday, because it's where their dad came from.

Jason Jay Clark, 31, hasn't been back in Guam in more than two decades. And when he left, it was a memory of him as a young boy, and of a family torn apart.

Clark was 5 years old when he and his siblings were removed from their parents, placed in foster care and eventually placed for adoption, according to his wife, Kary Ness, by phone and email from Wisconsin. He's a care worker and she's an emergency medical technician.

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Now that Clark has young children of his own, he's spent the last few years trying to find relatives who may still be living in Guam, and who can help find his long-lost younger siblings, according to Ness.

Clark's parents were having challenges raising the children, but despite that memory, he wants to reconnect with them or at least find out what happened to his siblings, his wife said.

This Wisconsin family has spent years trying to reconnect with Guam relatives, after having lost contact for more than two decades.

Guam phone numbers found online that matched some of Clark's relatives' names were no longer in service, Ness said.

Ness also posted a Facebook message about her husband's search for his Guam connections, which was shared by almost 1,000 people, including Guam residents and former Guam residents living stateside.

Ness' post said Clark's siblings are each a year apart, and are in their late 20s. The siblings are Dwight Jr., Robert, Geraldine and Roxanne Clark, according to her post.

'We are unsure about his siblings'

"We have received information that both his parents for sure still live on the Island, but we are unsure about his siblings," according to Ness.

Jason's father, Dwight Clark, was a U.S. Marine, and his mother, Elsie Natividad, was possibly a Philippine native, but became a U.S. citizen and may have since remarried, according to Ness.

Ness said the young children from this Wisconsin family would often talk about what their father would tell them about Guam  the bugs, the lizards and the beaches.

One day, she said, the family hopes to visit the island.
I Chalan Mona

One of my greatest joys is being a parent to two wonderful kids. I must admit that raising my toddler son gives me some anxiety. Raising him o Read morePondering CHamoru manhood
PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-04 11:04:01

Leading institutions around the world upgrade to new generation Elements

Accelerated Adoption of New Radiosurgery Software from Brainlab

Brainlab

Anna Bliss, +49 151 150 65 164

Marketing Associate

anna.bliss@brainlab.com

Brainlab, a leader in radiosurgery innovation for more than twenty years, has begun to successfully transition institutions in its considerable global install base to its latest planning software, known as Brainlab Elements. These subscription-based, indication-specific software applications add a higher degree of automation and delivery efficiency to planning.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201705040056

Leading institutions around the world upgrade to new radiosurgery software - Brainlab Elements (Graphic: Business Wire)

The customers that use our radiosurgery planning software already have a desire to remain leaders in the field, both clinically and technically, commented Stefan Vilsmeier, Brainlab President and CEO. Upgrading to Elements is the logical next step in staying at the forefront of technological innovation in SRS treatment planning.

While each Elements application has the common goals of quick planning, sparing organs at risk and creating highly conformal doses, each is specifically targeted to the unique needs of its respective area. Cranial SRS optimizes planning with an integrated 4 algorithm for patient-tailored treatments. Multiple Brain Mets SRS enables the simultaneous delivery of single-session treatments for multiple metastases. Spine SRS is fully focused on important dose falloff along specific vertebrae for enhanced spinal cord sparing. All workflows are complemented by indication-specific segmentation, fusion and outlining tools.

First installations of Elements have taken place at seven hospitals in Germany, Switzerland, Italy and France, with dozens more scheduled in the coming weeks. Leading hospitals in the US have also followed suit and the first installation in Latin America, the Institute of Radiotherapy  Marie Curie Foundation in Cordoba, Argentina, has already begun treating patients. With Elements at a number of these institutions having gone into clinical use, patients are already benefitting from the upgrade to this new generation of software applications.

Elements Multiple Brain Mets SRS has come to us at exactly the right time in which we are distancing ourselves more and more from whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT), given the negative side effects on neurocognitive function. Recently, we were able to treat a patient with 14 brain metastases in about 20 minutes with a plan created with the software, commented Prof. Cordula Petersen, UKE Hamburg. We are very pleased to offer the option of treating patients with multiple brain metastases with Elements software and potentially improving their quality of life.

To learn more about Brainlab Elements, visit Brainlab booth #2800 at ESTRO 2017 in Vienna or online at https://www.brainlab.com/en/radiosurgery-products/.

About Brainlab

Brainlab develops, manufactures and markets software-driven medical technology, enabling access to advanced, less invasive patient treatments.

Brainlab technology powers treatments in radiosurgery as well as numerous surgical fields including neurosurgery, orthopedic, ENT, CMF, spine and trauma. Founded in Munich in 1989, Brainlab has over 11,700 systems installed in over 100 countries.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201705040056
Protein A Resin Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-04 06:40:15

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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.compress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531

IntroductionDemand for protein A resin among other chromatography resins is considerably high. Increasing research on monoclonal antibodies (Mab) is expected to drive sales of protein A resin over the forecast period. Mab have been shown promising results in the treatment of chronic diseases such as cancers and rheumatoid arthritis, and increasing prevalence of these disease is expected to drive overall sales of protein A resin. Over the last few years, in order to offer better services, companies in the protein A resin market are manufacturing next generation protein A resin products to overcome conventional protein A resin issues such as ligand leaching and alkaline stability. Moreover, few companies are manufacturing cost-effective protein A resin products, especially for clinical research purposes. However, increasing awareness about alternate methods to purify monoclonal antibodies is expected to hamper sales of protein A resin during the forecast period.Market Value ForecastIn terms of value, the global protein A resin market is anticipated to be valued at US$ 838.4 Mn by 2026, expanding at over 8% CAGR during the forecast period.Request Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1720 Market DynamicsGrowing demand for biosimilars is one of the key factor expected to drive growth of the overall protein A resin market over the period 20162026. Globally moreover, major biopharmaceutical companies are increasing investments on the development of biosimilar products. This in turn is anticipated to fuel demand for protein A resin and drive overall growth of the global protein A resin market during the forecast period. In developed countries, governments are funding R&D of biologics including Mab. This in turn is expected to drive sales of protein A resin between 2016 and 2026. However, significantly high cost of protein A resin is one of the major factors restraining growth of the global protein A resin market.Segmentation by ProductThe global protein A resin market is segmented on the basis of product type into natural protein A resin and recombinant protein A resin. Among these segments, recombinant protein A resin segment is expected to expand at a highest CAGR exceeding 9% in revenue terms between 2016 and 2026.Segmentation by Matrix TypeThe global protein A resin market is segmented on the basis of matrix types into agarose-based matrix, glass or silica-based and organic polymer based type. Among the matrix type segments, agarose-based segment currently accounts for highest market share and the trend is expected to continue over the forecast period. Moreover, binding specificity and stability of agarose-based protein A resin is high when compared to other matrixes types. This factor is expected to contribute significantly to revenue growth the agarose-based protein A resin segment over the forecast period.Segmentation by Application TypeThe global protein A resin market is segmented on the basis of application type as immunoprecipitation and antibody purification. In the application segment, immunoprecipitation segment is expected to expand at a CAGR of around 9% in between 2016 and 2026.Segmentation by End UserThe global protein A resin market is segmented on the basis of end user into biopharmaceutical manufacturers, clinical research laboratories and academic institutes. Among the end user segments, biopharmaceutical manufacturers segment currently accounts for highest market share, and is expected to register a CAGR of 8% between 2016 and 2026.Send An Enquiry@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-1720 Key RegionsBy region, the global protein A resin market has been segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan, Middle East & Africa (MEA) and Japan.Globally, in terms of revenue, North America has been estimated to account for highest share of 36.1% in 2016, followed by Western Europe. Meanwhile, revenue from the market in Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) is expected to expand at the highest CAGR of 9.3% over the forecast period.protein a resins marketKey PlayersKey players in the global protein A resin market include GE Healthcare, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Repligen Corporation, Tosoh Bioscience, EMD Millipore, Novasep, GenScript and Expedeon Ltd.Companies in the global protein A resin market are entering into strategic agreements to manufacture raw material required for manufacturing of protein A resin.
Tamper Evident Packaging Market

PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-04 12:30:29

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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

Packaging in todays world calls for a multi-functional approach of the designing of the product. With the race to reduce the overall cost of production, manufacturers have innovated with the packaging design. This has led to a shift to flexible packaging, low use of material, low cost of storage and low transport cost. In this day and age another functionality that manufacturers need to take into account is safety. With the on the go lifestyle settling in, people expect the products they have purchased to be safe to consume.The rising awareness among consumers and stringent regulations laid down by national and international authorities on the safety of product packaging has led to a shift in design. Deliberate or unintentional tampering of food products has been witnessed in the past leading to catastrophic events which required a more careful approach to packaging. This has led to the advent of tamper evident packaging.Tamper evident packaging allows for the observer to identify whether the package has been tampered with or not. The indicators are either visual or audible. The indicators are usually mentioned on the packaging for the observers convenience. Tamper evident packaging is now also being adopted by the food and beverages, cosmetics industry, and the healthcare industry.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2198 Tamper evident packaging Market- Market Segmentation:Based on the product type, the tamper evident packaging market is segmented into:Shrink sleeves, Induction sealFilm wrappers, Blister or strip packsBubble packs, Others (Pouches, bottle mouth inner seals, tape seals)Based on the end use, the tamper evident packaging market is segmented into:Vacuum, PharmaceuticalFood and beverages, CosmeticsothersBased on the Material type, the tamper evident packaging market is segmented into:plastics, glasspaper lids, metalothersRequest For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2198 Tamper evident packaging Market- Market Dynamics:With the scare from the Tylenol scandal in 1982 that led to the death of 7 people due to poisoning the Food and Drug Administration has strictly enforced tamper evident packaging for pharmaceutical manufacturers. With the exponential growth witnessed by the pharmaceutical industry, tamper evident packaging market is pegged for steady growth throughout the forecast period of 2016  2024. Food and beverages industry and the cosmetics industry have also picked up on tamper evident packaging due to the rising safety concerns. The ever growing food and beverage industry will positively impact the tamper evident packaging market. However, the stringent regulations specifically in the pharmaceutical industry call for the testing of tamper evident packaging and the adherence of the packaging to guidelines that have been laid down. This is likely to negatively impact the tamper evident packaging market growth.Tamper evident packaging Market- Regional Outlook:In terms of geography, the tamper evident packaging market has been divided in to five key regions; North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Middle East & Africa. The tamper evident packaging market is expected to exhibit an above average CAGR during the forecast period. Asia pacific market is expected to witness a raise in demand in the region. As a result, tamper evident packaging is pegged to witness a growth in demand in the forecasted period.Browse Full Report@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/tamper-evident-packaging-market Tamper evident packaging Market- Major Players:Some of the key players in the tamper evident packaging market are DuPont, Schreiner Group, Ampac Holding LLC., Baker & McKenzie LLP, Placon, Dynacorp, Enercon industries Corporation, Traco Manufacturing, Inc., Interpack Ltd., Seal King Europe, Harcor.
PR-Inside.com: 2017-05-04 08:15:10

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FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Zimtu Capital Corp.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCWire) - Zimtu Capital Corp. (TSX Venture:ZC). has issued a press release with the following headline:Zimtu Capital Corp. Announces Transaction With Glance Technologies Inc.To 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 Zimtu Capital 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/Zimtu Capital Corp.Source: Zimtu Capital Corp. (TSX Venture: ZC, FWB: ZCT1, WKN: A0RDR9, ISIN: CA9895892052)Date: May 04, 2017Time: 2:15 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Zimtu Capital 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.)
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.




By: Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc.

Representatives from The Jefferson Awards receive a check in celebration.

Contact

Media Oakes, Communications Manager

***@subaru-sia.com Media Oakes, Communications Manager

End

-- Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. (SIA) celebrated its 30th anniversary today by making three gifts representing a total investment in the community of nearly $200,000."A major factor in SIA's success over the past thirty years has been the support of our community," said Tom Easterday, SIA Senior Executive Vice President. "As we celebrate SIA's 30th Anniversary, it's only fitting that we give back to our community through these three unique gifts."SIA's first gift is a $100,000 investment to bring Jefferson Awards Foundation programming to Tippecanoe County. The Jefferson Awards Foundation is a national organization committed to empowering people to maximize the impact of public service. Known as "the Nobel Prize for public service," the Jefferson Awards celebrates community volunteers and public servants and provides resources and education to amplify volunteerism and its effects. SIA's investment will bring the program to local middle and high schools, to area companies through the corporate champion program, and to the community through a media partner.The second gift is thirty grants of $1,000 each from the SIA Foundation to Indiana nonprofit organizations. SIA Associates will vote to determine who gets these unrestricted grant dollars. The grant winners will be announced at a ceremony in June.SIA also donated a 2017 Subaru Outback to the City of Lafayette for community policing efforts. Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski was on hand to accept the gift."SIA Associates are proud to be building very safe, high-quality vehicles here in Lafayette, Indiana," Easterday said. "But, SIA is more than just a company that builds great Subaru cars and crossovers. SIA strives to make a positive impact on society through our industry-leading environmental stewardship activities, our Associate volunteer service program, Subaru Serves, and our sponsorship and support of several charitable organizations, events and initiatives. SIA is committed to further emphasizing these efforts as we continue to grow."
Local family business and brand CB Stuffer is celebrating its 10th year in business.

By: Bacci Chocolate Design

Contact

CB Stuffer

***@cbstuffer.com CB Stuffer

End

-- This week is Small Business Week and Bacci Chocolate Design, owners of the CB Stuffer brand has reason to celebrate, it's now joined the ranks with a small group of survivors, only 4% to be precise, CB Stuffer is in its 10year of business! This Massachusetts Family Business owned by Erin Calvo-Bacci which she operates with her husband Carlo, attributes its success to its brand and product focus. "In 2003 I took over an existing retail shop and from there launched our chocolate manufacturing division to have quality control and better margins. To generate additional revenue we started selling wholesale to other specialty stores," stated Erin Calvo-Bacci. "The retail business grew to three stores, but increased mandates, payroll and product costs were some of the issues making it difficult to own and operate brick and mortar stores. However on the flip side our manufacturing division was continuing to grow." According to Calvo-Bacci and her husband Carlo who oversees the production, timing is key. "In 2009 we had just started exhibiting at the Fancy Food Show in New York when the producers of the Rachael Ray show saw us and then contacted us about having our product be a 'Snack of the Day'. They chose the marshmallow peanut butter cup and we were really excited, but we had no idea what to expect." They didn't receive a rush of sales, but they did gain a feather in their marketing cap, "People liked to hear that our product was chosen as a 'Snack of the Day' especially our wholesale customers because that was a selling feature to help move our product." Said Carlo Bacci. Since then their products have been seen on the Phantom Gourmet, View Your Deal Online and most recently were picked up by Amazon Prime for their Sweet Snack Surprise.They sold their retail division in 2015 and then relaunched as CB Stuffer with a new website and an online division. "It's challenging to be in business especially as a small family business, but we stay focused and make tough choices when necessary to remain sustainable and profitable,"said Bacci "We've made it 10 years when there were many times along the way I wondered if we would." Carlo and Erin believe luck is a part of their success in regards to the customers they now sell into who have helped promote their brand, but perseverance is what helps them keep plugging along for their family.CB Stuffer items are available at a wide range of specialty retailers including Stonewall Kitchen,The TJX companies and The Paper Store. They were recently part of the Amazon Prime Sweet Snack Surprise. They're working on everyday fundraising initiatives to roll out this year and encourage non-profit organizations and schools to connect with them so they may help them with their fundraising needs.About CB Stuffer http://www.cbstuffer.com - Located in Swampscott MA, the National Specialty Retailer is known for its CB Stuffer Peanut Butter Cups which were a Rachael Ray Snack of the Day, Gourmet Bars, Chocolate Pizzas and pizza slices. They are members of the Specialty Food Association, the Retail Association of MA, the National Retail Federation, the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce.
The global solar tracker leader will open a new office in Mexico City to support massive market growth with award-winning DuraTrack HZ v3

By: arraytechinc.com

Contact

Denise Hugo

***@arraytechinc.com Denise Hugo

End

-- Array Technologies, Inc., the global leader in cumulative solar tracking experience, today announced its expansion into Latin America, supported by a new office in Mexico City, Mexico.Array's latest international milestone comes on the heels of the 28-year-old company opening new office locations in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and Sydney, Australia. Array's decades of experience, which has generated the most evolved and reliable tracker on the market delivering the lowest cost of ownership, is a major driver behind the company's rapid global expansion.Array's foray into Mexico follows a fundamental shift in the nation's energy consumption patterns. To fulfill its growing energy demand, Mexico has established ambitious goals and aims to generate 35 percent of the country's energy supply from renewable sources by 2024. According to GTM Research's Latin America PV Playbook  Q4 2016, the outlook for PV and solar tracker growth throughout Mexico is strong.Array will serve the needs of the Mexican market with DuraTrack HZ v3 ( http://arraytechinc.com/ utility/duratrack- hz-v3-solar- tra... ), which was recently selected as a finalist for the MIREC ( http://mirecweek.com/ ) Innovative Technology Award.The single-axis solar tracker's unmatched durability and engineered simplicity make it a perfect match for the diverse terrain and high temperatures experienced throughout the region. Built for challenging environments, DuraTrack HZ v3 is currently used in sites around the world and has a proven track record of high survivability and zero scheduled maintenance."As our trackers continue to operate failure-free, international solar asset owners are taking notice and making decisions accordingly,"said Ron Corio, founder and CEO of Array Technologies. "Companies across the globe look forward to collaborating with a tried-and-true solar tracker provider."Array Technologies, Inc. is the leading solar tracking solutions and services provider for utility-scale projects. Our streamlined tracker design enables efficient installation and high reliability. This combination delivers both the lowest installation cost and the best long-term returns. Through continuous innovation and engineered simplicity, Array's tracker solutions are optimized for construction and a multitude of terrains. The company has unparalleled experience, with more than 28 years in the industry and over 12,000 miles of trackers installed. Array Technologies is headquartered in Albuquerque, NM. For more information, please visit arraytechinc.com (http://www.arraytechinc.com)
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-- JetBlue is a New York-based low-cost air service that started operating in 1998. Its principal operating base is JFK International Airport. Its other main operating bases are Fort Lauderdale International Airport, Logan International Airport, Long Beach Airport, Luis Munoz Marin Int'l Airport, and Orlando International Airport.Flying on JetBlue is always a different experience for the flyers. People prefer this air carrier because of its several friendly services and cheap rates: Live TV with 36 channels is always available on this airline. Flyers always enjoy a wide array of snacks and beverages free. There are attractive food and snack boxes area available at low prices for those who want to eat a little more. The "Even More" and "Mint" are two brand services of this air carrier that offers several other facilities at reasonable prices.JetBlue facilities and information over telephoneJetBlue's official website is equipped with all modern features to book flights, hotels, cars, and cruises instantly. They also provide detail information on vacation destinations. Detailed information on all these matters can be obtained from JetBlue airways phone number.Complete flight management is possible through the phone number, it includes all the latest news regarding paid and free services, a present flight status, changing and cancellation of the reservation, etc.Passengers can also take help of expert executives while facing any issue in handling the web-based booking, online check-in, cancellation of reservations, etc.JetBlue serves about 100 destinations, including 30 international destinations, like the Bahamas, Haiti, Antigua and Barbuda, Costa Rica, Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Mexico, etc. The airline is presently sharing codes with 40 other international and national carriers. Details on destinations and flights availability could be known just by dialing JetBlue Airways phone number.More Info at http://www.myteches.com/ jetblue-airlines- customer-service
Efficiency increases all-round with unprecedented fleet control

By: FROTCOM

Gabriel Tshizanga, Operations Manager at Frotcom Guinea

Contact

Marketing team

***@frotcom.com Marketing team

End

-- Founded 25 years ago as the brainchild of visionary investor Mamadou Saliou Diallo, the group has a higher calling than your usual road transportation company: its mandate is to help develop the Guinean Republic's economy, and in the process, improve the quality of life of its citizens. SONOCO is a major employer in Guinea Conakry, with a workforce of over 1,000 staff.Amongst its subsidiaries, for example, you can find Les Moulins d'Afrique (The Mills of Africa), or LMA for short. With over 80% of the country's workforce working in Agriculture, its agriculture business unit drives wheat exports to neighboring countries.LMA, as part of the SONOCO Group, relies heavily on road transportation and uses SONOCO's fleet of 36 vehicles to distribute its product locally and internationally.SONOCO's fleet manager sought to improve its fuel management: fuel efficiency and fuel theft - a chronic problem for road transportation companies in Guinea Conakry. Frotcom, however, had a lot more to offer than this. For SONOCO's management the greatest challenge was completely inverting the fleet management paradigm and dealing with the amount of control offered by Frotcom.Frotcom has revolutionized SONOCO's operating procedures, both in the field and at the main office. The clearest benefit has been the tracking and location of vehicles, which SONOCO officials estimate have improved delivery times by as much as 20%. Fuel costs have also dropped radically as consumption and theft have been curbed by better routing and Frotcom's fuel management and sensor monitoring. At the head office, vehicle location and sensor information are fed back into the system and drivers, through their smartphones, get updates and route corrections on the job.According to Mr. Kerfala Camara, Logistics Manager at SONOCO Group "SONOCO is looking forward to an even more prosperous business relationship in the future. The fuel management and vehicle tracking have already improved our delivery times substantially. We are even planning the rollout of additional Frotcom features like vehicle immobilization, which will help take fleet management and security to another level."Through Frotcom, SONOCO was introduced to an unprecedented degree of control over its fleet, which has completely thrown operations management on its head, for the better.
By: Braise RSA

Dave Swanson

Contact

Judi Murphy

Murphy Associates

***@marketingwithmurphy.com Judi MurphyMurphy Associates

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-- Since 2008, Braise Restaurant Supported Agriculture (RSA), created by David Swanson Chef/Owner of Braise Restaurant & Culinary School, commenced with the support of the 'Brico Fund' and 'Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin' grants bringing products from area farms to restaurants in Milwaukee. The RSA has expanded twice since its inception, and the necessity for the larger facility and like-minded partnership that Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin provides is needed. Braise RSA will hand all farm sales coordination over to Feeding America and its Farm Link program to take the lead on. The RSA will focus primarily on distribution of products and warehousing services.Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin is the leading hunger relief organization in the state with locations in Milwaukee and the Fox Valley. Farm Link, a community food hub operated and managed by Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, connects local producers to institutional buyers and hunger-relief programs. Through Farm Link's food hub distribution model, the proposed system change will align the fragmented food system and provide diverse healthy food options to underserved populations. By utilizing Farm Link as a mechanism to repair the fragmented local food system, we will address the community prioritized need to increase local fruit and vegetable access among economically and/or socially marginalized individuals.Braise RSA and Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin will be using Feeding America's facility at 17and Fond du Lac Avenue as its base for operations. Feeding America has 80,000 square feet of warehousing space with 8 loading docks to support the services of the food hub. The food hub is fully functional and is expanding further in early spring 2017. A food hub is needed to facilitate the increased demand for local food products; both growers/producers and buyers will benefit from this joint venture.The food hub will benefit growers/producers by supporting the sales coordination and distribution of their products. Farm Link is the online platform that will provide growers/producers with a direct portal to sell their products to the end user - institutions, grocers, restaurants, retail, and similar buyers. Growers/producers will have the capability to post products online, create invoices, and accept multiple forms of payment. The food hub will reduce environmental impact, decrease fuel consumption, vehicle and payroll costs, and provide for flexible delivery times, all allowing for concentration on their core business. Via the hub, growers/producers will have the capacity for distribution of products, cross-docking products to expand distribution to other areas in the network, and multiple storage options  cold, freezer and/or dry storage.The food hub will benefit buyers with the Farm Link online ordering platform that provides the accessibility to purchase from multiple producers in one order, pre-sale of items and low quantity and split case purchases. Delivery and/or pickup options are suited to the needs of the buyer. Additional benefits include overall lower costs of products and greater selection of local products. Buyers will be offered multiple storage services to help extend product availability.The food hub will be operational for the 2017 growing season.David Swanson is the Chef/Owner of Braise, located in Milwaukee's Walker's Point. In 2008, he launched Braise RSA (restaurant-supported agriculture), which brings locally sourced foods into restaurants. Braise Restaurant & Culinary School opened in 2011. From this endeavor came 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 James Beard Award nominations for Best Chef in the Midwest.For more information on Braise and Braise RSA, please contact Dave Swanson at 414-212-8843 or info@braiselocalfood.com
Companies of all industries and sizes participated in this benchmarking research by the Great Place to Work Institute assessing their culture and attractiveness as an employer

Yerra is the #5 best company to work for in Switzerland in its size category.

Contact

Josie Johnson

***@yerrasolutions.com



Photo:

https://www.prlog.org/ 12637891/1 Josie Johnson

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-- Yerra Solutions AG, a global provider of innovative solutions for in-house legal & IP, eDiscovery and compliance, has been ranked as the 5th Best Employer in Switzerland in its size category in the Great Place to Work 2017 research study. The research study, conducted annually, was based on an independent assessment evaluating central work place topics such as trust, team building, professional development, management style, quality of leadership and work-life balance. It included an anonymous survey of all employees of Yerra Switzerland and an in-depth assessment of the company's leadership and policies.Given that Yerra was founded in 2013 and is just over four years old, its ranking number 5 of similar-sized companies in Switzerland is especially noteworthy."This is a proud moment for Yerra in Switzerland and around the world," notes Nadine Stuttle, Managing Director Switzerland for Yerra Solutions. "As a company, we firmly believe that when our team is thriving, Yerra will do well and when Yerra is doing well, the team should benefit. Having independent recognition that we are building a culture that matches our vision is a huge validation.""The award stands for credible management, which works with its employees respectfully and fairly, enjoys strong alignment between staff and the company's vision and represents strong teambuilding,"says Michael Hermann, Managing Director at Great Place to Work.An example of the employee feedback received in the survey is this quote by an attorney and compliance analyst on our team in Zurich.You can learn more about what makes a career with Yerra special here Yerra serves the operational and technology needs of in-house legal & IP, eDiscovery and compliance organizations. The company's offerings include consulting, managed services and technology solutions that drive operational efficiency and improved outcomes. Yerra is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland with offices in the UK, US, Singapore, Hong Kong and Poland. Learn more at www.yerrasolutions.com Great Place to Work is a consulting company with representations in 50 countries. In addition to employee studies and cultural analysis, Great Place to Work supports companies in their development towards becoming an excellent employer. With more than 6,000 studied companies annually, the ranking of the best employers of Great Place to Work is the biggest and most known initiative for the improvement of work culture in the world. Great Place to Work Switzerland was founded in 2008 in Zurich. The national benchmarking competition "Best Employers in Switzerland", in which companies of all sizes, industries and regions can take part, has been taking place annually since 2009.
COLUMBUS - The Untold Story may be the best and most authoritative book ever written on Columbus. Rosa smashes all kinds of paradigms in this book. "It took 500 years to build the official 'History of Columbus' and two decades of scientific investigating to destroy it," says Manuel Rosa.

By: Independent Press Awards

1 2 COLUMBUS-The Untold Story rewrites Columbus history Investigative historian, Manuel Rosa, with some of his book titles.

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-- The INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD recognized "COLUMBUS - The Untold Story" by Manuel Rosa in the category of Biography: Historical, as aThe competition is judged by experts from all aspects of the book industry, including publishers, writers, editors, book cover designers and professional copywriters. They select award Winners and Distinguished Favorites based on overall excellence.(already namedin the Huffington Post) smashes all kinds of paradigms of history. After 21 years of research into what he realized was a 500-year-old mystery of a man, and mission, and spy craft and espionage of the highest order, Rosa puts the pieces together like no one else before him has been able to. Columbus supposedly started life in a family of indigent wool-weavers in Genoa, however, this was speculative because Columbus went to great lengths to conceal his true name and nationality.reviews all the evidence supporting the Genoese Columbus hypothesis. As it turns out, almost all the evidence for the Genoese claim is either shabby at best, or fabricated at worst. At times the government of Genoa produced fraudulent evidence to support their claim. It's as if the real history had been deliberately suppressed, and Rosa tells us why.Rosa travels some exciting side trails too that no Columbus researcher ever even noticed before, let alone dared to venture down. He dug deeply into previously ignored archives, examined newly emerged documents, and read thousands of documents and books in Portuguese, English, Spanish, Italian, French and Polish.Columbus used a secret identity in Spain, the book explains, because the discoverer was on a secret mission for Portugal to lure Spain away from India and secure Portugal's monopoly over the Spice Trade.The book is chock full of reproduced documents and color plates that support Rosa's thesis. There are so many extraordinary claims the author makes in this book and yet he meticulously supports them throughout the book, even DNA tests to verify and repudiate relations and descendants. Every detail is a compelling fact that leaves you begging for the next one as the plot advances. It reads not only like a historical work, but as a spy thriller and adventure story as well."I am very happy to have my research recognized by Independent Press Award. It is an honor to know that my book brings value to the contentious subject of Columbus, who died 511 years ago on May 20th, 1506, but whose real story very few people knew," says Manuel Rosa."In 2017, we had worldwide participation, from London to Australia, from Portugal to Hong Kong, and are so proud to announce the winners and favorites in our annual INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD. Independent publishing is alive and well, and continues to gain traction worldwide," said awards sponsor Gabrielle Olczak.For more information, please visit: independentpressaward.com see Author's Website for more information.
By: BayCoast Bank

Contact

Jim Farrell

***@prfirst.com Jim Farrell

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-- BayCoast Bank had a good night at the recent New England Financial Marketing Association (NEFMA) Awards Ceremony, held at the Boston Marriott in Burlington.Hollywood has the Emmys. And, for the financial industry, including banks, credit unions, mortgage companies and financial services providers, there is the New England Financial Marketing Association and its annual Awards Ceremony. This is the venue to recognize the best marketing efforts for financial institutions  for any campaign, project or event that took place during 2016.BayCoast Bank took a first place prize in the "Creative Assets: Contest" category for their Small Business Appreciation Week Contest; a campaign that was designed by their advertising agency, Sean Tracey Associates. The Bank asked its small business customers to enter for a chance to win "Lunch on the Bank". Each branch picked a winner and photos of the winner accepting their prize were shared across the bank's social media platforms.Nicholas Christ, President and CEO of BayCoast Bank, said, "We are very pleased to have been recognized by the New England Financial Marketing Association for our efforts to tell our story to our customers and the greater community. We thank NEFMA for all it does to help promote our industry and we congratulate all of our fellow financial institutions for their wins at this event."The New England Financial Marketing Association (NEFMA) is a professional association for financial marketing executives from banks and credit unions throughout New England. The organization's membership includes 300 New England financial marketing executives and has served the needs of the region for more than 40 years.BayCoast Bank is a mutually-owned savings bank chartered in 1851 and headquartered in Swansea, MA. The Bank serves southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, with locations in Fall River, New Bedford, Seekonk, Somerset, Swansea, North Dighton, Fairhaven, Dartmouth, Westport, and Tiverton, RI. BayCoast Bank and its affiliates offer a wide range of financial services for consumers, businesses, non-profits and municipalities. Its affiliates include BayCoast Financial Services, offering stocks, bonds, mutual funds, annuities and college savings plans; Plimoth Investment Advisors, offering investment management, trust services, and financial planning; Partners Insurance Group, LLC, an independent agency providing automobile, home, life and business coverage through a wide range of insurance companies; and NFC Mortgage, which offers a wide variety of products including FHA, VA, Conforming Loans and Jumbo Loans in 11 states. Nicholas Christ is the Bank's President and Chief Executive Officer. For additional information on the Bank or its services, please visit http://baycoastbank.com or call 508-678-7641.
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EbS and EbS+, the two signals produced by the European Commission, are to be distributed in high definition (HD) by Mediapro and Eutelsat across Europe and North Africa.





The two channels, managed by Europe by Satellite, the European Union's TV information service, are broadcast 24/7 in 25 languages.The contract awarded to Spains Mediapro covers the next four years and includes the distribution of both channels as well as uplink and satellite management. In addition, Imagina EU, Mediapros Brussels-based unit, will locally manage and assist the production of both channels.The channels launched in 1995 to provided EU-related audiovisual material to media professionals and are distributed through satellite across Europe and North Africa. They are also available via streaming through the EbS website The programming, which consists of a mix of live events, news and stock shots on EU policies, is available online for catch-up and download in MPEG2 quality.
Sales of the Mexican media company TV Azteca rocketed 21% during Q1 2017, driven almost exclusively by content and advertising.





During the first three months of the year, TV Aztecas sales reached $175 million. Even though expenses also increased, the company reported a positive EBITDA of almost $24 million, 16% less than a year ago.Out of the total invoiced, $110 million was generated in Mexico, all of which was through the content business. Azteca America, the companys US unit, experienced 3% growth during the period, invoicing almost $20 million.The rest of the sales were seen in residual operations in Central America, Peru and Colombia, which continue to decline after the company made a decision to refocus on the Mexican market.What has seen no significant fall during the quarter is Azteca TVs debt, which nears $850 million despite $42.5 million being cancelled at the beginning of the year.Through a clear strategy of quality content and news programming, TV Azteca continued to strengthen its position in the Mexican market, said Benjamin Salinas, CEO, TV Azteca In addition to solid business perspectives in Mexico, this year we expect to invoice a $156 million boost through Azteca America in the US, added Esteban Galindez, director of finances, TV Azteca.
More pressure on the traditional bundle in the US as the Hulu over-the-top (OTT) service debuts its much-anticipated live TV streaming service, offering more than 50 channels for $39.99 per month.





The Disney, 21st Century Fox, Comcast and Time Warner joint venture also announced an additional content deal, with Scripps Networks Interactive, to include live and on-demand programming.Hulu With Live TV starts in beta with programming from big four broadcasters CBS, NBC, ABC and FOX  where local deals have been made  along with ESPN, CNN, A&E, Fox News, TBS/TNT and the Disney Channel  and now Scripps channels. Hulu will also be the exclusive streaming home for NBC hit This is Us, outbidding Netflix and Amazon for what is reportedly a record-breaking per-episode fee.The Scripps deal gives Hulu both live and on-demand rights for Scripps Networks Interactives HGTV, Food Network and Travel Channel at launch, as well as DIY Network, Cooking Channel and Great American Country.Add-ons include Showtime for $9 extra. The line-up leaves out networks from AMC as well as Viacom (Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon), HBO, Starz and Discovery.The service, which is in beta, also comes with 50 hours of DVR capability, and an optional ad-skipper for $15 per month.Our networks attract large upscale audiences looking for compelling family-friendly content, and are must-haves for advertisers and distributors alike, said Scripps Networks Interactive chairman, president and CEO Ken Lowe. Hulu has already built a strong and loyal customer base, and the new live TV streaming service will be an important addition for consumers looking for new ways to access the worlds best content.
Deceptions Everywhere technology from illusive networks has been integrated into Kudelski Securitys managed security services (MSS) offerings.





Delivered through global Cyber Fusion Centres in Cheseaux, Switzerland and in Phoenix, Kudelski Securitys MSS offerings aim to provide enterprises with contextualised, actionable threat intelligence.Kudelski Security distinguishes its MSS offering by adopting cutting-edge technologies and approaches that better match the security demands created by a continuously evolving threat landscape, said Rich Fennessy, CEO at Kudelski Security. Illusives Deceptions Everywhere technology is an important addition to our MSS strategy, enabling us to better protect our clients critical assets by identifying breaches more quickly, slowing attackers down and reducing the damage they can cause.Typical honeypot networks are easy for experienced hackers to identify, as they are often small and contain generic file and machine names. Honeypots are passive, placed in the hope that attackers may stumble upon them. They also lack elements that are present in real endpoints and networks, such as recent browser histories, logins and other activities. Illusives approach creates an alternate network environment that behaves and appears as a real network would. Driven by an advanced machine learning platform that pre-emptively identifies attack pathways, best-fit deceptions are autonomously produced based on continuous real-time environment analysis, deployed agentlessly and set remotely.Illusives dynamic cyber security solution blankets a companys entire network with information that deceives attackers, providing a high detection rate, near zero false positives, plus it is easy both to deploy and maintain, especially for large organisations, added Tracy Pallas, vice president, worldwide channels at illusive networks. Our industry-leading, pre-emptive deception technology will greatly enhance Kudelski Securitys market-disruptive approach of providing more effective and valuable managed security services.
The U.S. military says it will send a revised war plan for Afghanistan to President Donald Trump as early as next week, with experts saying it likely will include a request for more troops.

Theresa Whelan, the Pentagon's acting assistant defense secretary for special operations, on May 4 told Congress that military leaders are "actively looking at adjustments to the approach in Afghanistan right now."

"The interest is to move beyond the stalemate and also to recognize that Afghanistan is a very important partner for the United States in a very tricky region," she told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Senior U.S. military leaders, including the top commander in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, have been saying they need more trainers and advisers to break what they called a "stalemate" in the fight against the Taliban, Islamic State (IS), and Al-Qaeda militants.

"I expect that these proposals will go to the president within the next week, and the intent is to do just that, to move beyond the stalemate," Whelan said.

A NATO official told the Associated Press that the United States has sent letters to alliance members asking them to increase their troop commitments as well.

General Raymond Thomas, head of U.S. Special Operations Command, also told the Senate committee on May 4 that a critical factor in regard to a new Afghanistan strategy is the need for an enduring U.S. presence in the country.

Current and former U.S. officials have said the Pentagon is looking to add up to 5,000 troops to the 8,400 currently in Afghanistan.

U.S. forces invaded Afghanistan more than 15 years ago to help drive the Taliban government from power. Offensive actions have largely been turned over to the Afghan military, which has struggled to resist a recent increase in Taliban violence.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters
Georgias former prime minister, Vano Merabishvili, and former Justice Minister Zurab Adeishvili, have been found guilty of abusing their powers during 2004 and sentenced to prison.

The Tbilisi City Court issued guilty verdicts and sentences on May 3.

Merabishvili received a 27-month sentence on charges linked to his time in office as Georgia's interior minister, while Adeishvili, tried in absentia, was sentenced to 18 months in jail.

The 49-year-old Merabishvili emerged as a key government figure after Georgia's 2003 Rose Revolution, serving as interior minister from 2004 to 2012 before becoming prime minister.

He is currently serving a multiyear sentence on previous convictions of abusing his office, bribing voters, and ordering the beating of a person.

The 44-year-old Adeishvili worked briefly in 2015 as an advisor to the Ukrainian government.

He now lives in Ukraine. Kyiv has refused to extradite Adeishvili to Georgia.

Supporters of Merabishvili and Adeishvili insist the charges against them are politically motivated and part of a "witch-hunt" by Georgia's current government.

In June 2016, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the detention of Merabishvili was being used by Georgian officials for other motives in violation of the European Convention of Human Rights.

Based on reporting by apsny.ge and Kavkazsky Uzel
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.
ASTANA -- A court in Kazakhstan has sentenced a Jehovah's Witness to five years in prison after convicting him of inciting religious and ethnic hatred.

The May 2 verdict against Teimur Akhmedov is likely to be criticized by members of the Christian denomination and rights activists who are concerned about the treatment of religious minorities in the Central Asian country.

Akhmedov, 60, is being treated for cancer. He was arrested in January and went on trial on April 6.

The court convicted him of propagating ideas that "disrupt interreligious and interethnic concord." His lawyers said he would appeal the verdict.

Mostly Muslim Kazakhstan has a secular government and has been ruled by President Nursultan Nazarbaev since before it gained independence in the 1991 Soviet collapse.

In neighboring Russia, the Supreme Court declared the Jehovah's Witnesses an extremist organization in an April 20 ruling and ordered its property in Russia seized, effectively banning it.


Afghanistan's independent media watchdog NAI says there have been more than 14 fatal attacks against reporters and other media workers since 2016.

The organization told RFE/RL on May 3 that more than 415 cases of violence -- including murder, harassment, short-term detentions, and torture of journalists and media workers -- were registered over this period.

The organization attributed 326 of the cases to the Taliban and about 63 incidents to the Afghan government.

NAI special reporter Sabir Fahim told RFE/RL in a phone interview from Kabul that the amount of violence against media workers in Afghanistan tripled in 2016 and has since then been on the rise.

He said several reporters were forced to leave areas that had fallen into the hands of the Taliban in the last year.

NAI says at least 10 radio and television channels have been forced to close in the past three years, due to a lack of financial support.

Afghanistan is 12th on the Committee to Protect Journalists' list of deadliest countries for journalists.
Russia has launched multiple suicide drones on Ukraine's southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region, wounding people and damaging civilian facilities, the head of the regional military administration said, as fierce battles are under way in the eastern Donetsk region and in the south.

"The occupiers attacked the area massively with kamikaze drones. Our air defense destroyed five barrage ammunition. They also attacked the city of Dnipro with drones, targeting a logistics enterprise. Four employees were wounded; three of them are in serious condition in the hospital," Governor Valentyn Reznichenko said.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.

Russian forces also bombarded the Nikopol district in the region with Grad missiles and heavy artillery. Reznichenko said the shelling damaged private houses, a factory, and a power line, but no one was injured.



A fire spread over more than 3,000 square meters but was extinguished, Reznichenko said.



Russian troops regularly shell the Dnipropetrovsk region with various types of weapons, in particular the Nikopol, Kryvorizky, and Synelnyk districts.

In Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed Ukraine will not "surrender a single centimeter of our land" in Donetsk, and he thanked Ukrainian troops who are holding positions in the Donbas region.



The epicenter of the battle for the industrial region of Donetsk is around the towns of Bakhmut, Soledar, and Avdiyivka.



"The activity of the occupiers remains at an extremely high level -- dozens of attacks every day," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address late on November 8.



"They are suffering extraordinarily high losses. But the order remains the same: to advance on the administrative boundary of Donetsk region. We will not yield a single centimeter of our land," he said.



Donetsk is one of four Ukrainian regions Russia said it annexed in September following referendums considered a sham by Kyiv and its Western allies.



Fighting has taken place there between Ukrainian military and Kremlin-backed separatist forces since 2014, the same year Russia illegally annexed Crimea in the south.

Zelenskiy said the goal of the Russian troops is to push to the administrative border of the Donetsk region.



"We clearly understand the enemy's plans, so we act accordingly: carefully, thoughtfully, and in the interests of the liberation of our entire territory. We are strengthening our positions, breaking Russian logistics, and consistently destroying the potential of the occupiers to keep the south of our country under occupation," Zelenskiy added.



Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said the most intense battles were taking place in Bakhmut and Soledar where the Ukrainian military repels dozens of Russian attacks per day.



Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the region's military administration, said the city of Bakhmut was badly damaged, and there is not a single surviving house in Avdiyivka, Maryinka, or Krasnohorivka. Russian troops are trying to wipe the cities "off the face of the Earth," he said.



Fierce fighting was also going on on the edge of the town of Snihurivka, in the southern Mykolayiv region, according to Yury Barabashov, the town's Russian-appointed mayor, as cited by Russia's RIA Novosti news agency.



Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-installed administration in the southern Kherson region, said on Telegram that Ukrainian forces had tried to advance on three fronts, including Snihurivka.



Vitaly Kim, the Ukrainian governor of the Mykolayiv region, apparently quoting an intercepted dialogue between Russian troops, suggested Ukrainian forces had already pushed the Russians out of the area.



"Russian troops are complaining that they have already been thrown out of there," Kim said in a statement on his Telegram channel.



The information could not be independently verified.



The Ukrainian military said it destroyed two Russian ammunition depots in southern Ukraine on November 8, one in Snihurivka, and one in Kostromka, in the neighboring Kherson region.

WATCH: Paratroopers with Ukraine's 79th Air Assault Brigade say they're holding positions around the small city of Maryinka in eastern Ukraine despite daily Russian attacks.

Russia has mobilized hundreds of thousands of reservists in recent months seeking to stave off an offensive launched by Ukraine to regain Russian-occupied territories.



Kyiv-based military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said on November 8 that 21 Russian conscripts had surrendered to Ukrainian forces around Svatove in the eastern Luhansk region.



"These poor mobilized men -- really poor, they had had nothing to eat or drink in three days -- of course they decided to surrender," Zhdanov said on his YouTube channel.



In the southern Kherson region, a battle between advancing Ukrainian forces and the Russian occupiers has been looming for weeks in the city by the same name, the only regional capital Russia has captured intact since its unprovoked invasion in February.



Kherson is arguably the most important of the four partially occupied Ukrainian regions that Russia says it annexed. It controls both the only land route to the Crimean Peninsula and the mouth of the Dnieper River that bisects Ukraine.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, also commented on the fighting in eastern Ukraine on November 8. He was quoted by TASS as saying that information released about casualties among Chechen fighters near Lysychansk, a city in the eastern Luhansk region, was false.



"Not a single fighter of ours was killed in the aforementioned area," Kadyrov wrote on his Telegram channel, adding that he didn't want to comment on "such falsehoods" but found it necessary "to reassure all sane and concerned people."



Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, released video footage that it said showed a drone strike obliterating a Ukrainian tank that was hiding in an urban area and shelling Russian troops.



"A Russian squad of unmanned aerial vehicles spotted the Ukrainian tank and destroyed it using a precision strike," the ministry said on November 8, according to TASS.



The Ukrainian military's General Staff said Russian troops used drones and artillery on November 8 to shell communities along the Sumy region's border with Russia in northeastern Ukraine. The only damage reported was to utility poles.



Sumy borders three regions of Russia: Bryansk, Kursk, and Belgorod. The border regions of Ukraine are regularly shelled by Russia.



Neither side's battlefield claims could be independently verified.



The Ukrainian military has accused Russian troops of more looting and destroying infrastructure in Kherson.



"A convoy of trucks passed over the dam of the Kakhova hydroelectric station loaded with home appliances and building materials," the military said.



Russians were dismantling mobile phone towers and taking equipment, it said, adding that near the city of Beryslav, Russian forces "blew up a power line and took equipment from a solar power station."

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and CNN
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Russia, Turkey, and Iran on May 4 signed a memorandum that calls for establishing safe zones in Syria where cease-fires are meant to be implemented -- including no-fly zones -- in order to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid.

But Syrias opposition delegation at the peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan, where the memorandum was signed, has rejected the proposal.

Opposition delegates on May 4 accused Iran of being a party in the war and vowed that they will never support the safe-zone plan as long as Iran has any role as a cease-fire guarantor.

"Iran is a country that is killing the Syrian people and the killer cannot be the rescuer," said Abu Osama Golani, an opposition commander who attended the Astana gathering.

Osama Abud Zayd, a spokesman for Syrian opposition military factions, also expressed skepticism about Russias credibility in connection with the proposed safe zones, saying there is a "huge gap" between Russias promises and its actions.

Referring to a truce deal announced by Russia in December that has been largely ignored on the ground, Zayd said: "We have an agreement already in our hands...signed five months ago. Why hasn't it been implemented? Why are we jumping now to safe zones?

"Russia was not able to or does not want to implement the pledges it makes, and this is a fundamental problem," Zayd said.

Zayd also said Moscow had no answer to the question of how to deal with any violations of the cease-fire by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces or by Iran, which has fighters on the ground supporting the government forces.

Iran and Russia have backed Assad's government throughout the war, while Turkey supports its some of Assads opponents.

As the memorandum was being signed on May 4 by Russia, Turkey, and Iran -- the three countries sponsoring the Astana talks and the three guarantors to the agreement -- part of the delegation representing Syrias armed opposition shouted and walked out of the conference hall in protest.

"We do not accept Iran's involvement as a guarantor country," a member of the opposition delegation shouted while Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov was speaking.

The United States cautiously welcomed the Russia-backed plan for safe zones in Syria.

But in a May 4 statement, the State Department said it continues to have "concerns about the Astana agreement, including the involvement of Iran as a so-called "guarantor."

"Irans activities in Syria have only contributed to the violence, not stopped it, and Irans unquestioning support for the Assad regime has perpetuated the misery of ordinary Syrians," it said.

It also said that while the Acting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Stuart Jones attended the Astana conference, the United States was "not a direct participant in the negotiations and are not, at this point, a party to the agreement."

"In light of the failures of past agreements, we have reason to be cautious," the State Department said. "We expect the regime to stop all attacks on civilians and opposition forces, something they have never done. We expect Russia to ensure regime compliance."

Washington said Syria's opposition "must also live up to its commitments, with Turkey as the guarantor," to separate themselves from "designated terrorist groups," including the Al-Qaeda group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham.

UN Special Envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura called the agreement an "important, promising, positive step in the right direction in the process of de-escalation of the conflict."

He said the initiative "is actually a step in the right direction because it is pushing for a concrete de-escalation in addition to the cease-fire in four areas."

The memorandum calls for setting up four "de-escalation zones" in northern, central, and southern Syria, where Assads forces are fighting rebels in a war that has killed some 400,000 people since 2011.

The safe zones, originally proposed by Russia, would aim to end violence and allow for the return of refugees and the delivery of humanitarian aid.

They would be surrounded by checkpoints manned by opposition and government troops.

Foreign troops also could be deployed in observer roles.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said the deal entails "nonconflict zones in all of Idlib Province; parts of Lattakia, Aleppo, and Hama provinces; parts of Homs Province; and the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta.

Ankara said the deal also would apply to areas of Daraa and Quneitra provinces.

Russian President Vladimir Putins special envoy for Syria, Aleksandr Lavrentyev, said the agreement will go into effect on May 6.

Lavrentyev said the armed opposition "would be directly combating terrorist organization groups" in the safe zones.

He said Russian warplanes would not fly over the designated zones and the Syrian Air Force was expected to refrain from flying over those areas, as well.

Lavrentyev said the Syrian government has vowed to abide by the agreement unless attacks are carried out against government forces by opposition groups in those areas.

He also said Turkey, Iran, and Russia have agreed on the possibility of allowing international observers to monitor the cease-fire if there is "unanimity" on that issue.

Lavrentyev said that if the cease-fire is "durable, then we could possibly talk about" the withdrawal of Iranian-controlled forces from Syria.

Abdrakhmanov said that the next round of talks in the so-called Astana process would be held in mid-July.

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the safe-zones plan with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a meeting on May 3 and with U.S. President Donald Trump by telephone on May 2.

The United States leads an international coalition that is conducting air strikes and other operations against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria.

Russia says it is also battling IS in Syria, but Western officials say the Russian military operations have mainly targeted Assad's opponents.



The United States has mainly backed a separate UN-sponsored peace process in Geneva.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, BBC, RIA Novosti, TASS, and Interfax
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says there is "almost no trust" at present between the United States and Russia, mentioning arms-control agreements and Ukraine as areas where Moscow "is not being particularly helpful today."

Tillerson made the remarks to staff at the State Department in Washington on May 3 in a wide-ranging presentation about the department's future under President Donald Trump and in the face of possibly severe cuts to its budget.

"We have a number of efforts under way to first stabilize the relationship [between the United States and Russia]," Tillerson said. "Acting Deputy Secretary [of State Thomas] Shannon is leading a working-group effort to see if we can address some of the things that are just irritating the relationship, that make it hard for us to talk to one another even in civil tones."

Tillerson said he plans to discuss cooperation on resolving the war in Syria with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on the sidelines of an Arctic Council event in Fairbanks, Alaska on May 10-11.

He also said the United States is preparing fresh sanctions against North Korea in response to Pyongyang's continued development of nuclear weapons and their delivery systems.

He said Washington was working with Beijing to pressure North Korea, but if that is not effective, the United States could even impose "third-country sanctions" against companies, including Chinese companies, that do business in North Korea.

"We have been leaning hard into China to test their willingness," Tillerson said. He emphasized that the only U.S. goal is to pressure North Korea to "denuclearize," and that Washington was not seeking "regime change" or the accelerated reunification of the Korean Peninsula.

He urged the international community to fully implement existing UN sanctions against North Korea, saying "no one has ever fully implemented them."

Tillerson also said Washington should not impose conditions on other countries willing to engage with the United States if doing so "creates obstacles" to achieving U.S. economic and security objectives.

But he said this does not mean the United States would refrain from being an advocate for freedom and human rights around the world.

He said that Trump's "America First" policy was aimed at rebalancing U.S. relationships with its allies.

Over the last 20 years, Tillerson said, the United States "just kind of lost track of how we were doing."

With reporting by Reuters and AP
KYIV -- RFE/RL has obtained a video via an official Ukrainian source that shows the moment a vehicle carrying OSCE monitors was struck by an explosion during a patrol in eastern Ukraine's conflict zone, killing an American and injuring a German and a Czech.

The clip captures a fireball and huge plume of black smoke as the second of two marked white cars traveling in separatist-controlled territory on April 23 struck what OSCE Secretary-General Lamberto Zannier said was "a mine...left on a road which is also used by civilians."

The victims were part of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europes Special Monitoring Mission (OSCE SMM), an unarmed, civilian operation with more than 650 representatives working to reduce tensions and report on the situation on the ground in Ukraines conflict zone.

The death of Joseph Stone, a 36-year-old paramedic, marked the OSCE mission's first death in a 3-year-old conflict that has killed more than 9,900 people as Ukrainian forces battle Russia-backed separatists.

The OSCE has opened an internal probe and Kyiv authorities have launched a criminal investigation into the incident.*

Ukrainian government officials have blamed separatists, who have in turn said Kyiv was responsible for Stone's death.

The six members of the OSCE team were traveling in two armored Land Cruisers near Pryshyb, in the Luhansk region, a town that sits right up against the front line of the conflict.

At an April 28 press conference, OSCE Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug said the route where the vehicle struck the explosive, likely a mine, was a planned route on a secondary road used two hours earlier and the previous day by the monitoring team.

Hug said the blast was powerful enough to throw the 4 1/2-ton armored Toyota 7 meters away "and fully destroy it."



The video -- filmed from a northerly position and the only one of the incident to be unearthed thus far -- shows the two OSCE SMM vehicles driving east on a secondary road before disappearing behind a row of trees at 11:17 a.m. local time. Seconds later, after the camera is jarred or deliberately moved to follow the cars' route and as the camera focuses, a ball of flames and thick black smoke mushroom above the tree line.

WATCH: The Moment An OSCE Vehicle Exploded In Ukraine





In an extended version of the clip, a third, unidentified vehicle appears nine minutes later heading in the direction of the blast.

The source that provided the video to RFE/RL said the road has been used infrequently by civilians for some time due to its proximity to the front line and military activity around it.



The OSCE mission will release the findings of its own investigation into the incident once they are confirmed, Hug said.



The OSCE SMM has repeatedly demanded the removal of land mines and unexploded ordnance or, where that proves impossible, mapping, marking, and fencing off such areas.

In 2016, the OSCE mission verified 141 land mines and other explosives that caused civilian casualties in the region, including 96 injuries and 45 deaths of both adults and children.

* This story has been amended to clarify that Kyiv authorities, not the OSCE, have launched a criminal investigation into the incident.
KYIV -- Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych is being tried in absentia on high treason charges in Kyiv.

The trial began on May 4 at the Obolon District Court in the capital, with two lawyers representing Yanukovych.

Yanukovych abandoned office in late February 2014 and fled to Russia in the face of massive protests triggered by his decision to scrap plans for a landmark deal with the European Union and improve trade ties with Moscow.

Dozens of people were killed in attempts to clamp down on the protests.

Yanukovych, who remains in Russia, is accused of treason, violating Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and abetting Russian aggression.

In the wake of Yanukovych's downfall, Russia seized control of the Crimean Peninsula and fomented separatism across eastern and southern Ukraine.

Kyiv and NATO say Moscow has given separatists who took over parts of the eastern Donbas region substantial military support in a war that has killed more than 9,900 people since April 2014.

Ukrainian authorities say a key piece of evidence against Yanukovych is a letter in which they say he asked the Russian leadership to intervene.

Russia's ambassador to the United Nations at the time, the late Vitaly Churkin, displayed the letter at a UN Security Council meeting on March 4, 2014, two weeks before Moscow claimed to have completed the procedure of making Crimea part of Russia.

A man officials say was a key witness in the case, former Russian lawmaker Denis Voronenkov, was shot dead in broad daylight in Kyiv on March 23.

Ukrainian authorities called the slaying of Voronenkov, who had defected to Ukraine in October, the "public killing of a witness" in the case.

Ilya Ponomaryov, another former Russian lawmaker who has left Russia, is expected to testify as a witness. Ponomaryov was the only member of the State Duma, Russia's lower parliament house, to vote against the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

After a debate between the state prosecutor and defense lawyers at the court session on May 4, Judge Vladyslav Devyatko ruled that Yanukovych should be given the opportunity to take part in the trial by video-link.

The judge then adjourned the proceedings until May 18.

The Ukrainian Prosecutor-General's Office said on May 3 that the international police agency Interpol had ceased searching for Yanukovych, adding that the decision will be appealed.

Yanukovych could be sentenced to 15 years in prison if convicted, but he is protected by Russia and would be unlikely to travel to Ukraine and serve the time.

At least seven other probes have been launched by Ukrainian authorities against Yanukovych, who was elected president in February 2010.

The charges against him range from corruption to involvement in the mass shooting of unarmed protesters in Kyiv in February 2014 as the standoff between his government and the Euromaidan demonstrators came to a head.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service


Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny and his supporters have accused a notorious Russian nationalist group of assaulting him with a green antiseptic -- known in Russian as "zelyonka" -- in an attack that could leave him with permanent eye damage.

One member of the group, which calls itself the South East Radical Block (SERB), admitted to the respected independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper that he filmed the April 27 attack in Moscow, a disclosure that came after a Navalny supporter uncovered hidden videos on a Russian TV network's website showing the man, Aleksei Kulakov, at the scene.

But both he and SERB leader Igor Beketov, an actor who goes by the nom de guerre Gosha Tarasevich, have denied that the group was involved. Beketov said in a radio interview that the activist accused by Navalny of carrying out the assault, a man named Aleksandr Petrunko, has an alibi clearing him of complicity in the attack.

Navalny, who has accused authorities of failing to investigate the incident, said his doctor believes that the zelyonka -- a common weapon used in attacks against opposition activists -- was mixed with another substance that caused chemical burns to his right eye.

WATCH: Zelyonka -- The Green 'Weapon Of Choice'

The incident has cast a national spotlight on SERB, which by its own account consists of just a handful of "radical" members whose goal is to "support a cult of traditional Russian family values and put an end to the moral decay of society being forced upon us by the West and America."

To this end, it says it reserves the right to use any method in line with its "conscience," which appears to include dousing political opponents not only with zelyonka but also human waste.

Here's a look at SERB and its harassment of Kremlin critics and others it deems insufficiently patriotic.

Ukraine Origins

SERB appears to have emerged in eastern Ukraine around the time of the 2014 ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych, a Kremlin ally, amid mass street protests that preceded Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and backing of armed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Beketov's acting profile states that he graduated from university in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk, and both he and Petrunko claim they took part in 2014 protests in another eastern city, Kharkiv, against the pro-Western government that took power in Kyiv after Yanukovych fled to Russia.

Petrunko claimed in an interview last year that he was arrested by Ukrainian security services after he participated in an unsuccessful bid to seize a government building in Kharkiv, the Russian website Znak.com reported. Sometime after that, both he and Beketov made their way to Russia, where they subsequently began staging guerrilla actions against Kyiv supporters and Kremlin opponents. Many of these stunts have turned violent.

Let Them Eat Cake  And Feces

While SERB has denied splashing zelyonka on Navalny, the assault was consistent with the style of the group. Its activists have used a range of substances in its attacks on opponents, including fecal matter and urine.

In February 2015, SERB members scuffled with activists from the Russian opposition group Solidarity who were staging a protest in central Moscow against the war between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists. At one point, an unidentified assailant tossed a plastic bag filled with feces at a Solidarity activist, smearing the target's coat with excrement.

Beketov took credit for the stunt in a subsequent Facebook post, saying the Solidarity protesters had "a liter of crap" dumped on them for "insulting" Russia and President Vladimir Putin.

SERB was suspected in an August 2016 attack against Russian journalist Yulia Latynina, a fierce Putin critic, in which an unidentified assailant tossed fecal matter from a bucket on her as she was walking on the street:

The group does not appear to have expressly claimed credit for that attack, though it has not denied involvement either. An interviewer sympathetic to SERB stated as fact in a February discussion with Beketov that the group had doused Latynina with feces. Beketov did not contradict the claim in the interview published by the website KolokolRussia.ru.

SERB published a gleeful post about the Latynina attack on its page on the Russian social-networking site VKontakte, winking at readers by saying that "there is every reason to believe" the group knows the circumstances behind the assault.

Petrunko, whom Navalny accused of attacking him with zelyonka, also served a short stint in jail last year after throwing urine at photographs by U.S. photographer Jock Sturges being exhibited at a Moscow museum. Petrunko denounced the images as child pornography.

SERB activists also doused an elderly anti-Kremlin protester with an unidentified green liquid in October 2015, saying they "defended the honor of the president and did not allow a group of traitors to Russia to insult our president."

Just over a year ago, meanwhile, a SERB activist smashed a cake into Navalny's face at the same place that the Kremlin opponent was doused with zelyonka last week: outside the Moscow office of his anticorruption group.

Nemtsov Memorial

SERB activists have also attacked the makeshift memorial to the late Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov at the site of his February 2014 assassination on a bridge just steps from the Kremlin. The group, which calls Nemtsov a "traitor," has destroyed signs, photographs, and flowers placed there by the slain Kremlin critic's supporters in his honor.

"SERB fights and will always fight with traitors of Russia," Beketov wrote in a post about the destruction of the memorial, accusing Nemtsov of "always supporting America's interests and spitting on Russia's interests."

Kremlin opponents accuse Russian state media of conducting a demonization campaign against Nemtsov using similar rhetoric that they say helped lead to his killing, which several defendants from the Russian North Caucasus region of Chechnya are accused of carrying out.

Political Connections?

Navalny has accused Putin's administration and Russian security services of involvement in the guerrilla attacks against him, including the most recent zelyonka attack. The Kremlin has previously denied being part of any campaign to discredit or intimidate Navalny, and Gazeta.ru on April 30 cited Kremlin "sources" as saying that it had no role in a spate of recent attacks against opposition activists.

No clear evidence has emerged suggesting the Kremlin is funding or otherwise directing SERB activists, though they have been able to get face time with senior Russian officials. Photographs have surfaced in recent days showing the group's members standing next to federal lawmakers and a senior Putin aide.

The photographs include one of Petrunko together with Pyotr Tolstoy, a member of Putin's ruling United Russia party and deputy speaker in the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament.

Another photograph shows Petrunko together with Kremlin economic adviser Sergei Glazyev, who has been sanctioned by both the United States and the European Union over Russia's seizure of Crimea.

In a blog post published one day before last week's attack on Navalny, Beketov posted photographs of himself inside the Duma and claimed he was invited there by federal lawmakers.

He claimed that he met with senior lawmakers who "listened very carefully" about SERB's experience in "resisting attempts to organize a Maidan in Russia," referring to the Kyiv square at the center of the protests that led to Yanukovych's 2014 ouster in Ukraine.

Yevgeny Revenko, a senior United Russia lawmaker in the Duma, wrote in a May 1 Facebook post that zelyonka attacks and other "hooligan" acts "are not a means of political battle, but rather a crime."

"I am certain that my party colleagues share this view," he wrote.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Russian Service
Fishes perceive changes in water currents caused by prey, conspecifics and predators using their lateral line. The tiny sensors of this organ also allow them to navigate reliably. However, with increasing current velocities, the background signal also increases. Scientists at the University of Bonn have now created a realistic, three-dimensional model of a fish for the first time and have simulated the precise current conditions. The virtual calculations show that particular anatomical adaptations minimize background noise. The results are now being presented in The Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

The ide (Leuciscus idus) is a fish that inhabits the lower stretches of slow-flowing rivers. Like most fishes, it can perceive the current using its lateral line. The mechanoreceptors of this organ are distributed over the surface of the entire body, which is why the organ provides a three-dimensional image of the hydrodynamic conditions. Fishes can thus also find their way around themselves in the dark and identify prey, conspecifics, or predators. The recently retired zoologist Prof. Horst Bleckmann from the University of Bonn has spent many years researching the sensitive organ and has used it as inspiration for technical flow sensors in order to, for instance, identify leakages in water pipes.

First realistic three-dimensional computer model

The scientists Dr. Hendrik Herzog from the Institute of Zoology and Dr. Alexander Ziegler from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology at the University of Bonn have now entered a new dimension of research into the lateral line in fish: they created the first realistic, three-dimensional computer model of the lateral line system, which they used to calculate the precise flow conditions of the surrounding water. "We concentrated on the head of the ide, because the lateral line of the fish has a particularly complex form there," reports Dr. Herzog.

This organ has two different types of sensors. Some protrude like small bumps from the surface of the fish's skin and the water flows directly over them. Others sit in canals that are submerged into the cranial bone and are connected to the water via small pores. "If prey, such as a freshwater shrimp, is close by, the local water current and pressure conditions change," explains Dr. Ziegler. The fish registers this with its many sensors. "However, until now, the actual function of such different types of current measurement had not been clarified conclusively."

Both researchers received active support from Birgit Klein from the Westphalian University of Applied Sciences. In her bachelor thesis at the Institute of Zoology, the current master student compared various methods of 3D reconstruction. She took around 350 photos of the head of the ide from various angles and used them to produce a 3D model of the fish surface. She had dyed the channels and sensors of the lateral line beforehand, which is why the structures in the model can be clearly identified. She then optimized the dataset by digitizing the fish head using a much higher-resolution laser scanning procedure.

This created a realistic image of the fish surface, but the inside of the animal was not recorded in this way. This is why the researchers used a micro-computed tomography scanner as the third method. A contrast agent allowed the soft tissue to be shown even when using this X-ray technique. At the end, data from all three techniques flowed into the realistic model of the lateral line. The zoologists thus simulated various current conditions and calculated the hydrodynamic signals to the various sensors.

A strong current is a challenge for the fish, as the background noise for the sensors is particularly great. Nevertheless, the fish can precisely perceive its environment even with high water speeds. As the researchers show with their calculations, depressions ensure that the current is significantly reduced for the bump-like sensors that sit on the surface of the skin. "The relative signal strength of, for instance, prey organisms thus becomes greater," explains Dr. Herzog. For the sensors in the channels, it was shown that certain sections of the lateral line are particularly sensitive to the respective current strength due to different channel diameters.

Bio-inspired application: improved navigation of underwater robots

"Using our methodical approach, comparative anatomical studies between different fish species with an especially high level of detail will be possible in the future," reports Dr. Ziegler. His colleague sees bio-inspired applications in the foreground: "The knowledge from such 3D models of fish may also make it possible to significantly improve the autonomous navigation of underwater robots using flow sensors," suggests Dr. Herzog.
To combat potential Zika virus outbreaks, some countries have considered using pesticides so strong that they are banned elsewhere. But what if you could quickly determine that mosquitoes were not carrying the Zika virus? The use of harmful pesticides could be avoided, as well as the cost of widespread spraying for mosquitoes.

That's the premise behind a new study published May 3 in Science Translational Medicine and authored by Assistant Professor Joel Rovnak, graduate student Nunya Chotiwan and Research Associate Connie Brewster in Colorado State University's Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology.

The CSU team is using an existing technology in a new way: they have demonstrated a method of biosurveillance that quickly indicates whether Zika virus is present in local mosquito populations -- thus informing decision-making about spraying and other disease-prevention methods.

Using the existing technology, loop-mediated isothermal amplification, or LAMP, the research team found that they could easily detect Zika virus in human and mosquito samples from the United States, Brazil and Nicaragua.

LAMP lights the way to virus detection

CSU Research Associate Connie Brewster had been using LAMP, which was developed in Japan in 2001, to detect pneumonia in bighorn sheep through a project with Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Quackenbush Lab at CSU. LAMP is similar to the technology known as polymerase chain reaction or PCR, which provides a very sensitive analysis of DNA samples. But LAMP can be used in the field, instead of in the lab, and it's also less expensive.

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"With LAMP, you don't need the sophistication of a machine," Rovnak said.

To use the PCR method to analyze viruses, researchers first need to extract the RNA or ribonucleic acid from the sample. But with LAMP, the process is much simpler than using PCR.

Using LAMP, researchers start by squishing a mosquito in water. Rovnak said he then takes two microliters of water (about the size of the head of a pin), puts it in a tube and heats it up using a few chemicals or reagents. The sample then becomes cloudy and the color of the solution changes. In the CSU-led study, researchers saw a change or signal within about 30 minutes, though it can take up to one hour.

"Using LAMP to detect Zika virus would be much less expensive for developing countries," said Chotiwan, a researcher in the Perera Lab, which is part of the Arthropod-borne Infectious Diseases Laboratory at CSU.

"The majority of the countries involved in the current outbreak are not rich," she said. "It's important for us to try to develop low-cost surveillance methods that might one day be used in these countries."

As a rough cost estimate, Rovnak said a heating device or heat block, as it is called, for LAMP costs $250 or less. Real-time PCR machines cost between $15,000 and $25,000.

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In the study, the research team focused on detecting Zika virus strains from Asia and Africa. Zika virus was first detected in Uganda in 1947 and is predicted to be heading back to the African continent, Chotiwan said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported local transmission of Zika virus in Cape Verde, off the coast of West Africa. CDC has also issued Zika virus travel advisories for some countries in Africa. In the United States, Zika virus transmission has been reported in Florida and Texas.

No one really knows the extent of the original Zika virus in Africa, according to Rovnak. But being able to distinguish between the different strains is important due to the association of the Asian-linked virus with microcephaly, a congenital condition associated with incomplete brain development among newborns.

Brian Foy, CSU associate professor in the Arthropod-borne Infectious Diseases Laboratory, discovered that Zika virus may be sexually transmitted in addition to being spread by mosquitoes. With two known transmission routes, the virus is an even more formidable foe to public health.

To expand on the early results and use of LAMP to detect Zika virus, the scientists received samples from researchers in Brazil and from a pediatric hospital in Managua, Nicaragua. They also obtained samples from the CDC's Division of Vector-Borne Diseases in Fort Collins.

Next steps include hospital-based tests

Moving forward, clinicians at the pediatric hospital in Managua will test LAMP side-by-side with current, more sophisticated tests. The CSU research team will also test LAMP versus PCR using mosquito and wildlife virus samples from Puerto Rico obtained through a project with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

How soon could LAMP be made available for more widespread use?

"For now, it's what would be considered a long slog," said Rovnak.

"The human diagnostic side of things presents a much more significant challenge," he explained. "It's going to take a lot of time and a lot of data before people will allow regulatory agencies to OK LAMP as a bonafide test for a person that's sick in the hospital."
Ocean conservation is essential for protecting the marine environment and safeguarding the resources that people rely on for livelihoods and food security. But there are many documented cases where conservation has bumped up against the people who share the same places and resources, even leading to human rights abuses.

"Often the impacts of marine protected areas can undermine people's rights or stop them from doing their livelihoods," said Bennett, lead author of a new study published today in Marine Policy and a postdoctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia and the University of Washington. "There is a real danger that in pushing for marine conservation, socially unjust or inappropriate actions could be promoted, including those leading to displacement, violence, marginalization and poverty."

Both the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Aichi Targets have set goals to have 10% of the ocean be designated as marine protected areas by 2020. But currently there are no standards for how conservation is done. Doctors, lawyers, engineers and many other professions have codes of conduct, should one exist for conservation?

A global group of oceans science practitioners and scientists argue yes -- it is "warranted, urgent and past due," in their new paper "An appeal for a code of conduct for marine conservation." In it, they outline what that code could look like, with considerations for fair governance, social justice and accountability practices. This code could be widely used by governments, researchers, NGOs, private sector and local organizations to review such issues around human rights, indigenous rights, food and livelihood security, benefit sharing, conflict resolution, and more.

"This is urgent, we need thoughtful actions to conserve the marine environment, but we need to do it in an equitable way, with respect for fishers' livelihoods, food sovereignty and dignity," said Yoshitaka Ota, co-author and Nippon Foundation-UBC Nereus Program Director of Policy. "Most importantly, conservation is the art of finding a better way to live with the environment because we will always be a part of it."

The authors recognize that accountability is a challenge -- whether such a code of conduct would be voluntary or whether conservation needs an independent auditing system. Creating a code of conduct would allow for a more coordinated effort to happen internationally to merge the human dimension into the mainstream of conservation. "This is an important investment that the conservation community needs to prioritize," said Bennett. "Investing in a code of conduct will pay dividends by increasing the acceptance and effectiveness of conservation."

"The key is 'being there' to understand people, their rights and their needs" said Lydia Teh, co-author and Nippon Foundation-UBC Nereus Program Research Associate. "A successful approach for marine conservation is through bottom-up processes which work with local people and develop their capacity to manage the resources and decide on areas for protection."
Many herpesviruses infect only a few animal species. Elephants also have their own spectrum of herpesviruses, which can cause infections that end in death. Asian elephants are carriers of virus types1, 4 and 5, while African elephants carry types 2, 3 and 6. Type 1 is particularly dangerous for young Asian elephants and has led to numerous deaths in the wild and in zoos worldwide. In Switzerland as well, three animals have died of "Elephant Herpes" in the last 30 years. How the elephants transmit the disease, however, and how they become infected, has been largely unknown until now.

Samples obtained from trunk washing

For some time, researchers have been able to use trunkwash samples to find out whether elephants are affected by the virus and whether they are shedding it. "Elephants can be trained to have their trunks flushed with a physiologic salt solution," Jean-Michel Hatt, director of the Clinic for Zoo Animals, Exotic Pets and Wildlife at UZH, explains. "In the process, they lift their trunks briefly so that the liquid can flow to the back as far as possible and then they drain it into a bucket." The samples gained in this manner were tested for herpesviruses at the UZH Institute for Virology.

Virulent super-shedders

"The elephants we examined can be divided into ones that do not shed the virus or only seldom shed it and ones that shed it frequently," says virologist Mathias Ackermann. "The latter are so-called super-shedders which cause the majority of the infections." Super-shedders are known for causing other viral infections among both humans and animals. They themselves are immune to the disease and pass on this immunity to their offspring.

Risky contact with young animals

The situation becomes dangerous when a super-shedder comes into contact with the juveniles of non-shedders. An elephant cow which shed the virus most frequently during the study, for example, was in very close contact with all three elephant calves that died of the virus in Switzerland. All calves carried virus sub-type 1A responsible for the deaths, which indicates a shared source of infection. The dead animals were the offspring of non-shedders, while the progeny of the super-shedder were not affected.

Wide-spread disease

"Elephant herpes is not just a zoo disease," Mathias Ackermann says. The herpesviruses of elephants broke off from other herpesviruses at the same time elephants split from other mammals. Since then, the Asian and African virus types have developed even further apart from each other. The individual types vary in virulence, but both are wide spread in their countries of origin. The disease also occurs in the wild in Asia and in Africa.

Regular testing is key

The researchers from Zurich are convinced: "It is important to test elephants in zoos regularly for herpes." The placement of animals can then be planned so that elephant calves are at less risk. By testing blood for the virus, a breakout of the disease among juveniles can be determined much earlier, extending the treatment period by up to ten days.
Researchers from the University of Bristol have discovered that some fish within a shoal take on the responsibilities of leader when they are under threat from predators.

The findings, reported in Science Advances and funded by the UK's Natural Environment Research Council, suggest that the majority of decisions made by the leader fish are followed, making the shoals more effective.

And it was the shoals where fish had defined leader/follower roles that were more evident in areas where predators were more prevalent. Dr Christos Ioannou from the university's School of Biological Sciences, said: "There are many benefits of group living, and making decisions together can dramatically increase the survival of many species -- this is why many birds flock and fish shoal.

"Groups can be guided by leaders, where a single individual makes most of the decisions, or egalitarian, where everyone contributes.

Dr Christos Ioannou and colleagues found that guppies from areas with high predation differentiate more into either leaders or followers. This is the first evidence that predators may influence how individuals contribute to decisions in groups.

Behaviour of over 300 fish from rivers with varying predation risk was studied.

Fish were placed in a maze, and decision making and shoal cohesion for each fish in each shoal was measured using advanced computer tracking software.

It was found that the majority of decisions made by a leading fish are followed, leading to high shoal cohesion overall. Moreover, it was the shoals that were less egalitarian that were more cohesive in high predation fish.

Dr Ioannou added: "The study shows that decision making in social groups within a species can vary depending on predation, even within a small geographical range.

"Changes in decision making may be a direct response to predation risk, but we need further experiments to test this.

"This research is important as it shows that social behaviour can adapt depending on ecological factors. This could have a wider impact when considering how changes in species communities, for example due to climate change or invasive species, affects social prey."
Children's emotional intelligence improved if mums take folic acid supplements throughout pregnancy.

Taking folic acid supplements throughout pregnancy may improve psychological development in children.

That is the finding of research by Professor Tony Cassidy and colleagues from Ulster University who will present their study to the Annual Conference of the British Psychological Society in Brighton.

Professor Cassidy said: "There is evidence that folic acid supplements taken during the first three months of pregnancy can have beneficial effects on children's brain development. We wanted to investigate whether continued supplementation throughout pregnancy had any additional effects."

The researchers asked the parents of 39 children, now aged seven, to answer questions about their child's personality, including levels of resilience, relationships with others and how they express their emotions. Within this group 22 mothers had taken the supplement throughout their pregnancy while the other 19 took it during the first three months only.

Analysis showed that children whose mothers took the supplement throughout pregnancy demonstrated higher levels of emotional intelligence and resilience. Additionally, the level of folic acid in mother's blood towards the end of pregnancy was a good predictor of children's resilience and emotional intelligence.

Professor Cassidy said: "Most expectant mothers know that taking folic acid supplements in the first three months of pregnancy is important for the baby's spinal development. Our study shows that there are potential psychological benefits for the child if supplements are taken throughout the pregnancy."
A team of researchers, led by the University of Bristol, has uncovered that ancient fossils, thought to be some of the world's earliest examples of animal remains, could in fact belong to other groups such as algae.

The Weng'an Biota is a fossil Konservat-Lagerstatte in South China that is around 600 million-years-old and provides an unparalleled snapshot of marine life during the interval in which molecular clocks estimate that animal groups had evolved.

However, all fossil evidence from this time has met with controversy.

Dr John Cunningham from the University of Bristol's School of Earth Sciences, said: "Dated at around 600 million years old, these rocks preserve an assemblage of microscopic fossils, perfectly-aged to be candidates for the oldest evidence of animal life.

"These fossils aren't recognisable as remains of fully grown animals, but some resemble embryos, ranging from single cells to clusters of thousands.

"The preservation is so exquisite, that even sub-cellular structures can be identified, including possible nuclei.

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Dr Kelly Vargas, a postdoctoral researcher from the University of Bristol and one of the paper's co-authors, said: "But with the lack of adult forms that could indicate their identity, paleontologists have to rely on information from cellular anatomy to determine whether these tiny fossils belong to animals or to a different group."

Now scientists have reviewed all the evidence pointing towards an animal identity of the Weng'an fossils.

Their findings have revealed that none of the characteristics previously used to define the fossils as animals are actually unique to animals alone, opening up the possibility for alternative identifications.

Professor Philip Donoghue, another Bristol co-author, added: "Many proponents of animal affinity have argued that the Y-shaped junctions between the cells in the fossils are an important animal character, but this a feature common to many multicellular groups, including algae, that are very distant relatives of animals."

Dr Cunningham added: "It could be that the fossils belong to other groups, such as algae, and these possibilities need to be investigated carefully."

Despite these results, paleontologists are continuing to make new discoveries from the Weng'an Biota, and these are helping to refine our knowledge of evolution during the Ediacaran.

Dr Cunningham concluded: "It might be possible that we'll find definite animals in the Doushantuo Formation, but it'll be like finding a needle in a haystack, or should we say an embryo in a really, really big quarry."
Whether rich or poor, one thing unites Americans of all economic classes: Our love for fast food.

A new nationwide study of young baby boomers contradicts the popular belief that fast-food consumption is concentrated among the poor.

Results showed that middle-income Americans were most likely to eat fast food, although the differences from other groups was relatively small. Even the richest people were only slightly less likely to report fast food consumption than others.

"It's not mostly poor people eating fast food in America," said Jay Zagorsky, co-author of the study and research scientist at The Ohio State University's Center for Human Resource Research.

"Rich people may have more eating options, but that's not stopping them from going to places like McDonald's or KFC."

Zagorsky, who also has an appointment with the Ohio Education Research Center, conducted the study with Patricia Smith of the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Their study was recently published online and will appear in the November 2017 issue of the journal Economics and Human Biology.

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The researchers used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, which has questioned the same group of randomly selected Americans since 1979. The NLSY is conducted by Ohio State's Center for Human Resource Research.

In the study, Zagorsky and Smith used data from about 8,000 people who were asked about their fast-food consumption in the 2008, 2010 and 2012 surveys. Participants, who were in their 40s and 50s at the time of the surveys, were asked how many times in the past seven days they had eaten "food from a fast-food restaurant such as McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut or Taco Bell."

Results were compared with the participants' answers to questions about their wealth and income. While there were some slight differences in how wealth and income were related to fast-food consumption, Zagorsky said the results were similar.

Overall, 79 percent of respondents ate fast food at least once and 23 percent ate three or more meals during any one of the weeks recorded in the study.

In one analysis, the researchers divided the participants into 10 groups based on income. About 80 percent of those in the lowest 10 percent of income ate at least once at a fast-food restaurant, compared to about 85 percent of those who were ranked near the middle (40 to 50 percent) in terms of income. Of the richest 10 percent, about 75 percent reported eating at least one fast-food meal.

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The number of fast-food meals eaten during the three weeks of the study showed a similar pattern. The lowest 10 percent in terms of income ate about 3.6 fast-food meals during the three weeks of the survey, compared to about 4.2 meals for middle-income people and three meals for the richest 10 percent of participants.

Another key finding was that people whose income or wealth changed dramatically during the four years of the study -- either going way up or way down -- didn't change their eating habits.

"If you became richer or poorer, it didn't change how much fast food you ate," Zagorsky said.

One hallmark of the heavy users of fast food was a lack of time.

The study found that fast-food eaters tended to have less leisure time because they were more likely to work and work more hours than non-fast-food eaters.

The researchers also found an interesting tidbit that should be of interest to people who saw the 2004 documentary Supersize Me. In the movie, Morgan Spurlock documented what happened to his body when he ate nothing but McDonald's for 30 days.

"I thought that was just a publicity stunt, but we found real people out there who seem to eat all their meals at fast-food restaurants," Zagorsky said.

In 2008, 10 respondents claimed to eat three times a day at fast-food restaurants, as did five people in 2010 and two in 2012.

Given that about 8,000 people participated in the survey, that suggests there may be quite a few people in the United States who go through periods of time during which they eat only fast food, Zagorsky said.

Zagorsky cautioned that there are some limitations to the study. For one, the participants were not asked what they ate at the fast-food restaurants. Some may choose healthier options such as salads, or they may sometimes just go for a cup of coffee.

Also, this study included only people in their 40s or 50s. Consumption habits may be different for people at different ages.

Zagorsky said he hopes the results of this study can help guide policymakers when they come up with laws regarding how to prevent obesity or guide nutritional choices for Americans.

"If government wants to get involved in regulating nutrition and food choices, it should be based on facts. This study helps reject the myth that poor people eat more fast food than others and may need special protection," he said.
More information about Samoa is available on the Samoa country page and from other Department of State publications and other sources listed at the end of this fact sheet.

U.S.-SAMOA RELATIONS

The United States established diplomatic relations with the Independent State of Samoa (then called Western Samoa) in 1971 following its independence from a New Zealand-administered trusteeship in 1962. U.S. consular relations in the Samoan islands date back to 1856 when the first U.S. Consul was posted in Apia. Currently, the U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand, resident in Wellington, is also accredited to Samoa. The daily management of the U.S. Embassy in Samoa is carried out by a resident Charge dAffaires.

The United States and Samoa enjoy a close friendship based on trust and mutual interest, strengthened by people-to-people ties between the two countries, particularly among Americans of Samoan descent. Due to cultural and historical links, Samoans share a special affinity for their brothers and sisters in the U.S. territory of American Samoa and frequent cultural and other exchanges, as well as close family and personal ties, have underpinned the relationship between the two Samoas and the U.S.-Samoa relationship more broadly.

In regional and international forums the United States and Samoa work together to mitigate disaster risk, manage fishery resources, promote sustainable economic development in the Pacific region, and strengthen the tenets of democracy and human rights. Through its embassy, the United States also engages with the Samoan Government on bilateral and multilateral issues including regional security and international law enforcement. In June of 2012, the United States and Samoa signed a Mutual Law Enforcement Agreement which allows Samoan maritime officials to utilize U.S. Coast Guard and Navy vessels to provide maritime policing in Samoan waters. The U.S. Coast Guard regularly patrols Samoas waters, reflecting the cooperative nature of U.S.-Samoan relations.

U.S. Assistance to Samoa

For over 50 years, a dynamic and active Peace Corps mission has formed the foundation of U.S. assistance to Samoa. With their focus on people-to-people engagement and practical solutions to developmental challenges, U.S. Peace Corps volunteers have provided significant assistance to Samoas educational and economic development and have earned the respect of many throughout Samoa. Today in the Samoan language, the word Pisi Koa (Peace Corps) is now used as the general word for volunteer.

The United States and Samoa people-to-people ties also including educational links, bilateral exchange programs like Fulbright, ties in sports, music, and art, and Pacific Island cultural connections. The Embassy also hosts an American space for outreach like English-language learning programs in Apia. Two Fulbright programs currently exist in Samoa. The Fulbright Foreign Student Scholarship is open annually to Samoan citizens residing in Samoa pursuing a Masters degree in the United States. Successful candidates at the national level then compete for limited slots with applicants from the Pacific region. Samoa has also benefited from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. One student per year is placed in a public institution to work and research under the assigned institution.

The United States also provides significant additional assistance to Samoa, including an annual foreign assistance allocation to provide capacity building and training for the Samoan Maritime Police and frequent invitations for training and mentoring sessions for Samoan government, NGO, media, and private sector individuals. USAID has several projects in Samoa focusing on climate change, food security, and disaster preparedness. The U.S. Embassy also provides grants to civil society and private sector organizations to address issues of economic development, womens empowerment, health, disaster risk mitigation, and education. The United States constructed a hospital opposite the international airport and renovated or rebuilt several schools around the country in recent years with support from the U.S. Department of Defense.

Bilateral Economic Relations

Total trade U.S. in goods with Samoa was $42.7 million in 2021; U.S. goods exports to Samoa totaled $33.4 million and goods imports from Samoa were valued at $9.3 million. The United States is one of Samoas largest export markets, accounting for roughly 18 percent of Samoan exports in 2021. American Samoa accounts for an additional 21 percent of Samoas exports. Approximately 10 percent of Samoas total imports come from the United States. Top U.S. exports from the United States include meat products, aircraft equipment, and machinery, while top imports from Samoa include fruits and vegetables, animal or vegetable fats or oils, textiles, and seafood. Remittances from Samoans living in the United States, including American Samoa, contribute substantially to Samoas economy, and a significant number of Samoans are employed in American Samoa. U.S. direct investment on a historical-cost basis in Samoa has remained consistent at approximately $20 million per year since 2014. Data on Samoan investment in the United States is not publicly available in order to avoid disclosure of data of individual companies.

Samoas Membership in International Organizations

Samoa is an active member of regional and international organizations and with the United States is a member of the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization. Samoa is also very active in the Pacific Islands Forum and is a founding member of the Polynesian Leaders Group. Samoa hosted the UNs 3rd Small Islands Developing States Conference in 2014, the Pacific Islands Forum in 2017, and the Pacific Games in 2019.

Bilateral Representation

Principal embassy officials are listed in the Departments Key Officers List.

Samoa has no embassy in Washington, DC, but has a permanent representative to the United Nations in New York, who also is accredited as ambassador to the United States.

More information about Samoa is available from the Department of State and other sources, some of which are listed here:

CIA World Factbook Samoa Page

U.S. Embassy

History of U.S. Relations With Samoa

U.S. Census Bureau Foreign Trade Statistics

Office of the U.S. Trade Representative Pacific Islands Page

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Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. produces and distributes specialty plant nutrients, iodine and its derivatives, lithium and its derivatives, potassium chloride and sulfate, industrial chemicals, and other products and services. The company offers specialty plant nutrients, including potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate, sodium potassium nitrate, specialty blends, and other specialty fertilizers. It also provides iodine and its derivatives for use in medical, pharmaceutical, agricultural, and industrial applications comprising x-ray contrast media, polarizing films for LCD and LED, antiseptics, biocides and disinfectants, pharmaceutical synthesis, electronics, pigments, and dye components. In addition, the company offers lithium carbonates for various applications that include electrochemical materials for batteries, frits for the ceramic and enamel industries, heat-resistant glass, air conditioning chemicals, continuous casting powder for steel extrusion, primary aluminum smelting process, pharmaceuticals, and lithium derivatives, as well as ingredient in manufacturing of gunpowder. Further, it supplies lithium hydroxide for the lubricating greases industry, as well as cathodes for batteries. Additionally, it offers potassium chloride and potassium sulfate for various crops, including corn, rice, sugar, soybean, and wheat; industrial chemicals, including sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, potassium chloride, and solar salts; and other fertilizers and blends. The company operates in Chile, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, North America, Asia, and internationally. Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Santiago, Chile.
Lately, a number of Toronto venues have turned off the music, but in April, to buck the sad trend, one reopened. Hughs Room Live on Dundas St. W., just south of Bloor St. W., looks just like its predecessor Hughs Room, but with some important behind-the-scenes tweaks.

Along with a new paint job inside, this 225-seat folk music venue is now a nonprofit run by a board of directors, with any profits going back into the venture. Efficiency, new income streams and community engagement are on the agenda with an eye to long-term viability.

Helping to direct things is the boards spokesperson William Laskin, better known as Grit, a musician, folk record label founder, guitar maker and author. (He was named to the Order of the Canada in 2012 for his contributions to the Canadian music scene.)

Laskins wife, Judith, and a team that now stands at six in total are running the business interests of the new venture.

On Jan. 6, previous owner Richard Carson suddenly closed Hughs Room. When Richard shut the doors it took us all by surprise, says Laskin. Hed played in the space before and had gotten to know Carson and the staff over the years. Hed heard that things were tight, but had no idea it was bad enough for closure.

But the previous November, Brian Iler, a lawyer with nonprofit experience and a fan of the club, suggested a meeting to talk about forming a nonprofit structure to ensure its longevity.

That meeting never happened but when the club closed, Ilers idea was back on the table and a group of about 15 people with ties to Hughs Room met in January.

Carson supported the idea, and shared the financial struggles hed been coping with on his own.

Launched in 2001 in the name of Carsons brother, a folk musician who died young of cancer, the venue had financial woes that led to it abruptly closing earlier this year.

But an assessment by an accountant revealed the club could be viable if it was mostly booked. Once we saw that, we said, okay, lets do it. So Laskin, Iler and the rest of the team set up a nonprofit, started negotiating with the landlord and set plans in motion to reopen as soon as possible.

The setbacks were myriad. The landlord sold the building amid rent negotiations (dashing hopes that the lease would include an option to buy). The IT person who controlled the passwords to the mailing lists and social media refused to hand them over. Inspections revealed a number of code violations that had to be resolved.

But a GoFundMe crowdsourcing campaign yielded more than $125,000 (the final goal is $250,000).

In what Laskin calls a bit of a miracle, the board was able to pull it all together for a reopening date of April 22. Ninety per cent of the previous staff returned, including former general manager Anthony Ferrando.

Over time, the new business entity has plans to bring in more revenue. That will include booking not just folks acts, but small classical ensembles and other groups. The possibility of doing brunch events and opening the space to community and other groups during the day will expand the spaces revenue-generating hours.

Meanwhile, board members are talking to the city about ways it can support unique venues like Hughs Room Live, which is not quite a club and not quite a restaurant.

While the venues distinctive qualities has some downsides, it supports the live arts in a way that has no competition. Says Laskin, Theres no place like it in the city.

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SAN FRANCISCOApple is getting more aggressive about emphasizing its role in the U.S. economy, apparently hoping to counter recurring criticism over its reliance on overseas factories.

On Wednesday, Apple for the first time released a state-by-state breakdown of where its 80,000 U.S. employees work, showing that more than half of them are located outside Silicon Valley. It also announced a $1 billion (U.S.) fund aimed at creating more U.S. manufacturing jobs, although it provided few details.

The strategy appears aimed at complicating efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump and other politicians to vilify Apple for using companies in China and elsewhere to assemble most of its products. Apple had no comment on political ramifications of its announcements.

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CEO Tim Cook first described the manufacturing fund in an interview on CNBC, but didnt say how the money will be disbursed or who will be eligible to receive it. Apple will provide more details when it announces its first investment by the end of the month, he said. Apples initial billion-dollar investment amounts to a tiny fraction of its $257 billion in cash.

Cook also promised that Apple will hire thousands of employees, thousands more in the future in the U.S., although he didnt specify how quickly that will happen. Apples U.S. payroll has grown roughly 40-fold since 1998, when it had 5,000 U.S. workers.

Cook also said Apple is examining ways to help more people learn the programming skills to make apps.

Threats to Apple

Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on products from China, a change that would drive up Apples costs. That could pressure the company to raise its prices at a time when it is already having trouble increasing its sales of iPhones and iPads.

They are trying to make the case that they really do have a lot of folks working in the U.S., said technology industry analyst Rob Enderle. So if want to pick on somebody, you might want to pick on somebody else because they wont be a good example.

Cook isnt the only CEO who has been trying to highlight his companys hiring and expansion plans in the U.S.

Trump has attacked many companies, frequently on Twitter, for moving jobs out of the U.S. and lavishly praised those who have announced major hiring initiatives. As a result, many companies, including Exxon Mobil, Intel, Charter Communications and Ford Motor, have unveiled big hiring plans, though in many cases they were already in the works before the presidential campaign.

There is a lot of political pressure to create jobs in the United States, Diane Swonk, CEO of DS Economics, said. Chief executives do not want to show up in a tweet.

Apple in the States

Since 2014, Apple has issued a series of reports intended to underscore its contributions to U.S. jobs and economic growth. Its first report came after years of complaints about labour practices and suicides at Foxconn, one of the companys major contractors in China, drew more attention to Apples reliance on overseas factories. Apple to also issues a separate supplier responsibility report reviewing the labour conditions in those facilities.

The Wednesday report on U.S jobs is its fourth update, but the first to include a state-by-state breakdown of Apple employees.

Unsurprisingly, the numbers show its highest concentration of workers (36,786) is located in California, home to the companys Silicon Valley headquarters and 53 stores. Apples second biggest employment centre is in Texas (8,407 jobs), where it has a corporate campus and 18 stores. Its smallest pockets of employment are in North Dakota (four jobs), Vermont (six) and Wyoming (seven).

Apples decision to provide detailed information about the locations of its U.S. employees could help the company win support from lawmakers eager to protect jobs in their states, Enderle said. It gives senators something to push back with, recognizing that Apple is a real risky company to target anyway because its products are so popular with people.

Besides showing how many of its full-time and part-time employees work in each state, Apple also lists where its 9,000 U.S. suppliers are located. The company says it spent more than $50 billion at its U.S. suppliers last year, helping them employ a total of 450,000 workers.

App economy

The company also cited a study by the Progressive Policy Institute that attributes 1.5 million U.S. jobs to Apples iPhone ecosystem. That figure not only includes programmers that work on the apps, but also supporting staff and employees working everywhere from banks to restaurants that have jobs because of the spending generated by apps.

Such spillover effects are widely recognized, although economists sometimes spar over their magnitude. But for a company to claim credit for all or most of the jobs in a particular industry is a stretch, Swonk said. The vast majority of app developers, for example, also produce apps for Android phones from Samsung and other manufacturers.

The Public Policy Institute only found 1.7 million jobs in the entire app economy  and 1.35 million of those were associated with Android apps. Most of those overlap with the jobs linked to Apple.

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Stephen Colbert responded Wednesday to online criticism of his off-colour joke about U.S. President Trump that led to the hashtag #firecolbert and a call to boycott advertisers of the Late Show, which the comedian hosts.

So while I would do it again, I would change a few words that were cruder than they needed to be, the late night show host said during the taping of Wednesdays broadcast, according to a transcript released by CBS.

I had a few choice insults for the president in return. I dont regret that. He, I believe, can take care of himself. I have jokes; he has the launch codes. So, its a fair fight.

Though President Trump has for months been the target of Stephen Colberts pointed jokes and mockery, many on social media believe he went too far Monday night in making an oral-sex joke regarding Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

#FireColbert was trending on Twitter Wednesday morning. A new Twitter account called @firecolbert tweeted: Its time to #FireColbert! Its time he be removed from CBS. Let your voice be heard! #Boycott all of Stephen Colberts advertisers. Theres also a new website, firecolbert.com.

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Calling Colbert a homophobe? Dont make me laugh: Menon

Colbert under fire from Trump supporters after explicit Trump joke

The anger from Trump supporters was over a series of jokes that Colbert unloaded in the last two minutes of his monologue on Monday night in reaction to how the president dealt with CBS News political director John Dickerson.

Here are some of them:

Mr. Trump, your presidency, I love your presidency. I call it Disgrace the Nation.

Sir, you attract more skinheads than free Rogaine.

You have more people marching against you than cancer.

You talk like a sign language gorilla who got hit in the head.

And heres the joke that has angered many:

In fact, the only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putins c-- holster.

Trump supporters immediately took to Twitter, saying Colberts jokes are homophobic.

A spokeswoman from CBSs Late Show and Colberts agent did not respond to requests for comment.

Colberts monologues have largely focused on Trump, his aides and their gaffes. And his lampooning of the president seems to have paid off.

Just last year, he was trailing far behind Jimmy Fallons The Tonight Show. Colbert managed to narrow down Fallons lead and eventually topped his competition. By late March, Colberts show was averaging nearly 3 million viewers, about 400,000 more than Fallons.

But as The Washington Posts Callum Borchers wrote, by joking about oral sex, Colbert rushed the bro-ternity of Alex Jones, who once said that Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., looks like the archetypal c--sucker, and Jesse Watters, who came under fire for a not-so-subtle joke about Ivanka Trump speaking into that microphone.

Sitting on a panel on The Fox News Specialists on Tuesday, Karl Rove, who was a senior adviser in the administration of former president George W. Bush, called the jokes lewd, obscene and inappropriate.

They wrote this. This was not a rant that he came up with on the top of this head. They wrote this, Rove said, adding later: Im going to continue to do what I do with anything Colbert. Im going to refuse to watch the SOB.

Many on Twitter demanded an apology. Others hijacked the trending hashtag with sarcastic jabs at Colberts critics.

Colbert began his monologue Monday night by making fun of Trumps comments about the first 100 days in office, which the president called a ridiculous standard.

Trump has repeatedly said that this 100 days is totally arbitrary, okay. Totally unimportant. And to prove how unimportant it is, he took out a TV ad, he cut a cake on Air Force One, and he held a rally in Pennsylvania, Colbert said. The theme of that rally, Promises Made, Promises Kept. Which is better than the original slogan, Promises made, never mind, never said it, fake news, watch Fox & Friends.

He then turned to how Trump abruptly ended the interview with Dickerson, after the Face the Nation host asked him if he stands by his claims that president Barack Obama had wiretapped him.

Trumps response to the question was replayed on Colberts show:

I dont stand by anything, Trump told Dickerson.

Thats when Colbert said: Its true. He doesnt stand by anything except the dressing room door at Miss USA Pageant. . . . Who needs a lotion?

But it was Trump telling Dickerson that he was a purveyor of fake news and calling his show Deface the Nation that seems to have set Colbert off.

In an interview Wednesday with Newsmax TV, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said the agency does not get into the business of regulating content. The Supreme Court, he said, has placed some limits on the authority of the FCC, which regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable.

Its a free country. People are willing and able to say just about anything these days, Pai said, adding later that unless a content is indecent, obscene or profane by FCC standards, the agencys authority is pretty limited.

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They fought on opposite sides of the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, where one saved the others life on the battlefield.

Zahed Haftlang and Najah Aboud didnt see each other again for some two decades  until a couple of twists of fate brought them together in Vancouver and ignited a friendship.

Their ongoing journey is the focus of My Enemy, My Brother, which is making its world premiere at Torontos Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.

Its a positive film, particularly in light of the Trump travel ban, says Ann Shin of Toronto, who directed the film.

Its great to have stories like these come to light.

My Enemy, My Brother expands on a short doc Shin made on the duo with the same title two years ago. It was nominated for an Emmy Award and shortlisted for an Oscar.

As the story goes, Iranian-born Haftlang ran away from home at age 13 to join the army, while Aboud of Iraq was conscripted to fight in the war in his late teens, leaving behind his wife and son.

On the battlefield, Haftlang found Aboud critically injured in a bunker and decided to save him and take him to a military hospital. Aboud was taken as a prisoner of war, while Haftlang suffered from deep depression.

Coincidentally, both would end up living in Vancouver, where Haftlang was a mechanic and Aboud ran a moving company.

They didnt realize they were both in the same city until they happened to meet each other in a waiting room about a decade ago.

It speaks to how Canada received them as refugees, one from Iraq, one from Iran, and these two former enemies become friends in this country, says Shin.

She first came into the project five years ago when she read a newspaper article about Aboud and Haftlang and sought them out in Vancouver, where her parents live.

I sat down to tea and I heard their story, which was crazy, she recalls. It was 17 years of war, being a prisoner of war, and then finding each other miraculously in Canada.

This new feature-length version of My Enemy, My Brother expands on the short doc by travelling to the Middle East with the two subjects as they try to reconnect with their loved ones amid present-day conflicts.

Najah and Zaheds story has inspired me from the start about how you can rise above your own circumstances  how you may be told, you may be trained to see a person as an enemy or as a threat but on the battlefield, these men overcame that and its always moved me, says Shin.

Even now the way they are with each other and the way they support one another, it just inspires me to see the best of humanity and the best about our country, Canada, where this can happen, and really shows these two men of Muslim background in a really positive light.

Hot Docs runs through May 7. My Enemy, My Brother screens Saturday May 6 at Scotiabank Theatre. Go to hotdocs.ca for details.

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Despite the fact hes sold millions of albums around the world with such instrumental epics as Oxygene and Zoolook, synthesizer and electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre has never played Canada.

Until now.

After releasing 22 studio albums and six live ones, Jarre, 68, will finally plant his feet on Canadian soil at a one-man show at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts on May 9.

At last, said Jarre over the phone a few weeks ago.

Its been a long time coming. The Lyon-born Jarre broke into the North American mainstream with Oxygene back in 1977  particularly the gently undulating track Oxygene Pt. IV  about six months after he released it in his native France.

The low-budget home-studio project, recorded in an era when few polyphonic synthesizers  those that could play chords instead of the monophonic synth restrictions of performing one note at a time  existed, was recorded in six weeks.

Electronic music titan Jean-Michel Jarre.





The few that existed were far beyond my budget financially, so I did Oxygene with very minimalist equipment, Jarre recalls. The only polyphonic instrument I had was a string ensemble called The Eminent. Otherwise, I had monophonic instruments, and without MIDI (the technical standard developed in 1983 that lets electronic instruments and computers communicate), I was doing all sequences by hand. It was quite laborious.

Upon its release, Oxygene shot to No. 1 in France and eventually sold over 12 million copies there alone. Since then, Jarres music has evolved with technology  his innovative 1984 album Zoolook contained samples of 25 languages including Eskaleut.

Along the way, he also forged a reputation for creating colossal open-air concert spectacles filled with projections, giant screens, lasers, lights and pyrotechnics that frequently drew staggering audiences of a million or more.

Ive always been interested by involving visuals in my music, Jarre notes. Electronic music was not like rock or jazz where instruments have been devised for the stage, and then we put microphones on them to put them in studios. Electronic music is the reverse: instruments were devised in laboratories and studios, and to put them on stage was not easy and not really too sexy, to stay two hours behind your laptop or behind your synthesizer or whatever . . .

I had the ideas of trying to create these big spectacles and involving lots of visuals in days when almost nobody was doing on the rock scene. Now everybodys doing it: When I see a music festival, I see something that I did 25 years ago.

In 1981, Jarre was also the first Western musician invited to play China following the Cultural Revolution.

They invited me to do a master class, and then afterwards invited me to do concerts in Beijing and Shanghai, Jarre recalls. It was like playing on the moon, I think, from both sides.

He cites some of these international shows as part of the reason visits to Canada was delayed.

Ive been involved in my life in lots of big settings and doing lots of one-off outdoor concerts and theyve almost been like pre-producing movies, Jarre explains. And for some reason when I was touring, the dates didnt work out and sometimes the project was too cumbersome to stage outside Europe.

But Im so happy to share this new project with Canadian audiences because Ive been really inspired by Canada: Cirque du Soleil, IMAX, Omnimax, all the developments of digital technology. Im excited to start my North American tour in Toronto.

Jarre will be bringing plenty of new music to the Sony Centre. Since 2015, hes released a slew of albums that include Oxygene 3 and a pair of star-studded works christened Electronica 1: The Time Machine and Electronica 2: The Heart of Noise that include such collaborators as Moby, Armin Van Buuren, Depeche Mode and Erasure founder Vince Clarke, Massive Attack, filmmaker John Carpenter, Edward Snowden, Cyndi Lauper, Pete Townshend and others. Toronto expat Merrill Nisker, a.k.a. Peaches, guests on the Heart of Noise track What You Want.

For me, all the collaborators on Electronica are musicians who have been, and are, a source of inspiration  and who are linked one way or another with electronic music, Jarre explains. Peaches is an extraordinary artist. Shes also an activist and this electronica is linked to activism. Obviously, she being an activist for women and homosexuals and in doing so many great things in her lifetime, but Peaches also does this in a very fun and provocative way. I must say it has been one of my most exciting moments in the studio.

Jarre, who has counted actresses Charlotte Rampling and Anne Parillaud among his spouses, is the son of Maurice Jarre, a three-time Oscar-winning composer of such movie scores as Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago. His parents split when Jean-Michel was five and his dad relocated to the U.S.

Jean-Michel Jarre started out playing in rock bands and eventually studied avant-garde classical music under Pierre Schaeffer and Karlheinz Stockhausen, known for his electronic experimental music, aleatory, spatial and serial compositions. Jarre says those studies are when he truly got hooked on electronic music.

I was convinced that it would become the music of the 21st century, for a very simple reason: because electronic music is not a genre of music, its a way of approaching composition and production with noise and sounds, he explains. The idea of going out there with a microphone and recording the sound of the wind, of the rain, of the street and making music with it was something actually new and revolutionary for my generation.

He likens his work to being in a kitchen, cooking sequences, waveforms, loops, beats in a very organic, very sensual way, like putting spices and ingredients in your music.

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OTTAWAPrime Minister Justin Trudeau told the House of Commons he believes journalists should be able to shield their sources.

But the opposition challenged him to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

In his strongest statement yet on press freedoms, Trudeau endorsed the notion of reporters being able to protect the identity of their confidential sources on World Press Freedom Day, hours after he hailed the value of a free and open press as crucial to an informed and engaged citizenry.

It came in answer to New Democrat Leader Tom Mulcair in question period.

Mulcair said under the watch of the prime minister Canada has dropped 14 points to 22nd in an annual index by Reporters Without Borders, that puts Canada behind Samoa and just ahead of the Czech Republic and Namibia.

Mulcair challenged Trudeau to drop his empty phrases and talking points and pointed to Canadian cases where journalists were under surveillance or forced to fight the RCMP in court to protect their freedom.

So will the prime minister acknowledge here today that journalists have the right to protect their sources, yes or no? Mulcair demanded.

A strong and independent media, a free press, is essential in the protection of our democracy and of its institutions, replied Trudeau. Yes, of course, journalists should always be able to protect their sources.

That is something we believe in strongly as a government, and that is something that we will continue to defend and fight for, not just here in Canada, but around the world.

An important demonstration of Trudeaus convictions would be whether his government will support a Senate bill, S-231, that seeks to protect journalistic sources.

In reply to questions from the Star about what he meant, Trudeaus office was noncommittal. Spokesperson Cameron Ahmad referred back to the prime ministers earlier statements and said the Senate bill has just been introduced or read a first time in the House of Commons and our government is currently reviewing the legislation.

Mulcair demanded a different demonstration of what Trudeau meant.

In the Commons, he asked whether the prime minister was willing to tell the RCMP to drop its court case against Vice (Medias) journalist that they are now pursuing?

It would be a politically explosive move if Trudeau were to do so. The RCMP operates at arms length from the prime minister, the public safety minister or any government member or politician. Lawmakers do not and should not direct the RCMP to do  or not do  anything in an investigation lest police actions and law enforcement be seen to be politically motivated.

However, Mulcair said in an interview that Trudeau is unwilling to stand up when it counts.

On the one hand he loves to talk about the principle of it, but then when it comes down to cases, hes not really there.

Mulcair said the Senate bill sponsored by Sen. Claude Carignan hasnt yet been discussed in NDP caucus, but he supports it.

I think given the role of journalists and journalism in a free and democratic society, youve always got to come down on (sic) the favour of greater defence of their right to work. And their profession requires them to have sources, and you have to protect those sources, and you have to protect them from malicious prosecutions as they do their jobs.

The Conservative party would support the bill as well, said a senior official from the office of interim leader Rona Ambrose.

Peter Kent, Conservative MP for Thornhill and a former Global News broadcaster, said in an interview, I believe . . . , as a former journalist, in the protection of sources.

He acknowledged there may be concerns about leaks of information intended in a malicious way not in a manner that would support the democratic correction of wrongdoing but said those can be addressed in legislation.

Kent added any bill must also ensure that disputes or any legal challenges arent resolved in lower courts, but in courts with the capacity and the depth of knowledge to recognize legitimate arguments that protect sources.

Over the past several months, disturbing cases of state probes into journalistic sources have come to light.

The RCMP conducted surveillance in 2007 and 2011 on La Presse reporter Joel-Denis Bellavance, who wrote about Adil Charkaoui, formerly subject of a security certificate and later a controversial Montreal imam.

The provincial Quebec police and the Montreal police subjected several investigative reporters in that province to electronic surveillance to discover their sources.

The RCMP went to court to force Vice News to hand over journalist Ben Makuchs Kik messenger chat logs with Farah Shirdon, a Canadian suspected of fighting overseas with Daesh, or ISIS.

Last year, Trudeau said revelations like that were troubling.

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OTTAWASo much for sunny ways! As Justin Trudeaus government nears the halfway mark of its first mandate, finding some willingness to engage in adult conversation on either side of the House of Commons is almost as hard as it was on the worst days of the previous Conservative government.

Since the new year, the tone has steadily deteriorated, and if this week is anything to go by the climate is bound to become more toxic until Parliament finally breaks for the summer.

In question period, debate has essentially defaulted to a dialogue of the deaf that allows for little or no reasoned arguments. The opposition squawks loudly at a flock of government parrots.

This week the government rescheduled a Conservative opposition day from Thursday to next Monday. The official Opposition wants to use the time to turn up the heat on Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan for having aggrandized his role in the planning of a major military offensive in Afghanistan. Conservatives and New Democrats have spent the week calling for his resignation. The Liberals hope that by next week the story will have run out of steam.

All this is unfolding against the backdrop of a procedural war over a clumsy Liberal attempt to tweak some of the rules of the House to the governments advantage. Such is the bad blood between the opposition and the Liberals that when the latter waved a white flag and abandoned their most contentious proposals, none of the other parties would pause long enough to claim victory.

While the parties wrangle, the government struggles to advance its legislative agenda. Not that it is particularly impressive. The spring sitting will mostly be remembered for broken or missing-in-action Liberal promises.

Take Trudeaus commitment to give the Parliamentary Budget Officer more independence. The legislation brought forward by the government would instead further clip the already short wings of the PBO.

The malaise that has overtaken Parliament Hill has root causes on both sides of the House.

For all the talk about running a more collegial operation, Trudeaus government is as centralized as its predecessors. Nothing much happens without a green light from the PMO.

Since Donald Trumps election, Trudeaus inner circle has had its hands full trying to keep up with the changing moods of the American president. Just last week the prime ministers top aides  Katie Telford and Gerald Butts  flew to Washington in a hurry to take stock and, if possible, mitigate a Trump-induced NAFTA storm.

But while Trudeaus brain trust is watching the White House, it cant always have its eye on the many other balls that a cabinet dominated by political rookies is liable to drop.

Liberal strategists believe the price to pay for having dumped the commitment to change the voting system will not be high in the next election. Perhaps, but they may have underestimated the parliamentary cost of squandering a serious amount of opposition goodwill and trust in the process.

Trudeaus reversal accounts for part of the cement that binds the New Democrats to the Conservatives in the opposition battle against the Liberal rule changes.

With the election of Stephen Harpers successor less than a month away, the Conservatives are not looking to tie the hands of their next leader. While they pile on an embattled minister or engage in procedural warfare, they are spared having to come up with a caucus consensus on divisive issues like the future of Canadas supply management approach to dairy and poultry, or the governments cannabis legislation.

Over on the NDP side Thomas Mulcairs prolonged last hurrah as party leader is turning into an outlet for a lot of pent-up anger. Much of it is directed at Trudeau, a counterpart that Mulcair saw as a political weakling when they sat side by side in opposition and, by all indications, still sees him that way now that he is prime minister. The animosity between the two is not just for show.

With every passing week Mulcairs tone seems to become more strident  to the point that it sometimes overtakes the substance of his arguments. On Tuesday, the NDP leader had to apologize for calling Liberal House leader Bardish Chagger a buffoon.

As counterintuitive as it may seem, it may take the arrival of two permanent opposition leaders to bring a small measure of sunnier ways back to Parliament Hill.

Chantal Hebert is a national affairs writer. Her column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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OTTAWAConrad Black, urbane business baron and one-time U.S. prison inmate, says the billionaire in the White House is not a monster, and that his recent blustering on trade with Canada might be nothing more than atmospherics to set the stage for upcoming negotiations.

The former publisher and author made the comments Thursday when he appeared by video from Toronto at a parliamentary committee discussing Canadas foreign policy with the United States.

Black told the gathering of politicians that, speaking from his own personal dealings with Donald Trump, the seemingly erratic U.S. president is actually quite consistent in the positions he ultimately takes.

My impression of him is he doesnt change his views as much as one thinks, but he does alter the mood and the level of ambiance, Black said in response to a question from Liberal MP John McKay about Trumps unpredictability.

Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump

Black said he dealt with Trump on the construction of a building for one of his newspapers in Chicago. He said the Manhattan real estate mogul engaged in tactical manoeuvring by taking outrageous positions with certain contractors and the local builders union. But in the end, the building came in on budget with a widely admired design and top-grade tenants, Black said.

He has his techniques, but hes not all over the map. He knows what he wants, Black said.

The Canadian government has emphasized the management of its relationship with the American administration since Trump was elected in November. The unconventional U.S. president has been a constant subject of discussion on Parliament Hill, whether its in relation to his possible impact on the increased numbers of asylum claimants walking into Canada, or unease about his promised tweaking to the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Trump recently cranked up his anti-Canadian rhetoric, slamming the supply management system that protects the Canadian dairy industry. The U.S. also slapped 20 per cent tariffs on softwood lumber imports from Canada, a move the Liberal government has vowed to fight while acknowledging it will lead to inevitable job losses.

Black, the former head of a massive media empire who was jailed in the U.S. for more than two years on fraud and obstruction of justice convictions, has been a prominent admirer of Trump, whom he has called an old friend. Four months before he won the election, for instance, Black took to the National Post to proclaim the genius of Trumps campaign.

On Thursday, he told the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs that, while changes to the trade agreement and American tax structure are serious for Canada, fears of Trumps anger toward his northern neighbour may be overblown.

He has never expressed to me the slightest grievance with Canada, other than its failure to spend 2 per cent of GDP on the military, which is a Trump demand for NATO member countries, Black said.

Read more:

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Trump's tone adds turmoil to trade tiffs

Canadian exports expected to double despite Trumps trade threats

At the same time, he said that Trumps promises to put America First are an understandable push to address the importation of unemployment into the U.S. because of trade deals that have led businesses to use labour forces in countries where costs are lower.

Were not dealing with a monster here. Were dealing with a reasonable person, Black said.

He predicted that the war on Trumps legitimacy and competency as president, which he linked to how he campaigned against the entire U.S. political and media establishment (from Hollywood and Wall St. to the Bush and Obama families, Black said), will eventually calm down.

He also claimed that allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia  which are under investigation in the U.S.  are absolute bunk and will come down on the heads of the presidents opposition like a toilet seat.

Black concluded his appearance at the committee by apologizing for being late. For that, he blamed John Torys traffic miracle in Toronto.

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OTTAWAThe Liberal government is suspending its ongoing tax audits of charities for political activities in the wake of a panel report that urges Ottawa to give charities more freedom to speak out on public policy.

National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier announced the move Thursday, ending the Conservative-imposed crackdown on charitable activities perceived as political.

Lebouthillier cited the reports findings that the federal audits have created a pervasive chill on the policy and advocacy work of charities. She said outstanding audits would be suspended until the government responds to the panels findings.

In a report released Thursday, a government-appointed panel called on the Canada Revenue Agency in the short term to relax its enforcement of confusing regulations that govern how charities engage in political advocacy.

And its recommending longer-term legislative fixes to modernize the rules and give broader latitude to charities to speak out.

The five-member panel said the prohibition on partisan political activities should remain in place. But it said the CRA should focus on charitable purposes, rather than activities.

In this approach, public policy dialogue and development would be allowed without restriction, provided that it is subordinate to the charitys approved purposes and is non-partisan in nature, the report said.

Those activities would include research, opinions, advocacy, mobilizing support, representation and convening discussions.

That change would provide clarity and enable charities to more meaningfully contribute to public policy reform and the democratic process.

The findings were cheered by the charitable sector, which has been wary of engaging in political advocacy and engagement, especially after 2012 when the former Conservative government gave the CRA extra resources to go after charities.

Under that initiative, the CRA launched 54 audits, sending a chill through the charitable sector and prompting accusations that the Conservatives were on a political witch hunt.

Leilani Farha, executive director of Canada Without Poverty, hailed the change as a good day for democracy.

The effect of being under audit for so long, for a small organization like ours, is stressful, Farha said, describing how her organization was forced to spend thousands of dollars on legal fees when its books were examined by the taxman.

Her charity launched a court case against the federal government in an effort to force a change to the Income Tax Act so that the CRA couldnt audit groups like hers for political activities.

The idea that we might not be able continue to operate and to offer the voice of poor people into the public domain was very distressing, she said of the audit.

There were little stresses of money and staff time and bigger stresses of . . . what kind of a country are we living in? Is this the democracy that we want?  she said.

Thats the very point the panel report seized on, saying that charities play a critical role in public discourse by offering innovative solutions and diverse viewpoints.

This is particularly valuable in an era of complex social and environmental challenges and constrained government budgets, where all informed perspectives and ideas are vital, the report said.

Yet while charities have unique insights to offer on the policy challenges of the day, the legal rules around their participation are blurry enough to make joining the conversation a challenge, the panel declared.

And because of the confusion around the rules, the current crackdown and worries about losing their charitable status many charities view political activities as too risky to carry out and engage in self-censorship.

The panel makes four recommendations that it says will improve the quality of public policy dialogue and development in Canada, while reducing administrative complexity and cost for both the sector and its regulator.

Two of the recommendations are aimed at Canada Revenue Agency policy and are meant to be implemented quickly to allow charities to feel the impact of the more relaxed regulation of their activities.

The panel also recommends two longer term fixes it said will require legislative changes  and more consultation.

The government-appointed panel also said the requirement that charitable materials reflect all sides of an issue is unreasonable and unnecessary. That should be replaced, it says, by the requirement that materials are fact-based.

Other charities applauded the move as well, including the David Suzuki Foundation, which also found itself the subject of a CRA audit.

The ability of Canadian charities to speak out on issues of public policy and legislation is critical to a healthy democracy, Peter Robinson, CEO of the foundation, said in a news release.

Tim Gray, executive director of Environmental Defence, welcomed the panels recommendations.

It shows that the panel listened to the 20,000 Canadians and many organizations who participated in the fall 2016 consultations and is asking the government to move ahead to protect Canadians ability to be involved in advocating for change.

New Democrat MP Nathan Cullen said he is happy to see an end to what he called the Conservative witch hunt. But he urged the government to bring forward legislative changes quickly, saying charities are now operating in limbo with the confusing laws still on the books.

If theyre going to change the rules . . . that govern charities, then they can change the laws, but they cant simply stop auditing anybody because they say so, Cullen said.

The debate around the political activities of charities dates back decades with much confusion around what they can say, how much and to whom, the report notes.

The current rules allowed a limited amount of non-partisan political activities in support of their charitable purposes, but the statute does not in a clear way define any of the key terms, such as charitable purpose or political activities, the report said.

This problem of terminology lies at the root of much of the confusion and uncertainty that exists through the charitable sector, the report said.

The Canada Revenue Agency has issued a series of advisories over the years in an attempt to bring clarity to the issue with little success.

Problems with the legislative framework and its administration have left the sector and its regulator stuck on a merry-go-round of consultation, clarification and concern for nearly four decades, the report said.

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MONTREALDuring the first round of voting in the French presidential election two weeks ago, the sidewalks and cafes in Outremont, home to the citys only voting station for expats, had all the flavours and accents of a typical Parisian arrondissement.

But the Montreal neighbourhood also had lineups that stretched out the doors of a stately private school that served as the voting station, along the street out front and around several corners.

In all, 23,431 French citizens showed up to cast their ballots in Montreal from thousands of kilometres away, a number that overloaded volunteers and forced the polls to remain open until 11 p.m. that Saturday night to accommodate as many people as possible.

With the candidates now whittled from 11 down to just two  the centrist favourite, Emmanuel Macron, and Marine Le Pen, the leader of the extreme right Front National  the second round of voting for French expats that takes place this weekend still has several looming unknowns.

One is whether the changes being put in place by the French consulate in Montreal  the de facto French capital in North America  will alleviate the interminable wait.

The other is whether forecasts in advance of the Saturday vote will prove accurate  of all the Canadian cities where consular officials have arranged for voting booths, only Vancouver is not expecting rain.

This time, people are very interested and people are voting out of conviction. Even those who have decided not to vote are doing it out of conviction, said Roland Lescure, who left his prestigious job as chief investment officer of the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, the provinces main investment fund, to become one of Macrons main organizers in Montreal.

Its not political disinterest.

Less than half of the 1.3-million French expats eligible to cast a ballot for the countrys next president voted in the first-round election. The nearly 34,000 who did so in Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, Vancouver and Moncton, left little doubt that Macron is their man. Some back the 39-year-old former minister of the economy out of conviction. Others are voting to block Le Pen and her Front Nationals anti-immigration and French-first policies.

But its clear that outside the countrys borders, the woman cast as the undoing of Frances famous motto, Liberte, egalite, fraternite, doesnt have anywhere near the same draw as she does on French territory.

Back home its a more complicated story. Most pundits predict a Macron win when the votes are counted on Sunday. But first-round voters in France were cooler on the frontrunner than their expat counterparts, giving him just 24 per cent of the vote, and more enthusiastic toward Le Pen, who won just over 21 per cent of the ballots.

That result has put enormous pressure onto the supporters of the other presidential candidatespressure that can be felt an ocean away by those like Jean Laterni, a 21-year-old from Bordeaux who is attending university in Montreal.

Laterni counts himself as part of the leftist movement led by Jean-Luc Melenchon, known as Les insoumis (The rebels). They object to the way that politics has been practiced for generations in France, and Melenchon famously refused to urge his supporters to give Macron their vote.

Instead, in an online consultation, he proposed three options to supporters: spoil the second-round ballot; stay home on voting day; or vote Macron. Backing the Front National leader was not even an option given consideration.

Nearly two-thirds of the Melenchon followers who took part in the consultation said they would stay home or spoil their ballot, which puts Laterni in the minority.

It disgusts me to cast a ballot for Emmanuel Macron, Laterni said. Im doing it in part to prevent the physical violence that people would suffer under Marine Le Pen.

Speaking just before Wednesdays final presidential debate between the two candidates, Pierre-Jean Darres predicted there would not be so many protest ballots as have been predicted in a contest that many would never have predicted.

I cant predict it, but I dont think spoiled ballots will represent a massive number of the votes, said Darres, who came to Montreal as a student and has called the city home for 10 years. But if they do, it will send a message that has to be taken into consideration.

While Darres counts himself among Les Republicains, the centre-right party represented by former French prime minister Francois Fillon in the first-round vote, he said he has decided to vote for Macron over Le Pen.

After going through the two platforms none appeal to me 100 per cent, but as we say when were choosing between two things, Im going for the least bad option.

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Mayor John Tory toured one of the citys subsidized apartment buildings Thursday as part of his campaign to pressure the province to help pay the $1.7 billion needed for social-housing repairs.

Those who have the greatest ability to raise money have not stepped up, Tory said referring to the provincial government, which has broad taxing powers and the ability to run deficits.

While the federal budget included new money that can be used toward social housing repairs, there was no new money in the Ontario budget whatsoever, Tory said.

Unlike his weekend tour of a west-end social housing complex, Tory did not come armed with flyers featuring the local Liberal MPPs headshot. The pamphlets asked residents to Tell your MPP that Queens Park needs to help fix your housing now.

While the stunt prompted Liberals to accuse him of crossing a line and campaigning against them, Tory said his only intention was to stand up for Torontonians, particularly the most vulnerable, and attract a similar advocacy from others, including elected representatives who sit in the legislature.

Tory led reporters and photographers on a short tour of 3171 Eglinton Ave. East, a Toronto Community Housing building where four stories of exterior bricks crashed to the ground in 2015.

He gave a running commentary on the problems inside a dilapidated two-bedroom unit, one of 24 in the 12-storey building currently vacant as it awaits repairs. Crews outside Thursday were replacing cladding and fixing balcony railings.

Tory said that the work underway is good news and a demonstration of where TCH spends its money, almost exclusively by the city of Toronto, compared to the provinces tiny contribution.

The mayor said the city has raised its share using every reasonable tool.

While he acknowledged its a claim challenged by critics, some of whom argue property taxes  the lowest in the GTA  should be raised, Tory said property taxes were never meant to fund multi-billion dollar capital projects.

Meanwhile Thursday At Queens Park, Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown promised that if he succeeds Premier Kathleen Wynne after next years election the city would get more money for social housing.

Absolutely. Right now theyre getting nothing. Its very easy to exceed zero, Brown told reporters on Thursday.

Queens Park and Premier Wynne cant abandon the city of Toronto, he said, stressing he would not support new taxes levied by the city, including a hotel tax.

This is a huge cost to the city of Toronto. All levels of government have to be part of it.

But Brown refused to say whether a Conservative government would upload social housing back to the province, reversing the downloading of former PC premier Mike Harris.

Thats not an ask right now of the city. Theyre looking for help on paying for the cost. I certainly didnt have a conversation about uploading with Mayor Tory. He was looking at help on a number of fronts, he said.

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Toronto Island Park officials say emergency plans for evacuation are in place for island residents if a forecast heavy downpour causes flooding or creates dangerous living conditions.

The heavy rainfall, possible flooding and storm activity may make for dangerous living conditions for the approximately 700 residents living on the Toronto islands, according to Matthew Cutler, spokesperson for the citys Parks, Forestry and Recreation department.

If the storm and flooding make it unsafe, then we will make the decision to evacuate the residents, said Cutler.

According to city officials, a ferry will be stationed by the island side Wednesday night in case any residents want to leave their homes.

Sand, sandbags and shovels will be made available at three conspicuous locations along the roadway on Wards Island for any residents who wish to implement additional protection of their residences, the city said in a news release Wednesday.

Weather watch for Toronto

Toronto Island Park officials are also warning that the services and facilities at the park can either be closed or operate under restricted levels due to heavy rain expected in the city.

Facilities such as park washrooms and services such as the ferry rides can be closed or operate under reduced hours for the public.

Some parts of the park, such as the bathrooms, have already been flooded due to the high water levels, said Cutler.

There is no concern for public safetywe are just making sure the public knows about possible changes and what is available to them.

There are numerous low-lying sections of Toronto Island Park that are under risk of flooding. Some roads are currently closed in the Park as a result of pooling and ponding, the Park and Forestry department said in a news release.

Centreville Amusement Park located on Centre Island has also delayed its spring opening by a week due to the high water levels, according to Cutler.

While we were set to open the park for the 50th year on May 6th, we will be delaying it for a week due to safety concerns around water levels that are affecting some of our rides, the amusement park said in a statement.

Starting Thursday, park officials and the city will be working on installing armour stone on the north shore of Wards Island to prevent heavy waves from flooding the nearby electrical infrastructure.

The city says it will also be placing sand bags and pumps to disperse water from facilities and prevent erosion.

According to Cutler, park officials are monitoring the forecast and will notify the public with any future updates.

For now, we just want the public to know what to expect.

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Police in Belize have arrested two people in connection with the deaths of a Toronto woman and her American boyfriend.

Police found the bodies of 52-year-old Francesca Matus and her boyfriend, 36-year-old Drew DeVoursney, in a sugar cane field Monday. The couple disappeared after leaving a bar in the northern Belizean town of Corozal on April 25.

Police said they had been strangled. DeVoursneys body was on top of Matuss, their wrists were duct-taped, and both were in an advanced state of decomposition.

An officer with the Corozal police detachment confirmed Wednesday night that two suspects had been taken into custody.

Speaking to local media outlet 7 News Belize earlier in the day, police Supt. Dennis Arnold acknowledged only one suspect.

We detained him today, said Arnold, in an interview posted to the news outlets website on Tuesday. We are looking at some threats that (were) made.

Arnold said Matus had been threatened before she was killed, but that they werent death threats. Matus never reported such threats to police, he said.

But Arnold declined to say whether the suspect was a local, or if he knew Matus and DeVoursney prior to their murder.

At this point the investigation is still in its infancy stage and we are looking on that angle also, Arnold said. At this point we cannot say.

Police found Matuss abandoned car Sunday, about 15 kilometres from the bar.

Arnold wouldnt confirm whether theft was a possible motive.

What I could say is that the female had on her jewelry, but to say that theft was a motive, we cannot say at this point, he said.

Colin McGowan, owner of Socttys Bar, where Matus and DeVoursney were last seen, also told 7 News Belize that he witnessed the couple at the bar before they went missing. He said there were no problems while they were there and that they were happy and left together.

They were both very well-liked throughout the whole community. So it hit people hard, said McGowan. Something like this happens all over the world. Corozal is a beautiful town, very friendly town. So it hasnt shaken my sense of security. Its made me a little more cautious.

With files from Peter Goffin

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Peel police have issued a search warrant for two teens after a 19-year-old male was shot dead near a fast food chain restaurant in Mississauga last week.

On Thursday, police rushed to a Popeyes located in the Hurontario St and King St area after receiving a call for a shooting at around 3:35 p.m.

Witnesses indicated that after an altercation, 19-year-old Kamar McIntosh of Brampton, was shot.

McIntosh was transported to the hospital and later succumbed to his wounds.

According to police, two suspects fled the scene and are now wanted by Peels homicide squad in connection with a first-degree murder investigation.

The first suspect, Thulani Chizanga, 19, of Mississauga is described as a 59, male, 159 lbs with a thin build, with a mole on his lower lip and regularly wears glasses. Police say Chizanga is right handed, and has a tattoo on his left forearm of a 5-point Crown, Heart, K, and RIP Bonzo tattooed on his right forearm.

The second suspect, Shamar Lawson Meredith, 18, of no fixed address is described as a 60, male, 180 lbs with a thin build. Police say Meredith is right handed and has a mole on his right cheek.

Investigators say both males are considered armed and dangerous and are asking anyone with information on this incident to contact the Homicide and Missing Persons Bureau at (905) 453-2121, ext. 3205.

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The government of Ontario has announced a substantial $6 million increase to annual funding for college and university mental health services.

Provincial support of on-campus mental health care resources will rise from $9 million to $15 million per year, said Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development Deb Matthews on Wednesday.

We really do think that, by enhancing services right on campus, it will get people the care they need more quickly and in a way that meets their needs, Matthews told the Star.

We know that many students dont complete (post-secondary) because of mental health concerns, so this is also part of our determination to support students through to graduation.

Matthews said she has heard the call for enhanced on-campus mental health care from students, faculty and administrators alike, in every single meeting Ive had with (them).

Mental health professionals in Ontario say that the number of students seeking help, and the severity of issues they need help with, are growing.

The majority of mental health issues surface during a persons teens and early 20s. But, due to age restrictions on many mental health care programs, young people are often forced to leave services they have accessed for years, right around the time they start post-secondary education.

Its evident that universities are overwhelmed. Theres a huge increase in students wanting and needing to access mental health services, Fred Wagner of the Canadian Mental Health Association told the Star in February.

Many students, meanwhile, have complained of wait times, poorly advertised services and unsatisfactory relationships with care providers when seeking mental health care on campus.

Matthews said the money for campus mental health will be split amongst Ontarios 45 colleges and universities, though the method of deciding how those funds are allocated has yet to be determined.

This new money will bring the total provincial investment in post-secondary mental health to $15 million annually, said Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development Deb Matthews and Minister of Health Eric Hoskins.

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If youre the mayor of Toronto, as Ive written before, sooner or later the province will always screw you. Because it can, and it has its own priorities that are different than yours.

And so sooner or later, if youre the mayor of Toronto, you have to get into a war of words with the province about it. Because what else can you do?

Mel Lastman said of Mike Harris, everything he has touched has turned to crap. David Miller said Dalton McGuinty was being disgraceful. Rob Ford was furious over a last-minute blindsiding from Kathleen Wynne.

And now its John Torys turn to turn his rhetorical guns on the province and raise hell about their neglect. Tory has hauled out his signature move  holding lots of press conferences in different parts of the city to announce the same thing over and over to complain about the province stiffing Toronto by not chipping in to repair or build social housing. Premier Kathleen Wynne and her government had a chance to stand up for Toronto on transit and on housing. Instead, at least on the pages of this budget, they turned their backs, he said last week, outlining the theme of the week to come.

The man has a point.

It is hard to imagine the gall it took the premier to announce a whole suite of measures aimed at housing affordability and entirely neglect to address Torontos social housing among them. There are 181,000 people on the waiting list for Toronto Community Housing, and the buildings we have are in such disrepair that well need to close 1,000 units entirely before the end of 2018.

Theres this 10-year plan to fix the units that costs $2.6 billion, of which the city has paid or plans to pay about $900 million. The federal government has chipped in $23 million towards next years planned spending of $438 million in repairs. Kathleen Wynnes government has contributed next to nothing. And the provincial budget contained no new dollars for the cause.

This is unconscionable. Especially since those crumbling buildings were, for the most part, built by the provincial government before being shifted onto the citys books in the 1990s.

And especially since this failure to contribute comes just shortly after Wynne spiked John Torys grand road-toll plan to raise infrastructure money. She can claim  and she does  that the gas tax money she offered instead compensates, but it doesnt. It delivers less money, and is not adjustable by the city for its own needs, and unless Im misunderstanding, is earmarked specifically for transit.

Many of Torys critics like to offer a big on the other hand when he shouts at the province about this: hes spending a lot, mostly needlessly, to rebuild the Gardiner East and to dig a one-stop subway extension in Scarborough. In both cases, it appears to many of us, objectively better options are available that also happen to cost hundreds of millions of dollars less. Look, these critics say, theres your money for social housing, going into an elevated highway and an underground subway tunnel.

But Wynne cant really play that game, since her government shares responsibility for the Scarborough subway decision  she and her cabinet are as much to blame for saddling us with that money pit as Rob Ford and Karen Stintz and John Tory.

And then look at the reason she decided to stab the mayor in the back by reversing her support to him on toll roads after hed already staked his political credibility on implementing them. She feels like her road to re-election runs through the 905. Try selling those voters on the idea a highway into Toronto is a waste of money. And doing so after saying that road was too necessary to allow tolling on. And while spending billions to build and expand highways yourself.

Critics may have a point. Wynne has absolutely no standing to make that point.

Which hasnt stopped her from battling back at Tory, claiming hes essentially lying, and sending a cabinet minister down to city hall unannounced to ambush a photo-op Tory was holding with provincial Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown.

If its gonna be a war of words, both sides are gonna wage it.

It would almost be fun to watch, at least as much as this stuff is ever what you would call fun, except this war has actual civilian casualties. While theyre fighting, poor people in Toronto need places to live. Social housing is falling apart. This is a crisis.

Tory is right to shame the premier if shes decided to try to win reelection on the backs of Torontos poorest people. But while pointing the finger at the province may be necessary, it isnt sufficient. Tory also has an obligation, if the province is going to screw us, to find a way to pay the bills locally  either by raising new taxes or by shifting money from his other priorities.

Edward Keenan writes on city issues ekeenan@thestar.ca . Follow: @thekeenanwire

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It looked like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Now it sounds like the culmination of a distrustful relationship.

Following their electoral triumphs of 2014, the mayor and the premier pledged to compare notes at monthly meetings. Today they are barely on speaking terms  and speak of one another mostly in hostile terms.

At city hall, John Tory keeps badmouthing the provincial government for shortchanging Toronto in its latest budget. The mayor personally handed out pamphlets to Etobicoke voters lambasting the Liberals for failing to fund social housing.

At Queens Park, Kathleen Wynne keeps calling out Torys numbers as untruthful. The premier dispatched a Liberal cabinet minister to crash a mayoral event at city hall like a putative truth squad.

Those monthly summits havent happened since January, and the latest one was just cancelled. Instead of face time with the premier, the mayor has hosted Ontarios two opposition leaders at city hall who came calling with rival proposals.

How did the political alliance between Wynne and Tory unravel? And is Toronto paying a price for the breakdown in communications?

Blame the premier for erecting roadblocks to the mayors ambitious plan for road tolls on the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway in January. By pulling the road out from under him, the premier broke the bond of trust that had developed since Tory became mayor, when they couldnt stop singing each others praises.

Back then, the two former adversaries basked in their high popularity ratings, bonded over their shared objectives, and showed genuine personal affection. Perhaps now, with both politicians in pre-election mode  municipal and provincial campaigns loom next year  they have become irresistible targets of mutually assured destruction.

Hallelujah, Wynne exulted in late 2014 when she heard that Tory had vanquished Doug Ford in the last mayoral race. The first of their monthly meetings was a celebratory affair.

The Wynne-Tory byplay goes back to 2007 when Tory  then leader of the provincial Progressive Conservatives  decided to run in her Don Valley West riding. Wynne beat back his challenge, winning Torys grudging respect.

Years later, having clawed their way to the top, each in their own way, the two leaders set aside their old rivalry by resolving on close ties. Then came the bump in the road called road tolls.

Wynne had long been privately supportive and publicly receptive at first. But Patrick Brown, who holds Torys old job as Ontario PC leader, took direct aim at the proposal, echoed by NDP Leader Andrea Horwath.

Down in the polls, tolls turned out to be a crash-and-burn strategy Wynne could hardly afford politically. Boxed in by the opposition, hemmed in by her own suburban Liberal MPPs feeling the heat, Wynne second-guessed herself  and told Tory shed had second thoughts.

After sandbagging the mayor on tolls, the premier tried to pacify him by handing over roughly the same amount of cash hed been banking on. But the mayor complained bitterly that he was tired of being treated like a supplicant in short pants, and hasnt stopped seething since.

What started as a war of words has turned into a fight over figures. While the premier insists Toronto has been fully compensated  her idea of a Wynne-win  she seems oblivious to the reality that political slights arent so easily soothed.

Arcane accounting disputes between Toronto mayors and provincial premiers are nothing new. Mel Lastman rained fury upon Mike Harris in the 1990s over amalgamation. David Miller ran ad campaigns attacking Dalton McGuinty for delaying transit funding. Rob Ford derailed the Miller-McGuinty LRT plan by saddling us with a Scarborough subway.

This dispute is personal  and not just between the mayor and the premier. Much of his brain trust has prior connections to Queens Park, and is loath to be suckered.

City manager Peter Wallace is Wynnes former cabinet secretary and deputy minister of finance, now parsing the spring budget on the mayors behalf. Siri Agrell, the mayors strategy director, once wrote speeches for Wynne.

On the other side, Brad Duguid is also caught in the middle. As a cabinet minister he works for Wynne  but he also worked hard in the mayoral campaign to help Tory win, and remains close to him.

How low will it go?

Tory took shots at Wynne presuming impunity, confident that her continuing unpopularity makes her an easy target. But the premier has pushed back she may seem like a lame duck, but refuses to be a sitting duck.

Cooler heads will likely prevail. While flirting with Wynnes political rivals, Tory well remembers that the PC and NDP leaders bear much of the blame for sidelining his proposed road tolls.

To most voters, disputes between different levels of government are ultimately sterile quarrels, for there is only one taxpayer. And no amount of tap dancing by these four politicians  the mayor and the three provincial party leaders  can disguise their shameless chorus of support for a Scarborough subway that has become a runaway train, siphoning money from taxpayers and sucking money away from more worthy projects.

For all their rival rhetoric about truth in funding, time for a full confession about the snowballing costs of a subway extension whose ridership projections are melting away like the spring runoff. If Toronto deserves more money, it also merits less waste.

Martin Regg Cohns political column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. mcohn@thestar.ca , Twitter: @reggcohn

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NEW YORKMillionaire heir Robert Dursts current wife helped him cover up what happened to his long-vanished former spouse, new court papers say.

The allegations, made by his first wifes sisters, add to the swirl of accusations that has enveloped the New York real estate scion since Kathleen Durst was last seen in 1982. The former fugitive has long been eyed but never charged in her disappearance, but he has been charged in two other deaths in a saga that stretches through several states, multiple aliases and a chilling HBO documentary, The Jinx.

Kathleen Dursts sisters already were suing him. Now, theyre also taking aim at his second wife, Debrah Charatan, and a friend of his, Susan Giordano. Their lawyers declined to comment Wednesday on the allegations, filed in court this week.

Read more: Victim in Robert Durst case revealed damaging secret, film producer testifies

Charatan, a cold-blooded opportunist, conspired and agreed to help Durst conceal the killings of his former wife and confidante Susan Berman, the sisters lawsuit says.

Durst, who has been charged with shooting Berman to keep her quiet about his wifes fate, denies killing either woman.

The lawsuit maintains Charatan and Giordano know that he did, without specifying how or when they might have found out.

But it argues that Charatan, a real estate entrepreneur who lives with one of Dursts real estate lawyers, quietly married Durst in 2000 to shield their communications. She handled his finances and supplied him with money so he could lay low after an investigation into Kathleen Dursts disappearance began heating up around 1999, the suit says.

In return, Charatan reaped millions of dollars of Dursts roughly $100 million fortune, the suit says. His estranged family owns several New York skyscrapers and runs the World Trade Centers signature tower.

Giordano, who got $350,000 from Durst, also helped route money to him and agreed to store dozens of boxes of his documents to keep them out of sight, the suit says. Giordano has said she had no idea that anything in there was damaging until the boxes were examined by filmmakers for their 2015 HBO documentary miniseries.

The series featured Durst muttering to himself on a live microphone: What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course. He was arrested in Bermans 2000 death shortly before the final episode aired.

The claims against Charatan and Giordano, filed in suburban Mineola, were first reported by The New York Times.

Dursts criminal-case lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, said someone can file a lawsuit and write anything, casting the new claims as piling on. He declined to discuss Dursts dealings with his wife or Giordano, except to say hes very close with both.

Durst, 74, is jailed in the Berman case in Los Angeles.

In 2001, Durst was charged with killing a 71-year-old neighbour in Galveston, Texas, where Durst was living disguised as a mute woman. While conceding he chopped up neighbour Morris Blacks body and tossed it in the sea, Durst was acquitted of murder after testifying that he was defending himself.

A New York judge recently declared Kathleen Durst dead as of 1987, beyond the states legal time limit for a wrongful-death suit. The sisters case, which instead invokes a state law giving families the right to determine a loved ones burial, seeks at least $100 million.

But the point is to make sure we find out what happened to Kathie ... and to make sure these people are held responsible for their involvement, said the sisters lawyer, Robert Abrams.

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BEIRUTRussia, Iran and Turkey agreed to establish de-escalation zones in Syria, signing on to a Russian plan under which President Bashar Assads air force would halt flights over designated areas across the war-torn country.

The agreement, which a Russian delegate said would go into effect on Saturday, is the latest attempt to reduce violence in the Arab country. But the full details of the proposal were not made available and prospects for its success appeared bleak.

As officials from the three countries  Russia, Iran and Turkey  that back rival sides in the conflict signed the agreement at Syria talks in Kazakhstan on Thursday, some members of the Syrian opposition delegation shouted in protest and walked out of the conference room in Astana, the Kazakh capital.

The opposition is protesting Irans participation at the conference and role as a guarantor of the agreement, accusing it of fuelling the sectarian nature of the conflict that has killed some 400,000 people and displaced half the countrys population.

Iran is a country that is killing the Syrian people and the killer cannot be the rescuer, said Abu Osama Golani, a rebel commander who attended the gathering in Astana.

The walkout and the comments underline the huge difficulties of implementing such a deal. The Syrian government has said that although it will abide by the agreement, it would continue fighting terrorism wherever it exists, parlance for most armed rebel groups fighting government troops.

Read more:

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A previous ceasefire agreement signed in Astana on Dec. 30 helped reduce overall violence for several weeks but eventually collapsed. Other attempts at a ceasefire in Syria have all ended in failure.

Sponsors of the deal hope that safe zones would bring relief for hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians and encourage refugees to return. But officials have expressed skepticism, stressing that safe zones have not had an encouraging track record.

Asked earlier this year to comment on the idea of safe zones after it was raised by U.S. President Donald Trump, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pointed to tragic examples such as Srebrenica, a UN-protected enclave in the Bosnian war where 8,000 Muslim men and boys were massacred in 1995.

However, UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura described Thursdays agreement as a step in the right direction, expressing hope that the deal would boost UN-backed Syria peace talks in Geneva.

De Mistura said details of the Astana agreement would become clearer in the next two weeks, adding that the United Nations was very supportive of the deal.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the United States has reason to be cautious about the chances for success of the deal, though it appreciates the efforts by Russia and Turkey to help lower violence in Syria. She added that U.S. has concerns, including about Irans guarantor role in the Kazakhstan deal.

Irans activities in Syria have only contributed to the violence, not stopped it, and Irans unquestioning support for the Assad regime has perpetuated the misery of ordinary Syrians, she said.

The U.S. was represented at the talks in Kazakhstan though Nauert said it was neither a direct participant nor a party to the agreement.

Along with Trump, the presidents of Russia and Turkey have recently supported the idea of creating safe zones in Syria.

Meeting in the Russian resort town of Sochi on Wednesday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin expressed hope the Syrian government and rebels would adopt this latest proposal to de-escalate the conflict.

Putin said Russian and Syrian government jets would halt flights over the specified zones if all sides respect the ceasefire.

The Kazakhstan agreement calls for delineating zones where front lines between the Syrian government forces and the rebels would be frozen and fighting halted. The zones include the provinces of Idlib, areas north of Homs, the eastern Ghouta suburbs outside Damascus, and an area in the south of the country, according to a statement.

Turkeys foreign ministry suggested the scope was wider and would include the whole of Idlib province; parts of Latakia, Aleppo and Hama provinces; parts of Homs province; parts of Damascus and the East Ghouta region; and also parts of the southern Daraa and Quneitra provinces.

It was not clear how a ceasefire over such a broad and logistically complicated area would be achieved, or whether international observers would be sent to Syria to monitor its implementation.

The head of Russias delegation at the Kazakhstan talks, Alexander Lavrentyev, said the Syrian government would abide by the agreement, unless rebels inside those areas stage attacks.

As of the sixth of this month all military operations will be ceased, the Russian official told journalists in Astana. All Syrian flights over these areas will cease.

Lavrentyev said Turkey, Iran and Russia have agreed on the possibility of allowing international observers in case there is unanimity on that issue. He spoke at a press conference shortly after delegations of the three sponsor nations signed the agreement in the presence of de Mistura.

Military operations are likely to continue against members of al-Qaida-linked group known as the Levant Liberation Committee, which is active in areas where the fours zones are meant to be.

Iran and Russia have been among the strongest backers of Assad while Turkey is a main supporter of opposition groups that have been trying to remove him from power. Turkey and Russia are deeply entangled in the war in Syria, with each country having troops on the ground there.

Osama Abo Zayd, a spokesman for the Syrian military factions in Astana said the zones raise a number of questions, adding that Moscow still has no answers on how to deal with any violations from its ally Damascus or from Iran, which has a number of fighters on the ground in Syria on the governments side.

If this (negotiating) table does not lead to solutions, we will return to the gun, he said.

Separately, a Syrian monitoring group and an official with a U.S.-backed force said on Thursday that Kurdish-led fighters have captured all parts of a Tabqa, a northern town in Syria that was held by Daesh, also known as ISIS.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Daesh fighters withdrew from Tabqa and the nearby dam after reaching an agreement with the Syrian Democratic Forces to leave.

However, Brig. Gen. Hussam al-Awwak, an Arab spokesman for the SDF, told The Associated Press on Thursday that no such agreement was reached but that a corridor was opened for the extremists to leave the dam, which he said they still control.

SDF has been on the offensive in Tabqa since mid-April.

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The good news for Toronto animal activist Anita Krajnc is that shes been acquitted of the crime of giving water to a thirsty pig.

The bad news is that the judge hearing her case didnt accept her crucial argument  that sentient animals such as pigs are more than mere property.

Krajnc, 50, is co-founder of Toronto Pig Save, a group opposed to the use of cows, chickens and pigs as human food. Their tactic is what she calls bearing witness  peacefully protesting the transport of live animals to area slaughterhouses.

Sometime the protestors provide water to thirsty pigs jammed together in the trailer of a transport truck.

Thats what Krajnc was doing in June 2015 outside a Burlington slaughterhouse  reaching through the slats of a tractor-trailer to give water to a thirsty pig. But this time she was charged with criminal mischief.

Read more: Toronto woman who gave water to pigs headed to slaughter found not guilty

Legally, the case centred on whether Krajncs offer of water (which she freely admitted) interfered with an owners right to enjoy his property. Her lawyers focused on the property angle arguing that sentient animals are more than mere possessions and that they therefore have some rights of their own.

This is part of a strategy among some activists to argue that animals should be treated as persons under the law  that is, that they should enjoy certain rights, including the right to be represented in court.

Thats not as radical as it might seem. Legally, inanimate corporations are treated as persons possessed of rights. Why not live animals?

But this was not an argument that impressed the judge in Krajncs case. Justice David Harris said Thursday that he didnt accept pigs as legal persons. He said he heard no convincing evidence that they are anything but property.

He also chided Krajncs defence for comparing her to famous freedom fighters, such as Indias Mahatma Gandhi and South Africas Nelson Mandela, suggesting (according to a CBC live blog of the decision) that the motive was to burnish her reputation on social media.

He acquitted Krajnc, he said, simply because he wasnt satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that her provision of water to a pig had interfered with the owners ability to enjoy his property  which in this case meant having it slaughtered.

In a telephone interview later, Krajnc said she found the judges insistence that pigs are property disappointing.

I just think thats where we need to make progress, she said.

Krajnc is not the only animal activist in her family. Her sister Susan made headlines a decade ago when she led opposition to the culling of cormorants on Lake Ontario.

But Anita said her real political awakening began in the 1990s when she saw The Animals Film, a documentary on the abuses of the animal industry.

In 2006, while teaching a political studies course on social movement tactics at Kingstons Queens University, she became a vegan. In 2010, while walking her dog in Toronto, she noticed the tractor-trailer loads of hogs being carted to slaughter. The idea of Toronto Pig Save was born.

Her legal troubles are not over. Last fall, she was charged with obstructing police after a truck carrying pigs crashed near the Burlington slaughterhouse killing 42 of them. Krajnc was not blamed for the crash (the trucks driver was charged with careless driving). But she was charged after Pig Save protestors at the scene crossed police lines in an effort to convince slaughterhouse workers to release some of the injured hogs to a pig sanctuary.

Until that case comes to trial, Krajnc is back at work on the animal vigils, one per week for each of pigs, cows and chickens.

One of the unintended consequences of leveling criminal charges against her is that the Pig Save movement has taken off. Last year, there were 50 such groups in North America. Now, she said, there are 150.

The idea of bearing witness is so simple, she said. But when you see the live animal it makes a real impact.

Thomas Walkom appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

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The idea that multiculturalism is bad for women is a popular canard. For example, a column by Sheema Khan about discriminatory practices (imported) from the Indian subcontinent into North America in the Globe and Mail last week warns that multicultural sensitivities should never override gender equality, nor should they censor the expression of strong opinions.

The insinuation is that Canadians fears about offending racial minorities are stifling vital criticism of practices that harm women.

However, far from being shielded by misplaced multicultural sensitivities, the discriminatory practices imagined to be rife in Muslim and South Asian communities are consistently singled out for heightened attention and exceptional condemnation  sustaining the stigmatizing myth that these communities are remarkably unsafe for women.

A study of the Globe and Mail by communication studies professor Yasmin Jiwani found 66 articles alone on the murder case of the three teenage Shafia sisters and their stepmother (which was widely represented as an honour killing), but only 59 on the murder of women and domestic violence in general from 2005 to 2012.

Canadas Citizenship Guide proclaims that Canadas openness and generosity do not extend to barbaric cultural practices (like) honour killings, female genital mutilation, and forced marriage, and the Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act is specifically dedicated to penalizing honour killing, forced marriage, and polygamy. (Female genital cutting (FGC), and taking a child outside of Canada for FGC, are also both criminalized in Canadian law.)

Familial femicides of Muslim girls, such as the Shafia sisters and Aqsa Parvez, have been decried by judges and politicians as horrible, evil, and barbaric atrocities that have no place in Canada.

It is as if Canada is not a place where one woman is killed by her partner every six days; where 362,000 children witness or experience family violence every year; where police dismiss thousands of sexual assault complaints every year as unfounded because of institutional internalization of rape myths; where 73 per cent of women who sought refuge from abuse at shelters last winter were turned away because there wasnt enough room; where the law of provocation has reduced sentences for men who kill their wives or girlfriends because they were provoked into it  disproportionately excusing the violence of white men.

A study from the University of Ottawa discovered that white men were more than twice as likely to successfully claim the defence in court as racialized men.

As University of California, Berkeley law professor Leti Volpp observes, Part of the reason many believe the cultures of the Third World or immigrant communities are so much more sexist than Western ones is that incidents of sexual violence in the West are frequently thought to reflect the behaviour of a few deviants  rather than as part of our culture. In contrast, incidents of violence in the Third World or immigrant communities are thought to characterize the cultures of entire nations.

Canada does not need to import misogyny from the Indian subcontinent, or any other region stereotyped as a source of barbaric cultural practices  it is already endemic here. The pretence that it isnt  that the issue is their culture and not ours  permits Canada to avoid its own heavy responsibility for violence against women.

It allows us to discount all the social and economic reasons that racialized women are vulnerable to violence, reasons that have little to do with their culture but a great deal to do with the disadvantages they face in Canadian society. These disadvantages include the fear of poverty and homelessness (on average, racialized women earn 32 per cent less than non-racialized men); the fear of being further traumatized by racist police; the fear of jeopardizing immigration status by leaving an abusive situation.

And it perpetuates the dangerous idea that the way to save women is by punishing their cultures and their families and their communities  even against the protests of the very same women these rescue initiatives are claiming to help.

For instance, the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario (SALCO) has objected that the government deliberately misused the data from SALCOs recent study on forced marriages in Canada to justify the criminalization of forced marriage in the Barbaric Cultural Practices Act.

Forced marriage survivors have indicated they would be hesitant to seek any outside assistance if this would result in criminal and subsequent immigration consequences for family members, the clinic wrote.

The problem is not that multicultural sensitivities are prohibiting Canadians from criticizing the oppressiveness of others, but that multicultural mythologies prevent Canadians from seeing their own.

Azeezah Kanji is a legal analyst based in Toronto. She writes in the Star every other Thursday.

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Anheuser-Busch Inbev (BUD) - Get Free Report announced that it purchased North Carolina-based craft beer brewer Wicked Weed for an undisclosed amount. Wicked Weed has created nearly 600 different beers since it was established in 2012.

The brand will join Stella Artois, Devil's Backbone, Shock Top, Blue Point and other brands in Anheuser-Busch's "high end" business unit, which was founded in 2015.

"These guys did not buy us to squash us and blow all of our brands out and change who we are.They bought us because they believe in who we are, and I think consumers are going to find that in time, as well," founder Walt Dickinson said, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times.

The company reported that it had increased first quarter net profits to $1.41 billion from $132 million a year ago after it integrated former rival and acquisition SABMiller into the fold. Revenue for the quarter rose 35% year over year to $12.92 billion.

The company reported core profit growth of 5.8% year over year, ahead of Wall Street's expectations of 3.3% growth in the first quarter.

Anheuser-Busch shares were up 5.45% to $119.15 per share in afternoon trading Thursday.

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Last night's debate between the two French candidates who will face each other in Sunday's runoff was unusually bitter for a country more accustomed to polite disagreement. According to opinion polls (if you believe them), centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron won the debate over extremist Marine Le Pen.

"Your strategy is simply to tell a lot of lies and list everything that doesn't work in this country, but you don't propose any solution," Macron told Le Pen. In turn, she accused him of being "flat on his stomach," prostrate in front of Germany, the trade unions and the banks, dubbing him the candidate of "savage globalization."

If this coming Sunday's election is really a choice between breaking up the eurozone and the European Union or further integration, it looks like integration is winning.

In a poll by Elabe quoted by Reuters, 63% of viewers believed Macron was more convincing than Le Pen in last night's debate. In surveys questioning voters about their intentions, he is projected to win Sunday's vote by a margin of 20 percentage points.

The Sentix institute's sentiment index, released earlier in the week, showed that the percentage of investors expecting a breakup of the euro had fallen to 13.6% at the end of April from 18.7% at the end of March. For France, the probability of exiting the euro fell to 3.5% compared to a high of 8.4% in February.

European markets liked the debate, too, judging by their strength in early-morning trading. France's CAC-40 hit its highest level since January 2008, while Germany's DAX hit a new record high.

Still, investors should remember the lessons of Brexit and the victory of Donald Trump: both unexpected, both deeply divisive. Macron is not the winning candidate until the results have been counted.

If he does win, there will be a period of hope that he can bring in reforms, and this will likely boost French stocks. Additional tailwinds could come from an eurozone economy that is now growing at a faster pace than the U.S. and the U.K. (take that, Brexit!).

How to play a Macron victory? Equity strategists at Societe Generale have a "very French basket" of stocks that would benefit the most from his victory due to his electoral program involving deregulation of the labor market and corporate tax cuts to 25% from the current 33.3%.

In the industrials sector, they include Thales (THLEY) , Vinci (VCISY) , Eiffage (EFGSY) , Saint-Gobain (CODGF) and Air France-KLM (AFLYY) . In the auto and consumer sector, the strategists recommend Renault (RNSDF) , Peugeot Citroen (PUGOY) , Carrefour (CRRFY) and TF1 (TVFCF) .

Among financials, they recommend BNP Paribas (BNPQY) , Credit Agricole (CRARY) and Icade, which is only listed in Paris. They also like Internet and telecommunications services provider Iliad ILIAY and utility firm Veolia Environment (VEOEY) .

Plus, small- and mid-cap French companies, which are more domestically oriented, would benefit if Macron manages to push through a more pro-business environment. For investors who are not afraid of risk and are seeking long-term exposure to France, this could turn out to be a very good opportunity to stock up.

(This article originally appeared at 9:00 ET on Real Money, our premium site for active traders. Click here to get great columns like this from Antonia Oprita, Jim Cramer and other writers even earlier in the trading day.)

Employees of TheStreet are restricted from trading individual securities. Societe Generale is an investment bank and may hold positions in some, or all, of the securities mentioned in this article.
Alphabet's Google unit (GOOGL) - Get Free Report said Thursday that it will pay $334 million, or 306 million euros to settle an issue with Italy's tax authority.

Italian tax police alleged last year that Google had not paid about 1 billion euros of Italian revenue between 2009 and 2013.

"In addition to the taxes already paid in Italy during those years, Google will pay another 306 million euros," a Google spokeswoman told Reuters.

Other European countries have also accused Google of avoiding taxes by booking income earned in higher-taxing markets through its Ireland unit, where taxes are lower.
CEOs are on board with Trump's plan to cut corporate taxes -- the rest of America not so much.

A large majority of corporate executives think tax reform is the best way to accelerate economic growth, according to a new Business Roundtable survey. A separate survey from Morning Consult and Politico found the broader electorate has a more mixed opinion on whether American companies should pay less in taxes.

Seventy-one percent of CEOs think corporate tax reform is a big deal for boosting the economy, and 90% say delaying tax overhauls will hurt economic growth, according to the Business Roundtable survey.

Thirty-seven percent of registered voters say the 15% corporate tax rate the Trump administration has proposed is a good idea, and 38% say it's not. About a quarter are undecided, according to Morning Consult.

That there would be a divide between the business community and the broader public does not exactly come as a surprise. Still, it highlights the tightrope Washington lawmakers are walking in devising a tax plan that does more than reward companies and the wealthy.

The White House last week unveiled a set of principles for tax reform that includes deep cuts in business taxes and observers say would most benefit the rich. Trump reiterated a campaign trail proposal to cut the corporate tax rate to 15% from 35% and proposed instituting a one-time repatriation tax, taxing pass-through businesses as the corporate rate and simplifying the individual tax code to be cut from seven brackets to three.

"We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to do something really big," said National Economic Council director Gary Cohn in a briefing announcing the proposal.

The Morning Consult survey suggests voters are on board with some parts of the Trump tax plan, but not overwhelmingly.

Two-thirds of respondents agree with pass-through businesses being taxed at the 15% corporate rate instead of the nearly 40% individual one. More than half of respondents said the estate tax, which taxes inherited wealth, should be eliminated and that a repatriation holiday for foreign profits is a good idea.

Overall, Americans are lukewarm on Trump's tax blueprint -- 48% of respondents said it is a good place to start on tax reform, 31% said should it be scrapped entirely and 20% said they didn't know.

To be sure, lawmakers are in the very beginning stages of tax reform negotiations.

The one-page set of ideas the White House unveiled last week is nowhere near complete legislation and is lacking in even basic details. Analysts say in its current form it would balloon the deficit, with Goldman Sachs this week estimating that the pass-through rate drop alone would result in a $2 trillion drop in revenues over a decade.

"We're all on the same page," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said of the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans on taxes in an interview this week. "On 80% of the details, we're in agreement. Another 20% we need to work through."

Interested in a topic even wonkier than tax policy? Try Etherium vs. Bitcoin on RealMoney.

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President Trump will be visiting Israel, the Vatican and Saudi Arabia in his first trip overseas as president, a senior administration official said Thursday.

Trump is also scheduled to attend the NATO meeting in Brussels on May 25 and the Group of 7 meeting in Sicily on May 26.

Domestically, Trump is scheduled to make his first trip back to his home town of New York City today to meet with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Turnbull and Trump will attend a ceremony honoring the 75th anniversary Battle of the Coral Sea which U.S. and Australian naval forces jointly won in the South Pacific.
The Pentagon expects to send to the White House a proposal that will outline a plan for an enduring U.S. presence in Afghanistan, which will likely include a request for more troops, the Associated Press reports.

Military officials say they need more troops to tackle the U.S.'s training and advisory mission. Assistant Defense Secretary for Special Operation Theresa Whelan told senators on Thursday that the plan is intended to adjust the U.S.'s approach in the Middle Eastern country and break a stalemate, AP added.
Nabors Industries Ltd. provides drilling and drilling-related services for land-based and offshore oil and natural gas wells. The company operates through five segments: U.S. Drilling, Canada Drilling, International Drilling, Drilling Solutions, and Rig Technologies. It provides tubular running, wellbore placement, directional drilling, measurement-while-drilling (MWD), equipment manufacturing, and rig instrumentation services; and logging-while-drilling systems and services, as well as drilling optimization software. The company also offers REVit, an automated real time stick-slip mitigation system; ROCKit, a directional steering control system; SmartNAV, a collaborative guidance and advisory platform; SmartSLIDE, an advanced directional steering control system; and RigCLOUD, which provides the tools and infrastructure to integrate applications to deliver real-time insight into operations across the rig fleet. In addition, it manufactures and sells top drives, catwalks, wrenches, drawworks, and other drilling related equipment, such as robotic systems and downhole tools; and provides aftermarket sales and services for the installed base of its equipment. As of December 31, 2021, the company marketed approximately 301 rigs for land-based drilling operations in the United States, Canada, and in 20 other countries worldwide; and 29 rigs for offshore platform drilling operations in the United States and internationally. Nabors Industries Ltd. was founded in 1952 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.
Vipshop Holdings Limited operates online platforms for various brands in the People's Republic of China. It operates in Vip.com, Shan Shan Outlets, and Others segments. The company offers women's apparel, such as casual wear, jeans, dresses, outerwear, lingerie, pajamas, and maternity clothes; men's apparel comprising casual and smart-casual T-shirts, polo shirts, jackets, pants, and underwear; and skin care and cosmetic products, including cleansers, lotions, face and body creams, face masks, sunscreen, foundations, lipsticks, eye shadows, and other cosmetics-related items. It also provides shoes and bags, which comprises casual and formal shoes, purses, satchels, luggage, duffel bags, and wallets; handbags; apparel, gears and accessories, furnishings and decor, toys, and games for boys, girls, infants, and toddlers; sportswear, sports gear, and footwear for various sporting activities; home furnishings, such as bed and bath products, home decor, kitchen and tabletop items, and home appliances; and consumer electronic products. In addition, the company offers food and snacks, beverages, fresh produce, and pet goods; beauty products; and internet finance services, including consumer and supplier financing, and microcredit. Vipshop Holdings Limited provides its branded products through its vip.com and vipshop.com online platforms, as well as through its internet website and cellular phone application. Further, it offers warehousing, logistics, product procurement, research and development, technology development, and consulting services; software development and information technology support solutions; and supply chain services. Vipshop Holdings Limited was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Guangzhou, the People's Republic of China.
The growth of a stable real estate market and creation of a sustainable small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector are fundamental to the success of Saudi Arabias Vision 2030, said government leaders and financial executives.



They were attending the second and final day of the 12th Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference in Riyadh yesterday (May 3), held in partnership with the Saudi Ministry of Finance.



Majed bin Abdullah Al-Hogail, Minister of Housing, delivered Day 2s opening keynote address and outlined the countrys ambitious plans to facilitate the sufficient supply and demand necessary to ensure a sustainably robust real estate market.



At the beginning of 2017, Saudi Arabia launched a housing programme designed to hand over up to 120,000 units to citizens over the year, to complement the goals of Vision 2030. The Sakani programme is part of efforts to support the housing needs of around 280,000 families by the Ministry of Housing.



Senior executives from Saudi Arabias real estate sector took part in a panel discussion, including Abdulrahman Bajunaid, chief executive officer of Rafal Real Estate Development Company; Imad Damrah, managing director KSA of Colliers International; and Faisal Shaker, acting chief investment officer of Jabal Omar Development Company.



As well as real estate, the Kingdoms Vision 2030 outlines a key role for small businesses and new start-ups. One of the stated goals of the programme is to increase the SME contribution to GDP from 20 percent to 35 percent.



Dr Ghassan Ahmed Al Sulaiman, Governor, General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises, spoke about the need for the kingdoms smaller businesses to be given the necessary support to succeed in increasingly competitive domestic and international markets.



Also onstage to discuss the SME topic were Hanouf Alajmi, entrepreneur selection and growth manager at Endeavor Saudi; Nawaf Attaf Al Sahhaf, chief executive officer of Badir Program for Technology Incubators; Layth Al-Shaiban, country general manager  Saudi Arabia at Qatar National Bank; and Craig Smith, chief executive officer, Dharan Techno Valley Company.



The conference closed with a panel discussion on the countrys equity capital markets, with topics covering Saudi Aramcos much-anticipated IPO and other privatisations.



Panellists included Bader Al-Ghanim, executive vice president and head of Mena asset management at Global Investment House; Faris Al Ghannam, head of investment banking advisory with HSBC Saudi Arabia; Sultan Al Nugali, head of asset management at Al Bilad Capital; Irfan Ellam, head of equity research with NCB Capital; Aasim Qureshi, managing director at QNB Capital; and Abdullah Shahadah, head of asset management, GIB Capital.



More than 1,800 delegates registered to attend the conference, which saw presentations and interviews with senior ministers from the kingdom, including Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Minister of Finance; Dr Ahmed Abdulkarim Alkholifey, Governor, Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority and CEOs and executives from some of the worlds largest banks.



Mohamed Kharboush, conference director, Euromoney Conferences, said: This years Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference has provided in-depth insight into the momentum that is building to support the goals of Vision 2030, as well as the challenges that lie ahead. There have been remarkable contributions from thought leaders and senior executives from within Saudi Arabia and from across the global banking industry. We look forward to returning to the Kingdom for the 13th edition in 2018.



The largest financial conference of its kind in the kingdom, the Euromoney Saudi Arabia Conference continues to drive economic debate and essential insight for financiers from Saudi Arabia and around the world. - TradeArabia News Service


Saudi Arabia has announced a plan to launch the SAP Cloud Hub to support the acceleration of Saudi Vision 2030 and meet the Kingdoms digital transformation goals.

SAP announced the launch plan in collaboration with the Saudi Ministry of Communication and Information Technology represented by the National Digitization Office during an event in the presence of King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during her trade mission to the Kingdom.



The investment of SR285 million ($76 million) will happen over a period of four years, and the SAP Cloud Hub will comprise of four key pillars: the establishment of a public cloud data center in the Kingdom; an open platform for local developers; a co-innovation center to support Saudi start-ups and customers from both large enterprises and small- and medium-sized enterprises, and further localization of SAP solutions to support Saudis economic diversification goals and government investment.



Saudi Vision 2030 and National Transformation Program 2020 call on government agencies to deliver and use more online and mobile technology solutions, especially in the areas of enhancing the citizen experience, talent development, and procurement.



Saudis public and private sector organizations need to adopt latest technology innovations to enable new digital business models and enhance the Kingdoms economic competitiveness. In a digital economy era, more public-private partnerships and co-innovation are crucial to fuel a diversified economy and spark the next wave of Saudi talent and entrepreneurship, said Deema Al-Yahya, acting head of the National Digitization Office.



In this context, the National Transformation Program has outlined the SR285 billion government spending by 2020, driving public sector cloud adoption. Cloud solutions, running on a pay-as-you-go OPEX model, will be essential for driving Internet of Things and Smart Cities innovation across smart utilities, traffic, and security and defence.



As part of the announcement, the Ministry of Economy and Planning and Ministry of Communication and IT represented by the National Digitization Office will work with SAP to explore integrating the SAP Cloud Hub into the planned government cloud, in order to further enhance government efficiency, employee productivity, and citizen services.



Underlining the strong market opportunity, research firm Gartner projects that Menas public cloud services market will grow by 22 per cent to SR4.5 billion in 2017. Worldwide, 69 per cent of CIOs are making significant cloud investments, said an Oxford Economics report.



SAP is the first international software provider to launch a public cloud hub in Saudi Arabia by end of 2017. Organizations running solutions on the SAP local data center can securely analyze data in-country for real-time decision-making. Analysts agree the data center will make a major impact in supporting the transformation of Saudi industry verticals such as banking and finance, construction, manufacturing, public sector and retail.



With the SAP Cloud Hub, the Kingdom will accelerate government-led digital transformation and diversified economic growth. SAP is leveraging global best practices in supporting the Saudi government and organizations of all sizes and industries to use secure, localized cloud solutions to simplify operations, cut costs, and drive agile business models, and unprecedented collaboration, commented Ahmed Al-Faifi, managing director, SAP Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen.  TradeArabia News Service
Batelco Group, a top regional telecom group, has reported gross revenues of BD89.7 million ($237.9 million) for the first quarter (Q1) of the year, marking a marginal one per cent decrease year-on-year and 5 per cent drop over Q4 2016.



Revenues continue to be impacted by competitive pressure in a number of markets across the Group, it said in a statement.



EBITDA for the period was BD32.3 million ($85.7 million), representing a margin of 36 per cent. Despite an 8 per cent decline over Q1 2016, EBITDA increased by 7 per cent from the previous quarter. The Group continues to sustain its robust EBITDA margin as a result of its cost containment programmes.



For the period, the Group net profit was BD8.2 million ($21.8 million); a 14 per cent decline compared to Q1 2016 but up by 58 per cent over the previous quarter. Net profit during Q1 2017 was impacted by a BD1.5 million ($4 million) share of loss from the companys associate in Yemen, the statement said.



The Groups balance sheet continues to be strong with net assets of BD525.8 million ($1,394.7 million) and substantial cash and bank balances of BD180.1 million ($477.7 million). Earnings per share for the first quarter of 2017 are 4.9 fils.



The telcos subscriber base reached 9.2 million, an increase of 2 per cent year-on-year.



Batelco Group chairman Shaikh Mohamed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa said: We continue to be responsive to changes in the various markets we operate in and strive to deliver relevant services and solutions that most suit our customers in each location. Strengthening our digital capabilities remains high on the agenda in a number of the Groups operations; accordingly we are investing in fibre networks and the development of our digital solutions portfolio.



Batelco Bahrain aims to provide high speed internet for the majority of Bahrains homes, businesses and government bodies in line with the Government of Bahrains 4th National Telecom plan. We are focussed on playing our part in ensuring that Bahrain is among the best connected countries in the wider region, Shaikh Mohamed added.



Batelco Group CEO Ihab Hinnawi said that customers needs continue to evolve in line with global trends towards a digital world marked by smart home and smart city living.



This is reflected by growing subscriber numbers for mobility and broadband in a number of our operations, leading to a 2 per cent overall increase in the groups customer base compared to 2016, he said.



It is pleasing to note that Batelco Bahrain posted YoY increases in fixed and broadband customers of 4 per cent and 33 per cent respectively.



We are also delighted to note that Dhiraagu, our operation in the Maldives continues to report growing customer numbers with 5 per cent and 8 per cent YoY increases in mobile and broadband subscribers. Similarly, Sure in the Channel Islands and Isle of Man reported increased YoY fixed line and broadband subscribers of 4 per cent and 8 per cent respectively.



We have a number of Group-wide initiatives in place as well as programmes specific to each geographic location. We endeavour to enable the best-in-class products, services and solutions for consumers and businesses and anticipate that these efforts will boost performance across the Group going forward, Hinnawi added.



For the period, 59 per cent of revenues and 54 per cent of EBITDA was attributable to operations outside of Bahrain, the statement said.



Hinnawi continued by stating that in Bahrain the availability of superfast fibre services is having a positive impact on customer numbers with broadband subscriber numbers up by 9 per cent over Q4 2016 and 33 per cent year over year.



Our fibre rollout continues to be very successful as we push to reach all areas of the Kingdom including new residential and business locations and replacing out of date infrastructure with the latest technologies, he explained.



Partnerships continue to be of high value to us and during the first quarter we announced a mobile network enhancement deal for 2017-2018 in collaboration with Ericsson. The agreement will have a huge impact on the user experience through improved Mobile internet coverage and service quality and furthermore, it will enable Batelco to start the journey to 5G and IoT by providing network virtualization services and improved 3G and LTE indoor capacity for customers.



Bahrain is a very cosmopolitan location with residents travelling far and wide; to support their communication need whilst on the move, Batelco now offers Data Roaming bolt-on services in over 50 locations, delivering unlimited Data at reasonable fixed rates. This service is proving to be very popular and we continue to add new countries regularly, noted Hinnawi.



Batelco Bahrains digitisation goals will continue to take high priority throughout 2017 as we develop our portfolio for all customers, with a strong emphasis on the evolving needs of the business sector in line with our role as the Kingdoms foremost enterprise solutions provider, added Hinnawi.



By building on the strength of the Group, through pooling of resources, technologies and expertise, we have the capability to enhance our competitiveness and boost customer numbers and financial performance. Batelcos teams throughout all our operations are committed to working together to deliver on the Groups strategic aims in order to exceed customer expectations and grow value for our shareholders, Shaikh Mohamed concluded.  TradeArabia News Service
- President Uhuru Kenyatta has received praises from Kakamega senetor Boni Khalwale

- Khalwale praised him for finally behaving like a democratic leader following the sucess of Jubilee Party nominations

- It is worth noting that most NASA-allied parties especially ODM experienced shambolic nominations

Ford Kenyas deputy leader Boni Khalwale heaped praises on President Uhuru Kenyatta on national TV on Thursday, May 4.

While part of a panel on party nominations in a TV interview, the Kakamega Senator Khalwale praised Uhuru on how he handled the Jubilee nominations.

The most important thing for me is to congratulate President Uhuru. He has demonstrated leadership by not being seen interfering with the outcome of the nominations,

READ ALSO: Mortuary attendant takes pictures with dead bodies, shares it on Facebook (photos)

Kakamega Senator Mike Sonko

READ ALSO: Kabogo breaks his silence after losing to Waititu in Jubilee primaries

"Knowing what Kabogo did for Uhuru when he was shortchanging Mudavadi, what Mbarire and Jamleck Kamau did for Uhuru yet Uhuru has not interfered with the outcome, he might finally becoming democratic after all. I really would like to congratulate him for that," said Khalwale.

Since the end of the party nominations, disputes have solely been handled by the partys appeals tribunal, and so far, 107 out of 500 cases filed by dissatisfied aspirants were solved.

Khalwales praises are a far cry to what might be said of the NASA allied party ,ODM ,nominations in which several politicians were controversially awarded nomination certificates.

READ ALSO: Maina Kamanda states his position after LOSING Starehe Jubilee ticket to Jaguar

Jubilee Party leaders Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto.

Subscribe to Tuko youtube channel to watch more interesting videos!

Top on the list are the controversial wins by Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyongo, Taita Taveta Governor John Mruttu and Migori Governor Okoth Obado.

In Nyongos case, hes been awarded the nomination certificate but the Political Parties Dispute Tribunal ruled against his win, saying the election was marred with irregularities. His opponent, Jack Ranguma was also declared the winner in the same election.

Mruttu was the first ODM governor to lose the nominations to a member of parliament but ODM ordered a repeat nomination exercise without preamble.

READ ALSO: Uhuru's Brookside rejected in Rift Valley

John Mruttu was the first ODM governor to lose nominations. The party ordered a repeat exercise.

READ ALSO: Yussuf Hassan declared WINNER of Kamkunji MP primaries

In Obados instance, he and his opponent, Ochillo Ayacko, were declared winners by different returning officers but it took the intervention of the party to come in and come to the conclusion that Obado won. It was rumoured that top ODM officials wanted Ayacko installed as the Migori governor.

In another instance, in previous TUKO.co.ke reports, Raila Odingas brother, Oburu, lost the Bondo parliamentary nominations only to be later declared the winner. It took the successful complaints of the actual winner, Gideon Ochanda, for him to be booted and Ochanda declared the winner.

In general, some of the controversial wins by some politicians were chalked up to having good relationships with the party leader.

READ ALSO: Jakoyo Midiwo sends CHILLING threat to Raila Odinga's party

ODM leader Raila Odinga

Among those believed to have benefited from these relationships are the Homa Bay and Siaya governors who were accused of rigging their way back into office.

Have something to add to this article? Send to news@tuko.co.ke

Watch how NASA named Raila Odinga its flag bearer:

Source: TUKO.co.ke
The Opposition has threatened to take the Government all the way to the Privy Council over o
Militants launched 52 attacks on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in ATO area in Donbas over the past day.

This is reported by the ATO press center.

In Mariupol direction, militants used 122mm and 82mm mortars, grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms to shell Ukrainian positions near Vodiane (16km north-west of Donetsk). In addition, the enemy fired at ATO troops near Pavlopol, using 120 mm and 82mm mortars, grenade launchers and heavy machine guns. Ukrainian strongholds outside Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol) and Novotroitske (32km south of Donetsk) came under grenade launcher and heavy machine gun fire.

In Donetsk direction, terrorists used 120mm and 82mm mortars, grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms to shell Avdiivka (18km north of Donetsk). Ukrainian positions outside Luhanske (59km north-east of Donetsk) came under 120mm mortar, antitank grenade launcher and heavy machine gun fire. Militants also launched attacks on ATO troops in Butovka coal mine (11.4km north-west of Donetsk) and Kamyanka (62km south of Donetsk).

In Luhansk direction, militants shelled Ukrainian positions near Krymske (42.5km north-west of Luhansk) and Novozvanivka (70km west of Luhansk), using 120mm and 82mm mortars, grenade launchers and heavy machine guns. ATO troops also came under antitank grenade launcher fire outside Lobachevo and Stanytsia Luhanska.

ish
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko held a phone conversation with President of Poland Andrzej Duda.

The Head of State congratulated the President of Poland on the 226th anniversary of the Constitution of Rzeczpospolita, the Presidents press service reported.

In the context of commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Vistula operation, President Petro Poroshenko expressed hope that the Polish government will adhere to the position of resolute condemnation of this crime of the communist regime that resulted in forced resettlement of 140 thousand Ukrainians.

The President condemned the incident on dismantling the Ukrainian monument that took place on April 26 in Hruszowice village near Przemysl.

In his turn, Andrzej Duda promised to consider this incident personally and assess it properly in order to prevent the recurrence in the future.

The parties agreed to coordinate steps on legalization of all burial sites both in Ukraine and Poland to ensure their proper protection at the state level under the bilateral agreement on preservation of memorial sites.

Petro Poroshenko invited Andrzej Duda to make a visit to Ukraine this year.

ish
TV towers will be built in Bakhmutovka and Pokrovsk until the end of 2017, which will promote broadcasting Ukrainian channels in Donbas.

State Secretary of the Information Policy Ministry Artem Bidenko said this on the air of TV Channel 5.

"One TV tower will be built this year in Bakhmutovka in Luhansk region, which will close the "white spot" and we will remove the opportunity to listen or watch the terrorist TV or radio stations. The second "white spot" will be solved by building a tower in Pokrovsk," he said.

ish
UNICEF/Gilbertson VII

NEW YORK / GENEVA, 4 May 2017  Nearly 75,000 refugees and migrants, including an estimated 24,600 children, currently stranded in Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary and the Western Balkans are at risk of psychosocial distress caused by living in a protracted state of limbo, UNICEF warned today. Despite having a legitimate right to join families in destination countries in Western Europe, like Germany or Sweden, most stranded asylum seekers do not know whether or when they will be permitted to move forward.



The situation is particularly acute for single mothers and children stuck in Greece or the Balkans waiting for reunification with family members in other EU countries. In many cases, adult males are the first family members to make the trip to Europe, with the rest of the family following later. But with the 2016 border closures and implementation of the EU-Turkey statement, other family members are being held up in transit countries from where they must apply for family reunification with their loved ones  a process that typically takes between 10 months and two years.



We are seeing single mothers and children stranded in Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria who have not seen their husbands and fathers for months or even years, said Afshan Khan, UNICEF Regional Director and Special Coordinator for the Refugee and Migrant Crisis in Europe. The family reunification process is slow, and its outcome uncertain, and it is this uncertainty which can cause significant emotional distress and anxiety for children and families, setting them back for years to come.



UNICEF and its partners in Greece are monitoring mental health and general depression among single mothers and children waiting for family reunification and providing psychosocial support. Many single mothers are feeling stuck and seem to have lost motivation, said Sofia Tzelepi a lawyer working with UNICEF partner Solidarity Now. Their emotional state affects their children.



Most of the family reunification requests originate from children and separated family members stranded in Greece, but because of the caseload and involvement of at least two EU member states, the process can be painstakingly slow. In 2016, nearly 5,000 family reunification requests, out of which 700 from unaccompanied and separated children, were made from Greece, with only 1,107 successful applicants having reached their destination country by the end of the year. Meanwhile, the number of refugees and migrants stranded in Greece, Hungary and the Western Balkans continues to grow  increasing by around 60 per cent over the past year from 47,000 in March 2016 to nearly 80,000 at the end of April.



Keeping families together is the best way to ensure that children are protected, which is why the family reunification process for refugee and migrant children is so important, said Khan. With the number of those stranded continuing to rise, it is incumbent on member states to alleviate procedural bottlenecks so that families can get back together as quickly as possible.



UNICEF continues to provide psychosocial support to refugee and migrant children and families in Greece and the Western Balkans, including:

- Greece: support for 11 Child and Family Support Hubs (blue dots) and offering psychological and mental health services in Athens and five open sites across the Attica region;

- Bulgaria: training on the protection of refugee and migrant children for the Border Police, Migration Directorate and child protection departments in the border areas with Turkey; and providing psychosocial support through newly established Child and Family Support Hubs.

- Serbia: support for child friendly spaces and state social services across the country;

- The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: offering psychosocial support to children and mothers in Child and Family Support Hubs in Gevgelija and Tabanovce.

- Croatia: offering psychosocial support for children through child-friendly centre in Zagreb.

- Slovenia: providing technical support to the Government in addressing key gaps in the child protection system.

###

Notes to Editors:

Download photos, video and b-roll here: http://uni.cf/2p8ojzH

UNICEFs GLOBAL POLICY ASKS FOR CHILDREN ON THE MOVE

1. Protect child refugees and migrants, particularly unaccompanied children, from exploitation and violence

2. End the detention of children seeking refugee status or migrating

3. Keep families together as the best way to protect children and give children legal status

4. Keep all refugee and migrant children learning and give them access to health and other quality services

5. Press for action on the underlying causes of large scale movements of refugees and migrants

6. Promote measures to combat xenophobia, discrimination and marginalization in countries of transit and destination
UNICEF/ Syria 2016/ Ranim Al- Malek

DAMASCUS/BUENOS AIRES, 2 May 2017  UNICEF has installed 20 new prefabricated classrooms in Tartus, Syria, and rural areas of Damascus, thanks to a generous donation from the Leo Messi Foundation.



The donation has enabled more than 1,600 Syrian children affected by the conflict to attend school with fully furnished classrooms.

More than 60 per cent of children attending these schools have been displaced from their homes due to the fighting, said UNICEF. School provides children affected by war with a routine, structure, and a sense of normality in a situation that is far from normal. We are grateful to the generous support of the Leo Messi Foundation to help hundreds of children access education.



After more than six years of conflict, 1.75 million children in Syria are out of school and millions more are at risk of dropping out. One in three schools cannot be used as they have either been destroyed or are being used as shelters or for military purposes.



The functioning schools are overcrowded, and some have had to add shifts to accommodate more children, reducing study time and affecting the quality of education.

Over seven years, the Leo Messi Foundation has supported UNICEFs work for children in countries including Haiti and Nepal, among others.

###

Photos are available here

Photo credit: UNICEF/ Syria 2016/ Ranim Al- Malek

Location: Al- Ghizlaniya, Rural Damascus, Syria

Date: 28/12/2016

Epigraph: In Tartus and rural areas of Damascus, Syria, more than 1,600 children of all ages attend daily classes in the 20 prefabricated classrooms that were built with the donation from the Messi Foundation.
China is calling for restraint in the standoff over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, one day after North Korea complained the United States is pushing the region closer to nuclear war.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a phone call Wednesday with Philippine counterpart Rodrigo Duterte, urged all parties in the standoff to use restraint and return to the negotiating table as soon as possible, Chinese state radio reported.

In his daily briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, "We again urge all relevant parties to remain calm and exercise restraint, stop irritating each other [and] work hard to create an atmosphere for contact and dialogue between all sides."

North Korea said Tuesday military exercises in the region by the U.S. and its allies amounts to "reckless military provocation" that is "pushing the situation on the Korean peninsula closer to the brink of nuclear war."

The United States recently sent an aircraft carrier to Korean waters. In another show of strength, two U.S. bombers this week joined South Korean and Japanese military planes in regional training drills.



North Korea said the bombers conducted "a nuclear bomb dropping drill" in its territory, while saying Trump and "other U.S. warmongers are crying out for making a preemptive nuclear strike" on the country.

"The urgent task is to lower temperatures and resume talks," Shuang said about the aerial military exercises.

The United States has urged China, North Korea's only major ally, to do more to reign in the reclusive country. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has warned North Korea that the "era of strategic patience is over."

The participation of the two U.S. bombers in the exercises occurred as Trump unexpectedly said he would be "honored" to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un under the appropriate circumstances.

Tension on the Korean peninsula has been escalating for weeks, fueled by concern North Korea may conduct its sixth nuclear test in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
The U.S. government received hundreds of bids to build prototypes of a wall along the country's border with Mexico, according to federal contracting documents updated this week.

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol had previously declined to comment on how many companies ultimately submitted designs by the early April deadline. The agency did not provide a specific number in its notice, posted online Tuesday, noting only that the bids for concrete and non-concrete wall ideas each totaled in the "low hundreds."

The government just has funding for mock-ups of the designs. As part of the multi-phase process, up to 20 bidders will be selected as early as May 8 for a second round of competition on both versions. From there, the government says it will choose multiple companies to build 9-meter (30-feet) -long prototypes on a budget of $200,000 to $500,000 near the U.S.-Mexico border on federal land in southern California.

According to the government's timeline shared with contractors, the prototypes would be built this summer.

The submitted designs are not public, but some companies have shared their proposals, which included solar panels, artwork, and viewing platforms.

'From sea to shinning sea'

Though fencing and walls exist along parts of the border already, U.S. President Donald Trump has regularly championed the idea of building a wall along the southern border as a security measure. Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly last month clarified that a contiguous barrier from sea to shining sea  the Gulf of Mexico on the east end, and the Pacific Ocean on the west  would not be built.

Amid calls for staff reductions at other federal agencies, the administration has proposed substantial budget increases for homeland security and defense spending, but in recent days backed down on including funding for the wall in Congress' current spending bill.

Trump and budget director Mick Mulvaney said Tuesday that the agreed-upon budget would furnish hundreds of millions of dollars for the wall, but as highlighted by an Associated Press report early Wednesday, the bill provides money to border security efforts like repairing existing fencing and barriers built years ago under previous presidents. It does not fund any further construction.

Tuesday's update from CBP reiterates that the prototypes could be a starting point for the design of potential walls that could be considered for actual construction in the future, but that future construction will require new contracts and the availability of budget for that construction.
He's not welcome here.

Like most New Yorkers, Amanda Johnson doesn't mince words. The Resist Here director for the Working Families Party is organizing a protest in advance of President Donald Trump's visit to New York City. The visit will be his first return to the city since taking office.

On Thursday, the president will meet with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull aboard the USS Intrepid museum. The two will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea, a World War Two naval battle during which the United States and Australia collaborated.

WATCH: New York Prepares for Trump's Return

A recent poll shows that Trump still retains strong support among those Americans who voted for him. In his hometown, though, the president's homecoming is likely to be met with protests from locals.

"New Yorkers, we value diversity. We value all the languages that are spoken all over the city. And his policies are to deport these folks that are our neighbors, and to take away the healthcare of our friends and our family, and we want to show him that that's not OK here," said Johnson.



New York's citizens take action

As of this writing, 2,200 New Yorkers had signed on for Thursday's protest, which was being organized with several other social justice organizations, like Women's March and Common Defense.

Johnson isn't the only New Yorker taking action. Sother Teague and Ravi DeRossi have opened the aptly-named Coup bar in Manhattan, where patrons can donate to non-profits they believe are endangered by the new administration.

"I wanted to do something," said DeRossi in an AP interview. "Bars, it's what I know how to do. And I think if everybody ... looks at their career or one of their hobbies, they could probably figure out how to turn that into something that is working toward a more positive, political environment."

Inside Coup, the walls display phrases lifted from protest signs, "I've seen better cabinets at Ikea" and "We are all immigrants." Of course, the sentiments conveyed are not necessarily felt by those outside New York.

"Donald Trump was essentially a rural candidate who appealed to many, many lightly-populated counties and some small cities," noted Mark Muro, senior fellow at the Metropolitan Policy program at Brookings Institution.



An election of economies

Trump won 2,584 counties to Hillary Clinton's 472 counties. Despite the broader representation, a Brookings analysis found counties won by Trump contributed only 36 percent to the country's overall GDP. Clinton won fewer counties, but these counties contributed 64 percent to the GDP.

In regions where local economies were largely built around natural resources and rural activity, faded opportunities and harsh economic realities explain why Trump's campaign promises to bring back jobs resonated so highly. Muro described the economic split represented in the last election as "incredibly stark."

"Our findings really underscored that we have two economies in this country, and two very different economic bases for the ways people make a living," Muro told VOA News. "We have big, dense, often urban economies, often high-tech, with people living in cities and following, essentially, professional pathways. And we have other less urban places in which people are living much less densely, much more rurally, often not working at all."

He added another observation. "What will be important now will be consensus around economic programs that benefit both sides of the urban-rural divide. I'm thinking of things like research money, I'm thinking of workforce-training money," said Muro. "These are things that benefit both urban communities and rural communities."

Back in New York City, resident sentiments have not changed since the November election, where Trump lost by a 4-to-1 margin.

"We value success and people that strive and go for their dreams. This city is a city of hustlers," acknowledged Johnson, "But from what I understand, the way that he's gotten to his success is by (treading) down on people, and that's not something we value."

Come Thursday, the same New York hustle and attitude that made "The Donald" famous will be there to greet him.
With Cuban President Raul Castro set to step down next year, his daughter Mariela Castro said on Wednesday she would never want to be a contender for the presidency, but that there was room for surprises in the succession process.

Raul, 85, who took the reins from his older brother, the late revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, has said he will step down in February 2018 at the end of a second five-year term.

His heir apparent is Cuba's First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel, 57, and experts say the latter would have to stumble badly for someone else to leapfrog him in Cuba's arcane system for choosing its leader.

Still, speculation there could be other candidates is rife on the Communist-ruled island.

Mariela Castro, 54, a lawmaker and director of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX), was evasive when asked about the issue at a CENESEX news conference.

"The men and women of the people of Cuba are candidates," she told reporters. "I don't say: 'We are,' because I will never let myself be nominated for such a big task."

"Sometimes, you orientate yourself one way and then suddenly, you look over there, and you say: 'How interesting is this person whom I hadn't checked out before,'" she said. "There are always surprises."

Names that have been bandied around as possible alternatives to Diaz-Canel are Alejandro Castro Espin, another child of the current president and one of his closest aides, and foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez.

Castro Espin played a key role in the secret negotiations leading up to the rapprochement between Cuba and the United States, although he ruled out succeeding his father in a 2015 interview.

Rodriguez meanwhile has a high public profile as Cuba's top diplomat, most recently touring Europe.

Still, Cuba experts say Diaz-Canel has clearly been groomed for the job and the government would unlikely want to risk political stability by appointing someone with less legitimacy.

"Perhaps she wanted to inject an element of excitement into what otherwise appears to be a pre-determined top-down bureaucratic selection," said Richard Feinberg, author of "Open for Business: Building the New Cuban Economy".

Surprises were always possible, he added, but he doubted the rumors of another Castro.

"That would be a grave mistake by the Cuban Communist Party leadership, as it would make Cuba appear to be a family dynasty, rather than an institutionalized polity," he said.
The human rights group Amnesty International condemned what it called draconian internet laws being used in Bangladesh to silence government critics.

In a new report released Tuesday, Amnesty said members of the media are under siege in Bangladesh from both the police and armed groups that threaten them.

Between the violence of armed groups and repression of the state, secular voices in Bangladesh are being consistently silenced. Not only is the government failing to protect peoples freedom of expression, it has been blaming them for the threats they face and criminalizing the work of bloggers and journalists through a slew of repressive laws, Olof Blomqvist, the reports lead researcher said.

The report cites a communication technology law passed in 2006 as the principal instrument used by the Bangladesh government to silence critics.

Since 2013, several high-profile journalists and editors have been subjected to politically-motivated criminal charges, the report said. Most of them have been associated with media outlets that are critical of the government or supportive of the political opposition.

The law, which the Amnesty report describes as vaguely worded, allows the government to prosecute people in the interest of sovereignty, integrity or security of Bangladesh.

Several journalists interviewed for the report call the repression they are currently experiencing the worst in the country since it returned to civilian rule in 1991.

Aside from government repression, secular bloggers in Bangladesh also face the threat of violence from religious zealots who act with virtual immunity from police, according to the report.

Several of them told Amnesty about death threats they had received due to their internet postings. When they tried to receive help from the police, officers suggested the bloggers leave the country and harassed them for writing about secular topics.
One person was killed and nine were wounded Wednesday when suspected Islamic extremists fired rockets into a U.N peacekeeping camp in Mali.

The nationality of the person killed was not known. The wounded included a Swedish peacekeeper and Liberian soldiers.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on the camp in Timbuktu, but the U.N. mission called it a terrorist incident.

Al-Qaida-linked militants were behind another rocket attack on the camp last year.

U.N. peacekeepers and French forces are helping Mali deal with the remnants of an Islamic insurgency in the north. Militants briefly took over the area in 2012 after a failed coup in Bamako.

The militants have also spread to southern Mali, along the border with Burkina Faso.
A large explosion shook a rebel-held Syrian town along the border with Turkey on Wednesday, killing at least five people and wounding others.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a car bomb went off in the town of Azaz close to the offices of the Syrian interim government, which represents the opposition in rebel-held areas. The Observatory and the activist-run Azaz Media Center confirmed the toll, which was likely to rise.



The blast came as the Syrian government and the opposition resumed cease-fire talks in the Kazakh capital, Astana, that are sponsored by Russia, a close ally of President Bashar Assad.



The United States is sending a senior State Department official to the talks, and President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin signaled greater cooperation on Syria in a phone call on Tuesday. The White House said the two discussed setting up safe zones in the country, where a civil war has been raging for more than six years.



Syrian TV said the Astana talks began with a meeting between delegations from Russia and Iran, another close ally of Assad.



Azaz is on a key opposition supply route, and is a hub for fighters and opposition activists. It also hosts people displaced from fighting elsewhere in the country. The town has been the scene of several attacks, some claimed by the Islamic State group. A huge explosion in January killed at least 50 people in Azaz.



A video of the aftermath of Wednesday's explosion posted online by the Azaz Media Center showed burnt-out cars and firefighters struggling to put out a blaze. Gunfire rang out as people gathered at the scene and ambulances arrived.



The Turkish Dogan news agency said some of the wounded were taken to the state hospital in the Turkish border town of Kilis for treatment.
Human Rights Watch on Wednesday urged Thailand's military government to disclose the whereabouts of a prominent rights lawyer who has been missing since his house was raided at the weekend.

Prawet Prapanukul, 57, provided legal assistance to members of Thailand's political opposition group, the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, and served as legal counsel in a high profile royal insult case.

He has been missing since soldiers and officers from the ruling junta raided his house on Saturday, Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

His disappearance comes after Thailand in February shelved legislation to criminalize torture and disappearances after years of working on the bill, prompting concern among rights groups and the United Nations.

"The Thai junta should urgently disclose Prawet's whereabouts and release him if he hasn't been charged with a credible offence," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

"Secretly detaining rights lawyers, critics of the monarchy, and other dissidents has created a climate of fear in Thailand that is generating international outrage."

A spokesman for the junta said he was unable to comment as he did not know about Prawet's case.

Thailand's military seized power from an elected civilian government in a May 2014 coup.

Since then the junta has detained hundreds of politicians, activists, journalists and others accused of being involved in anti-junta protests and activities.

Some have been held incommunicado in unofficial places of detention, such as military camps.

It has also taken a hardline stance against alleged transgressors of Article 112 of the country's criminal code which makes anyone found guilty of insulting the monarchy liable to imprisonment for up to 15 years.

Since 1980, 82 cases of enforced or involuntary disappearance in Thailand were reported to the UN working group on enforced or involuntary disappearances.
President Donald Trump and the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, pledged Wednesday at the White House to try to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough for Middle East peace.



The Palestinians and Israeli must work together to reach an agreement, Trump said, adding, "I would love to be a mediator or an arbitrator or a facilitator, and we will get this done."



Trump also remarked that over the course of his life, he had heard "that perhaps the toughest deal to make" is the one between Israelis and Palestinians. "Let's see if we can prove them wrong, OK?"



Standing alongside the U.S. president in the Roosevelt Room to address reporters, Abbas, speaking in Arabic, said he believed the parties are capable under Trump's "courageous stewardship and great negotiating ability" to bring about "a historic peace treaty."

As he concluded and turned to shake hands with Trump, Abbas added in English: "Now, Mr. President, with you, we have hope."

WATCH: Trump on working with Israel, Palestinians



'Maybe not as difficult

A few minutes later as a Cabinet Room lunch got underway, Trump, who was flanked by Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, told Abbas that achieving the peace pact is "maybe not as difficult as people have thought over the years."

"We believe Israel is willing. We believe you're willing, and if you both are willing, we're going to make a deal," Trump added.

Israel's government has a mixed and uncertain position on the two-state solution as it increases the controversial settlements in population in occupied territories while keeping the numbers the same.

And on the Palestinian side, Abbas is in a weak political position.

"He does not have broad support within the Palestinian movement," national security analyst Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies told VOA.

Abbas' Fatah political party also faces a serious challenge from Hamas, the rival Palestinian group controlling the Gaza Strip.

WATCH: Abbas on desire for recognition of Palestinian State



Slightly softened stance

Hamas on Monday released a policy document slightly softening its stance on Israel, calling for a sovereign Palestinian state along pre-1967 lines with the return of refugees to their homes in Israel. But it rejected "any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea."

Israel's government responded that the new Hamas document is an attempt to try to "dupe" the international community.

The odds of a breakthrough are long, but many of those involved in Middle East diplomacy for decades reject suggestions it is hopeless, asserting the cost of the status quo is too high.

"Rather than sort of adopting a position of preemptive hopelessness, you're better off continuing to try, particularly if you do it slowly and quietly and you don't build up impossible time schedules and expectations," Cordesman said.

During his remarks on Wednesday, Abbas warned "no unilateral steps must be taken [by Israel] to get ahead of an agreement."

He added, "It's about time for Israel to end its occupation of our people and our land."



Planning is under way for a possible visit by Trump to Israel near the end of May.

It would be his second known visit following a brief tour of Eilat in 1989 when he expressed an interest in building a casino in the southern resort town, according to Israeli media.
The United States is bringing its Southeast Asian allies on board to tackle what senior officials described as the number one national security priority for the U.S.  North Korea's nuclear proliferation and missile threats  when foreign ministers from Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gather Thursday in Washington.

A senior State Department official told VOA that Washington is urging Southeast Asian countries to "cut diplomatic ties" with Pyongyang.

Another official told VOA that while there has been some success regarding the "increased inspections to disrupt North Korea's illicit activities," more could be done.

"Throughout Asia, we've got a lot of work do with ASEAN nations," said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in his remarks to State Department employees Wednesday, adding that Washington is "re-solidifying" its "leadership with ASEAN on a number of security issues."

Tillerson is hosting foreign ministers from ASEAN on Thursday at the State Department, which comes just days after top diplomats from those countries met in Manila and issued a statement that criticized North Korea's provocation.

Ties established with North Korea

Many nations from this bloc have developed diplomatic relations with the reclusive and rogue regime.

For example, North Korea has embassies in 8 out of 10 ASEAN nations, including Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Tillerson asked countries to "suspend or downgrade diplomatic relations with North Korea" last Friday at a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting.

The top U.S. diplomat also urged other countries to increase financial isolation against North Korea, saying Washington will not hesitate to punish third-country entities and individuals supporting Pyongyang's illegal activities.

The UNSC had discussed the need to help countries build up capacity to detect North Korea's underground networks that are fueling its weapon systems, according to State Department's acting Assistant Secretary Susan Thornton.

U.N. report critical of sanctions

Although past United Nations resolutions on paper have placed severe restrictions against North Korea's access to the financial system, an earlier UN report suggested those sanctions have little effect on the ability of North Korean networks, such as Pan Systems Pyongyang, to finance its operations.

"Pan Systems Pyongyang used the name of its foreign investment partner [Pan Systems Singapore] not only to obscure its activities, but also to gain access to foreign currency accounts in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which otherwise would not be available to local companies under domestic banking rules," said the U.N. report.

The report also asserted Pan Systems Pyongyang maintains bank accounts in other Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia and Indonesia, through which sufficient access to international financial systems are maintained.

A week ago, leaders from ASEAN sidestepped criticizing China over its expansion in the disputed South China Sea, in a mildly worded statement after the summit in the Philippines.

Experts said Tillerson's Southeast Asian counterparts hoped that members of President Donald Trump's foreign policy team could bring some stability and discipline to the administration's engagement with Asia.

"If they cannot, ASEAN members will have little choice but to take out insurance, reducing reliance on the United States and accommodating greater Chinese leadership in the region," said John Ciorciari, director of University of Michigan's International Policy Center.

U.S. focus should be on North Korea

Some Washington-based experts said the U.S. needs to put more focus on countering North Korea's threats than the maritime disputes.

"My overall view is that while both of these challenges are serious, the North Korean threats are actually perhaps even greater in some ways," Brookings Institution's foreign policy senior fellow Michael O'Hanlon told VOA.

He added that Beijing is a "rising power flexing its muscles" in the South China Sea, though Washington knows how to deal with China, and "there are ways for our strategy to keep pushing back in a firm and professional way that makes sense."

Activists urged the U.S. not to overlook human rights abuses in Southeast Asia in Washington's dealings with those countries.

"The ratbag of dictators, autocrats, and juntas that populate ASEAN's ranks view issues of transparency, human rights, good governance as obstacles rather than foundations of good governance," said Human Rights Watch deputy director for Asia division Phil Robertson.

VOA Mandarin Service's Libo Liu contributed to this report.
President Trump has acted on his campaign promises to reverse Obamas environmental policies and proposed a budget that would significantly slash the Environmental Protection Agencys funding in an effort to take federal responsibility out of environmental regulations. More recently, White House officials have met to discuss whether the United States should leave the Paris climate agreement.

The United States is one of the worlds biggest consumers, and U.S. policies can have global environmental effects. As of 2013, the worlds population would need 1.7 Earths to support its demands on renewable natural resources, according Global Footprint Network, a nonprofit organization that calculates human demands on the planets ecosystems.





Global Footprint Network measures human consumption relative to what the planet can regenerate with a measure called the ecological footprint. The footprint takes into account how much in biological resources, such as fishing grounds and forest land, are necessary to fulfill the consumption of a country and absorb its waste. This includes imports and excludes exports. The smaller a countrys footprint is, the better.

A country also has a biocapacity  that is, the countrys capacity to renew the resources demanded from its ecosystems. Because this measure is based on technology and land-management practices, biocapacity may change from year to year. The bigger a countrys biocapacity is, the better.

Therefore, a country has an ecological deficit if its ecological footprint is greater than its biocapacity and ecological reserve if its biocapacity is greater.

How we got here

Of the countries running the highest ecological deficits, the United States has one of the highest biocapacities. This means that even though the country has a lot of resources, its consumption is still highly unsustainable.





Since 2005, however, the United States has been decreasing its ecological footprint. Its fossil fuel use is the largest component of the nations ecological footprint. In 2013, the countrys carbon footprint per capita reached its lowest since 1980. This may be the result, in part, of a smaller role that coal plays in the U.S. economy.





Within the United States, Virginia has the biggest ecological footprint per capita, nearly twice that of New York.

According to a report from Global Footprint Network, this is partly because of the greater density of New York, which allows for more efficient use of infrastructure, such as public transportation. Virginia also has a larger housing and personal transportation footprint per capita.





Of the countries with the largest ecological reserves, most have biocapacities that are declining at a sharp rate. In other words, they may run into ecological deficits soon if the trend continues. In some countries, this can be attributed to a combination of rapid population growth and deforestation.





Which countries are developing sustainably?

Economic development often means using more resources and increasing carbon emissions. From 2000 to 2013, most countries increased their GDP and ecological footprints at the same time. However, there are 48 countries that managed to develop sustainably: They increased GDP while decreasing their ecological footprints, though most of these countries saw small economic growth.





For developing countries, an increase in ecological footprint may be necessary to bolster their economies. Footprints per capita in these countries may not be high to begin with, so small changes can cause a comparatively big jump. Sustainable technology may also not be as widely available in developing countries.

For developed countries, the opposite may be true: Because their rate of growth is decreasing and most already have large footprints, fluctuations might not be so obvious.

Though there are many solutions, the fastest way for a country to reduce its ecological footprint, according to Global Footprint Network, is to switch to greener energy sources. Even though the United States has been decreasing its ecological footprint, its consumption rate is still far from completely sustainable.

Sources: Global Footprint Network, United Nations and World Bank.
Some 1.5 million people have fled Cuba since Fidel Castros revolution in 1959. But there was a time, not that long ago, when refugees flowed toward the Caribbean island.

In 1939, the ocean liner St. Louis left Hamburg, in Nazi Germany, bound for Havana  with more than 900 Jews on board. They hoped to enter Cuba en route to permanent places in the United States.

Corrupt and influenced by anti-Semitic public opinion, Cuban authorities of the time barred all but a handful of the St. Louiss passengers. Of those turned away, none were admitted to the United States, some eventually found safe haven in Europe, and 254 died in the Holocaust.

This sequence of events, laden with irony as well as sorrow, opens the gorgeous, sweeping new novel from Cubas Leonardo Padura.

Heretics is part history, part detective story, but its overarching theme is the tension between the limitless yearnings of the human spirit and the limitations of geography and politics. Padura, born in Cuba in 1955 and still a resident there, possesses intimate knowledge of the matter.

A free person, he writes, acts, lives, and thinks according to his conscience. By that definition, few territories in history have been governed by laws enabling most people to live freely most of the time. Hence, the desperate peregrinations of vessels like the St. Louis, or of the rickety rafts aboard which so many of Paduras countrymen have escaped.

Across the centuries, in pre-World War II Cuba, in 17th-century Amsterdam and back in Cuba of the present day, Paduras characters struggle and roam, seeking and occasionally finding refuges in which they may live according to the promptings of their own hearts.

Some of them, like the young son who waits in Havana for his parents to arrive on the St. Louis, only to be disappointed, are Jews, historys quintessential heretics. Others, like a girl who suddenly vanishes from high school in communist Cuba, are simply unacceptably eccentric, according to the authorities. In their different ways, they experience the same agony  forced to go through the world with two faces, caught between submission and self-expression, pretending to believe what they dont, or to be something they really arent.

Paduras most brilliantly portrayed misfit is a young Jewish painter in Amsterdam, striving for greatness under the tutelage of Rembrandt  only to be driven into exile by doctrinaire rabbis who consider his work transgressive. This, too, is a powerful irony: religious intolerance by a group that owes its presence in the Netherlands to Dutch religious tolerance. Amsterdam could be a New Jerusalem only for those willing to toe a certain line.

Author Leonardo Padura. (Hector Garrido)

This implicit but clear parallel to the repressive turn taken by revolutionary Cuba is one of many in Paduras book. His description of rabbis ransacking the young painters Amsterdam home for forbidden writings and drawings eerily recalls an infamous 1971 incident when Castros secret police burst into the dissident poet Heberto Padillas apartment, looking for his draft of a proscribed novel. They found it hidden behind a painting.

Paduras liberty to publish literature that probably would have been banned as counterrevolutionary in Padillas time is itself a bit of a mystery. Suffice it to say that Cuba has changed, and that Padura himself has carefully avoided certain taboos, such as direct criticism of the Castro family. Like the Rembrandt of his novel, who maneuvers among Amsterdams political and financial powers for the sake of his art, Padura seems to have set his sights on transcending his island nations political system, rather than defying it. The case for Heretics  like the case for The Man Who Loved Dogs (2009), Paduras historical novel about the Trotsky assassination  is that the fight for freedom requires not only confrontation but illumination, of the kind only literature can provide.

The uncertain fate of a priceless painting  made in Rembrandts studio, passed down through generations of Jews, then misplaced in Cuba as a consequence of the St. Louis incident  connects Paduras multiple plotlines and supplies the books substantial, satisfying narrative tension.

Yet the novels true subject is humankinds need, in all times, in all places, to live in truth, as the Czech dissident Vaclav Havel put it.

Under certain circumstances, whether in tolerant Amsterdam, communist Cuba or, for that matter, todays turbulent United States, anyone can be a heretic  or become one. Some people, in fact, cant help it. The question is what any of us is prepared to do about it.

Lane is a member of The Washington Posts editorial board.
It would seem that nothing more can be said  or even imagined  about the Salem witch trials. We get it: The innocents were used as scapegoats for societys ills. But in her novel, The Witchfinders Sister, Beth Underdown has found a fresh approach, spinning a tale thats entertaining and thought-provoking  with a valuable message for our own times.

The Witchfinder's Sister by Beth Underdown (Ballantine)

Based loosely on the true story of Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins, the book focuses on the witch hunts during the early years of the English Civil War, rather than those that took place in colonial Massachusetts. Times are heady. There are rumors swirling and clashes between the Puritans and the mainstream Church of England (not to mention a few remaining Catholic holdouts). No one knows what will happen  the air is thick with paranoia and uncertainty.

Underdown beautifully creates a palpable sense of anxiety: The next weeks were like one of those nightmares, the ones from which you cannot awake, narrator Alice thinks. I searched women gently. . . . Each one had a different tale, fit to break your heart, but what they had in common was loneliness, and too many nights spent listening; loose flesh where they had given birth or gained weight in other, better summers. What they had in common was fear.

Its 1645, and Alice has to return to her childhood home in Essex, England, widowed, penniless and pregnant. Her brother Matthew, who disapproved of her marriage to their housekeepers son, takes her in. Alice soon realizes that things are not as they were when she left. Matthew, who was shy and awkward as a boy, has become a respected figure in the community, accepted by the local squires and businessmen. Unfortunately, the reason for his change in status is that hes become the countys lead witchfinder.

The author Beth Underdown (Justine Stoddart)

Alice doesnt believe in witchcraft and is shocked to learn that her brother is involved in persecuting harmless women, many of whom she has known her entire life. She thinks that the fuss will soon die down, but she comes to find that the stakes are deadly high  and perhaps not just for the women in question. The more she challenges Matthew, the more dire her own circumstances become, and she soon is forced (or chooses) to acquiesce to protect people she cares for, from their young serving girl to her own mother-in-law and, finally, herself.

Underdown has written a novel that grapples with two very important questions: how those in power oppress the powerless through fear and intimidation, and how the bystanders must decide what, if anything, they will do to stop it. The Witchfinders Sister serves as an important reminder  especially valuable today  of the consequences of such an imbalance.

Carrie Dunsmore is a lawyer who blogs at QueenofBooklandia.com.


A schoolgirl, part of the generation of Cambodians who might use social media to make their nation more democratic. Angkor Awakens speaks to survivors of the Pol Pot regime and their descendants. (PhotoSynthesis Productions/Journeyman Pictures)

All wars have unintended consequences. One of the most devastating post-World War II examples was the genocide in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. That small countrys extremist insurgents, the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, leapt into a leadership vacuum created by the war in neighboring Vietnam. What followed was a bloodbath.

Out of a population of slightly more than 7 million, the Khmer Rouge is estimated to have killed between 1.7 million and 2.2 million of their countrymen, targeting intellectuals first, and anyone else deemed disloyal.

Americans may know about this from the Oscar-winning 1984 film The Killing Fields, based on New York Times reporter Sydney Schanbergs account of covering the conflict with his Cambodian interpreter, Dith Pran.

But it is the uncharted future of Cambodia, as much as the past, that concerns filmmaker Robert H. Lieberman in his intimate, deeply humane documentary Angkor Awakens: A Portrait of Cambodia. He talks to mostly English-speaking survivors of the genocide, their children and grandchildren. He talks to Cambodian and American scholars, to artists and politicians, and to former American diplomats who saw the disaster coming. He even got an interview with Prime Minister Hun Sen, Cambodias leader since 1985 who is often called a strongman.

Two young women and a young man laugh, citing a warning they say they have all heard, in some fashion, from elders who dont otherwise speak of the killings: If you dont learn to do this or that and the Khmer Rouge come back, you will die. They live in dread.

One woman warns that younger Cambodians, too, are a very fragile generation, although the equalizing power of social media has given them a sense of power.

Angkor Awakens looks back at the genocide in its first half, with somber interviews, grim archival footage of mass graves, artistic renderings and Cambodian-style shadow puppetry. The effect is always disturbing and occasionally graphic enough to make the PG-13 rating questionable.

Lieberman doesnt look too far afield for American scholars, using academics from Cornell, where hes on the physics faculty. But it is the Cambodian voices that give Angkor Awakens a welcome glimmer of light.

Near the end, a young woman says: I feel were going somewhere better, but I dont know how better.


Chase Agapito, 24, intelligence analyst, and Amanda Bradley, 26, teacher. (Photo courtesy of daters/Photo courtesy of daters)

INTERVIEWS BY ELLEN RYAN

Chase Agapito, 24, an intelligence analyst, enjoys clubbing and sees himself as a fashionable gentleman. Amanda Bradley, 26, a middle-school language and social studies teacher, describes herself as friendly and close to her family, and says shes a beer fan. Both are of mixed ethnicity, speak Spanish, like fancy footwear and healthy eats, and attend Catholic services weekly. He asks, Will the Date Lab gurus find Chase a woman who can keep up with his international pursuits? We sent them to Clarity in Vienna, Va., to find out.

Chase: I see a girl in a red car pulling into a spot, and not too many people go to a restaurant by themselves. I said, Amanda? The timing was perfect.

Amanda: He had a nice smile, friendly-looking eyes. He was cute. I was like, Okay. This will be fun.

Chase: She looked mixed, maybe Latina. Shorter, which is nice; Im not the tallest guy. She definitely had a nice smile and was very outgoing, very pretty.

Amanda: They asked if we wanted to sit at a table or at the chefs counter. At first we sat at the table, and then ... we were both really glad that we moved.

Chase: The conversation came easily. Shes a local Virginia girl; [Im] from New Jersey myself. She used to do dance, and she seemed pretty surprised when I said I dont mind going out to a night out at the Kennedy Center for a ballet show.

Amanda: He didnt seem the type, but he was like, Yeah, Ive seen this show and this show and this show. We realized that were both mixed race, so we bonded about people being like, So, what are you? We both like to cook and stay fit.

Chase: We even studied in the same community in Spain, Valencia, [but] not at the same time. Last summer we both went to Italy  I think we just missed each other.

Amanda: We talked about going to church and being the young one in a church of older people. We talked about food. ... The chef came over a couple of times and gave us random things.

Chase: You rarely get the opportunity to meet the chef-owner. The chef kind of made the night.

Amanda: They gave us the menus, and they were all covered in text, and we were like, Oh my gosh! This is overwhelming.

Chase: It was a fine-dining experience, which I havent really been accustomed to but I thoroughly enjoyed. That helped make the night go well because we both were stumbling our way through, but both willing to try new things.

Amanda: We talked about how we dont frequently go to such nice places with such a big purse to spend.

Chase: We started off with cuttlefish, then some cavatelli with braised lamb, then foie gras.

Amanda: We also had sea urchin. We shared everything.

Chase: It was a pretty cool experience and a different type of crowd there. Not the type of crowd that youre going to find in TGI Fridays or Applebees.

Amanda: I threw in some funny lines here and there. He wasnt overly dry or sarcastic, so I liked that. It was a happy sense of humor.

Chase: Yeah, we were laughing. There was definitely touching.

Amanda: We were sitting pretty close to each other. I thought there was chemistry.

Chase: I had it in my mind maybe we could go to the movies afterward, but we had such a good time, we were the last ones there. The chef was having a beer next to us.

Amanda: Waitstaff, the cooks and everyone was starting to change out of their chef whites. We closed the place down.

Chase: We said, I guess well head out. It was pretty mutual. I got her number, and we agreed to hang out again. We gave a hug and a kiss on the lips.

Amanda: We were both like, Text me when you get home, tell me youre safe. I got home first. He texted me the pictures we took.

Chase: Id be happy to hang out with her again and get to know her more. We definitely can relate on a lot of stuff.

Amanda: It was a fun date. He was a fun person. Id see him again.

Rate the date

Chase: 4 [out of 5]. I can be a little picky, so I dont rush into things.

Amanda: 4.5. Im a teacher. I dont like to give 100 percent.

Update

They texted during the week and went to dinner.


Infertility specialist Cecil B. Jacobson speaks to the media outside District Court after pleading not guilty to deceiving patients on Nov. 22, 1991. (Cynthia Johnson/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)

May 8, 1992 Twenty-five years ago this week, a federal judge sentenced Cecil B. Jacobson, a former Fairfax County infertility specialist, to five years in prison on 52 counts of fraud and perjury for lying to his patients. Prosecutors said Jacobson told patients that they were pregnant when they were not and used his own sperm to impregnate patients without telling them. As a result, prosecutors alleged, Jacobson may have fathered more than 70 children. At sentencing, U.S. District Judge James C. Cacheris said he had not seen a case where there has been this degree of emotional anguish and psychological trauma,The Washington Posts Robert F. Howe reported. For his part, Jacobson told Cacheris he was totally unaware of the anger, anguish and hate I have caused  until these proceedings. The cases notoriety made it fodder for a Saturday Night Live sketch and a made-for-TV movie starring Melissa Gilbert. After leaving prison, Jacobson returned to his home state of Utah.
Three years after New Orleans resident Jared Sternberg formed Gondwana Ecotours, a travel company that organizes cultural and environmental excursions to such far-flung places as Ecuador and Rwanda, he decided to start a similar business in Louisiana. Late last year, the 31-year-old graduate of Tulane University Law School opened Beyond the Bayou, which bridges a gap between the Big Easy and the less-visited destinations outside the city that are rich with culture and nature. Offerings include kayaking in Atchafalaya Basin northwest of the city, the countrys largest river swamp at nearly 1 million acres; visiting local enterprises deep in Cajun Country; and a tour of the Whitney Plantation on the Mississippi River in Edgard, which is focused solely on telling the story of slavery.

Beyond the Bayou founder Jared Sternberg at New Orleans City Park. (Adrienne Battistella)

Q. You grew up in Southern California. What were your first impressions of New Orleans when you moved there in 2010?

A. I remember thinking that the people were warmer and the culture felt richer  and, of course, the food was amazing. But I also remember thinking that the nature was not that impressive. For one thing, I didnt have a car, so I was always in the city. Later, after I started exploring more and had access to boats and kayaks and canoes, I realized how gorgeous the swamps are and how amazing the nature is. A major turning point was when I went to a friends fishing camp on this spectacular swamp, managed by an old Cajun guy I could barely understand.

Q. Why did you decide to start tours in Louisiana, when you specialize in international travel?

A. For one thing, people kept asking me why I didnt offer something closer to home. But mostly its because theres so much more to see than what is in the city, and I want to share that. So many people come here to visit and they listen to world-class music, go to the French Quarter, eat beignets and they have a wonderful impression of New Orleans  as they should  but not any true impression of Louisiana.

Q. You make a point of telling visitors that your guides on the water dont feed the wildlife, especially alligators. Is that an issue?

The exterior of a slave quarters at the Whitney Plantation; the structure is original to the site. (Edmund Fountain/Reuters)

A. I work with several local guides because, in cases where something already was offered, I didnt want to compete with existing companies. While I was researching potential partners, I went on or called several mud boat tours. Those are flat-bottom boats for going through shallow water. They all fed the wildlife. They throw out marshmallows and hot dogs so the tourists can take photos of alligators. One of them even passed around a baby alligator with its mouth taped shut with electrical tape so everyone onboard could feel it and take a photo. If someone asks me if theyll see an alligator on one of our tours, I say, Well, it depends on nature. Maybe you will, maybe you wont.

Q. How else do you put the eco in your tours?

A. When were on the water, we also tell people about wetlands loss. We have materials on that and other things in the car if they want to read about it while were driving to the swamp. We also give guests reusable water bottles and local fruit. In the future, I hope to carbon offset all the trips. Our employees participate in local waterway cleanup efforts, and we direct guests who are interested to organizations where they can donate or become involved in saving the waterways.

Q. Do fun-loving tourists in New Orleans want that kind of educational tour?

A. I do think theres a market for it, and though its not the biggest, I think its growing. I look at that not as a hindrance but as an opportunity. For instance, Ive seen postings online by people looking for swamp tours that dont feed the alligators.

Q. What are some of your cultural stops?

A. A favorite has been our Roots of Creole Culture Tour, which includes a tour of the historic Treme neighborhood to learn about African American history and the musicians who started there. We also go to the Whitney Plantation, which is devoted to telling the story of the slave trade and plantation life. It leaves a big impact and pays tribute to what a plantation was really about. Thats the real history of what happened in our country, and you cant sweep it under the rug. If you dont understand where racism came from, how are you going to understand where it is today?

Q. How do you introduce people to the Cajun culture?

A. Basically, were finding the vanguards of culture and supporting them the best we can because Cajun culture is disappearing, just like the wetlands. We have overnight tours around Lafayette, where we visit Marc Savoy, an accordion player, and he talks about the history and culture of zydeco music; and we also visit Guidry Farms, an organic pecan farm, where we have a little tour and learn how they make pecan butter and oil. We also have a chef that gives us cooking lessons at our B&B. Were going to start having him meet us at the farm to have a seafood boil. One of our tours is for four days, which I never planned to do, but after going out there and seeing how deep and rich that culture is  I could easily do a week trip.

Q. Your other tour company has offered trips to several destinations on three continents. How does Southern Louisiana compare?

A. A really great example is I went to Ecuador again with my trip in December. So we go all the way there to see the Amazon and I see some of the exact same species we see in the swamp here  and a lot of scenery in Louisiana looks fairly similar. Its not as grand, but honestly, in some places, its comparable in terms of natural beauty and richness. I think Louisiana is, for my money, the most unique place in the United States and, without a doubt, on par with other destinations in terms of culture.

Daniel is a writer based in the Netherlands. Her website is bydianedaniel.com.

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Mike Donovan, chief executive of Libre by Nexus, talks about his business at its headquarters in Verona, Va., in February. (Norm Shafer/For The Washington Post)

Investigators in at least two states are examining the business practices of a Virginia-based company accused of preying on detained undocumented immigrants, officials say.

Libre by Nexus helps post bonds for people being held in immigration detention centers while they wait for their cases to be heard in backlogged courts. In exchange for their freedom, immigrants sign contracts promising to pay Libre $420 per month while wearing the companys GPS ankle devices.

Those contracts have been the subject of lawsuits and allegations of fraud by immigrants who claim they didnt understand them.

Although an Immigration and Customs Enforcement inquiry three years ago concluded that the company was not breaking the law, Libre is now being scrutinized in at least two states, according to officials at three different agencies, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid jeopardizing the investigations.

Thousands of families rely on Libre by Nexus services to bring hope and opportunity to the vulnerable immigrant community, the company said in a statement. Soaring immigration bond prices have forced immigrants to languish behind bars for extended periods of time...Nexus has helped reunite families with loved ones detained in immigration centers, creating a better path forward for the immigrant community. This important work does not cost taxpayers anything, as costs are paid by the recipients of the services. This stands in stark contrast to the hundreds of millions of dollars taxpayers pay to detain these immigrants.

A Libre by Nexus electronic ankle bracelet, which costs $420 per month. (Stuart Palley /For The Washington Post)

The probes come in the wake of a March 9 Washington Post article that detailed the struggles of Libre clients to pay the monthly fee for the device. Most said Libre employees threatened them with being returned to ICE custody if they didnt pay.

The company denied those allegations, saying its contracts were clear and consensual and that employees did not threaten clients.

[This company is making millions from Americas broken immigration system]

I care about our clients, chief executive Mike Donovan said at the time. It would be awesome to not have to charge them any money, but thats not really the system we live in.

On Thursday, a member of Congress introduced legislation targeting companies that help bond people out of detention in exchange for GPS monitoring and monthly fees.

Rep. Norma J. Torres (D-Calif.), who introduced the Stop Predatory Bail Contracts Act, said the legislation was aimed primarily at protecting undocumented immigrants who turn to companies like Libre for help in getting out of ICE custody.

Many of them are victims . . . fleeing very violent communities, coming to our border, seeking asylum, she said. They are desperate, and out of desperation, they are jumping into contracts they dont truly understand.

Torres said she had received complaints from her constituents in Southern California about Libre by Nexus, also known as Nexus Services.

Libre by Nexus calls itself the only hope for detainees who cannot afford their bond and dont have a car or home to put up as collateral. The company  with more than 6,500 clients, 200 employees and yearly revenue of $30 million  acts as a middleman, using GPS monitoring instead of collateral to persuade bond agencies to post bail for detainees.

In February, two Honduran immigrants filed a class-action complaint against the company in U.S. District Court in Northern California, arguing that Libre preys on detainees vulnerability and limited understanding of English to foist crushing financial terms and GPS shackles on detainees.

A different lawsuit that made similar claims against the company was settled last month in Los Angeles County.

Torres said her bill goes beyond Libre by Nexus to target what she called an exploitative industry.

Today its Libre, she said. Tomorrow its someone else.

The bill would not prevent companies like Libre from doing business, Torres said. But it would prohibit them from charging clients more than the cost of their GPS monitoring, which, according to court documents, is less than $100 a month. Libre disputes that figure. Torres likened the bill to existing limits on payday lending.

Immigration advocates praised the bill.

Were this bill to become law it would certainly outlaw Libre by Nexuss current exploitative business model, said Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg of the Virginia-based Legal Aid Justice Center, who has been a vocal critic of Libre by Nexus.

The legislation would also apply to companies using GPS monitoring in connection with criminal bonds.

The immigration bond industry is booming and expected to grow even further as the detention of undocumented immigrants is expected to increase under President Trump.

More than 42,000 immigration bonds worth nearly $400 million were posted in fiscal year 2016, according to ICE statistics.

The vast majority were paid in cash  normally by detainees family members  but that percentage is falling. Bond agencies posted more than 8,000 immigration bonds worth nearly $100 million in fiscal year 2016  more than double the number and triple the amount in 2013, according to ICE statistics.

Much of that growth was fueled by Libre by Nexus.

As the immigration bond industry has grown, the average cost of a posted immigration bond has risen by more than 70 percent, from $5,400 in fiscal 2013 to about $9,300 in 2016, according to a Post analysis of ICE data.

Torres and Sandoval-Moshenberg both cited soaring immigration bond prices as a factor spurring the rise of companies like Libre by Nexus.

We could obviate the need for them to even exist by having an immigration bond system that actually takes into account somebodys ability to pay, Sandoval-Moshenberg said. A bond is not supposed to be unpayable.

He said he hoped the bill would benefit from a recent nationwide movement to abolish cash bail, including in Maryland.

Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) have signed on as co-sponsors, according to Torress office.
Black applicants for Fairfax County teaching positions in a recent school year were far less likely than white candidates to get job offers even though they had on average more advanced degrees and classroom experience, according to a new study that is drawing intense scrutiny within the school system.

George Mason University researchers, who conducted the study published in the spring issue of Harvard Educational Review, did not identify the school system they were writing about. But current and former officials in Fairfax County Public Schools confirmed that the subject of the study is the 188,000-student district, largest in the Washington region and known nationally as an academic powerhouse. Fairfax was identified after the article was published and the findings triggered concern about the systems hiring practices.

The study asserts that racial bias in hiring may be contributing to the persistent dearth of black teachers in public education, a problem that has long been pinned on a lack of qualified applicants and interest. The imbalance can have tangible effects in the classroom. Other researchers have found that black students from low-income families are more likely to graduate if they have at least one black teacher and that black teachers are more likely to identify gifted students of color.

GMU researchers examining 2012 job-application data for the school system found that black applicants had slightly lower pass rates on a screening test but somewhat more extensive academic credentials and work experience than their white counterparts. On paper, the researchers said, the black and white candidates seemed to have comparable qualifications.

Nevertheless, the study found what researchers believe is evidence of discrimination: While black candidates made up 13 percent of the applicant pool, they received 6 percent of job offers that year. Whites accounted for 70 percent of applications and received 77 percent of job offers.

Discrimination is a powerful word and one that is often avoided because of what it connotes, authors Diana DAmico, Robert J. Pawlewicz, Penelope M. Earley and Adam P. McGeehan wrote in the article. In this district, black applicants, though having many attributes similar to their white counterparts, encountered a significantly lower likelihood of being offered a job, replicating discriminatory employment patterns documented across a range of industries. The data pointed to discrimination in the teacher labor market, they wrote  a problem that one of the authors said in an interview likely extends to numerous school systems.

The researchers also found that when black applicants did get job offers, they were more likely to end up in schools with large populations of minority students and high levels of poverty. They said it was evidence of workforce segregation.

The study did not examine how candidates did in job interviews or other face-to-face situations crucial to the hiring process.

[The nations teacher force lacks diversity, and it might not get much better]

Fairfax County Public Schools said in a statement that it has improved its hiring practices since 2012 and raised the number of minority teachers in its workforce, from 16 percent in 2012 to 18 percent four years later. More than 28 percent of teachers hired this school year are minorities, officials said, but they did not say what share are black.

FCPS was not provided an opportunity to review this study and we cannot confirm the validity of the conclusions of this study based upon data from five years ago, the statement emailed from schools spokesman John Torre said. As a general matter, over the past several years, FCPS has made measurable and significant improvements in its hiring.

The district said the share of black administrators and teachers is in-line with our black student population.

About 10 percent of Fairfax students are black, officials said, while about 7 percent of teachers and 16 percent of school-based administrators are black. The district declined to provide data on how many teachers in 2012 were black.

School system officials declined requests for interviews with school administrators and teachers about the studys findings and their hiring practices. Interim superintendent Steve Lockard did not respond Thursday morning to a request for comment. Karen Garza, who was superintendent from 2013 to 2016, did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Jack D. Dale, superintendent from 2004 to 2013, said in a phone interview Wednesday that he was unaware of the study or its findings. While he was superintendent, Dale said, our goal was to try and figure out how to hire the best people in our applicant pool, and that was the standard operating procedure at that time.

One African American teacher at Mount Vernon High School, in southern Fairfax County, said the study was disheartening.

Its just disturbing. Its 2017. We should have moved past this, said the woman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she did not have permission to speak to the media. It shouldnt come down to race. If they have a higher degree and more experience, thats what translates in the classroom, not skin color.

Mount Vernon High serves a large number of low-income families. The teacher said it is unfair  and unwise  to steer black applicants disproportionately to high-poverty schools because of the challenges inherent in working at those schools, such as lower levels of parental involvement.

You definitely have to have the heart for it, because its easy to burn out, she said. You deal with a lot of things that other schools dont have to deal with.

[Study: Black students from poor families are more likely to graduate from high school if they have at least one black teacher]

On Monday, an advisory group in Fairfax called the Minority Student Achievement Oversight Committee sent a letter to the school board about the bias claims in the GMU study. The letter urged the board to hire an independent outside counsel to fully investigate the findings regarding alleged discriminatory hiring practices by FCPS contained in the study conducted by George Mason University professors and published in the Spring 2017 Harvard Educational Review.

The committee is appointed by the board to offer advice on steps to improve test scores and graduation rates for minority students.

The committee letter and GMU study results come as the school board is in the midst of a high-stakes superintendent search following the resignation of Garza in September.

Fairfax County Public Schools is hardly the only high-performing system to face diversity challenges. In the Montgomery County schools of suburban Maryland, about 12 percent of teachers and 21 percent of students are black. Nationally, the share of school-age children who are black is more than 15 percent, the study said, citing census data, while 8 percent of teachers are black.

[Minority teachers in U.S. more than doubled over 25 years  but still fewer than 20 percent of educators, study shows]

Schools have worked harder in recent years to recruit more minority educators, but officials often say they are unable to find enough qualified applicants. The GMU study suggests that school systems  even those with robust recruiting efforts  could be contributing to the problem.

The researchers also looked at data on Hispanic and Asian teacher applicants and found no evidence that they were subject to hiring discrimination. The situation with black applicants, researchers wrote, was starkly different.

DAmico, an assistant professor of education, said the signs of hiring bias the authors found are not unique to the school system they analyzed.

Its happening in this district that we study, but its probably happening in loads of other places, DAmico said. This district is evocative but not exceptional.

The study examined hiring and demographic data, but there was no information to assess how candidates came across in person when meeting with principals.

Eric Hanushek, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University who studies teacher effectiveness, said the study offered suggestive but not conclusive evidence of racially based hiring. He said that researchers could not judge how a candidate performed in an interview or during a session of practice teaching. He said that research has not found that advanced degrees or even prior experience necessarily signal that a teacher will be more effective.

We cant easily just look at whats on the employment application and decide whether its discriminatory, Hanushek said. But he said the subject warrants further investigation.

I think that we have to be concerned about racial discrimination in our public schools because we have a 50-year history of trying to recover from racial segregation, Hanushek said. I think this sounds a real warning, and I think that the school district and maybe other school districts should in fact pursue more investigation of this.

Fairfax County Public Schools is the largest school system in Virginia and among the largest in the country. It has nearly 15,700 teachers.

The GMU study found that white principals tended to hire fewer black teachers than black principals did. The school districts 157 white principals  83 percent of the district total  hired 1,227 new teachers for the 2012-2013 school year. Only 49 of them were black. Meanwhile, the 24 black principals in the district hired 194 teachers, 23 of whom were black.

The authors explored possible reasons for the hiring discrepancies but concluded that discriminatory hiring practices offered the only plausible explanation. They did not name the subject of the study at the request of the district. GMU, Virginias largest public university, has its main campus in Fairfax County.

The researchers wrote that demand for black teachers in the district is high and that the administration went to great lengths to enlarge the pool of black candidates. Recruiters traveled widely to job fairs and visited historically black colleges and universities to advertise positions, the authors wrote.

They found that black applicants were more likely to have advanced degrees, such as a masters, than white applicants and had, on average, almost two more years of school teaching experience outside the district. The black applicants had a slightly lower pass rate on a screening test: 58 percent reached at least a minimum score, compared with 65 percent of white applicants.

Kevin Hickerson, president of the Fairfax Education Association, which represents county schoolteachers, said part of the recruiting problem may stem from a very decentralized hiring process. Candidates apply through the school system, but principals and their assistants must evaluate them at each school.

Its really up to the school who determines who gets hired and who doesnt, Hickerson said. Im sure that theres some bias that could creep in.

George Becerra, father of a Fairfax first-grader and a member of the Minority Student Achievement Oversight Committee, said he was stunned by the studys conclusions.

It disheartens me as a parent and more importantly as a human being that this institutional practice of discrimination and bias is occurring here, Becerra said. Its time to have open conversations about what is occurring.

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Principal decides to step down after coming under fire for creating a smash space at her elementary school in Montgomery County. (Photo by J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post) (J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post)

The Maryland principal who created a smash space at her elementary school so teachers could swing bats at broken furniture as a way to relieve stress is stepping down from her job.

Principal Barbara Liess, who came under fire for the idea, told families at Kensington Parkwood Elementary School this week that she would be leaving her position in June and would seek another job in the Montgomery County school system.

Recent events have been a distraction from the positive things we have been able to achieve, she wrote in a message Tuesday.

The smash space came to wide attention last week after a parent relayed a rumor shed heard about it to others in an online parents discussion group and asked if it was true.

The schools PTA president weighed in with details, saying that bats  wooden and metal  were used to hack at an old rocking chair that was headed for the trash. She said she did not know of any students who had seen or heard the clatter.

The day after parents were buzzing about the idea, the principal wrote to families saying that the furniture-bashing had occurred in March in an outdoor area on the school loading dock  an idea inspired by business articles shed read about companies providing items to be smashed as a way to reduce stress.

Liess called the decision a lapse in judgment, noting that it did not come in response to a teachers comment or behavior but was a misguided attempt by me to provide staff with an outlet.

[Smash space: Principal urged staff to use baseball bats to hack away stress]

She said she recognized that this scenario is counter to what we teach students and has no place in a school and offered her sincerest apologies.

The notion of adults smashing things with bats in an elementary school stunned many parents, with some asking why it was necessary for school staff to use physical aggression when children are often reminded to use their words.

Liess, in her message Tuesday, said she decided to leave her post  after 10 years as the schools principal  out of concern for students, staff and community. She said she was proud of the work she and others had done at the school, including efforts in arts integration, social-emotional learning and special education.

School system officials did not comment on the letter, saying they do not discuss personnel matters. Kensington Parkwood is one of 204 schools in the 159,000-student school system, Marylands largest.

Last week, as the incident drew notice, school district officials told families in a written message that they do not condone such behavior by staff. A schools spokesman said the matter was under investigation, and he did not know how long the smash space had been in use or how many staff members had participated.

Sarah Sirgo, a director of elementary school support and improvement for the district, wrote that the district has long been committed to providing its employees with wellness support to help staff manage stress.

Also in Liesss message Tuesday, she said will continue at the school until June 30 to help in a successful transition to the next school year and that Sirgo would be in touch in coming days about the selection process for a new principal.

I am confident that the candidates for this principalship will be able to build on the work we have achieved together, she wrote.

Liess did not respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday.
Tony Alamo is escorted to a waiting police car outside the federal courthouse in Texarkana, Ark., in 2009. (Danny Johnston/AP)

Tony Alamo, a onetime street preacher whose apocalyptic ministry grew into a multimillion-dollar network of businesses and property before he was convicted in Arkansas of sexually abusing young girls he considered his wives, died May 2 in prison. He was 82.

Once known for designing elaborately decorated jackets for celebrities including Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley, Mr. Alamo died at a federal prison hospital in Butner, N.C., according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. No cause was disclosed.

The disgraced preacher was convicted in 2009 on charges that he took underage girls across state lines for sex, including a 9-year-old. The judge who sentenced him to the maximum 175 years in prison told him: One day you will face a higher and a greater judge than me. May he have mercy on your soul.

Mr. Alamo started preaching along California streets in the 1960s, advocating a mixture of virulent anti-Catholicism and apocalyptic rhetoric. He claimed God authorized polygamy, professed that gays were the tools of Satan and believed girls were fit for marriage even at a young age.

Consent is puberty, Mr. Alamo told the Associated Press in September 2008, during the same weekend state and federal agents raided the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries in the tiny southwest Arkansas town of Fouke to investigate possible child abuse and pornography.

Witnesses in the ensuing trial said Mr. Alamo made all key decisions in the compound: who got married, what children were taught in school, who received clothes, who was allowed to eat. They said he began taking multiple wives in the early 1990s, including a 15-year-old girl in 1994, followed by increasingly younger girls.

Mr. Alamo was convicted after five women testified they were married to him in secret ceremonies at his compound when they were minors  including one when she was only 8 years old  and later taken to places outside Arkansas for sex.

Theres no telling how many little girls lives he destroyed, Fouke Mayor Terry Purvis told the Associated Press this week. I wouldnt want to be in his shoes right now.

Former followers said Mr. Alamo grew increasingly unhinged after his wife, Susan, died of cancer in 1982. Devotees prayed for months for her resurrection, and her body was eventually placed in a crypt on the ministrys 300-acre compound in Dyer, Ark.

Her body remained there until Mr. Alamo ordered his followers to flee in 1991, before federal marshals seized the property to settle a court judgment. Mr. Alamo returned his wifes remains to her family seven years later, after being threatened with jail.

Initially, Tony Alamo Christian Ministries attracted hippies and youngsters alienated from their parents when it started in the streets of Los Angeles in the 1960s. The self-proclaimed Jesus Freaks preached a wrathful version of Pentecostalism known for spirited worship and a belief in modern-day miracles.

In the 1970s and 80s, the ministry sold elaborately designed denim jackets to celebrities including Presley, Jackson and several country-music stars. The black leather jacket on Jacksons Bad album was an Alamo original later sold at auction to settle $7.9 million in federal tax claims.

At its height, Mr. Alamos ministry claimed thousands of members nationwide and was perhaps most known for leaving fliers on car windshields with screeds against the Vatican, homosexuality and a perceived one-world government.

From his initial compound in northwest Arkansas, Mr. Alamo presided over several businesses  including gas stations, a hog farm, a grocery store and a restaurant  that funded his ministry. He was convicted of tax evasion and served four years in prison despite claiming that because he received no salary he had no tax liability.

Mr. Alamo also was accused in 1991 of child abuse after an 11-year-old boy told police he was paddled 140 times by four men on orders from Mr. Alamo in 1988 at the churchs compound in Saugus, Calif. Prosecutors eventually dropped the charges, saying too much time had passed. The same year, he was charged with threatening to kidnap a federal judge in Arkansas. He was acquitted by a jury.

It was after he left prison in the 1990s that he started the compound in Fouke in southwestern Arkansas with about 100 followers.

Tony Alamo was born Bernie Lazar Hoffman on Sept. 20, 1934, to a Jewish family in Joplin, Mo. He arrived in Los Angeles in the 1960s, claiming he was a music promoter with clients including the Beatles. He and his wife legally changed their names to Tony and Susan Alamo after they married in Las Vegas in 1966.

 Associated Press
About 50 of Baltimores highest-ranking police officers sat in a cramped, windowless room on the third floor of police headquarters and turned their attention to the citys latest crime data  which showed increases across the board.

During this weekly gathering, known as Comstat, top brass pick on commanders to stand before their peers and answer for the latest crime trends in their districts. Recently, there have been more killings, more shootings and more robberies.

Can we pull up the known drug organizations in that area? Deputy Police Commissioner Dean Palmere asked, referring to the violent Tri-District, where the Southern, Southwestern and Western police districts converge.

The map came up covered in little black flags, each representing a known drug shop. Residents have been telling police which vacant buildings the dealers are using for business, said Maj. Steve Ward, the Southern District commander.

Now it was a matter of turning the raw intelligence into a targeted response.

Again, this isnt about casting a net across the city for the purpose of generating numbers, Palmere said, a nod to a common criticism of Comstat and its counterparts in cities across the country: that data-driven policing puts too much emphasis on arrest numbers and not enough on human interactions.

Youre getting tips in from the community about drug dealing, about nefarious activities. We owe it to the community to enforce on the information that theyre providing, Palmere said.

He looked around the room. No one disagreed.

What should we be doing? Palmere continued. Locking up the drug dealers in those areas and then debriefing them for information. . . . Were talking about a whole host of activities connected to the drug trade, from gun violence to robberies to burglaries to auto thefts to overdoses.

Here was the Baltimore Police Departments battle against crime on full view.

Comstat is where police use hard data and predictive modeling to shape deployments and make tactical decisions. But its also where they talk shop like real cops, discuss raw intelligence about suspects who have yet to be charged, note trends and connections between cases, and openly state what they know  which is a lot  and dont know about the street crime playing out all around them.

Its a place rarely penetrated by outsiders. At last weeks meeting, the Baltimore Sun was granted exclusive access.

Throughout, it was clear the people in the room  top brass, the commanders of the citys nine districts, the heads of specialized units, top homicide detectives and so on  know the realities of crime on the ground in Baltimore.

Theyve connected the dots in a lot of cases and have intelligence on a vast array of incidents that have never been brought to light publicly and may never result in criminal charges.

And yet, Baltimore is reeling. As of April 22, the most recent date for which comparative data is available, homicides were up 35 percent over last year. Shootings were up 31 percent. Robberies and aggravated assaults were both up 24 percent, and burglaries were up 13 percent.

The city surpassed 100 homicides on April 24, the fastest pace in two decades.

The spike in homicides began in 2015 after rioting erupted following the death of Freddie Gray from injuries in police custody  exactly two years before the recent Comstat meeting.

Since then, critics of the police department have wondered whether police officers are doing their jobs. Arrests have dropped, and some suspect the decision by Baltimore States Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby to charge six officers in Grays arrest and death made officers more cautious or reluctant to work. All of the officers were either acquitted or had their charges dropped.

Other critics of the department, including former police leaders, have suggested that the department has lost its focus on data-driven policing, and therefore its handle on crime. Among them is former acting police commissioner Tony Barksdale, once a behind-the-scenes data guru who ran Comstat with an iron fist.

Barksdale once had Palmeres job. He used to dress down police commanders who stood at the lectern in Comstat meetings and didnt know their facts. Now he shouts from a Twitter pulpit that the department isnt doing enough to stem violence and has forgotten the Comstat principles  particularly when it comes to deploying officers to sites of violent crime, or putting cops on dots.

Barksdale points to recent incidents where violent crimes have occurred back-to-back in the same locations, such as when a 50-year-old man was shot to death at the same Northwest Baltimore intersection where a 16-year-old boy was fatally shot the night before.

Commissioner Kevin Davis, who is aware of the criticisms, said the approach to crime in the city is constantly evolving. He said Comstat principles are being applied, just in a different way from when Barksdale was in charge.

Any time there is a spike in crime, everyone wonders if we are doing the basics, if were blocking and tackling, Davis said. Sometimes you block and tackle and you still have a tough weekend, or a tough week.

During last weeks meeting, Maj. Deron Garrity, the Eastern District commander, talked about a drug crew known as the Gucci Boys and recent efforts by his officers to make arrests, interrupt drug markets and hold areas.

The minute you leave it, theyre coming back and theyre doing dirt, Garrity told Palmere.

Garrity discussed a man who described himself as a Bloods bounty hunter. He was shot not long ago and has since been arrested on a gun charge. Garrity expressed concern the man would be back on the street committing crime at any minute.

They talked about intelligence from another district not making it to Garrity in time to prevent a shooting, and how that needed to be rectified. They talked about a recent killing in Garritys district regarded as an ambush.

If you see the video, the victim knows the suspect. Theres no doubt about it, Garrity said.

Palmere  the rare Baltimore commander to have survived through multiple commissioners  remembered an old case involving the shooting victim and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He asked an ATF liaison officer in the room to check on any ATF intelligence that could be used in the homicide investigation.

Again, its all about intelligence, Palmere said.

It was clear commanders had plenty of that on hand, even in cases they havent solved.

One said a woman was killed recently after she ripped off some drug dealers, who chased her down the street to shoot her. Another man recently killed was a junkie turned stickup boy who had crossed the wrong people.

Palmere asked for an update on a group of teenagers believed to be committing bump-and-rob carjackings in the Southern District.

We havent gotten the prints back from any of the cars, but its definitely these four or five juveniles who are terrorizing not only Brooklyn but also Curtis Bay, with burglaries and stolen autos down there, Ward said. He said the teens know we are looking at them.

How do they know? Palmere asked. Have we tried to make contact with any of these kids?

Ward said yes, and that two were recently arrested on separate charges.

At one point, Palmere and Davis began questioning Maj. Robert Jackson, the Southwestern commander, about a neighborhood that has seen multiple shootings.

Palmere asked Jackson to outline all recent arrests and officer interactions with local residents in the neighborhood. Jackson did so, noting there have been seven arrests.

How many of those seven were debriefed? Palmere asked, using the term for questioning suspects about local crime before taking them to central booking.

A sergeant said one person had been debriefed but hadnt provided any information.

Davis interrupted.

Now, see, heres the thing on debriefing. If a detective, a real detective, is debriefing any criminal whatsoever, we should rarely hear that nothing came from the debriefing, the commissioner said.

Were going to keep hounding on this, Palmere said.

Earlier, Davis had conveyed his position on Comstat: He doesnt want his commanders to feel too comfortable at the lectern, but also doesnt want them to come in crippled by anxiety. They should come ready to learn.

We want to be in crime prevention, not crime reaction, Palmere said. In order to do that, we need to get in front of the intelligence  and act on it.
A view of the roughly 20-inch-wide pipe where escaped prisoner David M. Watson hid in Jessup, Md., before he was caught. (Courtesy of Howard County Police department)

A fugitive who had been on the run for six days was found lying in a 20-inch-wide drainage pipe just half a mile from the Maryland psychiatric hospital to which he was being taken, authorities said.

David M. Watson, 28, was captured late Wednesday not far from Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center, the states maximum-security psychiatric hospital in Jessup, from where he had escaped after pushing a guard as he was being brought there in a van.

Watson is serving a 100-year sentence in a correctional facility in Delaware for attempted murder in that state. Authorities had launched efforts to find him since his escape but had suspended their ground search four days ago, thinking he was no longer in the area.

[Howard County police take escaped prisoner into custody late Wednesday night]

But Wednesday morning, they got a call. It was what Howard County Police Chief Gary Gardner called the first, major breakthrough.

David Watson was captured after eluding police for six days. (Courtesy of Howard County Police )

At a Thursday news conference, authorities detailed how they found Watson.

The person, who called 911 about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, reported seeing a man, dressed in dark pants, a hard hat and a safety vest, near the railroad tracks behind a building along Dorsey Run Road, an industrial area. Once the man was spotted, he ran into a heavily wooded area nearby, the caller told police.

A law enforcement team was dispatched, and they talked to several workers in the area who were ruled out as suspects, authorities said.

But while investigating, they learned of a theft from a storage building about a mile away. A safety vest and hard hat were gone, they said.

When searching the area where the caller reported seeing the man, authorities found more clues: packing materials inside a concrete drainage tunnel and footprints.

They relaunched a full ground search, with K-9 units and bloodhounds, police officers from Howard and Anne Arundel counties, units from Maryland State Police and CSX Police, and helicopters. They checked drainage pipes in the area and found nothing.

Then, about 9:40 p.m., officers with night vision equipment rechecked one of the pipes, and found their man.

Watson was hiding  lying face front, Gardner said, inside a roughly 20-inch-wide drainage pipe  one of many they had searched previously, officials said. He was just a few hundred yards from where the caller had reported seeing him, authorities said.

Watson briefly struggled with law enforcement before being taken into custody, according to Gardner. He said Watson was in overall good health and had suffered minor scrapes during his time in the woods.

After talking with him, authorities said, and from footprints and bloodhound trails, they realized Watson had been moving north, east and west within a roughly one- to two-mile radius of the Perkins facility since his escape. He hid or rested in drainage pipes.

After capturing Watson and searching the area, officials said they found one drainage pipe where he had apparently bedded down using wood fiber and packing materials.

[Police call off ground search for prisoner who escaped while en route to psychiatric hospital in Maryland]

The person who made the call to authorities to report seeing Watson will receive a cash reward, Gardner said.

How exactly Watson escaped is still under investigation.

Guards were transporting Watson on Friday to the Perkins facility from the Wicomico County Detention Center in Maryland. He allegedly pushed a guard to the ground and ran into the woods near Dorsey Run Road. It was not clear, officials said, how Watson had gotten out of handcuffs and a waist chain, which were found near the van.

The initial investigation found that Watson didnt have assistance in escaping from outside the Perkins facility, Gardner said Thursday. He said officials werent sure whether it was an impulsive escape, and it didnt appear to be a long-term plan. He said Watsons escape appeared to have evolved during transport.

Authorities had called off the ground search for Watson on Saturday, saying at the time that they had found nothing to show he was still in the area.

Investigators had gone to businesses and homes in the Jessup area to ask people to be on the lookout and to check surveillance videos from cameras.

Until Wednesday, they had not heard much in terms of sightings, officials said.

This was the first sighting and tip that led to an extensive search, Gardner said.

Watson was convicted in 2013 of attempted murder after firing a rifle into the house of a Delaware police officer, according to the Delaware News Journal. Online court records in Maryland show he was found incompetent to stand trial in 2014.

Watson was to be transported Thursday to Delaware. He also faces charges in Wicomico County, Md., for attempted murder of law enforcement officers, and in Howard County for assault and escape, police said.
Howard County police took escaped prisoner David Watson into custody late Wednesday night, after searching for him since April 28. He had escaped Marylands maximum-security psychiatric hospital in Jessup, Md.

Details were sparse, but police said that Watson pushed a guard to the ground late Wednesday and ran into the woods as he was being unloaded from a van, police said. Officials said Watson had somehow gotten out of handcuffs and a waist chain.

Police said officials had received a report of a possible sighting Wednesday morning in the area in Jessup where Watson had escaped. About 9:30 a.m., someone called 911 , apparently after seeing a man behind a building near the railroad tracks in the 8200 block of Dorsey Run Road, police said in a statement.

The caller said the man was wearing a white hard hat and a safety vest, and he ran, according to the statement.

Soon afterward, officers found that a hard hat and safety vest had been stolen from a storage building about a mile away.

This photo released by the Howard County Police Department shows David M. Watson. (Howard County Police Department) (AP/AP)

About 9:40 p.m. Wednesday, a police team captured Watson in the woods near Dorsey Run Road. The officers, who were using night vision equipment, found Watson hiding in an 18-inch drainage pipe a few hundred yards from where he was sighted Wednesday morning, the police statement said.

Officers said they had checked the pipe earlier in the day, but rechecked it after dark, and found Watson trying to hide inside. Police searched the area with helicopters, bloodhounds, tactical teams and the U.S. Marshals Service, Maryland State Police, Anne Arundel County Police and other resources. Police said Watson surrendered and was found to be in good condition.

Watson is serving a sentence of more than 100 years in a correctional facility in Delaware for attempted murder. The statement said he also has been charged in Wicomico County, Md., for attempted murder of law enforcement officers, and in Howard County for escape.

This story has been updated.
Police said Thursday they are investigating a homicide after a man was found dead in Prince Georges County.

At around 9:20 p.m. Wednesday, officers responded to the 5700 block of Nevada Street in Berwyn Heights after a person found the mans body outside, county police said in a statement.

An autopsy showed the man died of trauma to the body, the statement said, and the death was ruled a homicide.

No information about the victims identity was immediately available.

Police asked anyone with information about the case to contact them at 301-772-4925 or submit a tip to pgcrimesolvers.com.
A woman was set on fire by a man she knew at a hotel in Northeast Washington, police said.

The incident happened Wednesday around 8:30 p.m. at a Motel 6 on Fourth Street near New York Avenue NE. When authorities arrived, they found a woman who had been set on fire. The fire was put out and she suffered from burns to her chest and neck, officials said.

The woman, police said, knew the man who is believed to have burned her, but he fled the area. No arrests have been made at this time and police said they did not have a description of the man.

Police said they are investigating the incident, and the womans injuries are not considered life-threatening.
Protesters in Austin denounce an anti-sanctuary bill that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has said he will sign. (Jay Janner/AP)

The governor of Texas is poised to sign a sweeping bill that would outlaw sanctuary jurisdictions in the state and impose costly fines and even jail time on officials who refuse to cooperate with U.S. immigration agents.

It makes clear that local law enforcement officers may ask people they detain about their immigration status, a line of questioning that critics say should be reserved for federal immigration agents.

Im getting my signing pen warmed up, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) tweeted this week. His state is home to the second-largest number of undocumented immigrants in the nation, some 1.6 million people.

The legislation would be the countrys most significant crackdown so far on sanctuary cities, which in general refuse to hold immigrants who have been arrested for local crimes past their release date so that Immigration and Customs Enforcement can take them into federal custody and try to deport them.

In March, Mississippis governor signed a law that bars sanctuary jurisdictions, while Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) vetoed a similar measure. On Thursday, Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D) warned that state and local law enforcement officers are potentially exposed to liability if they continue to jail a person whom a judge has ordered released.

(Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

Last week, a federal judge in California temporarily halted President Trumps effort to crack down on sanctuary cities nationwide.

State Sen. Charles Perry (R) has said he sponsored the Texas bill to prevent local officials from letting serious criminals out of jail before immigration agents can take them into federal custody.

The measure would fine local governments up to $25,500 a day for policies that block immigration enforcement. Elected or appointed officials who refuse to cooperate with immigration agents could lose their jobs. Sheriffs and other police officers would face misdemeanor charges, punishable by up to a year in jail and fines, if they ignore requests to detain immigrants. The bill would take effect Sept. 1.

Church leaders, police chiefs and teachers opposed the bill and vowed Thursday to fight it in court, saying it would make cities and towns unsafe because undocumented immigrants would be more unwilling to report crimes, for fear of being questioned about their own residency status.

Houston has reported a significant drop in Latinos reporting rape and other violent crime this year, after fear spread among immigrant communities following Trumps inauguration.

Advocates predicted that Texas could be targeted with boycotts and lawsuits, just as North Carolina was after passing its controversial bathroom bill.

The intention is there to terrorize and put more fear in the community here in Texas, said Eduardo Canales, director of the South Texas Human Rights Center. Its a horrible bill.

(Claritza Jimenez/The Washington Post)

Frank Sharry, executive director of the Americas Voice Education Fund, said the bill attacks the civil rights of every Texan who might look or sound like they are from somewhere else, even if their families have lived in the Lone Star State for generations.

Texas Rep. Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas) said he hoped the ACLU or the Mexican American Legislative Caucus would file a lawsuit against the bill once it is signed. He called it hateful and discriminatory and said such acts are contributing to a rise in white nationalist propaganda on college campuses.

Its very sad to see in the state of Texas today, he said.

Texas shares the longest U.S. border with Mexico and had long enjoyed friendlier relations with its southern neighbor than some other nearby states. It resisted passing laws opposing bilingual education or illegal immigration even as such statutes materialized in Arizona, Massachusetts and California.

But since Trumps election, advocates say, the climate has shifted.

Maria Teresa Kumar, president and chief executive of Voto Latino, predicted that the harsh sanctuary bill will ultimately backfire, as it did in California, where anti-immigrant ballot measures passed in the 1990s led to a political awakening for Latinos.

Now California is a leading protector of undocumented immigrants, granting them drivers licenses and in-state tuition at public colleges. The state Senate recently passed a bill that would transform the state into a sanctuary jurisdiction.

After the Texas bill passed the Senate in February, Abbott said he would not tolerate sanctuary-city policies that put the citizens of Texas at risk.

Elected officials do not get to pick and choose which laws they will obey, the governor said.

Matthew Dowling, chief of staff for Perry, the bills sponsor, said in an email Thursday that law enforcement agents will question the immigration status only of people they have detained for another reason. The bill bans racial profiling and exempts schools from cooperating with federal agents, and it would protect immigrants who are crime victims or witnesses, he said.

Dowling also pointed out that the fines vary, from $1,000 to $1,500 a day for a first offense and $25,000 to $25,500 for each subsequent violation.

If the Texas Legislature were serious about removing undocumented persons, there are better ways to address this issue than forcing law enforcement to become immigration agents, the officials said in an opinion piece that was published in The Dallas Morning News. The Legislature could easily start by addressing the businesses that hire undocumented workers, which is why the majority of the honest, hard-working persons immigrate to this country with or without documentation.

Addressing the primary reason undocumented persons enter this state would free law enforcement to address those people who are committing crimes.
Commuters are seen riding the train at the McPherson Square Metro station in Washington. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)

The federal government should cut Metros costs by making it easier for the transit agency to privatize operations and to buy buses and other equipment from foreign suppliers, according to a new study by a conservative-leaning think tank.

[Read the American Action Forum report here]

The American Action Forum also calls for a Government Accountability Office investigation of Metros workforce practices, including those affecting pay, promotions and discipline.

Referring to last years revelation that Metro employees falsified track inspection reports, the forum said: If politics or the work culture within [Metro] are rewarding unethical practices, which may be contributing to the systems high cost, poor performance and lack of safety, the GAO is the best outfit to determine that.

[One-third of Metros track inspection department has been fired for falsifying records, Wiedefeld confirms]

The six-page report is not as detailed as other studies offered in recent months to address Metros struggles with safety, reliability and finances.

But it differs from most by focusing on free-market solutions and potential actions by the federal government  rather than by the District, Maryland and Virginia.

The forum, which describes itself as center-right, hopes to guide decisions on Metro by the Republican-controlled administration and Congress.

Any federal policy which is really left-leaning probably is not going to survive this administration right now, said Philip Rossetti, a data analyst at the forum and principal author of the report.

We definitely are interested in providing an alternative perspective that might be more amenable to legislators and the current administration, he said.

[How best to pay for Metros needs? A regionwide sales tax, say local officials in major report.]

The forums report does not address one of the top questions facing Metro: whether the Washington region should adopt a regional sales tax or other dedicated funding to pay its mounting bills.

But the group looked at that topic in a report issued in March, and its conclusions surprised many observers. Though the forum favors small government, it concluded that Metro would be best served if the three jurisdictions set up a regional commission to recommend dedicated funding sources.

[Metro chief proposes new business model and extra $500 million a year in funding. ]

The March study also found that Metros labor costs, while high, were roughly in line with those of other U.S. transit systems of comparable size.

In the new report, the forums proposals on labor matters seem most likely to have impact in the wide-ranging debate over how to fix Metro. By contrast, its call to weaken Buy America laws to encourage foreign competition is seen as a nonstarter because of political opposition in the White House and Congress.

The report urges changing a law that requires any transit authority that receives federal funds to guarantee jobs to current workers if the agency is acquired by another organization.

This greatly discourages privatization, since a private organization that may see opportunities for making a transit system profitable, say through automation, cannot do so by eliminating positions, the report says.

Such a change could free Metro management to outsource operations, but it would face strong opposition from unions and their political supporters.

Metros unions are fighting a proposal by General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld to use private contractors for future operation, such as new bus garages or the second phase of the Silver Line, scheduled to open in 2020.

[Regions Democrats in Congress call for a GAO study on Metro.]

Where Metro would consider outsourcing is where the law allows, and where it would be consistent with our collective bargaining agreement  as a practical matter, new work, Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said.

Stessel said Metro has not taken a position on whether it would like to shrink its payroll by outsourcing current operations, as the forum recommended.

The forum said the GAO, as an independent watchdog, has the necessary credibility with Congress to provide needed clarity about Metros workforce.

With the majority of the workforce covered by a collective bargaining agreement and represented by a union, we know little about employment and pay patterns, the report says.Do the policies for  disciplinary action result in protecting bad employees while limiting opportunities for good ones?

Some of those questions could be addressed in a study of Metro the GAO has initiated in response to a request in February from Democrats in the regions congressional delegation. GAO has not assigned staff to the study, however, and the request sought a much broader look at Metros overall governance and funding structures.

[Trumps First 100 Days: Trump to sign Hire American, Buy American order]

The federal governments Buy America requirements result in less competition and higher costs for U.S. transit systems, according to the report and Metro officials.

For instance, Metro buys all its buses from U.S. factories owned by Canadian-based New Flyer Industries. It could save money if it could buy from foreign-based factories.

Metros new 7000-series rail cars are built in Nebraska by a Japanese-based firm.

The Buy America policy comes at the expense of American taxpayers and transit consumers, the forums report says.

But former Metro board chairman Mortimer Downey said theres little or no possibility of getting rid of Buy America.  If anything, said Downey, who served as deputy transportation secretary in the Clinton administration, the nationalist-minded Trump administration wants to make it harder to buy foreign equipment for federally funded projects.
Virginia Democrat Tom Perriello released a new campaign ad in his bid for governor where he blasts Republican attempts to overhaul the health care system while an ambulance is crushed in behind him, a possible early look at how the fierce policy battle will extend to airwaves across the country.

Perriello, who lost his 2010 Congressional re-election bid after voting for the Affordable Care Act, unveiled the spot a little more than an hour after the U.S. House voted Thursday to repeal and replace the law.

In the 32 second-ad filmed in one take, Perriello shouts over the din as a scrapyard car crusher flattens an ambulance.

[First ad of Lt. Gov. race features terrorists startling soccer mom]

Republican leaders are trying to do this to affordable health care, a barely audible Perriello says, before vowing to protect Virginias access to health care.

The ambulance window bursts into shards of glass as Perriello says together we can stop Donald Trump.

(No functioning ambulances were harmed in filming; a campaign spokesman says it was an out-of-service older model with no engine. The crusher was also far louder than the campaign expected.)

Perriellos campaign has yet to determine the extent of the ad buy and where it will air, leaving it unclear whether the unusual commercial is designed to garner attention through paid advertising or free social media and news reports.

[Northam grilled on campaign finance, Perriello on abortion at progressive forum]

Perriellos opponent in the June 13 primary, Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, has also defended the Affordable Care Act on the campaign trail, and blasted the pending Republican replacement bill as spineless, unprincipled cruelty in statements on Thursday. Northam, a pediatric neurologist, features his medical background in his first commercials.

As a doctor, Ralph Northam has been fighting for a fairer healthcare system his entire career, said David Turner, a Northam spokesman. Virginians know hes helped lead the fight to implement the Affordable Care Act in the commonwealth and expand Medicaid to 400,000 people. Republicans should be ashamed of the bill passed today, and Dr. Northam is going to call them out for their spineless.

Jennifer Duffy, an analyst at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, said she wouldnt be surprised to see more ads like Perriellos aired against vulnerable House Republicans and gubernatorial candidates, who would end up implementing provisions of the health care bill if it becomes law.

This kind of ad rings bells for Democratic activists who are furious about this, said Duffy.

[Va. Republicans warn of dire consequences if they lose 2017 races]

Nathan Gonzales, editor and publisher of the nonpartisan Inside Elections, cautions that the original Affordable Care Act was fresh on the minds of voters in the 2010 election because it passed just seven months before. A new health care overhaul may not be as salient in the 2018 election cycle, he said.

Because Virginia is one of only two states electing governors this year, Perriello is in a distinctly unique position to take advantage of this energy now when the issue could have a totally different feeling by the time we get to the mid-term, said Gonzales.

The winner of the Democratic primary will face off against the Republican nominee in November. Three Republicans, former Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie, Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart and state Sen. Frank Wagner of Virginia Beach are in a three-way fight for the GOP nomination, also to be decided June 13.
Bill and Lynn Limpert display a poster-sized photo of themselves beside a massive sugar maple at their home in rural Bath County, outside the Capitol Square building in Richmond where Gov. Terry McAuliffe has his office. ( Laura Vozzella/The Washington Post)

Bill and Lynn Limpert rallied outside Gov. Terry McAuliffes Capitol Square offices Thursday with a poster-sized photo of themselves back home in rural Bath County, standing at the foot of a massive sugar maple.

Measuring 12 feet around, the tree is part of an old-growth forest that the Limperts said would be removed  along with 38 miles of mountaintop  if Dominion Power is allowed to build a natural gas pipeline through rural Virginia.

The two retirees were part of an environmental protest that claimed Dominions proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline will require mountaintop removal  something the company says is not true.

The environmental group Chesapeake Climate Action Network organized the protest to draw attention to a new study it conducted. It concluded that Dominion would have to decapitate some mountains along the pipelines 600-mile route, which would begin in north-central West Virginia, cross through western and southern Virginia, and end at the southernmost end of North Carolina.

Dominion Resources intends to blast away, excavate, and partially remove entire ridge tops along 38 miles of Appalachian Mountains as part of the construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the study said.

Aaron Ruby, media relations manager for Dominion Energy, said the group is wrong.

The claims that Chesapeake Climate Action Network has made about mountaintop removal are just totally false, he said. Its a total mischaracterization of how we build pipelines on ridge tops.

The demonstration came at an awkward time for McAuliffe (D) and the Democrat he would like to succeed him, Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam. Both have said they would support the pipeline if it can meet tough environmental standards. Northams rival in the June 13 Democratic primary, former congressman Tom Perriello, opposes the project and has been trying to use his stance to woo liberal voters.

We found it very interesting that yesterday McAuliffe sends a letter to Trump with 13 other states saying, Honor the Paris climate accord,  said Mike Tidwell, founder and director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. So hes very focused on an international climate treaty, but appears to be okay with mountaintop removal for a fracked-gas pipeline in his own state.

McAuliffe was away Thursday on a trade mission to Mexico. His spokesman, Brian Coy, said the governor has the power to stop the pipeline only if environmental studies show that it threatens water quality. Northam recently urged the states Department of Environmental Quality to use a tougher, site-specific standard to review the project, a move McAuliffe supports.

He has always said he supports the Atlantic Coast Pipeline; he thinks it will be good for Virginias economy, Coy said. But it has to be constructed in the most environmentally sensitive way and in a way thats respectful of the individuals in the communities that are adjacent to the pipeline.

The study concluded that the pipeline would require that Dominion would have to flatten the ridge top along 38 miles  half in West Virginia, half in Virginia  by 10 to 20 feet in most places. In some places, it said, mountains would have to come down as much as 60 feet.

Ruby said that grading will be required during construction, but the company will be required to fully restore the ridgeline back to its original contours. He provided photographs of what looked like a mountain hiking trail, and said it was a ridge top in Kanawha County, W.Va., which Dominion restored after burying a pipeline there in 2010.

Like any infrastructure project that you build in mountainous terrain, were going to need to grade a relatively limited area on certain ridgelines just so we have enough level surface to safely excavate a 10-foot wide trench, he said.

The companys plans call for a 125-foot construction right of way, but he said that much land will not be needed in every stretch of the pipeline.
A streak of light trails off into the night sky as the U.S. military test fires an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at Vandenberg Air Force Base, some 130 miles northwest of Los Angeles early Wednesday. (Ringo Chiu/AFP/Getty Images)

ARKANSAS

Lawmakers vote to pare Medicaid plan

Arkansas lawmakers voted Wednesday to scale back the states first-in-the-nation hybrid Medicaid expansion under a plan that would move 60,000 people off the program and require some remaining participants to work.

The changes are part of an effort in Republican-leaning Arkansas to take advantage of President Trumps willingness to give states more flexibility in restricting coverage. Arkansas is pursuing the changes despite GOP efforts in Washington to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which enabled the states program.

More than 300,000 people are currently on the program, which was created in 2013 as an alternative to expanding Medicaid under the federal health law. The program uses Medicaid funds to purchase private insurance for low-income residents, and Arkansas was the first state to win approval for such a hybrid approach.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) in March proposed the new restrictions, which must also be approved by the federal government. Hutchinson said hed probably sign the measures into law Thursday.

The changes, laid out in identical bills that cleared the House and Senate on Wednesday, would lower the eligibility cap for the program from 138 percent of the federal poverty level to 100 percent. Those moved off the program would still be eligible for subsidies to purchase health insurance coverage from the online insurance marketplace established under the federal law.

The work requirement would be phased in over a two-year period and apply to able-bodied participants ages 19 to 49. Participants would be required to work at least 20 hours a week or 80 hours a month, volunteer or participate in job training or other training programs. The state plans to submit its request to the federal government by June and hopes to implement the changes next year.

 Associated Press

TEXAS

Murder-suicide puts school campus on alert

Two people died Wednesday in an apparent murder-suicide at a Texas community college, prompting an active-shooter alert that instructed students and employees to barricade themselves in rooms. It was the second deadly attack on a Texas campus this week.

Irving police spokesman James McLellan said it does not appear anyone else was hurt in the shooting at North Lake College, a two-year public school. The college said classes will not resume until Friday.

A math tutor at the college, Nasrin Nanbakhsh, said she saw a man shoot a woman in a hallway. I saw a guy standing, and there was a girl sitting on a chair. I saw him shooting her three times, Nanbakhsh told reporters.

Nanbakhsh said she ran into a room, locked the doors, turned off the lights and waited for help to arrive. She said she also emailed her supervisors to let them know what was happening.

The names of the gunman and the woman have not been released.

North Lake College is in Irving, about 10 miles west of Dallas, and is part of the Dallas County Community College District.

The shooting came two days after one person was killed and three others injured in a stabbing attack at the University of Texas in Austin. Police said the suspect in that attack was suffering from mental health troubles.

 Associated Press

San Francisco police kill man who was stabbing another: San Francisco police shot and killed a man who officers say was stabbing another man on the citys busy downtown Market Street on Wednesday. Police Chief Bill Scott told reporters the shooting happened shortly before 11:30 a.m. when the officers came upon the stabbing while walking their regular beat in the neighborhood. He said a white man was stabbing an Asian man. The stabbing victim was taken to a hospital.

 Associated Press
Outside the Triple S Food Mart in Baton Rouge, where police shot and killed Alton Sterling, a crowd gathered Tuesday night to hold a vigil and protest the Justice Departments decision not to charge the officer. They held signs and gave speeches. They prayed and cried.



Neal Blair, of Augusta, Ga., stands on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol during a rally to mark the 20th anniversary of the Million Man March in October 2015. (Evan Vucci/AP)

It was a vastly different scene from the one that had played repeatedly on cable news after Sterlings death last July, when activists blocked intersections, riot police arrived in armored vehicles and about 200 demonstrators were arrested.

In recent years, policing has been among the nations most visible issues as people outraged by use of force and racial disparities in punishment took to the streets under the Black Lives Matter banner. But activists say the movements efforts have entered a new phase  one more focused on policy than protest  prompted by the election of President Trump.

What people are seeing is that there are less demonstrations, said Alicia Garza, one of three women credited with coining the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag. A lot of that is that people are channeling their energy into organizing locally, recognizing that in Trumps America, our communities are under direct attack.



Police detain a demonstrator protesting the shooting death of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge in July 2016. (Jonathan Bachman/Reuters)

The streets were quiet Wednesday in the neighborhood where police and protesters clashed in the days after Sterlings death. (Bryan Tarnowski/For The Washington Post)

The issue that galvanized the movement hasnt subsided. So far this year, police have shot and killed 23 unarmed people, a higher rate than in 2016, when 48 unarmed people were killed all year. Both years, about one in three of those people has been black.

Activists say theyre no less aware of those statistics than in years past. But like most of the political left, they were stunned by Trumps electoral victory in November. And in the months since, theyve grappled with the role of an antiracism movement at a time when political threats to other groups  immigrants, Muslims and women  have gained urgency and pushed more progressives into the streets in protest.

In interviews, more than half a dozen leaders in the Black Lives Matter movement said that last years presidential election prompted renewed focus on supporting other minority groups as well as amassing electoral power to fight an administration that has pledged to roll back Obama-era efforts to reshape policing practice. Those leaders  who hail from various factions of the decentralized movement of individuals and organizations that have, at times, clashed  said the reality of Trumps presidency has forced a reconsideration of strategy.

There was a lot of regrouping that had to happen within our movement and on the broader left to really think strategically, said Asha Rosa, the national organizing co-chair for the Black Youth Project 100.



Protesters demonstrate in July 2016 outside the Triple S Food Mart where police fatally shot Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge that month. (Jonathan Bachman/Reuters)

Few people gathered at the food mart Wednesday to protest the Justice Departments decision not to charge the officers involved in Sterlings death. (Bryan Tarnowski/For The Washington Post)

Building bridges

The first major convening of young black activists during the Trump presidency came in April, when they met in Memphis for speeches, marches and workshops marking the 50th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.s Beyond Vietnam speech. They were joined by representatives of organized labor, the Fight for $15 minimum-wage effort, and a smattering of immigrant-advocacy and Muslim-rights groups.

The Black Lives Matter network is now one of more than 50 groups that have christened themselves The Majority, a coalition of progressives working on social justice issues, including LGBT rights and Islamaphobia.

Even before the election, some of the most prominent activists in the Black Lives Matter movement were expanding their focus to broader political efforts.

Garza helped develop the Womens March political platform and is an organizer for the National Domestic Workers Alliance, a labor organization.

We are also doing a lot of work to build bridges between other movements and communities caught in the crosshairs of Trumps agenda, she added. Its a real opportunity for us to build a movement of movements.

DeRay Mckesson, a Baltimore-based activist whose live tweeting from Ferguson, Mo., during the 2014 protests earned him hundreds of thousands of followers, ran for mayor of Baltimore last year and, after that unsuccessful bid, joined newly elected Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perezs transition team.

He has spent much of the year rolling out policy platforms and mobilizing tools, including the Resistance Manual and a project called OurStates, a site that helps people combat Republican policies in their state.

Garza and Mckesson also have claimed the spoils of relative celebrity. Garza has been a fixture on the paid speakers circuit while helping secure funding from major donors for the Black Lives Matter network. Mckesson has been mingling with cultural luminaries and political types, practicing his philosophy that the movement needs to work within the system.

(Grand Rapids Police Department)

Under the media radar

Black Lives Matters transition from street protests to policy is not unusual, said Stephen Zunes, a University of San Francisco professor who studies social movements. Its through such work that a movements priorities  like mandatory use of officer body cameras  can become national standards, he said.

Thats actually the way effective social movements often work or behave, Zunes said, pointing to the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations in the wake of the financial crisis as a counterexample. What the Occupy people did not learn, or by and large do, is go do the lobbying, the organizing to make change happen. They wound up fetishizing the occupy part, and then, by and large, it fizzled.

Much of the push for policy change is being driven by local chapters of Black Lives Matter, under the national medias radar, Garza notes.

In Memphis and Atlanta, activists have focused on challenging the money bail system, their term for the widespread practice of holding people in jail who are unable to pay even small amounts required by courts to assure they will show up for trial.

Poor defendants  who stand to lose jobs, apartments and custody of their children as they sit in jail  often plead guilty to lesser crimes without seeing a judge or jury.

Local Black Lives Matter activists raised more than $33,000 to bail black mothers out of jail just before Mothers Day, said Mary Hooks, an organizer with Black Lives Matter Atlanta.

The organization also is pushing the city council to make possession of a small quantity of marijuana punishable by a $75 ticket rather than arrest, and it is demanding that Atlantas mayor examine how the police force has been militarized, Hooks said.

Activists note that these efforts rarely make local news, let alone receive the national attention given to Ferguson protests after the fatal police shooting of a black teenager, Michael Brown.

Its not because were not organizing, said Shanelle Matthews, a spokeswoman for the Black Lives Matter Global Network. I think the media companies, vying for the very little brain space in peoples minds, are reporting on what they think people want to hear about right now. And thats Trump.



A protester holds a Black Lives Matter sign outside of the U.S. Capitol in July 2016 during a demonstration held in response to the police shooting deaths of Philando Castile in Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge. (Christian K. Lee/The Washington Post)

Making change locally

The Trump presidency is challenging the movements goals in another way.

In April, Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered Justice Department officials to review oversight agreements that the Obama administration put in place for police departments that showed wide racial disparities in policing practices. Since 2009, the agency has investigated 25 law enforcement agencies and entered monitoring and reform agreements with 14 of them.

Advocates suspect Sessions plans to walk away from the Obama administrations efforts to reduce the number of people killed by police and contend with the disproportionate toll such shootings take on black and Latino Americans.

During Sessionss Senate confirmation hearing in January, he described federal investigations into police departments as damaging to officer morale and implied that the Justice Departments scrutiny of police work had contributed to officer deaths.

This must not continue, Sessions told the Senate.

Still, the movements impact has been visible in some communities. In recent controversial encounters between police and unarmed black people, law enforcement has responded faster and with more regret than seen in years past. In suburban Dallas on Tuesday, an officer was fired three days after he fatally shot a 15-year-old boy sitting in a car. The officer was later charged with murder.

In North Charleston, S.C., former officer Michael Slager  who was charged with fatally shooting Walter Scott in the back after a traffic stop  pleaded guilty to using excessive force last week. And last month in Grand Rapids, Mich., police released body-camera footage a few weeks after officers held a group of unarmed black boys, ages 12 to 14, at gunpoint.

Activists there say the fact that officers were even wearing body cameras was a result of community pressure. In 2015, community groups and city officials released a report on local policing that included a 12-item to-do list that included equipping every officer with a body camera. Elected officials and the city manager have promised to make a priority of the entire plan.

Activism looks like a lot of different things: It can look like voting, it can look like protest, it can look like calling your representatives, said Aditi Juneja, a law student who works with Campaign Zero. The question shouldnt be, Will this activism be sustained? because for many people the work is very personal and it isnt going to stop. The question is how it will sustain and how it will continue to manifest.



Dakeria Anderson, 9, protests on July 11, 2016, with the help of her sisters D'liyah, 6, and D'anyriah, 8, across the street from the Triple S market where Alton Sterling was shot and killed days earlier in Baton Rouge. The other side of her sign reads: no justice no peace. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)

Ashley Cusick in Baton Rouge contributed to this report.
CANADA

For rst time in census, seniors outnumber kids

The number of seniors in Canada exceeded the number of children for the first time last year, Statistics Canada said Wednesday, pointing to the economic and social challenges facing the nation as its population ages.

The latest census release showed there were 5.9 million Canadians age 65 and older in 2016, accounting for 16.9 percent of the population, while there were 5.8 million children age 14 and under, making up 16.6 percent of the population.

Aging baby boomers drove the changing mix in population, as did higher life expectancies and low fertility rates, the report said.

Canada, like many developed countries, is facing a shifting demographic landscape, and economists expect it will have to depend on immigration to maintain economic growth as its citizens age.

In 2016, Canada had a lower proportion of seniors than any of its Group of Seven peers except for the United States, the report said.

Japan has the oldest population in the world, with one in four people 65 years of age or older.

 Reuters

IRAN

21 reported killed in coal mine explosion

An explosion in a coal mine in northern Iran on Wednesday killed at least 21 workers and injured scores, state media reported.

The blast occurred in the Zemestanyurt mine when workers tried to jump-start a locomotive, the reports said.

Twenty-one bodies of workers . . . have been taken out of the mine. . . . So far, there have been 69 injured, a regional official in Golestan province told the semiofficial Tasnim News Agency.

The semiofficial Fars News Agency reported earlier that more than 50 workers were trapped in a mile-long tunnel filled with gas, which hampered rescue efforts.

Fars reported that the mine has 500 workers and that the explosion occurred during a change of shift.

Iran extracted 1.68 million tons of coal in 2016, an increase from previous years, thanks to an easing of international sanctions after the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, including the United States.

Iran uses most of the coal in domestic steel production and exports only a fraction.

 Reuters

SOMALIA

Minister killed near presidential palace

Bodyguards for Somalias auditor general fatally shot a government minister near the presidential palace on Wednesday evening, police said.

Capt. Mohamed Hussein said bodyguards escorting Nur Farah opened fire on a car carrying Abbas Abdullahi, the public works and reconstruction minister, near a checkpoint close to the palace.

It is not clear what prompted the shooting. Security concerns are high in Somalias capital, Mogadishu, as the extremist group al-Shabab continues to target the palace, military facilities and hotels with suicide car bombings and other attacks.

The minister who was killed, a former refugee who spent large parts of his life at a camp in Kenya, had been the youngest member of Somalias new cabinet, sworn in in late March after President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed was elected in February.

The new president has vowed to improve security in the Horn of Africa country, which has seen a quarter-century of chaos.

 Associated Press

North Korea conrms the detention of U.S. national: North Korea has confirmed the detention of another American citizen for alleged acts of hostility aimed at overthrowing the country. Kim Sang Dok, an accounting instructor at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, was intercepted at Pyongyangs airport on April 22, according to the Korean Central News Agency. He is the third American being detained in North Korea. Animosity between Pyongyang and Washington has spiked in recent weeks amid a game of brinkmanship between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Trump.

Kremlin foe Navalny cannot run for presidency, official says: Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny is ineligible to run for the Russian presidency next year unless he can overturn a conviction for embezzlement, a senior election official was quoted as saying by Russias RIA news agency. Navalnys political plans were complicated in February when a court found him guilty of embezzlement during a retrial of a case that he said was politically motivated. He appealed, but a court upheld the original conviction. Allies say Navalny is entitled to run for the presidency next year under the constitution despite the embezzlement conviction. The law is not explicit on whether he can run.

Brazils top court frees figure appealing corruption case: Brazils Supreme Court has ordered the release of a former presidential chief of staff convicted in a major corruption investigation, a decision that anti-graft activists say could open the door to freedom for other key figures caught in the probe. It involves the state-run oil giant Petrobras. A five-judge panel ruled that Jose Dirceu, who had served under former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, should be released and sent back to prison only if the full court upholds his conviction. Dirceu was serving a 31-year sentence. He has been in prison since 2015.

 From news services
Those of us in the world of column-writing and policy wonkery ought to be humbled: It often takes a celebrity, preferably a comedian, to break through with an argument that transforms public understanding.

In particularly successful cases, the celebrity demolishes conventions and blurts out a deep truth that only occasionally makes it into the day-to-day arguments and journalistic accounts.

So heres hoping that Jimmy Kimmel wins some humanitarian awards for his 13-minute monologue about the recent birth of his son Billy. He described how emergency heart surgery days after Billy was born saved his childs very new life.

Kimmel used his personal experience to ask the philosophical questions that need to animate every debate over whether health care is a right that ought to be underwritten by government: Why should being born with any sort of defect raise your insurance costs all your life? Why should the babies of well-off people, including comedians, have a better shot at surviving than newborns whose parents lack the money to buy health insurance? More generally, why should anyone be denied coverage?

Here is the policy core of Kimmels monologue that those who advocate health care for all might consider memorizing like a catechism answer, a Torah portion or a favorite verse of scripture or poetry:

(Amber Ferguson/The Washington Post)

Before 2014, if you were born with congenital heart disease like my son was, there was a good chance you would never be able to get health insurance because you had a preexisting condition. You were born with a preexisting condition, and if your parents didnt have medical insurance, you might not live long enough to even get denied because of a preexisting condition.

If your baby is going to die, and it doesnt have to, it shouldnt matter how much money you make. I think thats something now, whether youre a Republican or Democrat or something else, we all agree on that, right? I mean, we do. Whatever your party, whatever you believe, whoever you support, we need to make sure that the people who are supposed to represent us  people who are meeting about this right now in Washington  understand that very clearly.

What makes this especially powerful is what appears to be the political naivete that underlies Kimmels sentiment: that regardless of party, we all think everyone is entitled to equal medical treatment.

If Kimmel were describing politics in just about any other economically advanced democracy, he would be absolutely right. Conservative parties elsewhere routinely support a very large role for government in guaranteeing health care. Britains Conservative prime minister, Theresa May, who faces an election next month, brags about funding the National Health Service at record levels. Her opponents challenge her on what this means in practice, but thats not the point: She wants voters to know she supports Britains essentially socialized system.

But Kimmels assertion is not accepted by right-leaning politicians in the United States. It is not, alas, something we all agree on. This is why Republicans are trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

A few honest ideologues are willing to admit this. I do not believe that health care is a basic right, Rep. Raul R. Labrador (R-Idaho) said at a town-hall meeting this year. The crowd reacted angrily, suggesting theyre with Kimmel.

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) likes the idea of requiring those who have higher health-care costs to contribute more to the insurance pool, which would have the effect of reducing the cost to those people who lead good lives, theyre healthy.

Lets count the problems here. What, exactly, did Billy Kimmel do wrong to have a heart problem on his first day of life? What should we do about all those Americans who lead good lives by Brookss exacting definition but dont earn enough to afford good insurance? Why should rich people who live bad lives have a huge health-care edge over lower-income people who jog every day?

Republicans are having trouble with their repeal bill because the gut response of most Americans is that Kimmel is right and right-wing ideologues are wrong. Any parent who has had a child get very sick knows this. That is why President Trump and GOP leaders try to pretend that a cruel bill threatening the health coverage of millions is far less damaging than it is.

Kimmels critics have argued that hospital emergency rooms have a legal duty to treat patients whether they have insurance or not. But even with that requirement, a 2009 study published in the Journal of Public Health showed that children without health insurance were 37.8 percent more likely to die in the hospital than kids with insurance.

After Kimmels intervention, we have to face the fact that either we pay the public cost of covering everyone, or kids like his son will die when they could have lived.

Read more from E.J. Dionnes archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
A JURY of his peers concluded that former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell (R) was ethically obtuse. The chief justice of the United States found much the same thing. Now we are treated to the spectacle of Mr. McDonnell himself, on CBSs 60 Minutes, declaring that his conduct in office  his acceptance of gifts, loans and vacations from a favor-seeking businessman  was simply politics as usual.

Mr. McDonnell is not contrite.

Perhaps it is expecting too much from the degraded state of contemporary American politics and civic life to think Mr. McDonnell would publicly subject his past behavior to a clear-eyed, unflinching ethical review. After all, the president of the United States gained access to the Oval Office by adhering to a strict policy of not apologizing.

Mr. McDonnell takes cover from the Supreme Courts unanimous ruling vacating his conviction at trial, which found that his particular brand of sticky-fingered greed did not meet the laws crabbed definition of official corruption. Having broken no law, the former governor says, the fact of his having abused his office for personal gain has left his conscience unsullied. I knew in my heart I was governing myself properly, Mr. McDonnell said.

In fact, while the court spared Mr. McDonnell the ignominy of serving his two-year prison sentence, its opinion was a far cry from absolution. There is no doubt that this case is distasteful, wrote Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who took note of the tawdry tales of Ferraris, Rolexes, and ball gowns  a sampling of the many gratuities bestowed upon Mr. McDonnell and his wife. It may be worse than that.

To Mr. McDonnell, the baubles and bling he happily accepted were all within the normal bounds of transactional Virginia politics, the crucible that made Mr. McDonnells career first as lawmaker, later as a governor. We may not like the amount of gifts, he told 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker, but it was consistent with Virginia law and so, Bill, thats why at this point I feel vindicated.

If in fact Mr. McDonnell feels vindicated, he has badly missed the point of his ordeal. His conduct in office, as Mr. Roberts stated plainly, did not typify normal political interaction. . . . Far from it.

No, Mr. McDonnell, not every politician is on the take; not every politician skates right up to the line of federal corruption statutes by pocketing every freebie they can; and not every politician has the chutzpah to blithely claim ignorance as a defense against suggestions of bribery. (I didnt know what a Rolex cost, to be honest, Mr. McDonnell said. Im a Seiko and Timex guy, and always have been.)

In finding that Mr. McDonnells actions fell short of the definition of actual graft, the Supreme Court narrowed the leeway granted prosecutors to hold elected officials to account for corruption. That is hardly vindication for Mr. McDonnells ethical myopia, nor any sort of legacy to inspire pride.
Reading about those young Marine officers who served in Vietnam and were killed or seriously wounded brought back memories about how the country was duped into fighting a war that had no real purpose [The lucky ones ,  front page, April 30]. Early in the conflict, Defense Secretary and chief architect of the war Robert McNamara stated, The war in Vietnam is going well and will succeed. As the war progressed, he admitted, The picture of the worlds greatest superpower killing or seriously injuring 1,000 noncombatants a week, while trying to pound a tiny backward nation into submission on an issue whose merits are hotly debated, is not a pretty one.

Eventually, Rand Corp. military analyst Daniel Ellsberg released the Pentagon Papers, a detailed account of how the Pentagon hoodwinked the nation into thinking it was fighting a just war, much to the chagrin of President Richard Nixon.

Otts Laupus, Ellicott City
It is urgent for Americans to think and speak clearly about President Trumps inability to do either. This seems to be not a mere disinclination but a disability. It is not merely the result of intellectual sloth but of an untrained mind bereft of information and married to stratospheric self-confidence.

In February, acknowledging Black History Month, Trump said that Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody whos done an amazing job and is getting recognized more and more, I notice. Because Trump is syntactically challenged, it was possible and tempting to see this not as a historical howler about a man who died 122 years ago, but as just another of Trumps verbal fender benders, this one involving verb tenses.

Now, however, he has instructed us that Andrew Jackson was angry about the Civil War that began 16 years after Jacksons death. Having, let us fancifully imagine, considered and found unconvincing William Sewards 1858 judgment that the approaching Civil War was an irrepressible conflict, Trump says:

People dont realize, you know, the Civil War, if you think about it, why? People dont ask that question, but why was there the Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?

[When is it okay to say the president might be nuts?]

(Adriana Usero/The Washington Post)

Library shelves groan beneath the weight of books asking questions about that wars origins, so who, one wonders, are these people who dont ask the questions that Trump evidently thinks have occurred to him uniquely? Presumably they are not the astute lot of, or at least some, people Trump referred to when speaking about his February address to a joint session of Congress: A lot of people have said that, some people said it was the single best speech ever made in that chamber. Which demotes Winston Churchill, among many others.

What is most alarming (and mortifying to the University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated) is not that Trump has entered his eighth decade unscathed by even elementary knowledge about the nations history. As this column has said before, the problem isnt that he does not know this or that, or that he does not know that he does not know this or that. Rather, the dangerous thing is that he does not know what it is to know something.

The United States is rightly worried that a strange and callow leader controls North Koreas nuclear arsenal. North Korea should reciprocate this worry. Yes, a 70-year-old can be callow if he speaks as sophomorically as Trump did when explaining his solution to Middle Eastern terrorism: I would bomb the s--- out of them. . . . Id blow up the pipes, Id blow up the refineries, Id blow up every single inch, there would be nothing left.

As a candidate, Trump did not know what the nuclear triad is. Asked about it, he said: We have to be extremely vigilant and extremely careful when it comes to nuclear. Nuclear changes the whole ballgame. Invited to elaborate, he said: I think  I think, for me, nuclear is just the power, the devastation is very important to me. Someone Trump deemed fit to be a spokesman for him appeared on television to put a tasty dressing on her employers word salad: What good does it do to have a good nuclear triad if youre afraid to use it? To which a retired Army colonel appearing on the same program replied with amazed asperity: The point of the nuclear triad is to be afraid to use the damn thing.

[Trump has been sued. Heres why the Justice Department shouldnt represent him.]

As president-elect, Trump did not know the pedigree and importance of the one-China policy. About such things he can be, if he is willing to be, tutored. It is, however, too late to rectify this defect: He lacks what T.S. Eliot called a sense not only of the pastness of the past, but of its presence. His fathomless lack of interest in Americas path to the present and his limitless gullibility leave him susceptible to being blown about by gusts of factoids that cling like lint to a disorderly mind.

Americans have placed vast military power at the discretion of this mind, a presidential discretion that is largely immune to restraint by the Madisonian system of institutional checks and balances. So, it is up to the public to quarantine this presidency by insistently communicating to its elected representatives a steady, rational fear of this man whose combination of impulsivity and credulity render him uniquely unfit to take the nation into a military conflict.

1 of 58 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  A look at President Trumps first year in office, so far View Photos The presidents term has featured controversial executive orders and frequent conflicts with the media. Caption Scenes from the Republicans beginning months in the White House. Jan. 25, 2017 Trump signs an executive order for border security and immigration enforcement improvements at the Department of Homeland Security in Washington. Chip Somodevilla/Pool photo via Bloomberg News Wait 1 second to continue.

Read more from George F. Wills archive or follow him on Facebook.
Robert Bauer, professor of practice at New York University School of Law, served as White House counsel to President Barack Obama.

President Trump has been sued for allegedly violating the Constitutions emoluments clause, which raises the question: Who should represent him? As it stands now, because the president has been sued in his official capacity, the Justice Department will appear for the defense on behalf of the United States. But in an unprecedented case involving the presidents extensive private business interests and its management through a controversial trust arrangement, that is the wrong choice.

Instead, the president should be required to retain private counsel to represent him. The Justice Department should express its view separately but also independently of the departments senior appointed leadership. This arrangement would make it more likely that the Justice Department will advance a constitutional position in the broader public interest, not just in the narrow service of a president who happens to be in office at the moment.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan alleges violations of two separate limitations on the receipt of emoluments. One, involving the foreign emoluments clause, asserts that foreign governments are directly or indirectly patronizing Trumps hotels, leasing his properties and helping his businesses profit. The second involves a parallel clause prohibiting the receipt of emoluments, beyond the presidents salary, from individual states or the federal government. Recently, new plaintiffs joined the suit to argue that this amalgam of public responsibility and private holdings subjects other U.S. businesses to unfair competition.

Requiring a clear separation of the presidents business interests from those of the United States does not prejudice Trumps defense on the merits. He can and will make his case. Neither the scope nor the application of these provisions is clearly settled. Some scholars argue that the foreign emoluments clause reaches only payment for official services rendered. There is also disagreement about whether the prohibition on emoluments applies to arms-length business transactions with companies in which the president may have an interest.

Complicating these questions are sharp differences on the question of whether the presidents trust arrangement, run by his sons, adequately insulates him from direct engagement with his business while in office. The president, who remains free to draw income from the trust, insists that it does. The director of the Office of Government Ethics publicly disagreed.

At the same time, there is little doubt that the presidents business interests are active and enhanced by the connection to state power. One of his sons has pronounced the Trump brand to be the hottest it has ever been and has said that his father would receive regular, probably quarterly, reports on his businesss profitability.

It is precisely these unique features of the case  new constitutional law to be made on these exceptional facts  that suggest why Justice Department senior leadership chosen by the president should not direct the defense of this lawsuit. After all, their boss has asserted repeatedly that he has observed all constitutional and ethical requirements. No one can reasonably assume that department appointees are unaware of the stakes for their leader. They must now develop a constitutional position free of any suggestion that it is responsive to the chief executives personal concerns.

The politics of the situation only add to the pressure on the department. What would it mean for the president, politically and personally, if the departments defense departed in meaningful particulars from the strong endorsement of Trumps position already tendered by his private legal team?

Private lawyers for Trump are most appropriately situated to provide a defense protective of Trumps personal business interests. These lawyers established, and then publicly defended, his trust arrangement. They also structured the procedures for monitoring and addressing conflicts of interest and are responsible for administering them.

The position of the U.S. government will require attention and representation. The courts will expect to hear the Justice Departments views, which presents another challenge. Its participation cannot consist, or appear to consist, of echoing the presidents private defense, under the watchful eye of its presidentially appointed leadership. It can address this problem by appointing well-respected special counsel to develop and argue a position on behalf of the public. Or it can make  and of critical importance, disclose  internal arrangements to allow career lawyers within the Office of Legal Counsel and the Office of the Solicitor General to present the position of the United States in a friend-of-the-court brief.

By having the president and the department go their separate ways, the basic proposition will have been laid down: In this extraordinary case, the governments business and the presidents are not the same.
Correction: An earlier version of this column stated incorrectly the percentage of Americans who believe abortion should be legal in some or all circumstances, according to Gallup polling. This version has been updated.

Christine Emba edits The Posts In Theory blog.

Is it possible to be a good progressive and oppose abortion? This long-simmering question was brought to the fore recently when Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced their support of Heath Mello, a candidate for mayor of Omaha who is also, inconveniently, antiabortion.

Under pressure from abortion rights groups, Perez quickly walked back his support for Mello and said that being pro-choice was not negotiable for Democrats. That reversal was in turn rebuked by a chorus of high-ranking Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.). In the end, Perez walked back his walk-back, announcing there was no litmus test after all.

But is there? Should there be? Increasingly, abortion opponents hear a resounding yes. The message they get from progressive activists and commentators, if not from Democratic Party leaders, is increasingly hostile: As much as the party professes to be a big tent, those who oppose abortion rights arent really wanted.

This is a mistake  and not only because it limits Democrats ability to keep or expand their voter base. It also reduces the core values of the progressive movement to a single symbol and constrains the debate on how to best achieve broader goals of social and economic equality. The associated contempt for antiabortion activists often relies on outdated assumptions about their aims and origins and fails to take into account the complexity of most Americans views on abortion.

Ironically, restricting abortion was once a progressive cause. Early defenders saw protecting the unborn as an extension of societys responsibility to shield the poor, weak and otherwise defenseless. Many were wary of abortions eugenic potential and of how it allowed men more leeway to exploit or abuse women without consequence.

But after the Supreme Court established the right to abortion in 1973, the issue became more and more a matter of left-right divide, and the antiabortion cause was folded into a broader portfolio of social conservative goals. Yet recent years have seen the emergence, or perhaps reemergence, of activists who oppose abortion from a divergent and sometimes frankly left-wing perspective  secular humanists; consistent life ethic activists who oppose abortion, capital punishment and euthanasia with equal fervor; and antiabortion believers otherwise fed up with the Republican Party.

Democrats, and progressives more broadly, should be welcoming such people rather than disdaining them. Assuming bad faith on the part of anyone who opposes or is even willing to accept limits on abortion rights makes it too easy for the left to embrace a narrow perspective when deciding how best to pursue progressive goals.

Equating non-support of abortion to a total abandonment of womens rights, the way a pointed headline in New York Magazine did last month, ignores the reality that womens rights should include far more than that  from an end to pervasive sexual harassment to broader support for mothers. And yes, economic factors may play a role for many women deciding whether to obtain abortions. But suggesting, as did ThinkProgresss Bryce Covert in a recent New York Times op-ed, that an unyielding abortion rights stance is the only way to ensure womens ability to achieve financial security confuses cause and effect.

Equating progressivism with being pro-abortion rights assumes that providing a single, simple solution  making it easier to terminate pregnancies  is worth more effort than addressing the root causes of the problem. An equally if not more progressive strategy might focus instead on addressing the lack of maternal leave and child-care policies, demanding a living wage, and pushing back against an economic system that penalizes women for having and rearing children in the first place. And while one might argue that Democrats are already doing all of the above, the willingness to excommunicate those who disagree with one strategy even if they adhere to all others makes it clear which issue matters the most.

Of course, even if progressive successes made it possible for every woman to care for an unexpected child, there would still be women who didnt want to continue an unwanted pregnancy. And this is where enforcing cut-and-dried allegiances  supporting abortion in all circumstances is the only possible Democratic stance  is at odds with the conflicted way that most Americans, even those who would by and large support progressive policies, approach the issue.

According to Gallups 2016 polling, 47 percent of Americans think that abortion is morally wrong, but a full 79 percent believe it should be legal, though the circumstances in which they would allow it vary. Attempting to neatly slice these shades of gray in order to most perfectly define a true Democrat would leave many thoughtful Americans out in the cold.

Movements need defining tenets to unite around. From there, individuals within the community can debate the best ways to achieve their goals. But the Democratic Party, and the progressive movement more generally, should be wary of replacing the goals of social and economic justice with the proxy of being pro-abortion rights. Flatly writing off antiabortion progressives alienates potential supporters of the larger cause, while narrowing the spectrum of discussion to the perspectives of a purist few.
Jon Iadonisi, a friend and business associate of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, had two under-the-radar projects underway in the fall of 2016.

One of his companies was helping Flynn with an investigative effort for an ally of the Turkish government  details of which Flynn revealed only after he was forced to step down from his White House post.

At the same time, Iadonisi was also doing work for the Trump campaign, although his role was not publicly reported, according to people familiar with his involvement.

The project Iadonisi was engaged in for Trumps campaign focused on social media, according to a person with knowledge of the arrangement. What that work consisted of  and why his company was not disclosed as a vendor in campaign finance reports  remains a mystery.

The Trump campaign did not report any payments to Iadonisi or his firms. However, Federal Election Commission reports show that the Trump campaign paid $200,000 on Dec. 5 for data management services to Colt Ventures, a Dallas-based venture-capital firm that is an investor in VizSense, a social-media company co-founded by Iadonisi.

The Washington Post made repeated inquiries to Iadonisi and other VizSense officials, but none responded to requests for comment.

[The fall of Michael Flynn: A timeline]

Michael Glassner, executive director of the Trump campaign committee, said invoices show Colt Ventures was paid for a social-media project that involved video-content creation and millennial engagement in the campaigns final month. He declined to comment on why the payment went to a venture-capital firm and whether campaign officials were aware of the firms connection to VizSense and Iadonisi.

It is common for political vendors to hire subcontractors whose work is not publicly reported. However, campaign committees cannot seek to avoid disclosure by paying an entity that does not have a legitimate relationship with the ultimate recipient, said Washington campaign-finance lawyer Daniel Petalas, who served as the FECs acting general counsel and head of enforcement.

A venture-capital company is certainly a strange entity for a campaign to be making an expenditure to, and I would want to look further to assess whether it was it an appropriate recipient, he said.

Colt Ventures was founded by Darren Blanton, a Dallas investor who later served as an adviser to Trumps transition. Blanton met frequently with Trump strategist Stephen K. Bannon at Trump Tower during the campaign, according to people who saw him there. Colt also sent a report to Bannon about work done for the campaign, according to a person familiar with the matter.

It is unclear who approved the contract with Colt Ventures. Bannon declined to comment, but a White House official said Bannon is not aware of any of these companies or contracts.

Blanton did not respond to requests for comment. However, shortly after the The Post first contacted him, Colt Ventures updated an online list of companies that make up its investment portfolio and added VizSense.

VizSense, based in Plano, Tex., promises on its website to weaponize your brands influence through military-grade influencer marketing and intelligence services.

Iadonisi, a former Navy SEAL, started the company in 2015 with Tim Newberry, a nuclear engineer who served as a submarine officer. It was spun out of the duos consulting firm, White Canvas Group, which they once described as a a privatized DARPA, a reference to the Pentagons research arm.

White Canvas has received numerous Pentagon contracts, including nearly $150,000 last year from the Navy for deep and dark web capability and gap analysis, according to contracting records.

In a 2015 interview with the Dallas Morning News, Iadonisi said VizSense helps clients track online video performance and identify which social-media users drive the most traffic. He said he witnessed the power of viral media firsthand while serving in Iraq.

We know of a lot of bad guys who were killing my friends, and they were really good at making viral videos, Iadonisi said. These videos catalyze, and now we can look at data.

Iadonisi, who worked with the CIA as a Navy SEAL, according to an online biography, has close ties to Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general with whom he served in Iraq. His LinkedIn page features an endorsement from Flynn, who called Iadonisi one of the best problem solvers I have ever worked with and an incredible asset for any organization.

In late December, the official VizSense account tweeted praise of Flynn, writing that he is going to construct an NSC that is custom built for what America needs to be first!@DanScavino @GenFlynn @realDonaldTrump.

Flynn declined to comment through his attorney. But a person with knowledge of their relationship said Flynn has no stake in Iadonisis companies and received no financial benefit from any of Iadonisis campaign work.

Until recently, Iadonisi and Flynns firms shared an office suite in Alexandria, Va. Flynns now-closed consultancy, Flynn Intel Group, rented space from White Canvas Group, according to a person familiar with the arrangement.

And last fall, Flynn tapped White Canvas Group to help him investigate Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish Islamic cleric who lives in Pennsylvania, Justice Department documents show.

[Top Pentagon watchdog launches investigation into money that Michael Flynn received from foreign groups]

The research was financed by a company owned by Ekim Alptekin, a Turkish American businessman close to top officials in Turkey, the documents show. Turkeys president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accuses Gulen of fomenting a coup attempt last summer and wants him extradited from the United States.

Inovo, a Netherlands-based company owned by Alptekin, paid Flynn Intel Group $530,000 to activate an investigative laboratory made up of former top security and intelligence officials to research Gulen, according to documents Flynn filed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Flynn, in turn, paid White Canvas Group $15,000 for public open source research, according to disclosures.

In its contract with Inovo, Flynn Intel Group said the Gulen investigation would be done by its most senior principals, including the head of Flynn Intel Groups Special Operations Cyber Force.

At the time, that role appeared to be filled by Newberry, Iadonisis partner and the chief executive of White Canvas Group.

In August 2016, the same month the Inovo contract was signed, Newberry temporarily took on an additional post: chief executive of FIG Cyber, a unit of Flynn Intel Group, according to his LinkedIn profile. He held the title until November, when the Inovo contract ended. Newberry did not respond to requests for comment.

Flynn stepped down as national security adviser in February after misleading administration officials about his contacts with the Russian ambassador. He retroactively registered as a paid foreign agent for Turkish interests in March in disclosures to the Justice Department.

The Defense Departments inspector general is investigating payments Flynn received from Inovo and other foreign groups. Defense Department guidelines require former officers to obtain permission before working for foreign governments.

Steven Rich contributed to this report.
President Trump on Thursday plans to relax enforcement of rules barring tax-exempt churches from participating in politics as part of a much-anticipated executive order on religious liberties, according to senior White House officials.

The order will also offer unspecified regulatory relief for religious objectors to an Obama administration mandate  already scaled back by the courts  that required contraception services as part of health plans, the officials said.

But it will not include a controversial provision contained in a draft leaked in February that could have allowed federal contractors to discriminate against LGBT employees or single mothers on the basis of faith.

The sweep of the order  to be unveiled on a day when Christian conservatives visit the White House  appeared significantly narrower than in the February draft, which had alarmed civil libertarians, gay rights and other liberal advocacy groups and prompted threats of lawsuits.

(Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)

In addition to the two policy changes, the order will also provide a blanket statement that it is the policy of the administration to protect and vigorously promote religious liberty.

As a candidate and shortly after taking office, Trump declared he would totally destroy whats known as the Johnson Amendment, a six-decade-old ban on churches and other tax-exempt organizations supporting political candidates.

The provision is written in the tax code and would require an act of Congress to repeal fully.

A White House official said Trump would instead direct the Internal Revenue Service to exercise maximum enforcement discretion of the prohibition. Such a direction could be subject to legal challenge and would not necessarily extend beyond a Trump presidency.

I cant speak to what some future president might do in some future administration, one White House official said at a briefing for reporters Wednesday night. Like others interviewed for this report, the official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the order before it was released.

The IRS says violations of the Johnson Amendment are rarely pursued anyway, but evangelicals claim it has been used selectively against them, preventing Christian leaders from speaking freely in church.

The amendment is named for Lyndon B. Johnson, who introduced it in the Senate in 1954, nine years before he became president.

The provision  whose inclusion in the executive order was first reported by the New York Times  applies to all tax-exempt organizations, including many colleges and foundations.

Under current law, churches are free to promote political candidates but must forgo such activity to obtain tax-exempt status.

The repeal of the Johnson Amendment is also being written into the tax legislation being developed in the House of Representatives, according to congressional aides.

But both the provision and the broader legislation face substantial hurdles.

Although Trumps religious liberties order is likely to please a key part of base  exit polls in November showed Trump defeating Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton 80 percent to 16 percent among white evangelical Christians  it has caused trepidation elsewhere.

Of particular concern was the draft provision providing additional freedom to federal contractors to discriminate in the name of religious freedom.

If this executive order is anything like the one that was leaked in February, it would create an unprecedented license to discriminate with federal funds, Sarah Warbelow, legal director of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a phone call with reporters. Freedom of religion does not give people the right to impose their beliefs on others, to harm others, or to discriminate.

But White House officials said that provision would not be included in Thursdays order.

A provision that will be included in the order is a response to the issue raised in the prominent Hobby Lobby and Little Sisters of the Poor cases before the Supreme Court  whether employers must comply with the Affordable Care Acts requirement that insurance cover contraception for women.

In the Hobby Lobby case, the court said some employers can opt out of paying for their employees birth control coverage for religious reasons. Afterward, the Obama administration announced new rules to allow for the insurance company to pay for the contraception instead.

The order calls for regulatory relief for those parties but does not spell out what that might entail. The White House official who briefed the media did not elaborate.

Asked by reporters on Wednesday whether the president would sign a religious freedom executive order the next day, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said he would not get ahead of the president on the executive order.

Just the rumor of a signing on Thursday elicited statements of celebration from Christian groups, including the Liberty Council, and statements of opposition from liberal groups, including religious ones. More than 1,300 clergy signed a letter opposing the proposed order, which they published as an ad in Politico.

Sarah Pulliam Bailey contributed to this report.
In the wake of last years presidential election, the polling and political projection industries came in for a beating, accused of missing one of the biggest political stories in a generation. A new report examining what happened comes to a split conclusion: National surveys were generally accurate in projecting the popular vote but state polls had a historically bad year in forecasting the results in the electoral college.

Donald Trump won the presidency by rolling up 306 electoral votes to Hillary Clintons 232. But Clinton won the popular vote by almost 3 million votes and a margin of 2.1 percentage points. This was the second time in the past five elections in which a Democrat won the popular vote and a Republican won the electoral college.

The results produced a deluge of criticism about campaign coverage, given near-universal predictions of a Clinton victory, and why Trump was so underestimated heading up to Election Day. The authors of the report summed up the public response to the outcome this way:

The day after the election, there was a palpable mix of surprise and outrage directed toward the polling community, as many felt that the industry had seriously misled the country about who would win.

FBI Director James B. Comey appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 3. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)

The criticism prompted the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) to convene a 13-member committee to study in detail to what extent the polls were off and why. The panels report was released Thursday.

Earlier this week, Clinton blamed her loss in part on the decision by FBI Director James B. Comey to send a letter to Congress on Oct. 28 announcing that investigators had come across a fresh trove of her emails and that the investigation of her use of a private email server as secretary of state was being reopened.

If the election had been held on October 27, I would be your president, Clinton said in a public interview with CNNs Christiane Amanpour.

The AAPOR report sought to answer the question of how much Comeys letter contributed to Trumps victory but stopped short of providing a conclusive answer. The evidence for a meaningful effect on the election from the FBI letter is mixed at best, the report states.

On the eve of the election, various indicators pointed to a Clinton victory, according to the report. Among them were the patterns of early voting in swing states, forecasters predictions and polling data from the Upper Midwest, which showed Clinton leading, if narrowly, in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Ultimately Trump carried those three states by just 77,744 votes, or barely one-half of one percentage point.

The reports two main findings about polling underscore that it was a treacherous year for pollsters, and therefore predictions. The AAPOR committee concludes that the national polls were generally correct and accurate by historical standards, and that they were more accurate than in 2012. The polls, on average, pointed to a Clinton victory in the popular vote by about three percentage points. Her eventual advantage was well within the margin of error of the national polls.

But where elections are decided, in state-by-state contests, things were not so rosy for pollsters. State polls were historically bad  the report calls it the largest error in state polling of elections starting in 2000  and the key failure was the underestimation of Trumps support. This was particularly true in the Upper Midwest, where the election was decided.

Donald Trump addresses supporters at an election night event at the New York Hilton Midtown on Nov. 8, 2016. (Jabin Botsford /The Washington Post)

The AAPOR team also found flaws among those organizations that produce poll aggregates and projections of results and pointed to these predictions as one reason so many people were surprised by the outcome of the election. They helped crystallize the erroneous belief that Clinton was a shoo-in for president, the report states.

The report sought to draw a distinction between polls, which the authors call a snapshot in time, and prediction models. But there was an explicit warning about the limits of all such measurements. Caution and humility seem to be in order for pollsters and those who use polls, the report states.

The authors sought to determine why Trumps vote was underestimated, particularly in state surveys. One reason, they concluded, was that many voters waited to the end to decide how to vote, or changed their minds in the final days. These errors were substantial and problematic in several consequential states, the report concludes.

Among the states where it mattered most was Wisconsin, a state Republicans had not won since 1984 but which Trump carried by less than a percentage point. But there were also problems in several other states that proved crucial, including Michigan and Pennsylvania, two other states that had voted for Democratic nominees in six consecutive elections.

Exit polls found that late-deciding voters backed Trump by substantial margins in Florida, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in what broke the back of the Clinton campaigns path to victory. The report notes: This can be seen as good news for the polling industry. It suggests that many polls were probably fairly accurate at the time they were conducted.

That might be small consolation to the polling community, given public perceptions that forecasts in general were off the mark in 2016.

One clear weakness in state polls, according to the report, was the failure of many pollsters to weight their data on the basis of educational achievement. In 2016, there was a significant education gap in voters behavior, with non-college-educated voters supporting Trump heavily in comparison to those with college degrees.

Many state polls continued to base their results on samples that included too many college-educated voters and too few without degrees, despite the fact that the education gap was well documented early in the campaign.

Another possible cause for errors in state polls was the change in the composition of the electorate and of turnout by different groups of voters compared to 2012. The report suggests this was a problem but the authors said they lacked some additional data from the federal government that would allow for more detailed study.

A much smaller factor cited as a possible reason polls in the Midwest tended to underestimate support for Trump was that he appeared as the first name on ballots in Florida, Michigan and Wisconsin.

One theory often advanced is that many people who supported Trump were unwilling to tell pollsters that they favored him. Various tests of this theory yielded no evidence to support it, the report says.

The report sought to debunk the argument that the polls have a partisan bias toward Democrats. Although the 2016 surveys tended to underestimate Trumps support, polls in 2012 and 2000 tended to underestimate the support for the Democratic presidential nominees.
A bipartisan group of senators is demanding a full accounting of refugee processing numbers from the Trump administration, as a global moratorium on Homeland Security officials interviewing resettlement applicants drags into its fourth month.

The Department of Homeland Security has not resumed overseas interviews with refugee applicants since President Trump released his first executive order to ban immigrants and visitors from seven Muslim-majority nations and halt all refugee arrivals for 120 days, according to resettlement organizations and Homeland Security officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity. That policy is continuing, they say, despite federal court orders putting significant parts of Trumps executive immigration orders on hold.

Sometimes there is a small pause of a few days, while we gear up for the fiscal year  but weve never had a four-month suspension of the program, said Jen Smyers, director of refugee policy and advocacy with the Church World Service, one of nine official U.S. refugee resettlement agencies, which has begun cutting back overseas staff. Refugee processing has ground to a halt.

Concerns that the Trump administrations efforts to bar new refugees are continuing despite court rulings are part of the inspiration behind a letter senators are sending to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly, demanding a detailed explanation of policy and a reckoning on the current state of processing applications.

In it, 11 Democrats and five Republicans ask the administration to clarify its goal intake of refugees for fiscal 2017, specify the manner and speed with which it plans to process refugee referrals, identify how many cases are currently being processed and detail what department personnel changes have been made that could affect the quality and pace of refugee admissions.

This administration needs to be transparent about its refugee policies, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who spearheaded the letter, said in a statement. Our nation should continue to be a safe haven for those fleeing harm and if this administration is closing the door on refugees, Congress and the American people have a right to know.

All refugees hoping to be resettled in the United States must submit to an interview with a DHS official, as well as other forms of vetting. But several major refugee resettlement and advocacy groups, as well as two DHS officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said they were unaware of any such interviews taking place since Trump placed a temporary ban on resettlement in January  a measure that was quickly blocked in federal court.

As part of his executive orders on immigration, Trump sought to scale down the number of refugees approved by the Obama administration for fiscal 2017 to 50,000 from 110,000. Some refugee advocates say the president chose that number because the United States has already resettled 40,000 refugees this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, noting that DHS has moved resources and personnel previously dedicated to processing refugee applications elsewhere.

[Trumps order to ban refugees and immigrants triggers fears across the globe]

A DHS spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. But a DHS official who was not authorized to speak on the record confirmed that we havent sent anyone overseas to do these interviews since January and that while the recent court injunctions against Trumps executive orders on immigration have allowed refugees who already have visas to enter . . . that is about it.

Senators cited those recent court orders in their letter to Tillerson and Kelly, reminding them that the federal court decision currently prevents the implementation of portions of this Executive Order, including the entire section addressing the [U.S. Refugee Admissions Program] as they asked for details about when and how the Trump administration plans to take in more refugees.

Refugee programs have come under intense political scrutiny in the wake of terrorist attacks in the United States and Europe, with lawmakers angling to bar entry to certain categories of refugees  such as those from Syria, Iraq and other countries beset by the Islamic State  until the U.S. government can better guarantee they are not a national security risk.

[Amid immigration setbacks, one Trump strategy seems to be working: Fear]

Trumps executive orders have gone a step further, envisioning the four-month, across-the-board halt to processing and admission. The current moratorium on interviews is similarly global and has been in place for over three months.

Advocates say that at this point, the general message they are getting from U.S. officials is  please dont send us any more [refugees]. . . because theres no reason to raise their expectations, if we already have X number of people in the pipeline and the [resettlement] numbers are going to be low enough, said Devon Cone, director of overseas resettlement for HIAS, another of the nine resettlement agencies. Newly identified refugees that really need resettlement are not going to have anywhere to go.

Congress budgeted for 85,000 refugee visas this year  shy of the 110,000 the Obama administration envisioned but on par with refugee quotas the past few years. The current resettlement tally of about 40,000 arrivals has the government about halfway to that goal with less than five months to go.

But the pace of arrivals has slowed noticeably since Trump took office, resettlement officials report, going from about 2,000-2,200 per week in the last few months of the Obama administration to 400 per week in the wake of Trumps first executive order. Since mid-March, those numbers have leveled out at about 900 refugee arrivals per week, according to resettlement agencies and a spokesman from the State Department.

That pace, advocates say, is far too slow to let the country meet its normal refugee resettlement quota. Senators are also specifically worried that it could leave categories of sympathetic cases in limbo. In their letter, senators specifically asked for specific data and policy guarantees surrounding genocide survivors, Iraqis who helped the U.S. mission (and can no longer take advantage of a now-shuttered special immigrant visa category), and family reunification cases  which advocates say make up about 70 percent of the refugees in the U.S. pipeline.

There are about 50,000 would-be refugees in the pipeline whose applications have already been approved. But at the slower pace, resettlement agencies worry that refugees time-sensitive medical and security clearances will expire as they wait  leaving once-approved individuals and families ineligible to come to the United States. Agency representatives have said they have had difficulty getting the DHS to rerun expired clearances as the department has diverted personnel, largely to deal with matters at the U.S. border.

Though a DHS spokeswoman did not return a request for comment, a State Department spokesman said in an emailed statement that the department is continuing to admit refugees in conformity with the Department of Justices guidance regarding the Court Order. He said that process includes scheduling travel for refugees who have been fully screened and are otherwise approved for travel and said new refugee pre-screening interviews continue to be scheduled and conducted around the world.

The State Department spokesman deferred to the DHS to comment on that departments refugee processing interviews and added that he could not speculate about annual refugee quotas due to a variety of factors, including the ongoing litigation and uncertainty regarding future funding levels.

Advocates and resettlement officials say that at the current pace, there is no way the country could take in more than about 65,000 refugees  20,000 short of what there is money budgeted to do this fiscal year.

But what concerns them most is what happens next fiscal year, when the pipeline dries up  either through attrition, as clearances of would-be refugees expire or because there is no one new coming into the pipeline as those currently in line are accepted and their cases are cleared.

In the meantime, resettlement agencies in the United States are eyeing drastic cuts that they warn will make it difficult to get services up and running again, should the Trump administration decide to increase the flow  especially if he does so without warning.

Its a real machine  it takes a while to chug on and chug off, Cone said, citing the slowdown in refugee arrivals that occurred after Sept. 11, 2001, for a short period of time. But it took almost 10 years to get up and running again.

Correction: An earlier version of this story identified the State Department spokesman by name when it should not have.

Read more at PowerPost
As they raced toward Thursdays vote on the American Health Care Act, House Republicans found themselves fending off ghosts. Seven years of attacks on the Affordable Care Act, seven years of insisting that the law had been jammed through without scrutiny, kept coming back to haunt them.

First, they struggled to answer questions about the need to vote before the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) had estimated the costs of an amended AHCA.

I would prefer to have it scored, said Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), a member of the House Freedom Caucus who was elected in the 2010 backlash to President Barack Obamas health-care law.

Next, they brushed off questions about whether theyd read the bill, which would impose a significant change on one-sixth of the U.S. economy and was polished off in a Rules Committee meeting after nightfall Wednesday.

Oh, gosh! Rep. Thomas Garrett (R-Va.), another Freedom Caucus member, elected in 2016, said in an interview with MSNBC. Lets put it this way: People in my office have read all the parts of the bill. I dont think any individual has read the whole bill. Thats why we have staff.

Again and again, Republicans defended a process that, at its worst, put the passage of the Affordable Care Act through a funhouse mirror. A party that once demanded CBO scores for each vote on the ACA declared that the budget office simply wasnt trustworthy. Members of Congress who pledged to vote on measures after days of public debate learned to love expediency.

[Heres what you need to know about preexisting conditions in the GOP health plan]

Process questions, blown to the side this week, were pivotal in the long fight over the ACA. Republicans, looking at a deeper vote deficit than Democrats face now, used Obamas campaign trail promises of transparency as a baseline.

Congress and the White House have focused their public efforts on platitudes and news conferences, while the substance and the details have remained behind closed doors, Rep. Paul D. Ryan (Wis.), then the ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee, wrote in a July 2009 op-ed for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Those members of Congress who voted for this bill already in their committees did so without knowing what the legislation costs.

In 2009 and 2010, Republicans and well-heeled outside groups quickly made congressional process infamous. Then-Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), a reluctant supporter of the ACA, won a carve-out to increase Nebraskas Medicaid funding. He was booed out of an Omaha pizza parlor.

The brickbats flew even as Democrats dutifully presented each version of their legislation to the CBO, and got it scored. Republicans repeatedly accused then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) of springing the bill before voters could know what it would cost.

Shall I give you, again, [Ryans] letter to me at the time, or to the CBO? an exasperated Pelosi asked at a Tuesday roundtable with Washington Post reporters. Democrats, she said, never even considered rushing a vote before a CBO score, because wed never do that to our members.

View Graphic Whats next for the Obamacare replacement bill

After the ACA passed, Republicans did not let up. Then-Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) closed his partys debate on the bill with a long floor speech, leading a call-and-response as he accused Democrats of flouting public debate.

Can you say it was done openly? he asked. With transparency and accountability? Without backroom deals and struck behind closed doors, hidden from the people? Hell no, you cant!

To Democrats surprise, Republicans hammered process issues through the election, promising to never again legislate like the Democrats had.

We will ensure that bills are debated and discussed in the public square by publishing the text online for at least three days before coming up for a vote in the House of Representatives, they wrote in their Pledge to America, a pre-election manifesto. No more hiding legislative language from the minority party, opponents, and the public.

That pledge was no longer functional during the AHCA debate. The final language put up for a vote Thursday had been inked less than 16 hours beforehand.

As Republicans contemplated how to defend their vote, they repeatedly grabbed their old talking points about the ACA. In interviews and floor speeches, they frequently prefaced their cases for the new bill by insisting that Democrats had broken the old process.

Its important to remember, we went from a 2,600-page bill down to a bill under 200 pages, even with the amendments, Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), the chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, said at a Wednesday roundtable meeting with reporters. I also want to remind us that the corrections added 7,000 or 8,000 pages.

Many Republicans also resurrected a favorite quote from the ACA fight  Pelosi, in a March 2010 speech to county legislators, ran through the benefits of the legislation and insisted that we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it. At the time, the bills text had been public for weeks, along with a CBO score. That did not dispel the legend.

Unlike with Obamacare, when Nancy Pelosi said we would have to pass the bill to find out whats in it, the American Health Care Act is posted online for all to read, Rep. Adrian Smith (Neb.), a reliable vote for the GOPs leadership, wrote in a March op-ed in his rural district.

You know why this was so difficult to get this done? freshman Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) asked in a Thursday interview with CNN. Because we didnt go out there and do this in the way the [Democrats] did. We did it in a transparent and truthful way, and that made the process a lot more arduous in the end.

Democrats, who often struggled to defend the passage of the ACA, watched all of this dumbfounded. Republicans had elucidated what a bad process would be, then plunged into it, and came out the other side with legislation that satisfied their base.

Republicans are more comfortable using power when they have it, said Adam Green, whose Progressive Change Campaign Committee beseeched Democrats to expand the ACA during the reconciliation process. Progressives, he said, needed not just to elect Democrats who favored more social welfare, but who had the willingness to use their power to push that agenda into law when in the majority.

Ed OKeefe contributed to this report.

Read more at PowerPost
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), flanked by Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), speaks to the media Tuesday after the weekly policy luncheon on Capitol Hill. (Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)

The Senate voted Thursday to approve a $1.1 trillion spending bill to fund the government through September, preventing a government shutdown.

President Trump is expected to sign the measure, which passed 79 to 18. It includes more than $15 billion in new defense spending and $1.5 billion in money for U.S. border security, ahead of a deadline to keep the government open past Friday.

The five-month spending measure clears the way for Congress to begin talks over spending priorities for the fiscal year that begins in October. Trump has already outlined a request for GOP lawmakers to slash $54 billion from domestic programs to help pay for an equal increase in defense spending. Democrats have vowed to fight the spending cuts but some Republicans view the current spending bill as a down payment on a plan to win greater defense spending in the future.

This bill is a solid first step toward regaining our readiness and maintaining a capable and modern military, said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), the second-ranking Republican in the Senate. Some of that readiness has been seriously called into question from some of our lack of prioritizing defense spending.

Democrats have signaled that they are open to some defense spending increases, but only if Republicans agree to equal increases for domestic spending. Democrats will again have some leverage in the upcoming spending talks because their votes will be necessary to approve any spending measure in the Senate.

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Thursday that he expects that Republican leaders will be willing to work with Democrats on a compromise spending bill to avoid a nasty budget fight later this year.

The bipartisan work that brought us to this point lays the groundwork for our negotiations on the fiscal year 2018 appropriations bills, Leahy said on the Senate floor.

The spending measure was the result of weeks of bipartisan negotiations in which Republicans ultimately backed away from Trumps demands for money to begin constructing a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Instead, GOP leaders agreed to Democrats demands that the new border-security money come with strict limitations requiring the Trump administration to use it only for technology investments and to repair existing fencing and infrastructure.

The measure includes about $5 billion in new domestic spending, including $295 million to help Puerto Rico continue making payments to Medicaid, $100 million to combat opioid addiction, and increases in energy and science funding that Trump had proposed cutting.

Republicans say their greatest victory was securing the additional $15 billion in defense money from an off-budget war fund. They have also touted trims and changes to about 150 programs as a sign that they were able to secure some of their priorities in the five-month spending agreement.

Throughout the bill, spending controls are placed on federal agencies, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) said in a statement. There are more than 150 rescissions, consolidations or program terminations within this bill. These savings have been reallocated to higher priorities.

Among the bipartisan victories in the bill is $407 million in wildfire relief for Western states and a decision to permanently extend a program that provides health-care coverage for coal miners.

But not all lawmakers were happy with the relatively short-term spending measure. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), who was one of the 18 Republicans to vote against the bill, said he was frustrated that Congress has been unable to fund the government through the regular budget process.

We are seven months into the federal governments fiscal year without a budget, Daines said in a statement. Congress has repeated this process for 42 years and it has only worked four times.

Read more at PowerPost
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a controversial Afghan militia leader who has spent the past two decades as a fugitive abroad, returned Thursday to the city he once attacked mercilessly and made an impassioned appeal for peace and unity in his war-torn homeland.

The extraordinary scene was unimaginable even a year ago, when Hekmatyar was a wanted terrorist under U.N. sanctions, leading armed fighters against NATO and Afghan forces in a part-time alliance with the Taliban, and hundreds of his followers were in prison.

I have come to cooperate with the government to help end the war and restore peace, Hekmatyar, 69, told about 2,000 people at a ceremony in the presidential palace. He urged the militants to join the peace process to end all reasons for the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan.

President Ashraf Ghani embraced Hekmatyar and declared that his return, under a peace agreement they signed in September, shows that an end to hostility and strife can be achieved.

Once a ruthlessly effective anti-Soviet militia leader in the 1980s, Hekmatyar was bankrolled by the CIA but later turned against the West. He has denounced U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan for years, and he reiterated that stand in his speech Thursday, while vowing to reject violence.

[Gulbuddin Hekmatyar begins his long-awaited return to Afghanistan]

Hekmatyar, who served two brief stints as prime minister, became embroiled in the civil war of the early 1990s. As he and other warlords fought for control of Kabul, his rockets badly damaged several districts and killed thousands of people, earning him the nickname the Butcher of Kabul.

When the Taliban took power in 1996, he fled to Iran; after the Taliban was driven out in 2001, he took up arms against the government of President Hamid Karzai while reportedly hiding in Pakistan. He also called for jihad against the United States, and in 2003 he was designated a global terrorist by the U.S. government after declaring support for al-Qaeda. His forces were reportedly behind two attacks on helicopters carrying foreign troops in Afghanistan.

Last fall, with Taliban insurgents gaining momentum, Ghani proposed a deal with Hekmatyar, encouraged by the United States, which took months of negotiations. The president offered him full amnesty for wartime abuses and asked the United Nations to lift its ban if Hekmatyar would return to civilian life and help persuade the Taliban to end its nearly 16-year guerrilla war.

On Thursday, the deal came to fruition when Hekmatyar roared into Kabul in a caravan of fast-moving trucks and SUVs full of armed men. Several hours later, he appeared at Ghanis side in the palace, where his speech was repeatedly interrupted by shouts of God is great!

Yet despite the celebratory glow, there was concern that his return could become a new source of tension in Afghan politics. Many of his former foes, now in positions of power, are said to fear that his Hezb-i-Islami party, which split into factions in his absence, could coalesce around him and make a bid for power.

As for the Taliban, which has been both ally and rival to the party in the past, its current leaders have portrayed Hekmatyar as a criminal and a traitor to Islam. Some analysts said they view him as potentially competing for support among fellow ethnic Pashtuns.

[How a fugitive warlord is seen as a critical voice in Afghanistans peace bids]

Taliban fighters also appear to show little interest in negotiations after making a series of territorial gains and staging numerous deadly attacks, including infiltrating an army base last month and killing at least 140 Afghan military personnel.

Critics have complained that Ghanis peace deal gives too many concessions to Hekmatyar, including the right to bring armed guards with him and the release of hundreds of prisoners from his once-banned party. Disputes over the prisoner release delayed his return for weeks.

On Monday, the first release of 68 men was abruptly canceled after Hekmatyars aides were told that 13 names had been crossed off the list. By Tuesday, the dispute had been smoothed over, and 55 men walked out of Kabuls Pul-i-Charki prison, where they were given flowers, new clothes and turbans at a private welcome ceremony.

There has also been opposition from human rights activists and Kabul residents who recall Hekmatyars ferocious rocketing of the capital. On Thursday, a group of elders waiting for his caravan said they admired him as a hero of jihad against the Soviets, but others said his wartime cruelty should not be forgiven.

I know people have high hopes today, but we have to remember all the innocent people he killed, the children left orphans, said Faisal Khan, 24, a business student. Around him, men and boys cheered as the convoy of trucks, some mounted with machine guns, sped past. Hekmatyar, white-bearded and wearing spectacles, waved from inside a white SUV.

In his palace speech, Hekmatyar took pains to portray himself as sincerely committed to the cause of peace. He spoke forcefully and emotionally, chiding officials and politicians for their quarrels and begging them to unite for the sake of peace and stability.

I am bringing my family to Kabul to send a clear message to all Afghans. From now on, this will be our home as well as our grave, and we will not abandon it for anyone, he said, challenging other Afghan officials to do the same. Many have moved their families abroad because of insecurity.

[The Taliban cultural weapon driving U.S. and Afghan forces apart]

Hekmatyar insisted that he had no thirst for power and that he wants to act as a bridge among all groups. Yet he also expressed some less-diplomatic views, denouncing the national news media as inflammatory and saying the Ghani government was divided and dysfunctional.

In some ways, Hekmatyar is a misfit in a democratizing society, a charismatic but autocratic leader emerging from years of conflict, clandestinity and vertical control over a party based in Pakistani refugee camps, now expected to operate in an open system roiled with internal conflict.

It is not clear what role the aging former warrior, who now styles himself as an Islamist intellectual, will play in his splintered party, which includes cabinet ministers in Kabul, long-haired fighters from forest lairs on the Pakistan border, and professionals who have just returned from exile in Europe.

On Friday, Hekmatyar is expected to give a rabble-rousing speech at the national sports stadium here to thousands of energized supporters, including hundreds of armed followers. But some longtime observers seem convinced he is the man who can get peace talks back on track.

He is a man of education and Islam, not a thief or a terrorist, said Mohammed Aman, 58, a veteran Hezb-i-Islami member in the palace audience. He was far away for a long time, so many wrong things were said about him. Now he is back, and people will see who he really is. Just wait and see.

Read more:

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Heinz Kessler, a former East German defense minister who was later convicted of incitement to manslaughter for upholding the shoot-to-kill policy at the communist countrys border, died May 2 in Berlin. He was 97.

The Eulenspiegel Verlag publishing house, which published his book Without the Wall, There Would Have Been War, confirmed the death but did not report the cause.

Mr. Kessler was defense minister from 1985 until November 1989 and became a member of the communist partys politburo in 1986. His promotion to minister and general followed a long career in the senior ranks of the military and as a deputy defense minister.

In January 1990, following the fall of the Berlin Wall, he was kicked out of the party along with others from the hardline communist era.

Mr. Kessler was arrested in May 1991 after officials in reunited Germany, smarting from longtime East German leader Erich Honeckers escape to Moscow, received a tip that he would try to flee the country wearing a Red Army uniform. Police blocked entrances to a Soviet air base in Sperenberg for several hours but Mr. Kessler was eventually arrested in Berlin.

Former East German Defense Minister Heinz Kessler (L) chats with former East German deputy Defense Minister Fritz Streletz in Berlin in 1994. (Lutz Schmidt/Reuters)

In 1993, he was sentenced to 7  years in prison. The case went as far as the European Court of Human Rights, which in 2001 upheld Mr. Kesslers conviction  along with that of East Germanys last hardline leader, Egon Krenz, and other officials.

An estimated 700-800 people died at East Germanys heavily fortified border with the West before it was opened in late 1989.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivers a statement to journalists after taking part in the Business 20 summit in Berlin on May 3. (John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images)

At a recent rally in the French city of Lille, presidential hopeful and right-wing nationalist Marine Le Pen took aim at one person she has repeatedly slammed on her improbable road to Sundays runoff vote.

Her competitor, Emmanuel Macron?

Non.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

We do not want the migrants of Madame Merkel, Le Pen said, accenting the foreignness of the chancellors name to loud applause.

National Front presidential candidate Marine Le Pen delivers a speech in Villepinte, north of Paris, on May 1. (Etienne Laurent/European Pressphoto Agency)

Dont you think Madame Merkel is toxic for Europe? Le Pen added two days later in an interview with the BBC. She let 1.5 million migrants in. Isnt that toxic? She imposes austerity on all the nations of Europe. Isnt that toxic?

In Europe, Le Pens barrage highlights a rallying cry going up in elections and populist movements from Britain to Germany, France and Italy:

Blame it on Merkel.

[New plan for migrants draws scorn as Germanys Merkel struggles for unity]

Since the election of Donald Trump, some have dubbed the stoic German chancellor the new leader of the free world. Blazing a humanitarian trail, she opened the door to war-weary refugees. Her even-tempered diplomacy kept a lid on the crisis in Ukraine. Her insistence on tough fiscal love pulled near-bankrupt Greece  and Europe  back from the financial brink more than once.

At least, thats one narrative.

The other is the one making the rounds on campaign trails and at protest rallies across the continent, where Merkel is emerging as a symbol of everything that is wrong with the German-dominated European Union. Amid a string of major European elections this year  including Merkels bid for a fourth term in September  Europes decider has also become its divider.

Her initial policy of welcoming asylum seekers, critics charge, brought foreign faces not just to Germany but to big cities and small towns and across Europe  setting up the challenging task of integrating hundreds of thousands of mostly Muslim newcomers.

Her contentious stance on austerity and balanced budgets across the bloc, meanwhile, came as she led economically strong Germany to the zenith of its post-World War II power, partly on the back of a trade surplus with its neighbors. Many other E.U. nations, meanwhile, have been hogtied from combating high unemployment and stagnation through economic stimulus.

The German stamp on the E.U. emerged as a rallying cry against the bloc during Britains vote last year to leave. Now, Merkels critics insist, her policies are at least partly responsible for giving a lift across the continent to nationalist populists such as Le Pen who may seek to unravel the E.U.

The politics of Angela Merkel and [her finance minister] Wolfgang Schauble up to this point have contributed significantly to the deepening crises in the E.U., Merkels foreign minister from the rival Social Democratic Party, Sigmar Gabriel, wrote on his partys website.

He added, A result of this has been the strengthening of anti-European populist parties.

In France, Le Pens attacks have lent an anti-German bent to her National Fronts Euroskepticism, exposing the historical rifts that have led some in France to chafe against the rise of German influence under Merkel.

At the same time, Le Pen supporters increasingly see Merkel as the essence of the globalized, multicultural society that they are seeking to reject.

We cannot accept the threat of Madame Merkel to our country, to our national identity, said Davy Rodriguez, 23, a deputy of a National Front youth organization in Paris and a student at Sciences Po in the capital, one of Frances elite universities.

Theyre putting migrants all over the countryside, said Rodriguez, who conceded that his parents were immigrants from Spain and Portugal who arrived in France in the 1980s. We have to take back our sovereignty.

[Why Merkel will continue to welcome refugees, despite calling multiculturalism a sham]

Anger at German dominance

Merkel as lightning rod is hardly new  for years, the Greeks were hauling out Merkel-as-Adolf-Hitler posters to protest her cuts-for-cash bailout demands. And last year Trump took clear swipes at Merkel during the bitterly fought U.S. election campaign.

But now she is emblematic of a bloc in which Germany is seen to have enjoyed outsize benefits, even as some other residents of the E.U. find themselves questioning the value of their membership.

On the ancient streets of Rome, posters recently went up advertising an anti-E.U. demonstration organized by the nationalist Polo Sovranista movement. An image of Merkel stood at the center of the poster  between European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and French President Francois Hollande  under the caption Against this Europe.

The anti-German sentiment is reaching hyperbolic proportions in some quarters. The chief of Italys populist Northern League  posturing as Italians brace for possible elections as soon as this year  recently blasted Merkels Germany as doing with economics what Hitler did with bombs. They arent employing tanks, but theyre managing to economically subjugate the whole continent, Matteo Salvini said on Italian radio in March.

It isnt just the right-wing populists calling out German leadership. In an interview with The Washington Post, Sandro Gozi, state secretary of European affairs from Italys ruling center-left Democratic Party, also pointed a finger of blame.

Whether it is Angela Merkel herself, I dont know, he said. But the German approach to the euro zone is not effective.

[Can Merkel save Europe from Putin  and Trump?]

Merkels handling of European policy is also surging to the surface in Germany, where she is waging a critical reelection campaign. In a nation that lost its appetite to lead after the horror of World War II, it is almost as if some blame her for being too successful at imposing Germanys will on the continent.

Sven Giegold, a Green Party politician and member of the European Parliament, chalked up the high voter support for Le Pen in the first round of Frances presidential election last month to anger over German dominance in the E.U.

The 21 percent vote for Le Pen is also a result of German politicians lecturing attitude towards others in Europe, he wrote on his website.

Merkels defenders

Yet when it comes to leading Europe, rather than seeking power, Merkel and Germany have in many ways inherited it by default. Weak and diminished by his domestic unpopularity, Hollande was ultimately drowned out on the European stage. Italy has had five prime ministers in six years. Britain is more focused on leaving Europe than leading it.

Merkels supporters, meanwhile, say the chancellor  widely popular among Germans after nearly 12 years in office  is being unfairly blamed. Jurgen Hardt, a close Merkel ally from her center-right Christian Democratic Union, defended her against the charge that her politics of austerity and budget deficit caps have slammed Germanys neighbors. And she has been more flexible on that front than her critics say.

Its not austerity policy thats to blame but the previous policy of making debts, he said.

[Germanys new strategy for terror suspects? Kick them out, even if they were born there.]

As for migrants, Merkel has taken heat for famously saying in 2015 that we can do this and suggesting that there was no limit to the number of asylum seekers Germany would accept.

But she has since sought to close the door, forging a deal last year with Turkey to block migrants from entering Europe. In addition, she has taken a harder line on integration  backing legislation passed last week by the German Parliament that imposes a partial ban on full Muslim face coverings.

Hardt conceded that these days, being anti-E.U. means being anti-German. But he added that Merkel stood out as the sure-footed leader that Europe needs.

If Europeans could freely vote on who should be the president of Europe, Hardt said, . . . Angela Merkel would have the best chance.

Stephanie Kirchner in Berlin and Stefano Pitrelli in Rome contributed to this report.

Read more

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Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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The Camlica Mosque nears completion on Oct. 20, 2016. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

The scenes of Turkeys bloody and abortive military coup last July still scar Uskudar, an old waterside district of Istanbul that was a deadly front of violence that night and remains, nearly a year later, a wellspring of the nations rage.

Residents nervously recall the armored vehicles that appeared that night, the rattle of gunfire and the snarling of motorcycles whisking the wounded to the hospital. At least 13 people from Uskudar were killed during the attempted coup, a cataclysm in Turkey that left more than 200 people dead, an anxious country betrayed and the government consumed with a vigorous hunt for it enemies.

So it came as some surprise last month when the residents of Uskudar voted to defeat a measure that gave the president greater powers  rejecting a set of constitutional changes that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his allies had pitched to the country as a patriotic response to the treachery in July. That Erdogan has a house in Uskudar and votes in the district made it all the more surprising.

The presidents resolute loyalists ultimately propelled him to a nationwide victory in the referendum, as they have time and again in votes since 2002, defiantly rejecting criticism that the changes doomed Turkey to one-man rule. But the narrow win and the defeat of the measure in places such as Uskudar, as well as in Turkeys three largest cities, has also prompted an unusual degree of introspection among some supporters of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)  and even a hint of dissent.

In interviews with supporters of the party in Uskudar and elsewhere, there was an acknowledgment that voters had delivered the AKP a message, although its meaning was disputed. Erdogans most hardcore advocates brushed off the losses in big cities, insisting that the slim margin was due to campaign blunders or the obdurate views of opposition party voters.

Others, though, conceded that the vote had aggravated unsustainable societal divisions in Turkey. And in more damning, albeit guarded, critiques, the party was accused of arrogance and the government of being fixated on its purge of enemies, which for some had gone too far.



Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, escorted by his security detail, leaves a polling station in the Uskudar district of Istanbul on April 16, the day of the referendum that increased his powers. (Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters)



People line up to vote in Uskudar during the April 16 referendum. The ballot measure, which was rejected in Uskudar but prevailed nationally, converted Turkey from a parliamentary to a presidential system, expanding Erdogans powers. (Yasin Akgul/AFP/Getty Images)

A voter receives ballot papers with Hayir for No and Evet for Yes at a polling station in Uskudar. Erdogan and his allies had pitched the referendum measure to the country as a patriotic response to a coup attempt in July. (Kostas Tsironis/Bloomberg News)

Melih Ecertas, the 30-year-old national youth leader of the AKP, who splits his time between Uskudar and Ankara, the capital, said the partys no voters fell into roughly two camps. They included a cohort loyal to elder statesmen in the party who had been shunted from Erdogans inner circle over the past few years  and who had remained noticeably silent during the governments all-out effort to pass the constitutional changes.

[Inside a nervous Turkish newsroom as the government closes in]

Then there were those who questioned why the party, given its success, felt compelled to pursue such a drastic transformation in Turkeys system of governance.

They say, Why the change? We are powerful,  Ecertas said.

In one subtle but high-profile complaint, Abdullah Gul, a founder of the AKP and Turkeys former president, on Thursday broke the relative silence he had maintained during the referendum campaign and called for a comprehensive reform process in Turkey. It was ostensibly a response to a decision by a leading European human rights body to begin monitoring Turkey for the first time in more than a decade. But Gul also appeared to be drawing a contrast between his partys earlier era  when he was a key figure  and the present.

Reform, he said, will bring democracy, law and human rights standards closer to universal criteria by rapidly expelling the psychological trauma created by the treacherous July 15 coup.



A man walks with his dog in front of flags of the ruling Justice and Development Party in Uskudar a few days before parliamentary elections in June 2015. The party came in first but lost its majority in parliament, and after failed attempts to form a coalition, another election was held that November, and the party regained its majority. (Yasin Akgul/AFP/Getty Images)

Growing up with Erdogan

Ecertas, the youth leader, was one of the AKPs most tireless advocates in the run-up to the referendum, shepherding a direct-mail campaign to young Turks that he said reached more than 14 million voters. He used PowerPoint slides and handouts to argue the merits of the constitutional amendments to journalists  changes that converted Turkey from a parliamentary to a presidential system and brought the country critically needed stability, he said.

Ecertas was among a generation first drawn to politics in the 1990s as Erdogan rose to prominence, revered for his charisma and his vows to champion the values of conservative Muslims in Turkeys largely secular public sphere.

My father admired him a lot, said Ecertas, who was 7 when Erdogan became the mayor of Istanbul. All of Turkey admired Erdogan.

Ecertas attended religious schools in Istanbul and Emerson College in Boston as a Fulbright scholar. After university, he formally joined the AKP in 2011, seeing the party as a force for change  not just an Islamist movement advocating for conservatives such as himself, but a challenger to Turkeys ossified politics and a modernizing force.

The referendum victory was the culmination of the partys struggles. The day of the vote, he said, is the day we changed the system, that once forbade religious schools, the Koran. The system will never allow anyone to do anything that the Turkish population doesnt want.

Asked about the defeat of the referendum measure in places such as Uskudar  and the AKP members who voted against the party  Ecertas said it was important to acknowledge and understand all of the no voters.



Women in headscarves stand under election flags in Uskudar a few days before the June 2015 parliamentary elections. Recep Tayyip Erdogans Justice and Development Party came to power in 2002 championing the values of conservative Muslims in Turkeys largely secular public sphere. (Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images)

Not good for the country

The AKP seems more likely to plot a path toward victory in the next elections, rather than reflect on the complaints of disaffected supporters, according to Fehmi Koru, a journalist who is close to senior AKP figures and said he had voted with the party since it came to power.

Koru, who has known Abdullah Gul since the two participated in a religious youth movement together, said that when the AKP came to power in 2002, it was very much interested in making the country more free, he said. The government served the people, he added, saying that people who voted for the AKP  like me  voted with a clear conscience.

His disappointment had grown over the past five years because of Turkeys economic problems, the governments foreign policy decisions and the feeling that, increasingly, Turkey was not a united country. In the aftermath of the coup attempt, his journalist friends were imprisoned as the government widened a crackdown beyond the followers of Fethullah Gulen, an exiled Turkish cleric the authorities accuse of orchestrating the unsuccessful attempt to take over the government.

Cracks were visible in the relationship between Turks and the AKP-led government, Koru said. When people look at them, they dont say they are very modest and alleviate the peoples problems. How do I say this  they are too sure of themselves, he said.

He voted against the referendum measure  partly because a parliamentary system was more in line with Turkeys history, he said, but also because it was a radical change that appeared designed to serve Erdogan. The president, he said, loves the people, and the people love him. But Turkey would be stuck with the changes after Erdogan left the scene.

This is not good for the country, he said.



Justice and Development Party supporters wave flares and shout slogans as they celebrate their partys sweeping victory in the parliamentary elections of November 2002, when the party first came to national power. (Staton R. Winter/Getty Images)

Recep Tayyip Erdogan votes in the parliamentary elections of 2002. Although leader of the winning Justice and Development Party, Erdogan would not become prime minister until after another vote in 2003. He became president in 2014. (Staton R. Winter/Getty Images)

Sharpened battle lines

For some AKP supporters in Uskudar, acknowledging Turkeys malaise did not mean a loss of faith in the president. In shops that stood empty because of the struggling economy, among residents frustrated with a lack of municipal services, there was a conviction that Erdogan would persevere.

The president is very clever, said Selen Ulustu, 40, who runs a beauty supplies store. Thats why he is the winner.



More importantly, she said, the referendum had clarified a struggle between observant Muslims like her, whose frame of reference was Turkeys Ottoman history, and Erdogans opponents, for whom history began with Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of Turkeys modern secular republic. The coup attempt had only sharpened the battle lines.

There are some people who are not aware of its seriousness, said Ulustu, adding that she had reported at least eight members of her family to the authorities for being suspected Gulenists.

Down the street from her shop, Huda Ozdemir, 24, who attended university in Uskudar and said she came from a conservative Muslim family, was the kind of voter whom the AKP might have reliably courted in the past.

But she balked at the presidents accumulation of power, at the level of nationalism during the campaign and at what she called the rhetoric of victimhood that the AKP had created in the name of defending conservative women like her.

She voted no. And she persuaded her 20-year-old sister, once a determined AKP supporter, to do the same.

Read more:

Turkey deports foreigners working with Syrian refugees

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A member of the Iraqi security forces secures a building on the front line in Mosul's Old City. Troops launched a push from the northwest early Thursday in an effort to ramp up the offensive to dislodge the Islamic State from the city. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)

Iraqi forces opened a new front Thursday in their offensive to retake Mosul, advancing from the northwest in a bid to add momentum to the grueling seven-month-long battle for the city.

Troops from the armys 9th Division and elite forces from the Interior Ministry spearheaded the early morning attack, according to the Iraqi military.

Islamic State militants are still holding on in a few neighborhoods of western Mosul, after losing control of the east. But the Iraqi offensive, which is backed by airstrikes and military support from a U.S.-led coalition, had slowed in recent weeks. Interior Ministry forces have ground to a halt on the southern edge of Mosuls Old City, whose narrow streets and winding alleys are inaccessible to armored vehicles.

[To understand how the U.S. approaches airstrikes in Mosul, look to Russias war in Chechnya]

Given that challenging geography, Iraqi commanders have said they now plan to lay siege to the Old City by attacking from the northwest. But the district remains home to hundreds of thousands of civilians, raising concerns about their welfare as the battle closes in, and food and drinking water become increasingly scarce.





The Old City will be isolated and the last target, said Lt. Gen. Sami al-Aridhi, a counterterrorism forces commander. He said authorities are considering dropping humanitarian aid to families trapped in areas held by the Islamic State.

Nearly half a million people have been displaced since the battle for Mosul began in October, according to the United Nations. Some have fled to relatives in the citys east, which is now under the control of Iraqi security forces.

Others have had no choice but to stay in poorly supplied camps south of the city. Aid groups say they expect a new flow of displaced families as Iraqi forces push from the north.

After a grinding fight, during which Iraqi forces have suffered heavy casualties, commanders are eager to wrap up the battle before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which will begin late this month. With many soldiers fasting during the day, the offensive may slow if fighting is still underway when it begins.

[Iraq has never seen this kind of fighting in its battles with ISIS]

Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasoul, a spokesman for the military, told state television that Iraqi forces were making a steady advance in the renewed push. They retook part of the Mushairafah neighborhood on the northwestern edge of the city, the military said in a statement.

The Islamic States capability continues to wane, said Maj. Gen. Joseph Martin, commander of ground forces for the U.S.-led coalition, adding that security forces had made undeniable progress.

But the presence of civilians makes it harder to push forward at a steady pace. Iraqi officers say that since a strike on a building in Mosuls al-Jadida neighborhood in March that allegedly killed more than 100 civilians, they have been under orders to request U.S.-led coalition airstrikes only when absolutely necessary. The U.S. military is investigating the incident.

Still, the ground troops rely heavily on support from the air, waiting for hazy weather to clear before they launched their attack Thursday.

Mustafa Salim contributed to this report.

Read more:

Panic spreads in Iraq, Syria as record numbers of civilians are reported killed in U.S. strikes

On the front lines of the fight for the Islamic States capital, Raqqa

Pentagon identifies U.S. soldier killed in bomb blast outside Mosul

Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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Syrians inspect damage after a reported government airstrike April 7 in the rebel-held town of Douma, on the outskirts of Damascus. The town is part of Eastern Ghouta, one of four areas designated as safe zones in an agreement announced Thursday. (Abd Doumany/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)

Russia, Iran and Turkey said Thursday that they have agreed to create de-escalation zones across four areas in Syria, renewing diplomatic efforts to bring warring parties in the country to heel after six years of fighting.

Meeting in the Kazakh capital, Astana, the three powers said the cease-fire deal would come into force Saturday and would apply to both government and rebel forces in the designated areas, where the Islamic State does not hold large swaths of territory.

The agreement, signed by all three guarantor countries, said that the zones would be demarcated by checkpoints on the ground and that unarmed civilians would be able to move freely between government- and opposition-held territory. Checkpoints would be overseen by the three guarantors but could, if necessary, be manned by unspecified third parties, it said.

But it was unclear how the deal differed from several previous failed cease-fires in which the Syrian air force continued to bomb rebel-held areas. The agreement said the parties agreed to take all necessary measures to continue the fight against designated terrorist groups within and outside the zones.

[Putin pushes Syrian safe zone proposals in talks with Turkish leader]

A hospital was badly damaged in an airstrike in Eastern Ghouta on May 1. (Sameer Al-Doumy/Agence France-Presse via Getty Images)

Although Russia and Iran exert influence over Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Turkey is an important backer of the rebels, there were few early signs that either side was committed to the deal.

In Astana, where the three international powers are overseeing peace talks, the announcement caused a ruckus in the rebel delegation, with one top commander shouting, See you on the battlefield!

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group based in Britain, also said that the Syrian air force stepped up strikes in the proposed de-escalation zones after their locations were revealed in a Russian draft proposal Wednesday.

The State Department, noting that it was not a direct participant in the talks, although it sent an official to observe, said it supported any effort that can genuinely de-escalate the violence in Syria, ensure humanitarian aid and promote a political resolution to the conflict.

But the statement, by spokeswoman Heather Nauert, said that we continue to have concerns about the agreement, including the involvement of Iran as a so-called guarantor.  It added: Irans activities in Syria have only contributed to the violence, not stopped it, and Irans unquestioning support for the Assad regime has perpetuated the misery of ordinary Syrians.

The cease-fire agreement excludes attacks on al-Qaedas Syrian affiliate  the group known formerly as Jabhat al-

Nusra and now as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham  and the Islamic State. In earlier truces agreed to between the Obama administration and Russia, that exclusion led both Russia and Syria to continue bombing rebel and civilian areas, arguing that they were targeting terrorists.

In light of the failures of past agreements, Nauerts statement said, we have reason to be cautious. We expect the regime to stop all attacks on civilians and opposition forces, something they have never done. We expect Russia to ensure regime compliance.

The White House said this week that President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed safe, or de-escalation, zones in a Tuesday phone call. But the Trump administration has not specified publicly what it is willing to support or how.

[Trump and Putin discuss cease-fire in Syria in first conversation since U.S. airstrikes]

At least half a million people are estimated to have been killed in Syrias war, and half its population displaced.

According to the Kazakhstan agreement, the proposed safe zones will cover four areas: the northern province of Idlib, where almost a million displaced people are packed among rebel forces dominated by al-Qaeda, and some portions of adjoining provinces; Eastern Ghouta, a besieged area on the outskirts of Damascus that is the last remaining threat to Assads hold on the capital; a besieged district of the government-controlled city of Homs, 100 miles north of Damascus; and a swath of Syrias southern border with Jordan where the United States is supporting rebel forces against Islamic State militants.

Except for the stated exceptions for terrorists, it said that hostilities between Assads forces and those rebel groups that sign on, with the use of any kinds of weapons, including aerial assets, shall be ceased.

Maps of the delineated cease-fire areas are expected to be agreed to by June 4, along with plans to deliver humanitarian aid and ensure the safe return of civilians who fled.

The United Nations Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, hailed the announcement as a step in the right direction toward a broader truce. But experts suggested its guarantors might be using its provisions to secure their own interests in Syria.

Russia opposed no-fly zones at the time when it was still busy, along with Iran, assisting Assads forces in, first, stabilizing the front and then rolling back the gains made by the opposition forces, said Simon Saradzhyan, the founding director of the Russia Matters Project at Harvards Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

With the rebels all but defeated, Saradzhyan argued, Russia is now ready to support a diplomatic solution with international backing.

Turkey has also backed safe zones in the past, albeit in different areas along its southern border with Syria, viewing them as a way to block Kurdish ambitions in that region.

While Washington is backing the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) as an essential partner in the fight to defeat the Islamic State in Syria, Turkey is locked in battle with the groups Turkish affiliate, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which the United States also lists as a terrorist organization.

The U.S.-Kurdish alliance has been a major thorn in the side of the U.S. relationship with Turkey and is likely to be a central agenda item when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visits Trump in Washington on May 16.

Every side in this fight wants something, said one rebel official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly. The foreign powers arent doing this for altruism.

DeYoung reported from Washington. Zakaria Zakaria in Istanbul and Andrew Roth in Moscow contributed to this report.

Read more:

The Russia-Turkey-U.S. tussle to save Syria will still get very messy

Trumps supporters dont care about his flip-flop on Syria. We checked.

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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The head of U.S. Special Operations Command, Army Gen. Raymond A. Thomas III, testifies before a congressional committee in Washington on May 2, 2017. (Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)

A decision to send additional American troops to Afghanistan, a possibility now being considered by the Trump White House, would provide a welcome boost to Special Operations activities there, a senior military official said Thursday.

Army Gen. Raymond A. Tony Thomas III, the head of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), said that while no additional Special Operations troops are currently required, the introduction of more conventional troops, whose mission is focused on advising and supporting Afghan forces, would indirectly help special operators, who are tasked chiefly with tracking down al-Qaeda and other extremist fighters in a separate counterterrorism mission.

Giving testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Thomas suggested that an expanded training mission could lessen the need for U.S. Special Operations troops to conduct dangerous missions alongside local forces.

More conventional forces that would thicken the ability to advise and assist Afghan forces  that would absolutely be to our benefit, he said.

[U.S. watchdog finds major internal flaws hampering Afghanistan war effort]

The generals remarks come as the White House considers steps to overhaul the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, where security has deteriorated more than 15 years after American troops were first sent to battle the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other militants.

Army Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr., the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, has said that thousands of additional foreign troops are needed to help the Afghan government fend off a re-energized Taliban insurgency. Struggling to hold on to terrain in a conflict that U.S. officials have described as a stalemate, Afghanistans own forces are taking high casualties and grappling with persistent problems of corruption, desertion and skills gaps.

About three-quarters of the U.S. force of 8,400 stationed in Afghanistan is tasked with training and supporting local forces, while the remainder, largely Special Operations troops, take part in the counterterrorism mission.

In a sign of the challenges ahead, a Taliban attack killed more than 140 people at an Afghan army base last month shortly before Defense Secretary Jim Mattis paid a visit to evaluate conditions in the country.

Late last week, signaling the final stages of a policy review overseen by national security adviser H.R. McMaster, President Trumps top advisers met to discuss the way ahead. The president, who has not spoken extensively about the conflict in Afghanistan, is expected to weigh in ahead of a NATO meeting he will attend May 25.

While President Obamas approach to Afghanistan, following his 2009-2011 troop surge, was focused in large part on limiting the U.S. military footprint there, the Trump administration appears willing to commit greater military resources.

In keeping with its emphasis on doling out military burdens among allied nations, it is also seeking an increase in the number of NATO troops in Afghanistan.

Officials are looking not only at a potential troop increase, but also, in keeping with a general push to provide military officials greater flexibility, possible changes to rules that guide U.S. operations there. If approved, those steps could allow U.S. troops to conduct operations with Afghan forces in a wider array of situations and possibly increase the use of American air power.

Theresa Whelan, a senior Pentagon official who testified alongside Thomas, said the Trump administration was actively looking at adjustments to its approach to Afghanistan.

I expect that these proposals will go to the president within the next week, and the intent is to do just that, to move beyond the stalemate, she said.

[U.S. commander in Afghanistan opens door to a few thousand more troops deploying there]

It is not clear whether the Trump administrations review will produce significant changes to the political strategy for Afghanistan. While the United States has strongly backed the countrys unity government, it became less active in recent years in seeking to broker a peace agreement with the Taliban than it had been earlier in the Obama administration.

Thomas suggested that the United States needed to articulate a clearer goal for its involvement in Afghanistan. I think the critical factor is the commitment  the commitment to some enduring state that has not been described effectively in the past, he said.

The general spoke on an array of issues related to Special Operations activities, which account for 2 percent of military spending and personnel but has been spared the budget and personnel cuts experienced by other areas of the military.

In written testimony, the general addressed what he said was SOCOMs growing focus on the threat posed by North Korea, which has made advances in its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

That has included maintaining a Special Operations presence on the Korean Peninsula and seeking means to ensure that SOCOM, recently put in charge of coordinating the U.S. response to threats from weapons of mass destruction, is ready to use its special operators effectively.
President Trump, on his first trip abroad, will travel later this month to Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican in an effort to unite Islam, Judaism and Christianity in the common cause of fighting intolerance and radical extremism, White House officials said Thursday.

The nine-day trip, during which officials said Trump will meet with Pope Francis, will end with previously announced meetings with NATO leaders in Brussels and the Group of Seven world economic powers in Sicily.

In a Rose Garden ceremony to sign an executive order easing tax rules against religious organizations participation in politics, Trump said that tolerance is the cornerstone of peace.

His trip, he said, will begin with a truly historic gathering in Saudi Arabia with leaders from all across the Muslim world, where we will begin to construct a new foundation of cooperation and support with our Muslim allies to combat extremism, terrorism and violence.

In an apparent reference to his willingness to deal with authoritarian governments without pressuring them on human rights, Trump said, Our task is not to dictate to others how to live but to build a coalition of friends and partners who share the goal of fighting terrorism and bringing safety, opportunity and stability to the Middle East.

Trump is getting a later start going abroad than his most recent predecessors, who made earlier foreign trips. His decision to make the Middle East his first destination also represents a sharp break from recent tradition. Since Ronald Reagan visited Mexico during his transition and Canada as his first foreign stop in office, each successive president has chosen one of those two countries as the kickoff for international travel.

He has also committed to attending the Group of 20 summit in July in Hamburg  where the Kremlin has said Russian President Vladimir Putin expects to meet with him  and three security and economic summits in Vietnam and the Philippines in November. He has also suggested he will pay reciprocal visits to the United Kingdom and Japan, whose leaders visited the White House during Trumps first month in office.

Three senior administration officials who briefed reporters on the maiden trip, scheduled to begin May 19, said the administration has detected an eagerness among foreign leaders to follow the lead of the new administration, which they described as far more engaged with the world than its predecessor.

What the president has demonstrated already, one official said, is that  America first is fully compatible with American leadership. While conventional wisdom is that Trump is weak on alliances, the official said, Trump is strong on alliances, provided others are willing to contribute their fair share.

Another official described a lot of excitement in terms of a desire to engage with Trump. People are very psyched to work with the president, this official said. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.

Critics have charged Trump with ignoring American values and traditional alliances and being too transactional in his dealings with other countries, with some foreign officials expressing frustration with his public comments and tweets. While some have described him as respectful and intent on listening during private interactions, others have said they were discouraged by his apparent lack of knowledge about issues under discussion.

The senior officials appeared acutely conscious of criticism of Trump as erratic and ill-schooled on foreign affairs but equally confident that his administration would ultimately reap rewards. Emphasizing that weeks of work by the White House, the National Security Council staff and other security agencies preceded Thursdays announcement, they described a strategy in which Trump sets long-range goals and objectives  such as Israeli-Palestinian peace, or the defeat of the Islamic State and global terrorism in general  finds willing partners to address them under U.S. leadership, and maintains flexibility on how to achieve them.

While he has said he believes the United States can help Israel and the Palestinians solve their problems, for instance, Trump has not said how he would approach that situation differently from the many administrations that have previously tried and failed.

Whether he can or cant achieve what others could not, its our job to try, one official said. The president has created hopefully an environment where people want to solve problems, instead of saying this cant happen.

In the peace process and the fight against the Islamic State, Trump is depending heavily on Saudi Arabia  the country granted his first presidential visit. Often exasperated with what they saw as President Barack Obamas dithering on Syria and soft treatment of Iran, the Saudis have enthusiastically reached out to Trump, including a visit here by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in March.

Trump wants to restore the American role in the world . . . destroy terrorism . . . push back on Iran. And so do we, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said in a meeting with reporters Thursday in Washington. Trumps visit will be historic by every measure, Jubeir said, noting that Saudi Arabia is the indispensable partner for Trumps regional goals, in addition to being a key U.S. investor and trading partner.

Jubeir said there will be three separate summits with Trump in Riyadh, the Saudi capital  with King Salman, with the Gulf Cooperation Council of Persian Gulf countries and with a broadened group including other Arab and Muslim countries that he declined to name. Administration officials said they foresaw a number of agreements to be announced after the meetings, where discussions are expected to include a new military coalition among friendly Sunni Muslim states.

But the Saudis main shared interest with the administration is their joint antipathy toward Iran, Riyadhs main rival for regional influence. Jubeir noted that the administration has increased its support for Saudi Arabias war against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen and said it has agreed to resume shipments of precision-guided munitions to the kingdom, suspended by Obama because of concerns over widespread civilian casualties in the Saudi air campaign in Yemen.

In Israel, local media said that Trump wants to deliver his main speech at the ancient desert fortress of Masada. In addition to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials, Trump also plans to meet again with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who visited him Wednesday at the White House. That meeting may take place in Bethlehem on the West Bank, a short distance from Jerusalem.

In Rome, the meeting with Francis on May 24 follows barbs traded between the pontiff and Trump during the presidential campaign. Without naming Trump, Francis criticized restrictive immigration policies and said that plans to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border were not Christian. Trump responded that it was disgraceful for a religious person to question someones faith.

The second-to-last stop on the trip will be a day-long meeting with NATO leaders in Brussels. NATOs next summit is not scheduled until next year in Istanbul, but the May 25 meeting was specially scheduled to enable other NATO leaders to meet with Trump. The trip will end with Trumps return to Italy for the G7 summit on May 26 and 27.

David Nakamura contributed to this report.
Algiers (AFP) - Algeria, where legislative elections are to be held on Thursday, has major oil and gas reserves but faces a financial crisis due to the collapse in oil prices.

The country has been led since 1999 by Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who was re-elected to a fourth term in 2014 despite severe health problems.

- Former French colony -

Algeria became a French colony in 1830 after three centuries of Ottoman domination. Independence came in July 1962 after a bloody independence war which lasted nearly eight years.

In September 1963, prime minister Ahmed Ben Bella became the founding president of independent Algeria.

In July 1965, Houari Boumediene of the National Liberation Front (FLN), which had led the struggle against French colonial rule, overthrew Ben Bella. He ran Algeria as a one-party state until his death in 1978.

Colonel Chadli Bendjedid was then elected president, a post he held until he was forced to resign in January 1992.

- Civil war -

In October 1988, protests rocked the capital Algiers, prompting the authorities to declare a state of emergency.

The army clamped down on demonstrators, but introduced political reforms which brought an end to the single-party system.

However, when the country held its first multi-party legislative poll in 1991, the army stepped in to prevent the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) winning and setting up an Islamic state.

That sparked a civil war that claimed some 200,000 lives, with the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) claiming responsibility for many large massacres of civilians.

- Bouteflika clings to power -

In 1999, at the height of the war, Bouteflika, backed by the army, won an election marred by the withdrawal of all six of his rivals, who alleged rampant fraud.

Bouteflika launched a reconciliation programme that saw thousands of Islamist fighters lay down their arms.

In April 2014, Bouteflika was re-elected for a fourth term with over 81 percent of the vote, despite a 2013 stroke that had confined him to a wheelchair.

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His mobility and speech severely reduced, he has since rarely appeared in public since.

- Oil wealth -

Algeria in 1994 began liberalising its state-controlled economy, which is almost entirely dependent on oil and gas sales.

Those exports make up 95 percent of external revenue and contribute 60 percent of the state budget.

The drop in world oil prices has forced the government to increase taxes and abandon numerous public projects.

In a country of 40 million, half of the population is aged under 30 and one young person out of three is unemployed.

Income per capita dropped from $5,500 in 2013 to $4,850 in 2015, according to the World Bank.

In 2011 the country used its oil wealth to ramp up public salaries and subsidies, allowing it to avoid a wave of "Arab Spring" revolts sparked by a revolution in neighbouring Tunisia.

- Africa's biggest country -

Algeria is Africa's biggest country, covering 2.38 million square kilometres (920,000 square miles), with a Mediterranean coastline some 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) long.

Desert makes up more than five sixths of the country's territory, but 80 percent of the population lives on the coast including in the capital Algiers.
Plenty of insults have been hurled at Elon Musk. Tesla's CEO has been accused of being self-aggrandizing, thin-skinned, and, given the number of projects he seems ready to tackle, a dilettante.

Tesla fans and foes can debate those labels as much they like, but one thing they can't accuse Musk of being is dumb. His smarts, his understanding of consumers, his ability to spot trends, and his charisma have not only earned him legions of rabid followers, they've also helped him position Tesla as a leader in the electric, artificial intelligence-driven revolution.

ALSO SEE: Start-up builds an app to figure out how much that new engine noise is going to cost you

All that was on display this week as Tesla issued its first-quarter update and Musk held an earnings call with investors. The CEO and his team are clearly working to broaden the automaker's offerings in the near future, making it easier and more attractive for new consumers to buy into the brand.

So, what's down the road? Here are a few of Tesla's big plans:

More showrooms and service centers: Tesla says that in 2017, it plans to open "nearly 100 retail, delivery and service locations globally". While some of those facilities will be located in the U.S., many will be in new markets like Dubai and South Korea, which saw ribbon-cuttings for their first two outlets during the first quarter of the year. According to Tesla, this expansion will grow the number of company outposts by 30%.

Big production goals for the Model 3: Tesla's wider global footprint will come in handy as the company prepares to launch its more affordable Model 3 later this year. The company's first-quarter update confirmed facts that were disseminated back in February--namely, that when production begins, Tesla hopes to turn out 5,000 of the vehicles every week. At some point in 2018, that number will rise to 10,000. Given that Tesla had more than 370,000 reservations for the Model 3 (as of last year, anyway), it could take he company most of 2018 just to deliver pre-orders.

Tesla's first body repair shops: Tesla has long had service centers for owners who need smaller repairs or maintenance. For body work, though, Tesla has contracted with third parties to get the job done. Tesla plans to continue expanding its list of licensed of body work providers, but the company also intends to open its first Tesla-owned body shops before the end of 2017. That should be welcome news to longtime Tesla owners whose Roadsters and Model S sedans have begun to accumulate their share of dings, dents, and scratches.

Spotting problems before they start: Tesla vehicles are connected to a network, which allows them to receive software updates and also allows the automaker to run remote diagnostics on vehicles. That's helped Tesla identify problems with individual cars before they become big headaches--even before owners notice that anything's gone wrong. Tesla says that that's helped the company cut service times by 35 percent, and it plans to use remote diagnostics to improve that number further.

More Tesla mobile repair units: Because Tesla has built a new kind of car, it's had to build a new kind of service model--one that includes mobile repair units. (Which, to be fair, is probably better than asking owners to schlep all the way to a company-owned service center or to take their cars to a neighborhood garage that may have little-to-no experience working with Tesla vehicles.) Tesla already has a large fleet of service trucks, and it plans to add 100 more before June 30.

More charging stations: As we all know by now, one of the biggest hurdles standing between car shoppers and electric vehicles is range anxiety. Tesla is addressing that concern by boosting battery capacity and also by growing its charging network. The company says that "In 2017, we expect to at least double the number of Superchargers and Destination Charging connectors globally to more than 10,000 and 15,000, respectively."

The Model Y crossover: Speaking to investors this week, Musk said that the new Model Y crossover is expected to debut in 2020, though it could be as early as 2019. What's the holdup? Though the crossover had been slated to share a platform with the Model 3, on the call Musk confirmed that the Model Y will, in fact, be built on a completely new platform. That's largely so that the Y can ditch the 12-volt battery architecture that underpins current Tesla vehicles, which could streamline production and dial down costs.

Of course, all this information was delivered by Tesla, meaning that the company has had the opportunity to put the best possible spin on it. As such, there's plenty of room for doubt about the company's claims--for example, deliveries of new Tesla vehicles have always been chronically late, so Tesla's ambitious production numbers for the Model 3 can be viewed with a heavy dose of skepticism.

What this information does provide, though, is an overview of Tesla's self-imposed goals. Will the company meet them? Stay tuned.

You can download a PDF of Tesla's first-quarter update here.
US authorities investigating jailed drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman have still not been able to trace a single trace of his ill-gotten gains

El Chapo faces a string of charges in a New York court and prosecutors are seeking the forfeiture of more than $14bn in illicit earnings made by his cartel. Photograph: Eduardo Verdugo/AP

Over nearly 30 years at the head of one of the most powerful crime organisations in the world, the jailed drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman is reputed to have built up a fortune worth at least $1bn.



But according to Mexicos attorney general, US authorities investigating the kingpin have still not been able to trace a single dollars worth of Guzmans ill-gotten gains.

As of today, US authorities have not found not even one dollar of El Chapos assets, Raul Cervantes told the broadcaster Televisa on Wednesday. His money hasnt been found because he didnt use the financial system.

Guzman, who entered the realms of criminal folklore by twice escaping maximum security prisons, was captured for the third time in January 2016 and extradited a year later to the US on the eve of Donald Trumps inauguration. He faces a string of charges in a New York court and prosecutors are seeking the forfeiture of more than $14bn in illicit earnings made by his Sinaloa cartel.

Cervantes appeared on morning television to boast about the capture on Tuesday of Damaso Lopez, Guzmans former right-hand man who authorities say was trying to seize control of his old bosss criminal empire.



But his comments on Lopez were overshadowed by his candid admission that Guzmans millions have not been found.

The kingins fortune has been the subject of intense speculation over the past decade as Mexico launched an all-out war on organized crime in a crackdown which has cost an estimated 200,000 lives.

In 2009, Forbes magazine infuriated then president Felipe Calderon when it included Guzman on its list of the worlds richest people, with an estimated net worth of $1bn. The magazine dropped him from the list in 2013, saying it couldnt verify his net worth.

Last May, the US justice department filed criminal forfeiture papers announcing its intention to seek around $14bn in assets upon Guzmans conviction. The document did not name any assets, and said the sum was based on the Sinaloa cartels total sales in the US and Canada between 1989 and 2014.



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More recently, Ted Cruz  the senator from Texas and former presidential candidate  introduced the El CHAPO Act, which use those $14bn to fund construction of Trumps proposed border wall.



That proposal prompted indignation in Mexico, whose government has repeatedly denied that it will fund the wall.

Its a good distraction to stigmatize the Mexican people even more: if the Mexican government doesnt want to pay fro the wall, then narcotics traffickers will pay, said Adrian Lopez, director of the Sinaloa newspaper Noroeste. Its good for media attention, but impossible to make happen.

And some analysts suspect Guzman  who once claimed Im just a farmer  has held onto much less than the authorities allege.



In all probability, El Chapo does not have $14bn. That figure is basically an invention without basis by US prosecutors who pulled the figure out of their sleeve, wrote security analyst Alejandro Hope in the newspaper El Universal.



Guzman is currently held in a high-security area of the Metropolitan correctional center in lower Manhattan, while his criminal empire is currently thought to be the subject of a bitter fight between Lopez, his former bodyguard, and his two sons.



Ivan Archivaldo Guzman often posts pictures of luxury cars, exotic animals and fancy locales on social media sites and is known to speed through his hometown of Culiacan in a red Ferrari.

Culiacan, hub of the Sinaloa cartels activities, also boasts a series of luxury shops and high-end auto dealerships  including Jaguar and Hummer  seldom seen in provincial Mexican cities.

Theres an unknown amount of drug money circulating that is noticed, but cant be measured, said Adrian Lopez, director of the Sinaloa newspaper Noroeste. Culiacan started having services and luxury products when it was still a relatively small city, with Lamborghinis in the streets as if it were Rodeo Drive.


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A mother gray whale managed to successfully defend her calf from a pod of hungry orcas in Monterey Bay, California on Sunday.

In the aerial clip, a pod of orcas can be seen attacking a small calf that's swimming alongside its mother. But the momma whale is having none of it. Using its tail, the mother whale fights back against the orcas, staying with its young for the hour-long attack.

"The gray whale mom took her calf and swam very fast to the beach shoreline and saved her calf," Nancy Black of Monterey Bay Whale Watch told KSBW.

The calf was injured in the fight, but Black said it did survive. However, this pod of orcas has become notorious for hunting gray whale calves this year, racking up five documented attacks since April 19.

They don't call them killer whales for nothing.
A typical week for Thomas Sells includes acupuncture, tai chi, yoga, and a couple of hours with a massage therapist and sometimes a chiropractor. You might think that the retired bank vice president and business manager in Southern California is simply enjoying a pampered spa lifestyle.

But Sells gets most of those services through the Department of Veterans Affairsall for his aching back.

Those VA programs are more necessity than luxury, says Sells, who first injured his back carrying heavy packs as a combat soldier in the Vietnam War.

None of these therapies were available to me back then, he explains. Had I known then what I know now, I could have avoided decades of debilitating pain.

It used to be that those treatments were considered fringe, but no more. Growing research shows that a combination of hands-on therapies and other nondrug measures can be just as effective as more traditional forms of back care, including drugs and surgery. And theyre much safer.

In February the American College of Physicianswhich represents primary care doctors, the providers people consult most often for a backacheissued new guidelines for back-pain treatment, saying that the first line of defense should be nondrug measures.

That advice is backed up by a new nationally representative Consumer Reports survey of 3,562 back-pain sufferers. It found that more than 80 percent of those who had tried yoga or tai chi or had seen a massage therapist or chiropractor said it had helped them.

Watch our video below on how one veteran found relief for back pain.

Altogether, a higher percentage of people in our survey who saw a yoga or tai chi instructor, massage therapist, chiropractor, or physical therapist said the advice or treatment was helpful, compared with those who said they saw a doctor.

Many physicians who are used to writing prescriptions right off the bat or sending patients for tests are going to have to rethink the way they manage back pain, says Nitin S. Damle, M.D., a former ACP president.

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But heres the problem: People also told us that their insurers were far more likely to cover visits to doctors than those for nondrug treatmentsand that they would have gone for more of that kind of treatment if it had been covered by their health insurance.

More on Dealing With Back Pain

New Clues to Cures

Back pain strikes most of us at some point. Its one of the main reasons people go to a doctor, accounting for more than 24 million visits each year in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More than 1 of 4 in our survey said that an episode of back pain severely interfered with their daily life. One-third said that when the pain was at its worst, they had difficulty going to work. And 44 percent said they worried about the impact their aching back would have on their future.

But theres good news. Even though back pain can be severe at first, it almost always gets better, says Benjamin Kligler, M.D., national director of the Integrative Health Coordinating Center for the Veterans Health Administration.

But what has been considered conventional care, including prescribing opioid pain medication, can actually short-circuit healing, he says. These drugs include opioids such as hydrocodone and oxycodone.

As a young combat soldier, Sells says he turned to alcohol and illegal drugs to numb his back pain. That took me down a dangerous road, he recalls. I became addicted. With help from recovery programs, he says he has been clean and sober for 30 years.

But even with his attempts to self-medicate, his low-back pain continued to worsen over time. It became so bad I could barely walk, Sells says. I consulted with surgeons, but I worried about the risks, and given my history, I didnt want to take opioids.

Instead, he looked for something safer, and came across a class at the VA in tai chi, which combines slow, gentle movements with deep breathing and meditation.

Soon he noticed improvements, gradually adding more exercise and hands-on therapies, which he says manage his pain while keeping his mind, body, and spirit strong. And he has become so good at tai chi that he now studies with a grand master. Its given me back my life, Sells says.

Success stories like this, combined with new research, persuaded the agency to make nondrug therapies a foundation of its pain-treatment strategy. As a result, the VA has cut overall opioid use by 25 percent since 2012, according to a March 2017 analysis published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Why Your Back Hurts

Medical experts surmise that back pain has bedeviled humans ever since we started walking on two feet, says Richard Deyo, M.D., a professor of evidence-based medicine at Oregon Health and Science University and an author of the main scientific review that led to the new ACP guidelines.

Standing upright requires the spine to support the weight of the upper body while still being flexible enough to bend in many directions. That puts a lot of stress on the backs complex network of bones, muscles, and ligaments. For example, muscles and ligaments can be overstretched, the gel-like disks cushioning the spinal bones can bulge, and the disks can slip, pressing painfully on spinal nerves.

Sometimes, all it takes to trigger a malfunction is lifting something heavy, twisting awkwardly, or simply sitting too long with poor posture. (See 5 Causes of Back Pain.)

Aging can make the situation worse because disks wear and shrink. Add to that diminished strength and flexibility, and you have the perfect conditions for pain.

Too Many Tests and Treatments?

When a back attack strikes, often the first reaction is to run to a doctor for an X-ray or MRI to see whats causing so much pain and possibly to ask for a prescription.

Doctors increasingly have an inclination to order more tests and write more prescriptions. A 2013 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that between 1999 and 2010, the prescribing of powerful narcotic pain meds increased by 51 percent, the use of CT and MRI scans jumped by 57 percent, and referrals to surgeons, neurologists, and other specialists more than doubled.

These kinds of escalating interventions are still the hallmark of how back pain is usually treated in the U.S., Deyo says. But those conventional approaches dont always work and can cause other serious problems.

Overall, weve seen no reduction in either pain or disability, Deyo says. And at the same time, rates of serious complications and even death are rising due to overuse of invasive treatments and opioids.

Conventional treatment often fails because it focuses on individual symptoms and broken parts, says Donald Levy, M.D., medical director of the Osher Clinical Center for Integrative Medicine at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

Instead, he says, doctors should be thinking about treating the whole patienthelping people get stronger, which will not only speed recovery but also help prevent future episodes of pain. (For advice on how to do that, see New Thinking On How to Relieve Back Pain.)

Heres how overusing common back-pain tests and treatments can make the discomfort worse, not better:

The Trouble With Imaging

A vast majority82 percentof our survey respondents who saw at least one healthcare professional for back pain said they got an X-ray, a CT scan, or an MRI. But most people who develop back pain dont need those tests.

Why not? Because, Levy says, the broken parts seen on imaging studies do not always correlate with the source or the degree of pain.

But when doctors see signs of arthritis or other damage, they often have an urge to fix it, Levy says, and that can lead to unnecessary surgery.

Its not always wise for patients to see those abnormalities, either, because it can undermine their confidence that they can continue to lead healthy, active lives. All of a sudden, people may think, Im not someone with a temporary bout of pain, Im a back-pain patient,' says Matthew Kowalski, D.C., a chiropractor at the Osher Clinical Center. And that image can stay with them for the rest of their lives.

The Risks of Opioids and Surgery

About one-third of our survey respondents said they took prescription drugs for their back pain, and of those, 57 percent were prescribed opioids.

The ACP strongly advises against that practice. For one thing, opioids dont necessarily relieve pain much better or help you move more easily than over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen (Advil and generic) or naproxen (Aleve and generic).

And though those OTC drugs pose some risks when taken long term, theyre still much safer than opioids. Narcotic medications often cause side effects such as constipation, drowsiness, headaches, and nausea. The longer you take them, the greater the risk of addiction and overdose, especially when taking high doses.

A recent review in the Journal of the American Medical Association of 20 trials involving nearly 7,300 patients found that opioids didnt provide significant relief for people with chronic back pain. Further, half the participants dropped out early because the medication didnt work or the side effects were intolerable.

Surgery should always be the last option, and only if your pain has lasted longer than three months with treatment and your symptoms are severe and clearly linked to the problem seen in an imaging test. But even then, its reasonable to hold off on surgery if youre seeing improvement, Levy says.

For one thing, it cant cure arthritis, injured or weak muscles, poor posture, or many other common causes of back pain.

Even symptoms caused by a herniated (slipped) disk or spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spinal column) may resolve over time with those simpler, less aggressive therapies. And taking that approach is safer than surgery, which carries rare but serious risks such as infection, blood clots, and damage to the spine.

Personalize Your Treatment Plan

Everyone responds to pain differently, and theres no set strategy for treating a painful back that works for all.

So where to start? Staying active is key, experts agree. The less active you areand the longer youre inactivethe faster your muscles weaken, your ligaments and tendons stiffen, and the cushioning between your disks dries out, all of which can delay your recovery, research suggests.

Yet three-quarters of our survey respondents reported bed rest as one of the first three treatments they tried. That, it turns out, wasnt a good idea. When asked what they would have done differently to treat their pain, 43 percent of the back-pain sufferers said they wished they had exercised more.

Relief is often on the other side of activity, Kowalski says. A good practitioner should teach you some exercises that you can do on your own, and also talk to you about the ergonomics of your daily activities, such as how you sit at your desk.

Next, you may want to add a hands-on therapy such as acupuncture, massage, or spinal manipulation from a chiropractor, physiotherapist, or other healthcare practitioner, which can help alleviate pain as you work to get stronger.

And last, consider trying things to strengthen your mental outlook, such as mindfulness meditation, because pain affects people mentally as well as physically. (See Chronic Pain and Depression: Is There a Link?)

Thomas Sells says that a combination of approaches has worked for him. I feel better now than I did as a much younger man, he notes. Mentally, physically, and spiritually, Im in the best place in my life.

Editor's Note: This article also appeared in the June 2017 issue of Consumer Reports magazine.

This article and related materials are made possible by a grant from the state Attorney General Consumer and Prescriber Education Grant Program, which is funded by the multistate settlement of consumer-fraud claims regarding the marketing of the prescription drug Neurontin (gabapentin).

Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website.





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Democratic congressional candidates Harley Rouda and Katie Porter. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: harleyforcongress.com, katieporter.com, AP)

LOS ANGELES  Encouraged by a long history of the presidents party losing seats in midterm elections  and emboldened by the historic unpopularity of this particular president, Donald Trump  Democratic candidates are launching challenges to congressional GOP incumbents earlier and more eagerly than at any time in recent memory.

But are they the right kind of Democratic candidates? You know, the kind who might actually be able to unseat entrenched House Republicans in 2018?

One place to look for clues is Orange County, Calif. Despite its conservative past  the county voted for the GOP candidate in every presidential election from 1936 to 2012  the O.C. now overlaps with the districts of four of the 25 most vulnerable Republicans in Congress: Reps. Darrell Issa, Dana Rohrabacher, Mimi Walters and Ed Royce. Hillary Clinton won there by 9 percentage points. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is planning to run its Western operations out of Irvine. A growing Latino population, a concentration of college-educated whites and a declining GOP registration advantage are making the area more and more treacherous for Republicans, especially with Trump in the White House.

Its districts like these that will decide whether the Democrats can make a serious run at control of the House, the New York Times Nate Cohn recently wrote.

The opportunity, in other words, is there. The question is whether Democrats can capitalize. For that, they will need to recruit candidates who can win.

In Orange County, the party has no shortage of challengers to choose from. The midterms are still 18 months away, but already 10 O.C.-area Dems have declared their candidacies. (Four are gunning for Rohrabacher, three for Walters, two for Issa and one for Royce.) Its a diverse group: former CSU-Fullerton chemistry teacher Phil Janowicz; environmental lawyer Mike Levin; Capitol Hill aide Kia Hamadanchy; UC-Irvine law professor Dave Min; and repeat contender Doug Applegate, a retired Marine colonel who lost to Issa last time by a mere 1,621 votes in what was the closest congressional race in the country.

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But two candidates in particular exemplify the dueling templates that seem to be emerging nationwide as more and more Democrats toss their hats into the ring for 2018: Harley Rouda, whos running against Rohrabacher, and Katie Porter, whos running against Walters.

Rouda is Mr. Practical. Porter is Ms. Passion. Both are serious contenders, based on endorsements, fundraising and experience. But the differences between them highlight the larger dilemma that Democrats face heading into 2018: Whats the best way to win back the House? By fielding progressive, high-minded populists in tune with the national anti-Trump resistance? Or by pushing traditional, establishment-friendly contenders whose views and backgrounds more closely align with the districts theyre running in?

Its hard to think of a more Laguna Beach candidate than Rouda. The son of a successful real estate entrepreneur who went on to found his own residential brokerage, Real Living, Rouda, 56, looks like he could have been one of the slick, smiling dads on the mid-aughts MTV reality show named for his wealthy, white, largely conservative hometown.

In fact, Rouda used to be a Republican himself: Between 1993 and 2007, he donated at least $9,200 to GOP congressional candidates, and during the 2016 Republican presidential primary he gave $1,000 to Ohio Gov. John Kasich, an old friend. Though Rouda voted for Clinton in November, and though he insists that hes been 100% Democratic and strongly for Democratic values since at least 2004, many local activists are skeptical. Some people think Harley is a Republican in disguise, Sue Dvorak of Indivisible OC 48 recently told the Orange County Register.

Yet Roudas Republican vibe could be his biggest asset next June, when he and the rest of Californias 2018 congressional candidates go head-to-head in the states jungle primary contest. (The top two finishers continue to the general election regardless of party affiliation.) As Dvorak herself noted in the next breath, Some think [Rouda will] be able to appeal strongly to more voters throughout the district because of his background.

Reps. Mimi Walters and Dana Rohrabacher (Photos: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images and Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Roudas business ties have already helped him raise an impressive $215,000 in the first quarter of 2017, putting him on par with Rohrabacher, who typically wins by 20-plus-point margins but whos had only one serious Democratic opponent since joining Congress in 1989. Early endorsements have come almost entirely from local luminaries, including Laguna Beach Mayor Toni Iseman and former Orange County Democratic Party Chair Frank Barbaro. Given Rohrabachers closeness to Trump and his increasingly toxic views on Russia  he was once described as Vladimir Putins favorite congressman  its possible Laguna Beach and the surrounding areas could settle on Rouda as a palatable (if more liberal) alternative in 2018.

I dont see a willingness of either party to come to the middle, Rouda said at a recent fundraiser in Laguna Beach, emphasizing his conciliatory centrism. I think we need to focus on the people, not the party.

Katie Porter, meanwhile, represents the Democratic Partys other 2018 model: the passionate progressive. Educated at Yale College and Harvard Law School, Porter studied under future Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and went on to become a prominent consumer advocate lawyer herself. The two co-authored the 2014 edition of The Law of Debtors and Creditors, and Warren endorsed Porter the same day she announced her candidacy.

[Porters] been in the trenches with me fighting for families for nearly two decades and shes gotten real results, Warren said in her endorsement statement. Shes fought relentlessly for important protections that safeguard consumers and force banks to give families a fair shake. Theres no one I trust more to take on Donald Trump and the entrenched special interests in Washington on behalf of working families.

Unlike Rouda, Porter doesnt talk about meeting Republicans in the middle; instead, she promises to battle them on behalf of the little guy, echoing the populist pleas of Warren and Bernie Sanders. The powers in Washington have favored Wall Street banks over middle-class families, Porter said in her campaign announcement. Ive spent my career fighting powerful interests. Im running to take that fight to Washington.

Porter has the resume to back up her rhetoric. Before the housing bubble burst, she was one of the first to sound the alarm about Wall Streets predatory practices, and in March 2012, she was appointed by then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris to serve as the states independent monitor of banks in a nationwide $25 billion mortgage settlement. (Harris, now Californias junior senator, has also endorsed Porter.)

How well Porters populism plays in CA-45 remains to be seen. The districts largest city, Irvine, certainly isnt the conservative stronghold it once was. In 2000, Republicans outnumbered Democrats there 48 percent to 30 percent, with independents making up 18 percent of the voter rolls; today, there are more Democrats in Irvine than Republicans (and more independents than Democrats). With a burgeoning foreign-born Asian population and the highest percentage of masters degrees in the county, Irvine isnt likely to look fondly on Trump, which is why Porter is hitting Walters hard for siding with the president on dismantling Obamacare. Clinton won Walters district by 3 percentage points, and so far, Walters, who lives outside the district, has refused to break with Trump on a single issue. But its hardly a given that a big swath of Orange County will side with a Warren acolyte over a two-term GOP incumbent.

If this were 2006  the last time Democrats were seeking to flip the House after a crushing presidential defeat  then the pragmatic Rouda model would almost certainly win out. That November, a wave of Blue Dog Democrats such as Jason Altmire, Heath Shuler and Brad Ellsworth were elected in conservative-leaning districts, ending years of Republican dominance.

But 2016 was unprecedented. The backlash in 2017 has been unprecedented. And what Porter and her ilk are hoping is that 2018 will be unprecedented too  the year, perhaps, that Democrats find a new way to win.

Protesters stand outside the office of U.S. Rep. Mimi Walters to request a town hall meeting with her in Irvine, Calif., on Jan. 31, 2017. (Photo: Nick Agro/The Orange County Register via AP)

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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.

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By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Wednesday urged all parties in the Korean standoff to stay calm and "stop irritating each other," a day after North Korea said the United States was pushing the region to the brink of nuclear war.

North Korea's state media published a rare, strong, criticism of China on Wednesday, saying Chinese state media commentaries calling for tougher sanctions over Pyongyang's nuclear program were undermining relations with Beijing and worsening tensions. {nL8N1I55TR]

The United States has urged China, North Korea's only major ally, to do more to rein in its neighbor's nuclear and missile programs, which have prompted an assertive response from the Trump administration, warning that an "era of strategic patience" is over.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday that Washington was working on more sanctions against North Korea if Pyongyang takes steps that merit a new response. He also warned other countries their firms could face so-called secondary sanctions for doing illicit business with Pyongyang.

Tillerson said the Trump administration had been "leaning hard into China ... to test their willingness to use their influence, their engagement with the regime."

Diplomats said this week Washington was negotiating with China on a possible stronger U.N. Security Council response - such as new sanctions - to North Korea's missile tests.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Wednesday U.N. resolutions were clear that further measures would be taken in the event of more nuclear or missile tests.

The United States has sent a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to Korean waters and a pair of strategic U.S. bombers flew training drills with South Korea and Japan in another show of strength this week.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang called the situation "highly complex" and sensitive.

"The urgent task is to lower temperatures and resume talks," he said.

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"We again urge all relevant parties to remain calm and exercise restraint, stop irritating each other, work hard to create an atmosphere for contact and dialogue between all sides, and seek a return to the correct path of dialogue and negotiation as soon as possible."

The bomber flights coincided with U.S. President Donald Trump raising eyebrows when he said he would be "honored" to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the right circumstances, and as his CIA director landed in South Korea for talks.

North Korea said the bombers conducted "a nuclear bomb dropping drill against major objects" in its territory at a time when Trump and "other U.S. warmongers are crying out for making a preemptive nuclear strike."

"The reckless military provocation is pushing the situation on the Korean peninsula closer to the brink of nuclear war," North Korea's official KCNA news agency said.

A commentary on KCNA on Wednesday took aim at China and state media articles it said had attempted to shift the blame to Pyongyang for "deteriorated relations" between China and North Korea and U.S. deployment of strategic assets.

It also accused China of "hyping up" damage caused by North Korean nuclear tests to China's three northeastern provinces and said the program was needed for the "existence and development" of the country and "can never be changed nor shaken."

Tension on the Korean peninsula has been high for weeks, driven by concern that North Korea might conduct its sixth nuclear test in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

CHINA OPPOSES THAAD

U.S. officials told Reuters the U.S. military's THAAD anti-missile defence system had reached initial operational capacity in South Korea, although it would not be fully operational for some months.

China has repeatedly expressed its opposition to the system, whose powerful radar it says can reach inside Chinese territory, even as Trump has praised Chinese President Xi Jinping for his efforts to rein in North Korea.

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.

Trump has urged other Asian countries to help pressure North Korea and spoke last weekend with the leaders of Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines.

He drew criticism on Monday when he said he would be "honored" to meet North Korea's young leader.

"If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely, I would be honored to do it," Trump told Bloomberg News.

Trump did not say what conditions would be needed for such a meeting or when it could happen, but White House spokesman Sean Spicer said "clearly conditions are not there right now."

Washington has said any future talks on North Korea must based on its willingness to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Trump warned in an interview with Reuters on Thursday a "major, major conflict" with North Korea was possible, while China has said the Korean situation could slip out of control.

In a telephone call with his Philippine counterpart Rodrigo Duterte, Xi urged all sides to return to talks as soon as possible, Chinese state radio reported.

North Korea on Saturday conducted its fourth successive failed missile launch since March. It has conducted two nuclear tests and dozens of missile tests since the beginning of 2016.

The U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, Joseph R. Donovan, told reporters Indonesia was among several countries Washington was urging to take a "fresh look" at their North Korea ties.

Trump also spoke on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and discussed "how best to resolve the very dangerous situation in North Korea", the White House said.

(Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom, Yeganeh Torbati and Steve Holland in WASHINGTON and Tom Allard in JAKARTA; Writing by Nick Macfie and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Robert Birsel and Grant McCool)
China's President Xi Jinping on Wednesday hailed the "dialogue" between Beijing and Manila over their border dispute in the South China Sea during a phone call with Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte, state media reported.

Duterte is loosening the Philippines' long alliance with the United States while strengthening ties with China and Russia, saying this week he might turn down an invitation from President Donald Trump to visit the US.

The call came two days after Duterte toured a visiting Chinese warship on the southern Philippine port of Davao in a display of warming ties with Beijing.

"The mutual political trust (between China and the Philippines) continues to grow and our cooperation is flourishing in all areas," Xi said, according to Chinese state media.

"Channels of dialogue and negotiation on the South China Sea issue have also been set up, which will benefit the fundamental interests of our two countries," he said.

In contrast to his predecessor Benigno Aquino, Duterte has pursued close relations with China despite its extensive island-building in disputed parts of the South China Sea.

China claims nearly all of the strategically vital waterway, even waters approaching the coasts of its neighbours, despite partial counter-claims from several regional states such as the Philippines.

Duterte has secured promises of billions of dollars' worth of investments from China in return for the diplomatic realignment.

Aquino in 2013 took China to a United Nations-backed arbitration tribunal over the maritime row.

The tribunal last year rejected China's claim over most of the South China Sea, but Beijing has ignored the ruling.

Duterte vowed after his election last year not to "taunt or flaunt" the ruling, saying he did not want to go to war with China.

On Monday the Philippine leader said he could not commit to visiting the US president because of a busy schedule, even though no firm date has yet been proposed.

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Nevertheless, Duterte said relations with the United States were improving now that Trump had taken over from Barack Obama, who criticised the Philippine president for his anti-drug war that has claimed thousands of lives.

Rights groups have warned Duterte may be orchestrating a crime against humanity, with police and vigilantes committing mass murder, and Trump's invitation has stirred controversy in Washington.

Duterte denies his government is committing extrajudicial killings.

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Chris Pratt (Photo: Getty Images)

Chris Pratt, action hero extraordinaire, isnt averse to a bit of pampering. He has his wife, Anna Faris, to thank for his current favorite treatment, which he calls tremendous.

I got a facial at the hotel yesterday, yes, I did. I was going to get a massage and a facial. Anna set me up. At one point they were asking me if I wanted caviar rubbed on my face. Just when you think Im a super-humble, normal guy, just remember that I got caviar rubbed on my face yesterday, he tells Yahoo Style. It felt so good. Popped all the zits on my nose. My blackheads were gone.

The La Prairie spa at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in New York City offers a caviar illuminating facial; its part of the brands White Caviar collection, which includes its just-launched White Caviar Illuminating Serum. The facials cost between $275 and $350, depending on the kind you want. Which, as luxe facials go, is fairly standard.

Because, as Pratt jokes, Im just your average guy.

The actor, whos starring in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, is also a fan of sheet masks. And hed been a devotee long before they became a thing. Heres an Instagram post he shared from 2014.

Backstage @Letterman I'm wearing this creepy mask because it will make me look more radiant? #Baller #guardiansofthegalaxy A post shared by chris pratt (@prattprattpratt) on Jul 29, 2014 at 1:43pm PDT

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The saga of the sagging pants, it seems, is never-ending. Municipalities around the country  in South Carolina, Louisiana, New Jersey, Alabama, Mississippi, and Illinois, just for starters  have banned the controversial look, sometimes levying fines for those who wont pull their trousers up over their skivvies.

And now a town in Georgia wants to outlaw pants that legislators deem as sagging too low.

Lawmakers in one Georgia city want to outlaw this low-hanging-pants look. (Photo: Getty Images)

Somethings got to happen  to get these young boys to know they cant be dressing like that. Its not getting better its getting worse, Augusta commissioner Marion Williams, the legislator behind the effort, told WRDW News 12. But at a Tuesday meeting with other city leaders, the only idea that was agreed upon was to enforce a dress code of pulled-up pants in all public areas, including parks, but with no penalty.

Im really disappointed, Williams said. We already have something that says they cant come into our public facilities dressed a certain way, something else needs to be done, somethings got to change.

Hes not the first, nor will he be the last, to be fed up with the hanging-low style  which, its been theorized, has roots in either the look of prisoners whose belts have been taken away to prevent suicides by hanging, or from young men wearing hand-me-downs, which, if the clothes are big enough, can indicate having super-size brothers.

Whatever the origins, the trend has long taken hold in popular culture, to the disdain of many  including Barack Obama, who called out the style back in 2008. Brothers should pull up their pants, he had said. You are walking by your mother, your grandmother, your underwear is showing. Whats wrong with that? Come on. Some people might not want to see your underwear. Im one of them.

But efforts to ban the look have sometimes turned extreme  with one Tennessee high school even charging teens that wont pull up their trousers with indecent exposure, sending them to jail and collecting hefty fines. Similarly, a student at Hinds Community College in Mississippi was arrested for his sagging-pants style in 2015, prompting a campus protest that eventually pressured campus authorities to clear the young man of the violation.

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And this week, in Augusta, some officials  including the mayor  spoke out about the need to focus on more pressing community issues, such as unemployment and poverty. So if youre going to make a dress-code policy, put something in there about how youre going to put them to work, how youre going to keep them off the streets, Mayor Hardie Davis suggested.

Commissioner Andrew Jefferson agreed, noting that local legislators have more pertinent issues to talk about. He added, Were talking about shootings and things, but Ive never seen sagging pants pull the trigger.

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Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyle and @YahooBeauty.


Democrats are lashing out at the Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare ahead of Thursdays scheduled House vote.

This will cost American lives if it ever becomes law, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said on MSNBC. This will mean death.

Booker and other Democrats say the GOP legislation would cause millions of Americans, particularly those in rural and low-income areas, to lose the coverage they gained under the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obamas signature health care law.

We cannot be playing politics with peoples health care, Booker said. Screw the politics. This is about people. This is about whats morally right. This is about what we stand for.

Must-watch moment Cory Booker to @MSNBC on the health bill: "This will cost American lives if it ever becomes law. This will mean death." pic.twitter.com/zbbK7ygVkd  Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 4, 2017

Republicans are expected to bring the so-called American Health Care Act to a vote Thursday afternoon, as GOP leaders say they are finally confident they have enough support for it to pass the House.

Were gonna pass it! Were gonna pass it! House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters on Wednesday. Lets be optimistic about life!

That wasnt the case in March, when House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., abruptly pulled the legislation, which had been embraced by President Trump, before a planned vote.

At that time, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the GOP plan would leave 24 million more Americans uninsured by 2026, including 14 million by next year. Republicans are pressing to bring the latest version to a vote without an updated analysis from the nonpartisan office.

Forcing a vote without a CBO score shows that Republicans are terrified of the public learning the full consequences of their plan, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Wednesday. But tomorrow, House Republicans are going to tattoo this moral monstrosity to their foreheads, and the American people will hold them accountable.

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MoveOn.org sent an email to its members late Wednesday urging them to share a clip from comedian Jimmy Kimmels emotional monologue revealing his newborn sons health complications.

On Mondays Jimmy Kimmel Live, the late night host explained that his son William required heart surgery on April 24, just three days after his birth. At the end of the story, Kimmel made a passionate plea to lawmakers to ensure all Americans have access to health care.

If your baby is going to die and it doesnt have to, it shouldnt matter how much money you make, he said. I hope you never have to go there, but if you do, youll see so many kids from so many financial backgrounds being cared for so well with so much compassion.

Well said, Jimmy, Obama subsequently tweeted. Thats exactly why we fought so hard for the ACA, and why we need to protect it for kids like Billy.

Well said, Jimmy. That's exactly why we fought so hard for the ACA, and why we need to protect it for kids like Billy. And congratulations! https://t.co/77F8rZrD3P  Barack Obama (@BarackObama) May 2, 2017

Back in March, Trump blamed Democrats for not helping him dismantle Obamacare, which he said he would let explode.

We had no Democrat support, he said shortly after Ryan pulled the GOP bill from the House floor. We had no votes from the Democrats. They werent going to give us a single vote, so its a very difficult thing to do.

The president subsequently predicted that Democrats would be willing to work with him once it does pass the House.

Perhaps the best thing that could happen is exactly what happened today, Trump said at the time. Because well end up with a truly great health care bill in the future after this mess known as Obamacare.

Even if the House passes the bill, though, theres no guarantee it will survive the Senate.

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A California father's outrage is on full view as he's told his entire family is to be booted from an overbooked Delta flight.

Read: Violent Brawl Between Airline Passengers Caught on Video: 'I'll Kill You'

A flight attendant actually told the Orange County couple that their kids could be taken away if they didnt surrender their seats.

You'll be committing a federal offense," the attendant said in cell phone video of the incident. "You and your wife will be in jail and your kids will be put in foster care."

A shocked Brian Schear replies: Wait, we'll be in jail and my wife and kids will be what?

It happened on board a Delta Airlines flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles last month.

Schear and his wife, Brittany, were returning from vacation with their 2-year-old son and 1-year-old daughter when they were told to give up one of the seats.



The father had actually bought a seat for his 18-year-old son, but when the teen took an earlier flight, the family used the ticket for their 2-year-old. That switch gave the airline an excuse to take the seat back and give it to a standby passenger.

A flight attendant actually suggested they take their infant son out of his car seat and sit on one of their laps for the duration of the flight.

It's a red eye. He won't sleep unless he's in his car seat. So otherwise he'll be sitting in my wife's lap crawling all over the place and its not safe, the concerned father said.

Federal authorities strongly urge you to secure your child in a child restraint seat for the duration of your flight."

But the flight attendants insisted the seat had to be given up. The flight attendants said the family had to get off or all passengers would have to deplane.

It was midnight and the family was stranded.

"I got two infants and my wife," the concerned father says in the video. "We have nowhere to stay. There are no more flights. What are we supposed to do, sleep in the airport?"

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Read: Delta Passenger Claims He Was Booted From Flight Because He Had to Use the Bathroom

At this point you guys are on your own, the flight attendant says.

Schear finally agreed to leave the plane.

They wound up paying $2,000 for another flight home the next day, according to reports.

"We are sorry for what this family experienced," Delta said in a statement. "Our team has reached out, and we will be talking with them to better understand what happened and come to a resolution."

Watch: New Video Shows Dr. David Dao Boarding United Flight Before Being Dragged Off

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The nondrug back-pain treatments that people in CRs survey often described as helpful are, unfortunately, less likely to be covered by insurance.

On average, people spent more than $200 out of pocket over the course of their full treatment for acupuncture, massage, or care from a chiropractor. Almost one in four spent $500 or more. That compares with about $80 that people spent out of pocket for care from an M.D.

A big barrier for many patients is that insurance companies often refuse to cover nondrug therapies, says Nitin Damle, M.D., a former president of the American College of Physicians, which recently issued new guidelines emphasizing hands-on treatments. But hes hopeful that the new guidelines will move the needle forward, so there is a shift from pharmacologic to nonpharmacologic treatment.

More on Dealing With Back Pain

Insurance companies often cover several visits for chiropractic care and physical therapy, but only very expensive plans tend to cover acupuncture, massage, and yoga, says Jim Redmond, regional vice president of communications and community investment at Excellus BlueCross BlueShield in New York.

Theres evidence that nondrug approaches not only work well but also make economic sense. A 2016 review of 33 studies found that exercise combined with psychological counseling, yoga, spinal manipulation, and acupuncture were cost-effective.

And a pilot program run by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield found that educating doctors about a restrained approach to back pain was paying off for patients and the bottom line. Imaging, visits to specialists or the emergency room, surgery, opioid prescribing, and costs all decreased, Redmond says, while patient satisfaction went up.

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Still, for now theres a good chance youll have to pay more out of your own pocket for hands-on nondrug approaches than for more standard care. Here are some tips to help minimize your costs:

Review your insurance policy. Insurers are more likely to cover chiropractic care and physical therapy than other nondrug therapies, but its worth checking. Thirteen percent of people in our survey who saw a massage therapist said that insurance picked up the tab for more than 75 percent of the cost.

Get a referral. Your doctor may need to refer you or contact your insurance company explaining why a nondrug treatment is medically necessary.

Look for discounts. Check with your insurer or employee wellness program to see whether it has negotiated reduced rates for therapies not covered by insurance. Also ask providers about discounts for multiple sessions.

Switch if you need to. If your coverage for one therapy runs out before your pain is gone, consider trying another thats coveredsay, switching from chiropractic care to physical therapy.

Consider the total cost. If you have a high-deductible plan that requires you to spend thousands out of pocket before insurance kicks in, nondrug treatments can be a good deal compared with conventional medical care.

Use tax-free dollars. You can use money in a health savings account (HSA) or flexible spending account (FSA) for most nondrug treatments. Keep a copy of the prescription or doctors note to prove that the treatment is for back pain.

Appeal. If your insurer refuses to pay for a service you think should be covered, youre entitled to appeal. Check your insurance companys website or call customer service.

Editor's Note: This article also appeared in the June 2017 issue of Consumer Reports magazine.

This article and related materials are made possible by a grant from the state Attorney General Consumer and Prescriber Education Grant Program, which is funded by the multistate settlement of consumer-fraud claims regarding the marketing of the prescription drug Neurontin (gabapentin).

Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website.





More from Consumer Reports:

Top pick tires for 2016

Best used cars for $25,000 and less

7 best mattresses for couples





Copyright  2006-2017 Consumer Reports, Inc.
Howard Stern has argued nobody was more keen for Hillary Clinton to win than Donald Trump himself.

The radio personality, who is Americas most notorious shock jock, said President Trump was being serious when he recently admitted to missing his old life.

In an interview with Reuters ahead of the 100-day mark of his presidency last week, Mr Trump said: I loved my previous life. I had so many things going. This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier.

Stern, a long-time associate of President Trump, said Mr Trump was being very honest when he confessed he missed his former life. Stern explained he had seen exactly what his life as a billionaire property developer and former reality TV star had looked like.

Ive seen it up close, Stern said on his Sirius XM radio show. [Mr Trumps] got that kind of life that politicians want.

Seventy-year-old guy who has made so much money - hes made billions of dollars - that he has his own helicopter, he has his own aeroplane. He has a hot wife.

Hes got fame from a No. 1 television show. He can walk around Mar-a-Lago, which is like any palace - better than the f*****g White House.

Over the years Mr Trump was a frequent guest on the Howard Stern Show, appearing on the programme more than two dozen times from the late 90s until the 2000s. And while Stern insists he is not a Trump insider, he has referred to him as a friend.

Stern recounts being at Mr Trumps 126-room Mar-a-Lago resort when he first announced he was going to win however it is unclear if he is referring to winning the Republican nomination or the November election.

I was at f*****g Mar-a-Lago laughing about it," Stern said. "I said, What are you, out of your f*****g mind?

Ah, well see what happens, Mr Trump replied, according to Stern.

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Stern argued Mr Trump did not realise how difficult being President would be before he arrived inside the White House, suggesting the President was now dreaming of returning to his old life.

Read more

Howard Stern: 'It would be betrayal to replay all my Trump interviews'

What happened to Donald Trump was - and I know about this because I was in therapy for 50 f*****g years, and thousands of hours, and cost a fortune - like Trump, I cant say no to stuff. I was a workaholic.

I didnt really think about the impact on my personal life. All I would think about is the big announcement, Stern said explaining how he accepted film and TV contracts.

[Mr Trump] said, Hey, I can be president of the United States possibly. And then when he went out on the campaign trail, and he started to win, it was like, 'Oh my God, Im going to be president, and all these crowds love me, and its going to be fun.' No f*****g idea the shitty life he was going to have."

Hes sitting in the f*****g White House dreaming about getting to Mar-a-Lago, where he was," Stern continued. Believe me, nobody wanted Hillary to win more than Donald Trump. He didnt need this. Hes got the kind of life you dream of.

Mr Trumps appearances on Sterns show frequently came back to bite him throughout his presidential campaign. Topics of women he had sex with and wanted to have sex with frequently came up on the show, with Mr Trump rating womens appearances. A person who is very flat-chested is very hard to be a 10, Mr Trump once told Stern. His lewd and derogatory comments about Lindsay Lohan, including speculating about what sex with her would be like, on the show also resurfaced during the election campaign.
On the Australian show The Weekly, host Charlie Pickering welcomed Geoffrey Rush to his program. During their interview, Pickering showed footage of Rush in his mid-20s! So, first off, its safe to say that was a while ago, Pickering noted.

Geoffrey Rush in The Kings Speech. (Photo: the Weinstein Company/courtesy Everett Collection)

I was close to being in the womb, Rush joked.

And Im curious, what did you learn from being a clown that you use in your career? asked Pickering.

It was really an approach to acting through movement, and through masks, and through comedian masks and so forth, explained Rush. And the final thing that you did was to try and find your own fundamental, personal identity for imaginative release.

Rush explained that this class would wind up helping him prepare for one of his roles, a role that just might surprise you  Albert Einstein in Genius. Einstein had a lot of impish, clownish qualities and that was something I thought about a lot in the creation of that role  just to avoid constantly playing an astrophysicist, or a genius, you cant walk around all day kind of wide-eyed, going, Im so bright, Im so bright, he mused.

Watch: Richard Gere Looks Back on Pretty Woman, American Gigolo, Primal Fear, and More

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Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram or leave your comments below. And check out our host, Khail Anonymous, on Twitter.
Istanbul (AFP) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said a Moscow-backed plan to set up so-called de-escalation zones inside Syria would "50 percent" solve the six-year conflict, in comments published Thursday.

Erdogan on Wednesday discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin a plan floated by Moscow for "de-escalation zones" to be set up in several areas in Syria.

Speaking to Turkish reporters aboard his plane flying back from the meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Erdogan said such zones would include Idlib, part of Aleppo province, El-Rastan in Homs province, a part of Damascus and part of Daraa.

"I hope that if this is implemented then 50 percent of the Syrian issue can be solved," he said in comments published on the websites of the Hurriyet and Yeni Safak dailies.

Details on what the de-escalation zones would comprise have been thin so far but Erdogan described the plan as a "new concept" and distinct from Ankara's previous proposals for terror-free safe zones.

Turkey and Russia have been on sharply opposing sides in the Syria conflict, with Moscow supporting President Bashar al-Assad but Ankara pushing for his ouster.

Relations reached a dangerous low in November 2015 when Turkish warplanes shot down a Russian fighter jet over the Syrian border.

But a normalisation deal was reached last year and the two sides have been working ever more closely in a joint effort to end the fighting in Syria.

Yet tensions remain, and Erdogan said he had personally shown Putin at the talks a photograph purportedly showing Russian forces in Syria with Kurdish militia that Ankara deems to be a terror group.

He said Putin promised that Russian weapons were not ending up in the hands of the Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) and vowed to investigate the picture.

Turkey and Russia have also championed peace talks taking place in the Kazakh capital Astana but these hit a snag Tuesday when pro-Ankara Syrian rebels said Wednesday they were suspending their participation after air strikes.

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But Erdogan said the issue had been solved after intervention by Turkey's powerful intelligence chief Hakan Fidan.

"Mr Hakan immediately stepped in, had discussions and the opposition were again satisfied to take part in the talks," Erdogan said.

"So Astana is going to continue."
(Reuters) - After months of internal discord, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday were still trying to craft a bill to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, a law they have been attacking since it was enacted in 2010.

Two attempts in recent weeks to pass an overhaul bill have collapsed in confusion, with conservatives pushing for a more complete repeal and moderates keen to avoid going too far for fear of angering their constituents.

Obamacare brought health insurance coverage to millions of Americans. The first version of the Republican bill, known as the American Health Care Act, or AHCA, would have left 24 million more Americans without coverage, according to an estimate by nonpartisan congressional researchers.

The House has recently added two amendments to the AHCA to try to appease both conservatives and moderates. Here are the latest versions of the bill's main provisions:

COVERAGE

The Republican plan would maintain some of Obamacare's most popular provisions. It would allow young adults to stay on their parents' health plan until age 26 and it would ban insurers from setting a lifetime dollar limit on coverage.

An amendment introduced by moderate Republican Representative Tom MacArthur would let states opt out of Obamacare's mandate that insurers charge sick and healthy people the same rates. It would also allow states to opt out of Obamacare's requirement that insurers cover 10 essential health benefits, such as maternity care and mental health treatment.

The measure would provide states with $100 billion, largely to fund high-risk pools to provide insurance to the sickest patients. An amendment added Wednesday would provide another $8 billion over five years to help those with pre-existing conditions pay for health insurance.

The bill would let insurers mark up premiums by 30 percent for those who have a lapse in insurance coverage of about two months or more.

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Insurers won another provision they had long sought: The ability to charge older Americans up to five times more than young people. Under Obamacare, they could only charge up to three times more.

TAX

The Republicans want to end in 2018 Obamacare's income-based tax credits that help low-income people buy insurance. These would be replaced with age-based tax credits ranging from $2,000 to $4,000 per year that would be capped at upper-income levels. While Obamacare's credits gave more help to those with lower incomes, the Republican plan would be largely age-based.

The Republican bill would abolish most Obamacare taxes, including on medical devices, health insurance premiums, indoor tanning salons, prescription medications and high-cost employer-provided insurance known as "Cadillac" plans.

Those taxes paid for Obamacare. Republicans have not said how they would pay for the parts of the law they want to keep.

The bill would also repeal the Obamacare financial penalty for the 2016 tax year for not purchasing insurance, as well as a surtax on investment income earned by upper-income Americans.

It would repeal the mandate that larger employers must offer insurance to their employees.

MEDICAID

Under Obamacare, more than 30 states, including about a dozen Republican states, expanded the Medicaid government health insurance program for the poor. About half of Obamacare enrollees obtained insurance through the expansion.

The bill would allow the Medicaid expansion to continue until January 1, 2020, providing states chose not to expand. After that date, expansion would end and Medicaid funding would be capped on a per-person basis.

State Medicaid plans would no longer have to cover some Obamacare-mandated essential health benefits, fulfilling a Republican promise to return more control to the states.

(Reporting by Yasmeen Abutaleb; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Leslie Adler)
David Byers, a fitness model, was arrested on suspicion of robbery. (Photo: Instagram/Michael Stokes)

A fitness model was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of robbery, but its his hunky, off-the-clock photos that are making headlines.

After leading police on a dramatic car-and-foot chase, David Byers, a fitness model in Solana Beach, Calif., was arrested Wednesday in San Diego for allegedly robbing the same Riverside Chase bank twice and one Cos Cob Citco gas station, both located in Connecticut.

According to local news site Greenwich Time, Byers, who was in possession of a handgun, will be charged with three counts of robbery, two counts of larceny, and a felony count of reckless endangerment.

I had a nice chat with David Byers last night. He says "hi" to everyone. A post shared by Michael Stokes (@stokes_photo) on Oct 10, 2015 at 4:02pm PDT

I am surprised because David is one of my more popular models, and he doesnt strike me as a violent guy, Michael Stokes, a Los Angeles-based photographer who works with Byers, tells Yahoo Style. Hes definitely a bad boy, and hes disappointed a lot of women, but he texted me last week with news that he moved to New York to be with his girlfriend  who hes very much in love with  and that hes finally happy.

David Byers, a fitness model, is a suspect in three robberies. (Photo: Yuma Police Department)

Byerss muscular body is covered in colorful tattoos, including a neck design, the latter of which police emphasized as a defining trait in the description of the model. This isnt Byerss first encounter with the law: According to Greenwich Time, in March he was charged with burglary, grand theft, and driving while intoxicated; and in 2016 he was arrested on unknown charges.

More of David A post shared by Michael Stokes (@stokes_photo) on Jun 13, 2015 at 3:42pm PDT

Theres also a report that Byers falsely presented himself as an ex-member of the U.S. Navy SEALs; however, Stokes, who photographs wounded soldiers, dismisses it as a rumor. According to David, his ex-girlfriend made that up, he tells Yahoo Style.

As for Byerss sudden fame, Stokes chalks up the attention to Byerss bad boy appeal. He has a look that makes women want to rehabilitate him, he tells Yahoo Style. Well, lets hope that happens!

Story continues

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Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website.

As House Republicans frantically seek support for legislation to replace the Affordable Care Act, the biggest sticking point is whether the bill fulfills one of the GOPs central pledges: preserving protections for people with pre-existing health problems.

More than a quarter of adult Americans under 65 have a pre-existing health issue, which includes everything from asthma and diabetes to heart disease and cancer, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Under current law, insurers cannot deny those or other sick people coverage or charge them more than healthy people. It's one of the ACA's most popular provisions.

President Donald Trump insists that the GOPs American Health Care Act makes good on that pledge, and House Speaker Paul Ryan says on his website that under no circumstance can people be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition.

Read More of Our Healthcare Coverage

But a recent amendment to the AHCA, authored by House Republican Tom MacArthur (shown above), from New Jersey, provides a loophole. It allows states to let insurers charge higher premiums to sicker people if their coverage has lapsed, and if the state has set up a so-called "high-risk pool," or special health insurance programs for sicker patients.

In a bid to garner more votes from moderate Republicans concerned about going back on their pledge to cover sick people, House Republicans said Wednesday they are discussing adding more funding for those high-risk pools.

But critics say that even with that extra cash those risk pools will be underfunded. And they point out that people with pre-existing conditions are especially likely to have gaps in insurance, because if they become too sick to work they may lose coverage through their employer, says Sara Collins, vice president of health care coverage and access at the Commonwealth Fund, a nonpartisan foundation that supports independent research on health and social issues.

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And while those people may technically still have access to insurance, in practice it may be out of their reach. "If you can charge sick people whatever you want, thats effectively denying people coverage, says Linda Blumberg, a senior fellow in the Health Policy Center at the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan health policy research group.

Growing Opposition

The possibility that states could return to pre-ACA days when insurers charged sick people exorbitantly high rates is dashing Republican hopes that they can muscle enough support to pass the AHCA before Congress goes on break for a week starting Thursday.

It has also outraged consumer advocates and health industry players.

This proposal clearly allows states to do away with protections for pre-existing conditions, letting insurers charge our most vulnerable populations more, said Betsy Imholz, director of special projects for Consumers Union, the policy and mobilization arm of Consumer Reports.

Consumers are already very worried about their ability to afford good quality medical care. In a recent nationally representative CR Consumer Voices Survey, 55 percent said theyre not sure they or their loved ones could afford insurance to get quality healthcare.

The American Medical Association, in a letter opposing the revised bill, warned that allowing insurers to charge much higher rates to sick people would make pre-existing condition protections illusory.

And a coalition of 10 patient advocacy organizations, including the American Heart Association and March of Dimes, said weakening the ACA rules would make insurance unaffordable for those who need it most.

Even late night talk show comedian Jimmy Kimmel spoke out against it, talking about his newborn sons recent open heart surgery and what life would have been like for him without the ACA. If you were born with congenital heart disease, like my son was, there was a good chance youd never be able to get health insurance because you had a pre-existing condition, Kimmel says.

Weaker Protections

The high-risk insurance pools that states could set up is an idea that's been tried, with poor results, critics say.

Before the ACA, 35 states offered insurance through high-risk pool plans to people likely to need costly care. Those high-risk plans were very expensive, offered limited coverage, and programs were underfunded in some states. As a result, there were waiting lists and no guarantee you could get coverage.

Blumberg, at the Urban Institute, says the $130 billion that Republicans would set aside to fund these programs through 2026 is inadequate. In a last-minute bid to win over more votes, GOP leaders said Wednesday they are hoping to add another $8 billion more over five years to help people with pre-existing conditions pay for costly insurance premiums.

But even that wouldn't be enough if most states opt for waivers, says Larry Levitt, senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation. He notes that 27 percent of Americans have pre-existing conditions that insurers won't cover. If most states apply for waivers, as Levitt expects, "that's not much money."

This amendment is like slapping a band-aid on a broken bone and expecting it to heal  its a drop in the bucket in terms of actually providing protections for the millions of people insurers consider to have pre-existing conditions," says Imholz.

The pre-existing condition waiver isnt the only aspect of the AHCA plan that puts people with pre-existing conditions at risk, says Collins at the Commonwealth Fund. The AHCA also calls for allowing states to waive a requirement that insurers cover 10 essential health benefits, including mental health and maternity care and prescription drugs.

Both of these provisions combined would completely negate any protections for people with pre-existing conditions, she says.







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Copyright  2006-2017 Consumer Reports, Inc.
Photo credit: Getty

From Delish

Shopping at Whole Foods is effectively like joining a cult. Once you start, it's nearly impossible to stop going there for literally all your needs - groceries, organic bath products, lunch and dinner when you can't handle cooking. You know you're paying entirely too much, but just being inside the store makes you feel all zen and somehow the cookies and baked goods in your cart seem like a much healthier option than a box of regular, supermarket brand cookies. Living your healthiest life walking down those aisles. But according to a new report, a different chain topped the list when it comes to America's favorite grocery store - and you might be slightly surprised.

Morning Consult Intelligence released their spring 2017 brand study, and it seems like Americans prefer shopping at Kroger over any other store. The chain claimed 53% favorability, leaving Whole Foods in the #2 spot at 48%.

Though it sounds surprising, because probably everyone you know shops at Whole Foods at this point, it's actually justifiable given that Kroger is one of the biggest grocery retailers in the US, and Whole Foods has had a whole share of problems lately, from food recalls, to shutting down kitchens thanks to FDA concerns, to even overcharging customers. Guess we see why Krogers reputation is on point RN.

Follow Delish on Instagram.

From Delish

Shopping at Whole Foods is effectively like joining a cult. Once you start, it's nearly impossible to stop going there for literally all your needs - groceries, organic bath products, lunch and dinner when you can't handle cooking. You know you're paying entirely too much, but just being inside the store makes you feel all zen and somehow the cookies and baked goods in your cart seem like a much healthier option than a box of regular, supermarket brand cookies. Living your healthiest life walking down those aisles. But according to a new report, a different chain topped the list when it comes to America's favorite grocery store - and you might be slightly surprised.

Story continues

Morning Consult Intelligence released their spring 2017 brand study, and it seems like Americans prefer shopping at Kroger over any other store. The chain claimed 53% favorability, leaving Whole Foods in the #2 spot at 48%.

Though it sounds surprising, because probably everyone you know shops at Whole Foods at this point, it's actually justifiable given that Kroger is one of the biggest grocery retailers in the US, and Whole Foods has had a whole share of problems lately, from food recalls, to shutting down kitchens thanks to FDA concerns, to even overcharging customers. Guess we see why Krogers reputation is on point RN.

Follow Delish on Instagram.

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Back-pain sufferers are admittedly desperate and willing to try anythingshoe inserts, devices that zap them with electric pulses, or braces to wrap around their lower back. And sales of back creams, patches, and wraps amounted to nearly $1 billion last year.

But many of these items are expensive, and research doesnt always show that they work, says Gerardo Miranda-Comas, M.D., an assistant professor of rehabilitation medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. And the American College of Physicians, in its new guidelines, finds good evidence only for heating pads. Here are some things to consider before you invest in over-the-counter products.

Worth a Try

Heating Pads, Wraps, and Bottles

They cause blood vessels to dilate, which can increase blood flow to tissue and ease pain.

Cost: ThermaCare Lower Back & Hip Heatwraps, which are disposable, cost about $7; the SoftHeat Pain Relief for Whole Body Wellness Wrap, which is reusable, runs about $20.

What experts say: A 2016 analysis in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine found that heat wraps increase muscle temperature and blood flow to tissue, says Alan Hilibrand, M.D., a spokesman for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and co-director of spine surgery at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

CRs take: Its worth trying one, but dont use it for more than 20 minutes at a time. Ive had patients who fall asleep with them on and as a result develop mild burns, Hilibrand says. Never put these products over creams or patches (see below). And note that a hot-water bottle works as well.

Creams and Patches

Rub-on creams that contain capsaicin (found in chili peppers) or methyl salicylate (oil of wintergreen) create a feeling of heat. Those with menthol cause a cooling sensation. Lidocaine-based products have a numbing effect.

Cost: An over-the-counter patch that contains menthol, like the Absorbine Jr. Pain Relief Back Patch, costs about $4. A product with 4 percent lidocaine, like the Lidocare Pain Relief Patch Back/Shoulder, is about $19.

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What experts say: Theres little research on OTC patches and creams, but prescription-strength versions of lidocaine and capsaicin products can help, research suggests.

CRs take: OTC lidocaine products are your best bet because theyre closest to the prescription versions, our experts say.

Short Term Only

Back Braces and Wraps

These wrap around your torso and try to duplicate the support you get from back and abdominal muscles.

Cost: A basic neoprene lumbar support belt can cost about $12, though some, such as the Bauerfeind Brace, can cost as much as $175.

What experts say: Some research shows that back supports can improve function for people with pain that has lasted one to three months. But over time they might weaken your stomach and back muscles, undermining your recovery.

CRs take: Use only for a few hours at a time, for a few days, soon after back pain starts. Theyre fine for a short period of timefor example, someone getting around a back strain who has to stand up to give a presentation, Hilibrand says.

Mostly Skippable

At-Home TENS Units

You can buy small battery-operated transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation devices, which emit gentle electrical pulses, that are similar to the devices used by some physical therapists and chiropractors.

Cost: The Aleve Direct Therapy TENS device costs about $50; the Quell wearable pain-relief device retails for $250.

What experts say: A small company-funded study of the Quell device published in the Journal of Pain Research found that 80 percent of users with chronic pain reported improved symptoms. But a review in the Journal of Pain Management concluded that there wasnt much evidence that even the more powerful devices used by healthcare professionals help much for back pain.

CRs take: The OTC devices may not provide enough electrical stimulation to really do anything, says Kush Goyal, M.D., a back-pain specialist at the Cleveland Clinic.

Insoles

These foot supports are meant to correct imbalances that can cause you to stand in ways that worsen back pain.

Cost: A simple OTC product such as Dr. Scholls Back Pain Relief Orthotics is about $14; the Protalus Model S retails for $80.

What experts say: The evidence is inconsistent about whether even prescription orthotics designed for your anatomy help much.

CRs take: They could help if your pain stems from a clear knee or foot problem, but dont expect too much.

More on Back Pain

Editor's Note: This article also appeared in the June 2017 issue of Consumer Reports magazine.

This article and related materials are made possible by a grant from the state Attorney General Consumer and Prescriber Education Grant Program, which is funded by the multistate settlement of consumer-fraud claims regarding the marketing of the prescription drug Neurontin (gabapentin).

Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website.





More from Consumer Reports:

Top pick tires for 2016

Best used cars for $25,000 and less

7 best mattresses for couples





Copyright  2006-2017 Consumer Reports, Inc.
WASHINGTON  House Republicans defied the odds and narrowly passed a controversial bill to repeal and replace Obamacare on Thursday afternoon, with House Speaker Paul Ryan urging his members to seize the moment and deliver on their long-held campaign promise even before members received an estimate of the bills effects from the Congressional Budget Office.

It took many late night meetings, last-minute amendments and old fashioned arm-twisting to push the bill through the House, but the American Health Care Act likely faces an even steeper and more treacherous climb in the staid and slow Senate.

Factions of both moderate and conservative GOP senators are deeply skeptical of the bill for entirely different reasons, making a path forward they can all agree upon difficult to imagine. The Republicans bare majority  just 52 votes  means they can only lose two senators and still push a repeal through. The chambers Democratic senators remain firmly unified against any repeal of Obamacare.

Even if Republican senators do find that path, they are unlikely to accede to House conservatives demands that they return the precariously negotiated legislation back to them virtually untouched. Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., a member of the Freedom Caucus, said Tuesday the Senate better not change the AHCA one iota, or risk losing support. But several Republican senators said Thursday they expected to write their own, improved bill after reviewing the House version.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. (Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

When the House passes a bill, Ill review it and then well go to work on the Senate bill, said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.

The Senate will have its own bill, I dont think this is the final product, Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said.

Several GOP senators also expressed concerns with the rushed process in the House, which voted on the revised bill less than 24 hours after posting it. Members also voted on the bill before receiving a new Congressional Budget Office estimate of its cost and effects. A previous score from the nonpartisan office estimated that 24 million people would lose insurance coverage under the original AHCA plan over 10 years. Several tweaks were made to win over support from the Freedom Caucus, the group of hardline conservative members who balked and refused to support that version of the bill.

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House Speaker Paul Ryan leaves a meeting at the Capitol before the vote to repeal Obamacare. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

The Senate will almost certainly consider the bill at a slower pace, with a vote on likely happening in July at the earliest  right before the bodys monthlong August recess.

Any bill thats been posted less than 24 hours, going to be debated three or four hours, and not scored needs to be viewed with suspicion, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Thursday morning.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she wanted to see a CBO score of the House version before starting work on a Senate bill.

Its very difficult for me to analyze the bill in the absence of a CBO score, Collins said.

The Senate couldnt skip the CBO score step even if it wanted to, since the Republican leadership is attempting to pass the sweeping health care changes through reconciliation  a process that takes just a bare majority instead of 60 votes to advance. Senate precedent requires a CBO score for any bill passed through reconciliation.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also seems poised to put up a fight over the reconciliation process, saying Wednesday on the Senate floor that portions of the bill very possibly violate the Byrd Rule, which prohibits bills that would significantly increase the federal deficit beyond a 10-year term from passing through reconciliation. Schumer argued that portions of the House bill dealing with preexisting conditions would increase the deficit.

Meanwhile, spokespeople for two Republican senators who had earlier expressed concerns that the AHCA cuts coverage for Medicaid recipients in their states say they still remained opposed. Kevin Smith, spokesman for Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said the senator has concerns that this bill does not do enough to protect Ohios Medicaid expansion population, especially those who are receiving treatment for heroin and prescription drug abuse. Ashley Berrang, spokeswoman for Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V., said the AHCA still does not address the concerns Sen. Capito has voiced throughout this debate. Berrang said Capito would work to improve the bill in the Senate.

Medicaid remains a huge stumbling block for the bill going forward. The CBO estimated that the previous version of the AHCA would cut Medicaid by $880 billion over 10 years. Republican senators in states that have expanded Medicaid under Obamacare could face blowback from their constituents if they back these cuts. But keeping Medicaid expansion would likely alienate more conservative Republicans who say the government cant afford the increased Medicaid and should repeal Obamacare altogether. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., for example, opposed the previous version of the AHCA and called for a clean repeal of Obamacare in March with a replacement to come at a later date. Paul and other Senate conservatives like Ted Cruz, R-Texas, remain wildcards going forward.

On Thursday, Paul told reporters he had fundamental problems with the AHCA because it directs taxpayer money to insurance companies. But the senator said he remained open to voting yes if the bill can be changed to be more conservative. If we can bring the bill in our direction Im still open-minded, Paul said.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a Stop Trumpcare rally in Washington on Thursday. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

When they send it over here, itll be a real big challenge on the Senate side as well, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., conceded to reporters on Tuesday.

Another potential sticking point: The AHCA cuts funds that go to Planned Parenthood, a change that both Collins and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, have objected to.

It remains unclear what the Senates version of repeal and replace will look like. Collins, a moderate, has introduced a bill that leaves the Medicaid expansion in place but offers states a financial incentive to states not to expand. Conservative senators have balked at it, however.

When asked by a reporter Thursday if there was any bill that both she and Sens. Cruz and Paul could agree on, Collins laughed.

You never know, she said.

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BEIRUT (Reuters) - An influential Iranian clerical body on Tuesday threw its support behind presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi, giving him a boost before the country's election on May 19. Raisi, a hard-line cleric who served for years on Iran's judiciary, is considered the main rival to President Hassan Rouhani, a pragmatist who is running for reelection. Four other candidates have also entered the race, including Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Vice President Ishaq Jahangiri. The clerical association, commonly referred to as Jame Modarresin in Farsi, is a group of seminary teachers from the holy city of Qom and has a number of high-profile hard-line clerics among its members. A statement posted on the group's website Tuesday said that extensive discussions had taken place and that Raisi was chosen as the "best candidate." Rouhani has pointed to the agreement signed with Western powers in 2015, which lifted a number of sanctions in exchange for curbs on the country's nuclear program, as his signature achievement. In particular, he says the deal gives Western companies an opening, which should improve the economy - a position that is anathema. Raisi, who is thought to be the candidate favored by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has blasted Rouhani's economic record in recent speeches and said that the country does not need foreign help. Khamenei, the highest authority in Iran, has also criticized the Rouhani government's economic performance and called for more attention to be paid to unemployment. About 3.2 million Iranians are jobless out of a total population of 80 million. Last year, Khamenei appointed Raisi as the head of a multi-billion dollar religious foundation, and some observers say Raisi is possibly being groomed as the next Supreme Leader. (Reporting By Babak Dehghanpisheh, editing by Larry King)
By Parisa Hafezi ANKARA (Reuters) - Iran's main pro-reform opposition leaders plan to speak out from their confinement under house arrest this month to publicly back President Hassan Rouhani for re-election, aides say, helping win over voters disillusioned with the slow pace of change. Rouhani was elected in a landslide in 2013 on promises to ease Iran's international isolation and open up society. He is standing for a second term against five other candidates, mostly prominent hardliners, on May 19, with a run-off a week later if no candidate wins more than 50 percent of votes cast in the first round. In his first term, Rouhani expended his political capital pushing through a landmark agreement with global powers to limit Iran's nuclear program in return for the lifting of international financial sanctions. But even his supporters acknowledge he has made comparatively little progress on his domestic agenda, after promising that Iranians should enjoy the same rights as other people around the world. Some reformist critics say he neglected the cause of curbing the powers of the security forces and rolling back restrictions that govern how Iranians dress, behave, speak and assemble. Nevertheless, Iran's two leading champions of the reform movement, former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi and former parliament speaker Mehdi Karoubi, will urge voters to back him, a spokesman said. "The two leaders, like in previous elections, will support the candidate backed by the pro-reform faction," said Ardeshir Amir-Arjomand, the Paris-based spokesman for the two men. Another source close to the opposition leaders said "Mousavi and Karoubi will announce their support for Rouhani a few days before the May 19 vote." Rouhani has already won the backing of former President Mohammad Khatami, considered the spiritual leader of the reformists, who declared his support on his website on Tuesday. Iranian newspapers and broadcasters are banned from publishing the former president's image or mentioning his name. Many reformist voters will look for guidance to Mousavi and Karoubi, who both stood for president in 2009 when opposition to the disputed victory of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad led to Iran's biggest mass demonstrations since its 1979 revolution. Both men have been held under house arrest for six years, although neither has been convicted of a crime. Their pronouncements from their confinement are eagerly followed by reformists online. Maryam Zare, a 19-year-old in Tehran who would be voting for president for the first time, said she would vote only if she heard a call to do so from Karoubi and Mousavi. "I will vote for whoever they support," she said. Others said they would back Rouhani, but only reluctantly. "He is part of the establishment. We have to vote for the lesser of evils," said music teacher Morad Behmanesh in the central city of Yazd. "What happened to Rouhani's promises of releasing the two opposition leaders from house arrest?" PRIORITIES Under Iran's governing system, the elected president's powers are limited, circumscribed by the authority of the supreme leader, a position held since 1989 by hardline cleric Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. During Rouhani's first term, the president won Khamenei's cautious backing for his nuclear deal. But persuading the leader to accept social change may be a more difficult task. Some of Rouhani's allies say he will now be able to make more progress on his domestic agenda if he wins a clear, fresh mandate for another four-year term, which would prove to the hardliners that the public wants change. "Iranians want to be free and live freely. They are not against the Islamic Republic. People will continue to fight for their rights," a senior official in Rouhani's government said on condition of anonymity. But international rights groups and activists in Iran say there were few, if any, moves to bring about greater political and social freedoms during Rouhani's first term. Dozens of activists, journalists, bloggers and artists were jailed on political grounds. Rouhani often suggests that he has no control over such arrests, carried out by the mostly hardline judiciary and the Revolutionary Guards, a powerful military force. "I have lost my hope over Rouhani's ability to reform the country. His main focus has been economy, not improving civil rights," said Reza, 28, a reformist who was jailed briefly after the 2009 election and asked that his surname not be published for security reasons. The president has had some success on promises to loosen Internet restrictions, but access to social media remains officially blocked, although Rouhani, Khamenei and other officials have their own Twitter accounts. Human Rights Watch said last year that Rouhani had failed to deliver on his promise of greater respect for civil and political rights. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists in 2015 said that more journalists were in jail in Iran than any country other than China and Egypt. The total number of political prisoners held in Iranian jails has not been disclosed. About a dozen people who also hold other nationalities have been jailed for what rights groups consider political offences. Whoever wins Irans presidential election should prioritize improving the countrys dismal human rights situation," said Louis Charbonneau, U.N. director at Human Rights Watch. "Iran has maintained the highest per capita execution rate in the world for years ... it put 530 people to death last year, many for drug offences and a number of them minors." Rouhani benefits because reformist voters have no other choice on the ballot, where candidates are vetted by a hardline body. Reformist voters will have to judge him in the context of what is possible under the system, said Saeed Leylaz, a prominent economist imprisoned under Ahmadinejad for criticising economic policy, who is now close to Rouhani's government. "Rouhani's failure to fully deliver his promises on social reforms will impact the vote ... but Iranians are well aware of his limitations and his achievements." (Writing by Parisa Hafezi; editing by Peter Graff)
Amid speculations that Melania Trump and step-daughter Ivanka Trump have frosty relationship, the latter  in her new book Women Who Work  praised the first lady and thanked her for the "support and friendship."

"Melania, you are an unbelievable mother with a heart of gold. You give generously of your time and attention and I appreciate your support and friendship," Ivanka wrote, according to CNN reporter Betsy Kleins tweet that had a photo of the books excerpts.

Read: Ivanka Trump Wooing Kalorama Neighbors With Baked Goodies

This isnt the first time President Donald Trumps eldest daughter praised the former model. Ivanka called Melania an "incredible stepmom" on the latters 47th birthday on April 26.

"Happy birthday to our First Lady (and my incredible step-mom!) Melania Trump," she wrote in post. "A wonderful example of kindness and grace for us all!"

Ivankas praises to Melania come after Vanity Fair reported last week, citing sources, at the two have a frosty relationship. However, a source close to Ivanka said the relationship between the two is "fine," while Melanias spokeswoman said: "Ivanka and Mrs. Trump have always shared a close relationship, and that continues today."

Speculations about Ivanka and Melanias frosty relationship are likely to have cropped after the 35-year-old was mostly seen by her fathers side throughout his presidential campaign. She also got an unpaid role in the White House. Melania, meanwhile, stayed back in New York City with her 11-year-old son Barron to complete his academic year. Recent reports said that she would be moving into the White House in June, when Barron will complete his school year in New York before possible transitioning to the Sidwell Friends School, which is the most common school used by presidents children during their time in office.

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Melania and Trump also were not present at Ivankas spring break trip to Aspen, Colorado, in March. However, a White House representative maintained that Melania and Ivanka share an amicable and close bond.

Melania is an unbelievable mother. Its pretty uncommon for wives of candidates to not be on the campaign trail every day. And she made a decision I totally respect, which is that she has a young son, he needs stability, he needs routine, Ivanka told People in July 2016 of Melania's decision to fly under the radar. My fathers traveling so frequently, and she is an unbelievably consistent, loving and reliable figure in Barrons life.

Ivanka also commended the first ladys work with charitable organizations and said: "Melania is very smart, shes very warm, shes got an incredible heart."

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Fatal shooting of the 37-year-old black man in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was caught on video and led to widespread protests

The US justice department has declined to bring charges against the white police officers involved in the 2016 fatal shooting of Alton Sterling, a black man in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, according to multiple reports.



The 37-year-old was killed last July after two officers wrestled him to the ground and opened fire from close range in an incident that caught on video by eyewitnesses. The case was referred quickly to federal civil rights investigators after calls from Sterlings family and unrest on the streets of Baton Rouge.

Sterlings death came the day before the fatal police shooting of Philando Castile, a black man in Minnesota, and the same week that five officers in Dallas, Texas, were gunned down in a targeted killing carried out during a protest to mark the deaths of the two men. The officer who shot dead Castile has since been charged with manslaughter.

Both the New York Times and the Washington Post quoted anonymous justice department officials confirming that no charges would brought in the Sterling case. The justice department did not respond to a request for confirmation.

L Chris Stewart and Justin Bamberg, attorneys for the Sterling family said they had not been informed by the department of any decision or announcement.

We have been promised that we will meet in person with DoJ before any announcement is made, the statement said.

Both attorneys also represent the family of 50-year-old Walter Scott, who was shot dead by a white police officer in North Charleston, South Carolina, in April 2015. Earlier on Tuesday, Michael Slager, the former officer responsible, pleaded guilty to violating Scotts civil rights at a federal court hearing and now faces up to life in prison.

If confirmed, the decision in the Sterling case will mark the first such announcement made by the justice department under the Trump administration and has already been interpreted by activists as a step backwards under new attorney general Jeff Sessions, a staunch supporter of law enforcement.

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There is no way to misinterpret the message that Jeff Sessions sent today: black lives do not matter, said Rashad Robinson, executive director of Color of Change, a racial justice activist group. There is no other way to read this decision from the Department of Justice, which issued no charges to the police officers who tased Alton Sterling, held him down on the ground, and shot him in the chest and back.

A black man who was selling CDs was summarily executed, and the attorney general sees nothing wrong with that.

Sessions has also pledged to review all of the departments court enforced agreements, or consent decrees, with local police departments, many of which were enforced after controversial police killings involving African American men.
Tehran (AFP) - At least 26 coal miners were trapped in a mile-long tunnel after an explosion in northern Iran on Wednesday, Iranian media said.

The mine in Golestan province collapsed when trapped methane gas exploded as workers tried to jump-start a locomotive engine, according to reports.

President Hassan Rouhani sent Minister of Labour and Welfare Ali Rabii to the site, ISNA News agency reported.

A provincial Red Crescent official, Shahin Fathi, rejected early figures of 80 miners trapped and said the number was 26 based on latest information.

He said there was no information on the condition of those inside adding that workers sent to hospital were among those who had rushed to help after the blast.

Some 25 miners were treated for gas poisoning and injuries, Fathi added.

A local official said the tunnels were filled with gas, making rescue work difficult.

"Work to remove the rubble and drilling for a side tunnel has begun to access the trapped workers in the Zemestan Yort mine," the official said.

Another official who did not want to be named told state news agency IRNA that several workers probably died in the blast, but there was no official casualty toll.

The mine has 500 workers and the explosion happened during a change of shift, state media said.

Emergency teams and sniffer dogs have been dispatched to the mine and work to remove the rubble has begun.
The internet is in a frenzy of wild rumours and speculation ahead of an "all-staff" meeting at Buckingham Palace.

The rumours appear to have begun when the Daily Mail published an article overnight stating the Queen had called her "entire household" to a "'highly unusual' emergency meeting."

SEE ALSO: This is how that wild 'Prince Philip dead' rumour started

Rumours swirled about potential reasons for the meeting being called; the death of Prince Philip, the death of Prince Charles, the death of the Queen's beloved corgis, to name but a few.

Here are some of the most outlandish rumours and speculation about the meeting.

Prince Philip is dead

Hours after the Mail's report, a website called Royal Central published an article stating that "French media" were "reporting Prince Philip has died at the age of 95", but didn't specify the source of the reports. People on Twitter were quick to point out that those "reports" didn't seem to exist.

lots of talk about "French media" reporting specifics re: the Buckingham Palace announcement, but nobody seems able to *find* those reports  Josh Butler (@JoshButler) May 4, 2017

According to a BBC report, Buckingham Palace has confirmed the meeting is not anything to be worried about and is "not about health of Queen or Prince Philip." Panic over.

Prince Charles is dead

A rumour that Prince Charles had passed away began when a woman tweeted she'd "overheard a man say Prince Charles might have passed away". Definitely sounds legit.

Being moved on from the palace by police. Overheard a man say Prince Charles might have passed away #BuckinghamPalace  Agnes Dolores (@AgnesDolores1) May 4, 2017

Someone's dead

People on Twitter were adamant that somebody in the Royal Family had passed away, and that the meeting was not about an abdication or pregnancy.

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#BuckinghamPalace

Logic...no one calls "emergency" meeting for abdication. Ditto marriage/pregnancy. Someone's dead.  Della Gates (@DellaGates_1237) May 4, 2017

A planned anouncement like abdication they wouldn't do it in the middle of the night, a @RoyalFamily memebr has died #buckinghampalace  Piers Morgan (@piers_J_morgan) May 4, 2017

The Royal Standard is flying at half mast

People began reporting that the Royal Standard flag was flying at half mast over Buckingham Palace.

A rumour that people on Twitter were keen to disprove.

It never flies at half mast dumplings https://t.co/pVcC8M9pYL  Lord McHaggis  (@Lordmchaggis) May 4, 2017

The Queen is abdicating the throne to Charles

As Brits awoke to the false reports of Royal deaths, the speculation took a turn for the comical. And, naturally, the rumours got wilder and funnier.

What if...and I'm just speculating here...what if!...she's adbicating the throne to Charles #BuckinghamPalace pic.twitter.com/tQbOpNxHbA  Jaime (@notjaime1) May 4, 2017

Britain is reclaiming America

Rumor has it the Buckingham palace meeting is about a plan to reclaim the American colonies#buckinghampalace  Joel Gelb (@JoelGelb) May 4, 2017

Britain is declaring war on France

I hope it's the Queen deciding she's fed up with the government, is seizing back power and we're going to war with France #BuckinghamPalace  Chris Willis (@chriswillis288) May 4, 2017

The Queen is passing the throne to Harry

The corgis are dead

The Royal Family is moving back to Germany because of Brexit

Buckingham Palace announcement speculation: Queen & her family moving back to Germany over Brexit.  Mark Bradley (@Taroaroa) May 4, 2017

Prince Harry is a wizard

Speculation rife that Harry has been told he's a wizard. #BuckinghamPalace  Jack Lattimore (@latts92) May 4, 2017

The Queen is knighting Prince Harry

Voldemort is back

@jk_rowling are the rumors true? Is he back? Is Voldemort back? #BuckinghamPalace  Alex Day (@alexday31193) May 4, 2017

The Ministry of Magic has fallen

I really hope it's not that the Ministry of Magic has fallen. I don't think I could take it right now. #BuckinghamPalace  meg (@whatupmegs) May 4, 2017

The Queen is announcing the first annual Hunger Games

If the queen is about to announce the first annual hunger games just know that I do not volunteer as tribute #BuckinghamPalace  Caity (@JusttCaity) May 4, 2017

The Queen is planning Donald Trump's assassination

Here's hoping that the meeting is about Prince Harry's wizarding career.
A U.S. Marine veteran and his Canadian girlfriend, who vanished in Belize a week ago before turning up dead Monday, were strangled.

That's the grim conclusion of autopsies performed on 36-year-old Atlanta man Drew DeVoursney and Francesca Matus, 52, of Toronto, whose bodies were found decomposing with duct tape around their wrists.

Read: Dramatic Video Shows Surfer Being Rescued 13 Miles from Shore: 'He Was Extremely Lucky'

Police in the Central American country said the bodies were in an advanced state of decomposition" when they were found  DeVoursney's piled atop Matus'  in a cane field.

The couple had last been seen leaving a bar in Corozal on April 25.

DeVoursney had been dating Matus for a few months and was expected to fly home to Georgia this week. The couple was reported missing when a friend of Matus' went to pick her up at her home last week.

DeVoursney's bicycle was found in Matus' driveway, but her vehicle was missing. That vehicle was later found in a cane field 10 miles from the bar where they were last seen, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

As the investigation into the crime continues, a friend of DeVoursney's and fellow Marine has made it his personal mission to help the veteran's family find peace.

"I met my best friend, Drew Devoursney, while serving in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004 with 1st Marines. After that, he went back for another tour in Iraq with 11th Marines. Then he served as a contractor in Afghanistan," wrote Brand Barfield in a GoFundMe that he started when the couple first went missing.

After learning the tragic news, Barfield wrote that he accompanied Devoursney's brother to Belize to retrieve the remains.

"David Devoursney and I are now in the town of Corozal, Belize, where the tragedy occurred," Barfield posted Tuesday. "We are gathering up his belongings and will meet with the police tomorrow to retrieve his things from Francesca's house.

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"As we were flying out this morning, we received a call saying the body might be cremated/buried before we land. The U.S. Embassy did intervene and asked for the Belizean authority to hold off on any decisions regarding the bodies without the families' consent. The Belizean authority did honor this request.

Watch: Teen Surfer Survives Shark Attack Despite Wearing Band Meant to Repel Them

"A funeral home now has both of Francesca and Drew's bodies. Due to the state of decomposition, we were not able to see the body and will not be able to bring the body home like we had anticipated. Drew's remains will be accompanying us home to Atlanta, where his mom and brother reside.

"We are, now, seeking to hire a private investigation firm to have a second look into his death because we want to truly exhaust all resources for Drew and his family. They deserve justice and peace."

Watch: This Marine Vet Is the First Ever Double Amputee to Become a Police Officer

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Megyn Kelly is already creating a stir ahead of the official June premiere of her new show for NBC News. Kelly is set to travel to Russia next month to moderate a panel at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which will take place June 1 to 3 and include Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Page Six reported Tuesday that the former Fox News personality officially started her new NBC role Monday. An unnamed source called the coming trip to Russia a great way for Megyn to get an inside track and land the big one-on-one interview with President Putin.

In a statement, an NBC spokesperson confirmed the news to the gossip site:

"Megyn Kelly of NBC News will moderate the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on stage with Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin. The conversation will cover a wide range of global political and economic topics, including international trade agreements, cyber-security and the impact of rising military tensions. The annual conference will take place from June 1 to 3, 2017. The exact time and date of the plenary session will be announced in the coming weeks.

Page Six initially reported the rumor April 11, adding that NBC News chairman Andy Lack was in Russia and attempting to orchestrate an interview with Putin for the network. At the time, Page Six speculated that the coveted interview would likely go to either Matt Lauer or Kelly.

Read: Why is Megyn Kelly leaving Fox News? Donald Trump's fierce critic defects to NBC News

At the time, a source told Page Six that it wasnt clear who would get to do the interview. News chiefs decide based on who would be best for the job, the source said. This isnt Megyns interview  yet.

A separate Page Six report Monday said Kelly had recently sat with the Kardashians for an interview. Sources also reported that Kelly was pursuing interviews with George and Amal Clooney, as well as Beyonce and Jay Z.

Kelly is slated for two regular shows on NBC News. Her Sunday evening program will begin in June, while her morning show  expected to knock out an hour of the Today timeslot  will premiere in the fall.

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Megyn Kelly

Photo: Reuters

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Melania Trump owns a closet full of fur clothing, but shes made a new style decision  and former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson may have something to do with it.

FLOTUS Melania Trump stopped wearing fur, possibly due to a gift from Pamela Anderson. (Photo: Getty Images)

She does not wear fur, Melanias spokesperson Stephanie Grisham wrote in an email to CNN on Wednesday. Coincidentally or not, the Baywatch actress tweeted a photo of a note from the first lady, thanking her for an eco-faux fur from Only Me, on the same day.

Dear Pamela, the handwritten letter on White House stationery read. I very much appreciate your sending the beautiful [faux fur]. I am grateful for your support and encouraging words; they mean a great deal. Together, we can empower more women to stand up for their beliefs.

Melania Trump in 2007. (Photo: Getty Images)

Anderson captioned the tweet, Dear Melania, Thank you for your sweet note. It is heartwarming to see you manage your position with such beauty and grace.

@flotus

Dear Melania,

Thank you for your sweet note.

It is heartwarming to see you

manage your position with such beauty and grace.

Pamela pic.twitter.com/h9mmdqxp0h  Pamela Anderson (@pamfoundation) May 3, 2017

According to CNN, after Trump wore a powder blue Ralph Lauren suit on Inauguration Day in January (the designer banned fur from his collections in 2006), Anderson, who works with the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), mailed the FLOTUS a faux lamb fur coat with a vegan belt. Anderson reportedly included a letter with the gift that said, I am so happy that you chose not to wear fur! As first lady, you will help set style trends, and by remaining compassionate with your choices, you will warm the hearts of many.

Trumps decision is surprising given her documented affinity for fur. In 2011, she attended the Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony in New York Citys Rockefeller Center wearing a black fur coat. That same year, she wore a black coat to the Comedy Central Roast of Donald Trump. And in 2007, Melania wore a black fur-lined coat with matching fur hat during New York Fashion Week.

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Melania Trump wears a black fur coat to the Comedy Central Roast of Donald Trump in 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes)

PETA Senior Vice President Dan Mathews sent the following statement to Yahoo Style, which read, Melania first attended a PETA fashion show years ago that featured one of her favorite designers, Marc Bouwer, a longtime PETA supporter who uses no fur, leather or exotic skins in his collections. More recently, Pamela Anderson sent elegant Melania a stylish faux fur, as well as a video showing how animals are cruelly killed in the wild and on fur farms, so its no surprise that she is now fur-free, following in the footsteps of so many fashion icons and First Ladies.

Yahoo Style could not reach Anderson for comment, however the actress has been a longtime animal activist. Shes an honorary director of PETA, having appeared in various advertisements and campaigns for the organization, and has received awards for her activism.

Read more from Yahoo Style + Beauty:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyle and @YahooBeauty.




Members of the US Congress are holding private conversations about whether Donald Trump should be removed from office, reports suggest.

After a difficult first 100 days that have seen the US President mired in a string of scandals and mishaps, senators and congressmen are said to be considering whether he will last a full term.

The New Yorker this week published a lengthy analysis of the two ways the Republican could be removed from office: either through impeachment by Congress or via the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution, which allows for a president to be removed if he is considered to be mentally unfit.

Read more

Hillary Clinton says she's now 'part of the resistance' against Trump

Evan Osnos, the author of the article, said he had been told that members of Congress were already holding conversations on the issue.

This is a conversation that people are having around the dinner table, its one people have at the office, members of Congress are talking about it in private and the question is very simple: is this a president who is able to do the job and is able to go the distance? he told MSNBCs The Last Word.

Watch The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell on Yahoo View.

This is a president who is beset by doubts of a completely different order of any president weve seen as long as weve been looking at this question.

The truth is that there are people having an active conversation about whether or not hell last.

Mr Osnos also claimed Mr Trump could cause a constitutional crisis if he chooses not to co-operate with congressional investigations into his alleged links with Russia  something he said some members of Congress expect to happen.

William Kristol, who worked as chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle under the presidency of George H W Bush, told the magazine there was a reasonable change of Mr Trump being removed.

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Its somewhere in the big middle ground between a 1 per cent [chance] and 50, he said. Its some per cent. Its not nothing."

The 25th Amendment, added in 1967, allows a president to be removed if they are deemed to be unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. That judgement can be made either by the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet, or by a separate body, such as a panel of medical experts, appointed by Congress.

If the president objects, a two-thirds majority in both chambers of Congress is needed to remove him or her.

I believe that invoking Section 4 of the 25th Amendment is no fantasy but an entirely plausible tool - not immediately, but well before 2020, Laurence Tribe, a prominent US law professor who works at Harvard University, told The New Yorker.
By Edward McAllister Brikama, GAMBIA (Reuters) - In his quest to reach Europe, 22-year old Gambian Mafu Hydara spent six days with little food or water crossing the Sahara before he reached the Libyan oasis town of Sabha. There, he says he was kidnapped and beaten by a smuggling gang to elicit a ransom from his family and frequently forced to work for no pay during his seven months in the town. Today, Hydara is back in his Gambian home town of Brikama, where he has no job and sleeps on a mattress on the floor of a sparse shack. Of the more than 300,000 migrants that crossed the desert and sea to Europe last year, thousands did not survive the treacherous journey and thousands more end up stranded in Libya or back in their countries, often without the small amounts of money they gathered to make their initial trip. For most of these returnees, the journey is thwarted in Libya, a country that - six years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi - is still a lawless state despite ongoing attempts by Western countries to stabilize and unify it under a single government. Numerous armed groups compete for land and resources, Islamist militants have a presence in parts of the country while large weapons and people-smuggling networks operate with impunity. Few places are worse than Sabha, a stop-off on the Saharan trade route for centuries and for most migrants the first town they see after emerging from the desert. Fighting late last year in the town between rival tribes involved tanks and mortars. Its streets are lined with burnt-out cars. Bullet holes fleck the buildings and residents routinely carry guns. Electricity and medical care are sporadic and there is no functioning police, according to migrants and regional security experts who have recently visited the town. SNIPER FIRE Interviews with half a dozen Gambian migrants who each spent months in the town in 2016 and 2017 paint a picture of Sabha, one of the last unpoliced parts of the journey where migrants are forced into hard labor, abducted, abused and sold in private deals from one smuggling group to another. Hydara had hoped Sabha - a rundown provincial capital of 200,000 people, surrounded by date palms and overlooked by a large colonial Italian fort - would offer a place to recuperate and earn money to continue his 4,000-mile journey north to Italy, where he planned to attend school. One morning in September, he went to Chat Place, a roundabout in central Sabha where migrants wait for odd jobs to make enough for the 500 dinar ($350) ride to the capital Tripoli on the coast. A day's work making cement bricks could fetch about 10 dinar, if the employer actually pays up, which they often do not, according to the migrants interviewed. People are often robbed walking there, they said, or forced to take shelter when they hear sniper fire from nearby buildings. Hydara got into a large black 4x4 truck with three migrants for what the driver said would be a day moving furniture. "They lock all the doors. They pull a gun threatening us that everyone who is trying to escape will be shot." BEATEN WITH BATONS Two local gangsters drove Hydara to a fenced-off house in town. They roped his hands to the ceiling of a tiny room and called his uncle to demand 30,000 Gambian dalasi, the equivalent of $650, for his release. They had agents all over West Africa to receive cash payments, they said. "They said 'If you don't pay, we will kill your nephew'," Hydara recalled. He was beaten on the back with batons while his uncle listened to the screams on the other end of the line. A few days later, his uncle paid the money to an agent in Dakar, Senegal, and Hydara was released. Reuters could not independently verify Hydara's account. But the other people interviewed said they knew of migrants who had been kidnapped for ransom or sold from one smuggler to another. Colonel Khaled al-Azhari, the head of the department for countering illegal migration in Libya's southern region, told Reuters that Libya needed "urgent support" to patrol its borders to stop migrants coming from Niger to the south. He denied that migrants were beaten or sold by smuggling gangs, or held for ransoms. "The migrants say this because they want to get asylum from European countries," he said. But he nonetheless added that police were unable to stop powerful smuggling networks with the little resources they have. Libya, via Niger, is the only viable passage left to Europe for West African migrants after other routes through the Canary Islands, Algeria and Morocco were shut down by increased border patrols in recent years. Nearly 300,000 migrants crossed the desert from Niger to Libya between February and December last year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said last month, with the vast majority ending up in Sabha. "The migrants leave from Niger into a black hole," Giuseppe Loprete, the IOM's mission chief in Niger, told Reuters. Hydara was flown back to Gambia from Tripoli last month by the IOM with 170 other migrants after ending up in a U.N. refugee camp. In a program mainly funded by European countries, the IOM aims to fly up to 10,000 migrants back to their home countries from Libya this year. It says the voluntary repatriation scheme is meant to offer a way out to those stuck in Libya without money, work, or a means to move on. Fourteen months after leaving with some fruit, a change of clothes and about $1,000 in cash, he found himself back in his family's basic home in Brikama in western Gambia. "The journey was hell, but I never regretted it," he said. "I just want to get a better job and pursue my education in Europe. I cannot do it here." (Additional reporting by Ahmed Elumami in Tripoli; Editing by Pravin Char)
On September 4, 1991, Warren Buffett sat before members of Congress and apologized.

My job is to deal with both the past and the future, Buffett told a House subcommittee.

The past actions of Salomon are presently causing our 8,000 employees and their families to bear a stain. Virtually all of these employees are hardworking, able and honest.

Buffett was not apologizing on behalf of actions taken by himself, but those taken by members of investment bank Salomon Brothers, a New York-based firm that had been caught rigging Treasury bids.

Buffett, who joined the firms board of directors in 1987, was named chairman and CEO of Salomon Brothers in 1991 after John Gutfreund resigned. And Buffetts most famous words from his prepared remarks came with his kicker.

If [the employees of Salomon Brothers] follow this test, they need not fear my other message to them, Buffett said. Lose money for the firm, and I will be understanding; lose a shred of reputation for the firm, and I will be ruthless.

Warren who?

On Saturday, thousands will gather in Omaha, Nebraska for the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting.

Buffett and Berkshires vice chairman, Charlie Munger, will hold court inside the CHI Health Center Omaha  an 18,000 seat arena in downtown Omaha  to field questions from shareholders, analysts, and the media.

Yahoo Finance will host a livestream of the event, which will be seen by millions around the world. Buffett, now 88, is perhaps the most famous investor in the world. He is definitely the wealthiest.

But when Buffett sat down before lawmakers in 1991, he was well-known in investing circles but more-or-less anonymous to most Americans. Because while Wall Street attained some cultural cache in the 1980s  books were written, movies made, criminals jailed, and a market crash caught the publics attention during the decade  finance as a dominant theme (perhaps the dominant) of American capitalism had not yet flourished.

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Washington DC. Sept. 4, 1991: Warren Buffet testifies before The House subcommittee on the Salomon brothers scandal. (Mark Reinstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

When Buffett was called before the House, shows like Shark Tank and Billions were still decades off. And while Michael Lewis Liars Poker had been published and Michael Douglas had won an Oscar for his portrayal of Gordon Gekko in Wall Street, it wasnt yet cool or sexy or a widespread aspiration to be an investor, an entrepreneur, to attach yourself to an idea or a portfolio of ideas and offer to the world, before anything else, something like your intelligence.

Before all of this, there was Warren Buffett.

Having a good reputation is really helpful in life

On August 18, 1991, the Treasury Department banned Salomon Brothers from bidding at Treasury auctions.

In the end, the Treasury slightly modified the order, allowing Salomon to bid on behalf of clients, but only after Buffetts personal plea to then Treasury Secretary Nick Brady.

Nick Brady went with Warren because he trusted him, said Munger in the recent HBO documentary Becoming Warren Buffett.

It shows how having a good reputation is really helpful in life.

Carol Loomis, long-time Fortune reporter and friend of Buffetts, wrote in a 1997 article that Buffett called the day, the most important day of my life.

It was a huge turning point for Warren, Loomis said in the documentary. And he believed that at that particular point, his reputation was on the line.

And while Buffetts actions in the summer and fall of 1991 may have saved Salomon Brothers from collapse, Buffetts time at the firm was not all smooth sailing.

Viewing Salomon as a long-term owner, writes Roger Lowenstein in his biography Buffett, Buffett saw a picture that was anything but pretty. Its assets had ballooned, yet its return on capital had vastly diminished Buffett was convinced that the problem was rooted in Salomons extravagant bonuses.

In response to this, Buffett took an axe to Salomons bonus pool for the year-end 1991, taking $110 million off the total package for the firm despite profits increasing from 1990. Bonuses were slashed for some 70% of the firms managers, and investment banking bonuses were cut by 25%, according to Lowenstein. Two-hundred and eighty people were laid off from the firm.

Quite quickly sentiment toward Buffett soured, Lowenstein writes. As one analyst told Lowenstein, Some of us who have been [at Salomon Brothers] a long time felt a certain affection  a strong one  for John Gutfreund. Warren was a savior. You know how you feel about saviors. You love em but you also resent them.

John H. Gutfreund arrives for an emergency board meeting at Salomon Brothers offices in downtown Manhattan early Sunday, Aug. 18, 1991. (AP Images)

In his 1992 letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, Buffett made but a passing reference to a period he called The Salomon Interlude.

Last June, I stepped down as Interim Chairman of Salomon Inc after ten months in the job, Buffett wrote.

You can tell from Berkshires 1991-92 results that the company didnt miss me while I was gone. But the reverse isnt true: I missed Berkshire and am delighted to be back full-time. There is no job in the world that is more fun than running Berkshire and I count myself lucky to be where I am.

Rarely at a loss for words, Buffetts brevity on his time at Salomon speaks volumes about how hard the experience was. Or as Buffett wrote, The Salomon post, though far from fun, was interesting and worthwhile.

The dream that honesty is rewarded

In her Buffett biography The Snowball, Alice Schroeder writes that, Buffetts testimony in Congress as the reformer and savior of Salomon had turned him from a rich investor into a hero.

The success of his open and principled approach to a scandal touched the yearning for nobility in many peoples hearts: the dream that honest is rewarded; that the besmirched can be redeemed through honor.

Buffett, in this moment, first embodied the American ideal that hard, honest work will be rewarded. This is the legend that lives on today. And Schroeder also captures how the Buffett we know today came of age  in his early 60s  in the years after the Salomon debacle.

When Buffett walked into a room, the electricity was palpable, Schroeder writes. In his presence people felt brushed by greatness. They wanted to touch him. They became dumbstruck before him, or babbled inane remarks.

This weekend, Buffett and Munger will hold court and answer questions. Many of these questions will be posed by journalists  including Loomis  and analysts, people unlikely to be intimidated by Buffetts success or riches.

But a number of questions will also be asked by shareholders, Buffett disciples that feed the electric current which will no doubt run through Omaha on Saturday. The shareholders perpetuate the myth of Buffett as a small-town investor who does things the right way.

Of course Buffett, then and now, is not without his detractors. And the myth that Buffett is merely a small-town stock-picker is just that. But when the public gets ahold of your story arc, few developments will derail the narrative. Buffetts first major foray into the public eye back in 1991, is its creation story.

NOTE: A version of this story was originally published on May 4, 2017.



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Caracas (AFP) - A student leader was shot dead as protests raged on in the streets of Venezuela Thursday in the latest spasm of anger aimed at removing President Nicolas Maduro from power.

Crowds of students clashed with riot police firing tear gas in the mounting crisis in this oil-rich country saddled with shortages of food, medicine and other basics.

The leftist Maduro's opponents accuse him of trying to strengthen his grip on power and delay elections by launching legal proceedings to overhaul the constitution.

The latest toll provided by prosecutors on Thursday said 35 people have been killed in just over a month of protests against Maduro, whose opponents blame him for Venezuela's dire economic mess.

News of the latest deaths -- up from a toll of 33 earlier Thursday -- came as organizers announced a women's march for Saturday.

Protesters at the women's rally, to take place in downtown Caracas, were urged to wear white, a traditional show of defiance against what organizers have branded a repressive government.

- Students clash with cops -

The student leader killed Thursday was at a meeting in the northern state of Anzoategui when "one of those present approached him and shot him several times before fleeing on a motorbike," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

It did not say whether the killing was directly linked to the protests. But it came amid high tension as students pushed on with a wave of street rallies.

Crowds of them marched in Caracas, some clashing with riot police who blocked their way and fired tear gas.

Hooded youths responded by throwing Molotov cocktails and stones.

The prosecutors said a policeman died from a gunshot wound during a protest Wednesday in the western city of Carabobo.

In the northern industrial city of Valencia, protesters looted stores, set fire to cars and clashed with police Thursday night. At least five people were injured, one of them seriously, news reports said.

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The reports said people in Valencia had begun hoarding basic foodstuffs and barricading housing developments to keep looters out.

The local chamber of commerce said at least 70 stores have been raided since Tuesday.

- Capriles on 'violence' -

The opposition wants a vote on removing Maduro from office. His term ends in early 2019.

The president, elected in 2013, says the crisis is a US-backed capitalist conspiracy.

The opposition and government have accused each other of fomenting violence.

"I don't know how long the protests are going to last," senior opposition leader Henrique Capriles told AFP in an interview.

"If we were being violent, if we were not being democratic, we would already have toppled the government."

- Constitution, elections -

In his latest crisis maneuver, Maduro on Wednesday launched procedures at the electoral council to elect a "constituent assembly" to draft a new constitution.

"This is the path of peace and reconciliation for Venezuela," he said on television on Thursday.

"It is a complex battle, but no one will take our homeland from us."

Private polls indicate that more than 70 percent of those interviewed do not support Maduro.

He said the constitutional reform body would not include political parties with seats in the opposition-controlled National Assembly, but representatives of social groups traditionally loyal to him.

Maduro's center-right opponents and some international powers said the move is an attempt to dodge local elections this year and a presidential poll set for late 2018.

"Since the government cannot win elections, it wants to dismantle the system for holding them," Capriles told AFP.

- Attorney General breaks ranks -

Attorney General Luisa Ortega broke ranks with the government over the political crisis.

She told the Wall Street Journal that the government should ensure people's right to demonstrate freely, without arbitrary arrests.

"We can't demand peaceful and legal behavior from citizens if the state takes decisions not in accordance with the law," the Journal quoted her as saying on Wednesday.

Venezuela has seen three attempted military coups since 1992.

The current unrest has come close to matching that of 2014, when clashes killed 43 people.

Despite the country's chaos, Maduro retains the military's public backing -- one thing that analysts say could yet tip the balance against him.

"What happens if the National Guard (military police) says they are not going to continue the repression?" Capriles said.

"Will Maduro's position be sustainable?"
Maputo (AFP) - Mozambique's opposition leader Afonso Dhlakama on Thursday indefinitely extended a unilateral truce he first announced in December, calling it the "beginning of the end" of the war between his rebels and the government.

"Today I announce an indefinite truce. It is not the end of the war, but it is the beginning of the end," Dhlakama, whose Renamo party is the main opposition in the country, told journalists.

"This is great news for the people of Mozambique," he said, speaking from his hideout in central Mozambique at a news briefing transmitted to the media assembled at Renamo headquarters in the capital Maputo.

Dhlakama had retreated in October 2015 to the central Gorongosa mountain range with 800 former fighters demanding a greater share of power.

His former rebel fighters -- who waged a bloody 1976-1992 civil war that claimed one million lives -- took up arms again in 2013 against the ruling Frelimo party, accusing its leaders of enriching themselves at the expense of the southern African country.

The fighting had often focused on the country's main roads, with Renamo attacking government convoys and civilian vehicles, and soldiers accused of ruthlessly targeting suspected rebels in nearby villagers.

The violence sent thousands of people fleeing to government-run camps, relatives' homes or across the border to Malawi and Zimbabwe.

Dhlakama first declared a ceasefire in December, and renewed it twice for two months in January and in March to allow time for peace negotiations with the government.

In February President Filipe Nyusi announced a new round of peace talks, but minus the international mediators who had previously been involved in the process in 2016.

The European Union delegation (EU) in Maputo, which has been part of the mediation, said Thursday's announcement was a "very welcome development" which "helps to create an environment conducive to the continuation of negotiations."

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The government did not immediately react to the news.

Apart from a few isolated incidents, the truce has generally held since Christmas Eve.

- 'No more shooting' -

Dhlakama on Thursday admitted there was "no political agreement yet" to mark the end of the war but stressed the importance of the truce.

"An open-ended truce means that there is no more shooting, that people can move freely, that investors -- if still scared -- can return," he said.

He was optimistic that the government would soon pull out its troops from the centre of the country where they had been deployed.

"Government is committed to the complete withdrawal from all its military positions in Gorongosa region," he said, adding that by June all government soldiers would have returned to their base camps.

Dhlakama however did not say when he would return from his hideout.

"I would like to be able to go out next week but I have to guarantee my safety," he said.

The Renamo leader in 2015 accused the government of two attempts to assassinate him, including an attack on his convoy in which 24 people died.

"If everything goes well, soon we will be together on the streets of Maputo, to prepare for the elections, "he added.

Mozambique holds local government elections next year and presidential polls in 2019.

Renamo and the government had previously signed a ceasefire on the eve of the October 2014 general elections.

But then Renamo refused to accept the results of the poll when it was beaten once again at the ballot box by Frelimo, the ex-Marxist party, which has been in power since the former Portuguese colony's independence 40 years ago.

Renamo spokesman Antonio Muchanga, said the latest truce would help speed up the negotiations towards a definitive end of the conflict, expressing the hope that "by the end of this year everything will be resolved".

Mozambique ranks the eight poorest countries in the world.
Seoul (AFP) - North Korea on Wednesday confirmed the arrest of a US professor for trying to "overturn" the regime, as tensions spike between the isolated nuclear-armed nation and Washington.

Kim Sang-Duk, or Tony Kim, became the third American held in the North when he was detained at the capital's airport on April 22 as he tried to leave the country, after teaching for several weeks at an elite university.

In the North's first confirmation of the professor's detention, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said he had been held for "committing criminal acts of hostility aimed to overturn the DPRK", using an abbreviation for the country's official name.

It added that Kim was "under detention by a relevant law enforcement body which is conducting detailed investigation into his crimes".

The confirmation of Kim's detention comes as Pyongyang issues increasingly belligerent rhetoric in a tense stand off with the administration of new US President Donald Trump over its rogue weapons programme.

Kim had been teaching accounting at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST), which said last month that the professor had been held.

The school -- founded by evangelical Christians from overseas and opened in 2010 -- is known to have a number of American faculty members and pupils are generally children from the country's elite.

In a statement in late April the university said the arrest was "not connected in any way with the work of PUST".

It added that the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang -- which handles issues involving US citizens as Washington has no diplomatic ties with the North -- was "actively involved" in talks.

Kim is a former professor at Yanbian University of Science and Technology in China, close to the Korean border. Its website lists his speciality as accounting.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency has given Kim's age as 55 and said he had been involved in relief activities for children in rural parts of North Korea. It cited a source familiar with the matter who described Kim as a "religiously devoted man".

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Two other US citizens -- college student Otto Warmbier and Korean-American pastor Kim Dong-Chul -- are currently being held in the North after being sentenced to long prison terms.

The pastor was sentenced last year to 10 years of hard labour for spying. Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years in 2016 for stealing a propaganda material and for "crimes against the state".

North Korea has arrested and jailed several US citizens in the past decade, often releasing them only after high-profile visits by current or former US officials or former US presidents.

Pyongyang, which has conducted a string of nuclear tests and missile launches, warned Monday that it was prepared to carry out another atomic test "at any time and at any location" set by its leadership unless Washington scraps its hostile policies.

Trump has suggested military action could be on the table in the past but on Monday seemed to soften his message, saying he would be "honored" to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un under the right conditions.
LIMA (Reuters) - A meeting of Organization of American States (OAS) members expected later this month could result in a joint position and "change the situation" in crisis-stricken Venezuela, Peru's Foreign Minister Ricardo Luna said on Wednesday. In televised comments, Luna said the planned meeting of 19 foreign ministers of OAS countries, first proposed late last month, would take place the third week of May, likely on the 21st or 22nd, in order to make sure "all the countries can participate." "I think the foreign ministers' meeting that week -- we don't know if it will be the 21st or 22nd -- will in some way establish a position and possibly a mechanism that changes the situation," Luna told journalists, referring to the situation in Venezuela. The Washington-based OAS floated the idea of a foreign ministers' meeting last week, prompting Venezuela to announce plans to withdraw from the organization. OAS chief Luis Almagro had earlier threatened to kick Venezuela out of the body if it did not swiftly hold general elections amid an economic crisis. At the time, Venezuela said its decision to withdraw from the OAS was a response to a U.S.-backed campaign to trample on its sovereignty. The socialist government has grown more diplomatically isolated in Latin America as the region has shifted to the right in recent years. At least 34 people have been killed and hundreds injured since unrest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro began in early April. Thousands marched on Wednesday against Maduro's plans to create an alternative "popular congress," which opponents see as a ruse to dodge elections and cling to power. Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, a former Wall Street investment banker who took office last year, has been one of the region's more vocal critics of Maduro, and Peru recalled its ambassador to Venezuela in late March. On Wednesday, Luna said Maduro's attempt to change the constitution was an effort to stifle the opposition. "It's a rule change that everyone, and above all the opposition, classifies as arbitrary and authoritarian, a type of coup-within-a-coup," Luna said. "The situation in Venezuela has intensified, there is an incessant polarization that is worrisome for other country's in the region." (Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Luc Cohen; editing by Diane Craft)
Former President Barack Obama at a community event on the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago on Wednesday. (Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski/Reuters)

This weekend, the John F. Kennedy library will present its annual Profile in Courage Award to Barack Obama. Which is slightly awkward, since a bunch of influential liberals have voiced doubt in recent days about what the library calls Obamas enduring commitment to democratic ideals.

Specifically, leaders of the Democratic Partys populist uprising  most notably the Senates chief scolds, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders  are displeased that Obama is taking $400,000 from the Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald for a speech about health care. The New York Times editorial board called Obamas decision disheartening and jarring.

Obama, after all, was supposed to be spending his post-presidency doing community organizing or speaking out against poverty, or some other vaguely inspirational thing like that. Cashing in is what Clintons do.

Personally, I dont really care if Obama jaws for dollars. I cant imagine why he needs the money, since the Obamas are reported to be getting north of $60 million just to write a couple of books, but hey, he served his country admirably, and hes probably got his eye on some pricey property in Palm Springs, so thats up to him.

No, my issue with Obama is that he wont push back against the class baiting and anti-globalism in his own party at the same time. Go ahead and take the Wall Street money if you want, but at least make the case that underlies it.

Its tricky to navigate, this business of being an ex-president. We now have five formers running around out there like characters from Night at the Museum, and three of them left office well before their 60th birthday. Its not an easy thing to figure out how to exist meaningfully in the world for a quarter century or more after youve already reached historys pinnacle, all the while trying to uphold your lifestyle, enhance your legacy and stay out of your successors way.

The youngest ex-president in history, Teddy Roosevelt, was 50 when he left office, and four years later, after a brief disappearance to Africa, he was running for the office again. (He died at 60.) Harry Truman, who left the White House at 68, lived off a meager Army pension and some cobbled-together money from book sales and land deals; its because of him that presidents now get lifetime stipends and funding for their libraries.

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If theres one theme that seems to run through most modern post-presidencies, though, its a kind of atonement, or at least an acknowledgment of regret. Jimmy Carter started this, really, transforming himself into a tireless elder statesman after having feebly presided over an economic and global unraveling.

Bill Clinton has spent most of the last 16 years plunging into health crises around the world, trying frantically to outrun the tawdriness of his second term and his inaction in the face of genocide. George W. Bush quietly paints portraits of soldiers, as if to exorcise the ghosts of Iraq.

Obama isnt really the type to spend a lot of time indulging what-ifs, and his essential failure as president is harder to pinpoint. You could say his legacy is marred by not having managed to elect his chosen successor, but really, he didnt have a whole lot to do with that.

You could argue, credibly, that Obama left the world less stable than he found it, or the economy more bifurcated. But here he confronted larger currents that were hard, if not impossible, for any administration to divert. Historians wont punish him for coming up short.

What history will remember with less magnanimity, I think, is the rise of reactionary, partisan ideologies that flourished under Obamas watch. He came to power promising to turn the generational page on the boomers hardened divisions and stale arguments, but somehow he left us a country that was more fractured, more frightened and more backward-looking than he found it.

This is obviously most pronounced on the conservative side, where a dark, xenophobic strain of populist fury expanded its hold during the Obama years, waiting to be exploited by a consummate opportunist like Donald Trump.

But the anti-globalism tremor isnt strictly a conservative phenomenon. Although liberals wouldnt like to see it this way, their own populist revolt  which took hold after the economic collapse of 2008 and is now personified by the oldsters Warren and Sanders  overlaps with Trumpism in significant ways.

The resurgent left, too, reflexively castigates financiers and free trade, offering up the well-worn and simplistic idea that taxes and tariffs  along with yet more federal spending  will somehow take the economy back to its industrial apex.

Obama knows better. He fought valiantly for his Trans-Pacific Partnership, a major gambit to establish Americas economic dominance in Asia. (The populist left applauded Trump when he pulled the plug on that.) Behind the scenes, Obama sought a comprehensive budget deal that would have slowed the growth of government programs and reduced deficits.

Obama successfully pushed to rein in the excesses of Wall Street, but he resisted calls for putative measures like breaking up banks, which is probably why he raised more money from the financial sector than any other presidential candidate in history.

And yet, rather than openly confront the reactionary movement in his own party, Obama repeatedly tried to co-opt it. He murmured insincere indictments of the fat cats on Wall Street and ran a reelection campaign that sometimes seemed only about raising taxes on the rich  a manifestly worthy idea, but hardly the basis for an economic policy.

When Warren and her compatriots tried to kill the Asian trade pact in 2015, Obama responded cautiously. Elizabeth is, you know, a politician like everybody else, he told me in an interview then, but after that brief skirmish, he backed off. When Sanders ran for president on an anti-trade, anti-finance platform, Obama maintained his public neutrality.

What you can see now, though, stepping back from it all, is that Obamas inherent reticence emboldened a wave of retro politics in his own party, the effects of which may not be fully realized until 2020. Its increasingly a populist party, arrayed against Obamas globalist vision, organized around social justice on one hand and economic vengeance on the other.

So if Obamas going to take heaps of Wall Street money now, he should also take the opportunity this weekend to do what no other leader in the party seems to have the spine or the standing to do, which is to lay out the alternative to populist rage. He should remind liberals that capital isnt inherently corrupt, that you expand new industries only by expanding markets, that you cant very well claim to care about poor people and then oppose the very policies that create middle classes all over the globe.

If Obamas goal is to get even wealthier than he already is, then he should advance the out-of-fashion idea that wealth in itself isnt the enemy of progress. Nostalgia and demagoguery are.

That would be a true profile in courage, even if half the audience didnt applaud.

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Read more from Yahoo News:
WASHINGTON  Former President Barack Obama formally endorsed centrist Emmanuel Macron to be Frances next president in a video released Thursday, days before voters choose between him and far-right rival Marine Le Pen in a high-stakes weekend contest.

I want all of my friends in France to know how much I am rooting for your success. Because of how important this election is, I also want you to know that I am supporting Emmanuel Macron to lead you forward, Obama said in English, before adding En marche! Vive la France! in French. En Marche (roughly On the Move! or Lets Go!) is the name of Macrons year-old political party.

This news comes two weeks after President Trump left no doubt that he preferred to see Le Pen win on Sunday, calling her the strongest candidate on immigration and terrorism.

Le Pen, who recently stepped down as leader of the National Front Party, has called the election a clash between patriots and globalists and suggested a referendum on Frances European Union membership. In a debate with Macron on Wednesday night, she declared that no matter the outcome this weekend, France will be led by a woman, either me or Madame Merkel, a reference to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Without ever naming Le Pen, Obama alluded to tensions that have shaped Frances election, repeatedly referring to the values at stake.

Im not planning to get involved in many elections now that I dont have to run for office again, he said. But the French election is very important to the future of France and the values that we care so much about, because the success of France matters to the entire world.

Macron has stood up for liberal values, Obama said. He put forward a vision for the important role that France plays in Europe and around the world. And he is committed to a better future for the French people. He appeals to peoples hopes and not their fears.

Barack Obama and French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron.

It was the second time Obama appeared in a message on Macrons behalf. A few weeks ago, the candidate posted a video of Obama advising him by telephone to campaign relentlessly up until the final hours and wishing him good luck. A spokesman for the former president declined to say at the time whether Obama knew that the telephone call would be used by Macron in a political ad, but dryly noted that the video was unusual. The spokesman, Kevin Lewis, also had said that an endorsement was not the purpose of the call, as President Obama is not making any formal endorsement in advance of the runoff election on Sunday.

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Yahoo News reached out to Lewis about the new video.

Obama had also waded into Britains debate about whether or not to vote to leave the European Union, warning that doing so would hurt relations with the United States, only to have British voters endorse Brexit. For his part, Trump proclaimed himself Mr. Brexit after the vote.

The video emerged a day after a top strategist for former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, Tad Devine, urged French voters to support Macron over Le Pen.

Read more from Yahoo News:
Former president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama revealed the conceptual designs of the eagerly awaited Obama Presidential Center in Chicagos historic Jackson Park Wednesday while speaking about the project at the South Shore Cultural Center in Chicago, Illinois.

Obama said that despite a bidding competition regarding the centers location, his vote had always been for the University of Chicagos push for a South Side location.

Although we had a formal bidding process to determine where the presidential library was going to be, the fact of the matter was it had to be right here on the South Side of Chicago, Obama said during the unveiling of the plans in Chicago.

This event the former first couples first joint appearance after Obama left office in January. They traveled to Chicago to hold a forum about the plans and discussed how the plans will be executed for the presidential center campus. The museum is expected to be completed by 2021. It has been designed by husband-and-wife architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien and is estimated to cost $500 million.

The construction of the Obama presidential library will be paid through private donations and its maintenance is funded by American taxpayers, like the nations 13 other presidential libraries.

Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, a public plaza in the city park will surround the entire area that constitutes the center, which will include three buildings  a museum, forum and library on Chicagos South Side.

According to the Obama Foundations plans, the museum is expected to be the tallest among the three buildings and it will hold public spaces, exhibition space, offices and education and meeting rooms.

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Photo: Getty Images

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The library and forum buildings will be used for study and foundation programming. Obama also mentioned that his foundation, which is in-charge of the entire project, is also trying to locate a Chicago Public Library branch on the site.

"If you ask a lot of people outside of Chicago, about Chicago, what's the first thing they talk about? They talk about the violence," Obama said at the forum where revealed the plans.

"Jackson Park feels different than Lincoln Park or Millennium Park," added Obama, as he referred to the downtown and North Side parks in more affluent areas of Chicago. "It's not as good as it could be, he said.

The former presidents plan shows the museum anchoring the northern end of the plaza on the estimated total 200,000 to 225,000 square feet campus of the presidential center. The roofs of the forum and library buildings will be covered with plants in order create new park land. Obama also expects to build a sledding hill to the park, which has been a dream for him and his wife since she grew up on the South Side.

"It incorporates the best of the outdoors and the best of the indoors," said Louise McCurry, president of the Jackson Park Advisory Council. "There's lots of green space, lots of grass and room for kids to run and to play."

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Photo: Getty Images

Obama envisioned the presidential center to become a hub for young people to learn music and films, get trained in leadership so that they can make a difference.

"What we want this to be is the world premiere institution for training young people in leadership to (help them) make a difference in their communities, in their country and in their world, he said.

"It's not just a building. It's not just a park. Hopefully it's a hub where all of us can see a brighter future for the South Side," he told the audience at the South Shore Cultural Center.

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Manila (AFP) - Philippine Environment Secretary Regina Lopez was sacked on Wednesday when lawmakers rejected her appointment, in a big victory for the mining industry which she had accused of corruption and abuse.

Lopez sent shockwaves through the industry during her 10 months as environment chief, seeking to shut down roughly two-thirds of the nation's existing mines and banning any new open-pit operations.

However, despite public support from President Rodrigo Duterte who had threatened to shut down the mining industry completely, a congressional body rejected Lopez's appointment.

"If you want to be confirmed, don't go against big business," an angry Lopez shouted during a long press conference after the ruling.

"It's wrong when lawmakers don't stand up for the rights of every Filipino, but rather big business. It's really very wrong."

With the Philippines being the world's biggest supplier of nickel ore and a major source of copper, Lopez's campaign had impacted global prices.

Lopez had sought to shut down 28 of the nation's 40 mines and cancel the contracts of dozens of others.

Last week she also announced the ban on open-pit mining, which would have sounded the death knell for one of the world's biggest planned copper projects in the south of the country.

Mining Inc had run a high-profile campaign to have the Commission on Appointments reject her, arguing she was jeopardising the lives of 1.2 million people who were dependent on the industry.

It had strong supporters in the congressional commission, with its vice chairman, Ronaldo Zamora, a former director of Nickel Asia, the country's second most valuable mining company.

Zamora's older brother, Manuel, is the current Nickel Asia chairman. Like all mining stocks, Nickel Asia's share price rose on Wednesday after Lopez's sacking.

Another opponent of Lopez was Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, a former mining executive whose family has big investments in the industry.

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Dominguez took the unprecedented action of testifying against a fellow cabinet member when he told the commission hearings that Lopez should be rejected.

The Chamber of Mines released a statement on Wednesday thanking the commission for its quick decision, which it said was "the beginning of a new chapter for the mining industry".

Global nickel and copper prices fell by just over 2.0 percent each in London trade on Wednesday, with financial services company Commerzbank saying concerns in the market about prolonged supply cuts in the Philippines had been allayed.

- Outrage -

Environment groups expressed outrage, arguing Lopez's rejection showed Duterte had misled with his pledges to lead a government for ordinary Filipinos rather than the elite.

"The rejection demonstrates the continued control of powerful destructive industries such as mining in the country's legislative houses, and the reform promised to Filipinos is a sham," the Green Thumb coalition, grouping dozens of environment groups, said in a statement.

"It clearly shows where the heart of the Duterte administration is, and clearly it is manifested with big and powerful mining companies."

Duterte is popular among many Filipinos for his man-of-the-people image and he frequently rants against business titans.

The Philippines has one of the biggest rich-poor divides in Asia, with one quarter of its roughly 100 million people living below the poverty line.

Duterte's spokesman released a muted statement on Lopez's downfall, praising her work but saying the president had already begun looking for a replacement.

Congress rejecting a president's cabinet appointment is extremely rare in Philippine politics.

But, despite Duterte's ruling coalition having a majority in both houses of congress, Lopez was the second of his appointments to be rejected.

Perfecto Yasay was in March dumped as foreign secretary when the commission on appointments ruled he had lied in congressional hearings about him holding American citizenship.
Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis will receive US President Donald Trump at the Vatican on May 24, the first official meeting for the two leaders who have found themselves starkly at odds on issues including migration and climate change.

Trump's morning audience with Francis will come just days before he is scheduled to attend a G7 summit meeting in Sicily.

It will be followed by meetings with his Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States.

The two leaders have previously staked out opposing policy positions, most notably in a heated exchange through the media while Trump was campaigning in February 2016 to become the Republican Party's nominee for the White House.

"Anyone, whoever he is, who only wants to build walls and not bridges is not a Christian," Francis told journalists, responding to a question about the real estate mogul's anti-immigrant stance.

Trump retorted: "For a religious leader to question a person's faith is disgraceful."

Trump later softened his tone, saying the pope was misinformed, unaware of the impact of the drugs coming into the United States and a range of security issues that made it necessary to build a wall along the southern US border.

On a visit to Mexico in February 2016 Francis held an open-air mass on the US-Mexico border, where he described forced migration as "a human tragedy."

More recently, in an interview with Spanish daily El Pais conducted as Trump was being sworn in as president on January 20, Francis warned against populism, saying it could lead to the election of "saviours" like Hitler.

He also condemned the idea of using walls and barbed wire to keep out foreigners.

Just days after his inauguration, however, Trump took a first step toward fulfilling his pledge to build a 2,000-mile (3,200 kilometres) wall along on the Mexican border, signing two immigration-related decrees.

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His administration has also tried to impose travel bans for people from seven mostly-Muslim countries as well as all refugees, a move directly at odds with Francis's calls for welcoming and integrating people forced from their homes.

The pope has also been an ardent supporter of efforts to combat climate change and its consequences to the world's most vulnerable populations, in terms of pollution, disease, wars and migration.

In November he criticised politicians who have yet to show "concrete will" in implementing global climate agreements.

The comments were seen by many as a swipe at Trump's pledge to pull the United States out of the COP21 Paris Agreement which binds countries to national pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Trump has said he will make his decision on sticking to the agreement before the G7 meeting in Taormina, Sicily.

But there could be areas for the two leaders to find common ground, in particular over Trump's efforts to curb abortions.

He has signed legislation that removes Obama-era rules protecting tax-funded financing of family planning clinics that offer abortions.

Last month, Trump said he was looking "very much forward" to meeting with Francis, and it appears that both sides made an effort to make the meeting happen.

Leaders normally give the Holy See several months' notice when requesting a papal audience, but both Vatican and White House officials said they were trying to arrange a meeting.
Praia Da Luz (Portugal) (AFP) - Ten years after the mysterious disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann, a service was held in her memory Wednesday evening at the church in the seaside resort of Praia da Luz in southern Portugal, marked by the absence of her parents.

On May 3, 2007, a few days before her fourth birthday, "Maddie" disappeared from her family's holiday apartment in the Algarve village as her parents dined with friends at a nearby restaurant, sparking one of the biggest searches of its kind in recent years.

Despite a wide range of suspects and theories about what happened, no one has ever been convicted over her disappearance.

"It's a very sad story, a very sad case and we all hope that we turn up on that. Our thoughts are with the family and with Madeleine," said English tourist Tracy, 42, who came to attend the service.

Another British tourist, Roney, 48, said: "It's important to keep Madeleine's name alive and to pay respect to a little girl who never came home."

Both had previously gone to a cliff overlooking the sea to release pink balloons to mark the anniversary.

About 50 Anglicans and Catholics attended the service in the little whitewashed church where Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry McCann used to gather after their daughter vanished.

The ceremony was led by Canadian Anglican pastor Haynes Hubbard, who had officiated at the church at the time of the girl's disappearance.

An English father, James, 43, accompanied by his little daughter, paused in front of a photo of Maddie surrounded by flowers at the entrance of the church.

"I just explained to my daughter that it was a little girl who got lost about 10 years ago. I just wanted to show her the photo to explain what happened," he said.

The McCanns, who did not attend the service in Portugal, on Sunday told the BBC they still hope to find their daughter alive.

"My hope for Madeleine being out there is no less than it was almost 10 years ago," said her mother.

The McCanns attended a service Wednesday with about 200 people in the small town of Rothley, in central England where they live.
By Alex Bregman

As North Korea continues to hold missile tests and tensions mount, there may be no place on earth where that strain is felt more than in whats known as the Demilitarized Zone, or the DMZ.

So what is it and how did it come to be?

The DMZ is an area established in 1953, at the end of the Korean War, that divides the Korean Peninsula between North and South Korea. Its about 150 miles long and two and a half miles wide and sits roughly along the 38th parallel  the line that divided the North from the South at the end of World War Two.

The areas around the DMZ are heavily fortified with troops from both the North and the South, but inside the space itself theres not a whole lot.

Each side maintains whats called a peace village or truce village. Much of the area has become a nature reserve and home to rare birds and fish.

Then there is whats called the Joint Security Area, which, for a long time, was the only official place the North and South communicated. That doesnt mean both sides havent used the tense border to communicate in other ways, including installing loudspeakers and even floating balloons with attached propaganda messages to try to get them to the other side.

At least four tunnels have also been built by the North, which it claims is for coal mining, but its assumed they would be used for troops if there were to be an invasion.

Despite the high tension surrounding the border, the area itself has remained relatively peaceful over the years, with the exception of a couple of incidents, including one in which two American soldiers were killed by North Korean troops in 1976 and another in 1984, when three North Korean soldiers and one South Korean were killed in a firefight.

More recently, land mines installed by the North have also raised concern, particularly when two South Korean soldiers were maimed.

Maybe most importantly for American politics, the DMZ has also been used for presidential photo-ops to send a message to the North. The area has been visited by Presidents Carter, Reagan, Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama.

Under the Trump Administration, both Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Vice President Mike Pence have also visited the area. In a recent interview, Pence described the visit: To stand there, as I had the privilege to do, at the DMZ, and to look into North Korea for me was  a chilling experience.

So as the tensions continue to rise in the region, when it comes to where those tensions may be the highest, the DMZ, at least you can say, Now I get it.
Bamako (AFP) - Shelling and rocket fire on a UN camp in Mali's troubled Timbuktu killed one yet to be identified person and wounded nine peacekeepers, the United Nations mission said Wednesday.

It is the latest attack to hit the mission, known as MINSUMA, stationed in the country since 2013 and considered its most dangerous active peacekeeping deployment.

"A mortar and rocket attack was launched against the MINUSMA camp in Timbuktu," a UN statement said.

"The provisional toll is nine wounded among the peacekeepers, four seriously who are being evacuated to Bamako. The attack also killed one person, they are still being identified," it added.

The UN mission said it had reinforced the camp's defences and deployed air cover to identify where the enemy fire had originated, describing it as a "terrorist" attack.

Sweden's armed forces confirmed one of its soldiers was wounded, though not severely. "A Swedish soldier was lightly injured and is now being cared for by the Swedish medical unit," it said in a statement.

Liberia's armed forces, who also have peacekeepers among the mission, also confirmed "several injuries and other casualties", according to Prince Johnson, deputy chief of staff, but would not specify more.

"We are investigating the matter," he added.

Northern Mali fell to jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in March 2012, and although these forces were driven out of key towns by a French-led military intervention the following year, the Islamists have now spread further south.

The 13,000-strong UN mission was deployed to provide security and assist Malian troops struggling to keep the country safe, but it has been targeted constantly by jihadists, with dozens of peacekeepers killed.

Three Malian jihadist groups with previous Al-Qaeda links recently joined forces to create the "Group to Support Islam and Muslims" (GSIM), led by Iyad Ag Ghaly of Ansar Dine, and have killed Malian soldiers further east near the Burkina Faso border.

Nine Malian soldiers were killed and five wounded Tuesday, an attack that has become near routine in the country's north and centre.
In Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama, Sheila Miyoshi Jager said she turned down two marriage proposals from Barack Obama in the 1980s. (Photo: Rosen-Jones Photography)

Barack Obama clearly ended up with the right woman, but with news of his pre-Michelle marriage proposal making headlines, our curiosity about Sheila Miyoshi Jager was piqued.

In Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama, Jager told Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer David J. Garrow that she had been seriously involved with the future president in the mid- to late 80s and early 90s. Not only did they move in together, but he proposed marriage  twice. However, Obamas political ambitions reportedly did them in; a mutual friend of the couple recounted that Obama explained that the lines are very clearly drawn: If I am going out with a white woman, I have no standing here. (For the record, Jager is of Dutch and Japanese ancestry.) Garrow wrote that Obama felt trapped between the woman he loved and the destiny he knew was his, implying that race factored into the Chicago politicos decision to settle down with Michelle.

According to the book, Jager met Obama in the mid-80s while doing community organizing in Chicago. Things turned romantic and they moved in together.

In the winter of 86, when we visited my parents, he asked me to marry him, Jager, 53, recalled. She said that she turned down his proposal not for racial reasons but because her parents were concerned about Obamas professional prospects and thought that Jager, then 23, was too young. (On the issue of race, a close family friend of Jagers parents said that Obama came across to them like a white, middle-class kid.)

The following year, when Obama turned 25, Jager said that he became very ambitious and suddenly had his sights on becoming president. Their romance continued until two years later, when Obama, then 27, was leaving for Harvard Law School. Before he left, he proposed to Jager a second time, asking her to move to Cambridge with him. She said no, as she had plans to travel to Korea for dissertation research. She recalled that she had resented his assumption that she would automatically postpone her career for his.

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After his first year at Harvard, Obama returned to Chicago as a summer associate at the law firm Sidley Austin. Thats where he met Michelle Robinson, who worked there, and they went on their first date. Jager said that Obama continued seeing her on and off for another year after she arrived at Harvard on a teaching fellowship. I always felt bad about it, she said.

Sheila Miyoshi Jager giving a lecture. (Photo via YouTube)

The book noted that after Obama married Michelle in 1992, his only contact with Jager was the occasional letter (after the 9/11 attacks) and phone call (he reached out to ask if a biographer had contacted her). The author also noted that Obamas romantic choice  marrying Michelle over Jager  was influenced by his political ambitions, the implication being that Michelle was a more suitable partner than Jager.

While Obama went on to pursue his political career, Jager continued in the academic world. Currently a professor of East Asian studies at Oberlin College, she received her bachelor of arts from Bennington College in 1984, her master of arts from Middlebury College in 1985, and her PhD from the University of Chicago in 1994.

Jager has written three books about Asia, and her expertise is on Korea. The third, Brothers at War: The Unending Conflict in Korea (2013), was selected to participate in the National Book Festival and named by Foreign Affairs as one of the best books on Asia-Pacific that year. Shes currently at work on a fourth book, about the great power struggle over the Korean Peninsula at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Heres Jager lecturing on the continuing Korean divide in 2015:

According to an article in the Amherst News-Times, Jager has personal connections to Korea  her husband of two and a half decades, historian Jiyul Kim, is a Korean-American veteran of the U.S. Army, and his parents lived through the war, coming to America just after its end. Kim also works at Oberlin (since 2012), as a visiting professor in the history department. His expertise is in East Asia, the Cold War, and U.S. foreign policy. He has been teaching in the history department each spring since 2012.

They have children, including a son who attended West Point and was once sent to guard the border between North and South Korea.

Former President Barack Obama with Michelle Obama in 2013. (Photo: Taylor Hill/WireImage)

Of course, Barack Obama tied the knot with Michelle Robinson in 1992, and they welcomed daughters Malia and Sasha in 1998 and 2001. During that time, Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Read more from Yahoo Celebrity:
Madrid (AFP) - Spain will challenge "unfair competition" from Gibraltar after Brexit, a foreign ministry report seen Wednesday said, singling out a low-tax regime operated by the British overseas territory to attract foreign investors.

As Brexit negotiations begin, EU member states have handed Spain -- which has long wanted Gibraltar back after it was ceded to Britain in 1713 -- the right to veto any future EU relationship with the tiny rocky outcrop after Britain leaves the bloc.

Spain has long criticised Gibraltar's low-tax regime, but the tiny, 32,000-strong territory argues it is a crucial part of its services-based economy.

In the report written for a Spanish parliamentary commission on the EU, the foreign ministry says Gibraltar "has developed its own extremely permissive regime where tax, customs and the establishment of companies are concerned, which in practice has converted it into a tax haven."

As such, it adds, Spain "cannot accept" a post-Brexit deal "that is not completely acceptable for Spain" and will push for an agreement "that prevents an economic situation of unfair competition with the Spanish territory."

In the report, Madrid accuses Gibraltar of benefiting from "unjustified privileges" under its current status within the bloc.

The territory is not part of the so-called EU customs union, which leaves it free to not charge VAT and impose its own low tariffs on goods imported from outside the bloc.

This means some products are cheaper in the overseas territory, attracting visitors.

In addition, to attract foreign investment, it only charges companies that settle there a 10 percent corporate tax -- lower even than Ireland which applies a 12.5 percent rate.

Gibraltar, though, refutes claims it is a tax haven and argues it operates a lawful low-tax regime just like Ireland and Luxembourg, that allows a territory with no industry to survive.

Its chief minister Fabian Picardo rejected the report, saying that the Spanish government's mask was "slipping."

"It is becoming abundantly clear that they want to try to use Brexit to take narrow advantage," he said.

"Gibraltar will, as ever, continue to seek dialogue over Spanish vetoes and will seek cooperation and friendship over Spanish aggression and belligerence."




Kids like to spend money, but few really know what it takes to earn and keep it.

Thats why one program is offering monetary incentives for teens to learn more about personal finance.

Raise.me is offering students a scholarship of up to $1,000 for simply completing an online personal finance course. The company, which launched in 2012, partners with colleges and universities to offer students scholarships for achievements like getting good grades, achieving high test scores, keeping a job and volunteering in their communities.

To get the $1,000 so-called microscholarship, students in grades 9-12 must complete 9 financial lessons on

EverFi, a free digital learning resource. The lessons cover topics like saving, credit scores, investments and taxes. Once completed, students will earn the scholarship to one of the participating schools, including The University of Rochester, Oberlin College and the University of San Diego. The participating institution will issue the scholarship only if the student enrolls in their school.

Many colleges already provide financial guidance to help enrolled students stay on track and graduate on time, but Raise.me co-founder George Kirkland says some institutions want those conversations to happen earlier.

A lot of our college partners said its important for students to understand this information as they are going through the college application process, Kirkland told Yahoo Finance. To help them understand the cost of college, state and federal aid, and scholarships so that they can make an intelligent decision.

Raise.me says it adds up to three colleges to its platform every week, and plans to make the financial literacy program a staple that they recommend to schools going forward.

Learning about credit card balances in high school

Raise.me isnt the only organization focused on bringing financial literacy to high school students. Programs are springing up across the US to help students learn more about real-world personal finance.

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In the Midwest, the Nebraska Educational Savings Trust provided $14,000 in scholarships on April 21 to students who performed well in a Personal Finance Challenge competition. In Wisconsin, 100 high school seniors gathered in Milwaukee on May 1 for a Bank Your Future program aimed at teaching students personal finance and interviewing skills.

Meanwhile, students at Jefferson High School in Tampa, Fla., are taught about setting budgets and saving for retirement thanks to a program called Foundations in Personal Finance, developed by financial expert and radio host, Dave Ramsey. One in three high schools across the country have used Ramseys curriculum, which has reached more than three million students in the US, according to his website.

According to data from the Council for Economic Education (CEE), students who learn about finance are more likely to save money, pay off their credit cards every month, and have higher credit scores. With results like this, implementing financial literacy programs in every high school seems like a no brainer, but it has met some resistance.

Only 17 states currently require students to take a high school course in personal finance, including Florida, New York, Virginia and Tennessee. Of those, only 5 states make students complete a stand-alone personal finance course in order to graduate.

Nan Morrison, president and CEO of the CEE, says there is more economic education in schools than when they started tracking it in 1998, but growth has been inconsistent. Trends were declining, now they are flat, she told Yahoo Finance. As you can imagine, interest increases when times are bad, and wanes in good times.

Morrison says there are several reasons why schools have been slow to implement courses in financial literacy. Mainly, educational structures are different in every state, so integrating it into existing curriculum can be difficult, and a lack of funding has made it hard to train teachers.

Still, a 2016 study from the CEE reveals that the specific topic of personal finance is slowly gaining traction. Data showed that several state treasury departments are taking up the cause, and students in a handful of states have made it their personal mission to learn more about money. Like the group of teens in Rhode Island, who in 2014 pushed their state to adopt the CEEs National Standards for Financial Literacy program after recognizing the laundry list of financial decisions they would have to make after graduation.

Some might argue kids should enjoy their childhood without stressing about. The issue with that line of thinking is that those children will eventually grow into adults who have to make very tough financial decisions: Isnt it better to gain an understanding of how, say, interest works on debt before they take on thousands in student loans?

It is important to start young, to give our kids access to the language and grammar of finance, so that when they become teens, and start earning money, they have the tools to make good decisions and the confidence to ask questions, Morrison says.

Brittany is a reporter at Yahoo Finance.

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Bangkok (AFP) - There were moments when Naruedee Jotsanthia thought she'd never smile again.

The Thai schoolgirl says she was left facially disfigured last year after a teacher threw a mug at her head.

The attack, which went viral and sparked renewed debate about the country's deeply hierarchical education system, locked one side of her face in a downward droop and left her unable to close her left eye.

"When I saw my face, I just couldn't accept it," the 18-year-old from Thailand's impoverished northeastern Korat province told AFP. "I thought about hurting myself. I really just could not believe it."

Naruedee had always dreamed of becoming an air hostess, but felt there was little chance an airline would ever consider hiring her.

Yet eight months on she is smiling again thanks to months of costly medical therapy and daily exercises funded by strangers.

"I might not be 100 percent normal," she said, a hint of paralysis still visible on her left side. "But I am very satisfied already on what I have achieved so far. At least I can smile again."

The attack was one of a number of recent events that have sparked intense public anger over how authority figures treat underlings in a country where questioning your superiors is taboo.

Last year video footage went viral of a student forced to grovel at her teacher's feet following a disagreement over whether she was allergic to egg-tofu soup.

A Thai Air Asia stewardess was also forced to prostrate herself on the floor before a disgruntled passenger, prompting an apology from airline boss Tony Fernandez.

- Military values -

Teachers are near sacrosanct in Thai culture, afforded huge respect and deference.

But many education reform advocates argue such extreme kowtowing discourages critical thinking in students, pointing out that school standards in the comparatively wealthy nation have been slipping for years.

Education for Liberation of Siam, a group advocating schooling reform, said the authorities should do more to "make schools free from violence, change attitude about punishment and take quick action in cases like these."

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Yet Thailand's culture of deference has become more intense since the military seized power in 2014.

Junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha has ordered all school children to recite his "twelve values" daily, which include respecting parents, teachers, elders and "maintaining discipline".

So far Naruedee's medical treatment has cost as much as three times the annual income her family brings in as cassava farmers in Thailand's impoverished northeast.

The bill has been picked up by the Pavena Foundation, which assists women trying to escape abuse and also helped Naruedee find a new school.

"It's taken five months, we can see Naruedee looking normal again, she can now shut her mouth and eyes," Pavena Hongsakula, a former politician who founded the foundation, said.

The school admits the teacher attacked Naruedee but disputes whether the paralysis, which emerged the day after the assault, was caused by the mug.

The school director said they paid the family 50,000 baht ($1,450) compensation and that the teacher was transferred to another school.

Police have charged him with assault but the attorney general's office has yet to push ahead with a prosecution.

Naruedee now wants to focus on chasing her dream of becoming an air hostess.

"I don't know if I'm dreaming too high or not," she said, breaking out into a wide grin.
The internet had a minor meltdown Thursday with speculation regarding Queen Elizabeth IIs husband Prince Philips death. However, the Buckingham Palace press office told 1News in Auckland "You could safely assume the Queen and Prince Philip are not dead," over the phone and debunked the rumors.

In the early hours Thursday, the queen ordered a highly unusual meeting in London for staff members from royal residences across the country. They were to be addressed by the Lord Chamberlain, the most senior officer of the Royal Household, as well as Her Majesty's right-hand man, Private Secretary Sir Christopher Geidt, according to various reports.

However, long-time Royal commentator and correspondent for Londons Evening Standard, Robert Jobson dismissed the news saying emergency Buckingham Palace meetings were not unusual and this specific meeting was, no cause for alarm.

An official announcement from Buckingham Palace is expected at 8 a.m. local time (3 a.m. EDT).

According to a 2015 article in the Daily Beast, it was explained in detail about what the procedure would be if Prince Philip died.

It said: If Philip were to die in the night, the news would not be announced by Buckingham Palace until after 8am. The BBC would be informed first, and tasked with making the official announcement.

Eight days of official mourning would be observed by all staff at the palace. Flags at major institutions and military establishments (especially naval ones, given the Dukes service in the Royal Navy) would be flown at half mast, but the Royal Standard flag which flutters above Buckingham Palace when the Queen is in residence would not be lowered to half mast, the article said about the procedure.

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Photo: Getty Images

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip will be celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary this year on Nov. 20. A new Netflix series The Crown documents the queens journey, with the first season mainly examining how her ascension to the throne affected her relationship with her husband, who was supportive but was also said to have been resentful at times.

Heres a look at some interesting facts you might not know about the longest-serving British monarch.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip are actually related, as third cousins: Both the royals are great-great-grandchildren of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria. Philip would be considered more royal as his mother was born in Windsor Castle. Philips parents were Princess Alice of Battenberg and Prince Andrew of Greece. Whereas Elizabeths mother was of British nobility.

The pair first met when Elizabeth was 8-years-old: They were first introduced to each other in 1934, during the wedding of Philips cousin Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark. She was getting married to Prince George, Duke of Kent, who was also Elizabeth's uncle. The future couple met each other again July, 1939 when Philip was 18 and Elizabeth 13, in a meeting at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth. The two fell in love after this and began exchanging letters.

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Photo: Getty Images

Their wedding was the first royal festivity after the end of World War II: It was said the queen saved up her ration cards in order to buy a wedding gown. The King was advised any banqueting and display at your daughters wedding will be an insult to the British people at the present time and we would consider that you would be well advised to order a very quiet wedding in keeping with the times, according to Austerity Britain, 1945-1951 by David Kynaston.

The couple sleeps in separate bedrooms: They had separate bedrooms at their home in Clarence House, royal residence in England. In England, the upper class always have separate bedrooms, their cousin Lady Pamela Hicks (nee Mountbatten) explained. You dont want to be bothered with snoring or someone flinging a leg around. Then when you are feeling cozy, you can share your room sometimes. It is lovely to be able to choose.

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Photo: Getty Images

Philip rejected all his royal titles before marrying the queen : Originally known as Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, he abandoned the titles in 1957 and adopted the surname of his mothers British family to become Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten. He also converted from Greek Orthodoxy to Anglicanism.

Queen Elizabeth II said about her husband: "He is someone who doesn't take easily to compliments. But he has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I and his whole family, in this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim or we shall ever know."

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By Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Washington was considering imposing new sanctions on North Korea if it takes steps that deserve a further response, and is threatening to impose secondary sanctions on those doing illicit business with Pyongyang. "We are preparing additional sanctions if it turns out North Korea's actions warrant additional sanctions," Tillerson said on Wednesday in remarks to State Department employees. The vast majority of North Korea's trade is with its key ally China, and so any hard-hitting secondary sanctions would likely target Chinese firms. Tillerson called on countries all over the world to implement existing U.N. sanctions on North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile programs, adding that the U.S. administration would be willing to use secondary sanctions to target foreign companies that continue to do business with Pyongyang. "We told them were watching what youre doing, when we see you not implementing, we see companies, we see individuals that are violating these sanctions, were going to contact you, were going to ask you to take care of it," Tillerson said. "If you cant take care of it, or you simply dont want to take care of it for your own internal political reasons, we will. Well sanction them through third-country sanctions." North Korea has stepped up its weapons tests, firing dozens of missiles and detonating two nuclear bombs since the start of last year. The most recent missile test, which failed, came on Friday following a U.N. Security Council meeting chaired by Tillerson at which he urged the council to act before North Korea did. Tillerson said the Trump administration had been "leaning hard into China" ... "to test their willingness to use their influence, their engagement with the regime." The Obama administration began blacklisting Chinese firms doing illicit business with North Korea, but such steps have so far been limited. Diplomats said this week Washington was negotiating with China on a possible stronger U.N. Security Council response - such as new sanctions - to North Korea's missile launches. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Wednesday U.N. resolutions were clear that further measures would be taken in the event of more nuclear or missile tests. The last round of complex sanctions imposed by the Security Council took three months to negotiate following Pyongyang's fifth nuclear test in September. Those aimed to cut North Korea's annual export revenue by a quarter. North Korea's state media published a rare, strong, criticism of China on Wednesday, saying Chinese state media commentaries calling for tougher sanctions were undermining relations. (Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati, writing by David Brunnstrom; editing by Susan Heavey and Phil Berlowitz)
By Alex Dobuzinskis

(Reuters) - Tony Alamo, a disgraced Christian preacher who closely controlled the lives of his followers in several states and who was convicted in 2009 of sexually abusing children, has died in prison at age 82, according to media reports.

Alamo died on Tuesday at a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility in North Carolina, according to television station KARK in Arkansas, where Alamo's religious organization was once based.

Representatives for the Federal Bureau of Prisons and for Tony Alamo Christian Ministries in California could not be reached for comment late on Wednesday.

Alamo was listed in the federal court system under his given name, Bernie Lazar Hoffman.

In 2009, Alamo was convicted in federal court in Arkansas on charges of transporting five girls across state lines to sexually abuse them, according to court records. He was sentenced to 175 years in prison.

One of the child victims told investigators she was 8 years old when Alamo first molested her at his home in Fouke, Arkansas, and that when she was 9 he began calling her his wife, according to court records.

Alamo, an evangelical Christian who often promoted conspiracy theories about the Roman Catholic Church, founded his religious organization in the late 1960s in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles and in the mid-1970s moved the group's headquarters from California to Alma, Arkansas.

At the height of his influence, Alamo had thousands of followers, including some who worked at one of the ministry's several businesses such as a printing press he used to spread anti-Catholic messages. His religious group, which critics described as a cult, had branches in other states including New Jersey and Tennessee.

Alamo once controlled the finances of members of his ministry and told them to distrust the government, according to a 2012 decision by the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a case that awarded millions in damages to ex-followers who were beaten as children.

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In the 1990s, Alamo served four years in prison after he was convicted of income tax evasion.

Aside from appearing on television in the 1970s along with his then wife Susan, who died in 1982, Alamo was also known for making designer jackets that were popular with celebrities in the 1980s, according to a 2009 report on the website of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
President Donald Trump is expected to sign a highly controversial executive order on religious freedom on Thursday, just as the nation observes the National Day of Prayer, according to a report by Politico.

Trumps signature on the religious liberty executive order is expected to be a big win for Vice President Mike Pence, who had pushed for a similar religious-freedom legislation during his times as Indiana governor but had failed.

An earlier draft of the same order was leaked to The Nation on Feb. 1, sparking intense criticism over its broad exemptions for people and groups to claim religious objections under almost any circumstance. The credit for the original draft to be turned down was given to Trumps daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kusher, according to the Politico report, as they were pushing for a more LGBT-friendly approach.

Read: Secret Group Of Religious Leaders Hiding Undocumented Immigrants From Deportation

Pence, however, began to work on revising the language of the order and according to the report, has been able to put enough pressure on the president to sign it. The White House was expected to host a number of faith leaders, Thursday, to celebrate the National Day of Prayer, and the signing of the executive order seems like the logical step for the president on the day.

The publication cited two senior administration officials confirming that the executive order, after reviewing and fine-tuning the draft language was set to be signed Thursday. However, a source told Politico that despite the February leak, the language in the text remains very, very strong.

According to the documents released earlier in the year, the executive order looks to allowing individuals and organizations to disengage from activities that violate their conscience, which includes refusal to cover contraceptives if it is against their beliefs.

The draft had also protected the tax-exempt status of any religious entity that believes, speaks, or acts (or declines to act) in accordance with the belief that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman. Other problematic features were that entities that believed that an individuals immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy and that human life begins at conception and merits protection at all stages of life, were covered under the religious freedom order.

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If enforced, the order would allow adoption agencies who receive federal funding to discriminate against same-sex couples, or allow federal employees the right to refuse on religious grounds to process applications of same-sex couples, according to the initial leak.

The executive order would also establish a new bureau to protect religious freedom, within the Justice Department.

Signing the executive order is expected to pull Trump up in the eyes of his conservative voters who had been uneasy over his spending bill that keeps federal funding in place for Planned Parenthood.

The American Civil Liberties Union, however, has warned the Trump administration that it will take strong action if the rights of the LGBT community are infringed upon by the presidents new executive order.

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By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump is expected to take executive action on Thursday to effectively lift a ban on political activity by churches and other tax-exempt institutions, a senior White House official said on Wednesday.

Trump will mark the National Day of Prayer by issuing guidance to federal agencies like the Treasury Department on how to interpret a law that says churches and religious organizations risk losing their tax-exempt status if they participate in political campaigns.

The order is expected to give the Treasury Department guidance on how strictly to enforce the 1954 law known as the Johnson Amendment, the White House official said, speaking on condition of anonymity as details of the action were still being worked out.

Trump frequently complained about the amendment during his campaign for the presidency, bolstering his support among religious conservatives who contend it violates free speech and religious freedom rights.

Changing the law altogether would require action in the Republican-led U.S. Congress.

Civil liberties and gay rights groups fear Trump's order could include provisions to allow government agencies and businesses to deny services to gay people in the name of religious freedom. The groups have argued that such a move would be unconstitutional.

It was not clear on Wednesday whether the order would include that type of measure, the official said.

(Reporting by Steve Holland, writing by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Andrew Hay)

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Fred Upton and Billy Long join presidents cause following promise of additional funding for people with pre-existing conditions, offering bill renewed traction

Paul Ryan told a talkshow: Were making good progress  weve got some momentum. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Donald Trump managed to win over two Republican opponents of the current Obamacare repeal plan on Wednesday, breathing new life into the embattled effort to make good on the partys top legislative priority of the last seven years.

At the White House, Trump persuaded representatives Fred Upton of Michigan and Billy Long of Missouri, two normally loyal Republicans who had balked at the bills provision to remove protections for those with pre-existing conditions, with the promise of $8bn in extra funding to subsidize healthcare for those affected.

The House speaker, Paul Ryan, expressed confidence in the bills prospects in an interview with a local radio station in Milwaukee on Wednesday. Were making good progress  weve got some momentum, the Wisconsin Republican said, pointing to Upton and Longs announcement as a sign of that progress. We feel really good about that.

Ryan wouldnt commit to a specific timetable for the vote but said that House Republicans were working to hold a vote before Friday, when the House is scheduled to begin a week-long recess.

The White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, said a vote was imminent but said there was no deadline. We continue to move closer and closer to that time, he said.

With many moderate Republicans still wary of the proposal, the White House engaged in a full scale effort to woo skeptics on Wednesday. Trump put his deal-making skills to the test, working the phones and appealing personally to lawmakers, while Vice-President Mike Pence and the White House budget director, Mick Mulvaney, were dispatched to the Capitol to convince wavering members.

The efforts, including the extra $8bn in funding, were not, however, necessarily a sell for many wavering moderates. Ryan Costello of Pennsylvania told reporters that he still had fundamental concerns about the underlying policy. Several other lawmakers echoed his sentiment, telling reporters they remained a no as they shuffled on to the floor for afternoon votes. Moderate Leonard Lance of New Jersey insisted: Im a no. Its a two-letter word. N in the front. O in the back. Im not a hard no, a soft no, or a middle no. Im a no.

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In a break from past divisions in the House Republican caucus, conservatives were solidly behind the effort. Mark Meadows, chair of the hard-right Freedom Caucus, told reporters that his faction was still solidly behind the proposal, which had been crafted to attract their support, and said that the modification to add the additional $8bn in spending hadnt led to any defections.

Negotiations continued on Wednesday as the Republican leadership and White House officials targeted wary Republicans in one-on-one meetings throughout the day. It was unclear, though, how close Republicans were to the 216-vote mark needed to pass the bill.

As Lou Barletta of Pennsylvania, a Trump loyalist, told reporters: I dont think were going to put any timelines on this. When they know theyll have the votes, thats when theyll call the vote.

And yet the push to bring Republicans onboard was somewhat successful with representative Steve King of Iowa, who said he was moved from a no to a lean yes on the bill after receiving a personal call from the president.

As the calendar ticks another page or two, we either get something done or we live with Obamacare, thats a part of it, King said, describing his change of heart on the legislation.

But in a sign of just how politically fraught negotiations over healthcare reform have become, the co-chair of a moderate Republican group was dogged by questions not about the bill but about his standing with moderates. A report on Wednesday suggested that Tuesday Group members furious with Tom MacArthur for forging an agreement with the Freedom Caucus were plotting to oust him as co-chair.

Asked on Wednesday if he would remain a part of the moderate coalition, MacArthur said: Of course, these are my closest colleagues. These are people in districts like my mine and among my closest friends here in Congress.

Since the first attempt at healthcare reform failed to win enough support from House Republicans in March, lawmakers revised the measure to remove protections for people with pre-existing conditions, a change that brought on board conservatives who were initially opposed. But moderates are reluctant to line up behind a bill that would undermine protections for sicker Americans, one of the Affordable Care Acts most popular provisions.

The revised Republican plan would permit states to apply for waivers that allow them to opt out of a handful of crucial mandates in the Affordable Care Act. And under the proposal, states, if they meet certain conditions, could allow insurers to charge sicker enrollees more.

Republican leadership has maintained that the bill provides several layers of protection for people with pre-existing conditions.

Ryan has said sicker Americans would be better off under the Republican plan. And in the lunchtime interview, Ryan denied that the proposal would hurt sicker Americans, calling those concerns more about perception that the actual reality of the bill itself.

Spicer acknowledged that there were still uncertainties over cost relating to individuals with pre-existing conditions. Right now, pre-existing conditions are covered in the bill, he said. They always have been; weve talked about that before. States have the right to receive a waiver. If someone has continuous coverage, thats never going to be an issue, regardless. In no circumstance would anyone with continuous coverage ever have a problem.

Democrats dismissed the plan as an inadequate gesture. In a statement, the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, described it as akin to administering cough medicine to someone with stage four cancer.

This Republican amendment leaves Americans with pre-existing conditions as vulnerable as they were before under this bill, he said. High-risk pools are the real death panels: they mean waiting forever in line for unaffordable health insurance.
The Trump-issued executive order does away with guaranteed birth control coverage for employees of religiously owned institutions, but it also goes a step further. (Photo: Trunk Archives)

On Thursday, President Trump signed the Executive Order on Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty. The order loosens the tax code so religious organizations are no longer prohibited from overtly supporting or campaigning against political candidates.

We are giving our churches their voices back, Trump said.

But the executive order also contains a provision directing federal agencies to exempt religiously affiliated employers from having to provide birth control coverage through their insurance plans offered to their employees.

This exemption stands in direct opposition to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), known colloquially as Obamacare, which mandates that all insurance plans must include coverage for contraception as an essential health benefit. The Obama administration had also issued a rule providing a way for religious institutions to be exempt from providing contraception coverage themselves, while still not denying their employees the ability to access this coverage.

The Trump-issued executive order not only does away with all that  the exemption for employers and guarantee of coverage for employees of religiously owned institutions  it potentially takes things even further. In response to todays executive order, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Tom Price has issued a statement saying that the order will prompt HHS to reexamine the previous administrations interpretation of the Affordable Care Acts preventive services mandate. Price also stated that [r]eligious liberty is our countrys first freedom and commend[ed] President Trump for taking a strong stand for religious liberty.

Gretchen Borchelt, the vice president for reproductive rights and health at the National Womens Law Center (NWLC), tells Yahoo Beauty that it isnt just birth control coverage that is at risk because of the new executive order, but, as Price alluded to, all forms of preventive care guaranteed under the ACA.

Screenings for sexually transmitted infection, HIV, and domestic violence, and well-woman visits that included care for trans individuals, could also be excluded for employees of religious institutions.

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There are womens preventative services that go beyond birth control that are now at stake if employers can decide that their religious beliefs stand in opposition to these things, or if they think they can hide their cost concerns behind the pretense of religious and moral beliefs, Borchelt says, adding, if you let bosses take away coverage of critical preventative services like birth control and STI screenings  thats discriminatory.

Indeed, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has already announced its intention to file suit against the Trump administration because of the alleged unconstitutionality of the executive order.

In a statement, Anthony D. Romero, the executive director of the ACLU, said, America is a deeply religious country because religious freedom and tolerance of divergent religious views thrive. President Trumps efforts to promote religious freedom are thinly veiled efforts to unleash his conservative religious base into the political arena while also using religion to discriminate. Its a dual dose of pandering to a base and denying reproductive care. We will see Trump in court, again.

Todays executive order stipulates that the attorney general, former Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, is to offer guidance on issues of religious liberty.

Claire Markham, associate director of the Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative at the Center for American Progress, tells Yahoo Beauty that because todays executive order provides a framework for undermining the preventative services mandate in the ACA as an issue of religious liberty, the real concern is that we dont know what the end of that slippery slope is. There are a wide range of religious beliefs in this country and these include objections to things like transfusions and vaccines that medical professionals would say are a routine part of comprehensive health care. We dont know the extent to which this [executive order] can be manipulated.

Polling conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research on behalf of the NWLC the last week of March found that 64 percent of Americans believe that health insurance plans should cover all basic health care services, including birth control, abortion, prenatal care, childbirth, and postpartum care.

Additionally, 73 percent of Americans were found to oppose insurance companies refusing to cover a womans abortion, birth control, or medical care for a miscarriage because of religious or moral beliefs, and 71 percent of Americans oppose hospitals refusing to provide a woman with information or referrals about abortion, birth control, or medical care for a miscarriage because of religious or moral beliefs.

Todays executive order comes at the same time as the House of Representatives passage today of a bill to repeal and replace the ACA with the American Health Care Act (AHCA), which would not only eliminate Planned Parenthood as a Medicaid and Title X provider, classify C-sections and sexual assault as preexisting conditions that could allow insurance companies to charge those individuals higher premiums, but also undo the guarantee of coverage for all preventive services as outlined in the ACA.

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A top aide to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted Wednesday that U.S. commandos in northern Syria could be targeted by Turkish rockets if they continue to work with Kurdish fighters along the border with Turkey.

The comments by Ilnur Cevik, a senior political advisor to Erdogan, came the same day the president sat down with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss plans for safe zones meant to stop the violence in Syria. And they come two weeks before Erdogan visits Washington for his first meeting with President Donald Trump.

If the Kurds and Americans continue to work together, Cevik said during a radio interview, we wont be considering the fact that there are armored American vehiclesAll of a sudden, by accident, a few rockets can hit them.

The veiled threats for a NATO ally to potentially use force against U.S. troops highlight just how risky and complicated U.S. intervention in the Syrian civil war has become, and could further sour relations between Washington and Ankara that have already been strained in the wake of a failed 2016 coup in Turkey.

For weeks, U.S. Army Special Forces troops have been a visible presence in Kurdish areas of northern Syria, first showing up in the town of Manbij which was being threatened by Turkish-backed Syrian Arab fighters. Over the weekend, Americans troops were again photographed driving through the town of Qamishli, near the site of last weeks Turkish airstrikes which killed 18 U.S.-backed Kurdish militias.

The U.S. show of force is a very public reminder of American support for the Kurds, who make up a majority of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a 50,000-strong collection of local militias currently moving on the Islamic State stronghold of Raqqa. U.S. military commanders say the Kurds are the only viable military option to defeat ISIS on the ground in Syria.

Ankara is deeply uneasy over the continued U.S. relationship with Kurdish YPG in northern Syria, who the Turks consider to be terrorists. Further muddying the picture, Russia has also moved some forces into northern Syria, and have forged some local agreements with the Kurds, which has also alarmed the Turkish government.

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Col. John Dorrian, spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq and Syria, said the Americans were only deployed because we had heard of reports of skirmishes between Turkish forces and our partner forces around the border. U.S. commanders wanted to assess these reports for ourselves, so that we can determine what is the appropriate next step and make, he said.

Meanwhile, Trump and Putin spoke about Syria by phone on Tuesday, and agreed to work to find ways to stabilize the ceasefire and make it durable and manageable, according to a readout from the Kremlin.

Following his meeting with Erdogan at the Russian report town of Sochi on Wednesday, Putin pressed his ambitions for Syria further, calling for the creation of safe zones, something he said he discussed with President Trump. The White House readout of the call made no mention of that part of the discussion.

Four specific areas in the western part of the country would become no-fly zones, Putin said, save for operations against the Islamic State or al Qaeda-related groups.

That proposal went nowhere at peace talks in Kazakhstan between the moderate Syrian opposition, the Syrian regime, Russia, Iran, and Turkey. Representatives of the Syrian opposition walked out of the talks Wednesday over continued Syrian government bombing of hospitals and civilian targets, and the role Iran is playing in the Syrian civil war.

Iran is an aggressor state, and enemy of the Syrian people. It is part of the problem and we do not accept any role in the present and future of Syria as a guarantor or sponsor, a statement from the opposition read.

The United States is an observer at the talks and is represented by State Departments Acting Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, Stuart Jones. A State Department official confirmed to FP that Jones met Wednesday with all of the participants of the talks, excluding the Syrian regime and the Iranians.

Russia expressed hope that a ceasefire memorandum can still be signed Thursday, and that opposition representatives would come back to the table.

Even if an agreement is signed however, there is little to suggest that it would be any more effective than previous failed ceasefires, especially with no clear way to keep Syrian jets from bombing civilians.

There is no real basis for people to believe that this is going to be sustainable, said Charles Lister, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. Its another agreement based entirely on trust, and theres no trust between the forces on the ground.

Photo Credit DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP/Getty Images
Addis Ababa (AFP) - Ethiopia should rein in a controversial anti-terrorism law and release prisoners, the UN human rights chief said Thursday during a visit to Addis Ababa.

The visit by Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the UN high commissioner for human rights, comes after Ethiopia's parliament in March extended by four months a state of emergency it declared after anti-government protesters took to the streets nationwide last year.

The government of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn has faced international pressure for cracking down on dissent and jailing journalists since taking power in 2012.

A key complaint is the domination of the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), in power since 1991, and which holds all 546 seats in parliament.

The protesters often targeted foreign farms and businesses, especially in the Oromia region close to the capital where unrest began in November 2015.

Hailemariam told the BBC last month that he would not allow independent investigations into the unrest, and although Zeid was invited by the government, he was not allowed to visit parts of the country where protests took place.

At a press conference, Zeid said he was concerned about the mass arrests last year during protests driven by discontent among the country's two largest ethnic groups, which left hundreds dead.

"The extremely large number of arrests, over 26,000, suggests it is unlikely rule of law guarantees have been observed in every case," Zeid said.

"I am requesting the government to consider, if possible, the release of a number of individuals whose arrest or conviction appears to have been motivated by fear of criticism rather than evidence of intent to spark violent overthrow," he said.

He did not identify specific individuals he was hoping to see released.

While praising a new human rights blueprint unveiled by the government last month, Zeid questioned prosecutors' use of an anti-terror law to bring charges against bloggers and opposition activists.

"As I have said in many countries, if the fight against terrorism is misused as a pretext to attack perceived dissent, this only feeds grievances and will weaken the state," Zeid said.
The Federal Reserve offered no surprises yesterday, leaving rates unchanged in a range of 0.75 to 1%. Traders, however, were happy with the hawkish statement after the announcement and the signal that a June hike was likely (barring any significant geopolitical issues). At the same time, they noted the economy had weakened, yet they felt the weakness was transitory and gave a positive assessment of the economy.

While the Federal Reserve neither surprised nor disappointed, Apple, on the other hand, did surprise traders Wednesday with a Q2 beat on the bottom line, but a miss on revenue. iPhone sales, the heart and soul of the company, were another miss, with sales coming in at 50.8 million vs 51.4 million. The surprise from the company was its announcement to start a $1 billion fund for the development of advanced manufacturing jobs here in the United States. Apple, which is sitting on a quarter of a trillion dollars in cash, seems to be leading the charge to bring back manufacturing jobs here in the US, an issue high on President Trumps agenda.

With over half of S&P 500 companies reporting earning (329 companies to be exact), 77% have beat analysts expectations. On the revenue side, a solid 63% have beat those expectations. The earnings beat is the highest in eight quarters, and the revenue is the best in nine quarters.

With the Fed behind us for the moment, all eyes will be focused on tomorrows jobs number. Economists are expecting between 170,000 and 188,000 to be reported in this months report. ADP, which reported their numbers Wednesday, came in at 177,000, which is slightly better than analysts predictions of 175,000. Anything above 140,000 tomorrow will show that last months paltry 97,000 number was an anomaly, which could be blamed on the weather. But should tomorrows number come in at 120,000, that would show continued weakness in the jobs market. Traders would be ecstatic with a read of 170,000 and happy with a 140,000 low-end number.

Sunday, the focus turns to France, where Le Pen is trailing Macron by double digits. A win by Macron, the formal investment banker, would also be a win for Wall Street. Can anyone say Brexit & Trump?
A fight aboard an All Nippon Airways (ANA) flight from Narita, Japan to Los Angeles went viral this week after an agitated passenger began throwing punches at another man shortly before takeoff. At the time, it was believed the man was intoxicated. Now, the passenger on the receiving end of the altercation is speaking out. According to Ryan Humphreys, the aggressor may have been suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Humphreys, an ex-Marine, told TMZ by video Wednesday that man, shown in video clips wearing a red patterned shirt, was talking loudly to other passengers before standing up and becoming agitated. Humphreys said he was watching the man before the altercation occurred, but maintained that he hadnt done anything to initiate the incident.

Read: Fight On Plane Erupts On All Nippon Airways Flight

I didnt say anything to the guy and he was like, What are you looking at? I will kill you, Humphreys told TMZ. Humphreys said he asked the man if he was okay, to which the man responded by asking him if Humphreys was in Vegas. It had something to do with Vegas, I dont know, Humphreys said.

Watch TMZ on Yahoo View, available on iOS and Android.

Humphreys said the man then began assaulting a couple on the plane, allegedly attempting to choke a man and smothering his partner, a woman, in the process.

Hes either active military or a veteran. When his shirt got ripped up I could [see] all his ink, he said. I would guess [he either had] PTSD or maybe off his meds. He didnt strike me as being drunk.

Arizona-based photographer Corey Hour captured the Monday incident, which he said began when "a passenger [started] a huge fight in his row" shortly before takeoff. At the time, the cause of the incident wasnt clear.

"As of now and after speaking with the other passengers the motive for why he did this is still unknown," Hour said. "None of us have any idea why at all."

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The man has since been identified as a 44-year-old American. When flight attendants attempted to remove him from the plane, "the man resisted, hit a woman passenger and after leaving the plane, proceeded to choke a male airline employee, which led to his arrest," according to Japan Today.

The man was reportedly charged with assault.

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A woman is facing disorderly conduct charges for laughing during the confirmation hearing for Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Desiree Fairooz laughed after Senator Richard Shelby, a fellow Alabama Republican, introduced Mr Sessions saying his history of treating all Americans equally under the law is clear and well documented. Ms Fairooz was charged alongside two men  who donned white Ku Klux Klan outfits in protest  with disorderly conduct and demonstrating within a Capitol building.

All three demonstrators refused plea bargains in favour of jury trials.

I felt it was my responsibility as a citizen to dissent at the confirmation hearing of Senator Jeff Sessions, a man who professes anti-immigrant, anti-LGBT policies, who has voted against several civil rights measures and who jokes about the white supremacist terrorist group the Ku Klux Klan, Ms Fairooz said in a statement released by the pro-women advocacy group Code Pink, which is supporting her.

Video not available for syndication

Jeff Sessions says under oath that he has not had any contact with Russia

A reporter who shot a video that is being used by the prosecution in Ms Fairoozs case says that the laugh was not loud enough to be disruptive. Prosecutors say that the laugh was an attempt to impede, disrupt, and disturb orderly conduct of the confirmation hearing.

Mr Sessions was a controversial pick to become the nations leading law enforcement official and his confirmation path was wrought with contentious moments. The former senator from Alabama was repeatedly accused of expressing racist views in the past  a history of racist accusations that includes a 1980s ad aired by Mr Shelby himself that accused him of calling the KKK good ole boys.

During his confirmation, Mr Sessions saw rare opposition from a fellow sitting senator, New Jerseys Corey Booker, who testified boldly against him during his hearings saying that his civil rights record disqualified him from the attorney general post. Mr Booker was joined by civil rights legend Representative John Lewis in voicing concerns about Mr Sessions during those hearings.

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I do not regret calling Hawaii an island in the Pacific, says Sessions

Later in the confirmation process, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren refocused national attention on Mr Sessions alleged racism when she was silenced by Republican leadership as she read, on the Senate floor, a 1986 letter Coretta Scott King wrote while Mr Sessions was up for a federal judgeship accusing him of using public office to intimidate black voters.
663 million people around the world lack access to clean water. One young woman is determined to change that forever  find out how you can help.

Artist Isabella Innis met George in 2013, when she was a volunteer at Ugandas Mulago Government Hospital. The little boy and his family had contracted typhoid fever from contaminated water. I spent three months with him, she explains. He moved into my room at the orphanage. I would feed him, I would bathe him, I would put him to bed at night.

Watch: The Power of Helping Others

Isabella returned home to L.A., but she thought of George often. Two years later she returned and visited Georges village. Their source for drinking water was a muddy uncovered watering hole. It doesnt hit you until youre standing there, watching women and children consuming contaminated water, she says. Ill never live my life in the same way, having seen that.

When Isabella got home after that trip, she talked to her brother Issom, whos in the band Foster the People. He connected her with the charity World Vision, which helped her put on an online fundraiser. They raised $20,000 in less than two weeks and the well was built. Isabella returned to Uganda with her brother and his bandmate Mark Foster, plus actors John Karna and Carlson Young of MTVs series Scream.

George was extremely special, adds Isabella. But his circumstance isnt special because theres so many kids across the world that dont have access to clean water.

Watch: Healing the Children in Nepal

Isabella recommends that people who want to help get involved with an organization like World Vision. On May 6th, World Vision is hosting a 6K event called Global 6K for Water  6K is the average distance that people in developing nations walk to obtain water, many of them women and children covering dangerous territory.

And that water theyre walking 6K to get is not always clean water. In fact, usually its not, adds ER Physician Dr. Travis Stork. Clean water can prevent so many deaths, he continues. 1,000 children die each day in the developing world. Think about that.

To get involved, or to learn about the documentary inspired by Isabellas project, visit WorldVision.org.
Apple sold more than 50 million iPhones in the first three months of 2017, the company reported in its second quarter financial results Tuesday.

Apple reported a net profit of $11 billion on revenue of $52.9 billion for the quarter, or $2.10 per diluted share, up from the $1.90 per diluted share in the year-ago quarter. The revenue figure was up 5 percent from the comparable quarter last year, with international sales making up 65 percent of the total.

Read: Siri Speaker: There's An 'Over 50% Chance' Apple Will Announce Device At June's WWDC

We are proud to report a strong March quarter, with revenue growth accelerating from the December quarter and continued robust demand for iPhone 7 Plus, Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. Weve seen great customer response to both models of the new iPhone 7 (Product)RED Special Edition, and were thrilled with the strong momentum of our Services business, with our highest revenue ever for a 13-week quarter.

The reported revenue was less than the $53.02 billion estimated by Thomson Reuters analysts.

iPhone 7 Sales

Apple sold 50.76 million iPhones, fewer than it did in the year-ago quarter when it sold 51.19 million.

Cook admitted Apple had some trouble handling the high demand for the iPhone 7 Plus.

One of the things we didn't get right was the mix between the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Demand was much stronger towards iPhone 7 Plus than we expected, he said in the companys earnings call Tuesday. Took us a little while to adjust all the way through the supply chain, to bring iPhone 7 Plus into balance, which finally occurred early in this quarter. Every time we launch something, we learn something, and we brush up our models, and apply everything we learn for next time.

Read: Apple Vs. Qualcomm: Apple Ceases Royalty Payments Amid Lawsuits, Qualcomm Stock Price Plummets

Apple sold 8.9 million iPads, down 12 percent year-over year, and sold nearly 4.2 million Macs, slightly more than a number of units the company sold a year ago.

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Heres a breakdown by product:

apple q2 2017

Photo: Apple

Heres a breakdown by region:

apple q2 2017

Photo: Apple

In Apples conference call, Cook boasted about the companys latest environment report, its new campus and the recently opened Apple Store in Dubai.

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Nokias upcoming 5.5-inch Android smartphone, the Nokia 6, has now received certification from the Federal Communications Commission as it nears its launch in the United States. The device is already available in some parts of the world, but it is hasnt officially launched stateside.

The Nokia 6s FCC certification was spotted online with a model number TA-1025. Since the handset has already received FCC approval, the Nokia 6s arrival in the U.S. is now considered imminent. However, HMD Global, the company that owns the Nokia brand and the one that manufactures its phones, has remained quiet on the devices exact release date in the country. The device has a U.K. price tag of 229.99, which should bring its price to around US$297, according to Phone Arena.

The Nokia 6 was first revealed back in February during the Mobile World Congress. At the time, HMD Global said that it was planning to release the handset globally. The popular rumor going around right now is that the Nokia 6 might be released next month in June. A U.K. retailers website recently revealed that the new Nokia 3310 would arrive in mid-June, according to a report from Metro. This adds fuel to the rumor that the Nokia 6 might be released around that same time.

Nokia has been more calculated when it comes to releasing its new phones in the U.S. Although it also revealed the Nokia 3 and Nokia 5 smartphones at MWC 2017 in February, the Nokia 6 appears to be the first of the trio to arrive in the country, as pointed out by Android Headlines. With the Nokia 6 receiving FCC certification, it does look like its close to finally being released in the U.S.

The Nokia 6 features a 5.5-inch IPS LCD display with a 1080p full HD screen resolution. The device is powered by a mid-range octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor with 3GB/4GB of RAM, 32GB/64GB of storage and a 3,000 mAh battery with fast charging support. It also features a microSD card slot that supports cards with up to 256GB storage space.

As for optics, on the back of the Nokia 6 is a 16-megapixel camera thats able to shoot full HD 1080p videos at 30 frames per second. The front-facing shooter comes with an 8-megapixel sensor. Other features include a hybrid dual-SIM tray, active noise cancelling 3.5mm headphone jack, stereo speakers, GPS, microUSB 2.0 and a front-mounted fingerprint sensor.

Overall, the device isnt really a powerhouse smartphone, but it does seem like a device fit for users who consume a lot of video content. Another perk of getting the Nokia 6 is that it will run Android 7.1.1 Nougat straight out of the box, and HMD Global is committed to bringing software updates to it as soon as possible.

Most of the smartphones in the market do not have the Android OS in the way it should be. Vendors are adding a skin on top of the OS, HMD Globals VP for Middle East and North Africa, Per Ekman said. Consumers have the right to have the latest version of the OS and we will be pushing the latest version and the patches as soon as it is available from Google.

Nokia 6

Photo: REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

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Our study shows that we dont need dark matter to understand the gamma-ray emissions of our galaxy, said Mattia Di Mauro from the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC), a joint institute of Stanford University and SLAC. Instead, we have identified a population of pulsars in the region around the galactic center, which sheds new light on the formation history of the Milky Way.

Di Mauro led the analysis for the Fermi LAT Collaboration, an international team of researchers that looked at the glow with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on NASAs Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, which has been orbiting Earth since 2008. The LAT  a sensitive eye for gamma rays, the most energetic form of light  was conceived of and assembled at SLAC, which also hosts its operations center.

The collaborations findings, submitted to The Astrophysical Journal for publication, are available as a preprint.

A Mysterious Glow

Dark matter is one of the biggest mysteries of modern physics. Researchers know that dark matter exists because it bends light from distant galaxies and affects how galaxies rotate. But they dont know what the substance is made of. Most scientists believe its composed of yet-to-be-discovered particles that almost never interact with regular matter other than through gravity, making it very hard to detect them.

One way scientific instruments might catch a glimpse of dark matter particles is when the particles either decay or collide and destroy each other. Widely studied theories predict that these processes would produce gamma rays, said Seth Digel, head of KIPACs Fermi group. We search for this radiation with the LAT in regions of the universe that are rich in dark matter, such as the center of our galaxy.

Previous studies have indeed shown that there are more gamma rays coming from the galactic center than expected, fueling some scientific papers and media reports that suggest the signal might hint at long-sought dark matter particles. However, gamma rays are produced in a number of other cosmic processes, which must be ruled out before any conclusion about dark matter can be drawn. This is particularly challenging because the galactic center is extremely complex, and astrophysicists dont know all the details of whats going on in that region.
The Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong has warned all business men and women to be weary of the Jesus Christs of business since no one can be trusted in Ghana.

Get all the latest news from Ghana here

READ ALSO: Mahama was a supervisor of corruption - Kennedy Agyapong

The successful business man and legislator made it clear on Tuesday's edition of Adom TV's Morning Show Badwam that he did not trust business people from Ghana whom he says have high tendencies of being corrupt.

If you come to me for a business advice, I will say, If you are a business man and you meet Jesus Christ and through a conversation and he says he knows Ghana, dont believe him anymore. Right there, you have to apply all the business principles because Jesus Christ who knows Ghana has been corrupted, he stated.

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Mr. Agyapong went on to say that Ghanaians do not make the best business partners as they are genetically dishonest.

By birth we [Ghanaians] are all dishonest, thats what we need to check. It is embedded in us that when you employ a Ghanaian as a CEO, hes likely not ready to steal from you but his family members will psychologically influence him to use other means to make more money which will collapse the business eventually he said.

READ ALSO: Start working and stop complaining - Nduom to Nana Addo

Kennedy Agyapong is a successful business man and politician who owns several businesses and media outlets such as popular radio station Oman FM and Net 2 TV station.

Source: YEN.com.gh
Wavebreakmedia Ltd/iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Travel to the U.S. from the Middle East has fallen 5.77 percent in the wake of President Trump's attempts at instituting a travel ban, according to a group that analyzes air travel statistics.



Just a week after taking office, Trump signed his first executive order temporarily barring travel from seven Muslim-majority nations. The move sparked chaos in airports around the U.S., with some inbound travelers already in transit detained upon landing or denied entry into the country.



After the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a decision blocking the so-called travel ban, Trump signed a new order replacing the original one; the second order halted travel from six of the countries named in the first order: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.



Though crafted to withstand a legal challenge, that order was also blocked by two federal judges on March 16.



The turmoil appears to have impacted foreigners' willingness to travel to the United States, according to the Airlines Reporting Corporation.



In the first quarter of 2016, customers purchased 406,611 fares from the Middle East to the U.S.; that number dropped to just 383,154 in the first quarter of 2017 -- a difference of more than 23,450 fares, according to the data analysis by ARC.



Those statistics are "reflective of some uncertainty," said ARC Managing Director of Enterprise Information Chuck Thackston. "Given the back-and-forth on the executive orders and the court challenges -- and we're not sure yet where that's going to shake out -- I think that uncertainty for travelers that have discretion is leading them to say, 'well, maybe this year, we'll go to a different destination.'"



Many of the lost airfares are likely from tourists, who tend to stay longer and spend more than business travelers, according to Thackston. Data suggests they may be flying to other international destinations, like Europe, instead.



Because there's a lag of about 56.9 days between searches for international travel to the U.S. and the trip itself, the travel ban could have an even stronger effect on bookings in the second quarter of this year, the U.S. Travel Association noted.



Trips to the U.S. continue to rise, but the rate of growth has slowed, from 8.5 percent in 2016 to just 5 percent in the first quarter of 2017, ARC data analysis shows.



Copyright  2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
By Ritah kemigisa

A group of activists led by human rights lawyer Andrew Karamagi and a one Brian Atuheire have petitioned the speaker of parliament and the appointments committee imploring them to decline the re-appointment of the police chief Gen Kale Kayihura.

Addressing journalists this morning, Karamagi asked that parliaments appointments committee instead interrogates Gen Kayuhuras 12 year tenure and his suitability for the position.

The activists accuse Kayihura of being partisan, brutal especially to the media and his failure to improve the welfare of the police force, a claim he has often denied.

Early this week, the media was awash with reports that President Museveni had re appointed Gen. Kale Kayihura as Inspector General of Police for another three year term, placing him at the helm of the countrys law and order agency until 2020.
By Damali Mukhaye

As Uganda joins the world to commemorate mid- wives day, the ministry of health has revealed that Uganda is in need of 3000 midwives to cover up the gap.

Addressing journalists at the ministry of health, the State Minister for Primary health care Dr.Joyce Moriku Kaducu says due to budgetary constraints Uganda has only 8000 midwives and plans are underway to recruit more midwives.

World Health Organization recommends a midwife to attend to 175 mothers annually but in Uganda the number noted doubles for majority midwives.

Moriku says that Uganda has had tremendous reduction in maternal death from 438 per 100,000 to now 336 per 100,000 live births urging the public and expectant mothers to support the works of midwives.

The main celebrations are slated to take place tomorrow in Fort portal Kabarole district under the theme midwives, mothers and families: partners for life.
Prince Philip, the 95-year-old husband of Britains Queen Elizabeth, will retire from carrying out royal engagements later this year, Buckingham Palace announced on Thursday.

The prince, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh who has been by his wifes side throughout her 65 years on the throne, had decided he would cease public duties from autumn, the palace said in a statement.

Prince Philip will attend previously scheduled engagements between now and August, both individually and accompanying The Queen, the statement said.

Thereafter, The Duke will not be accepting new invitations for visits and engagements, although he may still choose to attend certain public events from time to time.

The queen, the worlds longest-reigning living monarch who celebrated her 91st birthday in April, will continue to carry out a full program of official engagements, it added.

The announcement was made following a meeting of senior royal staff at Buckingham Palace, news of which prompted speculation about the health of the royals.

However a well-placed source said there was no cause for concern about the welfare of the queen or Philip, who turns 96 next month.

By Michael Holden | Reuters
Bruce Coyle holds a pair of feathers next to the dent left in his house after a large turkey flew into the side of his home. The collision also cracked the drywall in his bedroom, knocked a picture off the wall and tipped over a lamp.
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This past weekend we had the pleasure of celebrating my grandmothers 78th birthday, with four generations together at once. This was a great time for me to reflect on how our elders hold so much valuable information and together we are constantly learning. It made me think about some of the great literature that crosses these generations and many of them were brought to life on the big screen in the last few years to share these stories with new generations.

Although it is an older story that proceeds our living generations The Revenant, written by Michael Punke, tells the story of Hugh Glass, an expert trapper and frontiersman in the 1820s. After narrowly surviving an attack by a grizzly bear, Glass is robbed and abandoned by the two men in his company who were charged with watching over him. Left defenseless with life-threatening injuries, Glass channels his need for revenge into a will to live. Its amazing what people can do to survive. The story was brought to life on the big screen in 2015 starring Leonardo Dicaprio and Tom Hardy, proving some stories are timeless.

Stories from the living generations include The Imitation Game, written by Jim Ottaviani and released as a movie in 2014. It is an intense and haunting portrayal of a brilliant, complicated man, Alan Turing, who was an English mathematician and scientist played by Benedict Cumberbatch. His code-breaking efforts led to the cracking of the German Enigma during World War II and his work saved countless lives and accelerated the Allied defeat of the Nazis.

Set during the 1960s in Virginia, also comes a story about a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as human computers who used pencils, slide rules and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets and astronauts toward the stars supporting the U.S. in the space race against Russia. Hidden Figures: the American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race, written by Margot Lee Shetterly, makes clear from the start that it is about a trio, not a lone heroine. This story is available as a book, audio book and DVD from La Crosse County Library.

My grandma is a very avid reader and has a huge love for her library. My whole family is grateful for the services that any library can provide. The thirst for knowledge is always there and there are so many great stories that happened in these lifetimes that we are just discovering. There are so many great stories out there for all generations giving us a firm foundation to guide us for the future. These stories that have recently been brought to life on the big screen also help show how wonderful these original stories were in print!

For more information about any of our services or to find some of these great stories in print or on DVD be sure to stop by a La Crosse County Library location in Bangor, Campbell, Holmen, Onalaska or West Salem. Keep track of our upcoming programming schedules at www.lacrossecountylibrary.org or find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/lacrossecountylibrary/.
The American Legion Poppy Princess made an appearance during the West Salem Village Board Meeting Tuesday night.

The American Legion Auxiliarys long time Poppy Princess Matilda Vidal has stepped down. In her place, fifth-grader Kate Fechner has accepted the challenge.

I am supposed to represent the auxiliary and hand out poppies and collect donations, Fechner said explaining her duties to the board.

Accompanying Fechner was Nikki Vidal of the American Legion Auxiliary. The mother of the previous princess, as well as a long-time auxiliary volunteer, Vidal asked the board to adopt a proclamation naming May 2016, as Poppy Month in West Salem.

While Vidal explained the purpose the proclamation and the significance of the poppy to the American Legion, Fechner collected small donations from the board. In exchange for their donations, each board member received a red poppy.

The red paper poppy has come to symbolize the sacrifice made by members of the armed forces in wartime.

Donations go to benefit the families of veterans.

Last year we sent a special needs boy whos parents were vets to a camp, so he could experience some things others get to experience, Vidal said.

In Village Board President Dennis Mantheis absence, acting chairperson Jim Leicht signed the proclamation.

The board voted unanimously to adopt the proclamation.

Claims

The board unanimously voted to deny a claim made by village resident Marguerite Thompson for water damages on the recommendation Statewide Services.

Statewide Services, which administers claims for the League of Wisconsin Municipalities Mutual Insurance, found that the village was not at fault for a sewer backup.

Thompson claimed that a water main break on Aug. 2, 2016, may have had a role in water damage to the residence.

Director of Public Works Scott Halbrucker wrote in a statement that the damage to Thompsons property could not have been the result of a water main break because the water was contained by the sewer system.

He found that Thompsons private sewer lateral was at fault for the damage after water leaked from lateral and eventually entered her residence.

Apartment Complex

Village Attorney Bryant Klos requested the village approve a resolution to the conditional use permit issued to developer Jerry King for a 16-unit apartment complex across from the Hazel Brown Leicht Memorial Library on Neshonoc Road.

The resolution was to address changes Kings development after Klos and village engineer Dave Sauer found that a sidewalk along Neshonoc was not possible.

Klos said because of where La Crosse Countys right-of-way lays it isnt likely the village will receive approval for a sidewalk along that side of the block.

It would be really difficult to put a sidewalk on Neshonoc. It runs all the way out to be bottom of ditch there, he said. It doesnt make sense to force a sidewalk in there.

Klos also dismissed the idea of putting a crosswalk across Neshonoc to the public library.

Were just asked for someone to get run over, he said.

He said a crosswalk there would pose an unnecessary risk to the public.

The board unanimously approved the resolution 2.17 amending conditional use permit for Kings property.
Coon Valley is one of a thousand farm communities, which through the abuse of its originally rich soil, has not only filled the national dinner pailbut has created the Mississippi flood problem, the navigation problem, the overproduction problem, and the problem of its own future continuity. (From Aldo Leopolds essay Coon Valley: An Adventure in Cooperative Conservation 1935)

Gretchen and I drove through Coon Valley recently on the way home from the Amtrak station in Galesburg, Ill. The historic place sign reminded us of the importance of Coon Valley in the nations history of soil conservation efforts. We had noted on the drive through southwest Wisconsin on Highway 61 the extent to which row crops are still being planted on steep slopes of our Driftless Region. After all this time, we wondered, why?

That came to mind again a few days later when I was tossing old newspaper clippings from my files in preparation for a move to a smaller home sometime this summer. Under my byline, the story started, Conservation minded Vernon County residents are seeking to halt an increase in damaging agricultural practices in their county with agricultural land use regulations.

The story said the regulations were aimed at eliminating the continuous planting of row crops, mainly corn, on the hilly land that needs conservation practices to keep the soil from washing away.

The story appeared in the April 5, 1970, issue of the Milwaukee Journal where I worked as a reporter for eight years.

The depth of concern for soil erosion some 35 years after the launch of major efforts to control it is demonstrated by the severity of the regulations that were being proposed to make it unlawful for an owner to grow row crops on more than 25 percent of land that has a slope of more than 6 percent. Only 49,000 acres in the county have slopes of less than 6 percent. Slopes of 14 to 16 percent are commonly farmed with some farming on 20 to 25 percent, according to present-day data. The proposed regulations offered exceptions for cropping systems developed in cooperation with the local conservationist and those cropping with contour strips.

The 1970 story pointed out that land in the county was being purchased by farmers attracted by inexpensive land who tried to operate it in the same manner they would in Illinois or Iowa, That was accoding to the district conservationist at the time, Arthur Amundson. In some cases that involved farmers plowing up strips to create large fields and sometimes discarding practices put in place with taxpayer subsidies. The proposed regulation wasnt implemented.

Fast forward several decades. Sam Skemp, conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Viroqua, said in a telephone interview the pressure for all-out production and the decline in dairy farming in the 1980s and 1990s had sharply increased row cropping and contour strips were disappearing. On the positive side, he said, no-till farming methods that were implemented in those years and since have helped to hold soil. But now there is a new tillage method that lightly disturbs the surface, increasing erosion susceptibility. Its a concern. Theres no way around it, he added.

Of great concern, he said, is the increase in major rain events in the last decade that increase the damage from erosion. Overall, I have to say, people are becoming more and more concerned about how sensitive the landscape is. But more needs to be done, he added, especially with the new weather patterns.

The 2014 Farm Bill requires farmers comply with conservation measures on highly erodible soils to be eligible for farm subsidies such as crop insurance premiums. That gives the NRCS some leverage, except in cases where a farmer doesnt want to participate in the programs or has income above program limits.

But, in short, after more than 80 years, soil erosion problems continue, resisting efforts of all manner of subsidy, education and cajoling. Row crops on steep slopes continue to send sediment and pollutants down the rivers to contribute to the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. In spite of the farm bill restrictions, farmers will likely continue to get a pass on enforcement in this era of rule rollbacks. Why? Well because theyre farmers and thats the way it has always been.

Thats what we do in Wisconsin. We farm, said Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, in defense of his bill that limits state oversight of high capacity agricultural wells.

Yes, we farm. But at what cost? At what cost to the resources of land and water? There are generations now removed from the farm roots many of us have who see this issue in a different light, and they will be holding agriculture to account. I predict it will not take another 80 years.
A villager in a community in Peru told Dean and Nancy McHugh she believes Holmen must be a community of angels.

She was among the residents who have been helped by a safe-water project supported by the Holmen Area Rotary Club. As representatives of HARC, the McHughs visited Peru in early April to check on the safe-water projects HARC has sponsored in villages built on the hills outside Lima.

Working with Rotarian partners in Peru, HARC has been helping to install bio-sand water filters to serve some 5,000 families who arent served by Limas central water system.

Getting the water isnt the problem; its just contaminated, Dean said. It contains parasites and fecal matter. The Rimac River is one of the most polluted rivers in the world.

Residents in the outlying villages are supplied with water from the river to cisterns standing outside each home. To process the polluted water, residents pour water from their cisterns into the bio-sand filters.

Made of cement, the rectangular bio-sand filters stand about a meter tall. The top part of the filter contains beneficial bacteria that neutralize many of the contaminants in the river water. The discolored water flows down through the sand and gravel in the filter and comes out clear and drinkable.

The filters need to have water poured into them each day to keep the good bacteria active. However, a recent natural disaster raised concern the filters might not be working because peoples daily lives have been disrupted by flooding.

Although a coastal town, Lima is a desert city, generally receiving between one and three inches of rain annually. Since last December, the area received more than 25 inches of rain. Because of the lack of vegetation, the hillsides werent held in place by plants, and the storm water caused flooding and landslides. Over 650,000 Peruvians have been affected, 145,000 homes damaged and over 12,000 homes completely destroyed.

The devastation might have prevented residents from keeping the water filter units charged; without the daily supply of water, the beneficial bacteria die.

We needed to see if the filters were still working after the flooding, Dean said, but we couldnt get to where our projects are because of the flooding. We were able to meet with Rotarians and workers in our nonprofit partner organizations who are working to ensure the filters are still operating.

Many rural Peruvians migrate to the capital looking for work. Often those fortunate enough to find employment receive only about $2 a day.

People flock to the city, Dean said. Sometimes the villages seem to pop up overnight. There are more people than opportunities.

HARC collaborates with the members of the La Molina Vieja Rotary Club in Lima. Along with supporting the installation of bio-sand filters in residences, Rotary is working with cooperatives to establish centralized water processing systems in some of the Peruvian communities to serve multiple homes.

Theres no universal solution to water problems, Dean said. It depends on the contaminants as to which treatment works. But, scientists have said the water problem could be solved for the entire world for the amount of money spent on cosmetics each year.

Along with putting the bio-sand filters into individual residences, HARC has also established water processing systems that serve multiple homes in other areas of Peru.

HARC is also part of RI-sponsored sanitation projects in northern Peru with the goal of keeping fecal matter from entering the river in the first place. Another aspect of the sanitation project is installing restrooms for residences.

It is estimated about 663 million people around the world dont have access to safe water, a decrease from an estimated 1.1 billion people 10 years ago.

Its (the struggle for clean water) going the right way, Nancy said. A lot of kids were getting sick and dying. After the filters went in, there was a significant decrease in water borne illnesses.

With access to clean water, the residents of the villages are healthier, resulting in a 70 percent decrease in hospital visits by children due to water-borne diseases as well as improving residents lives and communities.

A former president of HARC, Dean is now serving as Rotary Internationals District Governor for the southern and west central Wisconsin district.

The McHughs have visited Peru four times, developing close ties and great friendships with Rotarians in Lima. The Lima area club members assist the Holmen visitors with housing as well as in-country travel and other arrangements.

We have trusted partners on the other end, Nancy said. What helps is Dean speaks Spanish. He was an exchange student in Columbia.

The couple is planning to go to Peru again in November on a friendship and cultural exchange trip.

An international service organization, RI has over 1.2 million members forming 35,000 clubs and representing over 200 countries and geographic areas. In addition to the water and sanitation projects, the organizations missions include disease prevention and treatment, promoting education and literacy, supporting infant and maternal health, promoting peace and conflict resolution and growing local economies.

HARC meets at 7 a.m. Wednesday mornings at the Holmen Village Hall and visitors and new members are always welcome to attend.
Caledonia Area Public Schools Superintendent Ben Barton is supportive of State Representative Greg Davids (R-Preston) joining the Minnesota House Omnibus Taxes Bill Conference Committee as co-chairman.

According to Davids team, he has added a provision to the bill that will allow the Caledonia Area Public Schools to save $7 million in repayment for the 2001 state capital loan used to build the Caledonia High School and Middle School building and retrofit the Caledonia Elementary School.

The building cost approximately $25 million, Barton said. We were having a difficult time paying for that so we received approximately $15 million as a capital loan through the state for then we paid the other $10 million through a bond.

According to Barton, the loan is meant for districts with lower property values. If less than 29 percent of the anticipated net tax capacity is paid back in 50 years then the loan is forgiven.

Caledonia is unique because we have higher property taxes, he said. We had collected the 29 percent because we have a significant amount of taxes.

In 2011, there was legislature that forgave Minnesota school districts that received the loan before 2000. Caledonia had received their loan in 2001.

We went to State Senator Jeremy Miller (R- Winona) and Davids, he said. We wanted to see the money come back to the community. If they were forgiving debt, we wanted them to take all the interest in the last 15 years and bring it back to the community. Which is the provision; a $7 million property tax credit.

The Minnesota House Omnibus Taxes Bill Conference Committee, made up of five representatives and five senators, hopes to also restore income tax reciprocity with Wisconsin.

We are working very hard to get tax reciprocity in the conference committee report as well as maximum effort loan provisions, not only for Caledonia but other schools around the state, Davids said.
The Houston County Board of Commissioners Public Hearing disintegrated into technicalities about the Erickson Sand Mines conditional use permit that ultimately ended without any final decisions.

The case found itself at the April 25 county board hearing after Houston County District Court Judge Carmaine Sturino ruled in February 2017 that the Erickson Sand Mine in Yucatan Townshipowned by Tracie and Michelle Ericksonhad violated the countys ordinance on property setbacks. The ordinance requires that the road be at least 50-feet away from surrounding landowners property.

The violation was brought to court after a group of surrounding landownersCory and Jackie Baker, Rosemary Iverson, and Bryan and Susan Van Gorppresented a list of violations to the Houston County Board of Adjustments. According to the group, the board ignored the violations and sided with the Ericksons in February 2016.

The group appealed the Board of Adjustments decision in March 2016.

After about a year in court, Sturino sent the case back to the Houston County Board of Commissioners, which decided in March 2017 that it would not appeal her decision. The Erickson Sand Mine was also ordered not to use the road. The board has the power to revoke or enforce the mines conditional use permit.

The public hearing was the boards opportunity to hear from both sides in the case, as well as the public.

After hearing the days testimonies, Houston County attorney Jay Squires recommended that the board direct staff to complete a findings of fact process for the side that the majority wanted to pursue.

In preparation for the hearing, the board visited the Erickson Sand Mine April 18.

This is a long-time issue, Commissioner Jack Miller said. I want it to be clear that we are talking about the road access issue. I dont care if they are mining uranium, gold or frac sand.

The Erickson Sand Mine has been in operation since 1992. They have to renew their conditional use permit every five years; the most recent renewal was in 2014.

After Sturinos judgement on Feb. 2, 2017, the sand mine took it upon themselves to move the road at least 50 feet away from the Baker property. According to the Ericksons, it is now 75-feet away.

They have moved the road completely, said Michael Kruckow of Bonanza Grain and Kruckow Rock Products. Normally, you are given 30 to 60 days to come into compliance. As soon as the road was seen as non-compliance, it was moved to 75 feet away from the Baker property. The only thing removed was an eight-foot dead tree stump.

However, Miller said there was still a problem.

If somebody slit my arm and then they stitched it back up and said, There, its fine. Its not fine. I didnt want a scar on my arm. There needs to be some repercussions, he said.

When the sand mines first conditional use permit was issued in 1992, the countys ordinance required the road to be 30 feet away from other property. According to Kruckow, the road was around 22 to 27 feet away from the property.

When the group of local landowners approached the board, they claimed that the old road had been used since the judges order.

Screening has been cut. We have pictures of them using the road after Judge Sturinos ruling, Bryan Van Gorp said. The property was out of compliance. Thats the boards decision, not the Ericksons decision.

This is a five-year-long history of violation, he added.

The group also gave a list of other violations they believe that the Erickson Sand Mine has committed.

They also referenced a state law that states if an environmental assessment worksheet (EAW) is in process then a conditional use permit cannot be issued. They claimed that during the 2014 renewal process, there was an EAW that was never terminated.

I was told that we were only speaking about the road issue, Tracie Erickson said. This has completely gone on about different things ... I wish the rules had been more obvious to the people playing.

The Ericksons claimed that the commissioners point of view has been skewed because the landowners group had sent them documents pertaining to the mine before the meeting. Both parties had been asked to send any supporting documents to Squires, who would send it to the commissioners.

I want to address your arm analogy, Erickson said. You, the county, as self-admitted were in the wrong. So really you would be cutting your own arm and then stitched your own arm. Thats the countys problem.

Commissioner Justin Zmyewski said that he has no control over what is sent to him and that the Ericksons were assuming that he had read the email.

We have been painted out as rule-breakers, Michelle Erickson said. Court case after court case ... This is a part of our livelihood. We have been through false claims that our land was on Indian grounds. That we have been frac sanding. My husband has been publicly accused of plotting murder ... The 16 other complaints were dismissed by the judge.

The Ericksons also claimed that Miller had already made his decision before the hearing.

On Thursday, March 21, you told Cory Baker that you would like to meet with him, Michelle said. You said I will wait for the day for reckoning. Where is the impartiality?

Miller said that he would meet with anyone.

After separate motions to pursue revocation or enforcement of the conditional use permit failed, the board decided to ask Squires to put together both sides findings of fact. This was Commissioner Fred Arnolds request.
Diane Holmay launched her nursing career four decades ago with a scrappy spirit  an attitude she has nurtured as a trailblazer to enhance nurses roles and womens health care in the Coulee Region and nationally.

Having decided she wanted to work in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit even before she applied for a job at then-St. Francis Hospital in La Crosse, Holmay revealed her zeal to heal when she was hired as a hospital-based medical-surgery nurse, as was common in that era.

I knew I wanted babies to be my niche, so I had to talk Sister Joyce into it, Holmay said of the late Sister Joyce Bantle, a longtime nurse and administrator at the hospital who died in 2015 at the age of 93.

Neonatal intensive care units, which feature ventilators and other advanced measures to care for premature and other fragile infants, were a novel concept when Holmay received her nursing degree from Winona State University.

In the NICU, caring for very sick babies, they didnt want you to make mistakes  well, they didnt want mistakes anywhere, Holmay said during an interview this week reflecting on her 40 years at what morphed into Franciscan Skemp Medical Center before merging into Mayo Clinic Health System-Franciscan Healthcare.

NICU takes certain kind of person

Working in the NICU took a certain kind of person, she said. Staff nurses at that time were not as skillful as they are now.

Holmay, a Winona native who plans to retire as chief nursing officer for Mayos southwest Wisconsin region this summer, will be recognized for her service in several roles during a Nurses Day celebration today at Mayo-Franciscan, in advance of National Nurses Week next week.

That service included becoming a mentor as well as an advocate for the nursing staff, Holmays co-workers say.

She promotes the profession of nursing, said LuAnne Kratt, Mayo-Franciscans emergency room director. She is very approachable. She takes time even when she is very busy and an issue arises, Kratt said.

Diane listens intently to find a resolution that is a win-win for everybody, she said.

She encourages nurses and is very hands on, Kratt said. She is a big advocate for shared decision-making involving counsel, bedside nurses and patients.

Dr. Tim Johnson, who heads Mayo-Franciscan as a regional vice president for the Mayo Clinic, said Holmay has excelled in every initiative she has been involved with at the hospital.

She has brought an incredible wealth of experience and broadened the knowledge on all levels  from nurses, to the hospitals and the clinic, Johnson said.

Similar accolades come from Pamela Johnson, chief nursing officer at the Mayo Clinic who chairs the systems nursing department.

Diane has led her professional life with such grace, commitment and quiet strength. Her passion and a sense of purpose have always put the patient at the center, she said.

Diane has inspired, Pamela Johnson said.

To hone her skills, Holmay took advance training in Madison to earn her status as a neonatal nurse practitioner, with duties including resuscitating and intubating babies, inserting arterial lines and other technical procedures with incredibly fragile infants.

NNPs went to all high-risk deliveries as well as on house calls for emergencies, said Holmay, who was an NNP for 11 years.

Womens health trailblazer

A member of the committee that formulated the directive of the hospitals Center for Womens Health when it was created in 1993, Holmay became its director to forge a path when many in the health care field doubted the need for such an endeavor.

The best part of that was figuring out what we could do for women and what they wanted, Holmay recalled.

That included developing Safe Path, Mayo-Franciscans domestic abuse and sexual assault program that is a common part of patient care now, Holmay said.

Everything we started seemed to be controversial, and there were a lot of hurdles, she said. It was pretty exciting.

Safe Path led to the SANE initiative, an acronym that stands for Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program and fostered the now-routine ER treatment of sexual assault victims. The center also began offering alternative therapies such as massage, hormone and others.

People recoiled from trigger words such as breast health and depression at the beginning, Holmay said.

We really introduced to the community care for menopause and breast health, she said. I couldnt get an audience for breast health, until we used more general terms. Depression  I couldnt get anybody to talk about it.

Wearing down the resistance was beneficial not only to patients but the community in general, she said, adding that a national speaker once remarked that he never had seen such an educated audience.

Holmay also became involved in marketing, which involved further efforts to determine patient needs and tailor programs to meet them, she said.

We produce the best care when we ask patients what they need, Holmay said. The womens health center opened to meet unmet needs.

That was beneficial at a time when the hospitals market share of OB patients was declining, she said.

If I hadnt been involved with that, I wouldnt have the understanding, she said. For OB, women seeking a positive experience turn into shoppers, instead of going to just a random hospital for routine procedures such as having their appendixes out.

Holmay, who said her membership in national womens health associations allowed her to influence nursing practices on a larger scale, said nursing is an education-intense field in which nurses continue outside training even as they practice day to day.

Nurses help make best decisions

She also is a strong advocate of having nurses involved in decision-making, along with primary and other practitioners, along with patients.

Nurses are closest to patients  sometimes even closer than doctors, she said. Having nurses at the table, along with physicians and administrators, can make the best decisions.

Holmay and her husband, Steve, live in Winona and have three adult children, as well as three grandchildren, who will get plenty of her attention when she retires in August.

After she catches up on her sleep, she said, laughing as she added, It will be nice not to get up at 4:45 in the morning.

Thats not to say she wont miss nursing, she said.

The days I miss most are my NNP days, when you get to save a life, she said, smiling and pausing in reflection. Its great when a young person comes up to me and says, My parents told me you saved my life.

I feel I have been able to influence nursing and nursing care in a big way.
Medicaid works in Wisconsin. Everyone in our state has benefited from its positive impact, though we may not always recognize it.

In Wisconsin, Medicaid funded programs keep older adults and people with disabilities in their homes and out of expensive institutions, makes sure babies are born healthy and kids get the health care they need, helps people with mental health and addiction recover, and provides health-care security for low-income working adults.

Wisconsin receives a tremendous return on investment from Medicaid, and the impact of a high-quality system in the lives of the people who rely on it is almost incalculable.

Medicaid is an investment in the health of the workforce that drives Wisconsins economy. When people have access to preventative health care they can avoid getting sick and better manage chronic conditions, keeping them in the workforce and out of hospitals.

Medicaid-funded supports allow family caregivers to keep their jobs instead of being forced to leave the workforce  jeopardizing their own financial futures  to care for family members. In addition, Medicaid helps support the health-care sector and provides tens of thousands of jobs to help support Wisconsins economy, and the health-care infrastructure and services we all need.

Wisconsins Medicaid investment has saved state taxpayer dollars. Cost saving and health enhancing home and community-based care and supports account for 40 percent of Wisconsins Medicaid budget, although they are rarely mentioned in the debate over health-care reform.

Programs like Family Care have allowed people needing long-term care to remain in their homes rather than ending up in much more expensive institutional settings. Proactive prenatal services and care coordination help reduce costly neonatal intensive care admissions.

Under the Affordable Care Act nearly a quarter of a million more Wisconsinites have health insurance. This increase in coverage has benefited Wisconsins economy and its citizens. Hospital-based uncompensated care costs have decreased by more than $500 million from 2013 to 2015, lowering costs to hospitals and reducing cost shifting to health-care consumers.

We have opportunities to make Medicaid dollars work even harder for Wisconsin. By expanding Medicaid coverage and letting more people participate in Badger Care, Wisconsin stands to gain $190 million in annual savings. There are no cost savings when people are allowed to remain sick. Wisconsins public policy should promote improved access to health-care coverage and care instead of denying and excluding people from health care.

Wisconsin must stand up to harmful Congressional proposals. National health care reform that hurts Wisconsins low-income seniors, children, people with disabilities and mental-health conditions, low-income pregnant women and low-income working people costs us all more.

Congresss most recent approach to health-care reform would change the Affordable Care Act and dramatically cut Medicaid funding to states. The people of Wisconsin have much to lose. Congress proposes to pass on to states the hard decisions about waiting lists, service reductions or terminations, rationed care and access to needed services for vulnerable populations. Moreover, nothing in the recent health-care proposal addresses the actual drivers of health-care costs  it only reduces the funding available to states to address these costs.

Because Wisconsin did not elect the Medicaid expansion, has already achieved significant Medicaid savings by investing in community care for people with disabilities and elderly Wisconsinites, and has the lowest per capita Medicaid spending for children in the nation  Wisconsin stands to be one of the biggest losers under the health care reform proposal currently being considered in Congress.

According to the language of the proposal in Congress, any attempt by Wisconsin to make up the difference in Medicaid funding will be met by a dollar-for-dollar reduction in federal funding. That is not flexibility  that is an unfunded mandate to reduce coverage, care and support for our most vulnerable citizens.

Its time for Wisconsin to recognize the value of Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act to its people, the economy and our state. We cant afford any less.
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Wednesday, May 3, 2017

A disciplinary case argued today (link here) before the Ohio Supreme Court in a matter involving protracted dishonesty clearly engaged the court's interest.

The court's questions to both counsel showed an acute awareness of the public interest in bar regulation.

From the audio web page

The Board of Professional Conduct recommends a one-year suspension, with six months stayed, for Bowling Green attorney Andrew R. Schuman. The board determined that Schuman charged an excessive fee as a guardian ad litem, improperly started garnishment proceedings against one of the parents, altered documents submitted to the court, and misrepresented to the court the amount he was owed.

Scott Drexel for the Board on Professional Responsibility articulates the reasons favoring an actual suspension for the conceded misconduct. Jeffrey Nunnari for the Respondent makes a plea for individualized (favorable) consideration that draws a fair degree of pushback from various justices.

Worth watching and at under 27 minutes this video offers an excellent law school teaching tool on the wages of sin. (Mike Frisch)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2017/05/a-disciplinary-case-argued-today-link-herebefore-the-ohio-supreme-court-in-a-matter-involving-protracted-dishonesty.html
Thursday, May 4, 2017

The Indiana Supreme Court has ordered a 30-day suspension with automatic reinstatement for misconduct arising from an attorney's relationship with a Florida debt relief service business

The Commission filed a Verified Complaint for Disciplinary Action against Respondent on September 28, 2015, alleging numerous rule violations arising out of Respondents relationship with McCann Law Group, d/b/a Consumer Attorney Services, P.A. (CAS), a Florida corporation that purported to offer clients services relating to bankruptcy, mortgage modification, and foreclosure defense.

CAS advertised its services to consumers in Florida and elsewhere, including Indiana, and solicited local counsel in states other than Florida. Under the terms of CASs contractual arrangements with clients and local counsel, most client work was handled by central staff (including lawyers and nonlawyer assistants) in Florida, with local counsels involvement generally limited to aspects of the case requiring a local attorneys services. In a typical case, prospective clients would discuss their options with a CAS intake paralegal and then enter into a representation agreement with CAS. CAS typically charged clients an upfront nonrefundable fee and, in many instances, ongoing monthly fees.

In 2012 Respondent signed agreements with CAS, first as an associate and later as a partner, under which Respondent would provide discrete services to CASs Indiana bankruptcy and foreclosure defense clients. CAS entered into similar agreements with other Indiana attorneys as well. Respondent received fixed sums for select services, sums that represented only a small fraction of the total fee charged to clients by CAS. As a partner, Respondent also received $25 for every case assigned to other CAS-associated attorneys in Indiana as well as minimum wage for 10-20 hours per week as partner pay.

Respondents role in these cases generally was as follows. A CAS paralegal would assign a case to Respondent after the client had signed a representation agreement with CAS. Respondent then would perform a welcome call to the client and explain that he would be the boots in the trenches for CAS, assisting the client either through mortgage modification services or foreclosure defense. In most instances though, Respondents sole objective was to get the mortgagee to agree to a modification. CASs business model contemplated that most document preparation and client communication would be performed by CAS staff in Florida. However, Respondent testified he reviewed all pleadings and made changes where warranted before signing and filing them, and he testified he made himself available to clients above and beyond the welcome call CAS paid him to make.

Note

We have examined CASs business model and arrangements with Indiana attorneys twice before. In Consumer Attorney Services, P.A. v. State, 71 N.E.3d 362 (Ind. 2017), we affirmed the denial of summary judgment for CAS and its principal member in a suit brought by our Attorney General, holding neither defendant was exempt from civil liability under various consumer protection statutes. In Matter of Jackson, 24 N.E.3d 419 (Ind. 2015), we approved agreed discipline for another CAS-associated Indiana attorney. The present case comes to us in a different posture than either of those cases though, and we confine our analysis today to the specific issues, evidence, and arguments now before us.

The court rejected some charges but found improper fee splitting

Reviewing de novo the record before us, we conclude that the evidence shows Respondent was not in the same firm as CAS for purposes of Rule 1.5(e). CASs agreements with clients and with local counsel assigned responsibility for most tasks to CAS central staff in Florida and generally limited local counsels responsibilities to only those tasks requiring a local counsel, provisions that seemingly would be unnecessary if CAS and its contracted local counsel were truly in the same firm. Further, Respondents associate agreement expressly identified and treated Respondent as an independent contractor. Under both that agreement and his subsequent partner agreement, he was paid small sums for discrete services, sums that amounted to a very small fraction of the amounts charged to the clients by CAS. Respondent maintained his own law firm (Wall Legal Services) throughout his relationship with CAS, and he used his own firm name and letterhead in legal pleadings and letters sent to clients and others in connection with CAS cases. While no one factor necessarily is dispositive, the evidence in its totality leads us to conclude Respondent and CAS were not in the same firm. Accordingly, we find that Respondent violated Rule 1.5(e)

And unreasonable fees

we readily conclude from the evidence that Respondent did assist CAS in charging an unreasonable fee. That Respondent was not aware of the precise amount billed to any client is immaterial in these circumstances. As Respondent acknowledged in his testimony, nonrefundable retainers generally are permissible in Indiana only to the extent they pay to reserve the attorneys time and availability. See Matter of OFarrell, 942 N.E.2d 799 (Ind. 2011). Respondent knew that CASs representation agreements called for clients to be charged about $1,200 as a nonrefundable retainer, which according to the agreements was to reserve local counsels time to review the file, and yet CAS paid Respondent only $75 to review the file and perform a welcome call for the client. Further, Respondent knew that CAS charged clients recurring monthly fees (usually between $400 to $1,300) that were not tied to the work being done on the clients case. (Tr. at 90-96). Accordingly, we find Respondent assisted CAS in charging clients an unreasonable fee, in violation of Rules 8.4(a) and 1.5(a).

But not dishonesty

We have explored elsewhere in this opinion, and indeed on several other occasions, the perils of this type of business model. Reviewing this record de novo, however, we simply cannot conclude that Respondents conduct was dishonest or deceitful in the manner contemplated by Rule 8.4(c). Respondents involvement with CAS unquestionably was ill-advised in many respects, but the evidence shows Respondents actions were not done with the intent to deceive anyone or to generate quick fees with little work at the expense of his clients. Nor is there any evidence of persons being misled by Respondents identification as a partner on CASs website. Thus, we find no violation of Rule 8.4(c).

The court expressed particular concern about the aiding of unauthorized law practice.

Having reached this conclusion, it follows that Respondent assisted in the unauthorized practice of law. The observation we made with respect to a similar arrangement in Dilk holds equally true here: Without the involvement of Respondent, the [company] could not have provided the services they offered to homeowners. Selling the assistance of an attorney to defend a foreclosure action was a necessary part of their business model. Id. at 1265. We acknowledge Respondents testimony that he sometimes provided services for his CAS clients above and beyond what was minimally required of him under his agreements with CAS, and that he subjectively believed he was treating his CAS clients on a similar footing with his other clients. These factors mitigate, but do not excuse, Respondents misconduct. CAS was engaged in the unauthorized practice of law, and Respondent assisted in that endeavor. Accordingly, we find Respondent violated Rule 5.5(a).

(Mike Frisch)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2017/05/the-indiana-supreme-court-has-ordered-a-30-day-suspension-with-automatic-reinstatement-for-misconduct-arising-from-an-attorne.html
1 A streak of light is seen in the night sky as the U.S. military test fires an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at Vandenberg Air Force Base, some 200 kilometers northwest of Los Angeles, California.
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After reporting the theft to police Thursday  and after the report was publicized on Friday  the woman's husband found the ring over the weekend, police said.
Have writer's block? Hopefully this resource will help librarians identify publishing and presentation opportunities in library & information science, as well as other related fields. I will include calls for papers, presentations, participation, reviewers, and other relevant notices that I find on the web. If you find anything to be posted, please drop me a note. thanks -- Corey Seeman, University of Michigan(cseeman@umich.edu)
With the political unrest and anti-Semitic atmosphere in France, many French Jews have been leaving the country in growing numbers in the past few years.

According to the Jewish Agency for Israel, 7,835 individuals immigrated to Israel from France in 2015, and 2016 saw a lesser, though still significant, 5,000 new immigrants. Israels Central Bureau of Statistics reports that 24 percent of all immigrants in 2015 were from France, with 20.8 percent of them settled in the Tel Aviv district.

There, they struggle to integrate into a new country, new culture, and new lifestyle. Many cant make it; an estimated 10-35 percent return to their home country.

Some of these French immigrants have a difficult time finding their place in the community, says Chabad emissary Estie Arnauve, who moved to Tel Aviv in May with her husband Yisrolik to provide Jewish and communal services for the French Jews living there. They have a hard time integrating into the society due to the differences in the culture and language.

The Arnauves will be offering programs geared specifically toward French immigrants and students studying in Israel.

Our goal is to create a base for the French community here, Estie Arnauve explains. We will be offering classes and activities in their native tongue, as well as events like Shabbat dinners where they can socialize with other French Jews.

Both flluent Hebrew speakers, the couple spent some time in Tel Aviv pre-move, and has already started conducting classes with the French students each of which is attended by about 30 people.

Many of us students are here studying alone, away from our families and our communities, says Jeremy, a Parisian transplant who is currently doing an internship in Tel Aviv. To have a place where I can meet other French students and listen to a class in French is really special. I am looking forward to having the Arnauves live here and to help them with the great work that they do.

Sometimes, observes Esti, French Jews who were traditionally observant back in France feel that they are lacking the insightful and joyous experiences of Judaism because they dont know where to go for Jewish services, or arent affiliated with a Jewish community.

Living in Tel Aviv, which is one of Israels more secular communities, just makes it more difficult.

There are currently about 40,000 French Jews in Tel Aviv, with many of them moving to the north to take advantage of housing developments there. The Arnauves are targeting north Tel Aviv and the community in the area around the port, as there are other Chabad representatives serving French Jews in other parts of Tel Aviv.

The Arnauves, who will be operating under the direction of Tel Avivs head emissary Rabbi Yosef Gerlitzky, will become the 50th branch of Chabad of Tel Aviv.

To learn more about Chabad of North Tel Aviv, visit their Facebook page, Beth Loubavitch Tel Aviv. To donate, click here.
BEIJING - Dubbed "April Snow," poplar and willow catkins have been blamed for triggering half of Beijing's fires last month, according to the municipal fire department.



The department received 686 fire alarms in April, 346 of which were reportedly caused by highly-flammable catkins.



One severe catkin-triggered fire destroyed 90 vehicles in a parking lot in Chaoyang District. More than 50 fire engines were sent to the scene.



The city government Tuesday mobilized resources and personnel to help clear catkins from residential areas, schools, gas stations, warehouses, bus stops, historical buildings, parks and construction sites.



On Monday and Tuesday alone, over 400 fire engines and 300 water trucks sprayed 8,750 tonnes of water in these key areas to stop catkins floating in the air.



According to the municipal landscaping bureau, poplar and willow trees help combat air pollution. A poplar tree with 20 cm diameter can annually assimilate 172 kg of carbon dioxide, discharge 125 kg of oxygen and stop 16 kg of dust.



Under urban landscaping campaigns in the 1980s, more than 3 million poplar and willow trees were planted along Beijing's urban roads and rivers.



However, most of those planted were female trees which produce massive amounts of catkins.



In addition to causing fire hazards, the catkins cause allergies in urban residents besieged by air pollution.



Du Jianjun, an official at the bureau, said in recent years, the bureau has injected a substance into the trees to change their sex and reduce the amount of catkins produced.



"We can't solve the catkin problem simply by cutting down the trees. The current sex change program takes not only time, but also substantial costs and human resources," he said.



This year, the bureau will treat 400,000 of the 2 million poplar and willow trees in Beijing. Du said.



The bureau plans to solve the catkin problem by 2020.


TWIN FALLS  Idaho Gives is one day your donation will make a difference all year.

The online day of giving today is in its fifth year supporting hundreds of nonprofits across the state. Last year, Idaho Gives surpassed the $1 million mark for the second year  nearly matching 2015s record of $1.08 million  and raised $1,053,681.

This year, organizers hope to break the fundraisers 2015 record. But they cant do it without the publics help.

I would strongly encourage people to participate and help our community, local organizer Saul Vega said. Running a nonprofit, I think a lot of times people forget they are not generating a bunch of money on their own and need the community to be involved.

More than 80 nonprofits in south central Idaho are taking part in Idaho Gives. The Idaho Nonprofit Center, which holds Idaho Gives, has set a goal of raising $1 for every adult in Idaho or about $1.2 million. Idaho Gives has raised more than $3.5 million for charitable causes in the state since 2012. The minimum for online donations is $10. In addition to reaching potential new donors, nonprofits stand to share in an award pool that has a number of prizes throughout the day.

We depend on donations

Wanda Harris, Salvation Army family services coordinator, said the money raised during Idaho Gives is extremely important to the Twin Falls nonprofit.

On average, 50 people a day stop by the Salvation Army for its free hot lunch. Another 50 people get food through its bread line. Last week, 590 people were served through the nonprofits various programs that include food boxes, hygiene items and hot showers.

As summer approaches, the need increases.

As the weather has gotten better, its actually increased, Harris said. I am seeing more homeless people come to our area. And as school closes well see more families with children coming here. We depend on donations 100 percent from the community.

Life-saving treatments

Interlink Volunteer Caregivers is helping more people than ever in its 20 year history. IVC, a nonprofit that provides volunteer assistance to the elderly, frail, chronically ill and disabled, has participated in Idaho Gives for the past five years.

Last year, IVC assisted 6,256 people in all eight counties of the Magic Valley. Edie Schab, executive director, said the need is rising as more baby boomers are reaching retirement age and more people are moving to Idaho due to a low cost of living. In 2015, IVC took over the Office on Agings senior transportation program and is now the only organization in southern Idaho providing no-cost transportation to those that qualify.

Schab said Idaho Gives not only raises money for nonprofits, but also brings awareness to the various causes while attracting new and younger donors.

IVC transports people to literally life-saving treatments such as kidney dialysis three times per week, chemotherapy and radiation treatments, Schab said. Without IVC, people would be forced to move from their homes into care facilities. IVC saves our community and its taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars by keeping people in their homes and out of nursing homes.

Volunteers needed

The south-central Idaho chapter of Court Appointed Special Advocates is need of more volunteers. And a donation on Thursday can help the nonprofit recruit and train volunteers.

Last year, CASA helped 485 abused and neglected children in court cases. The nonprofit currently has 45 volunteers, which is about 10 fewer than it typically has. CASA is especially low in Burley and Rupert.

We are in real need of volunteer advocates and all our efforts are being put into the training and recruitment, said Tahna Barton, executive director. Its the lowest since Ive been here, and Ive been here for nine years.

This is the fourth year the nonprofit has participated in Idaho Gives.

Any contribution to our program is valued, Barton said. We depend on our community. We depend on them for every facet  $10 can make a difference. Ten people donating $10 can make a huge difference to nonprofits because it starts to build up.
Harold Joseph Cavener, 89, of Paul passed away Tuesday, May 2, 2017 at his home. Funeral services are pending and will be announced by Joel Heward Hansen Mortuary.

Edith Thueson Darrington, 88, of Twin Falls, passed away on April 30, 2017 at her home. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of White Mortuary, Chapel by the Park.

Marian Russell passed away May 2, 2017 at Woodstone Assisted Living Center, Twin Falls, Idaho with her family at her side. Arrangements are pending under the direction of Parkes Magic Valley Funeral Home, Twin Falls, Idaho.

Mary J. Flinn, 70, of Hagerman, died Wednesday, May 3, 2017 at a Twin Falls hospital. Cremation is under the direction of Farnsworth Mortuary, Jerome.
It's not the beginning of the end for the GOP's bid to repeal Obamacare -- but it might just be the end of the beginning.

If House Speaker Paul Ryan manages to finally muscle through the GOP health bill on Thursday, he will temper a damaging period of false starts, soul-searching and splits in his party that tarnished the start of Donald Trump's presidency.

House Republicans will finally be able to go home to their districts for next week's recess and tell their frustrated base they have at least made a down payment on their repeated campaign vows to kill the Affordable Care Act.

Ryan, who was first forced to pull the bill in late March, will regain some luster for a speakership that had threatened to go down the same unprofitable path as his predecessor John Boehner -- who was driven to distraction by the recalcitrant conservatives in his caucus.

When he failed to make good on a push to pass Obamacare repeal the first time, Ryan had told reporters that moving from an opposition party, as the GOP was in the Obama years, to a governing party in control of Congress comes with "growing pains."

A narrow vote to pass the American Health Care Act on Thursday would not represent a coming of age for the Republican majority, but it will at least restore confidence that the GOP can come together to pass an agenda that had been assumed before the health care debacle, to herald a new era of conservative governance.

And last, and certainly not least, a vote to move the bill to the Senate on Thursday would represent a much needed break for Trump.

The President has struggled to assert his authority on Washington since taking office -- after telling his fired up and loyal voters he would do just that and change the way the gridlocked capital works. It became a cliche of the reviews of his first 100 days that the President was yet to celebrate a major legislative victory.

The White House has had to endure a barrage of criticism as the conservative majority has fiddled over Obamacare repeal. Often the President has seem ill-informed about actually what is in the evolving bill, in a way that has undercut his claims to be the ultimate dealmaker.

But all that could change Thursday.

Some Republican House members were keen to play their part with a vote in sight on Wednesday, talking up the President for his role, even though some sources had previously described his frequent interventions as counterproductive.

"He's been all over this like a dog on a bone," Rep. Bill Flores of Texas said.

"I think the President's done a pretty good job laying his cards on the table."

Before they celebrate...

But the lesson of recent weeks means no House Republican will be complacent. They still need to pass the bill.

Though GOP leaders said they would not put the measure on the floor if they weren't sure they had the votes, there's no cast iron guarantee it passes until the gavel slams down.

One key Republican source close to the health care battle told CNN's Jim Acosta that no one knows for sure if the 216 votes Ryan needs to pass the bill are secure. And the speaker can afford to lose no more than 22 members of his conference if the bill is to go through.

Even so, Republican leaders, apparently relieved with forward movement, chose to put on an upbeat face on Wednesday night.

"We're gonna pass it. We're gonna pass it!" Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters. "Let's be optimistic about life."

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus told CNN's Gloria Borger meanwhile he is "optimistic" about the vote.

Ready to give vote and move on

Despite their optimism, there's an undeniable air of fatigue and desperation surrounding the vote.

Many on the Republican side seemed so wrung out by weeks of tension and brinkmanship they are ready to offload the whole issue to the Senate.

Forcing their hands was the knowledge that every week that the bill languished in limbo, it became more and more likely that Obamacare would survive in its present form.

"We're close here on this and then part of it is as the calendar ticks over another page or two, we either get something done or we live with Obamacare," said Iowa Rep. Steve King, before the scheduled vote was announced.

Flores said the bill had been tinkered with just enough to move some wavering members.

"Some people think it's moved enough to justify an affirmative vote," he said.

But the vote on Thursday will still be a leap in the dark for many Republicans.

There's no certainty that the hard won compromises on preserving coverage for pre-existing conditions will actually work, or even survive the overhaul the Senate is expected to perform when it picks up the legislation.

Critics say the bill would deprive millions of people of coverage and roll back popular provisions of the Affordable Care Act. The bill is opposed by a long list of seniors and health industry lobby groups on the grounds that it curtails coverage.

But it represents a delicate balancing act between conservatives who say the original bill was essentially "Obamacare Lite" and moderates who feared they would be blamed for signing away popular parts of the existing law.

Even the White House admitted Wednesday that no one could know whether the $8 billion in extra cash for high-risk insurance pools used to buy wavering GOP votes was enough. Some independent analysts say it's woefully short.

But if the bill passes, Republican House leaders at least can feel their job is partly done and can begin to envisage more palatable items on their agenda, including a push for a generational tax reform.

And they can wash their hands of health care for a while. They won't for now at least think of the tough conference negotiations that are inevitable when the Senate has had its way.

And Democrats are already setting up 2018 challenges.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who helped shepherd Obamacare through the House when she was speaker, accused Republicans of gutting coverage and assurances that those with pre-existing conditions could get health care.

"It's a joke. It's a very sad, deadly joke," she said.

Alongside Pelosi, Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, an ovarian cancer survivor and Obamacare customer bore witness to the importance of health care coverage for those who have pre-existing conditions.

"This is a very personal fight for me and we will continue this fight ... this is about peoples' lives," she said. "This is about surviving."

CNN's MJ Lee and Lauren Fox contributed to this report.
The Philippine government is considering the possibility of conducting joint military drills with China.

In a briefing in Malacanang, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon said, the military exercises will benefit the Philippines.

To be able to enforce the plan, Esperon noted the need for a Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) or a treaty.

This matter will be tackled during a cabinet meeting on May 8.

We must prepare for a regional integration, Esperon stressed.

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The cabinet member also announced that the Duterte administration has come up with a national security policy.

He added that an anti-terrorism council meets every month.

He believes, the New Peoples Army continues to be the biggest threat to the Filipinos democratic way of life.

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Libyan rivals Faiez Serraj and Khalifa Haftar have agreed to work together in combating terrorism across the country and to end confrontation in the south of the country.

The agreement was struck at their meeting in Abu Dhabi Tuesday.

Two statements issued by both sides noted that the North African country needs to fight terrorism. Statement from the Presidency Council (PC) led by Serraj emphasized that the fight could only be attainable with a unified Libyan army.

Serraj supported by the West and other major global political bodies met with east-based army commander Haftar in the Emirati capital on Tuesday.

The meeting, the second since Serrajs nomination at the head of the PC in December 2015, has been hailed as a milestone in the implementation of the Libyan Political Accord (LPA).

The LPA has been stumbling on the future role of Haftar who refused to work under Serraj.

Haftars forces known as the Libyan National Army (LNA) aligned with the countrys internationally recognized parliament, House of Representatives (HoR), has been fighting for nearly two years terrorists in the east of the country and around Benghazi.

Both sides have also noted their eagerness to combat corruption and improve economic conditions of all Libyans. The forces of Serraj and Haftar have been haggling over the control of the countrys oil facilities. Oil remains Libyas prime economic source.

Unconfirmed reports also allude that both rivals agreed on the organization of presidential and legislative elections by March 2018, at the latest.
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.
Somalias youngest minister Abbass Abdullahi Sheikh Siraji has been shot dead in an incident close to the presidential palace in capital Mogadishu.

The Mogadishu mayoral spokesman confirmed the death of the 31-year-old minister, disclosing that he was mistakenly shot by government forces who mistook him for a militant.

Local media reported that the slain minister was driving his car when the government soldiers opened fire and killed him in the process.

Sheikh Siraji was appointed Minister of Public Works and Reconstruction by Prime Minister Hassan Ali Kheyre in March this year.

President of Somalia, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmajo, cut an official visit to neighboring Ethiopia to participate in the burial of Siraji.

I am cutting short my visit to Ethiopia to mourn with my country and take part in the state burial of minister Abass, the president was quoted as saying.

The president twittered his sadness at the loss of Siraji who he described as young, diligent and intelligent.

Ive ordered the security heads to immediately get to the bottom of this unfortunate tragedy and make sure the perpetrators are brought to book.

Somalia has been facing a recent surge in attacks by the insurgent group, Al-Shabaab.
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Ghana witnessed a nationwide blackout on Wednesday night, leaving millions of Ghanaians and businesses in the West-African nation without electricity.

According to the head of GRIDCO, the national grid, there was a surge of power around 9:40pm last night; we lost many generators across the country. As a consequence, we lost supply to most parts of the country, currently we are in the process of restoring it.

Earlier this year, another nationwide blackout was blamed on a system failure.

Systems collapse usually occurs when a generator is lost suddenly or a new generator is being added to the main power stream. Sometimes the power cut occurs when load increases or reduces suddenly for various reasons.

Ghana is praised as one of the most stable African democracies; but the state of its economy has not been as impressive amid a deepening energy crisis.

Government is set to conduct an audit of all Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) signed between the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and Independent Power Producers (IPPs) under the former National Democratic Congress government, President Nana Akufo-Addo has hinted.
Georgia seeks to increase export of agricultural goods to Saudi Arabia

Strengthening the economic and trade relations between Georgia and Saudi Arabia is the main goal of a Georgian delegations official visit to the country.Saudi Arabia is considering importing livestock, meat, dry fruit, honey and water from Georgia, while Georgia sees Saudi Arabia as a promising market in the Persian Gulf for Georgian agricultural products.Georgia has already been exporting livestock to Saudi Arabia at the meeting [with the Chief Executive Officer of Saudi Food and Drug Authority, Hisham bin Saad Al Jaddaei] we agreed to export sheep meat to Saudi Arabia. Now it is necessary to go through certain procedures and reorganise our slaughter system in order to better meet export demands to Saudi Arabia, said Georgian Agriculture Minister Levan Davitashvili.In order to boost, ease and encourage export of goods from Georgia, the Saudi Arabia has initiated the creation of livestock checkpoints to control livestock diseases.To note, new Bio Security Points opened in Georgia where on average 8,000 livestock during their annual migration are checked for disease. The new Bio Security Points were established on Animal Movement Routes in Marneuli and Rustavi, in Georgias Kvemo Kartli region.The Bio Security Points are concrete, fenced areas with sheep dipping baths and cattle showers where animals undergo disinfection. The Bio Security Points also feature quarantine zones, storage buildings for disinfection facilities and water points for sheep and cattle.Veterinaries of the National Food Agency monitor the Bio Security Points and their usage by livestock.Last year agricultural products worth of $7.7 million was exported from Georgia to Saudi Arabia. This was a 68 percent year-on-year increase.The most exported goods were livestock, hazelnuts, hay, non-alcoholic beverages, mineral water.The visit of the Georgian delegation to Saudi Arabia started on April 24 and will end on April 26.
@JeremySWallace

The Florida Senate unanimously passed a bill Wednesday aimed at clamping down on fentanyl abuse.

But while the House has passed a similar bill unanimously, there is a big enough difference between the two proposals that makes it unclear if it will all get resolved by Friday, the deadline for all bills (except the state budget) to pass the Legislature.

I certainly want to pass a bill this year, State Sen. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, said. Something needs to pass as it relates to fentanyl and carfentanil because its such a huge epidemic.

Currently there is no criminal penalty for having fentanyl or carfentanil. Steube wants to make it a crime. Fentanyl and carfentanil are both many times more potent than drugs like morphine and are being added to other illegal drugs like heroin. The results have been deadly leading to a dramatic rise in deaths over the last few years.

In 2013 there was 185 statewide due to fentanyl. In the following year in 2014 there were 397 deaths. And the following year 2015 there were 705 deaths, Steube said.

The Senate passed his bill unanimously Wednesday, but stripped out a provision that would required a mandatory minimum 3 year prison sentence for anyone charged with having 4 grams or the drug. A person caught with 14 grams would face 15 years in prison. And a person who is caught with 28 grams would face a minimum of 25 years in prison.

That provision remains in the House bill and has created a big divide with House leaders. State Rep. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, said hes determined to keep that language in because the dealers preying on addicts should be behind bars for a long time.

But members of the Senate said mandatory minimum sentences take away key discretion from judges. State Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, said a lot of people who are buying fentanyl dont even know that is what they are buying. If they get caught with one gram too much, they would face a rigid sentencing system that might not be fair.

Minimum mandatories dont work in my opinion, Brandes said.

State Sen. Rene Garcia, R-Miami, said he too worried that drug addicts caught with too much of the drug could face hard prison time, rather than get the treatment they really need.

Drug addiction shouldnt be a crime, its an illness, he said.

Steube unsuccessfully fought the attempt to amend his bill. He said he doesnt necessarily disagree with addressing mandatory minimum sentencing issues in the future, but said he didnt think his bill was the appropriate vehicle to do it.

It leaves the House - which doesnt meet again until after 1 p.m. on Thursday - with options: pass Steubes version without mandatory minimums and send it to the governor or re-add the mandatory minimum language and send it back to the Senate and force them to have to accept it.

Steube said even if the mandatory minimums are taken out of his bill, the legislation would still accomplish the primary goal of criminalizing fentanyl.

Were still taking a good step in the right direction, Steube said.

PHOTO: State Sen. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota (AP Photo)


via @adamsmithtimes

Adam Putnam's campaign for governor is piling up money and poised for a formal kickoff next week. But Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran tells the Tampa Bay Times he won't decide on a run for governor until after the 2018 legislative session ends next March.

The Land O'Lakes Republican said this summer he will create a political committee to raise money. But no matter what, the only office he would consider running for is governor. Speculation that he could ultimately decide to run for attorney general or U.S. Senate? Simply wrong.

"Those are the only two choices -- governor or not run for office," he said.

As Florida House Speaker he should be able to raise big money from companies and individuals with legislative interests, but he at least initially will be raising it for a nebulous purpose.

"If I can't raise the money, I can't raise the money, and if I raise the money and I don't want to run for governor, I don't run for governor. I'll use it for constitutional amendments, I'll use it for helping real conservatives, or I'll turn it over to the (Republican) party," Corcoran said.

Unless you're someone like Rick Scott who can personally drop $75 million on a race, launching an actual campaign so late would normally be a huge disadvantage. Corcoran said that doesn't concern him.

"I do pretty well being unconventional," he said.

--ADAM C. SMITH, Tampa Bay Times

Photo credit: Scott Keeler, Tampa Bay Times
@MichaelAuslen

Tucked into the Florida Houses medical marijuana legislation is language that could help just one nursery that lost out the last time the state handed out licenses for its existing, limited cannabis program.

The bill (HB 1397) grants licenses to grow and sell medical marijuana to the next-highest-scoring nurseries from the states 2015 licensing process that have not yet been given a license. But it specifically excludes nurseries that were involved in an administrative challenge on March 31.

That applies to just one case, in southwest Florida, where Three Boys Farms came in second place and officially challenged the Department of Healths decision to give the license instead to Alpha/Surterra.

On March 31, the case still hadnt been decided by an administrative law judge. If Three Boys wins, theyll get a license to grow and sell marijuana. If they dont, they wont, and the language passed Tuesday by the Florida House would block them, giving a license instead to the third-place grower, called SunBulb Company.

The sponsor of the House language, Majority Leader Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero, did not return two calls this week from the Times/Herald and has not been available following the Houses floor sessions to answer questions from reporters.

A call earlier this week to SunBulbs lobbyist, former state Rep. Robert Schenck, was not returned.

Asked about this issue by another House member Tuesday, Rodrigues said the March 31 language is needed to keep the state from interfering in administrative challenges.

What we ought to do is allow that litigation to proceed to its natural conclusion, he said. If they win their appeal, they will receive a license.

Thats true. Rodrigues legislation, and a similar bill (SB 406) expected to pass the Florida Senate later this week, give licenses to any growers who lost out in 2015 but win an administrative challenge.

In a letter to Rodrigues, Three Boys said the language doesnt seem fair at all and circumvents their ability to challenge decisions made by state agencies.

Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, who sponsored the Senate bill said he wasnt aware of the language in the House bill or how it might affect any particular would-be growers. His legislation doesnt currently include the provision.

I am not aware of it helping one particular entity or the other, Bradley said. I cant speak to that. My intention is to get more licenses online and to have people who are ready to go.

It is not yet clear whether the March 31 provision was part of a deal being struck behind the scenes between Bradley and Rodrigues.

But Bradley said he wont include anything in his marijuana bills that came directly from lobbyists and without vetting by his office.

I think youll find in all my dealings on the medical marijuana issue over the last few years that obviously its something people have a lot of interest in, but I make my own decisions on these things and any language that you see thats got my name on it is language that is from my work with professional staff, he said. Thats very important to me that this be done in that manner."

Photo: Scott Keeler, Tampa Bay Times
@JeremySWallace

Theres only two days left in the annual Legislative session, but the lead sponsor of a bill to address higher workers compensation insurance rates being charged to businesses says he still sees hope.

Sen. Rob Bradley, a Republican from northeast Florida, said there are divisions with the Florida House still over how to limit attorneys fees and address medical providers that treat workers compensation injuries, but they are not so big that they cannot be overcome by the end of Friday.

I think were going to get there, Bradley told reporters late Wednesday.

Worker compensation insurance companies and business groups have been pressing the Legislature to pass new caps on attorney fees for lawyers hired by workers who sue companies after they were wrongly denied injury claims. The Florida Supreme Court last year ruled that the Legislatures previous caps were unconstitutional. In some smaller cases where judges ruled in favor of injured workers, the winning attorneys were awarded what amounts to less than $2 an hour for their work. Workers groups said that acts as a disincentive for attorneys to take complicated workers compensation claims.

But in striking down the cap, an insurance groups that sets rates for workers compensation insurance announced dramatic 14 percent increases, sending business groups into a panic. Since 2004, workers compensation rates in Florida have plummeted more than 60 percent, but the possibility of them rising again have resulted in big pressure on the Legislature to act.

For most of the last two months, the House and Senate have had very different views on what to do. The Senate has proposed allowing attorneys representing winning workers claims cases to collect up to $250 an hour from insurance companies that fight the claims. The House has tried to cap that at $150.

The House and Senate also face a big gap on how to handle medical providers. The House wants to cut reimbursements to medical providers who treat injured workers, something the Senate has opposed.

Im confident that we can bridge that gap, Bradley said of both the reimbursement issue and the attorney fees. "We are still in discussions with the House."
via @learyreports

Sens. Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson on Wednesday introduced legislation that would provide assistance to Venezuela, including $10 million for medicine and nutritional supplements and $9.5 million for organizations working to defend human rights.

Venezuelan civilians are being harmed and killed by their own government as the dictator [Nicolas] Maduro and his thugs use violence to suppress peaceful pro-democracy protests, Rubio said. The United States must stand with and support the Venezuelan people as they struggle to defend their rights and restore constitutional mechanisms and bring back democracy in their country. Details below:

Rubio spearheaded the bill with Sen. Ben Cardin , and Nelson signed on with a bipartisan group.

Sec. 2  Findings: Includes findings on the growing economic and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela; recognizes the presence of more than 100 political prisoners.

Sec. 3  Sense of Congress: Calls on Venezuelan President Maduro to permit humanitarian assistance, immediately release all political prisoners, and seek assistance from international financial institutions; expresses support for a negotiated solution to Venezuelas crisis.

Sec. 4  Humanitarian Assistance for the People of Venezuela: Authorizes $10 million for the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to work through independent non-governmental organizations to provide essential medicines, nutritional supplements, and technical assistance to improve distribution of medicine and food.

Sec. 5  Requirement for Strategy to Coordinate International Humanitarian Assistance: Requires the U.S. Department of State and USAID to establish a multi-year strategy to engage Latin American and Caribbean governments and multilateral institutions to secure financial and technical assistance in response to growing humanitarian challenges in Venezuela.

Sec. 6  Support for OAS Inter-American Democratic Charter: Recognizes the rupture of constitutional order in Venezuela and urges the U.S. Department of State to take additional steps in support of efforts by the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) to advance diplomatic initiatives that restore Venezuelan democracy.

Sec. 7  Support for International Election Observations Missions and Democratic Civil Society in Venezuela: Authorizes $500,000 to support future OAS election observation missions and $9.5 million for democratic civil society organizations working to defend human rights.s

Sec. 8  Support for Caribbean Countries: Recognizes the role that Caribbean countries can play in addressing the crisis in Venezuela and expresses support for U.S. initiatives to advance Caribbean energy independence.

Sec. 9  Concerns and Report on the Involvement of Venezuelan Officials in Corruption and Narcotics Trafficking: Requires the U.S. State Department and U.S. Intelligence Community to prepare an unclassified report with a classified annex on the involvement of Venezuelan government officials in corruption and the illicit drug trade.

Sec. 10  Sanctions on Persons Responsible for Public Corruption and Undermining Democratic Governance in Venezuela: Codifies additional targeted sanctions on individuals undermining democratic governance and involved in corruption in Venezuela that were in Obama Administration Executive Order 13692.

Sec. 11  Concerns over PDVSA Transactions with Rosneft: Recognizes that potential control by Rosneft, a Russian government-controlled entity currently under U.S. sanctions, of Citgo assets would pose a significant risk to U.S. national security and energy security; calls on the President to take all necessary steps to prevent Rosneft from gaining control of U.S. energy infrastructure.

--ALEX LEARY, Tampa Bay Times
@ByKristenMClark

The organization representing Florida's 67 county school district superintendents says the Legislature's small funding increase for K-12 public schools next year is "not sufficient to meet the basic funding needs of Florida's 2.8 million public school students."

The Florida Association of District School Superintendents says that "many school districts in Florida will receive less student funding next year" under the levels that House and Senate leaders set last Friday evening after private negotiations.

Under lawmakers' compromise proposal, per-student spending would rise slightly to $7,221 -- an increase of only 0.34 percent, or about $24.49 per student. The impact on each district's state funding varies greatly in some cases.

"Considering the overall economic strength of our state, it is alarming that the basic funding needs of Florida public school students could go unaddressed," said Malcolm Thomas, president of the superintendents' association and Escambia County schools' superintendent. "With a united voice, we call upon Florida legislators to increase the base student funding in support of public education in Florida."

RELATED: "Lawmakers at odds over tax increase to fund public schools"

The proposed budget for 2017-18 isn't yet in stone, but House and Senate leaders have moved on from K-12 spending after resolving differences in that area over the weekend.

House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes, and Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, announced yesterday they'd come to terms on the $83 billion budget and plan to make it public by Friday. They have to extend the 60-session through Monday because they failed to reach a budget compromise by a Tuesday deadline.

Once the public conference process ends Friday, the budget is subject to an up-or-down vote and cannot be amended.

The Senate originally wanted to increase K-12 spending by about $540 million more than the House proposed under the main funding formula, known as the Florida Education Finance Program. Gov. Rick Scott also called for similar large increases in spending, but Scott's and the senators' plans banked on using additional property tax revenue -- which came from rising property values in the state. House leaders stood firm in rejecting that option -- Corcoran bluntly said "hell, no" -- because they deemed that to be a tax increase.

House Republicans argue that looking only at the per-student funding isn't a fair assessment of their investments in education next year. Outside the FEFP, they also want to spend $414 million to help about 77,000 students in failing schools and to give potentially 20,000 qualifying teachers a bonus. The specific policy language for those programs has not yet been publicly finalized, but is linked to the overall budget.

Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, works as CEO for the superintendents' association.
Travis Yost has a theory that everyone is a Bob Seger, to a degree.

"Everyone is," he said. "You may not like every Bob Seger tune, but you like one of them. You definitely like at least one. You like five of them. You don't even know you like it till you find out that's a Bob Seger tune."

Around western Montana, Yost will be most recognizable from 15 years of gigs with Tom Catmull, either on bass or drums. He also writes and performs his music under the name Love is a Dog from Nebraska, which gave him the chance to conduct social experiments to test his Seger theory this spring.

During recent solo gigs at breweries, he began gradually increasing the number of Seger covers in his sets. He'd been including covers here and there for awhile to break up the originals with a few hits ("Whatever, I'm an entertainer") and snag the audience's attention. ("You can really turn a 6-to-8 brewery gig into a bit of a party.")

"This last month, (at) brewery gigs my goal was to see how many Seger songs can I play in two hours before they tell me to stop playing Seger," he said.

Did anyone ever say anything?

"No, there's no limit. There's literally no limit," he said. "And it wasn't like nobody noticed either."

He eventually took his experiment to the farthest extreme and played a set that was almost entirely Seger tunes. ("Nobody said stop it").

Which leads to the inevitable question: Why does a musician know 25 songs by Bob Seger, best known for hits such as "Night Moves," "Like a Rock," "Against the Wind" and "Turn the Page"?

The answer is "Close, But No Seger," a new tribute act he formed mostly because he likes Seger and thought it would be fun.

He recruited friends from Glass Spiders, the local Bowie tribute band (Jason McMackin on bass, Jamie Rogers on drums) and new collaborators Milan House (keyboards) and Brian Brock (guitar).

The band will debut this Friday at the Iron Horse with a set of Seger's greatest hits, culled from the two-disc collection.

Yost's father played in bar bands and so he inevitably grew up with a copy of Seger's Greatest Hits in the house. After going back over and learning the songs, he admits he internalized them when he was younger.

"I didn't rip this song off, but I could make a medley out of these two songs, my song and the Seger song, and it would eventually be pretty close," he said.

Oddly, Seger's music isn't available digitally, and the bulk of his albums aren't in print on CD except for his greatest hits. (NPR recently dedicated a cover article to the issue.)

However, the Internet has a wealth of lyrical and musical analysis of Seger's work, where fans have parsed the meanings of his songs.

Yost has divided Seger's tunes into three categories: reminiscing about the good old days; reminiscing about a woman that he left; or reminiscing about the good old days from the perspective of an older man.

The theory applies to whatever song you like, whether it's the stirring classic "Like a Rock" ("An old man looking back at when he was a lean and strong 18-year-old") or the driving "Hollywood Nights," the story of a Midwestern boy seduced and abandoned by a woman in California.

"Google, 'Hollywood Nights meaning' and you can find people who think he was just dreaming, he never left home," he said.
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MUSCATINE  Iowa State Representative Ako Abdul-Samad, District 35, said despite a polarized political environment, Democrats and Republicans can get along.

Abdul-Samad, from Des Moines, took part in the forum with Jeff Kaufmann, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa and MCC department chair.

Professor John Dabeet moderated the forum, asked the audience of more than 60 students, faculty and residents, that the conversations focus on civility in politics, rather than policy.

"This is your chance to ask someone who has been a Black Panther, Muslim, African-American, elected official, and a friend to Jeff Kaufmann," Abdul-Samad said, with a laugh.

Abdul-Samad is serving his fifth term in the House and chairs the Iowa Democratic Black Caucus. Abdul-Samad said Kaufmann, former state representative in the 79th District, was one of the first people to support him when he was elected.

"Jeff (Kaufmann) and I were able to communicate with one another," he said. "He befriended me and I'll never forget that."

The friendship illustrated the theme of the forum  Democrats and Republicans can work together, despite cultural and political differences.

They fielded questions from the audience about honesty, negative campaigning and the changing political climate.

"We don't have debates anymore, we have opportunities for soundbites and short commercials," Kaufmann said.

Abdul-Samad said politicians now "play to your emotions," and political soundbites are interpreted differently by everyone, making substantive discourse nearly impossible.

They agreed honesty and respect are the most important tools to garner bipartisan support and fight the spread of misinformation.

"Even fact checking has become politicized, by [both] liberals and conservatives," Kaufmann said. "Fact checkers can move one way or another."

Kaufmann encouraged students to do their own research, stay informed and get involved in whatever way possible.

"I'm worried about the vast majority of my students not knowing who their congressperson is," Kaufmann said. "So, [it's about] taking the time to care, being informed at a general level, and somehow appealing to them about the sense of relevance."

Abdul-Samad encouraged students to find what interests them, and acknowledged that everyone has a right to their beliefs.

President of MCC's Young Democrats group, Jordan Stoneking, said the public forum inspired him to continue being politically active.

"I can't stress enough students need to get involved," Stoneking said. "We have to respect one another, otherwise we will never solve our problems. Creating a crack in the ground will not make anything better."

"I drove down here because you want to make a difference. You want to identify who you are," said Abdul-Samad.

Stoneking said the Young Democrats group has members who are Democratic, Republican and independent students.
Climate change is expected to affect your life in some surprising ways in the coming decades. From worsening pollen allergies to lowered sex drives, raising the planet's temperature by continued greenhouse gas emissions has wide ranging impacts -- but did you know that global warming may also make your plane ride significantly bumpier?
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 []
Here are some of the stories making headlines today.

Robert Alai: Jubilee is Not Paying Me a Measly Sh200,000 Robert Alai has been receiving a lot of stick recently for his anti-Nasa stand. The blogger, who had for many years been one of Railas biggest supporters, even getting in trouble with the law for it, has in recent months switched sides and declared that Raila will never be President of Kenya.

Watch Chilling Video of Driver Running Over a Woman in Nairobi A 45-second video has emerged on social media showing the spine-chilling moment a motorist ran over a woman seated on the sidewalk of a Nairobi street.

Heartwarming! Harvard Alumnus Takes Mother to Varsity 24 Years After Graduation Because She Missed Ceremony (PHOTOS) A Kenyan Harvard alumnus is the darling of social media after taking his mother to the University two decades after she missed his graduation ceremony. One Chris Mburu took to Facebook last week Friday to share photos of the heartwarming trip.

House Republicans Weigh Another Health Care Amendment WASHINGTON  House GOP leaders, unable to find the votes for their health care bill simply by pressuring reluctant Republicans, are now considering changes that will win over moderates. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)

Suicide Bomb Blast Hits NATO Convoy In Kabul, Killing 8 Civilians KABUL (Reuters)  A suicide bombing in the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday killed eight people and wounded at least 28, officials said, in an attack on a convoy of armored personnel carriers used by the NATO-led Resolute Support mission. The blast hit the NATO coalition convoy during the morning rush hour in one of the busiest areas of Kabul.

U.S. Senators Ask Trump To Stop Being Terrible For Women WASHINGTON  A hundred days after an unprecedented number of women around the world marched to protest President Donald Trump, 31 U.S. senators penned a letter asking him to cease his despicable attacks on womens health and womens rights. Fears of attacks on womens health and the fundamental rights so many women value led to this historic march, Sen.

Jimmy Kimmels Humanity Underscores Heartlessness Of GOPs Approach To The Poor On Monday, Jimmy Kimmel, host of the late-night ABC talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live!, delivered a stirring monologue to open his show. With tears in his eyes, the host revealed that his wife had recently given birth to a beautiful baby boy. But soon after, a nurse realized there was something wrong.

The Most Brutal and Funniest Reactions to Trump Dumping Michelle Obamas Girls Program The Trump administration is shutting down Michelle Obamas education initiative, Let Girls Learn. The program, started in 2015, was created to help aid girls through education in developing countries. CNN reports that though parts of the initiative will still go on, the title and program will be ending.

Melania Trump May Have Just Trolled Her Husband First lady Melania Trump  or whoever is running her account  liked a tweet Tuesday that implied a chilly relationship between her and President Donald Trump.

Dash Cam Video Of Plane Crash Is Right Out Of A Movie A dashboard camera captured the dramatic moment when a single-engine airplane clipped power lines and crashed onto a street in Washington state. Footage showed how the Piper PA-32 Cherokee Six rained fuel onto cars as it plummeted towards the Mukilteo Speedway inMukilteo on Tuesday afternoon.

Stephen Colbert Urges His Viewers To Go Watch Jimmy Kimmel Stephen Colbert did something very unusual for a late-night talk show host: He urged his viewers to watch one of his rivals. Last night was one of the rare times I did not just watch our show, Colbert said on Tuesday. I also watched our dear friend Jimmy Kimmel.

Clinton, Trump cant stop airing their grievances America has two ex-candidates, the victorious Donald Trump and the vanquished Hillary Clinton who just cant let it lie. In a stunning interview Tuesday, Clinton, the former Democratic nominee, vented her still raw emotions and blazing bitterness over her defeat by Trump  pointing to Russia and FBI Chief James Comey as the key drivers of her loss.

Brexit: U.K. says it wont pay 100 billion divorce bill U.K. Brexit Secretary David Davis poured cold water on the eye-popping exit cost that was floated Wednesday, saying that the final amount paid by the country will be much lower. Its gone from 50 billion, to 60 billion to 100 billion, David Davis said during a radio interview.

India summons Pakistan official over armys alleged mutilation of soldiers In a statement Wednesday, Indias Ministry of External Affairs said the foreign secretary conveyed Indias outrage at the killing and the barbaric act of mutilation of the bodies of two Indian soldiers on May 1. Pakistan has repeatedly denied that its troops crossed the Line of Control (LOC)  the de-facto border between the two countries in Kashmir  or mutilated the soldiers.

UK royals seek $1.6 million over topless Kate photos The trial began Tuesday in France for six people associated with Closer magazine and regional newspaper La Provence, the Press Association reported. The French magazine Closer is separate from the UKs Closer magazine. The images showed the duchess sunbathing topless while on holiday in the South of France in 2012 in the couples private villa.

Apple to report earnings Investors arent exactly looking for fireworks. Apple is expected to surpass the 51.2 million iPhones sold and $50.6 billion in revenue it posted in the same quarter a year ago, but not by much. Any growth this quarter would be welcome. A year ago, Apple reported its first ever decline in iPhone sales.

Funeral home refused to cremate gay man, lawsuit alleges John Jack Zawadski, 82, and his nephew filed a lawsuit against the Picayune Funeral Homes owners seeking damages for breach of contract and emotional distress. The lawsuit accuses them of backing out of a verbal agreement to provide final services for Zawadskis husband, Robert Huskey, in May 2016 after discovering he was gay.

US military ending role in hunt for elusive African warlord Joseph Kony Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and he and his militia have been accused of killing thousands of civilians and abducting thousands of children during his decades-long insurgency in Uganda and neighboring countries.

How Cristiano Ronaldo has been transformed from winger to deadly No 9 Cristiano Ronaldo scored another Champions League hat-trick on Wednesday He was at the top of his game as he put Atletico Madrid to the sword in semi-final Ronaldo has developed into new central role and could play for years to come He has learned not to insist on playing in every game, saving himself for big ties I dont know who doubted me, said Cristiano Ronaldo.

Manchester United and Liverpool eye 30m Fabregas move Cesc Fabregas is in demand after helping Chelsea top the Premier League The Spaniard has started only 10 league games this season but has still been key Yet Chelsea could still be prepared to let the 29-year-old leave in the summer Manchester United, led by former boss Jose Mourinho, are among clubs keen Cesc Fabregas is being looked at by Manchester United and Liverpool with Chelsea prepared to slap a 30million asking price on the midfielder if they are to sell to a Premier League rival.

Cristiano Ronaldo asks fans to stop whistling him Cristiano Ronaldo hit out at Real Madrid fans for whistling him after his stunning hat-trick against city rivals Atletico put them on the verge of another Champions League final. The Portuguese is a hero to the majority of Real supporters, but a section of the Bernabeu crowd continue to whistle whenever he touches the ball in certain matches.

Why does Gerard Pique has Real Madrid shirt in his house? Gerard Pique regularly torments Real Madrid both on and off the pitch Barcelona star has been at heart of intense rivalry between both clubs James Rodriguezs wife Daniela Ospina revealed there is Real shirt in his house She met Piques wife Shakira and son Milan as youngster admitted owning shirt If you were to pick one player who would erupt at the sight of Real Madrid regalia in his house, it would probably be Gerard Pique.

Um guys, did Melania Trump just brutally troll her husband on Twitter? Sometimes, a subtle like is all it takes to expertly troll sometimes. And sometimes, an accidental like can send someone into a regret spiral so deep, they may never claw out. Its unknown if either hypothetical scenario relates to the potential sh*tstorm just kicked off by Melania Trump on Twitter, but DAMN.

This is the most British picture ever taken If theres one thing that British people are universally renowned for is that process of forming an orderly and polite line, also known as queuing. Britons believe theyre the best in the world in queuing and theres a whole mythology, style, form, and code of conduct related to patiently, wordlessly standing in a long line.

A woman filmed her drivers obscene harassment, but she ended up in jail A Chinese woman, horrified to find her ride-sharing driver masturbating at the wheel, filmed him as evidence. But unexpectedly, the woman ended up being held in police custody for three days. The incident occurred in Shengzhou, eastern China on Apr. 23. Chinese reports say the woman, surnamed Wang, got into a car she hailed via the Didi Chuxing app.
A man is nursing severe head injuries sustained from gunshots after his friend  a police officer  shot him following a disagreement over Sh400 debt.

Samuel Onsoro, owner of Friends Club in Elburgon town, and Constable Isaac Wanjala were drinking at the pub when the disagreement ensued.

Speaking at his hospital bed at Nakuru level five hospital, Mr Onsoro told Nation that the officer was a regular at the club and that he rarely cleared his debt.

On Wednesday around 2 am, Wanjala came into the club..he bought me a bottle of beer and bought one for himself as well but when the waiter brought the bill, Wanjala refused to pay it, Mr Onsoro narrated.

He said he called the Officer Commanding Station (OCS) at Elburgon who told him to confiscate Mr Wanjalas phone until the debt was paid.

I took the phone and we walked out with Wanjala hurling insults at me. He threatened that he would shoot me but I did not think he was serious.

Mr Onsoro narrated that he, together with a friend, proceeded to Club 50 where the shooting occurred.

A source revealed to Nation that: Mr Wanjala went to the police quarters which is about 200meters away from Club 50, took his G3 rifle and followed Mr Onsoro where he shot him on the head. He then shot himself on the neck, dying on the spot.

His body was moved to Elburgon sub-county mortuary.

According to the nurse in charge at Nakuru Level Five hospital,

the bullet entered the head through Mr Onsoros left side and exited through the right eye.

His right eye is completely shattered but the left one can be reconstructed, Ms Florence Nzomo said.

She said that Mr Onsoro was in a stable condition although he had lost a lot of blood.

Confirming the shooting, Molo Officer Commanding Police Division (OCPD) Daniel Kamanza blamed the incident on alcohol abuse.

Investigations show that the two did not have any history of arguments or strife. It was a decision purely influenced by too much alcohol intake, Mr Kamanza said.
Three people have died in Nairobi as a result of electrocution.

The three  two men aged 31 and 44 amd a four year old boy  were electrocuted on Monday following a heavy downpour.

Confirming the incidents, Nairobi County Commander Japheth Koome said the boy identified as Adrian Carlos Omondi touched a hanging livewire while playing in an open field in Makongeni area.

The wire was lying low for long and seems not to have been attended to by relevant authorities, said Koome.

Peter Kioko, 31, dies after stepping on a live wire in Ruaka area while 44 year-old Ibrahim Abdirahman died in Eastleugh.

Their bodies were moved to the mortuary.

This comes amid increasing complaints from Nairobi residents over unattended live wires especially during the rainy season, but officials from Kenya Power blame the incidents on illegal power connections.

According to statistics, up to two people die from electrocution every week.
Emotions peaked during the Kayleigh Slusher murder trial Wednesday  which also happened to be Kayleighs birthday  as the police officer who found the childs cold body recounted his experience at the apartment on 2060 Wilkins Avenue.

Kayleighs mother, Sara Lynn Krueger, 26, and her boyfriend, Ryan Scott Warner, 29, are accused of murdering the 3-year-old girl in 2014.

Officer Robert Chambers first visited the apartment to check out a reported disturbance on the morning of Jan. 27, 2014 after a neighbor called about a loud argument in a neighboring apartment. When he arrived at the home, another officer already at the scene appeared to be listening at the door, he said. Chambers joined him and the two knocked on the door.

When Krueger answered the door, she seemed upset that the police were on her doorstep and asked if it was illegal for the couple to argue, Chambers said.

Chambers said that he explained that they just wanted to be sure that everyone was OK. Krueger let Chambers inside and the other officer took Warner outside to talk, Chambers said.

Krueger sat down on the couch in the living room while Chambers spoke with her  Kayleigh sat on her lap, Chambers said. There were no signs that a struggle or any domestic violence had occurred in the home, he said. Krueger said that she and Warner had been fighting over money, he told the court.

Five days later, on Feb. 1, Chambers was called back to the same apartment complex. He was told that something had happened with a little girl, he said.

Chambers went to Kruegers apartment just after noon, knocked on the door and the windows, but there was no answer. Not wanting to unnecessarily force entry into someones home, Chambers said that he spent the next hour trying to find out more information about the call.

Although the person who made the report had asked to remain anonymous, Chambers obtained the persons phone number and called. After their conversation, Chambers decided he needed to go in.

Deputy District Attorney Kecia Lind began to the show the court photos of the crime scene, beginning with the stairway leading up to Kruegers apartment. Caution tape blocked the entrance to the stairs.

Chambers said he and two additional officers went inside after obtaining a key from a maintenance person.

There was a smoky haze in the apartment that hadnt been there earlier in the week, like someone had been smoking inside with all of the windows closed, Chambers said. He announced their presence, he said, but there was no response.

Lind put up a photo of the apartment taken from the doorway, allowing the jury to see into Kruegers former kitchen and living room. A photo of Kayleigh was on the wall.

Chambers said he went into the kitchen while the other officers checked out the bathroom and one of the bedrooms. Chambers then headed to the closed door.

An enlarged photo of a little girls room with a pink princess bed and streamers draped across the ceiling was shown to the court.

Krueger began to cry.

I could see a face, Chambers said. I thought it was a doll, he said, getting emotional.  I realized that it was the little girl I had talked to a couple of days ago.

Krueger sobbed loudly while bailiffs handed out to tissues to jurors  at least four female jurors dabbed their eyes.

I cant Krueger told her attorney, Jim McEntee.

Judge Francisca P. Tisher issued a 15-minute break. Krueger was given the option to leave the courtroom, but decided to stay. Tisher noted for the record that Ms. Krueger was sobbing loudly and told her that she needed to try to maintain her composure.

After the break, Lind said she had only one more photo to show during Chambers testimony. A wave of silent horror seemed to come over the crowd as the final photo was shown.

An up-close photo of the bed in the little girls room appeared on the screen  Kayleighs pale, lifeless body was tucked under three blankets. The one closest to her  the pink one  cradled her tilted head, blonde hair peeking out from under it. The area around her eyes looked dark, her lips looked dark, her face was bruised. Disney princesses smiled above her on the beds headboard.

She had blood coming from her nostril, Chambers said, continuing to describe the scene. Her eyes were pale and there were bruises underneath her eyes, he said. It looked like the girl had been dead for some time, but still he checked her pulse and found none.

Her skin was just ice cold, he said.

Warner began to cry.

I was completely confused, Chambers said. In all his years as an officer, he said he had never felt a body that cold, that he didnt think it was even possible for a body to be colder than the room it was in.

The officers, realizing they were in a crime scene, backed out of the apartment, he said, still sniffling.

Chambers went back inside, though, to escort Capt. Ty Becerra of Napa City Fire into the apartment. Becerra pulled down the blanket that had been up to Kayleighs neck, revealing her unclothed body, Chambers said. She had bruises on her chest, her stomach, her arms, he said.

Becerra confirmed that Kayleigh was dead and they pulled her blankets back up.

Did you ever re-enter that apartment, Officer Chambers? Lind asked.

No, maam.

The person who called police to the scene, Warners childhood friend Antonio Valdez, also took the stand on Wednesday.

Valdez said it was about 12:30 or 1 a.m. on Feb. 1 when he showed up to Kruegers apartment at Warners request. He said he thought that maybe Warner was having a problem with a neighbor.

When he learned that Warner had called him there because there was a little girl dead inside the apartment, Valdez said he became angry.

He told them that they needed to call the police before he did, he said. In the morning, after a restless night, Valdez made a call to his local law enforcement agency, the Richmond Police.

Testimony earlier in the day on Wednesday painted a bleak picture of increasing drug use among the adults in Kayleighs life while she was left to entertain herself in front of a TV.

Both Krueger and Warner were using methamphetamine almost daily in the months leading up to the girls death in January 2014, witnesses said.

Kruegers friend, Allen Elpperson, who is in prison serving time for robbery, said Krueger had been probably one of the best moms Ive seen for people our age.

Krueger stopped smoking methamphetamine when she became pregnant with Kayleigh, he said.

Epperson said that when he met Warner in January 2014  just weeks before Kayleigh was found dead in the apartment  he didnt get a good feeling from him.

There was something weird about him, he said. I just didnt get a good vibe off the dude.

When he began visiting Krueger and Warner, he noticed signs of drug use. They both looked strung out like theyd been using, he said. Krueger had lost weight, become real skinny and seemed moody and on edge.

Kayleigh would watch cartoons in the living room while he, Krueger and Warner got high in Kruegers bedroom with the door closed, he said.

Justin Kent, also in custody and serving time in prison, told the court that he also used drugs with Krueger and Warner at the apartment at 2060 Wilkins Ave.

The three of them would smoke methamphetamine in Kruegers bedroom, but they never used drugs in front of Kayleigh, he said.

Kents former girlfriend and Kruegers longtime friend, Amanda Patterson, was next to testify, saying she lived in a neighboring apartment complex and would see Krueger almost daily.

She was a good mom, Patterson said. I was a good mom.

When Warner moved in, he began to take over some of Kayleighs parenting  taking her to the bathroom, cooking her meals and disciplining her, she testified. Patterson and Krueger also started to use methamphetamine again after Warner moved in, she said.

It started off just on the weekends and turned into an almost daily thing, she said. She (Krueger) still loved her (Kayleigh), she just kind of stepped back as a mom and let Ryan (Warner) do fatherly things.

Patterson said that bruises started appearing on Kayleigh, that Kayleigh would cry more often and was getting sick a lot.

Patterson said she also got a bad vibe from Warner and that she thought he was controlling. She never knew of any physical abuse, she said.

The murder trial began with opening statements on Monday and is expected to last all month. Each defendant is being tried separately, but simultaneously, in the same courtroom before Napa County Superior Court Judge Francisca P. Tisher. Separate juries will render verdicts.
President Donald Trump yet again finds himself in possible Pinocchio land, this time for suggesting that Andrew Jackson could have - or would have - averted the Civil War. This claim is more complicated than the size of the crowd at Trump's inauguration, however. Trump has touched a controversy that has engaged historians and the public for more than a century.

Trump's view on Jackson is unlikely but not absurd. Jackson famously faced down his vice president, John C. Calhoun, on the possibility of states rebelling against the federal government after Congress passed a tariff that hurt the Southern plantation economy. Jackson got Congress to authorize him to use military force following South Carolina's attempt to "nullify" the tariff, but the crisis was averted when Congress passed a compromise tariff in 1833.

Still, Trump's comment about Jackson was in the service of his wider discussion of the Civil War. "People don't ask that question," he said in an interview with the Washington Examiner, "but why was there the Civil War?"

This is truly an important question, and we can only wonder what the president would have said had his interviewer asked, "What do you think?" All too many Americans reply vaguely, "states' rights," even though Southern leaders, as they left the Union, made it clear that they opposed states' rights and even named the states and rights that offended them. Americans are vague because their textbooks are vague; publishers don't want to offend white school boards in Dixie.

Trump's conclusion about Jackson places him in a camp of 1930s historians who called it a "needless war," in the words of James G. Randall, brought about by a "blundering generation."

That view is a product of its time, and that time is now known as the Nadir of Race Relations. The Nadir began at the end of 1890 and began to ease around 1940. It was marked by lynchings, the eugenics movement and the spread of sundown towns across the North. Neo-Confederates put up triumphant Confederate monuments from Helena, Montana, to Key West, Florida, obfuscating why the Southern states seceded. They claimed it was about tariffs or states' rights - anything but slavery.

Earlier, everyone knew better. In 1858, William Seward, a Republican senator from New York, gave a famous speech titled "The Irrepressible Conflict," referring to the struggle between "slave labor" and "voluntary labor." When Mississippi seceded, it emphasized the same point: "Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery - the greatest material interest of the world."

Simply to recognize this material interest renders improbable the "needless war" notion. Mississippi was right: Slavery was the greatest material interest in the United States, if not the world. Slaves made up an investment greater than all manufacturing companies and railroads in the nation. Never has an elite given up such a stake voluntarily. The North went to war to hold the nation together, not to emancipate anyone. But the Civil War did end slavery. When might that have happened otherwise?

Today, when slavery has no state sanction anywhere, it seems obvious that the institution could not have survived to the 21st century. But if the South had prevailed, cotton would have resumed its role as "the largest and most important portions of the commerce of the earth," to quote Mississippi's secession document. The Confederacy might have replaced France as the colonial ruler in Mexico and Spain in Cuba. Eyeing such a strong economic and military model, Brazil might never have abandoned slavery.

There is one more layer on this onion: The South did not quite secede for slavery, but for slavery as the mechanism to ensure white supremacy. On many occasions, its leaders made this clear. Trying to persuade fellow Texans to secede, John Marshall wrote in his Austin State Gazette in 1861: "It is essential to the honor and safety of every poor white man to keep the negro in his present state of subordination and discipline."

In 1863, William Thompson, founder of the Savannah Morning News, proposed a new, mostly white national flag for the Confederacy: "As a people, we are fighting to maintain the Heaven-ordained supremacy of the white man over the inferior or colored race; a white flag would thus be emblematical of our cause." The government agreed and adopted his flag.

Late in the war, trying to persuade Confederates to persevere, the Richmond Daily Enquirer asked, "What are we fighting for? We are fighting for the idea of race."

Some Trump partisans are clearly still fighting for that idea. Unfortunately, the Civil War settled only the issue of slavery - not white supremacy. Getting the Civil War wrong was part of the program of white supremacy during the Nadir. Today, getting it right is not just Trump's responsibility - it's all of ours.
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JENS STOLTENBERG (NATO Secretary General): Thank you so much and thank you David for inviting me once again to address these committees.

I have done it before and actually last time I did it was just before the Warsaw Summit of NATO in July last year and now Im coming back and Im addressing you just before - actually only three weeks before NATO leaders, Heads of State and government will meet again in Brussels this time on the 25th of May.

And Im pleased to be able to tell you that since I met you last time we have made a lot of progress when it comes to cooperation NATO and the European Union. First of all, I signed a declaration together with President Juncker and President Tusk in Warsaw in July and later on together with the High Representative Federica Mogherini we agreed in December on forty-two concrete measures on how to strengthen NATO E.U. cooperation. And we are strengthening the NATO E.U. cooperation based on the fact that of course not all E.U. members are member of NATO and not all NATO members are member of the European Union. So, we fully respect the autonomy of the decision-making processes in the European Union and in NATO.

We respect the differences between the two organizations but we at the same time understand that we have a lot to gain from working closely together, because even though not all members are the same we know that more than ninety percent of the people living in an E.U. country they live in a NATO country and we share the same security environments, we share the same instability to the South with ISIL, with turmoil, with violence in the wider Middle East region, in North Africa and we also share the same challenges coming from a more assertive Russia. So, therefore there are strong reasons for strengthening the E.U. NATO cooperation and thats exactly what we have done with the joint declaration and with the forty-two measures we now are implementing. And those forty-two measures are about how we can work more closely on cyber defense, on responding to hybrid threats, on operations, on exercises and in many other ways.

And the good thing is that we are really making progress and High Representative Mogherini will report to the E.U. Council in June. I will report to the NATO Council in June on the progress we are making and then after summer we will look into what more we can do to further build and strengthen our cooperation. The good thing is that we are not only implementing concrete measures but we have also been able to change the culture, so now actually cooperation is the norm - is the normal thing in the relationship between NATO and E.U. Before it was more the exception.

So, Im really pleased to start by telling you that we are making progress, we have lifted NATO E.U. cooperation to a new level. That was also my message to Ministers of Defense  the European  or the E.U. Ministers of Defense in Malta when I met them there last week and I told them that we have very visible concrete examples of how we are working together in the Mediterranean just off the coast of Malta. The NATO maritime security operation Sea Guardian provides direct support to the E.U. Operation Sophia dealing with the challenges we see in the Central Mediterranean. Last week we had four NATO ships, three NATO maritime patrol aircrafts and some other assets helping and supporting the E.U. Operation Sophia. We also work together in the Aegean Sea with NATO naval presence in the Aegean Sea helping to implement NATO  no sorry the E.U. Turkey Agreement stemming the flow of illegal migrants.

So, this is not only in words but also in deeds that we have been able to really strengthen NATO E.U. cooperation and I look forward to take that agenda forward. Then as I said we will have a NATO meeting, meeting of Heads of State and government on the 25th of May here in Brussels. That will be a short meeting but it will be a very important meeting because it will be the first meeting where the new U.S. President comes to Europe, comes to NATO and it will be also the first meeting of, with the new French President. So, Im absolutely certain that the NATO meeting on the 25th of May will be a very strong  will send a very strong message about Trans-Atlantic unity, Trans-Atlantic resolve just by convening the meeting and having all the twenty-eight leaders together. Actually, it will be twenty-nine because we will also have Montenegro present because Montenegro is now in the process of becoming the twenty ninth member of the Alliance.

All Parliaments will have ratified that within a few weeks. The two main issues that will be addressed at the NATO meeting are both very relevant for E.U. and for of course all E.U. members regardless of whether they are member of NATO or not. Because we are going to address the Trans-Atlantic bond, burden sharing and the fight against terrorism I will just briefly go through those two main issues; I will not go through the whole NATO agenda. I will leave many issues to you to have time to ask me questions afterwards. So, I will not cover all issues but I will briefly then share with you some thoughts on these two main issues for the meeting in May. First on the fight against terrorism, terrorism is something which is a real threat. We have seen terrorist attacks in our capitals across Europe, in United States, in E.U. countries, in NATO countries and we see that these are attacks on our open free democratic societies and we have to fight back in many different ways and we need a wide range of measures in the fight against terrorism. Its about political measures, diplomatic measures, economic measures, domestic politics, international politics and many of the measures are civilian and have nothing to do with NATO and military capabilities.

But some of the measures we need in the fight against terrorism are military and we need also military element in the fight against terrorism. As we have seen in Afghanistan for many years but also as we now see in the fight against Daesh or ISIL in countries like Iraq and Syria. And NATO has played and is still playing a key role in that part of the fight against terrorism which is about the military means. We have played a key role in Afghanistan for many, many years. Our military presence in Afghanistan is our biggest mission ever and all NATO allies have participated, but also many non-NATO allies have participated; because they are partners they have participated in the Resolute Support Mission and before that the ISAF mission in Afghanistan. And many of the countries that are not member of NATO but member of E.U. have been in Afghanistan. So, this has been a joint struggle and we still have to be in Afghanistan.

We have ended our combat operations in Afghanistan but we continue to train, assist and advise the Afghan forces to enable them to stabilize their own country, enable them to fight terrorism themselves. And I think that if there was one lesson we have learned both from Afghanistan but also in a different way - but it is the same lesson we have learned from Bosnia-Herzegovina and from Kosovo - is that in the long run its much better if we are able to train local forces to stabilize their own country, to fight terrorism themselves instead of NATO deploying big number of combat troops in big combat operations. So, building local capacity, training local forces is the key when it comes to NATOs contribution to fighting terrorism. We have to make decisions on our presence in Afghanistan in the coming years and we have to make decisions on how to step up our efforts to fight terrorism including when it comes to providing support for the Counter-ISIL Coalition, the U.S. led Counter-ISIL Coalition in Syria and Iraq.

NATO provides some support already. We train Iraqi officers but I think that NATO has untapped potential for doing much more, not to engage in combat operations but to engage in something which is actually even more demanding and will take more time and that is to enable the Iraqis, other countries in the region to stabilize their own country and to fight terrorism themselves.

So, we are working with many countries in the region to help them fight terrorism and stabilize the region. The other main issue and then this is on the agenda for the meeting on the 25th of May and its also an area where there is a potential for more cooperation NATO E.U. You have many tools, NATO has many tools, none of us has all the tools in the tool kit but together we really are a formidable force when NATO and the European Union works together.

The other main issue at the Summit, no we dont call it a Summit, the meeting of Heads of State and government in May is the Trans-Atlantic bond and burden sharing. And as you know NATO made a decision in Wales in September 2014 to stop the cuts in defense spending, to gradually increase and then to move towards spending two percent of GDP on defense within a decade. And the good news is that we have really turned a corner because after many, many years of decline, reduction in defense spending across Europe and Canada in 2015, the first year after we made the pledge for the first time we saw a small increase - at least we didnt see a decrease - we saw a small increase in defense spending total Europe and Canada.

In 2016 the second year after we made the pledge we saw actually a significant increase in defense spending across Europe and Canada, 3.8 percent in real terms, close to or around $10 billion U.S. dollars and that is a significant increase. So, we are moving in the right direction, we still have a long way to go. The picture is still very mixed, some allies are very close to 2 percent, some allies have already reached 2 percent while other allies still have a very long way to go, but we have started to move in the right direction and I welcome that very much. Burden sharing for us is not only about spending, burden sharing is also about capabilities. We need more modern capabilities to be able to provide strong and credible deterrence.

The reason to be strong is not to provoke a conflict but to prevent a conflict and we need also contributions to NATO missions and operations, some of them working closely with the European Union. All of this will be addressed at the meeting of Heads of State and government in May. Part of burden sharing in, or the Trans-Atlantic burden sharing is also NATO E.U. cooperation and therefore I would like to once again underline that stronger European defense is something I welcome. Stronger European defense is good for the European Union, its good for Europe and its good for NATO.

As long as we make sure or the European Union makes sure that what the E.U. does is complementary to NATO, not competing with NATO, and that has been clearly committed from many, many European leaders that strengthening European defense is about more defense spending, its about more exercises, its about developing new capabilities, its about more cooperation, but its not about establishing a European army, its not about establishing new command structures which are duplicating

NATO command structures and actually therefore I welcome what I see because I see a real effort by NATO and the European Union to work together, not compete and it would have been meaningless to have a competition between NATO and the European Union because as I said more than ninety percent of the people living in the European Union live in a NATO country so that would actually mean that we have to compete with ourselves and thats not a very good thing to do.

So, my message to you is that NATO is adapting, NATO is responding to a more demanding, challenging, dangerous security environment. We do that by implementing the biggest adaptation of the Alliance we have seen for many, many years but we do that not least by stepping up our cooperation with the European Union because we know that together we are stronger, together we are better able to respond to a more challenging international environment which we share regardless of whether we are the European Union or NATO.

Thank you so much.

MODERATOR: Thank you Jens Stoltenberg for your presentation. I would now like to first of all give the floor to the Chair of our Sub-Committee on Security and Defence Anna Fotyga and after that the Chair of the Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Ms. Eva Kaili.

ANNA FOTYGA (Chair, Sub-Committee on Security and Defence): Thank you Chair. Dear Secretary General thank you for coming and thank you for your constant will to engage in exchange of views with us. We really value your presence here, allow me to thank you on behalf of all the members of Security and Defence Sub-Committee of the European Parliament. I would like to start also by offering the expression of our grief and concern because of, of todays terrorist attack that happened in Kabul and that apparently was aimed at headquarters of the Resolute Support Mission in Kabul in which eight Afghani civilians perished as well as numerous military and civilian members of the mission wounded including three American soldiers. So our deepest sympathy to families. Yes we often mention the, the security issues here in Europe but we have also to remember that Middle East and broader Middle East, in particular Afghanistan, are places of, of huge violence and therefore the contribution of NATO forces as well as EU civilian mission that is deployed there are of great value. Actually I would like to pose my own question as well and asking you to elaborate on current situation in Afghanistan as well as necessary changes to mandate of, mandates of the mission in order to successfully cope with this. Allow me also to ask about your reflection and plans concerning the eastern flank of NATO. And thirdly during recent interparliamentary meetings focused on the security and foreign affairs that happened in Malta with presence of parliamentarians of all EU member states as well as considerable European parliament delegation led by Chair of [inaudible], we were able to follow Frederica Mogerini remarks on necessity to enhance our operations in the Mediterranean and in particular to try to go, really go after human traffickers. So those who benefit from smuggling of migrants to Europe. Could you please reflect on this as well and elaborate on possible enhanced cooperation between NATO and the EU in this respect. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you Anna Fotyga and now Eva Kaili please.

EVA KAILI (Chair, Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly): Thank you. Dear Secretary General, dear colleagues on behalf of the European Parliament Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly I want also to welcome you in this meeting. I greatly appreciate your interest in the regular exchange of views with members of the European Parliament and in times of such turmoil on our continent and worldwide MEPs make a substantial contribution to parliamentary diplomacy and the role is indispensable in pursing interests and also presenting our values of our citizens in security and defence policy. As you have clearly underlined many times and also in your speech NATO and EU are both facing uncertainties, really complex, as never before maybe in our neighbourhood but also in global scale. We have the southern neighbourhood, especially in EU, in turmoil from Libya to Syria to Iraq. Instability in the Western Balkans and recently more instability I would say and also new complex threats as hybrid warfare and cyber war. We have Russias unpredictability, we have Turkeys rhetoric that is also an ally in our NATO alliance. We also have the Brexit which means that we will not have an ally in EU, as UK, but we will have UK in the NATO alliance. We also have migration flows and terrorism that face no borders. So these, these complex challenges need some joint answers of course and we need to enlarge our partnership so, to aim and ensure compatibility, developing joint capabilities and as you very well mentioned to avoid duplication where its not necessary of actions and structures of course, to make the spending more effective. In this context I would like also to inform our colleagues here that we look forward to the June report on the implementation of the Warsaw Declaration on EU NATO Cooperation and the common set of 42 proposals. We will also try to participate more actively with proposals at the NATO PA in Georgia, so EU will table a text for the first time. So I think we try to have a more established relation and to cooperate better and as you suggested sometimes cooperation is now the norm and not the exception. I would like also to stress our role of parliamentarians in NATO and providing security for citizens by promoting Atlantic solidarity and as you said spending, increase our spending to make substantial impact on the positions that we take. I would just like to have like two, three questions of very short. One particular question is cyber defence. Its of our common concern, there are no borders there as there are no borders of terrorism so we need to exchange information. Under one of the seven objectives of our cooperation we expect to exchange concepts of integration of cyber defence. I would like to ask you if you could inform us of what progress can be reported here on this goal from a NATO perspective. Also the progress of exchange of information between the allies and if you expect any surprises also on the 25th of May. I think these would be my main questions for the time being and the rest were going to discuss in Georgia. Thank you very much for being with us today.

MODERATOR: Alright thank you Anna Fotyga, thank you Eva Kaili. Colleagues we have exactly one hours time, til half past four, we have in the moment around about 25 requests to speak. So first of all its two minutes maximum and believe me I will be extremely strict. Its two minutes and two minutes is two minutes and two minutes is not two minutes and 15 seconds. The second point is as I agreed with Jens Stoltenberg, we will go through as many colleagues as possible, when he says give me a break, then well do a first break so he can actually answer some of your questions. By the way two minutes is maximum, theres no need to take two minutes time. We start with the EPP and the first speaker is Mikhail Gahler.

MIKHAIL GAHLER: Thank you very much and welcome again to our committee. One of the reasons why I am among those who propagate complementary but also autonomous military structures in the EU framework is the fact that one of our full NATO members, Turkey which was already referred to, which is not an EU member, has a veto right like all NATO members within NATO and that is why I think in order to escape that potentially we should be able as EU to act autonomously in case needed, especially when certain geographical sites where we deem it necessary to intervene and Turkey might not deem it, might provoke such a veto. Now the question is, have you already got any indications, I mean Turkey is developing the way it does, very unfortunate, but does it have an impact on its behaviour in daily business in the headquarters? Theres one thing, the other thing, we know already of many officers apparently who have asked for political asylum because they dont know what will be their fate once they return home. You as NATO can of course not grant that but is there activity with member states who are willing to host them or to accept them so that we can be sure that nobody goes from a NATO structure right into prison coming back? Last question and its about this sometimes alleged, well parallel or double structures, looking at the missions that we have had at the Horn of Africa as EU and as NATO and what weve got in the Mediterranean now, Sophia and what NATO is doing, wouldnt it make sense to, prior to such engagement to agree that either one or the other would do it? Because indeed I could imagine that it would be more efficient to have it done by either one. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Two minutes exactly, wonderful. Knut Fleckenstein for the Socialists.

KNUT FLECKENSTEIN: [Speaking with interpreter]. Thank you Chair, General Secretary. I dont have a question. I wanted to underline two points though from our point of view. The first is the division of tasks. Its not, we dont want to be in competition with one another, what we want to do is to work as good partners with NATO. First of all on the basis of the new challenges that were faced with we want to take on additional challenges as they arise. And secondly we want to do what we can to ensure that NATO member states work more efficiently, by working with us. Whats particularly important to me is what you said in relation to burden sharing. I think that almost everybody here in the room realise that we need to do more than we have done so far. I think its very important also that we focus on that, on those things that we can do in addition. And spending more money on the military is not sufficient. What we need to do is to be more efficient as well with what we have. Theres no point having German aircraft for example that arent able to fly, and so efficiency and also more money, more resources will be necessary. Final point with regard to burden sharing, we often like to say that we need to take into account what we do in the civilian area. So aid, that sort of thing, development aid and so forth and so for me 2 % is not an important thing to focus on. What we need to focus on is what we are doing.

[Inaudible]: Mr. Secretary General, Im very pleased to hear that the kind of three Ds of the past, duplication, decup and discrimination are no longer an issue and that the two organisations, the EU and NATO, can cooperate against the common threats from ISIS to a more assertive Russia. Im also very pleased that Montenegro is about to join NATO. Im relieved that the US President Trump no longer regards NATO as obsolete but I am concerned that he thinks is an honour to meet the DPRK President Kim Jong-un who is about to threaten nuclear war against Japan and the west. Im proud that my country, Greece and Estonia have now surpassed the 2 % defence spending and I hope that others will follow. On the issue of Brexit the UK as has been pointed out will remain a major NATO member state post Brexit and in a recent paper I wrote Im hoping that the UK will adopt the Norwegian model which you must be familiar with as a former Prime Minister and remain very plugged into CSDP and CFSP activities post our departure from the European Union. In fact in a paper I wrote I have actually called for the UK to adopt a mirror equivalent to the Swedish Military Doctrine which as a non-NATO but EU member state has promised it would honour NATOs article five to protect its neighbours in the event of attack, even though its not as it were a member of NATO. So I would favour the United Kingdom adopting a political declaration to honour articles 42.7 and 222 of the Lisbon Treaty even after its left the European Union so that the two organizations and the member states which are members of one and not the other and vice a versa can remain extremely good friends and close allies. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you Charles. And now we come to Mrs. Valkmans (sp?) from the Liberal Alder group.

MRS VALKMANS: Thank you. [Speaking with interpreter]. Thank you Chair, Im going to speak Dutch. Thanks for your presentation. Im very happy that you said right at the outset that cooperation between the EU and NATO is the norm now rather than the exception which is what it was before and I think thats a very good thing to take stop of, its something we support here in the EPP. I have a couple of points to make. One, when the new American President was elected the world was shocked by the statement that within Europe we wouldnt be able to count on America in NATO. But there doesnt seem to have been much evidence of that thankfully. Id like to hear what you have to say with regard to the Presidents statements and how youre going to deal with that at the NATO summit. Second point, how are we going to deal with Russia? Russia remains a neighbour of Europe, we have difficult relations with Russia at the moment and so Im wondering what the NATO strategy is with regard to the future and Russia? Thirdly, Turkey. Yesterday the European Parliament in [inaudible] we approved a report in which it says that the EU cannot join, Turkey cannot join the EU, but whats the future of Turkey within NATO? And final question, last but not least, the European citizenship question. The last euro barometer shows that the citizens regard security as being a priority and NATO has a role to fight, play in the fight against terrorism and Id like to hear what you, how you see the EUs role in that with NATO?

MODERATOR: To Mrs. Lusing for [inaudible].

MRS. LUSING: [Speaking with interpreter] Thank you. My first question concerns the EU headquarters, the military will be called the military planning unit, that does not involve executive operations. Earlier many NATO countries and the EU were against such a headquarters and I have the impression that no longer seems to be the case and my question is are you of the opinion that the support would continue if plans were to emerge to extend the duties to military operations? I have one question concerning the common projects, there are 42 projects that are being planned, you spoke, can you hear me? There are 42 common EU NATO projects and you said that many of those concern the Mediterranean and youve talked, given us some examples, projects that we know about. My question is are there further projects and in what regions could we work together in a maritime environment? The next question is to what extent does cooperation between the EU and NATO affect neutral countries of the EU such as Ireland? So if you, if you become more closely integrated with the EU how does that affect those neutral countries?

[Inaudible]: [Speaking with interpreter] Thank you, Ill speak Swedish. Id like to ask two questions. The one has to do with the cooperation on migration in the Mediterranean. Because you cant stop migration with military means, thats impossible. So are we, are we going to try to do something about migration? I mean were actually rescuing people in the Mediterranean, thats what were doing and maybe thats not NATOs main task. But in any case Id also like to ask a question about the 2 % goal. Of course Sweden is not a member of NATO so we dont have this 2 % goal but all the countries do. But the question is what do we get out of this 2 %? I think we have to look at what we get for them, not how much we put in the system. But as a colleague said there are a lot of plans but maybe we cant do much about them if we dont have enough stuff. So maybe weve just bought new equipment but we dont have the necessary quality for our defence. So what is best? Thats the question. And weve talked about pooling and sharing and there are a lot of different projects that might even save money for European defence and for the defence systems of different member states rather than just escalating all the time. So its not just quantity, the 2 %, but lets look at quality, its quality we need in our defence not just quantity. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Nobody from the EFDD group has requested to, EFDD, youre not EFDD Mr. Shafhouser or have you changed your party again, I dont think so. So we now come to the ENF and the speaker, first speaker is Mr. Borgasio. Now Ive been informed theres, there are some problems with the Italian booth. Mr. Borgasio you can speak in Italian and it will be translated but obviously you cant listen in Italian. So Mr. Borgasio, two minutes.

MR. BORGASIO: [Speaking with interpreter]. Thank you. Secretary General you said that there was a NATO priority about the need to block the irregular migrant flow and combat terrorism. I hope that this combat will be waged as well as properly and Id like to ask, since you know the Mediterranean area well you will know that its lately become a kind of highway or motorway for illegal migration and traffickers and over the last few weeks weve had very negative explanations coming out of the Italian judicial system, but theyre saying that no NGOs have, or rather there are NGOs who are actually linked to these traffickers, theyre using electronic interception devices. So that is a link and theres also therefore a link of terrorist infiltration. You should know that the departure of the majority of these illegal vessels depart from the Libyan coast which is totally controlled by Jihadis. So its very high time that NATO wages war on the, combat on these, these individuals and thats information coming from the public prosecutors office of Catania which is an independent authority.

MODERATOR: Mr. Borgasio, thank you for actually doing this in French. And now one more and then weve got a first round of all speakers, Mr. Eppidais for the [inaudible].

MR EPPIDAIS: [Speaking with interpreter]. Thank you very much chairman. Secretary General you said just now that NATO would like to have a very strong relationship, enhanced relationship with the European Union, at the moment the members of the European Union, at the moment only Greece and Cyprus are facing a threat, a real threat from Turkey and you know that President Erdogan has recently threatened Cyprus and also Greece and this is concerning of course, the drilling for natural gas in the sea near these countries and has actually mentioned that this might be a [inaudible]. So its very logical to think therefore that these countries, Cyprus and Greece, must have very high defence spending but what are the reasons behind all this? Why should these countries be threatened in this way? We have to have very strong defence on the part of NATO and the European Union. At this moment therefore what plans are in place to defend us from this kind of threat? What contingency plans exist in order to combat this particular threat? And what kind of enhancement should we have for our forces? Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you. So that was a first round. General Secretary its up to you how long you may wish to answer, just a slight reminder there are a few other colleagues who would still like to speak but its of course up to you.

JENS STOLTENBERG (NATO Secretary General): Thank you so much and thank you for all your questions. I will try to at least address the main issues but it may be that Im not able to answer all the questions because we need also some time for further questions. But then first to Anna, thank you for expressing sympathy for those who lost their lives and those who lost their loved ones during the terrorist attack this morning in Kabul and it just underlines the difficult situation in Afghanistan and for me it just underlines the importance of NATO continuing to be there, not in the combat operation but by helping, training, assisting, advising the Afghans so they can deal with these kinds of terrorist attacks as they did this morning. There has so far not be any concrete proposals to change the mandate of the Resolute Support Mission. Its about train, assist and advise, not about combat operations. But we have to make decisions on the force levels and the duration of our presence later on this year - either in May or in June.

Then you also asked about fighting migration and that was also addressed by many of you so Im actually now answering not only Anna but also others. Migration requires a response from nations and from many different international organizations. The UN, the UN High Commission for Refugees, the EU, individual nations and its not for me to in a way answer on behalf of all those institutions and all those nations. What I can do is to say something about how NATO can contribute to helping the international community, EU and nations to cope with the migration and refugee crisis. And we have to remember that this is a humanitarian tragedy. Thousands have lost their lives and, and it reflects how difficult the living conditions are in many countries outside Europe. But NATO is helping partly by addressing the root causes. The reason why we are helping to stabilize Afghanistan, the reason why we are helping to right terrorism in Iraq, working with partners like Tunisia and Jordan is to help to stabilize the whole region and thereby also reducing the causes for the migrant and the refugee crisis. If we are able to create stability, peace, security, then there will also be less people fleeing their countries. Partly because less people have to flee from violence, from war but also because stability, security, peace is a precondition for economic development. So even those who are not leaving their country because of war but, but who are leaving their country because of poverty, by addressing the root causes, by creating more peace and stability we also provide the ground for economic prosperity and thereby also addressing the causes for many people leaving their country. So Im not saying that NATO is the answer but Im saying that NATO is part of the answer and we are contributing in different ways and we are working together with the European Union on doing exactly that.

Then Ms. Kaili, I would like to say that I first of all very much appreciate the work you are doing in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Because the NATO Parliamentary Assembly is important for NATO. I have myself have been a parliamentarian for many years, since 1991, and I know the importance of parliaments. Because parliaments decide the laws, they decide the framework for security and defence policies and they decide the budgets. So theres no way we can have a strong adaptive defence and security policy without the support from parliaments and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly is a link between the national parliaments and NATO. So I thank you so much for the work you are doing there.

Hybrid. Well we are working on hybrid together with the European Union. We are working on exercises which are going to be related to hybrid, we are addressing cyber defences which is related to hybrid and of course everything which is related to sharing information, improving situational awareness is also about addressing hybrid threats.

You asked me about whether I expect any surprises on the meeting of heads of state and government on the 25th of May. I dont expect any surprises but thats the problem with surprises is that we dont expect them. So Im not able to tell whether there are going to be any surprises but hopefully were going to plan the meeting in a way that there are no surprises. But you never know when you have 28 heads of state and government, they do as they want.

Then, Mikhail Gahler, NATO EU cooperation and the importance of NATO being able to act autonomously. Yes EU, I said it, EU but also NATO actually. No but, and of course we are two independent organizations, we have autonomous decision making procedures and we can make our own decisions but we are in a way also very much linked because we share the same neighbourhood, we share many of the same members and even those who are not member of both organizations they are partners or closely linked. I for instance, I come from Norway, we are not member of the European Union but we work very closely with the European Union. And Sweden, Finland, being not member of NATO, they are partners of NATO as is also Austria for instance. So, and Malta. So, so we are a big family, very closely interconnected, we need to respect autonomy and the, as I say the differences between the organizations but also how, how interlinked we are. Then I would just add because this is relevant for several of the questions asked is that, is that of course EU can do a lot and EU has many tools that NATO doesnt have. Diplomatic, economic and many other kinds of tools that we dont have. At the same time I think that when it comes to collective defence, especially of those European NATO allies that are member of NATO, there is no way you can expect that EU can take over that responsibility and that has also been expressed by the European Union actually, that the European defence cooperation is not going to replace the collective defence which NATO is providing to European NATO allies. And just to illustrate is that especially when UK leaves the European Union then actually around 80 % of NATO defence investments will be non-EU. Three of the four battalions we are deploying in the eastern part of the alliance to provide deterrence will be led by non-EU allies in Europe, meaning Canada, United States and UK. And, and you can have different views about NATO allies but, but its obvious that for instance Turkey is important for the security of Europe being a big ally on the southern flank. Albania is part of our efforts to stabilize the Western Balkans which is important for the whole of Europe and then in the west you have UK outside European Union and Canada and United States. And in the north you have excellent countries like Norway and Iceland. So meaning that being European countries not being member of the European Union. So my message is that yes we are autonomous organizations, we are, we need to respect the differences but collective defence of NATO allies is something which is the core responsibility of NATO. That was a bit long answer but I think I reflected on several other questions.

Then Mr Fleckenstein, NATO partners, and then the question of burden sharing and efficiency. That was also raised by some other of you, it was raised not only by you, the question of efficiency. I totally agree and therefore the message is that we have to spend more and better but we have to remember that its not either more or better. What we agreed in 2014 was to both increase defence investments and to spend better and we need actually both and I understand very well that many politicians would like to spend on education, health, infrastructure instead of defence and when I was Minister of Finance in Norway in the 1990s, I actually reduced defence spending in Norway because that was after the Cold War, after the end of the Cold War and all European allies reduced defence spending and when tensions are going down, I think its absolutely understandable that defence spending is also going down but then, we have to be able to increase defence spending when tensions are going up and now, tensions are going up and therefore as Prime Minister of Norway, I was responsible for increasing defence spending again in Norway. So yes, its okay to reduce when tensions are going down but then you have to be able to increase when tensions are going up.

Then, I had a question on Brexit and the Norwegian model. First of all, I dont know exactly what to say about the Norwegian model because to be honest, I fought strongly for in favour of Norway joining the European Union back in 1994. We had a referendum in Norway and as you know, Norway is the only country in the world that has negotiated an accession treaty with the European Union not only once but twice, first in 72 and then in 94 and then voted it down in a referendum not only once but twice and I was on the losing side both times. So Im actually not in favour of the Norwegian model. Ive been fighting hard against it trying to be a member of the European Union but I didnt succeed so thats the reason why I was so eager coming here because this is the closest Ive come to a kind of individual membership of the European Union but of course given that we are not a member, then of course the Norwegian model, the EA Agreement, provided a good solution for Norway but I think also for the European Union integrating us very much with the cooperation in the European Union.

Then, on Trump and the US elections. First of all, it has been a very consistent message from President Trump in all my conversations with him that the United States remains committed to the Transatlantic Bond and to NATO. That was his message when I spoke to him just after he was elected, that was his message just after he was inaugurated as President in January and that was the message when I met him two weeks ago in the White House. I think we have to understand that NATO is an alliance of 28 democracies that will elect people from different political parties with different political views on many issues but the strength of NATO is that we have been able again and again to prove that despite these political differences, we have always been able to agree on the core task of NATO and that is that we stand together, protect each other and recognize that we are stronger together than alone. A strong NATO is good for Europe but a strong NATO is also good for the United States. Two World Wars and the Cold War have taught us all that stability in Europe is also important for the United States, Canada, North America and we have to also remember that the only time NATO has invoked Article 5 is after an attack on the United States and hundreds of thousands of European soldiers have fought alongside American soldiers in Afghanistan and more than 1,000 have lost their lives in the military operation that was a direct consequence of an attack on the United States. So as Europeans, you should know, we should remind the world about the fact that yes, NATO is important for many European NATO allies but NATO is also important for North America.

Then Russia, very briefly. Russia, thats about defence and dialogue. We are increasing our presence in the eastern part of the alliance, not to provoke a conflict with Russia but to prevent a conflict with Russia and I have stated again and again that my experience as a Norwegian politician is that there is no contradiction between strength and dialogue. Actually, if you are strong, if you are predictable, if you are together with allies in NATO, you can talk to Russia and thats exactly what we did in Norway. We have a common border with Russia, we have a big sea border, land border. We were able to develop Ill call it a pragmatic working relationship with Russia, not despite Norways membership in the alliance but because of NATOs membership in the alliance. So as long as we are strong, as long as we are united, we have to engage in a political dialogue with Russia. Russia is our neighbour, Russia is here to stay, Russia is not going to go away and we need to try to get tensions down, to improve the relationship with Russia and thats the reason why I also welcome that NATO has been able to reactivate the political dialogue with Russia because we need to strive for a more constructive relationship with Russia.

Briefly on Turkey, Turkey is an important ally, not least because of its geographic location bordering Iraq, Syria, bordering Russia in the Black Sea, being key for the way Europe is dealing with the migrant and refugee crisis. Turkey has suffered many terrorist attacks, a brutal coup attempt in July last year and of course, Turkey has the right to protect itself and also to prosecute those who are behind the failed coup. But then I expect all NATO allies to adhere to our core values which is democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and I have discussed this in many European NATO capitals including in Ankara because those values are important for the alliance and theyre important for me as Secretary General. Youre right that some NATO allies have asked for asylum, some Turkish officers have asked for asylum, thats for individual NATO allies to decide, to assess the request and decide whether it should be granted. Asylum is not a NATO task to make those decisions.

Theres an EU planning headquarters or unit which is now going to be established. I think its not for me to comment on the mandates of that office but what I can say is that I welcome, that is has been clearly expressed that this is not duplicating NATO headquarters and its a very different kind of office or unit than the NATO military headquarters we have.

Then, the question was whether we are able to respect neutral countries. Yes, absolutely. I think that one of the important characters or strength of NATO is that we have been able to work with neutral countries for many years. Sweden and Finland, they are very close partners of NATO as is also for instance Austria. They participate in exercises, they contribute to our response forces together with us in Kosovo, in Afghanistan. So we are absolutely able to work with neutral countries. Malta recently expressed exactly the same, so partners are very often neutral and we are able to cooperate with them, totally respecting their neutrality.

You asked me about military means and migration. No of course, military is not the first response to migrants but military means can help for instance the European Union dealing with the crisis in Aegean as we are doing with our military naval presence in Aegean helping implement an EU-Turkey deal and we have actually very successfully ... significantly reduced the number of people crossing the Aegean Sea and we are helping Operation Sophia and we are addressing the root causes with our presence for instance in Afghanistan.

The 2%, well, again I agree with you, we need to be focused on the output, not only the input but we need more and better spending, not either more or better, we need 2% spent in a good way.

We are addressing the whole complex issue of migration, refugees in many different ways. Again, we need many tools, measures which are not military means and measures outside the European, sorry, outside NATO but NATO is helping with our presence in the Aegean in the central Mediterranean but also by improving our intelligence sharing, the way we collect and share intelligence, which is part of our response to the terrorist threat and we are going to discuss what more we can do when we meet on the 25th of May.

EU-NATO and Greece and Turkey, Ill just say that Greece and Turkey are two NATO allies, we value them both, they are cooperating in NATO and they are also showing that they can work together addressing concrete challenges like, for instance, the way they are working in the Aegean Sea. One of the reasons why we have succeeded in the Aegean Sea is that Turkey and Greece, two NATO allies, have been able to work together, of course, in the NATO framework and with the European Union.

Im not able to be more brief than this but this is at least an answer to some of the questions.

MODERATOR: Thank you again, Jens Stoltenberg for the first round. Now I would suggest that we have 11 minutes time for a second round and Ill try and take into account as many speakers as possible and then well have a second final round with the NATO General Secretary. So we start again with the groups and the first one is Arnold Dejean (sp?). Two minutes maximum.

Q: One minute will be enough Chairman. Secretary General, the climate of instability makes the role of NATO as a dissuader of violence, a very important one, it makes that clear. Concerning the challenges to our south, terrorists and failed states and so forth, with regard to that, I see it more difficult to see what NATOs role might be there. So what partnerships are you thinking of with regards to the challenges in the south. Concerning the terrorist challenge, I believe that the role of the military as regards to terrorism is a very marginal one and really, its the police, the justice and the intelligence community that need to do most of the work. So Im in favour of the principle of something being done by NATO with regard to terrorists but I dont really know specifically what that might be. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you Arnold and now, Mr. Bostinaro (sp?) from the SND.

Q: Thank you very much Mr. Chairman. Mr. Secretary General, I will start by saying how fundamental is the NATO contribution for the security of our region, central and eastern Europe. Its unique and irreplaceable and this should be stated clearly and loudly. The second, our countries do their very best in order to reach that level of defence spending, to reach the target of at least two points and its our modest but important contribution to the NATO defence in general. Now, two short questions related to my region. Im Romanian by nationality. Number one, how you assess the security situation into the Black Sea and its impact on EU-NATO positioning and the second, how serious, its related to the first question, how serious is the risk Russia to build up access to access denial alias into the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea? Thank you very much.

MODERATOR: Thank you. David Campbell Bannerman.

Q: Thank you Mr. Chairman. Secretary General, there is a real agenda now to create an EU single army. Its was in President Junckers state of the union speech last year but surely this is a threat to NATO, especially given the fact that major players like Germany are spending somewhat below the 2% target, GDP target, Im sure Mr. McAllister will sort that out but there is a real risk of diverting resources of duplication and confusion undermining our collected defence, especially and also the danger of driving away United States and Canada and the United States, I believe, is spending something like 70% of active operational spending and surely NATO should actually be actively opposing an EU single army rather than just standing on the side because is this not just a case of shuffling around the same assets and just relabeling them under the EU army? Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you. For the Greens, Rebecca Harms.

Q: Thank you. So I recently visited [inaudible] and there was NATO soldiers now in duty in Lithuania and so we discussed a lot of challenges they face together with other NATO soldiers in the east of Europe now and to be honest, I would like to understand better what our problems with numbers of soldiers with equipment, with capabilities facing the developments in Russia over the last years, massive investment in the Russian Army. So can you be a bit more precise on what are the needs where is the lack of investment, where we should do more and I think I can tell you from my visit also soldiers are thinking about it.

MODERATOR: Thank you. For the ENF, Mr. Shefhouser [? sp].

Q: Well, a note to Secretary General that you talk about French prospects which are favourable for your next summit. You know that our political force is in favour of leaving NATO. It represents the top party in France, it could win and why would we leave NATO? Because we think we need a multiple (inaudible), that NATO is often a weapon for mass destabilization and not for stabilization and it demonstrated this in difference conflicts, Iraq, etc, etc, and everything that is going on right now and Id also like to emphasize (inaudible) if there were a conflict between the United States and Russia, the battlefield would be Europe. It will neither be on Russian or American territory, given their respective nuclear arms. So, what we want is France, which is a power in a multipolar world and we want to achieve this capacity that Russia has right now which would be a partner with not too many means, I mean Russia has half of the GDP of France. So its not the means they have and still, theyve got a (inaudible) capacity which is extraordinary. So those are our intentions and sooner or later, this will lead to a change in NATO, that was the point of view of General De Gaulle who was always a partner despite everything when it was necessary, and well also be partners. But this means that there has to be a profound change in your organization. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Merci. Right, weve got four minutes left now. Well now divide the speaking time just between the speakers of the EPP and the SND and to raise for gender balance, its ladies first.

Q: Thank you Chair. Thank you Mr. Secretary General for coming here. As you said after a long period, we saw positive change in the military spending of NATO members and as also my colleague mentioned, Romania just joined the small club of members that allocate 2% of GDP as well as other countries that are following this trend as he also mentions and that would mean additional financial resources which allow us to better focus on the new threats like those mentioned here already, hybrid threats and cyber-attacks. My first question, have you considered for a higher proportion of the new resources to be guided towards addressing these new threats knowing that the vast majority of our military spending are still dedicated to the traditional capacities and the new established European Centre of Excellence for countering hybrid threats in Helsinki have a budget of only 1.5 million. My second question is related to how do you see the EU and NATO cooperation and concrete strategies on common interest issue, the changes which are taking place in Turkey, which are pushing this country further away from the common values which we both share within EU and NATO and we dont want to see Turkey outside NATO or something else and I dont even want to think of a future where Turkey is no longer a NATO member. The Black Sea is a Russian lake and the game plane changes fundamental from the Bosphorus Strait to central Asia or from the Middle East to the EU and NATO eastern border. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you. SND.

Q: Yes, Secretary General, whats the point of continuing to do so-called maritime security missions be it by NATO, by the EU, in Libya if nobody is addressing, never was addressing, the crucial question of security sector reform and DDR. This ought to have been a priority. There was a time when the Prime Minister of Libya, Ali Zeidan, came to beg the UN, to beg NATO, to actually do that and nothing happened and of course, its much more difficult now. Isnt that totally useless and then on Turkey, I mean, I am from Portugal. Our country was a dictatorship and NATO didnt mind but this was in the days of the Cold War. Dont we mind if Turkey is now going in the way of a dictatorship?

MODERATOR: Thank you. If you keep it to one minute, then I can cover all the colleagues who still want to speak.

Q: Thank you for the floor. Secretary General, a moment ago you have said that you would welcome a greater autonomy of European defence. Thats what I like to hear. Two years ago when you were here, there was some kind of jealousy on the part of NATO, which has now gone away but my question is what would be the division of labour when it comes to defence of Europe and why dont we need to challenge ... face up to the Russian challenge?

MODERATOR: Thank you. Mr. Vigel (sp?).

Q: Mr. Secretary General, you recently supported the creation of the new government in respect of Parliamentary democracy rules in Macedonia. I think your support was very, very well received in Skopje. So I am asking you is there anything what can be done, what you can do, in order to help Macedonia become a NATO member? It is totally absurd that because of the so-called name issue, one country who has difficult problems, who is the cornerstone of the stability in the region, cannot become a member of NATO and they wish it. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you. Now we have Mr. Killan. (sp?)

Q: Thank you very much. Two questions. The joint EU-NATO declaration from last December underlines cooperation between NATOs strategic Communication Centre of Excellence and the EUs STRATCOM. What concretely has been done in this field and could they look forward even to more cooperation like sharing expertise and information on a regular and structured basis? Second question, several European countries are developing now cyber-offensive capabilities, building up designated cyber-units. NATO has declared that it will only develop defensive capabilities. How will NATO tackle this issue in the future? Can we see NATO starting a debate on also developing offensive cyber-capabilities and wouldnt it be time to also set up a cyber-component command next to land, air and maritime component commands and last, when can we see joint EU-NATO cyber-exercises? Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you.

Q: Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Mr. Secretary General. I would just like to join my colleagues in asking about the biggest role that Turkey is playing especially in Western Balkans and what would you say and what would you do in the case of Bosnia-Herzegovina where, I mean they played, NATO played an important role in ending the war but the time has changed and we have different players in these countries. How would you address the issue of non-democracy in Turkey in these countries when you are asking for applying the principal of democracy and respecting the human values because its a bad example that is being set and I know that NATO is there playing a crucial moral role but European forces are training Bosnian army which are participating in all these peace operations, so please can you expand a bit more on this Turkey role and what will you do in addressing publicly these issues? Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you. The final three speakers.

Q: Thank you very much. Welcome Mr. Secretary General. Two questions. First, after the Warsaw Summit and the change of US administration, how good do you see the cooperation between the two and what would be the biggest challenges in deepening that cooperation? The second one, congratulations for bringing Montenegro to the family and how would you assess the security situation in the Western Balkans because some internal development is bringing the countries not to be politically problematic but to become a security risk and we should do something more than express our most serious concern. Thank you.

[MODERATOR]: Thank you.

Q: Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. Secretary General, I hear the fact that you welcomed the EU defence to be stronger in the future and of course, avoiding any kind of duplications and full complementarity and of course trying to avoid unnecessary spending of the European citizens money. As long as 22 countries are members of both organizations and both organizations are promoting and defending the same values, dont you think so that it might be time for the two organizations, NATO and EU, to engage in negotiations in order to achieve a comprehensive practical operational agreement in order that the European Union should have access to NATO capabilities for European Union missions, especially on three fields, on command structures, on space capabilities and on long range capabilities of transportation of troops and equipment. This would be an excellent example for the citizens of the Occidental world, a world that is defending and promoting the same values in these challenging times. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you.

Q: Thank you very much Mr. Chairman. Some of my colleagues asked questions on individual countries in the Western Balkans. I would be pleased if you were able to share with us shortly your consideration on the Western Balkans region. Thank you.

MODERATOR: My dear colleagues, that was 26 people who contributed to this exchange of views. General Secretary, you now have the challenge of answering all these questions as extensive and as brief as possible at the same time but since you didnt get enough questions, one more question from me. Albania is also a NATO member state and Albania is going through a phase of a serious political crisis now for months. Any comments from your side from NATO on the situation in Albania? Thank you.

JENS STOLTENBERG: Thank you so much. I think the most efficient thing I can do now is to address some of the issues because actually some of you raised the same issues. So Im not referring to all the names but Im trying to address at least the different issues.

So I start with Romania, which was mentioned by at least two of you. First of all, Romania is really making progress because Romania declared that they will reach the 2% target, spending 2% on defence, this year, and it just underlines that it is possible for European-NATO allies to reach the 2% guidelines so I welcome Romania. Then, the question was also on countering hybrid threats, yes we are doing a lot. The increased readiness of our forces is about countering hybrid threats because then if we are under hybrid attack, we have little warning time so we have a high readiness of our forces. Our enhanced Forward Presence is part of our response to hybrid threats. The work we do on cyber, which was mentioned by several of you, is very much related to hybrid threats. We are significantly increasing our cyber-capabilities, increasing our cyber-defences enabling us to protect NATO cyber-networks but also help nations. We have developed teams that can be deployed to help protect cyber-networks of nations which are under cyber-attacks and we do more exercises and we are also now in the process of establishing cyber as a military domain alongside air, sea and land. So we are really modernizing and adapting NATO cyber-defences and helping nations to do the same. NATO has not engaged in developing offensive cyber-capabilities but of course, some NATO allies have that kind of capabilities. Now actually I answered many of the questions just by addressing hybrid and cyber as part of that.

Then, how do I see NATO-EU cooperation? Well, as I said, compared to what we did before, we have really reached an excellent new level of cooperation. We still have untapped potential, still we can do a lot but compared to what we did before, we are doing much, much more now and just last year, weve been able to reach two formal arrangements between NATO and the EU on cyber and on our Aegean activity and that is more formal arrangements between NATO and the EU during the last year than the previous ten years, so we are really making a difference in the cooperation between NATO and the EU.

Then, many of you addressed Turkey and as also some of you stated, Turkey is important for Europe, for the whole of Europe because they are on the front line fighting ISIL-Daesh in Syria and Iraq. Their counter-ISIL position, they have bases, they use Turkish infrastructure in the fight against ISIL-Daesh and some of you were also concerned about the situation in the Black Sea. Of course, Turkey is key for the Black Sea and for our response to the significant Russian military buildup we have seen in the Black Sea, especially in Crimea. So it is important for Europe, for NATO to have Turkey as a committed ally and Turkey is a committed ally addressing both the instability to the south, terrorism in Iraq and Syria but also responding to a more assertive Russia in the Black Sea region. And again, democracy, rule of law, they are core values for NATO. I have addressed these issues, these values, in many NATO capitals including in Ankara. NATO is a security alliance but we are standing up for some core values and [inaudible].

Then I was asked about Libya. I totally agree, I think it was Miss Gomez (sp?) who talked about Libya and I totally agree with you that we need to build security institutions because just to train forces if they dont have a structure to be put into, then actually we could just add to the instability, so we need a modern Minister of Defence, which is securing democratic political control, civilian control, over the armed forces, not vice versa. We need joint chiefs of command, we need intelligence services and NATO is now in dialogue with the UN recognized government, the government of national accord and Prime Minister al-Sarraj. I spoke with him a couple of weeks ago. His experts are meeting with NATO experts to see what we can do to help them building these kinds of defence institutions. Its not easy, its a long way, but I agree with you that at least we should address this important issue of building institutions. It sounds a bit bureaucratic but it is extremely important.

Then, I was asked about the division of labour or responsibilities between the EU and NATO. Well, I can only speak on behalf of NATO members including NATO members who are also a member of the European Union but they have clearly expressed that for those EU members that are a member of the European Union, collective defence is not the task for the European Union. That is the main and core responsibility for NATO and it goes in a way without saying because the strength of NATOs collective defence is of course the unity between Europe and North America and you can say many things about North America, Canada and the United States but they are not members of the European Union, so the way we link North America to this part of Europe is with security arrangements, the guarantees we have in NATO and this has also been expressed by the European Union so this is not a problem and I think its important in a way to be clear on that because then we are able to have a very pragmatic and constructive cooperation on many other issues, the 42 measures and many other areas where we now are strengthening the cooperation. And as I mentioned, especially when the UK leaves the EU, then of course 80% of NATOs defence spending will be non-EU, three out of the four battalions we have in the east will be led by non-EU countries. So there is an absolute need for NATO for collective defence in Europe.

Then, Im back to the question of partnership in the south and NATOs role in fighting terrorism. I agree with you that many of the measures we have to implement in the fight against terrorism have nothing to do with NATO. Its police, its civilian intelligence, its border control, its the ideological fight; political economic measures has nothing to do with NATO but that doesnt mean that NATO plays a marginal role. NATOs role is of great importance and in no way marginal. I think to tell hundreds of thousands of NATO soldiers that have been fighting in Afghanistan that they played a marginal role is completely the wrong message. No, no, the only reason why we are in Afghanistan, the reason why we are in Afghanistan, is because of a terrorist attack against the United States. The reason why we went in Afghanistan was to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for international terrorists. So the reason why we are in Afghanistan is to fight terrorism and thats what were doing. So, we have to understand that NATOs biggest ever military operation, this operation which is directly linked to the fight against terrorism and you cannot tell those people who have been serving there that they played a marginal role. They played an extremely big and important role and they helped build an Afghan army of 350,000 police and soldiers which are now able to take over responsibility for security in their own country. We have ended our combat operation; they are doing the hard work countering the terrorist organizations. So Im only saying that and also when NATO helps the coalition fighting ISIL, in training Iraqi officers or AWACS support with our planes to the air operations, then, of course, thats about fighting terrorism and its not a marginal role, its an important contribution to the fight against terrorism. So, yes there are many tools, many of them have nothing to do with NATO but some are military, NATO plays a key role and its an important role and I would like us to play an even bigger role.

The last thing about this Ill just say that what we do in Western Balkans and thats sort of linked to the Western Balkans [sic] has also something to do with fighting terrorism because I recently visited Bosnia-Herzegovina and they tell me how important it is to stabilize the whole Western Balkan region to fight foreign fighters, to provide the necessary tools to address terrorist threats and NATO has been key in developing a multi-ethnic Bosnia-Herzegovian army, we are present in Kosovo with our KFOR forces and we are working with partners in the region and of course, we are concerned about the situation in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The democratic processes should be respected, the majority has the right to decide who is going to form a government and we are also following very closely the developments in Albania meaning that we, of course, would like to see a solution to the political problems they are faced with now with the boycott of the Parliament; and Albania is a highly valued NATO ally.

I think thats at least most of the questions. Actually, one last one and that was from Miss Harms on why we need more NATO. Well, we are very specific on that in NATO so we are requesting different allies to provide different capabilities and its very concrete but overall, I can say that what we need is a heavier armed forces meaning more armour, more artillery, more of the heavy stuff, which we were not so focused on after the end of the Cold War, they were mainly focused on light expeditionary forces as we had, for instance, in Afghanistan or in the Balkans. We have to be more faster, able to move our forces more strategically, we need more intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance, also to be able to have better situational awareness to address, for instance, hybrid threats and of course, we need such a simple thing as more exercises to increase the readiness and the preparedness of our forces. I can mention many more but there are a lot of capabilities where we have to invest more because we live in a more dangerous world.

Okay, I think thats the end of my answers. Thank you so much.

MODERATOR: Secretary Stoltenberg, on behalf of all my colleagues present, let me thank you very much for your presence here today and for providing such thoughtful and interesting debate. I think our discussion has once again proved the value and the necessity of keeping close contacts between the European Union and NATO and to further more deep cooperation whenever this is possible. I look forward to continuing our exchange of views at one of our next meetings. All the best for you and once again, thank you so much for coming.

JENS STOLTENBERG: Thank you
(Natural News) After suffering an allergic reaction to the controversial human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, Mia Blesky was left paralyzed from the neck down. Once a straight-A student and aspiring pop star who sang and danced, shes now being home-schooled and given singing lessons at her bedside. The doctors say that its all in her head but her mother, Gini Blesky, believes that the routine jab is to blame.

The routine jab is part of the childhood immunization program developed by the National Health Service (NHS), which Mia Blesky opted for back in September of last year. Shortly after undergoing her first dosage of Gardasil, the 12-year old complained about her legs feeling heavy and of a burning sensation in her spine. She was immediately rushed to the A&E at the Royal Berkshire Hospital by her concerned family. In the span of a few days, Mia Blesky lost all sensation in her legs; within weeks, her core body and arms followed, leaving her unable to do anything else except blink, speak, and sing.

When Mia was admitted to hospital, the doctors said it was a form of self-harm and she was doing it to herself. They discharged her after a few days. They gave her no treatment. We had to buy her a wheelchair. I had to carry her to the car. It has been absolutely awful, but the doctors say its psychological and down to bullying or sexuality issues, which is rubbish. The only thing they have offered to do is section her,  Gini Blesky has told the DailyMail.co.uk.

In a separate statement to the Mirror.co.uk, Gini Blesky has said: I dont want her rotting away in a hospital bed, I want answers and so far nobody is giving me any. I just want help for me and my family. I want answers and I want help for her above everything else.

Here we have yet another horrifying example of how the vaccine industry permanently damages young people and then blames them for their own suffering, remarked Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, a frequent critic of the vaccine industry. Just like nearly all doctors who push vaccines, these doctors are clearly living in total denial of the extremely damaging effects vaccines often have on children and teens, said Adams, who also writes for Natural News.

Apart from her fully-supported wheelchair, Mia Blesky is either carried around or bound to her bed. She also suffers from involuntary spasms and is unable to keep her food down. Of her condition, Mia Blesky has echoed the sentiments of her mother: Its hard. I just want to be a normal girl. Singing makes me feel a bit more normal but it doesnt feel the same as it did before, when I was walking or standing. I run out of breath all the time. I would love to sing on the West End or have a career in music. That is my dream. I just want to find someone who can help me.

Mia Bleskys case is not a unique one. In 2014, Ruby Shallom underwent her third shot of Gardasil at her school. Within weeks, she began experiencing dizziness, stomach spasms, and fatigue. Two years after receiving her vaccination, she was unable to feel her legs. Shallom has since lost use of all but one limb.

As part of their cervical cancer program, the NHS routinely offers Gardasil to 12- and 13-year old girls. The vaccine is intended to provide protection against two common types of HPV; however, reports have since poured in from women who claimed to have developed chronic fatigue syndrome because of the vaccine. In addition, the common side effects of Gardasil include fever, nausea, injection site redness, and pain in the arms, legs, or feet.

According to the European Medicines Agency, approximately 11,867 reactions to Gardasil have been recorded as of February of this year. (Related: Gardasil vaccine: Spain joins growing list of countries to file criminal complaints against manufacturer)

In response to the rising number of cases, the UK Association for Vaccine Injured Daughters was formed. The organization represents more than 400 families, and have demanded for more research into the vaccine.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

Mirror.co.uk 1

Mirror.co.uk 2
(Natural News) An intriguing new study has presented evidence that the first-known Americans may have arrived earlier than originally believed. However, they werent members of Homo sapiens, the progenitor species of all modern humans. According to the research published in the journal Nature, the earliest inhabitants of the North American continent were Neanderthals that landed more than 100,000 years ago  exceeding the accepted arrival date of 15,000 years ago.

Researchers at the Cerutti Mastodon Site in San Diego County, Calif., claimed to have found proof of human-like behavior in a mastodon skeleton buried just below the surface. The skeleton was first unearthed in 1992 by construction workers who were preparing to build the state highway California State Route 54, connecting the interstate to El Cajon. A number of the bones and teeth were broken in such a way that hinted they were struck in a certain manner while the animal was either still alive or freshly-deceased. Some of the breaks were found in sturdy bones that werent usually damaged during burial and fossilization. In addition, the injuries were inconsistent with any damage that could have been caused by hungry carnivores or massive herbivores that could have trampled the mastodon. Researchers postulated that what had happened was that the bones and teeth were placed on two stones, being used as makeshift anvils, and then smashed with three stone hammers, reported the WashingtonPost.com.

This explanation is supported by the presence of five large rounded stones near the location of the mastodon skeleton. Measuring eight inches to 12 inches and weighing up to 32 pounds, the researchers claimed that these stones could not have been deposited at the site by any natural means. Since there was only a gentle stream that once occupied where the mastodon skeleton lay, and no evidence of geological forces occurring anywhere near the site, the stones were most likely collected and carried there by hominins. By using Uranium series dating on the bone specimens, the researchers also found that three of them were 131,000 years old, adding or removing 9,000 years.

In spite of their findings, the research team cannot say for certain if Neanderthals did enter North America thousands of years before Homo sapiens did. Although no remains of any other individual were found, Steve Holen, lead author and director of the Center for American Paleolithic Research, stated that they could have arrived by land or by sea. Bison traveled from Asia to North America roughly 135,000 years ago by crossing the Bering Land Bridge, so its probable that the Neanderthal could have done the same. Tom Demere, lead researcher and paleontologist at the San Diego Natural History Museum, echoed the statement. He added that its also possible that the visitors died out without leaving behind any descendants. (Related: Neanderthals gave humans the gene for disease)

The research has garnered a wide range of reactions from experts who were not connected to the study.

On the bone fractures, Vance T. Holliday, an archaeologist at the University of Arizona, has said: They present evidence that the broken stones and bones could have been broken by humans. But they dont demonstrate that they could only be broken by humans.

By contrast, Erella Hovers of the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University in Tempe has called the evidence convincing.

Of their discovery, Demere has said to UPI.com: We could be wrong. But people have to be open to the possibility that humans were here this long ago.

Read up on more scientific discoveries and breakthroughs by visiting Scientific.news.

Sources include:

UPI.com

ArsTechnica.com

WashingtonPost.com

Nature.com
The construction of the ship is carried out by SIMA with the assistance of the South Korean corporation Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME). The ship itself is a further development of the DSME-built Makassar-class LPD for Indonesia. The Ministry of Defense of Peru signed a memorandum of understanding with DSME on April 10, 2012 regarding the construction of two LPDs in Peru, and in October 2012 an agreement was concluded with the Dae Sun Shipbuilding and Engineering (Pusan) shipyard, who acted as the direct designer of ships of the Makassar type and their variant for Peru, regarding the assistance in the construction of the SIMA enterprise. It was initially planned to deliver both ships to the Peruvian Navy in 2015, but as expected, this optimistic schedule was not met.



In early 2013, the Peruvian Navy issued SIMA a contract worth about $ 60 million to build the first ship. The keel laying took place on July 12, 2013, however, actual construction was started only in the second half of 2014. The delivery of Pisco to the fleet is now scheduled for August 2018.



Construction on the second ship has not yet started, and the contract for its construction still needs to be concluded between the Navy and the shipyard.




It also does not reflect the views of the Firm of which the Author is working for.





Since the inception of this blog, the Author has avoided writing views and opinions of his clients or views and opinions which third parties has paid him to write.





The Author has maintained editorial independence since Day One.





Any individual or group affected by the opinions and views of the Author can write the author thru mangubat.patricio@gmail.com.

Opinions and views expressed in this blog are personal views of the Author and does not involve organisations and companies being serviced by the Author as part of his profession as a Strategic Communications professional.
A time of growth, change and achievement was celebrated Monday morning at Emorys 172nd Commencement, which featured a keynote address by former U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey, one of the foremost voices in contemporary American poetry.

The Class of 2017 assembled on the Emory Quadrangle to participate in 9 a.m. exercises steeped in time-honored tradition, from the grand academic procession led by a pipe and drum band to the presentation of honorary degrees and awards and a collective conferral of degrees.

A crowd of about 15,000 guests began gathering as early as 6:45 a.m. for the day of ritual and pageantry, complete with colorful academic regalia, music and the central ceremony, which were followed by diploma ceremonies for individual schools.

The event marked the first Commencement led by President Claire E. Sterk, Emorys 20th president, whose remarks highlighted the accomplishments of undergraduate, graduate and professional students who have experienced the transformative power of the liberal arts, backed by the powerful force of a major research university.

"During their time here, all of our students have experienced a full immersion in the knowledge, discoveries and values of this university, Sterk said. We are expecting great things from them.

This years 4,615 graduates earned a record number of degrees, marking a nearly 13 percent increase over the past five years. A total of 4,700 degrees  including 85 joint degrees  were conferred upon students from 51 U.S. states and territories and 67 foreign countries, according to final statistics from Emorys Office of the Registrar available May 8.

The oldest graduate in the Class of 2017 is 70-year-old William Shapiro, who received an MBA. The youngest is 19-year-old Rubenie Stimphil, earning a bachelors degree in film studies. Some 60 percent of this years graduates are women; 40 percent are men.

Keynote reflects a poets perspective

Tretheweys invitation to deliver this years keynote remarks was in recognition of her wide-ranging achievements as one of Americas preeminent poets.

Her talent has placed her at the forefront of Americas contemporary poets, Sterk says. We are so proud of all she has achieved.

In addition to directing Emorys acclaimed Creative Writing Program, Trethewey, the Robert W. Woodruff Professor of English and Creative Writing, served two terms as the 19th Poet Laureate of the United States (2012-2014) and was also named Poet Laureate of the State of Mississippi (2012).

She has received a range of prestigious awards and fellowships for her writing, which includes four collections of poetry, a chapbook and a book of creative nonfiction. In 2013 she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; she was awarded the Academy of American Poets Fellowship for distinguished poetic achievement in 2016.

During Mondays ceremony, Trethewey received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree  among a series of special awards and recognitions presented to students and faculty.

Emory also conferred honorary degrees to three other individuals:

Taylor Branch, an American author and public speaker best known for his landmark narrative history of the civil rights era, America in the King Years. The trilogys first book, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63, won the Pulitzer Prize and numerous other awards in 1989. Two successive volumes also gained critical and popular success: Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963-65, and At Canaans Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-68.

Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, an American anthropologist and primatologist and professor emerita at the University of California, Davis. She is the author of five books including The Langurs of Abu: Female and Male Strategies of Reproduction (1977), the first book to examine the reproductive strategies of nonhuman primates from the perspective of both sexes; The Woman That Never Evolved (1981, new edition 1999), selected by the New York Times as one of the Notable Books of the Year; and Mother Nature: A History of Mothers, Infants and Natural Selection (1999), chosen by Publishers Weekly as one of the Best Books of 1999.
Candidates for the 2017 presidential election, Emmanuel Macron (R), and Marine Le Pen pose prior to the start of a live prime-time debate in the studios of French television station France 2, and French private station TF1 in La Plaine-Saint-Denis, near Paris, France, May 3, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

PARIS - Independent frontrunner Emmanuel Macron's "En Marche!" (On the Move) party is currently foreseen to win a majority in the upcoming French parliamentary election, an OpinionWay-SLPV Analytics poll showed on Wednesday.

Among mainland France constituencies, which make up 535 of the 577 seats in the National Assembly, the survey found that centrist movement would win 249 to 286 seats in the June legislative election.

Conservatives and centrist allies would emerge as the second main party in the country's lower house of parliament, winning a predicted 200 to 210 seats, while the Socialist Party would win 28 to 43 seats.

The far-right National Front (FN) party, which has built momentum following public anger at political mainstream parties who failed to live up to their economic promises, would snatch up 15 to 25 seats.

"This shows that it is not impossible for "En Marche" to reach an absolute majority...with the French abroad and overseas departments included," said Bruno Jeanbart, deputy director-general at OpinionWay.

"In the low hypothesis, the party would be the main group, which will be enough to try to form a majority. The question is how and with whom," he added.

An absolute majority in the National Assembly is 289 seats.

Earlier on Wednesday, a senior far-right party official said FN's Marine Le Pen would call for a referendum on French electoral law if she were to win the presidential elections on May 7, but her party failed to win a parliamentary majority.

"If the new Assembly is hostile to us, we would change the electoral law via a referendum organized as soon as next summer, then the president would dissolve the National Assembly," FN official Gilles Lebreton, told the satirical magazine Le Canard Enchaine.

Macron and Le Pen face off in a run-off on May 7. Pollsters predict the ex-economy minister to win the race with a large lead against his rival.
Julie Guthman, professor of social sciences, has been awarded a Radcliffe Institute Fellowship that will support a year-long residential research project at Harvard University.



Guthman is one of more than 50 artists and scholars selected to participate in the program, which recognizes past achievement as well as exceptional promise.



It has been an extraordinary spring for Guthman, who received a Guggenheim Fellowship in early April.

Guthman is a geographer who has been widely recognized for her study of organic farming and sustainable agriculture in California, as well as for her critical analysis of the "obesity epidemic." She is an alumna of UC Santa Cruz (B.A., sociology, 1979) who joined the faculty in 2003.

The author of more than 40 articles and two books, Guthman has a third manuscript, co-edited with Alison Alkon, about food activism that is coming out later this year.

"Julie Guthman is an expert in California agriculture and alternative food systems, and these fellowships recognize her status at the forefront of this important scholarship," said Sheldon Kamieniecki, dean of the Division of Social Sciences at UC Santa Cruz.

As a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, Guthman will spend the 2017-18 academic year in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with men and women at the forefront of the arts, journalism, humanities, sciences, and social sciences.

Guthman will use the time to work on a book project tentatively titled "Wilted: Verticillium dahliae in the making and unmaking of California's strawberry industry." The book will examine how efforts to manage the soil pathogen gave rise to the modern strawberry industry.

As part of the fellowship, Guthman will deliver a public talk in October. Her topic, "Social Justice and the New Food Activism," examines how social justice concerns gave rise to approaches beyond organic and local. That talk will be part of HUBweek, a week of events in the Boston area designed to connect the public with area institutions and innovation; HUBweek coincides with Harvard's fall alumni reunion celebrations.
Police arrested BPMA President Nirmal Singh and its Secretary Shamsher Khan from the former's house in the New Police Lines here following Patna Senior Superintendent of Pollice Manu Maharaj's orders.

"The SSP reached the spot after getting to know that the two were creating ruckus and publicly consuming liquor, and found both of them heavily drunk," a district police official said.

Singh and Khan were sent to jail by a local court.

According to police officials, Nirmal Singh resisted arrest and alleged that Maharaj had acted against him for raising voice on behalf of the association members.

Bihar Police Association President Mitunjay Singh welcomed the police action.

Over 45,000 persons have been arrested for violating liquor ban imposed by the Nitish Kumar government on April 5 last year.

Excise and Prohibition Minister Abdul Jalil Mastan said that state agencies have been directed to act tough against the violators.

The state police had raided 2,18,722 locations and seized liquor valued at Rs 50 crore in the last one year, an Excise and Prohibition Department official said.

According to a police report, 40,413 cases have been registered for violations of the liquor ban.

--IANS ik/tsb/vm

( 228 Words)

2017-05-04-13:16:09 (IANS)
"K. Viswanath has distinguished himself as an outstanding filmmaker. I congratulate him on being conferred the Dadasaheb Phalke award," Modi tweeted.

He also congratulated all those who got the National Film Awards on Wednesday. "We are proud of their creativity and contribution to cinema."

Vishwanath has directed 50 films, known for their strong content, endearing narrative, honest handling and cultural authenticity. Some of his major Hindi films include "Sargam", "Kaamchor", "Sanjog", "Jaag Utha Insan" and "Eeshwar".

The 87-year-old received the honour at the Vigyan Bhavan here from President Pranab Mukherjee.

Born in February 1930 at Gudivada (now in Andhra Pradesh), Viswanath has won five National Awards, 20 Nandi Awards (awarded by the Andhra Pradesh government) and 10 Filmfare Awards including Lifetime Achievement Award. He was conferred the Padma Shri in 1992.

His National Award winning movie, "Swati Mutyam (The White Pearl)", was India's official entry to the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Film category in 1987.

--IANS hp/rb/mr

( 196 Words)

2017-05-04-13:00:11 (IANS)
"The entire team is thrilled to be working with Mithun sir. I can't talk about his character but I can say he plays a pivotal role. He joins the sets from May 18," Prem told IANS.

The project, which stars two superstars Shivrajkumar and Sudeep in the lead, marks the Kannada film debut of Mithun.

After wrapping up the next schedule in Karnataka, the crew will head to England for a brief schedule.

The film will be high on graphics.

"Eight companies have already begun work on the graphics. Even though we are still shooting, post-production work has begun because we can't wait till the shoot gets over. Otherwise, it will delay the release of the film," Prem said.

"Villain" is one of the most anticipated Kannada releases of the year.

--IANS hp/rb/dg

( 163 Words)

2017-05-04-14:46:07 (IANS)
According to a new study, young children who recognize food name brands, often eat items that lead to their high body mass index. The findings also indicate that children often struggle with recalling details about food brands by misidentifying components with mascots and other fantasy characters that they are exposed to during the preschool years. The study will be published in journal Appetite. The scientists sought to determine if food brand recognition alone has any relevance for preschooler weight status, and if family and other variables are the primary sources of being overweight. The sample of 247 preschoolers, whose average age was 4.5 years, were measured for BMI and completed recognition and recall indicators for a selection of 30 U.S. food brands. The most recognized among the brands was Pepperidge Farm Goldfish (96 percent). Since there were three choices of foods to match with each brand logo, the children could get the answer right one-third of the time just by guessing. Even the least recognized brand (SpaghettiOs) was recognized 41 percent of the time, which was significantly greater than the chance rate. The study showed that overweight children recognized 10 food items more often than healthy-weight children: M&M's, Cocoa Puffs, Keebler cookies, Pringles potato chips, Rice Krispies, Cap'n Crunch, Coca-Cola, Planter's peanuts, KFC and Hamburger Helper. McDonald's registered the highest recall percentage (62 percent) among overweight children. "It is interesting that despite very low recall rates for some foods, recognition rates were still high," said Kristen Harrison, U-M professor of communication studies and the study's lead author. For example, the Keebler logo was recognized as matching with cookies (as opposed to potato chips or pretzels) by 86 percent of the kids surveyed, but only 1 percent were able to name the brand. On the other hand, recall percentages for other brands (such as McDonald's, M&M's and Pepperidge Farm Goldfish) were relatively high, but still lower than their corresponding recognition rates. Parent BMI (higher), child race/ethnicity and child vocabulary percentile (lower) were all significantly associated with higher child BMI percentile. Controlling these variables, none of the family behavior variables significantly. Misattribution of brands often occurred among the children. Lucky Charms were called "Cheerios with candy," M&M's were called Skittles, Coca-Cola was called Dr. Pepper', McDonald's was called "Old McDonald's," the Pringles logo was called "Mustache Guy," Quaker oatmeal "Hatman Oatmeal," and Cap'n Crunch was identified as both "Captain America" and "Chaplain Crunch." (ANI)
Calcutta High Court Justice C.S. Karnan on Thursday declined to undergo any check-up after a medical team turned up at his residence following a Supreme Court order, saying he is "absolutely normal". He termed the seven apex court judges as "terrorists" and the order an insult to a "Dalit judge". "Medical treatment is not required to (sic) me. Medical treatment is required to (sic) the patient. I am alright. I am not a patient. Yes, I am more than normal," he said. Karnan told the team of four doctors from the state-run Calcutta Pavlov Hospital that that his wife and sons were not in Kolkata and such a test can't be done without the consent of his family. "My wife and one son is in Chennai. The other son is abroad. So in the absence of any guardian, my family, I cannot allow you to examine me, as that is legally wrong," Karnan told the doctors after inviting them inside his New Town residence in Kolkata's north eastern fringes and offering them tea. Karnan handed a signed letter to the doctors addressed to the chairman of the medical board constituted to examine him. "Today you and your team came along with top police officers attached to the Kolkata Police department in order to provide medical treatment to me as per the direction/order/instruction of the Honourable Supreme Court. However, I declined to avail the medical treatment since I am absolutely normal with a stable mind," the letter said. He alleged the Supreme Court order was an "insult" to a "Dalit judge". "Furthermore, it's my strong view that the Supreme Court order amounts to an insult and harassment to a Dalit judge (myself)," Karnan said in the letter. On Thursday, Karnan's housing complex 'Rosedale' swarmed with a large number of mediapersons, police team and onlookers, ahead of the visit of the medical team. A seven-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar on Monday directed the setting up of a medical board to examine Karnan on May 4 and submit the evaluation report on May 8. Karnan has been engaged in an over three-month long confrontation with the apex court. He is facing contempt charges for degrading the judiciary and making allegations of corruption against several Supreme Court judges. On Thursday, Karnan seemed to relish his multiple interactions with the media. He spoke to the journalists both before the arrival of the medical team and also after they had left with his signed letter. He launched an all-out attack on the apex court judges, calling them "mad" and "terrorists" and accusing them of "colluding with corrupt judges" and "sharing the corruption amount". Karnan also termed the apex court order as a "mad order passed by mad judges" and alleged that he was being targeted. "I am wondering how the seven judges (are) supporting corrupted judges. Why the seven judges are colluding with corrupted judges. Seven judges colluding with corrupt judges means they share the corruption amount. "My assumption and presumption is the seven judges shared the corruption amount held by 20 judges." "Therefore they are taking personal interest. How all of a sudden they prevented my judicial work, administrative work? Where is the provision? How did they issue a bailable warrant against me? Am I a terrorist, an anti-social element?" "But the seven judges are terrorists, please note down," he told mediapersons, who were taken aback by his virulent attack. Karnan then offered his "logic". "The Pakistani terrorists are continuously attempting to disturb the Indian peace. Likewise the seven judges are continuously operating their judicial power out of law and spoiling the judiciary. Therefore they are terrorists in the judiciary." Karnan claimed the seven judges were "not suitable" for the nation. "My deep request on behalf of 125 crore of Indian people.... after the issuing of suo motu contempt proceedings, now the public have lost confidence and trust in the judiciary. Therefore, once again I request the seven judges to do the right thing by resigning their judicial posts," he said. Karnan even asked the media to compare the "quality" of the orders passed by him and the Supreme Court bench. "Compare my orders with the seven judges' orders. which are quality orders? Which are suitable for execution?" he asked. He also had an advice for a journalist. "Without omitting any point, incorporate in your newspaper, senior madam." --IANS ssp/rn ( 745 Words) 2017-05-04-16:26:07 (IANS)
He has requested the District Magistrate, Rajesh Jain to allow him to spend time in prison with mafia gangster Abu Salem, in order to pen down his story.

Khan is writing a novel on the underworld don and has requested to spend one month in jail with him.

"I am writing my fifth novel which focus on the life of Abu Salem. To study the character and his surrounding, I have requested the government to allow me to go to jail," Khan told ANI.

Jain has forwarded Khan's request to his seniors in Bhopal for approval.

Khan is writing his fifth thriller novel 'Love Demands Blood' and to complete it, he wants to understand Salem's life more profoundly.

Salem was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of builder Pradip Jain in 1995.

He has been booked in as many as 54 criminal cases. (ANI)
Two mobile tower batteries were also recovered from the bags after a search by officials.

Further investigations are underway by the Punjab Police.

Meanwhile, Pathankot and Gurdaspur are on high alert after three persons went missing after abandoning a robbed SUV at a village.

However, no arrests have been made, while the police claimed the suspects belonged to Jammu and Kashmir.

Police added the SUV was robbed by the suspects from Sambha in Jammu.

In 2015, three heavily-armed terrorists in army fatigues had hijacked a car and stormed a police station in Dinanagar town of Gurdaspur district, killing seven persons, before being gunned down.

On January 2nd 2016, the Pathankot Air Force Station, part of the Western Air Command of the Indian Air Force was attacked by a group of heavily armed terrorists

Four terrorists were killed by the security forces, and the Indian Armed forces lost three brave men including NSG's Lt Col Niranjan, who attained martyrdom when a bomb exploded while he was inspecting a terrorist's body.

The terrorists belonged to Jaish-e-Mohammed, an Islamist militant group. (ANI)
"We are making efforts to prevent such kind of incidents in the future. We will try to finish this issue as soon as possible," said Ahir after meeting the soldiers in the hospital.

He further said that a meeting will be held on May 8th to review the situation and further course of action will be discussed.

Earlier on May 1st, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the security situation in Sukma attack with country's top security officials.

Research and Analytical Wing (R&AW) chief Anil Dhasmana, Intelligence Bureau chief Rajiv Jain, Director General (DG) Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar and many other top officials participated in the intensive discussion chaired by Rajnath.

As many as 25 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and five others were injured in the encounter with Naxals in Sukma on April 24.

The CRPF's 74th Battalion was ambushed by the Naxals when it was manning a road construction project. (ANI)
Police have been interrogating three teenagers from Dhalabil area of Khowai in West Tripura suspecting them to be involved in the murder of their classmate Suvajit Shil (16), a student of Class X whose mutilated body was recovered from Khowai river in Bangladesh side. Suvajit had gone missing on May 1 from the village in the afternoon when he went out with friends. The family registered a missing dairy with the police at night and on May 3 last Border Guards of Bangladesh (BGB) recovered the body under a bridge of the river across the border. Khowai River has divided both India and Bangladesh and half of it lies in India. The body flowing down on Bangladesh part of the river was recovered by BGB and then handed over to BSF after identification of the body by police. After postmortem, the body was handed over to the family for cremation yesterday. Police, however, detained three of his classmates Satish Santal, Litan Tanti and Joydip Ghashi yesterday and produced them in the court seeking permission of interrogating them in connection with the death of Suvajit. The court allowed the police and released them on conditional bail. Police suspected that the main cause of the murder of Suvajit might be a love affair. Police recovered several love letters from the school bag of the deceased. The postmortem report confirmed that Suvajit was murdered and thrown into the river water. His hands were broken and many other cut injury marks was there in his body. Police also got the name of the girl, for whom sharp dispute arouse among the students, and is believed that the girl was also informed about the plan of action.UNI BB AD0959 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-879500.Xml
Acting on a tip-off, police in Panisagar of North Tripura has detained a vehicle registered with the Meghalaya government on its way to South Assam and during search police recovered 18 small plastic containers full of brown sugar. Police, however, arrested two persons, identified as Ashok Nath (31) of Panisagar and Biplab Roy (28) of Dhamcherra in Mizoram-Tripura border. During interrogation, the accused persons stated that they were travelling to Shillong from Western Mizoram from where the contrabands were collected. Police did not want to disclose more but said a drug racket has been operating among Assam, Tripura, Mizoram and Meghalaya connecting to Myanmar and Bangladesh where Tripura and Mizoram have been used a corridor. On the other hand, police in Belonia of South Tripura while performing mobile duty last night noticed a Truck carrying cattle toward Bangladesh border. They stopped the vehicle at Krishnanagar and rescued as many as 13 cattles which were carried for transporting to Bangladesh.UNI BB AD1005 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-879505.Xml
The Manipur government will soon launch State Mission on employment, housing and drinking water for each household by 2022. Manipur Information official said with the objective of ensuring gainful Employment, Housing and providing treated tap drinking water to each of the household in the state within the period of five years starting from 2017-18 onwards, the State Cabinet presided by Chief Minister N Biren Singh met last evening and decided to launch State Mission on employment, housing and drinking water for each household by 2022. The mission will be based on three pillars of Community Mobilization, Transparency and Universal coverage with the primary focus on cluster based approach. It is to be implemented by leveraging funds from the funding window of different Ministries of Central Government under various Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS). The mission aims to provide 100 percent employment, housing and treated tap water which is to be ensured in selected cluster of villages covering all the Blocks of Manipur.More UNI NS AD1039 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-879526.Xml
The court also set aside the acquittal of five policemen in the same case and directed the Central Bureau of Investigation agency to probe them.

On March 3, 2002, at the height of the Gujarat riots following the Godhra train burning, Bilkis Bano and her family members were attacked by a riotous mob in Devgad-Baria village near Dahod.

--IANS qn/in/vm

( 103 Words)

2017-05-04-11:48:10 (IANS)
"A meeting has been called on May 12 of all the political parties over the alleged charges of EVM tampering in the recent polls," official sources said.

The EC's meeting with all the parties comes in order to convince and assure them that the EVMs cannot be hacked.

After the latest assembly elections in five states, many opposition parties raised questions over the reliability of EVMs.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had urged the State Election Commission to hold the Delhi civic polls with ballot paper trail.

The EC is also planning to throw an open challenge to all stakeholders to try and hack its EVMs to remove all doubts about the voting machines.

--IANS bns-aks/rn

( 151 Words)

2017-05-04-13:00:08 (IANS)
SSB Commandant Ram Kumar Bhalotia said here that SSB jawans intercepted peddlers and seized 1,774 bottles of foreign liquor from the boat in Kosi river near Narpat Patti village following a specific intelligence input. The peddlers made good their escape after jumping from the boat.

Mr Bhaltoia said that liquor bottles were being smuggled from Nepal when these bottles were seized. The SSB jawans handed over the consignment to Ratanpur police station later. UNI XC-DH AKM 1349

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Days after the mutilation of two Indian soldiers by the Pakistan Army along Line of Control (LoC) in the Krishna Ghati sector of the Poonch district, National Conference President Farooq Abdullah on Thursday vouched for talks between India and Pakistan asserting that only talks between India and Pakistan can improve relations and end this crisis. "I condemn the mutilation of Indian soldiers by Pakistan; it is certainly very tragic not just for the jawans family but country too. It is also unfortunate that something like this has happened to which Pakistan denies that they have not done it. Only talks between India and Pakistan can improve relations and end this crisis," Abdullah told ANI. Requesting India and Pakistan government to break the ice, Abdullah further stated that no such things should happen again and those responsible must be killed or punished. "Such incidents are totally against Geneva conventions and should be stopped soon. If we want peace between the two nations it is important that no such things should happen again and those responsible must be killed or punished. I also request India and Pakistan government to end the cold war and find solutions to problems," said Abdullah. Yesterday, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said that Pakistan's denial of any cross Line of Control movement by its troops and mutilation of Indian soldiers' carries no credibility. Jaitley said, "The denial itself carries no credibility because the entire gambit of circumstances clearly indicates that this barbaric act of first killing two of our soldiers and then neutralising their bodies has been carried out with the active participation of the army." "The facts that cover firings are provided to those who carry out this act. They help to escape on such a heavily guarded border where posts are in few meters of each other. This cannot happen without protection, participation or actual indulgence of the Pakisatn army itself," he added. New Delhi yesterday summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit and lodged a protest against the killing and mutilation of Indian Army soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir. "Foreign Secretary summoned Pakistan High Commissioner, conveyed India's outrage, demands action against Pakistan soldiers and commanders responsible," Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Gopal Baglay said in a tweet. The Pakistan Army has denied New Delhi's charge of mutilating the bodies of two Indian soldiers and described itself as a highly professional force that never disrespects any soldier. "Pakistan Army did not commit any ceasefire violation on the LoC or a BAT action in the Buttal sector (Indian Krishna Ghati Sector) as alleged by India. Indian blame of mutilating Indian soldiers' bodies is also false," the Inter Services Public Relation (ISPR) said in a statement. However, the Indian Army in its statement said, "Pakistan Army carried out unprovoked Rocket and Mortar firing on two forward posts on the line of control in Krishna Ghati Sector. Simultaneously, a BAT action was launched on a patrol operating in between the two posts. In an unsoldierly act by the Pak Army the bodies of two of our soldiers in the patrol were mutilated. Such despicable act of Pakistan Army will be appropriately responded." (ANI)
Noted social activist and senior JD (U) leader Swami Agnivesh today \\demanded CBI probe into the deaths of two sugar factory workers in self-immolation bids in protest against non-payment of outstanding wages to them in East Champaran district. Talking to newspersons after meeting the family members of the deceased workers and other sugarcane growers supplying their produce to Motihari Sugar factory, Mr Agnivesh said that the state government had ordered a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the matter but the facts would remain buried until a CBI probe was conducted, Former MP and Gandhian ideologue Dr Ramji Singh, retired Additional Director General of Police P.K. Siddharth and a professor in Jai Prakash Narain University, Chapra Shakeel Ahmed Ata had also accompanied Mr Agnivesh during the meeting with families of factory workers. They had also held a 'people`s hearing' on the issue of 'terror' of police and local administration in the area. Mr Agnivesh said that it was disclosed during the people`s hearing that outstanding wages of the workers were not paid by the factory management despite the fact that they had apprised the local district administration of their plight on several occasion. He said that the district administration was informed well in advance by sugar factory workers union about the intent of some workers committing self immolation if their outstanding wages were not paid immediately. MORE UNI DH KK -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0212-880141.Xml
At the rally the Chief Minister announced that mangoes of Malda will now be exported to Europe, Abu Dhabi and Nepal.

The projects inaugurated today by the Chief Minister included Mother and Child Hub at Malda Medical College and Hospital, building of Manikchak Degree College, police station, Karma Tirtha, Krishak Bazar, roads, hostels, water supply projects, mini indoor stadium at a girls' hostel, housing for doctors and nurses, health centre, administrative building, and child care home.

The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stones for several projects including, a power sub-station, administrative buildings, housing for the homeless, health centre, model school, hostels, mini indoor stadium, godown and renovation of Malda airport in Englishbazar block.

Ms Banerjee distributed benefits like Kanyashree, cycles under Sabuj Sathi, Kisan Credit Cards, Gatidhara, assistance to purchase agricultural equipment, Geetanjali, Swasthya Sathi and other such schemes.MORE UNI SJC KK

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In a rebuff to NDA ally Shiv Sena and a message to the Opposition, leader of another alliance partner and Union Minister Ramvilas Paswan today said there was no vacancy for prime ministership till 2024, going by the recognition people were giving to the good work done by the government. Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thakeray had yesterday criticised the BJP for allegedly being in a hurry to impose the leadership of Mr Narendra Modi and said Mr Paswan had prevailed upon other NDA partners in endorsing a resolution passed at an NDA meeting last month in New Delhi declaring that next Lok Sabha elections would be fought under the leadership of the Prime Minister. ''Why has Mr Thakeray awaken after a month? How could I force any leader to endorse the resolution. They were not children. All of us are certain that till 2024, there is going to be no vacancy for prime ministership,'' Mr Paswan, who heads the Lok Janshakti Party, said when asked about the Shiv Sena leader's statement. Mr Paswan's remark came at a meet the Press programme organised by the Press Club of India here. The Union Minister for Food and Consumer Affairs said the Modi government had since assuming power dealt a hard blow to corruption, brought in transparency and increased accountability. People have benefitted immensely from the various decisions of the Modi government, especially from note ban that had given the poor a satisfaction of being vindicated as against the trouble it caused to those who made money by dishonest means, he said. ''The results of the recent polls in the UP Assembly and the Mumbai Municipal Corporation reflect people's endorsement of the policies of the Modi government,'' the Union Minister said. UNI NAZ RSA 1808 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0098-880258.Xml
The Supreme Court today sought a detailed response from the Kerala government on a plea filed by Tamil Nadu, alleging that the neighbouring state was not allowing it to maintain the Mullaperiyar dam.A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice (CJI) Jagdish Singh Khehar and also comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud and Sanjay Kishan Kaul, issued notice to the Kerala government.Further hearing was set for the second week of July.The Mullaperiyar dam is situated in Idukki district of Kerala and is owned and operated by the Tamil Nadu government. The length of the main dam is 1200 feet and top of the dam is 155 feet.Tamil Nadu, which had sought execution of the apex court order, submitted that the state has a right to maintain the dam, while its security would be taken care of by Kerala.It had alleged that its officials were not allowed by the Kerala government to perform the maintenance work of the dam. The apex court had rapped the Tamil Nadu government for seeking deployment of Central Industrial Security Force to ensure the safety and security of the dam.Mullaperiyar Dam was constructed across the Periyar river in accordance with the October 29, 1886, Lake Lease Agreement. It was completed in 1895 after eight years.UNI XC RJ RP1846 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0098-880420.Xml
The department of Surgical Oncology, JIPMER organised a two-day national conference 'JIPMER THYROCON on 29th and 30th of April, 2017 at JIPMER. According to a Jipmer statement here today, Thyroid cancer is one of the few cancers that has a very high cure rate, provided it is detected early and treated appropriately. Though decades of experience and literature have provided strong guidelines for thyroid cancer treatment, there are some niche areas where experts haven't yet come to a consensus and in this backdrop, Jipmer Thyrocon was held.The conference was organised with the affiliation of three major societies,- Foundation of head & neck oncology (FHNO), Indian Association of Surgical Oncology (IASO) & Indian society of thyroid surgeons (ISTS). The conference brought together eminent experts from all over the country to discuss and debate on such controversial areas in thyroid cancer management and was aptly named Controversies and consensus in thyroid cancer. Around 130 post graduate students and consultants from various surgical fields attended the conference that began with a live telecast of a thyroid cancer surgery. Dr Anil D'Cruz, Director of Tata Memorial hospital, Mumbai and one of the topmost head and neck surgeons of India, explained the procedure lucidly, while he operated on the case. He also delivered the key-note address "Global changes in the management of thyroid cancer & Indian scenario". This was followed by several sessions that saw in-depth discussion on controversial topics and exchange of ideas from professionals from various fields. Dr K Srinivasan, organising chairman & Dr Prasanth Penumadu, organising secretary of the conference said that it was a knowledge fest for post graduate students, who actively participated in the two-day event, including a quiz. Dr SC Parija, Director of JIPMER inaugurated the conference and congratulated the department of Surgical Oncology and the experts in the field for coming together to initiate dialogue among them for better management of thyroid cancer. Dr Parija also unveiled the plan for setting up of a comprehensive high dose radionuclide therapy ward at JIPMER by the department of Nuclear Medicine. The proposed facility with a capacity to treat six in-patients at a time will be the largest such facility in South India and first of its kind in Puducherry. Apart from thyroid cancer, this facility will also cater to patients with other cancers, like advanced neuroendocrine and prostate tumours. JIPMER is committed to serving the poor and underprivileged and this will be a boon for them, he said. UNI PAB RJ SHK 2030 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0098-880238.Xml
Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal today chaired a crime review meeting of Delhi Police here at his residence, where he reviewed the 'Mobile & Web Applications for First Information Report of MV and other property theft cases.' The meeting was attended by state Chief Secretary, Commissioner of Police of Delhi, Special Commissioner (Transport) and other officials. In the meeting, the LG was apprised that the objective of this App is immediate online lodging/downloading of FIR for the property stolen in Delhi through web or mobile. This facilitates Investigating Officer to complete investigation steps and documentation timely and results in early disposal of cases to reduce pendency in Police Stations and Courts. It was also informed that app is citizen-friendly as people need not required to visit Police Station to lodge FIR nor wait to receive its copy. The Special CP of Delhi Police also informed Mr Baijal about enhanced police presence and patrolling identification of vulnerable areas based on crime pattern in each police station, quicker reaction time through increased police presence in the area, gathering of macro-intelligence by District Police as well as specialised units against criminal gangs operating, closer surveillance on known-criminals, follow up of activities of criminals coming out of jail after conviction or release on bail, public participation to control crimethrough schemes like 'Eyes and Ears' Scheme, which helps in reducing Motor Vehicle and other property theft. It was discussed in the meeting that Delhi Police should publicise some remedial measures such as vehicle not to be left unattended without locking the ignition and removing the key, parking in a well-lit area, lock alldoors, activate anti-theft devices, packages or valuables to be kept out of sight, license, registration or title documents of vehicles not to be left etc. After listening, the LG asked the officials to have a robust mechanism toget feedback of the App regarding its working besides making this App moreuser friendly. He also advised Commissioner of Police to develop a system ofdocumenting best practices in all operational areas so that institutionalmemory is strengthened, for improved performance in future.UNI DS ADG SHK 2029 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0177-880692.Xml
The University of Jammu has imposed blanket ban on sale of soft drinks and junk food in canteens and cafeterias, besides inside the campus of the institution. In an order issued here, Jammu University authorities put a complete ban on sale of cold drinks and junk food in the campus with immediate effect, an official here said. He said the notification signed by Prof Satnam Kaur, Dean Students Welfare has directed all the eateries inside the campus to stop further sale of junk food and cola drinks, failing which action under rules shall be initiated against them. The ban, however, came after a memorandum was submitted by 'YUVA' (Youth and Vivekananda), a group of university students, wherein the body had requested the authorities to ban all such eatable products in the campus that cause ill effects on the health of students. ''It is a welcome step, but the order should be adhered in letter and spirit and besides this, issues like creation of data source on students health, organising regular orientation programmes on health and creating wellness clusters to provide psychological support and counselling to students regarding proper nutrition and healthy habits must also be enforced,'' Anil Acharya, coordinator of YUVA said, post ban on the sale of these products. UNI VBH RJ SHK 2038 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0098-880650.Xml
"Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has approved Rs one crore compensation for the family of deceased ASI Vijay Kumar, who was shot dead in west Delhi," a Delhi Government source said today.

The incident took place on April 30 at around 2300 hours when Monu Dariyapur along with his friend Arun and two Protective Services Officials which included ASI Vijay Kumar and Constable Kuldeep were attacked by some bike and car-borne assailants in the National Market area of the Mianwali Nagar following which Kumar and two others (Monu, Arun) succumbed while Kuldeep was injured.

On the statement of Kuldeep, an FIR was registered under section 302,307,25,34 of Indian Penal Code and section 27 of Arms Act in connection with the matter,

Meanwhile, police is investigating into the matter.UNI DS SHK 2101

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Mohamad al Arefe, Kamal El-Mekki, Bilal Philips, Terry Dale Jones, Salman Bin Fahad Alodah and Mohammad Al-Nabulsi were sanctioned on Tuesday, The Copenhagen Post cited the Immigration Ministry as saying.

"The government won't accept hate preachers coming to Denmark and let them preach against Danish society and indoctrinate listeners to commit violence against women and children, spread ideas of a caliphate and undermine our founding values," said Immigration Minister Inger Stojberg.

"I am naturally very pleased that it is now clear to everyone that these people are not welcome in Denmark."

The Danish government announced a plan last May to establish a blacklist after a hidden-camera documentary exposed radical preachers in mosques. The plan was broadly approved by the Parliament.

The immigration authority will continue assessing which preachers should be on the blacklist, Stojberg said.

According to the law, foreigners can find themselves on the list if the have "displayed behaviour that gives reason to believe that the foreigner is a threat to public order in Denmark", he said.

--IANS py/vm

( 195 Words)

2017-05-03-11:44:08 (IANS)
Ghani's deputy spokesman said the President turned down the invitation during his meetings with Pakistan delegates, reports GeoTV.

"I will not visit Pakistan until the perpetrators behind the attacks on Kandahar, Mazar-e-Sharif and American University in Kabul are handed over to Afghanistan, and action is taken against Afghan Taliban in Pakistan," the spokesman quoted Ghani as saying .

Ghani's denial comes a day after Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar visited Kabul for talks with President Ghani and National Security Advisor Hanif Atmar .

Both Pakistan and Afghanistan have recently resumed bilateral contacts to de-escalate the tensions between the two neighboring countries. The visit of the ISI chief is the third high-profile visit of Pakistani officials to Kabul in a week.

Afghan President Ghani has been accusing neighboring country of maintaining a distinction between "good and bad terrorists", an accusation Islamabad has repeatedly denied.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been assuring the Afghan government that its soil is not being used against Afghanistan and his country supports the democratic process in Afghanistan.

In a counter attack, Islamabad has alleged that attacks in Pakistan are being orchestrated on Afghan soil. (ANI)
China on Thursday said it won't meddle in the Kashmir row between India and Pakistan, calling it a bilateral dispute, days after a commentary in a daily indicated that Beijing is ready to resolve the issue because of its "vested interest". The Foreign Ministry told IANS that Beijing will not change its position on Jammu and Kashmir because of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which cuts through the disputed territory between India and Pakistan. "China's position on the issue of Kashmir is clear and consistent. It is an issue left over from history between India and Pakistan and shall be properly addressed by India and Pakistan through consultation and negotiation," the ministry said in an email statement. India has been opposed to third party mediation in the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir, the northern third of which is held by Pakistan and the southern two thirds by India. "Building of the CPEC does not affect China's position on this issue. We sincerely hope that India and Pakistan will properly handle differences by increasing communication and dialogue, and jointly uphold regional peace and stability," the ministry said. "China is willing to make constructive efforts for the improvement of India-Pakistan relations." On Tuesday, a commentary in the Global Times daily said China was ready to resolve the Kashmir dispute between because it wanted to protect the multi-billion dollar CPEC. "Given the massive investment that China has made in countries along the One Belt One Road, China now has a vested interest in helping resolve regional conflicts including the dispute over Kashmir between India and Pakistan," said the commentary. "China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, but that doesn't mean Beijing can turn a deaf ear to the demands of Chinese enterprises in protecting their overseas investments," it said. The $46 billion CPEC project, a key component of Beijing's ambitious Belt and Road project, connects China's Kashgar in Xinjiang with Pakistan's Gwadar port in Balochistan - restive regions in both countries. India has opposed the route, saying it passes through Pakistani Kashmir. New Delhi claims the region as its own. China, which is hosting a mega Belt and Road Conference this month, wants India to be a part of the project. India has been non-committal about its attendance in the conference, which is likely to see participation by some 30 heads of state. (Gaurav Sharma is the IANS Beijing-based correspondent. He can be contacted at sharmagaurav71@gmail.com and gauravians@yahoo.com) --IANS gsh/soni/mr ( 426 Words) 2017-05-04-14:48:09 (IANS)
Beijing (China), May 4 ANI : Accusing India of creating hurdles in the way of the China's One Belt, One Road initiative, state-run Global Times has in an editorial justified China's development plan of economic corridors and asked New Delhi to should stop expressing concern over the increased Chinese military presence in the region. In an article titled "Belt and Road can 'solve global woes', the Global Times emphasised that six 'economic corridors' launched by China aim to benefit the economies of the participant countries and help stabilize many regions. The daily further said, "India's economy accounts for 80 percent in the region. So, if New Delhi is reluctant to get involved in China's development plan, other countries in the region will also be impacted when participating in the B&R initiative. That's why the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor's progress is very slow." The editorial tries to justify that China's most ambitious economic and foreign policy project "One Belt and One Road" is not a military project and is not aimed at any country but is a part of the economic vision of cooperation between and among countries. The initiative focuses on bringing China, Central Asia, Russia and Europe; linking China with the Persian Gulf and the Mediterrrean Sea through Central Asia and West Asia and further connecting China with Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Indian Ocean. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the Bangladesh-China -India-Myanmar Economic Corridor require closer cooperation among the concerned countries, The Global Times reports. This article come days ahead of a two-day high-profile mega Silk Road summit to be held in Beijing from May14 to May 15. Over 28 world leaders and 50 heads of organisations are likely to attend the event.(ANI)
In the backdrop of liquor baron Vijay Mallya's extradition demand, India and the UK on Thursday agreed to expedite the process of extraditing "wanted persons". The decision was made in the first Home Affairs dialogue between the two countries here. The delegations were led by Indian Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and Patsy Wilkinson from the British Home Office. The meeting was held as a follow up to British Prime Minister Theresa May's visit to India in November and the two Prime Ministers' commitment for enhanced and strengthened dialogue. "Both sides expressed satisfaction in matters relating to extradition of wanted persons. The process involved in matters of extradition and the need to further improve them were also discussed," Home Ministry advisor Ashok Prasad said. Asked about Mallya's extradition, Prasad said: "These matters are not discussed at this level. It is discussed at agency level. The idea was to identify and remove the bottlenecks and make the process simpler." Mallya, who fled to Britain in March 2016 after being pursued for the recovery of Rs 8,191 crore his now defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes to Indian banks, was arrested and bailed in London last month. The next hearing of the case will be on May 17. The Indian government had in February handed over to British authorities a formal request for Mallya's extradition, saying it had a legitimate case against him on charges of financial irregularities and loan default. India and the UK have an extradition treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the pact. Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel was sent back to India in October to face trial in connection with his involvement in the Gujarat riots of 2002. Both the countries also agreed to address the challenges of illegal migrants. "The two sides will work together to ensure smooth return of Indians overstaying in UK subject to nationality verification," Prasad said. The delegations also discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in tackling organised crime in India and the UK. "Regarding criminal data sharing and strengthening cooperation in tackling serious and organised crimes, the two sides expressed satisfaction in the existing level. They agreed to enhance and strengthen the bilateral cooperation and work towards formalising the arrangements," Prasad said. India raised the issue of visa related difficulties of students, skilled professional and dependents of Indian diplomats. The UK promised to look into the matter. "India and the UK laid emphasis on cooperation on anti-terrorism mechanism and to strengthen mutual support to check cyber crimes," Prasad added. Asked about Sikh groups in the Uk attempting to revive the Khalistan movement, he said: "The issue was discussed. The details and information will be shared at agency level." India has been pressing for action against groups engaged in the UK working for an independent Khalistan in India. --IANS bns-rak/mr ( 481 Words) 2017-05-04-20:32:07 (IANS)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-03 20:17:04|Editor: Xiang Bo

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PARIS, May 3 (Xinhua) -- French company Veolia, a world leading company in water, waste and energy management, on Wednesday announced it has signed three deals worth 864 million euros (943 million U.S. dollars) with China.

Under the accords, Veolia will "provide a suite of solutions ... to improve (Chinese) clients' energy performance and to help them comply with the regulations for the new Chinese regulations of environmental standards," it said in a press release.

Via its subsidiary Veolia China, the company won 341-million-euro project to bolster production of electricity and steam from biomass for chemicals and construction clients.

The 25-year-old scheme will include construction, operation and maintenance of a biomass plant in north China's Hebei province in a bid to increase the use of renewable energy in the region's energy mix.

The second deal worth 335 million euros is expected to improve energy performance management at the site of Shandong Hongda Chemical, one of China's leading industrial groups in east China's Shandong province, mainly by reducing costs.

Under the third accord, Veolia plans to build a chilled water plant for a data center in China's main information technology hub in Beijing to help clients comply with the very stringent standards for energy efficiency in the region.

"These new contracts reflect China's growing need for renewable energy and the management of the energy performance to reduce their environmental footprint and meet the requirements of the new regulations," said Regis Calmels, Veolia Senior Executive Vice President Asia. (1 euro = 1.091 U.S. dollars)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-03 20:57:19|Editor: ying

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DAR ES SALAAM, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Three suspected Tanzanian drug traffickers have been extradited to the United States to face federal drug charges, the U.S. Embassy in Tanzania said Wednesday.

A statement from the embassy named the suspects as Ali Khatib Haji Hassan and two of his associates, Iddy Salehe Mfullu and Tiko Emanual Adam, and said the trio was extradited on May 1 and arrived in the United States on May 2.

"The extradition was the culmination of close and substantial bilateral cooperation between the governments of the United States and Tanzania over an extended period of time," said the statement.

The statement said Tanzanian authorities arrested Hassan for drug smuggling in 2014 after a two-year manhunt precipitated by the seizure of approximately 210 kilograms of heroin in the East African nation's southern region of Lindi in January 2012.

On March 9, 2016, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Hassan and his organization as significant foreign narcotics traffickers under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act).

In March 2016, a grand jury in Houston, Texas, returned an indictment charging Shkuba and his associates with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin during the 2010-2015 period, said the statement.

The United States later formally requested Tanzania to extradite the three defendants.
KIGALI, May 3 (Xinhua) -- The board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund) met in Rwandan capital Kigali Wednesday and selected Aida Kurtovic as its new Chair for a two-year term.

Kurtovic, who is from Bosnia and Herzegovina, had served as Vice-Chair for the past two years. Prior to serving as Vice-Chair, she also served as a board member, and has been involved with the Global Fund in numerous capacities.

The Global Fund is an organization designed to accelerate the end of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as epidemics. Founded in 2002, it is a partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and people affected by the diseases. The organization raises and invests nearly 4 billion U.S. dollars a year to support programs run by local experts in countries and communities most in need.

Opening the board meeting Wednesday morning, Rwandan President Paul Kagame stressed the importance of strengthening systems of health, of orienting all financial support around a country's strategic plan for health, and of long-term improvement through constant learning.

According to Rwandan government officials, the Global Fund's interventions in Rwanda have achieved impressive results, including antiretroviral therapy for HIV for 175,000 people, more than 36,000 smear-positive cases of TB detected and treated, more than 18.1 million insecticide-treated nets to protect families against malaria.

The board also selected John Simon, the former U.S. ambassador to the African Union as incoming Vice-Chair.

The new terms for Chair and Vice-Chair of the board will start at the conclusion of the current meeting on Thursday.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 01:23:43|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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AMMAN, May 3 (Xinhua) -- A Jordanian official on Wednesday called for more international support to countries that host Syrian refugees.

The remarks were made by Jordanian Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Emad Fakhoury, at the opening of the Second International Conference for Refugees in the Middle East held in Amman.

He said leaving neighboring countries that host Syrian refugees without the required support will worsen the refugee crisis and increase human suffering.

The minister also stressed the need for the international community to maintain financial aid to Jordan so that the kingdom can continue to support refugees as it has done throughout its history.

Jordan has always been a haven for the displaced and has never failed to fulfil its national, religious and humanitarian duty, Fakhoury said.

The minister, however, said the refugee influx negatively impacts the social and economic stability of host countries and threatens their national development achieved during the previous decades.

According to Fakhoury, the waves of Iraqi refugees, which began in the 1990s, and the recent waves of Syrians have caused great pressure on all walks of life, especially the water and sanitation sector, health, education and municipal services. The refugee waves have also produced social problems that were unknown to the Jordanian society in the past.

"Unfortunately, no solution is imminent, as it is clear that the internal repercussions on the neighboring countries will take longer than many expected," he said.

According to the minister, the total population of the kingdom has reached 9.5 million, where Jordanian citizens are 6.61 million and half of non-Jordanians were Syrian refugees.

According to the UNHCR, the number of registered refugees in Jordan has reached 2.8 million, which makes the country the largest host of refugees in the world.

Fakhoury said the Jordanian government has adopted a resilience-based plan which combines humanitarian and development efforts into a single national framework to serve the interests of both refugees and host communities.

The plan, which will be implemented in cooperation with the international community, the UN and civil society institutions, involves a number of programs and projects worth 2.18 billion U.S. dollars to support refugees and meet their needs, he noted.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 01:48:49|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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LOS ANGELES, May 3 (Xinhua) -- For the second time in a week, the U.S. Air Force test launched another unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead from an air base in California Wednesday morning amid growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

A team of Air Force Global Strike Command Airmen from the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, launched an unarmed Minuteman III missile equipped with a single test reentry vehicle at 12:02 am Pacific Daylight Time (8:02 am GMT)from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, according to U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command.

The ICBM's reentry vehicle, which contained a telemetry package used for operational testing, traveled approximately 4,200 miles to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

"These test launches verify the accuracy and reliability of the ICBM weapon system, providing valuable data to ensure a continued safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent," U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command said in a statement.

Malmstrom AFB is one of three missile bases with crew members standing alert 24 hours a day, year-round, overseeing the nation's ICBM alert forces.

The Minuteman III is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States. It's one of three legs of the U.S. nuclear triad, which is also comprised of strategic bombers such as the B-52 Stratofortress and B-2 Spirit, as well as submarine launched ballistic missions, provided by Navy submarines.

Although U.S. officials said the launch was planned years in advance and was not related to growing tensions in Korean Peninsula, it's still a concern for the second ICBM test of U.S. Air Force in a week.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Friday condemned the test-launch of a Minuteman-III missile last Wednesday by the U.S. Air Force, which it said was a simulated strike on Pyongyang. DPRK has stepped up its missile testing in recent weeks amid heightened tensions with the United States.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 01:53:42|Editor: xuxin

British Prime Minister Theresa May makes a statement at 10 Downing Street after returning from Buckingham Palace where she met Britain's Queen Elizabeth II to ask permission for the dissolution of Parliament, in London, Britain on May 3, 2017. (Xinhua/Tim Ireland)

LONDON, May 3 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May made her most stinging remark so far against European Union (EU) "bureaucrats" in Brussels, accusing them of trying to ruin Brexit talks.

May was speaking outside 10 Downing Street after meeting with Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday on the day British parliament was dissolved ahead of the June 8 snap general election.

In her briefing, May said the events of the last few days had shown that whatever Britain's wishes, there were some people in Brussels who did not want Brexit talks to succeed and did not want Britain to prosper.

"The European Commission's negotiating stance has hardened. Threats against Britain have been issued by European politicians and officials," May said.

The British prime minister said these acts had been deliberately timed to affect the result of the upcoming general election.

May said: "Whoever wins on June 8 will face one overriding task, to get the best possible deal for this United Kingdom from Brexit. And in the last few days, we have seen just how tough these talks are likely to be."

"By contrast, I made clear in my letter to the President of the European Council invoking Article 50 last month that, in leaving the EU, Britain means no harm to our friends and allies on the continent," she said.

But May repeated her stance of a few weeks ago that no deal was better for Britain than a bad deal.

She also warned that "while there is enormous opportunity for Britain as we leave the European Union, if we do not get this right, the consequences will be serious."

And those consequences, she warned, would be felt by ordinary, working people across Britain.

"If we do not stand up and get this negotiation right we risk the secure and well-paid jobs we want for our children and our children's children, too. If we don't get the negotiation right, if we let the bureaucrats of Brussels run over us, we will lose the chance to build a fairer society with real opportunity for all," said May.

May and the Conservative Party remain well ahead in the opinion polls, pointing to a victory for May with an increased majority on June 8 if the pollsters are right.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 01:58:51|Editor: huaxia

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by Ronald Njoroge

NAIROBI, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's flower exports are expected to hit 133,000 tonnes in 2017, the same as in 2016, the industry said on Wednesday.

Kenya Flower Council (KFC) CEO Jane Ngige told a media briefing in Nairobi that the export volumes are expected to remain stagnant due to prevailing drought conditions that prompted flower farms to cut back on new investments.

"Due to insufficient rainfall in the key flower-growing regions, we forecast that exports will remain similar to last year," Ngige said.

Government data indicate that in 2016, Kenya exported flowers worth 690 million U.S. dollars representing 70 percent of the total horticulture exports.

Ngige said the European Union remains the key exports market for Kenya flowers and accounts for over 70 percent of all output.

"We are seeking to diversify into new and emerging markets such as Eastern Europe, Russia and China," she added. Kenya has continued to experienced growth in its share of the global flower trade in the last decade.

Statistics show that Kenya is contributing over 35 percent of the world flower trade and continues to compete with countries such as Ecuador and Colombia in the world flower business.

In Africa, Kenya is the leading flower grower and exporter, beating other producers such as Ethiopia and Tanzania. Ngige said that flower sector is grappling with rising costs of production.

"We are experiencing increased labor and input costs and so the flower sector has to embrace efficiency measures," she added. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 02:08:52|Editor: huaxia

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BUJUMBURA, May 3 (Xinhua) -- One person was killed on Tuesday night when unidentified gunmen stormed a bar in Bujumbura Rural province, some 30 km east of the Burundian capital Bujumbura, local authority said Wednesday.

"Unidentified gunmen opened fire against people who were last night taking drinks in a bar at Isare," Isare District Administrator Gilbert Niyonkuru said.

He said the gunmen ran away after the attack, which happened around 7 p.m.

the district of Isare is "nowadays facing insecurity," said Niyonkuru, adding that unidentified gunmen last Saturday threw two grenades into the compound of a senator at Isare.

"One of the grenades exploded, damaging the wall of the senator's house. Luckily, no human casualties were reported. But the second grenade did not explode," said the official.

Investigations are underway to identify the criminals. Enditem
LONDON, May 3 (Xinhua) -- China's Hainan Airlines is to operate a daily direct service between Manchester and Beijing from July to the end of September, it was announced Wednesday.

The airline, which kicked-off its route to the Chinese capital city in June last year, announced in March this year its plan to add a fifth weekly direct flight between Beijing and Manchester from June.

Now the carrier has revealed it will make the service daily during the summer, meaning a 31 percent increase to capacity between Manchester and the Chinese capital.

That announcement comes after Cathay Pacific will make its Manchester to Hong Kong route daily from December, with an increase to five flights a week from June.

Hainan Airlines who currently fly four times a week to Beijing will start its daily service in July until the end of September. The Skytrax five star carrier will also be changing its aircraft to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, one of the most modern aircraft in the sky.

Cathay Pacific will increase to five services from June 2, with the daily service starting on Dec. 1.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 02:49:08|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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by Osama Radi, Emad Drimly

GAZA, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas movement has declared a new political document which abandoned its old covenant calling for establishing an Islamic state on the ruins of the state of Israel after the political changes in the region.

The new political document looked fairly flexible to end the regional isolation the movement has been suffering, according to analysts and observers.

The movement's leadership presented the document in the Qatari city of Doha on Sunday, which was an amendment of the 30-year-old covenant by late spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was assassinated by Israel in 2004.

The 42-provision document accurately defines the movement and its new strategic political goals and principles, which fit the dramatic political changes and conflicts developed in the region over the last decade, mainly the so-called Arab Spring in 2011.

Leaders of factions and political powers hailed the Hamas document, calling it "a substantial political development," while rival Fatah Party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the document is similar to Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) covenant.

Mohamed Ishtayeh, a senior official of Fatah Party in the West Bank, told Xinhua that the new political document "is welcomed because it is a development in the political thoughts and the political program of Hamas movement," adding that his party "always seeks to see Hamas part of the Palestinian political program."

Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal said it took the movement four years to prepare the document, which is a modification to the old covenant.

Analysts said Hamas has been completely isolated over the past few years, especially after the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Arab world, which is why the movement decided to form a new pragmatic strategy to make it more open to the world.

Hamas was a militant group until it started its political life when it won the parliamentary elections held in the Palestinian territories in 2006. But some governments still list it as a terrorist organization.

Mohamed Daraghma, a political analyst and writer from the West Bank, said the new document could "create a positive influence."

"Hamas document and its political content related to the conflict with Israel could create a positive influence in the future when a permanent peace agreement is reached between Israel and the Palestinians, based on establishing an independent Palestinian state on 1967 territories," he said.

Mekhemer Abu Seda, a political science professor at al-Zahar University in Gaza, considered the document a strategic retreat, as the document clearly says it accepts the establishment of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders.

Palestinian observers considered the new Hamas political document a substantial development which showed significant flexibility in the movement's political positions in relative to its old covenant, which was stricter and more extreme.

According to Daraghma, the flexibility was clear when the document declared that Hamas accepts a Palestinian state on the territories occupied by Israel in 1967, and that the armed struggle to liberate Palestine is part of the struggle but not the only means.

"One of the other significant changes in the document is that Hamas says the conflict is not based on religious background, and Hamas has nothing against the Jews all over the world," he noted.

The document defines Hamas, or the Islamic resistance movement, as a Palestinian Islamic national liberation and resistance movement. Its goal is to liberate Palestine and confront the "Zionist project."

"Its frame of reference is Islam, which determines its principles, objectives and means" without mentioning Muslim Brotherhood organization, which means "the movement is not anymore part or extension of the body," said Meshaal.

Abu Seda said Hamas has abandoned its old covenant which called for establishing an Islamic state on the ruins of the state of Israel after the political changes in the region.

"One of the severe criticism Hamas had faced over the past few years was that it belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been outlawed in several Arab countries. Therefore Hamas isolated itself from the group and considered itself a Palestinian liberation movement with an Islamic frame," he explained.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 03:14:18|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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MOSCOW, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan agreed to lift restrictive measures in mutual trade and further work together to resolve the Syrian conflict on Wednesday during a meeting in Sochi, Russia.

"Now we can say with full confidence that the process of restoration of Russian-Turkish relations has been completed, and we are returning to the normal interaction between partners." Putin said in a joint press conference following the meeting.

In this context, the two countries have agreed on a complex solution for problems related to restrictions, as "all restrictions destroy the economy and harm our producers", the president said.

According to Putin, restrictions in all trade areas will be lifted except for the ones on tomato imports from Turkey, which will remain for the time being until Russian agricultural producers recover relevant investment and the tomato growing industry is on track.

"As dear President Putin said, this (tomatoes) is a temporary measure to which we have agreed. As far as other issues are concerned, we have also come to an agreement. So we can say that the normalization period has been completed." Erdogan said.

The ban on visa-free travel of Turks will also continue for the moment, due in particular to "the necessity to strengthen cooperation between our special services in condition of an increase of the terrorist threat", Putin added.

Russia introduced bans on many commodities amid escalated tensions between the two countries after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border in November 2015. In Response, Turkey imposed a prohibitive import tariff on Russian exports of wheat, maize and sunflower oil, of which Turkey is a major buyer.

During the meeting, Putin and Erdogan also discussed ways of addressing the Syrian conflict and reiterate their shared pledge on working together to end the crisis in the war-torn country.

"Mr. President (Erdogan) and I believe that the Syrian crisis may be solved exclusively by political means. But for this political process to develop, a ceasefire should be secured." Putin said.

The two presidents voiced support for the idea to create safe zones or de-escalation zones in Syria, a proposal backed by U.S. President Donald Trump, noting that it should lead to further pacification of the parties and to the strengthening of the ceasefire regime.

"This issue (on safe zones) is the most important one (at talks) in Astana. I hope that a decision on creating de-escalation zones will be adopted to secure further settlement." Erdogan said.

"We all believe that it is necessary to create mechanisms which would guarantee stopping the bloodshed and creating conditions for political dialogue. In this sense, our position coincides fully with that of the Turkish president." Putin said.

As to the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria's Idlib Province in early April, Putin and Erdogan agreed that those responsible should be brought to justice, in spite of previous divergence over who was to be held accountable.

"Absence of bloodshed is the most important condition of the start of the dialogue between the conflicting parties. This process should lead to the full restoration of the territorial integrity of the country (Syria) and creation of a unified government, independently of the positions of the political forces existing today. They should unite in the interests of the Syrian people." Putin said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 03:24:30|Editor: xuxin

U.S. President Donald Trump (R) welcomes visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, May 3, 2017. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was committed to helping solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

WASHINGTON, May 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was committed to helping solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

However, Trump did not mention his support for a two-state solution, a longstanding U.S. stance on the issue.

"I'm committed to working with Israel and the Palestinians to reach an agreement," said Trump with visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas here at a joint press conference.

"But any agreement cannot be imposed by the United States or by any other nation. The Palestinians and Israelis must work together to reach an agreement that allows both people to live, worship, and thrive and prosper in peace," said Trump.

Standing beside Trump, Abbas later told reporters that the strategic choice to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was "to bring about peace based on the vision of the two state."

"If we create peace that is just and comprehensive, that will also lead the Arab and Islamic countries to have normal relations with Israel based as stipulated in the previous Arab summits," said Abbas.

In a major departure from the longtime U.S. policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Trump said in February that he was open to either a one-state or two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"I'm looking at two-state, one-state, and I like the one that both parties like. ... I can live with either one," Trump said then at a joint press conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

However, Trump also asked Netanyahu to "hold back" on building new settlement "for a little bit."

The former U.S. administration under Barack Obama often criticized Israel's continuous expansion of the settlements, which Washington considered as a major obstacle to peace.

The first joint appearance of Trump and Abbas also came one day after U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said that Trump was seriously considering moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

"The President of the United States, as we speak, is giving serious consideration into moving the American embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem," said Pence here on Tuesday at an Israel Independence Day event.

Despite the passage of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 by the U.S. Congress, which required the relocation of U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, former and current U.S. presidents, including George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, consistently renewed a presidential waiver to delay the relocation on national security interests.

The status of Jerusalem remains one of the core issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. So far, the international community does not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and not a single foreign country has based their embassies in Jerusalem.

So far, no comment from the Palestinian side is available on the remarks.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 03:34:26|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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WASHINGTON, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Scientists have developed a new test that not only can easily and quickly detect the Zika virus in mosquitoes and human bodily fluids, but can also distinguish between African and Asian strains, according to a study published Wednesday.

The new method, published in the U.S. journal Science Translational Medicine, was based on an existing technology called loop-mediated isothermal amplification, or LAMP, which provides a very sensitive on-site analysis of DNA samples at low cost.

"Using LAMP to detect Zika virus would be much less expensive for developing countries," co-author Nunya Chotiwan, a researcher at the Colorado State University (CSU), said in a statement.

"The majority of the countries involved in the current outbreak (of Zika) are not rich," she said. "It's important for us to try to develop low-cost surveillance methods that might one day be used in these countries."

As a rough cost estimate, the researchers said a heating device or heat block, as it is called, for LAMP costs 250 U.S. dollars or less.

For comparison, real-time machines of a similar technology known as polymerase chain reaction cost between 15,000 and 25,000 U.S. dollars.

In the CSU-led study, researchers started by squishing a mosquito in water. Results were available within about 30 minutes in the study, though it can take up to one hour, the researchers said.

They validated the LAMP test using virus artificially spiked into materials obtained from healthy individuals, and also in clinical specimens collected from confirmed cases of Zika virus infection.

LAMP was also sufficiently sensitive to identify one single infected mosquito from a collection pool of 50 uninfected insects.

The test can detect Zika virus strains both from Asia and Africa.

Zika virus was first detected in Uganda in 1947 and is predicted to be heading back to the African continent, Chotiwan said.

However, CSU Assistant Professor Joel Rovnak, who led the study, cautioned that it would be "a long slog" to make their test available for widespread use.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 03:54:38|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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UNITED NATIONS, May 3 (Xinhua) -- The UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said on Wednesday that the United Nations is very concerned over the reports of conflict escalation in Syria.

The special envoy made the remarks as he was speaking to reporters in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, where he is attending peace talks on Syria, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.

De Mistura noted "those reports had come at a delicate moment in the Astana discussions where proposals to de-escalate the conflict are under very serious discussion," the spokesman said.

"The special envoy called for an immediate investigation and for the immediate institution of measures to ensure that all strikes are halted. He urged all parties in Astana to press ahead tomorrow with de-escalation discussions and confidence-building measures," he said.

The peace talks, scheduled for May 3-4, is the fourth international conference on Syria, where a political crisis broke out in March 2011 and developed into a civil war.

The third round of the Syria talks was held in Astana on March 14-15. Representatives of Russia, Iran and Turkey, which had brokered a nationwide ceasefire in Syria, took part in the negotiations alongside the Syrian government delegation and experts from the United Nations, United States and Jordan.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 06:05:36|Editor: Tian Shaohui

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NAIROBI, May 3 (Xinhua) -- China will lend support toward protection of Africa's wildlife heritage, officials said on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO) conference here.

Meng Xianlin, the Executive Director General of the endangered species of Wild Fauna and Flora Import and Export Management Office, said Beijing is committed to helping African countries respond effectively to wildlife crimes.

"Sino-Africa friendly relations are not solely focused on economic issues but have also placed emphasis on wildlife conservation," Meng said.

"We have signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) with several African countries to strengthen wildlife protection," he added.

The Chinese and Kenyan governments co-hosted a side event on combating illegal trade on wild flora and fauna through cooperation in law enforcement during the 56th AALCO forum.

Meng said that besides lending financial support, China has been providing capacity building for African law enforcement officers to enhance their capacity to investigate and prosecute wildlife crimes.

"Our bilateral cooperation with African governments in the wildlife sector has revolved around provision of equipment and exchange programs with state officers in charge of protecting wildlife," said Meng.

He noted the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit that took place in Johannesburg in December 2015 elevated Beijing's involvement in Africa's wildlife conservation initiatives to new levels.

China has provided technical support to African countries to boost crackdown on criminal networks involved in poaching.

Meng said Beijing has also prioritized public awareness targeting its citizens living in Africa to boost their appreciation of wildlife species.

"We have been encouraging Chinese citizens living in Africa to respect local environmental laws and make a positive contribution to wildlife protection in the continent," Meng told Xinhua.

Head of Chinese delegation to the AALCO 56th Annual Session Xu Hong said Beijing will support African countries to develop robust legal framework to combat wildlife crimes.

"Combating illegal trade in wildlife products is critical to sustain the health of ecosystems in Africa," Xu remarked, adding that China will not waver in its support for global efforts to eradicate poaching of Africa's giant mammals.
Xinhua| 2017-05-04 07:29:35|Editor: Hou Qiang

Citizens attend a protest against Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's attempts to amend the nation's pacifist Constitution in Tokyo, Japan, on May 3, 2017. Some 55,000 people rallied here Wednesday to protest against Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's attempts to amend the nation's pacifist Constitution as the nation marked its 70th Constitution Memorial Day. (Xinhua/Ma Ping)
Xinhua| 2017-05-04 07:36:45|Editor: Hou Qiang

Delegates attend the opening plenary of the World Economic Forum on Africa in Durban, South Africa, on May 3, 2017. The three-day World Economic Forum on Africa 2017 kicked off here on Wednesday. Over 2,000 delegates are expected to attend, including 21 heads of state. The conference will include high level sessions, workshops and televised panels. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 07:15:46|Editor: xuxin

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RIO DE JANEIRO, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's Justice Minister Osmar Serraglio announced on Wednesday that the federal government will send troops into the state of Rio de Janeiro amid ongoing violence.

The problems in the state's capital city, Rio de Janeiro, were clear on Tuesday as drug gangs set fire on several vehicles and blocked one of the city's most important expressways. After the incident, state governor Luiz Fernando Pezao requested for federal troops to be deployed in order to tackle the rising unrest.

Tuesday's incident was only the latest chapter of the rising violence in Rio. The Cidade Alta slum, where the vehicles were set on fire, has been the site of a gang war for five months, as two rival gangs fight over control of the slum.

The police carried out a massive operation in the slum on Tuesday, arresting 45 people and seizing dozens of assault rifles. The order to set fire on buses and trucks came in retaliation to the police's efforts to deal with the gang war.

The incident increased the visibility of Rio's violence problems, which are often confined to slums and nearby poor areas. The blockade of a major thoroughfare caused massive traffic jams and prevented numerous people from reaching their jobs.

The resulting chaos forced the federal government to send out more troops, even though it explained that the decision was motivated only by the problems occurred on Tuesday.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 07:20:47|Editor: xuxin

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HAVANA, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Cuba has received two million foreign visitors so far this year, reaching the mark 39 days earlier than in 2016, Manuel Marrero, Cuba's minister of tourism, announced Wednesday.

At the inauguration of the country's 37th International Tourism Fair (FITCuba 2017), Marrero said this figure represents a 15 percent increase in the arrival of visitors to the island and will help to reach the goal of 4.2 million tourists this year.

FITCuba, considered the most important tourism event in the country, is being held in the eastern province of Holguin, about 750 km east of Havana, and known for its pristine beaches, natural beauty and cultural heritage.

According to the Cuban minister, Canada and the U.S. accounted for 45 percent of foreign visitors to the country during the first quarter.

"The arrival of U.S. visitors continues to increase. It did so by 18 percent in the first four months of this year, despite regulations by Washington which still bans its citizens from travelling as tourists to our country," he said.

To meet the high demand, Marrero indicated Cuba is actively working to expand its accommodation capacity, which currently has 65,000 rooms.

"We're heavily investing in destinations like Vinales (west), Santa Clara and Cienfuegos (center) and Camaguey, Bayamo, Holguin, Santiago de Cuba (east)," he added.

Tourism development plans for Havana include the construction of three new luxury hotels and the upcoming opening of the Gran Manzana Kempinski Hotel, the country's first five-star-plus hotel.

Marrero also said that the rise in tourism had been mirrored by a rise in tourism services by Cuba's emerging private sector.

"There are more than 21,000 private homes which rent rooms all over the country and over 2,000 private restaurants and cafeterias," he stated.

FITCuba will take place until May 6 in Playa Pesquero, Holguin, with Germany appearing as the guest of honor.

The event will see travel agents, advertising agencies, airlines and tour operators attend professional and business exchanges, exhibitions and the launching of new services and products.

The program includes visits to tourist sites such as Biran, the town where Fidel and Raul Castro were born; Baracoa, the first village founded by the Spanish in 1511 and Santiago de Cuba, the second most important city in the island.
Nassir Al-Nasser, UN high representative for Alliance of Civilization, speaks in an interview with Chinese media in New York, the United States, on April 28, 2017. (Xinhua/Hu Yousong)

UNITED NATIONS, May 3 (Xinhua) -- China's Belt and Road initiative will connect many countries and promote exchanges between different cultures, religions, and civilizations, said Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, UN high representative for the Alliance of Civilization.

"It's a great initiative that comes at a time when the world economy is facing big challenges," said Al-Nasser in a recent interview with Chinese media.

Noting that the initiative has the potential to strengthen both regional and international economic relationship, Al-Nasser said it will also promote inter-cultural as well as inter-religious dialogues to ultimately contribute to world peace and stability.

The UN Alliance of Civilization (UNAOC) was established in 2005 and aims to improve understanding and cooperation among nations and peoples across cultures.

Al-Nasser noted that the China's ancient Silk Road created a very "unique" cooperative relationship where countries could benefit not only with the exchange of goods but also the exchange of culture, knowledge and human activities.

"We need something like that today," said Al-Nasser, adding that the world is facing the challenge of migration and refugees since there has been a rise of xenophobia and discrimination against them in many countries.

"So this initiative (Belt and Road Initiative) will bring countries, people, together and work, cooperate and understand each other. And this is what we need today," he added.

Served as former president of the UN General Assembly and former permanent representative of Qatar to the UN, Al-Nasser assumed the position of high representative of UNAOC in 2013. He will attend the upcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to be held from May 14-15 in Beijing.

Al-Nasser said it is within the mandate of UNAOC to promote people-to-people exchanges, and therefore he will sign a memorandum of understanding with Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the Belt and Road initiative.

"So an initiative like that, it would be great for our work, and the benefit will be bigger...when bringing people together and (let them) understand each other..." he added.

China has proposed the Belt and Road initiative to build a trade and infrastructure network along and beyond the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which offers opportunities for cooperation and development for all countries amid a sluggish world economy.

Since 2013, over 100 countries and international organizations have responded to the initiative, and over 40 countries and organizations have signed cooperation agreements with China.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 08:15:54|Editor: xuxin

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SYDNEY, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The Australian dollar tumbled more than half a cent against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, as commodity prices fell sharply and the U.S. dollar strengthened.

At the Asian open, one Australian dollar was buying 74.25 U.S. cents, down from the 74.89 U.S. cents it was trading late Wednesday.

The Australian dollar was affected by the sharp fall in iron ore, and base and precious metals, according to chief currency strategist at the Commonwealth Bank Richard Grace who told Xinhua in a statement that the local currency shouldn't, however, fall much further.

"Given the synchronised global economic growth is likely to support commodity prices, and U.S. dollar upside is limited," Grace said.

"The Australian dollar is also set to gain support from the improvement in Australia's current account deficit, currently 0.9 percent of GDP, and set to average 0.6 percent of GDP over 2017."

Grace also said that with a large trade surplus result expected later on Thursday, along with the fact that the Australian dollar is trading at a three and a half month low, should see buying opportunities for institutional investors.

At 0821 local time AEST, one Australian dollar is buying 74.25 U.S. cents, while crude oil is trading at 47.62 U.S. dollars per barrel.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 10:11:08|Editor: Tian Shaohui

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SYDNEY, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Australian researchers have discovered how genetic factors can protect from or cause autoimmune diseases, a study published on Thursday revealed.

Published in the respected journal Nature, the study by researchers from Monash University has answered the age-old question of how different immune molecules can change a person's risk of developing autoimmune diseases.

The research is the first evidence ever found of what causes the immune system to "go rogue" and attack parts of the body.

Autoimmune diseases include type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis (MS), Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis and several types of kidney diseases and affect over 1 million Australians.

Richard Kitching, co-author of the study, said the human immune system has evolved over time to fight infections and disease.

"Our immune system is able to protect us from foreign invaders, as it learns to recognize different infections over time," Kitching said in a media release on Thursday.

"But this sometimes goes wrong and our immune system recognizes parts of our own body as being foreign. This leads to autoimmune disease."

Kitching said the different ways in which HLA molecules act from person to person was responsible for some people being at risk of autoimmune diseases while others were protected.

"We have known that in autoimmune diseases there are T cells that make us susceptible to disease and T cells that protect us from disease. Now we know how this happens. It opens the field for new and more targeted treatments to specific diseases," he said.

"In Goodpasture's disease when the molecule DR15 is present it can select and instruct T cells to attack the body. If alone in our body these damaging cells can attack the body's tissues, resulting in very ill patients."

"But when people also have the protective DR1 molecule present these T cells are held at bay and can be overturned," Kitching added.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 10:26:06|Editor: xuxin

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CANBERRA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and U.S. President Donald Trump "don't have to be best friends" when discussing regional issues in New York.

Speaking at Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Thursday morning, Bishop said January's infamous phone call between the two leaders which Trump described as his "worst of the day" after Turnbull informed the president of a deal for the United States to take Australian refugees.

She said the leaders did not necessarily need to get along in order to strengthen ties between the two nations but it was likely that they would have "a lot in common".

"They don't have to be best friends, but of course they will be gracious toward each other," Bishop said ahead of Turnbull's arrival in New York on Thursday.

"(But) I have no doubt that the prime minister and President Trump will find a lot in common, I'm sure they'll get along well."

The phone call made worldwide press earlier in the year but Bishop said the U.S. president was merely expressing his opinion about the deal which was struck with the previous Obama administration.

"It was a new administration. Briefings were coming from across the administration and there was a moment when the president expressed less than admiration for an agreement that the previous administration has entered into," Bishop said.

Turnbull is set to meet with the U.S. president on the decks of the USS Intrepid, a World War II-era aircraft carrier, which is now used as a floating museum as part of the 75th year commemorations of the Battle of the Coral Sea.

"The historic setting of the prime minister's meeting with President Trump is also very important," Bishop said.

Before leaving Australia for New York on Wednesday, Turnbull said the two leaders would be discussing a "wide range of security and economic issues".
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 12:16:30|Editor: Tian Shaohui

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BANGKOK, May 4 (Xinhua) -- An Chinese expert on Wednesday asked opponents of the plan to blast islets and rocky outcrops in the Mekong River for bigger cargo ships to be more objective and wait for results of the survey work.

Survey ships of a Chinese company came into the Mekong River on the border between Laos and Thailand late last month and they were confronted with protests by some local non-governmental organizations (NGO), which kept saying that such a plan would largely jeopardize the ecology environment, fish and bird habitats, natural resources and ways of life of local villagers living along the river.

"The ships just came here to do the survey work for a report that Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and China would take as reference to decide whether to blast those islets and outcrops," Zhu Zhenming, a professor of the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences who has been conducting research on Thailand and Southeast Asia for more than 30 years, told Xinhua.

"If the four countries cannot reach a consensus on blasting, the plan may not go ahead," he said. "But the problem is that they (NGOs) are even opposing to the survey work."

"It is irrational to use preconceived adverse effect, instead of concrete results of the survey work to oppose the project. It is too early to oppose the plan now," Zhu emphasized.

The Chinese company conducting the survey, Second Harbour Consultants of China Communications Construction Corp (CCCC), have held meetings with local NGOs to talk about the issue since last December, shortly after the Thai government approved the plan, known as the Development Plan for International Navigation on the Lancang-Mekong River (2015-2025), with an initial survey, design, and environmental and social assessments.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had previously also asked Thais not to worry about the plan right now as it is "merely in process of feasibility study".

"Today, they are merely conducting a feasibility study, considering both good and bad points. That was no cause for concerns because nothing is being done for the time being," Prayut, quoted by his spokesperson, as saying late last month.

Prayut had made it clear that the plan is in the process of feasibility study, Zhu pointed out, adding that the Thai government is objective in terms of the plan.

Some opponents and media blamed China for pushing the plan, which was actually agreed by China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand and it is not a "China's plan".

"It is not a unilateral decision made by China, but a plan agreed by four countries, namely China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand," Zhu said.

The four countries earlier agreed to remove rocks and sandbanks to allow ships of up to 500 tons to sail from China's Yunnan province to the Laotian town of Luang Prabang.

Small-size ships can already sail from Yunan to Thailand now. The current Mekong waterway from Jinghong, Yunnan province, to Huay Xai, Laos and Chiang Khong, Thailand, linking China, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, was opened to commercial navigation in 2001.

Zhu explained that there are many islets and outcrops along the section between Huai Xai and Luang Prabang, threatening navigational safety and that is why the four countries want to clear those islets and outcrops.

Some opponents said the plan will only benefit China, while Zhu said the plan will benefit all four countries and make sailing on the river, regardless of their nationalities, safer and it will promote tourism.

On May 1, Thailand's Chiang Rai province welcomed the first group of Chinese tourists coming to the kingdom on cruise along the Mekong River.

"If the plan only benefits China, it would not be agreed by other three countries," Zhu said. "Nowadays, a cooperation plan has to be beneficial to all sides, no one is silly."

He said Thai Prime Minister Prayut and the Thai government must have made thorough consideration before they decided to support the plan.

He also suggested experts of China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand will do research on the possible effect of the plan, either jointly or respectively.

"Thailand can take the lead in holding seminars for people of different fields to discuss the plan and also to hear from the pubic and NGOs, which may provide objective and reliable information that the four countries would use to decide whether the blasting should go ahead." Zhu said. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 13:01:37|Editor: Tian Shaohui

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by Will Koulouris

SYDNEY, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Australian businesses should engage directly with their Chinese counterparts to take up the opportunities that the Belt and Road Initiative will provide, an Australian expert said.

Proposed by China in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative aims to build an infrastructure and trade network that spans across the globe, linking Asia with Europe and Africa, along the ancient Silk Road trading routes.

Hans Hendrischke, Professor of Chinese Business and Management at the University of Sydney, told Xinhua on Wednesday that Australia should be viewing the Belt and Road Initiative through the mindset of what it actually is, an economic proposal, rather than attributing it to any kind of strategic development.

"That is something to keep in mind for future development. The focus should be on the commercial benefits, that provide benefits for both sides," Hendrischke said.

The expert believes that Australia is missing a multitude of opportunities that have been opened up by the initiative, as increased levels of funding are being put into the emerging countries are part of the ambitious project across the globe, leaving Australia somewhat lagging behind.

However, he still believes that some progress is being made.

"There are opportunities where Australia is becoming involved, for example in Darwin where the Landbridge Group has leased the Port of Darwin and is planning to set up a new commercial development there, a very large one," Hendrischke said.

"There are opportunities, and there would be more, so it is a question of how to structure that."

Hendrischke is encouraged by the level of cooperation and investment that is currently taking place between the two countries.

"Chinese investment that is coming into Australia, especially in areas such as agriculture and health, is investment that in the end brings goods back into China," Hendrischke said.

"This is clearly part of the overall package that comes with investment."

In a recent report that the learned expert co-authored with KPMG, Demystifying Chinese Investment in Asia 2017, it was shown that over the course of the last year, Chinese investment into Australia grew by roughly 12 percent, which Hendrischke said could, and should be higher.

"Chinese investment in Australia grew by just under 12 percent, while Chinese investment in the U.S. grew about 200 percent, and 70 percent in the European Union," Hendrischke said.

The positive aspect of that is it shows where Australia can grow and where other markets are growing ahead of us, he said.

One of these areas is tourism, which Hendrischke contends will be immensely benefited by even further Chinese investment, which has the potential to have a knock-on effect into other sectors.

"Australia is a package deal. Tourism is linked to education, it's linked to healthcare and health services, it's linked to investment in residential areas, commercial investment in hospitality," Hendrischke said.

"It all links together and the various elements complement and reinforce each other."

The professor believes the way forward for Chinese companies to succeed in Australia is through establishing partnerships with existing Australian entities.

Looking ahead, with the upcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to be held in Beijing, Hendrischke anticipates a bright future for the initiative, and hopes for increased involvement in the transformational project by Australia.

"I see Belt and Road as an approach to globalization, and that's where China sees its strength and opportunities to integrate in a step-by-step process, starting with the regions that are closest to China," Hendrischke said.

"That includes from the far side, central Asia, but importantly, it will involve a closer integration of Australia with our southeast Asian neighbors."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 14:01:56|Editor: xuxin

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TALUQAN, Afghanistan, May 4 (Xinhua) -- At least seven Taliban fighters including the group's key commander Mawlawi Qadir had been killed in northern Afghanistan, local police said Thursday.

According to police chief Faqir Mohammad Jawzjani in the northern Takhar province, five villages have also been cleared from the Taliban insurgents over the period.

More than 60 Taliban fighters have been killed and more than 40 others sustained injuries over the past one week in the crackdown against militants in Khawja Bahawdin district in adjoining areas week ago, the official contended.

Possible number of government forces casualties has remained unknown and Taliban outfit has yet to make comment.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 14:11:50|Editor: Hou Qiang

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NEW DELHI, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Marine Security Agency (PMSA) have arrested 30 Indian fishermen, India's official broadcaster All India Radio (AIR) said Thursday.

The fishermen were captured off the Gujarat coast on Wednesday along with their five fishing boats.

"All these fishermen have been apprehended by Pakistani security agency from the International Maritime boundary line in the Arabian Sea, off the Jakhau coast," the broadcaster said. "The fishermen have been taken to Karachi port and will be produced before court today."

According to AIR, the latest arrests have put the number of Indian fishermen detained this year by Pakistan to 304.

The fishermen arrests have come at a time when tension between the two neighbors have escalated over flare-up on the Line of Control in Kashmir.

Last week, Pakistani authorities detained 29 Indian fishermen under similar circumstances.

Fishermen of two countries are often jailed for accidentally crossing into each other's territory. The fishermen from two countries traverse poorly defined boundary in the international waters as most fishing boats lack technologies to locate exact positions.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 14:57:06|Editor: xuxin

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KABUL, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Gulbudin Hekmatyar, leader of Afghanistan's Hizb-e-Islami, or Islamic Party, is due to return to Kabul on Thursday, ending decades of exile and fighting against the government, said a statement released by the presidential palace.

"President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani is scheduled to deliver a speech at the ceremony to welcome Hekmatyar," the statement said.

Hekmatyar was dubbed "butcher of Kabul" by many Afghans for his active involvement in factional fighting in the 1990s and fighting Afghan and the U.S.-led coalition forces since the collapse of the Taliban regime in late 2001.

He inked a peace agreement with the Afghan government in September 2016 to join Afghan politics.

The peace agreement on Hizb-e-Islami and Hekmatyar's return to Afghan politics have triggered mixed reactions from Afghans.

Many welcomed it as a stride toward boosting national reconciliation, while others accused him of killing thousands of people and calling for his prosecution.
NAIROBI, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The following are the news highlights in Kenyan media outlets on Thursday.

-- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta's Jubilee Party is warming up to smaller parties that support his bid for re-election. Last year, tens of smaller parties that formed the Jubilee coalition on which he came to power folded up to form one outfit. But as elections draw closer, dozens of smaller parties have emerged again which Kenyatta is now courting in A bid to marshal up votes for himself.

On Wednesday, he met leaders of a little-known political outfit from Northern Kenya which emerged early this year, signaling he was willing to embrace the parties backing its campaign. (The Standard)

-- The Kenyan government is hostile towards human rights activists and organizations, according to a report issued Wednesday that warned of safety concerns ahead of Aug. 8 elections. (Daily Nation)

-- Kenya's opposition coalition National Super Alliance (NASA) is deploying market research to gauge the popularity of its presidential candidate Raila Odinga and map out the country ahead of its electoral battle with President Uhuru Kenyatta in August. (The Star)

-- Direct flights between Kenya and the United States will halve freight cost for flower exports to the latter, according to the Kenya Flower Council. (Business Daily)

-- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday launched a gender policy document that will see more women recruited into the Kenya Defence Forces. (People Daily)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 15:47:18|Editor: MJ

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MOSUL, Iraq, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi forces battling Islamic State (IS) militants on Thursday initiated a new front at the northwestern edge of IS stronghold in the western side of Mosul, the Iraqi military said.

The elite forces of the federal police, known as Rapid Response, and the army's 9th Armored Division advanced at 6:00 a.m. local time (0300 GMT) toward the areas of Mushairfah, Kanisah and Harmat at the northwestern edge of the western side of Mosul and fought heavy clashes with IS militants during the past hours of the day, the Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement.

The new push would help the special forces of the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) and the interior ministry federal police, who are making slow progress in the southern part of Mosul's western side due to the stiff resistance of the extremist militants at the densely-populated areas of the old city center, where roughly 400,000 residents are believed to still be trapped under IS rule.

IS militants are now surrounded by the troops in the northern part of Mosul's western side, which includes the old city center.

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.
SUVA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The Fijian Tourism Expo (FTE), the country's premier tourism industry event, kicked off here on Thursday.

Year 2017 marks the fourth consecutive year for the event, a uniquely designed Fijian tourism experience for international buyers.

Tourism Fiji, the country's tourism authority, said a number of buyers from China, the United States and Britain were part of the event.

Hosted by Tourism Fiji on May 4-5 at the Denarau Island Convention Centre at Sheraton Fiji Resort, the event provided a platform for partners in the tourism industry to engage directly with international buyers and travel media.

FTE therefore brings the international travel trade right to the doorstep of tourism industry operators.

Over these two days of appointments and schedules, international buyers and media will have the opportunity to meet and engage with the Fijian tourism industry.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 16:02:30|Editor: An

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BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- China will encourage bond issuance to facilitate public-private-partnership (PPP) projects, the country's top economic planner announced Wednesday.

The government will accelerate approvals for bonds issuance in PPP projects and issue favorable policies to firms with high credence ratings, according to a guideline released by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

The guideline aims to make more financing options available for PPP projects in the areas of infrastructure and public service, said NDRC.

NDRC requires bond issuers to disclose information including possible risks, and protection mechanisms to investors before trading.

China has been looking to PPP, a collaborative investment model between government and private companies, as a way to fund infrastructure projects amid concerns over high local government debt.

Last year, the number of signed PPP projects and total investment more than quadrupled from 2015, with private enterprises participating in more regions and sectors than ever before.

The strong momentum continued into the first quarter of 2017, which saw 28 percent more PPP projects inked year on year.
Source: Xinhuanet| 2017-05-04 16:23:00|Editor: An

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BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhuanet) -- The wolfberry industry, with a total annual output value of 13 billion yuan, has become a major industry in northwest Chinas Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, according to the latest data from the Ningxia Forestry Bureau.

By the end of 2016, wolfberry plantations occupied over 900,000 mu (60,000 hectares) in Ningxia, producing 93,000 tons of dried wolfberry and more than 40 deep-processed products such as beverage, seeding oil and health products.

With the brand effect, Ningxia has accelerated its wolfberry industry towards more export-oriented development.

Over 60 producers now export dried wolfberry and deep-processed products to over 50 countries and regions.

Their export volume exceeds 5,000 tons, taking up 60 percent of the nation's total, with a market share increasing by 15-20 percent annually.

Ningxia is located in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, with great sun light and heat resources ideal for growing quality wolfberry.

In recent years, Ningxia adheres to the modern agricultural development ideas and provides great support to the wolfberry industry which has been further enhanced.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 16:32:29|Editor: An

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KUALA LUMPUR, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Tourists arrival from China to Malaysia is likely to hit the three-million mark in 2017, Malaysian Tourism Minister Nazri Aziz said here Thursday.

He said his ministry is confident that Malaysia will be able to attract three million Chinese tourists this year as there had been a significant increase of inbound Chinese tourists in the first three months of the year.

Speaking during a tourism event, the minister said Chinese tourists have flocked to Malaysia's Sabah state to enjoy sky and beach.

Malaysia's famous tropical fruit of durian has also attracted Chinese tourists, he said.

Malaysia attracted some 2.2 million Chinese tourists in 2016.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 16:37:40|Editor: An

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BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Claims that the Belt and Road Initiative is a tool by China to expand its economic interests and dominance abroad ignore the key element underpinning the initiative -- win-win results.

Since China launched the initiative in 2013, it has invested more than 50 billion dollars in countries involved in the Belt and Road. A total of 56 economic and trade cooperation zones have already been built by Chinese businesses in these countries, generating nearly 1.1 billion dollars in tax revenue and creating 180,000 local jobs.

In the first quarter alone, Chinese enterprises invested 2.95 billion U.S. dollars in 43 countries along the Belt and Road, accounting for 14.4 percent of total outbound investment in Q1, compared to nine percent for the same period last year.

The latest data was released less than a month before the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation, which will be held in Beijing on May 14 and 15.

As of April 18, 28 heads of state and government leaders had confirmed they would attend the BRF. Other delegates include representatives of 61 international organizations as well as officials, entrepreneurs, financiers and reporters from 110 countries.

Clearly, the initiative is neither a zero-sum game nor a solo show of China.

The Belt and Road, comprising of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, is neither private nor exclusive but a wide and open avenue for all.

It is in everyone's interest to be part of the network of global partnerships formed by the initiative given as it will provide huge opportunities by connecting Asia with Europe and Africa and promoting common development among all the countries involved.

A lot of progress has been made since 2013. Besides trade and investment, interactions have also increased in culture, education, science and technology, tourism and other areas.

In pursuit of infrastructure connectivity, China's international cooperation on production capacity is well underway in more than 10 key areas, including equipment manufacturing, automobile and electronics.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Silk Road Fund and several other multilateral or bilateral cooperation funds are providing financing support to projects under the initiative.

Embracing the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, the Belt and Road Initiative aims to complement, rather than replace, existing international governance mechanisms.

Although facing risks and headwinds, the initiative's inclusiveness and China's bright economic prospects reinforce the belief that it will play a part in securing a promising future.
NEW DELHI, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Indian police said on Thursday that they have taken into custody 11 left-wing Naxalite rebels in connection with the killing of 25 para-military troopers in an ambush in the central state of Chhattisgarh last month.

"Around 11 of them have been taken into custody and all of them belong to the Chintalnar and Chintafuga area of the Sukma district where the ambush took place. They are being interrogated," P. Sundarraj, deputy inspector general of Chhattisgarh police, told the media.

"If there is any evidence of involvement... they would be arrested and prosecuted before court. Efforts are also on to nab all the perpetrators of the attack," he added.

The 25 troopers of the para-military Central Reserve Police Force were killed on April 24 in a fierce gunfight with some 300 armed Naxalite rebels who had laid the ambush on them near Kala Pathar close to the Burkapal-Chintagufa area in Sukma.

The security forces personnel were providing protection for road construction work in the area when they were attacked.

Around 10 to 12 Naxalites were also shot dead in retaliatory fire.

The Naxalites claim that they are fighting for greater rights for tribal people and the rural poor.

Their movement began in the eastern state of West Bengal in the late 1960s and spread into less developed areas of rural southern and eastern India.

The Naxalites are now active in more than one third of India's 600-plus administrative districts. They routinely target Indian security forces.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 18:02:57|Editor: MJ

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BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman on Thursday reiterated that China's position on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is consistent and clear.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) issued a commentary on Wednesday, urging Chinese newspapers to "refrain from making reckless remarks undermining the DPRK-China relations."

China's stance on developing its good neighborly and friendly relations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is also consistent and clear, spokesman Geng Shuang said at a daily press briefing, when asked to comment on the KCNA commentary.

He said China has always viewed and dealt with relevant issues in a fair and objective manner.

China is always devoted to achieving denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, maintaining peace and stability on the Peninsula and promoting dialogue and consultation, Geng said.

"We hope relevant parities will shoulder their due responsibilities and contribute to regional peace and stability, as well as people's well-being," Geng said. Enditem
by Alex Osei-Boateng

ACCRA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Fishermen at Teshie, like in many other fishing communities in Ghana, have been plagued by plastic waste.

Walking down any street in towns and cities or even in the villages, one can see plastics floating in rivers or blocking drains, with some of the waste ending up on the beaches.

At Teshie beach, the fishermen complained about "harvesting" more plastic waste than fish. Dead fish were occasionally found floating on the water, some of which are believed to have died of consuming the plastic.

Since plastics in Ghana are not biodegradable, it takes many years for them to decompose.

When our reporters visited the coastal community, the whole beach was covered by filth with the fishermen strategizing on how to clear them.

The chief fisherman at the community, Nii Adjei Wawadja, who supervises the work of over 2,500 fishermen, said several appeals to the authorities to help tackle the problem had not yielded positive results.

"The authorities should come and see whether this beach is a hygienic transit point for fishes that are caught because the fish that is brought from the sea is first discharged here. And the same place you have refuse and feces also being deposited here. So when you come here to buy and you see all this unhygienic surrounding, you will not feel like buying," he told Xinhua.

Some fishermen lamented that the situation was killing their businesses and livelihoods.

Ama Agege, a fisherman with over 20 years' experience, said the continuous use of light in fishing and the filthy beaches were destroying their livelihoods.

"The plastic waste has destroyed the sea. People have built their factories from which they make their money and it is destroying the sea for us," he said.

Another fisherman, Agoe Thousand, told Xinhua that they used to catch a lot of fish in the past but the lights and filth have caused their catch to shrink.

"At this seashore, we don't fish with lights but some people come with lights to fish so it has destroyed the fishery stock. You have to go to deep sea and stay there for six to seven weeks before you make a catch and even with that it is small fishes you get," he said.

The government has hinted that it will introduce biodegradable plastics by July to ensure that plastic products are made with oxo-biodegradable additives as a way of safeguarding the environment.

Experts say adding oxo-additives to plastics will ensure plastic products produced will easily decompose without posing any threat to the environment, especially the marine ecosystem.
Flower are exhibited during the fifth edition of International Floriculture Trade Expo in Nairobi, Kenya, on June 9, 2016. (Xinhua/Sun Ruibo)

NAIROBI, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's flower exports are expected to hit 133,000 tonnes in 2017, the same as in 2016, the industry has said.

Kenya Flower Council (KFC) CEO Jane Ngige told a media briefing in Nairobi Wednesday that the export volumes are expected to remain stagnant due to prevailing drought conditions that prompted flower farms to cut back on new investments.

"Due to insufficient rainfall in the key flower-growing regions, we forecast that exports will remain similar to last year," Ngige said.

Government data indicate that in 2016, Kenya exported flowers worth 690 million U.S. dollars representing 70 percent of the total horticulture exports.

Ngige said the European Union remains the key exports market for Kenya flowers and accounts for over 70 percent of all output.

"We are seeking to diversify into new and emerging markets such as Eastern Europe, Russia and China," she added. Kenya has continued to experienced growth in its share of the global flower trade in the last decade.

Statistics show that Kenya is contributing over 35 percent of the world flower trade and continues to compete with countries such as Ecuador and Colombia in the world flower business.

In Africa, Kenya is the leading flower grower and exporter, beating other producers such as Ethiopia and Tanzania. Ngige said that flower sector is grappling with rising costs of production.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with his Philippine counterpart Rodrigo Duterte in Lima, Peru, Nov. 19, 2016. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

Hi, here's what you need to know about China.

BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Philippine counterpart, Rodrigo Duterte, held a telephone conversation Wednesday to discuss bilateral ties and regional cooperation.

Xi said he met Duterte twice last year and reached important agreements with him, which led to the comprehensive rapprochement in bilateral ties. xhne.ws/W8J9R

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BEIJING -- President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called for more efforts in promoting rule of law and cultivating talent for the cause.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks on a visit to China University of Political Science and Law ahead of Youth Day on May 4. xhne.ws/FuryC

- - - -

CAPE TOWN -- Chinese investment in Africa has increased dramatically, making the country the single largest contributor of foreign direct investment (FDI) capital and jobs in Africa in 2016, according to Ernst & Young's (EY) latest Africa Attractiveness report released on Wednesday.

Since 2005, China has invested in 293 FDI projects in Africa, totalling an investment outlay of 66.4 billion U.S. dollars and creating 130,750 jobs, according to the report. xhne.ws/CFEyk

- - - -

FRANKFURT -- By raising its stake to 9.92 percent in Deutsche Bank, China's conglomerate HNA Group has become the top single shareholder of the largest German commercial bank headquartered in Frankfurt, according to a filing by investment entity C-Quadrat which manages HNA Group's stake in Deutsche Bank.

For the first time in February, the Chinese conglomerate whose business widely covers aviation, hotels, financial services, tourism, etc. disclosed a stake of nearly 3 percent in Deutsche Bank. xhne.ws/J28SQ








Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 18:48:04|Editor: An

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LHASA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- For Sonam Chodron, her adaption of the Italian opera "Turandot" into a Tibetan opera production was more than a creative endeavor, it was a way to introduce the public to a performance style that originated on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

In her production, Chodron, 28, has directed her two protagonists -- Persian princess Turandot and Tartar prince Calaf -- to not only dress in the Tibetan opera style but also adjust their performances to mirror the western China art form.

FOR ART'S SAKE

"Tibetan opera is as pleasing to the ear as a bird's song," said Chodron.

Dating back to the 14th century, the performance style epitomizes Tibetan culture, combining dance, chanting and songs, and with the region's famed painted masks. It was awarded national intangible cultural heritage status in 2006 and was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2009.

Chodron began studying Tibetan opera when she was 12 years old and gave up the opportunity to attend a larger school outside her region to continue her opera studies.

She graduated from Tibet University in 2008 and became a professional performer.

After working with a troop of actors that toured villages around the region, in 2013, Chodron was accepted by the National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts (NACTA) to major in Tibetan opera.

WHEN TURANDOT MEETS TIBETAN OPERA

During her time in Beijing as a student at NACTA, Chodron was exposed to China's numerous opera styles. At the academy she was able to expand her portfolio to include directing.

"My teacher introduced me to 'Turandot.' In traditional Tibetan opera, we have similar stories that feature love and riddles," Chodron said, explaining why she decided to adapt the opera.

"Turandot" is based on a Persian fable but is set in China. It tells of a princess so desirable that men came in their hundreds, from all over the world, to vie for her favor. Each prospective suitor was asked three riddles -- and those who failed to answer correctly were decapitated and their heads placed on stakes as a warning for others still to come.

Chodron first produced a 20-minute excerpt of the adaptation, which won praise from her teachers and classmates.

The complete 90-minute performance debuted in Lhasa in October 2016 and after excellent reviews, opened at a Beijing theater one month later.

"Writing scripts is not as difficult as composing music. When creating this performance, I tried to combine the Tibetan style with Qin opera," she said, referring to the style that originates in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

"It is a bold adaptation," said Sonam Wangchug, the actor who plays the Tartar prince.

With nine years under his belt as a Tibetan opera actor, Wangchug said this was the first time that he had worked with actors from outside the region.

"It is a great attempt to integrate the two styles," said Liu Yu, a critic with Tibet Institute of National Art.

In two months, Chodron will graduate from the National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts, one of the first Tibetan opera performers to be awarded a bachelor's degree.

"I am committed to Tibetan opera. I hope to share the love I hold for it with more people," she said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 19:13:10|Editor: MJ

Indian army troopers walk back to their base camp after a search operation at a village in Shopian, about 47 km south of Srinagar, summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir, May 4, 2017. Indian troops on Thursday launched a massive search operation in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir to trace militants, officials said. The search operation has been carried out across two dozen villages in Shopian district. (Xinhua/Javed Dar)

NEW DELHI, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Indian troops on Thursday a launched massive search operation in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir to trace militants, officials said.

The search operation has been carried out across two dozen villages in Shopian district, about 47 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"Today a massive anti-militancy operation is underway in several villages of Shopian," a police official said. "The villages have been cordoned and intense searches are going on in the orchards and houses to find out militants hiding there."

The operation is being carried out in wake of deadly attack on policemen, incidents of weapon snatching and series of bank robberies.

Clashes broke out in couple of villages to resist the operation, with locals throwing stones and brickbats on government forces. Police fired tear smoke shells and used pellet guns to quell the protests. Four people were reported injured in the clashes.

The operation is being carried out jointly by Indian army, paramilitary and police personnel in the villages.

Last week, videos released on the social networking sites showed groups of militants wearing combat fatigues marching inside orchards. Authorities suspect the video was shot in Shopian.

Locals said military helicopters were seen hovering in the sky in the villages under cordon to comb the orchards.

On Tuesday night suspected militants stormed a police post guarding court complex in Shopian district and snatched five service rifles belonging to policemen deployed there.

Prior to that, militants killed five policemen and two security guards of bank after attacking a cash carrying vehicle belonging to Jammu and Kashmir Bank in adjacent Kulgam district.

A separatist movement and guerrilla war challenging New Delhi's rule is going on in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989.

Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir.
MINSK, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Thursday that cooperation with China at the non-national level should be expanded in order to enhance the overall bilateral relationship.

He said that "it is possible to arrange many things at the level of the presidents, the governments and ministries, but it is only possible to realize all these in full with the participation of provinces and regions."

Lukashenko cited the interactions between the regions of Russia and Belarus. "I often say that if there was no interregional cooperation with Russia, we would never have such relations with that state."

The top Belarusian leader also noted that several regions of China are comparable in their economic potential to strong central European countries.
SOFIA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The Bulgarian National Assembly on Thursday approved a coalition government of the center-right GERB party and the nationalist United Patriots, with Boyko Borissov as the new prime minister.

The new government, which replaced the caretaker cabinet led by Ognyan Gerdjikov, was backed by 133 legislators of the two political formations and Volya party in the 240-member parliament.

Members of parliament of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and Movement for Rights and Freedoms voted against the government.

Borissov, 58, was prime minister from July 2009 to March 2013, and from November 2014 to January 2017.

Presenting his third cabinet at the plenary hall, Borissov said that improving the quality of life of Bulgarian citizens and the successful development of Bulgaria was its primary mission.

The government would take all measures to ensure security, reduce the number of illegal migrants and protect national borders, he added.

Education, overcoming regional imbalances, and the fight against corruption are other priorities of the government.

Korneliya Ninova, leader of BSP, said in turn that the future of Bulgaria in the EU was a common priority of all parties in parliament.

Tomislav Donchev became deputy prime minister, along with three other vice prime ministers, namely Valeri Simeonov responsible for economic and demographic policy, Krasimir Karakachanov for public order and security, and minister of defense, and Ekaterina Zaharieva for justice reform, who is also minister of foreign affairs.

Sixteen other ministers were also named.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 19:38:17|Editor: Zhou Xin

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LONDON, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Manchester United will travel to Norway this summer as part of the Club's Tour 2017, the English Premier League giant announced on Thursday.

United will head to Oslo where they will face Norwegian club Valerenga IF at the Ullevaal Stadium on July 30.

Before the short trip to Scandinavia, Jose Mourinho's men will head to the United States to face MLS sides LA Galaxy, Real Salt Lake, before competing in the International Champions Cup with games against Manchester City and Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Manchester United's Executive Vice Chairman Ed Woodward said: "The team will have access to top class facilities and the number of games this summer ensures that the manager and squad have the best opportunity to prepare for the coming season.

"Playing games across a number of locations gives our unrivalled fans the opportunity to watch the team play, with the club being fortunate to have such fantastic support right across the world."
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 19:38:18|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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British Queen Elizabeth II (L) and Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh view the fly-past on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during the Queen's 90th birthday celebrations in London, Britain in this file photo taken on June 11, 2016. British Queen Elizabeth II's husband, Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh, is to retire from royal duties this fall, Buckingham Palace announced here on May 4, 2017. (Xinhua/Han Yan)

LONDON, May 4 (Xinhua) -- British Queen Elizabeth II's husband, Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh, is to retire from royal duties this fall, Buckingham Palace announced here Thursday.

Staff from royal residences were summoned to an emergency meeting at the palace to be told of the decision.

Prince Philip, who is just weeks away from his 96th birthday, will continue to fulfill his engagements until he withdraws from public life, and will continue as a patron or member of more than 700 charitable organizations.

The summoning of staff to the palace led to fevered speculation about the royal family, but officials assured that the decision would not be about the health of a member of the royal household. Prince Philip was said to be in good form and looking well during public engagements in London on Wednesday.

The palace, in an official announcement, said the decision was made by Prince Philip himself with the support of Queen Elizabeth II.

In the statement, the palace spokesman said Prince Philip may still choose to attend certain public events from time to time.

His face is one of the most recognized in the world, as he accompanied Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's longest serving monarch, on royal duties around Britain and across the world.

Royal watchers had been wondering how long the royal couple would continue with their schedule of appointments in their advancing years.

In recent times, younger members of the royal household, including Prince William and his wife Princess Catherine, as well as William' s younger brother Prince Harry, have been undertaking more royal duties.

Heir to the British throne, Prince Charles and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall, also carry out royal duties, increasingly on behalf of the Queen.

It has enabled the monarch and her husband to reduce their workload in recent years.

In Thursday's announcement, the palace said Queen Elizabeth II will continue a full program of engagements.

The Queen, as Princess Elizabeth, married Prince Philip in the late 1940s, succeeding to the throne when her father, King George VI, died in 1952. They will celebrate the 70th anniversary of their marriage this coming November. As the world's most famous royal couple, they have visited every continent, and carried out tens of thousands of engagements.
U.S. President Donald Trump (R) welcomes visiting Palestinian President MahmoudAbbas at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, May 3, 2017.(Xinhua photo)

RAMALLAH, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that the contacts between Palestine and U.S. began and will continue, in order to achieve a lasting peace in the Middle East.

Abbas made the remarks in an interview with Palestine's public TV station following his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at White House on Wednesday.

Abbas said Trump and him talked about anti-terrorism and Palestine's stance on the two-state solution.

"We also talked about how to find a resolution of the Palestinian cause," said Abbas. He pointed that Trump "is excited and has a vision for political settlement and we work with him hoping to reach that settlement."

The Palestinian President added:"Trump must discuss this issue with others, and when he sees the full picture and see how he will start, we will be ready to deal and work with him with all our powers."

Abbas's brief meeting with Trump is the first of its kind since the latter took office on Jan 20.

The last peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians were halted at the end of March 2014 after nine months of U.S.-sponsored peace talks without achieving any progress to resolve decades of conflict between the two sides.

With regards to the issue of the hunger striking Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails since April 17, Abbas said "the detainees have raised humanitarian demands, but, unfortunately, the Israeli government rejects them."

Abbas held Israeli fully responsible for the lives and health conditions of those detainees, which he said it is wrongfully not fulfilling.

Over 1,500 Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails have begun an open ended hunger strike since April 17, which was the National Prisoners Day, most of whom belong to Fatah movement.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 19:53:11|Editor: An

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MACAO, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The University of Macao (UM) researchers developed a new way to store stem cells at room temperature for a minimum of seven days without the loss of viability and biological activities, the university's latest news release said on Thursday.

UM said its researchers from Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) has developed a technology which does not rely on the traditional cryopreservation method that requires costly equipment and tedious cryopreservation procedures, enabling cell storage and transport under ambient conditions.

Xu Renhe, a professor at the FHS of UM, has nearly two decades of research experiences in stem cells and their medical applications. He and his doctoral student Jiang Bin and postdoctoral researcher Yan Li, together with Dr. Chris Wong Koon Ho, an assistant professor at the FHS, engaged in the related research study titled "Spheroidal Formation Preserves Human Stem Cells for Prolonged Environment under Ambient Conditions for Facile Storage and Transportation."

The related paper has been published in Biomaterials, a renowned international journal in the field of biological materials.

The study found that preparing human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) to form spheroids with the hanging-drop method or other methods can reduce the cell metabolism and increase the cell viability.

Stored in a sealed vessel filled with regular culture medium, under ambient conditions without oxygen supply, the viability of hMSC in spheroids remained over 90 percent even after 11 days. This method is also applicable to higher pluripotent human embryonic stem cells.

With this new technology, only regular culture tubes and media, which cost only several U.S. dollars, are required for storing and shipping probably any type of stem cells and non-stem cells that can aggregate, within a temperature range from 10 to 37 degree centigrade.

Stem cells are found in various locations of the body such as bone marrow, blood, brain, spinal cord, skin, and corneal limbus. They are responsible for regenerating and repairing damaged tissues and organs in the body.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 20:03:24|Editor: An

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CHANGSHA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and another 16 injured and taken to hospital when a bus collided with a truck in central China's Hunan Province on Thursday afternoon.

The accident happened around 2 p.m. in Liuyang city, according to local police.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 20:14:13|Editor: MJ

Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Natural Resources Judi Wakhungu speaks at a side event in Nairobi, Kenya, on May 3, 2017. The Chinese and Kenyan governments co-hosted a side event on combating illegal trade on wild flora and fauna through cooperation in law enforcement during the 56th Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO) forum. (Xinhua/Pan Siwei)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 20:33:31|Editor: An

Police officers and firefighters head for Beidahe forest farm in the Greater Hinggan Mountain region, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, May 4, 2017. Nearly 5,000 firefighters are battling a fire in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which broke out at 12:15 p.m. Tuesday. (Xinhua/Lian Zhen)
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 20:18:26|Editor: An

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BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- In its latest efforts to cool runaway housing prices, Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province, put restrictions on property sales in more counties, effective Thursday.

Local authorities have stipulated that houses in eight counties purchased after May 3 cannot be sold within three years after purchase.

More than 20 cities -- mainly second- and third-tier cities in China -- have introduced restrictive policies to intensify property market regulations since April.

The new regulation in Zhengzhou will slash speculative demand in the local property market and boost stable development, said Yan Yuejin, senior researcher with E-house China R&D Institute.

Zhang Dawei, a senior analyst with Centaline Property, said that speculative capital is flowing to hot areas without sales restrictions due to tightened regulations, especially in large cities, which will lead more cities to step up regulatory measures.

"Ten more third- and fourth-tier cities around Xiongan New Area have rolled out house purchase restrictions," said Yang Kewei, researcher with property research center CRIC, adding that cities like Zhuhai, Dongguan and Jiaxing, which surround first-tier cities, have scaled up their purchase bans recently.

Restrictions on property sales have become a trump card for many cities. So far, over 20 cities have rolled out similar restrictions.

"Sales restrictions are local governments' new method to regulate property markets, featuring the latest round of tightened regulation beginning in March," said Zhang.

Yang also pointed out that sales restrictions are going to be part of the long-term mechanism of property market regulation, combined with purchase bans and credit limits.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 20:18:27|Editor: An

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NANCHANG, May 4 (Xinhua) -- As spring plowing comes to an end in China, Wei Shilian is expecting a good harvest.

A resident of Xingan County, a big rice production area in east China's Jiangxi Province, Wei planted more than 140 hectares of paddy rice this year, 90 percent of which is high-quality rice. Jiangxi is one of China's 13 major grain production bases.

"Market demand is changing, and it's hard to make money by growing regular rice these days," Wei said.

Chinese farmers traditionally pursue quantity over quality when it comes to grain. But as incomes improve, consumers have become more demanding about quality. Meanwhile, prices of imported rice remain low, challenging China's cheap mid- and low-quality rice.

The central government announced in February that high-quality paddy rice should be a priority in agricultural production this year. Compared to regular paddy rice, high-quality rice is brighter in color and better in texture, and some types have a distinctive aroma.

Under these circumstances, government authorities with several big rice production bases have recently announced plans to cultivate a high volume of high-quality rice.

Hunan province, for example, plans to produce about 666,667 hectares of high-quality rice this year, while Chongqing hopes to produce 300,000 hectares of such rice. Sichuan plans to extend its high-quality rice area to more than 1 million hectares this year.

QUALITY VS. QUANTITY

Ling Jihe is a renowned rice grower in Jiangxi Province. He opened a "High-quality Rice Experience Store" at the end of last year.

"Rice demand is changing in the market," Ling said. "In the past, people cared more about eating sufficient food, but now they care more about eating great food."

In his store, high-quality rice sells for 3 yuan (43.5 cents) per kilo, much higher than regular rice in the market, but the product is still "very popular." According to Ling, revenue from high-quality rice in the store reached a staggering 180,000 yuan in less than 20 days.

Xiong Xijian, who owns a rice processing factory in Jiangxi, said that the amount of regular rice sold to the southern Guangdong Province decreased by 60 percent compared to three years ago, while that of high-quality rice is increasing at an annual rate of 15 percent.

"There is basically no profit in growing regular rice, so you have to adjust the structure of your crops," said Yi Zhanghai, a farmer in Jiangxi's Jishui County.

Li Changsheng, an official in charge of agriculture in Jishui, said that agricultural reform is about placing more emphasis on quality over quantity.

"We will churn out about 10,000 hectares of high-quality rice this year, or about a quarter of all rice cultivation in the county," Li said.

In Jiangxi's Nanchang County, one of China's top 100 "Super Food Production Bases," farmer Luo Fuyu has switched from regular rice to a high-quality rice breed called "926," which has a lower yield but can fetch much higher prices in the market. One mu (one hectare equals 15 mu) of the rice breed can guarantee at least 300 yuan more than one mu of regular rice, he said.

"We will definitely pay more attention to rice quality than quantity in the future," Luo said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 20:28:28|Editor: MJ

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by Chris Mgidu

NAIROBI, May 4 (Xinhua) -- A global maritime body on Thursday urged foreign vessels not to be complacent as they transit the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden amid new hijackings off the coast of Somalia after a five-year lull.

The latest report by the International Chamber of Commerce's International Maritime Bureau (IMB) warned that Somali pirates are still capable of carrying out attacks against foreign vessels.

IMB Director Pottengal Mukundan said recent attacks in which Somali pirates successfully hijacked a small bunkering tanker and a dhow, both within their territorial waters, should serve as a warning against complacency.

"IMB continues to encourage all vessels transiting waters around Somalia to follow the Best Management Practices for Protection (BMP4) recommendations," said Mukundan.

According to IMB, a total of 28 crew were taken hostage and subsequently released within a relatively short time.

IMB suspects that these incidents were opportunistic, particularly as the hijacked vessels were not following the Best Management Practices for Protection against Somalia Based Piracy (BMP4) recommendations.

"The presence of international navies who patrol these waters is extremely important as it provides an added layer of deterrence to the pirates and more importantly helps to secure one of the most important trade routes of the world," Mukundan added.

The African maritime industry along the Indian Ocean had until 2013 been greatly affected by piracy that raised the costs of shipping as insurance companies and private ship security companies increased their premiums to mitigate the risks.

The latest report said globally, pirates and armed robbers attacked 43 ships and captured 58 seafarers in the first quarter of 2017, slightly more than the same period last year.

The global report highlights persisting violence in piracy hotspots off Nigeria and around the Southern Philippines, where two crew members were killed in February.

Indonesia also reported frequent incidents, mostly low-level thefts from anchored vessels. In total, 33 vessels were boarded and four fired upon in the first three months of 2017, the IMB said.

Armed pirates hijacked two vessels, both off the coast of Somalia, where no merchant ship had been hijacked since May 2012. Four attempted incidents were also recorded.

"Of the 27 seafarers kidnapped worldwide for ransom between January and March, 63 percent were in the Gulf of Guinea," IMB said.

According to IMB, Nigeria is the main kidnap hot-spot, with 17 crew taken in three separate incidents, up from 14 in the same period in 2016.

"The Gulf of Guinea is a major area of concern, consistently dangerous for seafarers, and signs of kidnappings are increasing. IMB has worked closely with the response agencies in the region including the Nigerian Navy which has provided valuable support, but more needs to be done to crack down on the area's armed gangs," Mukundan said.

"We urge vessels to report all incidents so that the true level of piracy activity can be assessed," he added.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 20:33:29|Editor: An

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by Yerbolat Uatkhanov

ASTANA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The Kazakh government is interested in China-proposed the Belt and Road Initiative and connects its implementation with Kazakh national programs, Yerzhan Saltybayev, director of Kazakhstan's Institute of World Economy and Policy, has said.

The Kazak development plans are focused on transforming its raw material-oriented economy, boosting industrialization and diversifying trade with China, the Kazak economist told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"We know that the Chinese Initiative includes not only infrastructure projects, but also the creation of new industries in the countries where the project is being implemented. In general, we believe that the Initiative is absolutely viable, because it is based on the interests of the participating countries," said Saltybayev.

The initiative that China proposed in 2013 aims to build an infrastructure and trade network to seek common development and prosperity. The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road are expected to connect peoples and countries in Asia, Africa and Europe along ancient trade routes.

Saltybayev believes that the Kazakhstan's national program agrees well with the Belt and Road Initiative.

"It is connected with the Belt and Road Initiative and aimed at sustainable development. Of course, we are interested in the success of this project, and Kazakhstan is making all necessary efforts. We believe in joint development and mutual benefits," said the Kazak expert.

"We focus on the diversification of trade between the two countries. We plan to quit a dependence on the export of raw materials," he said.

For Kazakhstan, the 51 projects it plans to jointly implement with China "will make the structure of the trade more stable. It will be much more profitable to export products at least primary or secondary stage of processing in addition to raw materials," Saltybayev added.

The expert also noted that Kazakhstan's infrastructure projects cover building roads, housing, and communication network, adding that "all these programs require a lot of resources ... produced in large quantities in China."

Saltybayev said that Kazakhstan has a huge potential to tap in the supply of environment-friendly and organic farm produce to the Chinese market. Among the favorable factors is that Kazakhstan and China are neighbors.

"It will be much easier to deliver products from our country. It will be much more efficient solution," he added.

On Kazakhstan's industrialization, Saltybayev said, "China is a priority partner in industrialization projects. Nowadays, China has reached the level that does not only produce products, but also creates new technologies, including environment-friendly technologies."

The Kazak expert said his country welcomes China's investment in both forms of capital and technology.

"We expect the inflow of not only Chinese capital investment, but also technological investment," he said.
LUSAKA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Thursday called for increased inter-regional collaboration for Africa to have a successful free trading arrangement.

Lungu said during a World Economic Forum panel discussion on "Fast-tracking Economic Unification" in Durban, South Africa, that a well-coordinated mechanism was required to ensure the success of the continent's free trading area arrangement.

While appreciating efforts made so far to ensure economic integration in Africa, the Zambian leader said more efforts were required to expedite further deepening of economic integration.

"The Continental Free Trade Area which we are aspiring for is an initiative aimed at integrating African markets and the initiative requires what I may call a well-coordinated mechanism to ensure that regional outcomes complement each other," he said.

The initiative, he said, will only succeed if countries enhance infrastructure development and regional trade.

The Zambian leader also stressed equality, warning that some countries may consider a "Brexit" approach if the benefits of the free continental arrangement were not shared equally.

Africa, he said, should draw lessons from Brexit to achieve and implement the Continental Free Trade Area.

He however said the initiative will make Africa an attractive investment destination and that all countries should support it.

The Continental Free Trade Area is meant to integrate the economic blocs on the continent.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 21:13:33|Editor: An

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by Ronald Njoroge

NAIROBI, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Pan-African investment insurer African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) is seeking closer ties with Chinese firms so as to increase investment flows into the continent, officials said on Thursday.

ATI Chief Underwriting Officer John Lentaigne told Xinhua that Africa is still perceived to be a risky investment destination despite its high rates of investment returns.

"So we want to partner with Chinese firms so they feel more confident in investing in Africa," Lentaigne said when ATI released its financial results for 2016.

"Already, we are seeing demand from Chinese companies that want to protect their investments," he noted.

Chinese investments into Africa have accelerated over the past decade to play an increasingly important role in the socio-economic development of the continent.

The ATI official noted that currently most Chinese firms depend on Chinese state insurers to mitigate their risks in Africa.

"We want to partner with Chinese firms so that we help them explore other alternatives to mitigate their risk," he said.
MOGADISHU, May 4 (Xinhua) -- An outbreak of cholera/ acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) in Somalia has killed 618 people since January, the UN humanitarian agency said on Thursday.

The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest bulletin that the AWD/cholera outbreak is affecting 13 out of 18 Somali regions.

The OCHA attributed the outbreak to widespread water shortages, food insecurity and displacement that have stretched sanitation facilities beyond their capacity.

"Nearly 32,000 AWD/cholera cases and 618 related deaths have been reported since the start of 2017," said the UN agency.

The vulnerable children and adults, already struggling to cope with malnutrition and food insecurity caused in large part by the failure of 2016's two rainy seasons, were struck down by the deadly disease after drinking contaminated water, it said.

The OCHA said most cases were reported from Banadir, Togdheer, Lower Shabelle, Hiraan, Sool, Mudug and Lower Juba regions, noting that reporting and verification in places such as Middle Juba have been hampered by difficult access.

"The current mass population displacement as a result of droughts is worsening the situation. The onset of the rainy season risks exacerbating the situation further in the hotspots and along the riverine areas," it said.

Meanwhile, the report said an outbreak of suspected measles has added to the burden of disease in Somalia.

"Almost 5,700 suspected cases of the disease have been reported since the start of 2017, more than the total number of cases in 2016," the UN said.

Measles, a viral respiratory infection that spreads through air and contact with infected mucus and saliva, thrives in congested, unsanitary displacement settlements that have multiplied across the country as people flee drought.
BERLIN, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The German government rejected the European Commission's demand to end border controls between the member states within six months, it was reported Thursday.

A return to the Schengen agreement would be welcome, spokesperson for the Ministry of Internal Affairs Johannes Dimroth said.

However, "one can really not reliably state" that abolishing checks at the German border in six months is a responsible move. Safeguarding Europe depends on securing its external borders, according to Dimroth. Against the background of migration and security concerns in Europe, dispensing with the current border controls is "out of the question," Dimroth said.

The Schengen agreement is a treaty between the member states of the European Union to allow free travel across borders within the Union without checks and fixed crossing points. The suspension of border controls is regarded as an essential part of the freedom of travel in Europe. The controls have been partially reinstated in the wake of the refugee crisis since 2015.

The European Commission requested of Germany, Austria and three other countries, to dispense with the systematic border checks within six months. "The time has come to take the last steps to gradually return to a normal functioning Schengen Area," European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Dimitris Avramopoulos said Tuesday in Brussels.

He also warned of concerns regarding the opening up of the borders, mainly the situation along the western Balkans Route and the application of the Dublin Regulation.

German politicians of the two largest parties CDU (Christian Democratic Union of Germany) and SPD (Social Democratic Party of Germany) support the government's decision to maintain the internal border controls for at least six months, based on security concerns brought about by migration and the refugee situation.

"We can only give up internal border controls when the EU's external borders are secured," Parliamentary State Secretary Guenther Krings (CDU) told German newspaper Rheinische Post.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 21:38:49|Editor: An

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BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Top Chinese political advisor Yu Zhengsheng called on a cross-party group of Japanese lawmakers here on Thursday to make continuous contributions to improvement of relations between the two countries.

Yu, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, told the delegation of Japan-China Friendship Parliamentarians' Union that China has been always committed to a peaceful, friendly and cooperative relationship with Japan on the basis of the spirit of "taking history as a mirror and looking forward to the future."

The Japanese delegation was led by Masahiko Komura, Vice President of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

The growth of China-Japan exchanges and cooperation in various fields has been hard-earned and should be cherished, Yu said, noting that this year marks the 45 anniversary of normalization of relations between the two countries.

Japan should abide by the four political documents between the two countries and their four-point principled agreement, as well as properly deal with major issues related to history and Taiwan, so as to safeguard the political foundation of China-Japan ties, according to Yu.

Yu hoped the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentarians' Union would continue to play an active role in China-Japan exchanges.

The Japan-China relationship has maintained momentum of improvement since leaders of the two countries reached consensus on promoting bilateral ties, Komura said, stressing that the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentarians' Union is willing to make further efforts.
by Christine Lagat

NAIROBI, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's ministry of health on Thursday launched a new drug and self-testing kit to aid HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment interventions.

Director of Medical Services in the Ministry of Health Jackson Kioko said Kenya was the second African country after South Africa to roll out a new HIV pill and self-testing kit as efforts to eliminate the disease gathers steam.

"Kenya has made significant breakthrough in the fight against HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. The launch of HIV pill and self-testing kit are an addition to the existing arsenal to combat this killer disease," Kioko said.

The HIV drug Pre Exposure Prophylaxis is meant for high risk groups like sex workers, teenagers and gay communities whose vulnerability to the virus is high.

Kioko said Kenya's regulatory authorities have approved the pill.

"The Pre Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) is a critical intervention in HIV prevention. It is only meant for HIV negative people and has over 96 percent efficacy," said Kioko.

He revealed the HIV pill is already being sold at selected private health facilities for 0.20 U.S. dollars but will soon be available for free in government-run health facilities.

Likewise, the HIV self-testing kit will be available at pharmacies and private clinics at a cost of 8 dollars and will help reduce the number of Kenyans who are not aware of their status.

Kioko said the ministry of health intends to avail self-testing kits to an estimated 400,000 HIV-positive individuals unaware of their status.

"The self-testing will be accompanied by a confirmatory test in government laboratories. It is integrated in Kenya's AIDS Strategic Framework that aims to reduce new infections by 75 percent," said Kioko.

Kenya has an estimated 1.5 million people living with AIDS and two thirds of them are already enlisted in a treatment program subsided by the state.

The Head of National Aids and STI Control Program (NASCOP) Martin Sirengo said unveiling of an efficacious and cheaper drug to prevent HIV transmission alongside self-testing kit will hasten progress towards making Kenya an AIDS-free nation.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 21:53:42|Editor: xuxin

A scrutineer presents a ballot at a polling station in Algiers, Algeria on May 4, 2017. Algeria's new lower house parliamentary elections kicked off on Thursday to choose its 462 members for a five-year term. (Xinhua)

ALGIERS, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Algeria's new lower house parliamentary elections kicked off on Thursday to choose its 462 members for a five-year term.

About 23.2 million Algerians are eligible electorates.

However, several observers and experts predicted that the number of abstainers will be high, a factor which would threaten the new parliament's credibility.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika reassured the nation by declaring that elections would be fair and free, urging citizens to vote in large numbers, in response to what some opposition parties are deeming as "rigged" elections and calling upon people to abstain.

A week ago, Bouteflika said in a letter to the nation that voters' decision will be respected, stressing "your participation in the upcoming elections will contribute toward the country's stability, democracy and development."

Authorities deployed 44,000 security officers to secure the electoral polls.

Campaign started on April 9 and lasted safely until the 30 with no major incidents were reported.

Algeria welcomed over 400 foreign overseers from various international associations and organizations to monitor the elections.

In addition, approximately 700 accredited correspondents are covering the elections including 80 foreign media representatives.

These elections are the sixth electoral ones since 1989, when Algeria adopted its multi-party system.

The majority of opposition parties, Islamists and secular, decided to participate.

According to Algerian political experts, the new electoral law's provisions leave political parties no choice but to participate in the elections.

Moreover, political parties wishing to participate in post-2017 elections will be asked for evidence proving that they've garnered 4 percent of the votes in a previous election round.

Therefore, in the event of a boycott, the party in question will be eliminated from upcoming elections, a clear threat to its continued existence.

The parliament's lower house includes 462 members elected by common consensus for a five-year term.

The country's two ruling parties, the National Liberation Front and National Democratic Rally, both grabbed the majority seats, specifically 291 seats, in the May 2012 elections.
ANKARA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Two children were killed when a police vehicle crashed into a house in southeastern province of Sirnak in Turkey on late Wednesday.

The incident occurred in Silopi district at late night Wednesday when the armored police vehicle crashed into the house, local media reported on Thursday.

The two brothers, seven and six, who were falling asleep, were killed by the collapse of walls and columns.

The reason is unclear by now. Residents of the neighborhood said the driver of the police vehicle was drunk.

No official statement has been released about the accident. An investigation was launched.
PARIS, May 4 (Xinhua) -- A French prosecutor on Thursday opened a preliminary investigation into allegations that the presidential front-running contender Emmanuel Macron holds an offshore bank account, according to local media reports.

Earlier on Thursday, Macron lodged a legal complaint over allegations made by his rival Marine Le Pen in a televised debate on Wednesday that he held secret funds in a foreign tax heaven.

"I've never had an account in any tax haven. Le Pen is behind this. She has an internet army mobilizing to spread false information and lies," Macron told France Inter Radio.

Speaking to news channel BFMTV, Le Pen said that she had no proof her rival had an offshore account.

Hours before Wednesday's debate, an anonymous account posted documents on an internet forum allegedly showing the ex-economy minister had an offshore bank account.

The information was quickly distributed online.

In February, Macron's staff said their campaign had been the target of cyber attacks targeting databases and e-mail servers.
Refugees are on their way to Vienna in Budaors, about 10 km west from Budapest, Hungary on Sept. 5, 2015. (Xinhua/Csaba Domotor)

BUDAPEST, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Eleven human smugglers were indicted in Hungary for homicide and human smuggling in the tragic case of 71 migrants who suffocated in a closed truck on the motorway linking Budapest and Vienna in 2015, Hungarian News Agency MTI reported Thursday.

The Prosecutor's Office of Bacs-Kiskun county has indicted 11 people, including Afghans, Bulgarians and Lebanese citizens, who left a cooling lorry filled with 71 people on the side of the motorway in Parndorf, Austria in August 2015, chief prosecutor Laszlo Nanasi told reporters on Thursday in Kecskemet, a city in the central part of Hungary.

Then the migrants had already died in Hungary when the vehicle was abandoned on the side of the motorway, according to Nanasi.

The prosecutor said that the criminals had organized the illegal crossing of 1,200 people in 31 occasions through Western Europe, between February and August 2015. They used closed trucks which were unsuitable for human transport.

A 30-year-old Afghan leader of the criminals earned some 300,000 euros (328,000 U.S. dollars) from the illegal transports.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 22:49:11|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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VILNIUS, May 4 (Xinhua) -- International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission has started its work in Vilnius on Thursday, aiming to discuss and evaluate Lithuania's economic developments and government policies with the country's authorities, Lithuania's Ministry of Finance said.

The IMF consultations take place twice a year.

"Despite exceptionally favorable year of 2016, when Lithuania's public sector funds were bigger than expected for the first time in 26 years, we can't become complacent," Vilius Sapoka, Lithuania's minister of finance, was quoted as saying in a finance ministry statement.

On Thursday, he met with Christoph Klingen, IMF mission chief for Lithuania, to discuss Lithuania's economic situation, state budget and other issues.

"I discussed these issues with the representatives of the mission and assured them that our commitments to follow fiscal discipline, seek for sustainable and long-term oriented country's development remain our priorities," the minister added.

The members of the IMF mission plan to meet with representatives of various Lithuania's state institutions, central bank and private sector. At the conclusion of the visit, IMF will submit its recommendations to Lithuania.

The mission will finish its work in Lithuania on May 15.

In its World Economic Outlook published last month, IMF expects Lithuania's economy to grow by 2.8 percent and 3.1 percent this year and in 2018 respectively.

Klingen commented earlier that strong private demand and increasing investments will be the main growth drivers in the country, however, he pointed out negative demographic trends and low productivity as Lithuania's main challenges.

"Currently, the main issue is to follow appropriate polities and implement necessary reforms, in order to achieve results in the longer term," Klingen was quoted as saying by local website vz.lt after the IMF report on the world economy was released in April.

Sapoka, Lithuania's minister of finance, also pledged earlier this year that structural reforms must be implemented in Lithuania to boost economic growth.
VIENTIANE, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Less rice was planted this dry season in Laos with the government reducing the target from last year, largely due to the lack of irrigation.

Speaking at the ongoing National Assembly session in Lao capital Vientiane, Minister of Planning and Investment Souphanh Keomixay said farmers had planted about 84,580 hectares of rice, or some 89 percent of the amount planned, according to Lao state-run media Vientiane Times on Thursday.

However, the Department of Agriculture under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry reported that farmers had planted 90,000 hectares of rice or 95 percent of the area planned, citing the latest figures. This dry season, the department set a target of 95,000 hectares but until now only about 90,000 hectares have been planted out.

Last dry season, the department encouraged farmers around the country to grow 126,000 hectares of rice but they planted only 98,000 hectares, Vientiane Times quoted the department as saying.

Meanwhile, according to the Department of Irrigation, a large number of farmers were growing other crops instead, which earned them more money and required less water. The lack of irrigation occurred because provinces did not have sufficient funds to pay for the repair of irrigation systems.

The department had submitted a proposal to the government through the ministry to seek more funding for irrigation.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 23:09:15|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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GENEVA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The UN's Children Fund (UNICEF) on Thursday warned that almost 75,000 migrants and refugees, of whom 24,600 are children, are at risk of suffering from psychological distress as a result of living in a protracted state of uncertainty in European transit points.

"We are seeing single mothers and children stranded in Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria who have not seen their husbands and fathers for months or even years," said Afshan Khan, UNICEF regional director and special coordinator for the refugee and migrant crisis in Europe.

"The family reunification process is slow, and its outcome uncertain, and it is this uncertainty which can cause significant emotional distress and anxiety for children and families, setting them back for years to come," she added.

According to the agency, most family reunification requests are made in Greece, where 5,000 such appeals were documented in 2016.

UNICEF reported that 700 of these were made by unaccompanied and separated children, and that only 1,107 applicants eventually made it to their destination countries by the end of the year.

Along with Greece, Hungary and Bulgaria, other countries in the western Balkans have also played host to an increasing number of stranded refugee and migrants.

Figures show that nearly 80,000 refugees and migrants were stuck in these states by the end of April this year, up from 47,000 in March 2016.

"Keeping families together is the best way to ensure that children are protected, which is why the family reunification process for refugee and migrant children is so important," Khan said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 23:14:15|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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VIENTIANE, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The second batch of materials sponsored by China for Laos to combat locust plague has been handed over to the Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) on Thursday in Lao capital Vientiane.

Economic Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Laos Wang Qihui and Director General of MAF's Department of Agriculture Vilaysouk, on behalf of the two governments, signed the handover document.

Speaking at the ceremony, Lao Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Lien Thikeo said whenever Lao people encounter difficulties, the Chinese government always provides prompt support.

In the past year, thanks to the first batch of materials sponsored by China to eliminate locusts, as many as one third of the areas impacted by locust plague have been under control. Laos will continue taking the best use of the materials to eliminate locusts, so that farmers can soon return to normal production and life.

In order to help Laos fight locust plague, under the consensus reached by the two governments, the Chinese government agreed to provide emergency aid for Laos to deal with the plague. The materials handed over this time include cars, manual sprayers, backpack sprayers, protective suits, and computers.

The first batch of materials sponsored by the Chinese government for Laos to combat locust plague was handed over to Laos in May 2016.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 23:24:17|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The General Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee has asked the China Writers Association (CWA) to guide online literature and carry out other reforms.

According to a plan to deepen reform of the CWA issued by the office on Thursday, CWA should establish evaluation and incentive systems that will benefit the development of online literature.

The Party's role in literature work should also be strengthened. For instance, the Party should guide and support works focusing on juveniles and patriotism, as well as realistic and historical topics.

In the meantime, the CWA should organize literature exchange programs among Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and provide more communication opportunities between Chinese and foreign writers.

It should also encourage translation and publication of classic Chinese literature and enhance the global influence of contemporary Chinese literature.

The plan points out that the CWA should stick to cultural self-confidence. It calls for writers to closely unite around the CPC Central Committee in a bid to enrich and develop the literature cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-04 23:44:14|Editor: xuxin

Croatian Parliament Speaker Bozo Petrov (R) announces resignation in Zagreb, capital of Croatia, May 4, 2017. Croatian Parliament Speaker Bozo Petrov from the Most (Bridge) party, a junior partner of the current coalition, resigned Thursday after a no-confidence vote against the finance minister failed. (Xinhua/Patrik Macek)

ZAGREB, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Croatian Parliament Speaker Bozo Petrov from the Most (Bridge) party, a junior partner of the current coalition, resigned Thursday after a no-confidence vote against the finance minister failed.

"In order to protect the dignity of the Croatian parliament, I am taking full responsibility and am resigning as speaker," he said.

Earlier, Finance Minister Zdravko Maric survived a no-confidence vote with 75 votes out of 150 MPs.

Last Friday, the party Most quit the coalition led by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who is the leader of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).

Most had three of its ministers fired by Plenkovic after they failed to support Maric.

"The HDZ and I are ready for an election, but we want to keep stability and it is now up to other parliamentary parties to show if they want the same," Plenkovic said.

He now faces the challenge of gaining a majority in parliament averting another snap election. The last snap election was held in September 2016.

A dispute between HDZ and Most last year toppled the previous government after just six months in office.
Aerial photo taken on March 9, 2017 shows containers at the China (Shanghai) Pilot FreeTrade Zone in Shanghai, east China. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)

NICOSIA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- China's galloping economic growth over the past 30 years is bound to boost world trade in the future as the country's growing middle class will tend to buy more imported goods, Cypriot economist and politician Marios Mavrides told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"I believe that in the coming years the trade between China and the West will grow more and will become a two-way process, as a middle class is being established in China that will tend to buy more consumer goods," Mavrides said.

Mavrides teaches economics at the European University in Nicosia and is also a parliamentary deputy with the ruling party of the eastern Mediterranean island.

Mavrides said that after many years of high growth rates, prospects for the Chinese economy seemed to remain very good. But he noted that China had sold low-cost goods to the world to fund its economic growth, but this was bound to change in the future.

He explained that China will stop being only an exporting country and instead import large quantities of goods and services as its huge population becomes able to afford more.

"It is in the interest of both sides to continue free trade and exchange of services between them," Mavrides added.

He said that this could become possible as global management dexterity grows and adapts to interaction.

China may not have developed the kind of enterprise management that is characteristic of western-style businesses, but it has a lot to teach other countries in its management style marked by improvisation, flexibility and speed. This is quite different from the tight structures of the West that prevent new opportunities and thus achieving quick expansion.

Mavrides said that global management development was also a two-way process.

"Innovation development and coordination are important elements of growth, but these cannot come through state agreements. These characteristics are developed by the forces of the free market," Mavrides noted.

"In other words, free trade and globalization will find their way in an environment of political, economic, and social stability," he added.

Mavrides said that globalization had succeeded in connecting the countries between them, as involvement in one country affected other countries.

But he acknowledged that problems such as the refugee crisis, nationalism, and internal strife affected almost every country in the world as well as the process of globalization.

He said that even though some of the problems were interconnected, each problem had its own root.

Internal strife, Mavrides says, leads to the refugee problem and this, in turn, leads to nationalism in countries which receive refugees. Nationalism is a source of protectionism, he said.

"I believe that free trade has been a very positive development, which, however, requires economic and social stability...The best way out would be finding a solution to the problems the world is faced with and to leave trade to develop freely. Then, globalization will again find its way," said Mavrides.

Mavrides said that in this respect, reviving the Silk Road, which he described as an ambitious and daring plan, was a feasible project. But he added a caution that risk exists in the implementation.

"This is because the cost is high and the benefits will come on the way, provided that no problems, mostly geopolitical, come in the way. But should it become a reality, it will lead to an important joining of China with Europe and will create more cooperation between the two sides with mutual benefits," said Mavrides.

He said reviving the ancient East-West trade route would be a source of growth as it would lead to accessing the huge Chinese market that would boost the world economy.
MOGADISHU, May 4 (Xinhua) -- About 620,000 Somalis have been displaced from their homes since November 2016 due to severe drought ravaging parts of the Horn of Africa nation, the UN humanitarian agency said on Thursday.

The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said about 7,000 people have crossed into neighboring Ethiopia and Kenya as the threat of famine once again looms large over Somalia.

"Drought-related displacements to urban centers have slowed down land preparation activities ahead of the rainy season in agropastoral areas of Bay, Bakool, Hiraan, Gedo, Middle Juba and riverine areas of Shabelle," OCHA said in its latest Humanitarian Bulletin.

In drought affected areas in northern and central regions, rural pastoralists have resorted to expensive livestock supplementary feeding, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)-managed Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit.

It said humanitarian partners have massively scaled up famine prevention response in the first quarter of 2017 and reached millions of people with life-saving food, water, nutritional and health services.

Somalia is in the midst of a drought after rains failed in November 2016, for a third year in the row. About 615,000 people looking for food and water have been displaced since then.

Humanitarians in Somalia are seeking an overall 825 million U.S. dollars to reach the most vulnerable with life-saving assistance until June.

According to the UN, donors have been quick with their contributions for a scale-up of response and over 600 million dollars has been made available or pledged for humanitarian response since January.

"This has enabled operational agencies to rapidly reach millions of Somalis with safe water, food and medical assistance. Cash and vouchers are safeguarding more than 1.5 million of the 3 million most vulnerable people in emergency and crisis phases," it said.

OCHA said more than 1.2 million people have been reached since the beginning of the year with safe water. More than 1.7 million were provided with improved access to food in March alone.
SKOPJE, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Macedonian Social Democratic Union (SDSM) Thursday urged the president, George Ivanov, again to hand over the mandate for the formation of new government as the only way to end the political crisis.

In a statement, SDSM urged the swift power transfer and start of formation of new government to take the country ahead with reform.

SDSM led by Zoran Zaev informed that the program of the reformatory government would be presented to the head of the state, Ivanov, assuring that new government program wouldn't allow bi-nationality.

The reforms of the new government will start and people will soon feel the changes, SDSM said in its announcement.

Meanwhile, speaking to the media Thursday, Zaev said he expected the formation of a new government by the end of May if the president gave him the mandate.

He expressed readiness to meet Ivanov and the coalition partners to provide guarantees over Macedonia's unitary character.

"I am prepared to visit President Ivanov and hold discussions along with the coalition partners, to once again guarantee the country's unitary character, its constitutionality, multi-ethnicity, NATO and EU perspectives," Zaev said.

Macedonia held snap general elections on Dec. 11, 2016, but no government has been formed yet. The ruling VMRO-DPMNE party secured 51 seats, the SDSM got 49, and the DUI obtained 10 in the 120-seat parliament.

The SDSM and DUI, plus other two smaller ethnic Albanian parties, had secured a majority of 67 votes in parliament.

On the other hand, the President's Cabinet confirmed Thursday that it had received a letter from the Parliament Speaker's Office, which informed Gjorge Ivanov that the process for forming a parliamentary majority and electing a president of the highest legislative body was completed.

Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi has notified President Ivanov that a parliamentary majority has been formed and a Parliament Speaker has been elected, the Parliament Speaker's Office said in another statement.
NAIROBI, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Agnes Nyambura of Kenya has retained an exceptional sense of humor and sunny optimism despite living with the HIV virus for several years.

The mother of two was diagnosed with the virus after the death of her husband and has defied immense stigma and discrimination to pursue her music career that currently foots the household bills.

Nyambura remarried after losing her husband to AIDS and has been taking anti retroviral drugs to suppress viral load and avoid the risk of contracting opportunistic infections.

The bubbly artist and her husband who is HIV negative on Thursday attended the unveiling of a new HIV pill called Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) that was hailed by Kenyan health experts as highly effective in protecting HIV free but high risk individuals from infection.

Targeted in this rollout are the likes of Nyambura's husband who is HIV negative but could be at risk of contracting the virus from his HIV positive wife.

Speaking to Xinhua on the sidelines of the unveiling ceremony in Nairobi, Nyambura was upbeat the new HIV pill will erase anxieties previously held by her husband.

"The rollout of PrEP is timely and reassuring to us discordant couples. My husband who is HIV negative is now confident of zero chance of contracting the virus," said Nyambura.

Both her two young sons are HIV negative and have been a source of inspiration and pride to a community health advocate whose decision to remarry faced stiff resistance from the wider society.

"I was aware my first husband died of Aids related complications and when I revealed the issue to my current partner, he initially dismissed the story until we went for a test," said Nyambura.

Her marriage to Peter Waweru, a 43 year old farmer in 2008 was not only unprecedented but also upended rigid norms upheld by a conservative society for decades.

"So many people condemned my decision to remarry while others questioned Peter's motives. They knew I was HIV positive and thought I was hell bent to infect dozens of men for revenge," Nyambura said.

Waweru reminisced his unwavering quest to win the heart of his current wife whose beauty, elegance and sense of humor is unmatched in his ancestral village located in central Kenya.

"I was determined to win over Nyambura's soul and kept on pursuing her even as she rejected my overtures. She thought I was a joker and when we settled for a joint HIV test, she began to take me seriously," said Waweru.

He revealed that discovering his new found love was HIV positive did not shed him off the rails and only emboldened him to cherish her despite vitriolic scorn from close relatives and friends.

"My marriage to Nyambura has flourished in the last nine years despite gloomy predictions by skeptics. She has outstanding qualities and her HIV positive status has never eroded my affection for her," Waweru told Xinhua.

He will be a beneficiary of the new drug for HIV negative individuals at risk of infection.

The middle aged farmer and entrepreneur hailed the launch of PrEP saying it will boost intimacy and trust with his HIV positive wife.

"At some point, I was afraid of contracting the HIV virus but the launch of the new HIV drug has reassured me and my wife. It is now possible to conceive another child with my wife since the risk of infections is negligible," said Waweru.

Waweru and his wife belongs to a growing list of Kenya's HIV discordant couples who have defied huge odds to stick together, sire children and live normal lives.

Statistics from the ministry of health indicate that Kenya has an estimated 44,000 discordant couples.

Researchers who spoke during the unveiling of PrEP said it is ideal for discordant couples intending to have children since it reduces the chance of infection to the child and the uninfected partner to bare minimum.

"Six years of rigorous scientific research has proved that PrEP is highly effective in preventing HIV transmission. Clinical trials in South Africa have indicated it has over 90 percent efficacy," said the head of reproductive health at Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nelly Mugo.

Kenya became the second African country after South Africa to launch PrEP that will be availed to high risk groups like discordant couples, youth, sex workers and people in same sex marriages.

Campaigners hailed unveiling of a new drug for HIV negative people saying it will encourage them to marry their HIV positive peers since the risk of infection is minimal.

"Adoption of PrEP will save many lives, it is a historic milestone for discordant couples and other high risk groups in this country and the region," remarked the Chair of Network of People Living with Aids in Kenya, Nelson Otuoma.
PHNOM PENH, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Thursday called on the European Union (EU) not to interfere in its domestic affairs.

The move comes after the EU criticized the country's court for extending a further six-month detention of five local human rights activists.

"By law, the investigating judge can decide to extend the pre-trial detention twice with a period of six months each," a Cambodian foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement.

The five activists were arrested in April last year and placed in a pre-trial detention since then under the charges of bribing a witness.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-05 02:08:29|Editor: Liangyu

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) and Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini attend a joint press conference in Porvoo, southern Finland, May 4, 2017. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday said relations between Finland and Russia were "developing despite the difficult situation in Europe." (Xinhua/Matti Matikainen)

HELSINKI, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday said relations between Finland and Russia were "developing despite the difficult situation in Europe."

Lavrov's visit to Finland came as part of preparations for a state visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin later this year.

Lavrov made the remarks in Porvoo, southern Finland at a joint press conference with Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini. Lavrov also later met with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto.

Finnish media on Thursday raised the possibility of a meeting between Russian and U.S. presidents in Finland. Lavrov said Finland would be "a welcome location", but there was no such plan currently. The two leaders may meet during the G20 in Hamburg, Germany in July.

The meeting venue was close to the location where Czar Alexander I confirmed Finnish semi-autonomy as a Grand Duchy of Finland in his meeting with Finnish representatives in 1809.

Finland declared independence from Russia in 1917. The ongoing centenary of Finnish independence will be observed in joint events.

Both ministers highlighted the development of economic ties. Soini said there had been a major increase in Russian visa applications to Finland this year. Lavrov mentioned cooperative projects ranging from the Fennovoima nuclear plant to Finnish wind power development in Uljanovsk, Russia.

Soini said the talks had been open and constructive, even on difficult subjects. He said the Ukraine issue is the most difficult single question between Finland and Russia. He said the relations between Russia and the EU would not develop until the Minsk agreement is fulfilled. Finland urged Russia to use its influence in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Lavrov said it is the responsibility of the West to see to it that Ukraine adheres to the Minsk agreements.

The ministers also discussed flight security over the Baltic Sea. Niinisto suggested in July 2016 that military aircraft could no longer fly over in the area without identifying transponders switched on. Lavrov said the idea is being discussed within the international air transport sector.

Soini and Lavrov will meet again next week in Alaska. Finland will assume the chairmanship of the Arctic Council grouping soon.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-05 02:08:36|Editor: Yamei

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BRUSSELS, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative is a huge project that is giving opportunities to many companies, the chair of delegation for relations with China in the European Parliament, Jo Leinen, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

The European Union (EU) and China, two of the largest economies in the world, are well connected in trade and are now going "to a new stage," aiming to better engage in investment. Their investment agreement talks are on track, Leinen said.

"European companies like to invest in China and Chinese companies come to Europe to invest," said Leinen, expressing hope that the investment deal could be concluded so that there is a "very fair, balanced and transparent framework."

For the veteran politician, the initiative is a good opportunity for investment and cooperation, and that completely new logistics and innovation in the transport sector is needed.

The German parliamentarian said "what we need is a common understanding of the projects, the financing and the condition for submission and for applying."

He also attached importance to the initiative's green movement, most notably, "how we can reduce the energy consumption, how we can reduce the environment pollution by most modern transport systems."

According to Leinen, the welcoming news is that the EU and China also have worked closely at all levels regarding technology and research, from bio-technologies to new materials.

"The world of this 21st century has to go to more efficient and less environmental damaging... Europe and China should cooperate," he added.

Meanwhile, as both China and the EU are undergoing structural reforms, Leinen, who has closely followed the development in China, applauded China's 13th five-year plan for economic and social development, saying it is "quite forward-looking, and combines important pillars and cornerstones" for the transition of the Chinese economy towards a highly modern economy.

"I think modernization and innovation, that's the way to go," he said, noting that the Belt and Road Initiative, with a big potential for investment, is likewise a chance "for innovation to test and invest in very new systems for cargo as well as for people, whether it's air transport, maritime or land transport."

Leinen said he hoped the upcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing would bring all stakeholders together, adding that European companies were "very keen" to take part in the forum as it would bridge connections from China toward Europe.
NEW DELHI, May 4 (Xinhua) -- India on Thursday held Home Secretary-level talks with Britain, with New Delhi pressing for early extradition of fugitive indebted tycoon Vijay Mallya.

Sources said that Indian Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi raised the issue of early completion of the extradition formalities of Mallya, who fled to Britain last year, during his talks with his British counterpart Patsy Wilkinson in the national capital.

The business tycoon was recently arrested in London by the Metropolitan Police on behalf of the Indian authorities, over fraud accusations, but he was bailed out within three hours.

Mallya, the 61-year-old former Indian parliamentarian who entered Britain on a valid passport in March 2016, is said to owe banks in India one billion U.S. dollars, but he denies wrongdoing.

He made his fortune selling beer under the Kingfisher brand before branching out into aviation and Formula 1 racing.

However, his Kingfisher Airline was grounded in 2012 and its flying permit lapsed the following year. Kingfisher made annual losses for five years in a row and finally collapsed after lenders refused to give it fresh loans.

In April last year, India revoked Mallya's passport. The following month, it began seeking his extradition from Britain.
ROME, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Italy's lower house on Thursday approved a bill extending the right to self-defense.

The bill would amend Italy's current legislation on legitimate defense, boosting the people's right to use force to protect themselves from harm. This would include the use of weapons against burglars who enter private or commercial properties, even in the case the self-defense resulted in a fatality.

Deputies passed it with 225 votes in favor and 166 against, Ansa news agency reported.

The current legislation on self-defense, which was approved in 2006, requires citizens to prove they had solid reasons to fear for their own life, if they responded with violence to a burglary. If such reasons are not confirmed, a citizen could be charged with murder or murder attempt.

The bill extends the cases in which the "legitimate defense" can be claimed, which would now include any break-in in properties during night, and any robbery attempt accompanied by threats to people's life, their liberty, or their sexual liberty.

Recent cases of burglaries, especially in the northern and wealthy regions, have stirred a tense debate over self-defense killings in the country.

A particularly sensitive case concerned a restaurant owner living in the northern province of Lodi, who in March shot dead a burglar with his hunting rifle during the night.

Robbers had entered the property, apparently to reach the inner tobacco shop, when their noise woke up the owner and his family living above the restaurant, according to media reports. The man, 67, shot and killed one of the burglars, hitting him in the back.

A prosecutor in Lodi put the entrepreneur under investigation for voluntary manslaughter -- a charge carrying a minimum of 21 years in jail in Italy.

The move was not unprecedented for the country, yet it gave rise to outraged protests from local residents, and from opposition Northern League party and other right-wing political forces.

The bill will now need the further approval from the senate, before entering into force, and other amendments were still possible in the proceedings.
CAPE TOWN, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The North Gauteng High Court ruled on Thursday that President Jacob Zuma must provide reasons for the recent cabinet reshuffle.

The court also ordered Zuma to hand over cabinet reshuffle records to the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA).

Judge Bashier Vally said Zuma must handover numerous records within five working days to the DA.

The records allegedly contain intelligence Zuma used as "an excuse" to fire Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in the cabinet reshuffle, which also saw the sacking or replacement of nine other ministers.

Zuma reportedly told the ANC top leadership before the reshuffle that he had received intelligence that Gordhan was seeking foreign assistance to topple him.

Zuma later said the cabinet reshuffle was based on the intelligence.

The reshuffle prompted international rating agencies Standard & Poor's and Fitch to downgrade South Africa's sovereign credit to junk status, respectively on April 3 and April 7.

Last week, the DA approached the Pretoria High Court, seeking a court order to compel Zuma to give reasons for the cabinet reshuffle and hand over relevant records.

The DA argued that the axing of ministers, in particular the finance minister, has already shown signs of economic negativity for the country.

If not reconsidered, more damage could be unavoidable, the party said.

"This is a victory not only for the DA but for all South Africans who deserve to know on what basis the president made this disastrous decision," the DA said in response to the ruling.

Now that the High Court has confirmed that Zuma must supply his record of decision within five days of Thursday's ruling, the DA's earlier application to review the rationality of his decision can proceed, the party said.

Zuma has not responded to the ruling yet. A call to his office went unanswered.
JUBA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The UN human rights chief on Thursday urged South Sudanese government to halt any further military offensives toward Aburoc on the west bank of the River Nile in the Upper Nile region.

Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights also called on all parties to the conflict to comply with international humanitarian law, including taking all feasible precautions to prevent civilian casualties.

"These are women, children and men at the mercy of military commanders, on both sides of the political divide, who have consistently shown little or no regard for the protection of civilians," Al Hussein said in a statement.

Thousands have fled to the town of Aburoc, 30km north of Kodok where there are now an estimated 50,000 people, although some are now trying to cross over the border into Sudan after government forces took control of Kodok last week.

Some people arrived in recent weeks after terrifying journeys of up to 150 kilometers on foot, after Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) attacks on areas to the south of the town of Aburoc.

Al Hussein said civilians in Aboruc have nowhere left to go, with the SPLA closing in from the south and options to flee northwards severely limited and fraught with danger.

"I urge the SPLM/A-IO to ensure that areas containing large numbers of civilians, including Aburoc, are demilitarized and that measures are taken to ensure the protection of civilians under their control," he said.

The UN human rights chief also called on the government to grant the UN Mission in South Sudan access to Aburoc and Kodok, and to ensure that humanitarian agencies are able to deliver crucial aid to the internally displaced population.

According to the UN, civilians in Aburoc now find themselves in areas controlled by the opposition SPLM/A-IO armed group, facing a military offensive by the SPLA.

There are concerns that the SPLM/A-IO has positioned itself in close proximity to civilian areas, placing civilians clearly in harm's way in the event of an attack by the SPLA and affiliated forces.

The SPLA forces, meanwhile, reportedly include new recruits of Dinka ethnicity from the Western Bahr el-Ghazal area. The civilians in Aburoc are mostly of Shilluk ethnicity.

"Civilians in Aburoc are at serious and imminent risk of gross human rights violations, inter-ethnic violence and re-displacement," Al Hussein said.
LUSAKA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The case in which Zambia's leading opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema has been charged with treason will now proceed for trial in a high court, according to a certificate of committal submitted in a lower court on Thursday.

Hichilema and five of his supporters were arrested on April 11 and charged with treason and have been in detention since then because treason is a non-bailable offense in Zambia.

They have been appearing in court for preliminary issues and waiting for the Director of Prosecutions (DPP) to issue consent for the case to proceed for trial in a high court because the lower court has no jurisdiction to preside over treason cases.

According to the certificate, the opposition leader, while acting together with others, is alleged to have conspired to mobilize an advance party to ensure that he was accorded the status of Zambian president at a ceremony in the western provincial capital of Mongu and that his convoy did obstruct President Edgar Lungu's motorcade, an act that was likely to cause death or grievous harm to the Zambian leader in an attempt to usurp executive powers.

But his lawyers objected to the move to commit the case to the high court for trial because the lower court had ordered for a preliminary inquiry into the viability of the treason case.

The lawyers argued that the preliminary inquiry must continue in order to determine whether the opposition leader committed treason or not.

The lawyers further argued that the certificate of committal was null and void because it was not signed by the DPP in accordance with the law and should be disregarded.
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Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-05 02:14:17|Editor: Xiang Bo

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Vice Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China and President of All-China Women's Federation Shen Yueyue (L) meets with President of the National Assembly of Laos Pany Yathotou in Vientiane, Laos on May 4, 2017. (Xinhua/Zhang Jianhua)

VIENTIANE, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Vice Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China and President of All-China Women's Federation Shen Yueyue met with President of Lao National Assembly Pany Yathotou on Thursday in Lao capital Vientiane.

During the meeting, Shen introduced the achievements made in China.

Shen emphasized the necessity to strengthen exchanges between the two countries' women, jointly promote the Belt and Road Initiative, and join hands to build a community of common destiny between China and Laos.

Pany Yathotou, for her part, spoke highly of the bilateral ties between the two countries, expressing her hope that the legislative bodies and women organizations of the two countries will further strengthen cooperation, thus promoting the Laos-China relationship.
VILNIUS, May 4 (Xinhua) -- King Philippe paid a visit to Lithuania on Thursday to meet Belgium's troops deployed in the Baltic state and discuss cooperation with Lithuania.

The main purpose of the King's visit was to meet Belgian soldiers deployed in Lithuania as part of NATO enhanced forward presence battalion. Around 100 Belgian troops with military hardware have been deployed to conduct joint military training and defend the Baltic state in the case of military conflict.

Before visiting the soldiers, King Philippe met with Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite. According to the President's Office, the King and the President discussed security cooperation and situation in the region.

The Lithuanian president highlighted the contribution made by Belgium to ensure Lithuania's security. Belgian logistic personnel were the first to arrive to Lithuania to start deployment of NATO multinational battalion of around 1,200 troops, the country was also the first to start air policing mission in the Baltic Skies following Lithuania's admission to NATO in 2004.

King Philippe later visited his troops deployed in Rukla, Central Lithuania. Accompanied by President Grybauskaite, King Philippe chatted with the Belgian troops and visited their facilities at the site of deployment, according to Lithuanian defense ministry.

"Meet & greet with the Belgian military in Rukla," the King later posted in Royal Palace's Twitter account with pictures illustrating the King's conversations with the Belgian troops.

Belgian forces have been deployed in Lithuania with German-lend NATO multinational battalion following last year's NATO allies' decision to strengthen presence in the Baltic countries and Poland.
LONDON, May 4 (Xinhua) -- A lucky-to-be-alive windsurfer relived his ordeal from a hospital bed Thursday following his rescue after floating adrift in the Irish Sea for 32 hours.

Matthew Bryce, rescued by a search helicopter, is still recovering in hospital in Northern Ireland after being spotted floating on his surfboard 21 kilometers off the coast of Scotland. His ordeal had lasted 32 hours.

From his hospital bed in Belfast, Bryce, aged 23, told local radio how he watched the sun set, believing he would not survive another night at sea.

Bryce, from North Lanarkshire, Scotland, set off on his surfboard Sunday in what he said was just a normal day.

He said he had gone into the sea Sunday morning to catch some waves, but the day soon turned into a nightmare as he began to panic when the tide and winds carried him out to sea.

"The wind and water was just relentless," said Bryce, adding that at one point he got back to within about 1.6 kilometers of land, only for the tide to change direction.

"It got to the point where my paddling was ineffective, but I was doing it to keep myself warm," said Bryce.

"It was incredibly lonely and quiet because there was just nothing, just waves," he said, "I was thinking I was going to die, I was almost convinced. I didn't think I would see sunrise."

He paddled towards a shipping lane, hoping he would be spotted, but during the daylight he started to pass out and fall off his surfboard.

Saying he was resigned for death, Bryce added: "I knew I wasn't going to make another night, so I was watching the sunset. Then a helicopter flew over me, a beautiful sight."

At one point he thought the helicopter had not spotted him in the water, but said the moment he saw them turn around was indescribable.

He was winched from by a search and rescue helicopter at about 19:30 on Monday.

Police Scotland and the coastguard had already launched a large-scale search earlier that day after being alerted that Bryce was missing at sea.

Bryce's parents were praying he would be found alive, but were starting to prepare for the worse, even down to deciding who would identify his body when he was eventually found.

Dawn Petrie from Belfast Coastguard Operations Center who who coordinated the search for Bryce, said: "Hope was fading of finding him safe and well after such a long period in the water and with nightfall approaching, we were gravely concerned. The crew on the Coastguard rescue helicopter were delighted when they located him still with his surf board and 13 miles off the coast."

"He was kitted out with all the right clothing including a thick neoprene suit and this must have helped him to survive for so long at sea."
ADDIS ABABA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia should allow greater space for freedom of expression and dissent to cope with increased demands for political reforms in the country, according to a statement Thursday by Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The statement was made during the conclusion of a three day visit to Ethiopia at the invitation of the government.

The visit came in the heels of previous requests by the UN rights commissioner for it to be allowed to access parts of Ethiopia that had unrest in 2016.

The Ethiopian government had refused these requests though a government mandated body, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission released a report last month detailing the deaths of 669 people in three regions of the country.

Al Hussein also urged review of the mass media law; the anti-terrorism proclamation and the civil society organization legislation of Ethiopia which he said are open to abuse.

Al Hussein however praised the Ethiopian government for its progress on meeting its people's social, cultural and economic rights and welcomed their move to invite him to visit the country.

The UN rights chief who plans to come early 2018 for another visit, expressed hope his team will eventually be allowed to visit protest areas soon.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-05 02:24:31|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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MADRID, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Huawei Spain saw a 70 percent increase in billing and expanded its workforce by 50 percent in 2016, Jorge Zhu, director of Huawei Enterprise in Spain told a press conference here on Thursday.

"The results have been made possible thanks to the help of our Spanish partners, who have been vital for the development of the business and Huawei's success in the market," said Zhu, who added that 2016 had ended with Huawei Spain working alongside 200 strategic partners.

"That is the key to our consolidation as a provider of solutions for the digital transformation of public and private companies in Spain," he explained.

The year saw Huawei Spain sign accords with companies such as infrastructure management company, Produban, Caixabank, Spanish railway infrastructure management firm ADIF, the regional governments of Castilla-La Mancha and the Canary Islands and the universities of Malaga, Huelva and Seville.

Meanwhile, Huawei Spain worked with service providers, Telefonica, Vodafone, Orange and MasMovil to establish new services and projects, which in part allowed the company to expand its workforce to over 100 people, some of whom work in the recently opened Huawei office in Valencia.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-05 02:29:36|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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MOSUL, Iraq, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi forces battling Islamic State (IS) militants on Thursday freed new areas from Islamic State (IS) militants after the troops initiated a new front at the northwestern edge of IS stronghold in the western side of Mosul, the Iraqi military said.

The army's 9th Armored Division and the elite forces of the federal police, known as Rapid Response, retook control of most of Mushairfah district, including the water purification facility, Lt. Gen. Abdul-Amir Yarallah, from the Joint Operations Command (JOC), said in a statement.

After heavy clashes during the day, the troops managed to defeat the IS defensive lines and advanced into Mushairfah, according to the JOC.

In the afternoon, the troops took new positions near the residential buildings in Harmat area, where fierce clashes with IS militants are expected to break out in the coming days, the JOC said in a separate statement.

Other troops cut off the IS supply routes between IS-held Kanisah area and the nearby IS strongholds in Najjar and 17 Tamouz neighborhoods, according to the statement.

Thursday advance came after the troops launched a new push in the early morning from the northwestern edge of Mosul toward the areas of Mushairfah, Kanisah and Harmat at the northern part of the western side of the city.

The new push would help the special forces of the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) and the interior ministry federal police, who are making slow progress in the southern part of Mosul's western side due to the stiff resistance of the extremist militants at the densely-populated areas of the old city center, where roughly 400,000 residents are believed to still be trapped under IS rule.

IS militants are now surrounded by the troops in the northern part of Mosul's western side, which includes the old city center.

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.
TIRANA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The newly-elected President of Albania Ilir Meta asked Thursday the European Parliament to send an observation mission in order to monitor the parliamentary elections scheduled for June 18.

Meta said in his letter to European Parliament President Antonio Tajani that the election observation was crucial to legitimize the outcome of the election.

"I'm fully confident that a broader international observation of the next parliamentary elections in Albania will help to ensure quality of the process, but also legitimize the outcome of the elections," Meta said in his letter to Tajani.

Meanwhile, Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama Thursday urged the opposition to accept the offer of direct and real-time monitoring of the June 18 parliamentary elections and agree to take part in them.

Edi Rama and leader of the main opposition party, Democratic Party, Lulzim Basha met Wednesday. But they failed to reach a compromise.

The opposition has boycotted the parliament since February, calling for Socialist PM to step down and creation of a caretaker government that would see the parliamentary elections.
KIGALI, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Members of the Rwandan parliament on Thursday passed a bill exempting double taxation on commodities exchanged between Rwanda and Morocco in a bid to boost investments and trade between two countries.

The agreement on the avoidance of double taxation and tax evasion regarding income taxes between the two countries was signed in October last year, which is among the 23 bilateral agreements that were signed in 2016 between the two countries during a three-day state visit by the King of Morocco Mohammed VI to Rwanda.

The bill also proposed measures to ensure that there is no tax evasion and placed a fixed taxation on investment dividends and investment services.

"Doors have been opened for Rwandans to start business in Morocco and there is grace period of not being taxed whenever an investor comes in a country. It's now up to the Rwandan business community to increase local exports to Morocco," said Zeno Mutimura, a member of parliament.

According to the Rwanda Speaker of parliament, Donatille Mukabalisa, the bill will make it much easier for Rwandan entrepreneurs to export their products to Morocco without being taxed twice.

"Moroccan investors will also set up businesses in Rwanda which will create jobs for Rwandans which would address unemployment challenges in our country," she said.

The parliament is doing its final corrections and translation of the bill before it is approved by cabinet this year.

According to the Rwanda Development Board, over 80 companies from Morocco will invest close to 100 million U.S dollars in the eastern Africa country in sectors of energy, finance and banking, transport and logistics, information and technology, pharmaceuticals, construction and real estate.
A Syrian government soldier walks past a ruin in the city of Aleppo in northern Syria, Sept. 12, 2016. (Xinhua/Yang Zhen)

ASTANA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Russia, Iran and Turkey signed a memorandum on the creation of four safe zones in war-torn Syria here on Tuesday.

"The ceasefire guarantor states announce that the memorandum on the establishment of de-escalation zones in Syria provide the creation of security zones to stop violence, improve humanitarian situation and create conditions for the advancement of the process and political settlement of the Syrian conflict," Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said.

The four safe zones would be in the provinces of Idlib and Homs, in eastern Ghouta, and in the south, where fighting between the Syrian government forces and the rebels would stop.

The aim is to "put an immediate end to the violence," "provide the conditions for the safe, voluntary return of refugees," and allow immediate delivery of humanitarian aid, the memorandum said.

UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura hailed the plan. "Today in Astana I think we have been able to witness an important promising positive step in the right direction in the process of de-escalation of the conflict," he said.

The Syrian government supported the plan, but Syrian opposition announced it would not accept it, saying the pact threatens Syria's territorial integrity.

Russia and Iran have been backing Syrian President Bashar Assad, while Turkey backs Syrian rebels. The six-year war in Syria has cost over 320,000 lives.
NICOSIA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The number of jobless in bailed-out Cyprus fell to its lowest level in five years in April, the island's statistical service said on Thursday in a statement.

It said that the number of people out of work dropped to a seasonally adjusted low of 35,083. That was the lowest level of unemployment since April 2012, the service said on its website.

The number of unemployed in April dropped by 16 per cent or 6,284 people relative to March and by 11.3 per cent on a year-on-year basis.

Cyprus was pulled from the brink of bankruptcy in March 2013, under an economic assistance package offered by the Eurogroup and the International Monetary Fund in exchange for tough austerity and reforms.

Unemployment shot up to an all times high of over 17 per cent as a result of layoffs and tight financing.

The statistical service said the drop in registered unemployment was mainly due to a reduction of unemployed in public administration, construction, trade, manufacturing and catering services.
BUDAPEST, May 4 (Xinhua) -- An international group of human smugglers was indicted in Hungary for homicide and smuggling perpetrated in a criminal organization, in the tragic case of 71 migrants who suffocated in a closed truck on the motorway between Budapest and Vienna in August 2015.

The Prosecutor's Office of Bacs-Kiskun county has indicted 11 people -- Afghans, Bulgarians and Lebanese citizens -- who left a cooling truck filled with 71 people on the side of the motorway in Parndorf, Austria, the prosecutor's office informed in an official statement released on Thursday. The migrants already died in Hungary.

Of the 11 suspects, 9 are in pre-trail detention, while two men are missing. The prosecutor demanded a life-sentence for four of the suspects, and prison sentences for the others. The Kecskemet city Court will decide on the relevant verdicts.

The prosecutor's office also explained that the criminals organized the illegal crossing of 1,200 people in 31 occasions through Western Europe, between February and August of 2015. They used closed trucks, without enough air, unsuitable for human transport.

The 30 year-old Afghan leader of the criminals earned some 300,000 euros with the illegal transports.

On some occasions, the smugglers crammed as many as 100 people in one transport, according to the statement, which also specified that the 71 victims were 59 men, 8 women and 4 children.

An aggravating circumstance was the fact that the suspects have repeated their inhuman action just a day after the tragedy, placing 67 migrants in a similar, closed truck with no ventilation system.

They were transported to Austria and luckily they have survived by a close shot, as they had to kick the door of the truck out from the inside to get fresh air.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-05 03:30:23|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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WASHINGTON, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The White House said on Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump's first overseas trip later this month since taking office will include additional stops in Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican.

According to a White House statement, before attending the previously scheduled NATO and G7 summits in Brussels and Italian city of Sicily late May, Trump will travel to Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican.

During his trip to Saudi Arabia, Trump will discuss with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud "issues of strategic concern, including efforts to defeat terrorist groups and discredit radical ideologies," said the statement.

From there Trump will travel to Israel and meet both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Trump will discuss with Abbas "ways to advance peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, as well as efforts to unlock the potential of the Palestinian economy," it added.

However, it remains unclear from the statement whether Trump will meet Abbas in the West Bank.

Trump on Wednesday hosted Abbas at the White House, and pledged to help solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without mentioning support for the two-state solution.

After the trip to the Middle East, Trump will then meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican to "discuss cooperation between the United States and religious communities in areas of joint concern," the statement noted.
KIGALI, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Ministers of foreign affairs from all over Africa will meet in Rwanda's capital Kigali on Sunday to discuss implementation of the proposed African Union (AU) reforms, said the Rwandan ministry of foreign affairs.

In a statement released on Thursday, the consultative meeting on the AU reforms is slated for May 7 in Kigali.

In last July, at the 27th AU summit in Kigali, member states of the AU entrusted Rwandan President Paul Kagame with the mandate to lead the African Union reforms to enable the union to better meet its mission's goal and truly serve African citizens.

In January, the proposed reforms were adopted by all heads of state and governments of AU in Addis Abba, Ethiopia.

"President Paul Kagame will be hosting the 54 foreign ministers from all African countries as well as all African Ambassadors accredited to the African Union to discuss the way forward in the implementation of these reforms," said the statement.

Key reforms include making sure Africa speaks with one voice and better manages its partnership with the rest of the world, financing AU activities to ensure sustainability and managing the business of AU more efficiently and effectively.

Last month, Kagame met with Presidents Alpha Conde of Guinea, Idriss Deby of Chad, and AU Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat in Conakry of Guinea to discuss on the implementation roadmap of the AU reforms.

The meeting called for urgency in the implementation of AU reforms adopted in January this year in readiness for the rapid changes in the global context.
ENTEBBE, Uganda, May 4 (Xinhua) -- East and Southern African countries have formed an environmental fund to promote sustainable development in the African Great Lakes region.

Eleven countries in the Great Lakes region basin will benefit from the half a million U.S. dollar fund announced on Wednesday at a high level meeting held here on the shores of Lake Victoria, Africa's largest fresh water body.

Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia and Uganda will benefit from the African Great Lakes Conservation Fund. The initial 500,000 dollars was contributed by MacArthur Foundation, an American organization.

Colin Apse, Africa region freshwater conservation director of The Nature Conservancy, a global conservation organization, said the fund will be used to support regional projects aimed at improving livelihoods and safeguard the environment.

The key areas of attention will include inland fisheries, aquaculture and environmentally-compatible development.

The Nature Conservancy will manage the fund and also source for other funding with the help of member countries.

The Great Lakes ecosystems span more than eleven countries with seven major lake basins which include Lake Albert, Lake Edward, Lake Kivu, Lake Malawi, Lake Tanganyika, Lake Turkana, and Lake Victoria.

The lakes support more than 50 million people who rely on them for drinking water, fish protein, and means of transportation among others.

Experts meeting here however warn that resource pressures are mounting in the region, which has some of the highest population growth rates in Africa.

They argue that high population growth rates, extreme poverty, and rapid unplanned development are driving the harsh environmental impacts that the region is facing.

"Development is critical to the region, yet some poorly planned and sited development is threatening the future of natural resources that have sustained the region for generations," said one of the documents circulated at the conference.

Some of the growing challenges cited include unsustainable fishing, habitat destruction, invasive species, urban and industrial pollution, and adverse effects of climate change, among others.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-05 04:26:10|Editor: huaxia

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NEW YORK, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices plunged Thursday as worries about oversupplies dampened investors' sentiment.

U.S. crude output rose by 28,000 barrels to 9.293 million barrels a day last week, said the Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its weekly report Wednesday.

Meanwhile, U.S. oil stockpiles decreased 930,000 barrels last week, much less than analysts had expected, according to the EIA.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries was also in focus, which is set to decide whether to extend the pact into the second half of the year, when it meets on May 25 in Vienna, Austria.

The West Texas Intermediate for June delivery dropped 2.30 U.S. dollars to settle at 45.52 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for July delivery lost 2.41 dollars to close at 48.38 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-05 05:17:02|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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by Burak Akinci

ANKARA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- On a frisky spring day in eastern Turkish town of Ardahan, construction workers unearthed an old Christian coffin which held a well-preserved body of what experts say is an imposing Russian officer.

Lask week, excavation workers on a construction site discovered the casket bearing a Russian orthodox cross in the town of some 100,000 inhabitants near the Georgian and Armenian borders.

According to the Turkish press, the dead man is believed to be a Russian officer, perhaps a general, buried there when the town was under Russian control during the late 19th and early 20th century.

The study into the identity of the corpse is still underway.

"There is in fact some work underway but it is really early to determine all the facts but we are trying to determine his rank in the Russian army. In the past several coffins were found in this region but never in such good preservation form," an official from the Turkish ministry for tourism and culture told Xinhua .

"He might be a Greek officer who served in the Russian army," Levent Kucuk, an associate professor from Ardahan University, told the daily Sabah newspaper, as some Greeks lived in the eastern part of the Ottoman Empire before 1923.

Ardahan was once occupied by the Russian army before it fell back to the modern Turkish republic in 1921.

Necmettin Alp, head of the Kars archaeological museum of Kars, where the unearthed body is being placed, told local reporters that researchers are working hard to identify the corpse.

"The serviceman was buried according to Christian ritual. There were only his body and his clothes and boots in the coffin, nothing else, nothing precious," said Alpa.

"There are three stars and the number 20 is written on his uniform, it is probably his service number," he added.
COPENHAGEN, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Denmark will be given the command of NATO's fleet in the North Atlantic from the beginning of 2018, local media cited Defense Minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen as saying on Thursday.

Frederiksen made the announcement during a visit to the Danish frigate Peter Willemoes, which is currently helping to fight IS as part of a U.S. carrier group in the Persian Gulf, according to English newspaper The Copenhagen Post.

"We know the Baltic Sea is becoming a more and more important area in light of the Russian escalation, and we can see we need a more powerful presence in our own region," the minister said.

"We see a military escalation at the border of the Baltic nations and Poland. It's important we are visibly present, so they know that provocation will have consequences," he added.

NATO's fleet in the North Atlantic, known as the Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1), consists of several ships from various nations.

Denmark will take over SNMG1 command from Norway in what Frederiksen said as a vote of confidence in the Danish Navy, the paper said.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-05 05:22:09|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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Wu Hongbo, UN under-secretary-general for economic and social affairs, speaks during a joint interview with Chinese media at the UN headquarters in New York, May 3, 2017. The upcoming high-level forum on China's Belt and Road Initiative will send a positive and important message to the world that globalization is irreversible and the win-win cooperation can inject strong impetus to the future world development, Wu Hongbo has said. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

by Xinhua writer Gu Zhenqiu

UNITED NATIONS, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming high-level forum on China's Belt and Road Initiative will send a positive and important message to the world that globalization is irreversible and the win-win cooperation can inject strong impetus to the future world development, a senior UN official has said.

Wu Hongbo, UN under-secretary-general for economic and social affairs, told a group of UN-based Chinese news outlets in an interview that the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, scheduled for May 14-15 in Beijing, will be "a great event both in China and the world this year," and it will be held against a backdrop of rising voices against globalization and for trade protectionism in some parts of the world, the western countries in particular.

While acknowledging there are pros and cons in the globalization, Wu said, "Although globalization has some problems and has room for improvement, the trend continues and develops, and win-win cooperation can help make up for problems that crop up in globalization."

The Belt and Road Initiative, put forward by China in 2013, is in line with the spirit of the UN Charter and the 2030 Agenda, he said, adding that both the UN agenda and the Chinese initiative are aimed at eradicating poverty.

The 2030 Agenda is the blueprint for global efforts to reach the Sustainable Development Goals, a set of 17 targets to be met 13 years from now.

The vision of the Belt and Road Initiative (the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road) is essentially about connectivity -- facilitated by infrastructure, he noted, adding that it will also promote the cultural exchanges between peoples of various countries.

The Belt and Road initiative, which embodies responsibility, win-win cooperation and genuine pursuit of common development, offers the world a Chinese approach to the challenges of today; a balanced, equitable and inclusive development model.

The Chinese initiative, already put into several relevant UN resolutions over the past months, wins global recognition, he said. "This marks a milestone in China's foreign relations and it also shows the international community has high hopes for China."

On March 17, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution to renew the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which also urged further efforts to implement the Belt and Road Initiative and other regional development efforts.

The council "welcomes and urges further efforts to strengthen the process of regional economic cooperation, including measures to facilitate regional connectivity, trade and transit, including through regional development initiatives such as the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative, and regional development projects ...," said the resolution.

The Chinese initiative has so far gained the support of more than 100 countries and international organizations, and more than 40 have signed cooperation agreements with China.

"This means the initiative and the concept have received global recognition, which is a milestone of China's foreign relations," said Wu.

Top UN officials, who took part in a recent high-level UN meeting chaired by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, all agreed that the successful implementation of the Chinese initiative will have a profound effect on the geo-politics and economic development across the world, he noted.

Guterres will travel to China to attend the high-level event in Beijing, and his presence shows strong UN support for the Chinese initiative, said Wu, who will be a member of the UN delegation to the forum.

All the heads of UN agencies and programs are also expected to meet in Beijing during the forum, he said.

More than 1,200 delegates will attend the forum, including officials, scholars, entrepreneurs, representatives of financial institutions and media organizations from 110 nations, as well as representatives from more than 60 international organizations.

"This only marks a beginning," Wu said. "I am convinced that all relevant UN bodies will further back the Belt and Road Initiative, a Chinese proposal with a vision, to benefit all members of the international community."
U.S. President Donald Trump (R) welcomes visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, May 3, 2017.(Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

by Matthew Rusling

WASHINGTON, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Washington may be able to broker small steps toward Israeli-Palestinian peace, but long-lasting peace is not in the cards for the time being, U.S. experts said.

U.S. President Donald Trump vowed on Wednesday to "do whatever is necessary to negotiate a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians," as he met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for their first meeting at the White House.

But Trump offered no specifics on how he could revive peace talks which have been stalled since April 2014.

Experts said a full peace plan is highly unlikely any time soon, but that the two sides can take baby steps toward peace, with the Trump administration as an intermediary.

"I don't think there's much chance at all that they could broker a final settlement or a whole peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians," David Pollock, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told Xinhua.

"People, I would say, are not thinking about that as an immediate goal, but rather as an ultimate goal. And in the meantime the idea is to come up some much smaller steps in that direction," Pollock said.

Those steps might include confidence building measures, practical improvements, willingness to widen the circle or deepen the circle of dialogue to include other Arab countries, he said.

"I think people are pretty realistic," Pollock said. "And they are looking for movement, for progress, which would be a positive change, an improvement over a stalemate that's gone on for almost ten years now."

On that score, there actually is a reasonable chance that the parties will be able to come up with something.

"And they've already convinced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to, for example, just informally, quietly to limit Israeli settlement building outside the wall," Pollock noted.

So the next step for the Trump administration is to get a reciprocal step by the Palestinians, he said.

"That's not going to be easy but I think that's what to look for. Look for something that the Palestinians offer, whether it's on recognizing that Israel is a homeland for the Jewish people, or that Jews have historical links to the land or something like that," Pollock said.

Some have called for the Palestinians to stop their practice of paying money to the families of Palestinians killed in attacking Israelis as Netanyahu has requested.

Trump has assigned his Jewish son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to work on the issue.

Darrell West, vice president and director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution, told Xinhua that while it's true Kushner has almost no real Mideast qualifications, he speaks for Trump and is a close ally, and that might carry some weight.

"Kushner has little experience in Mideast politics and has not dealt with all the complications involved in negotiating there. However, his one big credential is the family connection to President Trump," West said.

"It is hard to see that Kushner will be successful in Mideast politics because the leaders he is dealing with are intransigent and not committed to bringing peace to the region. That will make it nearly impossible to reach a successful resolution," West added.
RABAT, May 4 (Xinhua) -- A Japanese senior official said here on Thursday that Japanese companies are set to increase investments in Morocco to seize growing economic opportunities in the country.

"Japanese enterprises can contribute to the investment momentum in the kingdom in multiple sectors," Shunsuke Takei, Japan's parliamentary vice-minister for foreign affairs, said after his meeting with Morocco's Industry, Investment and Digital Economy Minister Moulay Hafid Elalamy.

according to Takei, Japanese companies operating in Morocco, especially in the sectors of car making and electronics, quadrupled in recent years, and have created 40,000 jobs for Moroccans.

For his part, Elalamy highlighted the fruits of Morocco's industrial acceleration plan and its beneficial impact on car industry, aeronautics and electronics.

He said Morocco is forging ahead to strengthen its regional position as a financial hub and boasts a growing high-tech industry targeting emerging markets.

Takei is heading a delegation of 50 business leaders on a visit to Morocco.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-05 05:47:30|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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CHICAGO, May 4 (Xinhua) -- General Motors (GM) announced on its website Thursday that the U.S. automaker and its joint ventures in China sold 272,770 vehicles in China in April this year, down 1.9 percent year on year.

Overall, GM's sales in China in the first four months of this year dropped 4.5 percent.

The Detroit-based automaker attributed the sales decline to an earlier Chinese holiday and the reduction of a purchase tax incentive.

However, luxury Cadillac and Baojun brands set sales records in April.

To be specific, sales of Cadillac brand in China soared 98 percent year on year to 13,903 units in April; that of Baojun climbed 58 percent to 60,000 units.

Sales of GM's luxury vehicles, SUVs and multi-purpose vehicles rose 14 percent year on year and accounted for about half of GM's total sales in China in April.

China is GM's largest sales market overseas. GM plans to launch 18 new or significantly modified vehicles in China this year, half of which are SUVs and multi-purpose vehicles.

As for other brands, Buick sales totaled 84,162 units in China in April, down 15 percent year on year; Wuling sales came to 82,679 units, down 16 percent; and Chevrolet sold 32,044 units, down 9.6 percent.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-05 05:57:35|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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CARACAS, May 4 (Xinhua) -- A police officer died on Thursday of injuries sustained in Wednesday's confrontation with protesters in the northern state of Carabobo, Venezuelan prosecutor-general announced.

It takes the number of people killed in the country's violent protests since April 1 to 35. Hundreds more have been wounded.

"The authorities of Carabobo state are investigating the death of police officer Gerardo Barrera, who lost his life on May 4," read the announcement.

Reports said students held demonstrations across Caracas, the capital city, on Thursday as the month-long protest movement continues in the country.

The opposition party Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) has been calling for regular protests since early April to demand early general elections.
LONDON, May 4 (Xinhua) -- A 30-year-old man was arrested Thursday night at London Heathrow Airport by officers from the Metropolitan Counter Terrorism Command.

The man was arrested as he disembarked at Heathrow on a flight from Istanbul, Turkey.

A spokesman at New Scotland Yard, headquarters of the Met said: "The man has been arrested on suspicion for preparing for terrorist acts and terrorist training contrary to section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006. He has been taken to a south London police station where he is detained under the Police and Criminal Evidence."

The spokesman said officers were at present searching a residential address in east London.

Meanwhile the Met gave an update Thursday night on a group of people arrested in an anti-terror swoop on an address in Harlesden Road in northwest London in which a 21-year-old woman was shot and wounded by armed cops.

The Met said police had been granted warrants to continue the further detention of six women, including the shot, arrested by the Met's Counter Terrorism Command.

The other women still detained include women aged 20, 43, a 19-year-old and two 18-year-olds.

All six were arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of terrorist acts and detained under section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Warrants of further detention, for up to a further seven days, were granted Thursday at Westminster Magistrates' Court in respect of all six women whilst enquiries continue.

Two men, aged 21 and a 16-year-old boy arrested on April 27 either in or close to the Harlesden Road address, have been released without charge.
Source: Xinhua| 2017-05-05 06:12:45|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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NEW YORK, May 4 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. cartoonist who falsely claimed to be creator of Kung Fu Panda has been sentenced to two years in prison for fraud, local media reported on Wednesday.

Jayme Gordon, 51, from Randolph, Massachusetts, was ordered Wednesday in a federal court in Boston to pay more than 3 million U.S. dollars in damages.

Gordon filed a copyright lawsuit in 2011 alleging that DreamWorks Animation had stolen characters and story from him for 2008 animated comedy. He proposed the company settle for 12 million dollars.

DreamWorks refused to settle, and litigation continued for a further two years, costing the studio 3 million in legal fees.

Prosecutors say Gordon fabricated and backdated drawings of characters similar to those seen in "Kung Fu Panda." He also deleted evidence from his computer and lied under oath.
Petrotrin flare leaves residents shaken

At 8 am, fire was seen coming from one of the companys flare stacks.

Residents living along the Guaracara River some 100 yards away from the refinerys border said they experienced intense levels of heat and felt the earth vibrate which left cracks on the walls of some of the houses.

Residents, unaware of the cause of the heat and shaking, feared the worst. Allister Cephus, a Battoo Avenue resident and representative of the Marabella NGO, criticised Petrotrins Health and Safety protocols, saying there was no alarm to warn residents of the flare and Petrotrin took too long to send officials to quell their fears.

HSE needs to do something. It is 2017. We looking to go into first world status but watch the dilapidated state of the refinery, Cephus said as he pointed to rusted tanks and pipes in the distance which he said only heightens the fears of the nearby residents.

If that is the way they keeping the refinery, what about our lives? We need this present government to attend to the people. Dr Keith Rowley, we want you to come and attend to the people please because this thing is getting out of hand. In a release, Petrotrin described the incident as an upset condition at the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery accompanied by higher than normal flaring. Flare stacks are used to burn off unusable gases released by during unplanned over-pressuring of plant equipment.

Petrotrins communications department explained to Newsday that th term upset condition meant there was an unusually high amount of excess gas to be burned off, thus resulting in the fear-inducing flaring yesterday morning.

Petrotrin said the situation was normalised and company officials were dispatched to the Marabella community in its wake. Asked whether there was the possibility of the flare occurring again and if there was the possibility of any adverse effects for nearby communities, Petrotrin said there were inherent risks associated due to the nature of its business.

But Cephus said the flare was just the latest in a series of woes residents are growing tired of enduring, including oil spills and gas emissions which make some of them sick. He called on the relevant authorities to assist residents in being relocated.
The bush fire threat

Since the beginning of this year, approximately 720 have been officially recorded.

Most bush fires are the result of fires that have been deliberately - though not maliciously - set. Sometimes things quickly go awry during a random activity. For example, an attempt to burn dry leaves and cuttings in a backyard, or to clear a plot for agricultural purposes, or discarding a cigarette butt; if done carelessly, any or all of these can lead to disastrous effects on people, property, communities and the environment on the whole.

Reports suggest that the Central and Northern Ranges have been hardest hit, with fire officers being called out regularly to fight blazes in those areas. Home-owners must shoulder some of the blame because necessary precautions are clearly not being taken before striking that match in the open.

It is against the law to set fires outdoors during the dry season. Strong winds can carry a spark several metres and ignite a dry blade of grass or even a tree. The result might be a blaze that engulfs acres of forest and vegetation, fruiting and flowering trees, wildlife, honey-producing bees, and, of course, as mentioned before - it might even threaten property and life.

Bush fires destroy the forest cover; the now exposed land becomes parched and hardened from direct sunlight.

When the rains eventually come, the water just runs off the cement-like surface, leading to widespread flooding.

Reforestation efforts are severely hampered, as well, because of the hardened earth. Consider the potential difficulties in planting food crops and how this can impact negatively upon the nation  in terms of the scarcity of some items or the cost.

With such far-reaching and dire consequences, one might expect that there would be dedicated resources for addressing this yearly challenge  an anticipated one at that. But, it is interesting to note that there is really no agency specifically resourced for addressing bush fires.

The Police, the Forestry Division, the Regional Corporations all assist from time to time, with the Fire Service naturally being the first responder. But there are still instances of less-than-satisfactory responses to callers when they attempt to lodge reports about bush fires.

The TT Chamber has noted the calls from several key community advocacy groups, for a dedicated agency to prevent and suppress wildfires. Those calls must not go unnoticed. Any such agency must be properly resourced with trained personnel, equipment and gear, all-terrain vehicles to negotiate specially developed and much-need access roads and much more. Far more effective awareness and public education is also required throughout the country.

Successful models exist worldwide, and the relevant authorities should move expeditiously to establish an entity to treat with this type of emergency  even while we foster a culture of precaution and prevention. In the interim and continuing, each of us must exercise caution and above all, obey the relevant laws of the land with respect to starting fires, particularly during the dry season.
Why every business today should have an enterprise mobile strategy

Globally, 93% of young consumers aged 18 to 29 use their smartphones when they are bored; 67% of people use their smartphones for turn-by-turn navigation; nearly 80% of people said they would miss their smartphones more than their wallet; Dominoes gets an estimated 100 million pizzas ordered through smartphones every year; 82% of consumers with smartphones use them for in-store product research, and 1 in 10 of these customers end up buying a different product than originally planned as a result of that research; 45% of ecommerce sales are now made via mobile devices; and 40% of USA consumers will leave a competitor because of a bad mobile experience.

Put another way, 150 million emails are sent every 60 seconds; 430,000 tweets are sent every 60 seconds; and 300 hours of YouTube video are watched every 60 seconds. The significant rise in the use of mobile devices means that we are becoming a mobile first society where mobile devices have become a major part of how we function and social media applications have started to bleed into business. Companies need to keep up with this rapid change in the way business is now being conducted yet 85% of todays companies have not deployed an enterprise mobile strategy.

Mitel, a global market leader in enterprise and mobile communications, is one of the technology partners that TSTT works with to deliver advanced enterprise communications solutions that meet the constantly evolving needs of TSTTs customers. Stephanie Ford, Mitels Regional Sales Director for Southeastern US and Caribbean, and Phillip McDaniel, Mitels Director, Sales Engineering, participated in bmobiles Technology Conference and Expo hosted in Trinidad earlier this year and discussed the emergence of the mobile first society and some of the enterprise mobile solutions available.

Ford and McDaniel indicated that the core of an enterprise mobile strategy is to allow everyday business and mobile communications, including voice, video, presence and chat, to become seamless across any device. In the mobile-first, cloud-enabled and millennialfocused world, users decide how they securely connect with the device of their choice, from anywhere and anytime, cutting the traditional ties to the physical office environment, and thus making the enterprise and mobile network seamless.

Some of the products and services for the cloud-powered mobile enterprise include premium desk phones designed for todays mobile work place which integrate and handover seamlessly with mobile devices; easy tapto- connect communications and collaboration tools optimised for any smartphone device, including Apple, Android, Windows or Blackberry, to deliver an intuitive and consistent user interface for powerful real-time messaging, voice, video, white boarding and document sharing, for improved collaboration and productivity; more intelligent text, chat and speech applications for improved customer service capabilities for the more mobile and social consumer; and hospitality solutions which link guests smartphones to the hotels network, making them extensions of their room phones to provide guests with access to hotel room key, voice mail, speed dial functions and location-based capabilities for service delivery.

Todays digital technologies, and the way we use them in our personal lives, work and society, have certainly changed the face of business and will continue to.

Have you deployed an enterprise mobile strategy yet?
Bail increased in false report case

Maharaj, 30, appeared before Magistrate Gloria Jasmath a day after she appeared before a Justice of the Peace who had affixed the $15,000 bail. Maharaj is charged with making a false report to police that she was kidnapped, taken to a house, drugged, bound and gagged and then locked in the trunk of a car .

She was rescued by police on Monday who found her in a car at the M2 Ring Road near La Romaine .

As a result of the report made by 30-year-old Maharaj, detective Insp Don Gajadhar coordinated a team of CID officers to investigate. On Tuesday afternoon, Maharaj was arrested at her Julien Trace, Barrackpore home and later charged .

Attorney Shawn Teekasingh, who held for attorney Subhas Panday, asked the magistrate to reset bail to a reasonable sum. Court prosecutor Sgt Krishna Bidassie objected to Teekasinghs request saying the charge is very serious owing to the fact that police spent two days investigating the matter .

Magistrate Jasmath agreed with the prosecutor and told Maharaj she would revisit the bail set by JP Sandra Soogrim Ramsaran and increased the bill by $5,000. She then placed Maharajs mother Chandra Ramsawack, as surety. Maharaj was ordered to return to court next Monday .
750 police for Borough Day

The officers, from various divisions, branches and units will work with other arms of the Ministry of National Security along with traffic wardens and licensing officers.

In a release from the Police Public Affairs Unit yesterday, a special appeal went out to young women attending the festivities, to remain in groups and update relatives and friends of their whereabouts.

Disruptive elements too, are being warned against bad behaviour as law enforcement officers among them members of the Defence Force are committed to providing a safe environment for all. The added: Members of the public are advised to conduct themselves in a responsible manner and refrain from arming themselves with weapons. Members of the public are also asked to comply with the lawful instructions given by law enforcement personnel. On April 21, Mayor of Point Fortin Abdon Mason launched celebrations to mark the boroughs 37th anniversary.

A number of community activities inclusive of a military parade have already taken place. Point Fortin Borough Day Celebrations Safety & Security Plan team headed by ACP South (Ag) Joan Cumberbatch and Ag Snr Supt Inraj Balram reported that all activities so far have been incident free.
Lotto operator robbed of $3000, three held

The suspects from Carapichaima, Freeport and Waterloo, ages 27, 19 and 25 respectively, are expected to be placed on identification parades today.

Police said at about 11.45 am, Devika Sonny was at her Lotto booth near the Endeavour gas station when the men arrived in a van.

One of the men had a knife and another a gun. They told Sonny to hand over cash. She gave them $3,000.

As the men were leaving, Sonny called out to people and told them what happened.

A call was made to the Chaguanas Police Station and officers led by Cpl Rajpath responded. The van with the suspects was seen heading towards Chase Village and was intercepted.

The men were arrested and the money was recovered. Police also seized a knife.

The men were taken to the Chaguanas Police Station where they were being questioned up until late yesterday.

Sonny praised the police and members of the public who shared information resulting in the arrest of the suspects.

Acting Deputy Commissioner Surujdeen Persad commended the police and citizens.
Six arrested as $18 million in cocaine seized

Police reported at about 4.30 pm, members of the Northern Division Task Force led by Sgt Ishmael Pitt executed a search warrant and arrested the men from Toco, Trincity, Sangre Grande, Arima and Waller Field.

They searched a silver crate where they allegedly found 12 packets containing the illegal drug.

Police believe that the cocaine was not for the local market but was supposed to be exported.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Irwin Hackshaw commended the work of Sgt Pitt and his officers.

He also commended the public for partnering with the police in the fight against crime and said that the partnership can result in law enforcement reclaiming the country from the hands of criminals.

Up until yesterday the suspects were being questioned at the Arouca Police Station
Judge dismisses lawsuit against three newspapers, tv station

Jude Neil Ready and his son, Julio Armando Ready, who was the subject of the news items, took legal action seeking close to $2 million for libel and slander against CCNTV6, and its news presenters, the Trinidad Express and its reporter and photographer, the Trinidad Guardian and its reporter and photographer as well as the Newsday and its reporter and photographer.

In all, there were 11 defendants in Readys lawsuit - the first being PC Herbert Gabriel.

In a 111 page ruling on Tuesday, Justice Margaret Mohammed found that the articles and television broadcasts of the polices discovery of Readys practice of putting his son in an enclosed, homemade, wooden playpen with a cover in the bar he owned in Siparia in November 2000, was not defamatory.

As it related to Newsday, Mohammed said the words complained of were not defamatory of Readys son.

She said he would have elicited sympathy from a reasonable reader and would not have been discredited, shunned or ridiculed, but rather would have been viewed as a victim of neglect by his caretaker.

The caretaker, in the lawsuit, said the child would be left in his care and was kept in the cage which he described as a playpen, for an hour at a time, since he would run into the restaurant area.

He also said there was a padlock on the playpen.

Mohammed said based on the Readys evidence in support of their case, the facts in Newsdays article were true.

She said the treatment of children was a matter of public interest and concern and, having regard to this, the Newsday article was reasonable.

Mohammed also held that the Newsday article also gave Readys side of the story.

In my opinion, the Newsday article was moderate in its tone and phrasing, she said.

Mohammed also found that having established its defence of qualified privilege, the issue of malice did not arise, nor was there a conspiracy between the media houses and police to re-create the rescue of the boy.

Ready and his son, who is now 21 years-old, were ordered to pay almost $300,000 in legal costs to each of the media houses they sued.

Newsday was represented by attorneys Ian Benjamin and Jewel Ann Troja while Michael Persadsingh and Chanka Persadsingh represented Ready and his son.
Rambarran: Central Bank did not pay for repairs to my home

He said all Central Banks contractor did was erect a security booth at his home.

Rambarran said this was the only thing paid for by the bank and the cost of repairs to his home was paid by him.

He was testifying in a defamation lawsuit against Peoples National Movement Senator and University of the West Indies lecturer Dr Lester Henry.

Rambarran has complained of statements made by Henry on June 9, 2014 while he was a guest on the Afternoon Drive programme on i95.5FM.

He is also alleging that the words uttered by Henry were done with malice and without making any attempt to verify the facts when he spoke of Rambarrans qualifications, experience and appointment as Central Bank governor.

Justice Devindra Rampersad is hearing the matter in the Port of Spain High Court. Under cross-examination by Henrys attorney Senior Counsel Gilbert Peterson, Rambarran accepted that in the radio interview Henry called for an investigation into the expenditure by the Central Bank at Rambarrans private residence. He also admitted that any spending by the bank should be transparent and said the expenditure could be found in the Central Banks annual report.

He said he chose to return to his private residence six months into his appointment because of family considerations and because the official residence provided by the bank at Federation Park was in dire need of repairs.

This, he said, would have led to significant expenditure to make it habitable.

Henry said in his testimony that while he could not remember all the statements he made during the radio interview, he made them based on information he had that the Central Bank paid for repairs to Rambarrans private residence.

I did not know that as a fact, he testified, reiterating that it was based on information he had. Henry also denied that the statements he made were defamatory.

He admitted that he never sought clarification of the issue by filing a question in the Senate nor did he file an application under the Freedom of Information Act to elicit the facts about the work done at Rambarrans private residence.

I conducted an investigation before making the statements, he said when questioned by Rambarrans attorney Senior Counsel Anand Ramlogan.

Henry said he held the belief that Rambarran was not qualified for the position.

I thought he was the least qualified of the potential applicants. Henry said he knew of the other candidates who were being considered by then prime minister Kamla Persad- Bissessar and it was his opinion that Rambarran was not a suitable appointment.

He also said he received a recording of the interview from the radio station but did not disclose it in the case because he did not think it was relevant or admissible.

Rambarran replaced Ewart Williams in 2012 and was fired on December 24, 2015 by Finance Minister Colm Imbert.

Directions have been given by the judge for the filing of written submissions by the judge who will give his decision at a later date.
Sando man shot near home

Police said that at about 8 pm, Harridass and the men were liming at the roadside when a gunman walked up to them and opened fire.

The men, including Harridass who is unemployed, scampered for safety. However, the gunman managed to shoot Harridass in the left leg before running off into the street. Police are yet to determine a motive for the shooting but believe that Harridass may not have been the intended target. PC George and WPC Marshall of the San Fernando Police Station visited the scene and are continuing investigations.
AGONY

Saleesha, the apple of her parents eyes and well-loved by all who knew her in the quiet village, was dressed all in white with a tiara, studded with glittering gemstones, adorning her little head. Both daughter and father appeared to be sleeping, with a peaceful look on their faces, little solace to those attending the funeral who knew of how they met their end.

Sometime between last week Thursday and Friday, little Saleesha, a first-year student of the Caparo Roman Catholic Primary School and Joseph were shot and killed at her mothers home at Leekham Road in Mamoral. To date, their killer/s remain at large although a woman and five men were questioned by police before being released.

At the time of the murders, Bissoon was at work in a casino in Chaguanas.

Hundreds of villagers attended the service for Solomon and his daughter who was fondly called mama and who would have celebrated her sixth birthday on July 20. Police believe gunmen made Joseph, a labourer with the Forestry Division, kneel and watch as they shot Saleesha through her neck. He was then shot twice in the abdomen. Shortly after the service began and having viewed the bodies, Bissoon collapsed sobbing.

Relatives had to escort her from the service which was officiated by Pastor Wayne Thomas. The 22-yearold woman returned a short while later only to leave once again. Bissoon was found later, alone in the Mamoral public cemetery clutching her daughters peppa pig toy while sitting on mounds of dirt, beside a grave that was freshly dug for Saleesha. Peppa pig is the main character from a highly popular childrens cartoon series of the same name. It was Saleeshas favourite television show. The Peppa pig doll was also her favourite toy. Weeping and rocking back and forth while clutching the doll, Bissoon fainted atop the mound of dirt.

A street procession followed the service during which villagers wore t-shirts bearing images of the murdered father and daughter.

Jamaican artiste Popcaans song Only Jah Know, blasted from music speakers. When the bodies arrived at the cemetery, mourners flocked to the coffins to get a final glimpse of mama and poodle. With the assistance of relatives, Bissoon went to view the body of her daughter.

Mama! Mama! Allyuh look Mama, she cried.

Next to the peppa pig doll placed inside the coffin, Bissoon also placed stuffed toys, flowers and Saleeshas Nike Jordan sneakers.

Bissoon murmured words of endearment to Saleesha as the pastor performed the last rites. Both father and daughter were buried side by side.

Earlier during the service, Pastor Thomas offered prayers for the students and staff of Saleeshas primary school saying no doubt they would have been left traumatised over the double murder. Comfort their hearts. We pray for understanding and peace. We pray for an understanding heart that through this experience, the peace of God will guard their hearts, Thomas prayed.

The pastor also prayed for all affected by the double murder and called on relatives to trust in God and live a life pleasing to Him. We pray for their peace. We declare that fear may not be able to torment the family. We turn our eyes upon you, the great God and we ask for you to comfort us and allow your peace to continue to guard our hearts. Police are yet to make an arrest and Homicide Bureau Region III detectives are continuing investigations.
Business legend passes

He leaves to mourn his wife Minerva, children Linda, Norman, Joann, David, Donna and Andrew, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Sabga was surrounded by family members at the time of his passing at his St Clair home yesterday morning. No official cause of death was given in a statement issued by ANSA yesterday.

The conglomerate did say that funeral arrangements and a special memorial service for its employees, celebrating the life and legacy of Sabga, will be announced in a subsequent notice.

In 2015, Sabga was among eight distinguished Trinidadians to receive honorary doctorates from the University of the West Indies, St Augustine campus for their sterling contribution to Caribbean development in areas ranging from business and culture to music and law.

Sabga received an honorary Doctor of Letters (DLitt) in recognition of his role as a leading entrepreneur in the region who managed one of the most diversified conglomerates in the Caribbean.

Four years prior, in 2011, Sabga received the countrys highest award, The Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. A recipient of the Chaconia Gold Medal in 1998, and commenting on his selection for the ORTT, Sabga said, I am surprised and humbled to be acknowledged again by this country I love so much. EYE FOR BUSINESS Sabga emigrated to TT from Syria as a young child in 1930. He entered commerce at an early age through his fathers business, NS Sabga and Sons. ANSA noted that from those humble beginnings, Dr Sabga would become one of the most innovative and successful businessmen in the region. He was the regional agent for famous brands such as Bosch, Heidelberg and Frico milk in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also the first businessman to start a completely local manufacturing enterprise in 1966 with ANSA Industries, which made refrigerators, televisions and other household items.

In the 1970s, Sabga was active in the garment industry and real estate development. He developed what is now Regents Park.

He acquired the ailing McEnearny Alstons Group in 1986, when the economy was in the trauma of the decline of oil prices after the OPEC oil-shock of 1973-1983.

ANSA, in its release, recalled that Sabga transformed this ailing 28 company Group into a formidable conglomerate within a space of a decade.

He tripled the number of companies to over 70 in 2017, commanding profits that grew forty-fold over that period and providing a share value that grew by 15,000 percent.

He was succeeded by his son, A.

Norman Sabga, as Chief Executive Officer in 1996 and later as Group Chairman in 2000.

Later in life, as Chairman Emeritus, Sabga focused his attention on ANSA Merchant Bank, which he formed in 1994 in partnership with Robert Fleming Limited, a London investment bank, and which subsequently, in 2004, became ANSA Merchant Bank. Sabga was also a major supporter of the University of the West Indies.

The Group founded the ANSA McAL Centre for Psychological Research. His final and most far-reaching philanthropic initiative was the Anthony N. Sabga Caribbean Awards for Excellence, launched in 2005.

It is the only privately funded enterprise in the region that recognises and provides significant awards in the areas of Arts and Letters, Science and Technology, Public and Civic Contributions and Entrepreneurship.

FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS Many employees learned of his death yesterday via an internal memo signed by Group Chairman and Chief Executive, A. Norman Sabga. Titled, Forever in Our Hearts, Norman Sabga said it was, with great sadness, that he advised colleagues of, the passing of our beloved Chairman Emeritus. His concern was always the welfare of our ANSA family of which every one of you are part of. We will always remember him as a devoted family man, a colleague, a leader, a visionary and one of the greatest entrepreneurs in the twentieth century. Sabga said the family remember him as straightforward, a sincere and passionate leader, devoted friend and mentor to those who needed his assistance. We will never forget his words, Find a job that you like and you never have to work one day in your life. He certainly did, and we hope that the lessons of his life, of persistence, hard work, generosity, care for those less fortunate, honour and respect for all persons will live on in each of us, Sabga said.

Chairman of the NGC Group of Companies Gerry Brooks, yesterday described his former boss as a cherished friend and mentor.

Brooks, who retired from ANSA in 2015 as Chief Operating Officer and Sector Head, Manufacturing, after 25 years of service, told Newsday that Sabga, had the great gift of spotting opportunity and being very, very entrepreneurial. He also had the courage, conviction and ability to lead the execution process. Mr Sabga was an entrepreneur par excellence, a regional leader, an inspirer of people.

He treasured his family, he made time for his family. So while he was a regionalist, he was also the patriarch of this family, to whom his community would go to and solicit advice. Mr Sabga was very generous with his advice and he was also very generous in spirit. LEADERS REFLECT Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and Opposition Leader Kamla Persad- Bissessar, also extended their condolences to the Sabga family.

Reflecting on Sabgas successful career as an entrepreneur and businessman.

Rowley said, Anthony is an example to all of us, of the heights that can be achieved through determination, foresight and an unwavering pursuit of excellence. His achievements as one of our countrys top businessmen are complemented by his desire to give back to his adopted country, as evidenced by his establishment of the ANSA Mc Al Foundation and the Caribbean Awards for Excellence. The PM added that as a business visionary, philanthropist, husband and father, Sabga has distinguished himself as a dedicated citizen of TT whose legacy will live on not only in this country but also the wider Caribbean.

Persad-Bissessar described Sabgas life story as truly inspiring.

She cited his rise from humble beginnings and how he meticulously built a business empire over the course of several decades to become one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the Caribbean.

I recall a statement he made, which aptly reflects his approach: Honesty, integrity and determination to succeed  these values have served me very well. I was never afraid to make any decision, whether right or wrong. Very often, however, a decision is made and it has to be shaped into success. So the determination to succeed is a key factor, Persad-Bissessar stated.

She said Sabgas passing is a great loss to TT and the region but, I am certain that his vision, determination and sagacity will continue to inspire generations to come.
Digicel launches puberty, sex and sexuality DVD for special needs children

The launch took place at Digicels Hospitality Suite, Queens Park Oval, Tragarete Road, Port-of-Spain.

Digicel Foundation invested $119,000 into the programme since its introduction in 2015.

Toni Betaudier, CKFTOs educational psychologist, told the audience there were many myths about sexuality and disability. She said the bodies of children with disabilities do mature and the feelings they have to address during the process are new and strange. Just as we prepare them for other aspects of life, it is our duty to prepare them for their sexual development.

The high incidences of teenage pregnancies and STDs, as well as the prevalence of sexual abuse in our communities highlight the need for increased education for our children.

Parents are the primary educators for their children and thus they should be having these important conversations. It was out of this recognition that the programme was developed to look at the psychosexual development of children with special needs. The hope is that it will foster independence, self-confidence, and the ability to form healthy sexual relationships among people with disabilities. On January 25 last year, the Puberty, Sex and Sexuality for Parents of Children with Disabilities programme was launched.

Betaudier spoke at PTA meetings at 15 schools and conducted sessions with parents at the organisations St James clinic and Digicels staff members.

It is out of these sessions and feedback from the parents that the DVD was created.

The 30-minute DVD will be distributed to approximately 35 schools.

Deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Social Development Dennis Williams was presented with a copy of the DVD.

Representatives from special needs organisations and schools such as the Princess Elizabeth Centre also received copies.
Prison officers: No to Masters degree as basis for promotion

Richards is urging President Anthony Carmona to intervene to rein in the service commission which he accused of unconstitutional behaviour.

On the eve of assessment (for promotion), officers dont have time to meet these criteria. At a news conference at their Railway Road, Arouca office on Tuesday, Richards said the service commission, without consultation, had suddenly proposed the superior qualifications as a criterion to amend a list previously agreed to under Prison Service General Order No 22 of 2011.

He vowed to oppose the proposals which, he said, were already causing disenchantment among prison officers.

Richards said many negatives were affecting the service and he wondered if someone was trying to run it down in order to prepare for it to be privatised. I wonder whats the real agenda. General secretary Gerard Gordon urged that prison officers be given their own prison services commission just as there exists a Police Service Commission.

Promotion in the Prison Service Second Division depends on an officer accruing points in several areas including fitness, time spent in preceding rank, special courses, performance appraisal, devotion to duty, knowledge of duty and disciplinary report. However a December 2016 service commission letter proposed to replace the seniority consideration with a special qualification criterion. While the 2011 document said 20 years of service is worth 15 points, the 2016 letter awards those same points by having a Masters degree. Likewise, to earn 12 points, the old criterion of 15 to 20 years of service is to be replaced by the fact of holding a post graduate diploma, while holding a first degree is worth ten points, compared to nine points at present awarded for 10 to 14 years of service.
Ramnarine: Petrotrin may have to pay for oil clean-up in Venezuela

On April 30, Venezuelan authorities said some of the oil reached their eastern coast and the TT-Venezuela bilateral oil spill plan was triggered by a diplomatic note from the Foreign and Caricom Affairs Ministry.

In the Senate on Tuesday, Energy Minister Franklin Khan said it was too early to say regarding the cost of the clean-up although he agreed there were clear protocols in incidents like this. The oil spill originated from TT, we cannot deny that fact, he said, adding, joint negotiations will take place as to what cost we will stand and what cost they will stand. Speaking yesterday with reporters after a career guidance seminar at Naparima College, San Fernando, Ramnarine described the cleanup operations along Venezuelas coast as an open-ended situation for Petrotrin.

The bilateral oil contingency plan which they have activated says that Venezuela will take care of cleaning up on their side and then they will deal with the whole issue of cost afterwards, Ramnarine said.

But we dont know what it will cost Venezuela to clean the oil on their side so theres an open-ended situation for Petrotrin.

What the minister said was that the cleanup of the spill on the Venezuela side would be the responsibility of the Venezuelans and after that is finished, they will sit with the Venezuelans to determine how cost is shared.

So it means obviously that Petrotrin would have to write a cheque to the Venezuelans unless the Venezuelans say, You know what, dont bother well handle it. But Venezuela is in a state right now where they themselves dont have money to do basic things.
Kamla dismisses Rowley

Speaking following a Kiddies Carnival prize-giving function at the Siparia constituency office in Penal yesterday, Persad-Bissessar pointed out that the taxs non-implementation benefitted the entire nation. We campaigned that we would not implement that tax and we kept that campaign promise.

In fact we passed a law to waive it in 2011-2015, so I would say hes asking questions about how much taxes we paid on our properties, its the same taxes that he paid on his property...we all benefitted, it was not personal to any one of us, she said. Persad-Bissessar continued: We paid the same taxes that he paid on his property, in other words, everybody in the country including him, every householder, everyone with property...so it was not special to any person, it was for all of Trinidad and Tobago. She reiterated that home owners could not be prosecuted for not completing the valuation return forms issued by the Ministry of Finance saying, according to the law, there is no compulsion on anybody to fill out that form. The form has no name, it has no address, there is nothing in the law that forces you to fill out that form and if you do not, there is nothing that can be done, she said.

Persad-Bissessar said the law which was rushed through Parliament in 2009, is draconian, is a tremendous burden to be inflicted on the country at a time of recession and must be resisted by all.

She said the Oppositions education campaign against the property tax would heighten over the weekend with a motorcade and rally in Central Trinidad constituencies.

The government is entitled to put out any propaganda they wish but it is clear they are concerned, as they should be, by the fact that citizens are very much against this tax. She then promised, We will challenge it in Parliament, we will challenge it in the courts, I have a team of lawyers working on this issue now as we intend to pursue this matter in the courts. It is unconstitutional and an unfair and unjust burden on taxpayers and we intend to fight it.
Deyalsingh: Public hospitals are a loophole

At yesterdays National Symposium on Midwifery at the University Inn and Conference, UWI, Deyalsingh said 2016 was the first time in years that Mt Hope Womens Hospital recorded zero maternal deaths. He said he has been working on reducing maternal deaths and infant mortality since he assumed office.

He said when there was an incident at Mt Hope, the media labelled it as Mt Hopeless. Do you know what damage you do to the psyche of the doctors who work there? Let me tell everyone what we have to deal with. We have to deal with the rejects of the private sector. The private hospitals dump those mothers on public hospitals. You receive them without medical reports and we are supposed to provide care.

The private sector feels if they cant handle this delivery, they will dump it on the public sector and I say that unapologetically. Deyalsingh also announced that he would no longer be acting as director of womens health as Dr Adesh Sirjusingh would officially be taking up that post on May 17.

Sirjusingh, he said, was chosen based on job description, qualifications and experience.

He was the head of obstetrics and gynaecology in Sangre Grande (Hospital). He would be taking all the policy interventions and implementing them across all maternal hospitals and wards. He would ultimately be the judge on two statistical criteria, that is, getting maternal mortality down to first world country status, and the infant mortality should be down to 13 infant mortalities from 100,000 live births.
Cuffie: TT improves on World Press Freedom Index

Cuffie, in a release on Tuesday, commemorating World Press Freedom Day which was observed yesterday reported that the most recent installment of the World Press Freedom Index has seen Trinidad and Tobago jumping ten places from our 2016 position to be 34th out of 180 countries in 2017, a far cry from 2012 when we occupied position 50.

He said that this day, like every other celebration, it affords an opportunity for introspection and this years theme, Critical Minds for Critical Times: Medias Role in Advancing Peaceful and Inclusive Societies, is especially apropos, given the current state of affairs, locally, regionally and internationally.

The phenomenal rise in the use of social media has certainly contributed to a more knowledgeable citizenry.Perhaps unwittingly though, it has given free rein to those with less than noble intent to spread a level of misinformation or alternative facts, hate-inspired rhetoric and xenophobic hysteria that is unprecedented.

Cuffie said that wholeheartedly concurs with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres who, in his message to mark the occasion, said that a free press advances peace and justice for all which can be achieved by the media giving voice to a diversity of experiences, by conflict- sensitive professional reporting, by promoting mutual understanding in particular in societies that have become polarized by hate speech or antagonistic political discourse; by dispelling prejudice and by countering the spread of misinformation.

Cuffie said that as a former journalist entrusted with the management of a news team, he is aware that there are occasions when the media could be found guilty of not taking cognizance of the enormity of the challenges and responsibilities that we carry on our shoulders.

And so I encourage our news room heads, our editors, our reporters and talk show hosts, and our media house owners to accept in its totality, the sacred responsibility upon which they embark every day  to inform, inspire, educate and entertain. I am confident that the more we encourage critical minds to flourish unimpeded in these critical times, the more valuable would be our contribution to the growth and development of both the profession of journalism, and our beloved country.
Kamla urges citizens to join the UNC

Persad-Bissessar, who served in Pandays cabinet from 1995 to 2001, defeated him for the UNCs leadership in the partys internal elections on January 24, 2010. Prior to and after his removal as UNC leader, Panday has been critical of Persad- Bissessars leadership of both the UNC and the former Peoples Partnership (PP) government (in which the UNC was a part).

As our political party marks its 28th anniversary, I am reminded of the struggle of our founding leaders, Persad-Bissessar said.

Claiming the former Patrick Manning administration and the incumbent Dr Keith Rowley administration lack the expertise or the political will to manage the countrys economy, Persad-Bissessar boasted, Under the government that I led, this country saw a return to economic growth, the creation of more than 55,000 jobs and a significant reduction in serious crime. She also said the PP, had a plan for further growth of our economy through diversification, and the creation of a knowledge-intensive economy that was aimed at maximising job creation to ensure that citizens enjoyed a higher standard of living. Persad-Bissessar urged UNC supporters to commit themselves,  to working even harder to build our party and our country.
PLEASE NOTE!

Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate!

All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited!

(One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!)
American Democracy: A Dead Man Walking

Trumps sell-out, as it is called, coming on top of Obamas eight-year sell-out, is instructive. We have now had a Democratic president who sold out the people who elected him and a Republican president who has done the same thing. This is a very interesting point, the meaning of which most people miss.

(Article by Paul Craig Roberts republished from PaulCraigRoberts.org)

But not Russias president, Vladimir Putin. At the Valdai discussion club, Putin summed up Western democracy:

In the West, voters cannot change policies through elections, because the ruling elites control whoever is elected. Elections give the appearance of democracy, but voting does not change the policies that favor war and the elites. Therefore, the will of the people is impotent.

People are experiencing that they and their votes have no influence on the conduct of affairs of the country. This makes them afraid, frustrated, and angry, a combination of emotions that is dangerous to the ruling elite, who in response organize the powers of the state against the people, while urging them with propaganda to support more wars.

Obama promised to get out of Afghanistan or Iraq or perhaps it was both. He promised to reverse the police state created by the George W. Bush regime. He promised to focus American resources on American domestic problems, such as health care.

But what did he do? He expanded the wars and launched new ones, destroyed Libya and attempted to destroy Syria, but was stopped by British non-participation and Russian objection. Obama overthrew democratic governments in Honduras and Ukraine. He expanded the police state. He began the demonization of Russia and Putin. He betrayed the American people again by allowing the private insurance industry to write his health care plan known as Obamacare. The private interests wrote a plan that diverts public monies from health care to their profits.

All of this is forgotten when the ruling elites and the presstitutes that serve only them refocused the demonization on Trump. Suddenly, it was the president-elect of the United States who was the main danger to the US and the American people. Trump was a Russian agent. He had conspired with Putin to steal the US election from Hillary Clinton and make the White House a partner of Putins alleged reconstruction of the Soviet Empire.

The nonsense was hot and furious, and it was effective. Trump succumbed to pressure and sacrificed his National Security Advisor, who was supportive of Trumps promise to normalize relations with Russia. Trump replaced him with a Russophobic idiot who apparently cannot wait to see mushroom clouds over cities all over the Western world.

Why did two presidents in succession completely sell out the people who voted for them?

The answer is that presidents are not as powerful as the interest groups who make the decisions.

Trump was going to get us out of Syria, so he committed an unambiguous war crime by gratuitously attacking Syria with Tomahawk missiles.

Trump was going to normalize relations with Russia, so his Secretary of State announces that US economic sanctions will stay on Russia until Russia hands over to Ukraine the Russian Crimean naval base on the Black Sea.

It is impossible to normalize relations when the cost to the other party of the normalization is national suicide.

Despite Trumps complete surrender to the powers that be, today (May 2) on NPR I heard raw propaganda dressed up as expert opinion that Trump is biased against the media, when what all of us have seen is massive media bias against Trump, including the program to which I was listening.

For example, NPR had accumulated experts who said that Trump had slandered Obama by accusing him of intercepting his communications. NPR said nothing about the Obama regimes charge that Trump conspired with Putin to steal the election from Hillary Clinton.

If anything was slander, this was, but all the talk was about how Obama could sue Trump.

But, of course, both are public figures, and neither can sue the other.

I wonder why NPRs expert didnt get around to this point.

Why is the ruling oligarchy still using its presstitutes to campaign against a president who has surrendered to them?

Perhaps the answer is that the real powers that be are going to make an example out of Trump so that never again does a person running for elected office make a populist appeal to the electorate.

Read more at: PaulCraigRoberts.org

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Of the 6,000 islands that make up Greece, only 227 of them are inhabited throughout the Aegean and Ionian Sea. For the country's largest mobile operator, Cosmote, providing services to many of the remote islands has been a challenge, and the company is addressing this problem with the help of Nokia (News - Alert)'s network technology. Nokia just announced it is deploying its long-haul 9500 Microwave Packet Radio to the growing demand in remote Greek islands by increasing backhaul capacity and speed to residents and tourists.





Cosmote is the mobile arm of OTE Group, the largest telecom provider in Greece. The parent company made Cosmote the customer facing brand for fixed, broadband and mobile telephony in 2015, and since has been making considerable investments to improve network infrastructure and services.

The deployment of Nokia's long-haul 9500 Microwave Packet Radio will provide underserved rural locations throughout Greece by enabling Cosmote to deliver high-speed fixed and mobile Internet access to these communities. The Nokia technology will backhaul data at speeds of 1Gbps via full IP connectivity serving these networks.

Konstantinos Koroneos, head of the OTE/ Cosmote account at Nokia, said, Providing a network across a spread of islands provides its own unique challenges. Nokia first demonstrated the capabilities of the 9500 MPR in a demanding live field trial, and we are pleased to work with Cosmote as it evolves its network in this commercial deployment.

Nokia is going to be upgrading Cosmote's existing SDH-microwave trunk-based network, which will allow the company to reuse existing passive radio equipment, thus saving the operator a considerable amount in capital expenditure by not having to invest in a new deployment.

The 9500 Microwave Packet Radio maximizes spectrum utilization by facilitating legacy-to-packet transformation over a common, converged packet network to reduce the total cost of ownership of microwave networks. According to Nokia, this platform delivers the highest functionality with the smallest footprint, allowing it to be deployed in remote and difficult topologies, while at the same time delivering high levels of scalability and resiliency.

The 9500 can be deployed to address a range of network needs including mobile backhaul, energy, transportation, public sector communications and last-mile service access. Once it is fully deployed, operators are able to experience a cost-effective evolution from traditional TDM to IP/Ethernet networking with seamless adaptation from TDM and ATM to packet along with advanced quality of service mechanisms to ensure service level agreement compliance.

This deployment also makes Cosmote ready for 5G, as Nokia has the most comprehensive range of 'anyhaul' mobile transport options specifically designed to address the critical requirements of 5G.

Edited by Alicia Young


Kristi Beckett, a student at St. Edward's School, will star in "I Am Frankie." Kristi Beckett, a student at St. Edward's School, will star in "I Am Frankie."

I'm so excited to finally announce I will be in @nickelodeon new show #iamfrankie!!! Tune into CBS Miami tonight at 6:00 for a sneak peak A post shared by Kristi Beckett (@kristi.beckett) on Mar 17, 2017 at 1:48pm PDT



In 2013, Kristi Beckett performed in a production of "Smile" at The Riverside Children's Theatre in Vero Beach. (Photo: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO FROM RIVERSIDE THEATRE)

Gotta love late night photo shoots with Juan@boterophotography #iamfrankie A post shared by Kristi Beckett (@kristi.beckett) on Mar 21, 2017 at 5:02pm PDT

Keeping a secret is not easy.Kristi Beckett, a 10th grader at St. Edward's School, kept a really big one this winter.The blonde haired, blue-eyed aspiring actress left home and school in Vero Beach, Florida and moved to Miami where she spent three months filming Nickelodeon's upcoming brand-new show,Kristi will make her network television debut this fall when she appears in all 20 episodes of the series, which will air in more than 140 countries. The network's confidentiality agreements prevented her from sharing the news until now. That was the hardest part, Kristis mom, Kim Beckett, told TCPalm . Packing up and leaving town and not being able to tell anyone. That was hard.Kristi got the audition and ultimately the part within a week of signing in November with Legacy Talent Group of Jacksonville.This was meant to be and the man upstairs had something to do with it, Kim Beckett said.Kristi's new agent called with the good news in December and filming began in January.I was over the moon excited, Kristi said. I was in so much shock I started to cry and immediately fell to the floor.The 16-year-old is no stranger to performing. She has been dancing since she was two and attended Mommy and Me ballet classes. She also sings, hosted a talk show on the local channel WWCI TV 10 and has been a part of more than 30 productions at the Riverside Children's Theatre.Shes just the nicest person and it was very clear that she had a lot of big things in her future, said Kristi's longtime drama teacher Kevin Quillinan at Riverside. She loves performing. She loves being here and doing the work. Shell have the lead in one show, be part of an ensemble in another and be behind the scenes running the sound on another. She never complains.The television network put Kristi and her mom and the other nine cast members up in a well-appointed apartment complex with valet parking and other perks.You kind of have to pinch yourself. Its like  is this real? They treat their talent amazingly well, Kim Beckett said.Kristi maintained her straight A average with online classes and the networks tutors. Following strict guidelines for minors during their 10-hour days on set, the younger actors had mandatory breaks and a definitive quitting time known as "pumpkin time." While older actors sometimes were stuck on set for extended periods completing a scene, there was no wiggle room for minors.'Pumpkin time' is one of the great things about being a minor, Kristi said. Maybe the only thing.Kristi quickly learned to adjust her stage acting to the more subtle approach needed for television.The camera picks up every raised eyebrow," Kristi said.Call times and lines were delivered to the apartment the night before, sometimes as late as midnight, leaving little time for memorization.Its all short-term memory. If you ask me 20 minutes after the scene is over, I wouldnt know them, Kristi said.A bunch of like-minded teenagers and late night read-throughs make for quick friendships. Since shooting wrapped in March, Kristi has stayed in daily contact with most of her castmates and is looking forward to reuniting with them at next year's, the annual awards show hosted by Nickelodeon.Kim Beckett, who was not allowed on the 17,000-square -foot set but watched on a monitor from a nearby room, said she was surprised to learn they do not film episodes or even scenes sequentially.I was amazed by the number of takes it takes for one scene and the number of hair and makeup retouches the actresses had, she said.Although Kristi is as excited as any teenager would be about her first major television role, her heart is with live theater and her dream is Broadway. Her tentative plans to study musical theater at the University of North Carolina might have to wait.My husband and I believe she has to pursue her dreams and follow her passion. If she wants to put off college, were fine with that, Kim Beckett said.The show, about a teenager who is a secret, experimental android, was originally produced asin Colombia by Nickelodeon Latin America.was very well received and network executives are anticipating the same success for the English language version. A premiere date has not been released.
The Head of UN Human Right Commission has lambasted President al-Sisis strategy against terrorism as he argued that crackdown on human rights groups and activists fuels the surge in radicalization.

Zeid Raad al-Hussein speaking in Geneva Monday noted that even though Egypt deserves to stamp out terrorism, the limitation on human rights rolls out a red carpet for extremism.

a state of emergency, the massive numbers of detentions, reports of torture, and continued arbitrary arrests  all of this we believe facilitates radicalization in prisons, Zeid said.

And abetted by the crackdown on civil society through travel bans, freezing orders, anti-protest laws, this in our opinion, it is not the way to fight terror.

Egypt is facing one of its bloodiest eras in modern history, under President al- Sisi. The country has witnessed a significant surge in terror attacks against the former military general who has pledged to restore security since 2011 when the country slid into chaos.

Two Daech-sponsored terror attacks hit the country early last month, killing 45 Christian Orthodox. Besides attacks against the Christian minority, security forces have also been targeted mainly in the restive province of Sinai.

President al-Sisi following the attacks last month declared three-month state of emergency.

The human right situation has got worse in Egypt under al-Sisi who claims that security is a major issue for his administration.

Several rights groups have accused the Egyptian leader of condoning police abuses, illegal detentions, forced disappearance of rights activists, extrajudicial killings of opponents of the regime and even faking terror scenes and raids.

National security yes, must be a priority for every country, but again not at the expense of human rights, said Zeid.
Japanese companies operating in Morocco have quadrupled in recent years in light of the investments opportunities offered by Morocco, notably in the sectors of car making and electronics, said Japans Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Shunsuke TAKEI, who is leading a Japanese business delegation on a visit to Morocco.

Japanese enterprises can contribute to the investment momentum in the Kingdom in multiple sectors, he said, adding that numerous companies are looking forward to grabbing the business opportunities offered by Morocco where the number of Japanese companies has grown fourfold in recent years.

The Japanese delegation was received in Rabat by Moroccos Industry, Investment and Digital Economy Minister, Moulay Hafid Elalamy. On this occasion, light was shed on cooperation prospects between the two countries.

In this respect, the Moroccan Minister highlighted the results of Moroccos industrial acceleration plan and its beneficial impact on the sectors of car industry, aeronautics and electronics.

He said that Morocco, as a stable country with a strategic location, is forging ahead to strengthen its regional stand as a financial hub with a growing high-tech industry geared towards exports to emerging markets.

Alamy added that fifty Japanese enterprises are investing in Morocco in the fields of car parts, citing Sumitomo Wiring Systems as an example of a largescale Japanese investment employing 19,000 people.

In 2016, trade between the two countries reached 6.86 billion dirhams, representing 1.09% of Moroccos foreign trade. Japanese FDIs, for their part, stood at 81.5 billion dirhams, that is a 0.2% of total investments in Morocco and 0.67% of Japanese FDIs in Africa.
The Algerian-backed Polisario has imposed a curfew in the Tindouf camps on May 2 to quell a protest that was supposed to be staged on May 3 by the disenchanted population held in inhumane living conditions in south-western Algeria, Moroccos le 360.ma news website reported.

Battered by a series of diplomatic setbacks at the African and international levels, the Polisario separatists are resorting to violent measures to silence opponents in the Tindouf camps. The curfew was imposed to avert a protest against the polisario leadership and to vent anger at its propaganda especially after it tried to portray its presence in the Guerguarat as a military gain, a chimera that vanished hours before the adoption last Friday of UN Security Council resolution 2351, which calls for a census of the population held in the camps.

The withdrawal of the Polisario from the Guerguarat came after pressure from the international community on the Polisario to retreat from the buffer strip, which under the 1991 cease fire agreement, should remain a demilitarized area.

The Polisario militiamen, in connivance with the Algerian army, have reinforced the siege on the Tindouf camps to prevent Sahrawis from fleeing. The Algerian army has on multiple occasions fired at any Sahrawi who attempts to leave the camps. Last March, Algerian soldiers fired without warning at a car outside the Tindouf camps, killing Kari Mohamed Ali El Ouali and his friend Ahmed Lebouiya Sahraou.

International rights watchdogs, including Human Rights watch and Amnesty International, have on multiple reports drew attention to the plight of the population held against their will in Tindouf where the Algerian state has relegated the destiny of thousands of Sahraouis to the mercy of a separatist militias that trades in their suffering.

From humanitarian aid embezzlement by the Polisario officials to slavery and forced disappearances in the Tinfoud camps, Algeria has abdicated its responsibilities and forsaken a civilian population to the mercy of a separatist militia.

UN Security Council resolution 2351 has once more reiterated the call on Algeria to uphold its responsibility to allow a census of the population held in the camps.

Algerias obstinacy to allow a head-count of the population of the Polisario-run camps prompted the EU to reduce aid sent to these camps in a bid to curb humanitarian aid diversion.

The decision was taken following a report by the EU anti-fraud office (OLAF) denouncing the embezzlement of humanitarian aid by the Polisario leadership and Algerian officials. Therefore, the European Commission decided to cut aid commensurately with the estimated number of 90,000 people instead of the inflated 165,000 people put forward by the Polisario and Algeria in an attempt to sell the idea of the existence of a Sahraoui People with a republic in exile.

Carrying out a head-count of the population held in Tindouf will enable international aid agencies to assess the needs of the population and will also pave the way for the camps dwellers to obtain the refugee status, which will grant them the right to return to their homeland Morocco or at least the right to freely choose their country of asylum. Such options that Algeria and the Polisario dread the most as they continue to trade in the suffering of Sahraouis living in abject conditions.
South African authorities have seized in Port Elizabeth a New Zealand-bound vessel carrying 50 tons of Moroccan phosphate coming from the southern port of Laayoune, reports say.

A South African judge has ordered the seizure of the vessel, which docked in the South African port for provisions, Moroccan papers Assabah and Al Ahdath Al Maghribia report.

The vessel has been reportedly seized for carrying alleged dispossessed Sahrawi resources.

The Separatist movement, according to the papers, used their good ties with the South African regime to force the seizure of the vessel.

South Africa is one the few ironclad supporters of the separatist movement on the continent, besides its traditional and long-standing protector, Algeria.

The Polisario has been staging operations against vessels loading up in ports situated in Moroccos southern provinces.

Vessels heading from Moroccan ports to Australia and other parts of Oceania from Moroccan Southern ports used to dock in South Africa to get provision for long distance journeys.

The kingdoms Phosphate Authority (OCP) said they have taken measures to ensure a quick settlement of the incident, the media report.

Mohamed Soual, adviser to OCPs boss noted that Morocco, New Zealand and Australia (flag of the vessel) will take action against the South African Government on maritime piracy charges. He believes that Pretoria will only have to let the vessel continue its journey.
Speaker Paul Ryan must be the most relieved politician in America as House passes Trumpcare on the second try. Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

House Republicans managed to pass a revised version of the American Health Care Act today by the narrowest of margins: 217213, with two members absent (and three vacancies). Twenty Republicans voted against the bill. All Democrats did so as well.

As Republicans celebrated getting this monkey off their backs and over to the Senate for an uncertain fate, Democrats regaled them with a lusty rendition of Nah Nah Nah Nah, Hey Hey Hey, Good-bye! reflecting their belief that some GOP members will lose next year thanks to this vote.

The drive to enact this bill  an earlier version was pulled from a scheduled floor vote in March with defeat certain  looked to have stalled earlier this week. But then one announced no voter, Representative Fred Upton, Republican of Michigan, came up with an amendment adding a small but symbolic sum of $8 billion to the funds available to states to deal with people that have preexisting health conditions. When the president and congressional GOP leaders avidly agreed, Upton (accompanied by another prior no voter, Bill Long) quickly flipped to yes. The momentum crucially shifted based on the claim that the House GOP had addressed the preexisting conditions issue.

Still, enough House moderates  especially those concerned about Medicaid cuts that were not changed from the original bill  held out to make the vote close.

Now, in theory, the bill can be taken up by the Senate. But the Senate parliamentarian, whose decisions on which elements of the House bill can pass muster with the Senates budget rules could be crucial, is expected to wait for a Congressional Budget Office scoring of AHCA  estimates of its impact on cost and coverage that many House Republicans feared, hastening their move to a vote.

Nothing is likely to happen in the Senate until June. So House Republicans will have plenty of time to reflect on what they have wrought before we find out if its the shape of the future or just a bad nightmare.
The more than 100-day Trump-free streak is over. Photo: Visions of America/Getty Images

On Thursday, Donald Trump returns to New York City for the first time since assuming the presidency, and pretty much no one cares.

Trump will attend a memorial ceremony at the Intrepid, the maritime museum on the west side, to honor the 75th anniversary of a major World War II Battle, and meet with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. But Politico reports that it doesnt seem as if many New York pols will be showing up, or even meet with the president while hes in town.

I dont know particularly what his schedule is. I dont know whether or not Ive been invited to attend, Governor Cuomo told reporters. I dont feel slighted. Sometimes I feel slighted by the press, but besides that, and it happens so often that Ive gotten over that. I dont even know what the events are tomorrow.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday that he wasnt invited to the Intrepid event, but the mayor might organize some counter-programming, an aide told Politico. However, it turns out both Cuomo and de Blasio were invited to go, at least according to what the events organizer, a former Clinton-era ambassador and president of the American Australian Association, told NY1. The invitations were sent and weve been informed by their staff that neither are coming, he said.

Trump can expect a few protesters to show up uninvited. One demonstration, organized by immigration groups, will take place outside Trump Tower. The Working Families Party and Rise and Resist plan to march near the museum  or as close as they can get with tight security.

But the feeling is mutual, apparently. Trump reportedly wont be spending the night at Trump Tower, instead heading directly to his club in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he will likely spend the weekend. Then again, maybe Trumps conscience is bugging him. He told Fox News last week that he feels guilty coming to New York because its too expensive for the country. I feel guilty when I go back to here, because I hate to see the New Yorkers with the streets closed, he said. Plus, he added, he goes to clubs because they have hundreds of acres and the streets always stay open.
Judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam. Photo: Mike Groll/AP

New York Court of Appeals Judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam was found dead on April 12, her body floating in the Hudson River. The NYPD had classified the death of 65-year-old Abdus-Salaam as suspicious, and after weeks of examination, have now finished the investigation, reports The Wall Street Journal.



NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said all evidence has been turned over the medical examiners office, which will make the final determination on the cause of death.

Police officials believe that Abdus-Salaam  who was the first African-American woman to serve on the states highest court  committed suicide. According to CBS 2, barring a surprising discovery by the medical examiner, authorities are not considering another possibility. Investigators have found no evidence of foul play, and her body, when discovered, had no visible signs of trauma. The Daily News reported last month that she had been captured on surveillance video, walking alone, at least nine times the night before her death, including footage of her entering Riverbank State Park at West 145th Street after midnight on April 12. That was the last time she was seen; her body was spotted near 132nd Street more than 12 hours later.

Abdus-Salaams husband, Reverend Gregory Jacobs, had previously shot down speculation that the judge had taken her own life, saying it amounted to unfounded conclusions that had no basis in reality. Other friends and family reportedly told police that the judge had struggled with depression, though Abdus-Salaam, based on the investigation, did not leave behind a suicide note.
Seven years later, GOP leaders dont want everyone to read the bill. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

In John Boehners angry, rousing 2010 floor speech denouncing the Affordable Care Act  the one in which he famously shouted hell, no! repeatedly  the Republican House leader ended on a magnanimous note. Join me, join me in voting against this bill, so that we can come together, together renew, addressing the challenge of health care in a manner that brings credit to this body and brings credit to the ideals of this nation. And most importantly, that reflects the will of the American people, he begged. Even in this moment of tea-party hyper-adrenalized rage, the party was not lashing itself to the status quo. It was instead pleading for a different, more bipartisan approach to solve what all agreed was a terrible problem.

The Republican Party has never changed its health-care strategy since Bill Clinton tried to reform the system. Republicans posture in favor of the goal of providing medical care to those who cant afford it, while opposing any specific plan that does so, and refusing to defend the policy outcome their actual position would bring about. They held to that strategy during the Obamacare debate, and through years of voting to repeal the law while promising their alternative would come soon. It was the strategy they tried to carry out earlier this year, when they would repeal Obamacare immediately and replace it  eventually.

Watch Paul Ryan make an argument in 2009 that should convince him to vote against Trumpcare.

Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare without a replacement failed. But they are attempting the next closest thing: a bill the party leadership will try to rush into law without the barest elements of due diligence. There have been no hearings, no studies, no Congressional Budget Office analysis; not even the text of a bill circulated the day before Thursdays vote.

The heart of the bill is the same one that was polling at under 20 percent and failed two months ago: a near-trillion dollar tax cut for wealthy investors, financed by cuts to insurance subsidies for the poor and middle class. They have added a series of hazily defined changes: waivers for states to allow insurers to charge higher rates to people with preexisting conditions and to avoid covering essential health benefits, and a pitifully small amount of money to finance high-risk pools for sick patients.

The implications of these changes are vast. The Brookings Institution notes that if a single state eliminated the cap on lifetime benefits for a single employee, then employers in every state could actually follow suit, thus bringing back a horrid feature of the pre-Obamacare system, in which people who get hit with expensive treatment suddenly discover that their insurer will no longer pay for their care. This would affect not only those getting insurance through Medicaid or the state exchanges, but also through their job.

The ambiguity of the details is the strategy. Republican leaders have been assuring centrists that the Senate would make changes to allay their concerns and insisting that few states would actually use the waivers allowing higher premiums for pre-existing conditions, reports The Wall Street Journal. Sean Spicer says it would be literally impossible  to do an analysis of any level of factual basis. Representative Fred Upton told reporters that if the Congressional Budget Office says the bill is underfunded he will push for more money  after it passes his chamber.

They are rushing through a chamber of Congress a bill reorganizing one-fifth of the economy, without even cursory attempts to gauge its impact. Its budgetary impact is as yet unknown. The same is true of its social impact, though the broad strokes are clear enough: Millions of Americans will lose access to medical care, and tens of thousands of them will die, and Congress is eager to hasten these results without knowing them more precisely. Their haste and secrecy are a way of distancing the House Republicans from the immorality of their actions.
Ivanka Trump at a book signing for her 2009 book, The Trump Card. Photo: John Lamparski/WireImage

Ivanka Trump appeared to have just returned from the office, her coat still wrapped around her frame and her black clutch tucked in her arm. She was standing before her two young sons, one sitting in a high chair and one teetering uneasily at her side. Music came on, and the two began to dance.

This modern Rockwell scene, captured on video, was shared on her Instagram on Thursday morning. Little moments matter, especially for working moms!! She captioned the post. #TBT to an after-work dance party with my boys. @WorkingMother magazine outlined 10 additional things I have to say about motherhood in my #WomenWhoWorkBook.

Women Who Work was released on May 2. Its a pseudo-feminist, extremely capitalist rumination on the plight of the working mother (tip: its easier to have it all when you have a team), an extension of the lifestyle brand Ivanka Trump created prior to her fathers formal political career. The book itself was written before the presidential election, and before Ivanka joined the administration as an unpaid adviser (her husband, Jared Kushner, occupies an even more senior advisory position). But Ivankas new role has, well, complicated both her brand and her ability to promote it.

On the eve of her books release, a letter from the Office of Government Ethics was made public, explaining that she would need to comply with regular financial disclosures and rules regarding conflicts of interest. Ethics rules stipulate, for instance, that federal employees cant use their positions for private profit. Most recently, this rule got Kellyanne Conway in a bit of trouble after she suggested, on TV, that people ought to go buy things from Ivankas clothing line.

Its a hard distinction, Richard Painter, a White House ethics lawyer under George W. Bush, told me  meaning a hard distinction to make, given the weirdly multiple roles being played by everyone inside the White House at all times. If Kellyanne Conway had been in a personal capacity and said, Im not gonna talk about the White House, Im gonna talk about my clothes and my kids, she wouldve been fine.

But where does that leave Ivanka? Where does Ivanka Trump the Woman Who Works end and Ivanka Trump the Public Servant Who Works (For You!) begin?

Probably to try and steer clear of these questions, the White House has insisted that Ivanka will not and has not been promoting her book. Yet she has been unusually visible during the last week: quoted on the record in a New York Times profile; sitting down with the hosts of CBS This Morning in the East Room; and appearing onstage with Linda McMahon, the head of the Small Business Administration, to discuss the challenges of being a mother and transitioning to life in a presidential administration.

The White House claims that this is just coincidence, however, and this week has in fact been no busier or more high-profile than any other week since she arrived in Washington.

Given that she could not ensure that interviewers would not ask her about her official role, she decided not to do media interviews for the book to avoid the appearance that she was using her official role to promote the book, Jamie Gorelick, her counsel, said in a statement provided to me by the White House.

Recent interviews had nothing to do with her book, Hope Hicks, the White House director of strategic communications, added via email. The timing was not driven by her schedule, and she has not spoken about her book in a media interview, period.

Okay, that may be technically true. But while she didnt speak specifically about her book in those TV and newspaper interviews, she nevertheless achieved a kind of synergy. What Ivanka is selling is her own busy, high-impact lifestyle, so necessarily any chatter about that busy, high-impact lifestyle is an ad of sorts for her products. Shes photographed by paparazzi nearly every day, leaving or arriving at her Kalorama home in between official government business, and inevitably the tabloids note that shes wearing something from her eponymous clothing line. She is, then, a strutting ethical gray area.

Not to mention that her primary policy interests are the ones that she writes about: She told the Times she wants to help women economically by creating a federal paid-maternity-leave program (in Women Who Work, she advises women to negotiate for leave and flex hours, an option very few American women have), helping to make child care more affordable (she notes in the book that although child care is often considered a womens issue, it affects everyone. We need to fight for change, she writes), and starting an initiative to help women entrepreneurs around the globe.

In other contexts, she hasnt been quite as circumspect. She has repeatedly posted about the book on her social-media accounts, although those accounts  her primary means of communicating with the public she now serves  claim to be personal. But how can you separate the personal from the political when the person in question is only in their political role not because of any particular expertise or skills but because of their, well, personal life? Its confusing, and not just to Ivanka herself; on Wednesday the State Department committed an ethics violation of its own by retweeting something Ivanka had posted promoting her book, apparently in her nonofficial capacity.

On Instagram, the other Trump and Trump-adjacent women promoted the book more directly by posing for photos  Tiffany on a balcony in leather pants, Lara resting on a couch with Central Park behind her, and even Marla Maples, puckering at the book in the Atlanta airport.

In reply, Ivanka thanked her beautiful sisters (not Marla) for their support.
Rep. David Eastman. Photo: Mark Thiessen/AP

Theres no shortage of lawmakers making infuriating, illogical statements about abortion. This year alone, Texas state representative Tony Tinderholt posited that criminalizing abortions would force women to be more personally responsible. There was Oklahomas George Faught defending banning abortion in cases of rape or incest because God can bring beauty from ashes. And the most recent inanity comes straight to you from the state Alaska, where Republican state representative David Eastman is insisting that some women purposely get pregnant so they can get a free abortion vacation. Fun!

Eastmans comments came up in the context of a discussion about an Alaska House resolution meant to raise awareness about child abuse and sexual assault; he added an amendment calling abortion the ultimate form of child abuse.

We have folks who try to get pregnant in this state so that they can get a free trip to the city, and we have folks who want to carry their baby past the point of being able to have an abortion in this state so that they can have a free trip to Seattle, he told the Associated Press, in reference to the fact that Medicaid can fund Alaska womens travel to either Anchorage or Seattle (the latter if a woman is in her second trimester) to obtain an abortion.

Because underserved women are absolutely lining up to go through a logistically and potentially emotionally and physically difficult experience if it means they also get to check out the first Starbucks store while theyre at it.
The Creative Time x Opening Ceremony Gala. Photo: Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com/Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com

The Met Galas body wasnt even cold before Creative Times annual fundraising gala kicked off on Wednesday night, but just like second husbands, this go-round, you could actually let your hair down and have a little more fun.

Held at City Point, Brooklyns new shopping mall, the gala had guests congregating in a hallway between a Trader Joes and a Century 21, and a bathtub made of ice held a bathtub-themed Bombay Sapphire cocktail, which was a lot tastier than it sounds. Ice was one of two or three discernible themes for the evening (perhaps as a nod to lifes impermanence?); flags were another, international cuisine was another. Oh, and Motown. At the end of the night, there was Motown.

Galas (and parties that require you to dress up, for that matter) are, by design, not fun. The dinners are too formal, the conversations too stiff, the fact that you are even there as a person with only one nice outfit a constant nagging sensation pecking on your skull. But this night was organized as a celebration of Opening Ceremonys Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, and wherever Opening Ceremony goes, an improbably entertaining party follows.

We decided to help Creative Time curate this down to the dessert, to the dance party, to the tablecloths, Leon told me. Weve gone to a thousand galas and theyre normally really boring. We decided, if were going to be honored, lets actually make this fun.

But fun for Leon and Lim never comes at the expense of self-awareness and political engagement, and the Creative Time gala honoring them was as much the most fun gala you could ever go to as it was demonstrably political. The flags raised to the rafters of the dining room commissioned by Creative Time were embroidered with statements like, RESIST and Dignity has no nationality. Yoko Ono, Alex Da Corte, and Marilyn Minter, among others, contributed their own designs. And if you werent invited to the gala, starting on Flag Day, you can catch a new flag flying from various flagpoles around New York every month.

Midway through dinner, curated by Mission Chinese Foods executive chef Angela Dimayuga and nonprofit League of Kitchens, members of Creative Times board, as well as Lim and Leon, stood up at separate moments to say their pledge to public art, design, and combining both as an act of resistance. The short speeches were unsurprisingly political, and when Waris Ahluwalia, the nights emcee, stood to make his, he asked the crowd of 450 to stand with us. We did, albeit toddling after one too many bathtub-themed cocktails.

Conversations around the value of public art in a time like this were many, and the conclusion inevitably was that we still really need it. A board member at Creative Time recalled when the nonprofit staged Waiting For Godot in New Orleans mere months after Hurricane Katrina had struck. At first, people were outraged, he said, but then every evening, the seats were full. Creative Times other well-known projects  Kara Walkers Sphinx and the towers of light that shine yearly from ground zero  have served similar, cathartic purposes. Corny as it sounds, art still helps us process chaos.

At the nights close, guests danced to Motown and ate soft-serve in blue wafer cones. Elvira Dyangani Ose, Creative Times newest senior curator, told me about the time she feels most creatively inspired. Any time a project comes from a place or a feeling of urgency, she said. When the situation requires it, you have to put your soul and your spirit forward in full force.

On my way out, I checked in on the events several ice sculptures made by Jordan Wolfson, assessing their decadence four hours later. Surprisingly, many of them still appeared reasonably solid.

Photo: Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com/Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com

Photo: Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com/Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com

Carol Lim, Abbi Jacobson, Humberto Leon, Ilana Glazer

Photo: Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com/Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com

Carol Lim, Chloe Sevigny, Humberto Leon

Photo: Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com/Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com

The spread.

Photo: Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com/Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com

Waris Ahluwalia.

Photo: Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com/Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com

The scene.

Photo: Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com/Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com

Angela Dimayuga and her Leage of Kitchens guests.

Photo: Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com/Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com

Jordon Wolfson.

Photo: Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com/Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com

Chloe Sevigny, Carol Lim, Humberto Leon.
One of the greatest moments in reality television ever.

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I remember, when David Gest actually died and the ONTD post was so funny, I couldn't stop cracking up

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Marry me

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lmaooooo

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The fact that you have shown up with this gif as first comment, bless.



I was half-expecting Morrissey telling us the queen is dead, boys :/

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lmao

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This miscommunication between two lunatics is a gift for the ages.

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I'm sorry, I can't stop coming back to this and laughing. The fact that Tiff assumed David dropped dead in the diary room. Let that image fill your mind. I'm going straight to hell.

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every time i see a post with ~EMERGENCY~ in the title i just think of all those ~POP EMERGENCY~ posts we used to have

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mte. op should add this

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oh my GOD YES!!!

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yes all those posts that exposed the shitty taste most people have in music.

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those were the days

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BREAKING: Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, has died. Official announcement to come from Buckingham Palace at 8 AM. pic.twitter.com/aPOrejOy5E  Shady Music Facts (@TheShadyFacts) May 4, 2017

RIP

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How old was he?

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95

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Thanks, Shady Music Facts

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idg how "Shady Music Facts" is a news source now

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Damn. What a shame.



But it's not official until 8 am and it's not 8 am in London



Edited at 2017-05-04 06:34 am (UTC)

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FYI people are saying not to believe any source besides BBC because they are the only ones who will get the official statement Buckingham Palace.



Edited at 2017-05-04 06:40 am (UTC)

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yeah i'll wait for the BBC

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I... didn't know she had a husband who was still alive

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BBC who? Shady Music Facts with the scoop!

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I refuse to believe that Prince Phillip would abandon the world just as casual racism is coming back into fashion  Dan Smith (@sirdansmith) May 4, 2017

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I always get my information about the Royals from Shady Music Facts





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it's the daily fail. i'll take it with a grain of salt. though at their ages, all bets are off in terms of how much longer they'll live. they both have had long, eventful lives. more than most of us get.

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Fingers crossed for a Brexit cancellation tbh.

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ohh could you imagine.



"The Queen has decided not to sign off on any of this Brexit nonsense. Carry on"

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This would be so very wonderfully british

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had no idea the queen had a living husband... oop

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i always thought she was a widow...i mean i guess she is now but still



edit: apparently he's not dead anymore ok never mind



Edited at 2017-05-04 06:25 am (UTC)

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U found out too late.

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lol

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welp

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lmao

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loool

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Yeah, I'd seriously never heard of this guy before. I know basically nothing about the royal family so I just assumed whoever the queen was married to would be the king and since there was no king, her husband probably was dead.



Edited at 2017-05-04 07:50 am (UTC)

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i think they did well with representing her as an indiviual instead of someone's wife. also she is the one that holds all the power anyways

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Or right on time rather now that he's just retired and not dead.

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BREAKING: Buckingham Palace official to AP: Royal household staff called to meeting but "no cause for concern."  The Associated Press (@AP) May 4, 2017







surejan.gif



Edited at 2017-05-04 06:25 am (UTC) surejan.gif

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Maybe Harry knocked up Megan Markle and they plan to elope & renounce their royal ties!!



Edited at 2017-05-04 06:49 am (UTC)

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tbh this was my first thought. Not necessarily pregnancy, but that they'd run off into the night together.

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But there's been no official announcement, so we'll see about that. People is reporting that they're fine (according to a "well placed royal source"): http://people.com/royals/queen-elizabeth-prince-philip-health/ But there's been no official announcement, so we'll see about that.

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Guess we'll know in about half an hour.

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I dont trust shit.



they would say everyone is all good until they're ready to announce someone is dead. someone will go from "he's absolutely fine" to "he's been dead for 2 days actually" in .5 seconds.



im not saying he's dead, obvi. but I have a friend that worked security detail immediately for Carrie Fisher's family following her death (and right before) and when they said Debbie Reynolds was being "rushed to the hospital in fair condition" she had long since passed :(

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oh man :( but yeah i could definitely see them making the announcement on their own terms if such a thing happened

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the new heir being born?



what do yall think it's about? i saw on twitter the illuminati were meetingthe new heir being born?

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The Queen gonna invade the US because she doesn't want Trump to visit, only way to stop him is to end him

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this from buckingham palace says neither have died. https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/world/you-could-safely-assume-queen-and-prince-philip-not-dead-buckingham-palace-says-amid-reports-emergency-meeting

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But is Charles okay?

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see that's a better theory, that one of their kids had a sudden death or a sudden health emergency event.

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That would be one hell of a plot twist

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I'm seeing conflicting reports. Interesting to see an event like this happen in the age of social media.

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I remember being on the internet when Diana died. Mom was in the other room with a 24hr news channel on on the satellite dish and I heard the report.

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I remember calling my mom at work to tell her. she was stunned. i mean we all were.



i knew there had been a car accident, i'd been watching the news. and i switched over to this show on Showtime, Fasttrack. and was flipping back and forth every so often.



when i was a kid, I remember telling my mom that i envied her, that she had "lived through history! and had those where were you when JFK died moments." and she looked at me, and i will never forget the sadness on her face as she said, "unfortunately kiddo, you too will see those moments. you'll see things you wish you never had. you will have plenty, i was doing this, when this horrible thing happened, stories."



with the shit, we've seen. like 9/11 streamed live in all it's horror, holy shit was she right.

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I heard about it on the radio while coming back from a field trip. It seems like a lifetime ago.

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I was watching Saturday Night Live and I was so young I thought it was a skit at first.

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We were driving back from Deni and had just gotten through Echuca when the announcement came on the radio.

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i was watching star wars for the first time with my Dad and my little sister and my Mom made us turn it off

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lmao

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He'll out live us all. Terrible people always live the longest.

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Associated Press said 'no cause for concern' so....



I'm gonna guess that Harry and Meghan eloped!

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Something happy? I can get on this train.

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lol I like this idea better

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omg. this would be hysterical

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That would be the fun start-of-the-summer celeb scandal that we all deserve! It's probably not that alas but for the next 15 min I will hope lol

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For the next 15 mins this is Schrodingers elopment!

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Meghan is pregnant

Meghan and Harry eloped

Charles is dead



and this is only page one.



honestly all the side stories that could be happening are so much better than Mr. Cabbage dying.Meghan is pregnantMeghan and Harry elopedCharles is deadand this is only page one.

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While the S&P 500 is up 6.49 percent, year to date (YTD), it has not brought any cheers to energy investors. Energy investors continue to see their investment bleed, as the energy sector is down 10.02 percent YTD. For the others waiting on the sidelines, the big question is whether to enter at the current levels or stay away from the energy stocks altogether.

Lets solve this puzzle!

We analyze the investment rationale for the short-term investors who have an investment horizon of less than a year and for the medium-term investors, who have an investment horizon of about 1-2 years. The long-term picture is too uncertain; hence, we wont delve into it.

The short-term picture

In the short-term, the equity market is dictated more by sentiment, rather than the prevailing fundamentals.

After the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)  excluding Nigeria and Libya  and 11 non-OPEC nations arrived at a deal to cut oil production by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd), traders expected oil to at least reach $60 per barrel levels. However, repeated failure to cross above $55 per barrel in the last four months has kept the sentiment in oil bearish.

Why couldnt oil rally higher?

OPEC has surprised the analysts by their high level of compliance. However, the US shale oil producers have used the rise of oil to $50-per-barrel levels to resume drilling activity at a frantic pace. In the latest report by Baker Hughes dated April 28, 2017, the oil rig count reached 697, a huge increase from the lows of 316 in May 2016.

This has correspondingly seen the US crude oil production rise to 9.265 million bpd, a huge rise from 8.428 million bpd in July 2016. While the US Energy Information Administration expects the US crude oil production to increase about 29,000 bpd this year and 57,000 bpd next year, Rystad Energy believes that the growth will be 100,000 bpd each month for rest of this year and into 2018, if oil prices sustain the $50-$55 per barrel levels, reports Reuters. Related: Trump Flirting With The Idea Of A Federal Gasoline Tax Increase

Along with the US, Libyawhich is exempt from the production cutshas resumed operations at its Sharara and El Feel oilfields, which will add another 400,000 bpd of oil to the markets.

Hence, the US inventory levels are reducing at a much slower pace than expected. The EIA reports: At 528.7 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are near the upper limit of the average range for this time of year.

Therefore, in the short-term, the oil price rally appears to be capped at $55 per barrel level. Though OPEC is most likely to extend their deal through the second half of the year, it will only be a temporary booster. Any material rally in oil will only be possible once US inventory levels drop below the 5-year average. If, therefore, one wants to buy from a short-term perspective, the energy sector might not outperform the S&P 500.

Now, lets see the prospects of the sector in the medium-term.

The medium-term picture

(Click to enlarge)

Consistent low oil prices have led the oil companies to slash their budgets. As a result, in 2016, only 2.4 billion barrels of oil was discovered, against an average of 9 billion barrels per year, over the past 15 years, said the IEA.

The report also said that the volume of conventional resources sanctioned for development last year fell to 4.7 billion barrels, 30% lower than the previous year as the number of projects that received a final investment decision dropped to the lowest level since the 1940s.

Such low level of oil investment, for the third year in succession in the wake of rising global demand can lead to a supply crunch in the future. Related: Russia Inclined To Extend Output Cut Deal With OPEC

Every new piece of evidence points to a two-speed oil market, with new activity at a historic low on the conventional side contrasted by remarkable growth in US shale production, said Dr. Fatih Birol, the IEAs executive director. The key question for the future of the oil market is for how long can a surge in US shale supplies make up for the slow pace of growth elsewhere in the oil sector.

In its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, the EIA forecasts WTI crude oil prices to average $52 per barrel in 2017 and $55 per barrel in 2018. The World Bank, on the other hand, is more bullish and has forecast crude oil prices of $55 per barrel in 2017 and $60 per barrel in 2018.

Waghorn, the manager of the Guinness Atkinson Global Energy Fund notes that in the past few months, energy stocks are falling, while oil has been in a gradual uptrend. In the past few decades, this has happened only thrice  January 1999, October 1987, and April 1986  and every time, the energy stocks have outperformed the market substantially in the following six months to two-year period.

Thus, with a 1-3-year horizon, the energy sector looks good for investment. However, investors should do their due diligence in picking the stocks with good fundamentals instead of going after low priced stocks.

By Rakesh Upadhyay for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Oil prices dropped on Thursday to their lowest level since last November, with Brent breaking below $50, amid concerns of rising global supply and still high inventories.

At 11:22am EDT, WTI Crude was trading down 2.82 percent at $46.47, while Brent was down 2.62 percent at $49.46 -- with both WTI and Brent having effectively wiped out all the price gains since OPEC announced on 30 November 2016 the output cut deal aimed at reducing oversupply and propping up prices.

On Wednesday, a day after the American Petroleum Institute (API) injected a bit of optimism among traders by reporting a crude oil inventory draw of 4.2 million barrels, the EIA once again poured cold water on the oil bulls by reporting a much smaller decline, of 900,000 barrels, against expectations for a decrease of 2.3 million barrels.

While U.S. crude oil inventories have declined in the past couple of weeks, stocks are still at 527.8 million barrels, near the upper limit of the average range for this time of year.

In addition, production from countries not signatories to the OPEC/NOPEC deal  most notably the U.S.  is on a continuous rise since that very same deal managed to lift oil prices and keep them steadier at above $50 for a few months. Related: Kuwait Sees $80 Oil By 2020

At some point, the market should recognize OPEC isn't the most important player in the market any more. That is non-OPEC, and, above all, U.S. shale, Commerzbank analyst Eugen Weinberg told Reuters.

Comments and speculation ahead of OPECs meeting on May 25 would likely bring prices back to the $50s, according to Weinberg. Still, the damage is there and I wouldnt be surprised to see lower levels this summer after the meeting, he noted.

OPEC is expected to decide at its meeting at the end of May whether to extend the production cut deal, with inventories still not drawing down as fast as expected, and oil prices now basically at the same level at which the deal was announced.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Russia is ready to extend the oil cut deal with OPEC and is inclined to believe that an extension is reasonable, TASS news agency quoted Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak as saying on Thursday.

Now we are holding final negotiations on this topic with our partners and are inclined to think that extension is reasonable, Novak said, as carried in English by TASS.



The surplus of commercial reserves is being reduced at a fairly good rate, and reserves in floating storage facilities have been reduced by about half, Novak noted, as quoted by TASS.

The Russian minister praised the signatories to the agreement for their high level of commitment and compliance to the cuts, and noted that oil demand growth was healthy.

Under the deal between OPEC and 11 non-OPEC producers, Russia had to cut output by 300,000 bpd by the end of the first half. Just yesterday, sources from the Energy Ministry told media that Russia had exceeded its assigned quota for crude oil production cuts by 790 barrels a day. Russia hit the 300,000 bpd cut shortly before the end of April.

So far Russia had given its principal support of an extension, but Alexander Novak had not gone into any details besides saying that the support is conditional on consensus within OPEC.

Last week, Saudi Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih said that he would discuss a possible extension with Novak within the next two weeks.

There seems to be a consensus in that direction, but were not 100 percent there, al-Falih told reporters while on a visit to Azerbaijan, as quoted by Bloomberg. Related: Trump Flirting With The Idea Of A Federal Gasoline Tax Increase

We still need to talk to all countries. A very important country to talk to, of course, is Russia, the biggest non-OPEC exporter, al-Falih noted.



Many OPEC countries have hinted that the cuts need to be extended beyond June, and analysts are mostly expecting a rollover until the end of the year.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Oslo-listed independent oil and gas producer African Petroleum said on Wednesday that it still holds 90 percent in a block offshore Senegal, for which Frances oil major Total SA signed an exploration and production sharing contract the day before.

On Tuesday, Total said that it had signed a deal for the Rufisque Offshore Profond block, in which it will be the operator with a 90 percent interest, with state firm Societe Nationale des Petroles du Senegal (Petrosen) holding the remaining 10 percent.

Now African Petroleum reiterates its position that it owns 90 percent of the Rufisque Offshore Profond (ROP) production sharing contract, potentially setting the stage to a legal battle.

Under the terms of the ROP PSC, the block remains active unless and until a termination procedure is enacted by the Republic of Senegal. To date, the Republic of Senegal has not validly enacted such termination procedure, and accordingly the Company reserves its rights under the ROP PSC, African Petroleum said in its statement.

According to Reuters, Petrosen said on Thursday that the contract with African Petroleum had been canceled in April last year.

The company was supposed to do work in compliance with its obligations and that was not done so we canceled the contract, Petrosen Managing Director Mamadou Faye told Reuters.



Related: Oil Prices Crash To Pre-OPEC Deal Levels

The potential dispute over the offshore Senegal resources comes at a time when Australian exploration company FAR said in February that it had discovered more than 1.5 billion barrels of crude off the coast of Senegal, as a result of a 3D seismic study.

Last month, Cairn Energy said that its appraisal and exploration well program offshore Senegal continues, with the latest well drilled confirming the reservoir presence, fluid contacts, and fluid quality in line with the results from the previous wells.

In its Q1 2017 results release earlier this week, BP said that it had started exploration drilling in Senegal.



By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
By Lydia White

At a time when Legislators threaten to slash government services to cover a $1.6 billion budget shortfall, Governor Kate Brown and Treasurer Tobias Read plan to make things worse.

Next week, the State Land Board will meet to consider selling 84,000 acres of the Elliott State Forest to Lone Rock Timber Management for $221 million. If the sale is approved, all the money would be invested in the Common School Fund, generating billions of dollars in earnings for K-12 schools.

Governor Brown, who supported the sale in 2015, now wants the state to buy out the Elliott for $100 million by issuing bonds. Taxpayers would pay back the principal and interest for the next 25 years, at a cost of $120 million or more.

But the Land Board has a constitutional obligation to produce revenue for Oregon schools by either managing the Elliott for a profit or selling off dead assets. Forcing taxpayers to buy an asset they already own, plus forgoing $121 million in additional funds from a willing buyer and millions more when factoring in compound interest, would violate the Boards fiduciary trust.

Fortunately, the Oregon School Boards Association, one beneficiary of the Common School Funds, expressed intent to sue if the Land Board refuses to fulfill its fiduciary duties.

The Board has a firm offer of $221 million. They should accept it.

Lydia White is a Research Associate at Cascade Policy Institute, Oregons free market public policy research organization.
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has joined the Gambia Press Union to mark this years World Press Freedom Day (WPFD 2017).



The global event to mark the day is being observed in Jakarta, Indonesia, under the theme "Critical Minds for Critical Times: Medias role in advancing peaceful, just and inclusive societies".



The MFWA believes the theme for this years celebration is significant for journalists who have worked tirelessly and have contributed immensely towards ensuring that peace and justice prevail in their societies.



The day is particularly significant for journalists and the media community in Gambia who for the first time in 22 years will be observing press freedom day after years of repression and human right abuses under the brutal regime of Yahya Jammeh.



The Jammeh regime saw many journalists arrested, imprisoned, tortured, disappearing and killed.



Reflecting on the theme and its importance in the context of Gambia, the Executive Director of the MFWA, Sulemana Braimah said the Gambia is currently in critical times and the country requires critical minds of journalists who must play a critical role in the country's quest to build a peaceful, just and inclusive society in the post Jammeh period".



As part of the activities to mark the day, our Executive Director and the Programme Manager for Freedom of Expression, Dora B. Mawutor will be joining a procession by the GPU through the principal streets of the Gambian capital, Banjul.



The procession will end with the presentation of a position paper to the Minister for Information and Communications Infrastructure, Hon. Demba Ali Jawo.



The MFWA team will also be part of a symposium at the University of The Gambia.



While we are in Gambia celebrating WPFD2017, the MFWA takes the opportunity to salute journalists and the media community across West Africa who are driving change and advancing peaceful, just and inclusive societies.

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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


Th e President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is advocating for the 24-hour opening of the borders between Ghana and Togo, explaining that this will boost trade and tourism, and, thereby, ensure that the peoples of the two nations reap the economic benefits thereof.



According to President Akufo-Addo, the opening of our borders will give true meaning to the ECOWAS Protocols on Free Movement of Goods and Persons, and will spur on progress and prosperity for our peoples.

He made this known on Wednesday, May 3, 2017, when he delivered a brief speech at a State dinner held in his honour by the President of the Republic of Togo, His Excellency, Faure Gnassingbe.

With President Akufo-Addo determined to aide in the strengthening of the ECOWAS community, he noted that it is extremely important for the welfare of the 350 million people living in West Africa, that its leaders show strong political will to make ECOWAS an economic and political success, and to make the integration real.

I am fully committed, and I know President Faure Gnassingbe is too. With West Africas population set to reach some 500 million people in 20 years time, there are immense opportunities to bring prosperity to our region with enterprise and creativity. The time for West African integration is now. Ghana and Togo should take the lead in converting ECOWAS into a true regional market, and, indeed, in helping to facilitate the wider efforts at continental integration and unity, he added.

A functioning, common regional market in ECOWAS, in President Akufo-Addos view, has to be a very fundamental objective of all of the peoples and governments in ECOWAS, and it is for this reason that I am very much for the 24-hour opening of the borders between our two countries. This will boost trade, tourism, and, then can we reap the economic benefits.

It was the hope of President Akufo-Addo that during his and the term in office of President Faure Gnassingbe, Ghana and Togo will continually search for ways to co-operate and harness fully the benefits of their shared resources.

The resources of the Volta Basin, the exploitation of our mutual iron ore deposits, the rapid construction of dams to extend the supply of electricity to the northern parts of our countries, the joint respect of our maritime borders, the completion of the construction of water treatment plants to deliver potable water, as well as the sharing of knowledge and information, will create jobs and wealth for our two peoples, he said.

To this end, President Akufo-Addo told his Togolese counterpart that it is not right that the last meeting of the Permanent Joint Commission of our countries was held in 2009, some 8 years ago. It would give me great pleasure to welcome your team to Accra for the next Joint Commission meeting, hopefully in July. We must hasten the process of the attainment of our shared objectives.

New Generation of African Leaders

President Akufo-Addo praised the Togolese President for promoting a spirit of national reconciliation amongst the Togolese people, a reference to the presence of the erstwhile leader of the Togolese opposition, Gilchrist Olympio, who was also present at the State dinner.

They have both exhibited considerable courage in bringing the process this far. They have demonstrated that the forward movement of this country is their only and utmost concern. Long may they continue on this path, he added.

President Akufo-Addo noted that Africa is breeding a new generation of leaders, adding that this generation of African leaders must not fail the longsuffering African masses. They must help bring dignity and prosperity to our continent and its peoples.

The new generation of leaders emerging on the continent, he noted, are committed to governing their peoples according to the rule of law, respect for individual liberties and human rights, and the principles of democratic accountability, and are looking past commodities to position their countries in the global marketplace.

He added that this new breed of African leaders are determined to free their peoples from a mindset of dependence, aid, charity and hand-outs; are bent on mobilizing Africas own immeasurable resources to resolve Africas problems; and recognise the connectedness of their peoples and economies to those of their neighbours.

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
" " Two men observe the Israeli settlement of Ma'ale Adumim in the Palestinian West Bank with the Judean desert in the background. THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images

Just a few miles to the east of Jerusalem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Ma'ale Adumim started out as an encampment of two dozen Israeli families in 1975. Today, it's a city of 41,000 residents with a shopping mall, a library, a theater, 15 schools and an industrial park. When a New York Times reporter visited Ma'ale Adumim in early 2017, construction workers were busy at work, adding more homes to the clusters of white buildings in the hills [sources: Fisher, Jewish Virtual Library].

To supporters of the Israeli settlement movement, Ma'ale Adumim is a success story  a prosperous community built on what was once just empty hillside. But to Palestinians  including Bedouins in the Ma'ale Adumim area who've lost access to land where they once raised goats and sheep such settlements are a threat to their dreams of someday having a Palestinian nation.

Advertisement

Ma'ale Adumim is just one of numerous settlements, communities that Israelis have established on land that Israel captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, including the West Bank, the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem. Most of the settlements are in the West Bank, an area that Israel controls but never has formally annexed.

Over the past 50 years, the population of Israeli settlers in areas outside its 1967 borders has grown dramatically. Today, there are nearly 400,000 settlers living in 131 settlements officially sanctioned by the Israeli government, plus another 97 unapproved outposts, according to Peace Now, an Israeli political group opposed to settlements that gathers data on them.

Add to that another 200,000 Israelis who live in East Jerusalem and about 20,000 in the Golan Heights  areas also seized in the 1967 war that Israel eventually annexed  and you've got roughly 600,000 Israelis or 10 percent of Israel's 6.3 million Jewish citizens living outside Israel's pre-war borders [sources: Myre and Kaplow, BBC News].

To the Israeli government and supporters of the movement, including many people in the U.S., the settlements represent Israelis returning to live in places that once were part of ancient Israel, and where Jews lived in the centuries that followed. But to the Palestinians and much of the rest of the world  including 14 nations belonging to the U.N. Security Council who voted in December 2016 to condemn the settlements  they violate international law and are a major obstacle to the long-elusive vision of a two-state Israeli-Palestinian solution.

In this article, we'll look at the history of the settlements and how they've added to the quandary of lasting Middle East peace.
Bill Toscano reporter Follow Bill Toscano 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

When the new monument at the First Baptist Church in Hartford is unveiled Friday, it promises to be dense with text.

But the story it tells is a fascinating one, so here is the text, as provided by Jeff Faggart of the North Carolina-based Baptist Preservation History Society.

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

The history of the First Baptist Church of Hartford is a chronology of faithfulness, and its influence was commensurate with that of the new nation. Shortly after the War for Independence, this area of Upstate New York witnessed an influx of new settlers. Families carved farms from the wilderness, and saints propagated the faith by planting churches.

Baptists had gathered a church in the town of Westfield by 1787. Services were held not far from this spot in a log barn, and converts were baptized in the nearby brook. Upon the division of the town of Westfield in 1788, the Baptist Church took the name of the new town, Hartford. In 1798, Governor Dewitt Clinton gifted the church with land upon which to erect a new meetinghouse, and in 1805 a log building was raised. The property was also used as a burial ground for the Baptist Society.

Steady growth among the Baptists soon necessitated larger accommodations, and an additional lot was acquired for that purpose. In 1813, the third house of worship was erected; an impressive structure measuring 51 by 55 with galleries on three sides. Seven hundred people could be seated comfortably therein, and it was often filled. The historic old meetinghouse stood for almost eighty years, until destroyed by fire on May 04, 1890. The present meetinghouse was dedicated on January 22, 1891.

The names of Atwood, Barrel, Brayton, Brown, Bump, Carr, Covell, Cummings, Downs, Ingals, Ingalsbe, Mattison, Pickett, Pierce, Scott, Walling and Whitford are noted by church records as early members. Many sons and daughters of the Baptist Church in Hartford served the Lord in this community, while some were sent to labour in fields at home and abroad.

Jonathan Wade, converted under the ministry of Pastor Amasa Brown, was baptized into the membership of this church, August 4, 1816. He was the first student to enter and graduate from the Hamilton Literary and Theological Institute (Colgate University) in Hamilton, New York. Wade expressed his desire to preach the gospel in Burma.

He and his wife, Deborah Lapham, were appointed missionaries. In 1823, they sailed to Burma, where for nearly fifty years they prosecuted their pioneer work. In spite of dangers, privations, sickness and the absence of friendship, they rejoiced to see much fruit from the ministry.

G. W. Hervey, in The Story of Baptist Missions, details Wades faithfulness to his calling, as well as his great contribution to mankind:

The literary labours of Dr. Wade have been of the greatest importance. It was by him that the Karen dialects, both Sgau and Pwo, were reduced to writing. His Karen Thesaurus, a work in five volumes, is a monument to his patient study and knowledge of the language. To the revision of this great work, Dr. Wade gave his last days in this world. In several different stations and in diverse departments of labour; in Rangoon, Maulmain, Maubee, Matah, Tavoy and other places, he toiled with perseverance in his Masters service until he was called home to heaven.

Noah Barrell, native son of Hartford and Pastor of the Baptist Church in Cambray, was highly esteemed for his defence of Baptist principles. He pastored a number of churches in New York and Ohio before finishing his course in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Barrells Records of Marriages remains a popular source for genealogical research.

The French-Canadian, John Baudin, was converted here late in the eighteenth century and returned to Canada, where he planted a Baptist church in St. Armand, Quebec. History reveals that he suffered for his faith.

ELDER AMASA BROWN

Born April 21, 1754, in Bristol, Massachusetts, Amasa Brown was the son of James and Mary Anthony Brown and a sixth  generation descendant of John Browne, Commissioner to the Colonies and Assistant to Governor Bradford of Plymouth Colony. Few details of his younger days were recorded, but he is known to have lived in Swansea, Massachusetts. It was in Swansea that a Baptist congregation from Ilston, Wales, and Baptists in the Plymouth colony formed the First Baptist Church in Massachusetts. Among the constituent members of that church was James Brown, lateral ancestor of Amasa. The Brown family was afterwards very prominent among the Baptists.

Subsequently, Brown moved to Vermont, where he joined the Ira Baptist Church, February 17, 1786. There, he made known his calling to preach the gospel, was licensed as a minister and given opportunities to exercise his gifts. Succeeding Elder Thomas Skeels, Brown became the second pastor of the church in Ira and continued in that office for three years. Elder Brown commenced preaching in Hartford in 1788 and was a good soldier of Jesus Christ in this Church for thirty-three years.

Browns ministry in Hartford and the surrounding area was greatly blessed by God. He often traveled as an itinerant  preaching, administering the ordinances and planting churches. His sphere of influence was extensive and was manifest in home, church, association and community. He baptized eight hundred eighty-two converts and organized churches in West Hebron  1792, North Hebron  1793, Great Bend  1793, South Hartford (Adamsville)  1795, Granville  1796, North Granville  1799, Welch Hollow  1810, and Cambray (Gouverneur)  1811.

Jonathan Wade, Barna Allen, John H. Barker, Noah Barrell and John Baudin were called to preach during the ministry of Elder Brown. The faithful saints in Hartford assisted him in building the kingdom of God and they rejoiced together in sowing and reaping. It can be said of Elder Brown that his praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches.

Amasa Brown served his country in the War for American Independence and the War of 1812. His name is recorded in the Patriot Index of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The History of the Shaftsbury Baptist Association provides an interesting anecdote concerning his fidelity to God and country:

Elder Brown was a Patriot. For when his regiment was called out in 1814, to march to Plattsburgh, the order coming on the Sabbath  as Chaplain he went into his desk in the morning with his epaulettes on, and preached a very patriotic discourse to incite his neighbours and brethren to fidelity, who had been summoned to the defence of their country against the invading foe  and then at the close of the service marched on with his regiment in the afternoon, evincing that his love of country was true-hearted. . . .

His memory is cherished among the people of the town of Hartford and the regions about it, for the excellent traits of his character as a man  a Christian  and a minister of Jesus Christ. If he was not the most talented of preachers, he was a very useful one.

Elder Amasa Brown died January 21, 1830, and is buried here among the people to whom he ministered.

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.  II Timothy 4:7-8

Monument Dedicated by The Baptist History Preservation Society  May 05, 2017
Governor Martinez and the New Mexico Office of African American Affairs release historic data to give a greater advocacy voice to the local black population.

GOVERNOR MARTINEZ RELEASES A HISTORIC "STATE OF BLACK NEW MEXICO" DATA HUB

New Mexico, March 6, 2017 - Governor Susana Martinez and the New Mexico Office of African American Affairs (OAAA) release a historic look at the State of Black New Mexico, through a data hub designed to give a greater advocacy voice to the 3.1% (64,448) Black population. The OAAA contracted the University of New Mexico Center for Education Policy Research to assist in the creation of an interactive online visualization depicting the disproportionate disparities Blacks face in our state.



The on-line data resource provides a single location for more than 50 different health, education, economic and socio-demographic indicators, providing users the means to extensively and quantitatively measure Black communities throughout New Mexico. Data made available is integrated and can be viewed for comparison across various national, state, county, district, and school level perspective. A wide range of data sources utilized are made publicly available by state and federal agencies, including the U.S. Census Bureau, Office of Civil Rights, New Mexico Public Education Department, New Mexico Department of Health, New Mexico Corrections Department and the National Center for Education Statistics... For more information on the State of Black New Mexico Data Hub, contact the New Mexico Office of African American Affairs at (505) 383-6222 (OAAA) or visit the hub housed on the agency website at http://www.oaaa.state.nm.us/dashboards.aspx.
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Writing in The Observer, former Belgian Prime Minister

Theresa May, who had previously ruled out a general election, said a Conservative victory would make her "stronger" when she "negotiates for Britain with the prime ministers, presidents and chancellors of the EU."

"The theory espoused by some, that Theresa May is calling a general election on Brexit in order to secure a better deal with the EU, is nonsensical," he wrote.

"Will the election of more Tory MPs give Theresa May a greater chance of securing a better Brexit deal? For those sitting around the table in Brussels, this is an irrelevance."

The Brexit coordinator also took issue with the timing of the election, calling it a "powergrab" designed to "take advantage of a Labour party in seeming disarray to secure another five years of power before the reality of Brexit bites."

Labour is expected to be crushed by the Tories in the June election, with the latest polls showing Labour trailing by 24 points. News of the snap election also lead to 12 Labour MPs resigning.
Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters he plans to bring the American Health Care Act to the floor of the House and is confident that the bill will pass.

"Do we have the votes? Yes. Will we pass it? Yes," McCarthy said.

The vote will take place just over a month after House Republicans were forced to pull the AHCA from the floor just minutes before a vote after they were unable to wrangle enough of their members to vote for the bill.

Most projections for the outcome of the vote are close. The New York Times aggregate of unofficial whip counts collected by various media outlets has between 19 and 21 GOP lawmakers publicly against the bill. Due to the universal opposition by Democrats, only 23 Republican members can vote against the AHCA for it to fail.

The move comes after a last-minute effort by the House GOP leadership and the White House to win moderates over on the AHCA.

Centrists had pushed back on an addition to the legislation that allowed states to apply for a waiver to repeal some Obamacare regulations, which some members worried would undermine protections for people with preexisting conditions.

To combat this concern, Rep. Fred Upton on Tuesday release an amendment to provide an additional $8 billion in funds to protect those sick Americans in the event that such a waiver is triggered. Importantly, three of the co-sponsors of the amendment  Reps. Steve Knight, David Valado, and Jeff Denham all from California  were either uncommitted or publicly against the AHCA.

The amendment and a trip to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House was apparently enough to win over Upton and fellow hold-out Rep. Billy Long. Their movement, along with the potential cover it could provide other more moderate members, helped get passage within reach.

Importantly, Upton's extra funding did not lose the support of the conservative House Freedom Caucus which did not support the AHCA when it was first brought to the floor in March.

A source close to the Freedom Caucus told Business Insider that some members of the Caucus had seen legislative text of the Upton amendment.

"The Freedom Caucus will continue to support as long as there are no substantive policy changes," the source said.
Apple investing in high-tech manufacturing in the United States would come as rare common ground with US President Donald Trump, who hammered away at the theme during his campaign for office last year.

"We are creating an advanced manufacturing fund," Cook said in an interview broadcast on CNBC.

"We are initially putting one billion dollars in the fund."

Cook pointed out that Apple spent more than $50 billion in the US last year -- buying from suppliers such as Corning Glass, working with developers behind applications for the California company's devices and more.

Apple has about 80,000 employees in the US and plans to hire thousands more "in the future," according to Cook.

"A company should have values because a company is a collection of people, and people should have values," Cook said.

"One of the thing you should do is give back."

Apple planned to borrow money for the new fund despite having a fortune in coffers overseas because of the tax hit that the company would suffer if it brought profit home, according to Cook.

And while Cook has been among Silicon Valley stars critical of Trump when it comes to limiting immigration, he endorsed a push for comprehensive tax reform.

"To invest in the US, we have to borrow," Cook said.

"Comprehensive tax reform is so important to this economy."

Showing up

Cook described it as wise to explore common ground with the administration while standing up when there are disagreements.

"Most people, if you disagree and say why, you have a good chance at influencing things," Cook said

"You look to find common ground; if you don't show up, I think that is the worst scenario because then you are quiet, and it doesn't do your cause any good."

Taiwan's tech giant Foxconn in January announced a $7 billion investment to make flat panels in the United States in a joint project with Japan's SoftBank.

Foxconn is the world's largest contract electronics maker and is best-known for assembling products for international brands such as Apple and Sony.

Apple this week reported a rise in quarterly profits, but logged weaker iPhone sales ahead of a 10-year-anniversary model on the horizon.

During a conference call with analysts, Cook said Apple was seeing a "pause" in iPhone purchases that he felt was caused by unconfirmed "reports about future iPhones."

Still, the company contended that iPhone sales were better than it had expected, and skewed toward large-screen iPhone 7 models that have higher margins of profit.

It is a sign of Apple's success but also a thorny problem: its cash stockpile has hit a staggering $256.8 billion, sparking debate on what do with such massive reserves.

Apple's quarterly report Tuesday showed its cash holdings -- the vast majority held overseas -- jumped to a sum that tops the entire economic output of Chile.
In an interview with Accra-based Joy FM, the Chief Executive of GridCo William Amuna said they have started an investigation to find out the cause of the outage.

We don't know what exactly caused the power outage, but we are investigating. There has not been a situation that demands that we shed load. This power outage was an emergency.

READ ALSO: Power restored after nationwide power outage

There was a fault with national supply which cause all the regions to lose power at about 9:40 pm.

He added that they lost many generators across the country due to the surge.

However, speaking to Accra-based Citi FM Mr Amuna said: we would have to go through our system to indicate exactly what happened but the concentration has been on restoring power to the nation.

We started the restoration programme till about 1 am when we were above 1,000 megawatts but there was a swing in the power system again and we lost some generation but we are in the process of restoring power he added.

At about 9:40 pm on Wednesday (May 3, 2017) Ghana experienced a nationwide blackout.

Many Ghanaians took to social media to comment on the development.

The Nana Addo-led government has also come under attack especially after they criticised the then Mahama administration for dumsor.
We have several nursing training schools  some private ones have been training nurses for usthey pay their own school fees. So the value of bonding doesnt seem to be real now, he told Accra-based Citi FM.

His comments follow a statement by the Ministry that starting from 2017/2018 academic year, new entrant trainee nurses will not be mandated to serve a bond after completion of their training in government funded health institutions.

But several of the nurses have told Pulse.com.gh that stopping the bonding arrangement would not be ideal for health service delivery in the country. Below are some of the responses.

Solomon is a bonded nurse

The important part of it all is that I know I am receiving allowance at the end of the day so if Im being bonded I know that at the end of the day Im going to get some work to do after I am done with my training. So if they are not going to bond me and there is something that after I am done with my training the government can decide to give me a work or I would have to go round looking for a job to do. So I believe its not going to happen.

But as time is going on, the number of nurses that we are training is increasing so I believe that if we are being bonded, we know we have a contract with the government and at the end of the day the government is going to take us into the system. And we are not going to suffer going around because you know the jobs are not available. The government would be in a better position to amend certain things and put us where we are supposed to be. Else we will go back to this era where nurses have to be taken out of the country to go and work and there will be shortage of nurses. Therefore I believe that if the government should bond us, it is going to help us.

Dorcas is a nurse at Ridge Hospital

Well it [bonding] is a good thing in a way that students can get allowance to sustain themselves in school because most people depend on the allowance to pay their fees so if this allowance is to be removed it means that it will affect people. But on the other way round, if they are not being bonded, if only the students are able to take care of themselves, then after schooling thats where the benefit comes from...that one you can travel and work anywhere.

Frederick, a nurse from the Accra Psychiatric hospital

I think at the time they instituted this policy most of the nurses right after school will just leave the country, a mass exodus of nurses. So it got to a time that nurses were really scarce in the country so that came to check that. But if the government thinks now it has a lot of nurses and for that matter it wont bond anybody. Im sure there will be these repercussions in the near future because these days there are others who dont leave the country, but leave the nursing profession. So at the end of the day we would have the numbers in the country alright but when you go to the field, there will be nobody there to work.

Franklin is a nurse in the Volta region
It was adjudged at the maiden edition of the Ghana Manufacturers Award held in Accra.

The company which is part of the worlds leading premium drinks business, UK-based Diageo, also strives hard to play a leading role in improving the lives and livelihoods of the community in which it operates, through a number of breakthrough initiatives.

Guinness Ghana Breweries is on a path to become the most vibrant and iconic business in Ghana by 2017 following its recent 27.5 million investment in a new state-of-the-art brewing and packaging line at its Kaasi brewery.

The company was also awarded Best Company in Corporate Social Responsibility and the Best Company in Waste Management/Sustainability.

The company is currently implementing a number of changes within its distribution systems and making innovations within its branding and marketing divisions, in a bid to increase its overall efficiency and stay ahead of ever-changing consumer needs.

In Ghana, it distributes a wide range of internationally celebrated brands including Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff and Baileys and on the beer and stout front, produces Guinness, Malta Guinness, Star and Alvaro as well as Ruut Extra Premium Beer, which was the first cassava-based beer on the market.

READ MORE: Memorable ways some Ghanaians celebrated their Easter holidays

It currently produces some 2,000hl a day equivalent to 26,700 cases rattles out 36,000 bottles an hour on its just installed packaging line.

Managing Director of GGBL Francis Agbonlahor said "we are very proud to be named the Manufacturing Company of the Year from such a competitive and diverse manufacturing industry. GGBL has operated in Ghana for over 50 years and contributed significantly to the socio-economic development of the country through direct and indirect job creation as well as impactful Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives. Consistently, we have proved that our products are manufactured to the best quality and promoted in a responsible manner, adhering to global best practices. This award will certainly spur us on to create the best performing, most trusted and respected consumer product company in Ghana."
A communique issued at the end of the official visit of the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to the Republic of Togo noted that, together with President Faure Gnassingbe, both leaders have indicated their willingness to activate the High level permanent joint Commission of cooperation between the two countries.

READ MORE: Nana Addo visits ECOWAS countries

On Wednesday, May 3, 2017, the two leaders visited the Joint Border Post at Noepe and Akanu. Despite the commissioning of the post some 3 years ago, it is yet to function. To this end, the two Presidents instructed their respective Ministers to speed up the interconnection of Customs IT systems so as to operationalize the post, and aid in the free movement of goods and persons across the Ghana/Togo border.

With reference to agriculture, the single largest occupation of the populace of both countries, the two leaders called for the intensification of technical cooperation, and the exchange of experience between the two countries, particularly in aquaculture, and the development of coffee, cocoa and cashew nuts.

On the Sogakope-Lome drinking water supply project, the two Heads of State stressed the need to speed up the implementation of the project, as the ripple effects of this project will be of immense benefit to the two countries.

READ ALSO: Nana Addo receives rousing welcome in Togo

President Akufo-Addo and President Gnassingbe also expressed their determination to strengthen actions to combat illegal timber trade, and tasked their respective ministers to put in place the appropriate mechanisms to this end.Touching on the continuation of the programme of electrification of the localities along the borders of their respective countries, the two countries renewed their commitment to ensuring the completion of the joint hydroelectric dam project in Juale.

In the area of road infrastructure, the two Presidents instructed their respective Ministers to seek funding in the ECOWAS framework for the construction and rehabilitation of the roads linking Kemerida-Kara-Nachamba, in Togo, and Tatale-Yendi, in Ghana.

Addressing the issue of common borders between the two countries, President Gnassingbe and President Akufo-Addo agreed to give priority to high level dialogue, instead of resorting to the courts to answer the delimitation of their maritime boundaries, on the basic of the principle of equity and the right of each country to have a sea front.
According to him, such persons have high tendencies of being corrupt.

Speaking on Adom TV's Morning Show Badwam, the NPP legislator said that even if Jesus Christ makes a triumph entry into Ghana, the Ghanaian attitude of corruption would affect him so we must not trust him.

If you come to me for a business advice, I will say, If you are a business man and you meet Jesus Christ and through a conversation and he says he knows Ghana, dont believe him anymore. Right there, you have to apply all the business principles because Jesus Christ who knows Ghana has been corrupted, he stated.

He further argued that Ghanaians do not make the best business partners as they are genetically dishonest.

It is embedded in us that when you employ a Ghanaian as a CEO, hes likely not ready to steal from you but his family members will psychologically influence him to use other means to make more money which will collapse the business eventually he said.
In a statement, copied to Myjoyonline.com, lawyer Samson Lardy Anyenini said his client has provided all the necessary information to FDA in respect of the incidents surrounding the companys Easter Monday Adonko Bitters Aseda Bash, which formed the basis for the company's ban.

Scores of revellers on Easter Monday, April 17 were seen sprawled on the pitch of the Baba Yara Stadium gasping for breath after the annual Adonko Aseda Bash in Kumasi.

The all night concert attracted several Oseikrom gurus as well as Dancehall King Shatta Wale and Bisa Kdei. Ofori Amponsah, Agya Koo and Afia Schwarzenegger were also present at the concert.

Several of the revellers, who were in their teens were enticed to the show with a free gate but on condition that each of them bought a bottle of Adonko Bitters liquor at GH10.

Hundreds of them apparently could not control their heavy intake of the popular Adonko Bitters, and as such, several were seen lying on the pitch drunk after the concert.

The FDA subsequently banned any activity involving Adonko Bitters but Samson Lardy Anyenini is convinced the regulatory body will reverse its decision once it fully interrogates the detailed information and documentation provided them.

He also stated in the petition that the product sold on the day of the bash was of high quality and approved by the FDA, adding, "the incident of suspected abuse of the product during the special aseda bash event is completely unconnected to the safety and quality of Adonko Bitters."

The following is the full petition to the FDA

RE: FDA SANCTIONS AGAINST ADONKO BITTERS PENDING INVESTIGATIONS INTO SUSPECTED VIOLATIONS

We are solicitors for ANGEL GROUP OF COMPANIES whose subsidiary are manufacturers of Adonko Bitters, and have instructions of our clients to bring to your kind notice as follows:

That the company has petitioned the Food & Drugs Authority over the decisions and actions particularly in sanctioning Adonko Bitters Limited which it publicly announced last week pending investigations into allegations that the companys Easter Monday, April 17, 2017, Adonko Bitters Aseda Bash concert at the Baba Yara Stadium left some youth passing out as a result of excessive intake of the alcoholic product.

That the FDA has been supplied information and facts that should assist put matters of the said event in proper perspective, and hopefully inform a quick revision/reversal of the decisions and actions taken so far. This should also allay any fears by patrons of products manufactured by our clients, and these include the facts below:

That the manufacturing practices and quality monitoring systems remain as thoroughly examined and approved by the FDA, and that the incident of suspected abuse of the product during the special aseda bash event is completely unconnected to the safety and quality of Adonko Bitters.

That it ought to be stated with emphasis that the product sold at the event remains the product approved by the FDA except for a special event promotional label. The assurance is therefore given the FDA and consumers that the quality and safety of the said product is what the FDA has already approved.

That further assurance is given the FDA and consumers of the companys full commitment and cooperation with ongoing investigations even though it is certain the outcome will confirm the contents of the product remains what the FDA approved.

That in line with these facts and the above sincere assurances of full commitment and cooperation and in full compliance with the FDA's directive to recall the product, the company further assures that it is embarking upon same forthwith.

That the company states that while recalling the product with batch number 201, it is also simultaneously announcing to the general public to return said product anyone may have for replacement.

That the company is happy to note that the special event promotional labelling of the said batch of said product makes it even easier for identification and will assist all to separate it (though was left unsold at the event) from what has always been on the market and embraced by consumers for its high quality.

That the company, without prejudice, accepts in good faith the administrative charge of GHC 25,000.00 resulting from the FDAs decision of a lapse on part of the company in running promotions for the said event with the product with celebrity association with the event without prior notice and approval of the FDA.

That the company, however, disagrees with claims and suggestions of violations where there is no evidence that the product was sold to minors and/or that consumers on the occasion were adversely affected by its consumption. There was massive police and military presence to ensure the safety of patrons. There was ambulance which on record attended to a patron who needed medical attention. It is difficult to make scientific claims of pictures whose sources cannot be guaranteed. That, notwithstanding, the company apologises for any untoward developments leading to the FDAs actions.

That the FDA and the general public is assured, most sincerely, of the companys fullest commitment to the FDAs requirements and all safety and quality standards which have given products of the company international acceptance, and also that the appropriate notices and approvals for such promotional events shall be strictly adhered to in future.

Thank You.

Signed

SAMSON LARDY ANYENINI, ESQ.
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Nii Noi Nortey lost the last re-run of the partys parliamentary primary in the constituency by Philip Addison, who polled 396 votes.

Mr Nortey had before that been declared the winner in an earlier primary on August 2, 2015, but Mr Addison challenged the results in court, which was upheld, resulting in the re-run.

READ ALSO: Nii Noi Nortey details why he is going independent

Mr Nortey who subsequently decided to go independent said he was advised by his followers to do so.

But speaking on Agoo TV on his birthday, Wednesday May 3, 2017, Nii Noi said he regrets his decision and is, therefore, asking for forgiveness.

It hasnt been easy I will like to use this opportunity to forgive anybody who opposed me and also anyone who I might have offended, he said.

When you are young you get people telling you to do all manner of things. However, I want to use this opportunity to ask for forgiveness and especially my political godfather  former President J.A Kufuor. He even called me to rescind my decision [to go independent] but there were a lot of circumstances on the ground which didnt allow that.

I want to use this opportunity to apologise to the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo because he also called me to rescind my decision and I didnt listen. I must say it wasnt an issue of disobedience, but there was a lot of politics on the ground which I cant go into.

Yes, I regret going independent. The circumstances which led to that was unfortunate. In life sometimes you have to make some tough decisions. Im really sorry to the big men I failed to heed their advice.

Im apologizing to these big men  Nana Addo, Kufuor, Bawumia  including Anthony Karbo, Mustapha Hamid for all my actions.
Dlamini pointed out that the two economic powerhouses together contribute 60% of the gross domestic product of sub-Saharan Africa. Africa cannot succeed unless they succeed, he added.

However, neither South Africa nor Nigeria is currently on a high-growth path. The global slowdown has clearly had a profound effect, but the countries leaders need to consider whether they have fully applied the principles of inclusive and sustainable growth. One example of effective leadership would be a redoubled effort at regional integration. At present, only 10% of all Africas trade is intra-African  the lowest ratio of all continents in the world. If this could be boosted to 20% it would make meaningful inroads into creating jobs and tackling poverty.

Haruki Hayashi, Executive Vice-President, and Regional Chief Executive Officer, Europe and Africa, Mitsubishi Corporation, United Kingdom, said that South Africa and Nigeria should be leaders, drivers and role models for other African countries. This does not necessarily mean they shouldnt be competitive  after all, the African market is a huge one with many trade and development opportunities for both. Hayashi said that policy consistency, political stability and turning back the tide of corruption are imperatives to South Africa and Nigeria assuming a leadership and mentoring role on the continent.

Danladi Verheijen, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Verod Capital Management, Nigeria, said that diversification of economies is a priority for many countries, but particularly in Nigeria, given its heavy reliance on its oil resources. He said oil has been seen as fuelling the Nigerian economy, but it should instead be seen as lubricating it. Quick wins are important to kick-starting growth away from current low levels.
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The meeting will take place just hours before a larger White House meeting about the fate of the US' participation in the global environmental pact, Axios reported.

Pruitt has repeatedly called for the US to exit the Paris agreement, calling it "a bad deal for this country." Ivanka Trump's actions signal support for the US to stay put, though she has not publicly spoken at length about it.

According to White House sources cited by Axios, she has "set up a process to go through the decision and ensure [Trump] hears all the facts before making his decision."

For example, in December Ivanka Trump and her father had two separate meetings with former vice president Al Gore and actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio.

Terry Tamminen, CEO of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation (LDF), who was at the meeting with DiCaprio and the Trumps, told Business Insider that the president was very receptive to their meeting and asked for a second meeting with the duo with more experts. Tamminen said that at the meeting, he and DiCaprio presented Trump with facts about how renewable energy could create jobs and save money for the country and he "loved" the idea. The pair also explained to him how the Paris climate agreement would benefit the country.

"Everything we showed him that was a climate solution  he liked," Tamminen told Business Insider.

Despite the positive meeting and Trump's call for a second one to be scheduled after the the inauguration, the Trumps have not replied to LDF's attempts to meet again.
The ages of the teenagers who are students ranged between 11years to 14 years, and they live at Ayobo, a suburb of Lagos.

The prosecutor, Sgt. Raphael Donny, told the court that the offences were committed on April 23 at Comfort Ayeluina St., Ayobo, Lagos.

Donny said that the students went to the residence of one Mr Mohammed Olajire and burgled his room and stole N85,000.

Donny said that it was one of the neighbours who sighted the teenagers that raised an alarm.

The children were arrested in their different houses,  he said.

The offences contravened Sections 285, 307 and 410 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

They all denied committing the offences.

The Chief Magistrate, Mrs Davies Abegunde, granted all the defendants bill in the sum of N30,000 each with one surety each in like sum.
According to the prosecutor, Bala of Dawakin Kudu Local Government Area of the state is facing a count charge of unnatural offence.

The Prosecutor, Mr Rufai Inusa, told court that the father of the boy, one Abdullahi of Kofar Arewa Village reported the matter to the Dawakin Kudu Police Station on March 22.

He said that on March 10 at about 2 p.m., the boy, who was on his way from a mosque, was allegedly lured by Bala into a nearby shop, where he had an unnatural act with him.

Inusa said that the victim was rushed to Dawakin Kudu Hospital for treatment.

The prosecutor said the offence contravened Section 284 of the Penal Code.

Bala, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Majekodumi of no fixed address, however, denied the charge and was admitted to bail in the sum of N20,000 with two sureties in like sum.

The prosecutor, Insp. George Nwosu, said the defendant committed the offence on April 22 at Gafar Close, Adeniji Jones, Ikeja, Lagos.

He said that the accused stole a cell phone valued at N46,000, property of one Bukola Akanbi.

Nwosu said that the accused unlawfully entered into the premises of Access Advertising Company Security post with intent to commit felony.

The complainant was charging her phone at the security post and she left to get water.

As the complainant was coming back, she saw the accused coming out of the security post.

The complainant quickly entered the security post to check her phone, but discovered that it has been unplugged and stolen.

She raised an alarm and ran after the accused who took to his heels.

The accused was apprehended with the help of people and the phone was recovered, he said.

The offence contravened Sections 287 and 308 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The reports that the offence attracts a jailed term of three years on conviction.
According to the brand manager Mr Olawande Alaran, the promotion which ran from March 21 to April 30 2017 had several consumers go home with lots of instant prizes such as Generators, Mobile Phones, Sandwich Makers, Blenders, amongst other fantastic prizes.

While presenting the key to the Brand New Hyundai Xcent to the Winner, Mr Adenekan at SPAR Ilupeju, Mr Alaran thanked all retail outlets and consumers for their support and loyalty to the Skyy Vodka.

Also speaking during the presentation, Mr Adenekan explained that it was his friends birthday on April 27th and he decided to buy him two bottles of Skyy Vodka but to his amazement, he scratched and won a Brand Hyundai Xcent courtesy Skyy Vodka.

Elated Mr Adenekan responding to questions noted that he appreciates the reward and as a loyal consumer of Skyy Vodka, he then thanked Brian Munro for being mindful of the Nigerian worker and living up to its promise to its consumers.
Oluke, who resides at No. 5, Ogunleye St., Ipaja, a suburb of Lagos, is standing trial on a two-count charge of conspiracy and assault.

According to the Prosecutor, Sgt. Yomi Egunjobi, the accused and others still at large committed the offences on April 9 at Church Bus Stop, Ipaja.

He said the accused and others conspired and assaulted Tiamiyu, by first hypnotizing him before attacking him with an axe.

The offences, he noted, contravened Sections 172 and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 172 stipulates three years for serious assault, while Section 411 provides two years for conspiracy.

The accused, however, denied the charges.

The Magistrate, Mrs M.O. Osibajo, granted bail to the accused in the sum of N100,000 and two sureties in like sum.

Osibajo said the sureties must be gainfully employed and also reside within the courts jurisdiction.

In addition, the sureties are required to show evidence of tax payment to the Lagos State Government.
Fashe, who lives in Festac Town, Lagos, is facing a three-count charge of conspiracy, stealing and obtaining under false pretences.

The Prosecutor, Sgt. Olusegun Kokoye, told the court that the accused committed the offences on April 27, at Agboju 2nd Gate, Festac Town, Lagos.

Kokoye said the accused with others now at large, fraudulently obtained N100,000 from Hayu with a promise to sell a motorcycle to him.

He said that the accused, who had no intention of selling any motorcycle to the complainant, converted the money to his own personal use.

Kokoye said that Hayu reported the matter to the police and Fashe was arrested.

He said the offences contravened Sections 285, 312 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 312 stipulates 15-year jail term for obtaining by false pretences.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty.

The Magistrate, Mr M.A Etti, granted the accused N100,000 bail with one surety in like sum.

He said the surety must be gainfully employed and show evidence of two years tax payment to the Lagos State Government.
Alhaji Nasiru Mani, the Director of Primary Health Care of the council, confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiadua on Thursday.

He said that 16 cases were recorded out of which eight people lost their lives.

According to him, the remaining patients have been admitted at the Maiadua and Daura general hospitals for proper medical attention.

We (LGC) had since deployed a surveillance team to the area to address the situation, said the director.

He said the combined efforts of state and local government medical teams have succeeded in addressing the problem.

I called on our people to avail themselves for the ongoing vaccination against such diseases to curb further spread of the disease."

We have designated centres at our rural clinics where people are being immunised or vaccinated against such diseases, he said.

Mani commended the role of Medicines San Frontiers (MSF) or doctors without borders for their efforts in addressing the outbreak.

He called on the people of the area to adhere to the safety measures of sleeping inside ventilated rooms, houses and environs.
The 2016 budget expires on Friday, May 4, 2017.

Speaking at plenary, Senate leader, Ahmed Lawan stated that the Senate would receive the 2017 budget from its committee on appropriation on Tuesday, May 9, 2017.

Senators Danjuma Goje and John Enoh who chaired the committee failed to present the 2017 budget report to the upper chamber this week.

Lawan moved that the presentation of the budget be stepped down to the next legislative day.

"They are meeting with the house committee on appropriation to cross the ts and dot the is of the 2017 budget by harmonising and I have also been informed that by the grace of God, the budget 2017 will be laid on Tuesday," Lawan said.

"Having said this distinguished colleagues, I will move that we step down, we stand down the presentation of this report to Tuesday the next legislative day," he added.

Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over plenary said that senate and the house were putting final touches to the report so that the National Assembly could transmit same to the executive for assent.
According to Sahara reporters, the doctors, who are said to be all British, arrived the Presidential Villa on Thursday, May 4.

The online news platform, citing a 'highly placed source' at the Presidency, said the doctors comprise of two males and one female.

Buhari has remained in his official residence for two weeks - the Presidency says this is on doctors' recommendation.

With the President's minders, including his wife, Aisha, insisting that his illness is not as bad as it is being speculated, inside sources say Buhari is emaciating by the day.

Although the Presidency has refused to disclose the nature of Buhari's ailment, Sahara Reporters sources claim the President is suffering from Crohn's Disease, an intestinal disorder.

The report said Buhari also has prostate issues as well as age-related disorders, including early-stage dementia.

The President's official age is 74.
Ocheni who was screened by the Senate on Wednesday, May 3, 2017, is expected to serve as replacement for Late James Ocholi, the former minister of state for labour and employment.

In a solidarity match to the National Assembly, the youths described the choice of Ocheni by the President as apt.

Ahmed Asuku, leader of the group, noted that Buhari did not make a mistake by choosing the professor as minister.

"We are here to show appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari who nominated professor Stephen Ocheni as a minister of the federal republic of Nigeria," Asuku said.
Fani-Kayode also said that Buharis current illness is judgment from God.

Read the article below:

The day before yesterday we were told by the First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, that her husband was not as ill as most of us believed and that despite his obvious challenges he has continued to carry out his responsibilities.

On the same day the media went to great lengths to convince us, without providing any pictures, that the President had resumed work and that he had had a series of fruitful and productive meetings with his Minister of Justice and the Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) respectively.

They assured us that he would definitely preside over the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting which was scheduled to hold the following day. All of these assertions proved to be false. Buhari has now missed his FOURTH Federal Executive Council meeting in a row due to his chronic and debilitating ill health. Whoever is holding this poor, frail, sick and elderly man to ransom and keeping him in the Presidential Villa, probably against his will, is wicked and ungodly and he or she is committing a grave sin against God and the Nigerian people.

It is clear that the President is no longer fit to govern. It is obvious that his time is almost up. It is self-evident that for him the bell is tolling. It is incontrovertible that those around him have held him captive and are indulging in what I once described in an essay that I wrote seven years during the last days of President Umaru Yaradua as corpsocracy.

The essay was titled Corpsocracy: A Gift From Umaru To The Modern World. Simply put corpsocracy means the rulership of the living by the dead. It is the art of hiding a walking corpse, a comatose zombie or what some have described as the living dead in a cupboard in the Presidential Villa, telling the world that it is hale and hearty and then ruling and running the country in its name.

This is what happened during Yaraduas last four months on earth whilst he still had one foot in the land of the living and it is happening to Buhari today. Such was the ruthless and cold-blooded deception that Yaraduas inner circle brought into the equation that they managed to convince the Nigerian people and indeed the entire world that a President that was totally comatose and literally brain-dead managed to sign the 2010 budget all the way from dream-land.

They also managed to conjure up a fake but convincing telephone interview with the television service which millions of unsuspecting viewers, including yours truly, watched and listened to from all over the world. Such was the angst of the management of when the truth was unearthed and they finally discovered that they had been misled, conned, duped and used that the northern Nigerian woman that organized the so-called interview, passing off Yaraduas brothers voice as Yaradua himself, was expeditiously and unceremoniously sacked.

All these dirty games conducted in a squalid and sordid attempt to hold on to power at all costs. Yet worse of all are the nauseating mendacities that the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, keeps churning out. Yesterday he told us that Buhari did not attend the FEC meeting this week because he was still resting.

Equally amusing was the absurd assertion from the Minister of Transport, as Rotimi Amaechi, who claims that he is not corrupt and that he does not like money and who told Nigerians that Buhari was now putting on weight, was much better and that he was fit enough to run for the Presidency in 2019. Honestly one wonders if these creatures have any genuine love and compassion for their principal because if they did instead of telling us lies about his medical condition they would simply get on their knees and beg him to resign. One wonders if they have any shame.

It is very clear to me that they are all under an accursed hex or Luciferean spell. They have been bound and blinded in body, spirit and soul. This is a classic case of the Living God hardening Pharaohs heart unto destruction. Yet sadly those in power, including Buhari himself, are so obsessed with that power that they cannot see it.

Instead of letting Gods people go and bringing to an end the wickedness, persecution, slaughter and destruction of their perceived enemies, the Buhari administration has gone into full throttle and unleashed even more havoc on members of the opposition and those that they hate. A few examples will suffice.

A couple of weeks ago when my younger brother Mr. Deji Adeyanju, the stormy petrel of Nigerian political activism, together with his equally dynamic colleague Mr. Ariyo Dare Atoye, organized protest marches across the country demanding for the release of the great Biafran leader and irrepressible Igbo nationalist Prince Nnamdi Kanu, they were both promptly arrested and briefly detained by the police.

The same thing happened to them again in Abuja a few days later after they organized yet another demonstration, this time calling for the release of two online bloggers and journalists, Mr. Austin Okai and Miss Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo. It didnt stop there. Two days ago the Southern Kadunas Peoples Union (SOKAPU) went on a march in Unity Square, Abuja protesting about the continued mass murder, genocide, butchering and ethnic cleansing of their Christian brothers and sisters and people by Buharis kinsmen, the Fulani militias and herdsmen.

Amongst their ranks was the courageous, refreshing, young, articulate, brilliant and bright rising star of Nigerias Middle Belt zone, Miss Ndi Kato. Sadly instead of being treated with sensitivity and compassion and being given assurances that the killings would stop and the killers would be brought to justice, they were insulted, beaten, brutalized and dispersed with batons and tear gas by the Nigerian police. When elements of the Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) group led by Mrs. Aisha Yesufu joined them as a mark of solidarity, they were brutalised and dispersed as well.

Worse still Aliyu Babangida, the former Governor of Niger State, Sule Lamido, the former Governor of Jigawa state, Ibrahim El Zak Zaky, the leader of Nigerias Shiite Muslims, Sambo Dasuki, the former National Security Advisor to President Goodluck Jonathan and countless other opposition leaders and opponents of the government remain languishing in detention cells and prisons all over the country whilst plans are afoot to frame up and arrest numerous others like the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.

This is clearly a government and a President of no going back. Like Shakespeares Macbeth they are so far steeped in blood that should they wade no more, returning would be as tedious as to go over. Yet the price for their chosen path, their sheer cruelty and callousness and their sanguine disposition is very high.

It is not just a matter of Buhari possibly dying in office as a consequence of whatever it is that has afflicted him but also what the aftermath of his death will bring. Baba Bisi Akande, a leading member of the APC and one of the most revered and credible figures in the country, has already fired a warning shot on behalf of the Vice President and the south-west by saying that nobody should mistake 2017 for 1993. For those that are too young to know what he is saying is that if Buhari dies no-one should dream of scuttling Professor Yemi Osinbajos succession and thereby deprive the south-west of the Presidency like they did in 1993 when Chief MKO Abiolas mandate was annulled by the northern military simply because they did not want a southern President.

This is a timely and useful intervention by Baba Akande but sadly it has fallen on deaf ears. The cabal and the ultra-conservative core north (which is the constituency that Buhari represents) has already made up its mind. As a matter of fact the spokesman of the Northern Patriotic Assembly issued a prompt response to him yesterday and warned him and other leaders from the south-west to desist from making what they described as such immoral and despicable statements.

Again at the instance of the northern elders and leaders, the APC Youth Wing issued an even sterner warning and advised Akande to go for a psychiatric test for suggesting that the ill health of the President was taking its toll on the nation. As far as these people are concerned the Presidency of Nigeria belongs to the north and whether Buhari lives or dies, it must stay there. Worse still their view is that if they cannot have it then nobody will. That is the beastly mindset of those that we are contending with. And those that suffer from it will certainly come to an equally beastly end.

The truth is that President Muhammadu Buharis administration and those that they represent have been rejected by the Living God. His is a government of compulsive liars, sadistic tyrants, blood-thirsty psychopaths, closet kleptomaniacs, ethnic supremacists, radical Islamists, skull and bone diviners and voodoo merchants. The fact of the matter is that whether they like it or not we are entering the end game. Everything is coming to a head. The next few months will be instructive and critical and much will happen that will surprise and shock the world and the Nigerian people.

To the spiritually sensitive and discerning one thing is clear: this dispensation is almost over. The beast is dying. The flesh is rotting. The vultures are gathering. The sky has turned black and a new era approaches. Yet even in sickness, death and decay the tyrant and his followers revel in deception, treachery, doublespeak, blood-lust and wickedness. My advice to them is to humble themselves and FEAR GOD before it is too late! My counsel to them is to let this sick and elderly man resign in peace and allow him to go home to take care of his health and make his peace with God.
The resumed hearing followed the retraction of the falsified publication by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).

Ashinze is standing trial with Wolfgang Reinl, an Austrian, Edidiong Idiong and Sagir Mohammed, on a 13-count bordering on money laundering.

Other defendants in the case are five companies - Geonel Integrated Services Limited, Unity Continental Nigeria Limited, Helpline Organisation, Vibrant Resource Limited and Sologic Integrated Service Limited.

NAN reports that Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had on March 21 ordered the EFCC to retract an offensive press statement issued by the agency.

The statement, published in Vanguard Newspaper, referred to Ashinze as a retired officer and that he was never charged by the EFCC for any offence on diversion and misappropriation of N36 billion.

Kolawole had also ordered that the Deputy Registrar, Litigation, of the court to liaise with the Deputy Sheriff to ensure that the March 21 order was served on the paper's Editor-in-Chief.

He said the relevant officer of the newspaper must come before the court on May 4 to show where it (newspaper) got the March 8 publication on the N36.8 billion fraud charge against the defendant.

At the resumed hearing, the prosecuting counsel, Ofem Uket, informed the court that the said statement which was misreported had been retracted and published on ThisDay Newspaper dated April 12.

The prosecution also told the court that he has in his possession a certified true copy of the retracted newspaper report and has given the defence counsel a copy of the report.

After back and forth argument by counsels on the legitimacy of the retraction, the judge said the court is satisfied with the retraction.

An EFCC investigator Hassan Seidu, who is a witness in the ongoing trial, continued his testimony on how the defendants got N5.6 billion from Office of National Security Adviser.

Seidu said in the course of their investigation, the EFCC requested from Corporate Affairs Commission a certified true copy of registration of six companies which was sent and forwarded through the executive chairman of the anti-graft agency.

The defence team opposed to the admissibility of the document, stating they are not reliable after the prosecution prayed the court to admit the documents in evidence.

In their argument, the defence said there is no evidence of payment of the prescribed fees as approved by the Minister of Trade.

More so, that the said document has no name and certified signature, hence, the document failed to meet the provision of Section 379 sub.1 of Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) of 2015.

The counsel, however, urged the court to take judicial notice as no proof of payment was made in relations to the documents and asked the court to "consign the document to the dustbin."

The prosecution while addressing the court withdrew the document and promised he will do the needful in certifying the documents.
According to the man, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is cooking up a plot to set him up by planting totems of corruption in his home.

Ekweremadu read a letter purportedly written by someone who works with the anti-graft agency.

The letter, according to the man who read it, was titled: 'Please Treat This With Utmost Secrecy by Protecting the Identity of the Source.

The letter, as read by Ekweremadu, contained some of the following:

Distinguished senator, there is a grand plan from the cabal in the Presidency, using EFCC as an anti-graft agency, to indict and remove you from office. This cabal in the Presidency has mandated the EFCC chairman to carry out this evil operation within two weeks.

The plan and the trap goes like this: On the 6th of May 2017  Saturday night stroke Sunday morning  the EFCC, alongside local and international media, both print and TV and radio, will raid an apartment under the guise of whistle blowing policy of the Federal Government with a search warrant already obtained in the magistrates court to search an apartment alleging to be one of your guest houses in Enugu State capital or any suitable available apartment in your senatorial district that will serve this evil purpose.

EFCC (will be) claiming to have received a tip-off from a whistle-blower in your state alerting the agency of a large huge amount of money of different currencies in the said apartment belonging to you, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, the Deputy Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a proceed of which is likely to be (considered as) illegally obtained and acquired, which constitute abuse of office and corruption.

The things to be discovered in said apartment are a huge amount of money with different currencies such as British Pound Sterling, United States dollars, Indian rupee, South Africa rand and Malaysian Ringgit; documents alleging to be yours such as 2015 campaign memo and logistics, a list of names, chairman local wards of party men and women that benefited from your empowerment program; and other cooked documents bearing your signature.

The questions to be asked here are that, does the (dis)honorable Senator have all of these monies in his Enugu guest house?

If the answer to the question above is No, then hes got absolutely nothing to worry about.

Is Ekweremadu concealing Pounds, Dollars, Rupees and Rands in any of his apartments across Nigeria?

If no, then one should think that hell go to bed with both of his eyes closed.

If the argument is that the security agencies will plant all of these items in Ekweremadus apartment, then it behooves on the Senator to employ round the clock security round this Enugu guest house during the period his friend has alerted him that this would happen, in order to prevent the EFCC from going ahead with the plot.

This all sounds like a red herring or a kite flying exercise from the Senator.

Ekweremadu has absolutely nothing to worry about if his hands are clean.

By reading that letter on the floor of the Senate, he not only wasted the nations time, he probably let us into what he is hiding.

And if the EFCC werent looking in his direction, here was an invitation to begin doing so.

The response from the EFCC, delivered through its spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, was spot on.

The EFCC told the Senator to sleep easy if he hasnt got his fingers soiled.

Please do indulge me as I reproduce a few sections from the EFCCs statement.

The commission wishes to state in very strong terms that it is not aware of any plot to set up Ekweremadu for any arrest. If any agency is plotting to plant monies and guns in Ekweremadus residence, it is certainly not the EFCC as such antics are alien to the commission.

Nevertheless, the commission is worried by the alarm and the fact that the highly-regarded deputy president of the Nigerian senate would go public with such unverified information without first double-checking with the commission.

This is not only very strange but smacks of a scripted propaganda campaign to distract the commission by putting it on the defensive.

It must be emphatically stated for the benefit of Senator Ekweremadu and others who share similar misconception and jaundiced views of the EFCC that the commission does not need any grand plot to arrest and prosecute him if he is found to have violated any law that EFCC enforces.

He does not belong in the category of public officers that enjoy immunity from arrest and prosecution by law enforcement agencies.

Once again, the alleged plot by EFCC to raid Senator Ekweremadus house on May 6, 2017, exists only in the very fertile imagination of the Distinguished Deputy Senate Presidents questionable source, whom he claims is close to the EFCC.

Let it be known, however, that there will be no amount of scare-mongering that will dissuade the EFCC from vigorously enforcing its mandate to rid Nigeria of corruption.

That was some brilliant, succinct statement right there!

Ekweremadus outburst had propaganda and scare-mongering written all over it and the nation should ignore him.

The Senator was on some sort of defensive tactic. It's the oldest trick in the book.

If hes got nothing to hide, hes got absolutely nothing to be afraid of.
The Ministrys spokesperson, Clement Aduku, in a statement in Abuja said that though some junior workers were being owed salaries, the embassy was not shut down as reported.

The Ministry wishes to state that contrary to reports of shutdown, the embassy is functioning properly and discharging its statutory diplomatic and consular responsibilities, he said.

Aduku, who admitted regrettably that there was a delay in the payment of salaries to some junior workers at the mission, however, stated that efforts were being made to address the matter with utmost urgency.

He appealed to the general public to feel free and go ahead in transaction of normal business with the embassy as it was never shut.
On Monday, May 1, 2017, three soldiers, 15 militants were killed during a gun battle that ensued between men of Operation Delta Safe and the hoodlums.

After the incident, soldiers were dispatched to search for fleeing militants in the creeks and maintain peace.

A source, Tonye Ebitibituwa said This morning (Wednesday), the military men came to the community with six gun boats and attacked our community. They set the town ablaze. Ajakpa community did not support the killing of the soldiers by Iboris gang.

The community did not in any way support Ibori, but the ongoing action of the military has no human face. Setting the community on fire is unnecessary.

The inhabitants of Ajakpa community have been rendered homeless without food, water and basic things of life. We appeal to the Ondo State Government to assist the innocent people, he added.

Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of the 32 Artillery Brigade, Captain Ojo Adelegan has debunked the reports.

Adelegan said The Nigerian Army did not burn houses or kill innocent people in that community. The protection of lives and property of Ajakpa community is our responsibility.

The operation we went for was to flush out the militants so that peace would return to the community.

If there is burning of houses anywhere, it should not be attributed to the army. Our men can never be involved in such an act.
The group gave the warning on Wednesday, May 3, via a statement released by spokesman, Emma Powerful.

The statement reads:

The Indigenous People of Biafra and its leadership worldwide condemn those unscrupulous individuals who are fabricating letters and stories with the name of our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, who barely came out of prison a few days ago.

We warn those behind this calculated campaign of calumny, especially, the APC propaganda machine and their affiliates, to stop this particularly despicably immoral acts with immediate effect or face the wrath of IPOB.

Those behind this latest show of shame are fully aware that our leader is unable to speak up against some of these fabrications as he was barred from speaking to the media by Justice Binta Nyako, who imposed an unconstitutional order as part of the bail conditions.

These agent provocateurs are fully aware that our leader cannot grant press interview for now but it will be appalling for these immoral purveyors of iniquity and evil men in the society to be writing press statements in the name of our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, without proper consultation.

Our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, cannot grant press interviews to counter these fabricated letters and stories by these evil men, meanwhile, we ask them to stop forthwith because IPOB members worldwide cannot fold their arms and watch them attempt to tarnish the reputation of our leader.

Furthermore, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has said it a long time ago that his only focus is to restore Biafra and nothing else, anybody who is trying to bring restructuring of Nigeria into the struggle for the liberation of Biafra is doing that to his or her own detriment.

Therefore, any person or group of persons who think that our leader can even dream of agreeing to restructuring or tampering with the ethos of the struggle is deluded.

The struggle for Biafra independence is a divine project which no man born of a woman can stop.

Kanu was granted bail on April 25, 2017, and released from prison after being arrested in October 2015.

ALSO READ: IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu satisfies bail conditions
A statement by Mr Chuks Okocha, a media aide to Saraki, quoted him as saying this when he received the South-East Professional Women Association of Nigeria and the Diaspora (SEPWAND) in Abuja on Wednesday.

Though there are different adoption laws from the various states of the federation, the 8th Senate will ensure that these adoption laws are harmonised to make child-adoption easier for couples."

The harmonisation of these adoption laws will go a long way to halt the increasing and rampant cases of girl-child sex slavery that make some girls get pregnant and later forced to sell the child."The Senate will debate these laws from the states, harmonise them and make them less stringent as they are and make adoption laws easier for couples that plan to adopt any child."

This will stop the recourse to patronising illegal child-adoption centres, he said.

He added that the amendment would enable vulnerable young girls to access credit to set up businesses and in the process put operators of baby factories out of business.

President of SEPWAND, Mrs Nwankanya Ibe, said the South-East had recorded several cases of illegal adoption centres called Baby Factory.

She said that the unfortunate development formed the basis for establishing the organisation.

According to Ibe, SEPWAND is a non-governmental organisation whose key objectives are to eradicate girl-child abuse, sex slavery and all forms of violence against women.

She added that the organisation was set up to empower the girl-child through scholarship awards, livelihood skill developments and empowerment of women in agriculture.

We intend to have a skill development centre at our headquarters in Enugu for the pilot stage and eventually in all state capitals in the South-East."
The Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in New York reports that Bande presented his credentials on Wednesday evening at a brief ceremony at the office of the Secretary-General.

Receiving the Nigerian envoy, Guterres commended the pre-eminent place that Nigeria occupied particularly on the African continent.

Nigeria is a very very important country, the Secretary-General said with delight in a brief remarks.

He pointed out that Nigeria was needed by the UN to build on the progress the global organisation was already making on the continent.

Guterres pledged that the UN and Nigeria would work cooperatively to advance peace and sustainable development on the continent.

NAN reports that Bande was received by Guterres alongside the UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed.

After the receiving Bandes credentials, Guterres, supported by Mohammed, then hosted the new ambassador and his team to a brief closed-door meeting.

The new envoy was accompanied by Nigerias Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Amb. Samson Itegboje; Head of Chancery, Dr Cyprian Heen; and the Missions Spokesperson Akinremi Bolaji.

Bande, who assumed office at the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the UN on Monday, was the immediate past Director-General of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Jos, until Feb. 25, 2017.

He replaced Prof. Joy Ogwu, who held the position from 2008 to 2015.
Buhari had, at the time, urged the FEC to save the nation from the current agony by declaring the president incapacitated to pave the way for his impeachment.

The comment was made by PDP spokesman in Akwa Ibom, Ini Ememobong who criticized the president for absenting himself from his official duties.

If the framers of the constitution wanted the president to work from home, they could have said so. That is why there is delineation between the office and the home. One of the conditions expected of somebody running for the Office of the President is being physically and mentally sound, Ememobong said.

So if the president is unfit to attend two Federal Executive Council meetings, how is the country running? He was unfit to attend a critical event like May Day celebration where the entire workers expected him to address them on issues bordering on their welfare, it is something that is disturbing.

So PDP, as a party, has a great respect for the president and his office. We do not intend to pay them back in the same coin that they paid us. But because karma is involved and whatever a man sows, he shall reap, we are only asking the president to take the advice he gave to the Federal Executive Council over YarAdua. He knows what the position is.

He should take his advice as he advised the Federal Executive Council to determine the health of Umar YarAdua. We are not saying anything new. We are only saying: prophet, heal thyself.

The people who criticized YarAdua, this is an opportunity to remind them of what they said then because truth is universal and timeless. So, Nigerians should rise up He either resigns honourably if his health can no longer carry him or he tells Nigerians the true position of his health so that we can evaluate, he added.

Buharis health status has attracted controversy since he departed the country in January for a 10-day medical vacation in London.

The president ended up spending 49 days in London and upon his return, admitted that he had never been so sick in his entire life.

Fears about Buharis health were renewed when he failed to attend the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday, April 12.

Buhari was also absent at the April 26 FEC meeting and the April 28 Jumaat prayers at the Aso Rock mosque.
Clark also criticized Obasanjo for making insulting comments about the Ijaw nation.

The Ijaw leader was reacting to statements credited to Obasanjo in a book recently published by former presidential spokesman, Olusegun Adeniyi.

In your narration in Adeniyis new book, there is nothing you said which you did not say in your false and self-aggrandised book containing assertions and character which you do not possess, yet you are assassinating the character and libeling patriotic and decent leaders and people of Nigeria, including innocent late President YarAdua and former President Goodluck Jonathan, Clark said in an open letter to Obasanjo.

Dr Jonathan was my candidate and I have a right to campaign for him and there was nothing that we said to infuriate or insult anyone as you are falsely and maliciously impressing on Nigerians. You said in Adeniyis book, that the late DSP Alamieyeseigha, former governor of Bayelsa State, whom you hated and destroyed, had no reason to say that theres no vacancy in Aso Rock on May 21, 2013 when he was campaigning for Jonathan.

Whereas another PDP leader from Niger State, Governor Babangida Aliyu, also stated on September 18, 2014 that there was no vacancy in Aso Rock when he was addressing youths of Niger State, who wanted him to contest the Presidency. Whereas also in 2003 Chief Anthony Anenih also declared that there was no vacancy in Aso Rock because you must be returned as President of Nigeria.

The same Anenih told Atiku during his campaign for Jonathan in 2014 that there was no vacancy in Aso Rock in 2015. As Nigerians, we are free to campaign for any candidate we believe in whether he or she is from our ethnic nationality, from our zone, from our state or the same religion as us and or political party. This is the situation all over the world.

Isnt it just hypocritical that you mentioned zoning as one of the areas where you hated Jonathan? You served Nigeria as a head of state from 1976 to 1979 before you handed over to President Shehu Shagari. Then you came back in 1999 and served Nigeria for eight years in two terms as an elected President, again you said you wanted a third term and spent Nigerian money in lobbying for a third term.

At that time, zoning did not occur to you. You are a hypocrite I say again, always wanting the downfall of others. You are a man who should not be believed by any Nigerian. You parade yourself all over the country and world as a saint and the best President Nigeria has ever had. What a fraudulent claim," he added.

Obasanjo had been quoted in the book as saying that Jonathan was never capable enough to handle the office of president.

ALSO READ:Goodluck Jonathan vows to reveal secrets about 2015 election
The Supreme Court verdict which would have been a decider was on Thursday, May 4, shifted.

At the resumed hearing on the application filed by the National Chairman of the Party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, the apex court adjourned the matter to May 25.

Sheriff had filed the application against the appeal filed by the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led faction of the party.

On March 16, the Makarfi faction approached the Supreme Court, asking it to overturn the Appeal court judgment that declared Sheriff as the authentic Chairman of the party.

The Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on February 27 affirmed Sheriff as the legitimate National Chairman of the PDP.

Sheriff, in his counter application, is arguing that Makarfi has no legal grounds for his appeal.

ALSO READ: PDP Crisis - 23 state chapter chairmen declare support for Sheriff

He argued that the Sheriff-led PDP did not give anyone the permission to file a suit on its behalf, therefore, the suit filed by Makarfi is null and void.

In response, Makarfi's counsel urged the court to disregard the argument by Sheriff's lawyer.

He said since the issues raised by Sheriff's counsel are already in the substantive suit before the court and since issue have been joined, there is no need to listen to anybody who is not a part of the suit.
2016 in Nigerian comedy got a new, unexpected visitor. She was a girl, not based in Lagos like most entertainers, and most of all, she was a kid.

The fan base grew, from Nigeria, to the Philippines, to even bagging awards in Australia. Heck, she's so mainstream that UK mums even send Mark Angel videos to their kids the way our mums here send us Whatsapp broadcasts about missing people and one-chance buses.

By the end of 2016, the Youtube channel already crossed a total of 100 million views. With over 900k channel subscribers, one new Mark Angel episode easily does 1 million views in a week. Something Nigerian superstars will gladly pay for.

I was having a conversation with a few friends, and the question came up;

Is Emmanuella funny or nah?

I think the question is never whether we find a person funny or not. The question instead, is why we find them funny. Basketmouth or Bovi cracks me up every time, but I've never laughed to an Alibaba joke in my life.

So humour is clearly relative.

So why do people find Emmanuella funny?

For starters, those rules of comedy play out well

The accent is strong. Everything is funnier with an original accent. Ask this guy,

The final joke is always the strongest. 'Real face' for example was a strong final joke. And the rest of the rules go on blah blah.

Also important, she's a child. A 7 year old child.

When a famous child says something, it's either cute or funny. The original sin is, and will always be to say negative stuff about kids. Mothers will come for you like,

So when a child does or says something bold, people laugh or say "awwww". In all, Emmanuella is cracking ribs now, and she'll crack more over the next few years. Say five.
"Yet as the territory under their control shrinks, we are seeing an exodus of foreign fighters returning to their homelands," he said.

House Republican Mike Gallagher pointed to deadly attacks in Paris, Brussels, Nice and Berlin as examples of why the US should increase its vigilance.

"The majority of these attackers were European citizens with valid passports, so it is easy to imagine any one of them gaining access to this country through a valid visa or through the Visa Waiver Program," said Gallagher, who heads the Task Force on Denying Terrorists Entry to the United States.

"While there are numerous benefits to our country that stem from our welcoming immigration system -- like tourism, trade, and business -- we should never cease to examine our processes through the lens of a terrorist in search of potential gaps."

Millions of travelers from 38 wealthy countries, including 30 European nations, currently benefit from the exemption, which allows them to come to the United States for 90 days without having to go through a lengthy visa process.

Only a simple Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) form need be filled out online beforehand.

But since the attacks that bloodied France in 2015, committed by or with the help of jihadists bearing French or Belgian passports, many lawmakers see the exemption as a dangerous security flaw.

In December 2015, a few weeks after the Paris attacks, Congress tightened VWP rules, banning people from using the exemption if they had traveled after March 2011 to any of seven countries deemed to be risks: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

It also barred citizens from VWP countries who had dual nationalities from Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria -- for example a Frenchman with Syrian citizenship -- from taking advantage of the exemption.

Since last October, more than 16,000 people have had their ESTA request rejected according to these criteria, said John Wagner, a deputy commissioner for US Customs and Border Protection.
The election comes as the North African country grapples with a deep financial crisis because of a drop in oil revenues and amid criticism from people who say the government has failed to keep its promises.

In a video uploaded on YouTube days before polling day on May 4 and seen by more than two million people, one Algerian said government vows to solve an acute housing shortage and improve health care have not been kept.

A total of 12,000 candidates are standing for 462 seats in the People's National Assembly, with a registered electorate of 23 million.

Throughout the election campaign officials urged people to vote "massively", saying Algeria's "stability" was at stake, and urged mosque prayer leaders to relay this message to worshippers.

Ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has been confined to a wheelchair since a 2013 stroke impaired his speech and mobility, set the tone on the eve of the vote.

In a statement read on his behalf on Saturday he called for a strong turnout, saying it was essential to contribute to "the stability of the country".

Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal urged those angry about the state of the economy "to be patient".

"There is no more money" in state coffers, he admitted in a speech on Saturday, media reported.

In 2011, high oil revenues allowed huge rises in wages and subsidies, helping Algeria to weather the Arab Spring.

But in 2014, the collapse in crude oil prices forced the government to increase taxes and mothball many public projects.

In a country of 40 million, half of them aged under 30, one young person in three is unemployed.

Voter apathy

Despite brisk lobbying by Bouteflika's National Liberation Front (FLN) party and its coalition ally, the Rally for National Democracy (RND), the campaign failed to fascinate.

Media reports said people were more interested in the presidential election in former colonial power France, where centrist frontrunner Emmanuel Macron and far-right rival Marine Le Pen face off on Sunday.

"France is having an election in which the political stakes are high, while here in Algeria there are no stakes at all," sociologist Nacer Djabi said.

Media and analysts expect few surprises on Thursday.

The FLN, which has ruled Algeria under a single-party system from independence in 1962 until the early 1990s, will keep its majority in parliament along with the RND, said political analyst Cherif Driss.

In the 2012 election, the FLN won 221 seats and the RND 70 in the 462-seat national assembly.

Islamists, who hold 60 seats in the outgoing parliament, represent the country's main opposition force.

In 2012, a year after Arab Spring-inspired street protests, Islamists had hoped to replicate the gains of their peers in Egypt and Tunisia, but instead suffered their worst ever electoral defeat.

This year, they have formed two major coalitions in an attempt to do better.

Other contenders include The Rally for Hope in Algeria (TAJ), a new Islamist party led by former public works minister and fierce Bouteflika supporter Amar Ghoul.

The secular Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD) boycotted polling in 2012 but is hoping to take seats from its rival, the Front of Socialist Forces (FFS).

Experts say Algerian elections generally fail to attract a high turnout, which in 2012 was 43.14 percent, slightly more than the 35.65 percent registered in 2007.
If confirmed, "the scandal has reached a new dimension", charged Norbert Walter-Borjans, finance minister of the affected state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous.

"It's hard to believe that a spy thriller like this happened not in the movies but on our doorstep," he fumed in comments to the Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger daily.

German prosecutors said last Friday that police had arrested a Swiss man identified only as Daniel M., 54, in a Frankfurt hotel room, accused of carrying out espionage activities since 2012.

Die Welt daily reported the man's alleged mission was to identify German tax investigators involved in the purchase of "tax cheat" data CDs, which have upset German-Swiss relations in the past.

Berlin on Tuesday asked the Swiss ambassador, Christine Schraner Burgener, to clarify the case.

Bild newspaper reported the same day that the alleged spy was a former police officer and a double agent, who at one stage had spied for Germany on Switzerland.

Now a joint report by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily and public broadcasters NDR and WDR said the Swiss spy had run a paid informant inside the NRW finance ministry.

The mission was to find out how, and which, German finance officials had got their hands on the CDs with lists of bank account holders in foreign tax havens.

The information provided reportedly helped Swiss authorities file charges of breaching Swiss banking laws and economic espionage against three German tax investigators.

Several German states have over recent years paid millions to unknown sources for the CDs, which have listed German citizens' account information with several Swiss and Liechtenstein banks.

Many of Germany's rich, powerful and famous have as a result had to issue public apologies for stashing away their wealth abroad and paid back-taxes and fines.

The threat of dawn raids compelled thousands more German tax cheats to come forward and report their accounts abroad, and pay back taxes on the interest earned plus fines.

North Rhine-Westphalia alone has bought 11 CDs, which it says have led 120,000 German citizens to self-report Swiss bank accounts.

They have paid back billions of euros in taxes they owed, finance authorities have said.
Singaporean Loh Lee Aik, 67, was rushed to hospital with leg injuries after being pounced on by the venomous creature.

Sudiyono, the head of the Komodo National Park -- islands in central Indonesia that form a protected habitat for the lizards -- said it was the first attack by one of the creatures on a foreign tourist since 1974, when a visitor from abroad was killed.

Loh had been staying at a village on Komodo island before setting off in search of the lizards Wednesday.

But he failed to take a park ranger with him, something all visitors to the islands are advised to do.

"He was probably very excited taking pictures of the komodo, he didn't realise another komodo was approaching him and then he was bitten," local police spokesman Jules Abraham Abast told AFP.

"Luckily it was a small komodo that bit him."

He was given first aid at the site before being taken by boat to nearby Flores island, where he was admitted to hospital. Abast and the hospital said he was in a stable condition.

The attack happened during the Komodo mating season, which runs from May to August and is a time when the lizards are more aggressive.

Abast said Loh had failed to report his visit to authorities and urged visitors to do so in future to avoid such incidents.

Thirty people have been bitten by komodo dragons since 1974, with five of the victims dying, according to Komodo National Park authorities.

Recent research has found that the dragons' jaws have highly sophisticated venom glands that can cause paralysis, spasms and shock through haemorrhaging.

The lizards are native to several Indonesian islands, and are considered a vulnerable species, with only a few thousand left in the world.
Government of National Accord (GNA) leader Fayez al-Sarraj and FieldMarshal Khalifa Haftar, whose forces control most of eastern Libya including key oil ports, held rare talks Tuesday in the United Arab Emirates.

In separate statements Wednesday, they called for a resolution to Libya's political and economic crises and for joint efforts to battle extremist groups, without outlining any concrete measures.

The issue of how to form a new Libyan army loomed large in the talks.

Haftar, who commands a self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA), is accused of aiming to install a new military dictatorship in Libya, rocked by a complex multi-sided conflict since the 2011 fall of dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

Sarraj, whose unity government has struggled to impose its control across Libya since it was formed in 2015, said Wednesday the two sides had agreed to put in place "a strategy... to form a unified Libyan army" under civil control.

Haftar's statement said the two sides had agreed to allow "the military establishment... to fully play its role in the fight against terrorism".

Both men said they had agreed to put an end to violence in southern Libya, where LNA and pro-GNA forces clashed in early April around an air base on the edge of the southern city of Sebha.

Haftar is backed by Libya's parliament based in the country's east, as well as by the UAE and Egypt.

That parliament has refused to recognise the GNA, formed under a United Nations-backed deal that gave no role to Haftar and his forces.

Diplomats and observers have described Tuesday's meeting as a positive step forward, after Sarraj said Haftar refused to meet him in person in February.

The United Arab Emirates voiced optimism a political settlement could be reached in Libya after the meeting.

The Tuesday meeting "brings optimism towards guaranteeing a political solution", the UAE foreign ministry said.

It is an "important step to push forward the political process in Libya," it added, in a statement carried by the official WAM news agency.

Apart from the UAE, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt also played a role in "reconciling the points of view" of Sarraj and Haftar, the GNA statement said.

There has been a flurry of diplomatic activity in recent days to try to reconcile the rival administrations in Libya's east and west.

On Sunday, UN envoy Martin Kobler held talks in Sudan, a supporter of Sarraj's administration.
Despite a wide range of suspects and theories about what happened, no one has ever been convicted over her disappearance.

"It's a very sad story, a very sad case and we all hope that we turn up on that. Our thoughts are with the family and with Madeleine," said English tourist Tracy, 42, who came to attend the service.

Another British tourist, Roney, 48, said: "It's important to keep Madeleine's name alive and to pay respect to a little girl who never came home."

Both had previously gone to a cliff overlooking the sea to release pink balloons to mark the anniversary.

About 50 Anglicans and Catholics attended the service in the little whitewashed church where Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry McCann used to gather after their daughter vanished.

The ceremony was led by Canadian Anglican pastor Haynes Hubbard, who had officiated at the church at the time of the girl's disappearance.

An English father, James, 43, accompanied by his little daughter, paused in front of a photo of Maddie surrounded by flowers at the entrance of the church.

"I just explained to my daughter that it was a little girl who got lost about 10 years ago. I just wanted to show her the photo to explain what happened," he said.

The McCanns, who did not attend the service in Portugal, on Sunday told the BBC they still hope to find their daughter alive.

"My hope for Madeleine being out there is no less than it was almost 10 years ago," said her mother.
It is a clear reference to the rise of Marine Le Pen, France's far-right presidential candidate who managed less than five percent of the Parisian vote in the first round of the election a fortnight ago.

The fact that the anti-EU, anti-immigration Le Pen reached Sunday's run-off vote by scoring 21.3 percent nationwide has been met with a mixture of dismay, shame and disgust by many Parisians.

Her centrist rival Emmanuel Macron, tipped to become France's youngest ever president at age 39, took nearly 35 percent of the vote in Paris, compared with 24 percent nationally.

Montorgueil resident Gerard Siad, 52, said seeing Le Pen in the final, with polls showing her winning some 40 percent of the vote on Sunday, was like "being in a bad dream".

"It shows there's been a very worrying dumbing down in France like we have seen in the United States," said Siad, who heads an association of businesses run by gay men and women.

In the Montmartre district overlooking the low-rise capital, Alexandra Marchand, 25, took in the spring sunshine at a sidewalk cafe in a street lined with chic boutiques, foodie groceries and organic restaurants.

"I'm ashamed of my country," Marchand, a restaurant manager, said of the rise of Le Pen's National Front (FN), which she called "the party of morons who vote without understanding. It appeals to people in the sticks."

The remark matches the reputation of Parisians for snootiness towards the rest of the country, captured in their dismissal of anywhere outside the capital as "the provinces".

'Dangers of populism'

In an election that has cast a harsh light on the divide between globalisation's winners and losers, Paris is largely in the winners' column as a city top-heavy with white-collar workers.

The demographics of the city of 2.2 million make it a much better match for Macron, a pro-European, economic liberal.

The former investment banker appeals to urban youth, the middle class and business leaders, while Le Pen's populist opposition to the "system", as well as her nationalist positions, attracts working-class people, especially in rural areas with high unemployment.

"What's different about Paris is that a lot of people are wise enough to realise the dangers of populism, which thrives on crisis situations," said Siad, referring to both the financial crisis and the terror attacks that have claimed more than 230 lives in France since early 2015.

He said he plans to vote for Macron "in the name of reason".

Many Parisians, including Siad, will be switching their vote to Macron from losing candidates to the right and left of the former economy minister.

Conservative candidate Francois Fillon came in second in Paris with 26 percent, with his support concentrated in the affluent western parts of the capital.

Hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon won 20 percent, mainly from predominantly working-class pockets in the eastern half of the city.

Zoe Tellier, a 39-year-old actor wearing a long coat and gypsy skirt, said she was "disgusted" to see the FN candidate in the run-off.

"Things are not going well in France. People are afraid because of the attacks," she said.

"If Le Pen wins, my bags are ready, I'm moving to Barcelona."

Airline employee Anne Taburet, 55, an elegant, self-described "centrist environmentalist", says she "cannot imagine how Marine Le Pen could come to power.
"Everybody is scared to express themselves because they are too scared of the ruling party," said Diane Rwigara, pledging to tackle poverty, injustice and security problems.

Rwigara distanced herself from the FPR after the death of her father, Assinapol Rwigara, in 2015. She says his death was an assassination, but police reject her allegations and say the cause was a road accident.

An influential industrialist, her father made his fortune in real estate and played an important role financing the FPR in the 1990s.

"I am not here to talk about my father," said Rwigara in a press conference in Kigali, admitting however that his death was "one reason" that had prompted her to run.

"We all know here... people... disappeared or... killed," she said, citing reports from human rights organisations.

In 2014, Human Rights Watch said there was a wave of disappearances in Rwanda, in a report that was rejected by authorities.

Contacted Wednesday by AFP, the FPR and Rwandan police declined to comment on her accusations.

"The only people who are given a voice are the people praising the regime," she added.

Rwigara is the fourth candidate to enter the race, joining independent Philippe Mpayimana, Democratic Green party head Frank Habineza and the incumbent Kagame.

A constitutional amendment passed last year means Kagame is able to stand for another seven-year term.
The Quad-City International Airport staff unveiled a plan Wednesday for its governing board to consider new tax levies that would pump an additional $1 million into its budget and improve its financial picture.

"There are other levies that we are eligible to levy for, under state statute, that we do not," Angela Burch, the airport's controller, told the Rock Island County Metropolitan Airport Authority at its internal affairs committee meeting. "Up to now, we've been able to avoid levying for these tax items. But our expenses have been outpacing revenues and we've been in a deficit."

According to Burch, the airport currently now levies for the corporate tax (general tax). It also has a debt service levy associated with the airport's 2010 general obligation alternative revenue bonds, but the airport abates the levy each year. However, by law, it could levy for additional items without the need for a referendum or legislative action, which would create additional revenues, she said.

Items it could be levying for are: the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, unemployment, workers compensation, audit, Social Security and liability insurance. She said many other taxing bodies  including Rock Island County itself and area municipalities, townships and schools  already levy for these additional items. In addition, other regional airports in Illinois, including Peoria and Rockford, levy for the items.

Burch said the new levies would bring in an estimated, additional $1 million to the airport. Currently, the airport receives about $1.4 million through its general tax.

For Rock Island County taxpayers, the new levies would mean an increase in the airport's portion of their tax bill from 1 percent currently to an estimated 1.4 percent, she said. For the owner of a home with $150,000 assessed valuation, who now pays $112 for its airport's portion, would pay $197. The owner of a $100,000 home would see the airport's portion go up from $75 to $131.

The new levies would give the airport dedicated revenue streams for these items, she said. "Then these expenses (to be covered by property taxes) could be pulled out of the rates and charges model used for the calculation of airline rates."

The presentation, which marked the airport authority's first review of the staff proposal, also prompted discussion about other options.

Molly Foley, the authority's immediate past chair, said the authority needs to explore all the revenue options including expanding the airport's taxing district to cover all of Rock Island County as well as possibly Mercer and Henry counties.

Since the authority was founded in 1947, its taxing district has included only 8 of Rock Island County's 24 townships, according to airport officials.

"Before we look at putting additional tax burdens on the existing taxpayers, we should look first at expanding the taxing district,'' Foley said. "I'm sure I'm the lone wolf at the table, but we should consider Scott County as well. We are a MSA (metropolitan statistical area)."

Commissioner Jody Fisk agreed, adding that the airport "is a benefit to the whole Quad-Cities... An entity like the airport should not just be shouldered by the taxpayers of Rock Island County."

Airport officials said the airport's economic impact on the community includes 4,000 jobs, $150 million payroll and $493 million economic output.

After the meeting, Foley said that by not levying all the taxes possible "We have been leaving money on the table for years and we're in a situation where we can't afford to."

A continued decline in passenger enplanements has pressured the airport's budget for a few years. Fewer passengers impact a variety of the airport's revenues from parking lot revenues to concession and gift shop sales, rental car fees and others, Burch said.

"We've been incurring losses for the past couple years," she said, adding that last year the airport cut $815,000 from its operating budget, which would be difficult to do again.

During the meeting, long-time Commissioner Dick Work warned "to be ready for the heat'' if the airport authority looks at a tax increase.

Commissioner John Malvik, the internal affairs committee chairman, said even if taxpayers have not paid the additional tax levies, they have been paying for it in the form of higher airfares and through the corporate tax.

After the meeting, he said the airport is struggling to stay competitive with other airports, in part, because of its higher airfares, and higher rates and charges to the airlines. "That is why you have passengers driving to Cedar Rapids, Peoria and Rockford instead of using the Quad-City airport."
Its weekends like this that makes Erik Reader happy to be the new downtown guy in Rock Island.

Back in February, just a few days after Reader started as the executive director of the Downtown Rock Island Partnership, he started hearing about events set for the first weekend of May.

A lot of people dont realize everything thats here to discover or rediscover, he said. For me, Im in the same boat. I dont really know all that Rock Island has to offer being so new.

For Reader, who two weeks ago moved into his new office on 2nd Avenue, this is a good chance to change that.

This weekend, Gallery Hop, which returns for its 19th year on Friday, the inaugural Rock Town Lit Fest and a downtown open house will converge on the streets of downtown Rock Island in an initiative tagged as #WhatsupdowntownRI.

Early on, we decided to put it together in this bigger branded thing. Its a chance to check out everything we have going on, Reader said. As the downtown guy, you cant ask for more than that.

In his role leading the Downtown Rock Island Partnership, which is under the umbrella of Renaissance Rock Island and blends the Development Association of Rock Island (DARI) and The District into one entity, Reader said he hopes to act as a supporter and connector for businesses and people in the community. He has taken the first step in doing so by launching the organizations website, downtownrockisland.org.

I want to provide that strong foundation of what the downtown organization can do, Reader said. We can embrace the last 30 years of activity, embellish on it and set the course for the next 30 years. Sometimes a fresh set of eyes helps with that.

Rock Town Lit Fest

Theres plenty of music and artsy festivals around the Q-C. But a literature festival?

It may be a first, but Ryan Collins, executive director of the Midwest Writing Center, said it was time.

Theres a lot of arts and culture festivals here and none of them really include the literary arts, Collins said. We wanted to feature writers, poets and publishers in the community who dont always get the attention they deserve.

The two-day festival includes a lit crawl (think: a bar crawl with readings at each stop) on Friday and a book fair, complete with more readings and panel discussions, on Saturday.

Collins is following the model of events such as Mission Creek Festival, held in Iowa City, which has a strong literary component with public lectures and readings alongside concerts.

Its already happening in other places, he said. You hear different world perspectives and also hear writers talk about how they go about their work.

At the fest, Collins said to expect a variety of poets and writers, from high school students to college professors.

They make you laugh, make you contemplate something or make you cry, Collins said. You get up there and its just you and a microphone. I think that takes a lot of courage and the audience sees that and is moved in a way.

Gallery Hop

At its core, the Gallery Hop, an art-themed stroll that showcases more than 300 artists in more than 20 locations around Rock Island, is about getting people to experience art in a variety of places, some unconventional.

A new aspect of the free event, presented by the MidCoast Fine Arts, MidCoast's Gallery West, The ARTery and Quad-City Arts, is live art demonstrations, according to Sherry Maurer, executive director of MidCoast Fine Arts.

Theres an incredible vitality of arts in our community, Maurer said. Theres a lot of treasures and talents to explore in places you wouldnt normally see art.

One of those is Native Woods, a business owned by her husband, Mike Lawrence, that specializes in sawing and millwork. For the past few weeks, he has hosted an artist working on a torii gate, a type of traditional Japanese gate made of wood, in his shop. The gate will be on display during the Gallery Hop.

Its about examining what kinds of things can really be art and how art can interact with different areas and interests, Lawrence said. And how to do things that are not the standard."

Downtown open house

The list of more than 40 potential stops participating Saturday in the downtown open house includes a coffee shop, furniture store, shoe repair shop, art galleries and salons.

And the list features venues located beyond the heart of downtown Rock Island.

That falls in line with Readers goals, he said.

The whole charge is to show off the whole downtown and that encompasses a lot more than The District, Reader said of the two-block strip on 2nd Avenue. The downtown can feel like a little bit of an island, so the grand vision is connecting people in different neighborhoods. We want to get people into places you wouldnt normally think of.

The events on tap Friday and Saturday serve as a good start.

Thats what makes the downtown so special because there are things happening that dont normally happen in small towns, he said. Theres a vibe here. People can feel it. Now, its about what we do with it.
Middle school took a toll on Mariah Martinez.

Not long after her parents divorce, her older brother committed suicide. To make matters worse, girls at school picked on her, "the mixed kid, said Mariah, who became very depressed.

I would eat my emotions away, the 16-year-old sophomore at Pleasant Valley High School recalled. I didnt even want to go outside anymore.

But a combination of positive distractions, including a role at the Quad-City-based Love GIRLS Magazine, helped subdue her mental health issues.

Overcoming that battle, Mariah said, has inspired her to share her story, which aired Thursday on national television during Harry, a talk show on NBC hosted by longtime entertainer Harry Connick Jr.

The episode was broadcast at 2 p.m. on KWQC-TV6.

In late March, Mariah and her mother, Tonya, a teacher at Jefferson Elementary School in Davenport, traveled to New York City for the filming of the show, which Martinez called "powerful and emotional."

The mother-daughter duo, however, blended in with the rest of the audience and spoke from their seats, serving as surprise guests.

Sitting across from Connick Jr., Rock Island natives Jasmine Babers, the founder of Love GIRLS Magazine, and Mikhayla Hughes-Shaw, a senior assistant editor for the quarterly publication, headlined the segment.

While Mariah looks up to both girls, she said Hughes-Shaw's story  which appeared in the winter 2016 edition of the magazine  particularly struck a chord with her. Hughes-Shaw, a University of Iowa student, also is a candidate in the 2017 Miss Iowa competition.

Mariah credited the "selfless" Babers for inviting her on the show to explain her connection to her role model and the nonprofit organization.

This year marks the five-year anniversary of the periodical, which Babers established after witnessing her friends being bullied online. Since its launch, the publication, which aims to help teenagers build confidence, become leaders and pursue their dreams, has expanded to Memphis and Washington, D.C.

When the opportunity arose to join the magazine's staff in 2016, Mariah, now a junior assistant editor, said her mother "forced" her to make the move.

"It's a funny story," she said. "I didn't want to be involved because I thought it'd be writing like school, but I just fell in love with it."

Martinez, a single mother who also serves as a commissioner on the Davenport Plan and Zoning Commission, said she is proud of her daughter, who has "come along way."

When asked how she handles high school drama these days, Mariah just laughed.

"I know how to stand up for myself," she said.
PIERRE | The governing board of South Dakota's university system wants to see more young state residents earn college degrees.

According to a study, less than 40 percent of residents 25 and up hold at least a two-year degree of some sort  trailing neighbors Minnesota, North Dakota and Nebraska  and state officials hope to raise that level significantly.

The state Board of Regents, whose nine members govern South Dakotas six public universities and three university centers, will question campus presidents next week about the regents goal to increase college degrees by 2025 among South Dakota citizens aged 25 to 34.

The discussion Tuesday in Brookings focuses on the target of 65 percent for the age bracket. The regents set the goal during their retreat last August.

A Georgetown University Public Policy Institute report was the basis. David Palmer, the regents system director of institutional research, brought the report to South Dakotas attention in 2015.

The Georgetown report showed South Dakota had a 38 percent attainment rate  that is, holding at least a two-year associate degree  for adults age 25 and older, based on U.S. Census Bureau data for 2013.

The 2015 analysis from the regents central office made an important point.

Because this goal would span all postsecondary communities  technical institutes as well as public, private, and tribal colleges and universities  it would create an opportunity for a collaborative dialog among all educational institutions and statewide stakeholders, the analysis said.

Among states in the region, South Dakotas 38 percent at the time trailed Minnesota (44.2 percent), North Dakota (40.9) and Nebraska (39.2). South Dakota ranked above Iowa (37.5 percent), Montana (37.4) and Wyoming (37.3).

The current rate for South Dakota in the age bracket isnt clear. It wasnt mentioned in the executive proclamation signed Dec. 2, 2016, by Gov. Dennis Daugaard adopting the 65 percent goal for South Dakota.

The regents list 20 indicators for measuring student recruitment and success. Their central office staff in Pierre prepared 16 questions for the regents to ask the state university presidents Tuesday.

Those indicators and questions went to the regents this week as part of the meeting packet.

Indicator 1 is undergraduate degrees awarded. That page notes:

And as indicated in other recent analyses, system enrollment has continued to face considerable downward pressure. Although undergraduate enrollment has increased by 16.6 percent since Fall 2005, the rate of growth has slowed dramatically. In fact, undergraduate enrollment actually fell by 4.3 percent from Fall 2010 to Fall 2015 when high school students are excluded," the report said.

If this trend continues, undergraduate awards may begin to fall unless advances are made with respect to graduation rates.

Indicator 17 is the regional rank for undergraduate student tuition and fees. That page notes:

Data indicate that, under this performance measure, South Dakota universities have become less affordable over the last decade in comparison with regional peers.

While South Dakota once ranked near the middle of eight Midwestern states with respect to undergraduate costs, it since has moved decidedly toward the high end of the cost distribution. By 2016, only one neighboring state (Minnesota) charged more to resident undergraduates.

Indicator 18 is state governments share of support for student tuition and fees. That has been below 50 percent since fiscal 2009. The narrative notes:

After reaching an all-time low of 38 percent in (fiscal year) 2012, several years of renewed investment by the state have led to a slow return of the states share toward the targeted 50 percent mark.

The regents in October 2014 adopted a long list of goals they wanted to reach in 2020. Those goals included growth in undergraduate degrees and graduate degrees.

The public universities reported they awarded about 4,800 undergraduate degrees and approximately 1,550 graduate degrees in fiscal 2014.

Their 2020 goals at that time were 7,450 degrees overall with 5,630 undergraduate degrees and 1,820 graduate degrees.

The regents website reports the most recent levels as roughly 4,650 undergraduate degrees. That is a 150-degree decline since 2014.

The website also reports about 1,700 graduate degrees, a 150-degree increase since 2014.
The South Dakota Department of Revenue is now accepting sales tax license applications for the 2017 Sturgis motorcycle rally.

Rally vendors are required to have a South Dakota sales tax license for each vendor space before opening for business. The deadline to apply is July 14.

Vendors may submit an electronic application at sd.gov/sturgisapp, fax an application to 394-6076, or mail an application to the S.D. Department of Revenue, 1520 Haines Ave., Suite 3, Rapid City, SD 57701.

Vendors who apply before July 1 may have their vendor license card and additional information mailed to them, or they can pick the items up when arriving in Sturgis.

Those applying after July 1 must pick up the license card and information after arriving in Sturgis.

The Department of Revenues temporary office in Sturgis opens at 9 a.m. Aug. 1. For a listing of office hours, visit sd.gov/rally. If vendors need to pick up license cards before Aug. 1, visit the Department of Revenues office in Rapid City.

Vendors will also need to apply for a South Dakota Temporary Manufacturer, Customizer or Dealer Permit if selling or displaying any type of vehicle. These applications are available at the departments website.
Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David J. Shulkin said Thursday that he has deferred the decision to reconfigure the VA Black Hills Health Care System in South Dakota, including the Hot Springs campus.

U.S. Senator Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said Shulkin has decided to put the reconfiguration of the VAs Black Hills Health Care System on stay while the VA re-evaluates all of its facilities nationwide.

The focus of the review will be to determine which facilities provide the best care, Rounds said.

"This will allow veterans to continue to receive high-quality care that they have been receiving to date at Hot Springs, delivered with a holistic approach. This decision also will include allowing veterans a choice of where they receive their health care," according to a news release from the VA.

According to the release, Shulkin notified the South Dakota congressional delegation, which includes Rounds, U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., and U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., during a meeting on Thursday. Shulkin also called Gov. Dennis Daugaard.

The news was widely praised by the South Dakota delegation.

I appreciate Secretary Shulkins willingness to meet with us and keep these lines of communication open, Thune said in a joint release with Rounds and Noem. Although he did not reverse his predecessors decision to realign services within the Black Hills, he demonstrated a sincere interest in looking at how to best provide the quality care our selfless veterans have earned through their service and sacrifice.

"I look forward to working with the secretary to ensure veteran care and safety are prioritized and encourage him to visit the Hot Springs campus before making further decisions.

The news is especially good for Hot Springs  particularly the Save the VA group  which has fought long and hard to retain the historic, 110-year-old Battle Mountain Sanitarium VA facility.

The future of the facility looked dire when  following a December visit by Obama administration VA Secretary Robert McDonald  the VA agreed to reconfigure the Black Hills Health Care System and essentially shutter Hot Springs.

This move would have left 100 hospital jobs in the city, while taking 300 health care jobs north to a new Rapid City facility.

However, the community and Save the VA group fought back, engaging the South Dakota congressional delegation, the American Legion and others in their cause.

Veteran needs must drive any decision about Hot Springs, Noem said in the joint release. From the first town hall I held in Hot Springs days after the VA first announced it would close the hospital, to the U.S. House VA Committee hearing held on site at my request, to the hundreds of one-on-one discussions, veterans have consistently stressed that Hot Springs is the veterans town and wed like to keep it that way.

"I am grateful to Secretary Shulkin for giving us the opportunity to share what makes this facility so indispensable, but I strongly urge him to visit the campus before additional decisions are made.

Shulkin has assured the South Dakota delegation that his primary focus is on quality of care for veterans, Rounds said in a separate news release.

He has also told us that while nobody throughout the United States is going to be off the hook with the threat of a possible change as he goes through, he could not understand why they could look at Hot Springs  which has proven to be a five-star facility  and that we were going to close that facility without looking at other facilities that were not providing near the quality of service," Rounds said.

They do still plan on bringing in about 140 jobs for a service center to make contact with and receive phone calls from veterans around the United States," he continued.

Speaking at a U.S. House of Representatives VA hearing on Wednesday, Shulkin said the VA is seeking to close more than 1,100 facilities as it develops plans to allow more veterans to receive medical care in the private sector. Shulkin said the VA identified more than 430 buildings that are vacant, and another 735 underutilized buildings that were costing the federal government $25 million a year.

Shulkin said the VA would work with Congress to prioritize those buildings for closure and was considering whether to follow the Base Realignment and Closure process the Pentagon has used to decide which of its underused military bases to shutter.

An internal VA document obtained by The Associated Press pointed to aging buildings as prime candidates for closure. About 57 percent of all VA facilities were more than 50 years old, this document noted, and most of the 431 buildings the VA said were vacant were built 90 or more years ago. The VA document did not specify the locations.

Although President Donald Trump's budget blueprint calls for a 6 percent increase in VA funding, Shulkin has made clear the VA, which has 370,000 employees, will have to operate more efficiently.

The department recently put hiring restrictions on some 4,000 positions despite a federal hiring freeze lifting and left open the possibility of "near-term" and "long-term workforce reductions."

Shulkin is also putting together a broader proposal to expand the VA's Choice program of private-sector care.
PIERRE | When it comes to finding ways to save money on Medicaid, South Dakota officials are looking west to Wyoming for new ideas.

Wyoming state government officials hope to trim $2 million from Medicaid expenses and share some of the savings with two tribes there, a Wyoming official told the members of the South Dakota health care solutions coalition Wednesday.

Amy Guimond, the tribal waiver manager for Wyomings Division of Healthcare Financing, said during the teleconference that her state spends about $40 million annually for Native Americans as part of its share of federal Medicaid services.

The Wyoming total includes $32 million paid for services to patients referred from the federal Indian Health Service to non-IHS providers. Guimond said the $2 million of potential savings was a guesstimate that would come from the $32 million.

South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard appointed the coalition members in 2015. They formally recommended expanding Medicaid to cover more working adults that December, but they have since stepped back.

Minutes from the coalitions initial meeting Oct. 7, 2015, explained Daugaards position:

The state cannot support expansion unless revenue to support projected expenditures is available in both the short and long term, the minutes said.

In order to move forward with any Medicaid expansion discussions, the group needs to identify strategies that align with these goals and specifically identify ways to free up the state dollars needed to cover the state cost of expansion, the minutes continued.

Several legislators who serve as coalition members said Wednesday that South Dakota hasnt found those solutions yet. Coalition members arranged for Guimond to speak with them in a search for coverage expansions that are smaller and more affordable.

An estimate from March 2015 showed South Dakota averaged about 116,000 children and adults per month who were eligible for Medicaid with incomes at or below 100 percent of the federal poverty level.

Expanding Medicaid eligibility to all adults with incomes at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level would have cost an estimated $30 million-plus in additional state funding.

The expansion would have made 48,564 adults newly eligible for Medicaid services. Those included 26,000 making less than 100 percent of the federal poverty level and 22,500 making between 100 percent and 138 percent.

South Dakota now spends $93 million as its share for federal Medicaid services to Native American patients, according to South Dakota Health Secretary Kim Malsam-Rysdon, a co-chair of the coalition.

The arrangement is called FMAP, an acronym for federal medical assistance percentages. The relationship varies among the 50 states.

In the case of South Dakota, the federal government pays 54.94 percent of Medicaid while South Dakota state government pays 45.06 percent.

Wyoming is a 50-50 split, according to Guimond. She told the South Dakota coalition to be cautious about assuming too much in savings.

Replied Malsam-Rysdon, You have to start somewhere or youll never get movement.

Guimond said the Indian Health Service has seen management turnover and so far isnt willing to accept shared savings. There maybe is some way, she said.

We just havent been able to get with them to have those talks yet, Guimond said about IHS administrators.

State Sen. Troy Heinert, D-Mission, said the shared savings approach is worth a look for South Dakota. Heinert, a coalition member, described shared savings as a good road to go down.

Malsam-Rysdon said the coalition will meet next at 12:30 p.m. MDT June 13. Members will then consider recommendations for the 2018 legislative session, she said.
WASHINGTON  House Republicans narrowly voted Thursday to approve a bill rolling back much of former President Barack Obama's health care law. The legislation would rework subsidies for private insurance, limit federal spending on Medicaid for low-income people and cut taxes on upper-income individuals used to finance Obama's overhaul.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Republican bill will result in 24 million fewer people having health insurance by 2026, compared to Obama's 2010 statute.

Here are key elements of the bill:

Ends tax penalties Obama's law imposes on individuals who don't purchase health insurance and larger employers who don't offer coverage to workers.

Halts extra payments Washington sends states to expand Medicaid to additional poorer Americans, and forbids states that haven't already expanded Medicaid to do so. Changes Medicaid from an open-ended program that covers beneficiaries' costs to one that gives states fixed amounts of money annually.

Erases Obama's subsidies for people buying individual policies, based mostly on consumers' incomes and premium costs. Replaces them with tax credits that grow with age that must be used to defray premiums. The credits are refundable, which means they even go to people with little or no tax liability. Credits may not be used to buy policies that provide abortion coverage.

Repeals Obama's taxes on people with higher incomes and on insurance companies, prescription drug makers, some medical devices, expensive employer-provided insurance plans and tanning salons. Obama's law uses the revenue to help pay for its expanded coverage.

Requires insurers to apply 30 percent surcharges to customers who've let coverage lapse for more than 63 days in the past year. This would include people with pre-existing medical conditions.

Lets states get federal waivers allowing insurers to charge older customers higher premiums than younger ones by as much as they'd like. Obama's law limits the difference to a 3-1 ratio.

States can get waivers exempting insurers from providing consumers with required coverage of specified health services, including hospital and outpatient care, pregnancy and mental health treatment.

States can get waivers from Obama's prohibition against insurers charging higher premiums to people with pre-existing health problems, but only if the person has had a gap in insurance coverage. States could get those waivers if they have mechanisms like high-risk pools that are supposed to help cover people with serious, expensive-to-treat diseases. Critics say these pools are often under-funded and ineffective.

Provides $8 billion over five years to help states finance their high-risk pools. This late addition, aimed at winning over votes, is on top of $130 billion over a decade in the bill for states to help people afford coverage.

Retains Obama's requirement that family policies cover grown children to age 26, and its prohibition against varying premiums because of a customer's gender.

___

Sources: U.S. Congress, The Associated Press, Kaiser Family Foundation
The city of Box Elder, which has been gaining momentum as a community for the past 15 years, is poised to get a potentially big boost in revenue as well as status.

Liv Hospitality is working with the city government there to build a $20 million event center on the western edge of the community, right next to Rapid City. Journal reporter Samuel Blackstone reported that the company, one of the biggest players in the hospitality industry in the Black Hills, is working with the city on a plan to create a Business Improvement District that would generate the revenue to build the event center with a tax assessed against present and future hotels in that geographic area.

Liv already owns a number of hotels and the WaTiki Indoor Waterpark Resort near where the event center likely would be built. If the BID comes to fruition, Box Elder will build upon its relationship with a company that owns casinos in Deadwood and hotels  including the Alex Johnson  and a restaurant in Rapid City.

In other words, the Rapid City-based company has a vast amount of experience in developing and operating successful projects that tap into the Black Hills tourism economy.

If the event center is built on the southeast corner of Exit 61 and the BID flourishes, it will allow Box Elder to continue its own story of positive growth while gaining recognition as an authentic community in South Dakota rather than just a sprawling area east of Rapid City.

After the 2010 census was completed, Box Elder was recognized as the second-fastest growing city in South Dakota as its population increased 174 percent over a 10-year period to 7,800 people. By 2014, its population had grown to 8,683, making it the 13th largest city in the state, a fact that likely escapes the attention of most state residents. Mayor Larry Larson says the community now has 9,200 residents.

In that time, the city has built a new city hall, seen tracts of new homes built, and enjoyed an increase in sales tax revenue from all the new hotels springing up near Exit 61 on Interstate 90, many of which are owned by Liv Hospitality.

If the event center is built, Liv Hospitality CEO Caleb Arceneaux said it would be a multi-purpose facility that could host concerts, conventions and other large events, which should sound familiar to those in Rapid City who continue to debate the future of the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center.

For most of its history, Box Elder has been known as that place near Ellsworth Air Force Base and has garnered little respect from its neighbors. Now, however, that narrative is beginning to change. It is taking its own steps to become a player in the region and if the event center is built there likely will be more to come.
Ukrainian prosecutors to demand life sentence for Yanukovych

MOSCOW, May 4 (RAPSI)  Prosecutors will ask court to sentence ex-president of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, who stands charged with treason, to life imprisonment, military prosecutor Ruslan Kravchenko said on Thursday during a briefing in Kiev.

The Obolonsky District Court of Kiev began preliminary hearing of the case against Yanukovych. The next hearing is set for May 18.

In December, Ukraines Prosecutor General Yury Lutsenko read charges against Yanukovych in a court through videoconference link. According to Lutsenko, Yanukovych, who was involved in violation of Ukraines territorial integrity, is held responsible for a 1.8-trillion-hryvnia (about $70 billion) damage caused to the country.

Shortly after, the Pechersky District Court in Kiev issued an arrest warrant for Yanukovych in absentia.

The Ukrainian prosecutors accuse the former president of using fire arms against protesters in Kiev in late 2013 and early 2014.

The political crisis erupted in Ukraine in late November 2013 after the government announced that it had halted the countrys association with the European Union. Protests, called Euromaidan, swept across the country and led to violent clashes between armed activists and law enforcement officers in late 2013 and early 2014.

Fighting between radical anti-government protesters and police culminated in mass riots on February 18, 2014. On February 20, fire was opened on protestors. Over 100 people died those days on both sides, according to RIA Novosti.

Ukraine's authorities claim "Berkut" officers to be blamed for the shootings.

Russia says that militants of Right Sector, a far-right Ukrainian group banned in Russia, may have been behind the attack.

Yanukovych said he did not give order to law enforcers to use fire arms against protesters when testifying about the events in Kiev.

Ukraine went through a regime change on February 22, 2014, when President Viktor Yanukovych fled the country and Euromaidan activists rose to power in Kiev.

In early 2015, it was reported that the Ukrainian Prosecutor Generals Office addressed Russia with a request to extradite the former president.

On June 6, Russia declined to extradite Yanukovych, according to the Prosecutor Generals Offices spokesman Alexander Kurennoy.

A motion for provisional arrest and detention of Yanukovych filed by Ukraine was considered and dismissed in accordance with Article 3 (Political offences) of the 1957 European Convention on Extradition, he told journalists. Ukrainian authorities were informed about this decision, Kurennoy added.
Moscow court upholds sentence for judge involved in fraud case

MOSCOW, May 4 (RAPSI, Yevgeniya Sokolova)  The Moscow City Court has upheld the sentence against a judge of the Constitutional Court of Tatarstan Rashid Gafiyatullin involved in a fraud criminal case, RAPSI learnt in the court on Thursday.

The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow earlier sentenced Gafiyatullin to five years in prison and a fine of 700,000 rubles (about $12,200).

According to investigators, in 2011-2012 the judge received six million rubles (about $105,200) and office buildings priced at 8.5 million rubles (about $149,100) from a businessman for a promise to help with return of mortgaged real estate.

In the end, the real estate was not returned while the judge became a defendant in a fraud case.
Russian Justice Ministry to draft bill to improve free legal assistance

MOSCOW, May 4 (RAPSI)  The Justice Ministry has started working out a bill aimed to improve the quality of free legal assistance in Russia.

The relevant notification has been published on the website of draft laws and regulations for public discussion.

Amendments are proposed to the law On Free Legal Assistance in the Russian Federation. The finish date for the discussion is May 17,2017.

Under the bill, federal subjects of Russia would be able to fix cases of pro bono legal assistance in administrative legal proceedings. A scope of persons entitled to participate in the state system of free legal assistance would be restricted to attorneys and notaries.

Moreover, the draft law would set requirements for submission of information to the Justice Ministry for monitoring of activities on provision of free legal assistance to citizens and peoples education in the law.

Realization of federal and regional programs of education in the law would be also provided by the bill.
Russian national charged with real estate fraud deported from Thailand

MOSCOW, May 4 (RAPSI)  Russian national, who stands charged with real estate fraud, was deported from Thailand, the Interior Ministrys Directorate in the Primorye Territory announced on its website on Thursday.

The 45-year old resident of Vladivostok has been already placed in detention.

The man allegedly committed large scale fraud between July 2007 and August 2008. According to investigators, four people invested their money in the construction of real estate in Thailand. The defendant thus received 8.5 million rubles ($147,500) by deception.

The man was put on the wanted list in 2013. In March 2107, he was arrested in Thailand.
America must return to conservative principles of less government,reduced taxes, less spending and a balanced budget! Cut,cap and balance!
Guwahati, May 4 : Security has been beefed up along the Indo-Myanmar border following intelligence input about probable militants attack on security forces.

Intelligence Bureau (IB) reports said that, more than 100 militants of ULFA (I), NSCN (K), UNLF with huge quantity of sophisticated weapons, explosives have taken shelter along the Indo-Myanmar border along with Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur to enter the north eastern region.

A top IB source said that, the outlawed groups of North East India led by ULFA (I) and NSCN (K) have planned to conduct massive attacks on security personnel in the region.

"The militants equipped with huge quantity of sophisticated weapons and explosives are trying to enter into the north eastern region," the IB source said.

Following the IB inputs, Union home ministry has asked the security forces, agencies to beef up security along the international border with Myanmar and to launch massive operation against the militants.

In past six months, the region witnessed several militants attack on security forces.

Meanwhile, Assam police has sounded high alert in all five districts in upper Assam.

A top official of Assam police said that, Assam police has already issued alert in all upper Assam districts for probable militants attack.

"We have ordered all police stations and head quarters to take appropriate measures and to launch massive operation against the militants in all probable areas. Also asked to identify the ways which used by militants," the top Assam cop said.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
Guwahati : Police on Tuesday night had arrested three Assam Civil Service (ACS) officers in connection with cash-for-job in the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC).

The ACS officers Bhaskarjyoti Dev Sharma, Bhaskar Dutta and Amit Sharma, all of the rank of circle officer were arrested by the sleuths of Dibrugarh police, which have benn conducting investigation into the cash-for-job scam case.

A top police official said that, they were arrested on the basis of recovery of their purported answer scripts of APSC examination from the residence of former APSC chairman Rakesh Paul, who is now in judicial remand in the same case.

Meanwhile, a local court in Guwahati had sent trio to 14-day police custody after they have been appeared before the court on Wednesday.

On the other hand, Assam DGP Mukesh Sahay said that, police has taken the case very seriously and Assam police will not spare any person who involved in the scam.

'Investigation is going on and we have already sent the answer scripts to forensic labs, which were found from the residence of Rakesh Paul and his wife,' the Assam DGP said.

Earlier, Assam police had arrested former APSC chairman Rakesh Paul, two former members Basanta Doley, Samedur Rahman and five other persons in connection with the cash-for-job scam.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
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Prince Philip, 95-year-old husband of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, is to step down from public life, Buckingham Palace has announced.
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Photos: Here's what seven years of Greek austerity looks like
What does new assembly mean for Venezuela?
It was back in 2014 that Latvian director Aik Karapetian first came to our attention with the much lauded thriller The Man In The Orange Jacket. For many this was the first time they'd ever had a chance to see any Latvian film and Karapetian made one hell of an impression with his taut, meticulous work. And he's back now with a new thriller in post-production, Firstborn.

A middle-aged intellectual commits an act of unintentional homicide whilst trying to regain his dignity in the eyes of his wife, but soon after it occurs to him there is a strange connection between the victim, the sudden pregnancy of his wife and the mysterious blackmailer, who tries to force him to commit yet another awful thing.

We've got the first stills from the film below with rumblings that a trailer is coming soon. Check them out and remember you can click to enlarge!
Last week, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that Julian Assange's arrest is a priority of the Trump Administration. So Laura Poitras decided to go back to the editing table to add that information in before Risk, her new documentary about Assange and WikiLeaks, gets released in theaters on May 5. (it will debut on the Showtime premium channel this summer.)

Mind you, it debuted as a work in progress last May at the Cannes Film Festival. But a lot has happened since then; bigly, the US election and the Russian hack scandal. Six years in the making, Risk tries to keep up with a whirlwind of information, highlighting Poitras's unprecedented access to Wikileaks and Assange as many events around the world were unfolding.

Risk is an intense film. It starts in 2011, with Sarah Harrison, a close friend of Assange and one of the editors of WikiLeaks, trying to reach Hillary Clinton on the phone. It's a courtesy call to let her, then Secretary of State, and the US State Department know that they are about to leak some damning information. Jacob Applebaum, another editor at WikiLeaks, is seen at a telecom conference in Egypt after the Arab Spring and Abdel Fatah el-Sisi's military takeover, accusing Egyptian telecom moguls of piggybacking on the revolution, while in fact, they colluded with the Mubarak regime and restricted people's access to the internet and Twitter during it.

As the sexual assault case against Assange takes the center stage, Poitras laments that the project is not what she thought she was making, that she thought she could avoid contradiction in him, but that she was wrong. In her sporadic production log voice-overs, she asks herself, why is Assange still allowing me to film this? His ego? Is this film going to be a collateral for his game later on?

Risk does not make a devil or martyr out of Assange. This will surely disappoint and infuriate both his supporters and detractors alike. There are no new revelations, either. One thing it does is paint a grey picture of the very complicated world we are living in.

It shows that in this information age, the Orwellian dystopia where everything is black and white, and the government has total control over media, can't possibly happen. Even Kim Jung-un's North Korean regime is losing grip on its people because of widely circulating contraband South Korean TV dramas, according to a recent high official defector. But instead, we are left in the moral and ethical muck caused partly by hackers, WikiLeaks and individuals like Assange.

Risk never really answers why Assange chose to harm Clinton over Trump during the election. For someone who is in the know, his opinion seems to be pretty conventional: in his words, she is a war hawk and he is unpredictable, which was everyone else's opinion at the time. But for the sake of the argument, let's suppose WikiLeaks dumping hackers' DNC email did tip the scale in the 2016 election in favor of Trump. With the world on the brink of a nuclear war showdown, was Assange wrong about his choice in risk taking? Only time will tell.

The fact is that unlike Edward Snowden, a cleancut whistle blower and a true patriot (who also was the subject of Poitras's award-winning Citizenfour) or Chelsea Manning, a conscientious objector, Assange is rather a calculating, vain character who is in a position of great power and excercises it by his own principles, weighing the risk factors like a chess game, disregarding how his actions might affect the lives of others along the way.

I question Poitras's judgment as a filmmaker: Why did she include a clip of Applebaum jokingly comparing WikiLeaks' method to unprotected sex to roomful of women journalists out of six years of footage? With the accusations against Assange, it's a little on the nose for me.

It doesn't help when Poitras admits having a relationship with Applebaum, who turned out to be an abusive man, accused by many WikiLeaks women employees and forced out of the organization in 2013. With that, she is taking a risk here of the film being too personal to be objective, too limited by her own involvement to see the bigger picture.

Assange was upset that Poitras got the exclusive with Snowden but didn't come to him to release the tapes. So he severed the contact with her. Three years later, he contacts her again to resume filming. In an epilogue, she says Assange wasn't happy with the latest version of the film.

As we speak, WikiLeaks started to dump CIA secret documents in what seems to be the retaliation to the Sessions speech and renewed interests in extraditing Assange (or vice versa). Luckily the film ends with the info that Wikileaks already uploaded tons and tons of secret documents somewhere as a 'kill-switch option.' So just in case anything happens to the organization, they will be released to the public. Expect a lot more leaks and revelations in the years to come.

If anything, Risk shows that Assange is a man of strong principles and greatly enjoys risk-taking when stakes are high. Exposing the exposer can be a risky business. It's the one that will make people love you or hate you in this politically polarized world. Poitras seems deeply conflicted yet committed to tell the truth. And this is why Risk needs to be seen widely.

Risk will open in New York on Friday, May 5 at the IFC Center and the Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn, and at other theaters nationwide. Showtime will air it in the summer.

Dustin Chang is a freelance writer. His musings and opinions on everything cinema and beyond can be found at www.dustinchang.com
While the Power Rangers may be the best known heroes of the tokusatsu genre around the world the style of film - one that pits masked heroes against cosmic foes witha fusion of special effects and grounded martial arts action - has a long and rich history. Yes, the biggest brands all originate in Japan, where the genre first emerged, but it crops up throughout Asia with a fairly high degree of regularity and it would appear a significant new entry has just arrived in Indonesia.

Releasing right about now, Satria Heroes: Revenge Of Darkness stars The Raid baddie Yayan Ruhian in a key part while offering up what appears to be a very high production value spin on all the classic tokusatsu elements with a distinctive Indonesian flavor. This is looking poised to be a major local hit and it's not at all hard to see why. Take a look at the trailer below!
 "Racial Disparities, Judicial Discretion, and the United States Sentencing Guidelines" | Main | Marching bishops perhaps take Connecticut to verge of repealing its death penalty 

April 3, 2012

Ohio Supreme Court finds required juve sex offender registration unconstitutional on numerous grounds

As reported in this lengthy official press release, the "Supreme Court of Ohio today voided as unconstitutional provisions of the Ohio Adam Walsh Act (AWA) that impose automatic lifelong registration and community notification requirements on certain juvenile sex offenders who were tried within the juvenile court system." Here is more on this significant state Supreme Court ruling which has national implications:

In a 5-2 majority decision authored by Justice Paul E. Pfeifer, the court held that applying automatic lifetime sex offender registration and community notification requirements imposed by the AWA against an Athens County 15-year-old violated the prohibitions in the U.S. and Ohio constitutions against cruel and unusual punishment, and also violated the defendants constitutional right to due process of law.... ustice Pfeifers opinion was joined by Chief Justice Maureen OConnor and Justices Evelyn Lundberg Stratton, Judith Ann Lanzinger and Yvette McGee Brown. Justices Terrence ODonnell and Robert R. Cupp entered separate dissenting opinions.

The full opinions in In re C.P., No. 2012-Ohio-1446 (Ohio Apr. 3, 2012) (available here), run 53 pages and they are all must reads for any and everyone who follows juvenile justice issue or sex offender registration issues or Eighth Amendment jurisprudence. Here is how the majority opinion gets started:

In this case we determine the constitutionality of R.C. 2152.86, which creates a new class of juvenile sex-offender registrants: public-registry-qualified juvenile-offender registrants. These offenders are automatically subject to mandatory, lifetime sex-offender registration and notification requirements, including notification on the Internet. We hold that to the extent that it imposes such requirements on juvenile offenders tried within the juvenile system, R.C. 2152.86 violates the constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment contained in the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Ohio Constitution, Article I, Section 9, and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Ohio Constitution, Article I, Section 16.

April 3, 2012 at 11:10 AM | Permalink

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Comments

This "little angel" who needs protection from having to register as a sex offender according to the Ohio Supreme Court abducted and raped a 6 year old boy and prevously was convicted of raping his 8 year old half sister and sent to sex offender therapy where he admitted to raping or sexually molesting at least 5 other girls. He committed all of those offenses by the time he was 15. And the Ohio Supreme Court somehow thinks it is grossly excessive "cruel and unusual punishment" to require C.P. to register as a sex offender? Really, this kid is the very definition of a dangerous icky perv who has raped multiple children over time.

What are they possibly thinking? Even if the sex offender registry somehow is punishment, this little monster and budding psychopath has raped multiple children over time and even after being in sex offender treatment program raped and abducted a 6 year old. This icky perv is an absolute menance to any child who he gets near - merely being on the sex offender registry isn't punishment for this kid - mere listing on the sex offender registry for such an obviously dangerous offender is an absolute joke. How many children does this monster have to rape before he is permanently taken out of circulation and locked up for life?

Erika :)

Posted by: virginia | Apr 3, 2012 12:06:13 PM

Erika:: "And the Ohio Supreme Court somehow thinks it is grossly excessive "cruel and unusual punishment"

to require C.P. to register as a sex offender?"

Such is by definition, a liberal position based upon liberal or "progressive" philosophy.

"If I looked at jails and crimes and prisoners in the way the ordinary person does, I should not speak

on this subject to you. The reason I talk to you on the question of rime, its cause and cure, is

because I really do not in the least believe in crime.

There is no such thing as a crime as the word is generally understood. I do not believe there

is any sort of distinction between the real moral condition of the people in and out of jail.

One is just as good as the other. The people here can no more help being here than the

people outside can avoid being outside. I do not believe that people are in jail

because they deserve to be. They are in jail simply because they cannot

avoid it on account of circumstances which are entirely beyond their

control and for which they are in no way responsible."

~~Clarence Darrow, 1902

[Try to find a conservative who will go for that.]



Posted by: Adamakis | Apr 3, 2012 1:24:34 PM

all registrations should be ruled unconstitutional on numerous grounds



Posted by: Tom Danson | Apr 5, 2012 1:27:55 PM

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 PBS Frontline covers the impact of Miller via "Second Chance Kids" | Main | The Sentencing Project reports on "Americas Increasing Use of Life and Long-Term Sentences" 

May 4, 2017

South Carolina Supreme Court rejects constitutional challenge to juve sex offender's mandatory lifetime registration/monitoring

Yesterday the South Carolina Supreme Court handed down an opinion in In the Interest of Justin B., No. 27716 (S. Ct. May 3, 2017) (available here), unanimously rejecting the contention that "mandatory imposition of lifetime registration and electronic monitoring on juveniles is unconstitutional." The relatively short opinion is a bit curious because, after reviewing a bunch of previous rulings in which it had "upheld the constitutionality of the mandatory lifetime sex offender registry requirement with electronic monitoring for adults and juveniles," the opinion does not discuss Graham or Miller but does confront and reject the juvenile's assertion that the constitutional analysis should "yield a different result under the reasoning of Roper v. Simmons."

Roper is, indisputably, a relevant precedent if and when a juvenile offender is arguing against mandatory imposition of lifetime registration and electronic monitoring. But, in my view, the more recent precedents of Graham and Miller are even more critical and central to mounting an Eighth Amendment argument against any mandatory lifetime sanction for a juvenile offender. (As noted in this prior post, more than five years ago the Ohio Supreme Court relied heavily on Graham to find unconstitutional a mandatory lifetime registration requirement for juvenile sex offenders.)

In the end, I do not think engagement with Graham and Miller would have made any real difference to the South Carolina Supreme Court. As this conclusion to the opinion highlights, that court has long deemed registration and monitoring to be civil non-punitive provisions that are not really subject to traditional constitutional limits on punishment:

The requirement that adults and juveniles who commit criminal sexual conduct must register as a sex offender and wear an electronic monitor is not a punitive measure, and the requirement bears a rational relationship to the Legislature's purpose in the Sex Offender Registry Act to protect our citizens  including children  from repeat sex offenders. The requirement, therefore, is not unconstitutional. If the requirement that juvenile sex offenders must register and must wear an electronic monitor is in need of change, that decision is to be made by the Legislature  not the courts. The decision of the family court to follow the mandatory, statutory requirement to impose lifetime sex offender registration and electronic monitoring on Justin B. is AFFIRMED

May 4, 2017 at 09:51 AM | Permalink

Comments

Former sex offenders in South Carolina have nothing to lose anymore by rising up against both registration and civil commitment laws. Hopefully, they can accomplish this uprising by non-violence. Let's hope that former offenders won't feel it necessary to use violence against those who enforce these unjust laws. But if one pushes a person around too much, that person can act like a caged lion pushed into a corner. Such a situation can cause the fear of an individual person turn into rage and anger at least on a temporary scale. Woe be onto those who push such a person to anger. This is like the Roosevelt quote after Pearl Harbor about a people being "slow to anger", but once angered, determined to fight back with all they got.

Posted by: william r. delzell | May 4, 2017 10:22:16 AM

Some day, the fiction that SORA is non-punitive is going to fall. The cracks are, I believe, beginning to show in the facade and lower court decisions are finally beginning to reflect what data and experience have been saying for years: that it's nothing more than brutal, high-tech, security theatre that demands human sacrifice. In some ways, I think it can be argued, a life sentence of imprisonment is more humane than a life sentence of registration. At least in prison nothing is expected of you other than to be a good ward of the state. On the outside, and on the list, you are saddled with all the expectations of every other man or woman, though with a two ton weight tied around your neck.

It is a civil death penalty, and that we impose it on anyone, let alone our children, should be to our collective shame.

Posted by: Guy | May 4, 2017 10:30:13 AM

Guy:

There is no shame (nor sanity) among the judiciary when they can look at a bold-faced lie directly and claim with the solemnity of the executioner that registration (much less electronic monitoring), is strictly civil and non-punitive. This goes with the great legislative lie that re-offense rates justify this to keep us safe (safe - hah, a tyrant can keep you much, much safer, just play his/their game). The primary purpose of government has never been to keep us safe above all else, rather, it is to defend our HUMAN rights, not only those "rights" recognized in the Constitution. Put 2 and 2 together and you have a very corrupt government built on a foundation of lies.

When the piper is paid, as it must, all claims of how "great America and its system of government are" go out the window.

I already disrespect, only barely tolerate, my government and the legal profession which continue to perpetuate myths.

Posted by: albeed | May 4, 2017 12:52:01 PM

Once again illustrating that the distinction between "civil" and "criminal" punishments is a distinction without a difference. A punishment is a punishment, labeling one as "civil" and the other as "criminal" is merely wordplay to get around the Constitution rather than a means of shedding light on the situation.

Posted by: Daniel | May 4, 2017 2:02:05 PM

OK. This is regulation not punishment.

I am interested in the concept of regulatory quackery. If a regulation cannot be verified to be safe and effective, it violates Fifth Amendment due process, and is void. The burden must be on the regulator. The voiding of quackery is the royal road to eliminating 90% of regulations. Because most are motivated by rent seeking, they have an intentional, deceptive, and criminal intent. Regulatory quackery should itself be subject to criminal prosecution, fines, exemplary damages to the victims.

Posted by: David Behar | May 5, 2017 7:05:17 AM

Al said, "I...barely tolerate, my government and the legal profession which continue to perpetuate myths."

Al, it's the Mafia. The lawyer profession is organized and runs as a criminal cult enterprise. It has infiltrated the three branches and controls 99% of government policy making. We pity our South American friends, where drug cartels buy off government officials, and we say they have a lot of corruption. Yet, in our case the criminal cartel has taken our government, makes a $trillion a year, and has caused it to utterly fail. How will we get rid of them?

Posted by: David Behar | May 5, 2017 7:09:14 AM

From a sentencing standpoint, not sure that Roper controls--Roper doesn't say anything about non-incarcerative (now there's a word coinage) punishment.

As for wearing a monitor, um, that's punishment--saying it's not brings the judiciary into disrepute.

Posted by: federalist | May 5, 2017 9:37:21 AM

"The Legislature's purpose in the Sex Offender Registry Act is to protect our citizens---including children---from repeat sex offenders-

So S. Carolina's Supreme Court just "assumes" that everyone on the punative registry is a repeat offender.

How sad.



Posted by: kat | May 5, 2017 10:56:14 AM

Okay. A fifteen year old sexually assaulted a five year old.

The facts aren't pleasant reading (including the attempted anal sex) and a child was harmed in a particularly horrible fashion, but as with other bad acts, the legal result very well might be unjust. The teen here was convicted of "criminal sexual conduct." But, that might be a bit of a red herring.

The opinion noted that conviction isn't necessary to be labeled a "sex offender," "declared delinquent" cited separately from "convicted."* For good or ill, the US Supreme Court has separated the two as well. The net effect here as to labeling and monitoring might seem a distinction without a difference, but "criminal" from my understanding is something that requires a higher standing of proof.

And, quite a few "civil" penalties are quite intrusive. Confinement in a mental institution because you are deemed a threat to yourself and others isn't a "criminal" confinement -- surely not in various circumstances -- but that only is part of the equation. So, the opinion saying "non-punitive and therefore no liberty interest is implicated" is dubious without more.

But, I think there is some talking past each other here. The finding of "sex offender" was obtained as a result of a conviction, but again, he didn't have to be convicted of a crime to be so declared. The registration and monitoring is not in place as a punishment of the crime. Such is the court's judgment.

So, I'm not sure at least for purposes of criminal punishment how relevant Roper and Graham is. The teen here is also not being confined in a prison for the rest of his life. On some broader level, yes, I think his immaturity is relevant respecting the civil or criminal (however you phrase it) burden a life time sex registration and monitoring for an act at 15 years old. Some language in those cases & others would be relevant in that respect.

---

* "Section 23-3-430 provides any personregardless of agewho is convicted or

declared delinquent for criminal sexual conduct with a minor in the first degree

must register as a sex offender."





Posted by: Joe | May 5, 2017 12:09:29 PM

An example came to mind.

Let's say there is a "civil" regulation in place that a finding of 'x' will result in removal of a driver's license. You need not be convicted of a crime. But, certain crimes very well might entail "x," so there is overlap.

The removal of the license for conviction to me might be like this case.

Posted by: Joe | May 5, 2017 12:20:41 PM

The irony is that neither Sex Offender Registries would have protected the little girls after which they were named. Megan opened the door to her neighbor. Jessica slept in her bed with her blue dolphin plush toy. Vicious, super predator, violent offender, serial killers were loosed on our children by the lawyer profession. The lawyer profession is 100% responsible for their takings, their rapes, and their painful and slow murders.

What would have protected them would be the beating of the lawyers that preserved the lives of the serial rapists and child killers that took them.

If anyone wants to protect a child, forget registries. Hunt a judge. Lash a judge. Do not kill them, since they will be replaced by grateful competitors. Shoot them in the knees, and tell them the next little girl taken by the sex offender they protect, privilege and empower, they will be beheaded.

If you want to fund a bunch of worthless tax sucking parasites in government, than start registries for every infraction, in all jurisdictions.

Posted by: David Behar | May 5, 2017 7:50:50 PM

Joe. All weasels must Register in the Lawyer Weasel Registry. Inform the police whenever a weasel changes address.

Posted by: David Behar | May 5, 2017 7:51:56 PM

I understand the judicial review mandate where monitoring is concerned, but this is apparently a complete reversal on the majority opinion on electronic monitoring in State v. Dykes [May 9, 2012] where the South Carolina Supreme Court held that lifetime GPS monitoring of convicted sex offenders, without regard to the likelihood of re-offending, violates substantive due process. In that opinion the court found that persons have a fundamental right to be left alone and that monitoring fails the strict scrutiny test. It further found that it violates the right to privacy, a right protected by the South Carolina constitution [Article I,  10].

Posted by: Huh? | May 14, 2017 5:51:35 PM

kat: "So S. Carolina's Supreme Court just "assumes" that everyone on the punative registry is a repeat offender."

South Carolina is a welfare state that gets back more in federal dollars than paid in federal taxes. It also has the toughest sex offender laws on the books. Although it has what the Department of Justice considers a tier system, it's system consists of only a tier II and tier III, and both require lifetime registration.

Registrants would have better luck moving to a state like PA. The legal community has had better luck in it's Supreme Court than others in most states.

.

Posted by: Huh? | May 14, 2017 6:05:24 PM

I am a mother of a supervised sex offender for life and I feel this punishment does not fit the crime sort of speak, I feel that it is too harsh of a punishment because nothing should be forever but death, everything should be able to expire and have a point to start afresh again. or given a second chance at life. my son cant go anywhere he really like to go he feel he may as well be in prison where nothing is expected of him, he was a teenager now a 40 year old man with grey hair and a grey beard. It is wrong and I plan on fighting to change this law. I call for Megan's Law to be changed or rewritten. My son has changed and done his time and needs to feel some sense of freedom now.

Posted by: phyllis kinman | Jun 21, 2017 6:45:26 AM

if there is anyone who can assist me with this issue please contact me kinmanphyllis@gmail.com or 803 888 6181

Posted by: phyllis kinman | Jun 21, 2017 6:51:15 AM

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 South Carolina Supreme Court rejects constitutional challenge to juve sex offender's mandatory lifetime registration/monitoring | Main | "Will Rod Rosenstein serve as a check on the attorney general, or will he tolerate his bosss unabashed cheerleading for Trump?" 

May 4, 2017

The Sentencing Project reports on "Americas Increasing Use of Life and Long-Term Sentences"

The Sentencing Project yesterday released this significant new report titled "Still Life: Americas Increasing Use of Life and Long-Term Sentences." Here is its introduction:

The number of people serving life sentences in U.S. prisons is at an all-time high. Nearly 162,000 people are serving a life sentence -- one of every nine people in prison. An additional 44,311 individuals are serving virtual life sentences of 50 years or more. Incorporating this category of life sentence, the total population serving a life or virtual life sentence reached 206,268 in 2016. This represents 13.9 percent of the prison population, or one of every seven people behind bars. A mix of factors has led to the broad use of life sentences in the United States, placing it in stark contrast to practices in other nations. Every state and the federal government allow prison sentences that are so long that death in prison is presumed. This report provides a comprehensive profile of those living in this deep end of the justice system. Our analysis provides current figures on people serving life with parole (LWP) and life without parole (LWOP) as well as a category of long-term prisoner that has not previously been quantified: those serving virtual or de facto life sentences. Even though virtual life sentences can extend beyond the typical lifespan, because the sentences are not legally considered life sentences, traditional counts of life-sentenced prisoners have excluded them until now. KEY FINDINGS  As of 2016, there were 161,957 people serving life sentences, or one of every nine people in prison.  An additional 44,311 individuals are serving virtual life sentences, yielding a total population of life and virtual life sentences at 206,268  or one of every seven people in prison.  The pool of people serving life sentences has more than quadrupled since 1984.The increase in the LWOP population has far outpaced the changes in the LWP population.  There are 44,311 people serving prison sentences that are 50 years or longer. In Indiana, Louisiana, and Montana, more than 11 percent of the prison population is serving a de facto life sentence.  Nearly half (48.3%) of life and virtual life-sentenced individuals are African American, equal to one in five black prisoners overall.  Nearly 12,000 people have been sentenced to life or virtual life for crimes committed as juveniles; of these over 2,300 were sentenced to life without parole.  More than 17,000 individuals with an LWP, LWOP, or virtual life sentence have been convicted of nonviolent crimes.  The United States incarcerates people for life at a rate of 50 per 100,000, roughly equivalent to the entire incarceration rates of the Scandinavian nations of Denmark, Finland, and Sweden.

May 4, 2017 at 09:57 AM | Permalink

Comments

The really sad thing is that so few care. Americans do far more harm and practice such appalling abuse to their own, through the prevailing systems of "justice", than ever their world "enemies" threaten or inflict.

Posted by: peter | May 4, 2017 3:01:10 PM

Peter is right. No one cares. Also consider that American sentences are far harsher than those of other Western countries. Why? Some thoughts:

1. Puritan ethic--folks deserve to suffer for their sins. If you are poor, it's because you didn't work hard enough; if your sick, it's because you masturbated too much; if you committed crime you chose to do so and must suffer the penalty.

2. State prosecutors, judges, and, of course, politicians of every stripe are elected. Longer sentences mean more headlines, more glory, less chance of being perceived as soft on crime and being defeated next election.

3. Prison builders, guards, parole officers, prosecutors, all lobby for longer sentences to justify and safeguard their employment.

4. Prisoners have no lobby, no leverage. They are the civilly dead. The zombies of our society.

The only counter weight here is that increased incarceration is busting the budgets of many states. This , in some cases, has lessened the length of some of the sentences in some of the states.



Other thoughts welcomed.



Posted by: James the Just | May 4, 2017 3:48:37 PM

James,

5) "The thought (which I subscribe to) is that those who choose to commit crimes deserve to be discarded. Were it up to me a felony conviction would result in a presumptive death sentence with it then up to the offender to prove (most likely by a clear and convincing evidence standard) that they individually deserve less.

Posted by: Soronel Haetir | May 5, 2017 12:02:45 AM

Mr. Haetir, about 20 million people have a felony conviction in America. That works out to about 1 in 12 adult Americans. Are you suggesting that 20 million folks be put to death? If so, you would even top Stalin, Hitler, and Pol Pot. Perhaps you should rethink your philosophy of punishment.

Posted by: Emily | May 5, 2017 8:42:46 AM

Emily,

Actually, given that I believe that even the theft of a couple hundred dollars deserves execution I would say that the 20 million figure is low. I am not a nice man, I try to be polite but nice is right out the door.

Posted by: Soronel Haetir | May 5, 2017 9:27:01 AM

Emily. Calm down. It is poor commenting form to regress in accordance with Godwin's Law.

The death penalty is an excellent form of incapacitation, since the deceased have no recidivism. As with all remedies, there is a dose response curve, too little not working, too much being toxic. So the strongest poison, when diluted, has 700 medical benefits. And water to excess causes seizures and death. I estimated 10,000 executions a year was a good number. It was still lower than the murder number. That number is artificially lowered by the advances in trauma care learned on the battlefield.

I now believe the death penalty should be abolished, and that the death penalty appellate racket should be ended, including the firing of many federal judges.

The reasoning is briefly reviewed here.

http://davidbeharmdejd.blogspot.com/2017/03/i-now-support-abolition-of-death.html

Posted by: David Behar | May 6, 2017 1:03:43 PM

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Marc's Corner, an art gallery inside the Market Street medical marijuana dispensary the Apothecarium, is named for Daniel Bergerac's late husband. It's a signifier of how, for Bergerac, who owns Mudpuppy's dog grooming and serves as president of the Castro Merchants Association, marijuana is related to queer identity.

"Medical marijuana is personal for me," Bergerac writes in the Examiner. "Ive lost two husbands  and countless friends  to HIV/AIDS. Cannabis eased their suffering like nothing else. It kept other patients alive long enough to access life-saving treatments. In the 1980s, we had to find marijuana on the street, like criminals."

Tonight Bergerac and Eliot Dobris, a PR consultant and head of community outreach for the Apothecarium, have organized an Outer Sunset protest against a group that's both anti-LGBT and anti-cannabis: The Pacific Justice Institute, which is designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and which also filed suit against the city last year over an open-air urinal in Dolores Park. In the neighborhood, PJI has fostered opposition to a proposed expansion of the Apothecarium, the dispensary claims. "They're taking neighbors' concerns and pouring gasoline on them," Dobris tells SFist. "PJI are using lies about medical marijuana  just as they do against the LGBT community," he writes in a press release.





While there are many letters in support of the proposed dispensary, which would be co-owned by former Oakland mayor Jean Quan and her husband Dr. Floyd Huen, a medical marijuana proponent, the Apothecarium is not without detractors. Some opposition has been voiced along religious lines and is allegedly fomented by PJI, who have represented conservative Outer Sunset churches in past years. Specifically, Apothecarium's representatives say PJI was behind activists who shut down an Outer Sunset community meeting about the dispensary earlier this year. "In March, PJI and their allies intimidated and shouted down Dr. Huen at a community meeting," Dobris writes, "preventing him from even speaking to the group that had invited him  using protesters brought in from outside the district."

Hence the protest, or counter-protest tonight, which also invites residents of all districts. "Please don't let them do it again," reads the Facebook event description, in which the Apothecarium's name is absent. "You don't have to go to Mississippi to fight a hate group. Take a stand right here in San Francisco."

As demonstrated in Pepsi's much-criticized ad with Kendall Jenner, the concept of protest or resistance, whose political prominence and power are at a historic high, is at risk of manipulation. Is the Apothecarium at risk of engaging in such ghoulish, capitalist cooption, albeit on a much smaller scale?

For Dobris, and for many, it's more simple than that. "The primary purpose of the protest is to raise awareness that PJI is a hate group spreading lies in the Sunset," he tells SFist. "They are an outside group that's come in with a mission of hate and we're protesting them." But PJI, it bears noting, is a hate group because it opposes the rights of LGBTQ people, not because it opposes cannabis. "We're not saying that everyone who has concerns about our dispensary is a bigot," says Dobris, "but we are saying that far too many people are hearing lies about medical cannabis and that the source of those lies is PJI."

But If the goal of tonight's protest was keep PJI from shutting down a community meeting, it's backfired. The library has cancelled the meeting, although the protest will go on. "The library told us late last night that we could no longer use the community room," Dobris says, adding that they had made the reservation long in advance and had confirmed it as recently as yesterday morning. The library's concerns, says Dobris are that that too many people would show up and that the crowd would become unruly.

For now, the Apothecarium will continue neighborhood outreach. They're looking to reschedule the meeting, and are due to appear before the planning commission on June 8. The protest tonight will begin at 6 p.m. at the SFPL's Ortega Brach at 3223 Ortega Street. More information here.

Related: Former Oakland Mayor Jean Quan And Her Husband Plot Outer Sunset Pot Dispensary With Apothecarium Team


Shooting in front of my work building btw 5th & 6th on Market and they...evacuate us? Seems like a shelter in place situation. pic.twitter.com/4S3QIux9iz  Whitney Merrill (@wbm312) May 3, 2017

A fatal police shooting that froze the center of San Francisco Wednesday had its roots in an argument over a Subway-brand sandwich, a witness says.

As you likely know, the San Francisco Police Department says that officers walking a footbeat on the 900 block of Market Street at 11:22 a.m. Wednesday "observed a white, male subject stabbing an Asian or Filipino male."

"The officers intervened and at least one officer discharged a firearm," police say, striking the stabbing suspect. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and was identified Thursday morning by the San Francisco Medical Examiner's office as 26-year-old Nicholas Flusche. As of publication time, his city of residence was unknown.

A photo tweeted from the scene depicted a bloody man in a Subway uniform seated on the Market Street curb, spurring rumors that the shooting occurred at the Subway sandwich shop on the same block where the shooting occurred.

Shots fired in Subway at 900 block Market St pic.twitter.com/1Jfs48Ovwh  _ (@R27D) May 3, 2017

Giving weight to the Subway hypothesis, the SF Chronicle reports that "investigators could be seen going in and out of the Subway on Market Street near Turk Street."

ABC 7 reports this morning that the situation began when an "argument between a Subway employee and a man broke out Wednesday morning, possibly over a sandwich."

"All I hear is two dudes arguing and then the cops was showing up," area resident Johney Jimenez tells ABC 7.

"And then they started arguing and telling him to get down. Just like hella nonsense."

Jimenez says ""I heard like two [shots], that's all I heard." He says he also "saw a four-inch knife afterward."

According to SFPD spokesperson Sergeant Michael Andraychak the stabbing victim is currently being treated at an area hospital for non-life threatening injuries.

SFPD's Homicide and Internal Affairs divisions, the San Francisco District Attorneys Independent Investigations Bureau, the Department of Police Accountability, and the Medical Examiners Office are all investigating the shooting.

Speaking with ABC 7, David Salaverry of San Franciscans for Police Accountability says "as soon as we see the body cams we're hoping they're in alignment with what the police have said so far."

"If so, this may have been an unavoidable shooting," he said

As of Thursday morning, however, it's unclear if police body cameras captured the incident. According to ABC 7, investigators pulled video from a Muni bus that passed the incident as it was underway, but no other information on footage from the shooting has been released.

Previously: SFPD Confirms Fatal Police Shooting On Market Street
Anyone who regularly rides the bus knows the feeling. You check the schedule and make sure you get there on time, only to find out the bus has already passed. This can add a half hour to your commute, and is especially dreadful during our grueling Wisconsin winters. Local software developer Evan Ricketts knew this pain all too well as a lifetime patron of public transit, and set out to do something about it. He put his skillset to use and created the MCTS Tracker, a mobile app available on iOS and Android that tracks MCTS busses in real time. Off the Cuff spoke with Ricketts about his app, its origins and what his future goals are.

What is the MCTS Tracker?

The goal of the app is to try and provide people with more information about public transit options, and more specifically, give them real time information so people arent standing out in the cold. I want to empower riders of the transit system to make more informed decisions about how they use the service.

What inspired you to create this app?

I grew up in Milwaukee and am a lifetime bus rider. I actually just got my drivers license a couple of months ago because I was working in Brookfield. It was a necessary evil. As a lifelong supporter of the transit system Ive lived through seeing it become less than what it was over the years due to budget constraints and all that.

I originally made the app for myself. They had these posters on the bus that had a picture of a cell phone with a screenshot of an app that didnt exist. I was fresh out of school and thinking it was something cool I could put on my resume. Then once I got it together I thought it might have broader appeal. So I put together the Android version, released it publicly and it took off from there.

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What is your background?

I grew up on the East Side, and like I said I was a lifelong bus rider in Milwaukee. I was always a fan of urbanism and how to make a city a nice place to live. I went to school in Massachusetts and got more exposure to some of the East Coast options for transit, which kind of blow away anything else in the country. That was a big thing for me. Coming back from there I thought, What can I do to get things up to par to make (the bus) a thing people dont only use out of necessity?

What are your goals for the app? Are you making money from it?

Well, it makes a little bit of money now through ad revenue, but all of that goes to paying for services that are used in the app like the directions feature. When I was putting this together I hadnt actually had a real job in my field yet, so it was a shoestring budget. I put together a version using an open source routing framework. That ended up being unreliable so I switched to Google, but there are costs that come with that. The money thing has never been the goal for me. Its been more about realizing the broad potential for informing the bus riders.

Really, the goal for me was to get people on the bus and to get people to look at the bus as a legitimate option. I know some people who have moved to Milwaukee and think of the bus as a last resort. My goal is to broaden the appeal and dispel the notion that riding the bus is something you dont want to have to do. The more people who get on the bus means the more revenue they have, that means more money they have to make it attractive, and that means more people riding the bus. I want to feed into that and try and boost the cycle.

Have you heard any feedback from the County about your app?

No, I havent really heard anything. I was talking for a little bit with an ad agency in the area that was bidding for work and they wanted to make my app a part of the proposal, but that didnt really go anywhere. I never thought I would necessarily get accolades or even a response at all from the County. I think they did actually email me once. Maybe it was when that strike happened. I dont really remember.

What about the response from your users? How many people are using your app?

Its hard to estimate, but its in the tens of thousands. It always kind of blew my mind. It went from an app I wanted to use to seeing other people using it on the bus. Its a mind-blowing experience thats never worn off.

You can download the app by searching MCTS Tracker in the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
ELK POINT, S.D. | Two experts who calculated the amount of lost sales and business value of Beef Products Inc. for the company's $1.9 billion defamation lawsuit against ABC will be allowed to testify at the upcoming trial.

Circuit Judge Cheryle Gering on Tuesday denied ABC's motion to prevent the expert testimony. ABC lawyers had argued that the experts used unreliable methods to come up with their conclusions, some of which, lawyers said, were speculative, and that the experts' information would not be useful or relevant to jurors who will hear the case.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin May 31 and testimony on June 5 for what is expected to be an eight-week trial.

Gering sided with BPI lawyers who had argued that both Daniel Sumner and Mark Hosfield had used professionally accepted methods and concepts to reach their conclusions.

She said in her 15-page ruling that it will be up to jurors to determine if ABC reports on BPI's Lean Finely Textured Beef were defamatory and disparaging and led to the financial losses claimed by the company. If the jury finds in BPI's favor, it will then decide whether Sumner's figures are relevant.

"The court determines that the defendants' (ABC's) criticisms do not warrant exclusion of Sumner's opinions on the basis of claimed irrelevance, lack or usefulness or unreliability," Gering wrote.

As for Hosfield's testimony and calculations that BPI suffered nearly $1.2 billion in lost business value, Gering again said jurors will decide if evidence shows his figures are correct.

"Whether or not the plaintiffs (BPI) have actually presented evidence that supports an award for lost business value will be determined during the trial," Gering said.

ABC and BPI will be back in court to take up other pretrial issues on Friday.

BPI, based in Dakota Dunes, sued ABC, its correspondents, federal officials and a former employee in September 2012 and will attempt to prove that a series of stories and broadcasts that began in early March 2012 defamed the company's signature lean beef product. BPI alleges the "prolonged disinformation campaign" caused a backlash against the product, which critics repeatedly referred to as "pink slime," and led to a loss of business, forcing the family-owned business to close all but its South Sioux City plant and lay off more than 700 workers.

Gering previously dismissed former "World News Tonight" anchor Diane Sawyer from the case, saying that Sawyer's role as an anchor limited her involvement in doing research and was not enough to establish defamation. The ruling left American Broadcasting Companies Inc., the parent of ABC News, and correspondent Jim Avila as defendants.

BPI lawyers previously dismissed ABC News, network producer David Kerley, former U.S. Department of Agriculture officials Gerald Zirnstein and Carl Custer and former BPI employee Kit Foshee from the lawsuit.

BPI estimates that the reports did $1.9 billion in actual damages to the company and is seeking a jury award in that amount. If BPI wins at trial, its claim could be tripled to $5.7 billion under provisions of South Dakota's Agricultural Food Product Disparagement Act.
WASHINGTON | Party line voting took place Thursday among the U.S. House representatives from Siouxland, when a bill to gut the Affordable Care Act moved by a narrow margin to the U.S. Senate.

All four of the tri-state Republican representatives -- Reps. Steve King of Iowa, Kristi Noem of South Dakota and Adrian Smith and Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska -- voted for the package. The lawmakers said Obamacare was a failure and it was time for a much better replacement, in the form of the American Health Care Act that passed on a 217-212 vote under the leadership of majority party Republicans.

Fortenberry had reportedly been among the final 20 undecided Republicans shortly before votes were cast with an unclear outcome in the early afternoon. In a statement, Fortenberry said, As I prepared to vote today, I asked a Nebraskan visiting my office what he thought about the new health care bill. He said, Its a start. I agree with him."

Fortenberry said his goal in health care reform remains the same, including lower costs, since health care costs rose by double-digits last year in Nebraska and the state may be left with only one insurance provider.

While this bill is highly complex and has created a great deal of controversy, saying no to any change would lock us into a system with significant and worsening problems," Fortenberry said.

King has long sought to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which was enacted in 2010 when Democrats held both federal chambers. He cited that quest in his only public comment by mid-afternoon, in the form of a tweet that referenced fellow native Iowan and former Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.

King tweeted, "Michele Bachmann & I wrote the first Obamacare repeal bills 7 years ago. Her finger joined mine today to push my vote button to dismantle."

Smith in a statement said, The bill passed by the House today maintains important patient protections while returning health insurance regulation to the states, where it belongs. It stops the federal government from forcing people to purchase health care plans they do not want and which do not meet their needs. It brings competition back to the market."

Noem said too many South Dakotans were paying more than $10,000 in premiums annually for Obamacare.

"I do not believe the federal government should be the decision maker on health care. When programs are necessary, states should be in charge, and in all other cases, it should be you, the patient, who is in the drivers seat. Thats the vision reflected by todays bill," Noem said in a statement.

Elsewhere in more easterly Iowa congressional seats, the lone Democrat, David Loebsack, voted against the bill. Republican Reps. Rod Blum and David Young cast affirmative votes.

Loebsack, in a statement, said the legislation jeopardizes the health care of 171,000 residents and "opens the door to eliminating the guarantee that pre-existing conditions will be covered for 1.3 million Iowans."

The Republican legislation requires insurers to cover people with pre-existing conditions, but it also allows states to let insurance companies charge people more based on their health status.

Democrats also criticized that Republicans moved too quickly, since the financial impact of the bill was not known at voting time, because it had not been scored by the Congressional Budget Office.

The Thursday bill vote was highly watched to see how majority party Republicans would address health care under first-year Republican President Donald Trump. That was true because the prior push by Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act floundered on March 24.

That's when evolving machinations by Republicans to come up with replacement fell flat, with a bill pulled from going up to a vote. King mere minutes later tweeted, "Now then bring to the House floor HR 175, the FULL ObamaCare repeal. Rip it ALL out by the roots!"
SIOUX CITY | A $2.3 million cut by state lawmakers this spring to the Iowa Tuition Grant program will mean fewer students attending private colleges will qualify for grants in the 2017-18 school year.

Gary Steinke, president of the Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, said the maximum grant will remain at $5,650 for students already awarded the aid for next fall. But with the total state appropriation cut from $48.9 million to $46.6 million, fewer students will receive grants, Steinke said.

Currently, just over 12,000 students qualify for the grants, which are awarded to Iowans attending one of 33 private colleges, based on financial need.

Therefore, Steinke said students need to apply for the grants in an expedited manner.

"They've got to get at it a lot earlier," he said.

Steinke called the cut "wrong-headed," since the Tuition Grant program is the only way the state uses taxpayer money to fund private colleges. He noted the private colleges raised more than $500 million this year to hand out to students as financial aid to lessen the cost of tuition, room and board and other expenses.

Private colleges have higher tuition costs than the three state public universities. Steinke said the legislative Iowa Tuition Grant cut was misguided, since it may move students to public universities, which are heavily funded by taxpayers.

Officials of the two private institutions in Sioux City, Briar Cliff University and Morningside College, lamented the cuts to the Iowa Tuition Grant program.

Briar Cliff University Vice President for Enrollment Management Brian Eben said the cut won't be as bad as it appears, because in recent years fewer people are qualifying for the grant.

"At first glance, this cut would make it appear that less students will get awarded funding. However, this cut is in line with the number of students that need the grant," Eben said. "Briar Cliff does not anticipate having to turn any students away from the Iowa Tuition Grant next year."

Morningside College President John Reynders said it is "regrettable" that the Legislature made the Iowa Tuition Grant cuts.

These dollars go directly to students and allow them to make a decision on which college is the best fit for them. Cuts like this hurt students and limit choice in the state of Iowa," Reynders said.
SIOUX CITY | A 45-year-old man was arrested Wednesday after he allegedly grabbed the neck of a woman and threw her into a wall. Police say he also was in a possession of a sawed-off shotgun.

Court documents allege Shannon Batten got into a verbal fight with a female victim around 7 p.m. Wednesday in the 1600 block of 26th Street. After some time, Batten grabbed the woman by the neck and slammed her into a wall leaving red marks on the side of her neck.

Police arrived at 9:30 p.m. in reference to the assault and Batten was placed into custody. After he was given his Miranda rights, he admitted to having a 14-inch sawed-off shotgun in the home.

Batten is a convicted felon for a 1996 forgery charge and not allowed to have a firearm of any kind, the documents said.

The Sioux Cityan was charged with aggravated assault, having the weapon as a felon and possessing an illegal weapon.

Batten was booked in the Woodbury County jail 20 minutes after officers arrived to the assault call. His bond amount is $20,000 and has a court date on May 15.
Maas assaulted his mother on May 12 at her Sioux City home after she refused to go with him to pick up another person. After she offered him money for a cab, he hit her repeatedly in the face and tried to strangle her.
WASHINGTON, D.C. | Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson endorsed the collaborative approach of a Siouxland delegation in Washington this week to build federal support for its priorities.

Carson, who became familiar to Iowans while campaigning across the state as a 2016 GOP presidential hopeful, called Wednesday for more holistic approaches to community needs in housing, health care and education.

Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, joked that hes enjoying his new job as President Donald Trumps choice to run an agency known mostly for public housing.

Im so delighted to be in Washington, he told the 63rd Siouxland Chamber of Commerce Washington conference Wednesday evening. I never thought I would say that. Actually, its not bad, but it can be so much better.

Introduced by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, Carson told more than 60 members of the Chamber of Commerce that his mission is to change the agency by utilizing a holistic approach, working across silos, to develop people and not just buildings.

That fit nicely with the chambers efforts to work across state lines and boundaries to address community needs.

Its been a nice day to be in Washington, said Barbara Sloniker, executive vice president of the chamber. Everyone here is talking about health care and taxes, which are among the chambers priorities.

Job training is another issue, said Steve Warnstadt, a former Iowa legislator now with Western Iowa Tech Community College. Given the labor demands of the region, the challenge is moving unemployed people into the workforce through education and job training, he said.

Since Congress ended the practice of earmarks, it has become more difficult to get funding for specific projects, Warnstadt said. While true, Sloniker said there are policy changes Congress can make that would help with the chambers priorities.

In addition to Grassley, the chamber reception in the Russell Senate Office Building attracted Sen. Joni Ernst and 4th District Rep. Steve King as well as South Dakota Sens. John Thune and Mike Rounds. All told, the group expects to meet with its six senators and eight House representatives while in Washington.
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Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company provides solutions that allow customers to capture, analyze, and act upon data seamlessly in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Japan. The company offers general purpose servers for multi-workload computing and workload-optimized servers; HPE ProLiant rack and tower servers; HPE BladeSystem and HPE Synergy; and solutions for secondary workloads and traditional tape, storage networking, and disk products, such as HPE Modular Storage Arrays and HPE XP. It also offers HPE Apollo and Cray products; and HPE Superdome Flex, HPE Nonstop, HPE Integrity, and HPE Edgeline products. In addition, the company provides HPE Aruba product portfolio that includes wired and wireless local area network hardware products, such as Wi-Fi access points, switches, routers, and sensors; HPE Aruba software and services comprising cloud-based management, network management, network access control, analytics and assurance, and location; and professional and support services, as well as as-a-service and consumption models for the intelligent edge portfolio of products. Further, it offers various leasing, financing, IT consumption, and utility programs and asset management services for customers to facilitate technology deployment models and the acquisition of complete IT solutions, including hardware, software, and services from Hewlett Packard Enterprise and others. Additionally, the company invests in communications and media solutions. It has a partnership with Striim, Inc. to offer high performance and mission-critical solutions with real-time analytics. It serves commercial and large enterprise groups, such as business and public sector enterprises; and through various partners comprising resellers, distribution partners, original equipment manufacturers, independent software vendors, systems integrators, and advisory firms. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company was founded in 1939 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (F.A.O) Subregional Office of the Pacific Islands has welcomed their new Nutrition and Food Systems Officer, Joseph Nyemah.

A Liberian-Canadian national, Mr. Nyemah arrives directly from Malawi where he was with the One UN as humanitarian advisor.

In this role, I led inter-cluster coordination for the food security, agriculture, nutrition, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (W.A.S.H), education, protection and health clusters over a $395 million humanitarian response, Mr. Nyemah said.

Working for the One UN did not only help me to see humanitarian and development work from a broader and integrated vantage point; it also strengthened my partnership building capacity across different UN and government agencies, NGOs, etc

In his new role as Nutrition and Food Systems Officer for F.A.O, Mr. Nyemah hopes to contribute to the work of his colleagues in F.A.O and across other UN agencies, governments, national and regional N.G.O and civil society partners to improve resilience in agriculture, nutrition and food security.

I want for us to collaboratively study the contextual applicability of a food systems approach  the analysis of food from the handling of the seeds to the point of disposal  and how the generated knowledge can inform programming, he said.

Mr. Nyemah is a former food security cluster coordinator with F.A.O in Mali, West Africa, where he coordinated two IPC  Integrated Phase Classification analyses for food and nutrition security.

He also worked in HQ in Rome with the World Food Program as an integrated context analyst in VAM (Vulnerability Analysis Mapping), where he led the publication of Tracking the Development of Urban Food Security Assessment Tools: 2010 to 2015.

While working for the Paris-based Action Contre La Faim, he managed integrated agriculture and food processing, aquaculture, nutrition and socioeconomic analyses in Liberia, Cote dIvoire, Sierra Leone, the Somali Region of Ethiopia, South Sudan and Sri Lanka from 1996 to 2005.

From 2008 to 2014, Mr. Nyemah worked in the Canadian public service across community, rural and economic development. His last post was director of regional planning, government of Nova Scotia, where he developed Nova Scotias first ever social enterprise strategy.

Mr. Nyemah has published in several peer-reviewed academic journals, for example, the Australian Journal for Studies in Continuing Education, and Canadian Social Studies Journal.

He is has a multi-disciplinary academic background that straddles rural sociology/development, development economics, political science and adult education.

Mr. Nyemahs research interest looks at the politics and interconnectedness of gender, culture, migration, and capacity building. He is a research fellow with the European-North American Borders in Globalization (BIG) project and the Delmore Buddy Daye Afrocentric Learning Institute, Halifax.

Mr. Nyemah is joined in Samoa with his family including his wife, four year old son, two year old daughter, and his sister.
"Thus far, the administrations approach has exceeded expectations. Fears that Trump would quickly move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and declare open season for Israeli settlement construction have not materialized."



"Trump may look for a big breakthrough on a final peace agreement and use their meeting to ask Abbas to resume negotiations. This would be unwise and is unlikely to work. For Abbas, going back to negotiations with the Israelis comes with a major cost. After nearly 25 years of failure, the Palestinian public considers negotiations as purely an excuse by the Israelis to buy time while they continue to build settlements and perpetuate the occupation... To go back into negotiations, Abbas will need a high-profile concession from Netanyahu that he can sell. But given the power of the far-right wing of the Israeli governing coalition, Netanyahu will not be able to take such a step."



The United States may try to sweeten the deal for Israel by leveraging the converging interests that Israel and the Arab States share in pushing back on Iran. The hope would be to get the Arabs to start publicly engaging with Israel, which would be politically helpful for Netanyahu, in exchange for Netanyahu making concessions to the Palestinians. But this formula is also unlikely to work. The Arab States are already getting the security cooperation they want from Israel and are happy to keep it quiet. They would need to see serious steps from the Israelis on the Palestinian front to take the risk of going public  steps that are again not possible given the right wing government in Israel.



Trump should instead seek a series of smaller steps from all sides that improve the quality of life for Israelis and Palestinians on the ground



"Importantly, he should not make steps by the Israelis contingent on steps from the Palestinians, or vice versa. Dont get drawn into negotiating between the two sides. Just individually work with both sides and get them to each take positive steps, unilaterally."



"Israelis also seek an end to what Netanyahu described as Palestinian call[s] for Israels destruction inside their schools, inside their mosques, inside their textbooks.



It's not Hady Amr and Ilan Goldenberg's intent to clarify just how anti-Israel their negotiating position was. Their plan was to lay out "guidelines" for Trump for his meeting with Islamic terror boss Abbas.It just so happens so that these guideline s carefully illustrate just how toxic the Kerry negotiating approach that they were part of was.If you want it in a few words. "Abbas' PLO is fine. Israel needs to make lots of concessions."It goes without saying that Israel shouldn't expect anything for these concessions. Also that previous concessions that Israel made, including under Kerry, are a dead issue. And Israel shouldn't expect to get anything in return for those either.Here we go.This is praise you really don't want.But, as a dog returns to its vomit, the leftoplats return to the same old chant. Give the terrorist stuff. He faces domestic political pressure. He can't be expected to walk away from negotiations for nothing. Give him something first. Lots of somethings. Hopefully things that can be used to murder Israelis.Now, despite that, Netanyahu doesn't need to take anything to the Israeli people. It's only the terrorist boss who needs concessions.And, "the Palestinian public considers negotiations as purely an excuse by the Israelis to buy time while they continue to build settlements and perpetuate the occupation". For the "Palestinian public", read Hady Amr and Ilan Goldenberger.They're one and the same.So Israel shouldn't expect public engagement either. Or anything.By all sides, they mean Israel.And by quality of life for Israelis and Palestinians, Amr and Goldenberg mean Palestinians. And improving the quality of life for the Muslim settlers who call themselves "Palestinians" means making it easier for them to kill Israelis.Which is certainly convenient because the PLO won't be doing anything. And Israel won't be able to protest that the PLO isn't doing anything. Because it's "unilateral". Israel is expected to make concessions to the terrorists regardless of whether they make any concessions.The Goldenberg/Amr plan is for Israel to turn over land to the PLO, improve its economy and build a gas pipeline to Hamas in Gaza. After a few paragraphs of that, we get the other side.While Hady Amr and Ilan Goldenberg state concessions to the PLO in their own voices, when it comes to Israel, this just becomes a claim that Netanyahu makes. Also, Amr and Goldbenberg assure us that the PLO leadership is already doing pretty well on incitement and their textbooks are just fine.Nothing to see here folks.The minor problem that the PLO is a terrorist organization and that it continues paying the salaries of terrorists today, celebrating terrorists and honoring them on a constant basis is an inconvenient fact that Amr and Goldenberg will pretend doesn't exist.This was the Obama peace process policy. Now it's what his minions would like Trump to adopt. Blame Israel for everything. Demand endless concessions from Israel. Expect nothing from the terrorists. And offer a constant stream of excuses for them.
A federal judge handed an Idaho man a 28-year prison sentence for the murder of a gay man.

Kelly Schneider, 23, was sentenced on April 27 in U.S. District Court. He was prosecuted by the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division.

Kelly Schneider assaulted and killed a man because of the mans sexual orientation, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Wheeler, in a news release. This is a federal crime, and the Department of Justice will continue to work with our federal and state law enforcement partners to enforce our federal hate crimes laws.

Schneider was convicted of the brutal murder of Steven Nelson, who he met after posting a solicitation for sex on the website backpage.com. Schneider asked Nelson to drive him to a secluded wildlife refuge near Lake Lowell for a sexual encounter but instead attacked Nelson, kicking him to death with steel-toed boots.

Before meeting Nelson, Schneider told friends he was not gay and would not let gay people touch him.

As reported by the Idaho Statesman, Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Lucoff told the judge Serious criminal punishment represents societys strong condemnation of what the offender has done.

In addition to the 28-year prison sentence, Schneider received five years of supervised release and a $5,000 fine. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in January for violating the Matthew Shephard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

Schneider was charged in federal court because Idaho does not recognize sexual orientation as a motivating factor to commit malicious harassment.
When it comes to zip codes, less is more and one is best. Thats the opinion of at least some residents in Wilton Manors.

At the April 25 commission meeting, Sal Torre, president of the Westside Association of Wilton Manors, asked commissioners to help get the United States Post Office to combine the citys four zip codes  33305, 33306, 33311, 33334  into one. Torre said his organization solicited the government for the change but was denied. He hopes the city can do better.

Theres no sense of uniformity or sense of community, said Torre about the multiple zip codes.

The commission agrees.

I think we all agree. Well do what we can. It would be awesome if we had our own, said Commissioner Scott Newton. Part of that includes talking to the members of Congress and the Florida House and Senate that represent Wilton Manors. It wouldnt hurt for us to be speaking to them, said Commissioner Tom Green.

Vice Mayor Justin Flippen suggested the city draft a resolution.

The zip codes, which also represent portions of Fort Lauderdale and Oakland Park, can also be confusing because some neighbors who live on different sides of certain streets have different zip codes.

Green added that a difference in zip code makes an incredible difference in insurance rates.

When she was a candidate for commission in 2008, resident Celeste Ellich said she wanted the city to have one zip code because it was unfair for some residents to pay higher insurance premiums just because of a difference in their zip code.

According to CarInsurance.com, the average six-month cost for car insurance in the zip codes east of Andrews Avenue  33305, 33306, 3334  is between $1,633 and $1,683. West of Andrews Avenue  33311  the average cost for a six-month policy is $1,833.
Here's the latest from around Wilton Manors!

Survey takers wanted

During the Wilton Manors Stonewall Parade and Street Festival on Saturday, June 17, survey takers are needed from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. The purpose of the surveys is to compile information on how many people attend the festival and how they plan to spend their money while in Wilton Manors and, if theyre from out of the area, in Broward County. The overall goal is to use that information to get more support, financial and otherwise, for the event from organizations such as the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. Those interested should send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 954-390-2123.

Pet rescue fundraiser

A fundraiser to benefit The Furever Family Rescue will take place on Saturday, May 6 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Village Pub, 2283 Wilton Drive, Wilton Manors. The event is a Kentucky Derby themed happy hour and features raffles, drink specials, and a Best Dressed pet contest. The event is hosted by Charlies Friends, a volunteer group dedicated to raising awareness and funds to support the efforts of local pet rescue organizations in Broward, Dade, and Palm Beach. The mission of Furever Family Rescue is to Rescue, Restore and Rehome as many lost souls into Furever Families as possible. Until every cage is empty and every back alley is quiet. Until every critter knows love and has their own Furever Family . . . We will press on! Visit FurEverFamily.wixsite.com/tffr for more information.

Lock It or Lose It

The Wilton Manors Police Department is launching its Lock It or Lose It campaign, a partnership between the community and police which aims to reduce crime by reducing the number of opportunities thieves have to take valuables. The Wilton Manors Police Department strongly encourages community members to participate in this campaign by not leaving valuables in plain view in their vehicles. It takes a person seconds to break into a vehicle, grab what is in plain view and get away with your property. Most importantly police say, hide your valuables, lock your vehicle, and/or take your valuables with you.

CANA meeting

The Central Area Neighborhood Association [CANA] will hold its general membership meeting on Wednesday, May 10 at 7 p.m. in the Hagen Park Community Center, 2020 Wilton Drive. The meeting will include presentations on current and proposed development, including the Shoppes of Wilton Manors, Villas on the Drive, the old Goodwill site, the Andrews Avenue/Oakland Park Boulevard corridor study, an update on Wilton Drive, volunteer opportunities, and more. Visit canawm.org or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.
Le Collectif Cheikh Yassine a organise un certain nombre dactivites et de festivites pour les enfants de Gaza sous le theme  La joie des enfants de Gaza pour lAid . Ces activites ont commence le premier jour de lAid et continue jusquau 4eme jour de lAid dans la bande de Gaza.



Plusieurs activites, ont ete organisees parmi lesquelles : des competitions recompensees par des prix, des jeux, des animations et des chants presentes par un groupe ainsi que des distributions de cadeaux et daides financieres.




VESICULAR GREEN SHARD FROM THE ONAPING FORMATION OF THE SUDBURY IMPACT BASIN Trinity College London

Meteorite impacts can produce more than craters on the Earth  they can also spark volcanic activity that shapes its surface and climate by bringing up material from depth.



That is the headline finding of an international team, led by geochemists from Trinity College Dublin, who discovered that large impacts can be followed by intense, long-lived, and explosive volcanic eruptions.

The team studied rocks filling one of the largest preserved impact structures on the planet, located in Sudbury (Ontario, Canada). The bolide hit the Earth here 1.85 billion years ago and excavated a deep basin, which was filled with melted target rocks and, later, with jumbled mixed rocks full of tiny volcanic fragments.

Not only are there volcanic fragments throughout the sequence of the 1.5 km-thick basin but they have a very distinctive angular shape, which the scientists explain resembles a crab claw. Such shapes form when gas bubbles expand in molten rock that then catastrophically explodes  a feature of violent eruptions involving water, and which can be seen under glaciers in Iceland, for example. In the crater, these took place for a long period of time after the impact, when the basin was flooded with sea water.

The key finding of the research, just published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, is that the composition of the volcanic fragments changed with time. Right after the impact, volcanism is directly related to melting of the Earths crust. However, with time, volcanism seems to have been fed by magma coming from deeper levels within the Earth.

Professor of Geology and Mineralogy at Trinity, Balz Kamber, said: This is an important finding, because it means that the magma sourcing the volcanoes was changing with time. The reason for the excitement is that the effect of large impacts on the early Earth could be more serious than previously considered.

On the early Earth there was a relatively brief period during which ca. 150 very large impacts occurred, whereas since then, only a handful have hit the Earth.

Professor Kamber added: The intense bombardment of the early Earth had destructive effects on the planets surface but it may also have brought up material from the planets interior, which shaped the overall structure of the planet.

The findings raise interest in topical research on similar volcanism on other planetary bodies like Mercury, Venus, Mars and the Moon. There, unlike on the Earth, the lack of plate tectonics and erosion help preserve surface features, which are probed by space craft.

The insight from Sudbury is complemental, the geologists say, because you can directly observe the rocks with your own eyes and collect loads of samples for detailed study in the lab.
NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 2 May 2017 - Initial Prep Started for the EXPRESS Pallet Controller Assembly EVA. NASA

Today  OsteoOmics: The crew thawed a BioCell and injected it into growth media in the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG).

After all six BioCells are processed they are put in BioCell Habitat 1 which is placed in the Space Automated Bioproduct Lab (SABL). Beginning with the media injection, subsequent BioCell operations are performed inside the MSG. Later in the day the crew removed a media kit from a Microgravity Experiment Research Locker / INcubator (MERLIN) and inserted it into an ambient Cargo Transfer Bag for the next days operations. This is the first of four weeks of OsteoOmics operations. A different BioCell Habitat, each containing six BioCells in media, is used each week. Crewmembers experience bone loss in orbit, stemming from the lack of gravity acting on their bones. OsteoOmics investigates the molecular mechanisms that dictate this bone loss by examining osteoblasts which form bone, and osteoclasts, which dissolve bone. Improved understanding of these mechanisms could lead to more effective countermeasures to prevent bone loss during space missions and in a wide range of disorders on Earth. This may lead to better preventative care or therapeutic treatments for people suffering bone loss as a result of bone diseases like osteopenia and osteoporosis, or for patients on prolonged bed rest.

Fluidics: The crew assembled Fluidics hardware and installed and configured it on seat-tracks in the Columbus module. They then started the first science run. Following completion of that run the crew replaced fluid tanks and performed the second run. Fluidics is a fluid mechanics experiment with two main objectives: a Slosh Study to investigate fluid behavior under microgravity during satellite maneuvers, and a Wave Turbulence Study to investigate the impact of capillary effect on wave turbulence without being masked by the effect of gravity. Two tanks with different filling rations (50% and 75%) for Slosh and one tank with water for Wave Turbulence are used.

Radiation Dosimetry Inside ISS-Neutron (RaDI-N) Retrieval: The crew retrieved all 8 of the Space Bubble Detectors that were deployed last week in the Node 2 module for the RaDI-N experiment and handed them over to the Russian crewmember to be processed in the Bubble Reader. This Canadian Space Agency (CSA) RaDI-N investigation measures neutron radiation levels while onboard the ISS. Bubble detectors are used as neutron monitors designed to only detect neutrons and ignore all other radiation.

Dose Tracker: The crew completed a weekly medication tracking entry in the Dose Tracker application that runs on an iPad. Dose Tracker documents the medication usage of crewmembers before and during their missions by capturing data regarding medication use during spaceflight, including side effect qualities, frequencies and severities. The investigation is expected to provide anecdotal evidence of medication effectiveness during flight and any unusual side effects experienced. It is also expected that specific, near-real-time questioning about symptom relief and side effects will provide the data required to establish whether spaceflight-associated alterations in pharmacokinetics or pharmacodynamics is occurring during missions.

Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Preparations: In preparation for the EXPRESS Pallet Controller Assembly (ExPCA) EVA currently planned for May 12, the crew configured computers to record Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs) 3006 and 3008 operating data which ground teams will use for detailed analysis of the suits function. The crew also performed loop scrubs on the EMUs and filled the empty Liquid Cooling Venting Garments (LCVGs) with water which will provide cooling for the crew members during the EVA.

Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Operations: Yesterday evening Robotics Ground Controllers powered up the MSS and maneuvered the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) Body and Arm 2 as required to stow Robot Micro Conical Tool #2 (RMCT2) in the SPDM Tool Holder Assembly (THA). They then configured the SPDM for the start of the Main Bus Switching Unit #2 (MBSU2) R&R and maneuvered the Space Station Robotic Manipulator System (SSRMS) into position to perform a survey of MBSU2 using SPDM and SSRMS cameras. Finally, Controllers maneuvered the SSRMS to the start position for the MBSU2 R&R which is scheduled on May 4.

Todays Planned Activities

All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.

Virus Definition File Update on Auxiliary Computer System (???) Laptops

VIZIR. ???? Battery Charge

Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) High Speed Data Initiation

OsteoOmics MSG Operations

Regeneration of ??? ?1 Micropurification Cartridge (start)

Charging Sony PMW-EX1R camcorder battery (start)

OsteoOmics Thaw Kit Retrieval

Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Cooling Loop Maintenance Scrub Initiation

Recharging Soyuz 735 Samsung PC Battery (if charge level is below 80%)

OsteoOmics Thaw Bag Retrieval

OsteoOmics MELFI Retrieval

Crew time for ISS adaptation and orientation

OsteoOmics BioCell Thaw Operations

Initiate water transfer from CWC-I to ??? No.1237

Removal of Battery Module No.2 ????-1? (pos.?302), preparation

Terminate water transfer from CWC-I to ???

Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) High Speed Data Verification Steps

PROFILAKTIKA-2. Preparation for the Experiment Ops

PROFILAKTIKA-2. Operator Assistance in Preparation for the Experiment

Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Post Scrub Cooling Loop Water (H2O) Sample

Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Cooling Loop Maintenance Scrub Reconfiguration

PROFILAKTIKA-2. Experiment Ops on ??-2 Treadmill

Terminate Soyuz 735 Samsung PC Battery Charge (as necessary)

Charging Sony PMW-EX1R camcorder battery (end)

VIZIR. End ???? battery charge

Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Liquid Cooling Ventilation Garment (LVCG) Water Fill

PROFILAKTIKA-2. Close-out ops (Operator)

OsteoOmics BioCell Habitat Cleanup

Photo/TV Camcorder Setup Verification

Extravehicular Mobility Unit Fan Dryout

Crew time for ISS adaptation and orientation

Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Full Water Tank Dump and Fill

TOCA Water Recovery System (WRS) Sample Analysis

Search for missing ??? accessories (hatch tool, electric plugs, connector caps) in SM ???

CASKAD. Manual Mixing in Bioreactor

CONSTANTA-2. Removal of Cassette from ???-? and setup on panel for 1-hour warmup

Fluidics hardware installation and science run start

Filling (separation) of ??? (???) for Elektron or ???-??.

CONSTANTA-2. Preparation and Execution 3. Tagup with specialists

EVA Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Cooling Loop Scrub Deconfiguration

OsteoOmics BioCell Split

Habitability Human Factors Directed Observations  Subject

Emergency Cue Card Trash

??? Maintenance

Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) Conductivity Test

Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) High Speed Data Deconfig

SPRINT PI Conference

Photo/TV Camcorder Setup Verification

Photography of attachment points of MRM2 Docking Assembly cover sealing mechanism housing

Environmental Health System (EHS) Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) Sample Data Record

IMS Update

Dose Tracker Data Entry Subject

MATRYOSHKA-R. BUBBLE-dosimeter gathering and measurements

Fluidics Run 2 execution

ISS Crew Orientation

Radi-N Detector Retrieval/Readout

Radiation Dosimetry Inside ISS-Neutrons Hardware Handover

MATRYOSHKA-R. Handover of BUBBLE-dosimeters from USOS

MATRYOSHKA-R. BUBBLE-dosimeter gathering and measurements

Photo/TV Camcorder Setup Verification

FFQ or ISS Food Intake Tracker (ISS FIT)

Charging Sony PMW-200 camcorder battery (end)

Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue (SAFER) Checkout

Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) Exercise Video Stow

Fluidics Power OFF

Stow Syringes used in H2O Conductivity Test

OsteoOmics MERLIN Removal

Completed Task List Items

MBSU Jumper Gather

Veg03 Plant Water/Photo

EVA REBA Hardware Checkout

EVA REBA Install

Expedition New Earth  Microgravity

Expedition New Earth  Personal Space

Expedition New Earth  Trash

Ground Activities

All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.

OsteoOmics support

EVA prep

Three-Day Look Ahead:

Tuesday, 05/02: OsteoOmics media change, EVA loop scrub, Fluidics

Wednesday, 05/03: OsteoOmics media change, Sprint Ultrasound, OBT ISS emergency hardware familiarization

Thursday, 05/04: OsteoOmics media change, EVA tool config/SAFER checkout, CEVIS portable PFS setup

QUICK ISS Status  Environmental Control Group:

Component  Status

Elektron  On

Vozdukh  Manual

[???] 1  SM Air Conditioner System (SKV1)  Off

[???] 2  SM Air Conditioner System (SKV2)  Off

Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab  Standby

Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3  Operate

Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab  Operate

Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3  Operate

Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA)  Process

Urine Processing Assembly (UPA)  Standby

Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab  Full Up

Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3  Off
As the conflict in Yemen between a US-backed, Saudi-led military coalition and the Houthi militia enters its third year, life for civilians in the country has never been more dire. The war has already left over 10,000 dead, 40,000 wounded, and more than 3 million displaced, according to United Nations estimates. But while the West has been militarily involved in Yemen for years, with the Bush administration ordering drone strikes there as early as 2002, only in the past months has concern with the humanitarian crises in the Middle Easts poorest country begun to build to something of a chorus.

First, at the end of January, there was the Trump administrations raid on a rural, central-Yemeni village that cost the lives of 25 civilians including nine children and eight women, in addition to that of a US soldier. The raid is still being reported on and in many cases criticized by government officials, human rights organizations, and the media.

Then, in the middle of February, the UN released a report declaring Yemen on the verge of famine, with 90 percent of civilians in the country in need of some form of humanitarian aid and more than 450,000 children currently suffering from severe acute malnutritiona nearly 200 percent increase since 2014, the UN says. Illustrated another way, right now, one Yemeni child dies of preventable causes, like hunger, every 10 minutes.

This humanitarian crisis appears set to only worsen with the continuation of an American-supported Saudi blockade on imports to some of the most hard-hit areas in Yemen, in addition to a continuation of the two-year-old Saudi bombing campaign that has destroyed critical infrastructure, schools, hospitals, and razed civilian gatherings including weddings and funerals.

We offer this context because, in the midst of this, the international coffee community is right now having something of a moment of renewed interest in Yemeni coffee. Although the country was the first to commercially cultivate coffee in the 15th century, only in the past five years or so has there been a strong interest from specialty coffee companies abroad in buying, roasting, and serving Yemeni coffee.

Sprudge has written extensively about this connection before, but since the $16-a-cup Blue Bottle Coffee collaboration with Mokhtar Alkhanshalis Port of Mokha last year, the demand for specialty Yemeni coffee has only expanded. Soon, youll be able to find what Alkhanshali advertises as the worlds best coffee at Equator Coffee & Teas, Dragonfly Coffee Roasters, Slate Coffee Roasters, George Howell Coffee, and Paris Coutume Cafe.

That such a historically important growing region, once a footnote as only that, is now receiving recognition for its ability to produce excellent coffee today is ostensibly good news.

But looming questions remain. Given the ongoing instability inside Yemen, what exactly will an increased demand for Yemeni coffee mean for Yemeni coffee producers? And moreover, what does it mean for Yemens overall economy given that the country is in the midst of a war?

Washington DC-based Al Mokha is attempting to answer those questions.

Founded in 2013 by Anda Greeney, a former Air Force Lieutenant and MBA student at Harvard, Al Mokha was created to function as both a coffee company and means of promoting economic growth and stability in Yemen.

My gut instinct is that business is a great way to drive development, Greeney says. He believes that to create growth in a developing country, homegrown solutions, not the provision of development aid, are necessary.

Al Mokha is Greeneys way of facilitating one of those solutions in Yemen. By helping to drive demand for Yemeni coffee internationally, he hopes to expand the market in which Yemeni coffee producers can operate. This, in turn, will promote a natural expansion of coffee production in Yemen to historically high levels.

This is what Al Mokha refers to as a one billion dollar opportunity, the effects of which will not only benefit one million Yemeni citizens but will help stabilize internal conflict in Yemen by providing employment opportunities, whereas now there are few.

How can markets, businesses, create jobs? Greeney asks.

Named after Yemens historically most significant port citythe actual Al Mokha is now a fishing village, and currently the site of heavy military confrontation from which as many as 30,000 civilians have fledthe company is still small and relatively unknown; Greeney remains its only on-the-books employee.

At the time the company was founded, I couldnt travel in Yemen, Greeney says. So I ended up spending time in Oman. Then I moved to Boston to start this night Masters at Harvard Extension, and the first semester there I was taking a research methods course and needed to write a final paper that would turn into a thesis later on. I suggested the idea of Al Mokha to my professor. And he said, Sounds good. Okay.

Within months Greeney submitted the idea for his company to an entrepreneurship competition through the school and soon found himself with $500, buying green Yemeni coffee.

I met with some roasters, roasted up some coffee samples, and we had 400 of these little sample bags, he says. And Im not a coffee guy. I didnt know anything about coffee. Didnt know anything about roasting. I was like, coffee beans are supposed to look dark and oily, and I started looking at these dry, lighter-roasted beans and was like, that just doesnt look right aesthetically, I dont know if this is going to sell.

But he wouldnt be here if it hadnt. The Yemeni Embassy in DC is a regular customer. And Greeneys found success selling coffee to customers around the US and internationallyincluding those living as far away, or depending on how you look at it as close, as Saudi Arabia and Oman.

The remarkable thing still is that people like it, Greeney says. Coffee from Yemen, people just like it.

For the most part, Al Mokha doesnt buy coffee when its still at origin, instead purchasing the majority of its green Yemeni beans when theyre already in the States.

We have a reserve coffee, the Al-Wudiyan, that was a pre-purchase while it was still at origin, Greeney saysit passed through the Rayyan Mill, an American-founded operation in the capital Sanaa known for its quality.

Greeney isnt looking for his company to become the next Third Wave darling. Instead, he sees entering the mainstream coffee market as vital to not only the success of his business but for the expansion of Yemens coffee industry as a whole.

A third of my customers are Sprudge readers, people who have good taste, he says, laughing. A third are Middle Eastern with ties to Yemen, and a third are just regular people who dont drink Third Wave coffee. They may be open to it but they drink Folgers too. They drink my coffee and love it. We sell quite a bit of dark roast.

In this way, Al Mokha doesnt really compete with other American coffee companies specializing in the production of Yemeni coffees. Instead, Al Mokha is working alongside them toward the same end.

Measuring the impact of that production on Yemen itself, however, remains a challenge.

Dr. Erin Fletcher, an economist and international development consultant, and member of Al Mokhas advisory board, says its an issue theyve wrestled with since the start.

How do we know if its working? she says. As an economist, I want a randomly assigned treatment and control group and want to talk to people before and after and during and know everything thats going on. But thats not really possible here. What were doing right now is figuring out what is the best thing to measure, and asking what is the best way to qualitatively and quantitatively assess impact.

Its this issue that initially drew me to Al Mokha. The desired outcomes of its work are far-reaching, but the tone with which they are presented is measured. Talking to Greeney and Fletcher, I understood where the two sides of the companys proverbial coin come from.

We definitely have some ways of thinking about what were doing and metrics that we can track year over year month over month, and ways of thinking about whether were meeting goals or selling more coffee or helping more farmers reaching more people, Fletcher says.

How do we put a price on impact? Greeney adds. Weve got our model, now were going to build a business.

The success of Al Mokha and others cant come soon enough. In addition to the damage being done to Yemens civilian population by its war, there are tertiary effects of the conflict on the coffee sector.

Dr. Amin Al-Hakimi of Sanaa University explains that the incredible diversity of coffee varietals native to Yemen is at risk as more farmers abandon their cultivation for lack of profitability.

We are trying to adapt to the conflict, Dr. Al-Hakimi says. But he hopes it ends soon.

Dr. Al-Hakimi points to a need for a system that helps farmers market their coffee, incentivizing the preservation of the coffee sector for its economic significance.

Whether a more robust international demand for Yemeni coffee is the impetus for that systems creation remains to be seen. But ordering a bag of coffee from Al Mokha is a vote of confidence that it is.

The really important point, Greeney says, is that business is resilient. Theres a war going on, but coffee is still getting out. Thats whats so important about how anyone thinks about development. The businesspeople in Yemen are creative, theyre going to take the steps necessary to keep getting coffee out.

Its that resilience I most hope Andas right about. Not just of business, but of the people behind it.

Michael Light (@MichaelPLight) is a features editor at Sprudge Media Network. Read more Michael Light on Sprudge.

Photographs courtesy Al Mokha and Rayyan Mill.
It is with great sadness that Hochstetler Racing relays that prolific broodmare and Illinois Harness Racing Hall of Famer Quillo, dam of Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame stallion Kadabra, has been euthanized at Last Hurrah Stables after ongoing health complications at the age of 24.

The daughter of Trottin Happy and Arsenals Dynasty notably produced the great racehorse and sire Kadabra ($2,190,707, 1:51.3) as well as the Illinois champion Lifes A Holiday ($729,125, 1:54). From 10 foals of racing age, Quillos offspring amassed more than $3.2 million in earnings and over 100 victories.

Quillo was bred by Homer Miller and Dennis Yoder. She was a $10,000 yearling purchase in 1994 by the great harness racing ambassador Beulah Dygert.

Quillo never raced after she suffered a career-ending fall at Maywood Park. Following health complications, Beulah Dygert gifted Quillo to the Hochstetler family. The gift turned into a life-changing moment for Connie and Homer Hochstetler as Lifes A Holiday and Kadabra brought the racing stable to new heights. Both of the sons of Quillo are Illinois Harness Racing Hall of Famers.

Quillo was the most precious gift we have ever received. She truly changed our lives, and Quillo has altered the course of harness racing with her offspring. We are very blessed to have had her in our lives, said Connie Hochstetler.

Quillos final offspring is Lady Rapidash, a yearling by RC Royalty named after a Pokemon just like the great Kadabra.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the connections of Quillo.

(With files from Hochstetler Racing)
Officials with Cal Expo have released some estimated wagering data from the tracks current meet  which will wrap up this Saturday, May 6  and it indicates that handicappers have been interested in the tracks offerings.

A release from Cal Expo states that final figures from the Watch and Wager LLC meet will be encouraging all the way around, including an average nightly handle of over $802,000, which represents a 4.5 per cent increase over the previous meet.

Field size also went up from 7.6 starters per race to 7.9, while there will have been 666 races run at Cal Expo this season compared to 612 at the last session.

A quartet of California Sire Stakes for the three and four-year-old pacers will be showcased on closing night. First post for the 12-race card is set for 6:15 p.m.

The team of owner/breeders Wayne and Rod Knittel, trainer Bob Johnson and driver Mooney Svendsen should be tough in both the stakes for the males, with Army Of One heading the three-year-old contest and Allymxsliventexas strictly the one to beat in the event for the four-year-olds.

A Hi Ho Silverheels homebred, Army Of One has accounted for five of the six added-money contests for this group. Allmyxsliventexas has dominated his division all season, establishing his lifetime mark of 1:51.4 while romping home by double digits in the February 4 stakes clash.

In last weeks score, Army Of One changed his tactics from front-end performances to coming from last in the compact cast for Svendsen and prevailing in the final strides with the 1:56.3 clocking, a second off the career standard he set in the February 25 sire stakes.

(With files from Cal Expo)
After reading TROTs March feature on a young boy and his special connection to a horse, racehorse owner Georg Leber felt inspired to make a difference in the childs life. By Melissa Keith

The story from the March 2017 issue of Trot Magazine and later featured on the Standardbred Canada website profiled Jared Dodington, a seven-year-old boy from Nova Scotia with autism that impacts his ability to establish friendships and bonds with kids his own age. Jared quickly developed a bond with a Standardbred foal at Meridian Farms in PEI, a horse he named 'Courage,' and that bond wasn't ordinary by any stretch of the imagination.

We thought it was just a one-time thing, and it wasnt, Jared's father Matt Dodington told Trot. We went back [to PEI] a few times, to watch different stakes races, and every time we went, we went back to the farm, to the field there. Going down to the mares pasture fence, the Dodingtons would call out the colts new, unofficial name. The whole herd of them start coming down and then they stop. And the one little fella comes right up to us, every time.

The yearling, registered as Bank Roll by Meridian, was slated for the sales ring in 2017 until an owner from Ontario made sure Jared and Courage would have every chance to maintain and develop that bond created months ago.

Trot Magazine's follow-up on this feel-good story appears below. The news has also reached mainstream media and was the subject of a recent CBC article. CBC also posted an audio interview with Meridian's Brian Andrew and Madonna Morrison, embedded below.

If theres a single characteristic that defines Canadian harness racing, it could be the spirit of benevolence shared among so many of its participants.

Take the recent example of Jared Dodington, the seven-year-old Cape Breton boy who became fast friends with a Meridian Farms foal named Bank Roll last year. As described in the March 2017 TROT, Jareds autism affects his ability to establish relationships with other children, so his instant connection with the precocious colt made for a beautiful story. Yet it was an unsatisfying tale in that there was no known reunion date for Jared and the foal he christened Courage in the field. Matt Dodington, the boys father, had hoped to purchase Bank Roll/Jareds Courage at the 2017 Atlantic Classic Yearling Sale in Crapaud, PEI, but bidding would come with no assurance of ownership. And the trotters were going high in 2016.

The story Jareds Courage also appeared on the Standardbred Canada website, to mark Autism Awareness Day, on April 2, 2017. Between the TROT story, and its later appearance on the website, it did not take long for several members of the racing community to take action.

Georg Leber owns 18 standardbreds, encompassing racehorses, broodmares, young horses, and new foals. The successful Pefferlaw, Ontario businessman says he was moved by the Dodingtons long wait for the yearling sale and uncertain prospect of even landing the colt. I read the story about Jared and the young weanling, Bank Roll, who kept coming up to Jared, he explains. It said that Meridian Farms was putting him through the sale, and I said, Well, I negotiate for a living, so why dont I call them up and say, Hey guys, lets make a deal. What does it cost? Lets get it done! But first I asked permission.

Meridian Farms East is the major consignor at the Atlantic Classic Yearling Sale every year, and Bank Roll is a full brother to one of the 2016 editions top-priced trotters, Buckaroo. To agree to a private sale without fully understanding the special circumstances would have amounted to compromising Meridians highly-principled support for the regions top sale. Matt Dodington had briefly spoken with Meridian Farms owner Bill Andrew, but hadnt been able to strike a deal that fully respected Bank Rolls racing potential or value to the Atlantic Classic Sale. Nor was the Alberta-based Andrew fully aware of the bond which had developed between Jared and the well-bred baby.

Thats where Leber brought his skills to the table. He contacted Dodington through Facebook, asking whether they could partner up on Bank Roll. Then I phoned over to Meridian and spoke with [farm operator] Brian Andrew, says the charitable horse owner. The year before, the full brother sold for $9,000. So I said, You know what? Ill give you $9,000 for him. Does that seems fair to you?

I will say Brian was just an absolute gentleman to deal with. Within minutes, we were talking about the price of the horse - done! Everythings fine, adds a satisfied Leber. Hes called me a couple of times since then [with updates]. The transaction was simple: What I did, is I suggested to Matt, that Jared and I go in as 50/50 partners, because there will be some training expenses too. I can afford the expense, so I said, Why dont I go down as half-owner; anything that we win, we put it all back into the care and training of Jareds Courage. If he makes bigger money because hes very successful, well find a way to put it into charitable functions. I dont want any of the money from the purses or anything, but I dont want them to be out any money.

At press time, Matt and Jared Dodington were readying for a trip from Sydney Mines, NS to Meridian Farm, Milton, PEI.

Were going in about two and a half weeks [May 5th], Matt tells TROT. I guess CBC wants to do a story on it too, Brian Andrew was saying. Its more than what I expected when I sent you that little story a while ago!

Dodington will deliver his pacing mare, Victory Cry, for breeding with new Meridian stallion Steelhead Hanover, and bring the soon-to-be-renamed Bank Roll home.

I was talking to Brian Andrew and I guess theyre taking [Bank Roll] out of the field, notes Dodington. They were going to have him gelded, which is good, then theres a young girl who works with them over there, and shes a vet student [Madonna Morrison]. Morrisons role is to acquaint the weanling with the expectations for his new life with Jared: Handle him; take him for a few walks; get him used to a few things, because he was out in the field, running wild with the stud colts. This was August, the last time we saw him, and they grow a lot and its a big difference when theyre with all just boys.

Jareds response to the news that his equine buddy would be joining him in Cape Breton for a few months was positive: We just told him that were going to get Courage. He was really happy about it. I took a little video of him [Jared] on my phone, saying thank you, and sent it to Georg.

Its something of an early birthday gift for Jared, who turns eight in June. Hes asked us a couple of times already, When are we going to get Courage? Hes looking forward to it, says his father.

Were going to let Jared do as much as he can with Courage. I mean, [the weanling will] spend as much time as he can out in the field. Thats what you want with them; theyre still growing. Bring him in, and [introduce] those little things, like taking him for a walk on the lead rope, or maybe put him on the cross-ties and have him pick up his feet, just some little basic things well do with him. Probably after his first season, well bring him back here for his three or four months off, before they go back training. I might take him over to Northside Downs and hook him up to the double jog cart over there, the two-seater. Take him for a jog, get Jared to drive him.

Jareds Courage will be pointed toward regional stakes for two and three-year-old trotters. If hes good enough, hes going [to race on as an aged performer], but as a four-year-old, hell probably just come back here and be a pet, says Dodington.

That element - a loving, lifetime home for the trotter - sealed the deal for Leber, who already wanted to do what he could to help the family. When I saw this, I thought: heres a horse; its in Atlantic Canada; they dont race for big-league money down there, so anyone who buys a horse down there is already behind the eight-ball. Theres not a lot of purse money. So I looked at this situation: Jared has autism, but he connected with the horse.

Citing the example of the late Jim Carr, as a perfect illustration of a horseman who shared his own good fortune, Leber says the desire to give back isnt about sentimentality. It wasnt that Im one of these guys who cries at the drop of a hat or anything, but in our business - you may or may not see it every day - but people give to everything in our business. Trainers will give up their commission for a night; drivers will give up their commissions; breeding farms will donate to charities; and whenever someone in our family of horse racing needs help, people put out a little time, effort, and cash to help, right?

Leber praises Meridian Farms for the Andrew brothers and Morrisons contributions to bringing Jareds Courage to Jared Dodington. I give them full marks. Theyre just good people, he remarks. People get together and they know what needs to be done. They dont need anyone to strong-arm people in this business. Were just following the example of others in our industry, right?

Whatever the outcome of Jareds Courages racing career, Leber says hes pleased to be a partner on the Tad the Stud - Buckling Banbury son. Theres a winner right there: even if the horse never races, hell spend the rest of his days on the farm with Jared, offers the affable owner, a smile in his voice. Theyre both young; theyll grow up together, and that will be fun.
Operation Mobilization USA Appoints New Director of Freedom Challenge

Contact: Nicole Turner, Operation Mobilization , 770-692-5185ATLANTA, May 4, 2017 / Standard Newswire / -- Operation Mobilization (OM) USA recently announced that Tracy Daugherty has joined the organization as Director of its Freedom Challenge anti-slavery initiative. Tracy brings vast experience in ministry and leadership to her new role, having worked with her husband, Dan for the last 11 years to plant and pastor The Father's House church in San Marcos, CA. Her previous efforts leading teams at Freedom Challenge events and close friendship with the movement's founder, the late Cathey Anderson, allow Tracy to step into the role with the knowledge and familiarity necessary to make an immediate impact.Regina Bergeron, senior vice president and chief development officer at OM USA commented, "Tracy is a dedicated, proven and caring leader. In addition to being an accomplished communicator with a core gift for teaching and ministering, Tracy brings more than 20 years of demonstrated passion for seeing oppressed women set free."Freedom Challenge first entered Tracy's life when Cathey Anderson was attending The Father's House church. Seeing Cathey's enthusiasm for the cause, it did not take long for Tracy to become a champion herself, gathering women from across Southern California to pray, climb, raise funds and spread anti-slavery awareness alongside Cathey as Freedom Challenge grew.Tracy said, "I am deeply humbled to be following in the footsteps of my dear friend Cathey who brought this concept from vision into reality before her untimely passing last year. Likewise, I am excited to be part of a vibrant grassroots movement of motivated women helping women to escape the bondage of modern day slavery."In January of 2012, 48 women from seven different countries first gathered in Tanzania and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro to declare freedom for those who could not. Since then, Freedom Challenge has led women to climb the Rockies, Alps, Kilimanjaro, Machu Picchu and Everest Base Camp, while raising millions of dollars to support more than 60 projects worldwide. The impact is evident in the thousands set on the pathway to freedom, including 150 children currently being supported in an AIDS Hope community in South Africa and 20 student teachers now receiving training in Zambia.Among its members and leadership, there is a sense that Freedom Challenge has now achieved a critical mass of sorts and is poised for a new period of accelerated development. Added Regina, "there is incredible potential right now and we are confident in Tracy's ability to take Freedom Challenge the next level and see thousands  or even millions  more women and children set free."About Freedom ChallengeFreedom Challenge is an initiative of Operation Mobilization committed to the prevention of modern day slavery and human trafficking, in addition to the rescue and restoration of its victims. The women who lead and participate in this growing movement partake in physical challenges such as mountain climbs to raise funds and awareness to combat these social injustices and help oppressed women and children on the pathway to freedom. To learn more visit www.thefreedomchallenge.com
Hoosiers Demand Senator Joe Donnelly Break with Party and Denounce Abortion Award

Contact: Mike Fichter, Indiana Right to Life , 317-632-2242INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. May 4, 2017 / Standard Newswire / -- On Friday, May 5, the Indiana Democratic Party will give its "Lifetime Achievement Award" to Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky's CEO, Betty Cockrum. Cockrum has overseen an estimated 100,000 abortions during her 15 years as leader of Indiana's largest abortion business. Pro-life Hoosiers are demanding that Democrat Senator Joe Donnelly, a Roman Catholic who claims to be pro-life, break with his party and denounce the abortion award.Indiana Right to Life launched a petition on Monday for Hoosiers to contact Donnelly. As of Thursday afternoon, more than 800 Hoosiers have petitioned Donnelly to denounce the award.In addition to overseeing the abortions of 100,000 children, Cockrum has sued the state of Indiana over many common sense, pro-life laws. Her latest lawsuits on behalf of Planned Parenthood are against ultrasounds and civil rights protections for unborn children with disabilities like Down syndrome."Indiana Right to Life continues to wait for Sen. Donnelly to denounce his party honoring an individual who has overseen the destruction of an estimated 100,000 children," said Mike Fichter, President and CEO of Indiana Right to Life. "Why should Ms. Cockrum receive a 'Lifetime Achievement Award' when her legacy is the fact that she helped sentence 100,000 children to a lifetime limited to only a few weeks?"Sen. Donnelly campaigned on being pro-life and has continued to make that claim to his constituents, despite blocking pro-life legislative measures at nearly every opportunity. He knows abortion on demand is a losing issue, especially in our state. But his party is tone-deaf and continues to go all-in on abortion. National Democratic Party Committee Chair Tom Perez recently demanded that all Democrats desiring party support must give full fidelity to abortion on demand. What will Sen. Donnelly say about abortion as he campaigns to retain his Senate seat in 2018? Will he still be 'pro-life?'"Visit p2a.co/XjM0Wp1 to learn more about the petition to Donnelly, urging him to denounce his party's award to Cockrum.Indiana Right to Life's mission is to protect the right to life, especially of unborn children, through positive education, compassionate advocacy and promotion of healthy alternatives to abortion.
WCC Pays Tribute to Pauline Webb, First Woman Vice-Moderator

Contact: World Council of Churches, +41-79-507-6363; www.oikoumene.org/press



GENEVE, May 4, 2017 /Standard Newswire/ -- Dr Pauline Webb, a British Methodist laywoman, multi-talented Christian communicator and ecumenical statesperson, died at the age of 89 on 27 April 2017 in Muswell Hill, London.



Photo: Dr Pauline Webb speaking at the WCC 8th Assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe, 1998

From the 4th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) at Uppsala in 1968 through the 5th Assembly at Nairobi in 1975, she was the first woman to serve as vice-moderator of the WCC's governing bodies.

Webb was best-known in the English-speaking world as a communicator on radio and television. From 1979 until retirement in 1987, she was organizer of religious broadcasting for the BBC World Service. The author of many books and articles, and co-editor of the Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement [1991, 2002], she produced an autobiography aptly titled World Wide Webb: Memoirs of Life in the Universal Church (2006).

Her wide-ranging interests are reflected in articles she assigned herself in the Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement on the topics of communication, intercession, women in church and society, as well as biographical sketches of the WCC's first director of Faith and Order, Lukas Vischer, and former WCC general secretaries Philip Potter and Konrad Raiser.

Webb considered Potter her ecumenical mentor, and on the occasion of his retirement she edited a Festschrift, or book of articles in his honour, entitled Faith and Faithfulness (WCC Publications, 1984).

A commissioned lay preacher, she spent her early career on the staff of the British Methodist Church Overseas Division with responsibilities in the Caribbean and Latin America. In 1965-66, she served as vice-president of the Methodist Conference.

Webb was WCC vice-moderator at the time of the first papal visit to Geneva, undertaken by Paul VI in June 1969. During his historic appearance in the Ecumenical Centre, the pope was welcomed by Webb, WCC moderator M.M. Thomas and general secretary Eugene Carson Blake.

Her skills as a communicator were put to the test in her courageous defense of the WCC Programme to Combat Racism (PCR), an outgrowth of the Uppsala Assembly. This programme became particularly controversial within and outside the churches for its opposition to apartheid in southern Africa.

Baldwin Sjollema, first director of the PCR, offered this response to the news of her passing: "Pauline has been for me a very special friend and also a comrade in arms in the WCC and its struggle against racism. Many battles in the WCC Central Committee, when she was the first female vice-moderator, and in the WCC's Programme to Combat Racism, were 'won' because of her tough stance, her strong convictions and her faith in justice. She never lost hope in the most difficult situations and often helped me not to give up but to continue the battle."

Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, the general secretary of the WCC, said: "We owe a great debt of gratitude to Pauline Webb for her faithful service. We thank God for her gifts and especially for her unparalleled contribution to the World Council of Churches and to Christians everywhere. She was an agent of hope, not least for her championing of women in church and in society."

Video tribute to Pauline Webb

High resolution photos available free of charge to illustrate this article.

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 348 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 550 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway.
Play at the new site will be free and first come, first served through the...
Human remains found in the Cowlitz River in the Toledo area Wednesday afternoon may be those of a fisherman who disappeared on the river in January, the Lewis County Sheriffs office announced Thursday morning.

People in a fishing guide boat called authorities shortly after 1 p.m. to report that fishing waders were caught in a branch in the water near the Mandy Road Boat Launch.

Sheriffs deputies responded and discovered the waders were related to human remains. With the help of the guide boat, they brought the remains ashore at the boat launch.

The body had not been identified as of Thursday morning, but authorities are looking into the possibility that they are those of Prathana Nammavong, a 43-year-old man from Des Moines, Wash., who disappeared while fishing on the Cowlitz in January, according to the press release.

Anyone with any information on these remains should contact the Lewis County Sheriffs Office at (360) 748-9286, or Lewis County Communications at (360) 740-1105.
Federal lawmakers from Washington are working to reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools program to provide much-needed funding for schools.

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) introduced a bill Wednesday to reauthorize the program, while a similar bipartisan bill was introduced in the House by Republicans Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA-03) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) and Democrat Rep. Derek Kilmer (WA-06).

The Secure Rural Schools program was established to help give communities the certainty they need to run schools, keep law enforcement officers on the job, keep infrastructure projects moving, and so much more, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) said in a press release Wednesday.

The SRS program provides revenue to rural forest counties with a high proportion of federal land and supports a variety of services in 775 counties and 4,400 schools across the country.

These... programs are what pay for schools, roads, and emergency services in our rural communities, Cantwell said at a hearing Tuesday. Local governments depend on these programs to function, and I know that we need to have these programs now and give certainty to our local governments.

Uncertainty about the program could make it difficult for local governments impacted by SRS to plan their annual budgets, said the press release. SRS payments affect 9 million students across 41 states. .

The bills introduced Wednesday would back-pay counties for the shortfall in funding they received in April without the Secure Rural Schools program, and would ensure that counties receive the same payments next year as well.

The Secure Rural Schools program is currently the only lifeline for many formerly timber-dependent communities in Southwest Washington to keep schools, emergency services and roads operating, said Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler.

In 2016, under SRS, Forest Service payments to Washington counties totaled more than $17.3 million. This year, without SRS funding in place, Forest Service payments to Washington counties totaled just $2.3 million.

... Skamania County once had a thriving timber industry to fund their vital services, but now, with more than 90 percent of the land in public ownership and producing virtually zero harvest, they no longer have local tax revenue to support the needs of their local residents, Herrera Beutler said in the release.

Herrera Beutler said also that she is committed to working with both Democrats and Republicans in Congress to insure the Secure Rural Schools program is extended, and wants to see a long-term, sustainable solution for the program developed through federal forest management policy reforms.
A coroners inquest into the December death of a Cowlitz County jail inmate will focus on a significant discrepancy between autopsy findings and the jail staffs report of when she died, Cowlitz County Coroner Tim Davidson and other county officials say.

The autopsy determined Britney Helene Smith died four hours before jail staff reported finding her dead alone in her cell the morning of Dec. 29. Jail staff should have been checking on her every half-hour. The outcome of the inquest could affect whether the county is later found liable for the death and whether jail staff should have acted differently or failed to follow procedures.

The inquest, which Davidson announced last week, is meant to establish when and how a person died. It does not determine who, if anyone, is liable for the death.

Coroner Tim Davidson declared that Smith, 26, died from complications of methamphetamine and Fluoxene intoxication. However, he is listing her manner of death as undetermined.

Davidson said he determined that Smith died at 2 a.m. on Dec. 29. The county jail staff put the time of her death four hours later, Davidson said Wednesday. He hopes the inquest jury can clear up that discrepancy.

Jail staff reported that Smith, the mother of three, was found dead in her jail cell at 6 a.m. during a routine cell check, according to the sheriffs office. The Longview Street Crimes Unit had arrested her two days earlier on a drug-related charge. When she was booked, corrections staff found meth on her, the sheriffs office reported. For that reason, she was on a placed in a cell alone and put on a routine watch every half-hour, the sheriffs office reported at the time.

The discrepancy raises the possibility that routine checks on Smith were not carried out at the scheduled 30-minute intervals between about 2 and 6 a.m.

The discrepancy is one reason the Cowlitz County commissioners have asked the countys liability insurance provider to investigate Smiths death, Commissioner Dennis Weber said Tuesday. The insurance investigator, from the Washington Counties Insurance Pool, is scheduled to start looking into the case next week and present a report by mid to late June, Weber said.

Corrections Department Director Marin Fox Hight declined to comment on the advice of the countys lawyer.

Davidson is also hoping the inquest can clear up whether Smiths death was due to an accident or suicide. He said he does not think it was a homicide.

Determining the difference and evaluating the case thoroughly are important in light of the history of inmate deaths in the jail, Davidson said. Davidson said this week he will hold the inquest to avoid any appearance of a cover-up and to bring to light any problems in jail operations or procedures. Its important for Smiths family to know the circumstances, he said.

Inquest proceedings are rare in Cowlitz County. There has been only one in Cowlitz County in recent memory, and that occurred in 1997. It was held after a Washington State Patrol trooper shot and killed David McClure, 36, a mentally ill Kalama man who charged him with a screwdriver. In that case, a jury said the officers use of lethal force was justified.

An inquest works like a trial, with witnesses testifying and a jury making a determination on the issues involved. The case probably wont be heard until July, Davidson said, because of delays caused by the countys installation of a new court-management system.

Smiths death came as a shock to her friends and family, who told The Daily News just after her death that Smith, a long-time drug addict, had cleaned up and regained custody of her kids.

Smith is the sixth inmate to die while in the jails custody since 2013. A lawsuit by relatives of four people, all between the ages of 22 and 31, who died at the jail in 2013 and 2014 is moving ahead in state court. A 55-year-old inmate also died last year.

Smiths death is not among the four involved in the suit against the county and Conmed Health Care Management, which provided care for jail inmates at the time of the deaths. That suit, which alleges negligence, indifference and lack of training on the part of jail staff, was brought by the families of Stephanie Deal, Jenny Lynn Borelis, Daniel Bush and Cameron Kuanoni.
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By Amrita Vasudevan and Anita Gurumurthy

The right to privacy has had to come to terms with the pervasive digitization of life. No longer is it a negative right - of non interference from the State; it is now also a positive right that calls for proactive steps from the State to guarantee and uphold the privacy of its citizens. There is no better instantiation of this, than the story of Aadhaar. Since February of this year, we have seen many instances of how Aadhaar enabled front-end applications are scanning and storing biometric data. Interestingly, in one case, the individual responsible for uncovering a major privacy breach was slapped with an FIR, an indication that the establishment will do everything to push back at anyone or anything that reveals vulnerabilities in the Aadhaar system. The myth of Aadhaars invincibility, it seems, must be reinstated time and again.

What is at stake?

The right to privacy  as a duty incumbent upon the State  consists of certain non-negotiables. First and foremost is the duty of the State, which must, at all times, guard citizens private information from leakage. This implies the duty to alert the citizen, when such information is compromised (including mandating private actors to do so, when they collect private information). While Section 29(4) of the Aadhaar Act prohibits the publication of Aadhaar number or biometric details, it has no provision in place to notify individuals whose information has been leaked. The Section also fails to include data authentication records or meta data related to Aadhaar based transactions in its ambit, indirectly legitimising misuse of such records. In fact, the Aadhaar (Sharing of Information) Regulation 2016, allows for such information to be published, provided the Aadhaar number is redacted or blacked out (Rule 6).

In the off-chance that an individual may find that her Aadhaar data has been leaked, she can approach the UIDAI Contact Centers. However, she will not be able to approach the court, as under Section 47(1) of the Act, recourse for the breach of the Aadhaar Act lies only with the UIDAI. This directly vitiates the principle of independence, impartiality and neutrality, basic to the rule of law.

Even after the multiple breaches were revealed, the UIDAI chairman claimed that there was no data breach, as no data was lost from the UIDAI database. Such claims about citizen information seem to privilege the view that citizen data constitutes property to be shielded from theft and loss (if at all), and such data has little to do with what an individual holds inalienable. Thankfully, in March, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (as reported by the Economic Times) had issued a notification stating that the state and central governments must take down Aadhaar data available online. However, as noted by Asheeta Regidi, since the Aadhaar Act only punishes intentional and not negligent publication of Aadhaar details (Section 37), a lot more than a notification is required to protect the right to privacy.

The all-important issue of consent

Secondly, consent to part with private information, is a complex issue and cannot be reduced to a blanket yes. Which is why, the state must safeguard abuse of citizen information through deception and fraud and ensure that citizens make informed choices. Section 29(3) allows for any requesting entity who uses the UIDAI authentication system to disclose data, if the consent of the individual to whom such data relates has been obtained. Scholars have noted that in the current milieu where Aadhaar has become quasi mandatory, this kind of framing can lead to privacy violations. For example, if the provider of an essential service who makes consent necessary is the requesting entity, then such consent evidently, is under duress.

While the government has issued a set of five regulations to supplement the Aadhaar Act, key loopholes continue to remain. As observed by the Centre for Internet and Society, when compared with internationally accepted data protection principles (upheld and reiterated by the Justice A.P Shah Committee, and even incorporated into the Information Technology (Reasonable security practices and procedures and sensitive personal data or information) Rules, 2011), the Aadhaar Act and Rules severely miss the mark with regard to data protection. For example, in a marked departure from its 2010 avatar, the UIDAI now allows for a positive, negative or any other appropriate response to authentication queries, and sharing of identity information, excluding any core biometric information. This could mean that the Authority could also provide the individuals demographic information  name, address etc., even a mobile number or e-mail address, if submitted during enrollment. Both the Act and the Aadhaar (Enrollment and Update) Regulations 2016, mention information to be provided during enrollment, but do not mention anything about consent or how it is to be received. Along with the fact that the Act has no opt-out clause, these provisions reveal the all too obvious intention of the government to make Aadhaar compulsory.

Predators in the data market

Thirdly, states must privilege individual right to access data in their data retention policies. Policies stipulating long time periods of retention can lead to misuse, prove to be expensive, and prone to security risks in the form of theft, fraud and accidental disclosure. Long periods of retention can also heavily aid private surveillance. The Aadhaar (Authentication) Regulation 2016, requires requesting entities to retain authentication transaction data for a period of two years, and archive it for five more years. The Aadhaar holder cannot access her data during the latter period. This seems to belie the Regulations stated purpose in Rule 18(4), to protect and promote the interests of the Aadhaar number holder, in terms of grievance or dispute resolution. As we have seen in recent reports, private actors are collecting Aadhaar data, including biometric data. The Supreme Court has recently noted that ...biometric data collection by private agencies is not a great idea. What is necessary therefore is not just a constitutionally recognized right to privacy against the state, but also for the idea of right to privacy to include state protection against violation of citizen rights by private agencies.

No binding standards for data security

In furtherance of Sections 28 and 54(2)(p) of the Aadhaar Act, which requires the Authority to adopt and implement technical and organizational security measures, the Aadhaar (Data Security) Regulation 2016, was introduced. The Regulation mentions that the UIDAI may set an information security policy that it and all other agencies mentioned by the Act or the Aadhaar related regulations shall adopt. The Rules also provide what the policy may contain. What is obvious is that there is an equal possibility that the UIDAI may not issue any security policy. The Rules do mention that personnel are bound to comply with the policy issued by the UIDAI, but without actually going into any time line for compliance. In fact lack of time lines plagues most of this Regulation. So while it mentions that service providers etc. need to report promptly to the Authority any security incidents affecting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information related to the Authoritys functions, it fails to mention what promptly is or what happens if this is not done. The Rules also provide for audits of the entities to be conducted by an auditor certified by a body under the Information Technology Act, 2000. However, such a body does not exist! This brings us to the fourth consideration  that a robust and binding framework of data security is vital. The absence of a Data Protection law in India hugely undermines the recourse that citizens have to hold the state and private actors to account for their data practices.

The refrain  shall be as specified by the Authority  remains a favorite in the regulations, begging the question, when? The Aadhaar Act was passed as a money bill and rushed through the Lok Sabha, despite its evident implications for the fundamental rights of citizens. Then came the new rules, supposedly to plug the lacunae in the Act. But all the action to fix all the loopholes tells a different story; that our rights in the digital age may call for a hard-fought battle.

The authors are with IT for Change, an NGO that works at the intersections of digital technologies and development.
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Facebook Inc will hire 3,000 more people over the next year to speed up the removal of videos showing murder, suicide, and other violent acts, in its most dramatic move yet to combat the biggest threat to its valuable public image. The hiring spree, announced by Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday, comes after users were shocked by two video posts in April showing killings in Thailand and the United States.

The move is an acknowledgment by Facebook that it needs more than its recent focus on automated software to identify and remove such material. Artificial intelligence techniques would take a period of years ... to really reach the quality level that we want, Zuckerberg told investors after the company's earnings late on Wednesday.

Given the importance of this, how quickly live video is growing, we wanted to make sure that we double down on this and make sure that we provide as safe of an experience for the community as we can, he said. The problem has become more pressing since the introduction last year of Facebook Live, a service that allows any of Facebook's 1.9 billion monthly users to broadcast video, which has been marred by some violent scenes.

Some violence on Facebook is inevitable given its size, researchers say, but the company has been attacked for its slow response. UK lawmakers this week accused social media companies including Facebook of doing a "shameful" job removing child abuse and other potentially illegal material. In Germany, the company has been under pressure to be quicker and more accurate in removing illegal hate speech and to clamp down on so-called fake news.

German lawmakers have threatened fines if the company cannot remove at least 70 percent of offending posts within 24 hours. So far, Facebook has avoided political fallout from U.S. lawmakers or any significant loss of the advertisers it depends on for revenue. Some in the ad industry have defended Facebook, citing the difficulty of policing material from its many users. Police agencies have said Facebook works well with them. Facebook shares fell slightly on Wednesday, and edged lower still after the bell, following its quarterly earnings.

Artificial Intelligence

Zuckerberg, the company's co-founder, said in a Facebook post the workers will be in addition to the 4,500 people who already review posts that may violate its terms of service. Facebook has 17,000 employees overall, not including contractors. Last week, a father in Thailand broadcast himself killing his daughter on Facebook Live, police said. After more than a day and 370,000 views, Facebook removed the video. A video of a man shooting and killing another in Cleveland last month also shocked viewers.

Zuckerberg said the company would do better: "We're working to make these videos easier to report so we can take the right action sooner - whether that's responding quickly when someone needs help or taking a post down." The 3,000 workers will be new positions and will monitor all Facebook content, not just live videos, the company said. The company did not say where the jobs would be located, although Zuckerberg said the team operates around the world.

The world's largest social network has been turning to artificial intelligence to try to automate the process of finding pornography, violence and other potentially offensive material. In March, the company said it planned to use such technology to help spot users with suicidal tendencies and get them assistance. However, Facebook still relies largely on its users to report problematic material. It receives millions of reports from users each week, and like other large Silicon Valley companies, it relies on thousands of human monitors to review the reports.

"Despite industry claims to the contrary, I don't know of any computational mechanism that can adequately, accurately, 100 percent do this work in lieu of humans. We're just not there yet technologically," said Sarah Roberts, a professor of information studies at UCLA who looks at content monitoring. The workers who monitor material generally work on contract in places such as India and the Philippines, and they face difficult working conditions because of the hours they spend making quick decisions while sifting through traumatic material, Roberts said in an interview.

In December, two people who monitored graphic material for Microsoft Corp's services such as Skype sued the company, saying it had failed to warn them about the risks to their mental health. They are seeking compensation for medical costs, wages lost from disability and other damages. Microsoft has disputed their claims. The company said in a statement that it takes seriously the responsibility to remove and report imagery of child sexual exploitation and abuse, as well as the health and resilience of employees.

Mental health assistance plans sometimes fall by the wayside for such workers, and there was a risk that would happen for Facebook if it tries to find 3,000 new workers quickly, Roberts said. "To do it at this scale and this magnitude, I question that," she said.

Psychological Support

Facebook says that every person reviewing its content is offered psychological support and wellness resources, and that the company has a support program in place. When Facebook launched its live service in April 2016, Zuckerberg spoke about it as a place for "raw and visceral" communication. "Because it's live, there is no way it can be curated," Zuckerberg told BuzzFeed News in an interview then. "And because of that it frees people up to be themselves. It's live; it cant possibly be perfectly planned out ahead of time."

Since then, at least 50 criminal or violent incidents have been broadcast over Facebook Live, including assault, murder and suicide, The Wall Street Journal reported in March. In January, four African-Americans in Chicago were accused of attacking an 18-year-old disabled man on Facebook Live while making anti-white racial taunts. They have pleaded not guilty.

A man in Cleveland, Ohio, last month was accused of shooting another man on a sidewalk and then uploading a video of the murder to Facebook, where it remained for about two hours. The man later fatally shot himself. Zuckerberg said the company would keep working with community groups and law enforcement, and that there have been instances when intervention has helped.

"Just last week, we got a report that someone on Live was considering suicide," he wrote in his post. "We immediately reached out to law enforcement, and they were able to prevent him from hurting himself. In other cases, we weren't so fortunate."

Reuters
tech2 News Staff

Despite a number of leaks, the UIDAI and government authorities have repeatedly reassured the public that the Aadhaar data is safe and secure. On Tuesday, during a hearing on Aadhaar being made mandatory for filing income tax returns and for using a PAN card, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi represented the government. During the hearing, Rohatogi spoke to a bench comprising Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan about the leaks of 1.6 million residents from Jharkhand.

"It was from Jharkhand Government office. It is not as if their biometric was shown," Rohatogi said, "only biometric data cannot be public", according to a report in Livelaw. The Aadhaar act (PDF) says "No Aadhaar number or core biometric information collected or created under this Act in respect of an Aadhaar number holder shall be published, displayed or posted publicly, except for the purposes as may be specified by regulations." This was however, one of the few times that the representatives of the government have accepted that personal data, including Aadhaar numbers, have been leaked from Government sources.

The UIDAI has insulated itself from any blame or responsibility for leaks in the wider Aadhaar ecosystem. The core database for the Aadhaar APIs have a flawless seven year long record of data security, and is independently audited by security firms at regular intervals. The database anyway contains only the templates needed for biometric authentication. This setup allows the UIDAI and the government to shrug off databases with personal data of individuals, including names, names of parents, PAN numbers, mobile numbers, religion, marks, status of rejection of applications, bank account numbers and IFSC codes available in the public domain, at times after simple queries on search engines such as Google.

During the hearing, Rohatogi used examples of the legal restrictions on organ trading, consumption of drugs, suicide, drunken driving and prostitution to demonstrate that Indians do not have absolute control over their bodies, and used that argument to justify making Aadhaar mandatory for filing income tax returns.

The same attorney, at an Aadhaar hearing in July 2015, had said that Indians do not have a right to privacy at all, "Right to Privacy is not a fundamental right under our Constitution. It flows from one right to another right. Constitution makers did not intend to make Right to Privacy a fundamental right. There is no fundamental right to privacy so these petitions under Article 32 should be dismissed."

According to the The Center for Internet and Society, the leaks from government sources should not actually be considered as leaks in the traditional sense. This is because the origin of the data coming to the public domain is not through people who are bypassing measures to keep the data confidential, instead the data is in the public domain as the custodians treat the personal information as publicly shareable data.

India has no dedicated laws on privacy and data security, and experts have seen the need for more pro-active approaches by the government. While the UIDAI chief, Ajay Bhushan Panday has claimed that the Aadhaar Act itself has the relevant clauses to ensure the security and privacy of data, privacy advocates point out that the digital rights of Indians are at the mercy of an incomplete Aadhaar Act.
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Finland's Nokia plans to sell its undersea cables unit, a business that underpins the global Internet, two union sources and a French government source told Reuters. The division, valued at about 800 million euros ($870 million), is one of the top suppliers of undersea cable networks in the world and was bought by the telecom equipment maker last year as part its 15.6 billion-euro ($17 billion) acquisition of French rival Alcatel.

The French government deemed the business strategic for the country at the time, as it guarantees high-speed internet connections with overseas territories and African countries. It also plays a key role in cyber-surveillance and national security.

Still known as Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), the unit employs about 1,000 people, mainly in France and Britain, and produces, deploys and maintains submarine cables. It is managed as a separate business by Nokia and its results are aggregated to those of its parent company. "Nokia's intention to eventually sell ASN was expressed by Nokia on various occasions in talks with the state and relevant stakeholders, including the staff," one of the sources said.

"ASN isn't indeed a core business, according to Nokia," the source added. Nokia's management in France informed staff internally about the group's intentions, two union sources told Reuters. The Finnish telecoms equipment maker said however that there was no urgency for the deal no potential bidder had yet been identified, the sources added.

Nokia declined to comment. The future of ASN has been uncertain since 2014, as Alcatel also once sought to divest the business. Nokia said previously it was considering its strategic options for the business and has mandated audit firm EY to review them for potential sale.

Nokia's division operates seven vessels. It has facilities in Calais, France and Greenwich, Britain, on the site where the world's first transatlantic cable was manufactured in 1858. ASN's rivals are Subsea Communications (SubCom), a unit of U.S. company TE Connectivity (formerly known as Tyco Electronics), Japanese companies NEC and Fujitsu, and China's Huawei.

Reuters
tech2 News Staff

New telecom operator Reliance Jios average download speed at 16.48 mbps was almost double of its rivals Idea Cellular and Bharti Airtels in March, a report by telecom regulator Trai has showed. Average download speed on Reliance Jio network was 16.48 megabit per second (mbps) in March against 8.33 mbps on Idea Cellulars and 7.66 mbps on Bharti Airtels network, the monthly report by Trai showed.

Theoretically, a user can download one Bollywood movie in about 5 minutes at 16 mbps speed. Vodafone registered average download speed of 5.66 mbps, Reliance Communications 2.64 mbps, Tata Docomo 2.52 mbps, state run BSNL 2.26 mbps and Aircel 2.01 mbps. Trai collects and computes data download speed with the help of its MySpeed application on real-time basis.

Jio and Airtel have been at loggerheads over claim of being the fastest network in the country.

A survey on mobile network speed covering two metros of Delhi and Mumbai, and two states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu by a private firm Open Signal has claimed that Bharti Airtel had the fastest network with average 4G download speed of 11.5 mbps while Reliance Jio was fourth with 3.92 mbps. The survey claimed to have collected information from 1.3 billion datapoints covering 93,464 users during the period between December 2016 and February 2017.

The Open Signal report said that Vodafone was at the second spot with average 4G download speed of 8.59 mbps followed by Idea Cellular with 8.34 mbps and Jio on 4th spot with 3.92 mbps speed. The report ranks Jio on top for widest availability of 4G network. OpenSignals testers on Jios network were able to find a 4G signal 91.6 per cent of the time, an exceptional availability measurement by any global standard. In comparison, no other Indian operator scored higher than 60 per cent in its 4G availability tests, the statement said.

The findings reveal that Airtel didnt just win OpenSignals 4G speed award, it wound up on top of 3G and overall rankings as well. OpenSignal measured Airtels average LTE download speed at 11.5 mbps, which was 3 mbps faster than the results measured on its nearest rivals Vodafone and Idea, OpenSignal said in a statement. The new survey has come amid ongoing tussle between Airtel and Reliance Jio over claims of Indias fastest mobile network.

Reliance Jio has challenged Airtels advertisement campaign in which the telecom major claimed to be officially fastest network in the country. "The claim of Airtel that it is Indias fastest network is false, misleading and incorrect. The claim is being made by Airtel acting in a mala fide manner in collusion with Ookla LLC, who profess to be experts in the domain space of testing mobile internet speed," stated the letter sent by Reliance Jio to ASCI.

Jio told ASCI that Airtel cannot be allowed to call itself "Officially The Fastest Network", as Ookla's Speedtest did not have any official accreditation in India. Jio had served a separate legal notice to Ookla over what Jio believes to be flawed test methodologies. Jio also stated that Ookla is not a not-for-profit organisation. It charges money for its services used by telecom companies for their internal consumption, and charges additional consideration for awarding certificates that may be used by such companies for external consumption, marketing and publicity. Even in the past, Airtel has been guilty of making attempts to use such titles and proclamations, the letter states.

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) found the ad claiming Airtel to be officially fastest network as misleading and asked the company to modify or withdraw the commercial by April 11 to which the company complied. Airtel has filed appeal before ASCI for review of the decision.

Ookla too has responded to ASCI decision saying that it fully stands behind the accuracy and reliability of the methodology used to designate Airtel as Indias Fastest Mobile Network and said that the telecom major is still the fastest one.

According to a report by Techpp, Ooklas Android app had a flaw where the app displayed incorrect speed test results on smartphones with dual-Sim slots. The flaw in the SpeedTest app by Ookla is that the application assigns the speeds to the sim designated as the primary sim for making calls, even if the settings on the phone require another Sim to be used for mobile data. This means that if an Airtel Sim is being used for making calls, and a Jio Sim is being used for the data connection, the application will attribute the results of the speedtests to the Airtel Sim. Tech2 confirmed the bug after using Ookla's speedtest application in a number of scenarios.

Airtel reached out to us with the following statement: "Airtel has been rated as Indias fastest mobile network by Ookla  the global leader in broadband testing and web-based network diagnostic applications. This is clearly mentioned in the ad. Ooklas findings are based on analysis of millions of internet speed tests logged on modern devices by mobile customers across India using its popular Speedtest app. The results include all mobile tests, regardless of connection technology."

Jamie Steven, COO, Speedtest by Ookla, said, "Ookla named Airtel as the 'Fastest Mobile Network' in India based on data from Q3 and Q4 of 2016. When analyzing markets, like India, we take many factors into consideration, including dual SIM devices, network technology, device types, and more. In addition to what the user sees on their mobile application as they take a test in real-time, we apply a rigorous methodology when aggregating the data which uses a variety of internal data sources that control for potential variability in the market." he explained, trying to clear the air around the reports which hinted at the flaw when using a dual SIM device.

Disclaimer: Reliance Jio is owned by Reliance Industries, who also own Network18, the publisher of Firstpost and tech2.

With inputs from PTI and IANS
tech2 News Staff

Xiaomi will be officially opening its first ever Mi Home in India as the company has sent out media invites for the launch in Bengaluru. The launch will happen on 11 May and will see Manu Jain, Group Vice President, and Managing Director, Xiaomi India present for the opening.

For those of you who don't know, Xiaomi has special Mi Home stores in China where it showcases all of its products under one roof. The Mi Home in India will similarly sell products including headphones, power banks, Mi Band, Mi Air Purifier, and others. At this time we aren't sure if the company will start selling smartphones at the new Mi Home store but considering how it has slowly forayed into the offline market, it might do so in the coming future.

Manu Jain has also given a hint on Twitter that Xiaomi has three events lined up for Indian this month starting with the Mi Home. Information around the other two events has not been revealed.

Xiaomi has managed to keep a strong presence in India ever since it entered the market three year ago. According to a recent report by Counterpoint, Xiaomi, for the first time jumped to the number two spot in India right behind Samsung.
Russia, Turkey agree to support safe-zones in Syria

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, speaks to Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, as he leaves after their meeting in Putin\'s residence in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia on Wednesday.

AP, Beirut :

The presidents of Russia and Turkey said on Wednesday they support the creation of safe-zones in war-torn Syria as a delegation of Syrian rebels walked out of cease-fire talks with the Damascus government underway in Kazakhstan, citing repeated violations of a similar truce agreed on in December.

Meeting in the Russian resort town of Sochi, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin expressed hope the Syrian government and rebels would adopt this latest proposal to "de-escalate" the conflict, which has run now for six years and claimed some 400,000 lives.

Turkey and Russia are deeply entangled in the war in Syria, including each having troops on the ground there - Ankara supporting various Syrian opposition factions and Moscow backing President Bashar Assad's forces.

Before the rebels suspended their participation at the talks in Astana, the Kazakh capital, Russian representatives had presented the rebels with a proposal for four "de-escalation zones" in Syria where the warring sides would be separated by "security lines." The Astana talks are proximity talks, with Syrian government representatives and the rebels separately meeting with Russian officials and other representatives.

The rebels demanded a halt to the government's bombardment of opposition zones in Syria.

In Sochi, Putin said Russian and Syrian government jets would halt flights over the specified zones if all sides respect the cease-fire.

Russia's 2015 military intervention in Syria and its air campaign have significantly boosted Assad's gains in the war. However, human rights groups say Russia is implicated in targeting hospitals and schools, and using indiscriminate cluster munitions and incendiary weapons against civilian areas as well.

The proposal presented to the rebels in Astana delineates four zones in Syria where front lines between the government and rebels would be frozen and fighting halted, according to a statement made by rebels. The four include areas in the provinces of Idlib and Homs, the eastern Ghouta suburbs outside Damascus, and an area in the south of the country.
PABNA: Students of Panba Cadet College with their teachers celebrating their SSC result by showing V-sign yesterday.
FF Abul Kashem threatened to life by son-in law

A Correspondent :

Freedom fighter Engineer Abul Kashem has been absconding as he was threatened to life by his son-in law, it is alleged

He was sued in five false cases in different districts filed by his son-in law Rifat Ahmed.

It is learnt that Sonia Afreen Eva, only daughter of Engineer Abul Kashem, married with Rifat Ahmed, son of Abul Khair of Sitakundo Upazila under Chittagong district on June 29 in 2012. During the marriage Rifat was unemployed and totally dependent on his father-in law. Engineer Abul Kashem regularly provided financial support to Rifat for his study and family maintenance expenses. In early 2014, Rifat demanded Tk 50 lakhs dowry to his father-in law and started tortured on Eva claiming the money for starting hundi business.

Engineer Abul Kashem denies giving money for the unlawful business to Rifat. He then becomes crazy for dowry of Tk 50 lakhs and press every day to Eva to bring the money from her father.

Eva was almost everyday physically tortured by her husband Rifat. But she regrets to give dowry. Rifat then become harder for the money soon after the retirement of Abul Kashem from government job, last year. He claims the money from the retirement benefit of Abul Kashem. In the later part of 2015, Rifat sent her wife Eva to his father-in laws' home and threat to divorce her in case of failure of bring Tk 50 lakh. Eva then lodged a case against Rifat under the Special Act of Dowry, Child and Women Repression Act.

Rifat then started lodging false cases in different parts of the country in different charges including human trafficking. He used unknown persons as the plaintiff of the cases mentioning the names of Abul Kashem, his wife Fazilatunnesa Shova and daughter Eva. The whole family was in custody for these false cases about two months.

Among the false cases Rifat filed against his wife, father-in law and mother-in law are: Brahman Baria Case No. 03/2017 under human trafficking act with Women and Children Repression Control Tribunal, Case No. 136/2016 in Narayanganj Court, Case No. 250/2016 in Dhaka Court, Hazaribagh Thana Non FIR GR No. 111/16, Case No. 474/2016 in Dhaka Judge Court. He also filed another case in Jessore bring on the same charges by the help of some his family members.

None was sight in the Tollabagh flat in Royerbazar of the capital in the resident of Freedom Fighter Engineer Abul Kashem. The caretaker told he (Abul Kashem) is absconding for about last two months with family. While contacting over mobile phone, Abul Kashem told, "I fought proudly against Pak solders under sector number 9 of Bangladesh Freedom Fight and conquest the victory but I fail in life due to the tortured by false cases of my beloved son-in law".

"I urge the IPG, Home Minister and Prime Minister to inquire the cases by a detective branch and urge to safe life of him with family members from the aggression of Rifat and his family."

The mobile number of Rifat was switched off while this correspondent tried to contact him regarding the matters.


BES gets new President

Campus Report :

Prof Dr Engr AKM Fazlul Hoque, Registrar of Daffodil International University (DIU) has been elected as the President and Dr. Dilip Kumar Saha, Member (Physical Science), Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC) has been elected as General Secretary of Bangladesh Electronics Society (BES) for the year 2017-2018 at the election held recently at the Auditorium of Atomic Energy Center, Dhaka. Prof Dr Engr AKM Fazlul Hoque joined as Adjunct Professor in CSE Department of Faculty of Science and Information Technology on February 01, 2011 and took the responsibility of Registrar on on November 01, 2013.

Before joining DIU, he served as Director, Atomic Energy Centre, Dhaka (AECD) and as Head of Accelerator Facilities Division of AECD. He had thirty three years of research experience in Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC). He served as `Philips Research Fellow' in the department of Applied Physics and Electronics of Dhaka University. He has been regularly supervising PhD, MPhil, and MSc theses.

He obtained M Sc in Applied Physics and Electronics from Dhaka University in 1976 and PhD in Physics (Nuclear Technology) from Jahangirnagor University in 2002. He had been graduated in Electrical Engineering (B. Sc Engg) from IEB in 1982.

Prof Hoque has more than twelve years of experience of organizing national and international training courses, conferences, symposium, workshops, etc. He has a total of 54 (fifty four) research papers in his credit.

He is an elected Central Council Member of IEB for the terms 2011- 2012 and 2013- 2014. He was the General Secretary of Bangladesh Electronics Society (BES) from 2000- 2016and Vice President of Bangladesh Physical Society (BPS) during 2010 and 2011. He has been working as a Member of Asian Committee for Future Accelerator (ACFA) since 2004.

He was born in 1953 at village Patira of Fulbaria Upazila under Mymensingh district.




PM`s democracy remark a`travesty of truth`: BNP

UNB, Dhaka :

BNP on Thursday termed a 'travesty of truth' Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's comment that a healthy democratic process has been there in the country, saying she has deceived people through it.

"The Prime Minister has said democracy has been in a good shape in the country...we can call it a super joke of the year," said BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

The BNP leader made the remarks while speaking at a press conference at the party's Nayapaltan central office.

Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday told Parliament that democracy and a democratic process continue here in Bangladesh following a successful election in 2014. "There has been no foul talk and use of invectives in Parliament now. It demonstrates that a healthy democratic process prevails here," she had said.

Protesting the PM's remark, Fakhrul said Amnesty International, US State Department and European Union in their reports said there is no democracy in Bangladesh. "So, the Prime Minister's comment is a mockery of truth. She has deceived people saying there is democracy in the country."

Narrating the country's current democratic situation, the BNP leader said their party is facing obstruction at different parts of the country even while holding workers' meetings. "Police is also imposing restrictions on our meetings." He said the country's media are not enjoying freedom as the government has established its control on those. About the allegation of siphoning off Tk 73,000 crore, Fakhrul said the current 'regime is a totally corrupt' one. "Corruption is their main motto."

Referring to Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader's warning to his party colleagues that they would have to run here and there with the money they have made now if Awami League quits power, the BNP leader said the ruling party leader apparently admitted that they have indulged in corruption.

Earlier, Fakhrul had a joint meeting with the leaders of newly formed Dhaka south and north unit BNP committees. He said, they have decided to hold workers' meeting of Dhaka south unit on May 7 at Mahanagar Natya Manch while that of north unit at the Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh on May 8 if they are given permission by law enforcers.
Afghan warlord Hekmatyar returns to Kabul after peace deal

BBC Online :

Veteran warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has returned to the Afghan capital, eight months after signing a peace deal with the government.

Mr Hekmatyar, an Islamist warlord accused of numerous atrocities, leads Hezb-e-Islami, the country's second largest militant group. Under the deal, he has agreed to accept the constitution and abandon violence.

Some see the deal as a step forward for Afghanistan but others say it could exacerbate divisions in the government. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar travelled to the capital from Jalalabad amid tight security, his convoy guarded by an Afghan army helicopter. President Ashraf Ghani led an event to welcome him at the presidential palace and thanked him for "heeding the peace call".

At the start Mr Hekmatyar stood for the national anthem, and the BBC Afghan service head says this is an achievement in itself

because many religious leaders of similar views to the warlord think no-one should stand for music. On Friday, he will lead prayers at a prestigious mosque.

A former prime minister, he is one of the most controversial figures in Afghanistan's modern history.

Mr Hekmatyar's return comes more than 20 years after the Taliban forced him from Kabul in 1996.

He was one of seven anti-Soviet faction chiefs who led a large number of mujahideen fighters in the war against Soviet occupation in the 1980s. But he is remembered mostly for his role in the bloody civil war of the 1990s, when the Hezb-e-Islami clashed violently with other mujahideen factions in the struggle for control of Kabul.

The Hezb-e-Islami was blamed for much of the terrible death and destruction of that period, which led many ordinary Afghans to welcome the emergence of the Taliban. The civil war also led to Mr Hekmatyar's fall from grace - he and his men were forced to flee Kabul when the Taliban swept into power.

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar was once known as the "Butcher of Kabul" - and was nicknamed "Rocketyar", in reference to the hundreds of rockets he rained down on Kabul in the country's civil war in the 1990s. Many in the city still haven't forgiven him. His critics say he has long ceased to be a significant military force, and that the Taliban are unlikely to listen to his calls to take part in peace negotiations - especially whilst they feel they have the Afghan government on the back foot. His opponents also worry he will become yet another political player vying for power in the country. But the peace deal is a success for the government, and has been welcomed by the US. The hope is Mr Hekmatyar could influence Taliban commanders who once operated under his banner and show the group that a peaceful solution to the conflict is possible.
BD to be able to realise $5b as promised by Japan

UNB, Yokohama (Japan) :

Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Thursday hoped that Bangladesh will be able to realise about $5 billion assistance from Japan in three years as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promised during his visit to Bangladesh in 2014.

"When Shinzo Abe visited Bangladesh, he made a very high promise of extending development cooperation. There has been an increase in development funding from Japan and it touched nearly $1.7 billion in the current fiscal year which was only $600 million three years back," Muhith told reporters.

The Finance Minister is now in Yokohama to attend ADB's 50th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors.

Muhith said this after holding separate meetings with President of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Shinichi Kitaoka and Governor of Bank of Japan Haruhiko Kuroda at the Pacifico Yokohama Conference Centre on the sidelines of the ADB Annual meeting. "Last year, JICA was in a fix as they thought that they should continue considering the present situation in Bangladesh, but the government (of Japan) was concerned about security.

Anyway, this has gone now and JICA is currently working in full form in Bangladesh," he added. Muhith said the Manila-based lending agency had responded promptly when the AL-led Grand Alliance government formed in 2009. "They (ADB)

immediately came forward with a programme loan which the IMF took it up about two to three years later. So, that was the ADB's special appreciation towards regional problems." The Finance Minister said Bangladesh's economic situation has reached a point that it can now take some non-concessional loans. "Our need for investment is still very high and they're yet to be met."

Terming the year 2016 a peaceful year for Bangladesh, Muhith said the challenge now lies before the private sector and they should come forward. "Everybody now acknowledges that the investment opportunities in Bangladesh are very good for attracting both local and foreign direct investments," he said.
Suu Kyi`s rejection of UN shows her weakness as leader

MYANMAR leader Aung San Suu Kyi has rejected the UN's rights council's decision to send an investigation team to probe the crimes perpetrated by Myanmar's security forces on minority Rohingya Muslims. It is sad and also quite unexpected of a democracy leader who won Nobel Peace Prize as torch-bearer of human rights. The plight of the Rohingyas is now regular headlines in global media that prompted the UN involvement to protect the endangered Muslim minority in Myanmar's Rakhine State across Bangladesh border.



Suu Kyi's refusal to the UN Council's decision in March this year in Geneva to dispatch a fact finding team to the Southeast Asian country over claims of murder, rape and torture of Rohingyas has invariably come as a big shock to the global community. Suu Kyi claimed at a press conference recently that she and her government firmly disagree with the allegations shows she is trying to deny the truth. But the global community believes that her claim that such atrocities have not been carried out by regime forces can only be established if she allows the investigation team to visit the troubled Rakhine State. It is more in Myanmar's interest to prove its 'supposed innocence.'

The point for not allowing the probe is simple - there is enough to hide and there are far too much tangible and intangible evidences of inhuman crimes perpetrated on helpless Rohingya population. The Nobel Laureate is reported to have said her country would be 'happy to accept' recommendations that are 'in keeping with the real needs of the region'. That said - the real need of the hour is actually to cooperate with the independent UN investigative body in unearthing the actual situation to find the solution.

Various Rights Groups have already decried of massive crime against humanity on the stateless Rohingyas that continued from 2012 when they were stripped off their citizenship. The crimes then expounded from October last year following a raid on a police post on Myanmar border. Many were killed; women raped and homes of the Rohingyas were torched to vacate their villages. Some 75,000 Rohingyas have alone fled to Bangladesh since then for safety.

At a recently held press conference at Geneva, UN officials highlighted the crimes making the case for the investigation team. But Ms. Suu Kyi yet, continues to deny all these allegations raising question from many quarters of her genuine claim over the Nobel Peace Prize. It is clear that she is trying to hide the crimes by avoiding the UN team and this is how she is rejecting a solution to the problem.

We must say the UN and the global community now give the only hope to Rohingya people to go back to their homes in full safety and protection to their human rights. The world can't afford to have yet another stateless people to aggravate global refugee crisis. Myanmar must pay heed to the call of the UN body and cooperate.


SSC pass rate drops

1, 04,761 get GPA-5: 2,468 schools achieve 100 pc pass rate; No pass in 93 schools
Remittance inflow drops by 8.27 pc in April

Badrul Ahsan :

The inward remittance dropped by 8.27 percent in the month of April comparing with the corresponding period of last year, Central Bank data showed.

Non-Resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) remitted US$1.09 billion in April. It was $1.19 billion a year ago.

According to Bangladesh Bank (BB) data, cumulative inflow of remittance also dropped by $1.96 billion or 16.02 percent in the first 10 months of the current financial year.

The country received $10.28 billion as remittance in July-April period of FY17

against $12.25 billion during the same period of FY16, the latest BB data says.

BB officials said that many non-resident Bangladeshis opted for illegal channels like Hundi to send their money home because of a lower rate of the US Dollar against the Taka in the banking sector.

The monthly remittance inflow on year-on-year basis also dropped in April for the 10th month in a row.

A BB official told The New Nation on Thursday that the remittance inflow continued to drop because of illegal Hundi, an informal system for transferring money, as there has been a significant US Dollar rate gap between the banks and the curb market for long.

The exchange rate gap between the banks and the curb market has recently decreased with easing of cash Dollar crisis in the banking sector, he said.

But the people who are involved in the international cartel of Hundi have introduced a door-to-door service for sending money to the relatives of expatriate Bangladeshis, which has made the NRBs to prefer the illegal channel, they said.

The BB officials said that the recent effort of the central bank to cut down Hundi, especially in the name of mobile banking, was yet to have any impact on the remittance inflow situation.

There are allegations that different quarters allure the NRBs to send money through mobile banking but the quarters never send the money home, their agents in Bangladesh pay receivers cash in the form of Taka instead.

Against the backdrop, the BB has recently tightened ceiling on transactions through the mobile financial services and identification process of clients to tackle Hundi and money laundering using the services.

Two Inspection Teams of the central bank have recently visited four countries - Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Singapore - to unearth the real cause of decline in the inward remittances.

The inspection teams also observed that a significant number of NRBs were sending their money through the illegal channel, he informed.

Former interim government Adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam told The New Nation that the negative growth in the inward remittance would hit the consumption capacity of the people.

The government and the central bank should take measures to prevent the 'Hundi', he pointed out.

Besides, the Middle East countries, where a large number of Bangladeshi expatriates are working, have been facing a dull business for the last few years as the global price of petroleum declined, he said.

"The NRBs in the United States and the United Kingdom have been facing anti- immigration sentiment. For this reason, they are avoiding to send the inward remittance," he said.
Trump vows to broker Israeli-Palestinian peace

U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, on Wednesday.

Reuters, Washington :

President Donald Trump vowed on Wednesday to do "whatever is necessary" to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians as he hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House, but gave no sign of how he could revive long-stalled negotiations.

In their first meeting, Trump pressed Abbas to do more to stop "incitement to violence" against Israelis and, according to the White House, urged him in private to halt payments to families of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, a demand long pressed by Israel. Even as Trump boldly predicted he would achieve peace where other presidents had failed, he stopped short of explicitly recommitting his

administration to a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict, a long-standing foundation of U.S. policy. Some Palestinians said they were disappointed by the omission. Despite what many experts see as a long-shot bid, Trump told Abbas: "I will do whatever is necessary. ... I would love to be a mediator or an arbitrator or a facilitator, and we will get this done." Abbas reasserted the goal of a Palestinian state, saying it must have East Jerusalem as its capital with the borders that existed before the 1967 Middle East war. Most Israelis want all of Jerusalem as their capital and reject a full return to 1967 borderlines as a threat to their security.

Trump has faced deep skepticism at home and abroad over the chances for him to achieve any quick breakthrough, not least because his administration has yet to articulate a cohesive strategy for restarting the moribund peace process. Abbas' White House talks followed a February visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who moved to reset ties after a combative relationship with the Republican president's predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama. Trump sparked international criticism at the time, when he appeared to back away from a two-state solution, saying he would leave it up to the parties to decide. Palestinian statehood has been the objective of successive U.S. administrations and the international community. The meeting with Abbas, the Western-backed head of the Palestinian Authority, was another test of whether Trump, in office a little more than 100 days, is serious about pursuing the kind of comprehensive peace deal that eluded his predecessors.
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Expanded access to the free and reduced lunch program has reduced its utility as an indicator of poverty in school systems. HB130 by Rep. Phillip DeVillier would create a new standard by which to measure poverty's impact on education.

For decades, participation in the federal government's free and reduced lunch program was used as the measure for determining the extent of poverty and its impact on Louisiana schools and school systems. Expanded access to the program in recent years has made it a less reliable indicator of the economic reality that students and their families face.

Because poverty has an impact on education performance, the standard is also tied to school evaluation and teacher assessments.

On Tuesday, the House Education Committee approved with amendments HB130 by Rep. Phillip DeVillier of Eunice that would use "economically disadvantaged" as the new standard by which the state and local school systems would measure the impact of poverty. The bill would require that the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education define what constitutes being economically disadvantaged in Louisiana.

The Independent contacted Rep. DeVillier for comment on his bill. His office sent his talking points he used before the committee to explain his bill but he had not yet replied at press time.

DeVillier Photo by Robin May

The change is driven by changes at the national level in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National School Lunch Program. Under changes that went into effect in 2013, the USDA has allowed high poverty schools and school systems to allow all students to participate in the free and reduced lunch program.

DeVillier told the committee that 27 public school districts and 44 charter schools are using the Community Eligibility Provision in the program to expand the free meal program. DeVillier says 22 other public school districts have at least one school participating in the CEP.

The problem that DeVillier's bill seeks to remedy is that the state has used participation in the program as the standard to measure poverty in schools and districts. Wider participation under the CEP decouples participation in the program from the economic condition of students.

In place of participation in the school lunch program, DeVillier's wants BESE to come up with a new standard for measuring who is economically disadvantaged here. His bill states that BESE "shall ensure that all indicators used to determine and identify economically disadvantaged students as provided in Section 1 of this act are are substantially the same as those used to certify student eligibility for the federal free and reduced meals program."

DeVillier's bill now awaits action by the full House at some point next week.
Louisiana's district attorneys and others began reshaping the Justice Reinvestment package of bills in a Senate committee on Tuesday. Amendments to bills narrowed the focus of the reforms to concentrate on non-violent offenders, potentially improving the chance of some reforms gaining passage.

The bills at the heart of a bi-partisan criminal justice reform effort underwent major revisions on Tuesday in Senate Judiciary Committee C. When the committee finished its work, about 100 amendments had been added to the three bills considered.

The committee approved the amended versions of SB139, SB220, and SB221. The bills were the product of a year of work by the Justice Reinvestment Task Force created last year with the goal of responsibly reducing Louisiana's prison population, which is the largest per capita in the country. The committee meeting ran into the night. Versions of the bills reflecting the amendments made were not yet available late Wednesday morning.

Supporters of those involved in the reform efforts were deflated, judging from an email sent to supporters updating them on the committee's work by John Burkhart with the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has worked with the Louisiana Family Forum, the Pelican Institute and the ACLU on the reforms for the past year.

The bills seek to reduce the cost of operating the Department of Corrections by reducing prison populations through a combination of changes in sentencing policies and rules applying to paroles. The original bills covered some violent offenders, which drew the objection of the state's district attorneys.

Pete Adams, executive director of the Louisiana District Attorneys Association, spoke with The Independent in an interview on Wednesday morning. He says he believes the amendments made in committee yesterday make the bills more acceptable to his members, but he says the reform effort "is still a work in progress."

"I'm optimistic that we can accomplish something significant by the end of this session," Adams says. He believes the original task force was "left leaning" and that its work reflected that.

"The people on that task force are good people, but I don't believe that their views reflected the views of most judges or prosecutors," Adams says. "The work of the task force focused on policy. These bills were only drafted in the last few weeks. I think what we saw in committee yesterday was the gap between discussions on policy and actual legislation."

Adams and the district attorneys had objected to that portion of the package that included making it easier for violent offenders to be paroled. Much of his group's efforts  including direct negotiations with Gov. John Bel Edwards  has focused on narrowing the reforms to concentrate on non-violent offenders.

"Using the figures of the DOC and the folks from Pew [Charitable Trust], if we focus only on non-violent offenders, we can achieve 86 percent of the cost savings and reductions in prisoners that the proponents are seeking," Adams avers.

A particular sticking point for Adams and his members was the provision in SB220 to establish a felony class system in Louisiana. Adams says it was a rushed effort that did not include enough input from what he termed "practitioners  prosecutors and defense attorneys."

"No state has tried to adopt a felony class system as quickly as the Justice Reinvestment Task Force wanted to do," Adams says.

One of the amendments in HB220 approved yesterday, according to news reports and Adams, eliminates the immediate creation of a felony class system. Instead, it creates another task force whose work would be to focus strictly on that subject. Adams has argued publicly that creating a felony class system would require substantial changes in other laws.

"So, if this bill makes it into law, we'll have a task force that will look at the idea of creating a felony class system," Adams says. He wants that task force to involve more prosecutors and others who work in the criminal justice system.

Adams says he has been encouraged by the administration and the Legislature's acceptance of input from his group. He believes the only chance reforms have of making it through the current session is by keeping the focus on non-violent offenders.

Most of the growth in Louisiana's inmate population over the past three decades has come through an increase in the number of people serving time for convictions for non-violent crimes, according to DOC statistics.

Two House bills that are part of the Justice Reinvestment Task Force legislation advanced in the House on Tuesday. HB74 by Rep. Denise Marcela of Baton Rouge provides a pathway toward possible parole for juvenile defenders convicted of violent crimes. It won approval by the House Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice. The same committee also approved HB205 by Rep. Joe Bouie of New Orleans. Bouie's bill would allow inmates to become eligible for parole 15 years after their arrest. Currently, eligibility for parole is based on the amount of time that has passed since a person was convicted.

The Independent contacted supporters of the Justice Reinvestment Task Force for comment, but they had not responded at press time.
Rep. Stuart Bishop pulled his proposed constitutional amendment to limit the ability of local governments to call new tax elections in the wake of an earlier failure today. The bill and the decision to pull the bill came from Secretary of State Tom Schedler.

Bishop Photo by Robin May

The House Committee on Municipal, Parochial and Cultural Affairs was set to consider HB41 by Rep. Stuart Bishop when it convened at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, but Bishop pulled the proposed constitutional amendment at the request of Secretary of State Tom Schedler.

The bill would have tightened limitations on the ability of local governments to call tax elections in the wake of the failure of a proposition. Article 6, Section 30(B) of the Louisiana Constitution states that local governments cannot bring a tax issue up for voter consideration less than six months after a prior attempt to pass the tax failed. It provides an exception to that rule "in the case of an emergency as determined by the governing authority of the political subdivision."

Bishop's bill would have eliminated that exception. Because it is a constitutional amendment, it would need approval by two-thirds of both the House and the Senate before it would go to voters for approval.

Bishop says there was no connection between the pulling of HB41 from consideration and the failure of two parish wide property tax measures last Saturday that provide funding for maintenance and operation of Lafayette's jail and courthouse.

"Those elections had absolutely zero impact on this bill," according to Bishop. "I did not speak to any local officials about this bill."

In a telephone interview with The Independent following the committee hearing, Bishop says he was carrying out the wishes of Secretary Schedler.

"I introduced the bill at his request and I pulled it at his request," Bishop says.

He says Schedler contacted him prior to the committee meeting to say that he had reconsidered the need for the bill based on the work of a team in his office.

"The secretary told me he might want to come back with this bill or a version of it next year," Bishop adds.

Bishop's HB98 to impose a small feel on oil and gas produced in Louisiana to fund the state's Oilfield Site Restoration program won easy approval on the House floor on Tuesday. The bill, which would impose fees ranging from 1.5 cents to 4.5 center per gallon of oil and its natural gas equivalent based on market prices, was approved 98-0. It now moves to the Senate for committee assignment.

In response to a question of whether he expects smooth sailing there, as well, Bishop's joking reply was, "You never know what can happen when things reach the other chamber.
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Climate science: there's no need for climate protests in China because China is already communist

Islamic clerics split on whether Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib should be traveling around the world without an accompanying male relative

Dem candidates call for the Beatles' song 'Get Back' and the 'White Album' to be banned; surviving two white guys of the group must pay reparations

Bond's number is up: next 007 will be a black woman, played by Barack Obama

NYT: moon landing was one small step for Man, one giant leap for White Male Supremacy

HURRICANE WATCH: Tropical storm Barry has records sealed, once offshore expected to change name to Barack

Trump politicizes the 4th of July, declares it henceforth to be called the 45th of July, or July the Trumpth

Barack Obama critical of Trump for failing to insert 'I, me, my' into his 4th of July speech: "very unpresidential!"

Congressional Democrats: John Dean's testimony proves Trump is Nixon in disguise and must be impeached

Bernie Sanders admits to being a millionaire, promises to eat himself if nominated

International Women's Day observed, women only paid 73% of attention afforded to men

Democrats: anti-Semitism means never having to say you're sorry

AOC: aborting babies helps preserve the planet for the next generation

Bernie Sanders launches presidential campaign, promises to "build a great big beautiful Iron Curtain" around America if elected

West Virginia renames itself Eastern Kentucky to avoid further embarrassment from Virginia

BREAKING: Justice Ginsburg released from hospital after breaking 3 ribs at late night bar brawl in Adams Morgan

DNA news: Senator Warren tanking in latest totem polls

Orwell studies: 84% of academics believe problems raised in 1984 can be fixed with solutions from Animal Farm

Progress in gender justice: online dating industry issues recommendations for men to wear body cameras, bring attorneys as chaperones

Study: the only people who don't know what socialism is are the socialists

Poll: 1 in 3 #FightFor15 activists believe movement is related to lowering the age of consent across America

CNN expert: Kavanaugh confirmation will increase global warming by 3 degrees

Harry Reid comes forth to say Judge Kavanaugh didn't pay any taxes in high school

Hollywood to America: If you've got a flag on the Moon, you didn't plant that; some other country made that happen

Protest march in straight jackets against Trump ends in chaos as participants try but fail to free themselves

HEADLINES YOU WILL NEVER SEE: California Gov. Jerry Brown single-handedly stops wildfires in his state by issuing an immediate statewide ban on wildfires

San Francisco closes all Planned Parenthood clinics after sting operation catches employees using plastic straws

Vegan mother undergoes experimental surgery to force her breasts to produce almond milk

With none of his emails answered, frustrated Nigerian man commits suicide and leaves $100bn fortune to charity

California gives new meaning to strawman argument as caped Strawman battles supervillains in restaurants, bars, and fast food joints

Violence increases in Mexico as cartels switch from smuggling drugs to plastic straws to San Francisco

Obama proposes a Paris Economic Change agreement among nations to address how world will cope with future runaway economic warming

Stormy Daniels plans border visit to give migrant children freebies

San Francisco: man dumping off 20 lbs of human waste in plastic bag on street corner cited for using non-biodegradable plastic bag

BREAKING: ICE renamed Planned Citizenship, immediately absolving it of all criticism

Senate Democrats demand Supreme Court nominee not be unduly influenced by U.S. Constitution

BREAKING: In 2018, Obama and Biden can finally celebrate Recovery Summer

IG Report: the FBI broke the law, but since there was no criminal intent, no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case

Pelosi on Trump's MS-13 "animals" comments: "Four legs good, two legs bad"

Iran nuclear talks set to resume between the United States and John Kerry

Report: The Mueller investigation has finally determined that the lyrics to Louie Louie are not about Trump and Russian collusion

MARKETS: Demand for carbon credits spikes as Hamas seeks to undo damage to Earth's atmosphere caused by burning 10,000 tires on Gaza border

BREAKING: After state reassignment surgery Pennsylvania will henceforth be known as Transylvania

Experts: If we don't act now, unicorns will be extinct in just ten years. Children will ask, "Mommy, what's a unicorn?" Women and minorities will be forced to seek alternative hallucinations

Korean war must continue: Hawaiian federal judge declares Trump's peace effort unconstitutional

New York: feminists march on Broadway, demand the street be given new, non-misogynistic name

Experts: California's planned transition of all state jobs from citizens to illegal aliens by 2020 will help to avoid bankruptcy and save money for social programs for illegal aliens

Putin: If I didn't want Hillary to be president she would be dead

Doritos maker PepsiCo to introduce snack line for women; new Doritas chips will be 77% as big as Doritos and won't make any scary 'crunchy noises'

TMZ: Tooth Fairy accused of sexually assaulting millions of children, outs self as Transgendered Tooth Recovery Specialist

RUSSIA COLLUSION: Trump offers Putin to trade Rep. Maxine Waters for two unnamed members of the State Duma

Ikea founder dead at 91; his coffin arrived in a box with confusing instructions and took 3 hours to assemble

This Thanksgiving ex-president Obama continues with his tradition of apologizing to turkeys everywhere for the injustice they suffered since America's founding

Oslo, Norway: 2017 Nobel Peace Prize goes to advocacy group about which you'll forget immediately after reading this headline

Cambridge, MA, library to replace racist 'Cat in the Hat' with inclusive 'Che in a Beret'

Millions of men worldwide eagerly await broadcast of Hugh Hefner's funeral, solely for the articles

Bill Gates offers to pay for Trump's wall on condition he gets to install Windows

Bernie Sanders introduces single-payer public transportation bill to end America's unequal, unfair, and expensive private transportation system

DNC embroiled in controversy after official Twitter account accidentally 'likes' pictures of US Constitution and Bill of Rights

Hurricane Irma hits Cuba, causes millions of dollars worth of improvements to property and infrastructure

Climate study: extreme weather may be caused by unlicensed witches casting wrong spells in well-meaning effort to destroy Trump

Ex-president Obama declares Irma "Hurricane of Peace," urges not to jump to conclusions and succumb to stormophobia

CNN: Trump reverses Obama's executive order banning hurricanes

ISIS claims responsibility for a total solar eclipse over the lands of American crusaders and nonbelievers

When asked if they could point to North Korea on a map many college students didn't know what a map was

CNN: We must bring America into the 21st century by replacing the 18th century Constitution with 19th century poetry

Pelosi: 'We have to impeach the president in order to find out what we impeached him for'

BREAKING: As of Saturday July 8, 2017, all of Earth's ecosystems have shut down as per Prince Charles's super scientific pronouncement made 96 months ago. Everything is dead. All is lost. Life on Earth is no more.

DNC to pick new election slogan out of four finalists: 'Give us more government or everyone dies,' 'Vote for Democrats or everyone dies,' 'Impeach Trump or everyone dies,' 'Stop the fearmongering or everyone dies'

Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power" is humanity's last chance to save the Earth before it ends five years ago

Experts: The more we embrace diversity the more everything is the same

BOMBSHELL: TMZ offers Kathy Griffin $5 mil to keep any future sex tape private

DEVELOPING: CNN, WaPo, NYT anonymous sources say Vladimir Putin may have ties to Russia

BREAKING: Manning and Snowden have come out with strong condemnation of Donald Trump leaking classified information to Russia

Gun store goes into lockdown over report an "active university professor" roving the grounds

Dozens injured at Ralph Lauren & Louis Vuitton headquarters after Ivanka calls in missile strikes on rival fashion houses

BOMBSHELL: Evidence proves Donald Trump conspired with his campaign to defeat Hillary Clinton

University ranked "very intolerant of free speech" fights the accusation by banning the study and all involved

Concerned that Russians don't consume enough alcohol in the month of March, Russia's Orthodox Church makes St. Patrick's Day official holiday

Grassroots group calls for "The Million Regulators March" on Washington, supported by all who fear the loss of their betters telling them what to do

Experts: Starbucks CEO Schultz's hiring of 10,000 Muslim refugees likely to blow up in his face

Will the groundprog be frightened by its own shadow and hide - or will there be another season of insane protests?

Trump signs executive order making California and New York national monuments; residents have two days to vacate

Women's March against fascism completed with 400,000 fewer deaths than anticipated

Feminist historians uncover ghastly concentration camps where so-called "housewives" were forced to live inauthentic lives slaving away in kitchens

Dictionary of the future: Global Warming was a popular computer simulation game, where the only way to win was not to play

"Anti-fascist" groups violently protest misspelling of their original name, "aren't-we-fascists"

Post-inauguration blues: millions of democrats distraught as the reality of having to find real jobs sets in

"Journalism is the continuation of war by other means" is exposed as a fake quote by mainstream media journalists

Congressional Democrats: "We cannot just simply replace Obamacare with freedom because then millions of Americans will suddenly become free"

Schoolchildren jailed for building only white snowmen

Obama's reckless attacks on Russia serve as recruitment tool to create more Russian hackers

Hillary: "I lost, so I'm going to follow our democratic traditions, poison the wells, and scorch the earth"

Children in Venezuela cook and eat their Christmas toys

Hillary: "I can hack Russia from my bathroom"

Hillary suggests to counter "fake news" with government newspaper called "Truth" ("Pravda" for Russian speakers)

BREAKING: Millions of uncounted votes found on Hillary's private voting machine in her Chappaqua bathroom

New York Times: Fidel Castro world's sexiest corpse

After years of trial and error, CIA finally succeeds with the "waiting it out" technique on Fidel Castro

Post-election shopping tip: look for the PoliticsFree label at your local grocer to make sure you don't buy from companies that don't want your business anymore

In Hillary's America, email server scrubs you

Obama transfers his Nobel Peace Prize to anti-Trump rioters

Democrats blame Hillary's criminal e-mail server for her loss, demand it face prison

Afraid of "dangerous" Trump presidency, protesters pre-emptively burn America down to the ground

Clinton Foundation in foreclosure as foreign donors demand refunds

Hillary Clinton blames YouTube video for unexpected and spontaneous voter uprising that prevented her inevitable move into the White House

Sudden rise in sea levels explained by disproportionately large tears shed by climate scientists in the aftermath of Trump's electoral victory

FBI director Comey delighted after receiving Nobel Prize for Speed Reading (650,000 emails in one week)

U.N. deploys troops to American college campuses in order to combat staggeringly low rape rates

Responding to Trump's surging poll numbers, Obama preemptively pardons himself for treason

Following hurricane Matthew's failure to devastate Florida, activists flock to the Sunshine State and destroy Trump signs manually

Tim Kaine takes credit for interrupting hurricane Matthew while debating weather in Florida

Study: Many non-voters still undecided on how they're not going to vote

The Evolution of Dissent: on November 8th the nation is to decide whether dissent will stop being racist and become sexist - or it will once again be patriotic as it was for 8 years under George W. Bush

Venezuela solves starvation problem by making it mandatory to buy food

Breaking: the Clinton Foundation set to investigate the FBI

Obama captures rare Pokemon while visiting Hiroshima

Movie news: 'The Big Friendly Giant Government' flops at box office; audiences say "It's creepy"

Barack Obama: "If I had a son, he'd look like Micah Johnson"

White House edits Orlando 911 transcript to say shooter pledged allegiance to NRA and Republican Party

President George Washington: 'Redcoats do not represent British Empire; King George promotes a distorted version of British colonialism'

Following Obama's 'Okie-Doke' speech, stock of Okie-Doke soars; NASDAQ: 'Obama best Okie-Doke salesman'

Weaponized baby formula threatens Planned Parenthood office; ACLU demands federal investigation of Gerber

Experts: melting Antarctic glacier could cause sale levels to rise up to 80% off select items by this weekend

Travel advisory: airlines now offering flights to front of TSA line

As Obama instructs his administration to get ready for presidential transition, Trump preemptively purchases 'T' keys for White House keyboards

John Kasich self-identifies as GOP primary winner, demands access to White House bathroom

Upcoming Trump/Kelly interview on FoxNews sponsored by 'Let's Make a Deal' and 'The Price is Right'

News from 2017: once the evacuation of Lena Dunham and 90% of other Hollywood celebrities to Canada is confirmed, Trump resigns from presidency: "My work here is done"

Non-presidential candidate Paul Ryan pledges not to run for president in new non-presidential non-ad campaign

Trump suggests creating 'Muslim database'; Obama symbolically protests by shredding White House guest logs beginning 2009

National Enquirer: John Kasich's real dad was the milkman, not mailman

National Enquirer: Bound delegates from Colorado, Wyoming found in Ted Cruzs basement

Iran breaks its pinky-swear promise not to support terrorism; US State Department vows rock-paper-scissors strategic response

Women across the country cheer as racist Democrat president on $20 bill is replaced by black pro-gun Republican

Federal Reserve solves budget crisis by writing itself a 20-trillion-dollar check

Widows, orphans claim responsibility for Brussels airport bombing

Che Guevara's son hopes Cuba's communism will rub off on US, proposes a long list of people the government should execute first

Susan Sarandon: "I don't vote with my vagina." Voters in line behind her still suspicious, use hand sanitizer

Campaign memo typo causes Hillary to court 'New Black Panties' vote

New Hampshire votes for socialist Sanders, changes state motto to "Live FOR Free or Die"

Martin O'Malley drops out of race after Iowa Caucus; nation shocked with revelation he has been running for president

Statisticians: one out of three Bernie Sanders supporters is just as dumb as the other two

Hillary campaign denies accusations of smoking-gun evidence in her emails, claims they contain only smoking-circumstantial-gun evidence

Obama stops short of firing US Congress upon realizing the difficulty of assembling another group of such tractable yes-men

In effort to contol wild passions for violent jihad, White House urges gun owners to keep their firearms covered in gun burkas

TV horror live: A Charlie Brown Christmas gets shot up on air by Mohammed cartoons

Democrats vow to burn the country down over Ted Cruz statement, 'The overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats'

Russia's trend to sign bombs dropped on ISIS with "This is for Paris" found response in Obama administration's trend to sign American bombs with "Return to sender"

University researchers of cultural appropriation quit upon discovery that their research is appropriation from a culture that created universities

Archeologists discover remains of what Barack Obama has described as unprecedented, un-American, and not-who-we-are immigration screening process in Ellis Island

Mizzou protests lead to declaring entire state a "safe space," changing Missouri motto to "The don't show me state"

Green energy fact: if we put all green energy subsidies together in one-dollar bills and burn them, we could generate more electricity than has been produced by subsidized green energy

State officials improve chances of healthcare payouts by replacing ObamaCare with state lottery

NASA's new mission to search for racism, sexism, and economic inequality in deep space suffers from race, gender, and class power struggles over multibillion-dollar budget

College progress enforcement squads issue schematic humor charts so students know if a joke may be spontaneously laughed at or if regulations require other action

ISIS opens suicide hotline for US teens depressed by climate change and other progressive doomsday scenarios

Virginia county to close schools after teacher asks students to write 'death to America' in Arabic

'Wear hijab to school day' ends with spontaneous female circumcision and stoning of a classmate during lunch break

ISIS releases new, even more barbaric video in an effort to regain mantle from Planned Parenthood

Impressed by Fox News stellar rating during GOP debates, CNN to use same formula on Democrat candidates asking tough, pointed questions about Republicans

Shocking new book explores pros and cons of socialism, discovers they are same people

Pope outraged by Planned Parenthood's "unfettered capitalism," demands equal redistribution of baby parts to each according to his need

John Kerry accepts Iran's "Golden Taquiyya" award, requests jalapenos on the side

Citizens of Pluto protest US government's surveillance of their planetoid and its moons with New Horizons space drone

John Kerry proposes 3-day waiting period for all terrorist nations trying to acquire nuclear weapons

Chicago Police trying to identify flag that caused nine murders and 53 injuries in the city this past weekend

Cuba opens to affordable medical tourism for Americans who can't afford Obamacare deductibles

State-funded research proves existence of Quantum Aggression Particles (Heterons) in Large Hadron Collider

Student job opportunities: make big bucks this summer as Hillarys Ordinary-American; all expenses paid, travel, free acting lessons

Experts debate whether Iranian negotiators broke John Kerry's leg or he did it himself to get out of negotiations

Junior Varsity takes Ramadi, advances to quarterfinals

US media to GOP pool of candidates: 'Knowing what we know now, would you have had anything to do with the founding of the United States?'

NY Mayor to hold peace talks with rats, apologize for previous Mayor's cowboy diplomacy

China launches cube-shaped space object with a message to aliens: "The inhabitants of Earth will steal your intellectual property, copy it, manufacture it in sweatshops with slave labor, and sell it back to you at ridiculously low prices"

Progressive scientists: Truth is a variable deduced by subtracting 'what is' from 'what ought to be'

Experts agree: Hillary Clinton best candidate to lessen percentage of Americans in top 1%

America's attempts at peace talks with the White House continue to be met with lies, stalling tactics, and bad faith

Starbucks new policy to talk race with customers prompts new hashtag #DontHoldUpTheLine

Hillary: DELETE is the new RESET

Charlie Hebdo receives Islamophobe 2015 award; the cartoonists could not be reached for comment due to their inexplicable, illogical deaths

Russia sends 'reset' button back to Hillary: 'You need it now more than we do'

Barack Obama finds out from CNN that Hillary Clinton spent four years being his Secretary of State

President Obama honors Leonard Nimoy by taking selfie in front of Starship Enterprise

Police: If Obama had a convenience store, it would look like Obama Express Food Market

Study finds stunning lack of racial, gender, and economic diversity among middle-class white males

NASA: We're 80% sure about being 20% sure about being 17% sure about being 38% sure about 2014 being the hottest year on record

People holding '$15 an Hour Now' posters sue Democratic party demanding raise to $15 an hour for rendered professional protesting services

Cuba-US normalization: US tourists flock to see Cuba before it looks like the US and Cubans flock to see the US before it looks like Cuba

White House describes attacks on Sony Pictures as 'spontaneous hacking in response to offensive video mocking Juche and its prophet'

CIA responds to Democrat calls for transparency by releasing the director's cut of The Making Of Obama's Birth Certificate

Obama: 'If I had a city, it would look like Ferguson'

Biden: 'If I had a Ferguson (hic), it would look like a city'

Obama signs executive order renaming 'looters' to 'undocumented shoppers'

Ethicists agree: two wrongs do make a right so long as Bush did it first

The aftermath of the 'War on Women 2014' finds a new 'Lost Generation' of disillusioned Democrat politicians, unable to cope with life out of office

White House: Republican takeover of the Senate is a clear mandate from the American people for President Obama to rule by executive orders

Nurse Kaci Hickox angrily tells reporters that she won't change her clocks for daylight savings time

Democratic Party leaders in panic after recent poll shows most Democratic voters think 'midterm' is when to end pregnancy

Desperate Democratic candidates plead with Obama to stop backing them and instead support their GOP opponents

Ebola Czar issues five-year plan with mandatory quotas of Ebola infections per each state based on voting preferences

Study: crony capitalism is to the free market what the Westboro Baptist Church is to Christianity

Fun facts about world languages: the Left has more words for statism than the Eskimos have for snow

African countries to ban all flights from the United States because "Obama is incompetent, it scares us"

Nobel Peace Prize controversy: Hillary not nominated despite having done even less than Obama to deserve it

Obama: 'Ebola is the JV of viruses'

BREAKING: Secret Service foils Secret Service plot to protect Obama

Revised 1st Amendment: buy one speech, get the second free

Sharpton calls on white NFL players to beat their women in the interests of racial fairness

President Obama appoints his weekly approval poll as new national security adviser

Obama wags pen and phone at Putin; Europe offers support with powerful pens and phones from NATO members

White House pledges to embarrass ISIS back to the Stone Age with a barrage of fearsome Twitter messages and fatally ironic Instagram photos

Obama to fight ISIS with new federal Terrorist Regulatory Agency

Obama vows ISIS will never raise their flag over the eighteenth hole

Harry Reid: "Sometimes I say the wong thing"

Elian Gonzalez wishes he had come to the U.S. on a bus from Central America like all the other kids

Obama visits US-Mexican border, calls for a two-state solution

Obama draws "blue line" in Iraq after Putin took away his red crayon

"Hard Choices," a porno flick loosely based on Hillary Clinton's memoir and starring Hillary Hellfire as a drinking, whoring Secretary of State, wildly outsells the flabby, sagging original

Accusations of siding with the enemy leave Sgt. Bergdahl with only two options: pursue a doctorate at Berkley or become a Senator from Massachusetts

Jay Carney stuck in line behind Eric Shinseki to leave the White House; estimated wait time from 15 min to 6 weeks

100% of scientists agree that if man-made global warming were real, "the last people we'd want to help us is the Obama administration"

Jay Carney says he found out that Obama found out that he found out that Obama found out that he found out about the latest Obama administration scandal on the news

"Anarchy Now!" meeting turns into riot over points of order, bylaws, and whether or not 'kicking the #^@&*! ass' of the person trying to speak is or is not violence

Obama retaliates against Putin by prohibiting unionized federal employees from dating hot Russian girls online during work hours

Russian separatists in Ukraine riot over an offensive YouTube video showing the toppling of Lenin statues

"Free Speech Zones" confuse Obamaphone owners who roam streets in search of additional air minutes

Obamacare bolsters employment for professionals with skills to convert meth back into sudafed

Gloves finally off: Obama uses pen and phone to cancel Putin's Netflix account

Joe Biden to Russia: "We will bury you by turning more of Eastern Europe over to your control!"

In last-ditch effort to help Ukraine, Obama deploys Rev. Sharpton and Rev. Jackson's Rainbow Coalition to Crimea

Al Sharpton: "Not even Putin can withstand our signature chanting, 'racist, sexist, anti-gay, Russian army go away'!"

Mardi Gras in North Korea: "Throw me some food!"

Obama's foreign policy works: "War, invasion, and conquest are signs of weakness; we've got Putin right where we want him"

US offers military solution to Ukraine crisis: "We will only fight countries that have LGBT military"

Putin annexes Brighton Beach to protect ethnic Russians in Brooklyn, Obama appeals to UN and EU for help

The 1980s: "Mr. Obama, we're just calling to ask if you want our foreign policy back. The 1970s are right here with us, and they're wondering, too."

In a stunning act of defiance, Obama courageously unfriends Putin on Facebook

MSNBC: Obama secures alliance with Austro-Hungarian Empire against Russias aggression in Ukraine

Study: springbreak is to STDs what April 15th is to accountants

Efforts to achieve moisture justice for California thwarted by unfair redistribution of snow in America

North Korean voters unanimous: "We are the 100%"

Leader of authoritarian gulag-site, The People's Cube, unanimously 're-elected' with 100% voter turnout

Super Bowl: Obama blames Fox News for Broncos' loss

Feminist author slams gay marriage: "a man needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle"

Beverly Hills campaign heats up between Henry Waxman and Marianne Williamson over the widening income gap between millionaires and billionaires in their district

Biden to lower $10,000-a-plate Dinner For The Homeless to $5,000 so more homeless can attend

Kim becomes world leader, feeds uncle to dogs; Obama eats dogs, becomes world leader, America cries uncle

North Korean leader executes own uncle for talking about Obamacare at family Christmas party

White House hires part-time schizophrenic Mandela sign interpreter to help sell Obamacare

Kim Jong Un executes own "crazy uncle" to keep him from ruining another family Christmas

OFA admits its advice for area activists to give Obamacare Talk at shooting ranges was a bad idea

President resolves Obamacare debacle with executive order declaring all Americans equally healthy

Obama to Iran: "If you like your nuclear program, you can keep your nuclear program"

Bovine community outraged by flatulence coming from Washington DC

Obama: "I'm not particularly ideological; I believe in a good pragmatic five-year plan"

Shocker: Obama had no knowledge he'd been reelected until he read about it in the local newspaper last week

Server problems at HealthCare.gov so bad, it now flashes 'Error 808' message

NSA marks National Best Friend Day with official announcement: "Government is your best friend; we know you like no one else, we're always there, we're always willing to listen"

Al Qaeda cancels attack on USA citing launch of Obamacare as devastating enough

The President's latest talking point on Obamacare: "I didn't build that"

Dizzy with success, Obama renames his wildly popular healthcare mandate to HillaryCare

Carney: huge ObamaCare deductibles won't look as bad come hyperinflation

Washington Redskins drop 'Washington' from their name as offensive to most Americans

Poll: 83% of Americans favor cowboy diplomacy over rodeo clown diplomacy

GOVERNMENT WARNING: If you were able to complete ObamaCare form online, it wasn't a legitimate gov't website; you should report online fraud and change all your passwords

Obama administration gets serious, threatens Syria with ObamaCare

Obama authorizes the use of Vice President Joe Biden's double-barrel shotgun to fire a couple of blasts at Syria

Sharpton: "British royals should have named baby 'Trayvon.' By choosing 'George' they sided with white Hispanic racist Zimmerman"

DNC launches 'Carlos Danger' action figure; proceeds to fund a charity helping survivors of the Republican War on Women

Nancy Pelosi extends abortion rights to the birds and the bees

Hubble discovers planetary drift to the left

Obama: 'If I had a daughter-in-law, she would look like Rachael Jeantel'

FISA court rubberstamps statement denying its portrayal as government's rubber stamp

Every time ObamaCare gets delayed, a Julia somewhere dies

GOP to Schumer: 'Force full implementation of ObamaCare before 2014 or Dems will never win another election'

Obama: 'If I had a son... no, wait, my daughter can now marry a woman!'

Janet Napolitano: TSA findings reveal that since none of the hijackers were babies, elderly, or Tea Partiers, 9/11 was not an act of terrorism

News Flash: Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) can see Canada from South Dakota

Susan Rice: IRS actions against tea parties caused by anti-tax YouTube video that was insulting to their faith

Drudge Report reduces font to fit all White House scandals onto one page

Obama: the IRS is a constitutional right, just like the Second Amendment

White House: top Obama officials using secret email accounts a result of bad IT advice to avoid spam mail from Nigeria

Jay Carney to critics: 'Pinocchio never said anything inconsistent'

Obama: If I had a gay son, he'd look like Jason Collins

Gosnell's office in Benghazi raided by the IRS: mainstream media's worst cover-up challenge to date

IRS targeting pro-gay-marriage LGBT groups leads to gayest tax revolt in U.S. history

After Arlington Cemetery rejects offer to bury Boston bomber, Westboro Babtist Church steps up with premium front lawn plot

Boston: Obama Administration to reclassify marathon bombing as 'sportsplace violence'

Study: Success has many fathers but failure becomes a government program

US Media: Can Pope Francis possibly clear up Vatican bureaucracy and banking without blaming the previous administration?

Michelle Obama praises weekend rampage by Chicago teens as good way to burn calories and stay healthy

This Passover, Obama urges his subjects to paint lamb's blood above doors in order to avoid the Sequester



White House to American children: Sequester causes layoffs among hens that lay Easter eggs; union-wage Easter Bunnies to be replaced by Mexican Chupacabras

Time Mag names Hugo Chavez world's sexiest corpse

Boy, 8, pretends banana is gun, makes daring escape from school

Study: Free lunches overpriced, lack nutrition

Oscars 2013: Michelle Obama announces long-awaited merger of Hollywood and the State

Joe Salazar defends the right of women to be raped in gun-free environment: 'rapists and rapees should work together to prevent gun violence for the common good'

Dept. of Health and Human Services eliminates rape by reclassifying assailants as 'undocumented sex partners'

Kremlin puts out warning not to photoshop Putin riding meteor unless bare-chested

Deeming football too violent, Obama moves to introduce Super Drone Sundays instead

Japan offers to extend nuclear umbrella to cover U.S. should America suffer devastating attack on its own defense spending

Feminists organize one billion women to protest male oppression with one billion lap dances

Urban community protests Mayor Bloomberg's ban on extra-large pop singers owning assault weapons

Concerned with mounting death toll, Taliban offers to send peacekeeping advisers to Chicago

Karl Rove puts an end to Tea Party with new 'Republicans For Democrats' strategy aimed at losing elections

Answering public skepticism, President Obama authorizes unlimited drone attacks on all skeet targets throughout the country

Skeet Ulrich denies claims he had been shot by President but considers changing his name to 'Traps'

White House releases new exciting photos of Obama standing, sitting, looking thoughtful, and even breathing in and out

New York Times hacked by Chinese government, Paul Krugman's economic policies stolen

White House: when President shoots skeet, he donates the meat to food banks that feed the middle class

To prove he is serious, Obama eliminates armed guard protection for President, Vice-President, and their families; establishes Gun-Free Zones around them instead

State Dept to send 100,000 American college students to China as security for US debt obligations

Jay Carney: Al Qaeda is on the run, they're just running forward

President issues executive orders banning cliffs, ceilings, obstructions, statistics, and other notions that prevent us from moving forwards and upward

Fearing the worst, Obama Administration outlaws the fan to prevent it from being hit by certain objects

World ends; S&P soars

Riddle of universe solved; answer not understood

Meek inherit Earth, can't afford estate taxes

Greece abandons Euro; accountants find Greece has no Euros anyway

Wheel finally reinvented; axles to be gradually reinvented in 3rd quarter of 2013

Bigfoot found in Ohio, mysteriously not voting for Obama

As Santa's workshop files for bankruptcy, Fed offers bailout in exchange for control of 'naughty and nice' list

Freak flying pig accident causes bacon to fly off shelves

Obama: green economy likely to transform America into a leading third world country of the new millennium

Report: President Obama to visit the United States in the near future

Obama promises to create thousands more economically neutral jobs

Modernizing Islam: New York imam proposes to canonize Saul Alinsky as religion's latter day prophet

Imam Rauf's peaceful solution: 'Move Ground Zero a few blocks away from the mosque and no one gets hurt'

Study: Obama's threat to burn tax money in Washington 'recruitment bonanza' for Tea Parties

Study: no Social Security reform will be needed if gov't raises retirement age to at least 814 years

Obama attends church service, worships self

Obama proposes national 'Win The Future' lottery; proceeds of new WTF Powerball to finance more gov't spending

Historical revisionists: "Hey, you never know"

Vice President Biden: criticizing Egypt is un-pharaoh

Israelis to Egyptian rioters: "don't damage the pyramids, we will not rebuild"

Lake Superior renamed Lake Inferior in spirit of tolerance and inclusiveness

Al Gore: It's a shame that a family can be torn apart by something as simple as a pack of polar bears

Michael Moore: As long as there is anyone with money to shake down, this country is not broke

Obama's teleprompters unionize, demand collective bargaining rights

Obama calls new taxes 'spending reductions in tax code.' Elsewhere rapists tout 'consent reductions in sexual intercourse'

Obama's teleprompter unhappy with White House Twitter: "Too few words"

Obama's Regulation Reduction committee finds US Constitution to be expensive outdated framework inefficiently regulating federal gov't

Taking a page from the Reagan years, Obama announces new era of Perestroika and Glasnost

Responding to Oslo shootings, Obama declares Christianity "Religion of Peace," praises "moderate Christians," promises to send one into space

Republicans block Obama's $420 billion program to give American families free charms that ward off economic bad luck

White House to impose Chimney tax on Santa Claus

Obama decrees the economy is not soaring as much as previously decreeed

Conservative think tank introduces children to capitalism with pop-up picture book "The Road to Smurfdom"

Al Gore proposes to combat Global Warming by extracting silver linings from clouds in Earth's atmosphere

Obama refutes charges of him being unresponsive to people's suffering: "When you pray to God, do you always hear a response?"

Obama regrets the US government didn't provide his mother with free contraceptives when she was in college

Fluke to Congress: drill, baby, drill!

Planned Parenthood introduces Frequent Flucker reward card: 'Come again soon!'

Obama to tornado victims: 'We inherited this weather from the previous administration'

Obama congratulates Putin on Chicago-style election outcome

People's Cube gives itself Hero of Socialist Labor medal in recognition of continued expert advice provided to the Obama Administration helping to shape its foreign and domestic policies

Hamas: Israeli air defense unfair to 99% of our missiles, "only 1% allowed to reach Israel"

Democrat strategist: without government supervision, women would have never evolved into humans

Voters Without Borders oppose Texas new voter ID law

Enraged by accusation that they are doing Obama's bidding, media leaders demand instructions from White House on how to respond

Obama blames previous Olympics for failure to win at this Olympics

Official: China plans to land on Moon or at least on cheap knockoff thereof

Koran-Contra: Obama secretly arms Syrian rebels

Poll: Progressive slogan 'We should be more like Europe' most popular with members of American Nazi Party

Obama to Evangelicals: Jesus saves, I just spend

May Day: Anarchists plan, schedule, synchronize, and execute a coordinated campaign against all of the above

Midwestern farmers hooked on new erotic novel "50 Shades of Hay"

Study: 99% of Liberals give the rest a bad name

Obama meets with Jewish leaders, proposes deeper circumcisions for the rich

Historians: Before HOPE & CHANGE there was HEMP & CHOOM at ten bucks a bag

Cancer once again fails to cure Venezuela of its "President for Life"

Tragic spelling error causes Muslim protesters to burn local boob-tube factory

Secretary of Energy Steven Chu: due to energy conservation, the light at the end of the tunnel will be switched off

Obama Administration running food stamps across the border with Mexico in an operation code-named "Fat And Furious"

Pakistan explodes in protest over new Adobe Acrobat update; 17 local acrobats killed

White House: "Let them eat statistics"

Special Ops: if Benedict Arnold had a son, he would look like Barack Obama







AD GOES HERE
Looking from one turbulent time to another, an exhibit at the Corridor Gallery at the Carbondale Civic Center looks at the work of photographer Tom Davis from his time documenting Carbondale during the 1960s.

Images of a Barry Goldwater campaign stop and Vietnam protests accompany slice of life photos from Davis archives. Stephanie Dukat, Program Coordinator at Carbondale Community Arts, said she had the opportunity to group the photographs and decided to hang them based loosely on similar categories.

Davis, now 79, said he put the show together after scanning some negatives for the Carbondale Preservation Commission. He said he chose the images because they were interesting to him.

I was just going through a bunch of negatives and I thought, Well you know, Id just like seeing them again myself, Davis said. So he printed some 8-by-10s and pitched the show to Carbondale Community Arts after a member of the Preservation Commission mentioned the general public might enjoy seeing them.

Some of the 33 photos on display are from Davis time as a photojournalist for The Southern; others are from his time owning a photography studio; others are from the time he spent running the Carbondale Community High School yearbook.

When he takes a step back and looks at this body of work, representing a significant part of his career, Davis said he is transported right back.

When I look at them, I mean, can see it the same as it was when it was then, Davis said.

Those were exciting times for him. A Harrisburg native, Davis came to Carbondale after attending Miami University and started work at The Southern.

He said in one of the photos, viewers can just make out a familiar newsman haunt The Rat Hole at the corner of Illinois and Main. Davis said colleagues would head there after they finished the paper some evenings.

It was a nice, friendly (place), kind of like Cheers, Davis remembered.

There is something else in those photographs, too. There is a spirit they carry that Dukat would describe as uniquely Carbondale.

There is photographs of the Vietnam protest. It gives me kind of the same exuberance and excitement as the Womens March had that was happening a couple of months ago here, Dukat said. She said the same goes for the photograph of Goldwater at the train station.

I think its important for the community of Carbondale to know what their past is and these photos definitely are a significant point in time, especially with the Vietnam protest and everything happening with the Goldwater campaign and him being a supporter of the atomic bomb, she said. Its really crucial to know that we took part events like that and also just to see it in a different light.

Davis, who said he has been making pictures most of his life, shoots far less than he used to.

I guess Ive been there done that, he said. However, with negatives that date back to the 1950s he said hes got a lot of good memories with a camera in hand.

I enjoyed every minute of it, Davis said.

He will get the opportunity to share some of those memories from 5 to 6 p.m. May 12 at the Corridor Gallery in the Carbondale Civic Center, during an artist talk sponsored by the CCA. The exhibit will remain on display in the Corridor Gallery until May 19.

Reflecting on how hes seen Carbondale change in his time, he said the landscape morphs, buildings come and go, but there is something that stays the same.

The ground moves in Carbondale and theres always something going on, Davis said.
May 6 is Free Comic Book Day, and a couple of local shops are celebrating with  what else  free comic books.

Fox Comics and Games in Marion will give away one free comic book to everyone who comes in the store on Saturday, and will also have sketch artists providing free sketches, a "cosplay" costume contest for kids and adults, and snacks.

The event runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Fox Comics & Games, at 108 E. Paradise Alley in Marion. More information is available at 618-364-0800 or facebook.com/FoxComicsAndGames.

Castle Perilous in Carbondale will offer two comic books free to each customer, and customers can get an extra free comic book with each purchase of two books off the shelf or back issue bin, three extra comic books for each graphic novel purchase, and two extra comic books for each stamp earned on a Castle Perilous frequent buyer card. Customers are also encouraged to bring five cans of food to donate to Good Samaritan House in Carbondale for an extra free comic book. Free comic books will also be given for check-ins on Castle Perilous' Facebook page or if shoppers come in costume. The store will also be giving away a limited number of Wonder Woman prints for the special day.

Author Brian K. Morris, Matt Miller of Capybara Ink, award-winning cosplayers Niresse and Amazon, and the Southern Illinois Roller Girls will attend, and sweets and coffee will be provided.

There will be face painting for kids from noon to 2 p.m., demo games of HeroClix superhero miniatures from 2 to 3 p.m., and a costume contest at 3 p.m. Castle Perilous is located at 207 W. Main St. in Carbondale.

More information about the worldwide celebration may be found at FreeComicBookDay.com.
Carbondale police said in an updated news release Thursday said Dylan Patton, whom the department had previously said was missing, was located in Charleston, Illinois, on Tuesday, and is in good health.

Police said Monday they were looking for Patton, a 20-year-old from Mattoon who had last been seen at the Amtrak station on Southern Illinois Avenue in Carbondale on March 18.
Faith leaders and others plan to gather at the Perry County courthouse in Pinckneyville at noon Thursday to pray and mark the day as National Day of Prayer.

George Culley, head of the Least of The Brethren Ministries, which includes a food pantry that serves people througout the region, organized the prayer. The National Day of Prayer was created n 1952.

Culley said he asked Sheriff Steve Bareis, who is also the interim pastor of a local church, to lead the prayer, which will likely include prayers from other faith leaders and residents and members of the business community.

The prayer is expected to get underway by 12:15 p.m. and be ended by 12:45 p.m., Culley said.

The event is scheduled to go on, rain or shine, he said. Those participating will meet on the south side of the courthouse, on the Illinois 154 side.

 Stephanie Esters
Sylvester Williams, an inmate at the Illinois Youth Center in Harrisburg, was sentenced to six years in state prison, according to a Tuesday news release from the Saline County States Attorney office.

Williams, 18, of Peoria, pleaded guilty to a class 2 felony charge of aggravated battery for striking an IYC guard, the release states. Williams will also serve two years mandatory supervised release upon completion of his incarceration.

Because Williams was 18 years old when he committed the offense, he was prosecuted as an adult.

 The Southern
A group of bicyclists from around the nation pedaled through Orangeburg County on their way to Washington, D.C. on Tuesday.

It was the first time the Law Enforcement United bike riders visited the county during their annual biking tribute to fallen law enforcement officers.

The cyclists started their trip at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia on Monday. Theyre covering about 100 miles each day. Local law enforcement assists the cyclists with traffic control during the ride.

About 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, the cyclists reached Branchville and trekked on to Orangeburg.

Leading the cyclists in a patrol car for the Branchville to Orangeburg route was Orangeburg County Sheriffs Office Deputy Derek Howell, in memory of his father Cpl. William Howell, who was killed in the line of duty on May 3, 2008.

At the rear of the cyclists, OCSO spokesman Richard Walker drove a patrol vehicle in memory of his sister, Shaye Walker Harrison, who died in the line of duty on Dec. 26, 1999, and brother-in-law Tommy Harrison, who was killed in the line of duty on Jan. 15, 1993.

The cyclists, who are all either active duty or retired law enforcement officers, are riding in honor of officers who have died in the line of duty.

Participants take off an additional week in advance of Police Week, at their own expense, to cycle the 1,000-mile ride.
Gov. Henry McMaster will deliver the commencement speech during South Carolina State Universitys graduation ceremony at 6 p.m. Friday, May 12, in the Oliver C. Dawson Stadium.

We are honored that Gov. Henry McMaster will join S.C. State University as we celebrate our graduates significant accomplishment of earning their degrees, President James E. Clark said in a release.

I want to thank him for accepting our invitation to be this years commencement speaker. His presence on campus further demonstrates his commitment of support, which he made to the university as lieutenant governor several years ago. We look forward to the words of wisdom he will share with the Bulldog family and friends, Clark said.

During the ceremony, the university will confer degrees to nearly 500 graduates.

South Carolina State's distinguished graduates and alumni have contributed mightily to our state and citizens. It's is quite an honor to be invited to deliver the commencement address at one of our finest institutions of higher education, McMaster said.

McMaster became governor of the Palmetto State on Jan. 24 after former Gov. Nikki Haleys appointment as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

Prior to becoming governor, McMaster served two years as lieutenant governor of South Carolina. He was the last independently elected lieutenant governor of South Carolina.

McMaster served as attorney general of South Carolina for eight years. As the states chief criminal prosecutor, McMaster made the prosecution of criminal domestic violence a priority and harnessed the resources of law enforcement and prosecutors to crack down on child predators on the Internet. He also extended the state grand jurys jurisdiction to securities crimes after the collapse of Carolina Investors and Home Gold, convicting those responsible.

The first U.S. Attorney appointed by President Ronald Reagan, McMaster was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate and held the position for four years. His Operation Jackpot investigation into international drug smuggling produced over 100 convictions.

A former member of the S.C. Ports Authority board, the state Commission on Higher Education, Palmetto Health Foundation Board and chairman of the South Carolina Policy Council, McMaster is the recipient of the Order of the Palmetto.

McMaster received his bachelors degree in history in 1969 from the University of South Carolina and his law degree in 1973 from the University of South Carolina School of Law, where he served on the Law Review. He served in the U.S. Army Reserves in the JAG Corps from 1969 to 1975.

McMaster is married to Peggy McMaster and they have two children, Henry D. McMaster Jr. and Mary Rogers McMaster.
President Donald Trump has proposed elimination of funding for public broadcasting. Yet, compared with other western nations, the United States already provides less than anyone else.

A 2016 study of 18 western nations for Canadian public broadcasting showed that the state funding leader was Norway, at more than $134 per person. Less than half of that, and you have approximately Frances $54 per capita. At less than a fourth of what Norway pays, Italy spends $28, while our neighbors to the north commit $21. How much does the U.S. spend? Around $2 per person per year  lowest of all countries studied. In fact, the United States spent less than 4 percent of the average of the 18 Western nations studied.

Lets be clear: U.S. government support of public broadcasting funds less than a fifth of the total budget. The vast majority of funds comes from other sources: notably corporate underwriting and private member contributions. But the stations most likely to suffer the most from cuts will be those in small markets, where federal funding makes up a greater percentage of the total operating budget. The greatest risk is in the very places with the fewest free, over-the-air media choices.

It does no good to note that the federal government spent more on vacations for employees on administrative leave, or a single F-35 fighter jet, since the argument is not that public broadcasting is less wasteful than other government programs. The argument is that public broadcasting improves the quality of life for Americans in ways commercial service do not.

Public broadcasting has faced budget cuts before, and the argument is always the same: the marketplace will provide the things that government-supported broadcasting provides. That ignores reality. The trend in America today is fewer households paying for cable or satellite. Certainly the poor are less likely to have paid television services, so all the variety purported by marketplace proponents is not available to those who dont pay a subscription fee.

The Smithsonian has billions of dollars of art and history in its collections, yet we dont look to sell off the artifacts to balance the budget. You dont destroy a national treasure for a few million dollars, or even a few billion. Its an asset youll never be able to duplicate. That would be shortsighted. Public broadcasting is also a national treasure.
President Donald Trump's "Great Wall" along the Mexican border is a truly terrible idea.

It would be hugely expensive, costing an estimated $21.6 billion. It would not work. And it would symbolize to the whole world the darkest instinct that surfaces periodically in the American character: xenophobic resentment of foreigners.

The Statue of Liberty promises, "I lift my lamp beside the golden door." The Great Wall threatens to slam that door and smother that lamp. A barrier of despair would replace a beacon of hope.

Trump loves to build monuments to himself, and the Washington Post calls the Great Wall "a pharaonic exercise," a pyramid-like folly with only one purpose: to fulfill an ill-advised campaign pledge that Trump made repeatedly -- and cynically -- to whip his crowds into a fearful frenzy.

"My base definitely wants the border wall," the president told The Associated Press. "You've been to many of the rallies, OK, the thing they want more than anything is the wall."

That's true, and Trump's base remains fiercely loyal. In the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, only 2 percent of Trump voters expressed any regrets at their decision. Ninety-four percent viewed him favorably.

Budget director Mick Mulvaney told the Wall Street Journal that since Trump won the election, he is "entitled to have some of his priorities funded" and that "the wall is one of his top, if not his top, priority."

But the president's pandering to his base shows how badly he's misreading the political climate today. Winning does entitle a president to certain privileges: signing executive orders and making appointments and proposals. It does not entitle him to the "wins" Trump so desperately craves.

To pass legislation, any president has to develop a consensus -- to convince a majority, in Congress and around the country, that his proposals are worthy. And Trump has utterly failed to do that.

After 100 days, Trump is still a minority president. He received 46 percent in the general election. In national polls, his average rating is 42 percent favorable, 53 percent unfavorable -- by far the worst performance by any new president since modern polling began during the Eisenhower years.

While the president's base remains solid, he has failed to expand his appeal beyond his core constituency. In the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, 54 percent of independents disapprove of his performance and only 30 percent view him positively. "He risks losing the nation's political middle ground," asserts the Journal.

Trump's problems are even deeper when it comes to the Great Wall. Last November, a Quinnipiac University survey found that 55 percent of voters were opposed to his project. Today, the negatives have shot up to 64 percent, with only one-third supporting the idea.

The Journal reported recently that "not a single member of the House or Senate representing the (border) region," whether Republican or Democrat, supports Trump's request for funding the wall. Even those who favor greater border security don't think the wall will stop anybody, especially the criminal organizations that Trump alleges are polluting the country with narcotics and violence.

"They will go over, through or under physical barriers, sometimes pretty quickly," said Rep. Martha McSally, an Arizona Republican. Rep. Will Hurd, a Texas Republican, described the wall as "the most expensive and least effective way to secure the border."

The opposition doesn't end there. A Washington Post report from Hurd's district says "there are also fears that a physical wall would violate the property rights that Texans hold dear, and be a kick in the gut to a regional economy heavily dependent on cross-border trade."

"It could seriously turn the border into another Rust Belt if we do not take the economic issue more seriously," says Al Arreola Jr., president of the South San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.

This is why Democrats felt so free to stand up to Trump and forced him to back off demands to include $1.4 billion for the wall in this year's budget. We both covered Congress during the early days of Ronald Reagan's presidency, and Democratic leaders told us frequently: We can't oppose him; we have to work with him. He's too popular.

None of that feeling is present in Washington today. Democrats don't fear or respect Trump. He still vows to build the wall eventually, but he will not gain the veneration or the victories he hungers for by supporting a project that is not just pharaonic, but moronic -- a tawdry testament to his own ego and his worst impulses.
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By Azertac





The Third Meeting of the International Network for the UNESCO Silk Roads Online Platform has been held in Baku. Focal Points from 25 member states were in attendance, representing their respective countries, along with academics and experts who exchanged experiences and good practices in promoting and implementing activities related to the Silk Roads.





Addressing the event, Azerbaijan`s Permanent Representative to UNESCO Anar Karimov drew the audience`s attention to the country`s contribution to the promotion of intercultural dialogue. He said the Baku Process has become an important platform for addressing global problems and challenges.





The main objective of this meeting was to discuss the implementation of the 2016-2018 Action Plan of the International Network that was adopted during the second meeting of the Network in Valencia in June 2016. It also reviewed the most significant initiatives undertaken by focal points and their partners since the last meeting of the Network.
By Azernews





By Rashid Shirinov

A petition by Russian historian and political analyst Oleg Kuznetsov calling on Russia's State Duma to recognize the Khojaly genocide has already been signed by 15,000 people.

Chairman of Azerbaijan's Milli Majlis Committee on Regional Issues Arif Rahimzade announced about this on May 3, adding that the petition needs to gather a total of 25,000 signatures to provoke a response.

The document reads that the order for committing the Khojaly Genocide was given by incumbent President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, who at that time was the Chairman of The Self-Defense Forces Committee and the chief of staff of all illegal armed groups of Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The petition notes that the parliaments of Mexico, Turkey, Colombia, Guatemala, Peru, Jordan, Honduras and Djibouti recognized the crimes committed by Armenians in Khojaly as a genocide of the Azerbaijani people.

Moreover, the parliaments of Pakistan, Sudan, Israel, the Czech Republic, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation recognized the events in Khojaly as a crime against humanity.

The petition calls upon the deputies of the State Duma to follow the example of their foreign colleagues and to recognize the crimes of Armenian terrorists in the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly on February 25-26, 1992, as a crime of genocide (crime against humanity).

The petition is accessible at http://bit.ly/2n0cOY3

Late into the night of February 25, 1992, Khojaly came under intensive fire from the towns of Khankendi and Askeran already occupied by Armenian armed forces. The Armenian forces, supported by the ex-Soviet 366th regiment, completed the surrounding of the town already isolated due to ethnic cleansing of the Azerbaijani population of the neighboring regions. The joint forces occupied the town, which was ruined by heavy artillery shelling.

Of 3,000 people who were in the town of Khojaly at the moment of the Armenian attack 613 were killed, including 106 women, 63 children and 70 elders. 487 people were severely wounded, including 76 children. 1,275 people were captured and subjected to unprecedented torture, the fate of 197 people still remains unknown. Eight families were totally annihilated, 130 children lost one and 25 lost both parents.
By Azernews





By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijans Ambassador to Lithuania Hasan Mammadzade has met with mayor of Birstonas Nijol? Dirgin?ien? to discuss the establishment of relations between Birstonas and a city in Azerbaijan.

The ambassador hailed bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Lithuania, and commended the activities of bilateral intergovernmental commissions and inter-parliamentary friendly groups.

Mammadzade also highlighted Azerbaijan's achievements in the economic and social fields.

Dirgin?ien?, in turn, stressed hospitality shown to her during her visit to Azerbaijan, adding that she was impressed by Baku.

She provided information about the history, cultural monuments, socio-economic development and tourism potential of the city. The mayor stressed that Birstonas is ready to receive tourists from Azerbaijan.

Birstonas is a balneological resort and a spa town in Lithuania. The city is the administrative centre of the Birstonas municipality.

The city is known for its mineral water. This water is used by sanatoriums for mineral water pools and baths. There are three large sanatoriums in Birstonas  Tulp?, Versm? and Egl?. All of them offer halotherapy, therapeutic mud bathes, mineral water pools, baths, massages, and a wide range of curative procedures.

Birstonas promotes many cultural events including ongoing concerts, artistic performances and shows, an annual town festival and annual national sport dance competition, as well as the renowned International Jazz Festival held every other even numbered year.

There are also shops, police department, library, theatre, clinic, pharmacy, book store, schools, museums, cafes, restaurants and the City Hall.
By Trend





The OSCE monitoring held along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops passed without incidents on May 4, Azerbaijans Defense Ministry reported.

The monitoring was held under the mandate of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative in Azerbaijans Aghdam district, the ministry said.

On the Azerbaijani side, the monitoring was held by Andrzej Kasprzyk, OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative, as well as Gennady Petrica and Martin Schuster, field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative.

On the Azerbaijani territories occupied and controlled by Armenian armed forces, the monitoring was held by Simon Tiller and Mikhail Olaru, field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative.

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.
By Azernews





By Rashid Shirinov

Azerbaijans defense production will be presented at the IDEF 2017, 13th International Defense Industry Fair to be held in Istanbul on May 9-12.

A total of 260 kinds of local defense production, designed and produced by enterprises of Azerbaijans Ministry of Defense Industry, will be presented at the four-day exhibition.

An extended delegation headed by Defense Industry Minister Yavar Jamalov will visit Turkey.

During the visit, Jamalov is expected to meet with representatives of the Turkish government and heads of several delegations attending the exhibition.

In general, 300 companies from 50 countries are expected to participate in the exhibition. IDEF is the biggest defense industry fair in Eurasian region and one of the top five in the world.

Azerbaijan, which is in war with neighboring Armenia over the latter's groundless territorial claims during more than 20 years, keeps in focus the armament. The country creates its own armament and works closely with leading companies and firms in various fields of military industry.

The Defense Industry Ministry increased the volume of defense industry products in 2016 by 1.6 times compared to 2015, while the product assortment rose by 1.8 times. Currently, twenty-eight military factories are operating within the ministry.

This year, Azerbaijan plans to start mass production of several weapons, including sniper rifle Yalguzag (Steppenwolf), light machine gun of special purpose, automatic grenade launch complex, machine guns of various calibers, F-1 typed hand grenade and other military products.
By Azertac





First Vice-President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva attended the opening of the newly renovated educational block of Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts in Baku on May 4.

Minister of Education Mikayil Jabbarov and Rector of the university, professor Farah Aliyeva informed Mehriban Aliyeva about the renovation work, Azertac reported.








Canadian mining company Cameco has taken steps to prevent a repeat of two radioactive sludge leaks from a truck along a route from Wyoming to Utah and shouldnt be fined for the spills, company officials told U.S. regulators Thursday.

The measures will include putting the barium sulfate waste into bags inside a shipment container that has a wide lip at the top to prevent any loose material from sloshing over the edge.

The leaks of low-level waste didnt endanger anybody, an attorney for the company emphasized during a public conference with U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials in Arlington, Texas.

Our view is that we should be focusing on actual consequences here, which are low, attorney Tyson Smith said.

The NRC has identified nine possible rule violations by Sasketchewan, Canada-based Cameco related to the spills in 2015 and 2016. Both spills occurred along the route between a processing plant for a Wyoming uranium mine and a disposal facility near Blanding, Utah.

The truck also crossed part of Colorado. Follow-up tests along the roughly 600-mile route revealed no elevated radioactivity.

The company has halted shipments of barium sulfate waste since the more recent spill in March 2016.

The possible violations considered by regulators include not shipping the material in appropriate containers.

NRC officials plan to decide in the next six weeks what civil penalty, if any, they plan to pursue against Cameco. The conference Thursday was a routine part of the NRCs enforcement process, NRC spokeswoman Maureen Conley said.

The white, paste-like sludge that spilled is a normal byproduct of in-situ uranium mining, a process that involves pumping water mixed with oxygen and baking soda into uranium-bearing sandstone deposits. A solution containing uranium is then pumped to the surface and processed into yellowcake, which can be processed further into nuclear fuel.

Wyoming is the top uranium-mining state in the nation and Cameco Resources Smith Ranch-Highland mine in eastern Wyoming is the biggest in-situ uranium mine by production volume in the U.S.

The 2015 spill occurred when the truck driver braked hard to avoid hitting a deer and sludge sloshed over the back of the shipping container. The 2016 spill resulted from a faulty seal along the bottom of the container door, company officials told the NRC.

In both cases, workers at White Mesa Mill identified the spills while the truck was still parked alongside U.S. 191 and cleaned up the material, according to a report by mill owner Colorado-based Energy Fuels Resources.

An NRC inspection identified a variety of possible problems besides the container design, including how Cameco tested and documented the radioactivity of the material.

Still, the company urged the NRC to classify any violations on the lowest of the agencys four scales of severity  a classification that doesnt result in a fine.

Ultimately there was low actual safety significance. There were no exposures to members of the public, Smith said.
U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, the states only member of the House, voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act on Thursday, saying it would deliver on a promise to protect people with pre-existing conditions. But some Wyoming health care officials said the bill could be devastating and catastrophic for the state.

The House of Representatives has taken an important and necessary first step in rescuing the American health care system from the destruction caused by Obamacare, Cheney said in a statement, which described Wyoming as the state that has struggled most under the ACA.

Reached by phone after the vote, the Republican from Wilson said she also successfully co-sponsored a measure that prohibits members of Congress from being exempted from the provisions of the new health care law.

Cheney and Wyomingites involved in health care had varied opinions on the new legislation, which was narrowly adopted.

While Cheney praised its passage, Wyoming health care officials said it will hike costs for the sickest Americans while increasing the number of insured people here and across the country, which in turn will cost hospitals millions.

Pre-existing conditions

In a January interview with Star-Tribune journalists, Cheney said she supported a replacement to Obamacare that requires insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions. Provisions around pre-existing conditions would change under the Republican law.

Some of the things we need to make sure we still have for people are insurance for pre-existing conditions and making sure people can get access to care regardless of that, she said at the time.

On Thursday, Cheney said that Republicans kept their promise to keep pre-existing conditions intact.

But Republicans and Democrats have opposing talking points on the pre-existing conditions portion of the bill.

Democrats say the pre-existing conditions mandate in Obamacare has been eroded in the American Health Care Act.

Cheney disagreed.

She said the bill was amended to provide $8 billion for federal and state high-risk insurance pools for people who wouldnt be able to get insurance. She said that money was in addition to $138 billion that had previously been in the bill.

She said she believes the money for the high-risk pools will be sufficient. Others disagree.

Eric Boley, the executive director of the Wyoming Hospital Association, called high-risk pools expensive and problematic. He said there was a similar situation for sick Wyomingites before the ACA passed and that it was unsustainable.

Sam Shumway, the Wyoming director for AARP, said the bill would allow insurance companies to charge sicker people higher premiums, a sentiment echoed by both Boley and Vickie Diamond, the president and CEO of Wyoming Medical Center.

Shumway said older Wyomingites would be hit particularly hard by the bill. A provision in the AHCA allows insurance companies to assess premiums for older Americans that are five times higher than younger patients. That could change in the Senate, he cautioned, but it could also be devastating.

For people on a fixed income, he said, a premium increase could mean older people are choosing between health care and food.

I think its a terrible bill, Diamond said bluntly. I think its going to increase the number of uninsured. I think its going to increase the cost of care for the pre-existing (condition) people and the elderly people up to 64.

She and Boley said its difficult to determine the full impact of the bill because the Congressional Budget Office had not finished its assessment by the time House lawmakers voted to pass it.

Diamond said it was difficult to keep track of what was in the bill because it was amended so often to help appease different legislative factions, such as the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

For what purpose? To say you got rid of Obamacare? Great, she said. But youre not replacing it with anything better.

According to the Washington Post, people may have a 30 percent increase in insurance rates under the American Health Care Act if they have a lapse in coverage. Also under the bill, states may allow insurance companies to consider for a year peoples health status when writing some policies.

The idea, the Post said, is that overall premiums for healthier people will lower.

Diamond agreed, saying that would the bill would likely benefit younger, healthier people.

Hospitals

Wyoming hospitals could be affected by the AHCA in two primary ways, Boley said. For one, if fewer people, particularly those with histories of illness, have insurance, then they may put off care until theyre seriously ill. At that point, their need may be so serious that they cannot pay their medical bills, meaning hospitals would absorb the costs.

Diamond said that uncompensated care, or treatment that patients cannot or will not pay for, could rise by $7 million in the next fiscal year if Trumpcare becomes law in its current form. Thats more than our bottom line.

Boley said that the other way the bill will affect hospitals goes back to a bargain struck between the American Hospital Association and the creators of the Affordable Care Act, Boley said. Hospitals agreed to give up $150 billion in annual Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements under the assumption that more people would be insured by the ACA. Under Trumpcare, millions could lose health insurance, so hospitals want back the money they gave up years ago.

But restoring that money was taken off the table in negotiations with lawmakers, he said.

In Wyoming, that can have some catastrophic effects, he said.

The Wyoming Medical Society declined to comment until its board could come to a consensus on the bill. Anne Ladd, the executive director of the Wyoming Business Coalition on Health, also declined to comment because she didnt believe the bill would affect the employers she represents.
Two Mexican nationals were arrested Tuesday after a vehicle chase near Elgin by Border Patrol agents who found more than a ton of marijuana in a truck, authorities said.

The marijuana is valued in excess of $1 million, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said in a news release.

Agents tried to stop a suspicious 2003 Chevrolet pickup on Lower Elgin Road, northeast of Arizona Highway 83, but the vehicle sped and veered off the road and crashed into a chunk of concrete, said authorities.

Both men required medical treatment and were taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries, officials said. The men were arrested on drug smuggling charges.

Agents seized the truck and 97 bundles of marijuana found in the truck.
What is creepy? Feel free to conjure up concrete examples. But think about the very definition of the word itself. What is creepy? Its different from scary, which is an overt, immediate sense of fear. Creepy is more a feeling of apprehension. Its the nervous idea that something (probably something bad) is going to happen. Its all in that root word: creep. To creep is to move slowly with the body close to the groundon hands and knees even. Scary doesnt creep. It jumps right out at you and yells, Boo! But that sort of fear expires quickly. Scary is a short, sharp shock. Creepy inches up on you slowly when youre not looking. Creepy sticks around. Its no small wonder then to find Japanese master of the slow-burn creep Kiyoshi Kurosawa working his sinister magic, once again, with his newest horror offering, calledyou guessed itCreepy.

Back in the 90s, Kurosawa rose to fame on a string of eerie, horror/crime films (Cure, Charisma and Pulse being the best known). Weird, existential and just left of completely comprehensible, Kurosawas films depict a decaying modern Tokyo unraveling under various menaces (supernatural or otherwise) that threaten to unseat the social order with some sort of horrifying, chaotic truth hiding just beneath the surface. Kurosawas films may look, on the surface, like the twisty, highbrow thrillers of Alfred Hitchcockbut its David Lynchs worms- beneath- suburban- lawns horror-noir Blue Velvet with which they share the most spiritual connection.

With Creepy Kurosawa introduces us to Koichi Takakura (Hidetoshi Nishijima), a former police detective who was injured on the job (hunting serial killers, no less) and has since retired. Some years later he and his wife, Yasuko (Yuko Takeuchi), move to a less- than- fashionable neighborhood in Tokyo, and Koichi takes up a position as a university lecturer in criminal psychology. Koichi soon becomes bored with his sedate new life, however, and finds himself casually investigating a 6-year-old cold case involving the mysterious disappearance of three members from an ordinary Tokyo family. Meanwhile, back at home, his lonely wife tries introducing herself to her new neighborsall of whom prove to be strange and standoffish. This is particularly true of Mr. Nishino (longtime character actor Teruyuki Kagawa), the Takakuras unpredictable, secretive and (need I say it?) creepy next-door neighbor. That these two storylines will eventually merge is hardly surprising. Its a narrative convenience that in most other stories would seem lazy. But Kurosawas universes are just off enough from reality that it feels somehow dreadfully inevitable.

Based on the mystery novel of the same name by Yutaka Maekawa, Creepy isnt Kurosawas tidiest, tightest narrative. Plot twists are head-snappingly unexpected, and certain characters behave in ways that arent entirely justified by the films esoteric explanations. (Seriously, nobody in their right mind is wandering down into that basement.) And at about 2 hours and 10 minutes, Creepy does put the slow in slow-burn. Still, taken as a whole, the film has an undeniably unsettling quality to it.

Longtime fans of Kurosawa may recognize a more than incidental similarity between the serial killer at the heart of this film and the villain of his 1997 breakthrough Cure. But its not the first time Kurosawa has seen fit to repeat himself. In 1998 he directed back-to-back films Serpents Path and Eyes of the Spiderboth of which starred Sho Aikawa as a father exacting bloody revenge for the death of his daughter, both of which followed similar stories to differing ends.

Creepy isnt as darkly troubling as Cure. Its also not as philosophical as Charisma or as mind-bending as Pulse. But, as it slowly reveals itself to viewers, it makes the most of its long-simmering atmosphere of tension and dread. The pedestrian suburban settings are just down-market enough to discomfit. The soundtrack is just quiet enough to cause every tiny footstep to be amplified to unsettling volume. Our boy Nishino never tips his hand, making you question whether hes just socially awkward or a complete psychopath. Kurosawas entire world is off by enough degrees that you wouldnt be surprised to see it spin off in any insane direction on a moments notice. Although, in the end, Creepy shies away from clear psychological and supernatural resolutions, it still provides enough unwholesome suggestions to make you look askance at your fellow man. And if you happen to be searching for a good definition of the word creepy ... hoo-boy, has this film got you covered.
Help India!

By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter

Four upper caste people were awarded life imprisonment on May 2, 2017, by the sessions court in Beed, Maharashtra, for attacking a Dalit family and burning down their house and belongings.

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The Sessions court held Kisan Devkar, Somnath Devkar, Dnyaneshwar Baban Devkar and Ashok Devkar guilty for beating and abusing the family of Ashok Khatkhade, who had to run away with his family in order to save their lives in February 2012.

According to people familiar with the matter, Kisan Devkar lost the Gram panchayat elections in January 2012, following which he and his associates attacked the home of Khatkhade, who had been helping the opposition party.

While the decision has been welcomed by Khatkhade and his family, he had to struggle for over five years to get to this point. Unhappy with the progress in the case, Khatkhade had demanded a government lawyer to argue on his behalf a year and a half ago. Following his plea, lawyer Sanghmitra Vadmare from Aurangabad High Court was selected to fight the case on behalf of Khatkhade.

There was also a big fight for the inclusion of all the right provisions of SC/ST (PoA) Act. According to Sambhaji Tangade, a freelance journalist, to save upper caste peoples of this case, the police officer ignored so many articles of the Atrocity Act. But Khatkhade was so stubborn that he went to Gevrai session court and accused even the Police officer under Article 4 of the SC/ST PoA Act in his petition. After this step taken by Khatkhade, the right Sections were added to the case.

Reacting to the verdict, Khatkhade told Marathi newspaper Dainik Samrat that he still lives in fear from the residents of the village. He said that there was a lot of pressure on him to take back his complaint and he was even offered money to withdraw the complaint. Siddharth Shinde, a lawyer who assisted Khatkhade from the beginning, told Twocircles.net, Khatkhade had to regularly change the way to his home because of the threat messages. He still is in fear because four upper castes have been arrested.

Prashant Mohod, a teacher and social worker from Aurangabad said, This (life imprisonment) is good news and people will also pay attention to this news. A lot of activists try helping the people but get frustrated due to lack of positive results. This is an encouraging verdict and gives more belief to people like me who believe in the constitution of India.
Whether you will remember him for his comments about prostitutes or Stoke-on-Trent being 'ghastly', special credit should go to the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, as an outstanding man who has made an outstanding contribution to the British Royal Family and his wife, HM Queen Elizabeth II. Yet it is not just the Queen he has served well, but the United Kingdom and the rest of his family.

Before marrying the Queen and becoming Prince Consort, Philip was on course for a promising career in the Royal Navy. He served in the Mediterranean and Pacific fleets during the Second World War.

When King George VI unexpectedly died in 1952 and his wife became Queen, he sacrificed this noble endeavour to serve as her Prince Consort.

During his marriage and time as the Duke of Edinburgh, he has also been a father, grandfather and great-grandfather. And on top of balancing his family commitments, he has also served as a patron to over 780 different organisations. The most famous of his schemes include the Duke of Edinburgh Award, which many millennials have participated in.

Despite the criticism the Royal Family received after Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a car crash in 1997, he played a significant role in helping the young William and Harry at the time in getting through it. Both the princes were initially reluctant to walk behind her coffin during the procession, but Prince Philip said to William: 'If you don't walk behind it, you may come to regret it.

If you do, will you walk with me?' And they all did, alongside Charles and Diana's brother, Earl Spencer.

I wish Prince Philip a happy retirement when it happens in the autumn. He definitely deserves it.
Prince Philip has worked incredibly hard for the British Royal Family since becoming the Queen's Consort. He is a patron to 780 different organisations and he sacrificed his career in the Royal Navy to serve by Her Majesty's side.

Despite this, there is no doubt that as the Duke Of Edinburgh steps down from his public engagements, we will remember him for some of his best gaffes.

Here are a select few of some of his most memorable quotes:

He once asked: 'Are we going to need ear plugs' when Madonna was asked to sing the theme tune for the 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day.

He called a car park attendant a 'silly bloody fool' for failing to recognise who he was.

He once said to republican Independent editor Simon Kelner: 'Well, you didn't have to come', after learning that he was invited to Buckingham Palace.

He asked a female sea cadet if she worked in a strip club.

He said to the then President of Nigeria in 2003 that he looked ready for bed in reference to the type of dress he was wearing at the time.

In 1986, he described the Chinese capital, Beijing, as ghastly.

He then went on to say the exact same thing about Stoke-on-Trent during a visit in 1997.

He described the Duke of York's house in 1986 as a tart's bedroom.

During a party in 2004, he said: 'Bugger the table plan, give me my dinner!'

The list of outstanding quotes the Prince has made in the past goes on, but credit goes to the Duke of Edinburgh for having the guts to say many of these infamous lines. I wonder if his pre-existing public duties include meeting President Donald Trump, I'm sure they could have a competition on who can produce the biggest gaffe.
North Korea has marched ahead. It has now developed nuclear weapons. One wonders how the regime of Kim Jong developed nuclear weapons and ICBM's without a strong scientific base. A closer look will show that but for China's help, the north would not have been able to develop its nuclear deterrent. The recent parade in Pyongyang the capital of North Korea is a clear reminder of the Chinese hand in the development of the North Korean arsenal. The string of rockets and missiles displayed in the parade all had a Chinese pedigree.

Trump would do well to understand that China has an umbilical cord which is closely linked to North Korea.

No Chinese government worth its salt will allow North Korea to be run over by American forces. In any case, the North Korean defence is developed to a high degree. The American adventure could well turn into destruction for South Korea. Nobody expects the North Koreans to defeat the United States, but one does expect that they will inflict severe collateral damage that would be so extreme that a victory would turn out to be pyrrhic. The North Korean development in the field of rocketry and nuclear research is entirely the gift of

The North Korean development in the field of rocketry and nuclear research is entirely the gift of China. The Chinese have not only helped North Korea but also Pakistan.

These are the harsh facts that cannot be glossed over. It would be naive of Donald Trump to think that the Chinese will allow him to bomb North Korea.

China mother of Korean nuclear development

China has been allied to North Korea for the last six and a half decades. During this time, if the Chinese wanted, they could have easily stopped the Korean development of nuclear weapons.

The Korean have 80% of their trade with China and this could have been a tremendous lever. But they did nothing and allowed Korea to develop its nuclear weapons. The Korean's used Chinese technology as their own technology was pretty primitive. It will not be wrong to say that China is the mother of the Korean nuclear program.

Attacking North Korea

The United States has now realised that mounting an attack on North Korea is by itself a self-defeating effort. South Korea will be devastated and millions will be made homeless. The western press is talking about North Korean refugees. They will have to address the millions of Korean refugees in the south who will become homeless or will die. One hopes that Donald Trump has understood that North Korea is a proxy of China. Sherlock Holmes used to tell Dr. Watson "this is elementary." One hopes Trump has understood this elementary truth: the country behind the North is China. Sooner than later he will have to confront China. Facing the red dragon won't be easy.
Pakistan is under attack by the Muslim hard-line terror groups. These groups want to enforce a Wahabbi concept of Islam in the country. Thes Sunni outfit like the ISIL and the Pakistan Taliban target the other Muslim minorities like the Shia and the Ahmedia (They are not recognized as Muslims in Pakistan). Today (Wednesday) the terror group targeted a Pakistan soldiers platoon guarding census workers in Lahore. This is Pakistan's second largest city and capital of Pakistan Punjab. The census the first after 1998 is being carried out under supervision of the army which has deployed 200,000 soldiers for this task.

The Bomb exploded when the soldiers were giving support to a census group. The explosion which had targeted the soldiers killed 5 of them. Out of these 4 were from the army and one was an airforce man. General Bajwa, the Chief of the Pak army seized of the matter and has vowed that the census will carry on. At the same time, he announced the launch of a new offensive against the extremists. This news is reported by Al Jazeera news channel.

Terror attacks

Pakistan has been rocked by terror attacks, some of which are of gigantic proportion. An attack on the lawyers in Quetta led to over 100 deaths and another In Lahore which targeted the Christians while they were celebrating in a park again, led to over a 100 killed.

The last attack was just a month back when the Sunni terror group targeted a Shia Sufi shrine in Sind about 160 km from Hyderabad and almost 120 devotees were killed.

Extremists groups

Pakistan is facing this onslaught from the extremist groups. But much of this terrorism is home grown and is the result of faulty policy by the Pak army and civil establishment.

Pakistan also tried to distinguish between good and bad terrorism. Terrorists who targeted Indian and the Kabul regime were good and were given succor and help. This was an extremely short sighted policy as all terror groups have a seamless integration and now Pakistan is paying a heavy price for this grave lapse. The Pakistan people are facing the wrath of the extremist groups who even attacked a school in Peshawar and killed 160 children.

Future

One can only hope that the Pak army will once and for all make a clean break with any form of terrorism. But to observers, it appears the horse has bolted and now it will be very difficult for Pak to restore the old days.
The Duke of Edinburgh has announced his retirement from public duty.

Prince Philip, aged 95, will be stepping down from his duties in the autumn this year.

A statement released by Buckingham Palace said: 'His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh, will no longer carry out public engagements.

'He has the full support of Her Majesty The Queen.'

'A happy retirement'

HM Queen Elizabeth II will continue her visual public engagements with other members of the British Royal Family, including Prince William and Prince Harry.

It remains unclear how much more responsibility Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall will take on in Prince Philip's absence.

However, Princess Kate is believed to be already doing more as the Duke of Edinburgh has passed on many of his responsibilities to her.

The Prince Consort will carry out many engagements that he has committed himself to in advance, such as the Trooping of the Colour in June.

Prime Minister Theresa May offered her deepest gratitude and good wishes to the Duke.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn paid tribute to his service to the country.

Former journalist and author Evelyn Pollard said the Prince has been 'a magnificent consort.'

She praised him on Sky News for his insight into the future, particularly with his fascination into the emergence of digital journalism.

She wished him a happy retirement.

'Never known anything this serious'

An emergency meeting was held last night by Buckingham Palace, but the purpose behind the meeting was disclosed at the time.

An announcement on the stated intention behind the gathering was announced for 8am this morning.

However, the official confirmation of the Prince's retirement was delayed until two hours later.

The Palace were quick to play down suggestions that a member of the Royal Family had died prior to the official statement.

Despite this, members of Clarence House, the official residence of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, were called to the meeting.

This led to speculations that something serious had happened.

A source from the Palace said they have never known anything this serious in all their time working there.

There were many speculations on social media about the secret reason behind the meeting.

True Labour tweeted: 'The Queen is stepping down and Theresa May will be your monarch. It's the only way to get the mandate she needs #buckinghampalace.'

Renee Fuller also tweeted before the announcement: 'CONFIRMED: Nothing has been confirmed #buckinghampalace.'

But Conservative MP James Cleverly tweeted: 'Dear serious media, please don't report guesswork as news. I can guess unaided. I turn to you for facts, not speculation #buckinghampalace.'

'I don't think a prostitute is more than a moral wife'

The Prince Consort has earned fame over the years for many of his off-the-cuff remarks, including: 'I don't think a prostitute is more than a moral wife, but they are doing the same thing.'

Prince Philip was born into the Greek and Danish royal families on June 10th 1921.

He was born in Greece, but his family were exiled from the country.

He is a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderberg-Glucksberg.

He joined the Royal Navy in 1939, aged 13, when he began dating Princess Elizabeth, whom he had first met in 1934.

During the Second World War, he served in the Mediterranean and Pacific fleets.

He became a British subject and adopted the name Mountbatten after receiving permission from King George VI to marry Princess Elizabeth.

He then married her on 20 November 1947, and the couple is due to celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary this year.

When George VI unexpectedly died in 1952, Philip had to sacrifice his career in the Royal Navy to serve as Prince Consort after Princess Elizabeth became Queen much sooner than expected.

They then went on to have four children: Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.

He is a patron to over 800 different organisations and founded the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme for people aged 14 to 24.

He is the longest-serving consort in British history and the oldest member of the Royal Family.
People have been focused on climate change, particularly Global warming, causing rising sea levels and melting ice caps along with increasing droughts and threats to freshwater resources but there is a new problem which might even get President Trump and other deniers attention.

Global warming and clear air turbulence.

The consequences to passengers of air turbulence such as that shown in recent videos of passengers on a Russian Aeroflot flight being thrown about the cabin will, according to scientific research only increase as global warming alters the atmospheric balance between the northern latitudes and southern air patterns.

That, in turn, has altered the steady flow of air and results in something called clear air turbulence. That kind of turbulence is as violent as that seen in thunderstorms but which does not show up on radar so pilots have no warning and cant simply avoid it.

Even the mild temperature increases weve already seen at the start of long-predicted global warming is altering the flow of the jet stream in the northern hemisphere and some scientists warn that over the next half-century we can expect the sort of turbulence we sometimes encounter will become as much as 149% worse.

The jet stream is where many airplanes try to fly since it increases their speed at no cost in fuel and while it is a steady high-speed wind it is a good place to fly, but with changing airflows the boundary between the jet stream and other air is becoming less stable, causing turbulence-related events such as the recent unpleasantness to increase.

Increasing turbulence in jet stream.

Increased carbon dioxide levels, which also contribute to global warming, may have a direct affect in destabilizing the transatlantic jet stream. Because going in one direction the jet stream can provide an additional 250 mph or 402 kph increase in ground speed, nearly three thousand airplanes take advantage of it each day.

Even at its weakest the jet stream moves at about 100 miles per hour or nearly 200 kilometers per hour.

With the jet stream becoming less reliable and threatening turbulence so bad that it might even endanger the structure of a plane, pilots will not be able to use it, increasing fuel costs and flight times, both of which translate into increased ticket prices, all due to global warming which America's Donald Trump and his environmental secretary both say is a Chinese hoax.

The world can expect little help from the US in combating climate change for the critical next few years since the entire Republican party is also denying the obvious scientific consensus which is accepted by most of the other world's governments. Oil companies are major contributors to Republican election campaigns.

The jet stream varies in altitude as well as velocity and it can be anywhere from four to eight miles above ground level. Pilots wanting to avoid it will have to fly their airplanes above or below the stream since it is normally very wide. There is also a southern jet stream but it is slower and less useful for air travel.

Seat belt stays are a new consequence of global warming.

Although airplanes are not generally endangered by clear air turbulence, the same cant be said for passengers including the 27 injured on that Aeroflot flight to Bangkok, Thailand.

That incident, which put passengers in hospital with injuries as serious as broken bones, along with the warnings of increasing turbulence directly caused by global warming trends is likely to cause new directives from airlines to their pilots who will very likely keep seatbelt lights on much more, making air travel even less comfortable.

Last year the US Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) investigated double the number of clear air turbulence incidents than in 2015.

When you combine an extended period of being tightly confined on long flights with recent incidents involving passengers being dragged off airplanes and the general increase in unpleasantness and we are likely to see ever increasing incidents of air rage adding yet another reason to hate air travel. You could even see medical consequences since some people experience circulation problems and blood clots when forced to stay seated for long periods.
During the past 70 years, Pakistan has been facing exacerbated internal challengesranging from bilateral border conflicts to armed insurgenciesdeeply rooted in the Pak-India conventional rivalry. baluchistan, Pakistans largest but least populated province, is witnessing bloodshed due to the incompetency of political leadership -- mainly the inability of the political centre to mainstream the province. Baluchistan is also the heart of global geopolitical games manipulated by global powers to gain direct access and control over the rich natural resources of the province.

Since the inauguration of the China-PakistanEconomic Corridor last year, Baluchistan has undergone major political and economic changes due to democratic continuity, well-executed military operations and retreat of separatist leaders.

Contemporary nature of Baluchistan issue

Dozens of books, research papers and opinion pieces have been written on the Baluchistan issue by expert authors. According to Pakistan-based security expert, Rahim Ullah Yusufzai, n exclusive interview on local television on Tuesday, Baluchistan issue is the net product of several complexes: military operations, foreign intervention, geographical terrain, tribal social fabric and lack of socio-economic development. The National Security Advisor of Pakistan and ex-military commander of Baluchistan, General (R) Nasir Janjua said, our past failures and inability to initiate mainstreaming of the province is the real cause along with the continuous Indian intervention in Baluchistan, said during a seminar in Gwadar a few months ago.

In recent months, several political and global developments have provided a new perspective on the issue, while the most important development is the CPEC and continuity of democracy in the province.

The military not only supported the provincial government but also won the hearts of native people by increasing interaction with the people and offering lucrative packages to returning insurgents.

When I visited the Quetta in August 2016, I was astonished to hear the comments of native people about the improved security situation in Baluchistan because mainstream national and international media was continuously describing Baluchistan as an active war zone. Baluchistan is the hotbed of global proxy wars due to rich natural resources, especially the geostrategic importance of deep water port named as Gwadar.

Indian involvement in Baluchistan is not a new scenario for Pakistani people, but global media paid attention to alleged Indian intervention when serving naval commander of Indian army Kulbhushan Yaduvwho was acting as perpetrator and facilitator of terrorismwas arrested by Baluchistan by Pakistani intelligence agencies. After the Second World War, it was the first time that a serving army commander acting as a spy was arrested on foreign soil. The Pakistani military court has awarded the death penalty to Mr Yaduv after a confessional statement and criminal trial conducted in a military court.

Role of military and paramilitary forces in Balochistan

The law and order situation is measured by the index of political stability and the level of economic activities in any region.

As far as the Baluchistan issue is concerned, Baluchistan is tough geographical terrain for any military to conduct overt and covert operations due to mountains, the absence of a transportation network and a scattered population. Historically, a major part of Baluchistan was guarded and patrolled by state-controlled tribal militia but escalated and widespread militant insurgency forced the militia to withdraw from areas and hand over control to the military and paramilitary force.

The foreign-sponsored insurgents started targeting strategic targets of the province after the assassination of tribe leader turned politician, Akbar Bugti in a military raid. The assassination of Akbar Bugti proved counter-productive for the state institutions because the incident provided oxygen to an almost dead separatist movement.

Later, sectarian outfits also made safe houses in Baluchistanwhile the genocide of the Hazara minority living in Quetta, made headlines in international and national media, during that periodas they were motivated by their little success in North West areas of Pakistan. Precisely, Baluchistan was proving to be a tough battleground for security institutions in Baluchistan due to the localised political support of insurgents, both militarily and economically, which was financed by foreign powers.

The political transition occurred in the war-stricken province after the 2013 general elections. After losing thousands of lives in deadly bomb blasts, civil and military leadership decided to make Baluchistan a safe and secure place.

The army started hardcore military operations against militants while the political government provided essential political support and cover to army leadership. Chief Minister Abdul Malik Bloch and military commander General Nasir Janjua announced a lucrative fiscal package for returning militants who were giving up militancy and integrating themselves into the socio-political mainstream.

Amid the equation of criticism and appreciation, the Pakistan Army is acting as the primary stakeholder in the restoration of peace, especially after the inauguration of CPEC projects. According to security experts, CPEC projects carry vital and viable geopolitical and economic importance for Pakistan because the country wants to implement an extensive job market for youth and stabilise the dwindling economy by getting Chinese fiscal assistance and establishment of much needed industrial zones on CPEC route.

Baluchistan has a tremendous history of being used as the gateway to economic opportunitieseven the British Empire took leverage of the geopolitical importance of Baluchistan against the Tsar Empirean iron wall for the defence of the sub-continent. The Pakistan Army wants to translate the geopolitical importance of the province into immense economic benefits for the increasing population of the country and its struggling economy.

Whats the future?

The majority of the population believes that Baluchistan has a lively future due to the retreat of the insurgency, the success of military operations and on-going CPEC projects in the country. Baluchistan has changed a lot in past few years due to exemplary civil-military co-ordination in the province.

Military commander General Amir Riaz is committed to bringing utmost stability in the province while Frontier Corps is operating on two fronts: conducting counter-terrorism operations and restoring the completely obliterated infrastructure in the province.

Recently, FC held major events and sent symbolic but vocal messages to the world about the future of Baluchistan. According to local journalists, Pakistan day parade was an exceptionally crowded event where the national flag was waving all around even in previous no-go areas. The culture day of Baluchistan was celebrated in the whole province where civilians joined the celebrations conducted by the Para-military force with dedication and zeal.

A special video song was released that enjoyed immense appreciation on media and social media websites.

The Frontier Corps also played a role in disaster management, a quick response force and local policing. According to a local administration official, when an earthquake jolted the remote areas of Baluchistan, flags of separatist elements were waving in the area but people put them off due to the professional and humanitarian dealings of our soldiers and officials. He further added that ranging from educational activities to quick response actions, the para-military force has been minimising the misery of people since their deployment. Many important officials ascertained the views of young FC officer who spoke to me in Quetta

Without strengthening the civilian institutions and improving the governance structure, permanent peace and stability cant be achieved.

Only education, political reconciliation and continuity of the democratic structure can ensure a peaceful and prosperous Baluchistan. The military must continue their job while civil-military dialogue and interaction in Baluchistan must be escalated and protracted. According to a historical British maxim, the longer you pacify the Baluchs, the more you attain prosperity in the region. This was written in an old memorandum on Baluchistan and is currently saved in the All India British Library London.
On Monday, it was revealed that Erik Prince, the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, had privately met with a Russian offical less than two weeks before Inauguration Day. As the news continues to heat up in regards to the Russian scandal, some critics of Donald Trump are not holding back.

MSNBC on Trump

During the early days of the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump was forced to deal with speculation that he was linked, in one way or another, with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin. As expected, the former host of "The Apprentice" denied any wrongdoing, and continues to do so despite the overwhelming evidence that says otherwise.

Since Trump has been sworn into office, multiple reports have found that several past and current associates have been in contact with Russian officials, further adding fuel to the fire on the issue. From former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, to current Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Trump has a lot of explaining to do. As seen on the April 4 edition of "Morning Joe" on MSNBC, the media doesn't seem to be buying the excuses coming from the White House.

On Tuesday's "Morning Joe," the panel discussed the aforementioned news that Erik Prince, who also founded the Blackwater security company, had recently been in contact with a Russian official. "Betsy DeVos? Who are these people? Who are these people? host Joe Scarborough wondered.

After the panel appeared bewildered that Prince would lie about his communication with the Russians, Scarborough was quick to give his response.

Morning Joe mocks Trump ally Erik Princes denial of Russia ties: Its like Spies Like Us  theyre idiots https://t.co/GHqtGJWuYQ pic.twitter.com/acCzkKXWaf  Raw Story (@RawStory) April 4, 2017

"He's stupid, that's why," Joe Scarborough replied.

"It's like Carter Page. I love the quote from the Russians about Carter Page: 'Hes a blanking idiot,'" Scarborough said, before adding, "It's from the 80s movie 'Spies Like Us.' They're idiots." In regards to Erik Prince blatantly conflicting with confirmed reports that he met with a Kremlin official, Scarborough responded, "He's not telling the truth...He's lying," while going to label him a "liar."

Moving forward

As new information breaks on an almost daily basis in regards to the ongoing Russian scandal, it's unlikely that Donald Trump and the White House will admit that they were in the wrong. Credible reporters and journalists are expected to continue to break bombshell stories, but will most likely be labeled as "fake news" by the president in return.
After three months in the White House, Donald Trump still makes time to brag about his general election victory. Just hours after Hillary Clinton came out of the shadows to criticize the president, Trump decided to fire back on social media.

Trump on Twitter

Heading into the 2016 presidential election, the idea of a Donald Trump victory was not on the mind's of most Americans. Even after the start of his campaign, Trump was viewed as not much more than a laughing stock and joke candidate who would eventually fade out. However, as the months moved on, the former host of "The Apprentice" was able to gained a strong following, riding that momentum to the Republican National Convention where he went on to accept the party's nomination for president.

Despite this, Trump was seen as the heavy underdog headed into the general election against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. When the results were announced, Trump's upset win shocked even himself, and still has millions of people around the world shaking their heads. Over the last five months since Election Day, Trump has often gloated about his victory, but has downplayed the fact that he lost the popular vote by over three million votes. Clinton broke her silence on these issues during a recent interview, which prompted the president to take out his frustrations during a May 2 message on Twitter.

FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds! The phony...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2017

Taking to his Twitter account on Tuesday was Donald Trump and it was more than obvious that he is not letting Hillary Clinton's comments go unchallenged.

During her interview with the Women for Women luncheon, Clinton put her election loss on the lap of the Russians and James Comey, the director of the FBI. As expected, the president, wasn't too pleased and claimed that Comey was actually a positive for Clinton.

...Trump/Russia story was an excuse used by the Democrats as justification for losing the election. Perhaps Trump just ran a great campaign?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2017

"FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds!" Donald Trump tweeted out.

In a follow-up tweet, Trump continued to hit back. "The phony Trump/Russia story was an excuse used by the Democrats as justification for losing the election," he wrote on Twitter, while adding, "Perhaps Trump just ran a great campaign?"

Moving forward

Donald Trump continues to deny any wrongdoing over the growing Russian scandal, despite evidence that contradicts his claims. As his presidency moved forward, the commander in chief doesn't look to be changing his tune anytime soon.
It was a busy Thursday from Europe to the United States this week, with a Republican victory for #healthcare reform, a new announcement from Prince Philip, a raging battle between French presidential hopefuls as well as a tone of defiance from the FBI director James Comey about his comments on Hillary Clinton's email use during the final weeks of the US election.

Republican health victory

The House managed to just approve a new bill to replace and repeal the major tenets of Obama's #Affordable Care Act in a sign of strength and endurance from a party that has shown lack of unity and disarray in recent months.

Thursday's victory helped position Republicans one step closer to fulfilling their election promise to redefine and reshape #US healthcare without using previously required insurance rules and regulations. The vote came in at 213-217 and strengthens the Republican mission to destroy Barack Obama's celebrated and ground-changing legislative achievements whilst he was in office.

The measures passed today in the House measure will confront less certainty and more animosity in the Senate, where the deep spending cuts will be dampened by Democratic pressure and input. And those tenets passed in the Senate will then be tested once again in the House where there is a conservative stewardship in the majority.

Prince Philip to cut down his royal duties.

Queen Elizabeth II's husband, #Prince Philip, will no longer live in the public eye after it was announced today that he won't carry out any further public engagements from this fall. The Queen however will continue her role as usual.

The news was greeted with open hearts and warm wishes by Royal followers across the world.

In Britain tributes flowed to the 96 year old Duke of Edinburgh. Great Britain's prime minister, #Theresa May, said that the Prince was always seen as a steadfast support to the Queen. Labour leader, #Jeremy Corbyn, who is a Republican and respects the royals, praised the Duke of Edinburgh's keen sense of duty to the public.

The Prince set up the global Duke of Edinburgh awards in 1956 to inspire youths to achieve more in their lives. The award is celebrated across 141 countries and this is seen as one of his biggest achievements.

FBI issues continue to simmer

FBI director #James Comey gave testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday and his comments ricocheted across the globe as many were surprised by his restless and irregular conduct. He seemed to bristle at questions from the critics and experts who faced him.

Journalists and politicians in America and across the world were seen questioning his very different handling of both the Russia interference election issue as well as the Hillary Clinton email and private server drama.

When he announced that the FBI was looking into her private email use as Secretary of State last October, the American public were shocked and many believed that this led to the outcome of the American election, with trump's shock win.

A French election

Talking of elections, Marine Le Pen, the right wing French presidential candidate, and her challenger, the popular and well-liked centrist #Emmanuel Macron, took to television on Wednesday night for a wild and willy debate. They dug into each other as they fought over public votes for the second round of the French electoral proceedings.

When Le Pen called out Macron over rumored  untrue rumors  about an offshore account that she incorrectly claimed he has in his name, he called out that she was being defamatory and filed a lawsuit against her the next day. The fact that prosecutors investigated the issue was seen a warning call to others.
The Senate House committee took place on Thursday. Hours before this, James Comey the director of the FBI had aired his comments about his possible meddling in the US election at a #Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing.

Angry and influential Republicans and Democrats sitting on the committee spelt out in no uncertain terms that they needed answers from Comey on a range of pressing and complex national issues, from Russia to Hillary Clinton's email use and even recent media leaks.

Senators from both sides called for the FBI to be accountable, citing that they need the FBI to be effective.

An outspoken Democrat, Senator Dianne Feinstein, attacked Comey for taking what she thought was an enormous risk in communicating to Congress last October that the FBI was looking into new #Clinton-email issues. She added that they didn't at that time know how the emails would alter the investigation and therefore shound't have spoken of them.

Their responses echo many in the media and political spheres about Comey's handling of the issue. Feinstein implored Comey to give #straightforward answers to their straightforward questions, as well as an explanation into how he would lead the #FBI in the future so that errors of this magnitude didn't take place again.
U.S. Senator Bob Casey took to Twitter Wednesday in an effort to stop the deportation of a Honduran mother and her five-year-old son. He sent a series of tweets, slamming the Trump administrations policies and accusing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of sending a mother and her son back home to be killed by gang members.

Woman flees Honduras with her son after witnessing a murder

As reported by NBC10, the woman fled Honduras with her young son in 2015 after witnessing the murder of her cousin by gang members. In his tweets, Casey included a photo of a letter he had sent to U.S. President Donald Trump about the issue.

Casey tweeted that the mother and her five-year-old were not bad hombres, using a term regularly used by Trump. He stressed that they are not in a gang  they are vulnerable and scared and running from death. In his letter Casey explained that Trump has the power to help the child return to safety.

.@realDonaldTrump I am sending you a photo of the 5yr old child, who was deported with his mother, despite possibly being eligible for SIJS. pic.twitter.com/6LiG5PvaEr  Senator Bob Casey (@SenBobCasey) May 3, 2017

Among the series of tweets, Casey sent one message saying the time, energy and resources spent on deporting a five-year-old could be better spent targeting someone who actually posed a threat to the U.S.

Mother and son detained after crossing the border

The woman reportedly crossed the border with her son in Texas where the pair was detained. She explained to the border patrol agents that she was scared to return to Honduras as they were in danger. The mother and her son have reportedly been held in a family detention center in Berks County, Pennsylvania, which happens to be Caseys home state, hence his particular interest in the case.

However, Liz Johnson, assistant director at ICE, said the woman and her son had run out of legal options, saying politicians are misleading the public by demonizing those men and women who are tasked with enforcing the laws Congress writes. According to Johnson, the woman entered the country unlawfully on December 17, 2015 and was detained the next day.

Johnson went on to say the woman and her son were deported on Wednesday after exhausting all legal remedies available to her. As reported by CNN, Johnson said before the womans deportation her case had been denied by the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Five-year-old eligible for special immigrant juvenile status

According to Carol Anne Donahoe, an attorney acting for the mother, the womans son is eligible for special immigrant juvenile status. While declining to name the Mother And Son due to fear of their security back in Honduras, she said they had already initiated his application process. Donahoe added that the family has been already been contacted by the gang members, telling them they know she is coming back to Honduras.

The attorneys attempted to halt the deportation due to the sons status, but while they were talking to government attorneys, the family was already heading to John F. Kennedy Airport in New York and placed on a flight to Honduras.

Senator Casey contacts ICE with no results

On hearing of the deportation, Casey immediately called both Homeland Security and ICE, leaving messages that were not returned. He also reportedly spoke to Trumps chief of staff, Reince Priebus.

Shame on @realDonaldTrump @Reince45 @DHSgov @ICEgov for turning their back on this child and his mother. They should be better than this.  Senator Bob Casey (@SenBobCasey) May 4, 2017

Jacklin Rhoads, Caseys press secretary has said there has been no progress since those calls, adding that the senator believes the deportations are an atrocity which is contrary to American values.
A Taiwan-born US naval officer is under trial on the suspicion that he gave sensitive information to Chinese contacts in Taiwan. According to US Navy spokesperson, Lt. Cmdr. Stephanie Turo, the accused, Lt. Cmdr. Edward C. Lin is reported to have been passing secret information regarding national defense, which may involve troop and naval deployment in the Korean peninsula.

What kind of information did Edward Lin give to China?

Details of the case are still undisclosed, but according to reports, the information is confidential US military data. It was also alleged that Lin was involved in passing information to china, through Taiwan.

The Navy suspects that Lin was spying for China and Taiwan since 2012.

The US has a long-standing relationship with Taiwan to the irritation of Beijing. It is a known fact that mainland China hopes to retake the independent island country, which broke away after World War Ii and the subsequent rise of Mao Zedong. The news of espionage is alarming to US defense as it will exponentially compromise all military deployment in Asia and in the Korean peninsula. Lin's trial is expected to start later this week.

How big is US presence in Taiwan?

During the cold war, Taiwan was part of the US strategy to check the movements of Communist China. The island, which was formerly called "Formosa," is a strategic location and was nicknamed the "unsinkable aircraft carrier" by General MacArthur.

Because of this, a contingent of US forces were deployed there throughout the cold war.

Today, there is no physical presence of American military in Taiwan but mutual ties between the two countries continue. This is worrisome for China as reclamation of the island is among its foremost goals in the future.

Taiwan's role in the ongoing Korean crisis

As US forces continue to converge in the Korean peninsula, Taiwan's role is to check China's movements in the East and South China seas. The closest American military base to Taiwan is the US naval base in Okinawa, which has been under American control since the end of World War II.

Japan is the only foreign country to house the largest contingent of US forces in the world. Okinawa also has 62% of all US bases in Japan. This is why the presence of espionage near this area is so alarming.

Common punishment for espionage is the death penalty, especially if the action caused a breach of national security and placed American lives in jeopardy. It is not sure how much information the alleged Taiwanese spy handed to Chinese operatives but it was enough to place extreme effort on capturing him and halting his espionage. At the moment Mr. Lin's family are adamant that their family member is innocent and that it is unbelievable that Lin is capable of such treachery.
Marylands Democrat Congressman Steny Hoyer is Aprils recipient of (CAGW) Citizens Against Government Waste award. Hoyer won the "porker" prize for his ridiculous attack on the most pro-taxpayer budget proposal in decades. The 36-year "career politician" labeled Trumps budget, a hatchet job full of irrational cuts. To put this in perspective Hoyer has never found a government program that he wanted to eliminate even if it meant wasting billions of dollars. Hoyer is the epitome of a Washington bureaucrat, he is the creature from the black lagoon in the swamp.

Hoyer's track record

This Congressman defends federal programs that have been identified by CAGW in the Congressional Pig Book, Prime Cuts, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Congressional Budget Office, and many other sources as not worthy of taxpayer funding. The CAGW is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to eradicating fraud, abuse, waste, and government mismanagement. Now thats an organization that truly works for the people, unlike Hoyer who would have you taxed to death.

Heres only the tip of the iceberg according to CAGW on Hoyers projects that will be eliminated by President Trump:

The Community Development Block Grants, $3 billion where even the Obama White House said outcomes are very often difficult to measure and evaluate.

The Economic Development Administration, $293 million which the Government Accountability Office discovered this program had no effect on employment.

The Essential Air Service, $150 million to subsidize empty flights from remote airports.

The East-West Center in Hawaii, $16.7 million a program that has vexed the State Department for decades.

The Denali Commission, $10 million of which former President Obama sought to eliminate. Two years ago the agencys own watchdog said it should be cut.

Need to cut taxes

Just observing these several waves of abuse of tax dollars is enough to boil the blood.

The Great Recession virtually eliminated the middle class leaving the tax burden on whats left of us. So, as a taxpayer the watchdogs are on your side so how can you dismiss their findings? If Hoyers not the worst porker of all hes definitely the largest sultan of waste from such a tiny state. No offense Maryland but did you know how wasteful this man is?

Only a month ago President Trump created the White House office of Innovation, which is the first of it's kind. It was dubbed SWAT team to fix government with business ideas and abolish unnecessary agencies. The team will have broad power to implement successful business practices in an effort to shrink government. This new office along with the government reorganization plan are reminiscent of President Reagan's "Grace commission" which through an army of business leaders saved $1.5 trillion with their cost-cutting recommendations.

CAGW President Tom Schatz commended President Trump on his first 100 days in office. As Trump promised hes committed to a more efficient, fiscally responsible, and frugal government. For taxpayers. this has been a breath of fresh air from the many, many years of bureaucratic mismanagement and wasteful spending. The prognosticators and pundits rant in negative terms about Trump's accomplishments; they cants dismiss the facts that hes saved American taxpayers billions of dollars and is making the government smaller and finally more efficient.
When it comes to Chad Johnson, everyone knows that he is great for drama. It was assumed that Chad would be back on "Bachelor in Paradise" this summer. He is also on the show "Famously Single" that will be airing on E! soon. On this show, Chad will try to figure out why he is single and if there is a way to fix that slump he is in and find love. Now, Chad is sharing if he will be on "Bachelor in Paradise" as well.

Chad Johnson's television future

Chad Johnson actually went to his Twitter page and shared saying, "Just got confirmation that I won't be on #BachelorInParadise this year.

All the girls were already texting me @Millsy11374 @fleissmeister." The fans were really shocked to hear that Chad wouldn't be back because everyone was expecting it. He didn't admit to finding love, either, so it doesn't sound like that is the reason.

The fans were replying to Chad Johnson, and a lot of them are not happy with this decision. Some even said that they won't be watching "Bachelor in Paradise" if Chad Johnson isn't there. Someone asked if it could mean that Chad is going to be cast as the next guy on "The Bachelor" instead, but that would be surprising if that happened.

Right now, they are filming "The Bachelorette," so things could end up changing between now and when they start filming "Bachelor in Paradise." They will end up picking up a few guys from Rachel Lindsay's season for sure, so that might have left it where there wasn't room for Chad to be part of the show.

The fans would love to see Chad back, but the show has really upset a few people with being about drama and not about finding love, so this could be part of why they didn't bring him back again.

Are you surprised to hear that Chad Johnson won't be on "Bachelor in Paradise" this season? Do you feel like he should be? Sound off in the comments section below on your thoughts, and don't miss the new season of "Bachelor in Paradise" this summer on ABC. You can watch Nick Viall on Monday nights on "Dancing With the Stars" right now and then "The Bachelorette" will start in May.
Ever wonder what happened to the character Heath? He was last seen on the run with Tara Chambers in episode 7.06, as he escaped a small herd of walkers and never returned. Since then no one has ever talked to him, and he has seemingly disappeared with no trace.

Being that Heath is an important character in the comic books, there is still a huge possibility that he will return. In the comics, he is still alive and plays a significant role. But, the question is where did he go? Why isnt he back yet? Whats stopping him from returning to Alexandria?

It will be interesting to find out what kind of story the show cooks up for Heath if he does indeed make a return. He has been gone for too long, and it seems like the other characters have forgotten that he exists. Perhaps they think he is dead, but no one is even attempting to look for him. Thats what happens when you dont have loved ones around, but at least his supply-run partner, Scott, should care about him.

Predictions

Obviously, either walkers or The Saviors are stopping Heath from returning to the group. My best guess is that Heath stumbled into The Saviors on his way back and is somewhere in the Sanctuary being held captive or working for Negan. Although he hasnt been revealed yet, the show must have some twist of that sort waiting to be unleashed in season 8.

He probably is with The Saviors, and Negan might not know that he is part of Alexandria.

Actor Corey Hawkins' other show

The actor who portrays Heath, Corey Hawkins, is currently occupied by his show, 24 Legacy. Since he is the main character of that show, he probably doesnt have much time to star in The Walking Dead. However, The Walking Dead hasnt killed off his character yet, holding out for a possible return for Heath.

Ultimately, sometime during season 8, the show will probably give us a resolution to Heaths story. He is most likely still alive and may return to the group with a reduced role, depending mostly on the actors success with his new show.
KHARTOUM - Sudanese economic analysts said Wednesday that Sudan's joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a turning point in breaking its economic isolation.

Mohamed Al-Nayer, a Sudanese economic analyst, told Xinhua that the move came at a time when Sudan is suffering from a US economic siege that has continued for about 20 years.

"Sudan's joining the AIIB will be a turning point, particularly when the bank is concerned with infrastructure," he said.

"Sudan needs infrastructures which motivate the investment in various fields. Sudan is also in great need of making use of the fund the bank provides with equity and balance and not according to political standards like what international funding institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund make," he added.

Adil Abdul-Khaliq, another Sudanese economic analyst, stressed the importance of working out an ambitious plan and using the privileges provided by the AIIB.

"Sudan previously prepared strategic projects to be financed by the Arab funds, but that did not happen. Now we can find the funds from the AIIB," Abdul-Khaliq told Xinhua.

"Due to the American economic siege, Sudan will depend on the strategy of cooperation with eastern Asia, namely China. Sudan's joining the AIIB now comes to break the international isolation," he noted.

Sudan has been suffering from US economic sanctions for about 20 years, before US former president Barack Obama decided to lift part of the sanctions in January.

The news of Sudan's joining the AIIB, a Chinese-led initiative aiming at boosting regional development, was declared on March 23.

Experts say the bank, with a capital base of $100 billion, was established to finance railways, roads, electricity and other infrastructure projects in non-developed areas in Asia.
Now that the US Agriculture Department has a new secretary, the American cattle industry could be closer to shipping beef again to the Chinese mainland.

In a news conference Wednesday, Sonny Perdue, sworn in as agriculture secretary on April 25, said he was "convinced" that if Chinese "start eating US beef, they're going to want more of it".

Perdue said he has discussed the situation with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and "we think we're making good progress in that area".

Last month, US Senator Steven Daines of Montana traveled to China and brought four steaks from the ranch of Fred Wacker, according to the Williston Herald of North Dakota. He gave the steaks to Premier Li Keqiang as a gesture to reopen Chinese markets to American beef.

China halted US beef imports in 2003 after a Washington state dairy cow was identified as having bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease).

"They are convinced we have a safe, reliable supply of beef," the senator said. "There are some final, technical issues related to traceability that we are sorting out with the Chinese."

When President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump met at Mar-a-Lago in early April, expanded US beef exports were said to be part of a 100-day trade action plan the leaders agreed on. In September, China lifted a ban on shipments of some US beef products.

"Without question, restoring US beef access to China is a top priority for the US beef industry," Kent Bacus, director of international trade and market access at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, told China Daily.

"We hope to build upon the positive momentum resulting from the recent meeting between President Trump and President Xi so that our friends in China can enjoy the safe and delicious beef that we produce and enjoy in the United States. America's cattlemen are looking forward to the opportunity to develop a long-lasting relationship with Chinese consumers."

The US has plenty of competitors when it comes to exporting beef.

During a visit by Premier Li in late March, Australia became the first country permitted to supply chilled or fresh meat to China, an agreement expected to increase Australia's beef exports to China by $400 million a year.

China ended a three-year embargo on Brazilian beef in May 2015, imposed because of a mad cow outbreak in 2012. Brazil has supplanted Australia as the biggest seller of beef to China, boosting exports by 65 percent in 2016.

Li announced that China would start importing iced fresh beef and lamb from New Zealand, during a trip there in March.

In February 2015, the Chinese government announced a temporary ban on imports of Canadian beef, shortly after Canada confirmed its first case of mad cow since 2011. The shipments were resumed in April 2015.

China stopped importing beef from the European Union 16 years ago because of mad cow, but announced last year that it would lift a ban on beef from Ireland. China has chosen to negotiate with individual countries as opposed to the EU as a whole.

France, the Netherlands, the UK, Belgium and Italy are optimistic exports can resume soon. Hungary reached a frozen beef export deal with China in 2014, and made a shipment to Shanghai this past January.

Pork is still the most-consumed meat in China, but per capita consumption is falling while beef demand is increasing.

"It is difficult to estimate a dollar amount impact (for the US) until we know what beef products the trade protocols will allow," Josh Maples, assistant professor and livestock extension economist in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Mississippi State University, told China Daily. "Gaining market access to the Chinese mainland is an important outlet for US cattle producers."

US exports of beef also could get a boost by the confirmation of Iowa Governor Terry Branstad as US ambassador to China. Branstad went before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday in his confirmation hearing.

"Mad cow disease is long since gone in this country, and there is no reason why the Chinese should continue to restrict American beef," Branstad said in February. "I want to serve it in the embassy, and I certainly want to do what I can to try to convince the Chinese leadership to do that sooner rather than later."

Senator Daines put it this way: "They have 1.4 billion customers there. It's not just about today, but long term. Kids in Montana growing up on farms and ranches - who are they going to be selling to? We are laying the groundwork for the future of Montana agriculture."

Contact the writer at williamhennelly@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 05/04/2017 page2)
Demand for Chinese classes is surging in Pakistan, and the skyrocketing number of people applying to take language exams has amazed Zhang Daojian, the Chinese director of the Confucius Institute in Islamabad, the capital.

"Last year, the number of people who applied to take Chinese proficiency tests, including the HSK, exceeded 1,000. The number of applicants for the first test this year is 1,209," he said.

Zhang's institute provides language courses and tests designed specifically for foreign students.

Having arrived in the South Asian country in 2012, the Chinese scholar has witnessed the institute's rapid development.

Progress has been driven by the enduring friendship between the two countries, and by construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (a series of infrastructure projects), he said.

The growing demand for language tuition is such that the number of students trying to enroll at the institute has soared.

This year, more than 1,000 people applied to study during the first term. However, a shortage of classrooms and teaching materials meant the institute was only able to enroll 300 people, although that's twice as many as last year.

"That's why we work closely with agencies on both sides. With luck, they will make their own contribution to the growing demand for Chinese classes," Zhang said.

The economic corridor is also becoming increasingly popular with members of the Pakistani public. The people have shown great motivation, hope and enthusiasm for the corridor since 2015, when President Xi Jinping highlighted the project during a visit to the country, Zhang said.

"Now 'CPEC' is almost a catchphrase and a household name. The term can be brought up at any occasion and people recognize it," he said.

"I'm not an expert in the Belt and Road Initiative and the corridor, but so many people ask questions about them that I have to look up materials and check the records to find the correct answers."

Public enthusiasm for the corridor is mainly founded on the opportunities to boost family well-being and national development, and Chinese companies and their employees in Pakistan are major players in the construction of the corridor, Zhang said.

In his opinion, greater cooperation in a number of fields - especially politics, the economy and culture - will prove influential for Pakistan's economic development and its efforts to eradicate terrorism.

During his time in Islamabad, Zhang has been impressed by the rapid development of the infrastructure.

"When I first came here, Islamabad was less glamorous, but in the last five years we have seen two new shopping malls and new overpasses built," he said.

Zhang suggested that the Chinese and Pakistani embassies should push for policies, such as new visa regulations, to facilitate more exchanges between people from both countries.

Zhang Daojian, Chinese director of the Confucius Institute in Islamabad, speaks with students.Liu Tian / Xinhua

(China Daily 05/04/2017 page6)
A regional council in Ontario has voted unanimously to support a bill commemorating the Nanjing Massacre.

The Ontario Peel Regional Council voted on April 28 to support Member of Provincial Parliament Soo Wong's bill to create Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day.

The vote followed the passage of a motion by Councillor Jim Karygiannis of the Toronto City Council on Dec 15 recognizing the Nanjing Massacre in which 300,000 Chinese people were killed in a six-week period starting in December 1937, at the hands of the Japanese Imperial Army.

"Ontario already recognizes a number of genocides and human rights atrocities, including Holocaust Memorial Day, Holodomor Memorial Day and the Armenian Genocide Memorial Day," said Joseph Y. Wong, chairman of Toronto ALPHA (Association for Learning and Preserving the History of WWII in Asia). "The Armenian genocide has also been recognized by the government of Canada.

"The pressure to bury the history and to deny us all the critical lessons of the Nanjing Massacre has been intense for decades, and we can see it manifesting now," Wong said. "We cannot and must not allow ignorance and historical revisionism to block the path of truth and justice."

A delegation of Chinese community leaders also attended the presentation.

Councillor Ron Starr, who is of Ukrainian origin, cited the Holodomor, a genocide by manufactured famine in 1932-1933 in Ukraine in which an estimated 7 million to 10 million people systematically died of starvation. Starr supported the bill.

Councillor Nando Iannicca spoke of the long history of atrocity denial - from those who would deny the Nanjing Massacre to those who have denied the Armenian genocide, the Holodomor and the Holocaust - indicating the importance of teaching such events and atrocities in our schools.

All attending councillors of three cities voted in favour of the motion.

Regional Chairman Frank Dale stated that Bill 79 is fully supported by the entire council of Peel Region. A letter will be sent to the premier of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne, to express the unanimous support.

Toronto ALPHA appealed to all individuals and groups in Ontario who support Bill 79 to contact both their provincial representatives and the premier to express their support as well.

renali@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 05/04/2017 page2)
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HA NOI  Cargill inaugurated and put into operation its 10th aquafeed plant in Viet Nam last week.

The new plant, located in the premises of Cargills existing animal feed factory in the northern province of Ha Nam, is the second aquaculture feed line in the north of Viet Nam.

With production capacity of 3,000 tonnes per month, this modern production line focuses on high quality extruded feed products for tilapia and other local fish species to meet the growing demand for floating fish feeds.

The new factory will also help Cargill Viet Nam improve its customer service capabilities in major agricultural areas in Ha Noi, Ha Nam, Thai Binh and the north central region, where a large number of farmers are rapidly switching from extensive to intensive farming.

In addition, it will help Cargill shorten delivery time for customers and enable fish farmers to growth healthy seafood, increase output, reduce production costs per kilogramme of finished fish and minimise impact on the environment.

At the ceremony, Chad Gauger, managing director of Cargill Aquaculture Nutrition Asia South, said Cargills global innovation and expertise combined with the strong plant operations in Viet Nam and commercial teams would bring exciting new technologies to help Vietnamese farmers thrive.

Viet Nam is a critical aquaculture market for Cargill and we are excited to be expanding our aquaculture feed capability to our sixth plant to continue our growth in Viet Nam and in Asia South, he added.

Cargills first aquafeed line was established in Viet Nams southern city of Bien Hoa in 1998. Following its acquisition of EWOS in 2015, EWOSs manufacturing plants in Viet Nam began to integrate and operate smoothly with Cargills plant systems in the country.

Currently, Cargill Viet Nam has more than 2,000 employees working at 23 sites across the country, operating in the fields of animal feed production, providing raw material for food and beverage production, along with providing grains and oilseeds, steel trading and high protein corn.  VNS
HCM City  The Kien Giang Province Peoples Committee has approved making Phu Quoc a smart city by 2020.

The project will be based on the Viet Nam Post and Telecommunications Corporation (VNPT)s information communications technology infrastructure and the provinces e-governance.

It seeks to develop Phu Quoc island into a smart, hospitable and safe city that attracts tourists, improve the quality of services available to local residents and tourists and urban management.

The most important factor in making Phu Quoc a smart city is information and telecommunications infrastructure, which must be capable of supporting all functions of e-government and smart services in tourism, transport, environment, healthcare, education and finance.

The project will invest in an optic-fibre network, develop and expand 4G services in the island, provide free wi-fi, usher in e-governance, set up online management of visitors, and offer online management of healthcare and education, among other things.

The project will improve the quality and effectiveness as well as reduce the cost of State management; provide convenient services and ensure safety for tourists and locals and create breakthroughs for the socio-economic development of Phu Quoc Island, Mai Van Huynh, deputy chairman of the Kien Giang Peoples Committee, told the au Tu (Viet Nam Investment Review) newspaper.

VNPT has signed many agreements and worked closely with agencies in Kien Giang and Phu Quoc Island and ministries.

For the online management of visitors, VNPT has trained over 90 police officers and workers in 200 guest houses and hotels on the island. Hotels no longer need to take guests passports to the local police station for registration.

For monitoring the environment, VNPT has collected information to monitor water bodies, air and noise, and carried out studies to build stations to monitor household wastewater treatment, air and seawater.

VNPT has already installed 20 cameras and wifi equipment in six places around Duong ong town and two others in An Thoi town.

For e-governance, VNPT has reviewed the current e-government model in Phu Quoc, updated it and provided training to staff so that they can migrate to the proposed new emodel.

VNPT is in various stages of implementing smart city projects in eight provinces around Viet Nam, Luong Manh Hoang, deputy general director of VNPT, said. We will build the best smart city in Phu Quoc. -- VNS
HA NOI  Many commercial banks posted positive business performances in the first quarter of the year, earning high profits.

Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Viet Nam (Vietcombank) recorded post-tax profit of more than VN2.2 trillion (US$97 million), up 20.1 per cent against the same period last year. The figure made the bank top the list in terms of profits in the first quarter.

Viet Nam Bank for Industry and Trade (Vietinbank) made pre-tax profit of VN2.54 trillion ($111.9 million), up 5.8 per cent year-on-year, and post-tax profit of VN2.04 trillion ($89.7 million). This is the strongest growth the bank has recorded since 2011, according to Vietinbanks chairman of the management board Nguyen Van Thang.

Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV) earned nearly VN2.3 trillion ($100.1 million) and VN1.85 trillion ($81.3 million) in pre and post-tax profits, respectively, up over 9 per cent year-on-year.

Similarly, Viet Nam Technological and Commercial Joint Stock Banks (Techcombank) total pre- and post-tax profits were VN1.32 trillion ($58.2 million), double the figure of the same period last year, and VN1.06 trillion ($46.6 million), respectively.

Meanwhile, Military Bank (MB) recorded a year-on-year increase of 22 per cent to VN1.06 trillion ($46.4 million) in pre-tax profit, or 25 per cent of the yearly plan. The bank hopes to post over VN4.5 trillion ($199.4 million) in pre-tax profit this year.

Also during the reviewed period, Sai Gon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank) showed impressive performance with pre and post-profits hitting VN309 billion ($13.6 million), and VN210 ($9.24 million), up 50 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively.

Export-Import Bank (Eximbank) recorded a five-time increase to VN170 billion ($7.48 million) in pre-tax profit and VN136 billion ($5.98 million) in post-tax profit.

According to the Department of Statistics and Forecasting under the State Bank of Viet Nam, the banking systems average growth is expected to rise by 13.4 per cent, higher than the percentage in 2016.  VNS
Viet Nam is the third largest shrimp producer and the largest giant tiger prawn producer in the world. Shrimp is a major export item, but it lacks brand value. ao uc Huan explains why. The director of the Agricultural Development Centre also tells Vietnam News Agency it is not too late to build a national brand for Vietnamese shrimp in the global market.

Vietnamese shrimp products have been exported to 90 markets worldwide. Recent years have seen high growth in shrimp exports. Does Vietnamese shrimp have brand identification in the world market?

In 2016, Viet Nam earned US$3.1 billion from shrimp exports, overtaking Thailand as the worlds largest shrimp exporter. Major shrimp export markets included the US, the EU and Japan.

Exported shrimp products do have some brand value, but it is limited to importers and distributors, not customers.

Brand is more than a popularity marker, it denotes customers confidence in the brand name, hence its products. It is a word or words that not only identify a product, but also its manufacturer. It displays the origin and quality of products in the market.

Is too late to discuss the building of a national brand name for Vietnamese shrimp products at present?

Many factors go into building a brand name, including the ability to control production to reach quality and other standards that the market demands.

In Viet Nam, the development of shrimp aquaculture over past years has helped enterprises learn their production abilities and product advantages.

Another factor is processing ability and market expansion, especially development of products joining global value chains.

These abilities require enterprises to reach certain benchmarks in finance, human resources and technology, and to have the determination to enter and survive in the global market.

A brand for Vietnamese shrimp will only be meaningful when our products go to consumers with clear identification and quality assurance, our supply is stable and we have won customers confidence.

So, it is late, but not too late to build a brand for Vietnamese shrimp. The conditions and opportunities still exist.

What is the most difficult thing about building a brand name for Vietnamese shrimp now?

The most difficult thing would be to build an image for "Product of Viet Nam," setting a "standard" for the brand.

Viet Nam produces many kinds of shrimp, including as white shrimp, black tiger prawn and sea shrimp. These have been exported to many markets in the world.

Now, the nation must choose general standards in quality, nutrition and food safety and other commercial standards to build a brand for Vietnamese shrimp.

This is the biggest challenge, as with other agricultural products, because major export markets like the EU, US and Japan have different processing methods, tastes and controls. Our general standards for Vietnamese shrimp should meet demands in all export markets.

Secondly, production control, including varieties, diseases and environment, is still a big challenge in shrimp aquaculture. Production costs are high, and it carries high risk without the capacity to control diseases and other variables. So regularising all of this is a challenge when we try to build a brand for Vietnamese shrimp.

The third factor is the perseverance, determination and co-operation among all stakeholders, including farmers, processing facilities and trading enterprises in building the brand.

We have seen that for many farming products, enterprises have focused on domestic rather than foreign competition. They can sell their products, but a failure to build and maintain standards will reduce the reputation of both local products and the nation.

What about the variety factor?

In Viet Nam, parent shrimp are provided by nature or they are imported. The quality of parent shrimp is still unstable though the Government has investment to development of parent shrimp.

We are yet to use modern methods in choosing, producing and supplying shrimp varieties. Our production costs remain high and the aquaculture infrastructure in several regions has not reached required standards.

Viet Nam has 2,422 farms producing brackish water shrimp, supplying 100 billion shrimp varieties each year but the supply has only partly met domestic demand at present.

Meanwhile, the markets receive and supply varieties without proper origin and quarantine processes. This has exposed farmers to many production risks.

For instance, the Government has had to look for ways to stop the practice of injecting impurities into shrimp, harming the reputation of Vietnamese seafood.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development plans to improve its management and policies to promote production and processing of quality seafood, including shrimp.

What should the agriculture sector do to reach the shrimp export target of US$10 billion by 2025?

The agriculture sector should restructure shrimp aquaculture areas according to natural conditions and advantages of each region, and expand cultivation in areas while taking steps to avoid or minimise the risk of diseases and other harmful factors. The sector has to apply scientific and technological advancements in shrimp production, including disease control.

The shrimp industry should also improve product value by controlling quality and production processes to meet the requirements of demanding markets. It should also develop safe and environmentally-friendly shrimp, as also value-added products. - VNS
Climate change has a huge impact on HCM Citys water resources, the head of its public water utility has warned.  Photo sggp.org.vn

HCM CITY  Climate change has a huge impact on HCM Citys water resources, the head of its public water utility has warned.

Climate change, especially drought and saltwater intrusion [into rivers], has directly affected the ong Nai and Sai Gon Rivers, making water treatment difficult, Tran Van Khuyen, chairman of the Sai Gon Water Supply Corporation, told Viet Nam News Agency.

To cope, the corporation has actively worked to adjust the water supply master plan, incorporating provisions to build more lakes and tanks to store treated and untreated water and pumping stations.

Now water in the ong Nai and Sai Gon have salinity levels of 12mg/litre, 2mg higher than normal but lower than at the same time last year when it was 30mg/litre.

This year we dont need to worry about the salinity level because the allowed limit is 250mg, and we plan to draw water from Dau Tieng and Tri An Reservoirs and from under the ground to reduce salinity levels, Hoang Ha, head of the corporations water quality management department, said.

ang Hoa Vinh, head of the HCM City Natural Geography Institutes Water Resource Department, said: This year the drought is not expected to be as serious as last year thanks to prolonged rains.

Vinh said Cu Chi District has a number of lakes and they can be used to store water for the dry season.

HCM City can build more water storage lakes along rivers.

Vinh also requested the Sai Gon Water Supply Corporation to install pipes to bring water directly from Dau Tieng and Tri An Reservoirs to water pumping stations.

We will need a huge investment in the beginning, but we can ensure the quality and quantity of water for the long term in the context of climate change and more serious droughts and saltwater intrusions in future.

The corporation has completed two water storage lakes with a combined capacity of 180,000 cubic metres at the Thu uc and Tan Hiep Water Supply Plants, and is preparing to build more water lakes in Binh Chanh District soon.

Experts said authorities should consider building rainwater storage lakes in outlying districts like Cu Chi, Hoc Mon, Binh Chanh, and Can Gio.

Rainwater is the freshest, cleanest and safest water source. People can use rainwater without treatment. Rainwater storage will save expense and ease water supply pressure on utilities, Vinh added.  VNS
THANH HOA  The Peoples Committee of central Thanh Hoa Province has allowed the Nghi Son refinery and petrochemical limited liability company to release waste water into the sea, provided it meets environmental protection requirements.

Nguyen Van Thi, head of the management board of Nghi Son economic zone and local industrial parks, said environmental indicators on waste water during the trial operation of the companys oil refinery and petrochemistry met the required standard.

The company is allowed to discharge waste water straight into the sea along the coastal area of Hai Yen Commune, Tinh Gia District, from May 1 this year to February 28 next year.

The released waste water can be discharged on a 24 hour basis with a flow of maximum 500cu.m per day.

The waste water quality released into the environment must not exceed the limited level as set by the national technical standard on industrial waste water. Accordingly, the water temperature must be lower than 40 degrees Celsius. All indicators -- lead, water and cyanide -- must be below 0,715mg per water litre, 0,0143mg per water litre and 0,143mg per water litre, respectively.

The local Peoples Committee asked the company to continuously monitor waste water flow at the location, which is connected with a channel leading water towards the coastal area.

The company has also been asked to conduct waste water quality monitoring once every three months at three locations  water release point, the location 500m from water release point to the north and the location 500m from water release point to the south.

The company was also ordered to operate the waste water treatment system following procedures and technology presented in the document, take responsibility for environment preservation and stop releasing waste water in case of any incident.

The provincial Peoples Committee assigned the local Department of Natural Resources and Environment and Tinh Gia Districts Peoples Committee, to inspect and supervise waste water quality of the company.  VNS
By Luong Thu Huong

Viet Nam is now closer to Italy than a map would suggest, thanks to a photographic exhibition entitled ContrAddiction, Vietnam Living Country, in Udine City, Italy.

The exhibit comes as part of the Far East Film Festival, the most important Asian film festival in Europe.

Each photo displayed in the exhibition is depicts simple, peaceful and ordinary life in Viet Nam, from the north to the south. For instance, it shows a mother sitting with her son on a hammock, an ethnic man going to work in the early morning with his buffalo, and a father carrying his son on his shoulders.

Those photos are the fruits of Italian photographer Dario Tommaseos five monthlong visits to the country since 2014.

I have always had some strange attraction to Asian culture. Therefore, after my trip to Nepal, I decided to travel to Viet Nam, Dario said.

Since my first moment in Viet Nam, Ive been fascinated by its people, culture, food and places. Underneath the simplicity is deep complexity, he recalled.

The 42-year-old photographers passion was formed during his 18-years of work as arts and creative director in international advertising agencies in Italy and Spain. Now, hes dedicated his life primarily to reportage photography.

Taking up the craft last decade, Dario has had his works featured in several Italian and Spanish magazines and renowned publishing houses. He has also been invited to exhibit his photos in many arts events in Italy and Spain, like Argentina: ieri e oggi event in Milan in 2013 hosted by the Consulate of Argentina, or an exhibition for Fotofesta" in Barcelona, Spain in 2008.

I like to get fully involved in a natural way. Im moved by a sincere interest in creating a human relationships with my subjects, Dario said.

The primary aim of my photos is to reflect and convey faithfully my personal relationship with the scene and the subject, he added.

National treasures: The Italian photographer poses in his exhibition entitled ContrAddiction, Vietnam Living Country. The exhibition depicts the simple, peaceful and ordinary life of Vietnamese around Viet Nam. -- Photo courtesy of Dario Tommaseo

Darios photographic style is truthfully reflected through his works exhibited in ContrAddiction, Vietnam Living Country. Looking through his lens, viewers can enter the world of each photo.

I can see that the photographer has a thorough knowledge of Viet Nam simply by looking at his photos, said photographer Matteo De Stefano. He has clearly gotten involved in their daily lives.

Dario said that he did not want to showcase the country, its landscapes, or ethnic peoples as they are usually captured.

I wanted to show the daily life of Viet Nam and its people, not as something far and exotic for an occidental viewer. I wanted to show Vietnamese people as close to us, with their humanity and of course, their differences, he said.

ContrAddiction is the mix of two words, contradiction and addiction, Dario explained. Viet Nam is a place where the opposites exist, living together in total union and harmony.

Here is where poverty and hospitality, humility and elegance, fatigue and smiles belong to the same people. And it can happen almost by chance staying with them in pleasant company for hours, communicating perfectly without being able to understand a single word.

And the second word addiction, meaning it is easy to get addicted to these contradictions, as it has happened to me, he added.

Accompanying him closely in capturing every moment of contraddictions in Viet Nam is a full frame reflex Canon camera, and in line with his stylistic choice, he strictly uses a fixed wide-angle lens.

Unlike other photographers, who apply photographic techniques to enhance their final works, Dario makes no adjustment to his photos, keeping them as original as possible.

I want to represent real life without any adjustment, which is my philosophy. I never retouch the photos, and even never crop. I leave them as I took them. The photography, to me, is something emotional, so if I crop the picture, it will not represent what I really felt at that moment, he said.

His five visits to Viet Nam were filled with unforgettable memories with the local people, whom he has considered as his close friends.

I remember hours drinking, eating or just sharing happy moments with unknown people -- some of whom spoke barely any English, or when, so many times, the Vietnamese strangers wanted to take photos with me. I also remember when I was invited to a wedding of a couple I had never met, and they were very happy to have me as a foreigner attending their happy day. I was also proud and happy to be accepted too, Dario recalled.

I deeply believe that to really understand a place, you have to live obsessively in contact with the people who live there. I have many Vietnamese friends in Viet Nam, and a lot of the subjects in my photos became my friends after I took photos of them.

Besides taking photos, the Italian photographers also joined many local charity events. In his last two visits, he brought along some school supplies collected and bought in Italy for the schools in remote northern Viet Nam. He also took part in a charity trip to central Viet Nam that was suffering from a historical flood to provide necessities like medicine, food and clothes.

Dario is currently working on a photographic book about daily life in Viet Nam, and he plans to live and organise photo tours in Viet Nam in late October and early November for both foreign tourists and Vietnamese. The tours will enable the participants to learn photography while exploring the beauty of the country.

His photoraphic works can be seen on the website: www.dariotommaseo.com.  VNS
Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Pham Quang Vinh has affirmed Viet Nams desire to tighten its comprehensive partnership with the US at recent meetings with elected US officials in Washington DC. VNA/VNS Photo oan Hung

WASHINGTON DC  Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Pham Quang Vinh has affirmed Viet Nams desire to tighten its comprehensive partnership with the US at recent meetings with elected US officials in Washington DC.

At his meeting with Senator John McCain, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, and Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy, ranking member of the House Committee on Armed Services, Vinh informed the hosts of the development of the two countries relations in all fields, ranging from politics, economics and investment, to education, tourism and science-technology.

He also conveyed Vietnamese leaders wish that the new US administration further increase the comprehensive partnership between the two countries and promote exchanges of high-ranking visits between the two sides, particularly visits by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and US President Donald Trump.

McCain said that he attaches importance to relations with Viet Nam and will do his utmost to boost bilateral ties in all fields, including politics, economics and recovery of war consequences.

Meanwhile, Murphy agreed to promote bilateral dialogue to strengthen co-operation and mutual understanding.

As the first Vietnamese-American woman to be elected to Congress, and the second Vietnamese-American person after Joseph Cao, she affirmed that she will work to aid the overseas Vietnamese community in the US and connect Florida businesses with Vietnamese businesses.

On April 26, Vinh and Ambassadors of other ASEAN member countries met with Congresswoman Ann Wagner and Congressman Joaquin Castro  Co-Chairs of the Congressional Caucus on ASEAN.

Vinh praised the establishment of the congressional caucus, saying that he will contribute to the caucuss work, especially in holding activities celebrating ASEANs 50th founding anniversary and the 40th anniversary of US-ASEAN relations in 2017.

The two congressmen spoke highly of the role of ASEAN and highlighted the importance of the US-ASEAN strategic partnership. In addition, they promised to foster their countrys collaboration with the group in such areas as economy, trade, investment, security, science and technology, education and healthcare.  VNS




Green economy is the new watchword for many countries as they eye sustainable development. In Viet Nam, the Government encourages all sectors to aspire for green growth.

In 2012 the Viet Nam National Green Growth Strategy was formulated, and has been embraced by all sectors in around 40 provinces and cities. Viet Nam News speaks to Louise Chamberlain, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) country director in Viet Nam, about the countrys green growth.

Can you tell us about the green economy and green growth concepts adopted by many countries? Why are they important?

Green economy and green growth have emerged as a solution to balance environmental sustainability and socio-economic development goals. The global agenda was set at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable development in 2012, also known as Rio+20, on the importance of building a green economy to achieve sustainable development, where member states followed up on the initial commitment of two decades earlier to sustainable development. These goals were later embraced by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Agenda 2030  altogether, seven out of 17 goals relate to climate change and environmental sustainability, showing their global importance.

While specific concepts vary from country to country, what many of them share in common is improved human well-being, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability. One green economy model city is the Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town, which creates a concept for a smart community lifestyle and an optimum smart infrastructure to support this new way of living. Here in Viet Nam, we are pleased to note some budding greening initiatives by a Lat, Hai Phong, a Nang and HCM City. While still in the early stages, these cities are beginning to reflect on how to create a more livable environment for their citizens.

Much of the economic development in the world to date has been dependent on fossil fuels, mainly coal and gas, which cause serious environmental damage. Both the extraction of coal and its burning to make energy cause the emission of anthropogenic gases that cause global warming (leading to climate change) and have harmful effects on human health. In addition, economic growth in many countries so far has often taken place without regard for the environment and led to the depletion of a lot of natural resources such as water, forests, and bio-divergent species. When we talk about a green economy, we mean an economy that does not exhaust such resources  sustainability means that where natural resources are used, it is to an extent whereby they are not completely expended in the process; they can regenerate and continue to replenish.

The profound climate change impacts and associated risks from climate extreme events, as well as the severe environmental degradation that is visible in some industrial sites and urban developments, are a wakeup call to the world to find a better economic model towards greener development. It is a myth to think that green growth is lesser growth  on the contrary, green economy presents very high potential for simultaneously promoting economic growth, including new green jobs, reduction of environmental risks and minimising ecological scarcities.

How does the UNDP evaluate Viet Nams achievements under its Green Growth Strategy?

Viet Nam has achieved several important milestones in promoting greener development, but major challenges remain to be addressed. Since the adoption of Viet Nam s Green Growth Strategy in 2012 and the Action Plan in 2014, around 40 provinces, cities and sectors have developed and started implementing action plans. Green growth is incorporated into a number of city and provincial development strategies and plans, and mainstreamed in key sectors such as construction, renewable energy, and transportation. Viet Nam has achieved commendable results in energy efficiency in some industrial sectors thanks to implementation of the national energy efficiency programme since 2006 and energy efficiency labelling on key consumer goods. It is important that consumers in industry and the general public become aware of these standards and increasingly make conscious green choices. In the market, prices also need to reflect a premium for the environment so that the more harmful products become more expensive. This is not yet the case.

The Government of Viet Nam has shown strong commitment through developing a national SDGs action plan and the recent approval of an action plan to implement the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. As a member of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, Viet Nam has joined a number of countries in an ambitious plan to achieve 100 per cent renewable energy. This is an attainable goal, as the country has great renewable energy potential and adopted a renewable energy development strategy in late 2015. The UNDP has been providing technical support to the Ministry of Industry and Trade for preparation of a national action plan to implement this important strategy. We look forward to accelerated implementation, particularly through the Government creating a roadmap for energy reform that puts higher prices on coal-powered energy and creates profit incentives for investment in renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. Viet Nam can only make a measurable contribution to the global climate change agenda if it accelerates reform of the energy sector. Energy is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, projected at 471 million tonnes of CO2e and accounting for 91 per cent of total emissions in 2030.

What are the challenges the country faces?

Viet Nam is at a critical juncture where policy choices on infrastructure, energy, urbanisation, production and consumption will shape the success of its transition to green, low-emission and climate-resilient development. Without changes to its carbon-intensive growth trajectory, the country will become a major regional greenhouse gas emitter, with a projected four-fold increase in net emissions between 2010 and 2030. Viet Nams Revised Seventh Power Development Plan forecast coal to increase from 20 per cent of the power generation mix in 2010 to more than 50 per cent in 2030. The country also plans to build more coal-based thermal power plants in the coming years, which is of serious concern.

To begin changing this trajectory, Viet Nam needs to improve the policy framework for climate change and environmental protection, with special focus on enforcement. The Law on Environmental Protection, with a section on climate change, offers a basic framework for climate change. However, Viet Nam needs a comprehensive legal framework to support the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement, its commitment under nationally determined contribution and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. So legislation  and ensuring accountability around its implementation at national, provincial, local and industry levels  is an important enabler for reform.

Secondly, the Government needs to accelerate energy sector reform, including price reform, aggressively promote investments in renewable energy and enhance transparency around the plans in this regard. Viet Nams Renewable Energy Development Strategy provides a good framework and initial targets for actions, and we strongly encourage further work and a higher level of ambition.

Thirdly, engagement and commitment of the private sector is essential to achieving green growth targets and addressing climate change. To make this happen, the Government needs to engage in partnerships with businesses  both international and domestic. Many outdated and energy-intensive technologies are used in various industries in Viet Nam, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises. These technologies are causing environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Fourthly, it is important to engage all stakeholders in the green growth agenda, especially through improving awareness of environmental issues at all levels - in government and among enterprises and the general public. Awareness goes hand in hand with accelerated regulatory action and environmentally-friendly consumer behaviour, and therefore Viet Nam needs to invest tangibly in knowledge building, communication and advocacy. The media and civil society organisations have a key role to play. VNS
HCM CITY  Viet Nam Expressway Services Engineering JSC (VECE) this month began providing authorities video footage and photos of vehicles violating traffic regulations on the HCM City  Long Thanh  Dau Giay Expressway.

The data collected from surveillance cameras, installed on the 54km expressway in March, will be sent to local police who will issue off-site citations, according to Nguyen Thi Hoai Phuong, deputy director of VECE.

VECE will also publish the information on media platforms to raise public awareness about traffic violations.

Phuong said the surveillance would ensure adherence to traffic rules, and improve safety records and service quality.

On March 10, the VN800 billion (US$35.1 million) intelligent transport system (ITS) on the expressway was put into operation.

It includes 16 camera view systems (CCTV) and 52 vehicle detection systems that help identify traffic density and address accidents.

The images and videos captured by the ITS are transferred to the management centre located in HCM Citys District 9 and are monitored around the clock.

Opened in February 2015, the 55-km expressway significantly reduced the travel time to neighbouring localities.

The road now only takes travellers about 20 minutes to go from HCM City to ong Nai Provinces Long Thanh instead of the previous one hour.

It takes just one hour instead of the previous three to travel to Dau Giay Town in ong Nais Thong Nhat District.

Last year, an average of 28,000 to 30,000 vehicles travelled on the expressway daily.VNS
More than 6,500 people were admitted to hospitals in HCM City over the recent four-day holiday because of traffic accidents, physical fights, and food poisoning, among other reasons.  VNA/VNS Photo Phuong Vy

HCM CITY  More than 6,500 people were admitted to hospitals in HCM City over the recent four-day holiday because of traffic accidents, physical fights, and food poisoning, among other reasons, according to the citys Health Department.

From April 29 to May 1, of the 39,886 people visiting hospitals for emergencies or health check-ups, 825 cases were due to traffic accidents, 174 to fighting incidents, and 37 to food poisoning, among others.

Most people involved in traffic accidents had been drinking too much alcohol and driving over the speed limit.

Doctors at 57 hospitals in HCM City carried out 1,012 operations, with 11 for traumatic brain injury, the department said, adding that there were a total of 25 deaths.

Dr. Nguyen inh Phu, deputy director of Peoples Hospital 115, said that three people died at Peoples Hospital 115 on May 1.

The citys Preventive Medicine Centre said there were no major Zika or hemorrhagic fever outbreaks during the holiday.

The number of traffic accidents surged in Ha Noi as well, with Viet uc Hospital taking most cases.

Dr. Tran Ha Phuong of Viet uc Hospital said that, of the 365 patients admitted to the hospital as of May 2, 215 of them had been involved in traffic accidents.

Though five operating rooms were open during the holiday, many patients had to wait due to an overload, she said, adding that there were about 30 surgeries performed in each room per day.

Nghe An Province saw a similar circumstance, with the number of patients increasing by 200 per cent during the holiday.

The Nghe An Friendship General Hospital, Orthopedics Hospital, and Hospital 115 admitted over 500 patients, with 40 per cent of them due to traffic accidents while others suffered heat stroke and alcohol poisoning, among other causes.

Dr. Ngo Van Thiet of Nghe An Friendship General Hospital said that people need to avoid engaging in outdoor activities in the hot weather and to refrain from driving after drinking alcoholic beverages.  VNS
HCM CITY  Despite being dubbed the leading economic sector of HCM City, the citys tourism sector is struggling with a lack of qualified human resources.

According to the National Administration of Tourism, HCM Citys tourism sector needs roughly 40,000 new workers added to the labour pool each year. Last year, only 37 per cent of demand was met with 15,000 workers joining the sector, with merely 12 per cent of them educated to college level.

A college degree in tourism, however, does not guarantee that a worker that can do the job.

Nguyen Hai Linh, investor of the luxurious, high-end Elisa floating restaurant on the Sai Gon River, admitted the high labour demand of tourism companies in the city but said they rarely employed tourism students. The reason for this was that most of the students had very weak working skills.

They are adept in theories, but short of practical skills, Linh said.

Many restaurants and hotels were forced to recruit untrained but experienced workers.

An investor of the Cathay hotel chain in HCM City also said that recruiting employees with degree proved to be extremely hard.

The hotel did hire employees with degrees, but many of them had a poor attitude towards customers, she said.

Furthermore, some 40 per cent of our Cathay hotels customers are foreigners, which means employees must have decent foreign-language skills, she added.

Foreign languages are still the biggest weakness of Vietnamese students, including those who study tourism.

Fixing college education

HCM City University of Cultures Tourism Faculty Head Mai Ha Phuong said the low training quality of tourism employees resulted from a lack of a proper training curriculum in tourism.

It seemed like mission impossible for colleges and universities to develop a good tourism curriculum on their own due to limited budget, lack of capabilities of lecturers and management mechanisms, Phuong said.

Using a foreign curriculum was also ruled out as the content, the subjects and their credits were very different to the universities programme, while it is very costly to buy the curriculums copyrights, she added.

Sai Gon University lecturer Nguyen Thi Hong Trang said educational institutions should develop a long-term strategy on raising the quality of lecturers.

They (the universities) have to force the lecturers to do serious research while at the same time, employing those with master and PhD degrees currently working for tourism enterprises to lecture on tourism skills, she said.

University-enterprise linkage

Inviting experienced employees of tourism companies to teach at universities is one way to raise training quality based on closer connections between educational institutions and tourism enterprises.

Another initiative of this kind is to give the students more time at the companies learning practical skills, for example, the Enterprise Term developed by the HCM City University of Technology (HUTECH).

The students on this programme will be exempted from learning a particular subject at school if they study the subject while working for an enterprise linked with the school.

HUTECHs Tourism  Hotel Faculty Head Nguyen Quoc Thang said city authorities should devise policies to call for more co-operation from enterprises in tourism education and training.

HCM City should also work with the enterprises and the educational institutions to establish a committee on promoting the tourism human resources to consult authorities on solutions to develop city tourism in general and tourism human resources in particular, he said.  VNS
HAI PHONG  Two members of a fishing boat are missing after their boat sank in the waters off Hon Dau 15 Island close to northern Hai Phong City late Wednesday.

The fishing boat HP 09364 TS was hit by cargo ship Nguyen Nam Khanh 168 and capsized at around 11pm on Wednesday.

The cargo ship was carrying some 3,000 tonnes of clinker from the citys Chinfong port to HCM City.

The two missing fishermen were identified as Nguyen Van uoc, 38, from central Thanh Hoa Province, and inh Nhu Thang, 38, from Hai Phong City.

The Viet Nam Maritime Search and Rescue Co-ordination Centre (VNMRCC) is collaborating with captains of boats active in the area and concerned authorities to search for the missing fishermen.

Meanwhile, two other fishermen of the boat were rescued by the VNMRCC by 6am on Thursday. They were identified as Pham Van Hung, 41, boat captain from Hai Phong City, and Bui Van ong, 37, from Thanh Hoa Province.  VNS
LONG AN  Twenty breeding cows valued at VN500million (US$22,000) have been donated to poor households living in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of Long An.

Truong Tan Sang, Viet Nams former President, on Wednesday handed over the breeding cows to the households who live in uc Hoa Districts An Ninh Tay Commune at an event held in the province.

The breeding cows were donated by the Masan Nutri-Science Corporation (MNS), a member of the Masan Corp Group which manufactures and trades animal feed in Viet Nam.

Pham Trung Lam, managing director of the MNS, said: The people here are still facing many difficulties, so Masan Nutri-Science wants to help the disadvantaged improve their living and escape poverty.

Nguyen Van ang, one of the local residents who received a cow, said he would try his best to help his family have a higher standard of living.

In An Ninh Tay Commune, about 100 poor households and 170 near-poor households are farmers in difficult circumstances and have unstable incomes.

The MNS coordinated with the provincial government to implement the "State and people work together" plan, which supports the disadvantaged with starting capital for farming, with the aim of lifting them out of poverty and improving their economic life.

On March 20, the MNS donated 30 breeding cows worth about VN750million ($32,975) to support poor households in Loc Giang Commune in the provinces uc Hoa District.  VNS
WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump confidently predicted that a Middle East peace agreement was within grasp Wednesday, as he hosted Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas at the White House.

"We will get it done," Trump said, flaunting his deal-making prowess during a first meeting with the veteran Palestinian leader that marked the start of an ambitious -- some say quixotic -- presidential effort.

Brushing aside the complexities of a decades-old conflict that has bedevilled successive US leaders, Trump told Abbas that together with the Israelis they could bag "the toughest deal to make."

"It is something that I think is frankly, maybe not as difficult as people have thought over the years," Trump said, exuding his trademark bravado.

Eighty-two-year-old Abbas -- a veteran of innumerable US, European, UN and Arab peace initiatives -- echoed Trumps upbeat tone.

"Our strategic option, our strategic choice is to bring about peace," he said, praising Trumps "courageous stewardship" and "great negotiating ability."

"We believe that we can... be true partners to you to bring about a historic peace under your stewardship."

But there was also a hint of the thicket that awaits the neophyte US president.

"Mr. President, its about time for Israel to end its occupation of our people and our lands," Abbas said, listing demands that the current Israeli government has baulked at.

Among them, the right of return for Palestinians to lands currently held by Israel and the establishment of a Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem and based on 1967 borders.

Gap never greater

The two mens upbeat tone contrasted sharply with that of veteran Middle East watchers.

According to former White House official Dennis Ross, the gap between Israelis and Palestinians "has probably never been greater."

"As someone whos worked on this for the last 30 years, I dont think weve ever been at a lower point," he said ahead of the meeting.

Trumps long-shot effort to bring Middle East peace got off to a rocky start when he appeared to back away from supporting a Palestinian state and vowed to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, breaking two tenets of American policy held for decades.

But receiving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House early in his term, Trump also showed he was willing to press Israel on West Bank settlement building, a longstanding concern of Palestinians and much of the world.

On Wednesday, Trump offered no prescriptions for what a deal should look like, only saying that he would play the role of "a mediator, or an arbitrator, or a facilitator."

"Any agreement cannot be imposed by the United States, or by any other nation," Trump said.

During his four months in office, Trump has struggled to translate his skill in achieving business deals into effective governance.

Efforts to overhaul health care, the tax system and government spending have faltered, despite Trumps Republican party controlling not only the White House but both houses of Congress.

Hady Amr, who had three decades of Middle East experience before working on the peace process full time for secretary of state John Kerry, said that Trumps Middle East push could similarly falter.

"When I was put into this job 24/7, three a half years ago," Amr said, it was even more complex than he had thought.

"I hope Im wrong, but I think that the president will discover, as he discovered about health care, that there is a reason it hasnt been solved."

Historic opportunity

Abbas also makes an unlikely dealmaker. He made the trip to Washington while politically unpopular back home, with polls suggesting most Palestinians want him to resign.

His term was meant to expire in 2009, but he has remained in office with no elections held.

Palestinians are watching closely, including the leader of the radical Hamas movement Khaled Meshaal, who called on Trump to break with past approaches to Middle East peace.

"This is a historic opportunity to pressure Israel... to find an equitable solution for the Palestinian people," he told CNN.

Hamas on Tuesday released a policy document that for the first time indicates a willingness to accept the idea of a Palestinian state within the borders that emerged after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, although it stops short of recognising Israel.

But Abbas will be encouraged that Trump did not publicly demand that the Palestinians cut funding to prisoners and their families.

That could pose major domestic political headaches for Abbas, as he battles unpopularity and challenges from rival factions.

"Mr President, I affirm to you that we are raising our youth, our children, our grandchildren on a culture of peace," Abbas said.  AFP
Washington, D.C., may not be the first place to come to mind when thinking about agriculture. However, when one wants to learn more about agriculture policy in the U.S. government, D.C. is the premiere destination.

This spring, eight students from the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences traveled to Washington, D.C., for the opportunity to meet government agriculture representatives to discuss the future of agriculture.

Professors tell us about the career opportunities we have as agricultural majors, but I have never realized how far those opportunities can stretch until this trip, said Lauren Knaresboro, a senior in animal and poultry sciences from Chesterfield, Virginia. Getting to meet passionate directors and scientists from different agencies inspired me to keep searching for a STEM career that best fits me.

These students are a subset of a larger group referred to as STEM Scholars and are part of a research project entitled Empowering Students to Achieve Academic Success, led by professors Mike Denbow, Rebecca Cockrum, and Katharine Knowlton.

The STEM Scholars program through departments of Animal and Poultry Science and Dairy Science was designed to provide financial assistance to truly exceptional students so that students can participate in more experiential learning opportunities and not have to focus on how to pay for their education, said Cockrum, assistant professor of dairy science.

During their trip to D.C., the students met with representatives from the National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), the USDA-Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (USDA-BARC), the USDA Agricultural Research Service, and the National Association of States Departments of Agriculture.

At NIFA, the group learned more about current agriculture research funding opportunities, as well as internships and jobs within the agency. Director Sonny Ramaswamy stopped by to address the students and share his personal career path that included a call from the White House asking him to become the director of the National Institute for Food and Agriculture in 2012. NIFA works with land-grant universities, such as Virginia Tech, as well as other academic institutions to accomplish their mission.

After spending the morning at NIFA, the students traveled to Beltsville, Maryland, to tour and learn more about the USDA-BARC. The agency focuses on research broken down into seven goals, including such areas as sustainable use of natural resources, human nutrition, food safety, and local and global food supply and security.

While touring USDA-BARC, students met with scientists currently conducting research in sheep genomics and dairy science and they discussed different research techniques.

The trip allowed students to gain further appreciation for those representing agriculture within the government, as well as provided them with an unforgettable chance to network, learn of new opportunities, and expand their current understanding of agricultural research, policy, and law.

- Written by Sarah Martin, a senior from Bracey, Virginia, majoring in animal and poultry sciences
A more ergonomic walker, a better ironing board, and an ambitious plan to transform coal ash ponds into public attractions were several of the student projects that won national and international awards this spring in Virginia Techs College of Architecture and Urban Studies School of Architecture + Design.

Creating public assets from waste landscapes

Lauren Delbridge, a senior landscape architecture major from Wilkesboro, North Carolina, was named a 2017 National Olmsted Scholar  winning the top undergraduate prize and $15,000 from the Landscape Architecture Foundation for her proposal to remediate coal ash ponds into public ecological and educational resources. The Olmsted Scholars Program is the premier national award program for landscape architecture students, honoring students who are advancing sustainable design and fostering human and societal benefits.

Delbridge, who starts a job as a landscape architecture designer in June at LandDesign in Charlotte, North Carolina, plans to use her prize money to visit transformed wastescapes around the world as an inspiration for addressing them in her future research and work.

Her project also won the Landscape Architecture Programs Stanley Abbott Award for the top thesis from an alumni and faculty jury panel. Delbridge became interested in wastescapes during a studio with visiting Assistant Professor Michael Ezban at the Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center in which students explored landfill redesign.
Where else would I ever be sitting in the same class with individuals from more than 10 countries?

Dawn Cutler of Herndon, Virginia, the first graduate of Virginia Techs Two Capitals, Two Masters program, posed this rhetorical question when talking about her year at the University of Kent in Brussels, Belgium.



Cutler completed a master of arts in international conflict and security, with a specialization in human rights law, at the University of Kent during the 2015-16 academic year and will receive a masters in public and international affairs from Virginia Tech at the National Capital Region Commencement on May 14.



The two universities, located, respectively, near NATO and European Union headquarters in Brussels, and the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of United States government in Washington, D.C., offer a unique way for graduate students to study international relations in a Euro-Atlantic context, with an abundance of opportunities for learning, research, and professional advancement.



Drawing Cutler to the dual masters program were a number of factors. She is a Virginia Tech alumna, with a bachelors degree in political science focusing on national security and a minor in history and Middle Eastern studies. The time-efficiency aspect was not new; she earned her undergraduate degree in just three years. Cutler also felt that having both a national and international masters degree would make her a more attractive job candidate to international organizations.



And she had a philosophy: The worst thing you can do is surround yourself with people who are just like you. You want to encourage debates and share opinions with a network of colleagues from different perspectives and different countries, said Cutler.



Enrolled in three trimesters of British-style higher education at the University of Kent, she found that learning came from both inside and outside the classroom.



Brussels is a big city, but it has a small community feel and a very accessible city center, Cutler said. In my year there, I met many people who worked in parliament or at embassies, and now I have friends from all over the world who I continue to learn from.



While a University of Kent student, Cutler co-organized the Brussels School of International Studies Annual International Conference to examine the after-effects of conflict and factors that lead to conflict recurrence. Her thesis concept was democratization: how you study it and how it affects the outcomes of foreign involvement.



In fall 2016, Cutler returned to the U.S. to begin the masters in public and international affairs program at Virginia Tech in Old Town Alexandria. There, in small discussion-based classes, she also found incredible diversity both in faculty and fellow classmates.



I studied with employees from the departments of State, Defense, and Homeland Security as well as with military officers, said Cutler. Theyve given me so many different  and valuable  perspectives to apply in my own areas of interest and work.

During the 2016-17 academic year at Virginia Tech, Cutler completed internships at the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants and at the State Department. There, she saw first-hand how theories work in practical application. Her practical experience at the State Department is the basis for her practicum capstone  a policy review on accountability to affected-populations procedures promoted by the United States.



The idea is that you have to offer people the humanitarian help that they really need, not what a third party thinks they need, she said.



Cutler said that, before Brussels, she had no study abroad experience and was not particularly enthusiastic about the idea of living in another country. That has changed. You might even say I have wanderlust. I am constantly on the lookout for international opportunities, Cutler said.



After graduation, Cutler plans to travel in Europe, visiting classmates from the University of Kent. She will also work at a GOCamp in Ukraine, teaching English to children in new, interactive ways. From September to November 2017, Cutler will complete an internship in the nongovernmental organization sector in Hong Kong.



The incredible learning opportunity I have experienced through the Two Capitals, Two Masters program has further inspired my long-term goal of working for human rights through a federal or international agency, said Cutler. I am sure everything I have gained these past two years will play an important role in helping me help others.



For more information on Two Capitals, Two Masters, offered by the School of Public and International Affairs in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, contact program director Georgeta Pourchot.


I love eating alone. Take a book, sit for a couple hours, have an expensive meal, a drink  in a hectic work week, its a slice of heaven. But I also love eating with a crowd, be it a get-together or an event. And Pars Cuisine, a Persian/Mediterranean restaurant tucked in just off I-25, is definitely the spot for the latter. Pushing through the seemingly typical exterior, youre transported to an oasis rife with traditional rugs, floor tables with sitting pillows, and draping fabricseven an indoor fountain. If that doesnt have you feeling like a sultan, the large and varied menu will. And while we didnt have any belly dancers during our dinner, they do host them, so call ahead.

The meal was a contrast between exotic expectations and the warm comforts of the familiar. In fact, if you think in the right terms, what seems like exotic dining can quickly become a lot more approachable for the average joe diner. Granted, the colonialism of the past has influenced international cuisines but, with the right eyes, dishes that feel scary or exotic at first blush can become less so simply when breaking them down to how theyre made and what theyre made of.

When it came to a drink, I went out on a limb. Doogh traditionally comes either carbonated ($3.50) or not ($3.25), and is a savory yogurt-based drinkbut not in the American sense. What looks like a glass of cold milk freckled with herbs ends up verging on bitter with the subtlest suggestion of mint and salt. Its probably not a drink for everyone, but its certainly worth trying just to say you have. If its sweet you want, or caffeine, take the Turkish coffee ($5)an espresso-sized sip that is powerful sweet, with serious coffee punch. It comes with a little hunk of Turkish Delight and will surely wake you up in the mornin'.

To eat, we started with the Mazeh combination ($15). The greatest hits album of appetizers, it offers seven staples, including: dolmas (stuffed grape leaves), a luscious, garlicky hummus dotted with either saffron or paprika, hunks of a mellow feta and some terrific kalamata olives. There were also a few falafel, and a ramekin of shirazi salad (a bright, cold veggie salad that isnt unlike pico de gallo), and the yogurty, cucumbery goodness of their mast o khiyar. We were sad to miss out on the kashk o bademjoon, but perhaps its the wrong season for eggplant. The whole platter was lined with pita triangles, and it was the perfect amount for the group to start with.

The vegetarian fesenjoon ($12) was a thick mash of walnuts and pomegranate, ground down to a paste and dolloped over rice. The tart fruit was a bright, slightly citrus note against the sturdy, buttery protein of the nuts. The portion was more than generous, and a testament to finding big flavors with just a few supplies while still satisfying choosy palates.

To avoid having to settle on one or two kababs, we took the Pars kabab feast ($82)  a sampling of five different ones. Skewers of barg (filet mignon), chicken breast, a lamb kabab, plus joojeh kabab (Cornish game hen), and kabab koobideh (maybe skirt steak?) filled a giant tin platterwith loads of rice, grilled onions and bell peppers, tomatoes, all atop a slab of naan that soaked up all the the juices. The generous pilaf of basmati rice had either dried pomegranate seeds, currants or some other tart regional berry, and was plenty for a tableful plus a few leftovers. The lamb was moist and subtle; the filet mignon smoky and paired well with the slight char on the grilled veggies. The chicken breast had some spice but hardly anything a native New Mexican would worry over, and the Cornish game hens shared the taste and texture of the more familiar chicken wing. Everything was delightfully fresh and similar enough to dishes we all knew that no one need fret. Consider our horizons expanded.

For dessert, it was halva ($5). Think peanut brittleonly with pistachios instead and a lot less sugar. The earthy flavor of sesame and honey, speckled with raw pistachios gives this dish the right balance of crunchy and chewy and was the perfect end to our meal. Its a pleasant reminder that dessert doesnt have to be sugar or chocolate or caramel, and need not simply be some sliced fruit either.

The world has relied on a handful of basic ways to add heat to food to prepare meals through the centuries. In the simplest terms, its more the regional spices and ingredients than techniques that separate provincial French from, say, American Southern comfort food. Cooking is cooking in many ways. Of course, delicious details are why we eat at new places and try new things. So the next time you and your friends are hungry for anything but the same old thing, step into Pars Cuisine, and step out of the ordinarycomfortable in the knowledge that it'll probably be a lot more familiar than you thought.
The Circle is proof the expression of ideas does not equal a movie. Based on the novel by Dave Eggers, who co-wrote the script with director James Ponsoldt, it has something to say but lacks an interesting narrative with which to say it.

Emma Watson stars as Mae, an ordinary young woman who lands a coveted gig at The Circle, which were repeatedly told is the worlds best employer. Think Facebook meets Google meets Apple, with some Twitter and LinkedIn sprinkled on top.

The company offers top-tier benefits, including an apartment and hundreds of activities. Its also more than a little intrusive, insisting employees swallow tracking chips so their every move can be monitored. When Mae goes to visit her parents for the weekend, she gets a visit from HR and a friendly demand to know about every detail of her trip. Co-workers casually bring up intimate details of her life, making it clear her business is their business.

A series of improbable events leads to Maes meteoric rise from customer service to the public face of the company, sharing a stage with The Circle co-founder Eamon Bailey.

Eamon is played by Tom Hanks, who makes him a warmer, amiable Steve Jobs but with more insidious aims. Hanks is consistently said to be Americas most trusted actor, which means his casting as a world-famous tech god trying to hoodwink society would have been great had the script given him something to do. Instead, he just smiles and lectures us on the need to forego privacy, the curtain never lifting and giving us a hint as to what makes this mysterious guy tick.

But initially, the film teases something great in its depiction of a near-omnipotent corporation bent on eliminating privacy.

Employing Orwellian language such as secrets as lies, the company gets people to submit to 1984-style surveillance not with force, but with a friendly smile and appeal to ego. Its a benevolent Stalinism that enforces standards through monitoring and shame, using a corporation instead of a government.

And its all plausible; think of how people share personal details on their public social media accounts theyd never share with a stranger in person, or the number of sites that hold our financial information.

Yet by the time the story reaches its sudden, unsatisfying conclusion, not much has been said that sticks. Sure, were told privacy in a digital age is key, but the film never makes a case for why.

Ponderous lectures on surveillance take the place of good dialogue to advance the story and explore themes. Meanwhile, the Hanks character states his case so well without an explicit rebuttal that its easy to see some leaving the theater on his side.

The characters dont rise above archetypes. Watson sympathetically portrays Mae, but the characters choices, like agreeing to surveillance of her entire life, come suddenly and without believable explanation. John Boyega, the charismatic young actor who shot to fame in The Force Awakens, has nothing to do with his co-founding character but slips in and out of the story exactly when it requires his presence. And the late Bill Paxton has sadly little to do as Maes sickly father.

Its a shame. If the script had some better exposition and characters grounded in emotional reality, it might have been chilling and provocative.
May Day garage

sale scheduled

WATERLOO -- Trinity Lutheran Church, 605 W. Fourth St., will host a May Day garage sale.

Hours will be noon to 5 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday.

Vision support

group to meet

WATERLOO  The Macular Degeneration/Low Vision support group will meet in Classroom 1 of the Kimball Ridge Center, Kimball and Ridgeway avenues, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Monday.

Dr. Brendan Girschek, retina specialist from Cedar Valley Eye Care, will be the guest speaker. Everyone is welcome.

Call Barb Lamfers at 230-4499 with questions.

Hoover students

set to perform

WATERLOO -- Hoover Middle School's sixth- through eighth-grade choirs will perform a concert at 7 p.m. Monday, with an art show beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the West High School E.W. Kersenbrock auditorium.

Community members, including the Metropolitan Chorale and Bel Canto Cedar Valley, will join to sing on the last song, "There is Peace," by New York-based composer Jim Papoulis. The composer has been in contact with Travis Gratteau-Zinnel, the middle school choir director, with a special handbell part to accompany the song. Handbells will be provided by Reverend Carol Teare and First Baptist Church in Waterloo.

Admission is free and the public is welcome. Donations will be accepted.

Event set to help

provide books

WATERLOO -- Cedar Valley United Way Emerging Leaders and Lark Brewing are partnering to host a "Librewery" event from 4 to 6 p.m. May 11.

Volunteers are invited to Lark Brewing on University Avenue for a book labeling race and assembly of books for the Books for Babies program. United Way's Books for Babies program provides nearly 2,500 board books to babies born in the Cedar Valley each year.

There is no cost to participate and no need to register for the event. Lark is offering event participants $1 off their first pour. More information is available at www.cedarvalleyunitedway.org or by calling 235-6211.
WATERLOO  A pilot program designed to help teens get and keep jobs kicked off this week at Waterloo East High School.

TeenImpact: Waterloos Youth Employment Initiative is a coalition of community partners, including Mayor Quentin Hart, schools, economic development organizations and employers. It is administered through Hawkeye Community College and funded by grants from the McElroy Trust and the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa.

Fortunately or unfortunately, who you know still plays a big role in getting a job, Hart said. Many of our students do not have those organic interactions with the right people needed for job referrals and references.

We want to help all students make those vital connections and better equip them to get a job, be good employees, and start their journey to a meaningful career, he added.

The four-week, 30-hour course for 16- to 19-year-old students is being taught after school by Nate Clayberg, a business consultant, and Expo High School teacher Tami Kinnetz. Those graduating May 25 are guaranteed a job interview with a local business partner.

This is not a subsidized wage program as has been done in the past, Clayberg said, noting the focus instead is on teaching students how to obtain and keep a job on their own.

At 3.5 percent unemployment right now in our area its a job seekers market; you can find a job, Clayberg said. The real falloff, and what were trying to implement with the youth group, is: How do you keep a job? How do you respect where youre at?

They need to have that pre-employment training, the soft skills, he added. Employers want to find employees that will show up on time, are trainable and respectful.

Clayberg said partners hope this new program will be sustainable in future years. He expects to stay in contact with program graduates and their employers throughout the year to see how the curriculum can be improved in the future.

About 10 students began the classes, but organizers were hoping more would join by the end of the week. Graduates will receive up to $125 in food, fuel and clothing gift cards, which can help them in a job search.

Ten businesses had already signed up as Impact Business Partners, pledging to interview candidates who complete the course. Each partner has summer job openings paying minimum wage or greater.

Participating employers are listed at www.TeenImpactALO.org, and there is a sign-up form and additional information for other employers interested in participating.
WATERLOO  A Cedar Rapids man pleaded guilty to gun charges at the last minute in connection with a January shooting in Cedar Falls.

Jurors were beginning to file into the courtroom to hear opening statements in the states case against Corion Jamal Pursley on Wednesday when Judge George Stigler had them return to the jury room because Pursley had taken a plea agreement.

Authorities said witnesses saw Pursley, 22, with a silver revolver when gunfire erupted Jan. 14 during a dance at Wesley Foundation Church on College Street.

He was originally charged with felon in possession of a firearm, but under the plea arrangement hammered out Wednesday, Pursley entered an Alford plea  not admitting guilt but acknowledging he would likely be convicted if the trial continued  to a lesser charge of carrying weapons.

Carrying weapons is a misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of two years in prison, whereas felon in possession of a firearm is a felony carried up to five years.

Sentencing will be at a later date, and the sentence for the weapons charge will run concurrent with a 15-year sentence in three burglary cases stemming from December 2015 home break-ins in Cedar Falls.

Also charged in the dance shooting is 22-year-old Darius Devon Nickelous, who was seen leaving the building with the revolver. Police detained Nickelous and found a .38-caliber revolver nearby. The weapon had spent casings in the cylinder, and Nickelous had an injury to his right forearm.

Nickelous was indicted on a charge of felon in possession of a firearm in U.S. District Court, and trial is tentatively scheduled for later this month.
WASHINGTON, D.C.  Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson endorsed the collaborative approach of an Iowa-based delegation in Washington this week to build federal support for its priorities.

Carson, who became familiar to Iowans while campaigning across the state as a 2016 GOP presidential hopeful, called Wednesday for more holistic approaches to community needs in housing, health care and education.

Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, joked that hes enjoying his new job as President Donald Trumps choice to run an agency known mostly for public housing.

Im so delighted to be in Washington, he told the 63rd Siouxland Chamber of Commerce Washington conference Wednesday evening. I never thought I would say that. Actually, its not bad, but it can be so much better.

Introduced by Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, Carson told more than 60 members of the Iowa-Nebraska-South Dakota group his mission is to change the agency by utilizing a holistic approach, working across silos, to develop people and not just buildings.

That fit nicely with the chambers efforts to work across state lines and boundaries to address community needs.

Its been a nice day to be in Washington, said Barbara Sloniker, executive vice president of the chamber. Everyone here is talking about health care and taxes, which are among the chambers priorities.

Job training is another issue, said Steve Warnstadt, a former Iowa legislator now with Western Iowa Tech Community College. Given the labor demands of the region, the challenge is moving unemployed people into the workforce through education and job training, he said.

Since Congress ended the practice of earmarks, it has become more difficult to get funding for specific projects, Warnstadt said. While true, Slonicker said there are policy changes Congress can make that would help with the chambers priorities.

In addition to Grassley, the chamber reception in the Russell Senate Office Building attracted Sen. Joni Ernst and 4th District Rep. Steve King as well as South Dakota Sens. John Thune and Mike Rounds. All told, the group expects to meet with its six senators and eight House representatives while in Washington.
WATERLOO  A man in his 30s was in serious condition after being shot in an east Waterloo neighbohood on Wednesday evening.

The man, who was not named by Waterloo Police, had life-threatening wounds from the shooting, according to police. The incident happened near Conger and Reed streets.

Police were called at 6:30 p.m. Monday to the scene of the shooting. Shell casings were found at the scene.

Police were still looking for a suspect or suspects in the shooting and had made no arrests as of Wednesday night.
The imprint of the author of The Art of the Deal was conspicuously missing from a new federal budget agreement that ignored the draconian proposals President Donald Trump sought for fiscal year 2018.

The $1.16 trillion deal for the next five months that raised the federal debt ceiling was a temporary victory for centrists, extending a budget approved during the Obama administration. The next federal fiscal year budget begins Oct. 1.

The agreement was reached by a coalition of moderate Republicans and Democrats, leaving the Freedom Caucus  the far-right tea party group that includes Rep. Rod Blum, R-Dubuque  outside looking in. According to the Washington Post, the White House was excluded from discussions, its participation deemed as unhelpful by congressional aides.

For his proposed fiscal 2018 skinny budget, Trump wants a 9 percent or $54 billion increase in military spending  3 percent more than envisioned  along with a larger increase for Homeland Security and his border wall.

To offset those costs, the White House targeted 62 domestic programs  environmental, health and medical research, the arts, after-school programs, community development, aid to low-income families and subsidies for rural airports among them  for elimination. Others faced drastic cuts, including agriculture.

They were spared for now, including Planned Parenthood funding, long in conservatives cross hairs, as the domestic budget was increased by $5 billion.

Democrats were quick with self-congratulatory declarations, claiming leverage, particularly in the Senate where Republicans hold a 52-48 majority but require 60 votes to pass most legislation. Many moderate Republicans were wary of the impact of Trumps proposed cuts on their constituencies.

I think its great that the Democrats like the bill, said White House budget director Mick Mulvaney. We thought it was a really good deal for this administration as well.

Mulvaney claimed the administration didnt push for bricks and mortar for the wall but new fixes instead, belying its quest to start 14 miles of construction near San Diego. While the White House contends the wall will be built, it must overcome concerns of many border state and moderate Republicans as well as Democrats concerning its cost and effectiveness.

While Trump didnt get his $1 billion down payment on the wall, $1.5 billion was allocated for increased border protection, including improving the fence dividing California and Arizona from Mexico, while adding sensors and lights.

However, his Executive Order to immediately hire 5,000 new Border Patrol agents was pared to 100.

The congressional negotiators approved $21 billion in higher defense spending  $6 billion in budget increases and $15 billion from an off-budget war fund  about two-thirds of what Trump wanted.

Among the survivors and those averting substantial cuts were:

The Essential Air Service program for rural airports, providing Waterloo with an annual $945,546 subsidy for 13 American Airlines weekly flights, which emerged intact.

The National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities, which got an additional $2 million instead of extinction.

Public broadcasting, which maintained its budgets.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which lost $13 million rather than facing Trump reforms with an unspecified cost, while the Public Health Preparedness and Response Center, which prepares for a bioterrorism attack or pandemic, was fully funded.

The National Institutes of Health, which received a $2 billion increase instead of $5.8 billion in cuts, for research into Alzheimers disease, antibiotic resistance and other treatments and cures.

The Environmental Protection Agency, which retained 99 percent of its funding rather than a 31 percent cut. However, its staffing is at Reagan era levels.

The food stamp program, which took a $2.4 billion hit based on declining enrollment.

Planned Parenthood, which received funding for Medicaid patients (about 40 percent of its budget).

In addition, $130 million was allocated to fight opioid addiction and $30 million for mental health programs.

Some budget items were directed at Trump:

An additional $61 million was approved to pay local law enforcement agencies for the cost of protecting Trump and his family at the Trump tower in New York City and Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla.

All Executive Orders are required to have cost estimates. Trump has issued 30.

While the agreement averted a government shutdown, Trump later tweeted a good shutdown in the fall was needed to force a partisan confrontation over spending, including a reversal of Senate rules effectively requiring a supermajority to pass most major legislation.

Well find out then whether this coalition will hold amid his proposed tax cut forecast to reduce revenues by $5.5 trillion over 10 years and still unannounced $1 trillion infrastructure plan.

Meanwhile Trump and Congress continue to ignore entitlement reforms (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the like), which constitute 60 percent of the federal budget.
PITTSBURGH (AP)  The Pittsburgh Penguins found a way to survive without injured star Sidney Crosby.

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 36 shots and rookie Jake Guentzel took advantage of a fortunate bounce for his playoff-leading eighth goal and the defending Stanley Cup champions held off the Washington Capitals 3-2 on Wednesday night in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Justin Schultz scored in a second straight game and Patric Hornqvist picked up his third of the postseason as Pittsburgh took a 3-1 lead in the series.

The Penguins played without Crosby, who is out indefinitely with a concussion suffered in Game 3.

Pittsburgh has a chance to eliminate the Capitals in Game 5 on Saturday in Washington.

DUCKS 4, OILERS 3, OT: Jakob Silfverberg scored 45 seconds into overtime and the Ducks tied their second round series with Edmonton.

The Oilers, who jumped out to a 2-0 lead before surrendering three second period goals, tied the score with just 1:42 remaining in regulation on a Drake Caggiula goal.

The series shifts back to Anaheim on Friday. The road team has won all four games in the series thus far.
WATERLOO  A Waterloo man was arrested for allegedly breaking into drop boxes and mail boxes to steal checks.

Neighbors in the 3800 block of Tami Terrace called police around 7 p.m. Monday after noticing a suspicious man in the area.

Officers detained Derek Ryan Krieger, 33, and found an abundant amount of mail in his pockets, which turned out to be rental payments to property management companies.

Some of the mail was from 3729 W. Ninth St., and police found the mailbox at that address had been pried open. They also found $1,235 worth of rental checks tenants left in a drop box at an apartment building at 3602 Joan Drive and a check left by a special needs tenant that had been placed in a mailbox at 511 Wildwood Road, according to police.

Krieger, of 1303 Ravenwood Road, was arrested for second-degree theft and three counts of third-degree burglary. His bond was set at $30,000.

Police investigate

business burglary WATERLOO  Police are investigating a burglary at a Waterloo restaurant.

Officers were called to an alarm at Una Bar and Restaurant, 910 W. Fifth St., at about 12:03 a.m. Friday while the establishment was closed. They discovered the glass on the back door had been shattered with a brick.

The intruder took two cash registers from the business, and the registers were later found outside in the 700 block of Allen Street, said Capt. David Mohlis with the Waterloo Police Department.

No arrests have been made in the case.11 arrested in drug probe

OELWEIN  Eleven people have been charged in connection with a months-long investigation into drug trafficking in the Oelwein area.

The probe involved officers with the Oelwein Police Department, the Fayette County Sheriffs Office and the Iowa State Patrol.

Those arrested include:

Joseph Barker, 35, of Oelwein, delivery of methamphetamine.

Randy John Butts, 38, of Oelwein, delivery of methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine.

Brad Everett Drewelow, 50, of Oelwein, delivery of methamphetamine.

Elizabeth Helen Gabriel, 30, of Oelwein, delivery of methamphetamine.

Abby Claire Green, 19, of Fairbank, delivery of methamphetamine.

Justin Kyle Green, 24, of Oelwein, delivery of marijuana, and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

David Allan Latham, 27, of Oelwein, delivery of methamphetamine.

Matthew Ward Moore, 24, of Oelwein, delivery of methamphetamine.

Brian Edward Otdoerfer, 32, of Oelwein, delivery of methamphetamine, and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

Daniel Eugene Parker, 53, of Oelwein, delivery of prescription medications, and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

Eric Jason Rose, 41, of Sumner, possession of a meth in excess of 5 grams.
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Sveta and nature seem to get along very well. They never find her threatening and always carry on like she is not there. This bird is watching her, but he has a business to attend to and gathers a mouth full of twigs and grass

Speaking of birds, quail eggs are cheap and Russians love them. You can find them in just about any store with food and I bought some for Svetochka. I created this delight for her and she even took a picture of it. Sveta loved it and smiled the whole time she ate it

Now I still find it interesting that Russians love dandelions so much. As an American we try to eradicate them, but a Russian loves them. So much so, Svetochka takes pictures of them all the time

The last two images are of a family and their two kids. The kids are safely tucked away in the green trailer attached to the bike. Then off dad goes towing the kids behind him. Parents in Russia are always pulling their kids somewhere. Either on a sled in the winter, a wagon in the summer and now we see that they have special covered trailers to haul them around. Keeps dad in good shape

You just saw Moscow through the eyes of Svetochka, while she is out riding her bike and or at home

Love that girl, her outlook on life is fantastic and refreshing

WtR
Their full-network option (Select Plus) is pricing out at 10% less than Anthem and 20% less than Blue Shield on average.

CARMEL, CA, May 04, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ --



Finally, a bit of good news on the Employer health insurance market in California.



Running 100's of group health quotes for California companies scrambling to bring down costs, we're seeing a clear trend.



United Health's PPO options are coming in much lower than the competitors in many markets.



Their full-network option (Select Plus) is pricing out at 10% less than Anthem and 20% less than Blue Shield on average.



Their HMOs are also pricing lower than most carriers aside from Kaiser.



United will allow a "Kaiser" wrap where an employee can pick and choose between options at either carrier. The carrier just requires a minimum enrollment with United to do this.



United is also offering a "narrow network" PPO option called Core that further reduces costs by 10-20% on average from the Select Plus option.



A California company can offer a suite of plans from both Select Plus (full network) and Core (narrow network) to each employee and let them choose.



More information is available on how to quote these United Health options for California companies here: http://www.calhealth.net/United-Health-Group-Rates-Save-Employers.html



You can request a complete quote including United Health and major carriers in your area directly here: http://www.calhealth.net/QUOTE_SMALL_BUSINESS.htm



www.calhealth.net is provided by Goodacre Insurance Services. Goodacre Insurance Services is a licensed California health agent with 20+ years experience in all segments of the California health insurance market. Goodacre Insurance Services has helped 10's of 1000's of Californian individuals, companies, and seniors find affordable health coverage. Their services are free to the customer and they welcome questions or inquiries.



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A vacation in Lake Tahoe has something for everyone. From mellow family outings, adventurous hiking and climbing, romantic excursions, and fun group activities, this destination makes it easy to satisfy a variety of interests and activities.

Lake Tahoe boasts some of the bluest, clearest water in North America to swim in and paddle, and you'll also find sandy, relaxing beaches. It's a great place to kick off summer because it offers the best of both a mountain town and a beach town. You will love the lazy California vibes of this place and the incredible mountain hikes and activities that go along with it.

This year, heavy winter snows might still be lingering on the peaks. Most campgrounds and other activities should be open, especially close to the lake, but note that you might not be able to go on the same hikes you were able to climb in previous years. If you have snowshoes and room in the car, go ahead and throw those in just in case.

One thing visitors to Tahoe don't often realize until they get here is that the lake is huge. It's circumference is about 70 miles, and you should expect it will take at least an hour to drive from South Lake to North Tahoe on winding, narrow roads.

If you do it right, you can take your time traveling along this beautiful loop and see everything the area has to offer.

Day 1: Truckee and Tahoe City

Paddle Donner Lake: This quaint alpine lake is perfect for early morning paddles in a kayak or on a SUP, but it does get pretty choppy in the afternoon. Bring a life jacket or rent one in town.

Donner Memorial State Park: Perfect for walking the dog or trail runs, the Donner Memorial State Park is a great place to start if you are new to the area and want to learn about the local history and chat with folks about what you want out of your time there.

Pacific Crest Trail: Donner Summit is a great place to hop on the PCT in either direction to get a feel for what this major thru-hike is all about. Hike south to Mount Judah (5.1 miles) round trip or north to take in views of Castle Peak (7 miles round trip). Both directions should have plenty of wildflowers, pretty mountain streams, and some snow still on the trail.

Five Lakes Trail Hike: This 4.8-mile trek is one of the most beautiful hikes in the Granite Chief Wilderness Area. Allow yourself plenty of time to explore the terrain and find your favorite lake.

Float the Truckee River: Excess snow this season means that this ride is going to be a little more wild and a lot less mellow than in years past. Only attempt if the weather is warm enough to warrant a chilly dip in the Truckee and if you know best practices when it comes to river safety.

Commons Beach: This is a city park in Tahoe City on Lake Tahoe's west shore. Kayaks are available for rent during the summer when the area is popular for swimming and for family excursions.

Tahoe Area State Recreation Area Campground: This is an ideal spot to hunker dow for the night and get ready for your journey around the lake on day two of your trip.

Day 2: Tahoe's West Shore, Emerald Bay, South Lake Tahoe and Stateline

Sugar Pine Point State Park: This state park offers beautiful views of Lake Tahoe and was once a private residence. It was opened to the public as a day use area in 1965, although well-kept Tahoe 11,000-square-foot Ehrman Mansion (also known as Pine Lodge) still stands here.

D.L. Bliss State Park: Typically open from May through September, D.L. Bliss caters to summer visitors with its sandy beaches, interesting rock formations, and clear waters of Calawee Cove and Lester Beach. With easy access from both the campground and day use parking area, both beaches are well suited for families and for the launching of personal watercraft.

Emerald Bay State Park: One of the most iconic spots in Lake Tahoe, this stop is also usually the most crowded, especially since parking here on the side of Highway 89 is just a nightmare. There's definitely a reason why it is such a hotspot, however. Tucked into the southwest corner of the lake, the long bay opens up inside the narrow mouth at Emerald and Eagle Points, and its shimmering emerald green to azure blue waters beckon boaters, swimmers and hikers to explore its shoreline. Emerald Bay State Park is also well known as the home of Vikingsholm, an impressive historic Scandinavian mansion turned museum, and the bay contains the only real island found in Lake Tahoe's waters.

Eagle Lake Hike: Located near Eagle Falls, Eagle Lake is a mellow, family-friendly destination where you can view Emerald Bay from above. Just a mile in from the trailhead, the Eagle Lake Trail rises gradually as it follows the Eagle Creek drainage. Be sure to check out the falls, as well!

Rubicon Trail Hike: This 8.3-mile out and back hike through D.L. Bliss and Emerald Bay is a moderately level trail that offers an intimate look at Tahoe's blue waters from elevated vantages that hug rocky precipices and lakeside sections near the water's edge.

Mount Tallac: Just shy of 5 miles, the trail meanders past lakes and through forests, climbing bowls and ridges to gain the summit nearly 3,300 feet above the trailhead. The 10-mile round trip takes most hikers around six hours, including time to soak in the panorama on the summit.

South Lake Tahoe: This is a great spot for your home base on your second night. The bustling town offers nightlife and fancy dining options as well as campgrounds at lower elevations that shouldn't be too snowed in this time of year.

Day 3: East Shore, Incline Village, and Kings Beach

Sand Harbor State Park: With a beautiful, family-friendly beach, a visitor center, kayak rentals, and short hiking trails, there are plenty of reasons to spend the day at this state park.

Secret Cove + Chimney Beach Loop: A 2.6-mile hike that rewards with spectacular views of the lake from a quintessential white sand and boulder beach.

Tahoe Rim Trail: Another major thru-hike that you can hop on for a few hours, the Tahoe Rim Trail is known for its stunning vistas of Lake Tahoe and the surrounding forests. It gets you a little more off the beaten path, especially if you are able to go on some of the longer hikes. A few of the eastshore hikes to choose from include the Kingsbury Grade North (1 mile round trip), Tahoe Meadows South (4 miles round trip), and Spooner Summit North to Snow Valley Peak (12.4 miles round trip).

Speedboat Beach: This beach in between Kings Beach and Incline Village is Lake Tahoe at it's finest. It features large, granite boulders to scramble up and a sandy beach to relax on. It's a great place to launch a Kayak, as well.

Kings Beach: The close proximity to the town Kings Beach makes this beach an easily-accessible and convenient jaunt for tourists visiting Lake Tahoe. You won't find better beach access from restaurants, shops and hotels on Tahoe's north shore. It's located right across the street from a Safeway, which means that when you need to restock on barbecue or other Memorial Day fixings, it's super convenient.
Gertz, 54, a writer who lives near San Diego, and Ghossn, 56, who lives in East Islip, N.Y., and works for the local water authority, had never met or spoken for the more than four decades they had been (totally platonic) pen pals. Gertz had tried many times to arrange a meeting, but Ghossn was superstitious: He was afraid of disrupting the relationship that years of letters had created.

In the beginning, the letters had been superficial. "When we were young, we painted idyllic pictures of our lives," Gertz told Good Housekeeping. "As the years went on, it became more mature in what we discussed."

When Ghossns mother died, in 2006, he wrote Gertz a letter on an airplane napkin as he flew to her funeral. It was a moment they both realized that the other was a de facto family member.

The two finally met on April 11, when Gertz was in the New York area touring Hofstra University with her 18-year-old son. (She and Craig Gertz, an attorney, have been married for 20 years, and they have a son, Jonah, and a 12-year-old daughter, Talia.) A video of the meeting shows Gertz and Ghossn embracing, stepping back to look at each other incredulously, then embracing again.

I didnt want to meet her because I was afraid she wouldnt like me or that shed be disappointed, Ghossn told the San Diego Union-Tribune. But then I had a lot of loss in my family, and I realized she is my family and I needed to meet her. Now I wish Id done it sooner.

"When we met, he was sobbing, Gertz said in the Good Housekeeping interview. I was so gloriously happy. I didn't cry until hours later.

The two still live on opposite coasts and plan to continue writing letters. They are also planning their next visit, at Christmas, which Ghossn plans to spend with Gertz and her family.
If Britain gave gold watches to retiring members of the royal family, Prince Philip and his seven decades of service would merit platinum.

Philip, who will turn 96 in June, announced this week he will retire from royal duties next fall after seven decades at the side of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest reigning British monarch. In 2009, he became the longest-serving consort in British history.

Also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, he was born a prince of Greece and Denmark and is a third cousin to his wife. They married when she was 21 and he was 26, and he became a naturalized British citizen.

The Prince has kept an active public calendar, which the BBC has tallied to include 22,191 solo engagements and 637 solo overseas visits. He wrote 14 books along the way.
Despite the lack of guidance, some states will move forward to create these savings opportunities. But others will likely be reluctant to do so without the guidance.

Today, the Senate moved to limit opportunities for families who want to save for a better life as they age, said Nancy LeaMond, AARP executive vice president. Too many small-business employees dont have a way to save for retirement out of their regular paycheck.

Research shows that people are far more likely to save for retirement if they can contribute to a workplace plan, such as a 401(k), through payroll deductions. About 55 million employees dont have this option.

To address this problem, seven states, including California, Illinois and Washington, have passed legislation to set up retirement plans for private-sector workers whose employers dont offer one. More than 20 other states, as well as Seattle, Philadelphia and New York City, have considered adopting such plans, often called work and save or secure choice.

Generally, under these plans, employers automatically direct a portion of a workers paycheck into an IRA. Employers do not add any money to the account, and workers can also choose not to participate.

The plans arent universally liked. The financial services industry says these programs are unfair competition to banks and investment firms.

The Senate vote will not deter Oregon from moving forward with its retirement plan, said Joel Metlen, public engagement manager for the Oregon State Treasury. Oregon plans to launch a pilot of its OregonSaves program in July.

OregonSaves is designed for the 1 million Oregonians who dont have a plan on the job, are self-employed or work part time and are ineligible for an employers plan.
Player to watch on every South Dakota HS football state final team

A few of the players expected to play big roles in their teams' pursuit of a South Dakota high school football state title this weekend.
HIGHLY SOPHISTICATED LOCKERS OF EIGHT DIFFERENT SIZES ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FOR BOOKING AT THE MOUNT ROSKILL FACILITY

Auckland, New Zealand  May 4, 2017  Imperial Vaults Limited has announced that the new vaults are now available in their Mount Roskill facility at Auckland. Imperial Vaults is Aucklands leading private vault facility and is the number one choice for the people who want to hold their assets outside the banking system. The state of the art, high security lockers at Imperial Vaults are available in a wide range of sizes and can contain all kinds of precious valuables.

From investment bullion to the precious metals, our clients deposit all kinds of valuable assets in our vaults with utmost trust and satisfaction that we highly regard. Said the spokesperson of Imperial Vaults Limited. At our facility, we have blended traditional and modern security measures together to create a fool-proof security system that is impenetrable and unbreakable by all means. He added. The facility is open seven days a week and this is another great features which banks do not offer.

At Imperial Vaults, clients deposit jewelry, family heirlooms, irreplaceable and sentimental objects, important documents and intellectual property, data and hard drives, etc. The heavy steel construction of the vaults and vigilant security of the facility have a reputation that precedes them when it comes to safekeeping in Auckland. Moreover, the biometric access makes it more secure and risk free for the clients to use the services of the vault.

Another convenient service offered by the vaults is that a client can arrange the terms on flexible basis meaning that they can rent a locker for short-term, long-term and even lifetime basis. In addition, the rates are extremely competitive and this adds to the reasons why people are choosing these lockers in Auckland. The company offers eight different types of storage lockers based on their sizes to make sure that the clients get the perfect size for their items. Furthermore, the company also ensures privacy and confidentiality. Clients can access their boxes in a private viewing room with comfort and ease, whenever they want.

For details and bookings, please visit: www.imperialvaults.co.nz

Media Contact

Company Name: Imperial Vault Ltd.

Contact Person: Public Relations

Email: info@imperialvaults.co.nz

Phone: +64 9-629 0099

Address:Ground Floor, 190 Stoddard Road

City: Mount Roskill

State: Auckland 1041

Country: New Zealand

Website: www.imperialvaults.co.nz


Drilling Identifies High Grade Gold Mineralisation at East Burtville Prospect

Perth, May 4, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - White Cliff Minerals Limited ( ASX:WCN ) ("White Cliff" or the "Company") is pleased to report that it has identified significant gold mineralisation in air-core drilling at the East Burtville Gold Prospect which forms part of the Merolia Gold Project, near Laverton Western Australia.



Key Points:



- Drilling identifies high grade gold mineralisation

o 8 metres at 6.7 g/t gold

o 4 metres at 5.1 g/t gold



- Mineralisation associated with extensive quartz veining that extends north and south of drill intersections



- Mineralisation starts at surface and is open at depth and along strike



The Company recently completed a 733 metre drilling program targeting significant gold mineralisation identified in historical exploration and mine workings.



The current drilling identified high grade gold mineralisation including:



- 8 metres at 6.7 g/t gold from surface

- 4 metres at 5.1 g/t gold from surface

- 4 metres at 3.4 g/t gold from 40m within quartz veining

- 8 metres at 0.68 g/t gold from 72m within quartz veining



The gold mineralisation is associated with a north-south trending quartz vein occurring within metamorphosed basalts. The quartz vein is exposed at surface and has been intersected in drilling over a strike length of 100 metres and is open along strike and at depth. Intersections from historic drilling also intersected high grade gold mineralisation associated with quartz veining including:



- 5 metres at 27.8 g/t gold including 1 metre at 135 g/t gold

- 2 metres at 6.7 g/t gold and;

- 3 metres at 5.3 g/t gold.



The Company has collected the single metre sample intervals for analysis and will plan further drilling once these assays have been received and reported.



Managing Director Todd Hibberd commented that "The East Burtville prospect has great potential to host a high grade gold deposit that is amenable to open pit mining. The quartz vein has been identified over 100 metres of strike and 80 metres depth with some very attractive grades. The Laverton region has several mills that are within haulage distance so a small open pit-toll treatment operation is a distinct possibility. Once the one metre samples have been received and evaluated the company will plan further drilling".



East Burtville Drilling Identifies High Grade Quartz Vein



The recent RC drilling targeted a quartz vein identified by historical exploration and mine workings. The quartz vein is sub-vertical and trends north south and is 1-5 metres wide occurring within mafic schist (metamorphosed basalt). Prior to drilling the orientation of the quartz vein was unknown so drilling tested several possible orientations. Of the 17 holes completed, the quartz vein or shear zone was intersected in 5 holes (BEAC 1-5) confirming the north-south orientation.



Historical drilling (MLJC-36 and MLJC-31) intersected the vein/shear zone along strike north and south of the main drilling. Both contained quartz and alteration but no gold mineralisation. The Company notes that the nature of gold deposition in quartz veins can be very discrete with the gold occurring in plunging shoots or as isolated nuggets with no gold in the adjacent quartz. The Company is very encouraged by the presence of the quartz veining and believes further drilling is warranted.



East Burtville Background



The Company acquired the East Burtville Prospect in 2011 as part of the Merolia Gold and Nickel project. The prospect occurs in the north-westerly trending Merolia greenstone belt which is interpreted to form part of the Laverton greenstone belt. The geology is typically basalts, ultramafic and felsic volcanic rocks that have been metamorphosed to green schist facies.



Mineralisation occurs as quartz veining in metamorphosed basalts which trends north-south and is sub-vertical. The vein has been identified over 100 metres via drilling and is untested along strike and at depth.



A vertical mine shaft and associated mine workings (circa ~1992) were constructed based on some high grade gold intersections in historical drilling. No production records are available for the small scale mining operation but extensive re-sampling of the ore stock piles and waste dumps have produced some spectacular grades up to 38 g/t in channel samples. The remaining ore stockpiles contain economic levels of gold mineralisation (see ASX release Dated 20th October 2016).



To view tables and figures, please visit:

http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/2724A08Y





About White Cliff Minerals Ltd





White Cliff Minerals Ltd is a Gold, Copper, Cobalt, Nickel resources and mining company listed in Australia (ASX:WCN). The Company is focused on developing low cost high value mineral deposits that have near term cash flow potential.

Major projects include the Aucu gold deposit that contains 484,000 ounces of gold (3mt at 5.1 g/t) starting at surface and Chanach copper deposit that contains 64,000 tonnes of copper (17.2Mt at 0.37% copper). Both projects have substantial blue sky potential with drilling covering only 5% of the known structures. In Australia the company is developing the Coronation Dam cobaltnickel deposit where a maiden resource will be announced in the late 2018.


2017 Update - Strong Drilling Results Continue

Sydney, May 4, 2017 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Cobalt Blue Holdings Limited ( ASX:COB ) is pleased to provide an update on its recently completed 1H 2017 resource definition drilling program at Thackaringa, NSW.



- Results support potential for significant enhancement of Mineral Resource.



- Results support potential to enhance the average grade within the overall mineralised envelope.



- The current announcement summarises assay results received year to date from seven diamond drill (DD) holes (1,011 metres total) and 24 reverse circulation (RC) holes (2,801 metres total) within the Railway, Pyrite Hill and Big Hill deposits. COB will announce results from the remaining seven DD and 14 RC holes on completion of the assay process.



- Current assay results continue to define a broad mineralised envelope and confirm the Thackaringa project as a significant cobalt-pyrite deposit.



- At Railway, current assays confirm high-grade intersections of mineralisation within a wide and continuous envelope. Best mineralised intercepts include:



o Drillhole 17THD06 - 46m @ 1,136ppm Co, 11.4% S and 10.1% Fe from 39m;

o Drillhole 17THR001 - 36m @ 1,075ppm Co, 10.6% S and 10.4% Fe from 27m;

o Drillhole 17THR005 - 20m @ 1,053 ppm Co, 12.8% S and 12.6% Fe from 52m;

o Drillhole 17THR008 - 41m @ 1,319ppm Co, 12.2% S and 11.2% Fe from 37m; and

o Drillhole 17THR011 - 53m @ 1,116ppm Co, 12.0% S and 10.9% Fe from 30m



- At Pyrite Hill assays confirm the mineralisation within the host lithology. Best mineralised intercepts include:



o Drillhole 17THD01 - 89m @ 982ppm Co, 9.4% S and 8.7% Fe from 34m;

o Drillhole 17THR016 - 49m @ 1,096ppm Co, 12.9% S and 13.4% Fe from 66m;

o Drillhole 17THR017 - 58m @ 1,383ppm Co, 13.2% S and 12.8% Fe from 54m; and

o Drillhole 17THR021 - 20m @ 1,204ppm Co, 13.1% S and 12.7% Fe from 44m.



- Best mineralised intercepts at Big Hill include:



o Drillhole 17THR013 - 54m @ 888ppm Co, 5.4% S and 5.0% Fe from 19m drill depth.



Cobalt Blue Holdings Limited is delighted to announce the completion of its 1H 2017 resource definition drilling program at the Thackaringa cobalt project, west of Broken Hill, NSW. Completion of this campaign is a major milestone. The current assay will be used as the basis for a new and updated resource estimation process, commencing in May.



This announcement summarises the assays from a total of thirty one (31) drill holes completed for a total of 3,812 metres. Breakdown of drilling by deposit: (see the link below).



Drilling to date has focussed on the higher priority Railway and Pyrite Hill areas which together contribute 95% of the existing Inferred Mineral Resource inventory of 33.1Mt at 833ppm Co (reference COB Replacement Prospectus released 31 January 2017).



Following the Company's stated accelerated exploration strategy, the 1H 2017 drilling program was completed by three drill rigs (one diamond and two reverse circulation). Inclined drill holes (between 40deg and 60deg) were designed to intersect the steeply dipping deposits at an optimal orientation. Drill results continue to confirm the predictive geological model.



The Thackaringa deposits have a combined strike length of over 4.5 kilometres varying from 25 to 100 metres width. Significant local thickening of the mineralised envelope is due to the extensive development of isoclinal folding within the host lithology unit. Initial interpretation of 2017 data suggests that this deformation may locally enhance cobalt and pyrite grade. This new structural information provides a further opportunity to define high grade lenses within the broader mineralised envelope. At Railway, zones of high grade cobalt mineralisation were intersected in the hanging wall of the deposit and demonstrate strong continuity.



Drilling undertaken to date has focussed on the shallow mineralisation - to approximately 150 metres below surface with confirmed mineralisation to greater depths. Mineralisation at all three of the deposits remains open down-dip. In addition to potential depth extension, discrete pods of mineralisation mapped within the footwall at Railway deposit were intersected by drilling and offer additional footwall exploration potential. The JV technical team is currently finalising geological modelling to further guide the pending revision of the Mineral Resource Estimate. This process will begin in May 2017, on delivery of the final batch of assay results. Further technical studies are continuing in parallel as the Company remains on schedule to deliver the Scoping Study by mid-2017.



Field operations continue with rehabilitation of drill sites and preparations for the forecast commencement of baseline environmental and hydrological monitoring.



Cobalt Blue Chairman, Robert Biancardi commented:



"COB is delighted with the timely and efficient conclusion to the drilling program. Preliminary interpretation of the results supports the Company's belief that the Thackaringa JV is defining a world class cobalt-pyrite deposit. We remain confident that data acquired during the 2016 and 2017 drilling programs will allow a significant enhancement in the estimated Mineral Resource. Initial indications also suggest that recent work has enhanced the average grade within the overall mineralised envelope."



Further results will be forthcoming from the final assay samples presently being processed, which should be available for market release by the beginning of June. The 2017 program comprised a significant RC program designed to improve drilling density in support of a forthcoming update of the Mineral Resource estimation; and a Diamond Drilling program which - like the 2016 program - will provide ROM material for metallurgical testwork.



Railway



The Railway deposit is an elongated outcrop of mineralisation within a high-grade metamorphic host rock. The pyrite-quartz-albite gneiss mineralised lithology has a total strike length of some 3,000 metres, continuing in a south-west arc to the Big Hill deposit, which is offset by faulting (see Figure 2 in the link below).



Drilling at Railway comprised eight DD holes for a total of 1,126m and 23 RC holes for a total 3,053m. The program was designed to close the spacing between holes to allow a re estimation of the existing Mineral Resource.



The latest drilling assays confirm previous exploration results of high-grade cobalt and pyrite mineralisation. Assays from Railway confirm broad, continuous zones of cobalt and pyrite mineralisation significantly higher than the average resource grade (see Figure 3 in the link below).



Railway Results



Assays at Railway Trend confirm high grade intersections of mineralisation within a wide and continuous envelope. Best mineralised intercepts include:



- Drillhole 17THD06 - 46m @ 1,136ppm Co, 11.4% S and 10.1% Fe from 39m drill depth

- Drillhole 17THR001 - 36m @ 1,075ppm Co, 10.6% S and 10.4% Fe from 27m drill depth

- Drillhole 17THR005 - 20m @ 1,053 ppm Co, 12.8% S and 12.6% Fe from 52m drill depth

- Drillhole 17THR008 - 41m @ 1,319ppm Co, 12.2% S and 11.2% Fe from 37m drill depth

- Drillhole 17THR011 - 53m @ 1,116ppm Co, 12.0% S and 10.9% Fe from 30m drill depth



These results confirm the previous tenor and elevated grade of cobalt-pyrite mineralisation along the defined strike length. Mineralisation at Railway remains open along strike and down-dip, boosting the potential for an open pittable resource.



Pyrite Hill



The Pyrite Hill deposit is hosted within an extensively metamorphosed pyrite-albite-quartz gneiss. The deposit has a strike length of 1,200m and dips moderately to the east (see Figure 5 in the link below).



The drilling at Pyrite Hill comprised four DD holes for a total of 451m and 12 RC holes for a total 1,308m. The RC program was designed to close the spacing between existing holes to allow recalculation of the Mineral Resource; the DD program comprised holes to twin existing RC holes and to provide material for metallurgical testwork.



Pyrite Hill results



At Pyrite Hill assays confirm the down-dip mineralisation within the host lithology. Best mineralised intercepts include:



- Drillhole 17THD01 - 89m @ 982ppm Co, 9.4% S and 8.7% Fe from 34m drill depth;

- Drillhole 17THR016 - 49m @ 1,096ppm Co, 12.9% S and 13.4% Fe from 66m drill depth;

- Drillhole 17THR017 - 58m @ 1,383ppm Co, 13.2% S and 12.8% Fe from 54m drill depth; and

- Drillhole 17THR021 - 20m @ 1,204ppm Co, 13.1% S and 12.7% Fe from 44m drill depth;



Big Hill



The Big Hill deposit is an off-set southwestern extension of the high-grade metamorphic host at Railway. The drilling at Big Hill comprised two diamond holes for a total of 219m and three RC holes for a total of 314m. The RC program was designed to test the mineralisation at sparsely explored north-eastern end of the prospect at an interpreted offset fault zone between Big Hill and Railway. The diamond program comprised holes to provide solid core to assist the structural interpretation of this complex hinge structure.



Big Hill results



The 2017 drilling at Big Hill has discovered some structural complications at a fault zone, nevertheless some of the highest-yet cobalt mineralisation was intersected in this section. Best mineralised intercepts include:



- Drillhole 17THR013 - 54m @ 888ppm Co, 5.4% S and 5.0% Fe from 19m drill depth



To view tables and figures, please visit:

http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/4K1LU7F9





About Cobalt Blue Holdings Limited





Cobalt Blue Holdings Ltd (ASX:COB) (FRA:COH) (OTCMKTS:CBBHF) is an exploration and project development company. Work programs advancing the Broken Hill Cobalt Project in New South Wales continue. Our ambitious goals are subject to funding availability. Cobalt is a strategic metal in strong demand for new generation batteries, particularly lithium-ion batteries now being widely used in clean energy systems.
With countless bottles to choose from while shopping for wine, and without the ability of the winery to have their products sampled prior to purchase (most of the time anyway), the label

on the bottle is the last hurrah, if you will, for a winery to maximize their chances of their bottles being the chosen ones. What should a winery put on that label to get someone to buy it? A flashy label? A wordy story? The decision to what the label should look like can arguably be just as important as the growing of the grape and other winemaking processes prior to the wine even going into the bottle.

The label must be attractive enough to catch someones attention and to keep that gaze long enough to create a conscious or subconscious attachment and preference on the part of the consumer. While wine purchase decisions vary among individuals, it is often the beginners or wine novices that most use the label itself as a crucial factor in this decision.

General consumer studies have shown that a persons gaze can both reflect and bias purchase decisions. In other words, by looking at a wine label, gaze can tell a lot about how someone feels about it as well as their likelihood of purchasing that bottle. Known as the gaze cascade effect, the longer someone looks at a label, the more cognitive processing occurs and subconscious preferences are developed. By having an attractive label that draws the eye would likely then improve the chances of that wine being purchased, based on the theories behind the gaze cascade effect.

To date, most research on wine selection (or retail in general) is based upon questionnaires and surveys. While these approaches only consider conscious decision-making processes, the world of subconscious influence on purchases decisions is relatively unknown. We might say in a survey that wed purchase a bottle of wine based upon x, y, and z, is that how wed behave when faced with the actual decision to buy a bottle of wine?

One way to approach this question of how our subconscious behaviors influence our purchase decisions is by using eye-tracking technologies. Briefly, eye-tracking technology can monitor several physiological responses of the eye when presented with visual stimuli in real-time, thus allowing the researcher to determine how much they are paying attention to that stimuli and relating that to the final purchase decision made by that individual.

A study published last year in the International Journal of Wine Business Research, aimed to use eye-tracking technology to evaluate wine purchase behaviors solely based upon subconscious responses to a group of wine labels. Additionally, alternative labels to the labels that were subsequently chosen by the winemakers were presented, to evaluate if the right label was chosen for maximizing the chances of being purchased.

Brief Methods

Experiment 1

For the first part of the study, the relationship between gaze and preference was evaluated.

18 people from the University of Oslo (Norway) participated in this study (11 females, 7 males). All participants were considered alcohol drinkers, though they claimed to be wine novices.

A Remote Eye Tracking Device was used to track and analyze eye movement data.

Images for 8 different wine brands were shown in this part of the study. Each brand was represented by 4 label images: 1 that was the chosen label by the winemaker to be placed on the bottles for actual sale, and 3 that were in the running but didnt make the final cut. Each set of 4 images were shown 4 times but in different label order, so that every label would be seen on every position on the shelf.

Participants viewed each batch of labels for 10 seconds. After this time, another image of wine bottles with only A, B, C, and D as labels were presented and participants were asked to choose with of the labels from the previous image was their preferred label.

Experiment 2

This part of the experiment examined wine label attractiveness and how this attractiveness related to willingness to pay (or estimated price) for a given bottle of wine.

Part A

40 participants from the University of Oslo (Norway) participated in this part of the study (20 females, 20 males). Again, all claimed to be wine novices.

Images for 10 different wine brands (4 labels per brand) were shown in this part of the study.

Participants were asked to rate the attractiveness of each wine label (later extrapolated to a 1-10 scale).

Average attractiveness was separated into four categories: low, medium low, medium high, and high.

Part B

49 participants from the University of Oslo (Norway) participated in this part of the study (25 females, 24 males). Again, all claimed to be wine novices.

The wine label images used were the same as they were in Part A. This part of the study also utilized the Remote Eye Tracking Device to measure pupil dilation.

The instructions for the participants were to imagine they were in the store to buy some wine, and to indicate the price they would be willing to pay for each of the wine labels shown. Each label was then shown for 10 seconds and afterwards participants were to indicate the price they would be willing to pay for a bottle with that label.

Selected Results

Experiment 1

The greater the preference for the label, the longer the gaze upon that label was.

upon that label was. Bottle position influence gaze time: More time was spent on the bottle just left of center in the group of 4 than any other position. The bottle on the far-right side of the group of 4 received the shortest gaze.

Average preference was distributed equally across all 4 positions, despite the position preference mentioned above. Since the labels were shown in all 4 positions, this result indicates that label alone can trump position on the shelf.

There was a tendency for participants to prefer the real label as opposed to the other three labels that didnt make the winemakers cut for final label choice, BUT this tendency was NOT SIGNFICANT.

Pictorial elements on the label took up the vast majority of time during a gaze, with only 2% of the time allocated to text elements like varietal, brand name, etc.

Pictorial elements were gazed at longer for real labels than the labels that didnt make the final cut.

Experiment 2

Part A

There were significant differences in attractiveness between wine labels of different brands.

There were NO differences in attractiveness between real labels and labels that did not make the final cut for a given brand.

Part B

There was a significant association between attractiveness and average price estimate. As label attractiveness increased, the estimate price of the bottle also increased.

There was a significant association between pupil changes and label attractiveness. This relationship followed a U-shape: the pupils were dilated the greatest for the least attractive labels and the most attractive labels.

When the wines were sorted by actual market prices (during the analysis phase of the study), researchers found that labels of more expensive wines caused greater pupil dilation than labels of less expensive wines. (NOTE: participants had no prior knowledge to the actual prices of these wines).

Conclusions

Using eye-tracking technology to determine purchase preferences for wine bottles in this study offers some interesting results:

Experiment 1:

First, results showed that the longer a participant gazed at a wine label, the greater the preference for that label was developed. In other words, staring at it longer increases the chances that an individual will prefer and ultimately purchase that bottle.

In terms of bottle position on the shelf, while the bottle just left of center stole the most glances, bottle position itself did not influence final preference, indicating that the label itself will trump whatever spot its placed on the shelf (at least in a line of 4 anyway).

In terms of WHAT people are actually looking at, it seems that picture elements take up the vast majority of the time spent looking at the label, with only 2% of that time being dedicated to text elements like brand name, varietal, etc. This could be explained by the fact that reading in an automatic behavior that is completed in a very short period of time by the brain. Perhaps its not that the participants dont care about the text, its just that their brains can process and be finished with it much faster than something that is pictorial in nature.

Finally, in terms of the real labels versus the labels that didnt make the winemakers final cut, the results from this experiment were relatively inconclusive. While the researchers said there was a tendency for participants to prefer the real labels, this tendency was not significant and cant be ruled out as better than chance alone. Interestingly, participants did spend longer times looking at the pictorial elements of the real labels compared with the ones that didnt make the final cut, so perhaps design elements of the real labels were more complex and therefore needed more time to process than the other labels.

Experiment 2 (both Parts A and B):

First, results showed that label attractiveness predicted estimated price of the wine bottle. In other words, the more attractive participants thought a label was, the higher the price they associated with that bottle.

When pupil behavior was examined, the researchers saw a U-shape response, meaning that pupils were dilated the greatest both at the lowest level of attractiveness and the highest level of attractiveness for the wine labels of study. What this basically means is that pupil dilation cant predict the absolute attractiveness of a wine label, it can indicate the intensity of response. In other words, if someones pupil is dilated to the max while looking at a label, one can determine that is it either incredibly beautiful, or the ugliest thing they have ever seen.

Finally, when the researchers sorted the bottles by actual market prices (after the experiment was over), they found that pupil dilation was positively associated with market price of the bottles. In other words, the more expensive a given bottle was, the more a participants pupils would dilate as they observed the label of that bottle. So, subconsciously, you can pick out the most expensive wine in the bunch simply by looking at the label and observing how wide your pupils dilate. I can only assume that the more expensive bottles are from wineries that can afford good graphic designers.

Wrapping in up

In general, whenever I see a form of technology not used often (or at all) in wine research being used for the first time, I think its really cool. This study is no different. Using eye-tracking technology to determine wine selection preferences shows promise as a marketing research technique, though according to the researchers would need to be used in conjunction with other methods.

It is important to note that the participants of this study were all considered to be wine novices, so the results cannot be extrapolated to any other group (like wine experts, etc). It would be really interesting to see a comparative study examining these same eye-tracking properties in groups of varying levels of wine expertise.

Overall, the study found that the longer someone looked at a label, the greater the chance that individual would prefer (and potentially purchase) that bottle of wine. So, the key here would be to design a label that grabs and keeps the consumer long enough to burn a proverbial hole in their mind so they are thus bias and cant forget it. Exactly HOW to design that label was beyond the scope of this study and would require further research.

Source:

Laeng, B., Suegami, T., and Aminihajibashi, S. 2016. Wine labels: an eye-tracking and pupillometry study. International Journal of Wine Business Research 28(4): 327-348.
Did you experience the pain after the death of Indian soldiers? A lot of Indians were hurt as they felt bad. Many felt angry. Many of them abused Pakistan. Many asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi about his 56 chest. Many wanted India to give a befitting reply to Pakistan. Why did soldiers die? Who or what killed them? Bullets of terrorists or the flawed policy of India, or the proxy war of Pakistan, or bad training, or lack of proper equipments?

A day after Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa visited the Line of Control and accused India of state-sponsored terrorism in Kashmir, the bodies of two Indian soldiers were mutilated by the Pakistan Army along the LoC in the Krishna Ghati sector of Jammu and Kashmir. There is outrage and pain but still who will act? Since BJP has come to power more than 300 jawans were killed on the border. The condition of Army is very much pathetic. BJP always baked votes on their name but nothing action has been taken. In retribution, the Indian Army pounded Pakistan Army posts along the LoC. In the meantime, Pakistan claimed that it neither committed any ceasefire violations nor mutilated Indian soldiers.

The Northern Command called it a despicable act and promised appropriate action. Union Defence Minister the most inefficient Arun Jaitley just verbally condemned the act saying that the bodies of soldiers being mutilated is an extreme form of barbaric act. BJP leaders are yet to come out of their Kandi ninda Jumla. We have lost 25 CRPF Jawans inside and are regularly loosing valuable jawans lives on border. failing to understand our defence strategy. Counter-infiltration posture in Jammu and Kashmir has been beefed up after the incident but so far no results are visible. Sometimes I feel that India is a hopeless and helpless country. Indians can only publish good comments in media but no action is visible on the border. Indians are always defensive in nature. God knows when we will gain courage to attack enemy. If the same thing happens with US or Chinese or Israeli soldiers, by now Pakistan would have been removed from the world map.

Army should have full privacy and secrecy over its actions and plans; BJP has turned everything in to a big drama even surgical strike was well published and used during elections. According to data, in the new wave of attacks, militants are able to inflict many more casualties on security forces with each attack than in the past. Data shows that while the total number of violent incidents in Kashmir has only gone up marginally from previous years, the number of security personnel killed or injured has dramatically risen. In 2007, security forces lost 122 men. The numbers dropped to 57 in 2008, and by 2012, it fell to 15. It then began to climb. In 2013, 53 security personnel were killed. From 2014 to 2017 almost more than 300 army men were killed. Similar trend is visible in the number of security personnel injured in Jammu and Kashmir.

When an American soldier dies, it becomes world news because it is very hard to kill him. Not only they are trained very well, they also possess the best of the equipments and the best gadgets. America does care about their soldiers more than we do. Does it ever make you wonder why the circumstances in which an Indian soldier dies are never made public? We just get to hear that a bullet killed him. How could a bullet reach him in the first place? And a bullet reaching a Lt Colonel is actually a failure at many levels. Did we ever care to understand what really happened? There was a definite failure in investigation.

We have failed to provide them good food, clothes and better mental health. Our government has failed on various levels. Remember the videos of Tej Bahadur Yadav and many more jawans had recently gone viral. They are fed-up and seek help but our government turned a blind eye towards them. Why cry only for those who died? How about caring for those who, at this very moment are alive and serving the nation? How about caring for those who got maimed in combat? How about caring for those who lived and served the nation but are now veterans?

A soldier doesnt care for awards or glories or what his countrymen think about him. All he knows that he has got a job to do and he has to do it at any cost, even it means making the supreme sacrifice. But that doesnt absolve us of our responsibilities towards them. Army officers martyred and mutilated, their children lost their father and what was the Defence Minister doing? He is just issuing statements and asking people to trust army, but he should know that we have faith in the army but not this government and its leaders. Most appalling is the silence of Prime minister of this country. He is happily touring everywhere but has not said a single word on the recent attack.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com)
The metropolis is ranked 29 in the list of clean cities while Navi Mumbai fared better to claim the eighth spot.

As per the Swachh Survekshan Survey-2017 conducted by the government Mumbai ranked 29 in the list of clean cities while Navi Mumbai improved its ranking by four places to claim the eighth spot. Mumbaikars are unhappy with the latest ranking of the city when it comes to cleanliness. Even though the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had undertaken cleanliness drive to make Mumbai clean but results are not visible. Thus a question which arises here is the time starved Mumbaikar unable to take efforts to make his city clean? The Modi government had launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan campaign with an aim to make India clean by 2019. The initiative had turned out to be photo-op moment as celebrities and politicians were busy clicking photos by picking up broom in their hands to sweep roads. However the initiative failed to sustain over a period of time as people started losing interest in the campaign. Even today one can see loads of garbage being thrown outside Borivali station.

Arjun Deshpande an accountant employed with a financial services firm in Andheri said, Last year, I was pleased with the 10th spot claimed by Mumbai in the list of cleanest cities of India. However, I am unhappy with this years results as Mumbai has lost out to Navi Mumbai which stood at eighth position.

Sumit Jain a BPO employee from Malad said, The BMC always makes tall claims about making the city garbage free. However, many times waste lies unattended outside housing societies. Sometimes it is dumped beside roads. Mumbaikars will really have to pull up their socks to improve the citys ranking.

Siddharth Desle a Borivali resident, According to me, Mumbai must take a leaf out of Navi Mumbai which has improved its ranking to 8th position. The BMC had appealed to citizens to segregate wet and dry waste in two separate containers. However nobody is following this norm as everything is dumped in a single bin.

Mohit Vyas a F.Y Bsc student from Dahisar said, Instead of blaming the civic body citizens should come forward and take responsibility for keeping the city clean. Moreover, people should refrain from throwing waste outside their window panes. They should dispose the waste in dust bins instead of making their surroundings dirty.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis lauded the efforts of Navi Mumbaikars to keep their city clean. He tweeted, Congratulations to all citizens & administration of #NaviMumbai for being among the Top 10 cleanest cities in Swacch Survekshan 2017.

I am happy with the improved ranking of Navi Mumbai in the list of clean cities. Each resident of the city has taken effort to make the city clean and even Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has done a good job. I hope people will cooperate with the civic body to improve its ranking next year. said Sudhakar Sonawane, NMMC mayor.

Last years survey ranked 73 cities across the country in which 1 lakh citizens had given their feedback. The top 10 cities are: Indore, Bhopal, Vizag, Surat, Mysore, Tiruchirapalli, New Delhi Municipal Council, Navi Mumbai, Tirupati and Vadodara.
PRINT | EMAIL | PERMALINK Baked Goods Green Flower Versus Red Pen Rob M. I got my prescription card renewed at discount by Dr. Karen over at a 4/20 shindig Seven Clover (3800 Central SE) threw together. It was pretty quick and painless for me, but I did see a line starting to form on my way out. It's just another perk to being the early worm, I guess. The good doctor's nervous jaw clenched as she scanned the gathering crowd, telegraphing that she wasn't expecting so many patients. It spoke to the growing number of New Mexicans out there who have taken the plunge over the last year joining over 30,000 medical cannabis patients enrolled in the program.

MartinezThe Veto Machine Fear not, dear reader. Gov. Susana Martinez has your back. How so? By vetoing three different cannabis related bills this session. (If you can't tell I'm being sarcastic, it's because I'm so vexed that the vexation has interrupted my ability to laugh at anything, making my jokes lifeless and dull.) The first two bills to suffer from the governor's vicious stamp were related to the production and research of hemp, the virtually non-psychedelic industrial version of cannabis, grown specifically to have a low THC content. The third was HB 527the GOP-sponsored medical cannabis expansion billwhich would have added opioid dependency to the list of qualifying conditions for enrollment and would have forbade caregivers to deny cannabis patients medical treatment (more on this, later), along with a number of other changes to the Lynn Pierson and Erin Armstrong Compassionate Use Act, New Mexico's medical cannabis law. Denying opioid dependency as a qualifying ailment seems short-sighted and just plain dumb, if anyone's asking me, considering our state's particular troubles with opioid abuse and the evidence that cannabis is useful as an opioid addiction treatment. Ignoring any path to treating this troubling epidemic seems foolish. But ignoring a need to protect cannabis patients from being denied vital healthcare due to the use of their medicine is borderline monstrous. This issue became highlighted nationally this month when CNN reported on a patient in Maine who was denied an organ transplant because his use of cannabis was deemed a health risk. A number of states (other than New Mexico, of course) already have laws in place safe-guarding cannabis-users' organs, thank goodness. To be fair, cannabis bills weren't the only ones to land on the chopping block. Apparently, she vetoed 70 bills in one day! I hope her hand is okay after all that stamping and signing. (Cannabis is a great anti-inflammatory. Maybe she should apply for her card.)

Federal Money Used to Pay for Cannabis The New Mexico Crime Victims Reparation Commissiona state program that provides financial assistance to victims of violent crimewas busted by independent investigators with the US Justice Department for allowing federal grant money to be used as reimbursement for cannabis purchases. The Commission supplies compensation to victims who have suffered physical injury or extreme mental distress as a result of a violent crime (defined by a list including assault, battery, manslaughter, kidnapping and others) through grants awarded by the federal government. Expenses covered by the program include medical care and supplies. The US Office of the Inspector General released its report earlier this month, revealing that $7,630 in federal grant money funded by the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Assistance Grant was spent over four instances to reimburse victims for cannabis purchases. The report concluded, however, that the error was addressed by the organization, who returned the funds. The audit stated that the matter was closed.
Graduating seniors at Aiken High School, numbering about 325, gathered on Hagood Field May 4 to celebrate their upcoming change in status, pos




The helicopter will be used to develop airborne mountain rescue services in the frame of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.

Donauworth, Germany, Beijing 999 Emergency Rescue Center (Beijing 999), a subsidiary of Beijing Red Cross Foundation, signed an agreement today with Airbus Helicopters for the purchase of one H145, the first of its kind to be configured with a hoist for medical and search and rescue (SAR) in China. The rotorcraft is scheduled for delivery by 2019.



Beijing 999 currently operates two H135s, the first fully-equipped air ambulance in the country, providing emergency medical services (EMS) around Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei region in China.



This is a further step in our excellent cooperation with Airbus Helicopters on the SAR/EMS market in China, said Li Libing, Director of Beijing 999. The know-how, expertise, and extensive experience of Airbus Helicopters in this segment enable us to promote the efficiency and development of medical emergency and rescue services in China. It will also help Beijing 999 to become a leader in China for these missions.



The new H145 will be the first in China equipped with both a hoist and a full medical interior, allowing it to perform either mountain rescue operations or long range air ambulance transfer. It is also equipped with a weather radar and floats.



The H145s entry into Chinas SAR/EMS market is a remarkable milestone for this light twin-engine rotorcraft, which is recognised worldwide for its excellent performance, spacious cabin, and multi-mission capability, said Wolfgang Schoder, CEO of Airbus Helicopters Germany. Its a perfect solution to accelerate the development of this fast-growing sector in China.



Airbus Helicopters is a leading rotorcraft provider, holding a more than 60 percent market share worldwide in the EMS and SAR segment  with the H135 being one of the sectors reference helicopters alongside the companys larger H145.



Today, some 1,100 H145s (previous EC145/BK117) are in service worldwide  logging a combined total of more than four million flight hours. Bringing a large cabin, a compact airframe, and powerful engines, the H145 responds to a multitude of mission needs, especially for public services, such as EMS, SAR, and law enforcement.





About Airbus

Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2016, it generated revenues of 67 billion and employed a workforce of around 134,000. Airbus offers the most comprehensive range of passenger airliners from 100 to more than 600 seats. Airbus is also a European leader providing tanker, combat, transport and mission aircraft, as well as Europes number one space entreprise and the worlds second largest space business. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most efficient civil and military rotorcraft solutions worldwide.

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Third H135 delivered to EMS operator SAF Group earlier this year

H135 French Emergency Medical Services SAF





Airbus Helicopters has completed deliveries of three H135s, the latest version of its family, for emergency medical services (EMS) operations by SAF Group. The first aircraft is in service in Toulouse while the second and third helicopters are destined to perform EMS missions in Alencon and Besancon. These helicopters are the very first H135s to be used in the EMS role in France.

We are very happy with the additional capabilities, including night flying, further reduced sound levels, and increased payload, that the H135 is providing us for these critical missions. said Christophe Rosset, CEO of SAF. We require helicopters with a high level of reliability and availability, always ready to transport critical patients 24/7 from an accident site or from one hospital to another and the H135 meets our stringent requirements he added.



SAF Helicopteres operates seven days a week for all types of civilian rescue and protection operations, alongside safety services with a fleet of 40 Airbus helicopters including 27 EC135s  an earlier variant of the H135 family.



We are proud that SAF group has decided to renew their trust in Airbus Helicopters products said Olivier Michalon, Senior Vice President and Head of Sales in Europe. The H135, with its large and flexible cabin best suited for treating patients, and the lowest direct maintenance cost in its class, is the reference for emergency medical services he added.



A light twin-engine helicopter, the H135 is the latest upgrade version of its family. The new models improved features include increased flight performance in hot and high environments, at sea level, during CAT A missions and in OEI (One Engine Inoperative) situations. This was achieved by enlarging the rotor, modifying the air intake, modernizing the FADEC flight control software and adding new features to the cockpit. The maximum take-off weight (MTOW) is increased by 30 kg to 2,980 kg. These measures dramatically improve flight performance, power reserves and safety margins.



A helicopter can cover distances three to five times faster than a ground vehicle. Being able to land as close as possible to the accident site and transport a medical team quickly to the patient can make all the difference. Airbus Helicopters, with 60 per cent of the market share is the uncontested leader of the EMS market. Approximately 1,200 Airbus helicopters are currently in service worldwide for EMS missions.





About Airbus

Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2016, it generated revenues of  67 billion and employed a workforce of around 134,000. Airbus offers the most comprehensive range of passenger airliners from 100 to more than 600 seats. Airbus is also a European leader providing tanker, combat, transport and mission aircraft, as well as Europes number one space enterprise and the worlds second largest space business. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most efficient civil and military rotorcraft solutions worldwide.

Medias:

H135 French Emergency Medical Services SAF

Media contacts:
May 4, 2017

Donald Trump was not the first American president to welcome Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the White House. As at the meetings with President Bill Clinton, when Abbas sat next to PLO leader Yasser Arafat, and subsequent talks with Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, the sides discussed a diplomatic process with Israel, the need to combat terrorism, the severe economic problems in the Palestinian territories and opportunities to promote regional peace. Its too soon to tell whether Trumps stated desire to make a deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians will bring the sides closer than did the efforts of his predecessors, all of which ended in deep Palestinian disappointment. But there are several hopeful signs in this latest meeting.

The first is the invitation itself, extended to Abbas so early in the US presidents term. A stateless leader, a president who barely controls his own territory, got the nod before heads of far larger and more important countries standing in line for a photo-op with Trump. It placed Abbas in the same tier of White House invitees as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Deputy Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Abdul-Aziz, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordans King Abdullah II. And all within the first six months of Trumps first term.

The second encouraging difference lies in the Israeli prime ministers special relationship with the US president and his cohort of advisers and donors. Abbas greatest rival was accorded a royal welcome at the White House in February, and will probably be among the first world leaders to host Trump. In light of these special relations, Netanyahu will be hard pressed to attack Trump for attempting to undermine his favorite delaying tactic, the status quo, and to accuse him, as he did President Barack Obama, of pro-Islamic leanings. Throughout the election campaign, and since taking office, Trump has been exposed to the views of donors and advisers who support the views of the Israeli and Jewish right. Abbas was given an opportunity this week to present the views of the Palestinian side directly and to stroke the presidential ego.

The third difference lies in Trumps unique character. His predecessors had sent experts to study the positions of both sides, to analyze the underlying problems and recommend solutions. The sum total of their efforts was less peace and more Israeli settlers in areas claimed by the Palestinians for their future state. But Trump is a businessman, striving to "close a deal" that will benefit the United States but primarily his ego. He is not interested in complaints. He is bored by other peoples problems. So dont talk to him about obstacles; just get rid of them!

After standing beside Netanyahu at a joint February news conference and blurting out his bizarre statement that he doesnt care if the sides agree on a one-state or two-state solution, Trumps advisers convinced him that the only viable deal to be struck in the Middle Eastern political bazaar is to divide the land in two along the 1967 Israeli borders (with some adjustments), including the city of Jerusalem that both claim as their capital. This is exactly the solution to which Abbas has aspired for years. For Netanyahu, however, there is no solution more dire  both ideologically and politically  than a withdrawal from the West Bank and a surrender of Israeli sovereignty over the whole of Jerusalem. So as not to arrive at such a dangerous juncture, he is placing obstacles along the road leading to it.

On his White House visit, Netanyahu laid down two conditions for a peace agreement with the Palestinians: Palestinian recognition of Israel as the state of the Jewish people and an end to incitement against Israel. Unfortunately, he said, the Palestinians reject both. So, unfortunately, the Palestinians not only deny the past, they also poison the present, Netanyahu complained to Trump. But the issue of Israels recognition as a Jewish state has already been resolved. The Palestinian Authority and member states of the Arab League accepted the statement of principles presented by Secretary of State John Kerry in December 2016 in his end-of-the-term speech. Kerry's second principle was the implementation of UN Resolution 181 regarding the establishment of a Jewish state alongside an Arab one.

A solution has also been found to Netanyahus complaint about Palestinian incitement. In fact, the prime minister himself came up with the solution back in 1998, when Clinton acceded to his demand for the establishment of an Israeli-Palestinian-American committee to eradicate incitement by each side. Its safe to assume that Abbas told Trump, as he often tells journalists, about Netanyahus stubborn rejection of the Palestinian proposal to reconvene the long-dormant panel.

Netanyahu systematically conditions launching talks with the Palestinians by a recognition of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people. In the past Abbas had his own conditions (settlement freeze) for meeting Netanyahu and relaunching talks. But he has not mentioned those conditions lately.

While Abbas is engaged in addressing all Netanyahu's preconditions for a Netanyahu-Abbas meeting, the Israeli leader is busy coming up with new ones. In an April 19 interview with the Japanese newspaper The Asahi Shimbun, Abbas made clear he would agree to an invitation from Trump to meet with Netanyahu without insisting on the Palestinian preconditions of a freeze of Israeli settlement building and the release of Palestinian prisoners. At about the same time, Netanyahu pulled out another demand: that Abbas act to abrogate a Palestinian law obliging the Palestinian Authority to support the families of Palestinians killed while committing terror attacks and those serving time for such crimes in Israeli jails.

On May 1, Israels annual Remembrance Day for the Fallen, Netanyahu took the opportunity to try to spoil Abbas meeting with Trump. President Abbas, who is going to meet with President Trump this week, Netanyahu said. How can you speak about peace with Israel, and at the same time pay murderers who spill the blood of innocent Israelis? Trump presumably was not thrilled to hear Netanyahu accusing him of buddying up with supporters of Muslim terrorists. And if the American president insists that Abbas end the practice, Netanyahu may be asked to repay the favor in the hard currency of a halt to settlement construction. If so, he is unlikely to be able to deliver the goods within the constraints of his current governing coalition.

In this zero-sum game over Trumps heart and mind between Abbas, who seeks to break through the diplomatic stalemate, and Netanyahu, who would rather perpetuate it, the Palestinian had the upper hand this week. Until the next round.
May 3, 2017

BAGHDAD, Iraq  In a meeting with the ministers of defense and interior in Muqtada al-Sadr's Najaf office May 3, Sadr's nephew Ahmed al-Sadr stood directly behind his uncle in what was taken as the younger Sadr's introduction as the second-highest authority of the Sadrist movement after Muqtada al-Sadr himself.

A few weeks ago, Ahmed al-Sadr appeared on the Iraqi scene as the head of the Sadrist movement's reform committee, introducing its political agendas and plans for the post-Islamic State period. The Sadrist movement presented its strategies at the end of April to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, President Fuad Masum, parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri, Kurdistan Regional Government President Massoud Barzani and former President Jalal Talabani.

The Sadrist movement has long been closely associated with the civil movement, having forged an alliance at the start of the demonstrations calling for reform that broke out in 2015.

Ahmed al-Sadr is the son of Muqtada al-Sadr's brother Mustafa al-Sadr. Ahmed al-Sadr was born in Najaf in 1986 but did not receive a religious education in traditional Shiite schools. Instead he was guided and supported by his uncle, who sent him to Lebanon to major in political science at Beirut University, where he completed a masters degree.

Ahmed al-Sadr returned to Iraq and made public appearances a few days after Muqtada al-Sadr's announcement that he had received death threats March 24 from what he called the trinity parties, people involved with the US occupation, terrorism and corruption. He subsequently had to delegate powers to his aides.

As a result, Ahmed al-Sadr was appointed to head the recently formed committee to administer the Sadrist initiatives for political reform and the post-liberation period. He began with meeting with several Iraqi leaders.

Muqtada al-Sadr seems to be looking for loyal leaders close to the Sadrist movement, in light of the movement's tense relations with the Shiite National Alliance, particularly the State of Law Coalition, led by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Muqtada al-Sadr had previously called upon Abadi to start a political reform process and led popular demonstrations demanding change and efforts to fight corruption.

Several Sadrist leaders have been implicated in major corruption cases and local elections are scheduled for September. Thus, Muqtada al-Sadr had to rely on those close to him during this critical phase, and no one is better suited than Ahmed al-Sadr, groomed to take up this mission.

Leading the political committees means that Ahmed al-Sadrs mission will be political and not religious. This separation will allow the movements political body to later become a political party under Iraqi law, which prohibits the formation of political parties on a religious or sectarian basis. Muqtada al-Sadr himself would become the movements guide or mentor, as he believes in the separation of religion and politics.

Following his April 18 meeting with Masum, Ahmed al-Sadr said, Muqtada al-Sadrs initiatives are aimed at strengthening the state and the rule of law and applying it to help improve citizens lives, freedom and security.

Ahmed al-Sadr also said he met with Abadi on April 21 to discuss electoral matters. Ahmed al-Sadr said, The terms of the two [Sadrist] projects the importance of holding elections under a new professional and unbiased electoral commission and a fair electoral law that would meet the aspirations of citizens for true representation of the Iraqi people.

Sadrist movement senior Ibrahim al-Jabiri told Al-Monitor, Muqtada al-Sadr has put forward several political projects, including a proposal for initial solutions to the countrys situation in post-IS period, in addition to the reform project, including a change in the electoral law and the Independent High Electoral Commission. These projects and initiatives will be presented to the different political parties for consideration, refinement and implementation, to serve the country and correct the course of the political process."

Jaafar al-Mousawi, head of the Sadrist movement's political committee, denied reports of the formation of a cross-sectarian electoral bloc between the Kurds and the movement after a Sadrist delegation headed by Ahmed al-Sadr visited the Kurdistan Region.

The delegation representing Muqtada al-Sadr, led by Ahmed al-Sadr, had one specific mission, which was to discuss the projects of Muqtada al-Sadr after the liberation of Mosul, in addition to reform in the electoral commissions, Mousawi said in an April 23 statement to al-Ghad Press.

We heard from the committee that Kurdish parties welcomed Sadrs initiatives regarding reform and the post-liberation period of Mosul, Mousawi added.

Sadr's Initial Solutions, introduced Feb. 21, aim to provide support for the areas liberated from IS, including reconstruction projects, the return of the displaced and eliminating foreign forces from the country while integrating the Popular Mobilization Units in the security forces.

Sadrs electoral reform project, launched Jan. 10, outlines mechanisms for selecting the members of the Independent High Electoral Commission and reform Iraq's electoral law.

It appears that Muqtada al-Sadr and his movement are standing before a historic opportunity to use a civil political approach to shake off the criticism and resentment of political Islam, which has struggled in an attempt to rule the country since 2003.
The hotel in the historic Empire building on First Avenue North has a new name: the Elyton Hotel, named for the former town of Elyton, a center for trade and government in central Alabama until the county seat until 1873.

The Elyton, the rooftop bar Moon Shine, and the Yard restaurant, a Chris Hastings-consulted restaurant, are all scheduled to open in the summer.

The Elyton will have 111 rooms, six suites, and a 710-square-foot gym. Each room will have complimentary wifi and a 49-inch high definition flat screen smart TVs. The hotel is pet-friendly and offers full concierge services and full valet. It also has 4,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space.

Elyton is part of Marriott's Autograph Collection. It's part of a $45 million redevelopment of the historic Empire building, the former Toby's building, and the neighboring five-story former Alagasco building, which is going to be a Fairfield Inn & Suites. Construction on the Alagasco building is expected to take about 10 months and will have an additional 120 rooms.

Buford, Ga.'s Ascent Hospitality is the developer and manager. The Elyton is Ascent's 14th hotel in Alabama and the second in Birmingham.

"The name honors the early commerce, the early infrastructure that fed the big city," Ascent's President John Tampa said in a press release. "People traveled to this region and saw the possibilities. And to this day, people travel here and see the possibilities. Birmingham's recent revitalization makes it ripe for a new luxury hotel in downtown."

New Orleans-based John T. Campo & Associates is the architect on the project.

The Empire Building was first erected in 1909 and has been vacant since 2009 when Colonial Bank moved out. It's part of the "Heaviest Corner on Earth." In the early 1900s, four of the South's tallest buildings were constructed at 20th Street and First Avenue in downtown Birmingham. A magazine proclaimed it "The Heaviest Corner on Earth."

Haller Magee, formerly the head chef at Satterfield's Restaurant and at Sky Castle, will be the executive chef of the Yard and Moon Shine. The Yard will serve Southern progressive food with global influences and use local and seasonal ingredients. The main entrance will be on 20th street and serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Moon Shine be open for lunch, dinner and late night, with small plates, wood-fired pizza, desserts and crafted cocktails.
Arab's Cold Box Express has been fully operational for about a year, and interest is growing in the company, which rents climate-controlled shipping containers from depot sites around the country.

Think of it as a U-Haul for a very sophisticated refrigerator. The Cold Box is a one-ton shipping container with about 60 cubic feet of space inside.

Made of aluminum and molded plastics, it can maintain a temperature of anywhere from 10 below zero to 140 degrees Fahrenheit for up to five days without recharging. That means items meant to stay cold will do so, and payloads with specific temperature requirements won't freeze in winter transport.

Cold Box has an active temperature control system, meaning it doesn't use dry ice. It also doesn't involve any exhaust emissions. Running on internal batteries, the Cold Box's temperature can be customized for any client and is tracked and monitored around the country by GPS and cellular connectivity. It also has security measures.

It is designed to hold a standard 40 by 48 inch pallet. An alternative to shipping in refrigerated trucks, the Cold Box can be recharged on standard power outlets and carried by forklift or pallet jack.

The company offers daily rentals of about $240 a day, varying according to the weight and size of cargo. Month-to-month and longer term leases are available, and the company has a network of 20 sites around the country to allow for economical shipping.

"Our aim is to deliver a unit to a customer within one day," CEO Foster McDonald said. "And we can do that pretty effectively."

The Cold Box was developed in Texas, but McDonald's company bought the technology and spent more than a year on fine-tuning the design and setting up a nationwide rental network, he said. It took some time to hone the container, making it sturdy and resistant to the worst a forklift operator can dish out.

"Getting it right was not that simple," he said. "Everything we did was about maintaining efficiency, reliability and ruggedness."

A native of Arab, McDonald and his late father Sid, started the company before Sid's death in 2015. Sid was a well-known telecommunications businessman, establishing Deltacom Long Distance Services in the early 1980s and serving as chairman of Intergraph Corp.'s board of directors.

"This is home," Foster said. "I grew up here."

So far, clients have included food service, pharmaceuticals, the medical industry, chemical companies and the oil services business. For pharmaceuticals, Cold Box works in keeping chemical components at the right temperature, and documenting those temps for the journey in keeping with federal regulations.

McDonald said the company is looking at expanding to international markets, as well as making inroads into the defense market. For example, Cold Box can be used to store and dispense cold water, and the company has played around with a tap concept on the door which could be used for beverages.

"Every time we turn around, there's a new application that's possible," he said. "Our challenge is staying focused."
Redistricting debate on Senate floor May 4 .jpg

The Alabama Senate will debate plans to redraw the boundaries of some Senate districts today.

((Mike Cason/mcason@al.com))

Alabama senators approved a plan to change the boundaries of many state Senate districts, a move required by a federal court ruling.

Senators voted 25-7 to pass the plan after a delay of several hours because the Democratic minority, opposed to the plan, ask for the bill to be read at length.

Today's vote moves the plan to the House of Representatives, which is scheduled to consider a House redistricting plan on Tuesday.

In January, a federal court ordered the Legislature to redraw three Senate districts and nine House of Representatives districts before next year's elections. The three-judge court found that the Legislature illegally used race as the main factor when it drew those district lines in 2012, a task required after every 10-year census.

A separate plan on House districts is pending in the House.

Although the court ordered the Legislature to fix 12 districts, the changes affect many others.

Sen. Gerald Dial, R-Lineville, is sponsor of a committee-approved plan that he said would change 25 of 35 Senate districts.

Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, introduced a plan backed by the Alabama Legislative Black Caucus.

Smitherman proposed the plan as a substitute to Dial's plan. The Senate rejected Smitherman's plan by a vote of 24-9.

Dial then immediately called for a vote on his plan, but Smitherman intervened and said he planned to talk for at least an hour before allowing a vote.

The Republican majority later voted 23-9 to cut off debate and force a vote on Dial's bill. Smitherman then asked that the bill be read at length.

The bill reading, done by an automatic reader, went on for several hours before Smitherman called for it to end.

The Senate then passed the plan.

A key sticking point has been representation in Jefferson County.

The Black Caucus plan would leave six districts in the county, seats now held by three Democrats and three Republicans.

Dial's plan would leave seven districts, four held by Republicans.

That would change the current 5-3 split by moving District 14, represented by Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, out of Jefferson County.

The Black Caucus plan would also move District 5 outside of Jefferson County. It is represented by Sen. Greg Reed, R-Jasper.

Smitherman said the Dial plan would not fix the problems identified by the court.

"Now we're sitting here with a map that does nothing to correct the wrong in 2012," Smitherman said.

Dial said his plan fixed the precinct and county lines splits identified as racially suspicious by the federal court.

Dial noted that the Black Caucus plan to achieve a 3-3 split in Jefferson County would cause further divisions in other counties.

Dial also noted that he had to produce a plan that could win support of at least 18 of the 35 senators.

Smitherman said Senate approval does not equate to court approval.

"It's not based on whether or not we can get 18 people on one side to vote for it," Smitherman said. "But it's whether or not the Legislature can pass a plan that's acceptable to the court."

Updated at 1:23 p.m. to say that Senate rejected Smitherman's substitute. Updated at 5:12 p.m. to say the Senate passed the redistricting plan.


state house mug by julie.JPG

((Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com))

The Alabama Senate today rejected a proposal to take millions in state road dollars out of the General Fund, a move that would have forced cuts to state agencies.

The Senate later passed the state budget by a vote of 23-4.

That sends it back to the House, which had passed a slightly different version earlier.

Sen. Paul Sanford, R-Huntsville, proposed an amendment that would move $63.5 million in road funds from the General Fund to the state Department of Transportation.

Sanford's amendment would have spread that reduction across all agencies that depend on the General Fund, cutting them by 3.4 percent.

The Senate rejected that by a vote of 25-7.

The Senate continued debate after rejecting Sanford's amendment and voted down two other amendments, including one that briefly sparked an angry exchange on the floor.

Sen. Phil Williams, R-Rainbow City, proposed moving a total of $600,000 from two earmarks under the Tourism Department to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Those were $300,000 for Barber Motorsports Park and $300,000 for the World Games, which Birmingham is scheduled to host in 2021.

Williams' proposal drew a strong objection from Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, who questioned why Williams targeted two expenditures from the Birmingham area.

Smitherman became visibly angry at one point, shouting at Williams, "I'm sick of it."

The Senate rejected the Williams amendment by a vote of 19-10.

The Legislature also voted down an amendment by Sen. Bill Holtzclaw, R-Madison, to delete the allocation of revenue that would be generated from a 5 percent increase in the markup on liquor under consideration by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.

Holtzclaw said he objected to an unelected board having the authority to approve such an increase, saying that should be the responsibility of the Legislature.

Holtzclaw's amendment lost by a vote of 19-9.

As for Sanford's amendment, the Legislature has used the money from the road fund to support the General fund for years.

Next year's proposed budget would allocate $35 million in road funds to the state court system and $28.5 million to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

The road funds come from the state gasoline tax and related taxes and fees. Amendment 354 to the state Constitution says the money can be used for roads and bridges and for enforcement of traffic laws.

Sanford said he proposed keeping all the road money in the Department of Transportation because some legislative leaders, Gov. Kay Ivey and key business groups are calling for an increase in the gasoline tax, saying it is needed to support road and bridge construction.

The proposed budget would spend $1.85 billion from the General Fund during the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1. That's roughly the same level of spending in this year's budget.

The budget allocates $3.3 million to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency to hire 30 state troopers.

The Alabama Medicaid Agency would get $701 million from the General Fund, the same as this year. The agency will also receive $105 million from a plan the Legislature approved last year to allocate most of a BP oil spill settlement.

Senate Budget Chairman Trip Pittman, R-Montrose, said the budget would carry over about $95 million for fiscal year 2019 or needs that could arise sooner.

Pittman and House budget Chairman Steve Clouse have said the Legislature should consider the budget as a two-year plan because the $105 million from BP won't be available for 2019 and because of uncertainties about what Congress might do, such as reducing federal support for the Children's Health Insurance Program.

This story was edited at 10:01 a.m. on May 5 to correct hometown of Sen. Paul Sanford.
A bill that would allow certified professional midwives to legally practice in Alabama will get a vote in Senate committee next week.

The Senate Judiciary Committee held a public hearing on the bill this afternoon, after its meeting ran long and was interrupted by committee members having to go to the Senate for a quorum call. Committee Chair Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, requested a Senate recess so the committee could continue debate and vote on the Child Care Safety Act bill, and to hold the public hearing on the midwife bill.

"These are not the midwives of 50 years ago, not someone waking up today and saying, 'I'm going to be a midwife,'" said Rep. Ken Johnson, R-Moulton, who sponsored the bill in the House and presented it to the committee.

The bill, amended last month by the House, would remove misdemeanor charges for certified professional midwives that practice in Alabama. This is the first time a midwifery decriminalization bill has made it to the floor of the House for a vote. If it makes it out of Senate committee, that would be another first.

While most of the committee members seemed in favor of the bill, Sen. Phil Williams, R-Rainbow City, expressed concern that the bill does not regulate midwives' practice or require they carry liability insurance.

"I know they're trained," he said. "I'm not trying to denigrate what they do. Why are we not pursuing how they will govern themselves and care for the patients?" he asked.

Johnson said decriminalizing CPMs gives legislators "a much better position to have a fair discussion" about regulation and state licensing. He has introduced a regulatory bill, HB 316, that would create a state advisory board to oversee midwife licensing. That bill has not yet been voted on by the House.

Sen. Vivian Figures, D-Mobile, said she initially was against the decriminalization bill several years ago, but says she now supports it because she is "a woman of choice."

"At the end of the day, I love the idea of living in the United States of American to be able to make so many choices on my own, and I serve a God that gives us free will," she said.

"A woman should be able to make the choice on how or where to have her baby, or who she wants to deliver her baby."

Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, said he was delivered by a midwife and that his great-grandmother delivered many babies in rural Hale County in the 1930s.

"In the 60s when I was born, that was the only way people of color, black folk" could be delivered in a segregated society where black people "weren't allowed to come to the hospital," he said.

Kaycee Cavender, president of the Alabama Birth Coalition, and Jennifer Crook, a CPM from Birmingham, both spoke in favor of the bill.

"Hundreds if not thousands of Alabama families have made it abundantly clear they intend to give birth outside the hospital setting," said Cavender, who has traveled across the state line to give birth legally with a midwife attending. "They're making (that decision) for religious, cultural and financial reasons."

She pointed out that Alabama is the only state without birth centers or other out-of-hospital birth options. Home birth is legal in Alabama as long as it is not attended by a midwife.

Danne Howard, executive vice president and chief policy officer of the Alabama Hospital Association, spoke in opposition to the bill.

"The Alabama Hospital Association supports choice," she said. "Having said that, we also support that there be proper guardrails put in place to ensure safety and that informed decisions are made."

Howard said the hospital association would support a midwife bill that provided certain restrictions and regulations on midwife practice. One such restriction would require women get approval from a physician that they have a low-risk pregnancy before being able to seek care with a midwife.

"I would appreciate the opportunity to continue to work with these people to continue to find the regulatory framework to protect the safety of mothers and babies who make this choice," she said.

Sen. Paul Bussman, R-Cullman, who is not on the Judiciary Committee, asked the committee to vote the bill out so it could go to the Senate floor. He said he "would love to carry this on the floor if we have the opportunity to get it there."

Moving the bill out of committee would be "a courtesy to the people who are here and people who have worked hard on this legislation, to know where they stand."

Committee Chair Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, said the committee would reconvene next Wednesday morning for a yes-or-no vote on the bill.

"We had a public hearing today," he said. "This bill is not leaving this committee and going to another committee. This time next week the bill is going to go for up or down (vote). It's coming next week."
Hundreds of millions of dollars are to pour into defense and justice projects in North Alabama as Congress passed various appropriations bills Thursday.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation will receive $76 million to finish the construction of its Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center (TEDAC) and Hazardous Devices School (HDS). Both TEDAC and HDS will also be fully funded when complete.



The same bill also allows for a ballistic research facility and for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives's U.S. Bomb Data Center to move to Redstone, and maintains the restart of advanced arson investigator training courses and additional training.

"Within prudent budgetary boundaries, this year's funding bill achieves a careful balance between all of our competing national priorities, including law enforcement and national security, economic development, scientific research, and human space exploration," said Alabama Senator Richard Shelby. "I am pleased that this bill secures important funding for the Department of Justice and law enforcement programs essential to national, state, and local efforts. The Hazardous Devices School, TEDAC, and NCETR will continue to play a crucial role in protecting our nation."

The 2017 defense appropriations bill gives nearly $400 million for the building of a next-generation rocket engine. The U.S. continues to rely on Russian engines to launch satellites into space. The bill also sees $38 million put toward a high energy laser project.

"This bill strengthens our nation's security with an increase in defense spending," said Senator Shelby. "Supporting top defense priorities, including Alabama's national defense capabilities, demonstrates that we are committed to our military. I'm pleased that our state will continue to play a leading role in serving our Armed Forces. With growing instability around the world, we must provide our military the means necessary to protect our nation."

A list of projects specific to North Alabama are listed below:

Next Generation Rocket Engine - $396.6 million, $100 million above the President's FY17 Budget Request

Missile and Rocket Advanced Technology - $30 million above the President's FY17 Budget Request

High Energy Laser Research - $38 million above the President's FY17 Budget Request

Ground-based Midcourse Defense - $110 million in addition to the President's FY17 Budget Request, Rejects the President's cuts and maintains FY16 level

Prompt Global Strike Capability - $101 million, $12 million above the FY16 enacted level

FBI's Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center (TEDAC): Provides no less than $61.5 million for TEDAC and rejects President Obama's requested cut to eliminate these operations in Fiscal Year 2017. Provides an increase of $13.6 million to hire additional staff for new phases of operations coming online in Fiscal Year 2017.

FBI's Hazardous Devices School (HDS): Provides full operational funding for the Hazardous Devices School, and rejects the former President's proposed cuts to these operations. The funding also supports the FBI's Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate (WMDD) explosives-related training operations.

Ballistic Research Facility: Supports the FBI's Ballistic Research Facility, which will become operational at Redstone in Fiscal Year 2017.

FBI Construction at Redstone: Provides $76 million to finish on-going FBI construction projects at Redstone that involve TEDAC, HDS, and other operations and training programs.

ATF's National Center for Explosives Training and Research (NCETR): Fully funds ATF's NCETR. It supports the U.S. Bomb Data Center move to Redstone and maintains the restart of advanced arson investigator training courses and additional training. The bill also allows for up to $2,500,000 to be made available for an advanced counter explosive device research program focusing on hypervelocity impact and hypervelocity flight dynamics.
Gov. Kay Ivey today signed into law a bill allowing adoption agencies in Alabama to follow faith-based policies, such as not placing children with gay couples.

"The elected legislature of this state overwhelmingly approved House Bill 24. Having served as President of the Senate for more than six years, I appreciate the work of the legislature, and I agree with it on the importance of protecting religious liberty in Alabama," Ivey said.

The House of Representatives last week gave final approval to the bill by a vote of 87-0, with six abstentions, concurring with a change the Senate made when it approved the bill.

"I ultimately signed House Bill 24 because it ensures hundreds of children can continue to find 'forever homes' through religiously-affiliated adoption agencies. This bill is not about discrimination, but instead protects the ability of religious agencies to place vulnerable children in a permanent home," the governor added.

Rep. Rich Wingo, R-Tuscaloosa, the sponsor of the bill, said the purpose was to make sure that faith-based agencies are not at risk of being forced to close because of decisions based on their beliefs.

"Very thankful to the governor that she believes in and stands up for religious liberty and religious freedom," Wingo said.

Critics of the bill say it will allow discrimination against gay couples.

"This bill obviously came about because same-sex marriage was approved," state Rep. Patricia Todd, who is gay and speaks out consistently on issues affecting the rights of gays, said last week. "It's based in a stereotype. And it's wrong. And we shouldn't discriminate and I will always fight that."

Wingo was asked to respond to the criticisms of those who say they bill allows discrimination.

"The bill is not to discriminate against anyone," Wingo said. "Nowhere in the bill does it say anything like that or lead you to believe that."

Wingo said most adoptions in the state are handled by secular agencies.

Child placing agencies that receive state or federal funds are not protected by the new law.

Similar legislation has passed in South Dakota, Michigan, North Dakota and Virginia, according to the Associated Press.

David Dinielli, deputy legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, issued a statement expressing disappointment in Ivey's decision to sign the bill.

"We are disappointed that one of the very first pieces of legislation Governor Kay Ivey chose to sign is a bill intended to target LGBT kids and stigmatize LGBT families," Dinielli said. "If the Governor had hoped to signal a new day in Alabama government, this was the wrong way to do it."

Eva Kendrick, state director of the Human Rights Campaign of Alabama, which advocates for civil rights for gay people, issued a statement critical of the legislation.

"We are deeply disappointed that the legislature and the governor took on this unnecessary, discriminatory bill instead of focusing on how to improve the lives of all Alabamians, no matter who they are or whom they love," Kendrick said.

Ivey, however, said it protects children who are in need.

"Alabama is a place where we care for our neighbors, and lend a hand to those we don't know. This bill ensures that the neediest among us, children who need to feel the love and security of a family, are cared for."

Updated at 7:26 p.m. to add statement from Eva Kendrick of the Human Rights Campaign of Alabama. Updated at 8:51 a.m. on May 4 to add information from the Associated Press.


A bill that would provide some regulation of church-affiliated day care centers cleared another hurdle today after an amended version was voted out of committee. It heads next to the Senate floor for a vote.

The bill generated enough debate in the Senate Judiciary committee this afternoon that when the meeting ran long, bumping up against the time for the Senate to convene, Chairman Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, went to the Senate to request a recess so the committee could continue debate and to vote on the child care bill.

In April, the House passed the amended HB 277 that would allow church-affiliated day cares to continue operating without a license but would require they be inspected annually by the Alabama Department of Human Resources.

Currently Alabama is one of a handful of states that allow religiously-affiliated day cares to operate without state license or oversight.

Rep. Pebblin Warren, D-Tuskegee, who sponsored the bill in the house, presented it to the Senate committee today.

She said lack of regulation of all day cares means the state has "opened the doors to many bad situations and bad day cares."

She said she began working on the bill three years ago, after her grandson was mistreated in a license-exempt day care that she said didn't properly train its staff.

"I'm here today because I'm seriously concerned about what we have allowed to go on in the state of Alabama under the heading of (license) exempt day cares in the state," she said.

"This is a nonpartisan bill. This bill is about the health and safety of our children."

About 20-30 supporters of the bill were in attendance, many wearing "I support HB 277" stickers and t-shirts.

Sen. Phil Williams, R-Rainbow City, introduced a few amendments that he said would protect faith-based exempt centers like the one connected to Westbrook Christian School in Gadsden, where his children attended school.

"I want to make sure that good facilities don't wind up being burdened in a way that damages their ability to help kids," he said.

Some of his amendments were agreed-upon by the bill's proponents.

One amendment regarding inspection of license-exempt centers generated some pushback from other committee members. The amendment said anonymous complaints about a license-exempt day care would not give DHR "reasonable cause" to inspect that day care. He said he retracted the amendment after learning that DHR has a system in place for investigating anonymous complaints.

Ward later pointed out that committee amendments could "severely damage the chances of the bill" in the Senate.

Sen. Larry Stutts, R-Tuscumbia, said he would not support the bill until he saw data on the number of dangerous incidents occurring in licensed and unlicensed centers. These numbers are not tracked statewide. Because Alabama DHR does not have jurisdiction over unlicensed centers, any complaint against a license-exempt day care is forwarded to the district attorney's office in the county where the day care is located.

Sen. Vivian Figures, D-Mobile, spoke in favor of the bill, saying children in her district had died after being left in day care vans at unlicensed centers.

"We're talking about the safety and welfare of children who cannot speak for themselves," she said.
A state education budget that would provide money to hire 152 more teachers in grades 4-6 has passed the Alabama House of Representatives by a 100-0 vote.

The budget calls for spending $6.4 billion from the Education Trust Fund during the year that begins Oct. 1. That's $90 million more than this year's budget.

Tonight's vote returns the bill to the Senate, which had passed it in April.

The Senate could concur with changes made by the House or send the bill to a conference committee.

The budget would boost funding for Alabama's prekindergarten program by $13.5 million, to $78 million.

Rep. Bill Poole, R-Tuscaloosa, chairman of the House Ways and Means Education Committee, said the budget fully funded the teachers' retirement system and level-funds the Public Education Employees' Health Insurance Plan.

Poole said four-year colleges and universities are level-funded. Poole said that was mainly because the cost of a veterans affairs scholarship program is increasing by $35 million next year over this year's cost.

Poole said the unanimous vote on the bill tonight was significant.

"I think it validates that we hit the right priorities and the right needs at every level of the state and every area, whether it was rural or urban or west or north, or whatever the case may be," Poole said. "All of the members voted in favor of what I think was a very positive education budget."

The $6.4 billion that the budget would spend from the ETF is a cap set by the Rolling Reserve Act, which limits school spending based on a history of tax revenues.

The cap allowed the $90 million increase over this year's budget. The $35 million increase for the veterans scholarship program would come out of that $90 million.

Poole said the budget would provide a $26 million increase for the Foundation Program for K-12 school systems, including $10.5 million to hire the 152 new elementary school teachers.

Also, in addition to the $13.5 million boost for prekindergarten, Poole said there was an $8 million increase needed to fully fund the Teachers' Retirement System.

Overall, the $90 million increase in spending amounts to a 1.4 percent increase over this year.

"I'd certainly like to see greater numbers, bigger numbers, but these are the numbers we have," Poole said.

"I'm very pleased with the fact I think we were able to hit the right priorities."

Updated at 9:14 p.m. with quotes from Rep. Poole.
A U.S. Senate candidate who expressed regret over the abortion of his first child said he's "disappointed" to see Republicans propose a federal budget that provides funding for Planned Parenthood.

Rep. Ed Henry, R-Hartselle, said the budget proposed by GOP leadership provides money for Planned Parenthood but not for a wall along the U.S./Mexico border. The current proposal includes funding for Planned Parenthood through September, though House leaders said they plan to address the issue during the budget reconciliation process.

Henry said that's not enough.

"What is the point of being in power if we can't at least defund an organization that kills hundreds of thousands of unborn children every year? There is no way I could ever vote in good conscience for a federal budget (even a continuing resolution) if it meant funding the senseless death of so many innocent lives," he said. "Republicans ran on defunding Planned Parenthood."

Henry is one of four announced candidates for the U.S. Senate seat. The other is former Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange, who was appointed to the post by then- Governor Robert Bentley in February after Sen. Jeff Sessions was named to lead the U.S Justice Department.

Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore is also running for the Senate seat. Moore resigned from his court post at the end of April after being suspended for violating judicial ethics in relation to his defiance of the U.S. Supreme Court's order legalizing same-sex marriage.

Randy Brinson, former state chair of the Christian Coalition, is also seeking the Senate seat.

'Significant scar on my soul'

Henry's tenure in the Alabama Legislature has included support of pro-life measures. In 2012, he addressed that support, telling those gathered for an anti-abortion rally in Montgomery that he once accompanied his pregnant girlfriend to have an abortion.

"In '91 I was in a similar situation where I had a girlfriend who was with child and I made a decision that I will regret -- that we went and I murdered my child, my first child," Henry told the crowd. He said the impact of that decision hit him eight years later when he was 30 and his wife was 12 weeks pregnant with their daughter.

"I saw that ultrasound of my baby, my child, and it came down on me like a ton of bricks that I had murdered my first child. And I will carry that with me to my grave," he said. "It should not be this easy for our children to kill their children."

While Henry says he doesn't dwell on the abortion, he regrets the decision to this day.

"All of your experiences are cumulative of who you are but that is a very significant scar that I have on my soul," he told AL.com this week.

Updated May 4 at 8:29 a.m. to add Roy Moore and Randy Brinson as Senate candidates.
Alabama's tourism industry continues to race ahead, leaving the 2010 BP oil spill disaster and the Great Recession in the rear-view mirror.

For the sixth year in a row, Alabama set a new record in annual tourism expenditures for 2016, and for the number of visitors coming to the state.

More than 25.8 million people visited last year, up 2.5 percent over the 25.2 million people who came in 2015.

And travelers spent more than $13.3 billion, an increase of 5.4 percent over the 2015 figures.

For the past 14 years, from 2003 to 2016, tourism expenditures in Alabama have increased a whopping 96 percent, according to data from the Alabama Tourism Department.

The numbers are compiled annually by Keivan Deravi, an economist in the School of Business at Auburn University Montgomery.

Lee Sentell

"The great news is that all areas of the state experienced growth for a variety of reasons," said Lee Sentell, the state's tourism director. "The fact that the economy was stronger last year in the Midwest and Southeast contributed to the increase. People just seem to have been more relaxed and wanted to reward the family with a vacation to the South."

Baldwin's boom

Much of the growth is linked to five counties - Baldwin, Jefferson, Madison, Mobile and Montgomery. They account for 68 percent of the total number of visitors.

Baldwin County, home to Alabama's sugar-white sand beaches, leads in the way - by far - in tourism activity. The 6.3 million visitors to Baldwin County represented a 3.3 percent bounce from 2015, and is nearly one-fourth of all the tourists who visit Alabama each year.

"People love the beach when its blue skies and sunshine," said Herb Malone, president/CEO of Gulf Shores & Orange Beach, the tourism arm of coastal Alabama. "But besides the growth over the summer, we have grown in our shoulder seasons, particularly our fall and early winter. ... It's a lot of dynamics at work coming together."

In booming Baldwin, which is also Alabama's fastest-growing county in population since the 2010 U.S. Census, Malone and others anticipate further spikes in tourism with an influx in sporting-related events in Foley, Gulf Shores and Fairhope as well as the summer opening of the OWA amusement park in Foley.

Said Sentell: "OWA is going to be a game changer for the Gulf Coast."

Added Malone: "It will add greatly to the offerings we have for traveling guests. It will introduce a new element we haven't had in the past."

Baldwin and neighboring Mobile County combined represented more than 40 percent of the visitors to Alabama in 2016.

Mobile County saw a 5.5 percent increase in visitors in 2016.

"Those numbers don't surprise me," said David Clark, president/CEO of Visit Mobile, who has been involved in the coastal Alabama hospitality sector for 30 years. "It comes back to great leadership among coastal Alabama and the city of Mobile. It comes down to stakeholder investments over the last 10 to 15 years. It truly takes a village to attract that many visitors and continue to win."

Jefferson's dip

Of the five largest tourism counties, only Jefferson County reported a dip in visitors in 2016 compared to 2015. In fact, Jefferson County - which came in at No. 2 in the number of visitors in 2015 - fell behind Mobile County in 2016.

But there were some anomalies in the data. Jefferson -- Alabama's most populous county and home to the city of Birmingham -- saw a 2.9 bump in travel-related spending and recorded $262,323 more in state lodging tax receipts, representing an increase of 2.9 percent from 2015.

Jefferson County's decline was reported in hotel occupancy rates. According to the data, the county's average occupancy rate was 62.6 percent in 2016, down from 63.6 percent in 2015.

Baldwin, Mobile, Madison and Montgomery counties reported hotel occupancy rate increases in 2016.

John Oros, president & CEO with the Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the statistical dips can be attributed to a last year's slowdown in weekday corporate travel. He said that can also be linked to the uncertainties surrounding the 2016 presidential election.

"Last year was an unusual election year and no one knew what would happen on the impact of the economy," said Oros. "It can typically cause corporations to slightly reduce their travel until things become more clear politically."

Oros said that despite the small dips, 2016 was a "positive for the tourism industry and travel in general throughout the United States."

And 2017 has started off on a positive note for Jefferson County, Oros said.

"The hotel occupancy numbers are up about 1 percent and we may be back to the 2015 numbers in Birmingham and Jefferson County," he said. "It's been a good first quarter with sporting events and tournaments taking place. We think demand for hotels ... will be extremely strong."

Beaches soar

Other Southern states and locales that promote their beaches also enjoyed a lucrative tourism year.

Hilton Head Island, S.C., near Charleston, saw a 6.1 percent increase in its hotel and resort occupancy rate, to 64 percent.

In Mississippi, that state's three Gulf Coast counties attracted 6.2 million visitors last year, up 8 percent over 2015. The Mississippi Gulf Coast, punctuated with the casino industry, recorded an 8 percent increase in non-casino revenues in 2016, according to Visit Mississippi Gulf Coast.

The three Mississippi counties - Hancock, Harrison and Jackson - employed 30,000 people in the leisure and hospitality sector, representing an increase by more than 2,400 jobs since 2012.

Baldwin County, according the Alabama Tourism Department's analysis, employs more than 49,600 people in director and indirect travel-related industries.

Baldwin County accounts for 27.7 percent of Alabama's overall travel-related employment. Jefferson County is second at 15.3 percent, and Mobile is third at 9.2 percent.
The Mobile District Attorney's Office is reporting that the probation officer for Ashley Wilkins, 32, who was sentenced to a diversion program in 2016 for burying her child in the backyard of her home after giving birth in October 2015, has filed a motion to have her probation revoked.

The filing of the motion comes after Wilkins was involved in a physical altercation with another woman, while under the influence of alcohol, on Sunday (April 30) at the Grand Hotel in Fairhope.

The Fairhope Police Department reported that no charges were filed in the incident, but on Monday (May 1) Wilkins was arrested by the Mobile Police Department and charged with probation violation.

Assistant Mobile District Attorney Jennifer Wright, said that although no charges were filed by the woman in the incident, who she identified as the sister-in-law of Wilkins, there is enough evidence to have her probation revoked.

"There is well documented evidence of violation of her probation violation due to the fight and alcohol in her system," said Wright. "It violates the stipulations of the 18-month diversion program she was sentenced too."

On December 1, 2016, Mobile District Court Judge John Lockett sentenced Wilkins to a 10 year prison sentence, but allowed her to attend an 18 month front-end diversion program. three months prior to her sentencing, a jury found her guilty of abusing the corpse of her child, but found her not guilty of chemical endangerment of the child.

A hearing is set for Wilkins on May 18 in Mobile Circuit Court.
Prosecutors said in a preliminary hearing Thursday morning that Kay Raines, 68, died by strangulation. Her accused killer and son, Clarke Raines, 34, left a breadcrumb trail of evidence, which police followed using GPS tracking, prosecutors said in the hearing at Mobile District Court.

The case was handed over to a grand jury by Mobile District Court Judge Joe Basenburg after hearing more than a half an hour of testimony from Mobile Police Department homicide detective Kenneth Gillespie.

Clarke has been charged with murder and 13 counts of fraudulent credit card use in the case.

Nearly a half dozen friends of Kay gathered in the two front rows of the courtroom as Mobile District Attorney Ashley Rich went meticulously through their investigation.

Clarke stood -- with his chest out and a slight smirk on his face -- next to his attorney Jason Darley as detective Gillespie recounted Kay's whereabouts before her death.

Timeline of Events

Gillespie said that Kay was staying at the Beau Rivage Hotel in Biloxi, Miss., on January 29, the last day she was seen alive, and began her morning in with breakfast at the hotel.

He said video surveillance footage obtained from the hotel showed her going through her normal routine.

"Around 7:33 a.m. she went to cafe there in the casino and got breakfast," said Gillespie. "She exited the casino and walked to her car in the parking garage."

She drove her 2014 Honda CRV to her job at the Home Depot in Gulfport, Miss., and arrived around 7:52 a.m.

Video surveillance footage from Home Depot showed her leaving the building after work around 1:17 p.m.

Next, cellphone data from Kay's phone showed her traveling on the Interstate 10 eastbound toward Alabama stopping at her home located at 1001 Pace Parkway in west Mobile.

Gillespie said Clarke had been living with his mother at the time.

"From what we understand he had been there approximately 8 months," said Gillespie.

Rich said during that time it was uncommon for anyone in the neighborhood to see Clarke driving Kay's vehicle. She also said that Clarke did not have a valid driver's license at the time of Kay's disappearance and he had a history of drug addiction.

Gillespie continued his testimony saying that once cellphone data showed Kay's phone pinging off towers near her residence on Jan. 29, strange activity began to occur on her financial accounts.

"At approximately 3:43 p.m. on the 29th there is an attempt to complete an online money gram account transaction in the name of Kay Raines," said Gillespie.

He said the amount of the transaction was $700 to be transferred to Clarke. He said audio of the recorded conversation, between Clarke and a money gram worker, revealed that when the transaction was denied, he tried to pose as Kay on the phone.

"He identified himself as Kay Raines, gave her date of birth and the last four digits of Kay's social security number," said Gillespie.

The transaction was still denied by the Money Gram employee. Gillespie went on to state that Clarke had no source of income or employment during the time he lived with his mother.

He said that prior her disappearance on Jan. 29, a day earlier, Clarke and Kay were involved in an argument through phone calls and a set of text messages.

"There were a lot of phone calls to Kay and a text message from Kay to Clarke in reference to these phone calls," said Gillespie. "Telling him she has to work in the morning, he needs to stop calling her and if he doesn't stop she'll call the police."

He said there was also a text message from Kay asking Clarke, 'Not to destroy the house like you always threaten to do.'

He said on Jan. 29, around 5:40 p.m., Kay's cellphone began to ping off of cellphone towers headed in the direction of Mississippi on Interstate 10.

At approximately 6:06 p.m. video surveillance footage shows Clarke walked into the Beau Rivage in Biloxi and obtained a key to Kay's room from an attendant. He later left the hotel with her belongings.

Rich interjected during Gillespie's testimony and said that Kay never returned to the hotel after leaving that morning.

Around 10:00 a.m. on Jan. 30, Clarke went to a PNC Bank, where Kay had a bank account, and attempted to cash a check for $3,500 from her account.

Rich stated there is also video surveillance footage of this transaction attempt, which was denied. She said Clarke left the bank, then used Kay's debit cards multiple times from Jan. 30 to Feb. 5 for various purchases.

The places included Exxon, Best Buy, Cash Saver and a Pizza Hut. On Jan. 31, the Mobile Police Department became involved in the investigation when Kay did not show up for work at Home Depot.

"It was very uncharacteristic for Kay to not show up for work," said Rich.

Gillespie said Mobile police went to Kay's home and questioned Clarke about her whereabouts.

"He told the officers that he had dropped his mother off at the Beau Rivage. He wasn't very clear on what day it was," said Gillespie. "And that it was not unusual for her to be gone like this and she would get a ride from somebody or a friend."

At that point, Gillespie said he obtained a warrant to have a tracking device placed on Kay's Honda CRV on Jan. 31. Gillespie tracked Clarke's whereabouts from nearly two months.

He said during February Clarke tried to cash gambling receipts at the Beau Rivage Hotel and sold numerous expensive items from Kay's home to different pawn shops.

But it wasn't until late March when he noticed an unusual driving route taken by Clarke.

"Up until that time he had never really left Mobile County," said Gillespie.

On March 25, he said that Clarke drove the vehicle on Interstate 65 into Baldwin County and stopped at several exits then returned home. Later that day he went to a Home Depot in Mobile and purchased 10 bags of top soil and a shovel.

The following day, March 26, he got up around 5:00 a.m. and drove back into Baldwin County. He went to Alabama Highway 225 and stopped for 7 to 10 minutes.

"When I saw that I believed that to be odd because since I had been watching him he had never got up that early," said Gillespie.

Gillespie said he left that location and drove to a shopping center near Cottage Hill and Azalea Road and parked behind an H&R Block for about three minutes.

"When I got out of trial that day I decided to go drive up to 225 where his vehicle had stopped," said Gillespie. "I observed a small trail parallel to the road. I walked down and observed a circle area where the vegetation was a lot darker."

Gillespie said that he and his partner began to removed some of the dirt with their hands and made a discovery.

"We found a little bit of the bone and we stopped and notified the identification units for Baldwin County and Mobile," said Gillespie.

He said once the body was removed, the clothes matched the description of what Kay was last seen wearing. He said the body was buried in an awkward position.

"The legs and arms were folded backwards as if it might have been hog tied although there weren't any ropes or anything found," said Gillespie.

An autopsy report by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences said that the cause of death was strangulation.

Gillespie said the went back to the shopping center in Mobile the next day, where Clarke had driven, and located empty bags of top soil in a dumpster behind the H&R Block.

Clarke's attorney Jason Darley, took a few minutes to go back over the testimony verifying that video and audio recordings had been obtained of each interaction Gillespie described.

After the hearing, Rich said the trail of evidence left in this manner is slightly unusual.

"It's clear they had a very bad relationship. He had a very bad drug problem, he had the motive the opportunity and the intent to kill her," said Rich. "He went back to her body and led us right to her, so yes, this is unusual."

Rich said a funeral service for Kay Raines will take place later this week, but the arrangements have not been finalized at this time.
Former CIA officer John Kiriakou speaks to Al Jazeera about the USs use of torture and his time in prison.

For 14 years, John Kiriakou worked as an analyst and case officer for the CIA, leading the team that captured senior al-Qaeda member Abu Zubaydah in Pakistan in 2002. Then, in a television interview in 2007, three years after he had resigned from the US intelligence agency, he became the first current or former member of it to publicly acknowledge that the CIA used torture, and that its use was official policy under the administration of President George W Bush.

In 2012, the Barack Obama administration filed espionage charges against him.

Those charges were eventually dropped in October of that year, but Kiriakou did plead guilty to violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act by confirming the name of an officer involved in the then-secret CIA rendition programme that transferred CIA detainees to secret prison facilities around the world.

He was sentenced to 30 months in prison and released in 2015 after serving almost two years.

Kiriakou, who has written the soon-to-be-released book, Doing Time Like a Spy: How the CIA Taught Me to Survive and Thrive in Prison, talks to Al Jazeera about the USs use of torture and his time in prison.

You were a CIA officer charged with protecting the US and its interests from global threats. How did you end up being imprisoned by the US government?

I decided to blow the whistle on the CIAs torture programme, which I believed was immoral, unethical and illegal. I gave a nationally televised interview in December 2007 in which I said that the CIA was torturing its prisoners, that torture was official US government policy and that the policy had been personally approved by the president [George W Bush].

It seems that classified information is regularly leaked by government officials, so what was different about your case?

Classified information is leaked every single day in Washington. The White House, the Pentagon and the CIA leak constantly. But I was prosecuted because I made the CIA look bad. I was prosecuted because I aired the CIAs dirty laundry.

There appears to have been an avalanche of leaks from the current White House but we havent seen any legal action over them. How is the administration of Donald Trump different from that of his predecessor Barack Obama?

President Obama was obsessed with leaks more than any other president in history except, maybe, Richard Nixon. The CIA knew they had a friend in Obama. In the past, the CIA would either ignore leaks or work behind the scenes to plug them. But they wanted to make an example of me because I called them criminals.

In this book, you say that torture does not work and describe it as un-American. Can you elaborate on your views on the use of torture?

I believe that torture is morally, ethically and legally wrong. We have laws in this country that specifically ban the kind of torture techniques that the CIA used against al-Qaeda prisoners. We just pretended that they were legal. At the same time, the CIA actually killed prisoners in custody using these techniques. Where is the justice for those people? I have come to the personal conclusion that we are supposed to be a country of laws. We are supposed to be a country governed by a constitution. We must follow all the laws, not just the ones that fit our own personal ideologies.

The Republicans who were the Senate minority in 2014 claimed that torture worked and had led to actionable intelligence, particularly from captured al-Qaeda leaders Abu Zubaydah and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. How do you respond to this?

This is, simply, a lie. Yes, Abu Zubaydah provided that information. But he provided it to FBI agent Ali Soufan before the CIA started torturing him. None of that information was collected through the use of torture. Also, CIA leaders feel that they must justify their support for torture. It is their legacy.

Can you tell us about some of your own experiences of using torture and how these shaped your views on it? Did your opinions change over time?

The only personal experience that I had was in training when we took turns waterboarding each other. It was most definitely torture and it has no place in US policy. My personal opinion on torture has not changed. I tried to draw a distinction in that first interview [the 2007 TV interview]. I said there were two questions: Was torture moral, ethical and legal? Did torture work? The CIA has said for years that it worked. That was a lie. It was never moral, ethical or legal.

Do you think the American public is supportive of the use of torture and do you think they are fully informed about the ways in which it has been used?

I think, frankly, that most Americans are not well-informed. They believe whatever the government tells them. As a result, a majority of Americans support torture. But almost no Americans understand what torture is.

Trump has said that he supports the use of torture as an interrogation method, while spy chief Mike Pompeo is open to the idea of bringing back waterboarding. How do you feel about this?

This is a sickening position. Its a terrible thing that people as important as Trump and Pompeo would publicly advocate committing a crime. The positive thing is that with the passage of the McCain-Feinstein Amendment, the techniques that the CIA used are clearly illegal. They wont happen again.

[Senators John McCain and Dianne Feinstein introduced a bipartisan amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016. The amendment was designed to prohibit the use of torture and restricts interrogation techniques to those authorised in the Army Field Manual. It also required access for the International Committee of the Red Cross to detainees in US government custody, which is current US policy.]

Given that the Feinstein-McCain Act prohibits the use of torture, do you think the administration could potentially outsource torture to some of its allies as it has done in the past, particularly in the Middle East?

I would not be surprised if the White House ordered the CIA to send prisoners or terrorist suspects to third countries to undergo torture. As a policy, the CIA asks its foreign partners specifically to not torture suspects. But torture allegedly takes place with a wink and a nod. I would not be at all surprised if the Trump administration asks the CIA to do exactly that.

Can you tell us about some of the people you encountered in prison, what you learned from that experience and how it has helped shape you?

I met some truly good people in prison. Our government likes to put people into categories  Aryans, Italians, gang members, Muslims, etc. I made friends among all of them.

What did your time in prison teach you about the American prison system?

My experience led me to the conclusion that the American prison system is broken. It is racist and it is anti-poor. It must be torn down and rebuilt. The US is home to five percent of the worlds population, but 25 percent of the worlds prison population. We are over-criminalised, over-legislated and over-regulated. This only weakens us as a country.

One of the most interesting things you mention in your book is that many of the prisoners at Loretto Federal prison chose to convert to Judaism. Can you tell us more about that?

Yes. Jews get much better food than anybody else because it has to be kosher. The average meal for regular prisoners costs something like 95 cents. But the kosher meal costs something like $2.35. The food is better, its cleaner, and theres more of it. Also, Jews are allowed to buy extra treats around the Jewish holy days, like chocolate, soups, and other foods. Nobody else is allowed to have these foods. I once asked a Muslim friend why he didnt get halal meals. He said there were none. I said, We have pork two or three times a week. What do you eat? He said he throws the pork away and eats whatever is left. The Muslims did not get the same kind of treatment as the Jews.

Did your CIA training help you while in prison and, if so, how?

Thats the whole point of the book. The CIA taught me 20 life rules that I used in prison. These rules kept me safe and healthy and kept me at the top of the social heap.

Follow Ali Younes on twitter @ ali_reports
As Sundays vote nears, the issue of anti-Semitism has raised its head in a country that contributed to the Holocaust.

Paris, France  On July 16 and 17, 1942, French police rounded up 13,152 Jews  including 4,000 children  and held them at an indoor cycle-racing track not far from the Eiffel Tower.

Later, they were moved to an internment camp in Drancy, a northeastern suburb. From there, they were shipped in rail cattle cars to Auschwitz for their mass murder.

Deportations continued for two more years after the so-called Vel dHiv roundup, until the end of the German occupation. In total, at least 77,000 Jews living in France were swept to their deaths in concentration camps  most in Auschwitz, some on French soil.

It was not until 53 years later in 1995 that a French leader recognised Frances role in the massacre, which took place under the collaborationist Vichy regime  the common name of the official French state headed by Marshal Philippe Petain during World War II.

Then, President Jacques Chirac apologised on behalf of the French policemen and civil servants who served in the raid.

Yes, the criminal folly of the occupiers was seconded by the French, by the French state, he said. France, on that day, committed an irreparable act. It failed to keep its word and delivered those under its protection to their executioners.

Until that moment, the official line was that France or the French Republic bears no responsibility and all blame should be directed at Vichy  a stance considered to be anti-Semitic.

Now, as she bids for Frances top job, the far-right leader and presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has recirculated this argument  a move that would not have been at all surprising had it been played by her more openly bigoted father and founder of the National Front party (FN), Jean-Marie Le Pen, but which sent the media into minor shock coming from his daughter, who is attempting to detoxify the partys fascist, racist and anti-Semitic image.

France is not responsible for the Vel dHiv, she told RTL radio last month. Those responsible were those in power then. This is not France.

FN a living expression of anti-Semitism

Marine Le Pen has been working hard to give the impression that her party has changed, but it only fools the foolish. Her recent statement  indicates very well the shallowness of the partys metamorphosis, Maxime Benatouil, co-chair of the French Jewish Union for Peace (LUJFP), told Al Jazeera.

On Wednesday, with four days to go until the second round, Le Pens centrist rival Emmanuel Macron challenged her interpretation of responsibility in a televised debate.

We dont have to share [Jacques Chiracs] view, she replied, unrepentant.

The fact that Vichy is France is so obvious it doesnt need to be discussed, Laurent Levy, an author and activist, told Al Jazeera. Le Pens party was founded by collaborationists  it had a bad smell when she said that.

Le Pen was also possibly trying to appease the traditional anti-Semites that raised her within the FN, from which she has temporarily stood down ahead of Sundays decisive vote, Levy said.

She has to reassure part of her party, those who dont recognise the party she has developed, those who say shes now inside the system instead of against it, he said. Maybe she just thought she was being patriotic by saying France has a clean record and is perfect.

Macron, on the other hand, has acknowledged the stained pages of French history. He has visited sites related to the history of collaboration, and while in Algeria in February condemned Frances colonial past as a crime against humanity.

He [does not want to be] held responsible for not preventing what happened in the past to happen in the near future, Nacira Guenif, a sociologist and professor at the University of Paris 8, told Al Jazeera. The FN is a living expression of anti-Semitism in France. The reasons why it has not disappeared have to do with the fact the French are still very keen on remaining white. Its a matter of Frenchness seen as whiteness.

WATCH: The Dark Side of France [25:00]

Although it is widely considered that Jews have become white, for those who consider that Jews cannot be white, for them anti-Semitism still makes sense. Its an identitarian resource that they exploit very strongly.

The rise of anti-Semitic attacks

There are between 500,000 and 600,000 Jews living in France.

CRIF, or the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France, says that anti-Semitism has increased since 2002.

Among the gravest examples are the 2006 murder of 23-year-old Ilan Halimi; the 2012 shooting at a Jewish school in Toulouse that left three children and a teacher dead; and the killing of four Jews in 2015 at a kosher supermarket in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attack.

According to CRIF and reports in some Israeli media, a feeling of insecurity has led to an increase in the number of Jews settling in Israel.

However, some argue that the issue has become politicised.

CRIF says in 2013, 3,500 left for Israel, up from an average of between 1,000 and 1,800 per year. In 2014, that number rose to 7,000 and then 8,000 in 2015.

There is a climate of fear among Jewish religious and secular communities, no doubt about that, said Benatouil, of LUJFP. However, it is very hard to say [whether] France-based Zionist [figures] arent simply adding fuel on fire by making it bigger than it actually is.

Last year, the number of those relocating to Israel dropped to 5,000  a relative decrease.

Aliyah [Jews relocating to Israel] has been promoted in France by the Israeli state for a long time, said Guenif. There is some sort of overstatement about moving to Israel since the attacks.

During the 2000s, when there was this increase of anti-Semitic acts or statements against Jews, there was strong promotion of returning to Israel inside the Jewish community in France. There was a very strong policy of getting them to move to Israel  [Aliyah] is not as strong as it seems, she said, adding that many who leave  a majority of whom are of North African descent  soon return because of racism in Israel.

The divisive politics of white French supremacy

According to a 2014 study by Fondapol, a think-tank, three groups are responsible for rising hate crimes against Jews: the extreme right, the extreme left and Muslims.

Anti-Semitic acts are often conducted by young Muslims, Robert Ejnes, the head of CRIF, told Al Jazeera. All terrorist attacks have been made in the name of Allah. We know this is a hijacking of Islam by these jihadists.

WATCH: Is Frances National Front still fascist? (25:00)

However, many believe that while Muslims are at times responsible for anti-Semitism, Europes largest Muslim minority of five million is too often grouped together as one homogenous group, scapegoated, and demonised as the first anti-Semites of France.

The fight against anti-Semitism has been mostly used as a weapon of Islamophobia, said Laurent. People say anti-Semitism is only something proper to the Muslim part of the population, but the evidence that that is not true has risen.

The charge of anti-Semitism is often directed at those who question Israeli policy and argue against Zionism  including Muslim critics.

Some Jews in France  feel like they are themselves under attack when we denounce the crimes of Israel, said Levy, adding that the already heated debate over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in France intensified during the Israeli bombardment of Gaza in 2014.

But reports of violence on the street between Jewish and Muslim communities are exaggerated, Levy said.

There might be tiny problems here or there, but I wouldnt say that when a group of men wearing the kippah pass some men with beards, there is an electricity. I would also add that the image of a man with a beard is not the typical Muslim in France.

Guenif, too, warned against hearsay reports of physical violence committed by Muslims.

Anti-Semitic acts could be from all parts, but Im not sure Muslims are so keen on desecrating tombs in cemeteries, said Guenif. The divisive politics of white French supremacy are effective in dividing and pitting minorities, one against the other.

Another concern is how France deals with its various minorities.

The problem does not lie with Judaism and Islam, or between Muslims and Jews. The problem is political, said Benatouil. When you have a state which would defend Israel no matter what, do everything it can to preserve the memory of the Jewish sufferings while doing too little or nothing with the memory of other communities, what do you think happens?

He added that Muslims, often targeted as Islam is conflated with terrorism, tend to suffer more in todays charged atmosphere.

What happens is exactly what we live now in France: a hate, which sometimes takes on the clothes of anti-Semitism and which is based on a legitimate feeling of double standard, pops up. I believe that the responsibility of the French state is tremendous.

With additional reporting by Naima Bouteldja
The Judicial Bodies Law threatens the independence of judiciary turning it into an arena for expanding Sisis powers.

On April 27, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ratified the Judicial Bodies Law No 13 of 2017, a day after Egypts House of Representatives issued its final approval of the law. By so doing, Egypts authoritarian regime has taken an additional step towards full subordination of state institutions, rendering them completely submissive to the military-security ruling establishment.

In this case, the parliament, in reality, serves as a mere tool utilised to crush the judiciary and repudiate the principle of separation of powers, stipulated in the 2014 Constitution, and which has been upheld by a series of rulings of the Supreme Constitutional Court and administrative courts.

The Judicial Bodies Law enables the executive branch  represented by the president  to encircle the judiciary, and grants the presidency the power to appoint key judges.

The law stipulates that the High Councils of the following judicial bodies  the Administrative Prosecution Authority, the State Lawsuits Authority, the Judiciary Law and the State Council Law  must each nominate three of the seven most senior judges and send these nominations to the president, who will then appoint the new chiefs.

Thus, the executive branch has become the most prominent actor in determining the leaders of Egypts judicial authorities. By virtue of these appointments, the judiciary has become an arena for expanding the power of the president and, in tandem, the power of the countrys omnipresent military, security, and intelligence institutions.





The powers of the High Councils of various judiciary authorities have shrunk and the objective rule of judges seniority is now subject to the rulers whims and devices. The independence of the judiciary has been thrown into the abyss.

The laws expand the executive branchs ability to hunt down, torture and exact revenge on opponents and those with different views, employing imprisonment to do so.

Of course, suspicions of unconstitutionality have followed the passage of Law No 13 of 2017. A report by the Legislative Division of the State Council on the law indicates that it violates Article 5 of the constitution.

Article 5 stipulates that the political regime in Egypt be based on political and party pluralism, the peaceful transfer of power, the separation and balance of powers, the principle of accountability of public officials and respect for human rights and freedoms.

The report also refers to the contradiction between the law and constitutionally established rules for the appointment of the chief justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court and the prosecutor general.

Article 193 of the Constitution stipulates that the Supreme Constitutional Court be composed of a president and a sufficient number of vice-presidents.

Regarding the General Prosecution, Article 189 of the Constitution states that: The Public Prosecution is an integral part of the judiciary. It is responsible for investigating, pressing charges and prosecuting all criminal cases except what is exempted by law.

The authority to appoint the chief justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court or the prosecutor general thus belongs to the High Councils of the relevant judicial authorities, not the president of the republic, who merely holds the nominal authority to sign off on appointment decisions.

However, any individual who has observed how Sisis authoritarian rule has been using legislative tools to subjugate state institutions since 2013 will quickly recall the Oversight and Independent Agencies Law No 89 of 2015. This law was issued as a presidential decree law on June 11, 2015, before the parliament was convened, and was later ratified by parliament after it was convened in January 2016.

This law grants the president the power to terminate the heads of oversight and independent agencies whenever he wishes.

The legislation, which applies to the Central Auditing Organisation, Central Bank, Administrative Control Authority and Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority, was utilised on March 28, 2016, to dismiss the former head of the Central Auditing Organisation Hisham Geneina.

Geneina made himself many enemies in the powerful military-security establishment by systematically exposing its implication in corruption.

Since the law was passed and its provisions applied to punish Geneina, it has proved a very malleable tool in the hands of the president to intervene in the work of oversight and independent agencies, bending them to the will of the executive branch, although the constitution stipulates that this branch be subject to oversight.





Any individual who has observed the authoritarian regimes use of legislative tools will also quickly discover that sabotaging judicial independence, undermining constitutional principles and tampering with entities such as the Central Auditing Organisation all fall under a broader context of issuing new laws and passing legal amendments.

The aim is to empower the military-security establishment within the state apparatus vis-a-vis the civilian institutions, as well as to reformulate the state-society relationship to restore tyranny after the brief democratic opening 2011-2013.

Since the summer of 2013 until the present, more than 400 new laws and legal amendments have been passed successively by Interim-President Adly Mansour, the current president, and the current Parliament.

Many of these laws and amendments have  first and foremost  expanded the powers of military, security and intelligence institutions at the expense of civilian institutions.

Examples of this include the amendments to the Military Facilities Law passed in October 2014, that are far-reaching in terms of allowing civilians to be referred to military courts, the Terrorism Law passed in February 2015, which includes stipulations that individuals and entities may be added to the terror list without a standardised process of litigation.

READ MORE: The tragedy of Egypts stolen revolution

These stipulations breach several rulings of the Administrative Judiciary and the Court of Cassation, that require litigation for inclusion on the terror list and do not consider mere governmental resolutions or the bilateral resolution mechanism of the General Prosecution and Chambers of Counsel in the Courts of Appeal, cloaked in an artificial judicial stamp, to be sufficient.

There is also the NGO law which was approved by the parliament in November 2016 but is yet to be ratified by the president. It refers supervision and oversight of the work of non-governmental organisations and associations to military and security institutions while simultaneously completely restricting the role of the (civilian) Ministry of Social Solidarity.

Some of these laws and amendments have, secondly, innovated additional tools for the authoritarian regime to subordinate state institutions, diminish citizens constitutionally stipulated rights and freedoms and enforce silence across society.

The Judiciary Bodies Law, and before it the Oversight and Independent Agencies Law, contain clear evidence of a subordination of civilian institutions and further intrusion of the executive branch, represented by the president.

Laws such as the anti-protest law issued in November 2013 (and amended in December 2016 following a Supreme Constitutional Court ruling), and amendments such as those made to Article 78 of the Penal Code passed in September 2014 (as well as the Terrorism Law and the NGO Bill), undermine citizens rights to freedom of opinion, peaceful gathering and association.

They expand the executive branchs ability to hunt down, torture, and exact revenge on opponents and those with different views, employing imprisonment to do so.

The same laws and legal amendments further criminalise the activity of NGOs working in the fields of human rights and defending victims of repression, enveloping society in a wall of fear that crushes its activism.

It revives the authoritarianism that was present before 2011, this time embracing an even more repressive legislative approach.
There is renewed optimism in Nigeria over the success chances of President Muhammadu Buharis war against corruption. Perennially derided by the opposition as a one-way partisan campaign, Buharis war against graft is finally piquing the interest of neutrals. This is because the presidents own men are the latest victims of the campaign.





Director general of Nigerias National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ayodele Oke, is currently on suspension after reluctantly admitting ownership, on behalf of the agency he has been leading, of the sums of $43.4m, 27,700 British pounds ($36,000) and 23.2 million naira ($74,000) found by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at a private residence in Lagos. Oke may have been appointed to his role by ex-president Goodluck Jonathan in 2013, but he is by every stretch a Buhari man having been left in office when other service chiefs were replaced in 2015. It is inexcusable that he warehoused a combined 13 billion naira ($41.3m) for covert operations without the presidents knowledge.

Also suspended and under investigation is Lawal Babachir, Buharis secretary and longtime ally, following his indictment by the legislature for an alleged 200 million naira ($635,000) scam.

According to the report of a probe by the senate, Rholavision Engineering Ltd, a company owned by Lawal, received 20 payments of 10 million naira ($32,000) from Josmos Technologies, a company that won a 248.9 million naira ($791,000) contract from an agency headed by Lawal to remove invasive plant species in the northeast.

OPINION: Boko Haram feeds off corruption in Nigeria

Lawals suspension was so surprising  given Buharis five-month hesitation to act  that the chairman of the senate committee which indicted Lawal, Shehu Sani, said a mighty mortal had been caught in the trap of his fate.

However, the source of the newfound optimism about Buharis anti-corruption campaign is the exact reason why it will not go beyond recovering just a fraction of the money looted by previous governments. When Buharis tenure is over, there will hardly be any convictions for past offenders and institutional barricades against corruption will still not be in place.

A government against itself

It has recently been revealed that Okes NIA, the foreign intelligence component of Nigerias three-pronged security apparatus, collected $289,202,382 in cash from the account of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) in February 2015  after the postponement of the general election and just three months before Goodluck Jonathan left office.

It will be extremely difficult to make sense of the current anti-corruption crusade without looking into the tenure of Jonathan, under whose watch an endless string of financial atrocities was committed. by

Meanwhile, NAPIMS, a corporate services unit in the exploration and production directorate of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), was established to manage governments investment in the upstream sector of the Nigerian oil and gas industry. By both its mission and vision, NAPIMS has no business funding NIAs covert operations.

This revelation makes it clear that Buhari cannot count on the agencies of government to help him fight corruption. NIA and NAPIMS are the latest to let him down; were EFCC to conduct a probe of the accounts of a dozen other agencies, the extent of filth to be discovered would surely be sickening.

When exposed, the operations of secret intelligence agencies often stun the public. But while the subject of discussion after such operations in the West is usually the propriety of operational methods, mismanagement of funds is usually the case in Nigeria.

One example, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)  the US agency that Nigerian former dictator Ibrahim Babangida was attempting to replicate when he established NIA in 1986.

As of March 2017, WikiLeaks had published more than 8,000 confidential documents from the CIA. But they all relate to CIAs software capabilities, such as the ability to compromise cars, smart TVs, web browsers, and the operating systems of smartphones and computers.

Notably, in July 2014, CIA Director John Brennan was forced to apologise to lawmakers because five CIA employees had surreptitiously searched Senate Intelligence Committee files and reviewed some committee staff members email on computers that were supposed to be exclusively for congressional investigators. Matters of professional ethics are what intelligence agencies get enmeshed in  save, of course, were talking about Nigeria.

Jonathans post-government immunity

It will be extremely difficult to make sense of the current anti-corruption crusade without looking into the tenure of Jonathan, under whose watch an endless string of financial atrocities was committed. Oke had Jonathans nod on the $289m he collected in 2015, and he is said to have controlled a reasonable amount of Jonathans campaign funds. Jonathan also authorised the collection of $2.1bn for the procurement of arms for counterterrorism operations  believed to have been mismanaged, and for which Sambo Dasuki, Jonathans security adviser, is being held in detention.

OPINION: Fighting corruption in Nigeria requires action not words

But Nigeria is not, for example, Portugal  where Jose Socrates, prime minister for the seven years leading to 2011, was imprisoned in 2014 (released in late 2015 but then placed on house arrest) for alleged corruption, money laundering and tax fraud.

Try that with Jonathan and Nigeria risks an extended economic recession, as the resultant uproar from militants will upset crude oil earnings and undermine Nigerias gains from OPECs landmark output cuts.

There are no straightforward choices in sight for Buhari. The probe committee he constituted initially planned to invite Jonathan but subsequently shelved it. How do you probe a messenger but ignore the master? Still, how do you recover stolen loot knowing the price to pay is injury to an oil-dependent mono-economy? The answers are neither yes or no, and that is why Buharis anti-corruption war will eventually yield a betwixt-and-between result: so much action, minimal solution.

Fisayo Soyombo was the pioneer editor of Nigerian online newspaper TheCable.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
The Russian media agency Sputnik has published fake news accusing Al Jazeera of filming a staged chemical attack on Syrian civilians by the Syrian army. Sputnik attributed the fake news to what they have called a military and diplomatic source.

Al Jazeera does not usually comment on what other agencies publish, but the network finds itself forced to respond to these allegations for several reasons.

It is known that Sputnik is just a propaganda tool that publishes fake news without any shame and this has been cited by several study centres and media outlets.

It is known that Sputnik is always used as a propaganda tool to defend the Syrian regime on an ongoing basis and has even published earlier reports denying the most recent chemical strike in Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib, called it fake and staged, even though the attack was confirmed by other impartial agencies and the Independent International Commission of Inquiry.

Al Jazeera warns that the timing of the publication of such a false report may be a prelude to a real attack on civilians in Syria under the pretext of their published news and that it could be used to cover up the crimes committed by the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by blaming others while the investigation into the chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun is ongoing.

Al Jazeera would like to stress that the network did not film any chemical attack material in Syria and that our organisation will continue its field coverage of the war in Syria with the objectivity the network is known for.

Al Jazeera challenged Sputnik to prove any of its claims, to provide any evidence supporting these accusations, or to announce the source of the lie that they published.

Al Jazeera maintains all its legal rights and will take legal action against Sputnik agency, which has committed a crime of defamation punishable by law in a number of developed countries.

Finally, Al Jazeera would like to highlight to the international community its concern that if a chemical attack was launched, as it was described in Sputniks fabricated article, then the Russian agency would be considered to be a conspirator with those involved.
FLN and ally widely expected to win but many voters seem disillusioned amid soaring unemployment and a financial crisis.

Algerians headed to the polls on Thursday in a parliamentary election overshadowed by a deepening financial crisis and predictions of a low turnout.

Voting was extended by an hour in 42 of the 48 electoral districts, closing at 8pm (19:00 GMT), with the first results expected late on Friday morning.

More than 12,000 candidates are competing for the 462 seats of the Peoples National Assembly. The election was the first since Algerian politicians amended the countrys constitutional law, giving more power to the legislature.

READ MORE: Algeria votes amid expected low turnout

Unofficial reports estimated that nearly 15 percent of the countrys 23.3 million voters had cast their ballots by 12:00 GMT, or five hours after the polling started.

Some 45,000 police officers were deployed on Thursday to guard the more than 53,000 polling stations across the country.

Rare appearance





President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has rarely been seen in public since a 2013 stroke, voted from a wheelchair at a polling booth in Algiers.

It was the ailing 80-year-old leaders first appearance before the international media since he was sworn in for a fourth term in April 2014.

Wearing a suit and tie, he went behind a curtain to mark his ballot, which one of his nephews slipped into the box, and posed for photographers without making any comment.

Bouteflikas National Liberation Front (FLN) and its coalition ally, the Rally for National Democracy, have enjoyed a comfortable majority since a 2012 poll, which they are expected to retain.

But Nourredine Bekis, professor of sociology at the University of Algiers, said parliamentarians had little real influence.

The president holds all the power, Bekis told the AFP news agency.

READ MORE: Algerian media faces hostile environment

Islamist parties, who held 60 seats in the outgoing parliament, represent the countrys main opposition force.

In 2012, they had hoped they could replicate the gains of their peers in Egypt and Tunisia after the Arab Spring, but they suffered their worst ever electoral defeat. This year, they have formed two electoral alliances in bids to do better.

Few of the opposition parties, including former Prime Minister Ali Benflis movement and the Jil Jadid (Arabic for New Generation) political party, have called for the boycott of the legislative election, saying that the winners had been chosen before the election.

Since the adoption of a multi-party system in 1989, the opposition has repeatedly accused the ruling parties of electoral fraud.

Already decided

The North African country weathered the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings with massive spending on wages and subsidies that depleted government coffers.

But a 2014 slump in crude oil prices forced the government to raise taxes and mothball many public projects.

Today, in a country of 40 million where half the population is under 30, one young person in three is unemployed.

Algerians have shown little enthusiasm for the election, with many saying they see little reason to cast their votes since the polls are rigged.

I could not care less. The outcome of the election has already been decided. Our votes will not be taken into account so why should I bother to go to the polls?, Karima, a 32-year-old manager at a marketing agency, who has never voted, told Al Jazeera.

Blidas cafes filled with men who sat discussing the election, but not all planned to vote.

This facade of a parliament should be abolished. The government passes all its laws, even the most controversial ones, Hocine, 35, told AFP.

Mohamed, 65, said he was voting to elect deputies who will relay the demands and the struggles of the society. This is the only issue in this election.

But officials, fearing a low turnout and public apathy, spent weeks urging people to take part.

Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal called for a massive vote, urging women to wake their husbands early, refuse them coffee and drag them to the polling stations.

If they resist, hit them with a stick, he told an all-female audience in the eastern city of Setif.

Bouteflika has said a strong turnout was essential for the countrys stability.
Desiree Ali-Fairooz could be jailed over a noise she made at the confirmation hearing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

A Washington jury has convicted three people of being disruptive at US Attorney General Jeff Sessions confirmation hearing.

One of them, Desiree Ali-Fairooz, 61, was convicted on Wednesday of disruptive conduct and demonstrating on US Capitol grounds during the hearing of President Donald Trumps nominee on January 10.

Fairooz, a member of the Code Pink activist group, let out a sound that court documents referred to as laughter when a senator said during the hearing that Sessions had a record of treating all Americans equally under the law.

The New York Times reported that in a filing, prosecutors said she let out a loud burst of laughter, followed by a second louder burst.

When police tried to escort Fairooz from the room, she grew loud and more disruptive, eventually halting the confirmation hearing, prosecutors said.

READ MORE: UN experts raise alarm over US protest bills

In a press release reacting to the verdicts, Code Pink said Fairooz, who attended the hearing dressed as the Statue of Liberty in pink, emitted a reflexive gasp.

The statement said the activist described the noise as spontaneous and an immediate rejection of what I considered an outright lie or pure ignorance.

Fairooz is a well-known face at Capitol Hill.

She was charged with disorderly conduct and assault on a police officer in 2007 after she waved blood-coloured hands in then-secretary of state Condoleezza Rices face at a congressional hearing and shouted war criminal in protest against the US intervention in Iraq.

Tighe Barry and Lenny Bianchi, two other members of Code Pink, were convicted on Wednesday on two separate charges of parading or demonstrating.

They appeared at the hearing dressed as members of the Ku Klux Klan, in what the group described as parody designed to highlight Sessions racist history.

The three protesters each face up to 12 months in jail, $2,000 in fines, or both, according to US media.
Hezb-i-Islami leader calls for peace with Taliban fighters and says the Western-backed government is not working.

After two decades in hiding, Hezb-i-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar returned to Kabul on Thursday, pleading for peace as he was welcomed by the Afghan government at the presidential palace.

The controversial commanders arrival in the capital  a city his forces had shelled with thousands of rockets during the Afghan civil war  came after his largely dormant group signed a peace deal with President Ashraf Ghanis government in September.

A former prime minister, Hekmatyar was a prominent anti-Soviet commander in the 1980s and stands accused of killing thousands of people from 1992 to 1996.





A convoy of dozens of white pickup trucks carrying armed men and draped in Afghan flags and green banners made its way through the capital as it brought Hekmatyar from Jalalabad, the eastern city where he has been based for the past few days.

Calling his former allies in the Afghan Taliban brothers, Hekmatyar, whose address at the presidential palace was frequently interrupted by shouts of acclamation, portrayed himself as a mediator able to bring peace.

That, he said, would remove the justification for the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan.

The most important issue for me is to end this war and rescue the country from crisis, said Hekmatyar, calling on neighbouring countries like Pakistan and Iran not to interfere.

The Hizb-i-Islami leader said he had accepted the constitution drawn up following the US-led campaign that ousted the Taliban in 2001, but wanted it amended and said a parliamentary system was not appropriate for Afghanistan.

The national government led by Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, painstakingly brokered by Washington after the disputed election of 2014, was not working, he said, and either Ghani or Abdullah should resign, but claimed that he was not seeking any formal position for himself.

I am not here for partnership. I have no conditions, I dont want ministries, he said.

The Taliban has shown no sign of accepting any arrangement with Hekmatyar, but Ghani thanked him for accepting the deal and said the Afghan people wanted peace and prosperity.

We have promised the nation that we will pave the way for the peace and today an important step has been taken, said Ghani.

OPINION: Ashraf Ghanis gamble with butcher of Kabul

Hekmatyars call for peace echoed a speech he gave last week in Afghanistans eastern Laghman province  his first public appearance in 20 years  where he urged the Taliban to come to the negotiating table.

If you lay down your guns and come forward, I will be the first one to call you my brother. To the Taliban, [I say] come forward, lets talk about peace and prosperity, and join us in this peace process in Afghanistan, he said on Saturday.

But in Kabul  where posters of his face had been plastered all over the city, with many immediately defaced by opponents  Hekmatyar was awaited with mixed feelings.

Hekmatyar was the chief destroyer of Kabul, metal worker Edress Arabzada told the AFP news agency, calling the commander to apologise for the killings of innocent people.

But, he added, we welcome his arrival to Afghanistan if it leads to peace and stability.

Sayed Mohammad, a cucumber seller, agreed.

All the warlords are corrupt and have blood on their hands, he told AFP. But, we welcome (Hekmatyar) to Kabul because we are tired of war and conflict.

OPINION: Afghans must support peace deal with Hekmatyar

During his self-imposed exile, Hekmatyarwas long believed to be living in hiding in Pakistan, though his group had claimed he was inside Afghanistan.

Following the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan and fall of the Taliban, the US State Department designated him a terrorist, accusing him of taking part in and supporting attacks by al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

But his Hezb-i-Islami armed group has been largely inactive in recent years, with its last big attack in Afghanistan, which killed 15 people  including five Americans  in 2013.

In February, the UN Security Council lifted sanctions on him, which paved the way for his return to Afghanistan.

Human rights groups were strongly critical of Septembers agreement, saying it reinforces a culture of impunity that allows those accused of human rights violations to get away with abuses.
Security forces surround at least 20 villages in an unprecedented operation to flush out rebels.

Thousands of soldiers and paramilitaries were engaged in a huge operation in Indian-administered Kashmir, where armed rebels have repeatedly attacked government forces in recent weeks.

Police said government forces had surrounded at least 20 villages in the drive, launched on Thursday, in Shopian district in the volatile south of the disputed Himalayan region.

It is an unprecedented operation, deputy inspector general of police SP Pani told AFP news agency.

It is impossible to capture the militants, but we hope there will be contact [exchange of fire] with them in the course of the day.

Suspected rebels are frequently killed in shootouts with security forces in Kashmir, but are only rarely captured alive.

READ MORE: Three Indian soldiers, two rebels killed in Kashmir

Witnesses said hundreds of residents came out onto the streets in two villages, Sug and Tarkwangan, during the search operations and threw stones at the soldiers.

One said soldiers attacked private homes in his village with sticks and rocks.

It was scary. Many houses were damaged, the villager said by phone, requesting anonymity.

Witnesses said army helicopters were hovering above the area as the search operations were going on.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British rule in 1947, but both claim the territory in its entirety.

Rebel groups have for decades fought the roughly 500,000 Indian soldiers deployed in region, demanding independence or a merger of the entire territory with Pakistan.

READ MORE: India probes video of human shield in Kashmir

Officials say the rebels ranks have swelled since July when the killing of a popular leader by security forces sparked widespread unrest that left at least 100 civilians dead.

Since then armed encounters between insurgents and government forces have been more frequent.

The latest operation comes after five police were shot dead this week in a raid on a bank van carrying cash  the latest in a series of bank robberies in the region carried out by suspected rebels.

Last week, fighters killed three soldiers in a pre-dawn assault on a garrison near the de-facto border known as the Line of Control that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.
Military says troops will achieve victory or martyrdom in new offensive against ISIL fighters in citys northwest.

An Iraqi offensive to take back Mosul from ISIL gained new momentum with an armoured division trying to advance into the city from the northern side.

The Iraqi armys 9th Armoured Division and Rapid Response units of the interior ministry opened a new front on Thursday in the northwest of the city against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, according to the military.

The armed group is now besieged in the northwestern corner of Mosul, which includes the historic Old City centre and the medieval Grand al-Nuri Mosque and its landmark leaning minaret, where their black flag has been flying since June 2014.

Our forces are making a steady advance in the first hours of the offensive and Daesh [ISIL] fighters are breaking and retreating, Brigadier-General Yahya Rasool, a spokesman for the joint operations command, told state television.

In pictures: Fighting the flames of ISIL in Iraq





Iraqs Joint Operations Command said in a statement the targets of the latest push were northwestern neighbourhoods on the edges of Mosul called Musharifah, Kanisah and al-Haramat.

Now your sons are fighting and striking the enemys defences They rejoice in victory or martyrdom for the sake of liberating the rest of the city of Mosul from Daesh [ISIL] terrorists, it said.

On the southern edge of Mosuls west, Iraqs federal police are just a few hundred metres from Mosuls al-Nuri mosque.

The mosque is a hugely symbolic prize as it is where ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made a rare public appearance in July 2014 and declared the groups self-styled caliphate after the armed group seized almost one-third of Iraq.

According to the authorities, ISIL now controls less than seven percent of Iraq.

The mosque lies inside Mosuls old city where some of the toughest fighting is expected to unfold because of the narrow streets. Iraqi forces now appear to be moving to surround the Old City before launching an operation to clear it.

Al Jazeeras Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from Erbil, said capturing the area could be key to securing all of Iraqs second-largest city.

If the armed forces manage to retake these [neighbourhoods], then the advance of other units from the south will be easier. The final aim is to retake the area where al-Baghdadi proclaimed the caliphate, said Jamjoom.

READ MORE: ISIL attack kills 10 Iraqi soldiers in Anbar

The fight for Mosuls west has been slow and deadly to Iraqi forces and civilians caught in the crossfire.

More than six months of fighting has killed and wounded more than 8,000 civilians, according to the United Nations, a number that only counts people transferred to hospitals from front-line clinics.

Hundreds of thousands of people are still trapped inside the Mosul neighbourhoods under ISIL control and some 419,000 people have been forced to flee western Mosul alone since the fighting began there, according to a UN statement released this week.
Paris prosecutors open probe into whether false news is being used to influence voting in the presidential election.

The Paris prosecutors office says it has opened a preliminary investigation into whether false news is being used to influence voting in Sundays French presidential election run-off.

Prosecutors started the probe after centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron filed a lawsuit on Thursday, making a legal complaint over rumours circulating on social media that he had hidden wealth in offshore accounts.

Macrons camp said the former investment banker was victim of a cyber misinformation campaign.





Macron sued after far-right rival Marine Le Pen suggested in a televised debate on Wednesday that he could be holding an offshore account in the Bahamas. Le Pen backed away from the suggestion on Thursday.

A spokesman for Macrons En Marche! (Forward) party said the complaint to Paris prosecutors was not against Le Pen, even though it happens that she mentioned it, but against persons unknown, according to the DPA news agency.

Le Pen has repeatedly sought to portray Macron as the candidate of high finance and the system, pointing to his four years working at the Rothschild investment bank.

Al Jazeeras Natacha Butler, reporting from Albi, in southern France, said that Macron had vehemently denied the allegations of having an offshore account.

He says its not true and has filed this legal claim in order to say that its not correct in this presidential campaign to fling these sorts of [false] allegations around because they can be so damaging, said Butler.

Because, of course, if he was to have such a bank account, that would be something that most voters would be quite annoyed about  its a time in France where unemployment is high, where so many people do struggle to make ends meet.

Rough treatment on campaign trail

Macron and Le Pen both got rough receptions on Thursday as they returned to the campaign trail after their bad-tempered debate the previous evening.

Protesters threw eggs at Le Pen as she visited a town in the western region of Brittany, C-News television reported.

Footage showed the National Front leaders security detail crowding around her as they rushed her into a factory she was due to visit.

READ MORE: Le Pens party a living expression of anti-Semitism

Macron was meanwhile taken to task by a crowd of trade union members when he visited a glassworks in Albi, on the second-last day of campaigning ahead of Sundays vote.

Amid a chorus of boos, Macron was interrogated about his controversial plans to liberalise labour laws.

Le Pens team says hacker attacked website

Also on Thursday, Le Pens team released a statement claiming that a hacker had confessed to repeatedly targeting the campaigns website.

The statement gave few details about the seriousness of the interference, which could range from attempts at defacing the website to flooding it with bogus traffic. It also did not give the precise timing of the arrest, saying only it happened this week.

Police referred questions to prosecutors, who did not immediately return a message seeking comment. The Le Pen campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment, reported the Associated Press news agency.

There has been intense anxiety in France over the possibility that hackers could tamper with Frances high-stakes run-off.

Opinion polls give Macron an 18-to-22-percentage-point lead over Le Pen ahead of Sundays poll.
In rare rebuke, N Korean news agency accuses Chinas media of dancing to the tune of the US amid rising tensions.

North Korea has lashed out against its main ally, China, over criticism of its nuclear weapons programme, accusing ignorant politicians and media persons of undermining decades of close relations to side with the United States.

With tensions rising on the Korean Peninsula as a US aircraft carrier strike group conducts war games with South Koreas navy, North Koreas state media took its Chinese counterpart to task on Wednesday over absurd and reckless remarks that are dancing to the tune of the US.

The DPRK will never beg for the maintenance of friendship with China, the commentary on the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, using the acronym for the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.

The report chided China for its insincerity and betrayal on the part of its partner.

Chinas state-run Global Times newspaper retorted on Thursday that the nuclear-armed North was in the grip of some form of irrational logic over its weapons programmes.

READ MORE: North Korea: US has now gone seriously mad





Beijing and Pyongyang have a relationship forged in the blood of the 1950-53 Korean War, and the Asian giant remains its neighbours main provider of aid and trade.

But ties have begun to fray in recent years with China increasingly exasperated by North Koreas nuclear tests and missile launches, fearful of a regional crisis.

China regularly calls for all parties to avoid raising tensions  remarks that can apply to both Washington and Pyongyang.

In February it announced the suspension of coal imports from the North for the rest of the year, a crucial foreign currency earner for its neighbour.

Chinas state-run media has called for harsher sanctions against North Korea in the event of a new nuclear test, urged Pyongyang to avoid making mistakes at this time, and spoken of the need for Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear programme.

But KCNA rebuked those suggestions in a rare outburst against its longtime ally.

Ignorant politicians and media persons of China  are advised to clearly understand the essence of history before opening their mouth, the commentary said.

China should no longer try to test the limits of the DPRKs patience  China had better ponder over the grave consequences to be entailed by its reckless act of chopping down the pillar of the DPRK-China relations.

OPINION: Will China intervene in North Korea?

Ongoing joint naval exercises between the US and South Korea have triggered the threat of nuclear war from North Korea.

US President Donald Trump deployed the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier to the Korean Peninsula last month. North Korea has threatened to sink the US armada.

Tensions in the Asia-Pacific have been running high for weeks with signs that North Korea might be preparing a sixth nuclear weapon test  and with Washington refusing to rule out a military attack in response.
White officers cleared of federal charges over killing of Alton Sterling; case handed to Louisiana state investigators.

Two white Louisiana police officers will not face federal charges over the shooting of a black man whose death sparked widespread protests, the US justice department said, in a decision slammed by rights groups as a message of impunity.

The officers still face a state criminal investigation over last summers shooting of Alton Sterling, 37, in Baton Rouge, the state capital.

Wednesdays decision not to bring federal charges was the first ruling in such a case under President Donald Trumps attorney general, Jeff Sessions.





The case was being closely watched as both Trump and Sessions have criticised the Obama administration, saying it targeted police unfairly in civil rights investigations.

Sterling was shot dead July 5, 2016 in a scuffle with two officers, Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake, outside a convenience store where he had been selling CDs.

During a 10-month probe, FBI agents and prosecutors reviewed images of the incident captured by body cameras, mobile phones and store surveillance cameras as well as witness accounts and other evidence.

At the close of the investigation, the justice department said it found insufficient evidence to support federal criminal charges against either officer, in part because investigators could not determine whether Sterling was reaching for a gun at the time he was shot.

The shooting was one in a series of racially charged police killings that inflamed a national debate over treatment of minorities by law enforcement.

Give us justice

Sterlings family held a news conference on Wednesday to call on Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry to pursue state criminal charges.

Open up your heart, your eyes, and give us the justice that we deserve, said Quinyetta McMillon, the mother of Sterlings oldest son.

Landry warned that a state investigation into the actions of the officers, which was delayed to allow the federal probe to proceed, could take a considerable amount of time.

OPINION: Obama and Black Lives Matter: An epilogue

In statements, the officers said that Sterling was attempting to pull a loaded gun out of his pocket when Salamoni opened fire, according to the justice department summary.

Videos of the incident did not conclusively show Sterlings hand when the first shot was fired, making it impossible to prove the officers account was untrue, the department said.

Two witnesses who said his hand was not in his pocket gave accounts that were inconsistent in other details.

The two officers are on paid administrative leave pending an internal police investigation.

Black lives do not matter

The head of the Southern Poverty Law Center called the decision not to press charges deeply troubling.

The American people need an answer as to why the final moments of Sterlings life looked less like a police stop and more like a public execution, said its head, Richard Cohen.

Civil rights group Color of Change said the decision showed that, as far as Trumps administration was concerned, black lives do not matter.

Wednesdays events came a day after a white former South Carolina officer pleaded guilty in the 2015 shooting of an unarmed black man and a Texas officer was fired for shooting an unarmed 15-year-old boy on Saturday.

Attorney General Sessions is still responsible for deciding whether to bring charges in other high-profile police killings, including the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York and the shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland that same year.
Russia, Turkey and Iran to create de-escalation areas in Syria, as opposition vents anger over Iranian involvement.

Russia, Iran and Turkey have signed a deal calling for the setup of so-called de-escalation zones in war-torn Syria during talks in Kazakhstans capital, Astana.





The signing ceremony on Thursday was briefly interrrupted as some members of the Syrian armed oppositions delegation stormed out in protest against Irans participation in the deal.

We saw several members of the opposition delegation stand up furiously condemning what was going on, Al Jazeeras Jamal Elshayyal, reporting from Astana, said.

They shouted that Iran should not be a signatory to this. In fact, they went as far to saying that Iran is a criminal entity that shouldnt be here and they stormed out.

READ MORE: Syrias war explained from the beginning

The latest round of talks in Astana is sponsored by opposition supporter Turkey and Syrian government backers Russia and Iran.

Elshayyal said that neither the Syrian government, nor the opposition  which on Wednesday suspended its participation in the talks protesting against ongoing air raids  had signed the agreement.

It is very clear that this is regional powers who have decided that they are going to bulldoze their way forward, and decide whats best for Syria, he said.

STAFFAN DE MISTURA, UN SYRIA ENVOY, ON THE DEAL: Speaking to Al Jazeera in Astana, Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations special envoy to Syria, said the agreement was an important step as the war had been going for six years and a successful deal could help the atmosphere of the Geneva [peace] talks. [De-escalation] was a carefully chosen word in order to reduce to the bare minimum the use of weapons; for instance, airplanes, use of heavy weapons, said de Mistura. [But] even when we say a reduction of violence it doesnt mean total ceasefire because we know in conflicts like this, there will be spoilers. So the expectation is substantial reduction  hopefully to the minimum  of the level of use of certain types of weapons. Whether UN peacekeeping forces would be involved was unknown at this point, de Mistura said, although he did not rule it out. He also defended the agreement against criticism that the guarantors were also major perpetrators of the violence by saying that they have the means to reduce their actions. So I would put some trust in the fact that the very three countries who signed do have an involvement and therefore can also have a dis-involvement, he said.

Elshayyal said the deal, which is likely to come into effect in around a month, would allow for unhindered humanitarian access to the de-escalation areas.

Yet, there was no detail on whether the zones involved restricted use of heavy weaponry or complete de-militirisation; or whether there will be a peacekeeping force and how the deal will be policed.

Elshayyal said the locations of the de-escalation zones are likely to be: Idlib, and the Turkmen mountains, parts of Homs governorate, and areas on the outskirts of Damascus  including Ghouta  and in Deraa in the south.

Over the past two days, the participants in the Astana talks reviewed the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the cessation of hostilities, Kairat Abdrakhmanov, Kazakhstans foreign minister, said of a frail truce brokered by Moscow and Ankara in December.

As a result the guarantor countries agreed to sign a memorandum on the creation of de-escalation zones in Syria.

Alexander Lavrentyev, the head of the Russian delegation in Astana, said that Syrian government fighter jets are not expected to fly over the de-escalation zones for six months.

Russian military aircraft will also refrain from flying over such

areas, Lavrentyev said, unless there are what he described as

attempts to destabilise the situation.

Osama Abu Zaid, a member of the Syrian opposition delegation, told Al Jazeera why they had rejected the deal.

We cannot accept the [involvement of Iran] that is slaughtering the Syria people and fuelling sectarian division. We cannot accept it to act as a guarantor, he said.

This is the key and core problem in the agreement.

Abu Zaid also criticised the exclusion in the deal of key areas experiencing violence, such as Hama, and said that Russia had also failed to deliver on its past commitments.

READ MORE: Turkey and Russia push for safe-zones in Syria

Syrias civil war, currently in its seventh year, has killed hundreds of thousands of people and has drawn in world powers on all sides.

These negotiations are viewed as complementary to broader United Nations-brokered talks in Geneva on a political settlement, but neither have yielded real progress so far.

Abdrakhmanov said that next round of talks in Astana would be held in mid-July.
Demonstrators force Senate committee to change vote on amendment to pardon officials convicted of corruption.

A Romanian Senate committee has caved under public pressure and cancelled proposed legislation aimed at pardoning officials convicted of corruption.

The amendment was designed to allow convicted government officials to walk free or have their jail sentences significantly reduced.

About 2,000 people demonstrated in Bucharest, the capital, and other cities on Wednesday after the Senate committee passed the amendment to a draft bill that would have cleared the convicted officials.

They chanted Romania demands no pardon and If you dont back down, were coming for you.

READ MORE: Romania protests: A familys fight

The latest demonstrations came two months after the eastern European country witnessed its biggest protest movement since the 1989 anti-communist revolution, after the newly installed Social Democratic government secretly passed an emergency decree to decriminalise some corruption offences involving officials.

It was later withdrawn after the mass demonstrations.

Cristian Ghinea, an opposition Member of Parliament from Union to Save Romania, told Al Jazeera that his party supports the protesters.

We are witnessing an attempt to force the contents of the old emergency decree through parliament and I hope that the people will keep up the pressure, he said.

The Romanian government drafted a law to pardon some criminal convictions involving officials citing the need to relieve overcrowded prisons in the country.

That draft bill currently does not include any mention about pardoning corruption convictions  a promise made by Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu in the wake of protests that saw some 600,000 people march upon the seat of his government.

READ MORE: Romanias gift of hope to the world

The controversial amendment in the Senate legislative affairs committee also included corruption convictions.

Officials jailed for bribery, official misconduct, conflict of interest, or trafficking influence would have had their sentences pardoned entirely, or reduced in half.





One of the amendment initiators is former Romanian president Traian Basescu. He was elected twice into office, running each time on an anti-corruption platform.

Basescu said Romania needs a clean slate, according to a statement made in the Senate committee and quoted by local media.

But critics condemned the move.

This amendment goes way beyond what drove people into the streets this winter, Laura Stefan, an anti-corruption campaigner with the Romanian NGO Expert Forum, told Al Jazeera.

This plan goes against all international obligations of Romania and against the will of the people that was so clearly expressed during previous demonstrations.

Political reaction

PM Sorin Grindeanu posted a statement on his Facebook page saying the government supports the draft bill in its initial form. The amendments voted today [Wednesday] do not have the governments support.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, who joined the demonstrations in February, told Romanian media he was unpleasantly surprised by the Senate committees move.

The leader of the ruling Social Democrats, Liviu Dragnea, also spoke out against the amendment.

I will have a talk with the Social Democratic members of the committee so that the final report does not contain the amendment, Dragnea wrote on Facebook.

READ MORE: Centre-left PSD stages sweeping comeback in Romania

Dragnea, the speaker of the House of Representatives, was convicted of voter fraud but did not serve time in jail. He is currently on trial over accusations of official misconduct, and was seen as the main beneficiary of the emergency decree earlier passed.

Radu Magdin, a political analyst, told Al Jazeera the situation put the Social Democrat leader in a difficult position.

If Dragnea didnt know about the planned amendment vote then he is no longer controlling his own party. If it turns out he knew, he will lose even more credibility in front of external partners, Magdin said.
Opposition returns to talks in Astana, Kazakhstan after walking out on Wednesday over air strikes in Syria.

The presidents of Russia and Turkey are pushing for the creation of safe-zones in war-torn Syria as talks were expected to resume on Thursday in Kazakhstan between the government and the opposition.

Meeting in the Russian resort town of Sochi, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin expressed hope on Wednesday that the Syrian government and the opposition would adopt this latest proposal to de-escalate the conflict, which has run now for six years and claimed some 400,000 lives.

We both proceed on the basis that  and this is our common position  the creation of safe zones should lead to further pacification and cessation of hostilities, said Putin.

Turkey and Russia are deeply entangled in the war in Syria, including each having troops on the ground  Ankara supporting various Syrian opposition factions and Moscow backing President Bashar al-Assads forces.

READ MORE: Trump, Putin seek Syria ceasefire in first conversation

The opposition suspended its participation at the talks in Astana, the Kazakh capital, on Wednesday in protest of air attacks that hit areas under their control in Syria, demanding a halt to the governments bombardment.

The Syrian armed opposition returned to the talks on Thursday, the RIA news agency reported.





Russian representatives had presented the rebels with a proposal for four de-escalation zones in Syria where the warring sides would be separated by security lines.

About terrorists, in spite of the creation of these zones, the war on terror will be ongoing  against such organisations as so-called Islamic State [ISIL], Jabhat al-Nusra, and those ones that are put on the list of terrorist organisations approved by the United Nations, Putin said.

Putin also said Russian and Syrian government jets would halt flights over the specified zones if all sides respect the ceasefire.

The proposal presented to the opposition in Astana delineates four zones in Syria where front lines between the government and opposition forces would be frozen and fighting halted, according to a statement made by the opposition.

The four zones include areas in the provinces of Idlib and Homs, the Eastern Ghouta suburb outside Damascus, and an area in the south of the country.

The zones, according to the proposal, would be monitored by international observers and allow for the voluntary return of refugees.

We wont admit the emergence on our southern borders of enemy enclaves that would endanger our territorial integrity and security, Erdogan said.

Late Wednesday, Syrias foreign ministry said Damascus is fully backing the Russian initiative on the four ceasefire areas, according to the state-run SANA news agency.

But Ahmed Ramadan, an opposition representative, told The Associated Press that the opposition had requested a written answer on a number of questions, including why the ceasefire would only be in effect in the four areas instead of a nationwide truce.

FEATURE: What would safe zones mean for the Syrian conflict?

This is the fourth round of talks in Astana since January. Separately, there have been five rounds of UN-sponsored Syria peace talks in Geneva since 2012, but none have led to a sustainable ceasefire.

Later on Wednesday, Staffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy for Syria, called on the opposition to return to the talks in Astana because what is important is also to look at the possibility of an outcome on a de-escalation. He stressed the importance of not destroying the opportunity of good news related to this issue.
Abbas Abdullahi Siraji was killed by another officials guards in what president called unfortunate tragedy.

Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has ordered an investigation into what he called an unfortunate tragedy as the country buried a minister killed by another officials guards.

Mohamed on Thursday cut short his trip to Ethiopia and prayed at the coffin of Abbas Abdullahi Siraji, the 31-year-old minister of public works and reconstruction, who was shot dead on Wednesday outside the presidential palace in the capital, Mogadishu.

In a series of posts on Twitter, Mohamed, known by his nickname Farmajo, said he would make sure the perpetrators are brought to book.

He also said that Siraji was young, diligent and patriotic.

READ MORE: Somalia leader declares country a war zone

Siraji was killed when bodyguards tasked with protecting Nur Jimale Farah, auditor-general, apparently mistook the minister, who was driving himself in a following vehicle, for an assailant.

Farah said: What happened was gunfire involving soldiers who had become suspicious of each other, and what happened was very bad  a brother was killed.

He also asked to not speculate about the details before the results of the investigation become available.

Three soldiers have been arrested in connection with the killing, police said.

Police spokesman Qaasim Ahmed said two of the arrested soldiers were among the auditor generals bodyguards and the third was a bodyguard of the late minister.

It is rare for a government minister to drive himself, making mistaken identity a strong possibility.

Many government officials, wealthy individuals and foreigners drive around Mogadishu, a city that has been frequently targeted by armed group al-Shabab, with squads of armed bodyguards who are often nervy and trigger happy.

Inspiring to many

Siraji, a former humanitarian worker, was born in Somalia but grew up and was educated in one of the worlds biggest refugee camps, Dadaab, in neighbouring Kenya. He was elected a member of parliament last year and became a cabinet minister in February.

His story was seen as inspiring to many in a country that has suffered conflict and anarchy for the last 25 years and his death has been widely mourned, including on social media.

The African Union Commissions Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat offered condolences.

My sincere condolences to the family of Minister Abbas Abdullahi Siraj, the government and people of Somalia. The AU stands in solidarity with you, Mahamat said in a statement posted on his Twitter account.

Former Somali government minister Abdi Aynte wrote on Twitter of the pain and agony of Sirajis death while others posted videos of their grief on Facebook.
Prominent human rights lawyer is charged with 10 counts of royal defamation for Facebook posts.

A prominent Thai human rights lawyer faces a prison term of up to 150 years if convicted of royal defamation under Thailands royal insult law, according to a legal watchdog.

Arnon Nampa, of Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, said on Thursday that Prawet Prapanukul was charged on Wednesday by the Bangkok Criminal Court with 10 counts of lese majeste (the insulting of a monarch or other ruler) for Facebook posts, each punishable by up to 15 years imprisonment, and three counts under the Computer Crime Act, each with a seven-year maximum sentence.





But Thai laws only allow a maximum of 50 years in prison for all the charges combined, said Arnon.

I personally dont think [Prawets] posts violate the lese majeste law because he only criticised the law, not the monarchy.

It was not clear what exactly Prawet, 57, wrote on Facebook, but the AFP news agency said in one of the recent posts he encouraged Thais to push the boundaries of the lese majeste law.

Prawet was detained after a raid on his home by police and troops on April 29, a day after his last Facebook post.

He is in pre-trial detention at a Bangkok remand prison after being held incommunicado at the 11th Army Circle base in Bangkok, a facility the military uses as a temporary prison.

The group Human Rights Watch urged the military to observe due process.

Even though lese majeste is a serious criminal offense in Thailand, authorities have no justification to breach due process and fair trial standards, Sunai Phasuk, Thailand researcher at Human Rights Watch, told the Reuters news agency.

The military regime has aggressively used lese majeste charges to clamp down on any speech and opinion they find objectionable.

Five others charged

The Bangkok Criminal Court on Wednesday also charged five other people, who asked not to be identified, with defaming the monarchy for sharing Facebook posts written by a Paris-based Thai historian Somsak Jeamteerasakul about the disappearance of a democracy plaque in Bangkok last month.

They shared Somsaks posts about the 1932 plaque, Arnon told AFP without elaborating on what the posts said.

The small bronze monument, which lay in Bangkoks heavily-policed Royal Plaza, marked the 1932 revolution that ended absolute monarchy in Thailand.

READ MORE  From love to fear: The rise of King Vajiralongkorn

It was mysteriously replaced by a new plaque bearing a royalist message in April, sparking fury among Thailands hard-pressed democracy campaigners who fear the monument was removed with official backing.

Authorities have moved to stifle discourse on the missing plaque and have detained several activists who have tried to call for an investigation.

Thai authorities last month warned that contacting, following or sharing social media posts by Somsak could be grounds for legal action.

Thailands military seized power from an elected civilian government in a May 2014 coup.

Since then, it has detained hundreds of politicians, activists, journalists and others accused of being involved in anti-military protests and activities.
The elderly social media influencers revolutionising views on what it means to grow old in an ageing society.
An unimaginable, horrific, and traumatic procedure found its way into the news recently. For the first time since the 20-year law banning it has been in effect, two doctors were charged for performing the procedure on minor girls.

The procedure is female genital mutilation, and it's called that because that's what it is. As with calling out Islamic terrorism, it's imperative to call an evil what it is.

What is not so imperative is sensitivity to other cultures. One person who could stand to learn this is the health and science editor of the New York Times, Celia Dugger, who has her writers use the term "genital cutting," as she considers FGM "culturally loaded."

It's worth noting that the United Nations, for all of its failures, uses the FGM term. There can be no room for cultural sensitivity when young minor girls, who cannot give consent, are being physically, emotionally, and sexually scarred for life.

On the May 3 episode of Tucker Carlson Tonight, anthropologist Fuambai Ahmadu, who underwent the procedure herself as an adult, came on to defend FGM. With a straight face, her apparent aim seemed to be to convince audiences that the procedure isn't as bad as many believe to be, and that only about ten percent of victims undergo the most severe type 3 procedure. Ahmadu missed that such a figure is still ten percent too many.

Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com

The victims of the doctors charged are certainly not the only ones. In the United States, 507,000 women and girls have gone through or are at risk for the procedure. What they had to endure should happen to no unconsenting minor, and certainly not in a civilized country, like what the United States is supposed to be.

Ahmadu sought to diminish that trauma, specifically in how she differentiated the different types, with type 1a, which these victims endured, involving a prick of the clitoris  not so bad, if you ask Ahmadu. It's not likely that you know a woman who wouldn't see a problem with having her clitoris pricked, or a man who wouldn't see a problem with a loved one having her clitoris pricked.

Amazingly enough, and again, with a straight face, Ahmadu argued that the practice and culture should be more accepted, and that it perhaps isn't so bad. She is not the only one who is seeking to make this barbarism become more accepted in our civilized society. Women in January were marching for abortion, a procedure that may be legal, but ends the life of a human preborn child and often wounds the mother. They were ironically doing so under the guise of a Women's March, which was in part led by Linda Sarsour, who attacked FGM victim Ayaan Hirsi Ali over Twitter.

On the episode of The Five that aired on the same night as Carlson's program, co-host Greg Gutfeld also brought FGM into the news. He wondered if groups such as the ACLU truly care about FGM practices, which are done for cultural and religious reasons. The ACLU threatened to sue President Trump over his religious freedom executive order, which was not even signed at the time of the ACLU's statement. A Google search of the ACLU on FGM brings up results to do with transgender rights.

In bringing up the issue as he did, Gutfeld hinted at a necessary honesty as to why the procedure is performed. Civilized people need to be honest about the reason why the procedure is performed and how it is done  namely, as one of the most sexist displays imaginable. Not only does FGM deny the pleasure of a sexual life, but it includes countless health risks, including death.

No aspect of this procedure can be worse than what these young girls have to endure. What is almost worse, however, is the complete false equivalency, as made by Ahmadu, with male circumcision. Baby boys are circumcised as a practice of the Jewish religion. The procedure is done quickly and humanely, as a sign of a covenant with God. A baby boy is capable of feeling pain, even while still inside the womb, late enough into pregnancy. But the procedure is done not to cause him pain or to have the opposite sex inflict control over him. Many non-Jewish boys are also circumcised, as the medical community believes that it has health benefits, of which FGM has none.

If I ever have a son, he will be circumcised, in part because he will be Jewish on his father's side, but also because I would have had him circumcised anyway. And I will not have such a medical decision questioned and equated with one of the worst human rights risks affecting young girls around the world and here at home.
It was always a given that Barack Obama would end up with a monument, no matter how much chaos he sowed in his two terms as president. A presidential library and museum became the participation trophy of American presidencies in the middle of the last century. Add in the historic milestone of being the first African-American president (albeit one who came by this title without ancestors who were enslaved in this country) and the pretensions that adhere to anyone who has ever adopted the job title of "community organizer," and you have a level of ambient righteousness that inevitably generates fatuous rhetoric the way a stagnant pond generates mosquitoes on hot summer day in the Midwest.

So when Barack and Michelle Obama tore themselves away from writing their $60 million's worth of memoirs to unveil drawings of what is intended to become "The Barack Obama Presidential Center," located just south of the Museum of Science and Industry on Chicago's South Side, the fake humility and deference to "the community" reached escape velocity, threatening to rend the space-time continuum and catapult the entire neighborhood into an alternate universe in which the Obama years saw genuine racial healing  the very promise that brought two terms in office to Obama.

You can immediately banish the notion that the "presidential center" is mostly a monument. The Chicago Tribune reports that the ambitions expressed for it involve that mystical "community"  the ur-cliche of Obama's entire career:

Calling it a "transformational project for this community," the former resident said he and Michelle Obama envisioned a vibrant setting that would be akin to Millennium Park  a destination for those drawn to the presidential center and the park itself.

Actually, the very first transformational impact on the community will be traffic jams:

But to achieve this, the plans call for closing Cornell Drive, a major access route used by thousands of commuters a day.

Worry not:

"It's not just a building. It's not just a park. Hopefully it's a hub where all of us can see a brighter future for the South Side," he told an audience of about 300 political and community leaders at the South Shore Cultural Center.

A hub for viewing the brighter future of the South Side! One where the murder rate compares favorably with Baghdad, perhaps? It is not clear how the monument will help bring that about, but maybe the gangbangers will be overcome with admiration of Obama and give up their violent ways.

Rest assured: the monument will not be an ego trip. The New York Times:

Sometimes they [presidential libraries] are a monument to the past, he said, standing on stage in an auditorium on Wednesday; a record of accomplishments. "And a little bit of an ego trip," he added. "'See what I did.'" ... "The main thing that Michelle and I contributed was just saying, 'What is it that we want to see 10 years from now?'" he said, recounting his conversations with the architects who designed the center. "And we don't want to see some big building that's dead, and kids are getting dragged to it for a field trip. What we wanted was something that was alive, and that was a hub for the community and for the city and for the country."

Does a building that is "alive" constitute the ideal home of a Constitution that is a "living document"?

As for the design itself, unveiled yesterday, my first impression is of whiteness. There is just a whole lotta of whiteness going on here:





How all that whiteness will do over the years as soot, grime, brutal winters, and acid rain take their toll is unknown. Future generations will get to draw their own conclusions.

A slightly pear-shaped museum tower will be the highest point on campus at 180 feet. That's high enough to see gang shootings the brighter future of the South Side. As for the splaying of the museum, it kind of looks like big hips. Not sure what that reference is all about, since the former president is slender.

The tower is mostly windowless, a fashion that has been with modern architecture for decades. The little cut-out at the base of the tower showing a glimpse of four floors reminds me of the way rats chew on molding in a slum apartment. Perhaps a bit of inspiration from slumlord Valerie Jarrett?

The layout includes an artificial hill, supposedly for sledding down in winter.

Because:

I guess we're lucky Michelle didn't fixate on riding ponies as a little girl, because then there would have to be stables.

Obama looks pretty pleased with himself, as may be appropriate for a guy who is showing off what a monument to him will look like.

But of course, it is all for the community.
FBI director James Comey testified on May 3, 2017 before a Senate committee that the investigation after October 28, 2016 of Anthony Weiner's computer showed that confidential emails to Hillary Clinton were forwarded by Huma Abedin to Anthony Weiner so Weiner could print them to give to Hillary.

Comey testified: "Somehow, her emails were being forwarded to Anthony Weiner, including classified information. His then-spouse Huma Abedin appears to have had a regular practice of forwarding emails to him for him to print out for her so she could deliver them to the secretary of state."

Somehow? The only way an email gets forwarded if someone hits the "forward" icon or button. The "someone" would have to be Hillary or Huma. Since they are emails addressed to Hillary, the logical conclusion is that Hillary was responsible for forwarding the emails. Maybe if Comey had put Hillary under oath and asked these questions, then he, and the rest of us, would know the identity of the "someone" who did the "somehow" and "why."

We have the smartest woman in the world, Hillary Clinton, using a private unsecured email system in her job as secretary of state to send and receive confidential emails dealing with our national security. But she is not smart enough to hit the PRINT key on her computer to print out her emails, or she is too cheap to buy a printer to go with her private email system to print the emails. Therefore, Hillary has Huma forward confidential national security emails to Anthony Weiner, aka Carlos Danger, a trustworthy character, to print.

This is beyond negligence. It is grossly reckless conduct that should have been punished.

We have to believe that Hillary and Huma do not know how to print emails. As a result, Carlos, who obviously has no security clearance, had access to confidential national security emails. What did Carlos do with the emails, besides give the printed ones to Huma and Hillary?

Knowing this, Comey still believes he was correct in concluding that Hillary did not have the intent to violate the law dealing with government records. We have discussed that intent is not required, but if it were required, then there would be sufficient evidence for a jury or judge to conclude that Hillary acted with intent.

Yet the Democrats are interested only in asking Comey why he publicly notified Congress on October 28, 2016 that he was investigating new revelations about Hillary's email system. The Democrats, led by Senator Feinstein, are interested in advancing the myth that Hillary lost because of Comey's letter. They do not care that confidential emails dealing with national security were forward to Carlos Danger.

This latest revelation about Hillary clearly shows she did not care about national security. At best, if not intentionally, she acted with reckless disregard of our national security. Her best defense is that she is not a criminal, but just plain stupid. She should have been indicted in July 2016.

The evidence discovered after October 28, 2016 that Carlos Danger printed the emails and therefore had access confirms that she should have been indicted.
Years ago, I helped an old friend move to a new home.

At one point, we ordered some pizza and sat down to take a little rest. We also found a box of old paperbacks from our school days. We found books by Barry Goldwater, Jimmy Carter, Alexander Haig, and Richard Nixon  and The Enemy Within, a book written by Robert F. Kennedy in 1960. (My friend said his dad had bought the book)

The book is a summary of a U.S. Senate investigation into organized crime. The information means nothing today except that the title is a perfect description of everything going on in the Democratic Party.

As Noah Rothman wrote, the party's problems are Democrats:

Since the election of Donald Trump to the presidency, the party has found the enthusiasm commanded by its progressive members irresistible. The Democratic Party's most celebrated personalities are self-identified progressives, but not necessarily self-identified Democrats. The chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee came down to a race between a progressive radical and a progressive populist  a race the progressive populist only just barely won. That chairman has since made it clear that the party he leads is no home for Americans who consider themselves, for example, pro-life, despite the fact that somewhere between 18 and 27 percent of Democrats would likely fall into that column. This is a party that sees standing in schoolhouse doorways to block the entry of Trump appointees, destroying property, and scoffing at non-violent demonstrations as legitimate forms of "Resistance." It is a party whose bitter luminaries reject even the pretense of reconciliation with the registered Democrats who broke ranks for Trump. It is a party that, when it tried to elevate a white southern Democratic former governor to repair its image among Trump voters, was laughed out of the room by the politically active celebrity left. To their detriment, both the party's elected leaders and its committee chairs are indulging the hyperbole that typifies the modern left.

We see this hyperbole and lunacy everywhere, from Colbert imploding on TV to Democrats becoming the party of sanctuary cities.

The insanity goes on. Mrs. Clinton was on TV discussing the 2016 election. It's true that she accepted responsibility but did manage to bring in FBI director James Comey, Russia, and the woman factor. Incredibly, no one asked the obvious question: did you really think you could have a private server and hide it from everyone? Did it occur to you that such a bold move would come back to bite you?

We are watching people go crazy by the minute. They say little but scream a lot.

Maybe someone should bring a placard to the next Tom Perez speech. It can say in bold letters: there is too much leftism around here, Tom! Way too much for our electoral good!

Yes, the enemy is within, and he or she or some other gender is a Democrat.

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk), (YouTube) and follow me on Twitter.
Trump Derangement Syndrome has a new poster child by the name of late-night, er, "comedian" Stephen Colbert, who, on Monday night, acting on his belief that the Russians conspired with Donald Trump to keep Hillary from campaigning in Wisconsin, engaged in the mother of all anti-Trump rants.

As Roger Simon at PJ Media noted:

Since his inauguration, and to a great extent before, the whole country has gone more or less berserk. Just the other night, comedian Stephen Colbert, in what I presume we were supposed to take as an edgy witticism, accused our president of fellating Russia's Vladimir Putin. Although I recall many bad things being said about LBJ back in the day (Barbara Garson wrote a play comparing him to Macbeth, and who can forget "Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?"), nothing approached Colbert's angry joke in terms of pure unmitigated hostile vulgarity, not on late-night TV anyway.

Liberal fantasies about Trump and Russia have even included explaining away his Tomahawk missile strike on a Syrian airbase from which a chemical weapon attack was launched as Putin colluding with Trump to prove Trump wasn't colluding with Putin.

Late-night comedy has historically pushed the limits of decency and with shows like Saturday Night Live so you kind of know what to expect. You certainly don't expect balance, and if you're easily offended, you can always switch to the Food Network. However, not only did Colbert jump the shark of decency, but his rant showed what you might get if soft porn and political commentary had a love child:

The "Late Show" star sounded off on Trump during his opening monologue Monday night, criticizing Trump for abruptly ending an interview with CBS News' "Face the Nation" host John Dickerson. "Sir, you attract more skinheads than free Rogaine," Colbert said during his profanity-laced rant, which was bleeped during the telecast. "You have more people marching against you than cancer. You talk like a sign language gorilla that got hit in the head. In fact, the only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin's c--- holster."

To those who thought Trump was disqualified for the White House after NBC's carefully timed release of the 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape of Trump's trash talk about women in what he thought was a private conversation, this is acceptable political commentary. It is not. Colbert is entitled to his opinions. He is not entitled to use the public airwaves to insult an unsuspected audience to profanity more worthy at a drunk at last call.

Colbert's deranged belief that Trump colluded with the Russians is just the latest episode in his anti-Trump infomercial series. Colbert actually began his anti-Trump ranting on opening night with another fantasy  that Trump was colluding with the KKK:

Stephen Colbert's first night on the Late Show proved he's still every bit the left wing hack he was on Comedy Central. He spent almost six solid minutes bashing Donald Trump but not a single joke about Hillary Clinton's email scandal or crazy Socialist Bernie Sanders. In the course of his anti-Trump routine, he even put Donald Trump's face on screen with an image of the KKK. In the first show he plays the Trump-KKK comparison. Sad. Like all good little liberals, Colbert fails to acknowledge that the KKK was created by Democrats.

Colbert would never point out how it was the Democratic Party that colluded with the KKK while it was the Republican Party that was formed in large part as the anti-slavery party. We haven't seen Democrats so animated against a Republican president since the first one, Abraham Lincoln, took away their slaves.

Under the rules of Trump Derangement Syndrome, it is okay to throw Molotov cocktails and destroy businesses that employ workers on a day that is supposed to celebrate workers. Riots directed at Trump are a form of free speech, don't you know, even as re-education camps that masquerade as universities provide safe spaces for snowflakes who can't stand a contrary thought and ignore riots preventing conservative speakers from speaking.

Colbert's homophobic gay-baiting rant mocking their version of sexual intimacy would have gotten any conservative comedian pounding the pavement within 24 hours. Imagine if Rush Limbaugh had said that about Barack Obama's documented collusion with terrorist Bill Ayers.

Stephen Colbert should be fired, but righteous indignation among liberals is highly selective and usually reserved for conservatives. Memo to Hillary Clinton: This is what being deplorable really looks like.

Daniel John Sobieski is a freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in Investor's Business Daily, Human Events, Reason Magazine, and the Chicago Sun-Times among other publications.
The deal that supposedly reined in the Iranian nuclear program has proven to be a windfall for the Iranian military.

Lifting sanctions on the Islamic Republic has allowed its military to increase the budget by 145%, giving the Iranians an offensive military capability they lacked until President Obama gave it to them.

Washington Free Beacon:

Iranian officials announced late last month that Iran's defense budget had increased by 145 percent under President Hassan Rouhani and that the military is moving forward with a massive restructuring effort aimed at making it "a forward moving force," according to regional reports. Iranian leaders have stated since the Iran deal was enacted that they are using the massive amounts of cash released under the agreement to fund the purchase of new military equipment and other armaments. Iran also has pursued multi-million dollar arms deals with Russia since economic sanctions were nixed as part of the deal.

One of those deals included the sale of the Russians' highly sophisticated S-300 anti-aircraft missile system. The S-300 is a huge leap forward in Iran's ability to shoot down U.S. warplanes.

Leading members of Congress and U.S. officials working on the Iran portfolio suspect that at least a portion of the Obama administration's $1.7 billion cash payment to Iran has been used to fund and support terrorists in the Middle East. The latest disclosure about Iran's military buildup is further fueling concerns that U.S. cash assets returned to the country  which were released with no strings attached by the Obama administration  are helping Iran pursue a more aggressive military stance against U.S. forces in the region. "President Obama flat-out caved in to Iran when he handed them the disastrous nuclear deal and $1.7 billion in cash payments that could assist Iran's military," Rep. Sean Duffy (R., Wis.), an opponent of the nuclear deal, told the Washington Free Beacon. "So it's no surprise that the world's lead sponsor of terrorism would feel emboldened to become more aggressive in the region and flex its military muscle." Iranian Brigadier General Kiumars Heidari announced the military buildup during Iran's annual Army Day. While the announcement did not grab many headlines in the Western media, national security insiders have been discussing the announcement for weeks, according to conversations with multiple sources. Iran's goal is to turn its army into an "offensive" force, a major shift from its historic role as a support agent for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, or IRGC, Iran's extremely well funded primary fighting force. Iran hopes to revamp its army from top to bottom, including improving logistical capabilities, weaponry, and other armaments. Mahan Abedin, an Iran analyst writing in Middle East Eye, described the announcement as a major shift in Iranian military policy that would allow the Islamic Republic to intervene in the Persian Gulf region, where the U.S. military has a significant presence.

Our Gulf State allies are extremely nervous about this buildup and simultaneous U.S. pull-back in the Middle East. The Iranian posture is certain to set off a conventional arms race in the region and may even convince the Saudis to go nuclear.

Did the Obama administration anticipate the Iranian military buildup? We were told at the time that it was probable that the Iranians would increase funding for their terrorist activities, but very little was said about the windfall for their conventional arms. President Obama deliberately set out to make Iran a regional superpower that soon  despite his claims to the contrary  will possess nuclear weapons.

It may be the dumbest, most reckless, most dangerous thing a U.S. president has ever done.
People do foolish stuff when they're young, especially if love (and sex) is involved. That said, when the foolishness includes craven political calculation overriding the messages of the heart, well, that's an indication that basic character may be at play.

A new, very long biography of the young Barack Obama, written by David J. Garrow, Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama, sheds new and interesting light on Obama's character. In the words of Washington Post writer Carlos Lozada:

David J. Garrow  tells us how Obama lived, and explores the calculations he made in the decades leading up to his winning the presidency. Garrow portrays Obama as a man who ruthlessly compartmentalized his existence; who believed early on that he was fated for greatness; and who made emotional sacrifices in the pursuit of a goal that must have seemed unlikely to everyone but him. Every step  whether his foray into community organizing, Harvard Law School, even the choice of whom to love  was not just about living a life but about fulfilling a destiny. It is in the personal realm that Garrow's account is particularly revealing. He shares for the first time the story of a woman Obama lived with and loved in Chicago, in the years before he met Michelle, and whom he asked to marry him. Sheila Miyoshi Jager, now a professor at Oberlin College, is a recurring presence in "Rising Star," and her pained, drawn-out relationship with Obama informs both his will to rise in politics and the trade-offs he deems necessary to do so. Garrow, who received a Pulitzer Prize for his biography of Martin Luther King Jr., concludes this massive new work with a damning verdict on Obama's determination: "While the crucible of self-creation had produced an ironclad will, the vessel was hollow at its core."

With such a critical perspective, is anyone surprised that The New York Times trashed the book in its review? Can't have people escaping the bubble and getting negativity about The One.

The details that emerge are somewhat troubling, if racialism and ambition above all human emotion bothers you:

Jager, who in "Dreams From My Father" was virtually written out, compressed into a single character along with two prior Obama girlfriends, may have evoked something of Obama's distant mother, Stanley Ann Dunham. Like Dunham, Jager studied anthropology, and while Dunham focused on Indonesia, Jager developed a deep expertise in the Korean Peninsula. Jager was of Dutch and Japanese ancestry, fitting the multicultural world Obama was only starting to leave behind. They were a natural fit. Jager soon came to realize, she told Garrow, that Obama had "a deep-seated need to be loved and admired." She describes their life together as an isolating experience, "an island unto ourselves" in which Obama would "compartmentalize his work and home life." She did not meet Jeremiah Wright, the pastor with a growing influence on Obama, and they rarely saw his professional colleagues socially. The friends they saw were often graduate students at the University of Chicago, where Sheila was pursuing her doctorate. They traveled together to meet her family as well as his. Soon they began speaking of marriage. "In the winter of '86, when we visited my parents, he asked me to marry him," she told Garrow. Her parents were opposed, less for any racial reasons (Barack came across to them like "a white, middle-class kid," a close family friend said) than for concern about Obama's professional prospects, and because her mother thought Sheila, two years Obama's junior, was too young. "Not yet," Sheila told Barack. But they stayed together. In early 1987, when Obama was 25, she sensed a change. "He became. . . so very ambitious" very suddenly," she told Garrow. "I remember very clearly when this transformation happened, and I remember very specifically that by 1987, about a year into our relationship, he already had his sights on becoming president."

The conflict produced some genuine drama:

Discussions of race and politics suddenly overwhelmed Sheila and Barack's relationship. "The marriage discussions dragged on and on," but now they were clouded by Obama's "torment over this central issue of his life ... race and identity," Sheila recalls. The "resolution of his black identity was directly linked to his decision to pursue a political career," she said. In Garrow's telling, Obama made emotional judgments on political grounds. A close mutual friend of the couple recalls Obama explaining that "the lines are very clearly drawn. . . . If I am going out with a white woman, I have no standing here." And friends remember an awkward gathering at a summer house, where Obama and Jager engaged in a loud, messy fight on the subject for an entire afternoon. ("That's wrong! That's wrong! That's not a reason," they heard Sheila yell from their guest room, their arguments punctuated by bouts of makeup sex.) Obama cared for her, Garrow writes, "yet he felt trapped between the woman he loved and the destiny he knew was his." Just days before he would depart for Harvard Law School  and when the relationship was already coming apart  Obama asked her to come with him and get married, "mostly, I think, out of a sense of desperation over our eventual parting and not in any real faith in our future," Sheila explained to Garrow. At the time, she was heading to Seoul for dissertation research, and she resented his assumption she would automatically postpone her career for his. More arguments ensued, and each went their way, although not for good.

Having dumped his mixed-race would-be bride over political appearances, Obama went on the Harvard. Once again, Garrow earns his pan from the NYT by reporting on less than attractive reactions to Obama at Harvard Law. I have to say as someone who spent almost two decades at Harvard that these reactions sound much more genuine that the presumed adulation involved in Obama becoming president of the Harvard Law Review:

At Harvard, the Obama the world has come to know took clearer form. In his late 20s now and slightly older than most classmates, he had a compulsion to orate in class and summarize other people's arguments for them. "In law school the only thing I would have voted for Obama to do would have been to shut up," one student told Garrow. Classmates created a Obamanometer, ranking "how pretentious someone's remarks are in class."

Garrow obviously has discovered facts that contradict the hagiography...which makes this book worth reading.
You may have not heard of Nasreddin Hodja, but in the Middle East, Central Asia, and parts of Europe, Nasreddin Hodja is a famous folk character. His stories have been told across a vast geographic area extending from Hungary through India to China, and from Southern Siberia to North Africa. Over the centuries millions of kids have grown up listening to the stories of Nasreddin Hodjas legendary wit and droll trickery.

Nasreddin Hodja is portrayed as a wise man and a simpleton at the same time. In all his anecdotes, Hodja finds a way out of the most delicate situations with his wit, wisdom and common sense, often confounding his interlocutor with absurd, and at the same time wise statements.

A statue of Nasreddin Hodja riding a donkey in Ankara, Turkey. Photo credit: Nevit Dilmen/Wikimedia

Professor Jeremy Schiff, of Bar-Ilan University, Israel, writes:

Wit, common sense, ingenuousness, ridicule... and the kind of humor that reflects human psychology, exposes the shortcomings of a society, criticizes even state and religious affairs yet always settles matters amicably are the elements which together create a special kind of logic, the Nasreddin Hodja logic.

Nasreddin Hodja is believed to have been born in 1208 in the village of Hortu of Sivrihisar, in present-day Turkey, after which he moved to Aksehir, and later to Konya, where he died in 1284. But according to some, a person named Nasreddin Hodja never lived; he was just an imaginary character created by the natives of Anatolia in the 13th century, and the creation lasted for centuries.

Indeed, over the years the number of Nasreddin Hodja stories have increased significantly as his tales spread to new lands, where the stories were adopted and modified, told and retold, and became part of the regions folklore. Today, his stories ranges in several hundreds. Though not all of them are authentic, they are all part of the Hodja folklore.

There are several monuments to Nasreddin Hodja in Turkey, and elsewhere around Europe. Most of them depict Hodja riding a donkey backwards. The story goes that one day Nasreddin Hodja got on his donkey the wrong way, facing towards the back. When people asked him why, he replied, It's not that I am sitting on the donkey backwards, the donkey is facing the wrong way.

Nasreddin Hodjas statue in Brussels. Photo credit: quarsan/Flickr

Donkeys often feature in Hodjas stories.

One day, a friend of Mulla Nasreddin came to him and asked if he could borrow his donkey for two hours to go to the town. The Mulla, not really wanting to lend his donkey, thought for a while and then said:

Dear friend, I would like to help you but I have lent my donkey to another friend.

All of a sudden the donkey began braying loudly behind the wall of the yard.

"But Mulla," the friend exclaimed. "I can hear it behind that wall!"

"Whom do you believe," the Mulla replied indignantly, "the donkey or your Mulla?

Witticism and humor are the key ingredients of every Nasreddin Hodja story. Here is another example:

Once Nasreddin was invited to deliver a sermon. When he got on the pulpit, he asked, Do you know what I am going to say? The audience replied "no", so he announced, I have no desire to speak to people who don't even know what I will be talking about! and left.

The people felt embarrassed and called him back again the next day. This time, when he asked the same question, the people replied yes. So Nasreddin said, Well, since you already know what I am going to say, I won't waste any more of your time! and left.

Now the people were really perplexed. They decided to try one more time and once again invited the Mulla to speak the following week. Once again he asked the same question  Do you know what I am going to say? Now the people were prepared and so half of them answered "yes" while the other half replied "no". So Nasreddin said Let the half who know what I am going to say, tell it to the half who don't, and left.

Sometimes Hodja would make a fool out of himself to humor others.

One day, Hodja climbed a tree, sat on a branch and began cutting the very branch he sat on.

A passerby saw him and yelled, What are you doing? You are going to fall down.

Hodja ignored the man and kept on axing the branch. Sure enough, the branch broke and he fell to the ground. In spite of the bruises, Hodja got up and ran to the man.

Hey you! Since you knew I was going to fall, you should be able to tell me when I will die, Hodja told the man and wouldnt let him go without an answer.

A statue of Nasreddin Hodja cutting a tree branch in Aksehir, Turkey. Photo credit: galpay/Flickr

At other times, he went to great lengths to pull anothers leg.

One day, Hodja borrowed a large cauldron from his neighbor, and dutifully returned it. But he left a small pot inside. When his neighbor inquired, Hodja replied that his cauldron had given birth to a little one, and since it would be criminal to separate the child from the mother, the smaller pot should stay with its mother.

The neighbor, knowing Hodjas eccentric behavior, said nothing, but he was also secretly happy to have acquired a new pot.

Some time later, Hodja asked to borrow the cauldron again.

"Why not?" thought the neighbor to himself. "Perhaps there will be another little pot inside when he returns it."

But this time the Hodja did not return the cauldron. After many days had passed, the neighbor went to the Hodja and asked for the return of the borrowed cauldron.

"My dear friend," replied the Hodja. "I have bad news. Your cauldron has died, and is now in her grave."

The neighbor became furious.  A cauldron does not live, and it cannot die, he shouted. Return it to me at once!"

"One moment!" answered the Hodja. "This is the same cauldron that but a short time ago gave birth to a child, a child that is still in your possession. If a cauldron can give birth to a child, then it also can die."

And the neighbor never again saw his cauldron.

Often, Hodja himself became the victim of practical jokes pulled by others, who wanted to see how he would get himself out of trouble. And Nasreddin Hodja, to the delight of his fellow villagers, never disappointed.

A statue of Nasreddin Hodja in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. Photo credit: ThalerGy/Panoramio

A statue of Nasreddin Hodja in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. Photo credit: Faqscl/Wikimedia

Close-up of the statue. Photo credit: Faqscl/Wikimedia

Another statue in Yenisehir, Turkey. Photo credit: Dennis Jarvis/Flickr

A statue of Nasreddin Hodja at Incirlik Air Base Turkey. Photo credit: Senior Airman Nicole Sikorski/US Air Force

Sources: Wikipedia / Jeremy Schiff / All About Turkey / vsuete.com
Sparse citizen attendance greeted the Albuquerque City Council at its May 1 regular meeting. Council President Isaac Benton was excused, leaving the gavel to Vice President Brad Winter. Winter, an experienced city politician, is known for running tight meetings, and this one was no exception. It was done and gone in just over two hours.

La Flor de las Flores

Emotion filled the room when the Godfather of New Mexico music took the podium. Al Hurricane Sr., was honored with a proclamation naming the stage and existing buildings at Civic Plaza after him. Through tears, 80-year-old Alberto Nelson Hurricane Sanchez Sr. thanked Albuquerque, thanked New Mexico and thanked his family. Then he said his cancer has progressed and he doesnt know how long he will be around. Life is very short; through your music you will live forever, Councilor Klarissa Pena said. Al Hurricane and his extended family have been making New Mexico music for over 60 years. Al Sr., a 1954 graduate of Albuquerque High School, was a regular performer on the nationally syndicated Val De La O television show. He and members of his large, talented family have performed across the globe and recorded dozens of albums. His mother gave him the nickname Hurricane because when he was little, he was like a hurricane, always knocking things over. Councilor Ken Sanchez invited everybody out to Civic Plaza this Sunday, May 7, from noon to 5pm to honor the elder troubadour and to enjoy an afternoon of New Mexico roots music.

Maybe You

Jeff Thomas, from Southwest Care Center, spoke to the Council about a public health challenge baby boomers might not even know they have to face. Thomas said hepatitis C symptoms can be mild or non-existent, and many may not know they have it for decades. This is why he is reaching out to those born between 1945 and 1965 to get an easy finger stick test. He said there are treatment options available that are showing a 95 percent cure rate for hepatitis C in most people. Thomas said the state health department estimates at least 50,000 people in New Mexico have hep C, far outnumbering the approximately 4,000 people dealing with HIV. Hep C is a public health challenge and it disproportionately effects minorities, Thomas said. For more information on hep C testing, contact Southwest Care Center at 505-989-8200.

Seniors We Know

Councilor Don Harris gave a well-deserved shout out to Ginger Grossette and Gay Blech who for 35 years have been the engines behind the A Senior I Know essay contest held by Albuquerque Public Schools and the city. Grossette was an administrator at the citys senior affairs department and Blech was a teacher at APS. The contest promotes relationships between elementary students and senior citizens in their lives. Students write short essays about an elder who inspires them. Every student that enters gets a certificate and a coupon for something cool from a participating merchant. They are fabulous, they make you laugh, and they make you cry, Grossette said about the roughly 5,000 short essays the young writers submit every year. For more information visit the citys essay contest page.

Taser Millions

On a 5-3 vote, Councilors approved more money for use in conjunction with Taser International. This time, they moved on a $4.4 million, five-year contract with Taser to provide 2,000 body cameras for police officers along with data cloud storage. The approval is not without controversy. The state Attorney Generals office is still investigating a 2013, $2 million, no-bid contract with the company. This is due to conflict of interest allegations surrounding former Police Chief Ray Schultz, who took a consulting job with Taser while still drawing a paycheck from the city. The second-place company, Utility Associates, filed a protest over the recent contract award, but the citys procurement officer tossed the complaint out. Councilor Dan Lewis said there were many red flags raised by that administrative action. Meanwhile, Chief Administrative Officer Rob Perry defended the contract, saying it is needed for the police department to be in compliance with the Department of Justice mandates and they should not throw stones. Lewis countered, telling the Council there was enough controversy surrounding this company and he doesnt think they are just throwing stones.

Stepping Up

Several Burquenos were approved for spots on various boards and commissions. These include: Ms. Margaret Lopez to the Housing and Neighborhood Economic Development Committee; Ms. Sacheen Smith to the Americans with Disabilities Act Advisory Council; Mr. Jesse A. Lopez to the Housing and Neighborhood Economic Development Committee; Ms. Ramona Tafoya to the Old Town Portal Market Advisory Board; Mr. Idelir H. Mack to the Joint Air Quality Board and Ms. Renee Conklin to the Arts Board. Mr. Mack was present at the meeting and got a shout out from Councilor Don Harris.

New Tax District

Councilors approved the Lower Petrogylphs Tax Increment Development District. This TIDDs use is restricted to building a medical campus roughly at 118 Street and Unser on the citys far West Side. Western Albuquerque Land Holdings LLC and Presbyterian Health Services are in the early stages of planning for a medical center projected to be built within five years on a 56-acre parcel. The TIDD should generate about $64 million over the next 20 or so years for infrastructure improvements needed to sustain a large medical facility. Councilors were not in support of the collected tax money being used to fund retail development and were assured that strict deed restrictions say the money can only be used for a medical complex. If the hospital does not get built, then the money reverts to the citys general fund.

Next Time

Councilors deferred a measure asking voters to impose an additional two cents per gallon gasoline tax to fund the rehabilitation of city transportation systems. This will be taken up at the June 5 meeting. Also deferred, but only until the May 15 meeting is a measure to amend the citys humane and ethical animal rules and treatment (HEART) ordinance, approval of an adjustment to the budget to provide money to buy property for an affordable transitional housing/behavioral health services project in collaboration with Bernalillo County, and another bill to increase funding for affordable housing projects.
(ANSA) Rome, May 3 - Catania Prosecutor Carmelo Zuccaro told the Senate defence committee Wednesday that people who are "not exactly compatible with philanthropists" are among the personnel of NGOs. Zuccaro is addressing the committee after saying last week that some NGOs involved in migrant rescues in the Mediterranean may receive funding from traffickers. Zuccaro said it would be "very useful to identify the funding sources of the most recently founded NGOs, adding that "there are interests in play that are not only those of the people saved".

The presence of NGOs rescuing migrants at risk of drowning in the Mediterranean Sea does not encourage human traffickers, Coast Guard Operations commander Nicola Carlone said during a hearing before the parliamentary Schengen Committee on Wednesday. He said that 26% of rescue operations for migrants in the area in 2016 had been conducted by NGOs and that 12 NGO ships are currently operating for this purpose.

Carlone stressed, however, that "there has never been the presence of all the ships in the search and rescue area" and that this presence does not encourage migrants to try the crossing. "The sea is calm in these days, we have several ships at sea and nothing is happening. The traffic is regulated on land and the (criminal) organizations decide", regardless of the weather or presences at sea. Migrants began leaving Libya for Europe on makeshift ships in 2009, he pointed out, and since then "everyone knows that there are dozens of units in the sea, including those working for oil rigs". Zuccaro last week said that he had opened an investigation into the work done by the NGOs involved in rescuing migrants at sea, claiming that "we have evidence that there are direct contacts between certain NGOs and human traffickers in Libya".

Zuccaro said traffickers were funding some NGOs in a bid to destabilise the Italian economy although he had no solid evidence for this.

His claims have been rubbished by, among others, Siracusa prosecutor Francesco Paolo Giordano.




Portugal launches programme to restore cultural heritage 'Revive' to involve 30 castles, monasteries and fortresses

(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, MAY 4 - A programme in Portugal called 'Revive', co-sponsored by the country's ministries of economy, culture, and finance, is using an intelligent financing model to restore government and privately owned buildings of cultural and historical value.



The Revive programme has three main goals: restore abandoned buildings, facilitate their development, and incentivise their use in tourism.



There are 30 structures across the country earmarked for the project, including castles, monasteries and fortresses.



The government hopes the project will help attract private investments.



It has issued a public tender for concessions to manage the structures, so long as there is a connected plan for restoration, development and use of the structures that takes into account their heritage and the environmental context in which they are situated.



The Revive programme is open to all investors, not just those from Portugal.



The tender (which can be viewed online at http://revive.turismodeportugal.pt/pt-pt) offers a double benefit to investors, through specific admissions criteria.



On the one hand, it offers private investors the chance to earn revenue through tourism; on the other hand, it offers a unique benefit to the community at large in terms of the restoration and development of abandoned buildings. In the initial phase of the project, 11 of the 30 buildings will be available for restoration, with the additional 19 becoming available as the project progresses.



Lisbon is also moving forward on a programme called "Simplex" to simplify administrative procedures, following the recent approval in Parliament of new rules that apply to tourist facilities.



That programme aims to streamline bureaucracy through simplification as well as improved organisation of all the various parties involved.



The programme also reflects priorities that the government has expressed, such as the strengthening, simplification and digitalisation of the civil service, and the implementation of measures aimed at strengthening the tourism sector as a vehicle for attracting domestic and foreign investments.(ANSAmed).




Algerian legislative elections underway amid high security Results to be announced on Friday

(ANSAmed) - TUNIS, MAY 4 - Polling stations opened without incident on Thursday in Algeria for the country's legislative elections, which will determine the 462 MPs who will govern for the next five years in the country's lower house, the People's National Assembly. About 23 million people are eligible to vote at more than 4,700 polling stations across the country.



Voters will be choosing from 12,000 candidates in 63 political parties.



A half-million law enforcement agents are providing security for the elections, whose results will be announced Friday by Interior Minister Nouraddine Bedoui at the International Conference Center in Tunis.



Voter turnout is one of the big questions of Thursday's elections.



Although the government expects turnout to exceed 51%, it was 43.14% in the last legislative elections, which were held in 2012. (ANSAmed).




MOSCOW - Talks on the conflict in Syria are continuing on Thursday in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, with representatives from Turkey, Russia and Iran, the countries who have agreed to act as guarantors of the ceasefire.

Russian state news agency TASS reported that talks on Wednesday continued into the late evening.

Negotiations involve the creation of a safe zone in Syria, which is a project that Russia and Turkey support, and that, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the US also backs.

There are also representatives from the United States and Jordan, in their role as observer countries, at the talks, as well as a delegation led by UN Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura.

The Syrian government delegation is led by Bashar Jaafari, while on Wednesday, representatives of the armed opposition left the negotiating table to protest against government airstrikes.

Opposition delegates have remained in Astana, however, and on Wednesday evening they met with De Mistura at their hotel, TASS reported.

According to the spokesman for Kazakh Foreign Minister Anuar Zhainakov, a meeting is currently underway between representatives from Turkey, Russia, and Syria.


ROME -The Supreme Council of Magistrates (CSM) will give "every support possible" so that Catania Prosecutor Carmelo Zuccaro's probe into suspected links between some NGOs involved in migrant rescues and traffickers takes place "with the maximum efficiency," Giovanni Legnini, the head of the Italian judiciary's self-governing body, said on Thursday.

Zuccaro said last week that he had heard that traffickers may be funding some NGOs with the aim of destabilising the Italian economy, sparking a furore.

The CSM may summon Zuccaro to explain those comments, although he does not risk a transfer, at least at the moment, sources said.

The judiciary's self-governing body has also ordered the opening of the procedure to "set with urgency new guidelines on the relations with the media" of magistrates, sources said.

The move follows the "frequent repetition" of statements by magistrates that caused public "concern".

The CSM will also set rules that make it possible to intervene "effectively" against those who breach the obligation for "moderation and control".
ROME- Carmelo Zuccaro, prosecuting attorney for the Sicilian city of Catania, is once again speaking out about what he says are direct contacts between NGOs working in the Mediterranean and human traffickers. During a hearing before the Italian Senate Defence Committee, Zuccaro said communications between the NGOs and traffickers are part of "data that come from Frontex and the Italian Navy" and not from secret service intelligence. Zuccaro said among NGO personnel there are some who "don't exactly fit the profile of philanthropist" and that it would be "very useful to determine the sources of financing for the more recently established NGOs" in order to understand if there are "other aims" in addition to humanitarian ones, as well as to find out if the NGOs have "interests in international speculation".



During the hearing, Zuccaro testified that "at times the boat that requested rescue isn't alone at sea" but rather "accompanied by suspicious ships" until the time of rescue. He insisted that because of the presence of NGOs, it's no longer possible to conduct investigations into traffickers. "We're unable to intercept the facilitators and the satellite telephones, and to get the evidence we need". Zuccaro said in order to better carry out their work and recommence investigations, "it would be useful to intercept the satellite communications used to request migrant rescues".



Zuccaro defended the work of NGOs who "have unequivocally shown they work in common cause, such as Save the Children and Doctors Without Borders". He said organisations like these "don't have to demonstrate anything to anyone", but that despite this, not all NGOs are alike. Zuccaro said he'd like to see more checks, and he proposed having Italian military aircraft follow the NGO rescue ships, to see if they are breaking any laws. He also said having judiciary police aboard NGO ships could be helpful for investigations into human trafficking. He said the police would be there not to control the NGOs, but rather to conduct checks that NGO personnel aren't authorised to perform.



Zuccaro emphasised that governments should be heading up rescue operations at sea. "Volunteers should be there to help fill in for government shortfalls, but a non-emergency structural situation should be managed by the governments themselves".


New protests in Belgrade against Serbian prime minister Vucic accused of authoritarianism and control over media

(ANSAmed) - BELGRADE, MAY 4 - A few dozen people, mainly students and young people, erupted in new protests in the Serbian capital on Wednesday evening to protest against what they call the "dictatorship" of Prime Minister and President-elect Aleksandar Vucic, who they accuse of authoritarianism and control over the media.



The protesters gathered in front of Parliament and then marched across the city centre towards the headquarters of the elections commission, where they called for the resignation of its members. The protest on Wednesday is the 31st that has taken place against Vucic since his election to the presidency by a wide margin in the first round of voting on April 2.



The number of demonstrators has dropped dramatically in recent days, however, going from several thousand to a few dozen.(ANSAmed).




MOSCOW/BEIRUT - Countries that act as guarantors of a truce in Syria - Russia, Turkey and Iran - have approved in Astana a memorandum to set up four 'security areas' - or buffer zones - in Syria and will outline the maps by June 4.



The document, however, has not been approved by rebels and representatives of anti-Assad armed militias attending the summit. They refused any accord not providing for the ''integrity of Syrian territory'' and refuse any role of Iran as a guarantor of the agreement.



The memorandum approved today in the Kazakh city provides for a halt to hostilities between rebels and Syrian government forces inside 'safe zones' with a ceasefire that should come into effect on May 6. The memorandum is valid for six months and can be extended for another six.



The four 'safe zones' will include the whole province of Idlib, some parts of the provinces of Latakia, Aleppo, Hama and Homs, the area of Ghuta east of Damascus and parts of the provinces of Dara'a and Quneitra, near the border with Jordan.



UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, called the memorandum ''important, promising and positive''. He was quoted by Rt as saying that it is a ''step forward in the right direction, the de-escalation of the conflict''.



The memorandum provides for the creation of 'safe zones' with ''check points and points of observations'' near the borders of 'low-tension zones' or 'buffer zones', mentioned in the document as ''de-escalation zones''.



But the delegation of the Syrian armed opposition has slammed as ''unacceptable'' any accord for a ceasefire that does not include ''all of Syria's territory'', according to Interfax.



Rebels moreover reject any involvement of Iran and ''militias connected to it'' along with its role as ''guarantor of the truce''.
ROME - Tunisia is the ''pearl of a sea that is crucial, surrounded by countries that create problems to the rest of the world'', Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said, speaking during an event on Tunisia organized Thursday by the Craxi Foundation. ''We have to work so the transition is not endless, supporting the government and civil society''.



Tunisia, Alfano stressed ''is today strategic for us. Having an institution that acts as bulwark, helping us in the fight against terrorism and radicalization, helps Italy as well as the rest of Europe. We are moving forward with this job on behalf of everyone'', he stressed. For this reason, he continued, ''Tunisia must know that it can count on us, as we know we can count on it''.



''Making good business unites - said the foreign minister - and economic relations are an important reinforcement for the diplomatic action of governments''. The government, he concluded, ''can facilitate and boost action stemming from initiatives of civil society and the entrepreneurial context''.


ROME - The Craxi Foundation on Thursday called for the creation of a fund worth 20 billion euros to support the Tunisian democratic process. The appeal was made in Rome during a day of study on Tunisia as a country of ''hope in the Mediterranean''.



The document stated that there is a collective responsibility to ensure that this ''democratic revolution is successful and prove that economic cooperation is the best barrier against extremism, showing that Tunisia is a role model to follow in terms of social, economic and democratic change for the whole region''. In such context, it said, ''the objective of the 2016-2020 development plan is ambitious and provides for a massive effort of public and private investments and Tunisia will mainly rely on its strengths'' with national savings estimated to cover 60% of needs.



It called on the international community to support such effort with a fund worth 20 billion euros in five years and urged governments to back the country as an EU associate partner with full access to structural funds.



The appeal has been presented in France, according to the foundation's president Stefania Craxi, and received the support of 50 members of the political, cultural and entrepreneurial worlds, she said. They include Ouided Bouchamaoui, president of entrepreneur's union Utica, part of the 'Quartet' that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015. (ANSAmed).
Ahmed Al Qubaisi, who currently holds the position of Vice President Aero Political and Industry Affairs, will be promoted to Senior Vice President and take on responsibility for International Affairs and for Environmental Affairs. Ahmed joined Etihad Airways in 2015 as Vice President Alliances and Partnerships, before being promoted to his current role in 2016.



Hareb Al Muhairy is to become Senior Vice President, UAE and GCC Sales, responsible for driving sales revenues in the airlines priority markets. He moves from his current position in Corporate and International Affairs.



Amina Taher has been promoted to Vice President, Corporate Affairs, and will be responsible for leading corporate communications strategy for Etihad Aviation Group (EAG). With this promotion, she becomes one of the groups most senior female executives.



Finally, responsibility for the airlines corporate social responsibility strategy will be moved under Dr. Nadia Bastaki, Vice President Medical Services. Dr. Nadia joined the Medical Centre at Etihad Airways in 2007 and is a leading Aviation Medical specialist in the region. Under her leadership the Etihad Medical Centre has become adopted by the industry as best-in-class and the addition of corporate social responsibility is a natural extension of her Medical and Wellbeing portfolio.



Mohamed Mubarak Fadhel Al Mazrouei, chairman of the Board of the Etihad Aviation Group, said: Our business is committed to developing career opportunities for advancing UAE nationals. These four highly-talented leaders have all seized those opportunities to develop careers as senior executives within one of the UAEs largest businesses.

Hareb Al Muhairy is to become Senior Vice President, UAE and GCC Sales
Capacity grew 6.1% and load factor climbed by half a percentage point to 80.4%, which was a record for the month. March demand growth represented a moderate slowdown relative to performance in February after adjusting for the distortion in the year-to-year comparisons owing to the extra day in February 2016. The imposition of the ban on large electronics in the cabin on certain routes to the US and UK occurred too late in March to have an effect on traffic figures.

Strong traffic demand continued throughout the first quarter, supported by a combination of lower fares and a broad-based upturn in global economic conditions. The price of air travel has fallen by around 10% in real terms over the past year and that has contributed to record load factors. We will have to wait another month to see the impact of the laptop ban on demand, said Alexandre de Juniac, IATAs Director General and CEO.

March international passenger demand rose 6.4% compared to March 2016, which was a slight deceleration compared to February, after adjusting for the leap year distortion in February. Airlines in all regions recorded growth. Total capacity climbed 6.1%, and load factor improved 0.2% percentage points to 78.8%.

Middle East Carriers This is related more to developments seen last year, while any impacts from the laptop ban will be visible from April results onward. Overall, however, the region has seen the fastest year-on-year growth in international RPKs so far this year, with robust growth on routes to and from Asia and Europe. Capacity increased 9.4%, and load factor dropped 3.1 percentage points to 73.1%.

Other regions

European carriers saw March traffic climb 5.7% over March 2016. The strong upward trend in part is supported by momentum in the regions economy. However, wide variation in performance exists among market segments. Demand across the Atlantic has grown only modestly, while RPKs flown on routes to and from Asia and the Middle East are up by around 7-9%. March capacity rose 4.7% and load factor edged up 0.8 percentage points to 82.2%, highest among regions.

Asia-Pacific airlines traffic jumped 9.1% in March, compared to the year-ago period. Capacity increased 7.4%, and load factor rose 1.2 percentage points to 78.7%. Growth within the Asia region is solid while traffic on the Asia-Europe route has continued to recover strongly from terrorism-related disruption in early-2016. Demand has risen at an annualised rate of 22% since November.

North American posted a 2.7% traffic rise in March compared to the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 3.7% and load factor slipped 0.7 percentage points to 79.8%. Passenger traffic has trended sideways in seasonally-adjusted terms since July 2016, alongside a similar trend in capacity.

Latin American airlines had a 9.7% increase in March traffic, which was the strongest among the regions. This was just the second time in 63 months that Latin American airlines led the industry. Strong demand is being supported by robust international demand within South America. By contrast, passenger traffic on the larger North-South America route is nearly 5% below its mid-2015 peak. March capacity climbed 6.4% compared to a year ago, and load factor surged 2.4 percentage points to 80.7%.

frican airlines continued to enjoy good demand, with traffic up 6.0% compared to March 2016. Capacity rose 2.4%, and load factor strengthened 2.3 percentage points to 68.2%. Notwithstanding fragility in the regions biggest economies (Nigeria and South Africa), traffic growth has strengthened in recent months with RPKs growing at an annualised pace of nearly 10% since mid-2016. This pick-up reflects a combination of faster growth on the key market to and from Europe, and also between Africa and the Middle East.
YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian community of Iran has no common decision on endorsing any of the presidential candidates for the upcoming May 19 election, the ethnic Armenian lawmaker of the Iranian parliament Karen Khanlaryan told ARMENPRESS.

According to the custom, we will leave it up to everyone to make a choice as desired. Our stance is maintaining a positive neutrality. Anyhow we will work will all probable candidates. As you know 6 candidates are running for the Presidents office. We will try to establish initial contacts with the candidates by presenting our issues and demands, Khanlaryan said.

The Armenian community has issues and demands on various levels  economic and political.

The main issue is following the issues of recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide. Khanlaryan said this is a good occasion for raising such issues.

In terms of economic issues, the MP says there are some difficulties.

There are difficulties regarding the maintenance expenditures of churches and schools. We have expectations from the to-be-elect President from this point of view. Overall, our economic issues are the same as for other citizens of Iran. Our community is a model of Irans society, he said.

Tehrans city council election is set to be held on the same day as the presidential election, and according to Khanlaryan, three ethnic Armenians are running for office  Ara Shahverdyan, Andranik Simoni and Armen Nazaryan.

This is a very good chance for the Armenian community to be represented in the Tehran city council, we too can display our view in terms of the citys development. The competition is going to be very difficult. Many have nominated candidacies. All three of the ethnic Armenians can enter the city council if they overcome the threshold, he said.

Irans presidential election is set for May 19.

Six candidates are running for office  Hassan Rouhani, Mostafa Mir-Salim, Eshaq Jahangiri, Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, Ebrahim Reisi and Mostafa Hashemitaba.
YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. Kemal Klcdaroglu, leader of the opposition Kemalist Republican Peoples Party of Turkey, announced he is going to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to dispute the constitutional referendum results in the upcoming days, Anadolu reports.

Klcdaroglu said no votes won based on the referendum results, and the whole world is aware of this. He again stated that the Supreme Electoral Commissions announced results are illegal.

On April 16 constitutional referendum was held in Turkey. Based on the referendum results, yes votes (51.41%) prevailed no votes (48.59%).
YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. This year significant investments are expected in Armenias mining industry field, the Ministry of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources told Armenpress.

Shushanik Kerobyan  Head of Geology, Normative-Methodological and Analysis Department at Ministrys Mineral Agency, said 4 companies operating in the field  Geopromining Gold, Lydian Armenia, Teghut and Vayk Gold are going to make a total of 180 million USD investment programs. More than 158 million USD will be provided for the preparation of operation of Amulsar gold-bearing quartzite deposit.

The investments will be carried out during the last three quarters of the year on an equal basis. It is expected to carry out works of 52.8 million USD in each quarter which will result in creation of hundreds of new jobs. In the beginning of the year the number of workers involved in this project was more than 360. It is expected that in the first two years of the implementation of investment program the number of workers will reach 1.2-1.3 thousands.

This year Geopromining Gold company will carry out 10 million USD investment program. Within the frames of the program, it is planned to equip Sotk gold plant and the deposit. The same amount of money will be spent on the preparation works for the operation of Teghut copper and molybdenum. The programs are already launched.

Shushanik Kerobyan said 2 million USD investments are expected to be made by Vayk Gold company.
YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan attended the re-opening ceremony of the citys Kanaker-Zeytun maternity hospital. Healthcare minister Levon Altunyan, executives of various medical institutions of the city and Bishop Arshak Khachatryan from the Mother See of Holy Etchmiatsin were present at the event.

The Mayor and director of the hospital Karen Kutoyan cut the ribbon during the ceremony.

The hospital was operating since 1958 and hadnt been renovated. Last year, during a working tour in the administrative district, the Mayor reviewed the hospital and instructed relevant authorities to renovate it.

Margaryan toured the newly opened institution and talked to the medical personnel.

The maternity hospital has been equipped with modern technologies, the director said.

Margaryan said he is sure all polyclinics of the city will be renovated in a couple of years.

The doctors of the maternity ward thanked the Mayor for assistance.
YEREVAN, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. A regular Cabinet meeting was held on May 4 chaired by Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan.

As Armenpress was informed from the press service of the Government of Armenia, before proceeding to the agenda, the Prime Minister gave a number of instructions. With reference to the Governments policy of subsidizing the economic entities engaged in priority areas, the Prime Minister stated in part, We have repeatedly talked about the need for providing targeted and effective assistance in priority sectors of Armenias economy. We believe the time has come for the Government to provide effective assistance to startups in priority areas. In particular, we suggest initiating a new policy of subsidizing interest on commercial bank loans. This is in tune with our drive for increasing efficiency and competitiveness in the fields deemed to be a priority. We will thereby support those entities generating added value and, most importantly, we will provide new and sustainable jobs.

Based on the above, the Prime Minister gave the ministers of Economic Development and Investment, Finance and Agriculture two weeks to discuss and submit to the Government Staff proposals on developing a specific toolkit for assistance (subsidy) in priority areas in cooperation with the Central Bank and commercial banks.

The Premier also gave instructions regarding the administrative reform, garbage collection and sanitation. He ordered to deal with the shortcomings in the operations of gas stations, water supply and irrigation systems. Concerning the latter, Karen Karapetyan evoked the need to address the problem of 560 settlements left out of the coverage of the water supply company.

The Government made an amendment to comply with requirements of a standing decision referred to as On phased liberalization of coastwise freightage. The decision will streamline the coastwise transportations exercised by the logistic companies registered in the Eurasian Economic Union-member States. In addition, the freight-haulers registered in Armenia will be able to carry out a single coastwise transportation after implementing an interstate transportation in EEU-member States.

In order to meet the statutory requirements of the law On Procurement, the meeting approved a new procedure for the procurement process by amending a previously adopted decision. The decision will streamline the relationship applicable to the procurements made outside Armenia, procurement planning, procurement item specifications, initial control of procurement, contract execution, management and financing. The concept of related persons will be clearly defined to deal with the restrictions of their involvement in procurement procedures, including the terms of invitation and the contract, purchase order, the instances of centralized procurement and the legal persons authorized to carry out centralized procurements.



In an effort to facilitate the process of providing new-generation cash registers on preferential terms, money will be allocated to the Office of Introduction of Cash Registers. Note that SMEs and businesses in rural areas shall be provided new generation cash registers on preferential terms, while economic entities in border villages will get the cash registers free of charge.

Asked about the exact number of cash registers necessary to cover the nationwide demand, SRC Chairman Vardan Harutyunyan said a total of 25 thousand cash registers are needed to this end, noting that the SRC will have them procured by this yearend.



The Executive amended a standing decision to liberalize the operation and maintenance of cash registers. The decision provides that the maintenance of cash registers will be ensured by those legal entities and individual entrepreneurs having signed relevant contracts with the Office of Introduction of Cash Registers.

The Government decided to accept the Sovaldi drug (Sofosbuvir tablets of 400 mg N28) as provided to the Republic of Armenia by the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs of the Republic of Georgia for use in the treatment of patients suffering from Hepatitis C disease.

Money will be allocated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia with a view to extending humanitarian assistance to the Syrian conflict-affected population
Company posted a consolidated loss of over Rs 2,311 crore -- about Rs 6 crore a day -- during fiscal 2015-16.

New Delhi: SoftBank-backed Ola has raised Rs 670 crore (USD 104.4 million) in fresh funding from investors including UC-RNT Fund, a venture between the University of California and Ratan Tata.

While UC-RNT Fund has pumped in Rs 267.99 crore, another Rs 402 crore has been infused by FO Mauritius I Ltd, according to regulatory filing by ANI Technologies -- which runs Ola.

However, the valuation of the company benchmarked against the fresh round of funding could not be ascertained. The said shares were allotted to the investors on March 31, 2017.

An email sent to the company remained unanswered. The Bengaluru-based firm, which is locked in an intense battle with US-based Uber for market leadership, had raised about USD 250 million from SoftBank in November, albeit at a lower valuation of USD 3 billion (compared to USD 4.5 billion earlier).

ANI Technologies, which is not a publicly-traded company, has raised investments of over USD 1.5 billion from investors, including SoftBank Group, Tiger Global, Matrix Partners, Steadview Capital, Sequoia India, Accel Partners US and Falcon Edge.

While Ola has been successful in raising a sizable amount of funds, it continues to bleed on account of heavy advertising and promotional expenses and high employee cost. The company posted a consolidated loss of over Rs 2,311 crore -- about Rs 6 crore a day -- during fiscal 2015-16.

ANI Technologies did see its revenues registering a stellar growth at Rs 758.23 crore during 2015-16 compared to Rs 103.77 crore in the previous fiscal. Ola, which has a presence in 110 Indian cities compared to Uber's operations in 29, has been aggressively expanding its portfolio of services.
The Indian IT companies in the past would send entry-level employees in larger volumes.

Bengaluru: Hiring in the IT industry in the country has slowed down drastically with the advent of automation, growing protectionist sentiment in various foreign markets and changing business models of the Indian IT services firms.

IT industry can no longer be seen as a net employment generator of the country. The Indian IT firms have been looking to rationalise headcount as they have been automating processes and leaning to do the job in a more productive way, said Rituparna Chakraborty, president, Indian Staffing Federation (ISF).

With the Indian IT firms adopting local hiring policy fearing the likely changes to the H-1B visa program, the entry level Indians can no longer dream of going to the US.

Ms Chakraborty feels that Infosyss declaration to hire 10,000 American locals is more of a posturing in front of the US government than anything else. However, lack of availability of skilled workers in the US still is a bigger concern that needs to be addressed effectively.

She said that the entry-level engineers under the Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000-salary bracket will now have to forget about going to the US as the Trump administration has increased the salary threshold for the employees under H-1B visa program. The Indian IT companies in the past would send entry-level employees in larger volumes.

The IT firms would pay entry level engineers in Indian rupees and earn revenues in dollars. This has been their business model to earn margins for many years now. Though, the employees would get allowances for relocation, their base salaries would still be paid in Indian rupees.

Companies can still send the entry-level employees to the US by paying them $100,000, which doesnt make sense. In that case, theyll have to hire locally, said Ms Chakraborty. They can only send people with many years of experience to justify $100,000 salary paid to them.

She suggested the entry-level employees to focus on the India-centric jobs and look at new territories such as West Asia, Canada and Africa.

Though these new markets wont be able to substitute the US and Europe markets, they will eventually turn out to be lucrative. Approximately, the demand for It employees is around 4 lakhs every year. However, the supply is around 16 lakh. This is the reason why IT companies have stopped campus recruitment and have hardly been hiring in the past one year.

Meanwhile, American software giant Adobe on Wednesday said that 30 per cent of its R&D staff work is in India, making a fundamental contribution to each of its product and hinted that the country will continue to be the innovation hub for it.

A lot of our intellectual property gets created out of India. We have over 30 per cent of our R&D staff sitting out of India. We also have got the global services delivery centre in this country, Adobe India country head Kulmeet Bawa told reporters here. The company employs 4,200 people across three centres in Noida and Bengaluru, which together employ a fourth of its global workforce.
Rangoli got married to her childhood friend Ajay Chandel in New Delhi in 2011.

Mumbai: Kangana Ranauts sister Rangoli, who is married to Ajay Chandel, is expecting her first baby. The Ranaut family is overjoyed with this news.

According to a portal, a source close to Kangana revealed, Yes Rangoli is pregnant and she has taken time off from work. She is enjoying this phase and is spending time with her husband and the entire family. Her mother-in-law is also taking good care of her. In fact, Rangoli will be taking off to Himachal, away from the hustle-bustle of the city, to just relax. She will return to Mumbai only for the delivery.

Regrettably, Rangoli suffered a miscarriage previously, and therefore both hers and Ajays family are extra cautious about her health.

Rangoli suffered a miscarriage just before she went for 'Simran's' shoot with sister Kangana. So this time she had to be very careful and had to take care of her. Hence she took time off from work. She is due in October end," added the source to the portal.

Rangoli, who is an acid-attack survivor, got married to her childhood friend Ajay Chandel in New Delhi in 2011. Kangana had taken care of all the arrangements of their marriage and also gifted them an apartment in Mumbai.

Since then, the duo shifted their base to Mumbai, so that Rangoli could also take care of Kangana and her work.
The film's second poster reveals a prosthetic-laden look that's metamorphosed Nawaz into an entirely different human.

Mumbai: Trust Nawazuddin Siddiqui to break all conventions of acting norms. The superlatively talented thespian has been amazing all and sundry with his terrific acting chops, ever since he broke into Indian pop cult with his phenomenal turn as Faizal Khan in Anurag Kashyap's 'Gangs of Wasseypur'.

The actor, who was last seen in Shah Rukh Khan's 'Raees,' will soon be seen in Sridevi starrer 'Mom'.

While much is not known about the film, the teaser had intrigued one and all. However, a lot many missed a virtually unrecognisable Nawaz in it.

And now, a poster of the film, featuring him has been released, and fans are in absolute shock, failing to differentiate the actor they so very love and the man that they see in it.

Nawaz can be seen as balding, crooked toothed man, hellbent on giving you the chills and creeps.

One can whole-heartedly trust the actor to perform the living daylights out of the role, especially in a prosthetic-laden demeanour as terrifying as that.

The film, which also stars Akshaye Khanna, is slated to release on July 7.
Bilkis Bano, who was five months pregnant, was gangraed in the aftermath of the Godhra riots in 2002.

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday ruled that no death sentence will be given to three out of 11 people convicted of raping Bilkis Bano, 19-year-old pregnant woman, and murdering seven of her family members in the aftermath of the Godhra riots in 2002.

A mob had attacked Bilkis' family at Randhikpur village near Ahmedabad during the post-Godhra riots on March 3, 2002.

Terming it as rarest of rare case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had sought death penalty for three of the 11 convicts on the ground that they were the main perpetrators of the crime.

CBI had alleged that the three men had raped five-month pregnant Bilkis, her sister and her mother on March 3, 2002.

The CBI had also challenged the acquittal of five Gujarat police officers by the trial court, alleging that the policemen conspired with the convicts by fudging documents and compromising the inquest panchnama.

The High Court set aside the acquittal of seven persons including policemen and doctors.

"The appeal against conviction filed by the 11 convicts (one convict is dead) is dismissed. The conviction and sentence is upheld," a division bench of Justices V K Tahilramani and Mridula Bhatkar said.

"The appeal filed by the prosecution against the acquittal of seven persons (in the case) is allowed. The acquittal is set aside," the court said.

The bench said the seven persons, which includes five policemen and two doctors, are convicted under sections 218 (not performing their duties) and section 201 (tampering of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

"We will consider the undergone period in jail of these seven persons as their sentence. But we will impose a fine amount of them," the court said today.

The convicted policemen and doctors are - Narpat Singh, Idris Abdul Saiyed, Bikabhai Patel, Ramsingh Bhabhor, Sombhai Gori, Arun Kumar Prasad (doctor) and Sangeeta Kumar Prasad (doctor). Now 18 people stand convicted in the case.

The court had last year reserved its judgement in the appeals filed by 11 persons convicted in the case and also the appeal filed by CBI for capital punishment to three of them.

In January 2008, a special court had convicted and sentenced 11 men to life imprisonment in the case. The convicts later approached the HC and sought quashing of the trial court's order.

The trial in the case began in Ahmedabad. However, after Bilkis expressed apprehensions that witnesses could be harmed and CBI evidence tampered, Supreme Court transferred the case to Mumbai in August 2004.

The 11 convicted are Jaswantbhai Nai, Govindbhai Nai, Shailesh Bhatt, Radhesham Shah, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Pradeep Mordhiya, Bakabhai Vohania, Rajubhai Soni, Mitesh Bhatt and Ramesh Chandana.

The convicts had challenged the order on three main grounds -- that all evidence in the case was fabricated by CBI, that Bilkis gave birth to a child after the incident, thus, the same proved that she could not have been gangraped, and the failure to find the bodies of some of her family members proves that they were not killed.

The CBI had sought enhancement of punishment for three of them- Jaswantbhai, Govindbhai and Radhesham Shah- on the grounds that they had raped Bilkis.
The army on Thursday flew aviation helicopters for aerial surveillance of more than twenty villages in J&Ks southern Shopian district

Srinagar: A civilian driver was killed and three soldiers were injured in a militant ambush in Jammu and Kashmirs southern Shopian district on Thursday evening.

They were in a column of the Armys 62 Rashtriya Rifles returning to a base after being part of a daylong cordon-and-search operation when attacked by the militants in Shopians Imam Sahib area.

Defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said the troops swiftly engaged the militants and the fire fight between the two sides was on when reports last came in. He said, "Exchange of fire took place between returning column of the Army and the terrorists in general area Imam Sahib, Shopian. The operation is under progress."

However, the police sources said that a cab driver hired by the Army to ferry the troops back to their base was killed and three soldiers on board the Sumo vehicle were wounded when targeted with assault rifles by the militants in Imam Sahibs Baskuchan village.

The slain civilian has been identified as Nazir Ahmed Sheikh, a resident of Shopians Kachdoora village. The Army had in violation of Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) engaged eight Sumo cabs to ferry the troops for the operation, the sources said.

In a separate operation, the security forces laid siege to Khudwani area of neighbouring Kulgam district. A report said that a top militant commander Junaid Mattoo along with a couple of other gunmen has been trapped in the area. As the operation was on, surging crowds of locals held protests and soon clashed with the security forces hindering the operation against the holed up militants. .

Earlier during the day on Thursday, the Army flew aviation helicopters for aerial surveillance over more than twenty villages of Shopian district after launching a massive anti militant operation at dawn on Thursday. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) fitted with cameras were also used to keep track on militants. However, no arrests were made during the daylong operation.

The troops from the Armys Rashtriya Rifles along with large contingents of J&K polices counterinsurgency Special Operations Group (SOG) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) moved from one village to another in search of militants.

Shopian with neighbouring Kulgam and Pulwama districts witnessed a series of terror strikes including snatching of weapons from policemen and bank robberies past week. During one such incident, five policemen and two bank employees were shot dead by the cadres of Hizb-ul-Mujahedin on May 1.

The police officials said that while the Hizb was involved in the murder of policemen and bank officials and looting cash from banks, it were the militants of Lashkar-e-Taiba which are known to have snatched four INSAS and one AK 47 rifles from policemen guarding a court premises in Shopian on Tuesday night.

Reports from Shopian said that the security forces faced resistance from the locals of, at least, two village Sugan and Turkwanagam. Confirming it, DIG police (South Kashmir range) SP Pani said that clashes erupted in these village and that the situation was being brought under control.

Cordon and search operation in several villages of Shopian is underway since this morning. The operation was launched after reports of presence of militants in the area, he said. Reports from Shopian said that the villagers shouted pro-freedom slogans and hurled rocks at the security forces at Sugan and Turkwanagam.

The security forces fired teargas canisters and swung bamboo sticks to disperse them. Police reinforcements have been rushed to these villages to deal with the situation and also to spare the security forces from getting distracted and instead continue with what they have gone there for, said a police officer who wished anonymity over the phone from Shopian.

The anti-militant operation was ordered by Army Chief General Bipin Rawat who returned to Delhi on Wednesday after a two-day visit of the restive Valley and the LoC. However, he termed it as a routine move necessitated by the recent incidents in Shopian and its neigbourhood.

Reports said that apart from 1, 62, 44 and 55 Rashtriya Rifles, the SOG and 114 Battalion of the CRPF were involved in the operations during which men folk were asked to come out of their homes for identification parades in open spaces which is reminiscent of the situation witnessed during the heyday of militancy in Kashmir in early 1990s.

Meanwhile, student protests erupted in north-western town of Sopore on Thursday. The police used tear-smoke to quell the protests, the action during which about twenty girl students fainted. About half a dozen students were injured in the clashes, reports said. Students held protests and clashed with police also in Srinagar.
Army personnel who had brought the body in a sealed coffin tried to persuade them not to open the coffin.

Lucknow: UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath called up the family of constable Prem Sagar, one of the two Border Security Force jawans killed by Pakistani forces on the LoC and persuaded them to cremate the body.

Mr Adityanath spoke with the family after midnight, and the soldiers body was cremated in the wee hours of Wednesday at his village in Deoria district.

The family, on Tuesday night, had refused to cremate the body until it was shown to them. Army personnel who had brought the body in a sealed coffin tried to persuade them not to open the coffin.

For 11 hours, the family members remained firm on their stand until Mr Adityanath spoke with them. He said he would visit us before the 13-day shraadh ceremony. He also promised a school and a memorial in my fathers name, said Ishwar Chand, the eldest son of the Army jawan.

Saroj, the eldest daughter, had earlier said she wanted 50 heads from Pakistan in return for her fathers head.

Constable Prem Sagar and Naib Subedar Paramjit Singh were part of a three-member patrol team that was near the LoC to check a snapped communication line when they were ambushed by a Pakistani Border Action Team that included soldiers and terrorists. Their mutilated bodies were found on Monday morning.

People familiar with the matter said the insurgent group Lashkar-e-Taiba could have been involved in the attack, with the backing of the Pakistani Army.
Bank robberies and weapon snatching incidents have been on the rise in the Valley recently, triggering an alert.

Srinagar: Almost two dozen villages in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir have been cordoned off, as the Indian Army along with other security forces have launched a massive anti-terror operation on Thursday.

The search operations come in the wake of a surge in militancy related incidents in the past few days.

According to reports, more than 3,000 personnel of the Army, Central Reserve Police Force and Jammu and Kashmir police are involved in the operation. Along with villages, orchards and forest areas are also being searched.

Police said that security forces have also received information about movement of militants in these areas.

Recently, videos of large groups of militants -- in some cases as many as 30 -- have surfaced on social media, despite ban imposed by authorities on 22 such sites and applications.

Security agencies believe that these videos were shot in south Kashmir area, especially Shopian district.

South Kashmir has seen a spate of attacks on banks, especially in southern districts of Shopian and Pulwama this month.

However, the operations were being hampered by small groups of people pelting stones at security forces in these areas, the official said.

He said additional security force personnel have been rushed to the area to chase away the stone-pelters.

So far, no casualties have been reported in the clashes between stone pelters and security forces, he said adding the operations were in progress.

Suspected terrorists barged into a police post guarding the court complex of southern Shopian late on Tuesday night, and decamped with five service rifles including four INSAS rifles and an AK-47 rifle.

Earlier, following the two bank robberies that took place in Pulwama on Wednesday, Pulwama Superintendent of Police Rayees Mohammed Bhat revealed that preliminary investigation has established the involvement of the terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

"Until now, we have identified one militant each from Padgampora and Khagpura, which proves Lashkar's involvement in the incident," he said.

"It is clear that militant organisations like these are short of cash. We have also seen that they now carry more advanced technological gadgets. We are continuing the investigation," he added.

The gunmen looted two banks, in separate incidents, in South Kashmir's Pulwama district, within few hours.

Bank robberies and weapon snatching incidents have been on the rise in the Valley recently, triggering an alert.
Paramilitary forces like CISF that protect vital installations have been directed to remain on high alert in view of fresh intelligence inputs.

New Delhi: Close on the heels of stepping up action along the Line of Control, intelligence agencies have received specific inputs that Pakistan-based terror groups were now planning to strike in other parts of the country. Following the alert, home minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting with national security advisor Ajit Doval, home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and top brass of the Intelligence Bureau and Research & Analysis Wing.

The home minister, sources said, has instructed to enhance security at all vital installations, especially airports, across the country considerably to avoid any terror strike. Paramilitary forces like CISF that protect vital installations have been directed to remain on high alert in view of fresh intelligence inputs.

There are reports that after increasing activity along the border and in Kashmir Valley the terror groups were now planning to shift focus by striking somewhere within the country. Our security agencies are alert to the inputs and we are keeping a close watch. Anti-terror squad and special branch of state police have also been forwarded the inputs for taking necessary action, a senior intelligence official said.

The meeting, which discussed in detail various aspects regarding the prevailing security scenario in the Valley, was also informed that Pakistani security forces, backed by terror groups, will continue to engage Indian security forces along the LoC and more ceasefire violations by Pakistan were expected in the days ahead. Both BSF and Army have already been asked to remain vigilant to ambush by Pakistans Border Action Team (BAT).

The border guarding forces were again directed on Wednesday to retaliate hard in the wake of any ceasefire violation. A close watch is being maintained along the border amid reports that as many as 55 terror camps and launch pads, 20 of which have come up since January, were still active in PoK and there would be an attempt to push more militants across the border.

The recent incident of bank van being robbed by Hizbul Mujahideen militants in which seven people, including five policemen, were killed in Kulgam was also discussed during the security meeting. It was decided to further increase security cover at all bank outlets and vans ferrying cash to different ATMs, sources added. Security forces will also be launching a fresh offensive against 150-odd militants still active in the Valley.
Bipin Rawat seeks more funds for military, says emulate Chinas example.

New Delhi: Indias Army Chief indirectly hinted on Thursday that retaliatory action against Pakistan for the beheading of two Indian jawans in Kashmir may be in the offing, but only said the Indian Army doesnt reveal its plans before executing them.

Skirting a volley of questions from reporters on whether and when the Army would respond, Gen. Bipin Rawat said future plans are not talked about and are shared only after their execution. We dont talk about future plans beforehand. We share details after execution, Gen. Rawat said after attending a book release organised by the United Services Institution, a defence think tank.

In a barbaric act on Monday, a Pakistani border action team sneaked in about 250 meters into the Indian side of the Line of Control under heavy mortar fire cover in the Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch and beheaded two Indian jawans after they were killed in a planned ambush.

On Wednesday, Gen. Rawats deputy, Army vice-chief Lt. Gen. Sarath Chand, had said: I do not want to say what we will do. Instead of speaking, we will focus on our action at a time and place of our choosing.

Expressing regret over the insufficient funds allotted to meet Indias defence needs, Gen. Rawat said in his USI address: There is a general thinking among some people that expenditure on defence is a burden... but we need to appreciate that defence and economy go hand in hand. It is only a strong military that will help you in ensuring stability along your borders and within the nation and the hinterland and that will help you develop your economy ... while we are developing our economy, the military is not getting its due share.

Indias three armed services have been demanding more military hardware, including small arms systems and howitzers for the Army, helicopters and submarines for the Navy and fighter aircraft for the Air Force for a long time, in addition to a lot of other vital equipment.

Interestingly, Gen. Rawat referred to Chinas growth path to development, which should be emulated. He said: I think here we need to draw a lesson from Chinas modernisation since 1978. While they were looking at developing the economy, development of the military was a part of modernisation. Therefore, for realisation of true national power, these two must go hand in hand.

For 2017-18, Indias defence budget was Rs 2.74 lakh crores, or 1.63 per cent of GDP, while China allocated three per cent of its GDP on this head. China is also pursuing a vigorous military modernisation and restructuring effort, with the aim of making the worlds biggest armed forces mean and lean.

Talking on deficits in formulating a national military and security strategy, Gen. Rawat said India should try to claim its rightful place in the UN Security Council. He advocated creating alliances and creating friends so that we find our rightful place in the United Nations in the Security Council. The time has come for India to have a say in all that happens in the UN.
The GoM was formed at a time when the proposal of setting up the NMC was all set to be sent for Union Cabinets approval.

New Delhi: Niti Aayogs ambitious proposal of replacing the controversial Medical Council of India (MCI) with a National Medical Commission (NMC) seems to be staring at an inordinate delay before it becomes a reality. The proposed body, which was envisioned to clean up and reform the medical education system of the country, was in March referred to a group of ministers (GoM) to further study its blueprint and this ministerial panel is learnt to have suggested inclusion of elected representatives in the proposed body.

The GoM was formed at a time when the proposal of setting up the NMC was all set to be sent for Union Cabinets approval. While this development was seen as a delaying tactic, sources aware of the development said that if the suggestion of having elected representatives in the proposed NMC is accepted, then the new body may become quite like the MCI, which faced allegations of a set coterie of representatives getting elected repeatedly and calling the shots. Official sources said though the PMO had initiated the process of setting up of a high-level panel to suggest a revamp of medical educations regulation, the decision of sending the proposal of setting up of NMC to the GoM was taken to convey to the medical fraternity that the government is keen to take the consensus path on it, and does not want to bulldoze the proposal.

However, there are apprehensions that certain lobbies within the medical sector could be at work to try and scuttle the proposed NMC.

Sources further say that whether the proposed elected representation will imply Parliamentarians or representatives from the doctors association, remains to be seen.

The Nursing council of India too has elected representatives, i.e. a member of Parliament from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. We will have to wait and watch what the GoM means by inclusion of representatives in the commission, sources added.

Meanwhile the GoM which is headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and consists of cabinet ministers like Health Minister J P Nadda and Science & Technology Minister Harshwardhan, met on Wednesday. It has asked the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Niti Aayog to look at International evidence and make appropriate changes in the draft proposal.

Sources say that the changes recommended by the GoM look doubtful and will lead to an unnecessary delay.

It seems that the changes have been suggested to put the draft in the loop from where it can never come out. The Parliamentary standing committee report quoted extensively about the core functions of General Medical Council of UK. What more International evidence is needed, a source asked.

The proposed NMC 2016 calls for creating a new body to regulate medical education with right to government to give binding directions with different boards for handling different functions pertaining to under graduate (UG), Post graduation, regulations and ethics in the medical profession.

The Union Ministry of health worked with Niti Aayog on MCIs restructuring- at the behest of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi which suggested a new commission as a policy-making body for medical education comprising of a chairperson, nine ex-officio members and 10 part-time members.
The total expenditure will be Rs 6 lakhs per head, half of which will be borne by the government  in effect, the taxpayers.

About 700 farmers have committed suicide in the drought-hit Vidarbha and Marathwada region. (Photo: AFP)

Mumbai: Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Pandurang Fundkar and 15 other lawmakers have flown to Australia and New Zealand for 2 weeks to review the loan process to farmers of those countries.

According to an NDTV report, the total expenditure will be Rs 6 lakhs per head, half of which will be borne by the government  in effect, the taxpayers. The legislators will pay the balance.

A day's stop at Singapore has also been included in the itinerary. One companion will be permitted per legislator - 2 legislators will be accompanied by their spouses, some will be accompanied by their personal assistants and some have decided to take their siblings.

The "study tour", as it has been dubbed by the government, began on Tuesday.

"Such tours are necessary and are conducted to enlighten oneself and to learn good practices from other countries," Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar told NDTV.

Besides the Agriculture Minister, who is from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the delegation will include members of Opposition like Congress as well.

This comes after the farmers of Maharashtra demanded that the government waive Rs 30,000 crores of loan allowed to them, after Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath sanctioned a similar move. The state CM Devendra Fadnavis had said he was intent on exploring a similar plan for the farmers of Maharashtra.

Trapped in a debt-cycle, about 700 farmers have committed suicide in the drought-hit Vidarbha and Marathwada region. Besides the loan waiver, the farmers are also asking for better payment for their produce.

During the previous Congress-NCP government, such a trip was planned, but later called off after rampant criticism of the massive expenditure in times of such financial stress.

While at least one MLA from Congress is already on the trip, Congress leader Radha Krishna Vikhe Patil said, "The Agriculture Minister should not have gone on this trip."
The BJP president claimed that wherever there was a BJP Government in the country, there was development.

Palampur: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah on Thursday accused the Congress party of making an issue out of nothing, citing that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited more countries than his successor Narendra Modi.

"Our opponents make an issue of PM Modi's foreign visits, but as per figures Manmohan Singh ji visited more countries than Modi Ji," Shah said, while addressing intellectuals meet at Palampur.

"The difference is - when Manmohan Singh travelled abroad, nobody noticed his departure or return," Shah said.

Shah asserted that the number of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign visits appeared to be higher because when his predecessor used to travel, no one got to know about the trips.

Applauding BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Shah said that the state no longer belonged to the BIMARU states.

"When we governed Bihar, it was on verge of getting rid of BIMARU state tag. It is due to our governments in MP and Chhattisgarh that they do not belong to the BIMARU category anymore," he said.

The BJP president claimed that wherever there was a BJP Government in the country, there was development.

"Within two years, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana initiated by the BJP Government has provided connections of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders to two crore families in the country," he added.

The state of Himachal Pradesh is facing anti-incumbency with the Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and the Congress Government facing corruption allegations.

The BJP registered a mandate in the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Assembly elections earlier this year. The party also registered a huge win in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections, winning over 180 seats out of 270.
They have used quotes by Joey, Chandler and even Phoebe

The tweets have gone viral among fans and are quite a hit. (Photo: Pinterest/Twitter)

Road safety and traffic rules are an important part of our daily lives and it can get really difficult for the police to deal with rule-breakers daily. Mumbai Police however has come up with the most relatable way to deal with the issue by simply using social media and being witty too while using quotes from popular sitcom Friends to make their audience understand their message.

The tweets feature dialogues from all the Friends characters including Ross, Rachel, Joey, Chandler, Phoebe and Monica too and live up to the hilarity of the show. The police department have clearly upped their social media game because all of them make it so relatable for all users.

Read some of the tweets below:

Because everybody knows Joey loves pizza and food

Love your password like your pizza #AFriendsAdvice pic.twitter.com/uv9W4v80B4  Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) April 29, 2017

Remember that time Monica and Chandler were trying to hide their relationship?

So now that you know we know you know - lets work together to keep Mumbai safe #AFriendsAdvice pic.twitter.com/89JSqhYFnx  Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) April 27, 2017

And Ross' understanding of his relationship with Rachel

For a successful relationship with life, let's take a break from our phone #AFriendsAdvice pic.twitter.com/eu5mGBw8fk  Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) April 25, 2017

Phoebe's famous reference that cannot go unnoticed
Disciplinary committee to look into statements against poet-politician.

New Delhi: In a move to placate its senior leader Kumar Vishwas, the AAP on Wednesday suspended its Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan and set up a disciplinary committee to probe his statements against the poet-politician, who has been critical of AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal.

Earlier on Sunday, Mr Khan had sent out WhatsApp messages alleging that Mr Vishwas met AAP MLAs and ministers in a bid to takeover the party. After resigning from a key party post, he had even accused Mr Vishwas of being an RSS-BJP agent. In the political circles, Mr Khans suspension is seen as a compromise after Mr Vishwas addressed the media, teary-eyed, and threatened to quit the party.

The AAP has also set up a disciplinary committee to probe the allegations against Mr Khan. Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said the partys political affairs committee (PAC) has formed a three-member committee comprising the AAP national secretary Pankaj Gupta and senior party leaders Ashutosh and Atishi Marlena.

Mr Khan said he is willing to present his case before the three-member panel. In the partys PAC meeting, which lasted for nearly three hours at Delhi chief minister Mr Kejriwals residence, a decision was made to entrust Mr Vishwas with the responsibility of Rajasthan which goes to polls by the end of 2018.

The move comes after Mr Vishwas demanded stern action against the AAP MLA who had accused him of plotting a coup in the party, sources said. The Okhla legislator had on Monday resigned from the PAC.

As the PAC meeting was at Mr Kejriwals Civil Lines residence on Wednesday, the mood outside was tense as volunteers gathered in a hope that differences between Mr Vishwas and Mr Khan will be sorted. A majority of them backed Mr Vish-was, who has amassed a massive fan following among AAP volunteers. As the poet-politician emerged outside Mr Kejr-iwals residence, there was a loud cheer for him.

I stand by my party and all the people whove supported me... There should be zero tolerance against corruption, Mr Vishwas said after coming out of the meeting.

Later in the day, Delhi Assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel accused the BJP of spreading rumo-urs that he was quitting the AAP to join the saffron party. At a press conference on the Assembly premises here, he asserted that he will continue to be with the AAP.

But not to the AAPs liking, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari termed Mr Vishwas as a nationalist. Delhi is facing a problem due to infighting in the ruling party, he said.

Till the time the string keeps the broom (AAPs election symbol) intact, it can be used to clean garbage. But if the thread breaks, the broom itself will be reduced to garbage, AAP MLA Bhavna Gaur said.

On Tuesday, Mr Vishwas had said that he is unwilling to apologise for his video titled We the Nation in which he apparently hinted at corruption within the AAP-led Delhi government.
The couple was returning home after buying medicines for their ailing 7-months-old daughter.

New Delhi: A couple and their minor son died when the bicycle they were riding back home was hit by a car in outer Delhi's Narela, police said on Thursday.

The couple was returning home after buying medicines for their ailing 7-months-old daughter.

The incident occurred on Sunday. The driver of the car sped away after the incident. The locals followed the car but could not stop it, they said.

However, since the number plate of the vehicle had come off after the accident, the driver was traced and arrested, a senior police official said.

It is suspected that the accused was driving the vehicle at a high speed at the time of the incident. However, no traces of alcohol were found, the official said.

Sharda Prasad, the brother of the woman killed in the incident, was near the accident spot and is an eyewitness. He told police that his sister Sundara was in the back seat while her husband, Sanjeevan was riding the bicycle with their son Mukesh in the front.

On being hit by the car, the trio was thrown on a footpath. They sustained severe head injuries and were rushed to a nearby hospital. Mukesh died on the way to the hospital while his parents were referred to LNJP Hospital. They died while undergoing treatment, police said.

The eyewitnesses collected broken parts of the car, including the number plate, from the accident spot and handed those over to the police which led to the arrest of the car driver.
L-G Baijal says DMRC, Centre and city govt will take final call on space handover.

The Delhi Metro operates on a network of 213 km across seven different corridors and 160 Metro stations.

New Delhi: Delhi Metros parking lots may soon be handed over to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and the civic bodies. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has taken an in-principle decision to execute the proposal, lieutenant governor Anil Baijal said, addressing the 23rd Foundation Day of the Delhi Metro.

Mr Baijal did not elaborate on the proposal, but sources said the final decision will be taken by authorities, including the Centre and the Delhi government, which hold equal equity in the DMRC.

In the meeting yesterday, we had a preliminary discussion on parking spaces which are available with Delhi Metro. If they (DMRC) are not able to develop, we would like them to hand it over to other local bodies  the DDA or municipal corporations so that we could develop the parking spaces, the lieutenant governor said.

He said the municipal corporations and the Central land-owning agency could take up the construction work of parking spaces once the final decision is taken by the DMRC. Out of 160 metro stations, there are 97 parking lots managed by the DMRC. The Delhi Metro operates on a network of 213 km across seven different corridors and 160 Metro stations.

One is efficient last-mile connectivity, the paratransit system, and the second one is reasonable parking space at and near Metro stations, Mr Anil Baijal said, adding that good traffic management should be in place at Metro stations.

The DMRC managing director Mangu Singh highlighted the various initiatives taken by Delhi Metro in the past year and said, Last year has been a very satisfactory year, as far as operations are concerned. We are transporting about 28 lakh passengers with the help of about 3,100 train trips maintaining a punctuality of 99.97 per cent.

At the function, the Chandni Chowk Metro station was adjudged the Best Metro Station and Shrikant, head station controller at Rajiv Chowk, received the Metro Person of the year award.

The Metro Woman of the Year Award, was given to Kumari Tara, station controller/train operator, Yamuna Bank Crew Control.

Besides them, 44 more employees from various departments were awarded for their meritorious performance. An employee from the Central Industrial Security Force was also awarded for his contribution towards maintaining security in the DMRC.
Party sources said, they will not wear the usual white that politicians are seen wearing, but now they are going to seek recognition.

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal told AAP members to step away from the Aam Aadmi rhetoric of common man and behave like "MLAs" instead.

According to an NDTV report, the Aam Aadmi Party chief met each of its legislators and told them, their effort did not get noticed, since they were considered too commonplace.

Party sources said, they will not wear the usual white that politicians are seen wearing, but now they are going to seek recognition.

We got so busy solving issues, that we did not propagate it. Work was getting done but people never realised it was done by AAP. We need to emphasise on that now," one AAP lawmaker told NDTV.

On condition of anonymity another lawmaker suggested "making friends in every colony who will talk about the work we have done".

People need to notice that the road was repaired by their AAP MLA," he added, stating that people in his constituency ended up attributing all the work done in the area by him, to BJP.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has been under BJP control for the last 10 years, and was re-elected by a massive margin of 181 of 272 wards in 3 corporations, where as AAP won only 47 wards.
MIDC counsel Chandrashekhar Jaltare said that prima facie, Mr Khadses role in the scam was amply evident.

Nagpur: Former BJP heavyweight and state revenue minister Eknath Khadse on Wednesday asserted that he did not do anything wrong or violate any rule. His counsel, M.G. Bhangde, contended before the one-man probe panel, Zoting Commission (of retired judge Dinkar Zoting), that his client did not violate any rule in the Pune MIDC land case.

Advocate Bhangde said that the former minister was not the minister in charge at that time and hence, the question of misuse of power did not arise. Besides, the commissions tenure expired on March 31 and hence, it had no power to adjudicate or hear the matter further. Wednesdays was the last hearing and the commission has reserved its judgment after hearing Advocate Bhangde.

Meanwhile, MIDC counsel Chandrashekhar Jaltare said that prima facie, Mr Khadses role in the scam was amply evident. Advocate Jaltare said that Mr Khadse had made a statement that since Ukani did not receive any compensation, he had every right to sell the property.

After completing his arguments, Mr Khadse changed his stand and claimed he did not know anything in the matter. This change of stand shows that the former minister is hiding the truth, Advocate Jaltare pointed out.

While making allegations against Mr Khadse, MIDC counsel said that the former revenue minister could have called his wife Mandakini, son-in-law Girish Chaudhari or secretary Kashid as witnesses but did not do so. This shows something is fishy in the matter, he said.

The one-man commission was appointed on June 23, 2016, by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, following allegations by the opposition that a MIDC plot located at Bhosri near Pune had been transferred in the name of Mr Khadses wife in a case of conflict of interest by Mr Khadse who then headed the revenue portfolio. Mr Khadse had to resign over the controversial land deal.
The immunisation rate in Mewat is 13 per cent, much lower than the state average of 62.2 per cent.

Officials say the rate of immunisation in Mewat is low mainly because of rumours that the vaccines being administered under the Indradhanush programme would have a sterilising effect on children. (Photo: File/Representational Image)

Mewat: Haryana's Muslim-dominated Mewat district has the lowest immunisation rate among children under the age of 6 years, which is a matter of concern for the authorities who are now trying to rope in clerics to address the situation.

The immunisation rate in Mewat is 13 per cent, much lower than the state average of 62.2 per cent, according to the National Family Health Survey. Officials say the rate of immunisation in Mewat is low mainly because of rumours which started spreading more than 3 months back that the vaccines being administered under the Central government's Indradhanush programme would have a sterilising effect on the children.

With an aim of addressing the situation, top officials of the district and National Health Mission (NHM) on Wednesday held an interaction with the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and the clerics, who agreed to render their help by negating the rumours.

Maulana Yahya Kareemi, president of Al-aman Islamic Centre, Mewat, said he would speak about the "misinformation" related to the immunisation during the prayers at the mosque, including on Fridays when the number of devotees swell.

"We have 400-500 youth coming to our institute every day and the number rises to over a thousand on Fridays. If the administration wants, we can spread the word quelling misinformation related to immunisation," he said.

The Indradanush programme is aimed at guarding children against diseases like polio, BCG, pentavalent (diptheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis b, haemophilus, influenza type-B) rubella-measles.

Officials said the immunisation rate had risen to 30 per cent but it started sliding post-February after a video went viral on social media, claiming that the injections being administered would make the children sterile and check the population of the minority community.

"As of now, no such injection or tablet has been invented which could render children sterile," asserted Mewat Deputy Commissioner Mani Ram Sharma, while rubbishing the rumours. He told the gathering, which included several clerics, that the region has several people affected by polio as the Meo community had skipped the polio vaccination drive 15 years back, again due to unfound apprehensions.

"I see 15-20 physically disabled youngsters coming to see me at my office every day to seek assistance in the form of employment or finances," the IAS officer said.

"We can tell only you (the ASHAs and religious leaders), but it is for you to spread the word among the stakeholders and raise awareness at the grassroot level," Sharma said. Director of the National Health Mission in Haryana Amaneet P Kumar also rejected the rumours and said, "They are wrong. We should have faith in science."

On their part, the ASHA workers highlighted the reasons, like vehement denial by some people, for the low immunisation rate. "People hurl strong words at us, they shut their doors at us but we still make an effort to go back to such houses to ensure that no child is left out," said 48-year-old Rehmani, ASHA at Karedi village in Nagina block.

Raziya, ASHA coordinator at Mewat, highlighted the insufficient number of ASHAs and Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery (village level health workers) in the district. "At present there are 874 ASHAs in Mewat as against a stipulated requirement of over 1400," said Raziya. As per the guidelines, she said, one ASHA is required for every thousand people.

Also one Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery (ANM) is needed for every 5,000 people but in the district it is an ANM per 15-17,000 people. Another Islamic scholar, Hakim uddin, told the gathering of Muslim clerics and government officials besides Haryana Waqf Board CEO Hanif Qureishi, that any rumour must be checked.

He also asked the community members to shun any "negative mindset" about government measures and instead verify reports/rumours. Qureishi, who is also the Commissioner of Police, Faridabad, said it was sad that health indicators in Mewat were the "lowest".

"Its ramifications would not appear now but after 15-20 years," he remarked. Appealing to the community members for support in the immunisation drive, Qureishi underlined that in a democracy, the government has a social responsibility to look after the welfare of the people. "But the people have a freedom of choice, no decision can be imposed on them," he said.

"This is your (religious leaders') responsibility to spread the message for welfare of the children, both for their safety as well as education," he added.
Last year, the court had passed a comprehensive order and gave directions to the state.

Mumbai: The Bombay high court has rapped the state government for not taking its order to curb noise pollution in the state seriously. The court said that state has not taken any strict action against the senior police inspector of Mahim police station for playing loudspeakers on the stations premises during the Mahim dargah festival.

A division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice A.K. Menon was hearing a bunch of PILs that were filed to curb noise pollution in the state. Last year, the court had passed a comprehensive order and gave directions to the state. Since then, the court has been monitoring how much the state has complied with its directions. On the last hearing, Awaz Foundation, an NGO, filed a contempt petition before the court and brought to its notice that in the month of December the Mahim police station had allowed the application to use loudspeakers in a silence zone during the Mahim dargah festival. The petition also stated that loudspeakers had been played on the premises of the police station. The court then issued a contempt notice against the senior police inspector of the Mahim police station.

Accordingly, on Wednesday, the Mumbai police commissioner filed an affidavit before the court after which the court said, The state is taking our noise pollution order casually. It is not serious in implementing the high court order.

We expect the state to take strict action against those officers, but the commissioner has given warning to the (Mahim) police and a letter of displeasure has been given to the ACP, said the court.

The court also asked the state to mention what steps it has taken to curb vehicular noise pollution. The court has kept the matter for further hearing on June 9.
Altaf Qureshi was arrested late last in a joint operation by anti- terrorism squads, an official said.

ATS officials seized a cellphone and Rs 71.57 lakh in cash from the house of Qureshi, who himself is suspected to be an operative of ISI. (Photo: ANI/Twitter)

Mumbai: A 37-year-old hawala operator, who allegedly funded a suspected agent of Pakistan's spy agency ISI, has been arrested, a police official said today. Altaf Qureshi was arrested late last night from Masjid Bunder area in South Mumbai in a joint operation by anti- terrorism squads of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, the official said.

Qureshi had allegedly deposited money in the bank account of arrested ISI agent Aftab Ali in Lucknow for carrying out espionage activities, he said. ATS officials seized a cellphone and Rs 71.57 lakh in cash from the house of Qureshi, who himself is suspected to be an operative of ISI, he said.

The hawala operator, who was in the business at the behest of one Jawed Naviwala, was nabbed after his name cropped up during interrogation of Aftab, who was held from Faizabad yesterday, the official added.

Aftab, booked under the Official Secrets Act, had allegedly passed on information about Indian Army's movements to officers posted at Pakistan High Commission and also to ISI, the official claimed.

He had allegedly provided information about the army's movements and units in Faizabad, Lucknow and Amritsar, he said. Police were questioning Qureshi to know on whose directive he had deposited the money in Aftab's account, the official said.
Rex Tillerson said China has reaffirmed support for a denuclearised Korean peninsula but that US would test their commitment.

He said Washington would urge world powers to fully implement UN Security Council sanctions against Kim Jong-Un's regime 'because no one has ever fully implemented those.' (Photo: AP)

Washington: The United States said on Wednesday that it hopes to work with China to halt North Korea's nuclear program, but warned that if this fails it might resort to sanctions.

In an address to State Department staff, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke of "third country sanctions," warning that Chinese companies may be hit for working with Pyongyang.

Tillerson said China has reaffirmed support for a "denuclearised" Korean peninsula but that Washington would test their commitment to help rein in their neighbour by "leaning into them hard".

He said Washington would urge world powers to fully implement UN Security Council sanctions against Kim Jong-Un's regime "because no one has ever fully implemented those." And he warned: "We are going to lean in to people to fully implement them. We tell them: 'We are watching what you are doing'.

"When we see you are not implementing, we see companies or we see individuals that are violating sanctions we are going to contact you, we are going to ask you to take care of it," he said. "If you can't take care of or you simply don't want to care of it for own internal political reasons we will. We'll sanction them through third country sanctions."

China approved UN sanctions targeting North Korea's nuclear program, but American observers believe Chinese banks are continuing to give Pyongyang access to international finance.
Some colleges say President Donald Trump's remarks about Muslims and other groups have sent an uninviting message to students overseas.

Washington: Colleges in the United States are ramping up efforts to welcome students from overseas to address worries the country is becoming less friendly to outsiders.

Dozens of schools have produced new online videos as part of a national campaign called "You Are Welcome Here." Purdue University sent its international applicants an email from two mayors touting Indiana's hospitality. The president of Portland State University in Oregon visited students in India to ease concerns.

Some colleges say President Donald Trump's remarks about Muslims and other groups have sent an uninviting message to students overseas.

Data obtained by The Associated Press in response to public records request show nearly half the nation's 25 largest public universities saw undergraduate applications from abroad fall or stagnate since last year.

It's too early to know how many international students will enroll next fall, but colleges say any loss could hurt campus diversity and tuition revenue.
Rices lawyer notified the senators chairing the hearing of her decision not to attend in a letter.

Washington: Former President Barack Obamas national security adviser Susan Rice declined an invitation to testify at an upcoming Senate hearing on Russias interference in the 2016 election.

Ms Rices lawyer notified the senators chairing the hearing of her decision not to attend in a letter. Two other former Obama administration officials are scheduled to testify before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee on Monday.

The subcommittee is one of three congressional panels investigating Russias role in the 2016 election.

Ms Rices refusal to testify is the latest twist in the congressional investigations into possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign and the ongoing debate over whether the probes are truly independent and bipartisan. Ms Rice was invited to testify only by the Republican chairman of the subcommittee, and not by the top Democrat on the panel, her lawyer said.

Ms Rice became a central part of the Russia investigation when President Donald Trump said she may have committed a crime when she asked intelligence analysts to disclose the name of a Trump associate mentioned in an intelligence report.

Ms Rice has said she did nothing improper. But she has become a key former Obama administration official in a position to answer questions from lawmakers.

Ms Rices attorney, Kathryn Ruemmler, said she is supportive of the committees investigation, but it is rare for Congress to ask for testimony from a former presidents national security adviser.

The request for Ms Rices testimony also stood out, Ms Ruemmler wrote in the letter, because it came after the hearing was announced and well after the other two witnesses former acting Attorney General Sally Yates and former national intelligence director James Clapper agreed to appear.

But unlike invitations extended to Ms Yates and Mr Clapper, Ms Rice was invited by subcommittee chief Lindsey Graham, not jointly with the panels top Democrat, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, she said.
The government says this does not stop the country from maintaining an ability to defend itself, and thus to possess defence forces.

Tokyo: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday announced plans to seek the first-ever changes to Japans post-war pacifist Constitution and said he wants the revisions to take effect in 2020.

The changes, which would spell out the status of the nations self-defence military forces, were announced as Japan marked the 70th anniversary of the Constitution written by American occupiers.

The charter, which renounces Japans right to wage war, has been championed by progressives as a pacifist symbol born out of the countrys World War II defeat.

But nationalists seeking an overhaul are gearing up for a major new push as concerns grow over North Korean belligerence. In a video message to a gathering marking the commemoration, Mr Abe said he aimed to revise the Constitution by 2020 when Tokyo will host the summer Olympics.

I want to make 2020 a year when a new Constitution will be enforced, Mr Abe said without elaborating. He said the revision should include a new clause acknowledging Japans Self-Defence Forces (SDF) as constitutional.

We should eliminate room for discussions suspecting the SDF is unconstitutional, Mr Abe said. Mr Abe, however, denied any plan to revise Article 9, which stipulates that the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right and that land, sea and air forces will never be maintained.

The government says this does not stop the country from maintaining an ability to defend itself, and thus to possess defence forces.
Suicide attacker targets armoured Nato convoy near US Embassy.

Afghan security personnel investigate the site of a suicide attack that targeted a Nato convoy near the US embassy in Kabul. (Photo: AFP)

Kabul: A powerful blast targeting an armoured NATO convoy in Kabul killed at least eight people and wounded 28 on Wednesday, including three coalition troops, officials said, in an attack claimed by the ISIS.

The explosion, which came during morning rush hour on a busy road near the US embassy and NATO headquarters, killed mostly civilians, an interior ministry spokesman said.

Three coalition service members received non-life threatening wounds but were in stable condition, a spokesman for US Forces-Afghanistan said. The attack, claimed by ISIS via its Amaq propaganda agency, comes three weeks after the US dropped its largest non-nuclear bomb on the groups hideouts in eastern Afghanistan.

The blast also comes after the Taliban launched their spring offensive, heralding a surge in fighting as the US seeks to craft a new Afghan strategy and NATO mulls boosting troop levels to break the stalemate.

The attack, which ISIS said was a suicide car bomb and NATO said was an improvised explosive device (IED), damaged two of the convoys heavily armoured vehicles and left a small crater in the road. MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicles, which are designed to withstand large explosions, are routinely used by international forces moving around Kabul.

At least three civilian cars were also damaged, with one ablaze, while windows were shattered up to several hundred metres away. Firefighters and ambulances rushed survivors to hospital as President Ashraf Ghani slammed the blast as a criminal act.

Afghan analyst Ahmad Muradi said that whether attacks were carried out by ISIS or the Taliban, the result is the same: it makes the government and its international supporters tired.
China, North Korea's largest trading partner and main benefactor, suspended imports of North Korean coal in line with UN sanctions.

The North Korean commentary said that China should no longer try to test the limits of the DPRK's patience. (Photo: AP)

Seoul: North Korea has issued a rare direct criticism of China through a commentary saying its "reckless remarks" on the North's nuclear program are testing its patience and could trigger unspecified "grave" consequences.

China, North Korea's largest trading partner and main benefactor, suspended imports of North Korean coal in line with UN sanctions and has been urging its traditional ally to stop nuclear and missile activities amid US pressure to use its leverage to resolve the nuclear standoff.

The commentary released on Wednesday by the state-run Korean Central News Agency said that "a string of absurd and reckless remarks are now heard from China every day only to render the present bad situation tenser."

The article cited commentaries by Chinese state media that it said shifted the blame for deteriorating bilateral relations onto the North and raised "lame excuses for the base acts of dancing to the tune of the US"

"China should no longer try to test the limits of the DPRK's patience," the North Korean commentary said, using its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "China had better ponder over the grave consequences to be entailed by its reckless act of chopping down the pillar of the DPRK-China relations."

The article was not attributed to any government agency or official; the writer was identified only as Kim Chol. Still, it's unusual for the North to directly criticise China. Previously it has couched such criticism by referring to China only as "a neighbouring country."

Chinese state media, meanwhile, have recently unleashed regular and harsh criticisms over the North's actions. The Global Times, an outspoken nationalist tabloid published by the ruling Communist Party's flagship People's Daily, warned in a Thursday editorial that the North's actions threatened a 1961 treaty of non-aggression between the two countries. It called on the regime to end its nuclear tests.

"China will not allow its north-eastern region to be contaminated by North Korea's nuclear activities," the Global Times declared.

In recent days, the paper also warned that China was able to strike back "at any side that crosses the red line" and would impose an oil embargo against the North in response to any more tests. The North Korean commentary said it's China that crossed "the red line."

The People's Daily declared Sunday - and again on Tuesday - that the North's nuclear ambitions "put itself and the whole region into dire peril."
Sharif, had got a temporary breather last month from the Supreme Court which said there was insufficient evidenc.

Islamabad: Pakistans Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the nominees forwarded by the central bank and the securities and exchange commission to be part of a joint investigation team that will probe Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his sons alleged corruption in the Panama Papers case.

We want honest and professional officials to be members of the JIT (joint investigation team), Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan, who heads a three-member special bench that held its first hearing on Tuesday to implement the courts decision to oversee the formation and functioning of the six-member JIT.

Mr Khan said the officials nominated by the State Bank of Pakistan and Securities and Exchange Commission Pakistan did not meet the courts criteria for a transparent investigation.

The special Bench, comprising Justices Khan, Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Ijaz-ul-Ahsan, ordered the chiefs of SECP and SBP to appear in person on May 5 with a list of senior officers from which it can pick suitable officers. Mr Sharif, 67, had got a temporary breather last month from the Supreme Court which said there was insufficient evidenc
In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Chinas position was consistent and clear.

Beijing: China said on Thursday it wants to be good neighbours with North Korea, after the isolated countrys state news agency published a rare criticism of Chinese state media commentaries calling for tougher sanctions over the Norths nuclear programme.

The United States has urged China, North Koreas only major ally, to do more to rein in its neighbours nuclear and missile programmes, which have prompted an assertive response from the Trump administration, warning that an era of strategic patience is over.

A commentary carried by North Koreas KCNA news agency referred to recent commentaries in Chinas Peoples Daily and Global Times newspapers, which it said were widely known as media speaking for the official stand of the Chinese party and government. In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Chinas position was consistent and clear.

Chinas position on developing friendly, good-neighbourly relations with North Korea is also consistent and clear, Mr Geng said, in response to a question about the KCNA commentary.

China was unswervingly devoted to the denuclearisation of the peninsula and maintaining peace and security and resolving the issue through talks, Geng added.

China has repeatedly said that while it is happy to help arrange talks, it is ultimately up to the United States and North Korea to sort out their differences.

Diplomats say Washington and Beijing are negotiating a possible stronger UN Security Council response  such as new sanctions  to North Koreas repeated ballistic missile launches in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.

The KCNA commentary charged that the Chinese articles had attempted to shift the blame to Pyongyang for deteriorated relations between China and North Korea and U.S. deployment of strategic assets to the region.

It also accused China of hyping up damage caused by North Korean nuclear tests to Chinas three northeastern provinces.

Chinese state media calls for North Korea to dismantle its nuclear programme were a wanton violation of the independent and legitimate rights, dignity and supreme interests of North Korea and constituted an undisguised threat to an honest-minded neighbouring country which has a long history and tradition of friendship, KCNA said.
May also warned voters that the 27 other EU countries were determined to win a divorce deal that works for them.

London: British Prime Minister Theresa May promised EU officials on Tuesday that she would be a bloody difficult woman in divorce talks, after being criticised for underestimating the complexity of Brexit talks and having illusions over a deal.

Ms May accused Brussels of deliberately making threats against Britain over the Brexit talks in order to affect the outcome of Junes general election.

In the last few days, we have seen just how tough these talks are likely to be, the Conservative Party leader said, charging that Britains negotiating position had been misrepresented in the European press.

Ms May also warned voters that the 27 other EU countries were determined to win a divorce deal that works for them, saying Britain must unite behind her to strengthen her hand.

These negotiations will not be easy, she told supporters in the eastern part of the city of Bristol, where voters elected a Labour legislator in the last election in 2015.

There are 27 European member states united in their determination to get the deal that works for them. We must show the same unity of purpose here at home to ensure that we get a deal that works in our national interests, too, she said.
The accused then took her to back side of the club for privacy where he sodomised her forcefully.

Sydney: An Australian court on Thursday found a 25-year-old man not guilty of raping 18-year-old virgin girl, calling the rape unromantic and quick.

According to a report in Daily Mail, Luke Lazarus, former private schoolboy, was acquitted after a District Court judge said the alleged rape victim 'did not say stop or no' and that the victim had given consent to him.

In 2013, Lazarus allegedly raped the victim in the backyard of his fathers Kings Cross nightclub  which is inside Hourigan Lane, Potts Point. The incident happened within three minutes of their meeting on the dance floor, said the report.

The court also heard that the victim, who was four pegs down, got carried away and kissed Lazarus on the dance floor. The accused then took her to back side of the club for privacy where he sodomised her forcefully.

The CCTV footage of the club, the only evidence of the entire incident, showed how the victim went with Lazarus to the backyard and did not stop him.

While giving his statement to the court, Lazarus insisted he had every reason to believe the 18-year-old was happy to have sex with him.

Countering his statement, Crown Prosecutor Cate Dodds submitted that Lazarus had taken advantage of the woman, who had been 'substantially intoxicated'.

He never asked her if he could do it and he never told her he was going to do it Dodds added in his argument in court.

But defence counsel Phillip Boulten said the woman conceded she may have 'pushed back' when Lazarus penetrated her.

According to Lazarus, the girl got offended and filed a rape complaint when he asked her to write her name below other women's names on a note in his phone, which he described as a 'trophy list'.

The victim accepted the fact that she kissed the club owners son, however, she claimed she wasnt interested in intercourse.

But Judge Robyn Tupman acquitted Lazarus of all charges.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang called the situation highly complex and sensitive.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said that urgent task was to lower temperatures and resume talks. (Photo: YouTube)

Beijing: China on Wednesday urged all parties in the Korean standoff to stay calm and "stop irritating each other," a day after North Korea said the United States was pushing the region to the brink of nuclear war.

North Korea's state media published a rare, strong, criticism of China on Wednesday, saying Chinese state media commentaries calling for tougher sanctions over Pyongyang's nuclear program were undermining relations with Beijing and worsening tensions.

The United States has urged China, North Korea's only major ally, to do more to rein in its neighbour's nuclear and missile programs, which have prompted an assertive response from the Trump administration, warning that an "era of strategic patience" is over.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday that Washington was working on more sanctions against North Korea if Pyongyang takes steps that merit a new response. He also warned other countries their firms could face so-called secondary sanctions for doing illicit business with Pyongyang.

Tillerson said the Trump administration had been "leaning hard into China ... to test their willingness to use their influence, their engagement with the regime."

Diplomats said this week Washington was negotiating with China on a possible stronger UN Security Council response - such as new sanctions - to North Korea's missile tests.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Wednesday UN resolutions were clear that further measures would be taken in the event of more nuclear or missile tests.

The United States has sent a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to Korean waters and a pair of strategic US bombers flew training drills with South Korea and Japan in another show of strength this week.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang called the situation "highly complex" and sensitive.

"The urgent task is to lower temperatures and resume talks," he said.

"We again urge all relevant parties to remain calm and exercise restraint, stop irritating each other, work hard to create an atmosphere for contact and dialogue between all sides, and seek a return to the correct path of dialogue and negotiation as soon as possible."

The bomber flights coincided with US President Donald Trump raising eyebrows when he said he would be "honoured" to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the right circumstances, and as his CIA director landed in South Korea for talks.

North Korea said the bombers conducted "a nuclear bomb dropping drill against major objects" in its territory at a time when Trump and "other US warmongers are crying out for making a preemptive nuclear strike."

"The reckless military provocation is pushing the situation on the Korean peninsula closer to the brink of nuclear war," North Korea's official KCNA news agency said.

A commentary on KCNA on Wednesday took aim at China and state media articles it said had attempted to shift the blame to Pyongyang for "deteriorated relations" between China and North Korea and US deployment of strategic assets.

It also accused China of "hyping up" damage caused by North Korean nuclear tests to China's three northeastern provinces and said the program was needed for the "existence and development" of the country and "can never be changed nor shaken."

Tension on the Korean peninsula has been high for weeks, driven by concern that North Korea might conduct its sixth nuclear test in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

US officials said the US military's THAAD anti-missile defence system had reached initial operational capacity in South Korea, although it would not be fully operational for some months.

China has repeatedly expressed its opposition to the system, whose powerful radar it says can reach inside Chinese territory, even as Trump has praised Chinese President Xi Jinping for his efforts to rein in North Korea.

Trump has urged other Asian countries to help pressure North Korea and spoke last weekend with the leaders of Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines.
Russia is better than the US as a non-Arab ally. Most Arab youth are concerned, scared or angry about Trump. Most would like to go to the Emirates. About 54 per cent use English in lieu of Arabic in everyday life. Facebook outpaces print media and TV as a news source. For an expert, regional differences are troubling. Optimism among young people has dropped.

Dubai (AsiaNews)  A recent survey found that young Arabs view Putin and Russia as the most valued international ally, whilst trust in the United States is down. They are also concerned about the economy as well as terrorism, even though the threat from the Islamic State has become less pressing. They also share a broad sense of uncertainty, have less trust in the future, and their dream is to move to the Emirates.

The ASDAA Burson-Marsteller 2017 Arab youth survey looked at what young Arabs think and aspire in the Middle East and North Africa. Findings are based on 3,500 in-person interviews of Arab youth between the ages of 18 to 24 from 16 countries in the region. The interviews were conducted by international polling firm Penn Schoen Berland Research between 7 February and 7.

Surprisingly, this years polling shows the United States dropping from as top non-Arab ally, from 25 to 17 per cent, with Russia climbing 12 points to take top spot at 21 per cent.

A major factor is pessimism about US President Donald Trump. As many as 64 per cent of youth used negative words  such as concerned, scared or angry  to describe Trumps presidency with only 19 per cent view it as positive, with words such as excited, optimistic or hopeful.

The survey was conducted right after Trump signed anti-immigration presidential orders. The latter weighed heavily on Arab public opinion before the US attack against Syria following the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime.

Russias intervention to support Bashar al-Assads regime in Syria has persuaded Gulf powers to increase their diplomatic overtures to Moscow, given Russias more muscular presence.

While young Arabs in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the biggest backers of Syrias rebels, are more likely to identify Russia as an enemy, respondents in other Gulf states, notably Kuwait, were more open to Moscow.

Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates cemented its position as the country most young Arabs said they would like to live in and would most like their own countries to take after.

This year, one in three (35 per cent) young Arabs said they would most like to live in the UAE, a significant increase of 13 percentage points from last year.

Unemployment remains a top concern for young Arabs (35 per cent), along with Islamic State (35 per cent) and terrorism in general (34 per cent).

However, if in Iraq 82 per cent respondents believe the Islamic State has been weakened, many young people in Libya, Yemen and Saudi Arabia say it has become stronger.

More than 80 per cent of respondents agreed overwhelmingly that governments needed to do more to address the needs of young people.

For the first time, more than half of respondents (54 per cent) said that the used English more than Arabic in their daily life last year.

In Gulf Cooperation Council member states, an overwhelming majority (85 per cent) of young people said their country has been heading in the right direction over the past five years, but in the Levant and Yemen, which face mounting social, political and economic challenges, the same number, 85 per cent, said their country is headed in the wrong direction  bringing the division of views into the spotlight.

Lastly, it is worth noting that Facebook has become the number one medium for daily news for young Arabs, far more than other online news sources, print media or TV.

Findings also show a major regional divide among young Arabs. The stark divide between the responses of youth in the GCC nations and those in the Levant and North Africa is clearly related to the huge differences in access to opportunity, said Sunil John, Founder and CEO of ASDAA Burson-Marsteller.

The findings from this years survey are profoundly troubling. In the nine years we have conducted this important research  the biggest study of its kind into the regions most important demographic  we have always seen geographic differences, but never have they been so pronounced.

Optimism, he added, should be the default attitude for youth. Sadly, so many young people, in so many nations, today said that their countries best days are behind them.

It would be easy to dismiss this divide as the result of the widening income gap between the haves and the have nots, but it goes beyond this, because some of the least confident in their governments ability to address issues are also found oil-rich nations.
21 bodies were found, but there are still 14 trapped miners. There is little hope for survival, with rescue operations slowed by harmful gas.

Tehran (AsiaNews / Agencies) - An explosion in a coal mine in Golestan province, northeast of Iran, has left 21 workers dead, their bodies were found at 600 meters in depth.

The incident occurred at 12:45 local time in the Zemestanyurt mine, when some workers tried to start a locomotive. The explosion caused the collapse of a part of the mine.

The Minister of Cooperatives, Employment and Social Security Ali Rabiei estimates 35 victims, while Iranian media account for more than 30 injured transferred to neighboring hospitals.

There are 14 workers still trapped within the mine, inside which there are tunnels over a kilometer long. The miners are locked at the end of one of these.

The presence of harmful gas in the tunnel slows down rescue operations: rescue teams have worked all night, injecting oxygen into the tunnel to "give a chance of survival" to any survivors and prevent a new gas concentration from causing a second explosion.

For the provincial emergency director Sadegh-Ali Moghadam, "the hopes of finding the 14 miners still trapped alive are now minimal."

Red Crescent Director of Hossein Ahmadi province reports that the rescuers managed to get "just 800 meters inside the tunnel, but they themselves lacked oxygen."

There are 500 workers in the mine. At the time of the explosion, the shift was in progress.

President Hassan Rouhani sent the Minister of Labor and Social Security to the mine to supervise the rescue and care of the victims.

Iran has extracted 1.68 million tons of coal in 2016, a number higher than in previous years, thanks to the lifting of international sanctions. Coal is mainly used in domestic steel production and a minimum is exported.
Russian President Putin spoke with US President Trump and his Turkish counterpart Erdogan. The aim is to facilitate the return of refugees and the delivery of aid to the population. It is also expected that foreign troops will be sent as observers. The rebels have suspended participation in Astana talks in protest of government air raids.

Moscow (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Russia, the United States, Turkey and Syria are about to reach agreement, which will lead to the creation of "security zones" in Syria, aimed at ensuring the full implementation and effectiveness of ceasefire . That is according to Russian President Vladimir Putin who added that there are also plans for no-fly zones.

According to the Kremlin, US President Donald Trump is in favor of creating safe areas in Syria. He expressed his agreement during a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Putin on May 2.

A definitive decision on this will be taken during ongoing talks in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, mediated by Tehran, Ankara and Moscow, in the presence of US observers. The discussions began yesterday, but the leaders of the rebels' delegation suspended their participation in protest at continued Damascus air raids.

The Russian plan foresees the introduction of "security zones" in rebel-controlled territories in Idlib's northwestern province, in parts of the province of Homs, in the center of the country, in the south and in the Ghouta enclave, east of capital. It is an attempt to put an end to violence, facilitate the return of refugees and facilitate the delivery of aid to a population out of the conflict.

Presiding areas would have checkpoints controlled by both rebel militias and government soldiers. In addition, provision is made for the allocation of foreign troops as observers.

"One of the ways of enduring ceasefire, Putin said, in the wake of the meeting with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi, is to create safe zones or to de-escalate the conflict."

"Russia has held preliminary consultations - added the Kremlin leader - with Damascus and Tehran. We all agree on the mechanism to be created to ensure the end of the blood bath and create the conditions for starting a political dialogue. "

Turkish President Erdogan, the supporter of the anti-Assad front, was more cautious anddid not want to make a direct reference to the Russian proposal; On the contrary, he spoke of buffer zones to mitigate the effects of the conflict in Idlib province.

Over the next few weeks new meetings will be held between leaders to determine how these "security zones" will be controlled.
The two sides agree to sending a nuncio and an ambassador. Card Charles Bo of Yangon attended the meeting. Despite its minority status, the Catholic Church is a driving force for development, justice and reconciliation in the country.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The Holy See and the Republic of the Union of Myanmar have decided to establish full diplomatic relations. Henceforth, an apostolic nuncio will be posted in the southeast Asian nation and an ambassador will represent Myanmar in Rome.

The Vatican Press Office made the announcement today after Pope Francis met this morning with Myanmar Foreign Affairs Minister Aung San Suu Kyi.

Until now, the Holy See had an apostolic delegate to Myanmar, but resident in Thailand. The Myanmar parliament had approved diplomatic relations with the Vatican last March.

Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize for 1991 and an iconic figure who spent years under house arrest during her countrys struggle for freedom, had met Pope Francis a few days after his election in 2013.

The Vatican's request for diplomatic relations accelerated in 2015 when Myanmars first civilian president was elected after 50 years of military dictatorship.

Aung San Suu Kyi and her government face huge challenges: reviving an economy still largely controlled by the military, making development work for wider segments of the population affected by poverty, and reconciling the nation and its various ethnic groups after years of war.

One major issue that remains is that of the status of the Rohingya, a Bengali Muslim group that migrated to Myanmar (then known as Burma) when it was under British rule, whose members are denied citizenship.

Several international organisations have criticised Aung San Suu Kyi for not addressing the Rohingya problem. Even Pope Francis in various statement and speeches has urged the international community to find a dignified solution for the Muslim group.

Card Charles Bo, archbishop of Yangon, was among those present at the meeting between the pontiff and Aung San Suu Kyi, a personal friend of his.

Recently, the prelate took part in the first interfaith peace conference in Yangon. For the cardinal, the Catholic Church in Myanmar can help "build the nation through peace and reconciliation, human development, education and affirmation of the rights of indigenous peoples".

Cecilia Brighi, founder of the association Italia-Burma insieme (Italy-Burma Together), yesterday met with Aung San Suu Kyi to find ways for co-operation between Myanmar and Italy.

She reiterated the importance of today's visit to the pontiff. "The Catholic Church in Myanmar, she said, despite being a minority, plays a very important role in interfaith dialogue. Card Charles Bo is a very important figure in this context because he has a vision for the social and political role of religious institutions.

In fact, Todays meeting with the pope is an important recognition of the role the Church plays at the social level, in terms of transparency and the fight against corruption, and in strengthening the countrys process of democratisation.

At the same time, The meeting is also an important signal to the military, who in some parts of the country have fueled violence against Christians. The more the country is unstable and more soldiers can maintain their power intact, both political and economic, because this way they can influence the governments choices."
The Best Woodsy Colognes For Men

Presenting The Best Woodsy Colognes, So You Can Smell Like Nature

The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service.

Of Earths many natural resources, wood carries the most charming aroma, triggering a series of olfactory sensations in our system once inhaled. Weve witnessed the resurgence of woodsy colognes over the past few years, with every elite fashion brand releasing new formulas or updating their signature lines with the energizing ingredient.

Outside of their singular flavor, woodsy colognes are furnished with virtues that remain absent in your standard bottle of men's cologne. They serve more as functional stimulants that cloak the entire body through minimal sprays. Oriental fragrances tend to bear heavier scents, which stick to you for longer before wearing off. Not to mention they act as a sensory magnets that encourage some snuggle action. Need any other reasons to add several of these to your grooming collection? Didnt think so.

RELATED: How To Pick A Cologne That'll Work Better Than Any Aphrodisiac

You want to smell nice, but you don't want to smell artificial. Youre more of an earthy guy, who loves the outdoors and the smell of fresh cut grass, pine trees and the air after a thunderstorm. All of these encompass natural smells of the earth that men and women have loved for centuries. Go back to nature with a woodsy cologne that will have everyone falling in love with the way you smell.

Woodsy fragrances have warm, dry smells that will invite others in. They also tend to be heavier, enveloping your entire body in just a few sprays and lasting for longer periods of time.

Most earthy colognes contain notes like sandalwood, cedar, vetiver, agarwood and patchouli. Lets break these down:

Sandalwood is obtained from the trees of the genus Santalum which has a heavy, yellow wood, resulting in a long-lasting fragrance. Sandalwood has a rich, sweet fragrance with soft wood notes. It is a subtle, exotic smell that clings to your body and lingers for a decent amount of time.

is obtained from the trees of the genus Santalum which has a heavy, yellow wood, resulting in a long-lasting fragrance. Sandalwood has a rich, sweet fragrance with soft wood notes. It is a subtle, exotic smell that clings to your body and lingers for a decent amount of time. Cedar is made from cedar trees native to the mountains of Himalaya and the Mediterranean region. Cedar cologne has a dry and woody scent where its richness and warmth are brought out even more with the warmth touch of skin. It combines well with citrus notes, creating a fragrant, musky scent perfect for an outdoorsy man.

is made from cedar trees native to the mountains of Himalaya and the Mediterranean region. Cedar cologne has a dry and woody scent where its richness and warmth are brought out even more with the warmth touch of skin. It combines well with citrus notes, creating a fragrant, musky scent perfect for an outdoorsy man. Vetiver is a mossy grass that grows in wet and damp environments over marshy places and riverbanks. Vetiver has subtle citrus notes combined with hints of leathery, woody notes. It is known for its cooling properties and mixes perfectly with other scents like sandalwood and patchouli.

is a mossy grass that grows in wet and damp environments over marshy places and riverbanks. Vetiver has subtle citrus notes combined with hints of leathery, woody notes. It is known for its cooling properties and mixes perfectly with other scents like sandalwood and patchouli. Agarwood (also called oud wood) is one of the most expensive woods in the world. It has a rich, musty and nutty scent unique to it. Its warm and woody, perfect for a cool, fall night. Agarwood is also an aphrodisiac, so be ready to roll when youre wearing it.

(also called oud wood) is one of the most expensive woods in the world. It has a rich, musty and nutty scent unique to it. Its warm and woody, perfect for a cool, fall night. Agarwood is also an aphrodisiac, so be ready to roll when youre wearing it. Patchouli is a bushy herb of the mint family. Therefore, it has a woody, minty undertone with a sweet and herby aroma. And no, you wont be classified as a hippy if you wear scents with patchouli in them (some say it smells like marijuana because of its herbal odor). Just make sure youre wearing the right amount, and that it isnt overpowering and youll love the smell.

All of these woodsy, mossy and musty ingredients make sensational heart and base notes within the layers of a cologne. The scents are really brought out when mixed with lighter notes like citrus and rose. The fresh brightness of a cologne fades away to unearth a blend warm, exotic notes that hit the nose in just the right way.

If youre looking for a masculine, outdoorsy-smelling fragrance, then you came to the right article. The following colognes will both brighten and warm you up so others will want to lean in close. Check out these woodsy picks to make sure youre the best smelling guy in the room.

Tom Ford Out Wood

In case you didnt know, Tom Ford pioneered the oud note during his tenure as artistic director of Yves Saint Laurent. The fashion icon has since spawned an Oud Collection that borrows the trademark accord of oud, sandalwood, and patchouli, only this time toning down the curative, animalistic elements of the scent for a more artisanal composition suited for the contemporary man. Notes of Szechuan pepper, earthy vetiver, and vanilla help top off a creamy-scent finish that is mildly comforting in chillier climates.

$225.00 at Nordstrom.com

Vetiver Citron

The Art of Shavings Vetiver Citron cologne is perfect for a crisper, brighter smell when its a beautiful, sunny day in spring or summer. Vetiver is freshly lifted with the note of cold pressed grapefruit. The fragrance ends with subtle, spicy note that makes it a perfect pick for a go-to smell.

$60.00 at Walmart.com

Luxury Sandalwood Cologne

Taylor of Old Bond Street created a tasteful and classic fragrance with this sandalwood scented cologne. Top notes of fresh lemon and herbal influences of lavender, thyme and rosemary brightens the cologne with aromatic and uplifting scents. The middle notes, floral jasmine and white cyclamen, add a fresh layer. The ending notes warm up this fragrance with woods, moss and amber musks. This cologne emcompasses multiple scents, making it a delightful scent for any man.

$46.00 at Amazon.com

Lagerfeld by Karl Lagerfeld

Originally created for Karl Lagerfeld himself, this oriental-woodsy fragrance opens sweetly with notes of orange, estragon, nutmeg, aldehydes and bergamot. It then warms up with notes of cedar wood, sweet jasmine, iris, patchouli, rose sandalwood and tobacco. The cologne overall is a bright and sweet combination that dives deep into a heated, musky fragrance. Its a dry smelling cologne that will leave others thirsty for a closer look (or sniff, really).

$34.44 at Amazon.com

Kenneth Cole Mankind Ultimate

The revered American fashion house has released a bold fragrance that stimulates the senses with a fresh and energetic feel for the modern man. Its savory woody olfactory theme is pleasantly absorbed by the skin ,with notes of cardamom, tarragon leaves, zesty ginger and a splash of pineapple, while more masculine roots of noble cedar and cashmere wood smoothly spread through the air to conquer ones breathing space. The affordable price tag might be a reflection of its ceaseless endurance, though its dynamic aroma is enough to leave a lasting impression.

$52.60 at Amazon.com

Dolce & Gabbana Pour Homme Intenso

D&Gs woodsy fragrance is the first infused with the floral and honeyed Moepel accord, which is derived from a South African tree to produce one of the most unique scents ever concocted. The aquatic notes and green nuances of basil and lavender tickle your nostrils upon application. However, the manifest empowerment of Intenso comes from its seductive composition built on the core of labdanum, sandalwood and cypress that exudes intensity and strength. That means its active enough to whisk through the wind and draw the attention of any woman passing your direction.

$45.95 at Walmart.com

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The 50 Best Places To Work If You're A New Dad

Trending News: These Are The Companies You Want To Work For If You're A New Dad

Long Story Short

Fatherly studied the new father policies of America's large companies and came up with a competitive list of 50 companies where you'd definitely want to work if you helped bring a child into this world.

Long Story

In Iceland, new fathers can get 120 days paid leave, plus 90 days for either parent. In Spain, paid paternal leave is just 15 days, but they're legally obligated to allow for three years off if you so choose. France, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Belgium also have incredible paternal leave policies. American has diddly squat.

The U.S. is the only developed country in the world that doesn't mandate some form of paid paternal leave. But while the government isn't likely to do anything anytime soon, especially with this administration, some companies have done their part to ease the burden on new parents, regardless of gender.

Fatherly's annual list, The 50 Best Places to Work for New Dads in 2017, measured six specific policy areas for how large companies of1,000 or more employees address paternal leave. The policies include: paid leave, flexible time policies, child care benefits and offerings, dependent care, employee assistance programs, and parental support programs.

The list shows off some truly extraordinary dad-friendly policies that will likely make you super jealous if you don't work for them.

Topping the list was Netflix, which incredibly offers a year off, paid. If you're a workaholic and still want to stay up with the work culture, Netflix allows you to come in and out of work as you please, which is pretty cool but it might lead people to take less time off than they should.

Second on the list was craft site Etsy, which offers a whopping 26 weeks off.

Rounding out the top five were American Express, which now gives five months off to all new parents; Spotify, which brings some of its Swedish social policy to America with 24 weeks off; and Facebook where Zuck insists you take 17 weeks.

These policies are truly welcome in the fight for gender equality and hopefully they begin to make change more widespread. Parenting takes two (or a community, as they say), so any way to ease the burden away from one single parent is a great thing for all of us.

Here is the full list of top 50 companies for new dads. To see why they're so good, you'll have to check out the full list here.

1. Netflix

2. Etsy

3. Amex

4. Spotify

5. Facebook

6. Twitter

7. VMware, Inc

8. Bank of America

9. Patagonia

10. Deloitte

11. Square

12. Pinterest

13. Discovery Communications, Inc

14. CA Technologies

15. NVIDIA Corp.

16. Workday

17. Microsoft

18. Starbucks

19. Airbnb

20. Capital One

21. Johnson & Johnson

22. Genentech

23. BASF Corporation

24. Mastercard

25. Intuit

26. State Stree Corporation

27. Zillow Group

28. 3M

29. Citi

30. Intel

31. Paypal

32. Google

33. Pain & Company

34. Amazon

35. PwC

36. Yahoo!

37. LinkedIn

38. Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer

39. Red Hat

40. IBM Corporation

41. Vanguard

42. Roche Diagnostics

43. Yelp

44. Apple

45. Ikea

46. Chobani

47. Zappos

48. Oppenheimer Funds

49. Adobe

50. Fannie Mae

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How long will it take for the U.S. government to implement parental leave policies on large companies?

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Netflix also offers an unlimited vacation policy. Damn, are they hiring?
Ashurst has entered into a formal law alliance (FLA) in Singapore following approval from the city-states Legal Services Regulatory Authority.The alliance is with ADTLaw, formerly ADTvance Law which was founded by Dawn Tan, previously a partner at Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP. The FLA will be known as Ashurst ADTLaw."Ashurst is a renowned law firm with an exceptionally strong offering and reputation across Asia, Tan said. This alliance marks an important and significant milestone for our firm. We look forward to embarking on a new chapter of growth with Ashurst."Legal Aid Providers Aotearoa has launched a new national cooperative of law firms in New Zealand with the aim of protecting access to justice for vulnerable people.More than 130 firms have been approached to join the cooperative which will offer an 0800 number and a website to enable low income clients to find lawyers who offer legal aid.David Morgan has returned to Dentons in Sydney as a special counsel in the Banking and Finance team.Morgan has 15 years of both local and international experience, advising banks and other financial institutions on complex financial transactions and was previously with Gadens Its an exciting time to be a part of Dentons in Sydney. The firm is in a particularly strong position with its domestic panel appointments plus a truly global network, which has seen and will continue to see work flow in from offshore, Morgan said.
A businessman earlier convicted of executing a major mortgage fraud scheme in the US has been granted a new trial because of his lawyer dozing off in court.US District Judge Donetta Ambrose ruled on Monday that James Nassidas Sixth Amendment right to effective counsel was violated because his lawyer fell asleep numerous times during the trial, a report from Courthouse News said Stanton Levenson, Nassidas lawyer, admitted falling asleep in court but said this was due to taking cold medicine. He joined Nassidas mistrial request in April, but Ambrose elected to see what verdict the jury reached.When the jury returned a guilty verdict, Ambrose asked the jurors under oath about Levensons naps. Everyone on the jury panel admitted to seeing the lawyer sleeping or discussing it with each other.According to the American Bar Association Journal , the jurors differed on the duration and number of times Levenson slept, with some saying the lawyer dozed off for about 30 seconds and others saying the naps lasted a few minutes. A juror said that the lawyer napped four or five times, while others echoed Levensons claim that he only dozed off a couple of times.Nassida said during a post-trial hearing in April that he caught his lawyer sleeping a couple times a day, which means he slept about 20 times during the trial. The Pennsylvania businessman, who is accused of inflating client income and assets to get better commissions from larger mortgage loans granted by various lenders, said he had to nudge the lawyer every time he saw him sleeping.
More details have emerged around the hardship fund being set up for former staff of the failed Europe, UK and Middle East partnership of King & Wood Mallesons. Tim Bednall , the former managing partner of the EUME arm, has followed up on an earlier request to former partners to have them contribute to a fund that will benefit former support staff suffering undue hardship because of the partnerships collapse. According to Legal Week , Bednall has asked around 100 ex-partners to donate between 1,000 and 2,500 to the fund by the end of May. The fund is expected to make one-time payments to beneficiaries next month.The fund will support around 20 beneficiaries. These staff members were on or due to start maternity leave when the partnership went into administration, havent lined up new work, are caring for ill dependents, or are currently ill, the publication said.Bednall is being assisted by EUME general counsel David Willman and London litigation partner Darren Roiser in the effort. The trio have contacted former partners who were there when the firm collapsed, or left two months before. Bednall encouraged former partners in February to donate to the fund.Earlier that month, more than 200 former employees of the EUME partnership sued over how KWM handled redundancies after it filed for administration on 17 January.
By Alice Gorman, Senior Lecturer in archaeology and space studies, Flinders University

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Could this be one of the most beautiful satellites ever made? In fact it is one of twins, as there are two of these jewelled spheres orbiting Earth.

And one of them carries a message for deep into the future, if there is anyone around to decipher it (but more on that later).

The space bling twins are the LAGEOS satellites (LAGEOS stands for LAser GEOdynamic Satellite). LAGEOS-1 was launched by the United States on May 4, 1976, and LAGEOS-2, made by the Italian Space Agency, was launched in 1992.

So this year, the original 60cm sphere  its design harking back to the spherical satellites of the early space age, such as Sputnik, Vanguard and Echo  will notch up 41 years in orbit. Its a veteran of space science.









NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center





The interior of each satellite is a solid brass cylinder, covered in a thick aluminium shell studded with 422 jewels made of fused silica, and four made from germanium.

Fused silica is made without the common ingredients of everyday glass, such as lime and soda. It has a much higher melting point and wont crack from the extremes of temperature experienced in orbit.

This is important because the LAGEOS satellites are essentially used as inert reflectors, off which lasers can be bounced.

Space lasers

The two satellites travel at around 6,000km from Earth in a circular polar orbit.

Every day, 35 satellite laser ranging stations across the world send laser pulses up to intercept the LAGEOS satellites. Two of these stations are located in Australia, at Mt Stromlo in the ACT and Yarragadee in WA. The Mt Stromlo facility is also used to track space junk.









International Laser Ranging Service





The process works like this. A telescope emits a laser beam aimed at the satellite, which strikes the glass eyes and is deflected back towards the Earth, where the telescope receives it.

The length of time taken for the two-way roundtrip indicates how far away the satellite is. Once the time is recorded and corrected, we know the distance to the satellite at that moment to centimetre accuracy.

The changes in this distance over time relate to variations in the Earths gravitational field and rotation, as well as environmental factors in orbital space.

The LAGEOS satellites (although the most beautiful) are not the only targets of the laser ranging network. Other satellites equipped with retroreflectors include the Russian BLITS (Ball Lens in Space) and ETALON 1 and 2, and the student-run Starshine satellites.

There are also retroreflectors on the Moon - at the Apollo 11, 14 and 15 landing sites, and on the Russian Lunokhod 1 and 2 rovers.

The measurements are coordinated and disseminated by the International Laser Ranging Service.









Defining the Earth

The information provided by LAGEOS 1 and 2 has contributed to new perspectives of the Earth, as former project scientist David E. Smith explains:

Today, we see Earth as one system, with the planets shape, rotation, atmosphere, gravitational field and the motions of the continents all connected. We take it for granted now, but LAGEOS helped us arrive at that view.

We tend to think of the Earth as a perfect sphere, but the distribution of mass within it is actually rather lumpy, which means gravitational force is not equally distributed.

Variations in the satellites positions have helped scientists to accurately map this distribution to increase our knowledge of the invisible geoid under the surface.









ESA





The geoid is a representation of the Earth if you remove the influence of tidal and atmospheric forces and imagine sea levels where they would lie according to gravity alone.

Even more importantly, the two LAGEOS satellites define the centre point, based on the Earths centre of mass, for the International Terrestrial Reference System used in navigation.

Another purpose is to measure the speed and direction of tectonic plate movement, which causes continental drift.

Message to the future

Both LAGEOS satellites are completely passive with no instruments, and no fuel and batteries to run out, which means they could outlast humanity. Their orbits may be stable for about 8.4 million years, according to the original prediction.

LAGEOS-1 is the bearer of one of Carl Sagans time-travelling interspecies communications.









NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center





He conceived a design  drawn by Jon Lomberg who also worked with him on the Voyager Golden Records  depicting continental drift at three points in time: 268 million years ago when there was only the supercontinent Pangaea, 1976 when the satellite was launched, and a projection 8.4 million years into the future. The maps are engraved on a thin steel plate that was wrapped around the brass cylinder core.

Youd have to crack the satellite open like an egg, though, to get at the message.

Its precisely the sort of alien mystery object that science fiction writers imagine falling to a planet and catalysing personal and social revelations, even when the object is impenetrable.

Who knows who or what might find it in 8.4 million years, if it lasts that long. Will it melt in reentry, fall into the ocean unnoticed and unmourned, or slam into what remains of Australia like Skylab, to lie under the stars for another few million years?

Alice Gorman is a member of the Advisory Council of the Space Industry Association of Australia.

Originally published in The Conversation.
Wealthy people looking to invest in Australia are set to be the next target of a wave of immigration reviews being announced by the Australian Government.Officials have already revealed a number of visa and other changes that will affect people looking to move to Australia, including the abolition of the 457 visa programme, a tougher citizenship process and increased fees for university students.Now officials have confirmed that visa rules for wealthy would be migrants are being reviewed. As with the Temporary Skilled Shortage visa stream that will replace the 457 programme, those applying for entrepreneur and investor visas are expected to face tougher English language requirements.The majority of wealthy business people applying for significant investor visas are from China and there are concerns that their English needs to be of a high standard if they are to run businesses. The Australian citizenship test also now requires a higher level of English.An applicant for a significant investor visa needs to provide investment of A$5 million to be eligible for Australian residency and officials also believe that their level of English needs to be high.'The expectation from the Australian community is that migrants have competent English. I don't think that is unfair. The programme has to be designed to meet the Australian economy's needs,' said Assistant Immigration Minister Alex Hawke.He told a Chinese in Australia seminar in Sydney that a review is underway and asked them to get involved in giving feedback to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP).Many wealthy Chinese people seek to move to Australia for a better lifestyle, although some may also seek to avoid a sweeping corruption crackdown in China that is prompting many wealthy Chinese to move their money abroad and immigration officials are concerned about money laundering.Overseas investors can no longer invest in property and the visa rules were made stricter in 2015 requiring applicants to invest in small cap and venture capital funds but Hawke said that Chinese investors are welcome in Australia.
Rendering of Wagner West building courtesy of Ford.

Ford Motor Co. broke ground on a wide-ranging plan to transform its headquarters in Dearborn, Mich. at a project it's calling Wagner Place in the western sector of the city, the company announced.

This will be the initial component of the plan, which also includes renovations to the existing Ford World Headquarters building projected to start in 2021.

Wagner Place is a 150,000-square-foot facility that will provide office space, retail stores, and restaurants for 600 Ford employees. It will have first-floor retail and restaurants, two floors of work space and a rooftop patio. Ford is investing $60 million in the project.

Ford's global data insights and analytics employees will occupy the building.

The facility gets its name from the 120-year-old former Wagner Hotel. The hotel's facade and iconic turret will be incorporated into the project.

To support the project, the city of Dearborn will construct a 373-spot public parking structure near the development for consumer and Ford employee parking with $3 million from the Michigan Strategic Fund.

Dearborn is overseeing an $18 million investment for the west downtown area including Brownfield Redevelopment Authority funds and other financing. The city will make significant utility improvements and add streetscaping elements to enhance the project and the area.
Photo via Wikimedia

Avis Budget Group has reported revenue of $1.8 billion for its first quarter 2017, a 2% decrease. This is primarily due to a 5% decline in pricing partially offset by a 3% increase in rental days, according to the company.

In the first quarter, Avis Budget reported an adjusted earning loss of $27 million and an adjusted net loss of $107 million. According to the company, results were affected by lower pricing and higher per-unit fleet costs in the Americas.

For the Americas (North America, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean), revenue declined 4% primarily due to a 1% increase in rental days offset by a 4% decline in pricing, according to the company. Per-unit fleet costs rose 7% to $333 per month. Adjusted earnings decreased to a $20 million loss due to lower revenue and the higher per-unit fleet costs.

Our first quarter results reflect higher-than-expected fleet costs, continued pricing pressures, and a shift of Easter traffic to the second quarter, said Larry De Shon, CEO of Avis Budget Group. We have taken meaningful actions to reduce costs by more than $50 million to mitigate the effects of weak vehicle residual values. We are optimistic that our results will be stronger over the balance of the year as used-car values began to improve near the end of the quarter and our strategic initiatives continue to gain momentum.

For the full-year 2017, Avis Budget updated its estimates of adjusted earnings. Now the company expects that full-year revenue will increase 2% to 3% to $8.8 to $8.95 billion. Movements in currency exchange rates are projected to negatively impact revenue growth by approximately $75 million. Total company per-unit fleet costs are expected to be $285 to $295 per month in 2017, compared to $285 in 2016.

In its quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Avis Budget announced the termination of approximately 335 employees. As of March 31, the company had terminated around 240 of these employees.
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For food companies that are considering diversifying their product portfolios, they need look no further than biscuits. Biscuits are universally popular, with global sales reaching US$92.0 billion in 2014; in most regions, they outperformed the rest of the packaged food market in terms of value growth and, importantly, also outperformed value sales of confectionery with which they compete for sales. Despite being late to the party, Kellogg Company, Battle Creek, Michigan, US, has recently recognized the utility of biscuits to its business, having acquired Egyptian manufacturer Biscomisr. For a product as diverse as biscuits, the question is which strategy manufacturers should pursue.

Why do people buy biscuits?

Biscuits fit a variety of occasions and lifestyles. Once purchased exclusively as treats, the popularity of biscuits consumed at certain occasions rose rapidly over 2009-14. In Western Europe, Mondelez Internationals Belvita brand has achieved astonishing value sales growth of 382% in the last five years. Belvita is angled as a breakfast product that is consumed while travelling to work, with its packaging boasting the biscuits high-fiber credentials. Belvita is a highly-successful example of a product spotting an eating occasion where the need for convenience had been neglected by rival companies. The product targets a gap in the market; it appeals to time-poor workers who are also health conscious.

Compare this with the success of chocolate coated biscuits and cookies. These products have also been performing well in Western markets; over 2009-14, combined sales increased by US$1.4 billion, which is larger than the entire chocolate confectionery category in Spain. Manufacturers have invested in new product developments and added value. Rather than appealing to consumers by using health claims, companies have moved in the opposite direction and embraced indulgence. Cookie manufacturers, for example, have increased the use of double or even triple chocolate recipes; another innovation has been cookies with gooey chocolate centers. In the UK, Burtons Foodss Maryland brand has achieved success with this approach. These hedonistic biscuits are considered a treat that should be consumed at home, and the higher quality of these products also leads to higher unit prices.

Like Belvita, chocolate biscuits are suited to certain occasions, such as after dinner as a dessert. By becoming synonymous with certain eating times, consumers are becoming more consciously aware of choosing chocolate biscuits over, for example, chocolate confectionery. Indeed, there is much crossover between biscuits and chocolate; companies such as Mondelez, Deerfield, Illinois, US, manufacture chocolate biscuits using Cadburys or Milka chocolate while Mars manufactures M&Ms cookies. This strategy secures additional sales for these companies.

Indulgence is also a strong trend in Asia Pacific, where cookies rose at a 10% value CAGR between 2009 and 2014. On-the-go indulgence is favored in this region, with packaging sizes of 0-100g outperforming growth in sales of larger packs in China and Japan. Assessing the broader biscuits category in Asia Pacific, it is worth noting how well brands are performing; sales of Mondelezs Oreo brand have increased by US$590 million over the last five years. Branded biscuits should continue to perform well over the next five years as well.

Strong branding necessary for success

With so many factors contributing to growth, biscuit operators should have plenty of optimism for the next five years. Yet despite the diversity of reasons there are three core ingredients needed to ensure impressive growth of companies such as Mondelez and Burtons, Birmingham, UK. Firstly, occasion eating is important, as this communicates a clear position for products. For example, Belvita has been successful due to its positioning as a breakfast biscuit, and the health claims on the packaging. Secondly, strong branding is important, especially in developing markets, as trust is stronger for branded goods than private label counterparts. While it is an advantage to own a strong pre-existing brand, such as Oreo, the success of Belvita demonstrates that a strong brand can be created in a short space of time, with the right promotional strategy behind it.

While baked goods such as breakfast cereals and bread are struggling to balance growth around the world, biscuits are some of the highest performing products in all markets. Investing in biscuit manufacturing could be a lucrative move. With Mondelez achieving such a strong position in the global market  and with Yildiz, Istanbul, Turkey, and Kellogg looking to expand aggressively  companies considering entering biscuits may regret dawdling on their decision. In addition, the strategies of Mondelez and Mars, which have spun-off their leading chocolate confectionery brands into chocolate biscuits, could signify a new direction for chocolate confectionery manufacturers. Biscuits is a white space, i.e. an opportunity to generate additional revenue.
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Today is the day Bath heads to the polls to choose its first ever elected mayor.

It's not a mayor for the city but a regional mayor who will have control over a budget for devolved responsibilities from Westminster.

He or she will represent Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire and be accountable for regional projects such as housing and transport.

The three councils, which will continue to be operated separately under their own respective administrations, will become the West of England Combined Authority.

The so-called `metro mayor' will oversee this regional authority and be responsible for a budget of 1 billion over the next 30 years. The aim is to bring more decision making to the area.

Who are the mayoral candidates?

Dr John Savage - Independent

He's the chairman of the University Hospitals Bristol NHS Trust and executive chairman of Bristol Chamber of Commerce.

"I think the potential for this territory is enormous...but we can do so much more and I think the principle thing that stops us is our inability to come together and seize opportunity together and look at the territory as a whole column of wealth and make it work together.

"We need to build more houses but I can see you don't want lots and lots more houses in Bath. This is, I'm afraid, a strategic issue and the solution is in the wider territory. It is about understanding how we can build units of good housing at the right price that can work in the current because otherwise the market will play its game and up will go the price."

Tim Bowles - Conservative

He's a businessman in sales and marketing, who has represented the Winterbourne ward on South Gloucestershire Council for the past seven years.

"We do need to improve our transport because it's holding businesses back. Business tells us we need to improve the housing supply, built where people want them and that they are affordable so the workforce we need can locate here. We've got to improve our jobs and skills and having this role with funding we can make that difference."

"We do need to link the A36 and 46. It will reduce the traffic that goes through Bath. It will help the economy."

Aaran Foot - UKIP

He's a dairy farmer and businessman who last stood as a candidate in the Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) elections.

"Direct Democracy can and will deliver outstanding levels of service and ensure all voices are heard.

"This is why I'm going to champion a new era of democracy. An era where your government actually listens to you, not just those in their party. An era where your money is spent how you want it, and only how you want it. And most importantly, an era where we once again have a government of the people."

Stephen Williams - Lib Dem

Mr Williams served as an MP for Bristol West between 2005-2015.

"If I am elected into this position I will want to be the mayor who brings together the best of both our cities but also make sure that the interest of our towns and villages aren't forgotten."

"There are some quick wins that we can do that have eluded us for a long time because we have not had this strategic authoritywe do get power over franchising buses and I intend to use those powers aggressively with all the different bus companies that are already here and indeed some who might want to come here if we can get agreements with them over certain routes." He's also a fan of working with Wiltshire Council to reopen railway stations at Box and Corsham.

Lesley Mansell - Labour

"We have fantastic Labour councillors around this combined authority, and a Labour Mayor who is making great strides in Bristol.

"It is time to join up the good work that goes on around this region and make it work for everyone living in the West of England."

Darren Hall - Green Party

Mr Hall achieved a huge increase in the Green vote in the general election, rising from three per cent to 26.8 to finish second with 17,000 votes. He's also a former RAF engineer.

"This is the biggest opportunity in a generation for the West of England. The reason I say that is because we are the most centrally-controlled country in Europe. Most of the money that's generated here goes off to London and we get pennies back. I think that this offer us the start of a conversation that will enable us to do things how we would like to do them here in the south west.

"The reality is it's about partnership working...this is going to be about what connects us rather than what divides us."

""I think inevitably we are going to have tackle this idea of opening up city centres using clear, chargeable clean air zones to restrict heavy traffic into city centres to open up the life of those city centres to the benefit of businesses."

Each mayoral post will last four years.

Based on where I live, where can I vote?

Below is a list of the local polling stations, which will be open to registered voters between 7am and 10pm.
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The people of Bath took to the polls today (May 4) to choose the region's first Metro Mayor.

The new mayor will lead the newly-formed West of England Combined Authority (WECA), which includes Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), Bristol and South Gloucestershire.

Votes will be counted throughout the night and the final result is expected to be announced on Friday morning.

With the announcement just one sleep away, reporters from the Bath Chronicle and the Bristol Post took to the streets to find out what voters really think of the Metro Mayor.

Turn-out was low in all polling stations we went to, with some voters expressing indifference to the newly-created role.

Here's what the Bath voters had to say

Matt, aged 53 : "I voted for the Green candidate for two reasons. One  I didn't like anyone else. Two  weighing everything up, I think he's the best man for the job."

Man, aged 50 : "I'm not convinced about the Metro Mayor at all. I think you have got enough practical positions already. We have got the Council and the Mayor, a very vocal MP, and an MEP  there's no need to add another layer. But I will vote because I have the right to.

He voted for the Lib Dem candidate twice, stating: "I just thought that they need encouraging for the general election."

Robert Adams : "I was trying to convince my girlfriend to vote but she hasn't come down. I just think if she doesn't vote, then she doesn't have a say. I think everybody should vote, no matter how futile a token gesture it is."

He made a "strategic" vote for the Liberal candidate and an "ethical" vote for the green candidate.

Young female, who voted Green : "I don't think I have strong enough feelings about it to comment. But I can't NOT vote. I feel like I have to."

Sam Bradley : "It's all a bit boring. They haven't made it interesting enough. They could have tried much harder to make it interesting and drum support. I bet the turn out will be really low. I voted Lib Dem because it's the only candidate I have seen  it's the only one I know."

Caitlin, aged 23 : "I voted independent because I think John Savage has got a lot of good experience, and quite frankly a lot of the other political parties annoy me. My second vote was for Labour  and that was just because I needed to make a back-up choice. I didn't really know who else to pick. I didn't realise beforehand that I needed to pick two candidates."

How did polling day go in Bristol?

Bristol Post reporters carried out an unofficial exit poll from four separate polling stations across the city.

Going by first preferences, Labour was ahead with 42 per cent of the votes, with the Liberal Democrats coming behind with 25 per cent.

Independent John Savage came sub third with 14.6 per cent, with the Greens' Darren Hall being the first choice for 10.4 per cent of voters.

The Tory candidate, Tim Bowles, gained only 8 per cent of votes, while UKIP's Aaron Foot received none.

If the election were to go the way of the Bristol exit poll, we would go into a second round with Ms Mansell and Mr Williams pitted against each other.

According to Bristol Post readers, some 64 per cent voted Labour as their second choice, while only 36 per cent voted Lib Dem.

What about South Gloucestershire?

Going by first preferences, the Liberal Democrats look the front runners, with 35 per cent of the vote.

Mr Bowles (Con) with Mr Savage (Ind) are both tied with 19 per cent of votes, while Labour's Ms Mansell is third with 13 per cent.

Darren Hall (Green) comes in at just around 9.5 per cent, while UKIP's Aaron Foot props up the table with 3.5 per cent.
A St. Petersburg man is now behind bars after attacking his wife Wednesday night while under the influence of drugs, officials said.

Officials: Man on spice, meth attacked wife in front of kids

Kevin Brewer put wife in chokehold, police say



Wife, kids hid in bedroom

Officers found Brewer stabbing himself

Kevin Brewer, 43, is charged with domestic battery by strangulation and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.

According to officials, Brewer was under the influence of spice and methamphetamine when he attacked his wife in front of their kids Wednesday night around 10 p.m.

Officials said Brewer put his wife in a chokehold, forcing her to the ground, before chasing her and the kids into a bedroom while threatening to kill her.

When officers arrived they found Brewer in the kitchen armed with a knife and stabbing himself in the torso and groin.

Officers ordered Brewer to drop the knife, but he refused, saying he had to kill the demon.

According to the report, officers had to shoot Brewer with an electronic control device and twice with a less-lethal shotgun to disarm him and gain control.

Officers said Brewer continued to struggle and hurt himself while under arrest.

He was transported to St. Josephs Hospital to be treated before being be transported to booking.

Officials did not report any injuries to Brewers wife or kids.
A former Pinellas County Sheriff's deputy accused of stealing pain pills during "Operation Medicine Cabinet" is now on trial for grand theft.

Steven Smith fired last October

Smith accused of stealing hydrocodone pills

Pills turned in last September to Dunedin substation

Prosecutors maintain that former deputy Steven Smith took advantage of his position to steal a bottle of hydrocodone pills while he was working the front desk at a Sheriff's Office substation in Dunedin in September, 2016.



The pills, according to prosecutors, were turned in by Tonyia Holt -- they belonged to her deceased sister. But Holt's testimony about how many pills were in the bottle did not match the evidence.



"One hundred twenty in each bottle," said Holt under cross-examination by Smith's attorney, John Trevena.



"Are you sure of that, 120?" Trevena asked.



"Yes," said Holt.



But later in her testimony Holt confirmed that the bottle, in fact, indicated it contained 100 pills.



Trevena believes this is the first time the state has prosecuted a drug case without any evidence of the drug itself, outside of a photo taken by Smith's former girlfriend, Jessica Jimenez.



Youre not going to see any hydrocodone tablets. Youre not going to hear any testimony that the tablets were ever examined by any competent person to determine what they really were. Theres no laboratory report, said Trevena during a statement to the court.



The evidence -- the photo and the bottle -- were enough, however, for Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri to fire Smith in October.



Jimenez testified Wednesday that she found the stolen pills in Smith's dresser, which prompted her to take the photo and contact the Sheriff's Office. She also said Smith told her the pills were going to be thrown away, anyway, and the pills would serve him as a backup once his own prescription ran out.



The defense, however, maintains that Jimenez is out to destroy Smith because he cheated on her. Jimenez will be the first to take the stand May 4 for cross examination when the trial continues.



If found guilty, Smith faces up to 15 years in prison. Sheriff Gualitieri also said Smith pawned his service weapon -- that case is being prosecuted in Pasco County.


A man from Mexico was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of immigration violations and assaulting a federal officer, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Texas.

Daniel Alejandro Gonzalez, 33, was indicted late last night, Acting U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston said in a press release.
It's coming down to Dade Phelan from District 21 right here in Southeast Texas, and other pragmatic Republicans in the state House of Representatives. They're going to have remain firm in the last three weeks of this session of the Legislature against some unreasonable bills from their Republican colleagues in the Senate.

With the May 29 adjournment not that far away, the Legislature is entering crunch time. The House and Senate have individually passed their bills, and now they're mostly trying to reconcile the two versions. Gov. Greg Abbott is reportedly not in a mood to call any special sessions, nor should he.

Right now, the House and Senate probably will find a fair compromise on something that can't be finessed - the state budget. It will involve some tough battles over using (or not using) the Rainy Day Fund, but a two-year budget of about $218 billion looks doable.

The real struggle will be over social issues that hardliners in the Senate are pushing, like a "bathroom bill," education vouchers and even more restrictions on abortion.

The key point here is that Republicans hold a strong majority in both chambers, 20-11 in the Senate and 95-55 in the House. This is not about Democrats vs. Republicans. It's about conservative Republicans in the House standing up to more conservative colleagues like Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who put ideology ahead of governing.

The House Republicans know that a bathroom bill would spark ruinous boycotts just as it has in North Carolina. They know that Texans support charter schools but not educational vouchers that could undermine public education. And on and on.

In these last few weeks, House Republicans like Dade Phelan have to focus on what's real and achievable, not ideological distractions that exceed the model of limited government that true conservatives respect.

If they do, state government can get through this tight budget in satisfactory condition. If they waver, the state economy could be facing additional challenges just when the oil industry is struggling to get on its feet. The choice should be clear.

-----------------------------------

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A California town, Pleasanton, honored Pat Frizzell, RN, as "Woman of the Year" for her work with military families, according to The Independent.

Here are four key notes:

1. Ms. Frizzell has a personal connection the military. Her son joined the U.S. Marine Corps. Reserves in August 2001.

2. Her son's move motivated her to become involved with military families in the area. She told The Independent, "This was a huge change in my life, especially after Sept. 11, 2001, just one month later. When he deployed to Iraq in March 2003, at the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, I found the Pleasanton Military Families support group, which was just beginning at that time."

3. Pleasanton Military Families has monthly-support meeting as well other services including care packages for deployed troops.

4. Ms. Frizzell worked at Kaiser Permanente in its Pleasanton ASC for 24 years before retiring in December 2016.
Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City failed to comply with Medicare billing requirements for 110 of 261 inpatient and outpatient claims reviewed by HHS' Office of Inspector General for the audit period of Jan. 1, 2012, through Dec. 31, 2013, according to a recent OIG report.

The 110 claims that did not comply with Medicare billing requirements resulted in the hospital receiving nearly $1.4 million in overpayments, according to the OIG.

Extrapolating from the sample results, the OIG estimated Mount Sinai Hospital received at least $41.9 million in overpayments from Medicare during the audit period.

Based on its findings, the OIG recommended the hospital refund Medicare the portion of the estimated overpayment within the Medicare reopening and recovery periods and use reasonable diligence to identify and return the remaining portion of the overpayment. The OIG also recommended the hospital take steps to return any additional overpayments outside of the audit period and strengthen controls to ensure full compliance with Medicare requirements.

In written comments on the OIG's draft report, Mount Sinai Hospital disagreed with most of the OIG's findings and recommendations. The hospital disagreed that it improperly billed 85 of the 100 claims identified by the OIG. The hospital also said some of the claims fall outside of the Medicare reopening period.

After reviewing the hospital's comments, the OIG maintained its findings and recommendations.

In an emailed statement to Becker's, Mount Sinai said, "We reject the notion that it's appropriate for OIG auditors to substitute their judgments, made years after the fact without any patient interaction, for the thoughtful medical decisions of our highly skilled physicians. Moreover, the review process used by the OIG is deeply flawed. Not only are their determinations based on erroneous interpretations of the prevailing rules, but their refund demand is based on a review of a tiny sample of claims. In fact, 97 percent of the refund demand relates to claims OIG never even reviewed."

Mount Sinai said it intends to appeal the OIG's findings, and is "highly confident" it will prevail.

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Now legal in every state, telehealth redefines healthcare in a more comfortable and convenient setting. The market opportunity is substantial, both nationally and abroad.

This content is sponsored by American Well.

"It's not just a U.S. phenomenon; it's a global phenomenon, and a lot of the world is looking to the U.S. for guidance, for second opinions [and] for technology," said Jeff Kosowsky, MD, PhD, American Well senior vice president of corporate development, during an executive roundtable at the Becker's Hospital Review 8th Annual Meeting, on April 19 in Chicago.

Dr. Kosowsky told 23 participating hospital executives that "care is coming home," and telehealth is central to this healthcare industry transformation.

"We're now in a world where healthcare is last. People are doing banking online [and] buying everything online," Dr. Kosowsky said, noting consumers and providers are increasingly ready to jump on board with online healthcare.

More than two-thirds of Americans are willing to see a physician online and 57 percent of physicians are willing to see a patient over video, said Dr. Kosowsky. Additionally, 25 percent of patients reported they would switch to a new physician for video visit access. Dr. Kosowsky emphasized telehealth should not be viewed as bringing patients to physicians, but rather assisting physicians in treating their patients remotely.

Founded a decade ago, American Well strives to do just that, offering a technological platform accessible via mobile, online or phone. The telehealth company serves all segments of healthcare, including health plans, employers, health systems, pharmaceutical and retail.

American Well views its market in two distinct segments:

 Supply  Health systems and provider groups who provide clinical knowledge.

 Demand  Employers, health plans and their consumers who seek care

"You really need a complete end-to-end system," said Dr. Kosowsky, suggesting providers should think of telehealth as more than just software. Instead, telehealth is analogous to a multispecialty medical office building, in which providers share resources and expertise.

When Dr. Kosowsky spoke about bringing care home, he emphasized this transition doesn't illustrate the shift from a physical hospital to a web-based portal. Rather, it propels the idea of care going to the patient as opposed to the patient traveling to the care.

Further, telehealth is expanding beyond just urgent care into chronic disease management and prevention medicine. "Most of the time we're not spending in the hospitalour disease processes are going on all the time, and that's really where we need to interface with it," said Dr. Kosowsky.

Implementation challenges

Telehealth has certainly not reached its full potential, due to a variety of obstacles in the industry. Reimbursements continue to serve as the main barrier to telehealth implementation, more so than the technology itself.

"Reimbursement is a very powerful incentive for physicians," said Dr. Kosowsky. "When providers finally can make money, I think that's going to be a huge motivator."

The president of a Midwest children's rehabilitation hospital agreed with Dr. Kosowsky's statement, noting the financial aspect of telehealth presents a significant downside for his hospital, as physicians put in more work and are not fairly compensated for their additional efforts.

"There are limits to what you can charge and it's nothing in comparison to the hours the physician needs," he said.

Dr. Kosowsky noted organizations should employ the right incentives to encourage provider and patient support for the technology. Providers should view telehealth as leveraging technology to help patients manage their care between visits.

Not yet meeting the needs of all stakeholders, vendors continue to tweak the telehealth service to better align incentives. The medical director of a North East health plan covering 450,000 members added, the incentive of telehealth already exists, as consumers increasingly seek convenience in their care.

"But the more convenient you make [telehealth], the utilization sometimes goes up," he explained. "From the physician standpoint, it's a two-edge sword; you want to be available, but you can't be too available." He predicted tremendous demand for telehealth if healthcare organizations align incentives and overcome the financial and operational barriers.

Dr. Kosowsky said telehealth should ideally provide another avenue of support, but not become the sole access point. This requires a balancing act to prevent patient overuse, as it would result in strained clinicians.

"I think [telehealth] is another tool in the toolbox for providers; it may not be the only one," agreed a CEO of a 67-bed Midwest hospital.

The healthcare business environment is evolving, allowing greater freedom for stakeholders to collaborate on building a whole delivery system.

"We think the marketplace idea is not just about buying and selling individual physician services, it's about established healthcare organizations buying and selling branded clinical services" concluded Dr. Kosowsky. "I don't think of telehealth as being a technology. I think of it as being a solution for bringing care home, which happens to be driven by technology."
Doug DiVello, president of the University of Vermont Health Network-Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone, N.Y., stepped down, effective May 3.

Here are six things to know:

1. Mr. DiVello resigned to "pursue other opportunities," an emailed hospital statement notes.

2. He has served at the helm of the hospital for almost five years.

3. The medical center announced last week that 32 full-time positions have been eliminated. The move aims to improve the organization's financial stability.

4. Mr. DiVello had told the Watertown Daily Times that they did not take the layoffs lightly. He said the organization will do "everything we can to assist the affected employees during this time, including facilitating assistance through the local career center and unemployment application assistance. Additionally, we will make every attempt to place these employees in other available positions in either our organization, or at one of our partner organizations in the UVM Health Network where possible."

5. It is unclear if Mr. DiVello's resignation announcement this week is connected to the staff layoffs in any way.

6. Stephens Mundy, president and CEO of the UVM Health Network-Adirondack Region will step in to lead the medical center on an interim basis.

"Doug has led AHMC through almost five years of unprecedented changes in health care, culminating in his successful effort to have AHMC join the UVM Health Network," said Daniel Clark, chair of AHMC's board of trustees. "With that connection completed, Doug felt it was the right time to make a transition and on behalf of the AHMC Board of Trustees, I want to acknowledge his leadership."
Pasadena, Calif.-based Huntington Hospital President and CEO Steve Ralph is retiring, ending a 22-year tenure as leader of the hospital.

After stepping down, Mr. Ralph will stay on as a senior advisor to his successor and the board of directors. He joined the hospital in 1984 to serve as vice president, and was named to his current roles in 1995, according to a Pasadena Now report.

During his time at the helm, the hospital underwent numerous changes. The hospital added a new patient tower as well as doubled the capacity in its emergency room and trauma center. The hospital has also been named among the top 10 hospitals in California by U.S. News and World Report.

"These accomplishments under Steve's leadership  alongside accreditations, designations and awards too many to list  give us the utmost confidence that Huntington Hospital is in a position of strength and poised to deliver compassionate and excellent health care to our community for decades to come," said Paul L. H. Ouyang, chairman of the board of directors, in an open letter to the community, written jointly with Mr. Ralph.

Huntington Hospital will soon begin the process of selecting a new leader. The organization hopes to have replaced Mr. Ralph by the end of the year or early 2018.
Republicans recently revealed a new amendment to the American Health Care Act, offered by Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich.

Here are four reactions from healthcare groups.

Diane Horvath-Cosper, MD, advocacy fellow at Physicians for Reproductive Health, spoke out against the overall healthcare bill  including the Upton amendment  in an emailed statement.

"This new proposed ACA repeal bill ... will still put comprehensive reproductive healthcare out of reach for millions of women, especially low-income women, by attacking Medicaid, Planned Parenthood and abortion coverage. On top of that, this new bill goes further by allowing states to opt out of providing protections for patients with pre-existing conditions, making premiums impossibly out of reach for these patients," she said.

Andrew Gurman, MD, president of the American Medical Association, issued a statement indicating the group's opposition to the proposed changes.

"None of the legislative tweaks under consideration changes the serious harm to patients and the healthcare delivery system if AHCA passes," he said. "Proposed changes to the bill tinker at the edges without remedying the fundamental failing of the bill  that millions of Americans will lose their health insurance as a direct result of this proposal."

Darrell Kirch, MD, president and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges, in a statement expressed concerns about access to affordable coverage for individuals with pre-existing conditions.

"As drafted, the AHCA would allow states to waive current protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions who have a gap in coverage, leaving them vulnerable to insurers who may charge higher premiums based on their more fragile health status," he said. "The amendment appears to offer little relief for these skyrocketing costs for the sick; what relief it would provide is impossible for any patient or family to predict. A modest amount of new funding may incrementally reduce premiums for those with pre-existing conditions, but only for five years. Patients will still be at risk, leaving those with cancer, congenital heart conditions, mental illness or other needs with access to coverage they cannot afford."

Margaret Murray, CEO of the Association for Community Affiliated Plans, also expressed concerns about the AHCA.

The American Health Care Act is a bill that, if enacted, would cause considerable damage to our healthcare system," she said in an emailed statement. "This bill cuts Medicaid by four-fifths of a trillion dollars and phases out the enhanced federal funding match for the Medicaid expansion. It will severely limit access to services for the more than 70 million people who rely on Medicaid for effective health coverage  and locks states funding to what they spent on Medicaid in 2016. If history is any guide, at some point states will be faced with a choice between denying care to people who need it, or blowing a hole in their budget."

Bruce Siegel, MD, president and CEO of America's Essential Hospitals, in a statement said the amendment "applies a bandage to a mortally wounded patient."

"The amendment changes in no material way the harm this bill would cause. It strains credibility to suggest that $8 billion over five years for millions of sick Americans solves the pre-existing conditions dilemma. Our experience with high-risk pools finds them often underfunded and unable to stabilize insurance markets," he said.
The following healthcare organizations shared plans to add jobs since April 13, starting with the most recent.

1. Construction progresses at new Novant Health Mint Hill Medical Center

Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health is one step closer to completing its new medical center in Mint Hill, N.C. The project is estimated to create about 400 jobs.

2. University of Louisiana officials to move forward with plans for medical school

The University of Louisiana at Monroe plans to bring a private college of osteopathic medicine to the campus. The program is expected to create more than 100 jobs.

3. Mercy Health plans $56M medical facility: 4 things to know

Cincinnati-based Mercy Health plans to build a $56.3 million facility in Perrysburg, Ohio. The facility is expected to create nearly 200 jobs.

4. Novant Health to add 100 jobs with $49M expansion at Clemmons Medical Center

About 100 new jobs will be added to Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health's Clemmons Medical Center when the project is completed this year.

5. Premier Health hospital in Ohio unveils $40M expansion

Englewood, Ohio-based Good Samaritan North Health Center, part of Dayton, Ohio-based Premier Health, is investing $40 million in service expansions. The expansion is expected to add 65 jobs.

6. UnitedHealth Group to hire blockchain director

Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth Group seeks a full-time director of blockchain platform and applications development.

7. Coalinga State Hospital seeks new hires

Coalinga (Calif.) State Hospital planned two career-related events to recruit for various clinical and nonclinical roles.

8. 3 Detroit health systems partner on initiative to hire city residents

Three Detroit-based health systems are teaming up with the city to train hundreds of residents to fill in-demand entry level healthcare positions.
About 9,500 Florida Blue customers were affected by a processing glitch that caused them to be charged for the same bill multiple times, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Jacksonville-based Florida Blue discovered the glitch Monday and immediately started working to resolve the problem, which the insurer blamed on an unidentified vendor.

"Within 24 hours of becoming aware of the issue, we initiated charge reversals for all impacted members," Florida Blue spokeswoman Christie Hyde DeNave told the Tampa Bay Times.

The insurer said it would reimburse members for any banking fees they're charged due to overdrafts caused by the glitch.

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Most counties in Iowa could have no insurers selling plans on the state's 2018 ACA health insurance exchanges, reports The Washington Post.

Here are five things to know.

1. Minnetonka, Minn.-based Medica has threatened to leave the state's marketplace in 2018 amid political uncertainty, according to the report. The report cites a statement from Wednesday in which Medica said its continued participation "is in question."

2. Medica is the third-largest insurer in Iowa's ACA marketplace, with more than 12,600 members through the marketplace statewide, according to the report.

3. Geoff Bartsh, a vice president at Medica, told The Washington Post no final decisions have been made regarding the insurer's potential exit, and it will remain that way until June 19, Iowa's deadline to submit premium rates.

4. According to the report, Medica was already thinking about scaling back its participation in Iowa's marketplace, before its two major competitors in the state  Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna and Des Moines, Iowa-based Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield  declared they will exit Iowa's ACA exchange in 2018.

"The absence of any competition or any of the other carriers accelerated the decision that we won't be statewide," Mr. Bartsh told The Washington Post. "For us, as a small carrier in Iowa, the unknown risks far outweigh the known risks. Our ability to offer products statewide knowing we'd be the only option for the 70,000 individuals in this market are just too great."

5. Gunderson Health Plan, a subsidiary of La Cross, Wis.-based Gundersen Health System, would be the only insurer left in Iowa's marketplace if Medica leaves, according tot the report. Gunderson Health Plan currently only offer plans in five counties in Iowa.

Read the full report here.
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A Bengal man was reportedly arrested in Nepal after he was found in possession of 15 human skull parts on Wednesday. According to reports, Bhagirath Singh, 66, of Khoribari, West Bengal, was detained during a security check near Kakarbhitta customs office in Jhapa district, Kathmandu Post. Police Superintendent Sailesh Thapa said that Bhagirath confessed during interrogation that he was paid Rs 1,000 by an unknown man to smuggle the skulls across the border and the human skull parts might have been smuggled for tantric rituals.
Most employers believe a "Brexit bonfire" of employment law is not needed, offering support for measures such as working time regulations, parental rights and the minimum wage, a study has found.

A survey of more than 500 organisations found overwhelming backing for 28 areas of employment law ranging from unfair dismissal to rights for agency workers.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) said its study also found broad support for legislation which originated in the EU.

Rachel Suff, employment adviser at the CIPD said the rhetoric around employment law did not match the reality.

She added: "While much has been written about the need to roll back important aspects of our employment law framework to free businesses of red tape, it is clear that businesses themselves recognise the value of employment protection.

"Many of these regulations exist to protect workers against exploitation, ensure they are paid a fair wage and prevent discrimination in the workplace and can help improve people management practices.

"Even the more controversial aspects of employment law, such as the working time regulations, have broad support from UK businesses.

"As we debate the future of employment regulation, both in the General Election and in Brexit negotiations, it is vital that we don't throw the baby out with the bathwater by making sweeping changes to employment legislation that businesses may not want."

James Davies of law firm Lewis Silkin, which helped with the study, said despite the support, business felt some regulations needed to be clearer.

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "This research confirms that most employers don't want a bonfire of workers' rights.

"They recognise that rights at work are good for employment relations and staff well-being.

"Brexit must not be the starting gun for a race to the bottom on pay and conditions.

"The next government must ensure that protecting employment rights is at the heart of Britain's future trade deal with the EU."
A major new scheme will see more than 20,000 Northern Ireland students getting educated in a range of skills to help improve their employability.

Barclays has launched the new partnership with Business in the Community NI to support the delivery of its UK-wide LifeSkills programme.

The free scheme, aimed at 11 to 24-year-olds, aims to "inspire, educate and empower young people, by giving them access to employability skills to support the transition from education to work". It hopes to reach 21,000 students over the next two years.

Barclays head of corporate banking in Northern Ireland, Adrian Doran, said: "Over the last four years, Barclays staff here have been delivering the LifeSkills programme with some tremendous feedback and results.

"However, it has always been our ambition to grow this and extend its reach into the areas we know are in greatest need of this kind of practical, hands-on support. The new partnership with Business in the Community means we can scale up to a whole new level. We will provide direct engagement with more than 10,000 young people a year and deliver tried and tested curriculum-based teaching resources to support educators working with students right across Northern Ireland, with a focus on the 20% most deprived communities."

Kieran Harding, managing director of Business in the Community NI, said: "This programme aligns directly with our Education and Jobs campaign, seeking to inspire young people and support them to be ready for the world of work."
Theresa May put the Brexit battle at the heart of the election campaign with an explosive claim that European politicians and officials were seeking to meddle in the outcome of the June 8 contest.

The Prime Minister claimed that "threats" had been issued against the UK and Brussels' position had hardened in acts "deliberately timed" to influence the General Election.

Mrs May said recent events showed why she should be returned to Number 10 in order to lead the crucial Brexit talks.

"Making Brexit a success is central to our national interest and central to your own security and prosperity," she told voters.

"If we do not get this right, the consequences will be serious."

The comments drew a furious response from political rivals.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Mrs May was "playing party games with Brexit" and "winding up the public confrontation with Brussels" in an attempt to distract from Tory economic failures.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon accused the PM of trying to "poison the atmosphere for partisan reasons" in a "deeply irresponsible" move.

Mrs May's speech came after she returned from an audience with the Queen at Buckingham Palace to mark the dissolution of Parliament.

It follows leaks from a Downing Street dinner last week attended by European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier which revealed the tensions between the two sides.

The Prime Minister said: "In the last few days we have seen just how tough these talks are likely to be.

"Britain's negotiating position in Europe has been misrepresented in the continental press. The European Commission's negotiating stance has hardened.

"Threats against Britain have been issued by European politicians and officials. All of these acts have been deliberately timed to affect the result of the General Election."

She said the events had shown that "there are some in Brussels who do not want these talks to succeed" so "now more than ever we need to be led by a prime minister and a government that is strong and stable".
Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has accused the DUP and UUP of 'ignoring the damage Brexit will do to jobs and business'.

Addressing the partys election campaign launch in Newry on Thursday evening he said it was crucial that people "challenge the disaster that is Brexit".

Mr Adams said:" This election was called to serve narrow right wing English Tory interests. Irish interests  of any kind  unionist or nationalist are of no concern to Theresa May. Her only interest is Brexit. Her only interest is British or English national interest.

"Interestingly enough thats the same interest being promoted by the DUP and the UUP. Both these parties are for Brexit. Surely by now they see the folly of this position.

"Surely they have twigged on to the serious damage Brexit will do to jobs and business, especially to agriculture and the agri-food sector.

"Will the leaders of unionism admit this? Is the Pope a Catholic? But we know from all the sectors, which will be hardest hit by Brexit how concerned they are. So this election is an opportunity to put forward our alternative and to point out that the Democratic Unionist Party and the Ulster Unionist Party are ignoring the vote of the people of the North  their people."

The Sinn Fein leader said Brexit will have a "serious and detrimental effect" on jobs and businesses, "and especially on our agriculture and agri-food sector".

"In recent months there has been a lot of talk about Irish unity. Thats largely down to the dedication and commitment of you in this room; and the thousands of Republican activists and the hundreds of thousands of Sinn Fein voters across this island.

"Junes election provides an opportunity to take our republican vision; message of hope in the future, of unity, reconciliation and peace out to the electorate.

"To raise again the right of citizens to equality and parity of esteem and to fundamental human rights. To demand the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. To stand up for an Irish Language Act and for Irish speakers. To stand up for the right of citizens to marriage equality. To stand up for a Bill of Rights.

"But it is especially crucial that we stand up to and challenge the disaster that is Brexit.

"Last June the majority of citizens in the North voted to remain. We have to defend that democratic vote. Our task must be to challenge those parties that support Brexit.

"To articulate the serious and detrimental effect Brexit will have on jobs and businesses, and especially on our agriculture and agri-food sector.

"We are here in Newry. A border town that relies on the free movement of business, and people and goods. Brexit threatens the prosperity of Newry and of the entire border region.

"Sinn Fein has put forward a viable alternative to Brexit. We believe that the interests of citizens on this island requires that the North be designated a special status within the EU. In this way there will be no EU frontier on the island.

"All of Ireland would remain within the EU and the North would have full access to the EU, including to the Common Agricultural Programme and the Peace programmes."
An Irish language primary school has been broken into three times in four days

An Irish language primary school has been broken into three times in four days.

Bunscoil an tSleibhe Dhuibh on the Ballymurphy Road in west Belfast was targeted between Sunday and Tuesday.

An estimated 10,000 of damage was caused.

Principal Pilib Misteil told the BBC that the break-ins had angered the community.

The first incident occurred at 3am on Sunday morning, when damage was caused to a vehicle parked in the school grounds and windows to the building were smashed.

The next break-in took place on Monday at 12.40am.

On Tuesday morning, it was reported a plant pot had been thrown through the office window.

Police have urged anyone who witnessed suspicious activity to contact police at Woodbourne on the non-emergency number 101.
Archbishop of Armagh Dr Richard Clarke said that domestic abuse is in every community

Several churches in Northern Ireland could become places of refuge for victims of domestic violence.

Archbishop of Armagh Dr Richard Clarke has told a delegation at the Church of Ireland Synod in Limerick that domestic abuse is in every community.

He said that Armagh Diocese is currently investigating how parish churches can be designated as "safe places" for victims.

Dr Clarke added: "Globally, at least one in three women, or up to one billion women, have been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in their lifetimes.

"In the Republic of Ireland, one in five women in a relationship have been abused by a present or former partner.

"In Northern Ireland, the police service responds to an incident of domestic violence every nineteen minutes on average, day and night, seven days a week.

" People who suffer in this way must be encouraged to seek help.

"One of the possibilities that we are investigating in Armagh Diocese is how parish churches can be designated as safe places for those who are suffering domestic abuse.

"For many people, in every part of this island, the Church does not have a reputation as being a place of safety, far from it.

"Surely we can work together to reverse this notion of what we are."

Dr Clarke also raised concern over the refugee response in the north and south of Ireland.

He said: "Northern Ireland is taking very few refugees but there is an indication of good organisation for those who will be allowed into that jurisdiction.

"The Republic of Ireland has agreed to take a far larger number, proportionately, but there is little sign that an infrastructure is yet ready for this.

"We need to be ready to protect, in every way we can and in every part of this island, those refugees and asylum seekers who are already here in Ireland, but who are now being treated with indifference, or with suspicion, hostility and even violence."
Students from Northern Ireland who attend universities in the Republic may face fees of tens of thousands of euro following Brexit.

There is currently a capped charge of 3,000 (2,500) at Irish universities for EU students. However, when Northern Ireland leaves the EU along with the rest of the UK, fears have been voiced that NI students could be charged the significantly higher fees that non-EU students must pay.

Trinity College, Dublin and University College Dublin both charge annual fees to non-EU students of around 18,000 (15,205) for many undergraduate courses.

However, some courses such as medical degrees can cost as much as 40,000 (33,790) per year.

NUI Galway charge 12,750 (10,770) annually and the University of Limerick charge between 11,423 (9,649) and 15,358 (12,973), depending on the course.

In comparison, students from Northern Ireland currently pay 4,030 a year to study at local universities, and around 9,000 to study at universities in other regions of the UK.

The Dail's Opposition spokesman on education Thomas Byrne has called on the Irish government to commit to a guarantee that students from Northern Ireland will not be subject to non-EU fees after Brexit.

The Fianna Fail TD said that the Irish government needs to deal with this issue quickly to reassure students and their families.

Student leader Fergal McFerran also urged the Irish government to address the matter as a priority.

"Leaving the European Union will undoubtedly have profound and damning implications for students and for tertiary education more widely," the NUS-USI president said.

"Any measures that can be taken to protect the mobility of students across the island of Ireland, and the accessibility of third level education to those students, should be seen as a priority.

"As there are ongoing debates, both north and south, about the future funding of higher education I can be no clearer than to say that the student movement across this island is united in opposing any increase in fees."

Irish education minister Richard Bruton did not respond when asked to comment on these calls.

A spokesman for the minister directed the Belfast Telegraph to a recent Dail debate where Mr Bruton spoke of his concern to "protect, to the greatest extent possible, student mobility between Ireland and Northern Ireland, the UK and within the EU and to support our strategy to increase non-EU student flows".

In the debate, he said he had met with former Stormont Education Minister Peter Weir and Economy Minister Simon Hamilton on the matter, as well as the UK's Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening.

Mr Bruton said current students from the EU and those applying to courses starting in 2017-18 will not see any changes to their loan eligibility or tuition fee status. This position will apply for the full duration of the course, even if the course finishes after the UK has left the EU.

However, there has not been any similar reassurance for those who apply after 2017-18.

Mr Byrne said Brexit is causing a great deal of ambiguity and worry for many students and their families.

"I believe that the minister for education and the government need to act on this and provide certainty on the issue of fees for Northern students coming south - they should be treated the same as they are today," he said.

"Moreover, under the Good Friday Agreement, citizens in Northern Ireland are entitled to both British and Irish citizenship and thus in effect EU citizenship. Therefore, students from Northern Ireland have an entitlement to EU citizenship and this entitlement and its many benefits, needs to be upheld in full."

The warning from Fianna Fail comes following a significant rise in the number of Northern Ireland students applying for university places in the south.

There was a rise of almost 25% in the number in 2016, believed to be due to a re-weighting of A-Level grades for admissions to Irish universities.

Last year, 1,718 students from Northern Ireland had applied to higher education institutions in the Republic by the deadline of February 1, 2016.

That was a rise of just over 24% from 1,383 applications by February last year, according to figures from the Republic of Ireland's Central Applications Office (CAO).

The latest figures for this year have not yet been released by region.
Six pupils at one of Northern Ireland's top schools have been suspended on drug-related matters, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal.

Belfast's prestigious Campbell College confirmed it had taken action against the Year 10 and Year 12 boys - who are as young as 13 - due to "two isolated incidents involving cannabis".

In a statement, headmaster Robert Robinson said the school's policy "around misconduct, especially concerning drugs, is robust", adding, "We believe in tackling these issues head on."

The all-boys grammar boarding school, which educates pupils aged between four and 18 and costs 2,500 a year in fees, recently wrote to parents to inform them of the suspensions.

Mr Robinson also pledged to, "continue to work in collaboration with parents and the relevant bodies to help educate and support young people as they navigate their way through this very difficult terrain".

He added: "We are facing a very real societal problem at present with young teens exposed to a multiple of evils, mostly fuelled via social media."

The news will come as a shock to Old Campbellians, who include world-renowned authors, Olympians, Victoria Cross and Nobel Prize winners, international rock stars, leading actors and sporting heroes.

One proud past pupil of the school, which also excels in rugby, is former Ulster star Chris Farrell, who said the renowned institution offered "so many better alternatives" to drugs.

"Having been at Campbell until 2011, I know how many extra-curricular opportunities there are for kids to focus on other things, whether that be sports, arts or music, and that's obviously the best route to go down," he said.

The six suspensions follow a spate of drug-related deaths in Belfast last month, in which a 16-year-old girl and four men died within days of each other.

Mr Robinson said the school, which was founded in 1894 and has a strong international reputation - attracting students from as far afield as Hong Kong, Singapore and Africa - is committed to resolving the wider drugs problem.

"We work in very close collaboration with the Education Authority, Social Services, Education Welfare and, in particular, the PSNI to ensure we act appropriately and in the interest and safety of all our pupils," he said.

"Recent news reports have highlighted the increasingly challenging world in which our young people exist and the PSNI and Education Authority have both witnessed a surge in drug-related incidents across the board for teenagers.

"That means there is an increasing need for all of us - schools, parents and the many organisations that work in this arena - to work together as we guide our young people towards making good choices."

The principal said the school is "working closely with a number of east Belfast schools to deliver a programme of education and support and have already delivered workshops for parents and pupils on areas of concern".

He stressed that Campbell College "will continue to take a strong stand against misconduct involving drugs and will work collaboratively to help guide our young people through the ever increasing challenges they face".

Mr Robinson added: "That is our role and as society throws more challenges at us we all have a duty to step up to the mark."

Former Education Minister and DUP MLA Peter Weir said there was a problem across Northern Ireland around young people and drugs and he praised how the school has handled the situation.

"There is no point trying to hush things up or brush things under the carpet because the issue with drugs in schools must be addressed," he said.

"Schools need to take action to warn people of the dangers of drugs and I welcome and commend the proactive and open approach that Campbell College has taken."

Last January, a 14-year-old boy at Bangor Grammar School was suspended for distributing cannabis to other pupils.

A PSNI spokesperson confirmed they were aware of the incident at Campbell.

"Police are aware of an incident at a school in east Belfast and are working closely with the school in relation to a report which was made to police on March 27," he said.

"Police work with schools to promote the dangers which young people find themselves confronted with during their young adult lives.

"Police would appeal to anyone who has concerns to speak with their local neighbourhood officer so we can work in partnership to address any issues."
A report flagged potential risks to trade and movement of goods and services, particularly in the agri-food sector

A high dependency on migrant labour in Ireland's border counties has been highlighted in new academic research examining the potential impact of Brexit.

The Ulster University (UU) findings were presented at a conference in Co Fermanagh bringing together local authorities from both sides of the border.

The border councils commissioned the analysis to inform the debate about what could lie ahead when the UK leaves the European Union (EU).

As expected, it flagged potential risks to trade and movement of goods and services, particularly in the agri-food sector.

Lead researcher Eoin Magennis said a "surprising finding" was the number of non-UK/Irish workers employed in the border counties.

"That is an area of exposure - depending on how the issue of freedom of movement plays out," he said.

The research found that in the manufacturing industry, 33% of the workforce along the border was neither Irish or British.

For Northern Ireland as a whole, it is about 25% and the Irish Republic's average is closer to 20%.

Mr Magennis, senior economist at UU's economic policy centre, said difficulties sourcing the required staff locally had led to the reliance on migrant labour.

"Companies have struggled to find the skills locally and that is one of the issues going back over a long period," he said.

The conference at the Lough Erne Resort near Enniskillen was held as the Irish Government published a survey indicating three in four small to medium businesses south of the border predicted a future Brexit impact.

While 65% of the 1,045 enterprises surveyed recorded no or minimal effect to date, they were less confident about the road ahead.

Only a quarter felt there would be no impact in the next 18 months.

Those identified as most at risk were small businesses with 50 employees or fewer; firms in the border counties; and those involved in food exports.

Jobs Minister Mary Mitchell O'Connor said: "While the survey results are of a point in time, the findings have helped inform the deliberations of my department in considering what additional steps may need to be taken to support SMEs impacted by Brexit."

Any government intervention to help the business sector would need to comply with EU rules on state aid.

Ms Mitchell O'Connor added: "Brexit is an ongoing issue and I am conscious that the environment may change as the Brexit negotiations develop.

"I will continue to listen to the business community and to develop appropriate policy responses to help them in addressing the challenges of Brexit."

Another survey of Irish businesses has found an apparent widespread dearth of knowledge around customs regulations.

Chartered Accountants Ireland said the collective lack of expertise, which has been in decline since the creation of the single market 25 years ago, could be exposed if new tariffs come into effect post-Brexit.
Police in the Republic have no right to search suspected dissident republicans without a search warrant, the Special Criminal Court in Dublin has said.

It threw out evidence gathered from a man suspected of smuggling out dissident IRA messages from Portlaoise prison (below right) - because gardai did not seek permission to search his car.

In a decision that could lead to a flood of appeals by dissident republicans, the Special Criminal Court warned that gardai have shown a "substantial, persistent and general incorrect assumption" about their powers to search people under the Offences Against the State Act - anti-IRA legislation first introduced in 1939.

The court threw out evidence found in the car of Brian Kenna, a suspected dissident republican, after ruling that gardai did not obtain permission for the search.

Kenna was stopped outside Portlaoise prison after allegedly smuggling out a communique from the alleged "officer commanding" of one republican group in the prison.

Gardai told the court the communique was intended for other dissident IRA leaders north of the border. It described how the officer commanding in the prison had debriefed three other republicans who had been arrested on weapons charges.

The officer commanding, who signs off as 'OC', says in the communique he is satisfied that the three men had not revealed any information while in garda custody.

The communique, written on cigarette papers, allegedly fell from Kenna's pockets when he was searched.

He also had signed Christmas cards in his hands from dissident prisoners that had been printed by the Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association.

Ronan Kennedy, the prosecution counsel, said Kenna was a member of the group.

The court said this material was lawfully seized from Kenna but that all the material found in the car could not be admitted into evidence - including the contents of McKenna's wallet and two pairs of pants.

Justice Tony Hunt said the three-judge court respectfully disagreed with Detective Sergeant Padraig Boyce of the special detective unit, who told the court that the lack of permission to search the car was simply a technical violation of the Offences Against the State Act. This section allows officers to search suspects without a warrant or permission from a higher ranking garda.

"The court cannot ignore a substantial, persistent and general incorrect assumption as to the nature and content of the provisions in question," Justice Hunt ruled.

Justice Hunt warned that the state cannot hide behind "an unacceptable lack of knowledge", particularly in the circumstances of the Kenna case, where gardai had mounted "a pre-planned operation against a particular person in a particular place", yet did not seek the correct permission to carry out a car search, even though they believed that Kenna's car was being used for IRA activity.

The judge said the mistake was not "of momentary nature" and was not "a minor detail or because of stress or pressure of the moment".
First Minister and SNP Leader Nicola Sturgeon casts her vote at Broomhouse Community Hall polling station in Glasgow for the local council elections (Andrew Milligan/PA)

The SNP is hoping to oust Labour from power in Glasgow City Council.

Elections are being held to decide who will run Scotlands councils  with Nicola Sturgeon the first of the party leaders to cast her vote.

The First Minister and SNP leader arrived at her local polling station in Glasgow at 8am on Thursday, accompanied by her husband Peter Murrell  who is the partys chief executive.

The SNP is hoping to oust Labour from power in Glasgow City Council  Scotlands largest local authority  where their rivals have been in charge since the authority was set up more than 20 years ago.

After winning overall control of two of Scotlands 32 local authorities in 2012, the nationalists are also seeking to increase the number of town halls which are under their command.

The Tories, Liberal Democrats and Greens  who are fielding a record number of candidates in Scotland  are also hoping to make gains.

Meanwhile polls have warned that Labour, which won a majority in four councils five years ago, could be facing heavy losses.

The vote will determine which political parties can form council administrations either by securing majority or minority control, or by agreeing coalition deals.

The local government election takes place just five weeks before the General Election, and follows campaigning across the country by political leaders.

While the election will provide an indication of support ahead of the Westminster poll, politicians from all parties stressed the important role councils play in areas such as education and social care, and have urged Scots to use their vote.

Under the single transferable vote (STV) system, voters are asked to rank the candidates in order of preference, with three or four councillors being elected to serve any one ward.

Votes will be tallied at count centres across Scotland on Friday, with results expected from around lunchtime onwards.

Ms Sturgeon said earlier that a vote for the SNP will protect local services.

The First Minister added: At the polling station today, people need to vote SNP to stop Tory cuts, protect our public services and invest in our communities.

An SNP vote is the only way to guarantee more affordable housing, a transformation in early learning and childcare, investing in our schools, more money and power for local communities and increased support for small businesses.

Our council candidates will work hard to serve their constituencies, to make Scotlands communities stronger, safer and more successful places to live and work in.

Meanwhile the Scottish Conservatives will aim to build on their success at last years Holyrood elections, which saw leader Ruth Davidson win a constituency seat in the capital.

Ms Davidson cast her vote at the Cafe Camino polling station next to Edinburghs St Marys Cathedral at 10.30am.

The Scottish Conservative leader said she was nervous about the outcome of the vote.
The 309-118 vote sends the bill to the Senate in time to act before a midnight Friday deadline to avert a government shutdown.

The US House of Representatives has passed a 1.1 trillion US dollar bill to fund the government through to the end of September, the first significant piece of bipartisan legislation of Donald Trump's presidency.

The 309-118 vote sends the bill to the Senate in time to act before a midnight Friday deadline to avert a government shutdown.

The White House said Mr Trump will sign the measure, which gives him much of the money he sought for defence and border security but denies startup construction funding for his often-promised wall along the US-Mexico border.

The measure is the product of weeks of Capitol Hill negotiations in which Democrats blocked Mr Trump's most controversial proposals, including cuts to domestic programmes backed by both parties and new steps to punish so-called sanctuary cities.

House Speaker Paul Ryan praised the measure as bipartisan, and said the biggest gain for conservatives came as Democrats dropped long-standing demands to match Pentagon increases with equal hikes for non-defence programmes.

"No longer will the needs of our military be held hostage by the demands for more domestic spending," Mr Ryan said. "In my mind, that is what's most important here."

Democrats also backed the measure, which protects popular domestic programmes such as education, medical research and grants to state and local governments from cuts sought by Mr Trump.

"It's imperative to note what this bill does not contain," said Representative Nita Lowey of New York, lead negotiator for Democrats.

"Not one cent for President Trump's border wall and no poison pill riders that would have prevented so-called sanctuary cities from receiving federal grants, defunded Planned Parenthood, undermined the Affordable Care Act."

The White House won 15 billion dollars (11.65 billion) in emergency funding to jump start Mr Trump's promise to rebuild the military and an extra 1.5 billion dollars (1.1 billion) for border security - each short of Mr Trump's demands - leading the president on Tuesday to boast "this is what winning looks like".

The long-overdue bill buys just five months of funding while Mr Trump and his allies battle with congressional Democrats over spending cuts and funding for the wall, which Mr Trump repeatedly promised during the campaign would be financed by Mexico. Mexican officials have rejected that notion.

Republicans were surprised by tweets from Mr Trump on Tuesday that suggested he was initially unhappy with the measure and might provoke a government shutdown this autumn in hopes of getting his way on the wall and other demands.

AP
French presidential election candidates Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron before the debate (Eric Feferberg/Pool Photo via AP)

Fake news and alleged hacking attempts have dominated France's tense presidential campaign, with just two days left for independent Emmanuel Macron and his far-right rival Marine Le Pen to win over voters before Sunday's high-stakes run-off.

Paris prosecutors have launched a preliminary investigation into whether fake news is being used to influence the voting as the two candidates campaigned in opposite parts of the country.

The move came hours after Mr Macron filed a suit against unknown source "X'' after Ms Le Pen suggested during their only one-on-one debate on Wednesday night that the former banker could have an offshore account.

"I hope we won't find out you have an offshore account in the Bahamas," Ms Le Pen said.

She appeared to be referring to two sets of apparent forgeries, published just hours before their heated showdown, that purported to show Mr Macron was somehow involved with a Caribbean bank and a firm based on the island of Nevis.

Mr Macron's camp said the former investment banker was the victim of a "cyber-misinformation campaign".

Speaking on France Inter radio, Mr Macron blamed Ms Le Pen for spreading "fake news" and said he never held a bank account "in any tax haven whatsoever".

"All this is factually inaccurate," Mr Macron said.

On the campaign trail, Mr Macron visited disgruntled workers at a glass factory in Albi, near the southern city of Toulouse.

Mr Macron arrived to booing and slogan-shouting from dozens of protesting workers.

But after 15 minutes of talking, the 39-year-old front-runner managed to calm some of their anger.

Union leader Michel Parraud called Mr Macron "very kind and very polite", although he said he did not think the pro-business centrist would do much for factory workers.

Ms Le Pen, who spent Thursday in a small northern French village, quickly backed away from the suggestion Mr Macron might have an offshore account but prosecutors soon launched a probe into suspicions of forgery and the spreading of false news in order to divert votes.

In the alleged documents, the "M'' in Mr Macron's purported signature did not match his genuine sign-off, and whoever wrote the documents appeared confused as to whether the firm was a limited company or a limited liability corporation.

Metadata embedded in the document suggest it was created just before being posted online - undermining the anonymous poster's claim to have circulated the documents to "hundreds of French journalists" who had "all sat on this".

Asked on Thursday on BFM TV whether she was formally accusing Mr Macron of having a secret offshore account, Ms Le Pen said: "Not at all. If I wanted to do so I would have done it yesterday. I've just asked him the question. If I had proof, I would have claimed it yesterday."

There are hints tying the faked documents to far-right circles in California.

One document purports to have been drawn up under the laws of Nevis but actually draws some of its language from a guide to forming limited liability companies in California.

The documents first appeared on Mixtape, a relatively new northern California-based file sharing service.

The Macron campaign identified the first tweet referring to the documents as coming from the Twitter account of Nathan Damigo, a far-right activist and convicted felon based in northern California.

Damigo is known on social media for punching a female anti-fascist in the face at a Berkeley protest.

In a subsequent twist, Ms Le Pen's campaign said a hacker confessed to repeatedly targeting its website.

The statement, released on Thursday, gave few details about the seriousness of the interference, which could range from attempts at defacing the website to flooding it with bogus traffic. It said the arrest took place this week.

There has been intense anxiety in France over the possibility that hackers could tamper with the presidential election this year - worries stoked by Russian meddling in the US election last year.

Ms Le Pen visited Ennemain, a tiny village of 230, for a festival on Thursday in the "land of the forgotten" - the disillusioned voters at the centre of her populist programme.

Scores of people from nearby towns gathered there for a fair with balloons, vegetables and rides.

Gaelle Vincent, 35, wore a French flag in her hair to hear Ms Le Pen speak.

"People think little villages like us vote National Front because we don't like Arabs and are racist," Ms Vincent said.

"We're not racist. We have to preserve our land and our values."

The travails of ordinary people are a prime point in Ms Le Pen's campaign against Mr Macron, who she claims represents the urban elite.

Mr Macron, meanwhile, got support from across the ocean.

In a message posted on Thursday on Mr Macron's Twitter account, former US president Barack Obama said he was endorsing the centrist candidate "because of how important this election is".

"The French election is very important to the future of France and the values that we care so much about," Mr Obama said.

"I have admired the campaign that Emmanuel Macron has run. He has stood up for liberal values. He put forward the vision for the important role that France plays in Europe and around the world. And he has committed to a better future for French people."

Mr Obama ended his message with the words En Marche - which is the name of Mr Macron's political movement - and Vive La France.

AP

British singer Pete Doherty called Ms Le Pen "a shadow at the gate" as he joined French artists and students rallying and singing for openness and tolerance.

While Ms Le Pen campaigned with the rural poor who feel left behind by globalisation, around 30 performers and dozens of anti-racism and other groups gathered at a rally in Paris on Thursday night.

The Libertines singer said Ms Le Pen's anti-immigration, closed-borders platform is "not some distant threat, you know. It's like a shadow at the gate".

The crowd held signs reading "Multi-coloured people = Happy France" and "No borders, no nations".

AP
It is unusual for North Korea to directly criticise Beijing (AP)

North Korea has issued a rare direct criticism of China through a commentary saying its "reckless remarks" on Pyongyang's nuclear programme are testing its patience and could trigger unspecified "grave" consequences.

China, North Korea's largest trading partner and main benefactor, has been urging the North to stop nuclear and missile activities amid US pressure to use its leverage to resolve the nuclear stand-off.

The commentary, released by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, says "a string of absurd and reckless remarks are now heard from China every day, only to render the present bad situation tenser".

It is unusual for the North to directly criticise Beijing.

Previously it has couched such criticism by referring to China only as "a neighbouring country".

AP

The article cited commentaries by Chinese state media that it said shifted the blame for deteriorating bilateral relations on to the North and raised "lame excuses for the base acts of dancing to the tune of the US".

"China should no longer try to test the limits of the DPRK's patience," the North Korean commentary said, using its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"China had better ponder over the grave consequences to be entailed by its reckless act of chopping down the pillar of the DPRK-China relations."

The article was not attributed to any government agency or official and the writer was identified only as Kim Chol.

Chinese state media has recently unleashed regular and harsh criticisms over the North's actions.

The Global Times, an outspoken nationalist tabloid published by the ruling Communist Party's flagship People's Daily, warned in a Thursday editorial that the North's actions threatened a 1961 treaty of non-aggression between the two countries.

It called on the regime to end its nuclear tests.

"China will not allow its northeastern region to be contaminated by North Korea's nuclear activities," the Global Times declared.

In recent days, the paper also warned that China was able to strike back "at any side that crosses the red line" and would impose an oil embargo against the North in response to any more tests.

The North Korean commentary said it was China that crossed "the red line".

The People's Daily declared on Sunday, and again on Tuesday, that the North's nuclear ambitions "put itself and the whole region into dire peril".

AP
This still image from video provided by NBC Boston shows wreckage after the incident (NBC Boston via AP)

An SUV being shown to prospective buyers at a crowded indoor car auction in the US suddenly accelerated with a screech of its tyres and crashed through a wall, killing three people and injuring nine.

An auction employee in his seventies was behind the wheel of the 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee when it apparently lurched out of control and mowed people down at LynnWay Auto Auction in Billerica, about 32 kilometres (20 miles) north-west of Boston.

One man and two women were killed in the crash, Middlesex district attorney Marian Ryan said at a news conference.

Nine people were hurt, including two with life-threatening injuries, she said.

The driver was not taken to hospital, she added.

"The preliminary investigation suggests this is a tragic accident," Ms Ryan said.

Massachusetts state police investigators are working to reconstruct the accident, which happened while several hundred people were in the building.

Woody Tuttle, an employee who saw the crash, told WCVB-TV that the building has eight lanes in which vehicles on the auction block line up.

People were standing between the lanes when one vehicle suddenly took off, Mr Tuttle said.

"I heard a screeching of tyres, and, I believe, a Jeep Cherokee went flying by me," he told the station.

"In avoiding the cars, whoever was driving this vehicle hit several people."

The vehicle then went through the wall of the building, Mr Tuttle said.

The driver "avoided the cars, and went on to hit the people who were standing between the cars", Mr Tuttle told WCVB-TV.

Car dealer Fredrick Kyazze said he and a colleague had just moved out of the path of the SUV minutes before it tore through the building.

"We heard a bang from where we just came from," Mr Kyazze said.

"I thought probably the building collapsed or something like that. Then we ran back to see what was going on and ... we just saw people lying on the floor."

Emergency personnel were quick to respond to the scene because four police officers and a firefighter are routinely stationed at the auction site because of the large crowds it draws every Wednesday, Billerica police chief Daniel Rosa said.

Ambulances from several surrounding towns responded.

Images from TV helicopters showed a vehicle covered in debris. Medics wheeled people out of the building on stretchers.

In 2015, an SUV driven by an elderly man hurtled through a car auction in the Boston suburb of Framingham, striking other cars, patrons and a wall and injuring eight people. No charges were filed.

AP
A teddy bear left as a tribute to Madeleine McCann outside the Church of Nossa Senhora da Luz in Praia Da Luz, Portugal, close to where Madeleine McCann went missing ten years ago. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 3, 2017. Madeleine was three when she vanished from apartment 5A on Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva in the Algarve village at about 9pm on May 3 2007. See PA story POLICE Portugal. Photo credit should read: Steve Parsons/PA Wire

A tourist looks at a tribute to Madeleine McCann, close to where the girl went missing

Early evening in a family restaurant in a small town in Portugal. This isn't especially a tourist restaurant; most of the customers tonight are locals.

There are a bunch of English expats at one table - an elderly man complaining noisily that when friends come down to stay they want to be entertained and taken to the tourist hotspots and really he's fed up with it all.

A child skitters past him, a little local boy trying to do slides on the tiled floor. The boy narrowly misses a toddler from another table, an infant of about 18 months old with that still unsteady gait of the learner walker seriously hampered by large nappy.

A couple of little girls are running around, too; the waiting staff expertly swerving to avoid collision as they exit the kitchen with stacked trays of "prato do dia" (dish of the day).

Behind us there is a big table with an entire family tree dining together. Children, parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, possibly great-grandparents ... and one little old lady who looks to be of similar vintage to Methuselah.

Everybody is talking at the same time. Sure, there are a couple of younger teens in the packed restaurant, silently staring as though hypnotised by their phones, like their counterparts everywhere else in the universe.

But, as a vignette of the Portuguese approach to family dining, this noisy, crowded, laid-back scene says it all.

It's a bit of a stereotype, yes. But the Portuguese really do dote on their children. They adore children. They include them.

In Portugal, of all places, the idea that you would head out for the night leaving your children behind - and even worse, unattended - is just utterly unthinkable.

Especially since restaurants and bars (which are also, in general, eateries) are so very much geared towards family groups.

Expand Expand Previous Next Close Tributes to Madeleine McCann outside the Church of Nossa Senhora da Luz in Praia Da Luz, Portugal, close to where Madeline McCann went missing from 10 years ago on May 3rd. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 3, 2017. Madeleine was three when she vanished from apartment 5A on Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva in the Algarve village at about 9pm on May 3 2007. See PA story POLICE Portugal. Photo credit should read: Steve Parsons/PA Wire PA Tourists look at a tribute to Madeleine McCann is left outside the Church of Nossa Senhora da Luz in Praia Da Luz, Portugal, close to where Madeline McCann went missing from 10 years ago on May 3rd. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 3, 2017. Madeleine was three when she vanished from apartment 5A on Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva in the Algarve village at about 9pm on May 3 2007. See PA story POLICE Portugal. Photo credit should read: Steve Parsons/PA Wire PA / Facebook

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Whatsapp Tributes to Madeleine McCann outside the Church of Nossa Senhora da Luz in Praia Da Luz, Portugal, close to where Madeline McCann went missing from 10 years ago on May 3rd. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Wednesday May 3, 2017. Madeleine was three when she vanished from apartment 5A on Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva in the Algarve village at about 9pm on May 3 2007. See PA story POLICE Portugal. Photo credit should read: Steve Parsons/PA Wire

Particularly in holiday resorts. All of this goes towards explaining much of the great antipathy there still is among many people in Portugal towards the parents of Madeleine McCann and, indeed, the so-called "Tapas Seven", who dined with them that fateful night 10 years ago.

No conversation about that missing little girl ever fails to evoke that timeworn exclamation of genuine bafflement: "How could they?" In Praia da Luz, there is, understandably enough, a strong sense that they're just sick of it all.

But this week once again, on the 10th anniversary of the story that made global news, Luz is once more at the centre of international focus.

Yes, of course, there is genuine dismay in the town about the disappearance of the child. But this small resort which was forging a sound tourist trade was badly hit in the immediate aftermath. As a result of the downturn in trade that followed, people lost their livelihoods.

It didn't help that this was at a time of recession - a recession that rebounded upon Portugal, Western Europe's poorest country, exceptionally hard. The average monthly pay for workers in Portugal is said to be around 600-800. It is a bit of an understatement to point out that tourism, in this part of the world, is a vital trade.

And many of the tourists attracted to the region come from Northern Ireland. You can hear the local accent dandering around just about any town in the Algarve - Albufiera, Portimao, Lagos.

Expand Expand Previous Next Close Madeleine McCann (Family Handout/PA) Prayers will be said for Madeleine at church in Portugal tonight PA / Facebook

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In Alvor, which is half-an-hour from Luz, there is a Made in Belfast restaurant. Whether related to those of the same name in Belfast, I have no idea. The place does an Ulster Fry for breakfast.

Praia da Luz is just a few miles down the road from the much larger, more garishly touristy Lagos, which is especially popular with visitors from Northern Ireland.

Luz seems to attract more the English, who also form a large part of the local expat community. At the Bull bar, customers down pints of English bitter as they chat on its spectacular terrace overlooking the ocean.

Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Madeleine in a photo released by her parents  PA Gerry and Kate McCann PA The couple make a fresh appeal PA / Facebook

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Getting people in Luz to talk about the Madeleine story at all is difficult.

When I tried to raise the subject with the owner of one local business, her previously impeccable English suddenly failed her. She couldn't quite understand what I was talking about and oh, look, there are potential customers at the door, so I'm sorry I have to go.

Others just shake their heads and tut. What more is there to say that hasn't been said?

But worldwide interest in the story shows no sign of abating.

Luz is forever as tightly linked with the mystery of Madeleine as that television team is to the camera they clutch as they circle round the back of the Ocean Club resort, past the big Spar shop, heading down towards the sea.

I doubt if there are statistics to back up this theory of mine, but I imagine there are visitors who now come to town specifically just to have a gawp at its most notorious landmark, Apartment 5a.

Hands up - I count among them.

And to mark this week's 10th anniversary, there have been countless media crews in town, homing in on that infamous apartment, with its high hedge and dark secrets, trying to unearth some new nugget to share.

The anniversary has, of course, also made headlines in the local Portuguese media - on television and in the papers.

Correio da Manha (Morning Mail) has carried a front page splash and no less than four inside pages based on the claims of Goncalo Amaral, the police officer originally in charge of the investigation and author of a book, The Truth of the Lie.

The McCann family successfully sued Amaral for libel over the book's contents, but he has since won on appeal.

The English language Algarve Resident, meanwhile, has a swipe at ongoing British media coverage of the story.

Len Port, a journalist and author based in the Algarve, singles out a recent report in a British tabloid based on an interview with a nanny "breaking her 10-year silence" to reveal that she found the McCanns the "picture-perfect family" and to claim that the resort was so unsafe nannies such as herself were given rape alarms and warned never to go anywhere alone.

Port points out that in Praia da Luz the report of the nanny's claims has been "viewed with derision".

He adds: "It was seen as yet another attempt to brand Praia da Luz as a den of iniquity, which it is not, and never has been."

In another article in the same newspaper, about a lurid Australian "landmark television event" to mark the anniversary, journalist Natasha Donn reports: "In the Algarve, locals took to Facebook to vent their outrage, with comments boiling down to the perennial frustration that Praia da Luz has been presented as a form of village of the damned."

Expats are generally a bit less reticent to be drawn on the subject than locals. Again, the overriding feeling is real sorrow about what happened to Madeleine.

But sympathy, too, for the Portuguese police, the Policia Judiciaria, who many believe have been unfairly portrayed as buffoons in the British media.

(Down the years, there has been a significant input from people from our own part of the world into the search for Madeleine. Former RUC Detective Inspector Dave Edgar has been among private investigators employed by the McCanns. And the then chief of CEOP - the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre - Jim Gamble, another former RUC man and one-time assistant chief constable in the National Crime Squad has also been involved in the official investigation).

One Scottish woman I spoke to here described how having reared her daughter in Portugal she knew only too well how family-orientated, how child-orientated the Portuguese are. And how horrified and baffled so many are that the McCanns and those with them that night would leave their own children unattended.

"It just makes me feel so very angry every time I think about it," she says. "There was no need for it, that's all I can say. The Portuguese people I know, they just cannot, cannot understand why you would leave children like that. Anything could have happened to them."

She adds: "This is generally a safe place. That's why it's so popular with families. I feel so sorry and so angry about the way this place has been portrayed these last few years."

Its reputation for safety has much to do with the Algarve's increasing popularity as a destination particularly for tourists from the UK and Ireland - particularly in the last few years as other once-popular resorts in Turkey, Egypt and even France have been hit by terror attacks.

The weather's reliably lovely. Prices are still relatively cheap. The wine's good. And the locals are friendly and courteous.

But while trade in the little town of Luz has undoubtedly regrouped in recent times, the shadow of the mystery of what happened to that little girl that night will always hang over it.

No matter how much Luz just wants it all to go away.

Across the Algarve, I've noticed there's a quite comical trend of adding words to "STOP" traffic signs to send a message.

I've seen a couple now reading "STOP Fracking." And a few amended to "STOP Eating Meat."

There's also a fading one in Praia da Luz, the message spray-painted a couple of years back.

"STOP McCann Circus", it says.
I was perturbed to read that Adrian Dunbar, a 58-year-old actor, who grew up in Enniskillen, told the Radio Times that, "The RUC were a sectarian organisation, given that they were drawn from one section of the community.

"It wasn't my section of the community, so it was hard not to see them as an oppressive force".

Membership of the RUC was open to all and Catholic membership never fell below 8%, which is remarkable considering the way the IRA especially targeted Catholic officers.

It's also noteworthy that during some of the worst days of the Troubles, the Chief Constable was a Catholic from Derry, called Jamie Flanagan.

I wonder, then, if Adrian would consider it fair for a Protestant from the Republic to regard the Garda as a sectarian force, just because it is overwhelmingly Catholic in membership?

These comments are unworthy of Adrian Dunbar and, sadly, I must conclude that they reflect his own anti-RUC prejudice.

PERTURBED

Ballymena, Co Antrim
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Collaboration among community newspapers and Bowling Green State University students, faculty and staff is the driving force behind News90  a new daily newscast airing weekdays on BGSUs WBGU-TV, Bowling Greens PBS affiliate.

The newscast gives BGSU students valuable television production experience while creating local programming for WBGU-TV. It also promotes several area newspapers and informs viewers about whats happening in their area.

The idea for the newscast came after several brainstorming sessions focusing on ways that the School of Media and Communications and WBGU-TV could work together. A newscast seemed like a natural fit. The plan was to start simple  produce a daily, 90-second broadcast featuring a handful of local news stories using students both behind and in front of the camera. Seven local newspapers in WBGU-TVs viewer coverage area agreed to provide content.

News90 began airing in February 2017 and has been airing on WBGU-TV twice daily, Monday through Friday. News90 is shown at 6:28 a.m. and repeated at 1:28 p.m. Each episode also appears on the WBGU-TV YouTube channel and Facebook page.

This is the first time WBGU-TV has aired local news since the 1970s or '80s, and the first time that weve ever used students as the featured on-air talent in a series, said Anthony Short, WBGU-TV co-general manager. We are able to utilize the skills and talents of students in various majors, teaching them skills that should easily transfer into careers.

Currently, eight students are working as news broadcasters with three on the production side.

BGSU faculty members Kelly Taylor, Ken Garland and Lori Liggett serve as News90 advisers, editing the days stories and critiquing the students writing and on-air performances. WBGU-TV staff members Joe Goodman, Steve Kendall, Lori Wilt, Tina Simon and Short oversee the television production end, including news gathering, timing, scheduling and promotion.

This has been a great pilot program for how integration might work among our departments and WBGU, Taylor said. We have a better sense of what can be accomplished and the resources required to make that happen.

Initially, students from the Department of Journalism and Public Relations /content/bgsu/en/arts-and-sciences/media-and-communication/journalism-and-public-relations.html volunteered for News90 as a way to gain actual on-air experience while earning independent study credit. This fall, a special topics journalism course will be dedicated to News90. Five students are returning as seasoned veterans of the newscast, and, as of now, four new students have enrolled in the course.

Its almost like Ive been able to develop a career before Ive had an actual career, said Molly Wells, a broadcast major from Toledo. Ive gotten used to deadlines, writing scripts in correct broadcast style and being on camera. I know what a day in the life of a broadcaster will look like.

Camera operator Taylor Yetzer agrees. Yetzer is a graduating film production major and media production minor from Shelby, Ohio, who basically runs the show. Yetzer is responsible for video, lighting, audio, directing, running the teleprompter and editing the newscast. She also is training other production students to take over once she departs later this month for a job with the Toledo Mud Hens.

I like that this is a one-person production, Yetzer said. I know that this is my project and I need to run it just like a full-on professional news production, only on a smaller scale.

Short is hoping that as News90 continues, students such as Wells and Yetzer will be able to work on both sides of the camera. In todays world of 24/7 news and reduced staff sizes, broadcasters are required to have more abilities than ever. Short noted that employers are more apt to hire people who are multi-skilled and willing to do both.

This is true experiential learning, Taylor said. We can train, observe and evaluate. We have the opportunity to reflect on what weve produced and come up with ways to improve and grow.

Future newscasts could grow to include on-air interviews, more in-depth stories and the addition of coordinating on-screen graphics or video.

News90 students during the spring 2017 semester included Nick Dombi, Brooke Ebersole, Alan Hunt, Danielle Kane, Brendan Moore, Claudia Seibert, Amy Steigerwald and Wells from the Department of Journalism and Public Relations; and Yetzer, Nick Biere and Rowyn Schneider from WBGU-TV.

Partner newspapers include The Courier (Findlay), The Crescent-News (Defiance), The Lima News (Lima), The News-Messenger (Fremont), The Northwest Signal (Napoleon), The Review Times (Fostoria) and The Sentinel-Tribune (Bowling Green).


Doctors is merely one joint in a chain that promotes branded medicines, which are costlier than branded medicines

Prime Minister Narendra Modis recent announcement of forming a legal framework to make doctors prescribe generic medicines, and not branded one, has not only sparked off generic vs branded debate but, it requires a series of steps to reach the benefits of the idea to the needy people. Doctors is merely one joint in a chain that promotes branded medicines, which are costlier than branded medicines.

Though nobody denies the need for such a step to provide much necessary relief to the patients in a society where diseases are growing affecting more number of people and the cost of treatment too is ever growing.

All studies from organisations like WHO clearly indicate how large number of people are being pushed out of treatment due to poverty or how more and more families are becoming poorer due to treatment expenses. In a country, where health insurance is still not widespread and the government spending is very low on health, people are left to their own destiny on afflicted by sickness.

If the government could not increase its spending on health, what at the most it could do is reduce peoples spending on healthcare by using its authority to control the drug prices. That is what government plans to do now. But there are many hindrances in the way which needs to be removed. The first and foremost is doctors knowledge of generic names.

In case of some very common medicines there wont be any problem. But for many other medicines, doctors will have to learn once again the difficult and long generic names. May be a legal framework will have to be followed by training and workshops for doctors. Monitoring the implementation of the rule is also another problematic issue in view of the large number of individual medical practioners spread to smaller places, where the need for generic prescription is more.. Second hindrance is retail chemist.

They receive hefty commissions from MNCs and big Indian companies for their branded drugs. Naturally they maintain stocks of branded generic drugs and are not much interested in generics. Alleged doctor chemist nexus is also side issue in this. MNCs and big Indian companies is the third integral part of this chain. They obiviously will not be in favour of such a decision as that will affect their sales and profits. They connect with doctors on one hand so that they remember the branded drug while writing prescription for a patient and with chemists on the other that they store those medicines.

Legal framework in PMs mind will have to monitor, control and curb all these practices only then it will be able to provide some relief to a sick common person and his/her family from the current problem of high expenses of medical treatment.
A new campaign for Japanese gift and lifestyle retailer, Shaddy, recaptures the heart-warming O. Henry short story, The Gift of the Magi. Dentsu teamed up with Budapest-based production company, Flatpack Films to recreate the 1900s in the Hungarian town of Esztergom.

Actors in the new Dentsu campaign recapturing O. Henry's Gift of the Magi

Directed in collaboration between Dokuwa Communications and Taiyo Kikaku, the film follows a poor, young couple who sacrifice their most prized possessions for love. Early on, we see them gazing longingly at a shop window display filled with items they cannot afford. Driven by the desire to give the other a token of their love, each decides to make a sacrifice. At the films climax, the girl reveals that she sold her luscious locks to buy her partner a chain for his watch. He then reveals that he sold the watch to buy her a comb. The couple laugh at the irony and, recognising the mutual lengths they would go to for each other, embrace.

Flatpack Films worked closely with Japanese production company, Taiyo Kikaku and Hamburg-based production company, Dokuwa Communications to deliver the complex shoot.

Esztergom was chosen for its historical architecture and for its island in the middle of the Danube River, which is displayed in the final scene. The shop window scenes were shot in Esztergom town square and Flatpack completely redressed an antique shop for the pawnshop scene.

Authentic European period feel

Flatpacks producer, Zita Kisgergely, comments, The client was dedicated to achieving an authentic European period feel, so the settings and costumes had to be spot on, right down to the smallest detail. Our art department rose to the challenge, researching and sourcing period jewels and watches and finding exactly the right type of lower-middle class costumes -provided by the team at Peris, Madrid  to reflect accurately the status of the young couple.

It was a pleasure to work with the Japanese team on this project. In all my years in production, I have not come across a more meticulous approach. Their attention to detail is both mesmerising and impressive and it was exciting to demonstrate our companys ability to match this high standard. Weve proud to have been a part of this project.

Ken Hagen Takenaka, executive producer and founder of Dokuwa Communications, comments, Working with the Flatpack team in Hungary was a great experience. Everything was well-planned and organised, and we became good friends by the end. The campaign is now live on TV and online in Japan.
Vicinity Media goes head to head with Google's Display Network (GDN) and outperforms across multiple sectors. Over 70% better in some cases!

At the recent Adtech Conference in New York it was revealed that an estimated 60% of every global marketing dollar was being spent with either Google or Facebook (with Google taking the lions share of that 60%).

When marketers think GDN they think effective performance and cost effective reach, comments Neil Clarence COO of location-based advertising network Vicinity Media. They also tend to think bigger is better - something we decided to put to the test. Our view at Vicinity is that huge scale and billions of impressions dont always benefit the advertiser. We believe in the value of one relevant impression over 10 irrelevant, wasted views.

Neil and his team took a look at Google Display Networks (GDN) CTR statistics* as published on Wordstream's website and compared them to the same sectors across Vicinity Media's location-based mobile network over the August and September periods.

"The majority of the figures really surprised us," he says. "Although we did not run campaigns across all the same sectors, we compared our performance figures against the freely obtainable data on the Wordstream website and found that in the retail sector for example, Vicinity delivered over 61% more clicks than GDN, from the same number of impressions.

Understandably, the real estate sector (being very location focused) performed best, producing over 70% more click throughs than the equivalent number of impressions would on GDN. Other sectors included:

Travel and hospitality garnering a 0.52% CTR versus 0.47% on GDN,

Motoring with a CTR of 0.62% against the 0.41% registered on GDN

The performance increase can be attributed to Vicinitys true and accurate location data and to the fact that Vicinity uses this data to generate location enhanced rich media communication that is both relevant and engaging. Users are able to identify location based ads from standard display ads, which increase performance.

Performance is further bolstered by the high number of premium ad formats in the network, which are performing remarkably well (0,9% CTR ), paying huge dividends for clients.

A related differentiator between Vicinity and GDN is that post banner click, the user goes to the Vicinity landing page. This delivers further engagements such as Walk, Drive and Call. Clarence adds, Vicinity not only delivers more clicks, but we provide a landing page that provides real client acquisitions. Think of it as getting the most out of those increased clicks.

Our study indicates that Google is the ultimate shotgun approach for marketers, Vicinity on the other hand is the sniper with deadly aim  and it all depends on what your objectives are before you decide which weapon you use.




The head of procurement at the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), Graham Motsepe, has been suspended pending the outcome of a disciplinary inquiry initiated by the organisation's board, it emerged in Parliament on Wednesday, 3 May 2017.

Motsepe is not alone in facing scrutiny. CEO Joyce Mogale and chief financial officer Sikhumbuzo Zulu were placed on precautionary suspension in late February, after the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union blew the whistle on alleged corruption and maladministration.

The NHLS plays a vital role in SA's health system because it provides all the diagnostic and monitoring tests for the public sector, along with some highly specialised tests that private laboratories cannot do.

Its research is highly regarded within the international scientific community but it has faced significant financial and labour challenges in recent years.

NHLS board chairman Eric Buch said on Wednesday that the disciplinary hearing for Mogale and Zulu was originally set down for April but was rescheduled for 19 May at the request of their legal representatives.

Buch told members of the portfolio committee on health that the officials' cases were related to human resources and procurement matters but he declined to provide details, saying that to do so might prejudice the process.

Buch also told MPs that the NHLS was close to finalising its long-running billing disputes with Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, which had contributed to the institution's financial problems. Resolving these matters would enable the NHLS to clear its debtors book, deal with its capital expenditure backlog and increase its reserves, he said.

Presenting the NHLS's strategic plan for the 2017-18 financial year, which began on 1 April, Buch said the institution forecast a small surplus (R273m) for the year if provinces paid their bills on time.

Over the next three years, its budget is set to rise from R7.89bn to R8.23bn in 2018-19 and R8.82bn in 2019-20.

He drew MPs' attention to the fact that an accounting surplus was not necessarily an indicator of the financial health of an institution because the NHLS owed suppliers R864m and had a R430m backlog for capital expenditure projects.

The NHLS was also battling with low cash reserves, which stood at R329m on 31 March, R1.56bn short of its target.

Buch said he had put forward a proposal for resolving the billing disputes with Gauteng.

He proposed that the NHLS scrap invoices that were clearly wrong, such as those that had been issued in duplicate, and write off a portion of the remaining amount. A similar proposal had been made to KwaZulu-Natal. Two years ago, NHLS officials told Parliament KwaZulu-Natal owed R3.289bn and Gauteng owed R1.092bn.

Buch said the provinces were paying their bills on time.

The NHLS performed 91-million tests a year and expected a 2% volume rise in 2017-18, largely because it anticipated greater demand for HIV tests, he said. It would increase its tariffs 5.2% in 2017.

Source: Business Day
This weekend, 5-6 May 2017, the FairPlay anti-dumping movement will address a select gathering of African and global business leaders in Durban at the Initiative for Global Development (IGD), which fosters greater strategic investment in Africa. The Spring Frontier 100 Forum in Durban will focus on tackling youth unemployment in Africa through private sector job growth and skills development.

Unemployment and the opportunities for growth when dumping is stopped are central to the FairPlay message, as the movement has highlighted the thousands of jobs lost in South Africa. The local chicken industry is buckling under volumes of dumped chicken imports, principally from the European Union. There are also great opportunities to bring previously disadvantaged people into the industry and to grow an industry that guarantees food security, when the practice of dumping no longer destroys the local industry.

At the IGD Forum on 6 May, the visiting business leaders will be given a first-hand picture of the economic and social impact of dumping by Scott Pitman, MD of the Consumer Division of RCL Foods, one of the major chicken producers in South Africa. Pitman warned last year that the local industry would not survive in its present form for another 12 months if dumping continued unabated. In January this year, it halved production at a large chicken operation in KwaZulu-Natal and closed a number of poultry farms, with the loss of 1,350 jobs.

If dumping can be stopped, local producers, together with government, have plans to revitalise the industry and turn a shrinking sector into a growing one that creates jobs.

FairPlay is one of the Forum sponsors. The movement was formed in 2016 to counter dumping worldwide, starting with the South African chicken industry. It is seeking government support to protect the industry against the ravages of dumping, which has put the local industry at risk, with additional huge numbers of jobs likely to be lost if the practice continues.

Northern hemisphere consumers prefer chicken breasts and wings, which is where producers in regions such as the EU recover their costs. As a result, a surplus builds up of unwanted brown meat, drums and thighs, which are frozen in bulk and sold off to any market that will take them.

Supporting free trade

FairPlay, which is seeking to build widespread opposition to dumping, supports free trade and is not protectionist. It draws a clear distinction between legal trade and competition, which it welcomes, and the illegal and predatory practice of dumping, when goods are sold below the cost of production, devastating local industries.

This is what is happening in South Africa, where local chicken producers, found by an independent survey to be among the most efficient in the world, are cutting production and jobs because of dumped chicken imports, which have increased over the past five years. Major producers have announced cutbacks and the South African Poultry Association, which estimates industry job losses at between 4,000 and 6,000, has listed 12 local chicken businesses that have closed or been taken over since 2012.

There has been a temporary reprieve this year because EU exports have been halted by outbreaks of avian influenza. However, unless measures are put in place to halt dumping, it will continue as soon as European exports resume.

FairPlay founder Francois Baird said the EU is particularly targeting African countries. South Africa had to avoid following the example of Ghana, where the chicken industry collapsed because of imports. Cote dIvoire is a better model  the chicken industry there is recovering after measures were introduced to counter dumping.

For decades, African governments have been told by the EU to apply the rule of law and to ensure a level playing field for all businesses. Today the EU is breaking World Trade Organisation rules, destroying African industries by dumping, yet it expects no punishments for its actions nor does it expect African countries to try to stop dumping.

We are here to show them they are wrong. Rules must apply equally to all in global trade. This is a precondition for industrial development in Africa, enabling Africa to add value to commodities and attract investment in African industries. Trade and commerce has to be based on fair competition, concluded Baird.
South Africa's employment rate is currently sitting at an average of just over 25%, peaking at over 27% at the end of 2016. While that figure decreased at the start of 2017, the fact remains that a quarter of South Africa's citizens remain jobless. We are at a critical time in our economy where food prices continue to rise and jobs are scarce. Can community projects possibly help both of these needs?

Prof Elain Vlok, founder of Clover Mama Afrika

I think they can, albeit on a small scale. Based purely on the success of the mamas under the Clover Mama Afrika wing, we have witnessed the positive impact of community projects. I started Clover Mama Afrika in 2004, with a passion to implement change and set up a corporate social investment initiative that both Clover and I could be proud of. During the last thirteen years, Ive watched as our efforts to help communities have developed into successful small businesses, creating jobs and sustaining communities at the same time.

Employment opportunities

To date, weve appointed 43 women as part of the project - we call them mamas due to the nurturing role they fill in their communities. These mamas serve as examples of how community projects can both support a community and provide employment opportunities.

Take Mama Selestien Moses for example. She became a Clover Mama in April 2007. Mama Sella runs the Khayalethu Care Centre in Ashbury in the Western Cape. As part of our commitment to her, Clover Mama Afrika provided her with the skills, equipment and training that she needed to further develop her community project. Shes since grown her centres capacity, caring for more than 300 children and over 80 elderly. She now supports her community with a variety of additional skills, from bread baking, catering and flower arranging to sewing. Mama Sella currently employs 17 people and has transferred skills to over 400 others in her community.

Opportunities at grassroots level

Another prime example is Mama Shirley Merime of Ennerdale, Gauteng. Mama Shirley joined Clover Mama Afrika in 2006 to upskill herself and others at her Ebenezer Hannah Home - a home that looks after both the elderly and orphaned and abandoned children. Through the training received from our team shes helped to further upskill another 137 people and now employs 11 permanent staff at the home.

While employment can be difficult to find, these mamas provide opportunities at grassroots level. This means employees dont need to have degrees or to travel far in search of work. Community projects give people with little skill the chance to grow and thrive.

Virginie Merime, daughter-in-law of Mama Shirley, is one of the many people positively impacted by Clover Mama Afrikas involvement. Merime helped her mom-in-law with the day-to-day needs at the centre, where she was able to take part in courses and skills workshops we helped to provide. We saw her keen interest in cooking and through our friends at MLK Chef School and the financial assistance of Clover Mama Afrika, Merime won a fantastic Chefs course to help her follow her dreams.

Support small community businesses

These women show us that community projects or small businesses that are run with passion, by owners who are committed to the development of their communities can certainly make a difference. The 28 employees between Mama Sella and Mama Shirley alone are testament to this. Small businesses can help communities at grassroots level; providing necessities in the area while offering work opportunities for its people.

I urge you to support small community businesses - youve no idea how much of an impact you can make and how many lives youre touching.
Fast-food franchising company Gold Brands has announced the planned entry of UK casual-dining brand Cafe Rouge into the South African market. The popular bistro, with outlets across London and the UK's main cities, is said to offer authentic French food in a Parisienne-style setting.

Cafe Rouge has been going strong for over 25 years and, with 95 outlets across the UK, has become a household name there. South Africans are always hungry for new, exciting dining experiences, and Cafe Rouge will definitely fill this gap, says Stelio Nathanael, chief operating officer of Gold Brands, explaining the rationale behind the decision to bring the hugely popular brand to South Africa.

South Africans love to socialise, and Cafe Rouge is the perfect place to enjoy a fantastic meal with your nearest and dearest, adds Praxia Nathanael, chief executive officer of Gold Brands.

French classics

Fresh ingredients and traditional French cooking methods are the unkept secret to the restaurants ongoing success, says the franchising company. Tapping into a trend for all day dining, the menu features eggs benedict, fresh patisseries and baguettes; alongside a core selection of French classics such as Poulet Breton; Steak Frites; Moules; and Confit de Carnard.

In addition, a specials board will be updated daily and ongoing menu innovations will draw inspiration from its French heritage. To accompany the food, expert sommeliers have selected a range of wines to accompany each dish.

South African architects Pattichides and Partners will create the French-bistro-style look that is Cafe Rouge, complete with iconic French artwork. We chose Chris Pattichides to spearhead this project as he has vast experience in his field, and has worked on top brands across the country, says Stelio.

Gold Brands plans to open 10 Cafe Rouge outlets over the next five years, the first of which is due to open in Johannesburg in July.
Pioneer Foods Group expects adjusted headline earnings per share (HEPS) in the six months to March to fall by up to 49% from a year ago.

Image via Pioneer Foods

In an updated trading update on Thursday, the food producer blamed the drought, which inflated grain prices, compounded by a weaker rand. The raisin crop shortfall, higher juice concentrate costs, volatile currencies and weak consumer demand in Africa hurt the company's international business.

Operating profit, before items of a capital nature, would decrease by between 40% and 45% from R1.23bn a year ago.

But the owner of White Star, among other brands, expected a better performance in the second half of the financial year because of the substantial increase in the maize harvest, which has led to a material drop in raw material costs.

SA is likely to harvest 14.53-million tonnes in 2017, the second biggest harvest since the 1981-82 season.

The country's wheat import tariff has been revised down to R1,190.20/ton in March, from R1,591.40/ton following the rise in international wheat prices.

Pioneer Foods share price was down slightly to R164.01 in early trade, giving it a market value of R38.2bn.

Source: BDpro
Anheuser-Busch InBev plans to launch Budweiser in SA, it said in its March quarter results on Thursday morning.

Steven Cukrov via 123RF

The group's overall revenue grew 3.7% to $12.9bn from the matching quarter in 2016. Its South African business, gained via its acquisition of SABMiller, grew revenue by "mid-single digits" despite a 1.6% decline in beer volumes. Anheuser-Busch InBev blamed the drop on "the timing of Easter".

"Castle Lite continues its strong growth in the core plus segment with packaging innovations aimed at improving convenience for in-home consumption. Core brands recovered some of the prior year volume losses to cheap wines and spirits through our commercial initiatives," the company said in its statement.

"The business is well-positioned to grow our global brands, with Stella Artois and Corona already present in the market and plans to launch Budweiser later in the year."

The world's largest brewer also suffered volume declines in the US and Colombia, which were partly offset by gains in China, Brazil and Mexico. It sold 148-million hectolitres worldwide. This was 41% more than the 105-million hectolitres reported in the first quarter of 2016 before its acquisition of SABMiller, but Anheuser-Busch InBev said it suffered a 0.5% "organic decline" in beer volumes sold over the year.

Despite the drop in combined beer volumes, Anheuser-Busch InBev said the "SAB integration continues at a fast pace, with $252m of synergies captured in the quarter".

"Combined revenues of our three global brands, Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona, grew by 12.1%. Budweiser revenues grew by 7.3%, with 16.4% growth in revenues outside of the US," the company said.

"Stella Artois revenues grew by 21.1%, driven mainly by growth in the US and Argentina. Corona had a solid quarter as well, with revenues growing 18.2%, with 48.2% growth in revenues outside of Mexico, as a result of strong growth in western Europe and China."

Source: BDpro
Customer experience is more than just serving your customers, knowing where they buy their products from or what kind of brands they prefer. To be able to deliver an optimised and personalised experience that will drive loyalty and engagement, you need to have a complete understanding of your customer.

The best way to do this is to intentionally design journeys for your specific customer profile. Join South Africas leading customer experience experts for a thought provoking, interactive, experiential two-day boot camp aimed at designing experiences that make your customers keep on wanting to come back for more. Fully immerse into all aspects of your customer's journey - considering all touch points and channels - and ultimately design a customer experience that will delight!

High-level agenda:



Experience immersion



Design a product and services



Persona development



Experience definition and creation of a mood board



Customer journey mapping across personas and channels



Presentation and role play of journey



Implementation plan for newly designed journey

Who this course is for:

People tasked with customer centricity, customer experience improvement, customer journey mapping, and voice of customer program implementation

Venue: Henley Business School, Kirstenhof Office Park, 1 Witkoppen Rd & Milcliff Rd, Paulshof, Johannesburg, 2191, South Africa

Date: 25 and 12:00:00 SAST 26 May 2017

Cost: R12,500

Brandlove is an Authorised Resource Training Provider: The Customer Experience Professionals Association has endorsed Brandlove as an official training provider.

Book online at:

http://www.brandlove.co.za/product/customer-journey-design-course-johannesburg/

Chantel Botha

About the presenter:

Chantel Botha has been providing business-consulting services for over 20 years across multiple industries. She led large customer experience transformation projects in financial services over the past 10 years. These programmes included journey, culture, process and technology aspects.

She is an experienced customer journey map and customer focused innovation facilitator. She finds immense joy in infusing the training programmes she designs with personal enrichment and growth to transform hearts and minds.

She also specialises in the field of digital and social channel experience integration with an impressive portfolio of mobile and digital value proposition innovations.

She is an internationally recognised speaker and author and a member of the Global Customer Experience Panel as well as the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA). She obtained her certification as Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) during 2015.

Send us an email at az.oc.evoldnarb@olleh if you have any questions.




Nedbank's 2016 Sustainability Review highlights how it contributes to the sustainable development agenda of the South Africa, with a focus on products and services, partnerships and operations.

Says Brigitte Burnett, head of sustainability for Nedbank Group: In our experience, our sustainability effectiveness is maximised through an approach that combines a commitment to sustainable products and services, managing our own impact, and partnering with like-minded organisations and initiatives.

The information contained in our 2016 Sustainability Review demonstrates the value that is unlocked through this approach. While we certainly arent there yet, it is a journey and this report shows good progress in how we have delivered positive societal impacts for our country and our clients.

Transforming SA

At a products and services level, Burnett points to the more than R64bn worth of empowerment financing Nedbank has provided since 2009 as evidence of the banks dedication to transforming SA industries and businesses.

In some cases, these beneficiaries have started and grown their own businesses, while others have used it for transformational infrastructure projects  both helping to grow the economy and create jobs.

The bank also established a Green Savings Bond, which allows retail and institutional investors to not only grow their money, but also contribute to sustainable development projects like renewable energy.

Since its inception, more than R17bn has been invested into the product.

As part of our Fair Share 2030 strategic enabler, Nedbank has also placed itself at the forefront of efforts to address the growing student accommodation crisis in South Africa, says Burnett. The R2.3bn we have invested in support of this vital housing sector has resulted in more than 5,000 more student beds being made available.

Response to #FeesMustFall

The 2016 Sustainability Review offers evidence of Nedbanks commitment to positive education outcomes and how the bank has responded to the Fees Must Fall campaign.

Burnett points specifically to Nedbanks partnership with the Nedbank Mogale Empowerment Trust, which invested R100m in the MTN Zakhele Futhi scheme - the dividends received will be used to benefit black students across the country as well as black supplier development.

The review also discloses detail on investments aimed at socioeconomic upliftment and support. For example, the banks main CSI arm, the Nedbank Foundation, has invested R141m into a range of social projects across its key focus areas of education, health and social development.

The bank also provided more than R100m in drought support over the past financial year, including working capital for its agriculture clients and donations towards boreholes, animal feed and bottled water.

Reducing its carbon footprint

Closer to home, Nedbank remains committed to managing the sustainability impacts of its own operations and staff. Since 2010, Nedbank has been carbon neutral and, in 2016, it further reduced its overall direct carbon footprint by more than 6%.

Across the group, the bank remains focused on good water stewardship and continued its water usage minimisation trend by reducing water consumption across its operations by a further 1.1% in 2016.

The full 2016 Nedbank Sustainability Review is available for download at www.nedbank.co.za. It is a supplementary report to the Nedbank Group Integrated Report.
Henley & Partners is calling for nominations for its 2017 Global Citizen Award. The award was established to pay tribute to individuals who have worked towards improving and supporting the global community, and whose actions or thinking have contributed to a more just, peaceful and tolerant world.

The 2017 laureate will be selected by a seven-member award committee and honored at the annual Henley & Partners Global Residence and Citizenship Conference, which will be held this year in Hong Kong on Thursday, 16 November 2017.

The award committee is comprises the following members:

Her Royal Highness Princess Firyal of Jordan

Her Excellency Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, president of the Republic of Malta

Senator Joelle Garriaud-Maylam, secretary of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces, Senate of France

Professor Dr Khalid Koser OBE, executive director of GCERF and vice-chairman of the Advisory Council on Migration, World Economic Forum, Geneva

Fr Dr Marek Urban CSsR, councillor of the Henley & Partners Foundation, Krakow

Namira Salim, artist, polar explorer and Virgin Galactic founder astronaut, Monaco

Leigh Foster, chief of events, Campaigns and Goodwill Ambassadors, UNHCR, Geneva

Advancing global issues

Paola De Leo, Henley & Partners head of philanthropy, says the committee is looking for an inspirational individual who demonstrates extraordinary vision, courage and commitment in contributing to the advancement of a global issue, whether this is social, political or environmental. Global issues are defined by the United Nations as issues that transcend national boundaries and cannot be resolved by any one country acting alone. They require a concerted action at a global level by governments, international organisations and civil society. The awardees work should not remain purely academic, but needs to demonstrate a positive impact on the lives of vulnerable groups in society, she says.

The selection process is confidential and made by a majority decision. The award itself consists of a specially made commemorative medal, an award certificate signed by the president of the award committee and a $50,000 monetary prize, of which $25,000 is used in support of the longstanding partnership between Henley & Partners and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Previous award winners

Since its inception in 2015, the Global Citizen Award has honoured two worthy recipients. The first laureate was German entrepreneur Harald Hoppner who founded the refugee humanitarian aid project Sea Watch which has rescued many thousands of desperate migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea to reach European Union shores. Over the past year, Sea Watch has raised more than 1m in donations, purchased a new rescue ship, bought a new plane that facilitates the search for castaways, and has launched a second rescue base on the Greek island of Lesbos.

In 2016, the Global Citizen Award honoured humanitarian and founder of the Gift of the Givers Foundation Dr Imtiaz Sooliman. Since the start of the foundation in August 1992, Dr Sooliman has grown the Gift of the Givers into Africas largest disaster relief organisation, raising more than $155m in life-saving aid for 42 countries around the world. His team of 200 provides medical assistance, equipment, supplies, food and water to millions of people each year.

Relevant global causes

De Leo says both previous awardees have been in some way connected to the refugee cause but Henley & Partners would welcome nominations from anyone who is making a significant impact on the worlds most vulnerable communities. Forced migration and refugees have for many years been the focus of our philanthropy efforts, but equally relevant global causes that we would like to honour would be women and girls empowerment and child welfare, climate change, as well as water and food security.

To submit nominations for the 2017 Global Citizen Award, go to henleyglobal.com/the-global-citizen-award. Nominations close on 31 July 2017.
The high-level SA-EU Circular Economy Seminar took place on Wednesday, 3 May, in Durban in the margins of the World Economic Forum on Africa. It brought together a number of high profile delegates and companies worldwide, as well as startups, experts and policymakers.

South Africa's minister of Environmental Affairs Dr Edna Molewa and Daniel Calleja, director general of the European Union's Directorate-General for Environment, led the day-long seminar on the opportunities created by the circular economy model through testimonials and technical interventions.

The circular economy is an economic model that minimises resource input and waste generation. The value of the resources used in products is retained by returning them into the product cycle at the end of their use. Covering matters as varied as product design, waste management, symbiotic technologies and remanufacturing, the circular economy model creates enormous opportunities for sustainable and inclusive growth as well as new jobs.

Climate resilient economy

Molewa underlined the importance of the circular economy model for transitioning to a low-carbon, climate resilient economy. The minister further emphasised implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals as well as the implementation of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Calleja pointed out how the EU is pursuing the transition to a circular economy as a top priority: "We are undertaking indepth reforms to enable Europe's economy to transition towards ambitious sustainability objectives while strengthening the competitiveness of our companies and maintaining a healthy environment for our citizens." He also emphasised the need to forge alliances between like-minded partners, such as the European Union and South Africa, not only at government level but also through innovative business and research partnerships.

The seminar follows the signing on 23 September 2016 of the new Terms of Reference for the Forum on Environment, Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Water between the European Commission and both the Department of Environmental Affairs and the Department of Water and Sanitation of the Republic of South Africa. The forum met in Pretoria on 3 May 2017 where the circular economy was also discussed amongst other issues of mutual interest.
Three years after being placed under curatorship and significant support from the South African Reserve Bank, African Bank is making a remarkable turnaround, including a brand relaunch in April 2016.

Having attracted the attention of S&P Global Ratings for significantly improved regulatory capital levels, the banks credit rating outlook has been revised from negative to stable. It is now in a much stronger position to diversify into insurance and investments products, with plans to launch a transactional banking product early in 2018.

Transforming the branch experience

Part of the banks forward strategy is to transform the branch experience in its 386 branches nationally. We want to be viewed as a trusted and valued part of peoples lives and how we interact with our customers is key, says Alfred Ramosedi, African Bank sales and marketing executive. In recent years, the digital transformation in banking has seen many banks closing branches in a push to move services online and to modernise the customer experience. Although this has proven convenient for many customer transactions, there are still a number of services which require customers to go in-branch and this is where African Bank is committed to making a difference.

A 2016 Accenture banking survey revealed that 87% of consumers will still use their branches in the future and want trusted human interaction when they go in to their local branch. In fact, consumer interest in branch investment reportedly grew more than any other channel. The study highlighted how innovative omnichannel experiences could be implemented in traditional style branches to improve customer experience, which consultancy firm, McKinsey, found could increase customers likelihood to renew or buy new products by between 30 to 50%.

Ramosedi says when African Bank launches its new branch in Eastgate on 6 May, followed by another site at its Midrand branch end May, attention will be focused on improving the in-branch experience and creating a relaxed and casual interactive environment designed to save time and facilitate conversations and education.

We hope to provide our customers with more value than they expect, with the introduction of a number of concept services including a customer queuing management system, WiFi enablement for those customers who might not have the required data package, and self-service functionality through customer-facing tablets.

We are also trying to create a paperless environment and introduce, through our new scanner recognition software, a customer record as opposed to an account record  an important distinction in our world, given our brand purpose, humanity through banking. This will allow a seamless integration across all our products as opposed to the traditional silo approach," Ramosedi says.
As the global population continues to grow and income levels rise, there has been a switch to protein-rich foods resulting in significant growth in livestock production. According to the 2015 GAIN (Global Agricultural Information Network) Report, steady economic growth and increased average income in South Africa resulted in the rapid expansion of meat consumption over the past two decades. "South Africa consumes about 2.9 million tons of poultry, beef and pork meat per annum, with poultry meat consumption representing more than 60 percent of total meat consumption.

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By 2050 annual cereal production will need to rise to about three billion tonnes from 2.1 billion today and annual meat production will need to rise by over 200 million tonnes to reach 470 million tonnes. Faced with the global challenge of establishing a sustainable supply of food, animal and fish farms must substantially increase efficiency and performance, while making the most of the limited resources available.

According to Jane Thomson, managing director of Softworx (an Infor partner), the key to ensuring sustainable production is an efficient and reliable value chain. To achieve efficiency in the agricultural value chain, the four Ds of agri-tech must be implemented: depth, dispersed operations, development, and drive.

Depth

To achieve depth, a micro-vertical application of technology is required. To deliver efficiency improvements on this scale, technology enhancements across the food industry will need to be drastic. This spans agriculture, aquaculture, and the supply chain throughout farming, food production, and processing, believes Thomson. Technology will be a critical part of these developments, but it needs to be closely aligned to the idiosyncrasies of the specific industry segment within food manufacturing. Deep, specific expertise is the order of the day to drive efficiencies.

Jane Thomson

This need for such focused know-how led Infor to develop and continually invest in its micro-vertical strategy, while creating a Micro-vertical Specialisation Programme for the Infor Partner Network (IPN). This enables partners to combine industry-specific strengths and capabilities with Infor solutions in deep, niche markets, says Thomson. "Softworx is working with one of the largest South African poultry processing plants to improve efficiencies in this micro-vertical.

Marine Harvest, the world's largest producer of farmed salmon, is utilising this technology for greater efficiency. The integration of ERP and supply chain planning has enabled Marine Harvest to improve visibility into future demand from three to six weeks to up to three years. That is the basis of a huge leap in efficiency and one that can be easily applied to agriculture.

Dispersal

At any point in food production, variation means additional costs and delays. Therefore, dispersed operations are a crucial part of a drive for efficiency. Agricultural producers will need to impose standardised procedures and processes throughout operations that can span the globe, says Thomson.

Seaboard Foods, an Infor customer, needs to maintain visibility and consistency across 6.5 million pigs per year. The pigs are raised on farms specialised for the pigs stage in life, such as sow farms, nursery farms and finisher operations  and all of these facilities are linked to a computer network to monitor the environment. To ensure consistency across so many variables, in different locations, cloud technology is vital not only to ensure that the same systems are implemented across the enterprise, but that they are all kept consistently up to date too.

Development

As a whole, smart agriculture will be worth around $18bn by 2022, growing at a rate of approximately 13 percent per year...

The need for adjacent innovation requires development. The mud, rain and raw nature of agriculture are proving to be a hotbed of innovation for some of the most forward thinking, cutting edge technologies within manufacturing. Farmers and producers have recognised that implementing technology out in the fields, in some cases in the very soil itself, can have incredible results. As a whole, smart agriculture will be worth around $18bn by 2022, growing at a rate of approximately 13 percent per year. This level of opportunity will drive huge waves of innovation, confirms Thomson.

Infor customer Fullwood manufactures a range of milking technologies, including sophisticated automated milking solutions that incorporate laser sighting technology. Fullwood places identity tags on each cow and uses the latest herd management software to provide intricate details of each cow's milking habits. This is vital information, as Spencer Davis, director, Fullwood Limited explains: "Understanding the characteristics of an individual cow's milking patterns is pivotal in maximising the production of milk from a herd." Locally, Softworx is assisting two of South Africas largest dairy producers in the processing of raw milk into various dairy products.

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Elsewhere, agri-tech innovation has led to vertical farms in urban cities such as Singapore, solar powered drip irrigation of fields, drone-controlled crop management and wireless surveillance of crops. The number one tool for an agricultural producer is now his or her mobile phone, adds Thomson.

Drive

Pulling together the need for deep expertise, the ability to cover dispersed operations and a drive to develop innovation, producers and farmers are now looking to established and new names alike when it comes to choosing technology partners to drive it all forward. The increased demand for food will be one of the key trends shaping business and society in the next 20 years, concludes Thomson. Agriculture and technology must collaborate and develop at a phenomenal pace if the challenges of this demand are to be met.
A bit of patience and manners is some of what's required to be successful in the African context, says Jean-Jacques Pierre Oelofse, Wood-Mizer corporate director for emerging markets. With Wood-Mizer already having spent a number of years doing business on the continent, we chatted to Oelofse this #AfricaMonth to find out what some of the initial challenges were, and what the general sentiment among investors is at the moment.

Jean-Jacques Pierre Oelofse, Wood-Mizer corporate director for emerging markets

Could you give us a brief history of Wood-Mizer's expansion into Africa, and what some the of challenges were initially?

Wood-Mizer has been in the Africa market for a number of years. Initially, the company used an appointed representative to manage its interests on the continent. In 2011, the decision was made to open a Wood-Mizer branch office to support this very important market. The decision was based on the recognition that the market required further technical and sales support to unlock the potential that Africa offers. Some of the challenges were: local finance options for markets, finding skilled persons to join the team, the costs of doing business in Africa, security concerns and finding good local business partners in Africa that would hold true to the values that Wood-Mizer has set for itself as a global corporation.

What does it take to succeed in Africa?

An understanding that the Africa market deserves to be treated with the utmost respect. If you want to be successful, you need to understand that each country has completely different business and social etiquette and rules. Patience. Manners.

What are the current trends driving the wood processing sector in Africa?

An increased recognition that Africa needs to use its raw product resources better. This includes using more efficient sawmilling technology that can grow local economies, increase competitiveness and achieve increased sustainability.

What are the key factors you look at before entering a territory in Africa?

Fortunately, in Africa, we have well-developed timber economies that can serve as a starting point to evaluate the opportunities. Political stability, economic growth, population size etc. all play a role in our considerations.

How does the Wood-Mizer model differ from that of the traditional sawmilling industry?

Our focus for Africa is to build a service support network across the continent that gives sawmillers the backing they deserve. This includes before and after sale service, technical support, spares, training and advice. With increased support, profitable sawmilling businesses across Africa can prosper and reverse the trend of log exports, which has hurt economies, people and the resource across the continent.

How do you incorporate sustainability into the Wood-Mizer business model - particularly in resource-rich Africa?

Wood-Mizers approach to sustainability is that it should be broad-based. To protect the global timber resource, which is admittedly under huge pressure, we should find a way to protect and grow more trees but which also benefits people. Sawmilling is the first step in this process. It unlocks the full value of the log where the tree grows. When people prosper from trees, they have a reason to protect the resource and grow more trees. Wood-Mizers brand positioning statement on sustainability defines this approach really well: Wood-Mizer, for Timber, for People.

Our technology is also built to enable increased sustainability. Wood-Mizers thin-kerf narrow bandsaw technology wastes less timber with more sawn timber produced from a single log. Less waste means less trees need to be cut down to produce timber.

Our equipment use less electricity / fuel without sacrificing high levels of production.

Our technology provides for a quality finished product that is ready to go to market with little or no further preparation required. This reduces waste and energy costs further down the value chain.

Finally, our products are simple to use and easy to afford. With less barriers in place, profitable sawmilling enterprises across Africa can now unlock the full value of the continents timber resources for the benefit of its people. By doing so, we can stop the tide of raw logs exports, foster local manufacturing, grow employment, improve lives and spur a love for trees and timber.

How would you describe the level of competition while doing business in Africa?

Africa is an emerging market that offers huge potential. With that comes competition. Africa is also increasingly aware of false promises. Wood-Mizer respects the market and its people and we build our business around integrity, service and trust.

What are your expansion plans, if any?

We have strengthened our team with regional area specialists and further technicians and will be striving to appoint further dealers in countries not yet covered.

What is the general sentiment of investors doing business in Africa right now?

Africa is not an easy market to trade in. If businesses understand how to overcome these challenges, the future is bullish.
According to Johan Ehlers, CEO of Agri-Expo, organisers of the 16th SA Cheese Festival with a focus on cheese and the diverse dairy product's culinary companions, the event was a huge success. The festival was held at Sandringham where around 30,000 people enjoyed 30 tonnes of cheese from boutique and larger commercial cheeseries from across South Africa.

Select celebrities like Nataniel, Jenny Morris, Amore Bekker and Carmen Niehaus entertained and inspired cheese lovers to new culinary heights.

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One of the additions to this years programme was the Agri-Expo Cheesery where visitors were able to spend quality time with some of the countrys best cheese makers. According to Mags Baleta from Klein River Cheese outside Stanford this provided cheeseries with the ideal opportunity to share their expertise with consumers and to perform important market research.

Cheese makers put their best foot forward by wooing the consumer with new and innovative cheeses, including those flavoured with coffee, red wine, and lavender. Artisan cheese makers taking part for the first time agreed that the broad and simultaneous exposure of their products to such a large group of cheese lovers is indeed invaluable.

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Agri-Expo joined forces with the Western Cape Department of Agriculture to enable smaller producers and entrepreneurs to expose the consumer to their unique niche products such as figs, pomegranates, honey, mushrooms and more  all the perfect cheese companions.
Defence and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula says Operation Corona has led to the reduction of rhino poaching and contraband worth millions of rands being seized.

The Minister said this when she spoke to journalists during a site visit to the South Africa-Mozambique border lines in Komatipoort, Mpumalanga, on Wednesday, 3 May 2017.

The Operation Corona border protection is a programme through which cross-country border agencies work together to curb cross border crime, from illegal immigrants to contraband.

The Minister said border authorities also curbed the smuggling of counterfeit goods and drugs, four-wheel drive vehicles and SUVs.

The Minister said through the cooperation with other law enforcement agencies, Operation Corona has led to R10 million worth of contraband being seized since March this year.

She said, however, that infrastructure challenges like the dilapidated fence makes the job of cross-border officials very difficult.

An increase in the countrys defence budget would go a long way to address these challenges, the Minister said.

We are well equipped in protecting the country, regardless of the challenges we facing. We are also working with our counterparts in both Mozambique and Swaziland in making sure that we fight the crimes together.

When we talk about more resources for the defence force, is not because we want to militarise ... the Republic. It is because we want to protect our country, she said.

The Minister also said cross border operations would be effective if all of the 22 companies that are seized with the task of patrolling borders could be deployed to the operation.

Currently, and due to a limited number of resources, only 15 companies are deployed along border lines.

She said, however, that despite the challenges, South Africans must be rest assured that the country is safe and that their soldiers are well equipped to protect the country.

During her visit, the Minister interacted with the Mbuzini community bordering Mozambique and Swaziland and assured them that working together with the soldiers, they will be able to tackle cross-border crimes.

"We came here to talk to you and let you know that as the defence force, we are trying by all means to protect you.

We know that your cars and livestock are being smuggled through these borders either to Swaziland or Mozambique. We want you to be eyes and ears of the state. Lets fight these crimes together," she said.

Minister Mapisa-Nqakula said, meanwhile, that members of the community should be used to supply food and other necessities in military bases close to them.

She said if the country wants to maintain economic stability near areas from which they operate, there is a need for the defence budget to be increased.
Jonathan Turner, a partner at Cushman & Wakefield, will be relocating from London to Johannesburg in July this year to expand the company's corporate real estate services (CRES) function and service delivery platform across Africa. Turner will be taking on the role as general manager, Global Occupier Services Africa at Cushman & Wakefield Excellerate.

Jonathan Turner, GM: Global Occupier Services Africa, Cushman & Wakefield Excellerate

The approach to occupier services in Africas emerging markets is immature, partially because of the way the markets operate and also because local entities are less exposed to the innovative developments in international markets, points out Turner.

This is especially evident in the way commercial occupiers occupy their space. The industry in Africa is behind the curve with regards to how global corporates are adopting workplace initiatives to support business strategy; such as using activity-based workspaces to gain greater productivity, attract and retain the best talent and optimise the cost profile of their occupied space through greater utilisation and densification. Also, in promoting co-working spaces, bringing together customers, suppliers and complimentary businesses in a shared working environment to promote synergies and enhance innovation.

Workplace strategies

The development of workplace strategies that are a better fit for current and future business needs is one of the opportunities that Turner has identified. Of course, these strategies must be tailored to the local market and applied to the physical provision of properties. Any solution needs to be contextually relevant.

Turner believes Africa is a hotbed for new and different solutions that could see it leapfrog the way established markets have evolved. African markets can potentially move to some of the next solutions much faster - just look at mobile banking in Kenya, says Turner. With technology in the workplace growing exponentially, the ability to for the built environment to embrace and leverage off technology is crucial to ensure that buildings remain relevant, advises Turner.

Challenges of doing business in Africa

He concedes the region is not without challenges, which include issues around transparency, political stability, corruption, the slow pace of business and infrastructure. We see countries that want to attract capital and business investment putting solutions in place for some of these obstacles. That said, investors in emerging markets still expect greater returns to reflect the risk that they are potentially taking.

A big myth is that it is cheaper to do business in Africa. Not so, says Turner, especially for real estate. Rental levels on the continent can be a surprise to international business, especially with the difference in the quality of property compared with international benchmarks. Another financial consideration to keep in mind is that rents are payable annually in advance in some territories.

Then theres currency fluctuations and also forex regulations that can make it difficult to extract money and local access to finance at sensible rates.

There is a real and exciting need for occupier services in African markets. With our long-established in-country relationships combined with our experience of working with local, regional and international corporates, we understand this need and can meet it with the best solutions backed by the knowledge and experience of working across multiple markets, concludes Turner.
The Gauteng Provincial Government says it had successfully processed beyond 150,000 applications for the 2018 school year registration, by lunch time, on Wednesday, 3 May 2017.

The provincial government released a statement, saying about 154,916 applications around lunch time, which is almost half of the 350,000 applications expected for the 2018 school year.

Reaching this milestone in one and half days is significant and justifies the shift to online application. With manual applications this milestone would be reached in at least three months, said the provincial government.

It said the success can be attributed to the modifications and improvement made to the system, including but not limited to the establishment of 65 admissions centres across Gauteng.

Still we have identified few minor errors on the system, including incomplete waiting list numbers, parents receiving WAB list numbers - meaning that addresses could not be found, and isolated cases where the system show schools far from the home or work address of the parent.

However all of these have been resolved. The department will re-issue SMS's to parents with incomplete reference numbers and WAB list numbers, said the provincial government.

The provincial government said its technicians are working on the system 24-hours round the clock.

Should parents still be experiencing problems, the provincial government said, they are welcome to send the nature of the issue to az.vog.gnetuag@ofniedg or call 0800 000 879.

Parents are continuing to be assisted via the 65 operation centres. They are reminded to submit documents to the school within seven days, which includes:

ID copies of parent/guardian



Learner Birth certificate



Latest School report (Grade 7)



Proof of work or home address



Immunisation card (Grade 1 Applicants)



Proof of guardianship of the learner, if not biological parents



Parent/ Guardian passport/Asylum Seekers permit for non-South African Citizen

Parents that have not yet applied for Grade 1 and 8 must do so as soon as possible. The closing date is the 12 June at midnight. Parents with learners in Grade 2-7 and Grade 9-11 are reminded of re-enrolment at the school, said the provincial government.
Wesgro has proudly partnered with We Are Africa 2017 , a carefully curated collection of high-end African travel brands, world-class global buyers, and savvy international press, challenging outdated, negative and monotone perceptions of the continent through their individual stories. We Are Africa is a crucial date and networking opportunity on the tourism calendar and Wesgro couldn't be prouder to be one of the conference's partners. We are excited by this year's tremendous turnout and hope this will translate into another record-breaking year for Cape Tourism," said Wesgro CEO Tim Harris.

Wesgro CEO Tim Harris

Hosted at Cape Town Stadium, Greenpoint, this year's show features over 700 African travel professionals, 300 buyers, and 270 exhibitors. It also features the We Are Africa Innovation Awards which celebrates those who are breaking boundaries in the African travel industry and promoting global consciousness.

Wesgro premiered a new advert that showcases some of Cape Town and the Western Capes most luxurious tourism offers. This is the first in a series that aims to entice tourists from established and emerging high-income regions such as the United Arab Emirates to experience the full range of attractions across the province. Other Cape companies operating in this market who would like to feature in Wesgros next advert are encouraged to contact us.

Were delighted to be partnering with Wesgro as the official partner of our press programme and together we will be bringing 15 highly international travel editors to Cape Town for We Are Africa 2017. We look forward to immersing these influential storytellers in not just the event but also as much of Cape Town and the Western Cape as possible so that they can take incredible stories back to their readers and further increase tourism arrivals in the region, added Serge Dive, CEO, Beyond Luxury Media.
Serco has invested in a new injection polyurethane foaming plant at its factory in Durban which is expected to improve the thermal properties of the insulated panels the company uses for its refrigerated truck bodies and trailers.

Managing director of Serco, Clinton Holcroft says there is a continuing trend to improve control of the cold chain using telematics and remote temperature monitoring systems.

Sercos long-standing partnership with telematics company Ikhaya Automation has kept the company up to speed with the latest innovations.

Stringent health laws on food safety made traceability in the cold chain essential. Added to this, the current challenging economic climate meant transporters and retailers were under increasing pressure to find ways of reducing waste and return, as well as to provide accurate data in the event of insurance claims for rejected loads which are out of temperature specification.

Temperature monitoring solutions becoming the norm

Holcroft adds that, recently, local standards had been increased whereby pharmaceutical products now had to be transported in insulated vehicles. This follows trends in Europe whereby temperature monitoring solutions are becoming the norm for perishable goods and pharmaceutical products.

Having a web-based temperature monitoring system, allows transporters to be able to take immediate action should the temperature vary from the set level. Spin-offs include reduced risk of loss as early detection can assist in resolving problems proactively.

The system, developed by Ikhaya for refrigerated vehicles, allows operators to set pre-determined temperature zones for each load and provides alerts via email or SMS.

History of data, graphical reports

The system records a history of data and generates graphical reports either on request or at set intervals to email for easy analysis. A major advantage of the system is peace of mind and the relatively low cost compared to other products.

The alerts that the system sends out when things go wrong are vital, said Holcroft. For example, lets say a customer wants a load of fresh produce transported between Durban and Johannesburg to arrive at a temperature of between -18C and -20C. If there is no monitoring system and something goes amiss causing the temperature to be between -12C and -15C on arrival, the customer either rejects the load and the transporter has an insurance claim against it or the customer accepts the consignment and possibly the shelf life is compromised meaning the retailer ends up with losses while the customer loses confidence in the store.

Holcroft says Serco builds a large quantity of refrigerated trucks and trailers for large retailers and supermarkets such as Shoprite which uses trailers fitted with insulated roll over doors and multi-temperature load dividers. Shoprite is very aware of maintaining the cold chain efficiently, and are also in the process of installing temperature monitoring solutions.

The new panels are already being manufactured and they will set new standards compared to previous, he concludes.
Johnny is nie dood nie examines the impact of Johannes Kerkorrel's suicide and the Voelvry movement on the personal and political development of a generation of Afrikaners; Peter Quill aka Star-Lord and his gang of eccentric characters patrol and protect the universe in Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2; an aspiring young actress and her ambitious young driver struggle hopefully with the absurd eccentricities of the wildly unpredictable billionaire Howard Hughes in Rules Don't Apply; The Salesman, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film this year, explores how unexpected cracks can form in the foundations of a seemingly happy marriage; the documentary, The Curious World of Hieronymus Bosch uncovers the fascinating world of the medieval Dutch artist; in Love By Chance two aspiring actors from South Africa try to break into an extremely difficult and over saturated Hollywood industry; and the European Film Festival represents 12 countries.

Johnny is nie dood nie

It's 2002 and four friends are having a braai on the Sunday after Johannes Kerkorrel's suicide. They reminisce about their days as students in Stellenbosch during the time of the Voelvry tour in the late 80's. They were young, drunken rebels saturated in the protest music of Kerkorrel, Koos Kombuis and Bernoldus Niemand. Now, they have become disillusioned suburbanites. The death of their varsity friend, Johnny remains a mystery and still haunts all four of them, even after all these years.

Johnny is nie dood nie examines the impact of the Voelvry movement on the personal and political development of a generation of Afrikaners, as well as the havoc the Bush War inflicted on the lives of thousands of young army conscripts.

The Voelvry (Outlawed) Movement was a group of South African musicians who rebelled against the autocratic dictates of the apartheid government and allied themselves around the group called the Reformed Blues Band (GBB) a deliberate reference to the Reformed Church.

The film project was initiated in 2015 after acclaimed theatre director, Christiaan Olwagen completed playwright Malan Steyns efforts of adapting the theatre script (Eat Everything, referring to the GBB album, Eet Kreef, written in 2003) to a screenplay. The film is already seen as a breakthrough in South African cinema and would appeal to an international audience because of its generational theme. All over the world a younger generation of artists will try and make sense of the sins of their fathers to understand the world they live in.

Guardians of the Galaxy 2

Picking up where Guardians of the Galaxy  2014s highest grossing film of the summer  left off, Marvel Studios Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues the action-packed, irreverent, epic space adventures of Peter Quill aka Star-Lord and his gang of eccentric characters as they patrol and protect the universe, doing mercenary work in the wake of the popularity and fame they garnered from saving Xandar.

Set to the backdrop of Awesome Mixtape #2, the story follows the team as they fight to keep their newfound family together while traversing the outer reaches of the cosmos to unravel the mysteries of Peter Quills true parentage. Old foes become new allies and fan-favourite characters from the classic comics will come to our heroes aid as the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to expand.

Written and directed by James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy, Dawn of the Dead): It was truly gratifying and fulfilling that the Guardians characters spoke so profoundly to so many people all over the world, says Gunn. At the core of the film, the Guardians are a group of outsiders who come together and find a way to make it work. I think thats what speaks to such a wide array of people. Its a great feeling when kids come up and say they loved the film and that their parents and grandparents loved it as well. These characters were able to connect to all generations around the world from Thailand to South America to London.

Rules Dont Apply

An aspiring young actress (Lily Collins) and her ambitious young driver (Alden Ehrenreich) struggle hopefully with the absurd eccentricities of the wildly unpredictable billionaire Howard Hughes (Warren Beatty) for whom they work. Its Hollywood, 1958. Small town beauty queen, songwriter, and devout Baptist virgin, Marla Mabrey (Collins), under contract to the infamous Howard Hughes (Beatty), arrives in Los Angeles. At the airport, she meets her driver Frank Forbes (Ehrenreich), who is engaged to be married to his 7th grade sweetheart and is a deeply religious Methodist.

Their instant attraction not only puts their religious convictions to the test, but also defies Hughes #1 rule: no employee is allowed to have any relationship whatsoever with a contract actress. Hughes behaviour intersects with Marla and Frank in very separate and unexpected ways, and as they are drawn deeper into his bizarre world, their values are challenged and their lives are changed.

The unconventional comedy offers a window into the often surreal realm of Howard Hughes, the billionaire movie mogul, famed aviator and legendary eccentric  who was both a rule-maker for many young stars and a rule-breaker - challenging the industrys social mores and restrictive moral code. Elements from the real Hughes life are woven into a fictional comic tale that explores the changing landscape for women, the meaning of love and the transformative power of redemption and family.

Writer-director Warren Beatty, who admits to a long-time amusement with Hughes, says: He could do whatever he wanted to do but there was a certain level of Puritanism that he never quite kicked, but devised a story that utilized Hughes mystery and impact while avoiding a telling of the tycoons life. I didnt write a biopic of Howard Hughes at all, says Beatty. This is more a love story of two young people in 1958 who happen to be working for Hughes  a love story that explores the sometimes comical and sometimes sad consequences of American puritanism in the late 50s and early 60s when I first came to Hollywood.

The Salesman

This characteristically taut drama explores how unexpected cracks can form in the foundations of a seemingly happy marriage.

In The Salesman, the future looks promising for amateur actors Emad (Shahab Hosseini), a teacher, and his wife Rana (Taraneh Alidoosti), as they prepare for opening night on their production of Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman. However, when dangerous work on a neighbouring building forces the couple to leave their home and move into a new apartment, a case of mistaken identity sees a shocking and violent incident throw their lives into turmoil.

What follows is a series of wrong turns that creates a simmering tension between husband and wife that threatens to destroy their relationship irreparably.

Farhadis study on the potent power of pride, guilt and shame treads the line between arresting drama and revenge thriller with masterful ease.

Iranian-French drama film directed by Asghar Farhadi. A high school teacher (Shahab Hosseini) seeks revenge against the perpetrator who attacked his wife (Taraneh Alidoosti) in their apartment. The young couple play the lead roles in a local rendition of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. Meanwhile, their personal relationship takes a hit after moving into a house that was previously inhabited by a woman who allegedly pursued a career in prostitution.

Directed by Asghar Farhadi, The Salesman won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at this years Oscars, in addition to awards for Best Screenplay and Best Actor at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. This is the second Academy Award win for Farhadi, who won it previously for A Separation in 2012.

The Curious World of Hieronymus Bosch

The next art documentary in the Exhibition on Screen season uncovers the fascinating world of medieval Dutch artist, Hieronymus Bosch. After 500 years, Boschs paintings still shock and fascinate us, and this Exhibition on Screen documentary delves into the vivid imagination of this true visionary. Who was Hieronymus Bosch? Why do his strange and fantastical paintings resonate with people now more than ever? How does he bridge the medieval and Renaissance worlds? Where did his unconventional and timeless creations come from? The answers to all these questions and so much more, will be revealed in this remarkable new film from Exhibition on Screen, directed by David Bickerstaff.

The Curious World of Hieronymus Bosch features the exhibition Jheronimus Bosch  Visions of Genius at Het Noordbrabants Museum in the southern Netherlands  the largest ever Bosch retrospective, with 36 of his 44 surviving masterpieces on display. This amazing exhibition, which brought the majority of Boschs paintings and drawings together for the first time to his home town of Den Bosch, attracted almost half a million art lovers from across the world  and museums opening hours extended to 1am on days to accommodate the phenomenal demand.

Accompanied by expert insights from the exhibitions curators and leading cultural critics, the film delves into Boschs fascinating life and explores the details and stories within his works  including close-up views of the curiosities hidden within his brimming canvases, from cannibalistic clergymen to three-headed birds  as never before seen.

The Curious World of Hieronymus Bosch releases on Saturday, 06 May for four screenings only: 06, 10 and 11 May at 19:30, and on 07 May at 14:30  at Rosebank Nouveau in Johannesburg, Brooklyn Nouveau in Pretoria, Ster-Kinekor Gateway Nouveau in Durban and at V&A Nouveau in Cape Town. Bookings are now open, and the running time of this production is 100 minutes.

Love By Chance

A film about two aspiring actors from South Africa who are independently chasing their dreams in the US, trying to break into an extremely difficult and over saturated Hollywood industry. They meet by chance in Atlanta, Georgia, the Hollywood of the South, aka Hotlanta, but between the everyday struggle of auditioning, dealing with daily rejection, self-doubt, financial hardship, crazy friends and a mad dating scene, there is little time for love.

The film is produced by Atlanta-based, independent and experienced producer Ty Johnston-Chavis, co-producer Errol Sadler, associate producer Cristina Davis, line producer James Few, and producer Davis, along with the South African producers behind the hit romcom Mrs Right Guy, Dumi Gumbi and Catharina Weinek.

The strong male cast includes Lawrences co-competitor Nicholas Nkuna, and US co-stars, Clifton Powell, of Ray, Rush Hour and Grand Theft Auto; and E. Roger Mitchell who co-starred alongside Denzel Washington in Flight and Equalizer. South African actors Atandwa Kani, Altovise Lawrence, Nicholas Nkuna and Denise Ziman star in this new comedy directed by US based Samad Davis.

Director Davis describes Love by Chance as a pioneering film because it brings together US and South African talent and bridges cultural and continental divides against the backdrop of a comedy.

As an African-American, I am fuelled by my vision of bridging cultural gaps between Africa and the United States through the power of film and television, says director Samad Davis. The Top Actor Africa brand was built on this premise and the film Love by Chance embodies that mantra. Being able to work with the right South African and international talent, both in front of and behind the camera, is priceless.

The European Film Festival

The European Film Festival is back for the 4th time at Ster-Kinekors Nouveau theatres in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban from 5 to 14 May.

The line-up of films represents 12 countries, including Ireland and Croatia for the first time. Each film reflects the skills and take on the world of filmmakers who are not limited by national borders.

The 2017 selection is a mixed pot in terms of film themes which span from animal rights to family dynamics. Dramas and documentaries, comedies, tales of grief and a childrens adventure sit side by side on this eclectic and exciting programme.

Click here to read more about the festival.

For more information on the latest releases and standing a chance of winning a Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 movie hamper, click www.writingstudio.co.za here
A new factory is set to start assembling motorcycles at Kigali Special Economic Zone, a move expected to reduce the cost of motorcycles in the country.

 nupean pruprong via 123RF

The factory, Rwanda Motorcycle Company (RMC), is expected to start assembling the motorcycles this month. Motorcycles are a common means of transport in Rwanda and are efficient and cost effective.

The initial investment in the assembling plant is $1.2 million but more is expected to be invested as the production grows, according to officials.

According to McPhee Christopher, the company director, the goal is to promote 'Made in Rwanda' products by engaging local steel companies and other manufacturing companies to supply materials.

In an interview last week, Christopher said that all is set for them to start assembling motorcycles of different brands in the next two weeks.

First target

"Our first target is taxi-motos which will be the largest volume, we will also target government officials and non-government organisations," he said, noting that some of their motorcycles are good for traffic patrol.

Containers with parts from various factories in China that will be assembled are currently in Tanzania awaiting clearance to be transported to Rwanda, according to Christopher.

The factory is owned by a USA investor.

Christopher said that the company was attracted by the political will to ease foreign investment and the wider market in the country.

The motorcycles will be sold in Kigali and were specially designed and tested to suit Rwandan roads, sale after-market parts, and mechanical services, he said.

Prime market

"We thought the market was prime, we can offer a better product for the country. We have various parts and a reliable engine and the price is going to be lower than those already on the market because we are producing them here," he added.

The initial production capacity will be 130 motorcycles per month but with plans to expand in six months to produce the same quantity (130 motorcycles) per week, according to Christopher.

"This is not something everyone can do, it is done in China and in other developed countries and we want to bring it here, we will hire competent mechanical technicians," he said.

The company hopes to create jobs for over 100 local technicians, with a target to sell to locals after five years through employees' buyout system. The cost of the motorcycles ranges from Rwf1.2 million to Rwf3 million, according to Louis Masengesho, the factory marketing manager.

Boosting 'Made in Rwanda'

According to Christopher, there are plans to forge partnerships with local factories so that they start using their metal products instead of importing them.

"We are hoping to partner with other factories so that we can get materials which are locally made such as hand bars and some other pieces. For instance, we can have bars bent here and if we can do all the tube pieces, plastic pieces and painting, this will be a big portion of the motorcycles," he noted.

Jean d'Amour Nshimiyimana, an employee of the company and student from the Integrated Polytechnic Regional Centre (IPRC) Kigali, said the factory will not only help them get jobs but also acquire advanced mechanical skills.

"We hope we will learn from experienced technicians and we will be able to make locally made products which will be part of pieces to be assembled. This company is not here only to help us earn money but it is another school," he said.

There are seven motorcycle brands all given Kinyarwanda names that define their strengths such as Ingenzi, Indakangwa, Indahigwa, Imparage, Ifarasi and Inzovu.
Russian mining company Norilsk Nickel says it intends to institute legal action against the Botswanan government to recover the $271m (plus damages and other costs) that they are owed for the sale of a 50% interest in the Nkomati mine in South Africa and $6.4m for the sale of the Tati mine in Botswana.

The action relates to what Norilsk regards as reckless trading by BCL Limited and Investments Proprietary Limited (BCL). The government is the principle shareholder in BCL through its corporate investment vehicle MDCB.

Reckless trading

In October 2014, Norilsk agreed to sell its operations in Africa to BCL for a total price of $337m, though that amount was later reduced when Norilsk agreed to price concessions requested by BCL and the government.

The Nkomati deal, announced by BCL as a strategic priority as part of its high-profile Polaris II diversification and investment strategy, was designed to guarantee the long-term future of BCLs operations by securing the supply of concentrate to its smelter in Selebi Phikwe, Botswana. The government was involved in or approved all material decisions relating to this transaction.

In October 2016, Norilsk learned through the media that BCL had been placed into provisional liquidation by the government in an apparent attempt to avoid its obligations. It says it had tried on numerous occasions, and through numerous channels, to reach a satisfactory and amicable resolution, but none has been forthcoming.

Norilsk has therefore been left with little option but to pursue a resolution through legal channels, the company said in a statement.

In its claim, Norilsk asserts that the business of BCL has been carried on recklessly and that the government was party to that recklessness through the actions of individual ministers, MDCB and the government-appointed directors on BCL's board.

Assurances

In addition, it was also aware of BCL's financial situation throughout, and knew or ought to have known that there was no reasonable prospect of it being able to pay the amounts due to Norilsk without support from the government.

Norilsk was also provided with assurances throughout the negotiations for the deal that the government was fully supportive of the Nkomati transaction, and that BCL would perform its obligations in full. Yet, when the time for completion of the deal came, it became apparent that the government had had no intention of supporting BCL and had in fact taken steps which meant that BCL would not be able to perform its obligations.

The notice was served under section 4 of the State Proceedings (civil actions by or against government or public officers) Act and was served on the attorney general of Botswana, the minister of mineral resources, green technology and energy security, and the minister of finance.
WASHINGTON - Facebook said Wednesday it is hiring an extra 3,000 staff to root out violent content as the social media giant faces scrutiny for a series of killings and suicides broadcast on its platform.



"If we're going to build a safe community, we need to respond quickly," chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said on his Facebook page.

"We're working to make these videos easier to report so we can take the right action sooner -- whether that's responding quickly when someone needs help or taking a post down."

The 3,000 new recruits, added over the coming year, will increase by two thirds the size of Facebook's community operations team, which currently numbers 4,500.

Zuckerberg's announcement came a week after a 20-year-old Thai man broadcast live video on the world's most popular social media platform, showing him killing his baby daughter before committing suicide.

The previous week, a US man dubbed the "Facebook Killer" fatally shot himself after three days of a frantic nationwide manhunt.

"We've seen people hurting themselves and others on Facebook -- either live or in video posted later," Zuckerberg said. "It's heartbreaking, and I've been reflecting on how we can do better for our community."

The additional reviewers will "help us get better at removing things we don't allow on Facebook like hate speech and child exploitation," he said.

"And we'll keep working with local community groups and law enforcement who are in the best position to help someone if they need it -- either because they're about to harm themselves, or because they're in danger from someone else."

Critics say the social network has been too slow to react to online violence, and questioned whether Facebook Live -- a strategic area of development for the company -- should be disabled, after several cases in which it was used to broadcast rapes.

Zuckerberg said Facebook has been working on better technology that can identify violent or inappropriate content -- and that its efforts to screen for acts of violence appeared to be paying off.

"Just last week, we got a report that someone on Live was considering suicide," he said.

"We immediately reached out to law enforcement, and they were able to prevent him from hurting himself. In other cases, we weren't so fortunate."
According to Stuart Chait, executive chairman for Land Equity Group, with the ever-growing popularity of Cape Town, and in particular the Atlantic Seaboard, the destination continues to attract foreign investment.

The Iron Works in Woodstock

While ever-increasing property prices are a hot topic of discussion among locals, the international market has not flinched as foreign currency investors snap up properties.

"The listed property sector and booming tourism market are core drivers for increased international investment sentiment," says Chait. "Investment is driven by investor mandates and sentiment, risk adjusted to factor in political instability, and currency risk. Essentially, investors have targeted sub-Saharan Africa as a key investment node for the next 20-30 years, and although South Africas growth is behind some of the other sub-Saharan countries, nodes like Cape Towns CBD and the Atlantic Seaboard have seen exceptional growth."

Land Equity Group has experienced firsthand the increased focus from international markets for these properties in the past six months, selling out several developments including the Ironworks, a R250m 140-apartment block and The Docklands, a R350m, 134-apartment block which sold out to co-developers before even being taken to market. More than 90% of the Zero-2-One Tower, a R1.5bn mixed use development in Cape Towns CBD, set to the be the tallest building the city, has already been sold primarily to international investors, with takers for the balance already queuing up.

"More than one third of our recent sales have been to foreign investors from the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, France and Italy who are now focusing heavily on the Cape."

Mixed-use developments

"Investors both local and international are drawn to mixed-use developments as they stay 'alive' 24 hours a day, and people are drawn to this energy, compared with for example an office block which is only active 10 hours a day. These developments are also well suited to modern life in that they provide the ability to live, work, exercise and entertain all within a secure environment."

Cape Town has been listed as one of the top cities worldwide on the Global Cities of the Future winners 2016/17 for foreign direct investment (FDI) strategy, something Chait believes will continue. "The Cape Town International Convention Centre extension is in its final stage of completion and this will bring more conventions and more delegates from all industries to Cape Town."

"In the listed property sector, investors are chasing yield and growth. Even with the currency hedge, the yield in South Africas listed property sector is still very attractive. Leases here have escalations ranging from 7.5-9%, unlike most other developed countries where they are fixed and have rent reviews every five years."

Chait believe Cape Town still offers excellent value in comparison to other international cities such as New York or Singapore and he foresees investor sentiment improving and continuing to grow.
Cape Town City has released its revised draft by-law on outdoor advertising but the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry sees it as being still too complicated and full of unnecessary detail.

One example is the regulations for neighbourhood watch sign boards, said Janine Myburgh, president of the chamber. According to the by-law, the boards have to be 580mm wide and 680mm high. Why be so exact? Why not simply make the dimensions 60cm by 70cm and be done with it?

The regulations also stated that the board could not be illuminated.

Why? If any sign should be illuminated it is surely the anti-crime signs in residential areas where some of the worst dangers occur during the dark hours of the night. The chamber believes that these signs should be as visible as possible so that they would act as a deterrent to criminals.

In her letter to the council, Myburgh also complained about the insistence on the portrait shape of the sign and asked why it could not be turned on its side to give it a landscape shape. In addition, what about a triangular sign which would emphasis danger? Please leave some scope for creativity.

She was surprised to see that the council had even come up with exact sized for restaurant chalkboards. Why? Surely, this matter could be left to common sense. The city would make a laughing stock of itself if it tried to prosecute a restaurant because its chalkboard menu was 10cm too wide.

The chamber said it understood the need for some form of control on outdoor advertising but it was difficult to escape the impression that "control freaks" were at work and there was too much emphasis on petty and excessive regulation.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is outraged by the 10 year prison sentence issued to Ahmed Abba, a Hausa-language reporter for Radio France Internationale, by Yaounde military court in Cameroon.

 rudall30 via 123RF

A judge announced the sentence after Abba, who has been detained for the past 20 months, was convicted at the 17th hearing in his trial, on 20 April. The journalist has also been condemned to a massive fine on a charge of laundering the proceeds of a terrorist act. The fine imposed by the court is 55 million CFA francs (about 85,000 euros).

This sentence is outrageous, said Clea Kahn-Sriber, the head of RSF's Africa desk. After months of judicial persecution, this journalist has been given an utterly disproportionate sentence although the prosecution produced no hard evidence. This is a clearly political decision designed to scare all journalists, especially those who might try to cover the security situation in northern Cameroon.

Arrested on 30 July 2015 in connection with his coverage of attacks by the terrorist group Boko Haram in the north of the country, Abba was held incommunicado for the first seven months, until finally taken before a judge until on 29 February 2016, and was tortured during the period spent incommunicado.

After the trial began, the military court repeatedly ignored the requests for Abba's release on bail that his lawyers submitted at each of the 16 hearings prior to the last one, at which he was convicted. Following yesterday's sentencing, Abba's lawyers announced that they would appeal.

In a statement yesterday, Radio France Internationale said it was stunned by the verdict and pointed out that it had provided irrefutable evidence that Abba never condoned terrorism in his reporting. Abba just did his job as a journalist, RFI director Cecile Megie said.

During the trial, Abba's lawyers repeatedly accused the court and the prosecution of procedural abuses, especially at the hearing on 6 April, and insisted that expert reports requested by the prosecution were inadmissible.

On 20 April, at the 18th and final hearing before sentencing, Abba was found not guilty of condoning terrorism but was convicted on the charges of failing to report a terrorist act to the authorities and laundering the proceeds of a terrorist act. The prosecution had requested a life sentence on the latter charge.

The charge of failing to report a terrorist act was based on a visit that Abba made to a locality that had been attacked by Boko Haram. But Abba went to this locality with local officials, who found out about the attack at the same time as him. The other charge, laundering the proceeds of a terrorist act, is based solely on the flimsiest of evidence dating back to 2010.

Cameroon is ranked 126th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2016 World Press Freedom Index.

This statement was originally published on rsf.org on 25 April 2017.
Press freedom is being increasingly compromised in Southern Africa, where journalists and media owners are being targeted for exposing the truth.

Amnesty International, in marking World Press Freedom Day yesterday, said the intimidation of journalists sent a frightening and intimidating message that made reporters censor themselves.

"From Angola to Zambia we have seen disturbingly brazen attacks on press freedom which have a chilling effect on those working in the media.

"Across the region, journalists have been targeted simply for exposing the truth," said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International's regional director for Southern Africa.

Amnesty International cited cases in which journalists have been shot, intimidated, harassed and charged.

South Africa has witnessed two such high-profile incidents in the past month alone.

Sunday Times investigative journalist Mzilikazi wa Afrika was threatened for his reporting on lucrative tenders awarded by state power utility Eskom.

He was given 24-hour security after the newspaper received credible information that his house was being watched and his life was in danger.

Katharine Child, a journalist for The Times newspaper, was bruised after being manhandled by a person who identified himself as a policeman at a religious event hosted by the Gupta family.

Elsewhere in Africa, Lesotho Times editor Lloyd Mutungamiri narrowly survived a shooting after being attacked by unknown gunmen last year.

In Botswana, two journalists from the INK Centre for Investigative Journalism were briefly detained and threatened with death by plainclothes security agents after they tried to access an area where a private holiday home was being built for President Ian Khama.

The UN General Assembly declared May 3 World Press Freedom Day to highlight the importance of press freedom and to remind global authorities of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression.

"When journalists are constantly harassed, intimidated and jailed simply for doing their work, it sends a frightening message to other journalists - causing them to self-censor and undermining the whole profession," said Amnesty's Muchena.
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The deadly BRAHMOS LACM hitting the land target in "top attack" mode during the test firing. An Indian Army photo/Twitter

NEW DELHI (PTI): For the second consecutive day, the Indian Army on Wednesday successfully test fired an advanced version of the BRAHMOS land-attack cruise missile in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.



The test firing was carried out by the Army's elite 'Strike One Corps' in full operational land-to-land configurations at its full-range, the Army said.



"This is the fifth consecutive time when the Block-III version of BRAHMOS LACM (land attack cruise missile) has been successfully launched and hit the land-based target in 'top- attack' mode, an incredible feat not achieved by any other weapon system of its genre," the Army said in a statement.



The test-firing came amid escalating tension between India and Pakistan following beheading of two Indian soldiers by Pakistani military.



The long-range tactical weapon was tested from the same location which was used in Tuesday's test firing.



The army said the multi-role missile "successfully hit" the land-based target with desired precision, demonstrating its accuracy of less than one metre.



"These successful firings of the supersonic cruise missile were carried out in full operational land-to-land configurations from Mobile Autonomous Launchers (MAL) at its full-range," the Army said.



The Indian Army, which became the first land force in the world to deploy the BRAHMOS in 2007, has raised several regiments of this formidable weapon.



Jointly developed by India and Russia, the multi-platform BRAHMOS is capable of being launched from land, sea and air against surface and sea-based targets.






BEIJING (PTI): China's first domestically-built large passenger jet, touted to be a competitor to Boeing 737 and Airbus 320, is all set to make its maiden flight on May 5, it was announced Wednesday.



The C919 will depart from Shanghai Pudong International Airport on its first flight on Friday, the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) said.



"If weather conditions are not suitable, the maiden flight will be rescheduled," COMAC said.



The C919 signals the country's entry into the global aviation market as a strong competitor, analysts said.



In 2007, plans to develop a Chinese-built large passenger jet were approved by the government. In November 2015, the first C919 jet rolled off the assembly line.



"Engineers have completed over 118 tests and are prepared for the maiden flight," COMAC said.



The plane passed expert technical appraisal this March.



It has 158 seats and a standard range of 4,075 kilometers. COMAC has received 570 orders from 23 foreign and domestic customers, including from China's national carrier Air China, and leasing company GE Capital Aviation Service, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.



Both Airbus and Boeing have assembly plants in China considering the growing demand for new aircraft.



Airbus had delivered 153 aircraft to Chinese operators in 2016, its seventh consecutive year of more than 100 deliveries, Airbus China said earlier this year.



A recent Boeing forecast said that China will need 6,810 new aircraft in the next 20 years at an estimated cost of USD one trillion.



By the end of 2016, twenty-one customers had placed orders for more than 500 C919 aircraft, and COMAC expects to sell at least 2,000.



China's first regional commercial aircraft, the ARJ21, began commercial operation in June 2016.




ISRO's communication satellite GSAT-9 on-board the GSLV-F09 rocket lifts off from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota on Friday. A PTI photo

BENGALURU (PTI): In a first, India on Friday successfully launched a South Asia Satellite to provide communications and disaster support to neighbouring countries, a space initiative described as a "giant and historic step" in boosting regional cooperation.



Giving a fillip to India's new age space diplomacy and "neighbourhood first" policy, the Rs 235 crore satellite GSAT-9 built as part of a Rs 450 crore project and touted as an 'invaluable gift' to India's neighbours is seen as a significant move in countering Chinese interests in the region. The project is funded entirely by India.



The cuboid-shaped 2,230 kg satellite named SAS will enable a full range of services to the neighbours, including in telecommunication, television, direct-to-home, VSATs, tele-education and telemedicine. The South Asian Satellite (SAS) mission life is 12 years.



Seven of the eight SAARC countries  India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Maldives  are part of the ambitious project. Pakistan has opted out of the project, saying it has its own space programme.



Soaring majestically in clear weather, the GSLV-F09 rocket blasted off at 1657 IST on Friday from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 350 km from Bengaluru, and injected the satellite into orbit 17 minutes later in a flawless flight.



"The launch of South Asian Satellite tells us that even the sky is not the limit when it comes to regional cooperation," Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the leaders of the six nations celebrating the success of the launch during a video conference.



Modi earlier took to Twitter to announce the successful launch of the south Asian satellite, which is his brainchild, calling it a "historic moment."



"It opens up new horizons of engagement. This will also greatly benefit South Asia & our region's progress," he tweeted.



Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena, Maldives President Abdulla Yameen and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani also addressed through videoconferencing.



Lauding Modi's vision, the leaders hailed the mission as a giant step in strengthening regional cooperation.



The launch took place away from the media glare, with journalists kept at bay and a reticent ISRO keeping details of the mission and the programme under wraps.



In Sriharikota, ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar said, "We have just transported South Asia Satellite from Earth to geostationary transfer orbit using our geosynchronous launch vehicle mark II that makes use of indigenously developed cryogenic engine."



He said the satellite operations and control will be carried out from ISRO's Master Control Facility at Hassan, Karnataka and that in the coming few weeks the satellite will reach its destination-geostationary orbit.



GSLV-F09 mission is the 11th flight of GSLV, called a "naughty boy" as it has a patchy record with half of its mission ending in failures in the past.



Built by the Indian Space Research Organisation, the SAS rode piggyback on the 50m-tall rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle GSLV-F09 with the indigenous Cryogenic powering the Upper Stage. GSLV-F09 mission is the 11th flight of GSLV.



GSAT-9 is a Geostationary Communication Satellite providing various communication applications in Ku-band with coverage over South Asian countries.



It can also provide secure hotlines among the participating nations, which will be useful for management of disasters like earthquake, cyclone, floods and tsunami.



Ghani described the launch as "South Asia's giant step towards regional cooperation" and said it makes the region's integration a reality.



"Today marks the day where South Asia moves from speaking about desirability of regional integration to making it a reality. The gap between talk and action is bridged today."



After coming to power in May 2014, Prime Minister Modi had asked ISRO scientists to develop a SAARC satellite that can be dedicated to neighbouring countries as a "gift from India."



On his 'Mann ki baat' programme on Sunday last, Modi had announced that the South Asia Satellite would be India's "priceless gift" to its neighbouring countries.



"On May 5, India will launch the South Asia Satellite.



The benefits of this satellite will go a long way in meeting the developmental needs of the countries participating in this project," Modi had said.



Extending his "Sabka saath, sabka vikaas" concept, SAS is part of Modi's 'Neighbourhood First' policy focusing on India's South Asian neighbours.



The previous launch of communication satellite GSAT-8 was on May 21, 2011 from Kourou, French Guiana.



South Asia is considered prone to tropical cyclones, heat waves, earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides and floods.



The launch is considered significant as it is part of Space diplomacy to extend India's footprint over the region.



It comes close on the heels of a record breaking launch of 104 mini satellites by ISRO with a single rocket in February.




A file photo.

MOSCOW (TASS-DEFENSE): The Project 971 nuclear-powered attack submarine Vepr equipped with missiles and torpedoes will return to service with the Russian Navy's submarine forces after repair and upgrade by the end of 2017, as reported by the Russian Ministry of Defence's Department of Information and Mass Communications.



"As part of the programme to maintain the capabilities of nuclear-powered submarines of the existing projects at a proper level, the Nerpa Shipyard, part of the Zvezdochka Ship Repair Center, will hand over the nuclear attack submarine Vepr to the Navy before the end of 2017," according to the department.



The refurbished submarine will carry upgraded systems and mechanisms. After testing, Vepr will keep carrying out tasks as part of the Northern Fleet's nuclear attack submarine force.



The Project 971 nuclear-powered submarines equipped with missiles and torpedoes (NATO classification: Akula class) belong to the third generation of submarines and are designed to destroy surface, underwater and ground targets using 533mm and 650mm torpedoes and cruise missiles. The submarine can use the 65-76-type torpedoes, anti-submarine missile systems, and Granat cruise missiles (NATO classification: SS-N-21 Sampson).



The boat is fitted with a large amount of equipment, including the MGK-540 Skat-3 sonar system. The submarine features an increased level of acoustic stealth, typical of the third-generation boats. By this indicator, the Project 971 submarine is very close to US Navy's Los Angeles class boats.


Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/05/2017 (2015 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon students are getting a special view of the ocean this week as the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centres Aquavan rolled into Westman as part of its first-ever cross-Canada road trip in celebration of Canada 150.

Students at Linden Lanes School and Meadows School got a first-hand look at sea stars, sea cucumbers and crabs from the Pacific Coast on Wednesday  learning about the different species as well as the impact humans have on rivers, lakes and oceans and what can be done to help.

We get to touch live animals? a Grade 1 student at Linden Lanes exclaimed as Vancouver Aquarium educator Holly Neate pulled a sea urchin out of a large tank filled with water transported straight from the Pacific Ocean.

Erin DeBooy/The Brandon Sun Holly Neate with the Vancouver Aquarium shows Grade 3/4 students at Linden Lanes School different species from the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday.

Yes, they came all the way from Vancouver to see you, Neate replied, before showing the students what the sea urchins teeth looked like.

With pinky fingers extended, kids eagerly awaited their turn to pet the spiky species while others remained content watching from afar.

Our motto that were living by through this tour is to connect our communities to coastlines, so were really looking forward to getting into those inland communities that wouldnt be able to see the ocean on a regular basis, Neate said. We are bringing a piece of that to them, and hopefully inspiring them to understand more or learn more about how they impact their waterways.

The Aquavan has visited numerous schools in Brandon throughout the week, including Ecole Harrison and Waverly Park School, and will be heading to Riding Mountain National Park to meet up with some more schools on Friday.

Its been overwhelmingly positive. Its been great. This is a brand new program for us, the Aquarium has never had the capabilities of bringing this sort of program across the country and this is the beginning of something very special, Neate said. Its been really well received by both teachers and students  theyve been really excited.

Erin DeBooy/The Brandon Sun A group of Grade 3/4 students at Linden Lanes School had the chance to pet a sea star on Wednesday, courtesy of the Vancouver Aquarium's Aquavan that is spending the week in the Westman area.

The Aquavans first voyage out east hasnt come without challenges, Neate said, adding that roadblocks and obstacles have only made the team stronger.

It doesnt matter if we lose a bit of water along the way  What really counts is being able to get to the school, set up and be able to see the kids all day long, Neate said. It makes all those little challenges insignificant when you get to a school like this.

Neate said they also hope to inspire communities to take part in the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup program, which encourages the clean up of shorelines along rivers, lakes, streams, swamps, beaches, urban waterways and even storm drains in school yards.

Its a great opportunity for classes, families, and even individuals to go out and clean up a shoreline, record data of what they collected and put it into our national data collection so we can understand where garbage ends up and how much there is in certain areas, Neate said. So when its possible, getting people to do a shoreline clean up in their community is a wonderful thing.

 edebooy@brandonsun.com

Erin DeBooy/The Brandon Sun A Grade 1/2 student at Linden Lanes School takes a chance at petting a sea urchin on Wednesday, courtesy of the Vancouver Aquarium's Aquavan that is spending the week in the Westman area.

 Twitter: @erindebooy
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/05/2017 (2015 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon Police Service says less is more when it comes to its freshly launched crime-mapping tool for the public, which they say is cheaper and more accurate.

But  while it includes new features  it seems less user-friendly, less current, and doesnt provide the same amount nor type of data as its privately run predecessor, CrimeReports. And, the new system may make it tougher to raise questions about crime and policing.

The new online crime map went operational on Wednesday and was officially introduced to the public on Monday.

There are things we need to iron out still, but I think as we move along its going to be a lot more customized to our community and what our community needs and wants to see, BPS crime analyst Gitte Richards said.

Previously, mapped Brandon crime complaints were available for the public to view online through CrimeReports. Richards said that service cost thousands of dollars per year.

She said CrimeReports consisted of an automated process which pulled data from the police system. Crime complaints were mapped at the block level, and no other private information appeared.

The idea of the force having its own internal mapping tool came out of a ward meeting during which a city councillor asked if maps, such as those presented by Richards, could be provided on a website.

Richards worked with the citys engineering department, which used its existing credits with Esri, which produces ArcGIS mapping software, to develop a tool at no cost. It also wont take any money to maintain.

It didnt cost us to develop it, which is huge, Richards said.

Richards said the new system can be tailored to the citys needs  complaints can be mapped over ward boundaries, for example, to give city councillors and citizens a better idea of problems in their neighbourhoods.

Data quality with CrimeReports was also an issue, Richards said. It mapped crimes as they were reported, which in some cases turned out to be different crimes based on police investigation. A call about a suspicious person could turn out to be a break and enter, for example.

BPS followed the lead of other police agencies that limit their public data to unambiguous crime categories, Richards said  for example, assault reports often remain as assaults.

So the new mapping tool limits searches to particular categories, such as assaults, car thefts and thefts from vehicles, break and enters, property damage, graffiti, robbery, sexual assault, and shootings.

Being an internal system, any errors in the data can be removed.

One new feature that wasnt in CrimeReports was an ability to measure crime intensity over a specific area using a heat map, which is especially accurate as its based on raw police data.

Although, Richards warns that those include false crime hot spots such as the Brandon police station, which registers so many crimes because thats where many are reported.

Otherwise, reports are marked with icons at the block level for the sake of privacy.

The new mapping app, however, seems limited in scope and time when compared to CrimeReports.

CrimeReports updated data daily, whereas the new tool will be updated weekly. While CrimeReports was more up-to-date, it wasnt the most accurate, Richards said. The weekly update will allow the datas accuracy to be reviewed.

CrimeReports allowed users to select crime types for as far back as six months. The new mapping tool also allows users to filter and search crime types too, but currently for only up to three months back.

In using the new map The Brandon Sun found it harder to use and read than CrimeReports.

But the biggest concern is that it doesnt allow the mass copying and analyzing of data that can be used to question police about enforcement, safety and social issues.

CrimeReports allowed a wide variety of data to be copied to a spreadsheet that was easily mapped, analyzed and combined with data from other sources such as Statistics Canada.

There doesnt seem to be a way to do that with the new mapping tool.

It also doesnt include data on other policing subjects provided by CrimeReports, such as traffic enforcement, and even relatively minor issues like party and fight complaints.

CrimeReports also posted vehicle stops and pedestrian stops, which gave at least a rough idea of proactive police enforcement and its focus.

The ability to easily copy data from CrimeReports made it useful in identifying policing issues.

For example, outside of police circles, pedestrian stops have come under fire in Canada, particularly in Ontario where media investigations have shown police are more likely to stop minorities.

The Brandon Sun has used pedestrian stop data obtained through CrimeReports to research the controversial practice in Brandon.

There are other examples of policing issues highlighted by CrimeReports that cant be identified using the new map.

CrimeReports tracked missing person reports and showed that large amounts were clustered around the known addresses for group homes in the city  raising questions about the safety of youth runaways, and the use of police resources.

The CrimeReports map also showed a cluster of drug complaints around one CFS-run group home, which raises questions about the young wards access to illegal drugs.

The Brandon Sun has also used CrimeReports traffic data to identify and confirm collision hot spots in the city.

When it comes to citizens, hypothetically, a resident concerned about road safety in their neighbourhood could have used CrimeReports to determine whether there was a lack of traffic enforcement in the area.

A person planning to move to Brandon could have looked up party and disturbance complaints as they decided where to live in the city.

But CrimeReports ability to display data on a large variety of complaints over the last six months at the same time could be perceived by some as making the city look bad.

The information once provided by CrimeReports and excluded from the new mapping system will now have to be formally requested through police, making it harder and slower to secure.

While it doesnt appear to be updated as of this week, readers can still go to crimereports.com and search previous data. It can still be compared to the new map at police.brandon.ca/crime-map.

Richards said the new mapping tool will be considered a pilot project for six months. It can evolve based on public feedback, or a switch back to CrimeReports can be made if need be.

 ihitchen@brandonsun.com
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/05/2017 (2015 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When his 10-year-old son developed a high fever, Gleb Korliakov found himself up all night checking the youngsters temperature and administering medication as needed.

Drawing from his engineering background, Korliakov knew that there was a better way to address this problem with technology.

About two years ago, Korliakov emigrated from Russia to attend Assiniboine Community Colleges internationally accredited communications engineering technology two-year diploma program in Brandon, where he said that he became intent on adapting his skills and knowledge to satisfy the high standards of Canadian life.

Tyler Clarke/The Brandon Sun Assiniboine Community College graduating communications engineering technology student Gleb Korliakov demonstrates a product he named Im'mediate, which is a wearable system that monitors and transmits the user's breathing activity and body temperature, signalling an alarm when it reaches certain points. Korliakov demonstrated the innovation during a year-end showcase at Assiniboine Community College's Victoria Avenue East campus on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Korliakov demonstrated his latest innovation as part of the programs final project; a wearable system that measures ones temperature, oxygenation levels and heartbeat in real time.

A sensor attaches to a finger of a person being monitored, with a

low-power unlicensed frequency transmitting its findings to a receiver that can be programmed to let off an alert whenever levels become problematic.

Korliakov said that he has tested the wireless radios link between the third and first floors of the colleges concrete structure and found it to have retained its integrity, signalling that it should work in most households.

While instructor Grant Nicol said that some students develop their final project as a means to an end securing their diploma  some have been known to follow through on their projects beyond their college days.

Korliakov said that he has plans for his innovation, Yes, definitely.

While his prototype was a more costly endeavour, he anticipates seeing the final product come in at what he considers a fairly affordable $100.

Prior to Wednesdays presentations, Nicol commended Korliakov and three other students innovations as successfully contributing to a wireless industry sector that has been just exploding with different technology during recent years.

The idea seeds for students final efforts, which they started actively working on at the start of the year, were planted either by the student themselves, instructors or industry leaders.

Nicol said that hed like to encourage industry to make their wants and needs known to Assiniboine Community College more often, as innovative students are continually seeking challenges to tackle.

Fellow communications engineering technology student Miguel Chaves presented his GPS livestock tracker system on Wednesday, which he developed in response to farmers losing cattle through theft or their breaking through of fences and gates.

Tyler Clarke/The Brandon Sun Miguel Chavez shows off his livestock tracker device he developed, at the Assiniboine Community College's Victoria Avenue East campus on Wednesday. Chavez demonstrated the device as a final project in the two-year communications engineering technology program.

A nine-volt battery runs the system, which like Korliakovs innovation utilizes an unlicensed frequency that can transmit locations freely.

Chris Nantaiss R-Track system was similar in nature but different in scope, tracking the location of forest firefighters and providing an SOS alarm when theyre in danger.

Guillermo Maradiagas Green Shoe was an energy-harvesting insole that is designed to store energy produced while one walks, with his prototype able to track ones steps and distance through a pedometer that links to a smartphone app.

The communications engineering technology program is relatively small in scope, with about a dozen intakes per year, of whom four proceeded beyond the one-per certificate program to the two-year diploma program this semester, with Wednesdays presentations serving as a cap to their in-class efforts.

Its a hidden gem of a program, Nicol said, encouraging anyone interested in technology, programming code or the interconnection of things to consider looking into it.

 tclarke@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/05/2017 (2015 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

At 38.6 years, Brandons population is slightly younger on average than both Manitoba (39.2) and Canada (41).

Unlike most jurisdictions in Canada, the Wheat City has more children aged 14 and younger (9,270) than seniors aged 65 and older (7,535).

I think theres a misconception that Brandon is an older community, weve got a lot of retirees  and our average age is probably on the higher side  when in fact its quite the opposite, Mayor Rick Chrest said.

Statistics Canada released a series of data from the 2016 census on Wednesday, which looks at age, sex and dwelling types.

The total number of people 19 years old and younger living in Brandon was 12,190. Chrest pointed out that Brandons average age is just a year higher than places like Calgary and Red Deer, Alta. (both 37.6), which many consider to be younger communities.

On the other end of the scale, Brandon had 1,395 people aged 85 years or older (2.9 per cent of the population), including 20 people 100 years or older. That is higher than the Canadian figure of 2.2 per cent.

We sort of outpace the Canadian average on both ends of the scale, Chrest said. Weve got the older end  well-populated, and then the young kids, so it certainly is an interesting phenomenon.

Contributing to the younger population numbers are strong birth rates over the past several years and the influence of immigration. The growing enrolment in Brandon School Division is a testament to the influx of children in the city.

As reported in February, Brandons population increased by 6.1 per cent since 2011, exceeding both the national and provincial growth rates.

Within that population growth there was a lot of newcomers and immigrants and  they tend to on average have larger family sizes, said Sandy Trudel, director of economic development.

The data shows the number of people living in Brandon has increased from 46,061 five years ago to 48,859 in 2016. There are slightly more females in Brandon (25,330) than males (23,530).

We all know that Brandon is one of those destinations where its really great to raise families, Trudel said. Often what well see is, folks that may have been born and raised here, if theyve left to go out and explore the world or grow their career, they often will come back home when its time to raise their families.

Brandon is a regional hub for Westman, and many people from surrounding communities choose to retire here. As Chrest pointed out, people are drawn to Brandon for the amenities like shopping and other services, but a major factor is access to better health care.

Weve got the most services and facilities naturally as a regional health care centre, he said. Next to Winnipeg, weve got the most of everything.

Also contributing to the increasing proportion of older people, is a better understanding of nutrition and more active lifestyles, according to Jody Allan, PMH regional manager of planning and innovation.

Two areas that may be impacted by an aging populating include primary care, as well as home care.

Many chronic health conditions are more prevalent among older people, such as diabetes, cancer and chronic lung disease, Allan said. Supports such as primary care can identify these early, prevent complications and reduce the need for hospitalization.

Allan added there is a strong emphasis on strategies for aging in place, such as home care, supportive housing initiatives and chronic disease management.

When it comes to private dwellings, Brandon has seen a 6.2 per cent increase since 2011. In 2016, the total number of private dwellings was 21,485, compared to 20,235 five years ago.

It was great to see what weve been feeling and experiencing, actually validated in the numbers, Trudel said. We know that weve had strong residential construction for many years now.

While the number of people living in single-detached homes has decreased since 2011, row house figures are up by 450 and apartments have also seen a significant increase.

Its solidifying that were seeing the strong residential growth, so obviously from a communitys perspective, thats a very positive message, Trudel said. Building the new units means theres demand, and demand is usually significantly linked to the strength of your economy, so those are really good signs for us.

 jaustin@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @jillianaustin
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/05/2017 (2015 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Don Meredith could save himself and everyone else a lot of bother by simply resigning his seat in the Senate immediately. The longer he drags out the process of removing him from the upper chamber, the worse for him and the institution.

The Senates ethics committee is right to recommend that Meredith be expelled for carrying on a two-year affair with a teenage girl. The Senate is struggling to rebuild credibility among Canadians, and any lesser penalty would undermine its reputation even further.

The committee is forthright in condemning Merediths actions, as it should be. He has abused his privileged position of authority and trust by engaging in behaviors that is incompatible with his office, it concluded. He has brought disrepute to himself and the institution  His presence in the chamber would in itself discredit the institution. No lesser sanction than expulsion would repair the harm he has done to the Senate.

This is the most severe penalty the Senate can impose, and it has never been used before in the institutions history. But it is the only penalty that would be proportionate to the offence.

Merediths conduct has been egregious. An ordained pastor and counsellor to youth, he began the relationship in early 2013, when the girl was only 16 years old and he was 48. The Senates ethics officer found that he used his position to lure or attract her into an affair that turned sexual when she was just 17. It was an appalling breach of trust.

Merediths conduct since the affair came to light in 2015, thanks to reporting by the Stars Kevin Donovan, has also been discreditable.

He acknowledged responsibility only in March, after the ethics officers damning report. Even then he admitted only to a moral failing.

As a Pentecostal pastor, he should know better than most people where his responsibilities lie. He should long ago have faced up to what he did, resigned his position, and started on the long road to redemption. Forgiveness is possible, but it starts by assuming responsibility and expressing true contrition.

Instead, he dragged out the investigation and ignored calls by fellow senators to step down. At one point he even blamed racism for condemnation of his actions. He made an awful situation even worse.

Meredith will have an opportunity to address the Senate before it votes on his fate. Rather than continue on this course, he would be better advised to accept the ethics committees judgment, apologize and step aside.

Senators will be deliberating amid further allegations about Merediths conduct. Three former female staff members, speaking anonymously to the Huffington Post, allege that he touched and groped them inappropriately.

The Senate has been buffeted for years by charges of misconduct, mostly financial, by some of its members. It became a laughing-stock, even an object of contempt, among Canadians.

But it has lately embarked on a journey to win back respect by adopting stricter rules of conduct. And the Trudeau government has taken positive steps by appointing more independent senators and trying to make the chamber less overtly partisan.

The Senate will help itself along that path if it deals swiftly and decisively with Meredith. Anything less will damage the institution even further.

 Toronto Star
Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/05/2017 (2015 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

City needs a cleanup

Its disgusting to see homeless people camping out anywhere they want to. There are camp grounds. Its time to clean up our city. Its getting scary out there. There should be a bylaw to stop this. Brandon use to be one of the top 10 cities to live in.

Showing a lack of respect

Regarding Tories Accuse Defence Minister Of Stolen Valour, the governor generals office says a retired soldier who was court-martialled for wearing Afghanistan and Somalia medals and parachute wings wasnt entitled to at a Remembrance Day ceremony has lost his membership in the Order of Military Merit. Shame, shame! Apparently there is a double standard with the Trudeau/Liberal government on how they recognize and support integrity and respect!

What will firefighters get?

Wow, the overpaid policemen and women just got a seven per cent raise over three years  compounded of course. Just wait until the firefighters get their hands in our pockets!

Seems a little wasteful

Brandon School Division bus No. 5 makes a trip Brandon to Alexander and back with one kid on it. Good use of our tax dollars?

A lesson learned

To the young widow who lost her husband, its hard to feel sorry for people who dont bother with the most basic personal financial planning tools like term life insurance and mortgage insurance. These are the same people who dont buy property insurance and when their house burns down, they expect the community to take care of them. Let that be a lesson for the rest of you who chose vacations and fancy trucks over personal financial responsibility  it could happen to you.

Get off my lawn!

Now that the snow is gone, people with dogs let them go to the bathroom on your lawn. How can they be so ignorant? It leaves yellow patches on your grass. Please stop!

Help us pick a lane

To the highways department: Please put the white lines on 18th Street to divide the lanes as soon as possible. Some people have a hard time knowing which lane they are in.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 04/05/2017 (2015 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An El Salvadorian mother must have been confused when a happy throng of 17 Canadian teenagers visited her home made of tin and tarp.

The mother probably figured these strangers were helpers, Steve Buhler assumes, but her reaction suggests the single mother of two boys didnt know what the Boissevain Youth Group had planned.

It was Buhler, a youth pastor, who had the honour of telling the family they would build them a home.

Submitted The Boissevain Youth Group  Rich Pugh, Cindy Pugh, Josie Pugh, Jenna Farmer, Randall Buhler, Marybeth May, Clayton Tufts, Silas Koop, Ben Cormier, Dylan Mills, Jersey Braun-Racine, Andrew Lovatt, Seth VanDaele, Steve Buhler, Nic Cormier, Caleb Unrau, Justin Reimer, Gideon Nadlersmith, Nya Racine, Brooke Unrau, Travis Reimer, Connor Goerzen, Bethany Buhler  with the family they built a home for in El Salvador.

Then, of course, it was translated into Spanish, the mother just broke down into tears and was just overcome with joy and emotion, Buhler recalled.

That was a really special experience.

Seventeen teenagers from the Boissevain and Souris area, along with six chaperones, spent their spring break in El Salvador for a mission trip.

The youth group, comprised of teenagers from Boissevains churches, partnered with Youth With A Mission. The international organization has a presence in the country, previously connecting with the El Salvadorian mother and her two children to determine if they are candidates for a new home.

It took them three days to have a finished home built; a tangible symbol of what the Westman teenagers accomplished, Buhler said.

Being able to do something that changes someones life, that was one of the big highlights I would say.

The groups other activities during their late March trip included feeding children who normally go hungry through the school day, leading Bible lessons, distributing Bibles door-to-door, praying for people at a local hospital and helping university students who are learning English.

The group also built a community bathroom, in a region where flushing a toilet is a luxury.

This experience really opened my eyes, said participant Clayton Tufts. When we handed out food to the homeless, one guy was so happy he started dancing when he received his food.

Through this I learned that I should not take things for granted. These people have nothing and receiving something makes them happier than anything, and even when we receive something big we are still not thankful.

On some nights, the Boissevain group filled a pickup truck with bagged meals and drove around to areas of the capital city of San Salvador where homeless people stay.

They would honk their horn  and the food didnt last long.

Generally, theyd come running, theyd receive a bag of food and wed talk with them briefly, Buhler said.

Submitted The Boissevain group built a new home for a single mother and her two sons, who were previously living in this shelter, built of tin and tarps.

We have some issues with homelessness in Westman, but the scale is definitely a lot larger there, he added, explaining 5,000 people sleep on the streets of San Salvador any given night, they were told.

As a nation, El Salvador struggles with immense poverty and issues of crime, violence and networks of organized gangs.

They were in one specific community in San Salvador that was once a garbage dump. The inhabitants are people who cannot afford to purchase land, stuck in a cycle of poverty because of low wages.

Buhler said the trip taught each person how to make a difference in the lives of others.

This experience has also been truly invaluable and eye-opening for all of us, to see the struggles these people face and how we can help.

He added the trip showed the teenagers they do not have to wait until they are adults to help others and make the world a better place.

To read more about the youth groups trip, visit www.boissevainyouthgroup.blogspot.ca.

 ifroese@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ianfroese
Irish Life has reported a 44% increase in profits for the first quarter of 2017, contributing 54m to Great West Lifecos earnings in the quarter.

This was up from 37.5m in the same quarter in 2016.

Great-West Lifeco Inc., which owns Irish Life, reported its results for the three months ended 31 March 2017 today.

Chief Executive of Irish Life Group David Harney said that Irish Lifes strong performance was due, in part, to the inclusion of Irish Life Healths contribution for the first time in the quarter, and the continued success of the companys multi-asset investment strategies (MAPS).

"We have seen increased investment across Irish Lifes pension, investment and savings plans as investors return to the market. There is now over 9 billion invested in our multi asset strategies including 2.5bn by retail investors. Over the last 12 months the number of individual investors has grown by over 40% to 46,000 and the total value invested in Irish Life MAPS has increased by 70%," he said.

During the first quarter of 2017 Irish Life was awarded the overall Life Sector accolade in the 2017 Irish Brokers Association (IBA) Insurance Service Awards for the seventh year in succession.

Also in Q1 2017, Irish Life was awarded the Best Investment Fund Provider title at the Longboat Analytics Financial Services Awards.
Spain could use its veto in Brexit negotiations to target "unjustified privileges" in Gibraltar, reports suggest.

A leaked Spanish Government document, reported in the newspaper El Pais, took aim at lower tax rules on the Rock, where corporation tax is just 10% compared to 25% in Spain.

The document, entitled Negotiations On The Withdrawal Of The United Kingdom From The EU, suggested that Spain would not accept a "relationship incompatible with the Spanish position on its territorial claim" to Gibraltar, according to El Pais.

Gibraltar's chief minister Fabian Picardo hit back at "aggression and belligerence" from Spain towards the British overseas territory, which Spain also claims sovereignty to.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has previously insisted that Gibraltar's status will not be up for discussion during exit talks after negotiating guidelines drawn up by Brussels suggested Spain could have a veto over Gibraltar's inclusion in any post-Brexit trade deal with the UK.

Mr Picardo said: "The Spanish Government's mask is slipping. It is becoming abundantly clear that they want to try to use Brexit to take narrow advantage.

"Gibraltar will, as ever, continue to seek dialogue over Spanish vetoes and will seek co-operation and friendship over Spanish aggression and belligerence.

"Our goodwill and good faith will not be abused though.

"Soon Madrid will have to explain to the Campo why Spanish citizens starting work in Gibraltar post-Brexit don't have the same rights as Gibraltarians in the workplace."
Parents are today celebrating as the Department of Education and Skills (DES) announced that Educate Together will be the patron of two new national schools.

The school in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin is set to open in 2017, with another in Dublin South City set to commence in 2018.

Patronage of a new school in Ballincollig, Cork has been awarded to Irish-language ethos body An Foras Patrunachta.

Scoil Sinead was awarded patronage of the new school in Pelletstown in Dublin.

We know of the huge demand for Educate Together from the enormous waiting lists in our existing schools in each area, said Educate Together CEO Paul Rowe.

We hope that these schools will go some way to alleviating the pressure on both parents and existing Educate Together schools and extend the provision of equality-based education in Dublin.

The new schools are the result of a six-week process that was run over the Christmas and New Year period during which prospective patrons gathered evidence of parental preference as to what patron would run the new primary school.

Scores of parents campaigned to ensure that the school would be an Educate Together school and, although the late sanction of the school has caused some concern, supporters today welcomed the decision.

Just one of the messages we've received regarding announcement that @EducateTogether to open 2 new primary schools in Dublin pic.twitter.com/CaCx8LtcZV  Educate Together (@EducateTogether) May 4, 2017

Parent and campaigner for Dublin South City ETNS Sonia Morris said: Im delighted with today's news that the school in Dublin South City will be an Educate Together.

This is a really important day for parents and families that want school choice in Dublin.

One of the best things about the Educate Together ethos is parental involvement and we can't wait to get stuck into the work of opening a new school and fostering a brand new school community.

Accommodation for the schools has not yet been announced by the Department of Education and Skills. Parents who signed an Expression of Interest form during the process will receive enrolment information in the coming week.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny will meet with the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau in Montreal later today.

The two leaders will discuss bilateral relations including the economy, trade and the diaspora.

Enda Kenny will travel to Toronto tomorrow where he will meet with representatives of Enterprise Ireland, Tourism Ireland and the Ireland Chamber of Commerce.

Daniel McConnell - Political Editor with the Irish Examiner - who is in Canada says it is likely to be one of the last major trips Mr Kenny will make as Taoiseach: "The major Brexit zone is out of the way and there is really no other reason for him to delay.

"So that is why all eyes are going to be on next week's parlimentary party meeting because it will the first opportunity he will have to address his party's members as to his position.

"It is clear that whether it takes three weeks or a number of weeks the growing concensus is that Enda Kenny will be gone by the summertime.
Update 8.24pm: Taoiseach Enda Kenny has defended the Government's decision not to disclose whether Ireland voted to elect for Saudi Arabia to a major body on human rights, writes Daniel McConnell.

Mr Kenny was responding to the controversy around the vote on the UN Commission on the Status of Women, but said it is not the convention to disclose how countries voted.

Speaking in Montreal, Mr Kenny made it clear he would not reveal how Ireland voted.

This is an issue which concerns us greatly, he said.

"It has always been the convention not to indicate the nature of the vote at the United Nations.

"I am sure Geraldine Byrne Nason will do a superb job of persusing the issue of women's rights when she becomes our Ambassador to the United Nations."

Earlier:

The Government is defending its refusal to say whether Ireland supported Saudi Arabia to join a UN body for women's rights.

At least three EU countries voted in favour of the Saudi bid to join the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan said it was better for Ireland's diplomatic efforts if its ballots were kept secret. He issued a statement saying he will not be disclosing how Ireland voted on the matter.

In a statement this afternoon, Mr Flanagan said: "It is my strong view that it would be very damaging to Ireland's ability to conduct international relations successfully if we moved away from this established practice.

"It would be irresponsible of me to abandon a practice that has been in place for over six decades, observed by all previous governments and is grounded on protecting and promoting the values of small countries on the world stage."

Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald said she agreed it was better that Ireland's votes on UN appointments remained secret.

"That has been the practise by previous governments and by this Government," she said.

"This is the procedure that has been adopted in the UN in order to facilitate the business of the UN. The Government do not disclose (the votes)."

However, the Independent Alliance said the public should be told whether Ireland voted for Saudi Arabia's inclusion in the group.

The five TDs say they expect the issue to be raised at next week's cabinet meeting.

Junior minister John Halligan said: "It would be essential for me that Saudi Arabia and other countries sign up to the UN Convention for Human Rights.

"It would be remiss of any of us not to condemn any country that would violate women's rights and stand as strong as we can against (those countries)."
The Irish Greyhound Board is defending the high level of wages in the company - despite a fall in attendances, prize money and meetings.

The Public accounts committee has heard the wage bill is over 10m - and that 11 people get 1.2m of that.
Update 6.28pm: A former special advisor to Labour TD Joan Burton has told a court that being trapped in a car with the former Tanaiste surrounded by water protesters was one of the most scary experiences she has ever had in her life.

Karen OConnell was giving evidence at the trial of Solidarity TD Paul Murphy and six other men, who are accused of falsely imprisoning her and Joan Burton at Jobstown in Tallaght on November 15, 2014. They deny the charges at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Mr Murphy (aged 34) together with South Dublin County Councillors Kieran Mahon (aged 39) and Michael Murphy (aged 53) and four others have pleaded not guilty to falsely imprisoning Ms Burton and Ms OConnell by restricting their personal liberty without their consent at Fortunestown Road, Jobstown, Tallaght on November 15, 2014.

Paul Murphy of Kingswood Heights, Tallaght; Kieran Mahon of Holbrook Grove, Tallaght; Michael Murphy of Whitechurch Way, Ballyboden, Dublin; Frank Dinghy (aged 71) of Alpine Rise, Taillight; Ken Purcell (aged 50) of Kiltalown Green; Michael Banks (aged 46) of Brookview Green, Tallaght and Scott Masterson (aged 34) of Carrigmore Drive, Tallaght have all denied the charges.

Giving evidence on the fourth day of the trial, Ms OConnell said she and Ms Burton were pushed and shoved by protesters as they walked from An Cosan Education Centre to a neighbouring church for a graduation ceremony.

She said an egg was thrown at her and a water balloon was thrown at Ms Burton, amidst what she described as a general haze of abusive comments being screamed at the Labour TD.

After the two women were rushed by gardai from the church to a waiting car, Ms OConnell said the vehicle was quickly surrounded by protesters shaking the car, banging on the bonnet, the windows and the roof, placing placards over all the windows and screaming all sorts of things.

Ms OConnell said the comments included personal things and water-related slogans like I hope you die, you ugly b**ch, Labour scum, How do you sleep at night? and No way! We wont pay.

Ms OConnell told prosecuting counsel Tony McGillicuddy BL that she was petrified, crying and very, very fearful and that Ms Burton was trying to calm her down and reassure her.

She said she saw Deputy Paul Murphy with a loud-hailer, shouting slogans and taking photos, so she started to also take photos and videos from inside the car until her battery died.

Ms OConnell said she that when she and Ms Burton were being almost carried by gardai in the middle of a maul of protesters, the former Tanaiste told her My shoes after falling off, so she bent down and retrieved it as she felt it was quite undignified for Ms Burton to walk without her shoe.

The court heard that the guards physically pushed Ms Burton into the jeep, and that it felt like protesters were trying to get in at us when they smashed the front windscreen.

Earlier today, Ms Burton denied suggestions that she sought to smear water protesters as an uncaring bunch of people who left their children roaming the streets.

The Labour TD, who has now concluded her evidence, became upset when a video was played depicting scenes from the protest in Tallaght in November 2014.

The video clip showed Ms Burton and her advisor being protected by gardai from a noisy crowd of jeering protesters as they were rushed from one garda vehicle to another.

One man could be heard shouting loudly: Shame on you, Joan, shame on you; youre a f**king disgrace.

The courtroom was cleared after Ms Burton became emotional and requested to watch the video on her own, saying what had happened to her was very, very distressing.

Video clips were also played to the jury depicting a bare-chested Deputy Murphy sitting on the ground in the middle of the crowd, and gardai attempting to forcibly remove him.

One man can be heard shouting at garda, Thats a TD yiz are mishandling.

When asked to identify Deputy Murphy, Ms Burton replied, I havent seen him with his clothes off before, to loud guffaws from the court.

He takes his clothes off quite a lot, continued Ms Burton.

The Labour TD was cross-examined by defence counsel Michael OHiggins SC about a video clip in which she was heard asking her advisor to post on social media about unsupervised children at a protest in Tallaght.

Ms Burton could be heard telling Ms OConnell, What you should do is go on social media and say its just shameful, all the little kids that are there and nobody minding them or looking after them, they were just free to roam the streets.

When asked to explain her motivation for comment, the Labour TD said it was just talk and that she was making conversation with her advisor, whom she said was extremely upset.

I didnt do any follow-up on it. I was concerned about the children; it wasnt a good place for those children to be. It didnt seem to me that their parents or bigger brothers or sisters were there with them. I was worried that anything might happen to them, said Ms Burton.

Mr OHiggins suggested that Ms Burtons motivation was much more mundane, and that she wanted to paint a picture to people reading social media that this was an uncaring bunch of people who didnt even supervise their children, who left them roaming the streets.

You were putting this out to smear - in the public eye - what was going on. You were misrepresenting it. You would say anything to gain what you perceived to be a material advantage, added Mr OHiggins.

Ms Burton responded that her focus was on getting them both safely out of the car and seeing an end to the situation as quickly as possible.

If youre suggesting that I had some big strategy in my head - my concern was safety, she said.

Ms Burton said she was only a moderate user of social media and that some younger members of her family call her an IT idiot because her knowledge of Twitter was next to nothing.

She said she gets other people to post on social media for her because of the hassle and the trolling, which she described as really difficult.

Ms Burton said women politicians came in for a huge amount of vile abuse on social media, and that she herself had been subject to very denigrating material.

She said that for women politicians, Twitter and Facebook had become a very sad space so that people didnt get involved in it as much as they might like to.

She said that by and large, other people looked at her social media to clean it before she read it.

When asked if she was tech-savvy, Ms Burton replied not particularly, but that she had an iPhone and iPad and used social media for a mix of social and political stuff.

Mr OHiggins pointed out that she had 18,000 Twitter followers and had said in an interview that she slept with an iPad under her pillow.

He also reminded her that she had been asked by the Attorney General to stop sending text messages before 7am.

Ms Burton told prosecuting counsel Sean Gillane SC, that had she had never experienced anything like those events during her period as a public representative.

She said that being called names like c**t and bitch was not part of political discourse, and that in general, she said she found that people were very kind and very polite to her.

She added that people like herself who are from a working class background did not use that kind of language.

The trial resumes tomorrow morning before Judge Melanie Greally and a jury of seven men and five women. Its due to last at least six weeks.

Earlier:

Joan Burtons cross-examination is continuing in the trial of seven men accused of falsely imprisoning her at a water charge protest in Dublin in 2014.

The former Tanaiste has now spent four days in the witness box.

Joan Burton became upset when footage was shown of her being moved from a Garda jeep to another vehicle during the Jobstown protest.

During the 18 second clip entitled The moment Joan Burton makes a break for freedom, a man can be heard shouting shame on you Joan, shame on you ... youre a f**king disgrace as shes being escorted through the crowd.

She said she found it very distressing and asked if she could watch it privately. The jury was then asked to leave the court room.

The video was introduced as part of Michael OHiggins cross-examination  he is defending Ken Purcell of Kiltalown Green in Tallaght.

On another clip from inside the jeep, she could be heard telling her adviser to go on social media to say it was shameful that little kids were there with nobody minding them.

She denied trying to paint a picture that this was an uncaring bunch of people.

Mr Purcell is one of seven people who deny falsely imprisoning Deputy Burton and her adviser.

Solidarity TD Paul Murphy is also among the accused.
Minister for Disability Finian McGrath has refused to say if ownership of the National Maternity Hospital is a red-line issue for the Independent Alliance.

They are marking a year in office today, saying that they have brought a radical change to the workings of Government.
A surfer rescued after more than 30 hours stranded at sea thought he was going to die just moments before he was found by a helicopter.

Speaking from his hospital bed in Belfast as he recovers from hypothermia, Matthew Bryce vowed he will never surf again.

He was reported missing by family when he failed to return from a Sunday morning surf off the Argyll coast of Scotland.

He was eventually found by a search and rescue helicopter at around 7.30pm on Monday, drifting in the North Channel, 13 miles from Northern Ireland and 16 miles from Scottish shores.

Surfer saved off Antrim thought he would die at sunset https://t.co/FjBpAsurvR pic.twitter.com/4MOjMslNKW  RTE News (@rtenews) May 4, 2017

As the sun began to set on a second night at sea, Mr Bryce thought he had just hours to live and had "made peace" with himself.

The 22-year-old, from Airdrie in North Lanarkshire, fought back tears as he told BBC News: "I knew I had maybe three hours and I was pretty certain that I was going to die with that sunset.

"So I was watching the sunset and I'd pretty much made peace with it all and then a helicopter flew right over.

"So I jumped off the board and I lifted the board up and I started waving the board in the water and they flew right over, I thought they'd missed me.

"Then they turned round... and then they saved my life. I can't thank them enough."

The interview showed Mr Bryce was also badly sunburnt during his ordeal.

He said he was helpless on Sunday as changing currents and strong winds pushed him further and further from the shore.

He said: "It got to the point where my paddling was ineffective, but I was doing it to keep myself warm."

Fear really set in as night fell on Sunday.

He added: "It was incredibly lonely and quiet because there was just nothing - just waves.

"I hadn't seen any helicopters.

"I was thinking I was going to die - I was almost convinced.

"I didn't think I would see sunrise."

An RNLI lifeboat has since recovered his surf board but the 22-year-old is not planning to take it back to sea.

He said: "I think we'll find a good use for it, maybe as starter fuel."

Asked by the BBC if he is finished with surfing, Mr Bryce said: "I think so, I couldn't do that again."

Staff in ward 15 in the Ulster Hospital said they had had a whip-round and sent out to a local store to get Mr Bryce pyjamas, a toothbrush and some other essentials.

His parents Isabella and John said in a statement: "We cannot thank staff enough for the treatment Matthew has received and the kindness they have shown to us. They have been wonderful."
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said he is hopeful after his first meeting with US president Donald Trump, although they did not discuss the specifics of restarting Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

Mr Abbas said he believes the Trump administration can play an important role as a mediator.

"What is needed is to bring the two parties together, to bring them closer and then to facilitate things between them," he said after the White House meeting.

Mr Trump also struck an optimistic note, saying he believes an Israeli-Palestinian deal can be reached.

The Palestinians want to set up a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. Mr Abbas reiterated the demand as he stood next to Mr Trump.

There have been no serious negotiations since gaps widened with the 2009 election of Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel's prime minister.

Mr Netanyahu rejects the 1967 frontier as a baseline for border talks and rules out a partition of Jerusalem where Palestinians hope to establish a capital.

The Netanyahu government, like those before it, has expanded settlements on war-won lands, despite US appeals to curb construction.

Mr Abbas described his meeting with Mr Trump as positive and said "we build hopes on it".

"So far, we didn't talk about a mechanism, but the contacts between us and the Americans began and will continue," he said.

Mr Abbas said he is ready to meet Mr Netanyahu, and suggested the Israeli leader is avoiding such talks.

"We had planned to meet in Moscow, but he didn't show up," Mr Abbas said, referring to Russian efforts several months ago to set up talks.

Mr Netanyahu has said he is willing to meet Mr Abbas.

In the past, Mr Abbas balked at the idea of such a summit, saying it would be pointless without general agreement on the framework of negotiations and a significant curb in settlement construction.

On Thursday, Mr Netanyahu said he looks forward to discussing with Mr Trump the "best ways to advance peace". Mr Trump is reportedly visiting Israel at the end of the month.

He said Mr Abbas's comments that Palestinians are cultivating a culture of peace "are unfortunately not true", pointing to Palestinian schools named after militants who killed Israelis.

"But I hope that it's possible to achieve a change and to pursue a genuine peace. This is something Israel is always ready for.", Mr Netanyahu said.

US officials had said Mr Trump would press Mr Abbas to end payments to families of Palestinians in Israeli jails.

A senior US official said on Tuesday that the issue of payments had been raised in preliminary talks with the Palestinians in Washington.

Mr Abbas said the issue was not raised in his talks with Mr Trump. Officials said it would be addressed in a future meeting.

His positive portrayal of the meeting with Mr Trump may not be enough for a sceptical public at home.

Many Palestinians have become disillusioned with Mr Abbas' strategy, after two decades of intermittent US-led negotiations ended in failure while Israeli settlements keep expanding.

In the West Bank, the main focus appears to be a hunger strike by hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, now in its 18th day.

Mr Abbas also faces fierce opposition from his main political rival, the Islamic militant group Hamas. It has dismissed Mr Abbas' strategy of negotiations and said he does not represent Palestinians.

After a decade of failed reconciliation attempts, Mr Abbas recently adopted a tougher stance toward Hamas, saying he would use financial pressure to force the militants to cede ground.

- AP
Former US president Barack Obama has weighed in on the French presidential election, backing Emmanuel Macron is a last-minute intervention.

Macron, a 39-year-old former investment banker and economy minister, is banking on the promise to reform France through radical pro-business measures and pro-European policies.
A man has pleaded guilty to charges linked to a drive-by shooting that injured a woman in Canberra's south.

Harley Dean Stott, 24, later torched the car he was inside when shots were fired into the Gowrie house in the early hours of February 2, 2015.

Shots were fired at the front of the Gowrie house in February 2015. Credit:Jay Cronan

The ACT Magistrates Court previously heard Stott went to the house to retrieve jewellery belonging to a friend, who was owed a drug debt.

He returned later that night and shots were fired at the home from a Subaru WRX.
Woden residents have voiced their concerns about the lack of ACT government plans for bus routes, after two options for the proposed Stage Two light rail route were released earlier this week.

Residents also raised concerns about the key difference in proposals for whether the rail terminal should be built near the Canberra Hospital, or only run as far south as Woden Town centre.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr and Minister for Transport and City Services Meegan Fitzharris announce the first round of consultation for Light Rail Stage 2. Credit:karleen minney

A Transport Canberra official updated about 50 people at the Woden Valley Community Council meeting on the proposals for Stage Two of the light rail project, which will run south from Civic to Woden.

He told the crowd it was still early days for the light rail proposal, and the government was seeking community feedback, but the project was "not just about transport".
Caltex will move swiftly to complete its $95 million purchase of a large Victorian service station franchise chain operating under its banner after getting the all clear from the competition watchdog.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission on Thursday announced it would not oppose the the deal that will see Caltex buy stations from the Milemaker Petroleum chain - its single largest independent franchisee.

Caltex is proposing to acquire 46 of Milemaker's sites in Victoria, around 30 of which are in metropolitan Melbourne.

The ACCC flagged concerns in March that the deal could result in a lessening of competition because Milemaker adopted an independent approach to setting prices even though it operates under the Caltex banner.
Jakarta: The Indonesian government has launched a $US2 billion ($2.6 billion) lawsuit against the company responsible for the worst oil spill in the history of Australia's offshore petroleum industry.

An estimated 300,000 litres of oil a day belched into the Timor Sea for more than 10 weeks after the Montara wellhead operated by Perth-based PTTEP Australasia sprung a leak and then exploded on August 21, 2009.

Seaweed farmers and fishermen in East Nusa Tenggara, one of the poorest regions of Indonesia, claim their livelihoods were devastated by the Montara oil spill which they say destroyed their crops and killed fish.

PTTEP Australasia is a wholly-owned subsidiary of PTTEP, the Thai state-owned oil company.
While Malcolm Turnbull can confidently expect to see a very different side to America's mercurial new president on Friday than the one he encountered during January's heated refugee deal phone call, he would be well advised to approach the talks with caution.

Unlike in January, when Mr Trump complained he had been lumbered with "the worst deal ever" over the relocation of up to 1250 refugees from Manus Island and Nauru to the U.S. under an arrangement brokered with the Obama administration, he is now the one seeking favours.

The President is expected to ask for strong Australian support for, and possible involvement in, American-led initiatives to combat the threat to regional security posed by North Korea's pursuit of an effective nuclear weapon and ballistic missile capability.

There have also been suggestions Australia would consider stepping up its military presence in the Middle East as a pay-off for the refugee deal.
The third lesson is that there is nothing new in leaders of the US and Australia adopting contrasting positions and policies on how to approach challenges in Asia.

American leaders and officials have often been shocked to find that Australia has held a different perspective on Asian affairs. None of this, however, need imperil the development of a close and effective working relationship.

Turnbull's priority should be to get a better grasp of Trump's thinking on China and America's Asian stance more broadly. He may also have to carry something in his back pocket to offer Trump as a quid pro quo for the US President honouring the refugee resettlement deal. And that's most likely to be some kind of increase in Australia's military commitment to the Middle East.

The meeting aboard the USS Intrepid, an old Essex-class aircraft carrier built during the Second World War and now moored in New York Harbour, does look to have been hastily arranged, hurriedly tacked on to a commemorative event marking the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea.

It is, of course, only proper that allies remember past struggles and sacrifice, especially one where US and Australian forces turned the tide of the Pacific War by stemming the advance of Japanese imperialism. The Australia-US defence relationship, past and present, will no doubt be to the fore in New York, and the mellifluous rhetoric of "brothers in arms" will flow. Probably no other venue in the US could better capture the way in which the history of the relationship is so deeply rooted in the experience of war and conflict.
Tony Abbott has predicted Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull could dump a controversial education funding reform, telling a group of private school children south of Perth the government would be "on a loser" if it looked like disadvantaging Catholic schools.

The former prime minister was questioned by students from Mandurah Catholic College about the $18.6 billion restructure of federal education funding announced by Mr Turnbull on Tuesday ahead of next week's budget.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott answers questions from Mandurah Catholic College students. Credit:Marta Pascual Juanola.

Speculation about which schools would lose money through the reform had been circulating, with Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher warning some Catholic schools may be forced to dramatically hike fees or close their doors.

"I think any move by the Commonwealth to relatively disadvantage independent and Catholic schools and relatively advantage public schools I think is just wrong in principle," Mr Abbott told the students.
Farhad Jabar, the teenage killer of NSW Police worker Curtis Cheng "died for the sake of Allah", one of the men accused of supplying the murder weapon allegedly said.

Raban Alou allegedly consoled 15-year-old Jabar's distraught older brother Farshad Jabar two days after the teenager shot Mr Cheng dead before being killed by police in an exchange of gunfire.

Curtis Cheng was shot dead as he left work. Credit:James Brickwood

A recording of the alleged October 4, 2015, conversation was played on Thursday at a committal hearing for the group of men accused of aiding Jabar.

"He will be with the prophet," a man who prosecutors say is Alou can be heard in the recording telling an audibly distressed man, said to be Farshad Jabar.
An elderly couple aged in their 60s have been injured while fleeing their burning Sydney home with their grandson.

The front of the couple's house on Bayley Road in South Penrith was well alight when emergency services arrived at 7.45pm on Thursday, police say.

A 60-year-old woman suffered burns and a head injury while her husband sustained a minor burn to his hands. They were both taken to Nepean hospital for further treatment.

Their 13-year-old grandson was uninjured.

Police will try to determine the cause of the blaze once the building has been declared safe .
The latest Brisbane City Council speed data has revealed motorists are driving at excessive speeds with some pushing the speed limit by more than 70 per cent.

The council's $5 million portable speed warning signs programs was introduced November, 2013 and is designed to register a driver's speed and issue them with a visual warning to slow down if they are exceeding the limit.

Brisbane City Council has invested $5 million in a portable speed warning sign program. Credit:Ruth McCosker

If they are below the speed limit, a smiley face appears on the sign.

The signs stay in place for a minimum of four weeks and are then rotated to new locations.
Street furniture that doubles as defensive bollards could be installed in Melbourne's CBD following the Bourke Street car attack on January 20 that killed six people and injured more than 30 others.

Melbourne lord mayor Robert Doyle spoke out on Wednesday against any security measures that would turn the CBD into "fortress Melbourne", after Victorian Police Minister Lisa Neville told 3AW that bollards could be installed in Bourke Street and Federation Square "as quickly as possible".

The makeshift floral memorial that appeared on Bourke Street for the victims of the attack. Credit:Jason South

"It's not my preference to have 'fortress Melbourne'," Cr Doyle said on Wednesday morning. He said he was interested in looking into "street furniture that doesn't look like bollards" but could still be used to defend the city from someone driving a vehicle with an aim to kill people.

A $10 million state grant to improve the city's safety would be spent on bollards and other security measures, Cr Doyle said, such as upgrading the city's 24-hour CCTV network. "But where those cameras are, we haven't worked this out yet."
Tributes are flowing in for 19-year-old university student Emma-Kate McGrath, who died suddenly from meningococcal disease on Wednesday night.

The Department of Health and Human Services has confirmed the Ballarat woman died from invasive meningococcal disease, and is now identifying the woman's friends and relations who have come in close contact to provide antibiotics.

Emma-Kate McGrath Credit:Facebook

A family member, who did not wish to be identified, said the young woman, who was studying at Australian Catholic University's Ballarat campus, was "one of the kindest souls to walk this earth and didn't deserve this."

Loreto College principal Judith Potter described her former student as "a wonderful role-model for her peers" in a letter sent out to the school's parents.
The report contains a detailed timeline of events and detailed lists of incidents. It said these practices escalated and that progressively, space to express political dissent and freedom to assemble was constricted. It said specific issues included "over policing" including the use of riot police, horse-mounted police in confined spaces and large numbers of deployed police officers. "Most days the police force numbers were up to 100 officers, and there were estimates of more than 120 police officers on occasion," it said. "On a number of days, they significantly outnumbered protesters. As well as regular police, there was also the Regional Operations Group, which provides WAPOL "with a specialist public order capability". The mounted police unit was also deployed, as were specialist teams for the removal of equipment from machines. Undercover detectives and intelligence gathering officers were also evident."

The policing presence cost taxpayers $1.5 million. The report said police were not honest with protesters or legal observers about procedures, rights and police responsibilities and at times hid or covered their names and restricted legal observers' access to arrested activists. "A community survey has further shown deep levels of distress and mistrust related to the policing of the Beeliar protests, and we believe these findings will need to be addressed for police to regain the trust of the community in the Coolbellup, Fremantle and extended regions," the report says. "The extent and the seriousness of this series of reported experiences are symptomatic of a widespread problem with policing of community protest in Western Australia. "While this report highlights a range of incidents that need to be reviewed, this must be viewed in a broader political/legal context. The overall culture of policing that allows, and can implicitly support, these behaviours is the greater issue.

"An entire community with mainstream and widely held concerns was essentially criminalised, and treated as hostile, whilst a heavy police presence, dogs and razor wire guarded the machines." The report makes recommendations including that an independent inquiry be established; for an independent police complaints mechanism instead of "police investigating police"; that police wear badges, and must identify themselves upon request; that there be an investigation into why dogs were not muzzled, and into the deployment of dogs during non-violent crowd control; that tasers not be used or threatened in community protest situations; and that police be trained in non-violent, de-escalation techniques. It also calls for police who pepper-sprayed locals to be sanctioned. "Ultimately at stake is the civilian right to protest," the report says. "Numerous interventions were attempted over many years, from wide scale public awareness raising, petitions, marches, rallies and concerts, to significant legal challenges proceeding through Supreme Court (Court of Appeal) and Federal Court, a Senate inquiry, and attempts to raise heritage and Aboriginal site concerns at State and Federal levels.

"All other avenues of response thus being exhausted, and in the context of the current legislation and government policy failing to address environmental and cultural concerns, the local community were left with no other option than non-violent protest in an attempt to delay the destruction until the 2017 state election." The report says the people attending the protest were genuinely diverse, from across the metropolitan area, and involved people from many professions, including academics, accountants, tradespeople, doctors, lawyers, as well as diverse age demographics, and many local families, but were regularly misrepresented in the mainstream media by the former Liberal government. "This is consistent with patterns of vilification of Human Rights Defenders noted by the Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders, who, in a visit to Australia last year, "...called on government officials and politicians to refrain from calling environmentalists "eco-criminals, traitors and green radicals"," the report said. A WA Police spokesman said Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan had confirmed there would be no new investigation into this operation. "There are no fresh complaints lodged with the WA Police. Complaints that were made at the time were investigated and found to be not sustained with one matter still under review," he said.
Paris: Former US President Barack Obama endorsed centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron for France's presidential election on Sunday in a video message in which he praised Macron for appealing "to people's hopes and not their fears".

"The French election is very important to the future of France and the values that we care so much about," Obama said in the message, distributed by Macron's camp.

Macron "has stood up for liberal values ... he is committed to a better future for the French people. He appeals to people's hopes and not their fears," the former president said.

"I am supporting Emmanuel Macron to lead you forward," Obama said, concluding his statement with the French title of Macron's party "En Marche!" and "Vive la France!".
Beijing: Chinese state media has hit back at a rare and detailed attack by North Korea on its neighbour and major economic backer.

China had crossed the "red line" of North Korea and China relations, a scathing commentary published in North Korea's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper claimed on Thursday.

China was accused of turning three provinces of north east China into an "anti-North Korea frontline", and allowing South Korean intelligence to conduct "abduction and terror at the Sino-North Korea border under the disguise of religious and business people".

Chinese analysts were "spouting nonsense" that North Korea's access to nuclear weapons strains north Asia's security, it said. It criticised China's "ignorant politicians and media" for supporting stricter sanctions on North Korea.
New York: A big unknown as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull arrived in New York on Wednesday was this  which of the Donald Trumps will greet him when he has his first face-to-face meeting with the new US president?

Trump loyalist Newt Gingrich, a former GOP House Speaker, finessed this aspect of the Trump psyche in the heat of the 2016 election campaign, when he introduced Americans to the concept of a "big Trump" and a "little Trump" to explain away a petty outburst by the would-be president.

The "big" was a reference to a man who Gingrich pitched as filled with ideas that might change his nation and the world; the "little" was a reference to the then candidate's petulance and hair-trigger temper.

After their nasty phone exchange in the first days of the Trump presidency, Turnbull would be forgiven for believing he'd already met that little guy, and it was time for the big guy to step up  especially when the North Korea crisis and global security and the economy are expected to head the leaders' agenda in their Thursday meeting.
Donald Trump's chief strategist has accidentally revealed his aims for the presidency, by inadvertently posing for a "selfie" in front of his planning whiteboard.

Steve Bannon, the adviser who provided much of the ideological foundation for Mr Trump's election campaign, posed for a photograph with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, a Jewish author and broadcaster, at the White House.

Donald Trump's strategist Steve Bannon poses with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach Credit:Twitter

Mr Boteach later tweeted out the picture with a comment declaring: "Steve is a great, stalwart friend of the Jewish state."

But the image also captured a whiteboard behind them where Mr Bannon had scribbled his policy vision.
Latest News NABs net profit up 8.3% Good results driven by home loan growth, rising interest rates

Refinancing volumes soar in changing market Brokers need to take advantage of $16.9 billion boost

Australias most elite brokers came together at the High-Performance Business Summit in Sydney yesterday (3 May) and went over the finer points of building a truly successful brokerage.The event was presented by Australian Brokers sister publication Mortgage Professional Australia (MPA) and featured speakers and panel discussions on a range of topics, including lead generation, referral partners, diversification and digital marketing. Over 170 brokers from around the country attended.The brokers chosen to be part of the panel discussions were among the nominees for MPAs Top 100 Brokers and 10 Top Independent Brokerages of 2016.In the first panel of the day, Paul Wright, director of Choice Home Loans Wollongong, talked about his experience with referral partners, saying that real estate agents were some of the most difficult to work with.A lot of their leads arent fantastic. Part of that is education. Ive found the best real estate agents to work with are the ones youve already written business for. Thats pretty much what I focus on to generate business from those guys. If they know how you operate, its obviously very easy for them to say to a client This is the broker I personally use.This is a great way to build referral partners in general, Wright said, with anyone from accountants to solicitors suitable for bringing in new clients.When asked about corporate branding, Lloyd Thomas, director of business & product development at Direct Property Network, talked about the creative solutions his firm used to reach clients.Weve built a new platform for the literature that our customers receive, he said. We have a brand book we put together that won an award last year. We put a lot of time and effort into that and its something customers receive at the presentation we put together for them.This coffee table book won the silver medal in the Sydney Design Awards and is a journey book for customers just getting involved with the Direct Property Network.In a later discussion on business strategies from the countrys top brokers, panellists were asked about the numbers and metrics they used to measure success.Deanna Ezzy, finance strategist at Trilogy Funding, said that while loan volumes were great for making comparisons with other brokers nationwide, there were other, more important measures.We used to focus a lot on lodgements. But then we started realising there was a whole lot in between and we were focusing too much on that rather than the process and the customer.We started focusing on just giving good service and making sure that timeframes didnt blow out. We focused more on the customer and where they were at in their journey rather than trying to push them into a lodgement.Speaking about evolving as a broker, Ruan Burger, managing director at Time Home Loans, said it was important to give clients value to help them understand the need for trail commission.You are going to have to start showing value for why you are earning trail. Ive always said that trail is a payment for maintenance. It is there so we can truly look after our clients. If you havent been doing that, all things being equal, you shouldnt be getting the trail in the first place.The next High-Performance Business Summit will be held in Melbourne on 24 May. Click here to view the program and register.
Latest News NABs net profit up 8.3% Good results driven by home loan growth, rising interest rates

Refinancing volumes soar in changing market Brokers need to take advantage of $16.9 billion boost

Australians across party lines and age groups are backing a controversial crackdown on property investors to improve housing affordability, with 54% supporting reforms to negative gearing and capital gains tax, according to a special news poll conducted exclusively for The Australian.Voters are throwing greater support behind the two reforms amid tense political clashes over tax breaks worth $8bn annually, lending weight to an argument within the government to overhaul capital gains tax in the Federal Budget on 9 May. In contrast, there is no similar groundswell for a divisive proposal to allow younger Australians to access their superannuation to buy their first homes, with more voters opposing than endorsing the proposal, regardless of whether they vote for Coalition, Labor, or the Greens.The housing package is a vital part of the budget but is still being disputed by Malcom Turnbull, Scott Morrison , and other cabinet ministers who are trying to reach a consensus about whether to target the tax breaks for property investors.Morrison has not ruled out adjusting the 50% discount on capital gains tax, which remains a big incentive for people buying investment properties. However, he has slammed Labor for planning to halve the discount and restricting negative gearing to newly constructed homes.The news poll found that support for more stringent rules on property investors cut across party lines, with 52% of Coalition voters backing the changes, compared with 57% of Labor voters and 65% of Green voters.Asked if they were in favour of or opposed to curbing negative gearing and reducing capital gains tax deductions for investors, 54% of all respondents were in favour, while 28% were against the reforms and 18% uncommitted. The reforms were endorsed by 56% of voters aged 18 and 34, 50% of voters aged 35 to 49, and 55% of voters aged over 50.Ministers have canvassed the idea of allowing people to access their superannuation to buy their first homes; however, sources within the government say it is unlikely to proceed given that Turnbull has previously dismissed the proposal.The poll  which surveyed 1,686 voters in all Australian states between 20 and 23 April  found that 49% opposed the idea of accessing super to fund first home purchases, while 42% were in favour. Fifty-one per cent of Coalition voters opposed the idea, as did 50% of Labor voters and 51% of Greens voters.
Live coverage: Bucks County results are in

Pennsylvanians will choose their next governor and US senator, as well as new state representatives and state senators.
State Senator Steve Santarsiero (D-10) presented a check to Yardley Borough Police Chief Joseph Kelly for $68,600 for the purchase of a new police vehicle and motorcycle during a visit to the station. Our police put themselves on the line every day to keep our community safe, said Sen. Santarsiero. Dating back to when I was a Lower Makefield Township Supervisor more than...
UB architecture project lends new perspective to grain elevators in Buffalo

Freshman architecture students from the University at Buffalo sit inside one of the 10 structures their design studio made at Silo City as part of "Reflection Space." Photo: Douglas Levere

At first, they looked almost like toys in this landscape, they were so little. But the students have brought a human scale to that gargantuan site that didnt exist before, explains Karen Tashjian, an adjunct assistant professor of architecture who is leading the freshman studio along with Matthew Hume, a clinical assistant professor of architecture at UB.

Each of the 10 structures  which measure approximately 8-by-8-by-8 feet in volume  was built along a snowshoeing and walking trail at Silo City . The public is invited to experience the creations at an exhibit opening at 1:30 p.m. on May 8.

Its called Reflection Space, and its a design-build project with 105 students in the freshman design studio in UBs School of Architecture and Planning. The students worked in groups, 10 teams in all, to flesh out designs for, and then build, a collection of small structures that invite the public to experience the silos in a way they previously could not.

But a project created by freshman architecture students this spring at the University at Buffalo lends a unique new perspective to the grain elevators, and the landscape.

BUFFALO, N.Y.  The collection of grain elevators at Silo City is an impressive enough site, the industrial behemoths towering over the Buffalo River.

Reflection Space Slideshow (photos by Douglas Levere)

In the foreground are students working on their structure, with a tall grain elevator visible in the background.

"The idea is to invite people to walk through, wonder what it is, go in and experience different views of Silo City depending on where youre standing inside it," freshman Eryn Conlon says of the structure her group built, called Trussed.

Through Reflection Space, UB students have "brought a human scale to that gargantuan site that didn't exist before," says Karen Tashjian, adjunct assistant professor of architecture who is teaching the freshman studio with Matthew Hume, clinical assistant professor of architecture.

Most of the groups pre-fabricated the lumber for their structures in the School of Architecture and Planning's Fab Lab and then trucked the wood to Silo City, where the pieces could then be put together.

Among the main outcomes is to teach students about the elusive idea of concept, which is a response to a condition or set of conditions. Each group had to name their project in an attempt to capture the essence of the concept.

Reflection Space challenged UB architecture freshmen this spring to build off the work they did during the fall semester by working in groups of 10 to 12 to create a system that could support the weight of the body.

Freshman Eryn Conlon is part of the group that built Trussed. Using a combination of 2-by-6 and 2-by-12 pieces of lumber, this team created a system of trusses that, when viewed from inside, uniquely frame the grain elevators.

It looks way different from the original design we went off of. It was very rewarding to see how all of our design ideas changed it and brought it to life, Conlon said. The idea is to invite people to walk through, wonder what it is, go in and experience different views of Silo City depending on where youre standing inside it.

Reflection Space began on a very small scale in the fall semester. Working individually, students were tasked with joining three pieces of wood  a board, a sheet and a dowel  to form a joint with a locking mechanism, without the use of glue or metal fasteners. Next, they developed their interlock into a system that would support the weight of the body. They were then challenged to further develop the system into something that would make space.

For the spring semester, Tashjian and Hume chose the 10 systems they felt had the most potential. From there, students worked in teams of 10 to 12 each to refine the designs and then piece together the larger scale structures, first in the studio in Hayes Annex and, eventually, at Silo City.

The larger point of the project, however, wasnt just to build something. It was to teach students about the elusive idea of concept, which is a response to a condition or set of conditions, Tashjian said. Each group had to name their project in an attempt to capture the essence of the concept. They were allowed two words at first, then one.

The concepts for Reflection Space have taken on such themes as views  either direct or fragmented  wind flow, solar path, acoustics, path and collection. They have names like Oculus, Crescendo, Forest and Armature.

The students also had to know what lumber was required, how much it would cost and how it would be cut and assembled. Each group developed construction documents, which isnt typically covered in architectural education, according to Tashjian. Once the wood arrived from Genesee Lumber Co. in Batavia, New York, students worked in the schools Fab Lab to plane, sand and precisely cut the wood.

Its one thing to design something and see it on paper, but its a completely different thing to design something, build it and then experience it. Theres a huge learning process that the students get to enjoy, Hume said. Most of these structures use zero fastener joining systems, so they dont have any metal parts. It forces the students to think through the details more precisely, he added.

Rick Smith, who owns the Silo City property, has provided the space to UB architecture faculty and students in the past as a sort of sandbox in which they can experiment. His company, Rigidized Metals, has also partnered with the School of Architecture and Planning on several projects, including Elevator B, a honeycomb-themed tower housing bees and also located at Silo City.

The Reflection Space structures will remain at the site until they rot away. Toward that end, some groups covered their installations in moss or other natural greenery to help their project fit into the natural landscape. Others didnt treat the lumber at all. The dissolving of the project was part of the poetry for them, Hume said.

Based on the students reactions to what theyve achieved, theyll be talking about Reflection Space for some time.

This full-scale build project has engaged them at a profound level that we hope will help carry them forward with the thrill of making, of building, of imagining and of dreaming, Tashjian said.
50 women who have raised the profile of sports in South Jersey

To mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX, we're spotlighting 50 women who have raised the profile of sports in South Jersey.
Within weeks of the Narendra Modi government rejecting Apple Incs demand for Customs duty concessions for its suppliers who could look at manufacturing in the country, Cupertino-based tech major has pinned its hope on India even as global sale of iPhones dipped.

At the analyst call after the second quarter earnings early Wednesday (India time), Chief Executive said, Were very optimistic about our future in this remarkable country with its very large, young, and tech-savvy population, fast-growing economy, and improving 4G network infrastructure. Cook said in his opening address that revenue in India grew by strong double digits during the quarter ended April 1, setting a record.

Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri quantified the strong double-digit growth for India  over 20 per cent. The company achieved double-digit growth in the US, Canada, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Turkey, Russia and Mexico, Maestri said. Our growth rates were even higher, over 20 per cent in many other markets, including Brazil, Scandinavia, the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, India, Korea and Thailand.

Globally, Apple sold 50.76 million iPhones in its second quarter financial year, down from 51.19 million a year earlier during the corresponding period. In India, around 2.5 million iPhones are estimated to have been sold between October 2015 and September 2016.

While the talk on India revolved around high growth (mainly of iPhones) and 4G network access, top executives remained tight-lipped on the regulatory hurdles Apple faces in the country as well as on the company plans in this geography.

For instance, when Simona K Jankowski of Goldman Sachs asked Cook if it was reasonable to assume that Apple would sell 10 million to 20 million iPhones in India next year, keeping in mind the growth and 4G roll-out, the chief executive officer spoke of having a ton of energy going into the country on a number of fronts. According to the transcript of the analyst call available at Seeking Alpha website, Cook said, Weve been investing quite a bit it is the third-largest smartphone market in the world today behind China and the US So, we believe, particularly now that the 4G infrastructure is going in the country and is continuing to be expanded, theres a huge opportunity for Apple there. So that and the demographics of the country is why were putting so much energy there.

To another question from Jim Suva of Citigroup Global Markets on Apples road map for India and whether it needed to work more with the government to set up stores and production units as well as to improve sales further, Cook agreed that the company was underpenetrated there. The company is bringing all the things that we brought to bear in other markets that weve eventually done well in, and thats from channel to stores to our ecosystem and so forth, Cook added. He referred to Indias growth rates in relation to iPhone sales as really good by most peoples expectations, but said, maybe not mine as much. Cooks meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year in New Delhi had centred on the promise that India market held, and the country has delivered in terms of consumer response.

The company is bringing all the things to the India market, Cook said. But when and how are among the questions that have kept industry watchers glued to the scene. Business Standard spoke to people close to the company and analysts to piece things together on Apples likely India road map for setting up fully-owned stores, starting manufacturing in the country, stepping up assembly lines, selling Apple-certified pre-owned phones and opting for the e-commerce route.

Store plan can wait

Even as Apple had proposed early in 2016 to set up fully-owned stores in India, 30 per cent local sourcing norm as part of the single brand retail foreign direct investment policy (FDI) policy has kept the plan on hold. A senior official at the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) told this newspaper recently, Theres been no retail proposal from Apple for a long time.

Sources in the know said that the company was clear that compliance with the sourcing clause was not feasible. Case-to-case approval for niche cutting-edge was among the solutions devised by bureaucrats so that a company such as Apple could be spared from mandatory local sourcing. But definition of cutting-edge has been in the making for at least a year. Even as the government subsequently decided that a company manufacturing substantially in India would not have to comply with sourcing norms for owning retail outlets, the mathematics is still not working out for Apple, a source said.

Theres no show-stopper time frame for opening stores in India, a person familiar with the workings of the tech major said. Currently, there are franchisee stores in the country. Apple could wait for long, till it has the right environment to set up stores as these are iconic destinations the world over. Typically, the company would not look at more than two to three stores in five to 10 years. He cited global numbers to explain that Apple has no flagship store in many countries, including in Singapore. Dubai recently opened one. There are 495 stores in 18 countries, with maximum in the US, followed by Canada. China is high in the pecking order, too, with 40 stores, but Belgium, Mexico, Macau have only one each; the UAE, Netherlands and Sweden have three each; Turkey and Brazil have two each.





Make in India

However, the narrative has shifted to manufacturing in India now, at least from the government side. But for Apple, manufacturing will not take off till it makes business sense for the companys component suppliers and the vendor universe, another source associated with production pointed out. Apple had asked for 15 years of Customs duty waiver, to be able to import components such as iPhone kits and other equipment needed for smartphone manufacturing, without incurring a high cost.

Anyway, now the GST (goods and services tax) regime will subsume those duties, a senior official in the finance ministry said, adding, Nobody can do anything about tax concessions now. He was replying to a query on the government rejecting Apples duty-waiver proposal. It would mean the company would continue to wait for the right time to start manufacturing in India, quite like having its stores.

Assembly line

Assembling in India is one route that is on. In fact, Wistron Corp - No. 92 & 93 Industrial Suburb II Stage, Yeshwanthpur, Bengaluru, India  stands out in the list of top 200 suppliers of Apple on the official website. It is the only one name associated with India to begin assembling of iPhones. To begin with, Taiwanese original design manufacturer Wistron will assemble iPhoneSE in the Karnataka plant. Last-mile work is in progress and things should start in about two months, a source at Wistron indicated.

However, it is the other Taiwanese firm - electronics contract manufacturer Foxconn - that caught public attention with its mega $5-billion now-on now-off investment proposal for Maharashtra. Sources close to the development said even as Foxconn is a big supplier for Apple worldwide, theres nothing in India yet to connect the two. But, in the coming months or years, things could change and Foxconn could possibly start manufacturing for Apple even in India, they pointed out.

Other plans

Starting online stores is among its plans, and buying iPhones online could be a possibility in the future for Indian shoppers, one of the sources quoted above said. Then there are two more pieces in the Apple jigsaw  sale of Apple-certified pre-owned phones in India and the concept of phased manufacturing that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology recently floated. The proposal to bring pre-owned phones into India was rejected by the government and the company has not returned with any revised plan on that. Phased manufacturing is something that Apple top bosses may be discussing already with the government, at least to figure out what it exactly means.
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Indian airlines have complained that are flying more seats into the country than allowed under the bilateral treaty between the two countries. The aviation ministry has asked the regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), to inspect the claim following which the ministry can take action. This comes amidst negotiations to increase seat entitlements of Dubai. Documents reviewed by Business Standard shows that Indian airlines have alleged of flying 5,000 excess seats per week in each direction, which is a violation of the bilateral agreement.
As a young cryptologist in the US Navy, Christina Ruggiero, now the chief executive of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, the bottling arm of Coca-Cola India, was adept at cracking codes. In her mid-40s now, Ruggiero, who has been posted at the Indian unit from Coca-Colas Atlanta office, will literally have to crack the beverage code here as Coca-Cola looks at ways to enhance distribution and production.
Growth in India's Rs 3.2 lakh crore fast moving market (FMCG) has been the highest in two years, according to market research agency Nielsen. Figures by Nielsen show that overall FMCG growth has been 12.2 per cent, led by both volume and price, in the quarter ended March 2017. This is at least 400 basis points higher than the year-ago period, when overall growth was 7.9 per cent. Nielsen's numbers are in line with what most globally and nationally have been saying for a few quarters now.



Here are a few reasons why the tide is changing for consumer goods:
The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is all set to launch the South Asia Satellite, or GSAT-9, which will be India's gift to its neighbouring countries, at 4.57 pm on Friday. The rocket is set to blast off from Sriharikotta space station.
India on Thursday said it is a secular state with no state religion and safeguarding the rights of minorities forms an essential core of its polity, as it came under criticism from Pakistan over treatment of minorities.
The beheading of a Border Security Force (BSF) head constable and an Indian army naib subedar by a Pakistani border action team serves multiple aims for the Pakistani army. Firstly, it serves to provoke India, thus dooming re-engagement with Pakistan and blighting any chance of dialogue between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that could have taken place on the sidelines of the forthcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. It also signals to Sharif that he may handpick his army chiefs all he wants but they will ultimately be more loyal to the army than their political masters. And finally, the timing of the beheading could have been selected to coincide with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans visit to India, since he touched upon the Kashmir issue in a pre-visit interview.
The Supreme Court Wednesday asked if a tax payer can say that he would pay taxes not according to the tax regime put in place by the government but the way he would like.

"Can you say that I will pay taxes in the manner I will pay" and not follow the tax regime put in place by the government, the bench of Justice A.K.Sijkri and Justice Ashok Bhushan asked senior counsel Shyan Divan who argued against linking Aadhaar with permanent account number (PAN) under Section 139 AA of Income Tax Act.

The court query came even as for the second successive day, the central government defended inserting Section 139AA mandating linking of Aadhaar number to the permanent account number (PAN) for the purpose of filing income tax returns.

Defending the linking of Aadhaar with PAN, counsel Arghya Sengupta told the court that biometric was the best system for person's identification at present and it is what PAN was earlier.

He said that as of today, technologically Aadhaar was "protected system" with all sophisticated safeguards and there was not a single leak from Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

Addressing the privacy issue being raised on the linking of Aadhaar with PAN, Sengupta, Founder & Research Director, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, told the bench that understanding of privacy has to be in Indian context and its laws and not in the western concept.

Taking exception to Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi describing the challenge to linking of Aadhaar number with PAN an elitist challenge, Divan said that his client is a major general and may not have contributed as much as the Attorney General might but did something in his service.

Telling the bench that both Aadhaar Act and IT Act's Section 139 AA were in clash, Divan said the former says Aadhaar was voluntary and the latter makes it mandatory.

"Everything from enrolment to its use is voluntary and its could not be made mandatory by Section 139 AA.

Appearing for another petitioner, senior counsel Arvind Datar told the court that it was a frightening scenario that the Attorney General gives an undertaking to the top court and the government acts contrary to it by bringing a law.

It is shocking that parliament can pass a law contrary to what the Attorney General undertook in the top court, he said, pointing out that if AG gives an undertaking, the government in majority can't act contrary to it.

Senior Communist Party of India leader Binoy Visman, former Indian Army officer S.G. Vombatkere and Safai Karamchari Andolan founder and convenor Bezwada Wilson have moved the court challenging the validity of the Section 139AA.
Two were killed in an exchange of fire with security forces in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Bijapur district on Thursday evening, police said.

The skirmish took place in the jungles of Kolnar and Adawada villages under Bhairamgarh police station limits when a joint team of security personnel was out on a counter-insurgency operation, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Dantewada region) Sundarraj P told PTI.

The team comprising CRPF's 199th battalion and police personnel from three local police stations was carrying out the operation in the jungles of Bhairamgarh, Jangla and Bangpal, around 450 km from Raipur, he said.

The team came under heavy fire from while advancing through the forests along Indravati river near Kolnar and Adawada, leading to a gun-battle which lasted for about two hours, the DIG said.

After the fled, two bodies of their comrades were found from the spot. Also, two muzzle-loading guns, two 'tiffin bombs' and a huge cache of explosives were recovered, he said.
Equality and the American dream seem to be increasingly out of reach for many Indians in the U.S., since President Donald Trump took office. The past several months have worried many people across the world, and Indians were especially alarmed to learn about the apparently racially motivated murder of Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla. Meanwhile, the White House continues to push a controversial Muslim ban, battling the U.S. court system.
Indians have voted Indore in Madhya Pradesh as the cleanest city, while Gonda in Uttar Pradesh has been found to be the dirtiest, the government said on Thursday.
The shameful beheading of two Indian soldiers by Pakistans border action team near the (LoC) on Monday has justifiably flared tempers on the Indian side. The government has asserted that India has sufficient evidence to prove that the Pakistan army crossed the LoC at the Krishna Ghati sector and committed this heinous act. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, too, conveyed Indias outrage to Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit, though the Pakistani establishment has denied the involvement of its army. Predictably, there is growing clamour within India, across the Treasury and Opposition benches, for the army to retaliate with full force. However, there are many reasons why the government must think through its response.
A 37-year-old hawala operator, who allegedly funded a suspected agent of Pakistan's spy agency ISI, has been arrested, a police official said on Thursday.

Altaf Qureshi was arrested late last night from Masjid Bunder area in South Mumbai in a joint operation by anti-terrorism squads of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, the official said.

Qureshi had allegedly deposited money in the bank account of arrested Aftab Ali in Lucknow for carrying out espionage activities, he said.

ATS officials seized a cellphone and Rs 71.57 lakh in cash from the house of Qureshi, who himself is suspected to be an operative of ISI, he said.

The hawala operator, who was in the business at the behest of one Jawed Naviwala, was nabbed after his name cropped up during Aftab's interrogation, who was held from Faizabad on Wednesday, the official added.

Aftab, booked under the Official Secrets Act, had allegedly passed on information about the Indian Army's movements to officers posted at the Pakistan High Commission and also to the ISI, the official claimed.

He had allegedly provided information about the army's movements and units in Faizabad, Lucknow and Amritsar, he said.

Police were questioning Qureshi to know on whose directive he had deposited the money in Aftab's account, the official said.
If you are suffering from any illness and need regular medication, be warned that chemists are not stocking medicines and drugs beyond one week in anticipation of any setbacks brought about by the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) regime, DNA reported on May 2.
The arguments both for and against Aadhaar, the 12-digit biometrically linked unique identification number that the government wants every Indian resident to have, are known by now. But they have crystallised in the Supreme Court over the last week, as petitioners appealed against amendments to the Income Tax Act that make Aadhaar mandatory for filing tax returns. The arguments were made just days after it was reported that the biometric details of 13.5 crore Indians had been revealed on government websites. It has been an illuminating week. What the government thinks of civil rights and liberties, what has merely been speculated till now, has now seen the cold light of day.
The 2,400 Mw coal-based power plant proposed by (OTPCL), an Odisha government PSU, has apparently walked into a blind alley with no suitable coal block in sight.

The Ministry of Coal (MoC) had originally allocated the Tentuloi coal block in favour of OTPCL with reserves of 1,200 million tonne. But Tentuloi being an underground block was tough to extract and posed the risk of escalating the cost of power production. The Odisha government has been making repeated pleas to the ministry to allocate an alternative block. The state government had even offered to surrender the Tentuloi block so that OTPCL becomes eligible for a new coal block under the PSU dispensation route.
Port Trust (KoPT), which operates the riverine ports at Kolkata and Haldia in West Bengal is working on improving transparency in its processes and instilling better labour disciple to maintain its cargo handling volume as it feels threatened from the upcoming ports in Tajpur in West Bengal and Subrnarekha in Odisha.

The port's chairman, M T Krishna Babu said that the upcoming Tajpur port, with a depth more than 12 metres and the deep draft Subranarekha port, both armed with modern cargo handling systems, will be able to pull in ships with higher tonnage which will mean loss of cargo handling for the KoPT operated ports.
Coming from the demonetisation shock in the last quarter of calendar year 2016 (CY16), the demand for jewellery rose 16% to 92.3 tonnes in the first quarter of calendar year 2017 (Q1CY17), says the latest World Council (WGC) report titled Demand Trends Q1 2017. It was the third such instance in a decade where the total demand was less than 100 tonnes.

The rise also pushed the world gold jewellery demand higher in the recently concluded quarter, which was up by 1% at 480.9 tonnes. The overall consumer demand for gold in Indian during the March 2017 quarter stood at 123.5 tonnes, a 15% rise as compared to the previous corresponding period.
With the government vigourously pushing its flagship Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), the general insurance industry is expecting total premium income from the space to touch Rs 23,000 crore during the current 2017-18 financial year.
The Odisha government has shut down two chromite mines of India Metals and Ferroalloys, a leading ferroalloys producer of the country, on the ground of non-compliance of pollution control norms.

While consent to operate (CTO) granted to the mines by the OSPCB was set to expire in March 2021, the sudden move to revoke it, based on an inspection of a pollution watchdog team, has obviously led to speculations of a political overtone to the action.



Incidentally, is promoted by the family of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP, Baijayant Panda, who has fallen out of favour with chief minister Naveen Patnaik following his recent criticism of the functioning of the party. Panda had also called for retrospection on the part of the party after a lacklustre performance in the recent panchayat elections in the state.
The new framework for non-performing assets (NPAs) will allow state-owned banks to conduct open auctions of NPAs, wherein cash-rich public sector companies will be encouraged to buy such assets in their sector.
The civil aviation ministry, which has for long toyed with the idea of a biometric identification system at airports, is close to rolling it out. Similar to marquee airports such as Schiphol (Amsterdam), Brisbane and Hamad (Doha), travellers could soon enter Indian airports without flashing their identity cards and clear the check-in process through fingerprint and iris scan.
There is a debate now on whether agriculture should come under the tax net. NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy seems to have suggested that the agriculture sector should be taxed like other sectors. The discussion on taxing agriculture is not a new thing and it has persisted throughout the planning period in India. The Committee on Taxation of Agricultural Wealth and Income, chaired by K N Raj, had recommended the introduction of Agricultural Holding Tax (AHT) in place of land revenue. The suggestion of AHT was criticised by many economists. Preparation of records for the estimation of the value of various relevant variables was another difficulty. It was also felt that its administration would be too costly. This tax, so far, has not been imposed in the country.

Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal. They do not reflect the view/s of Business Standard.
(BoI) recently released a recruitment notice for filling up 702 manager / officer positions. Applicants who want to make career in banking sector can apply by filling application form online on the official website www.bankofindia.com. Closing date to submit an application form for officer and manager post is May 5, 2017 and for security officer and technical posts is May 12, 2017. Before applying for BoI recruitment are advised to check the eligibility norms before applying.
While on the campaign trail last year, Donald J Trump lamented the loss of manufacturing jobs in the United States and set his sights on like to help rectify the situation. Im going to get to start making their computers and their iPhones on our land, not in China, he said.
An attack on a NATO convoy in Kabul on May 3 killed eight civilians and wounded at least 25 other people, including three Americans in the convoy. That this attack happened in a high security area close to the US Embassy is a measure of just how powerful the anti-government paramilitaries are  and it comes just a week after the Taliban announced the start of its spring offensive, Operation Mansouri, which will focus on foreign troops.
US President Donald Trump vowed to work as a "mediator, an arbitrator or a facilitator" to help broker peace between the Israelis and Palestinians as he welcomed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the White House.

"We will get this done," Trump vowed as he met Abbas on Wednesday.

Trump reiterated the need for Israelis and Palestinians to broker a peace through direct negotiations and called on Palestinian leaders to "speak in a unified voice against incitement to violence and hate".

"There's such hatred, but hopefully there won't be such hatred for very long," Trump said, speaking alongside Abbas in the Roosevelt Room.

The Palestinian leader expressed his support for a two-state solution to the conflict and the long-held Palestinian desire for a capital in East Jerusalem, welcoming Trump's role as a mediator in peace negotiations.

He said he had "hope" about prospects for peace with Trump in that role as he praised the President for his negotiating acumen.

"I believe that we are capable under your leadership and under your courageous stewardship and your wisdom as well as your great negotiating ability. I believe we can be partners  true partners to you  to bring about a historic peace treaty," Abbas said through an interpreter. "Now, Mr President, with you we have hope."

Trump expressed his desire to have Palestinians and Israelis draw on the Oslo Accords that Abbas signed as the Palestinian negotiator in 1993 and said he hoped the Palestinian leader would soon sign "the final and most important peace agreement".

The Oslo Accords are a set of agreements between the government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).

The accords marked the start of the Oslo process, that is aimed at achieving a peace treaty and to fulfil the "right of the Palestinian people to self-determination".

While Trump spoke broadly about his desire for a peace deal and some of the barriers to a deal, Abbas spoke about the specific complaints and demands of Palestinians.

Abbas spoke of the importance of providing solutions that would address the situation of Palestinian refugees and those imprisoned in Israeli prisons, referring to "the suffering of my people".

"It's about time for Israel to end its occupation of our people and of our land," Abbas said, referring to the Palestinian territories in the West Bank under Israeli control.

Trump did not address Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which he had asked the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt, nor did he address the terrorist group Hamas, which controls Gaza and earlier this week opened the door to at least a temporary deal for a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders.

Abbas' visit comes over two months after Netanyahu visited Trump at the White House.
The underlying narrative in the French presidential election remains the same as the final vote draws near. Despite the gaps in the republican front against her, Marine Le Pen still looks a long shot to win the run-off on May 7. Most of the opinion polls have Emmanuel Macron winning, taking around 60% of the vote against Le Pens 40%. But the far-right candidate is gnawing away at his lead.
The following is a translation of an article written by Russian journalist Darya Luganskaya. The post has been edited for clarity and length, and reprinted with the author's permission. You can read the original text here.
The rally in the has pushed Indian benchmarks higher on Thursday. While the Nifty closed at 9,359, up 47.9 points or 0.5 per cent, the Sensex gained 231.4 points or 0.8 per cent to close at 30,126. This is a new record high closing for Nifty. On the other hand, the Sensex is 0.8 per cent short of touching a new high. Even the broader echoed a similar trend with both the midcap and small indices closing 0.5 per cent and 0.36 per cent higher respectively.

The had rallied on the back of optimism about government's decision to bring an ordinance to empower the Reserve Bank to effectively deal with bad loans. Shares of ICICI Bank rallied 9.2 per cent to end as the biggest gainer among the Sensex companies. Shares of Axis Bank and SBI closed 3.6 per cent and 3.2 per cent higher respectively. The BSE Bankex, a gauge of banking stocks, soared 2.3 per cent to close at a new high of 25,831.
After a record high of 5.67 million tonnes in 2016-17, representing a 19.9 per cent increase over the previous year, import of pulses is expected to decline this year, by up to 20 per cent.
In a setback to the $4.7-billion Indian seafood exports sector, the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) has unanimously voted to extend the anti-dumping orders on imports of frozen warm water shrimps for five more years. The US is the largest market for Indian exporters. The existing anti-dumping duty orders on imports of the perishable product from China, Thailand, and Vietnam will also remain in place.
Ramping up its attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the issue of an Adivasi couple joining the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said on Thursday that Adivasis live in fear in the state.

"Which way is the political situation of Bengal going? The government is playing vote bank politics and protecting one particular community. Yesterday's incident proves that even the Adivasi's are not safe in Bengal," BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said.

He claimed the Adivasi couple were forced to join the TMC and that even police refused to register a complaint filed by the BJP.

"Even the police refused to take the complaint. We came to know that the police had threatened the family that if they do not join the TMC they would be implicated in false cases. We want an investigation on this," Vijayvargiya said.

Yesterday, the Adviasi couple said they had willingly joined the TMC.

Speaking to reporters, TMC leader Goutam Deb said, "The Mahalis have willingly joined the TMC. There was no pressure on them. They have decided to join the TMC after being convinced about Mamata Banerjee's immense developmental work in the state."

Geeta, who had hosted Shah at her residence, said, "I am happy to join the TMC today. We will work to strengthen the party in the Naxalbari."

BJP leader Dilip Barui, however, had earlier claimed that the Mahalis "were under pressure from the local Trinamool Congress unit ever since Amit Shah and state BJP President Dilip Ghosh had lunch at their house on April 25."

Amit Shah had dined at the couple's residence when he was in West Bengal as a part of his ' Vistaar Yatra '.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Delhi Court granted today bail to Chhattisgarh bureaucrat Babu Lal Agrawal and others in connection with alleged bribery case on furnishing of a bail bond of Rs. one lakh each.

The court had earlier extended the remand of the 1988 batch IAS officer and two others by three days.

Agrawal, Bhagwan Singh and Anand Agrawal have already spent five days in Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody.

According to the CBI, the fourth accused Syed Burhanuddin, who was caught in Hyderabad is yet to be questioned in the presence of the other accused.

The CBI has alleged that Agrawal was trying to escape investigation with the help of certain mediators and through monetary favours.

The mediators are yet to be identified.

As of now, the CBI is conducting an operation for recovery of several hawala transactions worth lakhs of rupees.

Two cases were previously registered against Agrawal and a chargesheet has been filed against him regarding the same.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Calcutta High Court judge Mr. Justice C.S.Karnan declined to undergo a medical examination by a four-member medical team from a government hospital here on Thursday, saying he was "quite normal and has a stable mind".

It maybe recalled that the Supreme Court had ordered Justice Karnan to undergo a medical examination after he failed to give satisficatory replies with regard to the discharge of his duties.

Justice Karnan said, "I declined to avail medical treatment since I am quite normal and have a stable mind. Further my strong view about the Supreme Court order (is that) it amounts to insult and harassment towards the judge (myself)."

He informed the doctors that for holding such a medical examination, a guardian's consent is required.

"As my family members are not here, there is no such consent. So, any medical test cannot be held", he said.

On May 1, Justice Karnan had asserted that he will issue a suo moto suspension order against West Bengal Director General of Police (DGP) if a medical checkup is conducted on him coercively.

"If the West Bengal DGP comes to check my mental health forcefully, then I will issue a suo moto suspension order against him," Justice Karnan had told media then, adding that the state police chief should also consider taking seven Supreme Court judges for a medical test too.

The apex court has constituted a medical board to examine the mental condition of Justice Karnan on May 5 and also directed the West Bengal police chief to assist the medical board to get Justice Karnan examined.

The medical reports were suppoed to be submitted on or before May 8.

The next hearing with regard to Justice Karnan is scheduled for May 9.

The Supreme Court has instructed that all orders of Justice Karnan are not to be taken cognizance of until further directions from it.

The apex court had invoked its powers to initiate contempt proceedings against Justice Karnan, for writing letters casting aspersions on several judges.

Justice Karnan has been accused of circulating disparaging letters against sitting high court judges of the Madras High Court and Supreme Court judges to the Prime Minister's Office.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A case was registered against Congress leader Digvijaya Singh for allegation on Telangana Police for radicalising Muslim youth by setting up fake ISIS site.

"I am thankful to the Telangana government for getting this case registered. I will get a chance to prove my point and in my defence I would call the Chief Minister, Home Minister, DGP, Home Secretary of India, Security of India to depose and I will cross question them," Singh told the media here.

Earlier, Digvijaya made a shocking allegation by accusing the Telangana Police of setting up a 'bogus ISIS site which is radicalising Muslim Youth and encouraging them to become ISIS Modules'.

Questioning the involvement of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao in the matter, Digvijaya asserted that if KCR was involved, then he should own up and resign.

"If he is, shouldn't he own up and resign?" he tweeted.

"Is it ethical? Is it moral? Has KCR authorised the Telangana Police to trap Muslim Youth and encourage them to join the ISIS?" Digvijaya tweeted.

"The Telangana Police has set up a bogus ISIS site which is radicalising Muslim Youths and encouraging them to become ISIS Modules," he tweeted.

"Whether the state police should be trapping Muslim Youth in becoming ISIS modules by posting inflammatory information?" Digvijaya tweeted.

He also raised questions on the encounter of ISIS terror accused Saifullah that it was based on the Telangana Police's information that the Madhya Pradesh police arrested accused who were responsible for the bomb blast in train in Shajapur District and Saifullah's encounter also took place in Kanpur the same day.

"It was on their information that MP Police arrested accused who were responsible for the bomb blast in train in Shajapur District of MP," he tweeted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Defence Experts on Thursday exhorted the government to take a severe punitive action against Pakistan which "has been lying over its involvement in the mutilation of two Indian soldiers' bodies.

Defence Expert P. K. Sehgal told ANI that Pakistan was in a denial mode over its involvement in Krishna Ghati's barbaric act despite all the evidences against it.

"We have clinching evidence and same has been conveyed to the Pakistan high commissioner, but we must not waste time in focussing in this area as Pakistan will remain in denial mode. The sooner we teach them a lesson it would be better from both Pakistan's point of view as well as nation's point of view," said Sehgal.

He said considering the nation's mood, the government must take swift and solid action against Pakistan.

"The entire nation is looking forward to a very swift and a very solid and punitive response from the Indian army. If the government doesn't give a go ahead in a meaningful time frame the government's credibility would be severely degraded," he added.

Resonating similar sentiments, another Defence Expert Praful Bakshi told ANI that it was obvious that Pakistan will deny mutilating two Indian soldiers' bodies.

"It is obvious that Pakistan will deny carrying out a heinous task of mutilating our soldiers' bodies". But, the blood trail is leading across. The matter stands still and Pakistan's denial is very serious," he added.

He said India should change its policy of not to attack first as Pakistan was taking advantage of it.

"Pakistan is showing aggression all along the border. Pakistan is taking advantage of Indian policy of not attacking first. We have to change our policy from reactive to proactive. Our intelligence tells us where the terrorists are coming from. India need not wait for the attack but should take pre-emptive action," he said.

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday said Pakistan's denial of any cross Line of Control movement by its troops and mutilation of Indian soldiers' carries no credibility.

Jaitley said, "The denial itself carries no credibility because the entire gambit of circumstances clearly indicates that this barbaric act of first killing two of our soldiers and then neutralising their bodies has been carried out with the active participation of the army."

"The facts that cover firings are provided to those who carry out this act. They help to escape on such a heavily guarded border where posts are in few meters of each other. This cannot happen without protection, participation or actual indulgence of the Pakisatn army itself," he added.

New Delhi yesterday summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit and lodged a protest against the killing and mutilation of Indian Army soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir.

"Foreign Secretary summoned Pakistan High Commissioner, conveyed India's outrage, demands action against Pakistan soldiers and commanders responsible," Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Gopal Baglay said in a tweet.

The Pakistan Army has denied New Delhi's charge of mutilating the bodies of two Indian soldiers and described itself as a highly professional force that never disrespects any soldier.

"Pakistan Army did not commit any ceasefire violation on the LoC or a BAT action in the Buttal sector (Indian Krishna Ghati Sector) as alleged by India. Indian blame of mutilating Indian soldiers' bodies is also false," the Inter Services Public Relation (ISPR) said in a statement.

However, the Indian Army in its statement said, "Pakistan Army carried out unprovoked Rocket and Mortar firing on two forward posts on the line of control in Krishna Ghati Sector. Simultaneously, a BAT action was launched on a patrol operating in between the two posts. In an unsoldierly act by the Pak Army the bodies of two of our soldiers in the patrol were mutilated. Such despicable act of Pakistan Army will be appropriately responded.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Speaking at the India Integrated Transport and Logistics Summit 2017 here today, Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari asserted that the basic mission of the Centre is eradication of poverty.

Addressing the stakeholders in the Summit 2017, Gadkari said, "The politics of 21st century is very much committed for the progress and development and eradication of the poverty. This is the basic mission mode for our government."

Gadkari announced some major decisions that aim to create "Modi's New India':

-India aiming at double-digit growth (GDP, the current growth is 7.5 per cent).

-The revenue has increased from Rs 3 lakh crores to Rs 20 lakh crores within the three years of BJP government. The Centre further aims to increase revenue to 28 lakh crores to 30 crores in the upcoming two years.

-36 ring roads where logistics parks should be created have been identified in order to save cities from traffic congestion and pollution problems.

-13 express high ways to be constructed for better roads.

- In a historic development, the Rajya Sabha passed the constitutional amendment paving the way for the goods & services tax (GST).It will impact various sectors in a good way.

-Transport ministry is expecting IITLS to draw big investments of around Rs 2 lakh crores including from the countries like Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong.

- To construct 10 Inter-Modal Stations which integrate various transportation modes like rail, road, mass rapid transit system, bus rapid transit, auto-rickshaw, taxi and private vehicle.

-The integrated policy would include construction of 50 Economic Corridors and upgrading key feeder and inter corridor routes to improve overall efficiency of freight movement.

-Developing 35 multimodal logistics parks to serve as centres for freight aggregation and distribution, multimodal transportation, storage and warehousing and value added services.

-Made in India and 'Make in India', lithium-ion battery backups would be manufactured in India. Dream of electric vehicles, electric car, electric taxis, electric bus is not far.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hanumantha Rao, the Congress MP from Telangana on Thursday requested the Central government to increase the relief amount for chilli farmers from Rs. 5000 per quintal to Rs. 10,000.

"The central government should increase the relief amount from Rs. 5000 per quintal to Rs. 10,000, as this will give some relief to the farmers," Rao told ANI.

He further said the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS)-led state government is full of contradictions.

"On one hand it is giving 10 percent reservation to tribals and then their ministers are calling protesting farmers as hooligans. Farmers provide food for the people of Telangana and the government is putting these farmers and tribals in jail," he added.

Earlier this week the Centre had ordered the clearance of the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) with immediate effect to help distressed chilli farmers in Andhra Pradesh, under which the Centre will buy chillies at Rs. 5,000 per quintal till May 31.

Earlier, leaders and public representatives from Andhra Pradesh Hari Babu, along with a delegation of MPs met Union Minister, M. Venkaiah Naidu requested for his intervention in the matter.

Following detailed discussions and submission of data and statistics, the Government said that it would rescue both the states under MIS.

The Centre has ordered the clearance of the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) with immediate effect to help distressed chilli farmers in Andhra Pradesh.

The Centre will buy chillies at Rs. 5,000 per quintal till May 31.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Strongly reacting to India's statement on mutilation of two Indian soldiers by Pakistan, Islamabad has hit back at New Delhi for using the 'Pakistan card' for manoeuvering its internal politics.

In an interview with Radio Pakistan, Foreign Office Spokesman Nafees Zakaria said that Pakistan has made it clear that no incident of mutilation of Indian soldiers has taken place.

Earlier yesterday, Indian Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said Pakistan's denial of mutilation carries no credibility.

Pakistan's denial of any cross Line of Control movement by its troops and mutilation of Indian soldiers' carries no credibility, said Jaitley.

Jaitley said, "The denial itself carries no credibility because the entire gambit of circumstances clearly indicates that this barbaric act of first killing two of our soldiers and then neutralising their bodies has been carried out with the active participation of the army."

"The facts that cover firings are provided to those who carry out this act. They help to escape on such a heavily guarded border where posts are in few meters of each other. This cannot happen without protection, participation or actual indulgence of the army itself," he added.

New Delhi summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit yesterday, and lodged a protest against the killing and mutilation of Indian Army soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir.

"Foreign Secretary summoned Pakistan High Commissioner, conveyed India's outrage, demands action against Pakistan soldiers and commanders responsible," said Baglay in a tweet.

The Pakistan Army has denied India's charge of mutilating two of the latter's soldiers and described itself as a highly professional force that never disrespects any soldier.

"Pakistan Army did not commit any ceasefire violation on the LoC or a BAT action in the Buttal sector (Indian Krishna Ghati Sector) as alleged by India. Indian blame of mutilating Indian soldiers' bodies is also false," the Inter Services Public Relation (ISPR) said in a statement.

The Indian Army in its statement said, "Pakistan Army carried out unprovoked Rocket and Mortar firing on two forward posts on the line of control in Krishna Ghati Sector.

Simultaneously, a BAT action was launched on a patrol operating in between the two posts. In an unsoldierly act by the Pak Army the bodies of two of our soldiers in the patrol were mutilated. Such despicable act of Pakistan Army will be appropriately responded.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Several locals on Thursday were seen attempting to obstruct the anti-terror operation launched in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district by security forces earlier today.

The locals majorly comprised girls and students, and were seen hurling stones which resulted in clashes.

Several civilians also sustained injuries as security forces resorted to tear gas to disperse the crowds.

Meanwhile, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat has said that the recent combing operations have been launched to control the sudden spurt of untoward incidents in the Valley.

"Today's combing operation in Kashmir is to make sure that situation is brought under control post recent incidents. Banks have been looted, policemen have been killed. That is why today's combing operation is taking place. We are taking measures, have beefed up our counter infiltration posture to take care of the situation," Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said.

Almost two dozen villages in Shopian were cordoned off, as the Indian Army along with other security forces launched a massive anti-terror operation earlier today.

The search operations come in the wake of a surge in militancy related incidents in the past few days.

Suspected terrorists barged into a police post guarding the court complex of southern Shopian late on Tuesday night, and decamped with five service rifles.

The terrorists decamped along with five service rifles including four INSAS rifles and an AK-47 rifle.

Earlier, following the two bank robberies that took place in Pulwama on Wednesday, Pulwama Superintendant of Police Rayees Mohammed Bhat revealed that preliminary investigation has established the involvement of the terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

"Until now, we have identified one militant each from Padgampora and Khagpura, which proves Lashkar's involvement in the incident," he said.

"It is clear that militant organisations like these are short of cash. We have also seen that they now carry more advanced technological gadgets. We are continuing the investigation," he added.

The gunmen looted two banks, in separate incidents, in South Kashmir's Pulwama district, within few hours.

Bank robberies and weapon snatching incidents have been on the rise in the Valley recently, triggering an alert.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Scores of Kashmiris took part in a protest outside the United Nations office in Srinagar against the Pakistan Government's proposed move to declare Gilgit-Baltistan as that country's fifth province.

Members of the South Asian Friends (SAF) took to the streets in the city, carrying placards that stated that the area from Lakhanpur to Gilgit belonged to Kashmiris. They also shouted slogans against the Nawaz Sharif government.

"Our protest is against the Pakistan government's order to declare Gilgit-Baltistan a fifth province. The area from Lakhanpur to Gilgit-Baltistan belongs to Kashmiris. It should be left to us," Salim Akhthat Malik, SAF chairman, told ANI.

Malik further said that their organisation intends to organise many more such protests against Pakistan for illegally occupying areas in Gilgit-Baltistan .

Malik said they would present a memorandum to the UN office asking them to prevent Pakistan from declaring Gilgit-Baltistan its fifth province.

The Gilgit-Baltistan area is Pakistan's northernmost administrative territory that borders disputed Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

A committee headed by Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has recommended that the region be given provincial status, reports GeoNews.

Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh are the four provinces of Pakistan.

However, India claims the Gilgit-Baltistan area to be an integral part of its territory.

The area is seen as being significant to both Pakistan and China due to the USD 51 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that passes through the region.

Pakistan's move to declare Gilgit-Baltistan as fifth province has evoked strong reactions across Jammu and Kashmir.

Several activists from the JK Kashmir forum protested against move.

"Jammu and Kashmir has its own importance as per the historical point of view, but unfortunately large portions of land have been grabbed by China and Pakistan. So we are here to spread the awareness that it is our territory and we will not allow anyone to play dirty politics with our state," said forum leader Shoaib Lone.

Similar scenes were also witnessed in Pakistan occupied Kashmir's (PoK) Muzaffarabad area, where the region saw one of the fiercest backlashes against the order.

Lawyers in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Gilgit demanded an amendment to the PoK interim Constitution Act 1974.

Terming it a 'dark move', the lawyers said that by carving out Gilgit from Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan was making their land available to the Chinese Government for the CPEC.

CPEC is one of the six key corridors under the China's One-Road-One Belt Initiative initiative which seeks to link Asia with Europe.

Under this initiative, collection of infrastructure projects are currently under construction throughout Pakistan.

It is intended to rapidly modernize Pakistani infrastructure and strengthen its economy by the construction of modern transportation networks, numerous energy projects, and special economic zones.

However, the CPEC project has been greeted with severe criticism in Pakistan.

Prominent Sindhi nationalist organisation Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM) held a massive anti- CPEC rally from the Indus Highway to the tomb of Sain G M Syed in Pakistan's Sindh province recently.

Pakistan's Awami Party (ANP) also held wide demonstrations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan province against the federal government.

Such was the intensity of the agitation that it forced the Chinese embassy in Pakistan to respond. A senior diplomat denied any wrongdoing in the project and sought public support.

The protestors have been making allegations of unequal distribution of projects among provinces, lack of transparency, corruption in CPEC projects, environmental concerns, among others.

"CPEC is working well. But there are some people who are maligning the project, which enjoys the support of most of the people of Pakistan," China's Ambassador to Pakistan Zhao Lijian said.

On 13 November 2016, CPEC became partly operational when Chinese cargo was transported overland to Gwadar Port for onward maritime shipment to Africa and West Asia.

India has fervently maintained that the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir, which includes areas currently under Pakistan occupation, is an integral part of the Union of India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president on Thursday accused the Congress party of making an issue out of nothing, citing that former prime minister Manmohan Singh visited more countries than his successor Narendra Modi.

"Our opponents make an issue of PM Modi's foreign visits, but as per figures Manmohan Singh ji visited more countries than Modi Ji," Shah said, while addressing intellectuals meet at Palampur.

Shah asserted that the number of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign visits appeared to be higher because when his predecessor used to travel, no one got to know about the trips.

Applauding BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Shah said that the state no longer belonged to the BIMARU states.

"When we governed Bihar, it was on verge of getting rid of BIMARU state tag. It is due to our governments in MP and Chhattisgarh that they do not belong to the BIMARU category anymore," he said.

The BJP president claimed that wherever there was a BJP government in the country, there was development.

"Within two years, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana initiated by the BJP Government has provided connections of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders to two crore families in the country," he added.

The state of Himachal Pradesh is facing anti-incumbency with the Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and the Congress Government facing corruption allegations.

The BJP registered a mandate in the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Assembly elections earlier this year. The party also registered a huge win in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections, winning over 180 seats out of 270.
Union Minister of State for Aviation Jayant Sinha on Thursday said India's logistics sector needs to be drastically upgraded in order to compete with a smartphone manufacturing leader like China.

Addressing the India Integrated Transport and Logistics Summit 2017 (IITLS) here on Thursday, Sinha said to put India on the global map of smartphone manufacturers, multi-modal logistics centers need to be set up at the regional and national level.

"The demand for smartphones in India is increasing by the hour. However, to compete with a superpower like China, more logistics centers need to be built using Greater Noida as the production hub," he said.

Drawing parallels to the contemporary logistic centers in Shenzen, China, Sinha asserted that it is crucial to develop India as a global; supply chain and ecosystem.

"The Amazon fulfillment center in Hyderabad is an example of how logistic centers need to built. We need more of such multi-modal centers," said Sinha.

Aiming to empower regional airlines in India, Sinha revealed that with a subsidy of Rs. 200 crore, 33 airports were developed within one year, adding that the ongoing measures will be taken across other cities in India.

Earlier in the day, Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said the ministry is expecting IITLS to draw big investments of around Rs 2 lakh crores, including from the countries like Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong.

Additionally, the ministry plans to construct 10 Inter-Modal Stations which integrate various transportation modes like rail, road, mass rapid transit system, bus rapid transit, auto-rickshaw, taxi and private vehicle.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Mumbai Police in a joint operation with Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), arrested suspected Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agent Altaf Ali late on Wednesday night here.

The arrest came after the UP ATS yesterday arrested another suspected ISI agent, Aftab Ali, son of Wajid Ali, from Faizabad.

Police arrested Altaf from a building called Yusuf Majil and also recovered Rs. 70 lakh from his house.

Altaf, who is suspected to have carried out numerous operations under command of the ISI, has been handed to the UP ATS team for interrogation.

Atlaf allegedly was indulging in illegal activities and transferred money into the account of Aftab in Faizabad on the instructions of the ISI.

Earlier on Wednesday, Aftab was arrested from Faizabad, who was believed to be receiving training from the ISI in Pakistan and was allegedly in touch with the Pakistan High Commission officials.

The ATS was in possession of strong evidence against him like phone chats and some pictures of the cantonment area.

It was a joint operation conducted by the UP ATS, the Military Intelligence and the UP Intelligence.

It is believed that more arrests can be possible in relation with this.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) chief Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has called for the resignation of either President Ashraf Ghani or Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah.

The former warlord arrived in Kabul on Thursday after over 20 years after signing a peace deal with the Afghanistan government.

After meeting President Ghani at the Presidential Palace, Hekmatyar addressed parliamentarians stating that the "national unity government does not work in Afghanistan and one of the heads of national unity government must step down".

In a series of tweets and reported by TOLO News, Hekmatyar said, "For war criminals to be prosecuted, we first need a strong central government, not a coalition one. The current government is incapable of doing it."

Speaking in the presence of U.S.-led coalition forces, Hekmatyar said "Let's eliminate all excuses for the presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan."

Terming the Taliban as his brothers, the former warlord called on them to choose him as their brother and he will fight for their "legitimate demands."

Hekmatyar said "Talibans are Afghans and they are a part of the nation."

Hekmatyar told Ghani and Abdullah "Bring your families to Afghanistan. I have brought mine. Afghanistan is our home and grave."

Hekmatyar's long convoy was welcomed by huge crowds standing on both sides of Kabul-Jalalabad highway . His supporters held up HIA flags and huge billboards of Hekmatyar's image in welcoming him to the national capital.

Hekmatyar will address a public gathering at the Ghazi Stadium on Friday, where the Taliban once held public executions.

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Days after the mutilation of two Indian soldiers by the Pakistan Army along Line of Control (LoC) in the Krishna Ghati sector of the Poonch district, Conference President Farooq Abdullah on Thursday vouched for talks between India and Pakistan asserting that only talks between India and Pakistan can improve relations and end this crisis.

"I condemn the mutilation of Indian soldiers by Pakistan; it is certainly very tragic not just for the jawans family but country too. It is also unfortunate that something like this has happened to which Pakistan denies that they have not done it. Only talks between India and Pakistan can improve relations and end this crisis," Abdullah told ANI.

Requesting India and Pakistan government to break the ice, Abdullah further stated that no such things should happen again and those responsible must be killed or punished.

"Such incidents are totally against Geneva conventions and should be stopped soon. If we want peace between the two nations it is important that no such things should happen again and those responsible must be killed or punished. I also request India and Pakistan government to end the cold war and find solutions to problems," said Abdullah.

Yesterday, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said that Pakistan's denial of any cross Line of Control movement by its troops and mutilation of Indian soldiers' carries no credibility.

Jaitley said, "The denial itself carries no credibility because the entire gambit of circumstances clearly indicates that this barbaric act of first killing two of our soldiers and then neutralising their bodies has been carried out with the active participation of the army."

"The facts that cover firings are provided to those who carry out this act. They help to escape on such a heavily guarded border where posts are in few meters of each other. This cannot happen without protection, participation or actual indulgence of the Pakisatn army itself," he added.

New Delhi yesterday summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit and lodged a protest against the killing and mutilation of Indian Army soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir.

"Foreign Secretary summoned Pakistan High Commissioner, conveyed India's outrage, demands action against Pakistan soldiers and commanders responsible," Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Gopal Baglay said in a tweet.

The Pakistan Army has denied New Delhi's charge of mutilating the bodies of two Indian soldiers and described itself as a highly professional force that never disrespects any soldier.

"Pakistan Army did not commit any ceasefire violation on the LoC or a BAT action in the Buttal sector (Indian Krishna Ghati Sector) as alleged by India. Indian blame of mutilating Indian soldiers' bodies is also false," the Inter Services Public Relation (ISPR) said in a statement.

However, the Indian Army in its statement said, "Pakistan Army carried out unprovoked Rocket and Mortar firing on two forward posts on the line of control in Krishna Ghati Sector. Simultaneously, a BAT action was launched on a patrol operating in between the two posts. In an unsoldierly act by the Pak Army the bodies of two of our soldiers in the patrol were mutilated. Such despicable act of Pakistan Army will be appropriately responded.

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Late actor Robin Williams' last movie is finally coming to the US nearly two years after its UK release.

'Absolutely Anything' is the last of William's three final films to hit U.S. theaters. He completed his role in the Sci-fi comedy only three weeks before taking his own life, reports E! Online.

Although Williams himself doesn't appear onscreen, he lent his famous voice to the role of Dennis, a talking dog.

Williams was found dead of an apparent suicide in August 2014 at his Tiburon, California, home. He was 63.

In the wake of his death, Williams' films, 'A Merry Friggin' Christmas' and 'Night at the Museum 3', were released posthumously.

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Uttar Pradesh 's Additional director general (ADG), law and order, Aditya Mishra on Thursday said that suspected Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agent Aftab Ali was lured into the network by Pakistan High commission officials.

Mishra told Media, "Ali was in touch with an official in the Pakistan embassy in Delhi. He had been allegedly approached by ISI operatives over the phone in 2014 after his visa to meet his relatives in Pakistan was rejected by the high commission three times."

Mishra informed that Ali had apparently confessed during the questioning that he got into spying as it helped him earn easy money.

A tip-off by Ali during helped the ATS to arrest another ISI agent Altaf Bhai Qureshi from Mumbai.

"Qureshi was in the hawala trade and provided money to Ali for sharing crucial information with his ISI handlers," Mishra added.

Ali visited Pakistan twice since, in 2014 and 2016 respectively.

The ISI operatives also provided him with other facilities paid him some money when he was returning to India after a few months stay.

The suspects will soon be brought to Lucknow for further interrogation.

The arrest comes weeks after the Uttar Pradesh police had issued a warning of a possible attack in the state by ISI-trained agents.

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Do you know who offers a postgraduate programme in India in communicating science? Where can one study issues like conservation psychology, conservation finance, and multilateralism? Is there a course on quality assurance and regulatory affairs that is developed with industry? Can one study computer science course that offers training in pervasive computing, data mining and informatics combined into one taught by the industry? Do our students get to know how agencies like the United Nations functions?

These are some of the questions that are being answered by The Institute of Transdisciplinary Health Sciences and Technology, TransDisciplinary University (TDU) at its academic programme launch for 2017-18.

Founded by veterans, Dr. Sam Pitroda and Darshan Shankar, the TDU aims to lead innovation in higher education with an objective of providing unique opportunities to students and scholars across the board while fostering a positive societal change.

During the academic year 2017-2018, TDU will offer the following programmes:

1. Master of Science - Life Sciences (Ayurveda-Biology)

2. Bachelor of Science -Conservation

3. Master of Science - Conservation Futures

4. Integrated Master of Science - Computer Science

5. Master of Science - Computer Science

6. Master of Science - Science Communication

7. Master of Science - Herbal Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs

1. Certificate in Ethnobiology

2. Certificate in Plant Systematics and Biodiversity

3. Certificate in Ethnoveterinary Practice

4. Certificate in 'One Health'

5. Certificate in 'Nadi Vigyana'

"India has one of the world's largest educational systems with 1.4 million schools, 35,000 colleges and 600 universities. Over half of the population is under 30 years of age, and 10 million people join the workforce each year. The need of the hour is to encourage education that focuses on research and innovation, while translating knowledge for positive societal change. We must enable our students to think and innovate in various fields, in order to have a larger community impact," said Pitroda.

"We at TDU focus on designing and deploying innovative and novel courses, both for study and research, using modern technology and tools. The TDU attempts to provide affordable, scalable and sustainable for life-long learning that is responsive and relevant. Using federated structure, courses at TDU are offered by a range of institutions and partners, including the United Nations, both from India and abroad," added Dr. Balakrishna Pisupati, Vice-chancellor, TDU.

Established with a mandate to formalise Trans and inter-disciplinary approaches in education and research, the TDU emphasises continuous and experiential learning with all its courses designed in consultation with experts that including the industry, civil society and government agencies.

Focused on providing an atmosphere of free and fair learning opportunities, not based on one's economic background but instead on intellectual inquisitiveness, the university offers equal opportunities for interested students who are passionate about learning.

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Accusing European Union politicians and officials of trying to influence the outcome of United Kingdom's general election, British Prime Minister Theresa May stated that she would not allow bureaucrats to walk over her government.

In an aggressive speech outside Downing Street, May tore into EU officials and said that Britain would not allow the "bureaucrats of Brussels run over us" and urged voters to "give me your backing to fight for Britain."

Accusing EU officials of deliberately leaking misleading accounts of Brexit talks so as to adversely impact the outcome of UK election, May launched a stinging attack on Brussels after a German newspaper had reported about the difference between her and European commission president Jean-Claude during a Downing Street dinner last week.

She further added "We continue to believe that no deal for Britain is better than a bad deal. But we want a deal."

After meeting the Queen at Buckingham Palace, May stated "In the last few days, we have seen just how tough these talks were likely to be. Britain's negotiating position in Europe has been misrepresented in the continental press, the European Commission's negotiating stance has hardened."

"Threats against Britain have been issued by European politicians and officials and all these acts have been deliberately timed to affect the result of the general election which will take place on 8June,"reports Guardian.

But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has accused the Prime Minister of "playing party games with Brexit in the hope of winning advantage for the Tories."

Theresa May has surprised the political establishment by calling a snap general election last month, saying she needs a stronger mandate for taking Britain out of the European Union bloc.

British Prime Minister has been busy urging voters to vote for her team to ensure Brexit success.

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The Congress party on Thursday announced the names of 17 new state office bearers, including the appointment of former state minister Sunil Jakhar as the new Chief of the party's Punjab unit.

Jakhar will take over from Captain Amarinder Singh, who is now Punjab's Chief Minister.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told media here that the party proposes to make a wave of changes across various states following local body election results.

"17 new office bearers have been appointed by the party out which 10 are under the age of 50. We are trying to bring in a new young team to assist the new heads in order to sustain and support the party's campaign," said Surjewala.

Lashing out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Surjewala alleged that the former is using cow protection as an excuse to 'resort to gundayee' (hooliganism).

"Although the BJP thinks India got its independence on 26 May 2014, I would like to point out that India gained independence in 1947 and the cow protection laws were made in 1964. Section 15 of the law states that those officials assigned to protect the provisions of the law will be given protection. It does not account for every individual," he asserted.

Surjewala further claimed that the BJP has taken measures to control each individual's body and thought process.

"The BJP government is telling people where to go when, to the extent of even denying one's rights over his/her own body. It is time for the Supreme Court to take note of this, and the people of India to rise in unison against this autocratic governance," said Surjewala.

Continuing his rant, Surjewala questioned the authenticity of the Aadhar card system saying the BJP is blatantly defying the people's right to privacy.

"Personal information of over 12 crore Aadhar card holders has been leaked and is now available to anyone and everyone to be used or misused," he added.

Commenting on the tampering of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) during assembly elections in Punjab and other states, Surjewala asserted that it is the responsibility of the Election Commission (EC) to substantiate these allegations.

"The EC's responsibility is to uphold the majesty of the democracy. It must not favour any one party or indulge in a blame game. If there are doubts rising regarding the credibility of EVMs, the EC must look into the matter and clarify," said Surjewala.

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To ensure the overall development of Bodos in Assam, a tripartite meeting was held recently in Delhi after a gap of two years between the Centre, the Assam Government and the All Bodo Students Union.

Several mass rallies and demonstrations have been staged by Bodo tribals, All Bodo Students' Unions and other organizations demanding a separate state of Bodoland within Assam.

The long standing issue has resulted in intensified violence and struggle in Kokrajhar so far. Carving out a solution to this unending problem remains a major issue.

A 15-member team of representative Bodo groups participated in the talks. Moreover, the meeting was called by the Centre as ABSU and its allied movement groups carried out several agitations seeking a separate Bodoland state under Article 2 and 3 of the Indian Constitution.

"In the talks, the long pending issue that has not been solved as yet was discussed. We seek an immediate solution to the pending demand for a separate Bodoland. We have raised the issue of much needed constitutional safeguard of the art and culture and land rights of the Bodos. They have ensured that the talks will continue on this matter with a positive note and on a political level .We don't want to stretch the issue, so we urged the government to undertake policy decision for immediate resolution of the issue," ABSU President Promod Bodo said.

The high level meeting was chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh in presence of Joint Secretary (NE) Satyendra Garg, Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal and other dignitaries.

While chairing the tripartite talk, Rajnath Singh said that the Centre is committed to ensuring equal development of all the communities including the Bodos and that all appropriate measures will be taken by the government to ensure the overall development of Bodos living in Assam.

During the meeting, the clause wise implementation of the Assam accord for providing constitutional and economic safeguards to the people of Assam was also discussed in presence of Adviser of the All Assam Student Union (AASU) Samujjal Bhattacharya.

"Home Minister Rajnath Singh has already cleared in the meeting that no such decision will be taken by the government that would hamper the implementation of the Assam Accord. On the other hand, the prospect of raising a Special Task Force at district and state levels for detection of illegal immigrants was also discussed.

We also suggested that a bilateral agreement should be signed between the Governmentt of India and Bangladesh for deporting illegal immigrants,"Bhattacharyya said.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said, "We have started a meaningful and good beginning to the implementation of the Assam Accord. The talks have ended on a positive note, as we have discussed in detail clause-wise time bound implementation of the accord. We have also discussed with our Bodo representatives and it will continue and we have ensured them that the government is committed to equal development of all communities including the Bodo community and we should together work for the overall development of Assam."

Later, Singh informed that the dialogue between ABSU, the Centre and the state government will continue at the official level for a permanent and early solution.

Moreover, prior to the implementation of the Assam Accord, Singh stressed on the need to form a committee with representatives from the central government, Assam government and AASU to ensure time-bound implementation of all clauses.

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China has clarified its stand after state media Global Times published a column highlighting Beijing's "vested interest" in resolving the Kashmir issue, terming it as a bilateral dispute between India and Pakistan.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying, "China's position on the issue of Kashmir is clear and consistent. It is an issue left over from the history between India and Pakistan and shall be properly addressed by them through consultation and negotiation."

The column in the state-run Global Times on Tuesday highlighted China's willingness to resolve the Kashmir dispute due to its massive investments in CPEC that passes through the PoK.

"Due to massive investments undertaken in the 'One Belt, One Road' initiative in the region, China has a vested interest in helping resolve regional conflicts, including the dispute over Kashmir between India and Pakistan," The Global Times reported.

India has always opposed third-party intervention in India-Pakistan bilateral issues, while Pakistan has always sought mediation from other countries to resolve the Kashmir issue.

The ministry's statement added that the building of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has no bearing on China's stance on the matter and urged both the countries to "properly handle difference" by increasing communication and dialogue and jointly uphold regional peace and stability."

China's clarification comes as Beijing is in talks with India for the latter to be part of a two-day high-profile mega Silk Road summit to be held from May 14 to May 15.

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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for Foreign Investment proposal of M/s.

Twin Star Technologies Ltd. for foreign investment upto Rs. 9000 crore (by on or before March 2025) from Twin Star Overseas Ltd., Mauritius. The investment will be through a combination of equity, compulsorily convertible debentures, compulsorily convertible preference shares and other FDl compliant instruments for undertaking downstream investment in Twin Star Display Technologies Ltd. and other Indian operating companies engaged in activities eligible for receiving FDl on the automatic route.

Foreign Direct Investment of upto Rs. 9,000 crore will be received in the country (on or before March 2025) and will provide direct and indirect employment to over 30,000 people.

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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the initiation of the process of disinvestment of hotels/properties of the India Tourism Development Corporation Ltd. (ITDC). The decision on disinvestment has been made, keeping in view that running and managing hotels on professional lines is not the work of the Government or its entities. Further, there has been considerable development in the hospitality sector in the country in past years, with world class hotels and all leading international chains of hotels present in the country and providing services and facilities of highest standards.

As part of the disinvestment policy, it has been decided to lease/sub-lease the hotels / properties jointly with the concerned States or return the properties to the States, after fair valuation.

The States would then have the option to upgrade and operate the Hotels by involving the private sector or to utilize the properties as per their requirements. States have exercised their options accordingly, in each case going forward with the option best suited to their needs, in line with the overarching principle that it is not the business of Government to run or manage hotels.

In the first stage of the disinvestment process, three hotels listed below have been taken up for disinvestment:

(i) Hotel Lake View Ashok, Bhopal

(ii) Hotel Brahmaputra Ashok, Guwahati

(iii) Hotel Bharatpur Ashok, Bharatpur.

In all three cases, the hotels / properties are being given back to the concerned States. In the case of Bhopal and Guwahati, ITDC is divesting its share of 51% in the Joint Venture Company formed for operation of the hotels whereas in the case of Bharatpur, the unit which was only managed by ITDC is being returned to the State Government.

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The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given ex-post facto approval to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and Defence Services Command and Staff College, Mirpur, Dhaka for Cooperation concerning Military Education in the Field of Strategic and Operational Studies.

The MoU will enable establishment of a framework for enhanced cooperation in the field of military education concerning strategic and operational studies and promotion of closer and long-term cooperation between the two countries.

Given the geographical and cultural closeness between the two countries, there are many common challenges like countering terrorism that needs joint action. Hence, there is a need for better coordination and cooperation among the armed forces.

The joint training and exercises will help to bring symmetry in capacities of the armed forces and contribute to countering and managing common threats and challenges much better. The MoU enhances public accountability by way of exchange of information and technology between India and Bangladesh.

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Focus on enhancing domestic consumption, high quality steel production and making the sector globally competitive

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for National Steel Policy (NSP) 2017.

The new Steel Policy enshrines the long term vision of the Government to give impetus to the steel sector. It seeks to enhance domestic steel consumption and ensure high quality steel production and create a technologically advanced and globally competitive steel industry.

Key features of the NSP 2017:

1. Create self-sufficiency in steel production by providing policy support & guidance to private manufacturers, MSME steel producers, CPSEs

2. Encourage adequate capacity additions,

3. Development of globally competitive steel manufacturing capabilities,

4. Cost-efficient production

5. Domestic availability of iron ore, coking coal & natural gas,

6. Facilitating foreign investment

7. Asset acquisitions of raw materials &

8. Enhancing the domestic steel demand.

The policy projects crude steel capacity of 300 million tonnes (MT), production of 255 MT and a robust finished steel per capita consumption of 158 Kgs by 2030 - 31, as against the current consumption of 61 Kgs. The policy also envisages to domestically meet the entire demand of high grade automotive steel, electrical steel, special steels and alloys for strategic applications and increase domestic availability of washed coking coal so as to reduce import dependence on coking coal from about 85% to around 65% by 2030-31.

Some highlights of New Steel Policy

The Indian steel sector has grown rapidly over the past few years and presently it is the third largest steel producer globally, contributing to about 2% of the country's GDP. India has also crossed 100 MT mark for production for sale in 2016-17.

The New Steel Policy, 2017 aspires to achieve 300MT of steel-making capacity by 2030. This would translate into additional investment of Rs. 10 lakh Crore by 2030-31.

The Policy seeks to increase consumption of steel and major segments are infrastructure, automobiles and housing. New Steel Policy seeks to increase per capita steel consumption to the level of 160 Kgs by 2030 from existing level of around 60 Kg.

Potential of MSME steel sector has been recognised. Policy stipulates that adoption of energy efficient technologies in the MSME steel sector will be encouraged to improve the overall productivity & reduce energy intensity.

Steel Ministry will facilitate R&D in the sector through the establishment of Steel Research and Technology Mission of India (SRTMI). The initiative is aimed to spearhead R&D of national importance in iron & steel sector utilizing tripartite synergy amongst industry, national R&D laboratories and academic institutes.

Ministry through policy measures will ensure availability of raw materials like Iron ore, Coking coal and non-coking coal, Natural gas etc. at competitive rates.

With the roll out of the National Steel Policy-2017, it is envisaged that the industry will be steered in creating an environment for promoting domestic steel and thereby ensuring a scenario where production meets the anticipated pace of growth in consumption, through a technologically advanced and globally competitive steel industry. This will be facilitated by Ministry of Steel, in coordination with relevant Ministries, as may be required.

Background:

Steel is one of the most important products in the modern world and forms the backbone to any industrial economy. India being one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and steel finding its extensive application right from construction, infrastructure, power, aerospace and industrial machinery to consumer products, the sector is of strategic importance to the country. The Indian steel sector has grown exponentially over the past few years to be the third largest producer of steel globally, contributing to about 2% of the country's GDP and employing about 5 lakh people directly and about 20 lakh people indirectly.

Untapped potential with a strong policy support becomes the ideal platform for growth. Owing to the strategic importance of the sector along with the need to have a robust and restructured policy in present scenario, the new NSP, 2017 became imminent. Though, National Steel Policy 2005 (NSP 2005) sought to indicate ways and means of consolidating the gains flowing out of the then economic order and charted out a road map for sustained and efficient growth of the Indian steel industry, it required adaptation in view of the recent developments unfolding in India and also worldwide, both on the demand and supply sides of the steel market.

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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for re-structuring the schemes of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) under new Central Sector Scheme - SAMPADA (Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing and Development of Agro-Processing Clusters) for the period 2016-20 coterminous with the 14th Finance Commission cycle.

SAMPADA with an allocation of Rs. 6,000 crore is expected to leverage investment of Rs. 31,400 crore, handling of 334 lakh MT agro-produce valuing Rs. 1,04,125 crore, benefit 20 lakh farmers and generate 5,30,500 direct/ indirect employment in the country by the year 2019-20.

The objective of SAMPADA is to supplement agriculture, modernize processing and decrease agri-waste.

SAMPADA is an umbrella scheme incorporating ongoing schemes of the Ministry like Mega Food Parks, Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure, Food Safety and Quality Assurance Infrastructure, etc. and also new schemes like Infrastructure for Agro-processing Clusters, Creation of Backward and Forward Linkages, Creation / Expansion of Food Processing & Preservation Capacities.

The SAMPADA is a comprehensive package to give a renewed thrust to the food processing sector in the country. It includes new schemes of Infrastructure for Agro-processing Clusters, Creation of Backward and Forward Linkages and Creation / Expansion of Food Processing & Preservation Capacities aim at development of modern infrastructure to encourage entrepreneurs to set up food processing units based on cluster approach, provide effective and seamless backward and forward integration for processed food industry by plugging gaps in supply chain and creation of processing and preservation capacities and modernization/ expansion of existing food processing units.

The implementation of SAMPADA will result in creation of modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlet. It will not only provide a big boost to the growth of food processing sector in the country but also help in providing better prices to farmers and is a big step towards doubling of farmers' income. It will create huge employment opportunities especially in the rural areas. It will also help in reducing wastage of agricultural produce, increasing the processing level, availability of safe and convenient processed foods at affordable price to consumers and enhancing the export of the processed foods.

Background:

Food Processing Sector has emerged as an important segment of the Indian economy in terms of its contribution to GDP, employment and investment. During 2015-16, the sector constituted as much as 9.1 and 8.6 per cent of GVA in Manufacturing and Agriculture sector respectively.

The manifesto of NDA Government stresses upon incentivizing the setting up of food processing industry for providing better income for the farmers and creating jobs.

Various measures have been taken by the government to give a boost to the food processing sector. With these measures food processing sector has grown at 7 per cent.

In order to arrest post-harvest losses of horticulture & non-horticulture produce, the Ministry has accorded approval to 42 Mega Food Parks and 236 Integrated Cold Chains for creation of modern infrastructure for the food processing along the value chain from the farm to the market. Out of 42 Mega Food Parks, 8 are operational. Of this, 6 Mega Food Parks have been made operational during the last 3 years. Another 4 Mega Food Parks are targeted for operationalization in next three months. Similarly, out of 236 Cold Chains, 101 Cold Chains have been sanctioned recently in March, 2017. 100 Cold Chains have become operational. Of which, 63 Cold Chains have been made operational during last 3 years.

Government has taken various other measures to boost food processing sector as follows:

(a) To provide impetus to investment in food processing and retail sector, govt. has allowed 100% FDI in trading including through e-commerce, in respect of food products manufactured and / or produced in India. This will benefit farmers immensely and will create back - end infrastructure and significant employment opportunities.

(b) The govt. has also set up a Special Fund of Rs. 2000 crore in NABARD to make available affordable credit at concessional rate of interest to designated food parks and agro processing units in the designated food parks.

(c) Food and agro-based processing units and cold chain infrastructure have been brought under the ambit of Priority Sector Lending (PSL) to provide additional credit for food processing activities and infrastructure thereby, boosting food processing, reducing wastage, create employment and increasing farmers' income.

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The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for the declaration of Vijayawada Airport as International Airport, as per the provisions of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.

The proposal will add to improved connectivity to the State capital. It will provide wider choice of services at competitive costs to the air-travelers and give a boost to domestic/international tourism and socio-economic development of Andhra Pradesh by bringing in international passengers and cargo traffic.

Background:

Declaration of an airport as International Airport depends upon traffic potential and demand from airlines for operation of international flights.

Further, availability of Ground Lighting Facilities, Instrument Landing System for operation of aircrafts at night, adequate runway length to cater to medium capacity long-range aircraft or equivalent type of aircraft, availability of Customs, Immigration, Health and Animal & Plant Quarantine Services are also required for international operations.

The declaration of Vijayawada Airport as International has been taken up in accordance with the provisions of Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 and keeping in view the passenger traffic growth, demands from airlines and Andhra Pradesh Government. Airports Authority of India has undertaken upgradation of requisite infrastructure and facilities for international operations.

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Deccan Cements rose 2.46% to Rs 1,257 at 13:41 IST on BSE after the company scheduled a board meeting on 19 May 2017 to consider a proposal for sub-division of equity shares.

The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 3 May 2017.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 226.22 points, or 0.76%, to 30,121.02. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 56.57 points or 0.37% at 15,487.53.

On BSE, so far 487 shares were traded in the counter, compared with an average volume of 1,116 shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 1,260 and a low of Rs 1,235.10 so far during the day. The stock hit a record high of Rs 1,279.90 on 28 April 2017. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 666 on 4 May 2016.

The small-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 7 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

Deccan Cements' net profit jumped 76.32% to Rs 11.02 crore on 3.83% rise in total income to Rs 130.73 crore in Q3 December 2016 over Q3 December 2015.

Deccan Cements, with a 2.3 million tones per annum plant, is a major producer of cement in South India, having been in the business of manufacturing and marketing of cement for over three decades.

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ICICI Bank's net profit jumped 188.5% to Rs 2024.64 crore on 10.8% decline in total income to Rs 16585.76 crore in Q4 March 2017 over Q4 March 2016. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 3 May 2017.

Infosys will be watched. Infosys Finacle, part of EdgeVerve Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Infosys and The Commercial Bank, Qatar's first private bank, along with its subsidiary and associates (Group) announced the successful completion of a pilot on the first ever cloud-based blockchain network to process international remittances. The announcement was made at the fag end of market hours yesterday, 3 May 2017.

Reliance Industries (RIL) will be in focus. Reliance Corporate IT Park (RCITPL) - a subsidiary of RIL announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SAP SE to launch 'SARAL GST' solution for taxpayers in the GST regime.

The offering will enable taxpayers to be GST compliant and smoothly access the Government's GST System, once GST is rolled out from 1 July 2017. SARAL GST will leverage the expertise of RCITPL as GST Suvidha Provider (GSP) and SAP as Application Service Provider (ASP). The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 3 May 2017.

HDFC, Godrej Properties, Emami, Exide Industries, MRF, L&T Finance Holdings, Oberoi Realty and Wockhardt among others will declare their quarterly earnings today, 4 May 2017.

Brigade Enterprises said that the company has raised Rs 500 crore after issuing 2.19 crore shares to qualified institutional buyers at Rs 227.50 per share. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 3 May 2017.

Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation announced that it has issued commercial paper for an aggregate amount of Rs 50 crore on 3 May 2017 for 86 days. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 3 May 2017.

Time Technoplast launched its highly technical and innovative MOX film (Multi layer Multi axis Oriented Cross Laminated Film) under the brand 'Techpaulin' effective 1 April 2017. The product has taken off and received very well in the market. The company has appointed over 27 distributors/dealers in the state of Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana and Maharashtra in the initial phase and the process of appointing distributors and dealers in other states is in progress. Civil contractors for government projects are one of the biggest users of this product for variety of applications. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 3 May 2017.

Arvind said that company's board meeting will be held on 11 May 2017 to consider fund raising options available to the company by way of issue of non-convertible debentures upto Rs 500 crore on a private placement basis subject to approval of shareholders. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 3 May 2017.

V-Mart Retail's net profit jumped 941.67% to Rs 5 crore on 40.72% rise in total income to Rs 252.58 crore in Q4 March 2017 over Q4 March 2016. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 3 May 2017.

IG Petrochemicals' net profit rose 134.31% to Rs 28.07 crore on 34.19% rise in total income to Rs 289.90 crore in Q4 March 2017 over Q4 March 2016. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 3 May 2017.

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With effect from 04 May 2017

Jaypee Infratech announced that the Board of Directors has accepted the resignation of Gaurav Jain from the office of Director of the Company through resolution by circulation with effect from 04 May 2017, submitted by him due to some personal reasons.

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The Memorandum of Agreements (MoAs) for purchase of 1000 MW wind power under MNRE's first wind auction Scheme were signed here today between PTC India, the trading company, and Discoms of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Delhi, Odisha and Assam. The signing ceremony took place during the two days Conference of Power, New & Renewable Energy & Mines Ministers of States and UTs.

As per MoAs the Discoms of UP to buy 449.9 MW, Bihar- 200 MW, Jharkhand - 200 MW, Delhi - 100 MW, Assam - 50 MW and Odisha - 50MW of wind power for meeting their non-solar RPO.

The Letter of Award (LoA) to the successful wind power developers under the first wind auction scheme have been issued by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) on 5 April 2017 and the projects are to be commissioned within 18 months from the date of issue of LoA.

This was the first time such auction process was done in the country for wind power through e-reverse auction and its success can be seen from the fact that a record low tariffs of Rs. 3.46 per kWh was obtained.

With the success of first wind auction scheme, MNRE today launched Scheme for another round of wind auction for 1000 MW capacity wind power projects.

The Scheme is open for all obligated entities purchasing wind power for compliance of their non-solar RPO.

The differentiation between windy and non-windy States has been done away with. The SECI will sign Power Purchase Agreements with selected wind developers and back-to-back Power Sale Agreements with buying utilities.

Further, provision of 10% additional capacity for Central Public Sector Entities (CPSEs) has been kept under the Scheme without participation in the bidding, however, they have to supply wind power at lowest discovered tariff through bidding process.

Background

Ministry sanctioned a Scheme for setting up of 1000 MW ISTS connected Wind Power Project on 14 June 2016 with the objective to encourage competitiveness through scaling up of project sizes and introduction of efficient and transparent e-bidding and e-auctioning processes.

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The on Thursday dubbed as a shocking state of governance the leak of details of crores of card holders, which the party said is "unacceptable and an anathema to democracy".

"It is shocking and unheard of that 12 crore holders' information has been blatantly leaked and is now available to anybody for use/misuse in any manner they want," spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala told the media.

"On one side, we speak about the right of privacy, about freedom of expression, right to life and control over one's body and one's thought, food habits, clothing, customs and one's culture. On the other, the BJP-led government is blatantly defending leak of such sensitive information that is prone to misuse and that can put an ordinary citizen into a lot of difficulties through misuse," he added.

He said it was satisfying that the Supreme Court had taken note of it.

"The government wants to tell everybody, particularly the young men or women, what they have to wear. They want to tell you where to go and where not to go and what time to go," said Surjewala.

"They want to regulate what is going to be your culture, your customs, your food habits, your description and now has gone to the extent of saying that 125 crore citizens of this country have no right over their bodies or limbs," he added.

The leader said: "It's time for the people to rise in unison and tell the rulers that autocracy and obduracy of this nature is unacceptable and is an anathema to democracy, as also the Indian Constitution and ethos of the country."

The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on linking of Aadhaar with Permanent Account Number cards, even as the court was told that it was a "draconian" provision and must go.
Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on Sunday again urged the Taliban militants to give up fighting and join the peace and reconciliation process.

"If you are Afghans you should join the peace process to help stabilise the country," Ghani said after performing Eid prayers at the Presidential Palace.

The president also warned the Taliban fighters that "you (Taliban) don't have more time and your supporters are alone and you will also be alone", reports Xinhua news agency.

Earlier, Taliban leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada on Friday rejected any talks with the government, saying the Taliban would continue to fight against foreign troops stationed in the country.

--IANS

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Thousands of security personnel cordoned off some 20 villages in south Kashmir on Thursday in a massive hunt for militants believed to be hiding in the area, but the operation was called off after eight hours without any arrests, police said.

The biggest anti-militancy operation in Kashmir in recent years, described by a police officer as "unprecedented", followed a spree of bank robberies and spurt in militant attacks in south of the valley -- a militant hotbed -- where insurgents were believed to be moving freely around, recording videos, clicking pictures and posting them on social media groups.

Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat, however, said it was a "regular operation" conducted to "make sure that the situation is brought under control" in the Kashmir Valley where a spate of anti-government protests has rattled the government.

"Every day we do it. There is nothing new. Today's operation is happening because banks have been looted and police personnel have been killed," Gen Rawat said in New Delhi.

The operation involving some 30,000 army men, paramilitary and police personnel started before dawn with house-to-house searches in Shopian, some 50 km from here.

Drones and helicopters hovered above the sparsely populated villages spread between sprawling orchards of apples in Shopian. Security personnel stood guard on roads and entry points, preventing people from coming or going out of their areas.

As schools were closed, men, young and old, were told to gather in central areas of villages.

"We were told to move out of our houses early in the morning. We saw army men all around as if a war had broken out. We didn't know what was happening," Syed Arsalan, 20, a student told IANS over phone from Shopian.

Residents in at least three villages resisted the operation and came out to protest with stones. But the demonstrations were quelled with tear smoke. There were no injuries.

A police officer said the operation was a hunt for militants responsible for the killing of political activists and security personnel and those blamed for snatching of weapons as well as bank robberies.

Shopian and its neighbouring Kulgam district, where on Monday five policemen and two bank guards were killed, have turned out to be new breeding ground for militants since last year after the killing of Hizb commander Burhan Wani.

Last week, at least two video clips appeared on social networking sites with gun toting militants in battle fatigues marching in apple orchards in what appeared to be the landscape of Shopian.

Bank robberies were also committed in the south Kashmir district -- home to some 266,000 people.

A senior police officer told IANS: "The operation is part of a routine anti-militancy and area domination exercise in south Kashmir. Such operations will continue till we are able to completely sanitize (rid areas of militants) south Kashmir."

There were reports that Umar Majeed, a militant commander operating in south Kashmir, was hiding in the cordoned region. Police have announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for the arrest of Majeed who allegedly masterminded the Monday killings in Kulgam.

Meanwhile, students in noth Kashmir's Sopore town shouted slogans and stoned security forces. At least 10 students were reportedly injured in baton charges and firing of tear smoke.

They were protesting against an Army officer who allegedly beat a woman three days back.

--IANS

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A massive combing operation was launched in south Kashmir on Thursday following a spree of bank robberies and killing of policemen, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said here.

"It is a regular operation. Every day we do it. There is nothing new. There has been bank loots and policemen have been killed. It is just to make sure that the situation is brought under control," Gen Rawat told reporters on the sidelines of an army function.

The Army Chief was asked about the crackdown by security forces in at least 20 villages of south Kashmir's Shopian district searching for militants involved in recent terror attacks and bank robberies.

Replying to questions about India's possible response to the killing of two soldiers and mutilation of their bodies by Pakistan Army, Gen Rawat parried a direct answer.

"Such responses keep happening. We also take counter measures. There is nothing new in it."

He said the Army was taking steps to check cross-border infiltration of militants from Pakistan.

"Terrorists are trying to infiltrate. Summer months have started and snow is melting. But we have counter-infiltration forces to take care of the problem of infiltration."

--IANS

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Yoga guru on Thursday said India should "not shy away from beheading 100, if they cut off the head of even one of our soldiers" - on the killing and mutilation of two Indian soldiers on the Line of Control.

Addressing an annual press conference of his Patanjali brand of consumer goods, Ramdev told the media that India should "follow Israel's cue and behead 100, if they decapitate even one or two of our soldiers".

"I have seen the relatives of those soldiers crying and asking why my child's body was mutilated," he said. India has accused the Pakistani army of Monday's killing and mutilation of two Indian soldiers on the Line of Control.

Continuing in the same vein, he referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said "patriotism is in his blood and he won't flinch from following his duty".

On his brand Patanjali, Ramdev said by next year the homegrown label will have a production capacity of Rs 60,000 crore. Presently, he said, it is Rs 30,000 crore.

He said that Chinese products "must be boycotted", and cited the boycotting of foreign goods called for by Mahatma Gandhi and Chandrashekhar Azad during British rule.

"Even if one is supposed to shell out a few paise more for 'swadeshi' products, he must do so. We require a general will power for the boycotting of Chinese goods.. Foreign companies have always looted India," Ramdev said, and gave the example of the East India Company run by the British during the colonial period as one of 'plunderers'.

He also accused multinational brands like Colgate, Unilever, Proctor and Gamble, of "hoarding capital worth over Rs 50 lakh crore in India".
Bad health of public sector banks (PSBs) is due to accumulation of bad loans that resulted from an "unholy nexus between corrupt politicians, corporate houses and a section of top bank executives", leaders of a bank staff union said on Thursday.

Privatisation and merger are not the solutions, they said.

Protesting the comments of Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel and a Deputy Governor who advocated privatisation and merger of public sector banks, Bank Employees' Federation of India (BEFI) West Bengal unit submitted a representation to the apex bank's Regional Director here on Thursday.

"... they are preoccupied with the idea that privatisation and merger is the panacea for all problems of PSBs. They want to ignore that the main reason is huge accumulation of bad loans, a result of an unholy nexus between corrupt politicians, corporate houses, and a section of top executives of PSBs," BEFI Secretary Joydeb Dasgupta said.

It also reminds us of the role of present RBI Governor, unbecoming of the head of an autonomous institution, during the November 8 demonetisation, Dasgupta added.

The union demanded revealation on the names of top corporates who are willful defaulters.

Federation General Secretary Pradip Biswas said: "The union will be free not to sign a final revival plan if it contains any provision for closure of branches, dilution of government holding and curtail of any of the existing rights and privileges of the employees."

--IANS

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The Bombay High Court on Thursday rejected a CBI plea seeking the death sentence for three of the 11 convicts for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano but set aside the acquittal of five policemen.

Bano was 19 years old and pregnant when she was subjected to the horror during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

In its plea in 2016, the CBI had said the case fell under the category of 'rarest of rare' cases and the life term awarded by a lower court to three -- Govind Nai, Sailesh Bhat and Jaswant Nai -- should be enhanced to death penalty.

Justice Vijaya Tahilramani and Justice Mridula Bhatkar did not agree but set aside the acquittal of five policemen by a trial court.

Accepting the Central Bureau of Investigation plea, the court directed the agency to launch a fresh probe against the policemen.

The CBI said the three prime accused gang raped the then five-month pregnant Bilkis Yakub Rasool, her mother and her sister.

Bhat also snatched Bilkis Bano's three-year-old daughter and pounded her head with a stone, resulting in instant death, the CBI said, seeking death penalties for all three to "send out a stern message" to the society.

Bano and her husband Yakub on Thursday hailed the verdict and expressed satisfaction saying that justice had been finally done to them.

The horrifying incidents occurred in Randhikpur village near Dahod on March 3, 2002 when Bilkis Bano and around a dozen of her family members were attacked by a mob. Many of those attacked were killed.

Only Bilkis Bano and two relatives, Saddam and Husain, survived the savagery. Her mother, sister, minor daughter and other relatives were killed.

With this verdict, Justice Tahilramani and Justice Bhatkar have upheld the life sentence awarded to all the 12 convicts (one of whom is now dead).

The court also accepted the CBI plea to quash the acquittal of five Gujarat policemen and two medicos accused in the case.

The policemen - charged with tampering of evidence by fudging documents and compromising the inquest panchnama (diary) - had been acquitted by a trial court in January 2008.

The trial court had also found guilty and convicted a total of 12 other accused sentencing them to life imprisonment, which has now been upheld by the Bombay High Court.

The 12, including one who passed away, had appealed against the life sentence. The CBI wanted three of them to be given the death sentence.

The trial court in Mumbai had slapped life imprisonment on Govind Nai, Sailesh Bhat, Jaswant Nai, Bakabhai Vohania, Radheshyam Shah, Bipinchandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania and Pradeep Mordhiya.

Following Bano's appeal in the Supreme Court, the case was transferred from Gujarat to Maharashtra amidst apprehensions that key witnesses may be intimidated or influenced.

"I am very grateful that this verdict delivered by the honourable judges, has yet again, vindicated my truth, and upheld my faith in the judiciary," Bano said in a statement issued through her lawyer, welcoming the verdict.

"My rights, as a human being, as a citizen, woman, and mother were violated in the most brutal manner, but I have trusted the democratic institutions of our country. Now, my family and I feel we can begin to lead our lives again, free of fear," she added.

Commenting on the quashing of the acquittal of the five policemen, Bano expressed happiness that the state and its officials, who emboldened, encouraged and protected the criminals, who destroyed the life of an entire community, "are no longer unblemished, but now stand charged with tampering of evidences".

--IANS

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A Briton has been arrested in Cambodia on suspicion of abusing young girls, the media reported.

In a video statement late Wednesday, police named him as 68-year-old Clive Cressy, from Hove in East Sussex, the BBC reported.

Speaking to the camera, an officer said the charges included having sexual intercourse with underage girls, buying child prostitutes and molesting a child aged under eight.

The UK Foreign Office said it was aware a man had been arrested in Phnom Penh.

The footage was filmed by a local TV station as police searched his home, where they reportedly found a suitcase containing condoms, toys and girls' dresses.

It also showed pictures of the suspect's passport, which appeared to confirm his name and age.

The policeman said the suspect was arrested in the capital city after a police operation lasting months, reports the BBC.

Cressy is described in the video as a private doctor.

Checks with the General Medical Council could not find a record of his being registered as a practitioner in the UK.

--IANS

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The Modi government is considering demands to provide more autonomy to 16 autonomous district councils (ADCs) in north-east India.

Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) Chief Executive member Radha Charan Debbarma met Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday and discussed issues related to the ADCs.

"We have been demanding more powers and autonomy for ADCs. Rajnath Singh assured us that the central government was considering all aspects, including more autonomy to these bodies," Debbarma told IANS over phone from New Delhi.

He was accompanied by Lok Sabha member Jitendra Chowdhury and TTAADC Executive member Rajendra Reang.

He said they urged the Home Minister to call a meeting of all ADCs in north-eastern states to discuss pending and important issues.

The ADCs have been set up to ensure socio-economic development of tribals, who make up 27-28 per cent of the region's population of around 45 million.

Of these, six ADCs are in Manipur, three each in Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram and one in Tripura.

"We also sought more power and autonomy to village committees under the ADCs. The gram panchayats outside ADCs jurisdiction now enjoy more power."

Debbarma rued that the NITI Aayog had reduced funds for ADCs in 2016.

The TTTAADC was formed in 1987 to protect and safeguard the political, economic and cultural interests of the tribals. The tribal council sprawls over two thirds of Tripura's territory.

--IANS

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A court here on Thursday granted bail to suspended Chhattisgarh IAS officer B.L. Agrawal and others in a corruption case.

Central Bureau Of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge Virender Kumar Goyal granted bail to Agrawal, Anand Agrawal, Syed Burhanuddin and Bhagwan Singh, asking them to furnish a personal bond of Rs 100,000 and a surety of like amount each.

On April 20, the CBI chargesheeted the four accused.

Agrawal, an Indian Administrative Service officer and then state Principal Secretary (Higher Education), was arrested by the CBI on February 21 on charges of trying to "settle" a case being probed by the central agency.

Hyderabad-based Burhanuddin was arrested on February 23 for helping Agrawal to settle the case.

Bhagwan Singh, a resident of Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh was also accused in the case.

The CBI registered an FIR on February 18 against the accused officer, Singh, Burhanuddin and others on the charge of criminal conspiracy and under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The CBI claimed that Agrawal agreed to pay Rs 1.5 crore to Burhanuddin as gratification for helping him in a pending case.

--IANS

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Although bank robberies by gunmen started in in the early 1990s with the outbreak of the armed separatist struggle, their unprecedented spurt in recent months has rattled everybody -- to the extent that the army and the police launched a huge crackdown on Thursday, searching at least 20 villages in the Valley's Shopian district.

The first bank robbery took place in the mid-1990s in Maharaj Gunj area of Srinagar's old city when gunmen looted Rs 40,000 from a J&K Bank branch.

Another daylight robbery took place in Anantnag town, again in the mid-1990s in which gunmen looted over Rs 1 crore from a J&K Bank branch.

"The insecurity haunting bank staff and customers forced the managements of all banks operating in the Valley to shut branches in inaccessible, largely unsecured areas during mid-1990s," said a senior officer of a public sector bank here.

"These remote branches were clustered together to operate from safer places in towns and cities. As the security situation improved, the clustered branches were re-located to their original places in villages and other far-flung areas," he added.

This was the period when all the bank staff belonging to Kashmiri Pandit community had migrated out of the Valley.

A special recruitment drive was started by the State Bank of India during the mid-1990s to augment its workforce by recruiting local youth.

As things started improving towards late 1990s and early 2000s, bank robberies had stopped in the Valley.

The recent spurt in robberies dates back to the last six to eight months and the audacity with which they have taken place has shocked everybody.

The Valley's largest regional rural bank, the Ellaquai Dehati Bank has most of its over 50 branches located in villages and remote areas of Srinagar, Ganderbal, Badgam, Pulwama, Anantnag and Kulgam districts.

"Our branches both in cities and villages are operating without any security," said a senior officer of the Ellaquai Dehati Bank.

"Since the objective of a rural bank is to provide banking facilities to the middle and less privileged sections of society, our bank plays a major role in the rural credit delivery system.

"During the last eight months, there have been three unsuccessful nocturnal theft incidents at our branches in which the thieves attempted to unsuccessfully break open the cash chests.

"During the last one week, two daylight robberies have taken place -- one in Kulgam district on Tuesday in which Rs 65,000 was looted at gunpoint and the other in Pulwama district where Rs 4.92 lakh were looted on Wednesday," he added.

The most serious threat because of the daylight robberies is faced by the J&K Bank that has the largest presence in the Valley's cities, towns and villages.

"We have over 200 branches in rural and far-flung areas of the Valley. Our cash dispensing vans, secured by armed guards belonging both to the bank and the state police, move on an almost daily basis dispensing cash to branches in the Valley," said a top official of the J&K Bank.

"Given our presence and reach, we are the most vulnerable in a situation like the present one," he added.

The official sounded cynical when asked whether demonetisation had a bearing on the spurt in bank robberies.

"I don't see any link between demonetisation and the spurt in bank robberies. It is essentially a security issue. When a free-for-all situation occurs like the one we see in south areas, the rule of law is naturally the first casualty," he said.

On Monday in an audacious attack, gunmen killed five policemen and two guards of the J&K Bank in Kulgam district. On Wednesday gunmen robbed Rs 1.30 lakh from a branch of the same bank in Pulwama district.

"It is the people's money and trust that is being looted. I appeal to the youth to help restore normalcy in the Valley so that peace returns," Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said on Wednesday when she visited the family of a bank guard killed by militants on Monday.

"Securing each bank in the remote areas by providing guards to every branch in these areas needs manpower which is difficult to arrange at present," said a top officer of the state police.

"But we have started area domination in vulnerable areas so that an overall sense of security returns to these areas," the officer added.

More than 3,000 security personnel drawn from the army, police and the paramilitary forces started a massive search operation in Shopian district on Thursday involving over 20 villages.

Militants have been known to move about freely in these areas during recent months.

Security force officials said the Shopian operation was the largest such by the security forces since last year's unrest, which started in the Valley in July.

It is, however, a moot point whether such operations are able to instil confidence among the banking staff to carry on daily operations and at the same time send out a message to the militants that the Valley's banks are not up for grabs.

(Sheikh Qayoom can be contacted at sheikh.abdul@ians.in)

--IANS

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The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the AAP government to immediately release Rs 10 crore to the Delhi State Legal Service Authority (DSLSA), after the latter said at least 308 cases to provide compensation to rape victims were pending.

DSLSA, which provides monetary compensation to rape victims, accused the government of starving the Rape Victim Compensation Scheme of funds.

The Delhi government assured the court that Rs 40 crore will be made available to DSLSA, a proposal for which will be cleared by the Cabinet soon.

The government also told the High Court that it will soon introduce self-defence classes for girls studying in state-run schools.

The government's stand was made known after a Division Bench of Justice S. Ravindra Bhat and Justice Yogesh Khanna asked the authorities if self-defence courses could be made part of school curricula and suggested that girl students could be taught special techniques of self-defence on a priority basis.

The court noted that these classes are aimed to arm and strengthen the girls and ensure their self-protection.

Taking into account the increasing crime against women in the national capital, the court told the Delhi government: "You have to train them."

Following the High Court's suggestion, Delhi's senior standing counsel Rahul Mehra said he had got instructions from the government that self-defence classes will be introduced on a priority basis in the coming months.

Delhi Commission for Women Chairperson Swati Maliwal, who was present in the court, contended that six rapes are reported daily in Delhi and asked the court to look into the issue of shortage of police to deal with the increasing crime rate.

--IANS

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In a bid to curb the activities of inter-state vehicle lifters' gangs in the national capital and to keep a tab on resale of stolen vehicles, the Delhi Police has directed the insurance companies to take appropriate measures, a senior police officer said on Thursday.

From now onwards, insurers will be able to issue fresh policies for second-hand vehicles, especially high-end cars, only after obtaining a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the transport authorities.

According to the officer, all Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP)-rank officers and some senior Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs) of Delhi held a meeting with the representatives of insurance companies operating in the capital last week at the Delhi Police Headquarters.

"They discussed the frequent theft and resale of high-end vehicles, apart from other categories of vehicles, by some inter-state auto-lifters' gangs, including the infamous Mewati gang," he said.

They also decided to prevent reselling of these cars, including Fortuner, BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Honda City, among others, which has emerged as a major challenge for the Delhi Police, as some gangs in the national capital have taken to high-tech ways of theft.

"Mostly, inter-state vehicle lifter gangs first replace the engine and chassis number of the stolen vehicles with those of insured vehicles, which they purchase under a 'total loss' scheme.

"These gangs then resell these cars for handsome amounts in Delhi-NCR, mainly in Haryana's Gurugram, Sonepat and Jhajjar, and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, after installing the number plate of insured vehicles to give them a genuine look, so as to dodge the police," the officer said.

According to the Delhi Police crime record, a total of 30,857 vehicle thefts took place in 2015, while 36,137 cases were reported in 2016 in the national capital. As per their records, as many as 21 cars were stolen every day in 2016 in the city.

The thieves also use accidental vehicles to serve their purpose. These gangs have strong connect with scrap dealers, especially those in Mayapuri in west Delhi, who purchase such cars in bulk. The police have also instructed these scrap dealers to inform the respective transport authorities about their sale and purchase of scrap cars, he said.

"These gangs used to buy engine and chassis numbers of scrap cars and replace them with those of stolen cars before selling them off across the country. This way, it becomes easier for them to get insurance policies of such vehicles reissued," the officer added.

Over one lakh high-end luxury cars get registered in Delhi-NCR area every year and five to seven per cent of those are reported stolen annualy. Although their individuals parts are not in much demand, demand of these cars is high in the market as second-hand vehicles.

"We have issued instructions to all insurance companies, since the job of insurance companies has become crucial to prevent the illegal activities of these gangs. They have been asked to report to transport authority on regular basis," he said.

"If a vehicle goes under dismantling process, the insurers will have to ensure about renewal of their policies only on the basis of their engine and chassis numbers," he added.

(Sanjeev Pal can be reached at sanjeev.p@ians.in)

--IANS

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A massive eight-hour search operation by security forces in around 20 villages of Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district ended on Thursday afternoon.

The operation, described by a senior police officer as "unprecedented", started early in the day and involved over 3,000 soldiers, paramilitary troopers and police personnel.

They carried out searches in some 20 villages including Turkwangam and Sugan where militants had been reportedly seen moving about freely in recent days.

The security forces searched for militants responsible for the killing of political activists and security personnel and those blamed for snatching of weapons as well as bank robberies, the officer said.

Government sources said helicopters and drones were also used in the operation.

The security forces faced stone pelting from villagers at three places. The crowds were dispersed with tear smoke.

There was no official word on any arrests made during the searches although Thursday's was the biggest search operation by security forces since last year's summer unrest.

A senior police officer earlier told IANS: "The operation is part of a routine anti-militancy and area domination exercise in south Kashmir.

"Such operations will continue till we are able to completely sanitize (rid areas of militants) in south Kashmir."

Police have announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for anyone giving information leading to the arrest of Umar Majeed, a militant operating in south Kashmir.

Majeed allegedly masterminded the killing of seven people, including five policemen and two bank guards, in Kulgam on Monday.

--IANS

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Former warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar returned to the Afghan capital on Thursday after signing a peace agreement with the government in September last year.

Hekmatyar, the leader of Hizb-e-Islami, is due to meet President Ashraf Ghani and hold a mass gathering, Tolo news reported.

His convoy to the capital, comprising of several hundred vehicles, mainly pick-up trucks equipped with machine guns, was greeted by hundreds of onlookers.

Hekmatyar is believed to be responsible for killing tens of thousands of civilians in Kabul during the 1990s civil war and was nicknamed the "Butcher of Kabul".

In his first public appearance after 20 years, Hekmatyar last week addressed supporters in the eastern province of Laghman and called on all insurgent groups to join the peace process.

The Prime Minister from 1992 to 1996, Hekmatyar's peace deal was welcomed by the US and the UN.

But the deal met heavy criticism in certain sections of Afghan society due to Hekmatyar's notorious past and the proposed amnesty for his insurgent group's activities of the past 14 years.

The agreement also provided for "sustainable and dignified repatriation" of families of Hizb-e-Islami members and the release of rebels who are in prison but have been not charged with any crime.

In return, the Hizb-e-Islami signed the National Constitution of Afghanistan, agreed to disband all its armed formations and pledged to cut ties with all terrorist and extremist groups.

Hekmatyar arrived here after dozens of Hizb-e-Islami prisoners were released from Pul-e-Charkhi prison in Kabul. Officials said more prisoners will be released in the coming days.

--IANS

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A 28-hour countdown for the Friday launch of the or GSAT-9 commenced on Thursday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced.

According to ISRO, the countdown began at 12.57 p.m.

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-Mk II) carrying the GSAT-9 is expected to blast off from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

The GSAT-9 is being launched with an objective to provide different communication applications in Ku-band with coverage over South Asian countries, the ISRO stated.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the South Asia Satellite, will go a long way in addressing the region's economic and developmental priorities.

"The capacities of this satellite and the facilities it provides will go a long way in addressing South Asia's economic and developmental priorities," he said in his monthly radio address 'Mann Ki Baat'.

"Natural resources mapping, telemedicine, the field of education, deeper IT connectivity or fostering people-to-people contact, this satellite will prove to be a boon in the progress of the entire region."

"It is an important step by India to enhance cooperation with the entire South Asia... It is an invaluable gift.

This is an appropriate example of our commitment towards South Asia. I welcome all the South Asian countries who have joined us on this momentous endeavour," he had said.

The space agency said that the GSAT-9 is configured around the ISRO's standard I-2K bus, with a lift-off mass of 2,230 kg, and the satellite's main structure is cuboid in shape built around a central cylinder with a mission life of more than 12 years.

According to an official, ISRO on experimental basis decided to have electric power for the satellite.

"We have not reduced the volume of the traditional on-board fuel because of the electric power. We have added electric power facility to check its performance for use in future satellites," the official told IANS.

He said the next satellite with electric power will be the GSAT-20 slated for launch next year.

Meanwhile, the ISRO is also gearing up to launch its heaviest rocket GSLV-Mk III later this month.

ALSO READ: How the South Asia Satellite will help India boost ties with neighbours
The demand for gold in India went up by 15 per cent in the first quarter (January-March) of 2017 year-on-year, even as the demand declined by 18 per cent globally, according to the latest report by World Gold Council released here on Thursday.

Demand for gold in India during Q1 2017 was at 123.5 tonnes against the 107.3 tonnes in Q1 2016.

Global gold demand in Q1 2017 was 1,034 tonne, a decline of 18 per cent compared to the record Q1 in 2016, according to the World Gold Council's latest Gold Demand Trends report.

India's Q1 2017 gold demand value was Rs 32,420 crore, a rise of 18 per cent in comparison with Q1 2016 (Rs 27,540 crore), the report stated.

"Demand in Q1 2017 is up 15 per cent, though this is against the low base of Q1 2016 that was impacted by the trade strike on the excise duty introduction. It signals both a return of optimism and the resilience of this industry that has been living with some tough challenges since 2013," said Somasundaram PR, Managing Director, India, World Gold Council.

Regarding global demand, Alistair Hewitt, Head of Market Intelligence at the World Gold Council said: "Demand is down year-on-year, but that is largely because Q1 last year was exceptionally high. Although we did not see the record-breaking surges in ETF inflows experienced in Q1 2016, we have seen good inflows nonetheless this quarter, with strong interest from European investors ahead of the Dutch and French elections."

Total jewellery demand in India for Q1 2017 was up by 16 per cent at 92.3 tonne as compared to Q1 2016 (79.8 tonne). The value of jewellery demand was Rs 24,220 crore, a rise of 18 per cent from Q1 2016 (Rs 20,484 crore).

Total investment demand for Q1 2017 was up by 14 per cent at 31.2 tonne in comparison with Q1 2016 (27.5 tonne).

"The rupee appreciation significantly protected Indian households from the hike in dollar prices, giving them an additional reason to meet the latent gold demand that was created in 2016, following demonetisation and other regulatory measures against unaccounted wealth," he said.

Wedding demand that accounts for 40-50 per cent of jewellery and bars and coins demand were strong in the first quarter.

"Opportunistic purchasing by investors and an increase in restocking, means the gold market is likely to maintain a healthy uptake for H1 2017. The forecast for normal monsoons could also play a promising role in stabilising consumer demand in H2 2017," Somasundaram added.

He, however, mentioned that there are concerns in the industry about transitioning to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) that will be introduced from July 2017.

The World Gold Council has predicted a demand of 650-750 tonnes in India in 2017.

--IANS

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In the backdrop of liquor baron Vijay Mallya's extradition demand, India and the UK on Thursday agreed to expedite the process of extraditing "wanted persons".

The decision was made in the first Home Affairs dialogue between the two countries here. The delegations were led by Indian Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and Patsy Wilkinson from the British Home Office.

The meeting was held as a follow up to British Prime Minister Theresa May's visit to India in November and the two Prime Ministers' commitment for enhanced and strengthened dialogue.

"Both sides expressed satisfaction in matters relating to extradition of wanted persons. The process involved in matters of extradition and the need to further improve them were also discussed," Home Ministry advisor Ashok Prasad said.

Asked about Mallya's extradition, Prasad said: "These matters are not discussed at this level. It is discussed at agency level. The idea was to identify and remove the bottlenecks and make the process simpler."

Mallya, who fled to Britain in March 2016 after being pursued for the recovery of Rs 8,191 crore his now defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes to Indian banks, was arrested and bailed in London last month.

The next hearing of the case will be on May 17.

The Indian government had in February handed over to British authorities a formal request for Mallya's extradition, saying it had a legitimate case against him on charges of financial irregularities and loan default.

India and the UK have an extradition treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the pact. Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel was sent back to India in October to face trial in connection with his involvement in the Gujarat riots of 2002.

Both the countries also agreed to address the challenges of illegal migrants.

"The two sides will work together to ensure smooth return of Indians overstaying in UK subject to nationality verification," Prasad said.

The delegations also discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in tackling organised crime in India and the UK.

"Regarding criminal data sharing and strengthening cooperation in tackling serious and organised crimes, the two sides expressed satisfaction in the existing level. They agreed to enhance and strengthen the bilateral cooperation and work towards formalising the arrangements," Prasad said.

India raised the issue of visa related difficulties of students, skilled professional and dependents of Indian diplomats. The UK promised to look into the matter.

"India and the UK laid emphasis on cooperation on anti-terrorism mechanism and to strengthen mutual support to check cyber crimes," Prasad added.

Asked about Sikh groups in the Uk attempting to revive the Khalistan movement, he said: "The issue was discussed. The details and information will be shared at agency level."

India has been pressing for action against groups engaged in the UK working for an independent Khalistan in India.

--IANS

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Crafty knocks by skipper Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik helped Gujarat Lions (GL) post a challenging 208/7 against Delhi Daredevils (DD) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Ferozeshah Kotla here on Thursday.

Raina (77) and Karthik (65) came to the crease when the visitors were reeling at 10/2 in the second over. But sensible innings from the duo helped Gujarat to get out of troubled waters.

Gujarat got off to a poor start as they lost swash-buckling openers Dwayne Smith (9) and Brendon McCullum (1) in the second over of the innings.

McCullum was the first one to depart. The New Zealand batsman got an outside edge off pacer Kagiso Rabada and Rishabh Pant then completed the rest of the formality by taking a superb catch.

Off the very next ball, Shabaz Nadeem did a brilliant job in the field, coming up with an accurate direct throw to dismiss Smith.

With the visitors reeling at 10/2, incoming batsmen Raina and Karthik then stepped up to tackle the situation and thrashed the Delhi bowlers all around the park.

The duo forged a brilliant 133-run partnership for the third wicket before Raina was run out by Rabada in the 14th over. A slight miscommunication between Karthik and Raina helped Delhi to break the partnership.

In-form batsman Aaron Finch (27) then joined Karthik and both batsmen tried to rev up the innings. But soon Karthik was sent back to the pavilion by pacer Pat Cummins.

While trying to play over mid-off, Karthik mistimed the ball and Correy Anderson took a stunning one-handed catch to dismiss the Delhi wicketkeeper.

With the score at 158/4 in 15 overs, middle-order batsman Ishan Kishan (4), who joined Finch, failed to click as he was also dismissed by Cummins in the 18th over.

With two overs remaining, Finch played some good strokes and he was also supported by Ravindra Jadeja (18) but just when things seemed good for the visitors, Finch was caught at fine leg. Wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant took a diving catch off Rabada to dismiss the Australian batsman.

James Faulkner was also dismissed in the last over by Corey Anderson. But then Jadeja finished off the things in style by slamming two huge sixes in the last two deliveries of the final over.

For Delhi, pacers Rabada and Cummins scalped two wickets each.

Brief scores: Delhi Daredevils 208/7 in 20 overs (Suresh Raina 77, Dinesh Karthik 65; Rabada 2/28) against Gujarat Lions.

--IANS

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Calcutta High Court Justice C.S. Karnan on Thursday refused to undergo any check-up after a medical team turned up at his residence following a Supreme Court order, saying he is mentally fit.

Karnan told the team of four doctors from a government hospital that a person's mental examination cannot be done without consent of his guardian, and his wife and sons were not in Kolkata. He said he could not allow the doctors from the Calcutta Pavlov Hospital to examine him, as it was legally wrong.

"Also, I am mentally in sound health," he told a posse of mediapersons and police officers at his New Town residence in Kolkata's north eastern fringes.

He termed the apex court order for his examination as a "mad order passed by mad judges".

A seven-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar on Monday directed the setting up of a medical board to examine Karnan on May 4 and submit the evaluation report on May 8.

Karnan has been engaged in an over three-month long confrontation with the apex court. He is facing contempt charges for degrading the judiciary and making allegations of corruption against several Supreme Court judges.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Continuing his battle with the top judiciary, Calcutta High Court Justice C.S. Karnan on Thursday declined to undergo any check up mandated by the Supreme Court after a medical team turned up at his residence here, and claimed he was "more than normal".

Karnan lashed out against the seven apex court judges, calling them "terrorists" and their order an insult to a "Dalit judge".

"Medical treatment is not required to (sic) me. Medical treatment is required to (sic) the patient. I am alright. I am not a patient. Yes, I am more than normal," he said.

Escorted by police personnel, a team of four doctors from the state-run Calcutta Pavlov Hospital landed at Karnan's New Town residence in Kolkata's north eastern fringes in the morning, but had to leave with a signed letter that he handed them refusing to undergo the medical test.

"My wife and one son are in Chennai. The other son is in France. So in the absence of any guardian, my family, I cannot allow you to examine me," Karnan told the doctors after inviting them inside his house and offering them tea.

Karnan's letter was addressed to the chairman of the medical board constituted to examine him.

"Today you and your team came along with top police officers attached to the Kolkata Police department in order to provide medical treatment to me as per the direction/order/instruction of the Honourable Supreme Court. However, I declined to avail the medical treatment since I am absolutely normal with a stable mind," it said.

In his letter, he termed the Supreme Court order an "insult" and harassment to a "Dalit judge".

The hospital later said they would submit his letter to the Supreme Court on Friday.

"He didn't submit for the examination. So whatever he has given in writing will be submitted to the Supreme Court by tomorrow (Friday), without any comment," a hospital source said.

On Monday, a seven-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar had directed the setting up of a medical board to examine Karnan on May 4 and to submit the evaluation report on May 8 on his fitness to defend himself.

Karnan is facing contempt charges for degrading the judiciary and making allegations of corruption against several Supreme Court judges.

With his housing complex 'Rosedale' swarming with journos and onlookers besides a police team since early morning on Thursday, Karnan seemed to relish his multiple interactions with the media.

He termed the order for his medical examination as a "mad order passed by mad judges".

"I am against corruption... I am wondering how the seven judges (are) supporting corrupted judges. Why the seven judges are colluding with corrupted judges. Seven judges colluding with corrupt judges means they share the corruption amount.

"Therefore they are taking personal interest. How all of a sudden they prevented my judicial work, administrative work? Where is the provision? How did they issue a bailable warrant against me? Am I a terrorist, an anti-social element?"

"But the seven judges are terrorists, please note down," he told mediapersons, who were taken aback by his virulent attack.

Karnan then offered his "logic".

"The Pakistani terrorists are continuously attempting to disturb the Indian peace. Likewise the seven judges are continuously operating their judicial power out of law and spoiling the judiciary. Therefore they are terrorists in the judiciary."

Karnan claimed the seven judges were "not suitable" for the nation and should quit.

In January, Karnan wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi naming 20 "corrupt judges", and sought probe against them to curb "high corruption" in the Indian judiciary.

The Supreme Court then issued him a contempt notice, an unprecedented step against a sitting judge, and asked him to appear before the bench in person. The apex court also ordered him not to discharge any judicial and administrative functions during the pendency of the proceedings.

After Karnan failed to appear before it, the apex court on March 10, in another unprecedented move, issued a bailable warrant against him.

But the judge escalated the row by ordering a Central Bureau of Investigation probe against the seven judges.

Karnan appeared before the seven-judge bench on March 31. But he renewed the confrontation on April 13, passing a "judicial order" against the bench for "violating" the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. He asked the apex court judges to appear before him.

Later in an order, Justice Karnan directed the Air Control Authority in New Delhi not to allow the CJI and other six judges to travel abroad.

The Supreme Court on its part has asked all authorities and tribunals not to take cognisance of any "purported" order passed by Karnan, who in turn directed the Delhi Police to conduct a psychiatric test of the seven judges.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
After Calcutta High Court Justice C.S. Karnan refused to be examined, state-run Calcutta Pavlov Hospital which was given the responsibility to carry out the medical examination, will submit his signed letter to the Supreme Court, sources said on Thursday.

"He didn't submit for the examination. So whatever he has given in writing will be submitted to the Supreme Court by tomorrow (Friday), without any comment," a source at the hospital said.

Karnan on Thursday declined to undergo any check-up after a medical team turned up at his residence following a Supreme Court order, saying he is "absolutely normal". He termed the seven apex court judges as "terrorists" and the order an insult to a "Dalit judge".

"Medical treatment is not required to (sic) me. Medical treatment is required to (sic) the patient. I am alright. I am not a patient. Yes, I am more than normal," he said.

Karnan told the team of four doctors from Calcutta Pavlov Hospital that his wife and sons were not in Kolkata and such a test can't be done without the consent of his family.

He handed a signed letter to the doctors addressed to the chairman of the medical board constituted to examine him.

A seven-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar on Monday directed the setting up of a medical board to examine Karnan on May 4 and submit the evaluation report on May 8.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hot on the heels of their second defeat in a row, this time at the hands of Rising Pune Supergiant, the Kolkata Knight Riders are set to be without the services of Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan for the remainder of Indian Premier League (IPL) season 10.

The Bangladesh senior pro has so far played just one match for the men in purple and will now leave for Ireland on Thursday night for a tri-series in the build-up to next month's Champions Trophy.

Shakib played a big role when the Kolkata Knight Riders won the title in 2014 but has played against only Gujarat Lions at home this time.

He scored 1 not out and returned with bowling figures of 0/31 in that match.

Kolkata Knight Riders are second in the points table with 14 points from 11 games. The Gautam Gambhir-led side next take on struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday in Bengaluru.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Thursday met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here and held discussions on fielding a common candidate by all secular opposition parties for the President's post.

The election to the country's highest constitutional office will be held in July when the term of President Pranab Mukhrjee ends.

"I met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and held discussions on selecting the next President of India. The candidate with impeccable secular credentials should be nominated to the post," said Yechury.

"The Chief Minister agreed with me on this count", the Communist Party of India-Marxist leader added.

He, however, said no name of a likely candidate cropped up during the discussion.

Support from the Biju Janata Dal, which has more than 32,500 votes in the presidential election, will give the opposition a fighting chance against the ruling National Democratic Alliance.

Earlier, Patnaik said his BJD will reveal its cards only after the NDA nominates its candidate.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a fierce attack on the BJP, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused the party of "maligning" her state and using obscene language against her.

She said if even one of her party workers is sent to jail, a lakh of BJP workers will be put behind bars in the state.

"I want to know one thing from the BJP. I want a clarification. I am a citizen of this country and I have every right to know. A BJP leader from Indore for the last two days has been saying that on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's instructions, (Trinamool MPs) Tapas Pal and Sudip Bandyopadhyay were arrested and others will be arrested. Is he God or Allah? Is he CBI chief or director? Or has the PM whispered these things in his ears," Banerjee said here in an apparent reference to BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya.

"I dare them... if you send anyone from Trinamool Congress to jail, then the people will send one lakh of your workers to jail," she said at a public meeting here.

The Trinamool Congress supremo lashed out at the BJP, which claimed on Wednesday that tribal couple Raju and Geeta Mahali were abducted and forcibly made to join the Trinamool.

"Yesterday (Wednesday), the party went on abusing us all day. Even their ministers are abusing us. They are saying there is 'reckless violence'. What words? I told (Trinamool spokesperson and Rajya Sabha leader) Derek O'Brien 'what is this?' In Bengal, people are at peace and are happiest; there is no injustice, no trouble; They (BJP) have no work and are slandering the state. I am telling the Delhi leaders, if anyone maligns the state then there will be no bigger enemy than me," Banerjee said.

"The tragedy is that for many years West Bengal is a victim of fear and violence under the Left parties. Now, it is a victim of fear and reckless violence of the TMC," Union Law Minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad had said in New Delhi.

Banerjee also flayed a BJP leader who compared her to an "eunuch."

"I saw on TV. I am ashamed to say that he was saying 'Is Mamata Banerjee a woman, or a man, or a eunuch?'. Just imagine. This is the language they are using. I am ashamed that I was born here. So much audacity and arrogance they have. How dare they question my birth, my mother, my father, my religion? How arrogant of them. Don't listen to a word they say... humble them," Banerjee said.

Addressing a street corner protest, Bharatiya Janata Party's observer for West Midnapore district Shaymapada Mondal said on Sunday: "Today, you cannot understand whether Mamata Banerjee is a female or a male. Those who have been eunuchs in trains and buses, I will say our Didi (as Banerjee is called) has become an eunuch."

--IANS

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Pakistan on Thursday said it will take up with India the return of Pakistani students and teachers visiting India following threats from "extremists".

The Foreign Office said it will deal with the issue "through diplomatic channels", Dawn reported.

A group of 50 Pakistani students and teachers visiting India at the invitation of a NGO were sent back on Wednesday after reportedly receiving threats from the Shiv Sena.

"The students and children (were) sent back because the host organisation was getting threats," Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said in a statement.

The official said there were "growing incidents of intolerance, extremism and terrorism" in India.

Referring to "India's hostile policy towards Pakistan", Zakaria alleged that "Hindu extremist organisations are involved while the government is watching as a silent spectator".

Dehli-based NGO Routes2Roots had invited the Pakistani students as part of their student exchange programme.

After the threats, Indian officials advised the NGO to send the students back. They were escorted to the Wagah border amid tight security.

Speaking to Geo News, a student narrated the "ordeal".

"We were having dinner when our in-charge said we were to head (back) to Pakistan. Everyone was surprised because we were to go to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. We truly panicked after (that)," she said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Baba Ramdev-promoted Patanjali Group will double its production capacity from Rs 30,000 crore now to Rs 60,000 crore in a year.

"Currently Patanjali is manufacturing goods worth Rs 30,000 crore, which will be increased to more than Rs 60,000 crore next year," Ramdev said here at a press meet on Thursday.

The Haridwar-based fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) company also plans to double its distribution channels from 6,000 to 12,000 this year.

The group has a yearly turnover Rs 10,561 crore, out of which Ayurveda comprises Rs 9,346 crore, Divya Pharmacy Rs 870 crore, and Patanjali Gramodyog Rs 345 crore.

Talking about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his involvement with the company, Ramdev clarified: "Modi is not endorsing Patanjali. I am a citizen of this country, he is as much mine as he is of the nation."

Asking people not to connect Modi with Patanjali, he added: "Modi is not a brand ambassador for Patanjali, he in India's brand ambassador."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Actress Sai Pallavi, who awaits the release of her Telugu debut "Fida", has signed her second project in the same language titled "MCA" with actor Nani

The film will be directed by Venu Sriram and produced by Dil Raju.

"The film will be officially launched this Saturday. For a long time, the makers were on the lookout for a heroine for this project. When Dil Raju saw rushes of aFidaa, he immediately signed Sai Pallavi for this film," a source from the film's unit told IANS.

Bhumika Chawla will also be seen in a pivotal role.

The rest of the cast and crew are being finalised.

--IANS

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The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce its verdict on Friday on the appeals by four accused in the December 16, 2012, Delhi gang-rape case challenging the Delhi High Court verdict upholding their death sentence.

--IANS

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The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce its verdict on Friday on the appeals by four accused in the December 16, 2012, Delhi gang-rape case challenging the Delhi High Court verdict upholding their death sentence.

The Delhi High Court had upheld the conviction and death sentence of Mukesh, Pawan, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur who were accused of brutal gang-rape and assault on a 23-year-old paramedical student inside a private bus -- that led to her eventual death. The incident shocked the nation and grabbed headlines.

The bench of Justice Dipak Misra, Justice R. Banumathi and Justice Ashok Bhushan will pronounce the verdict, on which orders were reserved on March 27 this year.

Hearing on the appeals by the four accused was spread over for almost a year.

The hearings had commenced on April 4, 2016.

Mukesh, Pawan, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur had moved the top court challenging the March 13, 2014, Delhi High Court verdict upholding the death sentence of all the four.

In the case of Mukesh and Pawan, the Supreme Court had stayed their death sentence on March 15, 2014 and that of Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur was stayed on June 3, 2014.

Mukesh, Pawan, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur and late Ram Singh along with a juvenile were accused of gang-rape and assault on a 23-year-old paramedical student inside a private bus.

The juvenile accused has since been released after completing mandatory probation period in a remand home.

The victim and her friend were thrown out of the bus after the crime.

Ram Singh allegedly committed suicide while in incarceration.

The victim died of grave intestinal injuries December 29, 2012 at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital.

While upholding the conviction and death sentence of the four, the High Court had said, "Society's abhorrence to atrocious crimes perpetrated upon innocent and helpless victims has resulted in the death penalty being retained on the statute book to remind such criminals that human life is very precious and one who dares to take the life of others must lose his own life."

--IANS

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Dakar, May 4 (IANS/MAP) Senegal intends to develop and intensify cooperation with the Russian Federation, said Foreign Minister Mankeur Ndiaye after meeting Russia's deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov in the capital Dakar.

"This visit by Bogdanov is a way of preparing the official visit that Macky Sall (President) intends to make to Russia," said Ndiaye, without specifying the date of the President's visit.

"We can expect several agreements. Work camps are open and this allows us to prepare the visit of the Prime Minister and the President to Russia... we do not have a date yet," said Ndiaye.

The Foreign Minister said that Senegal wants to diversify economic cooperation with Russia in strategic sectors such as oil and gas, according to the report on Thursday.

"Senegal has discovered oil and President Macky Sall is willing to diversify partnerships in this field," he said.

--IANS

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Actress Sonam Kapoor, who received a Special Mention alongside Adil Hussian at the 64th National Film Awards, says she now wishes to share screen space with the actor.

While Sonam received the honour for her portrayal of Neerja Bhanot in 2016 film "Neerja", Adil was given a Special Mention for his performance in two films -- "Mukti Bhawan" and "Maj Rati Keteki".

"She was cheerful and joyous," Adil posted on Twitter on Thursday while sharing a photograph of Sonam receiving the award by President Pranab Mukherjee at the Wednesday ceremony.

Sonam replied: "My special mention co-awardee. What an honour to be on the same platform as you. Can't wait to now share a frame with you."

Besides them, actor Akshay Kumar was given the Best Actor award for his role in "Rustom" and Malayalam actress Surabhi C.M. received the Best Actress honour for "Minnaminungu - the Firefly".

--IANS

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In the wake of rising incidents of bank account hacking and data theft, a study by Assocham-Ernst and Young has suggested having a centralised database of cyber criminals to keep a check on and discourage cyber criminals.

"There is a need to establish a centralised repository for cybersecurity standards, best practices and guidelines, which can be used by law enforcement agency for preventing and investigating cybercrime," the joint study said.

A dedicated national governing unit may be established in India, which will be the central agency for all state government cybercrime agencies to coordinate, integrate and share information related to cybercrime, it said.

Such a central agency will be responsible for driving all the cybercrime prevention initiatives, such as collaboration with private sectors, and training and awareness across the country.

"The government should provide well defined citizen awareness programmes aimed at preventing cybercrime as a proactive mitigation. This has to be achieved through multiple media, such as print, radio and web to ensure faster and maximum reachability with local and national languages," it said.

Cybercrime awareness shall be introduced in academics in the early stages of education as a mandate for all the state and central, and public and private schools, adds the study.

Releasing the joint study, D.S. Rawat, Secretary General, Assocham said, "Mechanisms shall be established for independent monitoring of awareness program at regular intervals to evaluate the number of people/regions covered. Awareness material shall be updated regularly to cover up-to-date information."

"In order to increase the rate of reporting cybercrime, it is important to have provisions for online reporting of the crime. Using this system, an online cybercrime complaint can be made by the victims of cybercrime," it added.

A centralised database of cybercriminals should be maintained so that the criminals released from jails may be monitored, the study said.

"Such checks will discourage cybercriminals from engaging in spurious activities in cyberspace. Many countries, such as the USA and Australia have maintained a central repository of cybercriminals," noted the joint study.

India should be actively engaged as part of the international cybercrime associations centered on Asia/Europe and America to seek help and contribute for international cybercrime issues, Rawat said.

--IANS

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Tata Motors on Thursday delivered 50 new Non-AC mini buses to state-owned Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC).

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and Transport Minister P. Mahender Reddy along with officials from TSRTC and Tata Motors were present at the handing over ceremony.

The bus is based on the Tata Ultra LPO mini bus design, with the passenger door ahead of the front axle.

The buses are powered by Tata Motors new three liter, BS four engine, delivering a superior 140 horse power and will provide last mile connectivity for commuters living in the interiors, to the main district, with a capacity to accommodate about 40 passengers, said a statement by Tata Motors.

The mini buses will provide transportation service to the people near their doorstep.

These buses will ply in the rural areas where big buses cannot reach.

On this occasion, the Chief Minister also flagged off 60 "Vajra mini A/C buses" which will pick up and drop passengers at their chosen location.

The Chief Minister said this was an innovative service in the country.

The buses will ply from Hyderabad to Nizamabad and Warangal. These Vajra A/C buses will have 21 seats.

The buses flagged off on Thursday were part of 1,393 buses planned to be procured by TSRTC with a government guarantee loan of Rs.350 crore.

--IANS

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The Hyderabad Police on Thursday registered a case against senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh for his claim that Telangana Police had set up a bogus site of terror outfit Islamic State to trap Muslim youths.

The case was registered at Jubilee Hills police station on complaints by M. Gopinath, a local legislator belonging to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), and another person.

It was registered under Indian Penal Code's Sections 505 (1) (publishing material with intention to cause fear among people), 505 (1)(b) intentionally causing alarm among public), and 505 (2) (statements conducing to public mischief).

Though the complaint was submitted on May 1, the day Digvijaya Singh made the tweet, police registered the case only after seeking legal opinion.

In a series of tweets, the Congress General Secretary said:

"Telangana Police has set up a bogus ISIS site which is radicalising Muslim youths and encouraging them to become ISIS modules.

"The issue is whether Telangana Police should be trapping Muslim youths in becoming ISIS modules by posting inflammatory information?

"Is It ethical? Is it moral? Has KCR authorised Telangana Police to trap Muslim youths and encourage them to join ISIS? If he has, then shouldn't he own the responsibility and resign? If he hasn't, then shouldn't he enquire and punish those who are responsible for committing such a heinous crime?"

Police said, if needed, they will call the Congress leader for questioning.

The tweets of Digvijaya Singh, in-charge of party affairs in Telangana, drew strong reaction from the TRS government, which asked him to either unconditionally withdraw the allegations or show evidence.

Cabinet Minister K.T. Rama Rao, son of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, said if Digvijaya Singh failed to withdraw the allegations, the government would be forced to consider other options.

"Most irresponsible and reprehensible thing coming from a former CM. Request you to withdraw these comments unconditionally or provide evidence," tweeted Rama Rao.

Telangana police chief Anurag Sharma had said that unfounded allegations from a senior responsible leader will lower the morale and image of police which is engaged in fighting anti-national forces.

Digvijaya Singh, however, said that he stood by his comments. He told a television channel that whatever he said was based on the information received from his sources and after verifying the same with many people.

--IANS

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Noted film and theatre actor and director Naseeruddin Shah on Thursday said that theatres have started replicating films by depending on set designs to show different scenes and somewhere the basic message of the theatre has been lost.

Delivering the Professor Zahida Zaidi Memorial lecuture at AMU, the versatile actor, also a Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan recipient, Shah recalled his journey from being an AMU student attending the Department of English to his illustrious career, adding he owed his success to Professor Zahida Zaidi.

Shah said she was "a feisty lady" in the English department of the university, who introduced him to Oliver Goldsmith's "She Stoops to Conquer", Eugene Ionesco's "The Lesson" and "The Chairs", Edward Albee's "Zoo Story", Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot", Anton Chekhov's "A Proposal" and many other continental plays.

"I still remember Zahida Apa (Prof Zahida Zaidi) for her 'perceptiveness and intellectual capacity', who introduced me to literature I might not otherwise have read," he said.

"At the age of 17, I was sure to become an actor, but didn't know how to pursue an acting career.

"My parents wanted me to follow the footsteps of my elder brothers, but I knew I couldn't join IIT or qualify NDA," said Shah adding that I was lucky to join AMU and have a teacher like Professor Zahida Zaidi, who took me to the National School of Drama (NSD) in Delhi and urged me to join NSD after graduating from the AMU.

"Prof Zaidi had then urged me to pursue a career in theatre and acting as she recognised my talents," said Shah.

Prof Zaidi taught him that the real idea of theatre is to send across a message to the audience, which needs not be done with music, set designs and all the glamour, according to him.

While presiding over the function, AMU Vice Chancellor, Lt General Zameer Uddin Shah (Veteran) said that often people ask him as to how his brother, Naseeruddin Shah, became an actor.

"I always quipped that my brother ran away from home to become an actor, but the reality is that he was lucky to attend AMU under the guidance of his teacher, Professor Zaidi, who showed him the right path to his career," said General Shah.

He added that he can proudly say that his brother is best and the most versatile of actors in India and he never misses any of his movies.

General Shah pointed out that the success Naseeruddin Shah has received is because of the values he learnt as a student in the AMU.

--IANS

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Three more hardcore militants tried by the military courts in Pakistan have been executed, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement on Thursday.

According to the military's media wing, the terrorists committed heinous offences like killing of innocent civilians and attacking armed forces and law enforcement agencies personnel.

All three convicts, Hussan Dar, Umer Zada and Hazrat Ali were active members of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and also possessed explosives.

The convicts, the statement added, admitted their offences before the magistrate and the trial court, and were awarded death sentences.

The executions came a day after the hanging of four convicts.

After much ado, the military courts were given an extension in March this year for another two years.

The courts were established through a constitutional amendment in the backdrop of the terrorist attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar in December 2014, which claimed the lives of more than 150 people, mostly children.

--IANS

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Pankaj Kumar Mishra, a CRPF paratrooper who posted a video on social media ranting against Home Minister after a relative died in the Sukma Maoist attack, on Thursday moved the Delhi High Court saying he wanted to surrender and sought protection to his life.

Kumar, who claimed to have been detained by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), said he ran away from the battalion after fearing threat to his life.

Kumar approached the court saying he wanted to surrender and his life be protected after his surrender.

Justice Ashutosh Kumar asked the Director General CRPF to accept Kumar's surrender and deal with the case as per law.

The court asked Kumar to report to DG CRPF on Saturday and also directed the department not to assault him.

Mishra, of the CRPF 221 battalion stationed at Durgapur in West Bengal, had posted a video on Facebook after his relative Abhay Kumar was killed in the Maoist attack in Sukma, Chhattisgarh, in which 25 CRPF personnel lost their lives.

In his video, Kumar had said: "They should not forget that these CRPF jawans provide security to leaders like Amit Shah. We voted for Modiji and not BJP, and leaders like are misleading the Prime Minister." He requested Singh to meet the family members of slain CRPF personnel.
The White House said that US President Donald Trump's first overseas trip later this month since taking office will include additional stops in Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican.

According to a White House statement on Thursday, before attending the previously scheduled NATO and G7 summits in Brussels and Italian city of Sicily late May, Trump will travel to Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican, Xinhua news agency reported.

During his trip to Saudi Arabia, Trump will discuss with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud "issues of strategic concern, including efforts to defeat terrorist groups and discredit radical ideologies," said the statement.

From there Trump will travel to Israel and meet both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Trump will discuss with Abbas "ways to advance peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, as well as efforts to unlock the potential of the Palestinian economy," it added.

However, it remains unclear from the statement whether Trump will meet Abbas in the West Bank.

Trump on Wednesday hosted Abbas at the White House, and pledged to help solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without mentioning support for the two-state solution.

After the trip to the Middle East, Trump will then meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican to "discuss cooperation between the US and religious communities in areas of joint concern," the statement noted.

--IANS

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Two Maoists, including a zonal commander carrying a reward of Rs 15 lakh, surrendered here to the Jharkhand Police on Thursday, an official said.

Based on the militants' inputs, a huge cache of arms was recovered in a joint operation by the state police and paramilitary personnel in Lohardaga district, he added.

Nakul Yadav, a zonal commander of Communist Party of India (Maoist), surrendered along with his aide Madan Yadav before Additional Director General of Police (Operations) R.K. Mallik and Ranchi range Deputy Inspector General A.B. Homkar in the state capital.

Nakul Yadav was wanted in more than 70 cases related to Maoist activities, including the killing of policemen. He was active in the border areas of Bihar and Chhattisgarh.

The zonal commander is also accused of forcibly inducting children in the CPI-Maoist group.

However, he denied the charge, and said: "Children are joining our organisation voluntarily."

Based on his information, the joint operation of the Central Reserve Police Force and the state police was conducted in the jungles of Lohardaga district.

The police seized 13 rifles, including SLRs and AK-47s, machine guns and 3,000 cartridges.

The police also seized army-style fatigues and Maoist literature.

The operation comes close on the heels of the April 24 ambush in Sukma in which 25 security personnel were killed.

Police sources said the joint operations, based on the inputs of the surrendered Maoists, were still underway in two districts of the state.

--IANS

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Vatican City, May 4 (IANS/AKI) The Vatican said on Thursday it will establish diplomatic relations with Myanmar as Pope Francis met the country's effective leader, Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The decision to establish diplomatic ties "would promote bonds of friendship" between the two states, the Vatican said in a statement.

Aung San Suu Kyi's visit to Italy and the Vatican came as Myanmar's government faced international criticism for the army's treatment of the country's minority Rohingya Muslims in the state of Rakhine.

The Pope has appealed for prayers for the Rohingya in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.

--IANS/AKI

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Personally, living a long distance from my wife and son has been a challenge, said Ashish Nanda, director of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, in his communication to members of the IIM-A community last week. Nanda has decided to resign from his post nearly four years after he took charge.
The on Thursday sought a probe into the alleged land grabbing by Textiles Minister Smriti Irani's husband Zubin Irani in Madhya Pradesh saying the state should fulfil its "rajdharma" in acting against him.

AICC incharge of communications department Randeep Surjewala said Irani, who has been involved in a row over her assets and qualifications, should alongwith her husband help in accomplishing that "rajdharma" obligation of the state.

"We have seen media reports on alleged land grabbing by Union Minister Smriti Irani's husband. The land belonged to the government. If there is any truth, it is unfortunate and the Madhya Pradesh government should order a thorough probe into it," he told reporters here.

Surjewala also hit out at the BJP alleging that it is using cow protection as an excuse to 'resort to gundayee' (hooliganism).

The leader expressed serious concern over the leak of Aadhar data of crores of Indians and hit out at the government for defending the leak of sensitive information and accused the BJP of "blatantly defying the people's right to privacy".

Responding to a question on Congress-ruled Karnataka framing a new law to protect officials from cow protectionists, he said though the BJP thinks India got its independence on May 26, 2014 unlike in 1947, cow protection laws are in place since 1964 and Section 15 of this law states that officials assigned to protect the provisions of the law will be given protection.

He said it is not for every individual, as projected.

The BJP government, he said, is telling people where to go when, to the extent of even denying one's rights over his/her own body.

"It is time for the Supreme Court to take note of this, and the people of India to rise in unison against this autocratic governance," he said.

On leak of Aadhar data, he said it is shocking and unheard of that the information of 12 crore Aadhar Card holders has been blatantly leaked and is now available to anybody to access and to use and misuse in any manner that they want.

"On one side, we speak about right of privacy, on one side we speak about freedom of expression, on one side we speak about right of life and control over one's body and one's thought and one's food habits and one's clothing and one's customs and one's culture.

"On the other side, the BJP government is blatantly defending leakage of such sensitive information as is available to others which is prone to misuse and which can put an ordinary citizen into a lot of difficulties by misuse," he said.

Surjewala also said that the provision is being "wrongly, maliciously and conspiratorially implemented and interpreted to say wheat is being said and we reject it in toto".

On 'Gau Rakshaks', he said it has become fashionable for certain section of media to twist the truth and to compromise on the truth guided by certain vested interests in the ruling dispensation.
CPI(M) General Secretary today said India's identity as a secular country was under threat and appealed to all non-NDA parties to unitedly choose a candidate who can undertake "secular supervision" at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

"President of India is the custodian of the Constitution and he needs to have commitment towards secularism. Our appeal to all non-NDA parties is to unite and field a candidate for the presidential election who can undertake secular supervision at the Rashtrapati Bhavan," he told reporters at the sidelines of a programme here.

"People are now out to decide what one will eat, what one will wear and even with whom to roam. This is an attack on the individual rights of a person," he said.

So, India's identity as a secular democratic republic is under threat, the Rajya Sabha member said.

Yechury, who is on a two-day visit to Odisha, said he has been talking to all secular parties urging them to "unite and select an effective person for the highest post of the country as the very basics of Indian Constitution were under attack."



To a question on which parties agreed on fielding a common candidate, the Left leader said, "Congress, NCP, JD(U) and all other like minded parties have similar view point."



Asked about the response of NDA allies Shiv Sena and Akali Dal, he said, "We are in the process of talking to them. We are consulting others at this stage," he said.

"Once we come to an understanding, we will zero in on a person. There is nothing secret about it. You will come to know about it," Yechury said.

He said that he had met Congress president Sonia Gandhi, JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar and NCP president Sharad Pawar in this regard, and would meet BJD chief Naveen Patnaik tomorrow.

"As BJD is a secular party, I am sure Naveen Patnaik and his party will be positive about it and support a secular candidate for the president's post," Yechury said.

JD(U) leaders Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav had met Patnaik in March and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banejree called on him last month.

However, all the leaders had said that they did not discuss Presidential elections.

Patnaik has all along maintained that his party will decide on the presidential elections only after seeing the nominations.
The process of change in the Congress, kicked off by the party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi last week, is slowly but surely getting a firm footing as more younger leaders are being given key roles in the grand old party.
At least 15 people were injured today, three of them seriously, when an explosion hit a warehouse containing industrial oils near Madrid, forcing the evacuation of nearby schools, authorities said.

"Right now, we have three seriously injured by burns and other injuries," a spokesman for the firefighters told AFP, adding 12 others were also hurt to a lesser degree.

He said authorities were probing the cause of the explosion in the warehouse in Arganda del Rey, some 30 kilometres southeast of the Spanish capital.

Madrid's 112 emergency services centre tweeted that there had been "several explosions."



The Guardia Civil police force meanwhile posted a video of a large, black column of smoke billowing from the warehouse, and announced it was evacuating the zone, which includes several schools.

Firefighters were still working to extinguish the blaze.

It was not yet known whether the smoke was toxic, but the emergency services centre said an air quality measuring station in Arganda del Rey showed normal readings.

"A mobile unit is going to take measurements in the zone," it added.

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Four Indians and 30 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar have been booked for allegedly undertaking an illegal voyage to Australia in a boat via Sri Lanka from this district, police said today.

Following information on arrest of the refugees in Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu police had launched a probe and found that the boat used for the illegal transportation was from Adirampattinam, they said.

Further investigations revealed that the 30 Rohingya refugees had come from Myanmar in 2013 and were registered as refugees in India.

They came to Tamil Nadu last year and have been residing in Adirampattinam since January last, police said.

In an effort to migrate to Australia, they had allegedly contacted one Abdul Rasheed and Habeeb Rahman of Adiramapattinam.

On April 28, they left for Australia in a fibre boat arranged by the duo, but were detained by Sri Lankan Coast Guard at Kangesanthurai Port there.

Meanwhile, Adirampattinam Marine police had on May 2 registered a case under various sections of Foreigners Act, Passport Act, and IPC against the 30 foreigners and the four Indians including Abdul and Habeeb.

Subsequently, the case was transferred to Adirampattinam police for further investigations, they said.

Abdul Rasheed, Habeeb Rahman and some others were detained for interrogation, they added.

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Egyptian national Eman Ahmed, who was until recently believed to be the world's heaviest woman, was flown to Abu Dhabi in UAE for further treatment this evening.

The 37-year-old was discharged around 12.40 pm from the city-based Saifee hospital, where she was undergoing treatment for severe obesity since February this year.

EgyptAir cargo airbus 300, fitted with medical equipment for shifting Eman to Abu Dhabi, took off at 7.41 pm from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, an airport official said.

A green corridor was created for transporting Eman from Saifee Hospital to Gate No. 5 of Terminal 2 at the airport.

According to bariatric surgeon Muffazal Lakdawala, Eman's weight came down to 170 kg (as on Wednesday evening).

She weighed a whopping 498 kg on her arrival here in February this year.

Eman's discharge from Saifee hospital got delayed amid reports that there was some difference of opinion on Eman's handing over to the authorities of Burjeel Hospital in UAE (where she would undergo further treatment).

However, Dr Lakdawala dismissed the reports of any dispute between the officials from both the hospitals. "It was simply some paper work that took little longer time. There was no dispute," he claimed.

As her discharge got delayed, Maharashtra Health Minister Dr Deepak Sawant rushed to Saifee hospital and intervened in the matter. Likewise, BJP leader Shaina NC was also present.

Sawant later said, "There are some lessons to be learnt from Eman's case. I think the state government will have to form some standard operating protocol for handling such complex cases."



Shaina NC, in her official communication, said that Eman's sister Shaimaa Selim signed the discharge papers at the hospital in the presence of Dr Sawant and herself.

"Obviously, after all the false allegations (levelled by Eman's sister Shaimaa Selim), the hospital authorities would want to make sure that their patient is going back in good health.

"It is the onus of the next hospital once they leave, and hence proper documentation with comprehensive reports and medical advice needed to be exchanged between the hospitals. It was necessary to confirm that everything is in order," Shaina NC said.

"This has been a landmark case when it comes to the medical fraternity and the good doctors and the large heart shown by India, Maharashtra and Mumbai, when it comes to medical tourism is something that everyone echos unequivocally," she said.

Eman underwent bariatric surgery in March in which doctors reduced the size of her stomach by two-thirds, so as to reduce her food intake. Her genetic tests had showed that she has a rare gene mutation that cannot be cured through surgery.

She was treated by Lakdawala and a team of around 15 doctors from various disciplines since she was brought here from Alexandria on February 11 this year.

Yesterday, Lakdawala had said that Huzefa Shehabi, COO Saifee Hospital, had received an e-mail communication from VPS Burjeel Hospital (in Abu Dhabi, UAE) saying that Eman is "stable, in good health and fit to fly" paving way for her discharge this afternoon.

Eman's sister Shaimaa in an online video last month had alleged that she was not receiving proper treatment at the privately-owned hospital in South Mumbai.

She had alleged that the doctors at Saifee, made "false claims" about Eman's complete recovery and weight loss of 262 kg.

Refuting the allegations, Aparna Bhaskar, section chief of bariatric surgery at Saifee Hospital, had said that Shaimaa may be criticising the doctors to extend her sister's stay at the hospital. Lakdawala, too, had denied the charge.

Eman, a resident of Alexandria in Egypt, had not stepped out of her house for more than two decades due to her obese condition followed by a stroke that left her paralysed on one side a year ago.

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Arunachal Pradesh power minister Tamiyo Taga today demanded a special package to ensure 24 hours electricity in the north eastern state.

Emerging from the Power and Energy Ministers conference in New Delhi today, Taga submitted a memorandum to Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal and demanded a special package for Arunachal, an official statement said.

In the memorandum, Taga stated that the special package was needed to convert the inherited approach of minimum need base to providing affordable and quality grid power to all households while making efforts to achieve the dream of Prime Minister of providing 24x7 power to all in a scheduled target.

The minister also stressed on the need for special package in the light of being a resource crunch state, while expressing hope on the vision of the PM for ensuring overall development of NE states especially underdeveloped ones like Arunachal Pradesh, it said.

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The Assam government has revised its draft population policy and will take it up with the Centre to ensure that the MLAs adhere to the two-child family planning norm.

The Assam assembly will approve an amendment of the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951 for the purpose and recommend for Parliament to pass it, state Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said today.

As per the revised draft policy named 'Draft & Women Empowerment Policy of Assam' the two-child norm will be proposed as the yardstick for any contestant to the state legislature.

"In case any MLA from the state flouts the family planning norms - that is MLAs having more than two children may be disqualified from his/her membership and be debarred from contesting polls in future," the revised policy said.

Candidates with not more than two children will only be eligible for the government employment, while the government servants will strictly follow norms of two children family to serve as roll model for society, Sarma told newsmen here.

For population control, the government proposes to launch massive multi-media, door-to-door outreach, community meetings, educational campaigns including text book chapters on population control from class VII onward and medical counselling in aid of family planning, he said.

Elaborating on population growth in Assam, Sarma said against its decadal 17 per cent natural population growth 11 districts, including Kamrup (Metro) that comprises Guwahati city only, saw population growth from 18.34 per cent to 24.44 per cent as per the 2011 census.

The 11 districts are Dhubri, Morigaon, Goalpara, Darrang, Nagaon, Karimganj, Hailakandi, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Cachar and Kamrup(M).

With the 2011 census report stating Assam's population has increased to 3.12 crore from 2.66 crore in 2001, the state health and family welfare department prepared the draft policy to incentivise families to optimise their size and thus allowing them the freedom to aspire for higher standard of living, he said.

The revisions were made after the government solicited public reaction to the Draft Population Policy, which was uploaded in its website on March 27.

The government had received 80 emails, 600 reactions in the social media and 37 reports in mainstream on the policy.

The revised 'Draft & Women Empowerment Policy of Assam' quotes the UN Programme of Action on Population and Development that stresses on empowerment and autonomy of women and improvement of their political, social, economic and health status being necessary for the achievement of sustainable human development.

It points out the objectives of the policy is to improve the women's sense of self worth, their right to have and to determine choices, access to opportunities and resources, power to control their own lives both within and outside the home and their ability to influence their environment to create a more just social and economic order.

Sarma said the specific measures to promote women's empowerment would focus on girls' education by enacting legislations, pensions/schemes for widows/divorcees/ single women to live with dignity and without economic persecution.

It would also focus on employment/pension for Muslim divorcee women, special packages for SC/ST and Tea Tribe and economically weaker section of women, besides legislations for adequate representation of women in elected bodies and to increase the reservation of women in eligible jobs up to 50 per cent, he added.

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Debutante director Akshay Roy says actress Parineeti Chorpa's spontaneity and actor Ayushmann Khurrana's innocence worked well for "Meri Pyaari Bindu".

The upcoming film is a romantic tale between an aspiring introvert writer Abhi (Ayushmann) and a lively Bindu (Parineeti), who wants to be the next singing sensation.

"Lot of it was on page (referring to the story) and they are very good actors, so much of it came through improvisation on the sets. The magic, the chemistry happened between them as they are good actors. It all came from them and I am lucky to capture it all," Akshay told PTI.

According to Akshay, both Parineeti, 28, and Ayushmann, 32, are fantastic actors, who have different working style.

"They both have their own strengths. Ayushmann has an endearing quality, he has that innocence in his eyes and Parineeti is spontaneous and works instinctively," he adds.

Producer of the film Maneesh Sharma says both the actors were the first choice for the lead roles.

"The casting process did not last long. We approached them in January and by May we started rolling. Both of them were excited to do the film," he says.

Directing "Meri Pyaari Bindu" is a dream come true for Akshay, who has been an assistant director on films like "Water" and "The Namesake".

When filmmaker Aditya Chopra, head of Yash Raj Films, asked Maneesh if he had any director in mind for "Meri Pyaari Bindu", the latter suggested Akshay's name.

"We have known each other from our Delhi University days. After college, I went to California to study filmmaking and later joined YRF while he (Akshay) worked as an AD here. When I returned to Mumbai we both did meet and had this feeling that we might work together one day," Maneesh says.

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Telecom provider Bharti Infratel today said its scholarship program for persons with disabilities has reached out to 117 students in the first year of its launch.

"Bharti Infratel Scholarship Program has been successful in supporting the career aspirations of 117 students with disabilities in its first year. Going ahead, we look forward to increase the number of deserving students under the initiative," company managing director and COO D S Rawat said.

The program is designed to benefit students across all eight NE states.

Among the selected 117 students with disabilities, 13 are pursuing professional/technical courses, 87 are pursuing graduation and 17 post-graduation, he said.

Launched in partnership with 'Shishu Sarothi', a non-profit organisation, the primary objective of the 'Bharti Infratel Scholarship Program' is to provide financial support and help the students with disabilities to pursue professional or technical education which will help them get employment ready.

'Shishu Sarothi' implements and identifies deserving students from disadvantaged economic background.

Azmal Hussain, a hearing impaired student from Assam's Barpeta District got selected in IIT, Delhi and was supported by Bharti Infratel Scholarship Program.

"I am immensely thankful to Bharti Infratel Scholarship Program which has assisted me to pursue higher studies from a prestigious institution.

"The programme is a big encouragement for disabled students like me who wants to pursue higher education and dream of a bright future," he said.

Visazo Kikhi from Nagaland, a student with locomotor disability who is pursuing MBBS from Government Medical College, Kozhikode, said "The scholarship has reduced my family's burden and helped me in fulfilling my dreams of becoming a doctor.

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The Bombay High Court today upheld the conviction and life imprisonment of 12 people in the Bilkis Bano gang rape case while setting aside the acquittal of seven persons including policemen and doctors.

The court also dismissed an appeal filed by CBI seeking death penalty for three of the convicts.

"The appeal against conviction filed by the 11 convicts (one convict is dead) is dismissed. The conviction and sentence is upheld," a division bench of Justices V K Tahilramani and Mridula Bhatkar said.

"The appeal filed by the prosecution against the acquittal of seven persons (in the case) is allowed. The acquittal is set aside," the court said.

The bench said the seven persons, which includes five policemen and two doctors, are convicted under sections 218 (not performing their duties) and section 201 (tampering of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

"We will consider the undergone period in jail of these seven persons as their sentence. But we will impose a fine amount of them," the court said today.

The convicted policemen and doctors are - Narpat Singh, Idris Abdul Saiyed, Bikabhai Patel, Ramsingh Bhabhor, Sombhai Gori, Arun Kumar Prasad (doctor) and Sangeeta Kumar Prasad (doctor).

Now 18 people stand convicted in the case.

The court had last year reserved its judgement in the appeals filed by 11 persons convicted in the case and also the appeal filed by CBI for capital punishment to three of them.

A special court had on January 21, 2008 convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment 11 men for gangraping Bilkis and murdering seven of her family members in the aftermath of the Godhra riots.

The convicts later approached the high court here challenging their conviction and sought for the trial court's order to be quashed and set aside.

The CBI had also filed an appeal in the high court seeking harsher punishment of death for three of the convicted persons on the ground that they were the main perpetrators of the crime.

According to the prosecution, on March 3, 2002, Bilkis Bano's family was attacked by a mob at Randhikpur village near Ahmedabad during the post-Godhra riots and seven members of her family were killed.

Bilkis, who was five months pregnant at the time, was gang raped while six other members of her family managed to escape from the mob.

The trial in the case began in Ahmedabad. However, after Bilkis expressed apprehensions that witnesses could be harmed and CBI evidence tampered, Supreme Court transferred the case to Mumbai in August 2004.

The 11 convicted are Jaswantbhai Nai, Govindbhai Nai, Shailesh Bhatt, Radhesham Shah, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Pradeep Mordhiya, Bakabhai Vohania, Rajubhai Soni, Mitesh Bhatt and Ramesh Chandana.

The convicts had challenged the order on three main grounds -- that all evidence in the case was fabricated by CBI, that Bilkis gave birth to a child after the incident, thus, the same proved that she could not have been gang raped, and the failure to find the bodies of some of her family members proves that they were not killed.

The CBI had sought enhancement of punishment for three of them- Jaswantbhai, Govindbhai and Radhesham Shah- on the grounds that they had raped Bilkis.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The CBI today arrested the chairman of REI Agro along with a promoter of the company in connection with an alleged bank loan fraud of Rs 3,871 crore.

Chairman Sanjay Jhunjhunwala, who was facing a Red Corner Notice issued by the United Arab Emirates, was arrested after he returned from abroad.

The CBI had also issued a Look Out Circular against him.

Promoter Sandip Jhunjhunwala was also arrested by the agency here today.

The agency had registered a case against them and the Kolkata-based REI Agro, which deals with Basmati rice exports, in October 2015.

The action was taken on the complaint from a consortium of 14 banks led by UCO Bank.

It was alleged that the company had defrauded the banks to the extent of Rs 3,871 crore since 2013 through conspiracy, cheating and forgery, the spokesperson said.

It is alleged that the company cheated the banks using 150 shell companies, on the basis of fixed commission, through a group of brokers by creating false invoice, documents of money transfers for non-existent transactions, CBI sources said.

They said Jhunjhunwala was also facing a case of misappropriation of AED 160 million for which the UAE authorities had issued a Red Corner Notice against him.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
China today slammed a US commission for organising a hearing over the implementation of the 'one country two systems' policy in Hong Kong, saying the American agency has always been biased on issues regarding Beijing.

"The hearing is an overt interference in China's internal affairs. China is strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposed to it," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang.

The hearing of the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), 'Will the Hong Kong Model Survive?: An Assessment 20 years After the Handover', was held yesterday.

Geng said over the past two decades, the policies of 'one country, two systems', 'Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong' and a high degree of autonomy had been implemented in effect.

"This is a fact accepted by anyone without prejudice," he told a daily press briefing.

The spokesman said the CECC has always been biased on issues regarding China.

"The hearing, which said the 'one country, two systems' model met encroachments, and press freedom and judicial independence were threatened, disregard the fact and has ulterior motives," Geng said.

Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China, and Hong Kong affairs are purely China's internal affairs, the spokesperson said.

"We strongly oppose any foreign country interfering in Hong Kong affairs through any means," he said, adding that it is futile for a handful of Hong Kong people collaborating with foreign forces to intervene in its affairs.

In March, China-backed bureaucrat Carrie Lam was elected as Hong Kong's first woman Chief Executive who quickly pledged to heal the "divisions" in the gleaming territory which has seen unprecedented demands for democracy and protests at the Communist giants growing influence.

Hong Kong merged with Chinese mainland in 1997 under the 'one country two systems' principle worked out between Britain and China. The principle grants certain degree of autonomy from Beijing to Hong Kong which is officially called the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Two top Chinese academicians today backed Pakistan on the controversial economic corridor that passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir but said China should address India's concerns over the issue as New Delhi's stand may make others cautious in backing Beijing's mega initiative.

In Kashmir, the CPEC mainly go though Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). This is what the Pakistani people tell the Chinese, Wang Yiwei, professor at the School of International Studies of Renmin University of China, told the media at an interaction hosted by the All China Journalists Association.

"So the Chinese government is also confused. These are the problems," he said.

He said China should persuade Pakistanis to talk to Indians as it was difficult for Beijing to persuade the two countries because of lack of mutual trust between them.

"So I guess it is up to India and Pakistan, the two brothers, to make a joint consultation because CPEC has become a regional arrangement. The initiative will bring benefit to a lot of countries so there should be no worry and suspicion," he said during the interaction.

Wang, however, said China should address India's concerns over the issue.

"India is China's important neighbour. We must pay a lot of attention to the concerns of India about CPEC. We are now inviting India to take part in it," he said, referring to the summit of Belt and Road, the official name for Silk Road to be held here on May 14-15.

China was ready to discuss and talk to India but maybe Pakistan was not willing to do it, as all in all projects are being built in Pakistan, he said, answering a question on India's concerns over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

India's objections to CPEC as it passes through PoK and its reticence to take part in the summit of Belt and Road is causing major concern among Chinese officials over fears that New Delhi's stand may make other South Asian countries to become very cautious in backing Beijing's mega initiative.

Wang also said that due to confusion over the alignment of the CPEC with Pakistan its costs have gone up.

"To be frank, Pakistan is not well governed and there is corruption problem as well," said Wang, who recently visited Pakistan.

He, however, defended China's all weather ties with Pakistan specially close military cooperation for the CPEC, saying that "without a strong military it is hard to resist terrorist forces."



"China will not simply support the military. Pakistan is a civilian government. We will urge the Pakistani government to improve its capacity to govern but generally speaking it is a problem between friends," he said.

Another Chinese academic, Prof Lin Minwang, of the Institute of International Studies of Fudan University, said India's participation in the Belt and Road (B&R) is important as it constitutes to 80 per cent of South Asia's economy.

"As an important country in South Asia, India's economy accounts for 80 per cent in the region, so if New Delhi is reluctant to get involved in China's development plan, other countries in the region will also be impacted when participating in the B&R initiative. That's why the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor's (BCIM) progress is very slow," he told state-run Global Times.

India is concerned that the Gwadar port construction and economic corridors will provide excuses for China to send its navy and increase military presence in the region, and India's status in the region will be challenged, Lin said.

He said that like China has addressed Russia's concerns over B&R initiative, it should do the same with India.

"China connected the initiative with Russia's 'Eurasian Economic Union,' which won Russia's support, as Russia acquired more rights to know and a bigger say in the cooperation," Lin said.

He suggested that India has its own strategies to promote trade and infrastructure like Project Mausam and the Spice Route with which China can work out linkages.

The B&R includes a maze of roads and port projects. While CPEC is highlighted as "flagship project", it included BCIM, New Eurasian Land Bridge, China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor, China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor and 21st century Maritime Silk Road.

Twenty heads of state and government confirmed to take part in the B&R summit. While most of the Western countries stayed away from it over apprehensions about China's strategic initiative, from South Asia only Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickramasinge have confirmed their participation.

India is yet to name its representative amid speculation that it may depute an official for it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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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 ...

Ben Shapiros Family  Meet His Wife, Kids and Sister Who is Popular for the Wrong Reasons A multi-talented man, Ben Shapiro is a man of controversial nature, an attribute that has made him an unusual public figure. An intellectual whose career path was clearly defined even before he became a man, the Jewish conservative commentator has always had his way with words. He became popular by sharing his critical and often ...

QVC Shawn Killinger Bio  Husband, Net Worth & Facts To Know Shawn Killinger is a prominent TV personality who has worked her way to the top. Though not initially a journalist by training, she defied the odds and today has established herself as a household name, as well as, worked alongside some industry legends. More than just being a reporter, newscaster, and anchor, heres all you ...

Liv Lo  Dissecting the Ethnicity, Parents and Personal Life of Henry Goldings Wife While many are aware that Liv Lo is the better half to Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding, only a few understand why his beautiful wife appears increasingly endearing to fans. A former model turned TV personality, and fitness star, Liv has an impressive resume which when combined with that of her statuesque spouse is considered a perfect ...

Stpeach Age, Husband and Other Facts About The Twitch Streamer Lisa Vannatta, famously known by her online alias, STPeach is a Canadian video game streamer cum vlogger who has garnered fame through her appearances on different video-sharing/social networking platforms such as Youtube, Instagram, Twitch, Reddit, and Twitter. The beautiful lady got her career to a start in August 2015 when she joined the live streaming video platform, Twitch. She rose to ...

Insights into Seth Meyers Wife, Family and What His Net Worth Is Celebrities are mostly remembered and known for the work they do. For Seth Meyers, his career as a comedian, writer, actor, TV host, and producer is his biggest identifier. He was on Saturday Night Live SNL show as a head writer and cast member for more than ten years during which he built a reputation ...

Who Is Jessica Gadsden  Age, Net Worth & All About Charlamagne tha Gods Wife Jessica Gadsden is an American fitness coach as well as a personal trainer. She is better known as the spouse of popular American media personality, Charlamagne Tha God. Charlamange Tha God is a well-known TV and radio personality in the U.S. He has featured in several shows (both on the radio and TV) and is ...

Who Is Collins Tuohy  Michael Ohers sister ? Her Wedding, Husband & Net Worth Collins Tuohy is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, blogger, and social media personality. She is also better known as the adoptive sister of NFL player, Michael Oher, whose life story inspired the Hollywood blockbuster The Blind Side. The Blind Side tells the true life story of Oher who grew up in an impoverished background consisting of a ...

Eye-Popping Facts About The Personal Life And Career Success Of Sportscaster Heidi Watney Heidi Watney is a media personality who has created a niche for herself as a sportscaster. Starting out as a radio presenter, the brilliant young lady has gone on to work for several prominent sports networks, and currently, she is with the MLB. The sportscaster is also known to have been an avid sports lady right ...

Marty Lagina Bio  Siblings (Martina and Rick Lagina), Net Worth and Wife Marty Lagina is an American engineer and businessman who has risen to fame as a reality TV star. This is thanks to his involvement in the adventure TV series, The Curse of Oak Island. The Curse of Oak Island is a long-running TV series which airs on the history channel. The show aims to solve ...

Is Jordan Schlansky Just A Character or a Real Life Person and What Does He Do? The world of late-night television is an interesting one. Shows during that time are geared towards giving viewers comedic relief from a long day at work through interviews and comedy sketches. The often charismatic host of this show requires the balancing talent of a producer whose primary job is to deliver great episodes. It is ...

Heres How Wealthy Jimmy Kimmel Is From All The Phases of His Career, Marriages and Sons Health Jimmy Kimmel is a renowned late-night talk show host known for his charm, wit, and the A-list guests he features on his show. As the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! On ABC, Jimmy has been serving comedy to television viewers for years which played a pivotal role in launching him into mainstream fame and enabled ...

Natasha Bertrand Biography  Is She Married? Who Is the Husband & What Is Her Age? Natasha Bertrand is not just a young prominent journalist but a first-rate investigative reporter. With her natural beauty and smile, Natashas sharp, insightful political commentary also makes her a thorough reporter. Her sound political perspective and coverage in the country have made her a force to be reckoned with in the profession. Renowned for her ...

What Happened to Shane Kilcher? His Injury Update, Net Worth and More Shane Kilcher is well-known thanks to the Discovery Channel series Alaska: The Last Frontier. It is a show that documents the daily lives of the extended Kilcher family, people who live without plumbing or modern heating. The episodes follow their routines as they rely on hunting and farming for their nutritional needs as well as ...

Is Stephanie Gosk Gay or Lesbian, Who is the Wife or Partner  Jenna Wolfe? In August 2013, NBCs Today viewers were greeted with two shocking news. Today weekend anchor, Jenna Wolfe, announced that she was as a lesbian, introducing her partner as NBC News correspondent Stephanie Gosk, and said the two are expecting their first child. A long time has passed since then and certainly, a lot of things ...

Nikki Mudarris  Bio and Net Worth: 5 Interesting Facts You Need to Know Nikki Mudarris, also known as Miss Nikki Baby, is a reality television star, model and fashionista. Shes best known for VH1s reality TV series Love & Hip-Hop: Hollywood. Her entrepreneurial skills enable her to create and run a successful lingerie line Nude by Nikki. Not only that, but Nikki has also successfully run the Las ...

5 Interesting Things You Need To Know About Kelly Nash Ever heard of the lady who gained national prominence for taking a selfie with a dangerous ball just a few inches away from hitting her? Its no other person than Kelly Nash, an American sports broadcaster currently working as host of The Rundown show which airs on MLB Network every weekday at 2 pm ET. ...

Understanding The Height of Fame John Oliver Achieved With The Daily Show and How He Met His Wife Without knowledge of who he is and his exemplary career, John Oliver cuts an unassuming figure of a regular man but he is one of the most influential personalities in America, especially on television. Since he began his career in 1998, he has been a loud and unapologetic agent of change, using his wit and ...

Why Did Big Chief Leave Street Outlaws, Where Is He Now And Why Did He Divorce His Wife? Justin Shearer, otherwise known by his professional name Big Chief is a famous street racer and television personality. He is famously known for being one of the main characters on the racing reality television series, Street Outlaws. Justin, who had been a significant part of the show since its premiere in 2013, appeared in a ...

Who is Josina Anderson of ESPN? Her Husband and Family Facts There has been a gradual paradigm shift in the world of sports which has today produced the likes of Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, and other female athletes that are pulling great feats in different sporting fields. Their achievements have also been followed by the emergence of female sports journalists such as Jillian Mele, Eboni Williams, ...

Is Brittany Wagner Married, Who Is The Husband, How Old Is She? Brittany Wagner has been an inspiration to a lot of sports youngster. She has won the hearts of many athletic students with her role as a life coach and an academic counselor. She is well groomed in her career and has worked over a decade for The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and The National ...

Tati Westbrook Bio  Age, Husband & Net Worth With five videos dished out every week, alongside running her own brand, beauty guru, and YouTube superstar Tati Westbrook has proved to the world that theres utterly no impossibility or limit to whatever one is passionate about. Tati is best known for being the owner and manager of the worlds most-viewed beauty and lifestyle YouTube channel, ...

Cathy Areus Long Road to Becoming a Freelance Journalist and What to Know About Her Kids An American freelance journalist, news analyst, and author, Cathy Areu has built a lasting reputation for herself on cable television. Popular for her skillful and sassy presentation of professional views on varying topics including cultural and feminist issues, Cathy is an inspiration to many women across the globe. In addition to being a journalist, she ...

Tucker Carlsons Love Story With Wife Susan Andrews, their Children and Net Worth Today On the TV screens, Tucker Carlson is that fiery fellow who passionately dishes out his conservative and often controversial views on issues of national importance. Such brazenness has fetched him many enemies, especially on the left-wing, but it has also helped him cement a reputation as one of the foremost broadcast journalists in America. His ...

Paige Wyatts Net Worth, Boyfriend and Where She Is Now Paige Wyatt became popular after the Wyatt family began running the reality television show, American Guns. The Wyatt family comprises Rich Wyatt (father), Renee Wyatt (mother), Paige and Kurt Wyatt (children). Rich Wyatt originally ran a gun shop, the Gunsmoke Guns in Wheat Ridge, Colorado which is outside of Denver. The business which he ran together ...

The Progression of Howard Sterns Career As A Media Personality And Why He Divorced His First Wife Howard Stern is a legendary American radio host, who has also done some notable work as an actor, producer, author, as well as photographer. The radio personality achieved worldwide fame as a result of his self-titled radio program, The Howard Stern Show. As a professional radio personality, he has worked in different radio stations. Since 2006, ...

Lisa Joyners Biography  Ethnicity, Net Worth and Other Key Facts Lisa Joyner is an American Journalist, TV talk show host, and actress. Some of her well-known works are her correspondences for the Los Angeles based TV KCBS, inFANity show, Find My Family Show including her film and television appearances in Brimstone, American Sweetheart, The Bold and The Beautiful among others. Lisas passion for reconnecting people with their biological families ...

Amanda Balionis Rise Through the Ranks of Sportscasting and the Identity of Her Boyfriend Amanda Balionis is an American sportscaster currently working as a golf broadcaster for CBS Sports. Among so many of her works in the field of sports reporting, Amandas PGA Tour coverage seems to be the most popular so far. She covered the Super Bowl working with CBS Sports social media team in Atlanta, where she ...

Dissecting Charles Paynes Sexual Allegations, Its After Effects and More About His Wife Charles Payne had a respectable career as an analyst on Wall Street before he made the transition to television and became a contributor and later a host on Fox. In that time, his expertise has come under scrutiny, and he has been at the center of at least one major controversy. The major controversy in question ...

Erik Asla And Tryra Banks Split: Everything You Need To Know Tyra Banks and Erik Asla have called it quits! The couple, who began dating in 2013 and have a son named York Banks Asla, has decided to end what everybody taught was the perfect relationship. Neither person has come out to give a reason for the breakup, but what is obvious right now is that ...

What to Note About Dr Terry Dubrows Qualifications, TV Works and Marriage to Heather Kent In the realm of people that we expect to see regularly on our screens, medical doctors are closer to the bottom of the list. Aside from the fact that their work has little correlation with TV, they are presumably too busy to pursue life as TV personalities. Yet, a few of them have usurped this ...

Jessica Goch  Bio: 5 Things You Didnt Know About Ninjas Wife Jessica Goch is the Schofield-born American Social Media Influencer who has worked as a model but is now better known as a host and interviewer of prominent Electronic sports celebrities at popular gaming events/tournaments. The screen queen also serves as the manager of her famous husband Ninja aka Tyler Blevins whose exploits on Twitch and Fortnite has ...

CNNs Chris Cuomo Biography  Wife, Family & Net worth Chris Cuomo needs no elaborate introduction as he has starred graced many prominent Television cable networks and his voice has been heard through acknowledged radio shows. He is a television journalist and Lawyer who has previously worked for ABC News as Chief law and justice correspondent as well as a co-anchor on 20/20. If you still ...

Neil deGrasse Tyson  Family, Religion & Net Worth Neil deGrasse Tyson is a distinguished American astrophysicist and author who has been able to achieve so much after falling in love with astronomy at the age of 9. He has since attended and become an alumnus of prestigious universities such as Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia, and also recorded numerous achievements in his field of ...

Is Simon Cowell Gay? Does He Have A Wife or Girlfriend and Why is He Famous? Simon Cowell is a well-known talent show judge, TV producer, entrepreneur and one of the most popular TV personalities that Britain has ever produced. In conjunction with his company, Syco, Cowell is the brain behind hugely successful talent hunt shows such as The X-Factor UK, The X-Factor US, Britains Got Talent, Americas Got Talent and ...

Everything To Know About Joanna Gaines Life With Chip Gaines, Their Business Pursuits and Kids Joanna Gaines and her husband Chip Gaines became celebrities after their television show Fixer Upper began airing back in 2013. The show which was about home renovation and decoration ran for about 6 seasons with a total of 79 episodes before the couple bade farewell to it in April 2018. Apart from their appearances on ...

Who Is Larry The Cable Guy? What To Know About His Wife And Net Worth Larry the Cable Guy is a self-professed country kid renowned for his trademark Southern accent and sensational catchphrase Git-R-Done! The famous comedian who talks about anything under the sun has gone on to become one of the most memorable characters in comedy history. Join us in unearthing lesser-known facts about the former on-air-personality, standup comedy superstar, movie ...

Who Is Patrick Starr, What Is His Net Worth and Gender? The make-up industry over the years has grown to become a billion dollar industry not just because there are probably more women wearing make-up but because a whole lot of men, especially the young ones, have become bold enough to wear it unlike before. A few of these men, like Patrick Starr, have even gone ...

How Did Chris Jansing Become a Senior Correspondent at MSNBC and Who Is Her Husband? An award-winning American television news reporter and journalist, Chris Jansing has succeeded in carving a spectacular niche for herself in the field of TV journalism. Outstanding for not just her excellence in journalism, Chris is also cherished for her incredibly gorgeous looks post 60! For close to four decades, Jansing has continued to soar in her ...

Jaclyn Glenn Biography  Age, Height & Ex-Boyfriend American Youtuber, Jaclyn Glenn, rose to prominence through her self-titled YouTube channel Jaclyn Glenn. She has remained an acclaimed atheist and continues to air her views on hot issues from politics, religion, animal rights, to atheism. During the heated 2016 US Presidential elections, Glenn featured in Hump Trump: Official Donald Trump Song. Her parallel acting career ...

Is Pat Sajak Married to a Wife or is He Gay With a Partner? Pat Sajak is one of the most popular TV game show hosts in America. He commenced his career as a radio disk jockey as well as a TV weatherman before being tapped to host Wheel of Fortune, the longest-running syndicated game show in the United States. Sajak has hosted the popular game show from 1983 ...

Nayyera Haqs Bio  What To Know About Her Husband, Parents And Family Nayyera Haq can take anyone on political debates as well as discussions on social issues affecting many. Her ability to masterfully deliver her stance on every issue or political debate has made her a regular face in morning and evening news media platforms. This is not a common feat especially for someone from her kind ...

Inside Guy Fieris Family With Wife, Kids and Sister Who Died of Cancer Over the years we have seen men dominate the kitchen and churn out amazing delicacies from it. Some do it way better than their female counterparts and one of such men is Guy Ramsay Fieri  an American TV host, celebrity chef, restaurant owner, bestselling author of four culinary books, and game show host. His ...

Meet Phil Mudd of CNN  The Former CIA and FBI Exec, Is He Married, Who Is The Wife? When it comes to discussing issues surrounding terrorism, American Counterterrorism and National Security Expert, Phil Mudd, occupies a globally significant position. He has voiced his interest in the fight against terrorism and insecurity on many popular media platforms, both print and broadcast, such as CNN, BBC, CBS, MSNBC, al-Jazeera, ABC, NBC, Fox, The New York Times, ...

Jim Hoffer: Biography, Wife  Mika Brzezinski, Children and Net Worth Jim Hoffer is an Emmy Award-winning journalist who works as an investigative reporter for Eyewitness News, New York City. In his over two decades of investigative journalism, Hoffer has been at the front lines of several crucial stories from the 9/11 attack to the crash of American Flight 587 to the 2003 Blackout. On top of ...

The Ups and Downs of Erin Mcpikes Journalism Career and Other Facts About Her Personal Life Erin McPike is a journalist working for the Independent Journal Review (IJR) as a White House Correspondent but she gained widespread recognition for her coverage of general news. Whether its breaking news or some mainstream story, McPike has a reputation of baring the facts. As a journalist, her work as a White House Correspondent for Independent ...

Bert Kreischer Is Married To LeeAnn Kreischer With 2 Kids  Meet His Family Those familiar with Bert Kreischer mainly have the image of a large-bellied party man whose college life inspired the National Lampoon film, Van Wilder. It is an image that one would not naturally associate with a wholesome family. The standup comedian still maintains his wild party animal image on stage. But, back at home, he is ...

How Brendan Greene Became a Game Designer to Look Out For and Facts About His Failed Marriage The name Brendan Greene may not easily ring a bell in the larger society but for gaming enthusiasts, he is considered a god and this is because of his invention of the video game, Player Unknowns Battlegrounds, also called PUBG. Based on the popular last-man-standing/battle royale concept, Greenes creation has taken the gaming world by ...

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Understanding The Enigma That Is Gavin McInnes, The Controversies He Has Stirred and All About His Wife Gavin McInnes is a polemical English-born writer and TV personality, who is best known for his racist and fascist ideologies, as well as his co-ownership of Vice Media and Vice Magazine. He is also an actor a
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said a Moscow-backed plan to set up so-called de- escalation zones inside Syria would "50 per cent" solve the six-year conflict, in comments published today.

Erdogan yesterday discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin a plan floated by Moscow for "de-escalation zones" to be set up in several areas in Syria.

Speaking to Turkish reporters aboard his plane flying back from the meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Erdogan said such zones would include Idlib, part of Aleppo province, El-Rastan in Homs province, a part of Damascus and part of Daraa.

"I hope that if this is implemented then 50 per cent of the Syrian issue can be solved," he said in comments published on the websites of the Hurriyet and Yeni Safak dailies.

Details on what the de-escalation zones would comprise have been thin so far but Erdogan described the plan as a "new concept" and distinct from Ankara's previous proposals for terror-free safe zones.

Turkey and Russia have been on sharply opposing sides in the Syria conflict, with Moscow supporting President Bashar al-Assad but Ankara pushing for his ouster.

Relations reached a dangerous low in November 2015 when Turkish warplanes shot down a Russian fighter jet over the Syrian border.

But a normalisation deal was reached last year and the two sides have been working ever more closely in a joint effort to end the fighting in Syria.

Yet tensions remain, and Erdogan said he had personally shown Putin at the talks a photograph purportedly showing Russian forces in Syria with Kurdish militia that Ankara deems to be a terror group.

He said Putin promised that Russian weapons were not ending up in the hands of the Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) and vowed to investigate the picture.

Turkey and Russia have also championed peace talks taking place in the Kazakh capital Astana but these hit a snag Tuesday when pro-Ankara Syrian rebels said yesterday they were suspending their participation after air strikes.

But Erdogan said the issue had been solved after intervention by Turkey's powerful intelligence chief Hakan Fidan.

"Mr Hakan immediately stepped in, had discussions and the opposition were again satisfied to take part in the talks," Erdogan said. "So Astana is going to continue.

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Global gold demand fell 18 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier as US investors abandoned the precious metal after Donald Trump's election win, industry figures showed today.

After a "really good" first quarter of 2016 for gold demand, the first three months of this year was "not a strong quarter", World Gold Council director John Mulligan told AFP.

"In 2016 demand was concentrated on one source, which was professional investors, especially in the US" where activity was focussed on Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) - investment funds backed by physical stocks of gold, the WGC director added.

Demand stood at 1,034.5 tonnes between January and March 2017, its lowest level in 11 years.

At the same time last year, demand stood 1,261.8 tonnes.

Cautious US investors rushed to the ETFs before the US presidential election, but are now shifting their attention to riskier products -- but it is a different story in Europe.

"There are multiple elections coming up, even in Paris... the election is not over. People are uncertain, it is generally good for gold," said Mulligan.

Gold is viewed as a haven investment in times of economic uncertainty.

Despite enthusiasm from European investors, the demand for gold through ETFs dropped by 68 per cent to 109.1 tonnes in the first quarter.

As well as in Europe, there was also an uptick in overall demand in India and China, the two leading buyers of physical gold.

The demand for coins or bullion increased by 30 per cent in China to 105.9 tonnes.

"The demand is seasonally strong in China, with the Chinese New Year, but it is only the fourth time demand was stronger than a 100 tonnes," said Mulligan.

With Chinese authorities reforming the financial system to avoid a property bubble, savers have turned to physical gold to preserve their wealth.

In India, demand for jewelry increased by 16 per cent to 92.3 tonnes, while the sector suffered at the end of 2016 from the government's demonetisation effort.

"There are signs of improvement, especially from India where the gradual remonetisation of the economy is supporting the jewellery market," added Mulligan.

Under India's monetisation programme, Indians are depositing their gold with banks for tax-free interest.

Banks in turn are lending the metal to jewellers to help boost the local economy.

Gold prices traded at USD 1,235.66 an ounce today, while the WGC said the metal was unlikely to see a return to last year's record high prices - at least until Trump unveils his tax plans.

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The Hyderabad police today lodged a criminal case against Congress leader Digvijaya Singh over his alleged remarks that the Telangana police has set up a "bogus" ISIS website to radicalise Muslim youths and encourage them to join the terror outfit.

Based on a complaint by TRS MLA M Gopi Nath from Jubilee Hills constituency, accusing the AICC general secretary Singh of defaming the police through his comments, a case was registered against him under the relevant IPC sections, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Banjara Hills Division) Uday Kumar Reddy told PTI.

Inspector S Venkat Reddy of Jubilee Hills police station said Singh has been booked under IPC sections 505(1), (1)(b) and 505 (2) for making the alleged statements, intended to cause or likely to cause public fears or alarms and inducing people to commit an offence against the state or public tranquillity or to create or promote ill-will between the two classes of people.

Earlier this week, Singh, in-charge of the Congress affairs in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, had kicked up a row with his comments on the Telangana police, drawing sharp reactions from the ruling TRS and Telangana DGP Anurag Sharma.

On May 1, Singh in a post on his Twitter page, had said "Telangana police has set up a bogus ISIS site which is radicalising Muslim youths and encouraging them to become ISIS modules."



"The issue is whether the Telangana police should be trapping Muslim youths in becoming ISIS modules by posting inflammatory information?



"Is It ethical? Is it moral? Has KCR (Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao) authorised the Telangana police to trap Muslim youths and encourage them to join ISIS? If he has, then shouldn't he own up the responsibility and resign? If he hasn't, then shouldn't he enquire and punish those who are responsible for committing such a heinous crime?" Singh had said in a series of tweets.

Following Singh's remarks, the Telangana government had asked Singh to either prove his allegations or tender an apology. The government too had warned Singh of actions "as per the law" if he failed to apologise.

While denying Singh's allegations against the police, the Telangana DGP had earlier said the Congress leader's comments would demoralise the police force and lower the image of its personnel engaged in fighting the anti-national forces.

Complaints were also lodged against Singh at Saroor Nagar police station in the city and at another one in Karimnagar district of the state.

Earlier in February this year, the Dabeerpura police here had registered a case against Singh under section 295 A of the IPC allegedly for committing a deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage the religious feelings of a class of citizens by insulting their religion or religious beliefs.

This case was registered over his alleged post about the madrassas (seminaries) and the RSS-run Saraswati Sishu Mandirs.

In his post on a social networking site on February 22, Singh had allegedly equated the schools run by the madrassas and RSS, saying both spread "hatred".

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Fourteen Chinese people suspected of illegally exporting red wood from the Democratic Republic of Congo were arrested, local officials have said.

"We have arrested Chinese people... Who were cutting wood in our region," Celestin Pande, acting governor of the Haut- Katanga region, told AFP yesterday.

Pande said 17,000 tonnes of red wood had been illegally exported to China through Zambia over four months.

"We have arrested 14 Chinese nationals with (tourist) visas, who were involved in cutting and illegally exporting red wood," an immigration official in Haut-Katanga added, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Since the beginning of the year, a crisis linked to exotic wood exports has poisoned relations between DR Congo and neighbouring Zambia.

Zambia has seized several hundred vehicles transporting padauk, a dense wood used in construction and woodworking, from DR Congo as part of investigations into exports to China.

Kinshasa has denounced the seizure, but yesterday a delegation from the capital decided to ban the logging and exportation of red wood from Haut-Katanga.

Haut-Katanga's forests have been devastated by illegal logging, with wood mostly used for charcoal, the main source of energy for an electricity-deprived population.

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Egyptian national Eman Ahmed, who was until recently believed to be the world's heaviest woman, today got discharged from the Saifee hospital here where she underwent treatment for severe obesity.

The 37-year-old was discharged from the city hospital around 12.40 PM for further treatment in the UAE, bariatric surgeon Muffazal Lakdawala said.

A green corridor has been created for transporting Eman from Saifee Hospital to Gate No. 5 of Terminal 2 at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International airport here. Her flight to UAE will take off around 6 pm today, he said.

According to Lakdawala, Eman's weight has now come down to 170 kg (as on Wednesday evening).

She weighed a whopping 498 kg on her arrival here in February this year.

Yesterday, Lakdawala had said that Huzefa Shehabi, COO Saifee Hospital, had received an e-mail communication from VPS Burjeel Hospital (in Abu Dhabi, UAE) saying that Eman is "stable, in good health and fit to fly" paving way for her discharge this afternoon.

Eman's sister Shaimaa in an online video last month had alleged that she was not receiving proper treatment at the privately-owned hospital in South Mumbai.

She had alleged that the doctors at Saifee, made "false claims" about Eman's complete recovery and weight loss of 262 kg.

Refuting the allegations, Aparna Bhaskar, section chief of bariatric surgery at Saifee Hospital, had said that Shaimaa may be criticising the doctors to extend her sister's stay at the hospital.

Lakdawala too had denied the charge.

Eman, a resident of Alexandria in Egypt, had not stepped out of her house for more than two decades due to her obese condition followed by a stroke that left her paralysed on one side a year ago.

It was Shaimaa, who learnt about Lakdawala and his expertise in bariatric surgeries and approached him for help early this year.

"It took almost a month for me to form a team of doctors, chalk out a detailed plan for her treatment and then we decided to get her here. Every treatment plan, method was debated with great detail. Hence, we could reduce her weight from 498 kgs to 170 kgs," Dr Lakdawala said yesterday.

In a blog, Lakdawala said yesterday that Eman's sister has been promised by Burjeel Hospital officials that "Eman will be able to stand and walk".

The doctor said that Shaimaa insisted she had wanted the hospital (Saifee) to keep Eman till she could walk and the management said that was not possible because of the advice we have received from one the foremost orthopaedic surgeons in the country.

"Shaimaa then said she has been promised by Burjeel Hospital officials that Eman will be able to stand and walk soon. We told her we would not over-promise and we would not put the patient at risk. This is the crux of her issue with the Indian doctors and hospital," he said in the blog.

Eman underwent bariatric surgery in March in which doctors reduced the size of her stomach by two-thirds, so as to reduce her food intake. Her genetic tests had showed that she has a rare gene mutation that cannot be cured through surgery.

She was treated by Lakdawala and a team of around 15 doctors from various disciplines since she was brought here from Alexandria on February 11 this year.

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Police today arrested two persons, including an auto-rickshaw driver, for allegedly robbing and killing a person on the Noida Link Road.

On April 21, two brothers -- Nafiz and Hafiz arrived in Delhi from Lakhimpur Kheri around 2 AM and hired an auto for Badarpur border on sharing basis.

The auto was already having a passenger and later another passenger boarded the auto after some distance. The brothers were then were asked to hand over their belongings by the men at knife-point.

When they resisted, they were thrown off the auto and the driver allegedly ran over the auto over the head of Hafiz, who died.

The case seemed to be blind as the route of the auto was not clear, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Omvir Singh said.

The CCTV footages were searched but no clues were found, he said.

Police received information about the Bhura Gang of Loni that operates in Seelampur and nearby areas. The description of the gang members matched with the details shared by Nafiz.

Bhura alias Izhar (30) and Sonu (22) were then nabbed from Loni.

The third accused -- Deva alias Dinesh is admitted in GTB Hospital with head injuries he suffered during a quarrel. He will be arrested after he is discharged from the hospital, Singh said.

The robbed articles, including the victim's cell phone, have been recovered along with the auto and the knife.

Bhura was earlier had a private job in old Delhi but left it due to his drug addiction. Later, he started driving an auto but for want of money, formed a criminal gang.

"The gang used to operate between 1 AM and 6 AM. They target passengers who seem to be less familiar to Delhi, specially people coming from Uttar Pradesh in private buses," the DCP said.

The gang would always quote less fare than the usual to attract passengers.

Usually, they would rob the victims near secluded places or near end of flyovers and then throw them off the vehicle, Singh said.

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SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal today urged the Punjab government to immediately grant a compensation of Rs one crore to the family of armyman Paramjeet Singh who was among two soldiers beheaded by the Pakistan military.

He also asked the state government to take care of the education of the martyred soldier's children and a job to one of his wards when they attain maturity.

Sukhbir visited the residence of Paramjeet who was killed and his body mutilated by the Pakistan Army when he was on patrol in Krishna ghati area in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on May 1.

The former deputy CM also asked the government to rename the village after the fallen soldier.

He expressed confidence that the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi would give a befitting response to Pakistan for the brutality committed on the two Indian soldiers.

"I am confident the country will come out with a strong response which will act as a deterrent in the future," he added.

The Shiromani Akali Dal president also met the family members of the martyr.

Paramjeet's father Udham Singh told Sukhbir how the soldier had saved money to construct a house in the village. The 42-year-old martyr was in the Sikh Regiment.

The death of Paramjeet, who was to arrive in his village a week later on holiday, left his family, friends and villagers in a state of shock.

He is survived by aged parents father Udham Singh and mother Gurinder Kaur, wife Paramjit Kaur and three minor children - daughters Simardeep Kaur and Khushdeep Kaur, and son Sahildeep Singh - all of whom are in the age group of 11- 14 years.

Anger against Pakistan prevailed among villagers in entire Tarn Taran, which is a border district situated close to the Indo-Pak international border.

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Considering her ill health, Congress president Sonia Gandhi should step down instead of making the party fall sick and help the BJP in its "Congress- mukt Bharat" project, party's former Goa unit chief John Fernandes has said.

Fernandes' statement, however, was rejected by the state party unit saying "he (Fernandes) should not be taken seriously."



"If Sonia Gandhi is sick, she should not make Congress fall sick.... (she) should also not help (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi make a Congress-mukt Bharat," Fernandes told reporters here yesterday.

He said, "It is high time Sonia Gandhi hands over the leadership responsibility to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi."



Fernandes, who headed the Congress in Goa in 2014 before being replaced by Luizinho Faleiro, is a former Rajya Sabha member.

He also slammed the Congress high command for not convening the session of All India Congress Committee for three years, after the party's defeat in the 2014 general elections, which he said would only harm the party.

"The Congress should not be sick. The Congress can bounce back, if there are workers like me and we work together," he said.

Fernandes said the results of the Goa assembly elections are an indicator that the party can make a comeback.

Goa Congress spokesperson Sunil Kawathankar said Fernandes should not be taken seriously.

"Any individual should not feel that his or her opinion is binding on the honorable Congress president," Kawathankar said.

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Arunachal Pradesh Governor P B Acharya today said that the universities must not be centres for education only but should also be hubs for development.

Gracing the business summit 'Vibrant North East 2017" at Guwahati, he said that universities should not only produce graduates but good human beings and intelligent, patriotic, skilled and useful citizens, an official communique said here troday.

"The universities should know how to harness the potential of the region and create assets out of the natural resources," he said.

Stressing that the graduation courses must have skill development programme in the penultimate term, the Governor said that the graduates coming out of the universities and colleges must be easily employable.

Terming North East as one of the most vibrant regions of the country, Acharya said that the region has abundant resources in terms of hydropower potential, water, land, forests, oil and minerals.

"Only the people of the region must stand on their own feet and harness the potentials of the region. They have to improve their work culture", he said.

Emphasizing that centrally sponsored schemes should be available to the lowest echelon of society, the governor called for more awareness about the welfare programmes.

"There are many welfare schemes and projects for stakeholders in various fields, including agriculture and horticulture but the targeted section of the society, such as farmers, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders are not aware of it," he pointed out.

"The educated and empowered people must facilitate the disadvantage section of the people to avail benefits from it," Acharya stressed.

The event is being jointly organized by the Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development and the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India.

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The government today announced signing ofMemorandum of Agreements (MoAs) for purchase of 1,000 MW wind power under its first wind auction scheme.

"MoAs for purchase of 1000 MW wind power under MNRE's first wind auction scheme were signed here today between PTC India, the trading company, and discoms of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Delhi, Odisha and Assam,"Ministry of New and Renewable Energy(MNRE) said in a statement.

The signing ceremony took place during the two-day Conference of Power, New & Renewable Energy & Mines Ministers of States and UTs.

"As per MoAs, the discoms of UP to buy 449.9 MW, Bihar 200 MW, Jharkhand 200 MW, Delhi 100 MW, Assam 50 MW and Odisha 50 MW wind power for meeting their non-solar RPO (renewable powerobligation)," it said.

The Letter of Award (LoA) to the successful wind power developers under the scheme has been issued by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) on April 5 and the projects are to be commissioned within 18 months from the date of issue of LoA, it said.

This was the first time such auction process was done in the country for wind power through e-reverse auction and its success can be seen from the fact that a record low tariffs of Rs 3.46 per kWh was obtained.

With the success of first wind auction scheme, MNRE today launched the scheme for another round of wind auction for 1000 MW capacity wind power projects, it said.

The scheme is open for all obligated entities purchasing wind power for compliance of their non-solar RPO.

The differentiation between windy and non-windy states has been done away with. The SECI will sign Power Purchase Agreements with selected wind developers and back-to-back Power Sale Agreements with buying utilities.

Further, provision of 10 per cent additional capacity for Central Public Sector Entities (CPSEs) has been kept under the Scheme without participation in the bidding, however, they have to supply wind power at lowest discovered tariff through bidding process.

TheMinistry sanctioned a scheme for setting up of 1000 MW ISTS connected wind power project on 14 June 2016, with the objective to encourage competitiveness through scaling up of project sizes and introduction of efficient and transparent e-bidding and e-auctioning processes.

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Haryana is fully geared up for ushering in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu said today after the Haryana Goods and Services Tax Bill, 2017 was passed unanimously by the state Assembly in a special one-day session here.

"Be it creating the much needed IT infrastructure, meeting network requirements and training staff at different levels for a successful roll-out, the state is all done and ready. So much so, necessary integration with the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) has also been completed and tested," he said here.

Haryana became the eighth state to pass the legislation as the Centre gears up to roll out the new indirect tax regime nationwide from July.

Abhimanyu said efforts were being made for implementation of GST in the country for the last 10-12 years.

"The previous UPA government at the Centre also worked for its implementation. With implementation of GST, Haryana is expected to earn Rs 7,300 crore as service tax.

"Implementation of GST at the Centre as well as in states and Union Territories posed a big challenge, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley made this possible," he told the Assembly.

The BJP leader also complemented the efforts made by the opposition and the cooperation and assistance extended by them.

The state Finance Minister said the GST Council held 13 meetings and the 14th meeting was scheduled to be held on May 18 and 19 in Srinagar.

"The rights of states and the Centre have been conferred on the GST Council. Both states and the Centre had sovereign power to impose taxes but now it has been handed over to the Council," he said.

Abhimanyu assured the House that the state had raised the issue of protection of revenue wherein a growth of 14 per cent has been shown for five years, taking 2015-16 as the base year.

"In case of any loss of revenue, the Centre would compensate the state for five years," he said.

Abhimanyu said a fitment committee had been constituted which would conduct item-wise study to ensure that the prices of daily use items do not go up.

Haryana was the first state to propose an Anti-Profiteering Committee in the GST Council so that the benefits are not confined to traders or dealers but also go to consumers.

"A commission or body would work under the Council and action would be initiated in case of any violation," the minister said.

He said that if any tax ordered to be refunded to any applicant was not refunded within 60 days, interest at the rate of six per cent would be payable in respect of such refund from the date immediately after the expiry of 60 days from the receipt of application, till the date of refund.

Meanwhile, Abhimanyu, who also holds the Excise and Taxation portfolios, told reporters that being a 'Model A' state, Haryana was engaged in developing its own application for backend processes and host them.

States for which GSTN will develop applications for backend processes are called 'Model B' states.

So far, all Application Programming Interfaces (API's) released by GSTN have been successfully tested. The SRS (Software Requirements Specifications) for core backend applications, namely registration and payments, have been prepared and the development is in progress.

Referring to the training of staff, Abhimanyu said Master Trainers for GST portal system had been trained at a training camp held in Chennai in February, 2017.

Besides, dealers and tax payers have also been sensitised for migration to GST, he said.

An awareness campaign has been launched through radio, television and newspapers, and helpdesks set up in the head office as well as all field offices, the minister said.

"The deputy excise and taxation commissioners (Sales Tax) of all districts are creating awareness by interacting with different manufacturing and trade associations as well as tax bar associations," he said.

Meanwhile, an official release said the proposed GST regime not only makes an attempt to cater to the requirements of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), but also provides certain facilities to enable them to come on board.

"The steep hike in the exemption limit will take many out of the ambit of the GST structure," it said.

Proposed to be rolled out on July 1, 2017, GST will spur economic growth across all segments, cut down compliance costs of taxpayers and subside the cascading effects to a great extent.

The threshold limit under the GST system, increased significantly to Rs 20 lakh from Rs 5 lakh prevalent in most of the states under Value Added Tax (VAT), exempts many MSMEs from the ambit of GST tax.

"It will save and protect them from the rigours of complying with the GST system," the release added.

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The Bombay High Court today refused to modify or revoke its last year's order which restrained the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) from granting permissions for new constructions in the city.

A division bench of justices Abhay Oka and C V Bhadang rejected a plea filed by Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI) seeking review of its February 29, 2016 order.

The order had restrained the MCGM and the state government from granting permission for new constructions -- residential or commercial -- within the city limits.

The order was passed after the court noticed that more than half of the solid waste generated in the city was being dumped illegally in violation of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Management Rules.

"More and more constructions in the city will increase population density which will lead to generation of more and more municipal solid waste as also construction waste," the court had then said.

The MCHI last week approached the court seeking a review of the order. There was no basis for the court to conclude that new constructions will lead to creation of more waste, it said.

The division bench however rejected the argument and said the main basis of its restraining order was complete failure of MCGM to comply with MSW Rules.

Even today there was hardly any improvement, it said.

The judges noted that as per an affidavit filed by MCGM, 8,600 metric tons of municipal solid waste are generated every day, but the corporation has the capacity to process only 3000 metric tons of solid waste a day (at Kanjur Marg dumping ground), so the remaining 5,600 metric tons are still being dumped illegally.

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The Delhi High Court today sought the CBI's response on a bail plea of a convict serving life term in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gital Mittal and Justice Anu Malhotra issued notice to the agency on former Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar's plea seeking two-month bail to look after his wife, who has to undergo operation on May 15.

Khokhar, who is aged, has urged the court to release him on bail to look after his wife after she undergoes the operation at a city hospital.

To this, the bench asked CBI to verify the convict's contention and file a report by May 11, the next date of hearing in the matter. It also directed the Tihar Jail authorities to place before it the nominal rolls with regard to Khokhar.

Khokhar, a retired naval officer Captain Bhagmal, Girdhari Lal and two others were held guilty in a case relating to the murder of five members of a family in Raj Nagar area of Delhi Cantonment on November 1, 1984, after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

They had challenged their conviction and the award of life sentence by the trial court in May 2013.

The trial court had acquitted Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in the case but awarded life term to Khokhar, Bhagmal and Girdhari Lal and awarded three-year jail term to two others - former MLA Mahender Yadav and Kishan Khokhar.

The convicts have filed their appeals before the High Court while CBI has also filed an appeal, alleging they were engaged in "a planned communal riot" and "religious cleansing".

The agency has also appealed against acquittal of Kumar.

The high court had on March 29 also issued show cause notices to 11 accused including Khokhar and Yadav in five 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases. The accused, who were acquitted of the charges, were asked why should the court not order reinvestigation and retrial against them as they faced allegations of "horrifying crimes against humanity".

The bench had issued notices on the complaints filed regarding rioting incidents on November 1 and 2, 1984 in Delhi Cantonment area.

It had asked the police to produce the complainants in the cases, along with the status of the accused, who were acquitted by the trial court in all the cases.

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The Bombay High Court today upheld the conviction and life sentence to 12 people in the Bilkis Bano gang rape case and set aside acquittal of seven others including policemen and doctors.

The court however rejected the investigating agency CBI's appeal seeking death penalty for three of the convicts.

A division bench of Justices V K Tahilramani and Mridula Bhatkar in its 430-page judgement said while the probe conducted by Gujarat police was "flawed with a dishonest investigation", the evidence and statements given by Bilkis Bano were "completely trustworthy".

Bilkis, who was gang-raped in March 2002 during the post-Godhra riots in Gujarat when she was pregnant, said in her reaction that her rights as a woman and a mother had been violated in the most brutal manner, and the verdict "vindicated truth" and confirmed her faith in the judiciary.

Seven of her family members had been killed in the riots.

"The appeal against conviction filed by the 11 convicts (one convict is dead) is dismissed. The conviction and sentence is upheld. The appeal filed by the prosecution against the acquittal of seven persons is allowed. The acquittal is set aside," the court said.

The HC convicted seven persons -- five policemen and two doctors -- under section 218 IPC relating to public servant framing incorrect record or writing with intent to save person from punishment or property from forfeiture and 201 for tampering with evidence.

"We will consider the period undergone in jail of these seven persons as their sentence. But we will impose fine on them," the court said.

Each of the seven persons were directed to pay a fine of Rs 20,000 within eight weeks.

Those convicted are policemen Narpat Singh, Idris Abdul Saiyed, Bikabhai Patel, Ramsingh Bhabhor and Ramanbhai Bhagora, and doctors Arun Kumar Prasad and Sangeeta Kumar Prasad.

"We are convinced that all these accused persons in a mob on account of the Godhra incident were moving in search of Muslims," said the High Court.

"This is a case where the police wanted to help the accused by suppressing their names. The police were not passive towards investigation but they were very active in destroying the case of the prosecutrix (Bilkis)," it said.

Officers at Limkheda police station, where Bilkis first went to lodge FIR, "wanted to suppress the fact of rape committed on the prosecutrix", said the court.

"They (police) wanted to screen the perpetrators of the crime for the reasons best known to the police. This is how they gagged mouth of the prosecutrix so that her cry for justice would not be heard by anybody," the judges said.

Bilkis was the only witness on whose testimony the entire case of the prosecution stood, the court noted.

"The case in fact suffers at the starting point with the first major flaw of dishonest investigation," the bench said.

In a statement to media, Bilkis said, "My rights, as a human being, as a citizen, woman, and mother were violated in the most brutal manner, but I had trust in the democratic institutions of our country. Now, my family and I feel we can begin to lead our lives again, free from fear.

"I am happy that the state and its officials who emboldened, encouraged, and protected the criminals who destroyed the life of an entire community, are no longer unblemished and today stand charged with tampering of evidence.

"For officers of the state, whose sworn duty is to protect citizens and enable justice, this should be their great moral shame, to bear forever," the statement said.

The HC heard appeals filed by 11 convicts and CBI's appeal demanding capital punishment to three of them.

A special court in Mumbai had on January 21, 2008 convicted and sentenced twelve men to life imprisonment. One of them died subsequently.

According to the prosecution, on March 3, 2002, Bilkis Bano's family was attacked by a mob at Randhikpur village near Ahmedabad during the post-Godhra riots and seven members of the family were killed.

Bilkis, who was five months pregnant, was gang-raped, while six others of her family managed to escape.

The trial began in Ahmedabad. However, after Bilkis expressed apprehension that witnesses could be harmed and evidence tampered with, the Supreme Court transferred the trial to Mumbai in August 2004.

The 11 men whose conviction was upheld by the HC are: Jaswantbhai Nai, Govindbhai Nai, Shailesh Bhatt, Radhesham Shah, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Pradeep Mordhiya, Bakabhai Vohania, Rajubhai Soni, Mitesh Bhatt and Ramesh Chandana.

The convicts had challenged the verdict claiming CBI had fabricated the evidence, that Bilkis gave birth to a child after the incident so she could not have been gang-raped, and investigators' failure to find the bodies of some of her family members proved they were not killed.

The CBI had sought death sentence for Jaswantbhai, Govindbhai and Radhesham Shah on the ground that they had raped Bilkis.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 23-year old Indian Air Force Airman allegedly shot himself to death at the Air Force station in Tambaram on the city outskirts, Defence and Police officials said today.

The airman committed suicide last night by using a firearm, they said.

"It is a case of suicide. An inquiry is on," a Defence official said but declined to divulge any further information.

Police said body of the airman had been shifted to government hospital.

Airmen are deployed on ground-based jobs in the IAF.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
American tech major Adobe today signed a long-term deal to provide digital solutions to the merger-bound Idea Cellular, which will help the third biggest telco save on operational costs.

The partnership will augment the Birla group company's growth strategy through "enhanced customer retention as well revenue generation", its managing director Himanshu Kapania said in a statement.

The statement, however, did not mention the deal size and was also silent on Idea's proposed merger with its bigger rival Vodafone India.

The tech major will be deploying its experience cloud solutions to deliver personalised customer experiences, it said, adding the analytics cloud, advertising cloud and marketing cloud will also used.

All these will help the telco automate customer care and benefit from a potential increase in sales and savings on operational costs, it claimed.

On the customer care front, automation and self- service options will help reduce the call centre traffic, it explained.

"The fiercely competitive domestic telecom industry has been among the first to acknowledge the role digital marketing can play in furthering business goals," Adobe South Asia managing director for Kulmeet Bawa said.

He exuded confidence that the partnership will help the telco online increase revenues from online channels, reduce customer acquisition costs, improve cross-sell and upsell opportunities.

Idea and Vodafone had on March 20 announced a plan to merge to create the country's largest telco with an enterprise valuation of USD23 billion which can compete better with the challenges posed by deep-pocketed new entrant Reliance Jio.

The all-share deal will take up to two years to fructify and Idea will hold only 26 per cent in the merged entity initially.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
If Muslims do not want a compromise on the issue, the court is there to resolve the land dispute in Ayodhya, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Thursday said, drawing sharp retort from the Babri Masjid Action Committee.

"If they don't want a compromise, the court is there... We have already won in the Allahabad High Court, which has ruled that Lord Rama was born at a place of central dome as per faith. If you talk of Hindu-Muslim unity, a mosque can be constructed anywhere, but it cannot be constructed where Lord Rama took birth," Swamy, also a Rajya Sabha MP, told reporters after his meeting with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow, sounding confident of legal victory in the matter.

He, however, declined to divulge what transpired at his meeting with Adityanath, a hardline Hindutva leader and vocal proponent of the temple.

Swamy said, "There was a temple where a mosque was constructed... The clerics, who are adamant, should know that."



"There is a way (of settlement) through the Supreme Court. I have a fundamental right under Article 25 of the Constitution to worship at the place of my faith. I am fighting for my fundamental right, while they are fighting for property right," he said, sounding confident of legal victory.

When asked how a settlement could be reached when both the parties were not in agreement, he said, "Samjhauta nahi karna chahte hain to phir court to hai hi (If they don't want to compromise, then the court is there to resolve the issue)."



However, convenor of Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC) Zafaryab Zilani, when asked to comment on the matter, said, "Swamy should not threaten Muslims. We have faith in judiciary and we are law-abiding citizens and will respect whatever the court rules."



Zilani had earlier said, "With Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the helm of affairs, there is no hope that justice will prevail with the Muslims. Both of them have been BJP workers and supporters of movement."



Swamy had recently urged the Muslim community to support construction of the at the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya.

"Ram temple can only be built at one place in Ayodhya where the structure of a temple was found at the disputed site following investigation by the Archaeological Survey of India," Swamy had said.

The BJP MP claimed that the Allahabad High Court had made it clear that the structure of a temple was found at the disputed site.

In September 2010, a three-judge Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court had stated that Lord Rama was born under the central dome of the makeshift temple and Hindus have the right to worship there.

Subsequently, the apex court had stayed the implementation of the HC decision. The case is pending since then.

"Babri Masjid was built after the temple was demolished and the Hindu community has been demanding construction of the Ram temple for a long time," Swamy had said.

"If the issue is settled amicably, it will be all right, otherwise we will enact a law to construct a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya when we get majority in the Rajya Sabha by April, 2018," he had asserted.

Swamy, who was asked by the Supreme Court to talk to all parties in the dispute, said he had discussions with Muslim leaders  AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi and Babri Masjid Action Committee convener Zafaryab Jilani  over the issue.

"The Muslim leaders did not agree to a bilateral negotiation but wanted mediation of the Supreme Court," he had said.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has already rejected the Supreme Court's suggestion for an out-of-court settlement of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute and said that only a verdict by the apex court will be acceptable to it.

"No out-of-court settlement is acceptable to us," AIMPLB General Secretary Maulana Wali Rehmani has said.

On March 21, the apex court had suggested an out-of-court settlement of the dispute at Ayodhya, observing that issues of "religion and sentiments" can be best resolved through talks.
India today asked Britain to ensure early extradition of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, wanted back home in a bank default case of over Rs 9000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi sought early conclusion of the extradition process of Mallya, who has been declared a proclaimed offender by a Mumbai court, during his talks here with his UK counterpart Patsy Wilkinson, the second permanent secretary in the British Home Office, official sources said.

"We have discussed how to remove the bottlenecks in processing extradition requests. The process involved in matters of extradition and the need to further improve them were also discussed," home ministry adviser Ashok Prasad said.

Though Prasad maintained no specific case was discussed at the meeting, some other official sources said the Mallya case was indeed raised by the union home secretary. Prasad said Mallya's case was subjudice.

The presence of certain Khalistani militant elements in the UK also came up for discussion.

"We discussed the issue of Khalistani militants based in the UK and they have promised to look into it," Prasad said.

Both sides agreed to address the challenges of illegal migrants and resolved to work together to ensure smooth return of Indians overstaying in the UK after proper verification.

Prasad said the Indian side brought up visa-related difficulties faced by Indian students, skilled professionals and dependents of Indian diplomats which the UK official assured would be looked into.

"Both India and the UK laid emphasis on cooperation on anti-terrorism mechanism and to strengthen mutual support to check cyber crimes. Both sides agreed to finalise these arrangements," Prasad said.

Sharing of intelligence inputs on a real time basis, particularly with regard to the ISIS, both from ISIS-held territories and modules being busted in the UK and Europe, were discussed at the two hour meeting, sources said.

Counterterrorism cooperation between India and Britain, besides a host of other issues figured during deliberations.

Matters relating to the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, strengthening of the intelligence sharing mechanism and visa- related issues were also deliberated upon, the sources said.

61-year-old Mallya, who has been living in Britain since last year, was arrested by Scotland Yard last month at India's request for his extradition.

Within hours of his arrest, Mallya, who is accused of cheating and fraud, was released on bail by a London court.

The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will argue the case on behalf of the Indian authorities when it comes up before the court.

Mallya, whose defunct Kingfisher Airlines allegedly owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016.

India and the UK signed an extradition treaty in 1992, but so far only one person has been sent back under it. Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel was extradited last October to face trial for his alleged involvement in the post-Godhra Gujarat riots of 2002.

However, unlike Mallya, Patel had submitted to the extradition order without offering legal challenge. India had made a formal extradition request for Mallya through a note verbale, a diplomatic communication, on February 8.

Mehrishi lauded the UK's effort for extraditing Mallya and offered New Delhi's help to the prosecution in pursuing the case in London.

The sources said India told the British delegation if one-on-one contact could be established between the prosecuting agency in India and the Crown Prosecution or Department of Prosecution, it would be speedier and easier to present evidence before the judge concerned.

The Indian side said authorities here will inform the UK about the proceedings or court hearings happening in cases of criminals wanted by Britain living in India and wanted it to be reciprocated.

Both sides agreed to sign an MoU in July on reworking the agreement on security cooperation.

India also offered to drop cases registered against a Bangladeshi national, who is lodged in Assam, so he can be extradited to England.

Sources said India expected reciprocity from England. If people wanted here are facing criminal charges in Britain, those should be dropped and their extradition facilitated, they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India on Thursday asked the United Kingdom to ensure early extradition of fugitive businessman who is facing cases of bank loan default to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore by his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi raised the issue of early completion of the extradition process of Mallya, during his talks here with his UK counterpart Patsy Wilkinson, the second permanent secretary in the the British Home Office.

The issue of presence of certain Sikh militant elements in the UK, sharing of intelligence inputs on a real-time basis particularly with regard to the ISIS - both from ISIS-held territories, and modules being busted in the UK and Europe, were also discussed at the two-hour-long meeting, official sources said.

Counter-terror cooperation between India and Britain besides a host of other issues figured in the parleys.

Matters relating to the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, strengthening of the intelligence-sharing mechanism and visa- related issues were also deliberated upon, the sources said.

61-year-old Mallya, who has been living in Britain since last year, was arrested by Scotland Yard last month on India's extradition request.

Within hours of his arrest, Mallya, who is accused of cheating and fraud, was released on bail by a London court.

The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will argue the case on behalf of the Indian authorities when it comes before the court.

Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines allegedly owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016.

India and the UK have an extradition treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement - that of Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was sent back to India last October to face trial for his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.

However, unlike Mallya, Patel had submitted to the extradition order without legal challenge. India had given a formal extradition request for Mallya according to the extradition treaty between India and the UK through a note verbale, a diplomatic communication, on February 8.

The Union home secretary lauded the UK's effort to extradite Mallya and conveyed that New Delhi will help London to pursue the case in the UK court.

The sources said India told the UK delegation that if one-on-one contact can be established between the prosecuting agency in India and the Crown Prosecution or Department of Prosecution, then it would be faster and easier to put up evidence before the judge concerned.

India will inform the UK about the proceedings or hearings happening in the cases of wanted criminals by the UK in India and wants the UK to reciprocate in similar cases.

Both sides agreed that India and the UK will sign an MoU in July on reworking the agreement on security cooperation.

India also offered to drop cases registered against one Bangladeshi national, who is lodged in Assam, so that he can be extradited to the UK.

In return, sources said, India expects reciprocity that if people wanted by New Delhi are mired in any British case, those should be dropped and extradition facilitated.
India today asked Britain to ensure early extradition of all wanted persons, including fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya who is an accused in a bank loan default case of over Rs 9000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, who met his British counterpart here, assured the UK of all assistance in extradition matters including that Mallya to allow the Crown Prosecution Services (CPS) to present water-tight cases before the courts there.

The issue was raised by Mehrishi during talks with his UK counterpart Patsy Wilkinson, the second permanent secretary in the British Home Office.

"We have discussed how to remove the bottlenecks in processing extradition requests. The process involved in matters of extradition and the need to further improve it were also discussed," Home Ministry Adviser Ashok Prasad said.

Though Prasad maintained that no specific case was discussed at the meeting, official sources said Mallya's case was "alluded to" by the Indian side. Prasad just said the extradition case is subjudice.

He said all specific extradition matters will be discussed extensively between agencies concerned of the two countries.

"We discussed the issue of Khalistani militants based in the UK and they have promised to look into it," Prasad said.

Both sides agreed to address the challenges of illegal migrants and resolved to work together to ensure trouble-free return of Indians overstaying in Britain after proper verification.

Prasad said the Indian side brought up visa-related difficulties faced by Indian students, skilled professionals and dependents of Indian diplomats which the British official assured would be looked into.

"Both India and the UK laid emphasis on cooperation on anti-terrorism mechanism and to strengthen mutual support to check cyber crimes. Both sides agreed to finalise these arrangements," he said.

The first home-affairs dialogue between India and the UK was held as a follow-up to British Prime Minister Theresa May's visit here in November 2016 during which she had wide- ranging talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two PMs had then decided on such a dialogue.

On criminal data sharing and strengthening cooperation in tackling serious and organised crimes, the two sides expressed their satisfaction over the existing level of cooperation.

They also agreed to enhance and strengthen further bilateral cooperation and work towards formalising the arrangements.

The British side conveyed that it has been theirconstant endeavour to improve the visa process to promote people-to- people exchanges that exist between the two countries.

Prasad said the visiting delegation also briefed about the progress regarding theregistered travellers and other schemes that were announced during the British PM's visit in 2016.

Counter-terrorism cooperation between India and Britain, besides a host of other issues figured during deliberations.

Matters relating to the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, strengthening of the intelligence sharing mechanism and visa- related issues were also deliberated upon, the sources said.

61-year-old Mallya, who has been living in Britain since last year, was arrested by Scotland Yard last month at India's request for his extradition.

Within hours of his arrest, Mallya, who is accused of cheating and fraud, was released on bail by a London court.

The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will argue the case on behalf of the Indian authorities when it comes up before the court.

Mallya, whose defunct Kingfisher Airlines allegedly owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016. He has since been declared as a proclaimed offender by a Mumbai court.

India and the UK signed an extradition treaty in 1992, but so far only one person has been sent back under it. Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel was extradited last October to face trial for his alleged involvement in the post-Godhra Gujarat riots of 2002.

However, unlike Mallya, Patel had submitted to the extradition order without offering legal challenge. India had made a formal extradition request for Mallya through a note verbale, a diplomatic communication, on February 8.

Mehrishi lauded the UK's effort for helping in the Mallya case and offered New Delhi's help to the prosecution in pursuing the case in London.

The sources said India told the British delegation if one-on-one contact could be established between the prosecuting agency in India and the Crown Prosecution or Department of Prosecution, it would be speedier and easier to present evidence before the judge concerned.

The Indian side said authorities here will inform the UK about the proceedings or court hearings happening in cases of criminals wanted by Britain living in India and wanted it to be reciprocated.

Both sides agreed to sign an MoU in July on reworking the agreement on security cooperation.

India also offered to drop cases registered against a Bangladeshi national, who is lodged in Assam, so he can be extradited to England.

Sources said India expected reciprocity from England. If people wanted here are facing criminal charges in Britain, those should be dropped and their extradition facilitated, they said.

Asked whether the issue of funds being provided to Pakistan-based terror groups by some individuals and organisations based in the UK was raised, Prasad said both the sides agreed to improve security cooperation in all relevant issues.

On fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim getting support from some groups based in the UK, Prasad said the issue was already taken up at earlier meetings between investigating agencies of the UK and India.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India can achieve a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 10 per cent by financial year (FY) 2019-20 on the back of tremendous opportunities available in the economy, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said on Thursday.

We strongly believe India can build up to a 10 per cent GDP growth in the next three years. For the current year, CII analysis shows the GDP growth rate can be eight per cent, CII President Shobana Kamineni told reporters in New Delhi.

This can be achieved by targeting one per cent additional growth each year that would also lead to creating many more jobs, she added.

It is eminently possible to create five million jobs each year, if the GDP growth rate can be boosted by an extra one per cent. CIIs analysis shows that as of now, we are creating about 3.7 million jobs annually, Kamineni said.

The drivers for this step up in growth would include the benefits from implementation of the goods and services tax, and greater participation of women in the labour force, she added.

The urbanisation process will drive greater economic activity in areas such as construction and government spending of up to ~30 lakh crore in various infrastructure projects over the next few years. Growth in services sector and tourism are other important drivers, Kamineni said.

A CII estimate shows that the entire construction sector can add 30 million jobs in the next 10 years, she added.

Stating that industry has been asking for a single national tax, Kamineni said: Industry is completely ready for the introduction of the landmark tax reform from July 1. The CII has been calling for a single national tax for the last 10 years and we will try to make its implementation as smooth as possible.

Favouring a reduction in corporate tax, she said: The CII would continue to request the government for quick action in reducing income tax for all corporates.

The 25 per cent rate is currently applicable only for companies with turnover up to Rs 50 crore. Eventually, the corporate tax rate could be brought down to 18 per cent, together with the removal of all incentives. This will lead to much better tax compliance, she added.

Solution to the non-performing asset issue can no longer be postponed. We are encouraged by the package approved by the Cabinet on Wednesday night, Kamineni said.
India's first private sector small arms manufacturing plant was today inaugurated here which will supply world class weapons to the armed forces in sync with the country's defence indigenisation programme.

The plant, a joint venture between India's Punj Lloyd and Israel Weapon Systems, will produce four products -- X95 carbine and assault rifle, Galil sniper rifle, Tavor assault rifle and Negev Light Machine Gun (LMG).

The facility was thrown open by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

The commissioning of the plant comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming visit to Israel during which a number of mega defence deals are likely to be sealed.

India is the largest buyer of Israel's military hardware and the latter has been supplying various weapon systems, missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles over the last few years but the transactions have largely remained behind the curtains.

Speaking on the occasion, Michel Ben-Baruch, Head of SIBAT, Israel Ministry of Defence said his country will continue to support transfer of technology to India for defence production.

"Israel's Ministry of Defense fully and wholeheartedly supports this cooperation and will continue to support the transfer of technology and information also in the future, for the betterment of improved advanced tools.

"Israel and India consider their defense industry cooperation as a monumental step forward, towards a future of immense potential," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Punj Lloyd Chairman Atul Punj said, "These are tried and tested battle proven products already being used within the country. It is the first time in India that we are coming together with the complete technology to manufacture these products as 'Made in India'."



He said the the joint venture company, Punj Lloyd Raksha Systems, will help the armed forces replace their weapons with sophisticated and high precision products.

In his address, Chouhan said now the armymen will use weapons produced in Chambal area to fight with the enemy. Chambal area was once known presence of large number of dacoits and gangsters.

Calling Israel a "friend" of India, Chouhan said "now both of us will together crush terrorism and our jawans will use weapons made in our own country only."



"The prime minister has given a call for Make in India. Taking inspiration from it we have launched Make in Madhya Pradesh in the state," Chouhan said.

Israel's Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon said ties between the two countries are built on the strengths of each other and hoped that many more joint ventures and collaborations in defence sector will take place in future.

"I applaud the establishment of joint cooperation ventures, such as between Punj Lloyd and Israel Weapons Industries, taking up Israeli President Rivlin's call for Israel to 'Make in India, Make with India'," he said.

Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj and Gwalior MP, Narendra Singh Tomar was also present on the occasion.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
India today said it will help the five South East Asian countries in strengthening their immunisation programmes.

Union Health secretary C K Mishra assured India's support during a meeting with a delegation from Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Nepal here.

The delegation is visiting the country to learn about the indigenously developed electronic vaccine intelligence network (eVIN), which is being implemented by the Indian government in 12 states under its Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP).

UNDP Country Director, JacoCilliers and additional country director Rakesh Kumar also met the Union Health secretary along with the representatives.

"They (representatives) interacted with the Health Secretary to learn more about the global best practice of eVIN project of the Health Ministry and to understand how it is being implemented in the country and the ways in which it be replicated in their own countries," an official statement said.

EVIN is an indigenously developed technology system in India that digitises vaccine stocks and monitors the temperature of the cold chain through a smartphone application.

The innovative eVIN is presently being implemented across 12 states in India and aims to support the government's UIP by providing real-time information on vaccine stocks and flows and storage temperatures across all cold chain points in these states.

The technological innovation is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

"The Ministry is ready to provide support and collaborate with other countries to strengthen their capacities and scale up their programs. This is a big boost for the 'Digital India' and 'Make in India' initiatives of the government. This sets a benchmark in the field of immunisation," the statement quoting Mishra said.

The delegation also shared the experience from their countries of the immunisation projects, and said their India visit will enrich them in strengthening the programmes being run their countries.

EVIN aims to strengthen the evidence base for improved policy-making in vaccine delivery, procurement and planning for new antigens in India.

Stating that India has a lot to share in terms of best practices and new learning, JacoCilliers said that such visits provide an opportunity to other countries to learn from these best practices of India in the field of immunisation and strengthen their own programmes.

"While the country is working towards enhancing the coverage of immunisation, quality of vaccines through maintenance of the right temperature is also a critical component to for the quality and efficacy of the vaccines. eVIN is a step towards ensuring that," Kumar said.

EVIN provides an integrated solution to address widespread inequities in vaccine coverage by supporting state governments in overcoming constraints of infrastructure, monitoring and management information systems and human resources, often resulting in overstocking and stock-outs of vaccines in storage centres, the statement said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Indians have voted Indore in Madhya Pradesh as the cleanest city in the country, while Gonda in Uttar Pradesh has been found to be the dirtiest, the government said today.

Bhopal, also in MP, occupies the second best spot among 434 cities, followed by Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Surat in Gujarat, Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said, announcing the results of an exercise he described as a citizens' verdict.

About 18 lakh people's response to a set of six questions was taken into consideration for the survey after the elimination of duplicate feedback. Overall, the survey had elicited the views of 37 lakh people for the 434 cities, which account for about 60 per cent of the total urban population in the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency, Varanasi, has soared up the cleanliness scale, occupying the 32nd position in 'Swachh Survekshan-2017', which is a part of the Modi government's flagship Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) programme or Clean India Mission. It ranked 65th last year and 418th in 2014.

Mysuru in Karnataka, which bagged the first spot for the last two years, has slipped to the fifth position.

"No way it meant that cleanliness has declined in the city or the city government scaled down its efforts...Other cities have scored over Mysuru," Naidu explained.

Gujarat, with 12 cities in the top 50, has the best score among the states, and Uttar Pradesh, which accounts for half of the 50 dirtiest cities, is at the bottom of the list.

Madhya Pradesh, with 11 cities in the top 50, and Andhra Pradesh, with eight, follow Gujarat.

West Bengal did not take part in the survey.

Tiruchirapally in Tamil Nadu is the sixth cleanest city, followed by the New Delhi Municipal Council area of the national capital.

Bhusawal in Maharashtra is the dirtiest after Gonda, the survey states.

Bagaha and Katihar (Bihar), Hardoi (Uttarakhand) Bahraich, Shahjahanpur and Khurja (UP) and Muktsar and Abohar (Punjab) are in the bottom 10.

The Urban Development Ministry had commissioned the survey for 434 cities and towns with a population of 1 lakh and above in January and February this year.

Naidu described Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, "as Movers and Shakers" for having significantly improved their rankings since 2014.

The first survey in 2014 was launched before the announcement of the SBA in October, 2014.

The 2016 survey covered 73 cities with over 10 lakh population each and capital cities.

The Minister said all the cities surveyed in Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand have substantially improved their rankings since 2014.

Gujarat has done so in every city, barring Rajkot. Likewise, every city in Chhattisgarh, except Bilaspur, has shown an improvement, he said.

Two cities have fallen in Telangana, and four in Andhra Pradesh.

Naidu said UP, Bihar, Rajasthan, Punjab and Kerala needed to substantially step up efforts to improve sanitation standards in urban areas.

In Bihar, 19 out of the 27 cities surveyed have ranks beyond 300. The cleanest city -- at 147 -- is Biharsharif.

In Rajasthan, 18 of 29 cities are ranked beyond 300 with 13 in the bottom 100. Bundi, at 171, is the best ranked city in the state.

In Punjab, 7 of the 16 cities surveyed figure among the bottom 100, with SAS Nagar at 121 getting the highest rank in the state.

Faridabad in Haryana, which improved its rank from 379 in 2014 to 88 this year, has been recognised as the "Fastest Mover" among cities with a population of above one million each.

"I think this is the largest ever such survey to be conducted by the government on any issue of public importance," the minister said



Naidu said a survey will be commissioned in all the 4,041 statutory towns and cities in the country.

Quality Council of India (QCI) conducted the survey during January-February this year.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is the nodal ministry for the QCI.

The survey aims at capturing the outcomes of ongoing efforts to stop open defecation in urban areas and to improve the door-to-door collection, processing and disposal of Municipal Solid Waste.

In a total score of 2,000, 900 marks were assigned for a city's performance in ending open defecation and on solid waste management, 600 marks for citizen feedback and 500 marks for independent observations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is in talks with the Trump administration to keep American troops in Iraq after the fight against the Islamic State group in the country is concluded, according to a US official and an official from the Iraqi government.

Both officials underlined that the discussions are ongoing and that nothing is finalised. But the talks point to a consensus by both governments that, in contrast to the US withdrawal in 2011, a longer-term presence of American troops in Iraq is needed to ensure that an insurgency does not bubble up again once the militants are driven out.

"There is a general understanding on both sides that it would be in the long-term interests of each to have that continued presence. So as for agreement, yes, we both understand it would be mutually beneficial. That we agree on," the US official said.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

The talks involve US Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis and Iraqi officials over "what the long-term US presence would look like," the American official said, adding that discussions were in early stages and "nothing has been finalised."



US forces in Iraq would be stationed inside existing Iraqi bases in at least five locations in the Mosul area and along Iraq's border with Syria, the Iraqi government official said. They would continue to be designated as advisers to dodge the need for parliamentary approval for their presence, he said.

He said al-Abadi is looking to install a "modest" Iraqi military presence in Mosul after the fight against the Islamic State group is concluded along with a small number of US forces. The forces would help control security in the city and oversee the transition to a political administration of Mosul, he said.

The US official emphasised that there were no discussions of creating independent American bases in Iraq, as such a move would require thousands more personnel. He said the troops levels would be "several thousand ... Similar to what we have now, maybe a little more."



Currently, the Pentagon has close to 7,000 US troops in Iraq, many not publicly acknowledged because they are on temporary duty or under specific personnel rules. The forces include troops training Iraqi forces, coordinating airstrikes and ground operations, and special forces operating on the front lines.

The comes as Iraqi forces are struggling to push IS fighters out of a cluster of neighbourhoods in western Mosul that mark the last patch of significant urban terrain the group holds in Iraq, nearly three years after the militants overran nearly a third of the country.

Such an agreement would underscore how the fight against IS has drawn the US into a deepening role in Iraq.

At the height of the surge of US forces in 2007 to combat sectarian violence that nearly tore Iraq apart, there were about 170,000 American troops in the country. The numbers were wound down eventually to 40,000 before the complete withdrawal in 2011.

The US intervention against the Islamic State group, launched in 2014, was originally cast as an operation that would largely be fought from the skies with a minimal footprint on Iraqi soil. Nevertheless, that footprint has since grown given Iraqi forces' need for support.

During a visit to Iraq in February, Mattis and Lt Gen Stephen Townsend, the top US commander in Iraq, described an enduring partnership between the US and Iraq.

"I imagine we'll be in this fight for a while and we'll stand by each other," Mattis said.

Townsend, who was standing by Mattis, declined to say how long the United States will stay in Iraq. But, he said, "I don't anticipate that we'll be asked to leave by the government of Iraq immediately after Mosul." He added, "I think that the government of Iraq realises their very complex fight, and they're going to need the assistance of the coalition even beyond Mosul."



The talks over a longer-term US presence has greatly concerned Iran, which in turn is increasing support to some of Iraq's Shiite militia forces, said Jafar al-Husseini, a representative from Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi Shiite militia group with close ties to Iran.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is pinning hopes on upcoming SUV Jeep Compass to turnaround fortunes of its struggling Indian operations with plans to make the country an export hub to global right hand drive markets.

The Compass will be the first model from the Jeep range to be produced in India and is slated to hit the domestic market in the third quarter of this calendar year.

"Compass is the key that unlocks our future here in India," FCA India President and Managing Director Kevin Flynn told PTI.

While the domestic market will be important, he said the company has tweaked its business model in India with exports to be given equal importance so that it is able to utilise capacity at its manufacturing plant.

The model will be produced at Ranjangaon plant, which is a 50:50 joint venture with Tata Motors. It has a capacity to produce 1.6 lakh units and 3.5 lakh engines.

FCA has invested USD 280 million at the plant to support local production of Jeep.

"We will be looking at right hand drive markets for export of Compass. The initial markets that we have shortlisted are Japan, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa," Flynn said.

While the Compass could take more of the plant capacity, he said there would also be room for other products.

"The success of the Compass project will determine what models would we consider to take up under the new strategy in future," he said.

Flynn said the Indian plant is the only one among the four global manufacturing units of FCA that will roll out right hand drive models.

He said the company has also been focusing on local sourcing of components in India.

Other global manufacturers such as Ford and General Motors had also changed their strategy and started giving focus on exports from India.

While he did not elaborate on future product plans, in 2014 FCA had announced plans to launch 12 models in India in five years and start producing models from the Jeep brand in the country by 2015. However, it was revised later.

The roll out of Compass from Ranjangaon this year will mark the first model from the brand to be produced from India.

FCA has been struggling in the Indian market. Its sales in 2016 declined by 24.71 per cent to 6,785 units as compared to 9,013 units sold in 2015.

The company's other brand Fiat has also been unable to make a mark in the market here.

Admitting the struggles of the brand, Flynn said the Indian market has rapidly evolved and there was a need for "freshness" in the Fiat product line up.

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Calcutta High Court judge Justice C S Karnan today declined to undergo a mental health checkup as ordered by the Supreme Court, telling a team of doctors he is "absolutely normal" and has a "stable mind".

Justice Karnan, who is on a warpath with the apex court in connection with a contempt case he is facing, also told the doctors that for holding a medical examination with regard to a person's mental health, the guardian's consent was required and he had none in Kolkata.

A four-member team from Calcutta Pavlov Hospital, a state-run mental health hospital, accompanied by around 20 policemen visited his residence to implement the court order but was turned back after remaining there for about two hours.

The Supreme Court had on May 1 ordered medical examination of Karnan by a board of doctors to be set up by a government hospital in Kolkata to evaluate his mental health with police support.

The order was given after the defiant judge failed to appear in the apex court which took note of the "tenor" of his press briefings and orders.

"I declined to avail the medical treatment since I am absolutely normal and with a stable mind," Karnan gave in writing to the doctors after refusing to undergo a medical check-up.

"Further, it is my strong view that the Supreme Court order amounts to an insult and harassment to a Dalit Judge (myself)," he said in a communication addressed to the chairman of the medical board from Calcutta Pavlov Hospital.

Justice Karnan also raised the issue of no guardian being present with him.

"As my family members are not here, there is no such consent. So any such medical test cannot be held," he said.

He said that his wife, a professor, and a son, an engineer by profession, are in Chennai while his another son, also an engineer, is working in France.

A seven-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar, on May one had also directed the Director-General of Police of West Bengal to form a team of police officers which could assist the medical board in carrying out the medical examination of the high court judge.

The medical report of Justice Karnan has to be submitted "on or before May 8" and the apex court would take up the contempt plea, initiated suo motu (on its own), for hearing a day after, it said.

A four-member team of doctors, headed by Pavlov Hospital superintendent Dr Ganesh Prashad, along with police officials led by the deputy commissioner (headquarter) of Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate, had gone to Justice Karnan's residence in New Town, Kolkata in the morning. The team was at the judge's home for about two hours.

In the communication, Justice Karnan said he was of the "firm view/opinion that the Supreme Court issuing orders/ non-speaking orders, shortcoming and irregular orders, illegal orders and having lacuna (sic)."



"I urged the 7 judges to close the contempt proceeding and restore my judicial and administrative work in order to maintain the decorum, dignity and sanctity of the courts.

"If a genuine man commits an error knowingly or unknowingly or inadvertently, but later on the said person rectifies his mistake, he is known as a perfect gentleman, after all we are human beings and not infallible," he said in the note.

Claiming that "the seven judges' judicial services are not suitable for the Indian nation," Justice Karnan said, "My deep request on behalf of 127 crores of our Indian people is to keep the welfare of the nation as a general requirement."



"After issuing suo motu contempt proceedings, now the public have lost the confidence and trust with the Judiciary, therefore, once again I request the Hon'ble 7 Judges to do the right thing by resigning their Judicial posts," he said.

The apex court has taken suo motu (on its own) cognisance of various letters written by Justice Karnan against judges of the Madras high court and the Supreme Court and restrained him from exercising administrative and Judicial power from February 8.

Justice Karnan appeared before the Supreme Court on March 31 in connection with the contempt proceeding, becoming the first high court judge to do so in the history of Indian Judiciary.

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A former warlord branded the "Butcher of Kabul" made a triumphant return to the Afghan capital today, met by uneasy residents two decades after leaving the city where he stands accused of killing thousands of people.

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former prime minister, has returned to mainstream political life after his dormant Hezb- i-Islami militant group signed a peace deal with President Ashraf Ghani which sparked revulsion from human rights groups and Kabul's residents.

The peace agreement inked last September marked a symbolic victory for Ghani, who has struggled to revive talks with the more powerful Taliban, but it has also fuelled fears of more political division.

Ghani greeted Hekmatyar with pomp at the presidential palace today. "Few people believed the peace efforts, would bear fruit, but today it is clear... That if there is sincere will and effort for peace it can be achieved," he said.

Hekmatyar arrived at the palace after his convoy of several hundred vehicles, mainly pickup trucks equipped with machine guns, wound its way through Kabul's main thoroughfares watched by hundreds of onlookers.

Some were supporters bearing the green party flag and flowers, singing the national anthem or chanting "Welcome to Kabul, Honourable Hekmatyar" in Pashto.

Onlooker Jamshed, who goes by one name, told AFP the "rare happy news" meant the warlord's influence could help improve security.

But for others, his return brought memories of death and destruction in the capital rushing back.

Hekmatyar earned his bloody nickname for laying siege to Kabul during the 1992-1996 civil war, bombarding it with rockets that inflicted some of the worst damage in nearly 40 years of conflict, destroying one-third of the city and killing tens of thousands of civilians.

"He will be surprised to see Kabul rebuilt again," said one wry onlooker who did not wish to give his name.

Many, like 20-year-old metal worker Edress Arabzada, could not forget the past but were pragmatic about the future.

Hekmatyar was the "chief destroyer" of Kabul, Arabzada told AFP, adding the warlord should apologise for the spilling the blood of innocent people.

But, he added, "we welcome his arrival to Afghanistan if it leads to peace and stability".

Cucumber seller Sayed Mohammad, 52, agreed.

"All the warlords are corrupt and have blood on their hands," he told AFP. "But, we welcome (Hekmatyar) to Kabul because we are tired of war and conflict."



Afghanistan has suffered near-continuous fighting since the Soviet invasion of 1979, and beleaguered security forces are currently struggling to beat back the resurgent Taliban, with more than one third of the country outside government control.

Hekmatyar is the latest in a series of controversial figures that Kabul has sought to reintegrate by granting judicial immunity for past crimes, and many residents who spoke to AFP called for him to apologise and be prosecuted.

Some were more accepting of the rehabilitation of the warlords, including figures such as Abdul Rashid Dostum, currently the country's first vice president.

"Hekmatyar's arrival to Kabul will not make a difference... We want him to continue a normal life like other warlords in Afghanistan," said drinks seller Mohammad Nasim.

Hekmatyar first returned to public life on Saturday at a gathering in Laghman province, two hours east of Kabul.

At the presidential palace today he repeated calls for the Taliban to lay down their arms and hold talks, saying he would fight for their demands.

"Let's end the war, live together as brothers and then ask foreigners to leave our country," he said.

Huge billboards heralding his return sprang up around the city in the last week, but were quickly covered in paint or mud, testament to the polarising nature of the peace deal.

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Sri Lanka's main Tamil party today said it was "deeply perturbed" by the government's policy on a proposed counter-terrorism law as it curtails civil liberties and has potential for abuse.

The Tamil National Alliance said in a statement they were "shocked" by the extent to which the draft framework "curtails civil liberties, erodes judicial control over the state security apparatus and the staggering potential for abuse and torture."



The party, however, said they were not opposed to a legal framework per se against terrorism.

"We are unequivocally committed to supporting a legal framework that would prevent and punish acts of terrorism in a manner that is lawful, in compliance with fundamental rights and the rule of law," it said.

"We are, therefore, deeply perturbed by the turn the government's latest draft has taken."



The proposed Counter Terrorism Act (CTA) is to replace the current Prevention of Terrorism Act, which was enacted in 1979 to deal with the growing Tamil separatist militancy.

The PTA has been criticised by Tamil and rights activists as it allows indefinite detention of people without charges.

During the over three-decade armed campaign by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), many activists of the rebel organisation were held under the PTA.

But according to a proposal by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the CTA aims at ensuring full compliance with Sri Lanka's rights obligations while dealing with terrorism.

The TNA, however, in the statement said that the proposed definition of terrorism would extend far beyond activities defined internationally as terrorism, replicating restrictions on free speech that have previously been used to punish dissenting voices.

"The definitions are also exceedingly vague and indeterminate, and would would have a chilling effect on advocacy in favour of greater diversity in Sri Lanka," it said, adding that the current government was under pressure from international rights watchdogs to repeal the "draconian" Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

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Azerbaijani forces made over 40 ceasefire breaches in the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact.

May 4, 2017, 09:18 Azerbaijani forces open gunfire at Artsakh troops in ceasefire breach

STEPANAKERT, MAY 4, ARTSAKHPRESS: The defense ministry of Artsakh told that Azerbaijani forces used different caliber firearms, firing more than 460 shots at Artsakh military positions on May 3 and overnight May 4.
A 12-year-old student died and two of his friends sustained injuries in a lightning strike at Ubka village under Torpa police station area of Khunti district today, police said.

The boys were collecting mango from under a tree when the lightning struck this evening.

Vimal Toppo, a student of std VII died while while Prabhat Surin and Subham Singh, both 14-year-olds, were injured, police said.

The injured were hospitalised and reported to be out of danger.

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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today called upon the people to boycott the BJP, alleging it practised "communal and vendetta" politics.

"We also worship Rama but not the Rama of the BJP, which kills people in the name of religion. But this politics cannot last long. You will not be there after 2019 (Lok Sabha polls)," she told a public meeting here.

The people should be cautious about the tricks of the BJP, she said, adding Hindu religion does not teach to hate others, instead it teaches to love and respect all.

"The BJP is a blot in the name of Hindu religion. They are not Hindu. They defame Hinduism. You should boycott the BJP. Don't trust the BJP," Banerjee said.

She also slammed the saffron party for its "abusive language" against her.

"A few days back a BJP leader had called me eunuch. Had he uttered such a word against any other state's chief minister, there would have been a huge uproar," she said.

In an obvious reference to BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvergiya, she said, "A few BJP leaders from outside, who neither have an idea of the state nor its culture, are trying to spread violence and disrupt the communal harmony in Bengal."



Referring to Vijayvergiya's recent comment that TMC leaders would be arrested soon by CBI, she said, "I want to know how is he aware of what going to happen? Is he director of CBI or has the Prime Minister himself told him about the arrests?"



Banerjee cautioned that if a TMC leader was arrested, the people of Bengal would send one lakh BJP workers to jail.

"Don't forget that we also have several cases against them. But we don't believe in vendetta politics," she said.

Banerjee alleged that the BJP was trying to use CBI and ED against TMC as it had spoken against demonetisation.

"They are trying to scare off everybody. As we have protested against demonetisation, they are threatening me with CBI and ED.

"They can arrest all of my party leaders including me. They can kill all of us. But that won't deter us from speaking against them," she said, in an obvious reference to the CBI filing cases against 12 TMC leaders and ministers in Narada sting operation.

Coming out in defence of some of the TMC leaders, whose name have figured in Narada sting operation case, she said, "TMC leaders whom you (BJP) are targeting come from well-off families and they don't need to take money.

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Nepal police today stepped up security across the Himalayan nation ahead of the first phase of the crucial local body elections to be held on May 14 after a gap of 20 years.

Around 44,000 persons filed their candidacies on Tuesday for 13,556 seats up for grabs in the first phase.

"We are yet to count the number of nominations filed in few districts. So far, the tally is 43,700," Election Commission Secretary Gopinath Mainali said.

In the first phase, elections are being held for 283 local units in three provinces - 3, 4 and 6. There are a total of 4,956,925 registered voters in these provinces.

The Metropolitan Police Office beefed up security in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. It deployed a total of 6,980 police personnel and 4,268 temporary cops with major focus on sensitive areas to ensure that voting takes place in a free and fair manner at all polling centres.

Acting Police Commissioner Deputy Inspector General Bam Bahadur Bhandari summoned security officers of all ranges, circles and sectors and chalked out a detailed security plan yesterday.

Control room vehicles equipped with Global Positioning System have been deployed round-the-clock in 72 places of the Kathmandu Valley that would act as a first responder if there is any untoward incident.

According to the Metropolitan Police Office, three-tier security arrangements will be put in place to ensure fool- proof security in and around polling and vote counting centres.

The government has announced a public holiday on May 14 to facilitate smooth polling.

The local level election is taking place across Nepal after a gap of 20 years. Due to political instability in the country, they have been halted since May 1997.

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Erstwhile UDF ally Kerala Congress (M) today said there were no 'untouchables' in politics but sought to play down the party winning a civic body chief post with the support of ruling CPI(M).

A day after kicking up a political storm by capturing the Kottayam District Panchayat with the support of the Marxists, KC-M supremo K Mani chose to keep his cards close to the chest saying it cannot be seen as a prelude to joining LDF.

He said the decision to seek CPI(M), though unfortunate, was taken at the local level.

KCM had last year severed its ties with the UDF following differences on the bar bribery scam, over which Mani was forced to resign as the finance minister. Mani said the party leadership had not given any directive in connection with the panchayat election. "This is a local decision. It cannot be seen as a prelude to our joining the LDF camp. This cannot be seen as 'political betrayal' as alleged by Congress," he told reporters here.

Mani, on the other hand, blamed the local Congress leadership for the development.

The KCM has not applied for entry into any front, he said replying to a query. "We have not bowed before anyone." Taking a dig at the Congress for attacking it over the CPI(M) support, Mani said that it had also cooperated with the Marxist party on earlier occasions.

"There are no untouchables in politics and even senior Congress leader A K Antony had joined the LDF ministry headed by E K Nayanar," he said.

At the time of KCM severing ties with the UDF, there was an understanding between them that their relationship will continue at the local level.

Congress was caught off guard yesterday with the KCM deciding to join hands with the CPI(M) in Kottayam. KPCC President M M Hassan said Mani and his son Jose K Mani, MP, had betrayed the Congress.

Another Congress leader K C Joseph wanted the CPI-M to make it clear if they still stood by the various allegations made against Mani.

Meanwhile, BJP state president, Kummannam Rajasekharan said NDA had not closed its doors on any party.

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There is no vacancy for the prime minister's post which is "reserved" for Narendra Modi till 2024, Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan asserted today flaying Shiv Sena for saying that the LJP chief had "forcefully" got a resolution moved in this regard at the last NDA meeting.

In that meeting, the NDA constituents adopted the resolution to fight the 2019 general elections under Modi's leadership.

Paswan had put forth the proposal for fighting the elections under Modi and expanding the NDA's base across the country. The proposal was accepted unanimously.

The LJP leader claimed that the Shiv Sena in its mouthpiece 'Saamana' said he had forcefully got the resolution moved.

"The Shiv Sena keeps on saying anything in its newspaper. Let them speak. But in the NDA, there is consensus that not only for 2019, the PM's post is reserved for 2024 as well," Paswan said during an interaction organised by the Press Club here.

He said Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray was present at the meeting where the resolution was passed.

"Why is he saying that I proposed Modi's name for 2019 election in the last NDA meet that we had. He was also present there. He was the third member to speak as an ally," Paswan said.

He expressed confidence that Modi would remain in charge till 2024.

The Shiv Sena and the BJP are having a somewhat love-hate relationship.

On growing tensions in Kashmir, Paswan said bilateral talks with Pakistan will be of no help and the army should be given more powers to deal with the situation and give "a tit for tat response" to the neighbouring nation.

"There is Pakistan-promoted terrorism. Who is dying? On the other side, children are killed, while this side our soldiers are attacked. After seeing the plight of our soldiers and their grief-stricken families, can we forgive them?



"I started believing now that solutions will not come out by holding bilateral talks. Our army should be given more powers. I don't want any war but we should give a tit for tat response," he said.

On the NDA government's achievements in three years, he said corruption has been curbed, more transparency brought in and several programmes including the food law successfully implemented.

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One person was killed and 44 others injured, 15 of them seriously, when an overloaded matador skidded off the road today and fell down into a deep gorge at Dangla in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.

The accident took place around 9.20 AM when the ill-fated matador was on its way to Mandi from Poonch, police said.

One person, identified as Karan Suri, died on the spot.

The 44 injured people were initially shifted to district hospital Poonch and later the seriously injured people were airlifted to Government Medical College (GMC) Hospital in Jammu for specialized treatment.

A case has been registered and investigation initiated, they said.

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Pakistan was committed to resolve all outstanding issues, including the Kashmir dispute, with India through talks, Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua said today.

Janjua made the remarks during a delegation level meeting with Japanese Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Nobuo Kishi here, the Foreign Office said in a statement.

She briefed the Japanese delegation on Pakistan's efforts to reach out to Afghanistan and India as part of the Prime Minister's vision for peaceful neighbourhood, it said.

"She also reiterated Pakistan's commitment to dialogue with India for the resolution of all outstanding issues including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute," it said.

Janjua reaffirmed Pakistan's readiness to make constructive contributions to the promotion of peace and stability in Afghanistan.

She also apprised the delegation of Pakistan's credentials for the membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), while emphasising the need for a criteria based and non-discriminatory approach for new members.

During the meeting, the two sides reviewed the state of bilateral relations and the evolving peace and security scenario in their respective regions.

The foreign secretary highlighted the importance that Pakistan attached to its relations with Japan and underscored the need to further strengthen mutually beneficial economic partnership with focus on promoting trade and investments.

During the two-day visit, Kishi also called upon Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the National Security Adviser and the Ministers for Defence, Water & Power.

Kishi witnessed an Exchange of Notes signing Ceremony of Loan Agreement for the Islamabad-Burhan Line Transmission Project.

His visit coincides with the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Japan. It also marks the 60th anniversary of his grandfather Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi's visit to Pakistan in May 1957.

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Pakistan today executed three more "hard core" Taliban terrorists convicted of "heinous" terror- related offences by controversial military courts, taking the number to over 150 since the Peshawar attack in 2014.

The terrorists, who were involved in killing of innocent civilians and attacking armed forces, were executed early today, the army said in a statement.

All the three convicts were active member of banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and were awarded the death sentence by military courts, Pakistan army's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

Yesterday, four Taliban terrorists who were convicted of "heinous" terrorism-related offences by controversial military courts, were hanged.

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 following a terror attack on an army-run school in Peshawar in December 2014 which killed more than 150 people, most of them students.

Human rights group Justice Project Pakistan says 441 people have been executed since the Peshawar attack.

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 Amnesty International in a worldwide report has said that Pakistan has reduced the number of executions by 73 per cent in 2016 compared to the year before.

Pakistan has been fighting various extremist groups for over a decade. Militant attacks have killed tens of thousands of people.

The military courts have handed down the death penalty to more than 160 militants.

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Two Pakistani naval ships are in Sri Lanka on a 5-day goodwill visit, signalling strong political, diplomatic and defence ties between the two countries.

PMSS Dasht and PNS Zulfiquar arrived here on May 3 and May 4 respectively.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka enjoy close friendly relations which has been demonstrated time-to-time, Pakistan's High Commission said in a statement.

The visit is "a manifestation of the strong political, diplomatic, economic, cultural, and defence ties between the two countries", it said.

Pakistan Navy Ship Zulfiquar is the pioneer ship of the sword Class, F-22P Frigate Project. The ship is fitted with state-of-the-art weapons and sensors and caries a helicopter.

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: Dairy products maker Parag Milk Foods today expanded its product range with the launch of "Slurp", a mango fruit milk juice, as part of plans to become one of the largest FMCG dairy organisations, a top official said.

The Mumbai-based company, which retails several dairy products including cheese, ghee, unveiled "Slurp" priced at Rs 20 for a 200ml pack.

"Slurp" is made from alphonso mangoes with milk and will be available in Mumbai, Kanpur and Chennai.

"Two years ago we launched butter milk (here). We are coming again with one of the best fruit juices, Alphonso mango based fruit juice Slurp", company chairman, Devendra Shah told reporters here after unveiling the product.

"We want to become one of the largest FMCG Dairy organisations and will focus on health and nutrition (segments)," he said.

The company has two manufacturing facilities at Manchar, Pune and Palamaner in Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh.

Parag Milk Foods Ltd., Chief Marketing Oficer, Mahesh Israni said the company had "technology" at the Palamaner factory to manufacture the fruit juice drinks. "We are making fresh milk, yoghurt, UHT milk at Palamaner (factory)".

The domestic fruit drink market is valued at Rs 10,219 crore of which juice segment constitutes Rs 7,150 crore.

To a query, he said "Slurp" would be available in Chennai, Kanpur, Mumbai initially and would be expanded "nationally".

Asked whether the company would look at exporting the juice tetrapacks, Shah said they may look at launching in Singapore, Hong Kong, Middle East.

Parag Milk Foods already ships some products to countries including UAE, United States, Singapore, Japan and Mauritius among others.

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Armenia will send new humanitarian assistance for the Syrian population.

May 4, 2017, 14:40 Armenia to send new humanitarian aid to Syria

STEPANAKERT, MAY 4, ARTSAKHPRESS-ARMENPRESS: The government approved the relevant draft at the Cabinet meeting.

Foreign minister Edward Nalbandian said 43 million drams will be provided to the foreign ministry for transferring it to the Hayastan All Armenian Fund to send humanitarian aid to Syria.

The finances will be allocated from the governments reserve fund.

Armenia has sent humanitarian aid to Syria for several times.
Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali is looking at a two-fold jump in sales at over Rs 20,000 crore this fiscal as it plans to double its distribution network to 12,000 across the country.

Besides, the company is aspiring to further strengthen its presence and lead in most of the product categories.

The Haridwar-based FMCG firm had clocked a turnover of Rs 10,561 crore in the financial year ended March 31, 2017.

"We would grow more than double this year... By next year, Patanjali would be in the leading position and in most of the product categories, it would be number one," yoga guru Ramdev said.

The company is in the process of setting up mega production units at several places, including Noida, Nagpur, and Indore, which would take its production capacity to Rs 60,000 crore from the existing Rs 35,000 crore.

"Our Noida facility would have a production capacity of Rs 20,000 crore, Nagpur 15,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore and Indore Rs 5,000 crore," he added.

The company is also strengthening its distribution network to reach more consumers across the country.

"We would double our distributors' network to 12,000 from the present 6,000," Ramdev said.

This fiscal, the company is looking to enhance its focus on categories such as spices, pulses, vegetable oil, biscuits, confectionery and juices and add more products into these segments.

In FY 2016-17, Patanjali Ayurved contributed Rs 9,634 crore to its turnover, while Divya Pharmacy that manufactures ayurvedic medicine had clocked Rs 870 crore sales.

During the fiscal, Patanjali ghee had a business of Rs 1,467 crore and oral care brand Dant Kanti Rs 940 crore. Its personal care brand Keshkanti had sales of Rs 825 crore and herbal soap Rs 574 crore.

"Dankanti has now 14 per cent market share in the segment. Honey is around Rs 350 crore and would grow to Rs 500-600 crore this year. Our kacchi ghani mustard oil is around Rs 522 crore and would grow up to Rs 1,000 crore," he added.

According to the company, it has now 15 per cent market share in shampoo, 14 per cent in face wash, 35 per cent in dishwasher and 50 per cent in Honey.

Patanjali's CEO Acharaya Balkrishna said the company will investing Rs 5,000 crore to set up 5 manufacturing facilities across the country.

When asked if the company is looking at entering any new product category this year, Ramdev said: "This year we will focus on our growing existing categories."



Ramdev also rubbished criticism that the company outsources manufacturing, he said: "Ninety-nine per cent of our products are manufactured in-house. People try to spread rumours about Patanjali. We have production capacity of around Rs 35,000 crore.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
said on Thursday that "provocative statements" by India will further vitiate the regional environment, a day after New Delhi asserted that the mutilation of Indian soldiers' bodies was carried out with the active participation of the Pakistani army.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Nafees Zakaria, while reacting to Defence Minister Arun Jaitley's remarks, told Radio that has made it clear that no incident of mutilation of bodies of Indian soldiers has taken place.

India has lost every right of taking any of its allegations before the United Nations because it has never abided by the world body neither has it cooperated with the UN Military Observers Group established for this purpose, Zakaria claimed.

He said "provocative statements" by India will further vitiate the regional environment.

Zakaria said India has always used the "Pakistan card" for its internal political manoeuvring and diverting world attention from its "atrocities" in Kashmir.

Jaitley yesterday had rubbished Pakistan's claim that its military was not involved in mutilating the bodies of two Indian soldiers at the LoC, asserting that the denial of the "barbaric act" carried no credibility.

Jaitley had said cover fire was provided to those who killed and mutilated the bodies of the two soldiers and Pakistan helped the perpetrators escape.

Naib Subedar Paramjeet Singh and BSF Head Constable Prem Sagar were slain by Pakistan's Border Action Team (BAT) which had sneaked 250 metres into the Indian territory in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on May 1.
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said today that Congress vice president has the potential to become the Prime Minister of the country adding that the time was also right for a generational change in the party.

The Punjab chief minister said he had always found the AICC vice president "extremely perceptive and decisive".

There was a "deliberate" attempt to undermine Rahul's image by calling him names and he has potential to become the Prime Minister of the country, Amarinder said.

The time was right for a generational change in the Congress to cater to the aspirations of the over 70 per cent youth population of the country, he said.

Referring to incidents along the LoC, the chief minister said while killings and skirmishes had been going on for long, the kind of brutality we see now was not there earlier.

Incidents like the recent mutilation of the bodies of two Indian jawans were understandably provoking the wrath of the people and the Indian Army needed to counter such acts effectively, he asserted.

However, striking a note of caution, he said that in the long term, both India and Pakistan needed to think about peace and the future of the coming generations.

The chief minister exuded confidence over the response by investors and industry to the change in dispensation in the state, saying his government had, in just six weeks, been able to build their confidence.

He endorsed his claim by adding that the Bathinda refinery was all set for a Rs 20,000 crore expansion.

Amarinder said his government had succeeded in creating the right enabling environment for the elimination of drugs, which were now becoming increasingly less available, as was evidenced in the spike in their prices.

The number of youth going to rehabilitation centres was another indication that his government had successfully broken the backbone of the drugs mafia, said the Chief Minister.

However it would be difficult to wean youth completely away from drugs without giving them employment, to which his government was committed, Amarinder said.

With 90 lakh youth in Punjab either unemployed or underemployed, his government was going all out with efforts to generate employment, he added.

Referring to the state of agriculture in Punjab, the Chief Minister said his government was working to encourage farmers, about 70 percent of whom were small farmers, to diversify and shift from paddy to high cash crops.

Such small farmers, with less than 5 acres each of land, could not survive imposition of taxes, he added referring to a suggestion by NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy to tax farm income.

However NITI Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya had said that the question of levying taxes from agricultural income does not arise.

Amarinder gave credit to the previous Akali government in the state for creating surplus power.

He however came down heavily on the Shiromani Akali Dal leadership for the huge debt they had left behind, leaving the Congress government with no money to pay salaries or for development.

The state government was working to improve education and health in the state, said Captain Amarinder, adding that without good schooling, higher education remained a problem, which was also reflected in the fact that Punjabis were not faring too well in competitive exams, including those for Army recruitment.

Without mincing words, Captain Amarinder once again repeated that Khalistani sympathisers sitting in Canada were misleading people with false information and he would not allow the peace and stability of Punjab to be destroyed by such elements at any cost.

The Chief Minister said while Punjabi language accorded due prominence, it was important also to promote English to enable the youth to find jobs in the competitive global market.
Reliance Industries will sell the natural gas it produces from coal seams in Madhya Pradesh to its own units in Gujarat and Maharashtra at USD 4.23 per million British thermal units.

After last month's government decision to give coal bed methane (CBM) producers freedom to discover market price, RIL invited bids from users of gas.

Five companies including RIL participated in the bidding process, according to the bid evaluation report the company posted on its website.

The bidders besides RIL were Deepak Fertilizer & Petrochemicals Corp Ltd, state-owned gas utility GAIL India Ltd and GMR's Rajahmundry and Vemagiri power plants.

While RIL bid USD 4.23 per mmBtu price for using the gas at its petrochemical plants at Patalganga and Nagothane in Maharashtra and Jamnagar in Gujarat, Deepak Fertilizer was a close second bidding USD 4.159. GAIL put in a bid of USD 4.009 while GMR quoted USD 2.48 per mmBtu for both the plants.

The price discovered is almost the same as USD 4.205 per mmBtu price fixed for RIL's eastern offshore KG-D6 gas field for first five years of production beginning April 2009.

A sixth bid from Asahi India Glass Ltd was rejected as it quoted for 0.51 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) which "exceeds the available CBM gas volume for sale of 0.40 mmscd," the evaluation report of its CBM gas bids said.

The bid document stipulates that "the volume quoted by the bidder shall not be lesser than 0.05 mmscmd or shall not exceed 0.40 mmscmd (approximate volume expected to be available for sale)," the report said, adding that in view of this the bid by Asahi was not considered.

The six bids put in a total requirement of 2.16 mmscmd as against the available volume of 0.40 mmscmd.

Through the April 13 notification, the oil ministry had stated that a CBM producer has to call for open bids for sale of coal gas and seek price quotes to discover the market price.

The process prescribed was the same as the one RIL had run in 2012 to discover a price for CBM gas it is to produce in Madhya Pradesh.

Back in 2012, it had sought bids for 3.5 mmscmd (as against 0.40 mmscmd put on offer this time) of coal gas from its Sohagpur CBM block in Madhya Pradesh at a benchmarked rate at 12.67 per cent of JCC, or Japan Customs-Cleared Crude, plus USD 0.26 per million British thermal unit.

The formula was the same at which Petronet LNG, a joint venture of public sector oil companies, whose chairman is the oil secretary, used to buy long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar.

At USD 100 per barrel oil price prevalent that year, CBM from RIL's Madhya Pradesh block was to cost USD 12.93 per mmBtu. At USD 55 a barrel rate currently, it would cost USD 7.2.

That formula was, however, rejected by the ministry even though 59 valid bids seeking about 70 mmscmd of gas were received in the open tender.

This time, RIL sought bids in form of a a deductible from Platts DES West India price of USD 7.659 per MMBtu.

RIL bid deducting 3.429 per MMBtu while Deepak put in (-) 3.5 bid. GAIL quoted a deduction of 3.65 and GMR 5.179.

"In the event of market-discovered price being less than the price notified by the Petroleum Planning Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the New Domestic Natural Gas Pricing Guidelines, 2014, the royalty and production level payment (PLP) shall be paid on the basis of the latter," the CBM pricing policy notified last month said.

The PPAC notified price of gas for April 1 to September 30 at USD 2.48 per mmBtu and the same for difficult areas is USD 5.56 per mmBtu, lower than the rate in RIL formula.

"Sale of CBM to any affiliate of the contractor is permitted, in the event the contractor cannot identify any buyer following the procedure (of open bidding)," the policy said, adding that the reasons for sale to affiliates will have to be notified to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With alcohol out of bounds for people in Bihar, rodent denizens of police stations are on a binge defying the ban and guzzling down seized liquor.

With the rats running riot, the state police headquarters has ordered a probe.

"We have asked Patna zonal IG to inquire into the matter. Based on his findings, the state police headquarters would initiate further action," Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters) S K Singhal told PTI today.

The fact that rodents were making merry in the dungeons came to light following media reports that they had overrun the ''Malkhana'' (store) of the police stations and had guzzled down a large amount of the more than 9 lakh litres of alcohbol seized by the police.

Media reports said that in the last 13 months, a whopping 9.15 litre of alcohol, domestic as well Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), have been seized in Bihar following the ban.

It emerged at the recent crime meeting of the state police that while a major portion of the seized liquor got destroyed on way to police stations, an equally large amount was consumed by rodents in the store of the police stations.

Meanwhile, the police arrested President of Bihar Police Men's Association on charge of consuming liquor.

Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj said that a police team arrested Police Association President Nirmal Singh and a member of the Association Shamsher Singh today from police line for consuming liquor.

The two were produced in the court of Judge of Special Excise Court Ravindra Nath Tripathi and have been remanded in judicial custody till May 18.

The two have been taken to Beur jail under new Excise Act 2016 on the basis of the court order.

The Nitish Kumar government clamped total prohibition in Bihar since April last year. In order to enforce the liquor ban, a special drive has been launched by the police as well Excise department across the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With alcohol out of bounds for people in Bihar, rodent denizens of police stations are on a binge defying the ban and guzzling down seized liquor as the role of the police too came under a cloud.

With the rats running riot and the men in uniform not above suspicion, policemen in police stations would now be subjected to random breath analyser test to check whether they too had a swig or two of the confiscated booty, Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj told PTI today.

Maharaj who met new Patna range Deputy Inspector General of Police Rajesh Kumar said the police would approach courts to seek permission for destroying the heap of alcohol bottles kept in police stores at small intervals.

Regular audit of "malkhana" (store room in police station) is another remedy thought to check any misuse of the stocked liquor, Maharaj said.

Meanwhile, the state police headqquarters has ordered a probe into the incident.

"We have asked Patna zonal IG to inquire into the matter. Based on his findings, the state police headquarters would initiate further action," Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters) S K Singhal told PTI today.

The fact that rodents were making merry in the dungeons came to light following media reports that they had overrun the ''Malkhana'' (store) of the police stations and had guzzled down a large amount of the more than 9 lakh litres of alcohbol seized by the police.

Media reports said that in the last 13 months, a whopping 9.15 lakh litres of alcohol, domestic as well Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), have been seized in Bihar following the ban.

It emerged at the recent crime meeting of the state police that while a major portion of the seized liquor got destroyed on way to police stations, an equally large amount was consumed by rodents in the store of the police stations.

Meanwhile, the police arrested President of Bihar Police Men's Association on charge of consuming liquor.

Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj said that a police team arrested Police Association President Nirmal Singh and a member of the Association Shamsher Singh today from police line for consuming liquor.

The two were produced in the court of Judge of Special Excise Court Ravindra Nath Tripathi and have been remanded in judicial custody till May 18.

The two have been taken to Beur jail under new Excise Act 2016 on the basis of the court order.

The Nitish Kumar government clamped total prohibition in Bihar since April last year. In order to enforce the liquor ban, a special drive has been launched by the police as well Excise department across the state.
Russia presents greatest threat to American national security, FBI Director James Comey has told lawmakers.

"Certainly in my view, (Russia presents) the greatest threat of any nation on earth, given their intention and their capability," Comey said in response to a question during his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where lawmakers expressed concern over Russian activities in the cyberspace.

Comey said "yes" when Senator Lindsey Graham asked when it comes to Russia, is it fair to say that Russia actively provides safe haven to cyber criminals.

He said "it is a fair statement," when Senator Lindsey Graham asked if he agreed with him the only way the Russians are going to stop this for them to pay a price for interfering in the US political process.

Comey said that Russians are doing this all over the world.

The FBI chief said that in the last presidential elections, the Russians were not able to change the actual vote tally, but one day they might.

"We found no indication of any change in vote tallies. There was efforts aimed at voter registration systems, but I suppose in theory, part of the US. The beauty of our system is it's a bit of a hairball. All different kinds of systems," he said.

"My understanding is they have attempted it in other countries," Comey said in response to another question from Graham.

In his remarks, Senator Chuck Grassley, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Ranking Member Senator Diana Feinstein expressed concern over Russian cyber activities.

Comey said the FBI has been working against Russian hackers.

"Last month, the FBI working with our partners with the Spanish national police took down a botnet called the Kelihos botnet and locked up the Russian hacker behind that botnet, who made a mistake that Russian criminals sometimes make of leaving Russia and visiting the beautiful city of Barcelona," he said.

"He is now in jail in Spain and the good people's computers who had been lashed to that zombie army have now been freed from it and are no longer part of a huge criminal enterprise," he added.

Comey said the intelligence community with high confidence concluded it was Russia that hacked into the Democratic party servers.

"In many circumstances, it's hard to do attribution of a hack, but sometimes the intelligence is there. We have high confidence that the North Koreans hacked Sony, we have high confidence that the Russians did the hacking of the DNC and the other organisations," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Saudi Arabia's King Salman had to step in recently to calm tensions between President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and the United Arab Emirates, Yemeni officials said today.

Hadi had accused the Emiratis, who are supporting him in Yemen with troops against Shiite rebels known as Houthis, of meddling in sovereign affairs, especially in the southern city of Aden where they had allegedly encouraged some locals to reject government orders, they said.

Salman's meeting with Hadi last weekend in Riyadh had been unplanned, but came just days after Hadi fired Minister of State Hani Bin Braik and Aden Gov. Aidarous al-Zubaidi in what was the latest chapter in the stand-off between Hadi and the UAE.

Relations between the two sides have also been tense over allegations the Emiratis are offering patronage to southern Yemeni politicians campaigning for secession. Aden has been the seat of Hadi's government since 2014, when rebels seized the capital, Sanaa.

Hadi told Salman the Emiratis were attempting to create an "alternate legitimate leadership" to his Yemeni government, said the officials.

Other officials said that despite Hadi's urging to stand down, thousands of pro-secessionist protesters were heading toward Aden for a demonstration on Thursday to protest the sacking of Gov. Zubaidi. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists.

Yemen's war has killed more than 10,000 civilians and pushed the Arab world's poorest nation to the brink of famine.

It pits the coalition of mostly Sunni Arab countries against the Iran-backed Houthis and their allies. After the Houthis seized Sanaa and other areas in 2014, Hadi's internationally-recognized government fled to Saudi Arabia.

A Saudi-led coalition began airstrikes against the rebels in March 2015, followed by smaller ground operations later.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
While the Egyptian national Eman Ahmed flew to the United Arab Emirates this evening, an official of Abu Dhabi hospital where she would be receiving further treatment alleged that the Saifee Hospital here was not cooperative.

Eman, believed to be the heaviest woman in the world before she was admitted to Saifee Hospital here for weight reduction treatment, would now move into VPS Burjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi.

"Saifee Hospital refused to give DAMA (discharge against medical advice) certificate which has to be given to every patient whenever demanded," alleged Shajir Gaffar, chief executive of VPS Health Group.

Gaffar was here to coordinate Eman's shifting.

He further alleged that Saifee Hospital also refused 'bed-to-bed' transfer, wherein a patient is lifted from her/his bed to the bed provided by the new hospital in the hospital room itself.

"Our bed waited with the ambulance at the gate of the hospital building because they insisted on getting her down using their own bed," Gaffar alleged.

When contacted, Dr Muffazal Lakdawala, who treated Eman at Saifee Hospital, told PTI that the hospital followed "normal protocols".

"All these issues were discussed in the meeting yesterday with entire team from VPS and they had agreed on all above but they reneged...We followed our normal hospital protocols as we do for all our patients," said Lakdawala, a bariatric surgeon.

Lakdawala had said earlier that Eman's weight was now down to 170 kg from 498 kg when she arrived here in February.

Eman's sister Shaimaa had earlier alleged that Eman did not receive proper treatment at Saifee, the charge which Dr Lakdawala and others at the Mumbai hospital denied.

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Six persons were today killed and eight others injured in two separate mishaps on the national highway 65 in Krishna district, police said.

Three labourers were killed and eight others injured after a lorry hit their tractor near Jaggayyapet early morning, said Nandigama sub-division deputy superintendent of police Umamaheswara Rao V.

Two labourers died on the spot while another succumbed on the way while he was being taken to a hospital. The injured were admitted to Jaggayyapet government hospital, of whom two were moved to a hospital in Vijayawada, he said.

The deceased were identified as Nagamalleswari (30), Venkata Rao (30) and Kiran (25), the officer said.

The labourers were travelling from Navabpet to Gowravaram village in search of farm works. A case has been registered at Chillakallu police station and a probe was underway, police said.

In a separate mishap that occurred near Pamarru village in Krishna district, a principal of a private college, a faculty member and driver were killed after their car was hit by a water tanker, they said.

Gudivada sub-division deputy superintendent of police Y Ankineed Prasad said the deceased were going to Vijayawada from here to attend a meeting.

They were identified as principal K Mohan Rao (69), T Venkateswara Rao (52) and driver Mohammed Sayed (32), the officer added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
It took more than a month and a couple of significant amendments, but the House Republicans finally achieved their goal: passing legislation to dismantle the Affordable Care Act.

The House narrowly approved the American Health Care Act by a 217-213 vote Thursday. The vote followed hours of debate in which Republicans reiterated the need to repeal the Affordable Care Act and Democrats dismissed the GOP bill as a sham.

The vote is a legislative victory for President Donald Trump, who was involved in the negotiations this week, and House Speaker Paul Ryan. It followed the withdrawal of the American Health Care Act in March after GOP leaders determined they didn't have enough support to pass the bill.

The legislation's main provisions include eliminating the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion, effectively end the employer and individual mandates and repealing several of the taxes established by the 2010 law, such as the excise tax on the sale of medical devices.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the No. 2 Republican, criticized Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion as "unsustainable" and said the law's regulations drove up the cost of health care.

"We tried the Obamacare way," he said. "It is failing remarkably and the American people are demanding a change."

Republicans were able to gain support from the conservative House Freedom Caucus, which believed the initial legislation didn't go far enough in repealing the Affordable Care Act  commonly referred to as Obamacare.

One amendment helped win over conservatives. The measure would allow states to obtain waivers from the Affordable Care Act's requirement that insurance companies don't charge individuals more for coverage if they have pre-existing conditions.

Another change would allow states to opt out of requiring insurance companies to cover "Essential Health Benefits" outlined in the Affordable Care Act. The essential health benefits include preventive services, hospitalization and maternity care.

Democrats who opposed the legislation doubled down on their criticism Thursday. U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke, a Democrat from New York, called it a "dangerous and destructive bill."

"This is a sham and we need to vote it down," she said before the vote.

U.S. Rep. Chris Collins, a western New York Republican, supported the bill and touted an amendment he sponsored that would force New York to cover the counties' share of Medicaid costs. The amendment has been criticized by state officials, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who say it would amount to a tax increase for New York residents.

However, Collins said taxpayers in his district would save more than $470 million annually.

"This is a game-changer for local New York governments," he said.

Most New York Republicans supported the overall health care bill. One who didn't was U.S. Rep. John Katko.

Katko, R-Camillus, opposed the measure for several reasons. One of his concerns was that a Congressional Budget Office estimate found that 24 million more Americans would lose health insurance under the GOP plan.

That was a concern for other moderate Republicans, too. But with amendments that won over conservatives, House Republicans could move forward with the bill.

"This is a political stunt to save face with your right-wing base," said U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, a North Carolina Democrat.

House Speaker Paul Ryan described the bill as the "next step" to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Republicans, he added, have waited years to cast this vote.

The legislation faces skepticism in the Senate, where some Republican senators have already said they oppose it or would want changes made to improve the measure.

Ryan is hopeful that action will be taken to dismantle the law, which he says has raised premiums and offered few choices for Americans. He cited insurance companies withdrawing from state exchanges as another reason why the law must be repealed.

"We can continue with the status quo or we can put this collapsing law behind us," he said. "End this failed experiment."
American authorities say the pilot of a small plane registered in Canada has been killed in a crash in northern New York.

Federal Aviation Administration says a twin-engine Piper PA-31 departed yesterday night from Jean Lesage International Airport outside Quebec City and was headed to Sainte-Hubert Airport near Montreal.

The FAA says the plane later crashed into woods in Colton, in the northwest Adirondack Mountains 95 miles (153 kilometers) southwest of Montreal. The agency says the pilot was the only person on board.

The St. Lawrence County coroner pronounced the pilot dead at the scene. State police today identified him as 35-year-old Eric Carrier, of St. Gedeon de Beauce, Quebec.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A white South African judge who last year stirred a race row with social media comments suggesting that rape was part of black culture has resigned, authorities said today.

High Court judge Mabel Jansen was placed on leave in 2016 pending a judicial probe into a complaint against her.

The justice ministry said in a statement Jansen had written to President Jacob Zuma and Justice Minister Micheal Masutha "informing them of her resignation with immediate effect".

A series of Facebook posts by Jansen emerged in May 2016, where she was chatting with a friend in private about rape in black society.

The friend later revealed the comments to the public.

She said "women tell their children it is their father's birthright to be the first, and that gang rapes of babies, mothers and daughters were a 'pleasurable pass time'."



"In their culture a woman is there to pleasure them. Period," she stated.

South Africa has some of the highest number of rape cases in the world, with small children and elderly women among the victims.

The justice department said Jansen's resignation prevented a "protracted disciplinary process".

Jansen's comments caused a racial storm in a country that is still battling racial divisions, 23 years after the end of apartheid.

The increase in racial incidents has prompted the proposal of a law to criminalise racism, although critics say, if approved, the legislation would affect free speech.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A Spanish court today ordered Barcelona's Brazilian star Neymar and his parents to stand trial over alleged fraud and corruption in the player's transfer from Santos in 2013.

The National Court also ordered Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu and his predecessor Sandro Rosell, as well as the two clubs, Barcelona and Brazil's Santos, to be sent to trial over the affair.

They will stand trial for "business corruption and fraud", the court said in a statement.

Neymar's arrival from Brazil's Santos has been a huge success for the Spanish champions on the pitch but a judicial nightmare off it.

The 25-year-old striker is being investigated in Brazil and Spain over his headline move to La Liga.

Barcelona originally published the transfer figure as 57.1 million euros (USD 62.3 million), with 40 million euros of that given to the player's family.

But Spanish authorities believe the true transfer figure was at least 83 million euros.

In November, prosecutors recommended that the striker be handed a two-year jail sentence and a fine of 10 million euros for alleged corrupt practices.

Sentences of two years or less are habitually suspended for first time offenders in Spain.

The case initiated with a complaint from Brazilian investment company DIS, which owned 40 per cent of Neymar's sporting rights at the time of his transfer.

DIS received just 6.8 million euros - 40 per cent of the fee paid to Santos - with the company claiming it was cheated out of its real share because part of the transfer fee was concealed by Barcelona, Santos and the Neymar family.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
on Thursday appointed former Cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar independent director on its board for five years.

"We are pleased to inform you that the board, vide resolution passed today, has appointed K M Chandrasekhar as an independent director of the company with immediate effect, for five years, subject to approval of the shareholders at the next general meeting," said in a BSE filing.

A 1970 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre, Chandrasekhar retired in June 2011.

He spent first 25 years of his career in Kerala and in 1996, joined the central government on deputation.

During his 15-year tenure with the central government, he held several positions such as joint secretary at Ministry of Commerce, deputy chief of mission in the Embassy of India at Brussels and the ambassador and permanent representative of India in the World Trade Organisation.

Chandrasekhar has discharged his responsibilities as chairman, managing director or member of board of directors of more than 40 in the public, joint and private sector, the filing said.
The first trailer for Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" has been unveiled and it sets the stage for the mystic and brutal battle between the Gunslinger and the Man in Black.

Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey lead the epic good- vs-evil struggle in the film, reported Digital Spy.

The film has been directed by Nikolaj Arcel and produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, who finally made a "Dark Tower" movie a reality after a decade of development.

"The Dark Tower" will release on August 4 in the US and August 18 in the UK.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
RJD chief Lalu Prasad today asked his party workers to tie old, non-milking cows outside the houses of BJP leaders to see if they really cared for the animal.

He asked his party men to do so to substantiate his allegation that the BJP and the RSS are using the issue of cow protection for garnering votes.

"BJP leaders and those linked to the RSS are targeting the people belonging to minority communities in the name of gau raksha. They are not doing it for milk but for votes ... Look for old, non-milking cows and tie them outside their houses to see how they treat the animal," he told a RJD national executive meeting.

"Even if the BJP leaders beat you with sticks, bear it and do not resist. We need to show if they are really concerned about cow service," he said.

Prasad slammed the Narendra Modi government over a spurt in attacks on security personnel, saying the prime minister, who talked of a 56-inch chest before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and patted his own back for surgical strikes in PoK, should answer how Pakistani soldiers are entering the Indian territory and beheading our jawans.

The RJD chief, who played a major role in the Mandal movement of 1990 that aimed at ensuring social justice in the country, alleged that the BJP was now "rushing to garland the statues of Dalit icon B R Ambedkar but was doing nothing to uplift deprived sections".

He accused the BJP and the RSS of making efforts to scrap reservation in government jobs and demanded that quota be introduced for three of the four seats of the Shankaracharyas.

The RJD chief also asked his party men to desist from making any comments that could led to strains in the ruling Grand Alliance in Bihar.

"Do not cut off the branch you are sitting on," he told them.

Seven resolutions were passed in the national executive meeting, including one seeking reservation for SCs and STs in the judicial services.

The RJD national executive is being held after a two-day training camp to prepare party workers for the 2019 general elections.

Rabri Devi, RJD vice-president Raghubansh Prasad Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav, his minister brother Tej Pratap Yadav, Rajya Sabha MP Misa Bharti and party spokesman Manoj Jha were among those who attended the meeting.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami has launched various infrastructure initiatives to the tune of about Rs 25 crore.

The initiatves covering the departments of Health, Rural Development and Social Welfare were launched through video conferencing yesterday, an official release said today.

Palaniswami inaugurated new facilities and buildings at a total cost of Rs 13.40 crore at government hospitals in various districts, including Dharmapuri and Sivaganga.

He also unveiled six new bridges constructed at rural areas in different parts of the state at an estimated Rs 10.39 crore.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US President Donald Trump today said he will visit Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican on his first overseas trip as president later this month.

The visits come as an addition to the president's previously scheduled trip to Europe.

The president previously announced that he would travel to Brussels, Belgium for a NATO meeting on May 25. He would also attend the G7 summit in Sicily in Italy, taking place the next day.

Trump confirmed that his first foreign trip as president would begin from Saudi Arabia, followed by Israel and Vatican.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US President Donald Trump has offered to work as "mediator, an arbitrator or a facilitator" to achieve a genuine and lasting peace between Israel and Palestine as he hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House.

In their first meeting, Trump and Abbas discussed the advancement of the Middle East peace process and the strengthening of US-Palestinian relations, the White House said in a statement.

"Trump and Abbas reaffirmed the commitment of both the US and the Palestinian Authority to achieve a genuine and lasting peace between the Israelis and Palestinians," the White House said.

Trump stressed that he is personally committed to helping the Israelis and Palestinians achieve a comprehensive peace, and that any peace settlement can only be the product of direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.

The US President expressed his appreciation for Abbas' unambiguous support for a negotiated settlement of the conflict.

Trump offered himself as a "mediator, arbiter or facilitator" to help reach a peace agreement between Israel and Palestine, but said, "Any agreement cannot be imposed by the US or any other nations."



The two leaders discussed the value of actions that can help create a climate conducive to tangible progress toward peace.

According to the White House the two leaders President reaffirmed the joint determination of the Palestinian Authority and the US to combating violence and terrorism.

They discussed the importance of the US-Palestinian partnership in building and sustaining the capacity of Palestinian security forces to counter terrorism, maintaining peace and security for the Palestinians, and continuing strong coordination with the Israeli government to benefit both peoples.

"President Trump emphasised the importance of making a clear commitment to preventing inflammatory rhetoric and to stopping incitement, and to continue strengthening efforts to combat terrorism.

"President Trump raised his concerns about payments to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails who have committed terrorist acts, and to their families, and emphasised the need to resolve this issue," the White House said.

"An honour to host President Mahmoud Abbas at the WH today. Hopefully something terrific could come out it between the Palestinians & Israel," Trump said in a tweet to his more than 28.6 million followers.

The White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at his daily conference that the two leaders discussed a wide range of issues.

"Some of the topics that were discussed during their meeting and the lunch were: advancing the Israeli-Palestinian peace; preventing incitements to violence, particularly media outlets directly associated with the Palestinian Authority; strengthening efforts to combat terrorism, including defeating ISIS; measures to empower the Palestinian economy and provide economic opportunity for the Palestinian people," he said.

"They had a series of private discussions. That is why the President is able to effectively get things done for this country is to not negotiate out in public. He's going to continue to have discussions with Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Abbas moving forward, and he feels confident about where that relationship was and developments that were made today," he said.

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Two Maoists, including a zonal commander carrying a reward of Rs 15 lakh, surrendered before the Jharkhand Police today.

A huge cache of arms was seized from their possession, CRPF IG Sanjay Lathkar said.

Zonal commander Nakul Yadav and sub-zonal commander Madan Yadav surrendered before Additional Director General of Police (Operations) RK Mallik, CRPF IG Lathkar and Ranchi range Deputy Inspector General AB Homkar in the state capital, a press release said.

Nakul and Madan carried a reward of Rs 15 lakh and Rs five lakh respectively, it said.

Nakul was wanted in over 150 cases of Maoist activities. The two Maoists operated in Lohardaga, Chatra, Gumla, Palamau and Ranchi districts, the press release said.

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UPDATED: Gov. Andrew Cuomo's public schedule was released early Thursday and unless there's a last-minute change, it doesn't appear he'll be visiting Wayne County today.

It was believed that Cuomo was going to visit Sodus Point, a Wayne County village impacted by flooding. State Sen. Pam Helming and Assemblyman Bob Oaks cancelled appearances at an event in Port Byron to attend a tour with the governor.

Cuomo's schedule says he'll be making an announcement at 10 a.m. in Melville, a Long Island hamlet. No other public events are scheduled.

Earlier report:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is expected to visit a Wayne County village impacted by Lake Ontario flooding Thursday.

Cuomo will be in Sodus Point, which is dealing with rising water levels and concerns about erosion and flooding. The governor's visit will come two days after he declared a state of emergency during a stop in Monroe County.

The state of emergency covers several counties along Lake Ontario, including Cayuga and Wayne. A rapid response team has been formed to address any flooding issues that may arise.

The International Joint Commission, which manages flows on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, blamed high water levels on "exceptionally wet weather."

Lake Ontario's water levels rose 17.3 inches in April, according to the commission. That's the third-largest increase recorded in April since 1918.

The lake's average water level was 247.77 feet at the end of the month  the highest since 1993.

There has been criticism of Plan 2014, a water management plan adopted by the commission in December. While some elected officials have blamed Plan 2014 for the rising water levels, the commission dismissed those claims.

"These high water levels are a result of exceptionally wet conditions and high water supplies, and would have occurred under any regulation plan," the commission said Tuesday.

Joining Cuomo for the tour of Sodus Point will be state Sen. Pam Helming and Assemblyman Bob Oaks. Helming, R-Canandaigua, and Oaks, R-Macedon, were initially scheduled to attend an event at the Port Byron Central School District Thursday. They have cancelled their joint appearance to attend the governor's event.
Two suspected agents of Pakistan's spy agency ISI were arrested from the city in a joint operation by anti-terrorism squads of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, an official said today.

While one of them identified as Altaf Qureshi was arrested late last night from Masjid Bunder area in South Mumbai, the second operative identified as Javed Iqbal was taken into custody from Yusuf Manzil building at Agreepada this morning, the official said.

Qureshi (37) is a hawala operator and also allegedly worked for ISI. Iqbal is an aide of Qureshi, the official said.

Qureshi had allegedly deposited money in the bank account of Aftab Ali, another ISI agent, in Lucknow for carrying out espionage activities, he said.

Aftab was arrested from Faizabad in UP yesterday.

ATS officials seized a cellphone and Rs 71.57 lakh in cash from the house of Qureshi, who was in hawala business at the behest of one Jawed Naviwala, the official said.

During the duo's interrogation, it was found that Javed used to get instructions from Pakistan and at his behest Qureshi often deposited money in Aftab's bank account, he said.

Javed was in constant touch with ISI officials in the neighbouring country, he said.

During their interrogation, names of some more persons cropped up, the official said, adding more arrests are likely.

Aftab, booked under the Official Secrets Act, had allegedly passed on information about Indian Army's movements to officers posted at Pakistan High Commission and also to ISI, the official claimed.

He had allegedly provided information about the army's movements and units in Faizabad, Lucknow and Amritsar, he said.

Qureshi and Javed will be produced in a Mumbai court for transit remand and taken to Uttar Pradesh for further interrogation, the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The UP Anti-Terrorism Squad in a joint exercise with Maharashtra Police carried out overnight raids and nabbed a suspected ISI operative in Mumbai, who was part of an espionage racket linked to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.

A total of three ISI suspects have been arrested since yesterday.

Acting on leads provided by ISI suspect Aftab Ali, arrested from Faizabad, 120 km from here yesterday, the UP ATS picked up Altaf Qureshi late last night from Masjid Bunder area in South Mumbai and Javed Iqbal from Yusuf Manzil building at Agreepada this morning, IG UP-ATS Aseem Arun said in Lucknow.

He said the trio was involved in an espionage racket, with Aftab, believed to have been trained by Pakistan's spy agency ISI, maintaining constant touch with officials in the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.

Pictures of the cantonment area in Faizabad have been recovered from his mobile phone and more clues are likely to be found through his mobile chats, he said.

Aftab was also allegedly keeping a close vigil on the movement of troops in the area, especially between Faizabad and Lucknow, besides deployment of army battalions.

Following Aftab's interrogation, Qureshi, a hawala operator who also allegedly worked for ISI was held in Mumbai, while Iqbal, the third suspect, is an aide of Qureshi, Arun said.

Qureshi had allegedly deposited money in the bank account of Aftab for carrying out espionage activities.

ATS officials seized a cellphone and Rs 71.57 lakh in cash from the house of Qureshi, who was in hawala business at the behest of one Jawed Naviwala, the official said.

During the duo's interrogation, it was found that Javed used to get instructions from Pakistan and at his behest Qureshi often deposited money in Aftab's bank account, he said.

Police were questioning Qureshi to know on whose directive he had deposited the money in Aftab's account.

Javed was in constant touch with ISI officials in the neighbouring country, he said.

During their interrogation, names of some more persons cropped up, the official said, adding more arrests are likely.

Aftab, booked under the Official Secrets Act, had allegedly passed on information about Indian Army's movements to officers posted at Pakistan High Commission and also to ISI, the official claimed.

He had allegedly provided information about the army's movements and units in Faizabad, Lucknow and Amritsar, he said.

Aftab is a resident of Khwaspura area of Faizabad, Arun said.

The ATS was continuously getting reports about military information being leaked to intelligence officials in the Pakistani High Commission and ISI and the agency was working on it through electronic surveillance, ATS sources said.

"He was in constant touch with Pakistan High Commission," state ATS said in a statement.

The ATS got cracking after Uttar Pradesh Police recently issued a warning of a possible terror attack in the state by ISI-trained terrorists.

"The group, allegedly trained by Pakistan's ISI, has reportedly been asked to target Ayodhya, Varanasi, Vrindavan, and the Taj Mahal in Agra," UP police said.

Acting on intelligence inputs, security was upgraded at several religious places - including Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura - and also at vital installations, including airports, bus and railway stations.

Central Intelligence agencies have been sharing inputs with the UP Police since February about increased activity of terrorists in the state.

A Khurasan module was unearthed after Saifullah's death in March. Recently, some self-radicalised youths were also arrested by the UP Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).

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The Madras High Court today sought the Puducherry government's stand on a plea for CBI probe into a taped telephonic talks allegedly between the trial judge and the key accused of the 2004 Sankararaman murder case.

A bench of justices N Kirubakaran and V Parthiban issued notice to the government on a plea by one V Manikandan, who sought the transfer of the probe into the alleged conversation from Cyber Crime Cell of the state police to the CBI as the former had allegedly filed no report on the probe by it.

On Manikandan's plea, the bench also sought the Union Territory government's explanation as to why no appeal had been filed against the en masse acquittal of the accused in the case.

The bench asked the Puducherry government pleader to get instructions from the government by tomorrow.

The petitioner had sought a CBI probe into the taped conversations allegedly between the then trial judge in Puducherry, who had heard the case and others including Kanchi pontiff Jayendra Sarawathi, who was the prime accused in the 2004 Sankararaman murder case.

In 2011, when the purported talks between the Kanchi seer and the trial judge surfaced, the matter went to the high court which briefly stayed the trial.

Later, the high court ordered a probe by the Cyber Crime Cell in 2012. In 2013, all the 24 accused in the case including Jayendra Saraswathi and his junior Vijayendra Saraswathi were acquitted by a Puducherry sessions court.

The matter relates to the killing of Sankararaman, the then manager of Sri Varadharaja Perumal Temple at Kancheepuram inside the temple premises.

It was submitted by the petitioner before the bench that no report was filed on the investigation that was carried out in the above matter by the Cyber Crime Cell. Hence, he had sought a CBI probe.

The petitioner has also contended that "for the reasons best known to the Puducherry government" it had not filed any appeal against the acquittal.

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The CPI(M) today accused BJP "goons" of assaulting its workers in Tripura and said it would "never cow down" to such violence.

"Goons of BJP at work in Tripura, assaulting our party cadre. We condemn such attacks. This steels our resolve to never cow down to violence (sic)," CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury tweeted.

According to media reports, 30 people have been injured in Tripura after clashes between members of the state's ruling CPI(M) and the BJP over the last two days.

Tripura, one of the two states along with Kerala being ruled by Left parties, goes to polls next year.

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Global fast-fashion retailer Zara today opened its largest stand-alone highstreet store in the city and will also foray into e-commerce by the end of this year, a senior company official said.

"We expect to launch online sales in India by the end of the year," Jesus Echevarria, chief communications and corporate affairs officer at Inditex, the parent company of Zara, told reporters here.

"We do not differentiate between online and offline sales as revenues are integrated," he added, when asked about how much e-commerce contributes to overall sales.

The company began to leverage online sales in Asia with Singapore and Malaysia in March this year, it had said last month.

"Asia is among our fastest growing markets, and we will continue to grow in India at the pace we have done so far," he said.

The Spanish fashion brand entered the country in 2010 through a joint venture Inditex Trent, between Inditex and the Tata Group.

It has 21 stores in eight cities and plans to open 2-3 stores a year going ahead, he indicated.

So far, the company has launched two brands in India including Zara, and Massimo Dutti. When asked about whether they will launch other brands, he said Inditex is not considering this in the near-term.

When asked about sourcing, Echevarria said 60 per cent of its products are manufactured in Europe, and 40 per cent in other countries, of which India is "a significant contributor".

The newest store in the heart of South Mumbai is 51,300 square feet and is housed in a 110-year-old heritage building which was jointly restored by local architects, and Zara's in-house architects.

The fashion retailer is reportedly paying Rs 30 crore annually to lease the property.

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By Neha Dasgupta and Sudarshan Varadhan

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Coal India Ltd, the world's largest coal miner, is considering a listing on the London Stock Exchange and has had early discussions with the LSE, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.

A listing by the state-controlled miner would be a boost for the LSE as it looks to attract companies following Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

Coal India and LSE officials met in London in December to discuss the matter but there is no guarantee a listing will happen, two sources said.

The sources requested anonymity as they were not authorised to talk to the media.

"Coal India is examining the proposal, it has come from them," one of the sources said, adding that the idea was looked on favourably by the British government.

LSE spokeswoman Alexandra Ritterman declined to comment on "speculative future listings".

The LSE, which hopes to attract a listing from Saudi Aramco, has said it sees longer term prospects from India.

Coal India had no immediate comment. It was also not possible to immediately confirm whether Coal India had appointed any advisers on the potential LSE listing.

Kolkata-based Coal India, which is listed in Mumbai and has a market capitalisation of around $27 billion, has been holding road shows including in London to seek buyers for a 10 percent stake.

Almost all of the company's assets are in India but it is trying to buy assets in Australia and South Africa as it looks to secure supplies of coking coal used to make steel.

(Additional reporting by Krishna N. Das and Dasha Afanasieva; editing by Jason Neely)

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NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's cabinet has taken significant decisions on the country's banking sector, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, declining to give further details, saying it needed a Presidential accord.

"Some significant decision has been taken on the banking sector in the cabinet, but propriety demands that the government should announce this only after the assent of the President," Jaitley told a conference after the cabinet meeting.

The government and the central bank have previously said they were working on a new plan for the resolution of bad loans at Indian lenders that hit a record $150 billion as of end-December.

(Reporting by C.K. Nayak and Mayank Bhardwaj; Writing by Devidutta Tripathy, editing by David Evans)

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By Julia Simon and Devika Krishna Kumar

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices plunged to five-month lows on Thursday amid record trading volume in Brent crude, as OPEC and other producers appeared to rule out deeper supply cuts to reduce the world's persistent glut of crude.

Closing prices, below $50 a barrel, were the lowest since Nov. 29, thereby erasing all the market gains that followed a late 2016 announcement by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries it would cut output.

The slide steepened after the OPEC delegates downplayed the chance that their group and other producing countries would deepen their output cuts when they meet on May 25. They did say current output cuts were likely to be extended.

But analysts say non-OPEC members may struggle to extend production cuts.

U.S. crude ended the session 4.81 percent lower at $45.52 per barrel after falling as much as 5.29 percent to an intraday bottom of $45.29, the lowest since Nov. 29.

Brent crude settled at $48.38, or 4.75 percent lower, after tumbling as much as 5.17 percent during the session.

Front-month Brent crude trading volume rose to the highest on record with nearly 525,000 lots changing hands, according to data that extends back to 1988.

Front-month WTI volume rose to more than 898,000 contracts, the highest in nearly two months.

Commodity Trading Advisors were among those liquidating their contracts in the day, traders said.

"While the cartel is expected to extend a self-imposed production cap by another six months, it will be a challenge to convince several non-OPEC members to follow suit," said Abhishek Kumar, senior energy analyst at Interfax Energy's Global Gas Analytics. "Persistent growth in US oil production ... will also make extensions of the OPEC cap beyond 2017 unlikely."

There was also a sign of slowing energy demand in China, the world's second largest oil consumer, when a survey showed growth in that country's services sector in April was at its slowest in almost a year.

Both benchmarks tested major support levels, with U.S. crude falling well below the key price of $47.23, according to traders and analysts.

Dean Rogers, senior technical analyst at Kase & Co, said charts showed the next potential stalling points were $44.20 for WTI and $47.20 for Brent.

"Sustained closes below this levels would be extremely bearish for the long-term," he said.

U.S. equities also were lower, with losers led by the energy sector , which fell 2.24 percent to its lowest since August.

Late last year, OPEC and other producing countries announced production cuts of 1.8 million barrels per day for the first six months of this year.

Even so, McGillian said, "We still have a near record overhang and signs of increasing production in areas of the world outside the producers that agreed to the cuts."

Crude output has surged in the United States, with increasing rig counts for the past 11 months.

Russia's energy minister, Alexander Novak, said in written comments on Thursday that his country is inclined to extend its cuts.

But many in the market believe steeper cuts are needed to reduce the glut significantly.

"At some point, the market should recognize OPEC isn't the most important player in the market any more," said Commerzbank's Eugen Weinberg, "That is non-OPEC, and, above all, U.S. shale."

(Additional reporting by Amanda Cooper in London, Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by David Gregorio and Steve Orlofsky)

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By Alex Lawler and Rania El Gamal

LONDON/DUBAI (Reuters) - OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers look likely to extend their agreement to limit supplies beyond its June expiry to help clear a glut, three OPEC delegates said on Thursday, downplaying the chance of additional steps such as a bigger cut.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers originally agreed to curb production by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) for six months from Jan. 1 to support the market.

Oil prices have gained support but stockpiles are still high and production from non-participating countries such as the United States has been rising, keeping crude below the $60 level that OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia would like to see.

However, OPEC officials generally believe the agreement is helping to bring the market closer to balance between supply and demand and that it should be extended into the second half of the year with the same numbers.

"The willingness to extend the current understanding is strong among OPEC and non-OPEC participants," an OPEC delegate said, declining to be identified by name.

"I have doubts that more cuts will be discussed as the current agreement is yielding a positive outcome."

Officials from the 13-country OPEC - which accounts for a third of global oil production - are in Vienna on Thursday and Friday to attend a meeting of the group's governing board. Such meetings provide an occasion to chat informally, but they deal with administrative matters and do not decide policy.

"A rollover with the same numbers," another OPEC delegate said on Thursday, asked about the chance of a larger cut being agreed when OPEC and non-OPEC ministers meet on May 25.

To be sure, some OPEC delegates have raised the possibility of a larger supply cut and others have said the existing agreement could be tweaked.

But another official familiar with the supply deal said an increase in the size of the reduction was not likely.

"I don't expect any surprises," this official said. "Especially now almost everyone is complying reasonably well."

OPEC members including top exporter Saudi Arabia have voiced support for extending the deal. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak made Moscow's position clearer on Thursday, saying Russia was inclined to prolong the accord.

Compliance by OPEC and non-OPEC with pledged cutbacks stood at 98 percent in March, OPEC said - higher than the organisation achieved during its last cut in 2009.

(Editing by Dale Hudson)

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When the House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, there were 20 Republicans who opposed the GOP bill.

One of them was U.S. Rep. John Katko.

Katko, R-Camillus, was one of two Republicans from New York  U.S. Rep. Dan Donovan was the other  who opposed the American Health Care Act, which eliminate several key provisions in the 2010 health care law.

In a statement released Thursday afternoon, Katko explained why he voted against the bill.

"Since I came to Congress, I have maintained that any repeal bill must be accompanied by a full replacement. While I commend my colleagues and the president for working to address the significant problems created by Obamacare, the measure before the House today fails to control costs and would impose a significant tax burden on New Yorkers," he said.

"This measure now moves to the Senate, where significant policy changes are expected. I will remain a constructive part of that process and urge my colleagues in the Senate to continue working towards viable, market-based solutions to Obamacare."

While the House vote featured some suspense  some of the more moderate members of the Republican conference opposed the bill  Katko's position never wavered.

The congressman, who's in his second term representing central New York, had concerns with the bill from the start. In March, he didn't take a position until after the Congressional Budget Office released its assessment of the legislation.

The CBO's review of the bill found that it would lower premiums over time, but it would also result in 24 million more uninsured Americans. That finding worried Katko, who maintained that ensuring coverage should be a priority even when some GOP leaders did not.

Days after the CBO's score was released in mid-March, Katko announced his opposition to the American Health Care Act.

His comments then were similar to his statement Thursday. He called aspects of the bill "promising," but added that "substantial future administrative legislative action would be needed."

The House debated the bill in late March, but House Speaker Paul Ryan withdrew the measure moments before the roll call vote. Katko confirmed what many observers knew: Republicans didn't have the votes.

GOP leaders had two groups that opposed the bill: The more conservative House Freedom Caucus and the Tuesday Group, which features more moderate Republican members.

Katko is a member of the Tuesday Group.

The initial version of the GOP bill, Katko said in an interview in March, "missed the mark completely." What he viewed as important elements of a replacement weren't in the measure. For example, he supports expanding association plans, which could help large groups buy health insurance. That proposal wasn't in the American Health Care Act.

The focus shifted away from health care until mid-April, when reports indicated that leaders from the Freedom Caucus and Tuesday Group were negotiating a compromise.

Those talks produced the MacArthur amendment. The key provisions of the amendment would allow states to obtain exemptions from the Affordable Care Act's requirement that health insurance companies cover "essential health benefits," such as certain preventive services and pregnancy care.

When asked about the proposed change in April, Katko called it "ridiculous."

Another key addition was a similar measure that allows states to get waivers from the health care law's mandate that health insurance companies must not charge higher rates for individuals with pre-existing conditions.

The amendment didn't win over Katko and other moderates, but it was enough to get support from the Freedom Caucus.

Katko maintained his opposition to the American Health Care Act this week, even as conservative radio host Bob Lonsberry, who has shows that air in the Rochester and Syracuse markets, threatened to campaign against him if he voted against the bill.

Lonsberry's pledge didn't affect Katko's position. When the House considered the bill Thursday afternoon, the GOP congressman voted no.

The vote doesn't appear to have affected Katko's standing with GOP leadership.

Chris Martin, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, issued a statement lauding Katko's independence and "steadfast commitment to the people of his district."

"We are honored to stand with Congressman Katko as he continues to exhibit leadership on the most pressing issues facing our country," Martin said.

U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, thinks the health care vote will loom as an issue for all Republicans, including Katko, in next year's election.

"There is no question that this bill will cause incredible pain for hardworking Americans, particularly those fighting to make ends meet," Lujan said. "Make no mistake about it: every single House Republican bears the responsibility for this heartless legislation, and the passage of this bill will haunt them through Election Day."
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) developed the so-called anti-corruption compliance program and Wal-Mart is hoping to be the first U.S. company to get certified under it, said Jay Jorgensen, Wal-Mart's executive vice president and global chief ethics and compliance officer.

"We have begun looking for a company that would certify us," Jorgensen told the Thomson Financial and Risk Summit in New York.

The ISO is the world's largest developer and publisher of international standards.

Jorgensen added that Wal-Mart was interested in seeing the program develop in the United States, with the government laying out its own anti-corruption compliance framework or adopting ISO standards to help protect companies that follow it and defend themselves if something goes wrong.

Jorgensen also shared a recent development in which federal agencies have contacted the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer about compliance programs.

"Over the past couple of months ... some of the federal agencies have reached out to say 'hey do you have any feedback for us, anything we are doing is unreasonable?,'" Jorgensen said.

Wal-Mart has given feedback to federal agencies and will continue doing so and the company would also be open to speaking with state regulators about compliance, he said.

Jorgensen cited an example of how a broken baby shampoo bottle in California is treated as hazardous waste that retailers have to dispose off through an incinerator.

"We would love it if California would say 'hey we would like some feedback," Jorgensen said.

Jorgensen, who joined Wal-Mart in 2012, has been instrumental in revamping Wal-Mart's compliance systems around the world and building a dedicated ethics and compliance team. That team has a staff of over 2,300, including over 500 in the United States and over 1,800 in international markets.

Since 2013, Wal-Mart has invested more than $141 million in global ethics and compliance systems, Jorgensen said.

More recently, Wal-Mart has created licensing teams that monitor the more than 56,000 licenses and permits Wal-Mart needs to operate in global markets using a centralized licensing system that reduces the error of wrongdoing and increases transparency, he said.

For the last four years, the Wal-Mart board's compensation committee has conditioned a portion of its most senior executives' compensation on making adequate progress toward annual compliance goals. In its latest compliance report, Wal-Mart said it has achieved over 200 of these board-level objectives, including over 60 that relate specifically to its anti-corruption program.

Wal-Mart's ethics and compliance system came into focus after a New York Times report in 2012 found Wal-Mart had engaged in a multi-year bribery campaign to build its Wal-Mart de Mexico business.

This was followed by an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into potential misconduct by Wal-Mart, including violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in some overseas markets including China, Brazil, India and Mexico.

In October, Wal-Mart rebuffed a proposal by U.S. prosecutors to pay at least $600 million to settle a corruption probe into the company's practices in markets including Mexico, India and China.

So far Wal-Mart has spent about $800 million on legal fees and an internal investigation into the alleged payments and to revamp its compliance systems around the world.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose in New York; Editing by Tom Brown)

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Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved has taken the Indian FMCG market by a storm. The company, with a turnover of Rs 10,561 crore in 2016-17 is not only a household name, but has been giving close competition to major international brands. Though Baba Ramdev endorses all of Patanjali's consumer products, the man behind the formidable success of India's fastest growing FMCG brand is Ramdev's close aide, Acharya Balakrishna.

The 44-year old CEO of Patanjali has pushed the company's revenues at a rapid pace. He has not only encashed upon Baba Ramdev's huge base of followers but also attracted Indian consumers by hitting the 'swadeshi' idea.

Though Ramdev is the brand ambassador of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, he does not own a single share in it. Acharya Bal Krishna owns close to 94 per cent Patanjali Ayurved. Rest of the small holdings are dispersed among a small group of individuals. He is the brain behind the admirable growth of Patanjali as a consumer brand.

Here are the five things that you may not know about the man behind Pantanjali:

1. Balkrishna Suvedi, also known as Acharya Balakrishna holds as much as 94 per cent of Patanjali shares and does not accept salary from the company. He heads around 34 companies and three trusts associated with Patanjali brand and Baba Ramdev.

2. Born to Nepalese parents who later migrated to India, Acharya Balakrishna was Ramdev's junior in ashram Khanpur Gurukul in Haryana. In 1995, Ramdev with his close associate, Balkrishna, set up Divya Pharmacy to make Ayurvedic and herbal medicines. Later, with Baba Ramdev's increasing popularity and substantial funds, Patanjali Ayurved was set up as a private company in 2006.

3. In 2011, he was charged with cheating and forgery for acquiring fake degrees to procure an Indian passport. His high school degree and Sanskrit degree from Sampurna Nand Sanskrit University were missing from official records. According to the CBI, his passport was issued on the basis of forged educational degrees and his Indian citizenship was also questioned. However, the case was closed two years later due to lack of evidence.

4. Balkrishna is known to maintain a low-profile. Like all other Patanjali employees, Balkrishna dresses in white to reinforce an aura of spirituality. All the decisions related to marketing strategy and advertising are usually left to Balkrishna. He is a one-man army when it comes to the operations in Patanjali. From hiring senior management staff to dealing with advertisers, he does is it all alone.

5. Balkrishna's Patanjali has given FMCG majors a run for their money. Also, the company is eyeing to hit Rs 10,000 crore revenue by 2017. Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balakrishna have formed a phenomenal partnership to grow Patanjali Ayurveda as a brand. They have achieved this by keeping the prices of the products substantially lower than the other FMCG brands and by capturing the nerve of the Indian consumers.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested the director and promoter of a Mumbai-based firm in connection with its money laundering probe in a bank loan fraud case involving over Rs 2,600 crore.

This case is said to be one of the biggest instances of bank loan default being probed by investigative agencies in the country.

Agency officials said it arrested Vijay M Choudhary late yesterday in Mumbai under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Choudhary is the "director and main controller" of Ms Zoom Developers Private Limited (ZDPL) and was wanted by the ED in this case, where it is alleged that the firm and its controllers cheated 25 banks to the tune of Rs 2,650 crore.

Choudhary is expected to be produced by ED officials in a court in Indore today.

The ED had booked a criminal case under PMLA based on a CBI FIR to probe this alleged default. It had also attached 1,280 acres of land in California in the United States of America (USA) in this case in July, 2015.

"The money laundering investigation was conducted in this case on the basis of FIR and charge sheets filed by the CBI where it is alleged that Choudhary controlled Ms Zoom Developers has caused wrongful loss to five banks, Punjab National Bank, Syndicate Bank, Canara Bank, United Bank of India and Union Bank to the tune of Rs 966 crore," the ED said in a statement.

Further, it said, "this loss is not just limited to Rs 966 crore but the accused has cheated more than 25 banks and it involves huge public money over Rs 2,650 crore."

The agency said its probe found that majority of the contracts shown by the firms of Choudhary were "paper contracts only" and no work was done and ZDPL has frequently sought extension of bank guarantees, counter guarantees, by submitting false grounds for extension.

It said Choudhary, along with his associate Sharad Kabra "cheated Indian bankers, siphoned off public funds outside the country and acquired assets by way of laundering the illegally generated money through web of companies created in India."

Kabra was also arrested by the ED in this case earlier.

Choudhary, who is alleged to have floated 485 companies in his or his associates names, has been called the "mastermind" of this fraud case by the ED.

It added Choudhary had floated fifteen companies in the USA, three in the UK and Switzerland each, seven in Singapore, four in Germany, nine in the UAE and two each in China and Zimbabwe.

He is also alleged by the ED to have formed two trusts in Liechtenstein.

"It appears that he (Choudhary) has formed these companies for the sole purpose of laundering the proceeds of crime," he said.

The ED has attached assets worth Rs 130 crore in this case till now.

The firm operates from Indore and Mumbai.
The cabinet on Wednesday cleared the non-performing assets (NPAs) resolution package, which includes an ordinance that will give the Reserve Bank of India more power to deal with bad assets.

The ordinance could mean an amendment to the Banking Regulation Act to make the RBI more effective in dealing with bad loans and will give them a way to deal with non-performing assets.

Also read: Not impossible for India to resolve 20 to 30 big accounts: Arun Jaitley on NPAs

The resolution has been sent to the President for approval after which the details will be made clear.

After a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi , Finance Minister Arun Jaitely declared that a major decision was taken related to the banking sector. However, he declined to comment on the contents of the resolution stating tradition.



"There is a convention that when some proposal is referred to the President then details of it cannot be disclosed till it is approved. As soon as approval comes, details will be shared," he said.

Also read: Govt approves New Steel Policy, local products get priority



According to data provided by the government, the gross bad loans in public sector banks rose by over Rs 1 lakh crore in the just the first nine months of the last fiscal year from Rs 5.02 lakh crore in March to Rs 6.07 lakh crore in December.

In an event on April 24, speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley termed the resolution of the Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) as the "one very big challenge" going forward and the government's "top priority" at the moment.



Jaitley asserted that the government was giving top priority to addressing the issue of bad loans while acknowledging that the problem of non-performing assets was "adversely impacting" the Indian banking system.



He said the magnitude of the NPAs problem was that essentially it was about 20 to 30 big accounts.



"It's not a problem spread over hundreds of thousands of accounts...and it's not impossible for a large economy like India to resolve 20 to 30 accounts. So it's not an insurmountable problem. I think it's just persisted too long, but it's certainly adversely impacting us," he said.



"So if you were to ask me, there are a series of reforms and changes which we've successfully made. This is one hurdle which we are now required to jump, and that's where our current focus is," he said during the event on April 24.
A new policy that aims to achieve steel making capacity of 300 million tonnes by 2030 with an additional investment of Rs 10 lakh crore got the Cabinet green light on Wednesday.

The Cabinet also approved a policy for use of domestic steel products in government organisations.

"The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval to the National Steel Policy (NSP) 2017," the steel ministry said in a statement.

"The Cabinet... has approved the policy for providing preference to domestically manufactured iron and steel products on government procurement," the ministry said in another statement.

The policy makes it mandatory to give preference to domestically manufactured iron and steel products (DMI&SP) in government procurement. The policy is applicable to all government tenders where price bid is yet to be opened.

"The DMI&SP policy provides a minimum value addition of 15 per cent in notified steel products which are covered under preferential procurement. In order to provide flexibility, the Ministry of Steel may review specified steel products and the minimum value addition criterion," it said.

The NSP enshrines a long-term vision to give impetus to the steel sector. It seeks to boost domestic steel consumption and ensure high quality steel production and create a technologically advanced and globally competitive steel industry.

The policy projects crude steel capacity of 300 mt, production of 255 mt and robust finished steel per capita consumption of 158 kg by 2030-31, as against the current use of 61 kg.

"The policy also envisages domestically meeting the entire demand of high-grade automotive steel, electrical steel, special steels and alloys for strategic applications and increasing domestic availability of washed coking coal so as to reduce import dependence on coking coal from about 85 per cent to around 65 per cent by 2030-31," the statement said.

Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh is confident that the policy will give a concrete shape to future plans and policies for the steel industry in India.

"We have taken a holistic and comprehensive view of the steel sector in India and its key growth drivers to ensure sustainable growth of all segments of the industry," he said.

Thrust areas in the policy include raw material securitisation, import substitution, increasing production efficiency and enhancing steel consumption, he said.

"I am confident that the policy will make the Indian steel sector more vibrant and competitive, and facilitate taking the steel industry to new heights of success," the minister added.

The potential of the MSME steel sector has been recognised, too. As per the policy, adoption of energy efficient technologies in the MSME steel sector will be encouraged to improve overall productivity and reduce energy intensity.

The ministry will also ensure availability of raw materials like iron ore, coking coal and non-coking coal, natural gas etc at competitive rates.

The policy envisages development of globally competitive steel manufacturing capabilities, cost-efficient production, facilitating foreign investment and asset acquisitions of raw materials.

R&D in the sector will take spotlight through establishment of the Steel Research and Technology Mission of India (SRTMI). The initiative is aimed at spearheading R&D of national importance in the iron and steel sector utilising tripartite synergy among the industry, national R&D laboratories and academic institutes.

"With the rollout of the National Steel Policy 2017, it is envisaged that the industry will be steered in creating an environment for promoting domestic steel and thereby ensuring a scenario where production meets the anticipated pace of growth in consumption through a technologically advanced and globally competitive steel industry," it said.

This will be facilitated by the steel ministry, in coordination with relevant ministries, as may be required.

While implementing the policy, it puts trust in each domestic manufacturer that provides self-certification to the procuring government agency declaring that the products are domestically manufactured in terms of the value addition prescribed.

It will not normally be the responsibility of procuring agency to verify the correctness of the claim. In a few cases, the onus of demonstrating the correctness of the same will be on the bidder when asked to do so.

In case any manufacturer is aggrieved, a grievance redressal committee set up under the steel ministry will dispose of the complaint in four weeks.

There are provisions in the policy for waivers to all such procurements where specific grades of steel are not manufactured in the country or the quantities as per the demand of the project cannot be met through domestic sources.

The policy is designed to promote growth and development of the domestic steel Industry and reduce the inclination to use low quality, low cost imported steel in government-funded projects. It shall be the responsibility of every government agency to ensure implementation of the policy.
The recently released and long overdue National Health Policy is a welcome move for Indian citizens as the policy aims to ensure health for all by 2030. The increase in healthcare expenditure to 2.5 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) from the current 1.3 per cent will provide some relief to the vast population of our country, even though it may not be enough and falls far short of the World Health Organization's (WHO) recommended minimum 5 per cent spend.



It is, indeed, heartening to hear that improving public health is high on the government's agenda. However, looking at the magnitude of India's health challenges, it is certain that the government cannot achieve this ambitious target all by itself. The private sector that carries the majority of India's health burden, and global companies who partner with both government and private sectors will continue to be essential pillars if India is to achieve far-reaching impact for improved access, awareness and affordability of medical treatment.

For decades, private enterprises have toiled hard to create enabling technologies, which form the backbone of healthcare infrastructure. The medical technology (or medtech) sector has been at the forefront for bringing innovations to India from across the globe and has contributed to saving and improving the quality of life when it comes to certain medical conditions. There is hardly any aspect of healthcare that remains untouched by the medtech sector - ranging from innovation, R&D, diagnostics and clinical evidence to record keeping, tracking and many more. But today I would like to touch upon the unsung role of the medtech sector in building capacity, and training and educating healthcare practitioners on technology adoption for better patient outcomes.

At the outset, it is important to understand that the availability of qualified and skilled medical professionals in India, especially for complex and intricate medical conditions, is highly inadequate. As per government data, for every 10,000 citizens, India has only seven doctors, 17 nurses/midwives, one dentist and five pharmaceutical personnel. These numbers are far lower compared to the WHO benchmark of 25 doctors and nurses per 10,000. As for conditions that require specialised and critical care such as cardiac problems, joint replacement and neurosurgery, the situation is even worse and reflects the forbidding fragility of the Indian healthcare system.

Global medtech companies have not only been instrumental in bringing cutting-edge, state-of-the-art technologies that have contributed to improved treatment outcomes, but have also been at the helm of training and skilling medical practitioners on a variety of procedures and therapies. In the ever-changing world of technology, continuous training is important to keep medical practitioners updated. The contribution of the medtech sector in this area cannot be denied. Over the years, global companies have invested efforts and millions of dollars in keeping healthcare professionals abreast with technology upgrades.

If one is to compare the medical profession with the aviation industry, it becomes obvious that an error caused by lack of training will lead to injury or even death. Therefore, the need for well-trained staff becomes paramount. Several hours are spent in training and certifying pilots before they are allowed to operate high-tech equipment independently. If the technology changes, the pilots are subjected to re-certification and advanced training so that they are adept at handling newer, better technologies. Similarly, surgeons need to train all the time to remain up to date with the latest advancements in the medical field. In both cases, in the absence of proper and regular training, outcomes can be devastating, putting human life at risk. In the ever-changing world of technology, the medical fraternity is invariably learning to hone their skills and knowledge, and the medtech sector is constantly supporting this endeavour to eliminate the risk of error.

Let us consider a joint replacement surgery, a commonly performed procedure in India. Interestingly, this technology and the procedure itself have evolved over the years. With the use of latest technology, the procedure can be less invasive, safer, less painful, more precise and more effective. This has been made possible by new technologies and techniques such as computer-assisted navigation surgery or the use of customised patient jigs or robots. The medtech sector partners with healthcare practitioners to introduce new techniques, and invests efforts and resources to train surgeons on these new technologies.



It is much like the aircraft manufacturers who take it upon themselves to train pilots on their latest equipment. The impact of technology is evident from the fact that a knee replacement patient is potentially mobilised and starts bearing weight on the operated knee within hours of the procedure compared with what was required earlier - weeks of strict bed rest and medical supervision, coupled with strong painkillers. Therefore, the power and the value of the medtech sector in reducing the burden of disease cannot be undermined and is essential for continuous improvements.

The role of the medtech companies does not cease after making the technology available or training the surgeons. Being the product experts, their representatives play a vital role in assisting surgeons and paramedical staff. Companies not only train doctors, but also invest in educating their staff with product and procedural knowledge so that they are proficient in assisting surgeries. These representatives make available devices and instrumentation as required and also make sure that the operation theatre (OT) technicians know precisely when, how and which instruments and components are to be used during a surgery. They speed up procedures, making time for more. While it is the responsibility of the surgeon to ensure that the patient receives the most appropriate treatment, device companies inform the surgeons on the design and the mechanics of the implants and instrumentation.

Countless man-hours are invested by medtech engineers, scientists and researchers to develop a new technology and surgeons invest years to master procedures as this is a long learning curve. Medtech companies, through their continuous training and education initiatives, support and assist surgeons through this learning curve.

Research and development, training and education in medtech space not only involve high costs but also require constant investment of talent and other resources. For the value this sector delivers, price control measures will serve as a deterrent to patient benefit and outcomes. Patients in India deserve the best, including high-end, cutting-edge technology solutions and constant improvement of surgical skills. Medical technology innovations and education drive better outcomes. So measures such as price control may sow the seeds of doubt and risk among the global companies, and hinder patients in India from accessing the best that they deserve.

Mohit Malhotra is Managing Director at Stryker India.


Japanese auto major Honda has pipped Bajaj Auto to become second-largest bike-maker in April, and has also moved within striking distance to overtake Hero as the country's largest two-wheeler company .

"Driven by a 34 per cent rise in overall volumes, we have become the No 2 motorcycle-maker in the country in April, unseating the incumbent by a wide margin (over 21,330 units). We sold 1,83,266 bikes in the month, up 22 per cent from 1,50,711 units we had sold a year ago," Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India senior vice-president, sales and marketing, YS Guleria said.

As against this, Bajaj Auto saw its domestic sales plunge 19 per cent to 1,61,930 units in April. With this, the Japanese two-wheeler major leads the Pune-headquartered company by a wide margin of 21,336 units, while it has narrowed the gap it has with the market leader Hero MotoCorp to just 12,377 units, making it within a striking distance from the numero uno crown.

The Japanese company began fiscal 2018 on a high note with a 34 per cent spike in sales taking its volumes to a record high of 5,78,929 units, its best-ever monthly sales.

As against this Hero MotoCorp saw its sales falling 3.5 per cent to 5,91,306 units in the month.

Even last in fiscal 2017, HMSI lead the market growth selling more than 5 million units, and has closed the year with double-digits growth while the industry managed to remain in the green.

HMSI contributed around half the incremental volume in the year.

The April volume jump was led by a massive 40 per cent rise in its flagship scooter Activa which crossed for the first time 3.5 lakh monthly sales at 3,68,618.

When asked whether HMSI is hopeful of maintaining the lead in the bikes category going forward, Guleria said, "Our present capacity allows us to sell only 1.5-1.8 lakh bikes a month and we are confident of fully utilising that capacity. Having begun fiscal 2018 year on a high, we are looking forward to meet the target set for the year -- 20 per cent volume growth at 6 million units over 5 million units in fiscal 2017".

Asked if Honda will continue to narrow the gap with the market leader in overall volumes and overtake it sooner than later to be the largest two-wheeler company in the country, Guleria said, "We are limited by our capacity now which is at 5.8 million. We could speak about higher volumes only after we open our new assembly line (11th one) in July in Karnataka."

"HMSI will be adding 0.6 million units at its Karnataka plant by July, investing over Rs 1,000 crores. With this the Karnataka facility will be largest for the company with 2.4 million units annual capacity. Honda already runs the world's largest scooters only plant (1.2 million units) at Vithalapur in Gujarat which was commissioned in February and June 2016.

"Currently, our focus is on meeting the huge demand for scooters as the waiting period has shot up to over 30,000 units now. We can't also add another shift as all the 10 assembly lines are running at full capacity with two shifts for long now," Guleria said.



It can be noted that Hero has much larger installed capacity with around 7.8 million units per annum.

Even after HMSI opens its 11th assembly line in July, its gap with Hero will still be 1.4 million a year. Guleria said the bike volumes were driven by the 125-cc Shine, which contributed close to 55 per cent of the April bikes volume.

The over a decade-old Shine with its two variants has been its warhorse for long now. He also said the company is hopeful of crossing the 5.5-million cumulative sales of the Shine this month.

The record April sales has pushed up the HMSI's market share to over 33 per cent, up 2.5 percentage points from the March pie. Its exports soared nearly 60 per cent in the month to 27,045 units.
An Auburn man has been arrested after a domestic dispute early last month, the Auburn Police Department said.

According to police, at around 11 p.m. April 7, officers were called to a residence on Frances Street for a domestic complaint.

At the time, the victim  a 28-year-old woman  told police that her ex-boyfriend, Jessy Jean Forney, stole her cell phone from her hands after repeatedly knocking on her front door.

Police said Forney returned to the victim's home at around 4:30 a.m. April 8 and entered an enclosed porch through a window. The victim allegedly woke to find Forney on the porch and called police.

Forney, 30, of 7050 Beech Tree Road, was arrested Wednesday and charged with fourth-degree grand larceny, a class E felony, and two misdemeanors  second-degree criminal trespass and fourth-degree stalking. He was arraigned in Auburn City Court Thursday morning and remanded to Cayuga County Jail in lieu of $2,000 cash, $4,000 bond.
Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry (Independent Charge), has made a candid statement - India needs a new manufacturing policy.

In an interview-based report published by the business daily Economic Times, Sitharaman talks about a comprehensive review of the six-year-old National Manufacturing Policy launched by the previous government. She points out that for the government's flagship programmes such as the 'Make in India' campaign to succeed, the policy cannot be a 2011 vintage.

Technically, the minister is correct. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has not come out with a new policy since the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government took over in 2014. While the Modi government has adopted several policies and programmes of the previous UPA government, including the use of the 12-digit unique identification number Aadhaar and its biometric authentication, as its own, it might have found fault with the UPA government's manufacturing policy. Going by what Sitharaman said, one could assume that either the Modi government's 'Make in India' initiative was driven by a faulty UPA's 2011 policy or it has been moving ahead without an umbrella policy.

It is perfectly normal for ruling political parties to blame its predecessors for any shortcoming. But to link the Modi government's 'Make in India' campaign with the UPA's policy or policy vacuum may not be entirely correct. That is because a revision of the existing manufacturing policy was one of the first measures planned by the Modi government after it came to power.

The idea of a National Capital Goods Policy was first presented by the Department of Heavy Industries to the Prime Minister during the 'Make in India' workshop held in December 2014.

The Commerce Ministry's policy might have remained a UPA vintage, but the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises formulated a National Capital Goods Policy to promote manufacturing in India. It was approved by the Modi Cabinet on May 25, 2016.

In an official statement, the government called this as the "first ever policy for capital goods sector with a clear objective of increasing production of capital goods from Rs 2,30,000 crore in 2014/15 to Rs 7,50,000 crore in 2025 and raising direct and indirect employment from the current 8.4 million to 30 million".

According to the government, the policy envisages increasing exports from the current 27 per cent to 40 per cent of production. "It will increase the share of domestic production in India's demand from 60 per cent to 80 per cent, thus making India a net exporter of capital goods. The policy also aims to facilitate improvement in technology depth across sub-sectors, increase skill availability, ensure mandatory standards and promote growth and capacity building of MSMEs," it said.

The press release goes on to claim that the policy will help realise the vision of building India as the world-class hub for capital goods and play a pivotal role in overall manufacturing as the pillar of strength to the vision of 'Make in India'.

The National Capital Goods Policy, apparently, was finalised after extensive stakeholder consultations with the industries, academia and different ministries etc. Availability of finance, raw material, innovation and technology, productivity, quality and environment-friendly manufacturing practices, exports promotion and creation of domestic demand were supposed to be some of the key issues that were addressed by the policy.

If energising Indian manufacturing is the objective, the Commerce Ministry should not be looking at a revision of a UPA policy, which it considers irrelevant. It should look at the Modi government's own manufacturing policy of 2016 and try to plug the gaps to produce a comprehensive policy to promote manufacturing in India.
Reliance Communications undersea cable arm Global Cloud Xchange has entered into an agreement with two other companies to provide cloud computing services.

Under the agreement, data centre company Aegis Data will host cloud solutions of vScaler within its data centre and GCX will connect customers to access cloud solution through its network.

"As part of this strategic partnership, Aegis will provide vScaler with the necessary power and infrastructure requirements that will allow both organisations to capture the increasing demand for scalable HPC (high power compute)-on- demand services from enterprises in the region," a joint statement from the three firms said.

The partnership supported by Global Cloud Xchange (GCX) will enable direct access to vScalers Cloud Services platform, it added.

Industry findings have projected that the HPC market is expected to grow up to USD 36.62 billion by 2020, at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.45 per cent.

"This triangulated partnership supports these demands in perfect harmony, meaning that those organisations looking for HPC requirements can have their demands serviced all under one roof," vScaler Chief Technology Officer David Power said.

Traditionally, HPC has been focused on serving end users, including researchers, engineers, scientists, educational institutes and healthcare professionals, but the growth of internet of things (IoT) and Big Data, combined with the emergence of virtual reality and online gaming, it is being adopted by business houses requiring greater computing power. PTI PRS JM
Image courtesy Scott Tolentino, Utah DWR.

BEAR LAKE  With the high water levels this spring, a small, bottom-feeding fish found only in Bear Lake is expected to thrive. The Bear Lake sculpin spends its life on the lakebed eating worms, plankton, ostracods and occasionally other small fish, but when it comes time to spawn each spring, it moves closer to the shore to attach its eggs on the underside of rocks.

According to Scott Tolentino of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR), the large rocks required for spawning are abundant along the outer edge of the lake, but low water levels in recent years has kept them dry. Of the four species of fish endemic to the lake, Tolentino said the Bear Lake sculpin is the one most affected by drought. It isnt endangered, but it is listed by the DWR as a species of concern.

If the rocks arent in the water there is no habitat for sculpin and the population can really be hit pretty hard, he said. The nice thing about it is Bear Lake is quite full this year so were going to have a really strong class of sculpin.

There are hundreds of species of sculpin throughout the world. Most of them live in salt water, but there are some found in freshwater lakes and rivers as well. According to Tolentino, the Bear Lake sculpin, or <em>Cottus extensus</em>, can be distinguished from other sculpin by the small spines along its gills, but he said the real giveaway is its eye color, which matches Bear Lakes famous hue of blue.

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Tolentino said the female sculpin will leave once they lay eggs. The males will fertilize the eggs, then stick around and protect them until they hatch. Even though this springtime process happens fairly close to the shore, dont expect to go to Bear Lake and easily see them. Not only are most hidden under rocks, but their chameleon-like abilities allow them to blend in. Tolentino said a Bear Lake sculpin on a sandy bottom will have a sandy color, while ones sitting on a gravel bed will have a speckled pattern that matches the rocks.

If youre walking along a rocky shoreline and youre looking for sculpin, they blend in so well along the bottom that you really dont see them, he said. All of a sudden youll see something take off and swim away and youre like, Oh, that was a sculpin. You really didnt see it until it was too late.

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Once the fertilized eggs are grown, they await a spring storm, when they will all hatch at once. The storm creates waves, helping to shake the juvenile fish from its egg. The sculpin are still sac fry at this point, meaning each fish carries a yolk-sac on its belly that provides the nutrition until it is able to eat for itself and the sac is absorbed. Unable to swim well, the winds and currents scatter the thousands of adolescents throughout the lake. Some become food  even to other cannibalistic sculpin  while others end up on the deep lakebed, where it begins its bottom-feeding life.

It spends its life right on the bottom the lake, it doesnt get very big, Tolentino said. It only gets up to like five inches or so.

Theyre definitely a unique fish.
This year is the 50th anniversary of a state organization you may not have heard of: the Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy (or UCCD). According to their website, they work as a nonprofit partner with the U.S. Department of States International Visitor Leadership Program.

Each year, UCCD welcomes more than 400 emerging leaders from around the world to Utah for short-term professional and cultural exchanges. Felicia Maxfield-Barrett, the communications and events director for the Utah Citizen Diplomacy Center, was a guest on <a href=http://610kvnu.com/assets/podcaster/324/2017_05_04_324_57242_2867.mp3 target=_blank>KVNUs For the People program on Wednesday</a> and told us what the purpose of the organization is.

Two thingsone is that we promote respect and understanding between the people of Utah and other nations. And really we do that through our guiding principle which is also part of our namesake. Its citizen diplomacy and thats the idea that everybody has the ability to help shape foreign relations, according to Maxfield-Barrett.

And we just do that one handshake at a time, or one conversation at a time, or one lecture at a time. Anything that can start getting us thinking about how we interact with each other on a global basis.

There are many events planned for this year. As part of their Global Conversations program one event will be on May 11th in Salt Lake City. Its entitled Passing the Diplomacy Leadership Torch to the Next Generation. It is specifically geared on tapping into the connectedness of the millennial generation. You can RSVP and get more information at <a href=http://www.utahdiplomacy.org target=_blank>utahdiplomacy.org</a>.
The public tries the new Aggie Ice Cream flavor for the first time.

LOGAN  A new Aggie Ice Cream flavor was debuted in honor of tonights inauguration of Utah State University President Noelle Cockett. Students gathered on the west end of the Quad at noon to surprise the unsuspecting Cockett with the announcement.

College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences (CAAS) Senator Heather Lieber announced the flavor will be forever known as Inauguration Peanut Butter Fudge Crunch.

We are proud to present a peanut butter ice cream with a fudge ribbon and chocolate covered pretzel, she said.

Each person in attendance had the chance to try the new flavor.

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Lieber said CAAS ambassadors and council members were asked months ago to contribute ideas for a new ice cream flavor, though they werent told why.

We were provided a list of base flavors and mix-ins to choose from and were told to be creative, she said. Six ideas were submitted and the Deans Office and Creamery narrowed it down to four.

Of those six flavors submitted, four were produced and sampled by the colleges ambassadors and counselors, which determined the chosen flavor.

Cocketts inauguration address will take place at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Ellen Eccles Theatre. A reception will be held after where the public will have the opportunity to meet with Cockett and eat  you guessed it  Aggie Ice Cream.
DEAR BRUCE: I was taken by a person who ran a seminar selling a publication that claimed to have movie rights to the Ninja Turtles. Believing that this movie would be a hit, I invested $50,000 in that stock. Up until and even after the movie came out, I was promised that the monies made would be coming. I have all the e-mails promising the return.

Now it turns out it was a scam. Showing him his e-mails, he promised to personally repay the money I invested, but after a year, I still have not heard from him.

My question is, do you know what government agency I should contact about him as I am sure there are others being taken by him. All a lawyer will do is write him a letter and not pursue it further.  D.N.

DEAR D.N.: I am sorry you had this bad experience. I don't think there is even a small chance of regaining all or part of your money. Clearly, they were playing on your interest in the Ninja Turtles, but I doubt seriously if they had anything to with the movie.

By all means, notify the attorney general's office of your concerns, giving all the details and copies (note I said "copies") of the correspondence that was exchanged. It sounds to me like this is strictly a scam. Contacting the attorney general's office and asking for guidance might help, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Good luck.

DEAR BRUCE: I am a 34-year-old federal employee. About 12 years ago I worked for a corporation for a few years, and I received a check for some of my 401(k), but I keep getting updates from Vanguard showing I have about $2,000.

I currently invest 15 percent in my Thrift Savings Plan 401(k) and would like to do something with that $2,000. How do I get those funds, and what's the best way to invest them  TSP, if possible, or elsewhere?  A.E.

DEAR A.E.: Write to your former employer and ask who in the organization handles these accounts and consult that person as to how to cash the account in. If I were you, I would withdraw the money from the account and totally invest it in whatever you think is appropriate.

As to the best way, that's a whole different matter. That will depend to some measure on how much you have now. At 34 years old, you've a long way to go, so I would be looking at longer-term investments. You can't just buy and forget about it. You've got to keep your eye on your investments and find out how they're working for you. I do wish you well.

DEAR BRUCE: My husband has a 401(k) and 403(b) with Fidelity Investments. When he started drawing at 70 1/2 he requested 15 percent to be withheld toward his taxes. Fidelity did this until 2016, when they said they would no longer honor his written request. He would have to call every year and request the 15 percent by withheld.

Is this legal? I called Fidelity to ask them about this, but they wouldn't answer my questions. V.M.

DEAR V.M.: I think what Fidelity is suggesting is to avoid any possibilities of error. Rather than having an ongoing request for the 15 percent to be withheld, they want to re-establish the request every year. I don't see any problem with that. Why Fidelity didn't answer your questions is another problem. It seems like a legitimate request to me.

DEAR BRUCE: My son recently shared with me a column from his Ivy League school's newspaper. Students describe themselves as attending school to change a socially unjust America. Did your parents advise you to be a "freedom fighter" at school? Did you advise your kids to be freedom fighters at school? What do you think about students having a freedom fighter mindset?  Reader

DEAR READER: Students who describe themselves as "freedom fighters" don't belong in my school, and certainly are not anyone I would be spending time with. The idea of trying to change things at school has merit, but the idea that they need to be a fighter (usually violently) to change things does not set well with me. When I was attending school, there was no such animal, and I have to believe that the world was a better place.

With that being said, I think I would tell my kids that their first responsibility is to their own conscience. If they feel that strongly about an issue, then they have a reason to get involved, but they should think about all the consequences.
(Beijing)  Activity in Chinas services sector grew at its weakest rate in 11 months, a survey sponsored by Caixin showed on Thursday, in a further sign the worlds second-largest economy is losing some steam.

The Caixin China General Services Business Activity Index fell for the fourth straight month to 51.5 in April, down from 52.2 in March and the lowest since May 2016s 51.2, according to the poll compiled by international information and data analytics provider IHS Markit.

A reading above 50 suggests expansion, while anything below that points to contraction.

The Caixin China Composite Output Index, which covers production at both manufacturing and services companies, fell to 51.2 in April from 52.1 in the previous month, the lowest number since June, according to the release.

The figures provided further evidence that the Chinese economy might be losing traction after growth accelerated for two straight quarters. Data released Tuesday showed that the Caixin China General Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) slipped to 50.3 last month from 51.2 in March, the weakest in seven months.

Chinas year-on-year economic growth accelerated to 6.9% in the first three months of the year. In the last quarter of 2016, the growth rate rose to 6.8%, in the first pickup in two years, official data showed.

But analysts have warned that government measures to cool the property market and a possible tightening of monetary policies to rein in debt  especially financial leverage  could undermine a sustained recovery.

Although companies remained generally positive in April about growth prospects for the year ahead, the overall degree of confidence moderated to a five-month low, with manufacturers the least optimistic toward their one-year business outlook, the Caixin survey showed.

A turning point in growth appeared to have emerged at the beginning of the second quarter, Zhong Zhengsheng, director of Macroeconomic Analysis at CEBM Group, a subsidiary of Caixin Insight Group, said in a statement about the April data. Investors should be cautious about downward risks in the economy.

The amount of new business placed with service providers expanded at a quicker pace in April than March on new product launches and better market conditions, the survey of the services industries showed. The survey covers more than 400 companies.

Cost burdens of service companies continued to increase last month on rises in raw material prices and salaries, but at a pace that was the slowest in six months. The gain in prices charged by service providers in April was marginal, although it marked one of the fastest rates in three and a half years.

Services industries  which include finance, real estate and marketing, transportation, and retailing  have become an increasingly important part of the Chinese economy, reflecting its shift away from traditional heavy-industry manufacturing and exports. Last year, they accounted for 51.6% of the economy, 1.4 percentage points higher than in 2015, and contributed to nearly 60% of the growth in domestic gross product, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Services industries are more labor-intensive than manufacturing, and policymakers are counting on them to create more jobs.

The NBS on Sunday released its non-manufacturing PMI for April, which dipped to a six-month low of 54.0 from 55.1 in March, with activity in sectors such as road transportation and real estate continuing to contract.

The NBS blamed the fall in the non-manufacturing PMI mainly on slower expansion in the manufacturing industry that dragged on growth in the manufacturing service sector. The official manufacturing PMI was at 51.2 in April, down from 51.8 in March and the weakest in six months.

Contact reporter Fran Wang (fangwang@caixin.com)
A recent official report indicates that the number of rural migrant workers working locally has risen by 26% over the past seven years. Photo: Visual China

(Beijing)  Chinas workforce is staying closer to home, according to an official report that indicates the number of rural migrant workers working locally has risen by 26% over the past seven years.

As regional wage gaps narrow, migrant workers are giving more consideration to their childrens education and to health care for elderly relatives when choosing where to work. For the younger generation of migrant workers, the key problem is their childrens education. said a human resources expert from South China Normal University.

Migrant workers are typically divided into short- and long-distance migrants, with short-distance migrants usually working in a city close to their home area, often where they have their household registration, or hukou, and long-distance migrants finding jobs further afield.

The number of short-distance migrants increased 3.4%, or by 3.7 million, in 2016 to 112 million from 2015, while the number of long-distance migrants rose only 0.3%, down from a 0.4% increase in 2015 to stand at 169 million, according to the latest annual survey of migrant workers published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) last week.

The survey, which sampled about 8,900 villages in rural areas across the country, also found that the number of rural laborers working in Chinas cities rose by 1.5%, or 4.2 million year-on-year in 2016, to reach 282 million, accounting for 36% of the total number of people in employment in China, which was about 776 million by the end of 2016.

More than 88% of the increase came from short-distance migrants, the survey said.

The growth rate in the number of migrant workers picked up in 2016 for the first time in the past seven years. From 2010 to 2015, the growth rate declined significantly from 5.5% in 2010 to only 1.3% in 2015, although the absolute number continued to rise from 242 million to 277 million over the same period.

The narrowing revenue gap between short- and long-distance migrants might offer some explanation for the rapid growth in the number of short-distance migrants in recent years. The survey found that although migrants working near their home area earned about 600 yuan ($87) less than their long-distance counterparts, their income grew at a faster pace.

Average income for the short-distance migrants stood at 2,985 yuan ($432) per month, up by 7.3% from 2015, one percentage point higher than the wage growth rate of long-distance migrants, who earned an average of 3,572 yuan per month.

The eastern area, which spans three municipalities  Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin  and seven provinces, including Hebei, Jiangsu, Fujian and Guangdong, still represented the region absorbing most of the migrant workforce. In 2016, 160 million migrant workers were employed in the area, accounting for 56% of the total migrant workforce.

However, the eastern area is becoming less appealing to migrant workers, with data showing that the number working in that area dropped by 0.3% or half a million from 2015.

By contrast, migrant workers choosing to work in central and western areas increased by a combined 7.9% in 2016, accounting for about 40% of the entire migrant workforce.

In recent years, wage increases for migrants working in eastern China slowed due to downward economic pressure, NBS data showed. From 2011 to 2016, the annual growth rate of monthly income for migrants was down from 21% to 7.4% in the eastern area.

Rural migrant workers are not necessarily from rural areas but are workers with a rural household registration who are employed in an urban workplace. Many grew up in or were even born in cities, according to China Labour Bulletin, a Hong Kong-based worker rights group.

The hukou system, which was originally introduced by China in 1958 in order to control migration, started to relax its grip in the 1980s as China forged ahead with economic reform. Since then, thousands of rural workers have flooded into cities and towns, looking for jobs in various labor-intensive industries such as manufacturing, construction and services.

Chinas spectacular economic growth over the past three decades owes much to migrant workers, but they still face many institutional barriers that prevent them and their children from having equal access to many public services in cities, such as health care and education.

Contact reporter Pan Che (chepan@caixin.com)
We applaud officials from Fair Haven  and from Albany  for getting the necessary resources in place to tackle the immediate issue of flooding along the Lake Ontario shoreline. But we believe that officials trying to make a political issue out of the situation are all wet.

An international agreement called Plan 2014 that went into effect this year will allow the water level of Lake Ontario to rise and fall more naturally, rather than be kept at a more consistent level. The plan was signed by the United States and Canada after six years of studies showed that it would reduce flooding along the St. Lawrence River and help revitalize wetlands necessary for healthy ecosystems.

Some feared that Plan 2014 would lead to high water along the southern shore that would damage lakeside property. And some, believing that rising waters have proven them right, are demanding a quick abandonment of the plan.

U.S. Rep. John Katko has long opposed the lake management plan, even calling on President Donald Trump to have the United States withdraw from the agreement. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said this week that he is trying to force the international commission to release water from a dam to help the situation.

But the lake commission counters that unusually heavy rainfall this spring is to blame for the current problem. Some areas in the lake's watershed got more than twice the usual amount of rain in April, bringing the lake to its highest level in 24 years.

And it's important to remember just how large an area the Lake Ontario watershed encompasses. Heavy rain hundreds of miles away can lead to shoreline flooding along the southern and eastern shorelines  just as it has in decades gone by.

Fair Haven Mayor Jim Basile said the village has been monitoring the situation and is ready to help with sandbagging. And Cuomo said that state resources are in place to help wherever they're needed. That's great to hear, because that's the right approach for dealing with a weather emergency.

The lake level is expected to continue to rise for the time being. Politicizing the flooding is not going to help. Sandbags just might.
Placard demanding answers from Hospital W. Musa

A family in Buea Wednesday May 3, 2017 blocked the entrance into the Buea regional hospital demanding the where about of the foetus of their deceased daughter Lowe Christine Laure who died a month ago.

Report says she died at the regional hospital and had her foetus extracted by mortuary attendants who are said to have immediately buried it without the consent of the family.

Family members who had since been demanding answers from the hospital management decided to take an aggressive move Wednesday when they held placards bearing messages such as, Regional hospital of Buea medical staff, tell us something about the death of Lowe Christine Laure and her missing baby.

She died with an 8 months pregnancy according to sources.

The Director of the regional hospital Dr Orock tried in vain to convince the family to leave the entrance for dialogue.

The supervisory authority of the hospital, Mayor of Buea Patrick Ekema Esunge together with the regional delegate for public health succeeded to calm the grumbling family members and took them away for a closed door meeting where the press was kept at a distance.
| BY Ricki Green |

Coca-Cola is set to air the popular Pool Boy TV spot via Santo, Buenos Aires, in Australia, this Sunday, May 7.

The spot has garnered lots of global attention receiving almost 3.9 million views on YouTube since its launch in early March.

The ad tells a fun story of sibling rivalry. On a hot summer day, a brother and sister compete to win the affection of the family pool boy with each racing to be the first to offer him an icy-cold Coca-Cola. Yet, little did they know their mum had other plans.

Coca-Cola is launching the spot in the Australian market to build on the momentum of the global Taste the Feeling campaign. The ad was created with the idea that no matter what youre doing, everybody loves an icy cold Coca-Cola.

Says Lisa Winn, marketing director, Coca-Cola South Pacific: As a brand we are constantly looking for ways to keep our work fresh, exciting and engaging to our consumers. We do this by tapping into everyday moments and telling universal stories that connect with our consumers around the world.

We are thrilled to launch Pool Boy in Australia, which tells a great story with Coca-Cola at the centre. We are confident Pool Boy will resonate well with Australians, building on the success it has had since its launch in other markets.

Agency: Santo, Buenos Aires

Creative Directors: Sebastian Wilhelm, Maxi Anselmo & Pablo Minces

Art Director: Maxi Anselmo

Director of Photography: Jose Luis Garcia

Production House: Landia
| BY Ricki Green |

AWARD School is hosting a unique creative learning experience called the AWARD School Pop Up at Semi Permanent on Saturday, May 27 in Sydney.

AWARD School Pop Up is in conjunction with three leading brands and their creative agency partners and a scholarship to AWARD School 2018 (in your state) is up for grabs.

The Challenge:

This years AWARD School Pop Up has been created to encourage the next generation of creatives to think about how Australias biggest brands can make the biggest difference.

Three clients, yet to be announced, together with their partner agencies have developed three live briefs that focus on making a difference for their nominated charity. Your ideas will need to be submitted online and will be judged by the client and agency.

The Opportunity:

Your idea could win you a scholarship to AWARD School 2018 (in your state)  the leading school for budding creatives, preparing you for life in advertising.

Eighteen applicants are shortlisted and invited to attend a one-day intensive workshop at Semi Permanent on Saturday 27 May 2017 in Sydney.* The finalists have the chance to work with some of this countrys most awarded creative professionals, and leading brands. From the eighteen finalists, there are three winners (one per brief) who will each win a scholarship to AWARD School 2018 in your state. The winners may also have the opportunity to work up the idea with the agency and client.

Whos Eligible?

If youve never worked in a creative department and would like to attend AWARD School 2018, then this brief is for you.

International Students must provide proof of either a work visa or a tourism visa. We will not accept applicants on student visas.

*Finalists must be able to attend the event in person on Saturday 27 May in Sydney (at their own travel expense) and will be given complimentary entry to the AWARD School Pop Up and general admission to Semi Permanent on Saturday 27 May.
Daily Briefing: The count continues

Who controls Congress is still undecided and more news to start your Wednesday.
DETROIT  Old cars can learn new tricks.

For a few hundred dollars, drivers can add new safety technology  like forward collision warning systems or backup cameras  to older cars.

Cars are lasting longer than ever thanks to improving quality. The average U.S. vehicle is now 11.6 years old, according to the consulting firm IHS Markit.

But that means millions of car owners are missing out on technology that could potentially save their lives. Forward collision warning systems, for example, can reduce the risk of a crash by 27 percent, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Consumers have to do the math to decide whether it's better to add aftermarket systems to an older car or save up for a new one. Balance the cost of new safety  which can be hefty  with the increased maintenance older cars usually need. If you don't want an extra camera cluttering up your dashboard, you may want to save up for a new car with built-in systems.

To get blind spot monitoring, forward collision warning and lane departure warning on a new, 2017 Altima SL, you have to spend $28,570 for the car and add $3,000 in options.

For a fraction of that amount  $500  you could add an aftermarket forward collision system, backup camera and blind spot detection monitors to an older car. You could also consider a late-model used car. A 2015 Nissan Altima SL with blind spot monitoring, a rearview camera and lane departure warning can be found for less than $20,000, for example.

Buyers may want to wait on a new car because the cost of safety tech is coming down. Toyota is now offering a $300 package on some vehicles that includes forward collision warning and lane departure warning. Starting with the 2018 model year, all vehicles sold in the U.S. will be required to have backup cameras. And most new cars will have standard automatic emergency braking by 2022.

Shawn Sinclair, an automotive engineer with Consumer Reports magazine, says forward collision warning is the most important feature to consider if you're thinking about adding tech to your car. Even though it won't stop the car from hitting an obstacle  automatic braking isn't available as an aftermarket option  it will warn drivers so they can slow down or maneuver away. Blind spot detection and rear cameras are two others she considers critical.

"But at the same time, you have to say, 'Hey I have this 10-year-old car, maybe it's time to turn it in,'" she said.

The quality of aftermarket systems varies considerably. Read reviews or ask a trusted mechanic for recommendations.

Here are four safety features to consider:

FORWARD COLLISION WARNING/LANE DEPARTURE WARNING: Sinclair suggests a system from Mobileye, a tech company that also supplies most major automakers. Mobileye's cameras and software can recognize other vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists and even speed limit signs. The system alerts drivers when they leave a lane and when a collision is up to 2.7 seconds away. Sinclair says it costs around $1,000 to buy the system and have it installed by a Mobileye technician.

There are many less expensive and easy-to-install dashboard cameras that double as collision warning systems. Garmin's Dash Cam 35 monitors up to 130 feet in front of the vehicle; if the driver is going 30 mph or faster, it will issue audio and visual alerts of impending collisions. The Dash Cam 35 costs $130 on Amazon.com.

BLIND SPOT DETECTION: Blind spot systems use sensors to monitor the sides of the vehicle and flash an icon to the driver if something is in the way. Sinclair recommends Goshers Blind Spot Detection System, which costs $239. It monitors within 10 feet of the vehicle. Sinclair recommends having a professional install the system; it took her mechanic four hours to do it.

BACKUP CAMERA: According to government statistics, roughly 250 people are killed each year in backover accidents, many of them children. China's Yada brand makes a weather-proof camera with night vision that attaches to the rear of the car. When the car is in reverse, it sends images wirelessly to a 4.3-inch monitor. Pep Boys sells the system for $129. If you don't want a monitor in your car, Auto Vox has one that displays the image in your rear-view mirror. It's $139 on Amazon.com.

EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE: Hum, developed by Verizon, works like General Motors' OnStar system. It will automatically call emergency services if the car has been in an accident. It sends alerts to drivers' phones if there's a mechanical problem and lets drivers press a button if they need roadside assistance. Hum works in cars built in 1996 or later. It costs $10 per month; a two-year subscription is required. There are also one-time set-up and activation fees totaling $50.
Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 1:46PM

To commemorate this significant date with Star Wars fans we're taking a look at some fun things related to this unofficial holiday. We're travelling back to Jakku to find the most popular Star Wars content of all time on Google Play including the most downloaded film The Force Awakens, the most downloaded game: Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes and the most downloaded book Aftermath: Star Wars: Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Top 5 Star Wars Movies on Google Play

Top 5 Star Wars Games on Google Play

Top 5 Star Wars Books and Comics on Google Play

In other galaxy news, from May 4 through May 11 check out these fun discounts on all your Star Wars must-haves in the Google Play Store, including:

And after watching, playing and reading all the top Star Wars content, sit back and relax to the sounds of the Cantina band or jump to lightspeed with some Imperial take out tunes with our popular Star Wars themed playlists on Google Play Music:
The victims of a double murder in the Red Lake area eight miles from Williams have been identified.

The Coconino County Sheriff's Office identified the victms as as Michael Dimuria, 67, and his wife, Nora Dimuria.

The couple wasfound dead in their home at 9 a.m. on Tuesday.

Police are currently looking for the victims' four-door white Jeep Liberty with the license plate 123-VDL.

The Sheriff's office could not confirm whether the vehicle was stolen.

County Sheriff Jeff Driscoll said the Arizona Department of Public Safety was assisting with crime scene investigation.
"The improvements to active travel in all four of these Canberra suburbs will benefit everyone in the community, especially older Canberrans or those with disabilities," Ms Fitzharris said.
Prof Brown, who doesn't drink and never bought a meal in the club, compares her vulnerability to pokies to a drug addict. Her first bender was in 2011 when she was living alone at Sutton during the week, heading to join her partner on the farm on weekends. She made regular late-evening visits to the Raiders in Gungahlin, losing $30,000 before the bank alerted her partner. The disclosure sparked a crisis and a complaint to the Gambling and Racing Commission which declined action against the club.
"If this government was serious about having or helping clubs to diversify out of gaming ...they would be relaxing lease variations for clubs and allowing them to genuinely diversify and they would be looking at land taxes for clubs, some of which have gotten out of gaming all together but are still getting smashed by this government because they're being treated like a hardcore business when they're actually managing community facilities really well," Mr Parton 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 ...
I am honored to serve our community and northern Arizona as the newest member of the Arizona Board of Regents. I moved to Flagstaff 16 years ago to raise my children and became active in numerous education and civic organizations. NAUs positive impact on our community and throughout our state proved obvious, but during the last five months as Regent I have learned several things Id like to share:

 Over 15,000 NAU alumni live in Coconino County, with almost 14,000 of them living in Flagstaff. This is about 25 percent of the total Flagstaff adult population.

 Approximately 50 percent of Flagstaff households include at least one NAU alumni.

 NAUs projected growth will include growth in online and statewide delivery as well as growth on the Flagstaff campus.

 NAU ranks in the top 1 percent of US universities providing on-campus student housing. Approximately 45 percent of the Flagstaff students live on-campus. NAU remains committed to our community as evidenced by building more than 1,200 additional on-campus beds in the next two years.

 NAU accomplishes large investments on campus, including housing and dining expansions, through partnerships and state investments, bringing outside money and jobs to Flagstaff.

NAUs spirit of excellence in education and leadership inspires Flagstaffs:

 Recognition as a STEM city

 Participation in the Biosciences Corridor and partnership with TGEN

 Technology accelerator and incubator facilities.

These describe just a few of NAUs efforts to attract and develop emerging industries in our community. In addition, NAU provides innumerable art and cultural contributions through the commitments of faculty and students and the partnerships they support, including the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra.

Governor Duceys sales tax recovery proposal provides funds for continued expansion at our universities in two critical areas. First, renovation and repair of critical science labs and classrooms, as well as other infrastructure needs, will support an expanded student population in health professions, sciences and engineering programs. Second, these improved and modernized facilities will lead to an increase in our universities ability to bring in increased federal and philanthropic dollars to fund additional research and programs in areas critically important to our community  biosciences, healthcare diagnostics, forestry, and ecology -- likely increasing the number of spin-off companies generated by these activities and providing additional jobs for Arizona workers.

While it is easy to sit and criticize; to complain about our growth pains of increased traffic or longer waits at our favorite restaurants; and to blame it on a larger NAU student population; remember, those very students are the lifeblood of innovation, knowledge and business in our town.

I implore the community to reflect on NAUs many benefits and the bright outlook that an increasingly educated citizenry offers our young people, our town and our state.
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.
New Delhi, May 4, 2017: Two colleges each for architecture and nursing are likely to come up in Jammu and Kashmir with the state government proposing the idea to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD).

The idea of setting up the colleges was placed before Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar by J-K Education Minister Altaf Bukhari yesterday. "During the meeting, Bukhari placed the idea of setting up two colleges for architecture and two nursing schools in the state, before the Minister. The state has been asked to draft formal proposals for the same and assured that the idea will be given a positive consideration," a senior official said.

Bukhari and his junior minister Priya Sethi had an hour- long meeting with Javadekar following which a slew of initiatives for the education sector in the state were announced.

Two engineering colleges at Safapora in Kashmir and at Kathua in Jammu and seven hostels for girl students in Bemina, Kupwara, Pulwama, Kargil, Rajouri, Thathri and Palora areas have also been sanctioned by the Ministry. Javadekar also approved disbursal of Rs 200 crore for payment of pending salaries of teachers under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). Rs 34 crore was approved under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyaan also.

Amid unrest in the state, the Centre is making arrangements for setting up an off-campus of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in the Valley, in a bid to woo youth towards quality education. Off-campuses are extension of the main campus.

An IIM in Jammu is already operational in a temporary campus.

"The Jammu and Kashmir government has offered a land plot for the off-campus and within a week a site-survey team will visit there and the work will be started there soon," Javadekar had yesterday said, adding, a process for a permanent campus in Jammu will also be expedited.

PTI
Gary L. Bartlett, 77, of Beatrice. Funeral Services will be held at 3 p.m. Saturday, May 6, 2017 at Harman-Wright Mortuary in Beatrice, with Pastor Myron Meyer officiating. Interment will follow in the Evergreen Home Cemetery. There will be no visitation. Memorials are suggested to the family's choice in care of the mortuary.

Paul Dammann, 76, of Seward. Memorial Service will be held on Monday, May 8, 2017, at 11 a.m. at St. John Lutheran Church in Seward. Visitation on Sunday, May 7, from 6:30-8 p.m. at Volzke Funeral Home in Seward. Inurnment will take place at 4 p.m. on Monday in the Blue Springs Cemetery, Blue Springs.

Harriet P. Garton, 94, Beatrice. Funeral Services at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, May 5, 2017 at the Ellis United Methodist Church with Pastor Curt Magelky officiating. Burial in the Evergreen Home Cemetery in Beatrice. A memorial is established to the Ellis United Methodist Church or family's choice with the mortuary in charge.

Ronald H. Goodson, 72, of Beatrice. Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 10, 2017 at Harman-Wright Mortuary in Beatrice with Pastor David Bigley officiating. Interment with military rites by the Nebraska Army National Guard and American Legion Post 27 will follow in the Evergreen Home Cemetery in Beatrice. Visitation will be held from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. with family greeting friends from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 9, 2017 at Harman-Wright Mortuary in Beatrice. Memorials are suggested to the family's choice in care of the mortuary.

Ruth L. Ramsey, 83, of Beatrice. Memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 6, 2017 at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Beatrice, with Father Tom Maguire and Father Robert Barnhill officiating. Family prayer service will begin at 10:15 a.m. with inurnment in the St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery. No visitation as cremation has taken place. A register book will be available at Griffiths-Hovendick Chapel on Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. A memorial has been established to St. Joseph's Catholic Church with the funeral home in charge.

Robin L. Robinson, 64, of Liberty. Memorial services will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 8, 2017 at the Harman-Wright Mortuary Chapel in Beatrice.

Joann and Marion Tharp, Beatrice. Memorial graveside services will be held Friday, May 5, 2017 at 1:30 p.m. at the Harbine Cemetery of Harbine. There will be no viewing. A memorial has been established to the family's choice.

Linda L. Thompson, 73, of Ames, Neb. Memorial service will be 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 9, 2017, at Moser Memorial Chapel in Fremont. The Rev. Scott Jensen will officiate. Burial will be in Ridge Cemetery in Fremont. Memorials may be given to the American Cancer Society.

Bernice Mary Voller, 85, Beatrice. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, May 5, 2017 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Beatrice, with Father Robert Barnhill and Father Michael Stec, Co-Celebrant. Burial will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday at Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery in Lincoln. The body will lie in state at the church from 10 a.m. until the time of the service on Friday. In lieu of flowers, a memorial has been established to St. Joseph's Catholic Church.
Images of the facelifted BMW M2 momentarily emerged on the Bavarian companys Belgian site, prematurely revealing the planned changes for the entry-level M model.



Bimmertoday grabbed these images -which are apparently edited versions of the original press photos- before they were taken down, allowing us to take an early peek of the updated BMW M2.

Dont expect any major visual differences, with the updated M2 only getting a set of new full-LED headlights and an similarly revised set of taillights, leaving the rest of the aggressive exterior as it was.

The new lighting units will also be used on the lesser 2-Series Coupe and Convertible models, while the interior is expected to be subtly updated as well, getting the latest generation of the iDrive infotainment system.

Mechanically there will be no differences from the current model, with a turbocharged 3.0-litre straight-six unit still providing 365hp (370PS) and 343lb-ft (465Nm) of peak torque and the chassis remaining unchanged.

The BMW M2 remains one of the most rewarding models in its price range after all, but for those looking for something more edgy, the Bavarian company is planning a more focused version, the M2 CS, due to be launched next year.

PHOTO GALLERY
General Motors Maven is branching out with the addition of Maven Gig.



Designed to appeal to people who want to become a member of the gig economy, the service allows San Diego residents to rent a Chevrolet Bolt for $229 per week and then use it to work for GrubHub, Instacart, Roadie, Lyft, or Uber. Thats certainly not cheap but the fee includes insurance, maintenance, unlimited mileage, and free recharging at EVgo stations.

Maven says Gig is a low-risk way to test out the freelance economy and get your side hustle on. Putting aside the hipster hyperbole and buzzwords, the service should appeal to people who have thought about signing up for Uber of Lyft but either didnt have a car or didnt want to use their own personal vehicle.

Following the initial roll out in San Diego, Maven Gig will be offered in San Francisco and Los Angeles later this year.

The numbers of cities the service is offered in could grow as General Motors estimates that by 2020 nearly 43 percent of the U.S. workforce will be made up of people who freelance. As the company explains, The nature of employment is changing, and Maven Gig is a nimble platform to grow and adapt with the shift.

Photo Gallery
Although Jaguar claimed an historic last victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1990, the British carmaker quit the sport a few years later and hasnt returned to prototype racing since.



Nevertheless, ambitious designed Serdar Soyal has imagined a futuristic Jaguar Le Mans prototype in the ongoing Michelin Design Challenge and it looks seriously impressive.

Baptized the Jaguar SS-107, Soyals creation has been designed as an entrant in the worlds most famous endurance race for the year 2030 and would mark the 107th iteration of the event.

The front of the SS-107 incorporates a bold fascia with a distinctive twin splitter design and a set of slim vertical headlights incorporated into the wheel arches. As with modern-day Le Mans prototypes, the car has a small cockpit with a central driving position. Elsewhere, the SS-107 has wheel covers to improve its aerodynamics and a shark fin stretching from the roof scoop to the rear wing.

The front fascia of the car is seriously menacing to look at but it is perhaps the rear that is the most in-your-face. The upper segment of the rear bumper juts out and is then connected to a pair of aero elements directly behind the rear wheels. Other cool touches include a triangular-shaped rain light and exhausts that exit right behind the cockpit.

PHOTO GALLERY
The Swallows of Kabul (Les Hirondelles de Kaboul) is a watercolor-styled 2D animated feature from France, currently scheduled for release in 2019.

French producer Les Armateurs (The Triplets of Belleville, Ernest & Celestine, The Secret of Kells) launched a Facebook page for the film yesterday. Here is the test teaser for the film that was produced a few years ago:

Swallows is notably directed by two women: French actress-turned-director Zabou Breitman and Elea Gobbe-Mevellec (designer on Lastman and animator on films like The Rabbis Cat, The Prophet, and April and the Extraordinary World). Adapted from a 2002 bestselling novel by Yasmina Khadra, heres the synopsis for the film version:
Jayme Gordon, a man who claimed that Dreamworks stole Kung Fu Panda from him and wanted a $12 million settlement, was sentenced yesterday to two years in federal prison.

A Massachusetts judge also ordered Gordon to repay Dreamworks more than $3 million in restitution, the amount that Dreamworks had to spend defending itself from Gordons frivolous lawsuit. Its a relatively light sentence compared to the maximum amount of prison time he could have received.

What separated Gordons case from the typical intellectual property lawsuit against a Hollywood studio is that Gordon didnt just claim that Dreamworks stole his idea, but he also created new artwork after he saw the trailer for Kung Fu Panda in 2008 and backdated it to make it appear that he had created the artwork first. (Full disclosure: I worked on the case as the art expert for Dreamworks legal defense team.)
Photo: City of Kamloops.

The City of Kamloops has asked for an extension to a local state of emergency due to a slope in the Palmer-Forsyth area that continues to move.

Data from slide monitoring equipment shows the slope is sliding down at a slow, but consistent pace.

The city wants the state of emergency extended for another seven days, to May 11th.

Meanwhile, emergency support services have been extended to the residents of nine evacuated homes for an additional two weeks to May 23rd while remediation work is carried out.

Residents were evacuated on Apr. 27 after the hillside began showing signs of instability.

City staff, geotechnical experts, Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, FortisBC, BC Hydro, Telus and Emergency Management British Columbia are monitoring and managing the event.

A quick remedy pipe was being installed Wednesday to divert spring water from the slope. At the same time a more robust hard pipe solution was being installed. Work is expected to be completed in approximately 7-10 days.

Meanwhile, 24-hour traffic control remains in effect on Highway 5.
Photo: Contributed

One of the challenges provincial and federal governments face is communicating policy in a manner easily understood by citizens.

This may sound simple, but sometimes policy can be difficult and timely to explain easily. Further, opposition parties and other interest groups may either intentionally or unintentionally mis-present policy that might undermine or generate public opposition.

I mention these things as the current B.C. election campaign has resulted in some issues being raised that require more information to properly scrutinize.

As an example, in Merritt, one of the largest lumber mills has shut down in the past year, creating significant hardship for many in this community.

Since forestry is a provincial jurisdiction, this has become an election issue specifically as it has been alleged by some that the reason this mill closed is related to raw log exports.

In principle, most would agree that exporting raw logs to be processed in mills outside British Columbia should not occur if lumber mills are closing as a result of a lack of timber supply. This raises the question why no provincial government of any political stripe banned raw log exports once in power.

Part of the answer is understanding how the process around exporting raw logs, technically known as unmanufactured timber actually works. Essentially, the process involves three steps.

The first step is to acquire an exemption of the requirement that lumber harvested in B.C. is also processed in B.C. Part of the exemption process involves advertising the timber supply in question to be potentially exported on a provincial list of timber for sale.

This bi-weekly advertising list means that a domestic mill operator has the opportunity to buy these raw logs before they could be legally exported. If there is an offer to purchase, an advisory committee will determine that price is fair market value.

If the offer is deemed fair, the logs will remain in B.C. to be processed by the successfully bidding mill owner. If there is no interest or suitable buyers found, the logs will be eligible for export.

Once raw logs are deemed surplus, an application can be made for a permit to export the logs before moving on to the final stage of the process  a federal permit for export.

Why do some B.C. lumber mills not bid on these raw logs?

There are a number of reasons for this that may depend on specific circumstances. Many mills have become highly specialized in dealing with specific types of timber to produce a unique, value-added product.

In some cases, the timber for sale may not be of the type or quality desired. In other circumstances, the transport costs may not make purchasing logs in one area economical if there is a sufficient distance to transport.

Cost may be another factor, more so if the raw logs are from a private forest owner or a First Nations community looking to obtain maximum value.

The intent of my column today is not to defend raw log exports as, ideally, I believe governments of all political stripes should support increased value-added, wood-manufacturing in B.C.

Forestry remains a critically important industry to many communities and one challenge will be to encourage more investment into value-added, processing operations with access to a diverse range of markets.

Although raw logs is not an issue of federal jurisdiction, I welcome your thoughts on ways government can promote more value added wood manufacturing.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
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Dustin Godfrey

As the population of Penticton, along with other communities across Canada, continues to grey, Mayor Andrew Jakubeit says there are a number of ways the city can work to accommodate the changing demographics.

Age and sex statistics from the 2016 census were released by Statistics Canada on Wednesday, revealing an aging demographic across Canada, with Penticton's already advanced age getting older along with the rest of the country.

"The biggest thing that the community did was rally for the hospital to get expanded, so $312 million hospital expansion to create more medical services for the region, here, I think that's probably the biggest thing," Jakubeit said on this week's Mayor's Minute.

"We've been trying to create housing solutions to have a myriad of housing stocks not just for seniors, but for everyone, because we recognize that we need to have a healthy balance of young working families and middle ages and those who are in the retirement years."

That said, Jakubeit doesn't want to diminish the city's reputation as a place to retire  "we want to have ... retirees come here"  and points to ways that it's a good spot for seniors.

"We have so many amenities, I think we're a very walkable community. We have a very active community," he said. "We also have a lot of festival events for people to volunteer at and I think it helps them to be connected and I think that's, I think, attractive for people who want to retire here."

One of the ways the city can be more accessible for seniors, according to Jakubeit, is to create densification around "village nodes," or spots where there are amenities and opportunities to concentrate populations.

"That's where you have the most transit and the other amenities that people can easily walk to," he said.

"We've also allowed for carriage suites and secondary suites, so people can age in place and have a family member join them as well, so that helps with the family affordability, because we recognize that most seniors, or a lot of seniors are on fixed pensions."

Further to that, many of the projects the city has worked on with B.C. Housing have been geared toward seniors. While more recently there have been some for low-income housing in general, Jaubeit says that pendulum could swing back toward catering to seniors.

"A lot of the pensions aren't indexed for costs of living," he said. "We're trying to find solutions for them and trying to have the market help facilitate that."
Sustainability is a big concern for those in the logging industry.

Hundreds of people in the forestry industry are in Vernon for the 59th annual Interior Logging Association convention and one of the topics of discussion will be contractor sustainability.

Timber harvesting contractors across this province are unable to be sustainable and that puts the entire forest industry at risk. They are the first link in the supply chain - without them, the rest of the industry grinds to a halt, said David Elstone, Truck Loggers Association executive director. This situation becomes even more serious within the context of the recently announced countervailing duties on Canadian softwood lumber exported to the US. The pressure on our industry to remain viable will increase.

Wayne Lintott, ILA general manager said many of my members are not seeing a return on their investment. Timber harvesting requires high capital investment and my members take on a lot of risk. We need to level the playing field between licensees and contractors.

The government announced their Contractor Sustainability Review in January and the work is now underway with George Abbott who has been named as the independent facilitator.

We all hope this review will lead to real change, so that everyone who works in the forest can share in the prosperity, said Elstone.

The TLA represents 480 independent forest contractors and their suppliers operating on the coast of British Columbia.

The ILA convention runs through Saturday at Kal Tire Place. Along with numerous booths and exhibits inside the arena, there is more than $35 million in heavy duty equipment set up in the back parking lot.

There are three or four pieces of equipment on display that are fairly new to the industry, said Lintott, adding some equipment is worth $1 million apiece.
Photo: Contributed

Kamloops RCMP, with the assistance of other agencies, are scouring the area around the South Thompson River after reports someone jumped off the Overlander Bridge.

In a news release, Staff Sgt. Michel Grondin, says police were alerted to a person who had jumped from the southeast end of the bridge.

RCMP, Canadian Pacific police, fire, emergency health services and a local search and rescue team conducted an extensive search of the water and shores of the South Thompson.

The person was not located.

Search and rescue have called for the assistance of a helicopter to aid in the search. Search teams will also scour both shores of the river in an effort to locate any sign of the person involved.

Police were not able to get a specific description of the person who jumped.

Anyone who may have witnessed this incident, or saw someone acting suspiciously on the Overlander Bridge around 10:30 a.m., are asked to contact the Kamloops RCMP at 250-828-3000.

This is the second report of a jumper on the bridge in recent days.

A week ago, a man was injured when he jumped off the south end of the bridge.

He was taken to hospital with serious injuries. No word on his condition.
Once again the ludicrous election season is upon us. The serpent-like politicians slither out of the seclusion of their viper pits to beseech the approval of the enslaved taxpayers. Now as much as I hold politicians and the entire falsehood of government in the highest contempt, I do not blame the politicians for their sociopathic tendencies. To blame them would be the equivalent of blaming the spider that injects its prey with venom then sucks out the juices to nourish itself: Its simply the nature of the beast.

What does bother me is the body of voters who get railed up and become cheer leaders for their candidate or party. How many times must you be lied to before you learn that politicians break their campaign promises? How many examples do you need laid out in front of you before you understand that politicians do not care about you? They are in it for themselves. How much more money do they need to take from you before you wake up to the fact that government is a Ponzi scheme? How many more cut backs does government need to make to education, health care and social services before you realize that the billions that goes into government coffers is not sufficiently being allocated to the services that they claim to dedicate the funds to? How many more times are you going to allow politicians to be found wanting after you have voted for change, but are left staring into the face of a withering status quo?

It baffles and saddens me to see that the voting populace does not wake up to the reality that government is not there for the people: It is simply a self-serving organism. George Carlin once said, politicians are there to give you the illusion that you have choice: You dont! Regardless of the brand name of the ruling thugs of the day you are only going to get two things. 1) More debt 2) Less civil liberties.

On May 9th consider doing something different. Stay home. Dont sanction the nefariousness of government by running like lemmings to the voting booths to choose your ruler. Take a stand and say no more.

Steve Thompson
If you have just started your journey in an online casino or are looking for a new site to play,...
Photo: Jasper van Staveren featuring Taylor Reiss & Matthew Whitehead, the youth F18 World Champs now going for the big one. Both will be racing together again on a Goodall Design C2 at Denmark, they are top 3 favorites to fight for the Title along Patrick Demesameker & Tas Gilles (C2) and Simon Northrop & Josh OBrien (Infusion / Hyde Sails).

Mitch & Ruben Booth and Tornado Champs Paschalidis & Trigonis, are training on the Exploders equipped with 1D sails and new Exploder mast lets see the juice these experienced sailors can take out of this new combo to contend for the top spots.

Video sent by Jasper, showing what a nice place to race the Worlds Vallensbk Sailing club will be offering.

2017 Official Worlds web f18worlds2017.dk

Registration: f18worlds2017.dk/entry-registration/

Entry List: f18worlds2017.dk/news/entry-list/
Stillwater Mining Co. announced Thursday that it has completed its $2.2 billion merger into a South African firm, Sibanye Gold Ltd.

The companys stock is being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, and stock holders will receive $18 per share for the transaction, Stillwater officials said in a news release.

Shareholders will receive instructions on how to cash out by Computershare Trust Company N.A., the transfer agent for the transaction, according to Stillwater, Montanas largest mining company.

I am grateful for the hard work of our employees and management team in building this great company. Stillwaters leadership team is well positioned for success as part of Sibanye, Stillwater CEO Mick McMullen said in a release.

With the sale completed, Sibanye will now be a partner in Stillwaters Good Neighbor Agreement with the Northern Plains Resource Council, a Billings-based conservation group.

The 2000 contract required Stillwater to inform communities of any activity that could affect communities surrounding the East Boulder and main Stillwater mine, according to Northern Plains.

We will continue to work with (Stillwater Mining), and new owners, Sibanye Gold, to enforce the high standards of the GNA, said Jerry Iverson of Big Timber, chairman of the Good Neighbor Agreement task force.

Sibanye Gold takes over the Stillwater and East Boulder mines at an important time. Both mines will need to expand storage facilities for tailings and waste rock in the near future. It is extremely important that those facilities are developed in a way that protects our communities and the water quality of Stillwater and Sweet Grass counties, Iverson added in a written statement.

The two companies announced the merger Dec. 9. Last week, the proposal was approved overwhelmingly in votes by shareholders of both companies.

Stillwater, which has about 1,400 employees in south central Montana, is now the U.S. branch for Sibanye. The companys CEO, Neal Froneman, said he likes Stillwater operations and does not plan cutbacks.

He has also indicated that he would like to move the companys corporate headquarters from Littleton, Colo., back to Montana.

Shares of Sibanye opened at $7.58 Thursday, down about 3 percent from the previous day.

Stillwater is the only U.S. producer of platinum and palladium, which workers extract from two mines in the Beartooth valley. The company also operates a refining smelter in Columbus.
SPOKANE, Wash.  A former Las Vegas stripper who ran a drug trafficking ring that stretched from Washington state to North Dakota has been sentenced to more than 17 years in federal prison. Her gastroenterologist husband who has said he was unaware of the drug dealing has pleaded guilty to filing false federal tax documents.

Loren M. Toelle, 52, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and also received five years of probation after pleading guilty to leading the drug ring that also involved her adult children from other marriages.

The drug ring operated from 2009 to 2016 and sold oxycodone, heroin, and methamphetamine in parts of Idaho, Washington, Montana and North Dakota, federal prosecutors have said.

Her husband, Dr. Stanley Toelle, also appeared before Winmill Tuesday and entered his guilty plea to filing the false documents with the Internal Revenue Service in 2012 and 2013.

As part of a plea agreement, the 61-year-old doctor will pay nearly $50,000 in back taxes and has forfeited over $150,000 in assets authorities have said came from his wife's drug trafficking. He could face up to a year in prison at his sentencing in August.

Winmill rejected requests by Loren Toelle's lawyer to give her a 10-year sentence. She must forfeit assets of more than $2 million in cash and property that prosecutors have said were profits from the drug ring.

Investigators have said Loren Toelle was nicknamed "Mama" in drug dealing circles. Ten other people accused in the case were also charged and all have pleaded guilty and received prison sentences.

Loren Toelle has also said that her husband was unaware of her drug activities.

The two met in Las Vegas in 2005 and were married the next year. It was her fourth marriage.

Loren Toelle lived in Las Vegas while her husband lived in Coeur d'Alene and gave her a monthly allowance.

She has said she asked him for money on occasion to pay bills, with the understanding she would pay him back when she could.

She said in court documents that she told her husband that her businesses included a day care, a hair salon and the sales of hair extensions and beauty supplies.
HELENA  Montana Gov. Steve Bullock faces 260 legislative bills that he must soon decide to veto or sign. That's because state legislative leaders held off delivering them until the last minute as political payback for Bullock's decision to use his bill amendment powers to change voting legislation sent to him earlier this year, officials said Wednesday.

The number of bills that Bullock, a Democrat, must consider is the highest ever recorded for a Montana governor after the Legislature has adjourned, according to data compiled by the state legislative division following a request from The Associated Press.

The legislature is dominated by Republicans, and House Speaker Austin Knudsen said he delayed sending the bills to Bullock because of lawmaker anger over Bullock's decision to send the bill back to legislators in April with new language authorizing election clerks across the state to conduct the May 25 special congressional election by mail.

Bullock employed his "amendatory veto" power to change the legislation. Legislative leaders in April started holding off sending bills to him and did so until the session ended because Montana governors can only exercise the power while the Legislature is in session.

The bills delivered to him after the session ended can only be approved or vetoed. If Bullock does nothing with some of them, they automatically become law 10 days after delivery to the governor's office.

"Just to be safe, I held them all," said Knudsen, a Republican from Culbertson. "It came to the point that I wasn't going to send him any more bills until we were out of here."

Ronja Abel, Bullock's spokeswoman, accused Knudsen and other Republicans of intentionally "preventing the governor from improving some pieces of legislation in the best interest of Montanans."

Bullock was in California Wednesday at a conference but was expected to resume reviewing the bills, most already analyzed by his staff, after returning later in the day.

The bills that have stacked up have varying deadlines of when Bullock must take action because they were not all delivered on the same day. About 150 were provided to his office earlier this week, but 100 bills had not arrived yet.

The backlog of legislation for his consideration is more than double what Bullock faced at the end of Montana's 2015 legislative session. About 180 bills awaited gubernatorial consideration at the end of the 2013 session and there were fewer than 150 at the end of the 2011 session.

Montana holds its state legislative sessions every other year.
HELENA  After legislation that could spell the end for Medicaid expansion in states like Montana cleared the U.S. House on a close vote, some are calling on Montanas senators to defeat a Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

The revised version of the American Health Care Act would effectively end Medicaid expansion in Montana, which has extended coverage to more than 70,000 people, the Montana Budget and Policy Center, a nonprofit that researches budget, tax and economic issues, said Thursday.

The bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives is even worse for Montanans and our state than the bill presented earlier this year, said co-director Heather OLoughlin. AHCA represents a dramatic and unprecedented cut to Medicaid and is not a solution that will work for Montana.

In the 2015 legislative session, Montana voted to expand Medicaid as a part of the Affordable Care Act, making coverage available to those who earn up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.

When the HELP Act was passed, it came with a 2019 sunset date, which was put in place so the state could assess the viability of the program under stepped-down federal reimbursement rates. What Republicans in Washington are proposing drops reimbursement further than previously called for at the start of 2020.

A report from the Congressional Budget Office issued for the first version of the Republican repeal-and-replace plan estimated some states will end their Medicaid expansion program because of that. While it's not clear what will happen in Montana, numbers from the Department of Health and Human Services applied to CBO estimates show it would take the state an extra $251 million a year to keep coverage as it is now.

Montana's response

Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat, released a statement Thursday criticizing the bill.

"This is another half-baked proposal to kick the legs right out from under those with pre-existing conditions, seniors, cancer patients and the 76,000 Montanans that now have health care under Medicaid expansion," he said. "We need thoughtful and affordable solutions that expand coverage and protect patients, not ones that only benefit millionaires and members of Congress."

The bill now moves to the Senate, where Montana Sens. Jon Tester, a Democrat, and Steve Daines, a Republican, will vote on it.

Tester called this iteration of the Republican plan worse than the last.

"The House is forcing seniors to pay more, jeopardizing health care for Montana women and failing to address the rising costs that are draining pocketbooks."

He called on lawmakers to "get off their political soapboxes so we can work on real solutions."

Daines released an audio statement saying, Its time now for the U.S. Senate to take action and make health care affordable for all Montanans," though he did not clarify how he would vote. The Senate will likely not take up the bill until June, when it will be heavily debated and possibly amended.

The Montana Budget and Policy Center also said the Republican plan would increase premiums and out-of-pocket costs and alter the greater Medicaid program, which covers 240,000 Montanans, by moving $3 billion in costs to the state over the next decade.

The center said the bill would let states create a high-risk pool for those with pre-existing conditions, and those pools would have premiums so high they would not be affordable.

States would also be permitted to waive a requirement under the existing Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, to provide whats known as essential health benefits. Those benefits include things like maternity care and mental health care. That change means it's likely women will be charged more for insurance, according to the center.

"This proposal takes a bad bill and makes it worse, said Sarah Howell, executive director of Montana Women Vote. We cannot go back to the days where individuals were being denied coverage or forced into high-risk pools that were outrageously expensive and covered very little."

Empty seat

Montana did not have a congressman vote on the bill because the states sole seat in the U.S. House is empty after Ryan Zinke resigned to become Secretary of the Interior.

But candidates to fill his position in a May 25 special election weighed in Thursday.

No Montanan would vote for this bill, said Rob Quist, a Democrat from Creston. He also said Congress should not rush through something as disastrous as this bill, which will raise health care costs for working Montanans.

In a statement from a spokesman, Republican Greg Gianforte, a Bozeman tech entrepreneur, said he wanted more information before he would say if he supported the bill.

Greg needs to know all the facts because its important to know exactly whats in the bill before he votes on it, spokesman Shane Scanlon said.

The Congressional Budget Office, which produces nonpartisan analysis of legislation, has not yet produced a review of the bill, though it did for the previous version.

In a debate last Saturday, Quist said he supported the Affordable Care Act and that it needs to be preserved and fixed, not tossed out.

"Before we get any new health care plans we need to fix the one we have."

Gianforte said his barometer would be if a plan preserves rural access and coverage for pre-existing conditions while reducing premiums.

"Does any repeal-and-replace proposal reduce premiums for average Montanans and does it preserve rural access? If it does, I'll vote for it."

Libertarian Mark Wicks, an Inverness rancher, said the Affordable Care Act is not affordable and he wants to see the government get out of health care.
While 475 fourth-graders celebrated Arbor Day Thursday gleefully by being hoisted into trees or scaling a rock wall, they also learned a thing or two.

I have enjoyed learning about different kinds of bugs, said Sara Shimamoto, who attends Eagle Cliffs Elementary School. Sometimes I smash them, but sometimes I just watch them.

Shimamoto and her classmates had just attended a Have We Met? Im Your Worst Nightmare! invasive insect workshop put on by Lori Witham and Taelor Anderson of the U.S. Department of Agricultures Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. That stop was one of 21 environmental stations offered up at Veterans Park during an annual event put on by the Billings Department of Parks, Recreation and Public Lands, and more than a dozen sponsors.

About 200 volunteers were on hand leading workshops and improving the park by planting shrubs and laying sod, building a retaining wall, painting bleachers and laying another layer of fall protection beneath the parks playground.

The two bug specialists introduced students to a number of tiny unwelcome guests, including Asian long-horned beetles, who came to New York and Massachusetts half a century ago on imported pallets.

Then there's the coconut rhinoceros beetle, which alarm Hawaii residents with their ability to gnaw their way into toppling entire palm trees.

Anderson held up a jar with a preserved Giant African land snail, a creature accidentally introduced into South Florida by a boy returning from a visit to Puerto Rico. Slowly but surely, the large snails get around to eating plants and flowers. They're also known for latching themselves onto Floridians' garages.

Closer to home is the Japanese beetle, a copper beauty that probably entered Billings the way many other visitors do  through Billings Logan International Airport.

The adult beetles made their way down the Rimrocks to chomp on roses and flowering shrubs on the Montana State University Billings campus while their younger offspring cut their teeth on tender grass roots, eventually destroying lawns.

Were trying to trap them, Witham said.

At another educational booth, Robyn Sargent, who manages environmental services for the engineering and scientific firm Terracon, demonstrated how engineers help make the environment safe  or at least safer than it was before we got there, she said.

She demonstrated the tools engineers use to evaluate the cleanliness of water resources, then performed a little chemical magic by dropping a couple of antacids into a cup of water, vegetable oil and food coloring to demonstrate how chemicals can be used to improve water quality.

You can do this at home, she said. Just put a lid on it and watch it go.

Tom Yelvington of Yellowstone Valley Tree Surgeons helped hoist eager students up to 50 feet in the air using pulleys and ropes hung from an 80-year-old cottonwood tree.

These are pulleys and carabiners we use every day in tree work, said the veteran of more than 40 years in the tree care business. If they can handle a 200-pound adult, they can handle a fourth-grader.

At the days conclusion, one student from each classroom was given a kid-sized golden shovel to ceremoniously plant a Valley Forge American elm tree, which Jon Thompson, the citys parks superintendent, said was appropriate for Veterans Park, since George Washington, one of our nations greatest veterans, spent that very cold winter at Valley Forge.

Would you rather be in school having fun? asked Mayor Tom Hanel. Or would you rather be here having fun?

Not surprisingly, students chose the latter.
Arabelle Laddusaw, 7, cracks a joke as she gets into position to pose for a photo with law enforcement at a celebration of her trip to Disneyland from the Montana Hope Project at Perkins on Wednesday.

Laddusaw, a first-grader at Big Sky Elementary who has cerebral palsy, will leave next week for the week-long trip with her family.

According to Dave Evans, the area coordinator for Eastern Montana, Montana Hope Project has given away 17 wishes so far in 2017, and over 450 since the inception of the program 33 years ago.
The number of active bald eagle nests in Georgia reached a record high this year, the state Department of Natural Resources announced Thursday.

Statewide aerial surveys detected 218 occupied nest territories. That eclipses the previous record of 210 in 2015 and marks the third straight year that more than 200 active bald eagle nests have been documented in Georgia.

Mirroring a comeback across the species range, bald eagles have rebounded in the state from no known nests in 1970 to nests this year in at least 68 counties, according to survey leader Bob Sargent. In the last 10 years, the number of occupied nest territories in Georgia has almost doubled.

The recovery of the bald eagle in Georgia is a truly inspiring success story. This is a 7-foot-wide soaring example of the effectiveness of the Endangered Species Act, said Mr. Sargent, a program manager with DNRs Nongame Conservation Section.

At least 142 of this years nests were successful, fledging a total of 218 young eagles, an average of 1.5 per successful nest. Four nests appear to have fledged as many as three young. In 2016, 149 of the 201 occupied nesting territories were successful, fledging an estimated 240 eaglets.

The dip in fledgling estimates this year compared to 2016 does not concern Sargent. He explained that adults were still incubating eggs in many southwest Georgia nests during the follow-up flight in March. Since fledging of nestlings from those eggs, although likely, could not be assumed, those numbers were not added to the total.

The Nongame Conservation Section monitors eagle nesting through helicopter surveys in January and again in March and early April. The initial flights are focused on finding all active nests: those with eggs, eaglets, an adult in an incubating posture or evidence that eagles have been prepping the nest for use. The second round of surveys is aimed at determining the reproductive outcome of those nests and checking recently reported new nests.

Factors feeding the national birds recovery include a U.S. ban on DDT use in 1972, habitat improvements after enactment of the federal Clean Water and Clean Air acts, protection through the Endangered Species Act, increased public awareness, restoration of local populations through release programs, and forest regrowth.

In 1989, the Southeastern recovery plan set 20 occupied nest territories in Georgia as a goal. It was an especially low bar in terms of measuring success because the species was in such dire straits here, Mr. Sargent said.

Yet while the recovery of the bald eagle is encouraging, there continue to be reasons for concern, he added.

Along Savannah River reservoirs, for example, nest numbers are lower than expected. One reason why is avian vacuolar myelinopathy, often referred to as AVM, a neurological disease deadly to coots and the bald eagles that prey on them. This winter, 10 eagle carcasses were found at Clarks Hill Lake (Strom Thurmond), an AVM hotspot. The cause of death for those eagles that could be necropsied was AVM, Mr. Sargent said.

Mr. Sargent also reiterated the unexpected downside of an increased eagle population, including more birds being hit by cars as eagles, mostly sub-adults, eat roadkill; incidents of eagles being shot; and, birds suffering lead poisoning after ingesting fishing sinkers or scavenging animal carcasses containing lead shot, bullets or slugs.

The public is encouraged to report eagle nests via www.georgiawildlife.com/conservation/eaglenest, (478) 994-1438) or bob.sargent@dnr.ga.gov. Such reports led to 12 of the 17 new nests this season. (Tip: Osprey nests are sometimes confused with eagles. If unsure, check out the differences online, including at http://bit.ly/2ptuRtm.)

DNR works with landowners to help protect bald eagle nests on private property. Although de-listed from the Endangered Species Act in 2007, eagles are protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and state law. In Georgia, the species has a state classification of threatened.

The surveys of these iconic birds are part of the DNR Nongame Conservation Sections mission to conserve nongame wildlife  native animals not legally hunted or fished for  and native plants and natural habitats.

The resurgence of bald eagles is supported in part by Georgians who buy or renew an eagle or hummingbird wildlife license plate. These tags cost only $25 more than a standard license plate and $19 of each purchase and $20 of each annual renewal goes to help conserve bald eagles and hundreds of other Georgia plant and animal species listed as species of conservation concern.

Learn more at www.georgiawildlife.com/conservation/support. See how that support is put to work www.georgiawildlife.com/conservation/AnnualReport.

SURVEY SUMMARY

Occupied eagle nest territories: 218

Successful nests: 142

Young fledged: 218

Counties with active nests: 68

Lead nest counties: Chatham, 22; Decatur, 18; Camden, 13, McIntosh, 13; Glynn, 11, Liberty, 11

SURVEY INSIGHTS

Round-one Flights: DNR eagle nest surveys consist of two rounds of flights, each taking five days. The first round is called occupancy flights. Flown between the second and fourth week of January, these flights are focused on finding all active nests in the state. An active nest is one with eggs or an adult eagle in an incubating posture, eaglets (rare in Georgia in January), or evidence eagles have been prepping the nest for use. To make the best use of helicopter time, occupancy flights focus on nests used the previous year, reports of possible new sites and examination of areas with a high probability of supporting new nests. Reports by biologists and other residents accounted for 12 of the 17 new nests this year and monitoring of 11 nests from the ground.

Round Two: The second round of flights, from mid-March to early April, is aimed at gauging the reproductive outcome of nests visited in January and visiting reported new nests. By late winter, most nests either have eaglets ranging in age from 4-14 weeks old or they are empty because the nesting effort failed or, in a few instances, the eaglets have fledged.

Nest Timing: DNR survey leader Bob Sargent said there is a marked latitudinal gradient with regards to the timing of the nest cycle. Eagles on the coast nest earlier and fledge young earlier than those in the mid-state, and much earlier than those nesting on the perimeter of mountain reservoirs. And as with all birds, the causes of nest failure vary and can include severe weather, death of one or both parents, insufficient food available to rear young and predation of eggs or young by raccoons, great horned owls and other wildlife.

After Matthew: Mr. Sargent was curious to see how coastal nests fared in the wake of Hurricane Matthew. Yet only five nest trees appeared to have fallen because of the October storm, despite swaths of devastated forest on Little Tybee, Ossabaw, Blackbeard and St. Catherines islands. On the flipside, Mr. Sargent found five new nests on the coast. About 35 percent of the states active nests were found in the six coastal counties.



Pilots Key: By the end of the surveys, Mr. Sargent and DNR pilots Maj. Gary Doc Watson and Capts. Ed Watkins and Steve Turner had peeked into 293 nests from Walker to Camden counties. Sargent calls the pilots ornithologists in training and said their part in the surveys goes beyond flying. They often find the nests before I do, they are as fascinated by the big birds as I am and they are especially conscientious about keeping a safe distance from the nests  for the eagles sake  while giving me the best possible look at the contents.

Nest Trees: Data collected about the nest trees this survey season show that of 263 current or recent nest trees examined, 251 (95 percent) were pines, mostly loblolly, but also longleaf, white and Virginia pine. Eleven of the remaining 12 trees were cypress, and nine of those were on the coast.

Mr. Sargent often gets calls from the public about eagle nests in dead trees, especially the very tops of the trees, and on high-voltage towers, cell phone towers and bridge structures. Sargents preliminary analysis indicates that only 19 of the 263 nest trees examined were dead or dying, and about five nests were at the very top of the trees. No eagle nests were documented on manmade structures, but many osprey nests were seen on towers, river channel markers and bridges. The latter species often nests in dead trees.

Oddly enough, one tree on Blackbeard Island featured three eagle nests stacked one above the other like apartments; the top one was occupied. On Wassaw Island, Mr. Sargent saw a great horned owl incubating eggs in a nest that had been built by eagles, which is not an unusual occurrence.
Molecular model of a WS2 triangular monolayer targeted with a green laser (hv'). Red light (hv) is emitted from the edges where defects consisting of sulfur vacancies are located. Electron-hole pairs are bound at the vacancy site (see inset).

Thinning a material down to a single-atom thickness can dramatically change that material's physical properties. For example, graphene, the best-known 2D material, has unparalleled strength and electrical conductivity, unlike its bulk form, graphite. Researchers have begun to study hundreds of other 2D materials for the purposes of electronics, sensing, early cancer diagnosis, water desalination and a host of other applications. Now, a team of Penn State researchers in the Department of Physics and the Center for Two-Dimensional and Layered Materials (2DLM) has developed a fast, nondestructive optical method for analyzing defects in 2D materials.

"In the semiconductor industry, for example, defects are important because you can control properties through defects," said Mauricio Terrones, professor of physics, materials science and engineering and chemistry. "This is known as defect engineering. Industry knows how to control defects and which types are good for devices."

To really understand what is going on in a 2D material like tungsten disulfide, which has a single atom-thick layer of tungsten sandwiched between two atomic layers of sulfur, would require a high-power electron microscope capable of seeing individual atoms and the holes, called vacancies, where the atoms are missing.

"The benefit of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is that you get an image and you can see directly what is going on -- you get direct evidence," said Bernd Kabius, staff scientist at Penn State's Materials Research Institute, an expert in TEM and a coauthor on the paper

The downsides, according to Kabius, are an increased possibility of damage to the delicate 2D material, the complex preparation required of the sample, and the time involved -- an entire day of instrument time to image a single sample and a week or more to interpret the results. For those reasons, and others, researchers would like to combine TEM with another method of looking at the sample that is simpler and faster.

The technique developed by Terrones and his team uses an optical method, fluorescent microscopy, in which a laser of a specific wavelength is shone on a sample. The excited electrons, pushed to a higher energy level, each emit a photon of a longer wavelength when they drop down to a lower energy level. The longer wavelength can be measured by spectroscopy and gives information about the defect type and location on the sample. The team can then correlate the results with visual confirmation under the TEM. Theoretical calculations also helped to validate the optical results.

The sample must be placed in a temperature-controlled specimen holder and the temperature lowered to 77 Kelvin, almost 200 degrees Celsius below zero. At this temperature, the electron-hole pairs that produce the fluorescence are bound to the defect -- in the case of this work a group of sulfur vacancies in the top layer of the sandwich -- and emit a signal stronger than the pristine areas of the material.

"For the first time, we have established a direct relationship between the optical response and the amount of atomic defects in two-dimensional materials," said Victor Carozo, former postdoctoral scholar in Terrones' lab and first author of the work.

Terrones added, "For the semiconductor industry, this is a quick measurement, an optical nondestructive method to evaluate defects in 2D systems. The important thing is that we were able to correlate our optical method with TEM and also with atomistic simulations. I think this method can be very helpful in establishing a protocol for characterization of 2D crystalline materials."

In this context, co-author Yuanxi Wang, a postdoc in the 2DLM and a theorist, added, "Our calculations show that electrons trapped by vacancies emit light at wavelengths different than the emission from defect-free regions. Regions emitting light at these wavelengths can easily identify vacancies within samples."

Vincent Crespi, distinguished professor of physics, materials science and engineering and chemistry, Penn State, said "We can establish not just an empirical correlation between the presence of certain defects and modified light emission, but also identify the reason for that correlation through first-principles calculations."

Device applications that could be enhanced by this work include membranes with selective pore sizes for removing salt from water or for DNA sequencing, gas sensing when gas molecules bind to specific vacancies and the doping of 2D materials, which is the addition of foreign atoms to enhance properties.
Motorola Solutions (NYSE: MSI) reported earnings Thursday after the markets closed, with earnings per share topping analyst estimates. Revenue had a narrow beat as well.

The Chicago-based maker of emergency communications equipment and services delivered earnings of 71 cents per share, excluding items. Analysts had estimated earnings of 57 cents per share.

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Revenue for the first quarter came in at nearly $1.3 billion, up about 7 percent compared to the year-ago quarter and just beating analysts' expectations of $1.25 billion.

The majority of Motorola Solutions' sales came from its products segment, which, at about $703 million, brought in about the same amount as the first quarter of 2016. Services, on the other hand, grew nearly 18 percent to $578 million, including $58 million in incremental revenue from public safety net provider Airwave, which it acquired last year.

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"Q1 was a strong quarter and an excellent start to the year," said CEO Greg Brown on an earnings call with analysts. "I'm very pleased with our continued progress in services."

Some within the company see software as the company's next frontier for growth and innovation.

"There's still innovation to be had in our mobile radio and our robust (push to talk) business, and you'll see a lot there," said Andrew Sinclair, Motorola Solutions' new head of software, in a recent interview with Blue Sky. "But you will see accelerated innovation coming through software."

Motorola Solutions said it expects second quarter revenue to grow two to three percent compared to the same quarter last year, when revenue was $1.43 billion. It projected earnings, excluding items, of 98 cents to $1.03 per share.

For the year, the company revised its guidance to the upper end of its original range. It said it expects revenue to grow two percent  compared to its original projection of one to two percent. Revenue in 2016 was more than $6 billion. Motorola Solutions raised guidance for earnings per share, excluding items, to $5.08 to $5.23, up from $5.05 to $5.20 for the year.

Motorola Solutions stock traded flat at about $86.12 after hours on Thursday.

aelahi@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @aminamania
For therapeutic foster parents, caring for extremely traumatized children isnt easy.

Alesia Fowler remembers the first days and weeks she and her husband, Steve, took a brother and sister, ages 18 months and 2-1/2, diagnosed as seriously emotionally disturbed into their Billings home.

It was just so intense, Fowler said of that time in January 2015. There was constant crying, constant screaming, constant fighting.

The stress was heightened because the Fowlers had spent the previous seven years as empty-nesters, their grown son, 26, and daughter, 28, both out of the house. The quiet was replaced by frequent emotional outbursts.

Thats where the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch was phenomenal, the support they gave us, she said.

YBGR has run a therapeutic foster care program since early 2000, which is now expanding, said Kim Chouinard, executive director of YBGRs Community Based Services. Her office is housed inside the old Garfield Elementary building.

Who are the kids?

Children up to age 18 are eligible for therapeutic foster care, and most of them come through the state of Montanas Child & Family Services. What qualifies them for the specialized foster care is if they are diagnosed as seriously emotionally disturbed.

They say the human brain is not fully developed until age 26, Chouinard said. Were talking about toddlers who have experienced an incredible amount of trauma that affects their ability to relate socially, emotionally and behaviorally and may never fully heal.

They may grapple with such mental health issues as depression, anxiety and reactive attachment disorder, and behaviors such as manipulation, aggression, hyperactivity and an inability to control themselves.

We see a lot of reactive attachment when theres been a lot of (early) neglect or abandonment, Chouinard said.

The best way to describe what reactive attachment looks like, she said, is children pushing people way, but at the same time desperately hoping those people will 'stay the course with me, dont give up on me. Every adult gives up on me.'

On the surface their behavior may seem manipulative, Chouinard said.

Its their way of surviving, she said. Theyre trying to adapt the environment so it feels safer.

Training

YBGR provides initial and ongoing training, as well as 24/7 phone support and weekly visits by a treatment manager to equip foster parents with the tools they need to succeed, said Tracey Lujan, family resource specialist. Couples also get a weekend off every month, with respite care provided by other certified therapeutic foster parents.

We tell (the couples) at the beginning its a life-changing experience for them, Lujan said. When these children come into their homes they do require so much attention that the parents have to be prepared.

Its a long process to become a therapeutic foster parent, she said. It requires a home study, background check, 18 hours of pre-service orientation plus an additional 15 hours before they are licensed.

Then they must complete 30 hours of additional training per year to keep their license, as opposed to the 15 hours of training annually for a regular foster parent. The therapeutic foster parents must have the ability to meet the child where he or she is at, Lujan said.

Some of our folks have had to be willing to change their parenting styles and to focus more on whats behind the behavior of the children, she said.

Fowler agrees. She works hard to find the meaning behind the behavior.

Its not that theyre trying to be bad or mean, especially early on, she said. Theyre decompressing from a home situation they didnt know how to deal with.

They were with us for six weeks before we saw them play and smile and laugh, Fowler said.

One of the techniques these foster parents learn, Lujan said, is helping teach the children different ways of thinking. Instead of coping with situations by getting angry, they learn healthier responses.

The parents help them identify what their triggers might be so we can give them some coping skills to work through those issues, she said.

Becoming a family

This isnt the first time Fowler and her husband, a church-planting pastor at Emmanuel Baptist Church, have been involved in foster care. The couple, both 56, were foster parents in Michigan for 15 years, with part of that time in specialized foster care.

When they moved to Montana, their daughter and son were in high school, and the couple decided to step back from foster parenting.

A friend who works for YBGR suggested they reconsider their decision once their children were grown and out of the house. The couple agreed, Fowler said, thinking to take in one toddler.

But they couldnt bear to break up a brother and a sister. And while they thought it would be a short-term placement, they're in the process of adopting the pair.

We decided a little over a year ago we werent just going to be another placement for them, Fowler said.

The couple spoke with the childrens biological grandparents, who supported the decision. The Fowlers also talked with their own children, who fully support the adoption.

We said, 'We want to know all your thoughts. Are we losing our minds?' Fowler said, smiling. They were both just ecstatic.

The girl and boy are now ages 3 and 4. They easily approach Fowler to ask her questions, share their thoughts or just have a little mom time.

There are still difficult moments. The boy recently hit his preschool teacher. Fowler used the technique shes learned through training called a time-in, where he sat close to her and after he had calmed down, they began to talk.

She asked if something was bothering him.

At first he said no, Fowler said. Then he was able to process what was making him act and react in a negative way because he was pretty sassy and lippy with us. He said he was afraid of losing us.

She looked him in the eye.

I reminded him I will love you forever, just to reassure him, Fowler said.

'Such a need'

Not every couple who signs up to be therapeutic foster parents will adopt, Lujan said. The goal of the program is, when possible, to reunify the youngsters with their biological families.

But after a certain amount of time if that doesnt happen, we start looking at helping these children have some sort of normal life and find a family to live with.

Presently, YBGR has three licensed families in Billings and 22 in Livingston, Townsend, Three Forks and Big Timber. It is now branching out to Dillon to recruit more families, but it could always use more in Billings and Yellowstone County.

Theres just such a need, Lujan said. Its very disheartening when we get a referral and we dont have a family to place the children with.

Chouinard praises couples like the Fowlers for opening their homes and their hearts to some of the most emotionally fragile children. They come with many challenges, she said, but over time things can turn around; they can start to emotionally reattach.

It takes those heroes to get through the storm with them, she said. The other side of that storm is pretty magical.
Howard Hughes Corp. has gotten approval to put a 51-story skyscraper on the site of the General Growth building at 110 N. Wacker Drive. (Goettsch Partners rendering / CoStar Group)

Bank of America 's big Wacker Drive lease will kick off construction of a 51-story office tower, as well as a hiring spree by the bank in Chicago.

The bank has signed a nearly 500,000-square-foot lease to anchor the development at 110 N. Wacker Drive, a site currently occupied by mall landlord GGP's low-slung headquarters along the eastern edge of the Chicago River, Mayor Rahm Emanuel , the bank and the project's developers announced at a news conference Thursday.

The Charlotte, N.C.-based company plans to move about 2,000 of its 5,600 Chicago-area employees into the new tower starting in late 2020, Chicago market President Paul Lambert said after the event. In addition, some of the space will be used to accommodate hundreds of new employees the bank plans to hire in the coming years, Lambert said.

Bank of America has not said which buildings it is expected to move workers out of when the new tower is completed. It has offices throughout the city and suburbs, including 827,000 square feet at 135 S. LaSalle St. and 356,000 square feet at 540 W. Madison St.

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The Wacker tower will bring together divisions that meet daily with clients, such as consumer business, wealth management, commercial banking, small business and capital markets, Lambert said.

"It's all a growth strategy," Lambert said. "The first step in growing is to bring (those divisions) all together, and then we are aggressively growing that footprint."

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The General Growth building currently at 110 N. Wacker Drive is dwarfed by many of the downtown area's larger buildings. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)

BofA's lease for the lower 16 floors means that by early next year, the developers of the tower  Chicago's Riverside Investment & Development and Dallas-based Howard Hughes Corp.  can move forward on demolishing the GGP building and replacing it with a 1.35 million-square-foot tower.

It will be the third office building taller than 50 stories to go up along the river during this development cycle, demonstrating the strength and duration of the ongoing run on brand-new space. Following a recession that ground development to a halt, many real estate experts projected there might only be enough anchor tenants to support one or two big, new towers.

But a steady improvement of the economy since the recession and a wave of companies moving workers downtown from the suburbs and outside the Chicago area have boosted leasing activity.

What's unknown is the impact all the new towers will have on previous-generation buildings as they lose large tenants to new construction, leading to concerns that a glut of "shadow space" eventually will push up vacancy and drive down average rents.

Bank of America was represented in the lease by Steve Steinmeyer, senior managing director at Jones Lang LaSalle. The developers were represented by Drew Nieman, executive vice president at CBRE.

John O'Donnell, a former John Buck Co. executive who now leads Riverside, and Howard Hughes Executive Vice President Paul Layne said they are confident about their chances of lining up construction financing and additional tenants, although no additional deals are imminent. They declined to say how much the development is expected to cost.

The 800-foot-tall tower, designed by Goettsch Partners, gained Chicago Plan Commission and City Council approval in March. The design's most distinctive feature is a tall overhang, supported by V-shaped columns, to shelter a 45-foot-wide riverwalk that will be open to the public.

The trapezoidal site is bordered by the river on the west, Randolph Street on the north, Washington Street on the south and Wacker on the east.

Already in this development cycle, Riverside has completed a 53-story tower along the river, just south of Hines Interests' recently opened 52-story River Point. John Buck is building a 35-story tower on Franklin Street in the Loop.

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Farther west, next to Old St. Patrick's Church, a venture of White Oak Realty Partners and a CA Ventures affiliate is building a 20-story tower on speculation  without any leases signed in advance.

Several shorter office buildings, including McDonald's future headquarters, are under development in the Fulton Market District west of the Kennedy Expressway.

GGP, formerly known as General Growth Properties, will be displaced from its longtime headquarters by next year. The mall owner already has been looking at space in other buildings, according to real estate sources, but a GGP spokesman declined to comment on its plans.

rori@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @Ryan_Ori
It towers over the city in high-rises, paves the Chicago Riverwalk and reflects thunderous cheers at Wrigley Field .

Concrete is everywhere in Chicago, and its key ingredient doesn't have to travel far to get here.

For much of the limestone used to build Chicago's buildings, fix its roads and even renovate Wrigley, the journey starts in a mine deep below the Earth's surface near Joliet .

"It's hard to believe," said Aaron Ozinga, president of Ozinga Materials & Logistics, an Ozinga company. "(That stone starts in an) underground quarry in Joliet and there it is standing tall in Chicago."

Ozinga supplies building materials to many of the contractors that are helping reshape Chicago's skyline, these days mainly with residential high-rises, such as the 67-story mixed apartment and condo tower One Bennett Park near Navy Pier.

Construction materials are heavy and can be expensive to ship far, so they often stay local. Mokena-based Ozinga gets much of the limestone that flows into Chicago construction from LafargeHolcim, the Zurich-based building materials giant that operates the Joliet mine.

Number of construction cranes operating in Chicago Dec. 2016: 56 60 50 40 30 20 10 May 2014 Dec. 2014 May 2015 Dec. 2015 May 2016 Dec. 2016 TRIBUNE SOURCE: Rider Levett Bucknall Number of construction cranes operating in Chicago Dec. 2016: 56 60 50 40 30 20 10 May 2014 Dec. 2014 May 2015 Dec. 2015 May 2016 Dec. 2016 TRIBUNE SOURCE: Rider Levett Bucknall Number of construction cranes operating in Chicago Dec. 2016: 56 60 50 40 30 20 10 May 2014 Dec. 2014 May 2015 Dec. 2015 May 2016 Dec. 2016 TRIBUNE SOURCE: Rider Levett Bucknall

Nowadays, business is good for the concrete-focused companies, at least downtown. In December, there were 56 cranes in the sky in Chicago, according to Rider Levett Bucknall, a construction consultancy with Phoenix-based North American operations. Construction like this hasn't been seen in the city for nearly 10 years, Aaron Ozinga said -- since before the recession.

"There was nothing going on, nobody building anything," he said. "Everything pretty much came to a halt, but now things are obviously picking back up."

Outside of residential high-rises, Ozinga recently has shipped concrete, containing material from LafargeHolcim's Joliet mine, to projects including the renovations at Wrigley Field, the last phase of the Chicago Riverwalk, and the construction underway on the Stevenson Expressway and Lake Shore Drive interchange near McCormick Place.

Downtown Chicago marks some of the best growth that's happening in the region, said Matt Dantinne, head of the Mid-America region for LafargeHolcim's aggregates and construction materials business.

"When the economy turned off, the spigot turned off. Housing completely stopped in the Chicago area," Dantinne said. "We're back to a much better balance right now."

That means going deeper into the mine.

The steps of the process Much of the construction material used to build Chicagos skyscrapers or renovate Wrigley Field comes from local mines and quarries. Heres the route the limestone takes from an underground mine near Joliet to a downtown high-rise. 94 Miles 10 90 4 Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal 5 Chicago 3 Des Plaines River 294 57 55 94 355 80 1 COOK CO. Joliet 2 WILL CO. 1 Joliet mine 2 Above ground 3 Barge route 4 Concrete plants 5 Trucked to construction site Much of the construction material used to build Chicagos skyscrapers or renovate Wrigley Field comes from local mines and quarries. Heres the route the limestone takes from an underground mine near Joliet to a downtown high-rise. 4 Concrete plants Chicago Chicago River Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal 290 5 Trucked to construction site 294 55 Des Plaines River 3 Barge route 57 94 355 1 Joliet mine COOK CO. 80 WILL CO. 2 Above ground Miles 10 Joliet Much of the construction material used to build Chicagos skyscrapers or renovate Wrigley Field comes from local mines and quarries. Heres the route the limestone takes from an underground mine near Joliet to a downtown high-rise. 4 Concrete plants Chicago Chicago River Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal 290 5 Trucked to construction site 55 3 Barge route 57 294 Des Plaines River 94 355 1 Joliet mine COOK CO. WILL CO. 80 2 Above ground Miles 10 Joliet

1 Into the mine Miners work in the LafargeHolcim limestone mine near Joliet. (Zbignew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune photos) At about 300 feet below ground, the mine is dark and dusty. Employees work in clouds of light to break down the limestone, drilling holes in the walls, stuffing them with powder and blasting them out. There are about 20 LafargeHolcim employees that work primarily in the mine, which stays at about 55 to 60 degrees year-round. Every day, about 12,000 tons of rock is removed from the mine, and it's run through a crusher before it ever surfaces. There's one roadway into and out of the mine, and hanging over the exit and entrance ramp is a conveyor belt that carries out the broken-up limestone. The mine has a single entrance and exit. A conveyor belt carries out crushed limestone. 2 Back on the surface Above ground at the Joliet-area mine, limestone chunks are broken down for different construction uses. The chunks of stone that emerge from the mine are no larger than about 6 inches in diameter, but above ground they must be broken down further. The recipes LafargeHolcim's clients use to make their products call for different sizes of material, from sand to stone and everything between. "All we're doing here is crushing it to get it ready for the different recipes," Dantinne said. 3 By the river Crushed limestone is loaded onto a barge on the Des Plaines River at the Port of Will County terminal. The material from the mine is trucked to a nearby port on the Des Plaines River, where it's loaded into Ozinga's barges and shipped into the city via the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to the Chicago River. Each barge holds 1,550 tons of material, or the equivalent of 70 truckloads. The barge carrying the crushed limestone leaves the port and heads northeast toward Chicago concrete plants. 4 The barges arrive The Ozinga Ready Mix Concrete plant near Chinatown is where the limestone is mixed to make cement. Ozinga has two concrete plants in the city that sit on the Chicago River: one just north of Goose Island and the other near Chinatown. The material comes off the barges and is mixed together. Aaron Ozinga explained the difference between cement and concrete: "Cement is like flour in a cake. It's an ingredient ... used to bind all of the aggregates together. Concrete is the hard-formed stuff." Red-and-while striped cement trucks wait to be loaded at the concrete plant near Chinatown. 5 On the job Mixer trucks deliver their loads to a construction site in Streeterville. Once water comes in contact with cement, the cement truck must be unloaded in 60 to 90 minutes. Ozinga's red-and-white-striped trucks deliver the concrete in 9-cubic-yard loads, said Paul Ozinga, Aaron's brother and executive vice president at Ozinga Ready Mix Concrete, another Ozinga company. So if there's a 400-cubic-yard deck on a high-rise being poured, 44 truckloads of concrete would be delivered to the site. With a new truckload coming every five minutes or so, the pour could take hours. Once poured, the concrete hardens, becoming a part of the skyline less than 50 miles from the ground in which its limestone was formed.

amarotti@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @AllyMarotti

Photos by Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune
After almost 100 years of doing business, Joliet -based Central Grocers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Thursday and will lay off about 550 employees at the company's Joliet warehouse.

Central Grocers is a grocery cooperative that has long operated as wholesaler for more than 400 independent grocery stores in the Chicago area  including chains like Treasure Island, Pete's Fresh Market, Angelo Caputo's Fresh Market and Sunset Foods  distributing private-label Centrella products as well as produce, meat and dairy. It's also the parent company of Strack & Van Til and Ultra Foods stores in Illinois and Indiana, which are included in the bankruptcy filing. The layoffs are expected to occur between June 26 and July 10 as the cooperative's business gradually shuts down, according to a mass layoff notice sent to employees Wednesday.

Last month, Central Grocers announced plans to sell 22 Strack & Van Til stores while closing nine "underperforming" Ultra stores. About 750 workers at seven of those Ultra stores in the Cook County suburbs will be laid off by June 17, according the state's April 30 report on layoff notices.

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On Thursday, the company said it expects to enter into a sales agreement for 19 of the Strack & Van Til stores soon with a "stalking horse bidder" and intends to auction the nearly 1 million-square-foot Joliet warehouse and headquarters as well as other assets.

In addition to the many people who will lose their jobs, grocery retailers that have long depended on Central Grocers will also feel the impact of the bankruptcy. While some have already switched to other distributors, many are still owed large chunks of money.

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Take for example, Sami Deffala, owner of Morgan Mini Mart, a corner store in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood, who said he's still owed a $10,000 deposit  a substantial sum for a small store operator. Recently, Central Grocers cut him a check for the deposit but the payment isn't going through, Deffala said.

"I could use that money to improve my store. ... It's going to have an impact. Not catastrophic to where I'll have to close my store, but it's going to have an impact," Deffala said.

Many larger retailers, some of which have stock in Central Grocers, are owed much more money.

Mike Bousis and his father Dimitrious Bousis own and operate a combined 15 Cermak Fresh Market stores. Cermak was only a partial member of the Central Grocers cooperative, which supplied Cermak with center-store packaged goods, Bousis said. The chain recently switched fully over to Supervalu , a Minnesota-based grocery distributor.

Central Grocers still owes deposits on six Cermak stores, varying between $10,000 and $30,000 per store, Bousis said. But he doesn't expect to see that money again unless the retailers band together in a class-action lawsuit.

"You put a deposit down to get stuff supplied and they're worried about you paying them. And now you're not getting your money back. It's disheartening," Bousis said.

Central Grocers CEO Ken Nemeth didn't respond to a Tribune request for an interview. Instead, Central Grocers passed along the request to Joele Frank, a New York public relations agency, where employees would not answer questions on the record. In the company news release Thursday, Nemeth referred generally to the "increasingly difficult environment" for independent stores.

"We are using this court-supervised sale process to provide us the time and flexibility to conduct an orderly sale of the Strack & Van Til stores, while we work to sell the warehouse in Joliet and wind down our wholesale distribution operations," Nemeth said in the news release.

Central Grocers' Chapter 11 filing comes after a group of suppliers, including Coca-Cola, General Mills and Mars Financial Services, filed a petition Tuesday to force the grocery cooperative into involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

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The company's bankruptcy filings listed its total assets at about $262 million and its total liabilities at about $232 million. Central Grocers is seeking debtor in possession financing.

Highland Park-based Sunset Foods also recently enlisted a new distributor for grocery items  such as crackers, soups and cereals  that its five stores had been stocking from Central Grocers, said Thaddeus Tazioli, vice president of marketing for Sunset.

"Obviously there were issues with the organization and so a decision had to be made about what to do next," he said. "It's really exciting, from our perspective, the opportunities that are going to open up."

Sunset is now working with Supervalu, which will supply Sunset with brands the stores were not receiving from Central Grocers, Tazioli said.

Angelo Caputo's Fresh Market heard trouble was brewing with Central Grocers and started the search for new wholesalers, said Robertino Presta, CEO of the eight-store suburban chain.

"It's been in the works for a couple of months," he said. "There'd been talk, so we just started looking elsewhere."

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His company used Central Grocers for "staples" like yogurts and cereals, but the chain wasn't totally dependent on the cooperative. Angelo Caputo's imports much of its food from Europe, and does in-house baking and cooking with ingredients that didn't come from Central Grocers, Presta said, so the bankruptcy is not affecting it much.

Still, Presta said the prospect of getting back the stocks or deposit it paid to the cooperative didn't look good.

"We'll see what happens," he said.

Representatives of locals 703 and 710 of the Teamsters , the union representing the bulk of the Joliet Central Grocers employees facing layoffs, couldn't be reached for comment.

gtrotter@chicagotribune.com

amarotti@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @GregTrotterTrib

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Cathy Moore, director of the St. James Food Pantry, speaks May 3, 2107, about supply and demand for its services. Although a report by Feeding America shows food insecurity is down in Cook County in recent years, Moore said donations of toiletries and food, especially fresh produce, are needed at the pantry and more volunteers are always welcome. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune) (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

More people in Cook County had consistent access to food in 2015 than at the recession-related peak of food insecurity just a few years prior, according to Feeding America's annual Map the Meal Gap report released Thursday.

But there were still more than 660,000 people in the county lacking consistent access to food and, for them, their weekly budgetary shortfall continued to grow, a shift reflecting national trends highlighted in the report. National and state anti-hunger advocates say the report's findings are evidence that federal nutrition programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, must be preserved and supported.

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And while businesses have been a consistent source of support for food banks, the shift toward online shopping and the decline of bricks-and-mortar stores could result in diminished donations in the years ahead.

"While we would like to see this as a sign of improvement, we're going to hold our optimism because hundreds of thousands of our neighbors are still in need. Our mission is to end hunger in Cook County and this shows how far we have to go," said Jim Conwell, spokesman for the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

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The report analyzes food insecurity in every county in the U.S. Nationally, the number of people facing food insecurity dropped from an estimated 50 million in 2009 to 42 million in 2015, the most recent data available, according to the report by Feeding America, a national anti-hunger coalition based in Chicago, which forms its analysis from census data and labor statistics.

Food security, as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, means "access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life."

In Cook County, the estimated 661,630 people in 2015 who lacked consistent and sufficient access to food represented a decrease of more than 23 percent from the apex of 860,670 in 2011, according to the report. In 2015, there were more than 203,000 children in the county facing food insecurity, the lowest number since the Great Recession.

While much of that improvement can be attributed to the economic recovery, credit must also be given to the federal food stamps program, officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, said Craig Gundersen, lead researcher on the Feeding America report and professor of agricultural and consumer economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

During the recession and in the years that followed, SNAP expanded to accommodate the increased number of people who needed food assistance. The program has come into the political crosshairs in recent years as some House Republicans, led by Speaker Paul Ryan, have sought to cut funding for entitlement programs and shift responsibility to states.

"Instead of criticizing (SNAP), let's praise it for saving millions of Americans from food insecurity," Gundersen said.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 13 Volunteer Barbara Sutton, right, speaks to client Vanessa Brown as she waits in line at St. James Food Pantry on May 3, 2017, in Chicago.Although a report by Feeding America shows food insecurity has decreasedin Cook County in recent years, pantry director Cathy Moore said donations of food, especially fresh produce, are needed at the pantry, and more volunteers are always welcome. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)

Donations from businesses  manufacturers, wholesalers and grocery retailers  have been a critical source of help for the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Conwell said. Through the first nine months of this fiscal year, more than 26 million pounds of food were donated to the depository, the vast majority of it from businesses.

About 12 million pounds of food per year are donated from grocery stores.

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"If the trend toward e-commerce reduces the total number of brick-and-mortar grocery stores and their overall inventory, that will mean fewer opportunities for donation," Conwell said.

And that could spell trouble when there's still enormous need in Cook County, particularly in low-income neighborhoods on Chicago's South and West sides. Despite the report's findings of fewer people with food insecurity, the food pantry at St. James Catholic Church in Bronzeville still serves about 1,700 families a month, which is about the same as before the recession, said Cathy Moore, the food pantry's director.

"It's not only about food insecurity. We give out clothes. We give out hygiene products. ... When you're talking about meeting the need, these are basic needs to be met. And no, the need is not down," Moore said.

gtrotter@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @GregTrotterTrib
Then-state treasurer candidate Democrat Michael Frerichs answers questions from the Tribune editorial board on Oct. 6, 2014. Frerichs said the vote by the U.S. Senate to roll back an Obama-led Department of Labor rule won't stop Illinois from going ahead with its Secure Choice workplace retirement savings plan. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)

A U.S. Senate vote Wednesday will complicate Illinois' effort to make workplace retirement savings plans available to 1.3 million workers, but state Treasurer Michael Frerichs said the federal action will not stop Illinois from going ahead with its novel Secure Choice program.

Under the Secure Choice plan passed by the Illinois legislature in 2014, companies that employ more than 25 workers and don't offer 401(k)s or pension plans will be required to make available individual retirement accounts that would be run by the state. Frerichs' office is in the process of finding an investment manager for the program. The state will phase in the Secure Choice program, with the first group of employers offering retirement savings plans to their employees in 2018, he said.

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"We think there's a retirement crisis in this country that is not being addressed," said Frerichs, who criticized the Senate for trying to stop states from coming up with "innovative solutions" to get more people saving for retirement. In Wednesday's 50-49 vote on a resolution already passed by the House, the Senate moved to roll back an Obama-led Department of Labor rule that was supposed to insulate states and small companies from the threat of lawsuits related to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

"Their hypocrisy is galling," Frerichs said of Congress. "They complain about big government and say they support state's rights. But they don't want states to innovate. They just cast a vote for big federal government."

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An estimated 55 million Americans work for employers who do not offer workplace retirement savings plans such as 401(k)s, and research by the Employee Benefit Research Institute has found that most people skip saving for retirement when they can't do it easily at work.

Several states are in various stages of starting state-run retirement plans for people without employment-based savings opportunities  mostly people working for small companies. Small employers have been reluctant to take on the paperwork and legal responsibility of offering 401(k)s.

The measure passed by the Senate on Wednesday, which is on its way to be signed by the president, opens up the possibility that disgruntled employees could sue businesses that make the new Secure Choice saving plans available at work.

But Frerichs said Secure Choice is designed to make the state the fiduciary for the program. Businesses merely have the responsibility of enrolling their employees and sending money to a state program to be invested.

"The state will move forward with its plans," Frerichs said Wednesday. First, the largest employers without 401(k)s will be required to open up the Secure Choice plan to their employees, he said. Then in the next couple of phases, the state will require midsize and small employees to do the same.

gmarksjarvis@chicagotribune.com

twitter @gailmarksjarvis
The Hive's Gin Gin cocktail gets its name from the mix of gin and ginger beer. (Annie Grossinger / Chicago Tribune)

"It's easy to overcomplicate cocktails," says bartender Jon Waisman, "but I like to keep them simple." Sound refreshing? Head to The Hive, a new cocktail lounge above Honey's restaurant in the West Loop, where Waisman's list has just three drinks, all born from ingredients already on hand at the main bar downstairs.

That explains the genesis of the Gin Gin ($12), an ideal cocktail for spring. Waisman was intrigued by an excess of plum brandy from Chicago's Rhine Hall Distillery around the bar, so he decided to do something with it, creating a crisp cocktail that falls within the Moscow mule family.

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The Gin Gin starts with a Beefeater base, combined with Fever Tree ginger beer, a classic mule ingredient. The plum brandy gives the drink a lovely sweetness, which Waisman balances with a welcome hit of lime. Floating juniper berries finish it off. All those flavors, plus the ginger beer's carbonation, play nice in a tall glass that's probably a bit too easy to empty.

Drinks at The Hive rotate weekly, so you won't see the same menu often, if at all. But even when it's off-menu, the Gin Gin is available (at least until the plum brandy runs out), so don't be afraid to ask.

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There are no signs for The Hive; just follow the stairs up from Honey's foyer, then enter through the unmarked door at the top. Just remember: The lounge is open Thursday through Saturday only, and the cozy space, filled with ornate vintage furniture, maxes out at 35 guests.

The Hive at Honey's, 1111 W. Lake St., www.honeyschicago.com

adlukach@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @lucheezy
With lower amounts of alcohol and tannin, high acidity and loads of bright fruit, it is hard to go wrong with a few bottles of nice rose on hand. (Chicago Tribune / Michael Tercha )

It seems almost unfair to rose to start thinking about it, and talking about it, and looking for it when spring comes around, or even more specifically, as Mother's Day approaches. Then again, how many of us think about turkey and stuffing outside of November? Or corned beef and cabbage outside of March? No one is stopping you from planning those meals on any day of the year, calendar be damned. Yet you don't. At least most of you don't.

Did my college roommates and I cook up an entire traditional Thanksgiving dinner one spring semester? Sure we did. But we were young, and mentally energetic, and empowered by the awesome possibility that lay before us. And sick of instant ramen.

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That full feast, even just the thought of it before we went shopping for the ingredients, brought about a wave of hope and anticipation that I can still recall. That's the kind of power spring has. A golden-brown, 20-pound turkey has a similar power, yes, but I think there's more power in this season  the birth or reawakening of so many living things around us.

Pink fits this time of year perfectly  pink and green. (Thing is, I generally try to avoid drinking anything that is green.) I encourage people to drink rose all year long, to not confine their consumption only to spring and summer. On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with getting your rose run started when the Northern Hemisphere blinks itself awake in the spring. Gotta start somewhere. The longest journey begins with a single sip.

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With lower amounts of alcohol and tannin, high acidity and loads of bright fruit, it is hard to go wrong with a few bottles of nice rose on hand. If the mothers in your life have eyes for aesthetics, they will also appreciate the beauty that rose brings to your table. They're not all dusty pink and blushing, as you know; some of them are closer to candy apple red.

But they are all fun. Even the serious ones are fun  like a dentist who dresses up in a costume on Halloween. Say, there is another thing you don't think of doing throughout the year. But think about how much fun you have when you actually do sport that get-up of yours and show up at a party full of ghouls, nurses and visual puns. There's your excuse to plan a non-Halloween costume party in the middle of summer (or winter). And you might as well stock the bar with some pink wine while you're at it.

But first things first. Pick up a few bottles of rose, give them a nice chill and celebrate your mother May 14. Do it with a toast, if that's the kind of person you are, or just show up and be the respectful, thoughtful person she taught you to be.

Below are notes from a recent tasting of roses from around the world. They are listed in ascending order according to price.

2016 Faisao Vinho Verde Rose. With strawberry, raspberry, orange blossom, lively acidity and a refreshing spritz, this Portuguese wine had a clean, crisp finish and a friendly 10.5 percent alcohol. $8

2016 Mont Gravet Rose. From the South of France, this 100 percent cinsault was floral with raspberry, pear, lime and citrus, plus a lingering finish, and 12 percent alcohol. $9

2016 Cline Family Cellars Ancient Vines Mourvedre Rose. Pink grapefruit aromas jumped from this glass, and led to peach, cherry and zippy acidity. From California's Contra Costa County. $13

2016 Mulderbosch Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Rose. Savory herbs and minerality segued into floral notes, plus raspberry and other red fruits. From the Coastal Region of South Africa. $13

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2016 S. Pratsch Rose. This organic Austrian wine from zweigelt grapes opened with strawberries, peach, anise and zingy acidity, and then came full circle for a long-lingering strawberry finish. $13

2016 Piazza del Castello. From Italy's Tuscany region and made of 100 percent sangiovese, this wine offered peach, kiwi, clean tropical fruits and a bright, crisp finish. $14

2016 Steele Cabernet Franc Rose. Intensely aromatic and packed with ripe raspberry, strawberry and citrus, this wine from Lake County, Calif., had a vibrant electric-red hue, like diluted Campari. $15

2016 Feudo Maccari Rose. Made of 100 percent nero d'avola grapes, this wine from Sicily offered strawberry, cherry, lime, peach and 12 percent alcohol. $16

2016 Leyda Rose. Black cherry, strawberry, spice, zingy acidity and a long finish sum up this 100 percent pinot noir from Chile's Leyda Valley, 4 miles from the Pacific Ocean. $16

2016 Tournon Mathilda. Earthy notes join bright, clean raspberry and cranberry in this crisp, refreshing, easy-to-drink pale grenache with spice on the finish. Made in Australia by French winemaker Michel Chapoutier. $16

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2016 Castello di Bossi Rosato. This 70 percent sangiovese/30 percent cabernet sauvignon Tuscan blend offered mouth-watering red fruits, a touch of salinity, bright acidity and a formidable 13.5 percent alcohol. $18

2016 Figuiere Magali. Peach, lime, strawberry, orange zest, minerality and tangy acidity sum up this blend of syrah, cabernet sauvignon, grenache and cinsault from France's Cotes de Provence. $18

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2016 Gamble Family Vineyards Rose. Luscious strawberry, apple, anise and spice all mingled in this lip-smacking, long-finishing Napa Valley blend of mostly cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc. $20

2016 Sidebar Rose. This 100 percent syrah from Sonoma County's Russian River Valley offered an intriguing mix of hay, fennel, floral notes, dried cherries, stone fruits and zingy acidity. $21

2016 Donelan Rose. Strawberry, cherry, anise, bright acidity and a clean, crisp finish characterized this Sonoma County blend of grenache, syrah, mourvedre and pinot noir, plus 13.8 percent alcohol. $25

2016 Inman Family Endless Crush Rose of Pinot Noir. With floral and herbal notes, plus strawberry, watermelon and anise, this Russian River Valley beauty was as mouth-watering as it was refreshing. $35

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If your wine merchant does not have these, ask for a wine that is similar in style and price.

food@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @pour_man






GREAT FALLS  A Canadian trucker is charged with negligent homicide for a crash on Interstate 15 in Montana that killed a fellow Canadian.

Jason Kleberc of Bell Island, Newfoundland, made an initial court appearance on Wednesday. District Judge John Parker set his bail at $100,000.

Kleberc also faces charges of tampering with evidence and failure to remain at the scene of the April 15 crash that killed 72-year-old Marvin Knutson of Swift Current, Saskatchewan. Kleberc did not enter a plea.

Prosecutors allege Kleberc drove a truck carrying lumber through an emergency vehicle only access and into the path of Knutson's van.

Court records say the driver of the truck stopped to check on his load of lumber and continued driving. He was arrested days later near Houston.
HELENA  Donald Trump Jr. will return to Montana next week, appearing in Helena, Great Falls and Sidney to campaign for Greg Gianforte.

Trump Jr. will speak at the Kleffner Ranch in Helena at 9 a.m. on May 11, Lewis and Clark County Central Committee Chairman Joe Dooling confirmed. Tickets will be $10.

Gianforte will also attend the Helena event, he said.

The president's oldest son will then appear that afternoon at the Richland County Fairgrounds in Sidney. Doors open at 12:15 p.m. Admission costs $10. Register at TrumpInMontana.com.

Details on the Great Falls event were not yet available.

Gianforte is running to replace Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who resigned Montanas only U.S. House seat in early March to become a Trump Cabinet member. His main opponent is Democrat Rob Quist, a Montana musician from Creston. Inverness rancher Mark Wicks is the Libertarian candidate.

Election Day is Thursday, May 25. Absentee ballots can be picked up at elections offices today for early voting. Ballots were mailed out May 1.

While the event is still being organized, Dooling expects Trump Jr. to talk about national issues and what President Donald Trump is working on.

Trump Jr. recently campaigned in Montana on behalf of Gianforte, speaking in Kalispell, Hamilton and Billings.
A Grass Range ranch caretaker who prosecutors said cooked meth in plastic bottles and dumped toxic waste on public lands will spend about six years in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Susan Watters of Billings on Thursday sentenced David Lawrence Schein, 50, of Lewistown, to six years and ordered $6,734 in restitution to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, which had to clean up the mess.

Schein said he wanted drug treatment and to change his life. All Ive ever done is have problems with drugs, he said.

Schein, who because of an extensive criminal record qualified as a career offender and could have faced a sentencing range of about 12 years to 15 years, pleaded guilty earlier to conspiracy to manufacture meth.

Watters, who followed a plea agreement, did not apply the career offender designation, and instead set a range of about eight to 10 years and imposed a shorter term.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin Rubich argued for a sentence of about six and a half years, while defense attorney Sandy Selvey recommended a four-year term.

Rubich said while the amount of meth involved with the case was small, the waste disposal on public lands prompted the federal prosecution.

When Mr. Schein did this, it was pretty shocking to this rural community. That is land we all own, Rubich said.

Selvey argued for a four-year to five-year sentence, noting the small amount of meth involved and that Schein was making it for personal use and sharing with a few others. He asked whether it would improve society to impose a lengthy sentence on Schein.

While the amount of meth involved was only about 5 grams, Watters said Scheins disposal of the waste on Bureau of Land Management land in Petroleum County harmed the environment and put others at risk.

While Schein denied throwing a backpack containing an active cook in plastic bottles onto the road, Watters said she thought he had something to do with it.

Agents heard popping noises coming from the backpack and had to secure and dismantle the contents, the judge said.

DEA agents also had to clean up a dump site that had traces of meth in plastic bottles, lithium batteries and pseudoephedrine. The dump site was all in throwing distance of a county road, she said.

Meth manufacturing cases have become rare because access to a key ingredient, pseudoephedrine, which is common in cold medicine, is more restricted and controlled at drug stores.

Prosecutors said an investigation began in about September 2015 when sheriffs office officials in Petroleum and Fergus counties along with BLM law enforcement officers responded to a reported dump of several plastic bottles that had been used to make meth. The dump site was on BLM lands adjacent to a ranch in Petroleum County.

The officers found drug-making materials and plastic bottles used to cook meth. As they were inspecting the site, Schein drove by in a truck, Rubich said. Shortly thereafter, officers discovered that Schein had thrown a backpack out the window and onto the road, he said. The backpack contained a bottle actively cooking meth, he said.

Agents went to the ranch where Schein had been living in a trailer. A search of the trailer turned up more plastic bottles cleaned in preparation for meth cooking, meth residue and a small amount of meth.

Investigators also examined records of pharmacies in the area and in Billings and learned that Schein and some of his associates were regularly buying the maximum amount of pseudoephedrine cold medicine that is allowed.

Schein admitted to law enforcement that he had been cooking meth with the help of others, who bought cold medicine for that reason.
LARAMIE, Wyo.  The University of Wyoming will lay off employees in coming weeks as the state's only public, four-year college deals with more than $40 million in budget cuts, but there are no plans for faculty job eliminations, a university official said this week.

Fewer than 50 college workers are expected to lose their jobs as university administrators cut costs because of lower state revenues tied to the state's dependence on the energy sector and its dwindling profits, university spokesman Chad Baldwin told the Casper Star-Tribune (https://goo.gl/q5OT5P ) on Monday.

Baldwin said he could not provide a more precise figure for the number of layoffs because those decisions will be made by university deans and department heads. The amount of money that the university will save will depend on their decisions, he said.

Employees will find out in mid-May whether they will lose their jobs and those forced to go will depart by June 30, Baldwin said.

University workers were notified in April that layoffs were likely, said Rachel Stevens, vice president of the university's staff senate that represents college workers.

The university has lost tens of millions of dollars in funding during the current two-year state budget cycle because of the energy sector's decline.

The university previously announced more than $29 million in cost reductions. But 85 percent of the school's budget pays for workers, and officials have said it's nearly impossible to cut costs more without layoffs.

The layoffs come on top of 300 job eliminations over the last year, most of those positions vacant. The university has offered incentives for employees to retire early or leave.

Baldwin said there is no possibility that the university's president, Laurie Nichols, will declare a "financial exigency" crisis scenario that would allow the university to cut the jobs of tenured professors.

___

Information from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, http://www.trib.com
LARAMIE, Wyo.  Residents voiced their anger over policy issues and the absence of Wyoming's congressional delegation at a listening session Tuesday hosted by the delegation's staffers.

There were heavy tensions at the event in Laramie, which was attended by about 50 people.

Representatives of Republican Sens. Mike Enzi and John Barrasso and Rep. Liz Cheney listened as attendees addressed issues such as the Republican Party's health care proposals. The delegation was in Washington during the event.

The crowd was disappointed to hear Barrasso's representative say the event and their questions were not being recorded. Audience members also criticized the event for being held at an inconvenient time and date for working class families, and being too short.

The event was extended for an extra hour.
The first Mayors Ball for the Art and Humanities will be held at 7 p.m. Friday at the North Dakota Heritage Center. There will be a cash bar, hors doeuvres, music and a bit of fundraising.

Tickets are $50.

A Golden Ticket, which includes tickets to many arts and cultural events such as symphony season tickets, a Gateway to Science family pass, tickets to the 2018 Dakota Digital Film Fesival, will be auctioned.

Artists Paul Noot and Nicole Gagner will create paintings that will be auctioned off that evening.

The Mayor's Ball in Bismarck was created to recognize, support and promote the organizations that contribute to the culture of the community. Bismarck Arts and Galleries Association and Central Dakota Childrens Choir will be the nonprofits to receive funds from the event.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.mayorsballnd.com/.
A group of more than 60 volunteers underwent training this week to prepare for a mass fatality scenario in the state.

Members of the state Department of Health's newly established Disaster Fatality Team is composed of more than 60 people from various disciplines, including emergency responders, law enforcement, public health and forensic professionals. These volunteers participated in a three-day training this week, which included a search-and-recovery field exercise at Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park in Mandan, as well as setting up a temporary morgue.

Rep. Mike Nathe, R-Bismarck, advocated for state funding to establish the team during the 2015 legislative session. Nathe, owner of Bismarck Funeral Home, is also a member of the federal Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Teams, which are called in to respond to mass fatalities nationwide.

I was sent to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 for the first three weeks of that disaster and saw the importance to have a state ready for an unspeakable situation .... If North Dakota should ever find itself in a situation where we have a mass fatality, I thought we need to be ready," Nathe said.

State lawmakers appropriated $189,000 for joint federal and state training, Nathe said.

For the past 15 years, the Health Department has been developing a disaster response system, using state resources to appropriately address scenarios, such as flooding, critical disease outbreaks, tornadoes and train derailments, according to Tim Wiedrich, the chief of the Department of Healths emergency preparedness and response section.

This area, in terms of mass fatality, is an area that needed further development, and so were welcoming this new resource thats being added to the state," he said.

The Disaster Fatality Team will be combined with the Health Department's Medical Reserve Corps, which is composed of about 1,000 people within the state  primarily physicians, nurses and EMTs.

"This team will be added to that team so that we can basically now have a process in place where, if we do have a large-scale disaster that has more fatalities that local resources are able to process, we will have this resource available to assist," Wiedrich said.

Other states have similar teams, including in Florida, where members responded to the shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando last year. Some states have teams that are small-scale to "fill the gap" before the feds are called in," according to Lance Peterson, an adviser with the Disaster Mortuary Operations, who helped train the Disaster Fatality Team this week.

Our objective here with the training is to have a team here in the state that can, with dignity and respect, recover the deceased, identify them with 100 percent accuracy, scientifically, and return them to their loved ones as quickly as possible," Peterson said.
Why these young voters in Pueblo want to get more youth involved in voting
Qian Jing, vice president of JinkoSolar, makes a speech at B20 Summit. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]



JinkoSolar, a global leader in the photovoltaic (PV) industry, attended B20 Summit in Berlin on May 2-3 and called for action on the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

At the summit, whose theme is "Resilience, Responsibility, Responsiveness - Towards a Future-oriented, Sustainable World Economy," how to promote sustainable development of economy and implement the Paris Agreement are key issues on the agenda.

"The implementation of the agreement depends on business involvement and engagement," asserted Qian Jing, vice president of JinkoSolar. "It is time for businesses to take action."

She said, "Starting from their own expertise and experience, companies can, for example, steer their capital towards direct investment in clean energy projects and low carbon, energy efficient technology and businesses, purchase and increase use of renewable energy, and become carbon neutral."

She used giants like Apple, Google and Walmart as examples to elaborate her point -- These companies have been actively implementing sustainable development strategies and promoting renewable energy projects to fulfill the target of running entirely on renewable energy.

JinkoSolar, a global leader in the photovoltaic (PV) industry, attends B20 Summit in Berlin on May 2-3. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]



Companies also can report emissions and disclose climate change relevant data and information, adapt their business model and supply chain to seize this energy transition opportunity and create new jobs, internally price carbon, comply and align with government climate and energy regulation, support developing low carbon technology and science, and take a responsible approach to lobbying on climate action.

Qian believed if enterprises can seize the opportunity brought by energy transformation, a new growth engine will emerge for enterprises.

JinkoSolar has been committed to reducing the cost of solar power and helping enterprises shift energy structure and turn more sustainable, and thus implement the Paris Agreement.

Carbon trade and carbon pricing are at the exploration stage and need unified standards. China will launch a national carbon emission trade system in 2017, putting itself on a path towards green, low-carbon and climate change-adaptive economy. This year's B20 Summit has proposed building a platform dedicated to the strategic dialogue for carbon pricing, meaning that solid progress will be made on carbon trade in 2017.

Qian said, "We hope G20 governments cooperatively launch a unified carbon market on a broader spectrum, design rules, guidelines, procedures to help parties establish trading schemes, establish a dedicated committee or consultancy group to help countries with carbon market building and pricing setting to address gaps and needs."
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China's foreign exchange regulator dealt with 1,996 cases involving forex-related violations last year, according to a report made public Wednesday.

The headquarters of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange in Beijing. [Photo/China Daily]



The State Administration of Foreign Exchange said in the annual report that it fined and confiscated a total of 431 million yuan (65 million U.S. dollars).

The regulator stepped up inspections on financial institutions last year to ensure their forex businesses complies with laws and regulations, the report said.

The administration also made checks on illegal flow of funds, and worked with other departments on more than 80 underground bank cases involving a total value of 1 trillion yuan.

This year, the regulator will step up authenticity checks of banks' forex businesses, reinforce cooperation with other departments and promote the creation of a credit system related to forex, according to the report.
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Two people were killed and another 16 injured and taken to hospital when a bus collided with a truck in central China's Hunan Province on Thursday afternoon.

The accident happened around 2 p.m. in Liuyang city, according to local police.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.
EU council President Donald Tusk (L) talks with European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker prior to a meeting on the Western Balkans migration route at EU Council headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 17, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

A few weeks ago in Brussels, President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker warned U.S. Vice President Mike Pence of another war in the Western Balkans if the EU collapses.

Juncker issued the warning in referring to Trump's ignorant stance on the future of European integration and his support for Brexit. Although he exaggerated, there is no doubt the European dreams of the Western Balkans countries remain a long-term objective for national governments given a guarantee of relevant political stability and calm.

Internal divisions are apparent. More than two decades after the outbreak of the wars that split Yugoslavia, the trauma is still apparent in some countries struggling to achieve reconstruction and reconciliation.

Disagreements between Serbia and Kosovo following the declaration of independence of the latter, and ethnic tensions in Bosnia-Herzegovina are a usual phenomenon. International attention recently focused on the Balkans, however, due to the violent attacks in the parliament of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

Specifically, while the country has not yet formed a coalition government after the snap election of last December, demonstrators and supporters of former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski attacked several lawmakers after an ethnic Albanian deputy was elected speaker. Among the injured was Zoran Zaev, leader of the Social Democrats, the main opposition party.

The U.S. and the EU condemned the attacks. The former almost immediately decided to try and mediate and contribute to the finding of a political solution. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Hoyt Brian Yee visited Skopje and urged prudence.

Following his intervention, political leaders in FYROM seem to have realized the seriousness, although the crisis has not yet fully dissipated.

For its part, China cannot overlook the situation. Its interest does not only derive from its need to protect its diplomatic personnel and Chinese people living in FYROM, but also for the future course of Chinese investments in the country where several Chinese companies are active.

Beijing-based Sinohydro, for instance, is engaged in projects for the construction of the highways from Miladinovci to Shtip and from Kichevo to Ohrid. China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. supplied FYROM with six passenger trains following a 2014 bilateral agreement. A supplementary agreement for the delivery of four electric locomotives was signed in January 2017.

Moreover, China International Water and Electric Corp. previously constructed Kozjak hydropower plant, and this successful model is useful to future energy projects.

What is perhaps more important for China is that FYROM plays a key role for the implementation of the "Belt and Road" policy. Being the northern neighbor of Greece, it provides a handy passage to Serbia for commodities arriving at the port of Piraeus now completely controlled by COSCO.

A research paper of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) mentioned that China and FYROM have already agreed to prepare a feasibility study for the route and costs of railway modernization, prior to considering financial arrangements for the project. Beijing has already signed separate deals with Serbia and Hungary to construct and revamp the rail link between them.

Most commentators elaborating on the current crisis in FYROM tend to concentrate on ethnic tensions and the influence exerted on ethnic Albanians by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. The nationalistic idea of a "Greater Albania" with the participation of the ethnic population from Albania, FYROM and Kosovo is a subsequent point of reference.

Nevertheless, more emphasis should be perhaps placed on the fatigue of citizens in seeing Gruevski as their country's leader. As prime minister for 10 years, he is accused of corruption while the country is suffering high unemployment and poverty. For many years, he was spending a large fund for the cultivation of the national identity to avoid potential "Albanization."

Last, but not least, his intransigent stance in negotiations with Greece under UN aegis with the purpose of finding a mutually-accepted solution for his country's name has kept FYROM away from membership of the EU and NATO.

In these circumstances, China should certainly pay attention to internal developments in FYROM and hope for stability while avoiding endorsement of catastrophic theories about a civil war. A new government without Gruevski will sooner or later be formed and will lead the country towards a future with China, a critical international player.

Zaev has expressed his commitment to closely collaborating with China in a recent meeting with new Ambassador Yin Lixian in Skopje. And ethnic Albanian politicians in FYROM are inspired by the excellent level of Sino-Albanian cooperation. Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli visited Tirana only three weeks ago confirming the traditional friendship between the two countries.

All in all, China might only be encountered with some delays in the implementation of some projects. However, experiences from the privatization of the Piraeus Port Authority suggest it can be patient.

George N. Tzogopoulos is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/GeorgeNTzogopoulos.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
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An Athens court rejected on Wednesday the new request submitted by Ankara for the extradition of eight Turkish soldiers who fled to Greece last July a day after the failed coup attempt in Turkey.

Wednesday's ruling applied to three of the eight soldiers who have requested asylum in Greece, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.

Greek judges have already rejected the extradition of other three soldiers in April, while a decision on the last two is still pending.

Greece's Supreme Court had turned down in January the first extradition request by Turkish authorities but a new one was submitted with supplementary charges of damage of public property.

Ankara accuses the eight soldiers of participating in the failed coup attempt.

The defendants have insisted on their innocence and expressed fear for their safety should they be returned to Turkey.

Greek judges have accepted so far their claims that they will not receive a fair trial in Turkey and they may face mistreatment.
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The daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro, Mariela Castro, stated Wednesday that she would not accept to follow her father as head of state of the country when he steps down in 2018, although she said there could be "surprises" when choosing the next leader.

"Among the people of Cuba, there are millions of candidates...I will not let them nominate me for a task (the presidency) as large as that," said Mariela Castro in a press conference from Havana.

Raul Castro, 85, has said repeatedly that he will step down as president after his second term ends in February 2018, after almost 12 years in power.

Mariela, who is currently the director of the National Center for Sex Education (CENESEX), indicated there could be "surprises" during this electoral process, which is set to begin toward the end of the year.

In the first stage, around 600 deputies of the National Assembly will be elected. They will then be charged with naming candidates and then selecting those who will take over this historical change in the course of Cuban power.

Mariela Castro also referred to the country's progress to eradicate existing prejudices against the LGBT community. Since 2007, CENESEX has led commemorations for the International Day against Homophobia on May 17, with a parade in Havana and educational activities across the island.

"We are awaiting constitutional amendments to facilitate the legislative changes we are proposing, including broad topics for LGBT rights, including same-sex marriage," she commented.

Castro has for 10 years led a national campaign against sexual discrimination and LGBT rights. Homosexual relationships have been legal on the island since 1979 and sex reassignment surgeries have been legal since 2008. However, no homosexual civil partnerships or marriages have yet been legalized.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan agreed to lift restrictive measures in mutual trade and further work together to resolve the Syrian conflict on Wednesday during a meeting in Sochi, Russia.

"Now we can say with full confidence that the process of restoration of Russian-Turkish relations has been completed, and we are returning to the normal interaction between partners." Putin said in a joint press conference following the meeting.

In this context, the two countries have agreed on a complex solution for problems related to restrictions, as "all restrictions destroy the economy and harm our producers", the president said.

According to Putin, restrictions in all trade areas will be lifted except for the ones on tomato imports from Turkey, which will remain for the time being until Russian agricultural producers recover relevant investment and the tomato growing industry is on track.

"As dear President Putin said, this (tomatoes) is a temporary measure to which we have agreed. As far as other issues are concerned, we have also come to an agreement. So we can say that the normalization period has been completed." Erdogan said.

The ban on visa-free travel of Turks will also continue for the moment, due in particular to "the necessity to strengthen cooperation between our special services in condition of an increase of the terrorist threat", Putin added.

Russia introduced bans on many commodities amid escalated tensions between the two countries after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border in November 2015. In Response, Turkey imposed a prohibitive import tariff on Russian exports of wheat, maize and sunflower oil, of which Turkey is a major buyer.

During the meeting, Putin and Erdogan also discussed ways of addressing the Syrian conflict and reiterate their shared pledge on working together to end the crisis in the war-torn country.

"Mr. President (Erdogan) and I believe that the Syrian crisis may be solved exclusively by political means. But for this political process to develop, a ceasefire should be secured." Putin said.

The two presidents voiced support for the idea to create safe zones or de-escalation zones in Syria, a proposal backed by U.S. President Donald Trump, noting that it should lead to further pacification of the parties and to the strengthening of the ceasefire regime.

"This issue (on safe zones) is the most important one (at talks) in Astana. I hope that a decision on creating de-escalation zones will be adopted to secure further settlement." Erdogan said.

"We all believe that it is necessary to create mechanisms which would guarantee stopping the bloodshed and creating conditions for political dialogue. In this sense, our position coincides fully with that of the Turkish president." Putin said.

As to the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria's Idlib Province in early April, Putin and Erdogan agreed that those responsible should be brought to justice, in spite of previous divergence over who was to be held accountable.

"Absence of bloodshed is the most important condition of the start of the dialogue between the conflicting parties. This process should lead to the full restoration of the territorial integrity of the country (Syria) and creation of a unified government, independently of the positions of the political forces existing today. They should unite in the interests of the Syrian people." Putin said.
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Unknown gunmen shot dead Somali Minister of Public Works and Reconstruction Abbas Abdullahi Sheikh Siraji on Wednesday evening in the restive Mogadishu, police and government officials said.

Somali Minister of Information and National Guidance Abdurahman Omar Osman confirmed the killing, saying the deceased was killed close to the presidential palace by gunmen.

"I can confirm that the minister of public works and reconstruction of Somalia was killed in Mogadishu in an attack this evening, Security agencies are investigating the case, may his soul rest in peace," Osman said.

He said security officers have launched investigations to establish the reason behind the killing which has sparked tension among government officials in the Horn of Africa nation.

A senior police officer said four suspected soldiers have been arrested pending investigations into the attack.

Siraji was the youngest member of the Somali Federal Parliament and became minister in the Somali cabinet in March.
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Specialised Expo 2017 will be held in Astana, the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Expo, which is taking place on a site covering 25 hectares, will be open between 10 June and 10 September 2017.

China has become the first country to sign the participation agreement with Kazakhstan in EXPO-2017. Chinese pavilion received the maximum of the available options in the area of 1000 sq.m.

Vice-Chairman of The Committee for the promotion of international trade of China, National Commissioner of the Pavilion of China and representative of the Chinese Government to participate in Expo-2017 Wang Jinzhen said: "China, as the second largest economy in the world and the largest producer and consumer of energy, considering the EXPO-2017 in Astana as a platform for a comprehensive demonstration of advanced technology and strategy of China in the energy sector, sharing experiences with Kazakhstan and other countries, as well as underscore China's image as a responsible power. "

So, what is interest in Kazakhstan for Chinas business? Kazakhstan is the largest country in the Central Asian region. And the richest in natural resources. On the territory of Kazakhstan last year started production at the biggest field in recent years - Kashagan. But except oil Kazakhstan is ready to offer foreign businesses numerous contracts in different fields: from the subsoil to the agricultural products.

Kazakhstan immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union took dramatic start to becoming a market economy. And, unlike most of the post-Soviet States, Astana became not experimenting with the gradual transformation of the economy. Therefore, after 25 years after gaining sovereignty of this country is considered to be one of the most liberal business throughout the former USSR.

In the past few years, Kazakhstan took a course on industrialization of the economy. This was an attempt to get rid of commodity dependence, which is most acutely felt during recent economic crises. However, despite very substantial accumulated from financial resources (63 billion net reserves) bet on attraction of foreign investors. Moreover, as stated by the leadership of the country, it is not only and not so much on the financial investment, how about bringing in Kazakhstan competitive technologies and innovations.

It should be noted that the integration processes in the post-Soviet space makes Kazakhstan especially attractive for investors. Market for Eurasian economic space comprising five countries (Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan) is about 180 million people. Including Russia, which after the start of the sanctions war closed for many companies from Europe and the United States. Free movement of goods and capital, as well as the absence of customs and other barriers within the Eurasian economic space is very important for the producers, who mostly target today on the Russian market.

There is another important nuance, attracting investors into the country, its geographical location. Kazakhstan is located in the center of the Eurasian continent, has a significant transit potential. Today there are developing destinations both North-South and East-West. Already heavily used corridor in the framework of the new Silk Road in Western Europe-Western China. It helps to ensure the delivery of goods from China to Europe and back for 14-15 days (vs. 45 days by sea). The last year has launched a new railway corridor Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran.

Specified became important reasons for the growth of investments in the Republic in recent years. Only for the last 10 years the size of foreign direct investment amounted to 327 billion dollars, of which 15 billion came to the country only in the year 2016 (That amid the global crisis and observed outflow of capital in emerging markets is a good indicator).

In addition, business in Kazakhstan has attracted a number of advantages in comparison with neighbouring States.

Firstly, here clearly defined areas that the State is ready to open for investors. This engineering, agriculture, food industry, retail and chemical industry. For investors in these areas of Kazakhstan provides a number of preferences.

Basic package advantage for investors-exemption from customs duties and field grants. For the priority sectors identified by the Government, for investors with an investment volume of more than 13 million dollars an additional package preferences: exemption from corporate income tax and the land tax for 10 years, from 8 years of property tax. In addition, the Kazakh authorities guarantee a return cache Beck up to 30% of the capital expenditure spent on capital construction and equipment purchases.

It should also take into account the existence of 10 special economic zones, which also provide exemption from all major taxes for 10 years (including customs duties and CPN), as well as free of charge (for the entire duration of the FEZ 25 years) provide a plot of land for construction from the failed infrastructure. vIf special economic zones focusing more on large production, the regional industrial zones are playgrounds and preferences for small and medium-sized businesses. The country provided 42 such playgrounds in all regions of Kazakhstan.

It should be noted that there is stability of investment contracts. That is, any subsequent changes to the national legislation (including the part of tax rates and preferences) do not touch the investment contract. Also guaranteed them stability, i.e. at the time of the conclusion of the investment contract with the Government of (Investment Committee) the investor commits those bets, those conditions that are stipulated for it at the time, when he signs a contract and subsequent changes to legislation and tax preferences will not touch it.

Kazakhstan also provides investors with the opportunity to attract its own (foreign) workforce without special permits. Such workers may bring for the period of construction objects and starting-up and adjustment works.

Such reforms to improve the investment climate creation allowed Kazakhstan to improve its position in the World Bank ranking of Doing business-last year the country was ranked 35 place. Moreover, such a measure as "reform" Kazakhstan took one of the leading places in the world.

Today Kazakhstan is one of the most open countries in the world. The attractive geographical location, enormous opportunities for investment in the most different business areas, and full support for investors on the part of the authorities to guarantee a successful enterprise development both local and foreign. Kazakhstan intends to in the next two decades to become one of the 30 most developed countries in the world. And, repeating the big leap in Singapore is quite able to do it. Especially making a bet for investors who are willing to bring into the country, the technology of the future. The benefit to this there are all conditions.

In December 2015, Kazakhstan and China signed a memorandum on simplification of group travel by Chinese citizens in Kazakhstan. In accordance with the memorandum, for tourist groups from China subject to availability of visa support, which prepares the travel company of Kazakhstan, visa is issued without personal presence of traveling within 5 working days.
A logo of Veolia Environnement is seen on the lectern during the company's 2014 annual results presentation in Paris in this February 26, 2015 file photo. [Photo/Agencies]

PARIS - French company Veolia, a world leading company in water, waste and energy management, on Wednesday announced it has signed three deals worth 864 million euros ($943 million) with China.

Under the accords, Veolia will "provide a suite of solutions ... to improve (Chinese) clients' energy performance and to help them comply with the regulations for the new Chinese regulations of environmental standards," it said in a press release.

Via its subsidiary Veolia China, the company won 341-million-euro project to bolster production of electricity and steam from biomass for chemicals and construction clients.

The 25-year-old plan will include construction, operation and maintenance of a biomass plant in North China's Hebei province in a bid to increase the use of renewable energy in the region's energy mix.

The second deal worth 335 million euros is expected to improve energy performance management at the site of Shandong Hongda Chemical, one of China's leading industrial groups in East China's Shandong province, mainly by reducing costs.

Under the third accord, Veolia plans to build a chilled water plant for a data center in China's main information technology hub in Beijing to help clients comply with the very stringent standards for energy efficiency in the region.

"These new contracts reflect China's growing need for renewable energy and the management of the energy performance to reduce their environmental footprint and meet the requirements of the new regulations," said Regis Calmels, Veolia Senior Executive Vice President Asia.
By Zhang Yunbi in Islamabad, Pakistan and Chen Yingqun in Beijing | China Daily | Updated: 2017-05-04 07:53

Pakistani soldiers and Chinese staff pose for a photo at Gwadar Port. METIN AKTAS / GETTY IMAGE

Editor's note: This is the seventh in a series of reports focusing on the development of the Belt and Road Initiative, China's proposed trading route linking Asia, Europe and Africa.

Four years ago, an outdated Gwadar was in decline. But Chinese companies and cash have changed things. Zhang Yunbi reports from Islamabad, Pakistan, with Chen Yingqun in Beijing.

Gwadar Port, in Southwest Pakistan, occupies a great location, according to experts, because its proximity to the Arabian Sea gives China and Central Asian countries access to the Persian Gulf and the markets of the Middle East.

Yet, only four years ago, the port was rundown.

The facilities were in great need of new equipment and repairs, some Chinese scholars visiting there recalled.

Since then, Chinese companies have expended a great deal of energy to bring a new look to the port, with upgraded equipment, new cargo containers and newly built office buildings.

The changes have resulted in a surge in the number of visitors and flourishing property and hotel businesses.

According to Sun Weidong, China's ambassador to Pakistan, Gwadar Port will have a unique place in the Belt and Road Initiative.

"It will improve regional connectivity and economic and trade cooperation, and it will be a hub connecting the region's land and maritime routes. Additionally, the port's free zone will facilitate free trade in the region," he said, calling Gwadar's rejuvenation a long-term project that "should proceed step-by-step".

He said that construction of the East Bay Expressway and a new international airport will be accelerated, and Gwadar will form part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a planned network of roads, railways and energy projects linking it with the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Wang Yiwei, professor of international relations at Renmin University of China, said the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a tangible megaproject that will "undertake the great mission of prompting the economic takeoff and even the rise of Pakistan".

"For China, the corridor will help to bolster the development of connectivity in the region and achieve common development and prosperity for all countries," he added.
China National Petroleum Corp, the country's largest oil and gas producer, has pumped the first crude oil through the China-Myanmar oil pipeline and the oil is expected to arrive in China within three weeks, the energy giant said on Wednesday.

Around 1,150 cubic meters per hour of crude began flowing into the pipeline on Tuesday, CNPC said in a statement.

The pipeline is the latest energy cooperation between the two countries, and helps ensure China's energy diversification, the company said.

The pipeline extends for 771 kilometers in Myanmar and 1,600 kilometers in China, starting in Myanmar's Made Island and ending in Yunnan province.

In April, the first oil tanker, Suezmax, offloaded 140,000 tons of crude at Made Island oil port, the starting point of the pipeline.

Zhang Yong, deputy director of CNPC Southeast Asia Pipeline Co Ltd, said the first crude oil will be delivered to a new refinery in Ruili, a city in Yunnan province, within 20 days.

Zhang Guobao, former director of the National Energy Administration, said the pipeline will further enhance the country's energy security.

The project, together with the China-Russia crude oil pipelines and the China-Kazakhstan oil pipeline, will also ensure oil import diversification, he added.

Li Li, energy research director at ICIS China, said with the new pipeline, China's oil and gas imports will no longer have to pass through the Malacca Straits, a narrow channel that connects the Indian Ocean with the Pacific Ocean.

The security of pipeline transmission is much greater than that of shipments by sea, and the pipeline will ensure a stable energy supply to China, she added.
Chris Myers has been doing a good job as acting U.S. attorney for North Dakota and the Tribune would have liked to see him retain the job. However, Myers in an email to the states congressional delegation asked not to be considered for the post.

Myers is a career prosecutor, not a politician. He was hired by Drew Wrigley when he was U.S. attorney and retained by Tim Purdon when he replaced Wrigley. U.S. attorneys are usually political appointments. Wrigley was selected by President George Bush and Purdon was nominated by President Barack Obama. When Purdon resigned in 2015, Myers replaced him and was officially appointed a year later by Ralph Erickson, chief judge for the district, due to the continued vacancy.

Earlier this year Sens. John Hoeven, R-N.D., and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., encouraged President Donald Trump to retain Myers as U.S. attorney. Attorney General Jeff Sessions asked the 46 remaining Obama administration U.S. attorneys to resign, which is normal procedure, though asking that many at one time to resign is a little different. Myers wasnt asked to quit because hes not a political appointment. Trump still had the option of replacing him.

The Tribune Editorial Board agrees with our senators. Myers has been doing a good job and the Tribune would have liked to see him continue in the position. Hes worked with appointees from both parties without any apparent difficulties. Hes been at the forefront of the battle against opiates that have resulted in numerous deaths in the state. Myers helped set up community forums to organize parents, law enforcement, educators and others in an effort to combat the drugs. Hes been tough on crime, but understands the curse of addiction.

Myers has experience having served as the lead Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force prosecutor for 10 years. Before that, he was a prosecutor in Clay and Cass counties and a special agent with the Bureau of Criminal Investigation. The Tribune doesnt know whether hes a Republican or Democrat, nor do the people we have talked with about him.

Unfortunately, Myers decided if he became a political appointee it would harm his employee benefits.

In his email, Myers wrote: "As I have mentioned to each of you this past week, I regretfully have decided that it would not be in my family's best interests to accept a political nomination at this time in my career as such an appointment would have a significant negative effect on my employee benefits, especially retirement," he said.

Its sad a qualified prosecutor doesnt feel its in the cards that he continue in his job as a court-appointed attorney. That's the world of politics.

Wrigley has expressed an interest in his old job, informing Hoeven he would like the appointment. Wrigley left the U.S. attorneys office after Obama was elected president. He worked for Noridian Administrative Services before becoming lieutenant governor from 2010 to 2016. Hes now a senior management adviser for Sanford Health.

Both men are highly qualified, but the Tribune believes it would have been worthwhile to keep Myers as a court-appointed attorney. Myers is probably correct in thinking that eventually a president, whether its Trump or not, would want a political appointee. Myers doesnt want to go that route.

Purdon had this comment about Myers: "His reputation is such that he's well liked by cops and prosecutors and feared by drug kingpins across the country."

It looks like North Dakota will lose a good prosecutor in the top job.
A man passes by a taxpayer service hall in Beijing, Sept 10, 2013. [Photo/VCG]

China's effort to reduce the corporate tax burden has played a positive role in boosting economic growth, experts said on Wednesday, calling on the government to further deepen tax reform to cushion the potential impact of US President Donald Trump's proposal for massive corporate tax cuts.

Hu Yijian, a tax professor at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, said that China's tax policies have had a substantial impact, as shown by the scale of the tax cuts and the strong rebound of the economy in the first quarter.

It has been a year since China expanded the implementation of value-added tax reform to all industries. By the end of April, total tax cuts under the reform are expected to reach 680 billion yuan ($98.7 billion), according to the country's tax authority.

"The value of tax cuts combined with fee reductions is expected to reach 1 trillion yuan this year, highlighting the determination of the government to reduce corporate burden and to boost the economy," Hu said.

Experts also called on the government to further deepen tax reforms, expand the scale of tax cuts and promote administrative reform to improve government efficiency to deal with possible changes in the international tax environment as a result of the massive tax cut proposal by US President Trump.

Liu Xuezhi, an analyst at Bank of Communications Co, said that Trump's tax cut plan, if approved by the US Congress, could reshape the competitiveness of major economies in the world and China should continue to deepen its own tax reform to maintain its competitiveness.

Wang Jun, head of the State Administration of Taxation, has vowed to improve the efficiency of China's tax regime.

In a speech at the fourth meeting of the OECD Global Forum on Value-Added Tax, Wang said future reform will ensure that industries in all sectors will not face a higher tax burden.

Last month, the State Council introduced a string of measures to reduce the corporate tax burden, including simplifying the VAT rate system into three tax rates and lowering the rates for agricultural products, natural gas and some other industries from 13 percent to 11 percent, which will be effective on July 1.

Other measures included expanding corporate income tax benefits to more small firms and increasing the deductible share of research and development from 50 percent to 75 percent. The government estimated that these measures will reduce the tax burden by about 380 billion yuan.

The government's tax cut measures have seen positive response from the business communities in China.

"The catering industry is benefiting a lot from the reform because we can use special invoices for decoration fees and procurement to deduct income tax," said Zhu Yuling, head of the Beijing Huatian Catering Group Corp.

"We reduced our tax payments by about 10 million yuan last year and we will use the money to boost employees' salaries," said Zhu.

Song Qing, CEO of high-tech start-up company Beijing Pilosmart Technology Co Ltd, said the value-added tax reform largely reduced the company's tax burden.

Song said the company's annual revenue was about one million yuan and it had to pay more than 100,000 yuan in business tax, and now costs can be offset against tax and the company only pays about 10,000 yuan.
A consortium of financial institutions in Asialed by China Minsheng Investment Groupsaid it is betting big on the Belt and Road Initiative and will spend many billions of dollars to get onboard the investment boom.

CMIG, the country's biggest privately owned investment conglomerate, said it had teamed up with its regional peers to set up a fund worth $10-$15 billion in Hong Kong last week, in their quest for first-mover advantage in the Belt and Road push.

The strategic partners comprise a long list of well-established names across the region.

They include Zhongtai International in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong-based Sun Hung Kai, AMTD Group and BlackPine, Japan-based Orix Corp, South Korea-based Mirae Asset Global Investments and IndoChina Capital from Southeast Asia.

"Such a super partnership, led by CMIG, is looking to tap the potentially huge opportunities coming from the massive funding gap in Belt and Road countries and regions," said Calvin Choi, senior assistant president of CMIG.

"Partners would certainly be better off investing in groups rather than going it alone," he said.

"By reducing risks and improving fundraising efficiency, eventually this helps partners find out promising projects that best fit in with their investment expertise."

Typically, financial technology, high-tech and other emerging industries are where the new fund would keep its eyes trained, Choi noted.

Though he didn't reveal a timeline for the first round of fundraising, Choi said they would "go with the tides".

The new fund is based in Hong Kong, a choice that highlights the financial hub's edge as the "super connector" and gateway to the massive mainland market, he added.

Lawrence Chu, founder and managing partner of BlackPine Private Equity Partners, said the Belt and Road Initiative had what it takes to be a long-term and stable investment channel. E-commerce and online payments in Southeast Asia, for instance, stood out in a land of opportunities that they could not afford to miss, Chu noted.

Choi confirmed the Southeast Asia is where the new fund is looking, with the North American market coming next.

The fund will be working under the mechanism of Asia Institutional Investor Alliance, an organization established by CMIG in October last year in partnership with China-ASEAN Investment Corporation Fund, JP Morgan and UBS.

Founded in Shanghai in 2014 with a registered capital of 50 billion yuan ($7.3 billion), CMIG comprises 59 private enterprises, including Giant Interactive Group backed by billionaire Shi Yuzhu, Suning Commerce Group and China Oceanwide Holdings Group.
The logo of Sinohydro Corp is seen on a building in Beijing. [Photo/VCG]

DHAKA - The Bangladeshi government has signed three deals with Chinese and Thai firms on the country's first-ever metro rail project.

Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), a Bangladeshi state-owned enterprise founded to implement the metro rail lines across the Dhaka city, signed the separate contract packages (CPs) including CP-2, CP-3 and CP-4 worth over 58.26 billion taka ($719 million) with the firms, Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited, a Thailand-based construction firm, and Chinese state-owned Sinohydro Corporation Limited.

Under the deals, the firms will build metro rail tracks, stations and depot of the long cherished 20.1-km Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line-6 that will link north Dhaka with the south through 16 stations.

According to the project, the package CP-2 is for the civil and building works of the Depot, CP-3 and CP-4 is for the construction of metro rail tracks and elevated stations.

Officials of DMTCL, Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited, a Thailand-based construction firm, and Chinese state-owned Sinohydro Corporation Limited signed the agreements on behalf of their respective sides at a ceremony on Wednesday in capital Dhaka.

Sinohydro signed the deal worth 15.96 billion taka for CP-2 while Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited signed deal for all the three packages.
BEIJING - China's foreign exchange regulator dealt with 1,996 cases involving forex-related violations last year, according to a report made public Wednesday.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange said in the annual report that it fined and confiscated a total of 431 million yuan ($65 million).

The regulator stepped up inspections on financial institutions last year to ensure their forex businesses complies with laws and regulations, the report said.

The administration also made checks on illegal flow of funds, and worked with other departments on more than 80 underground bank cases involving a total value of 1 trillion yuan.

This year, the regulator will step up authenticity checks of banks' forex businesses, reinforce cooperation with other departments and promote the creation of a credit system related to forex, according to the report.
A Hainan airlines plane at Manchester Airport.Provided to China Daily

LONDON - China's Hainan Airlines is to operate a daily direct service between Manchester and Beijing from July to the end of September, it was announced Wednesday.

The airline announced in March its plan to add a fifth weekly direct flight between Beijing and Manchester from June.

Now the carrier has revealed it will make the service daily during the summer, meaning a 31 percent increase to capacity between Manchester and the Chinese capital.

That announcement comes after Cathay Pacific will make its Manchester to Hong Kong route daily from December, with an increase to five flights a week from June.

Hainan Airlines who currently fly four times a week to Beijing will start its daily service in July until the end of September. The Skytrax five star carrier will also be changing its aircraft to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, one of the most modern aircraft in the sky.

Cathay Pacific will increase to five services from June 2, with the daily service starting on Dec 1.
BEIJING - China's Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday urged the United States to act prudently in the use of trade remedy measures.

This came after the US Commerce Department announced on Tuesday open investigations into possible dumping and subsidization of tool chest imports from China and Vietnam.

China always opposed the abuse of trade remedy measures. "Excessive trade protectionism will not ease the so-called industrial damage alleged by the US petitioners, while import restrictions will be harmful to US importers and downstream industries, affecting US employment and consumers," said Wang Hejun, head of the trade remedy and investigation bureau at the ministry.

Wang said a stable and predictable trade environment between China and the United States is of great importance to the two countries and international trade order, urging the two countries to settle disputes via negotiations.
LONDON  China and Britain can enjoy a mutually beneficial and advantage complement relationship in developing China's Belt and Road Initiative, said Lord James Sassoon, chairman of China-Britain Business Council (CBBC), in an interview with Xinhua.

Chinese businesses coming to UK

The CBBC is an organization which represents British businesses doing business with China and Chinese businesses doing business in Britain.

Sassoon said what his council cares most is where its members have business opportunities and how to best support them. Their members have historically been British businesses, and now include Chinese businesses coming to Britain.

"One of our roles, which I think we are uniquely doing in recent years and will continue to do so, is looking at what the important policies of the Chinese government are and interpreting those for our members so that they can more easily identify the business opportunities that flow." Sassoon said.

He said the two classic areas at the moment are the Belt and Road Initiative and Made in China 2025.

China proposed the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013 to develop trade and cultural links between Asia, Africa and Europe.

China describes Made in China 2025 as a national initiative to improve the manufacturing industry - initially up to 2025 and then on to 2035 and 2049.

The CBBC sees the goal is to transform China into a leading manufacturing power, as China strives to move up the value chain, to avoid being pinched at one end by lower cost countries and at the other end by higher quality manufacturers around the world.

Sassoon said that the Belt and Road Initiative is not only about projects in third countries but also has a "very important domestic Chinese component about it."

This ties in with the China 2025 initiative, Sassoon said, adding that the CBBC aims to raise collaboration between British and Chinese businesses to a new level.

"There is a great plan laid out as to which province, city will take the lead in areas of high-end manufacturing," he said, noted that the important thing is "how do British companies know in practical terms where should they go to."

On the Belt and Road Initiative, a joint report produced by CBBC and China's Tsinghua University in 2016 said China and Britain were working together on $21 billion worth of projects in 10 countries.

"It was getting the UK to think about the fact it is for real, it is happening between UK and China and third countries, and to think about it in a broad way, not just narrowly in terms of infrastructure projects," said Sassoon.

Strengths mutually useful

Britain has strengths that are useful to China, and can benefit from China's certain capacities when both sides collaborate.

Sassoon said Britain is not in competition with China for construction projects, and the complementary nature of the two nations' strengths is a "a perfect fit, a classic win-win."

"I don't believe there is any country that has such a well-balanced and complete package of professional services as the UK," said Sassoon, adding that many projects around the world have been done under British law because it is considered the best law of choice.

Also in architecture and design, and education on standards of completing projects, Britain has a lot to offer, Sassoon said.

"My contention is that there is a more complete suite of professional services for all aspects of Belt and Road and other third country projects that the UK has to offer," he said.

"Chinese heavy lifting on the engineering of projects with the complete package of services, fits together beautifully," said Sassoon.

"I think many of the countries on the Belt and Road need help with defining what the appropriate standards are on these projects - the contracting, the procurement, the appropriate financing structures and I think the UK has a great opportunity."

In Sassoon's eyes, Britain is the best international standard setter and can collaborate with related countries in areas where the Belt and Road Initiative will operate, such as Central Asia, South East Asia, and Africa.
SYDNEY - Sales in China will take Australian wine to the next level, the CEO of Australian Vintage said Thursday, after partnering with China's largest online wine retailer.

The arrangement sees Australian wine brand Australian Vintage Limited (AVL) partner with the newly-established Vintage China Fund, created by YesMyWine, China's largest online wine retailer.

The Vintage China Fund has purchased 15 percent of AVL's existing capital, raising A$16.5 million ($12.2 million) for the Australian company.

Australian Vintage CEO Neil McGuigan told Xinhua on Thursday that the key to the success of Australian wine in China all comes down to taste.

"I think it's an exciting time for Australian wine. For our small company, the investment with Vintage China takes us to another level. It's a huge opportunity," McGuigan said.

"Chinese people want to drink Australian wine, they understand that wine is great to pair with food and also that there are health benefits. But you have to take them on a journey, starting soft and transitioning into wines that have a bit more spine."

McGuigan described the brand's current presence in China as small, with sales to Chinese customers only accounting for 4 percent of its total sales. Forty percent of its sales come from Australian customers and another 40 percent from Britain.

That all could soon change for the award-winning wine company, and McGuigan hopes that in the short term the new partnership will result in 10 percent of total sales coming from China.

To this end, McGuigan said he has initiated a new focus on branding, and a deeper cultural understanding of his Chinese customers, which he feels will bolster his company's success.

"There's tough competition all around the world, but I would say that our style is very appropriate for the Chinese customer."

China overtook the United States as Australia's largest wine export market in September 2016, the same year Australian wine exports to China reached $520 million.

Xu Guorong, president of the Chinese Wine Association of Australia and winery owner, told Xinhua the growing popularity of Australian wine is a sign of changing times.

"Just a few years ago, most Chinese people did not know much about Australian wine and in their mind, they had the idea that the best wines come from Europe, especially France. However, in recent years, we see that Chinese people are starting to realize that Australian wine is actually more to their taste as it tends to be fruitier," Xu said.

"Most importantly, French wine is quite expensive and French wine that is at the same price point as most Australian wine is usually not as nice quality."

Xu had a clear message for Australian wineries who want to better engage with their Chinese customers.

"Manufacturers need to realize, people from different regions have different taste. For example, people from Shanghai tend to appreciate fruitier wine because their cuisine tends to be sweeter. Taste in wine very much relates back to cuisine and culture," Xu said.

McGuigan said tourism has played a role in the growing popularity of Australian wine in China.

The winery owner even has Chinese-speaking staff at his cellar in Hunter Valley, a region in the state of New South Wales known for famous wineries.

McGuigan said cellars in the Hunter Valley have recently experienced a boom in Chinese visitors, who want to sample and buy Australian wines.

"We are seeing more opportunities for Chinese people to visit cellars in Hunter Valley. The cellar is seen as the window to the brand, so we always make sure to treat our Chinese guests to a special experience," McGuigan said.

In a 2016 survey by Tourism Australia, good food and wine was ranked as one of the three most important factors Chinese tourists consider in choosing a holiday destination.

Year 2017, the official China-Australia Year of Tourism, should see even more Chinese tourists flock to Australia's famous wineries.

Xu said the industry still needs to put effort into gaining the interest of Chinese customers.
BUENOS AIRES  Founder and CEO of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, Jack Ma on Wednesday urged entrepreneurs and owners of small and medium businesses (SMBs) to take advantage of globalization's benefits.

On a visit to Argentina, the business magnate delivered an inspiring speech to a packed audience at the Cultural Center of Science in capital Buenos Aires.

"The internet does not steal jobs. Ignoring the internet leads to the loss of jobs," Ma told Xinhua in an exclusive interview after the speech.

Established China's answer to Amazon in 1999, Ma made his fortune by embracing the internet technology. He is confident about what technology can do for the society, if applied correctly.

"Machines are powerful because they don't tire, they are never in a bad mood, and they are always willing to double their productivity," Ma noted.

"The world is changing and many jobs are going to become obsolete. But as has happened before, at first they will be eliminated and eventually new jobs will be created," said Ma.

"All new technology initially displaces human labor, but then it creates new, better quality jobs," Ma added.

In the same way as the far-sighted entrepreneur has harnessed the power of the internet, the SMBs should try and make globalization work for them, Ma believed.

Shifting resources and energies from the large corporations towards the smaller will benefit states, said Ma.

"Entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized companies will have an advantage, because they are more agile," so governments should "pay attention to small enterprise. Small companies will be driving the country's growth," Ma stressed.

"There are people who hate the changes brought about by globalization," said Ma, but "I believe in it, because it is impossible to stop" and it "must have benefits for small enterprise."

"Today's trade agreements were designed with large companies in mind, but globalization - which many fear and want to put a stop to - is increasingly in the hands of the people and the 'netprenuers'," said Ma, referring to those who started their own internet-based businesses.

Dressed in his signature white shirt and black slacks, Ma said the spread of the internet will only intensify into the future.

"It will be everywhere ... the next 30 years will be the true era of the internet," he said, adding "in the future, 90 percent of businesses will be online."

"E-commerce is where the shopping opportunities are and it is going to become the new way to do retail. In the next 10 years, all products will be made to measure for the client, and they are only going to be available online," said Ma.

All this, he said, makes it necessary to develop an electronic World Trade Platform (e-WTP) for SMBs.

Figures from China's Ministry of Commerce show cross-border e-commerce in the Asian giant has grown about 30 percent annually in the eight years leading to 2016, when total transactions reached 6.3 trillion yuan ($914 billion).
CRRC Tangshan Co Ltd, China's first railway equipment manufacturing company, will export 45 high-speed double-decker trains to Philadelphia in the US, which will mark the first time Chinese made stainless steel trains will be exported to North America.

According to the company, the trains are expected to be delivered by the end of 2019, and will run through Philadelphia, Delaware and New Jersey, mainly used for people commuting.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority paid 1.1 billion yuan ($160 million) for the trains, with the possibility of the company ordering 10 more trains in the future.

Founded in 1881, CRRC Tangshan Co Ltd is affiliated with CRRC, China Railway Rolling Stock Co Ltd, one of the world's leading suppliers of rail transit equipment with complete product lines and superior technology.

The company was responsible for making China's first steam locomotive, the wheels of which were ironically made by a company in Philadelphia.

Its products have been exported to more than 20 countries such as Turkey, Argentina and Bangladesh.

Contact the writer at: zhangyu1@chinadaily.com.cn
GLADSTONE  Authorities in Stark County are investigating a possible case of severe neglect of horses and cattle on land south of Gladstone, Stark County Sheriff Terry Oestreich said.

Veterinarian Kim Brummond, who accompanied the sheriff to the land, said a mare and her foal would have been dead within hours if they had not been rescued and that the conditions of the animals was deplorable and that she personally found the situation emotionally disturbing.

The sheriffs office was alerted to the case by a concerned citizen on April 22. Oestreich said he and Brummond, of West Dakota Vet in Dickinson, responded to the call later that day and found a number of horses that were in quite rough shape.

Oestreich said the horses were thin, filled with lice and had worms and that the animals may have been in this condition for quite sometime. A mare and foal were taken from the property that day because of the severity of their condition, while others were in too bad of shape to move, Oestreich said.

They were some of the worst Ive seen, Oestreich said. (They were) thin and full of lice and worms.

In addition to the horses, Brummond said there were also many cattle that were not in the best shape. However, the saving grace for the cattle is that grass is starting to grow, so there will be a little feed soon, she said.

Brummond said the mare and foal they rescued were in imminent danger of dying of starvation, water deprivation and neglect. The mare and foal are currently in the care of West Dakota Vet and are currently doing well, according to Brummond.

It would be my opinion that if we had not taken the mare and foal theyd have been dead in 36 hours, she said.

Brummond said there were dead animals that were found closer to the home as well.

There were piles of dead animals, recently dead animals, dead animals in various stages of decomposition, she said. All of the animals are infested with lice and parasites. No feed available. Many animals did not have access to water.

Brummond said she found the situation to be personally upsetting as well.

I found it horrendous, she said.

Oestreich said the department gets calls from time to time about possible cases of animal abuse or neglect, he said quite often the cases end up turning out OK. However, he said this situation may be different.

These animals were certainly malnourished and needed some more care, he said.

Oestreich said the department has been checking on the animals condition regularly.

The sheriff's office has been in contact with the landowner, as well as the Stark County states attorney about the case. The owner is to submit a plan working with his vet on how to intends to medicate and care for the animals.

No arrests have been made and no charges have currently been filed in the case.
Shenzhen is the most sustainable city in the country, thanks to its excellent performance in the economic, social and environmental segments, especially in the innovation area, according to a ranking by global management consultancy McKinsey & Company.

Beijing dropped out of the top 10 because of its unsatisfactory environmental performance and lack of proper use of resources, according to the 2016 Urban Sustainability Index Report.

Other cities, including Xiamen, Dalian, Fuzhou, Changsha and Yantai, also lost their coveted positions. The gap between larger and smaller cities has widened over the last three years.

Let's take a look at the most sustainable cities in China.

No 10 Shaoxing
No 10 Australia

People are silhouetted against the Sydney Opera House at sunset in Australia, November 2, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

Southeast Asia and Japan were popular destinations for Chinese travelers during the May Day holiday, which lasted from Saturday to Monday, a latest industry report showed.

South Korea, which ranked first last year, fell out of the top 10 most popular foreign destinations list, according to a report released by Ctrip, a leading online travel agency, and the China Tourism Academy.

During the May Day holiday, the number of Chinese travelers going to South Korea's Jeju Island, one of the most popular travel destinations for Chinese visitors, plumped 82 percent to 4,960, compared with 27,917 last year, South Korea local media reported.

In comparison, the number of tourists heading for Southeast Asia and Japan saw a surge, with Thailand topping the rank.

Here are the 10 hottest destinations for Chinese travelers in May Day holiday.
Workers sort packages after an online shopping spree in November in Fuyang, Anhui province. [Photo/China Daily]

Initiative brings consumers and traders closer

E-commerce powerhouses in China are extremely bullish about strengthening trade ties and invigorating economic activities in economies along the Belt and Road Initiative, industry observers said.

They said that as fast-growing mobile and internet usage propels consumer spending, an ever-widening array of "Made in China" items will be at their fingertips, while Chinese bring home worldwide delicacies thanks to frictionless online transactions and fast cross-border deliveries.

Chinese phones are gaining traction among buyers notably in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, with Russia, Ukraine and Israel topping the list of generous spenders on these gadgets, according to AliResearch, the research arm of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

Apart from electronic devices, fashion and jewelry, women's apparel and nail beauty accessories are the latest darling of foreign buyers, said the report, which tracked data from AliExpress, Alibaba's international marketplace that has served more than 100 million overseas shoppers.

Bargain hunters in Russia have pushed the e-commerce boom to new heights, with Chinese products including phones, clothing and other consumer electronics being the most popular items.

The cyber Silk Road, which effectively links smaller merchants with individual customers, is fueling new momentum to the Belt and Road Initiative by promoting inclusive trade and access to logistics and financial services once reserved mainly for multinationals, said Gao Hongbing, Alibaba's vice-president.

"This relatively new and frictionless method of conducting business on the digital platform can enable more businesses and entrepreneurs to participate in global trade and reap the benefits of globalization," Gao said.

Meanwhile, businesses along the Belt and Road routes have found early success via online channels as Chinese purchasing power explodes. For instance, nearly 280,000 latex pillows from Thailand were sold last year via Tmall Global, a site sourcing imported goods to Chinese customers.

Likewise, thousands of brands have established a prominent presence and reaped huge gains as Chinese customers snap up instant coffee and tea bags from Malaysia, carpets from India and date palms from the United Arab Emirates.

The cross-border marketplace on JD.com Inc, the nation's second-largest e-commerce player, covers 70 countries and regions and is poised to partner with more Asian and Central European vendors, said Qi Ting, general-manager of JD Worldwide.

Leveraging the China-Europe rail network, a crucial part of the initiative, JD has halved the time to transport auto supplies from Germany to southwestern China compared with sea routes, she said.

"The internet is the key feature of the Belt and Road Initiative in the 21st century, and cooperation in internet-related services along the routes propels innovation and industrial upgrading," said Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University of China in Beijing.

Xinhua contributed to this story.
A grower of the Yakima Valley in Washington state, the largest supplier of cherries in the United States, relocates the hives from one orchard to another in order to keep up with the cherry bloom. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

A California-based company is selling to China's vast middle class, the fastest-growing consumer segment in the world, through Alibaba. In the process, it's helping Jack Ma, the chairman and founder of the e-commerce giant, to realize his pledge to create 1 million jobs in the US over five years, report Chang Jun in San Francisco and Linda Deng in Seattle

American small and medium-sized businesses such as retailers of cosmetics, apparel, maternal and baby products, and health supplements and even farmers are cashing in on the huge purchasing power of China's vast and fast-growing middle class through e-commerce while creating jobs for the Americans.

A prime example is 100% Pure, a San Jose, California-based company with a 15,000-square-foot complex from which Chinese consumers can buy organic cosmetics and other beauty products directly through Tmall.com, e-commerce giant Alibaba's business-to-consumer or B2C platform.

Ric Kostick, founder and CEO of 100% Pure, said that when he and his two business partners started their business, they were concerned that the hefty service fee they had to pay to brokers and middlemen for packaging and ingredients would impede their company's growth.

Then, in that same year, "I found a packaging store through browsing Alibaba and couldn't wait to share that with my partners," recalled Kostick. "Why wouldn't we just go to this website and contact suppliers directly?"

They became adept at using Alibaba's search mechanism and rating system to find reputable suppliers worldwide without wasting time traveling or vetting vendors. "We can spend our time and money more wisely on developing our products and, ultimately, benefit our customers," said Kostick.

On June 20-21, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd will host a conference in Detroit to teach US businesses what Kostick has learned: How to sell to the company's 443 million customers in China on the world's biggest e-commerce site.
Visitors talk at Tencent's image product shop in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. YU GE / FOR CHINA DAILY

First US-based research center to be led by former Microsoft scientist

Chinese internet titan Tencent Holdings Ltd said it is gearing up its expansion in the artificial intelligence sector, seeing the red hot field as the next frontier of growth and innovation in the internet industry.

Tencent, the tech giant best known for its WeChat messaging service and gaming, announced on Tuesday that it will open its first US-based AI research lab in Seattle, which will be led by former Microsoft scientist Yu Dong.

Yu Dong, appointed as deputy director of Tecent's AI Lab division, will run the new facility and is expected to drive the fundamental research on speech recognition and natural language understanding, the company announced.

Before joining Tencent, Yu was the principal researcher at the Microsoft Speech and Dialog Group and an adjunct professor of Zhejiang University.

"We hope the AI lab will not only be a laboratory, but also a connector to bring together the world's leading talent," said Zhang Tong, the newly appointed director of Tencent's core AI Lab and the former big data director at Baidu Inc.

Lu Yanxia, research manager at IDC China, said the new lab will help Tencent to lure top international staff and have better access to the world's leading AI technologies, currently dominated by the US.

"The move shows that the company is betting big on the hottest area of technology and innovation: AI," Lu said.

"It will help the company to create new momentum in its key market."

By opening the new lab, Shenzhen-headquartered Tencent joins the army of Chinese tech powerhousesincluding Baidu Inc and Didi Chuxingin their quest to attract global talent to the booming AI sector.

Baidu was the first among Chinese tech giants to open an AI lab in Silicon Valley in 2014. In March, Baidu reportedly launched its second AI lab in Silicon Valley, right after Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing opened its first AI facility in the same area.

Lu said although Tencent's arrival to the AI sector was relatively late compared with its rivals, it was catching up fast by increasing investment, including the appointment of Yu Dong and the newly established AI lab in Seattle.

"The competition will be fiercer as more tech powerhouses gear up in the AI rush," Lu added.

Tencent set up its core AI Lab in April 2016, dedicated to providing AI technical support for Tencent products and services.

The Shenzhen-based lab currently has more than 50 researchers and over 200 engineers, according to the company.
Customers take photos of iPhone 7 RED at an Apple Inc store in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. SU YANG / FOR CHINA DAILY

Apple Inc reported a drop in revenue in China for its fiscal second quarter ended April 1, the fifth consecutive quarter of decline in the region, caused by ever-growing competition from local rivals.

Apple's revenue from China fell 14 percent to $10.73 billion in the quarter, compared with $16.49 billion in the same period last year, despite growth in all other regions.

Apple's Americas, Europe, Japan and rest of Asia-Pacific regions saw revenue grow by 11 percent, 10 percent, 5 percent and 20 percent, respectively.

During a conference call with analysts, Apple CEO Tim Cook blamed unfavorable exchange rates for the decline.

Apple has been facing a growing challenge from local smartphone vendors in the China market, such as Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, Oppo Electronics Corp and vivo Mobile Communication Technology Co Ltd.

The US tech giant experienced year-on-year decline in China last year with its shipments to China falling from 58.4 million phones in 2015 to 44.9 million in 2016, according to research firm International Data Corp.

Its market share dropped to 9.6 percent, while Chinese smartphone vendors saw their market share rise. Oppo sold 78.4 million smartphones, with a market share of 16.8 percent, ranking in first place, then followed Huawei and vivo.

"Apple has witnessed a decline in the Chinese market after it launched the iPhone 6S in 2015, due to a lack of technological innovation. However, local manufacturers stepped up their efforts in upgrading the functions of smartphones and enhancing their popularity," said Jin Di, research manager of IDC China.

Jin added that Oppo and vivo are attracting younger customers with their stylish appearance and design as well as lower prices, adding that Apple should ramp up its product innovation.

In its second quarter, Apple sold 50.76 million iPhones, down from 51.19 million a year earlier. Analysts on average had estimated iPhone sales of 52.27 million.

Its revenue rose 4.6 percent to $52.9 billion, compared with analysts' average estimate of $53.02 billion, while net income rose to $11.03 billion, or $2.10 per share, compared with $10.52 billion, or $1.90 per share, a year earlier.

Apple is expected to launch its 10th anniversary iPhone range this autumn.

Analysts predicted features like OLED displays, wireless charging, and even perhaps augmented reality could come to upcoming iPhone models.

Jason Low, a tech industry expert at Canalys, said the development of smartphones had slowed down, and manufacturers are paying more attention to their design, adopting OLED screens that enhance picture quality and dual cameras.

"It is too early to say whether Apple could help bolster its sales in Chinese market," said Low.
China will send two giant pandas to Denmark and work on panda protection. [Photo/Asianewsphoto]

BEIJING -- China said on Wednesday it would send two giant pandas to Denmark and work on panda protection during Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen's visit.Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Rasmussen held talks on Wednesday afternoon and witnessed the signing of cooperation documents on food and drug supervision, quarantine and panda protection, among others.It will be the first time China has sent pandas to Denmark."The Danish prime minister visited Chengdu to see the two giant pandas to be sent to the Copenhagen Zoo to live there for some time. But the arrival of the pandas in Denmark will depend on when Denmark gets (the Panda House) ready," Liu Weimin, an official with the Chinese Foreign Ministry told reporters after the talks."The giant pandas, as messengers of friendship, will play a positive role to our bilateral relations," Liu said.Copenhagen Zoo revealed in March the design of the panda house.Construction will begin in November and take about a year, according to Copenhagen Zoo director and CEO Steffen Straede.China and Denmark unveiled a plan to deepen cooperation from 2017 to 2020 and agreed to expand two-way trade and investment. Both sides identified agriculture, fisheries, food security, health and tourism as major areas for cooperation."China hopes to work with Denmark to advance bilateral practical cooperation and guide the economic globalization towards more inclusiveness and fairness and promote liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment," Li said.Rasmussen said developing a comprehensive strategic partnership with China is a diplomatic priority for Denmark and invited Chinese investment to Denmark.As a EU member, Denmark supports progress in the talks of EU-China investment treaty and contribute to the EU-China relations, Rasmussen said.Before the talks, Li held a welcome ceremony for Rasmussen at the Great Hall of the People.
Premier Li Keqiang guides Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen at an inspection of the People's Liberation Army Honor Guard outside the East Gate of the Great Hall of the People in Tian'anmen Square on Wednesday. FENG YONGBIN/CHINA DAILY

China and Denmark will strengthen cooperation in areas such as fishing, agriculture, food safety and drug regulations through a new collaborative work plan for the next three years, which is expected to bring the two countries' relationship to a new height.

Premier Li Keqiang and Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen of Denmark agreed to the joint work plan for their two nations from 2017 to 2020 during their meeting in Beijing on Wednesday.

The plan details the road map and timetable for further cooperation.

Rasmussen was making the first official visit by a Danish prime minister since the two countries established comprehensive strategic partnership in 2008.

Li said he believes China and Denmark have great potential for further cooperation. And, as next year will mark the 10th anniversary of the comprehensive strategic partnership, China is willing to use this opportunity to explore more cooperation between the two countries. Denmark is the first Nordic country to sign such agreement with China.

Li stressed that China also is willing to work with Denmark in dealing with regional issues and international affairs while promoting free trade and investment convenience.

Rasmussen praised China's rapid development since his last visit in 2010, and said China has shown increasing leadership on important global issues such as climate change.

He expressed his willingness to fully implement the three-year work plan between the two countries and said Denmark, a firm supporter of free trade, warmly welcomes investment from Chinese companies.

He also said as a member of the European Union, Denmark will promote the bilateral investment treaty between China and the EU to deepen relations.

After the meeting, Li and Rasmussen observed as the signing of six documents: on food and drug regulations, quarantine and sanitary requirements and giant panda protection, among others.

Liu Weimin, deputy director of the Department of European Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the two leaders had long and candid discussions on promoting free trade amid increasing trade protectionism. He said Li emphasized that free trade benefits all countries and contributes to global peace and stability as well as the recovery of the global economy, while trade protectionism serves the no one's interests.

Liu said the two leaders agreed to send strong signals to promote free trade and globalization in the upcoming China-EU Leaders' Meeting.

Liu said both countries would work to enhance cooperation and, as 2017 is the year of tourism between China and Denmark, the first such activity between China and an EU country, steps to increase tourism were part of Wednesday's discussion between the leaders.

China remains Denmark's largest trade partner in Asia with their bilateral trade reaching more than 110 billion Danish kroner (about $16.11 billion) a year, according to Denmark's statistical authorities.
President Xi Jinping is greeted by students and faculty at the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing on Wednesday.[Photo/Xinhua] More photos

Nation needs more top legal talent, he says

President Xi Jinping called for more efforts to promote the rule of law and the development of high-quality legal talent during a visit to the China University of Political Science and Law on Wednesday.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remark ahead of Youth Day, which falls on Thursday.

The comprehensive advancement of the rule of law is a long-term and significant historic mission, and is related to the Party's governing and rejuvenating the country. It is also related to the people's happiness and the development of the Party and the country, he said.

He said the country should look ahead to the future, lay out a good foundation and establish a good system while advancing the rule of law.

He also urged authorities to focus on key areas, emphasizing current issues, to promote the rule of law.

The comprehensive advancement of the rule of law would not be done satisfactorily without good efforts to cultivate legal talent, he said.

Xi also called for universities and colleges to step up research on the rule of law and other fundamental matters that involve legal issues to help improve the nation's socialist system with Chinese characteristics.

The country should also further improve its system of legal theory, and use Chinese wisdom and Chinese practice to contribute to the world's civilization on the rule of law.

China should actively learn from the achievements of other countries in the rule of law, but should also absorb and transform them selectively, to avoid blind borrowing and imitations.

The Party convened a plenary meeting of its central committee in October 2014 to further promote the rule of law. It was the first time that a plenary session of the CPC Central Committee had taken this topic as its central theme.

In a statement released after the plenary session, the Party said it will further emphasize the role of the Constitution in China's legal system. It also aims to improve judicial independence, promote procedural justice, professionalize judicial officers, and build a law-abiding government.

During the inspection trip, Xi also urged the country's youth to use their time for study, and to absorb knowledge like sponges. Youth is a crucial time to train a person's thinking and abilities, and young people should maintain their sensitivity to new things and explore new practices and truths in a daring way, he said.
DRAYTON -- A federal budget deal could allow Drayton to keep dikes on land that otherwise would have prohibited the earthen structures.

The funding agreement for fiscal year 2017 has language that will allow the dikes to be built on land acquired through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, according to a news release from the office of Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D. The levees, some of which have been up since the 1997 flood, have protected the city through several flood years, according to residents who fought the removal of the temporary dikes. But the Federal Emergency Management Agency ordered the city to remove dikes on 16 parcels of land sold to the city through the federal agencys flood mitigation program, saying the dikes served as anecdotal protection and could present public safety concerns since they werent examined by the proper entities.

With few exceptions, permanent structures are not allowed on the hazard mitigation land.

The city of Drayton drafted a correction plan to remove the dikes by Oct. 12, a deadline set by FEMA. After seeing coverage on the issue from the Herald, Hoeven asked FEMA to grant two extensions for the dikes to be taken down while working on legislation to allow the levees to remain permanently. The city has until May 12 to take the dike down.

But that deadline will be irrelevant if Congress and President Donald Trump approve the federal funding agreement that includes language allowing levees if the construction constitutes part of a flood control project, is constructed of naturally occurring materials and conforms to other criteria as established by FEMA policy. That should cover the Drayton dikes.

Hoeven said it was important to approve the dikes permanently, especially since Drayton faced flooding this year.

Drayton needs the certainty that their flood protection will remain in place, Hoeven said in a statement Tuesday. This levee is vital to the communitys flood control efforts. Thats why I worked to secure this provision, allowing the city to maintain the levee permanently and providing peace of mind for local residents.

Hoeven said he expects the language for the dikes to be approved, and though the budget only lasts through September, the dike language is permanent, he said.
Two technicians inspect an engine on the C919, China's first domestically produced single-aisle passenger jet, after a taxiing test on Wednesday.[Photo by Yin Liqin/China Daily]

China's first domestically produced single-aisle passenger jet, the C919, is expected to take to the sky for its maiden flight on Friday, as the country endeavors to meet soaring domestic travel demand and break the global market duopoly of Boeing Co and Airbus Group SE.

The debut flight is set to take place at Shanghai Pudong International Airport, subject to weather conditions, the C919's Shanghai-based manufacturer, Commercial Aircraft Corp of China, said on Wednesday.

Soon after it was established in 2008, COMAC began the research to develop the twin-engine C919, which would be used for medium-haul flights with 158 to 174 seats. It is expected to compete with the updated Airbus A320 and the new-generation Boeing B737.

China has its own military and regional aircraft manufacturers, and the development of the airplane serves as a key index to assess the country's industrial and technical manufacturing capacity.

"The first flight of the C919 signals that China will be able to make a significant breakthrough for the country's civil aircraft manufacturing industry, and it could have the opportunity to break the monopolies of Boeing and Airbus," said Lin Zhijie, an aviation industry analyst and columnist at Carnoc.com, a large Chinese civil aviation website.

Despite the promising future, Lin said the C919's entry to the market won't occur soon. The date it goes into operation is expected to be between 2020 and 2022.

So far, COMAC has received 570 orders for the C919 from 23 clients, including domestic airlines such as the State-owned Air China, China Southern and China Eastern; and private airlines Hainan Airlines and Sichuan Airlines. China Eastern will be the first to take delivery.

Overseas orders account for about 10 percent of the total, including airlines from Germany and Thailand and others from the Asia Pacific region and Africa.

Boeing earlier predicts that China will need 5,110 new single-aisle airplanes through 2035, accounting for 75 percent of the total delivery for China from global aircraft manufacturers.

"While the program has faced its share of challengeslike any development program of this sizethe results speak for themselves," said Steven Lien, president of Honeywell Aerospace Asia Pacific, one of the C919's suppliers.

"The C919 is a sleek, modern and efficient airplane. It is ready to compete on a global scale, heralding China's ambitious plans to grow and develop its domestic air transportation industry with the help of international partners."

COMAC said last week it has started the research to develop a widebody commercial jet with Russia for delivery within 10 years.
China plans to cultivate a large number of competitive private medical institutions to complete a diversified multilayered healthcare system by 2020, which is expected to meet growing demands for customized services.

The target was set in a guideline that encourages private businesses to provide diversified medical services, which was approved at a State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday.

Encouraging privately run medical services is vital to developing a prosperous healthcare industry, unleashing the potential for domestic consumption and promoting economic restructuring and upgrading, the guideline said.

The premier stressed that the necessity to develop healthcare industries cannot be overstated. It has great potential as people's lives improve but remains in short supply. The key is to transform governmental functions and further administrative reforms, he said.

As one of the document's seven key elements, the guideline wants private businesses to set up and operate high-quality general clinics to provide customized care services.

Support will be given to the private sector to create competitive institutions with their own branding in fields such as stomatology, or the care of the mouth and related diseases. The advantage of traditional Chinese medicines should be fully utilized to offer services such as TCM-based healthcare and rehabilitative services.

The guideline encourages private medical institutions to provide services featured in advanced medical technologies, as well. Customized services will be enhanced by offering value-added and ancillary services such as long-distance diagnoses. Business models consolidating sectors such as medical services and nursing homes for seniors will be promoted.

The guideline also aims to build a number of cluster areas for healthcare industries that meet high-end demands in and out of China.

The healthcare market will be further opened up by lowering the threshold for access, as private medical institutions will be supported by introducing strategic investors and partners and building ties with public hospitals to boost diversified services, the guideline said.

In addition, the document anticipates foreign investors as partners to establish high-level medical institutions in China through joint ventures and other forms of cooperation. China is open to overseas professionals, medical technologies, management experience and operational models.

Li called for making full use of market dynamics to nurture an environment for different medical institutions to grow, compete and prosper. Private businesses will be encouraged to enhance the supply of healthcare products and services that cater to people's varying demands, he added.

Since the start of a new round of medical reforms in 2009, the State Council has been working to boost enthusiasm and participation of private businesses with a slew of guidelines, including the one to encourage private capital to the healthcare sector in November 2010.

The premier said the central government has emphasized equal treatment for State-owned and private capital. He called for pragmatic measures to invigorate the enthusiasm of private businesses.
The road built on a 1,500-meter-high cliff by villagers in Chongqing. [Photo provided by People's Daily]

Residents of the village of Shuangping in Chongqing municipality built a road on a 1,500-meter-high cliff, connecting their village with the outside world.

Before the construction of the road, villagers had to spend four hours climbing an 800-meter ladder hung on the cliff's face if they wanted to enter or depart from Shuangping. The extremely dangerous journey caused many accidental deaths and property losses. A lack of traffic also impeded the village's economic and trade development. Many of the villagers were barely able to support themselves.

In order to shake off the shackles of poverty, the villagers independently began raising money in 1997 to build a road on the cliff. After a year of hard work, a preliminary road was finally completed. Later, it was further developed using government funds and social capital in 2011.

The road has lifted hundreds of people out of extreme poverty since its installation. In addition, the road has become a tourist site in its own right thanks to its beautiful views.
Plans for railways linking the planned Xiongan New Area in Hebei province with neighboring Beijing and Tianjin were disclosed recently on a map of the region's railway links, marking the latest step in the new area's development.

Railway lines from Xiongan to Beijing and Tianjin were revealed, along with three other links, on a Tianjin railway planning map, according to a report in Tianjin News.

According to the report, the map shows two railway stations in the new areaXiongan Railway Station and Xiongan East Railway Station.

The Beijing-Xiongan rail route will connect Xiongan New Area with Beijing's planned second airport, 55 kilometers to the north of Xiongan.

The Tianjin-Xiongan railway route will connect the area with Tianjin's new railway station, which is also in the planning stages.

Details of the railways in Xiongan were not given.

The coming Xiongan New Area, an economic zone announced about a month ago, is located at the center of a triangular area with Beijing, Tianjin, and Shijiazhuang, Hebei's capital, at the corners.

It covers Xiongxian, Rongcheng and Anxin counties in Hebei and will eventually span 2,000 square kilometers and has a population of up to 2.5 million.

With good road and rail access, Xiongan residents will be able to reach any of the three cities in about 30 minutes, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Under the area's development plan, a major transportation network should be in place in Xiongan by 2020. The area will be well connected to Beijing, Tianjin and other cities in Hebei by 2022, when the Winter Olympic Games are held, according to Xinhua.

Xiongan New Area is intended to house the bulk of Beijing's noncapital functions, including some administrative and public institutions, company headquarters, financial institutions, higher education institutions and sci-tech units.

Officials say that to enhance the area's attractiveness to top-level talent, it should develop with "people" being the core by improving public services, promoting social life and being equipped with superior resources in such areas as education and medical care, according to a China Central Television report on Tuesday.

"I personally think the resources at Xiongan will be superior to those currently available in Beijing and Tianjin," He Lifeng, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, said in the report.

Yuan Tongli, vice-governor of Hebei, said: "We need to take innovative steps to bring down housing prices and lift public services in the area." Only this will attract top talent, Yuan said.
Sustained effort brings quicker remedial action from companies

One month into the Ministry of Environmental Protection's yearlong inspection of 28 northern cities - which is uncovering violations on an almost daily basis - companies are feeling the pressure to reduce pollution.

The cities that have received feedback have responded quickly and thoroughly, according to local officials and the bosses of the companies targeted in the campaign, which is focused on the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

Yuntaishan Cement's factory in Wuan, Hebei province, was ordered to halt production on April 9, just two days into the inspection, after it was found with raw materials piled outdoors and no way to prevent dust pollution.

The company was fined 120,000 yuan ($17,400) by the city's environmental protection bureau and given until the end of May to upgrade its equipment or remain shut down.

"The improvements to reduce emissions will cost about 2 million yuan, which is not a small investment," said Zhang Xinchang, the plant's manager. "But now is not a time for bargaining."

Compared with previous inspections, the city government is taking a tougher stance, Zhang added.

In fact, Guo Quansheng, Wuan's vice-mayor, said that based on the Yuntaishan case the Wuan authorities decided to launch a sweep of the city's 13 other cement factories. This resulted in three more being temporarily closed for pollution violations, while all were ordered to upgrade their equipment.

"The violations exposed in one plant became a warning for us to check the entire industry," Gao said.

Cui Hongzhi, head of environmental protection for Handan, Hebei's second-largest city by land area, said government agencies covering the environment, economy and commerce have been given the responsibility of ensuring that problems identified by the ministry's inspection teams are fixed.

Handan has a large concentration of iron, steel, cement, and coking businesses. Between April 8 and 16, the city ordered 26 companies to reduce or suspend production, closed 14 companies permanently and issued fines totaling 25 million yuan, the ministry said.

Authorities said many problems have already been resolved in neighboring Xingtai. Si Guoliang, its environmental protection chief, said 158 of the 173 violations logged by inspectors had been addressed.

It's the first time such an intensive environmental inspection has continued without a break, as previous ones were only conducted on days with heavy smog, he said, adding that the authorities will visit the polluting companies frequently to guarantee the problems are completely solved.

"We will take it as an opportunity to reduce air pollution," he said.
In his 21 years as an environmental inspector, Yin Wei has never had an assignment as intense as his most recent one: heading a team to help clean up China's smog-plagued north.

He was among those chosen for the first round of the Ministry of Environmental Protection's yearlong anti-pollution inspection of 28 cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding areas.

"It's the largest inspection I've been involved with," said the 41-year-old, who usually inspects industries in Lyuliang, Shanxi province. "The schedule is really busy. We start at 8 am, report our results by 9 pm and then start to assign the next day's tasks. I didn't get to sleep before midnight."

Yin's assignment lasted for the first three weeks of the inspection. His team checked about 200 companies across Handan, an industrial city in Hebei. About 90 percent were in violation of various pollution control measures.

"In my home city, we've confronted similar pollution problems because it has the same pillar industries," he said, referring to steel, mining and power generation. "This made it easier for us to look at companies' key production areas during the inspections."

For example, Yin said, he and three inspectors decided to check a coking plant in the Fengfeng mining district after they noticed smoke rising from a chimney that was below the required height. The group discovered the factory was using an illegal chimney that had not been fitted with any of the monitoring equipment authorities use to track emission levels.

The findings were reported to the ministry and the local government, which vowed to handle the matter quickly, he said.

"That's why this field inspection is important," he said. "We're here to help local governments find the problems and to reduce pollution, not make trouble for them."

For some companies, however, the inspectors can mean big trouble - especially those operating illegally.

While most companies are compliant, some have resisted. Zhao Peng, who led an inspection team last month to Xingtai, also in Hebei, said workers at several plants attempted to obstruct officials, including grabbing their documents. To ensure the safety of inspectors, he suggested the ministry provide uniforms that look official, which might deter some workers from interfering.

Yin was pleased to have a chance to make a difference. "Although it was tiring work, seeing the illegal polluters shut down and air pollution improving is satisfying," he said.

(China Daily 05/04/2017 page5)
Local governments across China are using Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like platform, to provide quicker responses to emergencies, a report said on Thursday.

In addition to speeding up the response time, the quality of their posts has also improved, according to the report by People's Daily and Sina Weibo.

"In emergencies, such as when a person was injured by a tiger at Ningbo Zoo, or when substandard electric cables were found in the Xi'an subway system, local authorities responded in an efficient manner, providing information via Sina Weibo," the report said, adding that such actions help to address public concerns.

So far, nearly 170,000 governmental departments have created accounts, with a particularly rapidly increase in the number of departments at the lowest level using such services.

Governmental micro blogs first appeared about five years ago. They have grown in popularity among officials and are used by authorities to explain policies and address emergencies, the report said.

Complaints about insufficient interaction with netizens have also been addressed, according to the report, which added that some departments have also created dedicated online channels for citizens to file reports.

Sina Weibo said it encourages the creation of official accounts to respond to issues via videos or live streaming, adding that it aims to carry out evaluations of accounts to alert those that fail to operate effectively or rarely interact with netizens.
Farmers register for physical examinations in Hongxing community, Chengmagang town, Macheng of Central China's Hubei province on May 2, 2017. [Photo by Wu Yan/chinadaily.com.cn]

If it wasn't for the free physical examination conducted at a clinic in his village, Xiao Yecai would never have realized eating a sugary boiled egg every day would cause him health problems.

"I thought the dish would give my body strength, I did not expected it to worsen my health," said the 64-year-old impoverished farmer, who has always felt weak.

He was diagnosed with anemia and hyperglycemia during the physical examination conducted by a visiting medical team from Chengmagang Town Health Center.

The team traveled to Hongxing community in Central China's Hubei province on May 2, 2017.

Doctor Jiang Peicheng said that farmers are not used to going to the town's hospital, because it's either too difficult for the elderly or they're busy with farming and have no time to go far.

They use native methods to treat disease or improve health, but sometimes their health conditions do not improve and get even worse, Jiang said.

"Physical examination can detect the problem in time."

Xiao was referred to the hospital to have a re-examination. If he is diagnosed with diabetes, he will be added to a watch list of chronic disease patients and asked to measure blood-sugar levels every three months at the village clinic.

Annual free physical examination in villages started in 2009, as part of a national basic public health services project.

In 2015, impoverished farmers became eligible for the free checks, along with chronic disease patients and seniors aged above 65, to prevent them becoming poorer due to illness.

The medical team will visit other 26 villages and communities to provide free physical examinations in the town in a month.




Legal professionals have called for stricter supervision of police officers when questioning suspects during their first 24 hours at police bureaus to prevent forced confessions and reduce wrongful convictions.

Lawyers and law professors attending a seminar in Beijing on Wednesday praised the efforts the country has made to eliminate illegal evidence, but called for the further tightening of related regulations.

Chinese law allows police to summon individuals for interrogation for up to 12 hours, but this may be extended to 24 hours for serious or complicated cases.

Li Fenfei, a professor who specializes in legal procedures at Renmin University of China, said that torture is most likely to occur shortly after people are summoned to police bureaus and before they leave or are taken to detention houses.

The Criminal Procedure Law, which was revised in 2012, has specific stipulations on forced confessions, requiring all interrogations to be recorded by video and audio. It also states that evidence obtained illegally has no legal relevance and cannot be used in trials.

The law represents the progress China has made in protecting human rights and reducing forced confessions, but it mainly targets behaviors in detention houses, and doesn't clearly regulate police behaviors in suspects' first 24 hours at public security departments, Li said.

Wang Chao, a law professor at Beijing Normal University, said suspects are physically separated from investigators when they are interrogated in detention houses, but similar measures are not adopted in police bureaus.

He called for the introduction of a law to ensure there are lawyers on duty at police stations to better supervise police behaviors in the first 24 hours of questioning.

Yang Limin, a criminal lawyer in Beijing, said that forced confessions are most likely to take place in the first 48 hours of questioning at police bureaus because police are under pressure to solve cases and they lack interrogation skills.

Wang Zhenhui, a law professor at China University of Political Science and Law, said that his institution has conducted experiments since 2003 involving the deployment of lawyers at police stations. It's necessary for prosecutors to increase supervision of police behaviors, he said.

Li Yixian, another lawyer, said that preventing forced confessions is the first step to reducing wrongful convictions.
Chinese foreign ministry responds to KCNA commentary

Xinhua | Updated: 2017-05-04 18:12

BEIJING -- A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman on Thursday reiterated that China's position on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is consistent and clear.



The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) issued a commentary on Wednesday, urging Chinese newspapers to "refrain from making reckless remarks undermining the DPRK-China relations."



China's stance on developing its good neighborly and friendly relations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is also consistent and clear, spokesman Geng Shuang said at a daily press briefing, when asked to comment on the KCNA commentary.



He said China has always viewed and dealt with relevant issues in a fair and objective manner.



China is always devoted to achieving denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, maintaining peace and stability on the Peninsula and promoting dialogue and consultation, Geng said.



"We hope relevant parities will shoulder their due responsibilities and contribute to regional peace and stability, as well as people's well-being," Geng said.
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.
Qi Jing used to work at an electronics factory in Guangzhou with her husband, but never considered going back to Zhujiagou village, her husband's home village deep in the mountains of Gansu province, until the end of 2016.

"The village is so poor and we could find no jobs here," Qi, 26, said. "Besides, we could earn more elsewhere rather than growing crops in the village."

After spending the Chinese New Year in the village this year, Qi did not set out for Guangzhou like she had done in the past. Instead, persuaded by Zhu Yanjie, deputy Party chief of the village, she decided to join a local tourism company and open a food stall in order to cater to tourists visiting the village.

"Business has been better than I expected since the food stall was opened last month," she said. "During the May Day holiday I could make more than 1,000 yuan ($145every day."

The company, called Renheju Tourism and Vocation Co, was established by Zhu, who was born in the village, with the help of the local government, in an attempt to develop tourism in the village and lift villagers out of poverty, Zhu said.

Although the village boasts rich tourism resources such as beautiful natural scenery and well preserved local culture, the people remained impoverished, and 46 villagers still lived under the poverty line at the end of last year, he said. The only cement road linking the village to nearby Kangxian county opened just last year.

Before setting up the company, Zhu ran a hotel in nearby Kangxian county, and earned more than one million yuan a year.

"Although I am well off now, I feel sorry to see some of the villagers who I grew up with still living in poverty," he said. "So when the government called for investing in a tourism company, I volunteered."

Villagers are encouraged to invest in the company, but impoverished villagers can also join the business for free, he said.

Zhu spent nearly one million yuan to start the company, which included renovating the villagers' houses, repairing roads in the village and improving the landscaping, he said.

The company was in business in mid April, and by early May, 10 households in the village, many living under the poverty line, had joined the business by opening food stalls or selling souvenirs, Zhu said.

"Running food stalls and selling snacks is one the best ways to increase their incomes, as it requires little investment but generates high profits," he said.

During the past May Day holiday, nearly 10,000 tourists from nearby cities took advantage of various services the company provides, he said.

"Now some other villagers are planning to join, seeing the business can really make money," Zhu said.

With more tourists expected, the company will develop more services to help villagers increase income, including hotels, restaurants, coffee shops, bars and programs involving farming and harvesting, he said.
Mi Ying poses for a photo near gas production equipment on Sinopec's Fuling shale gas field, Southwest China's Chongqing. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

For her, it's all about numbers. She starts her day by reading operation data from all her "children", the shale gas wells. Apart from analyzing data on computer screens, most of her time is spent going from one well to another, climbing up and down, walking far or squatting for a long time, bending down or looking up, to take notes on the numbers.

She is Mi Ying, a technician working at Sinopec's Fuling shale gas field in Southwest China's Chongqing. She is also a young mother of a 3-year-old girl, and she's shy when answering a question on which one gets more attention - the gas wells or her daughter. Because the answer is fairly clear: the former.

31-year-old Mi is from Northwest China's Shaanxi province, having set up a family in Chongqing, and has been working on this shale gas field for three years. "For everyone here, shale gas is their child," Mi told chinadaily.com.cn.

But for Mi, a young mother whose pregnancy nearly coincides with the start of China's shale gas commercial production, she may have a better understanding.

Mi graduated from Xi'an Shiyou University in Shaanxi with a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering in 2008. Upon graduation, she was employed by Sinopec Jianghan Oilfield and began her career at a gas production plant in a remote town in Central China's Hunan province.

In 2014 when Sinopec launched China's first shale gas commercial production program in Fuling, Mi decided to join forces with this new but promising cause. It was her stellar performance at the plant in the past five years that opened the door for her in Fuling.

She came to Fuling with 200,000 words of notes written in over 10 notebooks to work on optimizing gas production through monitoring and data analysis.

But shale gas production was new to China at the time, and American experiences gained in deserts can't be fully applied to the mountainous area of Fuling.

She raced against time while looking up scientific literature in this field and racked her brain to solve problems in production. In half a year, her nickname "Xiaomi" became a brand in the field and her and her colleagues' research achievements helped optimize production which translated into profits of 70 million yuan ($10 million).

And she did all this while pregnant. But this wasn't all: she impressed everyone with her decision to conclude her maternity leave earlier than the stipulated date. She accommodated her daughter and her mother-in-law in a rental home in the town near the gas field.

"I would have loved to take longer leave with my daughter but we were indeed short of hands at that time," Mi calmly told chinadaily.com.cn with more maturity than her age.

She was awarded for her dedication to shale gas production, including national awards honoring her as best young woman and best female worker.

But shy Mi said little about these awards, claiming she was just as ordinary as her colleagues, "There are many people on the shale gas field who might not be qualified for their role as parents or children, but they are all competent employees for the job."

Sinopec's Fuling shale gas project now has reached production capacity of seven billion cubic meters and is expected to achieve 10 billion by the end of this year. Their gas has been used in tens of millions of households reaching as far as Shanghai, about 2,000 km away, as well as Chongqing and six provinces along the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Those enjoying their dinner cooked with the gas from Fuling may never personally know the young mother called Mi Ying behind this giant energy project. But her efforts and devotion to the future of energy are undeniable.

"I have to say I joined the industry as a coincidence as I was admitted to this major in college. But I have never had regrets about it, because I think it's meaningful to work in this field," said Mi. "As for my daughter, I will cherish the time I can spend with her."
Tram cables at Gulu village, Sichuan province, will soon begin carrying cars that can hold 40 passengers. XUE YUBIN/XINHUA

CHENGDUResting in a level spot between precipitous cliffs, and hundreds of meters above the roaring Dadu River in Sichuan province, Gulu village has existed in isolation and poverty for hundreds of years.

Chang Zhaolin is among some 400 Yi ethnic residents of the community, known as the "village on the ladder to the sky". The name "Gulu" is said to come from the sound of a rock falling from a mountain.

In the past, before the government cut a zig-zag path through the cliffs to the village, residents used a ladder to leave the village.

"When I was little, we used to climb down the cliff with a ladder made of sticks and cane," recalled Chang, 50. "The wind was usually quite strong and often made the ladder dangle. When we looked down, our legs would be shaking."

The path, less than a meter wide, was carved out in 2003 to the cliff's base before snaking up the other side of the canyon. It takes more than six hours to make a round trip to or from the village.

"On a market day, we set off before dawn and always get back to the village at night," Chang said.

Soon the treacherous journey will be a thing of the past. A cable crossing the gorge has been installed, and tram operations will begin soon.

The cable is about 650 meters long and 700 meters above the river. Cable cars can hold up to 40 people each. A trip that once took three hours will now take only three minutes.

"We are currently looking for a company to operate the tram," said village official Luo Yunlian. "We will not only facilitate transportation for fellow villagers but also try to attract tourists to boost the local economy through the tram."

Legend has it that more than 400 years ago the forefathers of Gulu villagers had a fight with two other big families in Tianba town, and only six of the ancestors survived. Two of them climbed over the mountains and crossed Dadu River before reaching the cliff. They settled into the dangerous landscape, realizing that the spot was easy to guard and hard to conquer. They could overlook their hometown from the top of the mountain.

For now, elementary school students in the village have to walk three hours down the narrow mountain path to go to school. Chang Zhaolin said that anyone walking the road must exercise great care, especially when carrying heavy baskets of goods on their backs.

"Everybody gets nervous when they go on the narrow path," he said.

In 2013, authorities began discussing how to tackle the village's transport problem.

Experts suggested that a cross-canyon cable would be a better choice than a road to connect the village to the outside world, but the idea met strong opposition.

"People were suspicious because no one had tried a cable car before," Chang said.

The villagers finally accepted the plan, and with government funding of 24 million yuan ($3.5 million), construction began in August 2015.

The tram uses two parallel cables, which keep two cable cars stable even in strong winds. A separate cable has been installed near the main one for use by safety personnel in case of emergencies.

The tram underwent testing late last year. During the test runs, curious villagers came to the site every day.

"I didn't expect the journey out of the village to be so easy," villager Li Shucai said. "It will be fun to travel in the air."

Authorities plan to develop tourism to boost the local economy and eliminate poverty. A tourism service center has been set up near the tram station, and the local government has helped renovate traditional houses and build village roads and public restrooms to create what they call a "land of idyllic beauty".


Jiang Jiaji, a Golden Helmet Award-winning pilot of the PLA Air Force, makes a low-altitude precision strike during an exercise. LIU YINGHUA/CHINA DAILY

The People's Liberation Army Air Force is strengthening the intensity and difficulty of its combat exercises to improve pilot capabilities.

In the past, exercises were normally executed in accordance with preset plans, and pilots would often be told in advance the whereabouts and tactics of their practice enemies before the drill.

The reasons behind the well-orchestrated exercises included the idea that some units regarded the training sessions as a performance opportunity for high officers and that some commanders wouldn't accept risks that could emerge in fierce simulated confrontations.

That mentality has vanished, according to a news release from the Air Force. Commanders and pilots have been given stringent, realistic combat scenarios and are told to try their best to win.

Now, freestyle fighting, live-fire strikes and long-range sea patrols have become regular elements in the training of the Air Force's fighter jet and bomber units, according to the news release.

The Air Force Headquarters organizes four large exercises each year for different unitsthe Red Sword advanced aerial combat exercise, Blue Shield aircraft and missile defense exercise, Golden Helmet freestyle fighting exercise and Golden Dart land attack exercise.

All of these exercises involve the use of sophisticated maneuvers, cutting-edge weapons and electronic countermeasures. The tasks in the exercises are deliberately designed to test the weaknesses of participants, forcing them to keep improving, the Air Force said.

On the basic level, front-line commanders are also aware of the importance of combat simulations and use every opportunity to create realistic fighting scenarios, it said.

A fighter jet unit of the Southern Theater Command invited an electronic warfare unit to carry out electronic war games with it to verify its jamming and anti-jamming measures. The unit also cooperates with aviation forces under the PLA Navy's South Sea Fleet to conduct aerial combat drills, which feature confrontation between various types of fighter jets above the sea.

Another fighter jet unit, under the Western Theater Command, often joins hands with other Air Force units to perform integrated command and joint operation drills, which involve radars and air defense missiles, as well as multiple kinds of aircraft.

"Pilots should train in every environment where aerial combat can occur. Thanks to exercises that are much more difficult than before, pilots have substantially enhanced their capabilities," the news release quoted Xu Qin, a female pilot of the JH-7 fighter/bomber in the Northern Theater Command, as saying.

PLA Daily previously reported that the Air Force established an adversary brigade in 2015 to help improve the combat training of its units.

The brigade has fighter jets, helicopters, electronic warfare aircraft and drones, and all of its aircraft are domestically developed models.

Its aviators include several top-class fighter pilots selected from Air Force units. They communicate in English during exercises, according to the newspaper.

An Air Force adversary unit uses enemy tactics, techniques and procedures to provide a realistic simulation of air combat to military pilots.


[Photo provided to China Daily]

TV series set to be aired from August will shed light on the many changes in the lives of people in Inner Mongolia, Yang Yang reports.

"Maybe I'm no better than other directors in many ways, but I was born and raised in a herders' family, and as a herder, I know how to deal with animals in the Mongolian grasslands, and that is very important in this series," says Bayaneruul, director of In the Steppes, a 20-episode TV drama in Mongolian, which goes on air in August.

The drama, which tells the story of the changes in the lives of herders in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region over the last 70 years, will be broadcast to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the autonomous region.

Bayaneruul, 55, is an award-winning actor and director. His performance was well received in the movie The Sorrow of Brook Steppe in 1996. He is especially popular for his anti-hero roles in costume, martial arts dramas such as Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils and Return of the Condor Heroes.

His directorial ventures Sichenghangru (2009) and Norjmaa (2014) won awards at home and abroad.

The production crew and cast of In the Steppes are mainly composed of people of Mongol ethnicity. All the actors and actresses grew up in the steppes and know how to raise sheep, horses, camels, goats and cattle.

"We treat animals as family members," Bayaneruul says. "We will be mocked if we are not professional enough."

Bayaneruul will focus on the changes in the past four decades starting from the time of China's reform and opening-up in the late 1970s.
Chinese violinist Gao Can [Photo provided to China Daily]

Chinese violinist Gao Can made his debut at the Berliner Philharmonie on May 3, playing pieces that included the Violin Sonata in A Major by Cesar Franck; Violin Sonata No 7 in C minor by Beethoven; 6 Sonatas for Solo Violin by Eugene Ysaye and Carmen Fantasie by Franz Waxman.

He also put three Chinese works on his program list, including Zhou Long's Taiping Drum, Li Zili's The Fishermen's Harvest and Sha Mukun's Pastoral Song, all of which were performed for the first time at the venue.

Born in Chongqing, Gao started studying violin at 4 and came to Beijing to study at the affiliated school of the Central Conservatory of Music under music educator Lin Yaoji.

In 2008, while studying at the Central Conservatory of Music, Gao, 28 then, went to the College-Conservatory of Music of University of Cincinnati as a visiting scholar and later taught there.

Now, besides teaching both at the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati in the US and the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, he also performs internationally.
Colombian artist Juan Pablo Echeverri's 2011 work, Supersonas, will be shown in the Rencontres d'Arles photo festival in France in July. [Photo/Rencontres Arles]

Three years ago, French photographer and curator Sam Stourdze brought the world's most renowned photo festival - the Rencontres d'Arles - to Jimei, a district in the coastal city of Xiamen, Southeast China's Fujian province. It was Rencontres' debut in China and also the first time the festival had been staged outside France.

In November, the third Jimei Arles photo festival will stage another visual feast in Xiamen, showcasing both photos selected from the 2017 Rencontres in France and some produced by Chinese photographers.

When East and West imaginations meet

In a recent interview with China Daily, Jimei Arles festival cofounder Rong Rong said, this year, eight projects from the Rencontres will be featured, but they are still in discussions about which works to select.

"They will be tailored according to Chinese audiences' tastes."

The final list will be unveiled in September.

Rong, who is a pioneering Chinese photographer, said the month-long event will also include lectures, book fairs, forums, and workshops, serving as a platform not only for admiring art but also for sharing photography experience and ideas.

Last year, nearly 40 exhibitions were shown in Jimei, attracting over 50,000 visitors from both China and abroad, according to its organizers. Among them, eight are from the Rencontres.
Yoga teachers at the event. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Beijing mall Parkview Green celebrated the Earth Day on April 22. The event invited 100 participants to experience a low-carbon day that includes yoga practice, vegetarian food and biking activities.

Parkview Green is a complex building that includes offices, a shopping mall, an art center and a hotel. It recently became the first building in the Asia-Pacific region to win the LEED Dynamic Plaque given by the US Green Building Council, a nonprofit organization in Washington that promotes sustainability in buildings. LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a rating system that encourages sustainable practices in the real estate industry.
Trade ministers of the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries attend a press conference after negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement in Atlanta, the United States, on Oct 5, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

With the United States having withdrawn from the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, trade officials from the remaining members gathered in Canada on Tuesday and Wednesday seeking ways to keep it alive. But can they really make any breakthrough?

The US accounted for about 24 percent of the world's total GDP last year according to the World Bank. Thus, a TPP without the US is simply not feasible. With the US having a central role, the economies of the member countries were complementary to it. After the US' withdrawal from the deal, the total share of the remaining TPP members has decreased to 13 percent of the world's total GDP and the competition among them has increased while the complementary nature of their economies has decreased.

For instance, Japan and Australia both want to export their agriculture products. Australia and Canada both want to increase their exports of minerals. Thus, the real economic value of any TPP without the US is limited. Considering the business community is more sensitive to the economic benefits than its political purposes, the strategic advantages calculated by politicians may not be enough to win the support of the business communities in the various countries.

If a deal was ratified without the US, it would send a very strong signal that the US has lost direct control of it. Then US President Donald Trump's decision to quit would be harshly criticized as a policy mistake, the US' credibility would be doubted by its allies, and, should the US want to join someday, it would have lost the initial advantages it had.

For the Barack Obama administration, the TPP had dual values. One was its economic value, the other its strategic value.

The Peterson Institute for International Economics estimated in January 2016 that the TPP would increase annual real incomes in the US by $131 billion, 0.5 percent of its GDP, by 2030, and its annual exports by $357 billion, 9.1 percent of its GDP, by the same year.

But on Jan 23, Trump, the newly installed US president, signed an executive order to quit the TPP.

He had a number of justifications for this.

First, although joining the TPP would have been lucrative for the US as a whole, many of his supporters, especially blue-collar workers disliked the TPP and claimed it would hurt them. Fulfilling his campaign promise to these voters was necessary to legitimize Trump's presidency.

Second, Trump's withdrawal from the TPP doesn't mean it has died. The agreement is still there and can be resurrected if desired.

Third, Trump was not satisfied with some of the clauses in the TPP. He wants to use withdrawal from the deal as a way to shift from the multilateral mechanism to bilateral mechanisms, and then use the efficiency of bilateral negotiations to "fix" the clauses in the TPP he is not happy with, and push the US' allies to take more responsibility.

Fourth, even though the TPP would still have a strategic function, without the US as a member its hedging function has been weakened dramatically, since most of the remaining members have strong economic and trade relations with China.

Trump has thus concluded that is it not a good deal for the US to sacrifice its market opportunities for such a limited strategic purpose. For Trump, an ungratified and stagnating TPP that can be resurrected when needed is in the best interests of the US.

The author is a research fellow and director of the division of American Economic Studies at the Institute of American Studies of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.
SHI YU/CHINA DAILY

US President Donald Trump's comment that the Republic of Korea should pay for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system is quite disturbing for many people in the ROK. It looks like he wants to charge them for a very expensive product which they did not even order.

The deployment of THAAD has been a controversial and divisive issue among the people in the ROK. There is still no clear conclusion on the military usefulness of the anti-missile system or its strategic implications. It is shameful that parts of THAAD abruptly began to be placed on the deployment site in Seungju amid heightened tensions last Wednesday.

It has been reported that US Vice-President Mike Pence, on his way to visit the ROK with his foreign policy staff on April 16, said the ROK's next administration (not the incumbent one) should make the decision on THAAD's deployment and operation. A new ROK president will be elected on May 9, replacing the impeached and ousted Park Geun-hye. It is not politically legitimate, therefore, for the outgoing interim government to drive a nail into an issue of utmost importance.

Moon Jae-in, the front-runner in the presidential campaign, has been insisting that the THAAD issue be left for the next government to decide. As such, the haste shown by the interim ROK administration to fix the THAAD issue before a new democratically elected government takes office is totally unwarranted.

The new government can review the deployment of THAAD on ROK soil and, if needed, renegotiate the issue with a full and complete understanding of the strategic ramifications which have been missing in the Park government's decision.

In addition, a great majority of the ROK people will not agree to contribute to the $1 billion bill Trump has demanded for THAAD. Some reports even say there is neither an agreement between the US and ROK governments nor any legal obligation in accordance with the Status of Forces Agreement that Seoul should pay for the weapon.

Trump "submitted" the THAAD bill and raised the issue of reforming the ROK-US Free Trade Agreement together, describing the latter as "horribly" unfair to the US. By raising two thorny issues simultaneously, Trump believes he can strengthen his bargaining strategy to derive the maximum out of the opposite party. However, he must realize that it will make ROK people feel unhappy with the US.

Particularly worrisome is the fact that Trump said a major conflict with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is possible. The Trump administration has been saying all options, including military, are on the table to resolve the DPRK nuclear issue. It is difficult to tell whether his use of rhetoric was to preempt another nuclear test by the DPRK or whether he really believes in accomplishing a goal by launching a military attack, as he did in Syria.

But every effort must be made to prevent a military conflict, because it will be calamitous and could snowball into a full-scale war.

Trump's threat strategy has not deterred the DPRK from carrying out another missile test, although it failed. Worse, some reports suggest preparations for the sixth nuclear test by Pyongyang have been detected. The Trump administration's coercive diplomacy does not seem to be effective. Rather, it has raised military tensions on the Korean Peninsula to record high levels. Only when the saber-rattling between Washington and Pyongyang stops will the tensions defuse.

The purpose of showing off the US' military might should be to draw the DPRK to the negotiation table. A better means than weapons for pursuing peace and security is diplomacy, because it dares to negotiate with the opposite party tenaciously and with endurance.

Is diplomacy at work between the US and the DPRK, the US and China, and the ROK and the DPRK? It doesn't seem so.

Is an Iran-style nuclear deal between the US and the DPRK possible? We can only hope so.

Continuous provocative activities, on the pretext of national security, only promotes hard-liners in the US and the ROK who argue for military strikes and containment policies as the only effective option.

The author is a professor at the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy of Pusan National University, the Republic of Korea.
The attorney for McKenzie County Sheriff Gary Schwartzenberger, who faces potential removal from office over charges made with a county credit card and other alleged misconduct, indicated Wednesday that letters sent to Gov. Doug Burgum from the former special prosecutor in the case have violated his clients due process rights.

(The proceedings) are tainted to the point Im not so sure we can go forward," said Mike Geiermann, asking for dismissal of the case.

The new special prosecutor, Michael Mahoney, countered that he believed the process to still be intact and proceedings against the sheriff should continue.

Geiermann cited two letters sent by prosecutor Bill ODriscoll to the governor, an action which he compared to an attorney contacting a judge in a civil or criminal case, since the governor acts as the ultimate judge in removal of elected officials.

The first letter, dated March 20, told the governor that ODriscoll was inclined to agree with the defendants motion to dismiss the case based upon similar circumstances and definitions used in the dismissal of previous removal proceedings of then Stark County Sheriff Clarence Tuhy in 2012.

Should you disagree with this decision, he told the governor. And decide to seek a different opinion or appoint a different prosecutor, please advise.

The second letter, dated April 6, asked that he be removed from the case because it was his belief Schwartzenbergers removal is not appropriate.

Geiermann was unable to obtain any other communications from the governors office via subpoena.

The governors office did not respond to the Tribunes request for comment before deadline.

Mahoney indicated he plans to offer an amendment to the complaint against the sheriff, removing allegations surrounding the purchase of candy with the county credit card and open records violations. On the other hand, he also could request to make some additions. He plans to make submit these amendments by early next week.

The special commissioner in the case, Karen Klein, charged with making recommendations to the governor, took Geiermanns arguments under advisement but decided to put off any action until Mahoney filed his proposed amendments.

Geiermann indicated he plans to depose ODriscoll in the coming weeks in hopes of determining what other communications may have taken place with the governors office.
A pregnant woman is having sonogram. [Photo/VCG]

Although it's too early to evaluate the effects of Beijing's medical care reform, the first three weeks' trial since April 8 seems to have met people's expectations. The main goal of the landmark medical care reform is to change the unhealthy practice of hospitals' "covering their expenses with medicine revenue".

Two major goals of the latest reform are to abolish the price markup of drugs and examination fees in public hospitals and other establishments that provide medical care, as well as to replace the hospital registration and diagnostic fees with medical service fees. The first goal is aimed at reducing the outpatient fees by about 5 percent, which might produce immediate results as long as the measure is strictly implemented.

According to Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning, in the first two weeks since the launch of the latest reform, the total amount accumulated through the drug sunshine purchasing platform was 2.87 billion yuan ($416.55 million), which means the combined savings of patients during the period was 240 million yuan, or 8.4 percent of the total drug expenditure.

The second goal, however, is not limited at raising the doctors' incomes in order to do away with the model of "covering expenses with medicine revenue" of hospitals. An important goal of the move is to make patients adopt the hierarchical medical system so as to optimize the healthcare resources.

The new medical service fees are not simply an increase in the traditional medical registration and diagnostic fees, as they differ from one hospital to another. In the general outpatient departments of Beijing's top public hospitals, the medical service fees varies from 50 yuan (of which 40 yuan is paid by the basic medical insurance company) to 100 yuan.

Preventing the waste of quality healthcare resources is a big challenge for the medical care reform. In big cities, people generally tend to go to top public hospitals even if they have a cold. Since the earlier medical registration and diagnostic fees were relatively cheap and the difference in the cost of consulting a specialist and a grassroots junior doctor was less than 10 yuan, the patients' choice was reasonable.

Therefore, the authorities have rightly used the new medical service fees to achieve patient distribution. According to Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning, in the past fortnight the number of emergency treatments in Beijing's top hospitals fell by 13 percent on a year-on-year basis, while in grassroots community medical treatment centers, they increased by 8.3 percent.

But despite the medical authorities claiming that hospitals no longer cover their expenses with medicine revenue, the healthcare reform still has to solve many problems. One of these problems is the unchanged number of patients visiting specialized hospitals, especially the top ones. Media reports say the number of patients seeking treatment in Beijing Cancer Hospital's outpatient department in the first week since the launch of the reform was similar to that in the same period last year. That such patients are "insensitive" to the change in medical service fees indicates another significant issue: insufficient and unbalanced healthcare resources nationwide.

Known as the "national medical treatment center", Beijing attracts most non-local patients than any other city from across the country because it has many top quality healthcare centers and resources. As a city which has the highest number of top-level hospitals and excellent doctors, Beijing draws 700,000 non-local patients to its hospitals every day according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission's estimates in 2013.

And since most of these patients seek good-quality medical care for serious illnesses, they are less sensitive to the change in medical service fees for local patients, which should prompt policymakers and reformers to make more efforts to provide good quality healthcare across the country in order to meet the general public's demand.

The author is a writer with China Daily.

wangyiqing@chinadaily.com.cn
SHI YU/CHINA DAILY

Calling the Democratic People's Republic of Korea leader a "pretty smart cookie", and displaying amazing readiness to personally meet him, United States President Donald Trump has apparently softened his rhetoric, prompting some to imagine that once unlikely scenario might happen.

Although the White House was quick to roll back, shifting the limelight onto the "right circumstances", which spokesperson Sean Spicer said "are not there right now", Trump's remark is in line with his new-found determination to find a resolution to the DPRK issue.

Although the once clear-and-present danger of military conflict no longer seems as imminent, with both Pyongyang and Washington demonstrating restraint. It has not disappeared, and the road to denuclearization remains long and tortuous.

Not just because the US and the DPRK remain trapped in a vicious circle. In response to the latest military drill conducted by the US and the Republic of Koreaduring which two nuclear-capable B-1B bombers joined forces with the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and nuclear-powered submarinesPyongyang accused Washington of pushing the peninsula to the "brink of nuclear war" through "reckless military provocation". And we have had earfuls of that following each nuclear or missile test by Pyongyang.

But also because the inevitable toll of any military action on the ROK weighs heavily on all decision-makers, and makes it extremely difficult to justify using force. That may be why the White House has chosen to remain somewhat vague and refrained from drawing a redline, despite its desire to mount maximum pressure.

The most likely outcome, then, is the US and other stakeholders find themselves bogged down in protracted debate over a feasible way to translate their wishes for a peaceful solution into acceptable-to-all actions, while the DPRK continues with its brinkmanship while avoiding crossing what it perceives to be the US' bottom line.

As a result, the DPRK will likely advance its nuclear weapons goals, even accomplish them. That would mean Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe claiming justification for putting to rest his country's war-renouncing Constitution.

Abe has already managed to demolish legal constraints on "collective self-defense" without violating Article 9, and lifted the long-standing ban on weapons exports.

On Monday, he reiterated the need to revise the county's Constitution, citing tensions in the region. On the same day, Japan dispatched one of its largest warships to protect a US navy supply vessel.

To borrow a line from Trump, Pyongyang "will have good missiles", if the current stalemate persists.

Abe, on the other hand, can ride the waves of confrontation and see his dream come true, without contributing anything substantial to end the stalemate.
BAMA IN THE GUANGXI Zhuang autonomous region in South China is known as the "hometown of longevity", as more than 1,000 of its residents, out of a population of some 200,000, are more than 90 years old, among which 81 are centenarians. As a result, some local specialties are being labeled and sold as longevity foods. Beijing News comments:

Scientists say the water, soil and air in the region are special because of the strong geomagnetic field in the area. But even if the local food is good for people's health, which is supposed to be a defining characteristic of all food, it is improper to directly advertise them as "longevity food".

The rules on food labeling in China clearly stipulate the food producers and sellers should not describe or promote food in a misleading manner to boost sales.

It was local natural environment and the residents' traditional lifestylesall were farmers in the mountains before the development of the local tourism industrythat have led to their good health.

Bama's reputation does help sell local food products. But the "longevity food" producers and sellers cannot provide any convincing evidence testifying to any direct relationship between their food and a long life.

Worryingly, the influx of large numbers of tourists and people who visit Bama hoping its environment can cure their illnesses are polluting the water and soil. The quality of the local soil and water is not as good as it used to be.

The food and market administrative departments should investigate whether labeling the food as "longevity food" breaks the law.
At the opening of the second World Internet Conference on Wednesday, China made sure its voice was heard: Every country has the right to create its own Internet governance model, and the cyber sovereignty of all nations should be respected. [Photo/Agencies]

RECENTLY GOOGLE AND FACEBOOK were reported to be the victims of a $100-million phishing scam conducted by a Lithuanian man, who has now been charged by the US Department of Justice. Beijing Youth Daily comments:

The case shows we still lack effective global internet governance.

Since there are no governance regulations that suit all countries and regions, it is time each country drafted one of its own. Actually, the fraudster in the Google and Facebook case cheated in a way that is quite common in China: He pretended to be a customer of the two companies and sent emails asking for money. In China that happens every day and the authorities have done very well in educating people not to fall into such traps.

The Chinese authorities are also doing well in combating online fraud and regulating the internet. According to 110.360.cn, an official platform for reporting internet scams, they received 20,623 such reports in 2016, with the total money involved reaching 195 million yuan ($28.3 million). Some experts have even estimated that the losses to internet fraud may exceed 100 billion yuan a year.

China has been constantly fighting the fraudsters who hide in the vast expanse of the internet. The country has already established a nationwide big data anti-fraud platform, and it is building a long-term regulation mechanism for the internet. But improved legislation is needed to protect personal information in order to effectively fight fraudsters.

The internet must be under the rule of law and only proper regulation can protect people's legal rights and allow the virtual economy to prosper. The case of Google and Facebook shows that creativity alone is not enough, what is needed is stricter regulation.
Former US President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama are greeted by City of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel during a community event on the Obama Presidential Centre at the South Shore Cultural Centre in Chicago, Illinois, US, May 3, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

CHICAGO - Former US President Barack Obama returned to Chicago on Wednesday to unveiled a 3-D model of his presidential center which includes three buildings.

Obama and his wife Michelle Obama made their first public appearance on plans for the presidential library at the South Shore Cultural Center of south Chicago. Hundreds of people attended the invite-only event where newly released renderings were on display for viewing.

The renderings shown propose a large stone structure half-sunken into Jackson Park. Obama said the center will take four years to build and will bring thousands of jobs both in construction of the center and at the library. It should attract about 700,000 visitors a year.

"Though we had a formal bidding process to determine where the presidential library would be, the fact of the matter was it had to be right here on the South Side," Obama said.

The design includes three buildings, a museum, a forum and the library itself, along with a sprawling public plaza. This area will be open to the public and the center will include indoor and outdoor spaces.

"It's going to be a transformational opportunity for this community," Obama said. "It's not just a building, it's not just a park but hopefully this ends up being a hub that all of us can see a brighter future for the South Side."

He also stressed that the center aims to train young people and cultivate their leadership in their communities.

The design was crafted by Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, the husband-wife New York architects who were also in attendance.

According to Obama Foundation, the three buildings could encompass 200,000 to 225,000 square feet (18,500 to 23,200 square meters). That would be roughly the same size, or slightly larger, than the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas.

Construction is estimated to be at least 500 million US dollars. The former president will fundraise to cover that cost. If all goes according to plan, the center would open in 2021.
Britain's Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge jokes with children from Vauxhall primary school after they attempted to herd a pig into a pen during a visit to a "Farms for Children" farm in Gloucestershire, May 3, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

LONDON - Britain's Duchess of Cambridge joined schoolchildren at a farm in western England on Wednesday as they learned about rural life and how food is produced.

Catherine, wife of second-in-line to the throne Prince William, watched pupils tending to pigs, sheep and chickens as part of a week-long education programme.

The "Farms for City Children" charity runs the courses in which kids from urban areas live and work on farms with their teachers for a week.

"It is an intense, 'learning through doing' experience of a different life for children who may not know where their food comes from and have limited opportunities to explore the outside world," Catherine's Kensington Palace office said.

The charity has three farms, with 3,200 children and 400 teachers visiting per year, the palace added.

Catherine was joined at Wick Court Farm in the Gloucestershire village of Arlingham by children's author Michael Morpurgo, who founded the charity with his wife Clare in 1976.

The visit came the day after the second birthday of the Cambridges' daughter Princess Charlotte and as the royal pair are seeking damages in a French court over the publication in celebrity magazine Closer of topless pictures of the duchess in 2012.

Reuters
Citizens attend a protest against Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's attempts to amend the nation's pacifist Constitution in Tokyo, Japan, on May 3, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

TOKYO - Some 55,000 people rallied here Wednesday to protest against Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's attempts to amend the nation's pacifist Constitution as the nation marked its 70th Constitution Memorial Day.

"Safeguard the Constitution! No more wars!" Protesters, including students, legal experts, representatives from opposition parties, as well as common citizens, shouted at the city's Rinkai Disaster Prevention Park, holding banners and flags.

Renho Murata, leader of the largest opposition Democratic Party, said at the gathering that the Constitution belongs to the people and it should be up to the common people whether to amend the Constitution or not.

What the Abe administration has done is threatening the basic principles of the pacifist Constitution and Abe's attempts to amend the Constitution shall be firmly opposed, she added.

Kazuo Shii, head of the Japanese Communist Party, said that what shall be changed is not the Constitution but the government's attempts to ignore the Constitution.

Shori Sato, a citizen in Tokyo, expressed concerns that Japan would be involved in wars without the pacifist Constitution.

"It's because of the pacifist Constitution that we could enjoy our life as we do now. We would lose our peaceful life if Japan is involved in wars," he said.

Tazuko Ikeda, another protester, said that people value peace more after experiencing the terrors of war and the pacifist Constitution is worth guarding.

Abe, however, on Wednesday reiterated his attempts to amend the Constitution in a video message at a gathering to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Constitution coming into force.

He said he hopes to see a revised Constitution go into effect in 2020 under a plan that will see the first-ever change to the post-war charter.

He specifically mentioned Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF).
The P.Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for Silk Road Studies opened on April 29 at UC Berkeley. From left: Nadine Tang, Leslie Schilling, Sanjyot Mehendale, the center's chair; Corinne Debaine-Francfort of the National Center for Scientific Research in France; Agnes Hsu-Tang and Oscar Tang. Peg Skorpinski / UC Berkeley

The University of California Berkeley has opened the first institutionalized center in the United States dedicated to the study of the Silk Road, the ancient trade route that linked China with the West.

Named the P.Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for Silk Road Studies, it was launched on April 29 with a $5 million gift by two branches of the family of Chinese American philanthropist Oscar Tang.

The benefactors are Tang and his wife, Dr Agnes Hsu-Tang, who are based in New York City, and Bay Area Berkeley alumni Nadine Tang and Leslie Tang Schilling, with their brother Martin Tang in Hong Kong.

Oscar Tang and his archaeologist wife founded the Tang Center for Early China at Columbia University in 2015. In 2003, he founded the first Tang center for excellence in Chinese Humanities, the P.Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for East Asian Art at Princeton University in 2003.

Oscar Tang believes that the new Tang Center at Berkeley is "part of my family's ongoing effort to enhance knowledge and understanding of the great Chinese civilization and its relationship to the rest of the world," according to a press release from the university.

The center will promote "the research and teaching of the material and visual cultures that flourished along the Silk Road and formed a bridge between the many economic epicenters of Eurasia and China. A better understanding of the Silk Road's history will also help contextualize its emergent geopolitical significance in the present time," the press release said.

Sanjyot Mehendale, the center's inaugural chair and a lecturer of Central Asian art and archaeology at Berkeley, said the center will promote the multidisciplinary collaboration necessary for Silk Road research.

"It's about coming together and poring over material from different sides," she said. "You can't just sit in your corner of expertise. You have to look at the art, you have to study the texts, you have to examine the archaeological remains, to build a bigger picture. The more we understand the history of the region, in particular Central Asia, the more it will resonate as a place, as cultures, as people," she said.

The center will fund fieldwork and fellowships for faculty and students at excavations, museums and archives; organize conferences and workshops to bring distinguished scholars to campus to share recent discoveries and research; advance teaching on Silk Road topics; foster visiting scholar exchanges; support open-source publications; and promote the training and outreach of K-12 teachers and community college instructors.

UC Berkeley is a natural site for a center dedicated to studying the Silk Road because it is home to a diverse group of scholars who are specialists in the languages, history, religions, intellectual and artistic traditions of the ancient civilizations of China, Central Asia and the Near East, the university said.
The upcoming Belt and Road Forum of International Cooperation is a major world event that will send a strong message to the international community that "globalization is irreversible", United Nations Under-Secretary-General Wu Hongbo said on Wednesday.

"Although globalization has some problems and has room for improvement, the trend continues," said Wu, who will attend the forum in Beijing in mid-May as a member of the delegation of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The forum also will "set a direction" for the international community of cooperation and mutual benefit, Wu said in an interview with Chinese media. "Cooperation and mutual benefit can make up for and improve the issues brought by globalization."

Wu said people will realize through the forum that the Belt and Road Initiative and its projects will produce new growth points for the world economy, and the forum will bring a new impetus to the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

The initiative, proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, aims to build a trade and infrastructure network by linking Asia with Africa and Europe along ancient trade routes.

The initiative and the Chinese concept of building a community with shared destiny was incorporated into a UN Security Council resolution in March.

In a resolution to renew the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) for one year, the council urged the promotion of security and stability in Afghanistan and for the region "to create a community of a shared future for mankind".

It also urged further international efforts to strengthen regional cooperation and implement the initiative.

"This means the initiative and the concept have received global recognition, which is a milestone of China's foreign relations," said Wu.

"After resuming its membership in the UN, China has been making contributions to the international community. Providing public products acceptable to the international community is one of them."

Wu said it shows that China can help guide the world's development through its own public products, and the international community is gradually recognizing China's role in it. It also shows the international community has "pinned high hopes" on China, Wu said.

So far, 100 international organizations and countries have joined the initiative, and 40 countries have signed partnership agreements with China.

The initiative covers 60 percent of world population and one third of the world GDP of about $20 trillion. The cooperation priorities are policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people bonds.

Wu said at an earlier meeting chaired by the UNSG that a consensus was reached that the "the successful implementation of initiative will bring a profound influence and changes to world geopolitics and world economic development".

"The initiative is in line with the UN Charter and the 2030 sustainable development goals, so it won the echo and support of international community. And it's complementary to the agenda of 2030 SDG," Wu said.

For example, the first two goals of sustainable development are eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. Facilities connectivity and unimpeded trade lay a foundation for poverty alleviation, he said.

"And if we have financial integration during the implementation of the initiative, capital needed for the sustainable development would be guaranteed," Wu said.

wanglinyan@chinadaily.com.cn
Visva-Bharati University in Indian state of West Bengal has launched Mandarin classes for soldiers, according to news agency Press Trust of India.

The news agency said 25 army personnel have enrolled for the course this year.

The university's "Cheena Bhavan" (China College) will run the classes, said Swapan Kumar Dutta, officiating vice-chancellor of the university.

The course aims to introduce soldiers to the rich Chinese culture and the centuries-old ties between both countries, said the report.

The eligibility criterion for soldiers was the same as other students enrolled for the course.

The course is being taught at an army establishment since it was not feasible for soldiers to attend the Chinese-language classes in the Visva-Bharati campus, Dutta said.

He said the Chinese consulate in India has extended all help to set up a "modern Chinese laboratory" with modern equipment at Cheena Bhavan.

"We are working on Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore's vision of broadening the mind through linguistic and cultural exchanges," Dutta said, referring to Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore whose poems are well-known even in today's China.

Visva-Bharati University was founded by Tagore in 1921. Cheena Bhavan (China College) was established by Tagore and Chinese educator Tan Yunshan in 1937. Southwest China's Yunnan University has maintained an exchange program with the college since 2011.

While lots of people around the world began learning Mandarin in recent years, not many are learning the language in India. The bhavan has more than 130 students, with courses focused on Chinese language, ancient Chinese history and Chinese literature.
LOS ANGELES - Combining data gathered by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory with radio observations and computer simulations, an international team of scientists has found a gigantic X-ray "Tsunami" rolling through the Perseus galaxy cluster, a new study indicates.

Spanning about 200,000 light-years, the wave of hot gas, likely formed billions of years ago, is about twice the size of the Milky Way galaxy, according to a paper to be published in the June 2017 issue of the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

"Perseus is one of the most massive nearby clusters and the brightest one in X-rays, so Chandra data provide us with unparalleled detail," lead scientist Stephen Walker, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said in a statement.

"The wave we've identified is associated with the flyby of a smaller cluster, which shows that the merger activity that produced these giant structures is still ongoing." said Walker.

Galaxy clusters are the largest structures bound by gravity in the universe today. Most of the observable matter within galaxy clusters takes the form of superheated gas, averaging tens of millions of degrees, that only glows in X-rays, according to the US space agency NASA.

Observations by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and other instruments have revealed a variety of structures in Perseus' glowing gas, from vast bubbles blown by the supermassive black hole in the cluster's central galaxy, NGC 1275, to an enigmatic concave feature known as the "bay."
HOUSTON - The Republican-controlled Senate of the US state of Texas passed on Wednesday a ban on so-called "sanctuary cities" to allow police to inquire about the immigration status of anyone they detain.

Despite opposition from the Democrats, the Senate passed the bill which was also approved last Thursday by the Texas House of Representatives.

Texas Governor Greg Abbot, a Republican, has pledged to sign the bill into law.

The bill allows the Lone Star state to withhold funding from local governments for acting as sanctuary cities.

It authorizes local police officers to question the immigration status of anyone they detain, no matter it is a criminal arrest or a traffic violation.

It also allows for the removal from office any law enforcement official who does not cooperate with federal immigration officials.
SEOUL -- South Korean media outlets on Thursday harshly criticized Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's attempts to revise the so-called pacifist constitution, demanding a complete renunciation of war.

As Japan marked the 70th anniversary of its constitution on Wednesday, Abe said he planned to amend the constitution by 2020 to make clear the status of its military, known as Self-Defense Forces (SDF).

The constitution was enacted in 1947 by the United States to force Japan to fully renounce war, as the militarist Japan waged the Pacific War and committed numerous war crimes against humanity.

Abe's attempts to revise the pacifist constitution was denounced by South Korean media as an attempt to make Japan a county capable of waging a war on the poor excuse of rising security threats from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Kookmin Ilbo newspaper described the Abe cabinet as extreme rightists who dream of creating a country capable of waging a war without repentance over its World War II atrocities.

The newspaper said the SDF "pretended to be a military" though the forces have no right to attack any country but only right to defend itself.

Japan has recently sent two naval destroyers to join the exercises with the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier in waters off the Korean Peninsula.

Newsis news agency reported a growing number of people in Japan who are in favor of the revised constitution, though opponents to the amendment are still larger than proponents.

The news agency attributed the change in public opinion to Abe who "recently fanned the Korean Peninsula crisis" of security amid escalating tensions on the peninsula following the dispatch of the U.S. super-carrier and warships.

Yonhap news agency also pointed out Abe's politicization of security issues, saying his use of the DPRK for a political purpose increased public consent to the constitution amendment.

Criticism of Abe's pursuit for re-militarization was conducted by both conservative and progressive media outlets.

Conservative Donga Ilbo newspaper said the pacifist constitution represents Japan's repentance over the past aggression, which has been positively evaluated in the world as a symbol of pacifism.

The Korean Peninsula was colonized by the imperialist Japan from 1910 to 1945. Abe has yet to sincerely apologize for comfort women victims, or women who were forced into sexual slavery for Japan's military brothels before and during World War II.

The newspaper said nine out of 10 Japanese also positively see their current constitution, criticizing Abe's attempts to emphasize the tensions on the peninsula to make frightened people being more in favor of the constitutional revision.

Recently, increased moves of the SDF were described by the newspaper as a unitization of militaries of the U.S. and Japan.

Liberal Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper elaborated on Japanese extreme-rightist civic groups' support to Abe's attempts to amend the constitution.

The newspaper quoted a Japanese attending an event hosted by extreme-rightist groups as saying it is high time to rearm Japan as the issue on the DPRK's nuclear and missile programs came into focus.

Such events were also attended by Japanese rightist lawmakers, according to the newspaper.
BRUSSELS -- The European Union (EU) on Thursday rejected British Prime Minister Theresa May's claim that "bureaucrats" in Brussels was trying to affect the upcoming snap election in Britain and ruin Brexit talks.

Speaking at the midday briefing, Margaritis Schinas, the European Commission's chief spokesperson, said the EU is too busy to care about British election.

"We are not naive, we know that there is an election taking place in the United Kingdom," he said. "This election in the United Kingdom is mainly about Brexit, but we here in Brussels, we are rather busy with our policy work, we have too much to do on our plate."

"We are very busy and we will not Brexitize our work," he said.

"When we have a British government immediately after the UK election, we'll be very busy in engaging constructively in article 50 negotiation for which we are ready," he added.

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday made her most stinging remark so far against EU "bureaucrats" in Brussels, accusing them of trying to ruin Brexit talks.

In her briefing outside 10 Downing Street, May said the events of the last few days had shown that whatever Britain's wishes, there were some people in Brussels who did not want Brexit talks to succeed and did not want Britain to prosper.

"The European Commission's negotiating stance has hardened. Threats against Britain have been issued by European politicians and officials," May said.

The British prime minister said these acts had been deliberately timed to affect the result of the upcoming general election.

May and the Conservative Party remain well ahead in the opinion polls, pointing to a victory for May with an increased majority on June 8 if the pollsters are right.
He called her the priestess of fear and a liar who would bring civil war to France. She called him a privileged and cold investment banker who was a friend of Islamists. The discussion in Wednesday's French presidential debate was personal and scrappy and rarely dealt with matters of policy.

Civil servants prepare electoral documents for the upcoming second round of 2017 French presidential election as registered voters will receive an envelope containing the declarations of faith of each candidate, Emmanuel Macron (R) and Marine Le Pen along with the two ballot papers for the May 7 second round of the French presidential election, in Nice, France, May 3, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

Extreme right-wing candidate Marine Le Pen needed to damage centrist Emmanuel Macron in the key encounter between the candidates before Sunday's final vote, in which France will chose its next president. The debate was a stalemate and Macron retains his 60:40 lead, according to French opinion polls.

But Le Pen will enter the last days of campaigning unbowed. Opinion polls did not predict the success of Brexit in the United Kingdom, or Donald Trump winning the presidency in the United States, and Le Pen is the French partner of those projects. If there is an undercurrent of anti-establishment feeling that has not been reflected by the polls, Le Pen will be the beneficiary.

The political atmosphere in the Western hemisphere is conducive to a Le Pen win. The UK's decision to leave the European Union and Donald Trump's victory showed that anti-immigration and anti-globalization rhetoric can win elections.

But the French two-round voting system is different. It allows voters the chance to gang up on an extremist candidate, as happened to Le Pen's father in 2002 when he got 17.8 percent of the vote in the second round of the presidential elections.

Le Pen is doing everything she can to avoid her father's fate and she is on track to more than double the percentage of votes he received. Even in defeat, she will claim victory.

Le Pen's strategy has been to emphasize the difference between the two candidates. She will protect French jobs, while Macron will give them away by supporting globalization. She will reject immigrants. Macron will embrace them.

Days after the first round of voting, Le Pen got a chance to portray herself as the candidate of the shop floor and Macron as the candidate of the boardroom when Macron visited a manufacturing plant in his home town of Amiens. As he spoke to union leaders in the company offices, Le Pen rushed to the plant's shop floor to assure the workers that if she was elected they would all keep her jobs.

Macron continued to the shop floor. While Le Pen was cheered, he was jeered but he stood his ground and told the workers that he could not guarantee their jobs, but that, if the plant was closed, there would be government support to cushion the blow and provide retraining.

Le Pen has also tried to appeal to as many of her first-round opponents as possible. On Monday, she tried to attract the supporters of the defeated center-right candidate Francois Fillon, by delivering a speech that was, in parts, almost identical to one he had made in April.

In the first round, 49 percent of voters supported an anti-EU candidate, so Le Pen has tried to engage those voters, while downplaying her antipathy toward the EU and the euro to others.

Macron's greatest advantage is the reputation of the National Front, Le Pen's party. Le Pen has tried to modernize it and extract it from its associations with anti-Semitism, racism and sympathy for the Nazis, but this has proved difficult. She resigned her leadership of the party to focus on the presidential campaign but it quickly emerged that Jean-Francois Jalkh, her replacement, had made comments that questioned whether the Holocaust had happened. Jalkh resigned but the National Front's connection to France's enemies was highlighted.

Macron worked to emphasize what Le Pen is trying to obscure. On Monday, he commemorated the murder of a Moroccan man thrown in the River Seine during a Front rally in 1995. On Tuesday, he visited the town of Oradour-sur-Glane, where German soldiers killed 642 civilians in 1944.

The French electoral system is designed to favor centrist candidates such as Macron. Voters will choose him because they dislike Le Pen more. If the polls are correct, only a major event, a damaging leak or a terrorist attack will propel Le Pen to the Elysee Palace.

But if she does win, international stock exchanges and money markets will go crazy and the crisis in the EU precipitated by Brexit will be infinitely greater.
FARGO -- If you want a glimpse of a maybe not-so-distant future where drones deliver our packages and pizzas, you might want to watch a handful of students from the region who are preparing for an international robotics competition this summer.

The contest challenges them to build a drone that can avoid obstacles and make decisions on its own, a trick that Brady Goenner has been working on at North Dakota State University.

"Kind of the real challenge is getting that sensor interface reliable enough," the senior explained as he maneuvered a four-propeller drone that's about 3 feet wide around a conference room.

Goenner keeps his hands on the flight control, but for the International Aerial Robotics competition in July this drone will need to fly relying only on sensors it carries, and a computer program.

Goenner, a senior in mechanical engineering from Clear Lake, Minn., is part of a 10-person team developing a drone for the competition. In addition to the NDSU team, students from Carleton and St. Olaf colleges in Northfield, Minn., will compete at the event in Atlanta.

The NDSU drone will use cameras, ultrasonic sensors and radar to know where it is. For this competition, the drone can't rely on any external guidance system, like GPS or remote control.

It will have to maneuver inside a large auditorium where it'll need to sense robots moving randomly across the floor.

"It can go to these robots and like tap them and then be able to control them and force them to go into the desired path," Goenner said. "That's part of the competition, so being able to kind of go to these robots and control them and kind of herd them into the direction we want them."

This is more than just geeks playing with cool toys.

"It really is kind of the 5- to 10-year-out technology, and certainly I think they're technologies that a lot of companies would like to have right now," said Jeremy Straub, an assistant professor of computer science and the drone team adviser.

He said the students will struggle to solve some real-world problems and create a drone that can make decisions on the fly in a constantly changing environment.

"Anything from going into a disaster area after something bad has happened, or logistics applications where your Amazon delivery drone needs to be able to operate even if you know all of the remote things are no longer able to service it," Straub said.

That's a key challenge for delivery drones. What happens if external controls or guidance systems fail? Can the drone sense its environment, make the right decision and react safely on its own?

Straub said industry is working on those challenges, but the student competition often results in finding another piece of the technology puzzle. No matter how the team fares in the competition, he said they're likely to earn points with future employers.

"They have real problems and they're hiring somebody that can look at those problems ... and figure out and implement a solution," he said. "So this type of activity shows those employers that they actually have the very tangible real-world skills that are not necessarily the easiest thing to demonstrate in the classroom environment."

Goenner said it's rewarding to put his engineering and computer skills to work.

"I've really enjoyed being able to see something tangible working so that's what's exciting to me," he said.
FARGO  After serving as acting U.S. attorney for the District of North Dakota since 2015, Chris Myers has told the states congressional delegation he no longer wants the job.

Myers, a career prosecutor, said in an email to the delegation that he worries that going through with a political nomination would harm his employee benefits.

The office of Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., provided a copy of the email sent April 29.

Hoeven confirmed to the Bismarck Tribune on April 27 that former U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley told the senator he wanted the job.

Wrigley was U.S. attorney from 2001 to 2009. Among his prominent cases was the death penalty case of Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., convicted of abducting and murdering Dru Sjodin in 2003. From 2010 to 2016, he served as lieutenant governor under Gov. Jack Dalrymple and was expected to run for governor himself. He declined to run after his extramarital affair was exposed.

The Forum contacted Wrigley on Wednesday but didnt hear back from him.

Myers told The Forum he doesnt have anything more to say other than whats in the email.

As you are all aware, I am not a political person so haven't always been certain how to navigate this process, especially during the past week, he said in his email. However, I've become increasingly concerned about how this situation may potentially impact the office that I truly care about and have decided that it would be best for all involved if I remove my name from consideration.

As a court-appointed U.S. attorney, Myers remained a civil service employee who wouldnt face removal by a future administration, which happened recently when President Donald Trumps administration demanded the resignations of all top prosecutors appointed by President Barack Obama.

Myers said in his email he preferred to remain a court-appointed U.S. attorney, but understands that would be unique since U.S. attorneys are normally appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

As I have mentioned to each of you this past week, I regretfully have decided that it would not be in my family's best interests to accept a political nomination at this time in my career as such an appointment would have a significant negative effect on my employee benefits, especially retirement, he said.

Myers was hired by Wrigley in 2002 and became the top assistant to the U.S. attorney in 2013 under U.S. Attorney Timothy Purdon. He took over as U.S. attorney when Purdon resigned in 2015 to enter private practice and was formally appointed by the court in 2016.

As acting U.S. attorney, Myers said in his email, he cant endorse any nominee but would support whoever is chosen. If Drew is appointed to the position, I foresee no difficulties in working collaboratively with him and anticipate that the transition will go smoothly, he said.
(Photo : Indian Navy) Two Indian Navy Kolkata-class guided missile stealth destroyers flank a Delhi-class destroyer.

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This early, the Indian Navy's ambitious multi-billion dollar modernization plan seems set to run aground on the familiar shoals called a lack of money and an inert Indian government bureaucracy



Senior Indian Navy officers were quoted by Indian media as saying the navy's 15-year modernization plan will need $123 billion. The aim of this modernization plan is to make the Indian Navy the uncontested dominant naval power in the Indian Ocean, which will become an "Indian Lake" when the Indian Navy becomes strong enough to enfeeble both the Pakistan Navy and the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).



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A lack of money stands in the way of this aim, however.



Navy sources said the navy will need to receive $8.5 billion a year to attain this aim. The navy, however, is currently receiving only $3 billion annually, and 95 percent of this amount is already committed.



That means only $153 million can be spent on new defense programs, including force modernization.



"So, there is no way that the Indian Navy can meet the challenges," said a navy source.



The navy's long-term plan calls for 198 warships by 2027, of which 120 should be "capital warships," which will include large, offensive combat platforms like aircraft carriers, destroyers, frigates, corvettes and submarines.



Against this requirement, the Indian Navy has just 140 warships today, of which barely half are capital warships.



India's naval might is directed against China, and analysts believe China must assert control of the Indian Ocean for it to become the pre-eminent global superpower supplanting the United States.



In 2015, China said India can no longer consider the Indian Ocean its own backyard, a statement equivalent to flinging down the gauntlet. India responded with the modernization of the Indian Navy.



In 2016, the Navy revealed the "Indian Naval Indigenization Plan (INIP) 2015-2030," which championed the need for locally developed, advanced systems for its warships.



The plan is also in line with the national defense doctrine set out in the "Technology Perspective and Capability Roadmap (TPCR)" from the Ministry of Defense (MoD) that mandates a shift from an ammunition-based, theater-centric model to network-centric model based on directed-energy weapons such as high-energy lasers.



MoD's roadmap also encourages the Indian Armed Forces to acquire modern subsonic, supersonic and ballistic missiles; equipment and sensors; propulsion and power generation and surveillance and detection systems.



Apart from funding shortfalls, the other key reason endangering the navy's modernization plan is the navy's continuing failure to build an efficient maritime-industrial complex attuned to its needs.



"Our Achilles' Heel is our lethargic military-industrial complex, managed by bureaucrats and scientists with no accountability," believes Arun Prakash, a retired Indian Navy admiral.



"Unless we can produce machinery, weapons, sensors and ammunition indigenously, our Navy cannot sustain blue-water maritime operations for any length of time. This will not happen overnight -- and we have not even made a start yet. It is not related to funding, but to envisioning and planning."



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TagsIndian Navy, modernization plan, Pakistan Navy, People's Liberation Army Navy, Indian Ocean, Indian Naval Indigenization Plan
(Photo : Indian Armed Forces) The Joint Doctrine of the Indian Armed Forces-2017 report is presented by the Indian Armed Forces' three service chiefs.

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The Indian Armed Forces will fight as a unified team in a war against China and Pakistan and joint operations will be the keys to victory in future battlefields, said the armed forces' revised joint combat doctrine released last week.



The "Joint Doctrine of the Indian Armed Forces-2017" mandates the Indian Army; the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy fight as an integrated force in joint operations as against fighting independently of each other.



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It addresses the lack of military synergy among the three armed services, which often head-off in different directions on doctrinal, training, planning and operational matters. The integrated defense staff prepared the doctrine after extensive consultations with the three service headquarters.



A revised version of the Joint Doctrine was released by Admiral Sunil Lanba, ADC Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) and Chief of the Naval Staff.



It was released in the presence of Gen. Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Army Staff; Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa, Chief of the Air Staff and Lt. Gen. Satish Dua, Chief of Integrated Defense Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC).



The joint doctrine will serve as a cornerstone document for the combined application of Indian military power. It will also lead to enhanced efficiency; optimum utilization of resources and financial savings.



"It will also establish a broad framework of concepts and principles to understand our approach to Joint Planning and conduct of operations across all the domains of conflict; land, air, sea, space and cyber-space," said a statement from the armed forces.



The revised doctrine mandates the armed services plan and work together to command the entire spectrum of conflict, ranging from conventional wars to irregular and hybrid warfare.



The doctrine, however, argues that conventional wars remain relevant for India due to disputed borders with China and Pakistan.



"Strategic interests in regions along our northern, western and eastern borders and sensitivities along the Line of Control (with Pakistan) and Line of Actual Control (with China) are to be protected with effective deterrent capabilities.



"India's security environment is impacted by a number of global and regional issues and challenges. These are currently manifesting as geopolitical re-balancing, increasing assertiveness by emerging powers, regional instabilities and spread of radicalism. The need to address consequences of instability and volatility in parts of our extended and immediate neighborhood, hence, remains a priority."



A multifaceted approach backed by a robust intelligence network is needed to counter the proxy war being waged by an "inimical adversary" (read Pakistan) against India in Jammu and Kashmir; by insurgencies in the northeast and by left-wing extremism.



In addition, the doctrine also serves as a reference document for all the three services to plan integrated operations. It expounds on "external and internal threats;" "traditional and non-traditional threats" and "state and non-state actors."



It also says the armed forces has to systematically prepare for the "emerging triad" of space, cyberspace and special operations in support of military operations.



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MINOT -- A 23-year-old former hotel clerk accused of raping a 14-year-old runaway last Halloween will go to trial sometime in early September.

Mohammed Omer Siddiqui made a court appearance on Wednesday in district court in Minot. His lawyer, Eric Baumann, told Judge Stacy Louser he will be filing a motion to withdraw as Siddiqui's lawyer because of communication issues. A new lawyer will have to be appointed before the case can go to trial.

Ward County Assistant State's Attorney Marie Miller told the judge that the state had made a "generous" plea offer to Siddiqui, which had expired as of Wednesday.

Siddiqui could face up to life in prison without parole if convicted of the charge. There would be a minimum mandatory 20-year sentence, with a requirement that he serve at least 85 percent.

According to the probable cause affidavit submitted to the court, the girl went to the Astroria Hotel early on the morning of Oct. 31, 2016. She had run away and was looking for a place where she could use the internet to find a ride and a place to stay with friends. Siddiqui, who worked as a clerk at the hotel, offered to let her stay in a vacant room, but told her he would kick her out if she did not have sex with him.

Siddiqui has been held at the jail since his arrest last fall.
(Photo : US Army) U.S. Special Forces operators in Afghanistan.

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The U.S. Special Operations Command is undermanned, overextended and close to exhaustion because of the extraordinary demands being made of them by the unrelenting War on Terror dating back to 2001.



Highly trained Special Forces troops are currently leading America's fight against ISIS, the Taliban and other Islamic terrorist organizations in the Middle East and Africa. And in other parts of the globe, as well.



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"We operate and fight in every corner of the world as an integrated joint, combined and interagency force," said Gen. Raymond Thomas III, Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.



And that's the main problem.



The "we" consists of only 8,000 USSOCOM troops stationed in over 80 countries on any given day. This force has been operating at such a very high operational tempo for the last decade that its readiness is being compromised.



And over the last several years, SOCOM operators have seen deployment rotations with an increased sharing of responsibility with conventional forces and intelligence agencies, which further adds to the strains besetting the force.



"I think the concerns that we have mostly are in readiness across the force," said Theresa Whelan, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations.



Gen. Thomas noted USSOCOM operates and fights "in every corner of the world as an integrated joint, combined and interagency force."



The increased mission demands are straining the force.



"We've mortgaged the future in order to facilitate current operations that have impacted readiness, and it's also impacted development of force for the future," said Whelan. "And as the threats grow, this is only going to get worse."



Whelan noted that in Afghanistan, the expectation was that USSOCOM's mission would end in 2014, but it's now 2017 and the men are still there.



"So that unexpected aspect of continued deployment where we would otherwise recapitalize people and capabilities elsewhere ... is something."



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TagsU.S. Special Operations Command, war on terror, ISIS, Taliban, Gen. Raymond Thomas III, USSOCOM, Theresa Whelan
Hundreds of college students from more than 40 churches in Southern California gathered in Artesia from April 28 to 29 for the fifth annual SOLA Conference. More than a dozen pastors from several different churches work together to organize the conference for college students each year.

This years SOLA Conference revolved around the theme, Here We Stand: Always Reforming, and focused on three of the five Latin sola slogans that emerged during the Protestant Reformation as crucial elements of the Christian faith: sola gratia (grace alone), sola scriptura (scripture alone), and soli deo gloria (glory to God alone). This year also marks the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.

It is our prayer to see collegians united around the essential reformation doctrines which affirm the authority of scripture alone, salvation by grace alone  through faith alone  in Christ alone, and to live for the glory of God alone, said the SOLA Conference organizers.

Not only do we want to see a generation united around the gospel, we also want to see collegians continue the spirit of the Reformation, which declares that the church is always reforming, they continued. As the culture continues to change, the church must be faithful to respond in biblical, contextual, and relevant ways.

While the meanings and history behind the solas were emphasized during the general sessions, the ways in which they can be applied in modern daily life were explored during a panel session and breakout sessions.

Resonate Church pastor Ryan Kwon, Living Hope Community Churchs college and teaching pastor Steve Bang Lee, and author and speaker Joshua Harris were featured as the main speakers during the conference, each exploring different solas.

Ryan Kwon spoke during the first night on the topic of grace alone. Speaking from Isaiah 54:1-10, Kwon noted that people: 1) are spiritually barren, and 2) pursue after lovers other than Jesus. However, he said, Gods grace alone allow them to transform from spiritual barrenness to having spiritual life as born-again Christians, and God, by his grace, continually and graciously pursues after them despite their pursuit after idols.

God never deserts his people, and his grace empowers us to live a victorious life, said Kwon.

God is not ashamed of you, Kwon added. In fact, he sings over you and he is so proud.

Steve Bang Lee emphasized the importance of submitting to the Bible as the ultimate and final authority during the morning session of the second day, as he spoke on the topic of scripture alone.

For all of us this morning there is a question, said Lee. Is Gods Word final in your life? Do you live in a way where scripture stands over as supreme, as the chief voice of your life?

Even Jesus, who is God and the Word in flesh, submitted to and obeyed the scriptures, Lee said.

Yet, in order to live in such a way that reflects the authority of the Bible over ones life, he added, one must actually open up and read the Bible.

If you deleted all of the Christian content in your brains other than the Bible itself, what would be left? Lee posed to the collegians.

The reformers were not trying to change the world  they were just trying to go back to the Bible.

On the final night, Joshua Harris spoke on the topic of "glory to God alone." He emphasized that God has done all the work of our salvation, and that that is the reason God alone deserves the glory.

Many times Christians may fall into thinking that glorifying God means having to achieve something great, he added. Instead, share stories of your weakness, Harris said. Show your scars.

We cannot save ourselves, he went on. Glorifying God is saying, We do not have what it takes, but let me tell you about Jesus.

Meanwhile, the conference also included smaller sessions which explored more specifically how those solas could be applied in todays context.

Breakout sessions focused on topics such as understanding identity in Christ, transgenderism, and embracing the church, among others. A panel session explored questions Christian collegians may have regarding certain gray area issues such as alcohol, consumption of media, marijuana, and relationships.
For the fifth time, dozens of Christian dancers in Southern California will gather and showcase their dancing talent at Rise Up, a Christian dance showcase.

This years showcase will take place on May 27 at the Marsee Auditorium in El Camino College.

The showcase started in 2013 initially as a platform for youth students at Kumran United Methodist Church who loved to dance  a platform which eventually grew to showcase the talent of over a dozen Christian dance groups. This year, the event will serve as a platform for 16 groups/individuals, including Gods Image, Seeds of Worship, Sodium Project, V3, Sarah Hong, and others.

This fifth event is a year of many firsts for the showcase, according to Einston Han, the youth pastor at Kumran who has been the lead organizer of the showcase each year. For the first time, the event will be taking place at a location other than the church  the Marsee Auditorium. Organizers even launched a Kickstarter page and raised over $3,500 to fund the auditorium.

Rise Up will also, for the first time, be highlighting a non-profit organization at the event. Humans of Planet Earth (HOPE), a non-profit which aims to provide education and share the gospel to children living in poverty in Peru, will be featured during the event.

The heart of Rise Up is not just for dancers to use their gifts to glorify God, but its also to challenge this generation to rise up in all facets of their lives to glorify God and make an impact in this world, said Han regarding the decision to feature representatives from HOPE for the first time.

Han added that having an annual Christian dance showcase like Rise Up is significant because of a comparative lack of opportunity for Christians who have talents in the arts to be able to use it to contribute to the church.

Most churches incorporate dance in childrens ministries and mission work, Han said, because dance can communicate things we cannot verbally and in a sense crosses the boundary of culture and language.

However, other than these moments, I rarely see the church emphasizing the art of dance in their churches, he continued.

Though Han hopes to see a growth in dance ministries in local churches, he said the ultimate hope he has behind this event in particular is that Christians with all types of talents would be encouraged to continue using those talents to glorify God.

How awesome would it be if we saw in the next decade the top music artists, dancers, and others being unashamed Christians? What if Christians were setting the standard in terms of all of the arts in this generation?

That is a huge hope that I have for this event, Han said, that it starts a larger movement in our generation.

Tickets can be purchased at the El Camino College Center for the Arts website. For more information, visit facebook.com/riseupshowcase.
The Supreme Court rejected a request by a Christian minister and therapist to consider a case against a ban on the so-called gay conversion therapy in the state of California.

The dismissal that came on Monday is the second one that the high court has given in three years.

California adopted a law in 2012 prohibiting licensed therapists from offering sessions that are intended to change the sexual orientation of clients under the age of 18. The law was challenged initially on the basis that it violated rights to free speech, but that argument was rejected by a federal appeals court.

When the law was reviewed by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the judges ruled 3-0 that it was constitutional.

The court said that minors are free to seek such therapy once they turn 18, and that the law regulates conduct only within the confines of the counselor-client relationship. Clergy still have freedom of speech and to practice their religion in church, the ruling states.

Donald Welch, a Christian minister and licensed therapist, sought to challenge the law at the Supreme Court this time on the basis that it violated rights to free exercise of religion, which the Supreme Court has declined to hear. Other plaintiffs who joined Welch included a psychiatrist and a man who had undergone gay conversion therapy.

We are deeply disappointed by todays announcement, because it means young people in California and elsewhere will not be able to get the professional help they seek, due to political correctness, said Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute, the legal group which represented the plaintiffs.

This debate will continue, though, as other states consider similar bans on counselors speech, and new court challenges will be filed against such bans, Dacus continued. Ultimately, we believe the Ninth Circuits reasoning will not stand the test of time, and we are committed to this battle for the long haul.

According to the Human Rights Campaign, similar laws banning gay conversion therapy exist in the District of Columbia, Illinois, Oregon, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Vermont.
The motherland is calm. It is really peaceful despite the war stories in American newspapers. Although it is a tense situation, there isnt too much to worry about. You cannot see the forest when you are in it, likewise the people in the forest are in peace. I have been thinking and learning a lot during my short visit to the motherland. I learned especially a lot through a documentary film about the beautiful life of Missionary Seo-Pyeong Seo (Elisabeth J. Shepping). I was able to preview this film at the Global Leadership Forum held in Busan. This film is a story made by CGNTV, on a female missionary who served as a German-American missionary to the poor and oppressed land of Chosun(Korea) about 100 years ago.

Seo, Seo-pyeong, who was called Little Jesus, was a blue-eyed missionary who had lived as a Korean for 22 years and who was better suited with the title of mother than missionary or nurse. The name Seo, Seo-pyeong() means slowly calmly in Chinese. The story of missionary Seo, Seo-pyeong, who gave everything she had to the poor and finished her life with malnutrition, was a touching and resonating story. It has already been released in Seoul and will be released in Los Angeles. I hope that we all will watch this movie when it comes to show in Los Angeles.

Missionary Seo, Seo-pyeong was born in Germany without knowing who her father was. Her beginning was a tragedy. Her mother left for the United States with leaving her young daughter behind. Since her mother left for the United States, she grew up in her grandmas hands. When her grandmother died, she went to the United States alone at the age of twelve years old to find her mother, but sadly she was abandoned again by her mother. However Missionary Seo, who grew up beautifully with the grace of God, came to the land of Chosun after listening to the news of Chosun.

Missionary Seo came to the land of Chosun and healed many wounded souls with the love of Christ. She gave names to Korean women who were living without names and raised 14 orphans in considering them as her own children. She cared for widows who had nowhere to go. In the room where the missionary lived poorly, there was a note on a wall saying not success but service. I was able to learn a lot through the life of a missionary who lived with the goal of serving rather than succeeding in life. I also felt ashamed of the life that I lived so far.

Missionary Seo experienced the grace of recovery through Jesus. The wounded woman who had been abandoned by her mother lived a life of healing many hurt people with Jesus love. The missionary stood up again every time she fell in a difficult path of life. She did not give in to the trials and hardships that tormented her life. She had not been a slave to the wounded past. She chose love. She chose service. She chose to build up people who were poor and suffering. She helped numerous people to stand up against failure and hardship. In a difficult circumstance, she lived the life that helped people in even more difficult situations. Her life is the story of Bounce Back.

Yesterday I met Kim Hyun-joong, who wrote a book called Bounce Back. With the introduction of Pastor Cho Bong-hee of Mok-dong Global Village Church, I was able to meet and have fellowship with Mr. Kim along with Pastor Han Ki-chae of the Central Holiness Church. Bounce Back, written by Mr. Kim, is the book that recorded the secrets of people bouncing back like a ball without falling down during failures and frustrations. It says, To bounce back is to recover and to regain the original purpose and orbit and to improve even after suffering from failure and adversity. Bouncing back means restoration and growth. Bouncing back means resilience. Resilience is the force to bounce back up like a Yo-Yo. It is not a problem to fall, but it is a problem to not stand up again. The person who can rise again every time he falls is an excellent person. Excellent people are not those who did not fail. They are those who rise again from the failure.

I once experienced a failure as a pastor of Korean immigrant church. But with the grace of God and your help, I was able to start afresh. The message that I share from the motherland is a drama of reversal. The gospel Jesus gave us is a drama of the reverse. The gospel is a story that begins tragically, but ends with joy. The cross and resurrection of Jesus is the climax of the drama of reversal. Even when I am here, my heart is sore and heavy whenever I think about brothers and sisters who are going through difficulties. Beloved Saints, be strengthened in the Lord. Do not be discouraged but get up again and again to move forward. Please keep interceding for me so that I may finish the rest of the schedule well and return. Blessings.

Reverend Joshua Choon-Min Kang is the senior pastor of New Life Vision Church, located in Los Angeles. This is one of the weekly letters he writes to his congregation. For the original, visit www.nlvc.org.
Hoosiers Demand Senator Joe Donnelly Break with Party and Denounce Abortion Award



INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. May 4, 2017 /



Indiana Right to Life launched a petition on Monday for Hoosiers to contact Donnelly. As of Thursday afternoon, more than 800 Hoosiers have petitioned Donnelly to denounce the award.



In addition to overseeing the abortions of 100,000 children, Cockrum has sued the state of Indiana over many common sense, pro-life laws. Her latest lawsuits on behalf of Planned Parenthood are against ultrasounds and civil rights protections for unborn children with disabilities like Down syndrome.



"Indiana Right to Life continues to wait for Sen. Donnelly to denounce his party honoring an individual who has overseen the destruction of an estimated 100,000 children," said Mike Fichter, President and CEO of Indiana Right to Life. "Why should Ms. Cockrum receive a 'Lifetime Achievement Award' when her legacy is the fact that she helped sentence 100,000 children to a lifetime limited to only a few weeks?



"Sen. Donnelly campaigned on being pro-life and has continued to make that claim to his constituents, despite blocking pro-life legislative measures at nearly every opportunity. He knows abortion on demand is a losing issue, especially in our state. But his party is tone-deaf and continues to go all-in on abortion. National Democratic Party Committee Chair Tom Perez recently demanded that all Democrats desiring party support must give full fidelity to abortion on demand. What will Sen. Donnelly say about abortion as he campaigns to retain his Senate seat in 2018? Will he still be 'pro-life?'"



Visit



Indiana Right to Life's mission is to protect the right to life, especially of unborn children, through positive education, compassionate advocacy and promotion of healthy alternatives to abortion.

Share Tweet Contact: Mike Fichter, Indiana Right to Life , 317-632-2242INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. May 4, 2017 / Christian Newswire / -- On Friday, May 5, the Indiana Democratic Party will give its "Lifetime Achievement Award" to Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky's CEO, Betty Cockrum. Cockrum has overseen an estimated 100,000 abortions during her 15 years as leader of Indiana's largest abortion business. Pro-life Hoosiers are demanding that Democrat Senator Joe Donnelly, a Roman Catholic who claims to be pro-life, break with his party and denounce the abortion award.Indiana Right to Life launched a petition on Monday for Hoosiers to contact Donnelly. As of Thursday afternoon, more than 800 Hoosiers have petitioned Donnelly to denounce the award.In addition to overseeing the abortions of 100,000 children, Cockrum has sued the state of Indiana over many common sense, pro-life laws. Her latest lawsuits on behalf of Planned Parenthood are against ultrasounds and civil rights protections for unborn children with disabilities like Down syndrome."Indiana Right to Life continues to wait for Sen. Donnelly to denounce his party honoring an individual who has overseen the destruction of an estimated 100,000 children," said Mike Fichter, President and CEO of Indiana Right to Life. "Why should Ms. Cockrum receive a 'Lifetime Achievement Award' when her legacy is the fact that she helped sentence 100,000 children to a lifetime limited to only a few weeks?"Sen. Donnelly campaigned on being pro-life and has continued to make that claim to his constituents, despite blocking pro-life legislative measures at nearly every opportunity. He knows abortion on demand is a losing issue, especially in our state. But his party is tone-deaf and continues to go all-in on abortion. National Democratic Party Committee Chair Tom Perez recently demanded that all Democrats desiring party support must give full fidelity to abortion on demand. What will Sen. Donnelly say about abortion as he campaigns to retain his Senate seat in 2018? Will he still be 'pro-life?'"Visit p2a.co/XjM0Wp1 to learn more about the petition to Donnelly, urging him to denounce his party's award to Cockrum.Indiana Right to Life's mission is to protect the right to life, especially of unborn children, through positive education, compassionate advocacy and promotion of healthy alternatives to abortion.
Operation Mobilization USA Appoints New Director of Freedom Challenge Popular Women's Justice Ministry Positions for Future Growth



Contact: Nicole Turner,



ATLANTA, May 4, 2017 /



Regina Bergeron, senior vice president and chief development officer at OM USA commented, "Tracy is a dedicated, proven and caring leader. In addition to being an accomplished communicator with a core gift for teaching and ministering, Tracy brings more than 20 years of demonstrated passion for seeing oppressed women set free."



Freedom Challenge first entered Tracy's life when Cathey Anderson was attending The Father's House church. Seeing Cathey's enthusiasm for the cause, it did not take long for Tracy to become a champion herself, gathering women from across Southern California to pray, climb, raise funds and spread anti-slavery awareness alongside Cathey as Freedom Challenge grew.



Tracy said, "I am deeply humbled to be following in the footsteps of my dear friend Cathey who brought this concept from vision into reality before her untimely passing last year. Likewise, I am excited to be part of a vibrant grassroots movement of motivated women helping women to escape the bondage of modern day slavery."



In January of 2012, 48 women from seven different countries first gathered in Tanzania and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro to declare freedom for those who could not. Since then, Freedom Challenge has led women to climb the Rockies, Alps, Kilimanjaro, Machu Picchu and Everest Base Camp, while raising millions of dollars to support more than 60 projects worldwide. The impact is evident in the thousands set on the pathway to freedom, including 150 children currently being supported in an AIDS Hope community in South Africa and 20 student teachers now receiving training in Zambia.



Among its members and leadership, there is a sense that Freedom Challenge has now achieved a critical mass of sorts and is poised for a new period of accelerated development. Added Regina, "there is incredible potential right now and we are confident in Tracy's ability to take Freedom Challenge the next level and see thousands  or even millions  more women and children set free."



About Freedom Challenge

Freedom Challenge is an initiative of Operation Mobilization committed to the prevention of modern day slavery and human trafficking, in addition to the rescue and restoration of its victims. The women who lead and participate in this growing movement partake in physical challenges such as mountain climbs to raise funds and awareness to combat these social injustices and help oppressed women and children on the pathway to freedom. To learn more visit

Share Tweet Contact: Nicole Turner, Operation Mobilization , 770-692-5185ATLANTA, May 4, 2017 / Christian Newswire / -- Operation Mobilization (OM) USA recently announced that Tracy Daugherty has joined the organization as Director of its Freedom Challenge anti-slavery initiative. Tracy brings vast experience in ministry and leadership to her new role, having worked with her husband, Dan for the last 11 years to plant and pastor The Father's House church in San Marcos, CA. Her previous efforts leading teams at Freedom Challenge events and close friendship with the movement's founder, the late Cathey Anderson, allow Tracy to step into the role with the knowledge and familiarity necessary to make an immediate impact.Regina Bergeron, senior vice president and chief development officer at OM USA commented, "Tracy is a dedicated, proven and caring leader. In addition to being an accomplished communicator with a core gift for teaching and ministering, Tracy brings more than 20 years of demonstrated passion for seeing oppressed women set free."Freedom Challenge first entered Tracy's life when Cathey Anderson was attending The Father's House church. Seeing Cathey's enthusiasm for the cause, it did not take long for Tracy to become a champion herself, gathering women from across Southern California to pray, climb, raise funds and spread anti-slavery awareness alongside Cathey as Freedom Challenge grew.Tracy said, "I am deeply humbled to be following in the footsteps of my dear friend Cathey who brought this concept from vision into reality before her untimely passing last year. Likewise, I am excited to be part of a vibrant grassroots movement of motivated women helping women to escape the bondage of modern day slavery."In January of 2012, 48 women from seven different countries first gathered in Tanzania and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro to declare freedom for those who could not. Since then, Freedom Challenge has led women to climb the Rockies, Alps, Kilimanjaro, Machu Picchu and Everest Base Camp, while raising millions of dollars to support more than 60 projects worldwide. The impact is evident in the thousands set on the pathway to freedom, including 150 children currently being supported in an AIDS Hope community in South Africa and 20 student teachers now receiving training in Zambia.Among its members and leadership, there is a sense that Freedom Challenge has now achieved a critical mass of sorts and is poised for a new period of accelerated development. Added Regina, "there is incredible potential right now and we are confident in Tracy's ability to take Freedom Challenge the next level and see thousands  or even millions  more women and children set free."About Freedom ChallengeFreedom Challenge is an initiative of Operation Mobilization committed to the prevention of modern day slavery and human trafficking, in addition to the rescue and restoration of its victims. The women who lead and participate in this growing movement partake in physical challenges such as mountain climbs to raise funds and awareness to combat these social injustices and help oppressed women and children on the pathway to freedom. To learn more visit www.thefreedomchallenge.com
home World Denmark blacklists Christian pastor, five Islamic clerics as 'hate preachers'

A Christian pastor from the U.S. has been included in Denmark's first list of foreign "hate preachers" who are banned from entering the country.

Terry Jones, a Florida evangelical Christian pastor who sparked outrage in 2010 for threatening to burn copies of the Quran, was listed by the Danish government as a hate preacher along with five Islamic clerics.

According to Reuters, the Islamic clerics that made it to the inaugural sanction list were Kamal El-Mekki from the United States; Bilal Philips, a Canadian who currently lives in Qatar; Mohamad al-Arifi and Salman al-Ouda from Saudi Arabia; and Mohammad Rateb al-Nabulsi from Syria.

It has been reported that Philips and El-Mekki had been in Denmark in the past, but it is unclear whether the others have visited the Scandinavian country.

The creation of the list was announced last year, following the airing of a hidden-camera documentary titled "Mosques Behind the Veil," which featured radical preachers in Danish mosques.

"The government will not accept that hate preachers come to Denmark to preach hatred against Danish society and indoctrinate others to commit violence against women and children, spread ideas about an (Islamic) caliphate and in general undermine our fundamental values," said Inger StAjberg, the immigration and integration minister, as reported by CPH Post Online.

"So I am naturally very pleased that it is now clear to everyone that these people are not welcome in Denmark," she added.

The legislation underpinning the creation of the list was passed in December 2016, with the support of the right-leaning government as well as the opposition Social Democrats. The law stated that it applies to those for whom there was a "reasonable likelihood" they would enter the country.

It also noted that foreigners could be included in the list if they have "displayed behaviour that gives reason to believe that the foreigner is a threat to public order in Denmark."

Denmark is not the only country in Europe to pass such legislation. The United Kingdom has a law that allows the government to block individuals with criminal convictions or those whose presence is "not conducive to the public good" from entering the country.

The Scandinavian country's Immigration Service, will be implementing the ban on hate preachers, and it will continuously assess which clerics should be placed on the blacklist.

Denmark became a target of Islamic extremists in 2005 after a Danish newspaper published cartoons satirizing the Prophet Muhammad. The cartoons led to a number of deadly protests in the Muslim world.
home World ISIS tries to implement Sharia in Egypt's North Sinai

As the Islamic State increases its efforts to attack Egypt's Coptic Christians, the terror group is also seeking to impose its own version of Islamic law along the country's border with Gaza.

According to Reuters, ISIS has formed a morality police force known as the Hisba, which is responsible for enforcing rules against certain behaviors like smoking, men shaving their beards or women exposing their faces.

North Sinai resident Shaher Saeed witnessed the militants enforcing its strict rules on a man who drove a truck carrying cigarettes in early April.

"I saw them forcing the driver from the vehicle and stripping the upper part of his clothing before tying him to the door of one of their cars," he recounted.

"They hit him on the back more than 10 times, then burned all the cartons of cigarettes ... They let him go after warning him not to trade cigarettes again," he added.

ISIS videos, along with testimonies from residents, suggest that the terror group's local affiliate, known as Sinai Province, is attempting to impose its version of Sharia on the local populace for the first time.

The group has previously targeted police, soldiers and their informants, but it has now stepped up its attacks against Christians inside and outside its predominant area of operations in North Sinai.

Analysts say the change in tactics reflect how ISIS is expanding its operations in Egypt as it faces significant setbacks in Iraq, Syria and Libya. The terror group has attempted to stoke sectarian tensions and social unrest in Egypt even though it failed to capture territory in the country.

In March, a 25-minute video was posted on an internet channel often used by the terror group, showing militants announcing the creation of Hisba in North Sinai.

The video, which has since been removed from the internet, featured enforcers hitting a man with plastic tubing and beheading two elderly adherents of Sufi Islam.

In February, Sinai Province reportedly released a video, in which it declared that it would wipe out Egypt's Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the country's population of 92 million.

Last month, at least 45 people were killed in two church bombings carried out by ISIS militants on Palm Sunday, prompting the Egyptian government to declare a state of emergency.

Despite President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's promise to protect Christians and drive out radical elements, ISIS has retained its influence over Egypt through its continued attacks and its affiliation with hardline groups.

Mona Barhoum, a local rights activist from Rafah, noted that even though the terror group does not control the region, its affiliates "are present, they pop up like a jack-in-the-box, they kill or kidnap someone and go back into hiding."
(Bloomberg) -- For months now, high gasoline prices have been arguably the most visible political pain point for President Joe Biden. In most towns, they can be seen every few blocks on signs at...
Prominent auto retailer Sonic Automotive plans to build a "big, beautiful" dealership on a piece of prime inner-Loop property, across U.S. 59 from the seven-story Audi showroom, also built by the national franchise.

Sonic recently purchased a 2.4-acre tract on U.S. 59 spanning from Greenbriar and Shepherd, which has housed the Stahlman Lumber Co. since 1960. The property was valued at about $9.1 million in 2017 by the Harris County Appraisal District. Stahlman did not respond to requests for comment.

Jeff Dyke, executive vice president of operations for Sonic Automotive, said the company would be building a dealership on the lot.

"It will be a big, beautiful one," he said.

He declined to offer a detailed description of the planned development, but said an announcement should come near the end of the year.

"That's tough to build a dealership on 2 acres," said Steven Wolf, chairman of the Houston Automobile Dealers Association and operator of several automotive dealerships. "They're going to have to go way up. I have a feeling they'll do a big building."

He said the location, nearby River Oaks, West University Place, the Texas Medical Center and downtown, made a great spot for another high-end luxury car dealership.

Sonic, a North Carolina-based Fortune 500 retailer, operates 4 Houston-area collision centers and 24 dealerships, including BMW, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Porsche and Audi brands.

The company made local headlines in 2012 with its plans to put a seven-story flagship Audi dealership on 1.2 acres at the northeast corner of Greenbriar and U.S. 59. At the time it was lauded as among the nation's largest Audi dealerships, and an innovative urban model for a vertical car lot, and what Wolf called the only high-rise dealership in Houston.

That tower, which features a showroom behind a glass display case that looms above a high-traffic stretch of the Southwest Freeway, also drew acclaim for giving the luxury dealership exceptional visibility.

The expansion comes even after Sonic last year cited weak Houston-area auto sales, driven largely by the oil slump, among negative factors in its 2016 third-quarter performance, though a company statement still called Houston "one of our most profitable markets."

Houston-area new vehicle sales were sharply down 22.6 percent from a year earlier, hitting the lowest first-quarter level since 2011, according to a report by Sugar Land-based InfoNation.

But the automotive market goes up and down, and Houston investments should pay off in the long run, Wolf said.

Dyke said Sonic was also currently acquiring other pieces of property across the area.

The lot at 4007 Greenbriar was platted in March as an unrestricted reserve, meaning any structure except for single family homes can be built there, according to the city planning department.
Two firefighters were injured Thursday while battling a blaze in a southeast Houston apartment building.

The Houston Fire Department responded to an 11-unit fire around 8:50 a.m. at 8250 Park Place Blvd.

While putting out the flames, one firefighter was shocked by electricity after accidentally cutting into a power source with a saw, according to a news release from the Houston Police Department. The firefighter was transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital. The firefighter's EKG readings were normal.

Another firefighter was also reported to be injured during the same fire. The cause of those injuries and the condition of that firefighter were not known Thursday morning.

HFD did not release the names of the injured firefighters Thursday morning.
Carnival Cruise Lines

When the U.S. lifted travel restrictions to Cuba a year ago, it seemed there was instant and widespread interest in visiting the county. Now, travel insurance provider Allianz Global Assistance says that interested is waning.

"Our survey found that merely two percent of Americans think they will go to Cuba in the next six months, two percent believe they will make it there by the end of 2017 and 10 percent think they will go sometime in 2018," said Daniel Durazo, director of communications at Allianz Global Assistance USA.
The videos on DaddyOFive's YouTube channel were hard to watch. In one, parents Heather and Mike Martin scream at 9-year-old Cody, accusing him of spilling ink on the ground. (He didn't spill anything, and the stains on the carpet were from trick ink). Another shows Cody being shoved into a bookcase. In a third, the dad encourages one of his sons to slap 11-year-old Emma, the only girl among the five children in the family. He does, hard enough to make Emma cry.

When the broader YouTube community found out about the channel, there was an angry uprising. And now, the once-estranged birth mother of Cody and Emma has emergency custody of her two kids.

"Emma and Cody are with me," said a visibly nervous Rose Hall in a YouTube video posted on Monday to her lawyer's channel. "They're doing good," she said. "They're getting back to their playful selves."

Hall's lawyer, Tim Conlon, who appeared in the video with her, told The Washington Post on Tuesday that they asked the Frederick County Circuit Court in Maryland to grant Hall temporary emergency custody on Friday. Hall, Cody and Emma will remain in Frederick County while a Child Protective Services investigation is ongoing, Conlon said.

The Martin family had five children; Hall has said she is the biological mother of two of them, from a previous relationship with Mike Martin.

The saga of the Martin family and, eventually, Hall's attempts to regain custody of her two children, became a matter of collective viral justice a couple of weeks ago, after YouTuber Philip DeFranco posted a video about the content that was featured on DaddyOFive's channel. The channel had 750,000 subscribers and posted content almost daily. Many of the videos documented cruel "pranks" that the parents pulled on their children, particularly on Cody. DeFranco's video highlighted some of the more disturbing moments from DaddyOFive's archives, and led many to conclude that the children in the family were being abused on camera, for the sake of clicks (and, in turn, the ad-generated revenue that came with it) - an accusation that the Martins have denied.

Less than a week after the outrage over DaddyOFive went viral, the couple posted an apology video - with the help of a crisis management and PR firm - announcing that the entire family was in counseling. "We realize we have made some terrible parenting decisions, and we just want to make things right," Heather Martin said in the video.

The couple had previously said that the prank reactions were "faked." Rob Weinhold, who has been serving as the Martins' spokesman, referred The Post on Monday to their attorney Laurie Wasserman. Wasserman replied with an emailed statement: "I am working with Michael and Heather Martin. It would be highly inappropriate for me to discuss the details of this very sensitive matter, or any associated proceedings, publicly. All information will be presented to the Court at the appropriate time."

Hall, who lives in North Carolina, started leaving comments on every video she saw that featured her children as the story picked up steam. She had seen the original videos before, and like many, was disturbed by the way her children were treated in them. Hall first reported the videos to law enforcement in North Carolina in October. Since the videos were filmed in Maryland, where the Martins live, the Martin County Sheriff's office in North Carolina referred her to Maryland law enforcement.

One YouTuber, Chambers of My Heart, saw Hall's comments and reached out to her. She posted a lengthy interview with Hall and launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to get her legal representation. Another YouTuber, Based_Mama, called the lawyer Conlon on Wednesday evening to see if he would be willing to represent Hall, who wanted to regain custody of her children, Chambers of My Heart said to The Post on Tuesday.

When he got the call, he "thought it was some sort of goofy prank," Conlon said. Then, he watched the videos. "I called them back and said 'I see what you're talking about,' " he said. By Friday morning, they were in court asking for emergency custody, which was granted later that day, he said.

With the help of law enforcement, Conlon said, Hall regained custody of Emma and Cody on Friday. The three spent the weekend in North Carolina before returning to Frederick County. The kids are "deprogramming," Conlon said.

In the video Hall posted with Conlon, she described her reunion with her kids as a little difficult, particularly in Cody's case: "Cody had a difficult time when the officer brought him out to the car," she said. "He said some things that were disturbing, that he hated me, that Mike and Heather told him I threw him away like he was garbage, and I didn't love him no more. ... that's not true at all."

Both Cody and Emma are faring better, she added, although Emma has bounced back more quickly. "Emma's back to being a mouse," Hall said. "She loves cheese. That's the first thing she asked me for was cheese, because she wasn't allowed to have it."

---
E Contractors

E Contractors has started construction on a two-story office building in Sugar Land that could serve as a model for developments in other suburban communities.

On 1.5 acres near the northwest corner of Texas 6 and U.S. 59, Egrets Landing Sugar Land will be a glass and steel building with 22,000 square feet including a shared meeting room for tenants. The building, at 16554 Creek Bend Drive along Brooks Lake in walking distance to Hyatt Place, will serve as offices for E Contractors and its Oakdale Group affiliate.
If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?

These are among the most often cited lines, for good reason, in Aleksandr Solzhenitsyns The Gulag Archipelago. In a 2010 interview for Actons Religion & Liberty, Solzhenitsyn scholar Edward E. Ericson Jr. explained that for all of Solzhenitsyns heroic efforts to expose the ideological roots of terror and political oppression, it was his understanding of the reality of good and evil that undergirded all he wrote. To get Solzhenitsyn right means to see him as a moral writer, and the moral vision comes out of a religious context, Ericson told R&L. So to get him really right means to understand the religious context, which for him is Russian Orthodoxy.

Ericson, who died on Saturday at the age of 77, was a scholar and long-time teacher of English literature at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. Calvin colleague Jim Vanden Bosch remembered that Ericson deep involvement with the life and work of Solzhenitsyn began with the great mans novels.

When he discovered Solzhenitsyn, he found his new academic purpose  to find an adequate audience for Solzhenitsyn in the West, to explicate his fiction and non-fiction work, to advance and defend Solzhenitsyns analysis of and arguments against totalitarian regimes, to engage in the critical wars over Solzhenitsyns relevance, and, with Solzhenitsyns approval and assistance, abridge the Gulag Archipelago, Vanden Bosch said.

Ericson worked side-by-side with the author on that first abridged edition, which was published in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom in 1985. When Solzhenitsyn and I got to know each other a little bit, he made clear to me that the reason he allowed me to abridge The Gulag Archipelago was, well, that he and I shared a common Christian faith, Ericson recalled in his R&L interview.

A gracious man who was generous with his time and freely shared his experiences with Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008), Ericson had a long association with the Acton Institute. In 1993, his monograph Solzhenitsyn & the Modern World was published with an introduction by Russell Kirk (a few are still available in the Acton book shop). A recording of Ericsons Acton University lecture, The Unknown Solzhenitsyn, is also available for purchase in the book shop.

On the PowerBlog, we reviewed The Solzhenitsyn Reader: New and Essential Writings 1947-2005 (ISI, 2006), an indispensable one-volume collection edited by Ericson and Daniel J. Mahoney, another scholar who has done exceptional work in communicating the meaning of Solzhenitsyns life and work to readers in the West. The editors observed that more than any other figure in the twentieth century, (Solzhenitsyn) exposed the ideological lie at the heart of Communist totalitarianism. Although widely misunderstood by journalists and academics, the editors assert that Solzhenitsyn has been a consistent advocate of the rule of law, economic development fueled by human-scale technology, and a revived local self-government in Russia along the lines of the prerevolutionary zemstvos (local and provincial councils).

In a 2008 opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, Solzhenitsyn Optimist (excerpted on the PowerBlog), Ericson wrote that the writer had the last laugh in his struggle with Soviet authorities:

What could his mortal foe do about Solzhenitsyns great weapon, The Gulag Archipelago, first published in the 1970s? Solzhenitsyn was sure that Gulag was destined to affect the course of history, and early reviews reinforced his optimism. A German newspaper editorialized, The time may come when we date the beginning of the collapse of the Soviet system from the appearance of Gulag. Diplomat George Kennan said that this greatest and most powerful single indictment of a political regime would stick in the craw of the Soviet propaganda machine . . . with increasing discomfort, until it has done its work.

I was fortunate to have known Ed Ericson, as were so many others. Former Calvin colleague Dean Ward put it this way. I wonder if Ed knew just how massive his presence and influence was: in the classroom students adored him and he became the model teacher for many; in scholarship he was both prolific and wide-ranging; as chair of the English Department he administered with purpose and precision, Ward said. He did everything you could want a college faculty member to do and did it all brilliantly.
The incoming police chief of the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, the third-largest school district in Texas, is facing allegations that he mishandled investigations of sexual assault and predatory behavior in his current job as Austin ISD police chief, according to a federal lawsuit filed this week.

A day after the Cy-Fair ISD announced that Eric Mendez would lead its police force, current and former students on Tuesday filed the Title IX suit against Mendez, one of his detectives and the Austin ISD.

The lawsuit alleges that at least four cases were closed after Austin ISD police ignored physical evidence, failed to test rape kits, were slow to interview suspects and  in one case  gave the OK for district staff to allow a teacher back in the classroom after she had been accused of sexually assaulting a 4-year-old student.

Those failures violate Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination of students based on their gender in all schools that receive federal funding, according to the suit.

Mendez would have no comment on the suit or its allegations, according to Austin ISD's communications department. "AISD has not been served with the lawsuit," the district said in a written statement. "If or when the district is served, it may respond once the lawsuit has been thoroughly reviewed."

Nicole Ray, a spokeswoman for the Cy-Fair ISD, said Mendez was a finalist for that district's police chief position in 2012 and interviewed for the new opening on April 20, a few days before Austin local media began to report on questions surrounding how the chief and his department handled one sexual assault investigation. Cy-Fair announced it would hire Mendez on Monday.

Ray said the newly filed lawsuit has not changed the district's plans.

"We're thrilled to have him coming to our district," Ray said of the district in Northwestern Harris County, which has 115,000 students. "He has a tremendous amount of experience."

Cy-Fair ISD's board of trustees will meet next week, when it could vote on Mendez' contract.

Trustee Debbie Blackshear said she could not comment because she did not have enough information about Mendez or the allegations. Board president Darcy Mingoia said the allegations made her uncomfortable but that she would like more information before casting a vote.

"It always gives me a pause to hear things like that, but I do like to be fair and hear the perspective from both sides," Mingoia said. "I've always found the true story is somewhere in the middle, and I would like to have more information about it before I say I'm totally discouraged. But I would say it gives me pause."

The lawsuit's allegations should give Cy-Fair ISD officials pause, said Chad Dunn, a Houston-based attorney representing several alleged victims in the matter. "The policies and procedures of a police department are set by the police chief and his superiors. This common thread of treatment of varying types of sex assault reported indicate there's an Austin ISD police department problem with how it deals with them," Dunn said. "I think when anyone makes a hire, they need to thoroughly look through the body of work of the candidate they're considering. There's no way for me to know if this happened at CyFair or not."

Mendez, who holds a master's degree in criminal justice leadership and management from Sam Houston State University, has 27 years of law-enforcement experience. He has served on the Austin ISD police since 1999, the last five years as chief of police.

He "started at the Patrol level and worked his way up by hard work and determination," Pat Fuller, a retired chief park ranger with Austin Parks and Recreation, wrote in a recommendation on Mendez' LinkedIn page.

The suit identifies the alleged victims as Jane Does 1, 2, 3 and 4 and says they range in age from preschoolers to a 14-year-old. It provides the following account of multiple alleged incidents:

On Feb. 7, a mother rushed her 4-year-old daughter, Jane Doe 1, to the hospital. The girl began screaming in pain while using the restroom at home after pre-K classes at her elementary school, and her underwear was bloody and the area around her genitals was deeply bruised. At Dell Children's Medical Center, doctors found the 4-year-old suffered from internal lacerations and performed surgery to close the wounds and to test the girl for sexually transmitted infections. Doctors also collected samples for a rape kit.

A trauma surgeon told Jane Doe 1's mother and an Austin ISD police detective that the girl had been the victim of sexual assault.

The lawsuit alleges Austin ISD police never evaluated Jane Doe 1's rape kit, did not interview her teacher until Feb. 20 and kept the school's parents in the dark about the situation  even after a 3-year-old girl from Jane Doe 1's class accused the same teacher of sexually assaulting her. Other students reportedly came forward too, claiming to have witnessed the assault and refusing to use the school restroom.

Austin ISD closed its investigation into Jane Doe 1 on Feb. 28 and the investigation into Jane Doe 2 (the 3-year-old accuser) on March 6, citing a lack of evidence in both cases. The accused teacher went back to work at the school on March 20, and Jane Doe 2 left the school.

According to local media reports in late April, Chief Mendez said of the case: "During the course of the investigation, we failed to get a medical record that could prove to be vital in determining whether we have a sexual assault or not. Yes, it is important, yes we should have looked at it."

Days later, Mendez offered a different version to Austin's KXAN-TV: "While we didn't pick up the records as a technical aspect of the case to have them in the case file, the medical expert assigned to the case through the Center for Child Protection and as part of the child protection team did in fact review all of the medical records, including the records that we did not pick up."

He said the case had been reopened.

Three other incidents were cited: one involving a 14-year-old girl at an Austin high school who was allegedly forced into a bathroom and sexually assaulted in 2015. Austin ISD police closed that investigation due to a lack of evidence, saying they did not know the exact date or time of the alleged assault, although the victim said it happened on April 1 of that year.

In another case, an eighth-grade student accused a middle-school teacher of sending her and two other students "predatory" messages over social media in 2016. Jane Doe 4 showed screenshots of the messages to the principal, and the teacher resigned. But the principal didn't call the school district's police department until the alleged victim's father made a plea, and the agency closed the case because it was unable to come up with grounds to charge the teacher.

The suit goes on to mention an incident involving another elementary school student who alleged she had been inappropriately touched by school staff, but that case was closed by a detective after the 5-year-old student could not provide a "specific enough" description of her attacker.

Attorneys for the alleged victims said the incidents it cites are "only a small collection of the cases of sexual assault swept under the rug by (Austin ISD police) and those acting in concert."

The lawsuit requests a mandatory injunction ordering Austin ISD and its police department to "rectify any and all Title IX violations and/or inequities" and to stop the "deliberate indifference to sexual assaults." It also seeks attorneys' fees and damages for civil rights violations, physical injuries, mental anguish, loss of educational opportunities, physical disfigurement, and medical and counseling expenses, although the suit did not specify a specific dollar amount.

In the KXAN interview, Mendez said his department does not take short cuts in its investigations, especially into matters as sensitive as those that involve sexual assaults.

"I want people to understand: I don't let things go. I don't just brush things aside," Mendez said. "I want us to be sure and confident in the work that we do. I don't want us to make mistakes."
Submitted

The Rotary Club of East Montgomery County is installing Little Free Libraries to celebrate the club's 20th anniversary.

Twenty libraries will be built and located throughout East Montgomery County in parks, playgrounds, mobile home parks, apartment complexes and other public areas so children and adults can have access to books and magazines.
On Saturday, voters who live within the Houston ISD will go to the polls to determine how - or if - the district will pay the state millions in "recapture" fees. Whatever voters decide on Proposition 1, the Houston ISD will take a financial hit, officials say.

Recapture, and school finance, can be difficult to grasp. To help, here are the answers to some questions about the ballot measure.

Q: What is recapture?

A: Recapture is the process by which so-called property wealthy school districts pay the state a fee that is then redistributed to school districts that raise little through local property taxes of their own.

Q: Why is recapture back on the ballot?

A: After 62 percent of voters asked the district last fall not to pay the state's recapture fee, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath threatened to "detach" some of Houston's most valuable commercial properties from Houston ISD and give their taxes to a property-poor district, such as Aldine ISD. In February, three HISD trustees said lawmakers and others in Austin were furious at the district for refusing to pay recapture and hinted at vindictive action. Those fears, and the fears about what could happen if the state detaches commercial properties from a district, spurred the board to vote 5-3, with one abstention, in favor of holding a second referendum on May 6.

Q: Do other states use recapture, and why does Texas use it?

A: Texas and Vermont are the only two states that use recapture to fund schools equitably, according to Mike Griffith of the nonprofit Education Commission of the States. Texas established recapture in 1993 after a court ruled that the state must find a way to ensure its schools are equitably funded in rural, urban, property-wealthy and property-poor districts. Texas relies on recapture because other options such as instituting an income tax or creating a statewide property tax are prohibited by the state's constitution.

Q: How much would Houston ISD owe if it pays the recapture fees, and how much would it lose if the state "detaches" some of its commercial properties?

A: State officials have told Houston ISD that they owe $77.5 million in recapture fees this year. But that amount would balloon in coming years, costing HISD about $376 million by the 2019-2020 school year. If the state "detaches" some of Houston's commercial properties, it could lose an estimated $98.4 million this year and perhaps as much as $413.2, though that figure could rise, fall or stay the same based on changes in property values. In either scenario, the district could lose more than 15 percent of its budget in coming years.

Q: What does a "for" vote mean, and what does an "against" vote mean?

A: The new referendum reads: "Authorizing the board of trustees of Houston Independent School District to purchase attendance credits from the state with local tax revenues." A vote "for" purchasing attendance credits would mean the district would willingly pay the state's recapture fee. A vote "against" would mean the state would detach some local commercial property.

Q: How did the state decide Houston is property value-rich when more than 70 percent of its students come from low-income families?

A: State officials use "weighted average daily attendance" figures that take into account the number of low-income and other students. For example, Houston ISD's weighted average daily attendance is a little more than 260,000, even though the district only serves about 214,000 students. A district's total property value is divided by the weighted average daily attendance, and if those numbers are greater than a state-set threshold, the district will likely be subject to recapture payments.

Q: How many other districts pay recapture fees?

A: Of Texas' more than 1,200 school districts, as many as 379 could pay recapture fees this year. When recapture started in 1993, only 34 school districts paid recapture fees. Other districts in the Houston area will have to pay the fees this year, as well.

Q: Are state lawmakers looking at changing recapture and school finance laws?

A: After Houston voters opted not to pay the state recapture fees in November, the Texas Senate created a work-study group to look into overhauling the state's school funding formula. But that committee could take years to produce meaningful recommendations to the state. Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Houston, also proposed a bill that would pump $1.6 billion into Texas public schools and would lessen the amount of money that property-value wealthy school districts pay in recapture. While that bill passed the House, it has not yet made it out of a Senate committee.
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In an explosive and rare move, Texas judicial authorities on Wednesday asked the Texas Supreme Court to suspend a Harris County justice of the peace accused of misusing illegal drugs, "sexting" a court employee and lying about her relationship with a convicted conman.

The sordid list of accusations against Judge Hilary Green, Justice of the Peace in the county's 7th Precinct, were revealed in a 316-page court filing by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct's to the state's highest court.

The document describes four separate judicial misconduct complaints against Green made between 2012 and 2016 that were previously not released under commission rules.

RELATED: Divorce turns ugly for Ronald Green and Hilary Harmon Green

In her response to the commission, Green admitted to many of the allegations, including illegally obtaining prescription drugs and using marijuana and Ecstasy at the same time she was presiding over low-level drug possession cases involving minors in her court, the records show.

"Judge Green's outright betrayal of the public's trust warrants her immediate suspension pending formal proceedings," the filing says.

The Texas Supreme Court has not yet taken action on the suspension request and there is no deadline for it to rule.

The commission filing confirms that the latest misconduct complaint against Green arrived in 2016 from a man who Green has admitted was her extramarital lover, Claude Barnes. Other allegations were made by Green's ex-husband, former Houston Controller Ronald Green, as part of their divorce.

Green has not responded to the commission's request she be suspended. But her attorney, Chip Babcock, said he plans to argue that Green cannot be removed from office for alleged misconduct that occurred prior to November 2016, when she was re-elected to office. Her re-election occurred after most of the allegations against her were made public in articles in the Houston Chronicle, or by her opponents during the campaign.

In support of his argument, Babcock cited a Texas state law that says "an officer may not be removed ... for an act the officer committed before election to office."

Others have interpreted that statute to mean before a public official initially took office, which in Green's case was in 2007.

But Babcock emphasized in an interview that allegations about Green's illegal drug use and sexual misconduct came to light in 2015 and 2016 from "her ex-husband and an admittedly bitter and angry former companion."

Babcock said that during Green's 2016 campaign, the bulk of the allegations against her "were aired publicly and after they were aired publicly, Judge Green ran in a contested Democratic Primary against a number of candidates opposing her and defeated them with a substantial amount of the vote and subsequently won the general election."

In his complaint, Barnes describes several occasions when he saw Hilary Green illegally abuse drugs. He claims that during their long-time affair the judge asked him to illegally purchase Tussionex, a prescription cough medicine, on the black market for her. He also describes how he consumed both Ecstacy and marijuana with Green. And he claims that one of Green's court officers took marijuana from a detainee and gave it to her.

In her commission responses, Green admitted to misusing drugs with Barnes and to a dependence on Tussionex.

In interviews and in sworn statements, Barnes also provided details of two incidents in which he and the judge hired call girls for three-way sex - including an incident involving a woman summoned from Backpage.com in Houston, and another hired while Green was staying in a hotel for a judicial conference in Austin.

Another misconduct complaint, initiated by the commission itself, is based on broader allegations published by the Chronicle in a May 16, 2015 article that described claims made by Ronald Green. In divorce filings, Green alleged his former wife was a prescription drug addict who engaged in several extra-martial affairs.



In divorce papers, Ronald Green also alleged that his wife had lied to the commission in response to two older judicial misconduct complaints related to Judge Green's relationship with a convicted conman named Dwayne Jordon.

The Houston Chronicle wrote about ethical questions raised about Green's rulings in Jordon's favor in 2012. But the commission initially took no action on two related misconduct complaints alleging she had a conflict of interest.

RELATED: Ethics issues arise in rulings by justice of the peace:

Two different people filed complaints in 2012 alleging that Green had failed to recuse herself from a real estate dispute and eviction matters involving Jordon, a five-time felon. In one of those matters, Green's rulings helped Jordon temporarily seize control of his grandfather's home from his uncle, through an illegal eviction.

On Wednesday, the commission for the first time revealed that it had dismissed the 2012 complaints only after Green claimed to have no relationship with Jordon outside of court - except for "one time in 2009 or 2010 when my son was invited to a birthday party."

In her responses, Green has said she simply forgot about other occasions when they'd socialized, commission papers show.

But commission officials claim that Green told them several lies as they attempted to investigate the complaints against her, the agency's filing says. "Judge Green's pattern of deception to the Commission is incompatible with continuing to serve as a judge."

The removal request against her is based in part on her own admissions to illegal drug use, lying to the commission and sexting with a court employee and asking him to obtain prescription cough medicine for her, the commission record shows.

"Based on the evidence before it, the Commission concluded that Judge Green engaged in willful violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct, willful and persistent conduct clearly inconsistent with the proper performance of her duties that cast public discredit upon the judiciary and on the administration of justice in the State of Texas," the filing says.

Most judicial misconduct matters are resolved quietly in Texas behind closed doors. But Green has vowed to publicly fight removal, Babock said.

Ultimately, commission officials would have to hold a public trial before seeking authority to remove her from the bench - a step that's very rare in Texas, said Eric Vinson, Executive Director of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. The last contested formal proceeding in Texas was in 2008.
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The 21-year-old UT student accused in Mondays stabbing rampage near the University of Texas at Austin said voices in his head told him it really didn't happen, his arrest affidavit shows.

Kendrex White, a junior UT biology student, was charged with murder, accused of fatally stabbing Harrison Brown, 19, a first-year UT student, in the chest and and injuring three others. Police said White chose his victims apparently at random in a crowded East Campus area.

When police asked White if he knew why he was in their custody, he told them: Yes, accusations of pushing someone down and I think using a bladed weapon, the affidavit states.

RELATED: Police say UT stabbing suspect suffered from mental illness

Witnesses told police White exited the Student Activity Center at the university and headed across the street to Gregory Gymnasium, an area packed with dormitory buildings near the campuss largest library. The affidavit said a friend of Brown saw White make a punching motion toward the first-year student.

I think he just stabbed me, Brown said, clutching his chest, another witness said.

White then walked south, on the west side of the gym, found a student sitting at a picnic table and stabbed him in the back of the head, then stabbed two others near a food truck in the vicinity, said UT Austin Police Chief David Carter at a press conference Tuesday.

White told police the voices in his head told him to tell the truth and withhold any action that he did because it really didn't happen, according to the affidavit.

RELATED: Here's what we know about UT-Austin stabbing suspect Kendrex White

He stopped the interview and said: If I did something I don't remember then I want to be told. Weeks before the attack, White was committed for mental health issues at a facility in a different city, Carter said.

A witness told police he saw White wiping blood from the blade of a knife. White could not confirm if the knife found on the ground in the Jester Center, a large dormitory complex where he was apprehended, belonged to him, the affidavit said. He did tell officers that he purchased a knife for protection and Monday was the first time he'd carried it.

During the interview, police noticed White had two fresh cuts on his left hand and wrist. He is being held in the Travis County Jail, with bail set at $1 million.

Brown was trying to decide what path he wanted to follow in his life, UT President Greg Fenves said at Tuesdays press conference.

RELATED: Students panicked on social media amid attack reports

His brother John told me he really wanted to follow his passion for music, Fenves said. We will never be able to hear Harrison play and sing again, and for this our hearts are breaking and we are deeply, deeply saddened.

A GoFundMe page for Brown has raised more than $100,000 for his family. A vigil for the student was planned at the university Wednesday evening.

Authorities have not identified the other three students injured in the attack, but one, Stuart Bayliss of Katy, was interviewed by reporters at KVUE, an Austin TV station after he was released from the hospital Wednesday. The affidavit said all three students were attacked from behind  two hit in the back of the neck and head and the other stabbed in the back, requiring surgery, and that the victims said they didn't realize they had been stabbed.

Texas Department of Public Safety Commander Joe Ortiz has said security at the university would be ramped up to include state troopers patrolling in vehicles and on motorcycles, bicycles and horses for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, until the department is told otherwise. Carter said the additional patrols would continue as long as necessary.

kbradshaw@express-news.net

Twitter: @kbrad5
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Portraying a college professor dying of cancer was "life-changing" for Lillian Spigner.

"It changed my perspective on how I see death and how I see life," explained the J. Frank Dobie High School senior.

"Death is simply a comma," she said. "It separates life from eternal life."

Spigner won best actress at this spring's District 22-6A University Interscholastic League one-act play contest when she played Dr. Vivian Bearing in Margaret Edson's 1999 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, "Wit."

In addition, Dobie's production was chosen the best among one-acts from Pasadena ISD's five high schools, as well as productions from Alvin, Manvel, Pearland and Pearland Dawson.

Next, Spigner was awarded all-star cast honors at bi-district, area and region.

However, no Bay Area schools advanced to this year's state finals.

The end of the road for "Wit," said Spigner, "was bittersweet. We had 12-hour-long practices, and I didn't know what sleep was. But the cast and crew really 'brought it' as a family, and you really don't want to lose the connections you made."

Spigner will compete in national speech and debate faceoffs this semester.

She's also looking forward to prom and graduation, before enrolling at Wylie College in Marshall, on "a full-ride scholarship." After graduating from Wylie, Spigner plans to attend an acting conservatory.

The daughter of Treggy Spigner and Holly Hill, both of Houston, never imagined that she would be cast in the leading role of "Wit."

"We had read the story in theater (class), but I did not see me as her at all. I had a different picture of her in my mind," she said. "She is such a big person, and I didn't think of my 18-year-old self as a 50-year-old college English professor."

However, once Spigner was cast, she said, "I re-read the script every day. I watched my mom's mom, and how she carried herself, because the character called for very detailed nuances."

Several other Dobie thespians also collected awards in the UIL competition, said Juliet Weigand, who directed the play along with fellow Dobie theater teachers Scotty Fults, Nathan Wernig and Kelly Hancock.

As Vivian's 80-year-old former professor, Ariana Okhuozagbon won honorable mention at bi-district and region, and all-star cast at area.

Sean Saperstein was awarded honorable mention at both district and area, portraying Jason, a clinical oncology fellow and a former student of Vivian.

As Susie, Vivian's primary nurse, Kimber Vanek won all-star cast award at district and honorable mention at bi-district.

Rounding out the cast were Hunter-Christian Garcia as Vivian's father, Caitlyn Woitena, Breanna Coleman, Julissa Davila, Tyler Tran, Carlos Cantu, Elyssa Armenta and Nathaniel Taylor.

Sound designer Jonathan Gonzalez won best male technician at district, and each of the following students earned all-star technical awards: lighting technician Tiffany Nguyen at district, stage manager Fiorella Morin at bi-district, lighting specialist Natalie Nguyen at area, and costume chief Cindy Vuong at region.

Alternates were Ivy Hua, Xitali Martinez, Orion Wilson and Stephanie Horton.

"I couldn't be more proud of this company," said Weigand. "What an amazing journey we had this year."

Don Maines is a freelance writer who can be reached at donmaines@att.net
Texas motorists looking for a new environmentally-friendly design for the license plate are in luck.

On Wednesday, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department announced the "Texas Rivers" conservation-themed license plate.
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Mayor Sylvester Turner on Thursday heartily endorsed a proposal to build a data science institute in Houston on the 300-plus acres that the University of Texas System purchased last year.

In his lunchtime State of the City address, Turner asked local universities, UT and Texas A&M University to take up recommendations from a UT task force, which said that an institute for data science would bolster the citys energy and health sectors. The group envisioned collaborations with industry and national laboratories, according to a report obtained by the Houston Chronicle.

"We cannot let this opportunity slip through our fingers because the initial approach was wrong," he said at the speech, referencing UT Chancellor William McRaven's surprise rollout of the land purchase in late 2015. Then, McRaven had no public plans for how to use the property.

University of Houston Board of Regents chairman Tilman Fertitta said Thursday that the university was "excited to sit down and collaborate" with Rice University, Texas Southern University, Texas A&M University and UT. Turner called on those schools to come to the table and "make it happen." He urged business and science interests to join, too.

Turner said to UH, "If we are going to become Tier One, and we are, we must not be scared of competition. We must take them on and make it happen."

Fertitta's stance marked a reversal from UH's position in early 2016, when it declined to participate on UT's task force. "If all these other universities are involved, we have no problem with being a part of it," he said. "We don't want any one university to come in and dictate."

McRaven called off the project in March, before the idea for the center was ever presented, amid intense political pressure and opposition from UT regents and the University of Houston.

Turner, a University of Houston alumnus, said in an interview that he was approached by developer David Wolff to support the project. Wolff has tried to rally lawmakers, UT alumni and other Houston leaders to favor the idea.

Supporters of the proposal say cutting-edge data science would keep Houston at the forefront of energy and health industries. The proposals authors imagined the institutes work leading to more efficient and sustainable energy distribution and smarter health care delivery.

Paul Hobby, co-chair of the task force and founding partner of Genesis Park, called Turner's statements "good news for Houston" in an email. "I appreciate the Mayor's leadership," he said, declining to comment further.

Resurrecting the proposal, however, may prove logistically and politically challenging, analysts said Thursday. Texas lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, have been critical of UTs $215 million land purchase, which occurred without consulting them. Gov. Greg Abbott never gave his support for the project.

Meanwhile, state universities this session are preparing for steep financial cuts in a tight budget cycle overall.

McRaven, when cancelling the project in March, said it was taking away from UTs existing universities and health institutions, echoing concerns raised by UTs own regents. McRavens failed venture cost him political capital among several state lawmakers and Abbotts office, according to various state officials.

And UH boosters have not eased off of their criticism of the purchase.

They call UTs purchase an invasion that would present unfair competition for faculty, students and research funding. Unlike UH, UT can access the lucrative Permanent University Fund, a state-owned investment fund that funnels billions to A&M and the UT exclusively.

UH Board of Regents chairman Tilman Fertitta slammed the purchase as UTs arrogance in April. What happened there is the case of someone having PUF funds and too much money, he said.

"You've got a fired-up alumni base that continues to look at the project as a potential UT in Houston campus, which they see as an existential threat to the viability of UH," said Jay Kumar Aiyer, a Texas Southern University public policy professor.

The project hinges on participation from UT and UH -- and more state revenue benefiting public universities, said Mark Jones, a Rice University political science professor.

"If UH balks at this idea, it's effectively a no-go, (and) the same with UT," he said. "In theory, it could be done, but there are a host of barriers that stand in the way of it actually coming to fruition, ranging from the political opposition from UH to the tight revenue situation that the state finds itself in right now."

Turner said Thursday that he had spoken with Fertitta and UH Chancellor and President Renu Khator about the project. Representatives for Fertitta and Khator did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the University of Texas System declined comment.

Reporter Rebecca Elliott contributed to this story.
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Some in Texas are up in arms after learning that a bill approved by the Texas House could require high school students to pass a version of the standard civics test that immigrants take. The test is given when applying for United States citizenship.

The Texas House has tentatively approved House Bill 1776, which could replace a required U.S. history course needed to graduate with a civics test that cuts through all that.



HISTORY LESSON: Texas once welcomed, even recruited immigrants

The test isnt terribly easy and requires up-to-date knowledge and discernment. Students could take the online test any time after entering the ninth grade if they think they can pass it. Its also multiple choice.

The bill can be read here in full online.

Ten of the 100 possible questions are asked. Six correct answers are required to pass the immigration test. The bill, though, would require better than 70 percent of the questions to be answered correctly. There is no limit to how many times a student can take the test to pass it.

According to the Texas Tribune on Wednesday, one of the authors of the bill, State Rep. Trent Ashby, R-Lufkin, said in March that the bill would ensure high-schoolers get to learn the most critical parts of government.

Though elements of the current test have importance, this bill acknowledges that there are some things our students absolutely must understand and appreciate before they finish high school, Ashby said in a hearing in front of the House Public Education Committee. This knowledge is critical to becoming an engaged citizen in our society, which is what we expect of any new U.S. citizens.

WELCOME HOME: This is where immigrants in Texas are moving to

Educational experts in Texas counter that while the test has some merit, it is based on repetition and not actual knowledge of the historical meaning.

A child wouldnt need to have any historical context to be able to recite how many congressmen we have in the United States House of Representatives, how many you know, and so on and so forth, Joni Rodela with Lubbock ISD told KCBD-TV in that city.

On the flip side, within the STAAR test, as most of these questions are written in a very complex manner, meaning that there are multiple steps that the child needs to be able to think through before they can answer the question," Rodela said.

Click through the slideshow above to see if you could pass the current U.S. citizenship test
With pension reform on the horizon, Mayor Sylvester Turner plans to make good on his pledge to ask voters to lift Houston's cap on property tax collections in November.

Removing the voter-imposed revenue cap would loosen one of Houston's primary fiscal constraints as it confronts still-hefty pension and debt costs that leave little breathing room to maintain city services.

"Shared sacrifice means shared sacrifice by all," Turner told the Houston Chronicle's editorial board Wednesday, previewing his Thursday State of the City address.

The mayor's plan  which is contingent on pension reform  means November's ballot could include multiple referendums with vast financial implications for the city that also could prove difficult to sell on the campaign trail.

If Houston's pension reform deal wins legislative passage, it likely will include a requirement that voters approve the $1 billion in bonds Turner plans to inject into the under-funded police and municipal pensions. The bonds would not require a tax hike, but if the vote fails, the bill as passed by the state Senate on Monday would reverse the groups' benefit cuts.

Meanwhile, a petition submitted two weeks ago that is being reviewed by the City Secretary calls for a public vote to require a shift to 401(k)-style defined contribution plans for all city workers hired after the start of 2018.

Lifting the revenue cap, on the other hand, would increase homeowners' property taxes. The owner of a $200,000 Houston home saved about $84 in taxes over the last three years, costing the city an estimated $220 million in revenue.

Turner appeared undaunted by the prospect of a financially-weighty ballot.

"I have talked openly and candidly about the (pension obligation bonds), the pension reforms  Kingwood to Spring Branch. Even in Kingwood," Turner said, "once you explain it and people understand the deal, I didn't get a lot of pushback."

The mayor also questioned whether a charter amendment to require 401(k)-style pension plans would be binding, since Houston's pension systems are controlled by state statute.

"How can you amend a state statute through a city referendum?" he asked. "If that were the case, the city could have amended its pension system a long time ago."
What just happened?

Yesterday the governor of Puerto Rico announced the island would seek to deal with its $70 billion debt crisis in federal bankruptcy court, marking the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.

How did Puerto Ricos debt crisis happen?

During the Spanish-American War in the late 1890s the U.S. military invaded the Spanish-owned island of Puerto Rico. After the war ended, the U.S. retained control, making the islands an unincorporated territory and the residents U.S. citizens.

In 1917, Congress passed the Puerto Rican Federal Relations Act of 1917 which, among other features, gave the territory triple tax exemption (i.e., local, state, and federal) on most Puerto Rican bonds. Because the bonds were exempt regardless of where the bondholder resides, this exemption made Puerto Rican bonds attractive to investors both on the island and the mainland of the U.S. The local and territorial governments of Puerto Rico were able to sell bonds as a way to balance the territorys budget and fund municipal services.

Additionally, the island benefited from tax breaks for corporations that moved to the island. From the 1970s to the 1990s, numerous industriesfrom clothing to pharmaceuticalsmoved operations to Puerto Rico. But Congress allowed those tax incentives to expire in 1996, which lead to an exodus of companies (and people) back to the mainland. This decline, combined with an economic depression that has lasted 11 years, reduced Puerto Ricos tax base, leading government officials to issue even more debt to cover the shortfall.

In 2014, the debt-to-GDP ratio reached 68 percent, which drove concerns the island would default on the bonds it had issued. In February 2014, three American credit rating agencies downgraded the governments debt to non-investment grade (i.e., junk) which made borrowing by the government even more difficult.

About half of Puerto Ricos budget was going to service the debt, so the territory passed a law suspending through January 2017 payments to investors holding general-obligation bonds, sales-tax securities and debt from the islands Government Development Bank, and other public agencies.

If this has been going on for years, why is it just now being resolved?

Last year Puerto Rico defaulted on a principal payment of $399 millionwhich was the islands largest default to date. That action prompted Congress to expedite a plan to oversee the problem. In June Congress passed the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA).

PROMESA created a seven person board, appointed by the president, to oversee the islands negotiations with creditors. The law also allowed for bankruptcy-like proceedings overseen by a federal court.

Why cant the municipalities in Puerto Rico that issued the bonds just declare bankruptcy?

Unlike municipalities in states (think: Detroit), cities in Puerto Rico are not allowed to declare bankruptcy. The process they will undergo wont officially be called bankruptcy because Puerto Rico is not part of a U.S. state and is thus legally barred from using Chapter 9, the bankruptcy route normally taken by insolvent local governments.

Is Puerto Ricos problem similar to the financial crisis in Greece?

Yes and no. Some of the underlying problems (e.g., a weak tax base) are similar, but a major difference is that most of Greeces debt is held by foreign countries while Puerto Ricos debt is owned by individual investors, pension funds, etc. That makes it more difficult for the default to be absorbed.

Additionally, if Congress allows a default by a U.S. territory it could have an effect on state and municipal bonds, causing bondholders to seek higher yields to offset the risk. This would mean that state and city taxpayers would have to pay more to finance local projects.

What is President Trumps position?

Last week on Twitter President Trump wrote: Democrats are trying to bail out insurance companies from disastrous #ObamaCare, and Puerto Rico with your tax dollars. Sad!

Other than citizens of Puerto Rico, who will be most affected by a defaults on the bonds?

American investors, particular older people and retirees. The bonds were considered a safe investment so they are held by a large number of mutual funds. Over 20 percent (377 out of 1,884) of bond mutual funds own Puerto Rican bonds, according to data from Morningstar.

Because older people and retirees tend to hold more of their money in bonds, a default could affect their savings or retirement income.
AUSTIN  After weeks of politically touchy negotiations capped by a shove from a Houston federal judge, the Texas Senate on Thursday approved significant changes in the state's bail bond system designed to keep of low-level offenders from sitting in jail because they cannot afford to pay for their release.

Approved by a final vote of 21-10, Senate Bill 1338 will mandate risk assessments for criminal defendants who are eligible for bail  an assessment that the author, Sen. John Whitmire of Houston, said will mean more non-violent offenders who should not be kept in jail can be released.

"This is a very serious matter," Whitmire said, noting that a recent federal court in Houston mandates much of what the bill seeks to accomplish. "This will mean significant changes in some counties that will improve how we administer justice."

In recent days, a federal judge in Houston ordered changes to Harris County's bond-release system that Whitmire said are covered by his bill.

Sweeping reforms to the state's bail-bond procedures were endorsed earlier this year by the chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court and the presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Both said the current system keeps too many people behind bars for too long because of their inability to pay, raising constitutional questions.

Bail bondsmen across Texas had strongly opposed the original bill, contending it would bankrupt the industry and was an unnecessary overreach by government. They used their political clout to pressure Whitmire  a key power player as the Senate's longest-serving member  to soften the bill considerably, before it could even gain enough votes to pass out of his own committee.

Much of the opposition came from Houston and other urban centers in Texas, where bondsmen insisted that the proposed changes would cause chaos in a longstanding bond system and could cost taxpayers millions of dollars in additional costs.

The Senate-approved version now faces an uncertain future in the House, where bondsmen have promised to continue their fight. Bondsmen have said the measure would evaporate much of their bread-and-butter business in cash bonds for low-level defendants.

The Senate vote split party lines. Seven of the 10 senators who voted against approval are Republicans, though many GOP members sided with Whitmire to vote for approval.

As late as Wednesday, Whitmire said he was still looking for enough votes to bring the measure up for Senate debate  a signal of the political clout that the bail bond industry has at the Texas statehouse.
AUSTIN -- The Republican-backed 'sanctuary cities' ban cleared its final legislative hurdle Wednesday after the Senate voted to agree with the House's changes to the original bill, sending the controversial proposal to Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature.

The bill in question, Senate Bill 4, would grant sweeping new powers to police officers by allowing them to question a person's immigration status if they have been detained with reasonable suspicion. The legislation also would prohibit local jurisdictions from passing or enforcing ordinances that prohibit police officers from inquiring about a detained person's immigration status.

OPPOSITION: Protesters stage sit-in at governor's office over 'sanctuary cities' bill

In a 20-11 party line vote, senators accepted the House version that added several areas where SB 4 would not apply, including government mental health care facilities and hospitals. Among other changes, it also would exclude officers who are contracted by religious organizations and schools, though it will apply to police departments on college campuses.

Calling it a status quo bill, GOP Sen. Charles Perry of Lubbock said his SB 4 does not change the way a Texas police officer can detain a person who they suspect could be involved in a crime. He defended the bill from critics who said it will lead to racial profiling and turn Texas police officers into federal immigration authorities.

Nowhere in the bill as it came back from the House does it instruct officers to demand papers, Perry said. Nowhere in the bill does it allow an officer to enforce federal immigration law. Officers still do not have the authority to arrest someone merely for being unlawfully present (in the country), which is a federal power.

Several Democratic senators challenged Perry's assertions about how the bill would empower police and about the effects SB 4 would have on the immigrant communities in their districts.

AGAINST: Houston police chief speaks out against 'sanctuary cities' bill

Its gone from a bad bill to a really, really bad, horrible bill that will result in police officers investigating the immigration status of a person, including children, without probable cause, said Sen. Sylvia Garcia, a Democrat from Houston. Im afraid this legislation will lead to harassment and profiling of Latinos, and this is the last thing any of us would want. ... This bill will go from a broken taillight to a broken family to broken faith in our system.

In his State of the State address, Abbott deemed a prohibition on so-called 'sanctuary cities' an emergency item for lawmakers this session, a designation that allowed them to begin work on SB 4 at an expedited pace. The governor is expected to sign the bill promptly.

Last week, the House passed SB 4 on a party line vote with 94 Republicans in support and 53 Democrats against it after a nearly 16-hour debate that turned emotional several times. The Senate approved its version, also on a party line vote, in February.

Democrats and progressive groups have promised to file an immediate court challenge to SB 4 after Abbott signs the measure. Attorney General Ken Paxton's office has assured Republican legislators that the bill can withstand such a lawsuit.

We will let the court systems figure this out, Perry said.
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The suspect in three Greenwich robberies arrested early Wednesday in southern California was a beefcake model and a fitness fanatic.

David Byers, 34, of Solana Beach, Ca., managed to evade pursuers in Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and Arizona after a series of robberies in Greenwich, but he was eventually led away in handcuffs in the San Diego area, according to police.

The arrest came as a surprise to those who worked with Byers in the modeling field, where he enjoyed some success.

I know hes an unusual guy, but bank robbery doesnt seem like his thing, said Michael Stokes, a California photographer who did a modeling shoot with Byers earlier this year. Hes always been so decent and respectful with me.

While his modeling was gaining him some notoriety, Byers career as an alleged gunman brought him a different kind of attention  that of numerous law-enforcement agencies around the country. FBI agents and members of the San Diego County Sheriffs Office apprehended him without incident, following a cross-country manhunt.

Greenwich police are seeking to have Byers extradited to Greenwich, where he will face one count of first-degree robbery, a charge that includes robbery with a gun, two counts of third-degree robbery, two counts of larceny and a felony count of reckless endangerment.

Byers reportedly has a girlfriend in the New York area and a daughter in southern California. He is accused of holding up the Chase bank in Riverside twice last week. He is also being charged with the robbery of the Citgo gas station in Cos Cob last Monday night.

Greenwich Police said they, working with other law enforcement agencies, developed leads on the case that put Byers in the San Diego area.

He escaped an extensive manhunt Friday evening stretching from Stamford to Port Chester, N.Y.  a search that began after police tracked him to the JHouse hotel and bar in Riverside. He took off from the JHouse in a stolen Range Rover before ditching the car on Interstate-95, and running into a residential section of Old Greenwich near the highway. He was later pursued in Pennsylvania, but again thwarted law-enforcement trackers.

In Yuma City, Ariz.., according to authorities there, he was wanted in connection with stealing a vehicle and felony flight. He was last seen there at 7 a.m. Monday, near a Holiday Inn.

A series of photos taken of Byers for his modeling career show off a well-sculpted physique and numerous works of body art. When police gave out a description of the wanted man, they noted he had a neck tattoo.

The robbery suspect has a prior arrest record.

According to a judicial data base, he was arrested in March of this year in San Diego and charged with burglary, resisting arrest, grand theft and driving while intoxicated. He was also arrested in June of 2016 by San Diego police, on charges that were not immediately available.

Greenwich Police Lt. David Nemecek said other agencies involved in the investigation included the Connecticut State Police, Stamford Police, Westchester County Police, the Metropolitan Transit Authority Police, Port Chester Police and the FBI.

Nemecek said it is likely that other law enforcement agencies will be filing criminal charges against Byers.
The summers final Live on the Waterfront concert was held Wednesday evening at Prince Arthurs Landing. The popular series in Thunder Bay has completed nine weekly shows that began on July 13. Wednesdays concert was unique as it was held one hour later in the evening to mesh with the 10 p.
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Trisha's full name is Trisha Krishnan.She is the Tamil Brahmin family. But it is born in the palakkal Kerala. Then their family moved to Chennai. The only daughter. Trisha's father was mostly overseas. I hear a Russian word Trisha. That word means victory. The daughter is named Trisha by special mention. Trisha is a very fun boy. One time they came to the phone from Trisha School Principal. Then she is doing her job. When she went to school from Kangaroo what was going to happen, the Principal tree showed the stalk. There Trisha is hanging on the floor. The Principal Trisha told her mother that if she did anything, she would not be responsible. She was so fierce as a child. But it is not going to be educated.

Her mother never wanted to do Trisha.There is no training yet. But family members have never denied Trisha's likes. Trisha missed Chennai Chennai (1999) to participate in the tournament.The crown trishane is in it. Many asked him to act in movies. Trisha's mother said that she was in the school final and that she would go to a beauty contest but not in the movies unless she was sent. However, director Priyadarshan has taken over. If it is to act in films, then this is a good opportunity. He said that he is doing Malayalam films in Tamil, and the film is like if he wants it. Okay, it's okay to try the film once. Trisha was very well received, and the name also continued in the film industry as well.
Local police departments will likely continue to hand out vehicle accident reports after some confusion over whether they or New Hampshires Department of Motor Vehicles should have that power.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Tuesday to back a bill clarifying local departments authority to share accident information with drivers involved and insurance companies.

This makes it clear that the (Department of Safetys) recent interpretation is reversed, and the traditional practice of allowing towns to distribute these kinds of accident reports will continue, Republican Rep. Neal Kurk said.

The law requires drivers involved in accidents to provide each other with their names, addresses, license plate and registration numbers and the names and addresses of occupants in the cars. Local police departments that collect that information at the scene have long shared it with the parties involved if its not exchanged.

But the Department of Safety started telling local departments to stop in recent months, citing a new interpretation of the Driver Privacy Act, a law passed in 1996. Chief Andrew Shagoury, vice president of the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police, said officers were told at various times that they could no longer hand out the information.

Lobbyists for State Farm insurance and the New Hampshire Electric Co-Op, as well as attorney Anna Zimmerman, said having to go through the Department of Motor Vehicles is a cumbersome process that can slow down insurance claims or other necessary actions.

Zimmerman, president of the New Hampshire Association for Justice, said she has clients who have had a hard time obtaining reports through the Department of Motor Vehicles that would otherwise be easy to get from the local police.

It causes delays for both the insurance companies and for the people, she said.

No one, including the Department of Safety, testified against the bill. Assistant Safety Commissioner Rick Bailey said some officials with safety and the attorney generals office recently realized the law as written didnt match up with traditional practice.

The intent has always been that local law enforcement could provide this information about an accident to the parties involved, Bailey said. Clearly, with all the turmoil that you see the statute wasnt clear on that.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A Connecticut city on Tuesday announced that it has settled a lawsuit filed by the family of three girls who died in a Christmas morning house fire that also killed their grandparents.

Terms of the settlement announced by Stamford legal affairs director Kathryn Emmett were not disclosed, but include a $250,000 donation from the city to a charity or school to be determined by the girls family.

The Dec. 25, 2011, fire killed 7-year-old twins Grace and Sarah Badger, 9-year-old Lily Badger, and their maternal grandparents, Lomar and Pauline Johnson.

The girls father, Matthew Badger, sued on their behalf.

He died in February, but his brother, Sherwin Campbell Badger, took over as executor. Jury selection had started in the case and a trial was expected to begin this month.

The parties consider the settlement to be fair, Emmett said in a statement to The Advocate newspaper. The city is sympathetic to the tremendous losses suffered by the Badger family.

The defendants did not admit any liability or fault in the settlement.

I appreciate that the Stamford defendants have agreed to resolve this case, Campbell Badger said in the joint statement.

Matthew Badger filed the lawsuit in 2012 and also named several contractors who had worked on the large home overlooking Long Island Sound. The general contractor, Michael Borcina, was dating the girls mother, Madonna Badger, at the time, and both of them escaped the blaze.

Borcina and other contractors previously settled claims against them for a total of more than $8 million.

The suit said the city failed to properly inspect renovations at the home. The suit alleged the city and some officials were reckless by giving Borcina a building permit even though he had no contractors license, and approved plans that didnt include smoke detectors in the girls third-floor bedrooms, which were legally required.

The suit also said the city engaged in a cover-up when it tore down the house the day after it burned, thus eliminating evidence.

The citys lawyers had denied all the allegations in the suit.

The fire was blamed on fireplace ashes placed in a bin and left in a mudroom. Borcina initially told authorities that he put the bin in the mudroom, but later said in a deposition that Madonna Badger placed the ashes there.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The construction company that was remodeling a historic downtown Sioux Falls, S.D., building when it collapsed and killed a worker willfully ignored precautions, federal workplace safety officials allege.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Friday issued two new citations against Hultgren Construction. The company was renovating the former Copper Lounge building Dec. 2 when it collapsed, killing a construction worker and trapping an apartment resident under the rubble for hours.

The citations allege the company told employees to remove two load-bearing walls but did not provide instruction on how to install a temporary support system. The investigation found the company also failed to conduct an engineering survey before beginning the demolition work.

OSHA is proposing penalties of $101,400 for the new citations. That follows more than two dozen other citations and a $100,000 penalty issued against Hultgren Construction last week related to the construction site. A temporary labor company, Command Center, was also fined $114,000 last week and intends to contest its citations.

Hultgren Construction president Aaron Hultgren told the Argus Leader in an email Monday that his company has received the citations but declined comment.

Each step we take is with the utmost gravity and respect for everyone concerned, Hultgren wrote. We at Hultgren Construction remain committed to working through the process with OSHA and all other concerned parties.

An attorney representing the family of Ethan McMahon, the 24-year-old worker killed in the collapse, said OSHAs findings confirm the familys belief that the collapse was avoidable.

The OSHA citations issued today confirm that this tragedy was entirely preventable and should have never happened, attorney Vince Roche wrote.

The citation report was also being reviewed by an attorney for the family of Emily Fodness, the 22-year-old woman who was trapped in the rubble until firefighters rescued her.

Hultgren Construction has 15 days to contest the citations.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Uber Technologies Inc. Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick calls driverless cars an existential necessity for his company. If hes right, Uber cant afford to lose in its court fight with rival Waymo.

The two titans are wrangling in San Francisco federal court over allegations that Uber ripped off trade secrets from Waymos driverless project. On Wednesday, a judge will weigh the Alphabet Inc. units request to freeze Ubers efforts to develop a fully autonomous car until a jury issues a verdict on the case.

The companies are vying to be the first to develop a complete system for piloting vehicles that doesnt require driver oversight, a business both believe may be worth hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars a year. If the court stalls Ubers work until the lawsuit is resolved, it could quickly fall behind Waymo and other rivals, including General Motors Co.s Cruise Automation.

Alphabet says Ubers driverless car project is based on critical trade secrets stolen by an engineer, Anthony Levandowski, who it claims was recruited from Waymo last year. Waymo seemed to gain an edge when U.S. District Judge William Alsup said at an April 5 hearing that Uber probably wouldnt receive  a get-out-of-jail-free card. But last week, Uber announced that it had demoted Levandowski, cordoning him off from the development of the key technology in the case.

So Wednesday, Alsup will consider whether theres a need to shut Ubers program until the trial, now set for October, or give Uber a nod that it has done enough to insulate the program from any potential trade secret violations.

Worst-Case Scenario

The worst-case scenario for Uber is that the judge says, Theres no way you can, in my view, given all the facts Ive seen, move forward with this autonomous-vehicle project between now and trial without misusing this information that has already contaminated what youre engaged in,' said Jim Pooley, a Silicon Valley intellectual property lawyer who isnt involved in the case.

The best-case scenario would be that Alsup is convinced theres been a strong effort to voluntarily quarantine Mr. Levandowski and the Waymo information hasnt been used by Uber, Pooley said.

Last week, Waymo began the inaugural public tests of its technology in Phoenix. The company has collected almost 3 million miles in road tests to date, but only signed a deal with one carmaker despite efforts to partner more broadly. Uber, while starting its research initiative later, has started self-driving trials with passengers in three cities, including Phoenix.

Both companies face a growing list of rivals working to build driverless cars: California regulators doled out test permits for 30 companies this year, including some with roboticists that left Waymo and Uber.

14,000 Files

Waymo alleged in its February complaint that Levandowski took 14,000 confidential files before he left in 2016 to start his own company, which was acquired by Uber for $680 million. Waymo has argued that Uber has incorporated some information Levandowski took into its designs and a preliminary injunction is the only way to prevent further damage. Uber says it didnt steal Waymos trade secrets, and its technology is unique and developed without significant input from Levandowski.

Levandowski isnt a defendant in the case.

Alsups job at this stage of the litigation, with allegations of massive intellectual property theft, is to act as an after-the-fact risk manager and to determine whether Uber, even indirectly, relied on information taken from Waymo to make progress on designing its lidar, a union of light and radar, or on driverless technology more broadly, Pooley said.

Its a challenge for judges at the preliminary injunction stage to suss this out, he said.

Chase a Ghost

Uber lawyer Arturo Gonzalez has said the files Waymo says Levandowski stole never reached Uber computers or servers, and that examinations by forensics experts and attorneys of computers belonging to 131 former Google employees now at Uber have so far turned up one email and one two-page attachment that might be a Waymo trade secret. He said Waymo is sending Uber to chase a ghost and argued the purpose of the injunction is to try to stop us from participating in a market.

Googles role as the plaintiff is a rare one for an intellectual-property case. More often its the one accused of misusing others developments. Alsup presided over a six-year fight waged by Oracle Corp., which sued Google, saying the search giant should have gotten a license to use its Java program to develop the Android mobile operating system.

Self-driving cars are an obsession of the founders of Google, one in which theyve invested billions of dollars over almost a decade. The project was one of the first to emerge from Googles research lab intact and Waymo is now a test of whether Alphabet can create profitable businesses outside of online advertising.

Waymo notes in its filings how important the lawsuit is for its future, saying this is an exceptional case. It calls for exceptional relief.

The case is Waymo LLC v. Uber Technologies Inc., 17-cv-00939, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.
Tripoli launch.jpg

Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula launched the amphibious assault ship Tripoli on Monday, May 8.

(Ingalls Shipbuilding)

PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula launched the amphibious assault ship Tripoli (LHA 7) Monday -- 13 weeks ahead of the original construction schedule.

The Tripoli is the second of the America-class amphibious assault ships and was moved to the shipyard's floating dry dock on April 8. After some prep work to the ship's hull, it was launched Monday. Construction on the Bougainville (LHA 8) is set to begin in late 2018.

"Ingalls has been the Navy's large-deck amphib builder since the early 1970s," said Ingalls president Brian Cuccias. "Our vast knowledge and experience in the design and construction of these great ships is paying dividends--not only for the American taxpayer, but also for the Navy-Marine Corps team and the sailors and Marines who will be operating these important warships in defense of our country."

Ingalls is the sole builder of large-deck amphibious ships for the U.S. Navy and delivered it's first amphibious assault ship, the Iwo Jima-class USS Tripoli (LPH 10) in 1966. LHA 7 and its two predecessors are named for the Battle of Derne in 1805 -- a decisive victory of an army led by a detachment of U.S. Marines and soliders against the forces of Tripoli and the first recorded battle of U.S. forces overseas. LPH 10 was decommissioned in September 1995 and since 2015 has been stored with the Beaumont Reserve Fleet.

Watch the time-lapse video of the Tripoli launch (video courtesy Ingalls Shipbuilding):
The new federal organics rule covers a whole array of housing, husbandry, and management topics, including the prohibition of certain painful practices, like tail docking of pigs and cattle and debeaking of birds. Photo by Mary Beth Sweetland/The HSUS

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The organic market is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the food industry  generating more than $40 billion in sales last year alone. But increasingly, consumers want to know that the U.S. Department of Agricultures National Organic Program has integrity and meaning and that producers invoking the federal governments label are honoring the standards.

Yesterday, Washington Post reporter Peter Whoriskey broke a major investigation into a large organic milk producer in Colorado that appears to be skirting the rules on organics  in other words, a factory farming operation masquerading as an organic family farm. Whoriskey visited the complex in Colorado, with more than 15,000 cows and supplying Walmart, Costco, and other major retailers, and found it openly flouting requirements for grazing cows that must be primarily grass-fed. Thats not just a case of deceiving major grocers but also consumers who pay a premium for a product thats not what it appears to be.

Under current USDA regulations, cows in organic farms are required to have access to pasture. Factory farms like the Aurora Organic Dairy, profiled in Whoriskeys piece, also cheat legitimate organic farms, which comply with the letter and the spirit of the organic statute and regulations, and deny them business. These legitimate farms allow their animals to go outdoors, just like the pictures on the cartons indicate.

Not only do we need more vigorous enforcement of existing organic standards, but we also need fortified organic standards  standards that really mean something when it comes to animal welfare.

Fortunately, theres a new standard about to be implemented, as long as Congress and the new leadership at the USDA dont attempt to delay or dismantle it. There was an effort to include language to weaken the standard in the massive spending bill that the House approved today (and the Senate is set to approve later in the week), but our allies in Congress, led by Sen. Pat Leahy of Vermont, were able to stymie that effort. The new rule is now set to go into effect on May 19th, although there are conventional agribusiness interests plotting efforts to attach weakening language on other legislative vehicles.

The new rule covers a whole array of housing, husbandry, and management topics, including the prohibition of certain painful practices, like tail docking of pigs and cattle and debeaking of birds. Importantly, the rule sets minimum indoor and outdoor space requirements for egg-laying chickens, and requires that producers provide a sufficient number of exits and outdoor enrichment to entice birds to go outside on a daily basis. It also specifies that covered porches and similar structures do not qualify as outdoor space. While existing organic poultry operations have five years to come into compliance with outdoor access requirements for birds, the minimums for indoor space and all other welfare standards in the proposed rule will come into effect one year after the rule becomes effective.

This new organic standard, in the works for more than a decade and the product of input from farmers all around the nation, demonstrates the changing social consensus on animals among consumers increasingly concerned about farm animal welfare. A 2015 Consumer Reports survey found that more than 70 percent of Americans believe there should be meaningful minimum-size living space requirements for farm animals raised under the organic label, and that the animals should have access to the outdoors, yet the current regulations do not guarantee these basic protections for organically raised animals. Another Consumer Reports survey last month showed that more than 80 percent of Americans support the standards enshrined in the new rule. And yesterday, nearly 350 organic farmers wrote to lawmakers and urged them to stick with the rule, arguing that a meaningful organic standard allows them to appeal to consumers with an interest in stronger production standards and who are willing to pay more. That means more money for farmers on the ground, allowing more family farmers to stay in business.

The new organic animal welfare rule has the support of The HSUS, and of major organic companies and trade groups, including Egg Innovations, Organic Valley, Perdue Farms, and the Organic Trade Association, as well as consumer groups like Consumers Union and the Center for Food Safety. Efforts by the Trump administration to delay implementation of the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices rule would amount to an attack on animals, consumers, and family farmers who depend on a meaningful standard.
A lawsuit is challenging the constitutionality of Indianas charter school law that has allowed an evangelical Christian college to authorize public charter schools and receive public money.

The Indiana Coalition for Public Education-Monroe County last week filed a lawsuit to invalidate the charter of Seven Oaks Classical School in the small town of Ellettsville and halt public funding from going to the school and its authorizer, Grace College and Seminary . The school, the states superintendent of public instruction, and the Indiana Charter School Boards executive director are named as plaintiffs.

The superintendent and board declined comment and referred questions to the Indiana Attorney Generals Office.

Terry English, a lawyer for Seven Oaks, questioned in a press release the timing of the lawsuit because Grace College authorizes two other charter schools and Seven Oaks has been open since September.

Grace Colleges integrity and ability to participate as a charter school authorizer under Indiana law has never been challenged or even seriously questioned up to this point. And, Grace College is not the only religious or theological institution in the state capable of participating in the charter school approval process, English said in the press release.

Under Indiana law , one of the entities that can authorize charters is a nonprofit college or university that provides a four year educational program for which it awards a baccalaureate or more advanced degree.

The coalition that is suing is made up of parents, teachers and community members who advocate for public schools in Monroe County, including Elletsville where Seven Oaks operates. Previously, coalition members protested Seven Oaks charter request that was rejected by the states charter board before it was approved by Grace College.

Our chief concern is that Indiana law permits religious institutions like Grace College to decide whether to authorize charter schools, said Cathy Fuentes-R

ohwer, the coalitions chairwoman, in a press release . Charter schools are taxpayer-supported and take money away from our school corporations, so only state and local officials answerable to the public should be able to authorize them.

The lawsuit claims Grace College, which is in Winona Lake about 120 miles north of Indianapolis, should be forbidden from receiving 3 percent of the charter schools public funds, as allowed for authorizers under Indiana law.

The Seven Oaks charter is an affiliate of something called the Barney Charter School Initiative , an effort by Hillsdale College, a private religious college in Michigan, to open charter schools around the country. Hillsdale has already helped open 17 charters in several states since , including Texas, Georgia, and Florida. Currently, Hillsdale is aiming to open a charter in Chicago, according to the Chicago Tribune , which reported that the college helps design the curriculum, find a principal, train teachers, and provide other supports of its affiliated charters.

The number and type of charter school authorizers vary greatly throughout the country by state with some allowing only one authorizer and others permitting many entities to sponsor charters. See the laws by each state on the National Association of Charter School Authorizers website .

In addition to charter schools, Indiana also has one of the largest voucher programs in the country, allowing public dollars to pay for private school tuition. Watch a video about Indianas voucher program.
UPDATED

Renee Foose, who was locked in a power struggle with the Howard County, Md., school board, has resigned her post.

Foose, whose retirement, was announced Tuesday and was effective immediately, will be replaced by Michael Martirano, who will serve as acting superintendent until June 30, the Baltimore Sun reported.

Martirano is a longtime Maryland educator. He also served as West Virginias state education chief until he announced last year that he planned to leave in June 2017 to be closer to his family in Maryland.

He told the Baltimore Sun that he had always wanted to be Howard Countys superintendent where he previously served as director of elementary educationand that it was a dream come true to return to the county. Hed also served as superintendent of the St. Marys County school system.

The school board agreed to pay Foose $1.13 million in four installments until 2020, the Baltimore Sun reported Wednesday . When other benefits are added upincluding lifetime health benefitsFoose departure package could reach a whopping $1.65 million, according the paper.

Fooses annual salary was $273,000.

The power struggle between Foose and the school board dates to December, when three new members joined the board following the November elections. The new members were able to create a majority block on the seven-member panel, and the board subsequently passed eight resolutions that scaled back Fooses authority, according to The Sun.

Foose sued the school board accusing its members of trying to strip the superintendent of her lawful authority, Education Week reporter Francisco Vara-Orta wrote in January. She also alleged that she faced discrimination as an out lesbian, Vara-Orta reported. Board president Cynthia Vaillancourt told Vara-Orta that Foose was attempting to take over the boards ability to govern the district.

Foose, who was in the first year of a second four-year contract, told Vara-Orta at the time that she had no plans to leave her position.

The tension between the elected board and the superintendent spilled over into the district of 55,000 students.

In a joint statement issued by Foose and the board, Foose said she was proud of her time in Howard County and thanked the staff for their work.

I want to thank the students in the Howard County Public School System and their families for your strong support of our public schools, she said. I also want to thank the public officials in Howard County who supported my tenure as superintendent and supported continued excellence in the Howard County Public School System. I am proud of my service to the Howard County Public School System and have every expectation that the commitment to excellence in our public schools will continue in the future.

Vaillancourts statement also expressed gratitude to Foose.

The Board of Education of Howard County wishes to express its appreciation to Dr. Renee Foose for her commitment and service to the Howard County Public School System. During her tenure, Howard County was consistently ranked the top school system in the state and one of the top systems in the country, Vaillancourt said. We are grateful for her leadership.

According to the Baltimore Sun, the board is expected to meet on May 18 to consider several options related to Martiranos future with the district, including a one-year contract as interim superintendent or a four-year contract to serve as the permanent, full-time schools chief. The board can also decide to hire another candidate.

Photo: Michael Martirano, the former state education chief in West Virginia, will serve as acting superintendent of Howard County, Md., schools until June 30.

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The call on Weibo was met with a flood of 15,000 comments from Chinese netizens, who volunteered to "eat them to extinction".

Just a week ago, the Danish Embassy in China took its alien mollusk crisis to the mainland's vibrant social media, playfully inviting people to "come and eat" these shellfish invaders.

With an explosive spread of Pacific oysters from Asia choking up the Danish shoreline and harming local species, Chinese companies have come up with a quick fix - they will import the unwelcomed shellfish and send armies of tourists to Denmark, so that the Chinese foodies will guzzle them up with crushed garlic and chilli sauce.

Every crisis is an opportunity. And for Chinese businesses, the current one of stubborn oyster intruders overrunning parts of the coast of Denmark is spelling fortune and feasts.

Chinese companies are interested in oysters choking up the Danish shoreline that have ignited social media interest in China.

The Chinese were not joking and true to form, some of the country's biggest companies, particularly e-commerce giants, went knocking on the embassy's door to strike up a deal.

"We have agreed on further collaboration to bring Denmark's oysters to China,"an Alibaba spokesperson said in a statement.

That came after a representative of Alibaba's online shopping site Tmall visited Danish diplomats in Beijing on Friday to discuss how to combat "the plague of the exotic mollusks".

In addition, UTour, a Chinese travel agency has organised a "special gourmet tour" for Chinese citizens willing to travel halfway around the world to savour the "oyster feast" in small Danish towns badly hit by the mollusk invasion.

"Let's go. Let's help the Danes quash these oysters invaders!" the Beijing tour operator said in a Weibo post.

More from the South China Morning Post :

Chinese foodies offer help after Denmark complains about its oyster problem online

China's growing appetite for luxury seafood will push up prices

Chinese man bites into oyster ... and crunches on a pearl

"We have got some very serious requests for cooperation from Chinese businesses, among them food importers and e-commerce platforms," the public diplomacy and media section of the Danish Embassy in Beijing said in an email to the South China Morning Post. "And we have since considered bringing (exporting) Danish oysters to China."

But the embassy stressed that "there are some procedures needing to go through, for example, to get to China's food safety and quarantine standards."

There are an estimated 500 tonnes of Pacific Oysters choking many parts of the Nordic country's coast, endangering native oysters called Limfjord, and blocking swimmers' access to the sea. Unfortunately, humans are the only predators of these intruders as they have such stubborn shells that no bird can open them.

Danish authorities and scientists have long called on locals to hunt them to keep their population under control, but few were incentivised.

Aided by Chinese companies, an oyster resistance campaign is in full force in China's cyberspace, mobilising tens of thousands of netizens.

On Sunday, the embassy teamed up with Tmall to hold a live broadcast briefing Chinese internet users on various ways to scarf down an oyster.

In the West, pairing glistening oysters with a squeeze of lemon or splash of mignonette or champagne will make an appetising treat, but most Chinese would grill them, covering them with mashed garlic and chilli, over hot charcoal. That could also boost demand for crushed garlic and chilli sauce as well, some internet users joked.

It is not the first time that Chinese businesses and seafood ravenous consumers have helped Western countries in devouring their invasive species.

In 2015, Chinese consumers snapped up online 8,000 kilograms of Asian carps from America's Mississippi River, where the fish had taken over the waterway and killed off sensitive species, from Tmall.

China, with its 1.4 billion population, consumed over 4.57 million tonnes of oysters in 2015, according to consultancy Zhiyan, and it also breeds about 80 per cent of farmed oysters worldwide.

"We knew food-related posts would attract some attention from Internet users, but we did not foresee this frenzy at all...Of course, we welcome them to Denmark to explore by themselves what this country has the best to offer,"the media section of the Danish embassy said.

Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

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And while the Federal Reserve may have held steady on Wednesday, but Cramer is seeing a significant rift happening between two contradictory market trends.

"Facebook often pulls back post earnings, but the stock has always been a buy into this kind of weakness after you let it run its course because it's got such a tremendous story," the " Mad Money " host said. "We've seen that happen the last two times. [It's] happening a third."

The market may be in the midst of a cavalcade of earnings reports, but Jim Cramer asked investors not to take Facebook's post-earnings stock decline at face value.

Cramer also looked into a secular trend that he believes can weather everything from a Fed hike to a market-rattling Trump tweet.

"You know what theme is proving to have the most staying power this quarter?" the "Mad Money" host asked. "The need to be totally vain and look your selfie-best no matter what the circumstances."

That theme is what Cramer thinks drove cosmetic giant Estee Lauder's stellar quarter, which showed growth across the board, especially in China.

The company, led by Fabrizio Freda, is putting itself at the center of the selfie-ready generation, drawing Instagram- and Facebook-happy teenagers to its once-exclusive products.

"The company's figured out a masterful gameplan, selling its merchandise in new outlets like e-commerce, as well as cheaper stores where you might not expect to find such a high-end portfolio of brands," Cramer said. "I think that means the stock may still be a buy, even as it's run up 37 percent for the year."

Cramer also sat down with Clorox CEO Benno Dorer on Wednesday to hear more about how the company beat revenue estimates in its earnings report, something the CEO attributed to innovation.

"Innovation keeps us young. And I think that sets us apart from any of our peers today, that we have a lot of innovation in an environment that I would characterize as innovation-starved," Dorer said.

Dorer added that while other companies raise capital to buy back stock and generate value that way, Clorox's management prides itself on going against the grain.

"We're going zig where many other companies are going zag. What we are doing is we're leaning hard into cost savings and productivity programs to generate funds, but then we're taking those funds and we're reinvesting them into the business. And we're doing that with discipline so we have strong returns, and that's what delivers the strong sales growth that we have," Dorer said.
chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg launched a vigorous defense of the company's personnel practices Wednesday, rejecting claims that it discriminates against female engineers or their work.

"We do a comprehensive look every six months" at which employees are promoted and why, Sandberg said during a conference call with Wall Street analysts.

"We know we're promoting men and women at the same rate," she said, in response to a question from analyst Mark Mahaney about claims of gender bias at the company.

Her comments come on the heels of a Wall Street Journal report in which a former Facebook engineer alleged that computer code written by female Facebook engineers is rejected at a rate one-third higher than code written by men.

The study behind the report "was conducted with incomplete data," Sandberg said on the call, held to discuss the company's first-quarter results.

According to Sandberg, Facebook looked at the same data and "found the main reason code was sent back had to do with (the) level, not gender" of the engineer who wrote it.

Still, even if the rejection of code was not due to conscious bias, the effect was the same, given that the company has far fewer women than men in senior engineering roles.

"This is an issue I take very seriously," said Sandberg, whose first book, Lean In, advised women to be more proactive at work to advance their careers.

In its most recent diversity report, Facebook said on 17 percent of its technical employees were women.
Dirk Ahlborn, CEO of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT), told CNBC on the sidelines of the Innovfest Unbound conference in Singapore that the company put the first hyperloop capsule into production three weeks ago.

Commuters can ride the hyperloop, a futuristic, super-fast transportation system , as early as 2020 and the United Arab Emirates could be the first market for it, according to the chief of one of the companies involved in developing the technology.

It will take about a year to produce, after which it will head to the company's R&D center in Toulouse for integration optimization and then it'll head to the first commercial track, where construction will start later this year.

"We will be announcing one of the first commercial routes probably in between the next three to six months," Ahlborn said.

A hyperloop would work by propelling pods through a large tube at speeds of 750 mph using magnets, and is seen as a solution to long distance travel and also means of alleviating congestion. Other startups working on this technology include HTT rival Hyperloop One.

HTT has plans to build a hyperloop track in Quay Valley, California, where the company is doing an environmental study. It has also been exploring feasibility of building in countries from Indonesia to the Czech Republic. But Ahlborn said the first track will unlikely be in Quay Valley.

"(It) is a commercial project that makes sense when the city is there. Until they start construction, it doesn't make sense for us to start there," Ahlborn said, adding it made more sense for HTT, which is largely privately backed, to focus efforts in markets where "governments actually pay us."

That's where the United Arab Emirates (UAE) could potentially have the first operational hyperloop track. Last year, Abu Dhabi's Department of Municipal Affairs and Transport signed the UAE's second hyperloop feasibility study with HTT.

"The Emirates are very pushy," Ahlborn said. "They want to see (the hyperloop) happen and ideally they want to see it happen in the Emirates first."
The U.S. House of Representatives will vote Thursday on a controversial Republican bill that would repeal and replace key parts of Obamacare, the GOP's majority leader said Wednesday night.

"We're going tomorrow, yes we are," said Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

Asked he if had the votes to win passage of the bill, McCarthy told NBC News, "Yes we do."

"We will pass this bill," McCarthy said. "I feel great about the [vote] count."

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., said several days ago that he would not hold the vote without having those winning votes in hand.

House Democratic Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi blasted the GOP for scheduling the vote. And she pointedly noted that the bill had not yet been analyzed by the Congressional Budget Office, which will ultimately estimate what the bill will cost, as well as how it will affect premiums and the number of people covered by insurance.

"Forcing a vote without a CBO score shows that Republicans are terrified of the public learning the full consequences of their plan to push Americans with pre-existing conditions into the cold," Pelosi said. "But tomorrow, House Republicans are going to tattoo this moral monstrosity to their foreheads, and the American people will hold them accountable."

The expected vote will come a day after two leading Republicans, Reps. Billy Long and Fred Upton, agreed to switch their expected "no" votes on the bill to "yes" votes.

Long and Upton earlier this week had come out publicly against the bill because of a change made to it last week that would, in their view and in those of many others', weaken price protections for private individual plan insurance customers with pre-existing health conditions.

But on Wednesday, Long and Upton reversed their opinion after getting another amendment that would provide $8 billion in federal funding that would supposedly protect such customers from higher premiums.

Their reversal added momentum to the push for the vote. Another factor that may have played a role in the scheduling of the vote is a scheduled recess for the House at the end of this week, and the desire by GOP leaders that members not face lobbying against the bill from constituents at home.

Ryan and President Donald Trump were badly embarrassed in March when Ryan was forced to withdraw the bill from the House floor right before the first scheduled vote once it became clear it would fail.

On Wednesday evening, U.S. Secretary for Health and Human Services Tom Price wrote an op-ed for CNBC to make a plea for passage.

If the bill is passed Thursday, it would then go to the Senate, where it may face even more difficulty winning passage in its current form.

The bill would reform that way the federal government subsidizes purchases of individual health plans, and also how it funds Medicaid, the joint federal-state program that provides health coverage to primarily poor people. It would also eliminate Obamacare taxes, providing a windfall to wealthier Americans.

Republicans hold majorities in both the House and Senate. But they have struggled for nearly two months to get enough GOP House members to support the bill, which will be uniformly opposed by Democrats.

Democrats are adamantly against making the kind of big changes to the Affordable Care Act that they GOP bill aims to accomplish.

And some Republican members have opposed the bill because they believe it would lead to higher premiums for many people, particularly older Americans and those with pre-existing health conditions, and also will lead to increases in the number of people without insurance.

A bloc of conservative GOP members opposed the bill because it did not go far enough in repealing Obamacare.

The CBO, in analyzing an earlier version of the bill, projected that it would result in 24 million more Americans being uninsured by 2026 than would be the case if Obamacare remained in place as is. The CBO also estimated that premiums for individual health plans would spike by 15 to 20 percent higher in 2018 and 2019 than if Obamacare remained in effect in current form.

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The original version of the GOP was deeply unpopular among the public, garnering support from just 17 percent of Americans, according to one poll. It also has been opposed by a slew of patient advocates and health-care providers.

Announcement of Thursday's vote immediately sparked calls on Twitter by Obamacare supporters to rally allies to call members of Congress and urge them to vote against the bill.

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The American Medical Association, the largest group of doctors in the United States, posted a tweet that called on followers to contact their congressmen, "now!" and urge them to vote against the bill.

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Republicans have, ever since the Affordable Care Act became law in 2010, vowed to repeal it.

Since then, however, an estimated 20 million Americans have gained coverage through Obamacare, either under Medicaid, or individuals plans, or through their parents' plans if they are under age 26.

The law, in addition to funding coverage expansions, also barred insurers from charging customers more, or denying them insurance altogether, if they have pre-existing health problems.

Pelosi said, "From the beginning, Trumpcare has meant higher health costs, more than 24 million hard-working Americans losing health coverage, gutting key protections, a crushing age tax, and stealing from Medicare. With each passing week, Republicans have only made their bill more costly and more cruel to American families."
A war of words is brewing in China between a highly acquisitive insurer and a leading business journal, a rare public clash amid growing pressure on firms to improve governance and transparency.

Anbang Insurance Group Co Ltd. said in an open letter published online on Wednesday it would take legal action against business publication Caixin and one of its reporters over what it called "malicious" and "inaccurate" reports driven by commercial aims.

A Caixin report published on April 29 said Anbang's ownership structure was "opaque" and that its funding was a "maze" of capital flow involving more than 100 firms.

Anbang's open letter to Caixin publisher Hu Shuli was the second notice in four days published by the insurer threatening the publication with a lawsuit.

Anbang, which rose to international prominence through its purchase of New York's landmark Waldorf Astoria hotel in 2015, also accused Caixin of publishing a series of malicious reports against the company and conducting personal attacks on Anbang Chairman Wu Xiaohui. Wednesday's letter also threatened to sue in Canada the author of Caixin's most recent report.

Caixin declined to comment on Wednesday. Caixin has said Anbang's allegations are groundless and that it could take legal action itself against the insurer.

Anbang, which is owned by a series of privately-held companies, did not comment beyond the open letter.

China's financial and corporate regulators have yet to comment directly on the growing spat between the two firms.

While public spats between Chinese media and corporations are not unheard of, the case is unusual because of the high-profile nature of both parties, risk consultants said.

"Caixin in China is like The Economist or the Wall Street Journal in the United States. There's no more well-respected business publication and people take it very seriously," said Andrew Gilholm, director of analysis for China and North Asia at risk consultancy Control Risks.

He said Anbang was on par with global insurers like American International Group Inc (AIG) in terms of scale.

The New York Times reported last year about the Chinese company's complex structure and networks.

"Most Chinese hadn't heard of it 5-10 years ago, but it's probably now, along with Dalian Wanda and HNA Group, among the top Chinese firms making headlines worldwide," Gilholm said.

In March, Kushner Companies, the real estate firm headed by U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law until recently, said it ended talks to redevelop its flagship New York office tower with Anbang.

Established in 2004, Anbang burst onto the global scene by signing more than $30 billion worth of corporate deals in the last two-and-a-half years.
When it comes to innovation, there is no such thing as status quo  you either improve or decline relative to everyone else, and sitting in a comfort zone for too long could prove costly. That is the philosophy of Steve Leonard, the CEO of SGInnovate, the government entity that supports entrepreneurs leading Singapore's innovation efforts. While it may not be on par with Silicon Valley, widely considered the heart of global innovation, Singapore has been punching above its weight for several decades now. Last year, a joint study from Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organization ranked Singapore as the sixth most innovative country in the world, behind the likes of the United Kingdom and the United States  countries much bigger, and with more resources, than the city-state.

Rustam Azmi | Getty Images

Singapore's innovation journey so far had been necessitated by the need for survival. The country has had to tackle some big macro problems: long-term potable water supply; food security; affordable housing; infrastructure; and talent acquisition, among others. Today, with one of the highest global standards of living, the urgency to innovate may not appear to be as high at first glance. But appearances can be deceiving and the need for innovation has never been higher as Leonard noted. "You sort of slip into this comfort zone and there's this idea that as soon as you are too comfortable, that's when things slip away from you because somebody across the street, across the continent is working harder," Leonard told CNBC at the side-lines of the Innovfest Unbound conference in Singapore. Leonard has been at the cutting edge of Singapore's innovation story for years  he was formerly the CEO of the Infocomm Development Authority, which was restructured in 2016 to become the Government Technology Agency. Prior to that, he held Asia Pacific leadership roles based out of Singapore in some top tech companies. "I am a big believer that there's no such thing as status quo. You're either always improving or you are declining," he said. Other Voices Becoming an innovation hub is an ambition for many cities because it attracts investments and talent and Singapore is no exception. There are three parameters  culture, ecosystem and the urban environment  that work together to make a successful innovation hub, according to Yossi Vardi, a veteran Israeli entrepreneur and investor. Culture affects the willingness among innovators to take risks and can foster a more collaborative environment. A vibrant ecosystem allows people with similar mindsets to discuss ideas and help each other.

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"You always have to reach out outside of the boundaries of your five, six, seven or 20 people," Vardi told CNBC, adding today meetups, hackathons, industry conferences, such as Innovfest, facilitate people to expand their network within an ecosystem. He added because of globalization, innovators can move around more freely. Cities, Vardi said, need to offer a comfortable standard of living to attract or retain talented individuals. While Singapore can attract talent, and build an ecosystem of entrepreneurs, investors, corporations and research institutes, experts say the city-state generally lags in the culture of risk taking. Leonard pointed out the challenge is in convincing people at every level to buy into an innovative idea, where not all the variables are known from the start. Giving an example, he explained that in the 1940s, a big innovation to cars was padding the dashboards to offer some protection in accidents. That ushered in more features, including seat belts, airbags and electronics for anti-lock brakes. "The point is it's not like we kept vehicles off the road while we figured all these things out," said Leonard. But he acknowledged winning over skeptics is difficult. "I don't pretend to have the answer. I think there's just this good, old fashioned will which says if this is important enough, we commit to it." Singapore's leadership appears to understand the necessity to constantly innovate and take risks. Last year, the government committed 19 billion Singapore dollars ($13.6 billion) to support research and developments over the next five years. On Wednesday, it announced more than $100 million will be invested into local efforts in artificial intelligence  which is still at its nascent, experimental stages over the next five years. Tan Kiat How, CEO of the Info-communications Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA), the government statutory board that looks after Singapore's information, communication and media (ICM) sector, told CNBC IMDA was focused on several areas to help Singapore in its push to be an innovation hub and a smart nation. They include looking at how technology will disrupt various sectors and the new opportunities created in areas of finance, retail, restaurants, manufacturing and others; keep a steady talent pool for the ICM sector; investing in building more infrastructure; and lastly making regulations pro-business and pro-innovation but also ensuring sustainability.

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If a house is on fire, you do not wait for it to burn to the ground before trying to save the family trapped inside. The situation we face today with Obamacare is no different: It is on the verge of collapse, buckling under the weight of its own toxic mix of mandates and regulations, and many of our fellow Americans are trapped inside.

This crisis will not resolve itself  it is only getting worse, and America's families can't wait any longer. Do we have the courage to do what's right for the American people?

For the 535 members of Congress, who were elected to serve their fellow citizens, there should be no doubt about it: The time to act is now. To look at the failures in our health-care system today  to see the individuals, families, and businesses squeezed by soaring premiums, sky-high deductibles, and dwindling choices  and arrive at any other conclusion is an exercise in willful blindness.

The statistics tell the story that we know all too well. Since Obamacare's central rules took effect, premiums for individual market plans have doubled. At the same time, insurance coverage rates have fallen far short of predictions. The Congressional Budget Office had projected that 23 million Americans would be enrolled in the law's healthcare exchanges this year; the reality is that the number of Americans currently enrolled is less than half that estimate.

Patients increasingly don't have a choice of insurers, either. In one-third of all counties in America, there is only one insurance company participating on the exchanges; in another 37 percent of counties, there are just two. The situation is especially acute in rural areas, where prices are high and access to care is already a struggle.

One of the many fatal conceits of Obamacare is that a health-care system serving more than 300 million people spread across 50 diverse states can be micromanaged from a small group of rule writers and regulators in the nation's capital. History teaches us that attempting to impose such centralized command-and-control leads to calamitous results: costs go up, quality goes down, choices dwindle, innovation stalls, and all but those who can afford to get around the failing system suffer the consequences.
Societe Generale reported a 19 percent fall in quarterly net income on Thursday as the French bank earmarked further provisions for potential legal costs and announced it had settled a legal dispute with the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA).



Here are some of the highlights:

Revenue rose 4.8 percent to 6.47 billion euros versus 6.39 billion euros ($6.97 billion) expected by Thomson Reuters analysts' consensus.

Net income down 19 percent to 747 million euros from 924 million euros the year previous

Set aside an extra 350 million euros for potential legal costs in first quarter.

France's third largest lender by assets said, in conjunction with the LIA, a confidential agreement had been signed to settle a legal dispute after the bank had been accused of paying bribes to secure business from Libya's sovereign wealth fund.

"Societe Generale and the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) jointly announce that they have signed a confidential settlement agreement that resolves all matters between both parties concerning five financial transactions entered into between 2007 and 2009 that have been the subject of legal action in the English High Court," the joint statement said Thursday.

The five trades carried out between 2007 and 2009, before Muammar Gaddafi was ousted as Libyan leader, had totaled more than $2.1 billion. A Reuters report, citing a SocGen spokeswoman, suggested the French lender would be set to pay 963 million euros as part of the settlement with the LIA.

"Societe Generale apologies to the LIA and hopes that the challenges faced at this difficult time in Libya's development are soon overcome," SocGen added.

The Paris-based bank said Thursday it wished to express its "regret" at the lack of caution given to some of its employees.
"Mad Money" host Jim Cramer interviewed Apple CEO Tim Cook on Wednesday about Apple's recent earnings report, plans to create U.S. manufacturing jobs, and more. This is a full transcript, lightly edited for clarity.

Cramer: Tim, last year at this time we sat down, the stock was at $93, the headlines were all about how the company's best days were behind it. You said that "the customers loved the product, as long as they do, then I'm not gonna worry." Do you feel vindicated?

Tim Cook: "You know, I didn't really worry about what people were saying then because I care very much about our users, and I strongly believe that if they're happy over the long term, other things will take care of itself. And so we had a lot of confidence and it's good to be here today. But we don't really look at the stock, you know? Because for us, it's about the long term. And so we're very much focused on long term shareholder value, but not the short term kind of stuff."

But there has to be a sense, when you read that the company is dead, that it's a bit unfair.

"Well, I just thought it was absurd."

OK.

"And people just not understanding the company."

Do people understand the headlines today that it was a disappointing quarter even though every company in the world would kill for what you just did?

"Yeah. I look at that, honestly, and we had a great quarter. If you get into the numbers just a little bit for a few minutes, the Mac grew 14 percent. This is huge. Services continued this really fast growth. It grew 18 percent year on year and we continue to be on target to be a Fortune 100 company this year with our services business. The watch almost doubled year on year. iPhone grew in revenue sense because the iPhone 7 Plus was just off the charts. It's so incredibly popular, so much more popular than we planned. We knew we had a killer product, but so many people love Portrait mode and the large, beautiful screen and all the other aspects of the phone, and it's become such an integral part of their life that a lot of people are loving that 7 Plus. And so we grew strongly in four out of five of the operating segments, of the geographic segments. We didn't grow in China, but we did remarkably better than we did over the second half of last year, which is what we expected, and it's what we delivered. And we feel that we'll do even better this quarter."

Let's think about that notion of the consumer and what you care about. Let's say a consumer product company had 5 percent organic growth, 10 percent earnings per share, beat by $0.08, and at the same time had price increases when all consumer products companies are struggling with price decreases. I believe that you would sell at 24 times earnings, which coincidentally, is the same price-to-earnings multiple of Clorox, which is a bleach company. Do you find it somewhat ironic that the most basic commodity has a much higher price-to-earnings multiple than the greatest consumer product of all time?

"You know, for us, we look at that and we say, you know, we can invest in our company and invest in our stock and we do believe it's undervalued. And so we're buying it back, and so from that point of view there's an opportunity in that as well. But over the long haul, I think it will, I strongly believe that it'll be at a fair value. And so, you know, that's how we look at it."

But is it reasonable to think it's the greatest consumer product technology company as opposed to a razor blade that sells at 23 times earnings?

"I think the iPhone is the best consumer product ever. That's what I feel about it. And it's become so integrated and integral to our lives, you wouldn't think about leaving home without it. It's- your health data is there, it's- you're paying with it from an Apple Pay point of view, you're messaging your friends, the community that you're a part of. It's your navigation system. It's your news. For many people, they've moved all of their video to watching on a mobile product. And, you know, the iPhone is at the center of that."

Plus, clearly, is a cord-cutter.

"Absolutely. Absolutely. And so there's so many of these things that it has, that- it's so integrated into all aspects of your life, that I think- I don't know that there is a consumer product that's made such a profound change in people. And with the ecosystem behind it, the fact that it's unleashed millions of developers to develop their passion and provide to customers something that they've been, maybe it's been a hobby for them, but now they're unleashing it around the world. And it's unbelievable."

But on the conference call you mentioned two troubling issues. You talked about how we are working on getting China better. And then you also talked about the idea that yes, people are holding back. Some are waiting, perhaps because of a new phone. These were things you addressed. So I'd like to just flesh them out with the people who watch who own the phone who are confused by this.

"I think the last one is kind of simple, honestly. It's that there are more rumors floating and more press articles and mentions of new things, and when that happens, a percentage of people delay. And so, yeah, we see a piece of that. That probably affects us more in China than other places because there's a tendency there to buy the latest thing, although I have to say, the 7 Plus has done extraordinarily well there, and it's up double-digit from the previous year, comparing to the previous generation product. But we didn't do as well on some of the previous generation iPhones there, and we're looking at why and trying to address that."

Now, the 7 Plus, had you had enough, the quarter would've been a different-looking quarter.

"No, I wouldn't say that, because I feel that we were in supply-demand balance at the beginning of the quarter. But when I back up from China, what I see is the Mac business grew 20 percent. You know, this is extraordinary. The Watch grew nicely. Services is just on a tear there. Chinese developers have really done a great job of delivering apps that people really want there. And so there's a whole set of things that's going well, and we just have to get them all to head. In the scheme of things, though, you know, if you back up from it, we're probably, we're one of the largest foreign companies there. And we're really proud to be there and serve the market, and we're going to keep working on it."

You've mentioned the service revenue stream several times. I think, okay, so you have say 150 million, which is a conservative number, of subscribers who, like me, don't even look at the price of the bill like we do for Netflix and Amazon. I'm thinking, what else can you put in there? I know that you've been talking original content. I know there's the possibility of using some of the $256 billion you have to augment that stream. The stream is one that we are very excited about on Wall Street, and the consumer is excited about. Wouldn't it be a natural to put more money on that horse and bet that I could change the complexion of the company's valuation?

"First of all, for this year, we think we can become a Fortune 100 company without adding something new, so that's looking at our existing sort of services. We've also said that we're going to double the services business. Our objective is to double by 2020. And, you know, that projection is a sum of new services and existing services. On video in particular, we see that the video world has kind of hit an air pocket. And where cord-cutting has been happening on some kind of basis, we think it's accelerating massively and that it's clear what the end story looks like here. The trajectory is a debate. But we'd like to play in this. Because we do think that the best experience for a customer is to view things when they want, the way they want, and have many different additional information around what they're watching, you know, not just the linear TV feed. And so we are working on some original content now. We're learning, and we'll see where this takes us."

Now, is there a possibility that someone could say, "You know what? These numbers are great. Samsung had the fire phone, and now they've got a new edition." But meantime you've picked up a lot of your ecosystem. You've always talked about people switching to Apple. Are you concerned about people switching back to Samsung?

"No, we don't see much of that. We don't want to see any of that, and we try really hard to retain people by giving them an experience that they really love. That's our objective. But generally speaking we measure that fairly closely, and we don't see very much of that. On the switcher side, we were very pleased that we set a record for switchers outside of China for the first six months of this fiscal year. As you know, we start in October and we just finished the first half in March. And we set a record there and we set a record for upgraders across the world. And so this felt really good."
Teacher Appreciation Week officially begins May 8. The annual celebration to share a little extra gratitude with educators nationwide falls during the first full week of the month, but some schools have already begun the festivities. Many businesses, from restaurants and clothing stores to yoga studios and cinemas, are offering freebies and other perks to teachers starting this week. The crowdsourcing website GoFundMe plans to donate $1,000 to the fundraising projects of 100 K-12 teachers.

Each year, students, parents, celebrities, and politicians get creative in how they express their thanks. In 2016, President Barack Obama advocated for higher pay for teachers , and Spotify compiled song picks from Jill Biden and musicians Matt and Kim for its #ThankATeacher playlist. (Some teachers also take the week to raise concerns about issues in education and unfair treatment of educators.)

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week 2017, Education Week editors, reporters, and staff members decided to make their own tribute of thanks. In a video, we shared what we appreciate about our favorite K-12 teachers, reflecting on the memories of the educators who left a lasting impact.

Assistant Managing Editor Lesli Maxwell thanked a former teacher, Mr. Bradshaw, for inspiring her to think about a career in journalism.

Hes the first person I really remember, aside from my parents, of course, telling me that I was a good writer, a strong writer, and that was something I should consider pursuing in my professional life, she said. And thats exactly what happened.

Take a lookand let us know if youre among the honorees!
House Republicans are pushing for a vote Thursday on a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, even as questions linger about whether it has enough support to pass.

One issue in the sticking point in the debate has been protections for patients with pre-existing conditions. Prior to the passage of the Affordable Care Act, patients with prior illness could be excluded from coverage or charged higher premiums, even if those health issues had already been resolved.

Momentum behind the Republican repeal effort began in earnest Wednesday after two leading Republicans, Reps. Billy Long and Fred Upton, agreed to switch their expected "no" votes on the bill to "yes" votes.

The change of heart began after the Republican bill, the American Health Care Act, was amended to provide $8 billion in federal funding that would supposedly protect such customers from higher premiums.

It is difficult to know the impact of this amendment as well as prior ones because the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has not had time to analyze the legislation.

The Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank in Washington, published an analysis last month, prior to recent amendments, that break down the impact the AHCA could have on patients who have even relatively mild pre-existing conditions.

Based on their analysis, those people would pay thousands of dollars above the standard rates to receive health-care coverage.

The following table shows the impact various ailments would have on the premiums an average 40-year-old would pay. These surcharges range from about $4,340 for a patient with asthma to as much as $142,650 for a patient with metastatic cancer.

At the time of the analysis, there was discussion of a Federal Invisible Risk Sharing Program that would establish a $15 billion fund to help offset insurers' expenses for patients with high-cost health conditions, similar to the reinsurance program created under Obamacare.

The group looked at how that program was structured and estimated it could reduce overall premiums by between 1 percent and 2 percent. The third column of the charge shows the premium with a 1.5 percent reduction for the risk pool factored into it.

While Republicans are eager to make good on their campaign promise to repeal and replace Obamacare, they will need to tread carefully with the final result.

A Wall Street Journal article wrote about a study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation that used government data to estimate the number of adults in any given state that would have been unable to buy insurance in the individual insurance market prior to the ACA. This would be patients with a history of severe pre-existing conditions.

That study suggests that states with the largest shares of people with pre-existing conditions, at that time, resided in states that voted for Donald Trump for president last November.

What's interesting is based on the Wall Street Journal's analysis at that time, many of the House members who support the proposed health law come from states with the largest populations of people with pre-existing conditions.
For Mike Belleville, diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer's three years ago was a call to action. A Massachusetts resident, Belleville began lobbying his state legislators. He even met with Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and asked her to fight for more Alzheimer's funding, because he knew he'd forget about it as his disease progressed. "Advocacy means talking to anybody," said Belleville, who had to leave his technician job at Verizon when his abilities began to decline. "If we don't start solving it, Alzheimer's will bankrupt the country. People living with the disease lose a part of themselves every day."

John Livzey | Getty Images

Health advocates like Belleville have good reason to be worried, based on expert projections. Alzheimer's is currently the only top 10 disease, as a cause of death, that doesn't have a cure. And the numbers of people living with the disease are expected to nearly triple to 14 million in 2050, according to the National Institutes of Health. Increasing budgets for Alzheimer research is an uphill battle, though. NIH funding for the brain disease is far behind that of cancer. In 2016 the NIH's estimated budget for Alzheimer's was $910 million vs. $5.6 billion for cancer. The NIH has said that it wants more money for Alzheimer research. Alzheimer's Greater Los Angeles recently sent alerts to its 24,000 advocates to push Congress to pass the budget. Dr. Debra Cherry, executive vice president of Alzheimer's Greater Los Angeles, said, "We want to accelerate a cure for Alzheimer's. So we try to flood our congresspeople and let them know that this is a passionate desire." The just-passed congressional budget included a $400 million increase for Alzheimer's research at the NIH in fiscal 2017. "There's currently no way to slow Alzheimer's progression," said Robert Egge, chief public policy officer at the Alzheimer's Association. "And Alzheimer's isn't robustly funded. Our advocates are aware that's our mission today." More from Modern Medicine:

Firestorm brewing over synthetic human DNA

Could flashing light treat Alzheimer's?

Gut bacteria targeted as a Parkinson's cause Egge figures that Alzheimer funding should be more than $2 billion to substantially bump up research for a complex disease. "Robust funding can lead to breakthroughs," he said. Well-funded research, for example, has helped heart disease and cancer see declining death rates. Not curing the disease, though, could indeed bankrupt the nation. In 2017 the U.S. health and long-term care cost for Alzheimer's was $259 billion. That number is set to soar to $511 billion by 2020, according to the NIH. "For every $100 that goes into research, we pay $16,000 in care for the disease," Egge said. "But we can change that story."

Sandra Miniutti, the head of marketing at charity watchdog and research company Charity Watchdog, said that the year-to-date declines in contributions to medical charities could be an unintended consequence of the focus on political giving since Trump's election  but there is no way to know if it will last. She did say the medical charities have seen decreased giving since the recession of 2008. "Most of the health charities have been pushing against declines since 2008 and didn't rebound like other charitable causes after the recession. ... Stability is the new 'up' in their fundraising numbers," Miniutti said. With funding gaps in mind, organizations like the Alzheimer's Association and UsAgainstAlzheimer's are trying to turn a disease into a cause. They hold walkathons, lobby members of Congress, sign petitions and even have advocate toolkits. Alzheimer's nonprofits have been slow compared to other medical nonprofits in adopting many of the successful strategies when it comes to marketing and mass fundraising. Unlike cancer, there's also a stigma around Alzheimer's, which affects fundraising turnouts. And the caregivers are stressed by these long-term illnesses. "We haven't seen a new treatment for Alzheimer's in a decade," said Jill Lesser, chief strategy officer at UsAgainstAlzheimer's. "And the disease can last for a decade or more, bankrupting families." Its mission is finding a treatment or cure by 2020.

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The world's largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev , reported better-than-expected profit growth on Thursday, citing signs of a turnaround in recession-racked Brazil, its second-biggest market, which has struggled to grow alcoholic beverage sales.

Its U.S. share prices closed up more than 5 percent on Thursday.

Beer volumes picked up in Brazil from January to March, according to the brewer, which operates such brands as Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona.

"We remain cautiously optimistic on Brazil overall," Chief Financial Officer Felipe Dutra said on the earnings conference call. "We expect 2017 to be better industry-wise than 2016."

AB InBev said overall first-quarter core profit rose 5.8 percent on a like-for-like basis, excluding currency fluctuations and the impact of a merger last year with SABMiller . This is above the 3.3 percent that was predicted in a company-compiled poll.

AB InBev also reported further cost savings of $252 million during the period, following its $100 billion acquisition with SABMiller.

For the first quarter, in the U.S. AB InBev reported lower sales volumes as Bud Light and Budweiser lost market share, but profit margins increased due to heightened consumption of higher-priced Michelob Ultra, Stella Artois and craft beers, the company said.

Volumes and earnings increased in Mexico, which was coupled with better news of growing margins in South Africa  one of AB InBev's new markets  higher earnings in Europe, and a strong start to 2017 in China.

"We think a variety of factors ... imply further revenue acceleration and increasing rates of margin expansion as the year progresses," Stifel Nicolaus analyst Mark Swartzberg wrote in a note to clients Thursday. Some of these factors include U.S. beer trends heading into peak summer season, large new markets for accelerating global brands and macro trends in Brazil, Swartzberg said.

Looking ahead to summer, AB InBev CEO Carols Brito told analysts and investors on Thursday's earnings call that the company will bring back its "America" media campaign and packaging for Memorial Day and Labor Day, "building on the success of last year."

With Thursday's gains, shares of AB InBev are up 13 percent this year but are down nearly 3 percent over the past 12 months.
After college, when Garrett Marrero was living and working in finance in San Francisco, he went to Hawaii for vacation and fell in love with island life. He started thinking, "When I retire, this is where I want to live." Then he started asking himself, "How can I move to Hawaii sooner than retirement?" And then, "How can I move to Hawaii now?" Marrero also noticed that, when he asked for a local beer in Hawaii, he would be served a beer brewed somewhere else off island. A lover of craft beer, Marrero saw an opportunity. He quit his finance job to start planning the business. In 2004, at 26 years old, he moved to Hawaii.

It was a risky move, leaving a corporate job to try brewing beer in a new state, but "I was young enough and that invincible youthful male  'I can't do anything wrong! of course it is going to work!'  bravado that helped propel us initially," Marrero says. "At that time no bank would even talk to us. Well, they talked to us, but they laughed at us usually." And he had a partner. He and his then girlfriend Melanie Oxley raised a small amount of money from their families and took out a loan to buy their first storefront.

Maui Brewing Company started as a single brew-pub, a small restaurant that served its own locally brewed beer. Doors opened Jan. 28, 2005. Demand for the beer outgrew the space available in the brewpub and in 2007, Maui Brewing Company started producing and packaging beer out of a separate production facility. It started selling beer in retail stores too. In 2012, looking to expand capacity even further, the Maui Brewing Company secured a government-backed loan that allowed Marrero and Oxley to open yet another larger production facility, which increased their capacity from 18,000 barrels of beer to almost 40,000 barrels, says Marrero.

By 2013, eight years after launching, Maui Brewing Company was doing more than $10 million in sales. Currently, Maui Brewing Company has almost 400 employees. By the end of 2018 or early 2019, Maui Brewing Company will have four restaurant locations and expects to be employing at least 700 employees. In 2016, sales were between $12 and $16 million (Marrero declined to be more specific). And this year, Maui Brewing Company expects to surpass $20 million in sales. Maui Brewing Company's consistent growth earned the company national recognition. This week, the Small Business Administration awarded Marrero and Oxley the award for "National Small Business Persons of the Year."

"Garrett and Melanie have shown impressive growth, expanding in size, sales and scope of their business," says Linda McMahon, the SBA Administrator, in a written statement announcing the award. Marrero accepted the award at a luncheon in Washington D.C. on Monday. He didn't know, when he arrived at the luncheon, that he was the winner. To make its announcement, the SBA played a video about the winning business. The first couple of shots of the video showed a beach, and it occurred to Marrero then that he might be the winner, but, afraid to get excited too soon, he tried to stay calm, thinking to himself that Hawaii was not the only state to have beaches. Then, on-screen, he saw a hula dancer.

Maui Brewing Company co-founder Garrett Marrero with SBA Administrator Linda McMahon Photo courtesy SBA photographer, Rodney Bailey
As CEO of Apple Tim Cook has been an outspoken leader on the fight for equal rights and privacy, among other topics.

Most recently, and in an exclusive interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer of "Mad Money," Cook discusses his new focus as CEO: to have Apple create jobs for U.S. workers.

Here are two main takeaways for leaders from Cook's interview:

1. Use your position to benefit others in need

Cook makes it clear in his recent interview that he's using his position to help American workers.

"You know, a lot of people ask me, 'Do you think it's a company's job to create jobs?' and my response is a company should have values because a company is a collection of people," he says. "And people should have values, so by extension, a company should."

Cook continues to discuss his philanthropic bent as a leader. "One of the things you do is give back. So how do you give back?" he asks, rhetorically. "We give back through our work in the environment, in running the company on renewable energy. We give back in job creation."
Barclays, Britain's second biggest bank, has given formal engagements to eight of the 11 financial technology (FinTech) start-up companies that pitched yesterday at its Rise event in London, U.K., after graduating from their 13-week business Accelerator program run jointly with Techstars.

The Demo Day was held at the new Rise London offices the lender has just opened, which it claims is the biggest FinTech center in Europe. It houses 40 FinTech start-ups and the lender's in-house banking technology teams.

One of the eight firms, Nivo, is an 'intrapreneur' internal team that is being spun out from the bank as a separate secure mobile messaging company. It will run a pilot scheme with Barclays' Premier banking unit in the forthcoming months and is focused on improving customer service.

The Accelerator graduates pitched to a collection of 250 investors, technologists and bankers at the Demo Day in London yesterday after winning their places on the program earlier in the year.

Other start-ups to secure deals with Barclays, included:

Simudyne: who will work with the bank's risk team on scenario planning and other strategic end uses.

Barac: will work with Barclays' UK and International divisions, using its real-time analytics on predictive anti-fraud and computer outage tasks.

Flux: will run a pilot of its technology with over 10,000 Barclays UK and Barclaycard customers, providing in-app digital receipts.

Alyne: the operational risk firm will help the bank improve its control functions and react to new regulations and compliance demands more effectively.

The other three FinTech start-ups that will work with the bank are Shieldpay, Courtsdesk and Homeppl.

Commenting on the Demo Day in a subsequent press release, Michael Harte, Barclays Group head of innovation, said: "Financial services is experiencing a period of major technological disruption. Rise, and specifically our Accelerator, has created a platform for experimentation, with new generation businesses and entrepreneurs, to build new products, services and platforms."

Applications are now open for the next accelerator event in New York and the Tel Aviv program is already underway. Companies in Israel are presently receiving business, marketing, technology and other forms of assistance to get them ready for the imminent Demo Day there and to make them viable businesses. Other programs in the global Accelerator series are based in Mumbai, Cape Town, Manchester, and Vilnius.

Barclays' Accelerator program is run by Techstars, a global network that exists to help entrepreneurs succeed across various different sectors. The bank sponsors its FinTech program and helps run it.

According to Chris Adelsbach, managing director of Techstars, this latest class in London joins 1,024 other companies in the Techstars Accelerator portfolio that together have a market cap of $8 billion. The Techstars network has 14,000 founders, mentors, investors, and corporate partners in it and spans 168 countries.

"The Barclays Accelerator, powered by Techstars, once again showed why our program in London is the pre-eminent FinTech accelerator in the world," said Adelsbach in a press release on Wednesday.

"FinTech is an exciting vertical for us," he added. "These companies are using technology to solve large real-world problems that impact so many of us. I'm excited by their prospects and look forward to supporting them on their journey."

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Bitcoin surged further into all-time high territory Thursday as investors bet the digital currency will gain even greater acceptance globally as a store of value and an investment vehicle.

At one point, rose more than 5 percent to a record $1,568.59 before retreating slightly, according to CoinDesk. Data from TradeBlock showed some other exchanges had bitcoin above $1,600.

New interest in the currency out of Japan was the cause of the latest short-term upward move, traders said.

"Bitcoin can be thought of as digital gold," said Brian Kelly, founder of BKCM LLC and manager of a digital assets hedge fund. "The upside for bitcoin is so much higher than upside for gold, in my view."

Gold futures for June delivery fell to $1,225.70 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its lowest level since March 17. The precious metal had topped $1,500 for about two years, even running above $1,800 at one point, but since early 2013 has not been able to recover back to the $1,500 level.

Bitcoin 12-month performance

Source: CoinDesk

Over the last two weeks, bitcoin has climbed about 25 percent into record territory on increased investor interest. The cryptocurrency got a boost last week from news that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it plans to review its listing rejection for what would have been the first U.S. exchange-traded fund that tracks bitcoin.

Since the April 24 filing, the digital, currency has only once traded lower on the day, according to CoinDesk.

"Right now it's speculation over the ETF. That's been the biggest thing," said Kelly, a CNBC contributor who launched the digital assets fund for outside investors this year.

Gold 12-month performance

Source: FactSet

Increased interest from Japanese investors has also contributed to bitcoin's gains. More than 10 Japanese companies are launching digital currency exchanges given increased legal recognition of the currencies and a scheduled elimination of a tax on digital currency purchases, the Nikkei Asian Review reported Tuesday.

Bitcoin plunged more than 25 percent from record levels last month after the SEC denied the listing of the Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF, and subsequently the SolidX Bitcoin Trust exchange-traded product. A heated debate among bitcoin users about the technological future of the currency also hit prices.
Todd Haselton | CNBC

If you're among the dedicated few still attached to your BlackBerry , then listen up: We've been testing the BlackBerry KeyOne Android smartphone for the last few days, and we think you're going to like it. One thing you should know: BlackBerry Limited doesn't build its own smartphones anymore. Instead, it licenses its name and hardware patents (including the beloved keyboard) to TCL Communications and provides the software  Android with a BlackBerry skin  while TCL Communications manufactures and handles sales and marketing of BlackBerry Mobile devices. This is the first device launched by TCL Communications since it agreed to license the BlackBerry brand in December. The deal gave TCL a more primary role in working with the brand and BlackBerry hardware. The KeyOne was introduced earlier this year and launched recently in Canada and will release in the U.S. next month for $549, completely unlocked, and on Sprint this summer. Rock solid design and all the basics

Todd Haselton | CNBC

The BlackBerry KeyOne feels like it was built by BlackBerry, which means TCL did a good job keeping things familiar. The highlight of the device is its hardware backlit keyboard, which some people apparently still want in a smartphone. More on that later. The KeyOne also offers a 4.5-inch touchscreen display and a rock-solid aluminum body that gives it a premium feel and look.

Todd Haselton | CNBC

I also like the dedicated convenience key, pictured above, which can be programmed to open almost any application. I set it to open my Google Now page, so I can view the weather, my package delivery statuses and other information provided by Google to Android users. Oddly, this button is placed below the volume keys, and I frequently mistook it for the power button.

Todd Haselton | CNBC

That aside, there are other niceties, like a new USB-C port that most manufacturers have moved to. It's reversible, so it's easier to plug in if you can't see the port, and supports faster charging to juice up the phone quickly.

Todd Haselton | CNBC

Speaking of the battery, I could get through a full work day easily and didn't have to charge until I hit the bed at night. I wasn't really spending my time watching movies or playing games though, and instead focused on emails, checking Twitter and surfing the web. A few tricks exclusive to BlackBerry

Todd Haselton | CNBC

The KeyOne has a few features you won't find on smartphones from competitors. The spacebar doubles as a fingerprint reader, for example, and you can use the keyboard as a touchpad to scroll through websites. BlackBerry Hub provides an all-in-one home for your text messages, social alerts, emails, calendar events and more, which will be particularly useful to the busy executive or parent. A fast and good camera

Todd Haselton | CNBC | Mabel

The camera snapped great pictures during my tests, which was a bit surprising since I don't typically expect much from BlackBerry cameras. It's the same module in the Google Pixel, but I still think that device takes clearer and more accurate pictures, likely thanks to Google's software tuning. The camera is quick though, which is an improvement over the BlackBerry Priv, the last Android smartphone BlackBerry launched with a full keyboard. Security

Todd Haselton | CNBC

BlackBerry has always been known for its emphasis on secure communication  there's a reason it's still used by a lot of government customers  and the company's new plan is to sell you on the security of its software while turning the actual hardware over to TCL. On the new phone, an app called DTEK monitors your smartphone security at all times and gives you a score on how secured it thinks your phone is. There are a lot of factors, like whether you let your phone automatically install apps from the app store, that can affect this rating. In general, it's easy to make sure you're in the green zone of security approval.

Todd Haselton | CNBC

It won't really matter to most consumers, though. Google already protects apps in the Android Play Store to help prevent malware from spreading before you even download them. Competitors are locking down their devices more than ever before, too. Samsung provides similar enterprise-grade security options in its Knox software, some Android phones get monthly security updates and more. Then there are the downsides

Todd Haselton | CNBC

The display is bright, though not as high quality as what you'd find on similarly priced smartphones (the colors don't pop as much, and it isn't as sharp). The processor is also mid-range for what you're paying. The phone seems snappy enough, but it doesn't support next-generation Gigabit LTE networks that will begin rolling out this year and are going to enable faster speeds for when you need to download a big file from the office or stream a video.

Todd Haselton | CNBC

The BlackBerry KeyOne isn't water resistant like the latest phones from Apple and Samsung, either. That means you're more prone to damage if you accidentally spill water on it or get caught in a downpour waiting for a cab. Also, if you're like me, you're probably used to typing on a touchscreen phone by this point. It's actually hard to move back to typing on a QWERTY keyboard. And unlike the BlackBerry Priv, which offered a software keyboard option, you have to stick to the hardware here. There just isn't enough screen space to type on a software keyboard (and the form factor doesn't make sense for one.) Final thoughts: Fine for keyboard die-hards

Todd Haselton | CNBC
While Cramer admires Musk's confidence, he sympathized with those who try to make mathematical sense of his ultra-positive musings.

"If you're an analyst, I think the only way to handle an Elon Musk conference call is to take some mind altering drugs so you can really tune in and turn on the whole psychedelic story," the " Mad Money " host said of Tesla's CEO.

After Tesla's stock sank over $15 on Thursday following its earnings report, Jim Cramer looked into the company to try and understand its high-flown forecasts.

For example, when Barclays' Brian Johnson asked on the post-earnings conference call if Musk saw a way for the stock to reach $700 billion in market capitalization, the CEO responded:

"Well, now, I am going to want to preface this by of course saying I could be completely delusional, but I think I can see a clear path to that outcome."

"Normally, 'I could be totally delusional' is not a phrase you want to hear from a CEO, but Musk has enough confidence to pull it off," Cramer said.

Or take Baird analyst Tyler Frank, who asked the CEO if he thought it was still achievable to produce 1 million cars by 2020.

Musk responded, "Yeah, I do. I think we need to come out with the Model Y sometime in 2020 or aspirationally late 2019. And then I think a million units is quite likely, combined, yeah, maybe more."

Cramer wondered why Musk stopped at "maybe more," and not "definitely," if he was speaking aspirationally.

Finally, the CEO received a question from Deutsche Bank analyst Rod Lache about his plans on China if the government changed foreign investment regulations.

"I don't think this is quite the right timing to make any announcement on that front, but I would expect us to define our plans more clearly by end of year specific to China production," Musk responded.

"So, just in case you thought there was an inventory problem, just in case you thought there was a demand problem, just in case you thought he was off course in market cap, just when you thought that he was maybe hyping for production, the one thing you do know is you can't short this stock now, because by year-end, you have to figure Musk could be saying that he's going to make a million cars in China by 2020  at least aspirationally  and you'll be hit by one of the biggest short-squeezes in history," Cramer said.

All in all, while Cramer is not one for the risk that follows a stock like Tesla or a CEO like Musk, he cannot help but be intrigued by its trajectory.

"My take? Tesla makes for great theater, and while I think it's too risky to bet on this one, Musk's grandiosity makes it equally risky to bet against it," the "Mad Money" host said.

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Democrats and interest groups vehemently condemned the Republican proposal to replace parts of Obamacare, after the bill passed the House on Thursday.

Earlier, the GOP-sponsored bill passed the House by a vote of 217 to 213. All 193 Democrats voted against the bill. They were joined by 20 Republicans who voted "no."

Liberal firebrands Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders lambasted the proposal, saying it was a health-care bill in name only.

@SenWarren: Trumpcare isn't a health care bill. A bill that destroys health care for millions to shovel cash to the rich isn't a health care bill. #AHCA

Warren said the amended proposal is even worse than the original bill and will "devastate Americans' healthcare."

@SenWarren: This isn't football. It's not about scoring points. #AHCA will devastate Americans' healthcare. Families will go bankrupt. People will die.

Sanders said the bill "has nothing to do with health care and everything to do with tax breaks for the wealthy." The senator from Vermont called on Americans to rally against the bill and prevent it from passing the upper chamber of Congress.

@BernieSanders: Our job now is to rally millions of Americans against this disastrous Republican bill to make sure that it does not pass the Senate.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said that the GOP now has to live with its choice and that Americans will "have to judge them by how they have acted."

"When you know the facts and you care about people, you can't possibly vote for the bill that they voted for today. So ... either they don't know, they don't care or both," Pelosi said.

An earlier effort to vote on the bill was aborted in late March when GOP leaders saw that it would fail to win enough support to pass it. Before that failed effort, the CBO projected the bill would lead to 24 million more Americans without health insurance over a decade, and insurance plan premium rates up to 20 percent higher than Obamacare rates would be in 2018 before dropping.
AP: Sexual Assaults in K-12 Schools Shockingly Common

While endemic sexual violence on college campus has justifiably garnered headlines over the past few years, a series of investigative reports from the Associated Press has revealed a shocking amount of sexual assaults in public elementary and secondary schools nationwide. The AP found around 17,000 official reports of sex assaults by students in just a four-year period.

And the number of actual assaults could be even higher.

The Data

The AP scoured state education records and federal crime data and their tally only included the most severe forms of sexual assault: rape, sodomy, object penetration, and unwanted fondling. While the latter was the most common form of sexual assault, the AP found almost one in five victims of assault were raped, sodomized, or penetrated with an object.

The report also noted that "because such attacks are greatly under-reported, some states don't track them and those that do vary widely in how they classify and catalog sexual violence," the true number of assaults is likely to be much higher. There are no federal reporting requirements when it comes to sexual assaults in schools and laws on incident recognition, tracking, and reporting can vary from state to state.

The Victims

While parents think of schools as academic sanctuaries where their kids will be safe, the AP found K-12 campuses are the second-most likely place juveniles will be sexually violated by their peers. "Schools are required to keep students safe," Virginia Commonwealth University professor Charol Shakeshaft told the AP. "It is part of their mission. It is part of their legal responsibility. It isn't happening. Why don't we know more about it, and why isn't it being stopped?"

According to the AP, schools often mischaracterized sexual assaults, including rape and sodomy, as bullying, hazing, or even consensual behavior. The report also revealed that assaults occurred anywhere students were left unsupervised -- from buses and bathrooms to hallways and locker rooms -- and that sexual violence was present in all types of schools, "whether it be in an upper-class suburb, an inner-city neighborhood or a blue-collar farm town."

If you have been the victim of or a witness to sexual assault, whether in schools or elsewhere, you should report it immediately.

Related Resources:
U.S. employers announced plans in April to cut 36,602 jobs, a 15 percent decrease from March, outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported Thursday.

Last month's job cuts were 43 percent lower than the 64,141 recorded in April 2016. Employers have announced a total of 162,803 planned job cuts through the first four months of 2017, down 35 percent in the same period a year ago.

"Although restructuring in the retail sector continues to shed jobs, we aren't seeing the wide-scale layoffs in other sectors, like energy or tech," said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Retail had the most job losses in April with 11,669 job cuts, bringing the 2017 total to 50,133, up 36 percent from job cuts announced the in the first fourth months last year.

"Retail right now is dominating with many store closings, several thousand store closings announced so far this year," Challenger said on "Squawk Box."

The energy sector has cut 8,725 for the year, an 87 percent decrease. Computer firms announced 840 job cuts in April. That's 95 percent lower than the 17,015 cuts in that sector in April 2016.

The Challenger numbers came a day after ADP and Moody's Analytics said companies added 177,000 jobs in April, above the 175,000 expected from economists surveyed by Reuters.

On Friday, the Labor Department releases its closely watched monthly employment report.

Challenger said the economy seems to be in a "holding pattern," as companies await the outcome on President Donald Trump's proposed tax reform.

The White House released an outline for tax reform last week.
Shares of General Mills briefly surged more than 7 percent Thursday on speculation the maker of Cheerios cereal could become the next target of private equity firm 3G Capital.

However, the stock retreated after CNBC reported that there was no truth to the rumor.

Sources told CNBC that General Mills had not struck a deal to be acquired by either 3G or Kraft Heinz.

The speculation about General Mills was triggered by a report from a relatively unknown news outlet called MT Newswires on Thursday that claimed the food company "reportedly agreed to be acquired by private equity firm 3G Capital in an all cash transaction." The report cited unnamed sources and said the deal could be worth more than $49 billion.

Indeed, 3G is known as a major investor in the food and beverage sector and even teamed with Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway on some deals.

3G, or affiliates of the buyout firm, previously have invested in companies such as Kraft Heinz , Burger King , Tim Hortons and Anheuser-Busch . Yet a recent attempt to buy multinational Unilever failed and the Kraft Heinz business has been struggling with lackluster results.

In afternoon trading, General Mills was up 91 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $56.96. Volume was unusually heavy with more than 15 million shares changing hands just after 1 pm ET compared with its 10-day average daily volume of 3 million shares. The stock spiked above $60 earlier in the session before falling after the CNBC report.

General Mills stock is down 7 percent so far this year. The Minneapolis-based company on Wednesday announced Jeffrey Harmening as CEO, succeeding Ken Powell, who will remain as the company's chairman until he retires next year. The change is effective June 1.

 CNBC's David Faber contributed to this report.
If there was any doubt that Silicon Valley hates limitations on hiring skilled immigrants to work in the U.S., Alphabet executive chairman Eric Schmidt made it clear.

"The stupidest policy in the entire American political system was the limit on H-1B visas," Schmidt said while speaking at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab on Wednesday. Alphabet is the parent company of Google.

"We want the best people in the world, regardless of any form of sex, race, country, what-have-you. We want them to work for us and not our competitors," he said.

Policy restrictions like that make it more difficult for U.S. companies to remain competitive, he said. "We should organize our country to be the most attractive place for those people. Stupid government policies that restrict us from [having] a fair chance of getting those people are antithetical to our mission [and] the things we serve," said Schmidt.

Schmidt also said that despite the rapid pace of technological advancement he isn't worried about artificial intelligence taking jobs. "I've taken the position of 'job elimination denier.' I've just decided I'm going to be contrarian, because the data supports me, and it's more fun to be in opposition anyway," he said.

Still, "there's no question that there's job dislocation. But there [are] always new solutions," he said. "The economic folks would say that you can see the job that's lost, but you very seldom can see the job that's created."
Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., conducts a news conference with members the GOP caucus in the Capitol Visitor Center to announce a new amendment to the health care bill to repeal and replace the ACA, April 6, 2017.

Hours before a scheduled vote on a Republican bill that would repeal and replace major parts of Obamacare, a GOP congressman suggested that neither he  nor anyone else  has actually read the entire bill.

But Rep. Thomas Garrett of Virginia said his "staff" had read all of the parts of the bill  which he plans to vote for.

"Oh, gosh," Garrett said on MSNBC on Thursday morning when asked if he has read the entire text of the GOP's American Health Care Act.

"Let's put it this way: People in my office have read all parts of the bill."

"I don't think any individual has read the whole bill," Garrett said. "That's why we have staff."

Republicans for years have accused Democrats of ramming through Obamacare legislation, known as the Affordable Care Act, through Congress without lawmakers having a full grasp of the implications of that law.

They and other Obamacare foes have repeatedly pointed to a statement that then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said about the ACA in 2010.

"We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it  away from the fog of the controversy," Pelosi said.

Referring to the ACA in 2009, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said: "I don't think we should pass bills that we haven't read that we don't know what they cost."

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But Ryan, who is now House speaker, and other GOP leaders on Wednesday night scheduled the vote Thursday without having in hand an analysis of their revised repeal bill by the Congressional Budget Office.

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The CBO at some point will project how much the bill will cost the federal government, how it will affect insurance premiums, and how many more people are likely to become uninsured as a result of it.

"I have said all along that it was sort of hypocrisy for us to lament passing a bill without finding out what's in it and then to do the same thing," Garrett said Thursday.

"But I think that was with the original [Republican] bill," Garrett said, referring to a prior version of the legislation, which was yanked from a planned vote in late March after GOP leaders saw it did not have enough votes to pass. He noted that the House had just 17 days to consider that first version.

"We now have [had] several months" to have consider the bill, Garrett said. "So that's how it's different from what happened in 2009."

Garrett said that lag has given analysts enough time to understand the implications of the bill.

The CBO's "score" of the original bill estimated that 24 million more Americans would become uninsured by 2026 than would be the case if Obamacare remained in place, and that individual premiums would be about 15 to 20 percent higher in the first two years of the bill becoming law.

Since the aborted vote in late March, Republicans have made a series of amendments to the bill, each of which would alter the CBO's original analysis of the legislation.
The Republican health-care bill passed by the House on Thursday is "tremendously problematic," Mt. Sinai Health System CEO Dr. Kenneth Davis told CNBC.

The legislation has yet to be analyzed by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which would have provided estimates of how many would lose coverage, how it will affect premiums and the cost to the federal government.

However, the CBO found the GOP's first bill would leave 24 million more Americans uninsured by 2026.

And those left without coverage are still going to be sick, David pointed out.

"They're still going to come to the hospital. And there are laws that stipulate, and our values equally stipulate, that we have to take care of those people," he said in an interview with "Closing Bell" on Thursday. "Where's the money going to come from?"

What's more, hospitals lost subsidies for uncompensated care under Obamacare because more people were being insured.

"Now 24 million people lose their coverage but that money doesn't come back. So we're in a very difficult situation," Davis said.

Meanwhile, the idea that cheaper policies will entice more people to get coverage also doesn't sit well with him.

That's because those policies don't necessarily mean better care, said Davis.

"Cheaper policies will make people not have coverage for very important things like prevention, like mental illness," he said. "We need all those things because in the long run they save money."

The bill now heads to the Senate, where it will likely face more skepticism. Davis urged the lawmakers to not cut Medicaid funding and to focus on prevention.

"We are not going to bring the cost of health care down unless we are better able to organize care, provide better value and do that by preventing illness," he said.
After signing, U.S. President Donald Trump holds up an executive order rolling back regulations from the 2010 Dodd-Frank law on Wall Street reform at the White House in Washington February 3, 2017. Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

"Executive Order Minimizing the Economic Burden of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act"

Signed: Jan. 20, 2017 Hours after being sworn in, Trump signed an executive order aimed at reversing the Affordable Care Act  Obama's landmark legislation  which Republicans vowed to "repeal and replace" throughout the campaign. The executive order states that the Trump administration will "seek prompt repeal" of the law. To minimize the "economic burden" of Obamacare, the order instructs the secretary of health and human services and other agency heads to "waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation" of any part of the law that places a fiscal burden on the government, businesses or individuals. Also in the order are directions to give states more control over implementing health care laws.

"Expediting Environmental Reviews and Approvals for High-Priority Infrastructure Projects"

Signed: Jan. 24, 2017 The order outlines how the administration will expedite environmental reviews and approval of "high priority" infrastructure projects, such as repairs to bridges, airports and highways. The order directs the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), within 30 days of a request, to determine a project's environmental impact and decide whether it is "high priority." Project review deadlines are to be put in place by the CEQ's chairman. The order is widely believed to have been issued in response to the protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline.

"Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States"

Signed: Jan. 25, 2017 The order outlines changes to a few immigration policies, but most notably it strips federal grant money to so-called sanctuary cities. In addition, the secretary of homeland security is ordered to hire 10,000 more immigration officers, create a publicly available weekly list of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants and review previous immigration policies. The order also creates an office to assist the victims of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants and calls on local and state police to detain or apprehend people in the United States illegally.

"Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements"

Signed: Jan. 25, 2017 The order is aimed at fulfilling one of Trump's key campaign promises  enhancing border security  by directing federal funding to construction of a wall along the Mexico-U.S. border. It instructs the secretary of homeland security to prepare congressional budget requests for the wall and to "end the abuse of parole and asylum provisions" that complicate the removal of undocumented immigrants. Other parts of the order call for hiring 5,000 more Border Patrol agents, building facilities to hold undocumented immigrants near the Mexican border and ending "catch-and-release" protocols, in which immigrants in the United States without documentation are not detained while they await court hearings.

"Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States"

Signed: Jan. 27, 2017 The order suspends the entry of immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries  Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Yemen and Somalia  for 90 days and stops all refugees from entering the country for 120 days. Syrian refugees are banned indefinitely. During the time of the ban, the secretary of homeland security and the secretary of state will review and revise the refugee admission process. Also in the order is the suspension of Obama's 2012 Visa Interview Waiver Program, which allowed frequent U.S. tourists to bypass the visa interview process. White House officials have made a number of contradictory statements, at times calling the order a "ban" and at other times referring to it as a "travel restriction." After the order was signed, thousands of protesters popped up at airports across the country to denounce it. @realDonaldTrump: Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting, NOW. Look what is happening all over Europe and, indeed, the world - a horrible mess!

"Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Appointees"

Signed: Jan. 28, 2017 This order stops all executive branch officials from lobbying for five years after they leave office and places a lifetime ban on lobbying a foreign government. The order enacts a number of other lobbying restrictions, including banning appointees from accepting gifts from registered lobbyists and banning appointees who were lobbyists from participating in any issues they petitioned for within the last two years. Some raised concerns over how Trump will fill the jobs in his administration under the new rules.

"Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs"

Signed: Jan. 30, 2017 The order states that executive departments and agencies must slash two regulations for every one new regulation proposed. Regulation spending cannot exceed $0, and any costs associated with regulations must be offset with eliminations. The order also directs the head of each agency to keep records of the cost savings, to be sent to the president.

"Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial System"

Signed: Feb. 3, 2017 The order lays the administration's "Core Principles" regarding the U.S. financial system, which includes: Making regulation "efficient, effective and appropriately tailored"

Preventing government bailouts

Ensuring that U.S. firms are competitive with foreign companies

The order directs the treasury secretary to review financial regulations and report back to the president 120 days later with a determination of whether current policies promote the "Core Principles."

"Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety"

Signed: Feb. 9, 2017 The order directs Attorney General Jeff Sessions to create a task force that would propose new legislation to reduce crime, highlighting drug trafficking, illegal immigration and violent crime. The task force will submit yearly reports to the president. Throughout the campaign, Trump promised voters a return to "law and order" in the United States and said minorities from inner cities are "living in hell" because of violent crime.

"Preventing Violence Against Federal, State, Tribal, and Local Law Enforcement Officers"

Signed: Feb. 9, 2017 The order calls on the Justice Department to "enhance the protection and safety" of law enforcement by increasing penalties for crimes committed against officers. The attorney general is also instructed to review and determine whether existing federal laws adequately protect law enforcement and later to propose legislation to better protect officers. The order directs the Justice Department to recommend changes in federal grant funding to law enforcement programs if they do not protect officers.

"Enforcing Federal Law With Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations and Preventing International Trafficking"

Signed: Feb. 9, 2016 The order outlines the administration's approach to cutting down on organized crime  including gangs, cartels and racketeering organizations  by enhancing cooperation with foreign governments and the ways in which federal agencies share information and data. It identifies human trafficking, drug smuggling, financial crimes, cyber-crime and corruption as "a threat to public safety and national security." The Threat Mitigation National Intelligence  of which Sessions, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and the secretary of homeland security are co-chairmen  will review and recommend changes to federal agencies' practices in a report to be delivered to the president within 120 days.

"Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Justice"

Signed: Feb. 9, 2017 Two weeks after Trump fired Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, this order changes the order of succession for Sessions, who won approval as attorney general last week. The sequence is: the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri. A week before leaving office, Obama signed an executive order changing the order of succession without explanation.

"Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda"

Signed: Feb. 24, 2017 Under this order, each agency must designate an official as its Regulatory Reform Officer (RRO), who will be responsible for reviewing current regulations and making recommendations to the agency head on how to modify them. The RRO must hone in on certain regulations, such as those that are outdated or are perceived to curtail job creation. The order reiterate's Trump's plan to cut down on regulations and comes nearly a month after the president signed an executive order requiring agencies to slash two regulations for every one proposed.

"Restoring the Rule of Law, Federalism, and Economic Growth by Reviewing the 'Waters of the U.S.' Rule"

Signed Feb. 28, 2017 The order calls on federal agencies to revise a regulation put in place by former president Barack Obama called the Clean Water Rule. Signed in 2015, the rule expanded the number of bodies of water protected by the federal government to include streams, ponds and smaller waterways. Trump's order directs the administrator of the EPA and the assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works to review the rule and propose a new one that either eliminates or revises Obama's rule.

"White House Initiative to Promote Excellence and Innovation at Historically Black Colleges and Universities"

Signed Feb. 28, 2017 The order transfers the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (WHHBCU) from the Department of Education to the Executive Office of the President. Since its creation under President Ronald Reagan, the initiative had been under the purview of the Education Department. Trump met with dozens of HBCU presidents the day prior for a listening session, which many students and college leaders were quick to protest out of skepticism that the president was using the meeting as a PR stunt. In an interview with NBC News, Omarosa Manigault said of the order, "We understand that the executive order starts the action but there are so many different steps in terms of defining programming."

"Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the U.S."

Signed: March 6, 2017 The order revises Trump's original U.S. immigration ban, which was hit with dozens of lawsuits shortly after being signed in February and blocked by a federal judge in Washington state. The new order, which goes into effect March 16, bans citizens from six Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days. The countries include Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya. Iraq was removed from the list after the Iraqi government said it would increase information sharing with the United States.

"Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch"

Signed: March 13, 2017 The order assigns the Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney to propose a plan to "reorganize and governmental functions and eliminate unnecessary agencies" in an effort to cut down of federal spending and improve "efficiency, effectiveness and accountability of that agency." Within 180 days, the heads of select agencies must submit individual plans to Mulvaney, who will have another 180 days to send a plan to the president. During a daily press briefing, Press Secretary Sean Spicer called the executive order "long overdue" and said agencies will undergo a "thorough investigation" into fiscal waste, though he was unable to provide a target goal for the amount of money the order aims to save.

"The Revocation of Federal Contracting Executive Orders"

Signed: March 27, 2017 The executive order revokes key components of the Obama administration's previous executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against employees on the basis of sexual orientation or identity, gay rights advocates say. Organizations representing the LGBTQ community say the "Presidential Executive Order on the Revocation of Federal Contracting Executive Orders" hobbles several of Obama's previous orders including the "Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces" order by revoking the requirement that companies seeking federal contracts prove they've complied with federal laws banning discrimination based on sexual identity or orientation.

"Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth"

Signed: March 28, 2017 The order directs the Environmental Protection Agency to review another executive order, called the Clean Power Plan, signed by Barack Obama in 2014. Obama's plan, which aimed to reduce carbon pollution from power plants, was halted by the Supreme Court in 2016. Trump's new order also asks agencies to review any regulations that could "potentially burden the development or use" of oil, natural gas, coal, and nuclear energy resources. Within 180 days, the agencies must submit reports to the Office of Management and Budget, which will take action to eliminate regulations.

"Establishing the President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis"

Signed: March 29, 2017 The order creates the "Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and Opioid Crisis," which will study the federal government's effectiveness in fighting drug addiction by reviewing funding levels, accessibility of treatment services, prescription practices and youth educational messages. A report will be sent to the president within 90 days of the order being signed. Trump appointed Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey as head of the commission.

"Omnibus Report on Significant Trade Deficits"

Signed: March 31, 2017 The order directs the Commerce Department and U.S. Trade Representative to compile a report on trade practices that contribute to the trade deficit. The report will look at each of America's trade partners and assess whether the country's trade practices unfairly discriminate against the U.S. Forms of discrimination the report will assess includes non-tariff barriers, anti-dumping and intellectual property theft. Within 90 days, the report will be sent to the White House detailing causes for the deficit. @POTUS @realDonaldTrump signs executive orders on trade that will set the stage for revival in American manufacturing. #AmericaFirst pic.twitter.com/oQexlbnLtn

 Dan Scavino Jr. (@DanScavino) March 31, 2017

"Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Justice"

Signed: March 31, 2017 The order changes the succession line for the Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The new sequence is: United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia

United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina

United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas

"Establishing Enhanced Collection and Enforcement of Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duties and Violations of Trade and Customs Law"

Signed: March, 31, 2017 The order directs the secretary of homeland security to develop a plan within 90 days to combat two types of non-trade barriers placed against the U.S.: anti-dumping and countervailing duties. The order also directs the DHS Secretary and Treasury secretary to step up seizure of counterfeit goods and protect American companies from intellectual property right infringement.

"Buy American, Hire American"

Signed: April 18, 2017 The order has two parts. The "Hire American" portion of the bill targets the H-1B visa program, which allows businesses to hire high-skilled workers from outside the U.S., by putting less emphasis on the lottery system used to determine which companies can sponsor visas. The "Buy American" portion of the order directs agencies to tighten rules that give priority to U.S. companies when hiring contractors or purchasing goods. This would be done by reducing the use of waivers and exceptions to current laws. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross must submit a review of "Buy American" loopholes within 220 days.

"Identifying and Reducing Tax Regulatory Burdens"

Signed: April 21, 2017 The order directs Secretary of Treasury Steve Mnuchin to review within 60 days all tax regulations put in place in 2016 and 2017 that put an "undue financial burden on United States taxpayers." Within 150 days, Mnunchin will submit a plan to the president detailing ways to alleviate "the burden imposed by regulations" identified in the initial review. @realDonaldTrump 'Presidential Executive Order on Identifying and Reducing Tax Regulatory Burdens' Executive Order: http://45.wh.gov/HirRFJ

"Promoting Agriculture and Rural Prosperity in America"

Signed: April 25, 2017 The order creates a task force, led by Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, that will identify policy options to promote U.S. agriculture business and job growth in rural America. The task force must submit a report to Trump within 180 days. The task force will look at regulations that impede U.S. agricultural growth and for ways to encourage the use of agricultural products made in America. @realDonaldTrump 'Presidential Executive Order on Promoting Agriculture and Rural Prosperity in America' Executive Order: http://45.wh.gov/UDWud3

"Review of Designations Under the Antiquities Act"

Signed: April 26, 2017 The order directs the Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke to review federal monument designations  including national parks  made since 1996 that cover more than 100,000 acres of land. Under the 1906 Antiquities Act, presidents have the power to protect land . Trump's order names one national monument designation in particular: Obama's 1.35 million-acre Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. Zinke must submit a report to Trump within 45 days.

"Enforcing Statutory Prohibitions on Federal Control of Education"

Signed: April 26, 2017 Under the order, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is directed to study federal overreach in local and state education systems. As a strong advocate for charter schools, DeVos will determine within 300 days whether federal education regulations take control away from states in areas such as curriculum, school administration and textbook or library content.

"Improving Accountability and Whistleblower Protection"

Signed: April 27, 2017 The order is aimed at improving accountability within the Department of Veterans Affairs, which found itself at the center of a 2014 controversy in which dozens of veterans reportedly died while on the waitlist for medical care. The order directs Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin to create the "Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection" in the department within 45 days. The office will be charged with investigating wrongdoing within the department and terminating any VA employee who fails to "carry out his or her duties on behalf of veterans." "We will always stand with those who stood for freedom and who stood for us. They protected us, they made it all possible, and now we're going to protect and take care of them," Trump said at the signing.

"Implementing an America-First Offshore Energy Strategy"

Signed: April 28, 2017 The order reverses a ban on Arctic leasing put in place under the Obama administration in December and directs Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to review areas available for off-shore oil and gas exploration. "We are unleashing American energy and clearing the way for thousands and thousands of high-paying American energy jobs," President Trump said during the announcement.

"Establishment of Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy"

Signed: April 29, 2017 The order establishes the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, which will advise Trump on policies to increase economic growth and decrease the trade deficit. Leading the new office is Trump appointee and National Trade Council Director Peter Navarro, who said he wants to renegotiate NAFTA. The office will also help implement the "Buy American, Hire American" executive order signed by Trump on April 18.

"Addressing Trade Agreement Violations and Abuses"

Signed: April 29, 2017 The order directs Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross to review all U.S. trade agreements, as well as relations with countries that run trade deficits with America. Within 180 days, Ross must send a performance review to Trump detailing any violations. @realDonaldTrump #ICYMI- On Saturday I signed two EO's to help keep jobs & wealth in our country. EO1: http://45.wh.gov/kePKzK EO2: http://45.wh.gov/foum7U

"Establishment of the American Technology Council"
"The Fed needs the report to be good," said Aaron Kohli, rate strategist at BMO.

Treasury yields were higher ahead of the report. Yields move inversely to price, and the 10-year yield pushed above 2.35 percent.

March's slump was surprising after several months of strong growth, and the three-month average is 178,000, which many economists see as being close to trend growth. But economists disagree on how much of March's slump will be made up in April.

Economists forecast 185,000 nonfarm payrolls for April, up from a surprising 98,000 for March, according to Thomson Reuters. The unemployment rate is expected to rise to 4.6 percent from 4.5 percent, and average hourly wages are expected to grow by 0.3 percent, up from 0.2 percent in March. The employment report is released at 8:30 a.m. EDT Friday.

Job growth in April is expected to have nearly doubled over last month's weak level  if indeed the real culprits behind March's sluggish hiring were weather and holidays.

The April jobs report is the most significant second-quarter data after first-quarter GDP was reported to have grown by just 0.7 percent. Economists expect a bounce back in the second quarter and are looking for some signs of that in the payrolls. The report could also be important for the Fed, which indicated it viewed the first-quarter weakness as temporary.

One negative trend that could continue to show up is the decline in retail-sector jobs, as brick-and-mortar retailers shut stores and go bankrupt.

Diane Swonk, CEO of DS Economics, expects just 145,000 jobs, but she sees the trend more like 175,000. "There were a lot of retail closings, and this is the time when you tend to hire up, but you could have another retail loss," she said.

Goldman Sachs economists said retail employment growth has fallen from a historical trend of 15,000 to 20,000 per month to an average decline of 5,000 over the past six months.

"While some of the March weakness was likely weather-related, we expect the structural shift of retail sales from brick and mortar stores toward less labor-intensive e-commerce firms will continue to weigh on payroll growth in that industry, with the impact on the order of 10,000 per month, relative to its previous trend," the Goldman economists wrote. They said the drag from retail accelerated in the past two months  with a loss of 61,000 jobs  and that first-quarter sales trends at stores may be speeding up the shift.

The Goldman Sachs economists forecast 200,000 nonfarm payrolls for April and expect a weather-related boost of between 25,000 and 40,000 as workers returned to work after March storms. They noted that payroll growth in the New England, mid-Atlantic and eastern north central regions went to a negative 52,000 in March, from a gain of 102,000 in February. They said that likely reflected the impact of snowstorms in March and some give back of jobs in sectors that hired during an unusually warm February.

Barclays economists also expect to see a bounce back from weather .

"We're forecasting 225,000. We looked at a lot of the underlying details last month, and I think there's a couple of factors that suggest we could see a pretty solid bounce in employment," said Michael Gapen, chief U.S. economist at Barclays.

Gapen said, for instance, there were big declines in the manufacturing states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Missouri. "We had a big rise in [unemployment] claims in those states. The April claims data showed those states had some of the biggest declines," Gapen said.

Gapen said the timing of the Easter and Passover holidays may also have been a factor. "We think that could be a factor in depressing, on a seasonally adjusted basis, some of the service-sector hiring ," he said. "We also think construction, more broadly, had a weather effect."

Swonk said the federal government's ongoing hiring freeze likely reduced public sector payrolls by 10,000 jobs. She also said uncertainty over the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, may also have resulted in a slowing in health-care hiring.

"There was a slowdown in health care last month, and it's expected to slow again," she said. The House on Thursday voted to do away with Obamacare, but now the bill must pass the Senate, where it faces opposition.

"The labor markets are getting tighter, but there's a risk that the jobs number could be disappointing a bit," she said. "We got fooled by the 200,000-plus months, and the reality is you have to do a moving average. We're still pretty much on trend."

Watch: March jobs number
Shipping is a crucial cog in the global economy.



According to the International Chamber of Shipping around 90 percent of global trade is carried by the international shipping industry, so it's unsurprising that the environmental impact of shipping is considerable.

The International Maritime Organization, for example, says that in the period to 2050 maritime CO2 emissions could increase by between 50 and 250 percent.

"Shipping is the most efficient way of transporting goods in the world, but it also (has) a big impact to the emissions in the world," Ilari Kallio, VP of technology at Helsinki based company Wartsila, told CNBC's Sustainable Energy.



"Ninety percent of world trade is transported through shipping, so shipping has to contribute to the emissions reduction," Kallio added.

It is within this climate that Wartsila is turning to liquefied natural gas, or LNG, as a source of fuel for ships.
Eric Feferberg, Joel Saget | AFP | Getty Images

Investors may have started pricing in a victory for centrist Emmanuel Macron in the runoff of the French presidency but the battle against the far-right leader Marine Le Pen is yet to be concluded. CNBC takes a look at what separates Macron from Le Pen, and why a victory for the former might not be so straight forward.

Who are they?

The far-right candidate has taken on the leadership of the party founded by her father  Jean-Marie Le Pen. Marine Le Pen managed to get through to the second round of the French presidential election as voters have grown concerned with immigration, terrorism and security matters. This is only the second time in French history when the far-right has managed to reach the second round of the presidential vote. Jean-Marie Le Pen disputed the presidency against Jacques Chirac in 2002 but lost the runoff with a difference of about 65 percentage points. Marine Le Pen graduated from Pantheon-Assas University in Paris with a degree in law. Meanwhile, Emmanuel Macron would be the youngest ever French president if elected. The 39-year-old politician began his career as an investment banker and though he has served as an economy minister for two years, in the last Socialist government, he has never run for public office until now. At the start of the campaign, most analysts said Macron was running in the 2017 presidential race as preparation for the election in five years' time. But the centrist, independent candidate decided to take his chances even without the backing of the Socialist Party.

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What do they want to achieve?

"Regarding Mrs Le Pen's program, the clear primary focus would be on European policy (open negotiation with other member states to bring sovereignty back in member states, including monetary policies), putting an end to the independence of the Bank of France and putting in place economic protectionism," Barclays said in a note after the first round of the election. Le Pen's platform has been based on a closed-door policy to immigration and has called for a tax on companies hiring foreign workers. On the other hand, the bank added that Macron's plan includes "a further labor law, (aimed at making it less rigid) to be implemented before the Summer Measures to improve governance (ministers will be assessed, and will be renewed every year; insistence on no criminal record) an audit of public finances; proposals on the future of Europe (euro area budget)." The former investment banker has promised a Nordic-style economic model for France  making government spending cuts of 60 billion euros ($64.4 billion) while also implementing a stimulus package of 50 billion euros.

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What are polls indicating?
Emmanuel Macron, head of the political movement En Marche !, or Onwards !, and candidate for the 2017 French presidential election, attends a campaign political rally in Paris, France, April 17, 2017.

French stocks hit a nine-year high on Thursday morning as investors grow confident that Emmanuel Macron will become the next president of France.

But market analysts believe that the CAC 40 has further to go if the centrist and independent candidate wins Sunday's vote.

A Macron victory is the most "market-friendly" scenario, given his pro-European stance, Vincent Juvyns, global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management, told CNBC over the phone.

He suggested that banking stocks are likely to outperform following a confirmation of Macron's victory.

The sector rallied after the results of the first round with Societe Generale and Credit Agricole rising 10 and 11 percent respectively.

A Macron win would also "open the door to a change in tone at the European Central Bank level," Juvyns added.

If Macron wins against the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, the integrity of the euro zone should be intact. In opposition to Le Pen's policy proposals, Macron wants to strengthen the euro area, which could boost claims that it is time for the ECB to tighten.

Claus Vistesen, chief euro zone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, told CNBC that if Macron wins, the ECB is likely to change its forward guidance at its June meeting. He said that the ECB could open the door to raising rates before the end of its quantitative easing program.

Vistesen added that there will be a relief rally on Monday, with banking stocks likely to jump, but a Macron win has already been priced in. "I would not be surprised if markets open higher and go down at lunchtime," he said, "I would not be surprised if everything ends the day in red," Vistesen added.

"I would not be surprised if markets open higher and go down at lunchtime," he said, "I would not be surprised if everything ends the day in red," Vistesen added.

Disclaimer: Vincent Juvyns doesn't run a portfolio but JP Morgan owns some banking stocks in some European equity portfolios.

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Evan from Fight for the Future writes, "The Internet strikes back! Hundreds of people chipped in small amounts to crowdfund these billboards targeting U.S. lawmakers who voted to gut the FCC's Internet privacy rules and allow ISPs like Comcast and Verizon to collect and sell their customers' personal information and web browsing history without our consent. Check out photos of the billboards here.

"These same lawmakers are now working with the new FCC chairman and lobbyists from the big cable companies to try to destroy net neutrality and let ISPs slow down and censor websites. Let's not let that happen! Send a message to Congress and the FCC with just a few clicks."
Jockle said Morgan Stanley's goal was to close out under-performing and less popular funds. The client assets held in Vanguard mutual funds represents a small percentage of all client assets in mutual fund investments, she said.

Morgan Stanley will not force clients to liquidate any holdings they currently have in Vanguard mutual funds. But starting on Monday, advisers cannot sell any new mutual funds from Vanguard, Morgan Stanley spokeswoman Christy Jockle said in an email.

Morgan Stanley , the largest U.S. brokerage by salesforce, said on Wednesday it is dropping mutual funds from Vanguard, the largest U.S. mutual fund firm.

Electronic signage at the headquarters of Morgan Stanley in New York.

Clients can add money to their existing Vanguard investments through the first quarter of 2018.

Morgan Stanley, which employs more than 15,000 brokers, announced last month that it would reduce the mutual funds it offers by 25 percent, to 2,300 funds. The decision to drop Vanguard funds specifically was announced earlier Wednesday by the investment news website AdvisorHub.

Morgan Stanley will continue to offer Vanguard exchange-traded funds.

Known for pioneering index funds like its Vanguard 500 Index Fund, the Pennsylvania-based firm has attracted clients with its low-cost approach.

Over the last year, Vanguard attracted $342 billion in net inflows, mostly into its passively managed index funds and exchange-traded funds.

The firm attributes its low costs partly to not paying wealth management firms for the distribution of its funds, something its rivals do.

Vanguard spokeswoman Emily Farrell said that while it was "unfortunate" that Morgan Stanley advisers will no access Vanguard's mutual funds, the popularity of its ETFs continues to increase.

"We will definitely continue to see growth," Farrell said.
Oil prices struck a new 2017 low on Thursday as mixed U.S. stockpile data compounded bearishness that has permeated the energy complex in recent weeks.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell below $46 and international benchmark breached $49, both sinking to the lowest level since Nov. 30, the day the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to cut output.

Analysts said WTI could eventually decline to $42 now that it broke this key level.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate 3-day performance

The move lower came after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a much smaller-than-expected drop in crude oil inventories and another week of soft gasoline demand.

John Kilduff, founding partner at energy hedge fund Again Capital, said there was no one headline moving oil on Thursday. Instead, he chalked it up to more technical trading.

"That $47 level ... is huge," he said.

On Tuesday, oil breached the previous week's low of $48.20, sparking a round of high-volume, late-afternoon selling.

There is some support around the $45 level, Kilduff said. But if U.S. crude settles below $47 a barrel on Thursday, he believes the contract could plunge to the November lows of $42 a barrel.

Just before noon, U.S. crude broke through a major support zone at $45.90 flagged by Seaport Global Securities earlier in the day. The next critical level is $42.70, the firm said in a morning research note.

Roberto Friedlander, head of energy trading at Seaport Global Securities, pointed to "terrible" demand for refined products, uncertainty around future oil consumption and "what seems like an endless supply of oil."
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Oracle continues to throw barbs at rival Salesforce , as the two companies compete to become the first software services company to reach $10 billion in cloud revenue. "Oh of course we're going to surpass $10 billion, the only question becomes what date," Mark Hurd, one of Oracle's CEOs, told CNBC's "Squawk Alley" on Thursday. "If you look at our growth rate last quarter and just start doing the math .... we're going to hit $10 billion relatively soon." In February, Salesforce said it expects to achieve that goal in the next year with sales of $10.15 billion to $10.20 billion, "faster than any enterprise software company in history." But Hurd said in March that "it's just a matter of when we catch and pass Salesforce.com in total cloud revenue." And while $10 billion would be less than one-third of Oracle's total revenue -- it booked $37.05 billion in the fiscal year ended May 31, 2016 -- Hurd says that's only the beginning. "Are we going to stop at $10 billion? Are you kidding? So this is a tremendous opportunity for us to grow and blow way past $10 billion," Hurd said.

Mark Hurd, CEO of Oracle. Adam Jeffery | CNBC

Heated as it may be, though, the rivalry fails to account for the elephants in the room, particularly Amazon . Amazon is widely considered the leader in cloud revenue, with about a third of the total market, according to Synergy Research Group. Microsoft, Google and IBM are gaining market share, trailed by Oracle and Alibaba, while companies like Rackspace and Salesforce are strong in niche markets, Synergy said. But Hurd is confident Oracle can win. "[Amazon] built their infrastructure years ago  we get the opportunity to build ours now," Hurd said. "Which gives us all the learning that we got, frankly, from them, and the opportunity for us to turn that into competitive advantage." Thanks to the acquisition of Sun Microsystems, Oracle holds the keys to the programming platform Java, which Hurd said is still one of the "great development platforms of all time," and one of the most popular programming languages in the world. "We believe no one in the industry, bar none, brings this capability," Hurd said.

AT&T signs on
OPEC is widely expected to extend production cuts that initially boosted oil futures above $50, but prices just keep falling.

That raises concerns that oil prices could struggle to return to their 2017 highs in the mid and upper $50s even if the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries carries over the output reductions through the second half 2017 when it meets in three weeks.

That announcement could boost prices by $2 or $3 a barrel, said John Kilduff, founding partner at energy hedge fund Again Capital.

But that would leave a lot of ground to cover. Thursday's sell-off sent U.S. crude prices below $46 a barrel, while Brent futures slumped to under $49. Those levels have not seen since Nov. 30, when OPEC agreed to slash output by 1.2 million barrels a day in a bid to shrink huge stockpiles around the world.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil 3-day performance

Early losses fueled by technical selling accelerated after OPEC sources told Reuters that the cartel was unlikely to make cuts deeper. Some believe that is necessary because U.S. drillers have taken advantage of this year's higher prices to increase production, while OPEC members Libya and Nigeria, both exempt from the deal, have raised output more than anticipated.

Despite historically high compliance to production quotas, the world's storage tanks are still brimming.

This week, a Reuters survey indicated that OPEC's April compliance remained above 90 percent, but had slipped from the previous month. That shows compliance "is as good as it's going to get for them, and it's still not working," said Kilduff.

"People keep forecasting that global inventories are going to come down, but so far, they haven't for the most part," he said.

U.S. crude stockpiles have fallen in the last four weeks, but remain near an all-time high set in March. Meanwhile, inventories in developed countries were 336 million barrels above the five-year average in February, the International Energy Agency said in its latest report.
Filing a claim isn't the only thing that can cause your homeowners insurance rate to spike. Paying your credit card bill late can do some serious damage, too. That's because underwriters often use a credit-based insurance score to set your premium, which looks at things like debt and late payments, among other factors. "It's not intuitive that how I handle my credit card can affect things like my auto or home insurance," Peter Kochenburger, deputy director of the University of Connecticut's Insurance Law Center, told CNBC.

Getty Images

Having a fair credit score can result in rates that are an average 36 percent higher than what people with excellent scores pay, according to a new InsuranceQuotes.com study. The penalty is even more dramatic for those with poor credit  who pay an average 114 percent more than people with excellent credit. (Credit scores range from 300 to 850, and the higher the better. In 2015, according to WalletHub.com, more than half of Americans had a FICO score that is 700 or greater  typically enough to get some of the best rates on a loan or credit card.) But in some states, you're lucky if you're paying 36 percent  or even 114 percent  more. (See charts below .)
There's a simple answer on how to deal with people with pre-existing conditions  create an insurance market just for them, Independent Institute senior fellow John Goodman told CNBC on Thursday.

Concern over coverage for those with pre-existing conditions grew after a provision was inserted into the Republican health-care bill that would, under certain conditions, undo Obamacare's ban on letting insurers charge people with those conditions more for their insurance plans than healthy people.

The legislation passed the House on Thursday afternoon and now heads over to the Senate for consideration.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, about 27 percent of adults under the age of 65 have health conditions that would likely leave them uninsurable if they applied for individual market coverage before Obamacare. In Colorado and Minnesota, that number is 22 percent, but in Southern states such as Alabama and Kentucky, the number climbs to 33 percent. In West Virginia, 36 percent of the non-elderly population would have declinable conditions.

However, Goodman called those figures "nonsense."
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After years of debate, the House voted Thursday to repeal key parts of the Affordable Care Act and replace them with new provisions. The vote, which President Donald Trump was planning to tout as a big victory, sends the Republican-sponsored bill to gut Obamacare to the Senate for consideration. But winning approval for the bill could be even more difficult in the Senate than it has been in the House, where Republican leaders struggled for nearly two months to wrangle enough votes in their caucus to secure its passage. The bill passed by a vote of 217 to 213, which was one more "yes" vote than was needed for passage. All 193 Democrats voting opposed the bill. They were joined by 20 Republicans voting "no." "A lot of us have waited seven years to cast this vote," House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said shortly before the voting began. "Many of us are here because we pledged to cast this vote: to repeal and replace Obamacare." "This bill delivers the promises we have made to the American people," Ryan said. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., told MSNBC shortly before the vote began, "We were elected to do this." After the vote, protesters outside the Capitol building yelled, "Shame, shame!" at members of Congress walking down the front steps. The bill  which would dramatically change the way the federal government funds purchases of individual health plans and Medicaid  is expected to dramatically increase the number of people without health insurance if enacted into law.

Effect on pre-existing conditions

Thursday's vote came a week after the bill was amended to include a provision that won support from conservative holdouts. That provision would, under certain conditions, undo Obamacare's ban on letting insurers charge people with pre-existing health conditions more for their insurance plans than healthy people. Moderate Republicans initially blanched at that provision. But on Wednesday a number of them agreed to support the bill after the addition of another amendment that would increase funding designed to reduce the impact of the higher premiums on people with pre-existing conditions. Analysis questions how far that funding may go to cut costs for those Americans. The bill, known as the American Health Care Act, would remove the Obamacare rule requiring most Americans to have health coverage of some kind.

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It also is expected to lead to bigger increases in the premium prices of individual plans over the next two years than would be seen if Obamacare remained in effect. And it would give wealthy Americans a tax break. Republicans rushed to vote on the bill without first having it analyzed by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which would have provided estimates of coverage losses, premium effects, and costs to the federal budget. A CBO score on the bill could come next week  and provide opponents of the bill more ammunition against it. An earlier effort to vote on the bill was aborted in late March when GOP leaders saw that it would fail to win enough support to pass it. Before that failed effort, the CBO projected the bill would lead to 24 million more Americans without health insurance over a decade, and insurance plan premium rates up to 20 percent higher than Obamacare rates would be in 2018 before dropping. Since then, the legislation has undergone a series of changes designed to attract support from both the conservative and moderate wings of the Republican caucus. Hours before the House vote, Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi blasted the bill and the GOP. "Republicans are again maliciously trying to destroy health care," Pelosi said. "They have this vote tattooed on them. This is a scar that they will carry," she said. Indeed, it was fear of repercussions at the ballot box that spooked many Republicans as their leaders urged them to vote for the bill. Polling in March on the original version of the legislation showed that just 17 percent of Americans supported the bill. That dismal level of support reminded Republicans how Democrats lost control of the House in the 2010 midterm elections after passing the Affordable Care Act that year. Republicans ever since have vowed to repeal Obamacare. But before November's election of Trump as president, they had been stymied in that effort by President Barack Obama, who could veto any bill that would undo his signature health-care reform law. Trump on Thursday praised the bill less than an hour before the voting began. Tweet

Highlights of the GOP bill

Increase the amount of premium subsidies for younger adults, and reduce the amount for older adults, while allowing subsidies to be used to buy individual plans outside Obamacare exchanges.

premium subsidies for younger adults, and reduce the amount for older adults, while allowing subsidies to be used to buy individual plans outside Obamacare exchanges. Allow older adults to be charged premiums that are five times higher the premiums charged younger adults, instead of the 3:1 ratio established by Obamacare.

Impose a premium penalty for people who do not maintain continuous health coverage.

Convert Medicaid funding for states to a block-grant system.

Give states power to request waivers for insurers that allow them to charge people with pre-existing health conditions higher premiums if they let coverage lapse.

Establishes funding for states that can be used for "high-risk" individuals, or other purposes. Obamacare has been credited with expanding insurance coverage to about 20 million Americans, and with giving people who have pre-existing health conditions a protection against being denied coverage or charged higher rates by insurers. The law also established a set of minimum essential health benefits that insurers were required to offer in their plans. The law accomplished its coverage expansion by subsidizing the purchase of individual health plans for low- and moderate-income earners, expanding Medicaid benefits to more poor adults, and allowing people under age 26 to be covered by their parents' health plans.

Criticisms
Considering all the changes the Republican's proposed health-care bill could entail, little attention is being paid to its potential impact on education, most importantly special education, The New York Times reported.

School districts rely on Medicaid  the current federal health-care program for the poor  to provide services to millions of students with disabilities, the publication wrote. "Medicaid has helped school systems cover costs for special education services and equipment, from physical therapists to feeding tubes."

The new law being considered, though, would cut Medicaid by $880 billion, or 25 percent, over 10 years, while imposing a "per-capita cap" on funding for certain groups of people, such as children and the elderly. This would essentially convert Medicaid from an entitlement designed to cover costs to a more limited program, The New York Times explained.

In a letter sent to top lawmakers this week, a group of school educators and advocacy organizations said Republicans' efforts would force states to "ration health care for children."

The House is scheduled to vote on the GOP-backed, Obamacare replacement bill Thursday, nearly two months after an aborted first vote on the proposal.

Read the full report from The New York Times.

CNBC's Dan Mangan contributed to this report.
If you're counting on Advanced Placement credits to cut the cost of a college degree, better start studying your school's policies, too. In the next few weeks, more than 2.7 million students will take at least one AP exam, according to estimates from the College Board, which runs the program. Collectively, students will sit for more than 4.9 million AP exams over 38 course areas including art history, chemistry, psychology and Spanish literature.

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No guarantees

"There's no guarantee they'll receive credit for their AP scores," said Paul Weinstein, director of Johns Hopkins University's graduate program in public management. In September 2016, Weinstein assessed policies of the top 153 universities and colleges, as ranked by U.S. News and World Report. His study found 86 percent of them restrict AP credit in some way. Three-quarters of colleges limited which AP subject areas they accept for credit, for example, while 38 percent capped the number of AP credits they award per student. Some will only accept a score of 4, or only accept a 5, Weinstein said. (Exam scores range from 1 to 5, with the College Board noting a 3 shows the student as "qualified," or capable of doing the work of an introductory-level college course.)

Hill Street Studios | Getty Images

Nine schools in the study  including Dartmouth University and Brown University  did not offer course credit for AP work, he said, although some may still use scores to determine course placement. In other words, you won't be a few credits closer to graduation, but you won't have to take Chemistry 101, either. The College Board says it has seen positive trends in the past year, with more colleges granting credit for AP scores of 3 and accepting a broader array of subject areas. "What we've seen in the 2017 data is a shift back," said Trevor Packer, senior vice president of AP and instruction at the College Board. Much of the change stems from state policymakers passing legislation requiring public colleges to accept qualified AP scores for credit, Packer said. (Nearly half of states now have such a policy.) Among private colleges, he said, many see a liberal AP policy as a good recruiting tool.

The college knows it's not a class that has been watered down. [Scoring] a 4 or 5 is a real accomplishment. Mark Kantrowitz Vice president of strategy, Cappex.com

Here's how to make the most of your advanced classwork:

1) Dig into college policies

Search the College Board database to see how your colleges of choice handle Advanced Placement credit. Reach out to the college to confirm the current policy, or to get details if those publicly available aren't clear, said Weinstein. "Some schools are very non-communicative about this," he said.

2) Factor credit into aid offers

Nearly three-quarters of students considered college AP credit policies when making their enrollment decision, according to a College Board survey of 2016 test takers. That's smart: A college's willingness to accept AP scores, or not, could shift the value of its offered aid package, Levy said. The value of those course credits might add up to more than a scholarship. "This should be another tool families are looking at," he said  and another negotiating point.

3) Think big picture

If the college policy is to use credits only for course placement, that can still work to your advantage, said Mark Kantrowitz, vice president of strategy for college and scholarship search site Cappex.com. That flexibility can free you up to take more advanced classes within your field of study or to graduate with a double major.

4) Ask about alternatives

"Even if your [high] school doesn't offer AP tests, check with the college to find out what other options they offer," Kantrowitz said. Some colleges may let you take a placement exam once you arrive on campus and use a good score to waive introductory course requirements, he said. They may also be willing to accept scores from other advanced-standing exams, either for credit or placement.

5) Crush the exam
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House Republicans look to have the votes they need to pass their embattled health care bill. All it took, apparently, was adding a few billion dollars to the bill, to provide cover to moderate lawmakers who had been reluctant to support it. This latest change, added to the American Health Care Act on Wednesday night with a vote expected fewer than 24 hours later, adds an additional $8 billion to reduce insurance costs for people with preexisting medical conditions. Experts say the funding is still short of what is actually necessary to keep many of those patients from experiencing insurance price spikes if the bill becomes law. More from Vox: The US Department of Justice is literally prosecuting a woman for laughing at Jeff Sessions

The Google phishing attack: what we know and how it works

China told North Korea to chill out. North Korea: how about no? The provision appears to do enough to satisfy the concerns of a handful of moderates who helped doom the bill in late March, when House leaders had to scrap a planned vote at the last minute. Those moderates, combined with conservatives won over by a separate amendment last week, appear to have given leadership just enough votes to advance the bill out of the House after a months-long slog.

The amendment appears to have won over crucial moderate lawmakers

The latest amendment, pushed by Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan, is intended to fend off accusations that the bill guts Obamacare's protections for people with preexisting conditions. It is co-sponsored by three Congress members  Jeff Denham of California, David Valadao of California and David Young of Iowa  that the best whip counts had as "lean no" votes. By, presumably, flipping those three votes to "yes," the amendment appears likely to be sufficient to pass the bill in the House, even though it could still lose upward of 20 Republicans. Upton's role here is crucial. He is the former chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and an experienced health care legislator. His defection to "no" on Tuesday suggested that even the revised version of AHCA could be in real trouble. But after a dramatic trip to the White House on Wednesday, Upton reversed himself and said he would support the bill with his amendment. He later told reporters at the Capitol that he had actually started working on the amendment on Monday night, the day before he publicly announced his opposition. Upton's conversion  along with that of Missouri Republican Billy Long, another surprising defection earlier this week  seems to have persuaded enough wavering Republicans to come onboard.

The amendment provides more money to lower costs for sick people

The Upton amendment follows from the earlier MacArthur amendment, which wooed conservatives but spooked moderates. That earlier amendment allows states to opt out of the Obamacare rule that prohibited health plans from charging people more for their insurance because of their existing health conditions. To let insurers opt out of those rules, states must meet certain conditions, such as setting up a "high-risk pool" for people with high medical costs. And people could not be charged more as long as they maintained coverage. But many experts believed that the funding available under AHCA would not be sufficient to pay for those high-risk pools and prevent major price hikes for the patients with preexisting conditions. So the Upton amendment pushes even more funding  $8 billion over five years  toward those costs. It is an addition to the $100 billion-plus fund originally included in the bill for states to create programs that reduce insurance costs. The new money is designated specifically for states that seek a waiver under AHCA and for people in those states who would see higher insurance premiums or out-of-pocket costs because of that waiver. States could use the money to pay insurers directly to keep costs down, to help people buy insurance in the high-risk pool, or to provide direct subsidies for people to buy their own insurance, Larry Levitt at the Kaiser Family Foundation told me. But, Levitt said, "There is still nothing in the bill that guarantees people with preexisting conditions will have access to affordable coverage if states waive community rating." The problem is that the bill neither specifies how the money should be spent nor provides enough of that money, Levitt said. People in states with the AHCA waivers could see "massive premium increases," he told me: "There's no way a reinsurance program or direct subsidies could ever fully offset that for everyone, and states aren't required to do so." As for high-risk pools, which Vox's Sarah Kliff explained here, Levitt said the funding is "inadequate" and "there are no requirements for what the eligibility, premiums, or benefits in high-risk pools would have to be."

There could still be another fight over funding
Airbnb is aiming to boost its presence in Japan as part of its push to expand its relatively small penetration among Chinese travelers, Parin Mehta, director of the host and homes business at the home-sharing service, told CNBC.

"There are a couple of big opportunities that I see in China. One is the domestic play which is very big and a lot of people are playing in that space," Mehta told CNBC on the sidelines of the Innovfest Unbound conference in Singapore.

"But I think the outbound opportunity is very exciting as well," he added. "We know that there are about 120 million to 140 million Chinese who will leave China to travel overseas. We know that one in three trips in APAC (Asia Pacific) on Airbnb ends up in Japan."

Currently, China is a tiny slice of the company's business today, with only 80,000 listings out of more than 3 million worldwide. In contrast, the leading Chinese home-sharing site, Tujia, has boasted more than 400,000 listings.

In March, Airbnb rebranded itself on the mainland as "Aibiying," which translates as "welcome each other with love" as part of its efforts to reach a wider audience in China.

The Chinese have shown enormous wanderlust in recent years.

Around 122 million Chinese travelled outside their home country in 2016, spending around $109.8 billion, according to official China Tourism Academy data.

Japanese data showed that around 6.37 million Chinese visited that country in 2016, up 27.6 percent. The Japan Times reported Chinese tourists spent around 1.48 trillion yen ($13.12 billion) in Japan in 2016.

That can be a juicy market for a home-sharing service.

"For us the real challenge and opportunity is to figure out what do these Chinese guests wan when they go overseas and how to provide that for them," Mehta said.
President Donald Trump's first foreign trip since entering office will take him to Israel, the Vatican and Saudi Arabia later this month, a senior White House official confirms to NBC News.

The president will end his trip in Brussels with a visit to NATO on May 25, followed by a meeting at the G7 summit in Sicily.

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The president's first foreign trip is typically seen as a signal of the new administration's priorities. So it is no surprise the president will visit Israel, which Trump pledged to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with during his 2016 campaign and has since pledged to help broker a peace deal.

The announcement comes on the heels of Trump's meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday. Trump has said he wants to serve as a "mediator, arbiter or facilitator" to help Israel and Palestine reach a peace accord but added, "Any agreement cannot be imposed by the United States or any other nations."

Senior administration officials told reporters the goal of the trip, especially the Saudi Arabia leg, is to unite the region against intolerance and help devise a long-term fix against radicalization. The objective is to better coordinate efforts to stop ISIS and isolate Iran, officials said.

Officials say the Saudis started the conversation after the election  claiming they saw opportunities with Trump and his vision. The Saudis plan to bring in Arab leaders from around the region - and they indicate this could also be part of a strategy to craft a break through down the road on Middle East peace.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House in February.

The NATO visit is also a significant stop for the president's first foreign swing. As a candidate, Trump railed against NATO, claiming the United States contributes too much with little in return. But last month Trump said the organization was "no longer obsolete."

Trump has also had a history with Pope Francis who once said of candidate Trump: "A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian." The comment drew a sharp rebuke from Trump.

"If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS's ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been president because this would not have happened," Trump said in a statement last year.

The pope later, after Trump was elected, sent the newly-minted president well wishes and said he was praying that his "decisions will be guided by the rich spiritual and ethical values that have shaped the history of the American people and your nation's commitment to the advancement of human dignity and freedom worldwide."
Unilever is entering a joint venture with Europe & Asia Commercial (EAC) Ltd. in Myanmar in an effort to hedge a bigger foothold in the country, which boasts a population of approximately 54 million. The joint venture, which combines entities with combined annual sales of more than 100 million, will include manufacturing, marketing and distribution of home and personal care products in Myanmar.

"Myanmar is one of the fastest growing and most promising markets in Southeast Asia," Pier Luigi Sigismondi, Unilever's president of Southeast Asia and Australiasia, told CNBC. "The combination of a growing economy, increased political stability and strong demographics make Myanmar a strong market opportunity for the long term," he said.

Unilever Myanmar and Europe & Asia Commercial Company (EAC) Ltd will combine their respective Home & Personal Care businesses to form a joint group, called Unilever EAC Myanmar Company Limited,

Myanmar's economy has witnessed growth of between 6 percent to 8 percent over the past few years,

But the nation has a long way to go in becoming a developed market. According to the World Bank, just one-third of the population has access to the electricity grid and a majority still do not have access to bank accounts.

Still, the consumer products company sees potential.

"For companies like Unilever, Myanmar could be the next Vietnam," Sigismondi said.

Unilever recently turned down a takeover approach from U.S. rival Kraft Heinz, prompting analysts to speculate whether Unilever could fracture into two separate companies. Its Chief Executive Paul Polman told CNBC, however, a move would only harm the company's value creation.

Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook.
Apple CEO Tim Cook , breaking the news on CNBC, said the tech giant is starting a $1 billion fund to promote advanced manufacturing jobs in the U.S. Cook also said rumors of new iPhone hurt sales.

Facebook shares were under pressure in the premarket after the social network warned about slowing ad growth. However, Facebook beat estimates with first-quarter earnings and revenue. (CNBC)

Violent videos of murders, suicides, and other crimes posted on Facebook have not scared away advertisers, COO Sheryl Sandberg told CNBC. Facebook also shook off the fake news controversy.

It appears that Facebook's copycat products on Instagram and WhatsApp are strongly exceeding Snapchat's numbers of 161 million daily active users at the end of last year. (CNBC)

Tesla shares were lower in premarket trading after the electric automaker posted a wider-than-expected first-quarter loss, but more than doubled revenue on record Model X and Model S deliveries. (CNBC)

Tesla said it remains on track to begin production of its mass-market, less expensive Model 3 sedan in July. Tesla is grappling with how to keep the Model 3 from cannibalizing sales of the pricier Model S. (CNBC)

Elon Musk doesn't seem to think there's a reason to be too concerned with Apple's purported plans for an autonomous car. "It's a cool company," said the Tesla CEO, but little else. (Recode)

Musk's SpaceX plans to start launching satellites into orbit in 2019 to provide high-speed internet to Earth. (CNBC)

President Trump plans to sign an executive order today to ease restrictions on political activity by churches and charities. But the White House has backed away from broader religious liberty. (NY Times)

Trump meets Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in New York today, their first face-to-face talks since an acrimonious phone call about refugees early in Trump's term. (Reuters)

In a big step to avoiding a government shutdown on Saturday, a $1.1 trillion bill to fund the government through September goes to the Senate after passage in the House. (WSJ)

Puerto Rico has been placed under court protection in what amounts to the largest-ever U.S. municipal bankruptcy. Puerto Rico and its agencies owe $73 billion to creditors. (WSJ)

Truck owners and truck rental agencies in the U.S. must be "vigilant" about the increasing frequency of "ramming attacks" by terrorists using vehicles as killing machines, according to a new Transportation Security Administration report obtained exclusively by NBC News.

As the U.S. leans on China to rein in North Korea, the state-run news agency out of Pyongyang said the nation would continue its nuclear weapons program even at the risk of losing a friendly relationship with Beijing. (NY Times)

Britain's Prince Philip, the 95-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth II, will retire from his royal duties in the Fall. The duke has the full support of the queen, Buckingham Palace said in a statement. (CNBC)
Republicans will now have to live with their choice to replace parts of the Affordable Care Act, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday.

"The American people now have to judge them by how they have acted, not by how we've characterized what they stand for. Now they are on record," she said.

Earlier, the Republican proposal passed the House by a vote of 217 to 213. All 193 Democrats voted against the bill. They were joined by 20 Republicans who voted "no."

The GOP-sponsored bill now goes to the Senate, where approval could prove more difficult as Republicans hold a slimmer majority in that chamber.

Pelosi said Democrats will make sure the public is aware of who voted in favor of the bill.

"When you know the facts and you care about people, you can't possibly vote for the bill that they voted for today. So ... either they don't know, they don't care or both," Pelosi said.

An earlier effort to vote on the bill was aborted in late March when GOP leaders saw that it would fail to win enough support to pass it. Before that failed effort, the CBO projected the bill would lead to 24 million more Americans without health insurance over a decade, and insurance plan premium rates up to 20 percent higher than Obamacare rates would be in 2018 before dropping.

Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer said Americans will hold those who voted "yes" accountable.

"The majority of the House of Representatives was opposed to this bill, unfortunately a few of them did not vote against this bill," Hoyer said.

"You know that, and I know that," he said.

 CNBC's Jacob Pramuk and Dan Mangan contributed to this report.
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President Donald Trump is set to give remarks to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea during World War II. Trump's speech, at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City, comes after the GOP-controlled House passed a sweeping, controversial measure to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
Earlier this week the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a case brought by the city of Miami, suing Wells Fargo and Bank of America for discriminatory lending during the housing bubble, could proceed. In court documents revealed last week, shareholders had brought a lawsuit against Wells Fargo alleging that Latinos, and even undocumented workers, were targeted in the sales scandal that has roiled the bank since last year.

But on Tuesday night in New York City, something interesting occurred: Wells Fargo received an honor for diversity, making the annual DiversityInc list of the 50 most diverse companies in the world. It even cracked the top 10 for the first time this year.

Wells Fargo hasn't had much good news to crow about amid the fraudulent accounts scandal  on Tuesday the city of Philadelphia fired Wells Fargo as manager of its $2 billion payroll account. "Time and time again their actions have revealed them to be the antithesis of corporate social responsibility," Philadelphia Councilwoman Cindy Bass said in a statement.

One of the reasons the bank was honored for diversity: the Wells Fargo board. The same board that many shareholders and grassroots organizations contend was negligent in its oversight of the sales culture. But it gets high marks for its diverse composition, including women and minorities. It's fair to ask whether there's a diversity bubble at work here  board diversity that makes a corporation look to be on the right side of history isn't honestly reflecting the bank's impact in the real world and on communities, where allegations of discriminatory lending and minority-targeting of customers persist.

These are just allegations  the Supreme Court was not ruling on the merits of the case, and justices indicated they think Miami will have a hard time proving it. But it's an issue that I thought would make for an interesting interview with Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan, who agreed to give me 45 minutes over the phone this week to discuss the diversity honor. But there were a few strings attached  the sales accounts scandal couldn't be discussed, and my questions had to be sent ahead of time (I didn't do that). I did give Wells Fargo PR a brief rundown over the phone of the issues I would like to discuss (and, I admit, I even tried to be nice). A day later the 45 minutes allotted was reduced to 20 minutes.
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The Republican replacement plan for Obamacare just narrowly cleared the House  but the bill will almost certainly face more skepticism in the Senate. The House GOP passed its bill by a 217-to-213 margin on Thursday, sending it to the Senate after a swift process. A series of last-minute amendments won over enough wary conservative and moderate Republicans for the plan to get approved. But even before the divisive proposal passed the House, several Republicans in the Senate signaled that it could see major revisions. Reports also indicated that the chamber could write its own version of a bill, further complicating the yearslong effort to repeal the law. GOP Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee told MSNBC on Thursday morning that there is "zero chance" the bill will go unchanged in the Senate. "I don't see any way that it goes back [to the House] in the form that it comes," he said. The timeline on a Senate vote is unclear, but Corker indicated Thursday that the bill could spend at least a month in the chamber.

Smaller majority for GOP in Senate

Republicans hold a narrower majority in the Senate  52 out of 100 seats  and would need a majority vote to pass the bill. Some moderate and conservative Republicans have been wary of the plan since the House introduced it earlier this year. Some Republican senators have raised concerns about its rollback of the Medicaid expansion, which the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) cited in its estimate that 24 million more people would be uninsured in the next decade under the GOP plan. Others criticized its potential effect on older Americans, whose premiums are expected to rise under the plan. GOP Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has argued the bill does not go far enough to repeal Obamacare, calling it "Obamacare Lite."

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Many of those issues stirred concerns even before amendments, including one that allowed states under some conditions to waive the Obamacare requirements to cover essential health benefits or guarantee that people with pre-existing conditions will not see premiums spike. Republican Sens. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Roy Blunt of Missouri signaled the chamber could write its own version, Bloomberg reported. GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska also said Thursday that she hoped to start with a "clean slate" in the Senate, according to Bloomberg. The amended House plan has not yet been scored by the CBO to assess its costs or effects on people's coverage. That raised concerns for Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

Sen. Lindsey Graham Getty Images

He tweeted Thursday that the bill "should be viewed with caution" because it was "finalized yesterday" and "has not been scored." A bill -- finalized yesterday, has not been scored, amendments not allowed, and 3 hours final debate -- should be viewed with caution. GOP Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio said in a statement that he supports changes to the health-care system, but they "must be made in a way that does not leave people behind," according to NBC News. "I've already made clear that I don't support the House bill as currently constructed, because I continue to have concerns that this bill does not do enough to protect Ohio's Medicaid expansion," he said. Republicans can afford only two defections to pass a bill, assuming all the Democrats and the two independents in the Senate oppose it. Assuming the bill passes the Senate, it would return in whatever modified form to the House for a vote. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement that the bill will go "nowhere fast" in the Senate. He urged Senate Republicans to "refuse to follow their colleagues over a cliff," and to help Democrats fix the current system rather than repeal Obamacare. A CBO score on the amended House plan could come next week. Watch: Health care bill passes House, heads to Senate
One of the key provisions in the health care overhaul bill narrowly approved by House Republicans Thursday would grant broad powers to the states to decide how insurance coverage is managed and paid for.



If the bill survives intact in the Senate, that means your future access to health care may depend heavily on where you live.

After more than seven years of coverage under the Affordable Care Act, the GOP-controlled House voted to repeal parts of the law in a mostly party-line vote, 217 to 213.

The measure now goes to the Senate, which is expected make further changes.
Both sides of the the dirty 1911-D Indian Head gold $5 half eagle graded AU-58+ by NGC sold for $4,230 at Heritages April 4 auction in Dallas.

The About Uncirculated grade encompasses a wide range of coins. At the low end are AU-50 pieces that are just barely better than Extremely Fine, with weak luster and blah overall eye appeal. At the high-end are AU-58 coins that are often much more attractive than their low-end Mint State counterparts. The incentive for collectors to clean or otherwise attempt to improve AU-58 coins with the hope of getting them into an MS-61 or MS-62 holder is great, and collectors are increasingly willing to pay strong prices for high-end AU-58 pieces.

Here's the second of three examples from Heritages April 4 to 6 auction in Dallas that we profile this week:

The Lot:

Dirty 1911-D Indian Head gold $5 half eagle, NGC About Uncirculated 58+

The Price:

$4,230

The Story:

New collectors may be baffled when they hear a gold coin described in glowing tones as dirty, as though it were a desirable trait. A coin that looks dirty often has what numismatists covet: original surfaces.

Especially in the About Uncirculated grade, many gold coins have been stripped of their original surfaces to become shiny and bright, with the hope of getting a coin into a Mint State holder. Many retail coin buyers prefer these bright coins, providing market incentives for dealers to tamper with original surfaces.

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This 1911-D Indian Head gold $5 half eagle graded About Uncirculated 58+ by Numismatic Guaranty Corp. has appealing dirty gold surfaces, described in the catalog as varying shades of pale yellow and khaki-gold.

Numismatic Bookie tackles how an 1804 dollar appeared in a Budapest book before any were struck: Inside Coin World: This week, we find an 1804 dollar in a book two years before any of the coins were struck.

While not as rare as the 1911-D Indian Head quarter eagle (also struck at the Denver Mint), the 1911-D half eagle is considered a tougher date in its series. This one sold for $4,230 on April 4. Looking at the next grade up shows the incentive for an individual to try to improve it, since low-end Mint State examples sell for twice that amount.

Keep Reading About Lightly Circulated Rarities:

When a Mint State coin is rare, collectors turn to pretty, lightly circulated examples: Prices have slowly increased over time for attractive About Uncirculated "near-Mint" examples of the 1891 Coronet double eagle.
Attendees at the EAC convention were treated to nine fascinating exhibits placed by multiple specialists in early coppers.

Early American Coppers, a specialty club of approximately 1,200 members, just celebrated its 50th anniversary since its founding following response to a small notice in Coin World.

It was 50 years ago when Herb Silberman sent an article that was published in Coin World, requesting that collectors of large cents reply and form a club to share information and coins. This small beginning has evolved into Early American Coppers, a specialty club of approximately 1,200 members, which holds an annual convention and publishes the award-winning quarterly journal Penny Wise. Besides large cents, the Early American Coppers umbrella now also covers half cents, Colonials and Hard Times tokens.

Numismatic Bookie tackles how an 1804 dollar appeared in a Budapest book before any were struck: Inside Coin World: This week, we find an 1804 dollar in a book two years before any of the coins were struck, a reader questions

The 2017 EAC Convention was held in Philadelphia in April, with the intention of celebrating its anniversary in the city where U.S. coinage had its beginnings. Coincidentally, the April 20 to 21 event ran at the same time when the Museum of the American Revolution had its grand opening. Many attending the convention took advantage of this fortuitous timing, including the writer, who highly recommends a visit to the museum. Some members also had the chance to take behind the scenes tours of the U.S. Mint and to see coins in the collection of Independence Hall.

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Held at the Center City DoubleTree Hotel, convention events kicked off April 19 with a social/educational gathering of The Boyz of 94, a serious group of numismatists that specialize in the copper coinage of 1794. Starting off at 9:00 Thursday morning, instructors Doug Byrd and Steve Carr gave a three-hour seminar on the topic of grading and counterfeit detection.

Dealers started entering the bourse floor for a dealers only setup day Thursday afternoon. This was followed by a two-hour reception catered by the hotel. No one left hungry! Starting at 8:00 p.m., four educational events proceeded simultaneously, focusing on large cents, half cents, Colonials and early silver. These events are both educational and social.

The bourse opened to the public on Friday, to the delight of both dealer and collector. More than 300 members of the public attended this specialty club convention. While the convention was in process, education continued with four afternoon speakers, Scott Rubin, Greg Heim, Jim Matthews and Ed Fox. The Friday evening keynote speaker was David Finkelstein, presenting on the topic, The Copper and Bullion Workflows of the United States Mint, 17921795. It was well attended and well received.

Saturday saw another active bourse along with four more educational presentations, by Garrett Ziss, Mark Borckardt (assisted by Denis Loring, Gordon Wrubel and George Pretsch), Len Augsburger and Craig Sholley. Attendees were treated to nine fascinating exhibits placed by Bob Klosterboer, Bob Fagaly, John McBride, Ed Fox, Jack Young, Joe Pargola and Denis Loring, as well as a group exhibit.

Saturday evening, the EACs annual sale, an auction offering 411 lots this year, realized over $238,000. The majority of the lots presented large cents and half cents, but Colonials and literature were offered too.

Sunday consisted of the clubs annual membership meeting, followed by last-minute bourse purchases, lot pick-ups and goodbyes until next year, when EAC will hold the convention in Traverse City, Mich.
Ben Roback is a Senior Account Executive at Cicero Group and a member of the US Embassys Young Leaders UK programme.

Donald Trump gave an incredible interview from the office of the President of the United States last weekend, as he struck a reflective tone analysing his first hundred days. Struggling under the weight of scrutiny and finding it difficult to navigate legislation through Congress, Trump said: I loved my previous life, I loved my previous life. I had so many things going. For the former New York business mogul, whose career success was linked so heavily to a constant relationship with a press that is now deeply hostile, the trappings of Washington do not appear to be all that enticing.

Trump lacks the kind of dictatorial power that would allow him to deliver campaign promises with ease. The judiciary and Congress have been an ever-present thorn in his side since November 2016, limiting the power of the new president in an embodiment of the separation of powers designed to uphold checks and balances.

For candidate Trump, eliminating sanctuary cities was a major part of his rousing stump speeches in towns and cities across America. Last week, a federal judge in San Francisco blocked the presidents executive order withholding funds from sanctuary cities that fail to comply with federal immigration demands.

The White House last week published its tax plan amidst much fanfare and internal spin. In reality, the document was little more than a loose guide to the kind of tax reform that Gary Cohn, the White House chief economic adviser, and Steve Mnuchin, the Treasury Secretary, would like to see. One side of A4 is no way to propose the largest tax reform since the 1980s. It largely echoed the proposals that Trump outlined as a candidate, with income tax brackets cut from seven to three and the corporate tax rate slashed from 35 per cent to 15% per cent.

However, key elements of Trumps commitment on the campaign to tax reform were omitted. For observant asset managers, there was no mention of closing the carried interest tax loophole that Trump had campaigned to close. Under current law, carried interest is taxed at the lower capital gains rate (20 per cent) rather than as ordinary income (up to 39.6 per cent). However, in an interview since then, Trump said that the tax break would be gone, proving a clear difference between how he has to govern when restricted by compromise with Congress and how he would like to govern as a lone ranger.

The averting of a government shutdown was a rare sign of political compromise and sense in Washington, as both sides stood to lose out. The spending bill, which keeps the government open until September, contained significant rollbacks from the White House, since progress required major compromise with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. Despite campaign rhetoric and demands from the conservative right, the bill contained no funding for the border wall and no withdrawal of funding for Planned Parenthood. Irate with the bad deal he was forced to do, Trump threatened a very real political fight in September: Our country needs a good shutdown in September to fix mess!

Constitutional and Congressional restraints

This all shows that Trump is heavily limited in his power, despite occupying the most powerful political office in the world. It is the very same frustration that Barack Obama expressed when he felt powerless to impose new gun restrictions after a spate of mass shootings. The erosion of this presidents power shows no sign of letting up. By the 2018 elections, opposition momentum seen online and in rallies across the country will give Democrats genuine hope that they can flip the Senate. With the elections to be framed as a referendum on a president who is already historically unpopular, it is hard to see a path for Republicans to increase their majorities in the House and Senate. With a Democratic surge in both chambers of Congress, the power of the president would be diminished even further as the purely mathematical need to compromise increases.

Last week, Trump hinted that this life is a drag compared to the lifestyle he made for himself in Manhattan. I actually, this is more work than my previous life. I thought it would be easier. I do miss my old life. This  I like to work. But this is actually more work. Donald Trump pledged in his campaign to drain the swamp. By 2020, he could find that the swamp has drained him. We could be looking at the first one-term president since 1993.
Jeremy Corbyn swiftly issued a statement this morning on the retirement of Prince Philip from Royal duties:

I would like to pay tribute to Prince Philip following his decision to retire from public service. He has dedicated his life to supporting the Queen and our country with a clear sense of public duty. His Duke of Edinburghs Award scheme has inspired young people for more than 60 years in over 140 nations. We thank Prince Philip for his service to the country and wish him all the best in his well-earned retirement.

The speed of the statement presumably came because Corbyn was aware his previous stance on the monarchy has been less than popular  though that hasnt stopped various of his fans (and one of his MPs) tweeting criticism towards the 95-year-old war hero and Royal consort, some of it deeply unpleasant.

To put Corbyns remarks in some context, its useful to recall some 1970s and 1980s history.

In 1979, Prince Philips uncle, Louis Mountbatten, was murdered by the IRA  just one example of the bomb and the bullet that John McDonnell said would unite Ireland. Corbyns comrade Gerry Adams defended Mountbattens murder shortly afterwards, saying: The IRA gave clear reasons for the execution. A few short years later, just after the Brighton bomb, Corbyn invited convicted IRA bombers to tea in Parliament.

Far from working for peace with the IRA, as some of his supporters claim, in 1985 he was opposing the Anglo-Irish Agreement and as recently as 2015 he refused seven opportunities in a row to condemn the IRAs terrorist campaign.

Given that history, we might perhaps want to take the Labour leaders tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh with a hefty pinch of salt.
Garvan Walshe is a former National and International Security Policy Adviser to the Conservative Party. He runs Brexit Analytics.

Its election time, and, faced with the inevitability of a Conservative landslide, talk in my part of North London turns to the subject of a progressive alliance. This is put earnestly to me, disgruntled Tory that I am, as something that is supposed to be attractive, without realising that as a term expressly designed to exclude Conservatives its bound to arouse my suspicion.

Imagine that Anglicans and Calvinists got together in a Protestant Alliance, all the better to fight Popery, but found it difficult to see how their group could be considered anti-Catholic?

In the 1980s (and indeed the Reformation) an alliance had some purpose. In 1983, the Liberal/SDP and Labour votes did in many places exceed that for the Tories. And they might have disagreed on a lot, but were at one opposing the Governments economic reforms. Uniting the anti-Tory working class with the (also anti-Tory) intelligentsia was a coherent strategy.

This time the issue dividing the country, and almost the Governments only policy of significance, is Brexit. Though Scottish independence might appear to come a distant second, its tied up with Brexit anyway. Everything else is nugatory. But the two halves of any putative progressive alliance are divided. The intelligentsia may be against Brexit, but the working class is enthusiastically for it.

Anti-Brexit forces have missed a trick. Included in the vast Conservative opinion poll totals are significant numbers of people who voted Remain, often ABC1s, but who are either resigned to it happening or think that the referendum means the Government should at least be given a decent chance of bringing it about. If we discount the more machiavellian sort of Remainer who would rather Jeremy Corbyn negotiated Brexit in the hope that he proved so hapless he would conclude the talks by forgetting to actually leave the EU, these are people who recognise Brexit is a serious matter and think a serious woman should lead the process.

But they worry about her approach to the Brexit negotiations. They work in the City (or know people who do), and are concerned that investment is more difficult to come by. They dont know how theyre going to replace their European staff. Theyre encouraged by talk of Global Britain, but believe the globe includes the European continent. They understand that if taxes are to be raised, they will be the ones targeted. They are, by most measures, well-educated and rich. They could fairly be described as elite, if not always metropolitan. They probably wouldnt have joined the European Union, but could not see the sense in leaving. And they know from their own experience in negotiations that intransigence only works when you can convince the other side you have something to offer, and that no amount of being bloody difficult can make up for inadequate preparation. They are not well catered to by this Conservative Government, but they would never vote for an alliance of Jeremy Corbyn and Tim Farron.

However bad for business a collapse in the Brexit negotiations would be, the election of a Corbyn government with John McDonnell as Chancellor would be worse. And if Labour were to replace its communist-sympathising leadership with someone more acceptable, their first instinct would be to try and recapture their working class heartlands. Andy Burnhams Red Tory campaign in Manchester provides the guide. Hostile to immigration, pro-redistribution to the poor and in favour of a revival of manufacturing, it would provide a nationalist opposition to an increasingly nationalist government.

Any future Labour leader should realise that theyll find it difficult to compete with May by wrapping themselves in the flag. Short of holding her next press conference at Tilbury, its hard to see how she could go much further than accusing the EU of meddling in the British election that she called in the middle of the Brexit process to secure a large majority. Short of Argentina obliging by reinvading the Falklands, it is hard to see how a more propitious moment could be supplied for a patriotic election. And short of a patriotism, it is hard to conceive of a better device to divide both wings of a progressive alliance.
Apart from a brief stint on the Daily Telegraphs Peterborough column, George Osborne has almost no journalistic experience whatsoever. Until yesterday, he had never selected a splash. He has never managed a newsdesk. He has no formal training. He has never doorstepped an interviewee. I would be very surprised if he has shorthand. None the less, there is no reason whatsoever why his editorship of the Evening Standard should not be a stonking success  and every reason why it should be, as this site said when his appointment was announced. As ConservativeHome put it: the mere fact of his appointment triumphantly demonstrates that he possesses an essential journalistic qualification in spades: a sense of mischief.

Journalism is a trade, not a profession. One doesnt need qualifications, though they are certainly desirable. The essentials are a nose for a story, energy, rat-like cunning, impatience with flam, understanding your readers and being able to write  though the last is not absolutely essential, at least if you work for a publication that employs sub-editors, the unsung heroes of journalism, who can knock your copy into shape. Osborne has all these qualifications in spades. He is also very smart and can lead a team. I worked for four people as a Shadow Minister: Caroline Spelman, Eric Pickles, David Willetts  and Osborne. They might almost have been selected to demonstrate the variety that the Conservative Parliamentary Party can offer.

Osborne was the most effective at making the weather. That knack will serve him well as an editor. Furthermore, he is sitting on a goldmine of information gleaned from his years as Chancellor, and has a sizeable contacts book at his disposal. In addition, he will not only be reporting news, but is news. The Standards assault on Theresa Mays EU policy yesterday would have caused no stir were Osborne not the papers editor. He may not have written it, but his hands were all over it: theres nothing wrong with repeating election campaign slogans, the editoral said. Only a former politician would fully grasp how important repetition is during a contest. We can look forward to a lot more of where that editorial came from.

It is doubtless bad manners to ask, on day two of Osbornes new job, what he will do next. But he has that quality of making one ask what his plans are  what he is up to, what he will do next  that makes asking the question irresistible. Some wonder whether he may want to stand in 2020 as Mayor of London. I think this is unlikely, for two main reasons. First, because London leans Labour, and if Sadiq Khan stands again in 2020 he will probably win. Second, because serving in any other political post, having been Chancellor, would be settling for second-best  save one. Readers do not need me to spell out which it is. Furthermore, engaging with voters directly never topped Osbornes list of priorities as a working politician.

For what its worth, Im less enthusiastic about Osborne the Minister than about Osborne the journalist. This site took a very hard line on him during the EU referendum campaign  arguing that it was irresponsible for a Chancellor deliberately to risk a market crisis  and campaigned for Theresa May not to keep him on in Cabinet. A fair assessment of his record as a whole would be less exacting. Nigel Farage is sometimes described as a marmite politician but Osborne, so unlike him in most other respects, is a lot like him in that one: he has fervent admirers and critics alike. ConservativeHome took a middle way, believing that though he messed up on particular occasions (the Omnishambles Budget), his general record of helping to deliver economic recovery was sound.

The key to Osborne is a liberal worldview (the Standard declared itself yesterday in favour of freedom, not a word that most politicians now tend to deploy) and his political upbringing. Unlike David Cameron, who served as a SpAd during the early years of the Major Government, Osborne started just a bit later, and his first experiences in politics came at roughly the same time as the Blair ascendancy. His fondness for New Labour-style political dividing lines  the benefits cap, the debt trap, and so on  reflected a mind shaped during that era. That approach is now out of fashion. And although Osborne sometimes refers to having made mistakes, there is no reason to think that his view of what makes a winning political formula has changed: social liberalism, relatively high immigration, free markets.

When news of his appointment to the Standard was announced, this sites snap judgement was that this move looks like a step nearer Westminsters exit door. This turned out to be right, and for all Osbornes defiant noises about leaving the Commons for the moment, it is hard to see why he would seek to return while May is in place (and just as hard to see why she should seek to help him do so). But editing the Standard will not be the limit of his ambitions. His style of conservatism, and in particularly his attempts to squeeze the growth in welfare, rubs along nicely with Rupert Murdochs. If I know anything at all about Osborne, he will already be mulling his chances of eventually editing The Times.
It is unlikely that British voters were the main target of the Downing Street Brexit dinner leak to a German paper. As Mark Wallace has argued, it is probable that Jean-Claude Junckers partisan version of the event was intended to win support among the EU27 for a punative deal. But the latters main point  that Theresa May simply doesnt understand what the negotiation entails, and is living in another galaxy  has been repeated elsewhere.

Guy Verhofstadt has mocked her strong but stable leadership formula, and said that it is time to get real. That is about par for the course with him. But yesterday Michel Barnier pitched in, suggesting that the Prime Ministers view is an illusion. (And the EUs chief negotiator is viewed by Ministers as a relatively benign figure.) Above all, Angela Merkel, who seems to have been tipped off by Juncker himself, echoed the illusion phrase to German legislators. In the wings lurks Martin Selmayr, Junckers Chief of Staff  personally committed to punishing Britain for Brexit, and seething with rage about Fleet Streets uninhibited reporting of his grandfathers military record. (Josef Selmayr, a German army officer during the World War Two, was imprisoned afterwards for war crimes).

These grave and reverend signiors on the continental mainland are clearly alarmed by the gap between the EUs negotiating position and their own. And they seem to believe that by cranking the pressure up  and by patronising May in the course of doing so  the Government can be persuaded to back down. The EU27s official position has hardened. The Financial Times has been guided to the conclusion that they are now asking for 100 billion euros as part of the Brexit divorce settlement. And all those concerned will know that the heat and noise of their leaks and words will spill over into Britains general election  not least Merkel, who faces a poll herself.

It may be lost on the other side of the channel that the Conservative vote is more likely than otherwise to rise as a result. But be that as it may, the core of Junckers view is contained in words leaked to that German paper: Brexit cannot be a success. The Prime Minister cannot sign up to a settlement which embodies that view. Nor can she expected to agree that her own proposals  which include a swift settlement to the status of EU nationals, an outcome that Remainers here have been clamouring for  are simply not worth discussing, and that she herself is a few cents short of the full Euro. So by acting as she has, May has seized the moment. And by speaking out openly when her opponents briefed in secret, she has made them look small and herself rather bigger.

But the Commission President and the German Chancellor are only one of her audiences. The other, of course, is voters. The Prime Minister understands the psychology of the mass of the electorate very well. A British leader standing up to continental leaders summons up a gallery of patriotic images  ranging from Elizabeth I at Tilbury through Britains defiance of Napoleon to Churchill standing alone against Hitler. That there are other views of British history, or that matters may not be so simple in this case, is beside the electoral point. Sure, May could lose some votes as a result in Bath or Twickenham or Cheltenham. But she is likely to gain more in Newcastle-under-Lyme and Chorley and Wolverhampton South-West and Bishop Auckland by way of compensation.

That exchange is part of the calculation that she has already made by calling this election in the first place. And there is a further dimension to her pursuit of working-class, midlands, and northern Labour, UKIP and Leave voters. Her use of Downing Streets bully pulpit yesterday has put Jeremy Corbyn and Tim Farron on the spot (and marginalised Paul whatever-his-name-is over at UKIP). They have little choice but to criticise her for doing so, particularly in the case of the Liberal Democrat leader. But it is very difficult for opposition politicians to back those abroad  particularly a German Chancellor  against a British Prime Minister.

As Leader of the Opposition, Tony Blair grasped this during the beef war waged by John Major against the EU, not dissenting from the Government in principle as it blocked European measure after measure that required unanimity. In short, Blair kept his head down. The Prime Minister knows that Corbyn  and Farron in particular  will be less canny. Furthermore, she also appreciates that Britain has changed since the mid-1990s. A gap between liberal opinion in London and the mood of the provinces exists now that did not then. The Gina Millers and A.C.Graylings and Jolyon Maughams of this world will duly walk into Mays trap, queuing up to protest that May is wrong and Merkel is right. To which all that ConservativeHome can usefully add is: good luck with that one.

There are risks to the Prime Ministers coup de theatre  or, rather, puzzles about where she goes next. It may bump the blue vote up for the local elections. However, if Juncker and company now put a sock in it, the effect of her gambit risks fading away by June 8. And if they dont, how does she follow up having fired her biggest rhetorical howitzer at the start of the exchanges? How on earth do you follow up an open statement by Britains most senior Minister in front of the very door of Downing Street? Perhaps she is talking tough now and will back off later. But these are problems for tomorrow  which, as it says in the old film, is another day.

As when she decided to announce that date by which Article 50 would be moved  or indeed called this election  May seems to have acted with most Ministers out of the loop. Lynton Crosby may or may not have been in it yesterday. But this site cant help thinking that the Prime Ministers manoeuvre smacks of his old saw about throwing a dead cat on the table  in other words, if youre in a spot of bother, try a distraction exercise. Electorally, May appears to be in no trouble at all, so the adage doesnt apply. But perhaps a version of it does. The Prime Minister has transformed attacks on her abroad to advantage at home. She has confounded her critics abroad. She has changed the conversation at home. She has thrown not so much a dead cat as a live lion on the table  and a British one at that.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Angry war veterans yesterday vowed to escalate their attacks on President Robert Mugabe ' setting themselves up on a collision course with military boss General Constantino Chiwenga, who earlier this week warned Zanu-PF factions over their continued public brawling and attacks on the nonagenarian.This comes as well-placed Zanu-PF sources told the Daily News yesterday that cracks were beginning to emerge within the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) executive, as the disgruntled ex-combatants send conflicting signals over their position on Mugabe.In a stunning move, a fuming ZNLWVA secretary-general, Victor Matemadanda, yesterday pooh-poohed Chiwenga's warning, saying it was the democratic right of disaffected war veterans to express their feelings over the way they had been treated by Mugabe."Remember the general (Chiwenga) is an appointed officer . . . He was appointed by the president and he must be seen under the Constitution to be defending the president. But unfortunately, he is the commander of the army and not of civilians."It is wrong therefore to think that every Zimbabwean is governed by the Zanu-PF constitution. People have to feel free to reflect on issues, and no one can take that away unless if people say they want to introduce a dictatorship," the miffed Matemadanda thundered.He also moved to defend war veterans' spokesperson Douglas Mahiya, who said last week that former freedom fighters would not countenance Mugabe creating "a dynastic rule".Mahiya was later savaged by Chiwenga, who also excoriated warring Zanu-PF factions which have been going at each other hammer and tongues, in the ruling party's ugly succession ructions."Mahiya talks about a dynasty and if Mugabe is not about to create one why should people suffer for that. Hapana imbwa inohukura sadza unless kana pasi pane nyoka (a dog only barks when it has detected danger)."People know that there is something that is behind the scenes. Indeed, why should the general worry about a person exercising his democratic right?" Matemadanda asked.Speaking in coded language during an interview with State media earlier this week, Chiwenga warned the disgruntled war veterans to stop attacking Mugabe, while also imploring ruling party bigwigs to desist from starting unnecessary intra-party fights."This must now stop (attacking Mugabe) . . . If they (war vets) want to remain as part and parcel of those disciplined, loyal, patriotic cadres, they must now understand that it is the party, it is the government that sets the direction."The party commands the ex-combatants, not vice versa. The majority of war veterans have nothing to do with this nonsense that we are now getting daily in our media."I am talking on behalf of the defence and security services of the country, and besides that, on the Zanla side, I am the surviving most senior commander," Chiwenga added.While admitting that ZNLWVA does not represent all war veterans, who are constitutionally regarded as a reserve force, Matemadanda said Chiwenga should be "prepared" to listen to different voices."We do not have all war veterans yes, but people should be allowed to differ . . . why threaten to unleash what is not known?"On him (Chiwenga) being the only surviving Zanla commander, it depends on people's views. Zanu-PF political commissar Saviour Kasukuwere, who was born in the 1970s, can say he is a senior because of his position in the party . . . but is he really senior?"So it depends on what he (Chiwenga) says. If it means joining the struggle, we have the likes of Parker Chipoyera in Sanyati and Elias Hondo in Nembudziya."There are so many comrades before him (Chiwenga). If he says he is senior because he is the (military) commander, then that is true."We agree with him when he says people should not attack the president, but that is relative because in a democratic country we should be free to criticise."I don't see why the general, who fought to bring independence and freedom, now wants to take that freedom away," the forthright Matemadanda added."It was not the understanding of many who died for this country that they should be silenced. What (Chris) Mutsvangwa also says does not remove what Mahiya said."It is true that Mugabe led the armed struggle with the late Father Zimbabwe, Joshua Nkomo. When Mutsvangwa was (in Monday's statement) talking, he was praising the role the two played."While in the past we have always been attacked by the president, we were happy that the president now recognised the role that was played by war veterans."But that does not mean the leopard has changed its spots. There is a tendency by leaders who emerge from liberation struggles to try to create totalitarian States. They want to be more important than the State."Some people think that they are more Zimbabwean than others . . . they think they are more Zimbabwean because they participated in the liberation struggle, but that has to be corrected. What about those who were not born then? Are they not Zimbabweans?"When you are not suffering it's normal that you support the leadership, but it is not correct to try and silence other people. Those who are enjoying life do not want that to be stopped."People should thus understand that those who are benefiting from the status quo do not want things to change, but we are all Zimbabweans and we all deserve to enjoy the fruits of independence."It is not wrong to tell the president to stop wasting the country's resources travelling to foreign countries like Singapore, or throwing obscene birthday bashes."It only becomes wrong when some people want to silence us. But we will not be silenced," Matemadanda told the Daily News.War veterans have been feuding with Mugabe since they issued a damning communique against the increasingly frail nonagenarian mid last year.Until that happened, the fed-up ex-combatants had served as Mugabe's and Zanu-PF's pillars, waging particularly brutal campaigns against opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC, especially in the bloody elections of 2000 and 2008.Their stunning fallout with Mugabe and Zanu-PF later saw their chairperson Mutsvangwa being fired from both the Cabinet and the ruling party last year, while many of their other top leaders were also banished from the imploding former liberation movement, in addition to being hauled before the courts.Mutsvangwa's executive has also publicly said it favours Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa to succeed Mugabe at both government and party levels.Zanu-PF insiders told the Daily News that there is an ongoing realignment of alliances within the deeply divided ruling party and it was no coincidence that sections of the ex-combatants had suddenly decided to soften their stance towards Mugabe, whom they lavished with praise on Monday despite the parties' well-known rocky relations.This was after Mutsvangwa issued a statement in which the ex-combatants showered Mugabe with praise for his recent speech at the burial in Harare of former Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) assistant director, Zenzo Ntuliki.
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YouGovs Childrens Omnibus has conducted new research on 1,789 children that shows one in three (34 percent) eat their evening meal in front of the television. Whereas, three in ten (29 percent) practice the same while having breakfast. The science of mindful eating truly lacks in todays individuals.

Some experts also believe that concentration splits when a person watches television and have meals. Get to know more about it, here.

Since the person is ought to throw his maximum concentration on the luring television characters, he or she unknowingly tends to eat more - this highly increases the risk of obesity. Here we will discuss the processes of mindful eating that not only has many benefits, but one wont tend to run after sensory tastes like the requirement of excess sugar, salt, spicy taste etc.

Learn How To Eat Through Mindfulness



Mindful eating is based on the techniques of Zen meditation (an arm of Buddhist ways of meditation) highly practiced in Japan today, which emerged over one thousand years ago from India. It said that eating is not something to get over quickly, hence, the practices of eating while watching television or talking over the phone or working on the computer should be avoided.

The core concept of mindfulness is live in the present moment. While eating anything you will have to give your complete concentration or attention on the food to know it actually, reports Live Mint. There are some important steps to increase mindfulness to eating or even any other activities.

Eating Through Mindfulness Gives One The Actual Taste Of The Food



In order to accomplish mindful eating, one should pay their full attention to what is happening in the present moment without being judgmental, Trinidad Express suggested. You can give your full attention on your tongue that sends the information of every taste (flavor, smell etc.) through sensory nerves to the brain.

Then feel the sensation of swallowing the food. Trust us, this gives you the actual taste of the cuisine that you ever had while multitasking in your life.

The other process for increasing mindfulness is making your mind as a witness to all the activities. It means you need to observe how your hand is picking up the food and inserting it in your mouth, followed by chewing and getting the tastes over the tongue.

This will never end in excess eating, as you will be able to feel the actual gastrointestinal urge and accordingly fill the requirement. This process of mindfulness meditation makes one more calm and attentive to any activities and increases the concentration level.

See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
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Yoga is a physical and mental activity for discipline. This practice originated from the ancient Indian culture.

How The Exercise Helps Lessen Arthritis Risks

US News reported that individuals who practice yoga and are also suffering from rheumatoid arthritis are safe to do exercises regularly and it can lessen the risks of worsening the illness. A research by experts at Johns Hopkins University agreed on these conclusions.

The research, which examined if either yoga was innocuous and advantageous in people with osteoarthritis and other forms of arthritis, like rheumatoid, discovered that participants reported abundant improvements in physical and general well-being. The publication added that during the research, the participants attended two 60-minute classes of this exercise for 15 days and followed an additional hour every week at home.

Classes were directed by certified instructors, who had knowledge with this kind of physical activity. When the participants finished their classes the pain that they have been feeling was lessened.

Other Benefits Of The Exercise

There is a recent study that stated that this form of exercise is also beneficial to kids who suffered from childhood trauma. According to Chicago Tribune, a new report by the Center on Poverty and Inequality at Georgetown Law School explained that yoga programs can be individually efficient in helping kids who suffered from trauma to recover.

The study revealed that this exercise and mindfulness can develop better connections, improve consistency, and enhance self-esteem and overall well-being. The research revealed that traumatic occurrences have a more thorough impact on girls' mental health.

Eighty percent of the children are girls and they are showing more signs of trauma than boys. Experts believed that if they practice the exercise and other related mind healing activities, they have greater chances to recover from trauma earlier than expected. Stay tuned for more updates.

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News / Religion

by Simbarashe Sithole

The Zimbabwe Christian Council (ZCC) held a 3 day constitutional awareness education workshop in Bulawayo at the United Methodist Church (Bulawayo East Bethel), which ended on Wednesday (today).Hundreds of people were in attendance and were educated on a number of constitutional issues.The day before (on Tuesday), a ZESN officer identified as Ndlovu, taught the people on elections, including the right to vote.People requested for a healing process to prevail between tribes, especially between the Ndebele and Shona people who still have not effectively dealt with Gukurahundi, a thorn in the flesh among the two tribes.One speaker said: "The healing process should start in church. We know there is hostility between the Shona and Ndebele, which is passed from generation to generation. This should be stopped."The distribution of civil servants should be based on tribal grounds those from Matabeleland should work there, Manicaland and Mashonaland like wise."It is very offensive to be greeted in Shona at roadblocks for example in Matabeleland yet I am Ndebele. Government should deal with that problem."However, the notion was received with mixed feelings by others in the audience who argued that communities were failing to produce educated people hence the government should just give people jobs without any discretion on tribe."The government should just treat people as equal. Yes there were differences before, but that should be put under the carpet. We are Christians above all. Forgiving and forgetting is the motto to go for a better Zimbabwe," suggested one pastor.The issue of Gukurahundi should not be underestimated as there are still very strong feelings in every generation even though many may not want to talk about it.
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Oh, lovely. We're sure Benjamin appreciated having a custom Seize sur Vingt tuxedo when he was debating which of his nostrils to pick for dinner. Other details of this orgy included how the couple first bonded on a trip to Ibiza with 25 of their closest friends, how their wedding guests included Paris Hilton and Adrien Brody, and how they once got into a minor disagreement over where to put a Gerard van den Berg chair, a trendy La-Z Boy that typically sells for thousands of dollars.

Gerard van den Berg

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Doesn't look like much, but it's stuffed entirely with hundred-dollar bills.

Look, wealthy people have every right to throw fancy weddings. But when you get the newspaper to rub our faces in it like this, you inch just that little bit closer to becoming the villains in a young adult dystopia.

But don't worry -- their extreme wealth hasn't caused them to forget how to treat working-class life like a novelty:
Opinion / Columnist

The Mugabemony

Meet the Family

The Robert Mugabe Phenomenon

Guile and the Robert Mugabe Phenomenon

The Successor Robert Mugabe doesn't want

Dinizulu Mbikokayise Macaphulana is a Zimbabwean Political Scientist and Semiotician, he writes from Pretoria in South Africa: dinizulumacaphulana@yahoo.com

Perhaps we must do that. Abandon the "Him" and deal with the "It." We must leave the man and engage with the phenomenon. There are many profits in the present for reading and understanding Robert Mugabe as a political and historical phenomenon, away from a preoccupation with the Old Man. A phenomenological reading of Mugabe may help us to peel away the sticky layers of the Zimbabwean historical and political onion, to unravel the meaning behind the multiplicity of myths, to explore the truths that lie below the fiction so that we may arrive at the Robert Mugabe behind the scattered shadows that we have been chasing all these decades. Helpfully, as Robert Mugabe the physical man naturally retreats the political phenomenon is stepping up its activity and force, the few coming weeks will as a result witness public performances of the Robert Mugabe, the photocopy without an original, that item which in its pretences, its fictions and fakeness is more authentic and cannot be repeated except by itself.Zimbabwe is presently going through the historical season and political moment of the MOU, where between and amongst each other opposition political parties and their leaders have finally seen the foundational political wisdom of agreeing on common understanding, coalitions and solidarities which are basic political mathematics that has sadly taken our wise leaders decades to discover and understand. Exactly how hard is it to get it that one plus one equals two, and two is more and bigger than one; in number, meaning, purpose and power? Alone, in its significance the gesture of political and electoral solidarity between and amongst opposition political parties, their unity, has scared the Mugabeness out of Robert Mugabe, for that reason activity, agitation, stratagems, plots and ploys are assured in this season of the MOU in Zimbabwe. This is to be a season where political v*rginity is a great liability, where innocence can be perilous to person and to party alike. By the end of political innocence I gesture that politicians in the political opposition and the ruling party itself must think and act in ways that Robert Kaplan described as "thinking tragically" and "thinking with a pagan ethos," that is thinking in terms of the worst that may or that must happen. Bad news might not the best news but in politics and in history it is the important news, for is history itself after all not a string of very bad news that are here and there punctuated with some slender break of temporary good news? As I write, the historical artefact and political phenomenon that is personified in Robert Mugabe is out to dance its last and most important dance, to perform itself in full intensity and this time not for legacy but destiny, to talk of the last kicks might be to minimise the gravity of what is at play, after all Robert Mugabe is out to succeed Robert Mugabe, phenomenologically speaking, that is. A phenomenological treatment of Robert Mugabe is rewarding in that we depart from examining his character because he has none, we leave his personality because he does not have it, and we benefit from observing characteristics and personas, of which he has plenty and in them we better read and understand what is afoot.Not only in the political opposition but also amongst my personal friends and fellow travellers in the analytic circles of journalists, scholars and both; the thoughts and the talk are summarised in how ZANU-PF must be defeated in the 2018 election. The bad and tragic news is that there is no more ZANU-PF to defeat, the target has long moved, we are pointing our political guns at a shadow. To start with, as I have written before, the past thirty five years have seen nationalism in Zimbabwe tragically narrowing down and shrinking to partyism, where ZANU-PF became the Nation and the Nation became ZANU-PF, anyone and anything outside the party-nation was declared enemy. Further, the party shrinked to the tribe where to be Zimbabwean was to be Shona or die, the Gukurahundi genocide ensured that. Furthermore; the party and the tribe together shrinked and collapsed into the person and family of President Robert Mugabe. The present hegemonic definition of patriotism in Zimbabwe is in how one is loyal to President Robert Mugabe and his family, his family has become a complex summarisation of country, nation and political Party all in one.What the political opposition in Zimbabwe, an opposition that is found inside ZANU-PF itself and that is shaped of the coalescing opposition political parties, must prepare to defeat and overcome is the Robert Mugabe system, a hegemonic entity of thought and power. Physically and politically ZANU-PF managed through force and fraud to achieve dominance in Zimbabwe, using and abusing ZANU-PF dominance, the Mugabe system and phenomenon that is being treated in this article achieved hegemony in Zimbabwe.Hegemony as canonically described by Antoni Gramsci is a form of power that, to simplify it, persuasively and powerfully naturalises and normalises itself. It can be corrupt and illegitimate power that however erects itself into the common sense of a people as The Power, one that cannot be questioned and that can be taken for granted. For that unhappy reason, all of us in the political opposition, in the social movements and in ZANU-PF that are looking to the electoral defeat of ZANU-PF in 2018 must awaken from the nightmare, urgently, the target long moved, I argue. We must defeat ourselves first, the Robert Mugabe hegemony has since gone and overlapped the party lines, it has possessed persons and parties and it runs the serious danger of winning elections against the whole of Zimbabwe and the world, without ZANU-PF the political party as we know it. After all, for many months now, the Robert Mugabe phenomenon has been busy starting and winning battles against ZANU-PF the party. I was advised by some smart alecs from some small colleges in the UK to go to a mental asylum when I publicly and loudly anticipated the rise of Grace Mugabe to political prominence. I was asked to kill myself by some political interlocutors when I again critically anticipated that Robert Mugabe will clobber the war veterans to a stain. No one dreamt, for instance, that Solomon Mujuru, the "King maker" would be history before any king or queen is seen in Zimbabwe. That Joice Teurai Ropa Mujuru, the girl who downed the colonial chopper would be unheroed and fired was unthinkable in a little two years ago. In much dramatic and even spectacular ways, ZANU-PF as we know it has been losing some of its strongest branches and greenest leaves, in all the loss the Robert Mugabe phenomenon has been winning, fortifying itself and cementing its hegemony. This phenomenon has concealed its identity behind factions and true to our lazy analysis we see factions and every day wait for the juicy factional developments that we feed on as journalists, scholars and both. In the orgasmic joy of its constructed invisibility, the Robert Mugabe phenomenon has been spreading its tentacles and tightening its octopal grip on Zimbabwe, like the gigantic coating of the python skin that it seasonally sheds and leaves behind, ZANU-PF is a shell, the serpent itself is out and about, thina sibukel ikhasi nje inyoka isiza ngemva kwethu !The hegemony of the Robert Mugabe phenomenon in Zimbabwe has set in so deep and so hard that Mugabe might win the next election, not through his party as we know it, ZANU-PF, but through the political opposition. One does not need to be a phenomenologist to get it that if one erases party names and looks at politics and politicians in Zimbabwe one sees that already there is opposition in the ruling regime and there is the ruling regime in the opposition. No exaggeration here, all the signs are out that Mugabe has his favourite politicians in the opposition and that some of our favourite politicians in the opposition have their preferred parts and persons around the Robert Mugabe phenomenon, not only signs, even texts and vocals are out in that regard. Like all phenomenona, the Robert Mugabe one, especially now is hiding where we very least expect it to be, right in us and with us. Over and above ZANU-PF and the political opposition as we know and experience them, the Robert Mugabe phenomenon has systematised itself and naturalised itself and defeating it, overcoming its hegemony and exhausting it demands more than partisan thinking, more than electoral machinations but also tragic thinking and pagan imagination, outdoing Mugabe in Mugabeness, I will return to this argument in closing.For many months now the First Family, that is Robert Mugabe's wife Dr Grace Mugabe and children, has been talking to itself about itself and its place in the world. Individual members of the family have separately been examining their lives and pondering the future and collectively they have been meeting to share notes, heavy and weighty notes, about the people around them, the party and prospects of the near and the far future. By now most of you dear readers have had a close look at the circulating picture of a small but meaningful part of the Mugabe family, wearing funeral faces, and gravely listening to a speech by Namibian President, Hage Geingob at State House. It is a rich picture whose importance is in the useless detail of one empty chair below the nose of the trio made of Bona Mugabe, Grace Mugabe and the Robert Mugabe under examination. By the way, I think we collectively robbed ourselves when we made too much noise too early at the development where Bona had started acting assistant to Robert Mugabe on his many visits to other countries, we shouted the phenomenon into retreat, we were going to learn more. Phenomenologically looking, Bona Mugabe, Mrs Chikore that is, combines several peoples in the Robert Mugabe scheme of things, in one she is his mother, sister, aunt, mother in law and lately, as he naturally weakens and returns to babiness, grandmother.Who Grace Mugabe is to Robert Mugabe is well known, What she is in actuality and in justice is a matter yet to unfold. I have noted this before, in our laziness of observation and thought we have fixed Grace Mugabe to the lucky place of a cunning typist that converted, much immorally, her boss into her boyfriend and later husband. She is much more than that, or she is that and lots more else. She was a spy, a high profile one and she will always be. She is a business person of the mafia and tycoon extents. She was recruited from the business circles where she circulated with fast cash movers and shakers of Southern Africa and Asia; she pushed the numbers with the mob and rolled with the boys and girls in the African underworld. As Sissy Grace, picture the hard shabeen queen type, she has always been a hard woman with a gigantic ego. Woe unto us to see her as that fragile and vulnerable woman, this is a man with more hardihood than some crocodiles and lions, a phenomenological appreciation of Grace Mugabe therefore, betrays a hard man hiding inside a woman. A little phenomenological courage to go beyond organisms and their organs leaves us with a real macho enterprise to encounter in Grace Mugabe.Robert Mugabe, before the arrival of Grace Mugabe was, like his friend Nathan Shamuyarira, innocent of money and its powers. Grace Mugabe did not only bring children and therefore grand children into Robert Mugabe's universe, she also brought money and a lot other considerations of the "libidinal economy," the powerful push and pulls of loves and fears that accompany familihood and society. She deepened, widened and in many ways hardened the universe of a man whose love was power and the drive to be remembered many years after death as a conqueror and a hero. Around Robert Mugabe and in the Robert Mugabe phenomenon, Grace Mugabe has brought sons and a massive Empire in cash and cause.I anticipate here and now that, from the vantage point of the Robert Mugabe phenomenon and its alliances, accessories, hired consultants and functionaries, the 2018 election will be around the themes of Women, Youths and Wealth (jobs, entrepreneurship, land etc). Following how the Mugabe phenomenon collapsed the country, nation, party and tribe into itself and its family, talk about familialising the nation and all. In 2018 the phenomenon seeks to nationalise the family and its interests. The loves and fears of the First Family will be amplified and magnified into national and serious political interests. Publicly, Women and Youths, like the war veterans of yesteryears will be the new objects and subjects of high politics in Zimbabwe, and that is not divorced from the form and content of the First Family itself. Mothers and their young children are soon to achieve new importance in Zimbabwe, men and their old sons are the new enemy, families will be shaken as girls, young sons and their mothers become the political object petite in Zimbabwe. The shape and content of political things to watch in Zimbabwe will have a lot to do with the character and behaviours of the First Family, its deep fears and passionate loves. This is still a young observation and argument that still needs an explosion of some myths and deconstruction of the litany of fictions that form the Robert Mugabe phenomenon.There is a flourish of literature of biographic and hagiographic nature about Robert Mugabe, there is even a deeply theoretical and even philosophical exploration of Mugabeism as an ideology and or idea that was recently published by Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni and some young and senior scholars of note in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia and the United Kingdom. Largely, the supportive literature on Mugabe tends to be too supportive and hagiographic to be helpful, the critical literature leans towards too much passionate anger so much so that critique easily gives way to criticism, much like in the divide between the public and the private media in Zimbabwe. In these extreme divides in the understandings of Robert Mugabe, the true phenomenon remains in the cracks much unseen and unexamined, allowing it to perform its Mugabeness with impunity, free from penetrating probity and prediction. I intend to explode a few myths and crack a few fictions that have masked the true Robert Mugabe phenomenon over the past decades as I prepare to conclude my warning.The way a fish needs water for its existence, the Robert Mugabe phenomenon requires enmity and enemies for its very survival. Robert Mugabe cannot be or can he do without an enemy to insult and to fight, if one does not avail itself he invents one. When the white settlers turned into his friends in 1980 he invented Nkomo and ZAPU, when this enmity was no longer useful he returned to the whites, then to the MDC and to some groupings within ZANU-PF as we know it. Mugabe is at his best and his real against and not for something, his living philosophy is anger and hate, when he attacks he claims defence or revenge. He is the anti-colonialist that fought colonialism and in the true Nietzschean sense became colonial in the process, reproduced colonialism in its utmost vulgarity up until his own family was the only friend he had, only in the blood contract does he trust.After his small family, Robert Mugabe's greatest possession that he can commit genocide to safeguard is the mythical and stolen credentials of his as a brave guerrilla leader. He is not by any measure a man of war. Warrior and war leader are his stolen qualifications. Wilbert Zvakanyorwa Sadomba in 2011 did a telling job unravelling how the scholarly Hebert Chitepo led the guerrilla movement from 1964 to 1975, and the ZIPA/Vashandi group from 1976 to 1977. Robert Mugabe pretended to do so, against much internal resistance from 1977 to 1979, a time when political negotiations, peace talks and the political settlement were already in the air, he became an after the war leader. In reality the Man led the guerrilla movement for a wishy washy two years and nine months, from March 1977 to December 1979, in his mythology Robert Mugabe was born a guerrilla and will die one.So jealously has Mugabe guarded his stolen war credentials that he will fight off any threat to demolish them. Part of the hate and anger Mugabe reserved for and directed at Nkomo was the idea of "Father Zimbabwe," an idea that he only made peace with when Nkomo died, otherwise the only "Father Zimbabwe" that Mugabe can sit with is himself. A large part of the Gukurahundi genocide was the attempt to erase that huge part of the Zimbabwean liberation and guerrilla war in which Mugabe was no claimant to the heroism. Besides the erasure and silencing of bodies Gukurahundi was a theft of history and memory, an epistemicide.Unknown to many of us is that as late as the 1980s, Robert Mugabe believed in Zimbabwe as two different countries, as quoted in Gatsheni's enriching Mugabeism compendium, Davies, Smith and Simpson write in 1981 of a day Robert Mugabe eye ball to eye ball told Lord Soames that Nkomo should keep his political campaign in " his country," Matabeleland and he Mugabe will be content with "my country" that is Mashonaland, this was after 1977 when Mugabe had made the shocking speech that "Zimbabwe will be a pure Shona nation" an imaginary motherland that had no other people except his clan.Behind the facade of Robert Mugabe the Pan-Africanist and nationalist is a really dangerous and genocidal nativist who would have led secession from Zimbabwe if he did not achieve control of state power. For the love of liberation war credentials Robert Mugabe even competed with the war itself for credentials, so was he happy when the late Vice-President Simon Muzenda led a change of slogan from "Pamberi ne Chimurenga" to the personalised "Pamberi na Comrade Robert Mugabe," from then Muzenda became the ideal Vice-President that was content with his permanent station as Vice never to be President. Over years Mugabe has personalised the heroism of the liberation struggle, he can give it and take it away, and he personally selects and deselects the bodies that get buried at the National Heroes Acre, he is the first and the last hero.The world has been made to believe that Robert Mugabe heroically took land, without compensation from white commercial farmers and gave it back to the owners, the dispossessed and displaced black peasants. Far from it. Robert Mugabe was forced by angry war veterans to back and accept land seizures, he just could not stand the way the vets had started calling him a sell out who betrayed ideals of the liberation struggle, not so many of us remember that Mugabe joined the vets when they were about to seal a political MOU with the workers in shape of the ZCTU. Equally compelling is the myth that Robert Mugabe is anti-corruption, a clean operator. He actually sells corruption in exchange for loyalty; the ministers who sing his name can sin and steal with impunity. Joice Mujuru told the world a few moons ago that Robert Mugabe keeps dossiers of the crimes and sins of his ministers that he uses as a leash to control them and extract their loyalty, in the true fashion of the mafia Godfathers he uses the crimes of his team as political capital, he profits from their corruption. Grown men, aged war types have been seen publicly kneeling before Robert Mugabe as to a god, not out of love but fear for their lives. For most of them if ZANU-PF and Robert Mugabe lose power it means the end of political protection and legal immunity and the end of the world in earnest.The present Zimbabwean historical and political moment is a moment of the dinner with the devil, the last supper of the very long spoons. It is a moment of the end of innocence in that it combines dark Machiavellian prospects and deadly episodes drawn from the Sun Tsu. War by other means is afoot in Zimbabwe. Both Stuart Doran and Timothy Scarnnechia have effectively shown how Robert Mugabe got the West to understand and somehow support the Gukurahundi genocide.Unknown to the world is that to get the West to see ZAPU and Nkomo as legitimate targets for mass murder, Mugabe sent secret operatives to capture and kill six white foreign tourists in an operation that enraged the world against ZAPU and Nkomo who were falsely accused of murdering the innocent visitors. In the here and the now, Robert Mugabe's opponents in Zimbabwe, in ZANU-PF and outside should know that he is capable of attacking himself and then put the blame on his enemies that he will go on to arrest and eliminate from the political and electoral field.This is a man and a phenomenon that can attempt a coup on himself and then use the fabricated attempt to blame and jail the peoples and parties that threaten his political will in the present. Much naively, our opposition leaders enjoy boasting about the information that they receive from Mugabe's CIO agents; most of the agents who approach opposition leaders with juicy information are double agents who come with "red intelligence" not to work with the opposition but to work on the opposition, drive it to the direction that Mugabe wants. In 2008 some double agents convinced Morgan Tsvangirai to flee to Botswana leaving Mugabe to "win" the crucial election runoff that sentenced Zimbabwe to more Mugabe rule. In short, Robert Mugabe's opponents in present Zimbabwe are walking on slippery political ground, traps and political landmines will be strewn all over the place to ensnare and eliminate the uncircumcised, the Robert Mugabe phenomenon is a phenomenon of dirty and dark political play. From North Korea, Machiavelli and the Sun Tsu, Robert Mugabe has learnt very well. To confront Robert Mugabe and the Robert Mugabe phenomenon in such a crucial historical and political endgame as the present is a true dance of life with Lucifer and all his expelled angels in dark and dangerous hell. Important to know is that Robert Mugabe, in the slippery way in which he wormed himself into power, does not trust people especially those close to him that is why he is a very dangerous extra-organisational operator. Few people know that in actuality the Fifth Brigade was not in truth part of the Zimbabwe National Army but an extra and special entity that was built for the purpose of the genocide and that answered to Robert Mugabe and a few well known Gukurahundists. He did not trust the training and discipline of ZNA with such a job as genocide. In the same logic, extra to ZANU-PF, extra to the army, the police and the intelligence Robert Mugabe has his organisations within and outside Zimbabwe that stand ready to push the "Mugabe way" when the real chips are down. Some of them are specialised hired consultants, civilian and military. There should be no surprise why some tried and tested crocodiles become lizards in the face of Robert Mugabe, they are in the full know that he controls many powerful but invisible dangers, out of his storied cowardice he had to do things in that way.We have done too much work speculating on the successor that Robert Mugabe wants when the secret of secrets hides in the qualities of the successor that the Mugabe phenomenon may not accept. Well, Sydney Sekeramayi, the shy Gukurahundist stands to benefit if Robert Mugabe suffers sudden incapacitation, he has been prepared to be the unifying figure around whom all the factions may rally under any emergency and he is an organ of the Mugabe extended family and by that blood contract and shared guilt he can be trusted. Otherwise he too is not in justice the successor that the Robert Mugabe phenomenon can sit pretty with. And the small but powerful Mugabe family does not want to entrust its massive fortune, its future welfare and security with anyone except itself in itself.The way Robert Mugabe has been manipulating history and power he does not love competition. For that reason he will not have a successor that will claim even part ownership of the legacy of the liberation struggle, another Father Zimbabwe. All the men and women that can claim to have been in the thickness of the war and the struggle for liberation, with personal narratives of the struggle that can compete with Mugabe's are not wanted in this elusive vacancy. Robert Mugabe will have a youthful man or a woman that will rule Zimbabwe as a proud heir to the gallant legacy of Robert Mugabe, not one who fought alongside him and can claim some personal exploits and heroism. Robert Mugabe wants to lie in his grave one day and be missed as the owner of history that is irreplaceable. Robert Mugabe's present contempt for foes and friends that flag liberation credentials as a political qualifier is based on exactly that, he is the war of liberation and no one else should be again. Youth and women who are innocent of the war of liberation are what the new game will be made of in the scheme of the Robert Mugabe political and historical phenomenon. Importantly, Robert Mugabe also does not want a successor who cannot legitimately claim to know nothing about the Gukurahundi genocide, who cannot convincingly blame the genocide on history and ask the country to peacefully move on to the future, even better if the young or female successor can try to clean Mugabe's name and even distribute blame for the genocide elsewhere, to other people. As I write, some of Robert Mugabe's close war time comrades and prospective successors are endangered human beings politically and in many other ways, lingathi angishongo. As for the political opposition inside and outside ZANU-PF, this is the time to think tragically and with a pagan ethos, the dinner of the long spoons.
Cloud News

Dell EMC Brings Microsoft Azure On-Prem For Hybrid Cloud

Joseph F. Kovar

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Dell EMC on Thursday introduced a partnership with Microsoft under which channel partners will be able to build on-premises Microsoft Azure clouds using Dell EMC technology.

The new offering, called Dell EMC Cloud for Microsoft Azure Stack, is a turnkey platform for building a hybrid cloud offering with the same look, feel, and technology as the Microsoft Azure public cloud, said Peter Cutts, senior vice president of hybrid cloud platforms at Dell EMC.

"We're leveraging three years of experience with delivering hybrid clouds including the ability to deliver the right services for on-premises and hybrid clouds," Cutts told CRN.

[Related: Dell EMC Attacks Public Cloud Cost And Complexity With Combo ITaaS Solution: Enterprise Hybrid Cloud On VxRail]

The Dell EMC Cloud for Microsoft Azure Stack is a net-new offering from Dell EMC, particularly in how it differs from the company's Enterprise Hybrid Cloud, or EHC, Cutts said.

Customers deploying the Enterprise Hybrid Cloud need to add their own domain name space automation, firewall automation, backup and recovery capabilities, and other technologies that together form a private or hybrid cloud, he said.

"With Dell EMC Cloud for Microsoft Azure Stack, we're putting it together as an integrated offering," he said. "It's a completely Azure-based offering. We don't leverage the Enterprise Hybrid Cloud."

The new offering is also different from the Azure Pack, which Dell started shipping in 2015. The Azure Pack is not API-compatible with the Microsoft Azure public cloud, Cutts said.

The Dell EMC Cloud for Microsoft Azure Stack targets solution providers and customers who use Microsoft technology, Cutts said. It will be a stand-alone offering combining Dell EMC hyper-converged infrastructure technology with Azure, he said.

The new offering scales from four nodes, which can work with up to about 100 Azure D1 virtual machines, to 12 nodes, or about 600 Azure D1 virtual machines, Cutts said. For larger deployments, customers can purchase multiple scale outs beyond that, he said.

Dell EMC Cloud for Microsoft Azure Stack provides a single contract support for hybrid Azure deployments, full encryption and security capabilities including the ability to tie policies to virtual machines as they are migrated to new locations, and full data protection capabilities in single tenant and multi-tenant environments.

Dell EMC is still defining the criteria for how its channel partners bring the new offering to their clients, Cutts said.

Which partners might be more attracted to the offering depends on where they are in their adoption of cloud technology, he said.

"Partners focused mainly on on-premises storage and servers may not be the best for the Azure Stack," he said. "But for partners moving up the stack, this is a nice way for them to experience the technology."

The Dell EMC Cloud for Microsoft Azure Stack is one that will be watched carefully by both cloud vendors looking to get on-premises and companies like VMware trying to reach from the outside into the public cloud, said Scott Miller, director of data center technologies at World Wide Technology, a St. Louis, Mo.-based solution provider and Dell EMC channel partner.

"This is the first outside-in approach to starting with a public cloud and then taking the technology to a private cloud," Miller told CRN. "I expect it will have a significant uptake."

Miller said the new offering shows that customers and Microsoft have come to terms with the idea that, while software-as-a-service makes sense for applications like Office 365, it doesn't make sense for a wide range of applications.

"Customers like the idea of having a cloud infrastructure on-premises without the regulatory or compliance issues brought up when looking at public clouds," he said.

The biggest use case for the Dell EMC Cloud for Microsoft Azure Stack will likely be platform-as-a-service developers, Miller said. "Developers can develop apps on-prem, and have the flexibility to move the apps to the public cloud," he said. "But I'm guessing most apps will probably just stay in the on-prem cloud."

The actual Azure Stack in the new offering will be available to other vendors outside of Dell EMC, Cutts said. "Dell is the first one to fill out the offering," he said. "Others may participate. But obviously, we think others will not do it as well as us."

The Dell EMC Cloud for Microsoft Azure Stack is currently available in a single-node developer edition, and in the early evaluation period for the four-node configurations, Cutts said. General availability is scheduled for the second half of 2017.
Networking News

Verizon Secures The Perimeter With New Cloud-Based Security Service For Business Customers

Gina Narcisi

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Verizon is helping enterprises keep network-based cyberattacks at bay via a brand-new managed security service.

Verizon's Software-Defined Perimeter (SDP) service is a scalable, cloud-based offering that lets companies identify possible breaches at the network border and secure access to their business applications to users on their own devices. The service offers an added layer of protection that can help "hide" enterprise applications and resources from hackers, according to Verizon.

A spokesperson for Verizon told CRN that SDP is not available through channel partners at this time.

[Related: Verizon Restructures Small Business Segment, Launches Verizon Business Markets ]

In April, Verizon released its 10th Annual Data Breach Investigations Report which found that 98 percent of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks target enterprises.

RDS Solutions, a Clinton, N.J. telecom solution provider and Verizon partner, offers connectivity and consulting to its customer base which includes enterprise customers. Security is top of mind for businesses of all sizes, and the SDP service applies to not only enterprise customers, but SMBs, too, according to Paul Vuoso, RDS' vice president of technology.

In addition to providing the connectivity between locations and the internet, our customers rely on us to recommend and assist in understanding and implementing the necessary safeguards," Vuoso said. "Connectivity and access are crucial for todays enterprises, but it cannot come at the expense of security.

Verizons SDP service isolates communications between enterprise applications and end-user devices. This feature lets IT teams immediately identify and block network-based cyberattacks, including DDoS, connection hijacking, and credential theft. At the same time, the service provides an encrypted connection between authenticated end user devices and enterprise applications, according to the Basking Ridge, N.J. carrier.

SDP can be deployed in a hybrid IT environment, Verizon said. Businesses won't have to purchase any network hardware or lease additional data center resources to deploy the new service.

Verizon said that SDP is currently available to business customers in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and Norway.
Security News

Watch Out For End Users Who Are Slow To Grasp Security, Midmarket IT Leaders Told

Rick Saia

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Midmarket companies continue to battle ransomware and phishing, and that won't stop, no matter how much effort is spent using technology and educating end users about information security threats, a Gartner analyst told IT directors this week.

Gartner believes that, through 2020, email will continue to be the primary vehicle for the delivery of advanced targeted attacks, as well as a common distribution method for attacks on consumer technology devices.

Gartner's Brian Reed told a group of about 50 midmarket IT directors that they must continue to be vigilant against ransomware and phishing attacks through technology and organizational strategies, he said during a Tuesday session at the Midsize Enterprise Summit East conference in Nashville, Tenn. The conference was hosted by CRN's parent, The Channel Company.

[Related: Gartner Analyst To Mid-Market CIOs: Look At Service Provider As Part Of Your Security Strategy]

Reed cited a few examples of phishing, such as conventional emails seeking money and the spoofing of a CEO.

"Phishing [attacks] dont just hit stupid users; they hit important users too," Reed said. He added, "We dont have to accept that people are just idiots and shrug our shoulders and whistle on down the road."

Meanwhile, ransomware attacks soared over 400 percent from 2015 to 2016, and are expected to climb even higher this year, Reed said, citing statistics from Beazley Breach Insights that were published in January. And, in the first quarter of 2016 alone, the FBI said ransomware victims paid $209 million to retrieve their encrypted data that online criminals were holding hostage, Reed cited in his presentation.

The Gartner analyst also warned of a new malware tactic that attacks users, then  rather than demand money  asks them to "infect" their friends by passing along attacks.

Gartner believes that organizations that invest in monthly, interactive security awareness activities with end users will experience fewer breaches caused by human error.

But the research firm suggests that midmarket organizations are hamstrung by their size and budgets. One of the biggest skills gaps in the mid-market is dedicated security professionals. In fact, several IT executives who attended the conference told CRN that they don't have staff members dedicated solely to security.

Despite that, Gartner says security is always listed as a primary challenge among midmarket companies. While they spend, on average, 5.6 percent of their IT budgets on security, mid-market organizations generally don't spend anything on user awareness, believing it to be a "soft" security investment.

Brad Horst, CIO at EYP Inc., a Boston-based construction design and consulting firm with 600 end users and 15 IT professionals, told CRN he has focused heavily on security over the past six to eight months. He said he has had to reach outside the company for help, having called on a managed security services provider for advice on writing policies that EYP was missing as part of its security posture. "I could not do that on my own," at least within the last several months, Horst said.

He also said EYP is putting together a training program for users to help reinforce security at the endpoints.

Gartner has several recommendations for midmarket IT leaders:

Have a dedicated crisis management team that can respond to the malware attacks.

Implement an enterprise endpoint backup product to protect user data on laptops and workstations.

Evaluate the potential business impact of having data forcibly encrypted because of a ransomware attack, and adjust recovery point objectives to more frequently back up those systems.

Align with the information security, IT disaster recovery and network teams to develop a unified incident response that focuses on resiliency rather than just prevention.

After his 30-minute presentation, Reed focused on the role managed security service providers can play in helping midmarket IT organizations.

"The biggest thing  is staff augmentation," he told CRN. But that doesn't mean as a tool to replace staff. Rather, "it's really meant to help out both knowledge [and] understanding, [and] to be an extra set of hands."
Opinion / Religion

Modest in dressing (1 Tim 2:9)

Sport

Modernisation and religion were meant to exist on separate planets but were forced to operate simultaneously within the same spheres. This has however, distorted the scriptures and authenticity of the bible as people twist it to suit their carnal.God has set up strict guidelines for his people. His principles never change as shown by the jig saw fit and reciprocity of the Old and New Testaments.This article serves to show AAC's standpoint on modernisation as well as correcting some misconception around the church's doctrines. The issues to be addressed here are; dressing and sport.Our interpretation for modest is to cover all areas of the body that are not essential to everyday functions in order to ward off lustful thoughts,( both male and female clothes should cover elbows and ankles).Women do not put anything that shows contours of their bodies as this helps maintain physical and emotional modesty. Dress code is extended to physical gestures, conduct, speech and body language. Hence, refraining from participating in activities considered lustful such as dancing.God instructed women not to wear clothes that pertain to men. However, masculine dress on women which is common today has been fostered by the rebellious women's movements. It is therefore insane for a Christian to be influenced by their fanatical notions. In How to mary a man of your choice, Margret Kent, tells women that clothing can be a powerful way to manipulate men.Her advice include, tight clothing that follow natural form of one's body and other suggestive garments..Women are therefore wearing low cut, tight fitting sweaters, slit and short skirts etc.Trying to modernise the church, leaders belonging to different churches are listening to women than God on a stupid note that men should practice self control. If the man lusts after you, he is guilty, but are you not guilty if you dress to entice him? Was not Bathsheba as guilty as David for displaying herself knowing well that she was in the sight of the palace?Certain portions of a woman's body are appealing to a man's natural instincts therefore Christians should interpret the scriptures not to suit their desires or please a certain movement. Do you want to please God or appeal to a man's old nature?As AAC members we observe the Sabbath day as per instruction in Ex 20:8.Most sporting activities are also done on the same day the Lord commanded us to refrain from any duties.Jesus and Paul of Tarsus went in the Synagogue every Sabbath preaching and healing. During these modern times Apostolic members are labelled ignorant and backward yet we are living up to the standards of the Lord.Sport is a religion on its own that needs commitment and sacrifice that can not be matched to anything else.Tracing its origin,fathers of sport introduced the Greek Olympics Games as a way of worship and honor to their pagan god of sport *Zeus.*Emotional and devotional aspects involved suggest that sport holds meaning for fans in a way that traditional religions are unable to do.Passion,commitment, agony in defeat and elation in victory reveal a transcendent experience in followers that provides sacred communal movements between players and fans.We therefore do not worship or subscribe to Zeus.We live in the modern times but as AAC, led by Archbishop Paul Mwazha of Africa, nothing has been altered rather adherence to the biblical teaching as they are. This has built up extra ordinary persona that justifies Paul as a genuine servant of God.Truth may be blamed but will never be ashamed.App @0717203123
On Wednesday afternoon, social media exploded with reports of a new Phishing attack targeting users of Google Docs. The attack was clever, centered on getting the victim to grant permissions to an application called Google Docs before spreading to the victim's contacts.

Fortunately, the attack didn't last long, thanks to the efforts of thoughtful users, Google, and Cloudflare.

Officially, Google issued a brief statement on the matter via Twitter and to various members of the media:

"We have taken action to protect users against an email impersonating Google Docs & have disabled offending accounts. Weve removed the fake pages, pushed updates through Safe Browsing, and our abuse team is working to prevent this kind of spoofing from happening again. We encourage users to report phishing emails in Gmail."

Blue Team Go!

Wednesday's attack was sudden, widespread  affecting Google and non-Google domains  and noteworthy for the way it worked. The goal was to get a user to authorize an App that would let the attacker have complete control over the victim's account.

Right up until it comes to the App authorization, the victim sees legitimate Google data and account details. The App itself is a clear fake, because "Google Docs" doesn't need authorization. So somehow, the App author (the one likely responsible for the attack itself) was able to give their creation a name that should be blacklisted.

At this stage, things get interesting. But if you're familiar with the concept of a Blue Team (the defenders of a given network and the users on it), the way things unfolded won't shock you. For those who are not familiar with the concept  today's attack is a classic example who why incident response is so critical.

"This story demonstrates how important it is to have effective incident response plans in place. Companies need to accept that in today's environment they will suffer a security breach and they will be judged on how well they respond and deal with the breach rather than the breach itself," said Brian Honan, Information Security Consultant at BH Consulting.

"Incident response teams need to test their capabilities regularly so they know how to operate during a breach, good training enables teams to respond well to breach scenarios they may not have thought about, such as this evening's event."

So what could have been a serious attack, resulting in massive account compromises, was over almost as soon as it started.

Awareness:

This attack started moving fast. At peak, the attack was generating about 155 messages per minute, around 3:15 p.m. EST on Wednesday. However, forty-five minutes later, the volume dropped off completely.

On Reddit, around the time the attack hit its peak, a user posted a full outline, warning others about the situation. Within moments, a staffer at Google took notice and passed the details over to engineering, who said they expected a fix within an hour.

While this conversation was happening, Cloudflare, where the attacker was hosting domains, started pulling them offline. On Twitter, users in the security community, as well as those with no ties to IT whatsoever started warning others about the situation.

At IDG, our IT team issued a warning to all staff about the incident. In Shrewsbury, a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, the IT department at Shrewsbury Public Schools emailed parents, warning them and students about the situation.

Within ten minutes of the first report on Twitter, Cloudflare had disabled all of them. Soon after, Google disabled the App itself and started flagging messages in Gmail as potentially dangerous.

There is a clear connection between the rapid response of Google and Cloudflare, and the volume of warnings circulating online, to the short attack window available during Wednesday's incident.

Because response and awareness were synced so well, the number of people who fell for this attack is much smaller than it could've been  although no one is certain about the number of people who fell for the attack before it could be stopped.

The point is, end users are a valuable tool. When information spreads quickly  as long as it's accurate  the victim pool in a given attack drops significantly.

Another interesting observation centers on information sharing. As soon as word of the attacks started, people started collecting information and sharing it. This includes the domains used in the attack, the full URL form the Phishing email, and a copy of the source code.

Wednesday's attack was a clear win for the Blue Team, but it's also a warning.

This one was stopped quickly. However, the attack itself could have been a simple test, proving that it's possible to craft a solid Phishing attack using legitimate resources that people know and trust.

"Second, and more concerning, this attack allowed the OAuth owner access to all of the email content and contact information for every compromised victim of the attack. This means that the attacker potentially has access to all of the information within your account and the ability to read, send, delete and manage the email and contacts of the associated account," commented Nick Biasini on the Talos blog.

"Additionally, since OAuth was used, the typical protections like changing passwords has no immediate impact on the adversaries' access. Because of the success of this attack, we are likely going to see phishing attacks of this nature for the foreseeable future."

If you or someone you know was impacted by Wednesday's attack, disable the Google Docs application permissions under account settings. You can do this with Google's help, or by following the non-technical instructions posted here.

Send your comments to our Facebook page.
Former Fiserv executive Mark Butler has joined Qualys as its chief information security officer (CISO). In that role, Butler will help advocate CISO needs for Qualyss customers as they work to achieve their digital transformation goals. The company provides cloud-based security and compliance solutions to 9,300 customers. Butler will serve as Qualyss lead CISO evangelist, helping security and compliance leadership understand the business imperatives currently driving secure digital transformation and DevSecOps

I am thrilled to join the Qualys team as chief information security officer and to work with other CISOs to help them achieve the kind of visibility that they need throughout their IT assets to secure todays global digital business, said Butler in a press release. Because of its unique cloud platform, Qualys is in a pivotal position to help give CISOs the capability to start building security in rather than continuing to bolt it on, and to consolidate multiple on-premise security and compliance point solutions.

Qualys Mark Butler, Qualys CISO

"Mark brings unique experience to Qualys and we are all delighted to have him join our team, said Philippe Courtot, chairman and CEO, Qualys, Inc., in a press release. As the CISO of a global financial services technology provider, he is very familiar with what it takes to fend off cyber threats and to build security into the fabric of the digital transformation that all companies are now embarking on to remain competitive.

Butler has more than 20 years of IT security experience and has worked with executive management, IT leadership and legal counsel to achieve visibility into new business opportunities and associated cyber risks. His areas of security expertise include threat intelligence, security architecture, strategy, road map development, cyber framework alignment, security solution testing, orchestration and workflow integration.

Previously he was vice president, CISO and enterprise security information officer at Fiserv. There, Butler led PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) assessment delivery, internal penetration testing, vulnerability scanning and web application security teams.

Butler has also held roles in global security consulting, independent technical research and comprehensive assessment services as well as several foundational security roles at H&R Block. Butler attended Baylor University and received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration/Business Management from Avila University. He holds active Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), PCI Internal Security Assessor (PCI-ISA) and Certified Information Privacy Professional/Information Technology (CIPP-IT) certifications.
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OXFORD  After ditching the Democratic Party, former First Selectman Kathy Johnson has secured enough signatures to gain a place on the November ballot as a petitioning candidate.

Im giving voters a third choice, said Johnson, who sits on the current Board of Selectmen. I put 13 years of my heart and soul into this town. I believe I still have a lot to offer.

Johnson, who will 70 next month, dismissed claims that her third-party run would split the Democratic vote and assure Republican George Temple a fourth term. Scott Flaherty, who lost to State Rep. David Labriola in the 131st District race last fall, is considered the Democratic frontrunner for first selectman.

It may appear to some that I am acting as the spoiler, but that is absolutely not the case, said Johnson. I get along with George and (Selectman) Jeff (Haney), but I have to problem holding their feet to the fire.

She said by having no loyalty to a political party, she has no obligation to any donors.

I am free to be my own person. I will owe no one person anything, said Johnson.

She said she is working with the Board of Selectmen to replace the Center School and to cut taxes while increasing economic development.

In February Johnson, a lifelong Democrat, resigned from the party.

I consider myself an FDR, JFK Democrat, said Johnson, who served as the towns First Selectman in 2001-2002. Now I feel my party level has left me.

Johnson said she feels the Democratic party on a national, state and local level has abandoned its principles in favor of political expediency and self-serving personal aggrandizement.

Locally, she said, the economic development boom in Oxford put the town in a position to cut taxes this budgetary year, but Gov. Dannel P. Malloy pulled the rug out from under us with his proposed $5 million state-funding cut to Oxford.
BRIDGEPORT - A man visiting from Brazil was arrested Thursday after police said he broke into a home and sexually assaulted the female resident.

William Campos, 34, was charged with first-degree sexual assault, home invasion and first-degree burglary after being arrested by Det. Eric King.

Campos was being held in lieu of $250,000 bond.

Police said the young woman told them she and her friends had a party at her North End apartment. Her friends later left and she went to bed only to awake a few hours later to find a man on top of her sexually assaulting her, police said. The woman said the man had gotten in through the bedroom window.

Police said the woman began screaming and forced the man, who she recognized as Campos, her landlords nephew visiting from Brazil, off her. She told police Campos then pulled out a gun and threatened to kill himself if the woman told anyone what had happened.

Police continued that the woman managed to push Campos out of her bedroom but before he left her apartment he grabbed her dog and threatened to kill it if she didnt let him stay. She refused and he left, police said.

Police said when they later confronted Campos he denied sexual assaulting the woman. However, confronted by Detective Walberto Cotto Jr. that Campos DNA had been found on the woman and the specifics of her claims, police said Campos confessed to the crime.
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Kautman-Jones endorses Davis Please support Meredith Davis in her re-election to the Genesee County Board of Commissioners - 8th District. I have had...
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Green homes have gone mainstream, and one of the most popular ways to be friendly to the environment and your wallet at the same time is to focus on energy efficiency. Less energy used means less fossil fuels consumed! (Where's that clothesline?) Of course, "less" is a relative term. How do you know how well you're really doing on that frontand how you might improve?

It's time for an eco-friendly pulse check. Here are some of the latest stats on how energy-efficient the average home is, plus exactly how much you can save if you add a few green upgrades yourself.

How much energy does the average home consume?



The Department of Energy's most recent stats say the average home uses 90 million Btu of energy per year. (Btu, or British thermal unit, is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 pound of water by 1 degree Fahrenheit.) To give you a better sense of how much energy that is, a home consumes nearly 50% more energy than the average car.

What's sucking up all that energy?



According to the DOE, 41% of those Btu go toward heating rooms, and 17% are used for heating just water. Only 6% goes toward air conditioning, while the remaining 36% powers lighting, appliances, and electronics.

How much does the average household spend on energy?



Every year, homeowners spends $1,945 on their energy bills.

So how green are our homes, anyway?



According to the U.S. Green Building Council, approximately 121,400 homes around the world to date are LEED-certified. That certification, by the council, means these homes have been evaluated on things like water efficiency, indoor environmental quality, and sustainability and deemed to meet or exceed their standards. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) homes use 20% to 30% less energy and water, which results in significantly lower utility bills.



Related articles:

How to Go Green: The Ultimate Homeowner's Guide to an Eco-Friendly Pad

The Most and Least Expensive States for Energy Bills

What Is an Energy Audit? Learn How Energy-Efficient Your Home Is

How can going green increase the value of your home?



It might be worthwhile to make green upgrades to your homethose features could entice potential buyers to bid $10,000 or more on your place. The Washington Post reported on a study of homes sold in Washington, DC, between February 2013 and June 2015 showing that people were willing to pay $10,343 to $53,000 more for houses that had green upgrades and features.

What are the most energy-efficient states?



The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy has ranked the most energy-efficient states in terms of their policies on public transportation, building energy codes, and other initiatives. Here are the top 10:

1. California and Massachusetts (tie)

3. Vermont

4. Rhode Island

5. Connecticut and New York (tie)

7. Oregon

8. Washington

9. Maryland

10. Minnesota

What are the least energy-efficient states?



The ACEEE's State Energy Efficiency Scorecard also reports these states (plus the District of Columbia) are the least energy-efficient:

47. Louisiana

48. Kansas

49. South Dakota

50. Wyoming

51. North Dakota

How can I begin going green?



Ready to take action? Energy.gov put together a list of things you can do in your home to go green and put cash back in your pocket. They estimate that you can potentially save $723 to $1,182 a year just by making these simple changes.

More Information This article, "How Green Is Your Home? An Eco-Friendly Reality Check," appeared first on Real Estate News and Advice from realtor.com. See More Collapse

Here are a few of their top tips, plus the amount you could save per year:
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STAMFORD  At the end of a leafy, winding drive in North Stamford is the backwoods oasis of Karon Walker and Peter Howd.

I have a pond  thats my pond, Walker said, fervently gesturing to a small body of water at the bottom of a ravine. How does it get better than that?

From the patio at 369 Briar Brae Road, the grounds almost outshine the home  a modified barn built into a rocky hillside.

Around back, brick steps lead down to the pond, which was likely a swimming hole in the early 1900s. Around front, a custom pool with a 20-yard lap lane sits atop a small berm.

All over the property, huge, old-growth trees  just starting to bud on a sunny afternoon last week  provide shade and privacy.

We are major outdoors people, Walker said. So this place is kind of a dream.

The rustic exterior of the 5,215-square-foot home fits perfectly with its wooded surroundings, but over the threshold is a completely different atmosphere. On the inside, the feeling is less of a country cottage and more of a luxury New York City-style loft  complete with bamboo flooring, stark white walls and an open floor plan.

Unconventional

The layout of the house is a little unconventional, as is the couple who has lived there the past 16 years.

The master suite is on the bottom floor, which doesnt quite qualify as a basement since its still at ground level. Every wing of the house has its own sitting room or living room, and an add-on off the side of the house features a long, gallery-like hallway.

The kitchen is lifted up on a stage  which was a real stage in the 1930s and 40s, when a theater troupe took over what was then a barn on a huge farm estate.

Peter is such a good cook  we had to put him up on stage, Walker joked.

Howd said he found evidence that the shed, which was torn down and a guest cottage built in its place, once housed all of the scenery for the stage and acted as a workshop of sorts.

There was still an old drill press and a big table saw, he said. The house had been lived in, too, but it needed a lot of work.

Walker and Howd spent eight years customizing the home, taking down walls, putting on a huge addition with three extra bedrooms and installing environmentally-conscious amenities, like the bamboo floors and a flank of solar panels on the roof.

We didnt want to do anything to disturb the natural ecosystem here, Walker said.

Preserving history

The white-painted stone walls in the master suite are the original foundation of the structure, which legend has it was actually a barn in southern Vermont in the late 1800s.

It was moved, stone by stone, onto the estate of a prominent farmer in North Stamford in the 1920s.

Thats the story thats been passed from owner to owner, Walker said. I like to think its true, because thats a great story.

By the 1950s, Walker said the house was a theater commune of sorts.

These theater buffs turned the barn into a house  they kind of threw up walls wherever they wanted, Walker said. They were still putting on shows, because you could see in the basement they had created all of these storage rooms for props and scenery.

Little pieces of history and folklore are preserved throughout the home, including Howds kitchen stage and the portico out front where carriages and cars used to pull up to the playhouse. Even new additions, like windows in the great room on the first floor, are replicated to imitate the original tall, skinny panes of glass on the barn.

But the loft-like floor plan is Walker and Howds addition to the structures historic tapestry, made possible by the homes original post-and-beam construction.

Every time I bring someone to this house, the first thing they say is this is a cool house, said Karen Sheftell, who is listing the home for the couple with William Pitt Sothebys as they downsize to a cottage in New Hampshire.

The four-bedroom home and its one-bedroom guest house are listed for $1.37 million.

It will take a certain kind of person to love this house, but thats the kind of person I want to see the place go to anyway, Walker said.

nnaughton@stamfordadvocate.com; @noranaughton
7 Things To Consider Before Meeting Your Biological Family

After recently meeting my birth family in Colombia, South America there are a few things I wish I had considered beforehand. To anyone who is also on this journey I hope this may provide you with some insight to the beautiful scary journey ahead. No matter what happens remember you can make your own family blood or not.

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1. Throw away the fantasy.

I couldn't tell you how many hours I had spent dreaming about my birth mother, creating fantasies of what she may be like and explanations as to why I am the way I am today. When I saw a picture of my mother for the first time, I was so wildly disappointed that it hurts to even admit. The image I had created over the past 25 years was nothing of the sort. In fact she kind of reminded me of my adoptive mother light skin, straight hair, and certainly no spitting image of myself. I wish I had considered that the fantasy I had created may not be what I was getting. If I had taken the time to distinguish this from reality it would have allowed myself to be open to the possibility of whatever may be. I urge anyone who is going to meet their birth family to take the time to take everything you have ever imagined and dreamed and throw it entirely out the window. Be completely okay with letting the fantasy go in order to allow your heart to be open to the reality.

2. Consider any language barriers before making contact.

My birth family lives in Bogota, Colombia and only speaks Spanish. Growing up in Massachusetts my Spanish was at the level of a six year old. I was so excited about the process unfolding, that I did not take the proper time to make perfecting my Spanish a priority. When I met my birth family it sort of felt like a tease. Here they were so close after all these years and the most I could do was say hi how are you. I couldn't show them who I was or ask the right questions. The communication was stunted. Taking this into consideration may prevent you from feeling so overwhelmed.

3. Make sure to set your boundaries before the meeting.

Setting boundaries is imperative. Know before hand what think you can or cannot handle. I did not take into account the Colombian culture I was about to be embraced by. I was greeted by endless Aunts and Uncles and learned of a family so grand. I wish that I had gotten the chance to ease into the situation.

4. Bring a support system.

It was a blessing to have the support of my whole family. The situation was overwhelming and without them by my side I dont know what I would have done. I always fought about doing this alone, but I was very glad I did not. My biggest worry was showing my adoptive parents how it affected me, but I realized they understood. Wanting to know my biological family did not take away any of the love I have for my parents. In fact, it brought us closer and strengthened our bond.

5.Remember you are not going through this alone.

I wish that I had taken the time to consider that I was not going through this alone. I was opening a can of worms and regardless of what I wanted or didn't want from the situation other people were going to be involved. This involvement definately disrupted my own plan. It wasn't until my birth sister told me how my indifference towards meeting my biological father was selfish in her eyes that I realized this. She directly told me I should have considered how this was going to affect them before I had made efforts to find them. This was hard to hear, but I understand both sides. I just wanted to know where I came from, I wanted to fill a void. I dont think I ever once stopped to think that maybe they would want something from me.

6. It is okay to be completely selfish in this situation and do what is best for you.

It is easy during this process to feel selfish. I felt selfish for a number of reasons. In particular I felt selfish for searching for my biological family when I was blessed by my adoptive family. I had the kind of parents any child would dream of, so I always felt deep guilt for seeking out even more. In case nobody told you it is 100% okay to be selfish in this situation. When your birth family gave you up for adoption they gave up their rights to know you. The ball is in your court in terms of how the interaction goes. Do not let anyone make you feel guilty or bad about what it is you can or cannot handle. Love and put yourself and mental health first.

7. Consider the social and class differences.

After seeing where I would have grown up it became quite apparent to me why I was adopted. I grew up in a culture and class that was very different from my biological family. It has been important for me to take the time to understand that I should not feel bad or guilty for all the privileges that I received growing up. Instead, I need to take the gifts life has bestowed upon me and use them for the greater good.

I am very grateful to have been able to answer so many questions of my past. I think it is important for each individual to do what is best for them, but I believe taking into consideration these seven things may relieve one of some shock. I cannot answer if I am glad to have completed the search, but I am excited for what could possibly come next.

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Janeth Ann Gonda is currently the events and promotions manager at BUST Magazine, a singer, dancer, writer, and event planner living in Brooklyn, NY. She is currently the lead singer in the Gypsy Witch Rock Band Espejismo. After working in the Brooklyn music industry for several years she created her own event space Barranquilla Studios. Janeth has hosted hundreds of bands and fans alike and is an active member in the NYC music community.

@espejismo.band

@madeincolombiaaa
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa arrived in Cuba

Submitted by: Juana

Santiago de Cuba

Politics and Government

05 / 04 / 2017



Rafael Correa Delgado, president of the Republic of Ecuador, arrived on Wednesday night to this city, on an official visit to Cuba, where he will pay tribute to the leader of the Revolution Fidel Castro and receive important recognitions.

It is an honor to arrive at this land that is always sister, heroic and inspiring, thanks for that example of dignity and permanent struggle that inspires all Latin Americans, said Correa when arriving at Antonio Maceo international airport.

There he was received by Ramiro Valdes Menendez, Commander of the Revolution and vice-president of the Councils of State and Ministers, Lazaro Exposito Canto, first secretary of Communist Party in Santiago de Cuba province, Beatriz Johnson Urrutia, president of the Provincial Assembly of the People's Power, as well as Ana Teresita Gonzalez, Cubas vice minister of Foreign Affairs, and Fabian Solano, ambassador of Ecuador in Cuba.

Today, Correa will pay tribute to the Commander in Chief at Santa Ifigenia patrimonial cemetery, and will visit places of historical and social interest in the city of Santiago.

After his visit to this territory, he will go to the Cuban capital, where he will receive the Jose Marti Order, highest distinction granted by the Council of State to foreign personalities, and the Honoris Causa Doctorate, awarded by the University of Havana. (acn)
Amb. Alan Baker is Director of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs at the Jerusalem Center and the head of the Global Law Forum. He participated in the negotiation and drafting of the Oslo Accords with the Palestinians, as well as agreements and peace treaties with Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon. He served as legal adviser and deputy director-general of Israels Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as Israels ambassador to Canada.

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blog spot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work.

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..Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs..03 May '17..On May 2, 2017, the 58 member Executive Board of the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)  an organization ostensibly devoted to science, education, and culture, adopted a resolution entitled Occupied Palestine.This politicized resolution, initiated by the Palestinian leadership and formally sponsored by such paragons of educational and cultural virtue as Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar and Sudan, was supported by 22 nations including such sidekicks as Sweden, South Africa, Russia, Iran, China, Brazil, Vietnam and even Mauritius!Twenty-three nations abstained, and 10 opposed the resolution, including the United States, Italy, the UK, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Greece, Germany, Paraguay, Togo, and Ukraine.Curiously, the adoption of this resolution coincided with Israels 69th Independence Day celebration.
It might take a few days to see unofficial results in Pa. Here's why
This week I feel ashamed. This newspaper has published evidence of widespread bad practice in my own medical speciality, infertility treatment.

And I feel angry because the Governments regulatory body, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), has been inadequate. It has not prevented the disgraceful exploitation of patients, mostly women.

I am also depressed because, 27 years ago, we doctors promised Parliament that we would ensure the highest standards where procedures involved human life and the treatment of embryos.

One of the latest scandals concerns so-called egg sharing.

I'm ashamed of the exploitation in the IVF industry (file image)

Egg sharing is offered by some clinics with apparently laudable intentions. The clinics argue that it makes treatment available to women unable to afford IVF and who are ineligible for NHS treatment.

The women agree to have their ovaries stimulated by drugs to produce eggs. Some of these eggs will be fertilised for their own treatment; others will be donated to other patients who cannot produce eggs. These recipients pay for their own treatment and for that of the donor.

It sounds reasonable but, in fact, it is fraught. First, by regulation; the maximum number of embryos a donor can have placed in her womb is one or two. But there may be many other eggs left over.

This means that from a single donors eggs, a clinic could, in theory, simultaneously supply donor eggs for several patients  all paying extra-high fees for IVF treatment with egg donation.

This means that, for the clinics, persuading women to donate their eggs can be extremely lucrative. It also means that clinics have an incentive to maximise the chance of getting as many eggs as possible. Therefore, they may be tempted to give the woman donating her eggs more stimulation than is strictly needed, or than is advisable from the point of view of the womans health.

In addition, although heavier stimulation may increase the number of eggs obtained, it may also result in poorer eggs, with more chromosomal abnormalities and increased risk of miscarriage.

The problem does not end here. While the donors own treatment may be unsuccessful, leaving her childless, it may well produce children for another woman who has benefited from her eggs.

Confidentiality means the donor will not know any details about the treatment of another patient or if a pregnancy resulted. But by law any child can, on reaching adulthood, find out who their genetic mother is.

So it is possible that years later a childless, grieving woman, whose own treatment has failed, could be traced and visited by a child she didnt know existed.

Given all this, it is simply astonishing that  caught by the Daily Mails camera  a professional in a clinic should suggest there is nothing for egg donors to worry about.

Eggs? Theyre just cells, she says, as she shrugs her shoulders.

Another cause for concern is the increasingly fashionable idea of egg freezing. This is being sold by clinics as a way for career women effectively to put their fertility on hold.

But official figures on success rates from the HFEA are disconcerting. Between 2008 and 2014  the dates for which full records are available  3,489 frozen eggs were thawed in attempts to produce a pregnancy for the patient who stored them.

The records are difficult to interpret but, from those, about 77 pregnancies have occurred, with approximately 55 live births resulting from those pregnancies. That means the live birth rate was 1.5 per cent.

Even if you look only at the 589 eggs which were successfully fertilised and transported into the womb as embryos, those 589 resulted in just 55 live births  a success rate of 9.3 per cent.

So how does this reality compare with what patients are being told? One consultant in the Mails investigation is caught on camera asserting that if a woman freezes her eggs, her chance of pregnancy is 65 per cent.

The website of one London clinic states: Our egg survival rate following vitrification [fast freezing] is very high, around 90 per cent, which helps to increase the success of having a baby in the future.

Most lay people would assume that, if they attend this clinic, they are close to being guaranteed a pregnancy. This seems very misleading, and the HFEA should step in.

But the HFEA does not always give full information about infertility  and there is also a lack of completely reliable information about IVF. This is precisely why we established an entirely charitable website at the Genesis Research Trust to give unbiased information.

3,489 frozen eggs were thawed in attempts to produce a pregnancy for the patient who stored them (file image)

For example, I believe many women are undergoing IVF treatments unnecessarily. This explains why so many get pregnant naturally after IVF has failed.

There are dozens of causes of infertility, each possibly requiring different treatment.

Like chest pain, infertility is just a symptom. But with chest pain you expect your doctor to do adequate tests to confirm that you dont have lung cancer, heart disease, a broken rib, etc. But complain about infertility and there is every chance you will simply be shunted off to an expensive IVF clinic with little or no investigation by the GP or the clinic.

In 2014, around 45,000 patients were treated with IVF  but significantly, no cause for the infertility was found in more than 18,000 of them, the HFEA reports. Some 40 per cent had unexplained infertility or were uncategorised.

Clearly, many of these couples did not have sufficient testing before IVF to ascertain the cause of their infertility.

Treatment without first making every attempt at a diagnosis is thoroughly bad medicine. We are all outraged at a surgeon removing breast tissue without making a proper diagnosis, but we ignore what is happening in many infertility clinics.

When I mentioned this in a Radio 4 broadcast, I was joined by fertility expert Professor Adam Balen, then chairman of the British Fertility Society, representing good practice across the UK.

I respect Adam, who is a good doctor. But I was surprised how he downplayed my concerns. After the broadcast, a well-educated professional woman who had listened in called me. She had been trying for a baby for about a year, and had been referred to an IVF clinic with no testing.

There, she was scheduled for IVF. She was also told to take Humira, a drug which riskily suppresses the immune system. She was given a private prescription but, worried, did not take it. Fortunately, she got pregnant without further treatment.

To confirm what I had stated on the radio, I emailed Adam Balen twice, explaining how commonly I encountered this kind of malpractice. Perhaps he did not get my emails, as he didnt respond.

The HFEA must be firmer. There are many good, truthful doctors out there, but women seeking fertility treatment are deeply vulnerable. They are anxious, often depressed and in psychological pain.

Some feel sex has become pointless; they cannot face their partner or friends, feel desperate and deeply guilty, and will grasp at any straw in forlorn hope.

We, as doctors, must treat them properly and with respect. The avarice of just a few in the burgeoning fertility industry is something that we should all be more ready to condemn.
Theresa May accused European politicians and officials of a deeply improper attempt to influence the way Britain votes next month

This was the day Theresa May put into words a truth that has been plain to this paper for a fortnight. Delivering a charge that could hardly be more serious, she rightly accused European politicians and officials of a deeply improper attempt to influence the way Britain votes next month.

Put bluntly, they are conducting a campaign of threats to our country, hardening their negotiating stance and planting distortions in the EU-friendly media. Their purpose is wholly transparent  and it flies in the face of the diplomatic protocol that foreign powers should never interfere in the democratic process of other nations.

As the Prime Minister said in Downing Street yesterday: All of these acts have been deliberately timed to affect the result of the General Election that will take place on June 8.

Indeed, you can almost smell the panic gripping European elites, as polls show Mrs May heading for a thumping Commons majority to strengthen her bargaining hand in the Brexit talks.

All over the EU, politicians, eurocrats and their hangers-on in the British and continental media are adopting desperate tactics to promote the chances of Remainer candidates at the Prime Ministers expense.

In Brussels, the Commissions chief negotiator Michel Barnier yesterday tried to put the wind up the electorate by laying down blatantly unreasonable conditions for allowing talks on a trade deal even to begin.

Not only did he make impertinent demands about the UKs border with Ireland, while insisting that British judges should continue to defer to the European Court of Justice over the rights of EU citizens living in Britain.

Michel Barnier yesterday tried to put the wind up the electorate by laying down blatantly unreasonable conditions for allowing talks on a trade deal even to begin

Preposterously, he went on to demand that we should hand over yet more money to close the account with a club that has sponged off British taxpayers for more than four decades.

As for how much more he hopes to extort, a few weeks ago he suggested we owe some 50 billion. But yesterday, the EUs slavish devotees at the Japanese-owned Financial Times  whose editor has been nominated for Frances Legion dHonneur in recognition of his services to the European project  went further still.

Plucking figures from the air, its Brussels correspondent opined that new demands driven by France and Germany would increase our upfront Brexit bill to some 85 billion.

As any child should be able to see, such figures carry no authority whatever.

With the EUs accounts in chaotic disarray  so much so that auditors have refused to sign them off for almost 20 years  it is sheer fantasy to pretend anyone can say with certainty who owes what to whom.

Indeed, isnt there a powerful case for arguing that the EU should be handing us a massive cheque to repay our investments, subsidies and loans?

Isnt there a powerful case for arguing that the EU should be handing us a massive cheque to repay our investments, subsidies and loans?

Yet extraordinarily, the FTs figures were widely quoted  not least by the BBC  as if they had some basis in fact.

The clear message from our national broadcaster was that we should all be trembling in our boots at the prospect of being served with a crippling bill.

For a few weeks during the referendum campaign, the Corporation showed commendable fairness in its coverage.

But with Brexit drawing ever closer, it appears to have abandoned any attempt at balance, setting itself up as the unofficial mouthpiece of Brussels.

Witness the glee with which the BBC seized on selective leaks in a German newspaper, believed to have been planted by Jean-Claude Junckers chief of staff, suggesting Mrs Mays hopes for Brexit were wildly unrealistic.

The EU Commission president was said in these reports to have left a private dinner in Downing Street last week saying the chances of a deal were less than 50 per cent and that Mrs May lived in a galaxy of her own.

We have long learned to expect no better of the bibulous Mr Juncker. But how deeply disappointing that Germanys Angela Merkel appears to have joined him in his efforts to influence our election, branding Brexiteers delusional if they think they will be better off outside the EU.

George Osborne (left)  the architect of Project Fear  took a sideswipe at Mrs May on his first day as an editor of the Evening Standard (front page, right)

Not that they have any shortage of British allies in their campaign to sabotage Brexit. For while many who voted Remain have fully accepted the referendum result, others such as Nick Clegg, Tim Farron and the rest of their party are as determined as ever to frustrate the will of the people.

Indeed, yesterday the Lib Dem leader let his mask as a touchy-feely man of the people slip.

In an encounter reminiscent of Gordon Browns attack on Gillian Duffy as a bigoted woman, Mr Farron rounded on a Brexit-supporting former Labour voter, asking: Have you got grandchildren? Are you proud that they will inherit a poorer, less powerful, less secure country?

Not to be outdone, George Osborne  the architect of Project Fear  took a sideswipe at Mrs May on his first day as an editor, writing that her claims to have a strong negotiating hand were unrealistic, and the Brexit vote had been an historic mistake.

Indeed, yesterday the Lib Dem leader let his mask as a touchy-feely man of the people slip

Will this dismal, defeatist talk never cease? The truth is that Britain buys far more from our EU partners than they buy from us. Millions of livelihoods  German car makers, French wine growers, Spanish and Irish farmers depend on our markets. They need us more than we need them.

When the blustering and posturing end, and the talks begin, there is every hope that EU politicians will consider the interests of their own voters and work for a deal that suits everyone.

As for the likes of Mr Juncker, Mr Barnier and Mrs Merkel, who think they can scare British voters into doing their bidding, how little they understand our national character!

Their meddling in our democracy will surely backfire  and strengthen our determination to back Mrs May.

With her defiant, electrifying address outside No 10, she raised a battle cry that will resonate with everyone who wants a free, prosperous and truly independent Britain for our children and grandchildren.
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A young couple who fled the hustle and bustle of Sydney after growing tired of living with flatmates have transformed a rundown church into their dream family home.

Amanda Callan, 31, and Andrew Morris, 39, couldn't believe their luck when they spotted a For Sale sign on an old timber church in Billinudgel, near Byron Bay, in 2012.

'We couldn't believe it. We rang the number and spoke to a lady from the Catholic Church and negotiated the purchase,' Andrew told Daily Mail Australia.

Amanda Callan (pictured with one-year-old son Percy) and Andrew Morris couldn't believe their luck when they spotted a For Sale sign on the old timber church in Billinudgel, near Byron Bay, in 2012

The young couple fled the hustle and bustle of Sydney and have transformed the rundown church into their dream family home

'We had been renting in North Bondi. We were stuck in this tiny room so we wondered what we could get in northern NSW.'

Everything 'just seemed to fall into place' for the couple, who had recently discovered Amanda was pregnant with their first child, Banjo.

The pair secured the purchase just before he was born and have spent the past five years transforming the rundown property into a stunning home.

'It was pretty much as it was when we bought it,' Andrew explained.

The church is seen as it was when the couple made the purchase in 2012. 'It was pretty much as it was when we bought it,' Andrew explained

Everything 'just seemed to fall into place' for the couple, who had recently discovered Amanda was pregnant when they first laid eyes on the old church

'We couldn't believe it. We rang the number and spoke to a lady from the Catholic Church and negotiated the purchase,' Andrew told Daily Mail Australia

'It was an old weatherboard-style church with simple Gothic windows. It was just one big empty hall still with all the altar steps.

'We've put two rooms in, a mezzanine and we've got an ensuite. I've got a studio up the back now as well.

'We've used a lot of recycled window frames and doors and we built a cabin on the back of the property too.'

Set on half an acre of land, there wasn't a single plant or tree on the entire property when the couple made the purchase.

'It was a nice clean canvas for us to work on. We've planted strictly native on the property and planted more than 100 trees,' Andrew said.

'It was an old weatherboard-style church with Gothic windows. It was just one big hall still with all the altar steps,' Andrew said of the property prior to the renovations

'At the moment this is perfect. It's an amazing place to live and it's only going to get better,' Andrew told Daily Mail Australia

The couple also built a veggie patch started selling produce to locals at their roadside store into a thriving business.

'Now we've progressed and we've actually leased our own acre of farm down the road and it turned into our home business,' Andrew said.

'Amanda makes soaps and I make a variety of sauces which stems from having that veggie patch. It all progressed from the roadside store.'

Andrew, who also plays guitar for former Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning, said the family would live at the old church for years to come.

Many of the church's originally features have been preserved. The couple also built a veggie patch and turned what started as a hobby selling produce to locals at their roadside store into a thriving business

Set on half an acre of land, there wasn't a single plant or tree on the entire property when the couple made the purchase

Andrew, pictured chatting to a friend as he prepares lunch, also plays guitar for former Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning

'We're about to start stage two of the renovations. We're going to raise it up a metre and a half and put a nice big deck on a little patio out the back.

'And that means we can park the cars and build another room underneath as well.'

Another reason to raise the property is to keep it safe from floodwaters. It was inundated during Cyclone Debbie earlier this year.

'We got wet. It was a particularity big one so it certainly got our skates on. But it's all hardwood so it's all build to last.

The property flooded during Cyclone Debbie earlier this year. 'We got wet. It was a particularity big one so it certainly got our skates on,' Andrew said

The couple are about to start another round of renovations and plan to raise the property to protect it from floodwaters

The couple secured the purchase just before their first son was born and have spent the past five years transforming the rundown property into a stunning home

'We lost a couple of white goods but we were pretty good. There were people a lot worse off in the area that's for sure.'

'We're not going anywhere. That's a pretty big certainty. At least until the kids are old enough to leave home.

'But at the moment this is perfect. It's an amazing place to live and it's only going to get better.'

'We lost a couple of white goods but we were pretty good,' Andrew said of water damage to the property after Cyclone Debbie
An anti-war, pro-human rights activist has been convicted of 'disorderly and disruptive conduct' after laughing during Jeff Sessions' confirmation hearing - and now faces a year in prison.

In the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on Wednesday, a jury found Desiree Fairooz, 61, guilty of disruptive conduct and demonstrating on US Capitol grounds.

The protester, from Bluemont, Virginia, attended Sessions' confirmation hearing in January along with other demonstrators. She said she couldn't contain her laughter when a senator praised the Attorney General's 'well-documented' history of treating Americans equally.

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Out: Desiree Fairooz, 61, was escorted out of Jeff Sessions' confirmation hearing in January (pictured) after laughing when a senator praised the Attorney General's track record

Disagreement: The Alabama senator had just complimented Session (pictured) for his history of 'treating all Americans equally under the law' well-documented when Fairooz laughed

'I just couldn't hold it,' she told the New York Times on Wednesday. 'It was spontaneous. It was an immediate rejection of what I considered an outright lie or pure ignorance.'

Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama had just called Sessions' record of 'treating all Americans equally under the law' clear and well-documented when Fairooz laughed.

Sessions, a former Alabama senator of 20 years, has faced several accusations of racism throughout his career, a record which may have prompted Fairooz's reaction.

According to the Washington Post, Sessions was denied a federal judgeship in 1986 after former colleagues testified that he had cracked jokes about the Ku Klux Klan and had also used the n-word.

Sessions himself, meanwhile, has declared: 'I am not a racist. I am not insensitive to blacks ... Racism is totally unacceptable in America. Everybody needs to be treated fairly and objectively.'

Sentence: Three activists, including Fairooz, now each face up to a year in jail, a $2,000 fine, or both, for their behavior on January 10. A sentencing hearing will take place on June 21

Fairooz was wearing pink clothes and carrying signs showing that she was there on behalf of Code Pink, a female-led anti-war, pro-human rights advocacy group.

After her outburst, several police officers came to escort her out of the room. A video of the moment, shared onTwitter by Huffington Post reporter Ryan Reilly, shows the activist demanding to know why she was being kicked out and calling Sessions and his voting record 'evil'.

'Do not vote for Jeff Sessions - I was going to be quiet and now you're going to have me arrested? For what?' she asked. 'You said something ridiculous.'

Prosecutors said in a court filing that Fairooz had 'let out a loud burst of laughter, followed by a second louder burst', then 'grew loud and more disruptive, eventually halting the confirmation hearing'.

Ariel Gold, the campaign director of Code Pink, disagreed with the characterization of Fairooz's behavior, describing the sound she made as a 'reflexive gasp'.

Stance: Fairooz (pictured at the back) was wearing pink clothes and carrying signs showing that she was there on behalf of Code Pink, a female-led anti-war, pro-human rights group

Two more demonstrators, Tighe Barry and Lenny Bianchi, were also convicted in relation to their behavior during the January 10 confirmation hearing. The convictions followed a two-day trial in which all three charged pleaded 'not guilty' and rejected a plea deal.

In addition to disorderly and disruptive conduct, they were also convicted of demonstrating on Capitol grounds.

Each of the three activists, including Fairooz, now faces up to a year in jail, a $2,000 fine, or both. A sentencing hearing will take place on June 21.

The foreperson of the jury who found Fairooz guilty insisted it was not her laughing per se, but her attitude afterwards, that had led to her conviction.

'She did not get convicted for laughing. It was her actions as she was being asked to leave,' the foreperson told the Huffington Post, adding: 'We did not agree that she should have been removed for laughing.'

Some jurors questioned the police officer's decision to have Fairooz arrested for laughing, with one of them calling the officer a 'rookie'.

'None of us planned to get arrested,' Fairooz told the Times. 'We just wanted to be a visible symbol of dissent.'
It all started with an empty bus seat.

John Blackler, 90, was on his way to a movie theatre outing with his retirement village when he asked a woman named Hester, 88, if the seat next to her was taken.

One year later they were married.

Hester and John had both lived alone in the Glengollan Village in Ferntree Gully for a decade before they first laid eyes on each other.

John Blackler, 90, and Hester Blackler, 88, fell in love after first meeting on a bus during an outing with their retirement centre to the movie theatre

But that day on the bus completely changed both of their lives.

'It's opened a new world, companionship and everything,' John told Daily Mail Australia.

'And no more cold feet at night!'

John said he and Hester quickly realised they had a lot in common, despite the fact that she was from northern Ireland and he had been raised in New Zealand.

They had both grown up on farms, where they learned how to make butter, and had very happy married lives before they lost their respective partners.

'We soon found out that we were very comfortable together and thus it went on,' John said.

Hester and John had both lived alone in the Glengollan Village in Ferntree Gully for a decade before they first laid eyes on each other

They dated for a year before getting married last month in the hills of Emerald in Melbourne

Six months later the couple were walking through a shopping centre together when they passed a jeweller and John simply asked 'Why not?'

'Why not,' Hester replied.

They then bought an engagement ring and two wedding rings, right then and there.

The couple had never really talked about marriage before, but both knew they wanted to make it official before moving in together.

'We're old school,' John said with a laugh. 'In Ireland, that sort of thing as Hester was growing up would have been very frowned upon.'

'And I was brought up that you don't do that sort of thing, so we were both of the same mind from the time we grew up.'

John and Hester tied the knot on a sunny day in the hills of Emerald surrounded by 20 close family members.

Both their daughters signed the wedding certificate and some of the couple's combined 11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren were in attendance.

John said it has been a thrill to have a companion once again after living alone in the retirement village after they both lost their partners

They have since returned from their honeymoon in Tasmania and are now enjoying their life together as man and wife.

John said it has been a thrill to have a companion once again after living alone in the retirement village.

'When your partner passes away after forty, fifty years of being together - suddenly you're on your own in a unit, four walls and that's your future, on your own.'

'You've got to make your own life and it's just not fun.'

'It's a thrill getting married again and us going around together and being a unit, instead of the odd man out,' he added.

John and Hester are now spending their days making each other laugh and even doing some Irish dancing.

'With our ages, it could be tomorrow or it could be another 10 years, which we hope,' he said.

'We hope we can be together as long as possible.'
Serena Star-Leonard, 37, spent seven years living in Sydney's idyllic Bondi Beach before selling all of her worldly possessions and travelling overseas.

With just a backpack and her husband Johnny, now 40, they bought a one-way ticket to Venezuela and haven't settled down since.

'When people ask me how we managed to do it I tell them you just have to set a deadline.

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Serena Star-Leonard, 37, spent seven years living in Sydney's idyllic Bondi Beach before selling all of her worldly possessions and travelling overseas

'We walked into a travel agent one day after dreaming of going to South America for years and booked a one-way ticket then and there.

'We were set to leave in about five months. Which meant we only had five months to sell our belongings, give away the rest, and go.

'If we'd changed the departure date it would have been fine but by having that looming it forces you to kick your goals into gear,' Serena told Daily Mail Australia.

The 37-year-old was working full time in the corporate world when she decided to trade up for a mobile income when she was 32.

'I had a great job and great career prospects but it wasnt what I wanted to do with my life. So I ditched it for the joy and slog of self employment,' she wrote on her blog in12months.com.

The 37-year-old was working full time in the corporate world when she decided to trade up for a mobile income when she was 32

Tips on how to travel full time Set one goal or deadline and stick to it. Even if it has to change the fact you've made a commitment will boot you into gear.

Use your skills to create value, this is how you can earn a living

Be prepared to work really hard at first to achieve your goals

If you have a partner get used to spending time together

Be creative with your luggage so that you can have your luxuries

Take small steps every towards your goals Advertisement

She started multiple blogs, one for business and one to document her discoveries, and set about realising her true passion: charity projects that make little to no money.

The now 37-year-old works alongside her husband as a video production crew and a resource to help small businesses grow online all while travelling the globe.

At the moment the pair are based in Ireland but they have created more than 80 documentaries and been to 26 countries.

'After that first trip to Venezuela we ended up staying in Latin America for two years. We then went and caught up with family across Australia and New Zealand for a year before making our way to Asia.

'After that first trip to Venezuela we ended up staying in Latin America for two years. We then went and caught up with family across Australia and New Zealand for a year before making our way to Asia,' she said

'One of the hardest parts of our job is finding good internet connection really. In the highlands of Guatemala the internet doesn't work when it rains. There is also no technology in the Costa Rican jungle.

'So when we go to these places we need to either find accommodation that allows us to use our mobiles or we move on after awhile.

'In the end it's not that worrisome. We spend two days out of every week working and the rest of the time doing passion projects. We don't need to be connected all the time,' she said.

Serena mentioned that the greater freedom in travelling also gives her time to process things like grief without worrying that she needs to be back at work the next day.

Serena mentioned that the greater freedom in travelling also gives her time to process things like grief without worrying that she needs to be back at work the next day

'We had a couple of deaths in the family over recent years and this lifestyle really gave me the opportunity to just just a breath and grieve the way I needed to,' she said.

Most people Serena gets questions from are worried about the finances of funding a life of free roaming. But she said that should be the least concerning part.

'Australia, New Zealand and Ireland - places we have been based in before - are some of the most expensive countries in the world.

'For one grocery trip in Ireland I could pay for all my accommodation and activities for a weekend away in Portugal.

'Ultimately staying in one place is more expensive than moving so long as you're doing it without spending thousands on a fancy place to stay for instance.

'We can earn a fraction of what we were earning back in Bondi because we don't have to pay for mortgages and bills,' she said.

And for people with kids there are benefits to setting up abroad too.

'There are kids in every country! Don't feel like you can't pack up your family and travel away. Most people think they will need to bring more than they actually will have to.

'A lot of the material items you own are unnecessary. Once they're gone you'll realise how little you need to survive comfortably on,' she said.

'We can earn a fraction of what we were earning back in Bondi because we don't have to pay for mortgages and bills,' she said

Taking the first step is as easy as getting inspired online by people who have made the kind of lifestyle change you're looking to make yourself.

'Call someone up each day and ask them about their experiences. That's partly why I started my blogs - to answer people's questions about what I'm doing.

Those blogs landed Serena two book deals which saw her bestseller 'How To Retire In 12 Months' republished in three different languages in 2011.

'The real secret to making it work is finding your value and offering it to people around the world,' she said.

You can follow Serena's latest passion projects at slavefreetrade.org and fivepointfive.org.
When it comes to planning for a holiday, securing cheap flights can be somewhat of a lottery.

But flight search website CheapFlights has revealed how timing can significantly impact the price you pay.

The annual analysis of over 13.5 million searches found that booking more than six months in advance is more expensive, while three months was the sweet spot.

The research also detailed the other tips for securing the cheapest flights, as well as the places Australians visit most frequently.

An annual report of over 13.5 million flight searches details Australia's favourite holiday destinations (stock image)

Tops tips for cheaper flights The further you travel, the further in advance you should book Don't book last minute if you can avoid it as it will cost you more Leave Tuesday if you can and midweek otherwise, as Fridays and the weekends are the most expensive June and July are the best months to travel Advertisement

According to the research, booking less than a week in advance could end up costing you up to 13 per cent more for domestic flights, eight per cent more to New Zealand and Asia-Pacific, and up to 17 per cent more for international airfares.

Booking last-minute flights attracts a premium, but booking more than six months before departure is actually more expensive.

'Generally speaking, three months in advance is the sweet spot for finding the best price,' Mr Graham said.

It seems the most popular time to search for a flight is between 8pm and 10pm, and Monday and Tuesday sees the highest flight searches, which may have something to do with post-weekend sadness.

2017 has already seen a 42 per cent rise in online flight searches, and top ten most affordable destinations are all in the Asia-Pacific (stock image)

Most popular long-haul destinations 1. London 2. Los Angeles 3. New York 4. Paris 5. Vancouver 6. Barcelona 7. Berlin 8. Cape Town 9. Rio de Janeiro Advertisement

As much as leaving for an overseas or interstate getaway after work on Friday sounds like a great idea, it will be the most expensive flight.

If you're thinking of going long-haul, your best bet is to leave midweek between Wednesday to Friday, but the cheapest will be Tuesday.

Friday and Saturday are the most expensive days to leave for international flights, for example, 5 per cent and 13 per cent more to Paris respectively.

Domestic fares are 33 per cent higher in December than the cheapest month, February, which is no surprise as Christmas time sees many of us itching to travel.

Booking last-minute flights attracts a premium, but booking more than six months before departure is actually more expensive (stock image)



2017 has already seen a 42 per cent rise in online flight searches, and the top ten most affordable destinations are all in the Asia-Pacific.

Nathan Graham, Regional Sales Manager at Cheap Flights ANZ, said that while affordable flights to new cities in already beloved destinations will lure locals over the year ahead, China is a destination to watch.

Top 10 most affordable cities 1. Indonesia 2. Malaysia 3. Singapore 4. Fiji 5. Thailand 6. Vanuatu 7. Hong Kong 8. China 9. Vietnam 10. New Caledonia Advertisement

'With flights around 12 per cent cheaper on average this year, we estimate that Aussies could save up to a quarter of a billion dollars on their travels in 2017 if they search smartly,' Mr Graham said.

So, where exactly will we be heading this year?

China is already the most searched destination for Sydney-siders, with Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing all featuring in the top 30 most popular and cheapest destinations.

If you're a Perth local, you've got the prime and cheapest position for eight of the ten most popular cities in the Asia-Pacific region.

Brisbane is the most expensive departure city for flights to Bali, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

London could be the next Dubai for Aussie travellers with direct flights offered from Perth early next year, and while we're over there there's a good chance we'll head to Berlin.

The CheapFlights report analysed the most popular destinations, search trends and the most affordable airports based on average round-trip airfares for domestic, Trans-Tasman, Australia and Asia-Pacific and select long-haul flights from key airports nationwide.

Top tips for securing a cheap flight include not flying on Fridays, leaving in June and never booking more than six months beforehand (stock image)

London could be the next Dubai for Aussie travellers with direct flights offered from Perth early next year, and while we're over there there's a good chance we'll head to Berlin.

The CheapFlights report analysed the most popular destinations, search trends and the most affordable airports based on average round-trip airfares for domestic, Trans-Tasman, Australia and Asia-Pacific and select long-haul flights from key airports nationwide.
Boys it's time to stow away those hunting photos, hide all those pictures you take of your car and don't even think about taking a selfie of your abs in the mirror.

These images could be some of the reasons you're striking out on Tinder.

Former dating columnist Emily McLean is trying to help men improve their dating app profiles specifically by targeting their pictures and bios.

Emily, 29, is the creator of Matchstick Dating, which offers people anything from a newly written bio to professional photographs to help their dating prospects.

Former dating columnist Emily McLean is trying to help men improve their dating app profiles and help them get more swipes

The Auckland native has seen it all when it comes to Tinder, and is now trying to help men realise just what might be making their profiles bad.

Emily revealed to Daily Mail Australia that the worst shots she has seen are men posing with 'dead animals on their back', especially common in New Zealand where men often show off their hunted pigs and deer.

Naked shots will end up making you look conceited rather that showing off your hard-earned gym body, and photos with a slew of girls are especially bad.

'You really wonder about where a guy is getting his sense of worth when he puts up shots like that,' Emily said.

'Really drunken shots are terrible,' she added. 'And I've seen a profile with three shots of a car and one of the guy, basically he wants to show you his car is his life.'

Emily has found that it's pictures that men struggle with the most when it comes to building their online profile, as opposed to women.

Emily, 29, created Matchstick Dating, which offers newly written bios and professional photos to help their dating prospects

'Girls take so much time and effort in taking photos for every event, but guys just don't think about it,' she said.

Emily suggests that men focus on finding nice quality shots that have been taken in the last year or so.

'They have to show you in a good light,' she said. 'I always say to men that the first shot should be a really nice picture from the chest upwards, with you smiling.'

'Next up I usually tell me to have a suit shot - women love men in a suit.'

Although photos with a big group of friends can be a great way to show off your social life, Emily recommends never picking it as your first shot.

Family shots are also good but beware of pictures with sisters - they may be mistaken for past girlfriends.

Emily also advises that men include photos that show off their hobbies, such as playing an instrument or their travel pictures.

And posing with a dog never hurts.

IS YOUR TINDER PROFILE COSTING YOU SWIPES? Open up that Tinder or Bumble app and see if you're hurting your chance of love - or lust - at first swipe... -Posing with a large group of girls -Hunting pictures with dead animals on your back -Naked photographs and shirtless mirror selfies -Pictures with just your sister (she may look like your ex!) -Using a large group shot full of people as your main app photo -Posting more photographs of your car than yourself -Writing nothing in your bio -Sending 'Hey, what's up?' as your very first message to a girl Advertisement

'Women want to see a guy whose well-rounded and appears to have a life they could be a part of, and enjoy being a part of,' Emily said.

But it's not just about the pictures. A badly-written bio, or one without any information at all, could result in a left swipe as well.

Some of the worst profiles Emily has seen have been guys admitting they don't know why they're even on the app, and others sounding extremely bitter.

'Guys who write that they're not looking for time wasters, if you're not going to talk to me don't swipe right, they're so aggressive and awful that women don't even want to go there,' she said.

'When they try and be different and alternative and it actually comes off as weird, don't try and be quirky in your bio - it doesn't work,' Emily added.

Emily also doesn't recommend putting your height in your profile, especially if you're not 'above 5'10'.

'Women don't go and put their bra size on Tinder, so why should men feel like they have to put their height?' she said.

'The whole height thing is particularly shallow. A good quality woman should be looking at you for things other than your height.'

Emily advises that men include photos that show off their hobbies, such as playing an instrument or their travel pictures

She recommends that guys stay away from the shirtless selfies and naked pictures, as well as photos that show them posing with a lot of girls

A good bio, according to Emily, is 'funny and witty and states what you're looking for and what you have to offer as well'.

'You need to state not just what you are but also you're looking for,' Emily said.

'It puts you in the driver's seat as well, you're not just a passive guy. Tinder has every type of person there, so I'm all for people stating their intentions.'

Emily recommends stating what you're looking for in a subtle way, such as by saying you're 'looking for a keeper, not a not a hookup' or 'looking for something meaningful.'

And if you don't want something serious? Emily suggests writing that you're 'looking for a bit of fun' or are 'here to meet some great people and have some great times'.

'If you put "DTF" in your profile women are unlikely to swipe right on you,' she said.

'But if you are leaning towards wanting to put something gentler, that shows you have other interests in them as well rather than just sleeping with them.'

Of course, a great profile is just the first part of the recipe. Then there's the opening line, which Emily believes men 'definitely overthink'.

She recommends referring to something in a woman's bio or photos to kick-off the conversation, and don't be afraid to ask her a few questions.

Emily first got the idea for Matchstick Dating when her own flatmate and his friends complained that they weren't getting any new matches on Tinder

'Be really interested in her and show that you have a vested interest in her life,' Emily said.

And never, ever just say 'Hey, what's up?'

'Just writing hey or hello is not a great way to stand out, and shows you're a bit lazy,' Emily said.

There's no magic number when it comes to how many messages should pass before asking a woman on a date, but Emily warns against waiting too long.

'I think it's about connection,' she said. 'If you've been chatting with a girl for a couple days now - ask her out!'

'If you wait to ask after three, four, five days of chatting, she'll start to wonder what your intentions are.'

'People are on this app for one reason or another, but it's not just to make pleasant conversation.'

Emily first got the idea for Matchstick Dating when her own flatmate and his friends complained that they weren't getting any new matches on Tinder.

Emily revealed to Daily Mail Australia that the worst shots she has seen are men posing with 'dead animals on their back and putting multiple photos of just their cars

She decided to help them with their profiles, and when the matches started coming in Emily realised she may be able to help many other men.

Emily's own experiences with Tinder also helped her realise she may be missing out on a lot of great guys who were hiding their potential with bad profiles.

'I was swiping past a lot of potentially great guys purely because of bad photos or a bad bio that didn't sell themselves very well,' she said.

'I noticed some of the guys I was dating were such great guys in real life, but their profiles let them down.'

For the $30 packager, dubbed 'Kindling', Emily will give men a newly written bio and recommend their five best photos to post or which new ones to take.

For the $50 'Bonfire' package Emily will provide two written bios, advice on photos and tips on how to talk to women online.

Emily's own experiences with Tinder helped her realise she may be missing out on a lot of great guys who were hiding their potential with bad profiles.

And for the most expensive package, the $300 'Wildfire', Emily will provide all of the above as well as include a personalised photo shoot in three different locations with 50 shots to choose from.

Her average age group is 24-34 years of age, and Emily has helped more than 50 people already, including one who said their matches went up by 50 per cent.

Emily said she has also noticed that her services have been a confidence booster for men who think they're not getting matches because of their appearance.

'A lot of men do get really down on themselves and think there's something wrong with them physically,' she said.

'Part of my job is telling them what their great assets are.'

'A lot of them just think that there's an algorithm on Tinder they haven't cracked yet, and that's not the truth. The truth is it's their photos that really let them down.'
Upcoming Netflix film The Swimmers (pictured, right) tells the real-life story of two sisters who were forced to flee Syria after the civil war broke out - before one went onto become an Olympian. Sarah, now 26, and Yusra Mardini, now 24,(pictured, left) left their home in Damascus in August 2015, four years after the conflict started in March 2011, in a bid to reach Europe. They planned to fly to Istanbul, before travelling to Greece via sea, then on land to Germany. But the journey nearly ended in tragedy when the motor on the dinghy they took across the Aegean Sea stalled, leaving its 18 occupants in peril. The sisters realised that the boat, which was designed to carry only seven people, couldn't take the weight of everyone onboard, and so they jumped into the icy waters. After making their way to Germany, and finding a swimming coach, Yusra took part in the Rio 2016 games (pictured, inset) as part of the newly formed refugee team. Now Netflix has immortalised their story in its film directed by Bafta winner Sally El Hosaini, and executive produced by Stephen Daldry.
When you look at this colourful brainteaser, you might be tempted into a daydream about jetting off to sunnier climates.

But while it may be full of holiday cheer, the puzzle devised by Focus Clinics comes with a serious message.

One of the sun seekers on the beach is putting themselves at risk, but can you spot which one it is?

You might think it's something to do with wearing a bikini in the blistering sun, rather than taking shade under an umbrella or covering up in shorts and a t-shirt.

But the answer lies in spotting the individual who is lacking a crucial piece of kit.

Scroll down for reveal

Can you spot them? Somebody in the crowd isn't protecting their eyes in the sunshine

The picture shows a crowd of people flocking to the beach to enjoy the glorious sunshine.

Nearly everybody is wearing dark sunglasses to protect their eyes from the bright rays but one child appears to be missing their shades.

A small boy floating in the sea with his inflatable device has no sunglasses on and is at risk of damaging his eyesight.

Did you manage to spot him hidden among the cautious crowds?

Focus Clinics created the puzzle to encourage everybody to protect their eyes and keep their vision healthy, especially with the summer months fast approaching.

May is internationally known as Healthy Vision Month so Focus Clinics wanted to create a brainteaser with an eye-twist test.

There they are! A little boy floating in the sea (circled) has gone swimming without his shades

The puzzle is the latest in a long line of optical illusions to leave the internet baffled.

Shared by Playbuzz another brainteaser has left netizens scratching their heads as it challenges players to find the hidden tiger in a jungle scene.

While the picture promises to hide two big cats most players will have a real struggle spotting the second animal.

A new puzzle from Playbuzz challenges users to spot the hidden tiger in this scene with two big cats lurking in the image

With the busy scene containing plenty of greenery one may assume that the predator is hiding in among the bamboo or tall grasses.

However, users may want to pay closer attention to the tiger itself as, and here's the twist, the second animal can be seen concealed in its fur.

Readers with a keen eye will be able to decipher that the tiger's stripes spell out 'the hidden tiger'.

For those looking for another challenge a collection of fiction themed puzzles will leave even the most well-read players scratching their heads.

Readers with a keen eye will be able to decipher that the tiger's stripes spell out 'the hidden tiger'

The fiendish set of puzzles challenges players to name the hidden characters in a set of images.

The brainteasers, which are part of a South American ad campaign for the Colsubsidio Book Exchange, may look like a doddle but, as with all of the best books - there is a twist.

Most people should be able guess the first classic story or character in each picture. But the tricky bit is looking really carefully until you find the second. So scroll down to put your literary knowledge to the test.

One is a famous Wizard but can you spot the second literary reference?

A character from a fairy tale is in plain sight but you'll have to look very carefully to spot the second image

This optical illusion - featuring a well-known fairy tale princess - is probably the trickiest of them all

ANSWERS:

Did you spot the wooden horse? The answer is in the fringe and the glasses

Did you spot the famous wale in Little Red Riding Hood's hood?

Up for another challenge? Try this puzzle from switchmybusiness.com.

Released to mark Earth Day, the puzzle challenges eagle-eyed players to spot the oddly shaped leaf in the tree's bright green foliage.

The creators say they included one leaf shaped like a 'foot' in the 'ocean' of leaves on its branches, to highlight how important it is to be aware of the footprint we leave on planet Earth.

So can you spot it?

Can you find the 'foot shaped' leaf? SwitchMyBusiness.com created a new puzzle for Earth Day

According to the Earth Day website, we lose over 15 billion trees each year.

The Earth Day Network is working to reverse that trend by supporting global reforestation projects.

Were you able to spot the single rogue shape among the identical leaves?

It has been circled in white below if you're still struggling.

There it is! The 'foot shaped' leaf has been circled on the tree and is in the middle on the right

Hungarian cartoonist Gergely Dudas, better known as Dudolf, has hidden a single egg somewhere in this springtime scene.

It is tucked away between the rabbits, chicks and tulips - but is fiendishly difficult to spot.

The puzzle was shared on the cartoonist's Facebook page and quickly received hundreds of comments from followers who were left scratching their heads.

One wrote: 'Took also longer than expected, but I found it'. Another said she had 'never taken so long' to complete a brainteaser.

A third wrote: 'Took me a few seconds longer than usual.'

Only the most eagle-eyed would have picked out the red egg poking out from behind a red flower in the bottom right-hand corner.

The cartoonist became an online sensation after his drawing of a panda hidden among a group of snowmen swept the internet in December 2015.

He has since created a series of similarly tricky puzzles and will release a book of wintry 'seek-and-find' scenes in time for Christmas this year.
Dressing for official royal duties doesn't have to involve prim dresses and nude court shoes, as Queen Letizia of Spain proved this morning.

The royal, 44, added edge to her look in a figure hugging leather pencil skirt, teamed with a white blouse as she arrived at an engagement in Madrid.

Her knee length number showed off the mother-of-two's toned legs, which she elongated further with black heels.

She completed the monochrome look with a black laser cut clutch bag.

Queen Letizia, 44, added an edgy touch to her outfit today with a figure-hugging leather pencil skirt for an event in Madrid

The royal was joined by her husband King Felipe who added a touch of flair to his navy ensemble with a magenta tie

Letizia was attending the opening of the 'Escripta. Tesoros Manuscritos de la Universidad de Salamanca' exhibition at the National Library.

She was accompanied by her husband King Felipe, 49, who looked handsome in a navy suit, adding a splash of vivid colour with a magenta tie.

The royals received a warm welcome from library staff as they prepared to tour the collection of important manuscripts from the University of Salamanca.

It's been a busy week so far for the Spanish Queen, who yesterday attended the opening day of the 12th International Seminar of Language and Journalism in San Millan de la Cogolla, La Rioja.

The mother-of-two showed off her toned legs and slim waist in a fitted pencil skirt

Letizia teamed her ensemble with a black laser cut clutch bag

The Spanish royals attend the opening of 'Escripta. Tesoros Manuscritos de la Universidad de Salamanca' exhibition at the National Library in Madrid

The Spanish queen looked engaged as she spoke with other officials outside the monastery where the event was held before taking part in the seminar.

Queen Letizia reported on international news events during her journalism career, including reporting from New York in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

She also worked for broadcasters including Bloomberg and TVE.

Letizia, who is mother to Princess Leonor, 11 and Princess Sofia, nine, swapped her journalism career for royal duties when she wed King Felipe VI in 2004.

She was previously married to Alonso Guerrero Perez, a writer, but the pair divorced after just a year.

The royals shake hands with staff outside the National Library in Madrid
Dogs stole the show at polling stations across the country today as their owners voted in local elections.

Politically-minded pooches were snapped waiting patiently outside as their owners cast their ballots in local and mayoral contests across Scotland, England and Wales.

Some looked proud to be joining their owners on their important trip but others appeared disappointed that their regular walk had taken a detour.

Many had their pictures shared on Twitter with #dogsatpollingstations, a popular hashtag that has become a regular fixture of elections in recent years.

The savvy social media strategy won the dogs legions of fans - and the kind of widespread support that would be the envy of most politicians.

Here, FEMAIL rounds up some of the most adorable dogs seen out today...

Twice as nice: Dogs Finney and Molly waited patiently while their owner cast a vote today

This way! This clever dog was ready to direct anyone who got lost on their way

Taking it easy: Daschunds Otto and Ava stopped off at the polling station on their morning walk

Patient puppy: Dudley the dog looked very handsome as he posed for a photograph

Good example: Jane Lowe posted this with the caption, 'Herbie has been to vote. Have you?'

Appeal: Owner Jen Gupta wrote, 'Ralphie would like you to vote today, don't let him down'

Support: Skippy the dog was on hand to help his owner decide who to vote for

Helping hand: Rusty the Hearing Dog did not look impressed that his walk took a detour

Activist: Prune the Shar Pei said, 'The humans get a vote and I don't. Where's the justice?'
They're a notoriously private couple who have largely kept their relationship out of the limelight.

But with their wedding day just weeks away, Pippa Middleton and James Matthews were obviously feeling the need for some practice in front of the cameras.

The pair stepped out for their first official public appearance at an event last night as they attended the ParaSnow Ball at Hurlingham Gardens.

While the pair were at Wimbledon together last year and were pictured attending church at Sandringham over Christmas, it was the first time they've ever posed up together at an event as a couple.

Bride-to-be Pippa, 33, was looking radiant and it seems all those pre-wedding workouts have paid off as she showed off her very muscular arms in a sleeveless gown.

Pippa Middleton and her fiance James Matthews have made their first ever public appearance together at the ParaSnow Ball held at Hurlingham Gardens

Pippa Middleton took a night off from last minute wedding preparations to attend the ParaSnow Ball, held at Hurlingham Gardens, wearing a sleeveless dress that showed off her toned arms

Pippa's sleeveless dress showed off her muscular arms, proving all those pre-wedding workouts have paid off

The Duchess of Cambridge's younger sister treated herself to a night off from last minute preparations, to get glammed up in a blue brocade dress with crystal flower embellishments at the neck and pockets.

The bride-to-be looked glowing in the midi-length number which drew attention to her toned arms, while James was dapper in a tuxedo.

Pippa wore her brunette locks loosely curled and teamed her outfit with a small box clutch and blue cage heels with cut out detailing.

Pippa will exchange vows with James, 41, at St Mark's Church in Englefield and the countdown to their special day is well and truly underway.

Pippa looked radiant in a blue brocade midi dress with crystal flower embellishments at the neckline and pockets

Pippa showed off her glowing tan as she made her way to the annual ParaSnow Ball

Prince George and Princess Charlotte will act as page boy and bridesmaid, and Prince Harry is also set to attend with his brother and sister-in-law.

The couple have invited so many people to the church that more than 30 people are now going to be seated in the vestry where a sound system and screen is going to be set up for them to see the happy couple exchange vows.

Pippa is also borrowing a number of ideas from sister Kates 2011 wedding, in which she stole the show in her form-fitting bridesmaids dress.

Local florist Green Parlour in Pangbourne, Berkshire, are providing the flowers and their displays are set to incorporate trees very much in the way that Kate had the knave Westminster Abbey lined with 20 foot English field maples.

Church roof renovations last month at the 12th century, St Mark's Church, Englefield in readiness for Pippa Middleton's wedding on 20th May

Indeed the firm also helped out with some of the flowers for the duchesss wedding day.

Pippa has also gone to the same company that made her sisters wedding jewellery  Robinson Pelham  for her wedding ring and other adornments.

One of its directors and founders, Zoe Benyon, is married to Sir Richard Benyon, the wealthy Conservative MP who owns the estate on which St Marks is situated. Both Zoe and Richard are close friends of the Middleton family.

Pippa and James are just over two weeks away from tying the knot, with Princess Charlotte and Prince George as their page boy and flower girl

According to well-placed sources, there will be five bridesmaids who will get ready at Englefield House, Sir Richards Elizabethean country home, where a specially-booked choir (not the usual local one) will get ready too.

Although Charlotte will undoubtedly steal the show, she has company in little Avia Horner, who at two and a half is just a few months older than the princess.

Avia is the daughter of financier Edward Horner, who works with James, and his wife, Lady Emily Compton, the former social editor of society bible Tatler.

Renovation work has also been carried out at the main gates to Englefield Estate.

The main entrance to the estate is shrouded by scaffolding and signs say the work will continue until May 8.
When it comes to cooing over adorable little kids, one father is making things clear: look, but don't touch.

Media commentator and journalist Elon James White uploaded a video last week as a part of his Daddy Game Proper YouTube series, where he addresses the problem of strangers feeling entitled to touch or hold someone else's child.

'As a loving caring father, Im asking society, could you stop touching my baby?' he explains in the video.

Making it clear: In a new video, journalist and commentator Elon James White describes how strangers feel entitled to touch his child without asking first

All smiles: Elon, who is the father of nearly one-year-old Sidney Joyce White, says that he loves when others compliment his little girl, but that they should keep their hands to themselves

'Admittedly, my child is adorable. Let's have that moment. I love when people tell me my child is adorable. What I don't always love is the follow-up.'

He goes on to compare the act of touching a child to going up to someone in the street and touching them.

'If you wouldnt touch a stranger, why do you feel like you should touch a child?' he asks.

Telling it like it is: He compares the act of touching another person's baby to walking up and touching an adult stranger

One of many: The clip was recorded as part of Elon's Daddy Game Proper YouTube series

Elon, who is father to nearly one-year-old Sidney Joyce White, also explains that it doesn't matter how 'clean' someone may be, he can't know that for sure and therefore shouldn't have to tell people to keep their hands off his child.

'I don't want to be a d**k to you,' he says. 'But at the same time, you're touching my baby. Stop touching my child, I don't know where you've been.'

Despite the explanation, Elon concludes at the end of the video that he doesn't care if it's a rude thing to ask or a confusing concept, he says: 'Just please stop touching my kid!'

Totally relateable: Other parents chimed in to support Elon's plea, as he also compared it to touching a pregnant woman's belly without permission

The video was met with a huge response from other parents who have dealt with the same issue, with one writing: 'Love this!!! Exactly how I feel.'

Speaking to Huffington Post Parents, Elon explained further, saying: 'It's such a weird thing to me, because I see babies all the time and I don't think, "I should touch this child."

'And after mentioning it to other parents there seemed to be a shared ugh! about this,' he added. 'Similar to women having their bellys touched during pregnancy. Stop touching people, big or small, without permission!'
At the end of April, Vermont-based ice cream company Ben & Jerry's announced that for a limited time it would be selling a tasty ice cream taco.

Dubbed the CHILL-aco, the treat starts with a curved, taco-shaped waffle cone, which is filled with two scoops of ice cream and topped with sweet fudge or caramel drizzles and crumbled cookies.

But while Ben & Jerry's is the latest to offer up a take on the treat, it's not the only place you can find it: Ice cream stores across the US and Canada have started selling the yummy Mexican food-inspired mash-up in recent years, and the trend shows no sign of slowing down.

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Ben & Jerry's announced last month that it would be selling a limited-edition ice cream taco

Get it while it lasts! The CHILL-aco, as its called, won't be available forever

Other ice cream shops across the US and Canada (including Tac N Roll, pictured), have been selling their versions of ice cream tacos

Nom nom: Most, like this one from Cream Nation in Berkeley, California, come in a waffle cone shell shaped like a taco

Looks good: Taco Sweets in Austin, Texas serves cones in different colors

Many are topped with tasty toppings but likely have to be eaten fast so the ice cream doesn't melt

Of course, many adults fondly remember Klondike's Coco Taco from their childhoods. Also served in a curved waffle cone, the vanilla ice cream in this classic is held in place with frozen fudge and can be found in ice cream trucks and grocery stores.

These days, independent ice cream shops are serving up extravagant twists on the treat.

In New York City, Tac N Roll sells traditional savory tacos stuffed with beef, chicken, and pork, but also has a dessert option in the Baked Corn Taco.

One of the few options not served in a waffle cone, this treat is made with a baked corn casing and served cone-like with a scoop of ice cream, syrup, and toppings.

Experimental: Dominique Ansel, the man behind the Cronut, serves his version with pineapple salsa

Snap snap: The summery treat has quickly become an Instagram favorite

Want! Rain or Shine in Vancouver, Canada keeps it simple with their treats

Bright idea: Booyah Inc. in Torono also sells a version  in a curved bowl to stop mess

Everyone loves a taco: The treat combines two of America's favorite foods

Honeycomb Creamery in Cambridge serves their treats for Taco Tuesday

Also in Manhattan, 10 below is known for its rolled, Thai-style ice cream  which it has recently begun serving rolled-up in a taco-shaped waffle cone.

Meanwhile, Dominique Ansel  the genius behind the Cronut  has a more experimental twist at his Dominique Ansel Kitchen.

Sweet Corn Ice Cream Tacos, a limited-edition item offered only this weekend in honor of Cinco de Mayo, are made with sweet corn ice cream, a swirl of caramel, and a homemade masa waffle shell lined with lime zest sugar and salt. They're served with a side of roasted pineapple salsa with agave and pink peppercorn.

Original: Klondike has been selling the classic Choco Taco for years

Naturally for this sweet version, sour cream is subbed with whipped cream

10 Below in New York serves their famous rolled Thai-style ice cream in taco cones

Mixing it up: Some shops are dipping their cones in chocolate for something extra

Makes sense: Waffle cones can be bent into any shape off the machine before they harden

Sweet meets savory: Tac N Roll also makes a version with bacon on top

Up north in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Honeycomb Creamery sells out quickly of their one-off tacos on Taco Tuesdays.

Recent flavors have included Cold Brew Coffee Chip Ice Cream with mocha ganache, S'Mores Taco, and a Cinnamon Dulce de Leche ice cream with chipotle chocolate magic shell, topped with salted caramel corn.

Cream Nation in Berkeley, California and Taco Sweets in Austin, Texas have similar offerings, as do Booyah Inc. in Toronto and Raine or Shine in Vancouver.
Pregnancy can be a distressing time, with parents-to-be worrying about everything from the birth to their child's health.

Yet, parents may soon have their anxieties put to rest as researchers edge one step closer to developing a test that determines how healthy a woman's pregnancy is.

Researchers have discovered that women who give birth to small babies have specific genetic changes in their placentas.

These changes reduce the placenta's ability to grow blood vessels, causing the baby to receive inadequate nourishment and not grow to its full potential.

Professor Andrew Shennan, clinical director of Tommy's Prematurity Clinic at St Thomas', London, told MailOnline: 'Still births often occur due to the placenta failing. Knowing the placenta health via biopsies could allow us to better determine mothers needing help.'

Researchers edge one closer to developing a test that determines a baby's weight in the womb

WHAT IS INTRAUTERINE GROWTH RESTRICTION? Intrauterine growth restriction is a condition where a baby's growth is slow, or stops all together, in the womb. It affects around 5 per cent of pregnancies. Women with abnormal hormone levels are more likely to suffer the complication. Some babies are born stillborn, while others are at-risk of lifelong disabilities, such as cerebral palsy. Source: Tommy's Advertisement

Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, compared the placenta tissue of women who delivered a healthy baby to those whose infants suffered intrauterine growth restriction.

This refers to an unborn baby being smaller than it should be because it did not grow at a normal rate inside the womb.

The researchers studied an array of molecules that are involved in the development of the placenta's genes.

Results, published in PLOS One, show that certain women have higher molecule numbers than others.

This then affects the growth of crucial blood vessels in the placenta, as well as the nutritional transfer between the mother and infant, which is required for baby weight gain.

Doctors may be able to use these findings to predict normal pregnancy and newborn health.

Professor Shennan said: 'Babies not growing well isnt always easy to detect. We have to rely on measuring the stomach or asking mothers how the baby is moving.

'If a test showed the baby isn't growing as it should then you could weigh up whether you should deliver the baby early so it can be given nutrition outside of the womb and avoid a stillbirth.'

This comes after researchers from McMaster University, Ontario, found that premature babies born at a low-birth weight have a higher risk of depression in later life.

This can also make them more prone to anxiety, ADHD and even shyness, experts claim.
When Jennifer Cordts first spotted a rash on her breast in early 2015, she thought it might be sunburn or irritation from her bra.

She never expected to hear the words: terminal breast cancer.

At first the mother-of-two, then 45, ignored it, assured by the fact that a mammogram showed nothing.

Her gynecologist suggested her bra might be too small, so she replaced her underwear. Her doctor suggested it might be inflammation, so she took antibiotics. But nothing helped. She battled for 11 months to find an explanation.

Eventually, she found a specialist to conduct an MRI scan - and it revealed incurable stage 4 inflammatory breast cancer.

In that time, the disease had spread from her breast and lymph nodes to her bones and liver. Cordts was given three to five years to live.

Now the Rockwall, Texas, mother wants to share her story to help others spot the aggressive cancer before it is too late and to encourage people to always to push for more answers.

Jennifer Cordts, 46, was shocked to learn what her doctor said was a rash, was actually terminal inflammatory breast cancer. The first symptom was a reddish and pink mark on one of her breasts

The mother-of-two from Rockwall, Texas, (pictured before her battle with her two daughters) fought with healthcare professionals for 11 months who insisted her fears were unfounded until her test results came back positive for stage 4 inflammatory breast cancer

When asked would her circumstances be different if the initial doctor had listened to her concerns from the start, Cordts sighed.

She added: 'To be honest, I haven't asked that but I know the answer. I know how cancer works.

'If we had worked faster there still could be hope for me. I'd live longer if they had caught it earlier, but that isn't my journey.

'But it can be the next person's journey. That's why I'm sharing my story.'

In early 2015, Cordts noticed a small pink and red rash on one of her breasts. It didn't have any bumps nor was it causing pain, but she decided to pay a visit to her doctor.

She recalled: 'He just kind of said, "I don't see what you see." And I was like, "If you aren't worried than I'm not either."'

Cordts went home reassured and put the mark on the back of her mind, but in the following weeks she knew something was very wrong.

Searing pain spread behind her breast and shot down her arm, but her mammogram and blood work came back fine.

An initial visit to the doctor diagnosed the mark as a simple skin rash that was perhaps brought on because her bras were too small. However, when it started causing pain, she knew something was very wrong. Pictured: Cordts left before her diagnosis and right with her 18-year-old daughter after she began treatment

Inflammatory breast cancer is rare and only makes up one percent of all cases in the United States. It is aggressive and spreads quickly, usually worsening within days or even hours. Pictured: Cordts with her seven-year-old daughter as her hair began to grow back

At one point, Cordts Googled her discolored skin and the dreaded result came back as inflammatory breast cancer.

Eventually, Cordts pushed her way to see the top breast specialist in Dallas who confirmed her fears in November 2015.

The aggressive disease had spread from her breast and lymph nodes to her bones and also to her liver. The cancer is incurable once it reaches that organ.

SYMPTOMS OF INFLAMMATORY BREAST CANCER Redness of the breast: Redness involving part or all of the breast is a hallmark of the cancer. Sometimes the redness comes and goes. Swelling of the breast: Part of or all of the breast may be swollen, enlarged, and hard. Warmth: The breast may feel warm. Orange-peel appearance: Your breast may swell and start to look like the peel of a navel orange (this is called 'peau d'orange'). Other skin changes: The skin of the breast might look pink or bruised, or you may have what looks like ridges, welts, or hives on your breast. Swelling of lymph nodes: The lymph nodes under your arm or above the collarbone may be swollen. Flattening or inversion of the nipple: The nipple may go flat or turn inward. Aching or burning: Your breast may ache or feel tender. Advertisement

Cordts has two daughters, a seven-year-old and an 18-year-old college student. The mother is using her painful journey to help teach them to take an active role in their health.

She said: 'Going to the doctor is scary. Going to the doctor with what you think is cancer is terrifying. I'm teaching them to advocate for themselves and to push harder for answers.

'I have no regrets. I was on top of my healthcare but I could have demanded more answers.

'I was told in order to have an MRI, I needed to go through six weeks of physical therapy for my back first.

'If I had maybe pushed harder, that is six less weeks the cancer could have been spreading throughout my body.'

She revealed that her first doctor was informed of his misdiagnosis, and although at the time Cordts was unable to speak to him, she has since asked him to further educate himself on rare breast cancers.

She added: 'I'm hoping I'll be a learning experience for him and other physicians who have never seen this before.'

For now, Cordts' cancer has seen improvement in her breast and bones after a mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation.

Although the medicine can't cure the cancer, it can slow it from spreading and give her more time.

Cordts (pictured with her husband and children on a recent trip to a beach) said her first doctor was informed of his misdiagnosis and she hopes he further educates himself on rare breast cancers

The wife and mother is in and out of hospitals and appointments for scans, tests and therapy to help her through the difficult time.

Cordts said: 'I feel like I'm there every other day. I try and purposely forget about it but my anxiety comes back right before the results.

'My scan comes back Friday so I'm at the peak of the roller coaster.'

Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare form of breast cancer and only makes up about one percent of cases in the United States.

It usually begins with redness or swelling rather than a distinct lump. It grows and spreads quickly, usually worsening within days or even hours.

Other warning signs of regular breast cancer include skin texture changes, such as skin that feels grainy or has an 'orange peel' appearance, puckering or thickening, rashes around the nipple, discharge, as well as changes in the size and shape of the breast, pain in the breast and armpit and dilated, more visible veins.

It took 11 months to properly diagnose Cordts (pictured right after shaving her head and left with friend after treatment had begun). She said: 'If we had worked faster there still could be hope for me. I'd live longer if they had caught it earlier, but that isn't my journey. 'But it can be the next person's journey. That's why I'm sharing my story'

There are eight key signs of breast cancer, including a change in size or shape, redness or a rash on the skin, a lump or thickening and a change in skin texture, such as puckering or dimpling
Children facing exams could enhance their recall by inhaling the smell of rosemary.

The woody herb often used to add flavour garnish lamb has long had a reputation as being helpful to the memory.

In ancient Greece, scholars wore sprigs of rosemary when taking tests to give their recollection a boost.

Shakespeare also credited the herb with memory - enhancing powers, writing the line 'Rosemary, that's for remembrance' in Hamlet.

Now researchers at Northumbria University found that rosemary essential oil is helpful to children's recollection, following on from previous research that it boosts adult memories.

The woody herb often used to add flavour garnish lamb has long had a reputation as being helpful to the memory

Dr Mark Moss and Victoria Earle will outline their findings at the British Psychological Society's annual conference in Brighton later this week.

Dr Moss said: 'Our previous study demonstrated the aroma of rosemary essential oil could enhance cognition in healthy adults.

'Knowing how important working memory is in academic achievement we wanted to see if similar effects could be found in school age children in classroom settings.'

A total of 40 children aged 10 to 11 took part in a class based test on different mental tasks.

Children were randomly assigned to a room that had either rosemary oil diffused in it for ten minutes or a room with no scent.

The time is ripe for large-scale trials of aroma application in education settings Dr Mark Moss, Northumbria University

The children were tested individually, seated at the table opposite the researcher.

After introducing herself to the child the researcher said: 'You are here to play some memory games.

'Please don't be nervous but try the best you can to remember what I ask you to.'

The children who worked in the aroma room achieved significantly higher scores than the non-scented room. The greatest effect was seen in the test to recall words.

Dr Moss said: 'Why and how rosemary has this effect is still up for debate. It could be that aromas affect electrical activity in the brain or that pharmacologically active compounds can be absorbed when adults are exposed.

'We do know that poor working memory is related to poor academic performance and these findings offers a possible cost effective and simple intervention to improve academic performance in children. The time is ripe for large-scale trials of aroma application in education settings.'
School pressures, rocky relationships and racing hormones leave many teenagers struggling to cope with their emotions.

Yet, few will use the word 'depressed' to describe their turmoil.

Teens are much more likely to use terms such as 'stressed' or 'down', a study reveals.

Study author Dr Daniela DeFrino, assistant professor of research, University of Illinois, said: 'Much of what a teen is feeling and experiencing is easy to attribute to the ups and downs of teen angst.

'Teens rarely state they are depressed, but describe bursts of feeling stressed and sad.'

Suffering teenagers usually describe themselves as feeling 'stressed' or 'down' not 'depressed'

SIGNS THAT YOUR TEENAGER MAY HAVE DEPRESSION Although they may not describe feeling depressed, warning signs include saying they are stressed or easily annoyed. Other symptoms include tearfulness, withdrawing from socializing, changes in eating habits and a lack of energy. Physical signs are headaches, poor digestion, and muscle and joint pain. Stress and depression often appear together. Like depression, stress can also cause fatigue, headache and aching muscles, as well as ulcers. Source: Helpguide.org Advertisement

The researchers analysed a sample of 369 teenagers who were interviewed in a previous study.

Those who reported feeling down, irritable or hopeless during the past two weeks in the previous trial were contacted by the researchers who then screened them for depression.

The researchers noted those meeting the criteria for a depression diagnosis rarely used the word itself to describe their feelings.

Teenagers with depression also reported physical symptoms, including ulcers, migraines, stomach pain and fatigue.

Dr DeFrino said: 'A teen might say, "I always find somehow to go back to stressful mode" or "I get really mad at people very easily. They don't understand why I'm upset. Sometimes I don't either."'

School pressure relating to homework and academic expectations were reported as a driving source behind their difficulties.

Other causes of sadness included arguments with parents, neglect, moving house, parental divorce or separation and verbal or sexual abuse.

The death of family or friends were also noted as contributors to the onset of the mental health condition.

Experts are advising doctors monitor for any mental health concerns when teenagers present complaining of physical symptoms, such as headache.

Dr DeFrino said: 'Teens may be experiencing a lot of internal turmoil and difficult life stresses that we can easily overlook if we don't probe with sensitive questioning and understanding.

'Reframing these feelings as outward symptoms of pre-depression by the primary care provider would allow for connection to, and discussion about, the importance of mental health with the teen and parent.'

Results will be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting in San Francisco.

This comes after researchers from the University of Leuven, Belgium, found that teenagers who frequently use Instagram have a higher risk of depression six months down the line.

Yet, for some, it leads to closer friendships and a perception that they are appreciated and loved by their peers, reducing their depression risk.
A record number of teens have been hospitalized for marijuana-related illnesses in Colorado since pot was legalized, new figures suggest.

Emergency room patients under the age of 21 have quadrupled in number since 2010, when the state legalized the drug for medical purposes.

There was a surge in cases in 2014, when state lawmakers agreed to legalize marijuana for recreational use as well.

More than half of those were adolescents with symptoms of mental illness.

The pros and cons of cannabis are still being discussed as studies have found it to be beneficial in treating certain health problems, while other research have found it can also leave teens with long-term cognitive impairment.

Colorado emergency patients under the age of 21 have quadrupled in number since the state legalized marijuana, with more than half of those adolescents having symptoms of mental illness and testing positive for other drugs (file image)

Dr. George Wang, the lead author and an associate professor at the University of Colorado's medical department, found half of the minors who came into an emergency department also tested positive for other drugs.

Commonly detected substances included ethanol, amphetamines, benzodiazepines, opiates and cocaine.

The study abstract analyzed 3,443 marijuana-related visits over a 10-year course from January 2005 to June 2015.

Dr. Wang said although national data on teen marijuana use suggests rates stayed the same, around 7 percent, from 2005 through 2015, the surveys don't reflect the effect legalization may be having on teen usage.

A 2015 study found Colorado high schoolers are slightly decreasing their marijuana consumption.

That year only 21.2 percent of teens reported using the drug within the past 30 days, down from 22 percent in 2011.

Nationwide, the rate of pot use by teens is slightly higher at 21.7 percent, the study found.

A recent side effect found for frequent users of marijuana is cannabinoid hypermesis, which causes people to become violently sick.

The top five places where teens smoked were the District of Columbia, New Mexico, Washington, Connecticut and Vermont, all exceeding the nationwide rate

CHS can trigger stomach pain, nausea and vomiting and can only be calmed by taking a hot bath.

A 2016 study found that 77 percent of minors believed smoking weed was safe and in 2014 most teens smoked more than they binge drink.

The top five places where teens smoked were the District of Columbia, New Mexico, Washington, Connecticut and Vermont, all exceeding the nationwide rate, according to Project Know.

States across the board have followed Colorado's lead and have legalized marijuana for both medical and recreational purposes.

In addition to Colorado, both forms are legal in Washington, Alaska, Oregon, Nevada, California, Maine and Massachusetts.

Restricted for medical use only are, Montana, North Dakota, Arizona, New Mexico, Arkansas, Louisiana, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, District of Columbia, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware and Hawaii.

WHERE MARIJUANA IS LEGAL IN AMERICA Advertisement

While the benefits and drawbacks of cannabis have frequently been discussed, the former Surgeon General to Obama weighed in on the topic and admitted it can be helpful but research isn't fully up to speed.

Publishing a landmark report on the topic in 2016, Dr. Vivek Murthy said that he ws worried the legalization movement is moving faster than research. 'Marijuana is in fact addictive,' he said.

The medical benefits of marijuana are still a hot topic because it is used to treat chronic pain but scientists claim those who begin smoking the drug at age 15 or younger may suffer long-term cognitive impairment and physical illnesses.

And those who began smoking marijuana at age 17 or younger had an average 62.5 percent lower chance of receiving a high school degree.

Still, states have rapidly legalized the drug over the past decade. Despite the new legality, cannabis black markets have seen a boom in states with medical marijuana laws.

Those states also documented an increase in cannabis use disorders, such as abuse, dependence, and withdrawal.
NEW BOY by Tracy Chevalier (Hogarth 12.99)

NEW BOY

by Tracy Chevalier (Hogarth 12.99)

The patchy Hogarth Shakespeare series, in which well-known novelists are commissioned to retell some of the bards most popular plays, tasks Chevalier with reimagining Othello.

The white Girl With A Pearl Earring author attended an elementary school in Washington D.C. where the majority of the pupils were black.

Here she more than reverses that situation as Ghanaian diplomats son Osei Kokote arrives at a hitherto all-white suburban Washington school.

What follows is Othello played out by 11-year-olds as the malevolent Ian, envious of the new boys sporting prowess and instant popularity, plots to undermine his burgeoning relationship with class favourite Dee.

That Desdemonas strawberry-embroidered handkerchief is here replaced by a pencil case patterned with the same fruit is a clue to how dire and contrived the entire enterprise is, with the plot unconvincingly shoehorned into the chosen setting and the children unbelievable.

Nor does it succeed as a childrens or young adult book; these days theyre a lot more sophisticated than this.

THE NOTHING by Hanif Kureishi (Faber 14.99)

THE NOTHING

by Hanif Kureishi (Faber 14.99)

This slight addition to the Hanif Kureishi canon, by turns funny, farcical and disquieting, is set in the twilight years of celebrated director Waldo.

Hes ravaged by the infirmities of old age, largely imprisoned in his London flat, dependent on  and ultimately at the mercy of  his beautiful younger wife Zee, the great love of his life.

But there are three people in this relationship, the interloper being frequent visitor Eddie, sometime film critic and general scrounger around the peripheries of the London movie scene; not exactly a friend of Waldos but someone hes known for 30 years.

When Waldo hears what sounds like lovemaking emanating from his wifes bedroom he suspects Zee and Eddie of having an affair, something all too obvious to the reader, as they frequently leave the old man alone while they go out together, with Zee bankrolling the penniless Eddie.

Eventually Waldo decides to catch them out and exact his revenge. Its in a minor key, but exquisitely performed and moderately entertaining.

STRANGE HEART BEATING by Eli Goldstone (Granta 12.99)

STRANGE HEART BEATING

by Eli Goldstone (Granta 12.99)

After Sebs Latvian-born wife Leda is killed by  what else  a swan, he discovers a cache of unopened letters written to her by a man back home whom she has never mentioned.

In a variation of a well-worn plot, the widower sets out to uncover the secret life his partner shielded from him.

He travels to her remote Latvian village, where he meets a cast of characters from a kind of Baltic Cold Comfort Farm.

Staying in a dismal B&B, where the landlady has designs upon him, hes dragged along on hunting expeditions by Ledas very rustic cousin, Olaf.

When he discovers that Ledas name was actually Leila he begins to understand she was a different person in her former life. Everyone he encounters offers only pieces of the jigsaw.

The story grows increasingly bonkers but its an enjoyable trip, wryly amusing and touching, as Seb finds out as much about himself as the woman he loved.
SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL by William Shaw (Riverrun 12.99)

SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL

by William Shaw (Riverrun 12.99)

All set in Londons swinging Sixties, Shaws crime novels featuring DS Cathal Breen and DC Helen Tozer first grabbed my attention three years ago with A Song From Dead Lips.

Shaws talent for sensuous storytelling comes to the fore as he sets this fourth book in the series in the summer of 1969, when Rolling Stone Brian Jones was found dead in the swimming pool of his country house, and speculation swirled that he might have been killed.

Meanwhile a prostitute known as Julie Teenager, who boasts some mysterious clients, is murdered, and then so is her maid. Breen investigates, while the eight-months-pregnant Tozer waits for him at home, no longer an officer in the Met.

Add in the underground magazine Oz, some stealthy work from MI6 and the possibility of a Russian spy swap, and you have the ingredients of a first-rate drama. Shaw goes from strength to strength, while making it all seem effortless.

YOU DON'T KNOW ME by Imran Mahmood (Michael Joseph 12.99)

YOU DON'T KNOW ME

by Imran Mahmood (Michael Joseph 12.99)

A startlingly original debut from a criminal defence barrister, this story grabs from the very first sentence.

It tells of an unnamed young black man on trial for murder who decides at the last minute to sack his barrister and give the closing speech for the defence himself.

The ten-day speech is given in full and is utterly compelling throughout. It succeeds in evoking the patois and mindset of a young black man who lives on the very edge of the law in South London.

Inspired by Mahmoods own experiences of defending disadvantaged black and Asian men, it prompts readers to ask themselves difficult questions about the way juries  often predominantly white  perceive the young men in the dock before them.

The question at its heart, as the young man speaks with the prospect of a life sentence hanging over him, is whether or not he did it.

Mahmood asks the reader to act as the jury and decide for themselves  it is a stunning idea superbly executed.

FAITHLESS by Kjell Ola Dahl (Orenda Books 8.99)

FAITHLESS

by Kjell Ola Dahl (Orenda Books 8.99)

Regularly described as the Godfather of Nordic Noir, Dahl has an international reputation for skilfully plotted police procedurals that are drenched in the minutiae of detection.

This is a fine example of his talent, featuring two of his most famous detectives, Gunnarstranda and Frolich, who disagree with each other far more often than they agree.

When the naked body of a young woman turns up in an Oslo dumpster wrapped in plastic and scalded, Frolich immediately recognises her.

She is someone he arrested earlier that day for possession of cocaine, and also happens to be engaged to one of his old school friends.

Then there is the murder of a young woman in northern Norway that bears strong similarities. Do they have a serial killer on their hands?

If you have never sampled Dahl, now is the time to try.
SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER by Charity Norman (Allen & Unwin 7.99)

SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER

by Charity Norman (Allen & Unwin 7.99)

Cassy is a typical modern girl heading off to New Zealand with her boyfriend before returning to university for the final year of her degree.

True, shes not wild about her studies or the corporate career her parents are so set on, but so far, so normal. There is nothing about Cassy that can prepare her family, friends or, indeed, readers of this compelling novel for what happens to her next.

Storming away from her boyfriend after a row, Cassy accepts a lift from a friendly bunch of people in a van.

Cassy is the last person youd expect to join a cult. Shes far too intelligent and normal to be successfully brainwashed into believing she was in the presence of the second coming of Christ and to abandon everything to live on a remote commune, isnt she?

This is a big, gripping and heartbreaking read that alternates between Cassys deepening immersion in the cult, and her family at home in London, desperately trying to reconnect with her and being thwarted at every turn. I couldnt put it down.

LOST FOR WORDS by Stephanie Butland (Zaffre 7.99)

LOST FOR WORDS

by Stephanie Butland (Zaffre 7.99)

Reclusive protagonist Loveday Cardew prefers books to people, and her job at Lost For Words, a quirky independent book store in York, affords her the opportunity to engage more with the former than the latter.

When confident performance poet Nathan Avebury starts popping in and inviting Loveday to events she would normally never attend, however, she comes out of the protective shell shes spent years constructing.

Its not long before packages start arriving for Loveday, each containing books which stir long-buried memories  and her sad backstory is revealed.

There are no great surprises but its an easy, breezy read and Loveday is an appealing character with a fascinating hinterland.

THEN. NOW. ALWAYS. by Isabelle Broom (Michael Joseph 7.99)

THEN. NOW. ALWAYS.

by Isabelle Broom (Michael Joseph 7.99)

Hannah is a junior researcher at a London production company who is secretly deeply in love with her boss, Theo.

When Theo invites her on location for a month-long shoot in the stunning Spanish town of Mojacar, a place Hannah adored as a teenager, she couldnt be more delighted.

However, her fantasies do not match up to the reality.

What with cameraman Tom, Hannahs best friend from university; Claudette, a glamorous, difficult and highly sexed French television presenter; and the unexpected arrival of Nancy, Hannahs half-sister who shes never liked, things begin to veer wildly off-piste.

I didnt really care about what happens to Hannah or any of the supporting characters, and Im confident you can find better ways to fill your time than by reading this.
India's Army chief General Bipin Rawat

The armed forces are not getting their fair share of India's financial resources, Army chief General Bipin Rawat said on Thursday, arguing for an increase in defence spending that would enhance India's strategic clout.

Amid mounting tensions with Pakistan and China, Rawat insisted on the country looking for new friends and allies to deal with neighbours along the western and northern borders, apparently referring to the two nations.

Pitching for investing more in strengthening India's armed forces, Rawat, addressing a defence think tank, spoke of China to drive home the point that India's true potential will be realised only when both economic growth and might of the military go hand-in-hand.

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat (left) arrives on a two-day visit to Kashmir after two troops were killed on the LoC

'While we are developing our economy, the military is not getting its due share. I think here we need to draw a lesson from China,' he said, adding, military and economic growth should be conjoint as they are two tenets of national power.

India's defence budget for 2017-18 was Rs 2.74 lakh crore which is 1.63 per cent of GDP.

China's military spending for 2017 has been pegged at $152 billion (Rs 9,761,698,400,000), which is close to around three per cent of the country's GDP and three times higher than that of India's defence budget.

There has been a feeling among security experts and the defence establishment that the modernisation of armed forces is taking place at a very slow pace and that the government has not been allocating adequate funds for it.

Chinese soldiers ride on armoured missile carriers as they pass in front of Tiananmen Square

India must have close ties with countries like Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan considering the security matrix, the army chief said.

He said such a policy will recreate the outreach India had before partition. The army chief said such a strategy will not only create a two-pronged dilemma for Pakistan, but also help in tackling issues with China.

'We have to start looking at how do we carry out counter-encirclement for our future adversaries.

'Developing alliances, developing friends to overcome the (current) deficiency is important. That must be part of our strategic-thought process,' he said.
A 55 per cent rise in oil prices in the first quarter of 2017 has helped Royal Dutch Shell more than double its earnings.

The oil giant said underlying earnings surged to $3.8billion, from $1.6billion this time last year. Investors welcomed the results with Shell's shares up 2 per cent.

The renewed stability in oil prices at or around $50 a barrel was the main driver, while its takeover of smaller rival BG Group, which was completed last year, has also started to pay off.

Turnaround?: The signs this quarter have been good for the world's largest oil players

Crude has recovered thanks to the Opec oil producers' cartel adhering to a production cut late last year.

Chief executive Ben van Beurden said: 'The strategy we have outlined to deliver a world-class investment case is taking shape.

'Following the successful integration of BG, we are rapidly transforming Shell through the consistent and disciplined execution of our strategy.

'We saw notable improvements in upstream and chemicals, which benefited from improved operational performance and better market conditions.'

Shell's upstream business, which includes exploration and production, swung out of the red with underlying earnings of $540million against losses of $1.4billion a year earlier.

The downstream business, which includes refining, saw underlying profits rise 24 per cent to $2.5billion.

Shell has sold off around $20billion of assets since its acquisition of BG, while earnings have also been boosted by hefty cost-cutting over the past three years.

Nicholas Hyett, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: 'Its been some time since reading a set of oil results could be described as a pleasure, but today, Shells fit the bill.

'The improvement in Upstream was to be expected given the oil price environment, and was actually slightly behind consensus, but the strong cash flow and lower debt are a pleasant surprise.

'Shells fortunes remain exposed to the oil price of course, and capital expenditure has been slashed. That cant last forever, but todays numbers suggest Shell is well on the way to recovery.

The dividend was maintained at 47 cents a share.

Shell joins rivals BP, Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Total in reporting better-than-expected results.

BP revealed it returned to profit with earnings of $1.4billion against losses of $485million a year earlier.

US oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron also posted better-than-expected earnings last week thanks to a rebound in crude prices, which were more than 50 per cent higher in the first quarter than a year earlier, when they had hit near 13-year lows.
Britain's accounting watchdog has opened an investigation into KPMG's checking of financial statements made by engine producer Rolls-Royce.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said it will probe the conduct of the accountancy giant in relation to audits of Rolls-Royce in 2010, 2011 and 2013.

The decision to investigate the firm follows a Deferred Prosecution Agreement between Rolls-Royce and the Serious Fraud Office in January, which saw the firm stump up 671 million to settle corruption and bribery allegations.

Probe: KPMG will stand down as Rolls-Royce's auditor this year after 26 years

The agreement allowed the company to pay to settle a bribery probe with British, U.S. and Brazilian authorities.

KPMG said in a statement 'We will co-operate fully with the FRC's investigation, which follows the SFO's investigations into Rolls-Royce. We are confident in the quality of all the audit work we have completed for Rolls-Royce, including the 2010-2013 period the FRC is considering.'

The FRC said: 'The FRC has commenced an investigation under the Audit Enforcement Procedure into the conduct of KPMG Audit Plc, in relation to the audit of the financial statements of Rolls-Royce Group plc for the year ended 31 December 2010 and of Rolls-Royce Holdings plc for the years ended 31 December 2011 to 31 December 2013.'

KPMG will stand down as Rolls-Royce's auditor this year after 26 years, the spokesman said. Under new rules, overseen by the FRC, companies are requested to consider changing their auditor every 10 years.

Rolls-Royce makes engines for planes, trains, nuclear submarines and power stations.

The agreements relate to bribery and corruption scandals involving intermediaries in overseas markets such as Indonesia and China.

Rolls-Royce first passed information to the SFO in 2012 after facing 'allegations of malpractice' in the two countries, after which the fraud squad launched a formal investigation.

Officials for the firm said at the time its own investigations had found 'matters of concern' in additional overseas markets.

The FRC has powers to fine accountants and ban them from practicing.

KPMG said it was important that regulators acting in the public interest should review high profile issues.
Blundering Diane Abbott might have got her maths muddled when it comes to police officers' salaries  but her own finances are in fine order.

Labour's Shadow Home Secretary has been paid more than 110,000 in licence fee payers' money for her political knowledge on the BBC's This Week at 700 an appearance since 2003.

Ms Abbott is also in demand as a speaker  earning thousands more for appearing at literary festivals and corporate events.

She also earned 4,000 from speaking on a Thomson Reuters panel in the aftermath of the last election and 500 for taking part in the Selfridges Beauty Project'.

Under fire: Labour MP Diane Abbott, whose disastrous interview on LBC went viral, has been paid more than 110,000 in licence payers' cash to appear on shows like BBC's This Week

Raking it in: Abbott, pictured on Daily Politics, also rakes in thousands speaking at literary festivals and pocketed 2,000 for talking at a bank-sponsored black history event

Humiliation: Ms Abbott faced embarrassment on Nick Ferrari's LBC radio show this week when she said it would cost 300,000 to put 10,000 new policemen on Britain's streets, before changing that to an equally implausible 80m

A year ago, she received a trip valued at more than 5,000 from the Muslim Charities Forum to fly to Somaliland to visit refugee camps and discuss the severe drought gripping the area.

In 2014, Ms Abbott was paid 2,000 for speaking at a 'Citywealth Power Women lunch' in January; 1,000 for making a speech at a 'diversity event' that same month; 2,500 plus expenses for speaking at a 'Women in Politics' event in Jersey in July and 2,000 to talk at the BNP Paribas-sponsored black history event in October.

The Hackney and Stoke Newington MP stopped being paid by the BBC when she was promoted to the shadow cabinet last year but continues to earn for public speaking.

But she was humiliated this week when she got the maths wrong on Labour's key policing policy  and suggesting setting aside 300,000 to hire 10,000 police officers over four years, paying them just 7.50 a year.

Charity: Last year Ms Abbot went on a trip to Somaliland valued at more than 5,000 on behalf of the Muslim Charities Forum to visit refugee camps. Pictured: Ms Abbot reacting to a playback of her 'car crash' interview on LBC

In the money: In 2014, Ms Abbott was paid 2,000 for speaking at a 'Power Women lunch', 1,000 for a 'diversity event' and 2,500 plus expenses for speaking at a 'Women in Politics' event in Jersey. Pictured at a Corbyn rally last year

In a car crash interview with Nick Ferrari on LBC, she was then insisted she did know her figures and had simply 'misspoke'.

The MP then said the cost would be 80 million  which would still mean the police officers were being paid just 2,000 a year over four years. The minimum wage for over 25s in the UK is 7.20 per hour.

She was being interviewed about Labour's pledge to recruit 10,000 new police officers.

How much, asked presenter Ferrari, would the proposal cost?

'Well,' said Ms Abbott confidently. 'If we recruit the 10,000 policemen and women over a four-year period, we believe it would be about 300,000.'

'Three hundred thousand pounds?' Mr Ferrari repeated. 'For 10,000 police officers? How much are you paying them?'

The answer, according to Ms Abbott's muddled maths, would be a mere 7.50 a year.

She stumbled through her reply: 'Sorry,' replied Ms Abbott. 'No, I mean sorry. They will cost... They will, it will costAbout.'

Embarrassed: The Hackney and Stoke Newington MP, who is also Labour's Shadow Home Secretary, was humiliated when she got her maths wrong on the party's key policing policy - suggesting paying cops just 30 per year

Later in the interview she then went on to wrongly suggest Labour would create 250,000 new police officers if elected.

Stunned, Ferrari asked: '250,000 policemen?'

Abbott quickly added: 'And women... No, we are recruiting 2,000 and perhaps 250.'

Ferrari queried: 'Where did 250,000 come from?'

To which Abbott replied: 'I think you said that not me.'

'I can assure you,' said Ferrari. 'You said that figure because I wrote it down.'

Later she blamed the media for reporting on her disastrous performance which many have said is the worst political interview they had heard.

Ms Abbott was contacted by MailOnline but was unavailable to comment.
A Sydney woman has faced a six-month long battle to cancel her 81-year-old mother's Optus home phone service after moving her into an aged care facility.

Lucy Ghattas moved her mother into aged care in November last year due to her deteriorating health, and took on the responsibility of closing all her accounts, News.com.au reports.

Ms Ghattas said she never imagined closing her mother's home phone line would be so difficult.

Lucy Ghattas took her story public when she became fed up with the customer service at Optus

Ms Ghattas first tried to close the Optus account over the phone but the company refused, and told the Sydney woman they needed to speak with her mother in person.

Ms Ghattas took a day off work and dragged her mother, who lives with dementia, into the Optus store to close the account.

When the pair left the store, Ms Ghattas believed the account was closed and that was the last of her ordeal with Optus, but it was not.

The business development manager continued to receive monthly bills in the mail for her mother's unused home phone service.

'I paid the December one, I paid the January one but then in February I thought this is a joke. They obviously haven't disconnected it so I'm just not going to pay this bill and hopefully someone will contact me,' she told News.com.au.

No one from Optus contacted Ms Ghattas, and the unpaid bill lead to additional charges.

When Ms Ghattas went back to cancel the account, she was once again told that her mother needed to do it in person.

Ms Ghattas said her mother's condition deteriorated to the point she was no longer in a position to deal with the account herself.

Lucy Ghattas said she never thought it would be so difficult to close her mother's unused home phone service

The Optus bill, which Ms Ghattas sent to Daily Mail Australia, shows the overdue account

'(I told them) she has dementia, she can't walk, as you can see there's been no phone calls made or received on that number since November, common sense should prevail,' she said.

Despite this, the Optus customer care team reportedly failed to cancel the account.

The $29 monthly bill nearly tripled to $85.47 when left unpaid.

Ms Ghattas said Optus also threatened legal action if not paid.

Ms Ghattas said she was not the power of attorney over her mother's affairs, and admitted it made the situation more difficult.

When Ms Ghattas took her story public, Optus resolved the issue for her, but she said it should not have been so difficult for her as a paying customer.

Optus told News.com.au all charges to the home phone service from November onward had been removed and apologised for the inconvenience caused.

Ms Ghattas was not alone in her disappointment with Optus' customer service, with the company's Facebook page littered with complains.

Lynette Sehl rated the company's customer service a one out of 10 in a comment posted to its public Facebook page on Wednesday.

'Absolutely the most disgusting service I've ever encountered!,' she said.

Another Optus customer said he spend three hours on hold with the customer service team.

'Three hours on hold to speak to someone about my bills and no one still answers. Awesome and now my phone is restricted, not a happy camper,' Jonathon Kerr said.

'Dear Optus, your technical support over the phone is a disgrace. Please help me,' Gary Angus said.
Chesney Anne Wheeler, 38, from Pennsylvania has been charged with corpse abuse after driving around with her newborn daughter's body in cardboard box after she gave birth prematurely

A Pennsylvania woman has been charged after driving around with her newborn daughter's corpse in a cardboard box.

Chesney Anne Wheeler, 38, gave birth at home near Williamsport on April 12, then kept the child's body in her car, police say.

The body was found the next day outside Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, court records show.

The mother-of-two has been jailed on abuse of a corpse and other charges.

Wheeler told police she drove to an out-of-town hospital because she feared doctors would find out she had smoked crack cocaine and used heroin the night before her daughter was born two-and-a-half months prematurely.

An autopsy couldn't determine if the baby was born alive, police said in a complaint.

Wheeler told police she 'wasn't exactly thrilled at being pregnant' before she delivered the girl at home, wrapped her in a blanket and then passed out, the complaint said.

When she awoke, Wheeler put the baby in the back seat of her car in the cardboard box and started driving around.

Wheeler told police she knew the baby was dead by that time because rigor mortis (stiffening of the limbs) had set in, the complaint said.

Later that same day, a friend, Robin Villa, drove Wheeler in Wheelers car to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital to get medical care.

Police say the cardboard box with the baby had been placed in the back of the car, but that Villa did not know this until they were on their way to the hospital.

Wheeler (pictured with one of her sons) didn't seek medical care after the birth of the baby because she didn't want hospital officials to know she had smoked crack cocaine and shot up on heroin the night before

Wheeler told Wilkes-Barre hospital officials she miscarried and may have flushed the baby down the toilet, but Villa told police about the remains in the car.

Wheelers husband, Richard Wheeler, 35, also is a county prison inmate. He has been jailed since January 1 on charges he assaulted her despite knowing she was pregnant, allegedly kicking her in the stomach.

He waived a preliminary hearing on aggravated assault and other charges, has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial, court records show.

Wheeler faces a preliminary hearing May 10, according to online court documents which don't list an attorney for her.

She is also charged with evidence tampering, obstruction of law enforcement and fleeing prosecution.
Racism may have played a role in a white gunman's shooting rampage at a weekend pool party attended mostly by black guests, according to survivors.

Assistant Chief Brian Ahearn said investigators have interviewed party guests and family members, associates and the ex-girlfriend of gunman Peter Selis.

Selis reportedly told one party guest, a white woman, 'you can either leave or you can stay here and die,' as she was trying to help Monique Clark, a black woman who had been shot dead.

Scroll down for video

Pictured: This is Peter Selis, the 49-year-old father-of-two who opened fire at a pool party in San Diego Sunday evening

People look over the scene Monday, May 1, 2017, in San Diego, where police are trying to decide whether or not the shooting rampage was a hate crime

Police searched his apartment, social media accounts and email while determining he opened fire because he was despondent about a recent breakup with his girlfriend.

On Wednesday, San Diego police that they still have found no evidence to support those suspicions that it was a race based crime.

'He made no statements, gestures, and showed no behavior toward the group that were racially tinged that would then classify this as a hate crime,' Ahearn said. 'I'm not suggesting that maybe that didn't happen but we have zero information suggesting that was the case.'

Some survivors said they believe Selis selected minority victims at the upscale apartment complex where one woman was killed and six people were wounded. Five of the victims were black, one was Latino and one was white.

Navy Lt. j.g. Lauren Chapman, who was at the party, said the gunman avoided shooting at least one white woman.

Chapman later spoke to the woman, who said the gunman told her, 'you can either leave or you can stay here and die.'

The unnamed woman was attempting to help Monique Clark, a black woman and mother of three who was shot and killed by Selis. She could not be reached for comment by The Associated Press.

Navy Lt. j.g. Lauren Chapman, who was at the party, said the gunman avoided shooting at least one white woman. Chapman later spoke to the woman, who said the gunman told her, 'you can either leave or you can stay here and die' as she attempted to help Monique Clark (pictured) who had been shot dead by Selis

Seven people were shot and rushed to nearby hospitals. One of the female victims later died of her injuries

Police have not ruled out a hate crime since all of Selis' victim were men and women of color. Above, the pool after the shooting

Additionally, Chapman said that two white women sitting much closer to the gunman than those who were shot also escaped unharmed

'I'm a realistic person and we need to acknowledge race was a factor,' said Chapman, who is black.

'Maybe it wasn't everything, but it was definitely something. We need to get that dialogue open. Yes, he was bankrupt. Yes, he had relationship issues, but I think we need to acknowledge the possibility of bias.'

Selis had filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and again in 2015.

Mychael Gary, another black party guest, agreed. He said Selis seemed to calmly pick out his victims.

'I believe the group that he was going after was targeted, that's what I believe,' Gary told The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Chapman said the white woman who was shot was sitting at a table surrounded by African Americans.

Ahearn confirmed that Selis told a white woman to leave the area and added that he told a black woman helping another victim that she could not move the person to safety but he would not shoot her if she stayed put. She did not move and was not shot.

Selis took out his gun, which was hidden under his shirt and then started shooting at partygoers from his pool chair. Above, survivors after the shooting

Witnesses say that the man who was celebrating his birthday party went up to Selis to offer him food and drink, and that he declined. Above, two survivors

Police have said the 49-year-old Selis briefly called his ex-girlfriend during the Sunday night shooting and said he was 'shooting it out.' He was killed by police after firing his .45-caliber handgun at a sergeant and two officers.

The ex-girlfriend and others who knew Selis told police they did not believe he was a racist, and investigators found no racist propaganda, emails or other materials, Ahearn said.

'Based upon the facts that we have, this group was shot at because it was compact and a large number of people in close proximity to Selis at the moment in time when he decided to shoot innocent people,' he said.

Selis' family said they could not explain the 'senseless acts' of violence.

'We cannot understand what would have caused Pete to do this,' the family said in a statement sent to KFMB-TV.

'Words cannot express our profound grief and sorrow for all the victims and their families. ... We will miss our beloved Pete forever.'
Donald Trump made fewer appearances outside the presidential bubble during his first 100 days in office than his three immediate predecessors, according to a Reuters review.

Trump made comments at official appearances 132 times in the first 100 days, compared with 139 by Barack Obama in the same period, 177 by George W. Bush and 162 by Bill Clinton.

Only 22 of those appearances were in settings outside the White House, Air Force One, a government agency or Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Florida resort that his administration has dubbed the 'winter White House.'

That compares to 62 such appearances by Obama in his first 100 days, 80 for Bush and 46 for Clinton.

Donald Trump (pictured at the White House this week) made fewer appearances outside the presidential bubble during his first 100 days in office than his three immediate predecessors

Only 22 of his 132 official appearances were in settings outside the White House, Air Force One, a government agency or Mar-a-Lago (pictured on February 20)

Reuters reviewed public remarks delivered by the presidents using White House websites, pool reports and documents archived by the American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The U.S. president cast himself as a Washington outsider and a populist champion during the election campaign, and often seemed most comfortable at raucous campaign rallies.

While Trump still communicates through his prolific use of Twitter, he has not traveled out into the country often since taking office on Jan. 20.

Trump has made public comments on five separate occasions at Mar-a-Lago. Critics have slammed the repeated trips to his own Palm Beach resort, where membership doubled to $200,000 following Trump's election victory.

None of the other three presidents spoke to the public from a personal residence during their first 100 days, although Bush spoke twice at Camp David, the rustic presidential retreat in Maryland.

Trump made comments at official appearances 132 times in the first 100 days, compared with 139 by Barack Obama in the same period, 177 by George W. Bush and 162 by Bill Clinton

Bradley Blakeman, a former Bush administration official, said Trump should do targeted events focused on specific legislative priorities (pictured, Bill Clinton)

Asked about his travel, Trump's advisers say he is focused on implementing the promises he made at his campaign rallies.

'There is obviously a premium on his time,' said White House spokeswoman Natalie Strom. 'We proceed with any additional travel very thoughtfully.'

But Bradley Blakeman, who was deputy assistant for scheduling and appointments under Bush, said Trump may be missing out on opportunities to sell his message to the public.

'Deals are made in Washington on Pennsylvania Avenue, but they are sold on Main Street, USA,' Blakeman said. 'It's an important part of the bully pulpit.'

He said Trump should do targeted events focused on specific legislative priorities that will get coverage by local news outlets, where stories on presidential visits tend to be more positive than in the national media.

During his first 100 days, Bush visited more than half a dozen schools in Washington and at least five different states as he promoted his education initiative, No Child Left Behind.

Trump's first major legislative push has focused on reforming the U.S. healthcare system, but he has not yet delivered remarks at a medical facility.

Trump's first major legislative push has focused on reforming the U.S. healthcare system, but he has not yet delivered remarks at a medical facility

Trump, said to be a homebody, lamented the confining nature of the presidency. Pictured, Trump with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Mar-a-Lago on February 10

In an interview with Reuters last week, Trump lamented the confining nature of the presidency with its 24-hour Secret Service protection.

'You're really into your own little cocoon, because you have such massive protection that you really can't go anywhere,' he said.

The president is also said to be a homebody who keeps a tight inner circle of loyal advisers.

Trump has not yet made an international trip as president. Obama traveled to Canada on his first overseas trip just one month after assuming office, while Bush visited Mexico around the same time in 2001.

Regardless, Trump remains a constant focus of public attention, helped by his use of Twitter, a tool that was seldom used or was entirely unavailable to his most recent three predecessors.

'Interaction online does not completely replace the value of in-person appearances, but you can't ignore the fact that there is no limit on the amount of people the president's tweets can reach,' Strom said.

Larry Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota, said that while Trump's use of social media had opened a new chapter in presidential communication, his lack of sustained attention on any one issue undercut his message.

'There's not a focus there. When a president is all over the map, then he loses his power,' Jacobs said.
An Iraqi asylum seeker allegedly staged a minibus crash to rip off insurance companies by $1.2 million.

Thamer Ari, 35, was arrested on Tuesday after allegedly providing a group of refugees he met at Christmas Island Detention Centre to be the bus' passengers in the May 2015 crash at a Liverpool intersection,The Daily Telegraph reported.

Police last year launched a crack down in fraudulent car insurance claims, which are believed to be increasing premiums for drivers by up to $200 a year.

The scam is believed to be led by Vietnamese and Afghan refugees, who make claims on minor or fake crashes in an attempt to win payouts from insurers. The scams are thought to be costing up to $400 million a year.

Ari is facing 17 charges of dishonesty obtaining financial advantage and his lawyer told the court he should be granted bail due to health complications.

Thamer Ari, 35, was arrested on Tuesday after allegedly providing a group of refugees he met on Christmas Island (pictured) to be the bus' passengers in the May 2015 crash

Ari's co-accused Haidar Al Jeezai (pictured) allegedly tried to lodge the personal injury claims

The lawyer said his family, including his seven children, would not leave Australia if he were released on bail as they were on bridging visas and were scared to go back to Iraq.

But Magistrate Imad Abdul-Karim denied the request, saying Ari could speak with other witnesses if released, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Rickard told the court the refugee passengers on the bus were 'certainly' on Christmas Island with Ari and are 'complicit'.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Rickard told the court the refugee passengers on the bus were 'certainly' on Christmas Island with Ari and are 'complicit'

Police last year launched a crack down on fraudulent car insurance claims, which are believed to be increasing premiums for drivers by up to $200 a year. Pictured, police salvaging a car in an unrelated matter believed to be involved in a scam

'They were certainly in Christmas Island with him, they were certainly on the bus with him,' he said.

The minibus collided with a Toyota Kluger at the Liverpool intersection in 2015 to allegedly scam $1.2 million worth of personal injury claims.

Ari's co-accused Haidar Al Jeezai allegedly tried to lodge the claims, but they were unsuccessful.
Theresa May is set to call a snap vote on bombing Syria if she wins an election landslide.

The Prime Minister will urge MPs to back military action against Bashar al-Assad's forces if they carry out another gas attack.

Last month a shocking sarin gas strike left over 80 innocent people dead in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhun.

Theresa May is set to call a snap vote on Bombing Syria if she wins an election landslide

The threat by Mrs May comes after British spies linked two Syrian generals to the attack in April, reports the Sun.

A Government source claims they are '99.9 per cent' sure Assad was responsible for the horrific chemical assault on his own people.

If the Conservatives win with a landslide victory in the upcoming General Election, the issue will be discussed in the House of Commons.

A Whitehall source, told the Sun: 'After the election, we will have a clear majority and we will push it through.'

Last month Assad claimed the sarin attack was a 'fabrication' to justify a US missile strike on Syrian forces.

The Syrian leader faces calls to be tried as a war criminal, but ally Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution condemning Assad and calling for a speedy investigation into the attack.

Last month Assad claimed the sarin attack was a 'fabrication' to justify a US missile strike on Syrian forces

Western leaders including US President Donald Trump accused Assad of being behind the attack in rebel-held Khan Sheikhun, saying his forces used a chemical weapon during an air strike.

Charity Human Rights Watch has claimed that Syrian government forces also used deadly nerve gas in three other recent attacks.

Assad's forces are also stepping up chlorine gas attacks and have begun using surface-fired rockets filled with chlorine in fighting near Damascus, the US-based rights group said in a new report.

'The government's use of nerve agents is a deadly escalation -- and part of a clear pattern,' said Kenneth Roth, Human Rights Watch's executive director.

'In the last six months, the government has used warplanes, helicopters, and ground forces to deliver chlorine and sarin in Damascus, Hama, Idlib and Aleppo.'

'That's widespread and systematic use of chemical weapons,' he said.
Air passengers have been warned about posting pictures of their boarding passes on social media after frequent flyer points were stolen from Qantas customers.

Qantas confirmed on Thursday a series of thefts and attempted thefts of frequent flyer points, which they were forced to reimburse, according to Perth Now.

A picture of a boarding pass posted to social media can contain all the information required for someone to access the booking online, security experts said.

Air passengers have been warned about posting pictures of their boarding passes on social media after frequent flyer points were stolen from Qantas customers

A picture of a boarding pass posted to social media can contain all the information required for someone to access the booking online, security experts said. Pictured: A Qantas boarding pass posted to Facebook including a barcode, name and frequent flyer number

Tech security blogger Brian Krebs said a boarding pass can be decoded by taking a computer screenshot, enlarging it and running it through a free online barcode reader.

Pictures of boarding passes can also include the passenger's name and frequent flyer number, making it easier for hackers to access accounts.

Qantas are ramping up security measures by introducing a two-step authentication process for customers trying to log-in to a booking, according to Perth Now.

The process will involve entering a four-digit PIN and responding to a phone call or SMS.

'We continually invest in our people, processes and technology to protect the security of our members and their accounts,' a Qantas spokesman told the website.

'We have introduced SMS alerts to members as an additional security measure to confirm account changes.'
The death of a 15-year-old boy who was killed during an unsupervised duck hunting trip has been labelled 'tragic but avoidable' by a coroner.

James 'Jamie' Johnson was killed by his own rifle in May 2015 while out shooting ducks with his friends in rural farmland area at Thornton, New Zealand.

The teen died in a freak accident after his firearm discharged and he unintentionally shot himself in the face as he sat waiting for ducks.

James Johnson (pictured) was killed in a freak accident when his hunting rifle went off in his face

The 15-year-old (pictured) was a regular duck hunter but was handling the firearm without adult supervision

Coroner Wallace Bain pointed out the young boys were supposed to be under adult supervision during the hunting trip but were not, stuff.co.nz reports.

'This court is in the view that licensed adults in charge of minors using firearms have a greater duty of care in regards to the immediate and active supervisions of unlicensed minors,' he said.

'It is very dangerous to let even a single, unlicensed minor to be unsupervised around firearms.'

He also concluded that Jamie's death was 'avoidable' and police at the time were right to blame a lack of supervision from adults on the hunt.

'The main issue here is that firearms were provided to the boys and the use of them was facilitated and there was no proper supervision,' Mr Bain said.

He was hunting in rural farmland in Thornton, New Zealand (pictured) when the freak accident took place

The coroner concluded Jamie's death was 'avoidable' and police at the time were right to blame a lack of supervision from adults on the hunt (stock image)

The adult who was initially tasked with supervising the young boys on the hunting trip was charged with criminal nuisance by permitting underage and unsupervised persons to handle firearms.

Jamie's father Colin Johnston said previously said his son's death was accidental and no one else was to blame.

'It was an accident, it was self inflicted and no one else was involved. James is a regular hunter. He has been out hunting with me ever since he could walk and he regularly went in that area.'

'He loved life, he loved duck shooting and had lots of friends,' said his father.

The youngest of three siblings, Jamie was a passionate athlete who made his debut playing in the 1st XV rugby team for Trident High School.
A mysterious man named that Cassie Sainsbury claims duped her into buying 15 headphone boxes filled with almost six kilograms of cocaine has become a 'ghost'.

The 22-year-old's newly-appointed lawyer Orlando Herran said his team had been unable to trace the man, who had acted as her guide during her time in Colombia.

'There is no evidence of his true identity,' Mr Herran admitted to Fairfax Media. '(But) there are criminals who specialise in tricking foreigners in this way.'

In a translated interview with Adelaide radio FIVEaa on Thursday, he said a man Cassie knew only as 'Tom or Angelo' had met her at the airport with the package.

'I also believe her version of the events ... however it is here that we have a very grave problem,' he said.

Search is on: Cassandra Sainsbury's lawyer says the man that is said to have duped his client into buying 15 headphone boxes filled with cocaine (above) is a 'ghost'

Pictured are the headphones that Cassandra believed she was buying from a man she had just met. Her family claims the man offered to be her translator and find gifts for her family, but her lawyer said she had bought them to resell in Australia to make money

Mr Herran also said that Cassie could be on a flight back home to Australia in just 90 days if she chose to admit a level of guilt in smuggling the drugs.

He claimed that if the personal trainer made a deal with prosecutors to strike out the drug trafficking charges and confess 'complicity' in the crime, she could avoid doing serious jail time in an overcrowded South American jail.

He told the ABC that Cassie could try to reach an agreement with prosecutors and be given a sentence of four years instead of the minimum 10-year sentence that cocaine smuggling carries in Colombia.

'If we can get a deal with prosecutors, we could avoid drug trafficking charges and instead get complicity or something where she had a guilty act of not reviewing her luggage,' he told the publication.

He said pleading guilty to complicity could lead to a much lighter sentence that might result in 'conditional liberty', which would allow them to apply for parole or house arrest that could be served out in Australia.

'She would have to present herself before authorities and (follow) rules of conduct and a series of controls. If we get this, we could ask that she return to Australia and keep this condition and finish her punishment with Australian authorities.'

Ms Sainsbury's lawyer said that Cassie could be on a flight back home to Australia in just 90 days if she chose to admit a level of guilt in smuggling the drugs.

Ms Sainsbury claims the headphones were innocently bought in bulk from a local man as gifts for her bridal party. Her family insist she is 'naive' and was unaware of their real contents

Mr Herran also said Cassandra had bought the headphones to 'sell in Australia and make money' - totally at odds with her family's explanation that they were gifts for her bridal party.

Cassandra's distraught mother said her daughter told her she had trusted a Colombian man who offered to be her translator and find gifts for her family.

'She mentioned these headphones she wanted to get and this man said 'I know a guy and if you buy 16 or 18 of them he can give you a really good price',' she told KIIS 1065.

'The day of her departure he gave her the package wrapped in black plastic and she put it in her luggage'.

Her lawyer said pleading guilty to 'complicity' could lead to a much lighter sentence that might result in 'conditional liberty'
A car has slammed into a ute while pulling out from a parking spot, leaving viewers stumped as to whose fault the crash was.

Footage of the incident on Todman Avenue in Sydney was captured on dash cam and uploaded to Facebook on Wednesday.

In the video, a black Audi can be seen stopping to let a blue car out of its parking space.

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A car has slammed into a ute while pulling out from a parking spot, leaving viewers stumped as to who's fault the crash was

As the blue car creeps further out a white ute drives past the Audi on the right hand side

The blue car slowly edges out, its view to the left blocked by the black Audi.

As the blue car creeps further out a white ute drives past the Audi on the right hand side.

The ute sees the blue car edging out and veers to the right, but its too late.

The blue car t-bones the ute, before they both drive to the side of the road to exchange insurance information.

The blue car t-bones the ute, before they both drive to the side of the road to exchange insurance information

Social media users seem to be divided on who was at fault.

'Ute was driving in right lane parked vehicle enters traffic without checking and turns right blue cars fault,' said one person.

But another said: 'The blue car was already 90% out of his park and the ute came flying along not breaking or stopping.'

However the majority of users seem to think the blue car was to blame for the accident because they didn't check thoroughly before pulling out.
Im so excited to have THE HEART OF A TEXAS COWBOY (#2 Men of Legend) finally in the hands of readers! I just love writing this series about a powerful family patriarch Stoker Legend and his three sons. Sam, Houston, and Luke are every bit as tough as the Cartwrights of the old TV series Bonanza. In fact, the Legend family might remind you of them (just a tad.)













Houston Legend is rocked back on his heels when his father comes in after a weekend of gambling and announces that he lost half of the mighty Lone Star Ranch. Two hundred and forty thousand acres disappeared overnight. Gone. But they can get it back...if Houston agrees to marry the new owners daughter and give her baby a name.





Anger crawls up Houstons spine. The last thing Houston wants is to get married, especially not to someone hes never seen. After much soul-searching, he reluctantly agrees, but he says love is out of the question and he strikes it from the marriage vows. Hes not letting anyone into his heart again. He'll see to Lara Boone's comfort and keep her and her baby safe but that's all.





Two weeks following the wedding, Houston gets ready to leave on a cattle drive. When his cook quits two days before they start and he cant find another, Lara volunteers.





Not quite a week out, he discovers riders following them and is shaken to learn theyre hell-bent on killing Lara. Amid danger, suspense, and an all-out fight to the finish, love blossoms between them. But can Houston and Lara live long enough to claim it?





The Great Western Trail that they take began in Kerrville and ran north to Dodge City, Kansas. Most of the land was inhospitable and water was difficult to find. Many feeder trails emptied into it. Since the Legend familys Lone Star Ranch sits in North Texas around the Vernon/Wichita Falls area, they drive the cattle west a short distance to connect with the trail at Doans Crossing.





Here are a few facts:





The average length of a cattle drive was 1,000 miles and one usually took 3-6 months.

They could only make around 10 miles a dayif they didnt have trouble.

Drovers earned $30-40 a month. The cook $60 and the Trail Boss $90. At todays inflation rate, a drover would receive around $59,000 at trails end.

Between 1866 and 1886 somewhere around 20 million cattle left Texas. Thats a lot.





I hope youll take this exciting journey with me as Houston fights ruthless outlaws who start picking off his men one by one, determined to stop them at all cost. And rejoice when he finds love and contentment with a wife he didnt want.





Publisher's Weekly gives it a Starred review: " The exciting plot, rich setting, and superb writing will delight fans of historical romances. "





Romantic Times gives it 4 stars: " This compassionate, poignant marriage-of-convenience love story demonstrates Brodays ability to bring a wide range of emotions to her characters in a fast-paced plotline without losing a bit of the powerful love story."





Book #3  To Marry a Texas Outlaw  will bring the series to a thrilling conclusion in November 2017. Its available for preorder now.









My question to you-- What is your favorite marriage of convenience story?
















A series of late frosts have wiped out grape crops, hitting wine producers across England and much of the Continent.

English winemakers, who have enjoyed remarkable plaudits and sales growth, are reporting catastrophic crop damage.

A warm spell earlier this year encouraged vines to produce plentiful numbers of buds that should have turned into grapes through the spring and summer.

Catastrophic: English winemakers, who have enjoyed remarkable plaudits and sales growth, are reporting significant crop damage this year

However, a sudden sharp fall in ground and air temperatures, taking them down to -6 centigrade over the past week or so, killed off the delicate buds.

As a result, leading vineyards responsible for producing fine English sparkling wines fear crop yields will collapse by as much as 80per cent.

Some English producers lit thousands of candles in between their vines to try and mitigate the worst of the ground frost, but these were useless against damaging and bitter air frost.

Nick Wenman, owner of the organic Albury vineyard near Guilford said: We can normally cope with ground frosts - they can be damaging but nothing like the air frost we experienced.

It was like an Arctic wind blowing through the vineyard which froze everything in its path. And because of the warm start to the year the buds were early and quite well-developed when it struck. We put out 1,000 candles but they are not so effective at tackling air frosts.

Second buds are never quite as fruitful and we may not have enough time for them to ripen properly - in our case this means a 50per cent shortfall which is not good for the long-term view.

It is very frustrating - English wines can compete throughout the world and are winning lots of international awards.

The failure of harvests this year will hit the shelves in 2019 and 2020.

Chief executive of the award winning Denbies Wine Estate, in Surrey, Chris White, said: The temperature dropped to -6C and at that level it causes catastrophic damage to buds.

He said staff had worked in vain using special fans and heaters to protect the vineyard, which at 265 acres in the UKs biggest, after an Arctic blast swept across the UK.

We are very disappointed and its quite heart breaking for the people who work in the vineyard all year round.

From what I hear the majority of English vineyards have been affected to some degree.

Made in England: The failure of harvests this year will hit the shelves in 2019 and 2020

British vineyards are not the only ones to have suffered. Some of Frances most famous winemaking regions, including Champagne, Bordeaux and Burgundy, were also affected by last weeks severe frosts.

French companies have been looking to snap up land in the UK for vineyards in the belief climate change will make this country a major wine producer in decades to come.

Just yesterday, the renowned French champagne house, Taittinger, made history by becoming the first to plant vines in the UK.

The company has entered into a joint venture with UK wine agents Hatch Mansfield and bought up land in Chilham, Kent, to plant 40 hectares of vines over the next three years.

Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, president of Champagne Taittinger, admitted he was so impressed by the quality of English sparkling wine that the family decided to start bottling their own.

The champagne house earmarked the Kent countryside as having the perfect conditions for grape growing - thanks to its chalk soils, climate and topography - and acquired the farmland in Autumn 2015.

Yesterday, he was joined by his wife, Claire, daughter, Vitalie, and Hatch Mansfield representatives to plant the first of 20 hectares of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier vines at the new estate.

The new wine will be named Domaine Evremond after Charles de Saint-Evremond, who is credited with helping introduce 17th-century London to the habit of quaffing champagne in the court of King Charles II.

Mr Taittinger, 63, said: Our family has always had a great affection for the UK and for Kent - my father Jean Taittinger twinned Canterbury with Reims when he was mayor of the latter in the 1950s.

We have been very impressed by the quality of English sparkling wine being produced, and we believe the combination of chalk soils, climate and topography of our site in Kent are ideal for producing quality sparkling wine.

These attributes are perfect for grape growing, and are very similar to the terroir in Champagne, for us it was a natural step to do this.
Labour could lose more than 200 seats in todays local elections, with pollsters forecasting significant defeats in its former heartlands of Scotland and Wales.

Polls point to the party suffering major defeats to the Tories in England and Wales and the SNP north of the border. In England, Ukip is expected to lose significant ground while the Lib Dems pick up seats.

The results will be seen as a major indicator of how the parties will fare in the general election on June 8.

In Scotland, results are expected to follow the outcome of the 2015 general election, with Labour losing seats and control of major councils to the SNP.

Labour could lose more than 200 seats in todays local elections, with pollsters forecasting significant defeats in its former heartlands of Scotland and Wales. Polls point to the party suffering major defeats to the Tories in England and Wales and the SNP north of the border

A recent poll by Rob Hayward, a Conservative peer and pollster, suggested Labour is likely to lose control of Glasgow council  which it has held for 30 years - in its former heartland.

Elections expert Professor John Curtice, of Strathclyde University, said it would be very very surprising if Labour retains control of any council in Scotland.

Nearly 5,000 seats are being contested in 88 councils across the country. According to one analysis, Labour could lose 75 seats in England and more than 100 in Wales. There are also important mayoral elections in six new devolved super-regions.

Elections are also being held for new super-mayors in six devolved English regions.

In the West Midlands, Tory candidate Andy Street, who quit as a managing director of John Lewis to contest the mayoralty, is up against Sion Simon, a former Labour MP in the region.

Labour dominates the boroughs which make up the seat, but polls suggest Mr Street could run him close.

In Greater Manchester, former Labour MP Andy Burnham is firm favourite. Anything but a comfortable win would be a disaster. He has been highly critical of Jeremy Corbyn, and publicly distanced himself from the partys leadership.

Labours Steve Rotherham should also win in Liverpool, in a region with seven of its safest parliamentary seats.

The Tories will hope to take Cambridgeshire and the West of England mayoralty, which covers Bath, Bristol, North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

In Greater Manchester, former Labour MP Andy Burnham is firm favourite

The victorious candidates will take powers over policing, planning policy and control significant funds from central government.

The mayoralties were created by George Osborne as part of his attempts to devolve powers to English regions and strengthen local government.

In recent weeks, senior Labour figures have played up the importance of the local elections , and challenged Labours poll ratings.

Last week a senior source said polls were often wrong, as recent elections had shown and shouldnt be trusted.

The source also said the locals were very important for Mr Corbyn and an interesting measure of how well things are going.

But yesterday Labours international trade spokesman Barry Gardiner attempted to downplay expectations.

On the cycle these are seats which are not in the metropolitan areas where Labour is traditionally strong, he told the BBCs Daily Politics.

Therefore one would expect given that we did relatively well the last time these seats were up for grabs that we would see a decline in their numbers.

Normally at this point in the electoral cycle, the governing party would expect to lose council elections, which are traditionally a protest vote against whoever is in No10.

But an analysis by Professors Colin Rawlings and Michael Thrasher, directors of the Elections Centre at Plymouth University, suggests the Tories will pick up 115 seats in England county council and unitary authority elections, while Labour will lose 75. Lib Dem gains could also reach three figures.

In recent weeks, senior Labour figures have played up the importance of the local elections , and challenged Labours poll ratings

In Wales, the poll put Labour losses at 130, and Tory gains 90. Labour could lose control of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport councils.

They also warned Ukip faces the near annihilation of its 2013 intake of councillors, with 100 or more losses.

Party analysts are watching closely the results in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire for signs of whether Theresa May can take seats from Labour in the Midlands.

At the weekend Mr Burnham warned there would be serious consequences unless Labour reconnected with the North of England. He said there was too much Hampstead and not enough Hull in todays Labour Party.

Conservative Party Chairman Patrick McLoughlin said: Every vote cast in the elections today really matters.

There is a clear choice  the competence of strong Conservative councils and elected mayors who will keep local taxes down with quality local services, versus the disarray of the rest.

Conservative councils and mayors deliver more for less, improving local services and standing up for local people.
Children must be taught in school what to do in a terror attack as they used to learn to be wary of strangers, says a top police chief.

A senior Scotland Yard officer said a Government campaign telling the public how to keep safe if they are caught in terror outrage must be drummed home to pupils.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Lucy DOrsi said the advice to run, hide and tell in a Paris-style massacre was as vital as warning children about everyday safety issues such as not going off with adults they do not know.

Children must be taught in school what to do in a terror attack as they used to learn to be wary of strangers, says a top police chief (pictured, the Bataclan concert hall after the Paris terror attacks in 2015)

She said any rampage on a packed building such as a shopping centre or public space was likely to affect a large number of young people.

Ms DOrsi, the National Police Chiefs Council spokesman for protective security, told the World Counter Terror Congress in London: When I was at school, everybody used to talk about stranger danger and that was the sort of buzz phrase and its still a thing I remember today.

Run Hide Tell, for me that messaging needs to be to children as well as to the broader public.

If we take a lot of our crowded places, and some of the places that you will work in, we know that at keys times they are a hub that attracts a lot of young people to go to those places.

The need to share the Run, Hide, Tell messaging in the same way I had stranger danger, I think for me is exceptionally important.

Alarming posters on what the public should do in the event of a terror outrage were issued by police in November 2014.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Lucy DOrsi said the advice to run, hide and tell in a Paris-style massacre was as vital as warning children about everyday safety issues such as not going off with adults they do not know. Pictured rock band U2 paying tribute to Paris terror victims

The campaign shows apparently terrified people running down flights of stairs, cowering in a darkened corner and anxiously talking on their mobile phones.

The message is: If you hear gunfire or a weapons attack, leave the area safely if you can. If this puts you in greater danger, find a safe place to take cover.

But critics pointed out that instead of an appeal for calm, the advice was a throwback to notices at the height of nuclear attack hysteria in the 1980s.

The Government re-launched the campaign in 2015, soon after the Paris attacks in which 130 people were killed during a series of gun and bomb attacks.

Campaigns warning about stranger danger included Charley Says, the cartoon cat who fronted public information films in the 1970s and 80s.

Comedian Kenny Everett provided the voice for the original safety messages, which were created by the governments Central Office for Information and warned children about issues such as not going off with unknown men and women.

The terrorism threat level has been judged severe in Britain for the past three years, meaning an attack is considered highly likely.
Fertility clinics are today accused of a cover-up over the number of women developing a painful and potentially fatal side effect of IVF.

Doctors are legally obliged to report severe cases of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), when IVF drugs cause womens ovaries to expand dangerously.

For at least six years, they have told watchdogs that between 16 and 60 women have been affected annually.

But figures uncovered by the Mail show about 800 women every year have to be taken to hospital after being injected with IVF drugs and developing the condition.

Fertility clinics are today accused of a cover-up over the number of women developing a painful and potentially fatal side effect of IVF (file image)

In one year, clinics reported just 16 cases of severe OHSS, which causes extreme back pain, stomach swelling, nausea, breathlessness and, in extreme cases, death.

However, there had been almost 700 emergency hospital admissions for the condition  more than 43 times the number declared by IVF doctors. There has also been a huge increase in the number of women suffering with the OHSS, the Mail has found. At least four women in the UK have died as a result of it.

Last night, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority said it was asking urgent questions of IVF clinics. Chairman Sally Cheshire told the Mail that it was very concerned fertility doctors might be under-reporting cases of OHSS.

MPs called for an overhaul of legislation to protect women. The revelation comes on the third day of a major investigation by the Daily Mail into the fertility industry.

We have revealed how IVF clinics convince women on low incomes to donate eggs in return for cash or free treatment.

Clinics also give women false hope of delaying motherhood by exaggerating their success rates with frozen eggs. The HFEA has launched a full inquiry into the clinics involved.

Women who have IVF are at risk of developing OHSS because of the hormone injections they have to take to stimulate egg production can make their ovaries go into overdrive. It is only possible to develop the condition as a result of fertility treatment.

In severe cases, OHSS will cause the ovaries to expand to more than 12cm  about five times their usual size. Excess fluid can accumulate in the abdomen, or around the lungs and heart, causing severe pain. This can lead to circulation and kidney problems, with some women having to be treated in intensive care with intravenous infusions.

Clinics are obliged to report cases of patients having to be hospitalised because of severe or critical OHSS. But experts say the term severe is vague.

Last year, there were 60 cases of severe or critical OHSS reported by UK clinics. But the NHS recorded 865 cases of women with OHSS going to hospital  and 836 were so serious they were emergency admissions. In 2010, clinics reported 16 cases of OHSS to the HFEA. But that year there were 691 emergency admissions.

In total, IVF clinics have reported 256 cases between 2010 and 2015. But over this time, there have been 4,792 admissions, with 4,587 classed as emergencies.

Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh has raised the issue of OHSS in parliament

As IVF has become increasingly popular, cases have risen. In 1995/96, there were a relatively low 404 emergency OHSS admissions.

IVF expert Dr John Parsons, a retired consultant at Kings College Hospital, said: The definition of severe is so vague. If the HFEA wants to get a true picture of OHSS it should insist that clinics report all cases when the patient has to be hospitalised.

Siobhain McDonagh, who as a Labour MP sat on the Women and Equalities Select Committee and has raised the issue of OHSS in parliament, said: The Mail has done a huge service by uncovering these figures. This is ground-breaking.

The difference between the NHS statistics and the figures reported are incredible. The law needs to specifically mention the need for doctors to protect the welfare of women.

Tory MP Dr Sarah Wollaston, who was chairman of the health select committee, said: We need to look carefully at the reasons for the discrepancies.

The HFEA said that in some cases, women could have been admitted with mild or moderate OHSS, which might explain why the NHS data is higher.

'DRUGS MADE MY OVARIES SWELL TO FIVE TIMES THEIR USUAL SIZE' Karen Roscoe-Baileys ovaries swelled to five times their normal size because of IVF drugs Karen Roscoe-Baileys ovaries swelled to five times their normal size because of IVF drugs. She was breathless and lethargic and her stomach became so bloated she appeared to be seven months pregnant. The charity manager had to be rushed to hospital, where doctors discovered she had fluid in her lungs and abdomen. Mrs Roscoe-Bailey, 44, from Pontefract, West Yorkshire, suffered with ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome six years ago, during her second of four rounds of IVF. She and her husband Mark, 42, an IT director, were terrified and did not feel they had been properly warned about the condition by their consultant. Mrs Roscoe-Bailey was put on bed rest for three weeks and she had her stomach measured every day while doctors tried to drain the fluid inside her. She later discovered she was pregnant  and was delighted  but the effects of OHSS were severe. My stomach never really went back to normal, she told the Mail. By the time the fluid was gone, I was about five months pregnant and had a big baby bump. I didnt see my baby grow, or experience my pregnancy in a normal way, which is something I was not prepared for. I felt really panicked because breathing was so difficult. Mrs Roscoe-Bailey's two daughters, five-year-old Georgia and seven-month-old Harlie After battling OHSS, Mrs Roscoe-Bailey gave birth to her daughter Georgia in 2012. She and her husband continued with IVF treatment and had four cycles in five years, spending about 20,000. However, it was unsuccessful. During subsequent IVF cycles, Mrs Roscoe-Bailey often felt the symptoms of OHSS were on the verge of returning  but doctors monitored her drugs to make sure she did not get it again. After stopping treatment, they naturally conceived their second daughter, Harlie, who was born eight months ago. Mrs Roscoe-Bailey added: I educated myself on the whole IVF industry and OHSS wasnt something I was ever told about. There should be more information so women are aware of the risks. Thankfully, we have our girls. Advertisement

Do you feel you were exploited by a fertility clinic? Contact the Daily Mail Investigations Unit via ivf@dailymail.co.uk
The Cairns mother who stabbed eight children to death will not face trial because smoking cannabis her whole life gave her schizophrenia and religious delusions she was the 'Chosen One'.

Raina Thaiday, 37, thought she was saving her four sons, four daughters, and one niece from the end of the world when she stabbed them to death at the family's Manoora home on December 19, 2014.

She was smoking up to 20 cones of cannabis a day when she developed a severe form of schizophrenia.

Religious delusions began about one month before the stabbing. The 37-year-old believed she was the 'Chosen One' and became obsessed with cleansing to protect her and her family from demons.

The night before the attack, neighbours overheard Thaiday talking to herself: 'You hurt my kids, I hurt them first. You stab my kids, I stab them first. If you kill them, I'll kill them.'

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Raina Thaiday (pictured) thought she was saving the eight children from the end of the world when she stabbed them to death

Malili (standing left) and Daniel (standing right), along with (sitting, from left) Rayden, Petronella, Rodney and (far right) Azariah were allegedly killed by their mother. A cousin (second from right) is not a victim

The next day, Thaiday heard a 'dove call' telling her it was time to act.

The mother first killed the family's pet duck, then turned on the children - four boys and four girls, aged between two and 14 years.

Quickly realising what she had done, Thaiday stabbed herself 35 times and waited to die on the front verandah where she was found by her adult son Lewis Warria, who called triple zero.

She was charged with eight counts of murder.

But Justice Jean Dalton last month ruled in Queensland's Mental Health Court that Thaiday suffered a psychotic episode and was of 'unsound mind' at the time of the attack.

A fence surrounds the house in which eight children were stabbed to death in Manoora, Cairns

Police attend the crime scene at the Manoora home after the eight children were found dead

'To her way of thinking at that time what she was doing was the best thing she could do for her children, she was trying to save them,' Justice Dalton said.

Several psychiatrists agreed Thaiday's persistent cannabis abuse triggered her schizophrenia despite the illness usually manifesting in the younger years of life.

Thaiday did give up drugs and alcohol as part of her obsession with cleansing but by then it was too late, the symptoms had acquired 'a life of their own'.

The night before the murders, neighbours reported seeing Thaiday pacing back and forth talking to herself or on the phone that in hindsight were clearly psychotic.

'I have the power to kill people and to curse people,' Thaiday said.

'You hurt my kids, I hurt them first. You stab my kids, I stab them first. If you kill them, I'll kill them.'

Local residents line the road as a hearse carrying one of the coffins of eight children drives by Murray Street in Manoora, Cairns, where the children were stabbed to death

Mourners attend a floral tribute for the eight children near the crime scene, just days after the stabbing

Treating psychiatrist Angela Voita told the court Thaiday had poor insight into her illness and was reluctant to take medication.

Dr Voita said while she was currently stable, Thaiday was able to hide her more subtle symptoms from those who did not know her well, and could be violent to herself and others if not medicated.

The court heard Thaiday remained in a state of psychosis until July 2015 despite attempts to alleviate her symptoms with several different anti-psychotic medications.

She has since relapsed twice, once at the two-year anniversary of the murders, and expressed the desire to kill other patients in the high-security facility where she is being held.

Psychiatrist Frank Varghese said Thaiday's illness was 'schizophrenia at its very depth and at its worst'.

Mourners, believed to be relatives, grieve at the scene after Thaiday stabbed the eight children to death

A man believed to be the father of some of the eight children stabbed to death is held up by family members two days after the attack

'This is quite a unique case and a horrendous case, the likes of which I've never seen before,' Dr Varghese told the court.

The court heard Thaiday had no criminal history and had not been in contact with psychiatric services despite previous disturbing episodes.

Justice Dalton ordered Thaiday continue to receive involuntary treatment and be allowed escorted leave on the grounds of the high-security health facility where she is being held.

She said she was impressed that Thaiday had acknowledged what she'd done and appreciated her rehabilitation was being hindered by grief and post-traumatic stress disorder.

'Her children were the things that had given her the most happiness in life,' Justice Dalton said.

A woman cries during a memorial service for the eight children - Malili Warria, Vita Thaiday, Shantae Warria, La'Torrence Warria, Azariah Willie, Daniel Willie, Rodney Willie and Patranella Willie

The Mental Health Act prohibited Justice Dalton's decision, made on April 6, from being published for 28 days.

National domestic violence helpline: 1800 737 732 or 1800RESPECT. In an emergency call triple zero.

Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467.

Multicultural Mental Health Australia www.mmha.org.au.
The New York woman who allegedly left her boyfriend lying in his own filth for more than a week before calling police appeared in court on Wednesday.

Lynne Roberts was dressed in a blue pantsuit and appeared attentive in court with her attorney, Roger L Stavis, as she listened to the judge present her charges.

She is accused of leaving her 67-year-old boyfriend, Peter Locker, lying face-down in his own 'feces, urine and vomit' after he 'fell over from vertigo' for more than a week before calling the police.

The New York woman who allegedly left her boyfriend lying in his own filth for more than a week before calling police appeared in court on Wednesday

Lynne Roberts, right, was dressed in a blue pantsuit and appeared attentive in court with her attorney, Roger L Stavis, left, as she listened to the judge present her charges

Roberts was formally charged in New York criminal court with first-degree endangering the welfare of an incompetent or disabled person - which carries up to seven years in prison.

The New York-based former food writer allegedly let him develop fetid open sores on his face, chest, elbow and knee, and only rang 911 after eight days when she decided her helpless partner of 25 years was acting less 'hostile' towards her.

Medics found Locker, who is now in an assisted living facility, sprawled on the floor with kidney failure, blood poisoning and raw skin around his festering sores due to lack of blood flow, according to shocking court papers.

The Douglas Elliman agent left Mr Locker covered with flesh so decayed that 'you could see his chest bones', Assistant District Attorney Danielle Turcotte alleged.

Roberts (L) was formally charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of an incompetent or disabled person - which carries up to seven years in prison

Roberts claimed Locker had 'called out' for her and she gave him 'water and kisses' while he was lying there.

She said that he told her not to help him up, and she worried that he would 'yell' at her if she tried, according to the criminal complaint.

'I tried to get him up but he told me no, that he will do it,' she told police.

'He did call out for me and I gave him water and kisses when he did. I was afraid that if I kept trying to help him, he was going to yell at me. I am afraid of him because he's verbally aggressive with me.'

The former restaurant reviewer eventually made the 911 call from their Upper East Side apartment on March 15.

The New York-based former food writer only rang 911 after eight days when she decided her helpless partner of 25 years was acting less 'hostile' towards her (pictured, their Upper East Side apartment)

On Wednesday, Mr Locker looked 'frail and filthy' while hooked up to an intravenous drip and a heart monitor at New York Hospital, the New York Post reported.

Real estate broker Lynne Roberts, 68, allegedly left her boyfried, 67, lying face-down in his own 'feces, urine and vomit' for more than a week before calling the police

Prosecutors said he was rushed to New York Presbyterian Hospital, but could die from his condition.

Attorney Turcotte said that the 'best case scenario' was that he could be treated to 'live a little longer, but he will not be able to leave the ICU.'

A source at the pair's apartment building described Roberts and Locker as 'a strange couple' who 'never came out during the day,' according to the Post.

Roberts has sold three dozen apartments, including a $3.2 million deal on the Upper West Side, according to her professional bio.

She had previously worked as a marketing manager for Evian and Louis Roederer champagne and co-authored two cookbooks.

Roberts, who was described as having 'personal warmth and good humor', earned two Masters of Art degrees at Colombia University and worked as an art dealer in her early career.

Roberts is accused of letting Peter Locker develop fetid open sores on his face, chest, elbow, and knee after he 'fell over from vertigo' and 'couldn't get back up (pictured, New York Presbyterian Hospital where Locker was rushed to by medics)

At her arraignment on March 16, Roberts' lawyer claimed she had suffered a 'very nasty fall herself'.

'He's actually been the caregiver to her up until he took a fall in their apartment.

'She offered her assistance and he refused it for a period of time. During that period of time, she continued to bring him food and tend to his needs,' he alleged.

He claimed that she rang the police after 'the relationship softened some.


The Turner Prize is no longer the preserve of the Young British Artist, with everyone on this year's shortlist aged over 40.

The shortlist for this year's prize also includes two artists over the age of 50 for the first time in more than 25 years.

Since 1991, the upper age limit for those eligible to be considered was set at 50 but the rule change was confirmed earlier this year to reflect 'the fact that artists can experience a breakthrough in their work at any age'.

62-year-old Lubaina Himid is one of the four artists to be shortlisted for this year's Turner Prize

British painter Hurvin Anderson is 52, and Lubaina Himid, who was born in Zanzibar, is 62.

They will compete against German artist Andrea Buttner and Palestinian-English artist Rosalind Nashashibi, both of whom are in their 40s.

Anderson, who was born in Birmingham and currently lives and works in London, is known for his vibrant still-life and landscape paintings with an overarching theme of community.

His notable shift between abstract and representational focus is one of his defining styles, and he often uses political and social topics for his subject matter as well as drawing on his Caribbean heritage.

Himid celebrates black creativity and the African diaspora with her work, which includes paintings, prints, drawings and installations.

A key figure of the Black Arts Movement, she currently lives and works in Preston.

Himid celebrates black creativity and the African diaspora with her work, which includes paintings, prints, drawings and installations

For Buttner, who is based in London and Berlin, the limitations of the body are a frequent source of inspiration, and her diverse portfolio includes works of printmaking, sculpture, painting, film and collaborative projects.

Croydon-born, London-based Nashashibi works primarily in film and also paints and creates prints, often fusing the different art forms together, and she drew on domestic life in Gaza and the political background for her piece Electrical Gaza 2015.

In March, Tate Britain director Alex Farquharson, chairman of the Turner Prize jury, announced that artists of any age could now be shortlisted.

The four artists' work will be displayed in an exhibition at the Ferens Art Gallery in Hull as part of the UK City of Culture celebrations from September 26 2017 until January 7 2018.

The winner - who will receive a 25,000 prize - will be announced at a ceremony aired live on the Turner Prize's broadcast partner the BBC on December 5.

A Fashionable Marriage', 1986, part of an installation view of The Place is Here, Nottingham Contemporary 2017, by Lubaina Himi

Named after the landscape painter JMW Turner, the prize has attracted heated debate since its inception in 1984.

Last year, a huge sculpture of buttocks around 16ft (nearly 5m) high was shortlisted for the prize, which was later won by Helen Marten, whose installation featured coins, cotton buds, shoe soles and eggs.

Previous winners have included Damien Hirst, famous for his pickled shark, Chris Ofili, known for incorporating elephant dung into his paintings, Martin Creed, who displayed a light going on and off, and transvestite potter Grayson Perry.

It is awarded annually to an artist born, living or working in Britain, for an outstanding exhibition or public presentation of their work anywhere in the world in the previous year.

Since 2011 it has been staged outside London every other year.
North Koreas stand-off with America is similar to the Cuban missile crisis, Britains former foreign secretary said yesterday.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind said Donald Trump was deadly serious in seeing Kim Jong-Uns acts of provocation as a strategic threat to America.

He also raised the prospect of the US blitzing Pyongyangs ballistic missile stockpiles before the country develops the capability to strike the US mainland.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un waves from a balcony of the Grand People's Study house following a military parade marking the 105th anniversary of the birth of late North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung, in Pyongyang on April 15, 2017

He said: The reality is, Kim Jong Un has said that the objective of North Korea, having got nuclear weapons, is also to achieve ballistic missile technology that will be sufficiently sophisticated to weaponise these nuclear warheads and have a range that will enable them to reach the mainland of the United States.

The missiles can already reach Hawaii, he warned.

This is not just the US involving itself in some global issue that mainly affects the Far East. It has implications for the United States itself.

It is closer to the Cuban missile crisis than to some of the other problems we have had to deal with, he said.

Speaking at a security and counter-terror conference in London, he said the Cuban missile crisis was the Soviets putting nuclear warheads in Cuba.

This thereby threatened the United States directly, he said.

He added: I think the Americans are deadly serious in seeing this as a strategic threat ultimately to themselves.

Sir Malcolm said the US military would probably be telling President Trump that is unlikely they could destroy the countrys nuclear weapons capability.

Such an option could end up in an all-out war.

US President Donald Trump speaks during an event with Independent Community Bankers Association in the Kennedy Garden of the the White House on May 1, 2017 in Washington, DC

But he said the military chiefs might be telling Trump: What we might be able to because its not yet at an advanced stage, is destroy their long range ballistic missile capability.

If they cant get the nuclear weapons to the United States by definition you predict yourself.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said yesterday that the United States was working on more sanctions targeting North Korea if Pyongyang takes steps that merit a new response.

We are preparing additional sanctions if it turns out North Koreas actions warrant additional sanctions,Tillerson said in remarks to State Department employees.
Thousands of new mothers are left without food or pain relief in overstretched NHS maternity units, leaving many psychologically scarred, research reveals today.

Moments after giving birth, they are shunted into crowded post-natal NHS wards where they receive only the most basic care during the crucial first hours of their babys life.

As a result, a fifth of new mothers are left with mental-health problems, the research suggests.

Thousands of new mothers are left without food or pain relief in overstretched NHS maternity units, leaving many psychologically scarred, research reveals today. Stock image

In extreme cases, women develop post-natal depression or even post-traumatic stress disorder  an illness associated with soldiers in wartime.

Many decide not to have another child specifically because of the trauma they experienced after labour.

Nearly one in six women say they discharge themselves early to escape the horrors of NHS maternity wards.

The research by the online advice forum Mumsnet is based on a survey of 1,224 mothers who gave birth in Britain during the past three years.

Experts last night said the NHS focuses attention on delivering a baby, after which mothers are effectively abandoned to cope alone.

Only 8.5 per cent of total maternity care spending in England goes on post-natal care, despite the importance of this time for mothers to bond with their infants, learn to breastfeed and care for the child, and the risk to her mental and physical health.

Some 61 per cent of mothers surveyed said they could not get food on the post-natal ward when they were hungry, and 45 per cent were abandoned without enough pain relief.

Twenty-two per cent were not given drinking water, and 19 per cent were left without washing facilities.

One said: We left earlier than we should have and ended up back in hospital  it was the beginning of hellish mental-health difficulties for me. I am pregnant again now, and I am scared.

Another said: The post-natal ward was like a disaster zone.

Some 62 per cent of women said their post-natal ward was understaffed, and 19 per cent said staying in hospital had affected their mental health.

Another 20 per cent were frightened for their wellbeing or their babys, while 15 per cent felt unsafe during their stay.

IT WAS SO BAD I WON'T HAVE ANY MORE CHILDREN Anna Waters gave birth to her daughter Isla two and a half years ago When Anna Waters gave birth to her daughter Isla two and a half years ago, she was relieved to see the end of a traumatic few days. The labour was horrific. It took three goes to induce her and seven to administer an epidural before Isla was delivered by forceps. Mrs Waters expected to spend several days recovering in a quiet ward at East Surrey Hospital in Redhill, supported by caring midwives. But she was taken to a crowded, noisy ward where she had almost Third-World care, lying in blood-stained sheets in filthy, tiny cubicles, with hostile, uncaring staff. She was not fed and had to go to the cafe, despite not being able to feel her legs after the epidural. Mrs Waters, 31, discharged herself after a day and a half, but ended up with the breast inflammation mastitis, and was readmitted a month later. I struggled to bond with my daughter and developed severe post-natal depression, she said. My husband had post-traumatic stress disorder because the birth was so traumatic. She says she complained, and she and her husband Adam, 32, have decided not to have more children after such a bad experience. Victoria Daley, of Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said: We do not have any record of an official complaint by Mrs Waters regarding her care. We would welcome an opportunity to explore any concerns. Advertisement

Five per cent developed post-natal depression, which they said was at least partly caused by their care after birth.

This suggests that of 700,000 new mothers in England and Wales each year, 35,000 develop depression because of poor post-natal care. But the NHS is poorly equipped to help them. Suicide is the leading cause of death among expectant and new mothers. Yet 43 per cent of health boards in England provide no specialised maternal mental-health service at all.

One new mother said: When my health reached crisis point the staff were excellent and saved my life, but I got to the point where I was in danger because staff were overstretched. I was ignored, isolated and left to deteriorate.

As a result of their experience, a fifth of new mothers are left with mental-health problems, research suggests. Stock image

Among those who would have been likely to have more children, 5 per cent said the experience had contributed to a decision not to expand their family.

Mumsnet boss Justine Roberts said: Women whove just given birth should not be going hungry or thirsty, or having to ask repeatedly for pain relief, or wash in dirty bathrooms. NHS resources tend to be focused on pregnancy care and birth. That focus falls away when women leave the labour room.

Women deserve similar levels of attention in the crucial days and weeks following birth.

Cathy Warwick, chief executive of the Royal College of Midwives, said: This is not good enough. Post-natal services are the Cinderella of maternity services. The post-natal period can be a difficult time, when the highest level of care and support is needed.

Elizabeth Duff, of the National Childbirth Trust, said: Its unacceptable. Many women get good care in labour, then are left to fend for themselves. This situation has to change.

An NHS England spokesman said: In an NHS survey of 20,000 new mothers, 95 per cent felt they were treated with kindness and understanding, and 88 per cent felt if they needed attention, they received it. We continue to make maternity care more personalised before, during and after birth to give mothers and babies the best start.

A Tory source added: We are working to ensure expectant mothers get named midwives who provide care through birth and the post-natal period, with additional support for those with mental-health concerns. But there is more to do.
Kelly Landry sent a text message to her husband Anthony Bell about Channel Nine star Erin Molan because she was 'jealous' of their relationship, a court has heard.

In closing submissions of Ms Landry and Mr Bell's AVO hearing, defence counsel Ian Temby, QC, told magistrate Robert Williams the evidence relating to the NRL Footy Show co-host Molan was irrelevant to the case.

'It matters not what the primary cause of the break-up in Hobart was,' Mr Temby said.

'You'll remember that (Ms Landry) sent a message that mentioned the first forename of a particular woman and catergorised my client's relationship with that woman as "odd".

'And it looks as if that was jealousy and it may be jealous over-reaction because at the end of the day she doesn't seem to say it was more than that.'

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Sean Ogilvy (pictured) the policeman fiance of Channel Nine star Erin Molan has arrived at court to testify in the bitter AVO battle between Kelly Landry and Anthony Bell

Kelly Landry arrives at the Downing Centre Local Court, Sydney, for the fourth day of an AVO hearing

Snr Const Ogilvy was asked by Mr Bell's legal team to provide a statement about what he may have witnessed on November 19 and 20, a day after Ms Landry claims Mr Bell assaulted her

'Certainly there were unhappy differences that day,' Mr Temby continued.

'He certainly greatly resented the insinuation, at least, of infidelity. All of these matters are unimportant.'

On Monday,the court heard Ms Landry had sent messages to her husband, accusing him of an 'odd' relationship with the NRL Footy Show co-host.

In one message sent just hours after Molan and Mr Bell combined to win the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, Ms Landry wrote to her husband: 'I know about Erin'.

Sean Ogilvy, a Detective Senior Constable with New South Wales police, took to the witness box at Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday to give evidence about a weekend he and Molan spent with Ms Landry and Mr Bell, in November last year.

The officer was asked by Mr Bell's legal team to provide a personal statement about what he may have witnessed during the weekend of November 19 and 20, a day after Ms Landry claims her husband assaulted her.

Snr Const Ogilvy denied identifying himself as a detective in a statement prepared for the AVO hearing to give it more credibility.

He told police prosecutor Laura Nightingale he had made a mistake by declaring he was a policeman in the statement, and had been counselled for doing so.

Sergeant Nightingale put to Senior Constable Ogilvy he had described himself as a policeman in his statement to give it 'more credibility'.

'I'd totally disagree with that,' he said.

Instead, the officer had been unaware at the time he was breaching police guidelines.

Senior Constable Ogilvy, who works in the homicide squad, said he had attended many domestic violence incidents, including deaths.

Sgt Nightingale: 'Would you agree that it's not uncommon for victims of domestic violence to pretend to the outside world that they are not experiencing any violence at home?'

Ogilvy's appearance comes days after Molan found herself in the middle of the AVO hearing when messages sent from Ms Landry to her husband, accusing him of an 'odd' relationship with the NRL Footy Show co-host were read out in court

When asked about Ms Landry's drinking habits, Ms Karoglan denied that the mother-of-two only consumed alcohol socially

Ms Landry has previously defended her drinking habits, saying she 'wouldn't be drinking red wine at 5 o'clock in the afternoon'

Mr Bell looked downcast as he walked into Sydney court for the fourth day of the AVO hearing

On Wednesday, police prosecutor Sergeant Laura Nightingale asked Mr Bell if Ms Landry was careful about her alcohol consumption while breastfeeding, he replied: 'No'

Snr Const Ogilvy was asked to give evidence about a holiday he and Molan (left) shared with Ms Landry (middle) and Mr Bell

Senior Constable Ogilvy: 'Correct.'

Sgt Nightingale: 'Is it the case that victims of domestic violence can in fact show no signs to the outside world that they are experiencing domestic violence at home?'

Senior Constable Ogilvy: 'Yes.'

Senior Constable Ogilvy identified photographs taken on that trip as showing the Bells with their daughter sitting on a horse.

The court was told Snr Const Ogilvy's statement included evidence that he did not see any injury to Ms Landry during the Fitzroy Falls weekend away.

Just last month Ogilvy, 41, proposed to his girlfriend, with Molan flaunting the ring rumoured to be worth $100,000 on the NRL Footy Show.

In closing submissions, Mr Temby told the court the public nature of the 'unpleasant' AVO hearing between Ms Landry and Mr Bell was potentially 'harmful'.

He said the fact the couple's marriage was of high-profile did not matter in the eyes of the court.

'These proceedings have involved, unhappily, the airing of a deal of domestic detail, certainly unpleasant and perhaps harmful to each of the parties to the marriage.

'There's a fine book written by an American author called Ann Patchett entitled This Is The Story Of A Happy Marriage and these proceedings, in complete contrast, have to do with the breakdown of an unhappy marriage.

'It matters not that the husband and wife are celebrities. Apparently they are the sort of people that one can read about, if so inclined, in newspapers and magazines.

Just last month Ogilvy, 41, proposed to his girlfriend Molan, with a ring rumoured to be worth $100,000

Molan (pictured), co-host of the NRL Footy Show, recently flaunting her flashy ring on the show

In closing submissions, defence counsel Ian Temby said the fact the couple's marriage was of high-profile did not matter in the eyes of the court

'It's clear that he is well-known as an accountant and sailor and perhaps otherwise and that she is a sometime model and television personality.

'But that all matters not at all because to the court they are just a husband and wife near the end of a marriage which has fallen apart under stress, as some marriages do, and the court will properly deal with them as unknowns.

'And their celebrity status, such as it is, matters not a jot.'

But Sergeant Nightingale said the officer was off-duty and attending a social occasion.

'That could possibly be one reason why he didn't see the injury to Ms Landry,' she said.

In her closing statements, Sgt Nightingale too said the case was 'obviously high profile' but the parties' celebrity did not matter.

'This is about one relationship which has the hallmarks of domestic violence,' she said.

'It matters not where you are from or who your friends are...

'It is what happens behind closed doors.

'Domestic violence is not solely about physical violence. It includes intimidation, harrassment and verbal abuse.'
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit. JEISSON HUMBERTO URIBE, a/k/a Pablo Uribe, a/k/a Jeisson Uribe, a/k/a Jeisson Umberto Uribe, a/k/a Jeisson H. Uribe, Petitioner, v. JEFFERSON B. SESSIONS III, Attorney General, Respondent. No. 16-1427 Decided: May 03, 2017

Before DUNCAN, AGEE, and KEENAN, Circuit Judges. ARGUED: Luis Carlos Diaz, LAW OFFICES OF LUIS C. DIAZ, LLC, Silver Spring, Maryland, for Petitioner. Jessica Dawgert, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent. ON BRIEF: Benjamin C. Mizer, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Anthony Nicastro, Assistant Director, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil Division, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Respondent.

Jeisson Humberto Uribe, a native and citizen of Colombia, petitions for review of a final order of removal entered by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). The BIA affirmed an immigration judge's (IJ) holding that Uribe was removable under 8 U.S.C.  1227(a)(2)(A)(ii), based on two convictions for crimes involving moral turpitude. In reaching this conclusion, the IJ and the BIA rejected Uribe's contention that his conviction for the felony offense of third degree burglary, in violation of Maryland Criminal Law Section 6-204 (Maryland third degree burglary), did not qualify as a crime involving moral turpitude.

Upon our review, we conclude that Maryland third degree burglary qualifies as a crime involving moral turpitude under 8 U.S.C.  1227(a)(2)(A)(ii). Accordingly, we deny Uribe's petition for review.

I.

Uribe was admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident in December 2000. In 2011, he was convicted of theft valued at less than $100, a misdemeanor offense under Maryland Criminal Law Section 7-104 (the Maryland theft offense), and was sentenced to serve a term of 90 days' imprisonment. In 2013, Uribe was convicted of Maryland third degree burglary, and received a sentence of two years' imprisonment.

Based on these two convictions, the Department of Homeland Security served Uribe with a Notice to Appear, charging him with removability under two provisions in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) relating to his commission of crimes after having been admitted into the United States. These INA provisions are: (1) 8 U.S.C.  1227(a)(2)(A)(iii), for having been convicted of an aggravated felony as defined in 8 U.S.C.  1101(a)(43)(F); and (2) 8 U.S.C.  1227(a)(2)(A)(ii), for having been convicted of two crimes involving moral turpitude.

Uribe denied removability on both these grounds. After a hearing, the IJ issued an order dismissing the charge that Uribe had committed an aggravated felony within the meaning of Section 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii). However, the IJ upheld the charge of removability under Section 1227(a)(2)(A)(ii), concluding that both the Maryland theft offense and Maryland third degree burglary were crimes involving moral turpitude.

According to the IJ, Maryland third degree burglary necessarily involves conduct that inherently is vile and contrary to accepted moral norms because a dwelling, whether occupied or not when the burglary occurs, is distinct in character compared to other structures. The IJ reasoned that a dwelling is entitled to greater protection and sanctity than other buildings, and that, therefore, it is a greater wrong to break and enter a dwelling in order to commit a crime than it is to break and enter any building in general to commit a crime. Accordingly, the IJ sustained the charge of removability under Section 1227(a)(2)(a)(ii), and ordered that Uribe be removed from the United States to Colombia.

On appeal before the BIA, Uribe challenged only the IJ's conclusion that Maryland third degree burglary qualifies as a crime involving moral turpitude. In an opinion issued by a single member, the BIA rejected Uribe's arguments, and affirmed the IJ's determination that Uribe was removable under Section 1227(a)(2)(A)(ii). The BIA agreed with the IJ's reasoning, stating that breaking and entering any dwelling (1) infringes upon a resident's reasonable expectation of privacy and security, and (2) generates a risk of violent confrontation with a resident, or with a third party such as a neighbor who may approach the dwelling while the crime is being committed. Accordingly, the BIA agreed with the IJ that Maryland third degree burglary inherently involves moral turpitude, and dismissed Uribe's appeal.

II.

On appeal to this Court, Uribe contends that Maryland third degree burglary is not categorically a crime involving moral turpitude under 8 U.S.C.  1227(a)(2)(A)(ii), because the offense: (1) does not require that the dwelling be occupied, inhabited, or within a lease period at the time of the burglary; (2) encompasses breaking into a dwelling by constructive means; (3) includes breaking into a motor vehicle or boat used as a dwelling; and (4) does not require that the crime the defendant intended to commit upon breaking and entering be one involving moral turpitude. Thus, Uribe maintains that Maryland third degree burglary does not necessarily involve conduct that inherently violates moral norms. We disagree with Uribe's position.

Under Section 1227(a)(2)(A)(ii), an alien who at any time after admission is convicted of two or more crimes involving moral turpitude, not arising out of a single scheme of criminal misconduct,  is deportable. The term moral turpitude refers to behavior that shocks the public conscience as being inherently base, vile, or depraved. Mohamed v. Holder, 769 F.3d 885, 888 (4th Cir. 2014) (citing Matter of Tobar-Lobo, 24 I. & N. Dec. 143, 144 (B.I.A. 2007); Matter of Danesh, 19 I. & N. Dec. 669, 670 (B.I.A. 1988)). Accordingly, a crime involving moral turpitude encompasses conduct that not only violates a statute but also independently violates a moral norm. Id.

Because the BIA adopted the IJ's opinion and supplemented the analysis with its own reasoning, we consider both rulings. See Hernandez-Avalos v. Lynch, 784 F.3d 944, 948 (4th Cir. 2015). The issue whether Maryland third degree burglary qualifies as a crime involving moral turpitude is a legal question that we review de novo. See Sotnikau v. Lynch, 846 F.3d 731, 735 (4th Cir. 2017) (citing Mohamed, 769 F.3d at 888). In answering this question, we consider only the statutory elements of the offense, not the underlying facts of Uribe's conviction. Id. (citing Mohamed, 769 F.3d at 888). If the elements of Maryland third degree burglary encompass only conduct that involves moral turpitude, then that offense qualifies categorically as a crime involving moral turpitude under Section 1227(a)(2)(A)(ii). Id. In conducting our analysis, we apply the interpretations of Maryland law rendered by Maryland's state appellate courts. See id. at 736.

Maryland's third degree burglary statute prohibits break[ing] and enter[ing] the dwelling of another with the intent to commit a crime. Md. Code, Crim. Law  6-204(a). The Court of Appeals of Maryland has explained that a breaking can be either actual or constructive. Hobby v. State, 83 A.3d 794, 811 (Md. 2014). An actual breaking occurs when an individual unloos[ens], remov[es] or displac[es] any covering or fastening of the premises. Id. (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). In contrast, a constructive breaking occurs when an individual gains entry by artifice, fraud, conspiracy or threat. Id. (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

According to the Court of Appeals of Maryland, a dwelling is a structure that a person regularly uses as a place in which to sleep. McKenzie v. State, 962 A.2d 998, 1002, 1006 (Md. 2008); see Hobby, 83 A.3d at 811-12. Relying on this authority from Maryland's highest court, we have recognized that boats and other motor vehicles can constitute dwellings within the meaning of Maryland's burglary statutes. See United States v. Henriquez, 757 F.3d 144, 148-49 (4th Cir. 2014). And, under Maryland law, a structure retains its character as a dwelling even if it temporarily is left vacant, provided that the structure has not been abandoned completely by the occupants and remains suitable for occupancy throughout the vacancy. See Hobby, 83 A.3d at 812; McKenzie, 962 A.2d at 1002, 1007.

For example, in McKenzie v. State, 962 A.2d 998 (Md. 2008), the Court of Appeals of Maryland held that a vacant apartment qualified as a dwelling, when the most recent tenant had vacated the apartment two weeks earlier, the new tenant was scheduled to move in one day after the burglary occurred, and the apartment remained suitable for a new tenant during the period of vacancy. Id. at 999, 1005-07. The court explained that the apartment remained a dwelling throughout this sequence of events, because the apartment's owner intended that it be occupied on a continuous basis, and there was a likelihood that people w[ould] be returning to inhabit the rental unit at any given time. See id. at 1006-07 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Similarly, the court held in Hobby v. State, 83 A.3d 794 (Md. 2014), that a home that was vacant for eight months remained a dwelling, because its prior occupant moved out of the home with the intent to sell it as a dwelling, maintained the home in a condition suitable for occupancy during the period of vacancy, and legally could have returned to the home at any time during the period of vacancy. See id. at 812.

In light of this authority, we conclude that under Maryland's third degree burglary statute, breaking and entering a dwelling of another, with the intent to commit a crime, implicate[s]  moral value[s] beyond the duty to obey the law and inherently is base, vile, or depraved. See Mohamed, 769 F.3d at 887, 889. The act of breaking and entering a dwelling, with the intent to commit any crime, necessarily involves conduct that violates an individual's reasonable expectation that her personal living and sleeping space will remain private and secure. See Hobby, 83 A.3d at 812; McKenzie, 962 A.2d at 1006-07. And we are persuaded that an individual's expectation that her dwelling will remain private, secure, and free from intruders intending to commit a crime is violated regardless whether the dwelling is occupied at the time of the burglary.

Uribe maintains, nevertheless, that because the Court of Appeals of Maryland held in Hobby that Maryland third degree burglary encompasses the act of breaking and entering a house offered for sale that has been unoccupied for eight months, the commission of that offense under such circumstances cannot meet the definition of a crime involving moral turpitude. See 83 A.3d at 812. We disagree. As that court explained, in order for a house to constitute a dwelling under Maryland law in these circumstances, the house must not have been abandoned and must have remained suitable for habitation. See id.; McKenzie, 962 A.2d at 1002, 1007. Under such facts, a current or a prospective resident could occupy the house at any moment. Thus, the act of breaking and entering a vacant house under these circumstances inherently would violate the current or prospective owner's expectation of security, and would infringe upon the current owner's right of habitation. Accordingly, the crime of breaking and entering with the intent to commit a crime, even in this factual context, remains contrary to well-recognized moral norms and is base, vile, or depraved. See Mohamed, 769 F.3d at 887-89.

Additionally, we reject Uribe's assertion that a breaking is morally turpitudinous only if it involves the use, or the risk of use, of physical force, and that a constructive breaking is less reprehensible than an actual breaking. A constructive breaking is as equally reprehensible as an actual breaking because a constructive breaking includes acts of subterfuge and may also involve threats directed at another person. See Hobby, 83 A.3d at 811 (defining constructive breaking as breaking by artifice, fraud, conspiracy, or threat).

Finally, we find no merit in Uribe's argument that the act of breaking and entering a boat or motor vehicle would not qualify as a crime involving moral turpitude under Maryland's third degree burglary statute. A burglar who breaks and enters a boat or a vehicle that is meant to be occupied, and is intended to be a place of personal security and privacy, has committed a crime that is contrary to well-recognized moral norms. See Hobby, 83 A.3d at 812; McKenzie, 962 A.2d at 1002, 1006. Therefore, the principles that render breaking and entering a traditional house contrary to moral norms apply equally to breaking and entering a boat or motor vehicle that meets the definition of a dwelling under Maryland law.

We therefore conclude that a conviction under Maryland's third degree burglary statute necessarily involves conduct that shocks the public conscience as inherently base, vile, or depraved and is contrary to recognized moral norms. See Mohamed, 769 F.3d at 887-88. Accordingly, we hold that Maryland third degree burglary qualifies as a crime involving moral turpitude under 8 U.S.C.  1227(a)(2)(A)(ii).

III.

For these reasons, we deny Uribe's petition for review.

PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED

FOOTNOTES

. As explained below, before the BIA, Uribe did not challenge the IJ's conclusion regarding his Maryland theft offense conviction, nor does he challenge that conclusion before this Court.

. In reaching her conclusion, the IJ found inapplicable two prior BIA decisions addressing burglary statutes of other states: (1) third degree burglary under New York law, which prohibited breaking and entering a building, or a room, or any part of a (Continued) building, and (2) second degree burglary of an occupied dwelling under Florida law. See Matter of Louissaint, 24 I. & N. Dec. 754 (B.I.A. 2009) (Florida statute); Matter of M., 2 I. & N. Dec. 721 (B.I.A. 1946) (New York statute).

. We afford Chevron deference to the BIA's reasonable interpretation of the term crime involving moral turpitude, used in the INA. See Mohamed v. Holder, 769 F.3d 885, 888 (4th Cir. 2014); Prudencio v. Holder, 669 F.3d 472, 480 (4th Cir. 2012); Soliman v. Gonzales, 419 F.3d 276, 281 (4th Cir. 2005) (citing Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Nat. Res. Def. Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 842-43 (1984)); Yousefi v. INS, 260 F.3d 318, 325-26 (4th Cir. 2001). Uribe does not challenge the reasonableness of these established BIA definitions.

. The terms break and dwelling, as used in the statute, retain their judicially determined meaning[s,] because the Maryland legislature has not altered those terms after the appellate courts of Maryland have defined them. Md. Code, Crim. Law  6-201(b), (e).

. Insofar as Uribe relies on Matter of M. for the proposition that a state burglary conviction qualifies as a crime involving moral turpitude only if the offense that the defendant intended to commit upon breaking and entering involves moral turpitude, the BIA recently rejected that approach in Louissaint. See 24 I. & N. Dec. at 759 (holding that a residential burglary [does not] derive[ ] its morally turpitudinous nature solely from the culpability inherent in the crime that accompanies or precedes the act of breaking and entering a building). And, for the reasons stated above, we agree with the BIA's reasoning in Louissaint interpreting a Florida burglary statute.

BARBARA MILANO KEENAN, Circuit Judge:
Computer passwords should not be changed regularly because they make users less secure, a cyber chief warned yesterday.

Paul Edmonds, head of technology at the National Cyber Crime Unit, said it was a fallacy spread by the security industry that they should be changed frequently.

Regular password expiry is a common requirement in many security policies.

But Mr Edmonds said the myth surrounding passwords was one of his big bug bears.

Computer passwords should not be changed regularly because they make users less secure, a cyber chief warned yesterday

Speaking at a security and counter-terror conference in London, he said it actually made users less secure if they did change their passwords.

He said: You dont want to change your passwords every month. Actually it is less secure if you do.

It has been a fallacy that has been put around by the security industry.

An example of this is Paypal, which has never asked its customers to change their passwords, he said.

Mr Edmonds said: PayPal for years has never asked you to change your password.

If changing your password was so critical to cyber security, PayPal would have lost a lot of money and asked you to do it.

Speaking at a security and counter-terror conference in London, an expert said it actually made users less secure if they did change their passwords

People have been successfully using non-changing secure passwords for years.

Experts believe that by changing passwords regularly results in users selecting weaker passwords.

They also change them in predictable ways that attackers can guess easily.

The head of the European Unions police agency, Rob Wainwright, also addressed the security and counter-terror conference.

He revealed that Islamic State militants were developing their own social media platform to avoid security crackdowns on their communications and propaganda.

The Europol Director said the new online platform had been uncovered during a 48-hour operation against Internet extremism last week.

He said: Within that operation it was revealed IS was now developing its very own social media platform, its own part of the internet to run its agenda.

It does show that some members of Daesh (IS), at least, continue to innovate in this space.

During a Europol-coordinated crackdown on IS and al Qaeda material, which involved officials from the United States, Belgium, Greece, Poland, and Portugal, more than 2,000 extremist items were identified, hosted on 52 social media platforms.

Experts believe that by changing passwords regularly results in users selecting weaker passwords

Jihadists have often relied on mainstream social media platforms for online communications and to spread propaganda, with private channels on messaging app Telegram being especially popular over the past year.

Technology firms, such as Facebook and Google, have come under increasing political pressure to do more to tackle extremist material online and to make it harder for groups such as Islamic State to communicate through encrypted services to avoid detection by security services.

Mr Wainwright said Telegram in particular had been creating problems for Europol, and accused the firm of being evasive.

He said: There has been some cooperation but nowhere near the levels we are getting from Facebook, Twitter and some of the others.

He also said he believed that security cooperation between Britain and the EU would continue after Brexit, despite British warnings it is likely to leave Europol and cease sharing intelligence if it strikes no divorce deal with the bloc.

He said: The operational requirement is for that to be retained. If anything, If anything we need to have an even more closely integrated pan-European response to security if you consider the way in which the threat is heading.

Europe, he added, is facing the highest terrorist threat for a generation.
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Anthony Bell entered court on the fourth day of his bitter and public AVO battle with his estranged wife Kelly Landry the way he started the first - flanked by two young and striking lawyers.

Mr Bell obtained the services of high-profile criminal defence lawyer Chris Murphy, soon after police served him with an AVO on January 5, in protection of Ms Landry.

But while Mr Murphy was prominent in the early stages of the case, representing Mr Bell when the case was first mentioned in court, he not been seen at Downing Centre Local Court during the AVO hearing.

Instead, it has been his lawyers Annabel Wurth and Bryan Wrench who have arrived with Mr Bell each day, and instructed barrister, Ian Temby QC during the hearing.

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Anthony Bell has reached the fourth day of his bitter AVO hearing with his estranged wife and has again been flanked by his two very striking lawyers at court

The celebrity accountant was seen arriving for the second last day of the hearing on Thursday with his lawyers, Annabel Wurth (pictured) and Bryan Wrench

Ms Wurth is pictured here leaving the fourth day of court on Thursday where she wore bright red pumps, a pencil skirt and a fitted jacket

And Ms Wurth, whose Linkedin profile states she is a 'solicitor at Murphy's Lawyers', has created intrigue in the court room.

The Sydney University University law alumni, 29, graduated two years ago from the prestigious course before landing a job with Mr Murphy.

Her Instagram page shows her graduation in 2015 - but also her love of travelling and socialising.

She has also done modelling work in the past - with one shot showing her lying on a bed wearing a white-lace dress and looking up at the camera while resting her head on her hands.

Both Ms Wurth and Mr Wrench have arrived at court each day in dapper outfits as they escort Mr Bell inside.

Mr Wrench began with Murphy's Lawyers in 2011, posting on Twitter how grateful he was for the position.

'Thank you for giving a start to young kid to become lawyer. A lawyers dream. Taught me that true professionals helps those in need,' Mr Wrench posted.

On Wednesday, text messages were submitted to the court, appearing to show Kelly Landry accusing the celebrity accountant of having a relationship with television presenter, Erin Molan.

'I know about Erin. I just saw her run to you,' Ms Landry said.

Mr Wurth appears to be a seasoned traveller and uploads pictures in Fiji, Hong Kong, Paris and Budapest (pictured)

Ms Wurth chatted to her colleagues and Mr Bell as she left Sydney's Downing Centre on Thursday afternoon

Ms Wurth and Mr Wrench have been by Anthony Bell's side each day of the five-day hearing

Ms Wurth graduated from Sydney University in 2015 (pictured)

Both Ms Wurth and Mr Wrench have arrived at court in dapper outfits as they escort Mr Bell inside

Mr Bell, a celebrity accountant, denied the accusation. Ms Molan also issued a statement this week strenuously denying Ms Landry's allegations.

'I'm not wearing that. Calling her (Ms Molan) now to tell her... it's not fair to her or me,' he said.

Molan's fiance, Sean Ogilivy, gave evidence in the Sydney court on Thursday.

The policeman denied identifying himself as a detective in a statement prepared for the AVO to give it 'more credibility'.

Mr Bell admitted on Wednesday to using a butter knife to try and unlock a door during one of two alleged fights with Ms Landry, which led to the AVO being taken out against him.

Mr Bell revealed they fought on November 18, 2016, after attending Catalina restaurant at Rose Bay, then the home of a friend.

Taking to the witness box at Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday, Mr Bell said he used the butter knife to unlock the door to their bedroom after Ms Landry locked herself inside following the argument at their Watsons Bay mansion.

Among other testimony the 'accountant to the stars' delivered to the courtroom, he denied grabbing his wife by the throat in another argument four years earlier.

Ms Wurth and Mr Wrench flanked celebrity accountant Anthony Bell as the trio left the fourth day of court on Thursday

On Wednesday, text messages were submitted to the Sydney Supreme Court, appearing to show Kelly Landry accusing the celebrity accountant of having a relationship with television presenter, Erin Molan. Ms Molan has strenuously denied Ms Landry's allegation.

Anthony Bell has reached the fourth day of his bitter AVO hearing with his estranged wife and has again been flanked by his two very glamorous lawyers at court

Mr Bell admitted on Wednesday to using a butter knife to try and unlock the door during one of two alleged fights with Ms Landry (pictured with her legal team), which led to the AVO being taken out against him
Western backpackers are flocking to the cocaine-paved streets of South America because of its relaxed laws on drugs and the increased availability of the narcotic, experts warn.

It is known as a rich man's drug in Australia, the US and the UK, but in Colombia cocaine can be sold for as little as $5 per gram and personal possession of up to 1g is legal.

Criminal justice strategic professor Andrew Goldsmith says there are are more and more Western travellers heading to places such as Colombia to indulge in the 'easy availability of cocaine', the ABC reports.

Bogota - the capital of Colombia - (pictured) is known as the cocaine capital and is swarming with traffickers looking for likely drug mules

Backpackers in South American countries like Colombia, Mexico and Peru are drawn to the superficial allure of wild nightclub (pictured is Santa Marta, Colombia)

Cocaine in Colombia can be sold for as little as $5 a bag and personal possession up to 1g is legal (stock image)

Professor Goldsmith worked in Colombia as a police reform adviser and warns drug cartels are attracted to travellers as they hold passports which are the ticket to transporting the drug to Western countries.

He adds that drug mules are commonplace and are known to freely cooperate with traffickers, and said it is 'difficult to imagine how one could be completely unknowing'.

The culture of drugs in South America has transformed the Colombian cocaine trade into a tourist attraction.

Backpackers in South American countries like Colombia, Mexico and Peru are drawn to the superficial allure of wild nightclubs, cheap shopping and a gentle dusting of the addictive white powder.

Caught up in the whirl of partying and the recreational drug scene, travellers develop an invincible attitude which convinces them to become a one-time drug mule - without delving too far into the real-world consequences.

Professor Goldsmith said Colombian jails are overcrowded with travellers just like 22-year-old South Australian woman Cassandra Sainsbury who was allegedly found with 5.8kg of cocaine concealed in headphone packages.

Red flags in Ms Sainsbury's claims of innocence includes her third-party purchased plane ticket and the fact she had never travelled to Colombia before, he said.

A Colombian drug dealer prepares cocaine for street sale in Bogota in 2013 (pictured)

Travellers head to South America (pictured is a street in Venezuela) in droves because of the easy availability of cocaine

South Australian woman Cassandra Sainsbury (pictured) was allegedly caught with 5.8kg of cocaine concealed in her luggage

Colombian police were tipped off about the accused cocaine smuggler by the US Drug Enforcement Agency and pounced on her just minutes before she boarded her flight back home.

The Adelaide woman was at the tail end of an international trip that saw her visit China and the United States before arriving in South America's cocaine capital.

But she drew the attention of the DEA when her plane ticket home to Australia via London was reportedly purchased last minute by an 'unknown party' in Hong Kong.

The haul of cocaine, with a street value of $1.7million in Australia, could cost Ms Sainsbury 25 years in a Colombian women's prison - and her lawyer has suggested pleading guilty to lesser charges.

But Australian author Rusty Young, whose book Marching Powder was based on the three months he spent with an English drug smuggler in prison in Bolivia, says he doesn't believe authorities there will make an example of Ms Sainsbury.

'Basically, the bigger traffickers are the ones they are after,' he told the Seven Network.

'Small traffickers are just an annoyance for the country.

'Colombia loves foreigners coming in. One of their major industries now is tourism. They do not want the name. They don't want the media attention for drug trafficking.'

Ms Sainsbury (pictured) was stopped while en route to London from an airport in Bogota, Colombia when the cocaine was found
Apple will create a $1 billion fund to create manufacturing jobs in the US, CEO Tim Cook announced on Wednesday.

He didn't give any further details on how the fund will be given out or who will be eligible to receive it, but promised more information was coming.

Apple also announced on Wednesday that it had created more than 1.5 million jobs in the US.

Experts suggested both claims appear to be part of a concerted effort to emphasize the company's role in the economy - and to fend off criticism from Donald Trump.

Apple CEO Tim Cook (pictured) told CNBC Wednesday the company will create jobs in the US with a a $1b fund. But he didn't elaborate on how that fund would be given out, or to whom

Also on Wednesday the company boasted of jobs it was creating in the US (pictured: a store in New York). Experts say they want to stave off attacks on their use of Chinese factories

Cook first described the manufacturing fund an interview on CNBC and said Apple will provide more details when it announces its first investment by the end of the month.

The company's initial billion-dollar investment amounts to a tiny fraction of its $257 billion in cash.

He also promised that Apple will hire 'thousands of employees, thousands more in the future' in the US, although he didn't specify how quickly that will happen.

Apple's US payroll has grown roughly 40-fold since 1998, when it had 5,000 US workers.

On the subject of its employees, the company launched a sub-site on Wednesday boasting of its contributions to job creation in the US across all 50 states.

This is the fourth such report from Apple since 2014, which are intended to underscore its contributions to US jobs and economic growth.

Its first report came after years of complaints about labor practices and suicides at Foxconn, one of the company's major contractors in China, drew more attention to Apple's reliance on overseas factories.

Donald Trump has said he wants to impose tariffs on China, which would raise Apple's costs. The company hopes that it can generate a positive image that will keep critics at bay

But this latest report featured a state-by-state breakdown of where its 80,000 US employees work, showing that more than half are located outside Silicon Valley.

Experts suggested that the reports were an attempt to disarm criticism about the company's reliance on cheap Chinese labor for its products - and to avoid a potentially stock-slamming Trump tweet.

Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on products from China, a change that would drive up Apple's costs.

That could pressure the company to raise its prices at a time when it is already having trouble increasing its sales of iPhones and iPads.

'They are trying to make the case that they really do have a lot of folks working in the US,' said technology industry analyst Rob Enderle.

'So if want to pick on somebody, you might want to pick on somebody else because they won't be a good example.'

Trump has attacked many companies, frequently on Twitter, for moving jobs out of the US and lavishly praised those who have announced major hiring initiatives.

As a result, many companies, including Exxon Mobil, Intel, Charter Communications and Ford Motor, have unveiled big hiring plans, though in many cases they were already in the works before the presidential campaign.

'There is a lot of political pressure to create jobs in the United States,' Diane Swonk, CEO of DS Economics, said. Chief executives 'do not want to show up in a tweet.'

In December, Trump tweeted that the cost of Lockheed Martin's F-35 jets was 'out of control' leading to a five per cent drop in the company's stock price.

Apple had no comment on political ramifications of its announcements.

Experts also said they may fear a negative tweet by Donald Trump, which can affect share prices. Stock for Lockheed Martin fell five per cent after this tweet in December

Apple also claimed it made 1.5m US jobs (map pictured) as a knock-on effect of its App Store - but critics say app makers produce for Android phones too, so Apple can't take full credit

The company's jobs report also cited a study by the Progressive Policy Institute that attributes 1.5 million US jobs to Apple's iPhone 'ecosystem.'

That figure includes related jobs, such as HR managers and accountants at app companies, and restaurants and banks supported by those companies; Apple claims its App Store made that possible.

But Swonk said that it was a stretch for the company to claim credit for the entire app industry.

The vast majority of app developers, for example, also produce apps for Android phones produced by Samsung and other manufacturers.

The Public Policy Institute only found 1.7 million jobs in the entire 'app economy' - and 1.35 million of those were associated with Android apps. Most of those overlap with the jobs linked to Apple.

In his CNBC interview Cook also said Apple is examining ways to help more people learn the programming skills to make apps.
A former nanny and housekeeper for Kelly Landry and Anthony Bell has told the couple's bitter AVO hearing the mother-of-two used to drink at home alone and complain about her 'unhappy marriage'.

Gordana Karoglan was employed by the former Getaway star and her 'accountant to stars' husband at their Watsons Bay mansion from January 2015 to March 2016.

Ms Karoglan was one of four witnesses to give evidence on the fourth day of the hearing which has now been adjourned until May 18, when Magistrate Robert Williams will give his decision.

Giving evidence in the Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday, the nanny revealed Ms Landry seemed unhappy and regularly talked about it.

'I just thought they were both in an unhappy marriage and Kelly was complaining every single day I was there,' Ms Karoglan told the court.

'I said their marriage is not working and if she doesn't want to be with him she should just leave him.'

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Gordana Karoglan, a former nanny and housekeeper for Kelly Landry and Anthony Bell has told the hearing Ms Landry used to drink at home alone

Ms Karoglan told the Downing Centre Local Court, Sydney, she had encouraged her employer Ms Landry (pictured) to leave what she'd described as her 'unhappy marriage'

Mr Bell arrives at the Downing Centre Local Court, Sydney, for the fourth day of a bitter AVO hearing

Ms Karoglan said during that time she had tried to be Ms Landry's friend but never felt she was.

Sergeant Laura Nightingale asked Ms Karoglan about Ms Landry's drinking habits.

'You accept that she only consumed alcohol socially?' Sgt Nightingale asked.

'No,' Ms Karoglan replied.

'She didn't drink alcohol home alone did she?' Sgt Nightingale asked.

'She did.'

Ms Landry says that she always took care to monitor how much alcohol she drank because of a serious heart condition she developed after the birth of her first child.

Ms Karoglan said she at one point she had told Ms Landry she should leave her husband.

'I just told... they were both in an unhappy marriage,' she said.

'She was complaining every single day that I was there.

'If she really doesn't want to be with him she should leave him.

In closing submission to the court, Mr Temby said while Ms Landry portrayed Mr Bell as 'financially mean' in this case, she described sharing a lavish lifestlye with her husband in separate Family Court proceedings.

He said that 'very marked contrast' in her statements showed a 'level of hypocrisy'.

A seemingly relieved Ms Landry was pictured leaving court on Thursday afternoon, following a decision by Magistrate Robert Williams to adjourn the hearing until Thursday, May 18

Despite the distressing nature of their very public AVO hearing, Ms Landry laughed and joked with friends and legal representatives after leaving the Downing Centre Local Court

Conversely, Mr Bell looked staunch as he walked out of the court with his legal team alongside

The 'accountant to the stars' was swamped by photographers as he walked out of the court

Mr Bell left the court proceedings the way he started them, flanked by young lawyers including Annabel Wurth

Ms Wurth is pictured here leaving the fourth day of court on Thursday where she wore bright red pumps, a pencil skirt and a fitted jacket

Mr Temby said no evidence showed Ms Landry felt intimidated by, or fearful of, Mr Bell, who had not been charged with assaulting his wife.

Mr Temby referred to evidence from nanny Gordana Karoglan that Ms Landry drank alone during the day.

'There is some evidence which is adverse to the wife in that respect,' he said of Ms Landry's alcohol consumption.

But Mr Temby said he did not intend to paint Ms Landry as a 'drunk'.

He said on each of the occasions Ms Landry alleges physical violence, both had been drinking.

'And they will not be together and in particular will not be together having taken drink in the future,' Mr Temby said.

'These two people don't need to be together again except with respect to access arrangements (for the children).

'It is clear on the evidence that she is not a person in need of protection.'

Earlier on Thursday, Ms Karoglan, who is now working as an early childhood teacher, denied siding with Mr bell in an effort to get a permanaent visa

Ms Karoglan said she at one point she had told Ms Landry she should leave her husband. 'She was complaining every single day that I was there,' Ms Karoglan told the Downing Centre

Ms Karoglan, who is now working as an early childhood teacher, said she was trying to migrate permanently from Croatia and would eventually seek citizenship

When asked about Ms Landry's drinking habits, Ms Karoglan denied that the mother-of-two only consumed alcohol socially

Ms Landry has previously defended her drinking habits, saying she 'wouldn't be drinking red wine at 5 o'clock in the afternoon'

Mr Bell looked downcast as he walked into Sydney court for the fourth day of the AVO hearing

On Wednesday, police prosecutor Sergeant Laura Nightingale asked Mr Bell if Ms Landry was careful about her alcohol consumption while breastfeeding, he replied: 'No'

Earlier on Thursday, Sydney hotelier Peter Calligeros gave evidence about a lunch he shared with Mr Bell and Ms Landry, hours before the alleged assault on November 18.

He told the court Ms Landry was 'drunk' but denied Mr Bell was intoxicated, despite consuming several beers throughout the afternoon.

Mr Calligeros told the court that he met Mr Bell and Ms Landry at Catalina's restaurant earlier on the afternoon of November 18.

He told the court he saw Ms Landry drinking a cocktail at the restaurant before their group boarded Mr Bell's super yacht to travel to a friend's house he claimed she continued to drink champagne.

Mr Calligeros said they continued to drink at a friend's house for about an hour before Mr Bell and Ms Landry left to go to dinner.

The court heard Mr Calligeros wrote in his police statement: 'I remember Kelly was drinking more champagne at that stage.

'Anthony had consumed some alcohol, mostly beer, however was not intoxicated.

'Kelly however had consumed many drinks and was well on the way.'

But police prosecutor Sergeant Laura Nightingale challenged Mr Calligeros and put it to him that Ms Landry was not drunk.

Sgt Nightingale: 'It is the case that you are saying she was drinking a cocktail to make her out to be a bigger drinker than she actually is?

Mr Calligeros: No that is not correct.

Sgt Nightingale: You are saying this for the purposes of protecting your friend (Mr Bell?

Mr Calligeros: No that is not correct.

Earlier on Thursday, Sydney hotelier Peter Calligeros (pictured) gave evidence about a lunch he shared with Mr Bell and Ms Landry, hours before the alleged assault on November 18

Ms Calligeros told the court Ms Landry was 'drunk' but denied Mr Bell was intoxicated, despite consuming several beers throughout the afternoon

Ms Karoglan entered court alongside fellow former nanny Merania Hibbard who gave evidence yesterday

A day earlier, Ms Hibbard told the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney she believed she was sacked by Ms Landry for siding with Mr Bell in their ongoing domestic dispute

A day earlier, another former nanny for the celebrity couple told the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney she believed she was sacked for siding with Mr Bell.

Merania Hibbard was hired to work for the couple at their Watsons Bay mansion in January last year, but soon became embroiled in the high profile domestic dispute.

Ms Hibbard worked at the home after Mr Bell moved out, until she received a letter from Ms Landry dated February 27 this year ceasing her employment.

'In the letter it said that having a nanny work across two households she felt was not ideal,' Ms Hibbard told the court.

'But I felt it was because I was more on Anthony's side than hers.'
Courtney A. Sherman, 18, of Fox Lake, was in the passenger seat and the oldest of the teens

Three teenage girls are charged in connection with the death of a father of seven over an iPhone.

An 18-year-old and two unidentified 17-year-olds were charged with reckless homicide and robbery.

The oldest, 18-year-old Courtney A. Sherman, of Tweed Road in Fox Lake, Illinois, was a passenger in a carload of five teen girls who met (Trinidad) Javier Bueno-Sanchez, 43, in a Meijer store parking lot in Round Lake Beach at 7:55pm on April 24, according to The Chicago Tribune.

Javier Bueno-Sanchez, above left with his children ranging in age from 27 to six, was killed when five teen girls took off in their car as he was negotiating with them to sell his iPhone

The father of seven was said to be involved in all of his children's activities. 'He was such a good person,' said daughter Lily Olmos

The teen girls contacted the dad through the Offer Up app and had agreed to buy an iPhone 6 from the dad for $450.

Police said Bueno-Sanchez conducted the sale while the girls sat in their car in the parking lot. When Sherman, who was in the passenger seat, handed him an envelope with cash in it, he quickly realized it was only a few dollars, not the $450 they'd agreed to.

Bueno-Sanchez left behind a wife, seven children, and four grandchildren in Illinois

When he tried to get his phone back, the 17-year-old driver allegedly took off, with Bueno-Sanchez clinging to the car.

'At that point, when he realized that and that girls realized that he was on to them, they sped away,' Round Lake Beach Police Chief Michael Scott told WLS.

The car dragged him until he fell to the pavement, smacking his head. The suspects then fled the scene, said police.

The victim was conscious when help arrived and at first he was talking and it didn't seem as if his injuries were serious, said Scott.

The teen girls met the father of seven in this parking lot Round Lake Beach around 7:55pm

But within a few hours, things took a turn for the worse and he died three days later.

Lake County Coroner Dr. Howard Cooper ruled his death a homicide caused by head trauma.

Two other teens in the car, a 16 and 17-year-old, will not be charged.

Bueno-Sanchez had seven children, ranging in age from 27 to six.

Family describe him as a very active dad who was involved in all aspects of his children's lives.

'He was such a good person, he didn't deserve any of this,' daughter Lily Olmos told WLS.

'To realize this has happened over a cell phone and that the people who did were teenage girls,' said family friend Tina Rompala.

He is also survived by his wife and four grandchildren.

Sherman is being held on $500,000 bond. The other two unidentified teen girls will likely be charged as adults, said Smith.

Scott said that, tragically, the dad had taken all the right precautions for the sale, meeting the girls early in a well-populated area, and not getting in their car, but he still ended up dead.

'Young people dont think of the ramifications of their actions,' Scott told Fox 40. 'They think of what theyre planning on doing and they dont think of the things that can go wrong  with this, everything that could have went wrong did, and it cant get more serious than it is right now.'
A mother and her young cancer-stricken daughter claim Virgin Australia refused to allow them to boarding a flight as they prepared to travel interstate for life-saving treatment.

Passengers were still boarding the flight bound for Newcastle last Wednesday, but Billie-Jean Simon and her daughter Payton Hartigan, three, were told they were too late and the door to the tarmac was closing.

But the young mother and daughter, from Darling Downs, Queensland, claim they had arrived at the Brisbane's domestic terminal on time  but were slightly delayed moments before the boarding call because Payton was sick and had to be rushed to the bathroom.

'She [Ms Simon] had heard the boarding call, but you just can't tell a kid to hurry up when they're being sick,' Ms Simon's mother Tina Mancini told Daily Mail Australia.

'It's not like she was ten minutes ... it was one minute.'

Billie-Jean Simon and her cancer-stricken daughter Payton Hartigan, 3, (pictured) were stopped from boarding on a Virgin Australia flight as they travelled for life-saving treatment

The family couldn't afford $600 to book another flight (from left) sister Abbie Hartigan, grandmother Tina Mancini, mother Billie-Jean Simon and Payton Hartigan

Payton was on her way to receive stem-cell treatment, after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in February.

The three- year-old has already endured sixteen rounds of chemotherapy at Lady Cilento Children's Hospital but needed to travel to Newcastle for further treatment.

Ms Simon told attendants at the gate about their situation, but was shattered when she was told that neither she nor her daughter would be flying.

'They closed the door in her face, she could see people still walking down,' Ms Mancini said.

'She doesn't like publicising Payton's cancer but the appointment was so important she couldn't miss it,' Ms Mancini told the Sunshine Coast Daily.

'When she asked about the next flight she was told it would be another $600, despite having insurance.

'With money so tight at the moment, it just wasn't something she could afford,' she said and added the family have set up a GoFundMe page to help the family with the financial burden.

Desperate to make their appointment, Ms Simon's partner Michael Hartigan drove her and Payton to Newcastle, an eight and a half hour journey compared to their intended two and a half hour flight.

The mother and daughter had arrived at the airport on time, but they were delayed moments before the boarding call as Payton (pictured) became sick and had to be taken to the bathroom

Payton was on her way to receive stem-cell treatment in Newcastle, after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in February

The family stayed with a friend after driving until 1.00am, and flew home on Thursday with a different airline.

'Now we're trying to get Payton to eat, because her treatment makes everything tastes like metal, Ms Mancini told Daily Mail Australia.

'We now have to wait 21 days to see if her treatment is working.'

Due to Payton's lowered immunity, she has to wear a mask when she is outdoors and the family have had to move home.

Payton's grandmother, Ms Mancini (pictured together) said Virgin Australia had been in touch following the family's ordeal

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Virgin Australia for comment

Following her daughter and granddaughter's ordeal, Ms Mancinisaid Virgin Australia had been in touch.

'They contacted me to apologise and say they will refund the money promptly and that they will also give her [Ms Simon] a $1000 travel voucher,' she said.

'The guy on the phone was very good and very aplogetic.'

But as of Thursday she says they are yet to see the money be desposited.

IN a comment to Daily Mail Australia, Virgin Australia said they 'take great pride in delivering superior customer service'.

'Regrettably on this occasion, our service was well below expectations and we are truly sorry for the familys experience.

'We have resolved this matter with our guests and taken steps to ensure this does not occur again.'
Student activists have crashed Education Minister Simon Birmingham's speech to protest against proposed university cuts.

Mr Birmingham was addressing the national press club on Thursday afternoon to spruik reforms to higher education.

Some activists managed to get on stage as protesters chanted, 'No cuts, no fees, no corporate universities' as they were dragged off by security.

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Some activists managed to get on stage as protesters chanted, 'No cuts, no fees, no corporate universities' as they were dragged off by security

A protester on stage threw paperwork in the air in front of Mr Birmingham

Mr Birmingham described protesting as a 'rite of passage of university students nowadays'.

Earlier this week, the government announced $2.8 billion of cuts in next Tuesday's budget. The reforms would increase student fees and lower the threshold for graduates to begin repaying debts.

A small group of university students protesting the proposed cuts briefly blocked traffic outside Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's electoral office in Sydney.

About 20 students initially tried to occupy the the prime minister's office in Edgecliff but were blocked by half-a-dozen NSW police officers on Thursday.

Students chanted: 'No cuts, no fees, no corporate universities'

Education Minister Simon Birmingham was addressing the national press club on Thursday when he was interrupted by student journalists

Mr Birmingham described protesting as a 'rite of passage of university students nowadays'

One student was dragged off after drawing devil horns on a glass window in front of a poster of Mr Turnbull, but was released within minutes after receiving a police warning.

The students then moved to the intersection outside the office, blocking traffic and chanting: 'When education is under attack what do we do? Stand up, fight back!'

Officers then pushed the students onto the footpath as they tried to march down New South Head Road.

Students in Adelaide are also staging protests outside the office of Mr Birmingham.

The government has revamped its controversial 2014 budget package of changes by dumping plans for deregulated course fees and a 20 per cent cut in funding for universities.

A small group of university students protesting the proposed cuts briefly blocked traffic outside Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's electoral office in Sydney

About 20 students initially tried to occupy the the prime minister's office in Edgecliff but were blocked by half-a-dozen NSW police officers on Thursday

Police officers remove students protesting at the office of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Thursday

Instead students will have to pay up to $3600 more for a four-year university degree and start paying back their loans as soon as their income reaches $42,000.

The most expensive degree, medicine over six years, would cost $71,900, up from $68,000.

Universities will be subject to a $2.8 billion efficiency dividend.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten told reporters in Townsville on Tuesday that cutting funding to universities ran counter to a government seeking to improve opportunity and productivity.

Officers remove students from the Edgecliff office on Thursday

Protesters and officers struggle on Thursday outside Mr Turnbull's Edgecliff office

Students were protesting against proposed cuts to university on Thursday

'If you cut the funding of universities you increase the price of going to university - that is taking Australia in the wrong direction,' Mr Shorten said.

'It's about time the Turnbull government stood up for young people and people who want to better themselves.'

Education Minister Simon Birmingham describes the measures as 'relatively modest when you boil them down to the impact on students and their fees'.

Students are not impressed, saying dropping the HECS-HELP repayment threshold from $56,000 to $42,000 was the worst change in more than a decade.

'The government is out of touch when they tell students they should pay even more for their education while they let corporations, making billions, pay no tax,' said Jenna Schrodes from Sydney University Student Representatives Council.
A Maryland prisoner serving a 106-year sentence for attempted murder has been captured after almost a week on the run.

David M. Watson broke free from prison guards when he was transported to the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center in Howard County for psychiatric evaluation on April 28.

The 28-year-old inmate was found on Wednesday night hiding in a drain pipe in Jessup just two miles from where he disappeared from.

David M. Watson, 28, was found in Jessup, Maryland on Wednesday night after he broke free from prison guards six days after when they took him to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation

Police had searched the drain pipe early in the day after receiving a tip but failed to locate him.

Officers returned at night to recheck the area using night vision equipment.

They found him lying down in a drainage pipe approximately 18 inches in size.

Officers said Watson surrendered to police and was taken into custody in 'good condition'.

The 28-year-old inmate was found on Wednesday night hiding in a drain pipe in Jessup just two miles from where he disappeared from

Police have been scouring the area looking for Watson after he escaped and ran off into a wooded area on April 28

Video courtesy of WJZ

He had escaped from officers in the parking lot of the psychiatric hospital and fled into a wooded area almost a week earlier.

Authorities had said Watson fled after pushing one of the guards just after they had opened the door to the van.

Handcuffs and Watson's waist chain were found near where the van was parked.

He was sentenced in 2013 to 106 years in jail for shooting at the houses of three police officers from Delaware and Maryland.
Barack Obama's team used NSA technology to examine data gathered on tens of thousands of Americans abroad during the election, it has emerged.

Officials searched both metadata and the actual contents of communications for the names of more than 30,000 US citizens, according to data released by the he Office of the Director of National Intelligence this week.

And more than 3,000 of the resulting intelligence reports were then circulated among government departments without the names of the searched parties being redacted, sources with direct knowledge told Circa.

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I, spy? Barack Obama's team searched NSA data for info on US citizens including Donald Trump's election team, insiders claimed Wednesday. Legally, the NSA can't spy on US citizens

The data is officially only gathered on non-US-citizens outside America that use US infrastructure such as email servers.

But critics say that the pull of the NSA's system is so strong that it routinely sweeps up data the agency does not legally have access to.

'I think it is alarming. There seems to be a universal trend toward more surveillance and more surveillance that impacts Americans' privacy without obtaining a warrant,' Neema Singh Guliani, the ACLU's legislative counsel, said.

'This data confirms that there is a lack of acknowledgment that information is being specifically and increasingly mined about Americans for investigations that have little or nothing to do with international terrorism.'

In total, officials searched for the names of 30,355 Americans in communications metadata in 2016 - a 27.5 per cent increase on the previous year.

Metadata includes email addresses and phone numbers, but not the content of the actual communications.

But officials also searched the contents of the communications themselves for the names of 5,288 Americans - compared to just 198 in 2013.

On the up: Searches increased due to Obama easing NSA restrictions in 2011, insiders said. The names were not redacted in thousands of reports passed around government

Those figures don't include searches by the FBI, which are likely to increase the numbers dramatically.

As a result of the Obama administration's searches, thousands of NSA intelligence reports were created and circulated among government offices that had the names of US residents visible.

Usually those names would be redacted and replaced with 'American No. 1' or something similar.

In around half of those cases the identities were initially redacted, but later 'unmasked' by the Obama administration.

Among those that were unmasked were members of Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign team.

In total 3,134 NSA intelligence reports with unredacted names of US residents were created in 2016; 3,354 were created in 2015.

The increase in searches was the direct result of Obama's 2011 decision to loosen restrictions placed on the sharing of information, government sources told Circa.

One, who did not wish to be named, said: 'Its simply easier for people to make requests.

'And while we have safeguards, there is always concern and vigilance about possible political or prurient motives that go beyond national security concerns.'

Big data: The NSA (pictured) says it only spies on data from foreigners using US infrastructure, but critics say its software pulls in info on US citizens too

Around 20 US officials have the power to unmask a name - something that was once considered a rare act.

The justification need only be that 'the identity of the United States person is necessary to understand foreign intelligence information or assess its importance,' according to a 2011 document related to Obama's easing of intelligence rules.

Officials confirmed that the increase has come as officials became comfortable with the 2011 changes.

Alex Joel, head of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence's Office of Civil Liberties, Privacy, and Transparency, said that the newly released report was a triump of transparency.

'Our goal is to provide relevant information, distilled into an accessible format,' he said.

'This year's report leans forward in that direction, providing significant information beyond what's statutorily required, and reflecting our concerted effort to enhance clarity.'
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A killer who shot dead a 20-year-old woman before turning the gun on himself at a Dallas college had been 'stalking her for a while', according to her family.

Janeera Nickol Gonzalez was killed on Wednesday in a common study area at North Lake College after Adrian Victor Torres reportedly approached her yelling: 'You know who I am and why I'm here.'

Later, police found Torres' dead body in another university building after he killed himself in an apparent murder-suicide.

According to Gonzalez's family, the 21-year-old had an obsession with their daughter, but she didn't make anything of it as they weren't even friends.

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Janeera Nickol Gonzalez (pictured), 20, was shot dead on Wednesday in a common study area inside the Performance Hall Building at North Lake College around 12:45pm

North Lake College in Irving, Texas was placed on lockdown for more than an hour on Wednesday due to an active shooter threat. Above, students fleeing campus

Before hearing the news about their daughter's tragic death, the family rushed to the North Lake College campus to make sure that she had not been harmed.

Additionally, a family friend, Jenn Lauren tweeted: 'My bf's sister is at north lake and we can't get a hold of her. Her name is Janeera Gonzalez if anyone knows if she's ok please let me know.'

They finally received confirmation that she had been killed close to 5pm, more than four hours after the shooting.

Visibly shaken and speaking to WFAA, her mother, Lucia Gonzalez, said: 'There is no justice for my daughter.'

'We're not gonna see her again, she was a harmless girl,' said her father Juan Gonzalez.

Family friend, Jenn Lauren tweeted: 'My bf's sister is at north lake and we can't get a hold of her. Her name is Janeera Gonzalez if anyone knows if she's ok please let me know'

Gonzalez was a Kinesiology student set to graduate in a few weeks, and said that she vaguely knew the gunman who, according to her mother, 'had been stalking for for quite a while'

Gonzalez was a Kinesiology student set to graduate in a few weeks, and said that she vaguely knew the gunman who, according to her mother, 'had been stalking for for quite a while'.

Mrs Gonzalez said that the pair never dated and weren't even friends, but that her daughter 'didn't make anything of it'.

Witnesses told the family that Torres approached their daughter in front of an art exhibit, yelling: 'You know who I am and you know why I am here.'

'She was very sweet. She was the best daughter a mother could have... the best girl... the best of everything,' her parents told WFAA.

The victim's brother Johnny Gonzalez, created a GoFundMe to help with his sister's funeral expenses and within hours it had already surpassed the $10k goal.

Witnesses told the family that Torres approached their daughter in front of an art exhibit, yelling: 'You know who I am and you know why I am here'

People stand in the parking lot while Irving police officers work at the shooting scene on the North Lake College campus in Irving, Texas on Wednesday

A tutor, Nasrin Nanbakhsh, who was leaving her shift at the building told local reporters that she saw the man shoot the woman three times in a hallway.

'I saw a guy standing and there was a girl sitting in the chair and it happened too quickly. I saw him shooting her three times. It was too loud,' Nanbakhsh said, according to NBC Dallas-Forth Worth.

'We've been trained how to handle these types of situations. I immediately ran back to the woman working, locked the doors and asked all the students to go back to the bathroom, turn off all the lights and be quiet.'

The campus was put on lockdown shortly after 12.30pm, when the gunshots were first heard.

Students covered their heads and walked with their hands up through as they are evacuated off campus on Wednesday

Police later found the bodies of two people - the gunman and a victim in a building on campus

About an hour later, police said that there appeared to be 'no continuing threat' at the school.

Students on social media reported hearing the gunfire and police rushing onto campus armed with rifles.

On Facebook, school officials gave students detailed instructions on how to hide.

'Proceed with others to the nearest room and barricade and/or lock yourselves in the room,' the school wrote. 'Wait in place for further instructions from police. If you are not on campus, STAY AWAY for your own safety. Well update you as soon as we can.'

A police spokesman said the incident appeared to be a murder-suicide. Above, officers on the scene on Wednesday

BREAKING: Students running out of a North Lake College bldg in Irving as police search for active shooter on campus. https://t.co/EP2pv6BXJO pic.twitter.com/0tiidMPIc2  NBC DFW (@NBCDFW) May 3, 2017

During the lockdown, a police spokesman said officers were looking for a white male suspect armed with a handgun. They said he had brown hair in a buzz-cut style and was wearing an orange tank-top with a gray stripe and carrying a black coat.

Students say the action was concentrated on Building A on the campus.

Police were working to clear the entire campus, which will be closed for the rest of the day as the investigation begins.

A tutor said she saw the gunman shoot the female victim three times while he was sitting in a chair. Above police on the scene on Wednesday
A judge says it's 'extraordinary' and 'disheartening' that he must impose a non-parole period close to the length of the head sentence for a 'good man' found guilty of causing a death in a road crash.

Mitchell Deane Franklin was distracted by a wrestling DVD playing in his car before he smashed into the back of another vehicle at speed in 2013, killing 86-year-old Harvie Spencer.

In sentencing submissions on Thursday, District Court Judge Paul Muscat said parliament had mandated that any non-parole period be at least 80 per cent of the head sentence, describing the situation as one that troubles most sentencing judges.

A judge says it's 'disheartening' that he must impose a non-parole period close to the length of the head sentence for DVD-watching killer driver Mitchell Deane Franklin (pictured)

'It's certainly going to be one of the most difficult sentences I've had to pass in this court,' District Court Judge Paul Muscat said

'It's just extraordinary that they (parliament) have seen fit to prescribe a mandatory non-parole period for this crime,' Judge Muscat said.

'It's a very sad case. I'm having to sentence a good man for his first crime and a crime that doesn't involve any criminal intent.

'It's certainly going to be one of the most difficult sentences I've had to pass in this court.'

In a psychological report tendered to the court, Franklin said he hated himself for what he had done.

'My actions took someone away from their family and I hate myself for it,' he said.

'Words can't describe how sorry I am.

'I don't think it can get much more serious than taking someone's life.'

But the family of Mr Spencer rejected his apology, describing it as a 'pathetic attempt' to get sympathy, the ABC reported in March.

Harvie Spencer, 86, was killed after Franklin, who was distracted by a wrestling DVD playing in his car, smashed into the back of the elderly man's vehicle

In a psychological report tendered to the court, Franklin said he hated himself following the fatal crash on the Augusta Highway (pictured)

'I do not accept his pathetic attempt at an apology or stating that he had no prior opportunity,' Mr Spencer's son, Colin Spencer said.

'There have been earlier court appearances where he could have made that attempt. I feel this was only offered up during the trial to try and get some sympathy from the jury.'

He added that this was 'one person's selfish, self-indulgent, senseless and reckless act'.

Franklin said the family of Mr Spencer had every right to be angry.

'I don't think that I could ever get past that anger,' he said.

During his trial, prosecutors argued Franklin had ample time to see Mr Spencer's car, which was stopped at an intersection on the Augusta Highway.

But, distracted by the wrestling video, which was playing on an in-dash DVD, player, he drove his ute into the back of Mr Spencer's vehicle, killing him instantly.

Mr Spencer's wife was also hurt and has since died from pancreatic cancer, with her family believing her illness was brought on by the stress associated with losing her life partner of 62 years.

An overhead view of the site of the fatal crash on the Augusta Highway near Port Germein, South Australia in June 2013

The prosecution has asked the court not to suspend any jail term or allow it to be served on home detention.

But defence counsel Stephen Apps urged the judge to be as lenient as possible, noting Franklin's sincere remorse.

In South Australia, the maximum penalty for causing death by dangerous driving is 15 years' in prison with a mandatory licence disqualification of 10 years.

Judge Muscat will sentence Franklin next week.
The Adelaide woman held in a Colombian jail met with a tall black man in the Bogota hotel lobby before she was arrested with 5.8 kilograms of cocaine in her suitcase, hotel staff say.

The reports from 9News come as the woman's lawyer admits there is no evidence to back up her claim she was 'tricked'  by a man she knew as Angelo or Tom.

Cassandra Sainsbury, 22, was arrested at the El Dorado International Airport on April 12 after the cocaine was allegedly found hidden inside 18 headphone boxes in her suitcase.

Her Colombian-based lawyer, Orlando Herran, said the Adelaide woman claims to have been tricked by a man she knew only as Angelo or Tom.

The man offered to buy her the headphones for a cheap price and brought them to her at the airport and put them in her bag, Ms Sainsbury told Mr Herran.

But the lawyer has admitted it was a 'grave problem' there is as yet no evidence to back up her story.

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There is no proof the Australian woman held in a Colombian jail was tricked into allegedly carrying 5.8 kilograms of cocaine in her suitcase, her lawyer says

The 22-year-old was arrested at the El Dorado International Airport on April 12 after 5.8kg of cocaine was allegedly found hidden inside 18 headphone boxes (pictured) in her suitcase

Photographs have emerged of the moment Cassandra Sainsbury checked out of her hotel

Mr Herran was interviewed on Adelaide's FIVEaa radio in Spanish, with his quotes translated by presenter David Pentherby.

The lawyer told Mr Pentherby he believed his client's version of events.

'However, it is here that we have a very grave problem,' Mr Herran said.

He said the grave problem was that there is not yet any proof she was tricked or that the man named Angelo or Tom even exists.

Mr Herran told Mr Penberthy she has not yet decided how to plead to the drug charges.

Mr Herran told Mr Penberthy she has not yet decided how to plead to the drug charges

The man offered to buy her the headphones for a cheap price and brought them to her at the airport and put them in her bag, Ms Sainsbury told Mr Herran

But Mr Herran said it's possible she could strike a deal with the Colombian district attorney for a sentence as low as four years, if they take into account her youth, character and that she has no criminal history

The lawyer said the risk of taking the case before a judge is that if they claim Ms Sainsbury is innocent without proof and lose the hearing, she could be jailed for between eight and 20 years.

But Mr Herran said it's possible she could strike a deal with the Colombian district attorney for a sentence as low as four years, if they take into account her youth, character and that she has no criminal history.

'Also that her version of what happened is probably true despite any evidence to support her claim,' Mr Penberthy said.

Ms Sainsbury is pictured leaving the Bogota hotel with the suitcase

Earlier Ms Sainsbury's father Stuart Sainsbury told the Nine Network his daughter is no drug mule.

Mr Sainsbury also said he can't believe what is being said about his daughter on Facebook.

'I don't believe she was a drug mule, she's just my kid. Like, what parent thinks of their kid as a drug mule' Mr Sainsbury told the Nine Network on Wednesday.

Media reports have suggested Ms Sainsbury is in serious debt after the collapse of her fitness business in the South Australian town of Yorketown.

A local florist also claimed she 'disappeared basically overnight' from Adelaide owing tens of thousands in debt, reports 7 News.
A female Georgia teen's apparent suicide attempt that was broadcast on Facebook Live was stopped by sheriff's deputies on Tuesday.

The incident happened around 7:30pm in Macon, which is about an hour outside of Atlanta, when several Facebook users called 911.

Bibb County Sheriff David Davis said: 'It's a good thing that the people watching this called it in. Those people did the right thing.'

In addition, Facebook had also alerted authorities to what was taking place.

Sergeant Linda Howard with the Bibb Sheriff's Office told WMAZ the teen girl consumed pills and placed a plastic bag over her head.

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A Georgia teen's apparent suicide attempt that was broadcast on Facebook Live was stopped by sheriff's deputies on Tuesday. The incident happened around 7:30pm in Macon, which is about an hour outside of Atlanta, when several Facebook users called 911 (file above)

Roughly 30 minutes after the calls were received, three patrol cars and an ambulance were spotted traveling down Vineville Avenue to the teen's residence.

The teen, who has not been publicly identified, still had a pulse as medics carried her downstairs on a gurney, The Telegraph of Macon reported.

The teen girl was transported to Medical Center Navicent Health and was said to be OK on Wednesday evening.

'All social media is is a conduit for attention,' Davis said.

'Even in this tragic situation, this young lady was looking for attention, and thankfully, the right people were watching.  It could have been more tragic.'

Bibb County Sheriff David Davis (file above) said: 'It's a good thing that the people watching this called it in.'

He added that numerous live-streaming suicide attempts have occurred since the Facebook Live feature launched last year, but this was the first ever instance in Bibb County.

'We are a voyeuristic society,' Davis said. 'It's really troubling that you have things like this, to have access to people being able to put something up live, as it happens.  We see more often that it ends in regret.'

Earlier Wednesday it was announced that Facebook is stepping up its efforts to keep inappropriate and often violent material - including recent high-profile videos of murders and suicides, hate speech and extremist propaganda - off of its site.

The world's biggest social network said it plans to hire 3,000 more people to review videos and other posts after getting criticized for not responding quickly enough to murders shown on its service.

The hires over the next year will be on top of the 4,500 people Facebook already tasks with identifying criminal and other questionable material for removal.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote Wednesday that the company is 'working to make these videos easier to report so we can take the right action sooner - whether that's responding quickly when someone needs help or taking a post down.'

For confidential suicide support call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1-800-273-8255.
A child had a hood placed over their head and were bundled into a car, before they narrowly managed to escape, in a terrifying kidnapping attempt this week.

The incident occurred in Sydney's inner west, at around 8am on Monday.

Further adding to parents' worries, a primary school student was also approached in a nearby area on Tuesday morning, the Daily Telegraph reports.

While police do not believe the incidents are linked, parents are being warned to be on high alert for anyone acting suspicious.

A child had a hood placed over their head and were bundled into a car, before they narrowly managed to escape, in a terrifying kidnapping attempt in Sydney's inner west this week

Sydney Secondary College, in Leichhardt, circulated a note to parents warning them of the incidents.

'In once case a secondary student had a hood placed on their head and was pushed into a car. Luckily they were able to escape,' the note began.

'All class teachers will be speaking to our students about stranger danger tomorrow.

'Please speak with your child/ren in regards to remaining vigilant and aware when travelling to and from school, as well as not speaking with strangers if approached.'

Police are currently investigating both incidents, a spokesperson for police media said.

Sydney Secondary College (pictured), in Leichhardt, circulated a note to parents warning of the two attempted kidnappings

While police do not believe the incidents are linked, parents are being warned to be on high alert for anyone acting suspicious

'Police from Leichhardt LAC are investigating a report of an attempted abduction about 8am on Monday May 1 around 8am, and a child approach about 8.15am on Tuesday May 2,' the spokesperson said.

'At this point of the investigation police are confident that the two incidents are unrelated and police have been unable to force evidence including CCTV or witnesses of either incident.

'However NSW police take all reports seriously and will continue to investigate the circumstance surrounding the alleged incidents and anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.'
A student who tried to blow up a London tube train with a homemade bomb told a friend he hoped she would be 'raped by refugees'.

Damon Smith faces a lengthy prison sentence after being convicted of planting an explosive device on a Jubilee Line carriage on his way to college.

Speaking after his trial at the Old Bailey, a former friend claimed the 20-year-old abused her after becoming infatuated when they struck up a bond in their hometown in Devon in 2012.

The young woman said Smith posted photographs of her in her underwear on Facebook and sent her a chilling message reading: 'I wish you very well in your country full of Syrians aka rape-u-guees killing everyone and f****** up your country.'

Damon Smith planted an explosive device on a London tube train after researching ISIS terrorists online. The court heard he had a long-running fascination with guns and bombs

A trial at the Old Bailey heard Smith had been interested in bombs and explosions since the age of 10 and researched how to build them using ISIS propaganda magazines he found online.

Smith even took a selfie with Paris attacker Abdelhamid Abaaoud in the background when the killer's picture was shown on TV.

Smith's former friend told The Sun the would-be killer 'suddenly flipped' after a year, hacking her Facebook account, posting photographs and sending messages to her mother.

She added: 'When I met him he was the loveliest person on earth. As soon as I went back home (abroad) he started doing this horrible stuff. It broke me.'

Meanwhile the mother of the weapons-obsessed student blamed 'YouTube poison' for corrupting her son.

His mother Antonitza Smith, 47, blamed terrorist videos on social media for leading her son astray and said the 'Government should ban' sites like YouTube.

Police footage shows the excited-looking student answering questions during his interview

She told the Telegraph: 'How to make a bomb - that shouldn't be on YouTube because people copy, especially vulnerable people.

'Whatever people put on YouTube, broadcast on YouTube - how to make a bomb, how to blow up a car, hacking etc - it's illegal really.

'The government should ban it so it might save another child from what my son has gone through.'

In his police interview, an excited-looking Smith told detectives he left the bomb on the train 'as a prank' after realising he had 'two hours to kill before his next maths lesson'.

Smith smirked after his arrest and throughout his trial, but jurors were told this was due to his Asperger's Syndrome.

At an early court hearing, his mother stood up in the public gallery and shouted out to defend her son, who was described as still 'tied to her apron strings'.

She said he 'didn't know what he was doing' and told him she loved him.

Former altar boy Smith made his own bomb using a Christmas tree light, a 2 clock from Tesco, sparklers and a thermos flash packed with ball bearings.

He left the device in an Adidas holdall, which had 'UKIM' printed on it - meaning UK Islamic Mission, on a train at North Greenwich Tube station - then headed off for his morning lecture.

The device failed to go off and the driver took it into his cab thinking it was lost property. He then realised it was a bomb and could go off at any moment.

Smith was arrested after CCTV footage of him planting the bag on the train was linked to footage of him leaving the station.

The student, who was 19 at the time, claimed he had only planted the bomb to cause delays and see if it would make the news.

He denied possession of explosives with intent to endanger life and cause serious injury, but was convicted by a jury following a week-long trial at the Old Bailey after less than an hour's deliberations.

Chilling CCTV footage shows the moment Smith steps off the train at London Bridge, with the homemade bomb propped up against the seat by the door

The would-be bomber looked stunned as the jury's verdict was read out but did not speak.

Smith, who grew up in Newton Abbot, Devon, did not give evidence at his trial but told a psychiatrist he had been interested in bombs since he was 10 and began researching their design and construction using ISIS propaganda magazines.

He had moved to London with his mother to study computer forensics at London Metropolitan University just a few weeks before planting the device.

Smith said he made his first replica pipe bomb aged 14 after reading the Anarchist's Cook Book online.

He is a judo black belt and an avid poker player and had won 500 from an online game on the morning he planted the bomb.

Smith had posted a video of himself firing a blank-firing pistol online before the incident

A Dr Ian Cummings said in a psychiatric report: 'He recalled watching the Boston Bombings and downloading the Al Qaeda magazine Inspire and visited some Islamic websites.

'He said at the time he didn't think it was an issue - he thought it was just an interest.'

Of the bomb plot, he said: 'He said he wanted to make a smoke bomb and had no expectation that it might cause harm - he admitted he had used ball bearings but more to give an authentic look than to cause harm.'

On the morning of 20 October last year, Smith boarded a Jubilee Line train at Surrey Quays with the device in a bag and then changed at Southwark to go in the opposite direction.

He primed the timer mechanism on the device on the train by inserting batteries into the clock and then left the bag on the train between Southwark and London Bridge.

Pictures released during the trial show the household objects Smith used to build the bomb

The main charge was made up of 152.8g of the explosive material in a silver metal flask

Materials: Metropolitan Police have released a photograph of some of the components Damon Smith used to make a home-made bomb

Two members of the public spotted it and alerted the driver at North Greenwich station.

But the driver thought it was lost property and took it with him into his cab - it was only on double checking that he noticed the wires protruding from the back of the clock.

Both the train and platform at North Greenwich were evacuated and the device was then made safe by cutting a wire.

Had the device detonated as planned, it would have gone off just as passengers were leaving the platform, potentially killing scores of people.

Later that night, Smith began making Google searches to try and find news of his bomb.

An explosives expert told the court that the device was viable but the initiator may not have been powerful enough to ignite it

Home-made: Damon Smith created a bomb after reading an article about how to make a device using things from around the home

When he was arrested the following day on his university campus by armed officers, he was carrying a copy of the Koran in his bag along with his lecture notes.

At the south London address he shared with his mother police found bomb-making instructions and a shopping list of bomb components.

They also recovered a blank-firing pistol and a video of him firing the gun he had uploaded to YouTube.

Smith did not give evidence at trial, but his legal team claimed the bomb was just a prank

He also had a carbon-dioxide powered revolver designed to fire ball bearings and a sheath knife which had also featured in YouTube videos.

An image of a handgun labelled '2016 Islamic State fighter' was found on his university computer, and he was found to have 'liked' various videos of explosions.

Smith had images of ISIS fighters and had searched for issues of the terror organisation's online magazine Dabiq.

The issue he downloaded featured an article about the bomb which brought down a Russian airliner on 31 October 2015.

Police found the image of him and Abaaoud on an iPad recovered from his grandparent's house.

He told officers that he had been brought up a Christian but thought Islam was 'more true' because the Koran predicted scientific facts like finger prints.

He said he didn't really practise the religion although he read the Koran and sometimes prayed in the morning when 'convenient'.

Richard Carey-Hughes QC, for Smith, described him as a 'white boy from Devon' and 'tied to his mother's apron strings'.

He was not charged with any terror offences, after the Crown Prosecution Service decided they couldn't prove he was radicalised.

He will be sentenced on a date yet to be set and faces a lengthy jail term.

A YouTube spokesman said: 'We do not allow bomb-making videos on YouTube and if there's content giving instruction on how to carry out harmful activities on the platform, we quickly remove it when it's flagged.'
NSW Police worker Curtis Cheng's teenage killer Farhad Jabar 'died for the sake of Allah', one of the men accused of supplying the murder weapon allegedly said.

Raban Alou allegedly consoled 15-year-old Jabar's distraught older brother Farshad Jabar two days after the teenager shot Mr Cheng dead before being killed by police in an exchange of gunfire.

A recording of the alleged October 4, 2015, conversation was played on Thursday at a committal hearing for the group of men accused of aiding Jabar.

Raban Alou allegedly consoled 15-year-old Jabar's (pictured) distraught older brother Farshad Jabar two days after the teenager shot Mr Cheng

'He will be with the prophet,' a man who prosecutors say is Alou can be heard in the recording telling an audibly distressed man, said to be Farshad Jabar.

'He died for the sake of Allah. You should be happy.'

A grief-stricken Farshad Jabar can be heard to say: 'Everybody knows how much I love my brother' and 'my family's heartbroken'.

Farshad Jabar is told that his brother is in 'jannah' (paradise) and that 'he's better than one hundred thousand Muslims ... he's better than every Muslim in Australia', according to the recording that was played in the Downing Centre Local Court.

Alou, 19, is accused of giving Jabar the pistol he used to shoot 58-year-old police accountant Mr Cheng outside the NSW Police Parramatta headquarters on October 2, 2015.

Prosecutors say 24-year-old Talal Alameddine supplied the gun to Alou and Mustafa Dirani, 23.

Milad Atai , 21, is also accused of involvement in the plot.

NSW Police worker Curtis Cheng's teenage killer Farhad Jabar (pictured) 'died for the sake of Allah', one of the men accused of supplying the murder weapon allegedly said

Prosecutors say 24-year-old Talal Alameddine supplied the gun to Alou and Mustafa Dirani, 23 (pictured)

Police officer and shooting victim Curtis Cheng (left) pictured together with his family

A photocopy of the bloodstained note left by the alleged murderer of Curtis Cheng

On Thursday the court also heard evidence that Alou knew he was under surveillance and expected being charged after Mr Cheng's murder.

A female associate was allegedly recorded in Alou's car on October 3, 2015, telling him, 'don't ever confess' and 'they will try and say you brainwashed him'.

Alou allegedly said: 'They know me, I'm on the radar, ASIO, they know what I stand for. They know everything.'

He also allegedly said: 'They will accuse me of accessory to murder and inciting terrorism' and 'they will go hard ... they will pump me they will pump my mum they will pump my brothers'.

The hearing continues.

Shadi Jabar pictured on October 1, 2015 at Sydney International Airport, as she prepared to fly out of Australia bound for Syria. It was one day before her brother Farhad Jabar shot and killed police employee Curtis Cheng at Parramatta
Sam Symons (pictured) is thought to have died over the Bank Holiday weekend

A law student is believed to have killed himself in his room - making his death the sixth suspected suicide at universities in Bristol this academic year.

Sam Symons, a student at the University of the West of England, is thought to have died over the Bank Holiday weekend on the Frenchay campus.

Sam, 19, from Barnstaple, North Devon, started his course and moved to Bristol in September.

A UWE spokesman said: 'It is with great sadness that we learned of the death of a student living in accommodation on the university at the weekend.

'Our thoughts are with the student's family and friends at this very difficult time.

'We are providing full support to the family and to fellow students and we are asking for privacy for the family at this very difficult time.'

The family of Sam declined to comment from their home in Bideford, Devon.

Sam's death comes in the same academic year that five students died while studying at the University of Bristol.

Three of them - philosophy student Miranda Williams, 19, history student Daniel Green, 18, and Kim Long, an 18 year old law student, were freshers starting their first term at Bristol University.

Sam, from Barnstaple, North Devon, started his course and moved to Bristol in last September

Sam's death comes in the same academic year that five students died while studying at the University of Bristol, including Miranda Williams (left) and Elsa Scaburri (right)

Lara Nosiru, 23, a final year neuroscience student, was found dead at the bottom of the Avon Gorge in January.

And third year student Elsa Scaburri, 21, died at her home in Salisbury, Wilts, halfway through a year abroad.

Sam Symons studied in Barnstaple, Devon, before heading off to the university.

To contact the Samaritans, call 116 123 or go to www.samaritans.org
The bodybuilding fiance of accused drug smuggler Cassandra Sainsbury has showed off his newest tattoo online as his bride-to-be languishes in a Colombian prison cell.

Scott Broadbridge, 23, from the coastal suburb of Moana in Adelaide's south was featured on his younger sister Jasmin's Instagram on Sunday showing off some 'fresh ink'.

'So me and brother boi just got matchy tats,' Jasmin's caption read.

Scott Broadbridge, 23, the fiance of accused drug smuggler Cassandra Sainsbury, has made time to get a new tattoo as his wife-to-be languishes is a Colombian prison

Mr Broadbridge, left, showed off his new ink, alongside his younger sister Jasmine in a post to Instagram on Sunday

His partner Cassandra Sainsbury, 22, faces 25 years in jail after she was arrested with 5.8 kilograms of cocaine at an airport in Colombia, pictured

His partner, Ms Sainsbury, is currently awaiting trial after being found with 5.8 kilograms of cocaine while allegedly trying to fly home to Australia from El Dorado International Airport in Bogota, Colombia on April 11.

The 22-year-old told family she thought the 18 packages were headphones she had purchased in bulk for her wedding in February.

Mr Broadbridge has been quiet since his fiancee's arrest, ignoring requests from Daily Mail Australia for comment.

The bodybuilder, who continues to stay in the home he shared with Ms Sainsbury, has dreams of adding more tattoos to his body.

The most recent artwork chosen by Mr Broadbridge and his sister Jasmin features the sign of the 'Illuminati' which is supposed to reference enlightenment.

The tattoo was drawn by Adelaide artist Dan Mawdsley who 'specialises in all thing pop culture'.

The brightly-coloured piece appears to be on Mr Broadbridge's right lower-forearm, it is highlighted in blue while his sister's is highlighted in hot pink.

The woman (pictured with her fiance Scott Broadbridge) was detained on April 11 at Bogota Airport just as she was about to fly back to Australia after a working holiday

The bodybuilder added this defqon inspired piece to his arm two weeks before he became engaged to Ms Sainsbury and claimed it was the beginning of a sleeve

Apart from the colouring the tattoos appear to be of the same design  featuring all elements of the 'Illuminati'. Another coloured tattoo is visible just above the newest addition.

In September 2016 the tattoo enthusiast got the Defqon logo placed on his left forearm following a visit to the popular Sydney music festival.

'So the new addition to my ink that I'll be turning into a sleeve,' Mr Broadbridge wrote.

'Some people will love it, some people will hate it, I don't get tattoos for people's approval.'

The reveler went on to confess 'hardstyle' music changed his life and made him who he is today.

'My first idea was to get a small defqon tattoo on my a**e but when I saw this I knew it was perfect.'

The bodybuilder pictured in front of a 'cheat' meal late last year

Mr Broadbridge pictured on the Pacific Islands cruise where he proposed to the accused drug smuggler, Ms Sainsbury

The couple's relationship was made 'Facebook official' after she accepted his proposal

Mr Broadbridge is pictured on his friend's shoulders at the music festival just weeks before he was back in Sydney to go on a cruise with his father Peter, and Ms Sainsbury.

The man proposed during the 10-day cruise which saw the couple travel to the Pacific Islands. It wasn't until Ms Sainsbury said 'yes' that the couple, who had reportedly been dating for 18 months became 'official' on social media.

Mr Broadbridge, who lives 'just 300 metres from the beach', has barely spoken since news of his fiancee's arrest sent shockwaves across Australia.

He briefly raised his head to correct Ms Sainsbury's sister Khala's claims the 22-year-old was in Colombia to promote her fitness brand.

'Although Cassie is a PT she is not currently personal training and hasn't been for six months,' he wrote.

Ms Sainsbury could now miss the couple's February wedding date

Mr Broadridge posted these photos showing the two-week period where he became engaged but has since deleted his social media presence

'She helped manage a commercial cleaning business that had both national and International clients.

'Unfortunately it's very easy for tourists to get targeted, especially in Colombia.'

The comments were posted on a fundraising page set up by Ms Sainsbury's sister following a barrage of insults directed at the former personal trainer.

'Just be respectful, we're trying to get an innocent girl back home where she belongs,' Mr Broadbridge said.

The bodybuilder deleted his social network profiles shortly after coming to his fiance's defence and has declined to comment since.

The man is believed to be living in the couple's home caring for their three husky dogs and a cat 'Cassandra wanted'.

Mr Broadbridge has refused to comment to the press over his fiancee's imprisonment but did leap to her defence on a page raising funds for her

Ms Sainsbury posted these snaps, in happoer times, on the couple's trip to Vanuatu in October 2016

Ms Sainsbury's with one of the couple's three dogs - which are now at home with Mr Broadbridge

The rest of Cassandra's family have commented on the young blonde's imprisonment - most recently her father Stuart who first claimed he wanted nothing to do with the situation.

On Tuesday afternoon Mr Sainsbury told Daily Mail Australia he was aware of his daughter's arrest.

'I don't want to be tied up in all this,' the father, motorcycle enthusiast and fisherman said.

When prompted about how he felt about the young woman being held in a Colombian prison after allegedly being found trying to leave the country with 5.8 kilograms of cocaine he refused to comment

'Listen, whatever is going on has nothing to do with me, and I have nothing to say about it.'

'You can ring my lawyer if you don't understand me. It's got nothing to do with me.'

Stuart Sainsbury, Cassandra's father, told Daily Mail Australia he didn't want to be 'tied up with' Cassandra's drug smuggling charges

Ms Sainsbury (pictured background) at her father's birthday celebrations in 2015

Mr Sainsbury then spoke on camera to Nine News claiming to 'love her unconditionally'.

'Shes just my kid, what parent thinks of her kid as a drug mule,' he said.

'I just love her, I cant change whats happened I just have to be here when she comes home.'

Ms Sainsbury was stopped at Bogota's El Dorado International Airport on April 11 after X-rays picked up 18 packages of cocaine in her luggage.

She drew the attention of the DEA when her plane ticket home to Australia via London was reportedly purchased last minute by an 'unknown party' in Hong Kong.

'We found her because of an alert from the DEA,' Bogota airport's head of narcotics, Commander Rodrigo Soler, told News Corp Australia.

Mrs Sainsbury with his wife Michelle, Cassandra Sainsbury's step mother

Channel Seven reports that Colombian authorities had been forwarded her passport details as early as April 5 - six days before she was arrested at El Dorado International Airport.

The young blonde from Adelaide told family members she thought the packages contained headphones she had bought cheaply off a 'nice Colombian man'.

Ms Sainsbury was heading home to Australia with the packages, via London in an 'all expenses work trip' which saw her visit China and LA before her time in the south American country where she now awaits trial.

Ms Sainsbury has been living in Adelaide since she left her home town of Yorketown after the collapse of her gym Yorke fitness in 2015.

Shortly after her arrival in Adelaide, three hours from her home town and failed fitness business, the young blonde met now fiance Scott Broadbridge.

Ms Sainsbury left Yorketown after the closure of her gym, pictured, in 2015

Mr Broadbridge claims the young woman has not been a personal trainer for six months - despite her sister Khala's claims she was in Colombia to promote herself as a personal trainer.

Khala faced the media following her sister's arrest to ask for donations to help free her sister from prison and bring her home to Australia.

'Our hearts break, because we know she is innocent, but stands little chance of proving it in such a corrupt country,' Khala Sainsbury told Daily Mail Australia.

'The trip was at least in part to promote her personal training business.'

Her mother Lisa Evans labelled her daughter as naive and also spoke to the media.

'I'm devastated that my little girl is in this place. I'm scared to death for her. Our family just wants her home safe,' she said.

The woman went on a cruise in October, 2016, followed by a work trip to Canada in January. Her trip to Colombia recently started with time spent in China and America

The young woman posted to Instagram a week before she was stopped in a Colombian airport to tell her followers about her trip which also took her to Las Angeles and China

She was arrested with 5.8 kilograms of cocaine concealed in small packages wrapped in black plastic (pictured)

Daily Mail Australia recently revealed the 22-year-old woman's lavish globetrotting lifestyle which saw her visit the Pacific Islands, Canada, China and North and South America in just six months.

Colombian police claim a tip-off led to the arrest of an Australian woman who was found with 18 bags of cocaine with an estimated street value of $1.7 million.

On April 3 she posted a photo of LAX - Los Angeles International Airport - with the caption 'going from China's lovely 27 degree weather to LA's 7 degree weather is killing me'.

On April 8, she posted a photograph of some buildings indicating she was in America.

'Can't complain about an all expenses paid work trip which is mainly holiday and very little work,' she wrote.

The young woman used a variety of hashtags including the words work, holiday and fitness in her social media posts.

Fresh reports from inside the prison where the accused drug smuggler awaits trial reveal she is still in the same clothes three-weeks after arriving.

According to the Daily Telegraph the 22-year-old has reportedly not stopped crying since she was transferred to the overcrowded and dangerous El Buen Pastor prison.

An American woman who was released from the prison on Tuesday and helped look after Cassandra on the inside said she was not coping with the horrific conditions.

'Because she is so young there are a lot of people trying to take advantage of her,' the woman said.

'Not only that, when she was at the police station they took most of her stuff  all of her clothes, her money,' the former inmate told the publication.

'She's just wearing a sweater and pants and a top, the same ones. I offered her something but she said no thank you.'

Khala said her sister (pictured) found a Colombian lawyer but he suggested pleading guilty to lesser charges to avoid an up to 25-year jail sentence

Her family says she is innocent and being 'set up' - but Colombian anti-narcotic police believe she may have been a drug mule

A message on the fundraising site from her fiance Scott Broadbridge. The fundraiser was cancelled after it received hundreds of negative comments

On Tuesday Colombian police released photographs of Ms Sainsbury standing behind 18 black packages of cocaine.

Ms Sainsbury was handcuffed in the images - she could face 25 years in a South American jail if found guilty of drug smuggling.

The 22-year-old told her family she thought the packages were 15 headphones a local man posing as a translator had arranged to buy for her at a discount.

Lt Colonel Jorge Triana, head of anti-narcotics police at the airport, told Daily Mail Australia he didn't believe Cassandra's headphone story.

Lt Colonel Triana said drug mules often feigned ignorance when they were caught.

Top drug cops in Colombia say her explanation is not credible. It's understood there were never any headphones in the packages (pictured) and they only contained concealed cocaine

In Australia, six kilograms of cocaine has a street value of almost $2 million

Pictured are the headphones that Cassandra believed she was buying from a man she had just met. Her family claims the man offered to be her translator and find gifts for her family

'It's a commonplace strategy that narco traffickers use to take drugs out of the country,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'Her explanation is not credible. Everyone we catch says they didn't know it was in their luggage, but they know what they were doing.'

Daily Mail Australia also understands there were never any headphones in the package and it only contained concealed cocaine.

Lt Colonel Triana said even if Cassandra didn't know about the drugs she likely faced jail time either way.

'She recognised the luggage as hers so whether she knew there were drugs in it or not, it doesn't excuse her actions,' he said.

He said foreigners were increasingly being lured into becoming drug mules by the promise of big payoffs when they made it to their destination - with 19 caught leaving Colombia this year alone.

Her mother, Lisa Evans, has maintained her daughter is innocent, saying she had been 'naive' in trusting a Colombian man to help her get a good deal on headphones

A snap showing the woman on holiday in the Gold Coast last year

Cassandra's family insisted she was an innocent victim being 'set up' by a man she had just met.

Jorge Mendoza, the ports and airports director for Colombia's anti-narcotic police, told AAP that Cassandra could have been working as a drug mule.



'She could possibly be a drug mule,' he told ABC radio through an interpreter on Tuesday.

'In going through security we found she had 18 packets inside her luggage which even before opening it we found covered in plastic.'

Australian author Rusty Young, whose book Marching Powder was based on the three months he spent with an English drug smuggler in prison in Bolivia, has lived in Colombia for eight years and says he doesn't believe authorities there will make an example of Ms Sainsbury.

'Basically, the bigger traffickers are the ones they are after,' he told the Seven Network.

The first photos have emerged of Cassandra standing in handcuffs next to her luggage

Cassandra was arrested in Colombia after an airport X-Ray search allegedly revealed something suspicious in her luggage (pictured)

'Small traffickers are just an annoyance for the country.

'Colombia loves foreigners coming in. One of their major industries now is tourism. They do not want the name. They don't want the media attention for drug trafficking.'

In Australia, six kilograms of cocaine has an estimated street value of almost $2 million.

Cassandra's fiance Scott Broadbridge was also understood to be concerned about the impact public attention, and rumours on social media, might have on her case.

The couple are due to be married in February.

The young woman's family raised $4,000 of their $15,000 goal and continue to claim she was tricked by the Colombian local who offered to find her cheap headphones for wedding gifts on her trip.

The former personal trainer from Adelaide was denied bail and is being held at the overcrowded El Buen Pastor women's prison (pictured) until her hearing in two months
A YouTuber caused a fan girl frenzy in a shopping centre after dressing up as Justin Bieber - forcing her to rescued by security and escorted out of the premises.

Krizz Solano, 19, dressed up in a grey hoodie, sunglasses and a black bomber jacket before walking through a shopping centre in the city of Escazu, in the central Costa Rican province of San Jose.

People believed she was the real deal and started to chase her through the shopping centre and even asked to take pictures with her.

Krizz Solano (left) dressed up as Justin Bieber (right) and caused chaos in a shopping centre

People believed she was the real deal and started to chase her through the shopping centre, and even asked to take pictures with her

Others gathered around her and even security guards from the shopping centre had to act in order to get her out of there because the fans started to get out of control

She filmed the incident and published it on her YouTube account, Krizz Solano, which has nearly 82,000 subscribers

But soon chaos ensued she had to be saved by security guards who led her through a busy crowd of people to an emergency exit as they tried desperately to touch her.

She filmed the incident and published it on her YouTube account, Krizz Solano, which has nearly 82,000 subscribers.

Some of the key moments leading up to the stunt included how she was helped by two bodyguards and that they were told to speak English and avoid Spanish in order to not be caught.

Dozens of people were seen desperately trying to take photographs of her and trying to grab her clothes

Her real identity was nearly revealed after someone knocked off her hood and cap (right)

She and the security guards fought their way through the crowd so that she could leave the centre safely

After it was all over, the YouTuber confessed that the prank video, which was watched more than 654,000 times, got out of hand

After it was all over, the YouTuber confessed that the prank got out of hand and added that she didn't mean to offend anyone after refusing to give hugs.

However, the video went viral on social networks and was seen more than 654,000 times on YouTube and received a lot of comments.

'Emma Love Blog' said: 'Even the real Justin Bieber has not been in the headline for so long in Costa Rica, hahaha.'

'Karol Sevilla Fan' wrote: 'Even security guards were pranked.'
Lisa Kelly, 35, was just about to pick up her twin daughters (pictured together) when she collapsed and died

A devastated father has revealed his heartbreak after his teaching assistant long-term girlfriend collapsed and died when she left school to pick up their twin girls.

Lisa Kelly, 35, suddenly fell to the ground in the car park of Bamburgh School in South Shields, Tyne and Wear.

Surrounded by concerned work friends, her partner Gavin Calvert rushed to her side and stayed with her until she was airlifted to hospital.

But almost two months later, her heartbroken family is still waiting to hear why Miss Kelly - who was perfectly fit and healthy - suddenly died.

Although doctors suspected she had suffered an aneurysm or a brain haemorrhage, the test results came back negative.

Mr Calvert, 36, has now spoken about how that seemingly ordinary day changed his life forever.

He said: 'On 15 March I got a phone call from Bamburgh School saying Lisa's collapsed.

'I got to the school and there's an air ambulance there. When I saw Lisa they were doing compressions, I knew when I saw her she was in a critical condition.'

He took hold of her hand and repeated the names of their twin girls Jasmine and Scarlett in the hope that it would bring her around.

She was flown to hospital but was pronounced dead. Shortly before her untimely death, Mr Calvert had left his offshore job and had moved home permanently to take a construction job.

After meeting on a night out in 1999, Miss Kelly was used to waiting for Mr Calvert to return home on leave, but now the family were looking forward to spending more time together.

Before the tragic day, the family were planning on taking their five-year-old girls on a family holiday.

Mr Calvert was even thinking of proposing to his teenage sweetheart to complete their perfect life before tragedy struck.

Paying tribute to his partner of 18 years, he said: 'She was very loyal, very honest and caring.

Gavin Calvert (left) was with Miss Kelly (right) for 18 years and has revealed his heartbreak following her sudden death

'She was a brilliant mother. I would say she was a perfect mother. She was a beautiful girl inside and out.'

He also spoke about the job she loved at Bamburgh special school, a role which 'was her purpose in life'.

Mr Calvert, a former soldier, said not knowing why his long-term partner became fatally ill is 'difficult'.

Their twin girls use a memory jar to remember precious times when they baked cakes and drew pictures with their mother.

Soon after their mother's death, donations towards the funeral costs flooded in for the beloved teacher assistant.

Charity Community Corner helped to pay towards the costs of the funeral which took place at South Shields Crematorium.

Bamburgh School also plans to install a memorial for Lisa where she can be remembered by the students and teachers.

Peter Nord, the school's headteacher, said: 'We are deeply saddened by the passing of a dedicated and highly respected member of our staff.

'She was loved by pupils, staff, parents and carers alike.'

Overwhelmed by the kindness of Community Corner and the school shown to his family after her death, Mr Calvert has organised a coast to coast bike ride to raise funds for the charity and school.

Relatives will be taking part with the aim of raising 2,000 and you can donate using the JustGiving page here.
Bloodied survivors and dead bodies next to overturned train carriages confronted commuters.

Chaos reigned as bodies were scattered next to the train tracks and survivors yelled for help.

The confronting images greeted the travelling public in Brisbane on Thursday morning as the police and ambulance services very graphically role-played a terrorist attack.

The rail yard scene near Bowen Hills train station, only a few stops north of the city centre, was so realistic that it wasn't just commuters who were rattled.

Scroll down for video

A dazed-looking woman is helped from the back of an overturned train carriage in Brisbane

Stage make-up was used to show how survivors of a terrorist attack on a train would appear

The stage make-up blood was so convincing some of the emergency services personnel were a little shaken too.

'It's definitely an eyeful. They came round and dressed me up with a bit more gruesome detail. It turned a few heads,' one man, who was covered in red make-up simulating blood, told reporters.

In the role-playing exercise, an extremist had taken control of a train shortly before impact.

The Acting Deputy Commissioner of Queensland Police, Mike Keating, even addressed the media as emergency services did their biggest ever terror training exercise, known as Exercise Jarvis.

A survivor is taken away on a stretcher as part of the terror training exercise

A dead man covered in blood lies on the ground next to a train following a simulated attack

The Queensland Police Service described the exercise as the 'largest-ever counter-terrorism training exercise'

Survivors of a terrorist attack on a train are covered in blood and call for help

'We believe that one of the people on the train had acted in terms of taking control of the train, and then the train derailed,' he said.

Hundreds of police from across Queensland were involved in preparing for a scenario that could occur.

The exercise tested many scenarios, from the first triple-0 call to police raids on the homes of potential terrorist supporters.

Ambulance crews were also prepared for attacks on paramedics.

'That's always of great concern for us. It's always something that we keep in the back of our minds,' the ambulance service's director of operations Tim Eva said.

The exercise was used to improve communications and co-ordination.


An Australian Army soldier has been killed during a 'routine training exercise' in Queensland after he was hit by a falling tree branch.

The Australian Defence Force confirmed the soldier's death in a statement released on Thursday.

The soldier was a passenger in an M113 armoured personnel carrier when he was struck by the tree branch at a training area in Shoulwater Bay, Rockhampton about 8.20am on Thursday.

An ASLAV from the 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment at the Shoalwater Bay training area where the Australian soldier was killed

Fellow soldiers performed CPR in an attempt to save the man, and paramedics were called but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

No other soldiers were injured.

The soldier's family has been informed.

'The Army and broader ADF community extends its deepest sympathies to the soldier's family and friends,' the Australian Defence Force said.

The ADF said it would not identify the man or release information about his service history.

The exact nature or circumstances surrounding the death have not been released.

The Queensland Police Service is investigating the incident and a report will be prepared for the Coroner.

The soldier was a passenger in an armoured personnel carrier when he was struck by the tree branch at a training area in Shoulwater Bay (pictured) on Queensland's central coast

Australian M113A1 FSV from the Light Horse Regiment at the Shoalwater Bay training area where the soldier was killed on Thursday
North Korea may be attempting to copy China by creating artificial islands to use as military bases, it has been claimed.

Beijing has been building artificial islets in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea and there are claims they have already been fitted out with anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems.

There are now fears Pyongyang - which this week warned the US it was pushing the region to the brink of nuclear war - is following suit.

Satellite pictures highlight the development of tiny islands around Sohae - known as a test site for intercontinental ballistic missile technology some 70 miles northwest of the capital.

Experts are still trying to determine the exact use of the outposts. State media insist the area is being transformed as part of a land reclamation project to create extra agricultural land - but suspicions remain that the work may also have a military purpose.

Ryan Barenklau, from the Washington-based intelligence company Strategic Sentinel, said it was likely the islands had some military use.

North Korea may be attempting to copy China by creating artificial islands to use as military bases, it has been claimed

Satellite pictures show how islets to the northwest of the capital Pyongyang, have been made bigger in the space of a few years with barriers now linking them to the mainland

In 2006 (left), one of the islands off the west coast of North Korea was lined with trees with no signs of activity. Just four years later in 2010 (right), barriers had been built to connect the same outpost to the mainland

Tiny tree-covered rocks in the Yellow Sea appear to have been cleared to make way for military-style buildings and satellite images show the transformations have taken place within just five years.

Barren stretches of rock and sand appear to have been replaced with silos, square paving areas and warehouses.

Long barriers stretching up to five miles appear to link islands to the east and west of Sohae, which lies on the mainland a short distance from the country's border with China.

The images also appear to show how new roads have been laid and artificial lagoons constructed on some of the islands.

Beijing has been building artificial islets (pictured) in the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea and there are claims they have already fitted them out with anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems

Barren rocky areas have been cleared to make way for buildings and satellite images show the transformation has taken place within just five years

Barren rocky areas have been cleared to make way for buildings and satellite images show the transformation has taken place within just five years. Pictures show the development of one island between 2010 (left) and 2014 (right)

Mr Barenklau highlighted the changes in a series of satellite images and said it was 'hard to make definitive statements' about why the islands are being transformed.

But he wrote in The Diplomat: 'They have observation areas, for someone like [North Korean dictator] Kim Jong Un to observe a missile launch. Every time we see VIP buildings, that tells us there's most likely a military application, because Kim Jong Un likes to view the operations of whatever they're building.

'At first we were really concerned about what the initial purpose of those islands are  whether they're for military or agriculture purposes  but when we saw the observation decks, we thought, those are military.'

However, the Los Angeles Times reported that some of the new islands may be part of the decades-long Taegyedo Tideland Reclamation Project in the Yellow Sea - said to have been completed in 2012 with the aim of creating extra agricultural land.

The pictures highlight the rapid development of islands around Sohae - known as a test site for intercontinental ballistic missile technology some 70 miles northwest of the capital

There are fears Kim Jong-un is copying China by developing outlying North Korean islands in to military outposts

The satellite pictures emerged days after North Korea stage a huge military parade in Pyongyang (pictured)

But Steve Sin, a technology researcher at the University of Maryland, told the newspaper that North Koreans 'build just about everything for dual purpose' and suggested 'building something that is of military use on an agricultural project is certainly within its usual pattern.'

In October, satellite imagery analysis posted by the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University noted increased activity at the North's Sohae mainland satellite launch station.

The pictures showed crates on the launch pad next to the gantry tower, vehicles near the fuel and oxidiser buildings, and work continuing on the facility's vertical engine test stand.

If the nearby islands have been created for military use, it would appear to mirror tactics deployed by China in recent years.

Last year a Pentagon report claim China was planning to 'weaponise' man-made islands it had formed in the disputed South China Sea.

The Communist country has claimed thousands of acres of land in the contested region which the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan all claim as theirs.

The US has urged China, North Korea's only major ally, to do more to rein in its neighbour's nuclear and missile programmes, which have prompted an assertive response from Donald Trump's

Tension on the Korean peninsula has been high for weeks, driven by concern that Kim Jong-un (pictured) might conduct its sixth nuclear test, also in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions

The Defense Department said three of the man-made landmasses in the Spratly Islands now hold 10,000-ft-long runways, large harbours and even intelligence facilities.

More than $5trillion worth of trade passes through the potentially energy-rich section of the South China Sea every year.

In 2015, the United States' military commander for Asia said China could eventually deploy radar and missile systems on its outposts, giving it the power to enforce an exclusion zone.

Meanwhile, China has said it wants to be good neighbours with North Korea, after the isolated country's state news agency published a rare criticism of Chinese state media commentaries calling for tougher sanctions over Pyongyang's nuclear programme.

The US has urged China, North Korea's only major ally, to do more to rein in its neighbour's nuclear and missile programmes, which have prompted an assertive response from the Trump administration, warning that an 'era of strategic patience' is over.

The US has sent a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to Korean waters and a pair of strategic U.S. bombers flew training drills with South Korea and Japan in another show of strength this week

A commentary carried by North Korea's KCNA news agency referred to recent commentaries in China's People's Daily and Global Times newspapers, which it said were 'widely known as media speaking for the official stand of the Chinese party and government'.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China's position was consistent and clear.

'China's position on developing friendly, good-neighbourly relations with North Korea is also consistent and clear,' Geng told reporters, in response to a question about the KCNA commentary.

The US has sent a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to Korean waters and a pair of strategic U.S. bombers flew training drills with South Korea and Japan in another show of strength this week.

'The reckless military provocation is pushing the situation on the Korean peninsula closer to the brink of nuclear war,' KCNA said on Tuesday.

Tension on the Korean peninsula has been high for weeks, driven by concern that North Korea might conduct its sixth nuclear test, also in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Elena Mincheva has described being 'a pawn in their warped relationship'

A Russian nanny is planning to publish a tell-all book about working for one of America's richest couples.

Elena Mincheva has described being 'a pawn in their warped relationship'.

Although she has not named the couple, she has revealed she was working in the Gold Coast neighbourhood in Chicago.

Mincheva, 35, told the New York Post that she was treated 'more like a dog than a nanny', and recounted one argument which culminated in the husband telling his wife: 'How about she stays and you leave?'

The nanny, who earned $150 a day, says she has since found that children in lower income households are far more content.

She wrote that on her first day at the couple's home, the mother angrily admonished her for not spoonfeeding her seven-year-old son.

Another duty included guarding the parents' bedroom at weekends to ensure the couple were not bothered by the youngest of their three children, who was four.

The nanny plans to publish a tell-all book about working for one of America's richest couples

She said in one instance the mother, who she called The Lady, told her young son he was 'crazy' and 'sick'

She wrote that days would revolve around daily Amazon deliveries of around $300-worth of toys.

But the mother, she claimed, once told her son when he did not want to leave the house: 'You are not doing this to me anymore. Do you understand? You need a doctor! Youre crazy.

'You need to be normal like other kids. Youre sick!'

In an extract published on her Instagram account, Mincheva wrote: '"Can you help her? The Lady asked irritably. "Help her with what?" Was my reply. "With her homework, obviously". "Sure. What do you want me to do?" "How would I know?"'

Since leaving the couple's home, Micheva, from Moscow, said she has worked for lower income families since and concluded: 'The message Ive learned through my experience is that every child needs and deserves love over money and any materialistic things. Love is indispensable.'
Cambridge University student Thomas Millward (pictured), 19, died after a fall at his college, an inquest has heard

An 'exceptional' student who died in a fall at a Cambridge University college had evidence of LSD in his system, a pre-inquest review heard.

Thomas Millward, 19, was found injured at the bottom of stairs after police were called to the 148-year-old Girton College in March last year.

The engineering student, originally from Cheltenham, suffered head injuries and died the following day at the city's Addenbrooke's hospital.

Today, at a pre-inquest hearing into the teenager's death, Cambridgeshire assistant coroner Simon Milburn said medical evidence about a finding of LSD would be heard at a three-day jury inquest.

Cambridgeshire Police said at the time that Mr Millward's death was not thought to be suspicious but a 19-year-old woman from Cambridge was arrested on suspicion of supplying drugs.

The hearing today heard how, ahead of a full inquest, evidence of two people running up and down a corridor before the incident and of a footprint on a vending machine is being considered.

Mr Millward's father Brian Millward said he had concerns about the height of safety railings on an upper landing at the college.

'On the upper floor the guard rail was considerably lower than the building regulations that would be recommended for such a guard,' he said.

He also expressed concerns that a post-mortem examination had not been carried out, adding: 'It might have given possible indications of how high he fell from, whether his knee had given way or that kind of thing.'

He continued: 'His knee did give him problems. He had to give up rugby for a while and take up rowing.'

Mr Milburn said: 'The issue of a post-mortem was considered by the senior coroner, as I understand it, and the decision that he made was that because the attending doctors were able to say with a significant degree of certainty what the medical cause of death was, nothing could be added by a post-mortem examination.'

A cousin of Mr Millward's parents, whose name was given as Dr O'Driscoll, told the hearing: 'We would just like to know the truth as far as possible.'

The engineering student was found injured after police were called to the 148-year-old Girton College (pictured) just after 9pm on March 5 last year

He continued: 'Was he sliding down the bannisters, was he balancing and fell, or was he on the [vending] machine?'

The teenager's parents, Brian and Maisa Millward, said he had studied engineering at the university since September 2015.

They described him as 'exceptional' and 'one of the most promising young men of his generation'.

The family said that his organs had been donated so that he could help others.

Girton College was founded in 1869 and was Britain's first residential college for women offering degree-level education.

It was the first of the women's colleges to go mixed more than 30 years ago.

A full inquest will be heard before a jury at a date to be fixed.

Girton College was founded in 1869 and was Britain's first residential college for women offering degree-level education.

It was the first of the women's colleges to go mixed more than 30 years ago.
Gibraltar's chief minister Fabian Picardo, pictured in London last month, hit out at Spain's plans to use their Brexit veto over the Rock

Spain is planning to use its Brexit veto over Gibraltar to tell the Rock how to run its economy, leaked documents have revealed.

Madrid wants to end what it describes as the Rock's 'unjustified privileges', according to reports of a leaked Spanish foreign ministry document.

Spanish officials said Gibraltar's low-tax status effectively means it enjoys 'unfair competition' and has vowed to crack down on the 'tax haven'.

They will also demand a 'new accord' over flights into Gibraltar's international airport.

Fabian Picardo, Gibraltar's chief minister, accused Spain of holding 'neo colonial ambitions' over the territory.

He said: 'The Spanish Government's mask is slipping.

'It is becoming abundantly clear that they want to try to use Brexit to take narrow advantage.

'Gibraltar will, as ever, continue to seek dialogue over Spanish vetoes and will seek co-operation and friendship over Spanish aggression and belligerence.'

The document, entitled Negotiations About the Exit of Britain from the EU, states: 'Gibraltar has developed an extremely permissive regime ... which has practically converted it into a tax haven'.

Madrid will try to use any deal over Gibraltar to lay claim to have sovereignty over the Rock, but did not spell out how, according to the document, leaked to El Pais newspaper.

Spain has threatened to use Brexit as an excuse to try to claim sovereignty over the territory, despite overwhelming opposition from Gibraltarians.

Andrew Rosindell, who is standing for re-election as the Tory MP for Romford and campaigns on Gibraltar, told the Mail Online: Its nonsense and Spain is just yet again playing politics over this issue.

It is up to our government to make it clear that we are not into having discussions about matters to do with a British sovereign territory.

It is nothing to do with Spain or the EU and it certainly is nothing to do with our negotiations for a trading arrangement with the EU.

Spain needs to be put firmly in its place yet again.

Prime Minister Theresa May, pictured outside Downing Street yesterday, has accused EU politicians of meddling in British politics

He said Gibraltar is not a tax haven.

Its a British jurisdiction that has power over its own tax affairs and chooses to have a lower rate of taxation he said.

They apply all the international standards for transparency. They are not hiding anything.

The revelations will enrage Theresa May, who has vowed to protect Gibraltar's interests in the negotiations to leave the EU.

And they emerge after the PM accused EU politicians of meddling in UK politics.

Speaking outside Downing Street yesterday, the PM hit out at the 'threats' and 'misrepresentation' coming out of Brussels.

She said: 'Britain's negotiating position in Europe has been misrepresented in the continental press. The European Commission's negotiating stance has hardened.

'Threats against Britain have been issued by European politicians and officials.

'All of these acts have been deliberately timed to affect the result of the General Election that will take place on June 8.'
As soon as the Queen called her staff to a meeting at Buckingham Palace, it was inevitable the internet would be awash with fevered speculation.

Her Majesty's most senior aides called her entire household from across Britain to London for a summit to announce that the Duke of Edinburgh would be stepping down from royal duties in the autumn.

But before the top secret meeting, creative social media users around the world immediately seized the opportunity to put their talents to the test and mock up comical tweets speculating on the possible agenda.

From Harry Potter themed graphics to those suggesting Her Majesty may become the next Doctor Who and Prince Harry getting married - here we look at some of the most hilarious, far-fetched and imaginative memes.
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West Virginia was once renowned as America's coal country, with well-paying blue collar jobs and a strong sense of purpose. But years of decline have saw the once-thriving area decline, with optimism replaced by despair and heroin.

Less than two million people live in West Virginia. Yet 150 out of every 1,000 babies born in the state are already addicted to opioids.

Charleston, the state capital, which is only 250 miles from Washington DC, has seen its economy slump. Instead of heavy industry, the state's biggest employer is now Wal-Mart.

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West Virginia has one of the worst heroin epidemics in the United States, with police in Huntington claiming that 90 per cent of their work now relates to dealing with drug-related offences. Last August they dealt with 28 overdoses in one day

West Virginia was once central to the nation's coal country, but now those well paying jobs are all gone

Many former miners were treated with pain medication to deal with their injuries, but this led some towards heroin

It is a place where most of those looking for hope leave in search of opportunity, and where those without hope often turn to drugs.

In Huntington, a city in the state's northwest corner portrayed as the epicenter of the nationwide crisis, 28 people overdosed - two fatally - on a single day last August after injecting heroin laced with fentanyl, a dangerous synthetic opioid.

Huntington's mayor Steve Williams said: 'This epidemic doesn't discriminate. Our youngest overdose was 12 years old. The oldest was 77.

'Right now under any measurement we are in the midst of a downward spiral and failing miserably. I am not putting lipstick on a pig.'

Huntington Police Officer Dakota Dishman suspects this woman of acting under the influence of heroin during a patrol

From a distance, Huntington, West Virginia looks like a pleasant city nestled between the surrounding forests

But on the ground, many homes have been abandoned and are now used by addicts as shooting galleries

The once-thriving streets of the city are now rundown as the economic decline destroys local businesses

Attacking a scourge of this magnitude, he says, will require a 'full arsenal' - including talking about the problem.

One police officer in the city said '90 per cent' of his work is heroin related.

One addict being arrested, described the devastation in his life: 'I've lost the place I stayed at, I've lost a lot of good friends,' he said. 'Now that I come to think about it, it's ruined my life a lot.'

The vast majority of heroin users nationwide resorted to that drug after becoming addicted to powerful pain medications like oxycodone - better known as hillbilly heroin - according to the US Drug Enforcement Agency.

On one day in August, 28 people overdosed on heroin which had been laced with the more powerful synthetic fentanyl

This woman's arms and hands show the scars of repeated injections as she constantly searches for a vein for her next fix

Even the police acknowledge that simply arresting the addicts does not work as treatment is needed to counter the epidemic

The highly addictive narcotics flooded into West Virginia in mind-boggling numbers for years, and unlike heroin were distributed in the open, with the help of 'pain clinics' that weren't overly strict about writing prescriptions, and pharmacies that made no effort to keep tabs on how many pills went out the door.

Among those addicts are many older, retired coal miners, who were injured on the job but continued working with the help of pain medication.

When their prescriptions were cut off after authorities finally cracked down on the supply - they turned to heroin, sometimes smoking rather than injecting it.

But arresting traffickers and users, suing drug companies and distributors and shutting down pharmacies that pumped out pills, has not been enough to stem the flow of drugs.

According to police, 1kg of fentanyl costs $5,000, but with tablets selling for $20 each on the streets, the entire consignment is worth a staggering $20 million - however, as Fentanyl is far more powerful than heroin it is causing many overdoses

With the decline of the coal industry in West Virginia, it has hit the wider economy exacerbating the collapse

On August 15, 2016, 28 drug addicts overdosed in Huntington after a batch of the drug was laced with fentanyl

'We can't arrest our way out of this problem' - that is the new mantra of all those involved in the fight.

The economic incentives for dealers are powerful: one kilogram of fentanyl, for instance, costs $5,000 and makes a million tablets sold at $20 each for a gain of $20 million.

And there are too many facets to the crisis: the overwhelmed jail and foster care systems; the shortage of treatment options and struggles with health insurance coverage; the job prospects of former addicts with a felony on their record.

A new DEA pilot program called the 360 Strategy is working with law enforcement and community groups to divert addicts into treatment rather than jail, and educate about the dangers of prescription drugs and heroin.

In recent months, the youngest overdose in Huntington is seven while the eldest was 77

West Virginia's heroin epidemic started with the over prescription of main medication such as 'hillbilly heroin'

Despite the stepped-up fight, the numbers state-wide don't look good: deaths are up, it still has the highest overdose rate in the country, and 43 per cent of people imprisoned last year had a substance abuse issue so acute they needed immediate medical attention.

One victim of the epidemic was Ryan Brown from Charleston. He returned from his second year at the University of West Virginia addicted to heroin. He was found collapsed in the bathroom having had an overdose.

After undergoing several years of treatment, he eventually succumbed to the drug.

West Virginia has the highest overdose rates in the country, while more than 40 per cent of those imprisoned were so acutely addicted to opioids that they required immediate medical attention to deal with their problem on arrival in jail

Many addicts will travel to Huntington from surrounding areas to pick up their drugs, centralizing the problem

Across the state, there are a number of rehab centers to help addicts such as Rusy Eads, center

The addicts in the Recovery Point rehab center in Huntington live in sparsely decorated dormitories

The economic collapse poses an additional problem for recovering addicts as those with felony convictions will find it incredibly difficult to secure a new job to support themselves - leaving them at greater risk of replapse.

The 1kg block of fentany can be cut with enough drugs to supply an estimated 1 million doses worth $20 million

Despite the decline, there are some signs of optimism in Huntington with his designer shop

But for many, the prospects for the future are less bright, even if their time in rehab is successful

Addicts can face months before making their way into rehab, which, unfortunately is not soon enough for some
A group of businessmen were beaten up by a gang of prostitutes after starting a drunken brawl in a Thai red light district.

The men were kicked and slapped over the head by the sex workers in the notorious seaside resort of Pattaya as police officers watched on.

The tourists had been drinking in a bar when they started fighting among themselves and a policeman who came to help was pushed over onto a bin bag full of rubbish.

The men were kicked and slapped over the head by the sex workers in the notorious seaside resort of Pattaya as police officers watched on

The fight quickly escalated as half a dozen prostitutes from nearby bars got involved - punching and kicking the men.

Officers stood back and watched the group for several minutes as the brawl continued.

Two of the men, who were described as of Middle Eastern appearance, eventually walked away and the fight subsided in the early hours of the morning on April 25.

Onlooker Sutthinat Phermsuk, who recorded the fight, said: 'The Arab men started fighting with each other. They were drunk, which caused the fight.

The tourists had been drinking in a bar when they started fighting among themselves. Pictured: A woman being restrained during the fight

Onlooker Sutthinat Phermsuk, who recorded the fight, said: 'The Arab men started fighting with each other. They were drunk, which caused the fight'

'Some of the bar girls got involved and it became aggressive. One of the girls kicks the boy quite hard.'

Officers said they had made no arrests in connection with the incident.

Earlier this year police rolled out 'Happy Zones' along the Walking Street area of the tourist hotspot in a bid to combat crime.
Dramatic footage has caught the moment tourists scramble to rescue a young girl and her father using rope made from their own clothes.

The rescue took place on April 30 at Orange Island, a popular tourist destination in China's Hunan province.

According to reports, the girl had fallen in first while her father got stuck trying to rescue her.

The young girl fell in the water first and her father rushed in after her becoming stuck

The young girl fell into the water at the tourist site.

Her father jumped in after her but also became stuck in the water unable to get out.

Tourists scrambled to rescue the girl, tying their clothes together to form a make-shift rope.

Tourists dangled down a make-shift rope made from their own clothes in order to rescue them

Rescue: Passersby lower down some more rope and manage to pull the pair to safety

Still struggling, tourists managed to get hold of some rope to help bring the pair to safety.

In the footage, the pair can be seen in the water of the fast flowing Songjiang River. They are holding onto the rope made from clothes to keep them afloat.

Meanwhile tourists lower down a piece of rope and they are eventually dragged to safety.
This is the epic moment two giraffes fought for dominance by beating each other with their huge necks in front of tourists.

Steven Mecinski and Britt van Meegen, owners of Wild-Life Tours, were hosting a safari in Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park, South Africa, when they spotted the males squaring up to each other.

Male giraffes use their necks as a weapon in dominance battles to win the right to mate with females and it is extremely rare to spot them fighting in the wild.

Steven Mecinski and Britt van Meegen were hosting a safari in Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park, South Africa, when they spotted the males squaring up to each other

The safari company co-owners came across the unusual sighting while leading a safari tour

Mr van Meegen said: 'As we encountered the giraffes, Steve noticed that the male giraffes were pushing against each other, a sign of sizing each other up and measuring each other's necks for dominance.

'When he saw this he quickly grabbed the camera since, with his years of experience, he could tell that we could possibly witness a unique sighting.

'Just as the camera was turned on the giraffes started hitting each other with their necks - in real life you can hear the impact hits up to 100 metres away.

'On this particular occasion we believe the two males were fighting over a female that was in close proximity.'

Giraffes can weigh up to 3000 lbs and their necks can top 500 lbs. While fighting they aim their necks at each other's bodies, necks and legs.

They live in loose herds, known as a tower or a journey, and will often come together and meet around waterholes.

Giraffes can weigh up to 3000 lbs and their necks can top 500 lbs. While fighting they aim their necks at each other's bodies, necks and legs

Male giraffes use their necks as their primary weapon in dominance battles to win the right to mate with females

The usually gentle giants defend themselves with their powerful kicks and have been known to successfully defeat hunting lions.

Mr van Meegen added: 'Often giraffes necking ends with one of the males being knocked off balance and even knocked unconscious, possibly even death.

'These two bulls fought until one had dominated and possibly caused injuries to the other causing him to retreat into submission.

'These are normally physical signs shown such as tilting of ears, lowering of the neck, retreating or running away.

The usually gentle giants defend themselves with their powerful kicks and have been known to successfully defeat hunting lions

Dust flew up around the animals as they fought each other in front of safari park tourists

Eventually one of the males managed to scare off the other and won the epic fight

'It is fairly common and necessary for male giraffes of all ages to neck each other while juveniles determine their strength and practice for the future when they will need to dominate a bull in necking for mating rights.

'To witness a full on dominance necking like this was a special occasion and only the second time in six years for Steve - even though he visits the park multiple times a week.'
Leah Gilford, 26 (pictured), was charged more than 1,000 to take her friend's seat on a Ryanair flight

A mother was accidentally charged more than 1,000 to take her friend's seat on a Ryanair flight to Ibiza when the ticket cost just 40.

Leah Gilford, 26, decided at the last minute to go on the holiday with friends after one of the group dropped out.

But she was stunned when Ryanair accidentally charged her 1,110 for the change - ten times the normal fee - by adding an extra '0' to the price of the 110 ticket.

She claims the mix-up left her with less than 100 in the bank, meaning she was unable to pay her rent.

She said: 'My rent was supposed to be paid on Friday. I couldn't pay that. I owe my sister money.

'It's just caused me a massive amount of problems.'

The error took place on Friday last week and, despite assurances from Ryanair that she would get the money back straight away, Ms Gilford only got refund today.

The overcharge took place when Ms Gildford made several attempts to put her name on the ticket online at a cost of 110.

Eventually, she phoned Ryanair and spoke to two call operators. The first person she spoke to cut her off, but she called back and spoke to a woman who processed the change, but charged her the extortionate amount.

Ms Gilford said: 'The woman said 'I've made a mistake. I've charged you a little extra, but it will be back in your account in a few minutes'.'

The overcharge took place when Ms Gildford (left and right) made several attempts to put her name on the ticket online at a cost of 110

The mother-of-one claims the mix-up left her with less than 100 in the bank, meaning she was unable to pay her rent

The astonished estate agent asked to speak to a manager, but was told one wasn't available.

'They said they will contact me within 28 days. I filled in all the complaint forms and the money has now finally gone back into my account.

Ms Gilford (pictured), from Draycott, Derbyshire, flew to Ibiza today from Birmingham Airport

'It's just shocking. If I didn't have such good family and friends I'd be in a terrible place right now.

'It's not 10 or even 100, it's 1,000. They have left me with 90 in the bank now. I've got a two-year-old as well,' she said.

Ms Gilford, from Draycott, Derbyshire, flew to Ibiza today from Birmingham Airport, but was almost forced to cancel the trip because of the wait for the money.

A spokesperson for Ryanair said: 'We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this clerical error and the outstanding balance was immediately refunded to the credit card used at the time of booking.

'We would advise the customer in question to contact their bank.

'The payment has been processed from our side and can take up to take five working days to reach the account.'

A spokesman for Ryanair (pictured, file photograph) said the company has returned the money immediately, but Natwest said the transaction was not correctly completed

A spokesman for Natwest said: 'After the transaction was requested by Ryanair, 1,110 was ring-fenced for Ryanair to claim, as is normal procedure.

'On investigation, it appears Ryanair has not completed the transaction, but has not sent a cancellation request to NatWest, meaning the money has remained ring-fenced.

'The money has now been released back to the customer's account.'
This is the moment a brave 16-year-old Girl Scout stood up against a Neo-Nazi demonstrator at a rally in the Czech Republic.

Lucie Myslikova, from the city of Brno, attended a march in the city on May Day along with eight of her fellow Girl Scouts with the aim of walking alongside far-right demonstrators to try and drown out their message.

At one point she was approached by a shaved-headed man before getting into what she called a 'sharp talk' about national identity, immigration and refugees.

This is the moment Lucie Myslikova, a 16-year-old from the Czech Republic, stood her ground after being confronted by a Neo-Nazi at a far-right rally

A video of the confrontation shows a calm and collected Lucie shrugging as the man leans toward her.

Speaking about the incident to Czech radio, Lucie said: 'First he started a little sharp talk with my friend about the state and the nation.

'My friend argued that the state and boundaries do not exist except in our heads. The man did not understand this and was a bit aggressive.

'None of us did anything, he just touched us a few times and made big gestures, but couldn't do anything more than that. I think, however, he was very upset.

Lucie said the man was aggressive and had 'sharp' conversations with her group about migration. She said he touched a a few times, but didn't do anything more drastic

'Specifically with me then he talked about migration and immigrants, and said he was trying to protect me from being raped.'

It is not clear if the organisation sanctioned the protest ahead of time, as it is supposed to be politically neutral.

The teen and her friends joined several hundred protesters during the counter-demonstration, with local reports suggesting they vastly outnumbered the right-wing marchers.

Activists were told not to block the marches, but to walk alongside them singing, dancing and playing instruments in order to drown them out.

Posts on social media suggest that Lucie has been active in anti-fascist demonstrations in the Czech Republic, and also knows martial arts.
Shocking footage shows the moment guests participating in a traditional wedding game in China fell from a balcony.

The balcony collapsed as guests were fighting over red packets on the first floor of a house in southwest China's Sichuan province on May 1.

Around five people were injured and sent to hospital immediately while the wedding continued.

Two guests fell off a balcony when the groom and his guests came up to pick up the bride

Video footage of the incident emerged online yesterday. It captures the moment wedding guests play 'naodongfang', a traditional wedding game.

During this game, the bride's guests will usually deny the groom and his guests access to the bride and demand red packets containing a monetary gift.

As the guests jostle against each other on a balcony, two guests can be seen being pushed off.

They fall onto the ground floor.

The guests were pushing each other on a narrow balcony during a traditional wedding game

The incident took place at Miaobazhen, a small town in Zigong city on May 1.

A guest of the groom told Pear that around five or six people were injured, including young children.

'The child is fine and the one who injured the most was released from Intensive Care Unit,' said the guest.

He also said the wedding ceremony continued after the incident but it had left 'a bit of psychological effect' on the newlywed couple.
Shocking video footage has emerged from a high school in Philadelphia showing a teacher being knocked unconscious after she tried to break up a girl fight.

Three other teachers were hospitalized after attempting to break up the scuffle at Cheltenham High School on Wednesday morning.

Police arrested four students involved in the fight that was two girls versus two girls.

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Four teachers were hospitalized following a fight between pupils at Cheltenham High School

The incident happened around 7.30am while classes were taking place.

It showed two female students arguing before they came to blows. Shortly afterwards, two more girls joined in the fight.

Video footage showed the girls punching each other, pulling hair and ripping clothes.

At one point a female teacher attempted to break up the fight but was hit in the head by a student's elbow.

A source said she fell into a locker, hit her head and was left lying on the ground crying, waiting for paramedics to arrive.

She was then taken to Abington Medical Center. The teacher has since been released from hospital but is still in shock.

Students came to blows at the school which saw a teacher intervene - she was then knocked unconsciousness and taken to hospital

Eight teachers were injured in total, with four hospitalized.

One went to hospital with a dislocated shoulder while another was treated for concussion.

Police have arrested four students. Three are juveniles who remained in custody on Wednesday night.

Police said Amber Nicole Lewis, 18, a high school senior, faces serious charges, including four counts of aggravated assault and conspiracy.

Witnesses described the shocking incident and said fighting was commonplace within the school that has 1,400 students.

Freshman D'Andre Nelson told CBS: 'I saw the girl swing and hit her in the head and that's when she fell on the ground.'

Matthew Velasquez, a junior at Cheltenham High, told NBC: 'I was walking upstairs and I just saw a fight. Then, I turned my head and there was a teacher on the ground.'

Senior Andrew Crosby said fighting is a regular sight at school.

'It's usually the same kids over and over again that are fighting each day', he said.

Following the fight, police were notified of the altercation and the students were removed from the school.

In a statement Dr Wagner Marseille, Superintendent of Schools, said: 'A fight broke out during first period that involved four of our students. Several staff members sustained injuries in their attempt to stop the fight. Police were quickly notified of the altercation, and involved students were removed from the building.

'Additional adults came on site to assist with monitoring internal and external areas of the building, and members of our Student Services Department assisted as well.

'A thorough investigation of the altercation is underway, with the Cheltenham Police Department assisting in the process. Cheltenham High School remained calm in the hours following the altercation.'

He said fighting 'in any form' would 'not be tolerated' and said the school would consider expelling pupils who did so.

Four Central Office Administrators and additional safety personnel will be on site at the high school for the remainder of this week and the next.

Dr Marseille said their presence would help to improve the 'school culture and climate.'

Principal Ray McFall - who describes his students as 'phenomenal' on the school website - also had strong words about those who recorded fights on their phones, saying: 'Those who are found to have filmed a fight will meet with swift disciplinary actions.'

In a statement where he said the school was 'safe and calm', he added: 'The incident is, without doubt, a gross violation of our code of conduct and therefore completely unacceptable. I ask that every single parent have a serious conversation at home this evening about student stressors and appropriate management of them; violence is never a viable option.

'Students who are experiencing extreme conflict and stress must seek out an adult and deal with it appropriately in a timely manner before the stress erupts into a fight.'
Opposites really do attract!

Morning Joe co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski are engaged.

Scarborough, a former Republican Congressman, popped the question to Brzezinski, the Democrat daughter of President Carter's national security advisor, while the two were on a romantic trip to the south of France last weekend to celebrate Brzezinski's 50th birthday.

The two finally broke their silence on their relationship in an interview with Vanity Fair, detailing the romantic moment and told how President Trump even offered to officiate their wedding at the White House.

Their engagement comes a year after Brzezinski's divorce to her first husband was finalized.

'Everyone talks about how there was always something there. Over the past year and a half, I realized I had to face these feelings and that it was time to stop putting them in a box,' Brzezinksi told the magazine. 'It was not an easy process and it was not an easy set of decisions for either of us. It was something I couldnt deny anymore.'

Scarborough, who has been married two times, says he's certain this wedding will be his last.

'We want to spend the rest of our lives together,' he said.

The two returned to work from their holiday on Tuesday, Mika's actually birthday, but it wasn't until this morning's show that Brzezinski was seen wearing her engagement ring - an oval diamond on a platinum band.

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It's true! Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough aren't only dating - they're now engaged. Scarborough popped the question on a weekend jaunt to the South of France (above)

Back to work: The newly-engaged couple returned to work on Tuesday, but it wasn't until Thursday that Brzezinski was seen wearing her ring. She also held up a cover of the New York Post, which has a cover story on the proposal - but they never addressed the news

He put a ring out it: Brzezinski couldn't help stare at her new ring - an oval diamond on a platinum band - which she repeatedly glanced at and fiddled with on Thursday's show

Brzezinski says she was suspicious when Scarborough wanted to whisk her away last week to the French Riviera resort town of D'Antibes, since the hotel he booked - The Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc - was the nicest place they had ever stayed at before.

But she says she put that thought aside when he didn't pop the question the first night.

'He cant keep a secret. He just cant. He always blurts stuff out,' Brzezinski said.

The moment finally came on their last night at the hotel, as they were walking up from the hotel's pool to the main mansion to get a drink at the bar.

'Halfway up the hill, he said he needed to sit down,' Brzezinski said. 'We hadnt been feeling well, so I thought, Oh, poor guy, he cant make it up the hill.'

'His glasses were fogging up he was so nervous. I kept thinking he really must not have felt well,' she said.

That's when Scarborough pulled out the ring he had been hiding in his suitcase the whole trip.

Brzezinski said she started laughing nervously when she saw the ring, but then said 'absolutely' as soon as he popped the question.

All smiles: The pair were in fine spirits on the show following their romantic five-day getaway

Soon-to-be Mrs Scarborough: Mika repeatedly flashed her new sparkler during the show as guests kept lavishing veiled congratulations on the newly-engaged couple

In love: Scarborough tweeted his thanks for all of the well wishes Thursday morning

Network rivals: Sean Hannity at Fox congratulated the newly engaged couple

Scarborough said that when he put the ring on Brzezinski's finger 'it looked like it was meant to be there'.

The two said they had talked about getting married a few months ago, but that Scarborough was hesitant because of his two failed marriages.

However, he finally decided to go through with it based on their great working relationship.

'Its the one part of my life that unfortunately I havent gotten right in the past. I thought after the last time that I would never, ever do this again in a million years,' Scarborough said. 'Then it occurred to me that with us working together and being live on the air every day for three hours that we were forced, no matter what disagreements we had, what misunderstandings we had, to work through it and get right with each other by 5:59am.'

Scarborough and Brzezinski haven't set a date yet, but they say they've gotten some interesting offers for wedding venues.

Look of love: The co-hosts have been sparking rumors of their off-air relationship for the past year. They spend much of their off-air time together, even going on vacations with each other

Suspicions: Brzezinski says she got suspicious when Scarborough booked them in at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Rock, saying it was the nicest place they had ever stayed before. Above a look at the hotel's pool

Where it happened: Brzezinski and Scarborough were walking up this path when he got down on one knee and proposed on their last night of vacation

Crossing network divides: Fox News star Sean Hannity offered the pair his congratulations, which Joe thanked him for on Twitter

During a meeting with in January, President Trump reportedly joked over lunch that the two could get married at the White House.

Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and advisor, then interrupted and said that he could officiate the ceremony since he has a license, having performed Eric and Lara Trump's ceremony.

'Why would you marry them?' Trump reportedly said. 'They could have the President of the United States marry them.'

Brzezinksi says she likes the idea of a White House wedding, but not with Trump in office.

'The White House that I grew up in was an amazing place. If it werent Trump, it might be something to think about,' she said. 'The mental picture is just fascinating, but the reality is just . . . no. No, no, no, no, no.'

Secret: Last week, Brzezinski posted a picture of her riding in a car with her co-host hinting at the 'elephant in the room'

The engagement comes a year after Brzezinski finalized her divorce with her husband of 23 years, James Hoffer.

The network confirmed their separation last June, but Brzezinski told Vanity Fair on Thursday that they had really split all the way back in December 2015. Scarborough has been married twice. He divorced from his second wife, former Jeb Bush aide Susan Waren, in 2013.

Brzezinski has two daughters from her previous marriage and Scarborough has four children - two adult sons from his first marriage and a 13-year-old daughter and nine-year-old son from his second marriage.

The romance has blossomed across the political divide, with Scarborough a Republican and Brzezinski a Democrat.

With news of the engagement already on the cover of a newspaper, Morning Joe opened Thursday morning at 6am with no direct mention of the engagement, but lots of tongue in cheek joking.

Contributors Harold Ford and Willie Geist sat at the table with the cohosts and congratulated the pair at the beginning of the show, who then said, 'thank you.'

Joe paused and added, 'the ratings are up!'

Congratulations: The pair smiled and accepted congratulations - on 'their ratings' - from people at the table and cheeky Mark Halperin during Thursday's show

After they threw to Mark Halperin via satellite and he said, 'congratulations too about those ratings,' with the future bride and groom again thanking him for... their ratings.

Mika then held up the cover of the New York Post for viewers, which features their engagement on the top corner, pointing to the Anthony Weiner story and saying nothing of the news.

The veiled congratulations kept coming in throughout the morning, as politicians appeared on the show to speak about the new health care bill.

Sen. Bob Corker said he thought he was bring brought on 'to make a big announcement' and that his staff just told him about 'some news' the pair had.

'Thank you for being kind enough to take note of our recent ratings,' Scarborough said back, blushing.

On and off-air couple: The couple's off-air relationship has been one of cable news' worst-kept secrets

Scarborough and Brzezinski's on-air chemistry sparked rumors about their personal lives as soon as Mika got divorced last summer.

When the Post reported in June that Brzezinski and her husband had quietly divorced, they said that the on-air pair 'could soon go public as a couple'.

The rumors have only gained traction throughout the year, with the co-hosts often attending events together and Brzezinski posting pictures of her and Scarborough spending time together in their down time.

During their infamous spat with now-President Trump in the run up to the election, The Donald even appeared to out them as a couple.

'Some day, when things calm down, I'll tell the real story of [Scarborough] and his very insecure long-time girlfriend, [Brzezinski]. Two clowns!' Trump tweeted in August.

Last month, Scarborough appeared to joke about the not-so-secret relationship, telling the Hollywood Reporter that he and Brzezinski have 'crackling off-air chemistry'.

Just before their trip, the two got into an on air argument in which Scarborough called Brzezinski 'snotty' and 'rude' for interrupting. He later apologized for the comments on Twitter.
For the majority of his 95 years, Prince Philip has been notable for his robust constitution, and most of the ailments that have troubled him have been sports-related or accidental.

Not to be cowed by his ill health in recent years, he still enjoys an active life and continues with his carriage driving, which he took up in 1971 after retiring from polo.

In 1961, the Duke broke a bone in his left ankle in a collision on the polo field.

Prince Phillip leaves Aberdeen Royal Infirmary after spending over five days there being treated for a bladder infection in August 2012

Three years later, he was X-rayed after pulling a ligament in his left shoulder in a fall from his polo pony.

Polo also left him suffering from arthritis in his right wrist, a condition made worse by shaking many thousands of hands at official functions.

More recently, in 2004, he was seen with dark glasses and a badly bruised left eye after slipping in the bath and catching the side of his eye with his thumb.

In May 2006, the Duke pulled out of a royal engagement after suffering from a trapped nerve in his neck.

Not to be cowed by his ill health in recent years, he still enjoys an active life and enjoys carriage driving (pictured in May last year), which he took up in 1971 after retiring from polo

After a weekend recovering, he attended the Chelsea Flower Show, appearing none the worse for wear.

In 2008, the Duke was admitted to the King Edward VII Hospital in London with a chronic chest infection.

At the time, senior royal sources told the Mail they had quite a job persuading him to seek further treatment after failing to fight off a heavy cold.

The Duke vociferously protested that Dr John Cunningham, the Queen's personal physician, was over-reacting.

In June 2012, Philip was taken to hospital after developing a urinary infection during the river pageant to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee

But after battling the infection for several days, he finally accepted the doctor's advice.

'Typically, the Duke grumbled and complained,' said a source. 'He did not want to go in. He really isn't the best kind of patient.'

Not a single member of his family paid him a visit during his three-night stay, although aides said that it was just the way he liked it.

'The Duke cannot bear anyone making a fuss. It would have been the last thing he wanted,' said one.

Philip waves as he leaves the London Clinic in June 2013, ten days after undergoing exploratory surgery on his abdomen

Also in 2008, Buckingham Palace took the unusual step of speaking out to deny a newspaper report that the Duke had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The newspaper involved later apologised, saying it accepted the story was untrue.

In January 2009, 87-year-old Philip missed a string of engagements with a bad back after pulling a muscle while carriage driving.

And in 2009 he was forced to cancel several engagements after suffering a strained back  while carriage-driving again  which left him in 'excruciating pain'.

Yet aides have previously admitted it was difficult to persuade Philip to slow down, with one saying: 'No one would ever dare tell him to take it easy  you might as well take your life in your hands.'

The Duke of Edinburgh talks to schoolchildren at Lord's cricket ground in London yesterday

In December 2011, the prince was airlifted to hospital from Sandringham two days before Christmas after suffering chest pains, and underwent surgery for a blocked coronary artery.

Just over in six months later in June 2012, Philip was taken to hospital after developing a urinary infection during the river pageant to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

And in June 2013 he had abdominal surgery for an undisclosed condition and spent 11 days in hospital, including his 92nd birthday.

Then, last December, both the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh suddenly cancelled plans to leave London for their festive break in Norfolk after they both came down with heavy colds. Philip turns 96 next month.
This is the cramped Colombian hotel room in which accused cocaine smuggler Cassie Sainsbury spent her last night of freedom.

Staff said she spent most of her time inside the room of the hotel, which is situated in a notorious downtown Bogota neighbourhood.

Images of her $50 a night lodging come as it's revealed she was spotted in the lobby of the hotel accompanied by a tall, black mystery man, reports 9News.

Photographs of her boarding pass and passport have also come to light after they were seized by police at Bogota International Airport.

Scroll down for video

This is the cramped Colombian hotel room in which accused cocaine smuggler Cassie Sainsbury spent her last night of freedom

Staff said she spent most of her time inside the room of the hotel, which is situated in a notorious downtown Bogota neighbourhood

'I did see her one time with a man. The man, he was tall, he was black and they were talking in the lobby before the left the hotel,' the hotel's deputy manager said.

The footage, obtained by 7 News, show the personal trainer cheerfully chatting with hotel staff before leaving with a suitcase allegedly packed with 5.8kgs of cocaine.

The 22-year-old from Adelaide was on the last leg of a world trip that saw her visit China and the United States before arriving in South America's cocaine capital.

But she drew the attention of the DEA when her plane ticket home to Australia via London was reportedly purchased last minute by an 'unknown party' in Hong Kong.

Images of her boarding pass shows she was headed for London's Heathrow Airport on an Avianca Airlines Flight AV120 leaving Bogota after 11pm.

Hotel manager Ingrid Hernandez said she remembered the young blonde woman well because she was alone, had no booking and didn't speak a word of Spanish.

Photographs of her boarding pass and passport have also come to light after they were seized by police

Images of her boarding pass shows she was headed for London's Heathrow Airport on an Avianca Airlines Flight AV120 leaving Bogota after 11pm

Photographs have emerged of the moment Cassandra Sainsbury checked out of her hotel

The 22-year-old appeared cheerful as she left the hotel in Bogota, Colombia, carrying a suitcase packed with cocaine and wearing the same clothes she was arrested in

Hotel manager Ingrid Hernandez said Cassie had arrived alone and with no booking

'It is unusual for tourists to arrive without a booking, particularly if they are a young woman alone like she was,' she told News Corp Australia.

The security footage comes after claims emerged the personal trainer was in tens of thousands of dollars of debt from a failed gym venture before she landed in a Colombian prison.

A woman, who wished not to be named, claimed Ms Sainsbury owed money to several people after her business collapsed last September.

A local florist also claimed she 'disappeared basically overnight' from Adelaide owing tens of thousands in debt, 7 News reports.

The claims come as ominous social media posts come to light in which the 22-year-old predicted a monumental event before her ill-fated trip.

Cassie's last night of freedom was spent in a cramped $40-a-night hotel room (pictured) in a dodgy part of Bogota near the airport

A carefree Cassandra bundled her suitcase and another bag of luggage from the hotel on April 12 - totally unaware her whole world was about to be turned around

Cassie was reportedly in thousands of dollars in debt from a failed gym venture before her il-fated trip

In the January 10 Instagram post, she appeared to be predicting a fateful event on the horizon.

'50 days until I make the biggest move I've yet to do ... 50 days until everything changes.'

In another deleted post from January 24, she said: 'Moving interstate driving me cray cray! #save me! Not long before the big move now, super excited and can't wait to leave so much baggage behind.'

The posts also contained hashtags suggesting her relocation to Sydney in early March, when the countdown ended.

Her social media posts appeared to forewarn a monumental event before her ill-fated trip

It has been claimed Ms Sainsbury owed money to several people after her Adelaide gym (pictured) collapsed last September

The young woman's family claim she was on a working holiday to Colombia to promote her personal training business

The posts also contained hashtags suggesting relocation to Sydney for early March, when the countdown ended

She faces 25 years in jail after she was arrested with 5.8 kilograms of cocaine at an airport in Colombia

Colombian police claim a tip-off led to her arrest in Bogota

Other posts revealed she jetted to Bogota from LA and arrived on April 3.

The young woman's family claim she was on a working holiday to Colombia to promote her personal training business.

But her fiance, Scott Broadbridge said she had not been a personal trainer for six months prior to the trip, and was working for a cleaning company at the time.

Colombian police claim a tip-off led to the arrest of an Australian woman who was found with 18 bags of cocaine with an estimated street value of $1.7 million.

On April 3 she posted a photo of LAX - Los Angeles International Airport - with the caption 'going from China's lovely 27 degree weather to LA's 7 degree weather is killing me'.

In January, posts by the young woman indicate she was a separate 'work trip', this time to Canada, where she complained of being tired and used the hashtag #hometimesoon.

The young woman posted to Instagram a week before she was stopped in a Colombian airport to tell her followers about her trip which also took her to Las Angeles and China

The woman went on a cruise in October, 2016, followed by a work trip to Canada in January. Her trip to Colombia recently started with time spent in China and America
Andrey Ryjenko is on trial in London for receiving huge kickbacks from loans made to fund gas projects in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union

A 'greedy' bank official took bribes to approve loans worth hundreds of millions of pounds to finance huge gas and oil projects in former Soviet states, a court has heard.

Andrey Ryjenko, 44, and his sister Tatjana Sanderson, 37, allegedly received 2.2million in corrupt payments between July 2008 and November 2009.

Ryjenko's role at the publicly funded European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) required him to vet applications for investment from eastern European oil, gas and mining firms.

The 'kickbacks' were allegedly paid by 'middle man' Dmitrij Harder, through his US company Chestnut Consulting Group Inc, as part of a 'success fee' for securing the loans.

Prosecutor Tom Little said 'backhanders' were paid into the bank accounts of Sanderson to provide a safe haven for the cash and distance its receipt from her brother.

The prosecutor told the Old Bailey: 'This case can be summarised in one word - greed. Or alternatively, perhaps two words - familial greed.

'Ryjenko and his sister, the prosecution say, conspired with a man called Dmititrij Harder to make and accept corrupt payments. Those are sometimes referred to as bribes.'

He said that, between the summer of 2008 and November 2009, Ryjenko and Sanderson corruptly received just over $3.5million (2.2million) in payments from Harder.

He said Sanderson's role was to 'provide a safe haven and disguise for the money'.

The EBDR, which is based in the City of London, is jointly owned by 61 different countries, including the UK, as well as the EU and the European Investment Bank, and is publicly funded by the taxpayers in those countries.

Ryjenko's sister Tatjana Sanderson is accused of providing an account for the money to go into

Ryjenko - who has both Russian and British citizenship - studied at Moscow State University and the London School of Economics.

He joined the EBDR in 1994 and secured a position in the natural resources team.

Jurors at Ryjenko's trial were told he and Harder took advantage of his apparent influence over granting loans.

Harder negotiated agreements with the hopeful borrowers including a 'success fee', a small percentage of the loan, which was divided between him and Ryjenko, it was said.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) where he worked is based in the City of London

'Because the loans were so large, so was the success fee, and so, therefore, the 'kickback' paid to these defendants was also significant,' said Mr Little.

The prosecutor said of Sanderson: 'Without her, if you think about it, any payments would have gone directly from Harder to Ryjenko, and that would have been a pretty obvious kickback payment you may think.'

Ryjenko and Sanderson, both of Paddington, central London, both deny conspiring to make or accept corrupt payments and dealing in criminal property.

Jurors heard Sanderson would be in the dock but she is not fit to stand trial.

Judge Nicholas Cooke QC said the jury will have to determine 'whether she did the acts' but will not have to return verdicts against her.

Harder is not before the court. The trial continues.
Reagan Long's oil painting of a French horn will be on display in 3rd District Congressman Chuck Fleischmans Chattanooga office for one year. "Discovery" by Tia Kemp was created in the Advanced Placement 2D class Abbey Hegwoods submission was a charcoal self-portrait Previous Next

Three GPS students were among six artists recognized by the 2017 Congressional Artistic Discovery competition for the 3rd Congressional District. Sophomore Reagan Long placed third in the contest with a close up oil painting of a French horn, a piece that captures the brightness of the instrument and that reflects the beauty of the horn.

The Art II class taught by Julie Deavers began the project by visiting the GPS orchestra room and photographing the various instruments. Reagans painting will hang in 3rd District Congressman Chuck Fleischmans Chattanooga office for one year.

Senior Tia Kemp and junior Abbey Hegwood, also students of Ms. Deavers, received Honorable Mentions. Tia, a student in AP 2D Art, submitted Discovery, a digital photography/photoshop piece. Abbey's submission was a charcoal self-portrait. She is a student in Art III.

Sponsored by the Congressional Institute and begun in 1982, the nationwide high school visual art competition recognizes and encourages talent in each congressional district. There were 154 works of art entered in the contest this year, and only six awards were given, with GPS students receiving three.

Ms. Deavers said upon hearing of the results, Its so exciting and gratifying when the students hard work pays off and they are recognized in the broader community.
North Korea has blasted China for 'stomping on a red line' in relations and said Kim Jong-un has no plans to give up his nuclear weapons.

The state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper accused Beijing of 'dancing to the tune of the US' in the second rebuke to be published in as many days.

North Korean officials have been venting their fury after China called for more sanctions on Kim's regime if he does not curtail the country's nuclear programme.

North Korea's state-backed news agency has said China is 'stomping on a red line' in relations in a second rare rebuke to its close ally in as many days

North Korea accused China of 'dancing to the tune of the US' after Beijing called for more sanctions over the country's nuclear programme (pictured, Chinese premier Xi Jinping)

The commentary again singled out Beijing-sponsored newspapers The People's Daily and Global Times, saying they should refrain from making 'reckless remarks', CNN reported.

Earlier in the day, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang insisted the country wanted to remain 'good neighbours' with North Korea.

The USA has urged China, North Korea's only major ally, to do more to rein its nuclear programmes, with President Trump warning the 'era of strategic patience' is over.

In Beijing, Mr Shuang said: 'China's position on developing friendly, good-neighbourly relations with North Korea is also consistent and clear.'

China was unswervingly devoted to the denuclearisation of the peninsula and maintaining peace and security and resolving the issue through talks, he added.

Tensions have heightened over North Korea's nuclear programme in Pyongyang

China has repeatedly said that while it is happy to help arrange talks, it is ultimately up to the United States and North Korea to sort out their differences.

Diplomats say Washington and Beijing are negotiating a possible stronger UN Security Council response - such as new sanctions - to North Korea's repeated ballistic missile launches.

The first statement from North Korea, issued on Wednesday through the state-backed Korean Central News Agency, said that the Chinese had attempted to shift the blame to Pyongyang for 'deteriorated relations' between China and North Korea and US deployment of strategic assets to the region.

It also accused China of 'hyping up' damage caused by North Korean nuclear tests to China's three northeastern provinces.

Chinese state media calls for North Korea to dismantle its nuclear program were 'a wanton violation of the independent and legitimate rights, dignity and supreme interests' of North Korea and constituted 'an undisguised threat to an honest-minded neighboring country which has a long history and tradition of friendship,' it said.

The KCNA commentary said calls by 'some ignorant politicians and media persons' in China for stricter sanctions on North Korea and not ruling out military intervention if it refused to abandon its nuclear program, were 'based on big-power chauvinism'.

It said North Korea's nuclear program was needed for the 'existence and development' of the country and 'can never be changed nor shaken.'

'The DPRK will never beg for the maintenance of friendship with China,' the commentary said.

China had earlier urged both sides of the North Korean dispute to stay calm and 'stop irritating each other' and has told its citizens in the secretive state to leave in case Kim Jong-un provokes a US attack.

The US has sent a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to Korean waters and a pair of strategic US bombers flew training drills with the South Korean and Japanese air forces in another show of strength this week.

The USA has urged China, North Korea's only major ally, to do more to rein its nuclear programmes, with President Trump warning the 'era of strategic patience' is over

The flight of the two bombers came as Trump raised eyebrows when he said he would be 'honoured' to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the right circumstances, and as his CIA director landed in South Korea for talks.

North Korea said the bombers conducted 'a nuclear bomb dropping drill against major objects' in its territory at a time when Trump and 'other US warmongers are crying out for making a preemptive nuclear strike' on the North.

'The reckless military provocation is pushing the situation on the Korean peninsula closer to the brink of nuclear war,' the North's official KCNA news agency said on Tuesday.

It comes as the Chinese Embassy in the hermit state urged citizens to leave North Korea amid fears of a missile strike as tensions rise between Kim Jong-un's regime and the US.

The warning was first issued ahead of North Korea's Day of the Sun last month, when the secretive state was tipped to carry out missile tests.

Dictator Kim used the occasion to demonstrate his county's military might, and an unsuccessful test was carried out on April 29.

Then-Chinese leader Mao Tse Tung and Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea, led countries whose relationship Mao said was as 'close as lips and teeth' but analysts question whether their 1961 defence pact would hold in the event of another war

The despot leader was tipped to carry out missile tests last month, culminating in a failed test on April 29

A Korean-Chinese citizen told Radio Free Asia he was advised to 'stay a while' in China, and stated: 'The embassy has never given such a warning. I was worried and left the country in a hurry.'

But he said most Chinese citizens in North Korea had opted not to heed the warning.

It comes amid questions over whether China would honour a mutual defence pact signed with North Korea under Communist leader Mao Zedong.

When the pact was signed in 1961, Mao described North Korea as 'as close as lips and teeth'.

The two countries had been allies in the Korean war, between 1950 and 1953, which began after the North, under Kim Il-Sung, invaded South Korea.

The current leaders of both nations, Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korea's Kim Jong-Un, have never even met.

The treaty constitutes 'a very important part' of Sino-North Korean ties, professor Maochun Miles Yu, of the United States Naval Academy, told AFP.

But, he added, it is 'a mystery' what would happen if conflict escalates into use of weapons.

North Korea regularly parades its military through its showcase capital of Pyongyang, but while the number of personnel is huge, observers question how effective it might be in modern armed conflict

Beijing fears that in the event of the collapse of the North Korean state, the border between their two countries would be swamped with people trying to flee to China

Trump last week called on China to distance itself from Pyongyang and support efforts to bring Kim to heel.

Retired Chinese naval colonel Li Jie told the South China Morning Post last month: 'It's hard to say how China would assist North Korea militarily in case of war, since North Korea is developing nuclear weapons, an act that might have already breached the treaty between the two nations.'

The military pact automatically renews every 20 years, most recently in 2001, meaning it is now valid until 2021.

Last year, Xi and Kim exchanged messages to mark the treaty's 55th anniversary.

The Chinese president wrote that both sides have cooperated in the 'spirit' of the treaty and that their 'friendship serves as a precious wealth'.

The treaty, Kim responded, 'has become a firm legal foundation for constantly consolidating the friendly and cooperative relations that were forged in the bloody struggle for independence against imperialism and for socialism'.

But in 2013, a Chinese defence ministry spokesman said it would be 'unprofessional' to answer a hypothetical question about whether Beijing would militarily back Pyongyang in an attack.

Young-June Chung, an associate professor at Shanghai's Tongji University, said the pact's 'diplomatic status is a little bit obscure' as neither side has acknowledged that it is 'invalid.'

But he added that Beijing 'would not sacrifice its relations with the US and South Korea for North Korea.'
A senior Conservative has been awarded 338,000 after winning a libel case against an Iranian state TV broadcaster which falsely accused him of selling oil for ISIS.

Press TV said Nadhim Zahawi, the Tory candidate in Stratford On Avon, was facilitating trades between Israel and the terrorist group.

The regime backed TV channel on its English language website in July 2015. The reports were widely shared and the High Court said the claims were 'exceptionally grave'.

Iraqi-born Mr Zahawi, who is running to win back his Commons seat, was awarded 200,000 in damages and more than 100,000 in costs.

Senior Tory Nadhim Zahawi has been awarded more than 300,000 after winning a libel case against Iranian state TV channel Press TV

Mr Zahawi, who was a leading member of the foreign affairs select committee, said it was 'notable' the defamatory post was made after he criticised Iran's 'malign influence'.

He said: 'I hope that this libel judgment can draw a line under this episode and deter outlets such as Press TV, and by extension states such as Iran, from attempting this sort of attack on anyone again.'

After the judgement was handed down, he said: 'Press TV, which is ultimately funded by the Iranian government, posted an article about me in July 2015 on its English language website that implied I had facilitated the trade of oil between Daesh/Isil and the State of Israel.

'The ludicrous allegation that I, while a Member of Parliament, had firstly betrayed all of my deepest held moral principles, and secondly had somehow managed to avoid international security services, and the law, to personally trade oil with Daesh was of course completely untrue.

'Given my background as an Iraqi-born British citizen, the false accusations were clearly calculated to be as damaging as possible on every level.

Press TV, the Iranian backed TV news channel, posted the defamatory article on its English language home page (pictured today) and shared it on social media

'Despite having no basis in anything close to reality, the allegations spread like wildfire on social media and clearly some people believed them.

'I was forced to defend myself to family members, friends, my constituents, fellow MPs, Government Whips, and both local and national media. It was a profoundly embarrassing and deeply upsetting experience for my family and me.'

In a written judgement, Master Victoria McCloud said that Mr Zahawi's reputation had been 'seriously tarnished' as a result of the false claims and that 'he has suffered genuine and serious distress'.

She also granted an injunction preventing the republication of the false story in the future.

Press TV was taken off air in the UK in 2012 and restricted to the internet after broadcasting an interview with Maziar Bahari, an imprisoned journalist, which was conducted under duress.
An ex-soldier who once arrested IRA boss Martin McGuinness posted a final message on Facebook before ending his life at Dignitas which read: 'Dying to do this.'

David Nigel Casson, 62, went to the assisted dying clinic in Switzerland to end his life after a 10-year battle with Motor Neurone Disease (MND).

His wife Julie Casson added his parting message to his public profile on his behalf so he could explain his brave decision.

Mr Casson, who was known as Nigel, ended his final post online with the words: 'I've been 'dying' to post this! Ha ha ha ha ha!! Thank you and goodbye.'

David Nigel Casson, 62, (pictured at home) travelled to the assisted dying clinic in Switzerland

Mr Casson (pictured) previously served in the British Army as an infantryman in the Duke of Wellington's regiment during the 1970s

This is the Facebook message which he wrote to his friends before he went to Dignitas in Switzerland

He did not get the chance to see the 400 responses to his goodbye message as he didn't want to spend his final few hours 'glued to Facebook'.

Mr Casson, from Scarborough, North Yorkshire, previously served in the British Army as an infantryman in the Duke of Wellington's regiment during the 1970s.

He had served in Northern Ireland during the turbulent years fighting the IRA.

Mrs Casson claims her brave husband even arrested Irish republican and Sinn Fein politician Martin McGuinness in Belfast.

He left the army due to family commitments after a three-year stint and became a scaffolder.

Mr Casson - who had been diagnosed with the disease in 2007 and told he had three to five years to live - decided to end his life at the clinic because he didn't want to 'feel tombed within his own body', according to his doting wife.

She said: 'He talked about it right at the beginning when he was first diagnosed but then put it to the back of his mind.

'But he did say that when the time was right that he would pursue it. Last August when he decided he was going to pursue it he felt himself becoming significantly weaker.

'He was having days where he was becoming dispirited. He was conscious if he didn't go while he physically could he would miss an opportunity.

Mr Casson (pictured), who was known as Nigel, ended his final post online with the words: 'I've been 'dying' to post this!

Mr Casson (pictured before he became ill) left the army due to family commitments after a three-year stint and became a scaffolder

Mr Casson (pictured with his wife Julie) was not able to read the comments to his Facebook post because he did not want to spend his last few hours online

'He didn't want to get to a stage where he was unable to speak or unable to communicate his feelings and frustrations, and feel tombed within his own body.'

In August last year, the father-of-three made the impossible decision to end his life at Dignitas.

Mrs Casson added: 'By the end he needed help with everything. We had a team of carers giving him round the clock care. He relied on a wheelchair for the last seven years.

'His limbs were becoming extremely weak, he needed help with everything such as feeding, personal care showering and going to the toilet.

'He was completely disabled but managed to keep his spirit.

'Because of his immobility and disability he found comfort in using Facebook, it kept him in touch with the world.

'He could still manage to touch the screen but also had eye gaze technology to help him.'

He travelled across to the Dignitas in Switzerland by car, accompanied by his wife and three children.

Mr Casson (pictured at home in Scarborough) wrote online that he wanted to thank his friends for their support

This is the last group photograph of Mr Casson with his wife Julie and three children

WHAT IS MOTOR NEURONE DISEASE? Motor neurone disease is a progressive condition that attacks the nerves in the brain and spinal cord. This causes messages to gradually stop reaching muscles, leading to weakness and wasting. It affects up to 5,000 adults in the UK. A third of sufferers die within a year and more than half within two years of diagnosis. Other symptoms include swallowing, breathing and speech difficulties. Causes are unclear but are likely a combination of genetic and environmental factors. There is no cure. Treatment focuses on improving survival, aiding breathing and reducing stress. Source: Motor Neurone Disease Association Advertisement

His decade-long battle ended with the words: 'It gives me great joy, today, to announce that I have found the one and only cure for MND, but it is with great sadness that it means I have had to go to Dignitas in Zurich to end my life.

'I would like to thank all my Facebook friends for their support and friendship since I joined in 2008, one year into this cruel illness.

'You have been a tremendous support to me throughout the ten years of this illness.

'It is such a shame that the laws of this country prevent me from doing this in my own home.

'My decision was arrived at because I wanted to take back control of my life and take the victory of killing me away from this disease.

'I wanted to die while I am happy and can still smile and not be controlled by this wicked disease any longer.

'I wanted to die with dignity instead of being tortured.

'Some people may think it's the easy way out but believe me it's not easy to leave your loving family and friends.

'I've been 'dying' to post this!! Ha ha ha ha ha!! Thank you and goodbye. Xxx'

The devastating illness deteriorates the victims' muscles until they can't move, speak, eat or breathe.

About 50 per cent of people diagnosed die within 14 month and very few survive beyond five years.

In 2007 Nigel was given three to five years to live - he lived for another 10.

His loving wife of almost 40 years, Julie added: 'He joked and laughed every day.

'He was an inspiration to others and helped the rest of us cope with the heart-breaking effects of motor neurone disease.'
A Current Affair's Tracy Grimshaw suffered a royal blunder when she wrongly announced the Queen was retiring from public life - instead of Prince Philip.

The veteran Australian presenter said she had 'confirmation' of the 'significant' news during a live cross with the program's UK correspondent Michael Best outside Buckingham Palace.

Grimshaw was reading details through an earpiece while presenting the breaking story when she made the error, for which she was swiftly corrected.

A Current Affair's Tracy Grimshaw wrongly announced the Queen was retiring from public life.

'Michael I am hearing that there is a Royal announcement, there has been an announcement that the Queen is stepping down from public life and that is very significant,' she began.

Grimshaw then backpedalled, asking her producers: 'have we got confirmation of that or is that speculation?'

She then announced 'we've got confirmation', before reporter Michael clarified: 'I think it's Prince Philip.'

Media outlets the world over were scrambling to cover the story after the announcement of a secret a top secret emergency meeting at Buckingham Palace.

Prince Philip retired from public royal duties at the age of 95 with the Queen's full support.

In a statement Buckingham palace said this morning, it was confirmed the Duke of Edinburgh's was stepping down from fulltime duties.

Grimshaw was reading details through an earpiece while presenting the breaking story when she made the error

Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh arriving at Chapel Royal in St James's Palace, London

Media outlets the world over were scrambling to cover the story after the announcement of a secret a top secret emergency meeting at Buckingham Palace

'His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh has decided that he will no longer carry out public engagements from the autumn of this year

'In taking this decision, The Duke has the full support of The Queen.

'The Duke of Edinburgh is Patron, President or a member of over 780 organisations, with which he will continue to be associated, although he will no longer play an active role by attending engagements'.
Theresa May has been relentlessly using her election slogan 'strong and stable' at every opportunity because it is the only message voters remember, new polling suggests.

The Prime Minister has been mocked on Twitter for using the tag line in all her interviews and campaign speeches ahead of June 8.

In a stump speech at a campaign rally in Bridgend in Wales last week she used the phrase a staggering dozen times in just ten minutes

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Theresa May, pictured at a campaign rally on Monday in Lancashire. Her relentless use of the election slogan 'strong and stable' is making an impact and being remembered by voters

But while the repetition has prompted groans of boredom, a YouGov/Times poll has found that it is cutting through to voters.

Asked to write down any Tory Party election slogans they remember, 15 per cent of those polled put 'strong and stable'.

This is far higher than the two per cent who recalled the other campaign warning 'coalition of chaos'.

The PM is seizing on the successful strategy by delivering all her campaign speeches in front of large banners promising 'strong and stable leadership' which is 'in the national interest'.

In contrast, Labour is failing to make their slogans stick in the minds of voters.

Just two per cent of those surveyed remembered the slogan 'for the many, not the few'.

Brenda from Bristol was hailed the voice of the nation when she said that Britain dis bored of having elections and does not want another one. A video of her reaction wen viral

Meanwhile, the poll also found that the overwhelming majority of voters are not excited by the General Election campaign.

Some 67 per cent of voters said they are finding the election boring, while just 22 per cent think it is interesting according to the survey of 2,066 voters.

The finding comes after Brenda from Bristol was hailed as 'the voice of the nation' after a video of her exasperated reaction to finding out there would be a general election went viral.

Told about the snap election just after it had been called, she groaned 'not another one' and complained that 'there's too much politics' and voters should be given a break.

Britons have been repeatedly called to the polls in recent years, with two General Election votes, and referendums on Scottish independence and Brexit all being held in less than three years.
A California couple were told they'd be sent to jail if they did not give up their two-year-old son's seat on a Delta flight, they have claimed.

Brian and Brittany Schear allege they were also told their children would be taken from them, and have now demanded an apology.

It is the latest controversy around overbooked flights in the US.

Mr Schear claims a member of airline staff told him: 'You have to give up the seat or you're going to jail, your wife is going to jail and they'll take your kids from you.'

Brian Schear is seen remonstrating with airline staff after being told his son would have to relinquish his seat

They were due to travel from Hawaii to Los Angeles last week when they were told to relinquish the seat of young son Grayson.

Mrs Schear told ABC: 'As a mother, you have a one-year-old and a two-year-old - it doesn't matter whether that's true or false. It put fear in me.'

They were told Grayson - who had a car seat on top of his seat - would have to sit on one of his parents' knees.

After a long debate they agreed to this, but say they were then told to get off the plane.

Incredulous Mr Schear said he was told he and his wife would be jailed, and would lose their children, if they did not give up the seat

A standing Delta worker allegedly told Mr Schear he would be jailed if his son Grayson didn't give up his seat

They did not get a refund, Mr Schear said, and were forced to book a hotel room that night before buying three more plane tickets the following day.

They filmed the encounter with airport staff and posted it on YouTube. Mr Schear is heard asking a staff member: 'I'm going to be in jail?'

Mr Schear can be heard stating: 'Well, you should have thought of (that) before you oversold the flight. I bought that seat.'

He told CBS2: 'We never thought it was going to get to the point where they were actually getting us all off the flight. As we were leaving the plane, theres four or five passengers waiting for our seat. The bottom line is, they oversold the flight.'

The couple were flying alongside their young son and one-year-old daughter.

Initially the two youngest children were going to sit on their parents' laps, but when their teenage son opted to travel on another flight - having had a seat booked - they seated Grayson in his seat instead.

In a statement to CBS, the airline said: 'We are sorry for what this family experienced. Our team has reached out, and we will be talking with them to better understand what happened and come to a resolution.'
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These eerie photographs show how USSR-era space craft have been left to rust in an abandoned desert hangar in Kazakhstan.

Two test shuttles were found inside a derelict Soviet warehouse near the Cosmodrome Baikonur, 125 miles east of the Aral Sea.

They were both developed as part of Moscow's Buran programme which was shut down in 1993 - but neither of the craft were sent to space.

In the same building, photographers pictured a vast Energia rocket, designed to propel the Buran, an unmanned space plane, into orbit.

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Eerie photographs have emerged showing how USSR-era space shuttles have been left to rust in an abandoned desert hangar in Kazakhstan

The test shuttle explorers were found inside a derelict Soviet warehouse near the Cosmodrome Baikonur, 125 miles east of the Aral Sea

In the same building, photographers pictured a vast Energia rocket (pictured), designed to propel the Buran, an unmanned space plane, into orbit

Alexander Kaunas, from Russia, said he walked 24 miles through the desert to reach the hangar - once a hub of activity but now left derelict - and photograph the unused shuttles and rocket. He got close enough to picture the interior of one of the shuttles (above)

The USSR designed the rocket to compete with Nasa's Saturn V, the super-lift launch vehicle that supported the Apollo mission to the moon.

Alexander Kaunas, from Russia, said he walked 24 miles through the desert to reach the hangar - once a hub of activity but now left derelict - and photograph the unused shuttles and rocket.

Like Nasa's Space Shuttles, the Buran vehicles had engines located at the back, and two wings for a controlled landing back on Earth.

The Russian model had striking external similarities to the US Space Shuttle Columbia sparking suggestions Cold War espionage may have played a part in its development.

Both US Space Shuttles and Buran had the same shape and size, the same vertical tail structures and even similar colours - white with a black trim.

Documents that emerged in the late 1990s revealed how the KGB stole the designs for the US shuttle in the 1970s and 1980s enabling the Kremlin to build a carbon copy of the American system.

Both shuttles were both developed as part of Moscow's Buran programme which was shut down in 1993 - but neither of the craft were sent to space

The super-strong Energia was a launch vehicle designed to propel the Buran, an unmanned spaceplane, into orbit in the 1970s. The USSR built the rocket to compete with Nasa's Saturn V, the that supported the Apollo mission to the moon

Like Nasa's Space Shuttles, the Buran vehicles had engines located at the back, and two wings for a controlled landing back on Earth. Two test shuttles (pictured) from the programme remain in a rusting hangar in Kazakhstan

Development of the Buran programme began in 1976, with the reusable spacecraft capable of performing operations in orbit before returning to Earth

The rocket Kaunas pictured was designed by Russia's top space agency, to act as a heavy-lift launch system and booster for the Buran spaceplane

A 1985 CIA report said there was 'espionage by hostile intelligence officers, overt collection, by East Bloc officials, acquisition by scientific exchange program participants and illegal trade-related activity.'

Files from US databases - much of them unclassified - were raided from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, according to the CIA analysis, called 'Soviet Acquisition of Militarily Significant Western Technology'.

The report said: 'Documents acquired dealt with airframe designs (including the computer programs on design analysis), materials, flight computer systems, and propulsion systems. This information allowed Soviet military industries to save years of scientific research and testing time as well as millions of rubles as they developed their own very similar space shuttle vehicle.'

Similar claims of espionage were made in the 1960s when Russia's supersonic Tupolev TU-144 passenger jet was unveiled. It closely resembled the British-French Concorde which got off the ground two months later.

Development of the Buran programme began in 1976, with the reusable spacecraft capable of performing operations in orbit before returning to Earth.

But after one unmanned spaceflight of the Orbiter 1K1 in 1988, the scheme was scrapped following the dissolution of the USSR in 1993.

Orbiter 1K1 was crushed and destroyed in the same complex - but in a different hangar - in 2002. The collapse killed eight workers.

The rocket Kaunas pictured was designed by Russia's top space agency, to act as a heavy-lift launch system and booster for the Buran spaceplane. It has been left abandoned in the disused hanger since 1991.

The Energia weighs in at a massive 2,400,000kg (5,300,000 lb) depsite being made of super-light metals.

The space relic was built during the great space race between the USSR and the US. The heavy-lift vehicle was originally planned for a lunar mission which was later abandoned

The large hangar - once a hub of activity but now left derelict - located near to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, is still used to launch Soyuz rockets today

Kaunas, a film director, was thrilled once he reached the shuttles and spent three nights sleeping inside the abandoned area

The giant hangar that houses the rocket was actually an assembly complex and, measuring 433ft (132 metres) long by 203ft (62 metres) in height, it is the largest building at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The area is surrounded by desert

The super-strong rocket ship could carry 100 tonnes (100,000kg) - the equivalent of 16 African elephants - into orbit.

Unusually, the Energy carried its considerable payload on its side, rather than on the top.

The giant hangar that houses the rocket was actually an assembly complex and, measuring 433ft (132 metres) long by 203ft (62 metres) in height, it is the largest building at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Huge sliding gates 138 by 118ft (42 by 36 metres) would have allowed the shuttles to have been rolled out to the launchpad nearby.

To protect the shuttles from a possible shockwave if a heavy launch vehicle exploded nearby, the structure was made of reinforced steel.

The room was also intended to be a 'clean room' devoid of dust when working on the orbiters, so the doors leading out of the central area could be sealed.

The hangar is located near to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which is still used to launch Soyuz rockets today.

The derelict hangar that has became a graveyard for USSR spacecrafts is located near to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which is still used to launch Soyuz rockets today

Kaunas, a film director, was thrilled once he reached the shuttles and spent three nights sleeping inside the abandoned area.

He said: 'It's fun to find some places where people can't get in, it makes my photos unique. We walked about over 24 miles through the dessert with huge bags, until we got to the shuttles.

'We were walking the whole night, because the area is still secured, and we didn't want to be seen during the day on route. When we came into the hangar, it was so dark, I couldn't find the shuttles using my flashlight.

'I thought I'd got the wrong building, but suddenly my spotlight caught the wing of Buran. My first thought, when I glance on it was, "that's huge."'

Kunas has explored other space rocket facilities and warns how sleeping in such buildings can be difficult.

He added: 'Despite being alone here, we did not feel that way. We didn't speak much and only whisper if needed.

'We spent three nights on the cosmodrome, and every night we couldn't sleep as every sound of birds or wind woke me up. It felt like sleeping in a house with a ghost, the ghost of USSR.'
Brussels has mocked Theresa May's explosive claims bureaucrats were meddling in the General Election by claiming they were 'too busy' to interfere.

A spokesman for EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Brussels has 'too much to do on our plate' to dwell on Brexit.

While at a separate press conference this afternoon, EU Council President Donald Tusk pleaded for 'mutual respect'.

In an apparent swipe at Theresa May, he warned that politicians should not let their 'emotions get out of hand' during the crucial talks.

And President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani also denied claims by Theresa May that Brussels tried to meddle in the election with damaging leaks about Brexit.

Donald Tusk, pictured last week at a press conference in Brussels, pleaded for mutual respect and warned politicians not to let their 'emotions get out of hand' during Brexit talks

A spokesman for Jean-Claude Juncker (pictured right today with the Estonian PM Juri Ratas) said Brussels was 'too busy' to interfere in the election

The comments came amid heightened tensions after Mrs May made an blistering speech on the steps of No 10 calling out EU officials over aggressive leaking about Brexit.

The PM hosted a delegation from the European Commission at a dinner last week, but leaks from Brussels suggested she was out of her depth.

Mr Juncker's spokesman, Margaritis Schinas, brushed off Mrs May's comments.

He told reporters in Brussels: 'We are not naive, we know that there is an election taking place in the United Kingdom. People get excited whenever we have elections.

The President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani (pictured with the Prime Minister on April 20) today denied claims by Theresa May that Brussels tried to meddle in the election with damaging leaks about Brexit

After seeing the Queen, Theresa May last night delivered an extraordinary assessment of the 'threats and misrepresentation' coming out of Brussels (pictured)

'This election in the United Kingdom is mainly about Brexit. But we here in Brussels, we are very busy, rather busy, with our policy work.

'We have too much to do on our plate. So, in a nutshell, we are very busy. And we will not Brexitise our work.

'To put it in the words of an EU diplomat, the 30-minute slot that we are going to devote to Brexit per week, for this week it's up.'

Pressed on whether Mrs May was right to claim that EU figures were using 'threats' to influence the election, Mr Schinas said: 'I said that we are not naive and we know that it is time that elections happen.

'People get excited over elections, it's normal, so things are said.

'We don't Brexitise our very important policy work. We are too busy now to engage in these comments on who said this or that.'

Speaking at a museum opening in Brussels today Mr Tajani said: 'No one is trying to influence the outcome the election campaign in the United Kingdom.'

He added: 'It is better to have an interlocutor who is not constantly looking for votes because they have had the election, in order to work towards a good solution...

'If you have an election campaign, the rhetoric gets sharper and more robust. I don't think there is any question of influencing the campaign.'

Meanwhile, at a separate press conference Mr Tusk pleaded for calm and mutual respect in the looming Brexit negotiations.

He said: 'These negotiations are difficult enough as they are.

'If we start arguing before they even begin they will become impossible.

'The stakes are too high to let our emotions get out of hand because at stake are the daily lives and interests of millions of people on both sides of the channel.

'We must keep in mind that in order to succeed we need today discretion, moderation, mutual respect and a maximum of goodwill.'

In a reference to poisonous briefing coming out of the top ranks of the EU, Mrs May said she believed there were efforts to skew the election

Poisonous briefing followed the visit to No10 by Jean-Claude Juncker (left) and Michel Barnier last week. They are pictured in Brussels today

In her extraordinary speech last night, Mrs May appealed for the backing of voters so she can 'fight for Britain' despite the interference, the premier said: 'Britain's negotiating position in Europe has been misrepresented in the continental press. The European Commission's negotiating stance has hardened.

THE BRUSSELS THREATS THAT DREW THE PM'S WRATH German chacellor Angela Merkel Aides to EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker briefed that PM was 'deluded' and 'in another galaxy' after meeting her for talks last Wednesday night. Sources branded the meeting a 'disaster' and revealed he told Mrs May: 'I'm leaving Downing Street 10 times more sceptical than I was before.' German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the Bundestag last week: 'A third-party state, and that's what Britain will be, cannot and will not have at its disposal the same rights, or be in a better position than members of the European Union. 'I have to say this clearly here because I get the feeling that some people in Britain continue to work under illusions, and that is a waste of time.' EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier jibed at Mrs May today: 'Some have created the illusion that Brexit will have no material impact on our lives or that negotiations can be concluded quickly and easily.' He warned that failure to pay a divorce demand - expected to be as much as 90billion - would have 'explosive' consequences. Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's Brexit co-ordinator, mocked Mrs May's 'strong and stable' election slogan. 'Any Brexit deal requires a strong and stable understanding of the complex issues involved,' he said. 'The clock is ticking  it's time to get real.' Advertisement

'Threats against Britain have been issued by European politicians and officials.

'All of these acts have been deliberately timed to affect the result of the General Election that will take place on June 8.'

EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has insisted he 'deeply respects' Mrs May as a 'tough lady' in an apparent attempt to cool the growing row between Brussels and London.

The extraordinary speech on the steps of Downing Street came after Mrs May went to see the Queen following the dissolution of parliament.

It was warmly welcomed by Brexiteers - but drew howls of anguish from pro-EU politicians such as SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon and the Jeremy Corbyn.

Miss Sturgeon accused Mrs May or trying to 'poison the well' ahead of the Brexit talks, while the Labour leader said she was playing 'party games' with the issues.

The premier lashed out witheringly at the 'coalition of chaos' that was being offered by Mr Corbyn.

But she saved her most vicious language for senior EU figures, after a brutal spat threatened to kill off the Brexit negotiations before they even began.

Relations have plunged to new lows after a detailed account emerged of a Downing Street dinner with EU commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and chief negotiator Michel Barnier last week.

The briefing, thought to have come from Mr Juncker's chief of staff Martin Selmayr, accused Mrs May of being clueless and put the chances of talks falling apart at 50-50.

Mr Barnier unveiled a hard-line stance for the talks today, warning that Britain will face 'explosive' consequences if it does not pay a Brexit divorce bill that has been doubled to around 90billion.

Mr Juncker and Mr Selmayr appeared to be trying to take some of the heat out of the row tonight with more conciliatory remarks praising Mrs May's efforts to navigate the EU divorce.

But the PM, who vowed yesterday to be a 'bloody difficult woman' in the looming talks, said the public were seeing quite how difficult the Brussels club would be over the coming years.

'The events of the last few days have shown that whatever our wishes and however reasonable the positions of Europe's other leaders, there are some in Brussels who do not want these talks to succeed, who do not want Britain to prosper.'

EU Council President Donald Tusk pleaded for 'mutual respect' this afternoon and warned the rows over Brexit could get 'out of hand'

The Russian Embassy Twitter account strikes again - by mocking Theresa May's warnings about meddling in Britain's General Election on June 8

Politicians officially ceased being MPs at midnight and are now candidates once again, as the country prepares to elect a new House of Commons.

However, the PM - and her ministers - remain in post to run the government during the period.

Mrs May has described the ballot as the 'most important' in her lifetime, and a strong Tory majority is essential to secure the best possible Brexit deal.

She warned today that people's livelihoods are on the line if the talks with the EU are not conducted effectively.

'If we don't get the negotiation right, your economic security and prosperity will be put at risk and the opportunities you seek for your families will simply not happen,' she said.

'If we do not stand up and get this negotiation right we risk the secure and well-paid jobs we want for our children and our children's children too.

Russian Embassy Twitter account joins in the mockery of Theresa May The Russian Embassy Twitter account risked enraging Britons by joining in the mockery of Theresa May. The account, which has gained a reputation for ruthlessly poking fun at Western leaders online, tweeted a picture of a newspaper front page carrying the PM's warning that 'Brussels is meddling in our election'. Alongside the picture was a message reading 'Praise God it's not Russia this time '. The comment is likely to have been a reference to Mrs May's revelation earlier this week that Britain had taken steps to prevent Putin's Russia hacking into or interfering with the looming election. Asked about the threat Vladimir Putin may pose to the June 8 vote, she said: Relatively recently the Government opened the new cyber security centre which is a very important step forward. 'That centre has already been working with the political parties, offering them advice on how they can protect themselves against the possibility of cyber intrusion. But as far as I am concerned, we do everything we can to ensure that the elections here in this United Kingdom are free and fair. Advertisement

'If we don't get the negotiation right, if we let the bureaucrats of Brussels run over us, we will lose the chance to build a fairer society with real opportunity for all.

'The choice the country faces now is very simple. Because there are only two people who can possibly be Prime Minister after June 8 to negotiate Brexit.

'It is a choice between me  and Jeremy Corbyn.'

Mr Corbyn said the PM was using Brexit for a 'political game'.

'Theresa May is playing party games with Brexit in the hope of winning advantage for the Tories in the General Election,' he said.

'By winding up the public confrontation with Brussels, the Prime Minister wants to wrap the Conservative party in the Union Jack and distract attention from her government's economic failure and rundown of our public services.

'The Prime Minister is right that there are those in Brussels who don't want a deal. But that is also true of leading figures in the Tory party, who want to use Brexit to turn Britain into a low wage tax haven.

'The Prime Minister says that no deal would lead to a different economic model for Britain.

'In plain terms, that means wiping out employment rights and consumer protections and giving still more tax breaks to the rich and big corporations.

Miss Sturgeon, who has been looking to exploit Brexit to secure Scottish independence and tear the UK apart, said Mrs May was 'deliberately seeking to poison the well will make the negotiating task ahead even harder'.

'This is an irresponsible, gratuitous attack on our European neighbours, which is aimed at diverting attention from the Tories' dismal record on health, the economy, austerity and welfare by painting the EU as a bogeyman,' she said.

The PM, pictured walking back into No10 after her speech, appealed for the backing of voters so she can 'fight for Britain'

Mrs May saved her most vicious language today for senior EU figures, after a brutal spat threatened to kill off the Brexit negotiations before they even began

Miss Sturgeon, who has been looking to exploit Brexit to secure Scottish independence and tear the UK apart, said Mrs May was 'deliberately seeking to poison the well will make the negotiating task ahead even harder'

'Insulting our neighbours simply makes the Brexit mountain much harder to climb, but unfortunately it is par for the course from Theresa May.'

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry described Mrs May as a 'hybrid of Nixon and Cersei Lannister' - the latter being a reference to the notorious Game of Thrones character.

HOW THE EU WANTS TO INFLATE THE BREXIT DIVORCE BILL EU states have been piling on demands as they realise the scale of the hole about to be left in the bloc's finances by the departure of its second biggest contributor. The key elements of the divorce demand from Brussels include: The UK should keep paying into EU coffers until 2020 - after we formally leave - because that is when budgets have been set until.

Farm subsidy payments and EU administration fees for 2019 and 2020.

Britain should fund agreed loans that have already been agreed to poorer EU states.

UK to be denied a share of the bloc's assets, such as buildings, which could have brought the sum down.

Other costs include generous pensions for thousands of Eurocrats.

Although the estimated 100billion total would be payable up front, some of the money would be expected to come back over the decades. Advertisement

Mr Juncker told a press conference today that he was 'sorry' about the leaks from the Downing Street dinner.

And his chief of staff, Mr Selmayr, attempted to cool the issue this evening by hailing Mrs May as an 'impressive woman and a very impressive negotiator'.

'That's the way we have come to know her, and I don't think that's going to change,' he said.

'We need a very strong negotiator who unites the whole nation behind her and then in a very strong and tough way leads the negotiations.'

Mr Selmayr admitted that the leaks of last week's dinner had created 'a lot of havoc', but insisted that the EU side were treating the negotiations 'professionally'.

'Certainly there is much ado about this, but that doesn't change anything in principle for the President of the Commission, the EU and Michel Barnier,' he said.

'We will be going about this very professionally.'

He added: 'Brexit will never become a success, of course, because it is a sad and sorry event.

'But as I have set out, it can be managed in a professional and pragmatic way.'

Mr Selmayr suggested Mr Juncker will be spending only about 'half an hour a week' on the Brexit.

Speaking from Brussels, Mr Juncker added: 'I deeply respect the British Prime Minister, I like her as a person.

'I have noted that she is a tough lady, so this is not for the future, this is the real-time description.'

Polls suggest the Conservatives are on track for a huge victory on June 8.

New research by Panelbase today shows the Tories 17 per cent ahead of Labour, which would translate to a majority of more than 100.

Meanwhile, a Cantar poll gave Mrs May a massive 24 point lead.

Even previously safe Labour seats are thought to be vulnerable to a collapse in the Ukip vote and Tory surge.

But the country is in for an attritional struggle as Mrs May relentlessly hammers home her core message.

In a classic moment of British pomp and ceremony, the Prime Minister made the journey earlier today from Downing Street to Buckingham Palace

The Queen arrived at the Palace at around 14.45 (pictured) - just a quarter of an hour before the PM pulled up in her car

The stakes on the election were underlined today as the EU set out a tough line for the looming negotiations.

Mr Barnier warned thatBrexit will be be painful as he insisted the UK will have to abide by the bloc's terms.

In a clear jibe at Mrs May, he cautioned that 'some have created the illusion' that the process could be quick and painless.

The PM was greeted by an equerry as she arrived at Buckingham Palace after the short drive from No10 today

Mrs May spent around 30 minutes inside the palace before heading back for her blistering speech outside No10

Mrs May's official Jaguar made the short trip from Downing Street to Buckingham Palace and back this afternoon

He bluntly stated that was 'simply not telling the truth' and there would be 'consequences' - warning that Britain will be forced to 'settle' an exit bill that could run to more than 90billion.

He also insisted the European Court of Justice would settle disputes over the relationship in future.

At a press conference in the Belgian capital, Mr Barnier said: 'Some have created the illusion that Brexit will have no material impact on our lives or that negotiations can be concluded quickly and easily.

'That is not the case.'

He said there had to be a 'legal' process that covered all the technical points of the separation. That had to be settled before a future trade deal could be considered.

The PM's car went through the famous gates of Buckingham Palace before she went inside to meet the monarch

The latest polls suggest the Conservatives are on track for a huge victory on June 8

Although parliament only officially dissolved at midnight, in reality the campaign is well under way - with the Tories unveiling this poster today
People have just hours to spend old paper 5 notes before they lose their legal tender status.

Tomorrow marks the final day that the banknote featuring prison reformer Elizabeth Fry can be used in shops.

Around 150 million of the notes remain in circulation.

People have just hours to spend old paper 5 notes (bottom) before they lose their legal tender status. They have been replaced by the new polymer fiver (top)

The Bank said some banks and building societies may continue to accept the old notes after May 5, but that it would be at each the discretion of each branch.

Several major banks and building societies have said that customers can continue to deposit old fivers after May 5.

WHAT DO I DO WITH MY OLD 5 NOTES? TODAY AND TOMORROW: People have until the end of tomorrow to use their old 5 notes in shops. After that, they will not be accepted. IF YOU MISS THE DEADLINE: Shops will not accept the tender, but banks and building societies will still accept the old 5 notes, although the rules will vary. The Bank of England will exchange the notes forever. Advertisement

But some said it was a good idea for people to give themselves time to hand in old fivers rather than leaving it until after they have lost their legal tender status.

The Post Office said its branches will accept the notes as a deposit into any main UK bank account after the May 5 deadline.

Martin Kearsley, banking director, Post Office, said: 'We offer free cash withdrawal and deposit services for customers of all main UK banks.

'We'd like to reassure people that there's no end date to depositing paper 5 notes into bank accounts at local Post Office branches, we will still accept them after the 5th of May deadline.'

The Bank of England will continue to exchange the old 5 notes for all time, as it would for any other Bank note which no longer has legal tender status.

The new Bank of England fiver (pictured) is stronger than its predecessor and boasts new security features making it harder to counterfeit

Old paper fivers and the new 5 note have co-existed since the polymer banknote was first issued by the Bank in September 2016.

PAPER NOTE RECYCLING Every year around 700 million notes are withdrawn from circulation because they are too old, worn or dirty to be recirculated, and are therefore deemed unfit. All of the notes returned to the Bank of England are destroyed  and up until 1990, they were incinerated and the energy generated helped to heat the Bank. The bank then started taking the notes off site from the early 1990s and they were incinerated for energy recovery. However in the early 2000s it started to recycle old notes using a composting treatment as used in the treatment of food waste. And since 2011, all of the Bank's paper note waste has been recycled using this method to became a soil improver for agriculture. But composting is not suitable for polymer notes, which will be turned into pellets before being transformed into plastic items such as plant pots. Advertisement

The new Bank of England fiver is stronger than its predecessor and boasts new security features making it harder to counterfeit.

But it has been controversial as it emerged that traces of animal-derived additives were used in its production.

A public consultation has been launched by the Bank into how it produces new 20 polymer notes.

The Bank previously said it has held off signing supply contracts for the 20 polymer note, which is due to be released in 2020, in order to better understand 'the range of public opinion' surrounding the use of tallow in banknote production and explore potential plant-based substitutes such as palm and coconut oil.

There new fivers hit the headlines again last month when some were left so battered that the security features rubbed away, prompting police to think they were fake.

Officers issued an alert to the public after notes circulating in Wadebridge, Cornwall, were found without two of the main currency security features - a security hologram and an image of Big Ben.

The notes looked so different that police urged the public to be on the lookout for counterfeit currency and flagged their concerns to the Bank of England.

Bank of England governor Mark Carney is pictured with the new 10 polymer note featuring author Jane Austen, which will be issued in September

But the Bank of England insisted the notes - which were only released in September and feature Winston Churchill - were real currency that had accidentally been damaged due to 'extreme use' such as 'prolonged washing at high temperatures'.

OUTRAGE OVER 'NON-VEGAN' BANK NOTES Vegans and vegetarians pledged to boycott the 5 note when it was released after it emerged it contained tallow, a type of animal fat. The Bank has since said that it may use palm oil as an alternative - although environmentalists were not happy about that either. Controversial palm oil, often found in peanut butter, has been linked to deforestation on a large scale as trees are cleared to make way for plantations. The Bank of England said it was the 'only practical alternative'. Advertisement

The security features include two clear holograms on the front - one at the top and one at the bottom - as well as a gold picture of Elizabeth Tower, also known as Big Ben.

There is also a portrait of the Queen in the window and special microlettering which experts say would be almost impossible to forge.

The Bank of England also said it was more hardy than the old notes and would last twice as long is circulation.

In September this year, the Bank will issue a new 10 polymer note featuring author Jane Austen, recognising 'her universal appeal and enduring contribution to English literature'.

A spokesman for the Committee of Scottish Clearing Bankers, which represents Bank of Scotland, Clydesdale Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland, said previously: 'The paper Scottish fivers are not being withdrawn from circulation, they are just not being reissued.

'They don't have a withdrawal date as such similar to the English 5 notes.'

WHERE CAN I DEPOSIT 5 NOTES IF I MISS THE DEADLINE? The deadline for spending old paper 5 Bank of England notes is approaching. Here is what some major account providers have said about whether people can still deposit 5 notes after May 5: Post Office: All Post Office branches will accept the notes as a deposit into any main UK bank account even after the notes cease to be legal tender. In January, the Post Office launched a service with banks that enables their customers to perform everyday banking services in all post offices across the UK. As a result 99% of UK bank account holders can undertake deposits, withdrawals and balance enquiry services in any of the Post Offices 11,600 branches. Barclays: Barclays customers can continue to deposit the paper 5 note into their business or personal account. This will also apply to the old round pound when it ceases to be legal tender later this year, having been replaced by the new 1 coin. Barclays said: 'We would recommend that customers allow sufficient time to return old notes/coins rather than leave it until legal tender status is withdrawn.' Yorkshire Building Society: It will accept old fivers after May 5 and take them out of circulation when they come into its possession. Nationwide Building Society: Nationwide will continue to accept the old 5 notes from existing customers. Customers are required to pay the money into their account and they can then automatically withdraw the money in new notes if required. Lloyds Banking Group (includes Halifax): Existing customers will still be able deposit the old 5 notes. RBS/NatWest: It said that if a customer brings in one of its notes that is out of circulation, it will replace them with new ones. Santander: It does not intend to swap the old series notes, however its customers will be able to deposit the notes into their accounts indefinitely HSBC: It has said it will continue to accept the old 5 notes from its customers. Advertisement
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The beauty of nineteenth century Scottish wonders have been revealed in a series of colour postcards.

Incredible images show that some of Scotland's landmarks have remained the same since 1890, including Edinburgh Castle.

The Queen's official residence in Scotland, Holyrood Palace, is also pictured as well as another Royal residence, Balmoral Castle in Royal Deeside.

Other spectacular shots show the progress that has been made in the 127 years since the postcards were produced.

St Enoch's Station in Glasgow is pictured near the beginning of its tenure as a mainline railway station but is no more after being demolished in 1977.

 Slide me  Incredible images show that some of Scotland's landmarks have remained the same since 1890, including George Square. The area is named after King George III and was first laid out in 1781. Among the statues are dedications to Robert Burns and Sir Robert Peel

 Slide me  Dunn Square in Paisley is shown as it was in 1890 and also today, with the square's clock tower still standing in much the same condition. In 2015, it was announced that the popular open space was to receive a 100,000 facelift to restore its crumbling stonework

 Slide me  Glasgow University was first built in 1451, and is pictured more than 400 years later in 1890 (left). However, despite the passage of time, the main campus building is as stunning as ever (right). The main campus has been based in the same place since 1870, when it moved from the city's high street

 Slide me  Some of Scotland's most iconic landmarks are also pictured looking almost identical to their modern-day selves, including the Melrose Abbey. It was founded in 1136 at the request of King David I, and served as the chief house of the Cistercian order until the Reformation

 Slide me  St Enoch's Station in Glasgow is pictured near the beginning of its tenure as a mainline railway station (left) but is no more after being demolished in 1977 and turned into a shopping centre (right)

 Slide me  Glasgow Bridge, commonly referred to colloquially as Jamaica Bridge, can be seen full of horses and carts (left), compared to today's tarmac offering (right)

 Slide me  The Queen's official residence in Scotland, Holyrood Palace, is also pictured as well as another Royal residence, Balmoral Castle in Royal Deeside

 Slide me  The view of Loch Lomond from Tarbet was beautifully captured in 1980 (left), and is just as picturesque in 2017 (right)

Ayr's famous Station Hotel is presented in all its glory but the Grade II listed building closed in 2013 and has been empty ever since.

The colour postcards were produced using a method called photochrom, in which colour photographs are manufactured from black and white negatives via the direct photographic transfer of a negative onto lithographic printing plates.

It was invented in the 1880s and was most popular in the 1890s, when these images were taken. Although true colour photography had been developed by then it was not commercially practical yet.

Photochrom reproductions became popular due to the craze with sending postcards.

Some of Scotland's most iconic landmarks are also pictured looking almost identical to their modern-day selves.

The Black Watch Monument in Aberfeldy still stands proud while the main University of Glasgow building hasn't changed at all.

The summit of the highest mountain in the UK, Ben Nevis, is showcased on one of the postcards, proving our ancestor's thirst for adventure was no less than our own.

PHOTOCHROM: LIGHTING UP THE LATE 19TH CENTURY The postcards are from 1890 and were created using the Photochrom process, a technique for applying lifelike colour to black-and-white images. The process was invented in the 1880s by Hans Jakob Schmid, an employee of Swiss printing company Orell Gessner Fussli, while other colour photography techniques were still in their infancy. Photochrom works by transferring the negatives onto lithographic printing plates. It was invented in the 1880s and was most popular in the 1890s, when these images were taken. Although true colour photography had been developed by then it was not commercially practical. Photochrom reproductions became popular due to the craze with sending postcards. Following the end of the First World War, the fascination with Photochrom postcards began to die, with the process used almost exclusively for street posters and art reproductions. The final Photochrom printer was decommissioned in 1970. Advertisement

The Black Watch Monument in Aberfeldy still stands proud as it did 127 years ago (left), while Marischal College, Aberdeen is shown back in 1890 (right)

Ayr's famous Station Hotel is presented in all its glory but the Grade II listed building closed in 2013 and has been empty ever since

The summit of the highest mountain in the UK, Ben Nevis, is showcased on one of the postcards, proving our ancestor's thirst for adventure was no less than our own

Balmoral Castle, the large estate house in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, has been one of the residences for members of the Royal Family since 1852

Princess Street (known as Princes Street) in Edinburgh. It is now home to one of the city's biggest shopping centres
The GPS Class of 2017 and their college counselors celebrated National College Decision Day on Monday. May 1 is the day that most colleges and universities set as a deadline to hear from students about their decisions to enroll.

The Class of 2017 celebrated the end of the sometimes pressure-packed college admissions process filled with essays, campus visits, and scholarship applications. They enjoyed a cake while admiring each others college T-shirts and sweatshirts and posing for lots of photos.

"Today, I am a happy counselor, said Susan McCarter, director of College Guidance. "Our girls have accepted offers from schools from the East to the West Coast, from state universities and small private colleges, and they have accepted impressive scholarship offers. Assistant Director Ms. Goldbach and I are so pleased the girls have found a college home that fits them.

Among the schools the seniors will enter as freshmen this fall are University of Georgia, Cornell University, Sewanee, Rhodes College, Princeton, Warren Wilson College, University of Pennsylvania, Roanoke College, George Washington, Maryville College, Johns Hopkins, University of San Francisco, Washington & Lee, Brandeis, University of Tennessee, Baylor University, University of Alabama, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, University of Wisconsin, Georgia Tech, Pepperdine, Duke, Rochester Institute of Technology, and many others.



The traditional Where O Wheres, the complete list of seniors and their college choices, will be posted before Commencement, which takes place on Friday, May 19.
A boy's head became stuck between two glass doors at a hospital in southeast China's Guangdong province on May 2.

The boy managed to squeeze his head into a gap in the door.

Firefighters rushed to the scene and freed the boy after calls for help.

A young boy got his head stuck in a gap between two glass doors in a hospital in China

Footage uploaded on MiaoPai shows the boy standing at the entrance door on first floor of Raoping People Hospital at Chaozhou city, with his head tilted to the left - through a gap in between two doors.

It is believed that the boy was trying to make his way through the gap however he became stuck after managing to get his head through.

The child was unable to move as his body remained inside the building and his head was outside.

Onlookers gathered at the hospital entrance as firefighters arrived to free the boy

From the video, the space of the gap is tiny and can only fit an adult's hand.

Onlookers were trying to help by holding the boy's head to give him support.

On WeChat, an instant messaging app, onlookers said the boy's mother was also at the scene.

Firefighters arrived immediately to rescue the boy.

At around 12:11pm, the boy was freed with no significant injuries.
Bar staff are said to have thrown 'bleached water' over a homeless man, sleeping rough outside their venue in South Yorkshire, sparking a police probe.

Furious social media users have claimed a staff member at Rock A Hula tiki bar in Doncaster chucked a bucket of water over the man, aged 60, on Saturday night.

The man, believed to be called Dicky, was taken to hospital with 'slight burns' after he was covered in what is claimed to be 'bleached water'.

But the bar has denied there was any bleach in the bucket, and claimed they had just washed away vomit with soap and water.

Posting online, social media users claimed that homeless people had wet sleeping bags, and one, named Dicky, had to be taken to hospital after bleached water was thrown on them

Chloe Smith, who watched the incident, posted: 'Whoever owns Tiki has staff opening the door and throwing bleach on a homeless man.'

Another witness, called Sarah, said: 'I was walking into Lazarus court to see a foamy water on the floor at the side of the food hut, Dicky was sat down. I noticed two girls stood up and the sleeping bags or blankets were wet.

'I looked forward and wondered why the security was pointing his phone in our direction which made me look back behind me. When I did I saw the fire exit door open and a load of water flying out of it. Couldn't believe my eyes.

'I did go over to the girls and tell them to call the police! But they said this sort of thing happens all the time the police don't do nothing. If they were really cleaning sick they have a strange way of doing it. Glad nobody was sick in the club or all the clients would have had a bath. The bar was saying he was threatening with a bottle but I saw him sat down.'

The homeless man was taken to hospital but was discharged the following day.

A woman, who works with the homeless in Doncaster and asked not to be named, said she has seen Dicky since the incident.

She said he is trying to not let the experience get to him but suffered slight burns to his skin.

The tiki style bar in Doncaster, which has removed its Facebook page since the incident. The manager denied there was bleach in the water, claiming there was only soap in the bucket

The women added: 'He is putting on a brave face as an old solider would. He had slight burns to skin on his arm and leg. Mentally, the scars will take weeks, maybe years to heal, as he's not a trouble maker.

'He doesn't ask for food or cash from anyone, he only wanted a place to sleep. Now he's in more danger against the elements and people as he has to sleep out from cover.'

She also said she will be helping Dicky to be housed so he no longer has to suffer such behaviour.

In a statement on their website, the Rock A Hula bar wrote: 'On Saturday 29th April Rock-a-Hula tiki bar was involved in an incident regarding a homeless man.

'It was brought to our attention that someone had been sick outside the venue on Lazarus court; near where the homeless people were sat.

'Using soapy water we washed away the sick like we would in any other case but the homeless man believed we were throwing it at him so he took it upon himself to threaten one of the owners of the business (believing he was a doorman) with a glass bottle then pull his sleeping bag through the puddle of water and place it in the walkway into our venue blocking customers from entering.

'This was obviously a huge annoyance for us given that we have to clear up after these people everyday anyway and its not just rubbish we clean up; its syringes, needles, smashed glass and even human feces. Then when the incident was taken to social media by one of the passers-by (who had not seen the full incident. Just the homeless man's wet sleeping bag) who believed we had completely covered the man in bleach and boiling water it escalated quickly against us.

'But after the manager wrote a statement clarifying with the public what actually happened instead of the Chinese whispers that were spread it seems everyone is back on neutral ground.'

Bar manager David McIvor also told The Sheffield Star that there was no bleach in the bucket and it was just warm soapy water, believed to be used to clean up vomit.

He also denies throwing it over the man and said he was 12-13ft away from them.

A spokesperson for South Yorkshire Police said: 'Police received two reports over the weekend that two men who were sat outside a licensed premise in Lazarus Court, had water thrown on them at around 11.20pm on Saturday, 29 April.

'An officer attended the scene and spoke to all those believed to be involved in the incident. Enquiries have been made and an investigation may be pursued should there be a complaint received.'
First Lady Melania Trump's fur-wearing days are apparently over after she received a faux-fur gift from Hollywood actress Pamela Anderson in February.

Trump penned a personal letter to Anderson, who is an animal rights activist and honorary director with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

'I very much appreciate your sending the beautiful eco-faux fur from Only Me,' Trump gushed in the letter dated April 20.

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First Lady Melania Trump's fur-wearing days are apparently over after she received a faux-fur gift from Hollywood actress Pamela Anderson in February. Anderson sent Trump the coat as a thank-you gift for her fur-free look at the presidential inauguration

Trump penned a personal letter (pictured) to Anderson, who is an animal rights activist and honorary director with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). 'I very much appreciate your sending the beautiful eco-faux fur from Only Me,' Trump gushed in the letter

Anderson custom-designed the coat (modeled left) for her with Russian faux-fur manufacturer, Only Me. The gift was a black faux lamb fur coat that included a vegan belt

'I am grateful for your support and encouraging words; they mean a great deal. Together, we can empower more women to stand up for their beliefs.

'Thank you for your thoughtful note and gift. God bless you and your family,' Trump added.

In response, the actress and Playboy Playmate, posted the photo of the letter to her Twitter page, calling the gesture 'sweet'.

Anderson sent the first lady the faux-fur coat as a thank-you gift for her fur-free look at the presidential inauguration.

Trump wore a blue Ralph Lauren ensemble on Inauguration Day. Lauren's design house stopped using fur in 2007.

According to PETA, Anderson custom-designed the coat for her with Russian faux-fur manufacturer, Only Me.

In response, the actress and Playboy Playmate, posted the photo of the letter to her Twitter page, calling the gesture 'sweet'. Anderson sent the first lady the faux-fur coat as a thank-you gift for her fur-free look at the presidential inauguration

A spokeswoman confirmed that the first lady 'does not wear fur', but they didn't give the exact date that she stopped wearing it. Trump is pictured with now President Donald Trump at the opening of fur designer Dennis Basso's Manhattan boutique in 2003

In 2007, Trump (pictured) wore a black fur hat to a Michael Kors fashion show

The gift was a black faux lamb fur coat that included a vegan belt.

Anderson wrote on Twitter: 'Thank you for your sweet note. It is heartwarming to see you manage your position with such beauty and grace.'

A spokeswoman confirmed to CNN that the first lady 'does not wear fur', but they didn't give the exact date she stopped wearing it as Trump has been spotted several times donning fur in the past.

In 2003, she accompanied her husband and now president, Donald Trump, to the opening of fur designer Dennis Basso's Manhattan boutique and again in 2007, she wore a black fur hat to a Michael Kors fashion show.

Former New York Times critical shopper, Cintra Wilson, wrote an article in March recalling the time when she tried on a black lambskin gown that the now first lady had purchased in 2011.

Wilson claims in the article that she believed the Couture dress cost 'somewhere in the $30,000 to $40,000 range'.

PETA also expressed their gratitude for Trump's fur-free decision.

'Years ago, Melania first attended a PETA fashion show that featured one of her favorite designers, Marc Bouwer, a longtime PETA supporter who doesnt use fur, leather, or exotic skins in his collections.

'Were ecstatic that the first lady has taken a stand against the violent killing of animals for their fur. We thank her for leading by example so that no one should have to die for fashion,' the organization added.
Police released this CCTV footage of a suspect they want to question in relation to the incident outside a shopping centre

A teenager was raped in the doorway of a shopping centre after two men tried to force her to drink vodka.

The 17-year-old victim and her friend were approached by two men while they were shopping in Westfield, west London.

After spending some time together, police say the group made their way to central London before returning to Shepherd's Bush Green by bus.

The men - who called themselves 'Mohamed Saif' and 'Ahmed' - tried to make the women drink from a bottle of vodka, but they refused.

The women were split up by the men and 'Ahmed' forced the victim towards an entrance to West 12 Shopping Centre where he raped her at around 3.45am the following morning on October 28 last year.

The two women quickly left the area and made their way home, where they called police. It is not known if the men gave their real names to the two girls.

Now detectives have released a CCTV image of a man they would like to speak to in connection with the attack.

The suspect is described as 5ft 9ins, of medium build with black spiky hair and he spoke in broken English. He was wearing blue jeans, a dark bomber jacket and light trainers.

Det Con Rebecca Thomas, of the Met's Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, said: 'These two men took advantage of the victim and her friend.

The 17-year-old victim was attacked outside the West 12 Shopping Centre near Shepherd's Bush on October 28 last year

'They lured them both into a false sense of security before trying to ply them with alcohol; which the women refused.

'I would appeal to anyone who recognises the man in the CCTV to contact police.

'I would also like to speak with anyone who saw him in the company of the other man - who called himself Mohamed Saif - and two women over the course of Thursday, October 27 and Friday, October 28.

'The four of them travelled by bus and were in the Haymarket area of Westminster before returning to Shepherd's Bush.'
A Catholic school teacher in Canada talked about 'sluts' in her classroom and put her legs behind her head to boast to her teenage students about how flexible she was for a woman over 60.

Leanora Brown was found guilty of misconduct at a tribunal in Toronto this week after taking a leave of absence from Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School when students reported her behavior in 2015.

The Grade 10 students, aged between 17 and 18, told how she frequently spoke about her own sex life during lessons and offered them advice about theirs, Toronto's National Post reports.

One student claimed that she once told the boys in the class: 'If a slutty girl or a horny girl wants to have sex with you, you should f*** her well and leave her in a wheelchair for two days.'

According to the students, Brown said her own mother had 20 children because she was 'horny'.

Leanora Brown was a teacher at Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School in Toronto (above) when she made the inappropriate remarks in 2015. She was suspended and has since retired but was found guilty of misconduct at a hearing this week

During a lesson on February 25, 2015, she told the class she once asked her mother why she was black, adding: 'I told her she should have f****d a white sailor.'

Days earlier, while teaching a Grade Nine class, she was overheard saying: 'he can kiss my black a** without touching it.'

Then, while boasting about how flexible she was for a woman over 60 (her exact age is not known), she got on to the floor and put her legs behind her hair, the students claimed.

The tribunal was shown a video of the incident. The footage has not been released publicly.

Students testified at the hearing which Brown did not attend.

'It made me feel weird. It was unusual in a religion class but overall it was pretty funny,' one said.

Another who was in the Grade 10 class added: 'I felt like she wasnt qualified to be a teacher. Thats not something youre supposed to say to a student in a religion class.'

Brown was suspended as a result of the allegations in 2015 and has since retired. She is not facing any criminal charges.

A Toronto Catholic District School Board representative told DailyMail.com on Thursday: 'A full investigation was conducted and appropriate measures were immediately taken by the Board upon learning of these alleged incidents.

'Ms. Brown is no longer an employee of the TCDSB.'
Young girls - including the daughters of two Muslim doctors accused of carrying out female genital mutilation - are being pulled out of school, interrogated and medically inspected for signs of the barbaric practice, attorneys claim.

Detroit-based doctors Jumana Nagarwala and Fakhruddin Attar, as well as Attar's wife Farida, have been charged with carrying out female genital mutilation, FGM, on young girls from Minnesota on February 3.

Now the 11-year-old daughter of Nagarwala and eight-year-old daughter of Attar, have been caught up in the government probe into FGM being carried out within a small Indian-Muslim Dawoodi Bohra community.

Detroit-based doctors Jumana Nagarwala (left) and Fakhruddin Attar (right), as well as Attar's wife Farida, have been charged with the female genital mutilation of two girls, 7, in February

An attorney for families in the community, say the investigation has seen young girls have been pulled out of class - without their parents' knowledge - interviewed by Child Protective Services and checked for genital cutting at Children's Hospital by a doctor familiar with child sexual abuse investigations.

Attorneys for the families whose daughters were subjected to the intimate testing last month, say they are 'terrified' that if they don't cooperate, that CPS would seize their children.

Margaret Raben, who is representing two families, said that their clients were 'ambushed' and interrogated days before the doctor was even charged, the Detroit Free Press reported.

'Everybody is anxious,' said Raben. 'My clients are not sophisticated people. They are not familiar with the ways of the court system and frankly, they are terrified ... What they're telling these parents is that they want all of these little girls examined by a particular physician that they've already chosen.'

She added that her clients 'firmly deny' that the practice had been carried out on their seven-year-olds.

The U.S. Attorney's Office and FBI declined comment.

FBI agents were pictured leaving Dr Attar's Burhani Clinic in Livonia, Michigan on Friday where Dr Nagarwala allegedly carried out the female genital mutilation on the two girls in February

Detroit-based doctors Nagarwala and Attar are being held in custody on charges of female genital mutilation, conspiracy and making false statements to investigators.

Nagarwala, 44, an emergency room doctor at Henry Ford Health System, is accused of performing genital mutilation on the two young girls at the private Burhani Medical Clinic, Livonia, after hours in February.

An FBI child forensic interviewer who talked to one of the girls, said the child had described how she was brought to Detroit with a second girl for a 'special girls' trip.'

After arriving in Farmington Hills, the girls were taken to a doctor because 'their tummies hurt.'

'While at the doctor's office, a procedure 'to get the germs out,' was performed on the first girl, according to the criminal complaint.

The girl was shown a photo of Nagarwala and said she was the doctor who performed the procedure, according to the FBI.

She told the FBI that Nagarwala 'pinched' her on the 'place (where) she goes pee.'

'(The girl) said that she was told not to talk about the procedure,' FBI Special Agent Kevin Swanson wrote in the complaint.

A subsequent medical examination showed that the young girls' genitals did not appear normal and a section had been altered or removed.

'Finally, the doctor observed some scar tissue and small healing lacerations,' the agent wrote.

The complaint details the second girl's experience with the doctor and she said she underwent a procedure and identified Nagarwala as the doctor.

'She said that she 'got a shot,' and that it hurt really badly and she screamed,' the FBI agent wrote. 'Her parents told her that the procedure is a secret and that she is not supposed to talk about it.

'(The girl) said that after the procedure, she could barely walk, and that she felt pain all the way down to her ankle,' the agent continued.

A subsequent medical exam showed the girl's genitalia had a small incision and a small tear.

The doctor, who was arrested trying to board a flight to Kenya, denies the charges claiming she scraped membrane from the girls' genitalia as part of the religious custom. But those claims do not align with severe injuries suffered by two girls who came forward to accuse her of carrying out the practice on them.

Doctors reports obtained by the Detroit Free Press indicate the children suffered more severe injuries including scarring, a small tear, lacerations and what appeared to be the surgical removal of a portion of genitalia.

Dr Attar's attorney says her client may have let Dr Nagarwala use his clinic but claims he had no knowledge of what procedures she was performing.

Nagarwala was arrested on April 12, just days after the two alleged victims identified her as the person who performed medical procedures on them. The girls had been brought into the clinic by their mothers but the parents have not been charged.

Authorities say Dr Nagarwala was never employed at the clinic where the alleged mutilation took place and that she was able to perform the procedures after hours.

Dr Attar and his wife, who works at the clinic as an office manager, were arrested on Friday morning. They allegedly arranged and assisted in the genital mutilation procedures by Dr Nagarwala, police claim.

All three are accused of trying to keep the practice secret within their Indian-Muslim community, according to the indictment.

Authorities claim the trio have been part of a female genital mutilation scheme since 2005 and there could be a number of other young victims. The trio have denied any wrongdoing.

In a bond hearing on Wednesday, Attar's lawyer, Mary Chartier, claimed the government was 'overreaching' with the charges against her client who did not take part in the actual procedures.

What is FGM? Female genital mutilation is the practice in which some or all of the female genitals are removed, typically with a blade or a razor and sometimes without anesthesia. This includes removing the clitoral and the fold of skin above it, and removing labia  the inner 'lips' of the vagina. In the most severe form, the inner and outer labia are removed and the opening of the vagina is closed with a small hole so the woman can pass urine and menstrual blood. A traditional razor blade used to perform female genital mutilation in parts of Africa Sometimes the vagina is then cut open for sex or childbirth. Women sometimes bleed to death or can be left with horrifying health effects, such as infections, chronic pain, cysts, infertility and problems giving birth. Female genital mutilation is prevalent, particularly, in the Middle East and African subcontinent and within pockets of the Muslim, Christian, and Jewish faiths, according to the organization. Worldwide, an estimated 140 million women and girls have undergone the procedure, according to the World Health Organization. More than 3 million girls in Africa undergo the procedure each year. Advertisement

Attar and his wife are accused of holding the girls' hands while the underwent the procedure, then trying to cover it up.

The attorney added that the practice at the clinic was not FGM but a 'religious based' tradition only carried out by women. Chartier also claimed her client was being persecuted for being Muslim.

However, Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Stafford said the case would be decided on allegations, not religion.

'It is important to me ... to take religion out of it and focus on the allegations that young girls' genitals were mutilated and that the defendants played a role,' said Stafford.

'I think it's common knowledge that the cutting of the genitalia of a 7-year-old child would be painful,' Stafford said. 'I find this to be a serious crime.'

Attar is accused of helping arrange the the Minnesota girls' visits to Michigan during more than 50 phone calls with a Muslim man in Minnesota.

His lawyer said her client was only talking to the man because he was helping him memorize the Quran.

Prosecutors argue that the defendants knew what they were doing was illegal and tried to cover it up, citing a text message Attar's wife sent him on February 3 - the night the two Minnesota girls were allegedly cut at the clinic - to stay away.

They also allegedly told people in the local community to deny that the doctors carried out the procedure, and simply say it was a medical exam.

The charges against Nagarwala and the Attars, are believed to be the first case testing the US ban on the practice of female circumcision, which is also known as female genital mutilation or cutting.

The procedure has roots in various cultures in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It's generally performed as a way of controlling a girl's sexuality, maintaining her purity or even making her more fertile as she grows into adulthood.

But it's difficult to gauge how often genital cutting occurs in the U.S. - a 2012 study from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention estimated that more than 513,000 girls in the country had been subjected to or were at risk of undergoing genital cutting.

Yesterday, the Minnesota House panel unanimously passed a bill that would make parental involvement in a girl's genital mutilation a felony and grounds to lose custody rights.

Similar legislation is in the works in Texas. Michigan's Legislature is considering even harsher penalties than the federal ones for physicians who perform the procedure.

State Rep. Mary Franson, R-Alexandria, said her bill would treat parents just as any other type of child abuser. She and other lawmakers were outraged that at least one of the Minnesota girls was returned to her parents; court records for the other girl are sealed.

'If a child was being abused in any other way, would we be OK with putting them back in that setting? I think the answer is no' said state Rep. Peggy Scott, an Andover Republican.

The nation's first Somali-American lawmaker, state Rep. Ilhan Omar, agreed that the practice is 'heinous' but worried that removing children from their homes would do nothing to reverse the harm of the procedure. She and several other Democrats suggested that current laws on the books that help punish accomplices to crimes could be used to punish parents.

'I don't want us to create laws because there is a flashy headline,' Omar said. 'I want to make sure we are doing this for the right reasons.'
Grigore Paladi, 40, who was jailed for five years, is pictured at one of the cash machines

Two Romanian gangsters who stole 1.6million from cash machines across Britain by infecting them with a sophisticated computer virus have been jailed for a total of seven years.

Emanual Leahu, 30, and Gheorge Mirzac, 32, were members of an Eastern European gang who raided 51 ATMs on the May Bank Holiday weekend in 2014.

Targeting stand-alone Cardtronic ATMs, they gained access to the machines and infected them with malware.

Once they had got into the operating system they were able to methodically empty its contents, 40 notes at a time.

After the fraudsters had taken what they wanted, the malware deleted itself - removing any trace it had ever existed.

Leahu and Mirzac were part of a team behind raids in Bognor Regis, Brighton, Liverpool, London and Portsmouth, Inner London Crown Court heard.

Leahu was arrested by City of London Police officers in Bacau, Romania, last September and extradited to the UK.

Mirzac was arrested by French police in Cannes in January this year on a European arrest warrant. He was extradited to the UK in February.

Emanual Leahu (left), 30, and Gheorge Mirzac (right), 32, were members of an Eastern European gang who raided 51 ATMs on the May Bank Holiday weekend in 2014

Leahu was jailed for four years and ten months while Mirzac was sentenced to two years and ten months for conspiracy to defraud.

Two other gang members were previously jailed for involvement in the same plot.

Teofil Bortos, 37, was jailed for seven years in January 2016, while Grigore Paladi, 40, was sentenced to five years imprisonment in 2015.

Bortos had spent his share of the profits from the fraud on a boys' holiday to Thailand and trips to Istanbul and his native Romania.

Prosecutor Timothy Godfrey had earlier described it as a 'carefully planned and sophisticated scam whereby a criminal gang obtained access to 51 ATMs or cash machines over the spring bank holiday weekend at the end of May 2014'.

He added: 'This occurred at locations around England, from Blackpool in the North to Brighton on the South coast.

'The computers inside the cash machines were tampered with so as to enable the criminals to remove cash from the machines in large quantities.

'The scam was carried out by loading a computer virus, or malware, onto the computer in the ATMs.'

Teofil Bortos (left), 37, was jailed for seven years in January 2016, while Paladi (right), 40, was sentenced to five years imprisonment in 2015

The gang were first spotted pulling off the scam in Clapham High Street on May 16, 2014 when two Eastern European men were seen tampering with an ATM.

Leahu and Mirzac were arrested and a handwritten list of ATM locations across London, Borehamwood in Hertfordshire and Brighton were recovered.

Despite strong evidence against them, the two suspects were freed on bail and went on the run, the court heard. Paladi was caught tampering with a cash machine in Liverpool on May 21, 2015.

Bortos was caught on July 7, 2015 at London Luton Airport as he got off a flight from Bacua in Romania. None of the money has ever been recovered and it is thought to have been invested in Romania.

Leahu and Mirzac, both of no fixed address, were convicted of conspiracy to defraud. Bortos, of East Ham, East London, and Paladi, of Portsmouth, previously admitted the same offence.

Katie Watkins, police staff investigator, said: 'Leahu and Mirzac both played an integral part in an Eastern European gang that executed a well-planned and highly sophisticated attack on cash machines located across the UK.

'The gang members demonstrated a massive amount of complacency in that they believed they would get away with a complex attack on the ATM machines.

'Today's result demonstrates that even the most complex of crimes will be pursued, and those responsible brought before the courts to face justice.

'We have worked tirelessly with a number of other law enforcement agencies to ensure that every key member of this criminal network is convicted for their crimes.'
Homeowners have been told to only use their dishwashers and washing machines when they are full as droughts loom in parts of Britain.

The country has faced its driest October to March in 20 years with some areas having just half their usual level of rainfall, prompting a chance of hosepipe bans.

Major water provides such as Affinity are encouraging customers to save water to help preserve supplies and minimise the possibility of summer restrictions.

The country has faced its driest October to March in 20 years with some areas having just half their usual level of rainfall, prompting a chance of hosepipe bans (file picture)

Homeowners have been told to only use their dishwashers and washing machines when they are full as droughts loom in parts of Britain (file picture)

Southern Water has pumped river water into its Bewl reservoir on the Kent-Sussex border to help raise levels, while Thames Water is 'closely monitoring' river flows.

The public are being advised to use a bucket and sponge to clean the car and swap baths for short showers, reported Daily Telegraph science editor Sarah Knapton.

It comes after Britain experienced the tenth driest April on record - with just 47 per cent of the average rainfall for the month, according to the Met Office.

Middlesex, Mid Lothian and Fife were the driest historical counties last month with just 12 per cent of the rainfall expected in April.

A walker takes a stroll around the edge of Bewl Water near Lamberhurst in Kent, as the reservoir remains at only a third full in February 2006

Britain experienced the tenth driest April on record. The brown areas over most of the UK show how less than the normal rainfall was recorded during the month

Affinity supplies more than four million people across the South East and said the region it covers has received just over half of its normal rainfall since July 2016.

UK's last hosepipe ban The last major hosepipe ban in Britain was five years ago in April 2012, when about 20 million customers were affected by restrictions. The dried-up River Pang in Berkshire, shortly before the ban was imposed in 2012 After the fifth driest March since records began, seven water authorities brought in the 'temporary use bans' in parts of southern and eastern England. The public were banned from using a hosepipe to water a garden, plants, fill a pond not containing fish or clean outdoor surfaces. However there were exemptions for grass and surfaces used for national and international sports - which meant the London Olympics were unaffected. Advertisement

A spokesman said: 'Our ground water sources have also been affected by the low rainfall, which is where 60 per cent of the water we supply to our customers comes from.

'We are encouraging our customers to save water to help preserve supplies and minimise the possibility of restrictions this summer.'

Southern Water, which covers other parts of the South East, said it had 'clear plans in place to make sure we're fully prepared' if the dry weather continues.

And Thames Water told of 'low groundwater levels in some places, which is a concern for communities that rely on underground water supplies'.

An Environment Agency spokesman told MailOnline: 'Following a dry winter, some rivers, groundwaters and reservoirs are lower than normal for the time of year.

'We always advise that everyone use water wisely  especially during a period of dry weather - and to follow the advice of their water company should water saving measures be required.

'The Environment Agency, water companies, businesses and farmers are working together to minimise any potential impacts to people and the environment should the dry weather continue.'
President Donald Trump needled Susan Rice, the former national security advisor to Barack Obama, this morning for her refusual to testify at a Senate hearing on surveillance.

Rice has admitted that she requested that the unmasking of Trump associates who came up in intelligence reports when she needed their identities to put the information in context. She says her actions were not motivated by politics.

Trump said Thursday that it is 'not good' that she's declining to say it under oath.

President Donald Trump needled Susan Rice, the former national security advisor to Barack Obama, this morning for her refusual to testify at a Senate hearing on surveillance

'Susan Rice, the former National Security Advisor to President Obama, is refusing to testify before a Senate Subcommittee next week on...allegations of unmasking Trump transition officials. Not good!' he tweeted.

Trump scoffed in an April interview with Fox Business at Rice's claim that her unmasking of his aides in surveillance wasn't for political gain.

'Does anybody really believe that, nobody believes that,' he told Maria Bartiromo.

The president also claimed that he was referring to Rice's activities when he accused Barack Obama of spying on him, even though no evidence has surfaced that Trump himself was surveilled.

Rice on Wednesday declined an invitation to testify at an upcoming Senate hearing on Russia's interference in the 2016 election through her lawyer.

Only by the Republican chairman of the subcommittee extended the invitation, not the top Democrat on the panel, her lawyer said in a letter justifying the former Obama official's response.

Two other former Obama administration officials are scheduled to testify before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee on Monday. The subcommittee is one of three congressional panels investigating Russia's role in the 2016 election.

Rice has admitted that she requested that the unmasking of Trump associates who came up in intelligence reports when she needed their identities to put the information in context. She says her actions were not motivated by politics

Rice's refusal to testify is the latest twist in the congressional investigations into possible links between Russia and the Trump campaign and the ongoing debate over whether the probes are truly independent and bipartisan.

She became a central part of the Russia investigation when President Donald Trump said she may have committed a crime in asking intelligence analysts to disclose the name of at least one Trump associate mentioned in an intelligence report.

Rice has said she did nothing improper. But she has become a key former Obama administration official in a position to answer questions from lawmakers.

Her attorney, Kathryn Ruemmler, said Rice is supportive of the committee's investigation, but it is rare for Congress to ask for testimony from a former president's national security adviser.

The request for Rice's testimony also stood out, Ruemmler wrote in the letter, because it came after the hearing was announced and well after the other two witnesses - former acting Attorney General Sally Yates and former national intelligence Director James Clapper - had agreed to appear.

But unlike invitations extended to Yates and Clapper, Rice was invited to testify solely by subcommittee Chairman Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, not jointly with the panel's top Democrat, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Ruemmler said.

Rice became a central part of the Russia investigation when President Donald Trump said she may have committed a crime when she asked intelligence analysts to disclose the name of at least one Trump associate mentioned in an intelligence report

Ruemmler said in the letter that Whitehouse notified Rice in writing that he did not agree with Graham's invitation, which Ruemmler described as a 'significant departure from the bipartisan invitations extended to other witnesses.'

Graham released a statement that noted Rice's decision and questioned her comments on the situation.

'During a press interview, she denied improperly unmasking the names of American citizens who were surveilled as part of incidental collection. Media reports suggest otherwise,' Graham said. 'At an appropriate time, I expect we will continue down this path. I hope Ms. Rice will come before the committee - and not just the press.'

A spokesperson for Whitehouse did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Yates' and Clapper's upcoming public testimony is much-anticipated, as they were both scheduled to speak before the House intelligence committee in March.

But that hearing was canceled, some Democrats believe, because the White House wanted to limit what Yates could say. The House intelligence committee has yet to reschedule the public hearing.

Rice is supportive of the committee's investigation but declined to testify

Yates is expected to give senators details about her January 26 conversation with the White House counsel about Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

She is expected to say that she saw discrepancies between the administration's public statements about Flynn's contacts with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. and what really transpired, a person familiar with that discussion and knowledge of Yates' upcoming testimony told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity ahead the hearing.

Yates is expected to say that she told White House counsel Don McGahn that she was concerned Flynn's communications with the Russian ambassador could leave Flynn in a compromised position as a result of the contradictions between the public depictions of the calls and what intelligence officials knew to be true, the person said.

White House officials have said publicly that Yates merely wanted to give them a 'heads-up' about Flynn's Russian contacts, but Yates is likely to testify that she approached the White House with alarm, according to the person.

The White House has said Flynn was later fired because of misleading the vice president on the content of Flynn's discussions with the ambassador.
Russian fighter jets were intercepted off the coast of Alaska on Thursday morning.

The aircraft, two Cold War Bear bomber jets and two Su-35 'Flanker' planes, were detected in international air space some 50 miles southwest of Chariot early in the morning, Fox News reports.

They were intercepted by two U.S. Air Force F-22 stealth fighter jets which were performing a routine patrol when they came across them.

It is the latest in a sequence of moves which point to the simmering tension between American and Russian forces since the US launched an air strike on a Syrian air base last month.

Two Russian Tupolev Tu 95 Bear bombers (file image above) were intercepted off the coast of Alaska on Thursday morning

The Bear bombers were brought in to service in 1956 and were an ominous threat to Western allies during the Cold War, regularly flying over the coast of Cornwall as well as hovering near US airspace.

Last month, the bombers flew off the coast of Alaska for four days.

Thursday's incident was the first time the Bear bombers have been spotted near Alaska with a Flanker fighter jet escort.

The US Army has sent hundreds of troops to eastern Europe to join British, Canadian and German forces in a NATO-led effort to bolster the alliance's presence around the Russian border.

Relations between presidents Trump and Putin appeared to be improving on Wednesday.

The bombers were escorted by a pair of Su 35S 'Flanker' fighters (file image above) when they were found flying in international air space on Thursday morning

Tupolev Tu-95 'Bear' bomber

The Tupolev Tu-95 Bear bomber has been in use among Russian forces since its conception in the Cold War. It is named after its designer, Andrei Tupolev, an aviation engineer who also created the first nuclear-capable bomber, the Tu-4 'Bull'. The Tu-95 - dubbed the 'Bear' in code - is a staggering 151 feet in length and has a wing span of 164 feet. It has four turbo-prop engines and weighs 90 tonnes without cargo. Its eight propellers gives it a maximum speed of 500mph. The beastly air craft is also considered one of the noisiest in history because of the sound its 18-feet blades create when in motion. It was specifically designed in 1956 to be able to carry enough weapons from Soviet air bases to the US in response to the shortcomings of other USSR jets which couldn't make the journey. Advertisement

Sukhoi 35S 'Flanker' fighters The Su-35S 'Flanker' fighter is a twin-engine and is considered by experts to be one of the biggest threats to US Air Force counterparts. It is regularly pitted against the American F-15 Eagle. The Su-35S was inspired by the Su-27, the fighter jet Russian forces came up with to combat US Air Force F-15s during the Cold War. Design for the current model began in 2003. Prototypes were seen in 2007 and production began in 2009. It, like all other jets in the Flanker family, is designed to perform complex and aerodynamic maneuvers. Thrust-vectoring engines allow it to reach vantage points others cannot. Another one of the Su-35S's greatest attributes is its capacity for speed and acceleration - it has a maximum high altitude speed of Mach 2.25, the equivalent of 1726.356 mph. Advertisement

The aircraft were spotted in international airspace around 50 miles southwest of the Alaskan town of Chariot

The leaders spoke on the phone to discuss the threat of conflict with North Korea and the ongoing crisis in Syria. The talks were described by aides as 'very good'.

It signaled a slight thaw in the frostiness which has chilled the two nations' relationship since US forces launched an air strike against a Syrian air base last month.

The strike was ordered by President Trump as an act of retaliation on behalf of Syrian civilians against their President Bashar al-Assad following a horrific gas attack which left 27 dead.

Putin, one of the Syrian regime's few allies, was outraged not to have been consulted on the air strikes.

The phone call on Wednesday was the first time he and President Trump have spoken since.

During the talks, White House aides said the two leaders made loose plans for their first in-person meeting since Trump took office.

It will take place on the sidelines of a global summit in Germany in July.
Two GPS sophomores recently earned Honorable Mentions for their essays submitted to the Bernice L. Fox Classics Writing Contest. Since its inception in the mid-1980s, thousands of high school students from across the globe with an interest in the ancient world have competed in the contest named in honor of the late Bernice Fox who taught English, Latin, and Greek at Monmouth College in Illinois. The essay contest is open to any student enrolled in high school.

The topic for this years essay was A Figure from Classical History, Literature, or Mythology as the Next President of the United States. Participants could cover a classical figure acting as president or while on the campaign trail. As in every years contest, students were encouraged to make frequent, specific, accurate, and appropriate references to ancient history or mythology as well as to current events.

GPSs first Honorable Mention went to Latin III student Gracyn Davis for her submission based on Horaces Ode 2.10 which she had recently translated for class. Her piece featured a transcript of the poet Horaces inaugural speech as newly elected president wherein he outlines a stoic approach to governance, carefully echoing the philosophical ideas found in his poetry.

The second Honorable Mention was earned by Honors Latin III student Claire Calhoun whose contest submission took the form of an imagined dialog between the Emperor Claudius and a reporter on the campaign trail. Drawing effectively from Suetonius Life of Claudius (and including a clever cameo by Robert Graves, author of the famous I, Claudius [1934], as the reporter), her essay showed her to be a keen observer of both the form of campaign interviews as well as politicians responses, according to GPS Latin teacher Dr. Ralph Covino.

I am always thrilled when my girls bring home the prizes, be they big or small, he said in sharing the results. As an Ancient Historian myself, it especially gladdens my heart see the girls throwing themselves into projects like essays for the Fox Classics Contest and letting their talents and creativity loose on a hitherto unsuspecting world. GPS Latin is greatly looking forward to competing again with next years topic!
Prosecutors have begun an inquiry after French presidential frontrunner Emmanuel Macron complained about 'fake news' circulated by his far-right rival Marine Le Pen.

During yesterday's ferocious TV debate, Le Pen said: 'I hope that we will not find out that you have an offshore account in the Bahamas.'

Macron refuted the suggestion as 'defamation' and an aide said his campaign will 'not hesitate' to sue anyone who repeats the claim.

Judicial sources said prosecutors had opened a probe following Macron's complaint, which came three days before Sunday's presidential run-off.

The news came at the end of a frenzied day of campaigning, which saw eggs hurled at Le Pen by protesters and Barack Obama come out for Macron in an online video.

Scroll down for video

Protesters hurled eggs at French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen today, striking a bodyguard

The man wiped yolk off his face as Le Pen (right) ducked from the projectiles and shielded her face

According to a source close to the case, the complaint targets 'information that circulated Wednesday night on the internet' alleging tax evasion in the Bahamas.

Speaking on French radio today, the centrist, pro-EU candidate characterised the insinuations as 'fake news and lies' from 'sites, some of which were linked to Russian interests'.

Obama came out in favour of Macron in an unprecedented move in an online video released earlier today.

He said: 'I'm not planning to get involved in many elections now I don't have to run for office again, but the French election is very important to the future of France, and the values that we care so much about.

French money talks French presidential hopeful Emmanuel Macron says he is 'against everything Marine Le Pen said' on European issues and the euro currency during a televised debate. Macron insisted the goal of his far-right rival in the presidential race to exit the European Union and the euro currency is 'dangerous' and would lead to a potential devaluation of the French currency by 20 to 30 percent. Le Pen has proposed returning to the French franc following negotiations with other EU members and a voter referendum on the issue. Macron says France is stronger as part of the EU. Advertisement

'Because the success of France matters to the entire world, I have admired the campaign that Emmanuel Macron has run.

'He had stood up for liberal values. He put forward a vision for the important role that France plays in Europe and around the world, and he is committed to a better future for the French people.

'He appeals to people's hopes, and not their fears.'

At the end of his new video, which was Tweeted by Macron, Obama told him: 'I want all my friends in France to know how much I am rooting for your success.

'Because of how important this election is I also want you to know that I am supporting Emmanuel Macron to lead you forward. En Marche! Vive la France!'

Le Pen is shielded from protesters by bodyguards as she entered the shipping company headquarters today

Around 50 people were on hand as Le Pen arrived at a shipping company in the western town of Dol-de-Bretagne, hurling eggs and shouting 'out with fascists'

None of the eggs hit their target as bodyguards hustled Le Pen, 48, into the building

Le Pen sat in a truck while being photographed by the press during the campaign stop

En Marche! also released an English language video in which Tad Devine, a strategy campaigner to failed Democrat electoral candidate Bernie Saunders, said: 'It's very important to the world that Emmanuel Macron is elected President of France.'

Le Pen senior slams his daughter's showing in TV debates Marine Le Pen's estranged father Jean-Marie said his daughter had failed to 'rise to the occasion' in a bruising debate with election frontrunner Emmanuel Macron. 'I always want my champion to win hands down,' Le Pen senior said of Wednesday's debate viewed by more than 16 million people. But the 88-year-old deemed the duel a 'draw', saying his daughter - who kicked him out of her National Front (FN) party in 2015 - 'perhaps did not rise to the occasion.' Speaking on French radio, he blamed the candidate's advisers for underestimating a 'very solid' Macron, wrongly 'hoping for a collapse or a psychological meltdown.' Marine Le Pen has sought to purge the FN of associations with her xenophobic, anti-Semitic father, who co-founded the party in 1972. He has repeatedly called the Nazi gas chambers a 'detail' of history. Advertisement

Last night Le Pen and Macron clashed over terrorism, the economy and Europe during a bad-tempered debate.

Le Pen insisted 'France will be led by a woman, either me or Mrs Merkel' while centrist Macron hit back by labelling the National Front candidate 'a parasite' living off people's anger.

The duel ahead of Sunday's election was billed as a confrontation between Macron's call for openness and pro-market reforms and Le Pen's France-first nationalism.

The tone was set in the opening minutes, with Le Pen branding the former economy minister and investment banker 'the candidate of the elite' and the 'darling of the system'.

Macron replied that Le Pen, the 48-year-old scion of the National Front (FN) party, was 'the heir of a system which has prospered from the fury of the French people for decades', adding: 'You play with fear.'

She also accused Macron of an 'indulgent attitude' towards Islamic fundamentalism and constantly sought to remind viewers of his role as a minister in unpopular President Francois Hollande's Socialist government.

But Macron was in combative form throughout, repeatedly portraying Le Pen's proposals as simplistic, defeatist or dangerous and targeting her proposals to withdraw France from the euro in particular.

The scenes followed an angry TV debate last night. Pictured: Marine Le Pen (left) and Emmanuel Macron (right)

The two candidates were put on timers, with both clocks reading 00:00 before the start of the debate as Emmanuel Macron takes a drink of water

The euro policy 'was the big nonsense of Marine Le Pen's programme,' he said midway through the 140-minute debate.

Le Pen called the euro, shared by 19 countries in the European Union and blamed by some in France for a rise in prices, as 'the currency of bankers, it's not the people's currency.'

Trailing in the polls, the debate was probably her last chance to change the dynamics of the race ahead of the final weekend of a long and unpredictable campaign.

A poll by the Elabe group for the BFM channel immediately afterwards showed that 63 percent of people interviewed found Macron the most convincing versus 34 percent for Le Pen. This broadly mirrors forecasts for Sunday's vote.

Macron would win around 59 percent to 41 percent if the vote were held now, surveys suggest, but previous debates during the rollercoaster French campaign have shifted public opinion.

French presidential election candidate for the En Marche! movement Emmanuel Macron is pictured on a television screen backstage

The candiadtes sat opposite each other on the same table as two French journalists at the television studios of French public national television channel France 2, and French private channel TF1 in La Plaine-Saint-Denis, north of Paris

Obama came out in favour of Macron in an unprecedented move in an online video released earlier today

The duel marked a new step into the mainstream for Le Pen, whose party was once considered by France's political establishment to be an extremist fringe that should be boycotted.

When her father Jean-Marie Le Pen made it into the final round of the presidential election in 2002, his conservative opponent Jacques Chirac refused to debate with him out of fear of 'normalising hate and intolerance'.

France-Russia relations Far-right French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen says that France has 'no reason for a Cold War with Russia'. She spoke during a debate Wednesday with centrist rival Emmanuel Macron. The populist leader of the National Front party says she is the politician best-placed to hold talks with Russia, the United States under President Donald Trump or Britain as it prepares to depart the European Union. Le Pen says she's not concerned about the state of US-Russia ties, but 'I hope they will be the best in the world.' Advertisement

In the first round of the election on April 23, Marine Le Pen finished second scoring 21.3 percent after softening the FN's image over the past six years - but without fully removing doubt about the party's core beliefs.

She sees her rise as the consequence of growing right-wing nationalism and a backlash against globalisation represented by the election of Donald Trump in the United States and Britain's decision to leave the European Union.

'I am the candidate of the people of France such as we love it, of the nation that protects jobs, security, our borders,' she said in her opening comments.

The debate was unlikely to have swayed any committed supporters of either candidate, but it could influence the roughly 18 percent of undecided voters and others who were planning to abstain.

Like much of the French press, daily Le Monde deplored a 'brutal debate' that was 'violent from start to finish'.

Many supporters of Communist-backed candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who came fourth in the first round, have said they will not vote on Sunday, comparing the final round as a choice between 'the plague and cholera'.

President Hollande and members of the government have led warnings about the risk of a Le Pen presidency.

'We are in a zone of absolute danger,' warned Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem before the debate. 'Do not play Russian roulette with our democracy.'

Hollande told reporters that 'we shouldn't think the result is a foregone conclusion' and urged Macron, his former adviser and economy minister, to make clear his different vision of France in Europe and the world.

Macron quit the government last August to concentrate on his new centrist political movement En Marche, which has drawn 250,000 members in 12 months.
Millions of diabetic patients could soon use smartphones to control their condition - instead of relying on daily insulin injections.

Scientists have developed an app which could potentially allow doctors to treat type 1 patients remotely.

It works by adjusting blood sugar levels through implanted cells inside the sufferer's body, Chinese researchers claim.

A vibrant red light is shone onto the patient, allowing for insulin - which sufferers are unable to produce - to be released.

A team of researchers in Shanghai claimed they had successfully control the blood glucose of diabetic mice through a smartphone app

Dr Ye Haifeng (pictured) and his team in Shanghai developed the app, named ECNU-TeleMed

The cutting-edge medical system has been developed by Dr Ye Haifeng and his team from the East China Normal University (ECNU).

DIABETES IN STATISTICS Figures in 2014 estimated that around 422 million people in the world suffer from diabetes - roughly one in every 18 people. Among them, around 10 per cent are believed to suffer from type 1 diabetes. This is when they are unable to produce enough insulin to cope with their body's demands and need daily injections of the hormone. The global prevalence of diabetes among adults over 18 years old nearly doubled between 1980 and 2014. The percentage of diabetics rose from 4.7 in 1980 to 8.5 in 2014. It's estimated that 1.5 million people died in 2012 as a direct result of diabetes, while a further 2.2 million deaths were attributable to high blood glucose. Source: World Health Organisation, Diabetes UK Advertisement

The university introduced the method in a release on their website.

In theory, it works by shining a red light onto patients who have had engineered insulin-producing cells placed inside their body.

This then activates the cells to release the hormone, which type 1 sufferers are often unable to produce themselves.

The app, named ECNU-TeleMed, would identify symptoms and send instructions. On the other hand, the light and cells would interact with each other to prevent the over-release of insulin.

The team said they had successfully tested the method during a laboratory experiment.

They published the results of their research last month on the Science Translational Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal under the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

During the experiment, Dr Ye and his team implanted the engineered cells into diabetic mice.

The cells were designed to respond to the far-red light in order to control the blood sugar of the mice.

When the mice were exposed to the light, the engineered cells could release insulin and other proteins.

Millions of diabetic patients could soon use smartphones to treat their condition (file photo)

The team developed a semi-automatic system (pictured) which contains a smartphone and a so-called Smart Controller

Dr Ye Haifeng (left) is pictured with his colleague Shao Jiawei (right). They published their research effort on the Science Translational Medicine last month

Using the method, Dr Ye and his team claimed they had successfully maintained the blood sugar of the diabetic mice at a normal level for half a month - after shining the light on them for two to four hours.

The team have also claimed to develop a medical system based on the smartphone app which could potentially carry out a full healthcare circle for diabetic patients.

Apart from the above components, the system contains a so-called Smart Controller and a blood glucose meter, both of which are equipped with bluetooth.

The metre would monitor blood sugar levels and send the statistics to the smartphone as well as the Smart Controller.

The statistics would then be translated into instructions and sent to the far-red light to change its brightness.

The light would then interact with the engineered cells to control the blood sugar, by turning brighter to release more insulin, or duller to release less.

According to the university, this is one of the world's first smartphone apps which is expected to treat diabetic patients, in addition to monitoring them.

The university, one of the most respected in China, hails the development of the remote-control medical system as a new flagstone for digital, globalised and personalised healthcare.
Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton is building a new political group meant to reengage in politics and help take part in the opposition to President Trump, and plans to call it 'Onward Together.'

The name is a play on Clinton's campaign theme, 'Stronger Together,' which was meant to rally the diverse coalition that brought President Obama to power and contrast with candidate Donald Trump's sometimes divisive rhetoric.

At the same time, Clinton is getting back into the lucrative business of appearing before associations and corporations for six-figure paychecks.

That is a line of work that also has echoes of her failed campaign, as her paid speeches to Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street firms helped spark opposition and fuel both the primary challenge from Bernie Sanders and her ultimate opponent, Trump.

Clinton has spent weeks at her Chappaqua home meeting with potential donors and sussing out which groups her new PAC might contribute to, Politico reported, with a launch as soon as next week. The publication said it was expected to be called Onward Together.

Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton is getting back into the lucrative paid speaking circuit

Former Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean, who helped promote a 50-state strategy but ended his own campaign after the infamous Dean scream, has reportedly been assisting in the effort.

'We're not looking to duplicate or replace the DNC or the DCCC or all that stuff,' Dean told BuzzFeed, speaking of party organizations. 'We're looking to give these folks the opportunity to do the building they're already doing on their terms, but in a more organized way, when the one hand knows what the other hand is doing.'

Dean, however, indicated that the group did not have a name, which could get confusing when groups apply for grants.

'Not only is there not a name for it yet, but there probably never will be,' Dean said. He called it a 'loose affiliation of groups.'

'We're not gonna tell them what they have to do. This is not a top-down organization. It can't be with this generation,' he added.

An earlier iteration involving a PAC and nonprofit arm that might include travel and fundraising for candidates apparently was rejected, as was a tentative early name  Our American Future  which had initials that might make for poor branding.

Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton is preparing to reenter political life with a new PAC or other fundraising structure that will seek to harness some of the opposition to President Trump. She is also getting back on the speaking circuit

The official coat of arms for the Bahamas contains the phrase 'Onward Together'

Meanwhile, Clinton is back to a line of work that has banked the former secretary of state and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, millions, while causing considerable problems during the 2016 campaign.

Clinton is being represented by the Harry Walker speaking agency, Axios first reported.

Would-be hosting organizations are encouraged to contact the agency about 'availability and fees' on the agency's webs site.

The firm also represents Bill Clinton for speaking engagements, as well as several Clinton-linked figures, including longtime Hillary Clinton aide Philippe Reines.

It isn't known precisely what fee Clinton can command, but her average speech payday since 2001 was $235,000.

The former first lady has been keeping herself in the public eye, even as she has avoided popping up to contest rival President Trump at every turn during his explosive first 100 days.

This week, she reemerged to blame the FBI and Russian interference for her election loss.

'If the election had been on October 27 I'd be your president,' Clinton said, pointing to FBI director James Comey's letter to Congress on October 28, hacked emails linked to Russia posted on WikiLeaks, and misogyny as the trio of reasons for her loss.

'I was on the way to winning until a combination of Jim Comey's letter on October 28 and Russian Wikileaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me, but got scared off,' Clinton added.

FOR THIS SHE GOT NOTHING: Democratic presidential nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speak during the town hall debate at Washington University on October 9, 2016 in St Louis, Missouri

Clinton is an accomplished speaker, having slogged through numerous campaign events, 'listening sessions,' and paid speeches in the past. Here, she arrives onstage during a primary night rally at the Duggal Greenhouse in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, June 7, 2016

She said at the event, where she was interviewed by CNN's Christian Amanpour, that: 'I'm now back to being an activist citizen and part of the resistance,' she said.

Axios also reported that Clinton would soon launch a PAC, a way of 'acting as a quiet catalyst' for organizations she supports, while also giving her a vehicle to back 2018 congressional candidates with contributions harvested from her vast donor network.

The Harry Walker agency didn't immediately return a request for comment.

Clinton is also working on a book of personal essays for Simon & Schuster.

AT LEAST NO ONE WILL BRING UP HER HUSBAND'S ACCUSERS: Democratic presidential nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton listens to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speak during the third U.S. presidential debate at the Thomas & Mack Center on October 19, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton takes part in the Women for Women International Luncheon in New York, U.S., May 2, where she partly blamed the Russians and the FBI for her election loss

A source said in keeping with the project Clinton has met with some of the groups that have exhibited energy and activism since the hard-fought election.

In getting back on the speaking circuit, Clinton is getting back to a business that allowed her to rake in millions with minimal time commitments and no requirement she show up in an office every day.

From 2001 until her campaign, she and Bill Clinton banked $153 million through paid speeches, CNN reported.

The average payment was $210,795. Paying clients included financial institutions like Goldman Sachs, UBS, Bank of America, Meryl Lynch, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, and other firms. She has also spoken to numerous universities, nonprofits, and associations.

Word that Clinton is once again hanging out her shingle comes after reports that former President Obama has begun inking contracts and accepting payment for speeches at $400,000 each.
Disgraced preacher and child sex abuser Tony Alamo (pictured in 2009) died at a federal prison hospital in North Carolina on Tuesday at the age of 82

Tony Alamo, a one-time street preacher whose apocalyptic ministry grew into a multimillion-dollar network of businesses and property before he was convicted in Arkansas of sexually abusing young girls he considered his wives, has died in prison. He was 82.

Alamo died on Tuesday at a federal prison hospital in Butner, North Carolina, according to the US Bureau of Prisons.

The disgraced preacher was convicted in 2009 on charges that he took underage girls across state lines for sex, including a 9-year-old.

At the time, the judge who sentenced him to the maximum 175 years in prison told him: 'One day you will face a higher and a greater judge than me. May he have mercy on your soul.'

Alamo started preaching along California streets in the 1960s, advocating a mixture of virulent anti-Catholicism and apocalyptic rhetoric.

He claimed God authorized polygamy, professed that gays were the tools of Satan, and believed girls were fit for marriage even at a young age.

'Consent is puberty,' Alamo said in a September 2008 interview with the Associated Press.

Shortly after the interview, state and federal agents raided the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries in the tiny southwest Arkansas town of Fouke to investigate possible child abuse and pornography.

He was a one-time street preacher whose apocalyptic ministry grew into a multimillion-dollar network of businesses and property before he was convicted in Arkansas of sexually abusing young girls he considered his wives. Alamo pictured in 2009 as he's escorted by police

Alamo was convicted in 2009 on charges that he took underage girls across state lines for sex, including a 9-year-old. He was sentenced to 175 years in prison. Former followers said Alamo became unhinged after his wife, Susan (left and right), died from cancer in 1982

Alamo started preaching along California streets in the 1960s, advocating a mixture of virulent anti-Catholicism and apocalyptic rhetoric. Pictured is one of the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries located in Texarkana, Arkansas

Witnesses in the ensuing trial said Alamo made all key decisions in the compound: who got married, what children were taught in school, who received clothes, who was allowed to eat.

They said he began taking multiple wives in the early 1990s, including a 15-year-old girl in 1994, followed by increasingly younger girls.

Alamo was convicted after five women testified they were 'married' to him in secret ceremonies at his compound when they were minors - including one when she was only 8 years old - and later taken to places outside Arkansas for sex.

'There's no telling how many little girls' lives he destroyed,' Fouke Mayor Terry Purvis told the AP on Wednesday. 'I wouldn't want to be in his shoes right now.'

Former followers said Alamo grew increasingly unhinged after his wife, Susan, died from cancer in 1982.

Devotees prayed for months for her resurrection, and her body was eventually placed in a crypt on the ministry's 300-acre compound in Dyer. Her body remained there until Alamo ordered his followers to flee in 1991, before federal marshals seized the property to settle a court judgment.

Alamo, who was once known for designing elaborately decorated jackets for celebrities including Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley, returned his wife's remains to her family seven years later, after being threatened with jail.

Witnesses in the ensuing trial said Alamo made all key decisions in the compound: who got married, what children were taught in school, who received clothes, who was allowed to eat. Pictured is another Alamo ministry in Fort Smith, Arkansas

Other witnesses said he began taking multiple wives in the early 1990s, including a 15-year-old girl in 1994, followed by increasingly younger girls. Pictured is a heart-shaped swimming pool on one of his properties in Dyer, Arkansas

Initially, Tony Alamo Christian Ministries attracted hippies and youngsters alienated from their parents when it started in the streets of Los Angeles in the 60s.

The self-proclaimed 'Jesus Freaks' preached a wrathful version of Pentecostalism known for spirited worship and a belief in modern-day miracles.

In the 1970s and 80s, the ministry sold elaborately designed denim jackets to Presley, Jackson and several country music stars.

The iconic black leather jacket on Jackson's 'Bad' album was an Alamo original later sold at auction to settle $7.9 million in federal tax claims.

Video courtesy of ArkansasMatters.com

At its height, Alamo's ministry claimed thousands of members nationwide and was perhaps most known for leaving fliers on car windshields with screeds against the Vatican, homosexuality and a perceived one-world government.

John Wesley Hall, a lawyer who had represented Alamo, said Wednesday that the ministry still produces the fliers.

'My staff still gets them in the mail,' Hall said, noting that Alamo 'denied that he ever did anything (wrong)'.

In a 2008 interview with the AP, Alamo claimed to be unique among Christian preachers because he was born a Jew and had a 'supernatural experience' through which he became a born-again Christian.

Alamo (left with his wife and right in 1987) was convicted after five women testified they were 'married' to him in secret ceremonies at his compound when they were minors - including one when she was only 8 years old

Victims also testified that they were taken to places outside Arkansas for sex. Pictured is the Tony Alamo Christian Church located in California

A residence of Alamo located in Fouke, Arkansas, that was raided by FBI agents and state police as part of the child pornography investigation in September 2008

From his initial compound in northwest Arkansas, Alamo presided over several businesses - including gas stations, a hog farm, a grocery store and a restaurant - that funded his ministry.

He was convicted of tax evasion and served four years in prison despite claiming he had no tax liability because he received no salary.

Alamo also was accused in 1991 of child abuse after an 11-year-old boy told police he was paddled 140 times by four men on orders from Alamo in 1988 at the church's compound in Saugus, California.

Prosecutors eventually dropped the charges, saying too much time had passed. The same year he was charged with threatening to kidnap a federal judge in Arkansas. He was acquitted by a jury.

It was after he left prison in the 1990s that he started the compound in Fouke in southwestern Arkansas with about 100 followers.

Tony Alamo was born Bernie Lazar Hoffman on September 20, 1934, to a Jewish family in Joplin, Missouri. He arrived in Los Angeles in the 60s, claiming he was a music promoter with clients including the Beatles.

He and his wife legally changed their names to Tony and Susan Alamo after they married in Las Vegas in 1966.

Authorities have not released information on Tony Alamo's cause of death.
Russia, Iran and Turkey have signed a deal calling for safe zones to be established inside Syria so that refugees can return and aid be sent in.

The deal, which has not been signed by rebel groups or the Syrian government, proposes one zone in Idlib province, another in Homs, and a third near Damascus.

In theory, all three sites would be no-fly and no-combat zones, though how these areas would be enforced and by whom remains unclear.

Russia, Iran and Turkey are planning to create three ceasefire and no-fly zones inside Syria, with one situated in Idlib province (pictured, a hospital that was bombed there last week)

The nations say the aim is to provide places for refugees to return to, while allowing aid to flow in (pictured, a town in Homs, the proposed site of another safe-zone)

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that ways to monitor the zones would be an issue for separate talks.

A member of the rebel delegation stormed out of the talks at one point, denouncing Iran which supports the Syrian government.

Russia also backs Assad's leadership, while Turkey supports several rebel factions.

Idlib, where the first of the zones is to be located, is under rebel control and was the site of the recent gas attack which was blamed by the West on Assad's regime.

Homs is largely under the control of government forces, though there is still fierce fighting with ISIS in the area.

Meanwhile the eastern district of Ghouta, in Damascus, is held by a warring selection of rebel factions.

Wednesday's agreement followed on from the Astana talks in December last year which brokered a largely failed ceasefire.

Kazakhstan's foreign minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said: 'Over the past two days, the participants in the Astana talks reviewed the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the cessation of hostilities.

President Putin (pictured with Turkish President Erdogan) said details on how the zones will be enforced and who will be responsible for policing them will be taken at another time

'As a result the guarantor countries agreed to sign a memorandum on the creation of de-escalation zones in Syria.'

The aim is to 'put an immediate end to the violence' and 'provide the conditions for the safe, voluntary return of refugees' as well as the immediate delivery of relief supplies and medical aid, the document said.

Syrian rebels said earlier Thursday that they had resumed participation in the talks after having suspended their involvement a day earlier over air strikes against civilians.

After talks with Turkey counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the safe zones were meant to lead to 'further pacification and cessation of hostilities.'

He also said the proposed zones would also be no-fly areas if fighting on the ground there stopped entirely.

The Kremlin's plan echoes calls by US leader Donald Trump to establish safe zones in Syria.

Putin said Wednesday that 'as far I could tell' the US leader broadly supported the idea in a phone call they held on Tuesday.

Erdogan said in comments published Thursday that Moscow's plan to set up these zones in Syria would '50 per cent' solve the six-year conflict.

Damascus supports the Russian plan, Syrian state news agency SANA reported.

More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the country's war began with anti-government protests in March 2011.
Thousands of pensioners who lost out when BHS collapsed have new hope for their retirement funds after a judge ruled the family business of Dominic Chappell, who bought it for 1, can be liquidated.

A court ruled on Thursday that Retail Acquisitions Limited (RAL), owned by Mr Chappell, can go into liquidation after weeks of wrangling.

The assets from RAL will be used to 'reimburse the creditors' - including the 19,000 people who lost out on pensions when the company collapsed.

Administrator Duff and Phelps will be able to access the accounts and use the money to refund everyone who lost out.

Dominic Chappell, giving evidence to a parliamentary committee above, has been told his company should be liquidated to repay creditors who lost out when BHS collapsed

Sources at the administrator told MailOnline this new pot would be put toward paying back the pensioners.

They confirmed that the majority of those vying for some of the money from RAL's assets would be those who had found their pensions pot empty when the chain collapsed.

BHS collapsed after it had been sold to Mr Chappell for a 1 and was found to have no money left in its pensions funds

But it is thought Mr Chappell will challenge the ruling, as he looks to make a claim against Arcadia himself.

Under Mr Chappell's tenure as owner of BHS, 8.4million was taken out of the chain by Retail Acquisitions, with 6million still owed when it collapsed last year.

Sir Philip Green agreed to refund the pot with 363 million for former staff members

Sir Philip Green owned BHS for 15 years before selling it to Mr Chappell.

BHS plunged into administration just over a year ago, impacting 11,000 jobs and around 19,000 pension holders, leaving a 571 million pension deficit.

Sir Philip agreed to pay 363 million to settle the BHS pension scheme in February.

Sir Philip was engulfed in scandal last year over his role in the BHS collapse and faced a Commons vote demanding his knighthood should be cancelled.

Around 11,000 people were left out of work when the business collapsed last year.

During his 15-year ownership, Sir Philip took 400million in dividends out of the retailer.

The administrator said in a statement: 'Duff & Phelps, acting on behalf of BHS Group Ltd, is satisfied that Retail Acquisitions Limited has been put into liquidation.

'The process of realising the assets of RAL can now commence to the benefit of all the creditors of the BHS companies.'

Mr Chappell had argued against liquidating RAL as it would make his own potential claim against Sir Philip Green's Arcadia Group more difficult to pursue.

According to Companies House, RAL has just one director, Mr Chappell, and seven others have resigned.

The company is overdue in filing its accounts, with the latest filed in December 2014.

The scandal with BHS forced other companies to tighten up their pensions schemes and Prime Minister Theresa May announced she will bring in 'tough new laws' to stop bosses taking millions while pension schemes go bankrupt, if she wins the election.
Keiren Batten, 43, was acquitted of sexually assaulting a woman last month

A sadomasochist who was cleared of strapping a woman down and shocking her vagina with 240 volts has asked the judge for the return of his 'torture board'.

Keiren Batten, 43, was acquitted of sexually assaulting a woman last month, but was back before Cambridge Crown Court today over separate criminal damage offences.

During the hearing, Batten's barrister Neil Fitzgibbon enquired when the board - a piece of plywood with restraints attached - would be returned to his client.

The bondage accessory is currently being held at Stevenage police station while Batten serves a prison sentence for a conviction for grievous bodily harm.

Mr Fitzgibbon asked: 'What is going to happen to the board now? Will it be returned to him in due course?'

Judge David Farrell QC replied: 'He can make the appropriate application that he wants the board back.

'He will have to make arrangements at the police station to collect it on his release from prison.

'I am sure the police will be delighted that they will not have to spend any resources warehousing it.'

The board is currently being held at Stevenage police station while Batten serves a prison sentence for a conviction for grievous bodily harm

Batten was in court to be sentenced for damaging a phone and taking a hammer to a wall during an argument with the woman he was alleged to have sexually assaulted.

The 43-year-old, from Hitchin, Herts, was handed a further 12 days imprisonment after pleading guilty.

The judge also made an indefinite restraining order preventing Batten contacting the woman he was alleged to have electrocuted or going to her home.

During last month's trial, Batten claimed that it was he who enjoyed being electrocuted on his home-made board and that the woman was never strapped to it.

He alleged she blowtorched his genitals and carved her name into his thigh with a Stanley knife without his consent while he was strapped down.

He was recalled to prison last year after the torture allegation was made while he was on licence from a seven-and-a-half-years sentence imposed in 2010.

Batten was found guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm with a machete. He had been acquitted of attempting to murder the victim.
FBI Director James Comey will make an encore appearance on Capitol Hill Thursday in order to testify behind closed doors to the House Intelligence Committee.

Comey will be joined by National Security Agency Director Admiral Michael Rogers as the two discuss Russia's meddling role in the 2016 presidential election.

This will be the first hearing since Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., the committee's chairman, recused himself from the Russian investigation after his actions set off a House Committee on Ethics probe.

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FBI Director James Comey will make an encore performance on Capitol Hill, appearing Thursday before the House Intelligence Committee

While FBI Director James Comey testified to senators in public Wednesday, his Thursday meeting with House members is behind closed doors

On Wednesday, Comey spent hours answering questions about Russia and the FBI's investigation into Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's emails in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Comey explained what led him to the decision to send a letter to lawmakers on October 28, 2016, alerting them that the FBI had discovered more of Clinton's emails and would again be investigating them.

Clinton, this week at an appearance in New York, blamed the letter as one of the key ingredients for her election loss.

'If the election had been on October 27 I'd be your president,' Clinton said, citing research from FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver.

Speaking to senators Wednesday, Comey said he had two courses of action once he was informed of the new trove of emails less than a month before the presidential election, found on a computer belonging to Clinton aide Huma Abedin's husband, Anthony Weiner.

He could either speak or conceal.

'Speak would be really bad. There's an election in 11 days. Lordy that would be really bad,' he said. 'Concealing in my view would be catastrophic.'

Comey said he knew he was between a rock and a hard place, but he'd do it all over again.

'Look this is terrible, it makes me mildly nauseous to think that we might have had some impact on the election,' the FBI director told the Capitol Hill crowd. 'But honestly, it wouldn't change the decision.'

On Thursday, Comey will be seated in front of Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee who's been highly critical of Comey's decision to alert Congress of the Clinton emails, 11 days before voters headed to the polls.

'I think the decision last year was the exercise of very poor judgment by the director,' Schiff said of Comey's decision to release a letter to lawmakers, which was quickly given to the press. 'That has politicized, that has dragged the bureau into the political process in a way that's going to be difficult to repair.'

Schiff was appearing on MSNBC opposite Chris Hayes, who then asked the congressman, for a second time, if he trusted Comey in handling the Russian investigation.

'Well, you know, my answer, as you can gather, is I have serious questions about the judgment he exercised last year,' Schiff replied. 'I have to hope that he's going to do better with this investigation.'
Dashcam footage captured a cyclist headbutting a windscreen after riding straight into a car.

The driver, known only as Martin, was coming out of the North Hertfordshire Hospital car park at about 10mph when a cyclist came around the corner in front of him.

He managed to stop before the bike rider was within a couple of feet of the car.

The driver, known only as Martin, was coming out of a car park at about 10mph when a cyclist came around the corner in front of him

He managed to stop before the cyclist was within a couple of feet of the car but the biker rider kept on going

However, the cyclist appeared not to see the vehicle right in front of him and went headfirst into the windscreen.

Despite the slow speed, the car was still left with a completely smashed windscreen after the crash.

Martin said: 'Obviously the accident gave me quite a shock as it was totally unexpected, but thankfully the cyclist was OK.'

Shortly after the accident, the dashcam footage was shared with Martin's insurer and police for evidence purposes and the cyclist ended up paying for the damage he caused to the car.

The cyclist appeared not to see the car in front of him and went headfirst into the windscreen. No one was hurt in the accident

The car was still left with a completely smashed windscreen after the crash, but luckily Martin had the dashcam footage to prove the accident was not his fault

Martin added: 'The video recording was no doubt a vital piece of evidence regarding the police investigation and the insurance claim, leaving no question about who was at fault.'

Richard Browning, Director at dashcam manufacturer Nextbase, added: 'Unfortunately, accidents involving cyclists happen all the time on our roads.

'The footage captured on Martin's Dash Cam shows just how quickly things can turn badly on the UK roads.'

Martin's accident, along with hundreds of others captured by dashcams in the UK, will be featured in ITVs Car Crash Britain, which returns at 9pm tonight.
A Canadian woman has said she was body shamed by a nail salon, who turned her away because of her size.

Kimberly Adie was left in tears after being told she 'would not fit' in the chairs - and said she spoke out because 'everyone deserves pampering'.

The 27-year-old, from Winnipeg, said she was distraught after being told she could not have a pedicure. Her fiance was allowed in for treatment, but the couple both walked out.

Kimberly Adie was left in tears after being told she 'would not fit' in the chairs at the salon

Despite being refused a pedicure, her fiance was told he would be allowed to use the service in Winnipeg

She told CTV Winnipeg: 'I'm sitting in the car and I'm gutted. I couldn't get out. I was crying my eyes out.'

And Ms Adie added, the BBC reports: 'I felt so ashamed of myself and so embarrassed about what I looked like.'

Since it happened she has been inundated with messages of support, and said she was glad she had spoken up.

Ms Adie stated: 'They're glad someone was able to step up and voice what happened, instead of hiding behind a curtain and just accepting (it).'

Ms Adie said she was devastated after being denied a pedicure, and spoke out to highlight the treatment she had been given

Kim Lam, owner of A1 Nail Pampers, told CTV Winnipeg that Ms Adie was turned away because it was a busy Saturday and there was no time to properly accommodate her.

She said chairs at the salon have been broken in the past, but stated that she wants to make things right.

The salon is the latest in north America to be accused of bodyshaming. In 2013, a nail salon in Arkanasas turned away a woman named Rachel Bascue due to her weight.

And some salons have introduced extra charges for larger clients, in a move which has outraged campaigners.
Melissa Boatwright has joined Legacy Senior Living, Cleveland-based management company of assisted living and memory care facilities, as the director of Clinical Support.

Ms. Boatwright began her Legacy Senior Living career in 2015 as the director of Resident Care of Legacy Village at Park Regency in Moultrie, Ga.

In July, 2016 Ms. Boatwright was promoted to the executive director of Legacy Village at Park Regency. She also initiated quality assurance calls for each of the Legacy Senior Living facilities.

Ms. Boatwright is a licensed RN in the states of Georgia and Alabama. She earned her associate of science degree in nursing in 2010 as well as her associates in applied science in microcomputers in 2006.

Melissas long-time experience in nursing, coupled with her administrative skills as an executive director, makes her well-qualified for this new position," said Bryan Cook, COO of Legacy Senior Living. "She will be visiting each Legacy Senior Living facility to better train and support the resident care directors and frontline caregivers."
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Costing a combined total of 600million, a Russian oligarch's two superyachts took to the waves for the first time together today.

'Sailing Yacht A', worth 360million, and the 240million masterpiece 'Motor Yacht A', are both owned by billionaire Andrey Melnichenko.

They were spotted today in the 430-acre principality of Monaco, the glitzy and glamorous seaside principality on the French Riviera.

Sailing Yacht A, which was has three 300ft masts that are taller than Big Ben's tower, met Motor Yacht A in Monaco today

The two yachts, that cost a combined 600million, met today in Monte Carlo, in Monaco

The 468ft-long vessel Sailing Yacht A (left) is owned by Andrey Melnichenko, as is Motor Yacht A (right)

Andrey Melnichenko, who has an estimated net worth of $13.4 billion (10.8 billion), is said to favour using the letter 'A' so that his vessels are listed first in shipping registers

The impressive superyachts were both designed by Frenchman Philippe Starck for the Russian billionaire

HOW DOES MOTOR YACHT A STACK UP AGAINST SAILING YACHT A? Billionaire Andrey Melnichenko owns two of the world's largest superyachts. Here's how they stack up: Motor Yacht A Launched: 2008 Builder: Blohm + Voss (Hamburg, Germany) Designer: Philippe Starck Cost: 240million Length: 119 metres (390ft) World's 21st largest superyacht Guests: 14 Crew: 42 Maximum speed: 23 knots (26 mph) Cruising speed: 19.5 knots (22 mph) Flag: Bermuda Sailing Yacht A Launched: 2017 Builder: Nobiskrug (Rendsburg, Germany) Designer: Philippe Starck Cost: 360million Length: 142.8 metres (468.5ft) World's 9th largest superyacht Guests: 20 Crew: 54 Maximum speed: 21 knots (24mph) Cruising speed: 16 knots (18 mph) Flag: Bermuda Advertisement

Sailing Yacht A was today handed over to the owner by the project team led by Dirk Kloosterman having completed her final sea trials in the Navantia shipyard in Cartagena, and in Gibraltar this week.

The staggering Sailing Yacht A is a 468ft-long vessel which has three 300ft masts that are taller than Big Ben's tower.

The superyacht boasts eight floors - with a helicopter pad on one of the decks - and an underwater observation room.

It is powered by a 'hybrid diesel-electric package with controllable pitch propellers,' and is designed to accommodate 20 guests and a crew of 54.

Project Director Dirk Kloosterman said: 'This has been the most challenging assignment of my career. I am confident Sailing Yacht A will be the world's greatest yacht in terms of design and technology for the years ahead.'

The 45-year-old Russian industrialist is worth around 11billion, with assets in fertiliser and coal.

He is the main shareholder of EuroChem, one of the leading fertiliser producers in the world.

Sailing Yacht A eclipses his other superyacht, 'Motor Yacht A', worth 240million.

It boasts an opulent lounge with floor-to-ceiling windows, wood and leather furniture, and a spacious owner's cabin that is larger than most apartments in London or New York and is said to have bomb-proof glass and a rotating bed.

Sailing Yacht A boasts eight floors - with a helicopter pad on one of the decks - and an underwater observation room

The ultra-luxurious Motor Yacht A features an unconventional design and bears a resemblance to a military-style submarine

The cruise speed of the ship is 18mph, with a top speed of 24mph. The hull is made of steel, with a teak-finish deck

Three spa pools with current-generating technology are spread throughout the yacht, and one has a glass floor that passengers can look into from the lower deck.

There are seven luxurious cabins for up to 14 guests and accommodation for 42 crew members.

Powered by two diesel engines, the yacht has a top speed of 23 knots (26.4 mph) and a cruising speed of 19.5 knots (22.4 mph), with a range of 6,500 nautical miles.

Over the years it has been spotted in places such as Honolulu, Malibu, Monaco, Puerto Rico, Turkey and Thailand.

Both vessels were designed by Frenchman Philippe Starck, a renowned contemporary designer.

The Belarus-born Melnichenko lives a glamorous, jet-setting lifestyle with his wife, Aleksandra, a former model and pop star from Serbia.

In addition to two massive yachts, he owners a customised Boeing 737 private jet, a villa in the French Riviera, a penthouse in New York and a sprawling estate near Ascot, England.

He is said to favour using the letter 'A' so his vessels are listed first in shipping registers.

The huge yacht, which has 300ft masts, as tall as Big Ben, was seen sailing off into the sunset from Gibraltar on May 2, where workers were seen carrying out tests and inspections on it

The impressive superyacht was designed by Frenchman Philippe Starck and built by German Naval Yards, Nobiskrug

The luxurious vessel has 300ft masts, eight floors, a helicopter pad and an underwater observation room and is designed to accommodate up to 20 guests and more than 50 crew

The yacht, named Sailing Yacht A, has been branded 'the world's greatest yacht' by project chiefs

The boat's owner has an estimated net worth of $13.4 billion (10.8 billion) and he spent 360million on the luxury vessel

The impressive vessel was photographed on May 2 in Gibraltar, where workers have been carrying out tests and inspections

The massive yacht, which has eight floors, was on Tuesday undergoing testing in Gibraltar before being handed to its owner

The colossal yacht has three 300ft masts, eight floors, a helicopter pad and an underwater observation room

The massive vessel, which has space for 20 guests and more than 50 crew, was being tested and undergoing inspections in Gibraltar on May 2
This is the shocking moment an angry Buddhist monk slaps a woman and later attacks her husband after she told him off for SPITTING inside her bus.

The monk had been traveling in the bus in Roi Et province, north-east Thailand, yesterday afternoon.

But after arriving at the destination the woman - wife of the driver - confronted the monk after she claims to have caught him spit on the floor of the van.

A monk was filmed hitting a women after she told him off for allegedly spitting in her van

Her husband, above in the cap, then steps in and starts fighting with the man, and the two have to be broken up

He is recorded striking her face as she falls back before her husband jumps in and punches him in retaliation.

Bosses at the travel company have now suspended the couple and ordered them not to cause fights.

An activist, known only as 'Dr K', said: 'The woman was angry at the monk because she saw him spit inside the van. She started arguing with him about this.

The situation calms down...but then the monk attacks the man again, causing a second fight

Bosses at the travel company have now suspended the couple and ordered them not to cause fights

'Her husband is the driver and he got involved after the monk struck his wife. He attacked him and won the fight.

'The van company has suspended both husband and wife as a lesson to never again cause the fighting.

'They said that the husband should have stayed in the middle and not taken sides in the argument.

'Monks are highly revered and he denied spitting.''
An ISIS booby-trapping expert died alongside three helpers after a car he was rigging with bombs exploded in his workshop.

Abu Yusuf al-Halab, a Syrian in his forties, was killed in the blast near the town of Tal Afar, reports an Iraq-based news agency.

The man was known as 'al-mohandis', Arabic for engineer, according to a source who asked to remain anonymous.

Abu Yusuf al-Halab, a Syrian in his forties, was killed in the blast near the town of Tal Afar, according to an Iraq-based news agency. Pictured: ISIS fighters parade through Raqqa

The source told AlSumaria News: 'Abu Yusuf al-Halabi, a prominent expert of vehicles booby-trapping in Tal Afar, was killed along with three of his aides.

'This was due to an explosion of a car while booby-trapping it inside a workshop.'

The incident follows the death of an ISIS commander by sniper fire around the same location.

Tal Afar remains an important ISIS stronghold, and is being targeted by the Iraqi state-backed Hashed al-Shaabi militia.

The force recently took Hatra, 80 miles southwest of Mosul, and recapturing Tal Afar is seen as the next step in their campaign.

The ancient city is one of the heritage jewels of Iraq and was damaged by IS after they took over large parts of the country three years ago.

Tal Afar remains an important ISIS stronghold, and is being targeted by the Iraqi state-backed Hashed al-Shaabi militia

They recently took Hatra, 80 miles southwest of Mosul, and recapturing Tal Afar is seen as the next step in their campaign

Meanwhile, fighting continues to retake Mosul, Iraq's second city and ISIS' last major urban stronghold in Iraq.

According to the UN, more than half a million civilians have been forced to flee their homes since the offensive was launched more than six months ago.

Iraqi forces have made steady progress in west Mosul but the jihadists are expected to make a bloody last stand in the narrow streets of the Old City.

An estimated 400,000 civilians remain trapped in the Old City, making it difficult for Iraqi or US-led coalition aircraft to provide ground troops with air support.
A mother of three died after she underwent liposuction to remove fat from her arms, according to a lawsuit filed by her husband.

Stephanie Sanchez underwent the procedure at the Pelosi Medical Center in Bayonne, New Jersey, in February 25, 2016, and told doctors she was in 'severe pain' days later, NJ.com reported.

Sanchez was later hospitalized with a soft-tissue infection in both arms before she went into septic shock and suffered a cardiac arrest with multiple organ failures.

Stephanie Sanchez underwent liposuction at the Pelosi Medical Center. Doctors Marco Pelosi II (left) and his son Marco Pelosi III (right) are named as defendants in a lawsuit

Sanchez's husband, Christian De Jesus Rosario-Alvarez, filed a lawsuit claiming doctors Marco Pelosi II and his son Marco Pelosi III failed to diagnose Sanchez's 'post-operative clinical problems' in time or refer her to a specialist.

But the senior Pelosi said Sanchez was killed by a rare, flesh-eating bacteria and said: 'It was an unfortunate complication and it can happen to anybody'.

Sanchez first had a tummy tuck in October 2015 with no complications before she opted for the liposuction procedure four months later.

The operation was performed on Thursday, and by that weekend, Sanchez was in severe pain.

She returned to the Pelosi Medical Office four days after the procedure and doctors gave her an antibiotic to combat the fluid accumulating in her arms.

But the lawsuit claims doctors failed to provide further treatment over the next 48 hours.

Sanchez returned to the doctor's office on March 2 with 'unrelenting pain and tenderness and erythema' - a rash that can form in some cases as a result of an infection, according to the lawsuit.

Sanchez's husband, Christian De Jesus Rosario-Alvarez, filed a lawsuit claiming the doctors (above) failed to diagnose the infection. But they blamed a flesh eating bacteria

This time, the doctors drained fluid from Sanchez's upper body, and sent her on her way, according to Dr. Leland Deane, a plastic surgeon who reviewed Sanchez's medical records as part of the lawsuit.

Later that day, the mother-of-three went to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with a soft-tissue infection in both her arms.

She was immediately transferred to Westchester Medical Center in New York, where she underwent surgery to drain the fluid, according to Deane.

Sanchez went into septic shock and had to be placed on a ventilator. A day later, she suffered a cardiac arrest with multiple organ failures, and was declared brain dead on March 6, according to Deane.

Less than a week after the liposuction, Sanchez suffered a cardiac arrest with multiple organ failures before she was declared brain dead (pictured, the Pelosi Medical Center)

While Deane claimed the doctors at Pelosi Medical Center failed to diagnose the infection or refer Sanchez to a hospital or specialist, Pelosi II said she developed necrotizing fasciitis.

Better known as 'flesh-eating bacteria', the condition 'spreads quickly and kills the body's soft tissue', according to the CDC.

While Necrotizing fasciitis can also 'occur randomly', the most common cause is when bacteria enters the body through 'a break in the skin, like a cut, scrape, burn, insect bite, or puncture wound', the CDC states.

Pelosi II said: 'In 40 years [of performing liposuction], I have never had a patient develop this complication. There's just not much you can do to prevent it.'

Sanchez's husband, who is now the widowed father of three children, including one who has special needs, filed the suit seeking a jury trial, monetary damages and burial expenses.
Cannes Film Festival is set to spend millions on security in the wake of the French terror attacks.

The city, famous for its glamorous annual festival is reportedly spending $6 million (4.6 million) on retractable bollards at every entry point to the town.

The film festival is set to open on May 17.

French police officers gather at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2016 (File photo)

Nicole Kidman attends the opening of the Cannes Film Festival in 2014 (File photo)

Since the Nice terror attack in July, security in the town has been beefed up (File photo)

The festival is the first to be held since the horrifying terror attacks in Nice last July.

86 people were killed during the attack in which a lorry rammed revelers at a Bastille Day fireworks display on the promenade.

According to Variety, Yves Darros, head of Cannes police said the town has spent $6 million (4.6 million) on retractable bollards at every entry point.

The city is beefing up its security on every level with volunteers recruited to look for suspicious items or people behaving suspiciously.

While concrete sleepers have been fitted on the walkway to the Palais, where the major events are held.

Yves Darros told local newspaper Nice-Matin: 'We were already thinking of securing this place before that [attacks]. Chicanes will also be created on the pavements.

The returns are pretty positive. It's reassuring for the public.'

French police officers take security measures during the festival in 2016 (File photo)

Kristen Stewart and Marion Cotillard will make appearances at this year's film festival

This year marks the 70th Cannes International Film Festival (File photo)

Surveillance of the town's bay and harbour has also been increased.

Last year Cannes recruited 400 security team members to assist police. While this year 500 volunteers plus 80 'vigilant neighbours' have been recruited to help patrol Cannes and look out for suspicious activities.

Stars such as Nicole Kidman, Marion Cotillard, Kristen Stewart and Jake Gyllenhaal are set to make an appearance at the 70th Cannes International Film Festival.

Those bringing their own bodyguards will have to go through Cannes clearance and if they carry guns then they will have to have approval from France's interior ministry.

France is still in a state of emergency following a spate of terrorism attacks in the country including the Nice and Paris attacks.

Last month twenty members of a suspected jihadist network named the 'Cannes-Torcy cell' went on trial on terror charges.

Their plan was considered the most dangerous to threaten the country when it was discovered in 2012, reports France 24.

Also last month a policeman was shot dead by an attacker who was described by Francois Hollande as 'terrorist in nature.'

Two other officers were wounded.
Prince Philip took a lighthearted view on his retirement today as he joked: 'Well I can't stand up for much longer'.

The Duke of Edinburgh made himself and a crowd of guests roar with laughter while with the Queen at an Order of Merit service at St James's Palace just an hour after announcing he will stop all public royal duties at the age of 95.

Mathematician Sir Michael Atiyah was left in hysterics after stopping him to say: Im sorry to hear youre standing down, to which the Duke replied: Well I cant stand up much longer'.

The Duke of Edinburgh joked with guests after attending the Order of Merit service at Chapel Royal in St James's Palace

Prince Philip was pictured leaving Buckingham Palace today after announcing he is to step down from royal duties

His well-earned retirement comes after 70 years dedicated service to Britain and Her Majesty, who has given him her 'full support' to step down.

It was announced at a top secret emergency meeting called by Buckingham Palace and attended by other royals including his daughter Princess Anne.

The difficult decision was made by Philip himself and he will step back just before he and the Queen reach their 70 year platinum wedding anniversary in November. The Queen will continue her public engagements as she has always vowed to serve her country for as long as she lives.

In a statement Buckingham Palace said: 'His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh has decided that he will no longer carry out public engagements from the autumn of this year. In taking this decision, The Duke has the full support of The Queen.

'The Duke of Edinburgh is Patron, President or a member of over 780 organisations, with which he will continue to be associated, although he will no longer play an active role by attending engagements'.

Last night the Mail revealed staff from the royal household across Britain were called to London today, which caused fevered speculation around the world about the health of the Queen and her husband.

His well-earned retirement comes after 70 years dedicated service to Britain and Her Majesty, who has given him her 'full support' to step down

However, Philip - Britain's longest serving consort in history - is 'fine' but has decided to end his formal royal duties having supported his wife in public on thousands of occasions since 1947.

In typical style the Duke and the Queen were back at work an hour after the announcement, attending an Order of Merit service at St James's Palace.

The Duke's retirement marks the end of an extraordinary lifetime's service to the country.

He has carried out more than 22,000 solo engagements in his long career and given more than 5,000 speeches - but there are also the many thousands of other duties he has carried out behind the scenes since 1947.

Even at the age of 95 Philip has put the younger generation of royals to shame and undertook 219 official engagements in the UK last year, which was more than Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry put together.
It's been six years since she was acquitted of killing her two-year-old daughter Caylee in a sensational trial verdict which rocked the nation.

But Casey Anthony appeared firmly in touch with her motherly instincts as she cooed over a friend's baby at a lunch in February, eight years after Caylee's death.

The 31-year-old was pictured holding the infant on her lap at a restaurant in Clearwater, Florida, in February.

Surrounded by glasses of beer and sangria jugs, she looks relaxed in the photographs which emerged on Thursday.

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Casey Anthony cooed over a friend's baby during a boozy lunch in Clearwater, Florida, in February

The 31-year-old appeared comfortable holding the child as others enjoyed sangria and beer

The child is the infant of an NBC producer who Casey has grown close to, TMZ reports.

The lunch came days before an in-depth interview, her first in the six years since her acquittal, was published by The Associated Press. In it, she revealed that she was open to having children again.

Despite picking up work with Patt McKenna, the lead investigator on her case, friends of the woman say she is struggling to fill the days.

'There are days that shes bored out of her mind. Theres nothing really to do.

'She doesnt have a huge circle of friends, and the friends she has are all employed elsewhere, so she doesnt see them 24/7.

She was also seen holding the infant at the family's home before their meal

Casey was having lunch with an NBC producer when the photographs were taken

Casey appeared engrossed in the table conversation. The outing came days before her lengthy interview with The Associated Press, the first since her 2011 acquittal, was published

'She binge-watches TV, plays around on the internet, and doesnt do much more than that. Frankly, its all pointless and aimless,' one told People this week.

According to the publication, Anthony lives off money from posed photographs she sells to tabloids every few months. Her Associated Press interview was free.

Until then, she had been living as a recluse in Florida, moving between safe houses until she was found.

The interview in March brought an end to her under-the-radar lifestyle.

Unrepentant as she spoke for the first time since she was cleared of Caylee's death, Anthony told how she sleeps 'pretty good' at night and doesn't give a 's***' what others think of her.

The 31-year-old spoke at length about the trial, how she missed Caylee (right before her 2008 death) and how she doesn't give a 's***' about what others think of her in the March interview

Casey was acquitted of murder on July 5, 2011. She is pictured two weeks later with lawyer Jose Baez who successfully represented Aaron Hernandez at a double murder trial this year before his suicide

Though she has always denied killing the toddler, she admits lying to police during the course of their investigations.

Caylee had not been seen by her mother for a month when she was eventually reported missing by her grandmother, Cindy, in July 2008.

Her remains were found on the family's property in December that year.

Casey changed her story several times before her sensational 2011 trial, suggesting at times that Caylee drowned in the family's pool and appearing to implicate her own father who she claimed molested her as a child.

George Anthony vehemently denies having any involvement in his granddaughter's death and ferociously disputes Casey's sexual assault allegations.

He believes she killed Caylee accidentally with chloroform, traces of which were found in Casey's abandoned car during police investigations.
A mysterious photo of a 'ghost girl' captured on a trail camera in upstate New York has spooked the local town.

The new landowners in Cambridge, New York state, had set up the camera in the woods as they hoping to go hunting but wanted to check if the area was a popular route for locals first.

But they were shocked to discover a grainy picture of what appeared to be a little girl playing in the woods

A mysterious photo of a 'ghost girl' captured on a trail camera in upstate New York has spooked the local town

'I've lived here all my life, and I've never heard of a ghost running around the woods,' said Chief George Bell.

'The idea originally was just to identify who the child was,' Bell said.

Local legend states that a little girl, around the same age as the one featured in the photograph, was killed playing on the train tracks that once ran through the area.

The new landowners in Cambridge, New York state, had set up the camera in the woods (pictured) as they hoping to go hunting but wanted to check if the area was a popular route for locals first

Chief George Bell said that he had 'never heard of a ghost running around the woods'

Tania Woodward, president of the Greenwich Paranormal Research Team, told WTEN they had experienced a lot of paranormal activity in the area.

However, ski-resort owner in Greenwich has since come forward to say he recognized the picture as his granddaughter.

Chic Wilson, told CNN: 'It would be wonderful to have proof of life after death, but unfortunately we're not going to get any particular proof from this photograph.'

Video courtesy of WTEN-TV
A car thief sent an accomplice flying across a courtroom floor with a single punch after he was jailed for a gang's 100-vehicle spree.

Witnesses looked on as Sufiyan Mahmood, 19, followed up with a flurry of powerful blows, leaving Faisal Khan stunned, bloodied and nursing a black eye.

As leaders of one of Britain's most prolific gangs, the two men had helped in stealing more than 100 cars worth a total of 2,694,205.

Mahmood blamed Khan, 21, for giving information to the police over the crimes, leading the pair to come to blows at a hearing on April 12.

Witnesses looked on as Sufiyan Mahmood (left) followed up his initial attack with a flurry of powerful blows, leaving Faisal Khan (right) stunned, bloodied and nursing a black eye

Mahmood (pictured at a drive-thru McDonald's in one the cars stolen by the gang) was sentenced to seven years and ten months behind bars

As Mahmood was sentenced to seven years and ten months, he took the opportunity to attack his co-defendant at Southwark Crown Court.

Khan reeled in the dock while a member of the public shouted: 'You deserve that you p****.'

Leila Gaskin, defending Mahmood, said: 'On April 12 this defendant was sentenced at this court.

'Sentencing having been passed, he was making his way to the cells when there was an incident that took place both in front of you, along with all of the witnesses in the case and all others in court.'

'Rightly or wrongly, the defendant - and some of the other defendants - hold Mr Khan responsible for them being apprehended and being in the position they are,' she continued.

'The day before the defendant was sentenced, Your Honour may recall hearing evidence from a senior prison officer in this court in relation to conduct on behalf of Mr Khan.

The gang bought specialist equipment used by locksmiths to bypass keyless cars' security systems in seconds, Southwark Crown Court was told

Manjit Sandhu (left) ran the criminal enterprise while Heena Bux (shown right) identified cars for the gangs to steal

'You heard evidence that Mr Khan had initiated an assault on Mr Mahmood on the way up to the courtroom.

'I think Your Honour was sufficiently persuaded by the evidence of the prison officer to allow an application for handcuffs in relation to Mr Khan.'

By the end of the mammoth two-day sentencing hearing, 'tempers flared on his way out of the dock', Mr Gaskin said.

'He behaved in what can only be described as an appalling way,' she conceded.

HOW THIEVES STOLE HIGH-END CARS One method the gang employed was getting hold of specialist devices normally used by locksmiths to bypass keyless cars' security systems. Keyless ignition sees a car detect a key, activating the electrical system and releasing the steering lock. And in this case, the gang were able to start and drive away the vehicles once they were unlocked, probably with the press of an 'engine start' button. Another technique used by the gang was simply burgling car keys from homes and driving vehicles away from their driveways. The vehicles taken by the gang were fitted with false number plates and either sold in the UK or shipped overseas for sale on the black market. Advertisement

The court heard there was no evidence of the extent of Mr Khan's injuries and Judge Peter Testar questioned whether the assault could be dealt with as a contempt of court.

The judge, citing 'a number of blows to the face that were quite hard', added that 'for all I know there may be significant injuries'.

'The mischief of what happened is two-fold,' he continued.

'Firstly, that it is an assault and the other is that it is something which happened in the courtroom which the court should not allow to be overlooked.

'I think I ought to invite the Crown Prosecution Service to decide what action should be taken.'

Mahmood, of Forest Gate, had been jailed for seven years and ten months after admitting one count of conspiracy to commit burglary and one count of conspiracy to steal.

He may now face additional criminal charges relating to his actions in court.

The gang bought specialist equipment used by locksmiths to bypass keyless cars' security systems in a matter of seconds.

Burglaries were also carried out at homes in east and west London to get hold of cars keys before speeding off in the owners' vehicles.

The court heard last month that the cars were later fitted with false number plates and either sold in the UK or shipped overseas for sale on the black market.

Khan was sentenced to four years imprisonment for his role in the gang.
A cigarette packet signed by five builders months before they were called up to fight in the Second World War lay undiscovered in the wall of a house for 78 years.

The empty carton was concealed inside the brickwork of the property in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire before it was discovered last week when the wall was knocked through.

The builder who found the memento put out an appeal for information after finding it - and was astonished when the son of one of the men who signed it came forward.

This 78-year-old cigarette packet signed by four workmen before they went off to war was found in the wall of a house in Leicestershire last week

Builder Jake Burdett managed to track down Richard Sage, the son of one of the men who signed the packet, who revealed some of the fascinating history behind it

He revealed that the five men were all sent to war shortly after they built the house, and one was later awarded a Victoria Cross.

The five friends left the box of 'Gallaher's Navy Cut' cigarettes in the wall after they finished building the property in July 1939.

It lay undisturbed until workman Jake Burdett was brought in to knock through the wall to enlarge a kitchen at the property on April 27.

Mr Burdett said: 'We were taking the wall apart brick by brick and I saw this packet just perched in the brickwork.

'I looked inside it and the first thing I saw was that the date July 1939 had been written on it.

'It's amazing now to think that those guys were laying bricks in July and by September they went off to fight in a war.'

Mr Sage's father, Ron (left), went off to war along with Richard Burton (right), who was awarded the VC for bravery during the taking of a strategically vital position near Florence

The names of the builders on the packet are Richard Burton, Ron Sage, Frank Morrell, Billy Woodman and T Williams, who were employed by Tom Denman's building firm

A Facebook appeal for information alerted Richard Sage, 70, the son of Ron Sage, one of the five men who signed the packet all those years ago.

Mr Sage said: 'I was amazed to see it. It's quite poignant to think these were young lads aged 17, 18 or 19 and they were about to go off to war.'

His father Ron, who was 17 at the time, and his friend were employed by a local firm to build properties around the Leicestershire town.

When they headed off to war, Mr Sage Snr joined the Royal Inniskilling Engineers and drove ammunition lorries in Africa and Monte Cassino.

His friend Richard Burton joined the Duke of Wellington's Regiment and in 1944 he showed extreme bravery by taking a strategically vital position near Florence. He was later awarded the VC.




God will never give you a principle in His Word that you cannot implement.A longtime friend made this statement during a retreat recently. Sounds bold and all-encompassing, doesnt it? What, no exceptions? Well, he didnt stop there, adding, When you follow biblical principles, you can never go wrong.There are those who would beg to differ, but my friend, Albert, spoke from a vast storehouse of personal experience. A survivor of the ravages of World War II as a boy in the Netherlands, and then more than three years of treatment for tuberculosis, he and his wife eventually immigrated to the United States, where they raised a family and he forged a successful business career.However, his life has hardly fit the proverbial bowl of cherries description.In addition to suffering from a variety of other health maladies, some nearly fatal, Alberts had his share of business setbacks. And yet, since committing his life to Jesus Christ at the age of 40, hes found that any time he has encountered a biblical principle and determined to apply it, its proven to be sound and practical.Principles hes implemented range from decision-making, indebtedness, giving, avoiding surety (becoming obligated for the debts of others), communications, leadership, even rejecting bankruptcy as an option in times of severe financial reversal.One of the paramount principles Albert has followed comes from 1 Corinthians 10:31, So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. With that as the foundation for approaching each day, thoughts and actions can be guided by what the Lord teaches in the Scriptures about right living, working and playing.I have made the same discovery over the years, both firsthand and through the insights of hundreds of people Ive had the privilege of interviewing for articles and books. God doesnt promise any of us pain-free, worry-free lives. Existing in an imperfect world, were all affected by its brokenness. But following the truths and principles presented in the Bible helps to make our journey over the bumps and potholes of every day a bit smoother.Although the Scriptures were written and passed on thousands of years ago, they remain relevant and meaningful  if only were willing to consider them with open, receptive minds. As Hebrews 4:12-13 declares, For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. Nothing in all creation is hidden from Gods sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.If were looking for direction, wisdom in how to successfully navigate the challenges life inevitably presents, were wise to embrace the biblical principles God has graciously provided. Israels King David, who experienced his share of stumbles over the course of his own life, observed,How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your (Gods) word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have had hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you (Psalm 119:9-11).How can we know for certain? What if we try to implement a biblical principle, especially one that seems counter-intuitive to the world around us, and we wind up in a ditch?God doesnt seem at all worried about that. In one particular area  generous giving  He even invites us to put Him to the test: Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the LORD Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it (Malachi 3:10).Speaking with the voice of experience, Albert said, A loving father will never ask you to do something that is not good for you. And our God is truly a loving Father.----
The owners of a McDonald's restaurant in Clinton, New Jersey say their Ronald McDonald statue (above) was stolen last week

The owners of a McDonald's restaurant in Clinton, New Jersey say their Ronald McDonald statue was stolen last week.

The fast-food restaurant owned by Philip and Diana Koury is currently undergoing renovations.

The Kourys planned to store the statue during the refurbishments, and a company was scheduled to pick up the statue the morning of April 27.

By then though, the 250-pound life-size statue had disappeared.

Workers at the restaurant said the statue was still there when wrapped up work around 11pm on April 26, so the Kourys believe someone stole it in the night - before Mrs Koury dropped by the following morning around 10am.

A $500 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrests or indictment of the person or persons responsible.

The couple opened their restaurant in June 1991, and they say the Ronald McDonald statue has been sitting on a bench at the joint since around 1993 or 1994.

They estimate that they paid about $7,000 for the statue at the time.

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The restaurant is currently undergoing renovations. The owners hope the statue - which they paid $7,000 for in the early 1990s - will be returned in time for their reopening later this month

'I have called the company that we originally purchased Ronald and they no longer make that anymore. So, it would appear that unless Ronald is found and returned, one of our customers favorite elements in our dining room will only be a memory,' Philip Koury told New Jersey Hills.

The Kourys plan to reopen their McDonalds on May 12, and hope that the statue will be returned in time for the celebration.

'You know, we miss him - the community misses himand we're getting him refurbished, to have him come sit in the new dining room with us!' Philip told WFMZ.

Video courtesy of WFMZ

Anyone wit information about the theft is being asked to call the Clinton Township Police Department at 908-735-7270 or the Koury's Flemington McDonalds at 908-782-4550. Inforamtion can also be relayed to the Major Crimes Unit of the Hunterdown County Prosecutor's Office at 908-788-1129.

Anonymous tips can be submitted to the Crime Stoppers hotline, 800-321-0010, or by going to www.crimestoppershunterdon.com or by texting HCTIPS to 274637 (CRIMES).

Tipsters can also download the free mobile app 'Tipsubmit' and select Hunterdon County to submit anonymous tips.
The heartbroken husband of the British woman who died in a Benidorm hotel plunge has revealed his grief at losing his 'best friend' after just eight months of marriage.

Kirsty Maxwell, 27, of Livingston, West Lothian, had been at the Costa Blanca hotel with 20 other hen party guests when she fell ten storeys early on Saturday morning.

Now, her husband Adam, also 27, has spoken of his shock as he thanked well-wishers who have donated 30,000 to an appeal for her body to be brought home.

Kirsty Maxwell, 27, who died after falling from a tenth-floor balcony in Benidorm, married her husband Alex (pictured together) eight months before her tragic death on Saturday

The JustGiving target on Mrs Maxwell's crowdfunding page was 10,000, but it has already passed the 30,000 mark following donations from nearly 1,000 people

Mr Maxwell said that the 'amount of support shown is a true testament to Kirsty's character'

Joseph Graham (left), 32, was questioned by Spanish police on suspicion of homicide following the incident at Apartamentos Payma (right) and spent two nights in a police cell

Mr Maxwell, who only married her last September, wrote on the JustGiving page: 'I cannot thank you all enough for helping me and the family get our beautiful girl home.

'The amount of support shown is a true testament to Kirsty's character and how many people's lives she touched.

'I know anyone that has come into contact with Kirsty over the years would struggle not to love and adore her. Kirsty was my wife, my best friend and my world. I will never stop missing her.'

The JustGiving target on her crowdfunding page was 10,000, but it has already passed the 30,000 mark following donations from nearly 1,000 people.

Among those leaving messages of support was Annette Fleming, who said: 'I've known Kirsty for over 20 years and she was one of the most beautiful girls ever.'

Mrs Maxwell died instantly after plunging 100ft from the two-star holiday block in Benidorm in the early hours. Pictured: The balcony below the one from which Mrs Maxwell fell

The terrifying view from a balcony looking down at where Mrs Maxwell, 27, fell to her death

Mr Graham, 32, who was quizzed by Spanish police, insisted he was innocent in a statement

Elaine Urquhart said: 'So sorry to hear this about such a beautiful lady, gonna miss you.' And Debbie Crocker added: 'Thinking of you all at such a sad time.'

Joseph Graham has been arrested on suspicion of homicide and spent two nights in a police cell before being allowed to return to his Nottingham home on Tuesday.

Mrs Maxwell had been at the resort with 20 others. Her room was directly below that of Mr Graham, 32, and four friends who were in a separate party.

Investigators have not determined if Mrs Maxwell was pushed, jumped or fell the 100ft, and are yet to drop the investigation into recruitment manager Mr Graham.

Officers are said to believe Mrs Maxwell's death was an accident, with no signs of any criminality. Staff at the apartment block believe she fell, possibly after leaning too far over the balcony rail.

'We do not think it was a criminal act but just an accident,' said a member of staff at the front desk. 'Accidents do happen. This is one of them.'

Mrs Maxwell's devastated husband Adam, whom she only married last September, has thanked those who donated to an appeal for her body to be flown home

Police are said to believe Mrs Maxwell's death was an accident, with no signs of any criminality

Holiday: Mrs Maxwell (bottom right wearing green jacket) was pictured with a hen party before before leaving the airport for Benidorm

In a statement released by Mr Graham's partner Harriet Burley, who is the mother of his young children, he said: 'I have been advised by my Spanish lawyer that despite me not being charged with any wrongdoing, the investigation into this tragic accident is still ongoing.

'Therefore ... I am unable to say anything at this time other than that I am innocent of any wrongdoing.'

Mrs Maxwell went to bed at about 4am on Saturday at the Apartamentos Payma.

It is believed she woke up shortly before 8am, left her flat dressed but barefoot, and was let into the men's apartment after knocking on the door.

Mr Graham is understood to have told police she had been acting 'mad, drunk or drugged'.

Mr Graham is understood to have told police she headed for the bathroom before trying to get through an internal window then going on to the balcony. Pictured: The swimming pool below

Staff at the apartment block believe she fell, possibly after leaning too far over the balcony rail

Well-wishers have raised 30,000 to bring Mrs Maxwell's body back from Benidorm (above)

He said she headed for the bathroom before trying to get through an internal window then going on to the balcony.

Mrs Maxwell died instantly after plunging 100ft from the two-star holiday block. Detectives are understood to be considering whether she had been sleepwalking before she fell.

On Tuesday, a friend of Mr Graham said the fact he had not been charged and could return to the UK 'speaks for itself'.

Mr Graham appeared before a judge on Monday after reportedly being too drunk to make a statement to police when arrested at his hotel room.

Judge Ana Garcia Isabel Galbis rejected the plea from Mrs Maxwell's family to remand him in custody. But she warned he may have to return to Spain.

Investigators said there was no evidence at this stage pointing to criminal wrongdoing but her family, who have travelled to the resort, have hired a lawyer to fight for a prosecution.
A hate preacher who says he is 'sickened' by Muslims who show affection to 'disbelievers' is due to speak at an Islamic conference in Sydney on Sunday.

Yusha Evans has been invited by the United Muslims of Australia to speak at the Quest for Success conference which will be held at Sydney Olympic Park on May 7.

Mr Evans has links to radical Australian preachers and made headlines in 2013 when he told his 350,000 Facebook followers it 'sickened' him when Muslims showed affection for 'disbelievers'.

Yusha Evans has been invited by the United Muslims of Australia to speak at the Quest for Success conference which will be held at Sydney Olympic Park on May 7

'One thing that sickens my heart is watching Muslims have love and affection for disbelief and disbelievers,' he said.

Mr Evans has also said 'moderate Muslims' were the biggest threat to the Muslim community.

The Muslim leader has publicly denied links to Islamic State and condemned the terror group.

'One thing that sickens my heart is watching Muslims have love and affection for disbelief and disbelievers and being so quick to jump to the aid of falsehood,' Mr Evans (pictured) said

'One thing that sickens my heart is watching Muslims have love and affection for disbelief and disbelievers and being so quick to jump to the aid of falsehood,' Mr Evans posted to his 350,000 followers on Facebook

Mr Evans will be joined by Imam Siraj Wahaj, an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing.

US authorities believed Imam Wahaj was linked to the attack but never charged him, according to The Washington Times.

Despite this, the African American leader has been named as a prominent speaker at the conference on Sunday.

Mr Evans will be joined by Imam Siraj Wahaj (pictured), an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing

Sheikh Abu Hamzah is also due to speak at the event.

Sheikh Hamzah sensationally told an all-male audience in Sydney in 2003 they could force their wives to have sex and beat them if they were 'disobedient', the Telegraph reports.

The Quest for Success conference is an 'Islamic youth and community based organisation' which claims to provide 'quality spiritual, social, educational and recreational programs and activities' for Australia's Muslim community.

'The event will feature inspirational international and local guest speakers to share their vast range of insights, experiences and advice,' it said.

Sheikh Hamzah (pictured) sensationally told an all-male audience in Sydney in 2003 they could force their wives to have sex and beat them if they were 'disobedient', the Telegraph reports

Sheikh Hamzah (pictured) has been announced as a speaker at the Islamic conference

Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton told 2GB radio in March that Mr Evans would have found it 'very hard' to enter Australia, if he had applied for a visa.

Mr Dutton's comments came after Mr Evans pulled out of an Islamic Peace Conference held in Melbourne in March.

Despite his comments, Mr Dutton declined to comment about Mr Evans' entry this weekend into the country citing privacy reasons, The Australian reports.

Mr Dutton (pictured) declined to comment about Mr Evan's entry into the country citing privacy reasons

Mr Dutton reinforced Australia's no tolerance policy when it came to people 'of concern'.

'The Australian government takes very seriously its responsibility to protect the community from the risk of harm posed by non-citizens who engage in behaviour of concern or criminal conduct,' a spokesman told The Australian.

'There are strong provisions under the Migration Act to refuse or cancel a visa where a person is found not to be of good character.'
President Donald Trump will travel to Saudi Arabia and Israel this month as part of his first foreign trip, wading directly into the tangled diplomacy of Middle Eastern politics, a senior administration official said on Thursday.

The swing through the Middle East, added to a trip that includes a NATO meeting in Brussels on May 25 and the Group of Seven summit in Sicily on May 26, suggests Trump is seeking to reinforce alliances with top U.S. allies in the region.

The president is also planning to visit the Vatican in Rome.

Trump's predecessor President Barack Obama had a testy relationship with Israel and Saudi Arabia. Leaders in both nations viewed Obama as less concerned with traditional alliances than with negotiating a deal to rein in Iran's nuclear program.

President Doanld Trump will visit Israel and Saudi Arabia during his first overseas trip

Trump has made forging peace in the Middle East and fighting Islamic State a focus of his administration's foreign policy.

Trump complained in an interview with Reuters last week that Saudi Arabia was not treating the United States fairly and Washington was losing a 'tremendous amount of money' defending the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia's powerful Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Trump in Washington in March in a visit hailed by a senior Saudi advisor as a 'historical turning point' in U.S.-Saudi relations.

Trump, who met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in February, has assigned his son-in-law Jared Kushner to oversee efforts to broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.

Trump met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House on Wednesday but gave no details of how he would revive long-stalled peace talks.

Trump will also stop in Rome to meet Pope Francis at the Vatican as part of the trip, the official said. Senior sources told Reuters Trump was expected to meet the Pope on May 24.

Politico first reported the details of the trip.

President Donald Trump meets with Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Minister of Defense Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., March 14, 2017

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) stands next to Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump during their meeting in New York, September 25, 2016 at Trump Tower

His visit to Israel had been reported by the Israeli media Trump's first foreign journey will also include a stop in Saudi Arabia, a strategic U.S. ally where the Trump organization has done business in the past.

Trump met in the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, expressing an openness to either a 'two-state' or a 'one-state' solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He met with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abas Wednesday at the White House.

Trump said he wants to be a 'mediator, arbiter or facilitator' in the process, adding: 'Any agreement cannot be imposed by the United States or any other nations.'mediator, arbiter or facilitator' to help Israel and Palestine reach a peace accord but added, 'Any agreement cannot be imposed by the United States or any other nations.'

He attends a NATO summit on May 25, and then heads on to a G7 meeting of heads of industrialized nations in Sicily immediately afterward.

Trump hosted Netanyahu at the White House in February in yet another show of the close U.S. bond with Israel as well as his own embrace of Netanyahu.

Trump delved into thorny Israel-Palestinian issues, including the 'two-state solution' at the time when he declared, 'I'm looking at two-state and one-state.' He continued during his news conference with Netanyahu: 'I like the one that both parties like. I'm very happy with the one that both parties like. I can live with either one.'

He also applied gentle pressure to Netanyahu on Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, saying: 'I'd like to see you hold back on settlements for a little bit.'
A surfer rescued after more than 30 hours stranded at sea said he was 'certain he was going to die' just moments before he was found by a helicopter.

Matthew Bryce, from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, was on his way to the popular surfing spot Westport Beach near Machrihanish Bay on Argyll and Bute on Sunday morning but ended up drifting 13 miles from the shore.

Speaking from his hospital bed in Belfast as he recovers from hypothermia, Mr Bryce vowed he will never surf again.

He was reported missing by family when he failed to return from a Sunday morning surf off the Argyll coast of Scotland.

Surfer Matthew Bryce, 22, pictured, said he was 'certain he was going to die' after being stranded at sea for 30 hours

This is the dramatic moment Mr Bryce was rescued by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency after drifting away from Westport Beach in Scotland

Mr Bryce, centre, is now recovering at the Ulster Hospital in Northern Ireland and his family have thanked the staff, pictured, for their work

He was eventually found by a search and rescue helicopter at around 7.30pm on Monday, drifting in the North Channel, 13 miles from Northern Ireland and 16 miles from Scottish shores.

As the sun began to set on a second night at sea, Mr Bryce said he thought he had just hours to live and had 'made peace' with himself.

The 22-year-old, from Airdrie in North Lanarkshire, fought back tears as he told BBC News: 'I knew I had maybe three hours and I was pretty certain that I was going to die with that sunset.

'So I was watching the sunset and I'd pretty much made peace with it all and then a helicopter flew right over.

'So I jumped off the board and I lifted the board up and I started waving the board in the water and they flew right over, I thought they'd missed me.

'Then they turned round... and then they saved my life. I can't thank them enough.'

The interview showed Mr Bryce was also badly sunburnt during his ordeal.

He said he was helpless on Sunday as changing currents and strong winds pushed him further and further from the shore.

Mr Bryce said: 'It got to the point where my paddling was ineffective, but I was doing it to keep myself warm.'

Speaking from his hospital bed, Mr Bryce, pictured, said he would 'never go surfing again'

His parents Isabella and John, pictured, said they were 'all very tired' after the emotional ordeal but 'glad their son was ok'

Mr Bryce was found 13 miles out at sea and was dramatically saved by the coastguard after spending 32 hours in the water

He said fear really set in as night fell on Sunday.

Mr Bryce added: 'It was incredibly lonely and quiet because there was just nothing - just waves.

'I hadn't seen any helicopters. I was thinking I was going to die - I was almost convinced. I didn't think I would see sunrise.'

An RNLI lifeboat has since recovered his surf board but the 22-year-old is not planning to take it back to sea.

He said: 'I think we'll find a good use for it, maybe as starter fuel.'

Mr Bryce said his time at sea was 'incredibly lonely and quiet'

Asked if he is finished with surfing, Mr Bryce said: 'I think so, I couldn't do that again.'

Mother Isabella Bryce was visibly emotional as she and her husband John arrived back to their home yesterday after speaking with Matthew.

Speaking through tears of joy, she said: 'He's doing OK. He's very tired but he's fine apart from that.

'We're very tired as well but mainly just relieved that he's OK.'

His father John, 53, hailed his rescue as 'better than a lottery win'.

He said: 'The past 48 hours have been an absolute rollercoaster of emotions for our family and we are so grateful that Matthew has been found safe and well.

'To get that call from the police last night to say that he was alive was unbelievable - it was better than a lottery win - you just can't describe it.

'Matthew means the world to us, he is such a strong character both mentally and physically, and we are looking forward to being reunited with him.

'We've managed to speak to him briefly on the phone and he is obviously exhausted after his ordeal, but he is in good spirits and happy to be alive.'

He added: 'Our family cannot thank the Coastguard, RNLI volunteers and police officers involved in finding Matthew enough.

'I would also like to thank our friends and family as well as the hundreds of people who offered their support on social media.

'We have been overwhelmed by your support and good wishes and we will be forever grateful to every single one of you.'

Mr Bryce (pictured) was on his way to the popular surfing spot Westport Beach (right) near Machrihanish Bay when he went missing

His disappearance sparked huge panic and when he was not found, rescuers feared the worst.

However, the Belfast Coastguard miraculously picked him up alive and conscious at 7.30pm Monday after spending 32 hours clinging to his board.

When the Northern Irish branch of the emergency services joined the search, spokeswoman Dawn Petrie told RTE News hope had faded of finding the missing man alive.

She said: 'After such a long period in the water and with nightfall approaching we were gravely concerned.'

But hours later, when it appeared certain he had fallen victim to the waves, they dragged him from the water.

The man from Glasgow was last seen in Cambeltown (pictured) at 9am on Sunday morning and he spent 32 hours out at sea clutching his board before he was rescued at 7.30pm yesterday

The surfer was seen in Campbeltown at 9am on his way to Westport Beach to surf where he is understood to have gone missing, sparking a huge search and rescue operation

Ms Petrie told RTE News: 'The crew on the Coastguard rescue helicopter were delighted when they located the man still with his surf board and 13 miles off the coast.

'He was kitted out with all the right clothing including a thick neoprene suit and this must have helped him to survive for so long at sea.

'He is hypothermic but conscious and has been flown to hospital in Belfast.'

'He did the right thing by staying with his surfboard and that certainly aided his survival.'

Mr Bryce was taken to Belfast Hospital to be checked over.

Chief Inspector Paul Robertson said: 'The response to our appeal to find Matthew has been outstanding.

'It has been a real team effort and I would like to thank everyone who offered their assistance.'

Staff in ward 15 in the Ulster Hospital said they had had a whip-round and sent out to a local store to get Mr Bryce pyjamas, a toothbrush and some other essentials.

His parents said in a statement: 'We cannot thank staff enough for the treatment Matthew has received and the kindness they have shown to us. They have been wonderful.'
A man who sexually harassed a four-year-old girl pretended to be dead to avoid arrest.

The parents of the young girl accused the man of touching their daughter while on a street in east China's Jiangsu province on April 29.

Police arrived at the scene and identified the man as a serial molester who had previously sexually harassed other underage girls.

A child molester was caught touching a four-year-old girl on a street in eastern China's Jiangsu

The girl's father and few onlookers caught the man on the road (pictured) and called the police

According to Peoples Daily Online, the four-year-old girl was walking beside her mother on Guangfu Road in Rugao city at around 6pm on April 29.

The mother saw a man in a black and white checked shirt up close allegedly molesting her daughter.

Nearby shopkeepers heard her shouting and yelling 'Catch him! Catch him!' on the street.

The girl's father, who was standing not too far away, rushed to catch hold of the child molester and pressed him onto the floor.

The man did not escape but was lying on the floor motionlessly and pretending to be dead.

A female onlooker noted that the mother did not notice until later as the girl was walking slightly behind her.

'When the mother turned around, she saw the man touching her daughter and the girl looked scared,' said the onlooker.

Onlooker said the young girl was just standing next to her mother when the man touched her

Local policemen arrived the scene and recognised the man as a repeated child molester

Policemen from Rugao Police Department arrived after receiving a call. They quickly identified the man.

They said the man was a habitual offender who had previously molested young girls. He had been arrested a few times.

The police also said they will look into the incident again for further investigation.

According to Article 44 of China's Public Security Administration Punishments Law, anyone who acts indecently towards a minor under the age of 14, shall be detained for not less than 10 days but not more than 15 days.
Huma Abedin was spotted in Midtown Manhattan Thursday, heading to Hillary Clinton's office, one day after FBI Director James Comey revealed she was sending emails containing classified information to her husband Anthony Weiner.

Sitting before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, Comey explained how additional Clinton emails were found, which encouraged him to write a letter 11 days before the election to Congress notifying lawmakers that the FBI was again probing the former secretary of state.

The newly-discovered cache of Clinton emails 'were being forwarded to Anthony Weiner, including classified information, by her assistant Huma Abedin,' Comey revealed during his testimony, explaining how they were found on the disgraced congressman's laptop.

Likely because Clinton often ordered her staff to 'please print' out documents so she could read them, Comey surmised. 'And so they found thousands of new emails,' Comey explained.

Comey also confirmed that the FBI had investigated Abedin.

'With respect to Ms. Abedin in particular we didn't have any indication that she had a sense what she was doing was in violation of the law  couldn't prove any criminal invent,' Comey said.

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A day after FBI Director James Comey revealed his agency had investigated Huma Abedin, she was spotted in New York heading to work

Huma Abedin, the wife of disgraced congressman Anthony Weiner, was found to have forwarded Hillary Clinton's emails to her husband to print

In forwarding Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails to Anthony Weiner, Huma Abedin (pictured) inadvertently sent the disgraced congressman classified information

FBI Director James Comey said that while Huma Abedin (pictured) was investigated, the FBI found no evidence that she intentionally mishandled classified information

Huma Abedin was captured Thursday, sporting a leather dress and chic skirt, en route to the office of her longtime boss, former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton

Weiner, under investigation for allegedly sexting with a minor, had handed over a laptop to the FBI where the emails were found.

This was relevant to the FBI because of the bureau's already-concluded criminal investigation into whether the former secretary of state had mishandled classified information.

This jumpstarted a series of events, which Clinton, speaking in New York this week, suggested lost her the presidential election.

'If the election had been on October 27 I'd be your president,' Clinton said, referencing the day before Comey sent his letter to lawmakers, telling them of the FBI's discovery of more emails.

On that same date, Comey was meeting with his team as investigators 'laid out for me what they could see from the metadata on this fellow Anthony Weiner's laptop that had been seized in an unrelated case.'

FBI Director James Comey explained Wednesday how the trove of Clinton emails ended up on the laptop belonging to disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner

While Hillary Clinton took some personal blame for her loss, she pointed a finger at a trio of causes including FBI Director James Comey's letter, the Russian hacks and misogyny

Comey continued: 'What they could see from the metadata were there were thousands of Secretary Clinton's emails on that device including what they thought were the missing emails from her first three months as secretary of state. We never found any emails from her first three months.'

Piquing his interest was Clinton's use of a Blackberry.

'She was using a Verizon Blackberry then and that's obviously very important because if there was evidence that she was acting with bad intent that's where it would be. So they came in and said we can see thousands of emails from the Clinton email domain. Including many, many, many from the Verizon Clinton Blackberry domain. They said we think we've got to get a search warrant to go get these. And the Department of Justice agreed. We had to go get a search warrant. So I agreed,' he explained.

Huma AbedinThe Costume Institute Benefit celebrating the opening of Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art of the In-Between, Arrivals, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin at The Metropolitan Museum of Art's COSTUME INSTITUTE Benefit Celebrating the Opening of Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology, Arrivals, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Comey also explained his stunning decision to announce  just two days before the election  that the the renewed investigation hadn't turned up much that was new.

'And the team also told me, we cannot finish this work before the election. And then they worked night after night after night and they found thousands of new emails, they found classified information on Anthony Weiner,' Comey said.

The team called Comey the Saturday night before the election and said they could finish reading all the emails they needed to by Sunday.

'Thanks to the wizardry of technology,' Comey explained, telling lawmakers FBI personnel only had to read through 6,000.

But the new information did not change the final determination.

'And they said we found a lot of new stuff, we did not find anything that changes our view of her intent. So we're in the same place we were in July, it hasn't changed our view. I asked them lots of questions and I said if that's what you are I also have to tell Congress that we're done.'

During one exchange, South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham asked a series of questions about Weiner, asking Comey if he agreed Weiner in 2016 shouldn't have had access to classified information.

THAT'S CLASSIFIED: Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) announced his resignation June 16, 2011. FBI Director James Comey says classified information was found on his laptop. He is married to Clinton aide Huma Abedin

'Yes thats a fair statement,' Comey responded.

'It would be illegal if he didnt have appropriate clearance,' Comey said when pressed.

Asked whether Weiner had such a clearance, he said: 'I dont believe at the time we found that on his laptop that he had any kind of clearance.'

Then asked whether 'somebody should be prosecuted' for having classified information without access, Comey said: 'It could be a crime,.'

Graham wanted to know if there should be a law on that subject if for some reason there weren't one.

'Theres no Anthony Weiner statute,' quipped Comey.

'Well maybe we need one,' Graham said.

Comey was asked by Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal whether he had any regrets  either for how he closed the Clinton email investigation last summer or how he revealed it was in effect reopened days before the election.

'The honest answer is no. Ive asked myself that a million times, because, Lordy, has this been painful. The only thing I regret is that mainly answering the phone when they called to recruit me to be FBI director when I was living happily in Connecticut,' he quipped.

'We would welcome you back,' interjected Blumenthal.

'Ive gotten all kinds of rocks thrown at me. And this has been really hard,' Comey continued, earnestly. 'But I think Ive done the right thing at each turn. Im not on anybodys side. Its so hard for people to see that. Ive asked that a million times. Should you have done this, should you have done that. The honest answer, I dont mean to sound arrogant is I wouldnt have done it any differently. Somehow Id have prayed it away, wished it away, wished that I was on the shores of the Connecticut Sound. But failing that, I don't have any regrets.'

Earlier, Feinstein had touched on the other big issue surrounding Comey: alleged Russian election interference.

'I cant imagine how an unprecedented big and bold hacking interference in our elect by the Russian government did not also present exceptional circumstances she said.

As he returned to Capitol Hill and immediately faced a grilling from senators who tore into the 'dirty dossier' of claims about President Trump's Russia ties as well as his own handling of the Clinton email scandal.

Senate Judiciary chairman Charles Grassley of Iowa used his opening remarks to rip the dossier of information that a former British intelligence officer compiled on Donald Trump during the presidential campaign.

'Some continue to quote parts of this document as if it were gospel truth,' Grassley complained. He said it 'included debunked salacious claims.'

'Much of the dossier has been proven wrong and many of his outlandish claims have failed to gain traction,' Grassley said.

Grassley also appeared to provide some cover for President Trump when he took a shot at claims of collusion between his former campaign aides and figures linked to the Russian government during the campaign.

'Once you buy into the claim of collusion then suddenly every interaction with a Russian .. .can seem like a confirmation of a conspiracy theory,' Grassley said.

Grassley also brought up the FBI's handling of the Hillary Clinton investigation related to her email scandal, including immunity agreements that he said kept the bureau from reviewing the laptps of key figures.

'A cloud of doubt hangs over the FBI objectivity,' Grassley said.

Feinstein in her remarks noted Comey's unusual decision to publicly reveal that the FBI was in effect reopening the Clinton investigation just days before the elections, only to reveal that nothing new had turned up.

She contrasted that to the Russia probe, which Comey did not confirm before the elections, even as it grew in size and scope.

She wanted to know 'why the FBIs treatment of these two investigations was so dramatically different.'

Comey was attuned throughout the hearing to bolstering his own legacy and reputation by explaining the justification for his decisions, which reshaped the presidential campaign.

He explained why he decided to give his own televised press conference announcing the closing of the Clinton investigation, rather than leaving it to the Justice Department or having DOJ put out a statement, even while bashing Clinton for careless handling of her emails.

'A number of things had gone on  some of which I cant talk about yet,' he said, 'that made me worry that the department leadership could not credibly complete the investigation and decline prosecution without grievous damage to the American peoples confidence in the justice system.'

'And the capper was, and Im not picking on the [former] attorney general, Loretta Lynch, who I like very much, but her meeting with President Clinton on that airplane was the capper for me. And I then said, you know what, the department cannot by itself credibly end this. The best chance we have for the justice system if I do something I never imagined before, step away from them and tell the American people look heres what the FBI did, heres what we found, heres what we think.'

He was referencing Lynch's famous tarmac meeting with the former president in Phoenix while the investigation was wrapping up.

'That was a hard call for me to make to call the attorney general that morning and say Im about to do a press conference and Im not going to tell you what Im gonna say. And I said to her, "I hope someday youll understand why I think I have to do this,"' he said.

'But look I wasnt loving this, I knew this would be disastrous for me personally,' Comey added.

'When the Anthony Weiner thing landed on me on October 27th and there was a huge  this is what people forget  new step to be taken  We may be finding the the golden missing emails that would change this case, if I were not to speak about that it would be a disastrous catastrophic concealment,' he concluded.
The EU has urged China to clamp down on the sale of inflatable dinghies which are falling into the hands of smuggling gangs and used to carry migrants on treacherous sea journeys to Europe.

About 1.4 million refugees and migrants have made their way to Europe since 2015, many fleeing Syria's bloody civil war, in the biggest wave of migration the continent has seen since World War Two.

Thousands have died, often while attempting to cross the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas in flimsy rubber boats.

The EU wants China to help prevent migrants and refugees using Chinese-made inflatable boats to get into the bloc by stopping the boats reaching them

People smuggling has become especially deadly as traffickers are using riskier tactics, bigger boats and less seaworthy vessels

Speaking at a press conference today, Dimitris Avramopoulos, the EU commissioner for migration, home affairs and citizenship, said: 'China can help and support the EU in its fight against migrant smugglers.'

He added: 'The rubber boats used by smuggler networks in the Mediterranean are fabricated somewhere in China.

'I requested the support and cooperation from the Chinese authorities in order to track down this business and dismantle it, because what they produce is not serving the common good of the country.

'It is a very dangerous tool in the hands of ruthless smugglers.'

People smuggling has become especially deadly as traffickers are using riskier tactics, bigger boats and less seaworthy vessels.

Last year Italian coastguard vessels recovered more than a thousand such crafts, each with an average of 122 passengers.

So far this year, more than 1,000 migrants are thought to have died in waters between Libya and Italy, according to the International Organization for Migration, while nearly 37,000 have been rescued and brought to Italy.

Hundreds of thousands of migrants have crossed into Greece from the nearby Turkish coast, hoping to head to more prosperous European countries.

But a European Union-Turkey deal reached last year - in which those arriving on Greek islands face deportation back to Turkey - has significantly reduced the number of people attempting to cross the Aegean.

Thousands have died, often while attempting to cross the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas in flimsy rubber boats

Mr Avramopoulos said he had begun talks with China aimed at helping to fight the smuggling networks.

He met with China's public-security minister Guo Shengkun today.

'I requested the support of the Chinese authorities in order to track down this business and dismantle it, because what they produce is not serving the common good. It is a very dangerous tool in the hands of thugs,' he said.

Brussels and Beijing are also looking to cooperate on cybersecurity, anti-terrorism measures, organised crime, money-laundering and drug trafficking.
The manager of the Colombian hotel where Cassie Sainsbury spent her final night of freedom said she rarely ventured out - despite claiming she was there on business.

Manager Ingrid Hernandez said the accused cocaine smuggler drew the attention of staff when she arrived alone without a reservation, reports Daily Telegraph.

Ms Hernandez also unveiled new details about the mystery man the 22-year-old claims duped her into trying to smuggle 5.8kg of cocaine out of Bogota airport.

'She was alone most of the time in her room. I remember once she went and brought McDonalds back to eat,' Ms Hernandez said.

This is the cramped Colombian hotel room in which accused cocaine smuggler Cassie Sainsbury spent her last night of freedom

She faces 25 years in jail after she was arrested with 5.8 kilograms of cocaine at an airport in Colombia

Ms Hernandez said the young blonde's only company was a suavely-dressed local man named Angelo, who Ms Sainsbury claims she met in Bogota.

She described the mystery man, whose surname Ms Sainsbury doesn't know, as being of normal height and build.

'Normal height, normal build. He could have been in his late 20s, 30s. He had short brown gelled hair,' she said.

Her Colombian lawyer revealed they are desperately searching for the he missing man, who he said has gone to ground.

Ms Sainsbury's fiance, Scott Bainbridge, is due to speak to the media about her detention on Friday.

Lawyer Stephen Kenny says he has been instructed by Ms Sainsbury to provide assistance to her through her fiance Scott Broadbridge, and the pair will speak together in Adelaide.

Images of her $50 a night lodging surfaced as it was revealed she was spotted in the lobby of the hotel accompanied by a tall, black mystery man, reports 9News.

'I did see her one time with a man. The man, he was tall, he was black and they were talking in the lobby before the left the hotel,' the hotel's deputy manager said.

Staff say she rarely ventured out of her room - despite her family claiming she was there on business

Photographs of her boarding pass and passport have also come to light after they were seized by police

Photographs have emerged of the moment Cassandra Sainsbury checked out of her hotel

CCTV also show the personal trainer cheerfully chatting with hotel staff before leaving with a suitcase allegedly packed with 5.8kgs of cocaine.

Ms Hernandez said she remembered the young blonde woman well because she was alone, had no booking and didn't speak a word of Spanish.

Photographs of her boarding pass and passport have also come to light after they were seized by police at Bogota International Airport.

The 22-year-old from Adelaide was on the last leg of a world trip that saw her visit China and the United States before arriving in South America's cocaine capital.

But she drew the attention of the DEA when her plane ticket home to Australia via London was reportedly purchased last minute by an 'unknown party' in Hong Kong.

Images of her boarding pass shows she was headed for London's Heathrow Airport on an Avianca Airlines Flight AV120 leaving Bogota after 11pm.

The 22-year-old appeared cheerful as she left the hotel in Bogota, Colombia, carrying a suitcase packed with cocaine and wearing the same clothes she was arrested in

A carefree Cassandra bundled her suitcase and another bag of luggage from the hotel on April 12 - totally unaware her whole world was about to be turned around

The security footage comes after claims emerged the personal trainer was in tens of thousands of dollars of debt from a failed gym venture before she landed in a Colombian prison.

A woman, who wished not to be named, claimed Ms Sainsbury owed money to several people after her business collapsed last September.

A local florist also claimed she 'disappeared basically overnight' from Adelaide owing tens of thousands in debt, 7 News reports.

The claims come as ominous social media posts come to light in which the 22-year-old predicted a monumental event before her ill-fated trip.

Cassie was reportedly in thousands of dollars in debt from a failed gym venture before her il-fated trip

In the January 10 Instagram post, she appeared to be predicting a fateful event on the horizon.

'50 days until I make the biggest move I've yet to do ... 50 days until everything changes.'

In another deleted post from January 24, she said: 'Moving interstate driving me cray cray! #save me! Not long before the big move now, super excited and can't wait to leave so much baggage behind.'

The posts also contained hashtags suggesting her relocation to Sydney in early March, when the countdown ended.

The young woman's family claim she was on a working holiday to Colombia to promote her personal training business.

But her fiance, Scott Broadbridge said she had not been a personal trainer for six months prior to the trip, and was working for a cleaning company at the time.

Her social media posts appeared to forewarn a monumental event before her ill-fated trip

It has been claimed Ms Sainsbury owed money to several people after her Adelaide gym (pictured) collapsed last September
Edward Maher (pictured), 45, said he left behind his guitar bag because he couldn't afford the luggage fees. The abandoned bag prompted a security scare at the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport

An abandoned guitar case that was left near a ticketing station at the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport caused a security scare Tuesday afternoon.

Authorities said the bag that led security officials to temporarily close part of the airport was a guitar left behind by Edward Maher, 45, who couldn't afford the luggage fee for it.

Maher apologized for the airport scare shortly after the incident in an interview with News 5.

He said he didn't know about the situation until security officials let passengers back into the airport.

'When I walked down the escalator and I was stopped by security, police, the FBI and detectives, then I started to think it must have been the bass guitar I left behind,' Maher told the station.

He said he left the guitar outside Delta ticketing because he couldnt afford to check it for his flight to Syracuse, New York.

Two TSA agents found Maher's abandoned guitar around 1.45pm on Tuesday. The discovery prompted Cleveland police and a K-9 to investigate.

During the investigation, the police dog was alerted to the package, which led officials to close down a portion of the airport and prohibit travelers from leaving or entering the facility, according to the news site.

The bomb squad was also called to the scene to investigate.

A police spokeswoman told Cleveland.com that prosecutors will decide whether to pursue any charges against Maher, who is from Taberg, New York, over the bag abandoned in the check-in area.

Some passengers were guided into safety zones away from the area, while flights continued taking off and landing.

Two TSA agents found Maher's abandoned guitar around 1.45pm on Tuesday. The discovery prompted Cleveland police and a K-9 to investigate. During the investigation, the police dog was alerted to the package. The bomb squad (pictured) was also called in to investigate

Maher was questioned and allowed to board his flight home after investigators determined there was no safety threat.

The Cuyahoga County prosecutor hasn't determined whether or not to charge him with inducing panic.

Five airlines that fly out of the airport reported that they had two delays as a result of the incident.

Earlier this year, Maher was arrested by New York State Police who were dispatched to his home for a domestic dispute.

Maher had allegedly threatened multiple times to cut his mother's throat and kill her in her sleep.

He was charged with menacing in the third degree and arraigned on the warrant and remanded to Oneida County Jail in lieu of $1000.00 cash bail.
Georgia Northwestern Technical College will hold a GED commencement ceremony for Adult Education students who have earned their General Educational Development diplomas on Thursday, May 11 at 7 p.m. at the Conference Center on GNTCs Gordon County Campus, 1151 Hwy. 53 Spur in Calhoun.



Emily Connell of Ringgold, GNTCs 2017 EAGLE Delegate, will be the keynote speaker for the evening.

EAGLE (Exceptional Adult Georgian in Literacy Education) is the first statewide program in the nation that recognizes and rewards excellence among students enrolled in Adult Education programs.

This student recognition program is designed to create greater awareness of educational opportunities that are available in local communities across the state and to foster greater involvement in lifelong learning pursuits.
Authorities at the University of Maryland are investigating a noose discovered in a fraternity house.

The noose was discovered in the kitchen of the school's Phi Kappa Tau chapter around 1.30pm on April 27. Police at the university say they are investigating the matter as a hate/bias incident.

Phi Kappa Tau is not a historically black fraternity, and photos of the chapter indicate that the members are predominately white.

It's unclear who placed the noose and whom it may have been intended to intimidate, if anyone.

The noose was discovered in the kitchen of the school's Phi Kappa Tau chapter on April 27

Administrators and Greek life leaders strongly condemned the incident.

'I resolutely condemn the use of a symbol of violence and hatred for the purpose of intimidating members of our University of Maryland community,' University President Wallace Loh said in a statement.

'We are shocked and appalled,' Phi Kappa Tau President A.J. Coleman said in a statement. 'The chapter's reaction to this event has been confusion and outrage. For all of us, it is beyond the realm of belief that anyone could have perpetrated such a heinous act.'

Interfraternity Council President Ross Brannigan called the issue one of 'culture' in a statement to the university's student newspaper, The Diamondback.

'To say this only reflects the actions of an individual is to deny that there is a problem,' Brannigan said. 'It is to deny that this issue exists in our culture.'

On Tuesday, police at American University in Washington offered a reward for information about an incident in which bananas were found hanging from noose-shaped string on campus.

The fruit were marked with the letters AKA, the initials of the predominantly black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha.
Video captured the terrifying moment a cabin in Arkansas was swept away by devastating floodwaters.

After torrential rains flooded four Midwest states, hundreds of homes and businesses reported severe damage.

On May 2, Laura Redus and her boyfriend were riding their four-wheelers to local areas affected by flooding.

When they arrived at Current River Bridge on Highway 328E in Reyno, 180 miles north of Little Rock, they noticed a house floating in the river.

Laura Redus and her boyfriend were driving in Reyno, Arkansas, on the Current River Bridge, when they noticed a house floating in the river

The flooded cabin was completely submerged, with only the green roof visible, as it headed down the river until it approached the bridge

The cabin crashed straight into the bridge with a loud bang and seemed to linger in the area for a few moments

'Oh my gosh, that is crazy,' Laura was heard saying as the flooded cabin slowly started to move downstream.

Only the green roof was visible above the water with bits of debris floating next to it.

'Is it going to to hit the bridge? It is,' Laura exclaimed at the roof headed towards them.

There was a loud smash as the cabin hit the bridge wall before the force of the water crumpled the roof and the rest of the underwater cabin and disappeared.

The camera raced over to the other side of the bridge as smashed up debris was all that remained and continued to move down the river.

Severe thunderstorms have been wreaking havoc in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Illinois and Missouri.

But the crash along with the force of the water crumpled the roof and entire house and dragged it to the other side

Laura crossed the bridge to film the other side, but all that was left was broken up debris and chunks of wood and plaster

The rest of the debris then continued to float downstream. Arkansas is one of four states that have been ravaged by severe thunderstorms. The other three are Oklahoma, Illinois and Missouri

Hundreds of homes and businesses have suffered damage and the flooding has been blamed for at least nine deaths.

In Arkansas, an 18-month-old girl swept away by floodwater is missing and presumed to be dead.

'We never expected to witness a house be destroyed,' Laura told Storyful.

'The force of it shook the bridge it was crazy and scary!'

Major flooding has unfolded particularly on the Missouri River in eastern Missouri and the Mississippi River.

Hundreds of roads across the four states remain closed, including a busy stretch of Interstate 44 in suburban St Louis.
The family of a Dallas police officer accused of shooting dead an unarmed black schoolboy claim he is the 'perfect father figure' who may have been suffering from PTSD when he opened fire.

Honor student Jordan Edwards, 15, was shot in the head when US Army veteran Roy Oliver took aim at a moving car full of teenagers in the aftermath of a Saturday night party.

The Balch Springs Police Department initially claimed the vehicle was reversing towards officers in an 'aggressive manner' until body camera footage revealed the youngsters were actually driving away when Oliver began shooting with his rifle.

Roy Oliver's mother, Linda, told DailyMail.com her son would not have endangered Jordan Edwards because he has two toddlers. His ex-wife Amy Michelle gave birth to his daughter Alexa (left) on July July 3, 2015 and his son Tab (right) was born 12 days later by his girlfriend

Linda Oliver (pictured, left) called her son a 'wonderful family man and father.' Roy Oliver was fired from the Balch Springs Police Department for for a violation of department policy three days after he fatally shot 15-year-old Jordan Edwards. He has appealed to get his job back

The Dallas County District Attorney's Office is deciding whether to bring charges against the Iraq veteran who was fired this week amid a national outcry and calls for him to be arrested for the high school freshman's murder.

Oliver's family, however, have spoken out in his defense, suggesting the divorced father to a baby boy and girl, both aged one, would never recklessly endanger the life of kids.

'He's a wonderful family man and father. He has two precious little ones himself,' Oliver's mother Linda Oliver, 64, told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.

'He is very honorable, very community driven. He was raised to consider more than just himself, to think about the community, and I've very proud of him and the choices he's made.

'As a mother I have compassion for the family and the loss of their child. It's just tragic. I retired from educating so I could have easily had him as a student at one point.'

Mrs Oliver, who now runs a craft retreat providing lodging and studio space for artists, urged people to 'withhold judgment at this point until everything is out.'

She added: 'Other than that I really can't say much.' Edwards was at a house party with his brothers Vidal and Kevon and two friends in Balch Springs, 15 miles east of downtown Dallas, when gunshots suddenly rang out in the street at around 11pm.

Jordan Edwards, 15,was fatally shot in the head when Balch Springs officer by Roy Oliver near Dallas. The teen's family has called for Oliver to be charged with murder

Jordan's parents Charmaine and Odell said in a statement they don't condone violence or threats against law enforcement following their son's death and urged people not to protest. They are calling for Oliver to be charged with murder for shooting their 15-year-old son

The five boys fled to their car but were challenged by two officers who had turned up moments earlier to investigate reports of underage drinking.

According to the Edwards family attorney, Lee Merritt, the teens were driving away from the officers when Oliver opened fire with an AR-15 rifle, fatally wounding Jordan as he sat in the front passenger seat.

Balch Springs Police chief Jonathan Haber announced Tuesday that after reviewing bodycam video the car was indeed driving away from police rather than towards them as his force had insisted in the aftermath.

He said that Oliver had 'violated several departmental policies' but refused to give precise details of why he axed the officer who joined the force in July 2011.

According to family, Oliver, known to pals as Woodie, was previously a reserve firefighter who wanted to get into policing because he was interested in investigating arson.

DailyMail.com can reveal his two children were born to two separate mothers within the space of 12 days. His ex-wife Amy Michelle, 39, gave birth to a girl named Alexa on July 3, 2015 while another woman, described by family as Oliver's current girlfriend, had a boy, Tab, on July 15.

Oliver's 70-year-old father, also called Roy Oliver, separated from his mother in 1998 and was convicted of two counts of indecency with a female child in 1991.

According to public records, he served eight years in prison and is a registered sex offender.

Roy Oliver, 70, said his son suffered from PTSD-like symptoms after serving two tours of duty in Iraq. Oliver Sr spent eight years in prison after being convicted of two counts of indecency with a female child in 1991 and separated from Linda Oliver in 1998

Speaking to DailyMail.com at his home in Fort Worth, Texas, Oliver snr said his son had completed two tours of duty in Iraq. rising to the the rank of sergeant.

He was on active duty from 2004, and deployed to Iraq from October 2004 until September 2005 and again from January to November 2009, the Dallas Morning News reported.

He said his son had suffered PTSD-like symptoms and flashbacks to his time in combat that could be triggered by 'loud bangs, fireworks or gunfire.'

'It could have been that. He was under a lot of mental strain,' Oliver snr said. 'He's seen a lot of death and destruction. He doesn't talk about it too much, not even to me.

'I haven't spoken to him about what happened yet but he loved being a police officer and his desire is to remain a police officer.

'I'm sorry this happened. Everyone was at the wrong place at the wrong time. People they don't know the story, they don't know the man.

'His kids are his life, that's what he lives for. He's the perfect father figure. He's out there to help others - that was his deal.'

The younger Oliver has been unavailable for comment since Saturday's shooting but his family confirmed he has appealed his termination. Neighbors in the tree-lined Arlington, Texas, street where he lived until last year said 'Roy the cop' was a model resident who made them feel protected.

'He was a good guy. People felt safer having him here in the neighborhood,' said Daniel Borroum, 31. 'I haven't heard one person say something negative about him.'

Jordan's family, meanwhile, has called for Oliver to be charged with murder, describing the slain teen as a 'loving child, with a humble and sharing spirit.'

Their lawyer denies that the boys were drinking and says police knew they were dealing with juveniles when they arrived at the party, making Oliver's decision to open fire all the more reckless and reprehensible.

'Not only have Jordans brothers lost their best friend; they witnessed firsthand his violent, senseless, murder,' the family said in a statement. 'Their young lives will forever be altered. No one, let alone young children, should witness such horrific, explainable, violence.'
Students at Indiana's Butler University will soon be able to take classes in 'strategies for resistance' to oppose President Donald Trump.

The Trumpism & U.S. Democracy course, taught by Ann M. Savage, describes itself as offering an explanation as to how Trump 'won the U.S Presidency despite perpetuating sexism, white supremacy, xenophobia, nationalism, nativism, and imperialism.'

'This course explores why and how this happened, how Trump's rhetoric is contrary to the foundation of the U.S. democracy, and what his win means for the future,' the description continues. 'The course will also discuss, and potentially engage in, strategies for resistance.'

Students at Indiana's Butler University will soon be able to take classes in 'strategies for resistance' to oppose President Donald Trump

The Trumpism & U.S. Democracy course, taught by Ann M. Savage (right), offers to explain how Presdent Trump (left) got to power and 'strategies for resistance'

Students paying roughly $36,000 tuition fees a year at the private university, according to the Washington Times, can enroll in the Special Topics course which runs from August to December. There does not appear to be a course in praise of the president and his campaign.

Savage, named by Butler University in 2016 as one of its distinguished faculty, is is listed as a 'professor and inaugural director of the Gender Studies program' and offers courses in resistance and activism against the oppression of women and Queering Film.

The course sparked outrage online where some denounced the course, saying the university 'should be ashamed.'

'Disappointed and embarrassed this is happening at my alma mater,' said alumnus Susan Elder.

'This is just appalling,' Samantha Sims added. 'What's the point of college now - indoctrination? #snowflakes.'

The course sparked outrage online where some denounced the course, saying the university 'should be ashamed' while some defended the controversial choice

Students paying roughly $36,000 tuition fees a year, can enroll in the Special Topics course which runs from August to December at Butler

Student Carlin Yode posted a picture of the course description on Twitter saying: 'One of our proud Indiana institution's offerings. Slightly outrageous.'

Others demanded to know if there would be an opposing course for balance.

'Does this mean we're also gonna offer an anti-liberal class? Bc Butler is all about inclusion/equality right??' one Twitter user wrote.

Yet, others praised the college for offering the unusual course.

Catrina Cranfill tweeted; 'Way to go Butler', while another Twitter user added: 'The right to resist is inherently American. If u feel defensive about this, ask urself why.'

News of the new course comes just weeks after Harvard University students announced they have started a 'Resistance School' to oppose the president.

It isn't an official part of the college, nor will it get anyone Ivy League credits. But it does promise to teach activists how to 'resist' the president in a four-week course.

It says its goal is to 'effectively fight Trump's agenda.'

The Resistance School at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Business has also proven popular and all classes are full

The 'Resistance' has been a popular term for progressives who are protesting Trump's presidency

'Resistance School is a free four-week practical training program that will sharpen the tools we need to fight back at the federal, state, and local levels. Our goal is to keep the embers of resistance alive through concrete learning, community engagement, and forward-looking action,' the school's website says.

The course is open to anyone, worldwide, and takes place at the Kennedy School of Government on campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Resistance School co-founder Shanoor Seervai said the course was born out of a 'sense of outrage and despair'

The idea for the school started with overwhelming emotions, said co-founder Shanoor Seervai.

'Resistance School started with a couple of students chatting with a couple of professors, having a sense of outrage and despair and beginning to feel overwhelmed and exhausted with the question of 'What are we going to do after the election?'' she told CNN.

The school says it will include staff from 'the Obama, Bernie, and Hillary presidential election campaigns.'

The course has turned out to be popular, with all four sessions full. The sessions will feature historian and activist Timothy McCarthy, grassroots activist Sara El-Amine, grassroots activist Marshall Gantz, and former campaign aide to Obama and current New York State Assemblyman Michael Blake.

Classes include How to Communicate our Values in Political Advocacy and How to Mobilize and Organize our Communities.

School is already in session after it started on April 5.

Harvard's hometown Cambridge, a Clinton stronghold, recently voted to call on the House of Representatives to open an impeachment probe into Trump.
A desperate dog who plunged 80 feet into a well in India was saved from drowning by a villager who risked his life to rescue her.

The pooch was found swimming frantically around the bottom of the well and whimpering with panic in Ajaysar village, in Rajasthan, northern India.

Nandu, an animal rescue worker, managed to lower himself into the well with a makeshift tyre harness and haul the dog onto his lap in a two-hour struggle.

A desperate dog who plunged 80 feet into a well in India was saved from drowning by a villager who risked his life to rescue her

Nandu, an animal rescue worker, managed to lower himself into the well with a makeshift tyre harness and haul the dog onto his lap in a two-hour struggle

Nandu, with the help of several villagers, managed to winch the panicked animal to safety

Villagers, who heard the dog's cries, quickly called a local animal rescue centre to come and help the panicked animal.

Someone called our rescue helpline reporting a dog was drowning in a well,' said Jemma Sadler, a spokesperson for the animal hospital TOLFA (Tree of life for animals), in Rajasthan.

'We quickly asked which our staff who could swim? Not everyone in Rajasthan can swim as were in a desert.

'Thankfully one staff member Nandu could swim so he quickly went to the dogs rescue.

But Nandu had no idea if the dog would be friendly or aggressive once he reached her.

Jemma added: When we come across dogs in these situations we never know how the dog is going to react, its a difficult situation. But thankfully this dog was a friendly sweetheart.

The traumatised animal was taken to the Tolfa headquarters for food and observation. Thankfully she didnt suffer any injuries.

Nandu said he was concerned going into the well as he didn't know if the dog was aggressive, but soon realised she was 'more scared' than him and needed his help

The traumatised animal was taken to the Tolfa headquarters for food and observation. Thankfully she didnt suffer any injuries. Pictured, Nandu with the dog

She was sterilised and vaccinated against rabies before being returned to Ajaysar

She was sterilised and vaccinated against rabies before being returned to Ajaysar.

Nandu said: I was scared at first, but actually, she was more scared than me. So I had to help her. There are hundreds of uncovered wells in the area. Theyre so very dangerous, not only for animals but for humans too.

TOLFA is a animal hospital and rescue centre set up in 2005 in Pushkar, northern India, by British veterinary nurse, Rachel Wright, 43, from Peterborough, in Cambridgeshire.

Rachel had been volunteering at animal rescue charities around India for eight years before she decided to set up TOLFA. She now lives at TOLFAs head office with her husband, Annu, and their six-year-old daughter Mahi.

The team respond to calls every day from the public to rescue sick and injured street animals.

They also sterilize every dog that enters TOLFA to humanely reduce the street dog population and vaccinate against rabies as India has the highest human rabies death rate in the world.

TOLFA is funded solely by donations and grants. To donate to TOLFA and help Rachel continue her amazing work in Indi, please visit: www.tolfa.org.uk/donate
A 23-year-old man from Las Vegas has been charged with raping a 4-year-old girl and capturing the sexual assault on his phone.

Julio Cesar Medrano, who also goes by the alias 'Julio Rodriguez,' was taken into custody on April 21 in connection with the incident that was said to have taken place on April 3.

According to arrest reports, Medrano was apprehended after a woman found a 30-second clip on his phone allegedly depicting the suspect raping the toddler and called police.

Julio Cesar Medrano, who also goes by the alias 'Julio Rodriguez,' is being held in the Clark County Detention Center (pictured) on charges of child sexual assault and child porongraphy

A tattoo on the man's hand in the recording helped investigators positively identify Medrano as the suspected perpetrator, Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

The Clark County Detention Center's online database indicates that Medrano, who is lodged in the jail under his alias, Rodriguez, has been charged with seven criminal counts, including sexual assault against a child younger than 14; producing and possessing child pornography; child abuse or neglect; possession of a dangerous weapon and carrying a concealed knife without a permit.

Medrano is being held without bond pending a preliminary hearing, which is scheduled for June 1.

Online jail records show that an immigration detainer has been filed against Medrano, that there is no word on his status in the US, or his country of origin.

The Daily Mail on Thursday reached out to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police for a clarification and was awaiting a response.
A website created in just half an hour on a kitchen table ten years ago has grown to become the go-to place for the world's biggest security agencies.

Former RAF computer ace Andy Cuff developed the Security Wizardry Radar Page out of boredom on a rainy day in Bath, Somerset.

He never dreamed it would get up to 40,000 hourly hits or be used daily across the globe with America's National Security Agency (NSA) among those relying on it.

Andy Cuff developed the Security Wizardry Radar Page in just half an hour on a rainy day in Bath

Andy only realised how big his idea had become when he watched a news item about the NSA and saw his radar page on a huge screen behind President George Bush.

The website - which is free - is updated constantly with all the latest cyber threats from around the world.

It provides an overview of the global state of cyber security at a glance with four stages rising from guarded through increased and high to critical.

It also shows a constant stream of real-time alerts and security and virus news gleaned by Andy's staff from open and closed source feeds.

The site has become the favourite tool in the ongoing battle against the threat from cyber criminals and rogue states which is growing in complexity and sinister intent.

It is used by government agencies and businesses so they can ensure their own networks are kept secure and capable of defeating the threats.

He said: 'I only set it up at first because it was raining and I was bored. I wanted something to do. It took me about half an hour on my kitchen table.

'I had absolutely no idea how successful it would become - we're getting 38,000 hits an hour from all around the world.

The website - which is free - is updated constantly with all the latest cyber threats from around the world

'In fact the only country that doesn't appear to use it is North Korea. It grew quickly because there was obviously a need for a resource like this.

'The website is available to everyone for nothing and all we get from it is a lot of thanks and some great exposure.

'Our users even ask why we don't update the look and feel and leave it 'retro'.

'When I saw photos of it on the screens at the NSA in the US I realised just how important it had become.

'There are also pictures of it being used by the US Fleet Cyber Command.

'Knowing that some of the finest security people in the world are depending on it, you realise just how big it has grown.

'There is also an app we've developed so security experts can keep in constant touch with the updates.'

Andy was a cyber-security analyst/engineer in the RAF before he left and set up his own cyber-security business Computer Network Defence (CND).

He added: 'I was first introduced to cyber security whilst serving in the RAF.

'I was immediately hooked and have worked in this awe-inspiring field full-time ever since.

'When the RAF threatened to move me back to mainstream computing, I left, set up a cyber-security company and joined the army cyber reserves, which I still enjoy.

The site has become the favourite tool in the ongoing battle against the threat from cyber criminals and rogue states which is growing in complexity and sinister intent

'Cyber security continues to grow at an exponential rate and the UK is one of the world's leaders in the field, which is why we set up a cyber-security recruitment division.

'It is now one of the oldest cyber security recruitment agencies in the country.

'Our core business is working across the whole information security sector and being such a fast-moving area we have to stay on top of what is going on.

'As well as inputting the information on the wizardry website we use it too..'

The CND staff responsible for identifying vulnerabilities which could be exploited by hackers are headed by Michele Jordan who works North Carolina in the US.

She is supported by cyber security researchers in the Isle of Man, working from the company's Security Operation Centre.

Vulnerabilities come from anywhere in the world, but those who exploit them tend to be from poorer countries.

However some have motivations other than money; ideology.

Andy has never charged for his service and has no regrets about that.

He says that a payment model probably wouldn't work or would be too time consuming.

CND works across the world for clients of all sizes, employs 50 staff and is based in Bath.
Millions of people across the globe are celebrating Star Wars day today, also known as May the Fourth.

But one teen got more than he bargained for when he wore his Darth Vader costume to his school, Ashwaubenon High, near Green Bay, in Wisconsin.

Within minutes of the boy, who has not been named, entering his school, a dozen police arrived responding to calls of a potential shooter and Ashwaubenon High was placed on lockdown.

Kid dressed in Darth Vader costume for Star Wars day sparks shooter fears and school evacuation (file picture)

Police explained that a passerby had spotted the kid walking to school wearing the Darth Vader mask, and mistook his black, plastic costume for a 'ballistic-type vest' and called 911.

The school was put on lockdown, and officers evacuated the building and sent in teams to sweep the area before they realized the mistake.

Capt. Jody Crocker, Ashwaubenon Public Safety, admitted there had been 'a lot of concern from parents' but said the response was warranted in the face of a suspected shooter threat.

The terrified Star Wars fan is not facing any charges as Capt. Jody Crocker, Ashwaubenon Public Safety, said in a press conference today that the boy had not meant to spark panic, calling it an 'innocent mistake.'

Within minutes of the boy, who has not been named, entering his school, a dozen police arrived responding to calls of a potential shooter and Ashwaubenon High was placed on lockdown

The school was put on lockdown, and officers evacuated the building and sent in teams to sweep the area before they realized the mistake (kids return to school after the evacuation)

Brian Nelsen, Principal, Ashwaubenon High School, added that school staff will be 'meeting with the students to re-emphasize that we have to keep each other safe and we can't make poor choices like this,' said.

Nelson confirmed the boy was the only student to turn up in school in costume.

While the fast, armed response and school lockdown may seem overkill for a kid in a costume, Crocker said it was a sad sign of the times that police had to take these sort of threats seriously.

'When you see something like this, an unknown person walking into a school with a mask on, we have to react to that. We'd be foolish not to,' he said.

'We have to be careful, in this day and age we live in now. We have to take all of this stuff very seriously.'

Ashwaubenon later confirmed the 'shooter' threat was simply a kid in costime

Video courtesy of WBAY

He said that the Ashwaubenon Police Department had been training for an active school shooter situation ever since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999 when two students shot dead 12 classmates.

Today has seen Star Wars fans round the world celebrate their favorite sci-fi franchise for May the Fourth.

May 4 has been chosen as Star Wars day due to its play on the classic greeting used by some of the Jedi characters in the franchise, 'May the Force be with you'.

Many people are spending today greeting their fellow Star Wars fans with the phrase: 'May the Fourth be with you', while others have taken to Twitter to celebrate the day, with the hashtags #MayTheFourthBeWithYou and #StarWarsDay trending worldwide.

Several users used today as a way of commemorating actress Carrie Fisher who played the iconic role of Princess Leia in the Sci-fi movies.
An ingenious invention means shoppers will be able to get their weekly groceries done a whole lot quicker in China.

Taiwanese supermarkets are now displaying packets of noodles, chocolate bars and crackers on the side of escalators for buyers to take.

Incredible footage shows women grabbing their favoured snacks from the pile as products whizz by them on the left.

Taiwanese supermarkets are now displaying packets of noodles, chocolate bars and crackers on the side of escalators

Incredible footage shows women grabbing their favoured snacks from the shelves as products whizz by them on the left

The snacks are neatly fitted in the gap between two escalators and are helpfully accompanied with price tags.

The eye-opening video shows shoppers picking up the goods and inspecting them before putting them back on the displays.

The clip, which was taken on a mobile phone, was shared on YouTube on Thursday.

It's not the first time Taiwan has been a pioneer in the food industry.

Back in 2015, a toilet themed restaurant took Taiwan by storm immediately causing a stir as customers rushed to experience food served in miniature toilet bowls.

The snacks are neatly fitted in the gap between two escalators and are helpfully accompanied with price tags

The eye-opening video shows shoppers picking up the goods and inspecting them before putting them back on the displays

Back in 2015, a toilet themed restaurant took Taiwan by storm immediately causing a stir as customers rushed to experience food served in miniature toilet bowls

The restaurant originally began by serving only ice cream in the shape of faeces. Proving to be popular, the owners expanded the menu to include food.

Modern Toilet Restaurant in Taiwan and Hong Kong features all the essentials of a bathroom.

They include working toilet seats, toilet bowls as plates, urinals as cups and washing basins as tables.

The ceiling is adorned with shower-heads, toilet roles are installed for decoration, plungers hang from the ceiling and lights are shaped in the form of faeces.

The owner Xu Liang was inspired to open the unusual restaurant after reading a Japanese cartoon book while in a public toilet.

Modern Toilet Restaurant in Taiwan and Hong Kong features all the essentials of a bathroom. They include working toilet seats, toilet bowls as plates, urinals as cups and washing basins as tables
A blundering Islamic State jihadist managed to crash his spy drone near Iraqi Army soldiers - and give himself away in the process.

Soldiers found the device carrying a GoPro camera in the village of al-Tuwaymeen in the Tal Abtah district on Tuesday.

The GoPro footage accidentally exposed the idiotic terrorist's identity thanks to a clear close-up of his bearded face as he examined the drone before launching it.

A blundering Islamic State jihadist managed to crash his spy drone near Iraqi soldiers - and give himself away in the process thanks to a close-up of his face (left) in the GoPro footage

Soldiers found the device carrying a GoPro camera in the village of al-Tuwaymeen in the Tal Abtah district on Tuesday

The video then shows aerial shots as it crosses the barriers dividing ISIS from the Iraqi People's Mobilisation Unit (PMU).

But the terrorist was clearly inept at flying the drone and lost control of it, causing the device to crash land in the desert.

The drone was found approximately 80km southwest from Mosul.

Troops were able to get a picture of the jihadist as well as details of his location from the device.

It was solely used for observational purposes and did not have any explosives.

It comes after social media posts have revealed that ISIS has modified commercial drones to drop bombs.

The drone was found in Tuwaymin village, which is located approximately 80km southwest from Mosul

The drone was solely used for observational purposes and did not carry any form of explosives

Coalition air forces have hit ISIS-made drones and drone production sites in both Syria and Iraq.

According to press releases from the Combined Joint Task Force, coalition military forces conducted 32 strikes against ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq on January 12 alone, hitting an ISIS drone launch site in Northwestern Iraq.

Iraqi soldiers have captured different kinds of drones from ISIS terrorists, especially quadcopters- a drone with four rotors that help lift it.

The drones have been found to be carrying various types of bombs, including grenades and mortars.

Meanwhile the UK is developing helicopter drones which could shoot down Islamic States new remote-controlled weapons.

Sir Michael Fallon said in February that the terror groups latest drone tactics in Iraq  in which they drop grenades from the skies  had been a wake-up call for Britain.

Quadcopter drones were reportedly captured by Iraqi Rapid Response Units in Mosul on January 4th

Unmanned craft would enable the UK to stay ahead of enemies as they would be faster, fly for longer, and spare pilots from any risk, he said.

In a speech at Oxford University to engineers and academics, he said drone wars were the future, adding: Science fiction will soon be science fact. Unmanned warfare is coming absolutely.

The Armed Forces are also looking at how to defend underwater, with research on silent drones based on whales under way.

Sir Michael said Britain has to be ready to defend in space too  as he warned space was set to become another battlefield.

The minister revealed the military has formed a Dragons Den-style panel to research and develop weapons to combat brutal terrorism.
A British man jailed after he tried to grab a policeman's gun and shoot Donald Trump at a campaign rally has quietly flown back to the UK.

Michael Sandford, 20, attempted to snatch the gun at a Las Vegas casino where Mr Trump was addressing his teams of supporters in June last year.

Sandford, who is autistic, was jailed for a year in December but flew back to the UK on Thursday, having served less than five months of his sentence, according to the Independent.

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Michael Sandford, 20, jailed for trying to snatch a policeman's gun and shoot Donald Trump, has quietly returned to the UK after serving less than five months of his year-long jail term

He is believed to have been met at Heathrow airport by his parents Lynne and Paul around 11am.

Sandford, from Dorking, Surrey, confided in officers after his arrest that he wanted to shoot the now US president, but not before getting an autograph first.

Sandford said he wanted 'to shoot and kill Donald Trump', pictured

According to court documents, the 20-year-old's plan was to ask for the tycoon's autograph and then grab a gun to shoot him.

His plan was foiled; he was tackled by officers at the rally and removed from the venue.

When asked why he had attempted to snatch the weapon, Sandford replied: 'To shoot and kill Donald Trump'.

Sandford's mother Lynne spoke out after her son's arrest and said that her son was afraid that Mr Trump would 'make an example of him'.

She said: 'Michael is terrified. He phoned me 15 times through the night with severe anxiety over what the judge is going to say to him and the sentence he will be given.

'Michael is afraid that because Donald Trump is now president-elect, it may be some bearing on the judge's sentencing.'

Sandford, pictured with his mother Lynne, has autism and Lynne revealed that he was placed on suicide watch before his sentencing

His mother Lynne said that her son feared that the now president would 'make an example of him'

She also told the press that her son had been placed on suicide watch before he was sentenced.

The family launched a fund-raising campaign to raise 10,000 to pay legal costs to bring their son back to the UK.

A Home Office spokeswoman said they could not comment on individual cases.
A scallop diver survived more than 11 hours in freezing Scottish waters before being spotted in the early hours of the morning by a passing yacht.

Ivan Doychev was pulled from the icy waters at Pentland Firth, off the island of Orkney at 3.10am on Thursday morning.

He was rescued after crew members on a Russian yacht spotted his head bobbing in the water in the pitch black night.

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Ivan Doychev after he was rescued from the freezing Scottish waters

The scallop diver is transferred from the Russian vessel to an RNLI lifeboat

The professional diver was then transferred to an RNLI lifeboat at about 4am which brought him back to shore after which he was taken to hospital.

Speaking from his hospital bed, Mr Doychev said: By my watch I was in the water for 11 hours and 33 minutes. My advice is to not panic, if you panic you drown.

I am very appreciative of the coastguard. I could see the choppers and boats. They were far away but I could see them so I knew they were looking for me which kept me going.

Thanks also to the people that have helped me. I am recovering well and looking forward to going home which should be today.

Mr Doychev was reported missing from his dive boat at around 5pm on Wednesday sparking a major rescue mission involving lifeboats and two rescue helicopters.

Map posted on Thurso Lifeboat's Facebook page showing where Mr Doychev was rescued

The Bulgarian, who lives on the island of South Ronaldsay in the Orkneys, said knowing there were people searching for him kept him going.

RNLI coastguard Wing Munro said the diver was 'very lucky' to be alive.

He must have crossed the Pentland Firth and theres not many people do that and survive.

Its not just the best of places to be adrfit in a boat never mind adrift with two gas bottles on your back - its not a nice place. Yes, hes a very lucky chap.

RNLI Thurso lifeboat that helped in the rescue of Mr Doychev from Pentland Firth

I think he was diving for scallops. He seemed in good spirits when we took him aboard. He knew he was very lucky to be alive.

He had all his diving gear on, that would have helped a lot, and probably very good quality, thick gear.

The sailing ship that picked him up, he saw it coming and swam towards it himself. He still had a bit of strength left.

Mr Doychev is currently in a stable condition at Caithness General Hospital in Wick.
The inventor of the the 'fidget spinner' that is taking playgrounds by storm is not making a penny because she could not afford $400 (310) to renew the patent.

Catherine Hettinger originally came up with the concept 20 years ago as a way of occupying her daughter and helping ADHD sufferers, but they have only recently become a craze and tens of millions of units have now been sold.

The 62-year-old had a patent from 1997 until 2005, but was not able to afford the fee to renew her exclusivity to the gadgets, which was $400, the equivalent of around 310.

This means that Mrs Hettinger, from Florida, has to sit back and watch the companies developing the modern version of her invention, without getting any money.

Fidget spinners are taking the country by storm, 20 years after they were originally designed by Catherine Hettinger

Interest from toy companies dipped, forcing Hettinger to relinquish the patent. Now, two decades later, their popularity among children is booming

When she first started to sell them, she had reasonable success, selling enough units to break even, but interest from major toy companies dipped and she was forced to relinquish the patent.

Two decades on, they are now the must-have item for children - who can now customise and trade the devices.

She told the Guardian: 'Several people have asked me: 'Aren't you really mad?' But for me I'm just pleased that something I designed is something that people understand and really works for them.

'There's just a lot of circumstances in modern life when you're boxed in, you're cramped in, and we need this kind of thing to de-stress. It's also fun. That's the thing about culture, once everybody starts doing it, it's kind of OK.'

A JustGiving page has even been set up, attempting to raise $26,000 (20,000) for her, to make up for her profits that never came to be.

But they have not come without controversy - an UK school banned fidget spinners amid claims that the controversial new 'craze' is a scam.

Pupils at Heyford Park Free School near Bicester are no longer allowed to bring in the gadgets.

At least one expert has debunked claims that they are a health aid.

Dr Mark Rapport, MD and Director of the Children's Learning Clinic at the University of Central Florida's Department of Psychology, doubts that they help ADHD and autism sufferers.

Fidget spinners are now the must-have item for children - who can now customise and trade the devices

Hettinger says she is pleased she managed to design something that can bring people joy

He said that while his current and past research indicates that many children with ADHD benefit from some forms of movement when engaged in challenging cognitive tasks, he has not come across any studies examining the potential benefits or adverse effects of fidget spinners.

His study found that children with ADHD who participated in activities involving 'gross body movement,' which is movement of the limbs or large parts of the body, performed better than those who sat still during memory tasks.

But he said fidget spinners don't require the user to engage in gross body movement, which appears to increase brain arousal necessary to engage in many cognitive tasks.

'Using a spinner like gadget is more likely to serve as a distraction than a benefit for individuals with ADHD' he said.

Pupils at Heyford Park Free School (pictured) near Bicester, Oxfordshire, are no longer allowed to bring in the gadgets

According to the Times, one schoolgirl also wrote an impassioned letter to her headteacher, pleading for the toys to be banned.

The Year 7 pupil told the Churchill Academy in Somerset: 'I am writing to tell you about Fidget Spinners, as they are a disruption to me and other people in my class. They are the latest craze and roughly 7 people bring them into my lessons and share spares with other people.

'My first point is about how they are a disruption to me. The way that I find these disruptive is they are noisy and so when you are trying to focus on your work all you can hear is it spinning round and round.'
Jared Kushners real estate holding company just sold a Brooklyn townhouse for $12.9million

Jared Kushners real estate holding company just sold a Brooklyn townhouse for $12.9million, the New York Post reported on Thursday.

The property at 27 Monroe Place in the trendy Brooklyn Heights neighborhood near Downtown Brooklyn was first bought by Kushner Companies in 2014 for $7.41million.

The company, which was run by CEO Jared Kushner until he resigned in January so that he could officially join the administration of his father-in-law, President Donald Trump, bought the five-story, 7,000-square-foot home from Brooklyn Law School.

The house has five bedrooms, six bathrooms, and three powder rooms. It comes with an elevator, radiant-heated floors, and a chefs kitchen with a dumbwaiter to the parlor floor butlers pantry.

Matt Damon and his wife were reportedly interested in buying the home, but ultimately decided not to.

The $12.9million sale is the second most lucrative residential real estate transaction in Brooklyn so far this year, according to the Post.

The property at 27 Monroe Place (center) in the trendy Brooklyn Heights neighborhood near Downtown Brooklyn was first bought by Kushner Companies in 2014 for $7.41million

Matt Damon (left) and his wife, Luciana Barroso (right), were reportedly interested in buying the home, but ultimately decided not to

The most expensive apartment ever sold in Brooklyn is the Clock Tower triplex penthouse on 1 Main Street in the Dumbo section of the borough, the Post reported.

It was sold for a whopping $15million to Colombian art dealer Lio Malca.

Kushner Companies, a real estate development firm whose properties are based largely in the New York metropolitan area, is owned jointly by Jared Kushner and his father, Charles Kushner.
Authorities recently released the swollen and bloodied mugshot of an escaped prisoner who was found in a drainage pipe six days after he broke out of a psychiatric hospital in Maryland.

David M Watson, 28, is serving a 106-year sentence in Delaware for a drive-by shooting that left bullet holes in the homes of three officers.

He was charged in Howard County on Thursday with escape and assault.

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Authorities recently released the swollen and bloodied mugshot of escaped prisoner, David Watson, 28, who was found in a drain pipe in Maryland

Officials say Watson freed himself from restraints and escaped on April 28 when he was transported to the Clifton T Perkins Hospital Center in Howard County for psychiatric evaluation. Officers searched the drain pipe (pictured) using night vision equipment

Police said Watson told them he ate from trash cans and drank water from puddles before he was recaptured.

A judge ordered Watsons transfer to a hospital for a competency evaluation before a bail review next week.

Officials say he freed himself from restraints and escaped on April 28 when he was transported to the Clifton T Perkins Hospital Center in Howard County for psychiatric evaluation.

Police had searched the drain pipe early in the day after receiving a tip but failed to locate him.

Officers returned at night to recheck the area using night vision equipment.

Police found Watson lying down in the drainage pipe approximately 18 inches in size on Wednesday night. He is serving a 106-year sentence in Delaware for a drive-by shooting that left bullet holes in an officer's home

They found him lying down in a drainage pipe approximately 18 inches in size on Wednesday night, according to County Police Chief Gary Gardner.

Officers told CBS Baltimore Watson surrendered to police and was taken into custody in 'good condition'.

He had escaped from officers in the parking lot of the psychiatric hospital and fled into a wooded area almost a week earlier.

Authorities said Watson fled after pushing one of the guards after they had opened the door to the van.

Handcuffs and Watson's waist chain were found near where the van was parked.

He was sentenced in 2013 to 106 years in jail for shooting at the houses of three police officers from Delaware and Maryland.

Police scoured the area looking for Watson after he escaped and ran off into a wooded area on April 28
A raucous brawl among female students at a Pennsylvania high school left eight teachers injured on Wednesday.

A substitute teacher at Cheltenham High School in a suburb of Philadelphia called Wyncote suffered a concussion while trying to break up a brawl involving four students, two of whom are sisters, at around 7.30am Eastern on Wednesday.

All four students involved in the altercation were arrested on charges including assault and reckless endangerment, according to the smoking gun.

Only one student, Amber Lewis, 18, was charged as an adult, while the rest were charged as juveniles.

The footage was captured by William Bastone.



A student in a light grey top and dark track pants is first seen hitting a student in a tie-dyed shirt.

Then another student in red and black flannel shirt comes in from the right to attack the girl in the tie-dye.

Almost at the same time, a student in a slighter darker grey shirt and white pants comes running across the hall over to the fight and turns her aggression on the student in the red flannel shirt.

Eight teachers at a high school in Pennsylvania were injured while breaking up a brawl between four female students at around 7.30am Eastern on Wednesday

A substitute teacher at Cheltenham High School in a suburb of Philadelphia suffered a concussion while breaking up a brawl involving four female students, two of whom are sisters

All four students involved in the altercation were arrested on charges including assault and reckless endangerment.; Only one student, Amber Lewis, 18, was charged as an adult

The two separate fights continue for a few moments before an adult can be seen trying to break up at least one of the grappling sessions.

The next frames show the student in the tie-dyed shirt as she falls to the ground and the student in the light grey top and dark pants grabs her by the hair as she punches her in the face.

At this point other adults, and possibly another student, try to calm the chaos, as the other punching match continues down the hall.

From the ground, the student in the tie-dyed shirt is able to rip the light grey top into tatters while it's still on the other student's body.

From the ground, the student in the tie-dyed shirt is able to rip the light grey top into tatters while it's still on the other student's body

She then makes it to her feet and bowls over a teacher trying to keep the two separated.

In the furor, a teacher with short, light hair is thrown to the ground, where she stays for the several seconds remaining in the video.

The last shots in the clip show the student in the tie-dyed shirt chasing down the hall after the student in the light grey top with her fists flying in the air as a man comes into view and he and other adults move toward the teacher on the ground.

'I wish to clearly state that the district will not tolerate fighting. I also wish to clearly state that we will not tolerate the filming of fights,' Cheltenham High School's principal, Ray McFall wrote in a letter to parents on Wednesday.

'Both behaviors are beneath us and reflect poorly on our larger population,' he said. The full text of his letter can be read in a photo of the text below.

Lewis remains in custody in the Montgomery County jail in lieu of a $10,000 bond.

The last shots in the clip show the student in the tie-dyed shirt chasing down the hall after the student in the light grey top with her fists flying in the air as a man comes into view and he and other adults move toward the teacher on the ground
A disturbing confession has emerged on Reddit as police hunt for a 24-year-old Canadian man suspected of killing his girlfriend, police said.

Ager Hasan fled to the US hours after he allegedly killed Melinda Vasilije, 22, his girlfriend of one year, in a stabbing attack at her Kitchener, Ontario home on April 28, Global News reported.

Since then, a Reddit post purportedly written by Hasan has surfaced. In it, the user Redasblue101 recalled pushing his girlfriend and grabbing a knife.

The post, which includes photographs of the couple and screenshots of their text exchanges, also read: 'The amount of regret and sadness is beyond words. Everyone else is just reading or talking about it. I lived it, I was there. I did it.'

Police are still trying to verify whether the Reddit post was written by Hasan.

Ager Hasan (pictured) fled to the US hours after he allegedly killed Melinda Vasilije, 22, (left) his girlfriend of one year, in a stabbing attack at her Kitchener, Ontario home on April 28

Since then, a Reddit post purportedly written by Hasan has surfaced. In it, the user Redasblue101 recalled pushing his girlfriend and grabbing a knife

Hasan is wanted for second-degree murder and three counts of breach of recognizance, Insp. Mike Haffner told Global News.

The breaches of recognizance refer to a 'domestic-related incident' on April 3, when Hasan was arrested for two counts of assault during a break-and-enter.

While Vasilije was not a victim in that incident, Hasan was restricted from her town of Kitchener and barred from contacting her, according to the police.

Weeks later, the 22-year-old was found dead around 3am on April 28 after police responded to a 911 call.

She suffered multiple stab wounds, and Hasan became a prime suspect.

But the 24-year-old had fled the country, and was last seen on April 28 stealing a license plate in the parking lot of a Walmart in Erie County, Pennsylvania, to replace the Ontario plate on his black, 2016 Honda.

Hasan was last seen on April 28 stealing a license plate in the parking lot of a Walmart in Erie County, Pennsylvania, to replace the Ontario plate on his black, 2016 Honda (pictured)

According to a Reddit post titled 'Wanted for Kitchener murder my side', the couple had recently broken up and started patching things up again.

When Hasan admitted to seeing other people while they were on a break, the two began fighting, according to the Reddit post.

'She started freaking out. Wouldn't say a word and just kept slapping me with tears in her eyes. Slaps turned into hits. I told her I was sorry but if she didn't stop I'd do something back. She didn't stop. I then stupidly pushed her, harder than I expected. She fell against the sink.'

'Almost out no where she grabs a knife by the sink. Initially I thought [she] was just going to hold it to try and tell me to leave. She doesn't. She comes at me in full force, aiming towards my face,' the Reddit post states.

'I tell her to stop. She doesn't, I tried grabbing the knife but ended up cutting my hands. After a few cuts I lost it. I freaked out, I was scared and in a state of shock.

'Never in a hundred years did I think she would use a knife against me. Out of shock and fear I grab one. I hit her with it, almost blindly. A few times. I didn't know what happened. I was confused, shocked and scared.

When Hasan admitted to seeing other people while they were on a break, the two began fighting, according to the Reddit post. He maintained they were best friends and apologized

The person alleging to be Hasan also disputed the idea that he was running away, writing he needed some time to process what happened before turning himself in. Pictured, a text exchange included in the Reddit post, purported to be last texts between Hasan and Vasilije

'I had no intentions of that happening. When I left I honestly thought she just passed out. Then I looked at the blood, and started freaking out and just ran. I didnt [know] for sure she had died until the next day. I honestly had no intentions of ever doing that to her, I was protecting myself.

The Reddit user also maintained the two were best friends, apologized to Vasilije's family, and wrote: 'Rest in peace my beautiful. I hope you forgive me in the after life.'

The person alleging to be Hasan also disputed the idea that he was running away, writing he needed some time to process what happened before turning himself in.

Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
Shocking video has emerged of a gravely wounded man pleading for help after being run over by a van.

Elizabeth Kate Martin, 38, was arrested on Monday in Gulfport, Mississippi, after she allegedly ran over her boyfriend with a vehicle during an argument and fled on foot into a nearby wooded area.

Police said the male victim leaped up onto the hood of a 2009 GMC Savana that Martin was driving at around 11.15am.

Martin accelerated, causing the man to fall beneath the wheels of the cargo van as Martin drove over him, according to police.

Police said the male victim leaped up onto the hood of a 2009 GMC Savana that Martin was driving at around 11.15am

Elizabeth Kate Martin is show after her Monday arrest left and right. She has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident with injury and is being held pending $100,000 bail

The woman then jumped out of the van and ran into the nearby woods, police said.

Video of the aftermath shows the man lying on the ground begging for help in a feeble voice.

'His face is torn off' a woman exclaims, as she tries to help stop the bleeding.

Police arrive, and then paramedics, who load the man into an ambulance.

He was in critical but stable condition on Tuesday, the Sun Herald reported.

Video of the aftermath shows the man lying on the ground begging for help in a feeble voice

Police arrive, and then paramedics, who load the man into an ambulance

A K-9 was used to track Martin into the woods, where she was arrested around 11:45am.

She has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident with injury and is being held pending $100,000 bail.

Martin has prior misdemeanor charges for speeding and driving without a license, as well as a bench warrant for failure to appear, according to court records.
President Trump's original campaign manager Corey Lewandowski has broken ranks with his political consulting firm he founded in the aftermath of the 2016 election.

Bloomberg News first reported the break-up of Avenue Strategies, which Lewandowski co-founded with fellow Trump campaign aide Barry Bennett.

Lewandowski is not a registered lobbyist and thus was susceptible to ethics complains from liberal watchdogs. He also complained that Bennett and other Avenue partners were using his name without authorization.

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Ex-Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski's new public affairs firm inked a deal lobbying Citgo for $25,000-a-month, Politico reported, and now he's leaving the firm

Despite getting fired by Donald Trump last June, Corey Lewandowski continues to be a key ally of the president's, seen here in December at Trump Tower during the transition period

'The most important thing is my reputation and I've worked really hard in the face of adversity to try and be successful,' Lewandowski told Bloomberg.

Lewandowski also told Bloomberg he didn't want to work for foreign clients.

One off-shoot of Avenue, called Washington East West Political Strategies, had been trying to pick up business in Eastern Europe by promising access to Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

Lewandowski told Bloomberg his firm had been engaged in activities he wasn't told about, including what happened with East West.

Additionally, on Wednesday, Politico broke a story that Lewandowski's firm had agreed to do lobbying work for the oil company Citgo, the U.S. subsidiary of the Venezuelan oil company Petroleos de Venezuela.

Avenue Strategies, inked a contract with the oil company, which is owned by Venezuela's socialist government, for $25,000-a-month.

Bennett said Avenue has yet to start lobbying for Citgo, telling Politico that he will be the only employee on the contract and Lewandowski 'doesn't really have a role.'

Later, when talking to Bloomberg, Bennet acknowledged that Lewandowski had split from the firm, in part because his name was dragged into every issue.

'No matter how much work we do its always going to be Lewandowski in the headline,' Bennett said.

Trump tapped Lewandowski to be his campaign manager when the White House was a pipe dream and he employed only a small band of supporters as his campaign staff.

But as he became successful in the primaries, and Lewandowski became headline fodder for grabbing a reporter at a campaign event, Trump decided it was time to hand his campaign over to professionals, letting Lewandowski go last June.

That being said, the original campaign manager remains a close confidant to his former boss and a cheerleader for Trump on cable news.

Sources close to the Citgo-Avenue Strategies contract told Politico that the firm was specifically brought in to garner access to the Trump administration, amid calls that the U.S. intervene and seize the company's assets to sanction the socialist regime.

The optics of Lewandowski not only lobbying, but lobbying for a leftist-tied company, would have caused trouble for Trump who repeatedly said on the campaign trail that he wanted to 'drain the swamp.'

That was parlance for staying an arm's distance away from lobbyists, but now ex-Trump staffers are heading through the revolving door and landing at public affairs firms.

Venezuela's made headlines too, as citizens have taken to the streets to oppose the leftist regime led by Nicolas Maduro.

As of Thursday, a police officer had died after being shot at one of the protests, according to ABC News.

Overall 36 have been killed in the skirmishes that have gone on for over a month, while hundreds have been injured.

That's dangerous business in a country where the protests have been inspired by a shortage of medicine and food.

There's a Russian connection to this lobbying contract too, as there are rising concerns that the Kremlin-owned company Rosneft could take control of Citgo.

Venezuelas national oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, took out a loan from Rosneft in December and could default on its debt, meaning Russians could control three of the largest refineries in the U.S., three major pipelines and dozens of fuel terminals, Politico pointed out.

Anything Russian-related could be politically poisonous for Trump  even at an arm's length away  due to the multiple ongoing investigations of his campaign and the Russian hacking of the 2016 presidential campaign.

Bennet had promised that Avenue wouldn't take on clients that are working against U.S. interests, specifically singling out Russia and China.

He told Politico that is the Russian-controlled oil company took over Citgo 'we would resign immediately.'

'Don't want the hassle,' he added.

Then Politico's Kenneth Vogel asked if Venezuela fit the bill of being a country that ran counter to U.S. foreign policy interests.

'I don't work for Venezuela. I work for a Houston-based company that has three plants in America and produces 19 percent of America's gasoline. It's an American company, Americans work there,' Bennett replied.
A man arriving in the UK on a flight from Turkey has been arrested on suspicion of terror-related crime.

The 30-year-old was detained by the Metropolitan Police's counter-terror squad as he stepped off the plane, from Istanbul to Heathrow, on Thursday evening.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said the man had been arrested on suspicion of preparing for terrorist acts and terrorist training.

The 30-year-old was detained by the Metropolitan Police's counter-terror squad as he stepped off the plane, from Istanbul to Heathrow, on Thursday evening

The suspect remains in custody at a south London police station, while officers search a property in the east of the capital.

A spokesman for the force said: 'Officers from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) have this evening - Thursday May 4 - arrested a 30-years-old man at London Heathrow Airport as he disembarked a flight from Istanbul, Turkey.

'The man has been arrested on suspicion for preparing for terrorist acts and terrorist training contrary to section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006.

'He has been taken to a south London police station where he is detained under the Police and Criminal Evidence (PACE).

'Officers are at present searching a residential address in east London.'
Muralist Says He Won't Pay $12K Demanded By Michelle Obama Portrait Artist, Mulls Removing It

By Stephen Gossett in News on May 3, 2017 9:12PM



GoFundMe

The artist behind the design of Michelle Obama as an Egyptian queen is threatening to sue the muralist who used it initially without attributionand caused a firestorm of controversy in the process. Meanwhile, the muralist says he's been kicking around the idea of removing or painting over the publicly displayed piece.

As first reported by Andrea V. Watson in DNAinfo, artist Gelila Mesfin has sent a letter to muralist Chris Devins asking for $12,000 in compensation, a public apology, a plaque that identifies Mesfin as the artist, and other damages. If Devins isn't willing to meet the terms, Mesfin is willing to sue. The letter gave a 7 p.m., Wednesday deadline for agreement, DNA reports.

Devins confirmed to Chicagoist that he received a letter requesting that figure, but he said he doesn't intend to pay the sum. "There's no $12,000 to give her," he told Chicaogist. He said that the majority of the funds he raised (more than $11,000 total) has already been spent on research, production and fees. He said he was willing to give whatever remains as a licensing fee, although he wasn't clear about that specific figure. Mesfin did not immediately return Chicagoist's request for comment.

"Absolutely she should get some kind of negotiated licensing fee," Devins said. "It wasnt necessary to do it through an attorney. But do I believe that she deserves some money for her design? Of course I do." Still, Devins was cagey about what he was willing to compensate. He referred to the DNA article, which in turns refers to Devins' previous comments that imply a spectrum anywhere between $12 and $1000.

Devins said his ideal resolution would also involve the requested plaque. "I invite [Mesfin] here to Chicago, where we can do a mural dedication and put the plaque up. That would to me be the best outcome," he said.

At the same time, the furorwhich has been covered everywhere from CNN to the New York Timesapparently has Devins considering chucking the mural altogether. "It may get to a point, I might have to remove this. I said that to myself last week. I'm gonna just have to get up there and paint over it, you know? It looks like it's becoming a symbol of contention." Devins didn't elaborate as to how such a decision might affect his standing in terms of the GoFundMe campaign.

Devins told Chicagoist his intent for the mural was "to inspire the young ladies of the South Side of Chicago." But when he failed to attribute Mesfinan Ethiopian-born, Rhode Island-based artisteither in the crowdfunding campaign or in initial coverage of the mural's unveiling, in the South Shore neighborhood where the former First Lady was raised, the backlash was swift and furious.

This mural was not an original idea- Chris Devin's stole this BW artist work. pic.twitter.com/mC4oY08zen  Lord Rach (@RachaeltheLord) April 22, 2017

Devins later called his handling of the situation "sloppy" and said he had offered Mesfin a licensing feealthough he defended the overall project in terms of urban planning, placemaking and "remix culture." He told Chicagoist that he thought some coverage of the flap failed to show the context and intent of his practice, which received much positive press prior to the controversy.

Among critics, Chicago writer Britt Julious captured the sense of exploitation well, in writing for the New York Times:


Coffee-lovers can now drink their caffeine and eat it too, thanks to a newly launched 'boosted' bagel.

Einstein Bros. Bagels released their caffeine-infused breakfast food dubbed the Espresso Buzz Bagel on Thursday.

The bagel debut gives some sleep-deprived folks a new way to put more pep in their steps as each pastry contains 32 milligrams of caffeine.

Einstein Bros Bagels released their caffeine-infused breakfast food dubbed the Espresso Buzz Bagel (pictured) on Thursday. 'Drinking a caffeinated beverage with our bagel will result in higher levels of caffeine consumption,' the company wrote on their website

According to the Colorado-based company, their new product is the world's first caffeinated bagel.

'Drinking a caffeinated beverage with our bagel will result in higher levels of caffeine consumption,' the company wrote on their website.

The company believes their new bagel will prove to be a hit amongst millennials who have 'converted to coffee drinkers'.

Kerry Coyne, Einstein's senior vice president, told Fox News in an email that the company knew their team could deliver a 'premium, hand-crafted sensory experience with the beloved category hero of espresso in our best-in-class, fresh-baked bagel'.

Einstein's new bagel also has 13 grams of protein.

The bagel is 230 calories and has only three grams of sugar. Two other bagels by Einstein are set to debut this week as well.

Those included the 'boosted' Cherry Chia bagel, which is vegan and has Omega-3 chia seeds and oats, and the Savory Parm bagel, which is made with three cheeses and boasts 13 grams of protein.

Einstein says the new bagels are being offered for a limited time unless they do well.
On a glorious spring morning in San Diego yesterday, Prince Andrew paused briefly for photographers as he arrived to speak at a cybersecurity conference at the University of California. He made no comment, however, on the Duke of Edinburghs decision to retire from public duties, although for the Prince it heralds a significant  and welcome  change to his own role within the Royal Family.

Andrew, who flew to the US last Friday on an official trip and is due back next week, is promoting his successful charity scheme to help budding young entrepreneurs. But in future the prince, famously dubbed Air Miles Andy because of his love of travel  too often at the taxpayers expense  may have to cut back on his overseas sojourns.

The Queens second son has emerged  unexpectedly  as a key figure in what is now known informally at Buckingham Palace as Team Windsor. The move hints at subtle shifts in the axis of power at Buckingham Palace, with what some royal watchers are describing as the rehabilitation of Prince Andrew.

Prince Andrew (pictured with his parents) has emerged  unexpectedly  as a key figure in what is now known informally at Buckingham Palace as Team Windsor

At the same time, it shines a spotlight on prominent younger royals who stand accused in some quarters of being workshy and must now step up to validate their positions in Team Windsor, while others desperate to play a more significant part in public life  most notably Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie  have been left disappointed once again.

The move has done little to heal the alleged rift between Prince Charles and his younger brother over the perceived ongoing slight to the Princesses.

The Mail can reveal that, after months of consultation and careful planning for yesterdays momentous announcement, it is Andrew, the sixth in line to the throne, who will increasingly step into the breach to act as the Queens plus one.

In December, he was at her side at a Buckingham Palace charity reception. Last month, he accompanied the Queen to a ceremony at Windsor Castle where she honoured the Royal Lancers, presenting the regiment with a ceremonial flag, known as a guidon, as a symbol of their loyalty to the monarchy. If it was a dress rehearsal for what is to come, then it passed faultlessly.

The Duke of York (pictured leaves Catch LA with his entourage) is expected to take a more prominent role

They get on very well, according to one courtier, who added that there is ample precedence already for the Queen doing engagements with people who are not her husband.

The Prince of Wales, who at 68 will become the oldest active male royal after his fathers retirement in the autumn, is already taking on many of the Queens engagements as he prepares for the throne.

As for Prince William, his decision to give up his job as pilot with the East Anglian Air Ambulance Service, and to move his family from Anmer Hall in Norfolk to Kensington Palace later this summer, was in direct response to the request to do more to support his 91-year-old grandmother. The courtier added: When it was announced in January that William was giving up the day job, the Palace was already planning for Prince Philips retirement.

It is intended that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, the core members of Team Windsor, will also carry out many more formal engagements. Prince Andrew will be doing more high-profile engagements and has already stepped in to accompany the Queen on a number of occasions, a senior Buckingham Palace source confirmed yesterday. The same applies to the senior grandchildren: William, Harry and Kate.

The move represents consolidation of Prince Charless long-held vision of a slimmed-down working monarchy, and Prince Andrew will relish no doubt his inclusion and a return to the spotlight after the intense controversy surrounding his friendship with the American billionaire, and convicted child sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.

The move represents consolidation of Prince Charless long-held vision of a slimmed-down working monarchy

In 2011 Andrew was forced to stand down from his role as special representative for UK Trade & Investment  now the Department for International Trade  after it emerged that he had stayed at Epsteins home in Florida and flown with him in his private jet. He quit the post, which he loved and had been doing since 2001, after an hour-long meeting with the Queen.

The prince, who receives 249,000 in a parliamentary annuity reimbursed from the Queens private funds, has also faced questions over his friendships with various billionaires and politicians in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Tunisia, Libya and Turkmenistan. However, his pleasure in a higher profile role, will be diminished by the fact he has been thwarted finally in his ambitions for Beatrice, 28, and Eugenie, 27, to be included as fully paid up members of The Firm, let alone Team Windsor.

He has been pressing hard in recent years for them to be allowed to carry out duties supported by the Sovereign Grant  the public purse which funds the royals work. But Andrew, who carried out 348 engagements last year compared with Charless 469, has been rebuffed repeatedly by his older brother. Over the past few months, the discussions about the impending announcement of their fathers retirement presented Andrew with what he considered to be a last chance to persuade the Queen that his daughters should become working royals. But the Queen deferred to Charles and rejected his request.

It is intended that the William and Harry (pictured with Camilla and Prince Charles) the core members of Team Windsor, will also carry out many more formal engagements

Furthermore, Charles is adamant that Beatrice and Eugenie will not become even part-time working royals. Asked about the princesses, a Palace source said: They are working girls who have jobs. They will appear at family occasions, and at some receptions at the Palace, but there will be no change in their status.

Although they carry out charity work, the princesses have little public profile beyond their attendance at various society functions, outings to nightclubs and on their many exotic holidays. Beatrice, who has a 2:1 degree in history, has had four jobs in five years (on both sides of the Atlantic) in the charity sector and in finance. Eugenie, who has a degree in English literature and history of art from Newcastle University, is an associate director with Hauser & Wirth, an art gallery in Londons Savile Row.

A friend of Andrew said the prince is distressed by the denial of a suitable role for his daughters. Andrew takes the view that his daughters, the only two blood princesses of their generation, should be doing more for the Royal Family. They want to do more and he wants them to do more.

But they have been pushed back by Charles. It has caused bad blood between the brothers. The friend added: Charles wants the focus on him, as the heir, Camilla his queen, William, Kate and Harry. The Queen has gone along with it as she sees the virtue of a slimmed-down monarchy for the future.

Charles is adamant that Beatrice and Eugenie will not become even part-time working royals

The first hint in public of Charless new order was given at the RAF fly-past that ended the Jubilee celebrations in 2012. On the Palace balcony, watching the Red Arrows and Second World War aircraft roar overhead were the Queen, Charles and Camilla, William and Kate, and Harry (Prince Philip missed the celebrations because he was ill and in hospital). Of Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and their children there was no sign. The snub to Andrew was described at the time as feeling like a dagger in his heart.

Charless plans for Team Windsor have also caused irritation to the Earl and Countess of Wessex, who are both full-time working royals and carried out more than 700 engagements between them last year. To preserve their status in the royal pecking order, the Queen has decreed that Prince Edward will inherit his fathers title as the Duke of Edinburgh when the time comes.

The Countess of Wessex, who is one of the Queens favourites, is viewed as a particular asset, having honed her public image very effectively in recent years. The Queen feels very comfortable with Sophie and admirers the way she and Edward have turned things round [after the failure of their respective business ventures], a Palace source said.

The one royal unlikely to be bothered about her inclusion (or not) in Team Windsor is, paradoxically, the hardest working of them all. There will be little change in the role played by Anne, who last year carried out 640 engagements, dwarfing the 485 by William, Harry and Kate combined. She is already very visible, said a courtier. Its difficult to see how she could do any more.

Even the Duke of Kent, 81, and the Duchess of Gloucester, 70, outperformed the younger royals, carrying out 225 and 226 engagements respectively. William (204 engagements including tours of Canada and India), Harry (166 including a 15-day Caribbean tour) and Kate (115) may need to up their game if they are to prove their worth on Team Windsor.
Mexican drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman will remain in solitary confinement in a New York City prison, a US judge ruled Thursday, although he will be allowed to send pre-screened messages to his beauty queen wife.

Guzman's court-appointed lawyers argued in March that he was being held in unnecessarily harsh conditions and asked that he be released into the general prison population.

But US District Judge Brian Cogan in Brooklyn ruled that there were good reasons for unusual measures around Guzman, who has escaped from two Mexican prisons.

Cogan also ruled that 60-year-old Guzman, one of the world's most notorious criminals, could send written messages to his wife - provided they were pre-screened by multiple federal agencies - but denied him family visits and phone calls.

Former Canelas, Durango Coffee and Guava Queen Emma Coronel, 27, is the mother of Guzman's twins.

Mexican drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman will remain in solitary confinement in a New York City prison, a US judge ruled Thursday

Former Canelas, Durango Coffee and Guava Queen Emma Coronel, 27, is the mother of Guzman's twins

Actor Sean Penn shakes hands with Mexican drug lord 'El Chapo' Guzman in Mexico. In March, the defense claimed that Guzman had 'auditory hallucinations' and heard unexplained music

A lawyer for Guzman had no immediate comment.

Guzman is restricted to his cell for 23 hours a day, with the lights on at all times, and has not been allowed to speak to his wife or other family members.

In March, the defense complained Guzman's health was deteriorating in custody, and claimed that he experienced 'auditory hallucinations' and heard unexplained music.

He has one hour of exercise in a small cage with no fresh air or sunlight, according to a March letter to prosecutors from Amnesty International.

The human rights group had asked to inspect Guzman's cell, but Cogan on Thursday denied that request, saying Amnesty's involvement would 'further sensationalize' the case.

Though Guzman's lawyers had argued that his conditions were more restrictive than any other U.S. prisoner's, Cogan said they were not unusual for solitary confinement and that he would not make the case a 'referendum' on the use of solitary confinement generally.

Mexican drug trafficker Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman arriving in Long Island, from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico in January

Guzman's lawyers also sought more freedom to communicate with people in order to plan his defense, including his wife and potential witnesses.

Cogan ruled that Guzman may not communicate with witnesses, citing his 'alleged history of witness intimidation.'

However, the judge said he may send written messages to his wife about hiring lawyers and about personal matters. Those messages will be subject to pre-screening by U.S. authorities.

Cogan also wrote that prison staff had relayed their observations of Guzman's visits with his attorneys to prosecutors in the past, and ordered that such communications stop.

In his most recent escape in 2015, Guzman rode a motorcycle out of prison through a mile-long, highly engineered tunnel from his cell

Guzman is pictured at his January arrest, when he was recaptured six months after he escaped from a maximum-security jail

Guzman, who sold oranges as a child before turning to the drug trade in the 1970s, was extradited from Mexico to the United States to face drug trafficking charges there on Jan. 19.

In his most recent escape in 2015, Guzman rode a motorcycle out of prison through a mile-long, highly engineered tunnel from his cell, a sign of the huge influence he was able to wield even from behind bars.

On January 20 Guzman pleaded not guilty to a raft of firearms, drug trafficking and conspiracy charges at an initial hearing in New York.

If he stands trial and is convicted, he is likely to spend the rest of his life in a maximum security US prison.
Remember Blairs Babes, when a record 101 female Labour MPs were elected under Tony Blair in 1997?

Well, look out for Mays Maidens, with experts saying Theresa May could be about to welcome even more women to the Commons.

A Bollywood TV host, a young church preacher and the great-great-niece of former PM Neville Chamberlain are among those hoping to win key seats.

Women at work: Theresa May canvassing with activists in Eastbourne, East Sussex, on Thursday

Five are standing in constituencies where Tories have retired, while 18 are fighting the partys top 50 target seats.

If all win, the Conservatives will have more female MPs than Labour for the first time since 1983, with around 90.

But pollsters predict that if the Tories win a landslide, they could take as many as 100 extra constituencies where other parties are expected to succeed, adding more female MPs to the tally.

Such a rout would see Mrs May smash the record set in 1997.

Among the candidates are preacher Beth Prescott, 24, who describes herself as a Yorkshire lass with no degree and is expected to overturn Labours majority of just 1,451 in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.

DJ Natasha Asghar is contesting Newport East, South Wales, after losing the seat by 4,705 votes in 2015. She hosts a Bollywood music show on satellite TV and is the author of the novel Me, Myself And My Arranged Marriage.

Bollywood DJ Natasha Asghar is contesting Newport East, South Wales

Caroline Squire hopes to win Birmingham Edgbaston, the seat held by her great-great-uncle Neville Chamberlain in the Thirties. The PR consultant is also the great-great-granddaughter of the statesman Joseph Chamberlain, whom Mrs May credits as an inspiration.

Women standing in seats where Tory MPs are retiring include Julia Dockerill in Hornchurch and Upminster, Essex, where the party had a majority of 13,074 in 2015. The 32-year-old councillor, who was chief-of-staff to MP Mark Field, faced embarrassment last November after being photographed carrying a memo that referred to the ideal model for Brexit as, Have cake and eat it.

Gillian Keegan is fighting Chichester, West Sussex, where Andrew Tyrie won a Tory majority of 24,413 two years ago. She is director of Women2Win, the Tory group co-founded by Mrs May to help get women selected as candidates.

Former minister Esther McVey hopes to return to Parliament by taking Tatton, Cheshire, where George Osborne has quit. The former TV host was the most high-profile Tory casualty of 2015, ousted by Labour from Wirral West.

The Tories have not introduced the all-women shortlists used by Labour to raise the number of women MPs, but they have forced four local Welsh associations to accept female candidates.

When Tony Blair's Labour party won its landslide election in 1997 101 of the party's 418 MPs were female

After the 2015 election, 68 of the 331 Tory MPs were women, with 99 out of 232 for Labour. In 1997, 101 of Labours 418 MPs were female.

Marxists and anarchists are supporting Labours bid for Downing Street for the first time, it emerged last night.

Up to ten hard-Left groups are lining up to help Jeremy Corbyn enter No 10, enthused by his anti-capitalist policies. The news comes a week after the Communist Party of Britain said it would not field candidates against Labour.
A popular Maine weatherman who committed suicide in the woods last month was about to be charged with rape.

Tom Johnston, 46, better known by his pseudonym, 'TJ Thunder,' from WCSH-TV in Portland, failed to return home from the River Ski resort in Newry on April 2 after emceeing the Springfest event the night before.

His body was discovered four days later in a wooded area in Auburn. A medical examiner ruled his death a suicide.

Tom Johnston, 46, meteorologist with WCSH in Maine, who was found dead in the Maine woods in early April from an apparent suicide h was about to be charged with rape

Tom Johnston, 46, (pictured at the ski lodge in March) better known by his pseudonym, 'TJ Thunder,' from WCSH-TV in Portland, failed to return home from the River Ski resort in Newry on April 2 after emceeing the Springfest event the night before

President & General Manager Brian Cliffe for the NBC affiliate in Portland said that he was 'disturbed' to learn that 'Tom would have been charged in a Class B gross sexual assault that happened on April 1, if he was still alive.'

'We share in the community's shock and our thoughts are with the victim and the families involved.'

Oxford County Sheriff Wayne Gallant said a woman had gone to Bridgton Hospital to report she had been raped at a residence in Newry in the early morning hours of Sunday, April 2 - the last time Johnston was seen alive.

The meteorologist was reported missing by his family the following day and on Thursday, April 6, police put out a missing person notice. A few hours later, wardens found him dead in the woods.

Grisly end: The medical examiner has concluded the dad-of-three succumbed to hypothermia after slashing his wrists. Johnston had been with the station since 2014

Speculations: Two Maine advocacy groups have issued a joint statement claiming that Johnston (far left) 'was being investigated for a reported sexual assault,' but police have not named him a suspect

The Office of the State Medical Examiner revealed that Johnston's cause of death was hypothermia from exposure to the elements after he suffered self-inflicted wounds to his wrists and lost consciousness, reported Portland Press Herald.

The autopsy report was released a day after two local advocacy groups issued a joint statements claiming that Johnston 'was being investigated for a reported sexual assault' at the time of his suicide.

Local law enforcement officials, however, have not confirmed that Johnson was a suspect in the case and said the investigation was ongoing.

'We have to make sure in any type of case that we're getting factual information from our suspects and victims as well,' Oxford County Sheriff Wayne Gallant said in reference to the speculations surrounding Johnston.

The sheriff's office said that a woman called on the morning of April 2, the day of Johnston's suicide, from Bridgton Hospital saying she had been sexually assaulted at a home in Newry.

The suspect in the attack fled and was later reported as a missing person in Newry, according to the initial police report, which was later amended to exclude information on the potential suspect.

Johnston's final social media postings were made on the eve of his death, when a storm produced heavy snow in parts of Maine.

The news station where the deceased worked announced his death online on April 7 and paid tribute to their popular meteorologist

Colleagues said the weatherman 'was at his best broadcasting or doing Facebook live shots in the middle of a blizzard'

The radio station WGAN was the first to raise questions about Johnston's possible involvement in the sexual assault investigation

The only person to have been reported missing around that time in the area was Tom Johnston, according to early reporting by the radio station WGAN, which was the first to raise questions about Johnston's possible involvement in the sexual assault investigation.

Days later, two other media outlets, NH1 and FTVLive.com, picked up the story, though no one has directly accused the deceased meteorologist of being connected to the case.

The Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Maine's National Alliance on Mental Illness released a joint statement repeating the speculation that Johnston has been linked to the alleged sex assault in Newry, saying their goal was to get out in front of the story.

'Suicide and sexual violence both result in serious trauma and for the two to coincide as they have in this case, the trauma is even more immediate and serious,' Cara Courchesne, communications director at MECASA, wrote in the statement.

Chief Deputy Hart Daley, with the Oxford County Sheriff's Office, would not comment on the allegations against Johnston in this case, but he said the agency was 'pretty confident' with who the suspect in the sexual assault is.

According to Johnston's obituary, his love of weather started a child growing up in Pennsylvania, when instead of watching cartoons he would tune in to The Weather Channel.

Mr Popular: Before coming to WCSH-TV in Maine in 2014, Johnston had worked as a weather anchor across the South, including at several stations in Florida where he received two back-to-back Best Weathercast awards

He later went on to earn a Bachelor's degree in atmospheric science from Rutgers University and a Master's degree in broadcast meteorology from Mississippi State University.

Before coming to WCSH-TV in Maine in 2014, Johnston had worked as a weather anchor across the South, including at several stations in Florida where he received two back-to-back Best Weathercast awards in 2007 and 2008 from the Florida Associated Press.

Johnston's online is obituary described him as an avid outdoorsman, philanthropist and a dedicated father of three.

WCSH announced Johnston's death 'with great sadness' on its website April 7. He was described as a hardworking and 'wicked funny' on and off the camera.

'Tom loved to forecast and loved his job. He was at his best broadcasting or doing Facebook live shots in the middle of a blizzard,' the site said.

'Our thoughts and prayers are with Tom's family. We will miss that great laugh of his, his fierce competitive spirit and his love for all things weather-related.'
A teenager was punched in the head and grabbed by the hair in an unprovoked attack by a stranger.

Reagan Cox, 19, was randomly assaulted by the long-haired assailant as he travelled on a Melbourne train with his girlfriend and sleeping friend in the early hours on Thursday.

Shocking CCTV footage captured the shocking moment the teenager was coward punched, before his attacker fled the carriage at Preston train station, 9NEWS reports.

Reagan Cox, 19, (right) was randomly assaulted by the long-haired assailant as he travelled on a Melbourne train with his girlfriend and sleeping friend

As Mr Cox attended to his sleeping friend, the attacker approaches him, violently grabbing his hair before punching the back of his head

The long-haired attacker, wearing a black t-shirt and black jeans, can be seen approaching Mr Cox, sitting with his girlfriend and putting his face very close to his in an intimidating manner.

Later, as Mr Cox turns to attend to his sleeping friend, the attacker again approaches him, violently grabbing his hair before punching the back of his head.

Mr Cox's girlfriend pushed the stranger away as he goes to flee the carriage.

'What was the point of it? I've never met him in my life,' Mr Cox told Nine News.

Following the altercation, Mr Cox followed his attacker out to Preston train station to find a Protective Services Officer (PSO) to report the assault.

However, the shaken teenager was unable to find any officers and had to wait until the next stop, South Morang station, to report the attack.

'If I had seen PSOs, I would have definitely could have flagged them down and (the attacker) could have been caught there and then,' he said.

Police are now searching for Mr Cox's attacker, who is described as Caucasian with long wavy brown hair and is aged in his 20s.

Police are now searching for Mr Cox's attacker, who is described as Caucasian with long wavy brown hair and is aged in his 20s
More people are getting surgery to look like First Daughter and adviser to her father, Ivanka Trump

Ivanka Trump's politics might be controversial, but her face is popular.

Plastic surgeons say they're seeing an influx of people in their office wanting the 'Ivanka look' and not the 'Kardashian look.'

'The aesthetic look is moving nationally from a Kardashian type to an Ivanka Trump look - less done,' certified aesthetic nurse specialist Jill Caruso told the Hollywood Reporter.

Ivanka, with her slim nose, wide eyes, delicate cheekbones, and patrician look is winning out over the plumper, more sexualized look of the Kardashians, Gabriel Chiu of Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery in Los Angeles said.

'It's both facial and body features. People talk about her cheekbones, how proportionate her face is, the combined features of her eyes, nose and lips,' says Chiu.

Patients are interested in achieving the fullness of Ivanka's facial features, which can be bought with a fat-transfer procedure, says Chiu.

Plastic surgeons say that Ivanka's cheekbones and the 'proportion' of her face is attractive to women wanting to look like her

One surgeon says the overly-full Kardashian look is out, and the more elegant, refined look of Ivanka is in - girls in their 20s still want to look like Kylie, says one doc, but nationally the trend is moving from Kardashian to Trump

'The aesthetic look is moving nationally from a Kardashian type to an Ivanka Trump look - less done,' said certified aesthetic nurse specialist Jill Caruso

But the preference for a more subdued look might be generational. New York plastic surgeon Sharon Giese says it's older patients who are more interested in having their face like Trump.

'My patients in their 20s still want to look like Kylie Jenner, but those in their 30s to mid-40s are going for a softer, classic appearance, more like Ivanka Trump,' she told the outlet.

Chiu thinks the new demand for Ivanka's facial features has as much to do her accomplishments as her aesthetics.

'How many people have her look, went to an Ivy League school and hold their own in business and socially?' he asks.

'She's just a very classy pretty, which I admire' said Jenny Stuart, who got plastic surgery to look like Ivanka

In 2016, ABC News interviewed three Texas women who got plastic surgery to look like their idol, Ivanka.

'[Ivanka] looks amazing  and shes just a very classy pretty, which I admire,' Jenny Stuart told the outlet. Stuart got a Brazilian butt lift, a nose job, breast implants and injectable fillers for her face.
Employees of Fyre Festival creators Ja Rule and Billy McFarland have accused the pair of 'not caring' about the event being doomed to fail.

The unnamed former workers told Variety on Thursday that the pair refused to extend the launch date to give enough time to prepare, and were more concerned with 'being legends' than making a good event.

That came a day after the two were slapped with a third lawsuit accusing them of expecting disaster - but leaving the plaintiffs 'stuck on a remote island to fend for themselves' anyway.

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Sued: Ja Rule (left) and Billy McFarland (right) have been hit with a third lawsuit as a result of their disastrous Fyre Festival last week. The suit says they knew it was going to be a failure

Promotions: The pair promoted the event with photos of models such as Emily Ratajkowski (second from left) and Bella Hadid (third from left). But the reality was very different

Filed in New York's Second District Court by plaintiffs Matthew Herlihy and Anthony Lauriello, the suit demands unspecified damages for alleged negligence, fraud, misrepresentation.

According to Rolling Stone, it also claims violation of consumer protection laws in all 50 states - something that would allow anyone in the US to join the suit.

Herlihy and Lauriello say they spent $1,027 each on tickets to the festival. They also claim to have spent just under $1,000 each on pre-paid wristbands to spend at the event - wristbands that never arrived.

The pair are also suing for additional expenses caused by the cancellation of the festival, and Lauriello says his sneakers, headphones and pants were also stolen there due to lack of security.

The suit claims that the defendants 'were aware that they were in fact ill prepared for the festival' and 'misled and defrauded' the pair with 'false and fraudulent pretenses'.

It says Herlihy, Lauriello and class plaintiffs 'were stuck on a remote island to fend for themselves' 'in horrid conditions'.

As in the previous lawsuit, Ja Rule and McFarland are named as the defendants - but this suit also names Grant Margolin, the festival's 24-year-old chief marketing officer.

All three men were slammed by an unnamed pair of former employees in an interview with Variety on Thursday.

Reality: The 'festival' (pictured) lacked proper infrastructure and security, the new suit says. It is a class action suit but its present two plaintiffs each paid more than $1,000 to attend

Disaster: They also put around $1,000 on wristbands to spend at the festival - and have yet to receive them, the suit claims. They want unspecified damages

The pair said they were brought on board to produce the festival after the previous staff had been fired for complaining that the festival couldn't be done.

The problem? They were right, the duo claimed. But they said none of the men wanted to hear it.

They told the organizers to push back the date by a year, to give time to install infrastructure such as running water that should already have been in place six months prior.

It was like they didn't care: They literally kept saying, 'We're gonna be legends.'

'We said... "If you push the date a year, people will be upset. But once you deliver what you promised, they'll get over it."

'But it was like they didn't care: They literally kept saying, "We're gonna be legends."'

They added: 'I think they were just rich guys who had always been able to pay their way through things and pull them off somehow, and they just didnt understand that the timeline was too short and they didnt want to hear it.'

They stressed that Ja Rule was the least involved of the three - that McFarland was the 'decision maker' and that Margolin was far more involved.

'Genius': Employees claim that organizers, including Grant Margolin (pictured) 'didn't care' that it was going to fail. Margolin reportedly called himself a 'genius' and mocked the female workers for 'not smiling'

'The marketing person behind this entire thing is Grant,' one said. 'He kept saying in meetings, "I'm a marketing genius, I'm a prodigy - [the concerns] don't matter, we're gonna sell this and it's gonna be amazing."

'He said that over and over and over.

'And after we went down to the Bahamas to assess the situation and we realized there was no possible way [the festival] was going to happen, he told the man who hired us that he wasn't happy with [us] because we were a bunch of women who didn't smile enough.'

The two previous suits were filed in Los Angeles and named Ja Rule and McFarland as defendants.

The second of them, filed last Tuesday, potentially opened the door for the social media 'influencers', who were paid up to $250,000 per post to promote it, may also be on the hook.

They included Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski.

Wednesday's suit, like the two before it, is only in a putative stage - it remains to be seen whether any of them will be approved by the courts.
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Shocking before and after images show how Beijing has been left shrouded in dust.

Authorities have urged children and the elderly to remain indoors while around 48 flights from Beijing Capital International Airport have been cancelled so far today.

According to state media, visibility in the Chinese capital this morning was as low as one kilometere (0.6 miles).

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A massive difference: Shocking images show the Beijing skyline was changed by dust which shrouded the city

Horrifying: Buildings such as the CCTV building were barely visible this morning (May 4) following the dust storm

Dangerous: People in northern China were seen wearing masks and covering their faces as PM 10 particles hit a high level

Those who braved going outside were seen wearing masks and bandannas to cover their mouths and faces.

The level of PM10 particles hovered at around 900 which is 20 times the World Health Organisation's recommended daily maximum exposure.

High levels pose a threat to human health and the city urged children and the elderly to stay indoors.

Spencer Musick, an American expat living in the Chaoyangmen district of Beijing told MailOnline: 'I went to bed last night thinking the warnings must have been off, since the air quality was fine. But upon waking up this morning, it was impossible to see across the street.

'It just goes to show how quickly and drastically things can turn here.'

Alert for hazardous dust: A general view shows buildings seen through a heavy sandstorm in Beijing, China on May 4

Hazardous: People wear face masks as a dust storm hits Beijing with harmful particle levels reaching dangerous levels

According to the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the sandstorm originated in Mongolia

According to the People's Daily Online, parts of Beijing along with provinces in northern China will see the sandstorms last from today until Tomorrow.

Zhu Jiang, head of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said the sandstorms originated in Mongolia.

Locals have taken to Chinese social media to complain about the poor conditions.

One user said: 'Beijing is not suitable for human beings.'

While another commented: 'I turned on the air purifier at home on high speed but the level did not go down. I thought my purifier was broken but it's still the same after rebooting it twice.'

And one user said: 'I think I am pretty brave for riding a bike to work this morning.'
Smartphones seem to be increasing in size with each generation, but one firm has decided to take a different approach.

Jelly aims to become the world's smallest smartphone with a 4G connection, while remaining affordable and offering the same functionality as more expensive models.

And the $109 (85) handset could soon become a reality, after a crowd-funding campaign smashed its target.

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A full priced Jelly is will set you back $109 (85), but a pledge of $69 (54) or more will secure you a copy. The handset (pictured) is 0.5 inch (13.3mm) thick, 3.6 inch (92.3mm) long and 1.7 inch (43mm) wide

WHAT IS JELLY? Jelly is the brainchild of a group of Shanghai-based experts, with 10 years experience in designing and manufacturing smartphones. The handset, which its creators expect to function alongside larger smartphones rather than replacing them, is expected to start shipping by August this year. Jelly will be released in two versions, standard and pro. A full priced Jelly is will set you back $109 (85), but a pledge of $69 (54) or more will secure you an early device. The Jelly Pro is will retail for $125 (97), with a pledge of $95 (74) enough to get your hands on one. The handset is 0.5 inch (13.3mm) thick, 3.6 inch (92.3mm) long, 1.7 inch (43mm) wide Advertisement

Jelly is the brainchild of a group of Shanghai-based experts, with 10 years experience in designing and manufacturing smartphones.

The company, called Unihertz, previously created a miniature mobile dubbed the Micro X and have used feedback from consumers to improve upon their initial design.

Jelly will feature improved data connectivity, a faster processor, more memory and greater storage space.

The funding drive had vastly exceeded its goal at the time of publication, with 2,900 backers pledging $270,580 (210,000) of a $30,000 (23,000) goal, with 33 days still to go.

The handset, which its creators expect to function alongside larger smartphones rather than replacing them, is expected to start shipping by August this year.

People considering supporting the Kickstarter campaign can pledge and receive a handset ahead of its commercial release.

Jelly will be released in two versions, standard and pro.

A full priced Jelly is will set you back $109 (85), but a pledge of $69 (54) or more will secure you a copy.

The Jelly Pro is will retail for $125 (97), with a pledge of $95 (74) enough to get your hands on one.

A statement on the groups Kickstarter page said: 'Jelly is designed to be small, but for a reason!

'Whenever it is unnecessary to take a bulky and expensive phone with you, just put Jelly in the coin pocket.

'With our years of experience in the cellphone manufacturing industry, we are very confident with our process and production schedule for Jelly.

Jelly will be released in two versions, standard and pro but both will fit comfortably into the small coin pocket on a pair of jeans (pictured)

A group of Shanghai-based smartphone experts are launching a miniature handset called Jelly (pictured) which should hit shelves later this summer

'It isnt our first time around the block and we have a pretty good idea of what to expect.'

Jelly will feature 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage space, with the premium version offering slightly higher specs, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage.

Both versions will feature a powerful quad-core of 1.1 GHz processor.

And both will fit comfortably into the small coin pocket on a pair of jeans.

The Jelly Pro is will retail for $125 (97), with a pledge of $95 (74) enough to get your hands on one. Both handsets will feature a 2.45-inch 240x432 pixel display (pictured)

The mini-sized smartphone will run Android 7.0 Nougat and supports dual nano SIM, useful for people who regularly travel abroad.

Both handsets will feature a 2.45-inch, 240x432 pixel, LCD display.

Its 950mAh battery life should be enough to give the phone up to three days working time and a week's standby time on one charge.

It will be available in a range of colour options - Pearl White, Space Black and Sky Blue.

Jelly (pictured) will feature 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage space, with the premium version offering slightly higher specs, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage

The mini-sized smartphone will run Android 7.0 Nougat and supports dual nano SIM (pictured), useful for people who regularly travel abroad.
Every Illinois GOP Rep Voted To Repeal The Affordable Care Act

By Stephen Gossett in News on May 4, 2017 8:34PM



Getty Images / Photo: Mark Wilson

The House of Representatives voted by a just a tiny four-vote margin, 217-213, to advance their hyper-controversial plan to tear apart the Affordable Care Act. Among those in that slightest of majorities were each of the seven Republican representatives from Illinois. All Democratic congresspeople from Illinois voted against Trump and Ryan's revamped health care bill.

Several Republican lawmakers had remained defiantly mum in the run-up to the vote, right up until the votes were cast. Reps. Peter Roskam, Randy Hultgren and Adam Kinzinger all had all been publicly "undecided" and/or noncommittal prior to Thursday afternoon.

All four Illinois Congressman considered undecided voted for the GOP health care bill (Roskam, Bost, Hultgren, Kinzinger).  Michael Lansu (@mikelansu) May 4, 2017

Their decision to side with Trump on the health care bill is significant. The bill that advanced is deeply unpopular on the left and among many in the center and center-leftwhich has resulted in waves of protest against Roskam, Hultgren and Kinzinger from constituents at town halls. Roskam's seat in particular is potentially made more vulnerable by his controversial vote: his suburban Chicago district, which Hillary Clinton carried last year, is far from deep red.

He's probably gonna have this song stuck in his head for the foreseeable future. Take it away, Dems:

Democrats just sang "Na Na Na Na Hey Hey-ey Goodbye" on the House floor to Republicans who voted to repeal Obamacare pic.twitter.com/X5YjPwWS9m  BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) May 4, 2017

Hultgren in a statement vowed that people with pre-existing conditions are "protected," but he said the existing state of affairs needed changing. Maintaining the status quo under a failing law is simply unacceptable," Hultgren said. "I have had great concerns about this bill, and expressed those to Speaker Ryan and House leadership. But doing nothing isn't an option, which I why I supported this amended bill as an important next step in the longer process of broader health reform that will benefit Illinois."

All 11 Democratic reps meanwhile voted noor in the case of Rep. Jan Schakowsky, "HELL NO."

I just voted "HELL NO" on #Trumpcare.  Jan Schakowsky (@janschakowsky) May 4, 2017

Schakowsky slammed the vote in a statement:



House Republicans have done it. They have voted in favor of a horrible bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, they have opposed the will of the American people, they have ignored the warnings of doctors, nurses, and patient groups, and they have told their constituents that they care more about toeing the party line than protecting the health care of millions of Americans."

As did Rep. Luis GutiArrez, who compared the vote to historical blunders and acts of aggression:



"Watching Republicans celebrate as they stripped health care coverage from millions of Americans was angering. Taking political retribution against Obama is one thing, but what Republicans are doing is snatching health care coverage from sick people, families and the elderly to make a political point.



Attacking Pearl Harbor, firing on Fort Sumter and invading Iraq looked like good ideas to the perpetrators at the time. But in the end, they were huge blunders that harmed America and came back to haunt those who to took those actions. That is how I see this health care vote for Republicans. Republicans kicked a hornets nest and it is not too soon to begin saying goodbye to some of my Republican colleagues from moderate Districts, because this will cost them dearly."

The bill now moves to the Senate, where an up vote still appears far away, at least with the bill as is. Illinois Senators will clearly do Republicans no favors in getting it passed.

I will do everything in my power in the Senate to fight this bill.  Dick Durbin (@DickDurbin) May 4, 2017

Senator Tammy Duckworth said, "Its disgraceful that Republicans in Congress just passed a bill that would kick tens of millions of Americans off of their health insurance and force many more to pay higher out-of-pocket costs. Whats stunning is that Republicans also included a provision that would raise taxes on as many as 8 million Veterans and make it harder for them to afford their healthcare."

Back closer to home, Gov. Bruce Rauner was ambivalent at best. The state's top exec had been critical of past iterations of the billspecifically how it would fund Medicaid expansionsand he expressed the same misgivings on Thursday.

Rauner said in full in a statement:



The bill that passed in the U.S. House today continues to be of deep concern to our administration. Recent changes did not address fundamental concerns about the bill's impact on the 650,000 individuals that are part of our Medicaid expansion population, nor have those changes eased the concerns of the 350,000 people in the individual market who are dealing with skyrocketing premiums and fewer choices. We will continue to voice our concerns as the law moves to the Senate. The Affordable Care Act is a seriously flawed law that should be changed. Difficult as the task has proven, we are hopeful that our federal lawmakers will continue to work hard to get this right for the people of Illinois and our nation.

Rahm Emanuel stressed the importance of insuring those with preexisting conditions and said the bill, as is, will likely not get out of the Senate.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel doesn't think the U.S. Senate will follow suit and pass the Obamacare replacement bill that passed the House. pic.twitter.com/RvRmkPKxX9  Bill Ruthhart (@BillRuthhart) May 4, 2017

You can check out a good dive into the specifics of the new bill here. The bill allows states to waive three key provisions of the Affordable Care Act: the "essential health benefits;" the community rating that does the heavy lifting in keeping down costs for those with pre-existing conditions; and the age rating provision, intended to manage premium costs among older people. To woo over moderates, the new edition of the Trump/Ryan package also reportedly includes some $8 billion to help fund people with preexisting conditionsalthough that figure comes "nowhere close" to meeting commitments, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Something tells us that Roskam, Hultgren and Kinzinger will be reminded of that fact once or twice.
With phishing scams becoming more and more convincing, Google has introduced a new feature to make it easier for users to protect themselves.

The security feature for Gmail on Android will show a pop-up warning when users click on a suspicious link.

While users will still have the option to proceed to the website, Google hopes this warning will encourage people to be more cautious about links they click.

The move comes in the wake of a Google Docs phishing scam yesterday that gave Google customers access to the contents of emails, contact lists and online documents of victims.

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With phishing scams becoming more and more convincing, Google has introduced a new feature to make it easier for users to protect themselves. The new security feature for Gmail on Android will show a pop-up warning when users click on a suspicious link

THE UPDATE When users click on a suspicious link, Gmail will show a warning prompt . The message reads: 'The site you are trying to visit has been identified as forgery, intended to trick you into disclosing financial, personal, or other sensitive information.' Users will then have the option to either proceed to the website, or remove the message. Advertisement

Google revealed the new feature in a post on its G Suite updates blog.

The blog said: 'This week, we're introducing a new security feature in Gmail on Android to help you keep your email safer.

'When you click on a suspicious link in a message, Gmail will show a warning prompt helping you keep your account safe.'

The message will read: 'The site you are trying to visit has been identified as forgery, intended to trick you into disclosing financial, personal, or other sensitive information.'

Users will then have the option to either proceed to the website, or remove the message.

Google said: 'While not all affected email will necessarily be dangerous, we encourage you to be extra careful about clicking on links in messages that you're not sure about.

'And with this update, you'll have another tool to make these kinds of decisions.'

The update follows a malicious email that was flagged yesterday that included an invitation to view a Google Doc. Users are asked to click on a link, which provides the hackers access to the contents of their Google accounts, including email, contacts and online documents

PHISHING SCAM Clicking the malicious link takes users to a what looks like a Google-hosted page that presents them with a list of their accounts. The page asks users to select one of their accounts and provide an app called 'Google Docs'. Once you press 'allow', the Google Docs app, which was developed by the cyber trouble makers, can now sift through your emails and contacts, allowing it to continue the infected chain-mail. Although it may seem harmless, experts warn that these hackers now have access to your Google account and any personal information inside. Advertisement

Google says that the feature is gradually being rolled out, and will take a few days to reach all users worldwide.

It is unclear whether the feature will be rolled out to iOS users.

The update follows a malicious email that was flagged yesterday that included an invitation to view a Google Doc.

Users were asked to click on the link, which gave the hackers behind the attack access to the contents of their Google accounts, including email, contacts and documents.

Not only were victims' accounts controlled by a malicious party, but if users followed the instructions, the same email was sent to anyone they had ever emailed and their contacts.

The scam surfaced yesterday afternoon and appeared to first target journalists - many reporters from BuzzFeed, Hearst, New York Magazine and Gizmodo reported receiving the infected email.

The malicious emails appeared to be addressed to 'hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh@mailinator.com' with recipients BCCed.

Victims noted that the email sender may be someone you know or who is one of your contacts.

Users were asked to click on a link to view a document, which provided the hackers access to the contents of their Google accounts, including email, contacts and online documents, according to security experts who reviewed the scheme.

Clicking the malicious link took users to a real Google-hosted page that presents them with a list of their accounts,TechCrunch reported.

Clicking the malicious link takes users to a real Google-hosted page that presents them with a list of their accounts. The page asks users to select one of their accounts and provide an app called 'Google Docs'

Google has now addressed the issue, and said in a tweet that offending accounts had been disabled

The page asked users to select one of their accounts and provide an app called 'Google Docs'.

Once you pressed 'allow', the Google Docs app, which was developed by the cyber trouble makers, sifted through your emails and contacts, allowing it to continue the infected chain-mail.

Google has now addressed the issue, and said in a tweet that offending accounts had been disabled.

Once you press 'allow', the Google Docs app, which was developed by the cyber trouble makers, can now sift through your emails and contacts, allowing it to continue the infected chain-mail. Twitter users are sharing some of the emails to warn others of the scam

Although some may see this attack as nothing but spam, experts warn it is much more serious than that.

'This is a very serious situation for anybody who is infected because the victims have their accounts controlled by a malicious party,' said Justin Cappos, a cyber security professor at NYU Tandon School of Engineering.

And although some may see this attack as nothing but spam, as shared in some tweets, experts warn it is much more serious than that, as hackers are now able to get into user's Google accounts

Mr Cappos said he received seven of those malicious emails in three hours on Wednesday, an indication that the hackers were using an automated system to perpetuate the attacks.

He said he did not know the objective, but noted that compromised accounts could be used to reset passwords for online banking accounts or provide access to sensitive financial and personal data.
SpaceX wants to launch satellite internet in 2019 with initial test to be carried out by the end of this year, according to a hearing at the Senate in Washington.

Elon Musk's company plans to release more than 4,000 satellites into orbit in instalments between 2019 and 2024.

The plans will increase the number of satellites in space by 300 per cent and will create worldwide internet that could offer speeds of up to one gigabit per second - which is around 100 times faster than current home broadband.

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Elon Musk's company SpaceX plans to release 4,000 satellites into orbit in instalments between 2019 and 2024 with initial test to be carried out by the end of this year (stock image)

SPACEX BUILDING THE INTERNET IN SPACE SpaceX wants to launch satellite internet in 2019 with initial test to be carried out by the end of this year. Each satellite in SpaceX's planned group will weigh about 850 lbs (386 kg). They will orbit at altitudes ranging from 715 miles (1,150 km) to 790 miles (1,275 km). From this height each satellite will be able to cover an area on the ground about around 1,300 miles (2,120 km) wide. The project, which Musk previously said would cost at least $10 billion (8.03 billion), was first announced in January 2015. Advertisement

In a Senate hearing on US Broadband infrastructure, the SpaceX vice president of government affairs, Patricia Cooper, revealed that the company wanted to launch their operations in 2019.

The network of satellites could provide 'fiber-like' speeds for a large area, according to Ms Cooper.

The first rocket to go up will be the Falcon 9 rocket, which was designed from the outset to deliver humans into space.

Ms Cooper also said the company would like to see more funding for projects that increase broadband speed

In November last year an application was filed by SpaceX with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to send this army of satellites into space.

The California-based company, owned and operated by technology entrepreneur Elon Musk, has proposed an orbiting digital communications array that would eventually consist of 4,425 satellites, the documents show.

The project would bring high-speed internet to all corners of the globe, vastly undercutting existing services in coverage and cost.

The satellites will orbit at altitudes ranging from 715 miles (1,150 km) to 790 miles (1,275 km). From this height each satellite will be able to cover an area on the ground spanning about around 1,300 miles (2,120 km)

NASA'S LASERS Last month Nasa announced it is releasing a powerful laser that could provide internet at a speed of one gigabit per second by 2019. This could enable much higher data rates for connections between spacecraft and Earth, including downloading scientific data and allowing astronauts to send better video messages back home. It will provide connection speeds 10 to 100 times faster than home broadband. This would also pave the way for 3D video from space and enable high definition remote robotic exploration of other moons and planets. While such speeds are possible through conventional fibre optics back here on Earth, it is likely to be the best part of a decade before they are seen in most homes. Advertisement

'The system is designed to provide a wide range of broadband and communications services for residential, commercial, institutional, governmental and professional users worldwide,' SpaceX wrote in its application.

Last month Nasa announced it is releasing a powerful laser that could provide internet at a speed of one gigabit per second by 2019.

This could enable much higher data rates for connections between spacecraft and Earth, including downloading scientific data and allowing astronauts to send better video messages back home.

It would also pave the way for 3D video from space and enable high definition remote robotic exploration of other moons and planets.

SpaceX's satellite project, which Musk previously said would cost at least $10 billion (8.03 billion), was first announced in January 2015.

The documents, which include technical details of the proposed network, did not mention cost estimates or financing plans.

Financial backers of the company include Alphabet's Google Inc and Fidelity Investments, which together have contributed $1 billion (0.8bn) to Musk's space launch firm.

'Today, 4.2 billion people (or 57 per cent of the world's population) are offline for a wide range of reasons', according to a report by the UN Broadband Commission earlier this year.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk (pictured) unveiling his plans to colonize Mars during the International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, on September 27, 2016

Getting high-speed internet to the masses would not be easy, which is why SpaceX would need to launch such a large number of satellites.

According to a database by the Union of Concerned Scientists, there are 1,419 active satellites currently orbiting Earth, so SpaceX's fleet would make it five times bigger.

But the satellites proposed by SpaceX will not look like the satellites that currently orbit Earth.

Each satellite in SpaceX's planned group will weigh about 850 lbs (386 kg) and be roughly the size of a Mini Cooper.

The system will be able to provide broadband service at speeds of up to 1 Gbps per end user, the application says. The aim of this network of satellites would be to provide high-speed internet to people around the world

They will orbit at altitudes ranging from 715 miles (1,150 km) to 790 miles (1,275 km).

From this height each satellite will be able to cover an area on the ground about around 1,300 miles (2,120 km) wide.

The proposed SpaceX network would begin with the launch of about 800 satellites to expand internet access in the United States, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the FCC filings showed.

Similar internet-via-satellite networks are under development by privately owned OneWeb and by Boeing.

Such a system would provide a space-based alternative to cable, fibre-optics and other terrestrial internet access currently available.




A mysterious new video has emerged which conspiracy theorists believe may show a UFO in the sky over France.

An unusual cigar-shaped object, which radiates beams of light, was spotted near Paris, and experts believe it resembles objects previously seen over China and Australia.

It is unclear what the object is, and the uploader has admitted that it could be a 'full blown hoax.'

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A mysterious new video has emerged which conspiracy theorists believe may show a UFO in the sky over France

SIGHTINGS IN CHINA AND AUSTRALIA In a follow-up video, Secureteam10 drew comparisons between the sighting over Paris and previous sightings in China and Australia. In 2010, a similar cigar-shaped object was spotted in the sky over an airport in China that caused the airport to shut down. A news report by ABC news claimed that the strange sighting caused the Xiaoshan Airport to 'stop operations' on July 7, 2010. Tyler Glockner, who runs the site, also referred back to a previous UFO sighting over the Gold Coast of Australia in early 2014. He said: 'Again we see what looks like a very similar UFO, hovering over the beach, in an eerie display, that truly makes the hairs on my neck stand up.' Advertisement

The footage was posted on YouTube by Secureteam10, a well-known conspiracy channel that regularly posts supposed UFO sightings.

In the video, Tyler Glockner, who runs Secureteam10 explains that the footage was sent to him in an email, and that the sender did not have much information on it, other than the fact that it was recorded near Paris within the last week.

Mr Glockner said: 'I've done a bit of digging since I received it, and haven't been able to find a copy of the original video.

'So I don't know, it could be a full blown hoax.'

Nigel Watson, author of the UFO Investigations Manual, told MailOnline: 'It is always a danger sign when a video or picture of a UFO is from an anonymous source with little supporting information or eyewitness testimony.

'In this case it is a video from "France", which isn't very helpful.'

The unusual cigar-shaped object, which radiates beams of light, was spotted near Paris, and experts believe it resembles objects previously spotted over China and Australia

In a follow-up video, Secureteam10 drew comparisons between the sighting over Paris and previous sightings in China and Australia.

In 2010, a similar cigar-shaped object was spotted in the sky over an airport in China that caused the airport to shut down.

A news report by ABC news claimed that the strange sighting caused the Xiaoshan Airport to 'stop operations' on July 7, 2010.

LINKS BETWEEN CONSPIRACY, NARCISSISM AND SELF-ESTEEM Over the course of three online-based studies, researchers at the University of Kent showed strong links between the belief in conspiracy theories and these psychological traits. The results showed that those people who rated highly on the narcissism scale and who had low self-esteem were more likely to be conspiracy believers. However, while low self-esteem, narcissism and belief in conspiracies are strongly linked, it is not clear that one - or a combination - causes the other. But it hints at an interesting new angle to the world of conspiracy and those who reinforce belief. Advertisement

Mr Glockner said: 'This looks like the exact same UFO.'

'It's undeniable that this is either the exact same craft, or something similar to it.'

Mr Glockner also referred back to a previous UFO sighting over the Gold Coast of Australia in early 2014.

He said: 'Again we see what looks like a very similar UFO, hovering over the beach, in an eerie display, that truly makes the hairs on my neck stand up.'

While it is unclear what the objects are, Mr Glockner is optimistic that we will soon find out.

He added: 'At least with these two other UFO sightings we are corroborating the Paris sighting much more.

In 2010, a similar cigar-shaped object was spotted in the sky over an airport in China that caused the airport to shut down

A news report by ABC news claimed that the strange sighting caused the Xiaoshan Airport to 'stop operations' on July 7, 2010

'I am definitely starting to lean towards us truly having a bonafide, smoking-gun UFO sighting here.'

But Mr Watson is not so convinced.

He added: 'Secureteam 10 link it to a 2010 UFO story from China, that is one big leap of the imagination for most of us but is very easy for the UFO obsessed Secureteam who have a loose grip on reality.

'To me, the French images look like they were filmed through a window and are reflecting lights inside the room; as they are just lights it is hard to say without further evidence.

'As for the Chinese UFO of 2010, this has a few mundane explanations, some say it was a private aircraft or the launch of a DF-21 missile fired at the Gobi desert.'

The conspiracy theorist also referred back to a previous UFO sighting over the Gold Coast of Australia in early 2014
A rich Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp is the most delicious pudding to eat in space, according to a Nasa culinary competition.

Taste buds are diminished in space so bold flavours in the winning recipe such as coconut sugar and orange zest go down particularly well.

The high-flying dessert will now be sent to the International Space station for astronauts to enjoy themselves.

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The winning team at the Nasa culinary competition made a Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp which will now be flown to the International Space Station

INGREDIENTS 1 cup all-purpose flour  cup old-fashioned rolled oats  cup coconut sugar  tsp salt 5 2/3 Tbsp unsalted butter margarine blend, cold and diced into small pieces 2 tsp vanilla extract 1  lbs fresh strawberries, stemmed and sliced in to 3 pieces, 2 if small 1 lb fresh rhubarb, sliced in to  in. pieces 2 tbsp + 2 tsp sugar 2 tsp orange zest  cup orange juice 4 tbsp cornstarch Advertisement

'We prepared a strawberry rhubarb crisp, a classic New England dish,' said Angelina Violante who was part of the winning team from Ulster County Boces Career and Technical Center in Port Ewen, New York.

'The fresh strawberries and rhubarb give it a spring and summery vibe. There is a really bold flavour to it', she said at the event, which was held in the Nasa Space Centre in Houston.

'Through our research, we realised that the astronauts' taste buds get diminished in space, so the bold flavour really carries through.'

More than ten teams of secondary school students competed in the final round in Houston after 28 teams competed in the regional competitions.

The winning recipe will be made shelf stable through processing in the Space Food Systems Laboratory and then packaged to go on the next cargo flight to the space station.

The panel of judges included astronaut Karen Nyberg, representatives from the International Space Station Program as well as professional chefs.

More than ten teams competed in the final round at the Nasa Space Centre in Houston. The winning recipe will be packaged to go on the next cargo flight to the space station

HOW TO MAKE THE SPACE DESSERT Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, oats, coconut sugar, sugar and salt, breaking any clumps of sugar. Add butter/margarine blend and vanilla and rub into mixture until it comes together in crumbles and no clumps of butter remain. Transfer to refrigerator while preparing filling. In a mixing bowl, toss together strawberries and rhubarb. In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together orange juice, orange zest and cornstarch until well blended. Pour in to mixing bowl with strawberries and rhubarb; toss together again. Spread mixture evenly in to a 3-quart baking dish. Remove crumble from refrigerator and sprinkle evenly over the top. Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes until the juices bubble and the crisp is golden brown. Advertisement

For over 50 years, the methods involved in the preservation process have evolved.

Astronauts have gone from eating seed and crackers to home-cooked style dishes including shrimp, Spanish rice for a 'paella in space' dish and even ice cream.

Nutrition in space is incredibly complicated.

Everything from the packaging to the menu has to be meticulously evaluated as the food must balance nutrition, flavour, and safety with more practical concerns such as preparation time, size, and shelf life.

Before food is approved, astronauts make up a panel that tastes the food and gives it a final OK on Earth before it blasts off.

The panel of judges (pictured) included astronaut Karen Nyberg, representatives from the International Space Station Program as well as professional chefs

EFFECTS OF SPACE ON APPETITE Weightlessness affects almost every system in the body, including those of the bones, muscles, heart and blood vessels, and nerves. The top priority is to ensure that the astronauts get the proper amount of nutrients, calories and minerals to maintain their physical health and performance for the life of the mission. Calorie requirements differ for astronauts. For instance, a small woman would require only about 1,900 calories a day, while a large man would require about 3,200 calories - about 800 more than on Earth. Also, the lack of gravity means smell and taste are impaired. Advertisement

On the International Space Station, astronauts have the choice of roughly 200 items for their meals, and even get a special Thanksgiving dinner including turkey, candied yams, and cornbread.

Foods are either partially or completely dehydrated to prevent them from spoiling.

Meals are organised by the order in which astronauts are going to eat them, and stored in locker trays held by a net so they won't float away.

Astronauts heat foods in a forced-air convection oven that's kept between 160 and 170F. It takes about 20 to 30 minutes to re-hydrate and heat an average meal.

Aside from keeping the astronauts' bellies full, food plays another vital role - keeping up morale.

Calorie requirements differ for astronauts. For instance, a small woman would require only about 1,900 calories a day, while a large man would require about 3,200 calories - about 800 more than on Earth.

Research into the next generation of space food is currently underway, as humanity turns its gaze towards Mars.
In 2014, Lockheed Martin announced that it was working on a nuclear fusion reactor small enough to fit on the back of a truck.

Many said the device could 'solve the world's energy crisis'.

But it seems the firm may be facing some issues living up to its claims.

An updated technical report shows that Lockheed's fusion reactor is 100 times larger than it originally planned, weighing a huge 2,000 tons.

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In 2014, Lockheed Martin announced that it was working on a nuclear fusion reactor small enough to fit on the back of a truck (artist's impression pictured). But it seems the firm may be facing some issues living up to its claims

HOW DOES FUSION POWER WORK? Fusion involves placing hydrogen atoms under high heat and pressure until they fuse into helium atoms. When deuterium and tritium nuclei - which can be found in hydrogen - fuse, they form a helium nucleus, a neutron and a lot of energy. This is done by heating the fuel to temperatures in excess of 150 millionC, forming a hot plasma. Strong magnetic fields are used to keep the plasma away from the walls so that it doesn't cool down and lose its energy potential. These are produced by superconducting coils surrounding the vessel, and by an electrical current driven through the plasma. For energy production, plasma has to be confined for a sufficiently long period for fusion to occur. Advertisement

Dr Matthew J Moynihan, a self-proclaimed 'Nuclear Fusion Evangelist' from Houston has released technical specifications on Lockheed's fusion reactor project.

While Lockheed Martin claimed in 2014 that the reactor would weigh 20 tons, the new specification shows that it will weigh 2,000 tons.

In terms of size, it is seven metres in diameter, and 18 metres long  similar in size to a submarine nuclear fission reactor.

In a blog, Mr Moynihan wrote: 'Based on the newest numbers - the CFR is not as compact as we had thought.

'The core looks to be over 50 feet long and 20 feet in diameter.

'A hot plasma will sit inside this ~16.3 cubic meter space.

'That is enough space to fit two yellow school buses, with some extra room.

Nuclear fusion involves placing hydrogen atoms under high heat and pressure until they fuse into helium atoms.

When deuterium and tritium nuclei - which can be found in hydrogen - fuse, they form a helium nucleus, a neutron and a lot of energy.

This is done by heating the fuel to temperatures in excess of 150 millionC, forming a hot plasma.

Strong magnetic fields are used to keep the plasma away from the walls so that it doesn't cool down and lose its energy potential.

Neutrons released from plasma (seen here in purple) transfer heat through reactor walls to drive a turbine

These are produced by superconducting coils surrounding the vessel, and by an electrical current driven through the plasma.

For energy production, plasma has to be confined for a sufficiently long period for fusion to occur.

Lockheed's system features a tube-like design, which allows them to get around one of the limitations of traditional fusion reactor designs, that are limited by the amount of plasma they can hold.

Lockheed has found a way to constrain the plasma, using what is called a compact fusion reactor (CFR) with a specifically shaped magnetic field inside.

Lockheed's system features a tube-like design, which allows them to get around one of the limitations of traditional fusion reactor designs, that are limited by the amount plasma they can hold

When the plasma tries to expand, the magnetic field fights back to contain it. In effect, this means the plasma works to contain itself.

But when the firm first announced its plans for the tiny reactor, people were skeptical about it.

Dr Joel Gilmore, Principal at Renewable Energy & Climate Policy at Roam Consulting said: 'Certainly, I'd welcome fusion as part of the world's energy mix, but this announcement is a long way from a working prototype, let alone a commercially viable power generator.

Strong magnetic fields are used to keep the plasma away from the walls so that it doesn't cool down and lost it energy potential. These are produced by superconducting coils surrounding the vessel, and by an electrical current driven through the plasma

'Fusion requires incredibly high temperatures and pressures, which is challenging, and a lot of people have been working on fusion for a long time. So I won't get too excited yet.'

Lockheed had hoped that its fusion reactor could help in developingnew power sources amid increasing global conflicts over energy.
Researchers have discovered that the Ice Age drove the evolution of small, hand-standing skunks.

The skunks learned to protect themselves from the harsh climate of the Ice Age by living in different climate refuges.

This drove the evolution of three distinct genetic groups of skunk, and it could offer clues on how to protect animals facing climate change today.

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Western spotted skunks' coats are a pattern of black and white swirls, and when they spray they usually do a hand-stand with their hind legs and tail in the air, as they spray foul-smelling chemicals to ward off predators

Western spotted skunks weigh about two pounds and are smaller than the striped species.

Their coats are a pattern of black and white swirls, and when they spray they usually do a hand-stand with their hind legs and tail in the air, as they spray foul-smelling chemicals to ward off predators.

They're found throughout the US and Mexico in different climates, from Oregon's temperate rainforests to the Sonoran, the hottest desert in Mexico.

There are three genetic sub groups, called clades, of western spotted skunks.

Clades often develop when a species is split up by geography.

For example, if a species is separated by a mountain range, the groups on either side of the mountain may split up from each other genetically.

But the division of the skunks into three clades doesn't seem to have been driven only by geographical barriers, as populations separated by mountains are almost genetically identical.

There are three genetic sub groups, called clades, of western spotted skunks. Clades often develop when a species is split up by geography. Researchers think that instead of the three clades having arisen due to geographical barriers, they actually arose due to climate change associated with the Ice Age. Patches of suitable climate for the skunks, called climate refugia, may have caused the change instead

Instead, the skunks vary genetically from one historic climate region to another due to climate change associated with the Ice Age.

WESTERN SPOTTED SKUNKS: FACTS Western spotted skunks weigh about two pounds and are smaller than the striped species. Their coats are a pattern of black and white swirls, and when they spray they usually do a hand-stand with their hind legs and tail in the air, as they spray foul-smelling chemicals to ward off predators. They're found throughout the US and Mexico in different climates, from Oregon's temperate rainforests to the Sonoran, the hottest desert in Mexico. The lead author of the study Dr Adam Ferguson (pictured) said that studying skunks comes at a cost. 'They stink, even their tissues stink, and you run the risk of getting sprayed,' he said. Advertisement

'By analyzing western spotted skunk DNA, we learned that Ice Age climate change played a crucial role in their evolution,' says lead author Dr Adam Ferguson, Collections Manager of Mammals at The Field Museum in Chicago and affiliate of Texas Tech University.

'Over the past million years, changing climates isolated groups of spotted skunks in regions with suitable abiotic conditions, giving rise to genetic sub-divisions that we still see today.'

Dr Ferguson said that western spotted skunks have been around for a million years, since the Pleistocene Ice Age.

'During the Ice Age, western North America was mostly covered by glaciers, and there were patches of suitable climates for the skunks separated by patches of unsuitable climates.

'These regions are called climate refugia.

'When we analyzed the DNA of spotted skunks living today, we found three groups that correspond to three different climate refugia.'

'That means that for spotted skunk evolution, climate change appears to have been a more important factor than geographical barriers,' said Dr Ferguson.

To conduct the study, scientists used DNA samples from 97 skunks from a variety of regions and climates in the American Southwest.

When the researchers sequenced the DNA, they were surprised to see that skunks split into three clades based on areas of suitable climate.

'Small carnivores like skunks haven't been well-studied when it comes to historical climate change,' says Dr Ferguson.

'We know how small mammals like rodents respond to changing climates, and we know how bigger carnivores like wolves respond, but this study helps bridge the gap between them.'

When researchers analyzed the DNA of spotted skunks living today, they found three groups that correspond to three different climate refugia - patches of suitable climate for the skunks during the Ice Age. In this image, each color represents one of the three distinct clades

Dr Ferguson also said that skunks don't deserve the bad reputation they get.

'Skunks are a really interesting family of North American carnivores - they're well-known, but not well-studied.

'And studying them comes with a cost - they stink, even their tissues stink, and you run the risk of getting sprayed.

'But they're important to their ecosystems - for example, they eat insects and rodents that damage our crops,' he says.

To conduct the study, scientists used DNA samples from 97 skunks from a variety of regions and climates in the American Southwest. Some of the samples came from roadkill

Dr Ferguson says that the study ultimately highlights the issue of biodiversity in the face of climate change, which will become more and more important as human-caused climate change affects more animal's across the world.

'What we know about the past can inform what we expect to see in the future,' says Dr Ferguson.

'Understanding these genetic subdivisions that happened as a result of changing climatic conditions can help us conserve skunks and other animals in the future.'
If astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft encounter an emergency situation during launch, a life-saving abort system will activate within milliseconds to steer the crew module away from danger.

NASA has now completed tests on the Launch Abort Systems altitude control motor, further readying the craft for a crewed mission to Mars.

The motor is equipped with eight valves that, combined, can exert up to 7,000 pounds of steering force.

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If astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft encounter an emergency situation during launch, a life-saving ab ort system will activate within milliseconds to steer the crew module away from danger. NASA has now completed tests on the Launch Abort Systems altitude control motor

THE EM-1 MISSION Nasa's Orion, stacked on a Space Launch System rocket capable of lifting 70 metric tons will launch from a newly refurbished Kennedy Space Center in November 2018. The uncrewed Orion will travel into Distant Retrograde Orbit, breaking the distance record reached by the most remote Apollo spacecraft, and then 30,000 miles farther out (275,000 total miles). The mission will last 22 days and was originally designed to test system readiness for future crewed operations. Advertisement

The altitude control motor is one of three motors in the Launch Abort System.

It uses a solid propellant gas generator, and has eight equally space valves around its three-foot-wide body.

Footage of a recent test fire reveals how it can successfully exert steering force in any given direction upon command  a critical safety enhancement, the space agency explains.

In preparation for a crewed mission, the Orion team is also working to shave the crew modules barrel down to a lighter weight.

The barrel arrived at Ingersoll Machine Tools in Rockford, Illinois weighing roughly 12,000 pounds  and, before it is sent to NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, theyll trim it to just 880lbs.

But, despite the progress, Orions first mission may be faced with delays.

While NASA was initially working toward a November 2018 goal, a report from the US Government Accountability Office found that the SLS rocket, the Orion capsule, and the Exploration Ground Systems are all facing challenges.

And, they say these likely cant be solved with the time and money currently available to the program.

While President Trump has expressed plans to prioritize manned missions to deep space, NASA officials have agreed with the reports conclusion that the launch date for the EM-1 mission  the uncrewed precursor to human exploration  is likely unachievable.

In a letter to the GAO, NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations Bill Gerstenmaier said that, despite some things cited in the report that are no longer concerns, new problems have also arisen.

In preparation for a crewed mission, the Orion team is also working to shave the crew modules barrel down to a lighter weight. The barrel arrived at Ingersoll Machine Tools in Rockford, Illinois weighing roughly 12,000 pounds  and theyll trim it to just 880lbs

Because of this, he says the overall conclusions are valid, and notes that the space agency is now rethinking the launch date.

Programs in this phase of development are extremely dynamic with critical path for development switching between elements, Gerstenmaier, wrote.

Issues that appear initially to have major schedule impacts can sometimes be mitigated with no impact, and new problems that will drive schedule.

We agree with the GAO that maintaining a November 2018 launch readiness date is not in the best interest of the program, and we are in the process of establishing a new target in 2019.

The report found several major issues that could delay the launch date.

A report from the US Government Accountability Office found that the SLS rocket, the Orion capsule, and the Exploration Ground Systems are all facing challenges that likely cant be solved with the time and money currently available to the program

Despite working toward a November 2018 goal, NASAs first launch of the Space Launch System megarocket will likely be pushed back to 2019

The Orion programs European Service Module, for example, is late.

The SLS program was disrupted by a tornado, which ripped through New Orleans, and the Michoud Assembly Facility, this past February.

And, the report notes that the program had to stop welding on the core stage after identifying low weld strengths.

Along with this, the EGS program is considering conducting complex hardware installation and testing.

With low cost reserves and a tight schedule, the report says the 2018 launch date is unrealistic.

While the Orion, SLS, and EGS programs are working toward a target EM-1 launch readiness date of November 2018, the threats to each programs schedule continue to mount, and the schedule reserve of each program is either very limited or non-existent, the report concluded.

In addition, as the target EM-1 launch readiness date nears  now less than two years away  the flexibility of the schedule to allow for replanning is likewise reduced.

TRUMP'S MANNED MOON MISSION NASAs top staff was given instructions to assess the feasibility of sending humans to space with the first flight of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. The mission was originally designed to be uncrewed, and was set to launch in 2018. In a press conference, officials leading the study revealed the evaluations are now well underway, and theyve already created a 'hard, crisp list' of everything that will need to change from a hardware standpoint in order to add crew. NASAs top staff was given instructions to assess the feasibility of sending humans to space with the first flight of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft But, so far, the team says theyre sticking to their baseline plan for EM-1, and will let the let the data drive any decisions moving forward. It will see Nasa's Orion, stacked on a Space Launch System rocket capable of lifting 70 metric tons will launch from a newly refurbished Kennedy Space Center in November 2018. The uncrewed Orion will travel into Distant Retrograde Orbit, breaking the distance record reached by the most remote Apollo spacecraft, and then 30,000 miles farther out (275,000 total miles). The mission will last 22 days and was originally designed to test system readiness for future crewed operations. Advertisement

In February, NASAs top staff was given instructions to assess the feasibility of sending humans to space with the first flight of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft.

The mission was originally designed to be uncrewed, and was set to launch in 2018.

In a press conference today, officials leading the study revealed the evaluations are now well underway, and theyve already created a 'hard, crisp list' of everything that will need to change from a hardware standpoint in order to add crew.

But, so far, the team says theyre sticking to their baseline plan for EM-1, and will let the let the data drive any decisions moving forward.

As of now though, it looks as though the launch date for the mission, manned or unmanned, will be later than first planned.
In its ongoing battle with Apple, Qualcomm could soon seek a ban on iPhones being imported to the US just months before the highly anticipated iPhone 8 is set to be released.

The report comes after Apple had revealed it would stop paying royalties to the chip-maker, as the firm believed it had been overcharged by 'billions of dollars' in Qualcomm's 'illegal scheme'.

The two firms have been in a legal battle since January, which was a result of the FTC accusing Qualcomm of engaging in 'anticompetitive patent licensing practices'.

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In its ongoing battle with Apple, Qualcomm could soon seek a ban on iPhones (pictured are the iPhone 6 and 6s) being imported to the US from Asia just months before the highly anticipated iPhone 8 is set to be released

THE LEGAL DISPUTE In January, Apple had accused Qualcomm of abusing its market power to demand unfair royalties. Apple said in the court filing that it has been overcharged 'billions of dollars' by its chip-making partner's 'illegal scheme.' The company also claimed Qualcomm owes it a billion dollars, but is refusing to pay due to Apple cooperating with South Korean antitrust regulators looking into the company. The legal dispute focuses on patents Qualcomm has that gives it the power to charge a percentage of the price of every modern high-speed data-capable smartphone, regardless of whether the devices use its chips. And Apple believes this system is unfair and the chip-maker used its power to 'illegally help its semiconductor unit', Bloomberg reported. Then in April, Apple announced that it would stop paying Qualcomm for stop paying royalties to the chip-maker. Advertisement

The news of a ban was revealed by Bloomberg, which spoke with a person familiar with the company's strategy who said Qualcomm plans to hit Apple hard by asking the International Trade Commission to ban imports of iPhones to the US.

The move comes months after Apple had accused the California chip-maker of abusing its market power to demand unfair royalties.

Apple said in the court filing that it had been overcharged 'billions of dollars' by its chip-making partner's 'illegal scheme.'

The company also claimed Qualcomm owes it a billion dollars, but is refusing to pay due to Apple cooperating with South Korean antitrust regulators looking into the company.

'For many years Qualcomm has unfairly insisted on charging royalties for technologies they have nothing to do with,' Apple said in an email statement.

'To protect this business scheme Qualcomm has taken increasingly radical steps, most recently withholding nearly $1 billion in payments from Apple as retaliation for responding truthfully to law enforcement agencies investigating them.'

Qualcomm rejected Apple's claims, saying the iPhone maker 'intentionally mischaracterized' agreements as well as the value of the company's technology.

'Apple has been actively encouraging regulatory attacks on Qualcomm's business in various jurisdictions around the world... by misrepresenting facts and withholding information,' Qualcomm general counsel Don Rosenberg said in a statement.

'We welcome the opportunity to have these meritless claims heard in court.'

The legal dispute focuses on patents Qualcomm has that gives it the power to charge a percentage of the price of every modern high-speed data-capable smartphone, regardless of whether the devices use its chips.

The move comes months after Apple had accused the California chip-maker of abusing its market power to demand unfair royalties in January. Apple said in the court filing that it had been overcharged 'billions of dollars' by its chip-making partner's 'illegal scheme

And Apple believes this system is unfair and the chip-maker used its power to 'illegally help its semiconductor unit', Bloomberg reported.

Because Apple believes the system it is unfair, it has decided to put a stop to all royalties to Qualcomm.

Although banning the iPhone from the US would be a big blow to Apple, if Qualcomm continues down this path for the rest of the year, almost one-third of its licensing revenue will vanish.

And the chip-maker cut its revenue outlook this quarter by $500 million, based on Apple not paying its licensee fees.

The news was of a ban was revealed by Bloomberg , which spoke with a person familiar with the company's strategy who said Qualcomm plans to hit Apple hard by asking the International Trade Commission to ban imports of iPhones

'We strongly believe we're in the right. And I'm sure they believe that they are,' Apple CEO Time Cook said of the dispute with Qualcomm.

'And that's what courts are for. And so we'll let it go with that.'

In the end, it seems that the real loser would be the consumers.

If the ban is granted, there will be more than 80 million iOS users who will be barred from purchasing the iPhone 8 - which is said to be nothing like Apple has ever release before.
The rise of the robots will, some believe, lead to hundreds of thousands losing their jobs to AIs.

However, Alphabet executive chairman Eric Schmidt has revealed he is an 'AI denier'.

'I've taken the position of 'job elimination denier,' he told an audience at MIT according to CNBC.

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Alphabet executive chairman Eric Schmidt told an audience at MIT 'I've taken the position of 'job elimination denier,' claiming there's no question that there's job dislocation.'

'I've just decided I'm going to be contrarian, because the data supports me, and it's more fun to be in opposition anyway,' he said.

Still, 'there's no question that there's job dislocation. But there [are] always new solutions,' he said.

'The economic folks would say that you can see the job that's lost, but you very seldom can see the job that's created.'

Artificial Intelligence has been described as a threat that could be 'more dangerous than nukes'.

Stark warning: Professor Stephen Hawking says we must be vigilant about artificial intelligence

One group of scientists and entrepreneurs, including Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking, have signed an open letter promising to ensure AI research benefits humanity.

The letter warns that without safeguards on intelligent machines, mankind could be heading for a dark future.

The document, drafted by the Future of Life Institute, said scientists should seek to head off risks that could wipe out mankind.

The authors say there is a 'broad consensus' that AI research is making good progress and would have a growing impact on society.

WILL A ROBOT TAKE YOUR JOB? From translator droids in Star Wars to robotic maids in The Jetsons, many sci-fi visions of the future involve robots working instead of humans. Now theres a calculator that can tell you whether a computer is likely to make you redundant. It reveals that robots are most likely to take peoples accountancy and telemarketing jobs, whereas nuclear engineers, for example will probably keep their roles. Advertisement

Schmidt also hit out as US Visa limits.

'The stupidest policy in the entire American political system was the limit on H-1B visas,' Schmidt said.

'We want the best people in the world, regardless of any form of sex, race, country, what-have-you. We want them to work for us and not our competitors,' he said.

Policy restrictions like that make it more difficult for U.S. companies to remain competitive, he claims.

'We should organize our country to be the most attractive place for those people. Stupid government policies that restrict us from [having] a fair chance of getting those people are antithetical to our mission [and] the things we serve.'
A packed tourist plane was involved in a terrifying drama this week when it plummeted some 18,000 feet before making an emergency landing in Crete, with one passenger claiming on social media afterwards that they 'nearly crashed'.

Panicking passengers claimed the aircraft's engines had stalled, leading to the rapid loss of altitude, but it was reported later that the crew had initiated an emergency descent due to a problem with cabin pressure.

The Nordwind Airbus A321-200, which was travelling from Greece to St.Petersburg, had climbed to 25,000 feet when the problem arose.

Then, the aircraft fell to 7,000 feet over the Mediterranean before returning to Greece's Heraklion Airport some 40 minutes after departure.

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Terrified: Passengers emerge from the aircraft visibly shaken after the landing in Heraklion

The incident follows severe turbulence on an Aeroflot flight, this week, when two dozen passengers suffered injuries including broken bones after being 'spun around like in a washing machine' as a Boeing 777 was preparing to land in Bangkok.

A shaken passenger on the Nordwind plane, bound for St Petersburg, wrote on social media: 'Friends, we nearly crashed. To be more precise, we fell about three kilometres.'

In fact, The Aviation Herald reported an 18,000 ft drop - almost 5km - and passengers said that despite reported cabin pressure problems, oxygen masks were not released.

Professor Dmitry Gavra, from St Petersburg, described 'unpleasant minutes' before the pilot 'levelled up' and 'managed to approach Crete again at low altitude'.

Children were crying and suffered severe ear pains due to the sudden loss in altitude, he said.

He described the drama as a rapid loss of altitude without turbulence - sudden, and for quite a while, it didn't feel like turbulence.

Not-so-friendly skies: An Airbus a321 of Nordwind Airlines pictured mid-flight

Fearful: Professor Dmitry Gavra, from St Petersburg, described 'unpleasant minutes' before the pilot 'levelled up' and 'managed to approach Crete again at low altitude'

'I am particularly sorry for children - the kids had pain in their ears,' he said. 'Those suffering from heart conditions had problems with hypertension.... '

For many the shock came after the drama was over, he said. 'After landing people started panicking.'

The professor also claimed 'the pilot made no announcement to the cabin - while devices for the crew were saying "stall".'

He complained there was no attempt by the attendants to announce safety instructions or 'calm people down' which might have reduced the 'panic'.

I am particularly sorry for children - the kids had pain in their ears. Those suffering from heart conditions had problems with hypertension.... Professor Dmitry Gavra

'When it became clear we would land, no one told us where we were landing,' he said. 'After landing... emergency services and police arrived, but the crew and pilot kept silence while people continued to feel disoriented and were suffering after-shock panic.'

Another aircraft was sent to take the passengers back to Russia while the ten year old airbus was checked for technical problems.

A woman passenger said: 'We took off and after some 20 minutes we began to fall down. We were told it was the loss of pressurisation. Nobody was hurt, only scared. We landed and they gave us water and sandwiches.'

A spokesman at Pulkovo airport in St Petersburg said: 'We know that the flight of Nordwind aviation company from Heraklion was cancelled. Passengers are being brought back on another plane.'

MailOnline has contacted a representative for Nordwind, but is yet to receive a response. The company have not issued a statement on the incident.
Rauner's Latest Not A Campaign Ad Trumpets Small Business Week

By aaroncynic in News on May 4, 2017 7:15PM



Gov. Bruce Rauner, in Chicago on Mexican Independence Day. (By Tyler LaRiviere/Chicagoist)

For the small business owners, the entrepreneurs, the risk-takers and change-agents, theres no 9-to-5, the ad begins. Work doesnt stop and they dont stop. To the beat of a sweeping, theatrical score, the narrator describes how while Rauner made his name running one of Illinois most respected businesses, he made his way parkin cars and cookin burgers, just like a regular person.

The Rauner ad comes days after gubernatorial rival and fellow billionaire JB Pritzker released his first campaign ad, which touts the businessmans creation of a tech incubator that the ad claims created 6,000 jobs.

As its small business week, this is another one of those ads thats definitely not a campaign ad because Rauner is once again touring the state, pushing for real reform. Rauner released a new digital ad highlighting the role small businesses play in Illinois, and how his business background and reform plan is paving the way to deliver change for struggling small businesses, said the Illinois GOP in a press release.

Still, Illinois Republicans criticized the governors Democratic challengers for shockingly having nothing to say.

J.B. Pritzker, Chris Kennedy, Daniel Biss and Ameya Pawar refused to even acknowledge small business week and the challenges that half of Illinois workforce faces, said the Illinois GOP.

But while Rauner and the GOP are celebrating the billionaire hedge fund managers alleged love of small businesses, the states ongoing budget crisis has caused problems for would-be risk takers and change-agents. In September of 2016, Crains Chicago reported about a quarter of small-business development centers on college campuses around the state closed due to lack of funding.

"It is the height of hypocrisy for Gov. Rauner to tout his failed political agenda at a college small business center while the Rauner budget crisis has shuttered similar centers across Illinois, said the Illinois Working Together Campaign in a statement to Chicagoist. By holding the budget hostage, Gov. Rauner has forced nearly a quarter of college small business centers to close and others to severely cut programming.

Alderman Pawar too, pointed out that Rauners love of appearing folksy is little more than a Halloween costume:

Like Donald Trump, Bruce Rauner was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and this video is just another attempt to draw a veil over a life of privilege, Pawar said in a statement published by Capitol Fax. Governor Rauner, you might have been successful in business, but spare us the theater, the costume, and the phony accent. Do your job and pass a budget.
Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi is happy both her children are now in school.

The former Jersey Shore reality TV star shared an image on Wednesday of her daughter Giovanna Marie, aged two, and son Lorenzo Dominic, aged four, in an embrace before heading to class.

'Big day for this Mama Bear. Both my kids are now officially in school,' said the 29-year-old. 'Im feeling such a range of emotions from sad to excited to feeling so proud of my nuggets.'

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Her little ones: Snooki announced on Wednesday her daughther Giovanna Marie, aged twowas starting school

You've come a long way baby: The 29-year-old is now a homemaker as well as reality TV star. Pictured in February

She did not explain why her little girl was starting school at this time of the year.

'Theyre pretty awesome human beings & bring so much joy and love into my life! PROUD MAMA today and everyday!' she added.

The children wore backpacks and seemed to be in great spirits.

Mini Snooki! Snooki's husband Jionni LaValle also shared an image of his daughter on Wednesday

Party of four: Lorenzo, Jionni, Nicole and Giovanna in 2015 in Long Valley, New Jersey

The cute child had on a black top with cheetah print. Her son wore Michael Jordan sweatpants.

They posed in front of a large home.

Snooki's husband Jionni LaValle also shared an image on Wednesday.

The past: Snooki had a bad girl reputation when she filmed Jersey Shore, often getting drunk in public. Pictured 2010

His was of his little girl making a grumpy face.

'My little babies first day of school !!!! #ProudDad #DaddysGirl,' he captioned the image.

Snooki had a bad girl reputation when she filmed Jersey Shore, often getting drunk in public.

That changed when she met LaValle, who she wed in 2014.

Since then she has appeared on Dancing With The Stars and The New Celebrity Apprentice.
She has had a tumultuous relationship with her 'experimental' partner Michael.

And Seven Year Switch's Kaitlyn Isham has now spoken about the problems the newly-arranged pair are encountering on the reality show.

The 28-year-old also revealed her pick for the contestant she believes is 'most likely to stray' and how the series' producers 'hoped they would cheat' to Who magazine.

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Intense: Seven Year Switch's Kaitlyn Isham has opened up about the problems her and experimental partner Michael are encountering on Seven Year Switch

The Florida-born blonde described Michael, 31, as 'scary' and attempted to diagnose his 'aggressive' behaviour towards her in recent episodes.

'He's angry and sexually oppressed, because he and Felicity haven't had sex in five months,' she offered.

The switched partners enjoyed a spot of skinny dipping during a surprise holiday to the Northern Territory in a scene earlier this week, with an explosive fight afterwards.

Extremes: The switched partners enjoyed a spot of skinny dipping during a surprise holiday to the Northern Territory in a scene earlier this week, with an explosive fight afterwards

Michael accused Kaitlyn of wanting to marry her partner Mark for a 'green card,' an Australian visa.

'You work for cash and are probably on benefits, and you're trying to marry someone to get a green card,' he yelled at her.

'Why would I do that? I live in the best country in the world. I live in the f******g United States of America,' she shouted back.

'F**ck off, I'm f*****g over your head!' he snapped back.

'You work for cash and are probably on benefits, and you're trying to marry someone to get a green card,' he yelled at her

Kaitlyn told the publication she believed the show's producers wanted her and Michael to cheat on their original partners with each other.

'When we applied they were like, "We are here to help you," but how are they helping [by] giving us just one bed?' she questioned.

She also revealed fellow contestant Stacey Louise is who she believes is most likely to stray with her 'experimental' partner Johnny.

'I have this weird feeling about [her], she is very sexy,' she stated.

Prediction: She also revealed fellow contestant Stacey Louise is who she believes is most likely to stray with her 'experimental' partner Johnny
He's maintained his board riding skills learned growing up on Australian beaches.

And Liam Hemsworth had his mind set on a surf as he took a shirtless stroll through Malibu, carrying his board to the waters before he hit the waves.

With his wetsuit only done up to his waist, the 27-year-old flashed his toned torso and tuft of chest hair in the Los Angeles sunshine on Wednesday afternoon.

Liam Hemsworth had his mind set on a surf as he took a shirtless stroll through Malibu, carrying his board to the waters before he hit the waves

The Hunger Games star donned his black Hurley wet suit for his short stroll to the surf.

The star kept his chest uncovered in the Spring heat, comfortable in the sun with his torso on show.

On full display was the small tuft of chest hair Liam possesses between his pectoral muscles.

Looking furry good: With his wetsuit only done up to his waist, the 27-year-old flashed his toned torso and tuft of chest hair in the Los Angeles sunshine on Wednesday afternoon

Matching Miley: Liam also revealed the tattoo on his left bicep, a line of text from a 1910 Abraham Lincoln speech which reads 'if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly'

He's Hurley hot: The Hunger Games star donned his black Hurley wet suit for his short stroll to the surf

Liam also revealed the tattoo on his left bicep, a line of text from a 1910 Abraham Lincoln speech.

The tattoo reads 'if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.'

The inked quote is a pair with a tattoo Miley Cyrus has of another line from the same speech.

Merrick man: Liam carried his three fin Al Merrick designed surfboard to the beach where he joined a regular surf buddy

Eyeing the waves: The Home and Away alumni scooped back his locks as they pair contemplated the best spot to enter the ocean

Liam carried his three fin Al Merrick designed surfboard to the beach where he joined a regular surf buddy.

The Home and Away alumni scooped back his locks as they pair contemplated the best spot to enter the ocean.

Liam is a regular surfer, who often shares posts of his wave exploits online, and recently was the subject of a post by Miley who captured the fully-suited actor gazing at the waves.
She was one half of BBC breakfast televisions so-called winning formula - a partnership which helped the corporation pull-in over two million viewers daily.

Now, on the three year anniversary of Good Morning Britain, Susanna Reids rival on-screen pairing with Piers Morgan has left Beeb executives fuming as the duo eat in to Breakfast viewing figures.

The pair's successful partnership has seen ITV put on over 700,000 viewers, now regularly attracting an audience of over one million, with figures up 17 per cent over the past 12 months.

Good Morning Britain, presented by Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan, has left Beeb executives fuming as the duo eat in to Breakfast viewing figures, adding one million viewers since they teamed up

Over the course of the past four weeks, GMB has recorded its highest ever monthly audience share, peaking at 20 per cent earlier this week  the largest ever outside of an election or referendum day.

Praised for their combative style of questioning, Piers and Susanna  dubbed Spiers by fans  drew in an audience of 1,061,000 on Thursday.

The gap between rival stations the BBC and ITV1 is now the closest it has been in eight years, and Miss Reid, 46, and former newspaper editor Morgan, 52, have steadily clawed back viewers since just 329,000 people tuned in to watch the show in May 2014.

Whilst, at one time, BBC Breakfast had a peak of almost four times the number of viewers as its ITV1 counterpart, the gap now has halved.

Praised for their combative style of questioning, Susanna and Piers  dubbed Spiers by fans  drew in an audience of 1,061,000 on Thursday

An studio insider said: Breakfast television has traditionally always been genteel, easy-viewing but Susanna and Piers have turned that on its head.

They pull no punches in interviews, and will probe at subjects until they get a great story or revelation, and this is clearly a hit with viewers.

Whilst BBC Breakfast is still drawing great numbers, obviously GMBs turnaround is a sore point; the fact Susanna is literally eating away at the breakfast ratings of her erstwhile show is pretty galling.

Miss Reid, meanwhile, previously fronted BBC Breakfast with veteran broadcaster, Bill Turnbull, and was seen as the golden girl of daytime television

Seven years ago the BBC relocated to Salford, a move which left producers struggling to bring-in guests from outside the Manchester area.

Similarly, they became more reliant on live video link-ups.

Television execs are attributing GMBs resurgence to the chemistry between the ex-Britains Got Talent judge and his rather more glamorous co-host  as well as Miss Reids array of colourful outfits which regularly go on to sell out in shops.

Morgan originally had an unofficial trial at the network, standing in for regular presenter, Ben Shephard. After putting on 50,000 viewers in a week, he was given a more permanent three day slot starting in November 2015.

Since then, he and Miss Reids partnership has blossomed, and the pair has revelled in antagonising or confronting guests.

They have also brought in a succession of big name guests, with Morgan securing Donald Trumps only UK television interview last year.

However, actor Ewan McGregor refused to be interviewed by Morgan whilst Great British Bake Off contestant Ruby Tandoh also declined to appear on the show, labelling the broadcaster a sentient ham.

It marks an impressive turnaround for a show two years ago named ITVs least-loved programme.

The slot was also deemed something of a poisoned chalice after its predecessor, Daybreak, proved a major flop.

Miss Reid, meanwhile, previously fronted BBC Breakfast with veteran broadcaster, Bill Turnbull, and was seen as the golden girl of daytime television.

The pair spent 10 years together on the corporations famous red sofa from 2004 to 2014.

Last night a BBC spokeswoman said: BBC Breakfast is by far the UKs most watched morning news programme with more than double the number of viewers of our nearest rivals.
He's an acclaimed actor and producer, with an Academy Award to his name.

And in a past interview with ABC's The Weekly, footage emerged of a much younger Geoffrey Rush, performing as a clown.

The footage taken when the 65-year-old was 27, saw the Pirates of the Caribbean star looking fresh-faced and almost unrecognisable, as he joked: 'That was close to being in the womb.'

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'That's close to being in the womb': Geoffrey Rush, 65, joked over a flashback of his 27-year-old self as a clown, in an interview with ABC's The Weekly

The Weekly's Charlie Pickering drew attention to the footage during a chat with Geoffrey, to promote the fifth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

A 1978 interview with a then 27-year-old Geoffrey saw the personality performing as a clown, while studying at the L'Ecole Internationale de Theatre Jacques Lecoq in France.

The physical theatre school provided an approach to acting through physical movement.

Flashback: A 1978 interview with a then 27-year-old Geoffrey, saw the personality performing as a clown, while studying at the L'Ecole Internationale de Theatre Jacques Lecoq in France

My how you've changed: A fresh-faced and almost unrecognisable Geoffrey says in the vintage footage: 'Clowning I think is one, I think being funny, being funny deliberately'

A fresh-faced and almost unrecognisable Geoffrey says in the vintage footage: 'Clowning I think is one, I think being funny, being funny deliberately.'

The clip saw Geoffrey wearing a round-rimmed hat and dressed down in a simple shirt and pants, while sporting a red nose as he performed a series of clown tricks.

Speaking of the footage in his interview with ABC's The Weekly, Geoffrey said of his younger self: 'That was close to being in the womb.'

Early days: The clip saw Geoffrey dressed down in a simple shirt and pants, while sporting a red nose as he performed a series of clown tricks

'(The school was about) an approach to acting through movement,' he added.

Geoffrey will next star in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, the fifth installment of the franchise.

And on Wednesday's The Project, the star who plays Captain Hector Barbossa, promised fans a stellar film.

'It's the best Pirates film since the first': Geoffrey will next star in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. On Wednesday's The Project, he promised fans a stellar film

'I saw the film, it's great,' the Toowoomba-born actor told the panel.

He continued: 'I think this is the best Pirates film since the first one.'

Geoffrey then praised the cast and crew of the film, calling them his 'extended family'.

Tight-knit: Geoffrey then praised the cast and crew of the film, calling them his 'extended family'

'We've been doing it now since 2002. This is our 15th year as a kind of extended family,' he said.

'Not only Johnny (Depp), but Kevin McNally and the makeup team, the camera operator.'

He added: 'The co-star that I enjoy working with the most and going back to is Pablo, my monkey.'
Lara Worthington (nee Bingle) showed off her gorgeous blue-eyed baby boy Racer for the first time in public on Thursday.

The fresh-faced Australian model and entrepreneur touched down in her hometown of Sydney with her six-month-old, seemingly leaving husband Sam and their other son, Rocket Zot, two, behind in the US.

Little Racer looked simply adorable, all bundled up in a blue onesie and a cream knitted bonnet.

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Gorgeous: Lara Worthington (nee Bingle) showed off her adorable blue-eyed baby boy Racer for the first time on Thursday

Little blue socks kept his tiny feet warm.

His mother, as always, stunned, wearing a casual pair of light coloured jeans teamed with a navy and cream striped blouse and a very chic beige coat.

The 29-year-old appeared to be makeup free, and her blue eyes sparkled just like her little one.

So sweet: Little Racer looked simply adorable, all bundled up in a blue onesie and a cream knitted bonnet

Chic and stunning: His mother, as always, stunned, wearing a casual pair of light coloured jeans teamed with a navy and cream striped blouse and a very chic beige coat

The mother-of-two doted over her tiny tot as they made their way through the terminal and at one point appeared to be tenderly stroking his face.

After a long flight from the US, Racer was calm, the inquisitive tot checking out his surrounds.

The duo were picked up from the airport by Lara's mother Sharon, who was no doubt excited to see her new grandson.

From a young socialite who once chased the spotlight to a young mum, Lara recently told Fairfax that she has never felt more fulfilled being a wife and mother to her two boys.

Doting: The mother-of-two doted over her tiny tot as they made their way through the terminal and at one point appeared to be tenderly stroking his face

Perfect complexion: The 29-year-old appeared to be makeup free, and her blue eyes sparkled just like her little one

'It's amazing. Two children under the age of two definitely keeps us busy, but it's the most rewarding thing ever,' she said.

Moving from Sydney's Cronulla to New York, Lara said she was content to lead a low-key life that revolves around her family.

She said: 'Living away has made me softer and being able to raise the boys here, I haven't had as much scrutiny.'

Lara and Sam married in a secret ceremony in 2014. The blonde beauty gave birth to her first son Rocket Zot in March 2015, and then welcomed Racer into the world last October.
Channel Nine's new reality show The Last Resort promises to win fans of Married at First Sight and it's already proving just as controversial.

Lucy and Carl Richards, who have been together for 12 years and married for eight, have revealed that their romantic life is sorely lacking actual romance.

When Carl, 37, wants to get amorous, according to a report in OK! magazine, he quips to his 38-year-old wife, ' Want a root?'

Last Resort pair: Lucy and Carl, who have been together for 12 years and married for eight, have revealed that their romantic life is sorely lacking actual romance

The Sydney based fitness trainers are struggling as Lucy cannot forgive Carl for his affair with a colleague.

'It was an affair. It kills me,' she says to Carl's insistence that he only had a 'fling', however Carl wants her to let it go.

'She always brings it up when we have a fight,' the personal trainer complains.

Worst yet, in one preview clip, Carl says that he, 'doesn't really feel bad about it' despite the affair destroying his wife's trust.

Gentleman: When Carl, 37, wants to get amorous, according to a report in OK! magazine, he quips to his 38-year-old wife, ' Want a root?'

Fights: The Sydney based fitness trainers are struggling as Lucy cannot forgive Carl for his affair with a colleague

Carl has openly admitted to cheating on his wife Lucy and justified his infidelity by saying they were 'on a break'.

He told The Daily Telegraph: 'In my head we were separated, even though we were living under the same roof.'

In another preview clip, Lucy admits to the other contestants that her husband brought the other woman to their home.

Doesn't care? Worst yet, in one preview clip, Carl says that he, 'doesn't really feel bad about it' despite the affair destroying his wife's trust

However both are keen to save their marriage via the show, if only for the sake of their young children.

In the series, five long-term couples take part in a bold social experiment in an attempt to save their troubled relationships.

The show takes couples to a tropical Fijian paradise with relationship counselors at the ready to deal with their issues, which range from infidelity to a lack of intimacy.

Hurt: In another preview clip, Lucy admits to the other contestants that her husband brought the other woman to their home

At the end of the month after an intense relationship bootcamp with Australias leading relationship experts, the couples split or commit to each other forever.

The previews for the show look explosive, with several contestants breaking down on camera or running off screen in hysterics.
Ostentatious James Stunt, son-in-law of former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone, likes to drive around Central London in a cavalcade of vehicles that would make a U.S. president blush.

Curiously, despite Stunts opulent lifestyle, his businesses never seem to make any money.

I can disclose that his art-dealing company, Stunt Acquisitions, has suffered a fall in its net worth from 2.78 million to 1.89 million, according to newly published accounts at Companies House  a loss for the year to June 2016 of almost 900,000.

Oh dear: Ostentatious James Stunt art-dealing company, Stunt Acquisitions, has suffered a fall in its net worth from 2.78 million to 1.89 million (pictured with his wife Petra)

Stunt, 35, who married Bernies 28-year-old daughter Petra in a spectacularly over-the-top Italian ceremony in 2011, was once described as a flash b****** by the billionaire.

Stunt is the sole shareholder in the business, which he set up in 2014.

Stunt Acquisitions first accounts reported a 716,000 deficit in the companys profit and loss account, indicating losses of 1.6 million across both years.

However, despite these losses Stunts business is still 1.9 million in the black, thanks to the 3.5 million he put into the company in the form of share capital.

Bernie once criticised Petra and her 32-year-old sister, Tamara, for squandering his estimated 2.5 billion fortune on fast cars, mansions and designer clothing.

Tense: Bernie once criticised Petra and her 32-year-old sister, Tamara, for squandering his estimated 2.5 billion fortune on fast cars, mansions and designer clothing

Last year, Stunt took delivery of a 3.1 million Lamborghini, to add to his notorious collection of Rolls-Royce Phantoms and Bentleys, which he uses for his regular shopping trips to Harrods.

Bernie, 86, admitted he had looked into Stunts background before Petras marriage, but nothing gave him cause for concern.

The tycoon appears intent on reasserting his control of the family finances.

Last year, I reported he had taken out a charge on the 66 million Chelsea home lived in by Petra and James and their three children which would ensure he would receive the proceeds should it be sold.

A spokesman for Stunt Acquisitions says: The Company continues to undertake research and to explore opportunities for long term investment and growth.

Such a strategy, inevitably, has short-term costs associated with it.

Sandi snaps over foodie photographs

Sandi Toksvig, presenter of the new Great British Bake Off, has attacked foodies who photograph their meals on social media sites.

I constantly have to be restrained in restaurants from going up to couples who are sitting together bathed in the glow of light from their respective phones while not saying a word to each other, she says.

Im afraid I doubt that the old adage a picture is worth a thousand words will work for a marriage where, after 20 years, all you have is a thousand pictures of shepherds pie and no idea what your partner is thinking.

Who says Melvyn's no oil painting?

Work of art: Lord Braggs portrait by artist David Vigor featured in the Royal Society of Portrait Painters exhibition yesterday and showed the smiling broadcasting arts supremo ensconced in an armchair at his London home cuddled up to a cushion depicting Rembrandts head

Lord Braggs portrait by artist David Vigor featured in the Royal Society of Portrait Painters exhibition yesterday and showed the smiling broadcasting arts supremo ensconced in an armchair at his London home cuddled up to a cushion depicting Rembrandts head.

Portraits are supposed to show your soul and my inner soul is never complain, jokes Lord Bragg. At least thats what my mother taught me.

Bragg, 77, recently left Cate Haste, his wife of 43 years, and is now with his mistress, Gaby Clare-Hunt, 61, with whom hes had an on-off affair for 21 years.

Im growing old gracefully, he says. I would never entertain having plastic surgery. Im a down-to-earth Northerner, after all.

Will David Camerons new 25,000 caravan office speed up his writing?

HarperCollins is said to be worried about the arrival of his memoirs. He got off to a speedy start last autumn, but has really slowed down, says my source.

The book has now been scheduled tentatively for October 2018, at the earliest.

One leading agent reckons he will be lucky to shift 20,000 copies  all for a 800,000 advance.

TV historian Lucy Worsley is a woman of many talents. I used to run cross-country for Berkshire as a teenager, says the chief curator at Historic Royal Palaces. Ive been told Im good at long distances because I have unusually large nostrils, like a horse!
Britain's Nuclear Bomb

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Trust Me, I'm a Vet

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Ernest Bevin was fuming. The Labour Foreign Secretary stormed into a 1946 Cabinet meeting with a face like thunder and told the assembled ministers, including new PM Clement Attlee, that Britain was being humiliated  and it must never happen again.

This vivid vignette was painted during a scholarly and heavily technical documentary about atomic weapons, Britains Nuclear Bomb (BBC4).

Some aspects of Britain's Nuclear Bomb felt frustratingly rushed. Nazi refugee and physics genius Klaus Fuchs, who sold atomic secrets to the Russians, deserved a programme all to himself. But in the Brexit era, this show was unexpectedly compelling TV

At first sight, the show appeared to be all quirky war stories and reminiscence, as twinkle-eyed explosives experts and daredevil pilots  buzzing with defiant mischief in their 80s and 90s  described how they built and detonated the UKs first A-bomb.

But like so much history, this account turned out to be a shockingly relevant parable for our times. Those boffins, engineers and airmen were not just reinventing physics: they were fighting for Britains place in the post-war global power structure.

Because the U.S. had a nuclear arsenal and we didnt, American politicians were treating our government with naked contempt.

Bevin wasnt going to stand for it. Whatever the cost, however insurmountable the obstacles, the Union Jack must keep flying, he insisted. He demanded that our scientists must do the impossible, and invent their own atom bomb . . . and they did.

The arms race is over, but in the 21st century we need that combative spirit more than ever. Bevin was a socialist, every bit as much a British bulldog as the Conservative leader Sir Winston Churchill. Both would doubtless regard Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell as traitors for their determination to scrap our nuclear defences.

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Politics was of small concern to the men and women at the drawing boards in Aldermaston and other top-secret research facilities  many so hush-hush that researchers were forbidden even to compare notes.

They faced more immediate problems than diplomacy and treaty negotiations . . . such as the need to avoid blowing themselves up. The plutonium core of their bomb was so toxic that, if one 1,000th of a gram escaped the lab, it could kill off half the county.

Meanwhile, the bomb itself was so light that when it was dropped, the updraft could suck it back into the plane, creating mid-air Armageddon.

Trust Me, Im A Vet (BBC2) was watchable mostly for snippets of pets at play. The segments were linked by a video clip of a leaping out of a box. No matter how often it was shown, it was always delightful

To prevent that, the engineers devised a system of metal teeth and pulleys. The whole apparatus looked like it had been designed by Wallace and Gromit . . . except for the plutonium charge, which more resembled Doctor Whos sonic screwdriver.

Some aspects of the documentary were frustratingly rushed. Nazi refugee and physics genius Klaus Fuchs, who sold atomic secrets to the Russians, deserved a programme all to himself. But in the Brexit era, this show was unexpectedly compelling TV.

Trust Me, Im A Vet (BBC2) was watchable mostly for snippets of pets at play. The segments were linked by a video clip or sting showing a black cocker spaniel pup leaping out of a cardboard box. No matter how often it was shown, it was always delightful.

Meanwhile a tortoise was attempting to scale a sheer rock face, like a slow-motion Chris Bonington. The problem was that most of the animals were suffering from fleas, or plaque, or bone disease  and while our own health problems are endlessly interesting, no one wants to look at a rabbit with manky overgrown incisors.

For some pet owners with specific questions, this show might be occasionally helpful. But mostly, all we really require is the puppy in a box.
Kirk and Anne Douglas' new memoir Kirk And Anne: Letters Of Love, Laughter, And A Lifetime In Hollywood isn't just about their own love story.

Kirk, 100, and Anne, 98, share tales of their friend Elizabeth Taylor and her third husband Mike Todd.

Todd died in a 1958 plane crash, leaving Taylor as a widow at the age of 26.

Hollywood friends: Anne and Kirk Douglas (left in 1960) recall the love story of Mike Todd and Elizabeth Taylor (right in 1958) in their new book Kirk And Anne

Love story: Kirk and Anne just released their co-penned book Kirk And Anne: Letters Of Love, Laughter, And A Lifetime In Hollywood on Tuesday

'I had never seen Mike as besotted with any woman as he was with Elizabeth,' Anne writes of her friends.

Mike Todd was a film producer, credited as a driving force behind bringing the widescreen format to movies.

He and Elizabeth Taylor married in February of 1957 and had a daughter named Liza together.

Baby love: Elizabeth and Mike had a daughter Liza in August of 1957, who was conceived before they married

While pregnant with their only child, Taylor asked Todd for more treats as she laid in the bed of their London hotel with chocolates.

Anne recalls that Todd replied with, 'Just shut up and be beautiful!'

According to the book, he flew a plane to Paris to pick up a meal for Taylor that same night.

Six decades together: Kirk and Anne Douglas pose together at the 2013 Vanity Fair Oscar Party

Another time he pampered his wife was when he laid out a series of presents, including plenty of diamonds, for her on their front lawn.

Kirk says Todd told Taylor, 'Go ahead. Pick whatever you want'

'It wasnt her birthday; it wasnt their anniversary; it wasnt a holiday, Mike didnt need a reason to indulge his passion for his young wife,' Kirk wrote.

Tragedy struck on March 22, 1958 when Todd's private plane crashed in New Mexico

Tragedy struck on March 22, 1958 when Todd's private plane crashed in New Mexico.

Mike had actually invited Kirk to join him on the flight, but a six-months-pregnant Anne urged him not to because she had a 'strange feeling.'

After the crash, Kirk says he told his wife, 'Darling, you saved my life. I will always trust your intuition from now on.'
A West Loop Street Was Hit With 'KKK' Graffiti Vandalism

By Stephen Gossett in News on May 4, 2017 6:00PM

Racist graffiti was spotted on Wednesday night and early Thursday morning in the West Loop, with "KKK" seen scrawled across three roadside traffic safety barriers on Madison Street, near the I-90/I-94 ramp. The hateful graffiti was removed on Thursday morning, according to the Department of Streets and Sanitation.

West Loop resident Moshe Tamssot first posted a photograph taken by an anonymous member of the True West Loop community board on Wednesday evening.

Tamssot said he notified authorities on Wednesday and snapped his own photos on Thursday morning of the racist vandalism (see above), which he said was still there at around 9:30 a.m. Streets and Sanitation spokesperson Sara McGann told Chicagoist at around 11:20 a.m. that the deputy commissioner of the department's graffiti program confirmed that the vandalism has since been removed.

McGann said that there's usually a three- to five-day timetable for getting rid of graffiti, but anything racially or hate motivated is pushed to a top priority.

Chicago police said that a case report has been generated, but no one was in custody as of Thursday morning. "[T]here is no camera footage to share at this time," police said.

While it's unclear who's responsible for the hate-speech vandalism, Tamssot sees it as emblematic of broader undertones of intolerance within pockets of the West Loop community.

"This is the overt expression of racism in the West Loop, which is mostly covert," Tamssot said. Tamssot pointed to the multi-million dollar expansion of Skinner West Elementary School (despite its proximity to an underused school of predominantly low-income students) and a new public library near the bustling, gentrified Restaurant Row (despite the "underused" Manning branch being just roughly two miles west, in a non-gentrified area).

"Ald. Walter Burnett said it best when he said the West Loop was becoming a bigoted neighborhood," Tamssot said, referencing the 27 Ward rep's 2015 comments about homeowner opposition to rental properties.

Chicago has seen multiple acts of high-profile, racially-charged acts of vandalism within the last several months. UChicago was targeted with racist posters in December of last year and January and February of this year. Perhaps most notably, Pilsen man Stuart Wright faces a hate-crime charge in the vandalism of a Loop synagogue earlier this year.
Stephanie Davis posted a worryingly incoherent tweet late on Wednesday evening, while on holiday with boyfriend Jeremy McConnell, which suggests all is not well.

According to The Mirror, the reality star, 24, wrote on Twitter: 'Someone who gives you and doesnt answer, dont I. There beat a cheat n always n in.'

But the post was reportedly deleted 20 minutes later, with little to explain what she meant.

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What's going on? Stephanie Davis posted a worryingly incoherent 'cheat' tweet while on holiday with Jeremy McConnell on Wednesday night... just a day after revealing they want baby number two (stock photo)

Something wrong? Jeremy has recently come out of rehab and the couple had been doing all they could to put their troubles behind them

Not sure: The actress reportedly deleted the tweet after 20 minutes

MailOnline has contacted a spokesperson for Stephanie for comment.

The message comes just a day after Stephanie revealed in an interview with Closer magazine, that she and Jeremy, who are parents to Caben-Albi, five months, would like to try for baby number two, following his recent stint in rehab.

Stephanie confessed she was feeling 'broody', adding that her boyfriend wanted to be there for her next pregnancy, after missing out first time round.

They're not understanding: Some of Stephanie's fans noticed her incoherent tweet but couldn't make out what she meant

Sad: The message comes just a day after Stephanie revealed in an interview with Closer magazine, that she and Jeremy, are putting their troubles behind them

She admitted: 'Weve both talked about having another baby at some point.

She said: 'For Jez, its about wanting to put right what he did wrong and be there throughout my next pregnancy. And Im so broody  Id love to give Caben a little sister one day.'

She also revealed that wedding bells could be on the horizon, saying she 'can't wait to marry him one day'.

Stephanie made the official announcement that she was in a relationship with the father of her son once again on This Morning last week.

Wedding bells? Stephanie had also revealed that marriage could be on the horizon, saying she 'can't wait to marry him one day'

Since then, the pair reunited in Ireland following Jeremy's stint in rehab and were seen jetting off on holiday from Manchester airport together on Sunday.

Speaking about rekindling their romance, Stephanie said: 'I know a lot has happened and it might seem strange to some people, but me and Jez have always loved each other.

'The love never went away between us and weve both done things we regret, but hopefully this can be our fresh start.

'I finally feel like things are falling into place and we both adore Caben. I still feel emotional about everything but Im just so happy now; I just want us to have a normal happy life.'

Stephanie also revealed her 'relief' when Jeremy told her that he was going into rehab, saying she 'couldn't be prouder of him for getting the help he needs'.

Rekindled romance: Stephanie made the official announcement that she was in a relationship with the father of her son once again on This Morning

The former Celebrity Big Brother star added that her beau was 'great with Caben and has the potential to be an amazing dad', saying that she 'cant wait for them to be able to spend more time together.'

She said she was looking forward to doing 'family things' like 'day trips, cooking together at home, watching films with Caben and having date nights.'

Stephanie continued: 'Im very easily pleased, and that family life is all Ive ever wanted.

'I know this takes time to build but we are both willing to do our best to see a happy ending.'

Last month, the brunette beauty had insisted she will 'stand by' her on/off boyfriend no matter what, while publicly declaring her love for the Irish model in an emotional post.

Posting snaps of themselves together on Instagram, she wrote: 'No matter what people say, no matter what people feel.. we have been though the most major ups and downs. He's been wrong, I've been wrong.. but I LOVE him.

'I met him unexpectedly on cbb, but what you seen was TRUE LOVE!! When you go though that, with money and media, anyone in the industry would understand... ours was just played out in front of the nation.

'I just never handled fame': Jeremy shared a lengthy statement addressing his decision to check into rehab

'He is my soul mate and I love him, you never give up on the one you love do you.... Jezz got a little lost, but who hasn't f**ked up in life??

'I know I have.... Just so happens ours is played through the media. And no we haven't been adults about it a lot, and it's been wild, but when your so in love with someone, passion gets the best of you! (sic)'

Shortly before their reunion, sources revealed to The Sun that Stephanie was determined to marry recovering Jeremy as she believes the root of all their woes was drink and drugs.

The insider said: 'Steph believes all the problems in their relationship were down to Jeremys drinking and drug-taking. Shes convinced that once he gets professional help, theyll be able to be happy again...

'Steph is dreaming of a fairy-tale ending and that includes getting married. She believes a wedding would mark a fresh start and be the perfect chance to put the past behind them'.
She's the stunner who has fronted countless fashion campaigns worldwide.

And Bambi Northwood-Blyth nailed the model-off-duty look as she was spotted in New York's Soho on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old showed off her slender figure in a pair of frayed jeans and a cropped top as she ventured out.

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Model off duty: Bambi Northwood-Blyth looked upbeat as she was spotted in New York's Soho district on Tuesday

The brunette beauty teamed her distressed denim with a pair of black ankle boots and a chic Gucci leather belt.

Bambi's outing comes as her husband Dan Single remains in Paris where he is recovering from a devastating fall that left his legs shattered.

The model appeared in a bright mood as she chatted on the phone, carrying a Louis Vuitton purse and sporting a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses.

Glowing: The 26-year-old stunned in a white cropped T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans, which she teamed with a chic Gucci leather belt

Chatting to Dan? The model's outing in New York comes as her husband Dan Single remains in Paris where he is recovering from a fall

Tense: At one stage, Bambi wore a tense expression as she chatted on the phone

Meanwhile, the jet-setting model returned to business as usual last week when she arrived in New York for work.

But before diving straight into modelling shoots, Bambi took time out to enjoy a mini break, staying at the $330-a-night Surf Lodge in Montauk in the Hamptons.

Taking to Instagram to share a snap of her surfing adventures with fellow IMG model Zippora Seven, Bambi captioned: 'Having a lil frozen ninja Sunday surf with captain shred cool @zippyseven and gloves on my feet were the best!'

Vacation mode: Since returning to the US last week, Bambi has been enjoying a break in the Hamptons, taking to Instagram to share her surf adventures with fellow model Zippora Seven

Tragedy struck: Dan's fall took place from the third-floor balcony of The Grand Amour Hotel during Paris Fashion Week in March and left the Ksubi founder's legs shattered

On Tuesday, the stunner teased an exciting new project with her 230,000 followers while sharing a photo of herself in a bathrobe.

'BACK ON SET IN NYC , SOMETHING EXCITING INCOMING,' she wrote underneath the snap and made sure to tag her modelling agency.

It's been nearly two months since Bambi's husband Dan fell three storeys from Paris's Grand Amour Hotel where the pair were staying during Fashion Week.

The couple then came under fire for launching a Go Fund Me page to ask the public to pay over $250,000 to help pay for the Ksubi founder's medical expenses.

Controversy: The pair received backlash from fans after they launched a Go Fund Me page asking the public for $250,000 to help pay for Dan's medical costs

The backlash forced Dan to delete the page and also saw Bambi terminate her Instagram account temporarily.

After being offline for just three short days, Bambi was back on the social media platform and posted a series of cryptic messages directed at the online haters.

One ominous message said 'I'm still learning' in handwriting on a white piece of paper.
She's used to posing in a bikini in an array of idyllic beach destinations.

And it may well be that the building site of The Block is a bit of a shock for model and new contestant, Elyse Knowles.

The pretty blonde appeared to be taking it easy on the Elsternwick, Melbourne site on Wednesday, while her fellow female contestant got to work doing some manual labour.

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Too posh to pave? Model Elyse Knowles was spotted strolling around The Block building site in Elternwick, Melbourne on Wednesday

Elyse was seen strolling around set in a pair of ripped denim jeans, a white T-shirt, grey vest and a pair of pink work boots.

After arriving back to the site from an unknown location, she changed into a jumper, jumped in her car and drove off.

Meanwhile, fellow contestants were grappling with concrete mix, unpacking appliances and getting rid of rubbish.

Hard Yakka! Meanwhile, Elyse's co-stars got to work doing some manual labour

Peace out: Elyse flashed the peace symbol for the cameras

The sighting comes after The Daily Telegraph claimed the Aussie model and her boyfriend Josh Barker may 'ruffle some feathers' on the show as a source says the pair 'could be given special treatment'.

The publication went on to speculate that they would not be living with other contestants.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Elyse for comment.

Taking out the trash: Another female contestant was seen throwing out some trash

Speaking to the publication, host Scott Cam divulged some details of the upcoming series.

'There could have been 50 town houses on this block, so the residents I think are well behind us,' he said. 'Because we are putting five homes there.'

Filming began on the popular renovation show last week with contestants preparing to create homes to sell in the Melbourne suburb of Elsternwick, located nine kilometres outside the CBD.

Ducking in and out: After arriving back to the site from an unknown location, she changed into a jumper, jumped in her car and drove off

Ruffling feathers? The sighting comes after The Daily Telegraph claimed the Aussie model and her boyfriend Josh Barker may 'ruffle some feathers' on the show as a source says the pair 'could be given special treatment'

Where's Elyse: Meanwhile, Elyse's boyfriend Josh Barker was seen getting to work

One contestant of the popular renovation series seems to have taken the anti-urban location to heart, donning a farmer-style outfit for the first day of filming on Thursday.

Earlier this year The Block was this year rumoured to have been based around renovating St Kilda's infamous Gatwick Hotel.

But a deal to sell the building to Channel Nine for $14million reportedly fell through, the Herald Sun reported last month.

Last week The Block won its sixth Logie for best reality TV show, with hosts Shelley Craft and Scott Cam accepting the award.

The 2016 iteration of the popular reality show was taken out by couple Will Bethune and Karlie Cicero.

Heavy duty: One contestant was tasked with carrying around heavy bags of concrete
She recently admitted she finds it hard to trust anyone after her Paris robbery eight months ago.

But Kim Kardashian made sure to bring a bodyguard as she stepped out in Hollywood on Tuesday night with her pal Jonathan Cheban by her side.

The 36-year-old's sense of style, however, has remained unaffected by the harrowing ordeal as she wore an eye-popping outfit.

Staying safe: Kim Kardashian made sure to bring a bodyguard as went to dinner Beauty & Essex Los Angeles in Hollywood on Tuesday night with her pal Jonathan Cheban by her side

The reality star appeared to wear only a bra under her black blazer as she and her pal headed to Beauty & Essex Los Angeles.

And to make matters more scintillating, Kim showed off her thighs in a pair of sheer lace trousers.

Cheban, her longtime best friend, wore double denim with a pair of white sneakers for the casual dinner.

Before heading into the restaurant, the two browsed the vintage items sold at the pawn shop entrance of the restaurant, an insider told DailyMail.com

Some things never change: The 36-year-old's sense of style, however, has remained unaffected by the harrowing ordeal as she wore an eye-popping outfit

Bust a move: The reality star appeared to wear only a bra under her black blazer for the outing

Meanwhile, speaking to Kourtney Kardashian, 38, in this coming Sunday's episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, the 36-year-old said she's surprised they actually caught the masked gunmen who broke into her hotel room and robbed her nearly $9 million dollars worth of jewelry back in September.

'Can you believe that they found them?' Kim asked her big sister incredulously.

'I honestly never thought that they would catch the robbers. I just thought so much time has gone on and I didn't really realize how diligent the French police were being and just all the hard work they were really putting into it.'

Meow! To make matters more scintillating, Kim showed off her thighs in a pair of sheer lace trousers

There's a pal! Cheban, her longtime best friend, wore double denim with a pair of white sneakers for the casual dinner

But despite knowing the robbers are now behind bars, following the arrest of 17 suspects in January, the brunette beauty confessed she's still recovering from the frightening encounter.

'I can live my life, but just on edge,' she revealed.

Kim said the more she hears about what went on behind the scenes of the robbery, the harder she finds it to comprehend.

Haunted: Kim recently revealed in a teaser for her reality show that she is still scarred by her Paris robbery last October

Pensive mood? Kim seemed to have a lot on her mind as she went to dinner

'To find out that there were so many people involved, hearing detail after detail, really just opened up a whole different perspective for me of feeling safe,' she confessed.

And while she didn't name any names, the stunning star revealed the robbery may have been an inside job.

'Knowing that it's a possibility that people close to me were involved makes me feel I can't trust anyone, and that really sucks,' she said.

Speaking openly: 'I honestly never thought that they would catch the robbers. I just thought so much time has gone on,' the 36-year-old told her sister in a candid discussion

Sympathy: Kourtney Kardashian was seen listening intently as her sister spoke to her about the Paris robbery

Inside job: 'Knowing that it's a possibility that people close to me were involved makes me feel I can't trust anyone, and that really sucks,' she confessed

Life-changing: 'Life is always going to be different. I'm very aware of everything that I do and who I share it with,' she revealed

'It just opened up my eyes that this happens and there's really bad people in this world.'

Kim said the experience has permanently changed her and the way she lives her life now.

'It definitely opened up my eyes to a whole different world that I can't erase. I can't go backwards,' she revealed.

'Life is always going to be different. I'm very aware of everything that I do and who I share it with.'

Busted: Kim was seen shouting 'whore' at a woman she found in Kourtney's ex, Scott Disick's hotel room on a recent episode of KUWTK

Protective: Kourtney took to Twitter to defend her younger sister after she she busted Kourtney's ex with another woman. 'I didnt ask anyone to get mad but thats her natural reaction and it woulda been mine too #sistersgotmyback,' she tweeted

But one person Kim can seemingly always trust and rely on is Kourtney.

The reality star leapt to her younger sister's defense on Wednesday after Kim was seen shouting 'whore' at a woman she found in Kourtney's ex, Scott Disick's hotel room on a recent episode of KUWTK.

'I didnt ask anyone to get mad but thats her natural reaction and it woulda been mine too #sistersgotmyback,' Kourtney tweeted.
As host, he's become synonymous with The Bachelor and Bachelorette programs.

And Osher Gunsberg found humour in fan art, posting a hilarious take on Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper scene, to Instagram on Thursday.

'Leonardo De Batchie,' the 43-year-old captioned the image that saw contestants as biblical figures, including Blake Garvey as Judas.

'Leonardo De Batchie': Osher Gunsberg, 43, shared a hilarious take on Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper scene, that saw Bachelor's Blake Garvey as Judas

'Leonardo De Batchie. Loving the fan art on FB (Facebook) lately,' Osher captioned the post, alongside the hash-tags #thebachelorau and #bacheloretteau.

The Last Supper parody saw Osher at the centre of the table as Jesus, with other familiar Bachelor and Bachelorette faces as his disciples.

Georgia Love, Richie Strahan, Alex Nation, Tim Robards, Lee Elliott, Anna Heinrich, Matty Johnson, Sam Frost, Sam Wood and Snezana Markoski were featured, alongside the newest Bachelorette Sophie Monk.

A hilarious twist on the iconic religious scene, saw Bachelor 'villain' Blake Garvey as Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus.

Familiar faces: Osher (left), 43, host of The Bachelor and Bachelorette programs, was featured as Jesus in the parody. Pictured here with upcoming Bachelor Matty Johnson

Hilarious: A twist on the iconic religious scene, saw Bachelor 'villain' Blake Garvey as Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus

Online chatter: Georgia Love was quick to comment underneath the snap, posting: 'Blake as Judas. I can't,' alongside a laughing face with tears of joy emoji

Georgia Love was quick to comment underneath the snap: 'Blake as Judas. I can't,' alongside a laughing face with tears of joy emoji.

Fans are not the only ones to enjoy having a poke at The Bachelor and Bachelorette stars of late.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Tom Gleisner revealed that as host of game show Have You Been Paying Attention? he enjoys putting Bachelor and Bachelorette personalities through their paces.

It's become a regular tradition for Bachelor and Bachelorette evictees to feature on the Channel Ten game show that sees stars quizzed on the week's top news stories.

Having a laugh: Meanwhile, Tom Gleisner (centre) told The Daily Telegraph that as host of game show Have You Been Paying Attention?, he enjoys putting Bachelor and Bachelorette personalities through their paces. Seen here with Sam Pang (L) and Ed Kavalee (R)

Tradition: It's become a regular tradition for Bachelor and Bachelorette evictees to feature on the Channel Ten game show

'It's always an encounter worth watching. I love having contestants from The Bachelor on the show,' the 54-year-old told the publication.

'Seeing these sweet, innocent evictees come face-to-face with our contestants is always an encounter worth watching,' the television presenter continued.

The Bachelor's Alex Nation and Richie Strahan, as well as The Bachelorette's Georgia Love, are just a few to have been put through their paces.
Prince's estate has been ordered to post a $1 million bond in a music licensing dispute.

Failed to deliver: A new EP by Prince named Deliverance was blocked from it's Friday release, here the artist is seen at the American Music Awards in 2015

The estate has successfully obtained a block on releasing new music from the deceased artist, but a judge wants them to post a bond in good faith in case the engineer behind the collection of songs wins the trial.

Prince's estate has been ordered to pay one million dollars towards the future lawsuit that will determine if Ian Boxhill had the right to release EP Deliverance, according to TMZ.

The money will go to the audio engineer if he wins the case against the estate.

A US judge blocked a planned release of new Prince music on the first anniversary of his death last month.

The Minnesota district court issued a temporary injunction barring the release of the six-song EP Deliverance after Prince's estate argued that the recordings breached a confidentiality agreement between Prince and his former sound engineer.

According to court documents, Judge Wilhelmina Wright also ordered engineer Ian Boxhill to hand over all 'original recordings, analog and digital copies, and any derivative works' to Prince's estate.

Deliverance was due to go on sale last month and would have marked the first in a series of planned posthumous releases of material by Prince.

He is said to have left a huge vault of discarded or unfinished material after his death of an accidental drug overdose on April 21, 2016.

Independent record company Rogue Music Alliance (RMA) said earlier this week that the six songs were recorded by Prince between 2006 and 2008 and Boxill spent the last year completing, arranging and mixing the songs.

Representatives of RMA, Boxhill and Prince's estate did not immediately return calls for comment on the temporary injunction.

The title track Deliverance was removed from music streaming services late on Wednesday but not before reaching the No.1 spot on the iTunes rock songs charts.

Prince died at age 57 of an overdose of the painkiller fentanyl.

The value of his musical legacy, including a cache of unreleased recordings, has been estimated by some to exceed $500 million when factoring in future royalties, retail sales and commercial rights.

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They're two members of the same family and South Sydney Rabbitohs team.

And on Thursday brothers Sam, 28, and Tom Burgess, 25, crossed codes, bumping into former AFL player Tom Derickx, 29, during a coffee run in Bondi.

The Burgess brothers shook hands and exchanged pleasantries with Tom, who was dressed ready for a dip in the ocean despite the cooler temperatures.

Crossing codes! New dads Sam and Tom Burgess bump into former AFL player Tom Derickx during coffee run in Bondi

The two NRL players were dressed casually for their morning coffee run, with Sam sporting a grey hoodie and dark pants.

Meanwhile his younger brother Tom wore a black long-sleeved top with camouflage patterned pants.

They were wearing more than their mate, former AFL player Tom, who went bare chested in just a towel despite the cool Autumn temperature.

Fancy seeing you! The Burgess brothers shook hands and exchanged pleasantries with Tom

Pit stop: The two Burgess brothers were spotted chatting by the side of the former Sydney Swans player's car

The two Burgess brothers shook hands with Tom and were spotted chatting by the side of the former Sydney Swans player's car.

Their coffee run in with Tom Derickx comes as Sam became a father for the first time earlier this year.

In January, Sam and wife Phoebe Burgess welcomed a daughter Poppy after marrying in late 2015.

Catching up: While Sam and Tom were dressed for the cool Autumn day their AFL player friend wore decidedly less

Offer congratulations? Their coffee run in with Tom Derickx comes as Sam became a father for the first time earlier this year

Wasn't he cold? Former AFL player Tom went bare chested in a towel despite the cool Autumn temperature

The doting new dad has been juggling the NRL season with nappy duties, taking Poppy along to her first Rabbitohs game in March.

Poppy was joined last month by the birth of George and Joanna Burgess' baby boy Boston.

The twin brother of Tom married Joanna last December in a lavish ceremony on the Gold Coast.
She had a divorce party to celebrate her split from her much older husband Doug Hutchison.

And now Courtney Stodden has signed up to the exclusive 'dating' site whatsyourprice.com, as reported by The Sun - an online platform which enables eligible bachelors to 'bid on dates with attractive people.'

The reality star, 22, can be seen in a string of eye-poppingly busty selfies on her profile - one of which sees her holding up a card with her online name 'Sugar Crush' to prove it's her - where she demands suitors to 'impress her'.

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Moving on: Courtney Stodden, 22, has signed up to the exclusive 'dating' site whatsyourprice.com, as reported by The Sun - an online platform which enables eligible bachelors to 'bid on dates with attractive people

Courtney, who soared to fame by getting hitched at 16 to Doug, then 50, is her typical glamorous self on the online dating site, which prides itself on 'getting straight to the point.'

And it seems like the sizzling beauty is keen on 'trying something new', as she's taken time to fill out her profile where she declares she's keen on 'casual dating', 'short-term relationships' and a 'sugar daddy/sugar baby' dynamic.

The 'professional blonde' goes onto give potential partners a short backstory -telling them: 'I got married at 16 and divorced at 22,' before cheekily stating, 'I'm always down for a good time!'

Filling in her 'ideal first date' segment, the Couples Therapy star has no issues in stating what she really wants: 'To meet a successful man for champagne and fun conversation.'

Turning to the web for romance: The reality star can be seen in a string of eye-poppingly busty selfies on her profile where she demands suitors to 'impress her'

Getting over him: This follows on from her divorce from Doug Hutchison, who she married at just 16 and he was 50

'Must have a charming sense of humour. I do not want anyone who is all talk - impress me,' she finishes with a rose emoji.

And it seems like the hoards of men on the site would be trying to leave their mark on the former Celebrity Big Brother star, as she sets pulses racing by flaunting her surgically enhanced cleavage in a number of steamy snaps.

While she confirms its actually her with a sign in one picture, the others see her seductively flaunting her assets in a series of hard to miss selfies.

Courtney seemingly confirmed her existence on the dating site, telling The Sun: 'Now that Im single, Im excited to explore my options, and to have fun while doing it.'

'Married at 16, divorced at 22': The 'professional blonde' - who holds up a sign with her username 'Sugar Crush' goes onto give potentials partners a short backstory

'Impress me': Filling in the her 'ideal first date' segment, the Couples Therapy star has no issues in stating what she really wants

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Courtney for further comment.

Meanwhile, late last month Courtney - who was home schooled by an online private Christian academy - celebrated her split from Doug with a bash.

She told US Weekly: 'My friends are the ones who put [the party] together for me,' she began, 'it's titled a 'Divorce Party,' but personally I've been going through a lot.'

'A split is really hard. Doug and I are on really good terms but it's just hard, you know, because we're trying to hang on to our friendship because we are best friends and we don't want to part in a disastrous Hollywood way' explained the bubbly blonde.

Check list: Courtney's profile declares she's keen on 'casual dating', 'short-term relationships' and a 'sugar daddy/sugar baby' dynamic

'Having fun while doing it': Courtney seemingly confirmed her existence on the dating site- stating: 'Now that Im single, Im excited to explore my options'

The fact that she married the 50-year-old actor when she was only a teenager hasn't made things any easier for the pair either.

'I got married when I was 16 and he was kind of more than just a husband to me, he was a lot. He was there for me when most of my family wasn't and was just a rock in my life.'

Despite the unfortunate relationship outcome, Courtney is optimistic about remaining amicable.

Having fun with it: Meanwhile, late last month Courtney - who was home schooled by an online private Christian academy - celebrated her split from Doug with a divorce bash (Pictured in happier days)

Tough time: She told US Weekly, my friends are the ones who put [the party] together for me,' she began, 'it's titled a 'Divorce Party,' but personally I've been going through a lot'

'I want us to remain in each other's lives as friends and business partners and I just don't want to lose him altogether,' she admitted.

'We're talking a lot about business throughout the day. It's sensitive to talk about our own issues right now, so I think we're kind of just talking mostly about business and then when we do talk about what we're going through, it's just really hard on both of us.'

She also seems ready to tackle life solo for awhile, saying 'Ive changed into a completely different person, I need that time now, more than ever, to find myself.'
He is the Terminator hardman turned politician who has been a celebrated, immediately recognisable star for decades.

But Arnold Schwarzenegger befuddled a group of Thai tourists when he photobombed their snap in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, on Sunday - because they had no idea who the actor, 69, was.

The former Governor of California, who was taking a bike ride through the French capital when he made the interruption, was in the city to be awarded the country's highest decorative honour by President Francois Hollande.

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I'll be in front! Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger, 69, photobombed a group of Thai tourists - who did not recognise him - in front of Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, on Sunday

The father-of-five looked as fit and tanned as ever as he pulled up in front of the historic landmark.

But it was only after their tour guide yelled 'Arnold!' after the star's retreating back that the gaggle of tourists realised whom they had just encountered.

One of the shocked group posted pictures of the moment and his family on Thai site Pantip, admitting that he had initially thought the Austrian native was 'rude'.

The tourist, posting as Y-G2006, wrote: 'I thought to myself, "Hey, what a badass!"'

Hunky: The father-of-five looked as fit and tanned as ever as he pulled up in front of the historic landmark to pose for snaps

But recounting the exciting adventure, the tourist said once he realised 'Arno is a Hollywood star' he was thrilled, and said some tourists began 'screaming' with excitement.

Arnold, who was escorted around the city by several bodyguards, seemed to have enjoyed the excursion just as much as the tourists.

Posting a snap of himself astride a bike outside the tower - this time without the tourists - the fitness fanatic raved about Paris to his 10.3 million followers.

Sight-seeing: Posting a snap of himself astride a bike outside the tower - this time without the tourists - the fitness fanatic raved about Paris to his 10.3 million followers

Honoured: The actor had spent the previous day being awarded the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur by outgoing President, Francois Hollande, at a ceremony at the Elysee Palace

The star also made a self-referential joke, thanking the group for 'allowing' him to partake in their photo.

He wrote: 'Fantastic bike ride through Paris. I cannot say this enough: to truly appreciate a city, get on a bike.

'Thank you to the tourists at the Eiffel Tower for letting me crash your photo!'

The actor had spent the previous day being awarded the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur by France's outgoing President, Francois Hollande, at a ceremony at the Elysee Palace.

The Order of Legion d'Honneur is the highest decoration in France and is divided into five degrees: Chevalier (Knight), Officier (Officer), Commandeur (Commander), Grand Officier (Grand Officer) and Grand Croix (Grand Cross).

The star took to social media to express his gratitude at the honour, which was awarded in recognition of his globally impactful environmental work.

Arnie wrote: 'Thank you, President @fhollande, for presenting me with this great distinction - Commander of the order of the Legion of Honor for my environmental work.

'I'm also thankful for your fantastic effort to make COP21 a success and help lead the world to a clean energy future. I look forward to continuing to work together to follow through and make our goals a reality!'
She was caught on camera toasting her tablemates with a glass of wine at Monday's Met Gala - despite being a full two years under the legal drinking age of 21.

But on Wednesday, Elle Fanning, 19, looked a world away from the glamour she so effortlessly exuded at the annual hot ticket gathering, as she stepped out on the streets of New York City wearing a set of patterned blue pyjamas.

The actress' eye-catching nightwear, currently all the rage among fashion devotees, was decorated with a series of yellow racecars and monogrammed with her initials.

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Out and about: Elle Fanning was spotted out and about in New York City on Wednesday

She teamed her comfortable attire with a pair of pink-framed spectacles as she toted a cream lather handbag, while a navy jacket was slung over her arm.

Her lustrous golden tresses were perfectly coiffed in a straight, sleek style with a centre-parting, while she appeared to go largely makeup-free for her excursion.

And, possibly still recovering from such a raucous night, which saw a host of A-listers descend on the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the star looked notably sombre.

Nightwear: The actress stepped out in a set of blue pyjamas, featuring a series of racecars

Party: The 19-year-old screen star was photographed during Monday night's Met Gala, sitting down at a table and holding up her glass to cheers with the other guests

Context: A representative for Elle told the DailyMail.com that the young actress didn't actually drink liquor and only participated in the toast

Her low-key day out in the Big Apple comes after photographs were unveiled showing the screen star toasting her tablemates at the glamorous gala with what appears to be a glass of white wine.

Elle was photographed during the reception, sitting down at a table and holding up her glass to cheers with the other guests, including the likes of Jessica Chastain, and Lupita Nyong'o - who appears to be raising a glass of water.

Despite Elle being pictured with the glass however, a representative for the actress insisted to DailyMail.com that the young actress didn't actually drink liquor and only participated in the toast.

Too young: According to Elle's rep, glasses of wine were placed on the tables before guests were seated, even though at least 11 other underage guests (such as Bella Hadid, 20) attended

Still teens! On the highly sought-after guest list were also 19-year-old Paris Jackson (left) and 18-year-old Sistine Stallone (right), the daughter of actor Sylvester Stallone

According to the representative, the glasses were placed on the tables before guests were seated, which would explain how an underage attendees such as Elle had easy access to the drink, despite not legally being able to consume alcohol.

'Elle did NOT drink alcohol at the Met Gala,' the representative said in an email. 'The glasses were at the table before everyone was seated and she only participated in a toast.'

DailyMail.com has also reached out to Vogue, which oversees the event, for comment. Representatives for the Metropolitan Museum declined to comment.

Exclusive: Guests to the event - such as 18-year-old Sofia Richie - must be reviewed and vetted by Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour before they can attend

Forever young: Kylie Jenner, who was also on the exclusive guest list, is only 19 years old - meaning she is two years away from being able to drink legally

In the image snapped of Elle's table, the actress can be seen sitting next to Lupita, 34, Sarah Paulson, 42, and Italian filmmaker Francesco Vezzoli, 46, all smiles as she takes part in the celebration.

But while all of Elle's tablemates appeared to be of legal drinking age, at least 11 other guests at the event are currently younger than 21.

On the very exclusive guest list were also Paris Jackson, 19, Kylie Jenner, 19, and Sofia Richie, 18.

Bella Hadid, who made a noticed appearance on the red carpet with a nearly-nude catsuit, is only 20 years old.

Juniors: Jaden Smith (left), 18, will have to wait three more years before he can legally drink, while 20-year-old actress Zendaya (right) is still a few months too young

Just watching: A representative for Elle (pictured arriving at the gala) told DailyMail.com that the young actress didn't actually drink liquor and only participated in a toast

Squad: Models Jordan Barrett (left), 20, and Cindy Crawford's son Presley Gerber (right), 17, joined the glamorous crowd at New York City's Metropolitan Museum

The same goes for 20-year-old actress Zendaya and model Jordan Barrett, who were both part of the edgy event.

Sistine Stallone, the daughter of actor Sylvester Stallone, is 18 years old, as is Jaden Smith. Also invited was Cindy Crawford's model son Presley Gerber, 17.

His younger sister Kaia, also a model, attended the Met Gala last year when she was just 15 years old.

Tickets to the Met Gala cost a staggering $30,000 a pop this year, according to the New York Times, and tables went for $275,000.

But money is not enough to get entry to the A-list event: the gala is accessible by invitation only, and each guests must be reviewed and vetted by Vogue editor-in-chief and Met Gala chair Anna Wintour.

Breaking the rules: Marc Jacobs, 54, Courtney Love, 52, and her daughter Frances Bean Cobain, 24, all posed for a picture in the bathroom while smoking - defying New York's ban

Not permitted: A smoking Bella Hadid could be seen on social media smoking in the museum's bathroom next to Lara Stone and Ruby Rose

Meanwhile, other guests engaged in another type of rule-breaking in the museum's bathroom: some celebs were seen in social media photos blatantly violating New York's strict indoor smoking ban.

Bella could be seen puffing on a cigarette as she crouched on the floor next to Paris Hilton, fellow model Lara Stone, and Orange is the New Black star Ruby Rose.

At 20, Bella is old enough to purchase cigarettes in New York - but still too young to drink legally.

Dakota Johnson was also captured lighting a smoke in the bathroom by her pal Rita Ora, who posted the moment on Snapchat.

Caution to the wind: Dakota Johnson was one of the many stars snapped breaking the New York smoking ban as pal Rita Ora captured her enjoying a smoke in the bathroom

Puffing away: In the background, Behati Prinsloo could be seen taking a cigarette break
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Jiang Junxian, president of the Chinese Cuisine Association, makes a speech at a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]



The China Cuisine & Culture Pavilion will make its debut at Expo Astana 2017 later this year, offering a gourmet guide to China and its unique culinary culture.

The Expo, an international specialized exhibition to be held in the Kazakh capital from June 10 to Sept. 10, will provide a platform to showcase Chinese culinary culture by introducing the wider dimensions of Chinese food to the world.

Li Yaguang, curator of the China Cuisine & Culture Pavilion and vice president of the Chinese Cuisine Association, introduced at a press conference on Wednesday that the pavilion, covering a 1.7-sq.-km site, will display a wide range of Chinas local foods and snacks.

The pavilion is a two-storied building -- Chinese Snacks Culture Hall on the ground floor, displaying well-known local snacks, and Chinese Cuisine Culture Hall on the second floor, displaying crafted dishes representing the major cuisines of China.

Li Yaguang, curator of the China Cuisine & Culture Pavilion and vice president of the Chinese Cuisine Association, makes a speech at a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]



"The Expo platform will give a huge boost to Chinese food brands and food-related industries and provide opportunities for establishing international cooperation," said Li.

Beijing Jiankun Catering Group will be responsible for all the pavilions catering services.

Many gourmet cities with famous snacks are ready to actively participate in the Expo, including Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing. Famous snack brands, such as Qingfeng Steamed Bun Shop and Lucky Wonton are applying for participation.

Since Kazakhstan is a crucial node on the Belt and Road, Expo Astana is drawing much attention and participation from Chinas central and local governments.

According to Xu Li, executive curator of China Cuisine & Culture Pavilion, a total of 23 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have confirmed participation in Event Weeks and Event Days to be held during the expo.

Xu Li, executive curator of China Cuisine & Culture Pavilion, makes a speech at a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]



The Chinese Cuisine Association will work together with local governments during the expo to hold a series of major events to show China's rich culinary culture and extensively promote exchanges between China and Kazakhstan.

The 2017 World Expo will attract nearly 150 countries and international organizations.

Since this year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Kazakhstan and the Year of Tourism of the two countries, Expo Astana 2017 holds great significance for the development of bilateral relations as well as the advancement of the Belt and Road Initiative.
She was one of the main attractions at the Met Gala on Monday night.

And Hailey Baldwin continued to turn heads as she enjoyed a low-key New York dinner on Wednesday.

The stunning star, 20, headed to Nobu for dinner with her fellow supermodel Kendall Jenner - but stole the show in her eye-catching ensemble.

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Bright young thing: Hailey Baldwin continued to turn heads as she enjoyed a low-key New York dinner on Wednesday

Hailey matched her blonde tresses to her bold yellow mini-dress, which she teamed with a matching neckscarf.

But the piece de resistance of the outfit was her killer thigh-high boots.

The blue PVC heels were even emblazoned with the very apt song title: 'These boots were made for walking.'

Kendall, however, went for a very casual look, wearing a grey jumper and matching jeans.

Walk this way: The stunning star, 20, headed to Nobu for dinner with her fellow supermodel Kendall Jenner - but stole the show in her eye-catching ensemble

Bold and the beautiful: Hailey matched her blonde tresses to her bold yellow mini-dress, which she teamed with a matching neckscarf - but the piece de resistance of the outfit was her killer thigh-high boots

Heely good! The blue PVC heels were even emblazoned with the very apt song title: 'These boots were made for walking.'

It was a deserved quiet night for the pair, who ruled the roost at the Met Gala earlier in the week.

She wore a slightly more revealing outfit for the afterparty at 1 Oak.

While the 20-year-old could have pulled off the vintage look, her sartorial prowess was somewhat diminished as she flashed her nipple pasties from beneath the perilously plunging neckline while heading into the bash.

Hailey started the night on the red carpet in an ethereal ensemble, which added a dream-like touch to the iconic annual event jam-packed with all the hottest stars.

As she swept the famous steps outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art at the heart on New York's 5th Avenue, she looked breathtaking in a nude tiered princess skirt paired with an abs-flashing bustier crop top.

It seems the daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin was keen to sex things up later in the evening as she slipped into the sultry mini dress with extreme elements borrowed from the garish style of the decade.

The black mini dress was barely-there in material while the neckline boasted a pink metallic detail which fell off her shoulder while boosting her cleavage.

Cheeky! Hailey wore a slightly more revealing outfit for the afterparty at 1 Oak after the Met Gala on Monday

Busty babe: While the 20-year-old could have pulled off the vintage look, her sartorial prowess was somewhat diminished as she flashed her nipple pasties from beneath the perilously plunging neckline while heading into the bash

Met be a rough night! During the night, something seemed to have upset the social media savvy star as she was spotted looking upset while exiting the bash

What's wrong? Her new beau Cameron Dallas, 22, did his best to grab her by the arm to comfort her

While she appeared to go braless, it was in fact the dress which acted to cup her assets although the structured top failed her somewhat as she spilled out of the slinky tube dress - in a shock wardrobe malfunction.

Already putting on an eye-popping display, Hailey stunned further when her nude nipple pastie became visible from beneath the gaping neckline.

Keeping her look totally themed, she styled her hair into a voluminous Eighties style crop while her dripping jewels acted to give the glamorous feel of a prom queen in the era of heavy hairspray and bright neons.

A vision: Hailey started the night on the red carpet in an ethereal ensemble, which added a dream-like touch to the iconic annual event jam-packed with all the hottest stars

The theme of this year's Met Gala is Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons, with the focus being on the avant-garde designer's technique with silhouettes, draping and fit.

The 74-year-old Japanese fashion legend is the second ever living designer to be the sole subject of the Met's fashion exhibit since Yves Saint Laurent in 1983.

The glitzy bash, formally known as the Costume Institute Gala, borrows its name from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the location for the annual NYC event.

Sensational: The theme of this year's Met Gala is Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons, with the focus being on the avant-garde designer's technique with silhouettes, draping and fit

In 1946, the gala was launched, in a bid to raise money for the Mets Costume Institute.

This year's lucrative fundraiser will see less that 600 glamorous attendees appear. Tickets market for up to $30,000, while tables cost $275,000.

Guests must be personally approved by American Vogue editor and chairwoman of event, Anna Wintour.
She last year underwent more than $22,000 worth of cosmetic enhancements after disliking her appearance on television.

And Keira Maguire doesn't seem to be slowing down on the artificial alterations in 2017, taking a page out of Kim Kardashian's book and getting a vampire facial on Thursday.

The 30-year-old Bachelor reject shared graphic videos of the procedure to Instagram, which involves having blood re-injected into their face.

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Trying to be the next Kim Kardashian? The Bachelor's Keira Maguire gets vampire blood facial after revealing she had $22,000 worth of cosmetic enhancements done last year

Keira took to Instagram to document her trip to Double Bay plastic surgeon Dr Zacharia, the same doctor who did her nose surgery.

The I'm A Celebrity contestant underwent a Factor 4 treatment, otherwise known as a 'vampire facial'.

The cosmetic procedure sees blood removed from a person's arm and concentrated platelets re-injected into the face, purportedly to stimulate collagen growth.

Oversharing? Keira took to Instagram to document her trip to Double Bay plastic surgeon Dr Zacharia, the same doctor who did her nose surgery

Price of beauty? The cosmetic procedure sees blood removed from a person's arm and concentrated platelets re-injected into the face, purportedly to stimulate collagen growth

Keira showed off her bloodstained face in one video, writing in the caption: 'The thing we do'.

Other videos show her face being injected with her own blood and massaged into her skin.

But despite the gruesome nature of the procedure Keira joked it was less painful than one memorable challenged on I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here!

She's not finished yet! After her vampire facial Keira shared a photo of her wearing a mask, explaining she was also getting LED light treatment

In her first tucker trial, Keira was left sobbing hysterically after having chillis applied to her face.

'This is not okay,' she complained to host Julia Morris. 'I cant believe you did that to me. You dont even know how much its burning.'

After her vampire facial Keira shared a photo of her wearing a mask, explaining she was also getting an LED light treatment.

Not her first time in the chair: Last year she revealed to NW Magazine she underwent a $22,000 plastic surgery makeover, saying: 'I've always wanted to be perfect!'

Since entering the spotlight as a Bachelor 'villain' competing for Richie Strahan's affection last year, Keira has been upfront about her many cosmetic procedures.

Last year she revealed to NW Magazine she underwent a $22,000 plastic surgery makeover, saying: 'I've always wanted to be perfect!'

She had a swathe of procedures done, including a nose job, botox, lip fillers, tattooed eyebrows and vampire facials.

Not happy! In her first tucker trial, Keira was left sobbing hysterically after having chillis applied to her face

Her many enhancements was the subject of some teasing on I'm A Celebrity, with Ash Pollard joking that Keira's artificially plumped up lips were so big they gave her a 'speech impediment'.

In March, Keira revealed on Instagram she had also been undergoing laser skin treatment for her acne scars over several months, crediting the procedure with giving her new found confidence.

'Their is no way I would have been able to go into the jungle & be on live TV with no makeup, before receiving these treatments [sic],' she explained.

Focusing on her skin: In March, Keira revealed on Instagram she had also been undergoing laser skin treatment for her acne scars
Her age-defying looks and jaw-dropping figure have always been marvelled at.

And Salma Hayek matched her colourful ensemble to her bubbly personality as she attended the eagerly anticipated premiere of her new flick How To Be A Latin Lover at the Teatro Metropolitan in Mexico City on Wednesday.

The 50-year-old actress stole the spotlight as she flirtatiously showcased her curve-accentuating outfit - which drew emphasis to her ample assets and fine-tuned physique.

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Eternal: Salma Hayek, 50, matched her colourful ensemble to her bubbly personality as she attended the eagerly anticipated premiere of her new flick How To Be A Latin Lover at the Teatro Metropolitan in Mexico City on Wednesday

Salma oozed sex appeal in the bright midi-length dress which aimed to flatter her figure as she posed up a storm on the red carpet alongside co-star Eugenio Derbez.

The mother-of-one's floral number featured a red lace bib-inspired neckline, before flaring out into an orange and purple billowing skirt.

The Academy Award-nominated actress stuck to the colour scheme as she boosted her 5 ft 2 in height in a pair of towering copper coloured heels. She completed the look with an Anabela Chan Opal Poseidon earrings and a Le Vian ring.

Ever the eternal sensation, Salma's glossy brunette locks were glamorously curled to perfection, while her striking features boasted smoky shadow, blusher and a eye-catching red pout.

Age-defying: The Mexican actress oozed sex appeal in the bright midi-length dress which aimed to flatter her figure as she posed up a storm on the red carpet alongside co-star Eugenio Derbez

Buxom lady: The talented actress stole the spotlight as she flirtatiously showcased her curve-accentuating outfit that she accessorized with an Anabela Chan Opal Poseidon earrings and a Le Vian ring

Colourful: The mother-of-one's floral number featured a red lace bib-inspired neckline, before flaring out into an orange and purple billowing skirt

Standing tall: The Academy Award-nominated actress stuck to the colour scheme as she boosted her 5 ft 2 in height in a pair of towering copper coloured heels

A chic purple chained handbag harboured her essentials as she enjoyed the red carpet with her co-star Eugenio.

The Mexican actor, 54, looked incredibly dapper for the big night in a slick tartan navy suit, which he teamed with a crisp white and blue tie.

Ever the ladies man, the hunk held onto a single red rose as he put on a cheeky display with Salma.

The beauty's upcoming comedy tells the story of a man who gets dumped after 25 years of marriage.

Gorgeous: Salma's glossy brunette locks were glamorously curled to perfection, while her striking features boasted smoky shadow, blusher and a eye-catching red pout

Handsome: Eugenio, 54, looked incredibly dapper for the big night in a slick tartan navy suit, which he teamed with a crisp white and blue tie

Plot: The beauty's upcoming comedy tells the story of a man who gets dumped after 25 years of marriage

After making a career by seducing rich older women, Maximo - played by Eugenio - must now move in with his estranged sister, where he begins to learn the value of family.

Salma plays Maximo's sister Sara in the lighthearted comedy, which hit US theatres on April 28th.

Other stars in the big screen project include Rob Lowe, Kristen Bell, Raquel Welch and Rob Riggle.

Salma also looked sensational the night before as she promoted the movie in a beautiful lace effect midi, that showed off her slender figure whilst remaining demure with its feminine shape.

Storyline: After making a career by seducing rich older women, Maximo - played by Eugenio - must now move in with his estranged sister, where he begins to learn the value of family

Ageless beauty: The night before Salma looked stunning in a beautiful lace effect midi-dress as she promoted the new movie

Saucy: The buxom beauty blew a kiss as she smiled for the cameras, and looked sensational in the figure-hugging number

The buxom beauty blew a kiss as she smiled for the cameras, and looked sensational in the figure-hugging number.

The dress featured a Bardot shoulder neckline that revealed a tantalising glimpse of her tanned and toned shoulders, while she wore her glossy raven tresses in loose waves.

The actress laughed and joked with actor Eugenio Derbez, who co-stars with her in her new movie.

On Saturday, Salma was almost 300 miles away in Las Vegas, where she scooped the CinemaCon Vanguard trophy at the CinemaCon Big Screen Achievement Awards.

Work it: The dress featured a Bardot shoulder neckline that revealed a tantalising glimpse of her tanned and toned shoulders, while she wore her glossy raven tresses in loose waves

Cheeky: The mother-of-one accentuated her striking features with a red lip, and looked every inch the screen siren as she cheekily showed off her pert derriere by turning away from the camera

The star was recognised for her huge variety of roles, with managing director Mitch Neuhauser commenting: 'A commanding presence onscreen and off, Hayek has proven herself to be one of the most prolific actresses of our time.'

'From her stunning turn as Frida in the film of the same name, to her hilarious roles in films such as Grown-Ups, Hayek has not only entertained audiences around the world with her vast array of roles but she has devoted herself to causes with a passion unlike no other.'

Other winners included Goldie Hawn, who picked up the Cinema Icon award, Jessica Chastain for Female Star of the Year and Naomi Watts, recognised for her Distinguished Decade of Achievement in Film.

Outside of her busy work schedule, Salma is also a doting mother to nine-year-old Valentina, her daughter with her husband of eight years.
She counted herself among dozens of celebrities lucky enough to land a coveted ticket to Monday night's Met Gala in New York City.

And, after dazzling in a classic dark teal Zac Posen-designed gown at the glittering event, Katie Holmes was spotted looking decidedly more casual as she sported double denim while heading out to dinner in Beverly Hills on Wednesday night.

Wearing a baggy denim blouse rucked into a pair of lightly faded form-fitting jeans, the 38-year-old actress threw on a pair of oversized sunglasses for her nighttime culinary excursion to popular eatery Mastro's.

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Dinner: Katie Holmes was spotted heading to dinner at Mastro's in Beverly Hills on Wednesday

Adding extra height to her frame with a pair of brown strappy heels, the mother-of-one kept her makeup light and natural while appearing to largely forgo jewellery.

Her voluminous brown tresses rested on her shoulders in glossy waves as she smiled at photographers while making her way into the restaurant.

The star has had a busy few weeks, having celebrated her daughter Suri's 11th birthday with a fun-filled trip to Miami late last month.

Denim: The 38-year-old actress stepped out in a baggy denim blouse with lightly faded jeans

Glamorous: Her look contrasted the stunning Zac Posen-designed gown she wore to Monday night's star-studded Met Gala, held at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art

Former Dawson's Creek star Katie took to Instagram to post a photo of three tantalising cakes on a table featuring a spray-painted sign reading 'Happy Birthday'.

'A very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sweetie,' she captioned the shot, which was posted before another image showing balloons adorning the ceiling of the party location.

Calling Suri 'a remarkable person', she told the New York Times of motherhood in December: 'I try to make our world very much an environment thats just all about being a kid without too much of Hollywood coming into that.'

Shades at night: Despite stepping out late, she opted to wear a pair of oversized sunglasses

Nailed it: She stood tall in a pair of strappy heels, in which she showed off her perfect pedicure

Suri was born in 2006, seven months before her parents Katie and Tom Cruise wed in a star-studded Italian bash attended by such guests as Will Smith, Victoria Beckham and John Travolta.

The pair divorced in 2012, with Katie and Suri subsequently swapping Los Angeles for New York City.

Katie has romantically linked with Tom Cruise's 2004 Collateral co-star Jamie Foxx since 2013 - though the pair have yet to confirm the persistent rumours.

Main squeeze: Late last month, she shared a shot of herself with her daughter Suri, as they celebrated her 11th birthday with a fun-filled trip to Miami

Sweet life: Katie uploaded a snap of three cakes and a 'Happy Birthday' sign for her offspring
Stephanie Davis has vowed to quit drinking after posting a worryingly incoherent tweet about cheating.

The former Hollyoaks star is currently trying to rebuild her relationship with on/off partner Jeremy McConnell after his recent stint in rehab.

But on Wednesday night, it appeared all was not well between the pair, with the 23-year-old tweeting: 'Someone who gives you and doesnt answer, dont I. There beat a cheat n always n in.'

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Taking action: Stephanie Davis has vowed to quit drinking after posting a worryingly incoherent tweet about cheating as she tries to rebuild her life with Jeremy McConnell after his stint in rehab

Regrets: After posting an incoherent tweet about cheating on Wednesday night, a regretful Stephanie revealed that her drinking is causing major issues in her life, admitting it's a 'chemical imbalance'

But the post was reportedly deleted 20 minutes later, but Jeremy blocked the star following what was reportedly a huge drunken bust up on holiday.

The Irish hunk's rep insists Jeremy is tee-total after his rehab stint - and that he left the hotel he shared with Steph after her outburst.

The spokesperson explains: 'To imply that Jeremy was drinking three days after leaving rehab is a malicious lie.

'Jeremy removed himself from the situation last night and checked into a hotel.'

The morning after, an obviously regretful Stephanie has revealed she is quitting drinking for the sake of her family and relationship, saying: 'I destroy lives.'

She writes: 'I cant drink because it ruins my life. I keep things in. I destroy peoples lives. Me and Jeremy cant drink. And wont be drinking again.

'Its been hard for me to admit and accept. Im a good mother and a good person, but alcohol doesnt agree with my life. Its a chemical imbalance.'

The star's issues with booze have been long documented - she was sacked from Hollyoaks in 2015 after bosses tired of her turning up to work hungover or still intoxicated.

What's going on? Stephanie Davis posted a worryingly incoherent 'cheat' tweet while on holiday with Jeremy McConnell... just a day after revealing they want baby number two (pictured above with son Caben-Albi)

Something wrong? Jeremy has recently come out of rehab and the couple had been doing all they could to put their troubles behind them

Unsure: The actress deleted the tweet after 20 minutes

Show bosses confirmed Stephanie's contract had been terminated after she arrived on the set of the Channel 4 soap unfit for work.

The 22-year-old actress was given her notice 'with immediate effect' following at least '20 incidents'.

A spokesman for the soap said: 'Stephanies contract was terminated following warnings for lateness, attendance and after a final incident in which she turned up to set unfit to work because of alcohol consumption.'

MailOnline has contacted a spokesperson for Stephanie for comment.

The message comes just a day after Stephanie revealed in an interview with Closer magazine, that she and Jeremy, who are parents to Caben-Albi, five months, would like to try for baby number two, following his recent stint in rehab.

Stephanie confessed she was feeling 'broody', adding that her boyfriend wanted to be there for her next pregnancy, after missing out first time round.

They're not understanding: Some of Stephanie's fans noticed her incoherent tweet but couldn't make out what she meant

Sad: The message comes just a day after Stephanie revealed in an interview with Closer magazine, that she and Jeremy, are putting their troubles behind them

She admitted: 'Weve both talked about having another baby at some point.

She said: 'For Jez, its about wanting to put right what he did wrong and be there throughout my next pregnancy. And Im so broody  Id love to give Caben a little sister one day.'

She also revealed that wedding bells could be on the horizon, saying she 'can't wait to marry him one day'.

Stephanie made the official announcement that she was in a relationship with the father of her son once again on This Morning last week.

Wedding bells? Stephanie had also revealed that marriage could be on the horizon, saying she 'can't wait to marry him one day'

Since then, the pair reunited in Ireland following Jeremy's stint in rehab and were seen jetting off on holiday from Manchester airport together on Sunday.

Speaking about rekindling their romance, Stephanie said: 'I know a lot has happened and it might seem strange to some people, but me and Jez have always loved each other.

'The love never went away between us and weve both done things we regret, but hopefully this can be our fresh start.

'I finally feel like things are falling into place and we both adore Caben. I still feel emotional about everything but Im just so happy now; I just want us to have a normal happy life.'

Stephanie also revealed her 'relief' when Jeremy told her that he was going into rehab, saying she 'couldn't be prouder of him for getting the help he needs'.

Rekindled romance: Stephanie made the official announcement that she was in a relationship with the father of her son once again on This Morning
He hunts down the bad guys in his smash hit Taken franchise.

But Liam Neeson was on a different mission this week, tracking down a free meal.

The Hollywood star played a Vancouver-area sandwich shop at their own game on Tuesday, showing up to claim a free lunch when the local store put up a sign saying: 'Liam Neeson eats here for free.'

He showed up! Liam Neeson played a Vancouver-area sandwich shop at their own game on Tuesday, showing up to claim a free lunch when the local store put up a sign saying: 'Liam Neeson eats here for free'

Big Star Sandwich heard the bigshot star was nearby filming his new movie Hard Powder, so cheekily cashed in on the Hollywood visit with their sign.

One side read: 'Liam Neeson eats here for free' and 'Come in and get Taken away by our sandwiches' was written on the other.

The sign was put up on Tuesday morning, and just hours later Liam himself walked into the shop.

TMZ report that the actor simply asked employees: 'Where is my free sandwich?'

Good deal: Big Star Sandwich heard the bigshot star was nearby filming his new movie Hard Powder, so cheekily cashed in on the Hollywood visit with their sign

Apparently Liam was too busy to actually eat his promised free meal but did pose for a photo with staff and the sign.

The delighted store were soon tweeting about their A-list customer, posting the photos and exclaiming: 'Holy f**k, it worked! #LiamNeeson.'

Liam is in town shooting his new big screen venture Hard Powder, an English-language remake of the 2014 Norwegian feature In Order of Disappearance from director Hans Petter Moland who also is helming the remake.

Is stars Neeson as Nels, a snowplow driver in an upmarket ski town whose life is turned upside down when his son is murdered by the powerful local drug kingpin.

Much like Taken, Neeson then embarks on a mission to get rid of the cartel, but his crusade sparks a turf war between a local gangster and a Native American mafia boss.
He's starring alongside Hollywood royalty in Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.

And former Home and Away star Brenton Thwaites, 27, has revealed Johnny Depp was almost always in character while filming the sequel, telling The Daily Telegraph: 'I never really saw him out of costume.'

The actor also confessed he was lucky to get the role in more ways than one, as it lead to him meeting current girlfriend and the mother of his child Chloe Pacey.

'I never really saw him out of costume' Brenton Thwaites reveals Johnny Depp was almost always in character while filming Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

Brenton spent more than six months shooting scenes for Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales from 2015 to 2016.

But he rarely saw co-star Johnny, 53, out of character as the actor was always in his Jack Sparrow get up.

'I never really saw him out of costume,' Brenton told News Corp Australia.

Always in character: Brenton rarely saw co-star Johnny, 53, out of character as the actor was always in his Jack Sparrow get up

Loves Johnny: However Brenton confessed he was still a 'mega-fan' of Johnny's acting work, gushing about his co-star's easygoing demeanor

However Brenton confessed he was still a 'mega-fan' of Johnny's acting work, gushing about his co-star's easygoing demeanor.

'Hes a really cool, sweet guy,' Brenton said.

Johnny's time in Australia shooting the Pirates sequel was marred by controversy after his then-wife Amber Heard brought their dogs Pistol and Boo into the country without adhering to strict quarantine laws.

Soap start: Brenton starred on Home and Away from 2011 to 2012 before making it big in Hollywood

In contrast Brenton gushed about the idyllic months spent shooting the blockbuster, which led him to meet his current girlfriend Chloe and mother of his daughter Birdie, 1.

'We had a huge break in between shooting. Thats when I moved out of my house, into a rental house, which is where I met my girlfriend,' he said.

Brenton starred on Home and Away from 2011 to 2012 before making it big in Hollywood thanks to roles in movies such as Maleficent and Gods of Egypt.
Once considered a fashion faux pas and dubbed the Canadian Tuxedo, if done right, this ensemble can ensure a spectacularly stylish but yet still casual look.

The jury is still out of Ashley Benson rocked or struggled the double denim trend as she headed out for a coffee.

The 27-year-old certainly seem as cool as ice as she stepped out in Beverly Hills, California, on Wednesday.

On the fashion fence: The jury is still out of Ashley Benson rocked or struggled the double denim trend as she headed out for a coffee in Beverly Hills, California, on Wednesday

For her iced coffee run, the Pretty Little Lairs stare wore an oversized light wash denim jacket with darker blur distressed jeans.

The pants had a giant ripped sections on both her legs, which threatened to derail the denim-on-denim look.

Ashley wore the look with a loose-fit white T-shirt which had been cut so the top of her chest and decolletage was exposed.

While her double denim was not a decisive style win for the actress, her accessories were certainly on point.

Denim diva: For her iced coffee run, the Pretty Little Lairs stare wore an oversized light wash denim jacket with darker blur distressed jeans

Ashley stepped out in so furry leopard booties which clashed perfectly with her Saint Laurent red bag.

The actress then finished off her look with a pair of round sunglasses and wore her ombre locks out and flowing with a little texture.

Ashley, best known for playing Hanna Marin in Pretty Little Liars, has yet to reveal what her next acting plans are now the teen drama has come to an end.

The Freeform series' finale will air June 21, but filming wrapped on October 26, 2016.
Over the past several months, he's been busy shooting action-packed scenes for the sixth instalment in his Mission: Impossible series at locations across Europe.

And on Thursday, Tom Cruise pressed on on with production in his most recent base of Paris, mounting a BMW motorbike as he sped through the French capital's streets.

Wearing an all-black ensemble that included a leather jacket and matching gloves, the 53-year-old Hollywood actor flashed his signature toothy grin as he rode along.

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Action! Tom Cruise was spotted shooting scenes for Mission: Impossible 6 in Paris on Thursday

Apparently in good spirits, he smiled and waved at curious onlookers before and after he mounted the two-wheeler in front of rolling cameras.

The screen star's latest round of shooting came after he and co-star Vanessa Kirby were filmed in passionate scenes for the upcoming action flick on Tuesday.

Sharing a kiss, Hollywood veteran Tom and The Crown star Vanessa, 26, snuggled up close, sharing jokes between takes as they collapsed in fits of giggles.

Rider: The Hollywood actor was seen zipping through the city's streets on a BMW motorbike

Tom, who is reprising his role of special agent Ethan Hunt, proved his character hadn't lost any of his famed charm or style as he sported a fitted blue suit.

Vanessa, who is set to play the female lead in the upcoming thriller - also looked stylish, sporting a cream trench coat that cinched in at her tiny waist.

The actor cast the British beauty in the latest instalment of the action films after seeing her play Princess Margaret in the acclaimed Netflix series The Crown, according to InTouch Weekly.

The pair are believed to have immediately hit it off on set, and father-of-three Tom is now said to be looking to the future.

Black: The star wore an all-black ensemble that included a leather jacket and matching gloves

Action-packed: Tom has been performing a number of stunts for the action-packed movie

Sources also say he is ready again to settle down, just weeks after his beloved mother Mary Lee Pfeiffer died at the age of 80.

An insider told the US magazine: 'He told the other MI producers that he had to have Vanessa for a crucial role in the franchise's sixth instalment. He's blown away by her endless charm and energy.'

Once Tom got her on set, they had 'instant chemistry', it was later claimed, and it was that spark between the two that led to her getting the role right away.

And, according to the unnamed insider, Tom is already said to be considering a long future with the British beauty, with one source even suggesting that 'he wants to make her the next Mrs Tom Cruise'.

Making waves: Looking to be in good spirits, the actor flashed a smile and wave at onlookers

It was announced last month that Henry Cavill had joined the cast in the latest instalment of the famous action franchise.

While it isn't fully known what Henry's role in the spy movie will be, Variety has reported that he will play some sort of a right hand to the head of Tom's unit.

Alec Baldwin played the role of Toms boss in Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation, but it is still unknown if he will return.

Lip service: On Tuesday, he was snapped sharing a screen kiss with his co-star Vanessa Kirby

While most of the details of the plot of the latest film have been kept tightly under wraps, Skydance Media CEO David Ellison revealed that Tom will be performing the biggest stunt sequence of his career in the film.

He told Collider: 'What Tom is doing in this movie I believe will top anything thats come before. It is absolutely unbelievablehes been training for a year.

'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]. Its gonna be mind-blowing.'

Tom and Vanessa star in the film alongside a whole host of other big names, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson and Jeremy Renner.
She is one of the world's most famous fashion faces.

And Naomi Campbell proved she looks as fantastic off-duty as on as she wowed while heading out in Beverly Hills on Wednesday - just days after dazzling the red carpet at the Met Gala in New York.

The 46-year-old stunning went super low-key in an Adidas tracksuit paired with a lilac top as she continued to rock her new choppy haircut with aplomb.

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Glowing: Naomi Campbell proved she looks as fantastic off-duty as on as she wowed while heading out in Beverly Hills on Wednesday - just days after dazzling the red carpet at the Met Gala in New York

Naomi is typically clad in top end designers with every hair coiffed and every pore expertly made up, yet she illustrated on Wednesday that she can pull off low-key as well as super glam.

In her trendy tracksuit, she showed off her lithe legs while highlighting her slender hips with a tracksuit top tied tight around her waist.

She contrasted the sporty vibe of the look with a lilac top complete with a choker detail and a scoop key-hole underneath.

Her choppy bob was perfectly styled and stood out starkly against her flawless ensemble while perfectly framing her flawless bone structure.

On the run: The 46-year-old stunning went super low-key in an Adidas tracksuit paired with a lilac top as she continued to rock her new choppy haircut with aplomb

Intimate: Shortly before her appearance, Naomi offered a rare insight into her psyche in a new interview with ES Magazine, admitting she longs to become a mother and opening up about her experience as an addict, and her journey to recovery

Shortly before her appearance, Naomi offered a rare insight into her psyche in a new interview with ES Magazine, admitting she longs to become a mother and opening up about her experience as an addict, and her journey to recovery.

Naomi got personal while discussing her desire to become a mother, revealing that she wants to do it at her own pace. I think about having children all the time. But now with the way science is I think I can do it when I want', she explained.

Quizzed whether she wants to have a baby herself rather than adopt, she replied, 'Maybe. Maybe... Maybe.

Candid: Naomi got personal while discussing her desire to become a mother, revealing that she wants to do it at her own pace. I think about having children all the time. But now with the way science is I think I can do it when I want', she explained

Insisting she doesn't want to be a single mother, however, she said: I do want a father figure. I think its important.

Naomi opened up about her road to recovery with Narcotics Anonymous (NA).

She explained: People tried to shame me about the fact that I went to get help. You should never feel shame because recovery is a positive thing.

'But when I first went, people were not open about this stuff. Everything like this should be talked about openly.

'Mental health issues, postpartum depression  there are so many different things. Come together and help each other, thats important.

Naomi also discussed her love for Nelson Mandela - her friend, mentor and adopted grandfather - revealing that the former President of South Africa sparked her passion for charity.

'He was the one that made me consciously aware, because I wasnt', she said, 'I was aware to the extent that my mother used to take care of two kids in Ethiopia when I was growing up. But other than that I wasnt really. He opened my eyes. I learnt a lot from him.
Beautiful China, a newly opened photo and book exhibition in the tourism resort town of Queenstown, is helping boost China-New Zealand cultural exchanges.

More than 400 books, published in China but mostly in English, will help New Zealand's people and visitors get a better understanding of China in many areas, including politics, the economy and culture, said Guo Weimin, vice-minister of the State Council Information Office.

Liu Qibao, the Communist Party of China Central Committee's publicity chief, attended the exhibition on New Zealand's South Island on Wednesday, the day it opened.

Liu is leading a delegation of senior cultural officials who are visiting New Zealand from May 24 to 26. Prime Minister John Key met with the delegation on May 24.

The exhibition will introduce the English-language version of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, to Queenstown's people and visitors, Guo said during the exhibition's opening ceremony on May 25.

During the meeting with New Zealand's prime minister, the two countries reached "important consensus" on cultural exchanges, Guo said.

New Zealand is the first country to sign intergovernmental film and television co-production agreements with China.

Vanessa van Uden, the mayor of Queenstown, said the city has witnessed enhanced cultural exchanges between China and New Zealand in recent years.

"The number of Chinese tourists to Queenstown has increased rapidly in recent years during my term as the mayor of this city," she said at the ceremony.

The exhibition is expected to help local people know more about China, and New Zealand could learn from China's experience in preserving history and protecting historical sites, she said. As part of the exhibition, about 70 photos focus on perspectives including world heritage in China, intangible cultural heritage and the unity of humans and nature. Geoff Marks, business development executive at Lake Wanaka Tourism, said that the exhibition is a good way for New Zealand's people to understand China. "

After seeing the beautiful photo of Wulingyuan (in Hunan province), I have dreamed of visiting that place," said Marks, who has been to China five times and has visited such cities as Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu.

Marks said that in recent years he has witnessed an increasing number of Chinese coming to New Zealand. The photo and book exhibition will inspire more New Zealanders to visit China, he added.
Her weddings bands have been on and off in recent months and she was spotted kissing her ex boyfriend Nabil Gazal at the weekend, as she awaits her husband's release from prison.

And on Thursday evening, PR guru Roxy Jacenko wore her wedding bands, as she attended the Sydney Children's Hospital Foundation Gold Ball in Sydney.

The mother of two stunned in a sweeping red Steven Khalil dress, as she joined the likes of Francesca Paker and one of her employees.

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Ringing in the night! Roxy Jacenko looked glamorous in a sweeping Steven Khalil gown and wore her wedding bands on Thursday, after being spotted kissing ex Nabil Gazal

Sharing one of her infamous elevator selfies, Roxy showcased her jewels, including her diamond bracelet and a diamond chain.

'The best evening, thank you Francesca Packer,' Roxy captioned part of the post.

She also shared another shot of herself posing in her gown in a mirror with one of her Sweaty Betty publicists.

Stunning: She also shared another shot of herself posing in her gown in a mirror with one of her Sweaty Betty publicists

In the snap, Roxy holds up the peace sign and pouts, with her frock shown in full.

Her dress featured a strapless design and and a-line skirt, with what appeared to be a giant bow at the back.

Roxy has declined to comment on the pictures that surfaced over the weekend of her passionately kissing former boyfriend, Nabil Gazal.

The revealing shots obtained exclusively by Daily Mail Australia, saw Roxy in an embrace with her ex, after they enjoyed dinner with friends earlier in the evening.

Making headlines: Roxy has declined to comment on the pictures that surfaced over the weekend of her passionately kissing former boyfriend, Nabil Gazal (pictured)

'This was no one off friendly kiss,' the snapper, who took the pictures, told Daily Mail Australia. 'It was a passionate long lingering snog.'

'Whatever the history, these two are obviously still into each other.

'If you're suggesting it was merely a little kiss between friends then I wish I had friend like that.'

Noticeably absent on her left hand wedding finger was her wedding and engagement rings from husband Oliver Curtis.

Her husband was jailed last June for conspiracy to commit insider trading and is set to be released on a good behaviour bond on June 24.
Her youngest sibling Cara is an international supermodel and a rising star in the acting industry.

But all attention was on Poppy Delevingne as she celebrated her big 31st birthday in a lavish Moulin Rouge inspired bash at London's Secret Cinema on Wednesday.

The British socialite was all smiles as she turned up to the party with husband James Cook, before turning on the glamour in a sexy cabaret inspired, Parisian themed ensemble as she partied the night away.

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Her time to shine! Poppy Delevingne proved in high spirits as she celebrated her 31st birthday bash at London's Secret Cinema on Wednesday in a Moulin Rouge themed bash

Poppy still managed to steal the spotlight as she arrived in a chic, yet casual ensemble, which consisted of a black biker jacket, skinny jeans and boots.

Hot on her heels was James, who she wed in 2014, who looked every inch the hunk in a fitted suit.

Heading into the Secret Cinema venue, Poppy was soon transformed into an all-singing all-dancing member of the Oscar winning musical.

The blonde bombshell, who was discovered by Storm Models nine years ago, flaunted her leggy frame in a black satin and printed yellow split, which boasted a soaring split.

Her big day: Poppy also stole the spotlight as she arrived at the venue in a chic, yet casual ensemble, which consisted of a black biker jacket, skinny jeans and boots

Film flair: The British socialite turned up the glamour in a sexy cabaret inspired, Parisian themed ensemble as she partied the night away with her dad Charles and sister Chloe

All eyes on her: The blonde bombshell, who was discovered by Storm Models nine years ago, flaunted her leggy frame in a black satin and printed yellow split, which boasted a soaring split

Dapper: Poppy's husband James Cook, who she wed in 2014, looked every inch the hunk in a fitted suit as he joined her for the lavish celebrations

Proving to be in high spirits, Poppy cosied up with her dad Charles inside the venue -who was incredibly dapper in a black suit.

Her sister Chloe also got in on the action, showcasing her svelte frame in a strapless black ballgown.

The event truly proved to be an extravaganza as Chloe took to Instagram to share a number of other snaps - including one where they were joined by their pals who were also dressed accordingly to the Moulin Rouge theme.

'Without doubt one of the greatest nights! And I've never seen a happier birthday girl! Thank you @secret_cinema,' she captioned the snap.

Good night: The event truly proved to be an extravaganza as Chloe took to Instagram to share a number of other snaps - including one where they were joined by their pals who were also dressed accordingly to the Moulin Rouge theme

Sister sister! Poppy is following in her little sister Cara's acting footsteps as she's due to star in Kingsman: The Golden Circle, alongside Halle Berry and Channing Tatum

Meanwhile, Poppy is following in her little sister Cara's acting footsteps as she's due to star in Kingsman: The Golden Circle, alongside Halle Berry and Channing Tatum.

A teaser trailer released last month, saw the model perform a saucy striptease.

Poppy is set to star in a number of major films this year, with director Vaughn said to have signed her up to his Kingsman film after hearing how impressive the model was on the set of his pal Guy Ritchie's upcoming feature King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.
She was the original 'It'-girl of Made In Chelsea back in 2011, long before the Watson sisters, Stephanie Pratt or Louise Thompson were big names.

And Caggie Dunlop, showed off a hint of sideboob in a sexy white one-piece as she sunbathed on a Miami beach on Wednesday.

Wearing a pair of designer shades and with her hair styled in soft beachy waves, the holiday hotspot appeared to be the perfect place to celebrate turning 28.

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Miami heat! Ex MIC star Caggie Dunlop flaunted her sensational figure in a sexy cut-out white swimsuit in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday which flaunted her sideboob

Caggie left Made In Chelsea after four seasons to pursue an acting and arts career in Los Angeles.

Last week, she had flown to the Fyre Festival for a birthday trip, only to be stranded, before heading to the golden coast to enjoy a spot of sunbathing with pals instead.

Caggie, who was lothario Spencer Matthews' first on-again/off-again love on the reality series, appears to have made the most of a difficult situation.

Beach chic: When she got up to take a stroll down the crowded beach, Caggie threw on a pair of tinted, tortoise shell-rimmed shades and a gorgeous kaftan

The blonde beauty had planned to go to Fyre to celebrate her 28th birthday on May 1, and luckily escaped the remote Caribbean island in time to celebrate in style in Florida.

Lying on a lounger in a sexy one piece and flashing a hint of sideboob, Caggie set hearts racing.

Hot body: The backless swimsuit highlighted the Chelsea girl's toned back and its high-rise legs showcased her slim hips and slender curves

The backless swimsuit highlighted the Chelsea girl's toned back and its high-rise legs showcased her slim hips and slender curves.

When she got up to take a stroll down the crowded beach, she threw on a pair of tinted, tortoise shell-rimmed shades and a gorgeous kaftan.

Covering up in the white flowing top with pink, two-toned detail, the star pulled one of her trademark pouts as she gazed into the distance.

'Worse places to be marooned': Caggie, who was lothario Spencer Matthews' first on-again/off-again love on the reality series, appears to have made the most of a difficult situation (pictured with a pal)

The blonde beauty, who regularly posts inspirational quotes about being an empowered young woman for her half a million followers on Instagram, toted her belongings in a complementary hippy fringed leather satchel.

Finishing her look with on-point footwear as usual, Caggie opted for neutral diamante ankle strap sandals and a bright cherry pedicure.

The Wellington College-educated actress also flaunted her washboard abs as she relaxed in the sun.

Wearing her tousled golden locks loose and natural, the fashionista exuded a sun-kissed healthy glow.

Going make-up and accessory free for the day - save for her redundant Fyre Festival wristband - fitness fanatic Caggie proved living in LA and workouts get the job done.

Fyre was cancelled last Thursday after guests - who had reportedly paid up to $10,000 for tickets - arrived on the remote Bahamas island to find their 'luxury' site allegedly only half constructed.

They began to arrive and found the purported luxury festival's grounds in disarray, with reports circulating of dirt-floored refugee tents and feral dogs wandering the beach.

Several class action lawsuits have since been filed against the festival organisers, Ja Rule and Billy McFarland, but our stoic British star appears to have made the best of a disappointing situation.

Posting a post-swim photo with a friend, Caggie flashed a beautiful smile and wrote: 'Worse places to be marooned.'

Moving on: After sharing a smouldering picture - wearing the same kaftan - from the remote Caribbean island on Saturday, captioned 'stranded island baby', Caggie quickly sorted out new holiday plans

And after sharing another smouldering picture - wearing the same kaftan - from the remote island on Saturday, captioned 'stranded island baby', Caggie quickly sorted out new holiday plans.

She nabbed a room at a top Miami hotel from a pal at the last minute and soon began sharing happier snaps.

Posting a photo with fashion consultant pal Amy Sturgis on Tuesday, Caggie wrote: 'Nothing beats the ocean!! With @amysturgis on an adventure. Thank you #shelbornesobe @shelbornesobe for having me to stay in #Miami'

Happy: Posting a photo with fashion consultant pal Amy Sturgis on Tuesday, Caggie wrote: 'Nothing beats the ocean!! With @amysturgis on an adventure. Thank you #shelbornesobe @shelbornesobe for having me to stay in #Miami'

The London-native, who is now based in LA, appeared to be having a brilliant time before heading back to the West Coast on Wednesday night.

The star, who appeared to be travelling alone, shared an adorable overheard conversation with a kitesurfing video.

Proving she has not lost the signature quick wit she displayed on the show, Caggie wrote: 'I just overheard a man ask his young daughter what this was, her reply made my day.

Alone time with a book by the sea: The London-native, who is now based in LA, appeared to be having a brilliant time before heading back to the West Coast on Wednesday night

'I love children': Caggie shared an adorable anecdote from her stay, writing about a young girl next to her who told her dad a kitesurf was a flying croissant'

'She said to him, with no hesitation, "its a flying croissant." I love children. #flyingpastries in #Miami'

And on her birthday on Monday Caggie revealed why her humour has remained refreshingly intact - because she still feels like the 18-year-old Chelsea partygoer.

The stunner headed out in Miami for a big night out to celebrate - and hinted that she has big plans for the future.

Turning 28: The star shared a breathtaking picture of herself in a white, sheer, lace patterned frock, done up in true MIC style with subtly curled honey-toned locks draped over her shoulders, smoky eyes and a gorgeous white leather clutch

The star shared a breathtaking picture of herself in a white, sheer, lace patterned frock, done up in true MIC style with subtly curled honey-toned locks draped over her shoulders, smoky eyes and a gorgeous white leather clutch.

Distributing the birthday love to her fans, Caggie wrote: 'It's my b day babies. I'm 28 years old!! I feel like I'm still 18. I'm happy and feel like I have such exciting times ahead. Age really is just a number.

'Staying at the @shelbornesobe heading for a night out in Miami before I go back to LA to continue conquering my dreams. Much to come. Wishing you all the best. Caggie x'

Olden times: Distributing the birthday love to her fans, Caggie wrote: 'It's my b day babies. I'm 28 years old!! I feel like I'm still 18. I'm happy and feel like I have such exciting times ahead. Age really is just a number'
They're close friends who worked together on the hit film, The Wog Boy, which was released 17 years ago.

And this week, Nick Giannopoulos voiced his support for Vince Colosimo, 50, after he was fined for possessing the drug ice in January.

Nick, 53, told The Daily Telegraph: 'He's working again and he's looking great.'

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'He's working again and he's looking great': Nick Giannopoulos (L) stands by friend Vince Colosimo (R) after the actor was fined $1000 for drug possession

'Hes got a close, tight-knit family, hes an amazing father, hes working again and hes looking great,' Nick said.

After Vince faced court before he was meant to enter the jungle on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, and spoke about how acting can be hard on the pocket, Nick told the publication: 'You can't use that as an excuse.'

He added about always being there for his pal: 'All you can do is be there for him, support him and always take the call.'

Making headlines: In January, Vince was fined $1000 after being busted for possessing the drug ice by police in 2016

In January, Vince was fined $1000 after being busted for possessing the drug ice by police in 2016.

The actor fronted up at a Melbourne court last Friday and pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing a small amount of methamphetamine.

Vince was placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond without conviction and fined.

He's known for playing one of Australia's most infamous gangsters, Alphonse Gangitano.

'I played Alphonse for two weeks!' Vince claims he has been left 'typecast' by his iconic Underbelly role

But Vince is no fan of the Underbelly role that made him a household name, telling TV Tonight he doesn't know what all the fuss is about - 'I played Alphonse for two weeks'.

It comes as the actor returns to acting on ABC series The Warriors later this year, his first role since being fined for possessing ice.

Vince played Alphonse on two episodes of Underbelly in 2008, later reprising the role in an episode of spin off series Fat Tony & Co in 2014.

Vince told website TV Tonight he often felt frustrated that he was unable to 'shake it off'.

Short and sweet: Vince played Alphonse on two episodes of Underbelly in 2008

'I played Alphonse for two weeks and that rides me every f***ing day. Every day in a good way and a bad way,' he revealed candidly.

The actor, who has also appeared in The Great Gatsby and Daybreakers, believes the role has prevented him from getting other parts.

'So whenever a role comes up, unless its a hitman or gangster or mafia, people say ''Vince isnt right for that. Hes Alphonse!'' They dont see it as you being a capable actor. They typecast you because you were good,' Vince said.

He completely ruled out every reprising the role of Alphonse in future Underbelly series despite fans' pleas.

'People say When are you going to do another Underbelly? But my character died! Hes f*** dead!' Vince said.
She recently jetted to Crete for a stint on Ex On The Beach.

And Nicole Bass was back in a bikini as she headed on a romantic holiday with Jacques Fraser - proving they were stronger than ever despite their ill-fated time on the show.

Taking to Instagram as she documented her trip, the 25-year-old former TOWIE star looked absolutely sensational as she shared a plethora of bikini snaps.

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Beach babe: Nicole Bass was back in a bikini as she headed on a romantic holiday with Jacques Fraser - proving they were stronger than ever despite their ill-fated time on the show

Slipping into a skimpy black two-piece, Nicole showed off her perky bust and impeccably toned abs as she pulled a sizzling pose for the camera.

In another stunning shot, the brunette bombshell donned a khaki bikini, with the plunging top offering a look at her ample cleavage.

Whilst she may have been hard at work topping up her tan, the star also ensured she spent some quality time with her boyfriend Jacques.

Tanned and toned: Taking to Instagram as she documented her trip, the 25-year-old former TOWIE star looked absolutely sensational as she shared a plethora of bikini snaps

Sharing a sweet selfie of the pair, Nicole slipped into an aqua bikini as she cuddled up to her beau.

Their reconciliation last month came as a shock to fans as she vowed never to take him back during their explosive stint on EOTB.

When Jacques entered the villa, he was forced to deny sleeping with another woman, Frankie Spong, in Ibiza, and was able to convince Nicole with his vehement dismissal of the claims.

Dazzling: Slipping into a skimpy patterned two-piece, Nicole showed off her perky bust and impeccably toned abs as she pulled a sizzling pose for the camera

As he arrived on the beach, he announced: 'I came to the show as Nicole's ex, I've come to get her back. We had a few issues. I'm trying to get her back, she's the one who got away.'

However, as Frankie later entered the villa also, it was revealed Jacques had lied about his infidelity, leading to an explosive fight between Nicole and her boyfriend's former flame.

Nicole vowed that she would never forgive Jacques for his betrayal, and he was later voted out of the villa, yet the pair couldn't stay away from each other and rekindled their romance shortly after filming finished.

Cute couple: Whilst she may have been hard at work topping up her tan, the star also ensured she spent some quality time with her boyfriend Jacques
She welcomed her second child with husband Benjamin Millepied in February.

And Natalie Portman was back at work, as she took to the streets of London to shoot dramatic new scenes for an upcoming movie on Thursday.

The 35-year-old Oscar winning actress was dressed up warm in a chic long coat as she shot scenes in the pouring rain.

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Leading lady: Natalie Portman, 35, took to the streets of London to shoot dramatic new scenes for an upcoming movie on Thursday

Natalie was certainly dressed to battle the elements in her oversized outerwear that fell at a stylish ankle-grazing level.

She cut a relaxed figure in-between takes as she donned a chunky long scarf around her neck.

Her shoulder length brunette tresses sported slight waves throughout - most likely a result of her getting drenched in the rain during filming for the intense scene.

Ever the busy lady, Natalie has a slew of films set for release this year including sci fi flick Annihilation and drama We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves.

A rainy day: The actress' shoulder length brunette tresses sported slight waves through out - most likely a result of her getting drenched in rain during filming for the intense scene

Meanwhile, Natalie and her dancer husband Benjamin Millepied, who are already parents to five-year-old son Aleph, announced the arrival of baby daughter Amalia in February as they revealed: 'Mother and baby are happy and healthy.'

She and the French ballet dancer and choreographer met on the set of Black Swan in 2009 and started dating, announcing their engagement in December 2010.

Their son was born a year later and they wed in 2012.

'Mother and baby are happy and healthy': Natalie and her dancer husband Benjamin Millepied, who are already parents to five-year-old son Aleph, announced the arrival of baby daughter Amalia in February as they revealed: 'Mother and baby are happy and healthy'

Bumping along nicely: Last year, Natalie reflected on life as a working mum as she told The New York Times: 'When Im not working, Im pretty much exclusively with my family, so my rituals have to do with school, meal preparation, playdates, bedtime

Last year, Natalie reflected on life as a working mum as she told The New York Times: 'When Im not working, Im pretty much exclusively with my family, so my rituals have to do with school, meal preparation, playdates, bedtime.

'I do the whole weeks laundry, which I love because its a task with a clear beginning and end.

'And then we spend the weekend together as a family  usually somewhere in nature, often with friends who have children. Lots of cooking.'

Natalie also missed out on the Academy Awards - where she was nominated for Best Actress for her turn in Jackie - because of her heavily pregnant frame.

Staying home: Natalie also missed out on the Academy Awards - where she was nominated for Best Actress for her turn in Jackie - because of her heavily pregnant frame




They've been together for 13 years after meeting on the set of How I Met Your Mother, finally tying the knot in 2014.

Now David Burtka has dished about how he and his 43-year-old husband keep their seemingly perfect relationship strong.

'We go to couple's therapy,' the 41-year-old dished to Life & Style magazine in an interview posted on Thursday.

Keeping their marriage strong: David Burtka, seen with husband Neil Patrick Harris at a New York event last month, has revealed that they 'go to couple's therapy'

And he was quick to add: 'Not that theres anything wrong, but its nice to sort of just talk to someone who is a mediator. Thats helped our relationship.'

It must be working because the celebrity chef gushed about all the sweet things Neil does for him, such as leaving him love notes and is 'always doing romantic stuff. Hes the best.'

Dressed up: David, seen with Neil and twins Harper and Gideon at the LA premiere of Smurfs 2, was quick to add 'not that there's anything wrong' with their relationship

The couple share their love with six-year-old twins Harper and Gideon, who were born by surrogate in 2010 and are clearly besotted with, regularly posting snaps of their family fun.

Meanwhile, David revealed last month that he quit boozing because he owed it to the twins and 'it just didn't mix well' with him anymore.

'That's a big thing ... I didn't like the way I was acting and I think it was affecting me and I thought, "You know what? I owe it to myself, I owe it to my kids, to be there, 100 percent," ' the Dearborn, Michigan native told the NY Daily News at the Food Bank's Can-Do Awards.

Happy family: David, 41, and Neil, 43, share the six-year-old twins, born by surrogate mother in 2010

'I just think that, I'm not one of those people that can just have one drink or two drinks,' David said.

He knows his sobriety might be difficult to maintain 'especially in this industry,' where the alcohol flows freely at showbiz events.

'I'm around it all the time and I'm a chef as well, so it's really part of my world,' David said.
Mila Kunis welcomed her son Dimitri only five months ago.

And already the 33-year-old actress looks fantastic in her skinny jeans.

The wife of Ashton Kutcher was spotted on Tuesday on the set of A Bad Mom's Christmas in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dressed down: Mila Kunis was spotted on the set of her film Bad Mom's Christmas Tuesday, where she was dressed in skinny jeans

On set the Black Swan starlet was dressed casually, donning slim jeans and a purple top which highlighted the mama's svelte physique.

She paired the look with cute black short boots that featured wooden heels while her raven locks were sleekly styled straight.

During some downtime between shots, the Ukranian-born actress smiled and chatted with crew before getting back to business in front of the camera.

Working woman: The mother-of-two is back to work on her first film since giving birth to son Dimitri five months ago

Dressing down: During the Atlanta, Georgia shoot Mila wore a purple top and dark jeans

The That '70s Show star's latest project is a follow up to last year's wildly successful Bad Moms.

The 2016 hit became the first R rated female led comedy of 2016 to surpass $100 million, reported The Hollywood Reporter - a particularly impressive feat for a film with an only $20 million budget.

In the holiday themed sequel, Mila reprises her role as the overworked and underappreciated Amy Mitchell alongside original Bad Moms Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn.

Cheers: The first film, Bad Moms, became the first R rated female led comedy of 2016 to surpass $100 million, reports The Hollywood Reporter; with Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn

Comediennes Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines, and Susan Sarandon will join for the eggnog fueled laugh-fest.

Off-screen, Mila's full time role is mother and wife, parenting daughter Wyatt, 3, and son Dmitri, five-months, with longtime love and hubby of two years, Kutcher.

A Bad Mom's Christmas arrives in theaters November 3, 2017.
Chris Pratt is apologizing for offending hearing impaired individuals.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 star shared an Instagram video of himself on Thursday using sign language to say sorry, adding: 'Truly from the bottom of my heart I apologize.'

The 37-year-old actor shared the clip - along with a heartfelt note - after he previously posting an 'incredibly insensitive' video with subtitles.

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Making an apology: On Thursday, Chris Pratt shared an Instagram video of himself as he used sign language to say sorry

Chris began the lengthy note explaining that Instagram automatically plays videos on mute, unless a person physically taps the clip to turn the volume on.

The last video he uploaded for his 11.3 million followers had subtitles; for that now-deleted video in question, he had 'requested that people turn up the volume not just "read the subtitles."'

Chris addressed that particular subtitle comment, explaining that 'it was so people wouldn't scroll past the video on mute, thus watching and digesting the information in the video.'

The Jurassic World star said: 'I realize now doing so was incredibly insensitive to the many folks out there who depend on subtitles.'

Truthful: Chris began the lengthy note explaining that Instagram automatically has video playing on mute, unless you tap the clip to turn the volume on

Chris noted that 38 million people in America live with some sort of hearing impairment 'so I want to apologize.'

The Jurassic World star added that he has people in his life who are also hearing impaired.

He said: 'The last thing I would want to do is offend them or anybody who suffers from hearing loss or any other disability.'

Heartfelt: The actor shared the video - with a note apologizing to hearing impaired individuals - after he shared an 'insensitive' video previously with subtitles

A good guy: The Jurassic World star said: 'I realize now doing so was incredibly insensitive to the many folks out there who depend on subtitles'

The Minnesota-born star wanted to clarify that he wanted to apologize, not because his publicist told him to.

He told his millions of followers: 'I control my social media. Nobody else. And I'm doing this because I'm actually really sorry. Apologies are powerful. I don't dole them out Willy-Nilly. This is one of those moments where I screwed up and here's me begging your pardon. I hope you accept my apology.'

Chris thanked his followers for pointing out his wrongdoing and said in the future, he will focus on being 'a little less ignorant about it.'

The movie star noted that he thinks Instagram should have technology to add subtitles automatically to videos posted.

Of his own free will: The Minnesota-born star wanted to clarify that the apology was because he wanted to, not because his publicist told him to

The father of one pushed the subject further, saying that the social media company has profited from pictures and videos he's posted, therefore he believes it should 'put closed captioning' on the app.

Chris pitched the idea to Instagram and closed it with a hashtag: '#CCinstaNow.'

Speaking to Seth Meyers on Wednesday he reveled he was knocked out while performing stunts on GOTGV2.

'Its a really stunt-heavy movie, through the course of the whole film for everyone. We were suspended from wires, we did a whole bunch of stunts,' he said 'I got my bell rung pretty, pretty good. One time I essentially got knocked out.

'You always want to let the stunt people do them or their own version of it,' he added. 'Usually when you do it, its for your own ego and they let you do that.

'Then the stunt person comes in and does it and thats what they use in the movie. So its just another way for us actors to feed our egos, because there arent enough.'
She cha-cha-cha'd into the hearts of Strictly Come Dancing fanatics with her dazzling dance moves and stunning looks.

But Natalie Lowe, 36, has decided to hang up her heels after seven years on the legendary BBC ballroom dance show.

The Australian-born dancer revealed that she declined her invitation to return to the 2017 series on Thursday.

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Last dance: Natalie Lowe, 36, has decided to resign from Strictly Come Dancing after seven years on the legendary BBC ballroom dance show

She told Press Association: 'This was a very difficult decision for me not to accept the invitation to appear on this season of Strictly Come Dancing.

'It is with a very heavy heart that I have arrived at this decision.'

Since joining in 2009, Natalie has been partnered with notable names such as Ainsley Harriot, Greg Rutherford, Ricky Whittle and Scott Maslen.

Heavy heart: She told Press Association: 'This was a very difficult decision for me not to accept the invitation to appear on this season of Strictly Come Dancing'

She notably finished in second place with actor Ricky in the 2009 series, and in 7th place with Olympic long jumper Greg in the last series.

The beauty continued her statement: 'Ill be forever grateful for the amazing time, opportunities and memories that Strictly has created for me.

'My time on the programme has been everything that I dreamed it would be and more.

Runners-up: She notably finished in second place with handsome actor Ricky Whittle in the 2009 series

Going for gold: Natalie finished 7th place with Olympic long jumper Greg Rutherford in the last series (2016)

'From the friendships I developed, the amazing dances I was able to perform in and the experiences that Strictly provided, it has been an incredible and extraordinary adventure.'

The news comes after ballroom dance legend Shirley Ballas was hotly tipped to be the next judge on the show, replacing Len Goodman.

The British star, 56, is said to have produced the best screen test when she tried out for the role, and blew BBC producers away with how naturally she came across.

While the final decision is yet to be confirmed, Shirley is now allegedly the front runner for the role.

Amazing experience: 'It has been an incredible and extraordinary adventure' Natalie continued (pictured with Greg Rutherford in the 2016 series)
The Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation is scheduled to be host on May 14-15 in Beijing. [Zhai Haijun/China.org.cn]

In his historic speech entitled "Promote People-to-People Friendship and Create a Better Future" at Kazakhstan's Nazarbayev University on Sept. 7, 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared: "As I stand here, and look back at that episode of history, I can almost hear the camel bells echoing in the mountains and see the wisps of campfire smoke rising from the desert."

Surely this historic speech is the genesis of President Xi Jinping's signature global economic vision, the Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative, which consists of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, aiming at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa even beyond the ancient Silk Road trade routes.

Since 2013, it has offered a solution to many issues in the Middle East involving development through investment, transfer of technology, industry and trade. In fact, the Belt and Road Initiative and the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) provide new opportunities for Middle East countries.

The Middle East has always had a unique and important place in China's foreign policy since the PRC was founded in 1949, creating a reliable China-Arab strategic cooperative relationship based on long-term friendship.

President Xi has called for a joint endeavor to build the Belt and Road so as to make international relations more democratic, respecting national sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs of any nation. Surely, this is cementing cooperation with the Middle East with Chinese investment powered by the AIIB.

China is now the top trading partner of 10 Arab countries involving more than US$200 billion. Nearly half of its crude oil imports come from Arab countries, while its investment in the region is rising fast. The Chinese economic presence can be clearly seen in the massive energy market of Saudi Arabia, the infrastructure developments in Iran, and the domination of trade with Lebanon.

In terms of strategic location, Saudi Arabia serves as the central hub connecting three continents  Asia, Africa and Europe  and has been an important part of the Belt and Road Initiative. In 2015, China became Saudi Arabia's largest trade partner and, in reverse, the latter has been China's biggest crude oil supplier and largest trade partner in West Asia and Africa for years.

Xi's visit to Saudi Arabia last year shored up China's sphere of influence in the Middle East. Saudi Arabian King Salman's three-day visit to China in March this year showed the importance he attached to the relationship. It is expected that the Belt and Road Initiative will make creative contributions to helping Saudi Arabia realize its "Saudi Vision 2030" plan.

Iran also warmly welcomes the Initiative as a revival of the ancient Silk Road east-west trading route. China has given much help during the hard times of Iran's development. President Xi called for better cooperation and closer ties with Iran under the "Belt and Road" framework. In January last year, his visit to Iran appears to have energized Iran's integration in the Eurasian fold.

The first train from China's trading hub of Yiwu arrived in Tehran on February 16, 2016 signaling Iran's firm integration into B&R connectivity. Iran will also play a crucial role through its southeastern port city of Chabahar becoming a crucial juncture linking land routes to shipping lanes.

For years, China has showed the world that it is committed to peace and development in the Middle East. China is a firm supporter and sincere mediator for peace between Israel and Palestine.

Speaking to the Arab League in Cairo on January 21, 2016, President Xi referred to the injustice long endured by the Palestinian people and announced 50 million yuan ($7.6 million) in immediate aid.

China is also involved in building infrastructure in Israel, such as digging the Carmel tunnels in Haifa, laying a light rail network in Tel Aviv, and expanding the Ashdod and Haifa seaports.

The B&R Initiative has promoted political stability mainly in Central Asia and the Middle East. According to Gong Xiaosheng, China's special envoy on Middle East affairs, "The Belt and Road Initiative is highly likely to become China's most significant contribution to the Middle East peace process because it will provide the economic solution the region needs."

China's non-interference policy regarding Middle East issues has been appreciated and acknowledged by Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and other Middle East countries because it promotes practical cooperation with China through economic and trade cooperation.

The B&R Initiative could lead Middle East countries down a road of hope, stabilization and development. It is hoped that the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation from May 14 to 15 in Beijing will be a golden platform for Middle East countries to understand the Chinese way of thinking that offers common development and harmonious rejuvenation between civilizations.

Rabi Sankar Bosu, Secretary of New Horizon Radio Listeners' Club, West Bengal, India

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
She's starred in movies such as The Golden Compass and on TV in Skins.

And so actress Dakota Blue Richards was a welcome addition to the red carpet at the Alien: Covenant world premiere in London's Leicester Square on Thursday night.

The 23-year-old looked ultra glam as she posed for photos in a floor length gown, in a powder blue.

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Chic: Dakota Blue Richards lives up to her name in a powdery turquoise floor length gown showcasing her slender frame at the Alien: Covenant world premiere in London

Wearing her light brown locks in loose waves around her face, the young star showed off her lithe physique in the stunning dress, which featured a side-ways open neck design, and cropped short sleeves.

She kept her lean arms free of any fussy jewelry and let her dress do the talking with its slight rippled pattern at the chest and down the front, allowing a slight slit in the fabric.

Dakota's killer black heels finished off the look as she smiled on the red - or, rather, the green - carpet.

The pretty star kept her make-up minimal and fresh and she wore a pair of silvery leaf-like drop earrings.

Blue by name...: The 23-year-old looked ultra glam as she posed for photos in a floor length gown, in a powder blue

Sleek: Wearing her light brown locks in loose waves around her face, the young star showed off her lithe physique in the stunning dress, which featured a side-ways open neck design, and cropped short sleeves

Coming soon: Alien: Covenant is directed by Ridley Scott and serves as a sequel to the 2012 film Prometheus

The British star posed in front of the trademark design of the Alien film franchise, featuring the fossil-like outlines of the creatures that feature in the infamous movies.

She was also seen sharing a laugh with a dapper unknown male companion, who appeared to be carrying her bag and coat for her.

Alien: Covenant is directed by Ridley Scott and serves as a sequel to the 2012 film Prometheus.

Pretty: She kept her lean arms free of any fussy jewelry and let her dress do the talking with its slight rippled pattern at the chest and down the front, allowing a slight slit in the fabric

Green with envy: Stars of the movie also in attendance at the event were Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, and Demian Bichir

It's the second instalment in the Alien prequel series and the sixth instalment overall in the Alien film series.

Stars of the movie also in attendance at the event were Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, and Demian Bichir.

The plot follows the crew of a ship that lands on a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy.

The crew stumble across what they believe to be an uncharted paradise that soon reveals itself to be a dark and dangerous world inhabited by monstrous creatures that start to hunt them.
She's been having a busy week in New York.

And on Thursday, Dakota Johnson was spotted heading out of The Bowery Hotel once again.

After showing off a chic gown, an elegant tea dress and a sophisticated suit, this time the 27-year-old actress wore a more casual outfit. Her hair was equally as casual as she allowed it to blow in her face.

Casual chic: Dakota Johnson looked relaxed as she left The Bowery Hotel in New York on Thursday wearing a black jacket, a white T-shirt, black skinny jeans and black sneakers

She rocked a black jacket worn over a white T-shirt, black skinny jeans and black sneakers with white stripes.

The beautiful brunette left her long hair to fall around her face and shoulders and she covered her eyes with a large pair of dark glasses.

Dakota completed her ensemble with a black leather Chanel handbag, large enough to carry a laptop, that she slung over one shoulder.

The co-star of the racy Fifty Shades trilogy stopped to sign autographs and chat to fans as she made her way to a waiting car.

Monochrome magic: The beautiful 27-year-old brunette completed her ensemble with a large black Chanel handbag that she slung over her shoulder

Time for her fans: Dakota chatted with a young woman before getting into a waiting car

It was a totally different from Monday's look when she dazzled in a revealing black Gucci gown for the Met Ball that she attended with Gucci's creative director, Alessandro Michele.

On Tuesday the Texas native headed to the launch of Gucci's new perfume, Bloom, in a dress with a pattern of green and yellow trees.

On Wednesday Dakota stepped out in a business-like dark grey suit, but she gave no indication as to where she was going.

The genetically blessed daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith shot to fame in 2015 film Fifty Shades Of Grey.

Ready for business: On Wednesday, the star of the erotic Fifty Shades film trilogy stepped out in a smart grey suit and had her hair blown in her face by the wind

Taking the plunge: On Monday she dazzled in a revealing black Gucci gown for the Met Ball that she attended with Gucci's creative director, Alessandro Michele

Blooming beautiful: The Texas native headed to the launch of Gucci's new perfume, Bloom, in a tea dress with a pattern of green and yellow trees on a white background on Tuesday

It was a brave choice given the risque nature of the story in which she plays Anastasia Steele, the naive young object of bondage-obsessed billionaire Christian Grey, played by Jamie Dornan.

Based on E.L. James' erotic bestsellers, their story continued in Fifty Shades Darker, released on February 10 this year and it will reach its climax with Fifty Shades Freed, due out on February 9, 2018.

Dakota's also slated to star in an Amazon Studios co-produced remake - out sometime this year - of the 1977 Italian ballerina horror film, Suspiria.
Actresses and mothers Zoe Saldana-Perego and Jaime King posed together on the purple carpet at Global Moms Relay's Moms+SocialGood in Manhattan on Thursday.

The Jersey-born brunette and the Nebraska-born blonde both have small sons and they were eager to share their experiences at the feminist function.

The Live by Night actress - who turns 39 next month - wore a black midi-length pencil dress featuring blue puffed sleeves and black stilettos selected by her stylist Petra Flannery.

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Actresses and mothers: Zoe Saldana-Perego and Jaime King posed together on the purple carpet at Global Moms Relay's Moms+SocialGood in Manhattan on Thursday

Gal pals? The Jersey-born brunette and the Nebraska-born blonde both have small sons and they were eager to share their experiences at the feminist function

Saldana (born Saldana Nazario) let her natural beauty shine through with minimal make-up by Vera Steimberg and her curls were coiffed by Aviva Perea.

'Mom is the best title I will ever have and ever want,' the half-Dominican, half-Puerto Rican star gushed during her panel.

'Fear stemming from a lack of knowledge and accurate information stops people from vaccinating their children...We have the ability to make change and help children. We need to ensure access to vaccines.'

On Wednesday, Zoe revealed how her three sons - twins Bowie & Cy, 2; and Zen, 3 months - with husband Marco Perego reacted to her green Gamora make-up.

Cute: The Live by Night actress - who turns 39 next month - wore a black midi-length pencil dress featuring blue puffed sleeves and black stilettos selected by her stylist Petra Flannery

Tied with a bow: Saldana (born Saldana Nazario) let her natural beauty shine through with minimal make-up by Vera Steimberg and her curls were coiffed by Aviva Perea

The half- Dominican, half-Puerto Rican star gushed during her panel: 'Mom is the best title I will ever have and ever want'

'They looked [at me] and they were like, "Mama?" and I was like, "Yes, it's me." And they hear my voice,' the Lip Sync Battle champ recalled on Good Morning America.

'Their papa goes, "It's Gamora." They go, "Gamora...Hulk?" [I said], "Yeah, Mama knows the Hulk!"'

The Star Trek Beyond stunner continued: 'I can be with my kids all day because they're like the most delicious little things I've ever met and talk about aliens to me, I come from a family of women so being sort of outnumbered is new, strange and I'm adjusting to it but I'm accepting this ironic challenge that the universe has sent me.'

Saldana-Perego will reprise her role as the formidable last of the Zen Whoberi species in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which finally hits US theaters on Friday.

Marvel mom: on Wednesday, Zoe revealed how her three sons - twins Bowie & Cy, 2; and Zen, 3 months - with husband Marco Perego reacted to her green Gamora make-up

The Lip Sync Battle champ recalled on GMA: 'Their papa goes, "It's Gamora." They go, "Gamora...Hulk?" [I said], "Yeah, Mama knows the Hulk!"'

Already in UK theaters! Saldana-Perego will reprise her role as the formidable last of the Zen Whoberi species in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which finally hits US theaters on Friday

Meanwhile, 38-year-old Jaime covered up in a baggy red-knit turtleneck, matching trousers, and peep-toe heels.

The Miu Miu model rocked massive earrings with her monochromatic ensemble and sported a surprisingly frizzy bun for her panel.

'We have to talk about women's health. It's ridiculous that it's often taboo,' King told Girl Up Leader Rebecca Fairweather.

'My advice to any young woman or man is to have the willingness to work hard, persevere and even fail. It gives us strength.'

Skinny Minnie! Meanwhile, 38-year-old Jaime covered up in a baggy red-knit turtleneck, matching trousers, and peep-toe heels

Hairspray? The Miu Miu model rocked massive earrings with her monochromatic ensemble and sported a surprisingly frizzy bun for her panel

King told Girl Up Leader Rebecca Fairweather: 'We have to talk about women's health. It's ridiculous that it's often taboo'

The Hart of Dixie alum has two sons - James, 3; and Leo, 21 months - with her husband of nine years, Fanboys director Kyle Newman.

On Wednesday, the Mistletoe Promise actress tweeted: 'W/O proper Prenatel care & maternity coverage my son Leo Thames would be dead. Period. This is UNACCEPTABLE for any parent to have to face!!'

Jaime's next film B***h, in which she plays Jason Ritter's sister-in-law, will screen Sundance London at Picturehouse Central on June 2.

Saldana and King also met up with the lovely and talented Laura Dern during the motherhood summit.

Surrounded by men: The Hart of Dixie alum has two sons - James, 3; and Leo, 21 months - with her husband of nine years, Fanboys director Kyle Newman

On Wednesday, the Mistletoe Promise actress tweeted: 'W/O proper Prenatel care & maternity coverage my son Leo Thames would be dead. Period. This is UNACCEPTABLE for any parent to have to face!!'

Acting gig: Jaime's next film B***h, in which she plays Jason Ritter's sister-in-law, will screen Sundance London at Picturehouse Central on June 2

The Nina actress in particular seemed captivated by what the 50-year-old actress was imparting on the purple carpet.

The two-time Oscar nominee looked sophisticated in a grey-striped double-breasted blazer, matching pencil skirt, and black pumps selected by stylist Cristina Ehrlich.

'I wish that every family knows that they have the resources to give their child what they deserve,' Laura said onstage.

Hey girl! Saldana and King also met up with the lovely and talented Laura Dern during the motherhood summit

Commiserating: The Nina actress in particular seemed captivated by what the 50-year-old actress was imparting on the purple carpet

Suited: The two-time Oscar nominee looked sophisticated in a grey-striped double-breasted blazer, matching pencil skirt, and black pumps selected by stylist Cristina Ehrlich

Laura said onstage: 'I wish that every family knows that they have the resources to give their child what they deserve'

We're raising a generation of children. It's not just about our family, it's about our global family...Even with so much tragedy in the world we can make an impact and a difference

The Big Little Lies stunner is raising two children - daughter Jaya, 12; and son Ellery, 15 - with her ex-husband, three-time Grammy winner Ben Harper.

Dern is next rumored to be playing Agent Cooper's (Kyle MacLachlan) secretary Diane in David Lynch's continuation of Twin Peaks, which premieres May 21 on Showtime.

Divorced mom: The Big Little Lies stunner is raising two children - daughter Jaya, 12; and son Ellery, 15 - with her ex-husband, three-time Grammy winner Ben Harper
She just landed her first film role.

And Paris Jackson, 19, was celebrating her career success with lunch in New York City on Thursday.

Fresh off her first Met Gala, the daughter of pop star Michael Jackson, went for a much more understated look opting for jogging pants and a simple T-shirt.

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Keeping it simple: Paris Jackson, 19, celebrated her new career move with lunch in New York City on Thursday, opting for jogging pants and a simple T-shirt

The burgeoning model paired her ripped track pants with a thick furry green sweater and beige UGG boots.

She clearly liked her lunch as she decided to take it with her in a doggy bag and held it outside her large multi-colored sack, which she slung around her right shoulder.

The famous offspring completed her look with round mirrored sunglasses to protect her eyes from the bright New York City sun.

The pretty blonde chose to go makeup free for her outing, showing off her naturally gorgeous complexion.

She's got a new job! Her outing comes as news was released that she has landed her very first acting role alongside Australian actor Joel Edgerton, 42

She opted to wear her hair in a casual updo, throwing it up into a messy bun with large pieces of hair falling around her face.

Her outing comes as news was released that she has landed her very first acting role alongside Australian actor Joel Edgerton, 42.

The untitled project is set to be directed by Joel's older brother Nash, 44, who made his editorial debut in 2008 with the acclaimed film The Square.

According to Deadline, Paris will portray the role of 'an edgy 20-year-old' named 'Nelly' in the thriller for Amazon Studios.

Hollywood heavyweights: The untitled project is set to be directed by Joel's older brother Nash, 44, who made his editorial debut in 2008 with the acclaimed film The Square

Getting what she wants: Paris has spoken previously about her desire to pursue acting in addition to her fledgling career as a model

Nash, who hails from Sydney's Blacktown, has also tapped several A-listers for the movie, currently dubbed The Untitled Nash Edgerton Project.

David Oyelowo plays the lead alongside Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried and Thandie Newton.

Paris has spoken previously about her desire to pursue acting in addition to her fledgling career as a model.

Pretty: The daughter of pop star Michael Jackson looked lovely at the Met Gala earlier this week in a demure black dress and strappy sandals

Earlier this year, she gushed about the experience of filming a part in the Lee Daniels musical drama Star that airs on Fox television.

She played a social media guru who oversaw a photo shoot for the girl group that's the focus of the show.

'This role is really opposite to me and, for it being my first real on-camera acting, I think it's a good way for me to show my acting capabilities,' she said at the time.
Lighting up: Michael Barrymore takes a break

He was once one of the best known personalities on television.

But Michael Barrymore was just another face in the crowd this week as he waited for a bus in London.

The star, who was 65 yesterday, looked older than his years as he smoked a cigarette before boarding the bus with other Londoners.

The former ITV presenter, who was dressed casually in khaki trousers and a charcoal jacket, was dropped by ITV in 2001 after Stuart Lubbock, 31, was found dead in his swimming pool.

Since then he has appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2005 and the following year he was a guest presenter on Channel 4s The Friday Night Project.

But his career never recovered and last December the entertainer claimed he was due 2.5million in compensation for wrongful arrest.

However Essex Police say he should only receive a nominal award of 1.

Barrymore, was arrested six years after Mr Lubbocks body was found, claims the police had no evidence to arrest him and that it had a devastating effect on his career.

A judge is expected to make a decision following a High Court trial in London this summer.

No-one has been ever been charged over the death of Mr Lubbock, who was found to have suffered severe internal injuries indicating sexual assault.

All aboard: Barrymore gets on the bus in London

Barrymore was arrested in 2007 on suspicion of serious sexual assault and murder, but the charges are dropped three months later.

In recent years the entertainer has lived in New Zealand. He has taken legal action under his real surname, Parker.

Barrymore was married but came out during a drunken awards night speech in 1995.
She made waves as she showed off her signature booty in all its glory while on a girls' trip to Mexico last week.

And Kim Kardashian couldn't help but put it on display once again.

The 36-year-old reality star may have been wearing a casual outfit but she was a sight to see while filming Keeping Up With The Kardashians in LA on Thursday.

Out and about: Kim Kardashian may have been wearing a casual outfit but she was a sight to see while filming Keeping Up With The Kardashians in LA on Thursday

She was also joined by her BFF Jonathan Cheban but no doubt all focus was on her backside as she squeezed it into a pair of sweatpants.

Kim also sported a clinging bodysuit and beige suede lace-up booties.

She wore her straight raven-colored locks down in a middle part as she wore natural, complimentary make-up.

Big day: The 36-year-old hopped out of her Rolls Royce

Bodacious: No doubt all focus was on her backside as she squeezed it into a pair of sweatpants

It seemed to be a busy day for Kim as she was filmed hopping out of her Rolls Royce and chatting it up with 43-year-old Jonathan.

Kim seems to be recovering well after her very scary Paris robbery and the breakdown husband Kanye West suffered weeks after.

Things seem to be looking up for the two as according to People on Thursday, the power couple have put a lot of effort to fix their issues.

Pretty: She wore her straight raven-colored locks down in a middle part as she wore natural, complimentary make-up

An insider told the weekly that the 38-year-old rapper is doing great and 'couldn't stop talking' about Kim and calling her 'the sweetest thing.'

'Kim and Kanye are in a great place,' a second source told the publication. 'they are just so happy. Hes doing really great.'

Back in November Kanye had been rushed to UCLA Medical Center for exhaustion.

BFF: She was joined by Jonathan Cheban on the outing

Busy day: Keeping Up With The Kardashians cameras were rolling

This came after he had cancelled 21 dates in the US for concerts as part of his Saint Pablo Tour.

Just the month prior Kim had famously been the victim of an armed robbery in Paris in which the culprits came away with millions of dollars in jewelry.

'They went through a really rough time there for awhile,' a source close to Kanye told People. 'It was really touch and go. She was dealing with the robbery and all that came after, and she felt like he wasnt there for her. He was going through his issues around the holidays, and he felt like she wasnt prioritizing him.'

Just the two of us: Kim and husband Kanye West - pictured at the Met Gala last year - are said to be in 'a great place' according to a Thursday report from People

The insider insists that it was Kim who was most willing to fight for their relationship and marriage. They told the weekly: 'She kept saying, If we can get through this, well be stronger than ever.

'They never fell out of love with each other, but it was just one of those times where marriage is hard work, and you have to push through the pain.'
As the rugged James Delaney in the cult BBC series Taboo, fans are used to seeing him looking a little dishevelled.

But scruffy Tom Hardy, 39, left his shirt and tie at home as he walked the red carpet at the premiere of Hollywood blockbuster Alien: Covenant in London's Leicester Square on Thursday night.

The sci-fi sequel doesn't feature the Peaky Blinders star but Hardy will be working with director Ridley Scott on a forthcoming Netflix project titled War Party, so no doubt turned up to show his support.

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Forgot your tie? Hollywood star Tom Hardy eschewed black tie convention at the Alien: Covenant red carpet premiere in London on Thursday night, wearing a plaid shirt and cardigan

While in the past there have been suggestions of his spiky demeanor, Hardy was in high spirits at he posed for pictures and signed autographs for fans.

Nonetheless the A-list star didn't mind eschewing the usual black tie formalities showing up in a chunky wool cardigan over a red and black lumberjack shirt.

The dressed down star wore a battered truckers hat to complement his trademark designer stubble.

Hardy was pictured patiently posing for selfies with fans who had turned out to see the cream of Hollywood stars at the red carpet event.

Away from the bright lights of Hollywood the heartthrob has been causing meltdowns among mothers who are tuning in to watch his CBeebies story time renditions.

Where do I sign? Hardy was pictured patiently posing for selfies with fans who had turned out to see the cream of Hollywood stars at the red carpet event

Women were begging Hardy to 'tuck them in' as CBeebies began trending on Twitter in March after his readings of classic children's bedtime stories.

While art recently imitated life when the action star chased down a moped thief and single-handedly collared the crook.

Also on the red carpet was stars Michael Fassbender, Giannina Facio, Ridley Scott, Katherine Waterston and the Audi Luna Quattro Moonrover.

All stars: (L-R) Michael Fassbender, Ridley Scott and Katherine Waterston were also at the event

Looking to the future, Hardy and Kate Winslet are tipped to play Sergeant Blackman and his wife in a Hollywood film about Marine A's battle.

Alexander Blackman, 42, who served 1,277 days behind bars, was freed after wife Claire campaigned tirelessly on his behalf.

Lawyer Jonathan Goldberg QC could be played by Al Pacino and has spent time in Hollywood discussing film opportunities.
New Mexico passed the first-of-its-kind legislation banning "lunch shaming" or punishment of children over unpaid school cafeteria bills

In some schools, children are forced to mop cafeteria floors. In others, their hot meal is taken away and thrown in the trash. In extreme cases, students are sent home with a stamp on their arm that reads "I owe lunch money."

Such scenes, worthy of a Charles Dickens novel, have played out in schools across the United States as students whose parents fall behind in meal payments endure what is called "lunch shaming."

The practice gained national attention at the start of the school year when a cafeteria worker in Pennsylvania quit in outrage after having to take away a child's hot meal. More recently, the issue resurfaced after the state of New Mexico passed the first-of-its-kind legislation banning lunch shaming.

Several other states, including California and Texas, are considering similar legislation, hoping to shield needy children from becoming pawns in a quarrel not of their making.

"The practice is everywhere," said Jennifer Ramo, executive director of New Mexico Appleseed, an anti-poverty group that spearheaded the new law in the western state that has some of the highest child hunger rates in the country.

"We have heard of kids in some states standing in line with their tray of hot food and then they reach the cashier and find out they don't have enough money on their account," Ramo added. "So the food is literally thrown away and the child is given a cheese sandwich or nothing."

By "shaming" the kids, she said, school officials believe parents will be spurred to pay the outstanding lunch bill.

Michael Padilla, a New Mexico state senator who sponsored the Hunger-Free Students' Bill of Rights adopted last month, said he was driven to act given his own background growing up in poverty.

- 'Mop floors, clean tables' -

"When I was a kid, I had to mop the school cafeteria floors and put the tables and chairs down and up again and work in the kitchen," he told AFP.

According to a 2016 survey by the School Nutrition Association, a non-profit group, about three quarters of school districts in the United States had unpaid student meal debt at the end of the last school year

"But then fast-forward 30 years later, I come to find out that in Alabama they are stamping on a child's arm 'I don't have lunch money' and making the child go through their school day with that."

While two cafeteria workers -- "Miss Ortiz and Miss Jackson" -- looked out for him as a child and made sure he never went hungry, he says others aren't as fortunate and have to suffer through the stigma associated with their social status.

"The legislation we passed takes the responsibility of the school lunch debt and places it squarely on the parents," Padilla said.

"It does not allow the school to punish the child by shaming them, putting a stamp on their arm, having them do menial work or giving them a lunch that isn't the same as everyone else."

According to a 2016 survey by the School Nutrition Association, a non-profit group, about three quarters of school districts in the United States had unpaid student meal debt at the end of the last school year. The amount of money owed ranged from a few thousand dollars in some districts to millions in larger ones, according to the association.

Schools differ in their response to the problem but typically they provide a child whose parents fall behind in payments a cheese sandwich instead of a hot meal.

- 'I can't do this' -

In many cases, teachers, cafeteria workers and community donors step up to pay the fees and spare a child from being ostracized.

Stacy Koltiska, a mother of three who worked in a cafeteria at an elementary school in Pennsylvania for three years, quit her job in September after being forced to deny a hot meal to a first grader during the first week of school.

"I made him cry because I literally took away the chicken I had just served him and threw it in the trash since he owed a balance and I gave him a cheese sandwich," she told AFP. "His little eyes welled up with tears and I'm like, 'I can't do this. This is ridiculous.'"

In her resignation letter, which made headlines, Koltiska said she could no longer "work for an institution that would withhold food and humiliate a child over $2.05."

"I mean how do you expect kids to go all day, focus, concentrate, do well in school for eight hours without being fed?" she told AFP. "We feed prisoners three times a day and we can't feed our children."
Apple plans to borrow for its new "advanced manufacturing" fund despite having money overseas, because of the tax it would pay if it brought profit home, said CEO Tim Cook (R)

Apple chief Tim Cook announced Apple is creating a fund to get more people in the US to do "advanced manufacturing," kicking it off with a billion dollars.

Apple investing in high-tech manufacturing in the United States would come as rare common ground with US President Donald Trump, who hammered away at the theme during his campaign for office last year.

"We are creating an advanced manufacturing fund," Cook said in an interview broadcast on CNBC.

"We are initially putting one billion dollars in the fund."

Cook pointed out that apple spent more than $50 billion in the US last year -- buying from suppliers such as Corning Glass, working with developers behind applications for the California company's devices and more.

Apple has about 80,000 employees in the US and plans to hire thousands more "in the future," according to Cook.

"A company should have values because a company is a collection of people, and people should have values," Cook said.

"One of the thing you should do is give back."

Apple planned to borrow money for the new fund despite having a fortune in coffers overseas because of the tax hit that the company would suffer if it brought profit home, according to Cook.

And while Cook has been among Silicon Valley stars critical of Trump when it comes to limiting immigration, he endorsed a push for comprehensive tax reform.

"To invest in the US, we have to borrow," Cook said.

"Comprehensive tax reform is so important to this economy."

The first investment of the new fund will be announced later this month, according to Apple.

- Showing up -

Cook described it as wise to explore common ground with the administration while standing up when there are disagreements.

"Most people, if you disagree and say why, you have a good chance at influencing things," Cook said

"You look to find common ground; if you don't show up, I think that is the worst scenario because then you are quiet, and it doesn't do your cause any good."

Taiwan's tech giant Foxconn in January announced a $7 billion investment to make flat panels in the United States in a joint project with Japan's SoftBank.

Foxconn is the world's largest contract electronics maker and is best-known for assembling products for international brands such as Apple and Sony.

Apple this week reported a rise in quarterly profits, but logged weaker iPhone sales ahead of a 10-year-anniversary model on the horizon.

During a conference call with analysts, Cook said Apple was seeing a "pause" in iPhone purchases that he felt was caused by unconfirmed "reports about future iPhones."

Still, the company contended that iPhone sales were better than it had expected, and skewed toward large-screen iPhone 7 models that have higher margins of profit.

It is a sign of Apple's success but also a thorny problem: its cash stockpile has hit a staggering $256.8 billion, sparking debate on what do with such massive reserves.

Apple's quarterly report Tuesday showed its cash holdings -- the vast majority held overseas -- jumped to a sum that tops the entire economic output of Chile.

The tech giant has resisted the idea of bringing the cash home, because of disincentives in the US tax code -- it allows multinational firms to defer profits while they are held overseas but taxes income at up to 35 percent when repatriated.
Members of the ruling Algerian National Liberation Front campaign ahead of May 4 elections. Officials fear a low turnout among a public disillusioned by an opaque political system and what many see as the government's failure to keep its promises

Algerians voted Thursday for a new parliament amid soaring unemployment and a deep financial crisis caused by a collapse in oil revenues.

But despite the urgent challenges facing the country, candidates have struggled to inspire voters disillusioned by what many see as a stagnant political system and the government's failure to keep its promises.

The North African country weathered the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings with massive spending on wages and subsidies that depleted government coffers.

But a 2014 collapse in crude oil prices forced the government to raise taxes and mothball many public projects.

Today, in a country of 40 million where half the population is under 30, one young person in three is unemployed.

Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal urged those angry about the state of the economy "to be patient".

"There is no more money" in state coffers, he said in a speech on Saturday reported by local media.

Some 45,000 police officers were deployed to guard the more than 53,000 polling stations across the country.

Polls are due to close at 7 pm (1800 GMT) and the first results are expected late on Friday morning.

Officials, fearing a low turnout, have spent weeks urging people to vote.

Sellal called for a "massive vote", urging women to wake their husbands early, refuse them coffee and "drag" them to the polling stations.

"If they resist, hit them with a stick," he told an all-female audience in the eastern city of Setif.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has used a wheelchair and rarely been seen in public since a 2013 stroke, has said a strong turnout was essential for "the stability of the country".

The authorities have even used mosques to spread the message, with imams urging Algerians to go to the polls.

But voters have shown little enthusiasm. Streets in Algiers were nearly deserted Thursday morning -- although polling stations were expected to be busier in the afternoon.

In a video posted online days before polling day and seen by more than two million people, one Algerian said the government had broken its promises to tackle an acute housing shortage and improve health care.

Despite that, Bouteflika's National Liberation Front (FLN) and its coalition ally, the Rally for National Democracy (RND), are expected to keep their majority in parliament.

In the 2012 election, the FLN, which dominated Algerian politics since independence in 1962, won 221 of the 462 seats in parliament.

Islamists, who held 60 seats in the outgoing parliament, represent the country's main opposition force.

In the last election, held a year after Arab Spring-inspired street protests, they had hoped to replicate the gains of their peers in Egypt and Tunisia.

Instead, they suffered their worst ever electoral defeat.

This year, they have formed two electoral alliances in bids to do better.

But since Algeria adopted a multi-party system in 1989, the opposition has repeatedly accused the ruling parties of electoral fraud.

Turnout has often been low, registering 43.14 percent in 2012 and 35.65 percent in 2007.

Even those figures were inflated, experts say.
 Flash

Venezuela on Wednesday formalized its call for a National Constituent Assembly to modify the country's Constitution.

The government's official gazette formalized the initiative by President Nicolas Maduro, who views modifying the Constitution as a way to solve the country's political crisis.

The text signed by Maduro says the Assembly's role would be to "guarantee the preservation of peace in the country" faced with "severe internal and external threats by anti-democratic factors."

The Assembly will focus on new political areas which the president has named as priorities, including a national dialogue to secure peace and the improvement of the "post-oil" economic system.

Venezuela has long been reliant on oil sales for its revenue, as it possesses one of the largest petroleum reserves in the world, but suffered bitterly in recent years as oin prices dropped sharply.

Other topics on the agenda will include putting the government's social programs into the Constitution, improving justice system, protecting cultural identity and the rights of young people, as well as defending national sovereignty and fighting climate change.

According to the gazette, the Assembly will be made up of around 500 people who will draft the new Constitution. These will be elected by direct ballot in constituencies across the country, as well as by important productive and social sectors.

The procedure will be supervised by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which is responsible for explaining the mechanism to the representatives from various sectors.

The call for a new Constitution has met with outrage from the Venezuelan opposition parties.
Japan accepted just 28 refugees in 2016 -- one more than the previous year -- out of the 8,193 applications reviewed by the Immigration Bureau.

It has been a decade since Liliane last saw her little girl. She fled Africa in fear for her life, leaving behind everything she knew and loved in the hope of a fresh start in Japan.

Today, she scrapes a living from dead-end jobs, and what Japanese she knows has been snatched from television shows. There is little government help for people like her: free language courses are limited, social housing is hard to find, discrimination is rife.

Yet Liliane is regarded as one of the lucky ones -- she was granted refugee status in Japan, a country which refuses more than 99 percent of cases.

"It has not been easy," she tells AFP, speaking under a pseudonym.

She adds: "Here they do not pay for your studies, they do not help you to get bank loans, or give you social housing... we are left to ourselves, we have to fight alone."

Anti-refugee sentiment is rising in Europe and the United States but in Japan those seeking haven from tyranny and war have long faced daunting legal and social gauntlets.

One of the world's wealthiest countries, Japan accepted just 28 refugees in 2016 -- one more than the previous year -- out of the 8,193 applications reviewed by the Immigration Bureau.

Officials defend the low number, saying applicants are mainly from Asian countries seeking access to Japan solely for economic reasons.

"The number of applications from regions which generate lots of refugees, such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, is small," said Yasuhiro Hishida, spokesman for the Immigration Bureau.

- Fleeing persecution -

Assisted by the UN, Liliane was able to claim asylum on arrival in Japan stating that her life was in danger due to tribal conflict back home. It took two years for officials to accept her as a refugee, a period during which she received assistance from the Catholic Church and charities.

But she feels the status brought few benefits. She is no closer to reuniting with her child -- now a teenager, her daughter has repeatedly been denied a permit to even visit.

For Liliane, further education and a stable life, seem out of reach.

She explains: "Japan is a very difficult country for foreigners. The language is really a handicap for us. You need to do absolutely everything to try to speak in Japanese but you don't know where to find free lessons."

Nonnon fled military persecution in her native Myanmar for Japan 25 years ago but remains in frustrating legal limbo, repeatedly rejected for refugee status

"Sometimes I think refugee status has no meaning," she sighs.

But for Nonnon, being awarded refugee status would at least give her a sense of belonging.

She fled military persecution in her native Myanmar 25 years ago but remains in frustrating legal limbo, accepted only on a humanitarian stay visa, which allows for residence and work but traditionally only on annual temporary permits subject to anxiety-riven renewal.

"It's like I have no nationality," said the 47-year-old, who only gave her childhood nickname.

She has tried to forge a life in Japan, she married a man from Myanmar who was also claiming asylum and they have a son and a daughter. But their children are effectively stateless -- not recognised in Myanmar, nor as Japanese citizens.

Refugee advocates say Japan's system is too harsh.

Lawyer Shogo Watanabe is helping a woman from Myanmar's Kachin minority who says she risks sexual assault by soldiers fighting ethnic minority militias if she goes home.

"To me, the risk of getting raped by someone who is a member of the military is a legitimate reason to be a refugee," he said of her plight.

"But immigration officials say you need to prove that she is actually targeted by the military."

- 'Closed doors'-

Critics also say current government policy ignores the country's need for immigrants as the population shrinks.

"Japan has kept a mindset of closing doors to foreigners as it is an island nation that until recently had ample population," said Hidenori Sakanaka, a former Justice Ministry official who heads a pro-immigration think tank.

A survey by Japan's Justice Ministry found 30 percent of foreigners polled said they had been on the receiving end of discriminatory remarks.

The population is set to decline to 87 million by 2060 from 127 million today.

He added that Japan must "accept more migrants, which would make society more open to multiple cultures and... to accepting more refugees".

The first Justice Ministry survey into discrimination against foreigners, released in March, found that 30 percent said they had been on the receiving end of discriminatory remarks.

One in four of the respondents that had sought employment, believed they did not get the job because they were not Japanese.

"For us with our black skin, it is a bit difficult. Sometimes when I sit on the train, some Japanese switch seats," Liliane reveals, though she adds she has never feared for her safety, which is a major concern for asylum seekers in Europe.

She says she was overlooked for teaching work, despite her fluency in English, when employers realised she is African.

Nonnon, who currently works in a nail salon, recalls being paid less than Japanese workers for doing the same job. She contrasts her situation to that of family members who escaped to other countries.

"My relatives in America and Australia were given refugee status and they are naturalised. They can get a job, buy a house and travel overseas," she said, adding: "They can live as normal people. I want to live like a normal person."
The North Korean national flag flies at the North Korean Embassy in Beijing. China remains the reclusive state's main provider of aid and trade

China vowed to remain a good neighbour to North Korea on Thursday, despite a rare and stinging critique in Pyongyang's state media of its main diplomatic protector and economic benefactor.

Beijing offered a measured response to a signed commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), which lashed out at China and said it should be grateful to Pyongyang for its protection.

The bylined article warned of of "grave consequences" if North Korea's patience is tested further.

China's Global Times newspaper retorted that the nuclear-armed North was in the grip of "some form of irrational logic" over its weapons programmes.

But Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang took a conciliatory tone when asked about KCNA's commentary at a press briefing, saying Beijing has a consistent position of "developing good neighbourly and friendly cooperation" with North Korea.

Geng, however, also said China was "firmly committed" to the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula through dialogue and consultation.

Beijing and Pyongyang have a relationship forged in the blood of the Korean War, and the Asian giant remains its wayward neighbour's main provider of aid and trade.

- 'Lame excuses' -

But ties have begun to fray in recent years, with China increasingly exasperated by the North's nuclear antics and fearful of a regional crisis. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has yet to visit Beijing, more than five years after taking power.

The media spat is a sign of the level to which ties between the two have deteriorated. KCNA regularly carries vivid denunciations of the US, Japan, and the South Korean authorities, but it is rare for it to turn its ire on China.

Beijing regularly calls for parties to avoid raising tensions -- remarks that can apply to both Washington and Pyongyang -- and in February it announced the suspension of coal imports from the North for the rest of the year, a crucial foreign currency earner for the authorities.

Chinese state-run media have called for harsher sanctions against the North in the event of a fresh atomic test, urged Pyongyang to "avoid making mistakes", and spoken of the need for it to abandon its nuclear programmes.

The KCNA commentary denounced the People's Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist party, and the Global Times, which sometimes reflects the thinking of the leadership, as having "raised lame excuses for the base acts of dancing to the tune of the US".

Chinese suggestions that the North give up its weapons crossed a "red line" and were "ego-driven theory based on big-power chauvinism" said the article, bylined "Kim Chol" -- believed to be a pseudonym.

"The DPRK will never beg for the maintenance of friendship with China, risking its nuclear programme which is as precious as its own life," it said, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Pyongyang had acted as a buffer between Beijing and Washington since the Korean War in the 1950s and "contributed to protecting peace and security of China", it said, adding that its ally should "thank the DPRK for it".

Beijing should not try to test the limits of the North's patience, it said, warning: "China had better ponder over the grave consequences to be entailed by its reckless act of chopping down the pillar of the DPRK-China relations."

- 'Nationalistic passion' -

In its response Thursday, the Global Times -- which can sometimes stridently espouse what it sees as China's interests -- dismissed the KCNA article as "nothing more than a hyper-aggressive piece completely filled with nationalistic passion".

"Pyongyang obviously is grappling with some form of irrational logic over its nuclear programme," it added.

Beijing "should also make Pyongyang aware that it will react in unprecedented fashion if Pyongyang conducts another nuclear test", it said.

"The more editorials KCNA publishes, the better Chinese society will be able to understand how Pyongyang thinks, and how hard it is to solve this nuclear issue," the Global Times said.

Washington is meanwhile pushing Beijing -- which says its influence is less than believed -- to put more pressure on Pyongyang.
Nigerian soldiers on patrol in Banki to guard against infiltration or attack by Boko Haram insurgents

The Nigerianarmy calls it "New Banki City", an optimistic name conjuring up visions of modern housing. The reality is an overcrowded camp for 32,000 desperate people made homeless by Boko Haram.

In this ravaged corner of northeast Nigeria, the Islamists frequently launch attacks on military convoys, unleash suicide bombers and litter the surrounding roads and arid bush with mines.

Even the most mundane tasks are treacherous. Desperate for firewood to cook food, 25-year-old Bulama Zarami didn't make it far out of the camp before he triggered a mine.

Shifting from side to side in pain, Zarami says he still feels shrapnel from the explosive in his wounded left leg, which is swollen at the knee and wrapped with blood-stained gauze.

"With Boko Haram we face danger," Zarami told AFP.

The Nigerian military recaptured Banki in September 2015 after fierce battles with the Islamist militants, whose insurgency has killed at least 20,000 in Nigeria alone since 2009.

Along with other towns in Borno state including Monguno, Dikwa and Rann, Banki is an example of the enormous challenge facing Nigeria as it tries to resuscitate civilian life.

"We can't say peace has returned," warned Commander Kenechukwu Otubo, from the 152 battalion stationed in Banki. "They (Boko Haram) have a lot of hideouts we can't get to."

Banki is a mix of bombed-out concrete buildings and white tents protected by a four-metre-high (13 feet) barricade

In Banki, the army's urgent priority isn't to build schools or construct homes, it's digging a trench around the ever-expanding perimeter swollen by internally displaced people (IDPs).

"The unit (battalion) is still faced with the challenge of protecting IDPs, it becomes inevitable to keep expanding and barricading all entry and exit points," said Captain Aminu Abdulmalik.

"If the town is not excavated in the nearest future, we will be exposed to suicide bomb attacks and supporters of Boko Haram terrorists."

- Presumed guilty -

Banki was recaptured by the army in September 2015 but many are still injured by mines when venturing out

Banki, located on the southeastern rim of Borno state, used to be a bustling trading town but today is one of the last vestiges of Boko Haram's dominance in the region.

It's part of a crescent of off-limits territory that arches past Lake Chad where the battle against Boko Haram is still raging, despite contrary claims from the military and government.

With the enemy so close, everyone is presumed guilty in Banki camp, a mix of bombed-out concrete buildings and white tents protected by a four-metre-high (13 feet) barricade of corrugated metal sheets.

No-one is allowed to leave the patrolled perimeter without permission or keep cell phones out of fear of contacting Boko Haram.

There are few men of fighting age because most have been taken to army-run detention centres.

What remains are the elderly, women and children, who draw eerie pictures of war on the walls with charcoal, depicting swarms of helicopters and men firing lines of bullets into the sky.

Children are estimated to represent a third of the population in Banki. They wear tattered clothes and roam the sandy streets of the camp in packs.

Much of Banki was totally destroyed during battles between the Nigerian army and Boko Haram insurgents.

Without school, they have nothing else to do.

The older generation worries that the inertia of camp life will provide more recruits for the jihadists, who want to create a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria.

"The issue of Boko Haram happened as a result of staying idle without any education," said 56-year-old teacher Alhaji Bulama. "A lack of orientation will make the children join them."

- Influx of refugees -

No-one is allowed to leave the patrolled perimetre of Banki without permission. There is no school for the children

Current conditions in Banki may soon get worse when some 78,000 Nigerian refugees return from across the border in Cameroon.

The influx of people, who will likely be in desperate need of food and medical care, is "definitely a concern", said Henry Kwenin, of the International Organization for Migration.

It will strain already over-stretched troops and supplies just before the rainy season, which floods roads and makes humanitarian access difficult, if not impossible.

"Banki isn't a place with enough infrastructure to receive those people," said Kwenin in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri.

They have reason to be concerned.

Just a year ago, 10 people were said to be dying of hunger every day in Banki.

Waiting for food distribution in Banki

The UN said in April there was a growing risk of mass deaths in Nigeria, where famine-like conditions have been reported.

Those returning, though, are hoping for a return to normal life.

Trader Abubakar Madu was able to afford the 4,000-naira fee ($13, 11 euros) for himself and his family to take the 24-hour journey by road from Minawao camp in Cameroon.

"I want to live happily with my family," he said but concluded it was hard to say when that might happen.
Fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) walk along a road dotted with black veils ditched by women after they crossed over from Islamic State group territory near Tishreen Farms, on the northern outskirts of Raqa on May 2, 2017

Dozens of black veils dotted a freshly laid sand berm in northern Syria, ditched by women fleeing the Islamic State group's bastion of Raqa as US-backed fighters close in.

Outside the village of Tishreen Farms, 17 kilometres (10 miles) north of Raqa, the Syrian Democratic Forces could be seen laying sandbags to protect themselves from IS car bombs and snipers.

With air support from the US-led coalition, the alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters has seized swathes of territory from the jihadists, who were stationed less than a kilometre away.

SDF fighters told AFP that women hastily shed their IS-mandated black veils after crossing into SDF territory near Tishreen Farms, revealing vibrant, patterned robes underneath.

"Most of the women tear off their robes and burqas as soon as they arrive at our positions," an SDF fighter said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Some of the women stomp on the robes because they finally feel safe and are finished with Daesh," he added, using the Arabic acronym for IS.

Thousands of civilians have been smuggled out of Raqa and surrounding territory in recent weeks.

Ahmad, who fled Raqa to a village near Tishreen Farms, told AFP that he was one of the lucky ones.

He managed to escape despite IS's brutal measures to block residents from leaving.

"IS is using the civilians as human shields to protect itself," said the man in his 30s.

"We fled as part of a group two days ago, and an IS sniper shot and killed two of us."

- Key coalition raids -

A female fighter from the Syrian Democratic Forces stands near Tishreen Farms, north of Raqa on May 2, 2017

In Tishreen Farms, male and female SDF members worked to fill an underground tunnel they say jihadists used to avoid coalition air strikes as they transported supplies and ammunition throughout the area.

IS has used that tactic -- as well as weaponised drones and car bombs -- to defend territory across the so-called "caliphate" it declared in 2014.

The SDF launched its fight for Raqa in November, just a month after US-backed forces in neighbouring Iraq announced an offensive for IS's other main stronghold, Mosul.

Both assaults have received crucial support from the US-led air coalition bombing the jihadists.

The bodies of alleged IS fighters were still visible around Tishreen Farms, along with destroyed vehicles on the side of the road that testified to the heavy strikes that targeted the area.

One SDF fighter told AFP that coalition raids had killed "most of the IS fighters present in these villages".

"Others were killed during our combing operations... IS has lost a huge part of its defensive capabilities. The fight isn't as intense," he said.

As it faces mounting pressure, IS has lashed out in other areas -- including multiple suicide attacks near a refugee camp on the Syrian-Iraqi border on Tuesday that left at least 46 people dead.

- 'For its people' -

Fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces sit in a pick-up truck near Tishreen Farms, on the northern outskirts of Raqa on May 2, 2017, after they pushed their way to within 17 kilometres (10 miles) north of the Islamic State group's stronghold

The SDF has already seized most of Raqa province as part of its "Wrath of the Euphrates" campaign, named after the major river that cuts across the northern part of Syria.

At their closest point, they are just eight kilometres (five miles) from Raqa city.

SDF spokesman Talal Sello said SDF fighters were still working on fully besieging the city, after which they would launch the final phase of the campaign.

"As our troops get closer and closer to Raqa city, the number of soldiers and advisers from the international coalition continues to increase," Sello told AFP.

The US has dispatched about 900 troops to Syria to help train and advise the SDF, as well as a Marine artillery unit.

Ahmad al-Hassan, a clean-shaven local SDF commander, said the US-led coalition "has provided the SDF with special weapons including artillery, tanks, anti-tank missiles."

Like many SDF fighters, he wore a scarf around his head to protect from the reddish dust in the air from an incoming sandstorm.

The SDF would fully liberate the city in coordination with the coalition, Hassan said, but "Raqa will only be for its people."
Kenya plans to export its first oil in June, but the test phase faces major challenges and criticism it is a publicity stunt ahead of elections

Kenya plans to export its first oil in June, but analysts say the test phase faces major challenges and appears motivated primarily by political considerations just months ahead of elections.

British company Tullow announced the discovery of oil in Kenya in March 2012, when prices were well over $100 (92 euros) a barrel, close to Lokichar in the country's arid Turkana region. Since then reserves totalling 750 million barrels have been found and there are hopes of more to come. But at the same time oil prices crashed and have been slow to recover.

Kenya's oil is good quality -- with low sulphur content and good density -- but with a wax-like consistency meaning it must be transported at a high temperature to keep it liquid, making the cost of exporting it higher.

- By road and pipe -

Turkana is deep inland so Kenya's oil will only be available for export after the construction of a 900 kilometre (560 mile) pipeline to a new port to be constructed at Lamu on the Indian Ocean coast. The pipe is planned to move around 100,000 barrels per day, but construction is not expected to start until next year.

In the meantime, Kenya has announced a two-year "pilot programme" moving a modest 2,000 barrels a day by road, more than 1,000 km to the existing port of Mombasa.

The journey along congested and badly maintained roads takes several days. Promised road repairs on the first 300 km are behind schedule but might be completed in August, local media reports.

- Discount... -

Kenya's oil is good quality but must be transported at a high temperature to keep it liquid

In the national press the government presents the road exports as a way to "test the market" and says buyers in China and India are interested.

Andrew Kamau, a senior official in Kenya's energy ministry, told AFP the pilot programme is about increasing understanding of how the oil reserves will respond to full-scale extraction.

"The idea is to get information, of course we're not going to make any profit during the pilot scheme," Kamau said.

"If you extract oil during these tests, you might as well export it," he added.

Kamau said the early exports will allow foreign refineries to get used to the specific characteristics of Kenyan crude, and to take the price hit early that often accompanies new oil entering the global market.

"I'd rather suffer the discount when I produce 2,000 barrels a day rather than when I produce 100,000," he said.

- ... and distraction -

But such explanations do not impress critics.

"This early oil pilot scheme is a distraction from what really matters, that is getting the pipeline done and starting production properly," said Charles Wanguhu, director of the Kenya Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas (KCSPOG), adding that it is "not good value for money".

According to his organisation's calculations, production has to double and prices increase significantly if the government is to avoid losing tens of millions of dollars under the pilot programme.

WTI crude, the US benchmark, is trading at around $49 but Turkana crude is unlikely to achieve this price when it enters the market, suffering a discount due to its novelty and small volumes.

The government estimates that the pilot programme will be profitable at $43, according to energy minister Charles Keter, but KCSPOG says the real break-even is closer to $53, a figure backed by an oil industry source.

- PR stunt? -

"It is normal that there should be a test phase, but in these cases, one generally limits oneself to learning the properties and reactions of the reservoirs, one tests the extraction but one does not launch it on the market," said Benjamin Auge, a researcher at the French Institute of International Relations (known by its French acronym, IFRI).

And many observers see it as nothing more than a publicity stunt ahead of general elections on August 8 aimed at allowing the government to claim a success.

"The government is highlighting the progress made and the imminent production of crude, and it's fair enough," said Stanislas Drochon, director of Africa oil and gas at consulting firm IHS Markit.

"Usually, such tests are not the subject of such media and political coverage," he added.

Stunt or test, Tullow wins, said Wanguhu. The company is "not going to lose any money" on the pilot programme while keeping "on good terms" with the government.
A fishmonger uses battery-powered portable lamps in Yangon in Myanmar, where less than a third of the population have regular access to electricity

Myanmar's plans to grow the country's desperately needed but polluting coal-fired power plants could kill more than a quarter of a million people in the coming decades, environmentalists said Thursday.

The country's air is among the dirtiest in the world and pollution is only expected to worsen as the economy opens up after decades of isolation under the former junta.

A new study by Harvard University and Greenpeace warned that the government's plans to expand its current network of two coal-fired plants to 10 could have a major human toll.

Six of its cities already have higher counts of dangerous microscopic particles known as PM10 than China's famously smog-filled capital Beijing, according to 2016 data from the World Health Organization.

"These plans do not take into account the human health costs when making choices about the country's energy future," Lauri Millyvirta, from Greenpeace, said.

The extra pollution would likely cause more than 7,000 premature deaths a year, totalling 280,000 over the 40-year operating life of the eight new planned plants and the two operating ones, it predicted.

Half would be in Myanmar and the rest in neighbouring countries, mainly Thailand and China but also other parts of Southeast Asia, the study found.

The pollution would likely increase the risk of heart attacks, breathing problems and lung infections.

Myanmar has made coal-fired plants a cornerstone of a government plan to provide electricity to its entire population of more than 50 million people by 2030.

Less than a third of people have regular access to electricity through the country's dilapidated power grid, which frequently breaks down, and a lack of power is a major issue for attracting foreign investors.

While the country has abundant reserves of gas off its shores in the Andaman Sea, the vast majority is exported, mainly to Thailand and China.

Plans to build the $3.6 billion Myitsone hydroelectric dam on the mouth of Myanmar's Irrawaddy river, which would sell some 90 percent of its power to China, have also faced strong public opposition.
A member of the Israeli security forces stands where a Palestinian attempted to stab Israeli police near a flashpoint holy site in the West Bank city of Hebron on May 4, 2017

A Palestinian attempted to stab Israeli police near a flashpoint holy site in Hebron in the occupied West Bank on Thursday and was shot and wounded, Israeli authorities said.

The incident occurred near the site known to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque and to Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs in the tense city, where several hundred Israeli settlers live under heavy guard among some 200,000 Palestinians.

"Officers responded when the suspect approached them armed with a knife," Israeli police said in a statement.

"The terrorist was shot and the area closed off."

The Palestinian is from the Hebron area, police said.

An Israeli hospital treating him described the Palestinian as a 25-year-old man in light to moderate condition.

A wave of unrest which erupted in October 2015 has claimed the lives of 261 Palestinians, 41 Israelis, two Americans, one Jordanian, an Eritrean, a Sudanese and a Briton, according to an AFP count.

Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, Israeli authorities say.

Others were shot dead during protests or clashes, while some were killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip.

The violence has greatly subsided in recent months.
Indian police said Thursday they have arrested three suspects in the murder of a 60-year-old Muslim man lynched in apparent revenge after a fellow Muslim eloped with a local Hindu woman.

Authorities said they were still searching for the ring-leaders of a six-strong Hindu gang that beat Ghulam Mohammad to death on Tuesday in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

The motive for the attack is not clear, but police said the men may have suspected Mohammad of helping the young couple, who were from the same village in Bulandshahr district, to elope.

Authorities are still searching for the ringleaders of a six-strong Hindu gang that beat a man to death in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh has a significant Muslim minority and communal tensions have been running high since the appointment in March of the Hindu nationalist priest Yogi Adityanath as chief minister of the state.

Bulandshahr district police chief Jagdish Sharma told AFP Mohammad was 'brutally beaten and died on the spot'.

'The main accused and two others are on the run,' he said.

Hindu Yuva Vahini vigilante members take part in a rally in the city of Unnao

Sharma said the victim's family had reported threats to local Muslims from members of Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV), a hardline group founded by Adityanath, since the controversial marriage.

The young couple, who are in their 20s, were taken into police custody after the woman's family filed a complaint alleging their daughter had been kidnapped.

Police said they left their home village on April 27 and went on the run, but returned once they ran out of money. It was unclear whether they actually married.

Critics say the appointment of Adityanath to run India's most populous and communally sensitive state has emboldened Hindu hardliners to target Muslims, who make up around 20 percent of the population.

Hindu Yuva Vahini members pose inside the vigilante group's office in the city of Unnao (picture for representation only)

Last month members of his HYV barged into a house in neighbouring Meerut district and beat up a Muslim man who was dating a Hindu woman.

Adityanath has long railed against interfaith marriages and threatened reprisals over such relationships.

The issue has become a flashpoint for nationalists in recent years, with Hindu extremists raising fears of 'love jihad' - claims that Muslim boys were attempting to seduce and elope with Hindu girls across the country to convert them.

The Hindu Yuva Vahini is an openly extremist and militant Hindu youth group, founded by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in 2002
The Iraqi army has launched a 'final push' to defeat ISIS in Mosul - five months after it was supposed to have retaken the key 'caliphate' stronghold.

Troops opened up a new front from the north yesterday in a bid to drive the last remaining extremists from Iraq's second city.

The massive offensive to retake Mosul, involving some 30,000 Iraqi troops, was launched in October and Iraqi leaders originally pledged that Mosul would be retaken before 2017.

But the operation has been delayed by months with ISIS using civilians as a human shield and launching deadly car bomb counter attacks. Up to 400,000 residents are now trapped in the Old City amid fierce fighting, according to the UN.

The Iraqi army has launched a 'final push' to defeat ISIS in Mosul - five months after it was supposed to have retaken the key 'caliphate' stronghold. A huge tower of smoke was seen during clashes at the frontline in the north west of the city this morning

Troops opened up a new front from the north yesterday in a bid to drive the last remaining extremists from Iraq's second city

The massive offensive to retake Mosul, involving some 30,000 Iraqi troops, was launched in October and Iraqi leaders originally pledged that Mosul would be retaken before 2017. Displaced residents were pictured fleeing from their homes today

Iraqi soldiers are now attacking from the north of Mosul in a bid to drive ISIS out of the city's western districts. Elite forces are pushing up from the south

The northern city is where Iraq-born ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi - who has urged his men to defend Mosul to the death - made his only public appearance in 2014.

The front lines in western Mosul have inched forward for months as ISIS fighters have used a claustrophobic battle space and hundreds of thousands of civilians as human shields to slow Iraqi troops.

On the southern edge of Mosul's west, Iraq's federal police are just a few hundred meters (yards) from Mosul's al-Nuri mosque.

The mosque is a hugely symbolic prize as it is where al-Baghdadi made his rare public appearance in July 2014.

But the building lies inside Mosul's old city where some of the toughest fighting is expected to unfold due to the narrow streets, according to coalition officials. Iraqi forces now appear to be moving to surround the old city before launching an operation to clear it.

The fight for Mosul's west has been slow and deadly to Iraqi forces and civilians caught in the crossfire. The battle is believed to have left 774 Iraqi security forces dead and 4,600 wounded. Iraq's military does not release casualty information for its forces.

Smoke is seen as members of the Iraqi Army clash with ISIS fighters at a frontline in north west Mosul

Troops opened up a new front from the north yesterday in a bid to drive the last remaining extremists from Iraq's second city. Am Iraqi soldier is pictured in the besieged Old City area of Mosul

Mosul residents were pictured fleeing from their homes as Iraqi forces advanced into western areas of the city today

The latest assault is aimed at sealing the siege of the Old City, where die-hard jihadists holding huge numbers of civilians hostage are preparing for a bloody last stand.

The army is moving in from the north in an attempt to meet up with elite Counter-Terrorism Service and Federal Police troops advancing from the south.

Forces from the army, the interior ministry and the police had 'began breaching the western side from the north,' the Joint Operations Command (JOC) coordinating the war against ISIS said in a statement.

'Now your sons are fighting and striking the enemy's defences... They rejoice in victory or martyrdom for the sake of liberating the rest of the city of Mosul from Daesh (ISIS) terrorists,' it said.

The JOC said the targets of the latest push were northwestern neighbourhoods on the edges of Mosul called Musharifah, Kanisah and Al-Haramat.

The federal police issued a statement confirming the new operation, which comes after a relative lull in fighting around the Old City where most remaining jihadists are believed to be holed up.

It said Iraqi forces had already captured a small outlying village called Hsunah and a nearby gas factory.

The army is moving in from the north in an attempt to meet up with elite Counter-Terrorism Service and Federal Police troops advancing from the south

The fight for Mosul's west has been slow and deadly to Iraqi forces and civilians caught in the crossfire

A member of the Iraqi security forces sits in the courtyard of a house on the front line in Mosul's Old City earlier this week

Thursday's operation opens a new front in the effort to wrest back west Mosul from ISIS which started in mid-February and saw thousands of Iraqi forces retake most southern and western neighbourhoods.

An advance from the north will eventually leave the jihadists completely trapped in the narrow streets of the Old City, albeit with a large civilian population they have been using as human shields.

The United Nations said up to 400,000 people might be trapped in the densely populated Old City, which lies just west of the Tigris River that divides Mosul.

The Iraqi immigration ministry said this week that the number of people who were displaced since the start of the offensive on Mosul on October 17 had topped 600,000.

The vast majority of them fled homes on the west side of the Tigris, where the fighting has been more intense than in east Mosul, which was declared retaken by the government in January.

Of the more than 120,000 people displaced from east Mosul, the ministry said only 42,000 were still in camps.

The recapture of Mosul by the Iraqi security forces would deal a death blow to the 'caliphate' ISIS proclaimed over large parts of Syria and Iraq nearly three years ago.

The recapture of Mosul by the Iraqi security forces would deal a death blow to the 'caliphate' ISIS proclaimed over large parts of Syria and Iraq nearly three years ago

Of the more than 120,000 people displaced from east Mosul, authorities said only 42,000 were still in camps

The Iraqi immigration ministry said this week that the number of people who were displaced since the start of the offensive on Mosul on October 17 had topped 600,000. An Iraqi girl displaced by the fighting carries water at a camp in Hammam al-Alil

It would represent a major symbolic setback for the group whose unprecedented experiment in jihadist statehood was heralded by the conquest of Mosul in June 2014.

According to the authorities, ISIS now controls less than seven per cent of Iraq, down from more than a third of the national territory in 2014.

The jihadists have in recent days carried out diversionary attacks against security forces from their desert hideouts in the western province of Anbar.

At least 26 members of the army, police, tribal forces and border guard died in the attacks but the jihadists' 'state' has looked doomed for months.

Observers have warned that, with other anti-ISIS forces also pressing a major offensive on their last major Syrian bastion of Raqqa, the jihadists could increasingly revert to guerrilla tactics and bombings of civilian targets.
Afghan warlord and ex-prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's return to the political mainstream months after etching a landmark peace deal with Kabul has been hugely controversial.

A former warlord branded the "Butcher of Kabul" returned to the Afghan capital on Thursday morning, two decades after leaving the city where he is accused of carrying out war crimes.

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former prime minister, has returned to mainstream political life after his dormant Hezb-i-Islami militant group signed a peace deal with the government in September.

His convoy to the capital on Thursday, comprising of several hundred vehicles, mainly pickup trucks equipped with machine guns, was greeted by hundreds of onlookers, including supporters bearing the green party flag and flowers.

A controversial figure, Hekmatyar earned his bloody nickname for laying siege to the capital while premier during the country's 1992-1996 civil war.

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's bombardment of Kabul during the 1990s inflicted some of the worst damage in more than 40 years of war, destroying one-third of the city and killing tens of thousands of civlians.

Hekmatyar returned to public life on Saturday at a gathering in Laghman province, two hours east of Kabul.

As it progressed through the city Thursday, his convoy was joined by hundreds of cars of supporters bearing flags over their windows, singing the national anthem or chanting "Welcome to Kabul, Honourable Hekmatyar" in Pashto.

He is later set to travel to the presidential palace to meet and shake hands with President Ashraf Ghani.

Hekmatyar is the latest in a series of controversial figures that Kabul has sought to reintegrate by granting judicial immunity for past crimes.

The peace agreement inked in September marked a symbolic victory for the government, which has struggled to revive peace talks with the more powerful Taliban.

But it has sparked revulsion from human rights groups and residents of the capital who survived the civil war.

In the week ahead of his return, huge billboards sprang up around the city but were quickly covered in paint or mud, testament to the polarising nature of the peace deal.

Hekmatyar's bombardment of Kabul during the 1990s inflicted some of the worst damage in more than 40 years of war, destroying one-third of the city and killing tens of thousands of civilians.
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China will lend support toward protection of Africa's wildlife heritage, officials said on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO) conference here.

Meng Xianlin, the Executive Director General of the endangered species of Wild Fauna and Flora Import and Export Management Office, said Beijing is committed to helping African countries respond effectively to wildlife crimes.

"Sino-Africa friendly relations are not solely focused on economic issues but have also placed emphasis on wildlife conservation," Meng said.

"We have signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) with several African countries to strengthen wildlife protection," he added.

The Chinese and Kenyan governments co-hosted a side event on combating illegal trade on wild flora and fauna through cooperation in law enforcement during the 56th AALCO forum.

Meng said that besides lending financial support, China has been providing capacity building for African law enforcement officers to enhance their capacity to investigate and prosecute wildlife crimes.

"Our bilateral cooperation with African governments in the wildlife sector has revolved around provision of equipment and exchange programs with state officers in charge of protecting wildlife," said Meng.

He noted the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit that took place in Johannesburg in December 2015 elevated Beijing's involvement in Africa's wildlife conservation initiatives to new levels.

China has provided technical support to African countries to boost crackdown on criminal networks involved in poaching.

Meng said Beijing has also prioritized public awareness targeting its citizens living in Africa to boost their appreciation of wildlife species.

"We have been encouraging Chinese citizens living in Africa to respect local environmental laws and make a positive contribution to wildlife protection in the continent," Meng told Xinhua.

Head of Chinese delegation to the AALCO 56th Annual Session Xu Hong said Beijing will support African countries to develop robust legal framework to combat wildlife crimes.

"Combating illegal trade in wildlife products is critical to sustain the health of ecosystems in Africa," Xu remarked, adding that China will not waver in its support for global efforts to eradicate poaching of Africa's giant mammals.
Myanmar's State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi meets Pope Francis during a private audience on May 4, 2017 at the Vatican

The Vatican and Myanmar established full diplomatic relations on Thursday in the latest step in the former pariah Asian state's rehabilitation by the international community.

The Vatican said it would appoint a papal nuncio to Yangon and that the country would open an embassy at the Vatican, formally wrapping up an accord approved by Myanmar in March.

The move came as Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi met Pope Francis on the latest leg of a European tour overshadowed by her country's treatment of the Rohingya, a persecuted minority Muslim group in the 90-percent Buddhist country.

Pope Francis has spoken out in the past on behalf of the Rohingya while Nobel peace prize winner Suu Kyi has come under fire for not condemning repression of them by her country's security forces.

Kuu Syi and a small group of officials spent around 20 minutes in Thursday's audience with the leader of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics.

Francis presented the former dissident with a bronze medallion with an image of a blooming desert.

Suu Kyi had talks on Wednesday with Italian foreign minister Angelino Alfano and with EU and Belgian officials in Brussels on Tuesday. She is also due to visit Britain.

In Brussels she reiterated her opposition to a decision by the UN human rights body to send a fact-finding mission to Myanmar to investigate allegations of murder, rape and torture against the Rohingya in Rakhine state.

Alfano said in a statement he had discussed the process of national reconciliation in the country formerly known as Burma, without elaborating.

Francis denounced the treatment of the Rohingya in February, describing them as "brothers and sisters" who were were being tortured and killed for their faith.

- Education issue -

He described the Rohingya as "good and peaceful people who have suffered for years," and urged Catholics to pray for them.

Estimates of the number of Roman Catholics in Myanmar vary between 500,000 and 800,000.

According to the CIA, Christians of all sorts make up around 6 percent of the population of 57 million with groups of Baptists and other Protestants concentrated among ethnic minorities.

Christians say they are subject to some of the same persecution and discrimination faced by the Rohingya.

The Holy See's request for diplomatic relations dates back to 1990 and, until now, its interests have been represented by an "apostolic delegate" - a rank below a Nuncio or ambassador - with the role filled by the ambassador to neighbouring Thailand.

A key issue for the Church in Myanmar is its ability to support Catholic education. All Church schools were nationalised in 1965 following the 1962 military coup in the former British colony.

The Church has recently been able to invest in schools again but supported establishments have to be registered in the names of private individuals rather than being officially run by the Church.

"We hope to obtain equality of treatment with respect to other religions in this respect," the archbishop of Yangon, Charles Bo, said in a March interview with French website Eglises d'Asie (Churches of Asia).

The establishment of ties leaves only strongly Muslim Brunei and the officially communist regimes of China, Laos, North Korea and Vietnam as the only Asian states not to have full diplomatic relations with the Vatican.
A Singaporean tourist who was trying to photograph a komodo dragon feasting on a goat has been attacked by one of the giant lizards

A komodo dragon, one of the world's largest lizards, attacked a tourist in Indonesia who was trying to photograph the giant creatures feasting on a goat, police said Thursday.

Singaporean Loh Lee Aik, 67, was rushed to hospital with leg injuries after being pounced on by the venomous creature.

Sudiyono, the head of the Komodo National Park -- islands in central Indonesia that form a protected habitat for the lizards -- said it was the first attack by one of the creatures on a foreign tourist since 1974, when a visitor from abroad was killed.

Loh had been staying at a village on Komodo island before setting off in search of the lizards Wednesday.

But he failed to take a park ranger with him, something all visitors to the islands are advised to do.

"He was probably very excited taking pictures of the komodo, he didn't realise another komodo was approaching him and then he was bitten," local police spokesman Jules Abraham Abast told AFP.

"Luckily it was a small komodo that bit him."

He was given first aid at the site before being taken by boat to nearby Flores island, where he was admitted to hospital. Abast and the hospital said he was in a stable condition.

The attack happened during the Komodo mating season, which runs from May to August and is a time when the lizards are more aggressive.

Abast said Loh had failed to report his visit to authorities and urged visitors to do so in future to avoid such incidents.

Thirty people have been bitten by komodo dragons since 1974, with five of the victims dying, according to Komodo National Park authorities.

Recent research has found that the dragons' jaws have highly sophisticated venom glands that can cause paralysis, spasms and shock through haemorrhaging.

The lizards are native to several Indonesian islands, and are considered a vulnerable species, with only a few thousand left in the world.

They can grow up to three metres (10 feet) long and weigh up to 70 kilograms (154 pounds).
At least 2,000 Muslims were hacked, beaten, shot or burnt to death in the Gujarat riots in 2002, which erupted after a group of Hindu pilgrims died in a train fire wrongly blamed on a Muslim mob

An Indian court Thursday convicted five police officers and two doctors of tampering with evidence in the gang rape of a pregnant woman and the murder of her family during one of the worst incidents of religious unrest since independence.

Bilkis Bano was gang raped and seven of her relatives were killed during religious riots that broke out in the western state of Gujarat in 2002.

At least 2,000 Muslims were hacked, beaten, shot or burnt to death in the violence, which erupted after a group of Hindu pilgrims died in a train fire wrongly blamed on a Muslim mob.

On Thursday a court in the western city of Mumbai overturned an earlier acquittal of the seven accused following an appeal by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). It also upheld the convictions of 11 Hindu men convicted of rape and murder in the case.

In a statement to the media, Bilkis expressed satisfaction that officials who had "emboldened, encouraged, and protected" her attackers had finally been convicted.

"My rights, as a human being, as a citizen, woman, and mother were violated in the most brutal manner, but I had trust in the democratic institutions of our country," she said.

"Now, my family and I feel we can begin to lead our lives again, free of fear."

Bano and two of her children were the only survivors in a group of 17 Muslims who were attacked in 2002. Her three-year-old daughter was among the victims.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the state's chief minister at the time, was accused of turning a blind eye to the violence but was cleared of any wrongdoing in 2012.

The state government has been accused of dragging its heels in prosecuting those accused in the riots.

"As per my knowledge, this is the first time that police officials have been convicted in any case pertaining to the Gujarat riots," special counsel for the CBI Hiten Venegavkar told AFP.

"No fresh trials will be carried out and the seven convicted (today) can appeal to the Supreme Court of India," Vengavkar added.
Afghan warlord and ex-prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is known as the 'Butcher of Kabul' and stands accused of killing thousands of people in Kabul from 1992 to 1996

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who returned to Kabul Thursday after more than 20 years, is one of Afghanistan's most notorious warlords, chiefly remembered for his siege of the capital in the bloody civil war of the 1990s.

A former prime minister, Hekmatyar was a prominent anti-Soviet commander in the 1980s and stands accused of killing thousands of people in Kabul from 1992 to 1996, a period when various mujahideen factions fought each other for supremacy and which ended when the Taliban emerged victorious.

Widely lambasted as the "butcher of Kabul", during his exile he was long believed to be living in hiding in Pakistan, though his group had claimed he was inside Afghanistan.

Following the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan and fall of the Taliban, the US State Department designated him a terrorist, accusing him of taking part in and supporting attacks by Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

But his Hezb-i-Islami militant group has been largely inactive in recent years, with its last big attack in Afghanistan, which killed 15 people -- including five Americans -- in 2013.

Many Afghans remember Hekmatyar for overseeing the massive shelling of Kabul in the early 1990s -- despite being named prime minister in 1992. His other nickname is "Rocketyar".

Now believed to be aged near 70, he is the latest among a series of controversial figures that Kabul has sought to reintegrate into Afghan politics in the post-Taliban era.

His return comes seven months after he signed a landmark peace deal with Kabul, marking a symbolic victory for President Ashraf Ghani, who has struggled to revive peace talks with the more powerful Taliban.

As a mujahideen leader Hekmetyar enjoyed considerable support from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, but eventually Islamabad gave up its support and backed the Taliban movement instead. The Taliban forced Hekmatyar out of Kabul in 1996.

He was also linked to serious human rights abuses, including the forced disappearance of political opponents and an underground prison in Pakistan where torture was routine, according to Human Rights Watch.

"Bolstered by US military aid funnelled through Pakistan in the 1980s, Hekmatyar extended his reach to include targeted assassinations of Afghan intellectuals in Pakistan and violent attacks on nongovernmental organisations that ran education and health programs for Afghan women in refugee camps in Pakistan," the group has written.

But he is far from alone in enjoying impunity -- no former Afghan warlord has been held to account. Indeed Abdul Rashid Dostum, another notorious former commander, has been the country's vice president since 2014.

Hezb-i-Islami has been trying to repair Hekmatyar's public image as it attempts to rebrand from a radical, misogynistic movement to a mainstream political force.

Prior to the September deal, the US State Department had said Washington was not involved in the talks but welcomed the potential truce with Hekmatyar.

In February the UN Security Council lifted its sanctions on Hekmatyar, theoretically opening the way for his return to Kabul and mainstream political life.
Former Philippine Environment Secretary Regina Lopez sent shockwaves through the industry, seeking to shut down roughly two-thirds of the nation's existing mines and banning any new open-pit operations

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday blamed "lobby money" for the downfall of his outspoken environment secretary Regina Lopez, who earned the ire of the country's mining industry after accusing it of corruption.

Despite his widespread popularity and hardline posture, Duterte said he was helpless to save Lopez from failing to be approved as a cabinet member by lawmakers in congress.

"It's a pity about Gina. I really liked her passion," he said, referring to Lopez by her nickname.

"I made a pitch for her but you know how it is. This is a democracy and lobby money talks. I do not control everything," he told a gathering of doctors.

He did not specify who lobbied against Lopez or who he would appoint to replace her.

The Commission on Appointments rejected Lopez's appointment on Wednesday, in a big victory for the mining industry.

Lopez sent shockwaves through the industry during her 10 months as environment chief, seeking to shut down roughly two-thirds of the nation's existing mines and banning any new open-pit operations.

Although Duterte's allies control both chambers of the Philippine legislature, the commission chose to reject Lopez.

Lopez has vocally blamed "big business," for her rejection, saying many who voted against her were representing mining interests.

She had previously sought to shut down 28 of the nation's 40 mines and cancel the contracts of dozens of others.

Last week she also announced the ban on new open-pit mining, which would have sounded the death knell for one of the world's biggest planned copper projects in the south of the country.

With the Philippines being the world's biggest supplier of nickel ore and a major source of copper, Lopez's campaign had impacted global prices.

Mining Inc had run a high-profile campaign to have the commission reject her, arguing she was jeopardising the lives of 1.2 million people who were dependent on the industry.

Even Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, a former mining executive whose family has big investments in the industry, opposed her, taking the unprecedented action of testifying against a fellow cabinet member at the commission hearings.

However environmental groups expressed outrage at Lopez's rejection, saying it showed Duterte had misled with his pledges to lead a government for ordinary Filipinos rather than the elite.

Congress rejecting a president's cabinet appointment is extremely rare in Philippine politics.
Mozambique's Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama says truce will enable people to move freely and for investors to return

Mozambique's opposition leader Afonso Dhlakama on Thursday indefinitely extended a unilateral truce he first announced in December, calling it the "beginning of the end" of the war between his rebels and the government.

"Today I announce an indefinite truce. It is not the end of the war, but it is the beginning of the end," Dhlakama, whose Renamo party is the main opposition in the country, told journalists.

"This is great news for the people of Mozambique," he said, speaking from his hideout in central Mozambique at a news briefing transmitted to the media assembled at Renamo headquarters in the capital Maputo.

Dhlakama had retreated in October 2015 to the central Gorongosa mountain range with 800 former fighters demanding a greater share of power.

His former rebel fighters -- who waged a bloody 1976-1992 civil war that claimed one million lives -- took up arms again in 2013 against the ruling Frelimo party, accusing its leaders of enriching themselves at the expense of the southern African country.

The fighting had often focused on the country's main roads, with Renamo attacking government convoys and civilian vehicles, and soldiers accused of ruthlessly targeting suspected rebels in nearby villagers.

The violence sent thousands of people fleeing to government-run camps, relatives' homes or across the border to Malawi and Zimbabwe.

Dhlakama first declared a ceasefire in December, and renewed it twice for two months in January and in March to allow time for peace negotiations with the government.

In February President Filipe Nyusi announced a new round of peace talks, but minus the international mediators who had previously been involved in the process in 2016.

The European Union delegation (EU) in Maputo, which has been part of the mediation, said Thursday's announcement was a "very welcome development" which "helps to create an environment conducive to the continuation of negotiations."

The government did not immediately react to the news.

Apart from a few isolated incidents, the truce has generally held since Christmas Eve.

- 'No more shooting' -

Dhlakama on Thursday admitted there was "no political agreement yet" to mark the end of the war but stressed the importance of the truce.

"An open-ended truce means that there is no more shooting, that people can move freely, that investors -- if still scared -- can return," he said.

He was optimistic that the government would soon pull out its troops from the centre of the country where they had been deployed.

"Government is committed to the complete withdrawal from all its military positions in Gorongosa region," he said, adding that by June all government soldiers would have returned to their base camps.

Dhlakama however did not say when he would return from his hideout.

"I would like to be able to go out next week but I have to guarantee my safety," he said.

The Renamo leader in 2015 accused the government of two attempts to assassinate him, including an attack on his convoy in which 24 people died.

"If everything goes well, soon we will be together on the streets of Maputo, to prepare for the elections, "he added.

Mozambique holds local government elections next year and presidential polls in 2019.

Renamo and the government had previously signed a ceasefire on the eve of the October 2014 general elections.

No caption

But then Renamo refused to accept the results of the poll when it was beaten once again at the ballot box by Frelimo, the ex-Marxist party, which has been in power since the former Portuguese colony's independence 40 years ago.

Renamo spokesman Antonio Muchanga, said the latest truce would help speed up the negotiations towards a definitive end of the conflict, expressing the hope that "by the end of this year everything will be resolved".

Mozambique ranks the eight poorest countries in the world.
Google and the Italian Revenue Agency have reached a settlement, resolving a tax inquiry for a period between 2002 and 2015 without litigation

Google said Thursday that it would pay 306 million euros ($334 million) to settle a tax dispute in Italy, where it was under criminal investigation for booking profits generated in the country in Ireland.

In a move echoing a similar settlement with Apple in December 2015, Italy's tax agency said the payment settled Google's liabilities between 2009 and 2013, the period under investigation by Italy's Financial Police (GdF) coordinated by the chief public prosecutor in Milan.

The settlement also puts an end to separate disputes covering the periods of 2002-2006 and 2014-2015.

"We have also begun the process of drawing up an agreement that will ensure Google pays the correct taxes in Italy in the future," the tax agency said in a statement.

"The agency confirms its commitment to pursue fiscal controls on the activities of web-based multinationals in Italy."

Google confirmed it had reached an agreement with the authorities without commenting on whether it accepted the revenue's calculations.

The company has defended the legality of channelling European earnings through its base in Ireland, which has one of the lowest corporate tax rates in the European Union.

"Google and the Italian Revenue Agency have reached a settlement, resolving a tax inquiry for a period between 2002 and 2015 without litigation," a spokesman said.

"In addition to the corporation tax already paid in Italy for these years, Google will pay an additional 306 million euros.

"Of this, over 303 million has been attributed to Google Italy and less than 3 million attributed to Google Ireland. We remain committed to Italy and will continue to help grow the online ecosystem."

- Amazon next in line? -

Apple paid 318 million euros at the end of 2015 to settle a dispute over Italian earnings dating back to 2008.

Reports at the time said the payment was a discounted settlement of over 800 million euros of unpaid corporation tax, one of several disputes arising from a US multinational basing European operations in Ireland.

Local media reports say Amazon is next in the Italian tax agency's firing line.

The Milan prosecutor was reportedly handed a file last week which says the American online retailer owes 130 million euros. That dispute is related to the company's channelling earnings through Luxembourg.

Amazon has defended its returns in Italy, saying its heavy investments in the country explain its low profits and therefore its tax bill.

The tax affairs of multinationals in increasingly open developed economies have come under intense scrutiny in recent years.

At a time of widespread fiscal austerity in Europe, controversy has mounted over cross-border corporations that "shop around" between different countries for the most advantageous deals, sometimes resulting in secret and potentially illegal "sweetheart" arrangements.

American lawmakers, meanwhile, are demanding that US-based multinationals repatriate more of their profits and pay taxes on them.

The companies insist that they are operating within the law: Apple chief executive Tim Cook memorably termed the notion of his company stashing cash overseas as "political crap".
US imports from Mexico and Japan hit a record in March, while exports to the EU and South Korea jumped

The US trade deficit drifted lower in March despite record imports from Mexico and a drop in total exports, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

Rising oil import prices, which hit a near two-year record, helped fuel the trade deficit, which has become a central focus of the Trump administration's nationalist economic agenda.

The trade gap slipped 0.1 percent in March to $43.7 billion, seasonally adjusted. Analysts had expected the deficit to rise by 1.4 percent, according to a consensus forecast.

Total exports fell 0.9 percent for the month to $191 billion, the biggest drop since October. Imports were also down, falling 0.7 percent to $234.7 billion.

Imports from Mexico hit $28.1 billion, their highest on record, pushing the deficit with the southern neighbor to its highest level in nearly 10 years.

President Donald Trump is poised to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, which links Canada, Mexico and the United States, and has threatened to pull out unless the US gets a favorable deal. He has called NAFTA a "disaster."

For the first three months of the year, the trade gap was 7.5 percent higher than the same period in 2016.

"This is a modest pleasant surprise," Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics said in a client note. "The advance data pointed to a small increase in the deficit."

The flow of US goods and services to several trading partners criticized by the Trump administration were robust in the latest month.

Exports to the European Union and South Korea hit all-time monthly records at $25.7 billion and $4.4 billion respectively, while exports to Germany were the highest in nearly nine years at $5 billion.

- 'Lopsided trade' -

But a four-year record for Japanese imports, valued at $13.3 billion, saw the US deficit with that country hit its highest level since April 2008 at $7.6 billion.

"The United States can no longer sustain this inflated trade deficit with our closest trading partners," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement.

"The Trump administration is committed to rebalancing our trade relationships in order to protect American workers and businesses from lopsided trade relationships."

The trade deficit with China, habitually the largest of all US trading partners, has nevertheless improved by 2.5 percent so far this year, Ross said.

Monthly oil imports rose to their highest level in nearly four years at 260 million barrels, helping push the petroleum deficit to $7.9 billion, its highest level since July 2015.

Production cuts agreed to last year by petroleum producing countries helped drive up the average import price to $49.33, the highest since August 2015.

Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics also noted that goods exports, excluding oil and aircraft, were up 7.7 percent for the month, the best performance since October 2011.
South African President Jacob Zuma's cabinet overhaul exposed deep divisions within the ANC

A South African High Court Thursday ordered President Jacob Zuma to reveal the documents he used to justify the controversial sacking of a widely ected finance minister, sparking economic turmoil.

The main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) went to court to force Zuma to explain the shock March 30 cabinet reshuffle in which Pravin Gordhan and his deputy removed were from their jobs.

Gordhan's axing was said to be based on an "intelligence" report that showed he was allegedly plotting against Zuma.

Judge Bashir Vally gave Zuma five days to provide the records.

Vally said Zuma must give "the record of all documents and electronic records...that relate to the making of the decisions."

Zuma has maintained that the axing of ministers were within his presidential powers, as stated in the constitution.

Gordhan's removal triggered unprecedented criticism from within the ruling African National Congress top brass and its allies and spawned massive public protests for Zuma's ouster.

His sacking caused the rand currency to plummet and the country's sovereign credit rating was downgraded to "junk status" by global agencies Standard & Poor's and Fitch.

The intelligence report which Zuma is said to have used to fire Gordhan has been dismissed by politicians as fake and Security Minister David Mahlobo last month said he had no knowledge of it.

Gordhan was at loggerheads with Zuma for months, receiving support from several ministers and major foreign investors, as well as many ordinary South Africans.

Critics have stated that the fired ministers were replaced by perceived Zuma allies.
Ben Emmerson, Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), speaks during a press conference held in Riyadh on May 4, 2017

Saudi Arabia should urgently review its definition of terrorism under a law used to prosecute non-violent journalists and human rights defenders, a United Nations special rapporteur said on Thursday.

After a visit to the kingdom, Ben Emmerson told reporters that a 2014 counter-terrorism law contains an "unacceptably broad definition" of the crime and does not comply with international rights standards.

"I strongly condemn the use of counter-terrorism legislation and penal sanctions against individuals peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression", religion, or association, said Emmerson, who reports to the UN's Human Rights Council.

He urged Saudi Arabia to create an independent review mechanism to examine cases of people jailed for exercising such rights "and to commute or pardon all such prisoners with immediate effect".

Emmerson, a British lawyer, said he gave the government on Thursday morning a list of nine "priority cases" which a UN group in 2015 said had been arbitrarily detained for exercising their rights to free speech and peaceful association.

"I am profoundly concerned" that they remain in detention, he said.

The list includes Saudi blogger Raif Badawi and human rights lawyer Walid Abulkhair.

Emmerson said he sought to interview people detained for expressing non-violent views but "the government was unable to give access".

- Death penalty -

The independent expert expressed additional concern about persistent reports of "the use of torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement officials to extract confessions".

He said he had also received reports of secret trials, trials proceeding without lawyers, and other violations of due process at the Specialised Criminal Court which handles terrorism cases.

Saudi officials denied those and the torture allegations, Emmerson said.

Saudi Arabia is one of the world's most prolific users of the death penalty, including for people convicted of terrorism.

Emmerson said there appear to have been "multiple due process violations" in one death penalty case, "and there may well be others".

At the same time, he said standards of care at the kingdom's prisons for terrorist suspects "are amongst the highest in the world".

The kingdom can also be proud of its rehabilitation of terrorist suspects, added Emmerson, who also reviewed Saudi involvement in Yemen and Syria.

Saudi Arabia for more than two years has led a military coalition conducting air strikes in Yemen, where the government says it is battling "state-sponsored terrorists".

Emmerson raised the issue of civilian casualties caused by the coalition in Yemen.

A coalition team of military and legal experts, which it describes as independent, has issued findings on numerous incidents in Yemen.

But Emmerson reminded Saudi Arabia that it has an international legal obligation to conduct a probe "independent of the chain of command" in every case where civilians are reliably believed to have been killed or wounded.

He said every case must be investigated and "the true civilian death toll made public."

Emmerson also noted the kingdom has made a significant contribution to the United States-led coalition fighting Islamic State group jihadists in Syria and Iraq.

Saudi Arabia has assigned warplanes to that coalition.

"However, I am concerned at allegations that some of the most violent armed groups involved in jihad which have committed serious human rights violations" in Syria "appear to have enjoyed various forms of support, financial and logistical, implicating sources inside Saudi Arabia", Emmerson said.

He did not elaborate on which jihadists he was referring to but said the allegations come despite Riyadh's stated commitment to stem terrorist violence.
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Authorities in South Sudan on Wednesday hailed China's continued efforts to support the country' health sector by contributing at least 15 Chinese medical specialists annually to various health units for the past six years.

Since independence of South Sudan in 2011, Beijing has dispatched five medical teams with a total of 66 members who offered specialized medical care and surgeries for more than 50,000 patients across South Sudan.

Speaking during a farewell ceremony for Chinese doctors who ended their one-year mission in April, Health Minister Riek Gai Kok said there is no doubt that the health sector in South Sudan needs the technical and material support of China, now more than any time.

"I appeal and would like to repeat it here that China's support to the health sector of South Sudan is not only needed, but vital and mandatory if South Sudan is to address the current worst health indicators ever recorded in contemporary human history," Kok said.

He appreciated the Chinese medical teams for helping the people of South Sudan, calling on the Chinese government to increase the number of specialists' doctors coming to South Sudan.

"This is the generosity of the People's Republic of China to send this dedicated team to South Sudan to help us fight these worst health indicators in the world," Kok said.

"I would like to sincerely thank the outgoing Chinese medical team for their contribution in supporting service delivery at Juba teaching l and Kiir Mayardit Hospitals respectively," he added.

Pawil Arop Yor, Acting Director of Juba Teaching Hospital, said the Chinese doctors helped to build capacity of local staffers and reduce the burden of work overload on the understaffed Hospital.

"In addition to provision of medicines for our patients which is free of charge, we thank the team for the great job they have done here in Juba Teaching Hospital and we will work with this new team to establish a center for treating cervical cancer," Yor said.

Chinese Ambassador to South Sudan He Xiangdong said health sector is among the top priorities of the Chinese assistance to South Sudan and bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

The envoy added that China would continue to support South Sudan by funding health projects, capacity building and knowledge exchange through sending medical teams to help the African nation address the Challenges facing its health sector.

"In addition to the provision of anti malarial drugs every year, China has assisted South Sudan with The construction of Kiir Mayradit in Rumbek, cash donations to eradicate cholera and training of medical personnel in China," He said.

"I also wish early resumption of complete peace and stability of the republic of South Sudan," the envoy added.

Early this year, China and South Sudan agreed to boost cooperation in the health sector by enhancing knowledge sharing, capacity building, and hospital to hospital collaboration.

The pacts will also seek to modernize the health facilities in South Sudan, hospital to hospital collaboration and allow Chinese health specialists to set up experimental operations and management units in the East African nation.
The Ebola crisis that began in December 2013 killed 11,300 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia and has left thousands more survivors with long-term health problems

A new outbreak of the Ebola virus is "inevitable" but a new vaccine and rapid-response measures mean it will be more effectively contained, the head of the World Health Organization said Thursday.

The Ebola crisis that began in December 2013 killed 11,300 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia and has left thousands more survivors with long-term health problems.

The WHO was criticised at the time for responding too slowly and failing to grasp the gravity of the outbreak.

Speaking at an event in the Guinean capital dedicated to individuals who fought to control the disease in their communities, WHO chief Margaret Chan also thanked the Guinean government for its role in developing the vaccine, announced in December, but added a note of caution.

"Scientists do not yet know exactly where in nature the Ebola virus hides between outbreaks, but nearly all experts agree that another outbreak is inevitable," she said, speaking to an audience of scientists, Ebola response coordinators and dignitaries.

"When this occurs, the world will be far better prepared," Chan added.

In a major clinical trial using an innovative "ring", or group method, nearly 6,000 people in Guinea were given the test vaccine in 2015, during which not one of them contracted the disease.

Even with an "initially limited" first batch of the vaccine, Chan said, health authorities had another option in their arsenal "beyond isolation and quarantine".

First identified in 1976 in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Ebola virus erupted periodically in outbreaks of up to a couple of hundred cases, mainly across west and east Africa.

In early 2014, however, a handful of infections in southern Guinea mushroomed rapidly into an epidemic.

Chan emphasised that another positive outcome of the Ebola crisis was renewed focus and funding for vaccines against other contagious diseases, including the fatal Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) as well as the Lassa and Nipah viruses.

"These significant spillover effects strengthen the world's collective defences against the never-ending threat from emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases," she said.

Also speaking at the event, President Alpha Conde said it was "time Africa benefited from cutting-edge technology, notably in the field of biomedical sciences," and called on industrialised nations to share their expertise.
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan base in the north of the country came under attack

The UN peacekeeping force in South Sudan said Thursday it had repelled a "callous" attack by armed assailants on a base in the north of the country.

The attackers struck late Wednesday on a temporary base operated by Ghanian forces for the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), next to a camp for people displaced by the country's civil war.

UNMISS said in a statement the attack had been "carried out with callous disregard for the lives of civilians as well as UN and humanitarian workers".

It said it had not identified the attackers, but that they fired from the direction of the nearby town of Leer, which is held by the government. There were no reported victims.

"We strongly condemn the attack, and call on all parties to the conflict to respect the sanctity of UN premises," David Shearer, the head of the mission, said in a statement.

The area has long been riven by fighting between forces loyal to President Salwa Kiir and those who support his former deputy Riek Machar.

Aid groups have denounced a "man-made" famine caused by the conflict that has forced at least 1.7 million people to flee the country.

"The people are hungry and deprived as the result of the famine. However, it is clear the attackers have no consideration for their plight," Shearer said.

He added that an inquiry was underway, which would determine if UNMISS would reinforce the base at Leer.
MINUSMA has been stationed in the west African country since 2013 and is considered the UN's most dangerous active peacekeeping deployment

A UN peacekeeper killed in a rocket and mortar attack in Mali was identified Thursday as a Liberian soldier, as a powerful jihadist alliance claimed its latest high-profile operation.

Nine other soldiers were injured by the shelling that struck the base held by the UN's MINUSMA mission, near the airport in the historic city of Timbuktu on Wednesday afternoon.

MINUSMA has been stationed in the west African country since 2013 and is considered the UN's most dangerous active peacekeeping deployment.

The Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM), a fusion of three Malian jihadist groups with previous Al-Qaeda links, confirmed in a statement late Wednesday that it had "bombarded Timbuktu airport with rockets" and had left "several injured among the international forces".

The alliance, also known as Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen in Arabic, is led by the Malian jihadist Iyad Ag Ghaly, a former leader of the Islamist group Ansar Dine.

It also claimed an attack on April 5 in the central Douentza area that killed a French soldier serving with France's counterterror Barkhane force, which is also aiding Mali's security forces.

Liberia had 78 soldiers serving in the 13,000-member MINUSMA force, which has faced frequent jihadist attacks that have claimed the lives of dozens of peacekeepers.

Liberia's deputy chief of defence staff confirmed Wednesday that Liberians were among the injured, while Sweden's military said one of its nationals was wounded.

The UN mission said it had reinforced defences at its based and deployed aircraft to identify where the enemy fire had originated.

Northern Mali fell to jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in March 2012, and they have spread further south after being driven out of key towns by a French-led military intervention the following year.

The Wagadou forest, on the border with Mauritania, is believed to be a launchpad for attacks in the central region of Segou, according to experts, the most recent of which killed nine Malian soldiers.

One of Ag Ghaly's closest allies, Ba Ag Moussa, known as Bamoussa, is believed to be behind the ambushes that have become an increasing concern for the government and international troops.

"We have to take seriously information that identifies Bamoussa, the former army deserter turned Islamist, as the brains behind the attacks between Mali and Mauritania," a regional security source told AFP.

A former colonel in the Malian army, Ag Moussa joined the Tuareg-led uprising in 2012 that was eventually hijacked by the jihadists, bringing him close to Ag Ghaly.
British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson met Libya's Government of National Unity chief Fayez al-Sarraj and welcomed the latter's meeting earlier this week in Abu Dhabi with military strongman Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on a visit to Tripoli on Thursday threw his weight behind efforts to establish a unified and stable government in Libya.

He met Government of National Unity chief Fayez al-Sarraj and welcomed the latter's meeting earlier this week in Abu Dhabi with military strongman Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who does not recognise the GNA's legitimacy.

Johnson "underlined the importance of Libya's legitimate political institutions working together to break the political deadlock which is prolonging instability and the suffering of the Libyan people" his office said.

"Libya's political and social groups need to seize the momentum offered by the welcome meeting... to set out a path towards Libyan reconciliation and unity," the foreign minister was quoted as saying after his brief visit.

"Establishing effective governance is also the key to defeating terrorism in Libya and countering illegal migration," he said.

On Wednesday night, Johnson met in Tunis with his Tunisian counterpart Khemaies Jhinaoui and Tourism Minister Salma Elloumi on counterterrorism cooperation and boosting trade.

Tunisia's foreign ministry said London was asked to review its advise for British nationals to avoid travel to the country, in place since a 2015 jihadist attack on a beach in which 38 tourists were killed, 30 of them British.

Tunis, "thanks to the cooperation and security coordination with its partners, especially Great Britain, has the same degree of security as the largest European capitals", the Tunisian foreign minister said.

Before the beach attack, more than 400,000 British tourists visited Tunisia annually. But last year, just 20,000 British visitors were recorded, official Tunisian figures show.
US President Donald Trump flies into New York City to meet with Australian Prime Minister

US President Donald Trump on Thursday made the first return to his hometown of New York since taking office, for a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Hundreds of protesters marched in the city against the president -- a smaller show of opposition than the massive demonstration that had been urged.

"Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Donald Trump has got to go!" members of the group shouted, as they marched toward a decommissioned aircraft carrier serving as a museum where Trump was to dine with Turnbull.

The Republican's policies are heavily disliked in the largely Democratic city, where 80 percent of the electorate voted for his opponent Hillary Clinton last November.

Trump arrived in Manhattan later than scheduled, after taking time in Washington to celebrate a long-sought Republican victory in Congress, which voted to repeal and replace Barack Obama's 2010 signature health law known as "Obamacare."

Although the bill has yet to pass the Senate -- where it faces an uphill battle -- the triumph represented a significant win for Trump after a number of setbacks.

The real estate tycoon and former reality TV star was to spend only a few hours in the city where he lived before his election -- and where his wife Melania and their 11-year-old son still reside.

Trump was to leave later Thursday for a weekend at a golf club he owns in Bedminster, New Jersey, some 50 miles (80 kilometers) outside New York City.

The metropolis has seen frequent anti-Trump demonstrations in past weeks and months, some gathering thousands of people.

Even though the turnout Thursday was smaller, demonstrators voiced their criticism of Trump's policies, and the man himself.

"I'm just here to protest everything Trump," real estate broker Nina Horowitz said. "It just gets worse and worse and he's just not president material by any stretch of the imagination."

"He's an anti-intellectual who's not qualified for the job and I believe he contradicts what America is supposed to be about," said one of the march organizers, Flav Maximus, 39.

Trump's moves to restrict immigration, roll back federal protections for transgender students and assault Obamacare are all widely unwelcome in America's most populous city, and one of its most liberal.

The massive police presence and huge cost necessary for securing his Trump Tower home are also deeply unpopular.
US House of Representatives voted 419 to 1 for a bill in favor of broadening sanctions against North Korea

The US House of Representatives on Thursday overwhelmingly voted in favor of broadening sanctions against North Korea, including efforts to cut the regime's sources of international financing.

Lawmakers voted 419 to 1 for the bill, which now heads to the Senate.

Rhetoric between the West and the reclusive regime have spiked in recent weeks, and Pyongyang has threatened to carry out a sixth nuclear test that would further inflame tensions.

"Real threats demand real responses," House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Ed Royce said.

"This bill gives the administration a powerful tool to cut off North Korea's funding by going after those who do business with the regime."

The legislation prohibits vessels owned by North Korea or other countries that violate United Nations Security Council resolutions on the country from operating in US waters or docking at US ports.

In a bid to cut off Pyongyang's access to hard currency, the measure sanctions persons or entities that import North Korean coal, iron or iron ore beyond UN-imposed limits, or that facilitate the regime's online business activities.

And it targets those involved in the export or use of North Korean forced labor, in part by banning goods produced under such conditions from entering the United States.

"Our vote today demonstrates that America will use every tool at our disposal to end the threat North Korea is posing," House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said in a statement.

"We must increase the pressure on the Kim regime and use all points of leverage to achieve lasting stability and peace."

The measure requires President Donald Trump's administration to determine within 90 days whether the North Korean government should be re-designated as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Pyongyang was removed from the US list in 2008.
After a steady downsizing of US troop numbers since 2011, US military commanders say they need to strengthen the numbers on the ground to better support Afghan forces and help retake territory lost to the Taliban

The Pentagon will ask the White House next week to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan to break a deadlocked fight with the Taliban, a senior official said Thursday.

After a steady downsizing of US troop numbers since 2011, US military commanders say they need to strengthen the numbers on the ground to better support Afghan forces and help retake territory lost to the Taliban.

According to US media, the Pentagon will ask for 3,000 to 5,000 more soldiers, mainly to be assigned to advise and train Afghan military and police.

US troops in Afghanistan number about 8,400 today, and there are another 5,000 from NATO allies, also now in an advisory capacity.

But that is a far cry from the US presence of more than 100,000 six years ago, and the Afghan military has struggled to fill the void amid an unrelenting Taliban insurgency.

"I expect that these proposals will go to the president within the next week," said Theresa Whelan, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations, in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

The intent is "to move beyond the stalemate and also to recognize that Afghanistan is a very important partner for the United States in a very tricky region."

NATO officially ended its combat operations against the Taliban at the end of 2014, and its current mission is to support Afghan troops in training and advice.

Last year, with the Kabul government struggling to hold ground against the Taliban, former president Barack Obama authorized US air strikes against the Taliban in limited cases, to ensure Afghan forces on the ground would have a "strategic advantage."

The new Trump administration could go beyond that to permit more direct engagement between US forces and the Taliban, General Raymond Thomas, commander of the US Special Operations Command, told the same hearing Thursday.

"Changes to the rules of engagement are being considered," he said.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States says it will allow lemon imports from Argentina's top producing region for the first time in 16 years.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday that it will lift the ban on lemons from northwestern Argentina on May 26. The decision came days after President Donald Trump said that he was reviewing the position of his administration on the issue.

In December, President Barack Obama's administration said it would lift the ban, which had been imposed following complaints by producers in California that the Argentine lemons carried diseases.

But a month later, Trump's administration issued a 60-day stay on the decision. That stay had been extended, stalling the return of imports from one of the world's top lemon producers to its largest market.

Argentine farmers say they have complied with all U.S. regulations and deny there are any sanitary problems with their fruit.

"We see this as an achievement of more than 15 years to prove the phytosanitary conditions and their viability," sa8d Jose Carbonell, the president of the Federcitrus Argentine Citrus chamber.

"It's the beginning of a chapter where we will have to earn space in this market," he said. "We're confident because the U.S. is producing less and consuming more lemon."

California Democratic Rep. Julia Brownley criticized the move, saying, "It is clear that Argentina does not have an inspection regime in place to prevent the spread of devastating, invasive pests and diseases."

She said the imports "will wreak havoc on American growers, and if pests and disease spread, it could result in the destruction of our domestic crops."

Argentina produces about 1.5 million metric tons of lemons a year, of which 95 percent are exported. Its main market is the European Union and its top growing region is located in northwest Tucuman, around 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) north of Buenos Aires.
ROME (AP) - German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has paid his respects at the site of one of the worst massacres in German-occupied Italy during World War II.

In 1944, 335 people were shot to death at the Ardeatine Caves on Rome's outskirts as a reprisal for an attack by a group of partisans that killed 33 Nazi soldiers on a street in the center of Rome a day before.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella accompanied Steinmeier to the caves Wednesday. The two men stood silently before a memorial that reads: "Here were slaughtered victims of a horrendous sacrifice; from our sacrifice may there grow a better country and peace between peoples." The two men then also paused between rows of tombs.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina can continue to require some teens convicted of serious sex crimes to appear on the state's public sex-offender registry and wear an electronic monitor for the rest of their lives, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.

A boy from Spartanburg County who was 15 when he sexually assaulted a 5-year-old boy and ended up on the registry challenged the law.

The justices had already ruled that it was legal to list juveniles for life on a registry that can only be viewed by law enforcement. Wednesday's ruling extends that to the public registry on the State Law Enforcement Division's website .

The teen's lawyer said being publicly branded a sex offender and electronically monitored for the rest of his life is too harsh a punishment, citing the U.S. Supreme Court's ban on the death penalty for anyone under age 18.

The justices, however, said the Legislature was well within its power to pass a law that treats juveniles and adults differently in criminal punishment, but establishes the same requirements for the registry. They noted that the registry's goal is to protect the public.

"If the requirement that juvenile sex offenders must register and must wear an electronic monitor is in need of change, that decision is to be made by the Legislature - not the courts," Associate Justice John Kittredge wrote.

The teen was convicted in Family Court of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor, and a judge ordered the lifetime monitoring.
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Sudanese economic analysts said Wednesday that Sudan's joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a turning point in breaking its economic isolation.

Mohamed Al-Nayer, a Sudanese economic analyst, told Xinhua that the move came at a time when Sudan is suffering from a U.S. economic siege that has continued for about 20 years.

"Sudan's joining the AIIB will be a turning point, particularly when the bank is concerned with infrastructure," he said.

"Sudan needs infrastructures which motivate the investment in various fields. Sudan is also in great need of making use of the fund the bank provides with equity and balance and not according to political standards like what international funding institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund make," he added.

Adil Abdul-Khaliq, another Sudanese economic analyst, stressed the importance of working out an ambitious plan and using the privileges provided by the AIIB.

"Sudan previously prepared strategic projects to be financed by the Arab funds, but that did not happen. Now we can find the funds from the AIIB," Abdul-Khaliq told Xinhua.

"Due to the American economic siege, Sudan will depend on the strategy of cooperation with eastern Asia, namely China. Sudan's joining the AIIB now comes to break the international isolation," he noted.

Sudan has been suffering from U.S. economic sanctions for about 20 years, before U.S. former president Barack Obama decided to lift part of the sanctions in January.

The news of Sudan's joining the AIIB, a Chinese-led initiative aiming at boosting regional development, was declared on March 23.

Experts say the bank, with a capital base of 100 billion U.S. dollars, was established to finance railways, roads, electricity and other infrastructure projects in non-developed areas in Asia.
With all the weighty and momentous issues raised in "Risk," Laura Poitras' fascinating, thorny, and remarkably timely documentary on Julian Assange, one of the more subtly illuminating scenes is about something as inconsequential as a haircut.

The WikiLeaks founder is getting his locks trimmed, and the rapt, loving attention being paid to this process by co-workers in the room - who, like a team of Hollywood stylists, take turns with the scissors and offer suggestions - makes it look like he's about to go accept a lifetime achievement Oscar. Poitras may have included this scene as a rare light moment - a counterpoint to everything else - but it also gives us a sense of the man and his relationship with those who work for him.

It also shows, as do so many scenes here, the seemingly limitless access Poitras had to her subject, whom she began filming about six years ago. Just as in another recent, also excellent documentary, "Weiner," a moment comes where you just think, "Whoa, how was she allowed to do this?" Indeed, Poitras says the same thing. "Sometimes I can't believe what Julian allows me to film," she says in voiceover. "It's a mystery to me why he trusts me, because I don't think he likes me."

This image released by Showtime shows Julian Assange in a scene from the documentary "Risk." (Praxis Films/Showtime via AP)

Whether he likes her or not, and whatever the changing nature of their relationship - there's been talk of a falling out, but it's murky - the leeway Assange gave Poitras is what elevates this film to must-see viewing. Yes, Poitras, an Oscar winner for "Citizenfour" about Edward Snowden, seems less aggressive at times than she could be in investigating what makes Assange tick. Lady Gaga, in a bizarre cameo, is freer with her questions. But it's hard to quibble with the result.

And it's hard to imagine a documentary could be more timely. On Tuesday, three days before the film's opening, Hillary Clinton came out and said that but for two factors - FBI director James Comey, and WikiLeaks - she'd be president. As Poitras makes sure to point out in the final minutes of her film - one of its last lines is a newscaster announcing Donald Trump's election - Assange has become a key figure in the narrative of the 2016 campaign. And she has gotten closer to him than any filmmaker is ever likely to. Editing right until the end, and nearly a year after a version screened at Cannes, Poitras even rushed last week to incorporate remarks by Attorney General Jeff Sessions that arresting Assange is a priority.

Assange, of course, is still living in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London, where he took refuge nearly five years ago to avoid being extradited to Sweden, where he'd been accused of rape, accusations he denies. He has said he fears ultimately being extradited to the United States and being tried for espionage. In March, WikiLeaks released nearly 8,000 documents that it says reveal secrets about the CIA's cyberespionage tools. Previously it published hundreds of thousands of State Department cables and U.S. military logs from Iraq and Afghanistan.

It's with the sex accusations that the film gets thorny - that is, if you're trying to decide either how Poitras really feels about her subject. The scenes that touch upon Assange's attitude toward these accusations present him in a light that can only be deemed unflattering, even if you're in the camp that admires much else about him.

We see, for example, Assange being counseled by his attorney, Helena Kennedy, in "getting your mind around using language that doesn't sound hostile to women." He argues that the whole affair is "a thoroughly tawdry radical feminist political positioning thing." Her frustration is palpable. Later, Assange tells Poitras that if the two women involved pursue a court case, "they'll be reviled forever by a large section of the population." His self-image is clearly healthy. At another point he tells Poitras that his "profile" didn't really take off, globally, until the sex case.

It's hard to reconcile these scenes with the reflective man who tells Poitras: "Every day you live your life, you lose another day. You don't have that many. So if you're not fighting for things you care about, then ... you are losing."

The current version of "Risk" is said to be much less flattering to Assange than the early one, and Poitras is upfront about the contradictions. "This is not the film I thought I was making," she says. "I thought I could ignore the contradictions, I thought they were not part of the story. I was so wrong. They're becoming the story."

However you feel about Assange - and about risk, secrecy, and so many other things touched on by this film - it's a story that demands watching.

"Risk," a Neon release, is unrated by the Motion Picture Association of America. Running time: 95 minutes. Three stars out of four.

This image released by Showtime shows Sarah Harrison, left, and Julian Assange in a scene from the documentary "Risk." (Praxis Films/Showtime via AP)
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - NATO's member countries are tackling everything from rising seas to cyberattacks at a two-day conference being held at the organization's North American headquarters in Virginia.

The meeting began Wednesday in Norfolk, a city that hosts the world's largest Navy base and is confronting its own issues, including coastal flooding. A range of officials are attending, from the mayor of New Orleans to the Czech Republic's defense minister.

David O'Sullivan is the European Union's ambassador to the U.S. He said during opening remarks that environmental factors such as climate change and population growth "can destabilize entire nations and regions within our neighborhood and beyond."

He also said the U.S. and Europe must adapt to new types of warfare, including the spread of "fake news" and cyberattacks.
Alec Baldwin has said he wants President Donald Trump to come back on 'Saturday Night Live' to 'defuse tensions and unpleasantness.'

However Trump turned down the chance to appear on the NBC show.

The actor, whose Trump impersonations became a staple this season, hoped the rejection meant the president 'could actually do his job.'

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Alec Baldwin has impersonated the President Donald Trump numerous times on the NBC show

In an interview on Wednesday, Mr Baldwin said: 'I think if he came it would be a great show.

'I think it would be better for everybody. It's always fun to defuse some of the tensions and unpleasantness of all this because we are mocking him - by no means with more frequency or more maliciousness, if you will, than other people.'

He added: 'We invited him to come when I hosted recently, but he refused to come, which is fine.

'I'm hoping 'SNL' was the one thing he chose to ignore so he could actually do his job.'

Mr Trump has repeatedly criticized 'SNL' and Baldwin's impersonations on Twitter, but the actor said his performance is driven by Trump's controversial rhetoric and actions.

He said: 'Trump himself is responsible for nearly all of the content. Trump is the head writer at 'SNL.'

'Nearly everything, every consonant and every vowel is something that Trump himself has rendered in some way. So I think Trump is even more frustrated because he has only himself to blame for that.'

Mr Trump has repeatedly criticized 'SNL' and Baldwin's impersonations on Twitter

Mr Baldwin also praised Jimmy Kimmel, who on Monday night revealed how his son was born last month with a heart defect and required surgery.

Kimmel's tearful monologue included a plea for all families to have access to life-saving medical care.

'Good for him to get real about that,' said Baldwin, a father-of-four. 'I'd love to see this country turn in a direction where it makes things easier for moms and dads.'

Mr Baldwin said he has reached out to Kimmel, who was his co-star in the animated film 'The Boss Baby.'

He said: 'I can't imagine any time in your life when you buckle down more and kind of batten down the hatches more than when you're going through that with your wife.

'That's just mind blowing. Mind blowing. And I hope everything is great for his son.'
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - The editor of Alaska's largest newspaper said Wednesday that a state senator slapped one of his reporters when the reporter sought the senator's opinion on a recently published article.

Alaska Dispatch News Editor David Hulen said reporter Nathaniel Herz has filed a police report over the Tuesday afternoon incident at the state Capitol. A spokeswoman for the Juneau police department says they are investigating.

A message left Wednesday at the office of state Sen. David Wilson wasn't immediately returned to The Associated Press.

FILE - This Jan. 23, 2017, file photo shows Alaska state Sen. David Wilson posing in his Capitol office in Juneau, Alaska. A reporter for the Alaska Dispatch News on Wednesday, May 3, 2017, claimed Wilson slapped him Tuesday in a Capitol stairwell when the reporter sought Wilson's opinion on a recently published article. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)

Herz recently reported on a bill from Wilson, a Wasilla Republican, that would strip funding from nonprofits in Wilson's area. However, Wilson's former employer would not have been impacted by the bill. Wilson declined to comment at the time.

The alleged slap occurred Tuesday after Herz spotted Wilson at the Capitol and asked him if the story was reasonable and fair.

According to an audio recording that Herz provided the newspaper, Wilson repeated the words reasonable and fair, in response to Herz. Then there was an exhale and what sounds like an impact, followed by Wilson's voice saying, "There we go."

Herz could be heard asking if that was meant to be serious or playful and later said: "'He uh, slapped me. That was interesting."

Herz declined to elaborate beyond what he told his paper when reached by The Associated Press.

"We support our reporter. It's not OK for a legislator to strike anyone," Hulen said in a statement.

Wilson, who was elected last fall, is part of the Republican-led Senate majority caucus. The caucus released a statement saying the Senate "expects professional conduct and decorum from all members. Until all the facts surrounding the situation described are available, we have no further comment."

Police spokeswoman Erann Kalwara said police received a report Tuesday about an incident at the Capitol in which a man reported being slapped and said there were no further updates.

___

Thiessen reported from Anchorage, Alaska.
KANSAS CITY, Kansas (AP) - Dom Dwyer scored a second-half double to give Sporting KC a 2-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday and top spot in the MLS Western Conference.

Sporting KC's fourth consecutive win at home ended the Red Bulls' three-game winning streak.

Dwyer has scored five times in five games. After a poor attempted clearance by New York a minute into the second half, Benny Feilhaber's longe-range shot deflected off Sal Zizzo and Dwyer was there to capitalize from inside the six-yard box.

Toronto FC forward Sebastian Giovinco (10) gets tripped up by Orlando City defender Tommy Redding (29) as Orlando City defender Donny Toia (25) watches during the second half of an MLS soccer match in Toronto on Wednesday, May 3, 2017. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

In the 68th, Feilhaber worked down the right flank, cut back inside his defender at the edge of the area and crossed for Dwyer, who drove his right-foot shot in under the crossbar.

In a tussle between two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, Sebastian Giovinco scored twice in the first half - in the 9th and 38th minutes - to help Toronto FC to a 2-1 win over Orlando City.

Kaka scored in first-half stoppage time for Orlando City, which entered on a four-game winning streak and on top of the division standings, but the visitors couldn't find an equalizer in the second half.

Toronto leads the conference with 18 points from eight games, two points clear of Toronto FC and New York Red Bulls.
Joyful House Republicans vote to repeal reviled 'Obamacare'

WASHINGTON (AP) - Delivering at last, triumphant House Republicans voted Thursday to repeal and replace the "Obamacare" health plan they have reviled for so long, overcoming united Democratic opposition and their own deep divisions to hand a major win to President Donald Trump.

The 217-213 vote was a narrow victory, and ultimate success is far from assured since the measure must still make its way through a highly skeptical Senate. But after seven years of campaign promises and dozens of show votes, Republicans finally succeeded in passing a health care bill that has a chance of becoming law.

They weren't waiting for final passage to celebrate.

"What a great group of people!" Trump exclaimed at the White House, arms raised to salute the dozens of lawmakers who hurried to join him in the Rose Garden immediately after the vote. Set aside for the moment were the feuds and philosophical divides that nearly sank the bill time and again.

And at the same time, the Republicans had begun to show that perhaps they can come together and govern the country now that they control Washington in full.

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Analysis: Health-care repeal vote a GOP confidence-builder

WASHINGTON (AP) - Finally, a good day for Republicans.

Nearly four months into the era of Trump, Republicans gave weary supporters reason to think there's still hope for the bold promises of Campaign 2016.

With a House vote Thursday to repeal Barack Obama's health care law, the party showed it could pick up the pieces after a humiliating failure six weeks ago and demonstrated the first flicker of signs that it may be able to find consensus within its divided ranks.

The momentum appeared to carry over beyond health care. The House vote came hours after Trump signed an order to promote religious expression. GOP legislators moved closer to rolling back Obama-era financial regulations. The Senate approved a spending bill averting a government shutdown that would have been disastrous for the party with a monopoly on power.

But the hunger for a win may have come at a cost. House Republicans pushed through the health care bill with only a vote to spare and no Democratic support - reminiscent of the passage of the so-called Obamacare law it unraveled. The bill's fate is uncertain in the Senate, which is sure to change it. Democrats quickly served notice they would hold Republicans accountable for what they predicted could be a disastrous impact on some of the sickest Americans.

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Anxiety over GOP health plan for those with severe illnesses

Unease and uncertainty are settling over Americans with serious illnesses as Republicans move closer to dismantling Democratic former President Barack Obama's health care system.

A New Orleans attorney with multiple sclerosis fears he'll be forced to close his practice if he loses coverage, while a Philadelphia woman with asthma is looking at stockpiling inhalers.

The Republican health care bill pushed through the House on Thursday leaves those with pre-existing conditions fearful of higher premiums and losing coverage altogether if the Affordable Care Act is replaced.

The bill sets aside billions of dollars more to help people afford coverage, but experts say that money is unlikely to guarantee an affordable alternative for people now covered under a popular provision of the existing law that prevents insurers from rejecting them or charging higher rates based on their health.

What happens to those with pre-existing conditions under the Republican plan remains unknown.

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Protesters line up in NYC, hoping for chance to boo Trump

NEW YORK (AP) - A few hundred protesters lined up Thursday along Manhattan's West Side Highway to jeer Donald Trump's motorcade as he made his first trip home to New York since becoming president of the United States.

Trump sped by just before 7 p.m. on his way to attend a dinner with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull aboard the USS Intrepid, a decommissioned aircraft carrier that is now a museum.

The crowd booed and chanted "New York hates you!" over drums and tambourines.

Some Trump supporters were also on hand to cheer him on.

New York was the scene of several huge demonstrations against Trump in the early days of the Republican's presidency. Thursday's rally was a much smaller affair.

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Hacking arrest, fake news in tense French presidential race

ALBI, France (AP) - Allegations of fake news and hacking attempts dominated France's tense presidential campaign on Thursday, with just two days left for independent Emmanuel Macron and his far-right rival Marine Le Pen to win over voters before this weekend's high-stakes runoff.

Paris prosecutors launched a preliminary investigation into whether fake news is being used to influence Sunday's vote, as front-runner Macron and populist Le Pen rallied thousands at their last big campaign events - in opposite parts of the divided country.

There has been intense anxiety in France over the possibility that viral misinformation or hackers could influence the presidential vote, as in the U.S. election last year. Those fears have largely failed to materialize.

Then on Thursday, Macron's campaign filed suit against an unknown source "X'' after Le Pen suggested during their only one-on-one debate that the former banker could have an offshore account.

"I hope we won't find out you have an offshore account in the Bahamas," Le Pen said during the tense prime-time showdown Wednesday night.

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Mexican-Americans torn about Cinco de Mayo in Trump era

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - For years, Yazmin Irazoqui Ruiz saw Cinco de Mayo as a reason to eat tacos and listen to Mexican music.

The 25-year-old Mexican-born medical student left Mexico for the U.S. as a child and celebrates the day to honor a homeland she hardly remembers.

But the Albuquerque, New Mexico, resident said she's reluctant to take part in Cinco de Mayo festivities this year as President Donald Trump steps up federal immigration enforcement and supporters back his call for the building of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

"I mean, what is it about? You want to eat our food and listen to our music, but when we need you to defend us, where are you?" Irazoqui Ruiz asked about the wave of anti-immigrant sentiment in the country.

She isn't alone. Trump's immigration policies and rhetoric are leaving some Mexican Americans and immigrants feeling at odds with a holiday they already thought was appropriated by beer and liquor companies, event promoters and bars.

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Old tech, passwords galore hurt US tracking of visa holders

LOS ANGELES (AP) - U.S. immigration agents waste their time logging in and out of archaic computer systems while trying to track down foreigners suspected of overstaying their visas only to find out later that many visa holders have left the country, said a government watchdog report released Thursday.

Agents and analysts must use 10 to 40 passwords to access the computer systems and 40 percent of the cases investigated one year turned out not to be overstays, said the report by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General.

The report also disclosed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been locked out of computer systems for periods ranging from several minutes to days. Some agents kept their passwords written out on their desks, creating a security risk, the report said.

One agent said nearly one in five of the visa holders he investigated had already left the country, and pursuing those leads took 225 hours of his time, according to the report.

"The time being wasted on investigating false leads increased the risk that legitimate overstays were being overlooked," the report said.

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California family with 2 toddlers booted from Delta flight

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Delta Air Lines is offering refunds and compensation to a California family that says they were forced off a plane and threatened with jail after refusing to give up one of their seats on a crowded flight.

A video of the April 23 incident was uploaded to YouTube on Wednesday and added to the list of recent encounters on airlines that have gone viral, including the dragging of a bloodied passenger off a United Express plane.

Brian and Brittany Schear of Huntington Beach, California, told KABC-TV in Los Angeles that they were returning from Hawaii with their two toddlers. They wanted to put one of the children in a seat they had bought for their 18-year-old son, who instead flew home on an earlier flight.

Delta says on its website that tickets cannot be transferred and name changes are not allowed. Federal regulations do not bar changing the name on a ticket as long as the new passenger's name can be run through a data base before the flight, according to a Transportation Security Administration spokesman.

By late Thursday afternoon, Delta still had not explained why the Schears were removed from the plane. A spokesman said the flight was not overbooked.

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Police: Hernandez cited Bible passage John 3:16 in suicide

BOSTON (AP) - Former NFL star Aaron Hernandez wrote a reference to a biblical passage in ink on his forehead and in blood on the wall of his prison cell before he hanged himself with a bed sheet, state police said in an investigative report released Thursday.

The former New England Patriots tight end was found April 19 at the Souza-Baranowski prison, where he was serving a life sentence in the 2013 murder of a man who had been dating his fiancee's sister. His suicide came five days after he was acquitted in the 2012 gun slayings of two men in a car.

A report released by state police on Thursday says "John 3:16" was written on Hernandez's forehead and on the cell wall.

The Bible passage says: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

The report, from a state police detective assigned to Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr.'s office, said a correction officer found Hernandez around 3 a.m.

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Shhh. Hear the rustle of grass? Not so much now in US parks

WASHINGTON (AP) - The call of the wild is getting harder to hear.

Peaceful, natural sounds- bird songs, rushing rivers and rustling grass - are sometimes being drowned out by noise from people in many of America's protected parks and wilderness areas, a new study finds.

Scientists measured sound levels at 492 places - from city parks to remote federal wilderness. They calculated that in nearly two-thirds of the Lower 48's parks, the noise can at times be twice the natural background level because of airplanes, cars, logging, mining and oil and gas drilling.

That increase can harm wildlife, making it harder for them to find food or mates, and make it harder for people to hear those natural sounds, the researchers said. Colorado State University biologist George Wittemyer said people hear only half the sounds that they would in natural silence.

"They're being drowned out," said Wittemyer, a co-author of the research.
More than forty years ago, Chuck Wepner stepped into the ring to face off against the great Muhammad Ali for the world's Heavyweight title.

Even though Wepner was an underdog with the odds against him 40-to-one, he managed to knock down the champ in the ninth round.

But Ali fought back and, in the 15th and final round, an exhausted Wepner was knocked out with 19 seconds left.

Now, the man that inspired the classic 'Rocky' movies is getting his moment on-screen with a new biopic chronicling his rise to the top, his fall from grace and how he picked himself back up again.

In 1975, boxer Chuck Wepner stepped into the ring to face off against the great Muhammad Ali as a 40-to-one underdog. Now his real-life story has arrived on the big screen with Liev Schreiber playing the 'Bayonne Bleeder' in Chuck, which opens on Friday, May 5

Despite the odds being against him, Wepner managed to knock down the champ in the ninth round. Ali is seen here stepping back from a punch thrown by Wepner in their March 24, 1975 fight

Following the infamous match, Wepner boxed for three more years and continued his day job as a liquor salesman, while living a hard-partying lifestyle that led to prison.

His life story has now arrived on the big screen with Liev Schreiber playing the 'Bayonne Bleeder' in Chuck, which opens on Friday in New York and Los Angeles before expanding nationwide starting next week.

'Everyone says to me, "Oh, Chuck, finally you got your due",' the 78-year-old Wepner said from his living room in Bayonne, the working-class town across the harbor from New York where he grew up.

'You know what? i've been living large for 42 years. I fought Ali in '75, I went 15 rounds, I had him down, and then they made the movie Rocky. I was the inspiration. I haven't been waiting around.'

The 1976 classic starring Sylvester Stallone was inspired by the overmatched underdog's fight when creating the now iconic character Rocky Balboa.

Wepner's match against Ali was the inspiration for the Rocky film series, starring Sylvester Stallone as 'everyman' boxer Rocky Balboa (Wepner and Ali appear on the cover of The Ring magazine in April 1975)

After Wepner's knockout, Ali was reenergized and decisively outboxed his opponent before knocking him out with 19 seconds left in the 15th and final round. Ali is seen here sending Chuck Wepner into the ropes and to the canvas with a TKO to win their fight

Wepner and Balboa's story share similarities - low-level working class fighters getting a shot at the champ. But while Rocky went on to beat the Ali-like Apollo Creed in their rematch in Rocky II, Wepner turned to a life of partying and cocaine (Sylvester Stallone as Rocky from the 1976 movie)

Wepner's and Balboa's stories share similarities - low-level working class fighters getting a shot at the champ.

But while Rocky went on to beat the Ali-like Apollo Creed in their rematch in Rocky II, Wepner turned to a life of partying and cocaine.

He pleaded guilty to drug charges in 1987 and served two years of a 10-year sentence.

Like Rocky's fight with Hulk Hogan's Thunderlips character in Rocky III, Wepner was thrown out of the ring by wrestling legend Andre the Giant at Shea Stadium in New York in a 1976 fight. Unlike Rocky, Wepner also fought a bear.

Wepner sued Stallone in 2003, arguing that he improperly used his name to promote the Rocky film series.

Stallone responded that Wepner benefited by making public appearances as 'the real Rocky', but later settled. A spokeswoman for Stallone said he wasn't giving interviews ahead of the film.

Schreiber said that it's hard to look at some of the parallels between Rocky Balboa and Wepner and not think that Stallone was inspired by Wepner's life.

'But I also know from talking to Sylvester Stallone that he thought the fighter was an amalgamation of several fighters,' Schreiber said.

'And that probably the biggest inspiration to him was sort of his own battles as an artist, that was really the inspiration for the character.'

Wepner pled guilty to drug charges in 1987 and served two years of a 10-year prison sentence (Wepner is seen attending the screening for The Real Rocky at the 20th Philadelphia Film Festival in October 2011)

Wepner says his third wife, Linda, helped him get his life together after he was released from prison and later convinced him to sue Stallone in 2003 for compensation for using him as the inspiration for the Rocky movies

Schreiber, who said he was drawn to Wepner's life as a cautionary tale of fame and celebrity, said that storytellers often exploit real people to create their narratives.

'And I think that's OK,' he said.

'I think that's the nature of art and storytelling. Some stories stay very close to the truth...but I think we should also feel the license to expand on some things and express ourselves as fits the person that's creating the story.'

Chuck also stars Elisabeth Moss - of Mad Men fame - as Wepner's second wife and Naomi Watts as his third wife, Linda. It was Linda who helped Wepner get his life together after he was released from prison and later convinced him to sue.

While Wepner admits he had a terrible audition when Stallone tried to give him a part as his sparring partner in Rocky II (he had spent the previous night partying), the final straw came after he was passed over for a part in the Stallone and Robert De Niro film Cop Land, which filmed near Bayonne.

'I sued for $15 million, fuhgeddaboudit, I didn't get a minute percentage of that,' Wepner said.

'Stallone and I are friends now. We had to go to court. That was just business. I love Sylvester, I think he's great. I think his moves are great.'

The lawsuit was settled out-of-court in 2006. Wepner said, however, that he and Stallone 'are friends now. We had to go to court. That was just business. I love Sylvester, I think he's great. I think his moves are great' (pictured in April 2017)

Liev Schreiber, who plays Wepner in the new biopic Chuck, said he was drawn to Wepner's life as a cautionary tale of fame and celebrity (Schreiber, left, and Wepner, right, pictured at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival in April)

Chuck director Philippe Falardeau said that while there are similarities between Wepner and Rocky, Stallone's character was 'much more low-key, much more insecure. Chuck Wepner has no insecurities'.

'He's so confident,' he added.

Falardeau said that Stallone gave the filmmakers his approval.

Just as important, Falardeau says, the movie ends with Schreiber's Wepner and Watts's Linda walking down the boardwalk - and Wepner stops for a Polaroid photo in front of a Rocky statue outside of a Planet Hollywood.

Falardeau said Stallone lent the statue to the filmmakers from his personal collection.




DALLAS (AP) - The prosecutor's office investigating the death of a black teenager who was shot by a Dallas-area police officer had once filed a complaint over that officer's aggressive behavior, according to records obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

Personnel records from the Balch Springs Police Department show former officer Roy Oliver was suspended for 16 hours in December 2013 after the Dallas County District Attorney's Office filed a complaint about his conduct when he was serving as a witness in a drunken-driving case. That office is now investigating the shooting Saturday night in which Oliver, who is white, fired a rifle at a car full of teenagers leaving a party, striking and killing 15-year-old Jordan Edwards.

Messages left with a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office, a police spokesman and a lawyer for Oliver were not immediately returned Thursday.

A sign sits in welcome to those entering Balch Springs, Texas, Wednesday, May 3, 2017. As the family of a black teenager slain by a white police officer calls for an indictment and more investigation, the Dallas suburb where he died faces some of the same issues with race as Ferguson, Cleveland, and other cities that have experienced high-profile police shootings of African-Americans. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

The personnel records also included periodic evaluations that noted at least one instance when Oliver was reprimanded for being "disrespectful to a civilian on a call." That evaluation, dated January 27, 2017, called the reprimand an isolated incident and urged Oliver to be mindful of his leadership role in the department.

The complaint from the prosecutor's office said the office had a hard time getting Oliver to attend the trial, he was angry he had to be there, he used vulgar language that caused an assistant district attorney to send a female intern out of the room, and he used profanity during his testimony.

"In an email from one of the prosecutors he states you were a 'scary person to have in our workroom,'" then-Balch Springs Police Chief Ed Morris wrote in the suspension findings.

Oliver joined the Balch Springs department in 2011 after being an officer with the Dalworthington Gardens Police Department for almost a year. A statement from Dalworthington Gardens officials late Wednesday included some details of that and previous intermittent employment as a dispatcher and public works employee between 1999 and 2004.

The statement said he received an award for "meritorious conduct" as a dispatcher and there were no documented complaints or disciplinary action in either his work as a public safety officer or dispatcher. Between his employment as a dispatcher and officer in the Dallas suburb, he was in the U.S. Army, rising to the rank of sergeant while serving two tours in Iraq and earning various commendations. He served for two years in the Texas National Guard reserves through 2012.

After the Dallas County Attorney's Office complained about Oliver's behavior, Morris suspended the officer for 16 hours, which Oliver completed by forfeiting two sick days. Oliver also was ordered to take training courses in anger management and courtroom demeanor and testimony.

Heath Harris, the former first assistant district attorney under Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins, said he did not remember the incident or which of the many courts might have been involved. He said he did not believe it would impact the office's ability to investigate the shooting.

"I don't think that it will impact this investigation at all, other than the fact that it's something that clearly the defense will try to use," Harris said. "But DA (Faith) Johnson has already stated that the investigation by the public integrity unit will be independent and based solely on the facts of the shooting."

Edwards and his two brothers and two other teenagers were driving away from an unruly house party in Balch Springs late Saturday night when Oliver opened fire on their vehicle with a rifle. The bullets shattered the front passenger-side window and struck Edwards. Oliver was fired Tuesday for violating department policies.

It took a few moments for Edwards' 16-year-old brother, who was driving, and other passengers to notice that he was slumped over in his seat. His brother pulled over and tried to call for help.

Police ordered him to step out of the car and back away. As he moved, he heard someone call him a racial slur, according to family lawyers Jasmine Crockett and Lee Merritt.

Top Texas Democrats called on Republicans, including Gov. Greg Abbott, to work to discourage shootings by police. Several such proposals have stalled in the Legislature.

Democrats took issue with Abbott's muted response to Edward's death, especially given his more spirited response to subsequent stabbings at the University of Texas and the shooting of a Dallas paramedic.

"This is not a Dallas problem, this is not a Balch Springs problem," state Rep. Helen Giddings, a Democrat from Dallas, said at a news conference in Austin. "It is a dangerous disease that is threatening young black males, most of whom are unarmed."

Abbott responded to The Associated Press with a brief statement saying his "heart goes out to the Edwards family during this incredibly difficult time." His statement added, "No parent should ever have to experience the pain of losing a child, and the Edwards family deserves a fair and full investigation into this tragedy."

About 200 people attended a vigil in Balch Springs on Thursday night to honor the teen's memory and protest his death.

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Associated Press writers Paul J. Weber and Juan A. Lozano contributed to this report.

State Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas speaks at a news conference at the Supreme Court Building in Austin, Texas, on Thursday, May 4, 2017, about the shooting of Jordan Edwards in Balch Springs, Texas. Listening are, left to right, state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, and state Rep. Toni Rose, D-Dallas. ( Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

State Rep. Helen Giddings, D-DeSoto, wipes a tear while speaking at a news conference at the Supreme Court Building in Austin, Texas, on Thursday, May 4, 2017, about the shooting of Jordan Edwards in Balch Springs, Texas. ( Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

Dallas County Sheriff crime scene investigators use a metal detector at the intersection near where Jordan Edwards was killed by a police officer in Balch Springs, Texas, Wednesday, May 3, 2017. As the family of the black teenager slain by a white police officer calls for an indictment and more investigation, the Dallas suburb where he died faces some of the same issues with race as Ferguson, Cleveland, and other cities that have experienced high-profile police shootings of African-Americans. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Dallas County Sheriff crime scene investigators conduct a follow up search for evidence at the intersection near where Jordan Edwards was killed by a police officer in Balch Springs, Texas, Wednesday, May 3, 2017. As the family of the black teenager slain by a white police officer calls for an indictment and more investigation, the Dallas suburb where he died faces some of the same issues with race as Ferguson, Cleveland, and other cities that have experienced high-profile police shootings of African-Americans. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - The Kansas Supreme Court is considering for a second time whether to spare two brothers from being executed for four murders in what became known as "the Wichita massacre" after earlier rulings in the men's favor sparked a political backlash.

The justices were hearing arguments from attorneys Thursday in the cases of Jonathan and Reginald Carr. The brothers were convicted of dozens of crimes against five people in December 2000 that ended with the victims being shot in a snow-covered Wichita field, with one woman surviving to testify against the brothers.

The crimes were among the most notorious in the state since the 1959 slayings of a western Kansas family that inspired the book "In Cold Blood." The state has 10 men on death row, including the Carrs, but it has not executed anyone since hangings in 1965.

FILE - This combination of 2013 file photos provided by the Kansas Department of Corrections shows Reginald Carr, left, and Jonathan Carr. The Kansas Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments from attorneys Thursday, May 4, 2017, considering for a second time whether to spare the two brothers from being executed for four murders in December 2000 in what became known as "the Wichita massacre" after earlier rulings in the men's favor sparked a political backlash. (Kansas Department of Corrections via AP, File)

The Kansas court overturned the Carr brothers' death sentences in July 2014, citing flaws in their joint trial and sentencing hearing. The decisions stunned the victims' families and friends, as well as legislators. Critics launched unsuccessful efforts to oust six of the seven justices in the 2014 and 2016 elections.

The U.S. Supreme Court later overturned the Kansas court's rulings in a sometimes scathing January 2016 opinion. The nation's highest court returned the men's cases to the Kansas court for further reviews.

The Carr brothers' attorneys are raising some of the same legal questions again, arguing that the Kansas Constitution requires the death sentences to be overturned even if the U.S. Constitution doesn't. The Kansas court has the last word on "state law" issues. There is one new justice since the court last ruled in 2014.

The Kansas court previously concluded that the two men should have had separate sentencing hearings. Jonathan Carr argued that he was not as responsible as his brother for the crimes and that Reginald Carr had been a bad influence on him during their troubled childhoods.

The Kansas court also said the judge's instructions to jurors during sentencing were flawed.

Prosecutors said the brothers broke into a home in December 2000 and forced the three men and two women there to have sex with each other and later to withdraw money from ATMs. The women were raped repeatedly before all five were taken to a soccer field and shot. The four victims who died were Aaron Sander, 29; Brad Heyka, 27; Jason Befort, 26, and Heather Muller, 25.

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Follow John Hanna on Twitter at https://twitter.com/apjdhanna .
The fatal shooting of a black teenager by a white police officer outside a suburban Dallas house party has prompted concerns from some community leaders about whether a new district attorney's investigation will be sufficiently transparent and thorough.

But attorneys who have worked with Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson say her career of more than 30 years in the criminal justice system - including stints as a prosecutor, judge and attorney in private practice - has prepared her to deal with the intricacies and pressures of such a high-profile case.

"She'll be up to the task and she will try to be as transparent as possible. She can handle it," said Dallas defense attorney Heath Harris, who also has worked as a prosecutor with the Dallas County District Attorney's Office.

FILE - In this Dec. 7, 2016 file photo, Faith Johnson, the new Dallas district attorney, poses for a photo at the Hotel Crescent Court in Dallas. The shooting of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards as he left a party Saturday, April 29, 2017, has become Johnson's first high-profile case since taking office in January after Gov. Greg Abbott appointed her. (Nathan Hunsinger/The Dallas Morning News via AP, File)

Johnson is the first African-American female to serve as the district attorney in Dallas County. She was appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott after the previous district attorney, Susan Hawk, resigned in September. Hawk had quit just a month after returning to work following inpatient treatment for mental illness.

Johnson was a Dallas County prosecutor from 1982 to 1989, serving as the county's first black female chief felony prosecutor. After being appointed a judge in 1989, she served in that position for 17 years. She then spent 10 years in private practice before being appointed district attorney. Johnson's seat is the only countywide seat held by a Republican in Dallas.

The shooting of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards as he left a party Saturday night has become Johnson's first high-profile case since taking office in January. Roy Oliver, a police officer in the Dallas suburb of Balch Springs, opened fire on a vehicle that the high school freshman was riding in along with his two brothers and two other teenagers. The group was leaving an unruly house party.

The shots from Oliver's rifle shattered the front passenger-side window and struck Edwards. The teen's 16-year-old brother was driving.

Oliver was fired Tuesday but some community leaders and activists are calling for charges to be filed against him.

"We are insisting on a transparent investigation and we are insisting that this investigation ... produces a charge of murder," said Frederick D. Haynes, a senior pastor at Friendship-West Baptist Church who was one of several activists who met with Johnson on Wednesday.

John Creuzot, a former longtime judge who has known Johnson since the two were Dallas County prosecutors, said Johnson and her office are more than capable of handling the investigation into Edwards' death.

"There's nothing about her that makes me think that she would compromise what she feels is the right thing to do on the case," Creuzot said.

Creuzot, who is seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Johnson next year for the district attorney job, is still willing to credit her for what he described as her calming influence in the role. He said the office had faced turmoil in the time leading up to Hawk's resignation.

"She's come in and I think she's helped steady the office," he said of Johnson.

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Lozano reported from Houston. Associated Press writer Claudia Lauer in Dallas contributed to this report.

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Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter at www.twitter.com/juanlozano70
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - As Afghanistan slides back into chaos, with a resurgent Taliban and dwindling international aid, many fear that the country's women's shelters could be forced to close, leaving those who rely on them at the mercy of an often harshly conservative society.

Nearly 30 shelters across the country - a legacy of the 2001 U.S.-led invasion that toppled the Taliban - provide food, refuge and education for women abused by their husbands or male relatives. The shelters also offer safety to women at risk of so-called honor killings, or of being sold into marriage to repay debts, a still-common practice.

A 19-year-old at one such shelter in Kabul fled western Afghanistan after her father tried to trade her to another family for marriage in return for a young bride following the death of his wife. In the four years since she fled, she has learned to read and write, as well as how to sew, and is now teaching the other women.

In this April 5, 2017 photo, victims of violence sew at a shelter operated by the Humanitarian Assistance for the Women and Children of Afghanistan, or HAWCA, an NGO, in Kabul, Afghanistan. As the country slides back into chaos, with a resurgent Taliban and dwindling international aid, many fear that women's shelters could be forced to close, leaving those who rely on them at the mercy of an often harshly conservative society. Humanitarian groups are severely overstretched, as they try to address the fallout from the Syrian civil war and other global crises. (AP Photo/Shaheen Sultani)

She's had no contact with her father since she ran away, and fears that if the shelter closes she would have to live on the streets. "There are men who mistreat and abuse girls and women who have no place to live," she said, asking that her name not be used for fear of retribution from her family.

More than 15 years after the Taliban were overthrown, Afghanistan remains a deeply conservative country where women are largely confined to their homes. Their situation is even worse in the several districts of the country seized by the Taliban, who are more powerful than at any point since 2001.

Last month, the Taliban attacked an army base in the northern Balkh province, killing more than 140 security forces in one of the deadliest attacks launched since the extremists were overthrown.

The deteriorating security situation, and the shrinking footprint of the U.S. and NATO mission, has forced many aid agencies to scale back their activities in the still desperately poor country. U.N. agencies and global aid groups are meanwhile severely overstretched as they try to address the massive fallout from the Syrian civil war and other global crises.

That has raised concerns about the future of the shelters, which house an estimated 2,000 women at any given time.

Humanitarian Assistance for the Women and Children of Afghanistan, or HAWCA, an NGO that has been operating a women's shelter in Kabul since 2004, launched an emergency appeal for funding in March after it was told it might lose support from the U.N. The U.N. funding was later extended for another three months, until the end of June, but concerns remain.

The shelter provides aid and refuge to around 300 women a year, and has a monthly operating budget of $14,000. The emergency appeal raised just $13,500.

The government operates no shelters of its own. Kobra Rezaei, a spokeswoman for the Women's Affairs Ministry, says it has asked President Ashraf Ghani to allocate funds for protecting women, including through shelters, but that no money has been forthcoming. Government spokesmen declined to comment.

Conservative religious leaders in Afghanistan have long railed against the shelters, saying they contribute to immorality among women and girls and encourage divorce. Many shelters, including those run by HAWCA, operate in secret locations.

A 16-year-old girl at a Kabul shelter, who also asked not to be identified for fear of retribution, said she came there to escape her husband, who was twice her age, jobless and mentally unstable. The shelter helped her to get a divorce, but her own family won't take her back.

"I don't have anywhere, and there are thousands of other women like me, who have no one and no place to go," she said.

In this Tuesday, April 4, 2017 photo, a victim of violence speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, at the office of Humanitarian Assistance for the Women and Children of Afghanistan, an NGO that has been operating a women's shelter in Kabul since 2004, in Kabul, Afghanistan. As the country slides back into chaos, with a resurgent Taliban and dwindling international aid, many fear that women's shelters could be forced to close, leaving those who rely on them at the mercy of an often harshly conservative society. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

In this Tuesday, April 4, 2017 photo, a victim of violence speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, at the office of Humanitarian Assistance for the Women and Children of Afghanistan, an NGO that has been operating a women's shelter in Kabul since 2004, in Kabul, Afghanistan. As the country slides back into chaos, with a resurgent Taliban and dwindling international aid, many fear that women's shelters could be forced to close, leaving those who rely on them at the mercy of an often harshly conservative society. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)

In this April 5, 2017 photo, victims of violence sew at a shelter operated by the Humanitarian Assistance for the Women and Children of Afghanistan, or HAWCA, an NGO, in Kabul, Afghanistan. As the country slides back into chaos, with a resurgent Taliban and dwindling international aid, many fear that women's shelters could be forced to close, leaving those who rely on them at the mercy of an often harshly conservative society. Humanitarian groups are severely overstretched, as they try to address the fallout from the Syrian civil war and other global crises. (AP Photo/Shaheen Sultani)
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull are aiming to put a rocky start behind when they meet for the first time and commemorate the 75th anniversary of an important World War II battle.

Their meeting Thursday evening was taking place on Trump's first trip back to New York City since he left in January to be sworn in as president.

Not everyone was happy with the homecoming, with protests planned against the Republican president in the heavily Democratic city.

FILE - This combination of file photos shows, from left to right: U.S. President Donald Trump on Jan. 28, 2017, and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Nov. 20, 2016. Turnbull said he and President Donald Trump will focus on North Korea, security and economic issues when they meet for the first time this week in New York on Thursday, May 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pablo Martinez Monsivais Files)

The agenda for the leaders' get-together included North Korea's missile testing and security and economic issues, as well as Turnbull's deal with then-President Barack Obama for the United States to resettle up to 1,250 mostly Muslim refugees from Africa, the Mideast and Asia who are housed in immigration camps on the Pacific island nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

The agreement was a source of friction when Trump and Turnbull spoke by telephone shortly after Trump took office Jan. 20. The conversation made headlines, and Trump later tweeted about the "dumb deal." But Vice President Mike Pence assured Turnbull during a visit to Australia last month that the Trump administration will honor it, but "that doesn't mean we admire the agreement."

Trump campaigned against immigration, including by Muslims, and was enraged by the agreement.

The ties between the allies were reinforced during the Battle of the Coral Sea, when both countries' warships and fighter planes battled the Japanese from May 4-8, 1942, forcing the Japanese navy to retreat for the first time in the war.

Trump and Turnbull were set to mark the anniversary of that battle with speeches at a dinner aboard the USS Intrepid. The decommissioned aircraft carrier fought in World War II and is a floating museum on the Hudson River on the west side of Manhattan. The event is hosted by the American Australian Association.

Manhattan is where Trump made a name by transforming himself from real-estate developer into a celebrity businessman and now president. He hasn't set foot in the city since leaving on Jan. 19 for Washington to be inaugurated into office the following day.

In the race against Democrat Hillary Clinton, Trump received 18 percent of the vote in the liberal city. Protests were planned near the USS Intrepid and Trump Tower, his Fifth Avenue home.

During the campaign, Trump would fly thousands of miles back to New York City to sleep in his own bed, leaving the impression that he would make frequent trips home after he became president. But Trump said in an interview last week that he so far has avoided returning to the city of his birth because the trips are expensive for the government and would inconvenience New Yorkers.

He has received some criticism for spending about half of his weekends as president at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

Trump's wife, Melania, and son Barron live at Trump Tower most of the time while the 11-year-old finishes the school year.

The president was not expected to spend the night there, but he could drop in before going to his golf club an hour away in Bedminister, New Jersey.

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Associated Press writers Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, and Jonathan Lemire in New York contributed to this report.

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Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap

In this Tuesday, May 2, 2017 photo, a New York Police Department boat patrols the Hudson River near the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York. Donald Trump will return to New York City for the first time since becoming president on Thursday, May 4 and police are bracing for the possibility of large demonstrations. Trump is scheduled to meet the prime minister of Australia on the deck of the USS Intrepid, an aircraft carrier that has been converted into a museum. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

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. President Donald Trump and Turnbull will try to patch the rocky start to their working relationship when they meet in New York. The trip May 4, is Trump's first back home since he left in January to become president. The leaders are expected to discuss North Korea, security and economic issues.(Jason Reed/Pool Photo via AP)

In this Tuesday, May 2, 2017 photo, a school group walks on the flight deck of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York. Donald Trump will return to New York City for the first time since becoming president on Thursday, May 4 and police are bracing for the possibility of large demonstrations. Trump is scheduled to meet the prime minister of Australia on the deck of the USS Intrepid, an aircraft carrier that has been converted into a museum. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

In this Tuesday, May 2, 2017 photo, a visitor inspects the Space Shuttle exhibit on the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York. Donald Trump will return to New York City for the first time since becoming president on Thursday, May 4 and police are bracing for the possibility of large demonstrations. Trump is scheduled to meet the prime minister of Australia on the deck of the USS Intrepid, an aircraft carrier that has been converted into a museum. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - After federal authorities announced they would not prosecute two white police officers in the shooting death of a black man, a refrain rang out from the man's family, lawyers and supporters: It's up to Louisiana's attorney general to seek justice.

The Justice Department said it found insufficient evidence to charge either officer, Blane Salamoni or Howie Lake II, in the death of 37-year-old Alton Sterling last summer outside a Baton Rouge convenience store. The decision leaves Attorney General Jeff Landry to decide whether to pursue a case, but there already are signs that any state prosecution is a political minefield that the Republican might be seeking to avoid.

Landry said Wednesday he's directed the Justice Department to forward its investigative materials to the Louisiana State Police. He called state police "the agency with the most expertise in officer-involved shootings" and said he assigned a prosecutor from his office to assist.

Kimberly Pierson, mother of Alton Sterling's son Na'Quincy Pierson, cries as she speaks to reporters following a meeting with the U.S. Justice Department at federal court in Baton Rouge, La., Wednesday, May 3, 2017. An investigation into the police shooting death of Sterling in Baton Rouge found that there was not enough evidence to prove that the white officers acted unreasonably and willfully, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

"As of now, we consider this matter an open investigation by (state police)," Landry said in a statement.

However, Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat who oversees the state police, said the investigation is in Landry's hands. And State Police Col. Kevin Reeves sent a letter to Landry saying the state police will help Landry's office if the attorney general decides further evidence collection is necessary.

"There has already been a very thorough investigation where the type of work that the state police would do, had it been the principal agency investigating this matter from the outset, has already been done," the governor said.

The federal investigators found that Salamoni pointed a gun at Sterling's head and later shot him three times after saying that Sterling was reaching for a gun in his pocket. Salamoni fired three more shots into Sterling's back when he began to sit up and move, and the officers recovered a loaded revolver from Sterling's pocket, the investigation found.

Landry has frequently clashed with Edwards on financial and legal issues and has pushed legislation aimed at punishing cities like New Orleans deemed to be "sanctuaries" for people in the country illegally. Landry also is a possible challenger to Edwards in the 2019 governor's race.

In the immediate aftermath of Sterling's shooting in July, the local district attorney recused himself from the investigation because of longstanding work relationships he has with Salamoni's parents. One is a Baton Rouge police captain; the other is a retired police supervisor.

That left the investigation and any decision to pursue state charges up to Landry, a tea party-aligned Republican and former sheriff's deputy who has been Louisiana's attorney general since January 2016 after burnishing his conservative credentials as a one-term congressman.

During his tenure in Congress, he drew attention for his strong opposition to President Barack Obama. He refused to attend a congressional meeting with the president on the debt crisis and was perhaps best known for holding a "Drilling = jobs" sign objecting to Obama's handling of domestic oil drilling during a 2011 Obama speech to Congress.

A lawyer for two of the Sterling children praised Landry even as he called on him to pursue a case against the officers.

"There can't be any inaction by Attorney General Jeff Landry. If you follow his history, if you follow him, he tries to do the right thing. He has already prosecuted officers who have used force and killed someone in Louisiana," said attorney Chris Stewart.

Stewart was referring to a case that Landry's office brought against two Marksville law enforcement officers who opened fire on a car after a chase, killing a 6-year-old autistic boy and critically wounding his father.

Both deputy city marshals were charged with second-degree murder in Jeremy Mardis' death. A judge sentenced one of the officers to 40 years in prison after a jury convicted him in March of lesser charges of manslaughter and attempted manslaughter. The other officer awaits trial later this year.

Michael Magner, a former federal prosecutor, worked on a high-profile case against New Orleans police officers charged with civil rights violations over a deadly shooting and cover-up in Hurricane Katrina's chaotic aftermath. He said pursuing state charges such as negligent homicide might be easier for prosecutors than the high bar for a federal civil rights case. But even though jurors may be offended by the conduct, they often give police the benefit of the doubt in a split-second decision, Magner added.

"It's just much easier to prove, but they still have those same jury considerations," the defense attorney said.

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Associated Press writer R.J. Rico contributed to this report.

Acting U.S Attorney Corey Amundson, left, speaks, during a news conference Wednesday, May 3, 2017, in Baton Rouge, La. The Justice Department has decided not to charge two white Baton Rouge police officers in the shooting death of Alton Sterling. (Travis Spradling/The Advocate via AP)

FILE - In this Tuesday, July 5, 2016 image made from video, Alton Sterling is restrained by two Baton Rouge police officers, one holding a gun, outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge, La. Moments later, one of the officers shot and killed Sterling, a black man who had been selling CDs outside the store, while he was on the ground. Officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II were placed on administrative leave. Neither has been charged. The U.S. Justice Department decided not to charge the two officers, according to a person familiar with the decision who disclosed it to the AP on Tuesday, May 2, 2017. Federal authorities opened a civil rights investigation immediately after the shooting. The Justice Department's decision doesn't preclude state authorities from conducting their own investigation and pursuing their own criminal charges. (Arthur Reed via AP)

Sandra Sterling, aunt of Alton Sterling, center, listens as family and attorneys speak following a meeting with the U.S. Justice Department at federal court in Baton Rouge, La., Wednesday, May 3, 2017. The Justice Department, has decided not to charge two white Baton Rouge police officers in the fatal shooting of Sterling, whose death was captured on cell phone video, fueling protests in Louisiana's capital and beyond. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) - Bulgaria's parliament on Thursday approved the country's new center-right government in a bid to restore stability, spur economic development and implement reforms.

Lawmakers voted 133-100 to elect 57-year-old Boiko Borisov to a third term as prime minister.

In a separate vote, legislators also approved the Cabinet - a coalition between Borisov's pro-EU center-right GERB party and the far-right nationalist alliance United Patriots.

Borisov's party won the most votes in the March 26 general election but not enough to form a government alone.

Borisov, a former bodyguard and Sofia mayor, headed his first government between 2009 and 2013 but stepped down amid nationwide social protests that turned violent. In November, he quit halfway into his second term after his party's presidential candidate lost to a Socialist.

GERB holds 95 seats and the nationalists 27 in the 240-seat legislature. The new government can also rely on the declared support by the 12 legislators of the populist party Volya.

Bulgaria, a Black Sea nation of 7.2 million, remains the European Union's poorest member 10 years after joining the bloc. Once Moscow's closest ally, it still depends heavily on Russian gas and nuclear fuel supplies.

Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, Borisov pledged to keep the country on pro-European and pro -NATO track.

"We will work for the unity of the European Union and its further enlargement," Borisov said.

The main challenges for his Cabinet will be to maintain stability in the country amid uncertainty in the EU over Brexit, instability in neighboring Turkey and Macedonia, and fears of a potential migrant inflow.

Political analysts say that the two coalition partners will likely bridge their differences and the government could serve out its four-year term.

"Although our partners in Brussels disapprove of the inclusion of far-right parties in a government, I think that Bulgaria's upcoming presidency of the European Commission will legitimate this government as pro-European," said political analyst Dimitar Ganev.

Bulgaria will take over the six-month presidency of the European Council from January next year.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) - Ethiopian officials have blocked United Nations access to areas that experienced deadly protests during one of the country's most violent periods in recent memory, the U.N. human rights chief said Thursday.

Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein spoke during a three-day visit to the East African nation at the government's invitation. Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn has rejected United Nations and other outside requests to investigate the months of anti-government protests demanding more political freedoms.

The government has said at least 669 people were killed and largely blames the political opposition for the unrest. Opposition figures and human rights groups say security forces killed protesters, while the government has called security forces' response "proportionate."

FILE - In this Sunday, Oct. 2, 2016 file photo, Ethiopian soldiers try to stop protesters in Bishoftu, during a declared state of emergency, in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. The U.N. human rights chief said Thursday, May 4, 2017 that Ethiopian officials had blocked his staff's access to areas that experienced deadly protests during one of the country's most violent periods in recent memory. (AP Photo, File)

More than 26,000 people were detained amid the protests, and Ethiopia in October declared a state of emergency that recently was extended.

Zeid expressed alarm at the "extremely large number" of arrests and said some charges against those detained "may be misplaced."

He asked that U.N. staffers be allowed to visit the areas of unrest. "We may then perhaps provide a list to the government and ask for specific releases" of people detained, Zeid said. "This requires more attention."

The human rights chief also expressed concern about anti-terrorism laws in Ethiopia, saying that "an excessively broad definition of terrorism may be misused against journalists, bloggers and members of opposition parties."

Earlier Thursday, Zeid addressed the crisis in neighboring South Sudan, saying up to 50,000 civilians in the country's Upper Nile region are at imminent risk of human rights violations as government troops close in.

Many civilians in Aburoc town, some of whom recently fled a military attack on nearby Kodok town, are ethnic Shilluk and have faced a sharp rise in government attacks as South Sudan's civil war continues.

Zeid said military commanders on both sides show little regard for protecting civilians.

Separately, the U.N. humanitarian affairs agency said roughly 100,000 civilians have been displaced after a South Sudan government offensive in the Jonglei region.

Army spokesman Santo Domic Chol did not comment on fighting in either location but said government attacks on civilians "didn't make sense" because civilians are not armed.

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Associated Press writer Justin Lynch in Nairobi, Kenya contributed.
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump is criticizing former President Barack Obama's national security adviser for declining to testify at a Senate hearing on Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Trump tweeted Thursday that it is "not good" that Susan Rice is choosing not to attend.

Rice's attorney has written to say Rice will not appear before a Senate subcommittee next week with two other former Obama administration officials.

Trump argues that Rice may have committed a crime when she asked intelligence analysts to disclose the name of a Trump associate mentioned in an intelligence report. Rice has said she did nothing improper.
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. (AP) - Authorities say a Georgia police officer shot and killed a man they say fired a shotgun in officers' direction.

In a statement, Peachtree City police say officers were responding Wednesday afternoon to a report of a father and son fighting at a home in the city south of Atlanta.

Police say they arrived to find 67-year-old William Dean armed with a shotgun in the driveway.

Police said Dean fired the shotgun in the direction of the officers, and Sgt. James Harris then shot him with his police rifle, killing him.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is reviewing the circumstances of the shooting. Authorities did not specify the race of Dean or the officers.
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - Romania's constitutional court on Thursday upheld a law preventing people with convictions from serving as ministers, a victory for the country's anti-corruption fight.

The ruling deals a blow to the powerful chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea, who cannot be prime minister due to a conviction last year for vote rigging.

Dragnea has called the law unfair and many Social Democrats want him to be prime minister. The court had postponed making a ruling four times.

A man holds a poster that reads "Without Corruption" during a protest in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, May 3, 2017. Over one thousand people have gathered outside the government offices shortly after a parliamentary legal committee approved a draft that would grant an amnesty to people convicted of bribery and influence peddling, months after massive anti-graft protests.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

The law, introduced in 2001 as Romania prepared for membership of NATO and the European Union, bars people with convictions from serving as ministers. Dragnea could still run for president as the law does not cover that post.

In January, Romania's ombudsman asked the court to declare it unconstitutional.

In a related development, Senators who are members of a parliamentary legal committee voted Thursday to scrap a draft law they had approved the previous day that would have granted amnesty to people convicted of bribery and influence peddling.

More than 1,000 protested the vote Wednesday evening in Bucharest, joined by hundreds more in cities around Romania.

A Romanian riot policeman speaks to a colleague while preventing protesters from advancing on the government headquarters during a protest in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, May 3, 2017. Over one thousand people have gathered outside the government offices shortly after a parliamentary legal committee approved a draft that would grant an amnesty to people convicted of bribery and influence peddling, months after massive anti-graft protests.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) - The Latest on the flow of migrants into Europe (all times local):

3:35 p.m.

A German court has ruled that a Syrian man who fled to avoid military service isn't entitled to full refugee status.

FILE - In this Aug. 27, 2015 file photo police walk near a truck that stands on the shoulder of the highway A4 near Parndorf south of Vienna, Austria. Hungarian prosecutors say 11 men have been indicted in the case of the deaths of 71 migrants who suffocated to death in the back of a refrigerated truck in 2015. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)

The 20-year-old, whose name wasn't released, fled to Germany in 2014 after being ordered to start serving in the Syrian army the following spring. He was granted "subsidiary protection," a status short of formal asylum that doesn't allow recipients to bring relatives to join them for two years.

The man sued for full refugee status, which he was granted by a Duesseldorf court, but the German government appealed. North Rhine-Westphalia state's top administrative court on Thursday overturned the earlier verdict.

The court found no evidence that "returning asylum-seekers are viewed as political opponents and persecuted by the Syrian state because of the fact they avoided military service by fleeing."

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3:25 p.m.

Hungarian prosecutors say 11 men have been indicted in the case of the deaths of 71 migrants who suffocated in the back of a refrigerated truck in 2015.

Prosecutors in Bacs-Kiskun County said Thursday that the group includes men from Afghanistan, Bulgaria and Lebanon who allegedly smuggled some 1,200 people from the Hungary-Serbia border to Western Europe in 2015.

Migrants from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan were among the victims found in the back of a refrigerated truck with Hungarian license plates abandoned in the emergency lane of the A4 highway near Parndorf, Austria, not far from the Hungarian border, on Aug. 27, 2015.

Charges against the defendants include human smuggling, while the four people accused of involvement in the deaths also face charges of homicide committed with particular cruelty.
GENEVA (AP) - The family of famed Swiss climber Ueli Steck has held a funeral ceremony in Nepal following his death in a still-unexplained mountaineering accident near Mount Everest.

Steck spokesman Andreas Bantel announced that the family plans to take some of his ashes to Switzerland after Buddhist monks from the Tengboche Monastery lead a cremation ceremony Thursday.

Providing new details prior to Steck's death Sunday, Bantel said the 40-year-old originally planned to scale Everest's South Col a day after arriving at Camp 2 base camp. Instead, he opted to try Mount Nuptse after noting the "ideal" conditions there.

FILE - In this Sept. 11, 2015 file photo Swiss climber Ueli Steck poses for a photo at the foot of a climbing wall in Wilderswil, Canton of Berne, Switzerland. Expedition organizers say famed Swiss climber Ueli Steck was killed in a mountaineering accident near Mount Everest in Nepal. (Christian Beutler/Keystone via AP)

Steck entered the Lhotse flank but at around 7,600 meters (24,930 feet) hit trouble. Italian helicopter pilot Maurizio Folini recovered his body about 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) lower.

Local expedition leaders originally said Steck died at Camp 1.

FILE - In this Sept. 11, 2015 file photo Swiss climber Ueli Steck poses for a photo at the foot of a climbing wall in Wilderswil, Canton of Berne, Switzerland. Expedition organizers say famed Swiss climber Ueli Steck was killed in a mountaineering accident near Mount Everest in Nepal. (Christian Beutler/Keystone via AP)

The body of famed Swiss climber Ueli Steck lies on the ground after being transported in a helicopter at Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, April 30, 2017. 40-year-old Steck, one of the most-renowned mountaineers of his generation, was killed Sunday in a mountaineering accident near Mount Everest in Nepal, expedition organizers said. He was best known for his speed-climbing, including setting several records for ascending the north face of the Eiger, a classic mountaineering peak in the Bernese Alps that he climbed in two hours and 47 minutes without using a rope. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)
ROSEVILLE, Mich. (AP) - A 29-year-old Detroit-area dog owner has been charged after his pit bull mauled his mother and her boyfriend.

The Macomb County prosecutor's office says Robert Laughton has been charged with two counts of owning a dangerous animal causing serious injury.

Authorities say 52-year-old Suzette Laughton and 51-year-old Michael Mager were attacked Sunday night in a Roseville home after the mother released the dog from a crate.

Mager suffered a severed artery, wounds to his arms and lost the tops of both ears.

Police used a stun gun on the dog. It was euthanized Monday.

The dog attacked Suzette Laughton April 19. Her son was ticketed after that attack.

Robert Laughton has told The Detroit News that he wasn't home Sunday when the dog attacked and that it wasn't his fault.
BAYONNE, N.J. (AP) - Forty-two years after he stepped into the ring against Muhammad Ali as a 40-to-1 underdog, Chuck Wepner's business card still has a picture of the moment when he knocked down the champ.

For the New Jersey boxer, it gave him brief hope that he could win. For Ali, it led him to start fighting with a vengeance, eventually taking an exhausted Wepner out with 19 seconds left in the 15th and final round.

For Sylvester Stallone, the overmatched underdog's fight was a moment of needed inspiration while writing the script for "Rocky."

In this combination photo, Liev Schreiber, left, portrays boxer Chuck Wepner in a scene from the film, "Chuck," and Chuck Wepner appears during a workout at his home in Bayonne, N.J. on Jan. 21, 1975. The film will open in limited release on Friday. (AP Photo/Sarah Shatz/IFC Films, left, and Ray Stubblebin)

Stallone became a superstar and Rocky Balboa became an iconic character. Wepner reeled off a few more wins and continued his day job as a liquor salesman, while living a hard-partying lifestyle that led to prison.

Wepner's life story has now arrived on the big screen with Liev Schreiber playing the Bayonne Bleeder in "Chuck," which opens on Friday in New York and Los Angeles before expanding nationwide starting next week.

"Everyone says to me, 'Oh, Chuck, finally you got your due,'" the 78-year-old Wepner said from his living room in Bayonne, the working-class town across the harbor from New York where he grew up.

"You know what, I've been living large for 42 years. I fought Ali in '75, I went 15 rounds, I had him down, and then they made the movie 'Rocky.' I was the inspiration. I haven't been waiting around."

Wepner and Balboa's story share similarities - low-level working class fighters getting a shot at the champ. But while Rocky went on to beat the Ali-like Apollo Creed in their "Rocky II" rematch, Wepner turned to a life of partying and cocaine. He pleaded guilty to drug charges in 1987 and served two years of a 10-year sentence.

Like Rocky's fight with Hulk Hogan's Thunderlips character in "Rocky III," Wepner was thrown out of the ring by wrestling legend Andre the Giant at Shea Stadium in New York in 1976. Unlike Rocky, Wepner also fought a bear.

Wepner sued Stallone in 2003, arguing that he improperly used his name to promote the "Rocky" films. Stallone responded that Wepner benefited by making public appearances as "the real Rocky," but later settled. A spokeswoman for Stallone said he wasn't giving interviews ahead of the film.

Schreiber said that it's hard to look at some of the parallels between Rocky Balboa and Wepner and not think that Stallone was inspired by Wepner's life.

"But I also know from talking to Sylvester Stallone that he thought the fighter was an amalgamation of several fighters," Schreiber said, "and that probably the biggest inspiration to him was sort of his own battles as an artist, that was really the inspiration for the character."

Schreiber, who said he was drawn to Wepner's life as a cautionary tale of fame and celebrity, said that storytellers often exploit real people to create their narratives.

"And I think that's OK," he said. "I think that's the nature of art and storytelling. Some stories stay very close to the truth ... but I think we should also feel the license to expand on some things and express ourselves as fits the person that's creating the story."

"Chuck" also stars "Mad Men's" Elisabeth Moss as Wepner's second wife and Naomi Watts as his third wife, Linda. It was Linda who helped Wepner get his life together after he was released from prison and later convinced him to sue.

While Wepner admits he did a bad job auditioning after a night of partying when Stallone tried to give him a part as his sparring partner in "Rocky II," the last straw was not being considered for a part in the Stallone and Robert De Niro film "Cop Land," which filmed near Bayonne.

"I sued for $15 million, fuhgeddaboudit, I didn't get a minute percentage of that," Wepner said. "Stallone and I are friends now. We had to go to court. That was just business. I love Sylvester, I think he's great. I think his moves are great."

"Chuck" director Philippe Falardeau said that while there are similarities between Wepner and Rocky, Stallone's character was "much more low-key, much more insecure. Chuck Wepner has no insecurities. He's so confident."

Falardeau said that Stallone gave the filmmakers his OK. Just as important, Falardeau says: As the movie ends with Schreiber's Wepner and Watts' Linda walking down the boardwalk, he stops for a Polaroid photo in front of a Rocky statue outside of a Planet Hollywood.

Falardeau said Stallone lent the statue to the filmmakers from his personal collection.

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Contact Cornfield at https://www.twitter.com/JoshCornfield

In a photo taken Wednesday, April 26, 2017, former boxer Chuck Wepner poses for The Associated Press in his home in Bayonne, N.J. Wepner, the Bayonne Bleeder, went toe-to-toe with Muhammad Ali in a fight that inspired Sylvester Stallone to write "Rocky." Stallone later settled a lawsuit Wepner filed against him. Wepner's life story has now arrived on the big screen with Liev Schreiber playing the Bayonne Bleeder in "Chuck," which opens on Friday, May 5, 2017, in New York and Los Angeles before expanding nationwide. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

FILE - In this March 24, 1975, file photo, defending heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali goes down in the ninth round of the title bout against challenger Chuck Wepner, from Bayonne, N.J., at the Richfield Coliseum in Cleveland. After Ali tripped over Wepner's foot, the referee ruled it as a knockdown, but Ali was awarded a technical knockout in the 15th round to retain his title. Wepner's real-life story is coming to the big screen, with Liev Schreiber playing Wepner in "Chuck," which opens on Friday, May 5, 2017, in New York and Los Angeles before expanding nationwide. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - In this March 24, 1975, file photo, defending heavyweight champion Ali Muhammad and challenger Chuck Wepner trade blows before Ali was awarded a technical knockout in the 15th round to retain his title, at the Richfield Coliseum in Cleveland. Wepner's real-life story is coming to the big screen, with Liev Schreiber playing Wepner in "Chuck," which opens on Friday, May 5, 2017, in New York and Los Angeles before expanding nationwide. (AP Photo/Doug Pizac, File)

In a photo taken Wednesday, April 26, 2017, former boxer Chuck Wepner talks to The Associated Press in his home in Bayonne, N.J. Forty-two years after he stepped into the ring against Muhammad Ali as a 40-to-1 underdog, Wepner's business card still has a picture of the moment when he knocked down the champ. Wepner's life story has now arrived on the big screen with Liev Schreiber playing the Bayonne Bleeder in "Chuck," which opens on Friday, May 5, 2017, in New York and Los Angeles before expanding nationwide. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

In a photo taken Wednesday, April 26, 2017, former boxer Chuck Wepner talks to The Associated Press in his home in Bayonne, N.J. Wepner, the Bayonne Bleeder, went toe-to-toe with Muhammad Ali in a fight that inspired Sylvester Stallone to write "Rocky." Stallone later settled a lawsuit Wepner filed against him. Wepner's real-life story is coming to the big screen and this time he's getting all the credit, with Liev Schreiber playing Wepner in "Chuck," which opens on Friday, May 5, 2017, in New York and Los Angeles before expanding nationwide, (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
VATICAN CITY (AP) - Oh, to be a fly on the wall.

When Pope Francis meets with President Donald Trump at the Vatican at the end of this month, the world will be watching how the Argentine "slum pope" interacts with the brash, New York billionaire-turned-president.

On many issues and priorities, the two men couldn't be more different. Francis wants bridges between nations, not the walls Trump is building. Francis brought back a dozen Muslim Syrian refugees with him when he went to Greece last year, while Trump has tried to impose a travel ban on people from a half-dozen mostly Muslim nations.

FILE - In this Thursday, March 27, 2014 file photo, Pope Francis and President Barack Obama smile as they meet at the Vatican. When Pope Francis meets with President Donald Trump at the Vatican May 24, the world will be watching how the Argentine "slum pope" interacts with the brash, New York billionaire-turned-president. (AP Photo/Gabriel Bouys, Pool)

The pope sleeps in a two-room hotel suite. Trump lived in a skyscraper with his name on it before being elected.

Francis wants to end the use of fossil fuels, while Trump has pledged to cancel payments to U.N. climate change programs and pull out of the Paris climate accord. U.S. bishops have praised the Trump administration for its anti-abortion stance, but have opposed Republican health care plans because of their impact on the poor.

Those issues and more are likely on the table when Trump arrives May 24 at the Apostolic Palace in Rome for the 8:30 a.m. audience that was announced Thursday.

Despite their obvious differences, Trump and Francis share a populist bent. Both were elected on reform mandates and speak with a simplicity that has endeared them to their bases. And both share a common concern about the plight of Christians in the Middle East at the hands of Islamic militants.

"They're both populists, but populists of a different kind," said Mathew Schmalz, associate professor of religious studies at The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. While agreeing they are both concerned about Islamic extremism, he said they differ in approaches and vision.

"I'm not sure the Vatican at this stage wants to play along with the role envisioned by ... Catholic advisers of Donald Trump, who want to resurrect the imagery of a civilizational conflict between Christianity and Islam," he said.

Yet in announcing his first foreign trip itinerary Thursday, which includes stops in Saudi Arabia and Israel, Trump said he chose Saudi Arabia as his first stop precisely because it's the home of two of the holiest sites in Islam. He said he wanted to "begin to construct a new foundation of cooperation and support with our Muslim allies to combat extremism, terrorism and violence and to embrace a more just and hopeful future for young Muslims in their countries."

The thrice-married Trump was raised as a Presbyterian and described himself as a "religious person" during his campaign, but often struggled to affirm his Christian credentials as he wooed the Evangelical voters who helped elect him.

Francis hasn't commented on Trump's presidency other than to say, on the day of his inauguration, that he'd take a wait-and-see approach. But Francis has railed against the "false forms of security" promised by populist leaders who want to wall themselves off and has called for world leaders to seek a future of greater solidarity.

The two got off to a rocky start when, during the U.S. presidential campaign, Francis said anyone who wants to build a wall to keep out foreigners is "not Christian." Trump, who campaigned on plans to build a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico, shot back, saying it was "disgraceful" for a religious leader to question someone's faith.

More recently, Francis has urged the U.S. and North Korea to step away from the brink and use negotiations and diplomacy to defuse tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Francis also wrote an entire encyclical about the environment and the moral imperative to save God's creation, denouncing how the wealthy had destroyed the Earth at the expense of the poor. At the end of the audience, he will most certainly hand over a copy of "Praise Be" to Trump, who has sought to get rid of regulations he feels are burdensome to business.

Dennis Doyle, a professor of religious studies at the University of Dayton, said both men are seen by their supporters as having an authenticity that shakes up the status quo. But beyond that, there's not much in common, he said.

"I really don't see a lot of middle ground here," he said.

The Vatican and the White House have often had different views over the years. During the previous two papacies, divisive issues like abortion and homosexuality often defined relations between the White House and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops - which then carried over to U.S.-Holy See relations.

But the two always found ways to collaborate, promoting initiatives to fight human trafficking and working to bridge the U.S. detente with Cuba.

U.S. bishops did strongly challenge the Obama administration's health care mandate requiring insurance coverage for birth control. Trump on Thursday signed an executive order promising "regulatory relief" for groups with religious objections to the requirement.

___

This story has been corrected to show that the meeting is at the end of this month, not next month.

FILE - In this Thursday, March 27, 2014 file photo, U.S. President Barack Obama, left, reacts as he meets with Pope Francis, center, during their exchange of gifts at the Vatican. When Pope Francis meets with President Donald Trump at the Vatican May 24, the world will be watching how the Argentine "slum pope" interacts with the brash, New York billionaire-turned-president. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

FILE - In this Thursday, March 27, 2014 file photo, US President Barack Obama meets with Pope Francis at the Vatican. When Pope Francis meets with President Donald Trump at the Vatican May 24, the world will be watching how the Argentine "slum pope" interacts with the brash, New York billionaire-turned-president. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

FILE - In this Friday, June 13, 2008 file photo, President Bush, right, sits with Pope Benedict XVI in the Lourdes Grotto at the Vatican. When Pope Francis meets with President Donald Trump at the Vatican May 24, the world will be watching how the Argentine "slum pope" interacts with the brash, New York billionaire-turned-president. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Firefighters were called to rescue riders from an Oklahoma City amusement park roller coaster after it got stuck on the tracks.

On Thursday, around 11:30am, emergency crews were called to Frontier City after the popular ride, the Silver Bullet, became stuck.

A total of 19 people were left waiting 83 feet in the air until emergency crews could reach them and bring them safely back down.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

Emergency crews were called to Frontier City amusement park in Oklahoma City on Thursday after a roller coaster trapped 19 riders (Riders pictured waiting to be rescued)

The Silver Bullet roller coaster's emergency breaks suddenly kicked in, leaving riders sitting 83 feet up in the air

Due to the position of the train, the back half of the cars - containing seven people - were able to be evacuated by park personnel.

There were 12 other riders that had to be rescued in an operation that took an hour and 40 minutes.

The Oklahoma City Fire Department tweeted about its emergency response shortly before noon.

Oklahoma City Fire Lt Ray Lujan told Daily Mail Online that crews - with expertise in knot-tying and working at heights and tough angles - ascended to a peak of 83 feet high to help remove park guests.

Video shows riders slowly being helped down a catwalk to get down from a peak on the thrill ride.

Winds were blowing about 15 mph during the rescue and live TV coverage showed flags attached to the coaster tracks whipping in the wind and some riders waving at TV cameras.

Park personnel were able to evacuate the rear seven passengers, but the front 12 were left sitting for an hour and 40 minutes before crews could get them down (Firefighters seen evacuating riders)

This is the second time in less than a year that firefighters have been called to Frontier City after the same roller coaster was stuck 100 feet in the air with eight riders aboard (Crews seen rescuing riders)

There have been no reports of injuries.

'We believe that the emergency brakes engaged and that's why the ride got stuck but we're still investigating the cause behind it,' Lt Lujan said.

'When you're dealing with unusual circumstances like this, safety is always paramount - our safety and the other people's safety.'

This is the second time in 10 months that firefighters have been called to the same park for the same ride.

In June 2016, about eight passengers were stranded, most of whom were children between the ages of seven and 15 plus one adult, when the ride abruptly stopped around 4:30pm.

Crews estimated they were 100 feet above ground, stuck at the 'very top' of the ride.

Passengers were provided with water to stay hydrated in the heat before they were rescued around 5:15pm.
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - Colombia's government is blaming a dissident rebel group for the kidnapping of a United Nations employee that is marring a visit by the U.N. Security Council to the South American nation.

A top aide to President Juan Manuel Santos says that the Colombian national was working on a crop substitution project in the southern state of Guaviare when he was taken captive late Wednesday. Rodrigo Pardo said the captors are a unit of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia who refused to lay down their weapons as part of a peace deal last year.

Santos met Thursday with ambassadors to the U.N. Security Council who are in the country to demonstrate their commitment to the peace deal being implemented under the supervision of 450 U.N. observers.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Pitching religious free expression, President Donald Trump accused the former Obama administration Thursday of banning patients at a military hospital from receiving religious items from visitors. That episode is not quite as the president described it.

Here's what he said and what happened more than five years ago at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland:

TRUMP, citing lawsuits against the Obama administration alleging violations of religious freedom: "The abuses were all over. As just one example, people were forbidden from giving or receiving religious items at a military hospital where our brave service members were being treated, and when they wanted those religious items. These were great, great people. These are great soldiers. They wanted those items. They were precluded from getting them."

President Donald Trump speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Thursday, May 4, 2017, before he signed an executive order aimed at easing an IRS rule limiting political activity for churches. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

THE FACTS: The policy, in 2011, was a bungled rule that was never enforced, Walter Reed officials said at the time. So it's unlikely that patients who wanted a Bible or religious item from a visiting family member or friend were denied.

The policy was meant to stop benevolent organizations from bothering patients by proselytizing to them, after complaints surfaced that visitors from some groups were persistent and occasionally even threatening. But it was written too broadly, stating no religious items could be given away or used during a visit.

"Due to the wording of that policy, religious groups interpreted the policy to be an outright ban on visitation and distribution of religious items," Pentagon spokesman Johnny Michael told The Associated Press on Thursday. "The policy was subsequently rewritten to eliminate ambiguity."

Even before that happened, families were allowed to bring religious materials, and no religious groups were refused entrance, Walter Reed officials said in a 2011 statement.

Bibles and other religious materials are on hand at the hospital, and worship services and religious studies are offered for the various faiths, they said. At admission, they said, "all patients are asked for their religious preference and a chaplain associated with their preference visits them regularly to provide spiritual services."

"Family members have been and will always be allowed to bring religious materials and texts," Walter Reed officials said January 2012, the month the policy was clarified.

___

Find all AP Fact Checks at http://apne.ws/2kbx8bd
The Duke of Edinburghs decision to step down from public duties has been met with tributes praising his contribution to national life  and a light-hearted quip from Philip himself.

The Queens consort will retire from royal engagements in the autumn after more than 65 years supporting the Queen in her role as head of state and attending events for his own charities and organisations.

Despite being 95, Philips decision  which is fully supported by the Queen and is not medically related  came as a surprise as he still has a busy official diary and appears to relish meeting the public.

The Duke of Edinburgh (Victoria Jones/PA)

PM: I want to offer our deepest gratitude and good wishes to the Duke of Edinburgh following todays announcement. https://t.co/BqtttVumOy  UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) May 4, 2017

Prime Minister Theresa May led the tributes to the Queens consort, saying he has given the monarch steadfast support, while Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the Dukes clear sense of public duty had inspired people for more than 60 years.

In a statement issued by Downing Street, Mrs May said: From his steadfast support for Her Majesty the Queen to his inspirational Duke of Edinburgh Awards and his patronage of hundreds of charities and good causes, his contribution to our United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and the wider world will be of huge benefit to us all for years to come.

An announcement regarding The Duke of Edinburgh. https://t.co/SF1bgo68Un pic.twitter.com/TO9mR70xTk  The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 4, 2017

A royal aide said of the Duke: Hes looking forward to enjoying more of his leisure time.

Philip saw the funny side of the announcement when he met mathematician Sir Michael Atiyah at a reception for members of the Order of Merit at St Jamess Palace.

Not retiring immediately: Duke of Edinburgh joins Queen, Davids Attenborough and Hockey, Betty Boothroyd & others at Order of Merit service pic.twitter.com/2Ms6SCuWNi  David Wilcock (@DavidTWilcock) May 4, 2017

When Sir Michael, who is 88, said to him: Im sorry to hear youre standing down, the Duke joked: Well I cant stand up much longer.

The Queens public schedule will continue as normal but it is understood other members of the Royal Family will step up in support of the monarch.

Since 1952, The Duke of Edinburgh has carried out 22,191 solo engagements. Find out more about His Royal Highness > https://t.co/jEYKpTzkZg pic.twitter.com/DC8yfGELcz  The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 4, 2017

The royal aide added: This is not a decision taken for medical reasons. The Duke decided this is the right time; hes nearly 96 and most people will have retired 30 years earlier.

It is understood the Duke had been thinking about stepping down from public duties over the past few months and took the decision to make the announcement now as his diary for the autumn would have been finalised during this period.

The Duke of Edinburgh is Patron, President or a member of over 780 organisations, with which he will continue to be associated. pic.twitter.com/lH2zsYKXsp  The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 4, 2017

But Buckingham Palace stressed he may decide to attend certain events from time to time.

Philip is famed for his quips and outspoken remarks that amuse and offend in equal measure but he also has a passionate interest in engineering and design, has written 14 books, many on a wildlife subject matter, including Birds From Britannia, and is a qualified pilot who speaks several languages.

 HRH The Duke of Edinburgh officially opened the new Warner Stand today! #LoveLords pic.twitter.com/kZBeiu4lv1  Lord's Cricket Ground (@HomeOfCricket) May 3, 2017

When he opened the new Warner stand at Lords cricket ground on Wednesday, the Duke joked just before he pulled a cord to expose a monument to his visit: Youre about to see the worlds most experienced plaque-unveiler.
Fake news and alleged hacking attempts have dominated Frances tense presidential campaign.

Just two days remain for independent Emmanuel Macron and his far-right rival Marine Le Pen to win over voters before Sundays high-stakes run-off.

French presidential election opinion poll

Paris prosecutors have launched a preliminary investigation into whether fake news is being used to influence the voting as the two candidates campaigned in opposite parts of the country.

The move came hours after Mr Macron filed a suit against unknown source X after Ms Le Pen suggested during their only one-on-one debate on Wednesday night that the former banker could have an offshore account.

I hope we wont find out you have an offshore account in the Bahamas, Ms Le Pen said.

Marine Le Pen, left, and Emmanuel Macron, right

She appeared to be referring to two sets of apparent forgeries, published just hours before their heated showdown, that purported to show Mr Macron was somehow involved with a Caribbean bank and a firm based on the island of Nevis.

Mr Macrons camp said the former investment banker was the victim of a cyber-misinformation campaign.

(Michel Spingler/AP/PA)

Speaking on France Inter radio, Mr Macron blamed Ms Le Pen for spreading fake news and said he never held a bank account in any tax haven whatsoever.

All this is factually inaccurate, Mr Macron said.

On the campaign trail, Mr Macron visited disgruntled workers at a glass factory in Albi, near the southern city of Toulouse.

Emmanuel Macron visits a glass making company

Mr Macron arrived to booing and slogan-shouting from dozens of protesting workers.

But after 15 minutes of talking, the 39-year-old front-runner managed to calm some of their anger.

Union leader Michel Parraud called Mr Macron very kind and very polite, although he said he did not think the pro-business centrist would do much for factory workers.

Ms Le Pen, who spent Thursday in a small northern French village, quickly backed away from the suggestion Mr Macron might have an offshore account but prosecutors soon launched a probe into suspicions of forgery and the spreading of false news in order to divert votes.

In the alleged documents, the M in Mr Macrons purported signature did not match his genuine sign-off, and whoever wrote the documents appeared confused as to whether the firm was a limited company or a limited liability corporation.

Metadata embedded in the document suggest it was created just before being posted online  undermining the anonymous posters claim to have circulated the documents to hundreds of French journalists who had all sat on this.

Asked on Thursday on BFM TV whether she was formally accusing Mr Macron of having a secret offshore account, Ms Le Pen said: Not at all. If I wanted to do so I would have done it yesterday. Ive just asked him the question. If I had proof, I would have claimed it yesterday.
President Donald Trump has said his first foreign trip as president will include stops in Saudi Arabia and Israel as well as the Vatican, where he will meet Pope Francis.

He also plans to move on for visits to Nato and a summit in Italy.

Donald Trump

Mr Trump said in a White House ceremony with faith leaders that his first trip will start in Saudi Arabia and include meetings with leaders across the Muslim world.

He said they will seek new cooperation to combat extremism, terrorism and violence and promote a more hopeful future for young Muslims.

The announcement follows Mr Trumps meeting on Wednesday with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and the US presidents pledge to mediate peace efforts.

(Evan Vucci/AP/PA)

He also met Roman Catholic cardinals.

The White House said previously that Mr Trump would travel to Belgium and Italy for the G7 summit before Memorial Day.
A man arriving in the UK on a flight from Turkey has been arrested on suspicion of terror-related crime.

The 30-year-old was detained by the Metropolitan Polices counter-terror squad as he stepped off the plane, from Istanbul to Heathrow, on Thursday evening.

Man arrested by Counter Terrorism Command officers https://t.co/Gu6x9i5dxx pic.twitter.com/vQJP1FFus6  Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) May 4, 2017

A Scotland Yard spokesman said the man had been arrested on suspicion of preparing for terrorist acts and terrorist training.

A man is handcuffed by police

The suspect remains in custody at a south London police station, while officers search a property in the east of the capital.
Gemma Bonners late header salvaged a point against Arsenal Ladies as Liverpool Ladies almost let a 3-1 lead turn into a 4-3 defeat.

Bonners 84th-minute equaliser scrambled a 4-4 draw for the visitors, who sit top of the Womens Super League 1 table but can now be toppled if rivals win games in hand.

FULL-TIME: Gemma Bonner's late header secures a 4-4 draw for @LFCladies away at @ArsenalLadies!  pic.twitter.com/rJbe2LUXeb  Liverpool FC Women (@LiverpoolFCW) May 4, 2017

Alex Greenwood, Natasha Harding and Caroline Weir found the net to put Liverpool in control at 3-1, with Chloe Kelly having registered for the hosts.

Gemma Bonner

But then Danielle Carter struck twice in six minutes to turn the tie on its head, leaving the scores locked at 3-3 on the hour.

There goes the final whistle!



Eight goals, but nothing to separate the two sides this evening



 4-4 (FT) pic.twitter.com/zeoiFcXa7d  Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) May 4, 2017

And when Jordan Nobbs fired Arsenals fourth goal, the home side thought they were heading for a valiant turnaround victory.

Bonners header six minutes from time sunk Arsenals hopes of the win however, to cap a breathless second-half.
By Claire Milhench

LONDON, May 3 (Reuters) - The start of a London trial brought by Libya's $67 billion sovereign wealth fund against French investment bank Societe Generale has been adjourned for a second day, a spokesperson for the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) said.

No reason was given for the delay and neither side would comment on the possibility of an out-of-court settlement.

The case, which had been expected to run until the end of July, was due to focus on five trades totalling $2.1 billion, executed between 2007 and 2009, before Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was ousted as Libyan leader.

Last summer the LIA lost a high-profile case against Goldman Sachs in which it tried to claw back $1.2 billion from the Wall Street firm in relation to nine equity derivatives investments carried out in 2008.

(Reporting by Claire Milhench; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
By Timothy Gardner

NORFOLK, Va., May 3 (Reuters) - Climate change poses a global security threat that all countries must fight together, a NATO general said on Wednesday, as U.S. President Donald Trump nears a decision on whether to pull out of the Paris climate deal.

The comments were the strongest yet from the U.S.-European military alliance about the importance of upholding the Paris accord. They come amid lingering tensions between the leadership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Trump, who at one point called NATO "obsolete".

"There is a huge necessity that the U.N. continues to involve all nations and coordinate the action of all nations," to fight climate change, General Denis Mercier, NATO's supreme allied commander for transformation, told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Norfolk, Virginia.

"If one nation, especially the biggest nation ... if they do not recognize a problem, then we will have trouble dealing with the causes," of climate change, said Mercier.

Though he did not single out any country by name, the United States is the world's biggest economy and the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China.

Trump, a Republican, is weighing whether the United States should stay in the Paris climate agreement, a deal struck by nearly 200 countries in 2015 to limit global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and to provide funds to poor countries dealing with the effects of climate change.

Trump has complained that the United States was treated unfairly in the agreement because it would pay more than other countries to fight global warming. He is expected to decide in the next week or two on whether the country will leave the pact, or stay in with reduced commitments.

His Democratic predecessor, former President Barack Obama, had pledged a 26 percent to 28 percent cut in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels, by 2025.

NATO's duty when it comes to climate change is to try to predict its impacts on geopolitical stability, said Mercier, who is French. He said risks include rising seas, water scarcity and the opening of access to resources in the Arctic - all of which he said are likely to bring about new conflicts that could involve the 28 NATO countries.

A global effort to stem climate change could help the world avoid some of these crises and conflicts, he said.

"Its not too late, but it is time," he added.

Norfolk, home to the world's largest naval base, already faces severe risks from rising sea levels. The main road to U.S. Naval Station Norfolk has experienced chronic flooding, and electric and water utilities supporting the base are threatened every time the waters rise.

"In some circles many public policy makers do not want to use (the words) global warming or climate change, but the reality is we are experiencing it, Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Alexander told reporters on the sidelines of the conference.

U.S. greenhouse gas emissions have fallen recently due to a switch from coal to natural gas and renewables in generating electricity. But many climate experts fear that if Washington leaves the Paris accord, or adjusts down its commitments, other countries could follow suit and global emissions could surge.

Many companies including ExxonMobil Corp, Microsoft Corp, and Arch Coal Inc, have urged the United States to stay in the Paris agreement, in part to retain their global competitiveness. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner; editing by Richard Valdmanis and Tom Brown)
ANKARA, May 3 (Reuters) - An explosion in a coal mine in northern Iran on Wednesday killed at least 21 workers and injured 69 others, state media reported.

"Twenty-one bodies of workers who were killed in the explosion have been taken out of the mine ...So far there have been 69 injured," a regional official in Golestan province told the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

The blast occurred at 12:45 p.m. local time (0815 GMT) in the Zemestanyurt coal mine in Golestan. (Writing by Parisa Hafezi; editing by Mark Heinrich)
By Brendan Pierson

NEW YORK, May 3 (Reuters) - A former Guinea government minister was convicted on Wednesday of laundering $8.5 million in bribes that U.S. prosecutors say he took in exchange for helping a Chinese conglomerate secure mining rights.

Jurors in federal court in Manhattan convicted Mahmoud Thiam, 50, of one count of money laundering and one count of engaging in transactions in property with a criminal source.

The case is one of several corruption cases around the world tied to Guinea's mining sector.

Aaron Goldsmith, Thiam's lawyer, said he would move to overturn the conviction.

"We are deeply disappointed," he said, adding that Thiam maintains his innocence.

Thiam, a U.S. citizen, testified during the trial that he returned to his native Guinea in 2009 to serve as minister of mines after working for years as an investment banker in New York.

Prosecutors sought to prove that Thiam took bribes from Chinese tycoon Sam Pa, and that in exchange Thiam helped secure lucrative mining rights in Guinea for a joint venture of the China International Fund and China Sonangol, closely tied to Pa.

The prosecutors presented bank records showing that Thiam opened a bank account in Hong Kong to receive the money and later wired it to the United States. They said he used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle, including a mansion north of New York City and private schools for his children.

Thiam admitted on the witness stand that he had taken money from Pa, but said it was a personal loan. He said there was no written agreement, interest or due date for the loan, and that he never repaid it.

Thiam also admitted that he lied repeatedly to banks about the source of the money and concealed the fact that he was a government minister in Guinea.

Nonetheless, Thiam said he never abused his position as a government official in exchange for the money.

"While there was a lot of evidence brought in about bank records and transactions, the root of the case lies in whether or not there was a bribery, for which there was absolutely zero evidence," Goldsmith, Thiam's lawyer, told reporters after the verdict.

Thiam is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 11 by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote. (Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Leslie Adler)
SHANGHAI, May 4 (Reuters) - Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang discussed China-U.S. economic ties on the phone with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Wednesday, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The three "exchanged ideas on enhancing the comprehensive economic cooperation between the two countries," Xinhua said in a report late on Wednesday.

It described Wang as the Chinese official in charge of the China-U.S. comprehensive economic dialogue, but gave no further details.

Despite harsh rhetoric about China on the campaign trail, U.S. President Donald Trump has recently had warm words for his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, praising him for trying to rein in nuclear-armed North Korea.

Trump has also backtracked on his pledges as a candidate to label China a 'currency manipulator' and impose steep tariffs on Chinese imports. (Reporting by John Ruwitch; Editing by Richard Pullin)
BUCHAREST, May 4 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Romanian financial markets on Thursday.

DEBT TENDER

Romanian debt managers tender 400 million lei ($95.86 million) worth of April 2024 treasury bonds.

BRD

Romanian lender BRD Groupe Societe Generale to release first-quarter earnings.

CEE CURRENCIES

The Czech crown is seen gaining more than 4 percent against the euro in the coming year, lifted by economic growth and likely monetary tightening and shrugging off political uncertainty, a Reuters poll found.

Elsewhere in central Europe, where economies are expected to grow 3-4 percent this year and next, the Romanian leu is expected to gain 1.6 percent and the Hungarian forint 0.7 percent in the next 12 months.

CENTRAL BANK VACANCY

Romania's opposition Liberal Party proposed lawmaker Eugen Nicolaescu to fill a central bank deputy governor position left vacant last year, private television station Digi24 said on Wednesday.

BREXIT

Britain's intention in negotiations over the post-Brexit status of European Union nationals already living in the United Kingdom is to give them very similar rights to those they enjoy now, Brexit minister David Davis said on Wednesday.

CEE MARKETS

The Czech crown regained ground on Wednesday, a day after Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka announced that he would resign along with his government, while other currencies in the region were also steady or slightly firmer.

CORRUPTION

Hundreds of Romanians rallied outside government headquarters in Bucharest late on Wednesday to protest against a proposal to widen a draft bill on prison pardons to include corruption offences.

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 -------------------------------------------------------- ($1 = 4.1729 lei)
MOSCOW, May 4 (Reuters) - The following are some stories in Russia's newspapers on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

VEDOMOSTI

www.vedomosti.ru

- Experts of the Civil Society Development Foundation, a body close to the Kremlin, believe that almost 70 percent of President Vladimir Putin's supporters are not ready to vote for another candidate in a presidential election, the daily reports.

- One of Russia's telecommunications operators, state-run Rostelecom, plans to purchase mobile operator Tele2. Analysts warn that this acquisition may negatively affect the dividends of the state-controlled company.

- Evraz holding, Russia's largest steel producer, will sell the Nakhodka commercial sea port in Russia's Far East to its controlling shareholder company Lane Brook, owned by tycoon Roman Abramovich and his partners, for over $354 million, the daily reports.

KOMMERSANT

www.kommersant.ru

- Pilots and other employees of Russian airlines have appealed to the International Civil Aviation Organization, asking it to check Russia's federal air transport agency for its compliance with world standards for training and issuance of flight certificates. The pilots fear that in the near future the agency may cancel about 1,000 of flight certificates, and the Russian market risks losing a quarter of pilots.

($1 = 57.0927rub) (Reporting by Margarita Popova; Editing by Dmitry Solovyov)
By Tim Hepher

PARIS, May 4 (Reuters) - Iran is in talks with Britain's export credit agency to facilitate the financing of aircraft sales to state airline IranAir as part of its pact with world powers to lift sanctions over its nuclear programme, a senior Iranian official said.

IranAir's plan to buy more than 180 jets from Airbus and Boeing is the most visible economic deal on the table after major powers last year lifted most sanctions on Iran in return for restrictions on its nuclear activities.

But financing for the purchases has been hard to secure because most Western banks are holding back, concerned about the future of the 2015 agreement after U.S. President Donald Trump called it a bad deal and ordered a review.

So far, IranAir has taken delivery of just three Airbus jets, for which it paid cash, industry sources say.

Deputy Roads and Urban Development Minister Asghar Fakhrieh-Kashan said the UK's export credit arm, UK Export Finance (UKEF), had tentatively offered support for least some Airbus jets built in Britain, France, Germany and Spain. It could also offer some support to Airbus's U.S. rival, Boeing, he added.

"We have received some offers from UKEF, that is under review by Iran," Fakhrieh-Kashan told Reuters.

Two aircraft industry sources who asked not to be named also confirmed talks were taking place.

UKEF and both major planemakers declined to comment.

Countries in parts of the world where banks won't invest often turn to European and U.S. governments for export credits or loan insurance when they want to buy big-ticket items like aircraft from those countries' companies.

About 6 percent of aircraft deliveries depend on such support, which removes some but not all of the risks banks face in lending to airlines with poor credit, helping to grease the wheels of trade.

This fallback system has been frozen for more than a year, however, as European agencies demand more controls after Airbus acknowledged making faulty applications for UK aid, triggering a fraud probe, and UKEF's equivalent in Washington, the Export-Import Bank (EXIM), faced a battle over its future.

U.S. President Donald Trump hinted in his campaign he might get rid of the EXIM Bank, which some conservative members of Congress have argued perpetuates cronyism. He has since talked up the benefits of exports for U.S. jobs and in April nominated a new bank president and a member of the board.

IRAN, UK ELECTIONS

Speeding up aircraft deliveries is seen as a priority for Tehran as President Hassan Rouhani's government seeks to show results from the sanctions deal ahead of elections on May 19.

Iran says the prospect of buying Western jets to renew its decaying fleet was built into the 2015 nuclear deal and that any barriers to completing the purchases would undermine the accord.

On the UK side, Prime Minister Theresa May's recent decision to hold a snap election in early June means any new funding deal is unlikely to be finalised before then.

UK government agencies like UKEF avoid major new initiatives during campaigning and a deal involving a topic as sensitive as trade with Iran would need approval before it could go ahead.

Airbus said last week on an investors' call that it hoped to receive some support from European export financing agencies this year.

But a source familiar with the process said it remained unclear how quickly UKEF would lift a temporary ban on Airbus funding as the UK and French fraud investigation continues.

If UKEF provides support for Boeing deliveries, it would not be the first time, but it would be rare. The main proviso is that a certain proportion of parts in each jet need to be made in Britain - usually 20 percent.

For Boeing exports, that would typically mean the jets would have to have Rolls-Royce engines. The Boeing planes ordered by Iran all have engines made by U.S. supplier General Electric or GE and its French partner Safran.

UKEF has said in the past it recognises the need to be flexible on foreign content in view of global supply chains. People who have dealt with the agency before say it may be able to consider equipment bought by Boeing from British companies. (Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
By Tsvetelia Tsolova

SOFIA, May 4 (Reuters) - Bulgaria's new prime minister Boiko Borisov promised to spur economic growth and increase incomes in the European Union's poorest member state as his coalition government was endorsed by parliament on Thursday.

The vote was seen as a formality after Borisov's GERB party, which won a snap election in March, sealed a coalition deal with United Patriots (UP), an alliance of three nationalist parties, to form a one-seat majority government.

The small populist Will party voted to support the new government, while leftist Socialists and ethnic Turkish MRF party voted against.

Third-time Prime Minister Borisov pledged to build more highways and fight smuggling to steer the economy. That should lead to an increase of the average monthly salary by 50 percent in four years, while maintaining income and corporate taxes unchanged at 10 percent, he said.

"We will lead policies and apply measures to increase the incomes of the people," 57-year-old Borisov told parliament, ahead of the vote.

Borisov pledged to set up a special body to tackle high-level graft, but analysts remained cautious on his reformist drive.

Bulgaria ranks as EU's most corrupt country according to the index of Transparency International and its failure to uproot wide-spread graft have kept the country out of EU's passport-free Schengen travel zone and scared away foreign investors.

ONE-SEAT MAJORITY

Borisov said the government would allow for some fiscal loosening to raise the minimum state pensions, among the lowest in the EU, but plans to gradually reduce fiscal deficit and achieve a balanced budget by 2020.

On his first day in office, Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov said the economy would grow 3.3-3.5 percent this year, faster than previously forecast, and outlined that planned social spending would not push the fiscal deficit beyond 1.4 percent of GDP in 2017.

He said the budget shortfall may be smaller, given plans to boost tax collection and because of slower use of EU funds.

The average monthly salary, at 962 levs ($538), remains the lowest in the 28-nation EU and compares with a minimum wage in Germany - of 1,440 euros ($1,573).

The new government that brings the nationalists to office for the first time will respect Bulgaria's commitments to its allies in Brussels and Washington.

Borisov, a former bodyguard and fireman, triggered the election by resigning after a GERB-backed candidate lost a presidential election in November to Rumen Radev, a Russia-friendly ally of the Socialist party.

Despite its fragile one-seat majority, the government is expected to last at least until July 2018, as the opposition are unwilling to excite political instability while Bulgaria takes over the rotating six-month EU presidency as of January. ($1 = 1.7894 leva) ($1 = 0.9152 euros) (Additional reporting by Angel Krasimirov; Editing by Ralph Boulton)
By Tom Arnold and Davide Barbuscia

RIYADH, May 4 (Reuters) - Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), the United Arab Emirate's second largest bank by assets, plans to issue a senior unsecured dollar bond, banking sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

The transaction is expected to be of benchmark size, which usually means at least $500 million.

At least four banks have been appointed to arrange the deal, one of the sources said.

ADCB declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

This latest bond issue joins a significant pipeline of debt sales by banks in the Gulf, with both Saudi Arabias Saudi British Bank and Kuwaits National Bank of Kuwait planning to raise funds internationally, as reported by Reuters.

Sovereigns, banks and corporates in the Gulf Cooperation Council have relied increasingly on the international debt markets to replenish their coffers hit by the drop in oil prices in late 2014.

"We expect more debt issuance from financial institutions from both Saudi and other GCC countries," said Bashar Al Natoor, global head of Islamic finance at Fitch Ratings, speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of a Euromoney conference in Saudi Arabia this week.

"Liquidity is better than in early 2016 but banks still have some issues such as Basel III requirements and non-performing loan ratios, so they might still need financing."

ADCB is a regular issuer in the international markets and has raised almost $1 billion this year through two Formosa bonds of $750 and $230 million. Formosa bonds are sold in Taiwan by foreign issuers and are denominated in currencies other than the Taiwanese dollar. (Editing by Jane Merriman)
By Igor Ilic

ZAGREB, May 4 (Reuters) - Croatia's Finance Minister Zdravko Maric survived a no-confidence vote on Thursday, but the razor-thin margin indicated conservative Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic faces a tough fight averting a snap election after the ruling coalition's collapse.

In a vote that was seen as a test of parliament's support for the prime minister, the opposition and Plenkovic's former coalition partner, the centre-right Most ("Bridge") party, mustered 75 votes against Maric. That was one short of the 76 needed in the 151-seat parliament.

Most quit the coalition last Friday after Plenkovic fired three of its four cabinet ministers. The prime minister now has to decide if he has enough support to propose new ministers to parliament or opt for an election.

So far, Plenkovic has shown no sign of calling a snap poll. On Thursday he said he preferred political stability but ducked questions about when he might put his eventual choice of new ministers to a vote in the assembly.

"It is not a topic today," the prime minister told a news conference.

"The HDZ and I are ready for an election, but we want to keep stability and it is now up to other parliamentary parties to show if they want the same."

He added that consultations were already underway with other political parties.

A snap election would be the second in less than a year and would delay economic reforms needed to boost one of the weakest European Union economies.

Shortly after the no-confidence vote, Bozo Petrov, leader of Most announced he was resigning as speaker of parliament.

Parliament is scheduled to break from Friday to allow for campaigning ahead of municipal elections on May 21, though it can be convened should Plenkovic seek the assembly's backing for new ministers.

The no-confidence motion against Maric was demanded due to his alleged conflict of interest and lack of credibility in handling a financial crisis at Croatia's biggest private firm, Agrokor, where he was a senior executive until early 2016 and where the government has appointed crisis managers. (Reporting by Igor Ilic; Editing by Richard Lough)
DURBAN, South Africa, May 4 (Reuters) - German industrial group Siemens aims to double its order intake in Africa to more than 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) by 2020, its chief executive officer Joe Kaeser said on Thursday.

Siemens signed memoranda of understanding with Uganda and Sudan on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on Africa in the South African city of Durban, as the company seeks to work more closely with the African countries in the areas of power supply, industry, transportation and healthcare.

"Africas economies are gaining ground and can develop their full potential with the right partner. Siemens wants to support their sustainable development - with solutions and projects in Africa, for Africa," Kaeser said.

"Our goal is to double our order intake in Africa to more than 3 billion euros by the year 2020."

Africa is seen as an investment destination, thanks to abundant resources and a big population.

Siemens on Thursday beat market forecasts for orders, revenue and profits in its fiscal second quarter as all of its operations except the healthcare business it plans to spin off exceeded profit expectations.

($1 = 0.9158 euros) (Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Mark Potter)
By Edward McAllister

Brikama, GAMBIA, May 4 (Reuters) - In his quest to reach Europe, 22-year old Gambian Mafu Hydara spent six days with little food or water crossing the Sahara before he reached the Libyan oasis town of Sabha.

There, he says he was kidnapped and beaten by a smuggling gang to elicit a ransom from his family and frequently forced to work for no pay during his seven months in the town.

Today, Hydara is back in his Gambian home town of Brikama, where he has no job and sleeps on a mattress on the floor of a sparse shack.

Of the more than 300,000 migrants that crossed the desert and sea to Europe last year, thousands did not survive the treacherous journey and thousands more end up stranded in Libya or back in their countries, often without the small amounts of money they gathered to make their initial trip.

For most of these returnees, the journey is thwarted in Libya, a country that - six years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi - is still a lawless state despite ongoing attempts by Western countries to stabilise and unify it under a single government.

Numerous armed groups compete for land and resources, Islamist militants have a presence in parts of the country while large weapons and people-smuggling networks operate with impunity.

Few places are worse than Sabha, a stop-off on the Saharan trade route for centuries and for most migrants the first town they see after emerging from the desert.

Fighting late last year in the town between rival tribes involved tanks and mortars. Its streets are lined with burnt-out cars. Bullet holes fleck the buildings and residents routinely carry guns. Electricity and medical care are sporadic and there is no functioning police, according to migrants and regional security experts who have recently visited the town.

SNIPER FIRE

Interviews with half a dozen Gambian migrants who each spent months in the town in 2016 and 2017 paint a picture of Sabha, one of the last unpoliced parts of the journey where migrants are forced into hard labour, abducted, abused and sold in private deals from one smuggling group to another.

Hydara had hoped Sabha - a rundown provincial capital of 200,000 people, surrounded by date palms and overlooked by a large colonial Italian fort - would offer a place to recuperate and earn money to continue his 4,000-mile journey north to Italy, where he planned to attend school.

One morning in September, he went to Chat Place, a roundabout in central Sabha where migrants wait for odd jobs to make enough for the 500 dinar ($350) ride to the capital Tripoli on the coast.

A day's work making cement bricks could fetch about 10 dinar, if the employer actually pays up, which they often do not, according to the migrants interviewed. People are often robbed walking there, they said, or forced to take shelter when they hear sniper fire from nearby buildings.

Hydara got into a large black 4x4 truck with three migrants for what the driver said would be a day moving furniture.

"They lock all the doors. They pull a gun threatening us that everyone who is trying to escape will be shot."

BEATEN WITH BATONS

Two local gangsters drove Hydara to a fenced-off house in town. They roped his hands to the ceiling of a tiny room and called his uncle to demand 30,000 Gambian dalasi, the equivalent of $650, for his release. They had agents all over West Africa to receive cash payments, they said.

"They said 'If you don't pay, we will kill your nephew'," Hydara recalled. He was beaten on the back with batons while his uncle listened to the screams on the other end of the line.

A few days later, his uncle paid the money to an agent in Dakar, Senegal, and Hydara was released.

Reuters could not independently verify Hydara's account. But the other people interviewed said they knew of migrants who had been kidnapped for ransom or sold from one smuggler to another.

Colonel Khaled al-Azhari, the head of the department for countering illegal migration in Libya's southern region, told Reuters that Libya needed "urgent support" to patrol its borders to stop migrants coming from Niger to the south.

He denied that migrants were beaten or sold by smuggling gangs, or held for ransoms. "The migrants say this because they want to get asylum from European countries," he said. But he nonetheless added that police were unable to stop powerful smuggling networks with the little resources they have.

Libya, via Niger, is the only viable passage left to Europe for West African migrants after other routes through the Canary Islands, Algeria and Morocco were shut down by increased border patrols in recent years. Nearly 300,000 migrants crossed the desert from Niger to Libya between February and December last year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said last month, with the vast majority ending up in Sabha.

"The migrants leave from Niger into a black hole," Giuseppe Loprete, the IOM's mission chief in Niger, told Reuters.

Hydara was flown back to Gambia from Tripoli last month by the IOM with 170 other migrants after ending up in a U.N. refugee camp.

In a programme mainly funded by European countries, the IOM aims to fly up to 10,000 migrants back to their home countries from Libya this year. It says the voluntary repatriation scheme is meant to offer a way out to those stuck in Libya without money, work, or a means to move on.

Fourteen months after leaving with some fruit, a change of clothes and about $1,000 in cash, he found himself back in his family's basic home in Brikama in western Gambia.

"The journey was hell, but I never regretted it," he said. "I just want to get a better job and pursue my education in Europe. I cannot do it here."

(Additional reporting by Ahmed Elumami in Tripoli; Editing by Pravin Char)
By Mohammed Mukhashaf

ADEN, May 4 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Yemenis protested in Aden on Thursday against President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's sacking of the provincial governor and a cabinet minister widely praised for helping drive Iran-aligned Houthis from the city in 2015.

The two men sacked, Aden provincial governor Aydaroos al-Zubaidi and cabinet member Hani bin Brek, are both seen as supporting separatism for southern Yemen, while Hadi is determined to tighten his grip over a unified country.

Zubaidi was one of the leaders of the Southern Resistance that helped expel the Houthis from his city.

Diplomats and some analysts say Hadi is uncomfortable with the fact that among the forces trained and supported by the United Arab Emirates are some pro-secessionist fighters.

Zubaidi and Brek are also seen as close to the UAE, a powerful regional military player.

Witnesses described convoys of buses and cars carrying hundreds of people that had been arriving since Wednesday from around southern Yemen in Aden, the capital of the former South Yemen, for a rally billed as "a gathering of millions".

"Hadi is going along partisan objectives and deepening divisions in the country," said protester Hamed Faraj.

He said many people believe that the dismissals show the president is caving in to pressure from the Islamist Islah party, Yemen's branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, which also opposes the secessionist movement.

Zubaidi told the protesters that he intended to work with all parties to push for independence for the south.

"May 4th represents a turning point in the Southern nationalist movement's struggle for independence," he told the protesters in Aden.

Formerly Marxist South Yemen merged with the North in 1990. Secessionists failed in a civil war in 1994 to reverse the unification, but secessionist sentiment has picked up again in recent years.

Separatists accuse Hadi's government of failing to provide public services to Aden nearly two years after local fighters, backed mainly by forces from the UAE, expelled Houthis in 2015. (Writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
By Kieran Guilbert

DAKAR, May 4 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The lessons learned from the world's worst Ebola epidemic and progress made in developing vaccines mean future outbreaks should be far less damaging, health experts said on Thursday.

Presidents and ministers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone gathered in Conakry to celebrate those who had helped to contain West Africa's 2013-2016 epidemic, as well as the scientists who worked on vaccines against the deadly virus.

The outbreak, which was declared over last year by the World Health Organization (WHO), killed more than 11,300 people and infected some 28,600 as it swept through the three countries.

Overhauled and improved health protocols and facilities in the Ebola-hit nations, greater vigilance, and promising trials for two vaccines mean the world should be much better prepared for any future outbreaks, said Marie-Paule Kieny of the WHO.

"It is important to take stock of the successes and also failures of the Ebola response to avoid complacency," the WHO assistant director-general told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from the event in Guinea's capital.

"One of the most impressive aspects was the fact that quality research was conducted during the epidemic in Guinea, with the vaccine trial (for Merck's rVSV-EBOV shot)," she added.

The Merck vaccine was the first to prove effective in preventing human infection, in a large trial in Guinea in 2015. Among 5,837 people, no Ebola cases were recorded 10 days or more after vaccination, showing 100 percent protection.

Another vaccine, a two-part shot from Johnson & Johnson and Danish partner Bavarian Nordic, induced a durable immune response lasting a year in 100 percent of healthy volunteers vaccinated, researchers reported in March.

While debate rages over the best vaccination strategy for different groups at risk of Ebola, health experts have hailed the importance of having more than one type of vaccine.

"That we now have one vaccine candidate which has been demonstrated to be safe and highly effective and the possibility of other Ebola vaccines is an enormous achievement," said John Edmunds of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

"It will not only change the way that we control future Ebola outbreaks, but has shown how we might go about developing vaccines for similar epidemic-prone diseases," added Edmunds, a professor of infectious disease modelling at the school. (Reporting By Kieran Guilbert, Editing by Ros Russell; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights, climate change and resilience. Visit http://news.trust.org)
BOGOTA, May 4 (Reuters) - A member of a U.N. team working on a project in Colombia to substitute illegal crops was kidnapped by dissident former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels who have rejected the peace process, the United Nations and the government said on Thursday.

Arley Lopez, a U.N. official and a Colombian, was seized on Wednesday by gunmen close to Miraflores in southern Guaviare province, where coca cultivation has long formed a key part of Colombia's cocaine production. He was stopped by armed men in a convoy of vehicles.

The government is seeking to substitute coca - the raw material for cocaine - with legal crops such as coffee, fruits and cacao.

Colombia's High Commissioner for Post-Conflict Rafael Pardo told Caracol Radio the group had indicated it will release Lopez on Thursday.

The kidnapping came as representatives of the U.N. Security Council were in Colombia to discuss the peace accord signed late last year with the Marxist FARC to end more than five decades of conflict in the Andean country.

The U.N. "condemns the events that happened yesterday in Guaviare and that go against the integrity and rights of a colleague in the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and demand his immediate liberation," the world body said in a statement.

The government also condemned the kidnapping, which it characterized as "regrettable."

In declarations following the meeting with President Juan Manuel Santos, the U.N. Security Council representatives did not mention Lopez, but offered support for the peace process.

"Colombia has started this process and it is already an irreversible process, there is no turning back and the Security Council will remain by your side as long as it takes," said British U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft.

While as many as 7,000 fighters agreed to the pact and are in the process of turning in their weapons to the United Nations, several hundred have refused. Those dissidents have formed a new criminal gang and engage in the lucrative drug trafficking that FARC had engaged in for years, the military has said.

The FARC's leadership has expelled the dissidents.

Opposition politicians, including former President Alvaro Uribe, are angry the peace accord allows former FARC fighters to avoid jail time and participate in national politics. Many Colombians say the government has not done enough to stop other criminal groups and FARC dissidents filling the void and taking over the drugs business. (Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta, Helen Murphy and Nelson Bocanegra; editing by Jonathan Oatis, Dan Grebler and G Crosse)
By Wendell Roelf

CAPE TOWN, May 4 (Reuters) - A South African court will hear a claim on May 18 involving a seized Moroccan ship that the Polisario movement in Western Sahara complained was carrying phosphate taken illegally from the disputed territory.

The hearing, announced by a lawyer for the movement on Thursday, should test Polisario's use of a European court ruling last year that said Western Sahara should not be considered part of Morocco in European Union and Moroccan deals.

The Marshall Island-flagged NM Cherry Blossom, seized by maritime court order in Port Elizabeth on South Africa's east coast since Monday, was carrying 50,000 tonnes of phosphate to New Zealand from Laayoune in the Moroccan-controlled part of the disputed territory for Morocco's OCP phosphate export company.

Western Sahara has been disputed since war broke out in 1975 between Morocco and the Polisario movement fighting for the Sahrawi people's independence there. A 1991 ceasefire split the region into separate parts controlled by Morocco and Polisario.

"On the 18 May we will be seeking a final order saying that the cargo will remain interdicted from leaving the jurisdiction of the court until such time as my client's court case for the return of the property is heard," said Andre Bowley, the Polisario movement's lawyer, in Cape Town.

The temporary order means the NM Cherry Blossom remains at anchor in the Bay of Algoa under the jurisdiction of Port Elizabeth.

OCP has said it expects a quick resolution once the details of the case are heard. Morocco's government said on Thursday it did not expect Polisario's legal challenge would succeed.

"There have been failed attempts to undermine Morocco's territorial integrity in the past and future attempts will fail again," government spokesperson Mustapha El Khalfi told reporters in Rabat.

Bowley told Reuters the temporary court order makes provision for OCP and five other respondents, including the ship owners and the New Zealand buyers of the cargo, to put up financial security in lieu of the phosphate shipment.

"If you want to carry on sailing with the phosphate onboard the ship, then fine, put up a bank guarantee securing the amount and value of the phosphate, then the ship can depart," he said, adding the estimated value of the cargo was around $5 million.

Morocco and Polisario have been locked in diplomatic and legal battles since 1991. U.N. peacekeepers had to step when tension flared in between Moroccan forces and Polisario brigades in the buffer zone near the Mauritania border.

In January, Morocco rejoined the African Union regional body, where Polisario's self-declared Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is also a member. South Africa along with Algeria have been key supporters of the SADR. (Additional reporting by Samia Errazzouki in Rabat; Editing by Patrick Markey and Tom Heneghan)
By Aaron Maasho

ADDIS ABABA, May 4 (Reuters) - The United Nations human rights chief said on Thursday he would push Ethiopia to allow his agency to investigate rights abuses during months of unrest in 2015 and 2016 in which hundreds of people were killed.

The Horn of Africa country declared six months of emergency rule in October after more than a year of violent protests in its Oromiya and Amhara regions. Demonstrators in the areas say the government has trampled on their political rights. The state of emergency has since been extended by four months.

Last month, a government-sanctioned investigation said 669 people had been killed in the violence.

Speaking to journalists during a three-day visit, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said there was a "clear need for a much wider and freer civic space" in Ethiopia.

"Although I benefited greatly from the briefings provided to me by the Attorney General's office, the extremely large number of arrests - over 26,000 - suggests it is unlikely rule of law guarantees have been observed in every case," he said.

"I believe my staff ought to be given access to the affected areas, and I renew my request, so we can assess the situation and ascertain what further support can be given to the authorities, including justice officials."

Ethiopian authorities say a crackdown on the unrest was necessary because "elements" from Eritrea and Egypt whipped up much of the violence, including attacks on farms and factories, by protesters with legitimate grievances.

Since imposing emergency rule, government officials have repeatedly refused access for international investigators, saying they would undermine Ethiopian sovereignty.

Ethiopia is an important Western ally against Islamist militants in neighbouring Somalia as well as an increasingly important economic player in a unstable region.

Ethiopian leaders have pledged to carry out political reforms. In October, President Mulatu Teshome Wirtu acknowledged that Ethiopia had to broaden democracy given the complete lack of opposition deputies in its 547-member parliament.

Zeid said he planned to pay a return visit in January and expressed hope that he would secure permission by then.

In its report, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said 462 protesters and 33 security personnel were killed in unrest that engulfed 91 towns in the Oromiya region alone. The protesters opposed having their land incorporated into the boundaries of the capital Addis Ababa.

In the Amhara region, 110 demonstrators and 30 police officers died in clashes sparked by the arrest of activists campaigning over disputed territory, it said.

The report said another 34 people died in the SNNP region which lies to the south of Addis Ababa. (Reporting by Aaron Maasho; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
By Parisa Hafezi

ANKARA, May 4 (Reuters) - Iran's main pro-reform opposition leaders plan to speak out from their confinement under house arrest this month to publicly back President Hassan Rouhani for re-election, aides say, helping win over voters disillusioned with the slow pace of change.

Rouhani was elected in a landslide in 2013 on promises to ease Iran's international isolation and open up society. He is standing for a second term against five other candidates, mostly prominent hardliners, on May 19, with a run-off a week later if no candidate wins more than 50 percent of votes cast in the first round.

In his first term, Rouhani expended his political capital pushing through a landmark agreement with global powers to limit Iran's nuclear programme in return for the lifting of international financial sanctions.

But even his supporters acknowledge he has made comparatively little progress on his domestic agenda, after promising that Iranians should enjoy the same rights as other people around the world.

Some reformist critics say he neglected the cause of curbing the powers of the security forces and rolling back restrictions that govern how Iranians dress, behave, speak and assemble.

Nevertheless, Iran's two leading champions of the reform movement, former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi and former parliament speaker Mehdi Karoubi, will urge voters to back him, a spokesman said.

"The two leaders, like in previous elections, will support the candidate backed by the pro-reform faction," said Ardeshir Amir-Arjomand, the Paris-based spokesman for the two men.

Another source close to the opposition leaders said "Mousavi and Karoubi will announce their support for Rouhani a few days before the May 19 vote."

Rouhani has already won the backing of former President Mohammad Khatami, considered the spiritual leader of the reformists, who declared his support on his website on Tuesday. Iranian newspapers and broadcasters are banned from publishing the former president's image or mentioning his name.

Many reformist voters will look for guidance to Mousavi and Karoubi, who both stood for president in 2009 when opposition to the disputed victory of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad led to Iran's biggest mass demonstrations since its 1979 revolution.

Both men have been held under house arrest for six years, although neither has been convicted of a crime. Their pronouncements from their confinement are eagerly followed by reformists online.

Maryam Zare, a 19-year-old in Tehran who would be voting for president for the first time, said she would vote only if she heard a call to do so from Karoubi and Mousavi.

"I will vote for whoever they support," she said.

Others said they would back Rouhani, but only reluctantly.

"He is part of the establishment. We have to vote for the lesser of evils," said music teacher Morad Behmanesh in the central city of Yazd. "What happened to Rouhani's promises of releasing the two opposition leaders from house arrest?"

PRIORITIES

Under Iran's governing system, the elected president's powers are limited, circumscribed by the authority of the supreme leader, a position held since 1989 by hardline cleric Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

During Rouhani's first term, the president won Khamenei's cautious backing for his nuclear deal. But persuading the leader to accept social change may be a more difficult task.

Some of Rouhani's allies say he will now be able to make more progress on his domestic agenda if he wins a clear, fresh mandate for another four-year term, which would prove to the hardliners that the public wants change.

"Iranians want to be free and live freely. They are not against the Islamic Republic. People will continue to fight for their rights," a senior official in Rouhani's government said on condition of anonymity.

But international rights groups and activists in Iran say there were few, if any, moves to bring about greater political and social freedoms during Rouhani's first term. Dozens of activists, journalists, bloggers and artists were jailed on political grounds.

Rouhani often suggests that he has no control over such arrests, carried out by the mostly hardline judiciary and the Revolutionary Guards, a powerful military force.

"I have lost my hope over Rouhani's ability to reform the country. His main focus has been economy, not improving civil rights," said Reza, 28, a reformist who was jailed briefly after the 2009 election and asked that his surname not be published for security reasons.

The president has had some success on promises to loosen Internet restrictions, but access to social media remains officially blocked, although Rouhani, Khamenei and other officials have their own Twitter accounts.

Human Rights Watch said last year that Rouhani had failed to deliver on his promise of greater respect for civil and political rights. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists in 2015 said that more journalists were in jail in Iran than any country other than China and Egypt. The total number of political prisoners held in Iranian jails has not been disclosed. About a dozen people who also hold other nationalities have been jailed for what rights groups consider political offences.

"Whoever wins Irans presidential election should prioritise improving the countrys dismal human rights situation," said Louis Charbonneau, U.N. director at Human Rights Watch.

"Iran has maintained the highest per capita execution rate in the world for years ... it put 530 people to death last year, many for drug offences and a number of them minors."

Rouhani benefits because reformist voters have no other choice on the ballot, where candidates are vetted by a hardline body.

Reformist voters will have to judge him in the context of what is possible under the system, said Saeed Leylaz, a prominent economist imprisoned under Ahmadinejad for criticising economic policy, who is now close to Rouhani's government.

"Rouhani's failure to fully deliver his promises on social reforms will impact the vote ... but Iranians are well aware of his limitations and his achievements." (Writing by Parisa Hafezi; editing by Peter Graff)
By David Brunnstrom

WASHINGTON, May 4 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged Southeast Asian foreign ministers on Thursday to do more to help cut funding streams for North Korea's nuclear and missile programs and to minimize diplomatic relations with Pyongyang.

In his first ministerial meeting with all 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Tillerson also called on nations with competing claims in the South China Sea to cease all island building and militarization while talks aimed at creating a maritime code of conduct were under way.

Patrick Murphy, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asia, said Tillerson stressed Washington's security and economic commitment to the region, amid doubts raised by President Donald Trump's "America First" platform and withdrawal from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact.

Tillerson called on ASEAN countries to fully implement U.N. sanctions on Pyongyang, which is working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the United States, and to show a united front on the issue, Murphy said.

"We think that more can be done, not just in Southeast Asia," he told reporters. "We are encouraging continued and further steps across all of ASEAN."

Last week, Tillerson called on all countries to suspend or downgrade diplomatic ties with Pyongyang, saying that North Korea abuses diplomatic privileges to help fund its arms programs. Tillerson also warned that Washington would sanction foreign firms and people conducting business with North Korea if countries did not act themselves.

All ASEAN members have diplomatic relations with North Korea and five have embassies there.

Murphy said Washington was not encouraging ASEAN states to formally cut ties, but to examine the North Korean presence "where it clearly exceeds diplomatic needs."

He said some countries were already doing this and also looking at the presence of North Korean workers, another significant revenue earner for Pyongyang.

KEEPING TENSION FROM INCREASING

Some officials of ASEAN members, speaking to reporters, acknowledged concerns about North Korea, but also cited concerns about trade relations with the United States.

Philippine acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, whose country currently chairs ASEAN, said of the U.S. call to minimize relations with Pyongyahng, "We haven't really discussed that among the ASEAN countries, so that's probably something we will look at.

"Our immediate concern is to try and ensure the tension on the peninsula doesn't increase. ... The last thing we would like to see is to have a conflict break out due to some miscalculation," Manalo said.

Singapore's foreign minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, said sanctions would have to be fully implemented, but North Korea's presence in his country is already minimal.

Asked if that could be further reduced, he said: "I won't say never, but at this point in time that's not the issue - we will stick with the U.N. Security Council's resolutions."

Balakrishnan, whose country signed the TPP, stressed the importance of U.S.-ASEAN business ties - annual trade of $100 billion supporting half a million U.S. jobs and $274 billion of U.S. investment.

"Southeast Asia is replete with economic opportunities and it's too big to miss out on," he said.

His remark highlighted growing concern in Asia that Trump has ditched former President Barack Obama's economic "pivot" to the region by abandoning the TPP, something analysts say has led to more countries being pulled into China's orbit.

Murphy said Tillerson stressed that ASEAN remained a "very important ... strategic partner," which is shown by Trump's commitment to attend regional summits in the Philippines and Vietnam in November.

Manalo called the meeting with Tillerson and Trump's travel plans "encouraging" signs.

"ROOM AND SPACE"

Washington wants ASEAN countries to crack down on money laundering and smuggling involving North Korea and to look at restricting legal business too.

It has been working to persuade China, North Korea's neighbor and only major ally, to increase pressure on Pyongyang. U.S. officials are also asking China to urge more China-friendly ASEAN members, such as Laos and Cambodia, to do the same.

U.S. efforts have included a flurry of calls by Trump to the leaders of the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore.

Diplomats say U.S. pressure has caused some irritation in ASEAN, including Malaysia, which has maintained relations with Pyongyang in spite of the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's estranged half brother at Kuala Lumpur International airport in February/

On the issue of the South China Sea, ASEAN has adopted a cautious approach recently, with a weekend summit avoiding references to China's building and arming of artificial islands there.

This stance coincided with moves by China and ASEAN to draft a framework to negotiate a code of conduct. Murphy said Tillerson had stressed that this process needed "room and space" through avoiding fortifying existing claims.

The United States has conducted freedom of navigation operations to challenge South China Sea claims, angering China, but not yet under Trump. Murphy said such operations would continue, but declined to say when the next might occur. (Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Grant McCool and Leslie Adler)
Britains Brexit minister David Davis warned Wednesday that it would not be bullied in upcoming negotiations with the EU, and rejected a report that its exit bill could reach 100 billion euros.

We are going into this negotiation not as a supplicant, but as a negotiator, Davis said.

He dismissed a report in the Financial Times suggesting Britain must settle bills of up to 100 billion euros ($109 billion) before leaving.

The figure is significantly more than the 60-billion-euro figure previously mooted, and Davis told ITV televisions Good Morning Britain programme: We will not be paying 100 billion. But he added that in financial terms, we will obey our international obligations.

He also dismissed a report in The Times that the European Commission would stop Prime Minister Theresa May negotiating with other EU leaders.

There are two sides to the negotiation and the other side will not determine who does what. She will be leading our negotiation. I will be supporting her, Davis told BBC radio.

The EUs chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier will on Wednesday unveil recommendations for the talks, as tensions rise between the two sides.

May, who is in the middle of a general election campaign, was put on the defensive this week by leaks about a disastrous dinner with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

In response, she boasted Tuesday that she would be a bloody difficult woman in the talks -- a description that had been used about her by a former colleague.

Davis on Wednesday dismissed the various reports as a mixture of gossip and spin and said the British public should take them with a pinch of salt.

The leaders of the other 27 EU nations on Saturday unanimously agreed a tough set of guidelines for the talks with Britain, covering issues of money, trade and the rights of EU citizens.

They talk about negotiating guidelines, theyre sort of demands that have been lined up... this has to be by agreement, Davis said.

He added: We are full members of the European Union until we leave... and were going to use our rights under the rules.



LONDON AFP

May 3, 2017
Government caught between the devil and the deep blue sea

President Maithripala Sirisenas reported suggestion at the Cabinet meeting last week that former army commander Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka be given the task of running the essential services uninterrupted cannot be a joke, as suggested by Labour Minister John Seneviratna.



Given the backdrop of trade union actions by the government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) and other anti-government organizations one of which is being launched today as well and the protests such as those against the dumping of garbage in various areas, government seems to have been desperate and pushed to take drastic actions against those agitations.



Nonetheless, some ministers are apparently shy of or scared of acknowledging the fact that such a suggestion was made by the President. The Cabinet co-spokesman and Health Minister Rajitha Senaratna who first revealed the Presidents suggestion about a mechanism under Fonseka to deal with trade union actions was furious when Seneviratna and Social Welfare Minister S.B.Dissanayake said that the President made the remarks in a lighter vein.



Field Marshal Fonseka during a casual meeting with the journalists in his Electorate, Kelaniya, had stated that he had rejected the suggestions by the President to re-appoint him as the Army Commander or the Chief of Defence Staff, but agreed to take up the task of maintaining essential services. Joining the debate, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told the Parliament on Wednesday that government had no plans to appoint Fonseka to any post as suggested by the media. But, all in all, now it is clear that a proposal to form a mechanism to quell the protests by the trade unions and other groups, in the guise of running the essential services unhindered, had been a topic at the Cabinet meeting, in a serious or lighter note.



In fact, the Yahapalanaya government is now between the devil and the deep blue sea. On the one hand essential services are occasionally being interrupted by the trade union actions and protests, at a time when the government is struggling to contain the rising cost of living. Also if the government attempted to suppress the protests, it would have to face the ire of the masses as happened during the last regime and the Yahapalana image of the government would be tarnished at the international level.



GMOA which launched a one day token strike on April 7 had launched its next round of protests today along with many other trade unions against the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) or the Malabe Private Medical College. The trade unions at the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) showed last week that they could cripple the entire government mechanism even by a days work stoppage.



It is against the backdrop of mounting tension between the government and the unions that the Meethotamulla garbage dump collapsed on the Sinhala and Hindu New Year day, killing more than thirty persons. This created new issues and protests against the government. The authorities had to find new sites to dump garbage which met with stiff resistance by the people near those new sites. The response of the local government authorities was to abandon collecting garbage in Colombo and the suburbs. Then people in areas such as Orugodawatta vented their anger against the authorities for not collecting waste in their areas. Pressed by both kinds of garbage related protests, the President had to declare the disposal of garbage an essential service.



Despite many protests being launched by various groups putting forward seemingly reasonable demands, the involvement of Opposition politicians, especially the group led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in those agitations, might have compelled the leaders of the government to take safety measures. Interestingly, the leaders of the former government who created the Meethotamulla garbage mountain and many other improper garbage dumping sites were seen with the protesters against the garbage dumping in Dompe. Leaders of the former government who supported the institution of the SAITM by providing loans and even giving scholarships to some of the students of that instate had the shameless audacity to pay their solidarity to the protests against the same medical college.



In fact, despite the merits and the demerits of the SAITM as a private medical college, the protesters against that institute have failed to counter the allegation of selectivity in their struggle. It goes without saying that it is illogical to protest against fee levying education in general without raising a finger against international schools and fee levying other schools, hundreds of local institutes affiliated to foreign universities and fee levying foreign universities that have been recognized by the UGC, the Green University in Homagama, the Kotalawala Medical College and most importantly the thousands of tuition classes conducted even by the members of the teachers unions that are against private education.



Also it is illogical to launch continual protests against the SAITM after meekly submitting when the institute was started and loans as well as scholarships were granted to it during the last regime. And the government gets fairly sufficient grounds to suspect the motives of the so-called non-political, anti-SAITM groups when they go to the extent of calling for the toppling of this government over the issue, while the leaders of the former regime with whose blessings the Malabe Private Medical College was instituted, also voice against that college.



Government argues that the CPC strike was launched last week over a non-existent issue - granting the Trincomalee oil tank farm to India. Also President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe have been alleging that the Opposition groups were inciting the people over non-existent issues such as compromising the sovereignty of the country through the ETCA and Buddhism through the proposed new Constitution, two documents which have not yet been prepared.

This insecure feeling of the leaders of the government seems to have pushed them to take counter measures, and they might justify it as some governments here and abroad have collapsed or almost collapsed due to protests. The government led by Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike was so riddled with strikes before he was killed in 1959 that Mrs. Sirimavo Banadaranaike once said My husband was almost killed by NM. Former LSSP leader N.M.Perera, commonly called NM whose trade unions were said to have launched more than 365 strikes in an year during Mr. Bandaranaikes tenure. Strikers had shattered the government of Marxist leader Salvador Allende of Chile before his government was overthrown in a military coup in 1973 in which he was also killed. It is with this insecure feeling that Megapolis and Western Development Minister Champika Ranawaka who is said to have initiated the debate at last weeks Cabinet meeting over the measures to counter protests, openly states that a small group cannot be allowed to take the government hostage.



This is nothing new. All past governments have suppressed the peoples agitations or scuttled them by buying over their leaders, whether the struggles were just or unjust. In 1964 during the struggle over the famous 21 demands, the leaders were bought over by Mrs. Bandaranaikes government before the struggle was abandoned. President J.R.Jayawardene had sacked over 40,000 employees who joined the famous July strike in 1980.



During President Chandrika Kumaratungas regime the army and police were deployed in 1996 to arrest striking CEB workers and force them to work, by Power and Energy Minister and State Minister for Defence Anuruddha Ratwatte, as happens under military governments. The suppressive action was justified by the fact that more than twenty patients who were on oxygen at the Colombo General Hospital had to be taken off the machines since the power supply generator could not bear the brunt of the load it was carrying, any more. Protesting workers and ordinary people were killed at Katunayake, Chilaw and Rathupasawala during the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government.



However, the Maithri-Ranil Government which had earned a good name internationally for its Yahapalana policies that were pursued at its initial months would have to think twice if it resorted to the same strategies in countering protests. Because locally it would strengthen the hands of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who is upbeat now after holding a massive May Day rally at Galle Face Green, and the government would have to face difficult situations internationally as well, as faced by the Rajapaksa regime.
Several trade unions attached to the health, education and railway services are to go ahead with the planned 24-hour countrywide strike tomorrow over the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM) issue, the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) said today.

GMOA Secretary Dr. Naveen De Soyza told a media briefing that about 160 trade unions would join hands with them to protest against the SAITM an added that some 30 trade unions of them would protest tomorrow.

All state medical officers including ayurvedic doctors, dental and veterinary surgeons will be refraining from engaging in services from 8.00 am tomorrow to 8.00 am on Saturday. The workers attached to other trade unions will hold demonstrations and protests around the country, he said.

He said that the GMOA was urging the government to immediately nationalize the SAITM and the government should refrain from entering into trade agreements with foreign countries such as the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) which may deprive Sri Lankans of job opportunities.

However, he said several hospitals including the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children, Castle Street Hospital for Women, De Soysa Hospital for Women in Colombo and Sirimavo Bandaranaike Specialized Children's' Hospital in Kandy, National Cancer Hospital in Maharagama and all kidney, emergency treatment units would be open for patients despite the strike.

Meanwhile, Ceylon Teacher's Union (CTU) Secretary Joseph Stalin told the Daily Mirror that the teachers and principals representing 14 unions attached to all state schools would refrain from engaging in their services tomorrow by holding a sick leave campaign in order to safeguard the free education in the country.

Railway Guards Association Secretary P.M.P. Peiris said the railway guards and drivers would also refrain from engaging in their services tomorrow against the SAITM and to oppose on the governments proposal which could lead to a removal of the pension scheme.

Meanwhile, students attached to state universities would refrain from attending to lectures tomorrow in protest of the SAITM and several lectures attached to state universities would also refrain from engaging in the service. (Kalathma Jayawardhane)

Video by Sanjeewa
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said yesterday that he had informed Indian Minister of Road Transport Nitin Gadkari that Sri Lanka could hold a different view about the Hanuman Bridge, proposed to be built between Sri Lanka and India and this would be discussed after the construction of the proposed Northern Highway.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said this in response to a question raised by joint opposition MP Udaya Gammanpila as to whether he discussed the setting up of the proposed bridge.

The Indian Minister of Road Transport Nitin Gadkari has tweeted that he has discussed the construction of the proposed bridge between India and Sri Lanka. So we would like to know your position with regard to his claims,'" Mr Gammanpila said.

Mr. Wickremesinghe responded that he had informed the Indian Minister that the project would be considered, but only in the long term. I told him that the construction of the Northern Highway should be the focus now and the Hanuman Bridge could be a project for later, he said. (Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana)
Major venues were full of heads. But all heads are empty heads. My sorry conclusion on crowds at May Day festivals. May Day was undoubtedly a huge three cornered political competition among Sirisena, Wickremesinghe and Rajapaksa. Competition was in filling parks they chose to have their May Day festivals in. The official SLFP/UPFA venue at Getambe, Peradeniya was the smallest of all venues. UNP had the fairly large Campbell Park and the surrounding roads to fill.They had State power.They had unlimited money and resources, from whatever source they came. The largest of all venues, the largest in the whole country, the Galle Face was allotted to the Joint Opposition (JO). The JVP was lost within this triangular competition. They count very little now, even in opinion-making in society. The only workers rally, that of a collective of 08 leading trade unions, was also lost in the melee.



Most speakers at Galle Face taunted Sirisena and Wickremesinghe for allotting Galle Face green to them. They said they were given Galle Face green, thinking they would never be able to fill the large green expanse. How is it now? Like to see the crowd? they asked. Rajapaksa said, We are people who can meet any challenge. We met your (governments) challenge successfully. Now it is our turn to challenge you. Hold local government elections now, if you can,

he thundered.



The bottom line is, Rajapaksa still holds a charisma no other leader in the government or in the opposition can match. Gotabaya, that some professionals and businessmen want to promote, was proved a nonentity.With Rajapaksas charisma, he is given the advantage of challenging a clumsy and corrupt government. He obviously has bounced back as the decisive factor in Sri Lankan politics.

A Face Book (FB) post on the morning after May Day festivals said, Thank you Ranil, Thank you Maithri, Thank you Sampanthan! apparently blaming them all for the return of Rajapaksa. Though smacked with frustration and anger, the truth is also what the FB post very sarcastically said.



Whats this Yahapalanaya ?



This unity government was politically conceived to meet the geo-political need of the US and its European allies. It served the power hunger of the UNP stalwarts. The Tamil constituency too needed to have Rajapaksa ousted from power for very justifiable reasons. Muslim people were pushed to that same square by extremely vulgar anti-Muslim hate campaigners, patronised by Gotabaya Rajapaksa. That led to a common, social understanding to have Rajapaksa voted out on January 08.



Thereafter, what emerged on 2015 January 09 was an unethical, unprincipled and a bi-polar alliance smuggled in as the Yahapalana government. President Sirisena made Wickremesinghe the PM with only 47 MPs in a 225 member parliament. Never a rational choice for a serious, democratic President. This irrational, constitutionally illogical move now hurts President Sirisena day in, day out. He is forced to compete with Rajapaksa in gaining complete control over the SLFP. Presidency of this yahapalana government has thus ended up as a tool in the power struggle within the SLFP and nothing more.



Meanwhile, Wickremesinghe as PM is struggling to give his government some rhetorical stability, while his allies outside his party discipline are not willing to go under his command. As SLFP members, they also feel Wickremesinghes neo-liberal development model provides no answers to problems in their rural Sinhala constituency. He cannot deliver on the promise of cleaning up governance and on transparency and accountability, while his own men are also into mega corruption. Aiding and abetting most mega corrupt deals, he is now seen taller than the Meethotamulla dump.

Yahapalanaya is thus a disjointed two-part government with one part struggling to grab the SLFP from a man though defeated twice within one year, still commands respect and authority in the party. The other governing half trying to find investments and projects from wherever possible to treat the business community, which they are also a part of.



Chaotic governance



Two plus years has shown this government does not have a political spine to take decisions. All because the UNP leadership knows nothing more than buying and selling in a free market economy. Their development is mere business on borrowed investments that accrues all benefits in the big city. The only hyped development proposal the government launched was the US $ 30billion Western Province Megapolis project. That is about a huge city developed in and around Colombo before 2030. That is yet to see the light of day after its launch 01 year and 03 months ago. According to PM Wickremesinghe, the whole country will be lifted up with the Megapolis project, from what he said at its launch. This government is definitely clueless about rural life.



With no investments or aid coming from Western allies and compelled to follow the Rajapaksa path to Beijing, this Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government had no other option but to accept all Chinese projects they initially condemned as huge corrupt deals, during the 2015 January presidential elections. Having accepted them, they cannot even get those Chinese projects going. Colombo Port City, Hambantota port, Mattala airport are almost stalled. Two years and four months gone, they still try to save themselves by blaming their leaders for massive foreign debts. In fact debts have increased under them.



The only advantage they could manage from their Western allies was with the US-SL co-sponsored UNHRC Resolution 30/1 in October 2015. That too with the asterisk, conditions apply. Government managed another 02 year extension this March on the resolution, albeit with strict warnings to abide by the conditions agreed upon. Unable to implement any condition agreed upon in the OISL Resolution 30/1 for fear of losing Sinhala votes, the government has fooled all international organisations and agencies and the Tamil people with Bills passed in parliament, frozen and shelved thereafter. UN Agencies cannot do anything more.



Rule of law is not one this yahapalanaya has been able to establish. Though Supreme Court and Appeal Court appointments go without much political prodding, independence of the judiciary is very much in question as the judicial process is not just about Court Houses. It is also about how independent and efficient the investigations are and how independent and fair the prosecuting authority, the Attorney Generals Department is. Meanwhile, all Independent Commissions have proved worthless. Not worth the tax payers money spent on them. Allegations that protesting medical doctors, the petroleum corporation, the university students, CTB and other trade unions are all instigated by the Rajapaksas and the JO, only means this government has no authority and control over State departments and agencies.



Giving into Rajapaksa



Two years and four months was wasted on this weird coalition government that left the Sinhala constituency at the mercy of racist Rajapaksa politics. It was pretty evident from day one, Rajapaksa was not going to lie idle at Medamulana. It was very clear he would get on to a Sinhala racist platforms. His first public comment after the defeat when his chopper landed in Medamulana, was that he is still the President of the Sinhala people.



It took no time for both Sirisena and Wickremesinghe to oppose their co-sponsored OISL Resolution 30/1, initially making very vague and ambiguous statements. President Sirisena then broke the ice in early July 2016 saying as long as he is President of Sri Lanka, there will be no foreign interventions on war crime probes. That was subsequently endorsed by PM Wickremesinghe too and by now all ministers, leaving Foreign Minister Samaraweera embarrassed and vacillating in international forums.

The Sinhala Buddhist obsession in the yahapalana leadership came out strongly over the past year with many decisions taken by President Sirisena getting endorsed by all ministers including the PM. TNA efforts and pleadings to have all Tamil detainees without any charges released going without answers, a firm no by the government on de-militarising of North-East, security forces continuing to occupy private land despite token releases now and then, governments deaf and dumb approach to missing persons issue and continuing impunity, when packaged together with the governments hyped international Wesak Day celebrations, re-gazetting those Sinhala feudal lords who were named as traitors by British colonial rulers, as national heroes, patronising extremely racist Buddhist monks who should actually be prosecuted for inciting racial and religious hatred and continual statements made to the effect no war hero would be allowed to be dragged to Courts, says how Sinhala racist this government is.



All this is sheer subordination to Rajapaksas Sinhala Buddhist politics. The reality is, with Rajapaksa venerated by Sinhala extremism as the saviour of the Sinhala nation, it is no easy task now to overtake Rajapaksa on a Sinhala projection. That was what Rajapaksa consolidated at the Galle face green this May Day. His slogan was liberation of both workplace and motherland. His allegation was that this government was selling everything to foreigners. Was giving in, to Tamil separatists through a Constitution that would be smuggled through parliament.



What would be the yahapalana answer to those allegations? Definitely on Sinhala racist promises. But for sure, they cannot meet the challenge of Rajapaksas Sinhala projection to hold LG elections however much Sinhala they would want to paint themselves with.



TNA and Muslim leaders would be the worst off, fooled once again. Where are we heading? i you ask me, my candid answer would be, heading towards an ethno-religious catastrophe unless we start immediately a serious social dialogue on alternatives.
Caption (from left)Mobitel Manager Product Service Innovation, GayangiKarunaratne and Mobitel Brand Manager, AvanthiLiyanage receiving the award for the innovative Loyalty Programme MobitelCash Bonanza Montero Extravaganza from UTI AMC Limited Head - Online and Alternate Channels, Kaushik Chakraborty.

Sri Lankas National Mobile Service Provider, Mobitel, made a dynamic impression at the 6th APAC Customer Engagement Awards held on the 29th April 2017 in Mumbai, India, by winning 2 Silver Awards. Mobitel won under the Events and promotion category for its innovative Loyalty Programme, Mobitel Cash Bonanza Montero Extravaganza and under the Television Innovation category for Kotiyak Watina Adahasak (Ideas Worth Millions), areality show that was aired on Sirasa TV locally. The Asia Pacific Customer Engagement Forum and Awards (ACEF) is organized by a team of professionals from India, Sri Lanka and UAE and is guided by the Advisory members from branding, marketing and creative agencies based in India, USA, Australia, Singapore, UAE and Sri Lanka.

Commenting on the companys strong performance at the prestigious awards, Nalin Perera - Chief Executive Officer, Mobitel said: We are extremely delighted to win 2 Silver Awards at the Asia Pacific Customer Engagement Awards in the Events and Promotion and Television Innovation categories for our unique and impactful promotions. Mobitel has consistently spearheaded innovation in the countrys mobile telephony sector and is now being lauded on a regional platform as well. We are delighted to note that our unique customer engagement initiatives are not only delivering results for us in terms of a wider customer base and greater brand equity, but that our innovative approach is drawing praise in the region. Mobitel is committed to delivering innovations across all its platforms and this recognition inspires us to take our initiatives to the next level.

Caption (from left) The digital fellow.Com Chief Digital Officer, Subhobroto Chakroborty presenting the award for the Television Innovation category for Kotiyak Watina Adahasak to Mobitel Manager Product Service Innovation, Gayangi Karunaratne and Mobitel Brand Manager, Avanthi Liyanage.

Every year, the APAC Customer Engagement Awards attract hundreds of entries for companies wanting to be recognized for their efforts in customer engagement and interaction. This years edition invited submissions online for the year April 2016 to March 2017. Media strategy and Plan, Target Audience, Execution & Results were key evaluation criteria considered by the eminent panel of judges when selecting the winners. These awards set customer centric companies apart from their competition in today's competitive market to stay upto-date with the latest in customer feedback, engagement, loyalty and retention techniques to benchmark their own multi-channel strategies against corporate innovators and leaders.
A 88-year-old sculptor Esweda Naidelage Piyatillake of Dembemada in Rambukkana who turned out the first Mace of the Sri Lankan Parliament died today.

A reputed sculptor from early in his life, he had been awarded the contract of turning out the Mace in Parliament in 1958 according to a design made by a reputed jewellery mart in Colombo. Piyatillake who received an injury while working in the paddy field had developed fever and admitted to Kegalle general hospital on April 26. However, he died yesterday morning while receiving treatment.

His son Athula Jayadewa said his father who visited Parliament last on March 16 on the invitation of Speaker Karu Jayasuriya was shown the Mace, now on display in the Parliament museum which aroused his nostalgic memories of the past.

JMO Kegalle Hospital Dr. Ramesh Alagiyawanna who held the autopsy reported that death had been caused by a germ that entered through an injury. (Chaminda Jayalath)
Police will conduct a special traffic programme today with the support of the Ceylon Motor Trading Company to nab reckless and drivers who violate traffic and lane rules in the Colombo city, Police spokesman DIG Priyantha Jayakody said.

He said the traffic police officers had been instructed to inform the Colombo City Traffic Police headquarters of any vehicles observed to be violating road rules or traffic lane rules, where cases would be filed against the drivers concerned.

Civil traffic police officers will travel around the Colombo City in 10 vehicles provided by the Ceylon Motor Trading Company.

The officers provided with walkie-talkies for communication to keep contact with the Colombo City Traffic Police headquarters and they will inform the headquarters about any vehicle violating the road rules or traffic lane rules, he said.

The civil traffic police officer will be summoned as a witness if any cases are filed in courts against driver who infringe traffic and lane rules.

Charge sheets and fines will also be issued on drivers who violate road rules where possible, with the rest being referred to courts.

The programme will also be conducted around the island in the near future, the spokesman also said.
ASTANA AFP May3, 2017- Syrian rebels on Wednesday said they were suspending their participation as a latest round of peace talks began in Kazakhstan, with the warring sides set to discuss a plan to create safe zones.

The rebel delegation is suspending the meetings because of the violent air strikes on civilians. The suspension will continue until shelling stops across all Syria, a rebel source in the Kazakh capital Astana told AFP. Syrian government and rebel delegations gathered on Wednesday for the start of a fourth round of talks sponsored by regime backers Russia and Iran and opposition supporter Turkey.

The latest round of negotiations began with a series of bilateral meetings and was set to focus on a Russian plan to establish de-escalation zones around the war-torn country.
On Saturday night, the distance between President Donald Trump and the reporters covering his administration was far greater than the 122 miles separating Washingtons annual White House Correspondents Association dinner from the Harrisburg, Pa., rally where he belittled journalists as he touted his record.

That gap graphically displayed the unfortunate division in todays bitter politics.

I could not possibly be more thrilled than to be more than 100 miles away from Washingtons swamp, spending my evening with all of you, and with a much, much larger crowd and much better people, right? the president told enthusiastic supporters in a region that helped him break the Democrats blue wall last November.

Taking credit for the term fake news, and assailing the overall media and such regular targets as CNN, MSNC, The New York Times and the Boston Globe, he said, Their priorities are not my priorities and not your priorities. If the medias job is to be honest and tell the truth, the media deserves a very, very big failing grade.

But at a dinner more reflective of the WHCAs journalistic roots than recent celebrity-laden events, President Jeff Mason of Reuters disputed Trumps criticism. We are not fake news, he told the sellout crowd of 2,636 reporters, editors, executives and news sources. We are not failing news organizations. And we are not the enemy of the American people.

The nights entertainer, Hasan Minhaj of Comedy Centrals The Daily Show, was more direct.

We gotta address the elephant thats not in the room, the young Indian-American comic began his pointedly anti-Trump bit. Alluding to Russian President Vladimir Putin, he joked, the leader of our country is in Moscow, but the other guy is in Pennsylvania because he cant take a joke.

That may well be one explanation why he skipped this traditional presidential showcase and the earlier Gridiron Club dinner, which features skits mocking politicians and the press. Trump misplayed a similar campaign event, New Yorks Al Smith Dinner, with nasty rejoinders toward opponent Hillary Clinton and the wealthy, mainly Catholic crowd, rather than the usual self-deprecating humor.

At Saturday nights Pennsylvania rally, resembling a 2016 campaign event or 2020 preview, Trump mixed anti-press invective with an overblown accounting of his record before a crowd, which photographs showed failed to fill the 7,600-seat arena.

Most was red meat, aimed at a base that loves Trump and distrusts the media. But there has always been hypocrisy in his anti-press rhetoric. A voracious follower of the papers he disdains and the cable networks he denigrates, Trump has always catered to journalists, including some from those targets.

Politico noted last week that Trump aides have been accessible to White House reporters, and, on the day his health bill was withdrawn, he initiated telephone interviews with The Washington Posts Robert Costa and The Times Maggie Haberman. Last week, he gave multiple interviews to mainstream organizations, including Reuters, where he presented three reporters, including Mason, with a map showing his electoral victory.

Throughout, Trump demonstrated his proclivity for exaggeration and hyperbole, calling his 100-day record in his weekly radio speech just about the most successful in our countrys history. Most media assessments were more mixed. The Posts Fact Checker, Glenn Kessler, wrote Sunday he has made 469 false or misleading claims.

The WHCA dinner definitely reflected Trumps impact. Traditionally, it has featured the president and first lady; this year, in Trumps absence, it celebrated the First Amendment.

Trump inaccurately said it included a large group of Hollywood actors like those who lately have overshadowed the fact the WHCA (which I headed in 1996) primarily advocates for working White House reporters.

This years biggest celebrities were journalistic icons Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who presented press awards and touted the verities of good journalism. Bernstein defined it as seeking the best obtainable version of the truth, adding that was always needed, especially now.

For most journalists, the Woodward-Bernstein view represents an ideal. And these annual press dinners are intended to bring together Washingtons journalistic and political communities in a way that reflects both the press view of its crucial place in public life and the attitude of presidents combining institutional respect for that role with personal dislike of its often critical coverage.

That balance has been sadly lacking this year with a president more determined to use the press as a political whipping boy than to show he understands its essential place in American life.

As Trump might tweet: Sad!
As I pointed out last week, when we got independence we were bequeathed a government that believed in the status quo as a means of uplifting the country. That status quo subsisted on incomes generated from a stagnating primary sector. Industrialising the country was therefore never a strong point with them, as can be seen by the fact that our debt-to-GDP ratio, which stood at 18% in 1948, would shoot up to 66% by 1966. While this can be attributed to the expansionary policies following the SLFPs victory in 1956, the truth is that the economy, even under the UNP, had been slugging at a growth rate of 3% in the fifties.

Uplifting the economy meant transforming it to an industrial hub. Because the private sector had largely subsisted on the extraction of raw material, this meant that the State had to play a role. Logically, that necessitated the expansion of the State. The political Right did not believe in expanding the State. For that reason, the task of industrialising the country was left largely to the Left. More pertinently, the Old Left. Which is where I get to the subject of my column.



When Colvin R. de Silva, N. M. Perera, and Philip Gunawardena began reforming the economy, they were vilified as trying to Sinofy or Russify the country. To date, this propaganda has worked: the Old Left is seen today by Right as having destroyed our potential to equal Singapore and by the nationalists as having destroyed the Sinhalese entrepreneurial spirit. I will get to the second indictment later. I am more concerned here with the first, because in it we see the self-contradictions of the post colonial bourgeoisie.

The LSSP and the Communist Party, with the spate of constitutional reforms initiated by the granting of the franchise in 1931, were given a historical role. This role had two sides: political and economic. I have outlined the first of these in my previous column. With the various splits (ideological and personal) that castrated these parties during the Second World War, however, they could implement any economic programme only through a monolithic party. That party was the SLFP, though it was Sirimavo Bandaranaike, not her husband, who saw in the Old Left an opportunity to revive a deteriorating industrial sector.

The Land Reform Act of 1972 was as much an economic necessity as it was a political response. To be sure, it was the governments way of asserting its socialist credentials after the first JVP insurrection. On the other hand, its detractors consider it as the cause of our economic downfall. What is forgotten here is that the LRA was actually a toned down version of the land ceilings imposed in East Asia (Japan, Taiwan, and Korea). I believe the numbers prove this: while in those other countries the ceiling was as low as two or three hectares, in Sri Lanka it was no less than 10.

I spoke the other day with the son of a prominent leftist politician from that era who rationalised the LRA with the following observation: It was necessary simply because Sri Lankans were investing in housing at the expense of productive investment. During the Second World War, the British gave concessions to Sri Lankans to start industries. Instead, they invested in housing.

"It was necessary simply because Sri Lankans were investing in housing at the expense of productive investment. During the Second World War, the British gave concessions to Sri Lankans to start industries. Instead, they invested in housing. This is why a state industrial sector became crucial, simply because local bourgeois investors wouldnt put their money into manufacturing."

This is why a state industrial sector became crucial, simply because local bourgeois investors wouldnt put their money into manufacturing. In other words, it was the Old Left that ironically took the role played by statist, rightwing regimes throughout East Asia with respect to industrialisation.

The failure of the Bandaranaike government to carry these reforms forward, incidentally, has less to do with the failure of the Old Left (inasmuch as it opportunistically caved into chauvinism) than with the shift in the Finance Ministry from N. M. Perera to Felix Dias Bandaranaike.

Perera was the closest we had to a J. K. Galbraith, though their political convictions were different: as H. L. D. Mahindapala noted in 1964 (before the SLFP was routed), if he was born in America, he might have earned a place in the Kennedy administration. Felix Dias was of a different mould: he brought in a blend of authoritarianism and cronyism. Colvin would later fault him for tilting the country to the rightwing excesses that rationalised J. R. Jayewardenes Open Economy, which to an extent is true.

By the end of his tenure, Felix had appropriated for himself a near-mythical, cartoonish image, the same image that Gamini Fonseka used to lampoon him in Sagarayak Meda (a film which, more than anything else, betrayed Fonsekas political convictions). That industrial production, which had increased by about 19% annually during the first Sirimavo Bandaranaike government, deteriorated gradually but discernibly after Pereras departure was only to be expected: Felix simply could not replicate Pereras reforms.

What most critics of the Old Left in Sri Lanka, whether they be nationalists or pragmatists, therefore miss out is that inasmuch as leftist economics was untenable at a time when neo- liberalism was on the rise, the Left here was combating a real, pertinent issue: the inability of our bourgeoisie to look beyond short-term profits and economic sectors which subsisted on those profits.

By the time J. R. Jayewardene won the presidency, Sirimavo Bandaranaike had wrested the land-based sector from that bourgeoisie. Earlier, for instance, it had been the norm for students from elite schools to join a plantation or an estate: after the LRA, those plantations and estates were opened to less privileged youth, which owing to inevitable class stratifications kept the elite and their children away. That is why the bourgeoisie looked for other channels of earning quick bucks after 1977. They found that channel, not in the industrial sector the previous regime had tried to get them into, but in the Pettah merchant who subsisted on (what else?) short-term profits. The shift from the landowner to the Pettah merchant reflected not only how stunted our bourgeoisie were, but also how incapable they were of aiding the economy even after a horde of tax havens, liberalised foreign exchange laws, and other schemes and incentives had been granted to them.

Moreover, given their slight tilt towards that bourgeoisie, its no wonder that even our nationalists, at least the more fiery among them, have an axe to grind with the Left. I leave that for a later column, but I will say this: in Sri Lanka, unlike in the West and the rest of our continent, Marxism and nationalism never really got together. For that, as with everything else Ive highlighted in this piece, we need to look at the post colonial bourgeoisie. Again.

UDAKDEV1@GMAIL.COM
While expressing its concern over Cabinet approval for a policy and legal framework relating to the proposed Counter-Terrorism Act, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) today urged the Government to reconsider and urgently reformulate its proposals.

We have not been consulted on the terms of the draft framework, which has recently appeared in the press and appears to be a Cabinet memorandum approved on 25th April 2017, TNA Spokesman MP M A Sumanthiran said in a statement.

We urge the Government to reconsider and urgently reformulate its proposals in light of the fundamental need to avoid torture and enforced disappearance, prevent abuse and effectively investigate actual threats to terrorism, he said.

The statement said;

We are shocked by the extent to which the draft framework curtails civil liberties, erodes judicial control over the state security apparatus and the staggering potential for abuse and torture. We are unequivocally committed to supporting a legal framework that would prevent and punish acts of terrorism in a manner that is lawful, in compliance with fundamental rights and the rule of law. To this end, we have engaged constructively in Parliament. We are therefore deeply perturbed by the turn the governments latest draft has taken.

We observe that the proposed definition of terrorism would extend far beyond activities defined internationally as terrorism, replicating restrictions on free speech that have previously been used to punish dissenting voices including politicians and journalists such as Asath Salley and J. S. Tissainayagam among others. The definitions are also exceedingly vague and indeterminate, and would have a chilling effect on advocacy in favour of greater diversity in Sri Lanka.

Moreover, the proposed framework envisages the unconstitutional stripping of judicial discretion even where a suspect is produced before a Magistrate after arrest, and renders the judge a virtual appendage of the executive arm. The safeguards which we believe are essential to prevent torturesuch as eliminating confessionswere initially assured, but have since been reversed. The present framework envisages the admissibility of confessions under certain conditions, which are deeply inadequate to prevent torture and abuse given the widespread and continuing practice of torture in Sri Lanka. Moreover, the Act also permits the extensive violation of the rights of those wholly unconnected with terrorism.

We urge the Government to reconsider and urgently reformulate its proposals in light of the fundamental need to avoid torture and enforced disappearance, prevent abuse and effectively investigate actual threats to terrorism. The proposed framework neither ensures the security nor the liberty of Sri Lankans. Instead, it represents an attempt to enlarge the scope of unchecked executive power over the citizen, stifle freedom of speech and diversity, and provide the necessary loopholes for continued torture and abuse. We wish to reiterate that the protection of the rights of our citizens--particularly given the legacy of horrific past abuses--should not be sacrificed on the altar of trade concessions.
US Congressman Bill Johnson will arrive in Sri Lanka soon to discuss and observe the reconciliation process.

Ahead of his visit, it is learnt that he met Sri Lankan Ambassador in Washington Prasad Kariyawasamm who tweeted that the visit would take place in support of Sri Lankas ongoing reconciliation process.

The US is the prime mover of the UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka calling for serious measures for reconciliation in the country. (Kelum Bandara)
Executive Order Promotes Religious Freedom

Contact: Liberty Counsel, 407-875-1776, Media@LC.org; Press Kit



WASHINGTON, May 4, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- President Trump signed an executive order today that promotes religious liberty throughout the federal agencies in general and in certain specific areas.

The executive order declares that it is the policy of the Administration to protect and vigorously promote religious liberty, directs the IRS to exercise maximum enforcement of discretion to alleviate the burden of the Johnson Amendment, and provides regulatory relief for religious objectors to Obamacare's burdensome preventive services mandate.

The Johnson Amendment, named for then-Senator Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas and enacted into law in 1954, restricts tax-exempt organizations, including churches and religious organizations, from endorsing or opposing candidates for elected office. The executive order will provide some relief by directing the IRS to relax its enforcement of the provision.

The executive order will also protect non-profit and religious organizations from the ObamaCare mandate that forced them to provide contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs and devices at no cost to the employees. For example, Little Sisters of the Poor, a group of nuns dedicated to serving the elderly and poor, and other religious ministries, have been forced to offer contraceptives and abortion inducing drugs and devices. This executive order will provide some relief to these religious groups.

"We commend President Trump for sending a message to Congress and the rest of America that religious freedom must be protected," said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. "This is an appropriate way to commemorate the National Day of Prayer as our President commits to protect and promote religious freedom," said Staver.

Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.
WCC Pays Tribute to Pauline Webb, First Woman Vice-Moderator

Contact: World Council of Churches, +41-79-507-6363; www.oikoumene.org/press



GENEVE, May 4, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- Dr Pauline Webb, a British Methodist laywoman, multi-talented Christian communicator and ecumenical statesperson, died at the age of 89 on 27 April 2017 in Muswell Hill, London.



Photo: Dr Pauline Webb speaking at the WCC 8th Assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe, 1998

From the 4th Assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC) at Uppsala in 1968 through the 5th Assembly at Nairobi in 1975, she was the first woman to serve as vice-moderator of the WCC's governing bodies.

Webb was best-known in the English-speaking world as a communicator on radio and television. From 1979 until retirement in 1987, she was organizer of religious broadcasting for the BBC World Service. The author of many books and articles, and co-editor of the Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement [1991, 2002], she produced an autobiography aptly titled World Wide Webb: Memoirs of Life in the Universal Church (2006).

Her wide-ranging interests are reflected in articles she assigned herself in the Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement on the topics of communication, intercession, women in church and society, as well as biographical sketches of the WCC's first director of Faith and Order, Lukas Vischer, and former WCC general secretaries Philip Potter and Konrad Raiser.

Webb considered Potter her ecumenical mentor, and on the occasion of his retirement she edited a Festschrift, or book of articles in his honour, entitled Faith and Faithfulness (WCC Publications, 1984).

A commissioned lay preacher, she spent her early career on the staff of the British Methodist Church Overseas Division with responsibilities in the Caribbean and Latin America. In 1965-66, she served as vice-president of the Methodist Conference.

Webb was WCC vice-moderator at the time of the first papal visit to Geneva, undertaken by Paul VI in June 1969. During his historic appearance in the Ecumenical Centre, the pope was welcomed by Webb, WCC moderator M.M. Thomas and general secretary Eugene Carson Blake.

Her skills as a communicator were put to the test in her courageous defense of the WCC Programme to Combat Racism (PCR), an outgrowth of the Uppsala Assembly. This programme became particularly controversial within and outside the churches for its opposition to apartheid in southern Africa.

Baldwin Sjollema, first director of the PCR, offered this response to the news of her passing: "Pauline has been for me a very special friend and also a comrade in arms in the WCC and its struggle against racism. Many battles in the WCC Central Committee, when she was the first female vice-moderator, and in the WCC's Programme to Combat Racism, were 'won' because of her tough stance, her strong convictions and her faith in justice. She never lost hope in the most difficult situations and often helped me not to give up but to continue the battle."

Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, the general secretary of the WCC, said: "We owe a great debt of gratitude to Pauline Webb for her faithful service. We thank God for her gifts and especially for her unparalleled contribution to the World Council of Churches and to Christians everywhere. She was an agent of hope, not least for her championing of women in church and in society."

Video tribute to Pauline Webb

High resolution photos available free of charge to illustrate this article.

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 348 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 550 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway.
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!
UniFirst Corporation provides workplace uniforms and protective work wear clothing in the United States, Europe, and Canada. The company operates through U.S. and Canadian Rental and Cleaning, Manufacturing, Specialty Garments Rental and Cleaning, and First Aid segments. It designs, manufactures, personalizes, rents, cleans, delivers, and sells a range of uniforms and protective clothing, including shirts, pants, jackets, coveralls, lab coats, smocks, and aprons; and specialized protective wear, such as flame resistant and high visibility garments. The company also rents and sells industrial wiping products, floor mats, facility service products, and dry and wet mops; restroom and cleaning supplies comprising air fresheners, paper products, gloves, masks, sanitizers, and hand soaps; and other textile products. In addition, it provides first aid cabinet services and other safety supplies; decontaminates and cleans work clothes, and other items that is exposed to radioactive materials; and services special cleanroom protective wear and facilities. Further, it offers a range of garment service options, including full-service rental programs in which garments are cleaned and serviced; lease programs in which garments are cleaned and maintained by individual employees; and purchase programs to buy garments and related items directly. The company serves automobile service centers and dealers, delivery services, food and general merchandise retailers, food processors and service operations, light manufacturers, maintenance facilities, restaurants, service companies, soft and durable goods wholesalers, transportation companies, healthcare providers, government agencies, research and development laboratories, high technology companies, and utilities operating nuclear reactors, as well as others who require employee clothing for image, identification, protection, or utility purposes. UniFirst Corporation was founded in 1936 and is headquartered in Wilmington, Massachusetts.
BT Group plc provides communications services worldwide. Its Consumer segment sells telephones, baby monitors, and Wi-Fi extenders through high street retailers, online BT Shop, and Website BT.com; and offers home phone, copper and fiber broadband, TV, and mobile services in various packages. The company's EE segment offers 2G, 3G, and 4G mobile network services; broadband, fixed-voice, and TV services; and postpaid and prepaid plans, and emergency services network. This segment also sells 4G mobile phones, tablets, connected devices, and mobile broadband devices from various manufacturers. Its Business and Public Sector segment provides fixed voice, mobility, fiber and connectivity, and networked IT services to retailers, utilities, public sector, healthcare, sports, construction, finance, and educational sectors. The company's Global Services segment offers business communications and ICT services comprising BT Connect, BT Security, BT One, BT Contact, BT Compute, BT Advise, and BT for financial markets. This segment serves approximately 5,500 customers in 180 countries. Its Wholesale and Ventures segment enables communications providers and other organizations to provide fixed or mobile phone services. Its ventures provide mass-market services, such as directory enquiries and payphones; and enterprise services comprising BT Fleet and BT Redcare. This segment also provides broadband and Ethernet, voice, hosted communication, mobile virtual network operator, managed solutions, machine-to-machine, roaming, and media services. The company's Openreach segment engages in the provision of services over the local access network; and installation and maintenance of fiber and copper communications networks that connect homes and businesses. The company was formerly known as Newgate Telecommunications Limited and changed its name to BT Group plc in September 2001. BT Group plc was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.
Trinity Industries, Inc. provides rail transportation products and services under the TrinityRail name in North America. It operates in two segments, Railcar Leasing and Management Services Group, and Rail Products Group. The Railcar Leasing and Management Services Group segment leases freight and tank railcars; originates and manages railcar leases for third-party investors; and provides fleet maintenance and management services. As of December 31, 2021, it had a fleet of 106,970 owned or leased railcars. This segment serves industrial shipper and railroad companies operating in agriculture, construction and metals, consumer products, energy, and refined products and chemicals markets. The Rail Products Group segment manufactures freight and tank railcars for transporting various liquids, gases, and dry cargo; and offers railcar maintenance and modification services. This segment serves railroads, leasing companies, and industrial shippers of products in the agriculture, construction and metals, consumer products, energy, and refined products and chemicals markets. It sells or leases products and services through its own sales personnel and independent sales representatives. Trinity Industries, Inc. was incorporated in 1933 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
An Amherst woman is accused of drunk driving and eluding police after driving the wrong way on U.S. 29 and crashing into the vehicle of a Virginia State Police trooper.

Mary C. Tenhoopen-Jones, 75, faces charges of driving under the influence, refusing to a take a breath test, reckless driving, eluding police, driving the wrong way and failing to update her personal information.

According to police, officers received multiple reports of a car driving the wrong way on U.S. 29 just before 10 p.m. Tuesday. The reports began in Amherst County and continued into Nelson County. On two separate occasions, police said, the car came close to hitting police vehicles  one belonging to a Nelson County Sheriffs deputy, the other to Virginia State Police Trooper T.A. Hackenbracht  that were driving in the southbound lane of U.S. 29 in search of the wrong-way driver.

The chase ended near the intersection with Route 56, where Hackenbracht used his vehicle to block the path of Tenhoopen-Jones car, a 2013 Mercedes-Benz.

Although the troopers lights and sirens were on, the driver of the Mercedes struck his vehicle at about 20 mph. Tenhoopen-Jones accelerated and tried to keep going, police said, but the obstruction gave Hackenbracht enough time to reach into her car and shift out of the drive gear. The car then rolled backward into a highway sign, according to police.

No injuries from the incident were reported. Tenhoopen-Jones was taken into custody afterward and has since been released from the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail. State police say the case is still under investigation.
At its meeting Wednesday night, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors was informed of a new law that could potentially allow the county courthouses to be moved without a public vote.

House Bill 2313, which passed through the 2017 General assembly without any nay votes, adds to the Code of Virginia that, in the case of the removal of a county courthouse that is not located in a city or town and is not being relocated to a city or town, such removal shall not require a petition or approval by the voters.

In November, supervisors voted to direct staff to explore options that would move the court facilities to a new location in the county, outside of Court Square in the city.

County Attorney Greg Kamptner spoke about the legislation, which will go into effect July 1, to the board during a review of the 2017 General Assembly session and update on legislative priorities.

Kamptner said the bill was introduced by Republican Del. Margaret Ransone because of an issue in King George County.

When a supervisor asked if the Albemarle Circuit Court was on land owned by the county, Kamptner told the board that its on county property, and its also on land that was never annexed or, by statute, put within the limits of the city.

So, this does apply to us? asked Supervisor Ann H. Mallek.

A collective yes was answered from Kamptner and other board members.

Kamptner said it could be considered as part of the boards examination of the possible options for moving the court facilities.

David W. Thomas, an attorney with MichieHamlett, said that the countys interpretation of the new law is incorrect. HB2313 doesnt permit the Board of Supervisors to end-run the will of the voters and move the circuit court without a petition, he said in an email to Charlottesville Tomorrow.  I imagine that any attempt by the board to seize on a perceived technicality and relocate the courthouse without the approval of the citizens of Albemarle County would be met with a challenge.

When asked earlier this week about the hiring process of the consultant to look at moving the courts that the board approved in December, Assistant County Executive Lee Catlin said the county is in the final stage of selection.

We expect to do an update on status to the board in June, she said in an email.

Later at the board meeting, it was announced that Catlin will be retiring, effective Nov. 1.

Interim County Executive Doug Walker said he received Catlins letter of retirement on Monday and read excerpts of it to the board.

While I look forward to this transition to the next phase of my life, I also reflect very fondly on my 25-year tenure with the county, beginning as community resources specialist for the county police department in 1992, and moving through various roles in the county executives office, Walker read from Catlins letter.

She then became community relations manager in the county executives office in 1994, according to a news release from the county.

She was named assistant to the county executive for business and community partnerships in 2010 and assistant county executive in 2014. She also has served as a county spokeswoman.

I sincerely appreciate the many opportunities provide to me, and I have found my public service career to be inspiring, stimulating and personally and professionally meaningful on many levels, the letter said.

Catlins husband, Wayne Cilimberg, retired from the position of director of planning for the county in May 2016, a position he had been in for nearly 27 years.

We shouldve never let Wayne leave because youre just going home to have lunch with him every day, joked board Chairwoman Diantha McKeel.

Walker said that the process for filling the vacancy will begin after the hiring of a new county executive later this summer.

You all are in a very important process, youre picking the most important person for the leadership of this county for a very long time, and I wanted you to be fully aware of what your team was gonna look like when you were making that decision, Catlin said at the meeting. I felt that was only fair to you all and would help you get to the best result.
University of Virginia and Virginia State Police are looking for a 74-year-old man who went missing from the UVa Medical Center on April 28.

Wallace Newell Jr. is described as a 6-foot-1-inch-tall white man who weighs 190 pounds. He is possibly wearing a purple or red short-sleeved T-shirt, khaki pants, white sneakers and a blue or denim light jacket or long-sleeved shirt.

Newell suffers from a cognitive impairment and his physical safety may be in danger, police said.

He may be driving a white Oldsmobile Bravada with an Ohio license plate number of FKL7870.

UVa police asked state police to issue a Senior Alert on Thursday afternoon, six days after Newell went missing. A university police spokesman said he would have more information about the timeline on Friday morning.

Anyone with information about Newells whereabouts is asked to call (434) 924-7166.
New Delhi: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is pinning hopes on upcoming SUV Jeep Compass to turnaround fortunes of its struggling Indian operations with plans to make the country an export hub to global right hand drive markets.

The Compass will be the first model from the Jeep range to be produced in India and is slated to hit the domestic market in the third quarter of this calendar year. "Compass is the key that unlocks our future here I India," FCA India President and Managing Director Kevin Flynn told PTI.

While the domestic market will be important, he said the company has tweaked its business model in India with exports to be given equal importance so that it is able to utilise capacity at its manufacturing plant.

The model will be produced at Ranjangaon plant, which is a 50:50 joint venture with Tata Motors. It has a capacity to produce 1.6 lakh units and 3.5 lakh engines. FCA has invested USD 280 million at the plant to support local production of Jeep.

"We will be looking at right hand drive markets for export of Compass. The initial markets that we have shortlisted are Japan, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa," Flynn said.

While the Compass could take more of the plant capacity, he said there would also be room for other products. "The success of the Compass project will determine what models would we consider to take up under the new strategy in future," he said.

Flynn said the Indian plant is the only one among the four global manufacturing units of FCA that will roll out right hand drive models. He said the company has also been focusing on local sourcing of components in India.

Other global manufacturers such as Ford and General Motors had also changed their strategy and started giving focus on exports from India. While he did not elaborate on future product plans, in 2014 FCA had announced plans to launch 12 models in India in five years and start producing models from the Jeep brand in the country by 2015. However, it was revised later.

The roll out of Compass from Ranjangaon this year will mark the first model from the brand to be produced from India. FCA has been struggling in the Indian market. Its sales in 2016 declined by 24.71 per cent to 6,785 units as compared to 9,013 units sold in 2015. The company's other brand Fiat has also been unable to make a mark in the market here.

Admitting the struggles of the brand, Flynn said the Indian market has rapidly evolved and there was a need for "freshness" in the Fiat product line up.
Number of folios rose to a record 5,53,99,631 at the end of March 2017, from 4,76,63,024 at the end of March 2016.

New Delhi: Mutual fund houses added over 77 lakh investor accounts in 2016-17, taking the total tally to a record 5.54 crore on growing interest of retail as well as HNI investors. In comparison, 59 lakh folios were added in the preceding fiscal.

In the last two years, investor accounts have increased following robust contribution from smaller towns. Folios are numbers designated to individual investor accounts, though an investor can have multiple ones.

According to data from Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) on total investor accounts with 42 active fund houses, the number of folios rose to a record 5,53,99,631 at the end of March 2017, from 4,76,63,024 at the end of March 2016, a gain of 16 per cent or 77.37 lakh.

Growing participation from retail as well as HNI (high networth individuals) categories have helped in raising overall investor accounts, FundsIndia.com Head of Mutual Fund Research Vidya Bala said.

Individually, HNIs' folios rose by 39 per cent to 25.12 lakh. Last fiscal saw a surge in the number of retail investor accounts, which comprises equity, equity-linked saving schemes and balanced categories, by 15 per cent to 5.23 crore.

"The fiscal year 2016-17 saw retail and HNI folios touching the highs of March 2010. These folios took almost six years to get back to the March 2010 levels of 4.76 crore. They crossed this mark in June 2016 and as of March 2017 stood at 5.48 crore," she added.

Overall, the country's mutual fund industry managed an asset base of over Rs 18 lakh crore. It is likely to cross Rs 20 lakh crore in the current fiscal. Mutual funds are investment vehicles made up of a pool of funds collected from a large number of investors. The funds are invested in stocks, bonds and money market instruments, among others.
According to an article published in Reserve Bank of India's journal in 2005, it was reported that in India thousands of crores earned in interest is kept in suspended accounts.

New Delhi: The SBI has declined to share the quantum of money lying in suspended bank accounts in which the interest amount of customers, who do not claim it due to religious reasons, is kept.

Replying to an RTI query, the State Bank of India (SBI) said it does not maintain such information in its database "in normal course of business and extraction of the same will be voluminous and time taking activity".

"We, therefore, decline your application under Section 7 (9) of RTI Act as the information sought by you is likely to divert disproportionately the resources of the bank," it said in reply to the application filed by PTI.

The section bars disclosure of information which would disproportionately divert the resources of the public authority or would be detrimental to the safety or preservation of the record in question.

The bank was asked to provide details of suspended accounts including their total number and amount lying in them. It was also asked to share details of guidelines to deal with such amount of interest.

The interest money which is not claimed by people due to religious obligations is kept in suspended bank accounts. According to an article published in Reserve Bank of India's journal in 2005, it was reported that in India thousands of crores earned in interest is kept in suspended accounts.

"Research reveals that a handsome bulk of money in India owned by believers is lying idle, which if invested in profit sharing basis and utilised properly, can have a major impact on the Indian economy," reads the article.

As an initiative towards the introduction of Islamic banking in India, a single window can be set up in banks like SBI to do Islamic banking.

"This can tap the unused money lying idle that can be utilised for the economic and social benefit of the nation," it had suggested.

In 2008, a committee on financial sector reforms, headed by former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, had stressed on the need for a closer look at the issue of interest-free banking in the country.

Replying to another application under the transparency law, the RBI had recently said there was no deadline for introduction of Sharia or interest-free banking in India. Islamic or Sharia banking is a finance system based on the principles of not charging interest which is prohibited under Islam.
New Delhi: Amendments to the Banking Regulation Act would help in effectively resolving the bad loans problem, Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa said today.

"It is not possible for me to put down a number on how this (non-performing assets or NPAs) will go down but certainly we feel that these changes will make the system more effective in handling the bad loans," he told reporters here.

The Cabinet yesterday approved promulgation of an ordinance to amend the Banking Regulation Act for resolution of the NPA crisis. Lavasa said on the back of professionalism that exists in the country's banking system and with the participation of the promoters themselves, "we should be able to reach resolution in many of the cases".

The amendments would enable regulator Reserve Bank and lenders to take effective steps to deal with problem of NPAs, he said.

After discussing the issue with stakeholders, the government came to the conclusion that some changes were necessary in the statute to effectively deal with mounting bad loans in the banking sector, he said. Lavasa, however, did not disclose the details of the proposed amendments.

He further said there is enough appetite in the market to buy stressed assets. "We should not judge the capacity that is there in the market because people do have appetite for investment in the Indian market. India is probably one of the best destinations for investment at this point of time," he added.

He further said the NPA situating has not worsened in the recent past and there has been marked improvement in some of the infrastructure sectors like power and road.
RBI has limited or no powers when it comes to tackling bad loans.

Mumbai: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared an Ordinance proposing amendment in the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 that empowers the Reserve Bank of India to license banks and work as a banking regulator.

The amendment has been brought into the Act to give RBI more powers to tackle the mammoth Rs 6 lakh crore non-performing assets that the banking sector is presently staring at.

Some other estimates put these bad loans or stressed assets faced mostly by public sector banks at a figure larger than that. The RBI or for that matter various banks have so far failed to tame the bull of stressed assets.

Last time when the Act was amended was in 1965 when the government wanted cooperative banks to be incorporated under its purview and put in place a few more other changes.

The Ordinance which was cleared on Wednesday has already been dispatched to President Pranab Mukherjee for his assent, and the government will be able to enforce the changed law once it gets Presidential nod.

So, how do the central bank in tandem with banks would be able to tackle the huge stockpile of over Rs 6 lakh croe worth of bad loans? Here are few points that will explain the redressal of stressed assets.

1) RBI that presently regulates banks (or bank companies) would get more 'direct' powers to deal with bad loans as presently it cannot interfere in the matter in its capacity as a banking regulator.

2) The amendment in Banking Regulation Act will involve change in Section 35 which at present deals with powers of inspection for the RBI, according to a report in Mint. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley withheld details of the changed draft as it was not possible before a final nod from the President.

3) The RBI may appoint an oversight committee that will comprise representatives from the central bank. The committee will also take care of concerns shown by banks over probable probe by vigilance agencies.

4) The Mint report adds that there is a scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets or S4A that provides for setting up of an oversight committee that will have "eminent persons" named by Indian Banking Association in consultation with RBI.

5) Interference of RBI in resolution of vexed issue of bad loans it is likely that would accelerate the redressal process. But at the same time, according to Mint report, its intervention may raise conflict on interest as "regulators are at an arms length from the commercial decisions of the entities they regulate".
India has very strong potential but its markets should be more integrated.

Yokohama: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) today lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's effort of integrating indirect taxes through the GST, even as it wants the Indian market to be more "deregulated" and FDI friendly to realise the true potential.

Ahead of its 50th annual meeting to be attended by the finance ministers and central bank governors of the member nations, ADB President Takehiko Nakao said unlike China, India is yet to reach its full potential.

ADB has forecast India's economic growth rate at 7.4 per cent in the current fiscal year, up from 7.1 per cent in the previous year, and pegged 7.6 per cent for the next fiscal.

"India has very strong potential but its markets should be more integrated. The power of state governments must be balanced with the Central government's power," he told reporters here.

Without explaining what he meant by the integrated market, Nakao said, "An integrated Indian market, which is more deregulated and more welcoming to foreign direct investments, should be linked to other parts of Asia and the world."

Market integration, by definition, occurs when prices among different locations or related goods follow similar patterns over a long period of time.

He said the emerging orientation in developed nations like the US for protectionism on trade is not affecting Asian growth and certainly has not been a factor in deciding India's growth projections.

"ADB's forecast on India doesn't include that kind of an element and the growth rate is forecast at 7.4 per cent (this year) and 7.6 per cent next year," he said.

The ADB president said there was an impact of the Indian government's demonetisation decision, which took 86 per cent of currency out from circulation.

"But that is now stable," he added. "Prime Minister Modi's effort of integrating tax system by the GST (Goods and Services Tax) is being implemented. So, the reform impetus is gathering more momentum," he added.

On protectionism, he said one of the reasons Asian economies have been growing is that they have enjoyed from open free trade system and Asian countries have made efforts shifting from more interventionist to enterprise focused.

"Of course, a free trade is important basis for growth... protectionist is staring hard on Asia," he said.

The impact of new agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the UK exiting the European Union will have to be watched out for, he said.

"I think there are many efforts also to make trade system more open including the RCEP," Nakao said. Also, there are efforts to strike bilateral deals, which he said, were not a "major threat."

"My short answer at this moment is, I don't think protectionism is affecting our growth projections although we must make efforts to keep up the momentum of further opening of trade," the ADB president said.
Mumbai: Fame and success can be the cause of relationships dying a slow death and Bollywood is one such classic example. Nidhi Agarwal, who is debuting opposite Tiger Shroff in Munna Michael, has already found love in her co-star and these two are apparently a thing now.

If rumours are anything to go by, Nidhi has severed all ties with her now former Bangalore based boyfriend to be with the new man in her life. Tiger, too, has always maintained that the entire buzz about him dating newbie Disha Patani is baseless and that they hold each other in high regard as friends.

Well, as far as the equation between these three- Tiger Shroff, Disha Patani and Nidhi Agarwal- is concerned, the truth behind their relationships with one another will always be a mystery to us outsiders.

Directed by Sabbir Khan, Munna Michael is a tribute to the now deceased legend Michael Jackson and has Nawazuddin Siddiqui and debutant Nidhi Agarwal in crucial roles.
Mumbai: Ranbir Kapoor, who's easily among the bigger stars from the younger crop of Bollywood, has always been choosy when it comes to selecting his brand endorsements. There were also reports of the actor turning down a lucrative fairness cream deal, recently.

But now, the actor has joined a popular inner wear brand as its ambassador.

A close source to Ranbir reveals, Ranbir has been signed in as a new brand ambassador of an inner wear brand which Hrithik is endorsing since last ten years. The actor had also shot for its television commercial which is high on sexual content. The ad is on the theme of a one night stand.

With Ranveer Singhs overtly extrovert image, looks like Ranbir who used to be in his own cocoon is trying hard to break his image and give tough competition to his scariest contemporary.
Mumbai: Sushant shot for the last schedule of 'Raabta' in Amritsar early this year. The talented actor had shot for a high energy peppy song, 'Saada Move' which showcases famous spots of Amritsar. The song also encapsulates the vibe and culture of the city beautifully.

The shoot of the song was done guerrilla style where Sushant is captured in fields, on the top of buses, riding cycle rickshaws etc. The song is high on energy and very catchy.

"Dinesh wanted this song to have the vibe of the city and so we decided to shoot it at real locations. We figured that the trick is that before even one person realizes you have to shoot and leave the spot. Everything had to be very well planned. It was challenging but a lot of fun," Sushant said.

Saada Move is a song featuring Sushant alone. It is his introductory song and so, Kriti was not present during the shoot of this song. Now that the duo are going to kick start promotions, by mere coincidence the first city they have visited is Amritsar.

Sushant is taking Kriti around to places and making her experience the flavour of Amritsar, first hand. The duo visited a dhaba and had sugar cane juice. They also interacted with a few locals.

Raabta starring Sushant Singh Rajput, Kriti Sanon and Jim Sarbh marks the debut of Dinesh Vijan as a director. Produced by Dinesh Vijan, Bhushan Kumar and Homi Adajania the film is set to release on June 09.
On April 28, they left for Australia in a fibre boat arranged by the duo, but were detained by Sri Lankan Coast Guard at Kangesanthurai Port there. (Photo: AFP)

Thanjavur: Four Indians and 30 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar have been booked for allegedly undertaking an illegal voyage to Australia in a boat via Sri Lanka from this district, police said on Wednesday.

Following information on arrest of the refugees in Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu police had launched a probe and found that the boat used for the illegal transportation was from Adirampattinam, they said.

Further investigations revealed that the 30 Rohingya refugees had come from Myanmar in 2013 and were registered as refugees in India. They came to Tamil Nadu last year and have been residing in Adirampattinam since January last, police said. In an effort to migrate to Australia, they had allegedly contacted one Abdul Rasheed and Habeeb Rahman of Adiramapattinam.

On April 28, they left for Australia in a fibre boat arranged by the duo, but were detained by Sri Lankan Coast Guard at Kangesanthurai Port there.

Meanwhile, Adirampattinam Marine police had on May 2 registered a case under various sections of Foreigners Act, Passport Act, and IPC against the 30 foreigners and the four Indians including Abdul and Habeeb.

Subsequently, the case was transferred to Adirampattinam police for further investigations, they said. Abdul Rasheed, Habeeb Rahman and some others were detained for interrogation, they added.
The police are still investigating the matter. (Representational Image)

New Delhi: A Central Reserve Police Force ( CRPF) jawan Sanjay Bagh was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Odishas Balangir town on Thursday. The body was found near the college in Chandanvati's Loisinga block.

However, the family members of the jawan and local people claim that he has been murdered. The enraged locals took to the streets to demand a thorough investigation, by blocking the roads.

The Balangir Sadar police reached the spot and are investigating the matter.
Mallya, who has been living in Britain since last year, was arrested by Scotland Yard last month on India's extradition request. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: India today asked the United Kingdom to ensure early extradition of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya who is facing cases of bank loan default to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore by his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi raised the issue of early completion of the extradition process of Mallya, during his talks here with his UK counterpart Patsy Wilkinson, the second permanent secretary in the the British Home Office.

The issue of presence of certain Sikh militant elements in the UK, sharing of intelligence inputs on a real-time basis particularly with regard to the ISIS - both from ISIS-held territories, and modules being busted in the UK and Europe, were discussed at the two-hour-long meeting, official sources said.

Counter-terror cooperation between India and Britain besides a host of other issues figured in the parleys were also discussed. Matters relating to the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, strengthening of the intelligence-sharing mechanism and visa- related issues were also deliberated upon, the sources said.

61-year-old Mallya, who has been living in Britain since last year, was arrested by Scotland Yard last month on India's extradition request. Within hours of his arrest, Mallya, who is accused of cheating and fraud, was released on bail by a London court.

The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will argue the case on behalf of the Indian authorities when it comes before the court. Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines allegedly owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016.

India and the UK have an extradition treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement - that of Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was sent back to India last October to face trial for his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.

However, unlike Mallya, Patel had submitted to the extradition order without legal challenge. India had given a formal extradition request for Mallya as per the extradition treaty between India and the UK through a note verbale, a diplomatic communication, on February 8.

The Union home secretary lauded the UK's effort to extradite Mallya and conveyed that New Delhi will help London to pursue the case in the UK court.

The sources said India told the UK delegation that if one-on-one contact can be established between the prosecuting agency in India and the Crown Prosecution or Department of Prosecution, then it would be faster and easier to put up evidence before the judge concerned.

India will inform the UK about the proceedings or hearings happening in the cases of wanted criminals by the UK in India and wants the UK to reciprocate in similar cases.

Both sides agreed that India and the UK will sign an MoU in July on reworking the agreement on security cooperation. India also offered to drop cases registered against one Bangladeshi national, who is lodged in Assam, so that he can be extradited to the UK.

In return, sources said, India expects reciprocity that if people wanted by New Delhi are mired in any British case, those should be dropped and extradition facilitated.
ISI agent Aftab Ali arrested in a joint operation by Mumbai Police and UP ATS on Wednesday. (Photo: ANI | Twitter)

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh 's Additional Director General (ADG), law and order, Aditya Mishra on Thursday said that suspected Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agent Aftab Ali was lured into the network by Pakistan High commission officials.

"Ali was in touch with an official in the Pakistan embassy in Delhi. He had been allegedly approached by ISI operatives over the phone in 2014 after his visa to meet his relatives in Pakistan was rejected by the high commission three times," Mishra told Media.

Mishra informed that Ali had apparently confessed during the questioning that he got into spying as it helped him earn easy money.

A tip-off by Ali helped the ATS to arrest another ISI agent Altaf Bhai Qureshi from Mumbai.

"Qureshi was in the hawala trade and provided money to Ali for sharing crucial information with his ISI handlers," Mishra added.

Ali visited Pakistan twice since, in 2014 and 2016 respectively.

The ISI operatives also provided him with other facilities paid him some money when he was returning to India after a few months stay.

The suspects will soon be brought to Lucknow for further interrogation.

The arrest comes weeks after the Uttar Pradesh police had issued a warning of a possible attack in the state by ISI-trained agents.
The impact of the crash was such that half of the car got stuck in the lorry

Bengaluru: A marriage party of seven friends who were travelling from Bengaluru to Sagar in Shivamogga district to attend a friend's wedding, died in a horrific car crash on Wednesday midnight at Muddinakoppa Tree Park near Tyavarekoppa, 10 km from Shivamogga.

All the seven occupants were crushed to death after the car they were travelling in collided with a lorry loaded with timber logs from behind. The impact of the crash was such that half of the car got jammed in the lorry. It took around three hours for fire force officials to cut through the vehicle to extricate the bodies.

The deceased have been identified as Madhu (26) and his brother Praveen Kumar (25), both residents of Magadi in Ramanagara district, Mallesh (29) of Mandya, Shridhar (24) of Jalahalli, Rajashekhar (25) of Soraba in Shivamogga district, Raghvendra (25) of Shikaripura in Shivamogga district and Manjunath (25) of Choradi in Shivamogga taluk. All the seven deceased were friends and were working in Bengaluru.

On Wednesday evening, all the seven friends left Bengaluru in an Innova car to attend their friend Venkateshs wedding which was scheduled for Thursday. They were only a few kilometres away from the destination when the fatal car accident happened.

One of the causes of the accident, police said, was overspeeding of the car and absence of reflectors on the back side of the lorry. With no reflectors at the back, there was no way the driver of the car could have noticed the lorry in front. As it was an uphill road, the car driver could not judge the speed of the lorry as he approached it, the police told Deccan Chronicle.

The bodies of the deceased have been sent for post-mortem. The police are awaiting the report to ascertain if it wasicle.The bodies of the deceased have been sent for post-mortem. The police are awaiting the report to ascertain if it was a case of drunken driving.
The government has clearly instructed that verification of sources of demonetised currency only through mail. All other forms of contact, either over phone or through direct physical interaction, are prohibited.

Chennai: Don't panic if you receive a letter from the 'Income-Tax department' by post asking you to appear before an officer by May 15 for an enquiry in connection with your cash deposit during the demonetisation period.

Chances are there you are being tricked by a conman who has faked the emblem and letterhead of the Income-Tax department with a view to extract some money from the gullible. The fraudulent act came to light recently through a chartered account whose client had received a letter with 'Sub: enquiry of tax evasion by you with RBI for fiscal year 2015/2016 - matter regarding' claiming to be dispatched from the I-T department.

Made aware of such a letter circulating, Income-Tax officials are warning people not to fall prey to the evil designs of tricksters. Of course it is obvious that the conmen were working overtime to draft and send such letter that is very similar to an official letter, if one looks at it through a common man's eyes. But a trained eye can detect the flaws in the letter. Don't call up the phone number given in the letter, an official warned.

Basically the idea is to intimidate the recipient of the letter and force that person to call the number given in the letter. Once you call the given number then the person on the other side will convince you for a personnel meeting so that he could further intimidate you saying that you have committed fraud and not disclosed all your income besides evading tax. The idea is to force you to strike a deal with the 'I-T' officer and finally you end up paying him illegally to get rid of a non-existing income-tax trap, an official noted.

The letter says it is from the ITDD (investigation). The letter carries a revenue stamp. If it is IT notice, there is no need for a revenue stamp. A revenue stamp usually comes with a receipt issued by the government. The email id given is a fake one. All email of income tax department will end in @incometax.gov.in.

The language of the letter may look like that of an official letter, but it is certainly not income- tax department language. The department never writes 'evade'. The action year is stated as 2015-16, but demonetisation happened in the year 2016-17. The government has also instructed that verification of sources of demonetised currency should be only through e-mail and all forms of contact over phone or physical interaction are prohibited, official noted.

Why is this letter fake?
Chennai: In daring day light robbery, an armed gang posing as government officials, hijacked a city bound truck carrying 26 barrels of ashtma medicines worth Rs 2 crore after inflicting cut injuries on driver and gunman on Thursday evening near Sunguvachatriam bypass on Bengaluru - Chennai road in neighbouring Kancheepuram district.

Police said the incident happened around 4 pm on Thursday when truck driver Sekhar, 40, stopped his vehicle after being intercepted by the gang traveling in a Bolero jeep.

The gang members initially acted like they were government officials checking the documents but suddenly they attacked gunman Venkitesan, 38 and driver with sickles before hijacking the truck. The empty truck was later found a place called Mapedu, 8 km away from the scene of hijack. Police believe that gang could have used another truck and shifted all the barrels of medicine, belonging to Malladi Drugs and Pharmaceuticals, to another truck and escaped.

The large quantity of medicine was on its way from the company's production facility on Ranipet in Vellore to Chennai when the incident happened. Kancheepuram SP Santhosh Hadimani had rushed to the scene and conducted investigation.
COIMBATORE: The BJP president Mr. Amit Shahji, would visit the textile city of Coimbatore for two days from May 11, in a bid to strengthen the saffron party. Briefing reporters here on his programme on Wednesday, Ms. Vanathi Srinivasan,

Vice-president of BJPs Tamil Nadu unit, made clear that Amit Shahjis visit was part of his 95-day pan-India tour. The aim of this tour is to expand and strengthen the presence of the BJP across India, Ms. Vanathi said.

The BJP president on the second day of his visit on May 12 would meet leading industrialists, educationists, entrepreneurs, heads and representatives of various associations, trade and industry bodies. About 2,000 VIPs are expected to attend this meeting, she said.

In view of the upcoming local body elections in Tamil Nadu, one of the journalists asked Ms. Vanathi if BJP was adopting backdoor route to come to power in the state. Pat came her reply: this state lacks a stable leadership. The aim of the BJP is transparent governance and development of the people of this country.

Following demonetisation, the I-T department has conducted raids across the country. It is wrong to say that such raids are motivated by the BJP in Tamil Nadu.

Also there is enough proof that a member from the ruling party from Tamil Nadu has attempted to offer one of the election officials money, in exchange to hold on to a party symbol.

It was reported that the arrest of those involved in this act was motivated by the BJP. Only those who are trying to defame the BJP are spreading such rumors (about BJP) among the public. I would like to reiterate that this state lacks a stable leader and it is time for a political change to happen in Tamil Nadu.
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday ruled that no death sentence will be given to three out of 11 people convicted of raping Bilkis Bano, 19-year-old pregnant woman, and murdering seven of her family members in the aftermath of the Godhra riots in 2002.

A mob had attacked Bilkis' family at Randhikpur village near Ahmedabad during the post-Godhra riots on March 3, 2002.

Terming it as rarest of rare case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had sought death penalty for three of the 11 convicts on the ground that they were the main perpetrators of the crime.

CBI had alleged that the three men had raped five-month pregnant Bilkis, her sister and her mother on March 3, 2002.

The CBI had also challenged the acquittal of five Gujarat police officers by the trial court, alleging that the policemen conspired with the convicts by fudging documents and compromising the inquest panchnama.

The High Court set aside the acquittal of seven persons including policemen and doctors.

"The appeal against conviction filed by the 11 convicts (one convict is dead) is dismissed. The conviction and sentence is upheld," a division bench of Justices V K Tahilramani and Mridula Bhatkar said.

"The appeal filed by the prosecution against the acquittal of seven persons (in the case) is allowed. The acquittal is set aside," the court said.

The bench said the seven persons, which includes five policemen and two doctors, are convicted under sections 218 (not performing their duties) and section 201 (tampering of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

"We will consider the undergone period in jail of these seven persons as their sentence. But we will impose a fine amount of them," the court said today.

The convicted policemen and doctors are - Narpat Singh, Idris Abdul Saiyed, Bikabhai Patel, Ramsingh Bhabhor, Sombhai Gori, Arun Kumar Prasad (doctor) and Sangeeta Kumar Prasad (doctor). Now 18 people stand convicted in the case.

The court had last year reserved its judgement in the appeals filed by 11 persons convicted in the case and also the appeal filed by CBI for capital punishment to three of them.

In January 2008, a special court had convicted and sentenced 11 men to life imprisonment in the case. The convicts later approached the HC and sought quashing of the trial court's order.

The trial in the case began in Ahmedabad. However, after Bilkis expressed apprehensions that witnesses could be harmed and CBI evidence tampered, Supreme Court transferred the case to Mumbai in August 2004.

The 11 convicted are Jaswantbhai Nai, Govindbhai Nai, Shailesh Bhatt, Radhesham Shah, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Pradeep Mordhiya, Bakabhai Vohania, Rajubhai Soni, Mitesh Bhatt and Ramesh Chandana.

The convicts had challenged the order on three main grounds -- that all evidence in the case was fabricated by CBI, that Bilkis gave birth to a child after the incident, thus, the same proved that she could not have been gangraped, and the failure to find the bodies of some of her family members proves that they were not killed.

The CBI had sought enhancement of punishment for three of them- Jaswantbhai, Govindbhai and Radhesham Shah- on the grounds that they had raped Bilkis.
Chennai: About half of the citys population uses public transport daily, yet authorities concerned fail to provide proper bus shelters.

As a result, people are forced to wait in the sweltering heat. Though resident associations in Madipakkam, Adyar, Nanganallur and other parts of the city have been complaining about this for a long time now, authorities have turned a deaf ear to the woes.

A unique problem has cropped up in a few bus shelters made using steel. Since steel is a good conductor of heat, it becomes very difficult for commuters to sit under the shelter.

With the temperature crossing 40 degree Celsius in the city for the past few days, sitting under the bus shelter made of steel is like sitting on a gas stove. It almost burns your entire body. The agencies concerned should avoid using steel for setting up bus shelters, Monica from Alandur told Deccan Chronicle.

When this newspaper tried contacting authorities from Chennai Corporation, Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) and state highways department seeking to know why bus shelters are not being maintained properly, the officials just tried to shift the blame to other departments instead of giving a response.

There are two departments that take care of road transport in Chennai. All shelters on highway come under state highways department, while others are taken care of by the corporation, said an official from Chennai corporation.

Some of the areas are beyond corporation limit and come under municipality. I will ask the electrical wing to look after the wires and put a word to seniors about steel shelters, he said.

Senthil, a resident of Iyyapanthangal near Porur explains the problems being faced by them. There were two bus stops near the signal that were shifted 100 metres away from it to control traffic. But, the bus shelter didnt shift, forcing people to wait under blazing sun. Due to bleak response from corporation, we built it ourselves pooling in money from residents. To our dismay, it was brought down by an anonymous JCB machine, he said.

Valmiki, a resident of Guindy, said most of the bus shelters on the busy GST Road and arterial Anna Salai from Pallavaram towards the Gemini Bridge in Nungambakkam are made of steel.

Also, the material is so delicate that half of the seats got damaged in less than six months, he said.

While people are trying to cope up with the ill maintenance of bus stops, dangling electric wires worsen the condition. In some of the prime localities like Chellammal College, Velachery and Saidapet, the shelters with electricity connection are weird and wired, said Shruti.

The stainless sheets of the seats are bright and sleek. But they do not serve the purpose for which they are built. In the scorching heat of Chennai the seats are too hot to sit on. Passengers continue to stand in the new bus shelters. The seats made of cement are passenger friendly. Chandrasekhar, Besant Nagar

I pay taxes and also for travel, which means the authorities have to ensure proper maintenance. The corporation needs to take action against shelters and try to bring back the stone benches. Daniel, Anna Nagar

Not only shelters, buses are also not maintained properly. Imperative steps are needed and if not the entire shelter, the seats can be replaced with a heat-resistant material. Nimalan, Velachery

No shelters

Madipakkam, Nanganallur, Ayyapanthangal, DMS, SIET, Pandian (Tondiarpet), ESI Chromepet, NSK Nagar Aminjikarai, Tambaram

Dangling Wires

Velachery, Saidapet, Chellammal College, Nungambakkam, T Nagar, KMC
Following Singh's remarks, the Telangana government had asked Singh to either prove his allegations or tender an apology. (Photo: PTI)

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad police today lodged a criminal case against Congress leader Digvijaya Singh over his alleged remarks that the Telangana police has set up a 'bogus' ISIS website to radicalise Muslim youths and encourage them to join the terror outfit.

Based on a complaint by TRS MLA M Gopi Nath from Jubilee Hills constituency, accusing the AICC general secretary Singh of defaming the police through his comments, a case was registered against him under the relevant IPC sections, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Banjara Hills Division) Uday Kumar Reddy told PTI.

Inspector S Venkat Reddy of Jubilee Hills police station said Singh has been booked under IPC sections 505(1), (1)(b) and 505 (2) for making the alleged statements, intended to cause or likely to cause public fears or alarms and inducing people to commit an offence against the state or public tranquillity or to create or promote ill-will between the two classes of people.

Earlier this week, Singh, in-charge of the Congress affairs in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, had kicked up a row with his comments on the Telangana police, drawing sharp reactions from the ruling TRS and Telangana DGP Anurag Sharma.

On May 1, Singh in a post on his Twitter page, had said 'Telangana police has set up a bogus ISIS site which is radicalising Muslim youths and encouraging them to become ISIS modules.'

"The issue is whether the Telangana police should be trapping Muslim youths in becoming ISIS modules by posting inflammatory information? Is It ethical? Is it moral? Has KCR (Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao) authorised the Telangana police to trap Muslim youths and encourage them to join ISIS? If he has, then shouldn't he own up the responsibility and resign? If he hasn't, then shouldn't he enquire and punish those who are responsible for committing such a heinous crime?' Singh had said in a series of tweets.

Following Singh's remarks, the Telangana government had asked Singh to either prove his allegations or tender an apology. The government too had warned Singh of actions 'as per the law' if he failed to apologise.

While denying Singh's allegations against the police, the Telangana DGP had earlier said the Congress leader's comments would demoralise the police force and lower the image of its personnel engaged in fighting the anti-national forces. Complaints were also lodged against Singh at Saroor Nagar police station in the city and at another one in Karimnagar district of the state.

Earlier in February this year, the Dabeerpura police here had registered a case against Singh under section 295 A of the IPC allegedly for committing a deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage the religious feelings of a class of citizens by insulting their religion or religious beliefs.

This case was registered over his alleged post about the madrassas (seminaries) and the RSS-run Saraswati Sishu Mandirs. In his post on a social networking site on February 22, Singh had allegedly equated the schools run by the madrassas and RSS, saying both spread 'hatred'.
Recently 16 opposition parties had urged the ECI to revert to ballot system, claiming that the faith of the people in EVMs has been 'eroded'. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: The Election Commission is likely to convene an all-party meeting here on May 12 to discuss the issue of reliability of electronic voting machines flagged by 16 opposition parties.

Sources said the commission stated that efforts would be made in the meeting to convince the parties that the machines are reliable and tamper-proof. "We will soon hold an all-party meeting in which they will be told how our EVMs are non-tamperable and secured as per our administrative and technical safeguard system," Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi had told reporters in Chandigarh on April 29.

He was responding to questions about the allegations of EVM tampering levelled by various political parties. Recently 16 opposition parties had urged the ECI to revert to ballot system, claiming that the faith of the people in EVMs has been 'eroded'.

The Commission has booked multiple venues in the national capital and the place would be finalised on the basis of participation of parties.

Seven national parties and 49 state parties will be invited.
Square-dancing at VFW Hall

COLUMBUS -- Harolds Squares Square Dance Club of Columbus will have its annual meeting dinner/dance Sunday at the VFW Hall in Columbus.

Dinner will be served at 5 p.m. followed by dancing from 6-8 p.m. and the meeting will be at 8 p.m. The caller/cuer for the dance will be Mary Channer-Paul from Fullerton. A finger food meal will be served during the dance. Spectators are always welcome to stop by and see what square-dancing is all about. Lessons will precede the dinner at 4 p.m.

For more information, call Bob or Rayetta Williams at 402-564-5502.

Tarnov museum open Sunday

TARNOV -- The Tarnov Heritage Museum, 309 Third St., will be open from 1-5 p.m. Sunday.

View the complex of historical buildings and special displays, including old wedding dresses, a forge, doll collection and musical instruments.

For more information, call 402-428-2675.

Gem and mineral club meeting

COLUMBUS -- The Loup Valley Gem and Mineral Society will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Mural Room inside the Nebraska Public Power District building.

The public is welcome to attend.

Grief Share sessions planned

COLUMBUS -- Grief Share, a group to help heal after loss of a loved one, will begin holding sessions starting May 11.

The group will meet at 6:30 p.m. every Thursday at Word of Life Church, 3701 23rd St.

For more information, call 402-564-6262.

Sasse holding mobile office

COLUMBUS -- A member of U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse's staff will host a mobile office from 9-11 a.m. May 12 at Columbus Public Library, 2504 14th St.

These office hours will provide Nebraskans with an opportunity to speak with a staff member about federal government-related issues. A constituent services representative will be on hand.

Uniform sale at hospital

COLUMBUS -- The Columbus Community Hospital volunteers will host a scrub and uniform sale 7 a.m.-3 p.m. May 15 in the third-floor conference room.

Uniforms will be available in a wide selection of colors and styles from Scrubs & Beyond and Life Uniform. Accessories and shoes will also be available, including those from Dansko. A portion of the proceeds will be used for medical enhancements at Columbus Community Hospital.

For more information, contact Angie Ramaekers, director of volunteer services, at 402-562-3365 or adramaeker@columbushosp.org.

Museum holding open house

CLARKSON -- The Clarkson Museum, 221 Pine St., will have an open house from 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Sunday.

The museum will have 24 rooms filled with Czech heritage artifacts.

For more information or to schedule a private tour, call 402-892-3863 or 402-892-3100 or visit www.clarksonmuseum.weebly.com.
Till now, those travelling to Paris had to change flights either in one of the Gulf countries or somewhere in Europe.

CHENNAI: Those travelling to Paris, the city of romance, from this southern metropolis dont have to worry about multiple transit points. Come October, Jet Airways will launch a direct flight connecting Chennai and Paris with fares beginning at Rs 33,999.

The airlines also announced the launch of a direct flight between Bengaluru and Amsterdam. Till now, those travelling to Paris had to change flights either in one of the Gulf countries or somewhere in Europe.

The corporate segment of Chennai is very strong which boosts the need for global travel and logistics. Also, it houses many young professionals, which means there is a growth in leisure travel. Moreover, the market had constantly been growing, Gaurang Shetty, Director of Jet Airways, said at a press conference here on Wednesday.

The fares would start from Rs 33,999 for economy travel and Rs 1,29,999 for business class. In addition, the airline introduced JetEscapes Holidays, prices starting from Rs 71,310 per person and this would include travel, sightseeing, travel insurance, accommodation and breakfast.

The first flight 9W 128 will start from Chennai on October 29 at 1:45 and arrive in Paris by 8:35 (local time), while 9W 236 will depart from Bengaluru on October 29 at 2:25, reaching Amsterdam by 8:35, elaborated Gaurang.

It is learnt that the flights will facilitate export and import of flowers, garments, electrical and medical equipment, auto parts and food items.
Defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said the troops had taken on the militants and a clash between the two sides is underway. (Photo: File)

Shopian (J&K): A civilian driver was killed and three soldiers were injured in a militant ambush in Jammu and Kashmirs southern Shopian district on Thursday evening.

They were in a column of the Armys 62 Rashtriya Rifles returning to base after being part of a daylong cordon-and-search operation' when attacked by the militants in Shopians Imam Sahib area.

Defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said the troops swiftly engaged the militants and the fire ight between the two sides was on when reports last came in. He said, "Exchange of fire took place between returning column of the Army and the terrorists in general area Imam Sahib, Shopian. The operation is under progress."

However, police sources said that a cab driver hired by the Army to ferry the troops back to their base was killed and three soldiers on board the Sumo vehicle were wounded when targeted with assault rifles by the militants in Imam Sahibs Baskuchan village.

The slain civilian has been identified as Nazir Ahmed Sheikh, a resident of Shopians Kachdoora village. The Army had in violation of Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) engaged eight Sumo cabs to ferry the troops for the operation, sources said.

In a separate operation, the security forces laid siege to Khudwani area of neighbouring Kulgam district. A report said that a top militant commander Junaid Mattoo along with a couple of other gunmen has been trapped in the area. As the operation was on, surging crowds of locals held protests and soon clashed with the security forces hindering the operation against the holed up militants. .

Earlier during the day on Thursday, the Army flew aviation helicopters for aerial surveillance over more than twenty villages of Shopian district after launching a massive anti militant operation at dawn on Thursday. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) fitted with cameras were also used to keep track on militants. However, no arrests were made during the daylong operation.

The troops from the Armys Rashtriya Rifles along with large contingents of J&K polices counterinsurgency Special Operations Group (SOG) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) moved from one village to another in search of militants. Shopian with neighbouring Kulgam and Pulwama districts witnessed a series of terror strikes including snatching of weapons from policemen and bank robberies past week. During one such incident, five policemen and two bank employees were shot dead by the cadres of Hizb-ul-Mujahedin on May 1.

The police officials said that while the Hizb was involved in the murder of policemen and bank officials and looting cash from banks, it were the militants of Lashkar-e-Taiba which are known to have snatched four INSAS and one AK 47 rifles from policemen guarding a court premises in Shopian on Tuesday night.

Reports from Shopian said that the security forces faced resistance from the locals of, at least, two village Sugan and Turkwanagam. Confirming it, DIG police (South Kashmir range) S.P. Pani said that clashes erupted in these village and that the situation was being brought under control.

Cordon and search operation in several villages of Shopian is underway since this morning. The operation was launched after reports of presence of militants in the area, he said. Reports from Shopian said that the villagers shouted pro-freedom slogans and hurled rocks at the security forces at Sugan and Turkwanagam. The security forces fired teargas canisters and swung bamboo sticks to disperse them. Police reinforcements have been rushed to these villages to deal with the situation and also to spare the security forces from getting distracted and instead continue with what they have gone there for, said a police officer who wished anonymity over the phone from Shopian.

The anti-militant operation was ordered by Army Chief General Bipin Rawat who returned to Delhi on Wednesday after a two-day visit of the restive Valley and the LoC. However, he termed it as a routine move necessitated by the recent incidents in Shopian and its neigbourhood. Reports said that apart from 1, 62, 44 and 55 Rashtriya Rifles, the SOG and 114 Battalion of the CRPF were involved in the operations during which men folk were asked to come out of their homes for identification parades in open spaces which is reminiscent of the situation witnessed during the heyday of militancy in Kashmir in early 1990s.

Meanwhile, student protests erupted in north-western town of Sopore on Thursday. The police used tear-smoke to quell the protests, the action during which about twenty girl students fainted. About half a dozen students were injured in the clashes, reports said. Students held protests and clashed with police also in Srinagar.
Mysuru: Resuming their agitation, Diddalli tribals in Kodagu district silently returned to the reserve forest area they were evicted from December last year and rebuilt their huts there late Tuesday night right under the nose of the police, who were asleep in a school nearby.

Accusing the government of failing to meet their demands, the angry tribals threatened to go on a mass nude protest if the officials again tried to evict them.

"This time if the government tries to evict us we will go on a mass nude march. Let them do a lathicharge, kill us or bury us, we are ready to face anything. We will either live here or die here, but we will not move an inch," declared tribal leader Muththamma, whose nude march to protest their eviction from the reserve forest a few months ago had gone viral on social media in December.

"It has been five months, but all they have done is give us some plastic sheets for tents, and 15 kgs of rice a week for each family for about two months. We are living on the footpaths in tiny camps with small children, braving the heat and rain. They have built only ten toilets and five bathrooms for 611 families which comprise of 2500 people," she deplored.

The tribals , who claim they were treated as bonded labourers in plantations in Kodagu, are demanding housing sites and land for farming, but with the government granting them neither, seem unwilling to wait any longer for their demands to be met.

"Although ministers have visited us and seen us living in such inhuman conditions, they have only identified land for housing sites when we want farmlands and sites together in one place. And now they are all set to demolish our plastic tents," Muththamma said.

Meanwhile, Kodagu SP, P Rajendra Prasad said the Virajpet RFO had filed a case against the tribals, who had stopped the police from evicting them.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday sought response from Kerala on a plea of Tamil Nadu alleging that the neighbouring state is not allowing it to maintain the historic Mullaperiyar Dam.

A bench comprising Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justices DY Chandrachud and SK Kaul issued notice to Kerala and fixed the plea of Tamil Nadu for hearing in the second week of July.

Tamil Nadu, in its plea, has sought execution of the apex court judgement in the case, saying it has been held that Tamil Nadu will have a right to maintain the dam while its security would be taken care of by Kerala.

Tamil Nadu has alleged that its officials are not allowed to perform the maintenance work of the dam.

Earlier, the apex court had rapped Tamil Nadu government for seeking deployment of CISF for ensuring safety and security of the Mullaperiyar Dam, saying there cannot be a "perennial 'amrit dhara' kind of litigation", forcing the state to withdraw it.

In its May 7, 2014 verdict, the Supreme Court had held that the 120-year-old Mullaperiyar Dam is safe and allowed the Tamil Nadu government to raise the water level to 142 feet and ultimately to 152 feet after completion of strengthening measures on the dam.

Kerala had later moved the apex court for clarification on its verdict and contended that the water storage should not be increased to 142 feet until all the 13 spillover gates of the dam were operational.

The apex court had earlier too dismissed Kerala's plea to review its 2014 verdict, saying there was no reason to interfere with the judgement of the Constitution Bench.

Mullaperiyar Dam is a masonry dam and was constructed pursuant to the Periyar Lake Lease Agreement of October 29, 1886 across the Periyar river. The construction continued for about eight years and was completed in 1895.

The dam is situated in Idukki district in Kerala and is owned and operated by Tamil Nadu government. The length of the main dam is 1200 feet and top of the dam is 155 feet.
Applauding BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Shah said that the state no longer belonged to the BIMARU states. (Photo: PTI)

Palampur (Himachal Pradesh): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Thursday accused the Congress party of making an issue out of nothing, citing that former prime minister Manmohan Singh visited more countries than his successor Narendra Modi.

"Our opponents make an issue of PM Modi's foreign visits, but as per figures Manmohan Singh ji visited more countries than Modi Ji," Shah said, while addressing intellectuals meet at Palampur.

Shah asserted that the number of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign visits appeared to be higher because when his predecessor used to travel, no one got to know about the trips.

Applauding BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Shah said that the state no longer belonged to the BIMARU states.

"When we governed Bihar, it was on verge of getting rid of BIMARU state tag. It is due to our governments in MP and Chhattisgarh that they do not belong to the BIMARU category anymore," he said.

The BJP president claimed that wherever there was a BJP Government in the country, there was development.

"Within two years, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana initiated by the BJP Government has provided connections of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders to two crore families in the country," he added.

The state of Himachal Pradesh is facing anti-incumbency with the Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and the Congress Government facing corruption allegations.

The BJP registered a mandate in the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Assembly elections earlier this year. The party also registered a huge win in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections, winning over 180 seats out of 270.
Despite the CREDAI stamp of approval, things arent as rosy as they seem: prices are likely to shoot up and smaller operators say they will take a hit as the act is too much in favour of bigger players, reports

It has been described as a consumer-centric Act, which will herald the beginning of an era in which the consumer is king. Not surprisingly, the builders lobby isnt too thrilled and some believe it is trying to delay implementation of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Authority Act in Karnataka, where the final rules have still not been framed to enforce it.

A small time city builder claims the new law only supports and encourages major builders, but is unfair to small builders like himself, who are providing affordable housing to people. Prices of houses will shoot up exorbitantly once it is enforced, he warns, pointing out that several real estate projects have already been affected by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order increasing the buffer zone around storm water drains and lakes in the city. This spells disaster for those, who have already bought land around lakes. No developer will carry the loss or financial burden and will ultimately pass it on to the consumers, making housing more unaffordable,  he says.

While admitting that some small builders do violate norms of local bodies in terms of set-back area and so on, he argues they are providing an essential service by catering to the middle class buyers, who could not afford to buy homes otherwise. The Act should regulate the fly-by-night builders and not those , who are providing affordable housing and indirectly helping the government, he insists.

As for the section of the Act that makes it mandatory for all builders developing a project on over 500 sq.m. sites to register with a real estate regulation and development authority before launching or even advertising it, he says it is not clear what those with projects on smaller sites are supposed to do. Can they go ahead with the construction or not? he asks, adding, We are waiting for the rules framed by the state government to throw light on many such aspects.

Law to weed out delays, fly-by-night operators, says CREDAI secretary

The endless wait to get possession of your dream home while paying rent and EMI will come to an end with the implementation of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Authority Act, believes Mr Suresh Hari, secretary of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association (CREDAI), Bengaluru.

RERA seeks to address issues like delays, price, quality of construction and title. Delays in projects are the biggest issue faced by buyers. Some buyers wait for at least two to three years to get physical possession of their houses while the builder gives some lame excuse or the other for the delay, he points out.

Happy that the mandatory registering of builders with the regulatory authority will weed out the unscrupulous and fly-by-night operators, Mr Hari says delays too could be a thing of the past now with the new law making it clear that the builder or promoter of a real estate development firm must maintain a separate escrow account for each of its projects.

A minimum 70 per cent of the funds from investors and consumers must be deposited in this account. This money can only be used for the construction of the project and buying the land required, he explains, adding that RERA aims to provide clarity to buyers as the developers will have to inform them about their other projects as well.

Every builder must now submit the original approved plan for his ongoing projects and any alterations made thereafter. He must also give details to explain how the funds were utilised, the timeline for construction, completion, and delivery. This will have to be certified by either an engineer , architect or even a practicing chartered accountant, he says.

'Many in govt have real estate connections

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Rajya Sabha member

Home buyers in Bengaluru and Karnataka, as in other parts of country, have long been victims of exploitation by builders. It was to address this that the Real Estate Regulator Authority Act (RERA) was passed by Parliament on May 1, 2016. The Bill (whose select committee I was on) seeks to create a set of rights for home buyers and obligations for builders.

Its objective is to reform the real estate sector and put a stop to the long standing practice of unscrupulous builders cheating consumers. And towards this end it provides for an independent real estate regulator for each state and Union territory, penalties for violations and an appellate tribunal to resolve disputes on fast track.

But the state government has delayed implementing the Act, ignoring the deadline of April 30, for obvious reasons. Many in the government have deep connections with the real estate industry. At first, the builder lobby tried its best to derail the Bill, and having failed to do that, it has been working hard to delay or dilute the Act.

The government seems to be giving in as the draft rules prepared last year seem to be diluting some of the crucial rules issued by the Union government. For instance, section 4 of the draft rules on additional disclosure by promoters of ongoing projects conveniently omits important clauses and sub-clauses on transparency and accountability. This exposes the governments complete disregard for the rights of home buyers , many of whom continue to wait for the keys to their homes after prolonged delays in construction. Delaying and diluting RERA will only serve to help the unscrupulous builders, who seem to have an extraordinary influence on this government.
New Delhi: India has issued a demarche to Pakistan, expressing outrage at the killing and mutilation of two soldiers, saying "the blood samples of the Indian soldiers that has been collected and the trail of blood on the Roza Nala line clearly shows that the killers returned across the Line of Control" and that "sufficient evidence that this act was committed by personnel of the Pakistan Army who crossed the line of control in the Krishna Ghati sector.

Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit who denied any involvement of the Pakistan Army. India also demanded that Pakistan take action against its soldiers and commanders responsible for this heinous act.

Meanwhile, there were also reports of a group of Pakistani schoolchildren on a trip to India returning earlier than planned after the MEA informed the NGO organisers that this was not the appropriate time for such a visit.

With the MEA saying that the "trail of blood is of Pakistanis who came from across, in this case personnel of Pakistan Army", the obvious meaning is that one or more Pakistan Army men were also injured in the cross-border raid they carried out.

The MEA did not elaborate further but it is also reliably learnt that blood from the severed body parts of the slain Indian soldiers was also found in the blood trail leading upto the LoC, indicating that the returning Pakistani troops were taking the body parts back with them.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, "The Pakistan High Commissioner was summoned on Wednesday. The Foreign Secretary conveyed India's outrage at the killing and barbaric act of mutilation of the bodies of two Indian soldiers on May 1 by the Pakistan Army personnel. It was conveyed that the Government considers it a strong act of provocation and in contravention to all norms of civilised conduct.

"It is significant that the attack was preceded by covering fire by Pakistani posts in the Bhattal sector in the vicinity of village Bhattal. The blood samples of the Indian soldiers that have been collected and the trail of blood on the Roza Nala line clearly shows that the killers returned across the Line of Control. ... The trail of blood is of Pakistanis who came from across, in this case personnel of Pakistan Army. The trail of blood at Roza Nala is an indication that the people who came from Pakistan returned to Pakistan."

The MEA added, "We have shared this information with Pakistan High Commission. The Indian side has sufficient evidence that this act was committed by personnel of the Pakistan Army who crossed the line of control in the Krishna Ghati sector. The Government also demanded that Pakistan take action against its soldiers and commanders responsible for this heinous act. The Foreign Secretary mentioned to the Pakistan HC that as the HC he should convey the sense of outrage on this particular incident to his Government on this barbaric act and his response was, he denied that Pakistan Army was involved in any way in this incident but assured that he will convey the contents of the demarche."

On the Pakistani schoolchildren's visit to India, which, according to TV reports has been cut short, the MEA said, "This is not the appropriate time for such exchanges. This is what the ministry conveyed to the NGO (the organisers of the trip) after we learnt that the children had crossed over into India on May 1 which was the day the mutilation and killing of our soldiers took place."
Hyderabad: A case was registered on Thursday against Congress leader Digvijaya Singh for accusing the Telangana Police of luring Muslim youths to join the Islamic State group.

In a series of tweets, Singh alleged that the Telangana state police had set up a bogus ISIS website, which was radicalising Muslim youths and encouraging them to form ISIS modules.

I made the comments after a great deal of thought. What I feel is that the way in which Muslim youths are being trapped by the Telangana police is not correct. I stand by my comments, Singh had said on Tuesday in his defence.

Its clear that in the Madhya Pradesh Shajapur train blast case and the subsequent encounter of Saifullah, Telangana police had information and had tipped off the MP police. Telangana police admitted it. How did they get his photographs? he added.

Singh continued, I can only say that the Telangana polices strategy of trapping radical Muslims is wrong. It will lead to radicalisation of Muslims. I am not the only one who is opposing this but ATS officials too. There was a meeting on counter terrorism in New Delhi. Everyone there opposed it.

The Telangana government had asked Singh to either prove his allegation or tender an apology. It had also warned of action "as per the law" against the senior Congress leader if he failed to apologise.
Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh ATS on Wednesday claimed to have busted an espionage racket by arresting a suspected ISI agent from Faizabad and his accomplice from Mumbai besides picking up another suspect for questioning.

This comes days after intelligence inputs had warned of a possible terror attack in the state by ISI-trained terrorists.

In a joint operation conducted by the UP Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), Military Intelligence and UP Intelligence, Aftab Ali was picked up from Faizabad, 120 km from Lucknow, this evening, IG ATS Aseem Arun said.

Aftab is believed to have received training from the ISI in Pakistan and was in constant touch with officials in the Pakistan High Commission, he said, adding that the ATS was in possession of strong evidence against him.

The deposits made in Aftab's bank accounts will also be verified, he said.

While Aftab was arrested, another suspect was taken into custody and was being questioned.

In another statement late night, Arun said the UP ATS in a joint operation with its Maharashtra counterpart arrested Aftab's accomplice Altaf Qureishi from Mumbai. Altaf was involved in Hawala transactions and had allegedly transferred money to the account of Aftab on the direction of ISI, the ATS said.

Rs 70 lakh cash has been recovered from Altaf, it said. Aftab, son of Wajid Ali, is a resident of Khwaspura area of Faizabad, Arun said.

Pictures of the cantonment area have been recovered from his mobile phone and more clues are likely to be found through his mobile chats, he said.

Aftab was also allegedly keeping a close vigil on the movement of troops in the area, especially between Faizabad and Lucknow, besides deployment of battalions, an ATS release said.

ADG (Law and Order) Aditya Misra said more information about the ISI network will be known through the mobile phone of the accused and more arrests are likely.

ATS sources said Aftab had gathered information on several army cantonment areas and defence establishments in the state.

The ATS was continuously getting reports about military information being leaked to intelligence officials in the Pakistan High Commission and the ISI and the agency was working on it through electronic surveillance, ATS sources said.

Aftab is believed to have received training from the ISI in Pakistan and had contact with an official in the Pakistan High Commission and had also met him in New Delhi, Arun said, adding that the name of the official was being verified.

"He was in constant touch with Pakistan High Commission," the ATS statement said.

A government spokesman said tonight that the team led by ASP Rajesh Sahni will be awarded.

The Uttar Pradesh Police had issued a warning of a possible terror attack in the state by ISI-trained terrorists.

"The group, allegedly trained by Pakistan's ISI, has reportedly been asked to target Ayodhya (in Faizabad district), Varanasi, Vrindavan, and the Taj Mahal in Agra," UP police said.

Acting on intelligence inputs, security was upgraded at several religious places  including Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura  and also at vital installations, including airports, bus and railway stations.

Taking cognisance of the intelligence warning that an ISI-trained group in the garb of Hindu seers might strike prominent religious sites in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had ordered construction of boundary walls around the holy spots.

The priest-turned-politician had also asked the officials concerned to ensure laying of 4-lane road connecting famous temples for the convenience of visitors.

The UP ATS has already alerted all district police chiefs and railway superintendents of police about the threat. "We are coordinating with other agencies to thwart such attempts," Arun said.

Central intelligence agencies have been sharing inputs with the UP Police since February about increased activity of terrorists in the state.

According to the latest alert, the ISI is planning to launch attacks in the northern state under the code name 'Operation Krishna India'.

"The agency (ISI) has reportedly trained the group for months to familiarise them with Hindu religious practices.

Members of the module are planning to enter UP through the Nepal border in the guise of seers," the reports said.

In February, Intelligence agencies in the state were tipped off about four dozen terrorists sneaking into UP through the porous border with Nepal.

Uttar Pradesh shares a 599.3-km open border with Nepal touching seven districts - Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Bahraich, Sravasti, Balrampur, Sidhharthnagar and Maharajganj.

"As per the Intelligence inputs, the group has also been trained by Pakistan's ISI in Hindu religious practices, and might try to blend with the local populace before carrying out deadly strikes at prominent religious sites and other sensitive spots," police said.

The Intelligence agencies had picked up intercepts through electronic surveillance in which youths were heard discussing the deaths of banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) men in Telangana as well as IS suspect Saifullah in Lucknow.

A Khurasan module was busted after Saifullah's death last month. Recently, some self-radicalised youths were also arrested by the UP Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).

In 2016, eight suspected members of SIMI had tried to evade the police by adorning saffron robes in Madhya Pradesh. The men were later killed in a police encounter.
Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Thursday rejected the appeals of all the 11 convicts against their conviction and punishment in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case. The high court not only upheld the conviction and life imprisonment of these 11 persons but also set aside the acquittal of five policemen and two doctors and convicted them for destruction of evidence.

The division bench of Justice V.K. Tahilramani and Justice Mridula Bhatkar termed the investigation done by the Limkheda police station (under whose jurisdiction place of incident fell) and Gujarat CID as callous.

While holding policemen guilty of destruction of evidence, the bench observed, This is a case where the police wanted to help the accused by suppressing their names. The police were not passive towards investigation but they were very active in destroying the case of the prosecutrix (Bano).

The trial court had acquitted six policemen Narpatsingh Patel, Idris Sayed, Bhikabhai Patel, Ramsingh Bhabhor, Somabhai Gori and Ramabhai Bhagora and the high court convicted all of them except Gori, as he died while the appeal was pending in the HC.

The court also held Dr Sangeeta Prasad and Dr Arun Prasad guilty of destruction of evidence but sentenced them for the period they have already undergone in prison in the past.

The court has imposed a fine of Rs 55,000 each on the convicts and has directed that the fine amount deposited be paid to the victim (Bano) by way of compensation.

The CBI had requested the high court to enhance the punishment of Jaswantbhai Nai, Govindbhai Nai and Shailesh Bhatt from life imprisonment to death.

CBI counsel Hiten Venegaonkar and Arfan Sait for the state had argued before the court that this is not a case where leniency can be shown because it is a rarest of rare case because at one time, 14 helpless persons including children and women were brutally murdered by these accused. While committing the act, three women were raped and of them, Bano was five months pregnant and one more woman was in her advanced stage of pregnancy. The Bench in its order said, We do agree that it is a rare massacre manifesting ugly animosity and hostility.

However, the Bench also held, We have carefully gone through the elaborate discussion of aggravated and mitigating circumstances and the principles laid down by the SC in a previous case. We do agree that the crime is uncommon and a large number of persons from the Muslim community were murdered, however, the sentencing policy is also required to be balanced on the scale of proportionality.

The bench further said, We also cannot be unmindful of the fact that the incident occurred in 2002, 15 years have elapsed since then. These accused have been in custody all this while. Looking to this fact, after a gap of 15 years, we are not inclined to enhance the sentence.

Opposition Congress and human rights activists welcomed the judgement. Activist Teesta Setalvad, who has been fighting for the victims of post-Godhra communal violence, noted that apart from upholding the conviction of 12 people sentenced by the lower court, the HC set aside the acquittal of five policemen.
COLUMBUS  A 29-year-old is facing decades behind bars after being charged with drug, weapon and stolen property charges stemming from a police raid of his 14th Street residence nearly a month ago.

David Hayek, who appeared in court Wednesday via video link from the county jail, will be arraigned May 12 in district court on charges of possession of a stolen firearm, possession of a firearm by a felon, use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony and possession of methamphetamine.

The arraignment date on the charges, two of which carry maximum penalties of 50 years imprisonment, was set after Platte County Court Judge Frank Skorupa rejected a defense motion to reduce Hayeks $250,000 bond, 10 percent allowed for release.

Defense attorney Brad Montag asked the judge to lower Hayeks bond to $50,000, 10 percent allowed for release.

I know these are very serious charges, but three of them involved the same gun, Montag told the judge.

Hayek, who has been in custody since his arrest the day of the police raid in early April, was released from prison on parole a year ago.

Officers seized about 4.5 grams of a white, crystalline substance that field-tested positive for meth, marijuana pipes and glass pipes with suspected meth residue during the raid, according to Nebraska State Patrol Investigator Keith Bignell.

Authorities also found a .40-caliber handgun confirmed stolen in Merrick County, ammunition, digital scales and other stolen property, Bignell wrote in his probable cause arrest statement.

The suspect admitted ownership of the drug-related items in the residence, and said he was unaware of the stolen property, but knew it wasnt legit, the investigator wrote.

Hayek was convicted of theft by receiving stolen property in May 2014 in Platte County District Court in connection with his role in burglarizing a Columbus convenience store in December 2013.

The city man admitted his role in the burglary of Boulevard Express was to divert the attention of police with a bogus break-in at a jewelry store while his accomplices were hauling a safe out of the convenience store across town.

Hayek began serving a prison sentence of 20 months to five years in June 2014 and was released on parole in April 2016.
For the past few days, he was said to be behaving abnormally. (Representational image)

Hyderabad: Increased financial burden drove a farmer in Ranga Reddy district to suicide. Kummari Papaiah hanged himself from tree in his fields on Wednesday.

According to police, Papaiah of Antireddy village of Shabad mandal owned agricultural land in his village.

He had borrowed money from villagers but could not repay the loan as the crop failed. This pushed him into depression. For the past few days, he was said to be behaving abnormally.

On Wednesday morning, he went to his fields but did not return home by the evening. While searching for him, his family members found him hanging from a tree. Police registered a case of suspicious death and started investigating.
Rajya Sabha Member Digvijay Singh, who is also the in-charge for Congress affairs in Telangana and AP, triggered controversy on Monday.

Hyderabad: Jubilee Hills police registered a case against senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Thursday for his tweets on the Telangana police alleging that they were radicalising Muslim youths and making them join terrorist outfit ISIS by setting up a bogus ISIS website.

A case (crime no: 298/2017) under sections 505(1)(a)(b) (Publishing statement, rumour or report to make public disobey any officer) and 505(2) (Statements aimed at public mischief) of IPC were registered after Jubilee Hills MLA Maganti Gopinath lodged a complaint.

Rajya Sabha Member Digvijay Singh, who is also the in-charge for Congress affairs in Telangana and AP, triggered controversy on Monday when he said in a series of tweets Telangana police has set up a bogus ISIS site which is radicalising Muslim youths and encouraging them to become ISIS modules.

He went on, It was on their information that Madhya Pradesh police arrested an accused who was responsible for the bomb blast on a train in the Shajapur district of MP. It also resulted in the Saifullah encounter in Kanpur on the same day. The issue is whether TS police should be trapping Muslim youths in ISIS by posting inflammatory messages, he asked.

Taking on Chief Minister K. Chandra-shekar Rao, he said, Is it ethical? Is it moral? Has KCR authorised the police to trap Muslims and encourage them to join ISIS? If he has then he should resign.

Mr Digvijay Singh added, If he hasnt shouldnt he enquire and punish those who are responsible for such a crime.

Meanwhile AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh has welcomed the case registered against him by the Telangana police. On Thursday he said in New Delhi, I will cooperate with them and will go whenever they summon me.

Speaking to reporters at AICC headquarters on Thursday, Singh said he had evidence to prove his charge that the Telangana police had created a fake website to lure Muslim youths and later kill them in encounters.

I will insist that Chief Minister Chandra-sekhar Rao and home minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy should be witnesses. I also demand that Central Intelligence chief and the National Security Advisor must be witnesses, Mr Singh said
Thiruvananthapuram: The first class judicial magistrate, Thodupuzha, has dismissed a petition alleging that CPM leader M.M. Mani had made a provocative speech at Manakkad in 2012 threatening law and order and encouraging riot. The court allowed a plea filed by Mr Mani seeking to

discharge him from the infamous 1,2,3 speech.

Mr Mani had delivered the speech on May 25, 2012 when he was Idukki district secretary of the CPM. He had said that the party had prepared a list of 13 persons and one of them was shot dead, the second beaten to death and the third was stabbed to death.

Subsequently, the Thodupuzha police filed a case against him over the shooting of Anchery Baby, a Youth Congress leader, allegedly by CPM activists on November 13, 1982.

The police registered a crime against nine persons and all of them were charge-sheeted. However, Mr Manis name was not mentioned. Later in 1985, all the nine accused were acquitted by the Thodupuzha court.

The Thodupuzha police registered a fresh FIR against Mr Mani based on his killer speech. Shanthanpara police probed the case and decided to combine the two FIRs registered in the case--one against CPM Idukki district secretary K.K. Jayachandran MLA and the other against Mr Mani in June 2012. Mr Mani was arrested and sent to judicial custody for 45 days.
CHENNAI: Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Thursday announced year-long celebrations of the birth centenary of AIADMK founder MGR and said the decision was taken at the Cabinet meeting two days ago.

He said, On behalf of the state government, the birth centenary will be celebrated throughout the year in all district headquarters. Palaniswami said the AIADMK founder always strived for welfare of the poor and downtrodden and added that the celebrations would highlight MGRs achievements.

He founded AIADMK in 1972, and the party won the Dindigul Lok Sabha bypoll the next year. MGR led his party to a massive victory in the 1977 assembly polls and his party was never defeated in Assembly elections.
Warangal/Khammam: Chilli farmers at Enumamula agriculture market are a distressed lot. Almost all farmers leaving the market after selling their produce are disappointed at low price offered. Tears roll down their wrinkled, weather-beaten cheeks when anyone asks about crop sales. Several farmers are still waiting with their bags of chilli at the yard since the past few days. The lack of good price is pushing farmers towards dejection, and all hopes of making a profit have been dashed.

P. Saraiah, a farmer from Nawabpet village in Chityala mandal of Jayashankar Bhupala-palli district, said he had spent Rs 1.5 lakh to cultivate his two-acre land and produced 18 quintal chilli. Picking, packing, stitching, transport and other things cost him another Rs 1 lakh. Howe-ver, when he arrived at the market two days ba-ck, he was offered Rs 700 per quintal. That leaves him with Rs 12,600; a who-pping loss of Rs 2,37,400.

I have been waiting here since two days for a good price. I cannot aff-ord to wait for long. I will wait two more days and then sell the produce for whatever price is offered. I have debts to pay and a family to support. I do not see any ot-her option than committing suicide, Saraiah said.

Pillalamarri Ramesh, a farmer from Devarampelli village in Kataram mandal, brought 20 quintals of chilli and was offered Rs 1,500 per quintal. His loss is more than Rs 2 lakh as well.

Instead of going home with this meagre amount, I am thinking of burning all my produce here itself. The Chief Minister promised good results for us if we grow chilli instead of cotton. He failed to support us during tough times. He does not have the right to continue in his position as he did not even commiserate our woes. It is hard for a farmer like me to emerge from a setback like this, he said.

Traders brook no Opposition, cheat

The wiping out of the Laxman Rekha between the trading community, including commission agents and members of the governing body of the market, seems to have paved the way for exploitation of chilli farmers in a big way.

Almost 95 per cent members of Chamber of Commerce joined the ruling party, and some of them were appointed members of the governing body of Khammam Agricultural Market. With this, the situation worsened as staff of the marketing department worked as per directions of these members. Trad-ers toyed with price with the support of all forces working in the market even as the chilli farmer remained a mute spectator in the Mayajalam (Vicious Circle).

The genda pata (first price of chilli in the first hour) is high to show the government and people that farmers received a good price. A trader visits the market and chooses a stock of less quantity and decides on a high price. But after that, price for the produce of other farmers is low.

The same thing happened on Thursday when the price of chilli was fixed at Rs 7,100 per quintal and 18 quintal was taken from a farmer. But the price came down to Rs 3,000 per quintal for the produce of other farmers.

There is no end to games traders play in the market. For example, a Chinese company located at Mudigonda used to lift chilli 2.20 lakh quintals in a year. The company buys produce from agents as it wants high quantity.

Khammam Market Committee chairman K. Krishna said, I knew that traders, who are close to the ruling party, sold produce at `6,000 per quintal to the company. I was surprised to learn that they bought the same produce at Rs 3,000 per quintal.

There are 30 mega traders in Khammam market earning Rs 10- Rs 15 crore from the chilli business.
Bengaluru: Lokayukta Justice P. Vishwanatha Shetty said that he has visited 12 districts and held meetings with district heads in the last three months after he took charge.

He was speaking at the interactive meeting with the members of Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FKCCI) on Tuesday.

After I took charge as Lokayukta, I have visited 12 districts and have held meetings with DCs, SPs, and other heads of departments. I have clearly told them that the schemes of the government should reach the beneficiaries. I have asked them to work effectively, otherwise I will have to initiate action against them, he said, adding that he will visit all other remaining districts in a month or two.

Justice Shetty opined that too much of publicity sometimes would hamper the interests of the institution. As of now, my prime focus is to regain the confidence of the public in the Lokayukta institution. If I call media persons to cover all the works I do, it would be individual centric. I dont want to be termed as media crazy. Without any publicity, the Lokayukta institution is doing good and catering to the needs of general public, he added.

Further, he said that he did not want to create fear among bureaucrats by raiding their offices. First, we need to take the bureaucrats to confidence and then initiate action against them if they are not working effectively. Lokayukta is not there just to punish officials. It is also my duty to protect honest and sincere officials. Without raiding any office, I have passed on the message to all departments by calling the department heads to my office. For instance, heads of most of the government hospitals in Bengaluru were called to my office and I asked them to maintain cleanliness on the hospital premises. I have also discussed with the BBMP Commissioner on the solutions for the garbage menace, he said.

As of now, there are 6,500 matters pending before the Lokayukta institution and 2,500 out of them come under my jurisdiction. The rate of petitions coming in are higher than the rate of disposals. However, we are working to dispose the matters effectively within a short period, he added.
Thiruvananthapuram: Some time ago, most environmental conservation messages revolved round the argument that the blue planet should be protected for the sake of tomorrows people. Now, it looks like the grown-ups are entrusting tomorrows people with the mandate of saving the planet.

At least, some of the government agencies in the state are. They have designed vacation camps around the idea that children will be the agents of change. And in some cases, like Haritha Nagarolsavam which was conducted by Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, the activities do not end with the camp.

Every participant of the corporation camp is now officially part of the Green Army. They are about to be used by the corporation for popularising source-level waste management. A weighty responsibility, indeed. But the camp which primed them, despite the gravitas, was full of fun-filled activities.

The discussions were thought-provoking  sometimes for the grown-ups. For example, S.R. Sruthilaya, a class X student at GGHSS Cotton Hill, asked her camp mentors, I stay outside the corporation where there is no system to manage plastic waste. How will my being responsible help? She was told that it was important that a system is in place, but it was the individuals responsibility to reduce and reuse plastic.

The project was borne out of an idea proposed by Finance Minister Thomas Isaac. The civic body conducted brainstorming sessions with various environmental organisations to design the camp. We had started out with the idea that it should not look like a classroom, says Anoop Roy, health inspector, project secretariat, corporation.

Dr Isaac had suggested to institute prizes for children who help spread awareness on the use of kitchen bins. Anoop Roy says that even if the children manage to convince their own families, the campaign will be very successful. Half of the citys households will have at least one schoolgoing child. So it will be an effective means to reach out to parents. Another aspect is that it is easier to inculcate new habits in children. They are more open to change, he says.

Suchitwa Mission also hopes to bank on the ability of children to convince their parents about the correct practices of waste management, cleanliness and water conservation. It has already launched Chakka Manga Thenga Greeshmolsavam in some districts like Ernakulam and Kollam. In every grama panchayat in the state, at least two camps will be held.

During the three-day camp, children will get to savour dishes made from jackfruit, mango and coconut. Mission executive director K. Vasuki says, the camp encourages children to choose healthy food over fast food, and in the process, also reduce waste. Fast food inevitably creates inorganic waste in the form of the food wrappers and covers.

The DPI had announced that every school should follow Green Protocol which discourages the use of plastic tiffins, bottles and bags. Through the summer camp, the mission intends to make children aware of the harm man causes especially when plastic waste is not disposed of. They will be told about rainwater conservation.

The problem with having many such camps is that in some cases there was an overlap of ideas. So Sruthilaya was heard saying how she and her friends were fully convinced of the importance of reducing the use of plastic even before she became a participant of Haritha Nagarolsavam. Just a week before that she was part of Mambazhakkalam, and towards its end, she with her friends had made the headmistress promise that the school will use ink pens, instead of plastic pens.

Almost everyone who runs such camps attests to the fact that children have immense convincing power. M. Veena, director of DTPCs Mazhathulli camp, shares an anecdote that delineates it. On the last day of the camp came a surprise announcement from DTPC secretary that Akkulam park will be developed. The children immediately requested him not to hurt any of the trees and he agreed. They repeatedly asked him to ensure that the banyan tree at the front should be protected. The fact that they did not need to be prompted to come with that response makes us very happy, she says.

The children had climbed that banyan and eaten fallen fruits from the trees nearby. They were told about boat rides that were once possible in Akkulam lake - now covered by water hyacinth. They did not need lectures on environment conservation. Probably only the parents needed classes. After all, it is the grown-ups who damage the environment. Perhaps why Suchitwa Mission dedicates a couple of hours on the last day of the camp for the parents of the participants.
Swamy alleged that garnering support of other political parties is an excuse of the Congress Party to become relevant again. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: At a time when Congress president Sonia Gandhi is trying to garner support from the other political parties over the presidential elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Thursday said the saffron party is not at all worried over the same.

"They (Sonia and Rahul) can unite everybody who's willing to come with them. But the BJP's shortage is only 20,000 value votes, may be even less. There are certain parties which will not come if some other parties are in it. For example, the AIADMK will not come if the DMK is there," Swamy said.

Stating that the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) led by Sasikala group have 80,000 value votes, Swamy said that the BJP only has a shortage of 20,000 for absolute majority. "So, therefore we have no difficulty and people like me can definitely speak to the Sasikala group because of my stand on the Constitutionality. So, if I speak to them, they will certainly vote for us," he added.

Swamy alleged that garnering support of other political parties is an excuse of the Congress Party to become relevant again. "There have been junior partners in other places like Uttar Pradesh where they had an alliance. Now they want to assert that the Congress Party will be the leader and the Prime Minister will be from the Congress Party in the next elections i.e., Lok Sabha in 2019. So, therefore they are trying to create a president just now. I don't know how many will fall for it. But let them try," he added.

Echoing similar views, another BJP leader Nalin Kohli said the political parties are entitled and it is in their norm to interact with other political parties.

"With regards to the creation of a so-called mahagathbandhan or a grand alliance of opposition parties this has been contemplated, spoken about, reported on numerous occasions over the last couple of decades. But it has remained an illusionary objective that they have been seeking to achieve, it's not happened. As and when it happens, one can then comment," he added.

As President Pranab Mukherjee's term is set to end this July, all the political heavyweights have started flexing their muscles to place their man in the seat of de jure power as head of the nation. The Opposition's efforts to pitch for a joint candidate for the presidential elections are set to gain ground in the next days with Sonia expecting to meet Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's (DMK) working president MK Stalin.

Sonia, who has been out of the political scene for quite some time now, has been holding meetings with various political leaders and according to sources, she met National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Wednesday.

Sources said, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi also spoke to Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, while Sonia spoke to Mulayam Singh Yadav and Rastriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Yadav. Last week, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and Sonia had held a discussion for putting up a joint opposition candidate.

So far, Sonia has held meetings with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI's D Raja on the same issue. As the election is near, the idea of a united opposition will face a litmus test in the election which needs to be held before July 25, the day when President Mukherjee's term expires.
CHENNAI: Once bonded together by Amma loyalty, the AIADMK MLAs are now splitting into smaller groups along community and regional leanings, but want to stick together to safeguard another four years of stint in the Assembly as a ruling party member.

Edappadi Palanisami has a tough task managing the pulls and pressure of the splinter groups which could put forth various demands in public and private. But, the ruling party leaders are confident that they would not rock the boat since everyone will end up as losers if the government is toppled.

As long as J. Jayalalithaa was alive, caste or preferences did not come into play in the AIADMK. Besides, the MLAs of any region or district did not join hands together to form any kind of pressure group. But, Jayalalithaas death and lack of a charismatic successor has given the go by to the much-hyped military discipline of the party.

The AIADMK won 41 MLAs in the northern districts, 39 in the Kongu region, 24 in the delta districts and 32 in the south. With the rise of Palanisami to power, the Kongu lobby comprising ministers of the Kongu Velalar community from the districts of Erode, Coimbatore, Salem, Namakkal and Tiruppur started rallying around him.

Of late, former ministers Thoppu N. Venkatachalam, belonging to the same community, has started gathering around him a group of MLAs who feel sidelined by the ministers in the region. With the dominant upper caste members asserting themselves, 28 Dalit MLAs held a meeting to demand their share in power as per their strength.

A chunk of the party legislators from the southern districts is backing Dhinakaran, while almost all members from the delta districts are supporters of Sasikala and now under the control of her younger brother Divakaran. Together, the loyalists of Sasikalas family could be more than one-third required for a split and have the strength to topple the Palanisami government, in case of real efforts to oust them from the party.

All MLAs are backing Palanisamis next move to prepare affidavits of party cadre in every district to be submitted to the Election Commission of India to retrieve the two leaves symbol. The outcome of the battle for two leaves and Palanisamis management of his MLAs will be the key.
Logic teaches us to prepare in advance and not draw up alternative plans immediately after a big loss. I first heard the oft-repeated Hindi phrase vinash kale, vipreet buddhi in the late 1980s when then BJP chief L.K. Advani made this remark in the context of Rajiv Gandhis refusal to take the initiative to end one of the numerous parliamentary logjams.

I was reminded of this when a few weeks ago I read that Mayawati had extended the hand of friendship to the Samajwadi Party for the 2019 elections. I did a double-take: had she not turned her face away when approached for a Bihar-type mahagathbandhan before the Uttar Pradesh election? Moreover, is it prudent to negotiate even before recovering from a shock defeat?

The situation became more bizarre when Akhilesh Yadav responded positively and expressed willingness to sit across, break bread and discuss the proposal. The idea of Opposition leaders discussing possibilities of pooling resources always makes sense. It, however, did not appear wise to make moves even before the two parties had come to terms with their rout.

In recent weeks, not much progress has been made on the alliance between the BSP and SP. Samajwadi leaders are probably waiting for the post-verdict convulsions  and their resolution  within the party before making any fresh moves. Despite this, there have been visible interactions between other parties.

This exchange of ideas among the Opposition parties marks a new phase of politics. The ball was set rolling by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumars visit to Sonia Gandhi. This triggered parleys between different Opposition parties to discuss the coming presidential polls. The government too is holding discussions with its allies, but is yet to make any formal move. The political situation in Tamil Nadu is keeping everyone guessing on whether the ruling party has a majority in the electoral college.

BJP leaders have been asked if they will try to forge a consensus like Atal Behari Vajpayee, who secured Congress support for A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. So far, the indications are that they would like agreement, but over the name they put forward. Consequently, the chances of Opposition parties concurring with the BJP on a candidate seem remote.

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechurys declaration that the presidential election will determine the idea of India significantly increases the political capital he is willing to invest in this contest. Undoubtedly, the Opposition parties objective is not to discuss endlessly the possibilities of an anti-BJP front for a general election that is still fairly distant. Instead, the intent now is to adopt a common strategy for the presidential contest.

The numbers in the electoral college are so stacked that the Opposition can even convert a loss into a victory. This odd-sounding formulation stems from the BJPs likely overtures for state parties support being hampered by its latest plan: ridding India of regional parties is one of its intentions. After threatening the political terrain of several parties like the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and Biju Janata Dal, there is little chance for the BJP to secure support for a candidate who is also Nagpurs first preference. Mr Yechurys assertion must be viewed from this perspective.

A united Opposition will thwart Big Brothers ambitions. Unless there is a dramatic alteration in the political scenario, the presidential election this year will not be a tepid affair. It is too early to say if the contest will be as keen as in 1967 and 1968, but it is safe to say that the Opposition parties have a real chance to politically embarrass Mr Modi.

For the health of Indian democracy, the bonding among the Opposition parties for the presidential polls should not be an exercise which ends in derailment. It is even more important for the dialogue and cooperation to continue beyond this watershed. Exuberance will be foolhardy and mention of a Grand Alliance now can become counter-productive. The present exercise has to be guarded against failure as in 1970-71, when the gang-up against Indira Gandhi did miserably in the March 1971 elections.

The Indian voter has habitually seen Opposition unity as another form of anti-Congressism. Replacing this with anti-BJPism wont work, mainly due to deep-rooted mutual antagonism. Vote transfer is not a mechanical process.

In UP, despite its single-digit showing, the Congress gained more from the alliance with the SP as a percentage of votes in the seats it contested, registered a higher increase than the SP when juxtaposed with individual performances during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

It must be recalled that the late 1980s was the last time when a pre-alliance Opposition front was put together. V.P. Singh was its fulcrum and corruption in high places its principal issue.

The anti-Congress front was eventually cobbled up after two crucial phases  mobilisation and protests. Beyond the presidential poll, any anti-BJP front will appear credible to people only in the event of issue-based unity. The Opposition parties must oppose the government on principles and policies. It must abandon targeting Mr Modi personally. Only lethargy stops the Opposition leaders from digging up the BJPs undelivered promises and displaying the list to the people.

The process of Rajiv Gandhi losing credibility has to be deconstructed. Mr Clean did not mislay the sheen on his own but because Opposition leaders drew the peoples attention to his failed promises, allegations and cover-ups. Since 2014, the Opposition has not mounted a single significant protest movement. It is time the various Opposition parties identify issues on which resources can be pooled. Seat-sharing and alliance formation can be left for later.

The first challenge is to identify the basic issues that worry people. A beginning can be made once the peoples frustrations are allayed and they feel that Opposition parties empathise with them. If Opposition leaders thrust an agenda on the people, they will not swim alongside.
YORK  Mike and Cheri Blocher woke early Wednesday to feed 40 quarter horses they raise and train for roping in the highly erodible peaks and valleys of Antelope County.

With the animals full on hay and a mix of corn, oats and molasses, the couple drove about two hours south to join more than 250 people  union workers, environmentalists, farmers, politicians, business leaders, lobbyists  looking to make their case either for or against the Keystone XL pipeline.

The five-member Nebraska Public Service Commission limited testimony to five minutes per person and as many people as could be heard in 10 hours, which turned out to be 135. Each person was allowed to speak only once.

Commission member Tim Schram chaired the proceedings, calling each person forward to give testimony. Their words were recorded by Lincoln-based Latimer Reporting and now are part of the record the commission will use in deciding whether the proposed route for TransCanada's pipeline through Nebraska is in the public interest.

The approval process breaks new ground for Nebraska. It's the first time it has been used since the 2011 Major Oil Pipeline Siting Act gave oversight of routes to the Public Service Commission.

Testimony proceeded orderly but at times drew out emotion, as landowners choked back tears while speaking of the generations who have farmed the fields the $8 billion pipeline project would cross to connect Canadian oil to refiners on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Pipeline opposition groups and labor unions both rallied large turnouts and had people lined up to testify on either side of the project. Bold Nebraska and the Sierra Clubs Nebraska chapter chartered buses that brought people from Omaha, Lincoln and the Atkinson area.

Judy King, sporting a shirt proudly proclaiming her as a "Pipeline Fighter," was first up when the meeting began at 9 a.m. She and a friend drove from Lincoln in a Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, arriving at 7 a.m. because they feared missing out on a chance to speak.

"I came here to discuss how horrible it is for farmers and ranchers to lose their land to a foreign company by the use of eminent domain," said King, who went on to decry the danger a leak from the pipeline would pose to the Ogallala Aquifer, a major source of irrigation and drinking water in eight states.

Supporters such as Jeff Hilfiker, president of Lincoln-based DBI Inc., pointed out pipelines are the safest way to transport oil and the Keystone XL will be monitored around the clock, advance American energy security and create well-paying jobs. His company specializes in inspecting and testing oil, gas and chemical storage and production facilities.

"There are hundreds of thousands of miles of pipeline across our great country. The Keystone XL will be one of the newest and safest ever built," Hilfiker said.

Opponents responded that all pipelines leak and the state's water is too precious to risk for jobs that vanish when construction is complete and for tax revenues that last only seven years. (Nebraska has a property tax depreciation allowance.)

Several people promised civil disobedience if the pipeline gets built.

"Dakota Access was a dress rehearsal. Keystone XL is the real deal," said Harry "Skip" Johnson of Ralston, referring to protests that plagued construction of the Dakota Access pipeline by Energy Transfer Partners.

Chad Gilbert, a business agent with Pipeliners Union 798, said construction jobs, while temporary, are still important. If it moves forward, construction of the Keystone XL would support about 3,900 construction jobs and create about 35 full-time jobs, according to the U.S. State Departments environmental review of the project.

"Transportation of crude by train or ship is much riskier than a new state-of-the-art pipeline built by professional craftsmen and women," Gilbert said.

T.J. Dick of Blair, an organizer for International Union of Operating Engineers Local 571, said the pipeline will provide property taxes to support local schools and police, and the jobs will provide workers with a living wage that comes with health insurance.

"We're not out here trying to disrespect farmers. We're just trying to do the job we were trained to do," Dick said.

For those who refuse to sign an easement giving TransCanada the right to bury a 36-inch-diameter pipeline 4 feet below their property, it's impossible not to take the issue personally, said Jeanne Crumly, who along with her husband represent the fifth generation in their family to farm in Holt County.

"No one is paying me to be here," Crumly said in a commonly repeated retort to the union members.

Crumly called the Keystone XL a dire threat to Nebraska soil, wildlife and water and asked the Public Service Commission to side with the families who have been paying taxes and creating jobs in Nebraska for generations.

Fellow landowner Art Tanderup, who is fighting to stop TransCanada from putting a half-mile of pipe in his field near Neligh, bashed the easements being offered by the Calgary, Alberta-based company. He said the company has refused to negotiate on liability protections for landowners and agreeing to remove the pipe at the end of its 50-year lifespan.

American Indian cultural and heritage sites, including the Ponca Trail of Tears, would be desecrated by construction of the pipeline, said Frank White, chairman of the Winnebago Tribe, and Larry Wright Jr., a Ponca Tribal Council member.

Some of the topics mentioned Wednesday, including pipeline safety, cannot be considered by the commission because state statute limits it to looking at a specific list of issues, such as social effects, environmental impact and soil permeability, distance to groundwater, and the effect on wildlife and plants.

President Donald Trump breathed new life into the project earlier this year by approving a permit allowing construction across the border between the U.S. and Canada. He reversed former President Barack Obama, who denied the permit in 2015, saying to do otherwise would be antithetical to the U.S. taking a leadership role in efforts to decrease global warming.

Nebraska is the only state left where the company needs approval of the route to build the pipeline. TransCanada needs that approval before it can move forward with construction, and eminent domain to force easements from owners of about 9 percent of its preferred 275-mile path through the state.

Commission staff said at least one more meeting to gather public comment is planned, but has yet to be scheduled. The commission also has set a five-day public hearing, Aug. 7-11, in Lincoln. That hearing is more formal, with pleadings, briefs, witnesses and cross examinations by TransCanada's attorneys and approved interveners.
The effort to unite the Opposition parties for the presidential election due in July, for which Congress president Sonia Gandhi recently took the lead in line with the historic necessity of vanquishing the BJP so that it may not come to acquire monopoly over the entire state structure, is a reminder that in India the Opposition parties can join hands only when there is an immediate goal, and sometimes not even then.

This is the case when the ruling BJP has become a pole player, meaning it can be put down in the electoral arena only when the index of Opposition unity is high. In another era, when the Congress was the pole player, Opposition unity was achieved far more easily. The reason was that the Congress had a network in every state and every regional party felt threatened by it. The BJP is not quite there yet, though it is now the dominant player. Only recently we saw the saffron party being defeated in Goa by the Congress. That suggests the BJP is vulnerable, although Prime Minister Narendra Modi is thought to be all-conquering.

This means the BJP cannot take it for granted that it will necessarily succeed in having its own Rashtrapati when President Pranab Mukherjees term ends on July 24, though it is true the saffron party has the best chance. The BJP can even try to divide the Oppositions ranks in order to increase the distance between itself and the other parties in the electoral college tally. Indeed, as matters stand, the BJP seems to have a marginal edge.

But this is not something that cant be neutralised if the Opposition forces stick together and are also able to attract parties like the AIADMK, Odishas BJD and Haryanas INLD. And the Oppositions prospects will look even better if it can snatch away the Shiv Sena, the BJPs NDA ally, which in the last presidential poll had backed UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee and not BJP candidate Purno A. Sangma.

It appears the chances of an Opposition combine could improve considerably if it can zero in on a presidential candidate who is not from the Congress. In that event it is entirely feasible that the Opposition parties can also elect a vice-president of their choice, trumping the BJP.

Can there be a consensus NDA-Opposition combine candidate for the presidency? That might be the ideal solution, and in that event the sitting Presidents name suggests itself. But in all likelihood that will be a long shot. After having captured the executive, the RSS and the BJP will be having their eyes on Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Siblings Mukesh and Laxa, aged 6 and 5 respectively, whom an Italian couple is adopting through Central Adoption Resource Authority-Delhi, in Surat. (Photo: PTI)

Hundreds of orphaned and abandoned children in India who could have gone on to live happy lives with new parents rarely get a chance. Many of them fall into wrong hands, accredited social workers who counsel couples say. They say there are enough kids  from newborns to seven-year-olds  waiting to enter new homes.

But the governments effort to encourage adoption suffers as child trafficking hides eligible children from the authorities view. The waiting list for prospective adoptive parents (PAPs)  a term used by the women and child development (WCD) ministry  becomes longer and longer since the children are invisible. Eventually, exhausted couples drop out.

The Central Adoption Resource Authority (Cara), under the WCD ministry, is the only government agency via which people can adopt kids in the second-most populated country. Any other adoption channel would be a racket.

The Cara and its parent ministry have been trying to ease the adoption process. The ministry in January 2017 released new rules that, among other applicant-friendly steps, digitised the entire process from filing application to uploading documents to legal verification in a flowchart-like format.

But the edges are still rough. For example, the Cara website accepts documents like income-tax return and permanent account number on a single lowest-resolution PDF (portable document format) file whose size should not exceed a few kilobytes. When even a techie would find it tough to combine and compress a 10-page-long PDF file to meet the Caras criteria, the average applicant will be at sea. Technology can only do so much. It is the multi-layered machine comprising social workers, police, government officials and legal professionals that needs regular oiling.

For instance, a social worker might send a PAP verification request to the police, but the police may sit on it for a long time. Or an adoption agency may not update child availability due to reasons best known to it.

In a nutshell, the adoption process goes like this: First, a couple or any other applicant opens an account on the Cara website. Second, they upload identity and income documents, mention the preferred childs gender and location (maximum of three states in order of preference). Third, they choose an accredited agency for a home study report, after which a social worker meets the PAPs and files a report to the Cara. Fourth, the Cara clears the file and the applicants are put on a waiting list. And finally, the PAPs get a child either after a few months or even years.

The applicants can see their waiting list by login into the Cara website. It usually ranges from 1 to 700. Some states have long waiting list while in others the applicants may see their number fall fast, depending on availability of children. Applicants can opt for a maximum of three states. But people who have adopted kids say anything could go wrong.

Adoption agencies must renew their licence regularly, but some dont. In case an agency conducts the home study report and the Cara clears the file, and later that agency doesnt renew its licence to operate, we dont know what would happen to the application. There is no clarity, a Bangalore-based working mother of an adopted girl says. She declined to be named citing privacy concern.

The Cara also suffers from lack of coherence in legal matters. It cannot override states on issuing birth certificates. PAPs have suggested that the Cara must be given more power.

My daughter was adopted from a different state. We asked for a birth certificate from there but a local court declined. The Cara says it cannot do anything. These days nursery schools ask for birth certificate. I dont know how I will send my child to school without that document, the woman says.

Its not only bureaucratic bottlenecks but also social attitudes that undermine the Caras effort to give new families to eligible kids.

Some couples want infants only from a certain religion, home study specialist Akshita of accredited adoption agency SOS Sopan in south Delhi says. Although single and divorced women can easily adopt kids, their relatives might make them uncomfortable, she says. Even couples who decide to go for adoption may face resistance from conservative family members.

A south Delhi-based PAP, who also declined to be named on privacy grounds, told this newspaper that one of her biggest concerns was not getting an honest representation of the child from adoption agencies.

The Bangalore woman also said a lot of adoption agencies dont update the latest details of children including their photos and health conditions, which could mislead prospective parents.

Once a PAP is called to meet a child, the person may be compelled to adopt the kid because rejection will refresh the PAPs waiting list, the Bangalore woman says. A refreshed waiting list will put the PAP behind new applicants even if the PAP had registered first.

For instance, a PAP from Mumbai who has been called to Jaipur to meet a kid may find out that the child has a disease that was not disclosed by the adoption agency, or the childs photo uploaded by the agency was different.

Despite the shortcomings, the Caras latest data on its website shows it helped parents adopt over 3,600 children (3,210 in India and 527 inter-country) between April 2015 and March 2016.

Another Delhi-based married woman showed this newspaper her waiting list on the Cara website  she had applied for a girl child in October 2016 from (in order of preference) Meghalaya, or Himachal Pradesh, or Uttarakhand.

Though her waiting list in Meghalaya has fallen from over 500 to 300 in the past six months, her position in the other two states has been hovering around 500.

This could mean there are many eligible kids waiting to be adopted in the north-eastern state, the woman says, asking not to be identified.

The Caras data shows the success rate of adoption is increasing in India, but adoption counsellors say PAPs prefer girls than boys  so one gender could be getting a higher success rate.

Couples tend to think that a boy who is five years old is harder to handle than a girl of the same age, a social worker in south Delhi who is handling three active cases of child adoption says.

The Bengaluru woman, who adopted a girl, says many older boys (above five years) remain unpicked at orphanages. If prospective adoptive parents dont change their mindset toward the boy child, the Caras efforts may go in vain.

How to apply for adoption online
BHUBANESWAR: India on Thursday flight-tested Agni-II intermediate range surface-to-surface ballistic missile from off Odisha Coast as part of user trial. There was, however, no official confirmation by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) if the flight-test was successful and met all its mission objectives.

Fired at around 10.23 AM from Abdul Kalam Island in Bhadrak district by the personnel of the Strategic Forces Command of the Indian Army, the missile reportedly achieved its full range and splashed down at the pre-designated target in the sea with high degree of accuracy, Defence sources said.

Reports added that Naval ships tracked the vehicle homing on to the target, while a network of radars, telemetry and electro-optical instruments monitored the trajectory.

The success of the test is significant as Agni-II is considered one of the key weapon systems of India's nuclear deterrence programme.

The 2,000-km plus range nuclear-capable missile was lifted from the Launch Complex IV.

After initial failures, India had in 2010 successfully test-fired Agni-II. The success was repeated in 2014 and in succeeding test-firing exercises.

Developed as part of medium and long range Agni series of missile systems, - Agni-II has already been inducted into the Armed Forces. It is a two-stage solid propelled system and equipped with a special navigation system to achieve high degree of accuracy.

The missile weighs 17 tonnes and its range can be increased to 3,000 km by reducing the payload. It can be fired from both rail and road mobile launchers. It takes only 15 minutes for the missile to be readied for firing.

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According to Kaspersky Lab's Spam and phishing in Q1 2017 report, the world's largest spam botnet and Necurs demonstrated a relative decline in its fraudulent mailshot traffic. In December 2016, Kaspersky Lab's spam traps detected over 35 million fraudulent mail shots but in March 2017 that number fell to almost 7,000.

The Kaspersky Lab spam report also identified the following trends in the first quarter of 2017:

-Global share of spam amounted to almost 56 percent of Q1 email traffic on average, compared to 59.9 percent in Q4 2016

-Total amount of malware attachments in email traffic decreased by 2.4 times, compared to the previous quarter

-More than half of all phishing attacks targeted the financial sector, including banks (almost 26 percent), payment systems (over 13 percent) and online shops (almost 11 percent).

The fall of the Necurs botnet

In 2016,Kaspersky Lab researchers identified sharp increase in spam with malicious attachments, primarily with encryptors. Most of this traffic came from the Necurs botnet, which is currently considered the world's largest spam botnet. However, at the end of December 2016, the network practically stopped, and not just for the Christmas holidays. The botnet's spam was at a very low level for almost the entire first quarter of 2017.

Apparently, criminals were scared by increased hype around the encryptors and decided to suspend mass mailings. However, this decision is unlikely to result in the extinction of this attack vector.

Malicious emails with password-protected files

In the first quarter of 2017 spammers tended to complicate their anti-detection techniques in multiple ways. Among others, cyber-criminal spacked the malware in password-protected files. Once a user received the email, spammers provoked victims to open and archive in the usual way. They forged emails under order notifications from large retail stores, through various transactions and CVs, or promised large sums of money.

Frequently, the emails were sent on behalf of various existing small and medium-sized businesses, with all of the signatures and contacts proving the reliability of the sender.

Once a victim opened the documents, amalicious script was activated and downloaded malware onto computers. The malware pay loads were diverse and included ransomware, spyware, backdoors, ora new modification of the notorious Zeus Trojan.

Spam through legal services

Modern email spam filters effectively cope with the problem of detecting spam sent via emails. This provokes spammers to look for new channels to bypass the barriers. They are increasingly focusing on messengers and social networks to disseminate their advertising and fraudulent offers.

Private messages are usually supported with notifications to the recipient's email. In this case, the email headers will be considered legitimate, unlike traditional email spam. This means that it will be possible to detect spam only by analysis of the message content. This is a much more difficult task, especially given the legal source of information and if the service address is added to the recipient's trusted list.

"At the beginning of 2017 we witnessed a number of changes in spam flows, including a sharp drop in the number of malicious mass mailings from the world's largest spam botnet. Amid this, the spam threat actors are gaining new footholds in anti-detection tricks and techniques, capturing legal communication platforms and password-protected attachments. Most likely this trend will continue, with documents protected by passwords considered trusted in the eyes of a victim. Moreover, these documents and not able to be scanned by the IT security solution," said Darya Gudkova, Spam Analyst

Home users are recommended to use a security solution able to recognize and block malicious attachments and filter spam in desktop email apps, such as Kaspersky Total Security.

Kaspersky Lab recommends that businesses use security solutions with a dedicated functionality aimed at malicious attachments and spam. Small businesses can protect themselves with Kaspersky Small Office Security, which spots and blocks emails with spam. Larger companies can benefit from real-time cloud-assisted anti- spam scanning of all messages on Microsoft Exchange and Linux-based email servers with the Kaspersky Security for Mail Server application included with Kaspersky Total Security for Business.

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HTC U Ultra had also skipped giving the 3.5-mm jack and instead of offering consumers a free adapter.

HTC has officially announced its upcoming U 11 flagship will arrive on May 16. The company has also released two teasers in anticipation of the unveil event. A theoretical image of the retail box art was leaked a few days ago and at least one accessory in the box is now revealed.

HTC U 11 will ditch the 3.5-mm headphone jack and instead employ USB Type-C to 3.5-mm headphone jack adapter in the box, according to leakster LlabTooFer. However, this is not the first HTC smartphone to ditch the iconic headphone jack.

HTC Bolt, or also known as HTC 10 Evo in some markets did not feature a 3.5-mm headphone jack and also HTC did not include an adapter in the box. However, the company later started giving away adapters to all Bolt owners for free.

HTC U Ultra had also skipped giving the 3.5-mm jack and instead of offering consumers a free adapter, HTC had bundled in a set of its own Usonic earbuds with a USB Type-C connector in the box. It is expected that HTC might do the same with its U 11 flagship.

Considering the fact that the HTC U 11 is a flagship with the specs and price to match, an adapter is good way to cater to the user needs and ensure a convenient way of using the smartphone with multiple accessories.

The decision to remove the 3.5-mm headphone jack on the HTCs new flagship could be fuelled by the desire to build a thinner phone, the same incentive that prompted Motorola to ditch the jack on its Moto Z devices.

HTC will be planning to launch the U 11 flagship on May 16 in Taipei and the phones main selling point will be the squeezable frame for launching apps and performing various actions with one hand. The list of internal specs includes Snapdragon 835, a 5.5-inch QHD display, 4GB or 6GB of RAM, and a 3,000mAh battery.

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Mogadishu: Somali security forces shot dead a minister for public works in his car in the capital Mogadishu on Wednesday after mistaking him for an Islamist militant, officials said.

Mogadishu mayoral spokesman Abdifatah Omar Halane said the minister, Abbas Abdullahi Sheikh Siraji, who was also a lawmaker, was killed by mistake - they opened fire on his car accidentally. May God rest his soul.

Police Major Nur Hussein said that security forces on patrol encountered a car blocking the street and, believing it was being driven by militants, opened fire.

Al Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab militants often carry out attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere in their campaign to topple Somalias government and drive out African Union peacekeeping troops out of the Horn of Africa country.
He said Washington would urge world powers to fully implement UN Security Council sanctions against Kim Jong-Un's regime 'because no one has ever fully implemented those.' (Photo: AP)

Washington: The United States said on Wednesday that it hopes to work with China to halt North Korea's nuclear program, but warned that if this fails it might resort to sanctions.

In an address to State Department staff, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson spoke of "third country sanctions," warning that Chinese companies may be hit for working with Pyongyang.

Tillerson said China has reaffirmed support for a "denuclearised" Korean peninsula but that Washington would test their commitment to help rein in their neighbour by "leaning into them hard".

He said Washington would urge world powers to fully implement UN Security Council sanctions against Kim Jong-Un's regime "because no one has ever fully implemented those." And he warned: "We are going to lean in to people to fully implement them. We tell them: 'We are watching what you are doing'.

"When we see you are not implementing, we see companies or we see individuals that are violating sanctions we are going to contact you, we are going to ask you to take care of it," he said. "If you can't take care of or you simply don't want to care of it for own internal political reasons we will. We'll sanction them through third country sanctions."

China approved UN sanctions targeting North Korea's nuclear program, but American observers believe Chinese banks are continuing to give Pyongyang access to international finance.
Jager tells author David Garrow, In the winter of 86, when we visited my parents, he asked me to marry him. Jagers parents objected to the union, believing her to be too young, as she was in her early 20s and two years younger than Obama.

Michelle was not the only women in Barack Obamas life and he had been in a serious relationship before he met his future wife, according to an upcoming biography of the former US president.

The book  Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama written by David J Garrow  shares for the first time the story of the woman Sheila Miyoshi Jager, his love interest, with whom Obama lived in Chicago, The Washington Post said.

Jager tells author David Garrow, In the winter of 86, when we visited my parents, he asked me to marry him. Jagers parents objected to the union, believing her to be too young, as she was in her early 20s and two years younger than Obama.

Their romance continued, but Jager says Obamas political ambitions got in the way. Possessed by a sense that he was destined to a life in politics, and could even become the first African-American president, she says race soon cast a shadow over their relationship.

Besides this, several sex secrets of the young Barack Obama have been revealed in an authoritative new biography of the former president.

According to dailymail.co.uk, Obama did cocaine together with a friend  and after they split she slept with his best friend.

The report added that Obama also considered a gay relationship while at college, twice proposed to another white girlfriend, and cheated on Michelle with his ex during the first year of their relationship.
The North Korean commentary said that China should no longer try to test the limits of the DPRK's patience. (Photo: AP)

Seoul: North Korea has issued a rare direct criticism of China through a commentary saying its "reckless remarks" on the North's nuclear program are testing its patience and could trigger unspecified "grave" consequences.

China, North Korea's largest trading partner and main benefactor, suspended imports of North Korean coal in line with UN sanctions and has been urging its traditional ally to stop nuclear and missile activities amid US pressure to use its leverage to resolve the nuclear standoff.

The commentary released on Wednesday by the state-run Korean Central News Agency said that "a string of absurd and reckless remarks are now heard from China every day only to render the present bad situation tenser."

The article cited commentaries by Chinese state media that it said shifted the blame for deteriorating bilateral relations onto the North and raised "lame excuses for the base acts of dancing to the tune of the US."

"China should no longer try to test the limits of the DPRK's patience," the North Korean commentary said, using its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "China had better ponder over the grave consequences to be entailed by its reckless act of chopping down the pillar of the DPRK-China relations."

The article was not attributed to any government agency or official; the writer was identified only as Kim Chol. Still, it's unusual for the North to directly criticise China. Previously it has couched such criticism by referring to China only as "a neighbouring country."

Chinese state media, meanwhile, have recently unleashed regular and harsh criticisms over the North's actions. The Global Times, an outspoken nationalist tabloid published by the ruling Communist Party's flagship People's Daily, warned in a Thursday editorial that the North's actions threatened a 1961 treaty of non-aggression between the two countries. It called on the regime to end its nuclear tests.

"China will not allow its north-eastern region to be contaminated by North Korea's nuclear activities," the Global Times declared.

In recent days, the paper also warned that China was able to strike back "at any side that crosses the red line" and would impose an oil embargo against the North in response to any more tests. The North Korean commentary said it's China that crossed "the red line."

The People's Daily declared Sunday - and again on Tuesday - that the North's nuclear ambitions "put itself and the whole region into dire peril."
Sydney: An Australian court on Thursday found a 25-year-old man not guilty of raping 18-year-old virgin girl, calling the rape unromantic and quick.

According to a report in Daily Mail, Luke Lazarus, former private schoolboy, was acquitted after a District Court judge said the alleged rape victim 'did not say stop or no' and that the victim had given consent to him.

In 2013, Lazarus allegedly raped the victim in the backyard of his fathers Kings Cross nightclub  which is inside Hourigan Lane, Potts Point. The incident happened within three minutes of their meeting on the dance floor, said the report.

The court also heard that the victim, who was four pegs down, got carried away and kissed Lazarus on the dance floor. The accused then took her to back side of the club for privacy where he sodomised her forcefully.

The CCTV footage of the club, the only evidence of the entire incident, showed how the victim went with Lazarus to the backyard and did not stop him.

While giving his statement to the court, Lazarus insisted he had every reason to believe the 18-year-old was happy to have sex with him.

Countering his statement, Crown Prosecutor Cate Dodds submitted that Lazarus had taken advantage of the woman, who had been 'substantially intoxicated'.

He never asked her if he could do it and he never told her he was going to do it Dodds added in his argument in court.

But defence counsel Phillip Boulten said the woman conceded she may have 'pushed back' when Lazarus penetrated her.

According to Lazarus, the girl got offended and filed a rape complaint when he asked her to write her name below other women's names on a note in his phone, which he described as a 'trophy list'.

The victim accepted the fact that she kissed the club owners son, however, she claimed she wasnt interested in intercourse.

But Judge Robyn Tupman acquitted Lazarus of all charges.
GENOA  Ponca Tribe of Nebraska elder and spiritual leader Robert Sweeneys feet blistered and bled while walking the 26 miles from Newman Grove to Genoa.

There's a caravan of support vehicles and an open-air wagon walkers can hop on during the tribe's Remembrance Walk from Niobrara to Barneston, but Sweeney chose to continue the journey on his bloody feet.

His reasoning was simple.

Because our ancestors did. They didnt have a choice, said Sweeney. I felt I had to suffer walking in their footsteps.

The Remembrance Walk traces the steps the Ponca took 140 years ago when they were forced from their land near Niobrara and had to walk to a reservation in Oklahoma. The group is walking 273 miles to Barneston where the tribe will receive the deed to a stretch of land from the Nebraska Trails Foundation that aligns with the route their ancestors took.

When they reach Seward on Friday, they will attend the dedication ceremony for a historical marker along Interstate 80 denoting where Chief Standing Bears daughter died and was buried on the journey south.

Tribal Council Chairman Larry Wright Jr. told a crowd of more than 100 people in Genoa that this walk was inspired by Nebraskas 150th anniversary, the donation by the Nebraska Trails Foundation and historical marker dedication.

Wright and the tribes culture director, Randy Teboe, taught the crowd about the history and culture of the Ponca, one of Nebraskas oldest American Indian tribes.

After going to Oklahoma, some Ponca decided to sneak back onto their land, which is why they are split between Oklahoma and Nebraska and some members have ties to Genoa.

Nancy Carlson of the Genoa Indian School Museum opened the building for the walkers and gave them a presentation on the school. Before they arrived she copied some of the schools records of Ponca students so tribal members could look up their ancestors.

Ponca elder and spiritual leader Rose Birdhead knew her ancestors had gone to some of the boarding schools across the U.S., where students were punished for speaking their native language or practicing their own culture. When Carlson put on a film about the school, Birdhead couldnt take it.

I know what my aunties and grandmothers went through, she said. So I walked out.

Those boarding schools were instrumental in the federal governments plan to kill American Indian culture. Now, like many other tribes, the Ponca are working to save what remains.

Weve got to keep what we have left of our language and traditions, said Birdhead. For the little ones.

The tribe was no longer recognized by the U.S. government in the early 1960s. This further diluted them across the state. Wright also talked about the emotional toll that had, especially on the elders, to no longer be recognized as a people.

When they were reinstated in 1990, service centers were established in Niobrara, Norfolk, Lincoln, Omaha and Sioux City, Iowa, which had the highest concentrations of Ponca. Birdhead was based in Omaha and said the walk has brought together Ponca spread across Oklahoma and Nebraska.

(The Remembrance Walk) is bringing us closer and were helping take care of each other, said Birdhead. We shouldve done this a long time ago.

At its heart, the journey is also deeply spiritual.

We know our ancestors are looking at us saying, Thank you for doing this, she said.

Sweeney stopped to pray at the grave of an infant who died along the journey 140 years ago named White Buffalo Girl.

I asked her to come with us, he said. Shes been walking with us ever since.

Sweeney saw this journey as a long time coming.

A lot of us had the vision this would happen, he said. Its a great honor to be on this journey.

When they left Niobrara on Saturday, John Garza estimated there were more than 150 people in the group. While that number has fluctuated from day to day, Garza said they have a strong 30 to 40 people walking each day.

Wright was particularly moved by the Ponca children who pushed through bad weather while carrying the staff the tribe made specifically for this journey.

Our youth really helped lead us, said Wright. They were out front in the rain. It was inspiring.

Eight-year-old Chaley Robinette was one of those children leading the way. Robinette is the great-granddaughter of Gary Robinette, who was the former culture director for the tribe and passed away shortly before the walk.

(I wanted) to make my grandpa proud, said Robinette. The elders were proud of us.

Debbie Robinette, Chaleys great-grandmother, couldnt have been prouder.

I was almost ready to cry to see them running through that rain with that staff, she said.

Ten-year-old Bella Wright, whose father is cousins with Larry Wright Jr., also took a turn carrying the staff in the rain.

I wanted to make my mom and dad and ancestors proud, she said. (The staff) means a lot to our tribe.

Larry Wright Jr. also appreciated the level of support theyve received in towns along the way.

A lot of these places have really rolled out the red carpet for us, he said. Its been overwhelming to watch everything come together.

The Genoa City Council donated dinner for the tribe on Tuesday with desserts provided by the Genoa Indian School Museum. On Wednesday morning, the Lions Club cooked a pancake breakfast before they left town.

Through intermittent rain, the walkers went to Monroe then south to Highway 30 and east past Duncan to Camp Pawnee, where they stayed the night.

On Thursday morning they continued south with another 130 miles to go.
Brussels: European Parliament President Antonio Tajani on Thursday dismissed a claim by British Prime Minister Theresa May that the EU was trying to influence the outcome of the June election in Britain.

"No one is trying to influence the outcome of the election campaign in the United Kingdom," Tajani told journalists at the opening of a European history museum in Brussels.

"It is neither an attack or a bad word to say being a member of the European Union is not the same as being outside the EU," Tajani said.

May accused Brussels on Wednesday of trying to influence next month's election with "threats against Britain" over Brexit talks, as the two sides traded blows over terms of the country's divorce.

May fired off her broadside after the bloc's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier warned that the negotiations on Britain's divorce from the EU would not be quick or painless.

She said the hardening of the European Commission's stance was "deliberately timed to affect the result" of the snap June 8 general election.

The chief spokesman for European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker played down May's comments, chalking them up to election campaign rhetoric.

"We are not naive. We know there is an election taking place in the United Kingdom," European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said Wednesday.

"We here in Brussels, we are very busy with our policy work, we have too much to do on our plate," he said.

"In a nutshell we are very busy and we will not 'Brexitise' our work."
The 95-year-old has attended countless British and foreign engagements, as well as being patron or president of almost 800 organisations.(Photo: AP)

Prince Philip, who announced on Thursday he was stepping back from public life, has been Queen Elizabeth IIs loyal consort for almost 70 years, but has often hit the headlines for his salty off-the-cuff comments.

The 95-year-old has attended countless British and foreign engagements, as well as being patron or president of almost 800 organisations.

Officially known as the Duke of Edinburgh, the gaffe-prone former Royal Navy officer has often been in the news for the wrong reasons. But the queen emphasised his importance in a 1997 speech marking their golden wedding anniversary, saying he has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years.

Observers said he was the glue that held the royal family together during a series of divorces by three of his four offspring. The late Princess Diana addressed him as Dearest Pa in letters in which he offered solace over her deteriorating marriage to Prince Charles.

Philip met the then Princess Elizabeth just before the World War II, and they exchanged letters while he served with the Royal Navy. After their marriage in 1947, they spent time in Malta, where he was posted  only for their lives to be changed overnight by the premature death of her father, king George VI, in 1952.

He once admitted the curtailment of his career was disappointing, but said that being married to the queen, it seemed to me that my first duty was to serve her in the best way I could.
Cases were booked against AICC General Secretary and In charge of Telugu states, Digvijaya Singh here on Thursday for his tweets on Telangana police alleging that they are encouraging Muslim youth to join ISIS through fake websites.



Based on a complaint filed by Telangana Rahstra Samithi legislator M Gopinath three days ago, the Banjara Hills police booked cases against the senior Congress leader under sections 501 and 505 for printing defamatory matter and provoking breach of peace. Police initiated the step only after taking legal advice, a senior officer said.



Digvijaya Singh on Monday stoked controversy by tweeting that Telangana police have set up a bogus web site in the name of ISIS to trap Muslim youth by encouraging them to join the radical group. Digvijaya wanted to know whether chief minister K.Chandrasekhar Rao authorized Telangana police to trap Muslim youths. He demanded KCR to order an investigation and initiate action on the police responsible for running the fake site.



Following his tweets Telangana Home Minister Narasimha Reddy demanded apology from Digvijaya saying that the former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh intentionally degraded Telangana police which is considered as one of the best in the country. However Digvijaya refused to budge and reiterated his statement.
India and the United Kingdom (UK) on Wednesday agreed to improve processes to speedily extradite wanted people, which includes liquor baron Vijay Mallya.



The issue was raised during the first Home Affairs Dialogue between both the countries when delegations led by Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and UK's Second Permanent Secretary (Home Office) Patsy Wilkinson met here.



While the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) maintained that individual cases like that of Mallya was not discussed, an official statement said both sides expressed "satisfaction in matters relating to extradition of wanted persons".



"The process involved in matters of extradition and the need to further improve them were also discussed," the statement said.



Briefing media about the talks, MHA Advisor Ashok Prasad individual cases do not come up at this level where policies and procedures are fine-tuned. He said the "bottlenecks" in the processes were discussed.



"The laws laid are very clear. We cannot short circuit judicial process. In the UK, there are issues about death penalty, issues related to quality of prisons, which will be raised by the defence. The idea was to reduce process to ensure that process can finish in a finite time," he said.



The UK has initiated the extradition process of Mallya with a court now slated to start hearing the extradition plea on May 18.



On the cooperation on anti- terrorism mechanism and to strengthen mutual support to check cyber crimes, both sides agreed to formalise these arrangements.



They also discussed the issue of presence of Sikh militants in the UK and sharing of intelligence inputs on real-time during the two-hour long meeting.



Acknowledging the challenges of illegal migrants, the two countries decided to work together to ensure smooth return of Indians overstaying in UK subject to nationality verification.



"Regarding criminal data sharing and strengthening cooperation in tackling serious and organised crimes, the two sides expressed their satisfaction in the existing level of cooperation. Both sides also agreed to enhance and strengthen further the bilateral cooperation and work towards formalising the arrangements," the statement said.



India also raised the contentious issue of visa related difficulties faced by Indian students, skilled professional and dependents of Indian diplomats.



Prasad said the UK side assured that this would be looked into and they mentioned that it has been their constant endeavour to improve the visa process to promote people to people exchanges that exist between the two countries.
In the backdrop of increasing incidents of attacks on security forces, the Army and police in Kashmir have launched a major coordinated offensive against militants whose ranks have only swelled up mainly in south of the Valley in recent months.



Reports said the Army, the Jammu and Kashmir police and other security forces have cordoned off 20 villages in southern Shopian to nab the militants, who carried multiple terror attacks in and around the district in recent weeks. Assisted by gunship helicopters, hundreds of troops and policemen were carrying house-to-house searches in Turkwangam area of Shopian, reports added.



Deputy Inspector General of Police (south Kashmir) S P Pani confirmed that an unprecedented search operation was going on in several villages of Shopian since morning. We had inputs about the presence of militants in the area. Clashes erupted at two places in Sugan and Turkwanagam, but we are dealing with it, he said, while refusing to comment on the facilities used in the operation.



Sources said the cordon and search operation was started in the area during wee hours of Thursday after inputs that the recent video in which around 30-militants were seen together might have been filmed in the area. They said that helicopters were seen hovering in the sky as forces continued house-to-house searches.



A local resident told DH over phone that security forces indiscriminately thrashed people, besides damaging vehicles, door and windowpanes and other household goods during the search operation.



The militants had on Tuesday night snatched five rifles from police guards posted at the Shopian district court complex. Prior to that five policemen and two bank security guards were killed in an attack on a cash van of J&K in Phambai area of neighbouring Kulgam district.



After last years unrest, militant outfits particularly indigenous Hizb-ul-Mujahideen have strengthened their ranks and militants gave surfaced in open several times in south Kashmir to garner support from the people.



Also, militants have been seen roaming around freely in villages of South Kashmir, attracting the attention of the youth. A senior police officer said militants could construct a narrative of heroism around Hizbul commander Burhan Wanis pursuits and killing last year.



Nearly 100 young boys have joined the Hizbul ranks during the past six months in south Kashmir districts of Kulgam, Anantnag, Shopian and Pulwama. Burhans replacement and other militant commanders have followed his footsteps by using social media to reach out the Internet-savvy youth of the Valley with their jihad obligation message, he said.



The officer revealed that top security officials have told the state government in clear terms that they need free hand to deal with the militants and stone-pelters to control the situation. The police top brass isnt happy with the way government is dealing with the situation. Police wants a free hand to deal with the militants and their sympathizers, which Mehbooba Mufti government wasnt allowing especially in south Kashmir which is ruling PDPs bastion, he claimed.
At least eight students were injured as clashes erupted between students and security forces in north Kashmirs Sopore town on Thursday.



Reports said clashes erupted after hundreds of students from Boys Higher Secondary school, Degree College and Government Girls Higher Secondary school Sopore took out protests against the recent student arrests. Unconfirmed reports said, the students raised anti-India slogans and hoisted flags of Pakistan in the college premises.



Security personnel used tear smoke shells to stop the students protest which led to clashes in the area, in which eight boys were injured while 20 girl students also fainted.



Students across Kashmir have been protesting since April 17, against police raid on a government college in Pulwama which led to violent protests in educational institutions across the valley. Nearly 200 students have been injured in the last more than two weeks of clashes between forces and protesting students.
US President Donald Trump has offered to work as "mediator, an arbitrator or a facilitator" to achieve a genuine and lasting peace between Israel and Palestine as he hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House.



In their first meeting, Trump and Abbas discussed the advancement of the Middle East peace process and the strengthening of US-Palestinian relations, the White House said in a statement. "Trump and Abbas reaffirmed the commitment of both the US and the Palestinian Authority to achieve a genuine and lasting peace between the Israelis and Palestinians," the White House said.



Trump stressed that he is personally committed to helping the Israelis and Palestinians achieve a comprehensive peace, and that any peace settlement can only be the product of direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.



The US President expressed his appreciation for Abbas' unambiguous support for a negotiated settlement of the conflict.



Trump offered himself as a "mediator, arbiter or facilitator" to help reach a peace agreement between Israel and Palestine, but said, "Any agreement cannot be imposed by the US or any other nations." The two leaders discussed the value of actions that can help create a climate conducive to tangible progress toward peace.



According to the White House the two leaders President reaffirmed the joint determination of the Palestinian Authority and the US to combating violence and terrorism.



They discussed the importance of the US-Palestinian partnership in building and sustaining the capacity of Palestinian security forces to counter terrorism, maintaining peace and security for the Palestinians, and continuing strong coordination with the Israeli government to benefit both peoples.



"President Trump emphasised the importance of making a clear commitment to preventing inflammatory rhetoric and to stopping incitement, and to continue strengthening efforts to combat terrorism. "President Trump raised his concerns about payments to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails who have committed terrorist acts, and to their families, and emphasised the need to resolve this issue," the White House said.



"An honour to host President Mahmoud Abbas at the WH today. Hopefully something terrific could come out it between the Palestinians & Israel," Trump said in a tweet to his more than 28.6 million followers. The White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at his daily news conference that the two leaders discussed a wide range of issues.



"Some of the topics that were discussed during their meeting and the lunch were: advancing the Israeli-Palestinian peace; preventing incitements to violence, particularly media outlets directly associated with the Palestinian Authority; strengthening efforts to combat terrorism, including defeating ISIS; measures to empower the Palestinian economy and provide economic opportunity for the Palestinian people," he said.



"They had a series of private discussions. That is why the President is able to effectively get things done for this country is to not negotiate out in public. He's going to continue to have discussions with Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Abbas moving forward, and he feels confident about where that relationship was and developments that were made today," he said.
If Muslims do not want a compromise on the Ram Temple issue, the court is there to resolve the land dispute in Ayodhya, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy today said, sounding confident of legal victory in the matter.



"If they don't want a compromise, the court is there... We have already won in the Allahabad High Court, which has ruled that Lord Rama was born at a place of central dome as per faith. "If you talk of Hindu-Muslim unity, a mosque can be constructed anywhere, but it cannot be constructed where Lord Rama took birth," Swamy, also a Rajya Sabha MP, told reporters after his meeting with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath here.



He, however, declined to divulge what transpired at his meeting with Adityanath, a hardline Hindutva leader and vocal proponent of the temple.



Swamy said, "There was a temple where a mosque was constructed... The clerics, who are adamant, should know that."



"There is a way (of settlement) through the Supreme Court. I have a fundamental right under Article 25 of the Constitution to worship at the place of my faith. I am fighting for my fundamental right, while they are fighting for property right," he said, sounding confident of legal victory.



When asked how a settlement could be reached when both the parties were not in agreement, he said, "Samjhauta nahi karna chahte hain to phir court to hai hi (If they don't want to compromise, then the court is there to resolve the issue)".



Swamy had recently urged the Muslim community to support construction of the Ram Temple at the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya.



"Ram temple can only be built at one place in Ayodhya where the structure of a temple was found at the disputed site following investigation by the Archaeological Survey of India," Swamy had said. The BJP MP claimed that the Allahabad High Court had made it clear that the structure of a temple was found at the disputed site.



In September 2010, a three-judge Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court had stated that Lord Rama was born under the central dome of the makeshift temple and Hindus have the right to worship there. Subsequently, the apex court had stayed the implementation of the HC decision. The case is pending since then.



"Babri Masjid was built after the temple was demolished and the Hindu community has been demanding construction of the Ram temple for a long time," Swamy had said.



"If the issue is settled amicably, it will be all right, otherwise we will enact a law to construct a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya when we get majority in the Rajya Sabha by April, 2018," he had asserted. Swamy, who was asked by the Supreme Court to talk to all parties in the dispute, said he had discussions with Muslim leaders -- AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi and Babri Masjid Action Committee convener Zafaryab Jilani -- over the issue.



"The Muslim leaders did not agree to a bilateral negotiation but wanted mediation of the Supreme Court," he had said.




1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.

2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.

3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament of the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.

4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.

5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.

6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.

7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.

8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.

9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.

10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.

11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)

12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.

13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.

14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.

15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.

16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.

17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

18. Gain control of all student newspapers.

19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.

20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.

21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.

22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."

23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."

24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."

27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."

28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.

30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."

31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.

32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.

33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.

34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.

36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.

37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.

38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand.

39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.

40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.

41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.

42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use united force to solve economic, political or social problems.

43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.

44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.

45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike.
A national military strategy and a security framework will be finalised very soon to effectively deal with security challenges facing the nation, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said today.



In an address at a defence think tank, the Army Chief lamented that the spending on defence is considered a "burden" by many in the country and the military is not getting its due share. Citing China, he stressed that India's true potential will be realised only when both economic growth and might of the armed forces go hand-in-hand.



He said the country must look for new friends and allies to deal with neighbours along India's western and northern borders, an apparent reference to Pakistan and China.



Referring to India's security challenges, Gen Rawat said the drafts of national military strategy and national security strategy were ready to deal with pressing issues coherently. "We should be able to identify our own national military strategy. We do not have a national military strategy as of now. Directorate General of Perspective Planning has been tasked to come out with it.



"We are also coming out with the national security strategy which will be given to the government. Both the draft documents are ready and hopefully we will be releasing them very soon," he said after unveiling 'Strategic Yearbook 2017' at the United Service Institution, a national security and defence think tank.



Holding that a strong military is essential for India's forward march, he said the general thinking among people is that expenditure on defence "is a burden" on the economy.



He said a "very strong military" is key for the economy to develop and cited China's policy in this regard. The army chief also identified ensuring energy security as another important requirement for India to become a major power.



"While we are developing our economy, the military is not getting its due share. I think here we need to draw a lesson from China," he said, adding military and economic growth should be "co-joint" as they are two tenants of national power.



India's defence budget for 2017-18 was Rs 2.74 lakh crore, which is 1.63 per cent of GDP. China's defence budget is close to three per cent of its GDP. There has been a feeling among security experts and the defence establishment that the modernisation of armed forces is taking place at a very slow pace and that government has not been allocating adequate funds for it in the last few years.



Talking about the evolving security situation in the region, he said India must have close ties with countries like Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan considering the security matrix. He said such a policy will recreate the outreach India had before partition.



The army chief said such a strategy will create two pronged dilemma for India's western neighbour, Pakistan, but also help in tackling issues with India's northern neighbour, China.



"We have to start looking at how do we carry out counter-encirclement for our future adversaries. Developing alliances, developing friends to overcome the (current) deficiency is important. That must be part of our strategic thought process," he said.



The army chief said that time has come for India to have a say in all major issues at the United Nations and the country must work hard to attain the membership of the UN Security Council.



"We must create alliances and friends also so that we find a rightful place at the UNSC. Time has come for India to have a say in all that happens in UN," he said.



On energy security, he said India has a huge potential to generate solar and wind energy and it must focus on these energy sources.
The Supreme Court on Thursday came to help of eight students from Banaras Hindu University by revoking their suspension. The court also stayed the criminal proceedings initiated against them over their agitation on opening varsity library for 24 hours.



The top court, however, put the students to oral examinations by asking them questions from studies. It provided them relief after they expressed remorse over their conduct.



After asking the lawyers not to argue the case, a three-judge bench presided over by Justice Dipak Misra put the undergraduate and post-graduate students to questions like what is the ingredients of 'State' and who propounded the principle of 'Advaitwad'. The queries also ranged from philosophies of Immanuel Kant, Descarte and Nietzsche.



As students faltered on some basic questions from their subjects of studies and answered several others, the bench asked, What did you do get suspended?



They replied that they were merely demanding opening of cyber library 24x7 as promised in the University prospectus and went on hunger strike over it. They were arrested and sent to jail on lodging of criminal case after their suspension from May, last year, they said.



On inquiry, University Registrar Neeraj Tripathi, personally present in the court, said the library was open from 8 AM to 11 PM and as the varsity had huge porus campus and, it was not feasible to keep it open for 24x7.



The bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and Mohan M Shantanagoudar told the students, Every University has a discipline. If it is not possible to keep library open 24 hours, you have to follow rules and regulations.



The bench told them, If you express your remorse over your conduct, we will stay the criminal case proceedings and ask the University authorities to conduct your special examination by end of July, so that academic year does not get spoiled.



The case against you will remain pending. We will see your conduct, the bench further told them.



As the students agreed, the bench told them, On next date of hearing on August 28, you have to appear here again. All of you have to wear white shirts and keep your hair properly combed. This court also has some discipline.



The court directed University authorities to give the students gap of three days between two papers in their examination in order to provide them with time for preparations.
The Madras High court today stayed a lower court proceedings against actor Kamal Hassan, who had been ordered to appear before it to answer the charges of having made insulting remarks against the Mahabharata.



Justice N Athinathan of the high court's Madurai bench also dispensed with the actor's personal appearance.



A magisterial court of Valliyoor in Tirunelveli district had last month directed Haasan to appear before it on May 5 on a complaint filed by a local trader over his remarks made during a TV interview.



Magistrate Senthil Kumar had on April 21 also ordered police to investigate the matter and file a report at the earliest on the complaint filed by president Athinatha Sundaram of Anjugramam Traders Association.

The actor had yesterday moved the high court for quashing the complaint.



In his petition to the high court, the actor had submitted that he was only replying to a question asked by the interviewer regarding the oppression of women and the increasing sexual assaults on them, including the film actresses.



It was a discussion and he did not mean to hurt any person or his religious feelings, Kamal said in his petition.



Haasan submitted that the complaint against him had been filed with an oblique motive and he did not mean to offend any one. His statement should be understood in the true light of understanding, he said, adding, the magistrate had issued the summons mechanically.



The complaint in the lower court had alleged that the actor, in response to a question from the interviewer about the crimes against women, particularly in the film industry, had said the people in this country read even the epic Mahabharata, wherein a woman was staked in a game of dice.



"Is there anything more disgusting than oppressing a woman. On one side, we boast that we are a developed society and on the other side, women are being dominated in the name of pride. It seems like we havent moved on from the 'Game of Dice' incident of Mahabharatham," the petitioner had said.



Hassan was referring to the Pandava brothers staking their wife Draupadi in a gamble with their cousins and arch enemies, the Kauravas. Sundaram had said the actor's remarks had hurt sentiments of Hindus and demanded maximum punishment for him.



The actor told the high court that a case had also been filed against him in Kumbakonam over the same issue.
The armed forces are not getting their due share of resources, Army chief General Bipin Rawat said today, pitching for increased defence spending to enhance India's strategic clout.



Amid mounting tensions with Pakistan and China, Rawat insisted on the country looking for new friends and allies to deal with neighbours along the western and northern borders, apparently referring to the two nations.



Pitching for investing more in strengthening India's armed forces, Rawat, addressing a defence think tank, spoke of China to drive home the point that India's true potential will be realised only when both economic growth and might of the military go hand-in-hand.



"While we are developing our economy, the military is not getting its due share. I think here we need to draw a lesson from China," he said, adding military and economic growth should be "conjoint" as they are two tenets of national power.



India's defence budget for 2017-18 was Rs 2.74 lakh crore which is 1.63 per cent of GDP. China's military spending for 2017 has been pegged at USD 152 billion, which is close to around three per cent of the country's GDP and three times higher than that of India's defence budget.



There has been a feeling among security experts and the defence establishment that the modernisation of armed forces is taking place at a very slow pace and that the government has not been allocating adequate funds for it.



Talking about the evolving security situation in the region, Gen Rawat said India must have close ties with countries like Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan considering the security matrix. He said such a policy will recreate the outreach India had before partition.



The army chief said such a strategy will not only create a two-pronged dilemma for India's western neighbour Pakistan, but also help in tackling issues with the other difficult northern neighbour China. "We have to start looking at how do we carry out counter-encirclement for our future adversaries. Developing alliances, developing friends to overcome the (current) deficiency is important. That must be part of our strategic thought process," he said.



The army chief said that time has come for India to have a say in all major issues at the United Nations and the country must work hard to attain permanent membership of the UN Security Council.



"We must create alliances and friends also so that we find a rightful place at the UNSC. Time has come for India to have a say in all that happens in UN," he said.



Referring to India's security challenges, Gen Rawat said the drafts of national military strategy and national security strategy were ready to deal with pressing issues coherently.



"We should be able to identify our own national military strategy. We do not have a national military strategy as of now. Directorate General of Perspective Planning has been tasked to come out with it.



"We are also coming out with the national security strategy which will be given to the government. Both the draft documents are ready and hopefully we will be releasing them very soon," he said after unveiling 'Strategic Yearbook 2017' at the United Service Institution, a national security and defence think tank.



Holding that a strong military is essential for India's forward march, he said the general thinking among people is that expenditure on defence "is a burden" on the economy. He said a "very strong military" is key to economic development.
The Supreme Court on Thursday came to the rescue of eight students from Banaras Hindu University by revoking their suspension. The court also stayed the criminal proceedings initiated against them for agitating to keep the varsity library open 24/7.



The top court, however, subjected the students to oral examination by asking questions from their study syllabus. It provided them relief after they expressed remorse over their conduct.



After asking the lawyers not to argue the case, a three-judge bench presided over by Justice Dipak Misra asked the students questions like, What are the ingredients of State and who propounded the principle of 'Advaitwad'. The queries also ranged from philosophies of Immanuel Kant, Descartes and Nietzsche.



As the students faltered on some basic questions from their subjects of study and answered several others, the bench asked, What did you do to get suspended?



They replied that they were merely demanding keeping the cyber library open 24x7 as promised in the University prospectus and went on a hunger strike for it. They were arrested and sent to jail on lodging a criminal case after their suspension in May last year, they said.



On inquiry, University Registrar Neeraj Tripathi, who was present in the court, said the library was open from 8 am to 11 pm. As the varsity had a huge, porous campus, it was not feasible to keep it open 24x7.



The bench told the students, Every University has a discipline. If it is not possible to keep the library open 24 hours, you have to follow the rules and regulations.
Senior Haryana bureaucrat Ashok Khemka, who blew the lid off the controversial land deal between Robert Vadras company and DLF, has struck down an official file noting that said CM has desired.



The 1991-batch IAS officer has shot off a letter to the government saying that he is not obliged to adhere to such noting. Khemka, principal secretary, science and technology, has asked the Haryana government to clear the ambiguity with regard to such file noting.



The trigger was a note on an official file that said CM has desired penned down by an officer on special duty in the Manohar Lal Khattar government. The whistle-blower officer put his foot down citing rules of business that run contrary to adhering such noting on files.



Such remarks on official files are a common practice in many states, including Haryana. Khemkas response to such practices attempts to curtail extra-constitutional powers and jurisdiction often exerted by the political appointees in getting work done on priority basis from the executive.



Bureaucrats are often expected to follow instructions patronised with such noting on government files. Khemka protested in a communique to state Health Minister Anil Vij. The minister has forwarded the letter to the government to take a final call.


Page Content

Ahead of the 9th of May - Europe Day, the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) will hear citizens' views on the past and present of Europe, as well as their hopes for the future during its annual celebration of EU local and regional diversity. The EU's Assembly of Local and Regional representatives will host a variety of activities and events, including a "Festival of Regions and Cities" in its premises (6 May) and a series of citizens' dialogues organised at local level in a number of Member States.

"Europe Day, held on 9 May every year, celebrates the most valuable achievement of the EU: peace throughout our continent. The brand new House of European History will serve as a permanent reminder of our shared history, right on our doorstep. I am proud of what the EU has done and how it has enabled our EU regions and cities to work together and learn from each other, but it would be reckless to limit ourselves to celebrations. The time has come for better listening, for being brutally honest with each other and being open to change. This is why our Committee has launched a bottom-up initiative called "Reflecting on Europe". We want to give people a local space, where trust is still highest, to share ideas, concerns and proposals for the EU so that together, we can build a Europe for and with the people", said CoR President Markku Markkula.

6 May  EU Open Doors

On Saturday 6 May 2017, the European institutions will open their doors to celebrate the anniversary of the historical 'Schuman declaration', which proposed the European Coal and Steel Community ( Europe Day ). On this occasion, the CoR will celebrate Europe's diversity with a "Festival of Regions and Cities".

The excellence of EU regions and cities will be at the core of the 2017 edition with numerous stands offering innovative activities, including a "Proud of my region/city festival showcasing typical regional products from across Europe,to interact with visitors and show both the variety of regions and cities and their specificities.

The public will be invited to discover the CoR and its political groups and to learn about its role and activities (5th floor: presentation of the CoR and information stands). Visitors will also have the opportunity to share their concerns, thoughts and ideas about the future of the EU, by participating in the CoR Reflecting on Europe survey: you: www.cor.europa.eu/debate.go

Visitors are also invited take part in a lively debate with representatives of grassroots movements in a Citizens' Dialogue on "Listening (to) Europe: Experiences and prospects of local citizens movements "

Two short debates are planned for 12:00 to 12.40 and 12.45 - 13:30 in room JDE 52 (5th floor). Questions and comments can also be submitted via social media using the hashtag #eulocal.

8-9 May  Local events/citizens dialogues

In the framework of its " Reflecting on Europe " campaign and in parallel with Europe's Day, CoR members will co-organise a series of local events/citizens dialogues across Europe on 8-9 May.

8 May: Citizens dialogue on "The Future of Europe", Santiago de Compostela, Spain (organiser: Xunta de Galicia)

9 May: Citizens' dialogue on "Europe - Opportunities for young people", Breitenwang, Austria (organiser: Community of Breitenwang)

9 May: Citizens' dialogue on "Erasmus: building together the future of the EU", Pamplona, Spain (organiser: Government of Navarra)

9 May: Citizens' dialogue " Ripensare l'Europa/ Rethink Europe", Vittorio Veneto, Italy (organiser: Municipality of Pieve di Soligo)

9 May: Citizens' dialogue on "The Young in the Future of Europe", Santander, Spain (organiser: Region of Cantabria)

9 May: Citizens' dialogue on "Burgerdialog zur Zukunft Europas", Innsbruck, Austria (organiser: Land Tirol)

For more information about these local events: eulocal@cor.europa.eu #eulocal
Terrorist infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir will increase in the summer as the snow in the upper reaches of the Himalayas will start melting, said Army Chief General Bipin Rawat.



The summer months have started, so like each year, the infiltration will commence, he said on the sidelines of a book-release event.



Rawat had just returned to the national capital after spending two days in Kashmir, where he was briefed about the security situation by top commanders.



We are taking (counter) measures. We have beefed up our counter-infiltration posture to take care of the situation, Rawat said.



Sources in the army headquarters told DH that besides the anticipated spike in infiltration, the unrest in the Valley will also increase in a month or two, when the results of the Class X and XII board examinations are out.



The number of stone-pelters will increase after the results are out. Those who fail the exams are likely to be targeted by anti-India elements to swell their ranks, an officer said.



Speaking about the retaliation to Pakistan for the killing and mutilating the bodies of two Indian soldiers earlier this week, the army chief said the army could share details of the actions only after its execution, reiterating the stance taken by his deputy, Lt Gen Sarath Chand, two days ago.


Infosys, the second-largest IT services company, has reportedly started mediations with its founders over allegations of corporate misgovernance, including high compensation to top executives.



According to sources familiar with the development, Cyril Suresh Shroff, the managing partner of law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, is heading discussions with the founders. Infosys appointed law firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas for mediation talks between various shareholders in February.



When approached by DH, the company didnt share any information. As part of its fact finding, the law firm has asked the board of directors about its composition and governance policies. Besides meeting Infosys institutional investors, it is looking at the infomation that can be shared with founders.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday upheld the conviction and life sentence of 11 people accused of gang-raping Bilkis Bano, a 19-year-old pregnant woman, and brutally murdering 14 members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter, during the 2002 Gujarat riots.



However, a division bench of the high court, comprising Justices Vijaya Kapse Tahilramani and Mridula Bhatkar, turned down the CBIs appeal seeking death penalty for three of the convicts.



In 2008, 12 people were handed life sentences. One of the accused passed away in the interim. Besides, the court also convicted seven others, including five policemen and two doctors, who were earlier acquitted by the lower court.



They were found guilty under IPC Sections 201 (causing disappearance of evidence or giving false information to screen offender) and 218 (public servant framing incorrect record with intent to save person from punishment), and granted eight weeks to deposit a fine of Rs 20,000 each.



In 2016, the CBI had contended that it is one of the rarest of rare cases and the life term awarded by a lower court to three of the prime accused  Govind Nai, Sailesh Bhat and Jaswant Nai  should be enhanced to death penalty.



Bilkis Yakub Rasool alias Bilkis Bano was among 17 people who were attacked by a mob on March 3, 2002, near Randhikpur village in Dahod district of Gujarat during the riots. Eight people were killed and six were reported missing. Only three  Bilkis and two family members  survived. She was raped and presumed dead.



The CBI has said that policemen connived with the convicts by fudging documents and compromising the inquest panchnama (document).

DH News Service


The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has asked all state drug controllers to carry out inspections to ensure the availability of latest cardiac stents from three companies, who had approached the government to withdraw some of their products from India.



Two foreign companies Medtronics and Abbott has sought the Centres permission to withdraw their latest range of stents from India following price control, whereas a third one, Boston Scientific, also wished to follow the suit.



The government has rejected the companies withdrawal request, and has invoked an emergency clause in the Drug Price Control Order 2013 citing public interest. The government has asked the manufacturers, distributors and suppliers to maintain supplies of their products for six months.



The NPPA in its May 2 order asked patients, hospitals and doctors to report if any of these stents are in short supply.



If required, necessary inspections (by the state drug controllers) should be carried out at place of business of stent companies, distributors, hospitals, says the order.


Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Thursday said the army can share details (of any retaliatory action) only after its execution. The statement comes days after the killing and mutilation of two Indian soldiers near Indias disputed boundary with Pakistan.



Asked how the army plans to avenge the killing, the army chief said, You are asking for future plan. Army never gives future plan. It is said only after it is executed.



Gen Rawats cryptic comments assume significance in the backdrop of what his deputy, Lt Gen Sarath Chand, said two days ago. Faced with the same query, the army vice chief had said, I would not like to spell out what we are going to do. We will take our own action at a time and place of our choice. Pakistan Army will have to take the responsibility and face consequences.

Earlier this week, mutilated bodies of two Indian soldiers  Naib Subedar Paramjit Singh from 22 Sikh Infantry regiment and Head Constable Prem Sagar from 200th Battalion of the Border Security Force  were found near the Line of Control in the Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir.



A third soldier, constable Rajinder Singh from the BSF, received bullet injuries in his left leg. The soldiers were ambushed when they were moving from one post to another at a distance of 800 metres inside a forested area during a routine patrol.



Indian Army claimed the men were killed by the Pakistan Armys Border Action Team, which generally comprises Pakistan Army regulars and terrorists.
The state government on Thursday formed a 10-member committee under Bengaluru Development Minister K J George to open Indira Canteens in all the 198 wards of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).



Other members of the committee are Food and Civil Supplies Minister U T Khader, Bengaluru Mayor G Padmavathi, Additional Chief Secretary (Urban Development Department), chairpersons of BWSSB and Bescom, commissioners of BDA and BBMP, BBMP special commissioner (finance), and deputy secretary-3 in the urban development department. The government also decided that all Indira Canteens will have a uniform design which the BBMP commissioner will approve shortly.



According to the committee, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, which provides midday meals to schoolchildren, can bid for the project if it agrees to using onion and garlic in the food preparation. The committee also discussed the popular demand for Idli and Vada for breakfast.



Revival of lakes

Speaking to journalists, George insisted that the government had undertaken many remedial measures to improve the condition of the citys lakes much before the National Green Tribunal (NGT) issued the order on Bellandur and Varthur lakes. He said the government had made sewage treatment plants mandatory for industries in the upstream of Bellandur lake which had been fenced by the BDA.

DH News Service
Petrol pumps will be closed every Sunday starting May 14 and all the 3,000 filling stations in Karnataka will be open only for 12 hours during the daytime from May 15 onwards, the Karnataka Federation of Petroleum Traders announced on Thursday.



But considering the convenience of motorists, the federation has allowed petrol pumps on highways to operate at night as well as on Sundays. The exception wont apply to Bengaluru.

The decision came after the federation decided to join the agitation launched by the Consortium of Indian Petroleum Dealers (CIPD) demanding an end to anomalies in dealers commission.



Federation president B R Ravindranath said the Centre had failed to settle several long-pending issues pertaining to dealers commission. The Apurva Chandra committee had recommended revision of dealers commission every six months. But even six years after it submitted the report, there has been no action while our operation costs have increased manifold, he said.



No Purchase Day

As part of the protest, petroleum dealers across the country will observe No Purchase Day on May 10 and will not buy fuel from oil marketing companies (OMCs) that day.



Since the last revision in dealers commission, there has been a huge increase in prices of all commodities and services. We estimate that about 25% of the operation will be saved by shutting down pumps once a week and with the single-shift operation, he said.



Ravindranath said the federation would consider 24/7 operations if the government implemented the committees recommendations. It has been five years since the Centre received the report. There has been no progress since then. The government and OMCs point fingers at each other whenever we demand justice. We will continue the agitation until the government implements the report, he said.



Putting foot down

Dealers not to buy fuel from oil marketing companies on May 10.

Single-shift operation (12 hours) from May 15.

Move to cut operation cost in the wake of lower commission.

Dealers may reconsider 24/7 operations if govt fulfills demands.




The Bengaluru police have accidentally discovered a gay dating app while investigating the murder of a homosexual man and believe they are on the verge of creating history: solving a crime with the help of an app.



We have almost zeroed in on the prime suspect but are yet to catch him, a senior officer told DH but refused to give details of the app, saying that would hamper the investigation.



Case of murder

Thirty-five-year old Muralidhars body was found with stab injuries in a toilet on the first floor of KR Market on the night of April 11, when the Bengaluru Karaga festival was under way. The City Market police registered a case of murder and began investigation.



Police first picked up 12-13 people who were on the victims contact list and found out that all of them are homosexuals and that they had invited Muralidhar for Karaga that night. The men told police that Muralidhar was a homosexual, too. Further investigation led police to the app that serves as a networking platform for like-minded gays. Police suspect that the crime was the fallout of a brawl or a financial dispute born out of a sex deal that went awry. We have formed two investigating teams. One is using conventional policing methods and the other is looking for technical clues. We have two leads and both of them could take us to the same person, the officer said. We have identified the prime suspect. He has a criminal record and is on the run.



Investigators have combed the house rented by Muralidhar in Moodalapalya, Vijayanagar. He was unmarried and was living alone.



Sleuths found books of civil services and other competitive examinations. He may have prepared for the exams or was tutoring others, the officer said. Muralidhars parents had died and left for him a house in Anepalya which he had rented. He didnt work and lived off the house rent, the officer said.

DH News Service

senior Police officer: We have formed two investigating teams. One is using conventional policing methods and the other is looking for technical clues. We have two leads and both of them could take us to the same person. We have identified the prime suspect. He has a criminal record and is on the run.
By Carli Velocci

28 April 2017 (The Wrap)  Multiple scientists and climate change advocates are calling for a boycott of The New York Times after an op-ed that they felt pushed anti-climate change agendas. The Friday column, the first written by Bret Stephens for the publication, uses the argument that data doesnt always convey reality to make the point that climate change isnt definite, despite evidence that supports the claim. He refers partially to Hillary Clintons 2016 presidential run, chronicled in the recent book Shattered: Inside Hillary Clintons Doomed Campaign. Authors Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes wrote that the campaign relied too much on data, one of the many things that led to its downfall. [] Stephens hiring  announced on April 12  has been a point of contention for many Times readers thanks to his long history of writing insulting phrases in his columns in regards to Islamophobia, sexual assault, and, of course, climate change. Stephens came over from The Wall Street Journal, where he was a conservative columnist who mostly wrote about foreign policy. However, he would on occasion write about climate change, often iterating that activists can manipulate evidence to support their claims. In a 2009 WSJ article no longer on the official website, Stephens said: climate alarmists have become brilliantly adept at changing their terms to suit their convenience. In 2011, he wrote that climate change is a religion without God [] presided over by a caste of spectacularly unattractive people pretending to an obscure form of knowledge. [] Stefan Rahmstorf, head of Earth System Analysis at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact research, posted his letter to The New York Times editor on why he was canceling his subscription. The Times has denounced the critics of its decision as left-leaning, he wrote in part. There is no left-leaning or right-leaning climate science, just as there is no Republican or Democrat theory of gravity. I have several good climate scientist friends who are lifelong republicans. Their understanding of climate change does not differ from mine, because it is informed by evidence. [more]
As per IDC, the launch of Huaweis P10, P10 Plus smartphones and a strong momentum for the Honor brand helped the company reclaim the top position from Oppo in China.

Chinas Huawei is now the top smartphone company in the country, reclaiming the spot from Oppo this quarter. As per an IDC report, the launch of its latest flagships, the P10 and P10 Plus, along with a strong demand for Honor devices, pushed Huawei to the top spot in Q1 2017.

Read the entire press release below

According to International Data Corporation (IDC), 104.1 million smartphones were shipped to China in 2017Q1. This was a mere 1% year-on-year (YoY) growth, in part the result of high inventory from the previous quarter. 2017Q1 was also relatively quiet aside from a few product launches like Huaweis new P10, P10 Plus, and Honor V9. This, along with strong momentum for the Honor brand, helped Huawei reclaim the top position from OPPO.

Despite a soft first quarter in China, the second quarter should pick up sequentially given not only JD.coms June promotions, but also activity around a number of new products like vivo with its Y53, Xiaomi with its Mi 6, Meizu with its E2, and Gionee with its M6S Plus, says Tay Xiaohan, Senior Market Analyst with IDC Asia/Pacific's Client Devices team.

"Apple has been seeing double-digit YoY declines for the fifth quarter in a row, but we believe that Chinese consumers are holding out for the launch of Apple's 10-year anniversary iPhone at the end of the year, and this will help Apple to see a rebound in the China smartphone market," according to Tay.

These are some key highlights in the China smartphone market in 2017Q1 and some points on what we can expect to see for the coming year:

The top five smartphone companies now dominate 70% of the market. We expect their share to continue to rise and to see more consolidation from the smaller companies in the coming year. We also do not expect to see any new smartphone companies entering the market that will be able to make a significant difference to the smartphone scene in China.

Android ASPs continued to increase QoQ and YoY. This was largely due to the top Chinese smartphone companies Huawei, OPPO and vivo seeing an increase in their ASPs, as consumers seek to purchase their key flagship models. Consumers are also seeking to upgrade their smartphones to seek a better user experience, and these companies offer models that can meet their needs. Additionally, with key flagships by these Chinese companies having more upgraded specifications such as dual cameras and OLED screens, the price of smartphones has continued to increase.

Huawei's Honor 8, OPPO's R9s and vivo's X9 were the popular models from these companies in the quarter. Apart from the continued reliance in celebrity endorsers for these models, one other common factor these models share is the strength of the phones' cameras which was clearly highlighted across all their advertisements. These models also had batteries with the capacity of around 3000 mAh, highlighting the importance of phones having a powerful camera and strong battery life.

Smartphone companies will be focusing more on their offline retail expansion. Huawei has committed to opening more experience stores in key cities while OPPO will be opening more stores in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities. Xiaomi, who used to focus on its online channel, has targeted to open 1,000 Mi Home stores in the next 3 years across China.

"Having one star flagship model that is marketed successfully is sufficient to significantly propel a company's shipments in the right direction. This can be aptly exemplified in OPPO's key flagship R9s which comprised close to half of its overall shipments. In light of the foregoing, whilst the Chinese companies can continue to innovate and try to outshine one another in the coming year, they can also consider focusing their resources on one or two key models with clear key messages than to stretch themselves thin and try to diversify their portfolio," ends Tay.
Alex Kipman, says that people just havent realised that the phone is dead yet and believes that some type of a mixes-reality device like the HoloLens will replace the phone

Its been a really long time since Microsoft unveiled a new smartphone and now we might have an idea why. Alex Kipman, the person behind Microsoft Kinect and HoloLens believes that the gadget is already on its way out. The phone is dead, Kipman says in an interview with Bloomberg, people just havent realised it yet. He believes that some type of a mixed-reality device, similar to the HoloLens will replace the phone.

Kipman isnt the only one who thinks that augmented reality is the future. Apple CEO, Tim Cook also believes that the technology has the potential to be as big as the smartphone itself. According to reports, Apple has over 1000 engineers working on augmented reality technology for the iPhone. A leaked injury report suggests that the company may already be working on a prototype of a headset.

Coming back to Microsoft, the company has not launched a new Windows-based smartphone since the Lumia 650 last year. The companys elusive Surface Phone has still not surfaced. Although, back in December 2015, Chris Capossela, the Chief Marketing Officer at Microsoft said that the company is working on a breakthrough phone, which will be the spiritual equivalent of the Surface. However, he also said that the phone would take time to build.
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By SOPHIA TAREEN

Associated Press

AP image [enlarge] The Obama Presidential Center on the South Side of Chicago will have three structures, including a museum, and tree-lined walkways.

CHICAGO  Former President Barack Obama unveiled plans for his future presidential center Wednesday, painting a picture of a buzzing hub for youth and community programs on the South Side of Chicago where he raised his family and launched his political career.





. . .
With her big job completed, Bertha now rests in pieces



Journal Construction Editor By BENJAMIN MINNICK Journal Construction Editor

Photos from WSDOT [enlarge] STP has started cutting Berthas outer shield and 2,000-ton cutterhead into smaller pieces that can be lifted out by crane.

The crew at Seattle Tunnel Partners probably breathed a collective sigh of relief on April 4, as the tunnel machine named Bertha broke into its receiving pit near Seattle Center, finishing nearly four years of on-again, off-again mining.

Bertha has moved onto its massive concrete cradle for disassembly, but crews can't get complacent because there is still much work ahead to get the replacement tunnel for the Alaskan Way Viaduct open in early 2019.

STP has started the big job of cutting Bertha's outer shield and its 2,000-ton cutterhead into smaller pieces that can be lifted out by crane. Crews on Tuesday lifted a small pierce of the outer shield to confirm the weight of the section ahead of cutting and lifting other pieces.

The smaller spokes of the 16-spoke cutterhead will be lifted first on the cutterhead. Workers have been welding lifting-eyes onto the spokes so they can be hoisted by a 400-ton crane.

The final segment of Bertha's journey left deep gouges at the cutterhead rim. WSDOT said the wear occurred near the end of tunneling and STP crews monitored the situation to ensure that Bertha safely finished its job.

A WSDOT spokeswoman said STP believes a boulder or another hard object may have caused the wear, but the contractor doesn't know for sure.

Removal of the cutterhead is expected to finish later this month, according to STP's schedule from April 1. Removal of all TBM parts is expected by August, then crews will turn to demolishing the concrete cradle, which is expected to take about a week.

Other work in the coming weeks includes removing the jacks that Bertha used to push forward during the tunnel drive, as well as the agitator that churned excavated soil behind the cutterhead.

While the largest pieces are being lifted from the north end of the tunnel, the rest of the machine is coming out from the south end. This includes the trailing gear and the spoils conveyor system.

Crews have already spun two miles of rubber conveyor belt into coils, which are temporarily stored at Terminal 46. STP is still determining what to do with the coils. It's possible they could be reused on another project or sold, according to the spokeswoman.

[enlarge] Crews have spun two miles of rubber conveyor belt into coils, which are temporarily stored at Terminal 46.

It's not all deconstruction inside the tunnel. Workers also are busy building the double-deck highway.

A report from last week showed that 69 percent of the northbound roadway walls were finished and 75 percent of the corbels that support the walls are done. The southbound roadway, which will sit above the northbound roadway walls, is about 58 percent finished.

The northbound roadway can't be started until after Bertha is dismantled and removed from the tunnel.

Testing of tunnel systems is expected from March to October of 2018, with substantial completion forecast for Oct. 15, 2018. Still, the 9,270-foot-long tunnel won't open to traffic until early 2019 and crews will be on the job until mid-June of that year.

WSDOT has a new video out that interviews the tunnel workers below.





Benjamin Minnick can be reached by email or by phone at (206) 622-8272.




India on Wednesday summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit and demanded action against Pakistani soldiers responsible for killing and mutilation of two Indian soldiers on Monday.

Foreign secretary S Jaishankar today summoned Pakistani High Commissioner Abdul Basit to convey India's outrage and demanded action from Islamabad over the killing and barbaric mutilation of the bodies of two Indian soldiers by Pakistan army personnel.

On Monday, personnel of Pakistan's Border Action Team ambushed Indian Army's Naib Subedar Paramjeet Singh and BSF's head constable Prem Sagar and killed them. Their mutilated bodies were later found in Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district of J&K

Addressing a press conference, external affairs ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said the foreign secretary conveyed India's outrage at the killing and the "barbaric act" of mutilation of the bodies of two Indian soldiers on 1 May 2017 by Pakistani army personnel.

Giving details about the meet, the MEA spokesperson said our foreign secretary categorically told Basit that the attack was preceded by covering fire from Pakistani posts in Battal sector.

Baglay said blood sample of Indian soldiers that have been collected and the trail of blood on Roza Nala clearly shows that the killers returned across the Line of Control.

Jaishankar demanded that Pakistan take immediate action against its soldiers and commanders responsible for the heinous act.

Basit, as usual, denied any involvement of Pakistani Army in the barbaric act, but assured that he would inform the Pakistani administration about the India's concerns.
Some media, including Reuters.com, have reported that French voters are skeptical and do not think either Macron or Le Pen have answers on either unemployment or security (terrorism). Reportedly 45 percent of voters believe neither Macron nor Le Pen would put an end to unemployment (unemployment has for years been close to 10 percent in France), and 36 percent of voters say neither candidate is able to protect France from terrorist attacks. France has been under a state of emergency since 2015 and more than 230 people have been killed in terrorist attacks over the past two years. Under this scenario, the runoff vote on Sunday is a "no-win election" for the French people.

not





Third, if you're doing a deal in Europe and your counterparts will not agree to U.S. law and jurisdiction governing the transaction, why would you not insist on English law and jurisdiction governing the transaction, and close it in London? Otherwise, you too could end up "trapped."



All of the above has ramifications for global markets and investors, and the shift in global power from West to East. Caveat Emptor.



Follow the money--thousands of millionaires flee France--



Millionaire Migrants? Countries That Rich People Are Flocking To and From:





See also on Domain Mondo: Courtesy of: Visual Capitalist See also on The French Election & Global Markets, Italy A Threat to the Euro (videos) (April 21, 2017)

feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo

Follow @DomainMondo



DISCLAIMER and your counterparts will not agree to U.S. law and jurisdiction governing the transaction, why would youinsist on English law and jurisdiction governing the transaction, and close it in London? Otherwise, you too could end up "trapped."All of the above has ramifications for global markets and investors, and the shift in global power from West to East.Millionaire Migrants? Countries That Rich People Are Flocking To and From:

FRANCE 24 Live  International Breaking News & Top stories - 24/7 streamWatch election coverage above as France votes Sunday, May 7, 2017, for a new President and neither of the two runoff candidates, Macron and Le Pen, are representing a major French party. What's likely to happen? Video courtesy of France24.com UPDATE May 7, 2017 (rev. May 8): Macron wins runoff with low voter turnout and historic high numbers of voters voting blank or spoiled ballots--out of France's reported 51 million registered voters , 25.4% of registered voters did not vote, 11.4% of registered voters voted a spoiled or blank ballot, and the remaining voters split between Macron 66% and Le Pen 34%--hence Macron won by getting only 20.75 million (updated) votes. Legislative elections in France are scheduled to take place on 3, 10-11 June 2017 and 17-18 June 2017 to elect the 577 members of the 15th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic. See also: Many French voters yet to be convinced by Macron | Reuters.com 8 May 2017., the situation in France may be a lot worse than many would have you believe--: the Emmanuel Macron will win accompanied by pro-EU elites and establishment media cheering, mistakenly believing "populism is over."while Macron somehow tries to govern, though you won't notice much reporting on this if you are only following the establishment media "narratives."Look at the infographic below ().. Is it because, like most of Europe, it is trapped in a failed experimental monetary system (the "euro"--monetary union without fiscal union doeswork), apparently resigned to high unemployment, and overwhelmed by chaotic out-of-control immigration, and an inability to absorb or culturally integrate its own growing and dissatisfied Muslim minorities? Expect more trouble ahead. This is far from over. Get out if, and while, you can. The Brexiteers have got it right. More will be revealed. See: Euro Outlook for 2017 | Fortune.com
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Fine Gael TD, Joe McHugh, has announced that the government has approved 15M in funding to finally rectify the Blue Banks road on the N56.

Tenders for the construction of the road between Coolboy and Kilmacrennan will be issued in the coming weeks, Minister McHugh said.

It follows a case made to Government by the Donegal Deputy that a new water main from Lough Salt to Letterkenny should be constructed by Irish Water at the same time as a new road.

Joining the two schemes and fast-tracking the new road will save taxpayers money.

Cycle lanes in both directions will be included in the reconstruction and upgrade of the 3.15km stretch of road.

Minister McHugh has received confirmation his lobbying for the road has paid off.

I am absolutely delighted with this news and I am delighted to be in a position as Government Minister to announce it, said Minister McHugh.

This busy section of road serves north and west Donegal including Glenveagh National Park, Gaoth Dobhair, Creeslough, Rosgoill, Dunfanaghy, Falcarragh and the Wild Atlantic Way.

Funding of 12.56 Million has been allocated for the new road with another 2.71 Million for Irish Water to replace both the existing principle water supply from Lough Salt to Letterkenny and the distribution mains for the entire area including Rathmullan.

This scheme will finally remove the notorious Blue Banks bends from the N56.

Donegal is playing catch-up with the rest of the country. Everyone knows that. I am determined that under this Government Donegal gets its fair share of infrastructure spending.

Minister McHugh thanked Minister Shane Ross, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, Irish Water and the National Roads division of Donegal County Council for their vision for the project.

The Donegal Fine Gael TD added: Completing these projects in tandem will save money, time and inconvenience to road users. The new water main will be completed in 2019 with the road works going on at the same time.

Tender documents are ready subject to a few minor amendments and the road works will go out to tender in the next couple of months.

This is a great day for Donegal. This will help to create jobs in the construction phase, and just like at Cockhill Bridge, I am hopeful local sub-contractors will be involved with a great deal of the work."
A Donegal farmer has denied assaulting a neighbour who had come on to his land to retrieve a cow.

Hugh McBride of Golan, Milford has denied assault causing harm to Gerry McGarvey on July 8th, 2015.

The prosecution has claimed Mr McBride assaulted Mr McGarvey, after he came on to this land to get a cow that was one of six that had strayed onto his land beside his home.

Mr McGarvey claims he was struck by his neighbour on the ear, and then on his face, resulting in a fractured cheekbone which he needed surgery for in Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry.

Letterkenny Circuit Court heard that there has been a dispute between the two men about a right of way for six or seven years.

The court heard that Mr McGarvey was leaving for work at Milford Mart at 8.30a.m. when he noticed a cow on his neighbours land.

He and another neighbour went to get the animal back, but he met Mr McBride who told him he did not want him to get it and that the gardai had been called.

Mr McGarvey told the court that when he went to get the cow that Mr McBride told him not to go through the effing gate.

He said that as he proceeded up the right of way, Mr McBride punched him on the right ear.

He said as he went to get the cow Mr McBride called him a wee weasel and was giving him abuse.

Mr McGarvey said Mr McBride then punched on the right cheek, just below the eye.

Defence counsel, Peter Nolan (BL), put it to Mr McGarvey that there was no right of way to his neighbours land, but Mr McGarvey said there had been.

Mr Nolan said that he had failed to pay for 450 of sillage he got from his neighbour, which he accepted.

Mr McGarvey admitted that he had no right to be on the land but he wanted to get the cow back. He denied he had pushed Mr McBride out of the way and pushed through the gate.

You could have stood there at the gate and said 'that's my cow I want it back', Mr Nolan said to him.

Mr Nolan said McGarvey forced the gate open, even though he had been told not to. Mr Nolan put it to him that he was like a raging bull that morning trying to get his cow.

You were going to get that cow and you didn't care if you had to walk over that man.

Mr McGarvey said he never touched anyone.

He also denied he broke a gate by pulling it until it came off its hinges.

Mr Nolan put it to him that he had never been touched, and he had made the allegation up to cover his up his own behavior, which he denied.

Garda Austin Maron said he responded to a report of animals trespassing and then of an assault.

He spoke to Mr McGarvey who said he had been assaulted while trying to retrieve his cow.

The garda said there was redness and a swelling underneath Mr McGarveys eye which was consistent with an assault. It was fresh, something that had just inflamed in the last number of minutes, Garda Maron said.

Garda Maron said there had been one report of sheep breaking into Mr McGarveys land on June 15th.

In a statement to gardai Mr McBride denied he assaulted Mr McGarvey.

When asked how did Mr McGarvey get the injury to his face he replied that as a farmer, he could have got it on the land.

He said there had been a right of way years ago on the land but as it had never been used the county council said it ceased to exist.

Hearing evidence Mr McBride denied that he pushed Mr McGarvey back but Mr McGarvey pushed him back. He said Mr McGarvey raised his fists to him and he grabbed them and held them down.

At hearing.
Donegal TD, Thomas Pringle, has called on the government to quash illegal convictions under Inland Fisheries Act 2010.

Deputy Pringle made his call while speaking in the Dail on the Inland Fisheries Bill 2017 when he questioned the Minister in relation to outstanding legal uncertainties contained in the Governments legislation.

This is nothing short of a scandal similar to what was carried out by Gardai on the penalty points fiasco," the Killybegs-based TD said.

The Government introduced this legislation in light of advice from the Attorney General that Inland Fisheries Ireland had unlawfully prosecuted people in court for breaches to fishing legislation.

Theyve already withdrawn 150 prosecutions that are pending because they didnt have a legal basis to take them to court in the first place but bizarrely they claim anyone previously prosecuted and convicted is not affected," he added.

Claiming that Fine Gael are "refusing to own up to the full extent of the problem" he continued: "If someone was illegally before the courts in the first place they should have their conviction quashed and this means the 320 convictions under the 2010 Act between 2012 and 2015 are unsafe in my view. The Minister is deliberately obfuscating in the hopes that they wont have to deal with this and to bury this scandal.

This is nothing short of a scandal similar to what happened with the Gardai regarding penalty points but because its about fishermen nobody in Government seems to be that worried which is unacceptable."

These illegal convictions have greatly affected people. Most had to pay fines but some may have spent time in jail and ended up with criminal records. The Department and Inland Fisheries need to contact the 320 cases and facilitate those people to have those convictions quashed. "

The Donegal Deputy added: "I attended a case recently in Dungloe where up to 30 prosecutions were withdrawn by Inland Fisheries Ireland since the problem was exposed. What makes these cases different to the others already convicted and when will the Government act on them?

I would advise anyone who has been convicted under the 2010 Act to seek legal advice as to how to go about getting these convictions quashed. In the meantime I will be monitoring the Governments intentions throughout this process."
Tesla plans to build six more Supercharger stations in Alabama, including one in Dothan.

The automaker currently has stations in Auburn, Birmingham, Greenville and Mobile. It plans to add stations in Athens, Dothan, Montgomery, Oxford, Steele and Tuscaloosa.

Superchargers are connectors that charge a Tesla electric vehicle in minutes instead of hours. Each station has multiple Superchargers. The four stations in Alabama have six or eight chargers each.

The stations help minimize stops during long distance travel and are located near restaurants, shopping centers and WiFi hot spots.

The locations of the stations in Dothan and the other five Alabama cities have not been announced.

For some Tesla owners, Supercharger access is free.

Vehicles ordered by Jan. 15 of this year come with free Supercharger access for the life of the car, but an idle fee may be assessed if the vehicle remains connected after the charge session is complete.

An owner can monitor the charging process on the vehicles instrument panel or on the Tesla app.

Owners of newer vehicles get an annual allowance of Supercharger credits. They pay a fee for additional usage based on charging speeds.

In Alabama, the fee is 18 cents per minute above 60 kW and 9 cents per minute at or below 60 kW.
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"We need to invest in our kids," said resident Brenda Robinson. "That's how we keep graffiti out of Waterhouse Center and mischief out of the downtown on Saturday night."
Poor management of water resources is an overlooked cause of migration from Africa to Europe, stated Dutch-based foundation Wetlands International at the presentation of its new report Water shocks: Wetlands and Human Migration in the Sahel.

The report was presented in Brussel at the Red Cross EU office in Brussels on 3 May.

We like to address the blind spot on the role of water in wetlands in these regions and the link to Europe, said Wetlands CEO Jane Madgwick on the occasion.

She urged for wetlands restoration as it is needed for water security, being essential for human well-being and economic development.

Six major wetlands cover more than 10 percent of the Sahel when they are in full flood (Water shocks, 2017).Most of the migrants arriving by boat in Italy (January-November 2016) come from the Sahel region (UNHCR, 2017)

Blocking prosperity

The report points out that human displacement is a common situation in the Sahel region. One of the examples mentioned is the situation around Lake Chad on the border of Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon.

Insurgencies by militant Islamist group Boko Haram has displaced more than 2.3 million people since mid-2013, including 1.3 million children.

The Lake Chad Basin has lost 95 percent of its surface area due to water abstraction for irrigation projects, and youths from this region are joining armed groups because of lack of opportunities.

Less floods

Another example from the report is the reduced inflow to the Inner Niger Delta of Mali as a result of impacts of the Selingue reservoir and offtakes for irrigated agriculture.

The inflow to the inner river delta has reduced by 16 percent in a relatively dry year, causing a reduction of the flood extent by 1400 square km, reducing livestock, fish and rice production for around two million people.

Models predict that construction of the planned Fomi Dam in Guinea and extension of the Office du Niger irrigation scheme would lead more drought.

This could cut fish catches in the delta by 31 per cent and reduce the pastures by 28 per cent.

Natural resources

Driving forward inclusive and sustainable development in the Sahel is an urgent, global priority said Jane Madgwick. But this will only be achieved by shifting from the traditional development paradigms and hard infrastructure schemes which play havoc with the natural hydrology of the region.

According to Madgwick it is essential to maintain and restore the natural resource base. It is essential to increase water and food productivity and provide livelihood strategies to cope with a changing climate.

In this context, wetlands such as river floodplains and lakes are disproportionately important; especially to the most marginalised and poor people of the region, she said.

CEO director Jane Madgwick (left) of Wetlands International and Juriaan Lahr (right) of the Red Cross during the presentation of the report in Brussels.

Call on NGOs

Juriaan Lahr, Head of International Assistance of the Netherlands Red Cross Society, added a message for humanitarian organisations. They need to connect their work with the environmental and development actors to find durable solutions.

We need to understand better the complex and multifaceted drivers of involuntary migration, social conflict and poverty, which may be rooted in the depletion of natural resources, Lahr said.

Economic costs

Four cases mentioned in the report illustrate the economic cost of losing the Sahelian Wetlands:

 The drying out and siltation of the Senegal Rivers large coastal delta due to the Manantali Dam has resulted in the loss of 90 per cent of its fisheries.

 The Maga Dam and a water diversion scheme on Cameroons Logone River floodplain damaged downstream flood-recession agriculture, pastures, fisheries and wildlife tourism. These changes annually cost 2.5 million euros against the 10.7 million euros a year that the annual flooding contributed to the local economy.

 The planned Fomi Dam in Guinea could cut fish catches in the delta by 31 per cent and reduce the pastures by 28 per cent.

 Dams in northern Nigeria have reduced the Hadejia-Nguru wetland. The benefits of the floodplain ranged from approximately 9,600 to 14,500 US dollar/m3 of water, compared with 26 to 40 US dollar/m3 for the irrigation project.

About Wetlands International

Wetlands International is an independent, not-for-profit network organisation active in five continents. Its mission is to safeguard and restore wetlands for people and nature. Wetlands International brings together knowledge, policy and practice. It connects the local with the global and enables society to act.

Download the full report at www.wetlands.org/watershocks.

This news item was originally published on the website of Wetlands International.

(On top photo: In 2013, local communities in the Ewaso nyiro river basin, one of the six major basins in Kenya, called for help as upstream horticulture activities leaves them less water and a planned dam will threaten their livestock of camels, goats, sheep and donkeys even more)

Read also on this website

 Habitat III: Mayors, take care of your wetlands!, 20 October 2016

 Restoring wetlands is crucial to meet SDG-targets, says Wetlands International, 25 April 2016

 Green infrastructure to fight increasing water scarcity in Senegal river basin, 27 June 2013



More information

Wetlands International

Wageningen, the Netherlands

+31 318 660 910

www.wetlands.org

The video below shows the Inner Niger Delta in Mali, Africa and interviews with local farmers and fishermen and women on how the water of the Nioger River can be better used and how climate change has an impact on their livelihoods.


Boredom is most peoples worst nightmare  and its the number one killer of workplace motivation. When it comes to performing the duties of any given job, the doer will have a timeline for boredom.

Prolonged repetition will naturally lead their brain to a point where it says thanks, but no thanks, and then completely checks-out. For good. Its the point of no return for ambitious types. Restlessness soon pushes them out the door and they take their talent, knowledge and potential with them. When this happens, the employer has failed big time.

Staff satisfaction rests on the company

Any business keen on keeping its talent has to take responsibility. Its up to them to deliver roles that stimulate, engage and challenge  and to find new ways to develop those roles. If a business doesnt offer career changes or new directions and opportunities to its people, it cant be surprised when they inevitably up and leave. It takes action to keep minds motivated. Businesses that fail to act only have themselves to blame for any lack of staff retention.

Companies cant develop staff forever

Dont get me wrong, Im well aware that companies can only offer so much. Thats the reality. Im yet to come across a company that can offer someone everything they need through every stage of their development. Our organisation is no exception. If weve done all we can to develop one of our team members and they decide to move on, we dont take it as an insult. Just the opposite. It means weve given them the know-how and confidence to take the next big step in their personal development. And as a company, that makes us pretty chuffed.

Part when the times right

Whats the perfect amount of time in one job? There are no hard-and-fast rules but I believe, in the corporate world, four years is the sweet spot. Its long enough to learn plenty but not too long that it becomes stale. After four years its move up or move on. Spending six years in one company feels about right too. Lets not forget there are positives for the business as well. The loss of top talent can coincide with an injection of fresh blood, new thinking, and people with room to develop and push themselves. No forward-thinking company has ever been opposed to this.

All staff should leave eventually

When I come across superstars in whatever field, I want them to have our organisation on their business cards for a good while. But I know it cant last forever. And it shouldnt. Every person should strive to go as far as they can in their career, and one single company can only take them so far.

If one of our employees is set to leave, we make sure its for the right reasons: because our company has given them every possible opportunity to develop; not because theyre bored with their job.

About the author

Fergus Watts is the founder and executive chairman of Bastion Collective, a global network of companies helping brands and organisations form meaningful connections with audiences. He was recently interviewed by Dynamic Business (see: I learned a lot from failure on the field: Fergus Watts on his successful career pivot).
Gaurav Kumar

Gaurav Kumar is the founder of eAskme.com. He is the professional blogger, writer, motivational speaker and online entrepreneur. He the man behind "Blogging for money guide" and "complete domain name guide". eAskme will help you to become an online entrepreneur. You can learn SEO, Money MAKING, SEO, blogging and more.

More About Me
The Monnet method: its relevance for Europe then and now

Mario Draghi, President of the ECB, Award of the Gold Medal of the Fondation Jean Monnet pour l'Europe, Lausanne, 4 May 2017

The problems that our countries need to sort out are not the same as in 1950. But the method remains the same: a transfer of power to common institutions, majority rule and a common approach to finding a solution to problems are the only answer in our current state of crisis.[1]

Many would see this quote as a fair representation of how to approach the numerous challenges that our governments face in 2017, and which no country can realistically address on its own. But those words were not spoken with our current situation in mind. They were spoken by Jean Monnet in 1974.

They illustrate that if his leadership has been so powerful, it is not just because of what he achieved in his lifetime: it is because Jean Monnet developed a method of government whose effectiveness extends beyond the special circumstances in which he lived. His method was applicable to the very different circumstances of 1950, of 1974 and today  and indeed, to the years in between and still to come.

I emphasise this not to revisit Monnets extraordinary contribution to the history of our continent. It is because there are aspects of his method which remain crucial to guide our action in Europe today: namely, its focus on effectiveness, its insistence on subsidiarity, its sense of direction, and its concern for democratic backing.

I would like to explain why Monnet's approach to integration remains as relevant for Europe now as it was then, and how his ideas can still guide us in making integration a success.

1. The principles of the Monnet method

Faced with challenges that overwhelmed their own capacity, Monnets fundamental objective was to put governments back into a position to discharge their remit  meaning their capacity to ensure security, guarantee freedom, and create the conditions for the prosperity of their people.[2]

His focus, in other words, was on effectiveness  and this goes a long way towards explaining why he moved away from the intergovernmental model of international cooperation that had dominated the first half of the twentieth century and proposed, for the first time, a supranational model.

Intergovernmental solutions, he believed, had not just failed spectacularly in the interwar years, but inevitably failed to take account of the common interest. As he wrote, cooperation between nations, however important it may be, does not resolve anything. What one has to seek is a fusion of the interests of European people, not just to preserve a balance among those interests.[3]

Thus he promoted his supranational method of decision-making based on common institutions and majority rule for two reasons. First, because such institutions could execute and decide in the common interest; and second, because they could produce economies of scale via the pooling of resources, thereby increasing the effectiveness of policymaking.

In this way, his approach to sovereignty was essentially positive. He did not conceive of sovereignty so much in terms of normative rights as in terms of power and efficacy. And for that reason, if transfers of sovereignty to a supranational body were the best way to deliver peace, wealth and security, then he did not see that as constraining the sovereignty of nations, but rather as merging and extending it.

But Monnet was nonetheless anxious to ensure that such transfers were perceived as legitimate by the people. It is interesting in this context that he preferred not to use the word supranational, perhaps because it was too susceptible to being misunderstood as a policy that removes control from citizens.[4]

He therefore deliberately opted for a gradual approach based on the principle of subsidiarity  what he called initiatives in a limited, but decisive area. Precisely because pooling sovereignty had to be seen not just as effective, but also under democratic control, European integration could only happen if it focused on areas where there was an immediate need and where it could augment the existing governmental or intergovernmental policies.

Yet this pragmatism should not be mistaken for a random approach to integration. Monnet also argued that a clear sense of direction was vital to the overall trajectory  that the route that we take is less important than the direction we travel in.[5]

Indeed, the fact that union in Europe began in the limited area of economic cooperation  coal and steel  does not mean that it was not intended to be a political union. For Monnet, economic integration was always a foundation of political union, with the single market leading to the single currency and eventually a federation.

Thus from the very start he affirmed the political nature of the European project, and consequently the importance of the democratic underpinning of its institutions  insisting that the new pan-European executive be subject to the double scrutiny of a parliamentary assembly and a fully-fledged court of justice. He also advocated that the new institutions have the transparency of a house of glass.[6]

2. Why working together remains essential

Since then, the Monnet method of common decision-making within common institutions has spread across several fields in Europe. A growing number of countries have pooled sovereignty in a broad range of areas, including, as regards my own institution, money and banking supervision. Democratic controls have increased in tandem, not least through the role of the European Parliament.

But we know that European integration still raises doubts. Some question whether, with war in Europe now unthinkable, working together within common institutions remains the best solution to the nature of the challenges we face. Yet if we apply Monnets rationale for common action  to make states more effective in delivering their remit  the answer to that question is clear. His approach is even more necessary now than it was then. And this is for three key reasons.

The first is the relative decline in the weight of European countries in global affairs.

In motivating the case for a common approach, Monnet wrote in 1954 that our countries have become too small for todays world, faced with the  America and Russia of today and the China and India of tomorrow.[7] This was at a time when Europe represented 37% of global GDP and 13% of the worlds population. Today, the figures are 24% and 7%. It has therefore become even more important that European countries are able to pool their resources and exploit economies of scale.

The second reason is changes in the structure of international relations linked to technology and the environment.

Over the last 60 years, the increased power of technology and the impact of humans on the natural environment have created an increasing number of areas where traditional borders are being eroded. These include the spillovers of climate change, the effects on government budgets of more mobile capital, and terrorist threats that transcend physical and virtual borders. In each case, governments can only take effective action by acting together as a union.

The third reason is our commitment to open trade.

Open trade is not imposed on us by nature or technology. But it has now become so profoundly crucial to our prosperity that no country can close itself off from trade without committing a profound act of self-harm: indeed, two-thirds of EU imports are raw materials, intermediary goods and components needed for firms production processes. This means that  since trade has both benefits and costs like other types of cross-border challenges  it is a condition that we have to manage together.

Here again we are more effective acting as a union: at the European level, because we can generate more wealth through a deep and integrated market, while putting in place arrangements to contain unwanted spillovers and temper some of the redistributive consequences of openness; and at the global level, because our large single market gives us greater leverage in setting global rules.

This is true in the World Trade Organization, in bilateral trade agreements and even in the setting of global regulatory standards  the so-called Brussels effect means that the EU has a great influence on the global rules across a range of areas, such as food, chemicals and the protection of privacy, and thereby exports its values.[8]

The point is clear: in a world where Europes relative size is shrinking and where technology, the environment and the market are permeating national borders, the case for acting together as a way to regain capacity is stronger than ever. European action has expanded so much since Monnets day precisely because it has proved its necessity. And in the light of the new challenges we are facing, acting together as a union remains vital to delivering in the true interest of citizens.

This is an important point to remember when one hears opposition to the EU couched in terms of regaining control. Monnet and his contemporaries conceived the EU precisely as a way to take control of events that national states acting alone could no longer influence. And that remains the case today.

3. Conditions for European integration to succeed

So why, if the case for European integration is only growing stronger, is anxiety about it growing stronger too?

In part, such feelings are a result of misplaced blame  that is, the EU being wrongly held responsible for decisions that belong to the Member States.

A case in point is monetary union, which is sometimes claimed to be the cause of low growth in parts of the euro area. Yet we have seen that for countries that implemented structural reforms and ran sound fiscal policies, the single currency has been no barrier to success. In fact, those that pursued the right policies have been able to reap the benefits of the euro in a more effective way.

Still, this is clearly not a sufficient explanation for anxiety about Europe: we also have to ask ourselves if the integration process is delivering as much and as well as expected. Making the case for acting together is, after all, only one half of building support for the European project. The other half is to do it well. And this is where the other key insights of the Monnet method are essential.

If we listen to what citizens in Europe are saying, there are three areas where improvements are needed.

The first is to provide clarity of purpose to the European project. What citizens seem to be asking for is a clearer sense of what the EU is for and how it benefits them  that is, how it expands their life choices and empowers them.

The second is to ensure delivery. If EU citizens are to endorse the notion that common action can improve their lives, they have to see that in areas where the EU does act, it is effective. And this requires, in areas of EU competence, that powers are delegated to the Union that allow it to do its job properly.

In several instances, however, we have launched half-built houses  common projects with an incomplete transfer of powers. This shifts expectations onto the EU only for it to lack the instruments to fulfil them.

Yet it is also clear that legitimacy for EU action comes not only from delivery  it also requires a proper democratic process that allows decisions to be challenged. And this leads to the third area: even where the EU succeeds in delivering its objectives, there is a sense that citizens would like to feel more in control of the process.

Put another way, it is not enough for the EU to give people more control over events. People also need to feel in control of its policies.

In different ways, each of these three areas for improvement map onto the principles that Jean Monnet laid out. For example, if there are questions today about the EUs clarity of purpose, then one answer is to be more rigorous in how we apply the principle of subsidiarity when considering future steps towards integration.

As Monnet said, we need a Europe for that which is essential  a Europe for what nations cannot do alone,[9] because this ensures that EU action always augments that of the Member States  and makes it clearer to citizens how joining together adds to their lives. So the Union should only act in areas where it can meet a clear need of citizens and where it can provide an effective platform for doing so.

But if we are rigorous in applying the subsidiarity principle, then we also need to be rigorous in giving each level of government the powers it needs to perform its tasks successfully. So when we entrust tasks to the Union, we should make sure that it has the instruments and competencies it needs to be effective. In this way, subsidiarity  properly applied  should be seen as empowering the Union method, not weakening it.

Similarly, if there are doubts about the EUs capacity to deliver, then the first thing we need to do is finish the projects we start. But to do so requires, as Monnet always emphasised, a clear sense of direction for the European project  a sense of what the end goal of the integration process should be. Simply put, to avoid being stuck in half-built houses, we need their final blueprints.

For example, it is widely agreed that Economic and Monetary Union remains incomplete. But it will be hard to move forward unless we have a shared vision of what a complete monetary union should look like. And this is not only because such a vision would help orient the steps we are taking today  it is also because it would make the process fully transparent to citizens.

And this leads to the last point emphasised by Monnet: the need for accountability and transparency.

There is much that could be said here, but I will limit my remarks to the institution that I head. The ECB has been acutely aware that, as its monetary policy has become more far-reaching and it has taken on a wider range of powers, it cannot justify its actions solely in terms of outcomes. We have needed a higher degree of transparency and accountability so that citizens can understand how we make our decisions and subject them to greater scrutiny.

This is why we now publish accounts of our monetary policy meetings. We visit national parliaments to explain our policy in more detail. We agreed to the request of the European Parliament to be informed about discussions held in the Basel Committees. And this is in addition to our regular press conferences, appearances before the European Parliament, and regular visits by MEPs to Frankfurt.

I do not claim that these initiatives will be enough to answer all the concerns that European citizens have. But we are fully committed to demonstrating that we are answerable to them.

4. Conclusion

So in sum, what is on trial today is not  and should not be  the method of integration pioneered by Jean Monnet.

It is beyond question that we face challenges today that can only be addressed by countries in Europe acting together. It is beyond question that, in the right areas, Monnets method has helped European governments regain control over events and exercise effective sovereignty. And it is highly likely that the number of challenges that require such an approach will rise.

What is being tested, however, is our ability to manage integration in a way that not only delivers output legitimacy, but also a European affectio societatis. And that should encourage us to listen to the questions that are being asked of Europe and to be ambitious in responding to them.
Kingsoft on Tuesday announced that it has expanded its WPS Office suite to include WPS Cloud. The upgrade enables users to work in a cross-platform office suite environment with added storage, file roaming and sharing capabilities.

The cloud-enhanced version is available for PCs and mobile as a fully functional free release and with premium subscriptions. It runs on Linux, Windows, Mac and Android devices.

The free version is ad-supported.

Todays mobile users are accustomed to ad-supported apps and other software, according to Cole Armstrong, senior director for global marketing at Kingsoft.

WPS Cloud is designed to work as a companion to WPS Office, offering users the benefits of cloud computing, such as flexibility and collaboration.

Cloud adoption continues to soar, according to a report by Allied Research. The personal cloud market, in particular, is expected to reach US$89.9 billion globally by 2020.

Providing cloud support with WPS Office will provide a good alternative to the likes of Microsofts OneDrive offering and Googles Drive, which is part of its G Suite ecosystem, noted Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.

It will allow Kingsoft to position WPS Office as a fully capable alternative to solutions and services from larger competitors, he told LinuxInsider.

Kingsoft first launched WPS in China almost 30 years ago. It now boasts more than 1.2 billion installs worldwide.

Viable Proprietary Option

WPS Cloud is a complete document storage and management service that lets users view and edit files anywhere at anytime. Automatic backup and link-sharing tools promote real-time collaboration across multiple devices and platforms.

The new cloud storage service should enable Kingsoft to compete on a more equal footing with traditional office productivity vendors, and is also likely to be welcomed by the companys target SMB customers, observed King.

The cloud service complements the WPS Offices File Roaming feature announced earlier this year, he added, which allows users to download and work with files seamlessly on multiple devices, including smartphones, tablets and traditional PCs.

Files are protected from loss with enterprise-level data security and multiple backups. WPS Office offers user options beyond those available in products such as Microsoft Office and Libre Office, according to WPS.

For example, users can create, view, edit, store and share documents to improve their productivity. Users can access files either from within WPS Office, or through the WPS Cloud Web portal.

The enhanced usability offers Linux users an ideal free office software alternative to Microsoft Office. It also gives users on other platforms another office suite option besides LibreOffice.

Feature Set

WPS Writer, Presentation, Spreadsheets and PDF Reader/Converter are fully compatible with other office software solutions. Users of both the free and premium versions of WPS Office + Cloud receive 1 GB of free storage space on WPS Cloud.

However, the free version limits the number of connected devices to three, said Kingsofts Armstrong.

Users so far can not purchase additional cloud storage space, he told LinuxInsider, but Kingsoft plans to add that capability later this year.

Users must register the product  both the free and premium versions  to access the WPS Clouds 1 GB of free cloud storage. Registration is available through linking existing email, Facebook, Google, Dropbox or Twitter accounts.

Both free and premium users also get file roaming and cross device support. File roaming allows users to open or create documents in WPS Office.

The documents automatically save to WPS Cloud. Users see a list of recent files that they can access across all connected devices, including Windows PCs, Android or iOS mobile devices, and those running the Linux OS.

As with file-sharing on other cloud storage platforms, a document creator can share a direct link that allows intended recipients to view and download WPS documents even if they do not have the WPS Office with Cloud suite, noted Armstrong.

A feature that lets users view files through a Web browser currently is available only in the China version, but Kingsoft hopes to add that feature globally soon, Armstrong said.

Meeting Users Needs

Cross-platform support is essential. So is cloud security. Kingsoft addresses both concerns in its latest offering.

Users are increasingly adopting and using apps and documents in the cloud and growing accustomed to accessing content across devices regardless of their environment, said Armstrong. More and more, they want equal access to office software, whether on a mobile device or traditional PC.

Files are protected from loss with enterprise-level data security and multiple backups. All data is stored in the users country of residence.

Cost and Product Specs

Users can subscribe to the premium version of WPS Office + Cloud for US$3.99 per month or $29.99 per year. A one-time $79.99 payment provides a lifetime subscription. The WPS Office suite supports DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PPT, PDF, TXT, HTM, RTF, DOT and DOTX file formats.

The 1 GB cloud storage limit is paltry compared to the space provided by competing cloud products associated with office suite platforms, but the product cost for WPS Office is considerably lower.

For instance, Microsoft Office provides 1 TB of cloud storage on OneDrive for $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year. Googles G Suite provides 30 GB on Google Drive for $5 per month.

Premium upgrades come with additional features and tools. However, the free versions  dubbed sponsored access because they display ads  are fully functional and not otherwise limited in performance.

The premium features include a PDF to Word Converter and a PDF Split and Merge tool. Additional fonts and templates also are included. No ads are displayed in the premium versions.

Leading-Edge Product

Its worth mentioning that rather than using the new service, Kingsoft customers can utilize Microsoft or Google cloud storage for their WPS Office documents instead, noted Pund-ITs King.

In fact, many if not most of them likely already use OneDrive or Google Drive services., he said, so it will be critical for Kingsoft to proactively reach out to its SMB clients and provide services designed to their core needs.

The company already has begun doing just that.

However, I expect that drumbeat to intensify, said King, after the WPS Cloud announcement is official.
Google has made a practice of paying female employees less than their male counterparts, a Department of Labor official alleged in court testimony last week.

The agency found systemic compensation disparities, regional director Janette Wipper said at a hearing in San Francisco, according to reports.

The DoL confirmed the accuracy of the testimony to the E-Commerce Times.

The hearing was in connection with the departments lawsuit over Googles failure to hand over detailed compensation data about employees at its Mountain View, California, headquarters.

Based on what Google has produced thus far and based upon the departments investigation thus far, this investigation has revealed significant evidence of discrimination in pay against women at Googles headquarters, Department of Labor spokesperson Jose Carnevali told the E-Commerce Times.

Google has vehemently denied Whippers allegations, insisting that its own analyses show no gender pay gap, and that the Labor Department has not provided any data or shared the methodology underlying its findings.

Compliance Failure

As part of its equal opportunity compliance review, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs in 2015 asked Google to provide compensation data and documents from its headquarters. Since Google is a federal contractor, it must comply with the review.

The DoL earlier this year filed suit against Google, asking the court to cancel all of Googles federal contracts and bar the firm from all future contracts.

Gender discrimination has been an issue with particular currency in Silicon Valley for many years. In recent years, several high-profile cases have shone a spotlight on it. Among them were the US$16 million lawsuit Ellen Pao brought against venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, which she lost. Earlier this year, Pao returned to Silicon Valley as a partner in Kapor Capital, and chief diversity and inclusion officer at the Kapor Center for Social Impact.

The pay gap remains a critical issue. Sixty-three percent of women receive lower salary offers than their male counterparts for the same job, while 53 percent of the time companies interview only male candidates for a job opening, according to a study Hired released last week.

Systemic Issues

Gender pay disparities are a systemic problem in the technology industry, according to Derecka Mehrens, executive director of Working Partnerships USA and cofounder of Silicon Valley Rising.

Women hold only 25 percent of the high-wage, high skill programming and engineering jobs in the industry, she told the E-Commerce Times. They hold 40 percent of the blue-collar, subcontracted jobs that serve the industry, yet those jobs pay only one-sixth as much as the higher-skilled jobs.

If tech leaders are serious about reducing the gender gap, they need to address  pay discrimination among their direct employees, and raise wages for the subcontracted workers who keep their campuses running smoothly, Mehrens said.

The DoL earlier this year filed suit against Oracle alleging the company paid white males more than it paid Asian, African American and female workers in similar roles, while favoring Asian-Americans for certain product development and other technical jobs.

Oracle previously has denied the allegations, but the company declined to comment for this story.

The DoL last fall sued Palantir Technologies, led by billionaire investor and PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel, on allegations it discriminated against Asian job applicants. The company has denied those allegations.
Germanys Energiewendethe countrys low-carbon energy revolutionturned another successful corner last weekend when renewable energy sources nearly stamped out coal and nuclear.

Thanks to a particularly breezy and sunny Sunday, renewables such as wind and solar, along with some biomass and hydropower, peaked at a record 85 percent, or 55.2 gigawatts, and even came along with negative prices for several hours at the electricity exchange.

Conversely, coal use was at an all-time minimum. According to DW, on April 30, coal-fired power stations were only operational between 3 and 4 p.m. and produced less than eight gigawatts of energy, well below the maximum output of about 50 gigawatts.

Most of Germanys coal-fired power stations were not even operating on Sunday, April 30th, Patrick Graichen of Agora Energiewende told RenewEconomy. Nuclear power sources, which are planned to be completely phased out by 2022, were also severely reduced.

Graichen added that days like Sunday would be completely normal by 2030 thanks to the governments continued investment in the Energiewende initiative.

Following the Fukushima disaster in Japan, Germany announced in May 2011 that it plans to phase out nuclear and shut down all its nuclear power plants by 2022. That Sunday, nuclear power plants reduced their output from 7.9 to 5 gigawatts.

Germanys ambitious energy transition aims for at least an 80 percent share of renewables by 2050, with intermediate targets of 35 to 40 percent share by 2025 and 55 to 60 percent by 2035.
The battle over the controversial Nexus pipeline is heating up. Following a city council vote on Tuesday, the city of Green in Ohio will be spending $100,000 to hire an environmental law firm in Cleveland to stop its construction, the Associated Press reports.

Canadian pipeline operator Enbridge and Detroits DTE Energy plan to build the high pressure, 36-inch natural gas transmission line through 8 miles of the middle-class community.

But the city of Green, located in northeast Ohio between Akron and Canton, has been working hard to stop the project. Just a few weeks ago, city council donated $10,000 to another group preparing its own lawsuit over the Nexus pipeline.

According to Greens Planning Department, the pipeline encounters a large wetland as it enters the city, crosses nearly three streams for every mile and would be in close proximity to homes. The route would also cross a large agricultural farm that is being considered for future residential development.

A widely-opposed pipeline 'confirms worst fears' after two spills into Ohio wetlands: https://t.co/0CaYLLQHKG via @EcoWatch  NRDC  (@NRDC) April 21, 2017

An analysis from Cleveland State University calculated that Green stands to lose $52 million over the course of 50 years due to the project, mostly due to a loss of income tax.

The route also travels near or crosses several of Greens 10 city parks. Mayor Gerard Neugebauer told the AP that he could not allow families to use parks inside the estimated 1,500-foot blast zone a pipeline explosion could create.

The city previously proposed an alternate route that would move the pipeline south into farmland but the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) ruled against the plan in its final environmental impact statement.

The proposed 255-mile Nexus pipeline will carry about 1.5 billion cubic feet of Appalachian shale gas per day from through Ohio and Michigan before ending at a hub in Ontario, Canada owned by Enbridge.

Neugebauer told the AP that the Canadian company should not be allowed to take property from U.S. landowners.

I dont have animosity toward foreign companies, he said. But our government shouldnt be giving a foreign company more rights to property than the people who own the property.

The AP noted that the Natural Gas Act of 1938 provides pipeline builders in the U.S. with wide latitude in acquiring property.

Nexus spokesman Adam Parker argued that the pipeline will provide a new source of natural gas to businesses in Ohio and Michigan. He did not comment on the potential lawsuit.

The company now needs FERC to approve a certificate of convenience and public necessity to begin construction and hopes to have the pipeline ready to ship gas before years end.

Incidentally, Nexus and other pipeline projects are in limbo because FERC has been without quorum ever since the resignation of Commissioner Norman Bay. Three commissioners are needed to form a voting quorum for projects but there are currently only two commissioners.

Even though President Trump promised to speed up a number of energy infrastructure projects, he has yet failed to announce any nominations to the commission.
A coalition of environmental and public health advocates filed suit Wednesday to challenge a Trump administration rollback that could wipe out critical protections for cleaning up Americas leading source of toxic water pollution: coal power plant waste.

The federal lawsuit seeks to invalidate an April 25 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) order that abruptly put an indefinite hold on a set of safeguards to control the amount of arsenic, mercury, cadmium, lead and other pollutants that spew from coal power plants into our public waters. By putting those protections on hold indefinitely, the Trump administration is allowing power plants to continue discharging toxics without any specific limits, using standards set 35 years ago.

I dont think anything considered state of the art in 1982 would still be state of the art today, especially when you are talking about the number-one source of toxic water pollution in the country, said Earthjustice attorney Thomas Cmar. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is not above the law and he doesnt have the power to roll back public health protections with the stroke of a pen.

Earthjustice filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Sierra Club, Waterkeeper Alliance and Clean Water Action in the District of Columbias federal district court. Also joining the suit are the Environmental Integrity Project, PennEnvironment, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility and Prairie Rivers Network, represented by the Environmental Integrity Project. The suit asks the court to find that the EPA didnt have legal authority to put the protections on hold, didnt give public notice or allow public participation before doing so, and selectively applied its action to prioritize the interests of the coal industry over public health.

These standards would have tackled the biggest source of toxic water pollution in the country, and now the Trump EPA is trying to toss them out. Its indefensible, said Pete Harrison, an attorney for Waterkeeper Alliance. The EPA didnt even pretend to seek public input before plowing ahead with this rollback that could allow millions of pounds of preventable toxic pollution to go into our water.

The toxics in coal plant waste raise cancer risk, make fish unsafe to eat and can inflict lasting brain damage on children. Heavy metals in the waste, like lead, arsenic and mercury, dont degrade over time, and they can concentrate as they travel up the food chain, impacting fish and wildlife and ultimately collecting in our bodies and our childrens bodies. Power plant pollution can also make municipal water bills more expensive, because water treatment plants may have to spend more money to ensure that they deliver safe water to their customers.

By allowing power plants to continue to dump chemicals into drinking water sources, Trumps EPA is putting polluter profits above protecting public health, said Jennifer Peters, national water programs director for Clean Water Action. For decades, power plants have been dumping toxic metals and other harmful contaminants, including bromide, which creates cancer-causing byproducts during drinking water treatment. Absent strong safeguards to limit this pollution, drinking water systems and their customers will continue to bear the burden of unchecked power plant water pollution.

After decades of inaction, limits for these toxic discharges from coal power plants were finally updated by the Obama administration in September 2015 due to a court order secured by some of the same groups filing suit today. The new safeguards would have required power plants to eliminate the vast majority of this pollution, protecting our nations drinking water sources and making thousands of river miles safer for swimming and fishing.

Power plants were set to begin meeting these new safeguards starting in 2018, but EPAs Pruitt agreed to a coal industry request to reconsider the rule.

EPAs action brings us back to the dark ages by not requiring industry to stay on schedule to curb toxic water pollution from power plants, the largest industrial source of this pollution, said Lisa Hallowell, senior attorney for the Environmental Integrity Project. Instead of requiring modern pollution controls that cost only pennies a day, the Trump administration is instead allowing this industry to continue to dump unlimited arsenic, selenium and other toxic pollution into our nations waters.

Through the April 25 order, the EPA is telling the industry that it doesnt need to take any steps to modernize wastewater treatment while a potentially years-long rule-making process plays out.

Today, we are making a firm declaration that we will not stand idly by as Trumps administration tries to steer America back to an era where rivers caught on fire and polluters dumped their waste in our waterways with impunity, Mary Anne Hitt, director of Sierra Clubs Beyond Coal campaign, added.

With the drinking water of millions of Americans at stake, we will fight tooth-and-nail to protect safeguards that restrict coal plants from dumping toxic heavy metals into our drinking water supplies and putting thousands of families at risk of poisoning each year. Though these irrational attacks against basic science and public health are horrifying, we are confident that common sense will win the day and the American people will prevail over polluter greed in the courts and in the streets.
Energy companies say that pipelines are the safest way to transport oil, but a number of recent spills plague the now-completed Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), which could start service as soon as May 14.

KCET environment editor Chris Clarke calculated that in the year ending on May 1, 2017, North Dakotas oil and gas industry reported 745 involved oil spillsthat averages to a spill every 11 hours and 45 minutes.

The figure was based on data from North Dakotas Department of Health. The spills range in size, from smaller 20-gallons spills to ones that are much larger.

Just two weeks ago, a Continental Resources pipeline in western North Dakota spilled an estimated 756 gallons of oil and 294 gallons of saltwater, a drilling byproduct, into a tributary of the Little Missouri River. Continental Resources, the largest operator in the Bakken shale formation, leads North Dakota in active wells, spills of all kinds, and wastewater or brine spills.

And in December, a ruptured Belle Fourche pipeline spilled 529,830 gallons of oil, contaminating a hillside and Ash Coulee Creek which empties into the Little Missouri River. The break was significant because it happened less than 200 miles away from the Oceti Sakowin Camp, where the Standing Rock Sioux and fellow Water Protectors were protesting the DAPL.

In 2014, the New York Times reported on the energy industrys increasing number of spills in North Dakota as a result of the areas fracking boom:

Over all, more than 18.4 million gallons of oils and chemicals spilled, leaked or misted into the air, soil and waters of North Dakota from 2006 through early October 2014. (In addition, the oil industry reported spilling 5.2 million gallons of nontoxic substances, mostly fresh water, which can alter the environment and carry contaminants.)

Energy Transfer Partners, DAPLs lead developer, recently announced that directional drilling under Lake Oahe, a large reservoir behind Oahe Dam on the Missouri River, is complete. The Standing Rock Sioux worry that a leak could contaminate the river, a major source of the tribes drinking water.

Energy Transfer Partners insists that the risk of water contamination is low since the pipeline runs deep beneath the lake and has installed leak detection systems. Proponents also say that energy infrastructure projects are important for both U.S. economic and energy security interests.

But spills are a major risk. Energy Transfer Partners and its subsidiary Sunoco are behind hundreds of thousands of gallons of spills from pipelines between 2015 and 2016, according to a February report from the Louisiana Bucket Brigade and DisasterMap.net.

The companies have filed 69 accidents over the past two years to the National Response Center, the federal contact point for oil spills and industrial accidents.

And last month, Energy Transfer Partners new Rover Pipeline spilled more than 2 million gallons of drilling fluids into Ohios wetlands. Construction of the $4.2 billion project began a few weeks before the spill occurred.
Thanks to News Channel 5s investigator Sarah Buduson for interviewing me regarding the proposed 250-mile Nexus Gas transmission pipeline from Northeast Ohio to Canada. The pipeline would transport Utica shale gas from fields in eastern Ohio to customers in Ohio, Michigan and Ontario, Canada with possible plans of an expansion once operations begin in November 2015. The $1.2 to $1.5 billion pipeline announced this week would accelerate fracking throughout Ohio and threaten the long-term sustainability of the economy, human health and the environment.

The three companies that signed an agreement to develop the new transmission line include Spectra Energy Corp., Enbridge, Inc. of Canada and Detroit-based DTE Energy. We dont have to look far to learn about Enbridges safety record. July 25 was the two-year anniversary of Michigans Kalamazoo disaster, when an estimated 1.1 million gallons of raw tar sands crude oil burst from a pipeline into a creek that feeds the Kalamazoo River.

The ruptured Kalamazoo tar sands pipeline. Photo courtesy of National Transportation Safety Board.

The oil spread quickly in the flooded river, coating wildlife, saturating marshlands, backyards, businesses and farmland. The raw tar sands oil disaster was caused by a break in a pipeline owned by Enbridge, which knew of safety problems with the pipeline for years before the disaster.

Enbridge is involved in many controversial pipeline projects including the Northern Gateway pipeline that will build a dual pipeline from the tar sands to the B.C. coast carrying heavy bitumen 1,200 kilometres one way and Middle Eastern condensate the other way across close to 1,000 streams and rivers. There is a revolutionary movement fighting this tar sands pipeline as British Columbians are thinking twice before allowing this pipeline to run through their backyards.

Spectra Energy Corp. is also involved in many controversial projects including a planned natural gas pipeline that is charted to run across land belonging to Chevrons subsidiary, Texaco. The 16-mile long pipeline is slated to bring fracked gas from New Jersey, across Texacos property in Bayonne, under the Hudson River and into the West Village in Manhattan.

More than one million gallons of raw tar sands crude oil leaked into Michigans Kalamazoo River in July 2010. Photo courtesy Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

I have grave concern regarding this project. Northern Ohioans need to educate themselves on this issue and get involved. Not only will this pipeline significantly accelerate fracking in Ohio, increasing groundwater contamination and air pollution, but it will increase the number of fracking wastewater injection wells and the amount of toxic fraking wastewater that needs to be disposed of with no proper disposal method available. Well certainly need more cities in Ohio like Cincinnati, which has lead the way by banning fracking injection wells in their community.

The Nexus Gas transmission pipeline will have to be approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission before next steps can be taken. Stay tuned to EcoWatch.org as well continue to cover this story.

Visit EcoWatchs FRACKING page for more related news on this topic.
China, India, Thailand, Vietnam get shrimp antidumping duties for another 5 years

The US International Trade Commission (USITC) on Tuesday, May 2, decided to extend for another five years the imposition of antidumping duties on imports of frozen warm-water shrimp from China, India, Thailand and Vietnam, saying that doing away with the duties would continue to harm the US shrimp industry.

The USITC, however, revoked the existing antidumping duty order on imports of the shrimp product from Brazil.

In their unanimous decision, the USITC said "revoking the existing antidumping duty orders on imports of frozen warm-water shrimp from China, India, Thailand and Vietnam would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time".

In the case of Brazil, it said "revoking the existing antidumping duty order on imports of this product (frozen warm-water shrimp) from Brazil would not be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time".

Therefore, it said, "the existing antidumping duty orders on imports of this product from China, India, Thailand, and Vietnam will remain in place", while that "on imports of this product from Brazil will be revoked".

Congressmen's support

Several federal and state elected officials had batted for a five-year extension of the antidumping duties on "unfairly traded shrimp imports" from the five countries including Brazil.

Three congressmen had testified in a hearing, voicing their support for the trade remedy.

The domestic shrimp industry had contended that the return of unfairly traded imports into the US market would once again lead to a collapse in prices and more fishermen leaving the commercial fishery.

The USITC's action came under the five-year (sunset) review process required by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, which mandates the Department of Commerce (DOC) to revoke an antidumping duty order after five years unless both the DOC and the USITC determine that revoking the order would likely lead to the continuation or recurrence of dumping and of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time.
The small town of Bruck an der Leitha 45 kilometers southeast of Vienna is at the forefront of Austrias drive for renewable energy. Its latest venture involves 52 local investors in an innovative cooperative project. Organic farmer Friedrich Metzker is proud of his investment. In 2000, we switched to organic farming to produce fruits and vegetables in a more sustainable way, he says. Since then we are using renewable energy for our work and also in our personal lives. Organic farming and renewable energy fit just perfect.

The first Bruck wind farm in 2000 was intended to move the town toward fully renewable energy usage. Bruck set up a non-profit organisation to develop three major renewable energy sectorsa biogas plant, biomass district heating, and wind parks. The most recent wind energy project has created approximately 20 jobs, says Michael Hannesschlager, the wind parks manager. Thats remarkable at a time when employment is falling as a result of increased retail competition from Vienna.

The 12 turbines with a total power of 36 MW produce clean energy for 27, 000 households. The latest deal is financed with a loan backed by the Investment Plan for Europe, the EU scheme implemented by the European Investment Bank thats intended to trigger EUR 315 billion in additional investment over three years. The Plan allows the EIB to make investments it might not have made in years past. In this case, it is able to take on a larger portion of the deal. This is the first Investment Plan project that we financed in Austria, says Melchior Karigl, a renewable energy expert at the European Investment Bank. Given it is a clean energy investment, we could support the project with a higher amount of EIB financing thats almost 75 % of the total project cost.

A citizen project

The wind park has created approximately 20 jobs

The project is the fruit of 52 local shareholders who organized themselves in a private limited partnership. This local factor may have a positive effect on the acceptance of wind farms in the region. A quarter of the investors are farmers and the average investment was about EUR 100 000. At the EIB, we often work with larger corporates, but here the Investment Plan allowed us to support a group of small entrepreneurs and to take on more project risk than in previous onshore wind transactions, says Karigl. This brings high value added.

Organic farmer Friedrich Metzker is very proud to have taken part to the adventure (www.metzker.at)

Energiepark Bruck Leitha GmbH is also an investor. The company has already implemented six wind farms in the area with a total capacity of 147 MW. The engagement of the EIB played a significant role in making this project come true especially in terms of risk minimization, says Hannesschlager. It makes sense as a small company to think out of the box and to apply for European funding.

The community now takes a lot of pride in what they call their windfarm. All the energy is sold to the grid, because of the legal framework in Austria. Green-funded wind power is bought by a state-owned organisation, which is responsible for the commercialisation of green power on the free market. We are proud of it, says Metzker, the farmer.

The 12 turbines with a total power of 36 MW now produce clean energy for 27,000 households

Renewable energy: favourable politics and economics

Austria has a commercially and politically favourable environment for renewable energy installations, which has led to the achievement of significant cost and carbon savings across the country. A feed-in tariff introduced in 2002 means that each kWh of renewable electricity generated is purchased by the local power company at a set price. The tariffs were high enough to make many renewable energy systems commercially viable.

The uptake was more than twice as high as the government had expected. As a result in 2006 the government exceeded its renewable electricity target of 4% to provide 8% of electricity from renewable energy. More than 15% of Austrian installed capacity in wind power is situated in our region, says Hannesschlager. The high share of local investors leads to a high level of identification with the wind power and renewable energy in general.

The region now produces more green electricity than its annual electricity consumption.
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River dredging to be considered later this year

Manx Utilities will assess whether the Silverburn River needs dredging later this year.

Chairman of the authority Alex Allinson told the House of Keys that natural rivers aren't routinely dredged, but are periodically inspected to prevent flooding.

Removing the build-up of gravel from the river three times since 2011 has cost over 13,000.

If the river does need to be dredged, the work would have to be carried out between July and September to avoid impacting on wildlife.
The Indian National Congress (henceforth, the Congress) today is in serious crisis. The 2014 general elections reduced the party to 44 seats in the Lok Sabhaa shocking comedown for a party whose history is integral to Indias founding narrative. The Congress polled just 19.3% of the votes, declining from 28.6% in the 2009 elections. This defeat was far worse than anything in its long history. Indeed, its decimation everywhere in the 2014 election constitutes the most severe crisis for the party, worse even than the late 1970s when the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had suspended democracy and imposed the Emergency. The Congresss failure to win a single seat in Delhi (2015) and its victory in just seven seats in the Uttar Pradesh (UP) assembly elections (2017) only confirmed the existential crisis facing the party after it lost power at the centre.

Overall, the 2014 elections produced a sharp shift to the right catapulting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to the centre stage of Indian politics, as Narendra Modi led his party to a sensational win. The BJP won 282 seats and 31% of the national vote; its main success had come from the states of North and West India, with the party winning four of every five seats it contested. Coupled with the near obliteration suffered by parties on the left, one can conclude that the centrist, secular and progressive voices had lost out. The steep fall of the Congress and the rising support of the BJP is a sure sign of a tectonic shift in Indian politics (Kishore 2017). Spearheaded by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)/BJP, the right has undoubtedly become the central pole of Indian politics. Its success in UP is the strongest evidence yet of the broader shift to the rightto all intents and purposes, the BJPs resurgence in UP strengthens this shift.
Regional tensions and the unclear role of the United States in the South and East China Seas both affect security interests of the European Union. The EUs dependence on the security in the South and East China Seas is directly linked to Chinas increasing economic and diplomatic influence in and around Europe. Beijing is very likely to leverage that influence since it wants to keep the EU from getting involved in the region, which would possibly harm Chinas strategic interests.

China has boosted its influence over the EU through its Belt and Road Initiative and its massive direct investments in the bloc. However, its influence across the continent is uneven and therefore some EU members will be more sensitive than others to Chinese pressure, whether it will be implicit or explicit. Chinese influence can build tensions and mistrust within the bloc and damage European unity, which could in turn demotivate Brussels from becoming more involved in this sensitive geopolitical game in Asia. Moreover, larger European economies that are relatively less reliant on Chinese economic input would be more careful to preserve the status quo in their relations with China.

Beijing could easily paralyze Brussels when it comes to its involvement in the South and East China Seas and the same applies to the EU membership in NATO. European leaders fear that the Alliance could move from being a strategic partner of the United States into an object of geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China. Therefore, the EU cannot completely separate itself from the developments in East Asia. Economic disengagement from China would do harm to vital EU interests as well and therefore the EU should focus on boosting its capacity to autonomously deal with it security policy, on the one hand, and on Chinese economic interests including its investments on the other.

Moreover, Brussels should adopt a consistent, coherent long-term approach to regional security in East Asia, which presupposes that the EU will define what its preferred international order should look like. From European perspective, the best outcome of the regional geopolitical interplay would be if the United States and Japan remained major players and the United States shifted from being a military to a diplomatic actor. Despite the fact that the EU does not by itself have the capacity to be more than a marginal geostrategic actor in East Asia, it can contribute  through its well-tailored global strategy  to regional stability in East Asia.

The East and South China Sea Tensions  Opinion by Frans-Paul van der Putten  Clingendael.

(The Opinion can be downloaded here)
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is pondering appointing a senior executive to manage counterterrorism efforts. This move aims to please President Donald Trump who called on the Alliance to focus more on terror threats. The proposal is in line with NATOs previous decision to create a senior intelligence post, which has been repeatedly praised by the new US administration. President Trump also said that the decision to boost intelligence was a proof that NATO was no longer obsolete since it had responded to his criticisms.

An appointment of a senior counter-terrorism coordinator has been previously questioned by senior NATO diplomats on the grounds that his/her role would not be impactful unless NATO expanded its counter-terrorism efforts including funding additional training initiatives. There have been discussions within the Alliance about how counterterrorism training could be expanded, including ways to use allied special operations forces to improve training of anti-terror commandos in the Middle East and Africa. Those proposals could also encompass expanding the mandate of the NATO Special Operations Headquarters, which develops NATO counterterrorism plans.

An expansion of anti-terror resources such as special-operations forces could have a negative impact on NATOs budget. Moreover, some would like to see the Alliance conducting anti-terrorism strikes against ISIS in Syria, Libya or Afghanistan, which some NATO members oppose. So far, no NATO member, including the United States, has advocated expanding such missions. According to Bruno Lete of the German Marshall Fund, the US has suggested that it wanted NATO to do more to fight terrorism. NATO allies are going to need to subscribe to Trumps desire for a new NATO that can engage in counterterrorism efforts, Mr. Lete said.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved the disbursement of the second tranche of funding to Moldova worth $21.5 million on the grounds of a stronger-than-expected growth. In November, the IMF wrapped up a 3-year-long program for Moldova worth about $178 million, $36 million of which was made immediately available for the country. The IMF said in a statement that growth has returned and authorities remain committed to sound economic management, while also predicting 4.5% growth this year. The Washington-based organization moreover concluded that the program is broadly on track, enjoys strong country ownership, and is supported by the firm commitment of policymakers to sound economic management.

Moldova has been stuck in an economic and political crisis since 2014 when around $1 billion  almost one-eighth of the countrys economic output  went missing from the countrys banking system. The EU has pledged to help Moldova with 100 million of aid in addition to the IMFs contribution and other multilateral programs. 60 million will be provided in the form of loans and the remainder in grants. The EUs long-term strategy is to seek to help Moldova achieve economic stability and pursue reforms.

The financing will be monitored by the European Commission and the European External Action Service and the disbursement of the funds would be dependent on Moldova respecting human rights, the rule of law and democratic principles. The EUs assistance will also be governed by a memorandum of understanding between Moldova and the EU Commission, which could be a potential hurdle since Moldovas pro-Russian President, Igor Dodon, has previously announced that he could scrap an association deal with the bloc.
This statement first appeared in French on the Journal du Dimanche website. The initiative is led by the Initiatives for Nuclear Disarmament (IND), a French organisation which partners with the European Leadership Network.

When you are elected President on 7 May 2017, you will have to discharge heavy responsibilities, including the defence of France. Our institutions grant the President the power to order the use of nuclear forces. As soon as you are inaugurated, you will receive the nuclear codes from your predecessor.

We strongly wish the new presidential term to be marked by genuine action on the part of France in favour of the goal of a world without nuclear weapons to which it is solemnly committed.

Indeed, the main threats to our security currently come from terrorism, cyber-attacks, organised crime, pandemics, or climate change and cannot be deterred by a nuclear arsenal.

If inter-state risks have not completely disappeared, despite a real decrease in the number of nuclear weapons in the world some 15,000 such weapons continue to threaten the entire planet with catastrophic destruction. According former US Secretary of Defense William Perry, the likelihood of such a conflagration has never been as high as today.

The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) could not prevent the emergence of four new nuclear-armed states (Israel, India, Pakistan, and North Korea) in unstable regions. Despite their commitment to negotiated disarmament, the other nuclear powers, including France, have launched a new and costly arms race, planning the modernisation of their arsenals, with increased reliance on cruise missiles, miniaturisation of warheads, maintenance of tactical weapons, development of hypersonic missiles, etc. All these developments contribute to lowering the threshold of use of nuclear weapons, without mentioning the invisible threat of cyber-attacks and the danger of terrorist or accidental nuclear explosion.

It is no longer reasonable to remain stubbornly attached to a weapon that many military and strategic experts agree to consider as obsolete and inadequate. Moreover, it is now known for certain that the use, even limited, of nuclear weapons in the world would entail catastrophic consequences for the whole humankind. How is it possible to reconcile such prospects with Frances attachment to respect for international humanitarian law and the protection of civilians in conflicts? Hasnt France been one of the main initiators or supporters of the Biological and Chemical Weapons Conventions, and the treaties prohibiting antipersonnel landmines or cluster munitions or regulating the arms trade? How can one conceive that the security of our country relies on our capacity to annihilate millions of innocent civilians?

We are not advocating Frances unilateral disarmament, but we call on you to seize the historic opportunity offered to our country to lead the way to negotiated, verifiable, and universal disarmament by joining the some 132 states that will negotiate a treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons at the United Nations. This will create a new point of departure that will not only reinforce the obligations derived from the NPT but will also show the way to the other nuclear-armed states that are absent from that Treaty. France will thus have seized the opportunity to take the lead of a movement towards the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons.

Signed by:

Sebastien Balibar , physicist, member of the French Academy of Science

, physicist, member of the French Academy of Science Rony Brauman , former president of Doctors without Borders (MSF)

, former president of Doctors without Borders (MSF) Valerie Cabanes , international laywer

, international laywer Gilles Candar , president of the Jaures Studies Society

, president of the Jaures Studies Society Jean-Marie Collin , vice-president of Initiatives for Nuclear Disarmament (IDN)

, vice-president of Initiatives for Nuclear Disarmament (IDN) Michel Drain , member of Pax Christi and Justice & Peace France

, member of Pax Christi and Justice & Peace France Jean-Pierre Dupuy , philosopher, professor at Stanford University

, philosopher, professor at Stanford University Marc Finaud , former French diplomat, Senior Advisor to the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP)

, former French diplomat, Senior Advisor to the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) Christiane Hessel

Bernard Hourcade , senior researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS)

, senior researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) Nicolas Hulot , president of the Foundation for nature and Humankind

, president of the Foundation for nature and Humankind Yannick Jadot , member of the European Parliament

, member of the European Parliament Alain Joxe , president of the Research Centre on Peace and Strategic Studies (CIRPES)

, president of the Research Centre on Peace and Strategic Studies (CIRPES) Georges Le Guelte , former Secretary of the Board of Governors of the IAEA

, former Secretary of the Board of Governors of the IAEA Brig. Gen. (retd.) Francis Lenne , Air Force

, Air Force Gen. (retd.) Bernard Norlain , Air Force, vice-president of Initiatives for Nuclear Disarmament (IDN)

, Air Force, vice-president of Initiatives for Nuclear Disarmament (IDN) Ivar Ikeland , former Chancellor of the Paris-Dauphine University

, former Chancellor of the Paris-Dauphine University Jean-Claude Pecker , emeritus professor at the College de France, member of the French Academy of Science

, emeritus professor at the College de France, member of the French Academy of Science Paul Quiles , former French Minister of Defence, president of Initiatives for Nuclear Disarmament (IDN)

, former French Minister of Defence, president of Initiatives for Nuclear Disarmament (IDN) Bishop Marc Stenger , president of Pax Christi France

, president of Pax Christi France Annick Suzor-Weiner , president of Pugwash France, emerita professor at Paris-Sud University

, president of Pugwash France, emerita professor at Paris-Sud University Thierry Salomon, co-chairman of the #LesJoursHeureux movement

More information can be found on the website of Initiatives for Nuclear Disarmament (IDN).

The opinions articulated above represent the views of the signatories and do not necessarily reflect the position of the European Leadership Network or any of its members. The ELNs aim is to encourage debates that will help develop Europes capacity to address the pressing foreign, defence, and security challenges of our time.
The world celebrated World Press Freedom Day on Wednesday even as India dropped 3 places to a rank of 136 in the latest World Press Freedom Index, compiled by the non-profit organization, Reporters Without Borders (RWB).



On Tuesday, media watchdog, The Hoot, released a report (http://www.thehoot.org/free-speech/media-freedom/india-2016-17-the-silencing-of-journalists-10070) that states that 54 attacks, and 25 cases of threatening journalists took place in the past 16 months. Though 7 journalists were killed, reasonable evidence of their journalism being the motive for the murder is available only in one case, the reports authors wrote.



The actual number will certainly be bigger, because last week Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir said during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha that 142 attacks on journalists took place between 2014-15, the report stated.



Despite these grim statistics, some senior journalists and media industry veterans still feel that India is in a much better position with regards to freedom of expression as compared to other countries around the world.



However, the recent spate of aggressive demonstrations against journalists or, for that matter, anyone not agreeing with a given viewpoint is something to take note of.



Speaking about Indias ranking in terms of freedom of press, veteran journalist turned educator John Thomas said, It rankles when reading of international media associations rating Indias press freedom as the lowest in a decade and a half. Especially when I have prided in Indias media freedoms, comparing my experiences of several years of reporting and writing in countries where press freedoms are curtailed, and also having to report and write for media markets ever mindful of how the idea of freedoms vary in those countires."

On what has changed in India, Thomas said that one readily visible change is in the level of intolerance of news and views that are at variance from the official version.



For example, on the situation in India, RWB note on their website, With Hindu nationalists trying to purge all manifestations of anti-national thought from the national debate, self-censorship is growing in the mainstream media. Journalists are increasingly the targets of online smear campaigns by the most radical nationalists, who vilify them and even threaten physical reprisals. Prosecutions are also used to gag journalists who are overly critical of the government, with some prosecutors invoking Section 124a of the penal code, under which sedition is punishable by life imprisonment. No journalist has so far been convicted of sedition, but the threat encourages self-censorship, read a statement on the groups website.

On similar lines, Hartosh Singh Bal, Political Editor at The Caravan, calls for introspection. Comparatively, in the last few years, there has been an immense qualitative difference (in terms of attitude towards media). It is not like the Congress were saints, but the systemic and co-ordinated assault on media by the government, which is ideological, is unprecedented. In some ways, journalists themselves are failing to test the limits of what is possible, but the major blame should be with the government. In this scenario, the Prime Minister tweeting about his commitment to a free and fair media is hypocritical, he said.



If the fault, somewhere, lies with the media then the onus is also on journalists to use their freedom responsibly, opines Abhijit Majumder, Managing Editor of Mail Today.



India has a great deal of press freedom, even in a conflict zone like Kashmir. Curbs on press freedom are often self-imposed, often under revenue pressure. While we must continually demand greater freedom, we must also deliberate on greater responsibility it brings, he said.



Malyalam language daily, Mathrubhumi, also expressed solidarity with journalists by black shading news columns on its front page.



Speaking to exchange4media, MV Shreyams Kumar, Director (Marketing) at Mathrubhumi said, India is a strong democracy where there is freedom for media, but in many parts of the world, the situation is grim. For example, in Mexico, journalists are getting killed by the drug mafia. The situation is bad in some countries in Africa and others. Our founders started this newspaper during the freedom movement. We have always stood for freedom of press. So, this is a show of solidarity with journalists across the globe.



Meanwhile, the hashtag #worldpressfreedomday was trending today as journalists, ministers and others came out to support a free and unbiased media.

On #WorldPressFreedomDay, let us strive for a free,fair & responsible 4th estate which will help create an informed, compassionate citizenry

 Rajyavardhan Rathore (@Ra_THORe) May 3, 2017

While we celebrate press freedom , also introspect as to why many have become more arrogant, servile and sycophantic. #WorldPressFreedomDay

 Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) May 3, 2017

Free+unbiased press is essential 4 a strong democracy.On #WorldPressFreedomDay , I salute the journos who've stood 4 responsible journalism.

 Naveen Jindal (@MPNaveenJindal) May 3, 2017

On #WorldPressFreedomDay I extend my felicitations to my brethren. We in @indiatvnews vow to uphold the great ideals of independent media.

 Rajat Sharma (@RajatSharmaLive) May 3, 2017

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A Cumberland County man charged last year with attempted criminal homicide in Carlisle has been found not guilty.

Chad Stanback, 44, of Carlisle, was accused of shooting another man last May in the 1300 block of North Pitt Street.

Police said the other man was transported to a hospital for treatment of a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

Stanback turned himself in to police a day after the shooting, according to police, and was released from prison the same day after posting $50,000 bail, according to court records.

Stanback was also charged with felony burglary, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and three counts of aggravated assault.

He was found not guilty on all counts, according to court records.
Bitcoin prices continued to surge yesterday, reaching another new high of $1481.73. Newbie investors are easily attracted to an asset class, which continues to rise vertically. However, new investors are confused whether to invest in bitcoin or trade it speculatively.

In this article, we highlight two differing viewpoints of successful investors.

Aussie billionaire compares bitcoin investment to horse racing

Sydney-based billionaire Cannon-Brookes, who is the co-founder and co-CEO of software firm Atlassian, said in end-April that he has invested in bitcoin, which is paying out well. However, his bitcoin bet was similar to the one people place in horse racing. His tweet said:

Yup, my BTC bet is paying out well. Theory? It will be worth a lot, or zero. Much like a horse racing. Not like investing. https://t.co/VrGz6JzWoQ  Mike Cannon-Brookes (@mcannonbrookes) April 30, 2017

Cannon-Brookes has not provided any details of the amount or the timing of his investment. However, if he had invested a few years back, he would be sitting on phenomenal returns by now.

Now, lets look at the other billionaire who is an investor and not a speculator in bitcoin

Billionaire investor Mike Novogratz, a former hedge fund manager at Fortress Investment Group and a Goldman Sachs partner, while speaking at the Harvard Business School Club of New York said that he was holding 10% of his net worth in digital currencies. He also called it: The best investment of my life.

In order to diversify his investment, Novogratz also invested in Ethereum when its value was $1. Yesterday, Ethereum closed at $82. Thats a huge gain within a matter of a few years.

He expects bitcoin to reach $2000 levels, however, he also said in his talk that there could be a bubble developing in the digital currencies.

Though the above-mentioned returns of the billionaire investors are mind boggling, traders must remember that they are early investors. To expect similar returns from this point on can be dangerous.

After the recent run-up, traders who own the cryptocurrencies should look to book part profits and hold the rest with suitable stop losses.
Yesterday, crude oil prices dipped below $48 per barrel in intraday trading, however, by the end of the day managed to close back in the range of $48-$50 per barrel. Today, all eyes will be on the inventory data to be reported by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The American Petroleum Institute, yesterday, reported a drop of 4.2 million barrels in the week ended April 28, which was above the analyst expectations of 2.3 million barrels decrease.

A Bloomberg survey forecasts the EIA to report 3 million barrels drop in crude inventory; however, the gasoline inventory is expected to increase by 1 million barrels.

"The supply of crude oil continues to decline. This is evident in both spot and forward supply data," commodities brokerage Marex Spectron said in a note. "Demand remains strong and in spite of lower refinery profitability we see increasing capacity utilization rates," reports Reuters.

OPEC compliance remains high

Another bit of news that is partially positive is that OPEC continues to demonstrate high compliance level.

OPECs output fell to 31.895 million barrels in April, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts, oil companies, and ship-tracking data. Compliance among the members who are part of the production cut deal reached 102%, compared to 89% in March.

However, OPECs total output  including Libya and Nigeria, the nations exempt from the deal  continues to be 135,000 barrels a day above the target.

Overall compliance remains high, especially relative to OPECs previous coordination efforts, Robbie Fraser, commodity analyst at Schneider Electric, told MarketWatch. The problem OPEC is facing is commitment levels havent really changed, but U.S. production has.

Hence, if we see a drawdown today, the markets should react positively. On the other hand, if the numbers disappoint, we are likely to see a retest of the trendline support at $47 per barrel.
Yesterday, the US Energy Information Administration reported a drawdown of 930,000 barrels of oil, missing analysts forecast of 2.3 million barrels decrease. Though this is the fourth consecutive drop in crude stockpiles, traders are worried that the OPEC and its allies are not able to do enough to end the supply glut.

At 527.8 million barrels, the inventory levels are still 3% higher compared to the same time last year. Gasoline stocks rose 191,000 barrels, well below analysts forecast of 1.3 million-barrel gain. However, reports that gasoline demand slipped 2.7% over the last four weeks, compared to the same period last year was viewed as a negative.

"Gasoline demand is going to be the story going forward," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston, reports Reuters.

Some viewed the report as bullish

However, not everyone was bearish on the EIA report. Kyle Cooper, consultant at ION Energy in Houston viewed the report as slightly bullish.

"With the (Strategic Petroleum Reserve) drawing, total U.S. petroleum stocks fell 161,000 barrels. Total U.S. inventories fell further below last year while the surplus to the five-year average fell. Total U.S. petroleum demand rose to almost 19.9 mbd and the highest since March 3," he said, reports Reuters.

Crude oil is at a critical support

The markets, however, viewed the report as negative and crude oil prices dropped close to the trendline support at $47 per barrel. Any drop below this level is likely to push crude towards the lower support levels of $44.5 and $42 per barrel.

"Crude remains mired near the bottom of its respective ranges," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at futures brokerage OANDA in Singapore. "The market will get increasingly nervous as we approach late May, about the details (or not) of an extension to the OPEC production cut agreement," reports Reuters.
twostep said: You returned to the US in March and want to claim foreign domicile to August? Click to expand...

That is a possibility. I am concerned about the following scenario:1) I leave the US in Sep and find a job overseas and that by enrolling in healthcare coverage (e.g. Medicaid), would I have problem claiming foreign domicile (for foreign income exclusion) for the year 2017? It might appear that I have been domiciled in the US for, say, Mar (or Jun?) till Aug.2) I remain in the US and start working in Sep and not have any medical coverage until Sep. In this case, I might have coverage gap (tax penalty) from the time I become US domiciled again (with 2 months buffer) till Sep. However, if I could claim that my US domicile starts right before Sep (when I start working), then there would be no gap. I am not sure whether this can be done without leaving the US though?[If there is no penalty per the current ruling(?), perhaps it is more beneficial to just not enroll in any coverage? On a related note, would I still be able to enroll later - this would be the case if for some reason I decide to just stay in the US regardless of job situation? (and is there a time limit on when I can enroll in Medicaid - e.g. 60 days since "relocating" to a state. If so, can I just claim that I have "recently" become domiciled in that state though I have physically been in that state for some time and job searching?)]
Hello

Could someone please help me with my dilemma

I am in the U.K. on my FLR (M) and have 2 months old baby and wish to travel to my home country for a visit.

What kind of travel document will my baby need? Should she have her own UK passport? Note that I'm not intending to get her mine nationality as my country does not allow dual citizenship.

Or is it still in practice to have her photo added to my own passport.?

Appreciate any advice, maybe someone had the same situation



Thanks
krishnach said: They have some designated organisations that conduct the assessment like WES etc. Is that the way we need to proceed? Click to expand...

What does the CIC website say for you to do? They have details as to what you need to do for all aspects of the immigration process.
Hello,



I am a young working man. I am exploring the possibility to buy my own 'place in the sun'.

Italy is one of the few countries I did narrow my choice down to.

I will use it as a holiday home - I will be roughly 1 to 1.5 months per year there. When I

retire (in about 30 years), I will most probably move there permanently.

My goal is to buy a 3-room (or, as you call it - 2 bedroom) apartment, around 70-85 m2.

What is most important for me - to have the lowest possible cost when I am not there.

Hence, please kindly let me know what are the recurring monthly/yearly costs that you

have to keep paying. I will number the items, in order to aid you in writing your answers:



1) Water and electricity - those should be clear. Costs are according the the readings of

the corresponding meters. Do you have anything else to add ?



2) Condominio (I hope I am calling this right) - what I mean by this, are the regular

maintenance and repair cost for the apartment building and for utilities of the common

space, like the staircase, corridors like electricity for them and keeping them clean, etc.



3) I know that in Italy, there is a property ownership tax. Even 2 of them - IMU and TASI. I found on the internet, that primary homes are relieved from this tax. Bearing in mind what I wrote above - do I qualify as a primary home (no other property in Italy) or a primary home is considered only if I stay there most of the time ?



4) The apartment should also be insured against natural disasters and other damage

like fire, etc. - does any of you have such an insurance ? How much is it per year ?



5) Are there any additional recurring costs, that I didn't think about ?



Many many thanks for your answers and advice!
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia  A Malaysian man whose wifes death is one of at least 16 blamed on air bag defects has sued Japanese automaker Honda and the Takata Corp. in a U.S. court, saying he wants the companies to disclose more about the dangers.

Nida Fatin Mat Asis, a 29-year-old doctor, died almost instantly after the Honda City she was driving hit a pole and skidded into a ditch in Malaysias eastern Sabah state on April 16 last year. An autopsy found shrapnel from a Takata air bag inflator in the base of her skull.

The lawsuit was filed by her husband in a U.S. District court in Michigan on Monday.

Her father, Mat Asis Mahnoon, said Wednesday the family decided to sue after Takata pleaded guilty to fraud in February and agreed to pay $1 billion in penalties for concealing the defect blamed for 11 deaths in the U.S. and five in Malaysia. More than 180 injuries have occurred worldwide and more than 100 million inflators have been recalled.

Plaintiffs alleged in dozens of lawsuits that Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Ford and BMW had independent knowledge that Takatas air bags were unsafe before putting them in millions of vehicles. The auto companies have asserted that they were deceived by Takata and shouldnt be held liable.

Mat Asis told the Associated Press that the family refused a settlement offer from Honda and Takata that was conditioned on them not speaking publicly.

The womans husband says her family wants to ensure the companies do more. I refuse to let my wife die in vain. By telling her story, we hope Takata and Honda will do more, particularly in Malaysia, to notify everyone with impacted cars that they are potentially deadly, Abdullah Shamshir Abdul Mokti said in a statement released by U.S. law firm Motley Rice LLC.

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The couple did not know their car had a dangerously defective air bag and were never notified by Honda of a potential recall.

The law firms statement said a confidential settlement had been reached with the two companies over another Honda City crash in Malaysia. That crash killed Law Suk Leh and her unborn baby.
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Rackspace Hosting CEO Taylor Rhodes is leaving the San Antonio-based managed cloud computing company on May 16, about six months after he steered it through a $4.3 billion sale.

On Wednesday, Rhodes wrote in a blog post titled Why Im Leaving Rackspace that he will become CEO of a smaller private company in another city. He didnt identify the company but said it doesnt compete with Rackspace. He added he will be able to discuss it in more detail in a couple of weeks.

Its using cloud technologies to disrupt what has been a very low-tech industry, Rhodes said in the post. The company is going through growing pains and needs a CEO who has been through those challenges before.

Rhodes pocketed at least $22.7 million from the sale of his stock and options in the leveraged buyout of Rackspace by New York private equity firm Apollo Global Management, according to a Nov. 3 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Whether Rhodes will receive an additional severance pay upon his departure couldnt be determined. Under the terms of his employment agreement, he is entitled to two times his annual base salary and bonus, plus other payments, if he leaves for good reason within 24 months of the sale. That includes a material reduction in his duties, base pay or target bonus.

Rhodes would be entitled to a golden parachute payment of almost $4.6 million if he leaves for good reason after the sale, the company disclosed in a September filing with the SEC.

We dont have a comment on Taylors compensation, as these details are between him and Apollo, Rackspace spokeswoman Monica Jacob said in an email.

Rackspaces No. 2 executive, Jeff Cotten, will serve as interim CEO, Jacob said.

He and his fellow Rackers are determined to build on the momentum that Taylor created, she said. A search for his replacement is underway. Cotten is a strong candidate to permanently fill the post, she said.

Cotten was named president earlier this year to fill the spot that had been vacated by Rhodes when he was promoted to CEO in 2014.

Were going to keep driving to expand Rackspaces leadership of the fast-growing market for managed cloud services, Cotten wrote in a blog post Wednesday.

New York private equity firm Apollo Global Management acquired Rackspace in November, taking the publicly traded company private.

In his blog post, Rhodes said Rackspace  which no longer publicly discloses its financial results  recently reported strong fourth-quarter results to its bond and debt holders.

And 2017 is shaping up to be even stronger, as were exceeding almost all of the financial targets we established with Apollo and our board, Rhodes said.

As part of the Rackspace acquisition, Apollo targeted $100 million in annual cost reductions.

The ax fell three months ago when Rackspace announced it was slashing about 6 percent of its staff, or at least 275 of Rackspaces more than 4,600-person U.S. workforce. About 200 of the jobs targeted for elimination were at its headquarters.

Rhodes called the cuts personally painful but necessary and manageable.

Rhodes, who joined Rackspace in 2007, replaced company co-founder and former Chairman Graham Weston as CEO in 2014. Weston had been serving as chief executive on an interim basis.

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At the time, Rackspace was facing intense and increasing competition from the likes of Amazon Web Services and Google Inc. But after a four-month review that included hiring investment banking firm Morgan Stanley to assist the company to size up its strategic options, Rackspace chose to remain as independent.

Less than two years later, in August, though, Rackspace announced a sale to Apollo.

There are times when its great for companies to be public, and there are times that are great for companies to be private, Rhodes said at the time. When we were a private company, we could make decisions with a longer time horizon than potentially we can as a public company.

Rhodes then reflected on the days when Rackspace was privately held and operated without the constant scrutiny by public investors.

And we knew the right things to do for the long-term viability of the company, and thats what we feel excited about doing as a private company, he added.

Rhodes made assurances that Rackspace would keep its headquarters in San Antonio.

Rhodes said his new job will give him more control over his schedule, giving him more time to spend with his children.

pdanner@express-news.net

Twitter: @AlamoPD

News Researcher Misty Harris contributed to this article.
In 1932, the great comic director Ernst Lubitsch switched gears to make an agonizing, antiwar drama, Broken Lullaby, that did not impress audiences or critics and remains underappreciated to this day.

Frantz is a new film by Francois Ozon that takes the Broken Lullaby story and tells it from a different angle. This new film is exceptional and one of Ozons best.

Talking about Frantz and its connection to Broken Lullaby is a bit awkward, in that the premise of Broken Lullaby  the essential thing that the audience knows from the first minutes  is made into a mystery in Frantz.

Both films are set about a year after World War I and involve a young Frenchman who travels to Germany, grief-stricken over the death of Frantz, a German soldier of his acquaintance. The difference is that, while Lubitsch told the story from the perspective of the Frenchman, Ozon focuses on Anna, Frantzs Germans fiancee, played brilliantly by newcomer Paula Beer.

Anna lives with the family of her fiancee, and its a house of grief in a small town that is also grieving, filled with heartsick women and old men  all the young men are dead. Anna starts noticing that flowers are appearing on Frantzs grave, placed by the mysterious young man. Soon, she meets this man, Adrien (Pierre Niney), and she brings him to meet Frantzs parents. Like Frantz, Adrien was a music student, and his stories about friendship with Frantz, in pre-war Paris, bring some relief to the familys sorrow.

A sense of loss pervades Frantz, one of tragedy that cant be undone, of lives changed forever, of pain that can never go away. The movie is shot in a glossy but unglamorous black and white, which only sometimes switches or melts into color, either for pre-war scenes or brief moments of hope. Ozon creates a beautiful stillness in Frantz that makes us feel we are there in the midst of these lives, witnessing the purity of their sadness.

For those few who have seen Broken Lullaby, and even for those who havent, its worth noting that Ozon takes the story of Frantz months past the ending of the Lubitsch film. Broken Lullaby was antiwar  vehemently, stridently, almost hysterically. The recentness of World War I and the fear of World War II gave the original story a frantic immediacy.

Frantz is about something else. Its a meditation on the impact of tragedy and on the various ways different people are affected.

Beer is only 22, but she has a gravity beyond her years, which is fundamental for playing Anna, who is practically widowed without having been married. Annas youth is her strength, and we sense that somehow she will find something approximating happiness, even if she will never be able to return to her pre-war blitheness. Whats in question throughout the film is the form that this future life will take.

Ozon never forgets that these are individuals and not archetypes. With consummate subtlety, he introduces a question about the sexuality of one or more of the characters  just the barest hint, but it adds an extra dimension. World War I was a horror that happened to all kinds of people, every one of them with a particularly dream and vision of what life might be.

The title, incidentally, is a curious choice. In Broken Lullaby, the dead soldiers name was Walter. Here hes Frantz, which sounds almost identical to the way youd pronounce France in French. Thats a nice change that has some relevance to the course of the film.   

Running time: 114 minutes

MPAA rating: PG-13 (war violence, thematic elements)
WASHINGTON  FBI Director James Comey on Wednesday gave his most exhaustive defense yet of his role in politically sensitive investigations, telling a Senate panel that, despite feeling mildly nauseous at the thought his decisions about a probe into Hillary Clinton might have affected the election outcome, he had no regrets.

He also said he was confident in the FBIs handling of an ongoing probe of any contacts between Russian officials and associates of President Donald Trump.

Through nearly four hours of sometimes combative questioning from Democrats and Republicans, Comey offered his most full-throated explanation of his actions to date, and he never wavered from his core contention: that the FBI has stayed above the political fray even as its investigators probed senior aides to both the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates.

Lordy, has this been painful, he said. Ive gotten all kinds of rocks thrown at me and this has been really hard, but I think Ive done the right thing at each turn.

Comey appeared to win few new converts to his way of thinking, given the intense partisanship still swirling around both the now-closed probe of Clintons use of a private email server while she was secretary of state and the current investigation into whether any Trump associates may have coordinated with Russian officials to interfere with the election campaign.

After the hearing, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said he was unswayed and that he still believed Comey did the wrong thing by telling Congress days before the election that he was reopening the Clinton probe to examine thousands of emails found on the laptop of a spouse of a senior Clinton aide.

I would have been satisfied if he had done what all Republican and Democratic administrations have done in the past, Leahy said. The Justice Department has a procedure. You do not release information like that just before an election.

In defending his decisions, Comey offered some new details about what FBI agents found last fall, after they realized a laptop belonging to former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner contained thousands of work emails involving Clinton.

At the time, the Democratic lawmaker was married to Huma Abedin, a senior aide to Clinton. Agents were looking at Weiners laptop because he was under investigation on allegations of having possibly inappropriate communications with a minor.

Somehow, her emails were being forwarded to Anthony Weiner, including classified information, Comey said, adding later, His then-spouse, Huma Abedin, appears to have had a regular practice of forwarding emails to him for him to print out for her so she could deliver them to the secretary of state.

After Comey notified Congress of the Weiner laptop issue Oct. 28, the Justice Department got a search warrant to examine some 3,000 messages that were work-related, Comey said. Of those, agents found a dozen that contained classified information, but they were messages investigators had already seen.

Abedin and Weiner were investigated for the potential mishandling of classified material, but the FBI ultimately dropped the matter.

Really the central problem we had with the whole email investigation was proving people  had some sense they were doing something unlawful. That was our burden, and we were unable to meet it, he said.

Three days before Election Day, Comey notified Congress that the emails on the laptop did not change the FBIs view of the case.

Democrats argued that, by that point, Comey had critically damaged the Clinton campaign. At an appearance Tuesday, Clinton said that if the election had been held the day before Comeys first letter, she would have been elected president.

At Wednesdays hearing, Comey said he was confronted with a difficult choice to speak or conceal and that the first was a really bad choice, while the second was catastrophic, because when voters learned of the issue after the election, they would have suspected a government cover-up.

He added: It makes me mildly nauseous to think we might have had some impact on the election. But honestly it wouldnt change the decision.

Comey said he has been interviewed by the Justice Departments inspector general as part of an internal investigation into how he, his top deputy and the FBI handled the Clinton case.

I want that inspection. I want my story told, he said. If I did something wrong, I want to hear that.

But he added that he thinks he behaved appropriately and had no regrets about his decisions.

The chairman of the committee, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, opened the hearing by saying that a cloud of doubt hangs over the FBI. Grassley demanded that the bureau reveal more about how it has handled the probes, and at one point he exclaimed ye gads! in frustration at his inability to get more information from the FBI.

We need to know whether there was anything improper going on between the Trump campaign and the Russians, or if these allegations are just a partisan smear campaign that manipulated our government into chasing conspiracy theories, Grassley said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., asked Comey what threat Russia posed to future U.S. elections.

In my view the greatest threat of any nation on Earth, given their intention and their capability, Comey answered, adding that although Russia did not alter vote tallies in 2016, it has tried to do so in other countries and U.S. officials should expect Russia to replicate that effort in future U.S. elections.

Democrats repeatedly contrasted Comeys decision to talk about the Clinton email investigation while not disclosing that the FBI had begun secretly investigating in late July whether any Trump associates might be working with Russian officials to meddle with the presidential campaign.

Its still very unclear  and I hope, director, that you will clear this up  why the FBIs treatment of these two investigations was so dramatically different, said the top Democrat on the committee, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Calif.

Comey said he treated both cases consistently and that the biggest difference was that one investigation was over or nearly over, and the other was just beginning.

The FBI has concluded that Russian intelligence hacked into Democratic computer systems and email accounts, stealing information later published by WikiLeaks during the campaign.

Asked about WikiLeaks, Comey said he thought the anti-secrecy group was engaged in something more sinister than journalism.

To my mind, it crosses a line when it moves from being trying to educate the public and instead becomes about intelligence porn, quite frankly, Comey said. A huge portion of WikiLeaks activities has nothing to do with legitimate news activity, he said, but is simply about releasing classified information to damage the United States of America.

The Washington Post reported last month that the Justice Department is trying to determine whether it can bring criminal charges against those working for the anti-secrecy group.

During his testimony, Comey also disputed a claim from Trump on Tuesday night that the FBI director was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds.

Asked whether he gave Clinton a free pass, Comey said: No, that was not my intention certainly. ... We conducted a competent, honest and independent investigation.
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Roderick Pat Patterson tugged a long leather boot over the right leg of his heavy blue wool pants. Four fellow re-enactors in the Bexar County Buffalo Soldiers Association adjusted each others yellow bandanas as they prepared to serve as color guards at A Night in Old San Antonio during Fiesta.

Like Patterson, the San Antonians wore the uniforms of the Buffalo Soldiers, troops in all-African-American units who fought on the American frontier.

The storied Buffalo Soldiers have roots in San Antonio. At what is now San Pedro Springs Park, the Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th Cavalry Regiment learned the lessons they would take to the frontier, and they encountered the bigotry they would experience and overcome as soldiers.

In 1866, after the Civil War, the U.S. government called for four additional cavalry regiments, two of which shall be composed of colored men. One of these regiments, the 9th Cavalry, formed in Louisiana and then headed to San Antonio to form a camp of instruction, according to a unit history.

On April 5, 1867, the San Antonio Herald announced the arrival of the Buffalo Soldiers into the city. Two companies of colored troops, being the advance of the battalion under the command of Colonel Wesley Merritt, destined for our frontier, passed through our city yesterday and camped near the San Pedro Springs, a news clip from the time read.

The soldiers hailed mostly from the Civil War border states of Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. More than 70 percent of them were under 25. They enlisted for five-year terms at a rate of $13 a month.

Reporters at the time commented on how tidy and well-mannered soldiers looked. Still, there were no brass bands to welcome black men in blue uniforms, wrote William H. Leckie in his account of the Buffalo Soldiers. Friction quickly developed between soldiers and citizens.

The regiment had set off for San Antonio without enough officers to take charge of the troops. Few white officers were willing to command black troops. Mutiny had already flared on the march into Texas.

On April 9, reporters at the Herald witnessed the aftermath of a mutiny at San Pedro Springs. Around noon yesterday, our city was thrown into great excitement by rumors that the United States colored troops stationed at San Pedro Springs had mutinied and killed several of our officers, their story recounted.

A sergeant had protested against an officer for tying up by the thumbs men from the company. The paper reported a confrontation had ended with a sergeant shot dead after slashing at an officer with a sabre.

The officer was a 23-year-old white lieutenant named Edward Heyl, a hard drinker and stern taskmaster who named his horse after a racial slur, according to Frank N. Schubert in his book, Black Valor: Buffalo Soldiers and the Medal of Honor, 1870-1898.

The morning of April 9 began when Heyl berated a private in his unit for being late to formation, Schubert wrote. Heyl ordered three privates strung up by their wrists and then he left to drink.

When he returned, he found one of the privates trying to escape his bonds. Heyl beat him with a sword.

A black sergeant, Harrison Bradford, walked toward the tent of Col. Merritt, his commander, to complain about Heyls behavior. The 24-year-old Bradford knew military procedure as a veteran who fought in the Civil War.

Heyl confronted Bradford, with Heyl brandishing a pistol and Bradford drawing his sword. Heyl fired two shots at Bradford, hitting him in the mouth. Bradford slashed at Heyl with his sword. Two more officers arrived and fired and killed Bradford.

A fight ensued, and nine soldiers were arrested for mutiny in the coming days. Merritt, however, concluded that Heyls behavior and a shortage of officers caused the incident. General Ulysses S. Grant agreed and sent more officers to the 9th Cavalry.

Heyl was not held accountable. He was not court-martialed. Instead, he stayed in the military, remaining with the 9th for four more years and rising to the rank of colonel.

These chaotic days marked the beginning of the 9ths frontier training. The Buffalo Soldiers remained in San Antonio for three months. Drill was likely two hours a day, involving morning formation and marching and afternoon horsemanship.

Most soldiers learned in an on-the-job scenario  no centralized boot camps like today, said Bryan Howard, director of research, exhibits and collections at the UTSA Institute of Texan Cultures. The intense recruit training we think of, with marksmanship, hand-to-hand combat, etc., wasnt a big deal until World War I.

The 9th left town in July and spread out across western and southern Texas, protecting the mail and stage route between San Antonio and El Paso and engaging in battles against bandits and Indian raids. They built roads and forts and mapped new territory.

They were zigzagging, crisscrossing throughout the West, Patterson, historian for the Bexar County Buffalo Soldiers Association, said. It was a crazy time in the West, and soldiers would find themselves fighting whites to protect Indians in one period, and another time fighting Indians to protect whites, and another period fighting Indians to protect other Indians.

The Buffalo Soldiers defended settlers who demanded their protection but resented the color of their skin. In one incident, ranchers from Starr County ambushed and mutilated two black soldiers. The officers who entered the shack of the murdered soldiers to retrieve their uniforms were then arrested for burglary. In another incident, a white gambler shot a private in the head after the soldier refused to sing and dance at a San Angelo saloon.

They were needed very badly when there was trouble, said Billy Gordon, president of the local Buffalo Soldiers group. But once the Buffalo Soldiers put down the threat, then they werent allowed to go into the towns which they just rescued and saved.

The Equal Justice Initiative, which released a study on the Buffalo Soldiers and other African-American veterans, found at least three Buffalo Soldiers lynched as a result of their uniform.

It was obvious that they werent thought of as equals, yet they still made the choice to participate in the armed forces and often as a consequence of that choice they were targeted, said the initiatives Jennifer Taylor.

And yet the Buffalo Soldiers built a legacy on the frontier, boasting 14 Medal of Honor recipients. Their desertion rates, high at first, steadily declined until they were the lowest in the Army.

The Bexar County Buffalo Soldiers Association plans to put up a plaque near the San Pedro Springs training camp to honor their namesake contingent of a century and a half ago.

Patterson, like many in the association, is an African-American, a veteran, and a lover of history. He stood in his period-authentic uniform near the San Antonio National Cemetery, where close to 300 Buffalo Soldiers are buried.

They paved the way for people like myself. If it wasnt for them, I wouldnt be where Im at, Patterson said. Theyre the trailblazers. If you look at what they had to deal with at that time, they broke a lot of barriers.

jlawrence@express-news.net

COMING FRIDAY: The Alamo represented in art.
One of the uniformed officers who escorted a caravan of campaign workers to a polling site last weekend was employed by the San Antonio Police Department, contrary to the denials of Manuel Medina, the mayoral candidate who staged the flashy procession.

Officer Oscar OConnor failed to obtain a required work permit for the off-duty job, a police source told me. The police department is now investigating whether OConnor violated state law, department policy or city rules.

Right now, its in the investigation pipeline, Police Chief William McManus told me on Wednesday, declining to comment further. Its not going to go unaddressed.

On Monday, when I first reported the police escort, Medina did not return a call requesting comment. On Tuesday, the mayoral candidate told KSAT 12 that his campaign was not using city employees for the escort.

Since Ive been chairman of the Democratic Party, weve had caravans and we have hired private police escorts, Medina said. And its never been an issue. Why? Because were not using city employees or anything related to the city.

As an SAPD officer, though, OConnor is employed by the city. And he is required to follow rules for off-duty employment.

He wore an SAPD uniform while escorting Medinas caravan, blocking traffic and using sirens and flashing red and blue lights in tandem with another officer to allow the vehicles to travel freely while campaign workers blared horns and held Medina campaign signs aloft from car windows.

The caravan apparently was shuttling at least two voters to an early voting site at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

OConnors off-duty job might have run afoul of a city administrative directive that prohibits the use of public employees and City of San Antonio (City) resources for political purposes.

The directive defines taking part in the management or affairs of a political campaign as leading, organizing or conducting political rallies or parades promoting or opposing a candidate and driving voters to the polls on behalf of a candidate, among other actions.

On Tuesday, Gabrien Gregory, a paid field coordinator for Medinas campaign, defended the use of the police escort. Gregory, who is also president of the Bexar County Young Democrats, shot a live video that was posted to Facebook, in which he celebrates the visibility of the caravan and thanks the officers.

The police officers did not physically take part in anything related to the campaign, Gregory told me on Wednesday. The only thing they took part in was safety.

This wasnt the first caravan that weve had, he continued. The past caravan had quite a few more vehicles.  The point of having officers is so that one, the people in the caravan are safe, and two, so we are not causing an accident, so that drivers are aware of whats going on.

But it was Medinas decision in the first place to stage an ostentatious caravan to polling sites, an attention-catching display enhanced by the officers lights and sirens. If his campaign is so concerned about safety, then it should forgo the hazardous theatrics.

Thats not likely to happen.

Manuel is a creative candidate, Gregory said. Hes trying to shift the image a little bit to increase the energy. I think its clear that were the most energetic campaign.

Unfortunately, Medina often channels this energy into odd and outrageous antics.

If his intention is to capture the medias attention and create chatter about his campaign, he has succeeded. In this case, though, his caper crossed a line and could result in discipline for a San Antonio police officer.

On Wednesday, I asked Gregory whether the campaign had any more flashy caravans planned for Election Day. But the field coordinator had clammed up.

No comment, he texted. No further answers.

bchasnoff@express-news.net
The Army Thursday announced that Maj. Gen. John S. Kem will be the next commandant of the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks.

Kem will take over the position held by Maj. Gen. Bill Rapp.

I can think of no better individual to be the next commandant of the Army War College, Rapp said in a news release. John Kem is an exceptional leader and educator.

The change of command ceremony will be held in early August. Rapp, the 50th commandant of the war college, will retire from the Army at a later date, according to a news release from the war college.

Kem is the provost of the Army University and deputy commandant of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Martha and I are excited to be joining the Army War College team and the greater Carlisle community, Kem said in the news release. Having spent the last two years working on mid-career education for officers, warrant officers, NCOs and Army civilians as part of the overall Army University effort, it will be interesting and challenging to now work on education and leader development at the more senior level.
PITTSBURGH  Pennsylvania dairy producers and processors will have the opportunity to tap into the expertise of American Dairy Science Association scientists to gain an understanding of the impact of production practices on raw milk quality and its subsequent impact on finished dairy products at a special pre-meeting workshop.

The conference will be held June 25, at the David Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, and will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The cost is $75 per person and includes lunch.

This workshop is appropriate for all dairy producers and dairy processors who wish to understand how farming practices affect the quality of dairy products and learn strategies to improve dairy product quality.

Requirements. You do not need to be an ADSA member to register, and you do not need to register for the full ADSA conference to attend this workshop. The production of quality dairy products starts on the farm.

High-quality dairy products are characterized by good flavor, long shelf and the processor achieving their quality goals for all the products they make from fluid milk to ice cream to aged cheeses.

This workshop addresses milk component quality and variation, iron and copper in farm and plant water and impact of milk flavor, effect of raw milk microbial quality on the quality of cheese and dairy products, effect of feed source on quality of cheese and dairy products, best milking practices for high quality milk, and milk quality and safety from udder to tank.

Register online at www.adsa.org/2017, or by calling 217-356-9050 by May 31. The 2017 ADSA annual meeting is June 25-28, in Pittsburgh.

For more information on these programs, visit the ADSA Annual Meeting website, www.adsa.org/2017, or contact Kerry Kaylegian, kek14@psu.edu, 814-867-1379.
WATERFORD, Pa.  Pennsylvania farmer Robert Brace has paid more than a million dollars in legal fees and fines in a 30-year land battle with the federal government  a living example of being caught in the various regulations and interpretations of the Clean Water Act.

I have spent the last 30 years trying to comply with their requests, but they keep changing, said Brace, who owns 600 acres in Erie County. They are allowed to change their minds and we are supposed to pay for it.

His continuous court struggle involves his right to make his land farmable and the governments rights to protect wetlands and waters of the United States.

Background

Beginning in the 1970s, Brace repaired tile and drainage pipe originally laid by his grandfather. He began row cropping instead of grazing the land in question.

Brace and his attorney, Lawrence Kogan, believe the allegations throughout the years have been invalid due to a 1988 prior converted cropland exclusion granted to wetlands converted to croplands before Dec. 23, 1985.

Robert Braces leadership in advocacy began in 1987, when he rallied other Pennsylvania landowners and established the Pennsylvania Landowners Association. Its mission is to educate Pennsylvania landowners about the threat to property rights by intrusive regulation on land use. The association also works to restore reason and balance in environmental regulation and continues to support Brace in his ongoing battle, according to Keith Klinger, association president. View official documents Civil Action No. 1:17cv6, and other commentaries concerning the case at: https://palandowners.org/

Kogan, a New York City lawyer, represents Brace, along with Atty. Neal Devlin of Erie, Pennsylvania.

Recent claims

In January of 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion in federal court in Erie County, claiming Brace has discharged pollutants into waters of the United States, water governed by the Clean Water Act. A second charge involves similar allegations on an adjacent parcel Brace purchased in 2012.

The land in question houses approximately 1,500 feet of Elk Creek in McKean and Waterford townships leading to Lake Erie.

The governments motion contends: Defendants have cleared, ditched, drained, plowed and planted approximately 18 acres of wetlands, causing the unpermitted discharge of pollutants into waters of the United States that were required to be restored pursuant to the Consent Decree.

The decree being referenced was ordered Sept. 23, 1996. In it, Brace was to restore the wetlands; comply with the permanent injunction; pay the stipulated penalties; and reimburse the United States for fees and costs incurred in seeking enforcement of the Consent Decree.

The government documents state Braces actions will continue to damage the wetland hydrology, cause long-term damage to the affected wetlands, and reverse the restoration work this Court ordered under the Consent Decree.

Fines

The claims bring millions in penalties from Brace and his companies, Robert Brace Farms and Robert Brace and Sons, Inc. The fees mount daily  nearly $45,000 to the state and more than $100,000 to the federal government per day.

Brace and his attorneys responded to the January claim, and the parties jointly filed for a confidential mediation process, which is where the case stands now.

If the policy is zero percent discharge  no farmer can comply with it. If they dont want you to be in compliance, you wont be, Brace said.

The case

This case traces back to the original government orders brought against Brace in 1987, when the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers ordered Brace to cease and desist all discharge activities on his farm.

In the late 70s and early 80s, he had repaired drain tiles his grandfather had installed, transforming a pasture to a row crop field. His drainage work triggered the federal court case.

Brace had no opportunity to formally claim exemption until three years later, in 1990, when the United States filed a lawsuit against Brace to enforce regulation concerning the Clean Water Act.

When the government repeated the claims he was draining a wetland, Brace countered he was following the provisions of a government-approved conservation plan.

Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and the American Farm Bureau Federation brought national attention to the excesses of regulatory action waged by federal officials against Brace in the 80s, and actively supported him, both in the courts and in the media, said Mark ONeill on behalf of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau.

Despite our efforts and belief that EPA was seriously exceeding its authority, the appellate court sided with the government and against Brace, ONeill said.

The district court found Braces activities to be exempt in December 1993, but the United States appealed the decision and it was reversed.

In his written opinion, Judge Robert Cowen, 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said, Braces activities did not constitute normal agricultural activity.

Consent degree

In 1996, the Brace family thought the battle had ended. Instead of paying millions in fines, he agreed to a consent decree with the government in which he agreed to pay $10,000 and to remove the drainage lines.

The government, in turn, agreed to drop its case and a $125,000 fine.

Flip-flop

In 2009, the EPA began sending notices again that Brace was no longer in compliance, according to Kogan.

They made visits to his property, noting possible violations and then alleging violations, Kogan said.

Then, in 2014, he received permission to begin using the land again, he added, but the Justice Department has a different recollection of the facts.

Brace can easily quote court documents, but his summary of the case is simple, I took the drainage out once. They gave me permission to put it back in.

Ill do whatever they want me to do, but I will not admit Im guilty, said Brace, now a national figure in the property-rights movement.

All-out war

Each allegation the government has made, Kogan said, takes claim to private land for government use without compensation, constituting a taking.

Brace has been forced into an argument he didnt want to make, but now it is an all-out war, Kogan said. This case is going to shape the future.

Brace, 77, believes if he is unsuccessful in this case, the nation is unsuccessful in providing the freedom it claims.

Why do it [farm], if you cant own and use your own land. If you cant, this is not a free nation, he said.

The EPA is using the second lawsuit to apply the Obama administrations interpretation of the controversial 2006 Rapanos decision to impose greater Clean Water Act WOTUS jurisdiction over both properties, effectively amending the old 1996 consent decree retroactively without actually doing so formally, Kogan recently wrote in an email.

President Donald Trump issued an executive order to review WOTUS in February. Braces case remains in mediation.

The U.S. Department of Justice did not respond to Farm and Dairys multiple requests for comment.
Weve never had major dramas with these mixers which is why we like them, because its going every day before we shut it down in September and October when the herd can feed on the spring flush.
The award-winning films Spotlight and All the Presidents Men both chronicled investigative journalism that uncovered huge scandals. But in re-watching those movies, Ive noticed something else they have in common  journalists who kept following the bread crumbs.

Gathering background information was just one part of the process. The Boston Globes Spotlight team and the Washington Posts Woodward and Bernstein then stayed on the trails despite some misdirection and dead-ends, to finally uncover the bigger picture.

Both movies therefore presented a powerful case for compliance professionals when it comes to mitigating risk. Due diligence alone is not enough. You also need to conduct on-going risk monitoring to spot potential signs of risk sooner.

Ironically, it was the Watergate reporting and subsequent political fall-out that initiated the United States tough stance on bribery and corruption. By 1977, Congress had passed the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, making the U.S. the first country to ban companies from bribing foreign government officials. Since then, many other nations have joined in the effort, and additional anti-bribery and corruption laws are expected.

Moreover, if 2016 is any indication, enforcement agencies are expanding cross-border coordination on bribery and corruption investigations. The TRACE International 2016 Global Enforcement Report found a significant year-over-year increase in the number of U.S. and non-U.S. enforcement actions related to bribery of foreign officials. Its a trend that is not lost on corporate leaders.

According to the 2017 Top Risks Report produced by the Enterprise Risk Management Initiative at NC State University, 66 percent of corporate board and C-suite members surveyed placed regulatory change and heightened regulatory scrutiny in the top five significant risks they face this year.

The journalists depicted in Spotlight and All the Presidents Men persevered, despite a significant disadvantage that contemporary reporters  and compliance risk professionals  dont face. Unlike in decades past when research required a painstaking process of reviewing paper or microfiche archives, todays digital media landscape offers real-time, convenient access to breaking news, company information, legal records, sanctions and PEPs.

Good news, considering that DOJ-SEC FCPA guidance (pdf) indicates that proactive risk assessment and monitoring are crucial components of corporate compliance programs to ensure ongoing relevance in the dynamic regulatory landscape. Unfortunately, the volume of data has risen exponentially as well, so companies need a strategy that enables them to narrow the focus of monitoring while still capturing critical insights on which to base decisions.

Establishing a PESTLE-based approach to risk monitoring can help companies overcome data overload. PESTLE is a handy memory aid that stands for six categories of risk.

PoliticalFocuses on a wide range of issues that can elevate compliance risk exposure, including sanctions and trade restrictions, political instability and government corruption.

EconomicIncludes macro-economic factors such as embargoes, wage rates and taxes, which can directly and indirectly expose organizations to compliance risk. For example, low wage rates may reflect a higher likelihood of human rights abuses, like forced labor, that finance corrupt enterprises.

Socio-CulturalPopulation and cultural dynamics can lead to higher compliance risk, particularly in emerging markets or regions where bribery has historically been part of the cost of doing business.

TechnologicalRanging from the reliability of a regions power grid to the availability of modern technology, this category may seem removed from compliance risk, however some of the biggest FCPA fines over the years have been levied against organizations that used bribery to win lucrative contracts to bring technology  power, telecommunications and more  to emerging markets.

LegalLaws, especially those related to anti-bribery and corruption, anti-money laundering and human trafficking are top-of-mind considerations for any company, but particularly those operating in a global arena where cross-border awareness of changing regulations is crucial.

Environmental While not directly linked to compliance risk, environmental factors such as natural disasters, contamination of natural resources and other ecological considerations can lead to compliance risk when money changes hands to facilitate  or hide  activities related to the environment.

Monitoring sanctions, watch lists and PEPs alone isnt enough. With PESTLE-based risk monitoring, companies are better positioned to address emerging risks.

Just as journalists slowly but surely follow the breadcrumbs wherever they lead, tracking adverse news mentions can help companies see potential problems  like those exposed by the more recent journalistic investigations into the Panama Papers  sooner.

____

Karen E. Gray is a 22 year LexisNexis veteran where shes a Sr. Entity Due Diligence and Monitoring Specialist. Karen serves as LexisNexis expert and central point person for all due diligence and third-party monitoring solutions. She focuses on efforts to improve profitability and cash flow, risk mitigation and

operational efficiencies with regard to vendor selection and monitoring. She can be contacted at [email protected]
After graduating, Amanda Robson worked in medical research at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and at the Poisons Unit at Guys Hospital where she became a co-author of a book on cyanide poisoning  and this book makes terrifying use of poison throughout. Amanda attended the Faber novel writing course and writes full-time. Obsession is her debut novel and today, upon its release, she tells us a bit more about herself.

Amanda Robson

My favorite day is a day spent writing, followed by a meal and a bottle of wine in the evening with my husband, or friends and family. I suppose that means I like writing, eating, drinking very much and being with special people. My husband, my friends, and my family, are very special to me.

I have wanted to write a novel since I was eighteen years old but it has taken me a while to get started. Exactly how long? Ha. Ha. I dont really want you to know how old I am, but lets put it like this; you can count it in decades rather than years. Having a late career is very exciting, pulling my life forwards at a time when I always imagined it would be closing in and moving backwards.

When I was a teenager I was in the local drama club. If time had permitted, acting would have also been my passion. Whenever I am writing, I act every scene out in my mind. I think the creative skills of writing or acting, both of which entail imagining being someone else, are closely interlinked. An old friend of mine from drama group, who is now a very successful actor, has recently started writing and this fascinates me. I am looking forward to meeting up with her to discuss it.

Unlike the characters in my book I love my girl friends dearly. I would like my readers to know that I am not a bitch! I might write about toxic relationships, but I do my best to avoid them in real life.

I have a one-eyed golden retriever who sits at my feet while I write.

The first book I really fell in love with was Daphne Du Mauriers Rebecca. I love it to this day. It is classified as a psychological thriller- not that I realised that at the time I read it. So I must have always been interested in psychological thrillers, and Ive ended up writing one too!

My husband and two sons are lawyers. When they talk about law I dont understand a word they say and I have been with my husband for thirty-eight years.

I love dancing. After my book launch party I intend to dance the night away.

I talk too much. As soon as I open my eyes in the morning my lips start moving. When I am quiet my family become seriously concerned. People who are very quiet make me feel uneasy. When I am with them, try as I might to tone my personality down, the more I tend to fill the airwaves with sound.

I would like to think that our love for others is like energy: that it cant be destroyed but lingers in the world long after we are dead.
Liam Hemsworth has been cast as the lead in action-thriller 'Killerman'.

Liam Hemsworth

The 26-year-old hunk was last seen on screen in Roland Emmerich's 'Independence Day: Resurgence' as a fighter pilot and will take on the role of a small town crook who suffers from amnesia after a freak accident in the forthcoming movie.

The story center's on money launderer Moe Diamond (Liam), who finds ruthless gangsters are hot on his trail and dirty cops not far behind after a deal goes bad but Moe is forced to fit the pieces of his life back together when he loses his memory and all knowledge of his former career-criminal life.

Malik Bader has written and directed the movie and has nabbed 'Hunter Prayer' producing duo John and Michael Schwarz for the project.

Malik is well used to building tension on screen, having honed his directing skills on 2015 crime thriller 'Cash Only' which starred Nickola Shreli - who also penned the script - as a landlord forced to resort to desperate measures to pay off his debts to banks, a loan shark and a local mob boss, 'Crush' in 2013 and 'Street Thief' in 2006.

While Liam broke Hollywood in Disney's 2010 romance drama 'The Last Song' opposite his now-fiancee Miley Cyrus and played an archetypal action hero in the 'Hunger Games' franchise opposite Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson.

Meanwhile, Hemsworth's older brother Luke has stepped into the shoes of one of the most iconic gunslingers in Western lore as 'Wild' Bill Hickok in the eponymous named movie about the notorious lawman.

It's the first lead role for the actor, who followed his brothers - including 'Thor' actor Chris - to Hollywood from Australia.
British Prime Minister Theresa May has sent her "deepest gratitude and good wishes" to Prince Philip.

Prince Philip

It was announced on Thursday (04.05.17) morning that the Duke of Edinburgh is stepping down from royal duties later this year and the politician has led tributes to the 95-year-old royal.

She said: "On behalf of the whole country, I want to offer our deepest gratitude and good wishes to His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh following today's announcement that he will stand down from public duties in the autumn.

"From his steadfast support for Her Majesty the Queen to his inspirational Duke of Edinburgh Awards and his patronage of hundreds of charities and good causes, his contribution to our United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and the wider world will be of huge benefit to us all for years to come."

And former prime minister David Cameron also sent a tribute message, in which he referenced the prince's love of outdoor cooking.

He said: "HRH the Duke of Edinburgh is an outstanding public servant. We owe him a huge debt of gratitude. I always enjoyed his company, especially his BBQs!"

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn praised the duke for his "clear sense of public duty".

He said: "I would like to pay tribute to Prince Philip following his decision to retire from public service.

"He has dedicated his life to supporting the queen and our country with a clear sense of public duty.

"His Duke of Edinburgh's Award scheme has inspired young people for more than 60 years in over 140 nations. We thank Prince Philip for his service to the country and wish him all the best in his well-earned retirement."

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was another public figure to praise the prince for his Duke of Edinburgh award scheme, as well as recognising the contribution he has made to life in her country.

She said: "HRH the Duke of Edinburgh has dedicated his life to public service and the steadfast support he has given to the Queen throughout her reign is hugely admirable.

"His charity work, in particular his role as chairman of the Duke of Edinburgh Awards, has benefited millions of young people across Scotland. He also gave over 50 years of service to Edinburgh University during his time as Chancellor there.

"He has always served with enthusiasm and a healthy sense of humour. I have always thoroughly enjoyed any time that I have spent in his company.

"I know that, even as he steps back from public life, the duke will continue to be a huge support to the queen. I wish him all the very best for a happy and peaceful retirement."
Gary 'Gaz' Beadle has sparked rumours he's thinking of quitting 'Geordie Shore'.

Gaz Beadle

The 29-year-old hunk raised a few eyebrows today (04.05.17) when he told fans he'd rather "chill out and watch the carnage" than be involved in the drama on the show.

He said in response to a message: "I just chill out and watch the carnage... haha it's like watching Gshore live for me," followed by a crying laughing emoji (sic).

Although fans will no doubt devastated to see him go, the womanising heartthrob will no doubt still grace television screens as he admitted last year that he would jump at the chance to do 'I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!' later this year.

He said: "I'm enjoying 'Geordie Shore'. But if the Jungle came knocking I wouldn't turn them down. If it came up I'd give it a bash.

"It's a show that is full of challenges and I love that about it."

Gaz watched his showbiz pal Adam Thomas on the programme in 2016 and he confessed to feeling anxious about the prospect of doing a Bushtucker Trial.

He said when asked if he's willing to do the tasks: "Adam did some tasks that would kill me. I saw him put a spider in his mouth. The stuff he did looked horrible."

However, he may run into some difficulty if he wants to take his career a little further afield as he was thrown in jail in New Zealand last year for failing visa requirements.

A spokesperson for Immigration New Zealand (INZ) said at the time: "There are certain conditions that all temporary visitors to New Zealand must meet in order to be eligible for entry.

"The onus is on the visitor to satisfy INZ that they meet all of the entry requirements at the time they travel to New Zealand.

"Mr Beadle did not meet these requirements. He was put on a flight back to Australia [on Wednesday] afternoon after being released on conditions which allowed him to spend [Tuesday] night at his pre-arranged accommodation."
Amazon India plans to open 7 new warehouses in India in order to expand its operations in the country. These warehouses are expected to generate employment for about 4,000 people. The total number of Amazon fulfilment centres (FCs) in India is likely to be 41 by the end of the next month. The company has committed to invest $5 billion in India.

The new FCs will double the storage capacity of Amazon India as compared to last year, Akhil Saxena, customer fulfilment vice president of Amazon India, told a news agency. He said that the company is investing to strengthen its infrastructure to match its pace of business expansion in the country.

Amazon will open 14 FCs in India by the end of this year, added Saxena. These new centres will come up in Haryana, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

Amazon India plans to open 7 new warehouses in India in order to expand its operations in the country. These warehouses are expected to generate employment for about 4,000 people. The total number of Amazon fulfilment centres (FCs) in India is likely to be 41 by the end of the next month. The company has committed to invest $5 billion in India.#

In a bid to fulfil increasing seller and customer demands, Amazon will also expand the capacity of its existing FCs in Delhi and Ahmedabad.

The addition of new FCs is expected to increase Amazon's delivery speed and enable SMBs to cost-effectively fulfil their orders, concluded Saxena. (KD)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
DuPont and the Dow Chemical Company have got conditional regulatory approval of their proposed merger of equals from China's Ministry of Commerce. The approval is conditional on the two fulfilling their commitments in connection with the clearance. The two companies have been seeking regulatory clearances around the world for the proposed merger.

DuPont and the Dow Chemical Company have got conditional regulatory approval of their proposed merger of equals from China's Ministry of Commerce. The approval is conditional on the two fulfilling their commitments in connection with the clearance. The two companies have been seeking regulatory clearances around the world for the proposed merger.#

The merger is expected to drive innovation and competition.

DuPont and the Dow Chemical Company have got conditional regulatory approval of their proposed merger of equals from China's Ministry of Commerce. The approval is conditional on the two fulfilling their commitments in connection with the clearance. The two companies have been seeking regulatory clearances around the world for the proposed merger.#

Specifically, and consistent with commitments already made to obtain the European Commission's regulatory approval for the proposed merger of equals, Dow and DuPont will divest certain parts of DuPont's crop protection portfolio and research and development pipeline and organisation and Dow's global Ethylene Acrylic Acid copolymers and ionomers business.

DuPont and the Dow Chemical Company have got conditional regulatory approval of their proposed merger of equals from China's Ministry of Commerce. The approval is conditional on the two fulfilling their commitments in connection with the clearance. The two companies have been seeking regulatory clearances around the world for the proposed merger.#

In addition, Dow and DuPont have made commitments related to the supply and distribution in China of certain herbicide and insecticide ingredients and formulations for rice crops for five years after the closing of the proposed merger of equals.

DuPont and the Dow Chemical Company have got conditional regulatory approval of their proposed merger of equals from China's Ministry of Commerce. The approval is conditional on the two fulfilling their commitments in connection with the clearance. The two companies have been seeking regulatory clearances around the world for the proposed merger.#

China is a critical market for both Dow and DuPont and will be for the three intended independent companies that will be created following the merger. The intended three-way separation is expected to unlock significant value for all stakeholders as each company will be a growth-oriented leader in attractive segments where global challenges are generating strong demand for their distinctive offerings.

DuPont and the Dow Chemical Company have got conditional regulatory approval of their proposed merger of equals from China's Ministry of Commerce. The approval is conditional on the two fulfilling their commitments in connection with the clearance. The two companies have been seeking regulatory clearances around the world for the proposed merger.#

Dow and DuPont continue to work constructively with regulators in the remaining relevant jurisdictions to obtain clearance for the merger, which they are confident will be achieved. On March 27, the European Commission conditionally approved the merger.

DuPont and the Dow Chemical Company have got conditional regulatory approval of their proposed merger of equals from China's Ministry of Commerce. The approval is conditional on the two fulfilling their commitments in connection with the clearance. The two companies have been seeking regulatory clearances around the world for the proposed merger.#

The companies have reaffirmed their expectation for closing of the merger to occur between August 1, 2017 and September 1, 2017, with the intended spin-offs to occur within 18 months of closing. The companies expect that the first step of the intended separation process will be the spin-off of the Materials Science Company, assuming such sequencing would allow for the completion of all intended spin-offs within 18 months of merger closing and would not adversely impact the value of the intended spin-offs. (SV)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Reforms such as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the new bankruptcy law in India will ensure ease of doing business in the country, said Yasuyuki Sawada, chief economist at Asian Development Bank (ADB). The organisation expects the Indian economy to grow at the rate of 7.4 per cent in the current fiscal and at 7.6 per cent in the next fiscal.

The growth rate of India for the previous fiscal year was 7.1 per cent. Sawada said during a media briefing that a growth of over 7 per cent is high as compared to the economies of other emerging markets as well as China. The new bankruptcy law adopted by the government has improved the business environment of the country and is a short-term and medium-term factor behind India's gross acceleration.

He added that demonetisation led to a short-term decline in cash transactions, but ADB's data analysis shows that its impact was short-lived. ADB still believes that the Indian economy will witness medium-term growth acceleration.

Reforms such as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the new bankruptcy law in India will ensure ease of doing business in the country, said Yasuyuki Sawada, chief economist at Asian Development Bank (ADB). The organisation expects the Indian economy to grow at the rate of 7.4 per cent in the current fiscal and at 7.6 per cent in the next fiscal.#

The overall export performance of the country has also been positive so far, in spite of rupee appreciation, added Sawada.

ADB's 4-day 50th annual meeting has begun in Yokohama, Japan. It is being attended by the Central bank governors and finance ministers of all member nations. (KD)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Mohawk Industries has acquired the former Beaulieu fibre facility in Bridgeport, Alabama, in a transaction that includes a commitment to preserve current jobs and grow employment in the community. The deal is meant to help Mohawk support the growing demand for its carpet and rug collections. The company anticipates increasing the plant's manufacturing capacity.

Mohawk Industries has acquired the former Beaulieu fibre facility in Bridgeport, Alabama, in a transaction that includes a commitment to preserve current jobs and grow employment in the community. The deal is meant to help Mohawk support the growing demand for its carpet and rug collections. The company increasing the manufacturing capacity of plant.#

Mohawk Industries is the world's largest flooring manufacturer with a complete line of products including carpet, rugs, ceramic tile, laminate, wood, sheet vinyl and luxury vinyl tile. Mohawk operates manufacturing facilities in 11 states and 15 countries, and the company's products are sold in more than 160 nations. The Fortune 500 manufacturing company reported sales of $9 billion in 2016.

Mohawk Industries has acquired the former Beaulieu fibre facility in Bridgeport, Alabama, in a transaction that includes a commitment to preserve current jobs and grow employment in the community. The deal is meant to help Mohawk support the growing demand for its carpet and rug collections. The company increasing the manufacturing capacity of plant.#

"To support the growing demand for its carpet and rug collections, Mohawk has purchased a fibre plant in Bridgeport, Alabama. We are impressed with the Bridgeport plant's team and manufacturing capabilities, and we look forward to growing the plant to produce innovative fibres into the future," said Brian Carson, president of Mohawk Flooring North America.

Mohawk Industries has acquired the former Beaulieu fibre facility in Bridgeport, Alabama, in a transaction that includes a commitment to preserve current jobs and grow employment in the community. The deal is meant to help Mohawk support the growing demand for its carpet and rug collections. The company increasing the manufacturing capacity of plant.#

Mohawk is investing significantly to modernise and upgrade the equipment and the building in the Jackson County city, according to the Alabama Department of Commerce. Mohawk has established its initial workforce with individuals already employed at the plant and is actively recruiting people to satisfy present staffing needs. The company anticipates increasing its Bridgeport workforce as ongoing investments expand the plant's manufacturing capacity.

Mohawk Industries has acquired the former Beaulieu fibre facility in Bridgeport, Alabama, in a transaction that includes a commitment to preserve current jobs and grow employment in the community. The deal is meant to help Mohawk support the growing demand for its carpet and rug collections. The company increasing the manufacturing capacity of plant.#

Jackson County officials said the revival of the fibre plant represents a major economic boon to Bridgeport, a community with a population of around 2,400.

Mohawk Industries has acquired the former Beaulieu fibre facility in Bridgeport, Alabama, in a transaction that includes a commitment to preserve current jobs and grow employment in the community. The deal is meant to help Mohawk support the growing demand for its carpet and rug collections. The company increasing the manufacturing capacity of plant.#

"We are excited to welcome Mohawk to Bridgeport. We are eager to work with them to make their move a success," Mayor Bubba Hughes said.

Mohawk Industries has acquired the former Beaulieu fibre facility in Bridgeport, Alabama, in a transaction that includes a commitment to preserve current jobs and grow employment in the community. The deal is meant to help Mohawk support the growing demand for its carpet and rug collections. The company increasing the manufacturing capacity of plant.#

In January, the Beaulieu Group announced plans to shut down most of the operations at the Bridgeport factory, where it extruded nylon, polyester and polypropylene fibres and provided heat set and cabling for fibres. The plant, open since 1987, was the city's second largest manufacturing employer. Beaulieu also launched a search for a buyer, and received a helping hand from local leaders and a host of economic development agencies.

Mohawk Industries has acquired the former Beaulieu fibre facility in Bridgeport, Alabama, in a transaction that includes a commitment to preserve current jobs and grow employment in the community. The deal is meant to help Mohawk support the growing demand for its carpet and rug collections. The company increasing the manufacturing capacity of plant.#

"This transaction by Mohawk, which supports employment growth in Jackson County, was facilitated by teamwork and a determination to find a new owner for a manufacturing facility that has been critical to the vitality of its community," said Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce.

Mohawk Industries has acquired the former Beaulieu fibre facility in Bridgeport, Alabama, in a transaction that includes a commitment to preserve current jobs and grow employment in the community. The deal is meant to help Mohawk support the growing demand for its carpet and rug collections. The company increasing the manufacturing capacity of plant.#

Vince Perez, a project manager with the Alabama Department of Commerce, said Mohawk was in the market for a new fibre facility when Beaulieu put the Bridgeport plant up for sale. The deal allowed Mohawk to avoid a costly "greenfield" project while being able to invest in new technology and meet an internal timeline. Perez said Mohawk selected the Alabama project over a strong option in South Carolina. (SV)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Producers Kept Running After Him

According to Indian Express, SS Rajamouli told a regional news channel, "Prabhas had three consecutive hits and producers kept running after him with money but he only focused on Baahubali.''

Prabhas Instructed His Manager Not To Demand Anything

''He instructed his manager not to demand anything from producers and take anything they give," he added.

Prabhas Was Stressed For Money

"There was a time when he was stressed for money. Producers flooded his house with offers, cash and cheques and sometimes even without asking anything in return.''

Prabhas Got Scared

''He got scared, called me up and asked what should he do. I told him to get an affidavit done with a statement that this money does not have to do anything with your work.''

He Had The Offer To Do An Ad Worth Rs 10 Crore

''But he denied saying how will he give back this large amount of money if the people ever come back. He had the offer to do an advertisement worth Rs 10 crore.''

But He Refused That Too

''But he refused that too. Prabhas does not know how to lie but he would not even hurt your sentiments for no reason. He does not like to see people hurt," Rajamouli added. Keep reading to know some unknown secrets about Prabhas.

Prabhas Received 6000 Marriage Proposals

According to India Today, ''Prabhas received around 6,000 marriage proposals but he turned all of them down because he wanted to be focus on Baahubali.''

600 Days Of Dedication

Prabhas took a big risk for Baahubali too, which paid off obviously. The actor shot for nearly 600 days, and dedicated 5 years of his life to the Baahubali franchise.

Prabhas' Transformation For The Epic War Drama

Prabhas gained 22kgs for Baahubali. He went to 87kg from 82kg for the role of Shivudu. It does not end here, for Baahubali's role he gained 105kg. Here is more; he used to eat 40 boiled eggs every day to get the desired results.

A Shy Person Who Does Not Consider Himself A Big Star

Prabhas is a very shy and humble person in real life. Even after the mammoth success of Baahubali movies, the actor does not consider himself a big star.
Celebrated Hollywood actor Pierce Brosnan, renowned for his role as James Bond, states that he felt frustrated with his James Bond films as he wished those films to be a bit "gritty and real".

The 63-year-old star had featured in four James Bond films namely GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough and Die Another Day.

"There was a certain frustration within me as the films went on, as I could see the world happening around me and the movies ..." Said Pierce Brosnan in a statement.

"I wanted Bond to get a little more gritty and real and down and dirty, but however you try to nurse it along, the scripts would come along with the same outlandish scenarios," added the actor.

"So you go with the flow, and just enjoy the great experience of travelling the world and being this character. I had a great time on 'Die Another Day'." Said the actor.

"There were things I read in the script that were so ridiculous, like the invisible car, but I just tried to act my way through it and believe in it." Explained Brosnan.

"You can really give yourself a massive headache and a great amount of stress trying to wangle some sense of believability into it." The actor stated further.
Dulquer Salmaan, the young actor is all set to release his highly anticipated project Comrade In America aka CIA, tomorrow. In a recent interview, Dulquer opened up about his movie preferences and career choices.

According to the actor, the only factor he considers while choosing the subjects is whether he would like to watch it in the theatre as a common viewer. Dulquer Salmaan states that he doesn't believe in following any particular formula while choosing films.

Interestingly, Dulquer also stated that he hardly discusses films with his father Mammootty, as they spend very little time together these days. The young actor will only share the subjects with his fathers, either if they are really interesting, or he is confused.

Dulquer states that it is not Mammootty's acting style, but his extreme passion towards cinema is the factor which has influenced him the most. The actor states that his father is a great inspiration for all youngsters when it comes to the love for cinema.

He is extremely proud that his father makes a tough competition for him and other young actors, with his extraordinary screen presence. Dulquer Salmaan stated that he has never compared himself with Mammootty, and is the biggest fan of his father.

The actor, who also expressed his extreme happiness over co-star Vinayakan winning the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor in the interview, stated that he considers Kammatipaadam as one of the finest films in his career.
Naagin 2 actor Karanvir Bohra and his wife Teejay Sidhu were blessed with the twins in October 2016. The babies were born in Vancouver, where Teejay's parents live.

Karanvir had been to Vancouver to meet his family, and returned to India with his wife and twins on Tuesday (May 2). Teejay's mother also accompanied them. Karanvir's nani, mama and mami from Jodhpur have also come to Mumbai to spend time with them.



The actor was quoted by a leading daily as saying, "They were greeted by the Mumbai heat straight from the Canadian cold and a Rajasthani-style welcome, mala, teeka et al, from my family. They have adjusted pretty quickly to the climate change though."

Sharing an adorable picture of twins, Karanvir thanked his fans love and support. He also introduced his twins to his fans.

He wrote, "Thank you all for your love and wishes, @bombaysunshine and the #BohraBohra sisters have landed safely."

"#Miko & #Nonu (official nicknames) The one in my hand is Miko, Elder by a minute, A fierce Lioness by nature.Tj says she looks Japanese, thus the name."

"Miko-Tashi  And ofcourse the Tee is holding its the petite and dainty #Nonu, the name says it all, she is like a little doll princess  My excitement has no bounds, I can't even express the feeling I have when I look at these 2."

"I haven't slept more than 4 hours in the last 2days, and I've been doubling up with my regular shoot timings, now the daddy duty has hit me like a #thunderbolt "

"But you know what? I'm loving it, staying up late, now has a purpose - good bye sleep, see you in a year or 2."
WEST JORDAN, UT--(Marketwired - May 03, 2017) - Mountain America Credit Union earned honors recently for excellence in marketing at the 2017 Markie Awards. The credit union's marketing team was recognized with a Markie Award from Oracle for Best Integrated Mobile Experience.

The Best Integrated Mobile Experience Award recognizes teams that go above and beyond to create personalized experiences with messages and promotions, creating a platform of choice for ideal members. Mountain America achieved recognition for an increase in year-over-year approved Visas by 624% and approved balance transfers on mobile devices by 740%.

"We constantly strive to produce the best member experience, and the mobile experience is a critical component to that," says Sharon Cook, chief marketing officer at Mountain America. "It is remarkable to see the innovation and creativity produced by this team year after year."

The Markie Awards promote best practices and celebrate the accomplishments of modern marketers around the world, recognizing top companies and leaders for creative, innovative, and effective modern marketing campaigns that delivered increased engagement, conversion and ROI.

The 2017 Markie Awards were presented on Tuesday, April 25, during Modern Customer Experience 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

About Mountain America Credit Union

Mountain America Credit Union has more than $6.4 billion in assets and serves more than 650,000 members, wherever they are, through online and mobile banking, in 87 branches across five states and with access to more than 50,000 surcharge-free ATMs and 5,000 shared-branching locations nationwide. With roots dating back to the 1930s, Mountain America offers a variety of financial products and services for consumers and businesses, including savings accounts, auto loans, checking accounts, mortgage loans, business checking, student loans, SBA loans and retirement options. Visit www.macu.com for more information.

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Media Contact:

Bryan Packer

801-325-6439

Email contact


ONTARIO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/03/17 -- Baby Trend, a leading manufacturer of juvenile products, has been selected as a finalist in the inaugural JPMA Innovation Awards, hosted by the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA), for the submission of the Respiro Mattress, a new product the company will be launching in early 2018.

The JPMA Innovation Awards recognizes the most innovative items in the baby products industry in categories such as strollers, nursery, safety, feeding, on-the-go, and more. During the preliminary review process, 40 finalists were selected. Each finalist will present to a judging committee made up of media representatives and industry retail buyers. Winners will be announced on Wednesday, May 10, 2017 at the JPMA Baby Show taking place in Anaheim from May 9-13, 2017.

"This is an extremely exciting time for us to introduce our soon-to-be launched Respiro Mattress, especially with the recognition we are receiving through the JPMA Innovation Awards," said Brad Mattarocci, General Manager of Baby Trend. "Our finalist status is a great way for us to educate members of the industry, media and consumers about our newest product that will help families feel more secure when putting their children to sleep."

Thoughtfully created and designed by Baby Trend to address real and complex concerns of parents, the Respiro Mattress is the first product to be launched under the brand's Simplified Safety Series. It was created to address the areas where many conventional crib mattresses are fundamentally flawed: they lack air circulation, are not breathable, are infused with carcinogenic flame-retardants and are an ideal environment for dust mites and bed bugs.

Engineered with high-tech mesh fabric stretched tightly on its frame, and featuring open-air sides, the Respiro Mattress is completely breathable and guarantees 100% ventilation. By not using foam and stuffing in the Respiro Mattress, the need for toxic and carcinogenic flame-retardants is also eliminated.

Baby Trend continues to develop products that provide simplified solutions for complex concerns, while upholding safety as the number one priority and complementing the brand's current array of products.

Visit Baby Trend at booth #909 during the JPMA Baby Show in Anaheim from May 9-13, 2017.

To learn more about Baby Trend and their products, visit www.BabyTrend.com.

About Baby Trend

Baby Trend, a leading brand of juvenile products in North America, is an innovator and recognized for several iconic juvenile products such as the Flex-Loc Infant Car Seat, Snap-N-Go and Sit N' Stand strollers. Throughout the 28-year history of Baby Trend, the company has been at the forefront of safety introducing new and innovative solutions. Baby Trend provides safe, feature rich and reliable products at affordable prices.

About the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association

The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) exists as the voice of the industry on quality and safety for products intended for babies and children. We do this by:

Advocating for safety through product certification programs and legislative and regulatory involvement;

Supporting a broad and diverse membership through member-only programming and industry promotion;

And by acting as a comprehensive source for baby product information and education.

JPMA members represent 95 percent of the prenatal to preschool products sold in North America. To find out more information about JPMA, our certification program and products certified, and for a complete listing of JPMA Members, please visit www.jpma.org. Follow JPMA on Twitter @JPMA and connect with us on Facebook to learn about additional safety tips and JPMA initiatives.

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Baby Trend Media Contact

Brittany Galvan

(310) 405-0346

brittany@marketingmavenpr.com




MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 05/03/17 -- Theratechnologies Inc. (Theratechnologies) (TSX: TH) today announced that its partner, TaiMed Biologics, Inc., has completed the submission of a Biologics License Application (BLA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for ibalizumab for the treatment of multidrug resistant Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 (MDR HIV-1). If approved, ibalizumab will be the first antiretroviral treatment (ART) with a new mechanism of action to be introduced in nearly 10 years and the only treatment that does not require daily dosing. As ibalizumab has received the Breakthrough Therapy and Orphan Drug Designations, TaiMed has requested Priority Review for the application.

The ibalizumab BLA is based on data from the phase III TMB-301 study, a single arm, 24-week study of ibalizumab plus an optimized background regimen (OBR) in treatment-experienced patients infected with MDR HIV-1. Full results from the trial were recently presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) 2017.

"The BLA submission is an important milestone for patients, physicians and everyone who has worked tirelessly to bring this much-needed medicine to people living with MDR HIV-1," said Luc Tanguay, President and Chief Executive Officer, Theratechnologies Inc. "This is a significant step toward the expansion of our product portfolio, which reinforces our mission to improve the lives of people living with HIV," added Mr. Tanguay.

As HIV multiplies in the body, the virus sometimes mutates to produce drug-resistant strains. When this occurs, HIV medicines that previously controlled a person's virus may no longer be effective, causing treatment to fail. Approximately 20,000 to 25,000 Americans with HIV-1 are currently resistant to at least one drug in three different classes of antiretroviral therapies, and up to 12,000 of these patients experience a virological failure over a period of 48 weeks of treatment, requiring their physician to modify their treatment.

"While some people can suppress their viral loads with currently-approved treatments, there is an urgent need for new options among those with multidrug resistance," said Christian Marsolais, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Theratechnologies Inc.

"We understand that some people living with HIV-1 have special needs, and we will continue to bring solutions to help them live healthier lives," concluded Mr. Tanguay.

About ibalizumab

Ibalizumab is an investigational humanized monoclonal antibody being developed for the treatment of MDR HIV-1 infection. Unlike other antiretroviral agents, ibalizumab binds primarily to the second extracellular domain of the CD4+ T cell receptor, away from major histocompatibility complex II molecule binding sites. It potentially prevents HIV from infecting CD4+ immune cells while preserving normal immunological function. Ibalizumab is active against HIV-1 resistant to all approved antiretroviral agents.

Ibalizumab has received "Breakthrough Therapy" designation from the FDA, which is given if a therapy may provide a substantial improvement over what is currently available to address a serious and life-threatening condition. The FDA also granted "Orphan Drug" designation.

About TMB-301, ibalizumab Phase III study

TMB-301 was a single arm, 24-week study of ibalizumab plus optimized background regimen (OBR) in 40 treatment-experienced patients infected with multidrug resistant HIV-1. The primary objective of the study was to demonstrate the antiviral activity of ibalizumab seven days after the first dose of ibalizumab. Patients receiving their current failing antiretroviral therapy (ART), or no therapy, were monitored during a seven-day control period. Thereafter, a single loading dose of 2,000 mg of intravenous (IV) ibalizumab was the only ART added to their regimen. The primary efficacy endpoint was the proportion of patients achieving a greater than or equal to 0.5 log10 decrease in HIV-1 RNA seven days after initiating ibalizumab therapy, day 14 of the study. Ibalizumab was continued at doses of 800 mg IV every two weeks through 24 weeks on study treatment. After completion of treatment, patients were offered participation in the expanded access study (TMB-311). Study TMB-311 is also open for U.S. patients with limited options. For more information about TMB-301 (NCT 02475629) and TMB-311 (NCT02707861), please refer to the ClinicalTrials.gov website (www.clinicaltrials.gov) or visit ibalizumab-eap.com.

About Theratechnologies

Theratechnologies (TSX: TH) is a specialty pharmaceutical company addressing unmet medical needs to promote healthy living and an improved quality of life among HIV patients. Further information about Theratechnologies is available on the Company's website at www.theratech.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information, or, collectively, forward-looking statements, within the meaning of applicable securities laws, that are based on our management's belief and assumptions and on information currently available to our management. You can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as "may", "will", "should", "could", "would", "outlook", "believe", "plan", "envisage", "anticipate", "expect" and "estimate" or the negatives of these terms, or variations of them. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to, the approval of ibalizumab for the treatment of MDR HIV-1 infected patients, the growth of Theratechnologies based on such approval and the sales of ibalizumab in the United States, the number of patients currently resistant to at least one drug in three different classes of antiretroviral therapies and the number of patients who will experience a virological failure over a period of 48 weeks of treatment.

Forward-looking statements are based upon a number of assumptions and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Theratechnologies' control that could cause actual results to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking information. These assumptions include but are not limited to, the following: the BLA submission will be accepted for review by the FDA, all data obtained from the conduct of the Phase I, II and III clinical trials will be sufficient to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of ibalizumab and no other clinical trial will need to be conducted, ibalizumab will be approved by the FDA for the treatment of MDR HIV-1 infected patients and, if approved, Theratechnologies will have set-up on time the necessary infrastructure to launch and commercialize ibalizumab in the United States. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risk that the data obtained so far from the Phase I, II and III clinical trials do not allow the FDA to approve ibalizumab, that the number of patients resistant to at least one drug in three different classes of antiretroviral therapies and the number of patients who will experience a virological failure over a period of 48 weeks of treatment be lower than disclosed herein, that additional studies need to be conducted prior to the FDA approving ibalizumab, that the FDA does not approve ibalizumab as a treatment for MDR HIV-1 infection and, if approved, that the FDA imposes a significant limitation on its use resulting in a smaller patient population who could benefit from ibalizumab.

We refer potential investors to the "Risk Factors" section of our Annual Information Form (AIF) dated February 7, 2017 for additional risks and uncertainties about Theratechnologies. The AIF is available on the Corporation's website at www.theratech.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The reader is cautioned to consider these and other risks and uncertainties carefully and not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect current expectations regarding future events and speak only as of the date of this press release and represent our expectations as of that date. We undertake no obligation to update or revise the information contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable law.

Contacts:

Philippe Dubuc

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

(514) 336-7800, ext. 297




HONG KONG, CHINA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/03/17 --Beijing Gas Blue Sky Holdings Limited ("the Company" or "Beijing Gas Blue Sky", together with its subsidiaries, the "Group") (HKSE: 6828) is pleased to announce that, Goldlink Capital Limited ("Glodlink Capital"), a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, conditionally agreed to purchase the entire issued share capital of OctoNet Limited ("OctoNet") and August Zone Limited ("August Zone") at a total Consideration of RMB360 million (equivalent to approximately HK$419 million).

OctoNet and August Zone hold 100% equity interest in Jilin Haoyuan Gas Co., Ltd. ("Jilin Haoyuan"), which in turn holds 100% equity interest in Shenzhen Lanran Technical Service Company Limited ("Shenzhen Lanran"), 99% equity interest in Jilin Haoyuan Feikaiwa Engineering Company Limited ("Haoyuan Engineering") and 90% equity interest in Songyuan City Haoyuan Gas Taxi Company Limited ("Haoyuan Taxi"), respectively. The principal business of Jilin Haoyuan is (i) supply of piped gas to residential households, commercial users and public buildings (e.g. school, restaurants, hospitals and commercial complex); and (ii) operation of two compressed natural gas refueling stations for vehicles. Jilin Haoyuan entered into a franchise operation agreement with the Public Utility Bureau authorised by the local government of Songyuan City in Jilin Province, in which Jilin Haoyuan was granted the exclusive operation rights for a term of 30 years commencing from 1 January 2004 to 1 January 2034 for the supply of natural gas via gas pipelines within the Urban Planning Area in Songyuan City.

In addition, Shenzhen Lanran has not commenced its operation. The principal businesses of Haoyuan Engineering and Haoyuan Taxi are laying and installing underground pipelines and logistics; and car rentals, decoration and repair, respectively.

Mr. Tommy Cheng, Co-Chairman and Executive Director of the Group said that "The Acquisitions shall provide an excellent opportunity for the Group to extend our geographical coverage and enlarge our market share in relation to natural gas business. The Company can become an important player in the city gas sector, which can increase the revenue streams of the Group, thus generating more investment value for investors and Shareholders. We believe that, Jilin Haoyuan shall benefit from the Chinese government's "coal-to-gas" policy, pursuant to which more commercial users and public buildings in the district are considering to switch to use gas-fired boilers in replacement of old coal-fired boilers for heating and air-conditioning purpose. In addition, it is expected that there will be further new connections to residential households by Jilin Haoyuan, in view of new real estate projects to be completed in Songyuan City and the conversion to piped gas by existing residential areas."

About Beijing Gas Blue Sky Holdings Limited

Beijing Gas Blue Sky Holdings Limited ("Beijing Gas Blue Sky", HKSE stock code: 6828) is an integrated natural gas provider, distributor and operator, with an emphasis on the midstream and downstream natural gas development. Our natural gas business includes: (i) construction and operation of compressed natural gas ("CNG") and liquefied natural gas ("LNG") refueling stations for vehicles; (ii) construction of natural gas pipelines and operation of city gas projects by providing piped gas; (iii) direct supply of LNG to end-users; and (iv) trading and distribution of CNG and LNG.

The Group has adapted to the "One Belt One Road" policy, and focus on operating and investing natural gas business. The Group is actively expanding its business development and distribution, as well as continues to gradually expanding the scale of operations. Currently, the Group has business presence in several provinces in Northeast China, East China, Central South China and Southwest China, including Liaoning Province, Shandong Province, Anhui Province, Zhejiang Province, Hubei Province, Guizhou Province, Sichuan Province and Hainan Province, etc. In the future, The Group is committed to its vision "develop clean energy, enhance customer value, create a beautiful blue sky". It will continue to actively investing and developing natural gas business, as well as participating in the development of natural gas industry value chain.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Stimulus Investor Relations Ltd.

Contact: Ms. Hill Ho / Mr. Michael Yeung

Tel: +852 3159 2944 / +852 3159 2994

Email: Email Contact / Email Contact




WASHINGTON, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Taiwan Civil Government (TCG), an educational and advocacy group, co-hosted the Politico Playbook Powerlist Reception May 3 - a look at the most powerful and influential people and groups in Trump's Washington, at the Newseum in Washington DC.

The event was part of a weeklong campaign to inform Congressional and Administration officials and thought leaders on the history and plight of the Taiwanese people - and the need for change. A delegation of over 100 Taiwanese are in Washington, holding high level meetings around the issue of self-determination for Taiwan.

The delegation is led by Mrs. Julian Lin, the wife of TCG's Founder and Leader Dr. Roger Lin. At the Powerlist event Mrs. Lin addressed the audience composed of several hundred of Washington's most powerful players. Mrs. Lin delivered moving remarks about the current situation for the people of Taiwan and highlighted the need for U.S. and world action now.

"Taiwan is one of the world's strongest economies and a strong ally of the United States. We are the 11th largest economy in the world, the fifth largest economy in Asia, and produce $285 Billion in exports annually. We are leaders in the technology, defense, and telecommunications industries with a GDP of $1.1 Trillion. However, Taiwan is not a recognized country in the world community and is not recognized by the United Nations. Even in the Olympics we march under the banner of Chinese Taipei and not Taiwan!"

On behalf of her husband, Lin said, "Without these freedoms and protections, the people of Taiwan will remain stateless, and with no internationally recognized government. We have been living in political purgatory for more than 70 years, and immediately deserve the right to a nationality of our choosing."

Mrs. Lin emphasized the need for change stating, "We are ready to work constructively with the Trump Administration, the United States Congress, and the New Guard in Washington to normalize Taiwan's status in the world. As we've seen here in the United States and elsewhere around the world, the time for change is now!"

The TCG was founded in 2008 and now has over 60,000 members and over 60 offices throughout Taiwan. To find out more about the TCG go to www.taiwancivilgovernment.com

Contact: Shelley Hymes 202-364-3438

shelley@angelenterprisesdc.com
BERLIN, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. ("JinkoSolar" or the "Company") (NYSE:JKS), a global leader in the Photovoltaic (PV) industry, today announced that as the only Chinese company, it was invited to dialogue at The Business 20 (B20) Summit held in Berlin on May 2-3, 2017.

More than 700 representatives from top companies and business associations from all G20 countries and sectors participated in the summit, striving to make the global economy more sustainable and future-oriented. The themes of this year's G20 presidency are: Building Resilience, Improving Sustainability, and Assuming Responsibility.

As the co-chair of B20 ECRE taskforce, Ms. Dany Qian, Vice President of JinkoSolar, together with Jurgen Heraeus, Chairman of B20, handed over B20 policy recommendations to the G20 president, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as part of an official ceremony of B20 Summit 2017. Ms. Dany Qian was also exclusively invited to dialogue with Chancellor in the afterwards roundtable meeting.

Ms. Dany Qian also attended the panel "Towards a Future-Oriented Sustainable Economy: Energy, Climate Change and Resource Efficiency" with IEA, BASF, Enel and Continental. The B20 is convinced that a future-oriented, sustainable, and competitive world economy can only be guaranteed if businesses keep finding innovative solutions to curtail climate change, foster the energy transition, and decrease resource intensity. The G20 can achieve this by implementing the Paris Agreement, accelerating the market readiness and deployment of low-carbon technologies, and by establishing a Resource Efficiency Platform.

Concerning how business can best contribute to the implementation of the Paris Agreement, Vice president of JinkoSolar, Ms. Dany Qian emphasized: "Government laid out the essential goals in Paris Agreement, but promise must be followed by action. The implementation of the agreement relies largely on the involvement and engagement of business community. The private sector plays a much bigger and even more important role in the success of the Paris agreement. Starting from their own expertise and experience, companies can, for example, steer their capital towards direct investment in clean energy projects and low carbon, energy efficient technology and businesses, the purchaseand increased use of renewable energy and becoming carbon neutral. A few major companies are striving to run entirely on renewable energy. They are doing so by reporting emissions and disclosing climate change relevant data and information, adapting their business model and supply chain to seize this energy transition opportunity and create new jobs, internally pricing carbon, complying and aligning with government climate and energy policy, supporting the development of low carbon technology and science and of course taking a responsible approach to lobbying on climate action. "

As the world's largest solar company, JinkoSolar will need to assume leadership in the transition to a future oriented sustainable economy by further driving down the cost of solar power to make it more economically viable to switch to renewable energy and more feasible to implement the Paris Agreement.
COPENHAGEN, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The next generation of fashion leaders from around the globe will gather for this year's Copenhagen Fashion Summit, where young talents will draft and negotiate the first-ever United Nations resolution on fashion.

In the days prior to the world's leading event on sustainable fashion, Copenhagen Fashion Summit, students from around the world will gather in the Danish capital for the fourth edition of Youth Fashion Summit taking place on 9-10 May 2017. Young industry talents will engage in discussions about the challenged industry they will soon inherit and about how to address the major problems of fashion manufacturing and consumption.

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/507705/Copenhagen_Fashion_Summit.jpg )



Drafting the first-ever UN resolution on fashion

At last year's Youth Fashion Summit, the students explored how the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent opportunities for companies to align their sustainability goals with broader societal aims: from gender equality and poverty reduction to responsible consumption and climate action. This year, the same students have been invited back to transform their ideas and demands for corporate action on the SDGs into a proposed UN draft resolution - the first-ever concerning fashion.

The resolution will be negotiated with industry leaders such as H&M and Swarovski, and NGOs such as Greenpeace on 10 May 2017 before being presented on stage at Copenhagen Fashion Summit on 11 May. Later this year, the resolution will be presented to the UN in New York.

Leading fashion industry players supporting the youth

The Youth Fashion Summit is a collaboration between Global Fashion Agenda and Copenhagen School of Design and Technology (KEA) in partnership with Swarovski. As one of the principal sponsors of the Copenhagen Fashion Summit 2017, Swarovski will open the Youth Fashion Summit with Dax Lovegrove, Global Vice President of Corporate Sustainability and Social Responsibility, providing a key note speech; and fashion and sustainability experts from Swarovski will assist the students in drafting their resolutions to be presented to the UN.

Nadja Swarovski, Member of the Swarovski Executive Board, says:

"This year we are truly proud to support the Youth Fashion Summit, to empower the voice of future generations, who will continue to lead this fight for a sustainable fashion industry in the years to come."

Also fighting for a sustainable fashion industry are renowned fashion industry names like Susie Lau (also known as Susie Bubble), who is the Youth Fashion Summit ambassador, and Simon Collins, the former dean of the School of Fashion at Parsons School of Design, who will give inspirational talks at the Youth Fashion Summit.

Educators and academic leaders also gather

Not only students but also educators and fashion education leaders will meet prior to Copenhagen Fashion Summit for their respective events, Educators Summit and Academic Leaders Roundtable.

While the Educators Summit is a platform for teachers to exchange ideas and experiences on how to effectively teach sustainability and to build a strong international network around it, the Academic Leaders Roundtable convenes the most influential decision-makers from across fashion education, industry and non-governmentalorganisationsfor an intimate discussion informing the development of sustainability in global fashion.

Both events, which will take place on 10 May 2017, are being held in partnership with the Centre for Sustainable Fashion.



Pressaccreditation-lastchancetoapply

Applyhere:https://www.copenhagenfashionsummit.com/press/ nolaterthan5May.

Pleasenotethatthepressconferencewillbeon10May2017at2:30pm.



Practicalinformation

CopenhagenFashionSummit

Date:11May2017

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Copenhagen Fashion Summit is the flagship event of the non-profit, year-round initiative Global Fashion Agenda under Danish Fashion Institute, whose mission is to mobilise the industry to transform the way we produce and consume fashion. To help set a common global agenda for the industry and spearhead this transition, Global Fashion Agenda has partnered with Kering, H&M, Target, Sustainable Apparel Coalition and Li & Fung as founding members.
TEL AVIV, Israel, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Delek Group (TASE: DLEKG, US ADR: DGRLY) (the "Company") announces that pursuant to what was stated in section 1.7.21 (b) of the Company's Periodic Report for 2016 that was published on March 30, 2017 (ref. no. 2017-01-033078) ("the Periodic Report") and to the Company's Immediate Report dated April 21, 2017 (ref. no. 2017-01-041511) concerning the offer to acquire the entire common stock of Ithaca Energy Inc. (the "Offer" and "Ithaca", respectively), the Company announces that on May 3, 2017 the mandatory extension period of the offer has expired.

Following payment of the consideration for the shares deposited during the extension period, the Company will hold (through DKL Investments Limited, a foreign wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company) 94.2% of Ithaca's issued common stock.

Asaf Bartfeld, President & CEO, Delek Group: "Delek Group is implementing the strategy it set itself and today has become an international energy group. Ithaca's enormous potential and its operational capabilities in drilling, particularly in deep waters, enhance Delek Group's capabilities and firmly establishes the Group's operational arm. We will continue to work with Ithaca's highly professional management team, which has led it to success with its oil and gas assets."

For the Ithaca announcement, see Ithaca's website: http://www.ithacaenergy.com.

This is a convenience translation of the original HEBREW immediate report issued to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange by the Company on May 04, 2017.

About The Delek Group

The Delek Group, Israel's leading integrated energy company, is the pioneering leader of the natural gas exploration and production activities that are transforming the Eastern Mediterranean's Levant Basin into one of the energy industry's most promising emerging regions. Having discovered Tamar and Leviathan, two of the world's largest natural gas finds since 2000, Delek and its partners are now developing a balanced, world-class portfolio of exploration, development and production assets with total gross natural gas resources discovered since 2009 of approximately 40 TCF.

In addition, Delek Group has a number of assets in downstream energy, water desalination, and in the finance sector.

For more information on Delek Group please visit http://www.delek-group.com



Contact

Investors

Dina Vince

Head of Investor Relations

Delek Group Ltd.

Tel: +972-9-863-8444

investor@delek-group.com

Media

Nilly Richman

Head of Communications

Delek Group Ltd.

Tel: +972-9-863-8444

media@delek-group.com


MADRID (dpa-AFX) - Spain' services activity expanded at a faster pace in April, survey data from IHS Markit showed Thursday. The headline services Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 57.8 in April from 57.4 in the prior month. Activity has expanded continuously since November 2013, with the latest increase supported by improving economic conditions. Survey data pointed to sharp monthly rises in activity and new business in the Spanish service sector. Higher workloads encouraged firms to expand their operating capacity, and to this end employment increased to the greatest extent in nine months. Cost pressures continued to build and output prices were again raised at one of the fastest rates in the past decade. IHS Markit has recently upped its GDP forecast for 2017 to 2.5 percent and these latest PMI numbers support the more optimistic outlook, Andrew Harker, a senior economist at IHS Markit, said. 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.
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - At 3:45 am ET Wednesday, Markit Economics is due to release its services PMI figures for Italy. PMI reports for France and Germany are due at 3:50 am ET and 3:55 am ET, respectively. The manufacturing PMI for the Eurozone is due 4 :00 am ET. Ahead of these reports, the euro rose against the other major currencies. As of 3:40 am ET, the euro was trading at 0.8468 against the pound, 1.0837 against the Swiss franc, 1.0895 against the U.S. dollar and 122.92 against the yen. 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.
Company code: 2888 No: 1 Subject: SKFH announces the date and venue for Q1 2017 investor conference To which item it meets--article 4 paragraph xx: 12 Date of events: 2017/05/04 Contents: 1. Date of the investor conference: 2017/05/18 2. Time of the investor conference: 14:00 p.m. 3. Location of the investor conference: The Chinese and the English conferences will both be conducted through teleconference and live webcast simultaneously. Webcast website: http://www.skfh.com.tw/ir/ 4.Brief information disclosed in the investor conference: To discuss financial and business performance in the first quarter of 2017 for SKFH & its subsidiaries. Chinese conference: 14:00 - 15:30 p.m. English conference: 16:30 - 17:30 p.m. 5.The presentation of the investor conference release: The presentation materials will be uploaded on the website of Market Observation Post System after the investor conference. 6.Will the presentation be released in the Company's website: Yes, the Company's website: http://www.skfh.com.tw/ir/ 7.Any other matters that need to be specified: None

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, May 04, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Cold Chain Market 2017-2021" report to their offering.

The global cold chain market to grow at a CAGR of 12.41% during the period 2017-2021.

The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global cold chain market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report presents the vendor landscape and a corresponding detailed profiling of the key market participants across the value chain of global cold chain market. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.



One trend in market is provision for end-to-end integrated services. Several cold chain service providers have recently started to offer end-to-end integrated services to end-users in the global refrigerated warehousing market. They are providing cold chain management services to customers and participating in their decision-making processes.

Many service providers offer end-to-end cold chain management services like inventory management, order scheduling, order forecasting, warehousing, and delivery management. Disaster recovery services that enable customers to track consignments and help them communicate with the entire supply chain are also offered by vendors. In addition, some vendors provide training sessions for all the personnel involved in the cold chain logistics. Thus, the increase in the provision of end-to-end integrated services by vendors is another trend that is expected to have an impact on the global cold chain market during the forecast period.

According to the report, one driver in market is rise in trade of frozen food and sea food products. The demand for seafood continues to increase globally, and the significant population growth in China, India, and Brazil constitutes an important demand driver in the frozen fish and seafood industry. Increased demand for seafood has led to a rise in its imports and exports among countries, which require cold storage and transportation. China and Norway were the largest exporters of seafood in 2015.

China's exports amounted to $20 billion and Norway exported $10 billion worth of seafood products. While China exported to almost all countries, Norway's exports were mostly to European nations. Fresh salmon constituted most Norway's fish and seafood exports. We estimate that China's exports will grow at a CAGR of 15.68% over the forecast period. The European Union (EU) was the largest importer of seafood, importing worth $26 billion. In seafood imports, the EU was followed by the US and Japan, in which the US imported products worth $19 billion in 2015.

Further, the report states that one challenge in market is high cost of diesel and fuel maintenance. Use of diesel fuel is harmful to the environment as it releases black soot that contaminates the air particles and the surroundings. The cost of diesel fuel is also a major concern for refrigerated truck manufacturers. On an average, diesel power refrigeration unit consumes about 3.5 to 4.5 liters of diesel, per hour, costing approximately $1.00 -$1.50 per liter.



Key vendors



AmeriCold Logistics

Lineage Logistics

Preferred Freezer Services

Swift Transportation

John Swire & Sons

Other prominent vendors



A.B. Oxford

Nichirei Logistics Group

Kloosterboer

VersaCold Logistics Services

Partner Logistics

Nordic Logistics and Warehousing

Cloverleaf Cold Storage

Conestoga Cold Storage

Congebec

Burris Logistics

Snowman Logistics

Hanson Logistics

Henningsen Cold Storage

Interstate Cold Storage

Trenton Cold Storage

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: Market segmentation by type



Part 07: Market segmentation by application



Part 08: Geographical segmentation



Part 09: Buying criteria



Part 10: Decision framework



Part 11: Drivers and challenges



Part 12: Market trends



Part 13: Vendor landscape



Part 14: Appendix

For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/sntsfw/global_cold_chain

Media Contact:

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



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Leading institutions around the world upgrade to new generation "Elements"

Brainlab, a leader in radiosurgery innovation for more than twenty years, has begun to successfully transition institutions in its considerable global install base to its latest planning software, known as Brainlab Elements. These subscription-based, indication-specific software applications add a higher degree of automation and delivery efficiency to planning.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170504005608/en/

Leading institutions around the world upgrade to new radiosurgery software Brainlab Elements (Graphic: Business Wire)

"The customers that use our radiosurgery planning software already have a desire to remain leaders in the field, both clinically and technically," commented Stefan Vilsmeier, Brainlab President and CEO. "Upgrading to Elements is the logical next step in staying at the forefront of technological innovation in SRS treatment planning."

While each Elements application has the common goals of quick planning, sparing organs at risk and creating highly conformal doses, each is specifically targeted to the unique needs of its respective area. Cranial SRS optimizes planning with an integrated 4p algorithm for patient-tailored treatments. Multiple Brain Mets SRS enables the simultaneous delivery of single-session treatments for multiple metastases. Spine SRS is fully focused on important dose falloff along specific vertebrae for enhanced spinal cord sparing. All workflows are complemented by indication-specific segmentation, fusion and outlining tools.

First installations of Elements have taken place at seven hospitals in Germany, Switzerland, Italy and France, with dozens more scheduled in the coming weeks. Leading hospitals in the US have also followed suit and the first installation in Latin America, the Institute of Radiotherapy Marie Curie Foundation in Cordoba, Argentina, has already begun treating patients. With Elements at a number of these institutions having gone into clinical use, patients are already benefitting from the upgrade to this new generation of software applications.

"Elements Multiple Brain Mets SRS has come to us at exactly the right time in which we are distancing ourselves more and more from whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT), given the negative side effects on neurocognitive function. Recently, we were able to treat a patient with 14 brain metastases in about 20 minutes with a plan created with the software," commented Prof. Cordula Petersen, UKE Hamburg. "We are very pleased to offer the option of treating patients with multiple brain metastases with Elements software and potentially improving their quality of life."

To learn more about Brainlab Elements, visit Brainlab booth #2800 at ESTRO 2017 in Vienna or online at https://www.brainlab.com/en/radiosurgery-products/.

About Brainlab

Brainlab develops, manufactures and markets software-driven medical technology, enabling access to advanced, less invasive patient treatments.

Brainlab technology powers treatments in radiosurgery as well as numerous surgical fields including neurosurgery, orthopedic, ENT, CMF, spine and trauma. Founded in Munich in 1989, Brainlab has over 11,700 systems installed in over 100 countries.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170504005608/en/

Contacts:

Brainlab

Anna Bliss, +49 151 150 65 164

Marketing Associate

anna.bliss@brainlab.com
FORM 8.3

PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY

A PERSON WITH INTERESTS IN RELEVANT SECURITIES REPRESENTING 1% OR MORE

Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code (the "Code")

1. KEY INFORMATION

(a) Full name of discloser: Norges Bank (b) Owner or controller of interests and short positions disclosed, if different from 1(a):

The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient. For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries must be named. N/A (c) Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates:

Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree Tesco PLC (d) If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree, state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree: N/A (e) Date position held/dealing undertaken:

For an opening position disclosure, state the latest practicable date prior to the disclosure Dealing Disclosure 03/05/2017 (f) In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the discloser making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer?

If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state "N/A" Yes

Booker Group Plc

2. POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security.

(a) Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any)

Class of relevant security: 5p ordinary Interests Short positions Number % Number % (1) Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: 429,068,949 5.25 (2) Cash-settled derivatives: (3) Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell:

TOTAL: 429,068,949 5.25

All interests and all short positions should be disclosed.

Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should be given on a Supplemental Form8 (Open Positions).

(b) Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors' and other employee options)

Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription right exists: Details, including nature of the rights concerned and relevant percentages:

3. DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 3(a), (b), (c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security dealt in.

The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated.

(a) Purchases and sales

Class of relevant security Purchase/sale Number of securities Price per unit 5p ordinary Purchase 422,800 GBP 1.7763

(b) Cash-settled derivative transactions

Class of relevant security Product description

e.g. CFD Nature of dealing

e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing a long/short position Number of reference securities Price per unit

(c) Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options)

(i) Writing, selling, purchasing or varying

Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Writing, purchasing, selling, varying etc. Number of securities to which option relates Exercise price per unit Type

e.g. American, European etc. Expiry date Option money paid/ received per unit

(ii) Exercise

Class of relevant security Product description

e.g. call option Exercising/ exercised against Number of securities Exercise price per unit

(d) Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities)

Class of relevant security Nature of dealing

e.g. subscription, conversion Details Price per unit (if applicable)

4. OTHER INFORMATION

(a) Indemnity and other dealing arrangements

Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or any agreement or understanding, formal or informal, relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the person making the disclosure and any party to the offer or any person acting in concert with a party to the offer:

Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should not be included. If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none"



(b) Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to options or derivatives

Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding, formal or informal, between the person making the disclosure and any other person relating to:

(i) the voting rights of any relevant securities under any option; or

(ii) the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal of any relevant securities to which any derivative is referenced:

If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none"



(c) Attachments

Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? NO

Date of disclosure: 04/05/2017 Contact name: Philippe Chiaroni Telephone number: +4724073297

Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory Information Service and must also be emailed to the Takeover Panel at monitoring@disclosure.org.uk. The Panel's Market Surveillance Unit is available for consultation in relation to the Code's disclosure requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129.

The Code can be viewed on the Panel's website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk.
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - At 5:00 am ET Thursday, Eurostat is scheduled to release euro area retail sales figures for March. Economists forecast retail sales to remain flat in March after rising 0.7 percent in February. Ahead of the data, the euro rose further against its major rivals. As of 4:55 am ET, the euro was trading at 0.8471 against the pound, 1.0841 against the Swiss franc, 1.0919 against the U.S. dollar and 123.19 against the yen. 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.
TORONTO, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Richmont Mines Inc. (TSX: RIC)(NYSE: RIC) ("Richmont" or the "Corporation") announces operating and financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2017, driven by solid results from the Island Gold Mine. The Corporation will host a conference call and webcast on Thursday, May 4, 2017, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time (details below.)(All amounts are in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise indicated.)

First Quarter Highlights

Company-wide production of 29,401 ounces of gold (28,528 ounces sold), primarily driven by solid production from the Island Gold Mine of 23,772 ounces of gold (22,649 ounces sold).

Company-wide cash costs [ 1 ] of $791 (US$598) per ounce, positively impacted by low cash costs of $668 (US$504) per ounce from the Island Gold Mine.

of per ounce, positively impacted by low cash costs of per ounce from the Island Gold Mine. Company-wide All-In-Sustaining-Costs [ 1 ] ("AISC") of $1,124 (US$849) per ounce, positively impacted by low AISC of $848 (US$640) per ounce from the Island Gold Mine.

("AISC") of per ounce, positively impacted by low AISC of per ounce from the Island Gold Mine. Richmont reported first quarter revenues of $46.5 (US$35.1) million .

. Earnings of $5.5 (US$4.1) million , or $0.09 (US$0.07) per share.

, or per share. Operating cash flow [ 1 ] (before non-cash changes in working capital) was $16.4 (US$12.4) million , or $0.26 (US$0.20) per share.

(before non-cash changes in working capital) was , or per share. Richmont maintained a strong cash balance of $75.2 (US$56.5) million , in line with the prior quarter; working capital increased to $66.3 (US$49.7) million .

, in line with the prior quarter; working capital increased to . Effective March 15, 2017 , Richmont appointed Mr. Robert J. Chausse as Chief Financial Officer, further strengthening the senior management team.

"We started the year with a solid quarter reported from both assets, particularly at our cornerstone Island Gold Mine. The ongoing transformation of the Island Gold Mine continues to advance and we remain on schedule to release our Expansion Case Preliminary Economic Assessment ("Expansion Case PEA") in the second quarter, which will support our overall objective of positioning the Island Gold Mine as one of the lowest cost underground gold producers in the Americas," stated Renaud Adams, CEO. He continued, "Our focus remains on creating sustainable shareholder value through enhancing operational and cost efficiencies throughout the organization while maintaining our disciplined approach to capital allocation. Over the balance of the year, we will continue to focus on positioning the Island Gold Mine for long-term success that drives shareholder value creation, which is supported by a solid balance sheet and a disciplined management team."

[1] Non-IFRS performance measure. Refer to the Non-IFRS Performance Measures section contained in the Q1 2017 Management's Discussion and Analysis.

Financial Highlights

Quarter ended Quarter ended (in thousands of $, except per share amounts) March 31, 2017 March 31, 2016 Revenue from mining operations 46,462 52,634 Net earnings per share, basic 0.09 0.15 Operating cash flow, per share[1] 0.20 0.30 Operating cash flow (before non-cash changes in working capital), per share[1] 0.26 0.36 Net free cash flow, per share[1] 0.01 0.02 Revenue from mining operations (US$) 35,097 38,329 Net earnings per share, basic (US$) 0.07 0.11 Operating cash flow, per share[1] (US$) 0.15 0.22 Operating cash flow (before non-cash changes in working capital), per share[1](US$) 0.20 0.26 Net free cash flow, per share[1](US$) 0.01 0.01 [1] Non-IFRS performance measure. Refer to the Non-IFRS performance measures section contained in the Q1 2017 Management's Discussion and Analysis.

Operational Highlights

Quarter ended Quarter ended March 31, 2017 March 31, 2016 Gold produced (oz) 29,401 32,369 Gold sold (oz) 28,528 32,239 Average cash costs per ounce ($)[1] 791 800 Average AISC per ounce ($)[1] 1,124 1,094 Average realized gold price per ounce ($) 1,624 1,629 Average cash costs per ounce (US$)[1] 598 583 Average AISC per ounce (US$)[1] 849 797 Average realized gold price per ounce (US$) 1,227 1,186 [1] Non-IFRS performance measure. Refer to the Non-IFRS performance measures section contained in the Q1 2017 Management's Discussion and Analysis.

Island Gold Mine Highlights

Quarter ended Quarter ended Island Gold MINE March 31, 2017 March 31, 2016 Gold produced (oz) 23,772 26,589 Gold sold (oz) 22,649 26,031 Cash costs per ounce ($)[1] 668 667 AISC per ounce ($)[1] 848 848 Realized gold price per ounce ($) 1,624 1,628 Cash costs per ounce (US$)[1] 504 486 AISC per ounce (US$)[1] 640 618 Realized gold price per ounce (US$) 1,227 1,186 Underground tpd 1,019 853 Mill tonnes 83,365 75,906 Mill tpd 926 834 Head grade (g/t gold) 9.18 11.31 Recoveries (%) 96.7 96.3 Sustaining costs ($000's) 4,072 4,713 Project costs ($000's) 5,929 6,987 Non-sustaining exploration ($000's) 3,762 3,770 Sustaining costs (US$000's) 3,076 3,432 Project costs (US$000's) 4,479 5,088 Non-sustaining exploration (US$000's) 2,842 2,745 [1] Non-IFRS performance measure. Refer to the Non-IFRS performance measures section contained in the Q1 2017 Management's Discussion and Analysis.

Island Gold Mine Highlights

Production for the quarter was 23,772 ounces of gold (22,649 ounces sold). The mine is now well positioned to achieve the high-end of production guidance for the year of 87,000-93,000 ounces.

Cash costs for the quarter were $668 (US$504) per ounce, below guidance for the year. The operating unit costs for the quarter were $181 (US$137) per tonne milled, in line with the 2017 mine plan.

per ounce, below guidance for the year. The operating unit costs for the quarter were per tonne milled, in line with the 2017 mine plan. AISC for the quarter were $848 (US$640) per ounce, below guidance for the year.

per ounce, below guidance for the year. For the quarter, expansion capital was $5.9 (US$4.5) million and exploration expense was $3.8 (US$2.8) million .

and exploration expense was . Mill head grade for the quarter was 9.18 g/t gold, representing an in line grade reconciliation (mined vs. December 31, 2016 Mineral Reserves) for the quarter. The 2017 mine plan continues to forecast an average mill head grade for the year of approximately 8.90 g/t gold.

Mineral Reserves) for the quarter. The 2017 mine plan continues to forecast an average mill head grade for the year of approximately 8.90 g/t gold. Underground mining and milling productivities for the quarter, averaged a record 1,019 and 926 tonnes per day, respectively, with lower-grade underground ore stockpiled for future processing, resulting in an improved overall mill head grade for the quarter.

During the quarter, long-hole stope mining continued in the first and second mining horizons and development in ore was advanced as planned in the higher-grade third mining horizon. Stoping in the third mining horizon is expected to begin in the fourth quarter.

The development of the main ramp reached a vertical depth of 860 metres at the end of the quarter, which is in line with the 2017 development plan and as contemplated in the upcoming Expansion Case PEA.

Mineral Reserves (as at December 31, 2016 ) at the Island Gold Mine increased by 34% (net of depletion) to 752,200 ounces of gold, at an increased grade of 9.17 g/t gold. Inferred Resources increased by 30% to 995,700 ounces of gold at an increased grade of 10.18 g/t, and at an average discovery cost of less than $35 (US$26) per ounce. ( see press release dated January 31, 2017 and the technical report titled "Technical Report on the Mineral Reserve and Resource Estimate as of December 31, 2016 for the Island Gold Mine" dated March 17, 2017 ).

) at the Island Gold Mine increased by 34% (net of depletion) to 752,200 ounces of gold, at an increased grade of 9.17 g/t gold. Inferred Resources increased by 30% to 995,700 ounces of gold at an increased grade of 10.18 g/t, and at an average discovery cost of less than per ounce. ( ). New high-grade mineralization located, approximately 800 metres east of the main Island Gold deposit, was identified by recent exploration drilling. Hole GD-640-05 intersected 20.6 g/t gold over 11.3 metres (core length), demonstrating significant potential for near-term and continued resource growth. Additionally, early results from delineation drilling completed within the Expansion Case PEA area, indicates the significant potential to further expand our reserves at higher than current average grades. ( see press release dated March 30, 2017 ).

). Expansion Case PEA : The Corporation is well advanced to release the results of the Expansion Case PEA during the second quarter, as previously disclosed. The study considers the most cost and capital effective strategy to mine the portion of the mineral resources that is located within the main area of interest over four mining horizons, to a maximum depth of 1,000 metres below surface, using the current mine infrastructure. The Corporation remains focused on transforming the high-grade Island Gold Mine into one of the lowest cost underground gold producers in the Americas. Recent achievements include: The integration of the December 31, 2016 Mineral Reserves and Resources into the 1,100 tonnes per day mine plan has been completed. The required permit amendments that allow for an ore mining and processing increase to 1,100 tonnes per day were received in December. Accelerated development of the underground ramp system has advanced as planned. Engineering and identification of the main equipment required for the mill expansion is well underway and expected capital requirements for the expanded milling capacity remains below the $15.0 million , as previously disclosed. The 2017 mine plan and the Expansion Case PEA are focused on optimizing cash flow generation that would fully fund current and future production as well as all strategic exploration programs.

The Corporation is well advanced to release the results of the Expansion Case PEA during the second quarter, as previously disclosed. The study considers the most cost and capital effective strategy to mine the portion of the mineral resources that is located within the main area of interest over four mining horizons, to a maximum depth of 1,000 metres below surface, using the current mine infrastructure. The Corporation remains focused on transforming the high-grade Island Gold Mine into one of the lowest cost underground gold producers in the Americas. Recent achievements include:

Beaufor Mine Highlights

Quarter ended Quarter ended Beaufor MINE March 31, 2017 March 31, 2016 Gold produced (oz) 5,629 4,615 Gold sold (oz) 5,879 5,037 Cash costs per ounce ($)[1] 1,265 1,396 AISC per ounce ($)[1] 1,580 1,728 Realized gold price per ounce ($) 1,625 1,648 Cash costs per ounce (US$)[1] 956 1,017 AISC per ounce (US$)[1] 1,194 1,259 Realized gold price per ounce (US$) 1,228 1,200 Underground tpd 354 323 Mill tonnes 30,009 29,318 Head grade (g/t gold) 6.00 4.96 Recoveries (%) 97.2 98.7 Sustaining costs ($000's) 1,854 1,674 Non-sustaining exploration costs ($000's) 140 - Sustaining costs (US$000's) 1,401 1,219 Non-sustaining exploration costs (US$000's) 106 - [1] Non-IFRS performance measure. Refer to the Non-IFRS performance measures section contained in the Q1 2017 Management's Discussion and Analysis.

Beaufor Mine Highlights

Production for the quarter was 5,629 ounces of gold (5,879 ounces sold), in line with previously disclosed plans to ramp-up production and achieve increased production in the second half of the year.

Cash costs of $1,265 (US$956) per ounce achieved during the quarter, in line with 2017 plans to return the mine to free cash flow generation status in the first half of the year.

per ounce achieved during the quarter, in line with 2017 plans to return the mine to free cash flow generation status in the first half of the year. AISC for the quarter were $1,580 (US$1,194) per ounce.

per ounce. Exploration expense was $0.3 (US$0.2) million for the quarter.

for the quarter. Underground productivity increased to 354 tonnes per day (403 tonnes per day in March). During the quarter, the majority of the mining activities were transitioned into the new Q Zone and additional haulage and mucking mobile equipment were commissioned. Underground productivity and operating costs are expected to continue to improve over the balance of the year.

The Corporation is also considering other strategic alternatives regarding the Beaufor Mine and Camflo Mill.

Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders

Richmont's annual and special meeting of shareholders will be held on Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 10:30 a.m. E.T. at the St. Andrew's Club & Conference Centre (27th Floor, Caledonia Room) at 150 King Street West in Toronto.

Upcoming News

Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders ( May 4 )

) Expansion Case PEA Results (Q2 2017)

Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis

The financial statements and related Management's Discussion and Analysis can be found on the Corporation's website athttp://www.richmont-mines.comor under the Corporation's profile onhttp://www.sedar.comand with the Securities and Exchange Commission athttp://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.

2017 First Quarter Results Webcast and Conference Call

Senior management will discuss the first quarter financial results in a webcast and conference call to be held on Thursday, May 4, 2017 starting at 8:30 a.m. E.T.

Webcast access:

http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=1405031&s=1&k=2945B7DDFBDA291E4DB85CDEFA27826D

Telephone access:

Toll free ( Canada & U.S.): 1-888-390-0546

& U.S.): 1-888-390-0546 Toronto local & International: 1-416-764-8688

A replay will be available until May 18, 2017 by dialing 1-416-764-8677 (Toronto local and international) or 1-888-390-0541 (toll free in Canada and U.S.), using pass code 134044#. The webcast and presentation slides will be archived on the Corporation's website athttp://www.richmont-mines.com.

About Richmont Mines Inc.

Richmont Mines currently produces gold from the Island Gold Mine in Ontario, and the Beaufor Mine in Quebec. The Corporation is also advancing development of the significant high-grade resource extension at depth of the Island Gold Mine in Ontario. With 35 years of experience in gold production, exploration and development, and prudent financial management, the Corporation is well-positioned to cost-effectively build its Canadian reserve base and to successfully enter its next phase of growth.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements that include risks and uncertainties. When used in this news release, the words "estimate", "project", "anticipate", "expect", "intend", "believe", "hope", "may", "objective" and similar expressions, as well as "will", "shall" and other indications of future tense, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and apply only as of the date on which they were made. Except as may be required by law or regulation, the Corporation undertakes no obligation and disclaims any responsibility to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

The factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements include changes in the prevailing price of gold, the Canadian-United States exchange rate, grade of ore mined and unforeseen difficulties in mining operations that could affect revenue and production costs. Other factors such as uncertainties regarding government regulations could also affect the results. Other risks may be set out in Richmont Mines' Annual Information Form, Annual Reports and periodic reports. The forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date of this news release.

Cautionary note to US investors concerning resource estimates

Information in this press release is intended to comply with the requirements of the Toronto Stock Exchange and applicable Canadian securities legislation, which differ in certain respects with the rules and regulations promulgated under the United States Securities Exchange Act of1934, as amended ("Exchange Act"), as promulgated by the SEC. The requirements of National Instrument43-101 -Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects("NI 43-101") adopted by the Canadian Securities Administrators differ significantly from the requirements of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC").

U.S. Investors are urged to consider the disclosure in our annual report on Form 40-F, File No. 001-14598, as filed with the SEC under the Exchange Act, which may be obtained from us (without cost) or from the SEC's web site:http://sec.gov/edgar.shtml.

National Instrument 43-101

The scientific or technical information in this news release has been reviewed by Mr. Daniel Adam, Geo., Ph.D., Vice-President, Exploration, an employee of Richmont Mines Inc., and a qualified person as defined by NI43-101.



Contact:

Renaud Adams

President and CEO

Phone: 416-368-0291 ext. 101

Anne Day

Senior Vice-President, Investor Relations

Phone: 416-368-0291 ext. 105
BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. shares rose on Thursday as growing optimism on the U.S. economy and polls predicting a 60/40 victory in favor of French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron helped offset mixed corporate earnings results. There is some respite on the data front as survey data from IHS Markit and Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply showed that the U.K. service sector activity growth accelerated unexpectedly in April. The headline PMI rose to 55.8 from 55.0 in March. The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 26 points or 0.37 percent at 7,261 in late opening deals after declining 0.2 percent on Wednesday. HSBC Holdings rallied 4 percent as the bank reported a surprise increase in first-quarter revenue, driven by loan growth in Asia and a jump in trading income. Shares of Imagination Technologies added 2 percent. The graphics chip designer said it has started a 'dispute resolution procedure' with tech giant Apple over issues relating to intellectual property. Royal Dutch Shell also rallied 2 percent after its first-quarter net profit more than doubled, helped by rising oil prices. Glencore fell more than 2 percent on reporting a 3 percent decline in first-quarter copper production from its own sources. Satellite operator Inmarsat lost 3 percent after it swung to a loss in the first quarter. Rolls Royce Holdings dropped over 1 percent as the Financial Reporting Council launched an investigation into KPMG relating to its audit work on the company's financial statements for the years 2011 to 2013. Next Plc shares fell as much as 5 percent after the retail giant cut the top end of its profit guidance following a disappointing first quarter. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
DENVER, CO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/04/17 -- Ubiquitech Software Corp. (OTC PINK: UBQU), CEO and the management of (UBQU) and Hemplife Today want all shareholders, and the general public, to have an update and overview on the exciting progress to date in 2017. The company also includes goals for the remainder of the year.

CEO James Ballas said, "This is our opportunity to update our shareholders on all of the important aspects of the Company that keeps us growing and profitable. It also keeps the shareholders aware of many of our plans for the rest of the year."

Name change: The Company is 100% committed to the new name and symbol change that will help to better position the Company in the emerging Nutraceutical space. We are entering the final phase of this process and anxiously await the positive impact that we believe this name change will provide to the business and to shareholders.

New Website: The Company has commissioned an internationally known Web Design Company to do a complete makeover of the HempLifeToday.com Website, and progress on the new Website began last month. The new Website will have expanded pages on important topics and will have a completely fresh and improved look and design. In addition, there will be a new HempLifeToday logo as well as a detailed "Investors" page. The Company expects to unveil the new Website in June.

CBD Oil Sourcing, third party testing and expansion: The Company, through its grow operations, continues to utilize only purpose grown USA Hemp for all of its CannazALL products, and all Hemp used in CannazALL products is grown under a state agriculture program that is 2014 Farm Bill compliant, section 7606.

In addition, the Company utilizes third party testing for potency, purity, and consistency, and expanded its available growing capabilities in order to meet demand now, and in the future.

Products: The Company and its customers are very pleased with the quality and consistency of the CannazALL CBD products derived from Hemp currently offered, and all CannazALL products utilize the NanoTech Infusion Process where up to 200% more Terpenes and plant Sterols are infused into the products. These products are; 250mg and 500mg Peppermint Tinctures, 300mg and 800mg Concentrated Oils, 25mg CBD GelCaps, CBD Skin Salve, Vape Oil, as well as two products still being refined; CBD Powder and Dab. The company will continue to spend on research and development to insure continued new and innovative products for our customers.

Pricing: The Company lowered its pricing three times in the last two years and the current pricing will remain. However, there are many ways that customers can save and this brings CannazALL products to a most competitive level for the quality USA grown products featured. Currently, the Company offers three ways that customers can save. They are:

Rebates: Where customers receive a $25 rebate for every $250 spent. Customers can access their Rebate by simply logging on to HLTRebates.com

Referrals: Where customers earn free CannazALL CBD products by referring others. Customers can access their Rebate by simply logging on to HLTReferrals.com

Discount Codes: Where customers can receive regular weekly discounts of 10% - 30%

Rapid Ship Processing: The Company instituted its rapid Ship Processing System in January which sees orders shipped within 24 hours via USPS Priority Mail.

24 hour Interactive Customer Support line: The Company developed a state-of-the-art 24 hour Customer Support line that allows customers access to information on CBD, CannazALL products, pricing, dosing and more, as well as the ability to speak to a live CBD specialist who can answer questions and take an order.

Social Media: The Company has expanded its Social Media presence including, Facebook, twitter and Instagram, and this aspect of the Company is growing monthly.

Customer base: The Company added to both its active customer base and subscriber list, with over 45,000 customers combined. This growth exceeded Company projections by over 20%.

Free-Trial offer: The Company instituted a very successful Free-Trial offer of its CannazALL CBD GelCaps in the month of April, and requests for this free offer were overwhelming with over 6,000 requests made within the first 72 hours. The traffic to the HempLifeToday.com Website was so heavy that the Site experienced three major crashes in this period and the Company was forced to make an early move to a new and larger server that could handle the massive traffic. Because of this overwhelming response the Company is currently building out a platform to make this free offer a permanent part of its marketing plan and this platform will be completed by the week of May 8th. Initial goals are to giveaway 1,000 free trial packs of six (6) CBD GelCaps per week, and the Company expects this to grow to 5,000 per week within the next 90 days. The Company shows a 25% purchase rate based on the free trial offer and this will add significantly to Company revenue.

Direct Mail and email Campaigns: The Company continues it's successful Direct Mail Campaigns targeted to its in-house database. These campaigns feature specific product specials as well as Discounts, and go deeper into the customer base than the weekly email campaigns that are very successful as well.

Marketing: The Company continues to grow its previously announced, and profitable, marketing and advertising platforms that are growing the Company at a sustainable rate and will keep shareholders updated on additions, etc, as they develop.

Sales: The Company continues consistent quarter over quarter growth and posted strong first quarter revenue and earnings gains announced in press on April 20th. The Company wants shareholders to note that these gains were a direct result of the positive steps the Company is taking, and that the Company will continue expanding these successful strategies.

CEO James Ballas added, "We used all of 2016 to set the Company up for more rapid growth and this is what we are achieving. As we continue on this successful path we expect to exceed our projections this year and do nothing but concentrate on growth into 2018 and beyond."

Operations Manager Luke Dreyer said, "From a technical standpoint we are in a great position to grow at a greater rate than ever before and this is because of all of the components we now have in place. From seed to product, sales, delivery and customer support, we have everything in place that a successful Company needs to double and triple its sales as we continue. This is a very exciting business and we are thrilled at what the CannazALL brand has become."

The Company looks forward to keeping shareholders aware of all important aspects of the Company and plans to update shareholders through consistent press.

About HempLife Today

Hemp Life Today was created by a group of highly motivated, skilled and health minded people. Who have learned that Hemp, and Hemp related products, can be a great source of increased health, vitality, and overall well being in our lives. We also believe that high grade CBD (Canabidiol), could very well be the miracle supplement the world has been waiting for as more and more people discover the health benefits of this remarkable extract. hempLife Today offers its quality CBD products @ www.HempLifeToday.com

About Ubiquitech

Ubiquitech Software Corp, through its subsidiaries is a dynamic multi-media, multi-faceted corporation utilizing state-of-the-art global internet marketing, Direct Response (DRTV) Television, Radio, and traditional marketing, to drive traffic to the new and emerging multi-billion dollar industries like its subsidiary HempLifeToday.

HempLifeToday focuses on the exciting and dynamic new thinking in the world today that recognizes the important health and life enriching enhancement that CBD Oil from the Hemp plant can bring. Through its network of quality USA growers HempLifeToday.com has developed multiple and proprietary CannazALL CBD oil products that include; It's popular CBD Tinctures, Oils, GelCaps, CBD Powder, Skin Salve, Wax Honey, and e-liquid, all offered @ www.HempLifeToday.com

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Words such as "expects", "intends', "believes', and similar expressions reflecting something other than historical fact are intended to identify forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including the timely development and market acceptance of products and technologies, the ability to secure additional sources of finance, the ability to reduce operating expenses, and other factors described in the Company's filings with the OTC Markets Group. The actual results that the Company achieves may differ materially from any forward-looking statement due to such risks and uncertainties. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward- looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.

Contact / Investor relations

IR@HempLifeToday.com




JOHNS CREEK, GA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/04/17 -- Sirrus Corp. ("Sirrus" or the "Company") (OTC PINK: SRUP), an emerging cybersecurity solutions provider, today announced that the Company has entered into a penetration testing agreement with Healthicity ("Healthicity"), a national provider of solutions and services for healthcare compliance, auditing, coding, training, and analytics.

The Independent Contractor Agreement (the "Agreement") calls for Sirrus Security Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, to conduct network and systems penetration testing and risk assessment services on behalf of Healthicity for their many healthcare industry clients.

Following the in-depth penetration and risk assessment, Sirrus Security will provide key findings to Healthicity. These include high level overviews, an inventory of identified systems, ports, software versions, and vulnerabilities that may pose a risk, and a detailed report containing serious vulnerabilities with impacts, descriptions, and recommendations.

Sparrow Marcioni, Sirrus Corp. CEO, commented, "We are extremely pleased to have partnered with a leading healthcare compliance company such as Healthicity to provide them with our specialized expertise at network and systems penetration testing and risk assessment. We are very confident that our cybersecurity professionals will deliver them the best possible outcomes by identifying any weaknesses in their client's IT infrastructure and detailing solutions and recommendations to correct problems."

"IT infrastructure, network security, and private client data protection are significantly important issues effecting every healthcare company operating in the United States," said Barry L. Johnson, DDS, President of Healthicity. "By partnering with the experienced cybersecurity professionals at Sirrus Security to provide penetration and risk assessment services, Healthicity can virtually guarantee that our customers are benefiting from the latest expertise and understanding of these extremely complex, essential, and constantly changing services. We look forward to partnering with Sirrus Security to secure the networks of many of our current and future customers."

About Healthicity

Healthicity (www.healthicity.com) creates software and services designed to help physician groups, ACOs, hospitals and payers simplify their work and elevate performance. Healthicity provides a suite of solutions and services for healthcare compliance, auditing, coding, training and analytics. Healthicity is a sister company of AAPC (www.aapc.com), the nation's largest training and credentialing association for the business of healthcare with more than 160,000 members representing physician offices, outpatient facilities and payer organizations.

About Sirrus Corp.

Sirrus Corp. (OTC PINK: SRUP) provides security technology products and services to assist companies with protecting their assets and information. The Company is primarily focused on providing cybersecurity services to healthcare companies in the United States, which are required to be in compliance with government regulations such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA").

Additional information regarding Sirrus Corp. and Sirrus Security can be found at www.sirrussecurity.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release by Sirrus Corp. ("Sirrus") may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements can be identified by words such as expects," "plan," "believes," "will," "achieve," "anticipate," "would," "should," "subject to," or words of similar meaning, and by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Although Sirrus management believes that such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee that such expectations are, or will be, correct. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, which could cause the Company's future results to differ materially from those anticipated. Potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, general economic conditions and conditions affecting the industries in which the Company operates; the uncertainty of regulatory requirements and approvals; and the ability to obtain necessary financing on acceptable terms or at all. Known risks and uncertainties include those identified from time to time in the reports filed by Sirrus Corp. with the SEC. Sirrus assumes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

Sirrus Corp. - Investor Relations:



Toll-Free: (888) 263-7622

E-mail: investors@sirrussecurity.com

Website: www.sirrussecurity.com



Healthicity:



Toll-Free: (877) 777-3001

Email: support@healthicity.com

Website: www.healthicity.com




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/04/17 -- Asanko Gold Inc. ("Asanko" or the "Company") (TSX: AKG)(NYSE MKT: AKG) reports its first quarter ("Q1") 2017 operating and financial results. The Company released its production and revenue results for Q1 on April 18, 2017. All amounts are in US dollars unless otherwise stated. Management will host a conference call and webcast today at 9am Eastern Time, further details below.

Q1 2017 Highlights:

-- One lost time injury in the quarter maintaining industry leading safety statistic of 0.21 per million man hours worked. -- Record gold production of 58,187 ounces in line with 2017 production guidance of 230,000 - 240,000 ounces. -- Gold sales of 57,812 ounces, generating $69.3 million in gross gold revenue at an average realized price of $1,199/oz. -- Earned net income of $7.8 million ($0.04/share). -- Exceptional gold recovery of 95%, 1% higher than Q4 2016 and 2.5% higher than design. -- Processing plant continued to operate at 20% above design, resulting in acceleration of the tailings dam lift. -- AISC3 increased to $956/oz (Q4: $893/oz) primarily due to the impact of accelerating the tailings dam lift; adjusting AISC for this impact would result in AISC $922/oz for Q1. -- Operating cash costs2 and total cash costs2 increased to $578/oz (Q4: $524/oz) and $638/oz (Q4: $584/oz) respectively predominantly as a result of the drawdown of inventories in the processing facility during Q1, a mill re-line and maintenance costs being brought forward. -- Cash provided by operating activities of $14.4 million ($28.8 million before working capital changes). -- Strong balance sheet with cash and immediately convertible working capital1 balances of approximately $65 million composed of $48.2 million in cash, $11.5 million in gold receivables and $5.3 million in dore (with a market value of $7.7 million). -- Infill drilling increased Akwasiso Mineral Resources by 79% to 322,500 ounces and Mineral Reserves by 62% to 214,500 ounces at 26% higher grades. -- New global Mineral Resource and Reserve Estimate published for year ending December 2016 - global reserves decreased by 2%. -- Available ore reserve inventory containing over 500,000 ounces across multiple pits, being more than sufficient to feed plant upgrade to 5Mtpa until Esaase and conveyor come into operation in 2019. -- Permits received for Esaase and the conveyor route.

Commenting on the Company's performance, Peter Breese, President and CEO, said "I am pleased to report a strong start to the year. Q1 marked the third consecutive quarter of record gold production and gold recovery (at 58,187 ounces and 95% respectively), as a result of the plant continuing to operate significantly above design. This has necessitated the acceleration of budgeted capital expenditure on the tailings dam lift to commence a quarter earlier than planned, which negatively impacted our AISC for the period.

We continue to see 2017 as a year of two halves from both a cost and production perspective. In May we commenced the western wall pushback of the Nkran pit where the majority of mining will be in softer oxide material. In H2 we bring Dynamite Hill and its lower cost oxide ores into production. These modifications to the production plan, together with the early commissioning of Project 5 Million, will increase our production profile in H2 and reduce the associated operating costs. We therefore maintain our annual guidance of 230,000 - 240,000 ounces at an AISC of $880 - $920/oz.

Looking ahead to our near-term fully funded growth projects, construction has started on Project 5 Million and the Esaase conveyor and both are progressing well. We expect some benefits in terms of volumetric upgrades from Project 5 Million in early Q3 2017 with the overall project completion expected to be Q4 2017, a quarter ahead of schedule. In anticipation of the plant upgrade to 5Mtpa, we now have access to pre-developed ore reserves in Nkran of 166,000 ounces. These together with at surface quality ounces from both Dynamite Hill and Akwasiso gives us access to over 500,000 ounces of ore reserves, which is more than sufficient to feed the plant over the next two years until Esaase commences production during 2019. Importantly, these multiple ore sources considerably de-risk our production profile, and ensure we have substantial mining and processing flexibility during the construction of the conveyor and development of Esaase."

This news release should be read in conjunction with Asanko's Management Discussion and Analysis and the Condensed Consolidated Interim Financial Statements for the quarter ended March 31, 2017, which are available at www.asanko.com and filed on SEDAR. There are no comparative numbers presented in this press release as commercial production was declared on April 1, 2016 and therefore not considered operating for financial reporting purposes.

Key Operating and Financial Highlights

Asanko Gold Mine

Q1 2017 Q4 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Waste Mined ('000t) 5,620 5,931 Ore Mined ('000t) 1,017 1,300 Strip Ratio (W: O) 5.5:1 4.6:1 Mining Cost ($/t mined) 3.89 3.88 Ore Treated ('000t) 908 901 Gold Feed Grade (g/t) 2.05 2.1 Gold Recovery (%) 95 94 Processing Cost ($/t treated) 13.36 12.80 Gold Production (oz) 58,187 57,178 Gold Sales (oz) 57,812 58,483 Average Realised Gold Price ($/oz) 1,199 1,199 Operating Cash Costs2 ($/oz) 578 524 Total Cash Costs2 ($/oz) 638 584 All-in Sustaining Costs ("AISC")3 ($/oz) 956 893 All-in Sustaining Margin ($/oz) 1 243 306 Gross Gold Revenue ($m) 69.3 70.1 Production Costs, including Royalties ($m) 37.7 34.5 Income from Mine Operations ($m) 15.1 6.3 Net Income (Loss) ($m) 7.8 (8.5) Net Income (Loss) per Share $0.04 $(0.04) Adjusted Net Income1 (Loss) ($m) 7.8 (4.1) Adjusted Net Income1 (Loss) per Share $0.04 $(0.02) Cash provided by Operating Activities ($m) 14.4 23.4 Cash provided by Operating Activities b/f working capital ($m) 28.8 29.2 Cash provided by Operating Activities per share $0.07 $0.12

Q1 2017 Operating Results

-- Industry-leading safety record maintained, despite one lost time injury reported during the quarter, and a rolling 12 month LTIFR of 0.21 per million man hours worked. -- Record gold production (58,187 ounces), record gold recovery (95%) and sustained processing plant operations 20% above design (new monthly record of 315,000 tonnes - 3.7Mtpa on an annualised basis). -- Mining rates now converging with ore feed requirements. Mining operations continued to focus onthe bottom centre and internal west portions of the pit during the quarter. The next cutback commenced in Q2 on the Western side of Nkran. -- Pre-developed ore at Nkran now provides access to more than 166,000 in pit ounces. Combined with at surface deposits of Dynamite Hill (135,000 ounces) and Akwasiso (214,500 ounces) this equates to available ore Reserves in excess of 500,000 ounces that do not require any substantial developmental work. In addition, a strategic stockpile of 1.6Mt is available. -- Tailings Dam lift commenced during the quarter and is tracking ahead of schedule.

Q1 2017 Financial Performance

-- Net income was $7.8 million or $0.04 per share ($Q4: ($0.02) per share). -- Unit costs of production for mining and processing were in-line with expectations, averaging $3.89 per tonne mined and $13.36 per tonne milled respectively for the quarter. -- Operating cash costs2 and total cash costs2 increased to $578/oz (Q4: $524/oz) and $638/oz (Q4: $584/oz) respectively, predominantly as a result of the drawdown of inventories in the processing facility during Q1, a mill re-line and increases in maintenance costs due to operating plant above capacity. -- AISC3 increased to $956/oz (Q4: $893/oz), largely due the acceleration of the tailings dam lift and associated maintenance costs necessitated by the process plant running above design. AISC, if adjusted for the impact of Tailings Dam lift, would be $922/oz, marginally above the upper end of guidance. -- Gold sales of 57,812 ounces at an average realized price of $1,199/oz (Q4: $1,199/oz). With gold revenues, net of royalties of $65.8 million (Q4: $66.8 million). -- Total cost of sales (including depreciation and depletion) was $50.9 million. Cash provided by operating activities was $14.4 million or $0.07 per share. Cash provided by operating activities before working capital adjustments was $28.8 million.

Q1 2017 Liquidity and Capital Resources

-- The balance sheet at March 31, 2017 remains strong with immediately available cash and equivalents amounting to $65 million comprising cash of $48.2 million, unrefined gold dore on hand with a cost of $5.3 million (and a market value of $7.7 million) and $11.5 million in receivables from gold sales. -- Within 4 days of the quarter-end, the Company received cash from gold sales of $10.6 million, and in addition a VAT refund cheque amounting to $12 million was received in early May. -- The working capital position1of the Company as at March 31, 2017, continued to improve to $76.8 million from $72.3 million, as at December 31, 2016.

2017 Outlook and Opportunities

The Company re-iterates its 2017 guidance of 230,000 - 240,000 ounces at AISC of US$880 - US$920 per ounce.

The expansion projects are progressing well. Construction of Project 5 Million recently commenced and is on track for commissioning in Q4 2017, a quarter ahead of the original schedule. We expect to see some partial volumetric increases commencing in early Q3 2017. Ore feed for the upgraded plant will be provided by Nkran, Dynamite Hill (starting in Q3) and Akwasiso. Bush clearing for the conveyor linking Esaase to the processing facility is underway and already nearly 50% complete. The Expansion Definitive Feasibility Study is due to be published in Q2. Importantly Project 5 Million, construction of the conveyor and development of Esaase are expected to be fully funded from current cash resources and cash flow from operations in 2017 and 2018. The Company expects to end the year with available liquidity of between $49 million and $62 million after the 2017 capital program, which will be more than enough to fund the remaining 2018 capital program, amounting to $63 million.

The Akwasiso infill drilling campaign was completed during Q1, resulting in a significant increase in Mineral Resources and Reserves to 322,500 ounces (79%) and 214,500 ounces (62%) respectively. This increase in Akwasiso's reserves further boosts the near-term ore inventory available to support the mine production profile at increased levels through until 2019 as Asanko becomes a multi-pit operator.

Notes:

1Non-GAAP Performance Measures

The Company has included certain non-GAAP performance measures in this press release, including working capital, adjusted net income (loss), adjusted net income (loss) per share, operating cash costs, total cash costs, all-in sustaining costs per ounce of gold produced and all-in sustaining margin. These non-GAAP performance measures do not have any standardized meaning. Accordingly, these performance measures are intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP.

2Operating Cash Costs per ounce and Total Cash Costs per ounce

Operating cash costs are reflective of the cost of production, adjusted for share-based payments and by-product revenue for each ounce of gold sold. Total cash costs include production royalties of 5%.

3All-in Sustaining Costs Per Gold Ounce

The Company has adopted the reporting of "all-in sustaining costs per gold ounce" ("AISC") as per the World Gold Council's guidance. AISC include total cash costs, corporate overhead expenses, sustaining capital expenditure, capitalized stripping costs and reclamation cost accretion for each ounce of gold sold.

2017 Q1 Financial Results Conference Call and Webcast Details Thursday 4 May at 9am Eastern Time US/Canada Toll Free: 1 800 896 6826 UK Toll Free: 0800 496 0825 International: +1 212 231 2910 Presentation available here: http://www.asanko.com/ Webcast: Please click on the link: https://cc.callinfo.com/r/z99g68ieotfj&eom Replay A recorded playback will be available approximately two hours after the call until April 16, 2017: US/Canada Toll Free: 1 800 663 8284 International: +1 406 977 9140 Passcode: #21851179

Enquiries:

For further information please visit: www.asanko.com, email: info@asanko.com.

About Asanko Gold Inc.

Asanko's vision is to become a mid-tier gold mining company that maximizes value for all its stakeholders. The Company's flagship project is the multi-million ounce Asanko Gold Mine located in Ghana, West Africa. The mine is being developed in phases. Phase 1 commenced gold production in January 2016 and declared commercial production on April 1, 2016. Ramp-up to steady state production was achieved in Q2 2016.

Asanko is managed by highly skilled and successful technical, operational and financial professionals. The Company is strongly committed to the highest standards for environmental management, social responsibility, and health and safety for its employees and neighbouring communities.

Forward-Looking and other Cautionary Information

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address estimated resource quantities, grades and contained metals, possible future mining, exploration and development activities, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements should not be in any way construed as guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices for metals, the conclusions of detailed feasibility and technical analyses, the timely renewal of key permits, lower than expected grades and quantities of resources, mining rates and recovery rates and the lack of availability of necessary capital, which may not be available to the Company on terms acceptable to it or at all. The Company is subject to the specific risks inherent in the mining business as well as general economic and business conditions. For more information on the Company, Investors should review the Company's Annual Form 40-F filing with the United States Securities Commission and its home jurisdiction filings that are available at www.sedar.com.

Neither Toronto Stock Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note to US Investors Regarding Mineral Reporting Standards:

Asanko has prepared its disclosure in accordance with the requirements of securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of US securities laws. Terms relating to mineral resources in this press release are defined in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects under the guidelines set out in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. The Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") permits mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. Asanko uses certain terms, such as, "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources", "inferred mineral resources" and "probable mineral reserves", that the SEC does not recognize (these terms may be used in this press release and are included in the public filings of Asanko which have been filed with securities commissions or similar authorities in Canada).

Contacts:

Asanko Gold Inc.

info@asanko.com

www.asanko.com



Asanko Gold Inc.

Alex Buck

Manager, Investor and Media Relations

Toll-Free (N.America): 1-855-246-7341

alex.buck@asanko.com



Ryan Walchuck

VP Corporate Development and Investor Relations

+1-778-986-20001

ryan.walchuck@asanko.com




AMSTERDAM, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Allworld exhibitions joined UBM in December 2016. As a result of this acquisition, both parties have decided to join forces and create a one-stop purchasing platform for the Chinese food and beverage industry. This will be achieved by co-locating food ingredients Asia-China alongside ProPak China at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC) in July 2018. Combined, the exhibitions will bring together food ingredients as well as food processing and packaging solutions, to serve the ever-growing food and beverage industry in China.

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/469712/UBM_India_Logo.jpg )



The combined event will cover over 75,000 sqm across 6 halls at SNIEC, and is expected to attract more than 27,000 professional visitors from China and abroad. Visitors will find special zones onsite for dairy products, beverages, starch and other ingredients. At the event there will be a variety of educational programmes and other innovative features, which will provide visitors with new ideas for business development.

The Chinese food market will be valued at RMB 11.35 trillion in 2018. Given the huge demand from a population of 1.4 billion, coupled with growing desire for quicker and safer food, China's food industry will continue to grow in the future. The combined platform of FiAC and ProPak will be the only event of this scale in China that brings together the entire industry value chain in one place.

Health ingredients China (HiC): 26-28 June 2018

Health ingredients China will continue to take place in June alongside Healthplex & Nutraceutical Products China and NEX. Combined, the events form the leading health exhibition in China and offer visitors the opportunity to source health ingredients, natural extracts, nutraceuticals and finished health products and supplements.

The combined events will cover 6 halls at SNIEC and welcome over 22,000 visitors looking to source health ingredients and finished health products. The event will also continue to be held alongside CPhI China, China's leading pharmaceuticals event, attracting over 50,000 visitors.

China's health and nutrition market has grown vigorously in recent years, as the focus of the industry has shifted from treatment to prevention. The health food and supplements market is valued at a staggering 28.5 billion USD and in recent years has become a top destination for companies seeking solutions to make their food and beverage products healthier.

"We are very excited about these new developments to our Fi Global portfolio," said John van der Valk, Managing Director of UBM EMEA "and we see great growth potential for this new collaboration in the coming years. With the two events clearly positioned, FiAC-ProPak focused on food manufacturing, and HiC on health ingredients and finished health products, we aim to optimally serve the ever growing food and health industries in China."

To find out more about ProPak please visit http://www.ProPakchina.com and for Hi China, please visit http://www.figlobal.com/asia-china/.

We look forward to sharing with you more information about this exciting new move in the coming months.

About Food ingredients Global - the trusted route to market since 1986

Food ingredients was launched in Utrecht, The Netherlands, in 1986. Its portfolio of live events, extensive data, digital solutions and high-level conferences, are now established throughout the world and provide regional and global platforms for all stakeholders, in the food ingredients industry. Over 500,000 people have attended our shows over the years with billions of Euros worth of business created, as a result. With over 25 years of excellence, our events, digital solutions and supporting products, deliver a proven route to market, with a truly global audience. For more information about the Food ingredients Portfolio please visit http://www.figlobal.com.

About UBM EMEA

UBM EMEA connects people and creates opportunities for companies across five continents to develop new business, meet customers, launch new products, promote their brands and expand their markets. Through premier brands such as Routes, CPhI, IFSEC, Ecobuild, Seatrade, and many others, UBM EMEA exhibitions, conferences, awards programs, publications, websites and training and certification programs are an integral part of the marketing plans of companies across seven industry sectors.

For further information or imagery, please contact:

Maebh Flanagan

Senior Marketing Executive

T: +31-20-708-1642

E: Maebh.flanagan@ubm.com


TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/04/17 -- Metalla Royalty & Streaming Ltd. ("Metalla" or the "Company") (CSE: MTA)(OTCQB: EXCFF)(FRANKFURT: X9CP) is pleased to announce that it has signed a definitive agreement with Matamec Exploration Inc. ("Matamec") to acquire net smelter return ("NSR") royalties on properties located in Timmins, Ontario. The upfront payment will be, CAD$500,000 in cash and 2,000,000 common shares valued at $0.50 for CAD$1,000,000 of value and a total acquisition price of CAD$1,500,000. Each common share will have one half warrant. Each full warrant will have a term of two years with an exercise price of $0.75.

SUMMARY OF ROYALTIES

Properties owned by Goldcorp:

-- Hoyle Pond Extension Royalty - 1% royalty on the leased mining rights located in Hoyle township, east of the Hoyle Pond Gold Mine. The NSR royalty on the leased mining rights shall be payable after the initial 500,000 ounces gold equivalent threshold is met; -- The fee simple mining rights - 1% royalty located in Hoyle township, east of the Hoyle Pond Gold Mine; -- Colbert/Anglo Property - 1% royalty on the mining rights located in Matheson township, east of the Hoyle Pond Gold Mine with a right to buy back 0.375% of such NSR royalty for an amount of CAD$500,000.

Property owned by Glencore PLC:

-- Bint Property - 1% NSR located in Matheson township, east of the Hoyle Pond Gold Mine.

Property owned by International Explorers and Prospectors Inc

-- Montclerg Property - 1% NSR located on the Pipestone Fault in the Timmins Gold Camp, an area that has produced more than 70 million ounces of gold from large deposits that exceed 1,800m in depth.

"This acquisition consolidates the other half of the existing royalties on the Hoyle Pond extension properties that we acquired in November 2016. This gives Metalla 2% on the extension of one of the highest grade mines in Timmins that has averaged between 150,000 and 160,000 ounces of gold (Au) at 14gpt annually over the past few years," stated Brett Heath, President of Metalla Royalty & Streaming.

Metalla is also pleased to report that the strategic High Stream Corp acquisition previously described in the news release dated September 1, 2016 has been completed.

Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements

This release contains certain "forward looking statements" and certain "forward-looking information" as defined under applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "should", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "plans" or similar terminology.

Forward-looking statements and information include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the transactions contemplated under the Matamec transaction (the "Transaction"), anticipated cash flows upon completion of the Transaction, the completion of the Transaction and proposed future transactions Metalla may undertake and their expected timing. Forward-looking statements and information are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions that, while believed by management to be reasonable, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Forward-looking statements and information are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the ability of Metalla to control or predict, that may cause Metalla's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied thereby, and are developed based on assumptions about such risks, uncertainties and other factors set out herein, including but not limited to: the requirement for regulatory approvals and third party consents, the impact of general business and economic conditions, the absence of control over the mining operations from which Metalla will purchase gold and receive royalties, including risks related to international operations, government relations and environmental regulation, the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties; the uncertainties involved in interpreting exploration data; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities; the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with Metalla's expectations; accidents, equipment breakdowns, title matters, labor disputes or other unanticipated difficulties or interruptions in operations; fluctuating metal prices; unanticipated costs and expenses; uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future; the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, commodity price fluctuations; currency fluctuations; regulatory restrictions, including environmental regulatory restrictions; liability, competition, loss of key employees and other related risks and uncertainties. Metalla undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information except as required by applicable law. Such forward-looking information represents management's best judgment based on information currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual future results may vary materially. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.

Metalla Royalty & Streaming Ltd. is a precious metals royalty and streaming company engaged in the acquisition and management of precious metal royalties, streams, and similar production based interests.

On behalf of the Board of Directors:

Brett Heath, President and Director

Metalla Royalty & Streaming Ltd.

Contacts:

Metalla Royalty and Streaming Ltd.

416-925-0090

info@metallaroyalty.com

www.metallaroyalty.com




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/04/17 -- Nutritional High International Inc. (the "Company" or "Nutritional High") (CSE: EAT)(OTCQB: SPLIF)(FRANKFURT: 2NU) is pleased to announce an update on the roll-out of its edible product lines.

Jim Frazier, CEO of Nutritional High commented - "I believe that edible products will be the cornerstone of the Company's success. They represent the highest margin marijuana infused products and will be key in driving the Company's profitability as we continue to establish facilities throughout the country. I am excited to employ the expertise that I acquired through my 20 plus years of experience in the manufacture of chocolate products and other foods and confectionaries in order to make Nutritional High's products the standard of the industry."

Please refer to the Company's Facebook page to see the video of Palo Verde's and Nutritional High's staff undertaking test runs of non-medicated products: https://www.facebook.com/NutritionalHighIntl/

Product Types

Initially, Nutritional High intends to target the higher end of the chocolate market segment as it rolls out its edibles. Premium high grade chocolates will be utilized to create unique combinations of infused fruit and nut clusters that will be focused on taste, texture, and consumer experience. Product lines will include gourmet milk chocolates, as well as high quality 70% cocoa dark chocolate. As there are restrictions on the THC content for edible products, the Company has determined that the FLI chocolate products will contain 6 pieces per box. Each piece will have 10 mg of THC which will optimize the margins for the products. These attributes may vary from state-to-state, depending on content restrictions and market dynamics.

Following the roll-out of FLI chocolate products, we will aggressively pursue additional products such as hard candies, gummies and other innovative food concepts that are currently being tested by the Company.

Edible Product Roll-Out in Colorado

While Palo Verde has been focused on production and sales of its bulk oil and vape pen cartridge products, Nutritional High has been working with the Palo Verde staff to plan the roll-out of FLI-branded edible products noted above. To this end, Palo Verde is preparing to accept delivery of semi-automated chocolate enrobing equipment, which is expected to arrive at the plant later this month. Packaging design is near completion and will be introduced once Palo Verde is ready to run its first batch of products in the near future.

In addition to chocolate truffles, Palo Verde will also introduce other chocolate covered products with varying texture and taste attributes. While the primary focus will be long shelf life products, Palo Verde may experiment with shorter shelf life products, such as cookies, to provide a wider product choice to its dispensary clients.

About Nutritional High International Inc.

Nutritional High is focused on developing, manufacturing and distributing products and nationally recognized brands in the hemp and marijuana-infused products industries, including edibles and oil extracts for nutritional, medical and adult recreational use. The Company works exclusively through licensed facilities in jurisdictions where such activity is permitted and regulated by state law.

For updates on the Company's activities and highlights of the Company's press releases and other media coverage, please follow Nutritional High on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ or visit www.nutritionalhigh.com.

NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR OTC MARKETS GROUP INC., NOR THEIR REGULATIONS SERVICES PROVIDERS HAVE REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

This news release may contain forward-looking statements and information based on current expectations. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements. Such statements include submission of the relevant documentation within the required timeframe and to the satisfaction of the relevant regulators, completing the acquisition of the applicable real estate and raising sufficient financing to complete the Company's business strategy. There is no certainty that any of these events will occur. Although such statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be correct. We assume no responsibility to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances.

Company's securities have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or applicable state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold to, or for the account or benefit of, persons in the United States or "U.S. Persons", as such term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act, absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in the United States or any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law.

Contacts:

Nutritional High International Inc.

David Posner

Chairman of the Board

647-985-6727

dposner@nutritionalhigh.com

www.nutritionalhigh.com






WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Dozen American governors have sent a letter to US President Donald Trump calling on him to keep the United States in the Paris Climate Agreement.



'Maintaining the U.S. commitment is essential to protect our residents, and indeed, all Americans from the potentially catastrophic impacts of a changing climate,' says the letter signed by Governors of California, New York, Oregon, Washington, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Minnesota, Virginia and Rhode Island.



The Governors of the 12 states, which are home to 107 million Americans and comprise 38 percent of the nation's GDP, say they are convinced that the United States' goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28 percent below 2005 levels is readily achievable given the progress their states have made in that direction.



In a study published in September last year, researchers had found that it was very unlikely that the United States would meet its greenhouse gas reduction target.



The Governors expressed their readiness as state leaders to continue to support the achievement of the existing U.S. Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the Paris Agreement.



The letter sent to the White House Wednesday warns that if the U.S. does not maintain global climate leadership through national policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transition to clean energy, China and India will. 'This would be a huge lost opportunity, putting us at a competitive disadvantage and potentially locking us into technologies and economic pathways that are increasingly obsolete while China and India reap the benefits of low-carbon leadership'.



Trump has been highly critical of the Paris Agreement arguing that the US has been unfairly treated by this international agreement and that countries like India and China have benefited from this.



The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive, according to him.



The Trump administration in March had revoked the Clean Power Plan introduced by the Obama administration in 2015 to restrict greenhouse gas emissions at coal-fired U.S. power plants.



The Governors noted that leading U.S. companies in their states recognize the need to address business risks and opportunities through the Paris Agreement, and are wisely investing in low-carbon fuels and technologies to stay on the cutting edge of the global economy.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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PHOENIX, AZ -- (Marketwired) -- 05/04/17 -- American Green, Inc. (OTC PINK: ERBB) is very pleased to share that after a thorough review by the City of Phoenix Planning and Development Department and extraordinary efforts by the Company, the architects, engineers and contractors involved to comply with the necessarily stringent demands placed on entities wishing to build a legal cannabis cultivation facility, American Green was at last awarded the full building permit required to continue the work begun in January of 2016.

The Company had reason to believe that the permit would be issued as soon as October of 2016 therein protecting the variance it was granted a year earlier. Due to complications created by previous management which ultimately brought the project to a halt in May of last year, American Green had to first defend that variance which the Company successfully accomplished. Nevertheless, the City had no choice but to ensure the project remain frozen until they could be certain it would move forward only when it could be done so in total compliance providing safety to the building occupants, the neighbors and the integrity of the system itself, specifically with regards to the fledgling legal cannabis industry. With the issuance of the permit, that challenge is now in the past.

"The great news is that we are free to move forward limited only by our own ability to finish the task," said Pat Carrigan, American Green's Chief Operating Officer and the individual directly in charge of the project. "Even better than that however is that the design, combined with the professionals who have taken on the task with a real desire to see it completed as it should be, have been able to prepare for this day and pre-build or prepare in such a way that it will seem like it was built overnight. There is no rushing a job done well, but having all the parts in place and all the people communicating the way we do should allow the project to be completed in record time. All this without compromising quality or failing to meet the standards required by the City. This was a great day and worth the effort it took to get here," finished Carrigan.

"Anything worth doing is worth doing right," said American Green's acting President and board chair David Gwyther, specifically with regards to the cultivation project. "American Green doesn't know how to quit and collectively we're deeply appreciative of the work Pat (Carrigan - COO) has done to achieve this milestone. We're even more excited about the quality of the facility design, the speed at which it can be completed barring unforeseen challenges, and how soon we'll be able to provide the top quality medicinal Cannabis to the Arizona market that our facility can produce. For the recipients of that product and the shareholders for whom its completion and operation will build value, we consider this one of the most important days in the company's eighteen year history," Mr. Gwyther concluded.

Don't Forget to Stop by American Green Store

Be sure to visit the Company Store for great American Green's Amazon Store for clothing and apparel. Just click here: www.amazon.com/shops/americangreeninc to get there. Also, find some of the finest CBD products at the company's own store here: www.americangreencbd.com. Also, click over to the company's website at www.americangreen.com and sign up for the company's EMAIL ALERTS to stay current on news. The company has over 6,500 shareholders and interest-holders on its private list and the list is growing every month. In addition, shareholders can join in the conversation about American Green here: https://otc.watch/groups/american-green-inc-erbb/forum/.

NOTES ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Except for any historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including those described in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission reports and filings. Certain statements contained in this release that are not historical facts constitute forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created by that Act. Reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements because they involve unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as estimates, anticipates, projects, plans, expects, intends, believes, should and similar expressions and by the context in which they are used. Such statements are based upon current expectations of the Company and speak only as of the date made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which they are made.

About American Green, Inc.

American Green, Inc. became one of the first publicly traded technology companies in the medical cannabis industry in the world, beginning in 2009, with the introduction of the ZaZZZ machine for automated, age-verifying dispensing of cannabis-based medicines. Now, with over 50,000 individual shareholders, the largest shareholder base of any cannabis-related public company in the US, American Green's mission is to be the cannabis & industrial hemp industry, seed-to sale innovator, leveraging our team of professionals, as well as value-added companies and products -- spanning cultivation, manufacturing and extraction, retail, and community outreach. We strive to develop sustainable businesses, while increasing shareholder value, and awareness beyond our industries.

CONTACT INFORMATION

American Green, Inc.

Investor Relations

2902 W. Virginia Avenue

Phoenix, AZ 85009

480-443-1600 X555




VANCOUVER, BC and TULSA, OK--(Marketwired - May 04, 2017) - Jericho Oil Corporation ("Jericho") (TSX VENTURE: JCO) (OTC PINK: JROOF), announces the results of its 2016 year-end reserves evaluation of its Kansas and Oklahoma properties as prepared by Cawley, Gillespie & Associates, Inc. ("CGA"), the Company's independent reserves evaluator. The evaluation was prepared in accordance with the standards contained in the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook ("COGE Handbook") and National Instrument 51-101 Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities ("NI 51-101").

Highlights of the Reserve Report (all dollar amounts in $USD):

Jericho for the year ending December 31, 2016 achieved significant reserve value growth (all dollar amounts are the Present Value of future cash flows discounted at 10% before tax derived from YE2016 Independent Reserve Report using forecast pricing, $USD):

Proved plus Probable (2P) reserves total $41.9mm or 4.2mm barrels of oil equivalent, 147% increase y-o-y

Proved (1P) reserves total $27.9mm or 2.3mm barrels of oil equivalent, 77% increase y-o-y

Proved Developed (PDP + PDNP) reserves totaled 1.6mm barrels of oil equivalent, 72% increase y-o-y

Jericho replaced 1 its 2016 production by 144% with the increase in PDP reserves and 1,289% with the increase in 1P reserves mostly through a successful acquisition and the deployment of incremental capital to field-level initiatives

its 2016 production by 144% with the increase in PDP reserves and 1,289% with the increase in 1P reserves mostly through a successful acquisition and the deployment of incremental capital to field-level initiatives The Company's 2016 average finding, development and acquisition ("FD&A") costs are $4.34/boe 2 for Proved Developed reserves

for Proved Developed reserves In comparing the cost of getting that Proved Developed boe out of the ground with the cash earned per boe, the Company generated a 1.78x recycle ratio 3 , based on a full-year 2016 operating netback of $7.74/boe despite a challenging oil price environment

, based on a full-year 2016 operating netback of $7.74/boe despite a challenging oil price environment Proved Developed reserves accounted for 78% of the Total Proved reserves value

Approximately 75% of Proved reserves were crude oil (boe basis)

The net asset value on a 2P NPV10% valuation is approximately $40.7mm or USD$0.52 per common share outstanding, excluding any value for undeveloped land and assuming net debt 4 of $(1.27mm) and 78,840,404 common shares outstanding.

1 Replacement ratio, a non-IFRS financial measure, is an indicator of a company's ability to replace its production and grow reserves, calculated as the sum of the reserve additions from defined sources divided by production for the corresponding period.

2 Recycle ratio, a non-IFRS financial measure, represents the cash earned per boe produced (the numerator) versus the cost of getting that boe out of the ground (the denominator). It serves as a proxy for a company's return on capital over a defined period of time.

3 The Company deployed approximately $3.03mm on exploration costs plus Proved Property Acquisition Costs plus Development Costs which yielded an increase in year-over-year Proved Develop reserves of approximately 699k barrels of oil equivalent.

4 Net debt as defined by the Company's credit agreement as of 12.31.16; Total debt of approximately $2.48mm less cash on hand of approximately $3.75mm

Note: Barrels of oil equivalent ("boe") amounts have been calculated using a conversion ratio of six thousand cubic feet (6 mcf) of natural gas to one barrel (1 bbl) of crude oil. The boe conversion ratio of 6 mcf to 1 bbl is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead.

Allen Wilson, CEO of Jericho Oil, stated, "We continued to execute on Jericho's growth strategy throughout the prolonged oil price downturn resulting in increased production and reserves, the main drivers of our Company's intrinsic value. We increased Total Proved reserves NPV-10 by over 75%. Our current asset base is producing strong field-level cash margins at current oil prices and have significant development optionality."

Below, please find the charts outlining the Present Value and Per Barrel Reserves summary of Jericho's asset base in addition to its net asset value and operating netback calculations:

Net Present Value ($M, USD) Discounted at: Reserve Category Net BOE 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% ------------------------------- -------------------------------------------- Proved Producing 853,767 28,055 18,292 13,423 10,554 8,679 Proved Non-Producing 812,600 24,630 13,593 8,389 5,490 3,685 Proved Undeveloped 662,533 17,629 10,293 6,169 3,614 1,924 ------------------------------- -------------------------------------------- Total Proved 2,328,900 70,314 42,178 27,981 19,658 14,288 =============================== ============================================ Total Probable 1,878,267 43,266 24,684 13,965 7,432 3,301 ------------------------------- -------------------------------------------- Proved plus Probable 4,207,167 113,580 66,862 41,946 27,090 17,589 =============================== ============================================

Net Asset Value NPV10 ($mm) $ / Share ---------------------------------------------------- Total Proved 27,981 $ 0.36 ==================================================== Total Probable 13,965 $ 0.18 ---------------------------------------------------- Proved plus Probable 41,946 $ 0.53 ==================================================== Net Debt (1,269) $ (0.02) ---------------------------------------------------- Net Asset value 40,677 $ 0.52 ====================================================

Operating Netback ($/boe) --------------------------------------- Avg. Realized Sales Price (net of royalties) $ 30.62 Operating Expenses $ 20.85 O&G Production Taxes $ 2.03 --------------------------------------- Operating Netback $ 7.74 ---------------------------------------

About Jericho Oil Corporation

Jericho is a growth-oriented oil and gas company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of overlooked and undervalued oil properties in the Mid-Continent. For more information, please visit www.jerichooil.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Canadian securities laws. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from Jericho's expectations include risks related to the exploration stage of Jericho's project; market fluctuations in prices for securities of exploration stage companies; and uncertainties about the availability of additional financing.

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:



Tony Blancato,

Director, Investor Relations

P: 918.986.7616



or



Adam Rabiner,

Director, Corporate Communications

P: 1.800.750.3520

investorrelations@jerichooil.com
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 18, 2017 / Molori Energy Inc. (TSX-V: MOL) (OTCQB: MOLOF) ("Molori" or the "Company"), is pleased to provide some preliminary operating results for the three and six-month period ending April 30, 2017. The Company plans to report complete Q2 financial results before June 29, 2017.

Highlights for the three and six-month period ending April 30, 20171

February to April 2017 ("Q2") production came in at a total of 31,800 barrels of oil equivalent ("BOE")*, compared to 13,500 BOE for the period November 2016 to January 31, 2017 ("Q1").

Production for the three months ended April 30, 2017 increased by 135% quarter over quarter.

$2.3 million in gross sales during the first six months of the fiscal year. Gross oil & gas sales amounted to USD $1.03 million in Q2, compared to $530,000 in Q1.

70% reduction in Lease operating expenses ("LOE"). LOE were reduced from $17.86/BOE in Q1 to $10.46/BOE in Q2.

25% reduction in general and administrative expenses from Q1 to Q2.

1 -All numbers are in USD, Molori interest is 25%

Operations update

The Company, through its partner Ponderosa Energy Inc., continued to cost-effectively re-work wells, bringing them back into production. These efforts resulted in a significant increase in production numbers as well as a significant reduction in lease operating expenses ("LOE"). The Company plans to continue to re-work between 5-10 wells per month with a focus on its productive "State" leases. This is expected to continue to add low-cost oil and gas production, while at the same time providing positive cash flow.

Joel Dumaresq, CEO of Molori commented, "In the past several months, the team at Molori has not only developed an entirely new business model, but also established a solid reserve base, increased production month-over-month, and demonstrated an ability to deliver positive operational cash flow. What we are even more proud of, is the fact that with the assistance of our partners at Ponderosa, we've accomplished this increase in production and revenues while maintaining a debt-free Balance Sheet and at the same time lowering our operating expenses."

The Company also wishes to announce (See news release dated April 11, 2017) that it has now identified several drilling opportunities in its recently announced "Red Cave" play, and has developed a plan to expand its exposure to this prospective zone.

Molori has scheduled a conference call for Wednesday, May 24 at 11:00am EDT (8:00am PDT) to discuss progress relating to its core well-rehabilitation business, as well as the exciting opportunity it's pursuing in the Red Cave. The Company invites all interested parties to participate via the following conference call bridge:

+1 416-548-6023 (Canada and/or International) or 1 877-394-5901 (North America Only) Access Code: 4767148 .

* Per BOE amounts have been calculated by using the conversion ratio of six thousand cubic feet (6 MCF) of natural gas to one barrel (1 bbl) of crude oil. The BOE conversion ratio of 6 mcf to 1 bbl is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead. Given that the value ratio based on the current price of natural gas as compared to oil is significantly different from the energy equivalent of 1:6, utilizing a conversion on a 1:6 basis may be misleading as an indication of value. The ratio of gas to oil was 40% gas and 60% oil for the three month period ending April 30, 2017 and 50% gas and 50% oil for the three months ending January 31, 2017.

About Molori

Molori Energy Inc. is an oil and gas production company with current operations in the Texas Panhandle West Field. The Company owns a 25 percent working interest in certain leases located in the bifurcated Texas panhandle, operated by Texas-based independent oil and gas producer Ponderosa Energy, LLC ("Ponderosa"), This giant field was discovered in 1910 and expanded three years later to create one of the US largest gas fields. The experienced management team at Molori is aggressively acquiring select properties which provide immediate cash flow and development opportunities, now and in the years ahead. Molori is seizing the opportunity, in the current oil & gas environment, to assemble oil and gas production in nearby and politically safe jurisdictions.

Contact Information:

Joel Dumaresq

CEO and Director

Molori Energy Inc.

(604) 336 3193

joel@molorienergy.com

www.molorienergy.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 NEW RELEASE.

Cautionary Notes Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This News Release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include but are not limited to those with respect to the prices of oil and gas, the estimation of oil and gas resources and reserves, the realization of oil and gas reserve estimates, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production, capital expenditures, costs and timing of the development of new deposits, success of exploration activities, permitting time lines, currency fluctuations, requirements for additional capital, Government regulation of oil and gas operations, environmental risks, unanticipated reclamation expenses, title disputes or claims and limitations on insurance coverage and the timing and possible outcome of pending litigation. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words 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 statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the actual results of current exploration activities, conclusions or economic evaluations, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, possible variations in grade and or recovery rates, failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, accidents, labour disputes or other risks of the oil & gas industry, delays in obtaining government approvals or financing or incompletion of development or construction activities, risks relating to the integration of acquisitions, to international operations, and to the prices of oil & gas. While the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, 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 statements 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 statements. The Company expressly 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 required by law.

SOURCE: Molori Energy Inc.
For decades, Missouri Farm Bureau (MFB) has been involved in issues related to the Missouri River as management issues affect not only those who live and work along the river but farms and rural communities throughout the state. Part of that involvement affords MFB the opportunity to provide comments when Draft Environmental Impact Statements (DEIS) are drawn up by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps).

Recently, representatives of MFB provided oral and written remarks at DEIS public meetings held in Kansas City and St. Louis. In the DEIS, USFWS and the Corps offered six alternatives for Missouri River management. MFB comments were predicated on background gained from those who live and work along the Missouri River. We can attest to their ongoing frustration with USFWS and the Corps over the continued uncertainty of river management.

Many believe adaptive management is a synonym for experimenting on private property. As an example, ongoing disagreements over the construction of shallow water habitat (chutes) in Missouri have called into question the agencies desire to find commonsense ways to enhance habitat for the pallid sturgeon. To put it succinctly, it is difficult to point to progress despite spending $825 million on the recovery program since 1992.

Aside from Alternative 1 (No Action), each of the alternatives relax flood control constraints within the current Missouri River Mainstem Reservoir System Water Control Master Manual. In April, the Missouri River rose approximately 12 feet in one week. Providing flood control and effective interior drainage is of utmost importance to Missouri farmers, thus it will come as no surprise that MFB, and many other Missouri organizations, vehemently oppose any change in river flow that increases the likelihood of flooding during any time of year. This is non-negotiable.

Production agriculture is at best difficult under normal conditions; farmers do not need to contend with man-made floods that prevent/delay planting, lower yields or require additional costs for levee reinforcement, sandbagging or pumping.

While Alternative 3 (Corps Preferred Alternative) is less objectionable than Alternatives 2, 4, 5 and 6, it still includes the possibility of flow modifications in the future. This is especially disappointing as neither economic nor hydrologic modeling has been completed for the entire floodplain.

Additionally, any alternative that includes low summer flow provisions should be removed from the Corps consideration due to its impacts on navigation and public utility operations. Low flows would kill the navigation industry, which has seen a recent resurgence due to improved conditions on the river. Commercial navigation is dependent upon flow certainty and there are numerous advantages to increasing utilization of our inland waterway system. The combination of water-compelled rates and the importance of flows from the Missouri River to the Middle Mississippi River should spell doom for any serious consideration of summer low flows. The Missouri Rivers role as a marine highway will only become more important as U.S. farmers continue seeking new markets for their products.

While pleased the Corps and USFWS are moving away from the construction of chutes, concern remains about Interception Rearing Complexes (IRC) or Shallow Water Habitat 2.0. Little is known about the impacts of IRCs, yet plans call for 12 to be constructed over a six-year period. It would make sense to construct one pilot IRC and conduct research to determine its effectiveness before spending the time and money on a dozen.

Further, species recovery can and should be done in a responsible way that does not cause economic hardship to those associated with the Missouri River. This entails a continued working relationship with stakeholders throughout the Missouri River Basin and adoption of management practices that reflect the importance of flood control and navigation as well as the other uses authorized by Congress.
World Angel Investor Conference Made an Invitation to the Global in Beijing

BEIJING, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The press conference of World Angel Investor Conference 2017 sponsored by China Angel Investor College was successfully held at the headquarter of the institution April 21, 2017. Mr. An Xiaoyu, the founder of China Angel Investor College, chairman of the board and chairman of World Angel Investor Conference made an invitation to the global for witnessing the world's top event on global angel investment communityon July 7, 2017.

Taking "Angel investors, let the world create the future together " as the theme, the press conference aims to call on angel investors world wide to work together to promote the development of global angel investment industry. Present at the conference were Mr. An Xiaoyu, the founder of China Angel Investor College, chairman of the board and chairman of World Angel Investor Conference, Mr. Liu Jubo, the secretary general of Chinese IT leadership Summit and co-founder of China Angel Investor College, Mr. Liu Meng, the honorary chairman of World Angel Investor Conference, founder of Yangtze River International Chamber of Commerce and president of Peking University Alumni Association of Hubei Province, Ms. Qian Huigao, the partner and senior vice president of China Venture Investment Co. Ltd, and Mr. Zhang Xuncheng, the co-founder of China Angel Investor College and secretary general of World Angel Investor Conference. The press conference was hosted by Mr. Zhang Xuncheng.

China Angel Investor College fixed "World Angel Day" on July 7th because seven is the most popular number in the world. Seven has been considered as an incredibly lucky number and it means innovation, transformation, subversiveness and future. Since a week is made up of seven days, it represents the periodicity of the law of nature.

Mr. An Xiaoyu, the founder of China Angel Investor College, chairman of the board and chairman of World Angel Investor Conference addressed the press conference. He said that the mission of China Angel Investor College was to cultivate qualified angel investors and its great vision was to cultivate 60 thousand qualified angel investors in the next 20 years so that half of angel investors was from China Angel Investor College in the future. China Angel Investor College plans to help100 entrepreneurs and create 1000 employment opportunities in 10 years.

More information about China Angel Investor College: www.zgts.com

TEL: 400-660-7177

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/angel-investors-let-the-world-create-the-future-together-300451507.html
BOCA RATON, FL -- (Marketwired) -- 05/04/17 -- Protext Mobility, Inc. (OTC PINK: TXTM) ("Protext" or "the Company"), a biotech company engaged in the development of pharmaceutical applications with highly bioavailable Phytofare extracts, announced today that it has signed an agreement with the Centre International de Developpment Pharmaceutique (CIDP) to conduct a human clinical trial with its product Phytofare Catechin Complex, in the country of Mauritius.

The study is titled "Clinical Trial on Humans to determine the efficacy of Phytofare for lowering HbA1C levels in II Diabetes patients." When glucose builds up in a person's blood, it binds to the hemoglobin in red blood cells. The HbA1C test measures how much glucose is bound over a 2-3 month period to determine average plasma glucose concentration. The objective of the study is to determine the efficacy of Phytofare Catechin Complex for improving the levels of hypoglycemia in people with diabetes as emphasized in the American Diabetes Association's new 2017 Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes. The Company expects to begin phase-one with a bioavailability study this month with CIC Cynologies to confirm the human clinical study dosage of Phytofare Catechin Complex. Results are anticipated for release in June; then followed by the implementation of the Type-II diabetes human clinical trial in the second half of 2017, to be undertaken by CIDP.

Roger Baylis-Duffield, Chief Executive Officer of Protext, commented, "Management recently held extensive meetings with CIDP in Mauritius and were duly impressed with the medical infrastructure and levels of professionalism. Having a qualified team in Mauritius to oversee and manage the human clinical trial is a tremendous asset as the study findings will be subjected to a vigorous peer review. Based on the outcome of the clinical studies, the company intends to submit its findings to the United States FDA under their Botanical Drug classification to obtain clearance to market Phytofare specifically for treating Type II diabetes. Botanical drugs are subject to fewer requirements by the FDA and can obtain clearance much faster and with significantly less cost. The human clinical trial is an important milestone, and next step, for the Company as obtaining a diabetes claim would enable the company to; enter a market where 12% of global health expenditure is spent on diabetes ($673 billion), and globally license the product to benefit and to improve the lives of people affected by Type II diabetes throughout the world, including to more than 29 million Americans suffering from this disease. Until we obtain an FDA clearance specific to diabetes, we intend to commence selling the product worldwide using "structure function claims" about the general benefits of Phytofare in regulating glucose levels."

Mrs. Vandana Mungroo, Head of clinical operations CIDP, who will oversee the human clinical trial in Mauritius, added, "We're excited to work with Protext on a project that is so critical to the health of Mauritius, where an estimated 25% of the population suffers from Type II Diabetes. Having a complex of active antioxidants available to help regulate glucose levels would be a significant benefit to developing countries where the populations are hardest hit. Multiple third-party studies indicate that green tea catechins show potential for regulating glucose levels however; human clinical research in this field has been hampered due to poor bioavailability and high dosage. We now believe that the higher bioavailability of Phytofare may overcome these challenges and lead to an all-natural inhibitive and preventative treatment of the disease."

Phytofare Catechin Complex is a highly-bioavailable extract produced from live green tea leaves. The unique manufacturing process of Phytofare yields an end product that contains all eight catechins (antioxidants) found in green tea. Human clinical studies have shown that more than ten times Phytofare catechins are transferred into the blood plasma over generic catechin extracts, where they remain at therapeutic levels for more than 24 hours.

CIDP is a private and independent CRO carrying out high performance research and clinical activities for pharmaceutical, medical device, nutrition and cosmetic industries. With over 12 years of experience in the clinical research, CIDP has now a strong foothold of each continent with centers located in Brazil, India, Mauritius, Romania and Singapore. The services provided are segmented into five main areas of expertise:

Research & Innovation, Preclinical (Invitro) Clinical, Biostatistics and Data and Regulatory Affairs. CIDP has also developed an independent Global Quality Assurance department which monitors their studies worldwide. All subsidiaries are ISO 9001 certified. For additional information visit www.cidp-cro.com.

We encourage our investors and shareholders to connect and engage with us through social media. You can find us on the following:

YouTube: http://bit.ly/ProtextYouTube

Twitter: https://twitter.com/protxtm

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/protextm/

About Protext Mobility, Inc.

Protext Mobility operates two wholly owned subsidiaries; Plandai Biotechnology South Africa (Pty) Ltd. and Cannabis Biosciences, Inc. The Company is engaged in the research, clinical testing and commercialization of highly bioavailable botanical products -- all natural ingredients formulated for pharmaceutical applications and produced under pharma-grade conditions.

Through its wholly owned subsidiary Plandai Biotechnology SA, the Company has the exclusive worldwide license to develop Phytofare extracts from live plant materials including Phytofare catechin complex, a highly bioavailable, and clinically proven antioxidant complex produced from live green tea leaves. Phytofare can deliver a therapeutic level of catechins, which function as powerful antioxidants, to the system where they remain active for over 24 hours. Targeted applications for the Company's products include arthritis, inflammation, anti-viral, and diabetes-related metabolic syndromes.

Please visit http://www.protextm.co for further information.

Safe Harbor Statement

This release contains forward-looking statements that are based upon current expectations or beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions about future events. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements and the assumptions upon which they are based are reasonable, we can give no assurance or guarantee that such expectations and assumptions will prove to have been correct. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by the use of words like "may," "will," "should," "could," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "intend," or "project" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. The reader is cautioned not to put undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, as these statements are subject to numerous factors and uncertainties, including but not limited to: adverse economic conditions, competition, adverse federal, state and local government regulation, international governmental regulation, inadequate capital, inability to carry out research, development and commercialization plans, loss or retirement of key executives and other specific risks. To the extent that statements in this press release are not strictly historical, including statements as to revenue projections, business strategy, outlook, objectives, future milestones, plans, intentions, goals, future financial conditions, events conditioned on stockholder or other approval, or otherwise as to future events, such statements are forward-looking, and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. The company disclaims any obligation to update information contained in any forward-looking statement. This press release shall not be deemed a general solicitation.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Info@protextm.co

Contact: (435) 881-3611




SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - May 04, 2017) - With the impacts of Alzheimer's disease on patients, doctors and the health care industry expected to burgeon over the next decade, ProMIS Neurosciences Inc. (TSX: PMN), has developed a preclinical program that targets the root cause of the disease, and also offers the potential to get in on an investment with a double bottom line, says Elliot Goldstein, CEO of ProMIS, in this interview with The Life Sciences Report.

Included in this article is: ProMIS Neurosciences Inc.

The Life Sciences Report: Dr. Goldstein, your company, ProMIS Neurosciences Inc., recently presented information on its preclinical development program addressing Alzheimer's disease. Please describe that.

Elliot Goldstein: Our most recent news is a poster presentation, which was given April 28 at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting in Boston. It's an overview of the current status of our program, and focuses first on our unique proprietary technology, thermodynamic algorithms that run on supercomputers. Using this technology, we've been able to identify five distinct sites, called epitopes, on misfolded toxic forms of Amyloid beta, a known root cause of Alzheimer's disease. An epitope is a target on a molecule, usually a protein, that antibodies can attach to and then neutralize.

The poster also focuses on the cause -- the misfolded forms of Amyloid beta. Also called toxic oligomers or prion-like forms, these toxic forms do two things. They're like gang members in the neighborhood. They're directly toxic to neurons. When they're in the vicinity of neurons, they kill them.

Not only are the oligomers toxic, they propagate, like viruses or prions, throughout the brain. This usually begins in the region of the brain called the hippocampus, where short-term memory is stored. That's why the first signs of Alzheimer's disease involve short-term memory loss. They then spread to the frontal lobes, where cognition, judgment and emotion reside.

We can follow the propagation of these misfolded toxic oligomers or prions. On average it's about 17 years before any symptoms emerge, as these toxic forms of Amyloid beta slowly spread (propagate), destroying billions of neurons. And they propagate in a very simple manner. When they misfold, they lose energy, and become toxic, killing neurons. Any monomer, which is a single strand of normal Amyloid beta in the neighborhood, takes on the same misfolded, toxic shape. The toxic form acts like a template. So now you have two bad actors in your neighborhood; two toxic misfolded oligomers. And those two will then create four, and so on. . .

The poster points out that we've used our two proprietary thermodynamic algorithms to identify five unique targets (epitopes) on the misfolded toxic forms of Amyloid beta. The problem is that these forms are relatively unstable, so traditional pharmaceutical techniques cannot be used to identify sites to attack. To our knowledge, the ProMIS thermodynamic algorithms are the only way to identify these specific targets.

Using our algorithms, not only do we identify the amino acid sequence in the region of misfolding, we also identify the shape, or conformation, of the misfolding. That's really important -- not just the sequence of amino acids exposed, but also the shape of the exposed sequence. We take that misfolded sequence, or epitope, synthesize it, and then use it to immunize mice, thereby raising monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that are specifically and uniquely directed only against the amino acid sequence and shape of that sequence in the misfolded region. The final result is we now have antibodies that are specific and unique to the toxic misfolded forms of Amyloid beta.

We've also tested to make sure our antibodies don't bind to Amyloid beta monomer or plaque. Indeed, results of prior large pharma trials indicate that products targeting monomer suffer from lack of efficacy, and those targeting plaque are associated with significant adverse effects.

Continue reading this article: The ProMIS of an Alzheimer's Cure

About Streetwise Reports - The Life Sciences Report

Investors rely on The Life Sciences Report to share investment ideas for the biotech, pharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostics industries. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.

DISCLOSURE:

ProMIS Neurosciences is a sponsor of Streetwise Reports. Streetwise Reports does not accept stock in exchange for its services. Click here for important disclaimers. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. ProMIS Neurosciences Inc. had final approval of the content and is wholly responsible for the validity of the statements. Opinions expressed are the opinions of Elliott Goldstein and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers.

Elliott Goldstein: I was not paid by Streetwise Reports to participate in this interview. I had the opportunity to review the interview for accuracy as of the date of the interview and am responsible for the content of the interview. I or my family own shares of the following companies mentioned in this interview: ProMIS Neurosciences Inc.

Please see the end of the article for the complete disclosure: The ProMIS of an Alzheimer's Cure

Contact Information:

Carrie Beal Amaro

Associate Publisher

Email contact


Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 4, 2017) - Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc. (CSE: LDS) (OTCQB: LDSYF) (FSE: LD6) (WKN: A14XHT) ("LDS" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into binding definitive agreements with NHMC, Inc. ("NHMC") and CSPA Group, Inc. ("CSPA"), pursuant to which LDS will manage medicinal marijuana cultivation, extraction and manufacturing operations in Adelanto, California. In addition, LDS has entered into a license agreement with its Chief Science Officer, Dr. John M. Sanderson, M.D., and Nanostrips, Inc., a company controlled by Dr. Sanderson, pursuant to which Dr. Sanderson has granted LDS exclusive worldwide rights to a technology developed by Dr. Sanderson for an improved method of infusing cannabis extracts into thin-film oral delivery strips.

Medical Marijuana Cultivation, Extraction and Manufacturing Operations

Effective May 1, 2017, LDS has entered into formal binding agreements with NHMC and CSPA whereby LDS, through its majority owned subsidiaries, LDS Agrotech Inc. ("LDS Agrotech") and LDS Scientific Inc. ("LDS Scientific"), will manage medicinal marijuana cultivation, extraction and manufacturing operations on behalf of NHMC and CSPA in the City of Adelanto, California. NHMC is the holder of permits granted by the City of Adelanto for the operation of an indoor medicinal marijuana cultivation facility, while CSPA is the holder of permits granted by the City of Adelanto for the operation of an indoor medicinal marijuana extraction and manufacturing facility. Pursuant to the provisions of a requirements contract between NHMC and CSPA, CSPA has the right to purchase all of the cannabis products cultivated and harvested by NHMC. Any products in excess of CSPA's needs may be sold by NHMC to licensed distributors. NHMC and CSPA are related nonprofit mutual benefit corporations having the same sole members.

LDS Agrotech has entered into a management services agreement with NHMC, whereby LDS Agrotech will act as the sole operator of NHMC's medicinal marijuana cultivation operations. Concurrently, LDS Scientific has entered into a management services agreement with CSPA, whereby LDS Scientific will act as the sole operator of CSPA's medicinal marijuana extraction and manufacturing operations. The terms of the management services agreements with NHMC and CSPA are substantially identical to each other. Under the terms of the management services agreements, LDS Agrotech and LDS Scientific will perform all functions related to the cultivation, extraction and manufacturing operations of NHMC and CSPA, respectively. LDS Agrotech and LDS Scientific will be primarily responsible for advancing the operating costs of those operations, and will be reimbursed for such operating costs out of NHMC's and CSPA's respective revenues. In addition, LDS Agrotech and LDS Scientific will receive management fees equal to 75% of revenues over operating expenses, as defined in the respective management services agreements, with NHMC and CSPA receiving the remaining 25% balance. Neither NHMC nor CSPA may disburse funds held by them without the consent of LDS Agrotech or LDS Scientific, respectively. Both NHMC/LDS Agrotech's cultivation operations and CSPA/LDS Scientific's extraction and manufacturing operations will be operated out of the same indoor facility in Adelanto, California (the "Adelanto Facility"). Construction of the Adelanto Facility is currently underway. LDS expects that construction of the extraction and manufacturing wing of the joint use Adelanto Facility will be completed in May 2017, with construction of the nursery and marijuana cultivation wing of the Adelanto Facility expected to be completed in July 2017.

Membership Purchase Agreements with NHMC and CSPA

Concurrent with the execution of the management services agreements, LDS entered into separate agreements to purchase the sole outstanding membership interests of each of NHMC and CSPA. LDS has agreed to purchase the sole membership interest of each of NHMC and CSPA in exchange for 3,000,000 common shares of LDS and US$1,400,000 in cash, each (6,000,000 LDS common shares and US$2,800,000 in cash total). One-third (1/3) of the share consideration and cash purchase price for NHMC will be paid upon the grant of a Certificate of Occupancy for the cultivation wing of the Adelanto Facility, and one-third (1/3) of the share consideration and cash purchase price for CSPA will be paid upon the grant of a Certificate of Occupancy for the extraction and manufacturing wing of the Adelanto Facility. The balance of the purchase price for NHMC and CSPA will be paid in equal annual installments during the two years after the granting of the respective Certificates of Occupancy. LDS has the right to accelerate payment of the purchase price for NHMC and CSPA earlier than scheduled. If the Certificates of Occupancy are not granted on or prior to August 31, 2017, the members of NHMC and CSPA will forfeit their rights to the share consideration, and the purchase price for each will consist solely of the cash consideration. If, at any time prior to the payment of the full purchase price, NHMC or CSPA breach their respective management services agreements or the provisions of their governing documents, or their respective cultivation and extraction and manufacturing permits are revoked, then LDS will have the right to acquire NHMC or CSPA without the payment of any additional consideration.

LDS Agrotech and LDS Scientific

NHMC's cultivation operations and CSPA's extraction and manufacturing operations will be managed by LDS' majority owned subsidiaries, LDS Agrotech and LDS Scientific, respectively. LDS owns a 75% interest in each of LDS Agrotech and LDS Scientific. The remaining 25% of LDS Agrotech is owned by its CEO, Matt Fergusson, and the remaining 25% of LDS Scientific is owned by its CEO, Crystal Elrod. Mr. Fergusson and Ms. Elrod are employed by LDS Agrotech and LDS Scientific, respectively, at a salary of US$132,000 per year.

LDS has entered into separate option and first right of refusal agreements with each of Mr. Fergusson and Ms. Elrod, pursuant to which LDS was granted options to purchase the remaining 25% of each of LDS Agrotech and LDS Scientific from Mr. Fergusson and Ms. Elrod, respectively (the "LDS Agrotech Option" and the "LDS Scientific Option", respectively).

To exercise the LDS Agrotech Option, LDS will be required to:

(a) issue to Mr. Fergusson a total of 2,500,000 LDS common shares; and

(b) pay to Mr. Fergusson a total of:

(i) US$500,000 in cash, if the option is exercised on or before July 31, 2017, or

(ii) US$1,000,000 in cash, if the option is exercised after July 31, 2017, but on or before July 31, 2018

(the "Option Price").

The LDS Agrotech Option may be exercised in whole or in part, with the Option Price being allocated pro rata to the number of shares being purchased. Upon exercise of the LDS Agrotech Option, in whole or in part, LDS will have the immediate right to vote and receive distributions on the LDS Agrotech shares acquired, with the Option Price being payable in 5 annual installments from the date of exercise. The LDS Agrotech Option expires on July 31, 2018, after which LDS will have a right of first refusal over any proposed sale of the 25% interest in LDS Agrotech held by Mr. Fergusson, expiring July 31, 2021.

The LDS Scientific Option is exercisable on the same terms as the LDS Agrotech Option, with LDS also having a right of first refusal extending to July 31, 2021 over any proposed sale of the 25% interest in LDS Scientific held by Ms. Elrod if the LDS Scientific Option is not exercised on or prior to July 31, 2018.

License Agreement with Dr. John Sanderson

Also effective May 1, 2017, LDS entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement with its Chief Science Officer, Dr. John D. Sanderson, and Nanostrips, Inc., a company controlled by Dr. Sanderson (the "Sanderson License Agreement"). Under the terms of the Sanderson License Agreement, LDS has been granted a worldwide exclusive license to the technology described in the provisional patent application relating to the transmucosal delivery of biologically active substances filed by Dr. Sanderson on November 6, 2016, and any technologies deriving therefrom, in the field of cannabis and cannabis extract related products. The technology developed by Dr. Sanderson relates to infusing cannabis extracts in thin film oral delivery strips. In consideration for this license, LDS has agreed to issue to Dr. Sanderson 1,000,000 LDS common shares, with an additional 1,000,000 LDS common shares issuable upon the granting of a United States patent containing claims directed to the new and innovative subject matter described in the provisional patent application filed on November 6, 2016. The Sanderson License Agreement extends for a term expiring on the expiration of the last patent issued in relation to the technology licensed by Dr. Sanderson to LDS.

Cannastrips Canadian Trademark Applications

On April 25, 2017, LDS filed trademark applications with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office to register the trademarks CANNASTRIPS and CANNASTRIPS SMOKEFREE PAIN RELIEF & Design. The applications were filed on the basis of proposed use of the trademarks in Canada in association with various goods related to the transmucosal delivery of biologically active substances.

Cancellation of Prior License and Joint Venture Agreements

LDS' current business focus is on its projects in Adelanto, California with NHMC and CSPA. As such, LDS has terminated its previously disclosed non-exclusive license and supply agreement with Wisdom Homes of America, Inc. ("WOFA"). WOFA had failed to make its annual license payments and had failed to meet its minimum gross sales targets as required under its license agreement. LDS' other previously disclosed non-exclusive license agreement with Healthy Asylum Inc. expired in June 2016 in accordance with its terms. LDS' previously disclosed joint venture with Cultivation Technologies, Inc. was terminated shortly after LDS entered into the original Memorandum of Understanding with NHMC and CSPA. Finally, LDS' previously disclosed memorandum of understanding with Azonic Health Sciences, LLC ("Azonic") has expired in accordance with its terms, although discussions with Azonic are still active and ongoing.

Update on Private Placement Financing

LDS anticipates that its previously announced brokered private placement of up to 24,000,000 units (the "Units") at a price of Cdn$0.50 per Unit for total gross proceeds of up to Cdn$12,000,000 (the "Offering"), led by Canaccord Genuity Corp. (the "Agent") is expected to close on or about May 23, 2017. As previously announced, the Agent will have an over-allotment option for up to 15% of the Offering. Completion of the Offering remains conditional upon the Agent completing its due diligence investigations to its satisfaction and the satisfaction of certain other conditions. Since the announcement of the Offering, LDS has been working diligently with the Agent to satisfy their due diligence investigations. LDS is appreciative of the patience exhibited by interested investors. The legal environment for marijuana operations in California is highly complex, and LDS appreciates the efforts that the Agent, and its team of advisors, have committed to seeing this process to its conclusion. LDS believes that the due diligence process with the Agent has ultimately strengthened LDS' business.

As previously disclosed, each Unit will consist of one common share of the Company (a "Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one additional Common Share (a "Warrant Share") for a period of one year from the date of issuance at an exercise price of Cdn$0.75 per Warrant Share. The Company may accelerate the expiry of the Warrants if the Company's daily volume weighted average share price on the Canadian Stock Exchange (or such other stock exchange the Company may be trading on) is equal to or greater than Cdn$1.50 for 10 consecutive trading days. Net proceeds from the Offering will be used towards the Company's planned equipment purchases and installation, purchases of raw materials and packaging and marketing, and for general working capital purposes.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of any of the securities, in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (the "1933 Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for account or benefit of, U.S. Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration requirements is available.

About Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc.

The Company's technology produces infused strips (similar to breath strips) that are not only a safer, healthier option to smoking, but also a new way to accurately meter the dosage and assure the purity of the product. In addition, with the entering into of its management services agreements with NHMC, Inc. and CSPA Group, Inc., the Company has begun its foray into being directly involved in the growing of medicinal ingredients for, and the manufacturing of, its products. From seed to sale, the Company's products and ingredients will be tested for quality and composition throughout the formulation and production processes, resulting in a delivery system that is safe, consistent and effective.

On behalf of the board of directors of Lifestyle Delivery Systems Inc.

Brad Eckenweiler, CEO & Director

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

investor.relations@lifestyledeliverysystem.com

1-866-347-5058

And

Skanderbeg Capital Advisors

604-687-7130

mario@skanderbegcapital.com



Cautionary Disclaimer Statement:

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release.

Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release including, but not limited to, the timing and completion of the Offering, the timing and ultimate grant of a United States patent for the Sanderson technology, the timing and completion of the build out of the Adelanto Facility, and the complexity and evolving nature of the legal and regulatory landscape for medical and recreational marijuana in the State of California. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. The Company cautions that all forward looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's limited operating history and the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations. In particular, completion of the Offering remains subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions. Completion of the Adelanto Facility may be subject to uncertainties including the availability of trades people and obtaining the necessary occupancy permits, which may be outside of the Company's control. In addition, there is significant regulatory uncertainty with respect to the production and sale of medicinal and recreational marijuana in the United States of America. In particular, marijuana remains a Schedule I drug under the United States Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Although Congress has prohibited the US Justice Department from spending federal funds to interfere with the implementation of state medical marijuana laws, this prohibition must be renewed each year to remain in effect. In addition, although the State of California has adopted laws permitting the commercial cultivation, extraction and manufacturing of medicinal marijuana, final regulations with respect to the implementation of these laws have yet to be adopted. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward- looking information.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES
Oxford Instruments plc - Voting Rights and Capital Update

The following notification is made in accordance with the FSA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

Following the allotment of shares during the month the Company's issued share capital, as at the close of business on 30 April 2017, consisted of 57,316,716 ordinary shares of 5p each with voting rights.

The above figure (57,316,716) may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, Oxford Instruments plc under the FSA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/04/17 -- San Marco Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE: SMN) ("San Marco" or the "Company") announces it has commenced preparation for Phase One core drill program at its 100% owned Chunibas gold/silver project, located approximately 160 kilometres east of Hermosillo, Sonora State, Mexico.

-- The Chunibas targets are a series of high-grade gold bearing veins hosted in intrusive rocks -- There are 5 main vein zones; Santa Rosa, Argentina, Santa Fe, Gusima, and Western, which comprise a "mineralized corridor" 750 metres wide and 1.5 kilometres long -- The Company's sampling of the one to two metre-wide structures has resulted in grades up to 46 g/t gold -- The Project enjoys excellent infrastructure and access -- Surface access rights secured -- Access road repair and drill pad construction is commencing -- Drilling expected to begin by the end of May -- Additional drilling maybe scheduled, based on initial results

The primary objectives of this drilling will be to confirm the presence of higher-grade mineralization within the discrete shear veins, as well as the presence of broad haloes of lower grade Au-Ag within adjacent, sericite - Fe carbonate altered wall rocks. Historical data has been incorporated with the Company's recent exploration work, resulting in field evidence that the north-south trending shear/vein structures coalesce in various zones along strike. This has reinforced the geological model that wider zones of gold mineralization, flanking the high-grade shear structures, some of which continue to be mined by local gambosinos (miners), where grades appear to be in the 15 g/t gold range, exist. (i)

An initial 4 core holes totalling approximately 500 metres is contemplated, two holes in the Santa Fe zone; one hole 400 metres along strike to the north in the Santa Rosa zone; and one hole a further 350 meters to the north in the Argentina zone. These holes are located in areas of old gambosino workings, as well as several historic reverse circulation drill holes. (i)

In addition, baseline metallurgical test work will also be completed, with the objective of determining precious metals recoveries as a function of degree of oxidation.

(i)See the Company's website for historic reverse circulation drill results

San Marco appoints Fernando J. Costa CFO

The Company also announces that Fernando J. Costa, CPA, CA has been appointed as the Company's new Chief Financial Officer.

Mr. Costa brings more than 20 years of professional experience in merger and acquisition transactions along with corporate finance, accounting and taxation matters. Mr. Costa earned his CPA, CA designation in 2001. Mr. Costa currently serves as an assurance partner in a large regional accounting firm located in Vancouver, British Columbia. He has significant experience in dealing with resource based public companies and has been involved in complex corporate finance transactions, mergers and acquisitions.

"We are extremely pleased to welcome Mr. Costa to San Marco's management team," said Bob Willis, CEO of the Company. "He brings an extensive amount of accounting and public company experience to San Marco which will assist the Company as it further develops its resource projects."

This appointment comes with the departure of Bernie Zacharias, who played an important role in the development of the Company and ensuring accurate reporting. Both the board and management team are very grateful for Mr. Zacharias' dedication to and hard work for the Company and wish him well on all his future endeavours.

About San Marco

San Marco Resources Inc. is a Canadian mineral exploration company with a portfolio of promising projects in mining-friendly Mexico, including the Chunibas, Mariana and 1068 Projects in Sonora State.

San Marco actively pursues strategic project generation program focused on high-caliber, low acquisition cost opportunities in the North-western Mexico. The Company has a committed management team with extensive experience in Mexico and a proven track record of building shareholder value.

San Marco currently has 56,051,832 issued and outstanding shares.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Robert Willis, P. Eng., President & CEO

National Instrument 43-101 Disclosure

This news release has been approved by San Marco's CEO, Robert D. Willis, P. Eng. a "Qualified Person" as defined in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators. He has verified the data disclosed, including sampling, analytical and test data, underlying such technical information by reviewing the assay reports provided to San Marco by its independent testing laboratory.

The Company has implemented quality assurance ("QA") and quality control ("QC") programs to ensure sampling and analysis of all exploration work is conducted in accordance with the best possible practices. All sampling programs are carried out in a careful and diligent manner using scientifically established sampling practices designed and tested to ensure that the results are representative and reliable. Quality control programs appropriate to the type of sample and the mineralization are implemented, including such measures as external blanks, standards and duplicate samples. The security of samples from sample acquisition to analysis is a vital component of the sampling process. Procedures include the use of secure core logging, sampling, storage and preparation facilities as appropriate and the prompt, secure and direct shipping of samples to the laboratories. Appropriate sample security procedures are employed given the geographic and topographic conditions and the logistics created by the site location.

Forward Looking Information

Information set forth in this document may include forward-looking statements. While these statements reflect management's current plans, projections and intents, by their nature, forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond the control of San Marco Resources Inc. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements. San Marco's actual results, programs, activities and financial position could differ materially from those expressed in or implied by these forward-looking statements.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Nancy Curry

info@sanmarcocorp.com




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/04/17 -- Brookfield Global Integrated Solutions (BGIS), a leading global real estate management services company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Gordon Hicks as Chief Executive Officer. The global leadership role is newly-created to address the business' significant global growth and future opportunity. Hicks currently serves as CEO, Americas, for BGIS.

Hicks takes on the role during a time of tremendous growth for the company. Over the last 24 months, BGIS has almost doubled its size and expanded in Asia, the UK and the United States. It has 7,000 team members delivering services to more than 100 clients with over 300 million square feet in a portfolio of 30,000+ facilities around the world.

"Under Gord's leadership, BGIS' business in North America has grown significantly in the last 10 years, and its service offerings have expanded to meet the evolving needs of the clients and markets BGIS serves. Gord is a passionate, innovative, results focused, team oriented leader and is well-positioned to lead the business through its next stage of growth," said Bryan Chew, Chairman of the Board.

Gord started his career with BGIS in 1997, and has held a number of executive positions with the company since that time, most recently being responsible for the Americas business. Gord has held a number of industry Board positions over the years, including the International Facility Management Association (IFMA), Canada Green Building Council and the Climate Reality Project, and is a graduate engineer from Carleton University. He is also actively involved in the Corporate Knights Executive Council for Clean Capitalism, and recently founded and is the first Chair of the Board for the Building Energy Innovators Council (BEIC).

About BGIS:

Brookfield Global Integrated Solutions (BGIS) is a leading provider of real estate management services, including facilities management, project delivery services, energy and sustainability solutions, building performance management, workplace advisory and management, and real estate services. With a combined team of over 7,000 team members globally, BGIS inspires better business performance across its client's real estate portfolios by developing and implementing real estate and facilities management strategies. Globally, BGIS manages over 300 million square feet of client portfolios across 30,000+ locations in North America, Europe, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand and Asia.

Further information is available at www.brookfieldgis.com.

BGIS is a subsidiary of Brookfield Business Partners, a business services and industrial company focused on owning and operating high-quality businesses that benefit from barriers to entry and/or low cost production. Brookfield Business Partners is listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges (NYSE:BBU) (TSX: BBU.UN).

Contacts:

Brookfield Global Integrated Solutions

Amanda Kusick

Director of Marketing & Communications

amanda.kusick@brookfieldgis.com




SEATTLE, WA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/04/17 -- CFN Media Group ("CannabisFN"), the leading creative agency and digital media network dedicated to legal cannabis, announces publication of an exclusive interview and article discussing Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc. (CSE: TBP) (OTCQB: GRPOF) and its transition to a pharmaceutical-like approach to the cannabis industry. The interview is with Dr. Guy Chamberland, Tetra's Chief Science Officer.

Smoked Cannabis Trials

Most mainstream physicians are hesitant to recommend the use of medical marijuana to treat any medical conditions due to the lack of controlled clinical trials. In many cases, there's only anecdotal evidence of efficacy in treating certain medical conditions and several studies have shown possible negative side effects. There's also a huge difference between various strains available on their market and very little data supporting one over another.

Tetra Bio-Pharma's flagship clinical program intends to assess the safety and efficacy of smoked marijuana in treating pain in patients with cancer and AIDS. By doing so, the company aims to achieve prescription drug coverage to make medical marijuana more affordable for patients while reassuring physicians that the treatment is both safe and efficacious. The move could have tremendous implications for the industry that still struggles with a negative stereotype.

The team worked closely with U.S. and Canadian regulators to design and implement a Phase I safety trial (ongoing) that will eventually move to a large-scale Phase III efficacy trial targeting pain in patients where opioids and other options have been ineffective.

Partnerships

Tetra Bio-Pharma has recently unveiled several different partnerships that help expand its footprint and advance its clinical pipeline. On April 3, the company announced a definitive agreement to develop and commercialize a drug product containing dronabinol for the management of anorexia and cancer chemotherapy-related pain. The new product will be an oral mucoadhesive tablet based on IntelGenx's proprietary AdVersa technology, which avoids common side effects associated with the original drug, including upset stomach and headache.

On April 19, the company announced plans for the joint distribution of dried medical cannabis in the Maritime Provinces and Quebec with Aphria Inc. The agreement provides the company with dried cannabis for use in its aforementioned clinical trial program while generating near-term revenue to help finance the program's development. This helps the company avoid the cost of establishing its own grow operations.

Please follow the link to read the full article and see the interview: http://www.cannabisfn.com/tetra-bio-pharma-plays-strengths-pharma-approach-plus-exclusive-interview/

Learn how to become a CFN Media client company, brand or entrepreneur: http://www.cannabisfn.com/become-featured-company/

Download the CFN Media iOS mobile app to access the world of cannabis from the palm of your hand: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cannabisfn/id988009247?ls=1&mt=8

Or visit our homepage and enter your mobile number under the Apple App Store logo to receive a download link text on your iPhone: http://www.cannabisfn.com

About CFN Media

CFN Media (CannabisFN), the leading creative agency and media network dedicated to legal cannabis, helps marijuana businesses attract investors, customers (B2B, B2C), capital, and media visibility. Private and public marijuana companies and brands in the US and Canada rely on CFN Media to grow and succeed.

CFN launched in June of 2013 to initially serve the growing universe of publicly traded marijuana companies across North America. Today, CFN Media is also the digital media choice for the emerging brands in the space.

Disclaimer:

Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed in this release contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Emerging Growth LLC, which owns CFN Media and CannabisFN.com, is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority, and does not provide nor claims to provide investment advice or recommendations to readers of this release. Emerging Growth LLC may from time to time have a position in the securities mentioned herein and may increase or decrease such positions without notice. For making specific investment decisions, readers should seek their own advice. Emerging Growth LLC may be compensated for its services in the form of cash-based compensation or equity securities in the companies it writes about, or a combination of the two. For full disclosure please visit: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/.

CFN Media

Frank Lane

206-369-7050

flane@cannabisfn.com




Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - November 16, 2017) - Vitalhub Corp. (TSXV: VHI) ("Vitalhub"), a leading software development company in mobile health applications, is pleased to announce that it has retained leading investor relations firm First Canadian Capital Corp. to provide investor relations and strategic communications services to raise awareness of Vitalhub in the health technology and public markets areas.

Under the terms of the agreement with First Canadian (the "Agreement"), Vitalhub will pay First Canadian $6,000 per month for a period of one year (for an anticipated total cost of $72,000) and has granted 570,000 stock options at an exercise price of $0.125 (twelve and one-half cents) per share, which shall vest in accordance with the company's stock option plan and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Agreement and related stock option issuance to First Canadian remain subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

"First Canadian is very pleased to be working with Dan Matlow and his experienced management team." said George Aizpurua, Vice President at First Canadian. "They have a successful track record and a well-crafted business plan. With an active merger and acquisition strategy, targeting assets with a strong customer base and reoccurring revenue, the Vitalhub team is well positioned to be a major success story. We look forward to adding value to the company's development and involving our network as they roll out their unique offering in 2017 and beyond."

Dan Matlow, Chief Executive Officer and President, Vitalhub commented; "We carefully researched the marketplace and decided that First Canadian Capital possesses the network and ability to effectively communicate our message to the appropriate investor base within all of Canada. We believe they will be extremely effective. This will allow the Vitalhub team more time to manage the business."

Employee Stock Option Grant

Vitalhub is also pleased to announce that it has granted 750,000 stock options to an employee (the "Options") pursuant to the terms of Vitalhub's incentive stock option plan. Each Option is exercisable for one common share of Vitalhub at an exercise price of $0.125 per share and expires on the date that is five years from the date of grant. The Options vest in full immediately.

About Vitalhub

Vitalhub delivers an innovate platform for the creation of mobile health applications that increases productivity within healthcare settings. The Vitalhub platform provides the ability to integrate existing individual healthcare applications while maintaining the control, security and privacy essential in healthcare. Vitalhub's applications are focused on the fast-growing mental health and long term care markets and the company plans to strategically acquire and grow business in these areas. Currently over 50 healthcare institutions across Canada use products from Vitalhub and its subsidiaries.

Vitalhub is based in Toronto, ON, and publicly traded on the TSX Venture Exchange: VHI

Visit www.vitalhub.com

Dan Matlow, Vitalhub

CEO & President

Dan.Matlow@Vitalhub.com

About First Canadian Capital

Based in Toronto and celebrating its 20th year, First Canadian develops strategic platforms for North American corporations that are utilized to gain exposure and recognition to the capital markets. First Canadian's core competencies are found in identifying quality assets and undervalued companies with high growth potential.

George Aizpurua

VP, Communications

Gaizpurua@firstcanadiancapital.com

416.742.5600

Cautionary Statements

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.

Vitalhub Retains Leading Investor Relations Firm First Canadian Capital Corp. & Employee Stock Option Grant
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - With imports and exports both falling, the Commerce Department released a report on Thursday showing that the U.S. trade deficit was little changed in the month of March. The Commerce Department said the trade deficit narrowed to $43.7 billion in March from a revised $43.8 billion in February. The trade deficit had been expected to widen to $44.5 billion from the $43.6 billion originally reported for the previous month. The report said the value of imports dropped by 0.7 percent to $234.7 billion in March from $236.4 billion in February. Imports of capital goods and crude oil and other petroleum products showed notable decreases, while imports of passenger cars saw a significant increase. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said the value of exports fell by 0.9 percent to $191.0 billion in March from $192.7 billion in February. While exports of industrial supplies and materials and passenger cars saw substantial decreases, exports of civilian aircraft engines and telecom equipment increased. The report also said the goods deficit widened to $65.5 billion in March from $65.2 billion in February, while the services surplus widened to $21.8 billion from $21.4 billion. 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.
The Fredericktown R-I Board of Education met for a special board meeting and discussed several issues.

Jennifer McClanahand, a district parent with a background in marketing and crisis management, addressed the group on ways to improve communication between school administration and parents when emergencies arise. The conversation stemmed from a April 24 incident involving threats made by a student on a school bus, which resulted in a response from Fredericktown Police officers.

McClanahand said the response from the school district to inform parents was unsatisfactory, and that she wanted to share responsibility for moving the district forward in the right direction.

She gave suggestions to the board on ways that modes of communication could be employed to quickly and effectively communicate the details of emergencies to parents.

High School Principal and District Safety Coordinator Shannon Henson said theres plenty in the emergency handbook about crisis response but there should be updates and additions to how information is communicated to parents after the fact.

Fredericktown R-I Superintendent Brett Reutzel and McClanahand said its also important to establish a hierarchy of importance to emergencies in the district, so that alerts dont become a nuisance or concern caused when its not necessary.

Reutzel said the district will look into finding the best medium to use in quickly communicating with parents. He mentioned the possibility of text-messaging and other smartphone apps that parents could sign up for.

In other actions, Kelly Korokis and students from a Learning Zone after school class spoke to the school board about the benefits of offering a middle school and high school debate team.

Korokis explained that the Learning Zone class had been learning about the rules of debate and how to present a speech. Students Katie Crites, Dylan Ferrell and Abby Kincaid then presented brief persuasive speeches to describe the benefits that a debate team could have for the school district.

Debaters score better on the SAT and ACT, Crites said. They get into better colleges and do better in college.

(Debate) teaches the principles of tolerance, nonviolence and respect for other peers points of view, said Ferrell.

Debate is for everyone, Kincaid said. Even the cool kids.

Board Member Leo Francis said the idea seemed like a good way to encourage verbal communication skills among students.

After a brief discussion about the logistics, Superintendent Brett Reutzel said he would begin looking into similar programs in the area to institute at Fredericktown.

Next, the board discussed the possible donation of score boards and scorers table for the high school gym. Reutzel said the equipment could be donated by area banks and would feature advertisements for those banks.

Reutzel also reported that the University of Missouri Extension Office had contacted him and offered to plant a tree on school grounds that is an offspring of the Liberty Tree, which was involved in the beginning of the American Revolution.

Reutzel gave an update on the dental insurance rates for employees for next year, which rose slightly from last year. The board approved the new rates.

Reutzel gave a brief update on the intermediate addition and modular building projects, saying that the projects are still on track.

The next meeting of the Fredericktown R-I Board of Education will be at 5 p.m. on May 16 at the school district office.
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/04/17 -- Note to editors: There are two maps associated with this press release.

Erdene Resource Development Corp. (TSX: ERD) ("Erdene" or "Company") is pleased to announce initial results from the Company's 2017 drill program at its 100%-owned Bayan Khundii Gold Project ("Bayan Khundii") in southwest Mongolia, and to announce changes to its management team in Mongolia.

Highlights (see attached plan map and cross-sections for reference)

-- Drilling confirms that the Midfield Zone continues down dip to the south potentially connecting with the Striker Zone -- Drilling establishes presence of wider, higher-grade quartz adularia "feeder" veins at the Midfield Zone -- Confirms greater depth potential south of the Midfield Zone -- Improves confidence in continuity of the high-grade zones within Midfield -- Second drill rig now operating and testing the previously announced high-grade intersection in the Discovery Zone at the Company's neighbouring Altan Nar gold-polymetallic project -- Company strengthens management team in Mongolia

Table 1. Highlights for holes drilled within Midfield Zone (see attached map and section)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From To Interval Gold Drill Hole (m) (m) (m) (1) (g/t) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- BKD-98 39 170.5 131.5 3.86 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- incl 42 122 80 6.03 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- incl 86 87 1 11.1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- incl 111 119 8 51.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- incl 112 114 2 192 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- BKD-99 53 158.4 105.4 3.55 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- incl 56 112 56 6.13 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- incl 87 91 4 69.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- incl 111 112 1 12.9 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- BKD-101 54 200.4 146.4 0.84 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- incl 134 144.1 10.1 4.84 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- incl 139 144.1 5.1 8.70 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- incl 142 144.1 2.1 19.1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- incl 182 185 3 4.28 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- BKD-102 0 20 20 0.40 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- and 44 183.2 139.2 0.74 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- incl 131 163 32 2.06 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- incl 142 146 4 7.40 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- incl 145 146 1 16.2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) Reported intervals are not true width. At this time, there is insufficient data with respect to the shape of the mineralized system to calculate true orientations in space. They represent drill intersection widths from holes drilled at a dip of -45 to -55 and oriented to the north-northeast. The Bayan Khundii mineralization is interpreted to be moderately dipping (approximately 40 to 50 degrees to the southwest).

2017 Drill Program Update

Since the beginning of the 2017 program, drilling at Bayan Khundii has been focused in the area between, as well as west of, the Midfield and Striker zones, with 11 drill holes completed and three additional hole extensions. The Company has also commenced drilling with a second drill rig at its Altan Nar gold-polymetallic project, 16 kilometres northwest of Bayan Khundii, where three holes have been completed targeting the high-grade gold zone intersected in Q4-2016 within the Discovery Zone (hole TND-101).

Results reported today are from the first six new holes at Bayan Khundii including: two holes drilled within Midfield; two holes testing the down-dip extension of Midfield towards the Striker Zone; one west of Midfield and one hole testing a geophysical target outside of the main northeast trend. As shown in the attached plan map and cross-section, the five holes completed within the Striker-Midfield area (BKD-98 to BKD-102) were drilled on 20 to 40-metre centers and with a dip between -45 to -55 degrees oriented towards the north-northeast to intersect the mineralized zones approximately perpendicular to their interpreted orientation (dipping approximately 45 degrees to the southwest). The reconnaissance hole was drilled at -85 degrees to the north.

The drilling results for Midfield are significant in that they have extended the area of gold mineralization down dip to the south. They have also begun to confirm that gold mineralization continues within the approximately 170 metre un-tested area between Striker and Midfield, the two most prominent gold mineralized zones identified to date within the 2 kilometre by 1.8 kilometre Bayan Khundii prospect area. The results also strengthen the continuity of the high gold grades reported previously in the central Midfield area, and support the observation that this area contains the most intense hydrothermal activity and the most pervasive gold mineralization at Bayan Khundii. This observation is now supported by the repeated intersection of up to 8 metre wide, high-grade gold zones centered on quartz-adularia veins (BKD-98: 111 m to 119 m; 51.0 g/t gold). Hole BKD-100 tested the western edge of Midfield and intersected intrusive syenite at shallower depths than expected, truncating the down-dip western extension in that area. However, drilling further west intersected anomalous gold in Devonian volcanics at greater depths, suggesting the intrusive bodies are relatively restricted in extent.

Current drilling also confirmed that gold mineralization continues at greater depths to the south of Midfield. The intrusion intersected in previous drilling at Midfield is deepening to the south where up to 162 metres (vertical thickness) of altered and mineralized Devonian volcanic units have been intersected.

The Midfield Zone is located under younger, post-mineralization cover and has provided some of the highest grades and longest, continuously mineralized intervals intersected to date. It is located approximately 200 metres north of the original discovery area, which includes the Striker and Gold Hill zones where gold mineralization is exposed at surface. An additional mineralized zone is located 600 metres northeast of the Midfield Zone where limited exploration has been completed (Northeast Zone), with the area between covered by younger Cretaceous (post mineralization) units.

The reconnaissance hole drilled in the northwest portion of Bayan Khundii is one of many holes that will test targets outside the main trend of mineralization in the coming months. These holes are designed to test new concepts but also to provide data to support the Company's broader understanding of the alteration and mineralizing event. This hole was drilled 400 metres west of the Northeast Zone and 300 metres north of the Midfield Zone. While not hosting anomalous gold values, it did intersect a sequence of weak to moderately altered tuffaceous rocks and dacite intrusions, starting at 12 metres depth beneath younger cover. Locally, zones of intense silicification, mica and magnetite alteration were encountered confirming that hydrothermal fluids did penetrate this far from the known mineralized zones. Similar indications have been observed at the bottom of the most western hole (BKD-75), 300 metres west of Midfield, where the hole encountered higher gold values at the end of the hole (185 metre vertical depth), up to 0.5 g/t gold over 2 metres.

Dr. Jeffrey Hedenquist and other renowned experts, including Imants Kavalieris and Dr. Khashgerel Bat-Erdene, will be visiting the project again in the coming months to continue to assist the Erdene technical team in improving its understanding of the controls on mineralization which will be used, in part, to direct the Company's reconnaissance drilling program.

2017 Drill Plans

The initial phase of 2017 drilling includes the completion of a series of holes in the untested areas around the original discovery areas at Bayan Khundii in order to expand and increase confidence in the continuity of the following areas; between Striker and Midfield, north of Midfield, west and northeast of Striker, and between Gold Hill and Striker. As that work progresses, the second rig, which commenced drilling in late April, will complete a series of holes at the Discovery Zone at Altan Nar (16 kilometres north of Bayan Khundii) and the new Altan Arrow gold discovery (3.5 kilometres north of Bayan Khundii) before joining the drill program at Bayan Khundii in mid-May. The second rig will then begin systematically testing geophysical targets throughout the 2 kilometre by 1.8 kilometre Bayan Khundii area, while the first rig commences more detailed infill work around the new and existing high-grade zones at Midfield, Striker, and Gold Hill. As the field season progresses and results are received, the program will be refined and expanded where necessary to concentrate additional drilling around the highest priority targets at Bayan Khundii, Altan Nar and Altan Arrow. A follow-up second phase program will be defined and implemented in early Q4-2017, based on the results from the Q2-Q3 exploration program.

Mongolia Management Team Strengthened

On May 1, the Company made several changes to its management team in Mongolia, including the hiring of Jon Lyons as Vice President Regulatory Affairs and Strategy. The changes are aimed at preparing the Company for a transition into permitting and development related work in the coming months and years. The appointments include:

Bayarmaa Bagabandi - Ms. Bagabandi has been appointed Chief Administrative Officer for Erdene Mongol LLC, the Company's main Mongolian subsidiary, responsible for overseeing all financial, legal and human resource responsibilities. Bayarmaa earned an MSc in International Economics from Korea's Sogang University and has been employed with the Company for the past 12 years. Bayarmaa has been involved in the administrative side of Mongolia's resource industry for the past 17 years.

Jon M. L. Lyons - Mr. Lyons will take on the role of Vice President Regulatory Affairs and Strategy, responsible for managing the various government permitting processes required to advance Erdene's mineral exploration and mining projects. Jon will also be responsible for oversight of Health, Safety, Environment, and Community areas for the Company, especially to ensure compliance and cultivate shared value for all stakeholders. Most recently, Jon was with the Global Green Growth Institute as Country Representative to Mongolia. Jon has lived and worked intermittently in Mongolia and the region, including a previous posting with the Company, since 2001. Jon earned an MBA from Maastricht University and the EuroMBA consortium and a B.A. (summa cum laude) in physics and anthropology from Wheaton College, MA, and is fluent in Mongolian and Russian.

Bilguun Ankhbayar - Mr. Ankhbayar has been appointed Vice President Business Development, responsible for assisting the Company's CEO in advancing Erdene's projects to development, including economic evaluations, strategic market analysis, investor and other stakeholder relations and business development in the local communities. Bilguun graduated from Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2007 with a B.Comm in Finance. He worked in the resource investment industry in Toronto, Canada before returning to Mongolia to become CEO of the Mongolian International Banking Group (MIBG). Bilguun became a strategic advisor to Erdene in 2016, and is now taking on increased responsibilities.

Erdenebileg Pagva - Mr. Pagva has been appointed Senior Representative for Bayankhongor, the province that hosts the Company's Bayan Khundii, Altan Nar and other projects. Erdenebileg's responsibilities include managing the Company's stakeholder relations in Bayankhongor, and ensuring alignment of the Company's business activities with local and regional development trends. Erdenebileg has worked in Mongolia's mineral exploration and gold mining sector for nearly 25 years, and holds a BSc in Geology and Mine Engineering from the Mongolian University of Science and Technology.

Background on Bayan Khundii Gold Project

In Q2-2015, Erdene conducted an initial exploration program on the southern portion of the Company's 100%-owned Khundii exploration license in southwest Mongolia. An early rock-chip sampling program revealed multiple very high-grade surface quartz veins that returned up to 4,380 g/t gold, leading to a comprehensive exploration program that has included: geological mapping; soil geochemical surveys; additional surface rock chip sampling; a ground magnetic survey; gradient array and dipole-dipole induced polarization surveys; and the completion of 11,300 meters of drilling in 96 drill holes (as of Q4-2016). In addition to this work, a series of detailed follow-up studies have also been completed, predominantly on drill core and minor surface outcrop, including: petrographic and mineralogical analyses; a fluid inclusion study; SEM gold composition analysis; Short-Wave Infra-Red Analysis (SWIR); structural analysis; and overall petrogenetic analysis. Drilling has revealed the presence of very high gold grades, with up to 306 g/t gold over 1 metre intervals, within broad mineralized envelopes, with up to 65 metres averaging 6.3 g/t gold, including 12 metres of 29 g/t gold. Detailed studies indicate the mineralized zones can be characterized as low-sulphidation, quartz-sericite (illite)-adularia type mineralization that was formed in a back-arc extensional environment.

In Q1-2016, the Company concluded preliminary metallurgical test work at Bayan Khundii, indicating that gravity concentration and cyanidation of the gravity tails yielded very good overall gold recoveries for both high-grade and low-grade composites: 99% gold recovery from the high-grade composite (24.9 g/t gold), and 92% gold recovery from the low-grade composite (0.7 g/t gold). Additional metallurgical work is underway with completion anticipated in Q3.

The Bayan Khundii license has a 2% net smelter returns royalty ("NSR Royalty") in favour of Sandstorm Gold Ltd., with a buy-back option to reduce the NSR Royalty to 1%.

Qualified Person and Sample Protocol

Michael MacDonald, P.Geo. (Nova Scotia), Vice President Exploration for Erdene, is the Qualified Person as that term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. All samples have been assayed at SGS Laboratory in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. In addition to internal checks by SGS Laboratory, the Company incorporates a QA/QC sample protocol utilizing prepared standards and blanks.

Erdene's sampling protocol for drill core consisted of collection of samples over 1 metre or 2 metre intervals (depending on the lithology and style of mineralization) over the entire length of the drill hole, excluding minor post-mineral lithologies and un-mineralized granitoids. Sample intervals were based on meterage, not geological controls or mineralization. All drill core was cut in half with a diamond saw, with half of the core placed in sample bags and the remaining half securely retained in core boxes at Erdene's Bayan Khundii exploration camp. All samples were organized into batches of 30 samples including a commercially prepared standard, blank, and either a field duplicate, consisting of two 1/4 core intervals, or a laboratory duplicate. Sample batches were periodically shipped directly to SGS in Ulaanbaatar via Erdene's logistical contractor, Monrud Co. Ltd.

About Erdene

Erdene Resource Development Corp. is a Canada-based resource company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of base and precious metals in underexplored and highly prospective Mongolia. In addition to Bayan Khundii and Altan Nar, the Company has three other exploration licenses and a mining license in southwest Mongolia. Other deposits and prospects within these licenses include: Khuvyn Khar - an early-stage, copper-silver porphyry project with multiple drill targets and significant copper intersections; Nomin Tal - a narrow, high grade copper-gold discovery; Zuun Mod - a large molybdenum-copper porphyry deposit; and Altan Arrow - an early-stage, high-grade, gold-silver project. In addition to the above properties, the Company has an Alliance with Teck Resources Limited on regional copper-gold exploration in the prospective Trans Altai region of southwest Mongolia. For further information on the Company, please visit www.erdene.com. Erdene has 145,550,586 issued and outstanding common shares and a fully diluted position of 156,592,160 common shares.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information regarding Erdene contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements may include estimates, plans, expectations, opinions, forecasts, projections, guidance or other statements that are not statements of fact. Although Erdene believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Erdene cautions that actual performance will be affected by a number of factors, most of which are beyond its control, and that future events and results may vary substantially from what Erdene currently foresees. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration results, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. The forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The information contained herein is stated as of the current date and is subject to change after that date. The Company does not assume the obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

NO REGULATORY AUTHORITY HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED THE CONTENTS OF THIS RELEASE

To view the maps associated with this press release, please visit the following links:

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20170504-ERD_Figure1-RegionalLocationMap_lrg.jpg

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20170504-ERD_Figure2-MidfieldCross-Section_lrg.jpg

Contacts:

Erdene Resource Development Corporation

Peter C. Akerley, President and CEO, or

Ken W. MacDonald, Vice President and CFO

(902) 423-6419

info@erdene.com / www.erdene.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ErdeneRes




Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 4, 2017) - Maricann Group Inc. (CSE: MARI) (Maricann or the "Company") is pleased to announce that Maricann has secured $42,500,000 in non-dilutive financing to further expand production in Germany.

The $42,500,000 non-dilutive financing comes from The Green Streaming Finance Company of Canada Inc., a Vancouver-based company that provides non-equity financing solutions for cannabis producers. The streaming payment will be made in return for the right to purchase 20% of production at an all in cost +10% from expansion funded by Green Streaming in Germany. "We are pleased to be funding Maricann and their expansion efforts in Germany. This is a win-win relationship for Maricann and Green Streaming Finance, with no dilution to Maricann shareholders and a stable, reliable, renewable stream of revenue to Green Stream Finance from a proven producer of medicinal cannabis," said Donald McInnes, founder of Green Streaming Finance. Under the terms of the agreement, Maricann will receive investment in two tranches, $15,000,000 and a $27,500,000.

This financing will fully fund the planned 150,000 sq. ft (13,935 square meters) expansion of cultivation operations in its Ebersbach Facility and an additional 250,000 sq. ft. (23,255 sq. m.) of expansion in a two tiered cultivation plan, as well as an outdoor hemp farm from which Maricann will derive high CBD content active pharmaceutical ingredients. The Ebersbach facility (West of Dresden), is a former Cargill plant constructed 20 years ago at a cost of 80 million EUR at that time. The facility is comprised of multiple individual clean rooms that are ideal for cultivation of cannabis. "The Ebersbach facility offers Maricann a significant advantage in cost of overall construction and speed to market. The infrastructure for cultivation of cannabis in an indoor secured environment is already in place. We simply need to add the fertigation system, lights and benches for growing, and then can be operational. Our competitors are spending north of $70,000,000 CAD for facilities with less than 1/3 the footprint of our Ebersbach location. To construct a similar facility today, the estimated cost would be over 120 million EUR. Maricann entered into a reservation agreement to purchase the facility for a total price of 3,410,000 EUR at closing," said Benjamin Ward, CEO.

About Maricann Group Inc.

Maricann is a vertically integrated producer and distributor of marijuana for medical purposes. The company was founded in 2013 and is based in Langton, Ontario, where it operates a medicinal cannabis cultivation, extraction and distribution business under federal licence from the Government of Canada. Maricann, which has federal licences to cultivate, process and distribute cannabis, services a patient base with more than 8,000 total registered patients since inception. Maricann is currently undertaking an expansion of its cultivation and support facilities in Canada in a fully funded 217,000 sq. ft. (20,159 sq. m), to support existing and future patient growth. Maricann GmbH is a 95% owned subsidiary of Maricann Netherlands BV, a 100% wholly owned subsidiary of Maricann Group Inc.

Maricann Milestones

April 2013, Maricann Inc. is founded in Langton, Ontario, a well-established agricultural region in southwestern Ontario

March 2014, Maricann Inc. obtains its Health Canada licence to cultivate plants

December 2014, Maricann Inc. obtains its Health Canada licence to sell dried cannabis

January 2015, first dried cannabis sale

September 2016, Maricann Inc. earns its Health Canada licence to sell cannabis extracts

October 2016, first sale of extracted cannabis

December 2016, Maricann Inc. raises $22.5 million in private capital

January 2017, commences sale of clones

February 2017, Maricann Inc. raises $10 million in private capital

April 24, 2017, first day of trading on the CSE

April 28, 2017, announces Advisory Board of German subsidiary.

For more information about Maricann please visit our website at www.maricann.ca.

Contact Information

Shawn Alexander

VP Investor Relations

salexander@maricann.ca

Corporate Headquarters:

Maricann Group Inc. (C.MARI)

845 Harrington Court, Unit 3

Burlington Ontario L7N 3P3

Canada

Dial Toll Free in North America:

1.844.Maricann (627.4226)

International Only:

001.416.916.7145

Forward Looking Information

The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements that reflect the current views and/or expectations of management with respect to performance, business and future events, including but not limited to express or implied statements and assumptions regarding the Company's business and operations. Forward-looking statements are based on the then-current expectations, beliefs, assumptions, estimates and forecasts about the business and the industry and markets in which the Company operates. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions which are difficult to predict. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information, which are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The Company does not undertake any obligations to release publicly any revisions for updating any voluntary forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities law.
Artsy in collaboration with UBS today released the first film in a multi-part 360 documentary series "Inside the Biennale" exploring the 57th Venice Biennale. In the spirit of increased access to the world's premier art exhibition, these films will build on the success of Artsy and UBS's first collaboration, an 11-part series on the 2015 Venice Biennale, providing a global audience an insider's glimpse of the Biennale's most engaging art, personalities, and performances.

Featuring luminary artists and curators, including Cecilia Alemani, Carol Bove, Dawn Kasper, Massimiliano Gioni, Christian Marclay, Francis Upritchard, Erwin Wurm, and more, the films will transport viewers from studios, galleries, and institutions around the world to the iconic city, delving deep into the Biennale buzz as Venice prepares for the exhibition's opening. Filmed "in the round," the films will provide viewers a unique, immersive view of the city and exhibition.

The first 360 film explores the story of the Venice Biennale through the perspectives of several artists and curators as they create artworks and prepare installations that will be on view at the Biennale's national pavilions. Following today's launch, additional films will be released on Artsy throughout the first months of the Biennale.

This is the fifth iteration of Artsy and UBS's partnership, following collaborations on a series of films focused on the 2015 Venice Biennale; Year in Art editorial features from 2015 and 2016; and a four-part film series lifting the curtain on the art market, which debuted last year.

"We're proud to be collaborating again with UBS, a partner that shares our dedication to providing greater access to the world's most influential artists and exhibitions," said Sebastian Cwilich, Artsy's President and COO. "The Venice Biennale is a uniquely important cultural moment and we're excited to share it with Artsy's millions of monthly visitors in this cutting-edge new format."

"Our latest collaboration with Artsy-the 'Inside the Biennale,' VR documentary series-reflects our shared commitment to making the dynamic world of contemporary art more accessible to a broader public by using state-of-the-art technology," stated Johan Jerve, Group Chief Marketing Officer, UBS. "These films help advance a deeper understanding of the art world in much the same way as we help our clients navigate complex challenges and opportunities in the financial world."

Artsy commissioned virtual reality studio Scenic to direct the films, which will be viewable on both desktop and mobile, as well as through an enhanced viewing experience in virtual reality headsets. To accompany the films, Artsy tapped artists Erwin Wurm and Dawn Kasper to design limited-edition cardboard virtual reality viewers, which will be distributed in Venice.

To view the films go to https://www.artsy.net/venice-biennale/toward-venice.

ABOUT ARTSY

Artsy is the leading destination for exploring and collecting art from the world's top galleries, museums, art fairs, and auction houses. Artsy partners directly with the most influential players in the art world, providing collectors and enthusiasts a central resource to learn about and purchase artwork from anywhere in the world. Powered by The Art Genome Project, a personalization system that maps the connections between artists and artworks, visitors to Artsy can browse art from the world's leading museums, collect artworks from thousands of top galleries, explore international art fairs before they open to the public, bid in auctions from leading auction houses, and read about the art world in the world's most-read art publication. Our mission is to make all the world's art accessible to anyone with an internet connection.

UBS AND CONTEMPORARY ART

UBS's long and substantial record of patronage in contemporary art enables clients and audiences to participate in the international conversation about art and the global art world through the firm's global art platform. In addition to the UBS Art Collection, considered one of the world's largest and most important corporate collections of contemporary art, UBS has an extensive roster of contemporary art programs that include the firm's long-term support for the premier international Art Basel shows in Basel, Miami Beach and Hong Kong, for which UBS serves as global Lead Partner; the Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; and a global exhibition tour of "WOMEN: New Portraits," an exhibition of newly commissioned photographs by renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz.

These activities are complemented by a number of regional partnerships with fine art institutions including the Fondation Beyeler in Switzerland, Galleria d'Arte Moderna in Milan, the Nouveau Musee National de Monaco, the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark, the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg and the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. UBS also provides its clients with insight into the contemporary art world through the free art news app UBS Planet Art, collaborations with the Swiss Institute, and the online resource Artsy, as well as through the UBS Art Competence Center and UBS Arts Forum. For more information about UBS's commitment to contemporary art, visit ubs.com/art.

ABOUT SCENIC

Scenic is a virtual reality content studio based in Brooklyn exploring new directions in non-fiction VR. Founded by filmmaker Gary Hustwit, the studio covers a wide range of topics in art, culture, design and music with cinematic VR and 360 video to push the boundaries of immersive storytelling. Scenic's creative team includes acclaimed documentary filmmakers and visual artists, and the studio's first batch of VR documentaries was recently released in collaboration with The Wall Street Journal and Google.

http://www.watchscenic.com/

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170504005994/en/

Contacts:

Press

For inquiries related to Artsy:

Graham Newhall

Graham@artsy.net

or

Media

UBS

Maya Dillon, 212-713-3130; 917-615-7094

Director Communications Branding

maya.dillon@ubs.com

or

Polskin Arts Communications Counselors

Amy Wentz, 212-715-1551

Senior Vice President

amy.wentz@finnpartners.com

or

Natasha Le Bel, 212-715-1644

Executive Vice President

natasha.lebel@finnpartners.com

www.ubs.com
PHOENIX, AZ -- (Marketwired) -- 05/04/17 -- SelfStorageAuction.com recently made a significant financial donation to the California Self Storage Association (CSSA) in support of its lobbying efforts on two state legislation reform bills that deal with the advertisement of lien laws and requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Contributing to the successful passage of legislation that helps self storage operators and managers is a priority for SelfStorageAuction.com, an online auction platform that provides bidders with a centralized place to bid online for self storage auctions.

The first reform bill is AB1108, which is a lien law that would alter parts of the original California Self-Service Storage Facility Act to allow self storage facilities to use email as well as regular mail to contact renters who cannot pay their bills. This bill also would require the advertisement of lien auctions to be published either in newspapers or in any other media that is responsibility calculated to provide notice to potential buyers and the general public or both.

"When I first came up with the concept of combining Storage Auctions with an Ebay platform online in 2011, most people discounted the idea," said SelfStorageAuction.com Founder Jim Grant. "The CSSA was always very supportive in my efforts by giving me suggestions and advice. SelfStorageAuction.com offers free automated online advertising for facilities to post their lien sales, and I know that this will be embraced by the California storage industry. We are honored and very fortunate to be a member of the CSSA and be able to help continue their future efforts for the self storage industry."

The second legislation reform bill is AB1148, which is called the ADA Commercial Code 1938 Cleanup. This bill redefines commercial property "for the purposes of that provision as property that is offered for sale or lease to persons operating, or intending to operate, a place of public accommodation or facility to which the general public is invited at those premises." Basically, this bill would allow self storage to be excluded from some of the obligations it currently falls under, relieving facilities of a significant burden.

"The CSSA is very grateful for the support from SelfStorageAuction.com," said Erin King, CSSA's executive director. "We are very proud of our legislative efforts as we believe they truly benefit the facility owners and the tenants."

The CSSA estimates that the proposed changes to the law will help self storage operators save approximately $1,500 minimum each year.

Grant, who is the original conceptualizer and founder of online storage auctions, created the former online auction site Storage Battles in 2012 and merged it with the web site Storage Treasures in 2015. Grant recently launched SelfStorageAuction.com, a state-of-the-art platform that promotes online and live onsite auctions of delinquent storage units across the country. The mobile-friendly website combines the simplicity, reliability and exceptional customer service of the original platform with new features that ensure stability and are more user friendly.

About SelfStorageAuction.com

SelfStorageAuction.com is a free website that makes it easy and convenient to find online or live on-site auctions at participating self-storage facilities in North America, Canada and soon the UK and Australia. It provides self-storage facilities and auction bidders a full range of services in one convenient location. For more information, please go to www.selfstorageauction.com.

About CSSA

Founded in 2003 by independent storage operators, the CSSA has grown rapidly now serving over 500 storage owners, operators and vendors and totaling more than 3,000 storage locations. The CSSA also serves not only its members but the larger community as a whole through its philanthropic initiatives. Most notably CSSA's charitable efforts go towards raising money for the 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization Kure It Cancer Research. To date, the CSSA has raised over $200K for ground breaking cancer research programs within world class institutions such as UC San Francisco in 2015. Additional information is available at www.californiaselfstorage.org

Media Contacts:

Anton Communications

Vanessa Showalter

vshowalter@antonpr.com

Genevieve Anton

ganton@antonpr.com




Technavio market research analysts forecast the cold chain market in China to grow at a CAGR of more than 17% during the forecast period, according to their latest report.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170504005554/en/

Technavio has published a new report on the cold chain market in China from 2017-2021. (Graphic: Business Wire)

The market study covers the present scenario and growth prospects of the cold chain market in China for 2017-2021. The report also lists refrigerated storage and refrigerated transport as the two major segments by type, of which the refrigerated storage segment accounted for more than 78% of the market size in 2016.

Want more information on this market? View a market snapshot before purchasing the report

Technavio reports answer key questions relating to market size and growth, drivers and trends, top vendors, challenges, and more. Technavio also offers customization on reports based on specific client requirement.

Technavio analysts highlight the following three market drivers that are contributing to the growth of the cold chain market in China:

Rising focus on reduction of food wastage

Growing need to improve shelf life of food

Increase in demand for frozen food

Rising focus on reduction of food wastage

The rate at which food is wasted in China is on the higher side because of inadequate and inefficient cold chain infrastructure. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has estimated that more than one-third of the annual food production in the world (more than 1.3 billion tons) does not reach consumers. In addition, it is estimated that about 15%-20% of fruits and vegetables are wasted in China owing to improper storage facilities.

The loss of perishable food in developing countries, including China, is estimated to be between 20% and 50% because of the lack of cold storage facilities. To overcome this daunting challenge, the Chinese government is focusing on developing and implementing solutions to maintain the freshness of food items for a longer duration. The government has invested more than USD 1 billion on projects to curb food wastage.

"The development of cold chain facilities will be directly proportional to the reduction in loss and wastage from the food industry. Therefore, the increased need to reduce food wastage is one of the key drivers for the market growth," says Sharan Raj, a lead analyst at Technavio for logisticsresearch.

Growing need to improve shelf life of food

The shelf life of a food product indicates the number of days within which it has its quality intact and is safe to consume. Several factors determine the perishability of cold chain products, and the temperature is the most important factor because it is directly related to the rate of product deterioration. Typically, products moving through cold chain facilities are either chilled or frozen. Chilling involves reducing the temperature of the food to below an ambient temperature. Chilling is an effective tool for the short-term preservation of food because it reduces many of the biochemical reactions associated with food deterioration. Freezing preserves the storage life of foods by slowing down harmful reactions from microbes and oxidation, which limit the shelf life. These methods can also preserve the taste, texture, and nutritional value of foods better than other temperature-sensitive preservation methods.

Increase in demand for frozen food

There are numerous factors, such as increasing disposable incomes, changing consumption patterns, and rapid urbanization, which are driving the demand for frozen food in China. At present, there are nearly 2,500 frozen food manufacturers across China, and the annual production is over 20 million metric tons.

The consumption of frozen food in China is expected to increase owing to the rapid urbanization in the country, which is estimated to be more than 39% of the overall food consumption. This provides a massive room for development in the Chinese frozen food industry in the future.

"Manufacturers are increasingly investing in production capability and product innovation to meet the rise in demand for frozen food. Furthermore, consumers are showing interest in frozen foods because of their functional benefits, which contribute to good health and well-being. This is further boosting the demand for cold storage systems in China," says Sharan.

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About Technavio

Technaviois a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies.

Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users.

If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com.

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TORONTO, 2017-05-04 17:24 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Maricann Group Inc. (CSE:MARI) (Maricann or the "Company") is pleased to announce that Maricann has secured $42,500,000 in non-dilutive financing to further expand production in Germany.



The $42,500,000 non-dilutive financing comes from The Green Streaming Finance Company of Canada Inc. a Vancouver-based company that provides non-equity financing solutions for cannabis producers. The streaming payment will be made in return for the right to purchase 20% of production at an all in cost + 10% from expansion funded by Green Streaming in Germany. "We are pleased to be funding Maricann and their expansion efforts in Germany. This is a win-win relationship for Maricann and Green Streaming Finance, with no dilution to Maricann shareholders and a stable, reliable, renewable stream of revenue to Green Stream Finance from a proven producer of medicinal cannabis," said Donald McInnes, founder of Green Streaming Finance. Under the terms of the agreement, Maricann will receive investment in two tranches, $15,000,000 and a $27,500,000.



This financing will fully fund the planned 150,000 sq. ft (13,935 square meters) expansion of cultivation operations in its Ebersbach Facility and an additional 250,000 sq. ft. (23,255 sq. m.) of expansion in a two tiered cultivation plan, as well as an outdoor hemp farm from which Maricann will derive high CBD content active pharmaceutical ingredients. The Ebersbach facility (West of Dresden) is a former Cargill plant constructed 20 years ago at a cost of 80 million EUR at that time. The facility is comprised of multiple individual clean rooms that are ideal for cultivation of cannabis. "The Ebersbach facility offers Maricann a significant advantage in cost of overall construction and speed to market. The infrastructure for cultivation of cannabis in an indoor secured environment is already in place. We simply need to add the fertigation system, lights and benches for growing, and then can be operational. Our competitors are spending north of $70,000,000 CAD for facilities with less than 1/3 the footprint of our Ebersbach location. To construct a similar facility today, the estimated cost would be over 120 million EUR. Maricann entered into a reservation agreement to purchase the facility for a total price of 3,410,000 EUR at closing," said Benjamin Ward, CEO.



About Maricann Group Inc.



Maricann is a vertically integrated producer and distributor of marijuana for medical purposes. The company was founded in 2013 and is based in Langton, Ontario, where it operates a medicinal cannabis cultivation, extraction and distribution business under federal licence from the Government of Canada. Maricann, which has federal licences to cultivate, process and distribute cannabis, services a patient base with more than 8,000 total registered patients since inception. Maricann is currently undertaking an expansion of its cultivation and support facilities in Canada in a fully funded 217,000 sq. ft. (20,159 sq. m), to support existing and future patient growth. Maricann GmbH is a 95% owned subsidiary of Maricann Netherlands BV, a 100% wholly owned subsidiary of Maricann Group Inc.



Maricann Milestones



-- April 2013, Maricann Inc. is founded in Langton, Ontario, a well-established agricultural region in southwestern Ontario -- March 2014, Maricann Inc. obtains its Health Canada licence to cultivate plants -- December 2014, Maricann Inc. obtains its Health Canada licence to sell dried cannabis -- January 2015, first dried cannabis sale -- September 2016, Maricann Inc. earns its Health Canada licence to sell cannabis extracts -- October 2016, first sale of extracted cannabis -- December 2016, Maricann Inc. raises $22.5 million in private capital -- January 2017, commences sale of clones -- February 2017, Maricann Inc. raises $10 million in private capital -- April 24, 2017, first day of trading on the CSE -- April 28, 2017, announces Advisory Board of German subsidiary.



For more information about Maricann please visit our website at www.maricann.ca



Forward Looking Information The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. This news release contains certain forward-looking statements that reflect the current views and/or expectations of management with respect to performance, business and future events, including but not limited to express or implied statements and assumptions regarding the Company's business and operations. Forward-looking statements are based on the then-current expectations, beliefs, assumptions, estimates and forecasts about the business and the industry and markets in which the Company operates. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions which are difficult to predict. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information, which are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The Company does not undertake any obligations to release publicly any revisions for updating any voluntary forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities law.



Contact Information Shawn Alexander VP Investor Relations salexander@maricann.ca Corporate Headquarters: Maricann Group Inc. (C.MARI) 845 Harrington Court, Unit 3 Burlington Ontario L7N 3P3 Canada Dial Toll Free in North America: 1.844.Maricann (627.4226) International Only: 001.416.916.7145

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MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/04/17 -- UpGuard, the company behind the world's first cyber resilience platform, today announced that Cliff Moon, previously Director of Engineering at ThinAir, has joined the team in Mountain View as VP of Engineering.

UpGuard's proprietary cyber resilience platform provides visibility into their customers' cyber risk postures by monitoring the complete and ongoing state of complex IT infrastructures. Among other things, Moon will be responsible for scaling up the platform capabilities so as to better serve large enterprise customers as well as promoting quality and efficiency across all aspects of day-to-day engineering operations.

Prior to joining UpGuard, Moon co-founded Boundary, the first real-time network monitoring platform, serving as CTO for five years before leaving to co-found Opsee, a microservice monitoring platform. From there he went to ThinAir as the Director of Engineering, where he helped build and scale the team. Moon is also one of the original authors of the NoSQL movement, having authored the first open source Amazon dynamo clone.

"Cliff brings an incredible amount of expertise in building and running a killer engineering team, and we're looking forward to his contributions to our dynamic cyber resilience platform," said Mike Baukes, co-Founder and co-CEO of UpGuard. "Cliff will open many doors for us and our whole engineering team as we continue to expand and offer our services to larger enterprise companies."

"I've known about UpGuard since its founding and have followed its success," said Moon. "I'm thrilled to join their team at a time when cyber resilience is coming to the forefront of business consciousness. UpGuard is a premier leader in the space, and I see great things in our future as we work together to grow and develop the platform."

About UpGuard

Businesses depend on trust, but breaches and outages erode that trust. UpGuard is the world's first cyber resilience platform, designed to proactively assess and manage the business risks posed by technology. UpGuard gathers complete information across every digital surface, stores it in a single, searchable repository, and provides continuous validation and insightful visualizations so companies can make informed decisions. UpGuard is headquartered in Mountain View, CA with offices in Portland, OR and Sydney, Australia. To see how UpGuard works, or to get your CSTAR rating, visit www.upguard.com

Press Contact:

Rachel Shepheard

upguard[at]launchsquad[dot]com

415-625-8555




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/04/17 -- Asanko Gold Inc. ("Asanko" or the "Company") (TSX: AKG)(NYSE MKT: AKG) advises it will hold its Annual General and Special Meeting of shareholders ("AGSM") on Friday June 9, 2017 at 2pm, in Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

Materials for the AGSM, including the Company's management proxy circular (the "Proxy Circular"), have been filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov and are also available on the Company's website at www.asanko.com/Investors/AGM-Materials/. In the Proxy Circular, the Company provides details of its proposal to re-elect its current slate of seven directors and reappoint KPMG LLP as auditors. Included in this year's agenda are also two ordinary resolutions with respect to the Company's incentive Share Option Plan (the "SOP") dated for reference September 27, 2011, as amended May 2, 2017. The first ordinary resolution approves certain amendments of the SOP to reflect, among other things, Toronto Stock Exchange policies. The other ordinary resolution approves continuation of the SOP for a further three-year period. The SOP is described in detail in the Proxy Circular and a full copy of the SOP is separately available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

Shareholder Questions:

Shareholders who have any questions or require assistance with voting may contact Asanko's Proxy Solicitation Agent:

Laurel Hill Advisory Group Toll Free: 1-877-452-7184 International: +1 416-304-0211 outside Canada and the US By Email: assistance@laurelhill.com

Neither Toronto Stock Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Alex Buck - Manager, Investor and Media Relations

Toll-Free (N. America): 1-855-246-7341

Telephone: +44-7932-740-452

Email: alex.buck@asanko.com



Ryan Walchuck - VP Corporate Development

and Investor Relations

Telephone: +1-778-986-2000

Email: ryan.walchuck@asanko.com

info@asanko.com

www.asanko.com




VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 4, 2017 / Ely Gold & Minerals Inc. (TSX-V: ELY) (OTC PINK: ELYGF) ("Ely Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive purchase and option agreement (the "Agreement") with Platoro West Incorporated ("Platoro West"), a privately held Nevada Corporation, and William Sheriff ("Sheriff") to purchase Platoro West's portfolio of 14 highly prospective mineral properties in Nevada and the western United States (the "Properties"), a portfolio of 8 deeded royalties (the "Royalty Portfolio") and legal and beneficial rights to geological information covering precious metals properties throughout the western United States (the "Data Base"). Sheriff is the legal and beneficial owner of 100% of the stock in Platoro West. In addition, Sheriff will be joining the Board of Directors of Ely Gold upon closing of the transaction (the "Closing").

The majority of the Properties are precious metal exploration projects in the most desirable gold trends in Nevada, with an additional two properties in New Mexico and one in Arizona. Four of the Nevada Properties are currently leased or optioned to third parties (the "Leases") and are being actively explored. The Leases are precious metal properties, with the exception of one tungsten-copper-silver asset. The Royalty Portfolio includes eight deeded royalties on precious metals properties in Nevada, currently being developed by third parties, with the exception of the Quartz Mountain property in eastern Oregon. Quartz Mountain is being developed by Alamos Gold Inc. The Data Base includes historic exploration and production data from Atlas Gold Mining Inc., UV Industries, Inc., USSRAM (U.S. Smelting and Refining and Mining Company) and Union Carbide Corporation. Most of the hard copy data has been scanned, cataloged, and is held in over 600 filing cabinets.

Closing is expected to take place on or about June 15, 2017 and is subject to TSX-V acceptance of a filing to be made by the Company.

The Properties are mainly unpatented mining claims staked on Bureau of Land Management or U.S. Forest Service lands and, as such, have no existing royalties, work commitments or lease payments. After closing, the Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Nevada Select Royalty Inc. ("Nevada Select"), will own 100% of 13 Properties, 50% of one of the Leases, and 100% of the Royalty Portfolio. Ely Gold will also have the option to purchase 100% of nine additional properties and one additional leased property of Platoro West (collectively, the "Option Properties"). The Option Properties are subject to additional due diligence and the Company will have twelve months from Closing to include the Option Properties in the Agreement.

Sheriff is an entrepreneur and visionary with over 30 years' experience in the minerals industry and the securities industry. Sheriff is the founder and Executive Chairman of Golden Predator Corp. Prior to founding Golden Predator Mining Corp., he was a pioneer in the uranium renaissance as co-founder and Chairman of Energy Metals Corp., and was responsible for compiling the largest domestic uranium resource base in US history before the company was acquired by Uranium One Corp. for $1.8 billion. Sheriff also serves as Chairman of enCore Energy Corp. Sheriff co-founded and previously served as Chairman of EMC Metals Corp., and as a Director of Western Lithium USA Inc., Uranium One Inc., Midway Gold Corp., Eurasian Minerals Inc. and Starcore International Mines Ltd. He was also a registered representative, holding positions with A.G. Edwards, Inc. and Mitchum Jones &Templeton, Inc., in addition to having had his own securities firm. Sheriff holds a B.Sc degree (Geology) from Fort Lewis College, Colorado and an MSc in Mining Geology from the University of Texas-El Paso.

Under the terms of the Agreement, the Company will pay Platoro West a total purchase price of US$500,000 (the "Purchase Price"). The Purchase Price will be paid as to US$25,000 upon signing the Agreement, US$225,000 on Closing, and US$112,500 paid on the first and second anniversaries of Closing, together with a 5% per annum interest compounded quarterly from Closing. There is no additional payment for the Option Properties. Ely Gold will also issue 1,000,000 purchase warrants to Platoro West. Each warrant will be exercisable to purchase one Ely Gold share for CAN$.12 for two years from the Closing. The Agreement also provides for Sheriff to be appointed to the Company's Board of Directors and to be issued options, under Ely Gold's 2013 Stock Option Plan, to purchase 500,000 Ely Gold shares at Closing.

"Combining this exceptional portfolio of Properties, Leases and the Royalty Portfolio with our current portfolio, while bringing Bill onto the team is a rare opportunity for Ely Gold. Combining our extensive geological data base with Bill's will create an incredible asset for property identification and development. The Properties contain numerous exploration opportunities that have been relatively idle since Bill has refocused his exploration efforts to the north. With Bill's knowledge and our combined geological data bases, we will capitalize on the untapped value of these assets by applying Ely Gold's cash and royalty generating business model. The Properties, leases and royalties are a perfect fit for us not only in physical location, but in further increasing our cash flow from lease or advance royalty payments," commented Trey Wasser, Ely's President and CEO.

The President of Nevada Select, Jerry Baughman, stated, "Bill and I have competed for over 30 years as prospectors in Nevada. While we have partnered on deals from time to time, the opportunity to work with Bill and to combine our knowledge and our data bases will be of great benefit to Ely Gold shareholders."

Sheriff added, "I am looking forward to combining all of our strengths to propel Ely Gold to the forefront of Nevada exploration and development. With the combined portfolio and this team's proven property acquisition and enhancement capability I believe we will be creating one of Nevada's preeminent mineral royalty and property generator."

Highlights of the Properties include:

121 unpatented mining claims in Esmeralda County, Nevada known as the Castle Black Rock Property ("Castle") currently leased to Columbus Gold Corporation ("Columbus") with a retained 2% NSR and annual advance minimum royalty payments. The Property is located approximately eight miles (13 km) south of Columbus' Eastside gold project. Gold mineralization at Castle is localized in a large east-northeast trending structural zone that parallels highway US 6 and which also contains the past producing Boss Gold Mine. The faults in the structural zone traverse the entire claim block and have limited drilling outside the known resource areas. The historic mineralization at Castle is covered by shallow alluvium, only 10-30 meters thick.

Fifty percent of 247 unpatented mining claims in Washoe County, Nevada known as the Hog Ranch Property ("Hog Ranch") currently leased to Hog Ranch Minerals Inc. Hog Ranch is a large gold-bearing district that contains high-grade gold mineralization within quartz-adularia banded veins similar in age, texture and mineralogy to the veins at the Sleeper, Midas and Ivanhoe gold projects located in northern Nevada. Shallow disseminated or stock-work mineralization remains unexploited in and around all of the pits in addition to the relatively untested high grade feeder veins below the pits.

The Royalty Portfolio includes:

2% NSR on 7 unpatented mining claims on the interior of the Golden Sunrise Property currently operated by Eurasian Minerals, Inc.

2% NSR on one patented mining claim and 60 acres of deeded land, in Humboldt County Nevada, currently owned and operated by Barrick Gold Corporation. The deeded land lies along the Getchell fault and is on-strike with Barrick's Turquoise Ridge Mine.

2% NSR on the Antelope Springs Property in Pershing County, Nevada currently operated by Pershing Gold Corporation.

50% of a sliding scale NSR on the Tuscarora Property in Elko County, Nevada currently operated by Novo Resources Corp.

0.25% NSR on Quartz Mountain Project in Lake County, Oregon currently operated by Alamos Gold Inc.

2% gross revenue royalty on the Pilot Mountain Tungsten Project in Mineral County currently operated by Thor Mining PLC.

1.5% NSR on 23 Rose Claims in Pershing County, Nevada currently operated by Rye Patch Gold Corp.

The Closing is subject to approval of the TSX-V and is expected on or before June 15, 2017.

Stephen Kenwood, P. Geo, is director of the Company and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Kenwood has reviewed and approved the technical information in this press release.

About Ely Gold

Ely Gold is focused on developing recurring cash flow streams through the acquisition, consolidation, enhancement, and resale of highly prospective, un-encumbered North American precious metals properties. Ely's property development efforts maximize each property's potential for acquisition, while reserving significant royalty interests. Additional information about Ely Gold is available at the Company's website, at www.elygoldinc.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Signed "Trey Wasser"

Trey Wasser, President & CEO

For further information, please contact:

trey@elygoldinc.com

972-803-3087



ir@elygoldinc.com

604-488-1104

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 certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of such statements under applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan," "continue," "expect," "project," "intend," "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "may," "will," "potential," "proposed," and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing of the upcoming purchase of Properties, Royalty Portfolio and Data Base, appointment of Sheriff to the Board of Directors, option to purchase Option Properties, timing of the Closing and payment of purchase price, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. The Company is under no obligation, and expressly 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 law.

SOURCE: Ely Gold & Minerals Inc.
New IaaS foundation and capabilities enable customers to move mission-critical applications to the cloud

REDWOOD SHORES, California, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Continuing its commitment to cloud customers through extensive engineering and infrastructure investments, Oracle today announced enhancements to the Oracle Cloud EU Region in Germany with the addition of modern infrastructure as a service (IaaS) architecture and new IaaS and platform as a service (PaaS) cloud services. German-based modern IaaS will enable organizations to build and move mission-critical workloads to the cloud with uncompromised security and governance at a significant price performance advantage both over existing on-premises infrastructure and competitive cloud offerings. Oracle's expanded infrastructure footprint is a result of tremendous customer demand with non-GAAP cloud revenue up 71 percent in Q3FY17 to $1.3 billion. The Oracle Cloud EU Region in Germany builds on the previously announced Oracle Cloud UK Region. The Oracle Cloud EU Region in Germany is expected to come online in the second half of this calendar year.

"Our customers and partners in the EU and in Germany have trusted their businesses and mission-critical workloads to the Oracle Cloud for years," said Thomas Kurian, president of product development, Oracle. "The expansion of the Oracle Cloud EU Region in Germany will deliver the best cloud services, not only our leading SaaS offerings, but also our new PaaS and IaaS offerings. Oracle will be providing EU-based cloud customers with unmatched performance, availability, and governance, and support of the broadest range of enterprise applications from any cloud platform."

The expansion of the Oracle Cloud EU Region in Germany will consist of three high bandwidth, low latency sites - or Availability Domains (ADs). These ADs are located within the Frankfurt metropolitan area and operate in a completely fault-independent manner. This differentiated architectural approach along with unique to cloud technologies like Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC), provides the highest levels of failure protection and availability for Oracle customers' most demanding cloud-based applications. Availability Domains are deeply integrated into the Oracle Cloud Platform, easing use and eliminating complex architectural decision-making around availability.

With today's news, Oracle will be providing EU-based customers with a comprehensive set of cloud services, including SaaS and the new PaaS and IaaS capabilities to support their journey to the cloud. Whether they are migrating Oracle Database applications, or building new ones, Oracle Cloud Platform is the fastest, most reliable platform. Oracle already has a major presence in Germany with Global Drinks, Lufthansa Cargo AG, and Movenpick already using Oracle Cloud services in the country.

"Oracle cloud technology is enabling enterprises to develop new services, create new digital experiences for their customers and compete in new markets. This investment in Germany demonstrates our commitment to provide unrivaled state of the art technology infrastructure where and when our customers need it.This will be particularly important as companies ensure their migration to the cloud complies with impending EU General Data Protection Regulations," said Frank Obermeier, vice president and Country Leader, Oracle Germany.

"We are working with our EU and global customers to help them determine how to accelerate their migration to the cloud using modern SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS services," said Tim Jennings, chief analyst for Enterprise IT at Ovum. "The enhanced Oracle EU Region in Germany will provide organizations with the full spectrum of cloud services, delivered with the same levels of enterprise-class performance, security and availability they have come to expect from their on-premise technologies."

Customers and Partners Eager to Use Oracle Cloud's IaaS in Germany

"Cloud computing is revolutionizing the ability to provide technology platforms and infrastructure 'as-a-Service,' helping companies quickly and cost effectively bridge the gap to digital innovation," said Yves Bernaert, senior managing director, Accenture Technology in Europe, Africa and Latin America."Accenture helps its clients take a Cloud Firstapproach to harnessing digital disruption and become high velocity enterprises- agile, connected and optimized to navigate their unique Journey to Cloudand outperform the competition. Accenture is excited to bring this additional offering to our clients as it provides a compelling value proposition for those running local, in-country, fully scalable and integrated cloud solutions covering applications, platform and infrastructure. As one of the leading Oracle systems integrators globally and Oracle Germany Partner of the Year 2017 for IaaS, and a Diamond level and Global Cloud Elite business member of the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN), we look forward to continuing to build on our relationship, which spans a quarter of a century."

"Working with Oracle's modern IaaS located in the United States, we have been extremely impressed with the high compute performance and super low latency," said Gary Mawdsley, Co-Founder of AnzenData. "We are very excited the Oracle Cloud EU region is coming online. This opens up a second major geography which is essential for Anzen, where a second continent is fundamental to the integrity andlegitimacy of the Anzen product.The Oracle vision and roadmap for the cloud can only further enhance and support Anzen's strategy and offerings."

"Paragon provides high-performing, secure, and stable IT infrastructure to more than 450 bookstores across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The cloud has opened up new opportunities for small and medium-sized companies to modernize their business, reduce costs and become more flexible," said Malthe Griesel, Head of Oracle Infrastructure and Database Services, Paragon Data. "As a long-term cloud customer and Platinum level member of OPN, we are excited to see Oracle's commitment to the German market by delivering the full stack of cloud services locally."

"For our customer workloads, scalable performance in the cloud is driven by the network and storage architecture and in both those areas Oracle modern IaaS is delivering a significant step change in price performance available to our HPC Cloud customers," said Jamil Appa, co-Founder and director of Zenotech.

Oracle is the only cloud vendor that provides customers with the ultimate in choice and flexibility in how they deploy their cloud services. Organizations can access Oracle Cloud services via the Oracle Cloud, deployed inside their own datacenter with the Oracle Cloud at Customer portfolio of offerings, and through a set of partners in specific geographic locations, all managed by Oracle Cloud professionals.

About Oracle

The Oracle Cloud delivers hundreds of SaaS applications and enterprise-class PaaS and IaaS services to customers in more than 195 countries while processing 55 billion transactions a day. For more information about Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), please visit us athttp://cloud.oracle.com.

Trademarks

Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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DEAR HARRIETTE: My teenage daughter confessed to me that she called the police to shut down a party in our town. She knew other kids in her grade were invited to this shindig and she wasn't, so she called the police to make sure nobody had fun on a Saturday night.

Honestly, I am disappointed in her. I know being excluded hurts, but I never thought my own daughter would turn into the town rat. What can I say to her so she understands I feel bad for her but don't think this is the way to make friends? -- Don't Squeal, Bronxville, New York

DEAR DON'T SQUEAL: Your daughter knows that her call to the police will not make friends. She is way past that point right now. She feels hurt and angry, and she came up with an effective way of retaliating against the other teens. This certainly is not a wise action. It is completely selfish and mean-spirited.

To get her to see that doing such a thing will only make life worse for her, you must appeal to her interests. What does she like to do? Who would she like to hang out with? What stands in her way?

Sometimes the reason that teens reject one of their classmates has to do with the behavior of that person. If there is something your daughter should do to temper her interactions with these desired friends, you can talk to her about that. What you don't want to do is encourage her to be anything but herself. This may mean that she needs to cultivate a new friend group. You can help her with that by enrolling her in extracurricular activities that require her to meet new people.

As far as addressing the call to the police, ask her to imagine how she would feel if someone did that to her.

DEAR HARRIETTE: My friends constantly lament about how their beach bodies are not ready and they don't know why. They are heavy drinkers, and with heavy drinking comes heavy eating. I try to limit my alcohol consumption so I don't end up hung over and to avoid the calories, but these lessons seem lost on my friends.

Is it my responsibility to try to steer them away from food when they are drunk? They constantly tell me not to "let them" eat while drunk, but I feel as though it is inevitable. -- Booze and Bikinis, Morristown, New Jersey

DEAR BOOZE AND BIKINIS: You are not responsible for your friends' alcohol consumption or for their calorie intake. Because you obviously care about them, you may want to tell them, at a time when they are sober, that they are killing their chances to meet their beach-body goal.

When they ask why, remind them that alcohol is highly caloric and so is binge eating, and they are doing both on a regular basis. Point out that it is their choice what kind of bodies they will have in a few weeks.

DEAR HARRIETTE: My ex and I co-parent our children, and we constantly get questioned by our family about the nature of our relationship. We have not been together for over two years, but our friendly discourse always causes my siblings to ask me if "Dale" and I are back together. I could see us reuniting one day, but for now I know we do better apart.

Does everyone deserve to know the details of our relationship? We are rocky enough as it is without family getting involved. -- Tired of Rumors, Cincinnati

DEAR TIRED OF RUMORS: Talk to Dale about how you want to handle the questions from family and friends. Agree on a strategy that protects your children and each other, and stick to that. I would recommend that you agree not to talk about your personal relationship with them at all. When they ask if you are getting back together, push back and tell them that what you are doing is parenting your children. You both are mature adults who love your children unconditionally, and you have committed to figuring out how to care for them so that they will be happy and healthy.

When people make comments about how well you two look together or how they can envision you being a couple again, you can thank them for their positive comments and leave it at that. Do not feel the need to explain yourself or your rapport with your ex. Should the day come that the two of you decide to test the waters again, do so discreetly until you are sure of what you want to do. Keeping folks out of your business may create space to rekindle something very special.

Harriette Cole is a lifestylist and founder of DREAMLEAPERS, an initiative to help people access and activate their dreams. You can send questions to askharriette@harriettecole.com or c/o Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 06/28/17 -- Minco Silver Corporation (the "Company" or "Minco Silver") (TSX: MSV)(OTCQX: MISVF)(WKN: A0ESX5) is pleased to announce the following:

The Annual General Meeting of shareholders was held on June 27, 2017 and all resolutions were approved.

The Company appointed Ms. Jennifer Trevitt as Vice President Corporate Affairs, effective immediately.

Ms. Trevitt has been with the Company since March 2009, was appointed Corporate Secretary in July 2009 and Director of Corporate Affairs in July 2015. She is a Capilano University certified Paralegal who has worked in the Securities/Corporate finance industry for 18 years for Canadian and US public companies.

About Minco Silver

Minco Silver Corporation is a TSX and OTCQX listed company focusing on the exploration and development of mineral resource projects. The Company's primary focus is to advance our properties, the Fuwan Silver Project and the Changkeng Gold Project, towards production. The Fuwan Silver Project and the Changkeng Gold Project are adjoined and are located approximately 45 kilometres southwest of Guangzhou City, China. We also seek to identify and acquire additional precious metal dominant projects that we believe will enhance shareholder value.

Contacts:

Minco Silver Corporation

Jennifer Trevitt

1-888-288-8288 or (604) 688-8002

pr@mincosilver.ca

www.mincosilver.ca




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/12/17 -- Zazu Metals Corporation (TSX VENTURE: ZAZ) ("Zazu")is pleased to announce that is has closed its previously announced secured convertible debenture (the "Debenture") financing in the amount of US$1.5 million (the "Financing"). The Debenture is secured by way of a general security and pledge agreement and bears interest at a rate of 5% per annum. The Financing will assist Zazu in completing a previously announced business combination (the "Arrangement") with Solitario Exploration & Royalty Corp ("Solitario"). In certain circumstances, the Debenture is convertible at the option of Solitario into common shares of Zazu ("Zazu Shares") at a price of US$0.22 per Zazu Share. The securities issued in connection with the Financing will be subject to a four-month hold period, in accordance with applicable securities laws. Please refer to a joint news release filed by Zazu and Solitario on April 27, 2017 for more information on the Arrangement and the Debenture.

Furthermore, Zazu is pleased to announce that it will be holding an annual and special meeting of shareholders (the "Meeting") on Thursday, June 29, 2017 at 10:00 am (Vancouver time). At the Meeting Zazu shareholders will be asked to approve by special resolution the Arrangement with Solitario. Full details of the Meeting will be contained in the Management Information Circular prepared for the Meeting which will be mailed to Zazu's shareholders and available for review under Zazu's profile at www.sedar.com.

About Zazu

Zazu is a Canadian-based exploration company traded on the TSX Venture Exchange ("ZAZ"). Zazu has a 50% operating interest in the Lik zinc-lead-silver deposit in Northwest Alaska, which is large tonnage, high grade and potentially open pittable. Zazu completed a positive PEA in 2014 and has the exclusive right to obtain 80% of the property by meeting certain spending commitments by 2018. Additional information about Zazu including a company presentation is available at www.zazumetals.com.

Cautionary Language

The TSX Venture Exchange has not approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation service providers accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-looking Statements

Statements contained in this news release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements that involve risk, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. 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. All forward-looking statements included in this news release are based on information available to Zazu as of the date hereof. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results of Zazu, as applicable, to differ materially from the conclusion, forecast or projection stated in such forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to factors referenced in Zazu's other continuous disclosure filings, which are available at www.sedar.com. Readers should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Zazu does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable securities laws.

Contacts:

Zazu Metals Corporation

Matthew Ford

President

(210) 858-7512



Zazu Metals Corporation

Gil Atzmon

Founder, Chairman & CEO

(604) 878-9298

www.zazumetals.com




WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Members of the House Republican Steering Committee have recommended Congressman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., be named Chairman of the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee. Gowdy would replace outgoing Congressman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, as chairman of the committee if confirmed by the full House Republican Conference. Chaffetz, who has announced his intention to resign from Congress effective June 30th, called Gowdy the right person for the job. 'He has a long history of demanding accountability, upholding transparency, and relentlessly pursuing the truth,' Chaffetz said of Gowdy. He added, 'Under his capable leadership, the Committee will continue to work towards ensuring effectiveness and efficiency throughout the federal government.' The steering committee chose Gowdy over Congressman Steve Russell, R-Okla., although House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Russell would undoubtedly continue to play a critical role on the committee. Gowdy, who led the House Benghazi investigation, will take over a high profile probe of President Donald Trump's decision to fire former FBI Director James Comey. 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.
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Washington D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - May 4, 2017) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that a New Jersey-based firm and its CEO have agreed to pay more than $4 million to settle charges that they used new investor money to repay earlier investors in Ponzi-like fashion and tapped investor funds for the CEO's personal use.

According to the SEC's complaint, Verto Capital Management and William Schantz III raised approximately $12.5 million selling promissory notes to purportedly fund Verto Capital's purchase and sale of life settlements, which are life insurance policies sold in the secondary market. The SEC alleges that they misrepresented to investors that Verto Capital was a profitable company and investor funds would be used for general working capital purposes. Verto Capital and other Schantz businesses had been unprofitable for several years, according to the SEC's complaint, and Schantz resorted to taking disproportionately large distributions of investor funds for himself and using new investor money to repay earlier investors.

Verto Capital and Schantz also allegedly made misrepresentations to investors about the safety of the notes and collateral underlying them. The SEC alleges that the promissory notes were primarily sold through a group of insurance brokers in Texas, and religious investors were targeted.

"As alleged in our complaint, investors were told that the life settlement-backed notes were short-term investments with an unlikely event of default. Schantz and Verto misled investors about the company's past performance and the value of the collateral, and they diverted significant investor funds for Schantz's personal use," said Andrew M. Calamari, Director of the SEC's New York Regional Office.

A Fair Fund will be created to return money collected in the settlement to harmed investors. Schantz and Verto Capital agreed to pay disgorgement of $3,433,666 plus interest of $124,851 and a penalty of $600,000. Without admitting or denying the allegations, they consented to permanent injunctions against further violations of Section 17(a)(2) and (3) and Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933. Schantz further agreed to be enjoined from selling any promissory notes. The settlement is subject to court approval.

The SEC's investigation, which is continuing, is being conducted by Jennifer K. Vakiener, Vincent T. Hull, Christopher Mele, Thomas Feretic, and Steven G. Rawlings in the New York office. The case is being supervised by Lara S. Mehraban. The SEC examination that led to the investigation was conducted by Steven C. Vitulano, Terrence P. Bohan, and Edward J. Janowsky in the New York office.
LAVAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 05/04/17 -- Urbanimmersive Inc. ("Urbanimmersive" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: UI)(OTC PINK: UBMRF), a real estate content marketing platform, is pleased to announce that the number of transactions on its visual content marketplace grew by 1057% from the beginning of April to the end of the month. Increasing adoption of the Company's visual content marketplace, white labelled Centris Marketplace (the "Marketplace"), is the key driver of this momentum.

During the first week of the Marketplace's launch, in April 2017, 7 orders were performed compared to 81 orders during the final week. The average order over the month had a value of $71 per transaction. The Marketplace enables real estate agents to find, book and pay online trusted visual content providers. On top of being a marketplace of trusted providers, the Marketplace is also a productivity tool for real estate agents and photographers.

"We are thrilled to share some early data regarding the success of our real estate visual content marketplace which is disrupting the industry," stated Ghislain Lemire, CEO of Urbanimmersive "One of the most important tests when launching a transformative platform such as ours is to see if customers will adopt it and at what rate. In that regard, we are pleased to report the traction since officially launching last month. Despite a very small data set, we believe the statistics show growth adoption trend of our solution in the market, which is the most critical element for us right now," added Mr. Lemire.

During the month of April, 641 real estate agents in Centris' network of more than 14,000 have opened accounts on the new platform, and also 46 photographers have subscribed to date. More importantly, 25% of real estate agents have already performed more than a single order on the platform since its launch.

Mr. Lemire explained, "Repeat business is a hallmark of technology adoption. It shows that users trying the platform are having a frictionless experience and therefore returning to do more business. This is key to our success and we are highly encouraged by the results so far."

About Urbanimmersive

Urbanimmersive is a content marketing platform for the real estate industry. The Company connects real estate professionals, photographers and writers in order to simplify and optimize original content production workflow. Urbanimmersive enables its customers to leverage their marketing investment while increasing productivity, competitiveness, their web visibility, consumer engagement with their brand and ultimately, their revenue.

The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Certain statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking information that involves various risks and uncertainties. Such statements relating to, among other things, the prospects for the company to enhance operating results, are necessarily subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which are significant in scope and nature. These uncertainties may cause actual results to differ from information contained herein. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements are based on the estimates and opinions of the management on the dates they are made and expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management estimates or opinions change. For additional information with respect to certain of these and other assumptions and risk factors, please refer to the last Corporation's MD&A filed with the Canadian securities commissions. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release represent our expectations as of the date hereof. We disclaim any intention and assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.

Contacts:

Urbanimmersive Inc.

Ghislain Lemire

President & CEO

514-394-7820 X 202

ghislainlemire@urbanimmersive.com

www.urbanimmersive.com



Contact Financial Corp.

Frederick Chabot

438-863-7071

frederick@contactfinancial.com




WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Voters of Sante Fe, New Mexico's capital city, have rejected a proposed 2-cents-per-ounce tax on soda. A record 37.6 percent of registered voters turned out for the election and 58 percent voted 'no.' The final tally was 11,533 against the soda tax and 8,382 in favor. The result was also a blow to Mayor Javier Gonzales, who proposed to tax soda in order to use the taxes to support child education and at the same time discourage unhealthy consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. 'If one thing was clear in this debate, it is that there is overwhelming support for finding a way to make sure every child in Santa Fe and in New Mexico can go as far as their dreams will take them,' the mayor said in a statement Tuesday night. 'We may not all agree on how to we get there, but that's okay, that's how it's supposed to work. Now we get back to work, knowing that we have far more in common than the things that have long divided us.' 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 YORK, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 05/04/17 --iBio, Inc. (NYSE MKT: IBIO), a leader in developing plant-based biopharmaceuticals, announced today that it provided a corporate update at its Annual Shareholders Meeting held in Bryan, TX.

Robert B. Kay, iBio's Chairman and CEO, stated, "Our achievements over the past year have transformed iBio's business. In this period, we completed the acquisition, recommissioning and expansion of our Texas plant and equipment for development and cGMP biopharmaceutical manufacturing. This enables advancement of our lead proprietary therapeutic candidate for fibrotic diseases toward human clinical trials. It also enables us to operate the facility as a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), constituting a separate line of revenues for the Company. The CDMO is capable of using our proprietary technology to move projects from feasibility confirmation, through development, clinical trial support, and full-scale manufacture, for our collaborators and biotech clients."

Development and Manufacturing Operations

Barry Holtz, PhD, President of iBio CMO LLC, reviewed the Company's recommissioning and expansion of its pilot and large-scale manufacturing facility.

Dr. Holtz reported, "We are now capable of operating under cGMP compliance and moving biopharmaceutical product candidates toward full-scale engineering batches to support clinical development activities. We completed construction of a new product/process development laboratory that tripled our capacity to provide proteins to current and potential clients who engage iBio CMO in early stage feasibility studies."

iBio's pilot scale plant production capacity has been doubled. All large-scale automated systems have been commissioned or recommissioned, and new staff members have been added to fill out the CDMO team. Multiple new proteins are under development for several clients.

IBIO-CFB03 Fibrosis Therapeutic Product Candidate

Terry Ryan, PhD, iBio's Chief Scientific Officer, outlined the progress made during the year on IBIO-CFB03, the Company's lead proprietary therapeutic candidate for fibrotic diseases.

Dr. Ryan remarked, "We are working steadily towards filing an IND for IBIO-CFB03, and are encouraged by our progress. During this year, we obtained Orphan Drug Designation from the FDA. We also achieved key development milestones with regard to the Company's lead candidate CFB03, including:

development of an improved cGMP manufacturing process allowing iBio to move forward on completing the CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls) section for its upcoming Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the FDA;

completion of initial preclinical pharmacokinetic and toxicology studies; and

expansion of preclinical research beyond previously announced systemic scleroderma and pulmonary fibrosis models to include liver, kidney, corneal, and cardiac fibrosis as potential additional clinical indications."





Business Strategy

Robert Erwin, iBio's President, discussed recent business strategy developments and provided the following update on client commitments for use of the Company's technology and CDMO services:

Collaboration with Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz

Bio-Manguinhos, the unit of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) in Brazil responsible for the development and production of vaccines, reagents and biopharmaceuticals suitable to meet the demands of public health and linked to the Health Ministry of Brazil, is extending and broadening its commitment to work with iBio. iBio and Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz have agreed in principle to enter into a collaborative relationship for the mutual development of certain products and facilities utilizing iBio and Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz intellectual property and services, and are working together to develop formal agreements to govern their relationship. The first such agreement is planned to be a Master Services Agreement to provide a general infrastructure for the overall relationship between iBio and Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz. The separate product and facilities projects will be described in detailed addenda to be attached to and governed by the Master Services Agreement.

The first project is expected to address development of a new Yellow Fever Vaccine based upon iBio's recombinant, plant-based technologies. A prior agreement governing early-stage, pre-clinical work expired in March 2017. Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz and iBio intend to collaborate on further development of the antigen, production of vaccine material for clinical trials, supervision of execution of Phase I clinical trials in the United States and further activities based upon the results of such trials.

The need for a new Yellow Fever vaccine is accentuated by the current outbreak of Yellow Fever that has killed at least 240 people in Brazil in recent months, according to the Brazilian Health Ministry. The disease has already spread to Brazil's most populous states: Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, and Sao Paulo, and U.S. infectious disease specialists have expressed concern that the virus might "jump the Panama Canal" and also reach Puerto Rico and the continental United States. Meanwhile, the CDC warned of a shortage of the current Yellow Fever vaccine in the United States because of recent manufacturing problems.

Other joint project plans include the development of a bio-better monoclonal antibody product aimed principally for the Brazilian market, and the design and implementation of a Brazil-based manufacturing facility owned by Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz, in both cases utilizing iBio intellectual property in addition to Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz intellectual property. The planned activities can become legally binding on iBio and Bio-Manguinhos/Fiocruz only after detailed definitive agreements have been executed by the parties.

Collaboration with AzarGen Biotechnologies

AzarGen Biotechnologies (Pty) Ltd, has expanded its collaboration with iBio under a newly agreed Memorandum of Understanding. Based in South Africa, AzarGen is a biotechnology company focused on developing human therapeutic proteins using advanced genetic engineering and synthetic biology techniques in plants. iBio and AzarGen will continue development of AzarGen's surfactant protein therapeutic and initiate development of a "bio-better" version of a therapeutic monoclonal antibody therapeutic product for the South African market.

Mr. Erwin noted, "Projects are underway for several additional clients based on iBio's ability to rapidly achieve early production of multiple product variants and save time on the execution of preclinical product down-selection processes. These clients and their product candidates are currently confidential, but include several antibody candidates and growth factor proteins. We expect current work on some or all of these product candidates to lead to expanded opportunities for both commercial license agreements and significantly higher service-based revenue."

About iBio, Inc.

iBio, a leader in developing plant-based biopharmaceuticals, provides a range of product and process development, analytical, and manufacturing services at the large-scale development and manufacturing facility of its subsidiary iBio CMO LLC in Bryan, Texas. The facility houses laboratory and pilot-scale operations, as well as large-scale automated hydroponic systems capable of growing over four million plants as "in process inventory" and delivering over 300 kilograms of therapeutic protein pharmaceutical active ingredient per year. Facility capacity can be doubled by adding additional plant growth equipment in a space already reserved for that purpose.

iBio applies its technology for the benefit of its clients and the advancement of its own product interests. The Company's pipeline is comprised of proprietary candidates for the treatment of a range of fibrotic diseases including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, systemic sclerosis, and scleroderma. IBIO-CFB03, based on the Company's proprietary gene expression technology, is the Company's lead therapeutic candidate being advanced for IND development.

Further information is available at: www.ibioinc.com

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

STATEMENTS INCLUDED IN THIS NEWS RELEASE RELATED TO IBIO, INC. MAY CONSTITUTE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995. SUCH STATEMENTS INVOLVE A NUMBER OF RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES SUCH AS COMPETITIVE FACTORS, TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT, MARKET DEMAND, AND THE COMPANY'S ABILITY TO OBTAIN NEW CONTRACTS AND ACCURATELY ESTIMATE NET REVENUES DUE TO VARIABILITY IN SIZE, SCOPE AND DURATION OF PROJECTS. FURTHER INFORMATION ON POTENTIAL RISK FACTORS THAT COULD AFFECT THE COMPANY'S FINANCIAL RESULTS CAN BE FOUND IN THE COMPANY'S REPORTS FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION.

CONTACT:

Stephanie Carrington

ICR, Inc.

stephanie.carrington@icrinc.com

646-277-1282




A.M. Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of "a" of Seguros Catalana Occidente, S.A. de Seguros y Reaseguros (SCO) (Spain), Bilbao, Compania Anonima de Seguros y Reaseguros, S.A. (SB) (Spain) and Plus Ultra Seguros Generales y Vida, S.A. de Seguros y Reaseguros (Plus Ultra) (Spain). All three companies are wholly owned subsidiaries of Grupo Catalana Occidente, S.A. (GCO), the non-operating holding company of the GCO group, and form the traditional business unit of the group. The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) remains stable.

The ratings of SCO, SB and Plus Ultra reflect the companies' integral role within the GCO group along with their strong level of risk-adjusted capitalisation and track record of solid earnings. The ratings of all three companies also benefit from the financial strength of GCO and the support provided by the group.

GCO exhibits a strong level of risk-adjusted capitalisation that has been supported partly by minimal net exposure to catastrophes, good earnings retention, a stable dividend policy, low levels of financial leverage and good quality of capital. During 2016, GCO's equity increased by 10% to EUR 2.8 billion (including minority interests) benefiting from stronger underwriting results across the group's operations. During 2016, GCO demonstrated its resilient profitability associated with the traditional businesses in Spain combined with solid earnings of its worldwide credit insurance operations.

GCO's traditional business unit maintains a solid competitive position in Spain as the top sixth insurer in the country by premium volumes. In addition, GCO's global credit insurance operations also have a dominating position worldwide, holding a 22% market share in a segment that maintains high barriers for new entrants.

Despite the entities' strong profile, all three companies are highly exposed to Spain's insurance market, where the outlooks remain challenged by high levels of competition in personal lines and limited opportunities for organic growth.

SCO is the leading insurance entity within the traditional business unit of the GCO group. Since SB and Plus Ultra were incorporated into the group, they have undergone a strategic transformation that has solidified its profile, taking advantage of all the shared platforms within the GCO group and implementing stricter underwriting guidelines, which have delivered improved profitability. All three entities operate exclusively in Spain and together they conform a solid and diversified franchise with presence in all the regions and distribution channels of Spain's insurance market.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on A.M. Best's website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see A.M. Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Understanding Best's Credit Ratings

A.M. Best is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright 2017 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170504006664/en/

Contacts:

A.M. Best

Jessica Botelho, +44 20 7626 6264

Financial Analyst

jessica.botelho@ambest.com

or

Mahesh Mistry, +44 20 7397 0325

Senior Director, Analytics

mahesh.mistry@ambest.com

or

Christopher Sharkey, +1-908-439-2200, ext. 5159

Manager, Public Relations

christopher.sharkey@ambest.com

or

Jim Peavy, +1-908-439-2200, ext. 5644

Director, Public Relations

james.peavy@ambest.com
MOUNT LAUREL, NJ -- (Marketwired) -- 05/04/17 -- inTEST Corporation (NYSE MKT: INTT), an independent designer, manufacturer and marketer of thermal management products and semiconductor automatic test equipment (ATE) interface solutions, today announced financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2017.

2017 First Quarter Summary

First quarter 2017 bookings were $15.0 million, compared with fourth quarter 2016 bookings of $11.6 million and first quarter 2016 bookings of $9.8 million; $3.5 million, or 23%, of first quarter 2017 bookings were derived from non-semiconductor test, compared with first quarter 2016 non-semiconductor test bookings of $2.0 million, or 20%.

First quarter 2017 net revenues were $14.2 million, compared with fourth quarter 2016 net revenues of $10.3 million and first quarter 2016 net revenues of $8.6 million; $3.7 million, or 26%, of first quarter 2017 net revenues were derived from non-semiconductor test, compared with first quarter 2016 non-semiconductor test revenues of $2.6 million, or 30%.

First quarter 2017 gross margin was $7.7 million, or 55%, compared with fourth quarter 2016 gross margin of $5.4 million, or 53%, and first quarter 2016 gross margin of $4.1 million, or 47%.

First quarter 2017 net earnings were $2.1 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, compared with fourth quarter 2016 net earnings of $1.0 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, and first quarter 2016 net earnings of $81,000, or $0.01 per diluted share.

Cash and cash equivalents at March 31, 2017 were $27.5 million, compared with $28.6 million at December 31, 2016.

2017 First Quarter Share Repurchase

During the first quarter of 2017, the Company purchased 13,883 shares of inTEST stock under its previously announced repurchase program, authorized in December 2015, bringing the total shares repurchased under the program to 297,020. The cost of first quarter 2017 repurchased shares totaled approximately $62,000.

"Demand for our broad-based solutions was unexpectedly strong in the first quarter, resulting in solid financial results," commented Robert E. Matthiessen, president and chief executive officer. "Bookings increased 30% sequentially and 53% year-over-year, net revenues grew 38% sequentially and 64% year-over-year, and we delivered our 30th consecutive quarter of profitability. Our Thermal Solutions division was fueled by strong orders from telecom, semiconductor and defense-aerospace customers in both North America and Asia; while solid advances in the automotive industry, as well as demand for the Internet of Things (IoT), industrial products, and consumer electronics drove the EMS business. We are on track to significantly exceed the first half performance of last year. The first quarter's exceptionally strong order flow was beyond our (and our customers') expectations and will result in a modest 'digestive' period. Looking forward, we continue to see significant opportunities and a strong 2017. With the growth we are experiencing in both our Thermal Solutions and EMS divisions, we are well positioned to capitalize on the industry's momentum."

Mr. Matthiessen added, "Our long-term objectives center on diversified growth through acquisition and the evolution of inTEST into a broad-based technology company serving the thermal technology needs of a variety of markets, while continuing to supply our valued customers in the semiconductor test arena with innovative, high quality and cost-effective testing solutions. As we continue to execute on our differentiated product strategy, we believe the conditions for our long-term success remain firmly in place."

2017 Second Quarter Financial Outlook

inTEST expects that net revenues for the second quarter of 2017 will be in the range of $13.0 million to $14.0 million and that earnings per diluted share will range from $0.13 to $0.18. This outlook is based on the Company's current views with respect to operating and market conditions and customers' forecasts, which are subject to change.

2017 First Quarter Conference Call Details

inTEST management will host a conference call on Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 5:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time. The conference call will address the Company's first quarter 2017 financial results and management's current expectations and views of the industry. The call may also include discussion of strategic, operating and product initiatives and developments, and other matters relating to the Company's current or future performance. To access the live conference call, please dial (815) 680-6269 or (866) 900-9241. The Passcode for the conference call is 3864332. Please reference the inTEST 2017 Q1 Financial Results Conference Call.

2017 First Quarter Live Webcast Details

inTEST Corporation will provide a webcast in conjunction with the conference call. To access the live webcast, please visit inTEST's website www.intest.com under the "Investors" section.

2017 First Quarter Replay Details (Webcast)

A replay of the webcast will be available on inTEST's website for one year following the live broadcast. To access the webcast replay, please visit inTEST's website www.intest.com under the "Investors" section.

Submit Questions

In advance of the conference call, and for those investors accessing the webcast, inTEST Corporation welcomes individual investors to submit their questions via email to lguerrant@guerrantir.com. The Company will address as many questions as possible on the conference call.

About inTEST Corporation

inTEST Corporation is an independent designer, manufacturer and marketer of thermal management products and ATE interface solutions, which are used by semiconductor manufacturers to perform final testing of integrated circuits (ICs) and wafers and by manufacturers in other diversified industries. The Company's high-performance products are designed to enable semiconductor manufacturers to improve the speed, reliability, efficiency and profitability of IC test processes. Other industries into which the Company's products are also sold include: the automotive, consumer electronics, defense/aerospace, energy, industrial and telecommunications markets. Specific products include temperature management systems, manipulator and docking hardware products and customized interface solutions. The Company has established strong relationships with its customers globally, which it supports through a network of local offices. For more information visit www.intest.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements do not convey historical information, but relate to predicted or potential future events and financial results that are based upon management's current expectations. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. In addition to the factors mentioned in this press release, such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, changes in business conditions and the economy, generally; changes in the demand for semiconductors, generally; changes in the rates of, and timing of, capital expenditures by our customers; progress of product development programs; increases in raw material and fabrication costs associated with our products and other risk factors set forth from time to time in our SEC filings, including, but not limited to, our periodic reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. inTEST undertakes no obligation to update the information in this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.

SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA (Unaudited) (In thousands, except per share data) Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations Data: Three Months Ended ----------------------------------- 3/31/2017 3/31/2016 12/31/2016 ----------- ----------- ----------- Net revenues $ 14,180 $ 8,647 $ 10,272 Gross margin 7,728 4,067 5,405 Operating expenses: Selling expense 1,668 1,335 1,367 Engineering and product development expense 935 991 782 General and administrative expense 1,994 1,645 1,641 Operating income 3,131 96 1,615 Other income (expense) 41 28 (2) Earnings before income tax expense 3,172 124 1,613 Income tax expense 1,094 43 612 Net earnings 2,078 81 1,001 Net earnings per share - basic $ 0.20 $ 0.01 $ 0.10 Weighted average shares outstanding - basic 10,265 10,390 10,274 Net earnings per share - diluted $ 0.20 $ 0.01 $ 0.10 Weighted average shares outstanding - diluted 10,295 10,404 10,297 Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets Data: As of: ----------------------- 3/31/2017 12/31/2016 ----------- ----------- Cash and cash equivalents $ 27,455 $ 28,611 Trade accounts receivable, net 9,817 5,377 Inventories 3,921 3,676 Total current assets 41,567 38,006 Net property and equipment 934 944 Total assets 46,353 42,844 Accounts payable 1,833 1,368 Accrued expenses 2,975 3,113 Total current liabilities 6,433 5,056 Noncurrent liabilities - - Total stockholders' equity 39,920 37,788

Contacts

inTEST Corporation

Hugh T. Regan, Jr.

Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer

Tel: 856-505-8999



Investors:

Laura Guerrant-Oiye

Principal

Guerrant Associates

lguerrant@guerrantir.com

Tel: (808) 960-2642




MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 05/04/17 -- Earth Alive Clean Technologies Inc. (CSE: EAC)(CSE: EAC.CN)(CNSX: EAC) ("Earth Alive" or the "Company"), announces that David Gilmour, Director, President and Chief Executive Officer, has advised the Corporation that he is taking a temporary medical leave from his day-to-day activities at Earth Alive for an undetermined period of time. Mr. Gilmour expects to resume all of his activities at Earth Alive before the end of this year and he will remain available to assist with corporate development & overall strategy.

In the interim, the Board of directors has appointed Michael Warren as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Warren has been a member of Earth Alive's senior management team since 2014 where he has been singled out for consistently identifying innovative business concepts and bringing them to market, all with a focus on products that are earth and human-friendly. Mr. Warren is familiar with the day to day operations and the general development strategy of Earth Alive. He holds a Business Degree from Bishop's University and prior to joining Earth Alive, he had built LFP Solutions, an organic soil inputs distribution company where he developed operational & management expertise. Prior to this nomination, in his role as Vice President Global Operations - Agriculture, Mr. Warren was responsible for product and market development in various parts of the world, particularly Latin America and Africa and he will continue on that path while overseeing the general operations.

Robert Blain, Chairman, stated: "We are very pleased that Mr. Warren has accepted this nomination and we are confident that under his leadership, Earth Alive's objectives of sustainable growth and profitability will be achieved in the short term."

In addition, Earth Alive announces the appointment of Pierre Brault, as Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Brault has over 20 years of business experience acquired, namely, in financial modeling, corporate and project development, strategic planning, operations, and mergers and acquisitions both on a local and international level. Mr. Brault holds an MBA (IMD Lausanne, Switzerland) and the Chartered Financial Analyst designation (CFA) in addition to a Bachelor degree in Civil Law (McGill University) and is a member of the Quebec Bar.

Mr. Blain added: "Mr. Brault brings extensive local and international business expertise to Earth Alive and we are excited to have him on our team. In addition to his duties as Chief Financial Officer, he will be overseeing operations and business development under the leadership of Mr. Warren. Earth Alive had been seeking to find a Chief Financial Officer to replace Mr. Steve Perrone who recently resigned and to whom we are grateful. Mr. Brault is the perfect candidate to take on such duties in addition to those of Chief Operating Officer where his expertise in international strategic planning is a remarkable addition to management depth. While we are pleased with the strength of management, we eagerly await Mr. Gilmour's return and we wish him all the best."

For additional company information, please visit: www.earthalivect.com

The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward Looking Information

Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" occur. Although Earth Alive believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contacts:

For media information and interview requests,

Mr. Michael Warren

(e) mwarren@earthalivect.com

(p) 514-941-7350



For investor relations,

Mr. Frederick Chabot

(e) frederick@contactfinancial.com

(p) 438-863-7071






ATLANTA (dpa-AFX) - In another episode of mistreatment of passengers by airlines, Delta Airlines booted off a Huntington Beach family on an argument regarding a seat.



The family were forced off a Delta flight from Maui to Los Angeles on April 23 after airline staff insisted their 2-year-old child could not sit in his own seat, which the family had already paid for.



Brian and Brittany Schear explain that they had bought the seat for their teenager son, however, they sent the teen home early on another flight so that the baby could have a seat on the plane.



However, the officials were adamant that they had to give up the seat to another passenger.



'It's a red-eye. He won't sleep unless he's in his car seat. So, otherwise, he'd be sitting in my wife's lap, crawling all over the place, and it's not safe,' Brian said.



'The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) strongly urges you to secure your child in a CRS or device for the duration of your flight,' the agency states. 'It's the smart and right thing to do so that everyone in your family arrives safely at your destination. The FAA is giving you the information you need to make informed decisions about your family's travel plans.'



'Our team has reached out and will be talking with them to better understand what happened and come to a resolution,' the airline said in a statement Thursday morning to The Washington Post.



Incidents of passengers being mistreated by airline crew has become common recently. In April, a doctor was brutally dragged of a United Airlines flight after he declined to give up his seat for a crew member on the overbooked flight.



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

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AIX-EN-PROVENCE, FRANCE -- (Marketwired) -- 05/04/17 -- SuperSonic Imagine (EURONEXT PARIS: SSI) (FR0010526814), a company specializing in ultrasound medical imaging, announced today that it will showcase its Aixplorer platform with real-time ShearWave Elastography (SWE) for the assessment and management of liver diseases at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) Annual Meeting 2017, held May 6 - 9 at McCormick Place in Chicago. Accompanying SuperSonic Imagine will be Diversatek Healthcare, the exclusive distributor of Aixplorer to Gastroenterologists and Hepatologists in the U.S.A. SuperSonic Imagine and Diversatek Healthcare will be exhibiting during DDW 2017 in the Exhibit Hall at booth #1921.

"At SuperSonic Imagine, innovation in liver imaging is a driving passion, so we are thrilled to attend DDW once again and share the clinical benefits of the Aixplorer's SWE technology with specialists from around the world," said Jacques Souquet, Founder and Chief Innovation Officer at SuperSonic Imagine. "With our distribution partner, we are committed to expanding our footprint in the U.S.A., Diversatek Healthcare shares our goal of managing chronic Liver Disease with non invasive diagnostic liver imaging and quantification to assist in diagnosis. At our booth, attendees can see firsthand how SWE technology promises to do just that."

"Our mission is to bring our customers in Gastroenterology and Hepatology the latest technologies to improve patient care," said Stuart Wildhorn, Chief Scientific Officer, Diversatek Healthcare. "The Aixplorer platform with SWE technology truly changes the landscape of liver disease management, making it an excellent fit for our customers and our company. Being able to visualize what you are measuring adds to better patient management."

Real-time ShearWave Elastography (SWE), available only on the Aixplorer system, is a 60-second non-invasive exam used for imaging chronic liver disease. SWE offers the advantage of real-time imaging of liver anatomy, while also providing not only a color-coded map of liver stiffness, but also a quantification tool for the measurement of stiffness which is an important parameter for liver diagnostic. Over 100 peer reviewed publications have demonstrated the reliability and effectiveness of SuperSonic Imagine's SWE in imaging liver pathologies.

Recently, the results of an international multicenter study on 1134 patients were published in Hepatology, and confirmed the benefit of SWE in the non-invasive assessment of liver stiffness(1), including for patients with diseases such as hepatitis C that may require repeated follow-up evaluations. Although biopsy has been considered the standard for assessing liver fibrosis severity, the drawbacks of this invasive approach include significant incidence of morbidity, high procedure costs due to longer hospitalisation, and clinical shortcomings. Stiffness is even sometimes underestimated in 10-30% of cases.(2,3)

(1) Herrmann E. 2D-Shear Wave Elastography Is Equivalent or Superior to Transient Elastography for Liver Fibrosis Assessment: Results from an Individual Patient Data Based Meta-analysis. The International Liver Congress, Vienna, April 23, 2015.

(2) Sampling error and intraobserver variation in liver biopsy in patients with chronic HCV infection. Regev A, Berho, M, Jeffers LJ, Milikowski C, Molina EG, Pyrsopoulos NT, Feng ZZ, Reddy KR, Schiff ER. Am J Gastroenterol. 2002 Oct;97(10):2614-8.

(3) Sources of variability in histological scoring of chronic viral hepatitis. Rousselet MC, Michalak S, Dupre F, Croue, A, Bedossa P, Saint-Andre JP, Cales P; Hepatitis Network 49. Hepatology. 2005 Feb;41(2):257-64.

About Diversatek Healthcare

Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Diversatek Healthcare is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Diversatek Inc. A leader in gastroenterological medical devices and diagnostics, Diversatek Healthcare's tenured management team is committed to making business personal again through a hands-on approach to understanding clinical and patient needs. Diversatek Healthcare is driving science in the GI space while providing comprehensive educational offerings through Diversatek University, including on-site training and virtual platforms. The company offers an extensive range of state-of-the-art diagnostic and therapeutic GI applications from esophageal dilators and endoscopic accessories to high-resolution impedance manometry systems and impedance/pH total reflux monitoring.

Diversatek Inc. recently united two complementary subsidiaries, Sandhill Scientific and Medovations, to form one singular organization committed to technologies that simplify the complex medical marketplace. For additional information, visit www.diversatekhealthcare.com or contact us at 800-558-6408.

About SuperSonic Imagine

Founded in 2005 and based in Aix-en-Provence (France), SuperSonic Imagine is a company specializing in medical imaging. The company designs, develops and markets a revolutionary ultrasound system, Aixplorer, with an UltraFast platform that can acquire images 200 times faster than conventional ultrasound systems. In addition to providing exceptional image quality, this unique technology is the foundation of several innovations which have changed the paradigm of ultrasound imaging: ShearWave Elastography (SWE), UltraFast Doppler, Angio PL.U.S - Planewave UltraSensitive Imaging and more recently TriVu. ShearWave Elastography allows physicians to visualize and analyze the stiffness of tissue in a real-time, reliable, reproducible and non-invasive manner. This criteria has become an important parameter in diagnosing potentially malignant tissue or other diseased tissue. As of today, over 300 peer-reviewed publications have demonstrated the value of SWE for the clinical management of patients with a wide range of diseases. SuperSonic Imagine has been granted regulatory clearances for the commercialization of Aixplorer in key global markets. SuperSonic Imagine is a listed company since April 2014 on the Euronext, symbol SSI. For more information about SuperSonic Imagine, please go to www.supersonicimagine.com.

Contact information:

SuperSonic Imagine

Marketing & Communication

Emmanuelle Vella

Email Contact

+33 4 86 79 03 27



NewCap

Investor Relations - EU

Pierre Laurent / Florent Alba

Email Contact

+33 1 44 71 98 55



Pascale Communication

Media Relations - US

Amy Phillips

Email Contact

+1 412 327 9499




Technavio analysts forecast the global polymer-based solubility enhancement excipients market for OSDFto grow at a CAGR of almost 17% during the forecast period, according to their latest report.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170504006521/en/

Technavio has published a new report on the global polymer based solubility enhancement excipients market for OSDF from 2017-2021. (Graphic: Business Wire)

The research study covers the present scenario and growth prospects of the global polymer-based solubility enhancement excipients market for OSDFfor 2017-2021. The report segments the market based on type, which includes copovidone, HPMC, Polymethacrylates, HPMCAS, PVP, HPC, and Polyvinyl caprolactam-polyvinyl acetate-polyethylene glycol copolymer.

The global polymer-based solubility enhancement excipients market for OSDF is expected to grow at a rapid rate following the global receptivity for drug-solubility enhancing techniques. The pharmaceutical industry is on the ascendant, catering to the global demand for solubility enhancement polymer-based excipients to synchronize with APIs.

Looking for more information on this market? Request a free sample report

Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report including the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more.

Technavio chemicals and materials analysts highlight the following three factors that are contributing to the growth of the global polymer-based solubility enhancement excipients market for OSDF:

Increase in production of low-solubility drugs

The global polymer-based solubility enhancement excipients market for OSDF will grow at a CAGR of approximately 17% during the forecast period, which reflects the pipeline of drug entities under development. Further, the fact that poor solubility is one of the most common attributes of modern day drug entities gives the global polymer-based solubility enhancement excipients market for OSDF an opportunity to capitalize on the concern.

Chandrakumar Badala Jaganathan, a lead plastics, polymers, and elastomers research analyst at Technavio, says, "Many new drugs are in the discovery and enhancement phase, combined with the currently available drugs, are categorized under BGS CLASS II and IV. This categorization reveals that low-solubility drugs constitute 76%-82% of total drugs in the pharmaceutical industry

Global rise in geriatric population

The increasing number of aging population in every country has contributed significantly to the pharmaceutical industry. Globally, the proportion of older persons in contrast with relatively young individuals is growing faster, thereby accentuating the need for the pharmaceutical sector to stay one step ahead in its approach.

"The need to improve the longevity of the cohort of people will require potent drug formulations, which will propel the growth of the global polymer-based solubility enhancement excipients market for OSDF during the forecast period," adds Chandrakumar.

Global receptivity toward solid dispersion technology

Solid dispersion is an approach to enhance the solubility of poorly soluble drugs as the solubility of drug molecules ultimately decides the therapeutic influence of a drug. The use of this technology accounted for over 82% of the market revenue in 2016. Further, continuous advancements in the field of technology pertaining to polymer-based solubility enhancement excipients give the industry a strong driving factor to capitalize on the opportunities that the industry offers.

The improvement in dissolution and bioavailability of drugs using solid dispersion technology makes the receptivity of the technology a driver for the global polymer-based solubility enhancement excipients market for OSDF. Furthermore, the use of spray drying and hot-melt extrusion technologies has played a part in driving the industry.

Top vendors:

Ashland

BASF

Dow Chemical

Evonik

Shin-Etsu Chemical

Browse Related Reports:

Global Barrier Resins Market 2017-2021

Global Polycarbonate Plastic Market 2017-2021

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Become a Technavio Insights member and access all three of these reports for a fraction of their original cost. As a Technavio Insights member, you will have immediate access to new reports as they're published in addition to all 6,000+ existing reports covering segments like metals and mineralsspecialty chemicals, and olefins. This subscription nets you thousands in savings, while staying connected to Technavio's constant transforming research library, helping you make informed business decisions more efficiently.

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies.

Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users.

If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170504006521/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 630 333 9501

UK: +44 208 123 1770

www.technavio.com
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/04/17 -- Khan Resources Inc. ("Khan" or the "Company") (CSE: KRI) announces that the arrangement agreement (the "Arrangement Agreement") with Arden Holdings Ltd. and its wholly owned subsidiary (together, "Arden") to purchase the shares of Khan at $0.05 per share has been terminated. Based on proxies received, the Company has determined that there will be less than the required two-thirds majority votes in favour of the transaction. The Company and Arden have agreed to terminate the Arrangement Agreement, and the Company has paid the CAD$175,000 termination fee contemplated in the Arrangement Agreement.

As a result, the transaction will not be voted upon at the Annual and Special Meeting of shareholders to be held on May 5, 2017. The remaining business for the Annual and Special Meeting will be the election of directors and the appointment of auditors.

Contacts:

Investor Relations Contacts:

Khan Resources Inc.

Grant Edey

Chairman & CEO

416.360.3405

gedey@rogers.com




ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR -- (Marketwired) -- 05/04/17 -- Fortis Inc. ("Fortis" or the "Corporation") (TSX: FTS)(NYSE: FTS) announced the voting results from its Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders held today in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Shareholders voted in favour of all items of business before the meeting, including electing the nominated directors, appointing Deloitte LLP as the Corporation's auditors, voting on an advisory basis to accept the Corporation's approach to executive compensation and approving amendments to the amended and restated 2012 employee share purchase plan (the "ESPP").

Election of Directors

Fortis shareholders elected the following 12 individuals to the Fortis board of directors to serve until the next Annual Meeting of Shareholders or until their successors are elected or appointed:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nominees Votes For Votes Withheld -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tracey C. Ball 220,056,497 99.76% 524,238 0.24% -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pierre J. Blouin 219,869,079 99.68% 712,656 0.32% -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lawrence T. Borgard 219,879,336 99.68% 702,399 0.32% -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Maura J. Clark 219,953,361 99.72% 622,473 0.28% -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Margarita K. Dilley 219,963,581 99.72% 618,154 0.28% -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ida J. Goodreau 219,606,524 99.56% 973,211 0.44% -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Douglas J. Haughey 217,619,716 98.66% 2,962,018 1.34% -------------------------------------------------------------------------- R. Harry McWatters 219,874,123 99.68% 707,611 0.32% -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ronald D. Munkley 219,915,817 99.70% 665,918 0.30% -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Barry V. Perry 220,024,595 99.75% 556,967 0.25% -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Joseph L. Welch 220,026,494 99.75% 555,241 0.25% -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jo Mark Zurel 219,983,199 99.73% 598,536 0.27% --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I am very pleased to welcome two new members to our board," said Mr. Doug Haughey, Chair of the Board of Fortis. "Both Lawrence Borgard and Joseph Welch bring extensive experience in the U.S. energy sector. Joe is the Chairman of the Board of ITC Holdings Corp., and also served as its President and Chief Executive Officer prior to its acquisition by Fortis. Larry is a former President and Chief Operating Officer of Integrys Energy Group, a diversified energy holding company that was recently bought by another investor-owned utility. Joe and Larry's experience will add further depth and expertise to our board of directors."

Change of Auditors

Shareholders of the Corporation approved the appointment of Deloitte LLP as the Corporation's auditors to hold office until the close of the next annual meeting of shareholders. Deloitte LLP was selected by the board of directors for recommendation to the shareholders following a comprehensive tender process conducted in early 2017.

-------------------------------------------------- Votes For Votes Withheld -------------------------------------------------- 234,021,142 99.52% 1,140,490 0.48% --------------------------------------------------

Say on Pay

Shareholders approved the non-binding advisory vote regarding the Corporation's approach to executive compensation ("Say on Pay") at the Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders. The Fortis board of directors takes the results of the Say on Pay vote into account when considering future compensation policies, practices and decisions and in determining whether there is a need to increase engagement with shareholders on compensation and related matters.

-------------------------------------------------- Votes For Votes Against -------------------------------------------------- 215,099,286 97.51% 5,482,448 2.49% --------------------------------------------------

Employee Share Purchase Plan

Fortis Shareholders also voted in favour of the proposed amendment to the ESPP. Shareholders approved an amendment to increase the share reserve under the ESPP by 2,000,000 common shares. The ESPP gives full-time and part-time employees, including executives, a convenient way to become Fortis shareholders and build their equity ownership and is an effective tool for attracting, retaining and motivating employees.

-------------------------------------------------- Votes For Votes Against -------------------------------------------------- 218,886,748 99.23% 1,694,986 0.77% --------------------------------------------------

About Fortis

Fortis is a leader in the North American regulated electric and gas utility industry with total assets of approximately C$48 billion. 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. Karen McCarthy

Director, Communications & Corporate Affairs

Fortis Inc.

709.737.5323




CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/04/17 -- Quorum Information Technologies Inc. (TSX VENTURE: QIS), a leading provider of dealership and customer management software and value-added services to the automotive industry, intends to release its first quarter 2017 financial and operating results after the market closes on Tuesday, May 23, 2017.

A conference call has been scheduled for Wednesday, May 24, 2017 beginning at 11:00 a.m. MT (13:00 p.m. ET), at which time Maury Marks, President and Chief Executive Officer and Marilyn Bown, Chief Financial Officer will provide a presentation of the results followed by a question and answer period.

Anyone wishing to participate in the call is asked to dial-in using the following numbers and ask for the Quorum Information Technologies Inc. First Quarter 2017 Results Conference Call. Callers are asked to dial-in 10-15 minutes before the scheduled start time.

Details for anyone wishing to participate in the conference call are:

Local: 1 (403) 451-9838 Toll-Free North America: 1 (888) 231-8191

A replay of the conference call will be available beginning at 13:45 p.m. MT May 24, 2017 until 21:59 p.m. MT on June 7, 2017, and can be accessed by dialing:

Local: 1 (403) 451-9481 Toll-Free North America: 1 (855) 859-2056 Password#: 12946443

A replay of the conference call will also be available for at least 30 days following the call on Quorum's website, under the Investors section, at www.quorumdms.com.

Quorum's first quarter 2017 results investor presentation will also available for download after the press release has been issued, again under the Investors section on the Company's website at www.quorumdms.com.

About Quorum

Quorum is a North American company focused on developing, marketing, implementing and supporting its automotive dealership and customer management system, XSELLERATOR. Quorum offers the system to franchised, independent and some non-automotive dealerships in Canada and the United States. XSELLERATOR automates, integrates and streamlines every process across departments in a dealership. The system includes tools designed to maximize revenue opportunities for dealerships such as Customer Relationship Management and service inspection and quoting processes. Quorum is a Microsoft partner and XSELLERATOR is developed with modern mobile-enabled technology. Quorum Information Technologies Inc. is traded on the Toronto Venture Exchange (TSX-V) under the symbol QIS and in 2016 was selected to the TSX Venture 50, an annual ranking of the strongest performing companies on the TSX Venture Exchange. For additional information please go to www.QuorumDMS.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) has reviewed this release and neither accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Quorum Information Technologies Inc.

Maury Marks

403-777-0036

MarksM@QuorumDMS.com

www.quorumdms.com




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/04/17 -- Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation (hereinafter, the "Company") (TSX: TNX)(NYSE MKT: TRX) is pleased to announce that it has filed on SEDAR today, a feasibility study ("MFS" or "Study") for the Buckreef Project which positively establishes that 1.064 Million ounces of gold reserves are available to be mined over a 15-year initial life of mine through conventional open pit mining methods.

"Today is a great day in the history of the Company as this Study assigns a net positive value of USD$243 million at the Buckreef Project, using a 5% discount rate and a gold price of US$1,250 per ounce. We are completely delighted with results of this independent feasibility study. We have steadfastly pursued our goals at Buckreef and this study clearly indicates the value of the Buckreef Project which we expected was present. We anticipate even more mineral reserves to become known after implementing the planned close spaced grade control drilling program," said Executive Chairman, James E. Sinclair.

The completion of the MFS was led by an independent consulting team from MaSS Resources Ltd of Tanzania and is dated effective as of April 27, 2017. The MFS was prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101. Additional technical support was provided by the Company's internal technical team incorporating and updating the previously published Preliminary Economic Assessment study results by Venymn of South Africa. Other historical conducted over the years on this historic deposit were also included for continuity. The Buckreef Project is in the Geita District in Lake Victoria Greenstone Belt in central Tanzania, East Africa.

"Our initial capital costs are estimated at a modest $32 million dollars (USD). That amount includes the first year's pre-stripping program. The mining and processing components are simple, straight forward operations utilizing common earthmoving methods and equipment. Our plant design makes use of standard Gravity / CIL plant technology used worldwide," said Acting Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Duval. "Shareholders will be extremely pleased with the results of our MFS. We encourage shareholders to take time to review the Study in its entirety, particularly to gain a thorough understanding of the project design, and to note the discussion on the potential for future underground development of Buckreef. The MFS validates everything we have known about our Buckreef Project, and is now officially defined in this Study," Mr. Duval concluded.

The highlights of the MFS include:

-- 1.064 million ounces of open pittable gold reserves to be mined over the life of the project. -- Conventional open pit mining methods selected in pit designs. -- Over an initial 15-yr Life of Mine, a total of 17.49Mt of ore with a strip ratio of 8.12:1 (waste to ore) will be mined. -- Overall recoveries from the flotation and cyanide leach circuits are expected to be 89% and 93% for primary ore and saprolite ore, respectively. -- Over the life of the mine an average of 53,534 oz Au per annum will be produced as dore. -- Pre-existing stockpile (ROMPAD) ore totaling 119,726t grading 1.86g/t to be used for process plant commissioning. -- Discussion of future underground development potential. -- Life of Mine capital cost outlay estimated at $ 59.6 million (USD) and sustaining capital, excluding closure costs. -- Cash operating costs of $ 696/oz (USD). -- Generation of a positive NPV of $243 million (USD) at a 5% discount rate and an IRR of 53.7%

For further information, including the key assumptions, parameters and methods use to estimate the mineral reserves on the Buckreef Project, please see the MFS in its entirety under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

The MFS is an in-depth independent Study, which addresses the continued refinement of pit-optimized mining reserves, mine production schedule, process plant ore feed schedule and financial projections and analysis based on comprehensive cost estimations for process plant (design, fabrication, construction and operation) and mining (equipment purchase and mine production) among other things for the Buckreef Project.

"We are very pleased and excited that our expectations of our Buckreef Project have been validated and confirmed by the MFS. Our corporate team, together with our consultants worked tirelessly. The dedication of all of us throughout this process is the foundation of our impending success with the Buckreef Project." stated Mr. Duval.

Executive Chairman Sinclair concluded, "It is a credit to our shareholders who remained loyal during the most difficult of times, who will ultimately be rewarded by our success at the Buckreef Project. We are very happy for our outstanding MFS which shows 1.064 million ounces of gold reserves minable at our Buckreef Project. We are also incredibly grateful for the continued support of our valued shareholders throughout this process."

The Company's Qualified Person, Mr. Peter Zizhou, has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release. Mr. Zizhou is the COO of Tanzam2000, a subsidiary of Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation Limited. He has a Master of Science (Exploration Geology) degree from the University of Zimbabwe (2000) and is a registered scientist with SACNASP (Reg. No.400028/08).

ABOUT TANZANIAN ROYALTY EXPLORATION CORPORATION:

Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation is a mineral resource company, which engages in the acquisition, exploration and extraction of gold and other natural resources in the United Republic of Tanzania, Africa. The Company, after successfully exploring for Gold has identified three development projects, Buckreef, Kigosi, and Itetemia. In early 2016 in conjunction with our first gold pour, the Company was deemed a commercial gold producer by the Tanzanian Government. The Company is presently focused on its Buckreef Gold Project located in North central Tanzania.

James E. Sinclair, Executive Chairman

Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation

The Toronto Stock Exchange and NYSE Amex Equities have not reviewed and do not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements

Certain of the statements made herein may contain forward-looking statements or information within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements and forward-looking information can be identified using words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or the negatives thereof 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 statements or information herein include, but are not limited to the mineable ounces of gold on the Buckreef Project; the life of mine at the Buckreef Project, estimated capital costs, anticipated grades and recoveries, results of future exploration work, expected net present value, future operating costs, plant and pit construction and design parameters, as well as other anticipated outcomes set forth in the MFS.

Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. We have made certain assumptions about the forward-looking statements and information and even though our management believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements or information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statement or information will prove to be accurate. Furthermore, should one or more of the risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements or information. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among others, the following: gold price volatility; discrepancies between actual and estimated production, mineral reserves and resources and metallurgical recoveries; mining operational and development risk; litigation risks; regulatory restrictions, including environmental regulatory restrictions and liability; risks of sovereign investment; currency fluctuations; speculative nature of gold exploration; global economic climate; dilution; share price volatility; competition; loss of key employees; additional funding requirements; and defective title to mineral claims or property, as well as those factors discussed in the sections entitled "Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Information Form 20-F dated November 25, 2016.

There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements or information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements or information contained herein. Except as required by law, we do not expect to update forward-looking statements and information continually as conditions change and you are referred to the full discussion of the Company's business contained in the Company's reports filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada and the U.S.

Cautionary Note Regarding Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources

The terms "Mineral Reserve", "Proven Mineral Reserve" and "Probable Mineral Reserve" used in this release are Canadian mining terms as defined in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects under the guidelines set out in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (the "CIM") Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the CIM Council on August 20, 2000 as may be amended from time to time by the CIM. These definitions differ from the definitions in the United States Securities Exchange Commission ("SEC") Guide 7. In the United States, a mineral reserve is defined as a part of a mineral deposit which could be economically and legally extracted or produced at the time the mineral reserve determination is made.

The terms "Mineral Resource", "Measured Mineral Resource", "Indicated Mineral Resource", "Inferred Mineral Resource" used in this release are Canadian mining terms as defined in accordance with National Instruction 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects under the guidelines set out in the CIM Standards. Mineral Resources which are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

For a detailed discussion of Buckreef resource and reserve estimates and related matters see the Company's reports, including the Annual Information Form and Form 20-F dated November 25, 2016 and technical reports filed under the Company's name at our website at: www.TanzanianRoyaltyExploration.com.

Cautionary Note to US Investors Concerning Estimates of Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources

Note to U.S. Investors. While the terms "mineral resource", "measured mineral resource," "indicated mineral resource", and "inferred mineral resource" are recognized and required by Canadian regulations, they are not defined terms under standards in the United States and normally are not permitted to be used in reports and registration statements filed with the SEC. As such, information contained in this report concerning descriptions of mineralization and resources under Canadian standards may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S companies in SEC filings. With respect to "indicated mineral resource" and "inferred mineral resource" there is a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and a great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an "indicated mineral resource" or "inferred mineral resource" will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted into reserves.

There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements or information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements or information contained herein. Except as required by law, we do not expect to update forward-looking statements and information continually as conditions change and you are referred to the full discussion of the Company's business contained in the Company's reports filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada and the U.S.

Contacts:

Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation

Investor Relations

Porter, LeVay & Rose

Michael Porter

212-564-4700

mike@plrinvest.com




WASHINGTON, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --The following is a statement ofMatthew L. Myers, President, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids:

According to media reports, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled that Australia's pioneering law requiring plain packaging for tobacco products does not violate international trade and intellectual property agreements. If Australia has prevailed, it is a landmark victory in the global fight against tobacco use and a resounding defeat for the tobacco industry, which has fiercely fought plain packaging laws. To date, the tobacco industry has lost every legal challenge to plain packaging both in international and national courts, not only in Australia, but also in the United Kingdom, France, Ireland and the European Union.

A victory for Australia would provide a tremendous boost to the growing global movement to require that cigarettes and other tobacco products be sold in plain packaging, without colorful logos and other branding that attract youth, mislead consumers and increase the appeal of these deadly and addictive products. Plain packaging laws are both scientifically and legally sound. Other countries considering plain packaging should move forward with confidence that they can defeat tobacco industry challenges.

Tobacco companies have fought plain packaging because they know it works. After Australia implemented plain packaging and other tobacco control measures in 2012, public understanding of the dangers of tobacco use rose and smoking rates fell at the fastest pace in more than two decades (see our summary of the scientific evidence supporting plain packaging).

Plain packaging laws subsequently have been implemented by France and the United Kingdom (the UK law takes full effect on May 21, 2017) and adopted, but not yet fully implemented, by Hungary, Ireland, Norway, New Zealand, Romania and Slovenia. Numerous other countries are considering such laws (see our list of countries that have adopted or are considering such laws).

The WTO challenge against Australia was initiated by Ukraine, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia and Cuba on the basis of alleged breaches of international trade and intellectual property agreements. It has been reported that Ukraine, Honduras and the Dominican Republic received technical and financial support from British American Tobacco and Philip Morris International. It was also reported that Ukraine filed the complaint against Australia at the request of the American Chamber of Commerce, a group with a well-documented history of working on behalf of tobacco companies. Ukraine subsequently withdrew its complaint.

Tobacco use kills more than six million people worldwide each year and is projected to kill one billion people this century unless countries take strong action now to prevent it. Plain packaging is a bold strategy to save lives that should be implemented as a key element of a comprehensive approach to reducing tobacco use, along with graphic health warnings, advertising bans, higher tobacco taxes and 100 percent smoke-free laws.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/449263/CAMPAIGN_FOR_TOBACCO_FREE_KIDS_Logo.jpg
TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - May 04, 2017) -Hudbay Minerals Inc. ("Hudbay" or the "company") (TSX: HBM) (NYSE: HBM) announced today that each of the 10 nominees listed in its management information circular dated March 31, 2017 was elected as a director of Hudbay at the company's Annual Meeting of Shareholders held on May 4, 2017. The vote was conducted by a show of hands. Detailed results of the votes cast by proxy are set out below:

-------------------------------------------------------------------- Percentage of Director Number of Favourable Favourable Votes Cast by Proxy Votes Cast by Proxy -------------------------------------------------------------------- Carol T. Banducci 175,557,305 99.68% Igor A. Gonzales 167,533,432 95.13% Tom A. Goodman 173,623,191 98.58% Alan Hair 175,477,528 99.64% Alan R. Hibben 170,919,639 97.05% W. Warren Holmes 174,696,991 99.19% Sarah B. Kavanagh 175,536,939 99.67% Carin S. Knickel 170,914,569 97.05% Alan J. Lenczner 170,100,815 96.58% Kenneth G. Stowe 175,572,596 99.69% --------------------------------------------------------------------

About Hudbay

Hudbay (TSX: HBM) (NYSE: HBM) is an integrated mining company producing copper concentrate (containing copper, gold and silver) and zinc metal. With assets in North and South America, the company is focused on the discovery, production and marketing of base and precious metals. Directly and through its subsidiaries, Hudbay owns four polymetallic mines, four ore concentrators and a zinc production facility in northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan (Canada) and Cusco (Peru), and a copper project in Arizona (United States). The company's growth strategy is focused on the exploration and development of properties it already controls, as well as other mineral assets it may acquire that fit its strategic criteria. Hudbay's vision is to become a top-tier operator of long-life, low-cost mines in the Americas. Hudbay's mission is to create sustainable value through the acquisition, development and operation of high-quality and growing long-life deposits in mining-friendly jurisdictions. The company is governed by the Canada Business Corporations Act and its shares are listed under the symbol "HBM" on the Toronto Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange and Bolsa de Valores de Lima. Hudbay also has warrants listed under the symbol "HBM.WT" on the Toronto Stock Exchange and "HBM/WS" on the New York Stock Exchange.

For further information, please contact:



Candace Brule

Director, Investor Relations

(416) 814-4387

candace.brule@hudbay.com


Country

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Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 11/06/17 -- Uranium Participation Corporation ("UPC") (TSX: U) reports its estimated net asset value at October 31, 2017 was CAD$436.6 million or CAD$3.30 per share. As at October 31, 2017, UPC's uranium investment portfolio consisted of the following:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (in thousands of Canadian dollars, except quantity amounts) Quantity Fair Value ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Investments in Uranium: Uranium oxide in concentrates ("U3O8") 10,680,024 lbs $ 274,706 Uranium hexafluoride ("UF6") 1,903,471 KgU $ 138,046 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- $ 412,752 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- U3O8 fair value per pound: - In Canadian dollars (1) $ 25.72 - In United States dollars $ 19.95 UF6 fair value(1) per KgU: - In Canadian dollars (1) $ 72.52 - In United States dollars $ 56.25 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) Fair values are month-end spot prices published by Ux Consulting Company, LLC, translated at the Bank of Canada's month-end daily exchange rate of $1.2893.

On October 31, 2017, the common shares of UPC closed on the TSX at a value of CAD$3.51, which represents a 6.36% premium to the net asset value of CAD$3.30 per share.

On September 25, 2017, UPC announced a bought-deal equity offering of 10,745,000 common shares, at a price of CAD$3.50 per share, for gross proceeds of $37,607,500, with an overallotment option of an additional 855,000 common shares at CAD$3.50 per share. The offering was completed on October 4, 2017 and the overallotment option was fully exercised. Accordingly, UPC issued 11,600,000 common shares for total gross proceeds of $40,600,000. The proceeds of the offering are intended to be used by UPC to fund purchases of uranium and for general corporate purposes.

As at October 31, 2017, UPC completed purchases and has taken delivery of 600,000 pounds U3O8, at an average cost of US$20.29 (CAD$25.42) per pound.

About Uranium Participation Corporation

Uranium Participation Corporation is a company that invests substantially all of its assets in uranium oxide in concentrates ("U3O8") and uranium hexafluoride ("UF6") (collectively "uranium"), with the primary investment objective of achieving appreciation in the value of its uranium holdings through increases in the uranium price. UPC provides investors with a unique opportunity to gain exposure to the price of uranium without the resource or project risk associated with investing in a traditional mining company. Additional information about Uranium Participation Corporation is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on Uranium Participation Corporation's website at www.uraniumparticipation.com.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information that are based on the Company's current internal expectations, estimates, projections, assumptions and beliefs. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "intent", "estimate", "anticipate", "plan", "should", "believe" or "continue" or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology and include statements with respect to the use of proceeds for the Offering and the anticipated completion of uranium purchases.

By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous factors, assumptions and estimates. A variety of factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, may cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed in the forward-looking statement. These factors include, but are not limited to, changes in commodity prices and foreign exchange as well as the risk that the Company will not be successful in completing the purchase of additional U3O8 and/or UF6 on terms satisfactory to the Company. For a description of the principal risks of the Company, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Information Form dated May 16, 2017, a copy of which is available at www.sedar.com.

These and other factors should be considered carefully, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Although management reviews the reasonableness of its assumptions and estimates, unusual and unanticipated events may occur which render them inaccurate. Under such circumstances, future performance may differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Except where required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information statement.

Contacts:

Uranium Participation Corporation

David Cates

President & Chief Executive Officer

(416) 979-1991 Ext. 362



Uranium Participation Corporation

Mac McDonald

Chief Financial Officer

(416) 979-1991 Ext. 242

www.uraniumparticipation.com




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 07/26/17 -- Investors, analysts and other interested parties can access Acadian Timber Corp.'s 2017 Second Quarter Results conference call via webcast on Thursday, July 27, 2017 at 1:00 p.m. ET at www.acadiantimber.com or via teleconference at 1-800-319-4610, toll free in North America. For overseas calls please dial +1-604-638-5340, at approximately 12:50 p.m. ET. The recorded teleconference rebroadcast can be accessed at 1-800-319-6413 or +1-604-638-9010 and enter passcode 2826.

All figures in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted

Acadian Timber Corp. ("Acadian" or the "Company") (TSX: ADN) today reported financial and operating results(1) for the three months ended June 24, 2017 (the "second quarter").

"Acadian's second quarter benefited from favourable winter conditions which supported strong seasonal log production," said Mark Bishop, Chief Executive Officer of Acadian. "Acadian continues to experience strong regional demand for hardwood logs and the outlook for softwood sawtimber continues to be supported by steady growth in U.S. housing starts and residential home improvement."

Acadian continued to perform well and recorded solid results for the second quarter. In the quarter, we generated Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $2.6 million, benefiting from strong seasonal demand, favorable operating conditions, and higher and better use land sales in Maine. However, this was lower than the $3.3 million generated in the prior year period. While log sales volumes and the weighted average log selling price for the quarter were largely consistent year-over-year, operating costs increased primarily due to an increase in average haul distances.

Total shareholder dividends during the first half of 2017 were $0.55 per share or $9.2 million, representing a 10% increase over the same period of 2016 and a payout ratio of 98% which is relatively consistent with our long term target of 95%.

Management Team Changes

Acadian announced today that Mr. Wyatt Hartley will be leaving the position of Chief Financial Officer effective July 27, 2017 to take on new responsibilities within Brookfield Asset Management. Mr. Hartley has been a member of the senior management of Acadian since his initial appointment as Chief Financial Officer in 2016. "The entire management team would like to thank Mr. Hartley for his hard work, dedication and significant contributions to Acadian and wish him the best in his new endeavors" commented Mr. Bishop. Effective July 27, 2017, Ms. Mabel Wong will replace Mr. Hartley as Acadian's Senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Wong has been a key member of Brookfield's team for the past ten years and has held a number of senior finance roles within the organization. Ms. Wong is a Chartered Accountant and worked at one of the big four accounting firms prior to joining Brookfield.

Review of Operations

Financial and Operating Highlights

Three Months Ended Six Months Ended -------------------------------------------- (CAD thousands, except per share June 24 June 25 June 24 June 25 information) 2017 2016 2017 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sales volume (000s m3) 217.4 208.9 573.4 510.5 Net sales $ 12,630 $ 13,656 $ 35,702 $ 35,103 Net income 4,011 5,830 8,769 10,172 Adjusted EBITDA 2,622 3,301 10,652 10,345 Free Cash Flow 2,034 2,743 9,422 8,913 Dividends declared 4,601 4,183 9,202 8,366 Payout ratio 226% 152% 98% 94% Per share - basic and diluted Net income $ 0.24 $ 0.35 $ 0.52 $ 0.61 Free Cash Flow 0.12 0.16 0.56 0.53 Dividends declared 0.27 0.25 0.55 0.50 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the second quarter of 2017, Acadian generated net sales of $12.6 million compared to $13.7 million in the prior year primarily due to lower selling prices for biomass products. Total log sales volumes increased 1% compared to the prior year, driven by a 30% increase in hardwood pulpwood sales volumes resulting from favourable spring harvest conditions, which was largely offset by the impact of a softwood sawlog inventory management program at one of the operation's major customers that was not in place in the current year. The weighted average log selling price remained flat as the benefits from a favourable change in mix and foreign currency were offset by weaker pricing for hardwood products.

Adjusted EBITDA margin decreased to 21% from 24% in the prior year as higher operating costs due to longer average haul distances were only partially offset by the contribution from higher and better use (HBU) land sales in Maine.

Acadian traditionally experiences low levels of operating, marketing and selling activity during the second quarter of each year owing to the spring thaw period that causes much of the infrastructure to be temporarily inoperable. As a result, year to year variations in sales volumes and operating costs are less meaningful.

Net income for the second quarter totaled $4.0 million, or $0.24 per share, compared to $5.8 million, or $0.35 per share, respectively for the same period in 2016. The decrease is primarily due to lower Adjusted EBITDA as described above and a lower foreign exchange gain from the revaluation of long-term debt.

During the first half of 2017, Acadian's net sales were $35.7 million, reflecting a slight improvement over the same prior year period of $35.1 million, primarily attributed to an 11% increase in log sales volumes from favourable harvest conditions, particularly for spruce and fir stands. The impact of this increase was partially offset by a 4% decrease in the weighted average log selling price driven by a change in product mix and weaker pricing for hardwood products. Adjusted EBITDA improved to $10.7 million from $10.3 million in the first half of 2016 while Adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 30% from 29%. For the six months ended June 24, 2017, net income was $8.8 million, or $0.52 per share, which represents a decrease of $1.4 million over the same period in 2016 primarily due to lower foreign exchange revaluation gains from long-term debt, partially offset by lower deferred tax expense.

Acadian's financial position continues to be solid with $98.0 million of net liquidity as at June 24, 2017, including funds available under the Company's Revolving Facility and the stand-by equity commitment from Brookfield.

Total shareholder dividends during the first half of 2017 were $0.55 per share or $9.2 million, representing a 10% increase over the same period of 2016 ($0.50 per share or $8.4 million).

New Brunswick Timberlands

The table below summarizes operating and financial results for New Brunswick Timberlands.

Three Months Ended June 24, Three Months Ended June 25, 2017 2016 ------------------------------------------------------------ Harvest Sales Results Harvest Sales Results (000s m3) (000s m3) ($000s) (000s m3) (000s m3) ($000s) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Softwood 27.8 39.4 $ 2,038 35.4 65.5 $ 3,588 Hardwood 62.0 92.1 7,186 49.5 76.6 6,475 Biomass 39.3 39.3 783 40.8 40.8 1,561 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 129.1 170.8 10,007 125.7 182.9 11,624 Other sales (223) 116 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net sales $ 9,784 $ 11,740 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adjusted EBITDA $ 2,028 $ 3,887 Adjusted EBITDA margin 21% 33% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Six Months Ended June 24, Six Months Ended June 25, 2017 2016 ------------------------------------------------------------ Harvest Sales Results Harvest Sales Results (000s m3) (000s m3) ($000s) (000s m3) (000s m3) ($000s) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Softwood 163.1 165.9 $ 9,296 146.4 146.0 $ 7,947 Hardwood 177.3 186.8 14,788 159.1 166.6 14,034 Biomass 84.6 84.6 1,748 74.1 74.1 2,899 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 425.0 437.3 25,832 379.6 386.7 24,880 Other sales 265 791 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net sales $ 26,097 $ 25,671 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adjusted EBITDA $ 8,156 $ 8,845 Adjusted EBITDA margin 31% 34% ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three months ended June 24, 2017:

Net sales totaled $9.8 million compared to $11.7 million for the same period last year. Excluding biomass, log sales volumes decreased 7% to 132 thousand m3 from 142 thousand m3 in the prior year, as softwood sawlog sales were impacted by an inventory management program with one of the operation's major customers that was not in place in the current year. This was partially offset by the benefit from increased demand for hardwood pulpwood primarily reflecting the sale of inventory which was at higher than normal levels at the beginning of the quarter due to favourable winter harvest conditions.

The weighted average log selling price for the quarter was $70.13 per m3, compared to $70.84 per m3 in the prior year as strength in softwood sawlog selling prices and the benefit of sales mix was offset by weaker pricing for hardwood products.

Continued strong local demand for biomass products resulted in sales volumes remaining largely in-line with the same period of 2016. Overall, the gross margin earned on our biomass products decreased 55% compared to the second quarter of 2016 reflecting limited export markets for products.

Adjusted EBITDA and costs for the quarter were $2.0 million and $7.8 million, respectively, compared to $3.9 million and $7.8 million, respectively, in the second quarter of 2016 primarily due to the aforementioned absence of the inventory management program, as well as an increase in variable costs per m3 due to longer average haul distances. As a result, Adjusted EBITDA margin for the quarter decreased to 21% from 33% in the prior year.

Six months ended June 24, 2017:

Net sales of $26.1 million, which increased $0.4 million compared to the same period last year, benefited from a 13% increase in log sales volumes, which was partially offset by the impact of lower selling prices. Costs were $17.9 million, or $1.0 million higher than the prior year due to the aforementioned increase in sales volumes. As a result, Adjusted EBITDA was $8.2 million, a decrease of $0.6 million compared to the same period last year, while Adjusted EBITDA margin decreased to 31% from 34%.

Safety

There were no recordable safety incidents among employees and contractors during the second quarter of 2017.

Maine Timberlands

The table below summarizes operating and financial results for Maine Timberlands.

Three Months Ended June 24, Three Months Ended June 25, 2017 2016 ------------------------------------------------------------- Harvest Sales Results Harvest Sales Results (000s m3) (000s m3) ($000s) (000s m3) (000s m3) ($000s) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Softwood 16.6 16.5 $ 1,155 11.8 11.6 $ 776 Hardwood 13.8 19.5 1,544 8.6 11.8 984 Biomass 10.6 10.6 16 2.6 2.6 16 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 41.0 46.6 2,715 23.0 26.0 1,776 Other sales 131 140 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net sales $ 2,846 $ 1,916 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adjusted EBITDA $ 909 $ (167) Adjusted EBITDA margin 32% (9%) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Six Months Ended June 24, Six Months Ended June 25, 2017 2016 ------------------------------------------------------------- Harvest Sales Results Harvest Sales Results (000s m3) (000s m3) ($000s) (000s m3) (000s m3) ($000s) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Softwood 79.4 79.1 $ 5,906 77.0 76.5 $ 5,918 Hardwood 43.2 45.2 3,436 38.4 39.2 3,282 Biomass 11.8 11.8 18 8.1 8.1 53 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 134.4 136.1 9,360 123.5 123.8 9,253 Other sales 245 179 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net sales $ 9,605 $ 9,432 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adjusted EBITDA $ 3,065 $ 2,114 Adjusted EBITDA margin 32% 22% ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three months ended June 24, 2017:

Net sales totaled $2.8 million compared to $1.9 million for the same period last year, as log sales volumes increased 54% to 36 thousand m3 from 23 thousand m3. This increase was driven primarily by favourable spring harvest conditions relative to the same quarter of 2016.

The weighted average log selling price in Canadian dollar terms was $74.84 per m3, compared to $74.97 per m3 in the same period of 2016. The weighted average log selling price in U.S. dollar terms was $55.67 per m3, down 4% year-over-year as softwood sawlog prices declined 9% primarily from weak demand for our customers' softwood residuals while hardwood pulp prices stabilized as demand strengthened with customers replenishing inventories which were higher than normal during the first quarter.

Costs for the second quarter were $2.9 million, compared to $2.1 million during the same period in 2016, due to higher sales volumes while variable costs per m3 increased due to longer average haul distances. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $0.9 million, compared to a loss of $0.2 million in the prior year while Adjusted EBITDA margin increased to 32% from (9)% due primarily to the benefit of HBU land sales.

Six months ended June 24, 2017:

Net sales were $9.6 million, or $0.2 million higher than the first half of 2016, primarily from a 7% increase in log sales volumes due to favourable spring harvest conditions, while weighted average log selling prices decreased 5% due to high customer inventories earlier in the year. Costs were $8.0 million, or $0.6 million higher than during the same period of 2016 largely due to higher sales volumes and longer average haul distances . Adjusted EBITDA was $3.1 million, an increase of $1.0 million compared to the same period last year, while Adjusted EBITDA margin increased to 32% from 22% primarily driven by the benefit of HBU land sales.

Safety

There were no recordable safety incidents among employees or contractors during the second quarter of 2017.

Freehold Timberlands

Maine Timberlands invested $0.5 million during the first six months of 2017 on approximately 1,200 acres of freehold timberlands to eliminate third party common and undivided ownership interests which will strengthen our regional operating position.

Market Outlook

The following contains forward-looking statements about Acadian Timber Corp.'s market outlook for the remainder of fiscal 2017. Reference should be made to the "Forward-looking Statements" section of this news release. For a description of material factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in the following, please see the Risk Factors section of our management's discussion and analysis of Acadian's most recent Annual Report and Annual Information Form available on our website at www.acadiantimber.com or filed with SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Acadian's key markets include softwood sawtimber, hardwood sawtimber and hardwood pulpwood. Northeast North American softwood dimension sawmills represent over one third of Acadian's end-use market and are the primary market for our softwood sawtimber. While sluggish wage growth, tight construction labor markets and potential further Fed rate increases continue to represent risks to growth in U.S. housing starts, the underlying fundamental driver of pent-up household formation continues to strengthen. Economic forecasters continue to call for steady growth in housing starts, with year-over-year improvements averaging 5% for 2017 and over 8% for 2018. Residential home improvements are also expected to remain strong. As a result, demand growth expectations for North American sawtimber remain in the 3% per year range over the next few years to support expanding domestic construction needs.

As anticipated, lumber prices continued to be volatile during the second quarter primarily reflecting anticipation and the declaration of preliminary duty levels and producer and wholesaler efforts to manage inventories during this highly uncertain period. Following the announcement in April of preliminary countervailing duties (CVD) averaging 19.9%, average preliminary anti-dumping duties (ADD) of 6.9% were announced at the end of the second quarter. Notably, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC) also announced at the end of the quarter that all Atlantic provinces with the exception of New Brunswick would be excluded from duty investigation, a significant departure from past disputes. Historically, Canadian Atlantic lumber producers from all provinces experienced lower relative CVD & ADD duties than the rest of Canada and were ultimately exempted in past negotiated settlements due to the significantly greater proportion of wood supply from private timberland sources.

Subsequent to the DoC ADD announcement, industry press reports revealed that a preliminary framework for a negotiated market share-based 10 year settlement has been agreed to between Canadian and U.S. government officials. At this time, however, there is little visibility on a definitive final agreement being reached and, importantly, how Canadian officials would apportion market share restrictions across Canadian provincial lumber producers, and in fact whether the entire Atlantic region will again be exempted from any final settlement as in the past.

We highlight that in past cycles during periods of strong U.S. lumber demand, duties imposed against Canadian softwood lumber producers are more easily passed through to U.S. buyers in the form of higher prices. Despite media headlines on the softwood dispute, given the current robust U.S. housing market and positive near term drivers of housing starts and home improvements noted above, we would not anticipate any material negative impact on Acadian's business.

Hardwood sawtimber markets remain strong and stable and are unaffected by U.S. trade initiatives. We remain encouraged that hardwood pulpwood markets remain historically strong, and that Acadian continues to be a preferred partner for hardwood fibre supply to this important market segment. Acadian's domestic biomass markets appear to have stabilized, although the anticipated recovery in export shipments from our New Brunswick operations has been delayed into 2018. Additionally, we expect that the Maine recreational real estate market will remain favourable through the year and therefore anticipate conditions will support the sale of additional properties throughout the remainder of 2017.

Quarterly Dividend

Acadian is pleased to announce a dividend of $0.275 per share, payable on October 13, 2017 to shareholders of record on September 30, 2017.

Acadian Timber Corp. is a leading supplier of primary forest products in Eastern Canada and the Northeastern U.S. With a total of 2.4 million acres of land under management, Acadian is the third largest timberland operator in New Brunswick and Maine.

Acadian owns and manages approximately 1.1 million acres of freehold timberlands in New Brunswick and Maine, and provides management services relating to approximately 1.3 million acres of Crown licensed timberlands in New Brunswick. Acadian also owns and operates a forest nursery in Third Falls, New Brunswick. Acadian's products include softwood and hardwood sawlogs, pulpwood and biomass by-products, sold to approximately 100 regional customers.

Acadian's business strategy is to maximize cash flows from its existing timberland assets while growing our business by acquiring assets on a value basis and utilizing our operations-oriented approach to drive improved performance.

Acadian's shares are listed for trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ADN.

For further information, please visit our website at www.acadiantimber.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This News Release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Acadian Timber Corp. and its subsidiaries (collectively, "Acadian"), or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. When used in this News Release, such statements may contain such words as "may," "will," "intend," "should," "expect," "believe," "outlook," "predict," "remain," "anticipate," "estimate," "potential," "continue," "plan," "could," "might," "project," "targeting" or the negative of these terms or other similar terminology. Forward-looking information in this News Release includes, without limitation, statements made in the section entitled "Market Outlook" and other statements regarding management's beliefs, intentions, results, performance, goals, achievements, future events, plans and objectives, business strategy, growth strategy and prospects, access to capital, liquidity and trading volumes, dividends, taxes, capital expenditures, projected costs, market trends and similar statements concerning anticipated future events, results, achievements, circumstances, performance or expectations that are not historical facts. These statements, which reflect management's current expectations regarding future events and operating performance, are based on information currently available to management and speak only as of the date of this News Release. All forward-looking statements in this News Release are qualified by these cautionary statements. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, should not be unduly relied upon, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such results will be achieved. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: general economic and market conditions; product demand; concentration of customers; commodity pricing; interest rate and foreign currency fluctuations; seasonality; weather and natural conditions; regulatory, trade or environmental policy changes; changes in Canadian income tax law; economic situation of key customers; Brookfield's ability to source and secure potential investment opportunities; the availability of potential acquisitions that suit Acadian's growth profile; and other risks and factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in each of the Annual Information Form dated March 29, 2017 and the Management Information Circular dated March 29, 2017, and other filings of Acadian made with securities regulatory authorities, which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Forward-looking information is based on various material factors or assumptions, which are based on information currently available to Acadian. Material factors or assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making an estimate set out in the forward-looking information may include, but are not limited to: anticipated financial performance; anticipated market conditions; business prospects; the economic situation of key customers; strategies; regulatory developments; exchange rates; the sufficiency of budgeted capital expenditures in carrying out planned activities; the availability and cost of labour and services and the ability to obtain financing on acceptable terms. Readers are cautioned that the preceding list of material factors or assumptions is not exhaustive. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this News Release are based upon what management believes are reasonable assumptions, Acadian cannot assure readers that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this News Release are made as of the date of this News Release, and should not be relied upon as representing Acadian's views as of any date subsequent to the date of this News Release. Acadian assumes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events, circumstances or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable law.

Acadian Timber Corp. Interim Consolidated Statements of Net Income (unaudited) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Three Months Ended Six Months Ended ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- June 24 June 25 June 24 June 25 (CAD thousands) 2017 2016 2017 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net sales $ 12,630 $ 13,656 $ 35,702 $ 35,103 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operating costs and expenses Cost of sales 8,868 8,561 22,815 21,647 Selling, administration and other 1,700 1,660 3,292 3,070 Reforestation 398 134 398 134 Depreciation and amortization 77 122 155 247 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11,043 10,477 26,660 25,098 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operating earnings 1,587 3,179 9,042 10,005 Interest expense, net (744) (723) (1,491) (1,453) Other items Fair value adjustments 2,764 2,674 1,289 1,903 Unrealized exchange gain on long- term debt 790 1,935 1,255 6,054 Gain on sale of timberlands 958 - 1,455 93 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Earnings before income taxes 5,355 7,065 11,550 16,602 Current income tax (expense) / recovery (120) 154 (267) (1) Deferred income tax expense (1,224) (1,389) (2,514) (6,429) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net income $ 4,011 $ 5,830 $ 8,769 $ 10,172 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net income per share - basic and diluted $ 0.24 $ 0.35 $ 0.52 $ 0.61 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Acadian Timber Corp. Interim Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (unaudited) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Three Months Ended Six Months Ended ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- June 24 June 25 June 24 June 25 (CAD thousands) 2017 2016 2017 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net income $ 4,011 $ 5,830 $ 8,769 $ 10,172 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other comprehensive loss Items that may be reclassified subsequently to net income: Unrealized foreign currency translation loss (847) (2,758) (1,376) (8,322) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Comprehensive income $ 3,164 $ 3,072 $ 7,393 $ 1,850 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Acadian Timber Corp. Interim Consolidated Balance Sheets (unaudited) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- As at June 24, December 31, (CAD thousands) 2017 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASSETS Current Assets Cash and cash equivalents $ 20,643 $ 19,654 Accounts receivable and other assets 6,278 6,952 Inventory 1,232 2,149 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 28,153 28,755 Timber 328,949 328,477 Land, roads and other fixed assets 91,385 91,206 Intangible assets 6,140 6,140 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- $ 454,627 $ 454,578 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY Current liabilities Accounts payable and accrued liabilities $ 4,477 $ 3,529 Dividends payable to shareholders 4,601 4,183 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9,078 7,712 Long-term debt 95,864 97,066 Deferred income tax liability 83,643 81,949 Shareholders' equity 266,042 267,851 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- $ 454,627 $ 454,578 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Acadian Timber Corp. Interim Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (unaudited) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Three Months Ended Six Months Ended ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- June 24 June 25 June 24 June 25 (CAD thousands) 2017 2016 2017 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cash provided by / (used for): ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Operating activities Net income $ 4,011 $ 5,830 $ 8,769 $ 10,172 Adjustments to net income: Deferred income tax expense 1,224 1,389 2,514 6,429 Depreciation and amortization 77 122 155 247 Fair value adjustments (2,764) (2,674) (1,289) (1,903) Unrealized exchange gain on long term debt (790) (1,935) (1,255) (6,054) Interest expense, net 744 723 1,491 1,453 Interest paid, net (717) (695) (1,438) (1,399) Gain on sale of timberlands (958) - (1,455) (93) Other, net (1,250) (2,021) (457) (986) Net change in non-cash working capital 2,479 1,756 2,538 1,506 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2,056 2,495 9,573 9,372 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Financing activities Dividends paid to shareholders (4,601) (4,183) (8,784) (8,366) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (4,601) (4,183) (8,784) (8,366) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Investing activities Additions to timber, land, roads and other fixed assets (504) (17) (618) (34) Acquisition of Katahdin Timberlands LLC - (1,276) - Proceeds from sale of timberlands 1,257 - 2,094 95 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 753 (17) 200 61 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Decrease) / increase in cash and cash equivalents during the period (1,792) (1,705) 989 1,067 Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period 22,435 20,488 19,654 17,716 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cash and cash equivalents, end of period $ 20,643 $ 18,783 $ 20,643 $ 18,783 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reconciliations to Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Three Months Ended Six Months Ended ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- June 24 June 25 June 24 June 25 (CAD thousands) 2017 2016 2017 2016 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net income $ 4,011 $ 5,830 $ 8,769 $ 10,172 Add / (deduct): Interest expense, net 744 723 1,491 1,453 Current income tax expense / (recovery) 120 (154) 267 1 Deferred income tax expense 1,224 1,389 2,514 6,429 Depreciation and amortization 77 122 155 247 Fair value adjustments (2,764) (2,674) (1,289) (1,903) Unrealized exchange gain on long- term debt (790) (1,935) (1,255) (6,054) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adjusted EBITDA 2,622 3,301 10,652 10,345 Add / (deduct): Interest paid on debt, net (717) (695) (1,438) (1,399) Additions to timber, land, roads and other fixed assets (50) (17) (164) (34) Gain on sale of timberlands (958) - (1,455) (93) Proceeds from sale of timberlands 1,257 - 2,094 95 Current income tax (expense) / recovery (120) 154 (267) (1) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Free Cash Flow $ 2,034 $ 2,743 $ 9,422 $ 8,913 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dividends declared $ 4,601 $ 4,183 $ 9,202 $ 8,366 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Payout ratio 226% 152% 98% 94% ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(1) This news release makes reference to Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin and Free Cash Flow which are key performance measures in evaluating Acadian's operations and are important in enhancing investors' understanding of Acadian's operating performance. Acadian's management defines Adjusted EBITDA as earnings before interest, taxes, fair value adjustments, recovery of or impairment of land and roads, unrealized exchange gain/loss on debt, depreciation and amortization and Adjusted EBITDA margin as Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of its total revenue. Free Cash Flow is defined as Adjusted EBITDA less interest paid, current income tax expense, and capital expenditures plus net proceeds from the sale of fixed assets (selling price less gains or losses included in Adjusted EBITDA). As these performance measures do not have standardized meanings prescribed by International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"), they may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. As a result, we have provided in this news release reconciliations of net income, as determined in accordance with IFRS, to Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin and Free Cash Flow.

Contacts:

Acadian Timber Corp.

Jon Syrnyk

Investor Relations

604-661-9622

jsyrnyk@acadiantimber.com

www.acadiantimber.com




Adaptive Simulations, a Stockholm, Sweden-based high-tech startup offering fully automated simulations, raised 1.5m in funding.

Backers included Creathor Venture and Karma Ventures.

Founded in January 2015 and led by Sebastian Desand, CEO, Adaptive Simulations provides virtual simulations market players with cloud-based fully automated flow simulations to shorten both product design cycle and time to market, increase their accuracy and reliability, and reduce thier cost. They are enabled by adaptive algorithms, based on years of research in numerical analysis, computer science and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

A spin-out of KTH Royal Institute of Technology, the company is now ready to commercialize its product innovation in target industries including, amongst others, automotive and construction.

FinSMEs

04/05/2017
YL Ventures, a San Francisco, CA- and Tel Aviv, Israel-based seed stage venture capital firm, closed its third fund, at $75m.

YLV III was over-subscribed with nearly 100% of existing investors participating, and closed 25% above its target of $60m.

The new fund, which builds on the success of its two prior funds, both of which generated returns in the top quartile of all North American Venture Capital funds according to Preqin, will invest in seed stage Israeli companies in high-growth sectors including cybersecurity, enterprise software, autonomous vehicles, drone technologies and VR/AR.

Led by Silicon Valley-based Managing Partner Yoav Andrew Leitersdorf, a serial entrepreneur and early stage investor for 25 years who founded the firm in 2007, YLV III aims to invest in two to three companies per year. Initial seed investments will be $2m-3m, with YL Ventures leading the rounds. A large portion of the fund is reserved to participate in U.S. VC-led follow-on rounds of its portfolio companies.

YLV I and II have invested in 10 companies, five of which have already been successfully acquired. Most recently, FireLayers (Cloud Access Security Broker) was acquired by Proofpoint and BlazeMeter (Performance Testing Platform for DevOps) was acquired by CA.

Current portfolio companies include Twistlock (virtual container security) which recently announced a $17m Series B funding round, Karamba Security (Autonomous Security for autonomous and connected cars); and Hexadite (security orchestration and automation).

Leitersdorf is supported by:

 Ofer Schreiber, partner, leading the Israeli office;

 Iren Reznikov, senior analyst, and

 Sharon Seemann, marketing director.

The firm, which is currently recruiting additional investment professionals to join its Silicon Valley and Tel-Aviv offices, is also expanding its leadership team with the addition of experienced venture advisors with Justin Somaini, chief security officer at SAP, a prominent security industry angel investor, board member and advisor to many security startups, and Andy Ellis, chief security officer of Akamai, being the first of them.

FinSMEs

04/05/2017
Spirohome, an Ankara, Turkey-based digital health startup, raised a seed funding round of undisclosed amount.

Backers included ACT Venture Partners and 500 Istanbul, an early-stage VC fund within the Silicon Valley based 500 Startups network.

The company will use the proceeds to further develop the platform, grow the team and apply for both the CE mark, and the FDA regulatory process.

Led by co-founder and CEO Merthan Ozturk and Kerem Yasar, co-founder and CTO, Spirohome provides an eHealth platform solution for tracking and managing the conditions of asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Cystic Fibrosis (CF) patients as well as people who want to be aware of their lung condition.

The solution, which includes a personal smart spirometer, an integrated mobile app and a web platform for both patients and health professionals, enables patients to monitor their situation and prevent attacks while avoiding unnecessary hospital visits. Patent pending technology behind the personal spirometer uses ultrasonic flow sensing to capture lung function with medical-grade accuracy without requiring maintenance or calibration for personal use.

FinSMEs

04/05/2017
New Delhi: The government will shortly come out with an ordinance to empower the Reserve Bank to effectively deal with the problem of mounting bad loans in the banking sector.

A proposal to amend Section 35 A of the Banking Regulation Act through the ordinance route was approved by the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sources said.

The amendment will empower the RBI to issue direction to banks to recover non-performing assets (NPAs) from loan defaulters.

The Section 35A empowers the Reserve Bank to issue directions to the banks in the public interest and depositors.

Briefing reporters about the Cabinet meeting Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government has taken some important decisions in respect of the banking sector.

"There is a convention that when some proposal is referred to the President, then details of it cannot be disclosed till it is approved. As soon as approval comes, details will be shared," he said.

PSBs are saddled with non-performing assets or bad loans to the tune of a staggering Rs 6 lakh crore.

Bad loans rose by over Rs 1 lakh crore in the first nine months of last fiscal to Rs 6.07 lakh crore by 31 December, 2016.

Gross NPA of PSBs stood at Rs 5.02 lakh crore at the end of March 2016, up from Rs 2.67 lakh crore at the end of March 2015.

The amended law will also empower RBI to set up oversight panels that will shield bankers from later action by probe agencies looking into loan recasts.

Banks have been reluctant to resolve NPAs through settlement schemes or sell bad loans to asset reconstruction companies for fear of being hauled up by investigation agencies.

Once the law is amended, RBI will be able to give specific solutions for specific cases and also, if required, look at providing relaxation in terms of current guidelines, said a senior government official aware of the deliberations.

Last month, Jaitley had said NPA resolution mechanism was being worked out with the RBI which will put enough pressure on borrowers to settle dues.

"You see, the amounts are large, but the amounts are restricted. Its not that hundreds and thousands of businesses have created this problem. The problem of big NPA is confined essentially to 30-40, at best 50 companies, and therefore, those 40-50 accounts need to be resolved," he had said.

During resolution of NPAs, several issues like finding buyers and strategic partners come up, the minister had said.

Jaitley had gone on to say that "if you look at the whole structure, there are enough instruments available for settlements as far as the banking system is concerned. There are different legislations where action can be taken".

According to sources, the joint lenders forum (JLF) is expected to be overhauled to facilitate quick decision-making.

Instead of being a resolution mechanism, the JLF has become a delaying tool for big defaulters because as per the guidelines, restructuring needs approval of 60 percent of consortium lenders which more often than not eludes, sources added.

As per the existing JLF guidelines, if a restructuring package is approved by 75 percent of creditors by value and 60 percent of creditors by number, other banks have to go along with it. Besides, the sources said, there could be provision which will make wilful default a criminal offence.
Chandigarh: The Haryana State Goods and Services Bill was passed unanimously by the state Assembly today.

A special one-day session had been convened for the passage of the Bill.

Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu moved the bill which was supported by the two major opposition parties - the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and the Congress.

The Bill was passed after an hour-long discussion.

Capt Abhimanyu said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) would be implemented in the entire country from 1 July, 2017, and would lead to a revolutionary change.

He said that a uniform tax regime would be implemented in the country through the GST after incorporating different taxes. The implementation of GST would prevent tax evasion, he added.
New Delhi: India asked the United Kingdom to ensure early extradition of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, who is facing cases of bank loan default to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore by his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi raised the issue of early completion of the extradition process of Mallya, during talks here with his UK counterpart Patsy Wilkinson, the second permanent secretary in the the British Home Office.

The issue of presence of certain Sikh militant elements in the UK, sharing of intelligence inputs on a real-time basis, particularly with regard to the ISIS, both from ISIS-held territories, and modules being busted in the UK and Europe, were discussed at the two-hour-long meeting, official sources said.

Counter-terror cooperation between India and Britain besides a host of other issues figured in the parleys. Matters relating to the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, strengthening of the intelligence-sharing mechanism and visa-related issues were also deliberated upon, the sources said.

Mallya, 61, who has been living in Britain since last year, was arrested by Scotland Yard last month on India's extradition request. Within hours of his arrest, Mallya, who is accused of cheating and fraud, was released on bail by a London court. The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will argue the case on behalf of the Indian authorities when it comes before the court.

Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines allegedly owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on 2 March, 2016. India and the UK have an extradition treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under

the arrangement  that of Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was sent back to India last October to face trial for his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.

However, unlike Mallya, Patel had submitted to the extradition order without legal challenge. India had given a formal extradition request for Mallya as per the extradition treaty between India and the UK through a note verbale, a diplomatic communication, on 8 February.

The Union home secretary lauded the UK's effort to extradite Mallya and conveyed that New Delhi will help London to pursue the case in the UK court. The sources said India told the UK delegation that if one-on-one contact can be established between the prosecuting agency in India and the Crown Prosecution or Department of Prosecution, then it would be faster and easier to put up evidence before the judge concerned.

India will inform the UK about the proceedings or hearings happening in the cases of wanted criminals by the UK in India and wants the UK to reciprocate in similar cases. Both sides agreed that India and the UK will sign an MoU in July on reworking the agreement on security cooperation.

India also offered to drop cases registered against one Bangladeshi national, who is lodged in Assam, so that he can be extradited to the UK.

In return, sources said, India expects reciprocity that if people wanted by New Delhi are mired in any British case, those should be dropped and extradition facilitated.
With Infosys buckling under pressure from the Trump administration and having announced on Tuesday that it was in the process of creating 10,000 jobs in the US where locals would be employed, the lustre of the once sunrise IT sector has further dimmed. The Trump administration has got what it has demanded from the Indian sector in the US, says Dr Sujaya Banerjee, CEO, Capstone People Consulting, a firm into organizational transformation.

However, Infosys is going about job creation in a staggered manner. It plans to open four US-based hubs starting in Indianapolis in August and expects that the Indiana site will create 500 jobs by next year, and possibly up to 2,000 by 2021.

Though Infosys has said that it is planning to create 10,000 jobs in the next few years, it is not going to be a possibility, says Kris Laxmikanth, Chairman and Managing Director at The Head Hunters India; and visiting faculty, Institute of Management, Ranchi. He feels that 10,000 is a huge figure and worse, there is not enough talent in the US primarily to fill up these tech jobs.

Infosys may hire 100 people from India and then hire the remaining from Indiana, says Laxmikanth, explaining the possibility of the strategy the Indian IT major may adopt to fulfill its promise of creating more jobs in the US for locals.

Getting 100,000 US techies is going to be an uphill task is a fact most experts in the sector agree upon. Besides the salary difference to be paid to the US and Indian IT professionals, the major gap is that there are just not enough tech professionals in the US to fill up these jobs, they say. Why do US-based firms too hire from India if they could fill up the posts locally, asks T Santosh, Vice President and Head - Human Resources, TeamLease Services, a staffing company. The creation of 100,000 jobs to be filled in by US locals would be a stupendous task and not easily possible, he avers.

Largest outsourcing hub

India is the world's largest sourcing destination for the information technology (IT) industry, accounting for approximately 67 percent of the US$ 124-130 billion market. The industry employs about 10 million workforces, according to Indian Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF).

IBEF highlights that India's cost competitiveness in providing IT services, which is approximately 3-4 times cheaper than the US, continues to be the mainstay of its Unique Selling Proposition (USP) in the global sourcing market. However, India is also gaining prominence in terms of intellectual capital with several global IT firms setting up their innovation centres in India.

The Indian IT sector is expected to grow at a rate of 12-14 per cent for FY2016-17 in constant currency terms. The sector is also expected triple its current annual revenue to reach US$ 350 billion by FY 2025, according to IBEF.

Cost factor

Infosys, for instance, will not have to pay more for fresh hires as the Indian techies taken on a L-1B visa get paid US $60,000 to $65,000 per annum. The US has a threshold of minimum salary which differs in each state. New hires may have to be paid marginally higher at US $80,000-$82,000 when the new visa regulations kick in.

However, it would be interesting to watch the strategies of Indian IT firms based in the US to Trumps announcement, says T Santosh, of TeamLease Services. He feels it is only a matter of time before the Indian IT firms get their operating model right and the H-1B visa issue will cease to be a bother.

The visa risk was a matter that Indian IT firms had factored in earlier. If you look at annual results of Indian IT firms in the past decade, they mentioned visas as a risk, says Santosh.

Impact bottomlines

Infosys has said that it will hire graduates from US colleges and also locally. However, hiring 10,000 US workers would impact the companys bottomline. Paying US $80,000-85,000 as salary would not be commensurate with an Indian professional's salary currently.

At the current value of the rupee at Rs 65 against a dollar, the salary of US $80,000 will have a billion dollar impact on revenues, Laxmikant points out. The impact on bottomlines will be a decrease of 40-120 bps. But Infosys and other Indian IT firms have many levers to operate and the impact would be easy to manage, says Santosh. What the companies can opt for is contract staffing which will cut down their expenses, he says.

For instance, of the current ratio of employees in any IT firm, about 70 percent is offshore (in India and are permanent staff) and 30 is employed onsite (in the US and other countries). What IT firms can can opt for is to hire 8-20 percent contract staff for offshore sites. In this manner, the company can hire fresh talent depending on its requirements. The professionals that are hired on contract will be motivated to upskill themselves with the fast pace of technology change and be ready to be employed. This will take off the huge burden of paying technical staff salaries when there is no project for a particular team.

IT firms and education

Another way of decreasing the Indian IT firms' dependence on hiring locally in the US is for it to go in for partnerships with local colleges in India so as to make engineering graduates industry-ready. A New Delhi-based employment solutions company, Aspiring Minds, conducted an employability-focused study based on 150,000 engineering students and found barely 7 percent suitable for core engineering jobs.

This is an oft-cited complaint against colleges in India, says Dr Banerjee. She suggests that IT firms like Infosys and others can take engineering and technological education as part of their corporate social responsibility program. If you want tech graduates to be industry-ready, work with the engineering colleges in India and provide them the tech expertise, she says. A public-private partnership would work well for the colleges and the tech firms too. It will stop the blame game and help Skill India program, Banerjee added.
In Tamil Nadu, where fear is a constant, the note circulated over Facebook (shared 1530 times) and Whatsapp was like a bolt from the blue. Kannan Ramasamy, managing director of Infratech Infrastructure Services  local consultants for South Korea-based automobile manufacturer Kia Motors, a subsidiary company of Hyundai  wrote a blistering note on 29 April on why the manufacturing plant to make compact sedans and SUVs, that was to be set up in Tamil Nadu, flew away to Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh. The reason: "The TN politicians demanded 50 percent more than the official cost of the land as bribe.''

In this note, Ramasamy says that his team, after a detailed study, had recommended Tamil Nadu as first choice, Gujarat as the second and Sri City in Andhra Pradesh as the third. He reveals that when Kia demanded tax holiday and power tariff concessions and infrastructure like roads, water, drainage, fast track approvals, the politicians "wanted a very huge bribe for the same apart from the land.''

Ramasamy said he could not comment further on it as per a non-disclosure agreement that his firm has signed with its client.

The Kia investment was to be to the tune of $1.1 billion. To be up in 2019, the plant is expected to roll out 3 lakh vehicles every year. Undoubtedly, this is a huge loss for Tamil Nadu, which is home to several automobile and ancillary units in and around Sriperumbudur. In fact, arrangements had been made for 70-odd ancillary units who would have been tasked with supplying to Kia, to have their plants in the vicinity.

Ramasamy is surprised that Kia chose Anantapur, which is an extremely dry and desert-like area. He need not be because chief minister Chandrababu Naidu was micromanaging hijacking this project to Andhra, ticking all the boxes in the Kia wishlist, including roads to connect the plant to the Bengaluru-Hyderabad national highway.

Officials in the Tamil Nadu government admit that it was in talks with Kia but refuses to get drawn into why the company chose to invest in Anantapur.

Tamil Nadu was always and continues to be a contrast. Even when Jayalalithaa was in charge of the state, meeting her was next to impossible for investors who liked to be reassured of a green channel for government clearances by the top person in the administration. Naidu on the other hand, behaves more like Andhra's CEO, making it a point to lead the aggressive wooing game himself.

This was reflected in the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) rankings. Tamil Nadu slipped in the EoDB ranking  from 12th rank in 2015 to 18th rank in 2016 whereas Andhra Pradesh shared the top spot with Telangana.

"Forget wooing new industry, even the existing units in Coimbatore and Tiruppur are suffering due to corruption, and lack of power and water,'' says MG Devasahayam, former IAS officer. "Tamil Nadu has taken a huge hit due to zero governance.''

In June last year, Union minister for Industry Nirmala Sitharaman had urged Hyundai Motors to send up its third plant in India. Hyundai is now likely to produce its cars at the Kia facility, which means a double blow for Tamil Nadu. In any case, the Kia experience would have been a rude wake-up call for the Korean major.

But the Kia story, as related by Ramasamy, is not the odd one out. A senior minister in the Edappadi Palaniswami cabinet could soon be in the dock for allegedly demanding a bribe from an European multinational that has its plant in Tamil Nadu. Sources say the company management has lodged a complaint with its Embassy in New Delhi which has in turn, passed it on to the Prime Minister's Office.

The Centre for Media Studies that released its survey findings on corruption last Friday, ranked Tamil Nadu as the third most corrupt state in India behind Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Incidentally, the three southern states also see high expenditure elections and bribing of voters is an integral part of the poll process.

Which is why when Ramasamy raises a stink, it is easy to make the connect to political corruption. Because it is essentially money taken as kickbacks that get routed to bribe the voters at election time. Ahead of the RK Nagar byelection that was to be held in April and was rescinded by the Election Commission, voters were reportedly being paid Rs 4000 for a vote. Income Tax raids at the Health minister's properties revealed documents that mentioned Rs 89 crore to be distributed among the 2.25 lakh voters of the constituency. The optics of money being distributed clandestinely at election time is enough to drive away potential investors.

It is as if over the years, corruption has been institutionalised at Fort St George, that houses the Tamil Nadu Secretariat in Chennai. Recently, when a leading exporter needed a pollution certificate for his firm in Tamil Nadu, its proprietor was unabashedly told by the concerned IAS officer to "meet the minister and fulfill his requirements first''.

"Corruption should not be a factor to keep industry away from Tamil Nadu,'' says Ramachandran Ganapathi, Senior Vice President, Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "If it is a factor, this has to be addressed immediately.''

What Tamil Nadu does not realise is that with Sri City SEZ close to the Tamil Nadu-Andhra border, flight of capital is now only a few kilometres away. And if the Kia story is anything to go by, the ruling elite seem determined to drive investment out of Tamil Nadu.
Yoga guru Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali is eyeing a two-fold jump in sales at over Rs 20,000 crore in the current financial year (2017-18) as it plans to double its distribution network to 12,000 across the country.

Besides, the company is aspiring to further strengthen its presence and lead in most of the product categories.

The Haridwar-based FMCG firm had clocked a turnover of Rs 10,561 crore in the financial year ended March 31, 2017.

"We would grow more than double this year... By next year, Patanjali would be in the leading position and in most of the product categories, it would be number one," yoga guru Ramdev said.

The yoga guru also asserted the company will not be spearheaded by any businessman in the future, and either a sanyasi or a monk like him will head it, NDTV report said.

He jokingly said that the company's target to double the turnover by next fiscal will certainly give sleepless nights to foreign MNCs operating here.

The company is in the process of setting up mega production units at several places, including Noida, Nagpur, and Indore, which would take its production capacity to Rs 60,000 crore from the existing Rs 35,000 crore.

"Our Noida facility would have a production capacity of Rs 20,000 crore, Nagpur 15,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore and Indore Rs 5,000 crore," he added.

The company is also strengthening its distribution network to reach more consumers across the country.

"We would double our distributors' network to 12,000 from the present 6,000," Ramdev said.

This fiscal, the company is looking to enhance its focus on categories such as spices, pulses, vegetable oil, biscuits, confectionery and juices and add more products into these segments.

In FY 2016-17, Patanjali Ayurved contributed Rs 9,634 crore to its turnover, while Divya Pharmacy that manufactures ayurvedic medicine had clocked Rs 870 crore sales.

During the fiscal, Patanjali ghee had a business of Rs 1,467 crore and oral care brand Dant Kanti Rs 940 crore. Its personal care brand Keshkanti had sales of Rs 825 crore and herbal soap Rs 574 crore.

"Dankanti has now 14 percent market share in the segment. Honey is around Rs 350 crore and would grow to Rs 500-600 crore this year. Our kacchi ghani mustard oil is around Rs 522 crore and would grow up to Rs 1,000 crore," he added.

According to the company, it has now 15 percent market share in shampoo, 14 percent in face wash, 35 percent in dishwasher and 50 per cent in Honey.

Recently, the company said it is aiming to double its market share in the country's food processing market from 10 percent to 20 percent, and intends to spend Rs 5,000 crore for expansion across various segments.

With PTI inputs
The issue of pulses is high on every politicians mind. There have been at least five statements on the issue of pulses in the Lok Sabha since the beginning of 2017. There is a rage among farmers because prices have crashed.

Had prices crashed because of domestic oversupply, that would have been a bit more bearable. Agricultural products in India are always subject to huge market price volatility. One reason is the enormous speculative appetite of traders who act as middlemen between the producer and the market. The second is the absence of any real commodity market. Each time the commodity market shows signs of maturing, the government comes in with a ban on trading agricultural products.

It is not as if the government does not have other weapons in its arsenal. It can always impose stiff margins to put the brakes on excessive trading. This is what Sebi allows the BSE and the NSE to do with stock markets. Or it can even resort to imports. Or it can dip into strategic reserves. However, it appears that the governments favourite weapon is a ban on trading in that commodity. Hence commodity markets have remained stunted. But more of that in the last part of this series.

This time, the volatility in prices was on account of several factors. One is that when it comes to pulses, there is no real global market. The biggest consumers of pulses are Indians. When Indias pulses production goes up, international prices crash. When India begins importing, international prices climb. India is the market. And other countries grow pulses with an eye on demand and production in India. But more of this later.

So when Indias pulses production goes up, prices in India crash. And anticipating a slowdown in off take, global markets too witness a crash in prices, because it knows that demand from Indian markets was bound to decline substantially. But more on imports later.

And this is where the farmers are justified in becoming livid. Everyone knew that acreage under pulses cultivation had soared given the firm trend of upward prices movement. This was evident to Indias planners in mid-2016. All the planners were aware of the bountiful monsoon season last year. Given both increased acreage and good rains, it was obvious  even eight months ago  that Indias pulses production would soar. Yet India kept importing pulses. The farmers have a right to know why?

The farmers are also sore that the government has continued to pamper wheat and rice growers with a procurement policy. They have begun asking why a procurement policy has not been extended to pulses.

A big relief for farmers was the government decision last fortnight to impose a 20 percent duty on pulses imports. The other good news  for consumers  was that prices of pulses had begun to cool off. They would not have to cry themselves hoarse over pulses becoming more expensive.

Yet, farmers howled with fury when the Centre informed state governments that it would not resort to mop up of pulses through procurement measures. It seemed as if policymakers have been anxious to make the right moves without rocking the proverbial agricultural boat in North India. Thus rice and wheat continue to be favoured with a procurement policy. Pulses have been ruled out for such a treatment.

North India is important. That is where the country has the maximum number of elected seats. That is where India has its wheat basin. And rice too  especially basmati  which is a major export earner and political funds grabber. Not surprisingly, many of Indias policies are directed towards wheat and rice, even it is to the detriment of the economy and to the very moral fibre of those who are in charge of agricultural produce procurement. But more of that later.

That is why this article is broken up into several parts. In addition to this introductory article there are four more parts.

Part 1I will talk about why wheat and rice have grabbed the politician-policymakers minds. And how this has pushed back focus on nutritional crops like pulses and millets.

Part III talks about Indias pulse production  how it has grown and how it continues to grow. And how this has hit farmers very badly, partly because they succeeded, and partly because of the states ineptness.

Part IV is about how short sighted Indias policy makers are. They were contracting import of pulses even in a year when output of pulses was meant to be good.

Part V talks about the need of a sensible policy which allows pulses and millets to find a place in the sun both in terms of sunlight as well as sustained earnings.

Read on. . . . .

Part II
Editor's note: What's more fun than passing off stalking celebrities on social media as work?

Very little, right?

And so, we scanned the Instagram and Twitter accounts of celebs from India and abroad, to bring to you weekly updates from the interwebz. Who tweeted to whom? Who reposted last night's party pics? Who went on a rant about-... well, whatever it is Kanye West rants about. Whatever it is, don't worry, we've got you covered.

We stalk, you read. Deal?

Twinkle Khanna's family portrait before Akshay Kumar's National Award felicitation

It was announced last month that Akshay Kumar has been conferred upon the Best Actor National Film Award for Tinu Suresh Desai's period biopic Rustom. Hours before the award ceremony, his wife Twinkle Khanna posted a family portrait of Kumar, their son Aarav and her, all decked up in traditional attires.

So now I can officially refer to him as my trophy husband #NationalFilmAwards #Hurrah A post shared by Twinkle Khanna (@twinklerkhanna) on May 3, 2017 at 7:44am PDT

Sushant Singh Rajput poses for Mario Testino's towel series Days after Katrina Kaif became the first Indian female actor to pose for renowned Peruvian fashion photographer Mario Testino's towel series, Sushant Singh Rajput followed suit. He posted one of his pictures on Twitter in which he is seen bare chested and teasing a John-Abraham-in-Dostana-like butt show with his towel.

It's an honor for me to have the opportunity to work with you @mariotestino #Repost @mariotestino with @repostapp  TOWEL SERIES 136, SUSHANT SINGH RAJPUT. #TowelSeries #MarioTestino @SushantSinghRajput A post shared by Sushant Singh Rajput (@sushantsinghrajput) on May 3, 2017 at 7:37am PDT

Priyanka Chopra picks her favorite meme of her Ralph Lauren dress

Priyanka Chopra took Twitter by storm through the countless memes created after her eyeball-grabbing appearance at the Met gala in a long Ralph Lauren dress. She took the jibes in good humour and posted her favourite memes on her Instagram account.

Rahul Khanna pays tribute to his late father Vinod Khanna Rahul Khanna seems to be on a nostalgic ride after his father and veteran actor Vinod Khanna's demise. The actor has been tweeting old pictures of him with his dad. The most recent one sees Vinod kissing Rahul, a toddler. presumably minutes after he was born.

You showed me how to be a gentleman and yet fight to the finish like a warrior. Bye Dad. 1946 - 2017. pic.twitter.com/4Rwm5unp38  Rahul Khanna (@R_Khanna) May 3, 2017

Priyanka Chopra welcomes Katrina Kaif to Instagram

After getting a warm welcome from Salman Khan, Sidharth Malhotra and Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif was also welcomed in style by her contemporary Katrina Kaif. Chopra posted a video on loop for Kaif and welcomed her to the 'mad world of social media'.

Finally!! Welcoming the inimitable @katrinakaif to Instagram #chalnaKatrina into the mad world of social! Hope it's a fun adventure! Xoxo love and luck always A post shared by Priyanka Chopra (@priyankachopra) on May 3, 2017 at 1:17am PDT

Fawad Khan poses with wife Sadaf for magazine cover Pakistani actor Fawad Khan and his wife Sadaf were blessed with a baby boy last year. Now, they look even more in love as they posed for the cover of a famous magazine. With all his female fans drooling over him, his wife seems to be at the centre of all the envy.
Kabir Khan and Salman Khan have finally released the highly-anticipated teaser for their upcoming period drama Tubelight.

The teaser, released on 4 May 2017, depicts the life of a man loved by many, played by Salman. There are shots of him standing on top of a mountain, of him training as a soldier, of Mahatma Gandhi surrounded by people and of Chinese actress Zhu Zhu's character.

There's also a line about how Salman's character is like a tubelight, who spreads his light far and wide.

A previous 13-second clip had showcased the film's first look: the word 'Tubelight' spread across the screen, struggling to be brought to life. In the background, a group of children chorus 'chal ja!' repeatedly, encouraging the flickering Tubelight to brighten up their day. Celebration ensues as soon as the flickering gives way to light.

What is refreshingly different about Tubelight is that its backdrop takes a detour from the popular India vs Pakistan narrative and ventures into the Sino-Indian War of 1962. Though Kabir has directed Ek Tha Tiger, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Phantom, that revolve around the India and Pakistan narrative, he believed Tubelight demanded a different setting.

"(But) the war is just the backdrop. It is not even the setting so Tubelight is not really a war film. The setting is remotely away from the war site. We do not explore why the war happened, how it happened. There is just one character who goes to the war," Kabir Khan told Firstpost in an earlier interview.

In the run-up to its official teaser-trailer release, Salman had also shared numerous stills/posters from Tubelight:

Tubelight also stars Chinese actor Zhu Zhu, the late Om Puri and a cameo by Shah Rukh Khan. It is co-produced by Kabir and Salman Khan Films and is slated to release this Eid on 25 June.

Here's the Tubelight teaser:


Hes a new age film director who made the world notice Kannada films. Director Pawan Kumar who made successful films like Lucia and U-Turn is now gearing up to release his first Kannada production, Ondu Motteya Kathe (A bald mans story). The film is set to premiere at the New York Indian Film Festival on May 6 and the London Indian Film Festival in June.

In an exclusive chat with Firstpost, Pawan Kumar talks why itll resonate with the audience, the Rs 200 cap on movie tickets in Karnataka and more.

What made you choose Ondu Motteya Kathe as your first production?

The film came to me when the film was already made at the edit stage. I heard of the project and met the team but I didnt start the project. The team in fact is interesting because the director Raj B Shetty is the protagonist in the film, his friend is the producer, etc. They showed me the first cut of the film and I took it forward from that point on. We gave them the complete creative cut. I associated with the project because of the simplicity and the Iranian film tone it had. Its a very simple story. Considering that my films have always been very complex and Ive been wanting to make simple films, this is the exact kind of film I wanted to make. This seemed to be the best project to start off with.

Debutant director Raj B Shetty is the hero, Janardhan, and the screenplay writer. What did you think of his acting?

When we saw the first cut, we didnt realise he was the director as well. The entire team had come and we presumed they got the perfect actor for the role. After the screening, Raj told us he was the director. Hes got everyone in the film to perform realistically and most of them are first-time actors. Thats what got us excited about the film. Theres absolutely no cinematic performance  its so real and very world cinema-like. He has got his humour timing right and along with him the others have got an equally good timing with their performances.

Janardhan is a scrawny guy whos obsessed with the fact that hes bald. How much will the audience relate to him?

Everyone can relate to him. The film is about a bald guy who feels insecure but I think today everyone has insecurities of some kind. A few years ago, people didnt have their pictures plastered around so much (FB, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, etc). Now that this is happening, the need to look good is so strong. The hero here is so insecure about how he looks. Though the movie doesnt overtly speak about insecurity over looks, thats what the theme is all about. And its beautifully hidden in the script.

You said its a simple film; so what struck you about it when you watched it?

Keeping the audience engaged using complex narratives is easy  I have found it easy. Its a very easy tool to keep the audience on your side. When I see Iranian films, Im kind of shocked because they give you linear narrative, theres hardly any background score and yet their films are powerful. Thats what I felt in Ondu Motteya Kathe as well  it was very linear with no great locations though the cinematography is good as per the story. Its the content, performances and the way the story moves forward in each sequence was so engaging that I was fascinated by it. I believe making classical films is more difficult than making new age films.

There seems to be a lot of humour in the film.

Yes, and its not the slapstick kind of humour. Its basically about that the common person goes through and how he gets judged. That humour is so subtle and it makes you laugh. Its a very Charlie Chaplin kind of film. There are also emotional sequences; after a point, you feel bad that youre laughing at him.

Ondu Motteya Kathe is the first film youve not directed thats premiering at an international film festival.

When we bought the film, there was a little concern whether wed be able to do it. With my films, I had a sense of how it would work with the audience. With Ondu Motteya Kathe, we were banking on Raj B Shettys content and the first cut is his cut. We didnt insist on any changes in the film. As a production house, we were looking at making films like this and give it a bigger release and better reach. For us too it was a good exercise. Were not worried about how the film is, thats half the battle won  were looking at whether were giving it a good placement in terms of release. If were successful with this film, then well be able to do it for many others. Itll also make it easy for these filmmakers not to learn the entire process  we learnt it a few years back and now have the expertise; so they can just keep making films. I would ideally look at my production house as being a space for releasing films and the filmmakers can just focus on making films instead of worrying about how the film travels once complete.

The Karnataka government has capped movie ticket prices at Rs 200. Is it a good move for the Kannada film industry?

Since the time of Lucia, Ive been saying that there needs to be uniform pricing. The question is whether this is going to be uniform pricing or flexi pricing. Uniform pricing is important because irrespective of a films language, a multiplex would only play films that work with the audience. If a film is good and its in demand, then give it prime shows. Right now, because of non-uniform pricing, theyll price Hindi films higher than Kannada and play those in the prime slot. We are losing out that way. So lets see how this pans out.
With the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 just a day away, we will soon have seen three films of the third phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

And if there is one aspect common between Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, it is definitely the fact that all of them are visually stunning.

The good news is that we have seen filmmakers using a variety of techniques to make the film look as beautiful as possible.

From the elaborate and meticulously choreographed stunts in the airport battle sequence in Civil War, and the surreal depiction of other-worldly dimensions in Doctor Strange, to the fight sequences on an extremely colourful and vibrant planet or spaceships battling it out in a 'quantum asteroid field' in which asteroids keep randomly appearing and disappearing in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the third phase of the MCU has already shown us what visual effects can do to cinema.

The bad news, however, is that the visual effects have come at the cost of great storytelling.

And storytelling is perhaps the weakest part of the latest Guardians of the Galaxy movie. To begin with, we have a villain who  yet again  ultimately wants to conquer the universe. World/Universe domination is one of the oldest tricks in the book for creating movie villains. It has been used so many times as the villain's motive in cinema that at this point, we would honestly be more open to anything else.

But, with the exception of Loki (played by Tom Hiddleston), MCU movies have arguably never really had a truly memorable villain. And maybe, we'll get the next great villain in the upcoming films. Yes, Thanos, we're looking at you.

Even if we ignore the problem of the lack of an interesting villain, there are a lot of other problems with the plot of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the most significant one being that the unique, raw humour which we saw in the first movie is missing in many crucial parts of the latest one. Because of a lack of that extra creativity required in screenplay-writing and editing which makes an action comedy funny, many jokes  simply based on mediocre dialogues  fall flat.

Speaking of dialogues, you know the quality of humour has fallen when you realise you've gone from that iconic 'bunch of jackasses standing in a circle' line from Rocket Raccoon in GotG to Drax the Destroyer laughing about how his 'turds are famously large' in GotG Vol. 2.

The plot is also cliched and cluttered with sub-plots that leave little room for character development and lead to transformations in many characters which seem abrupt.

But this issue of great visual effects at the cost of an excellent plot is not just a problem with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

Doctor Strange, despite its attempt at intelligent storytelling, still has some glaring loopholes.

Civil War, which probably had the best plot among these three movies, also suffers from some gimmicky plot points.

This poses a serious question:

Are the films by Marvel Studios slowing moving towards the same category of films based on DC Comics which are criticised for its excellent visual effects but poor storytelling?

After all, one has to admit that despite the bad plots, films like Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Suicide Squad have all been visually very appealing.

In fact, Suicide Squad won the award for best makeup and hairstyling at the 89th Academy Awards. And despite all the negative reviews that movie got, it was still the ninth-highest grossing film of 2016.

Dawn of Justice grossed $873.2 million, which is more than what Deadpool grossed ($783.1 million), making it the sixth-highest grossing film of 2016.

These figures may also explain why filmmakers are suddenly focusing a lot on visual effects, even if the plot is neglected.

But we all know that no matter how good Superman's first flight looks in Man of Steel, the scene in Guardians of the Galaxy in which Star-Lord starts dancing to distract the villain will be more memorable due to one and only one reason: Witty and clever storytelling.

Let's just hope Spider-Man: Homecoming breaks this pattern and reminds us that good cinema never neglects content.
After battling their individual demons in the various boroughs of New York, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist are finally ready to become the superhero team they were always meant to be. At least sort of.

The trailer for Marvel's the Defenders has been released, giving fans their fist look at the four street-level superheroes fighting together.Of course, before they can officially join forces, the leads from Netflix's four previous Marvel shows have to meet one another.

The trailer opens with Jones (Krysten Ritter) being questioned by Misty Knight (Simone Missick), the Detective first introduced in Marvel's Luke Cage, for interfering with her investigation. Before Jones can incriminate herself in any way, in steps Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) claiming to be her attorney.

In another part of town, Cage (Mike Colter) is having a heart to heart with Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson), who suggests the Harlem hero might benefit from meeting another one of her friends. But it looks like before any official introductions can be made, Cage runs into Danny Rand (Finn Jones) in a dark alley under less than ideal circumstances.

While Rand seems to believe the four heroes make quite a team, Jones is less than enthusiastic. But that might be because the enlightened Iron Fist can't figure out a way to describe the superpowered investigator other than "whatever it is you are."

In addition to spotlighting these initial meetings, the trailer warns that a war for New York is brewing. The only way to save the city is for "the devil of Hell's Kitchen, the smart-ass detective, the righteous ex-con and the kid with a glowing fist" to work together.

Will the show live upto the expectations set by Daredevil and Jessica Jones? Or will it disappoint like Luke Cage or Iron Fist? The trailer doesn't seem to make any sense or leave fans with a sense of excitement. Instead it leaves you with a cringe worthy sense of dread to endure the next bad Marvel production with this dimly lit, 'dark' show. And how many times does New York need saving?

Sigourney Weaver's mysterious villain Alexandra also makes an appearance in the trailer. She confronts The Defenders at a Chinese restaurant to offer them some advice. " The more connections you have, the easier it will be to break you," she says threateningly. The trailer also confirms (Daredevil character) Elektras resurrection, which was hinted at in a short teaser that Netflix released Tuesday. Here's the trailer of the show which will stream on Netflix from 18 August:
Today is 4th May, which means a certain pun is echoing across social media around the world: "May the Fourth be with you. The celebration is held every year for all lovers of the Skywalkers, the Resistance and Yodas wise words.

The tradition started rather organically, chosen by fans as a day to celebrate their love for the Star Wars films and expanded universe. ('May the Fourth' rhymes with 'May the Force,' and you can figure out the rest out from there.) Grassroots fandom perpetuated the pun, until the first large organised event for the day took place on 4 May 2011 in the Toronto Underground Cinema. Screenings of the movies were accompanied by a costume contest judged by local radio hosts and TV stars, but while it may have been the first commercial Star Wars Day gathering, it certainly wasnt the first time people had connected the day with the films.

That goes all the way back to 1979, just two years after the original Star Wars hit theater screens. Britains Conservative Party, celebrating the election of new Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, put out a full-page ad in the London Evening News at the time which reportedly read, "May the Fourth Be With You, Maggie. Congratulations."

History lessons apart, this is also the first Star Wars Day since the death of Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the films.

Since fans have already been excited for the release of the new Star Wars film, Star Wars: Episode VIII  The Last Jedi, after Disney has released a trailer ahead of its December 2017 release, here are the top five moments from the Star Wars franchise which makes it so unique:

"Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi! youre my only hope !" (From Episode IV: A New Hope)



In just eight words, Princess Leia Organa promised a whole universe of adventure. Luke Skywalkers discovery of the hidden holographic message stored within his newly purchased astromech droid R2-D2 served as a sort of magic spell, the 'open sesame' that unlocked all the excitement to come.

"Luke, I am your father" (From Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back)

The light saber duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader was easily the most anticipated moment in the first of the Star Wars sequels, and it lived up to the hype: Vader relentlessly pushes Luke to his physical limits, while the young Jedi does his best to combat him. And then there's the moment that stunned audiences and elevated the franchise into the realm of tragedy: Luke learns simultaneously of both his mentor Obi-Wan's deception and his lineage when Darth Vader says, "I am your father."

Fun Fact: James Earl Jones refused a credit as Darth Vaders voice after controversy surrounding praise for the voice of the devil in The Exorcist.



The Death Star Battle scene (From A New Hope)



When it came to Hope's climactic battle, in which a ragtag rebel fleet attempts to destroy the Empire's planet-killing space station, George Lucas wanted to emulate the feel of the aerial dogfights he had seen in World War II films. And how he succeeded: the clash between the rebel and Imperial fighters is more dynamic than any space battle seen on the screen before.

Obi-Wan and Darth Vader's Final Battle (From A New Hope)



What's more iconic than Star Wars' 'Luke I am your father ' scene?

The iconic battle between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader. The master and his star pupil reunite and Obi-Wan makes the ultimate sacrifice as he and Darth Vader clash in the corridors of the Death Star. Their final contest takes on a different meaning when placed alongside their apocalyptic battle in Revenge of the Sith, but this one is still a bigger fan favourite.

The Star Wars opening sequence

Each film opens with the static text, "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....", followed by the Star Wars logo shrinking in front of a field of stars then the crawl text begins, starting with film's episode number and subtitle and followed by a three-paragraph prologue to the film.

This is one of the most recognised and iconic features of the Star Wars series, and has been parodied in countless films and series.
By Tetsushi Kajimoto

| TOKYO

TOKYO The Asian Development Bank's 50th annual meeting is supposed to be a celebration of Japan's economic leadership in Asia over the half-century - instead, it takes place in the shadow of China's bid to increasingly assert itself as the regional powerhouse.The ADB is coming off a record year for lending and is the region's major financier for development, but its four-day meeting in Yokohama starting on Thursday could quickly fade as attention turns to China's high-profile "One Belt, One Road" (OBOR) summit the next week.Many OBOR projects are supported by China's state-owned banks and its fledgling regional lender, the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), which could become a potential rival of the Manila-based ADB but for now is much smaller."Politically, the AIIB is a direct challenge to the ADB by providing borrowers an alternative," said Tang Siew Mun, senior fellow at the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. "OBOR with AIIB's deep pockets offers a vision of the region for 'friendly nations' to participate. In contrast, the ADB lacks a grand plan and focuses on smaller projects."In dealing with the AIIB, which launched operations in January 2016, the ADB has emphasised cooperation rather than competition. A year ago, they signed an agreement setting the stage for joint financing projects. "Infrastructure needs are huge and it's simply not possible for the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank to fill the gap completely," Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, a former head of the ADB, said earlier this week.The AIIB is viewed by some as a challenger to both the Western-dominated World Bank and the ADB, which is primarily funded by Japan and the United States.

The ADB was established as a Japanese initiative in 1966 to offer development assistance in Asia. All of the ADB heads up until now have been Japanese, including current president Takehiko Nakao.Last year, it extended a record $17.5 billion worth of loans to 67 projects, dwarfing the AIIB, which provided loans of about $1.7 billion to just nine projects last year, most of which was through co-financing with other institutions, including the ADB.OUTWARD SUPPORT

While outwardly Japan has shown support for China's

initiatives, it remains wary of getting too close, and has not joined the AIIB. "We remain cautious about AIIB and need to examine itstransparency even more closely since China plays a dominant role in its governance," Masahiko Shibayama, an adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, told Reuters. Further complicating matters for Japan, is the sudden friendliness of U.S. President Donald Trump to Beijing and a shift by Southeast Asian nations towards China.

The secretary-general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Toshihiro Nikai, will attend the OBOR summit, a sign Abe wants to improve ties with Beijing."The unexpected improvement in ties between China and the United States has prompted Japanese government to send...Nikai to the OBOR summit," said Xiao Minjie, senior economist at SMBC Nikko Securities in Tokyo."Even though bureaucrats in general have an instinctivedislike for China-led AIIB and OBOR."Xiao predicts that the two development banks may fill different roles, with the ADB supporting projects concerning the environment, education and poverty-reduction, while China may focus on the kind of infrastructure-tied loans to developing countries that Japan used to provide in the 1980s."The ADB will likely shift more towards 'soft' infrastructure development, as demand for hard infrastructure runs its course and as Asian countries mature after experiencing high economic growth," Xiao said. (Additional reporting by Stanley White, Leika Kihara, Izumi Nakagawa; Writing by Malcolm Foster; Editing by Sam Holmes)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By David Ingram

| SAN FRANCISCO

SAN FRANCISCO Facebook Inc (FB.O) will hire 3,000 more people over the next year to speed up the removal of videos showing murder, suicide and other violent acts, in its most dramatic move yet to combat the biggest threat to its valuable public image.The hiring spree, announced by Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday, is an acknowledgement by Facebook that it needs more than automated software to identify and remove offensive posts that have exploded online and made headlines in the traditional news media.The problem has become more pressing since the introduction last year of Facebook Live, a service that allows any of Facebook's 1.9 billion monthly users to broadcast video, which has been marred by some violent scenes. Some violence on Facebook is inevitable given its size, researchers say, but the company has been attacked for its slow response. UK lawmakers this week accused social media companies including Facebook of doing a "shameful" job removing child abuse and other potentially illegal material.In Germany, the company has been under pressure to be quicker and more accurate in removing illegal hate speech and to clamp down on so-called fake news. German lawmakers have threatened fines if the company cannot remove at least 70 percent of offending posts within 24 hours.So far, Facebook has avoided political fallout from U.S. lawmakers or any significant loss of the advertisers it depends on for revenue. Some in the ad industry have defended Facebook, citing the difficulty of policing material from its many users. Police agencies have said Facebook works well with them. Facebook shares were down slightly on Wednesday, ahead of quarterly earnings after the bell.ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Zuckerberg, the company's co-founder, said in a Facebook post the workers will be in addition to the 4,500 people who already review posts that may violate its terms of service. Facebook has 17,000 employees overall, not including contractors. Last week, a father in Thailand broadcast himself killing his daughter on Facebook Live, police said. After more than a day, and 370,000 views, Facebook removed the video. Other videos from places such as Chicago and Cleveland have also shocked viewers with their violence.Zuckerberg said the company would do better: "We're working to make these videos easier to report so we can take the right action sooner - whether that's responding quickly when someone needs help or taking a post down."The 3,000 workers will be new positions and will monitor all Facebook content, not just live videos, the company said. The company did not say where the jobs would be located, although Zuckerberg said the team operates around the world. The world's largest social network has been turning to artificial intelligence to try to automate the process of finding pornography, violence and other potentially offensive material. In March, the company said it planned to use such technology to help spot users with suicidal tendencies and get them assistance.However, Facebook still relies largely on its users to report problematic material. It receives millions of reports from users each week, and like other large Silicon Valley companies, it relies on thousands of human monitors to review the reports.

"Despite industry claims to the contrary, I don't know of any computational mechanism that can adequately, accurately, 100 percent do this work in lieu of humans. We're just not there yet technologically," said Sarah Roberts, a professor of information studies at UCLA who looks at content monitoring.The workers who monitor material generally work on contract in places such as India and the Philippines, and they face difficult working conditions because of the hours they spend making quick decisions while sifting through traumatic material, Roberts said in an interview.In December, two people who monitored graphic material for Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) services such as Skype sued the company, saying it had failed to warn them about the risks to their mental health. They are seeking compensation for medical costs, wages lost from disability and other damages. Microsoft has disputed their claims. The company said in a statement that it takes seriously the responsibility to remove and report imagery of child sexual exploitation and abuse, as well as the health and resilience of employees. Mental health assistance plans sometimes fall by the wayside for such workers, and there was a risk that would happen for Facebook if it tries to find 3,000 new workers quickly, Roberts said. "To do it at this scale and this magnitude, I question that," she said.

PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT

Facebook says that every person reviewing its content is offered psychological support and wellness resources, and that the company has a support program in place.When Facebook launched its live service in April 2016, Zuckerberg spoke about it as a place for "raw and visceral" communication. "Because it's live, there is no way it can be curated," Zuckerberg told BuzzFeed News in an interview then. "And because of that it frees people up to be themselves. It's live; it cant possibly be perfectly planned out ahead of time."Since then, at least 50 criminal or violent incidents have been broadcast over Facebook Live, including assault, murder and suicide, The Wall Street Journal reported in March.In January, four African-Americans in Chicago were accused of attacking an 18-year-old disabled man on Facebook Live while making anti-white racial taunts. They have pleaded not guilty. A man in Cleveland, Ohio, last month was accused of shooting another man on a sidewalk and then uploading a video of the murder to Facebook, where it remained for about two hours. The man later fatally shot himself. Zuckerberg said the company would keep working with community groups and law enforcement, and that there have been instances when intervention has helped."Just last week, we got a report that someone on Live was considering suicide," he wrote in his post. "We immediately reached out to law enforcement, and they were able to prevent him from hurting himself. In other cases, we weren't so fortunate." (Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Jeffrey Benkoe and Bill Rigby)

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By Sankalp Phartiyal and Euan Rocha

| MUMBAI

MUMBAI Infosys said its plans to hire thousands of workers in the United States would enable faster deployment of staff in areas such as big data and cloud, dismissing concerns about additional labor costs.The Indian IT services firm said on Tuesday it aims to hire 10,000 U.S. staff over the next two years and open four technology centers in the United States, its biggest market. The move comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has accused Indian software firms of displacing U.S. workers' jobs by flying in foreigners on temporary visas to service U.S. clients. He has pledged to review the visa program.Some analysts have said Infosys's U.S. expansion will increase its cost burden and squeeze margins, but deputy chief operating officer Ravi Kumar said it would make the company nimbler."Training in the U.S. is obviously going to be more expensive than training in India, but as we ramp up significantly in the next few months this model is much more agile," Kumar told Reuters in a telephone interview from New York late on Wednesday.

"It (hiring locally) gives us agility, it gives us speed and it gives us local cultural alignment," he said, but would not disclose how much Infosys will spend on the plan.The company will offer competitive salaries as it will compete with the likes of Google and Microsoft for campus hires, Kumar said, adding that the impact on margins will only be ascertained after a few quarters.EXTREME AUTOMATION

Infosys is keen to automate a big chunk of its legacy business such as routine infrastructure maintenance work for clients, and focus instead on transformational work in areas such as digital services, cloud, data analytics and cyber security that offer much better margins, Kumar said. Its traditional outsourcing business is facing a margin squeeze as clients increasingly demand more work for less money and Kumar said Infosys wants to apply "extreme automation" there to keep costs down."We want to take capital out of keeping the lights on and divert the money to the transform side of the business," he said, adding transformational business currently enjoys double digit percentage revenue growth versus low-single digit growth in the traditional business.

The first tech center will open in Indiana in August, giving Infosys easy access to talent from good universities and colleges across the Midwest, Kumar said. The company has not said where the other there centers will be located.While Infosys will hire from Ivy League schools, it will hire more heavily from lesser known schools and community colleges, as it does in India, he said. The company typically trains Indian staff at its site in Mysore for six months, but is condensing its program for new U.S. recruits to as little as 10 to 12 weeks, Kumar said."The flavor of how we do it in the U.S. will be different to the flavor of how we do it in India." (Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal and Euan Rocha; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Susan Fenton)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Alex Lawler and Rania El Gamal

| LONDON/DUBAI

LONDON/DUBAI OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers look likely to extend their agreement to limit supplies beyond its June expiry to help clear a glut, three OPEC delegates said on Thursday, downplaying the chance of additional steps such as a bigger cut.The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers originally agreed to curb production by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) for six months from Jan. 1 to support the market.Oil prices have gained support but stockpiles are still high and production from non-participating countries such as the United States has been rising, keeping crude below the $60 level that OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia would like to see.However, OPEC officials generally believe the agreement is helping to bring the market closer to balance between supply and demand and that it should be extended into the second half of the year with the same numbers."The willingness to extend the current understanding is strong among OPEC and non-OPEC participants," an OPEC delegate said, declining to be identified by name.

"I have doubts that more cuts will be discussed as the current agreement is yielding a positive outcome."Officials from the 13-country OPEC - which accounts for a third of global oil production - are in Vienna on Thursday and Friday to attend a meeting of the group's governing board. Such meetings provide an occasion to chat informally, but they deal with administrative matters and do not decide policy.

"A rollover with the same numbers," another OPEC delegate said on Thursday, asked about the chance of a larger cut being agreed when OPEC and non-OPEC ministers meet on May 25.To be sure, some OPEC delegates have raised the possibility of a larger supply cut and others have said the existing agreement could be tweaked. But another official familiar with the supply deal said an increase in the size of the reduction was not likely.

"I don't expect any surprises," this official said. "Especially now almost everyone is complying reasonably well."OPEC members including top exporter Saudi Arabia have voiced support for extending the deal. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak made Moscow's position clearer on Thursday, saying Russia was inclined to prolong the accord.Compliance by OPEC and non-OPEC with pledged cutbacks stood at 98 percent in March, OPEC said  higher than the organization achieved during its last cut in 2009. (Editing by Dale Hudson)

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To make passenger entry easier and elevate the level of security at airports across India, the civil aviation ministry is close to rolling out Aadhar-enabled entry in all the airports across the country. Presently, passengers show their printed or mobile air tickets coupled with their government-approved identity card to enter an airport.

According to reports, Bengaluru airport, owned by the Fairfax and GVK group, and Hyderabad airport, which have already exceeded the capacity they were built for, are using Aadhaar-based entry in coordination with airlines through a process called e-boarding. Manual procedure is being used as backup by both the airports. According to a report in Livemint, at the Hyderabad airport, most domestic flights use e-boarding, with at least 150 airlines using the technology.

Speaking to Livemint, a spokesperson from the Hyderabad airport said that e-boarding has substantially improved passenger throughput. "E-boarding has improved the passenger throughput outcome at the boarding gates by 30 percent and performance of the security frisking area by 20 percent."

The Centre wants Indian airports similar to the marquee airports such as Schiphol (Amsterdam), Brisbane and Hamad (Doha), where travellers can enter without flashing their identity cards and clear the check-in process through fingerprint and iris scan.

Reports have described the process as "seamless." According to reports, "the passenger comes pre-checked in with either the paper-printed boarding pass or e-mobile pass. At the Aadhaar boarding kiosk, he/she scans the boarding pass. If the Aadhaar is already entered at the time of booking, the passenger waves hand to complete the authentication / registration process. If the number is not entered, it could be done manually before the hand is waved."

In case the Aadhaar is not available, the passenger says that and waves his/her hand. The alternate identity card is then shown to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) staff.

Apart from Bengaluru and Hyderabad, Airports Authority of India's Baroda and Vijayawada airports are soon likely to use this technology. The civil aviation ministry has asked Wipro to build a platform which will use passenger's Aadhar information for checking-in at all airports. Officials said that the idea is cut down on the time passengers spend standing in queues.

Data from International Air Transport Association (IATA), released in April 2017, showed that India jumped four spots in as many years in global air traffic rankings. "India has jumped...to #4 ranking with 131 million departures in 2016 and with stellar growth of 20.0% yoy (year on year), continues to close in fast on Japan," IATA said in a statement. According to a report in Mint, Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Goa, Lucknow and Kozhikode are among the worst-hit airports with Indias air traffic touching nearly 100 million air passengers in 2016, growing in double digits.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, sources in the ministry said that efforts are on to increase the use of Aadhaar in the aviation sector but there is no plan make the identification document mandatory for fliers. Earlier reports had suggested that the aviation ministry was planning to make Aadhaar or passport number mandatory for domestic travel in the next two to three months.

But officials added that government will instead ask airlines to promote the use of Aadhaar by fliers while purchasing tickets and encourage travellers to link their flight tickets to their Aadhaar cards for a seamless experience.

As part of efforts to make flight travel paperless, a pilot is being implemented at the Mumbai and Hyderabad airports, where passengers who have already linked their tickets to their Aadhaar do not require boarding passes to enter the plan.

A civil aviation ministry official reportedly said, "Linking Aadhaar numbers to air ticket bookings is certainly an option but the ministry will not make it mandatory for booking air tickets; we cannot do it. We can ask airport operators and airlines to inform passengers about its benefits, but it cannot be enforced now, according to Supreme Court guidelines." Airline companies have also asked the ministry to make Aadhaar compulsory for booking tickets.
Fifteen years after a woman, Bilkis Bano, was gangraped during the 2002 Godhra riots in Gujarat, the Bombay High Court on Thursday upheld the 2008 trial court verdict convicting 11 people and sentencing them to life imprisonment. The court also convicted five Gujarat police officers and two doctors, who were earlier acquitted by the trial court, charging them with tampering of evidence.

"The appeal against conviction filed by the 11 convicts (one convict is dead) is dismissed. The conviction and sentence is upheld," a division bench of Justices VK Tahilramani and Mridula Bhatkar said.

The 11 convicted are Jaswantbhai Nai, Govindbhai Nai, Shailesh Bhatt, Radhesham Shah, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Pradeep Mordhiya, Bakabhai Vohania, Rajubhai Soni, Mitesh Bhatt and Ramesh Chandana.

"We will consider the undergone period in jail of these seven persons as their sentence. But we will impose a fine amount of them," the court said today.

The convicted policemen and doctors are - Narpat Singh, Idris Abdul Saiyed, Bikabhai Patel, Ramsingh Bhabhor, Sombhai Gori, Arun Kumar Prasad (doctor) and Sangeeta Kumar Prasad (doctor).

The court had last year reserved its judgement in the appeals filed by 11 persons convicted in the case and also the appeal filed by CBI for capital punishment to three of them.

However, in a set back to Bilkis Bano, the high court rejected the CBI demand for awarding the death penalty for three of the 11 accused in the crime, NDTV reported.

The three  Jaswant Nai, Govind Nai, and Sailesh Bhatt  were accused by CBI of having raped Bilkis Bano.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, while delivering the judgement, the divisional bench also dismissed the argument fostered by the defence that Bilkis testimony was bogus and full of contradictions.

On 3 March 2002, she was gangraped while 14 members of her family, including her mother and child, were murdered by a rampaging mob in Randhikpura area of Ahmedabad. Bilkis was five months pregnant at the time.

A special court had on January 21, 2008 convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment 11 men for gangraping Bilkis and murdering seven of her family members in the aftermath of the Godhra riots. This was after the trial was shifted to Mumbai in August 2004 after Bilkis expressed apprehensions that witnesses could be harmed and CBI evidence tampered.

The convicts later approached the high court here challenging their conviction and sought for the trial court's order to be quashed and set aside. The CBI had also filed an appeal in the high court seeking harsher punishment of death for three of the convicted persons on the ground that they were the main perpetrators of the crime.

With inputs from PTI
Ahmedabad: Opposition Congress and human rights activists on Thursday welcomed the judgment of the Bombay High Court in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case, saying that all victims of the 2002 Gujarat riots should get justice.

Activist Teesta Setalvad, who has been fighting for the victims of post-Godhra communal violence through her organisation Citizen for Justice and Peace, noted that apart from upholding the conviction of 12 people sentenced by the lower court, the high court set aside the acquittal of five policemen.

She, however, said that she never supported the CBI's plea for death penalty to three of the convicts and lauded the court for dismissing it.

"We had in any case argued against death penalty. The fact that the court has upheld the conviction and also convicted five policemen is a welcome judgement," she said.

Opposition Congress in Gujarat said that all victims should get justice.

"We had always demanded that the victims should get justice. And justice should be done. We would not like to make any further comment on the judgement of the High Court, but we would say, 'der aaye. durust aaye' (better late than never)," Congress' national spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil said.

Gujarat cabinet minister and BJP leader Rajendra Trivedi, who has been in the past involved in legal proceedings related to several riots cases as a practising lawyer, refused to comment on the development.

"I was not involved in the case, so I cannot comment on this," he said.

The Bombay High Court on Thursday upheld a trial court's sentence awarding life imprisonment to 12 people in the case while setting aside the acquittal of seven persons including policemen and doctors.

The court also dismissed an appeal filed by CBI seeking death penalty for three of the convicts.

According to the prosecution, on 3 March, 2002, Bilkis Bano's family was attacked by a group of persons at Randhikpur village in Dahod district when they were fleeing to escape a marauding mob during the post-Godhra riots.

While Bilkis  who was five months pregnant  was gangraped, seven members of her family were killed. Six others escaped.
A case has been filed against Congress leader Digvijaya Singh by a Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader for his comments against the Telangana Police in which he alleged that the police was encouraging Muslim youths to join the terror outfit of Islamic State, reported Times Now.

The Telangana government on Tuesday had asked AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh to either prove his allegation that the state police has set up a "bogus" Islamic State website to radicalise Muslim youth or tender an apology.

The government had also warned of action "as per the law" against the senior Congress leader if he failed to apologise.

"The Telangana Police is widely appreciated for its professional competence. He (Digvijaya) has made a false allegation that we created something, induced Muslim children and did something. He must prove it," state home minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy had told reporters.

"If he fails to prove it, he has to openly apologise to the police department. If he does not do that also, then action will be taken against him as per the law," he had said.

"The state government would take action against him as per the law if he fails to apologise," Reddy had said. MLA from Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad, M Gopinath, has already complained to the police on the matter, Reddy had said.

"Would the police motivate them and make them extremists?" he had asked.

"It is unfortunate that Singh, who served as the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and now oversees party affairs in two states, made such irresponsible comments," the minister had said.

With inputs from PTI
Beijing: China on 4 May said it won't meddle in the Kashmir row between India and Pakistan, calling it a bilateral dispute, days after a commentary in a daily indicated that Beijing is ready to resolve the issue because of its "vested interest".

The Foreign Ministry told IANS that Beijing will not change its position on Jammu and Kashmir because of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which cuts through the disputed territory between India and Pakistan.

"China's position on the issue of Kashmir is clear and consistent. It is an issue left over from history between India and Pakistan and shall be properly addressed by India and Pakistan through consultation and negotiation," the ministry said in an email statement.

India has been opposed to third party mediation in the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir, the northern third of which is held by Pakistan and the southern two-thirds by India.

"Building of the CPEC does not affect China's position on this issue. We sincerely hope that India and Pakistan will properly handle differences by increasing communication and dialogue, and jointly uphold regional peace and stability," the ministry said.

"China is willing to make constructive efforts for the improvement of India-Pakistan relations."

On Tuesday, a commentary in the Global Times daily said China was ready to resolve the Kashmir dispute between because it wanted to protect the multi-billion dollar CPEC.

"Given the massive investment that China has made in countries along the One Belt One Road, China now has a vested interest in helping resolve regional conflicts including the dispute over Kashmir between India and Pakistan," said the commentary.

"China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, but that doesn't mean Beijing can turn a deaf ear to the demands of Chinese enterprises in protecting their overseas investments," it said.

The $46 billion CPEC project, a key component of Beijing's ambitious Belt and Road project, connects China's Kashgar in Xinjiang with Pakistan's Gwadar port in Balochistan, restive regions in both countries.

India has opposed the route, saying it passes through Pakistani Kashmir. New Delhi claims the region as its own.

China, which is hosting a mega Belt and Road Conference this month, wants India to be a part of the project.

India has been non-committal about its attendance in the conference, which is likely to see participation by some 30 heads of state.
By Ben Blanchard

| BEIJING

BEIJING China on Wednesday urged all parties in the Korean standoff to stay calm and "stop irritating each other," a day after North Korea said the United States was pushing the region to the brink of nuclear war.North Korea's state media published a rare, strong, criticism of China on Wednesday, saying Chinese state media commentaries calling for tougher sanctions over Pyongyang's nuclear program were undermining relations with Beijing and worsening tensions. {nL8N1I55TR]The United States has urged China, North Korea's only major ally, to do more to rein in its neighbour's nuclear and missile programs, which have prompted an assertive response from the Trump administration, warning that an "era of strategic patience" is over.U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday Washington was working on more sanctions targeting North Korea if Pyongyang takes steps that merit a new response.Tillerson said last week that China had said it had warned Pyongyang it would impose sanctions of its own if North Korea carried out another nuclear test.The United States has sent a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to Korean waters and a pair of strategic U.S. bombers flew training drills with South Korean and Japan in another show of strength this week.Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang called the situation "highly complex" and sensitive."The urgent task is to lower temperatures and resume talks," he told reporters."We again urge all relevant parties to remain calm and exercise restraint, stop irritating each other, work hard to create an atmosphere for contact and dialogue between all sides, and seek a return to the correct path of dialogue and negotiation as soon as possible." The bomber flights coincided with U.S. President Donald Trump raising eyebrows when he said he would be "honored" to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the right circumstances, and as his CIA director landed in South Korea for talks.

North Korea said the bombers conducted "a nuclear bomb dropping drill against major objects" in its territory at a time when Trump and "other U.S. warmongers are crying out for making a preemptive nuclear strike.""The reckless military provocation is pushing the situation on the Korean peninsula closer to the brink of nuclear war," North Korea's official KCNA news agency said.A commentary on KCNA on Wednesday took aim at China and state media articles it said had attempted to shift the blame to Pyongyang for "deteriorated relations" between China and North Korea and U.S. deployment of strategic assets.It also accused China of "hyping up" damage caused by North Korean nuclear tests to China's three northeastern provinces and said the nuclear program was needed for the "existence and development" of the country and "can never be changed nor shaken."Tension on the Korean peninsula has been high for weeks, driven by concern that North Korea might conduct its sixth nuclear test in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

CHINA OPPOSES THAAD

U.S. officials told Reuters the U.S. military's THAAD anti-missile defence system had reached initial operational capacity in South Korea, although it would not be fully operational for some months.China has repeatedly expressed its opposition to the system, whose powerful radar it says can reach inside Chinese territory, even as Trump has praised Chinese President Xi Jinping for his efforts to rein in North Korea.Trump has stepped up outreach to other Asian countries to secure their cooperation to pressure North Korea. Last weekend, he spoke with the leaders of Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines.He drew criticism in Washington on Monday when he said he would be "honored" to meet North Korea's young leader.

"If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely, I would be honoured to do it," Trump told Bloomberg News.Trump did not say what conditions would be needed for such a meeting or when it could happen, but White House spokesman Sean Spicer said "clearly conditions are not there right now."Washington has said any future talks on North Korea must based on its willingness to abandon its nuclear weapons program.Trump warned in an interview with Reuters on Thursday that a "major, major conflict" with North Korea was possible, while China said last week the situation on the Korean peninsula could escalate or slip out of control.In a telephone call with his Philippine counterpart Rodrigo Duterte, Xi urged all sides to exercise restraint and return to talks as soon as possible, Chinese state radio reported.North Korea on Saturday conducted its fourth successive failed missile launch since March. It has conducted two nuclear tests and dozens of missile tests since the beginning of 2016.The U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, Joseph R. Donovan, told reporters Indonesia was among several countries that the United States was urging to take a "fresh look" at their North Korea ties."We are hoping that countries will look at what they can be doing to bring North Korea around to meaningful steps to end its nuclear and missile programmes," he said.Trump also spoke on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and discussed "how best to resolve the very dangerous situation in North Korea", the White House said. (Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom, June Torbati and Steve Holland in WASHINGTON and Tom Allard in JAKARTA; Writing by Nick Macfie; Editing by Robert Birsel and Grant McCool)

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Lucknow: If Muslims do not want a compromise on the Ram Temple issue, the court is there to resolve the land dispute in Ayodhya, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy said on Thursday, sounding confident of legal victory in the matter.

"If they don't want a compromise, the court is there...We have already won in the Allahabad High Court, which has ruled that Lord Rama was born at a place of central dome as per faith."

"If you talk of Hindu-Muslim unity, a mosque can be constructed anywhere, but it cannot be constructed where Lord Rama took birth," Swamy, also a Rajya Sabha MP, told reporters after his meeting with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow.

He, however, declined to divulge what transpired at his meeting with Adityanath, a hardline Hindutva leader and vocal proponent of the temple.

Swamy said, "There was a temple where a mosque was constructed... The clerics, who are adamant, should know that."

"There is a way (of settlement) through the Supreme Court. I have a fundamental right under Article 25 of the Constitution to worship at the place of my faith. I am fighting for my fundamental right, while they are fighting for property right," he said, sounding confident of legal victory.

When asked how a settlement could be reached when both the parties were not in agreement, he said, "Samjhauta nahi karna chahte hain to phir court to hai hi (If they don't want to compromise, then the court is there to resolve the issue)".

Swamy had recently urged the Muslim community to support construction of the Ram Temple at the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya.

"Ram temple can only be built at one place in Ayodhya where the structure of a temple was found at the disputed site following investigation by the Archaeological Survey of India," Swamy had said.

The BJP MP claimed that the Allahabad High Court had made it clear that the structure of a temple was found at the disputed site.

In September 2010, a three-judge Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had stated that Lord Rama was born under the central dome of the makeshift temple and Hindus have the right to worship there.

Subsequently, the apex court had stayed the implementation of the HC decision. The case is pending since then.

"Babri Masjid was built after the temple was demolished and the Hindu community has been demanding construction of the Ram temple for a long time," Swamy had said.

"If the issue is settled amicably, it will be all right, otherwise we will enact a law to construct a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya when we get majority in the Rajya Sabha by April, 2018," he had asserted.

Swamy, who was asked by the Supreme Court to talk to all parties in the dispute, said he had discussions with Muslim leaders  AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi and Babri Masjid Action Committee convener Zafaryab Jilani  over the issue.

"The Muslim leaders did not agree to a bilateral negotiation but wanted mediation of the Supreme Court," he had said.
New Delhi: Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Thursday said that the defence sector is not getting its due share even as the Indian economy is developing, adding that India should learn from China on this count.

Calling it an "economy-security deficit", he said: "There is a general thinking that expenditure on defence is a burden on our economy... we need to appreciate that defence and economy go hand in hand."

"A strong military will help in ensuring stability along the border, within the nation and hinterland. That will help develop the economy," General Rawat said while speaking at a book release event in New Delhi.

The Army chief said a strong force is required to ensure the safety of people and those who are investing.

"This is a deficit that remains. While we are developing our economy, the military somehow is not getting its due share," he said.

"We need to learn from China. While they were developing the economy, development of military is a part."

A parliamentary panel, in its report tabled in Parliament in this year's Budget session, had said that budgetary provisioning for the Army is critically short and is likely to adversely affect the modernisation and operational preparedness of the force.

The Army chief said that India needs to form alliances so that it can encircle its western and northern neighbours.

Calling partition a historic deficit, he said: "India had reach up to the Middle East, but with the creation of Pakistan there has been a break.

"We have to now look at new alliances  whether it is through Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan. It not only helps us in creating two-front dilemma for our western neighbours, but also encirclement of our northern neighbour from the west."

"While we talk of our own encirclement, we have to look at counter-encirclement of some of our adversaries. Developing alliances to overcome this deficit is important," General Rawat said.

He also said that India should form alliances that can get it into the United Nations Security Council.

"Other part of security deficit is creating alliances so that we find our rightful place in the Security Council. Time has come for India to have a say in all that happens in the United Nations," he said.
New Delhi: The Central Information Commission on Wednesday directed the Supreme Court and the Law Ministry to disclose action taken on a complaint against former Chief Justice of India Altmas Kabir in 2013.

The transparency panel also asked the Law Ministry to disclose what action has been taken in the matter related to alleged leak of a judgement which was posted on a private website before it was delivered by him.

Deciding the plea of RTI activist Subhash Agrawal, Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu also asked Central Public Information Officer of the Supreme Court to furnish details of the number of complaints rejected or accepted against the judges.

"The Commission directs the CPIO of Supreme Court to inform appellant, the action or follow up, on the representation dated May 6, 2013 of M Furquan regarding Justice Altamas Kabir, former CJI, which was forwarded to PPS of the CJI on March 27, 2013," Acharyulu said.

In his order, Acharyulu said there is no system for redressal of grievances in any court of India, and no mechanism to receive complaints against judiciary. He said a comprehensive mechanism needs to be put in place to ensure both answerability and access to information about administration of justice without compromising the basic constitutional character of the independence of Judiciary.

"The Union Ministry of Law and Justice is expected to inform the appellant/citizen and the Commission, what is possible time required to introduce grievance-redressal system in the high courts and the Supreme Court," he said.

Agrawal had sought copies of complaints received at the Union Law Ministry against Kabir dated 25 May, 2013 by former Justice VR Krishna Iyer, and complaint from M Furquan as forwarded from the President's Secretariat as referred in some news report.

He had also sought to know the action taken related to probe into leak of the Supreme Court verdict dated 18 July, 2013 in the matter of "Christian Medical College, Vellore vs Union of India", on a private website several hours before its pronouncement in the court.

Agrawal had claimed that the matter was also brought before Chief Justice of India Justice P Sathasivam as per news report dated 23 July, 2013.
New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved retention of percentage-based system for calculating disability pensions implemented after the 6th Central Pay Commission recommendations, rejecting the 7th pay panel recommendation for slab-based system.

The decision will benefit both existing and future defence pensioners and entail an additional expenditure of approximately Rs 130 crore per annum, an official statement said.

The benefits of the modifications will be applicable from 1 January, 2016. With this, the annual pension bill of the Centre is expected to be around Rs 1,76,071 crore.

"The Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved retention of percentage-based regime, which the 7th CPC recommended to be replaced by a slab-based system," the statement said.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who also holds the defence portfolio, said: "There was a decision on disability pension, in which there was an alternative slab system. There was a representation regarding it which said it was not sufficient compensation for those who get disabled during service, and there was also an issue of parity with the civilian employees."

"The Pay Commission reconsidered it and the parity they expected has been restored," he said.

The issue of disability pension was referred to the National Anomaly Committee by the Defence Ministry after representations from the defence forces to retain slab-based system, as otherwise it would have resulted in reduction in disability pension for existing pensioners and reduction in disability pension for future retirees.

On the defence pensions, the Minister said there will be two options for the retirees.

"The pre-2016 pensioners will be given two options -- one, they can take pension on the basis of 2.57 percent multiplier. Second, a pay fixation formula given by the pension committee."

The official statement said the modified formulation of pension revision will entail an additional benefit to pensioners and additional expenditure of approximately Rs 5,031 crore for 2016-17, over and above the expenditure already incurred in revision of pensions as per the second formulation based on fitment factor.

It will benefit over 55 lakh pre-2016 civil and defence pensioners and family pensioners.

"Pensions of pre-2016 pensioners were revised as per the second formulation, multiplying existing pension by a fitment factor of 2.57, though the pensioners were to be given the option of choosing the more beneficial of the two formulations as per the 7th CPC recommendations," the statement said.

The Minister said there were other concerns raised by the forces that the government had since accepted.

"There are three concerns which government has accepted  two before the Cabinet and one an executive decision...," the Minister said.

"One relates to the pay matrix  increasing it from 24 to 40; second is an index of rationalisation for Colonels and Lieutenant Colonels from 2.57 to 2.67; and third, pay protection to those who are protected from Brigadier rank upwards because they lost the military service pay. Obviously you can't get promoted and be paid less," he said.

The services had demanded that defence pay matrix should be brought in sync with the civilian pay matrix. The defence pay matrix in the 7th Pay Commission has only 24 pay levels, while on the other hand, the civilian pay matrix has 40 levels.
The UN has flagged a number of issues, including excessive use of force in Jammu and Kashmir, caste-based violence and violence against minorities and criminalisation of same-sex relations, to be discussed at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) on Thursday in the context of Indias periodic review of its human rights record.

The UNs report to the HRC is a compilation of reviews of treaty bodies and independent human rights experts who have been mandated by the HRC to monitor thematic (like "freedom of expression") issues or country situations.

The report mentions the Special Rapporteur on executions' recommendation that India should repeal or at least radically amend the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and the Jammu and Kashmir Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act with the aim of ensuring that the legislation regarding the use of force by the armed forces provided for the respect of the principles of proportionality and necessity in all instances, as stipulated under international law. He also indicated "that it should remove all legal barriers for the criminal prosecution of members of the armed forces".

The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, has also indicated that India should "swiftly enact" the Prevention of Torture Bill and ensure its compliance with the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Heyns after his visit in March 2012 had also said that specific attention should be given to "challenging the general culture of impunity; eliminating the practice of fake encounters; and ensuring that swift, decisive action, with concrete outcomes, was taken in cases of large-scale killings" and that delays in judicial proceedings was one of the most serious challenges that India faced.

The report quotes National Crime Records Bureau data, which shows that crimes against Dalits have increased from 39,408 in 2013 to 47,064 cases in 2014. Between 2013-15 the highest number of registered cases of crimes against scheduled castes has been seen in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar.

The Special Rapporteur on minority issues states in her report that 95 percent of the manual scavengers are Dalit women while referring to reports that show that as few as 13 percent of Dalit women have benefitted from manual scavengers rehabilitation scheme.

The Special Rapporteur on housing, in her report last year, had recommended that India enact legislation to curb "all forms of de facto housing discrimination" against any individual or group, especially religious or ethnic minorities, women, scheduled castes or scheduled tribes, internal migrants and manual scavengers.

The UN human rights offices report also mentions that "several incidents" at universities in 2016 had triggered debate on the application of penal provisions relating to hate speech, sedition and the use of section 144 of the Indian Penal Code to prohibit the rights to assemble and to protest. The assassinations of well-known rationalists had "added to the concerns about the reduced space for free speech and expression".

One of the UN experts' recommendations that India should implement in full and throughout the country the ban by the Supreme Court on Khap Panchayats, has also been cited by the UN.

The issues of "coerced, unsafe, and unethical" sterilisations in government-sponsored health camps, especially in Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh, open defecation and the cancellation of FCRA licenses for NGOs, have been raised in the UN report as well.

India, in its report to the UNs human rights office, states that though concerns have been raised with regard to Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), however, AFSPA is applied only to disturbed areas "where the ordinary law and order machinery is deemed insufficient to deal with exigent circumstances like insurgency". The Supreme Court of India has upheld the constitutionality of AFSPA and has laid down strict guidelines for the exercise of powers under AFSPA, India stated.

"Recently, the court held that use of excessive force or retaliatory force by the armed forces of the Union is not permissible in the course of the discharge of their duty under the act, and that AFSPA does not allow blanket immunity to perpetrators of unjustified deaths or offences," the report says.

"There is a view" that provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, which allow the state to detain a person without charge for up to 180 days and limit the power of courts to grant bail in pending cases, could be misused  these provisions have been enacted in order to deal with the "exigent threat of terror and insurgency".

The Law Commission of India has studied and made recommendations to address judicial delays and backlogs. This report is under "active consideration" by the Indian government and the Supreme Court, the Indian report states.

Though India recognises "the centrality of free speech and expression, a range of laws that prohibit speech that has harmful social consequences, like those criminalising defamation and sedition, have been upheld by the Supreme Court, which has found them compliant with the right to free speech".

"To ensure inclusive access to housing", the government "provides preferential allotment in housing facilities under various schemes to marginalised communities such as minorities" and has earmarked 15 percent of its outlay on various schemes and programmes for socio-economic empowerment, for minorities, the Indian report says.

These are some of the highlights of the 27-page report submitted by the Indian government to the UN.

The Indian delegation to defend India's human rights record at the HRC in Geneva consists of 18 officials, including the Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi, and others from the home ministry, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Minority Affairs and NITI Aayog, among others.

More than 100 countries are expected to speak at the HRC on Thursday in a peer-review process  known as the universal periodic review (UPR)  of examining Indias human rights record. This is Indias third UPR. Indias first and second UPR reviews took place in April 2008 and May 2012, respectively. India is one of the 14 states to be reviewed in this UPR cycle to be held between 1 and 12 May.
As security forces on Thursday launched an anti-militancy crackdown and cordoned off at least 20 villages in south Kashmir's Shopian district, the search is on for Umar Majeed, a militant operating in south Kashmir who allegedly masterminded the killing of seven people, including five policemen and two bank guards, in Kulgam on Monday.

On Thursday, terrorists shot dead seven people after dragging them out of a vehicle carrying cash of a bank in Kulgam district of south Kashmir. The cash van of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank, which was returning to Kulgam district headquarter from Damhal Hanji Pora, was waylaid by a group of heavily-armed terrorists this afternoon, a police official said.

He said the terrorists pulled out the five police personnel and two bank employees from the vehicle and shot them at point blank range.

A report in Kashmir Life said that 22-year-old Majeed is from Soach village of Kulgam district. He was identified with the help of some locals and the driver of the cash van which had come under attack on Monday.

Meanwhile, clashes and protests were reported in parts of Kashmir like Kulgam and Sopore after the security forces launched the crackdown, according to reports.

Amid increasing incidents of bank robberies by militants, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti had on Wednesday urged the people to rise against this "dangerous trend" of looting public money by spilling innocent blood.

The chief minister made the appeal during her visit to the families of five police personnel and two Jammu and Kashmir bank guards who were killed on Monday.

"People, particularly civil society and youth, are appealed to rise against this dangerous trend of looting of public money by spilling innocent blood, thereby giving Kashmir a terribly bad name in the civilised world," she had said.

With inputs from PTI
Bhubaneswar: India on 4 May successfully test-fired its medium-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile Agni-ll off the Odisha coast.

The trial of the surface-to-surface missile was conducted from Launch Complex-4 of Integrated Test Range (ITR) in the APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Balasore district, said Defence Ministry officials.

The Strategic Forces Command (SCF), a specially raised missile-handling unit of the Indian Army, carried out the test at 10.20 a.m.

Agni-II has two solid fuel stages and a Post Boost Vehicle (PBV) integrated into the missile's Re-entry Vehicle (RV). The 20-metre missile is a two-stage, solid propelled ballistic missile.

It has a strike range of more than 2,000 km, is 20 metres long, weighs 17 tonnes and can carry a payload of 1,000 kg.
Justice CS Karnan, the Calcutta High Court Judge making news for his recent altercation with Supreme Court judges hearing a contempt case against him, has fired fresh salvo against the higher judiciary.

Karnan, who was to be examined by a four-member medical panel on Thursday by a Supreme Court order, has declined to undergo the tests, adding that he is being mentally harassed by the nation's apex judiciary body as he was trying to uncover their corrupt practices.

Karnan, in his written response to the medical panel, said that he will not allow any kind of medical examination to take place as it was a clear case of harassment against him because he was a Dalit.

Karnan has accused Supreme Court judges of discriminating against him because of his caste identity at a time when the apex court doesn't have a single Dalit judge.

Earlier in the day, reacting to the Supreme Court order to carry out medical tests on Karnan to establish his sanity, the high court judge said on Thursday that such a "mad order" was clearly issued by "mad judges."

"It's a mad order by mad judges, highly illiterate judges I would say," Karnan said at a press briefing on Thursday as reported by CNN-News18. He was fairly composed as he ridiculed the seven-judge-bench and the proceedings of the contempt case being heard against him.

The seven-judge panel is headed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar.

Karnan even mocked the Supreme Court's decision to send a panel of four doctors to carry out the tests. "One doctor is enough for treatment why did they send four doctors? Probably one to hold each of my limbs," he said jokingly. "No take this down, I'm serious, it's a very important point," he told the journalists present at his house amid more laughter.

The row between the apex judiciary and Karnan had entered a fresh round on Monday, with the Supreme Court ordering his medical examination as it expressed doubt if he was in a fit mental condition to defend himself.

In retaliation, a belligerent Karnan had on said in Kolkata that he will not appear before such a medical board as directed by the Supreme Court.

In a letter addressed to the registrar general of the Supreme Court on Friday, Karnan said that the order "does not conform to logic".

"The characteristic of this order clearly shows the upper caste judges are taking law into their hands and misusing their judicial power by operating the same against a SC/ST Judge with mala fide intention of getting rid of him. Therefore, the suo motu contempt order dated 08 February is not sustainable under law.

He also requested that since the Khehar is named in the suo motu corruption case taken up by him, it will not be appropriate to hear the contempt case against him until he retires as the Chief Justice of India.

See below sections of the letter

CS Karnan Letter by Firstpost on Scribd

The court also directed the state Director General of Police to set up a team of police to assist the medical board.

However, within hours the same day, an unfazed Karnan termed as "ridiculous" the apex court's order and even threatened to "pass suo motu suspension order against the Director-General of Police of West Bengal, if the DGP functions against my wish".

Instead, he ordered the Delhi Police to produce the seven apex court judges before a psychiatric medical board under the Aiims hospital in New Delhi and submit a report on or before 7 May after conducting "appropriate medical tests".

Karnan is facing contempt charges for degrading the judiciary and making allegations of corruption against Supreme Court judges in January.

On 8 February, the Supreme Court issued him a contempt notice, an unprecedented step against a sitting judge, and asked him to appear before the bench in person and not discharge any judicial and administrative functions during the pendency of the proceedings.

As Karnan failed to appear, the apex court on 10 March, in another unprecedented move, issued a bailable warrant against him.

But the judge escalated the row by ordering a Central Bureau of Investigation probe against the seven judges and dismissed the warrant as "immaterial" when the West Bengal Director General of Police served it on him four days later.

On 31 March, Karnan appeared before the seven-judge bench and was given four weeks to respond to the contempt notice.

But, he renewed the confrontation on 13 April, passing a "judicial order" against the seven-judge bench for "violating" the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and directed them to "appear" before him on 28 April.

Later in an order, Karnan directed the Air Control Authority in New Delhi not to allow the CJI and other six judges to travel abroad.

With inputs from IANS
Today, a Board of Doctors from the Pavlov Government Hospital in Kolkata might medically examine Justice CS Karnan, a judge in the Calcutta High Court. This is following an order to this effect by the Supreme Court. They expressed their concern that he may not be medically fit enough to represent himself in the contempt proceedings that have been initiated against him. This case arose after he alleged that several sitting and retired Supreme Court judges were corrupt in an open letter to the Prime Minister. After he was charged with contempt and asked to appear in court, he passed an order requiring the Chief Justice of India and six sitting judges to appear before him in Kolkata. He claimed that he was being harassed on the basis of this caste and was being humiliated in public.

I happened to be in court when these hearings were going on, waiting for a later case to come up. As Justice Khehar was dictating this order, I could overhear several lawyers at the back of the court discussing the possible implications of these proceedings. One of them was of the opinion that if the Board of Doctors was to diagnose Justice Karnan with some form of mental illness, it would have major implications for all the judgments that he has passed so far. People against whom adverse orders have been passed could challenge the validity of these orders, which could lead to possible chaos. However, not only is it unlikely that any such finding will have major legal implications, conversations like this only serve to stigmatise persons with mental illnesses. It is necessary that we have conversations about mental health issues and judges, but not in the way they are currently happening.

Possible Implications of the Order

It has been pointed out by several people, that Justice Karnan is under no obligation to actually undergo the medical examination that has been ordered by the court. Forcing him to interact with the doctors would be a violation of his rights under the Mental Health Care Act, 2017 as well the the right to privacy and bodily autonomy guaranteed by the Constitution. However, if he does consent to be medically examined, there are two scenarios that could possibly arise. If the Board finds that Justice Karnan is medically unfit and cannot defend himself in court, the judges might appoint a lawyer to provide him with legal representation. If it finds that he can represent himself, the contempt proceedings will then proceed as it is.

Further, from a legal perspective, a conclusion that he cannot represent himself will not have any repercussions for the orders that have been passed by him in the past. Under our codes of civil and criminal procedure, the health status of the judge is not a ground for a judgment to be challenged. This is for good reason, since there is no connection between the mental health status of a judge and their ability to pass a legally valid judgment. At the hearing where the order for medical examination was passed, one of the counsels tried to argue that his past orders may be suspect after this order. To this, Chief Justice Khehar replied that he could have been developed a mental illness at a later stage, and his previous orders will not be affected by any findings in this case.

More importantly, it is necessary that we question the presumptions underlying these conversations.

There is a clear distinction between mental illness, unsoundness of mind and simply 'bad behaviour', and no conclusions can be drawn about the mental health of Justice Karnan from his recent actions. I did consider taking a look at the quality of the judgments that have been passed by him, but the fact is that the orders have no connection with whether or not he has a mental illness. Bad judgments are passed by (presumably) neurotypical judges all the time, and there is no reason for their mental health status to be doubted on this basis. Presumptions about competence based on mental illness are harmful and need to be avoided.

Judges and Mental Health Issues

The above being said, I do hope that these events spark a conversation about mental health issues among lawyers and judges. The possible suicides of judges in the United States and United Kingdom due to mental illness have forced people to reckon with the conditions of extreme stress and pressure under which judges operate. In a recent article, a retired judge of a Superior Court in the US poignantly describes the toll that presiding over cases involving gruesome crimes and emotional trauma took on her own mental health. To address these issues, the American Bar Association has started a national hotline for judges who may be suffering from depression, mental health issues or addiction problems. While we should avoid making any presumptions about mental illness, it is important that these issues arent invisibilised either. There is a need to acknowledge that one of the outcomes of the huge case loads that judges deal with could also include impacts on their mental health.

The author is a Research Fellow at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.
Srinagar: Security forces on Thursday launched a massive anti-militancy crackdown and cordoned off at least 20 villages in south Kashmir's Shopian district in search of militants involved in recent terror attacks and bank robberies, a police officer said.

The officer said scores of security forces were deployed for the massive operation, some 50 km from from Srinagar.

They were looking for militants responsible for killings of political activists and security personnel and were also involved in weapon snatching and bank robberies, the officer said.

Police have also announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for anyone giving information leading to the arrest of Umar Majeed, a militant operating in south Kashmir.

Majeed has allegedly masterminded the killing of seven people, including five policemen and two bank guards, in Kulgam on Monday.
After an extraordinarily large cordon and search operation by the army  probably the largest in more than a decade  went awry on Thursday, strategists ought to revisit the relevance of perceptions. For, not only was the army unable to nab militants during the "crackdown," a section of the army was attacked on its return journey.

Already, during the course of the search operation, which an army spokesperson described as a "sweep," the forces had faced large-scale stone-pelting from mobs, which mobilised within the huge cordon. Close to 4,000 men of the army, CRPF and police were deployed from 3 am.

The operation, to comb some 20-odd Jamaat-e-Islami dominated villages in Shopian district for militants, caught none. Soon after 5 pm on Thursday, the General Officer Commanding south Kashmirs Victor Force, Major General BS Raju, had revealed that the forces were searching a few more villages while taking multiple routes on their way back from the operation.

The attack by militants occurred thereafter. A key army officer stated that three soldiers suffered minor injuries. Undeterred, the army promptly laid a fresh cordon around the nearby village Baskuchan. The operation was still on at 8 pm.

Favoured by militants

One of the militants whom the army had hoped to nab during the search is Sameer 'Tiger.' Militants are used to roaming openly in that area, but residents of the area said they were in another area on Thursday. One reason could have been that they had better information than the forces did.

Centrally located, the area is a key strategic base for militants, who can count on the security provided by its Jamaat residents staunch support. The ambush in which five army personnel, including two officers, were killed in the last week of February is believed to have been launched from this area. This "crackdown" had been planned since then.

Local support

The flow of information, on which the success of such operations hinges on, is best obtained from local support. Conversely, the presence, absence and intensity of stone-pelting too hinges on local support  for one armed side or the other. And local support basically boils down to perceptions of legitimacy  of targets and tactics as much as of ideological positioning.

This issue of legitimacy has become clearly discernible during the past few days among the residents of Kulgam area where militants recently attacked a bank vehicle. Two bank guards and five policemen, all of them Kashmiris, were killed in the attack.

Many residents of the area  and other parts of Kashmir  have expressed distress and disapproval at the killing of the bank employees, particularly one who belonged to a village close to the village of the militant, who is said to have been behind the attack.

The logic apparently is that the policemen were part of the state forces, and had signed up to combat enemies of the state. The bank employees, on the other hand, had not. They were there to protect bank property, including the savings of the banks local clients.

Perceptions of legitimacy

The legitimacy issue also plugs in to the apparent motive of the militant who has been identified, apparently by the vehicles driver, who was allowed to run when the vehicle was attacked.

Local residents say this militant, Umar Majid Ganai of Shouch village, was probably motivated by a personal desire for revenge against the district police. According to locals, Ganais family, including women, were rounded up and beaten by the police during their attempts to locate his whereabouts.

Locals say the police beat up the boys father so badly that his ankle was fractured. And the boys brother was apparently was kept in lock-up for several weeks, during which he was beaten and tortured.

This narrative has brought to the fore the ways in which violence in such a battleground spirals and the impact of such tactics (of both sides) on the psyche of the local residents. That in turn affects the extent to which those residents assist either side.

Reversed pattern

Mao Tse Tung is said to have observed during the Long March that the support of the local population means as much to a guerrilla effort as water to a duck.

The converse is also true. Militancy petered out in Kashmir, during the middle of the first decade of this century, when Kashmiri villagers by and large refused to give refuge or other help to militants. Rather, they readily supplied information to security forces.

That pattern now stands reversed. Across most parts of the Valley, militants can count on food and shelter and information on the movements of troops.

Not only that, since early 2015, they have increasingly been able to count on little armies of stone-pelters to emerge from adjacent villages to try and ensure that they can escape whenever they are caught in a cordon or in a firefight with the security forces.

Not only teenagers and young men, large numbers of women, even older ones, emerge with stones and brickbats to actively support militants.
Srinagar: Militants attacked an army patrol leaving a civilian dead and three personnel injured during a massive operation involving 4,000 troops initiated on Thursday by the security forces to clear south Kashmir of terrorists.

Door-to-door search of houses, a practice stopped in the late 1990s, was reintroduced with security forces comprising army, police and CRPF personnel marching into more than a dozen villages in Shopian district, about 55 km from Srinagar, for 'Operation Clean Up' this morning, while helicopters and drones hovered over the area.

The operation, launched after a spate of militant attacks in the region, was perhaps the biggest in more than a decade in the troubled Kashmir Valley, an army official said on the condition of anonymity.

After a 12-hour dawn to dusk operation, the militants struck when army troops were carrying out a "reverse sweep" of Chowdari Gund and Kellar area of Shopian this evening, official sources said.

Reverse sweep is a term used by army in which they carry out a surprise check of a location after having combed it earlier in the day. They said the militants had laid an ambush and fired indiscriminately when the troops approached the village looking for militants.

Three jawans and a civilian, who was passing by, were injured. The civilian later succumbed to injuries. The troops returned the fire besides alerting other teams who laid a cordon around the spot.

The cordon and search operation (CASO) followed intelligence inputs about the presence of militants, including foreign terrorists, in the area, an official said. However, no arrests were made during the search.

The troops asked all villagers to assemble in a common area so a proper search of their homes could be carried out. "We do not wish to have any civilian casualty and the measure was therefore required," said a senior army official engaged in the operation.

Aiding the security forces, which included a team of concealed anti terrorists (CAT), were drones providing real-time intelligence to the troops.

Barring a minor stone pelting incident at Turkawangan village, the operation went on smoothly earlier in the day, an official said.

In Delhi, Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat indicated to reporters that security forces had beefed up counter-infiltration postures in Jammu and Kashmir. Rawat was on a two-day visit earlier this week.

After carrying out a search operation, security forces carried out a 'reverse sweep' of the entire region to ensure that none of the militants had slipped in after the earlier cordon ended.

There has been an increase in militant activities in south Kashmir with incidents of policemen being killed and banks being looted. The operation comes four days after militants killed seven people, including five policemen, in adjoining Kulgam.

Recently, videos of large groups of militants  in some cases as many as 30  have surfaced on social media, despite the ban imposed by authorities on 22 such sites and applications.

Security agencies believe that these videos were shot in south Kashmir, especially Shopian district.

Meanwhile, local Congress leaders alleged that security forces ransacked the houses and other civilian properties during the search operation in Shopian.

A PCC statement, quoting party leaders Abdul Qayoom Shah and Mushtaq Ahmad Khanday, condemned the "harassment" of common innocent people.

Separatists also condemned the "excessive force and crackdown" in south Kashmir. Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik in a joint statement asked people to hold peaceful protest after congregational prayers tomorrow.
Srinagar: A gun-wielding man stepped out from a single-storey house, just a few kilometers from the square that witnessed youths raining stones on the police. The gunman asked a woman with chapped lips, a dishevelled man and their anxious children not to venture out of the house. The presence of a stranger inside the courtyard of BJP worker Ghulam Ahmad Nengroo in the Prichoo village of Pulwama, evoked suspicion and fear. His neighbour had been fired upon by unidentified gunmen on Monday and is still under critical care at the SMHS Hospital in Srinagar.

In the south Kashmir area of Pulwama  part of the Anantang parliamentary constituency, pro-freedom sentiment runs deep. A youth named Nisar Ahmad Mir set off for a stroll on Monday, when he was fired upon by unidentified gunmen. Nisars sister, Meema Jan, didnt want to to be photographed or filmed fearing that she may face the fate of her brother. Outside their house, sitting cross-legged on a verandah, she said that her brother was not associated with any political party. Superintendent of Police, Pulwama, Rayees Ahmad, said that Nisar was shot at by militants.

"We are investigating that whether the motive of the militants was that he was associated with any political party or if they believed that he was working for security agencies. We have reports that he was associated with the BJP  these are however being ascertained," said Ahmad.

In the dusky Monday evening, Manzoor Ahmad Nengroo, heard the gunshots and ran for cover. "I left my shop open and ran towards my house," he said, "I thought it was an encounter. But as only a few rounds were fired, I returned from my home to shut down my shop."

Nisar had received one bullet in the abdomen, another in the hand and other one in the leg. Meema said that he has been shifted to the general ward from the intensive care unit (ICU) of SMHS, but still remains under critical observation. "My brother was working as a plumber and had a backache for the past few months due to which he was unable to walk around and was bed-ridden. He had recently recovered from his ailment before he was fired upon. We shifted him to the Pulwama Hospital from where he was later referred to the SMHS Hospital for treatment," she said.

Bashir Ahmad Bhat, who sat outside his tailor shop, in the main market of Prichoo, said "no one knows who shot at Nisar". He said that no one supported the BJP worker Ghulam Ahmad Nengroo. "Who knows who is who here?" he asked in reference to the BJP worker, "He is on his own. No one supports him. Mainstream political parties have not carried out any rallies here."

A few kilometres away from Prichoo, in the main market of Pulwama, masked youths resorted to heavy stone-pelting on the police deployed near the local police station. Hundreds of youths poured out into the streets as colleges and schools closed, forcing the shutdown in the market as the forces resorted to use of tear smoke shells to disperse the demonstrators. Pro-freedom sentiments ran deep in Karimabad, which had remained the epicentre of protests last year after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander, Burhan Wani.

Aaqib Ahmad Pandit, 23, showed his scarred hand, recounting that he had run away after the police raided his village last year in September and received injuries as he clambered up a house that was fenced with iron sheets. He said that the police and the army raids have become more common in the past few days to look for those who 'have been implicated in the incidents of stone-pelting'.

"The government forces have been unnecessarily harassing us. They came last year, yelling at us and broke our window panes," he said. Sixty-seven-year-old Ghulam Nabi said that the Indian government had not fulfilled its promise to give the 'people of Kashmir the right of referendum under the UN Resolutions'. "People here want nothing less than azaadi from Indian rule," he said. A shopkeeper, Riyaz Ahmad Pandit, said, "People would have boycotted the elections in Karimabad if they were not cancelled. Government forces are committing excesses against us. They are harassing us. They are implicating people in stone-pelting cases even when they were not involved."
As India and the world reacted to the heinous mutilation of two Indian soldiers' bodies in Krishna Ghati sector in Poonch sector of Kashmir, political parties went into a huddle over how to dissipate the tension between the two countries. Major opposition parties  Congress, Left parties, Janata Dal (United), Nationalist Congress Party and Trinamool Congress  are planning to host a national meet in New Delhi to discuss the unending crisis in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to Economic Times, JD(U) senior leader Sharad Yadav met with former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday and suggested that they come up with an alternative to defuse the tension in the Valley. Ever since the encounter of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on 8 July, 2016, Kashmir has been a boiling pot of protests, unrest and stone-pelting which has resulted in several civilian deaths and questions being raised at Indian Army's role in the Valley.

The Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre, which is also part of the ruling government in Jammu and Kashmir along with Mehbooba Mufti's Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has come under carping criticism for the way the situation is being handled in the extremely sensitive state.

Speaking to Economic Times, Yadav said that the Opposition may use the opportunity to exchange "views with stakeholders, independent observers, intellectuals and activists" to come up with an alternative vision to alleviate the volatile situation in Kashmir and resume political initiative. "Given the grave situation in Kashmir and the failure of the NDA regime and PDP-BJP government to politically deal with it, there is a need for like-minded Opposition parties and other independent activists and observers of the Valley to jointly work and present before the nation an alternative vision for political initiative in Kashmir," the Economic Times quoted the senior JD(U) leader as saying.

Singh has dealt with the Kashmir situation in the ten years of him as the prime minister under the UPA regime. Secondly, recently the Congress set up a high-level committee headed by Singh to formulate the partys line and policy regarding Jammu and Kashmir signaling that the worsening situation in the Valley has emerged as a key issue in the Congress' battle against the government.

Centre and the Opposition are currently standing polar opposite to each other as far as dealing with the Kashmir issue. While Opposition has pitching to engage in a dialogue with all the stakeholders in the Valley since July last year, BJP and its allies have been vehemently opposed to the idea.

What the Centre proposes

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has made more than three trips to Kashmir since July last year. After the recent incident, where Pakistan's Border Action Team mutilated bodies of two Indian soldiers, Rajnath met with Kashmir Governor NN Vohra and assured him that the Centre is doing everything in its power to restore peace and stability in the Valley. However, if words could compensate action, Singh's assurances would have actually meant something.

Since the July encounter of Burhan, every time Rajnath went to Kashmir, the visits have been futile. In fact, in August last year, separatists had warned of protests if Rajnath visited Kashmir. The ruling PDP and its stand on policies related to the Valley and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's willingness to have a dialogue with the separatists and her alleged soft attitude towards the likes of Hurriyat Conference does not sit too well with the BJP.

Mufti met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April and stressed on the need for a dialogue, even invoked former prime minister and veteran BJP leader Atal Bihar Vajpayee's way  building trust through dialogue  was the only way forward, but the immediate priority was to disperse friction between the civilians and security forces. "There is no option but to talk," Mehbooba had said.

However, Mufti's overtures were rebuffed by the BJP who said that they are not ready to start any dialogue with those who oppose India, including Hurriyat Conference.

BJP chief Amit Shah, and national general secretary Ram Madhav, the architect of the PDP-BJP alliance, both reiterated that they are against holding dialogue with Hurriyat leaders and the government should, instead, act tough against what Madhav accuses separatist leadership of using "Valley as guinea pigs in their reprehensible politics of violence and separatism", Sameer Yasir reported for Firstpost.

In fact, Madhav, in a Facebook post on 29 April, said that the Centre has "categorically" told the Supreme Court that there is no plan to hold any talks with "the separatists and those who are not loyal to India".

"The separatists have only one motto: One dead body a day, so that they can play sentimental politics over the dead bodies. They use people of the Valley as scapegoats in their reprehensible politics of violence and separatism. The security forces and the government on the other hand try their best to ensure that the ill-intentions of the separatists don't succeed. It is a difficult job being executed with commendable sincerity by the government and security forces."

The basis of the BJP-PDP alliance was "meaningful dialogue" with all "internal stakeholders which include political groups irrespective of their ideological views and predilections", according to the Agenda of Alliance, which interestingly was curated by Madhav. Senior PDP leaders have unabashedly agreed that agenda of the alliance is the basis for the coalition to come into being in the first place. Senior leaders of PDP are slowly realising the heavy price that they might have to pay for aligning with the BJP.

With three-way politicking taking place in Kashmir, it's hard to ascertain who will blink first. A country with a state so distraught with protests and unrests, that even schoolchildren are skipping schools to protest against the government and the armed forces sadly portray a sad state of affairs. The need of the hour is to hunt for a political solution keeping aside differences so that peace returns to the Valley, students go back to classes and the roads have vehicles plying and not stones flying.
Reacting for the first time after the beheading of two soldiers in the Krishna Ghati sector in Jammu and Kashmir by the Border Action Team (BAT) unit of Pakistan Army, Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Thursday said that the security forces will retaliate to these kind of actions.

"We don't talk about future plans beforehand; we share details after execution," Rawat said while talking about the preparation of the security forces in restive Jammu and Kashmir.

We have beefed up our counter-infiltration posture in Jammu and Kashmir, Rawat added.

The army chief also said that the army is conducting a combing operation in the state to bring the situation under control. he noted that the rise in casualties and bank robberies is a major reason for ordering a combing operation.

Warning of further infiltration from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Rawat said that the melting of snow will help begin the infiltration season in the state.

Today's combing op (in Kashmir) is to make sure that situation is brought under control, post recent incidents:Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat pic.twitter.com/1aoDUF285G  ANI (@ANI_news) May 4, 2017

Banks have been looted, policemen have been killed. That is why today's combing operation is taking place: Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat  ANI (@ANI_news) May 4, 2017

Terrorists are going to attempt infiltration,snows are melting,summer months started so like each year infiltration will commence:Army Chief pic.twitter.com/YiODJvPJlU  ANI (@ANI_news) May 4, 2017

We are taking measures, have beefed up our counter infiltration posture to take care of the situation: Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat pic.twitter.com/AnxFhFKQtB  ANI (@ANI_news) May 4, 2017

Under the cover of heavy mortar fire, a Pakistani special forces team sneaked 250 metres across the Line of Control (LoC) into the Poonch sector and beheaded two Indian security personnel on Monday, officials said.

The Indian Army vowed an "appropriate" response to the "despicable act", which significantly took place a day after Pakistan army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa visited some areas along the LoC and promised support to the Kashmiris. The Pakistan army denied that it was involved in any attack.

The attack was carried out by the Border Action Team (BAT), which comprises the special forces, under the cover of shelling by Pakistani troops in Krishna Ghati Sector in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

The army issued a statement saying that the bodies of an army soldier and a BSF head constable were mutilated but a senior army officer told PTI that they were beheaded.

The soldiers killed were Naib Subedar Paramjeet Singh of 22 Sikh Infantry and Head Constable Prem Sagar of 200th Battalion of BSF. A BSF constable Rajinder Singh was injured but is out of danger.

The BAT team had set up an ambush to target the patrol party of the Indian soldiers while the Pakistan Army engaged two Indian forward defence locations (FDL) with rockets and mortar bombs, the officials said.

"It was a pre-planned operation of the Pakistan Army.

They had pushed in BAT teams over 250 meters deep inside Indian territory and set up ambushes for a long period to carry out the attack," a senior army official had said.

"The Pakistani army posts attacked two FDL posts with rockets and mortar bombs at 0830 hours and engaged them," the official said.

"Their target was a seven to eight-member patrol party that had emerged from the post," the official said.

He said as the posts were engaged, the patrol party men ran here and there.

"Two members of the patrol party, who were left behind, were attacked by the BAT team and killed. Their bodies were badly mutilated," the official said.

With inputs from PTI
Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat has come on record saying we shall give a fitting reply to Pakistan over the way Indian soldiers were treated after being killed on the Line of Control (LoC).

That is comforting but the flaw lies not in our stars but in ourselves that it is always future imperfect. If you are planning a reaction and going for broke then go for it without preamble.

When politicians say these things we accept them as the usual bromides. But when professional soldiers make equivalent statements they must be rooted in hard and measurable fact. There is no argument that the forces are fiercely angry and ready for, and lets say it like it is, revenge.

But we have become ineffective with prefixes like shall, will, must, should, would, ought, need to, intend softening with the passage of each hour and not being quantifiable beyond the range of rhetoric.

It was reported that Pakistan protects and maintains 600 terror camps. If we know the number and where the base camps and strongholds are, a plan of action can be put in place but action has to be immediate and aggressive.

By now all the statements are in. Defence Minister Arun Jaitley has called the action barbaric and unacceptable and in need of an appropriate response, followed by a deafening silence, save for sending a pack of Pakistani school children packing to Lahore.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was generic when he offered his response: No region can validate terrorism. No intent, goal, reason or rationale can validate terrorism. Nothing new there.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal gave us a lukewarm waffle: "I strongly condemn the barbaric and inhuman mutilation of our soldiers. We must react strongly and firmly.

The Congress predictably took even this solemn occasion as an excuse to mock Modi rather than offer support: "Pakistan has been attacking India with impunity. When is Modi planning to show off his '56 inch chest' to them and send them cowering?"

The Shiv Sena sent a salvo of rhyming words: Stop Mann ki baat, start Gun ki baath.

It just messes about with words. Cannot see Pakistan being particularly concerned if this is all there is.

It is now four days since the atrocity and the weekend looms. This situation has nothing to do with being either pro- or anti-Modi and is more a question of Indias dignity.

It is possible, therefore, that there is more and we dredge for some merit in Jaitley's statement that a "well thought-out" response will be made by freezing Pakistan out including breaking off diplomatic relations and reworking a foreign policy that totally refuses to acknowledge that nations existence.

If we could do that in tandem with military operations it would put Islamabad severely on the backfoot.

To that end, it is a strong step to dispatch a contingent of school children across the border. Normally, we would have let it slide. After all what are 15 year olds going to do to harm us. But it is a powerful message to the other side that all their citizens are suspect and unwelcome. Even the children. That sort of snub is read there as an "uh oh, we have crossed the line this time."

A few days after they begin hurting financially as Indian sanctions kick in, they will ask for a peace conference and a meeting and be all pally wally. It is a pattern.

We will win this war not by firing bullets but by holding back the bottom line.

Will we do it?
Jaipur: Meo Muslims, a community of mainly the dairy farmers, want the cow to be declared as the national animal or a countrywide ban on its slaughtering in the wake of the lynching of a man by cow vigilantes on suspicion of cow smuggling.

The Meo community, which has a population of 60 lakh spread over in parts of Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, has called a meeting of its core committee on 8 May to discuss the issue in the wake of the lynching of 55-year-old Pehlu Khan last month by a group of cow vigilantes.

"The government should either declare cow as the national animal or ban cow slaughtering across the country, Sher Mohammad, head of the Meo Panchayat, Alwar told PTI today.

"We have convened a meeting to discuss this issue. We will write letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje," he added.

He noted that Alwar and Bharatpur in Rajasthan and the nearby region in Haryana have over 60 lakh population of Meo Muslim community who are mainly the dairy farmers.

"We earn our livelihood by selling cow milk," Mohammad said.

He said the allegations of cow slaughtering against the community by cow vigilantes is nothing new.

"Despite the fact that we are dairy farmers and do not run slaughter houses, we are beaten up, just on the basis of suspicion, he said.

Pehlu Khan, who hailed from Haryana, was attacked by cow vigilantes in Behror in Rajasthan when he along with others was allegedly illegally transporting cows from Jaipur to Haryana.

Khan died during treatment at the hospital while others were given treatment last month.
New Delhi: A national military strategy and a security framework will be finalised very soon to effectively deal with security challenges facing the nation, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said on Thursday.

In an address at a defence think tank, the Army Chief lamented that the spending on defence is considered a "burden" by many in the country and the military is not getting its due share.

Citing China, he stressed that India's true potential will be realised only when both economic growth and might of the armed forces go hand-in-hand.

He said the country must look for new friends and allies to deal with neighbours along India's western and northern borders, an apparent reference to Pakistan and China.

Referring to India's security challenges, Gen Rawat said the drafts of national military strategy and national security strategy were ready to deal with pressing issues coherently.

"We should be able to identify our own national military strategy. We do not have a national military strategy as of now. Directorate General of Perspective Planning has been tasked to come out with it.

"We are also coming out with the national security strategy which will be given to the government. Both the draft documents are ready and hopefully we will be releasing them very soon," he said after unveiling 'Strategic Yearbook 2017' at the United Service Institution, a national security and defence think tank.

Holding that a strong military is essential for India's forward march, he said the general thinking among people is that expenditure on defence "is a burden" on the economy.

He said a "very strong military" is key for the economy to develop and cited China's policy in this regard. The army chief also identified ensuring energy security as another important requirement for India to become a major power.

"While we are developing our economy, the military is not getting its due share. I think here we need to draw a lesson from China," he said, adding military and economic growth should be "co-joint" as they are two tenants of national power.

India's defence budget for 2017-18 was Rs 2.74 lakh crore, which is 1.63 percent of GDP. China's defence budget is close to three per cent of its GDP. There has been a feeling among security experts and the defence establishment that the modernisation of armed forces is taking place at a very slow pace and that government has not been allocating adequate funds for it in the last few years.

Talking about the evolving security situation in the region, he said India must have close ties with countries like Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan considering the security matrix.

He said such a policy will recreate the outreach India had before partition.

The army chief said such a strategy will create two-pronged dilemma for India's western neighbour, Pakistan, but also help in tackling issues with India's northern neighbour, China.

"We have to start looking at how do we carry out counter-encirclement for our future adversaries. Developing alliances, developing friends to overcome the (current) deficiency is important. That must be part of our strategic thought process," he said.

The army chief said that time has come for India to have a say on all major issues at the United Nations and the country must work hard to attain the membership of the UN Security Council.

"We must create alliances and friends also so that we find a rightful place at the UNSC. Time has come for India to have a say in all that happens in UN," he said.

On energy security, he said India has a huge potential to generate solar and wind energy and it must focus on these energy sources.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court today refused to entertain a plea seeking a direction to the Centre, the states and union territories to make Hindi compulsory for students of class I-VIII across the country to promote national unity.

Taking note of the fact that petitioner Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay was a spokesperson of the BJP's Delhi chapter, a bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar asked,"Why does he not ask his party to do it? He belongs to the governing party. He is part of the government."

The bench, which also comprised Justices D Y Chandrachud and Sanjay Kishan Kaul, said the people speaking other languages may also start asking why their languages are not being taught and added that the government could look into it.

The bench also did not allow the plea of Upadhyay, who is also an advocate, that he would withdraw the plea and let it be treated as a representation to the central government.

"We will not say anything. You withdraw it," it said.

Updhayay, in his plea, had referred to constitutional provisions and the non-execution of the three-language formula enunciated in the 1968 National Policy Resolution by the Centre in consultation with the states.

The plea said the three-language formula provided for the study of Hindi, English and modern Indian language in Hindi-speaking states and Hindi, English and a regional language in the non-Hindi speaking states and it is still not implemented.

"In order to promote fraternity, assuring dignity of individual and unity and national integration, study of Hindi should be compulsory for all the students of I-VIII standard through the country," the plea said.

It said the 1968 policy, adopted by Parliament, was framed in response to demands from non-Hindi-speaking states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. However, all these states have not followed the three-language formula till date, it claimed.

Public servants and judges of higher judiciary, who have studied regional languages, find it difficult to read, write and speak Hindi while serving in Hindi-speaking states, it contended.
The recent news about government websites leaking Aadhaar data has been unsettling for many supporters of the scheme. Details like users' names, addresses, and bank account details may have been disclosed. The fallout of this could be a possible misuse of the data leading to an eventual scam by ingenious criminals. As more and more schemes are being linked to Aadhaar, the question of it being used to hold the citizens on an electronic leash is being argued before the Supreme Court of India too. Besides the criminal angle, one of the central themes around the collection and collation of Aadhaar data is the issue of privacy.

With the personal data of citizens being held in a centralised database, the privacy concerns are indeed paramount. After over six decades of Independence, India does not yet have a privacy law. There have been various attempts of moving a bill in the Parliament but they have not yet been successful. This was not an issue till the data was not digitised. But the increasing usage of social media and electronic payments along with unique identity data, require protection.

Technology does provide a solution but this is not enough. The best technologies are known to have been broken into. Stronger encryption, etc, may help but its not enough. With better tools and increased computing power, encryption can only ensure security for a certain period of time. The technological safeguards need to be supported by legislative actions in the form of a privacy act. This is exactly how this issue is tackled internationally.

The European Union has been leading with enactments to protect the privacy of its citizens. In January 2012, EU proposed a comprehensive reform of data protection rules. The proposed regulation will come into force on 25 May 2018. The main emphasis in the EU regulation is that personal data can be collected as per the law but same has to be also protected as per EU law. Not limiting itself to the protection of personal data within EU, the regulation also envisages safeguards when data is to be exported outside EU. Penalties which will be imposed on violators from 25 May 2018 in EU as per the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) can be up to a maximum of 20 million or 4 percent of the annual global turnover of the violators. While the EU is the leader in this respect, other countries too have similar measures.

The United Kingdom has had Data protection Act since 1998. This act specifically provides for usage and storage of personal data strictly in accordance with law. Any personal data which is legally obtained has to be kept longer than the time required for the purposes the data was obtained. Similarly, in the US, where there may not be a federal law for ensuring privacy, there are specific enactments pertaining to financial data, health data, etc. Several states within the US have also formulated their own privacy laws. Each of these enactments provides for penalties in case of violations.

In India, the IT Act 2000 with the amendment in 2008 through section 43a, imposes a penalty on a company which holds sensitive personal data of citizens. On failure to protect sensitive personal data, the company can be penalised to compensate the person so affected to a maximum of Rs 5 crore. There is, however, no mention of whether the company had a right to store the data. And having stored the data what is the time limit till it can store the data is also not clearly defined.

The Aadhaar Act 2016 does provide for the protection of data and also punishments for the same. Cases of misuse can lead to punishment up to three years and also fine up to Rs 10 lakhs. But there are issues which need to be addressed to ensure proper enforcement. Though the investigation by an Inspector of Police is mentioned, there is no mention of cognisance of cases. This would mean that there cannot be any case unless this is initiated by the Aadhaar Authority. Similarly, there is no mention of any compensation to the person whose data might have been compromised. Though, a person could possibly seek compensation under the IT Act as per provisions of section 43a provided Aadhaar-related data is declared as sensitive personal data.

It is in this background that the need for a comprehensive privacy law in India is an urgent requirement. The Privacy Act needs to define personal data which is to be treated as private. The Specific purposes for which this data can be obtained need to be listed as well. Similarly, the time frame in which this data can be stored needs to be addressed. Any violation should necessarily provide compensation besides penal punishment to the violators. But for this legal protection, a misuse of personal data due to a possible breach may harm citizens much beyond their current predicament of being hinged to an electronic leash.
Ranchi: A huge cache of arms was recovered after the Central Reserve Police Force and the Jharkhand Police on Thursday carried out an anti-Maoist operation on the inputs provided by a CPI (Maoist) commander who had surrendered.

CPI (Maoist) commander Nakul Yadav who carried a bounty on his head, surrendered on Thursday morning and gave vital information to the security personnel.

Based on his inputs, the joint operation was conducted in Lohardaga area and 13 rifles, including SLRs, AK-47, machine guns and 3,000 catridges were recovered.

The police also seized army-style fatigues and literature.

The operation comes close on the heels of last month's ambush in Sukma in which 25 security personnel were killed.
Ahmedabad: The family members of Gujarat native Altaf Qureshi, arrested in Mumbai for allegedly working for Pakistan's spy agency ISI, on Thursday claimed that he is innocent and has been framed as per a government's conspiracy. Qureshi, 37 was arrested late last night from Masjid Bunder area in South Mumbai in a joint operation by the anti-terrorist squads of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. The police also arrested his aide Javed Iqbal this morning from Yusuf Manzil building at Agreepada in Mumbai.

Qureshi is a native of Dhoraji town in Rajkot district of Gujarat where his family still lives. On learning about his arrest, Qureshi's younger brother Munaf told mediapersons at Dhoraji that Altaf is a simple person who can never indulge in such activities. "This is a conspiracy by the government to frame innocent people like Altaf who belong to a humble background and do not have any backing. If he was connected to the ISI, where are the others working for it? Why only Altaf? How is it possible that only he was working for the ISI," alleged Munaf.

"My brother went to Mumbai a few years back to earn money. He was leading a simple life and trying to support the family. It seems the government is intentionally linking him with the ISI. If such claims are true, then efforts must be made to nab all those who are linked with the ISI," he added. Altaf's mother Zarinabanu too vouched for her son's innocence, saying he can't do anything like what he has been accused of.

"My son is innocent. He can never indulge in such activities. It seems that someone has framed him. He is a very simple person," a teary Zarinabanu told media persons outside their small house in Vohravad area of Dhoraji, on Thursday. After his arrest on Wednesday, the police had said Qureshi had deposited money in the bank account of Aftab Ali, another ISI agent, in Lucknow for carrying out the espionage.

Aftab was arrested from Faizabad in UP on Wednesday. ATS officials also seized Rs 71.57 lakh and a cell phone from the house of Qureshi, who was in 'hawala business' at the behest of one Jawed Naviwala, a police official said. During the duo's interrogation, it was found that Javed used to get instructions from Pakistan and at his behest Qureshi often deposited money in Aftab's bank account, the official said. Javed was in constant touch with the ISI officials in Pakistan, he said.

Aftab, booked under the Official Secrets Act, had allegedly passed on information about the Indian Army's movements to the officers posted at Pakistan High Commission

and also to the ISI, the official claimed.
Lucknow: The UP Anti-Terrorism Squad in a joint exercise with Maharashtra Police carried out overnight raids and nabbed a suspected ISI operative in Mumbai, who was part of an espionage racket linked to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.

Three ISI suspects have been arrested since Wednesday as the UP ATS launched a massive crackdown to smash the espionage racket.

Acting on leads provided by ISI suspect Aftab Ali, arrested from Faizabad, 120 km from here on Wednesday, the UP ATS picked up Altaf Qureshi late on Wednesday night from Masjid Bunder area in South Mumbai and Javed Iqbal from Yusuf Manzil building at Agreepada this morning, IG UP-ATS Aseem Arun said in Lucknow.

He said the trio was involved in an espionage racket, with Aftab, believed to have been trained by Pakistan's spy agency ISI, maintaining constant touch with officials in the Pakistan High Commission.

Hinting that officials of Pakistan High Commission were in direct touch with the ISI agent, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Aditya Mishra said, "One of the officials of Pakistan High Commission Meharban Ali was in touch with the agents."

Ali asked them to gather information about army movements and military installations in and around Lucknow and Faizabad.

Subsequently, Ali was expelled from India along with eight other embassy officials of different countries.

Ali had promised Aftab that he will arrange a visa for him.

"But, after Ali left India, he was replaced by another handler," Mishra said at a media briefing here.

When asked whether the new handler is attached with the Pakistan High Commission, he said, "This aspect is also being looked into."

"Some of the relatives of Aftab are living in Pakistan, and he wanted to meet them. His visa was rejected three times.

In the fourth attempt, his visa was approved, and it was during this time that he was actually indoctrinated.

"Aftab went to Pakistan for first time on May 1, 2014. He went to Lahore via Wagah border and stayed in Karachi's Green Town. There he came in touch with ISI agent and was imparted training. Aftab returned to India on 28 June 2016, and was in constant touch with officials of Pakistan High Commission," the ADG said.

He said the army intelligence played a key role in busting the ISI activities.

"Some of the information which Aftab had passed to his Pakistan handlers included posting of different battalions of army in Lucknow and Faizabad, military installations and Army platoons in Amritsar," he said.

On whether any woman was used as "honey trap", Mishra said, "We do not have any information in this regard. We have photographs and call details as evidence."

Pictures of the cantonment area in Faizabad have been recovered from Aftab's mobile phone and more clues are likely to be found through his mobile chats, he said.

Following Aftab's interrogation, Qureshi, a hawala operator who also allegedly worked for ISI was held in Mumbai, while Iqbal, the third suspect, is an aide of Qureshi, IG-ATS Arun said.

Qureshi had allegedly deposited money in the bank account of Aftab for carrying out espionage activities.

ATS officials seized a cell phone and Rs 71.57 lakh in cash from the house of Qureshi, who was in hawala business at the behest of one Jawed Naviwala, the officer said.

During the duo's interrogation, it was found that Javed used to get instructions from Pakistan and at his behest Qureshi often deposited money in Aftab's bank account, he said.

Police were questioning Qureshi to know on whose directive he had deposited the money in Aftab's account.

Javed was in constant touch with ISI officials in the neighbouring country, he said.

During their interrogation, names of some more persons cropped up, the official said, adding more arrests are likely.

Aftab, booked under the Official Secrets Act, had allegedly passed on information about Indian Army's movements to officers posted at Pakistan High Commission and also to ISI, the official claimed.

He had allegedly provided information about the army's movements and units in Faizabad, Lucknow and Amritsar, he said.

Aftab is a resident of Khwaspura area of Faizabad, Arun said.

The ATS was continuously getting reports about military information being leaked to intelligence officials in the Pakistani High Commission and ISI and the agency was working on it through electronic surveillance.

The ATS got cracking after Uttar Pradesh Police recently issued a warning of a possible terror attack in the state by ISI-trained terrorists.

"The group, allegedly trained by Pakistan's ISI, has reportedly been asked to target Ayodhya, Varanasi, Vrindavan, and the Taj Mahal in Agra," UP police said.

Acting on intelligence inputs, security was upgraded at several religious places - including Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura - and also at vital installations, including airports, bus and railway stations.

Central intelligence agencies have been sharing inputs with the UP Police since February about increased activity of terrorists in the state.

A Khurasan module was unearthed after Saifullah's death in March. Recently, some self-radicalised youths were also arrested by the UP Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).
In a fresh reminder of ISI's spying operations in India, the Uttar Pradesh ATS on Wednesday arrested two suspected ISI operatives from Faizabad and Mumbai, Hindustan Times reported.

The Uttar Pradesh ATS had arrested Aftab Ali from Faizabad. During the interrogation, he revealed the name of Altaf Qureshi who was arrested on Wednesday night in a joint operation with the Mumbai Police, ANI reported.

According to the news agency, the suspect was arrested from his residence in Mumbai's Agripada. Rs 70 lakh was also recovered from his residence. He was later handed over to the Uttar Pradesh ATS for further interrogation.

Altaf was allegedly involved in various activities under the command of the ISI. He also transfered money to Aftab's on ISI's instructions, the news agency reported.

Ali was spying for Pakistans secret service, Inter Service Intelligence (ISI), for past three years, Inspector-General Asim Arun was quoted by the Hindustan Times as saying.

According to ATS officers, Aftab was lured into spying by ISI after he failed to secure a visa to meet his relatives in Pakistan. The officials took advantage of his desperation and turned him into a spy for Pakistan in exchange for a visa.

According to ATS officials, the Pakistan High Commission was instrumental in luring Aftab.

Ali was also in touch with an official in Pakistan embassy in New Delhi. The name of the official is being verified, Aditya Mishra, ADG, Law and order was quoted by the Hindustan Times as saying.

According to the report, Aftab confessed to his crime, adding that he had been keeping an eye on the military movement in and around Faizabad and Lucknow, and reported to his ISI handlers.
Editor's note: At lunchtime on 27 April 1959, naval commander Kawas Nanavati was told by his English wife Sylvia that she was having an affair with their flamboyant businessman-playboy friend, Prem Ahuja. Later that evening, armed with a revolver, Nanavati stormed Ahujas bedroom and shut the door behind him. Three gunshots were heard going off inside. Ahuja was dead.

Ahujas murder set in motion an extraordinary public frenzy  thousands descended on the streets of (then) Bombay chanting in favour of the hero Nanavati, and the jury, swept off their feet by the dazzling naval officer in the dock, returned a Not Guilty verdict. This trial was the death knell of the jury system in India.

In a new book Bachi Karkaria gives a comprehensive account of the Nanavati case and the Constitutional crisis to which it gave birth. The following is an excerpt from the book, republished with permission from Juggernaut Books.

***

Nanavati heads towards the naval dockyard where the Mysore looms at. Sailors snap to attention and salute the much-admired officer. He requisitions a revolver from the ships gunnery on the plea that hes going on a private road journey which might entail some personal danger. He leaves the Mysore carrying a .38 Smith and Wesson, with six rounds of ammunition, all placed in a thick, plain brown envelope with his name written neatly on it.

But he doesnt drive to a lonely spot and blow his brains out. We see his car, with the number plate BMU 3240, speed down Marine Drive. He goes past the Babulnath temple and Hughes Road, makes a brief halt, swings past the Parsi Tower of Silence, turns left on to Nepean Sea Road, then third right into Setalvad Lane. He drives to its end, parks his car, under Jeevan Jyots distinctive palms, takes the brown envelope out of the glove compartment, bounds up the two flights to the Ahujas flat and presses hard on the doorbell.

It is answered by a servant, who says, yes, the master is home and dressing to go back to the office. Nanavati authoritatively marches into Ahujas bedroom, and bangs the door shut behind him.

The next bang is not that of a shutting door. Three shots ring out in the space of minutes. Mamie Ahuja, roused from her nap, comes rushing out to find Nanavati leaving her brothers bedroom and pointing a gun at her petrified servant. Through the open door she sees her brother slumped on the floor, bleeding. She cries in something of an under-reaction, What is this? Commander Nanavati wordlessly walks out of the flat. The building watchman tries to stop this man holding a gun. He too is waved aside with a dismissive Dont bother. Im going myself to the police station.

Nanavati comes out of Setalvad Lane, but doesnt know the location of the nearest police station. Hes always been a Colaba man on the southernmost flank of South Bombay. Instead of turning left to go the way he came, he turns right, and goes up Malabar Hill. Near the rather obviously named Teen Batti traffic signal he sees the ornate gates of Raj Bhavan, the Governors mansion. He asks the sentry, and is told about Gamdevi Police Station. Deciding not to go round in circles trying to find it, he heads for familiar territory: the home of the navys head cop, the Provost Marshal.

Commander Michael Benjamin Samuel, like the socialites of Setalvad Lane, has just stirred out of his afternoon siesta, but hes shaken wide awake by what he hears from one of the navys highest-rated officers: I think I have shot a man.

Why?

Because he seduced my wife.

Commander Samuel picks up the receiver of his phone, and says sombrely into it, John? This is Provo Samuel. Im sending Commander Nanavati to you. He has had a quarrel with a person, and he has shot at him.

At Crime Branch, the Central Investigative Departments two-storey building in the compound of the Bombay Police Commissionerate at Crawford Market, another phone on Deputy Commissioner John Lobos desk jangles. Sir, this is DI Gautam from Gamdevi PS. There has been a shooting in our jurisdiction. A Mr P. Ahuja has been fatally injured. We are proceeding to the spot and will revert.

The deputy inspector has followed procedure in such serious cases, alerting both the deputy commissioner of the division and the deputy commissioner, Crime Branch, CID. This ensures a pooling of resources to nab the culprit ASAP.

But the culprit has already presented himself.

A strong voice outside demands, Lobo sahb ka kamra kahaan hai? (Where is Lobo sahibs room?)

The orderly checks with the boss, and ushers in the impressive naval officer dressed in slacks and a shirt.

I am Commander Nanavati, he says in the same authoritative tone. He appears to be impatient to get a weight off his chest.

Yes, replies the deputy commissioner. Your Provost Marshal called. What is the problem?

I have shot a man.

Excerpted with permission of Juggernaut Books from In Hot Blood: The Nanavati Case That Shook India by Bachi Karkaria, available in bookstores and on www.juggernaut.in
BJP president Amit Shah is undertaking a 95-day all-India tour during which he will strategise on ways to win the 2019 Lok Sabha election, with focus on clinching the 120 seats where the party had lost in 2014.

Additional travels that may crop up between 25 April and 25 September are not accounted for, and will be exclusive of the planned itinerary of the BJP president.

His odyssey clocking over 88,000 km was kickstarted by a visit to Naxalbari in West Bengal, a small village known as the motherland of the Naxalite movement in India. Shah held a meeting of 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 Vistar Yatra.

Shah also visited the restive state of Jammu and Kashmir amid speculations of some political turmoil rocking the BJP-PDP alliance, on Sunday.

Shah told reporters he would spend one to three days in each of the states, depending on their electoral significance. The states have been divided into three categories in accordance with their electoral importance. His itinerary is packed full to the brim so much so that the BJP president may even have to miss the swearing-in ceremony of the next President of India scheduled on 25 July. Within a span of five months, Shah is expectd to cover almost 100,000 km  approximately 20,000 km each month

"We have also set a target of (winning) 120 seats where we had lost in 2014. My tour will focus on taking stock of our organisational strength, and further expansion of ideology and electoral appeal across the country," he said.

Shah is particularly focusing on states like West Bengal, Odisha, Telangana and Kerala. The BJP had managed to win just four Lok Sabha seats out of the 102 in these states in the 2014 election.

He also hinted at a reshuffle within the party as several office-bearers are now serving as ministers in the Uttar Pradesh government.

Shah downplayed reported concern among some BJP allies over the saffron party's expansion plans, saying it is his job to ensure growth of the outfit everywhere, but added that the 120 seats targetted by him did not include those won by other NDA constituents.

The party has graded the states into A, B and C category in order of their electoral significance.

Shah's voyage will end by 25 September, the 101th birth anniversary of Jana Sangh ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay. The BJP has roped in around 3.52 lakh volunteers who would work full-time for the party to plan the celebrations.

It has also enrolled another 600 full-timers, Shah said. He said each full-timer will be assigned one Lok Sabha seat where he would supervise strengthening of the party till 2019 election. There would be one more tasked with the overall electoral responsibility of groups of five constituencies each where the party has traditionally been weak.

The party, he said, would also reach out to 11 crore members enrolled during the 2015-16 drive, and seek to involve them in booth-level activities.

With inputs from agencies
Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, probably had to swallow their pride before driving to Kumar Vishwas' home in Vasundhara, Ghaziabad, on Wednesday night, to pacify their long-time friend and party associate. They perhaps had no other option.

Vishwas' threat that he would decide his next course of action within a day seemed real. This was the most serious crisis that the Aam Admi Party (AAP) had faced in its less than five years of existence. The party was on the brink of a split.

Firstpost accessed a series of messages that were posted on multiple AAP WhatsApp groups, which throw an interesting insight into what was the conversation going on within the ranks of AAP. Most of these conversation were in Hindi questioning the supremo, the personality cult and the concerns raised by Vishwas regarding the functioning of the party. One particular set of messages stand out which begins with "chalo Dilli" (March to Delhi) and says, "If Vishwas leaves this pious movement (AAP) then the fight which had began from Jantar Mantar will yet again reach Jantar Mantar. Date: 7 May, time: 11 am till indefinite period, place: Jantar Mantar Delhi." It further adds, "If Vishwas leaves this movement, then all friends and colleagues will have to reach Jantar Mantar on 7 May. You talk to your local organisational set up and fix your programme. We all will have to leave our other work aside to save the nation. If there is no party left, if there is no hope left, what would you do with discipline. You have to let go of discipline to save the nation. This fight is not for Kumar or Arvind, this fight is for India's future."

Another message talks about the goodness and the usefulness of Vishwas as a leader and the value he brings to AAP as one of the founding fathers of the party. It goes on to add, "He kept himself away from all kinds of dirt and filth of politics. He understood all kinds of conspiracies that were hatched against him but dealt with them patiently. He was disappointed. But he kept enthusiastically working for the party. He gathered strength from the affection of the party which he had built and sweated for. But in the current situation, when ugly political games were played against him, he suffered and after running of patience, he summoned the courage to speak out the truth. Friends, please tell if the questions raised by him, were wrong. Consider what did he say. First, power be restored and the trust lost be reposed in them. Second, we must not forget the values on the basis of which the party was created and was liked by people. Third, the ability to spend money should not be the basis for distribution of party ticket. Fourth, Ganesh parikrama karne ya karwane wale se bache (beware of people who take shortcuts). Fifth, don't impose your voice on people, instead be the people's voice."

Yet another message takes on the argument articulated by Sisodia and Sanjay Singh that Vishwas should have spoken on the party forum, says, Vishwas is hardly a fool to raise these issues on appropriate forums but some of the so-called experienced leaders rubbished his voice. That resulted in Vishwas taking up these issues in a disciplined manner on a public platform so that it reaches the workers.

The message also said that the party must find the person who was responsible for driving away so many talented people from the party. Instead of doing that, the party leaders are after Kumar's life. The messages then go on to explain how a coterie has developed around Kejriwal. They have to ensure that the sacrifice of the workers is not wasted. There is still time for Kejriwal to re-establish his credentials of an honest leader. All must vow to throw the brokers out of the party. It's time for course correction, else senior leaders would repent later.

There are a number of messages that sarcastically refer to Kejriwal, Sisodia and other leaders blaming the EVM for the defeat in Punjab and Goa Assembly and Delhi municipal polls. One message questions if EVM was so bad and manipulated then how come some candidates won. It says party lost as some of its workers did not come out to vote.

Sisodia's counter to Vishwas that AAP was founded by lakhs of workers, not by three-four individuals, one message says, true the party was founded by lakhs of workers, but only six-seven leaders who sit and talk behind close doors.

Some messages are very hard hitting, typical to AAP's style.

After speaking to some AAP leaders, including a senior functionary who was privy to the unfolding developments, this writer on Wednesday had learnt that before Kejriwal drove to Vishwas's residence, he had realised that the script had gone awry and things were spiralling out of hand. His visit to his friend and in-house critic was guided by realpolitik and politically prudent reasons. It was the need of the hour for Kejriwal to mollify Vishwas at whatever cost and save his face, keep his party united and buy time for now.

A party leader said though a peace formula has been announced but what has been offered to Vishwas is only a consolation prize. According to him, Kejriwal and his team have opened a can of worms and he has shown the way how a party leader and worker can say what he wants to say without really violating party discipline. He says another round of public spat could be coming soon  on the announcement of Election Commission's verdict  on fate of 21 MLAs accused of holding an office of profit.
Kolkata: The BJP on Thursday held protests in many parts of West Bengal accusing the Trinamool Congress of "kidnapping and forcing" the Naxalbari tribal couple, who had hosted BJP president Amit Shah during his visit last week.

The activists of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and the BJP organised protest rallies and meetings in Kolkata, Naxalbari, Siliguri and districts of north and south 24 Parganas.

They accused the TMC of "kidnapping" the Mahali couple who had served lunch to the BJP chief during his visit to the area in north Bengal on 25 April last.

The BJP also alleged that the couple was "forced" to join the TMC, a charge which was, however, rejected by the duo  Raju Mahali and his wife Geeta.

"The kidnapping of the Mahali family and forcing them to join the TMC only shows that the TMC is afraid about the growth of BJP and that is why they are behaving in such a way.

Such kind of heinous act is a reflection of a dirty, vindictive mentality, which TMC represents," BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said, while addressing a protest rally here.

A war of words has started between the BJP and TMC on the issue with Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad calling it a "textbook case of revenge politics" which drew sharp reactions from the TMC which asked Prasad "to maintain the dignity of the office he holds".

Meanwhile, BJP women's wing leader Locket Chatterjee on Thursday visited a house in Chetla area of Bhawanipore in Kolkata, where Amit Shah had gone during his 'Booth Chalo Abhiyan' in Kolkata last week.

"I am here to meet the family members as we are concerned about their security. If TMC can carry out such a heinous act in north Bengal, then they can repeat it in Bhawanipore, Kolkata. But TMC should remember one thing- you can force someone to join your party, but you can't force someone to vote for you," Chatterjee said.

Seeking to expand his party base in West Bengal, Shah had visited a slum in Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Bhawanipur Assembly constituency last week.
Kolkata: The BJP on Thursday held protests in many parts of West Bengal accusing the Trinamool Congress of "kidnapping and forcing" the Naxalbari tribal couple, who had hosted BJP president Amit Shah during his visit last week.

The activists of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and the BJP organized protest rallies and meetings in Kolkata, Naxalbari, Siliguri and districts of of north and south 24 Parganas.

They accused the TMC of "kidnapping" the Mahali couple who had served lunch to the BJP chief during his visit to the area in north Bengal on 25 April.

The BJP also alleged that the couple was "forced" to join the TMC, a charge which was, however, rejected by the duo  Raju Mahali and his wife Geeta.

"The kidnapping of the Mahali family and forcing them to join the TMC only shows that the TMC is afraid about the growth of BJP and that is why they are behaving in such a way. Such kind of heinous act is a reflection of a dirty, vindictive mentality, which TMC represents," BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said, while addressing a protest rally in Kolkata.

A war of words has started between the BJP and TMC on the issue with Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad calling it a "textbook case of revenge politics" which drew sharp reactions from the TMC which asked Prasad "to maintain dignity of the office he holds".

Meanwhile BJP women's wing leader Locket Chatterjee on Thursday visited a house in Chetla area of Bhawanipore in Kolkata, where Amit Shah had gone during his 'Booth Chalo Abhiyan' in Kolkata last week.

"I am here to meet the family members as we are concerned about their security. If TMC can carry out such a heinous act in north Bengal, then they can repeat it in Bhawanipore, Kolkata. But TMC should remember one thing- you can force someone to join your party, but you can't force someone to vote for you," Chatterjee said.

Seeking to expand his party base in West Bengal, Shah had visited a slum in Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Bhawanipur Assembly constituency last week.
By roping in the Naxalbari adivasi couple  who had on 25 April hosted visiting BJP president Amit Shah for lunch  into the party fold on Wednesday, the All India Trinamool Congress has conveyed a rare insecurity. It could also turn out to be a tactical error.

Media reports make it obvious that a significant amount of coercion was involved in the process. Geeta and Raju Mahali, members of the Mahali tribe in north Bengal, went "missing" on Tuesday from their residence in Naxalbari's South Katiajote village, only to "emerge" the following day sitting alongside state tourism minister Gautam Deb and local TMC leaders to announce that they were joining the ruling party out of happiness and own volition.

A News18 report quoted the minister, as saying: "(The) Mahalis have willingly joined TMC today. There was no pressure on them. They have decided to join TMC after being convinced by Mamata Banerjees immense developmental work in the state."

In fact, Geeta and Raju Mahali were so impressed with the chief minister's "development work" that both reportedly had tears in their eyes as they accepted TMC membership. It is not clear, though, what "immense development" took place in the intervening week between their hosting of BJP president and decision to join TMC and why both husband and wife were teary eyed.

The BJP, obviously, is crying foul. Its local unit tried to lodge FIR at Naxalbari police station alleging that the couple has been kidnapped but the police allegedly refused to register one. The officer-in-charge told News18 that they have received BJP leader Dilip Barui's complaint and are "looking into the matter".

To dispel any residual doubts over the Mahalis' sudden decision to join TMC, Deb offered yet another explanation. According to him, the tribal couple joined TMC because they believe in "secularism", raising more questions whether the coupe were "not secular" when they served lunch to Shah and Dilip Ghosh, BJP's Bengal unit chief, on 25 April.

Their neighbours appeared apprehensive about speaking on the issue. One local resident told Times of India that the couple may have joined TMC under duress. "Else, why would Geeta read out a written statement at the TMC party office? But we can't say anything unless the couple speaks up," the local resident was quoted as saying.

The incident indicates a certain clumsiness on the TMC's part where they seem to feel threatened enough by Shah's subaltern outreach to stage a charade of sorts. This is like muscle-flexing to intimidate the opponents. The question, however, is, why did TMC feel the need to do so?

It is evident from Bengal's political, social and electoral trends that BJP is slowly gaining in strength in erstwhile Left bastions such as Naxalbari, the birthplace of the radical Left movement in the late 1960s, but one lunch with a tribal couple is unlikely to change the political demographic overnight.

All that TMC has succeeded in doing is to tacitly admit that it is worried about BJP's ascend. It has also given the party, fighting to get a toehold in Bengal, some oxygen to launch a greater local and even national level agitation around this incident.

Calling it a "textbook case of revenge politics", Union Minister of Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday told reporters at a news conference that the couple were made to join TMC under duress in police presence and accused the TMC of unleashing politics of fear and violence of the kind practiced by the Left Front during its 34-year-rule.

Prasad also accused TMC of carrying out such tactics of intimidation against residents of Bhawanipore, Banerjee's Assembly constituency where Shah had paid a recent visit during his outreach tour. He sought to interpret it as TMC's desperation arising out of insecurities regarding the Saradha and Narada scam probes.

The TMC will find it difficult to stave off charges of intimidation. Coercive politics has been one of the defining features of Banerjee's six-year rule as West Bengal CM. In this, she seems to have appropriated both the model and operatives of Left Front. The nexus between politics and criminality remains close. For all the stereotypical representation of Bengal as the "abode of Tagore" and India's "cultural capital", goondaism as a cultural and political motif is now firmly established in Bengali milieu.

So, when BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha alleges that "people who had hosted Amit Shah in Banerjees constituency, Bhawanipore, and at Gourangapur in Rajarhat (a Kolkata suburb) are living in fear," it is difficult to dismiss the allegations as mere rhetoric.

A 27 April, a report in Times of India, for instance, points out the palpable fear of residents in Kolkata who had hosted the BJP president during his recent visit. In fact, no sooner did Shah leave after meeting Kalpana Mondal in Chetla slum of Bhawanipore, the chief minister's backyard, that she cried out "kalke amader ki hobe (what will happen to us tomorrow)" to the media.

The report also quoted her as saying: "I am worried about the safety of my family, especially my kids, who played an active role in Shah's visit. I told the leaders to ensure my children were not harmed if there was any backlash from the ruling party supporters. They just smiled and held their hands high in the air, asking me to relax. But I can't." According to the report, her husband Gopal, a daily labourer, hoped that BJP would support them in times of trouble.

For all the hype around Shah's visit, the BJP knows that challenging Banerjee's clout in the state won't be a cakewalk. The 2016 Assembly polls or the recent bypoll results clearly indicate that TMC faces no imminent threat from BJP, which seems to be gaining in strength entirely at the Left's expense.

Ashok Malik is right when he assesses in his column for NDTV that "as things stand, TMC should win in a canter in the 2019 Lok Sabha election as well as the 2021 Assembly election. The BJP's realistic target is to raise its Lok Sabha strength in the state from two (in 2014) to four or five in 2019. In both 2019 and 2021, it would want to be the second biggest party as measured by vote share, permanently crossing the CPI(M)."

The key question is why is TMC feeling so annoyed by BJP's legitimate attempts to increase its influence?

Banerjee has always taken a confrontational approach in politics. As a student Congress leader and then later on as the founder of TMC, she profited from this approach in carving her political space in a state over which the Left had a suffocating grip. It is futile to expect her to be anything else when she senses the dawning of a challenge to her hegemony. The West Bengal chief minister might appear mercurial but behind that projected image of volatility lies a shrewd mass leader who knows instinctively the direction of the wind. She would know that Shah and Narendra Modi are men of patience and prudence, prone to taking the long-term view.

Which is why, even though BJP is still a nascent force in the state, Banerjee senses the rumblings of an uprising which is invisible to most. BJP's attempt at a larger consolidation of Hindu votes by tapping a growing resentment against TMC's appeasement politics holds a different kind of challenge for her, unlike the one she had faced while uprooting the Left.

This may explain the friction and swift manoeuvres to deny BJP the political space in Bengal. The question is, will such procedures work, or will it be counterproductive?
New Delhi: The Delhi Police today raided the Indirapuram residence of a 40-year-old woman, who was arrested earlier for allegedly honey-trapping and blackmailing a BJP MP for Rs 5 crore.

Some videos and other "incriminating evidence" were recovered from her house, said Mukesh Kumar Meena, Special Commissioner of Police, New Delhi range.

He added that the woman, hailing from Muzzafarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, would mostly target high-profile people. Sources claimed that a police team had also been sent to Muzzafarnagar to check on her criminal antecedents and to ascertain whether her law degree was genuine or not.

The woman had filed a rape case against another MP at Tilak Marg police station last year. In 2014, she had filed a complaint at Safdarjung Enclave police station against BJP leader from Uttarakhand Harak Singh Rawat, who was then a minister in the Congress-led government in the state, said Meena.

In Rawat's case, the woman had subsequently changed her statement, he added. The woman told the police that several men and women were involved in the racket, said another officer, adding that some of the gang members were identified while the police were trying to identify the others.

The core gang consists of five to six members, he said. KC Patel, the BJP MP from Gujarat's Valsad, had filed a police complaint last week, alleging that the woman had drugged him and shot obscene videos of him.

The woman had approached a city court, claiming that the police refused to lodge her complaint, accusing Patel of rape. The woman came to Delhi around five years back. In her statement, she has said that she came to Delhi to prepare for the Rajasthan Public Service examination. As per the statement, she had even appeared in the preliminary exams of the UPSC, but couldn't clear them.

In Patel's case, the woman claimed that the MP had called her. However, Patel told the police that she had approached him for some help.

According to the investigators, the woman had installed spy cameras and CCTV cameras in her house and the gang had bugged the room where Patel was taken. The woman always kept a spy camera in her bag, they said.
When Kerala Congress (Mani), a regional party championing the cause of Christians, quit the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) soon after the Assembly polls in April last year and decided to remain as an independent entity, political observers thought it would go back before the Lok Sabha election.

The thinking was based on strong opposition from the ruling CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) on admitting the KC(M) into its fold and the lack of support from the church on the party joining hands with the BJP-led National Democratic Front Alliance (NDA). The partys decision to support PK Kunhalikutty of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the second largest constituent of the UDF, in the Malappuram Lok Sabha by-election was the beginning of the process.

Hence the partys decision to capture the Kottayam district panchayat from the Congress with the support of the CPM has stunned political circles. Congress, which is the single largest party in the 22-member panchayat with eight members, was holding power till now with the support of six KC(M) members.

The CPM, which is the second largest party in the panchayat with seven members, unseated the Congress by voting for the KC(M) nominee Zacharias Kuthiraveli for the post of the district panchayat president in the election held on Wednesday. The seat fell vacant after incumbent president Joshy Philip resigned following his appointment as Kottayam District Congress Committee (DCC) president.

The CPM move has come as a big surprise to not only the UDF but also the partys cadres and its allies in the LDF. They find it difficult to digest it since the corruption cases faced by KC(M) supremo and former finance minister KM Mani was a major poll plank of the LDF. The CPM, which ran a long campaign both inside and outside the Assembly for the resignation of Mani, had ruled out any truck with the KC(M) after it quit the UDF. Senior Congress leaders have viewed the CPM U-turn as a betrayal of the people, who voted the LDF to power.

State-level CPM leaders have dismissed the interpretation saying its support to the KC(M) at Kottayam was only a local arrangement. However, political observers view this as part of a well-planned move to take the KC(M) to the LDF fold. They connect it to the widening feud between the CPM and the CPI, the second largest constituent of the LDF.

Several senior CPM leaders like state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan had described this as part of the CPIs all-India move to build a strong alliance with the help of Congress against the communal forces led by the BJP. They feared that the CPI may cross over to the Congress camp in the long run. The current understanding with the KC(M) will come handy in such a scenario.

The CPM move is also considered as a counter to the attempt being made by the BJP to woo the KC(M). The partys state leaders had made several rounds of informal discussions with Mani and his son and MP Jose K Mani in this regard. Sources said that KC(M) was prepared to consider this option if BJP had agreed to induct Jose K Mani into the Union Cabinet.

However, the KC(M) put the plan in the cold storage after a section of the church opposed it tooth and nail. The party apparently cannot displease the church since it draws its strength from the Christian community, which accounts for about 18 percent of the states population.

Mani tried the other option as he felt that it cannot survive long as an independent force. It may not be able to retain the lone Lok Sabha seat without the support of either the LDF or the UDF. The party needs the seat to remain relevant at the national level. Party leaders hope the alliance in the Kottayam panchayat can be expanded to the state level by the time elections to the Lok Sabha are held in 2019.

However, this may not be easy as a strong section in the CPM and the CPI are opposed to the alliance. CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran has already made it clear that it will not allow the CPM to include the KC(M) in the LDF. CPI Kottayam district leader N Anirudhan said that the LDF had portrayed Mani as the symbol of corruption.

We stand by this. The CPM has a feeling that whatever it does is correct. We do not share this. We consider any alliance with KC(M) will be against the electoral mandate that the LDF has received. The LDF is in a strong position in the state now. It should use this to implement the LDF policies and programmes. If the CPM deviates from that path, the supporters of the party will not approve it, said Anirudhan.

CPM Kottayam district president NN Vasavan was non-committal on its present stand on Mani. He refused to term Mani as the symbol of corruption. We had raised several allegations against him. They are under perusal of the court. Let the court examine it and pass its judgment, he said.

However, party veteran and former chief minister VS Achuthanandan does not share this view. He said that he will stand firmly on the allegations the party had raised against Mani. I wish the news from Kottayam is wrong, he said when media persons sought his reaction on the partys support to the KC(M) nominee.

The Congress has described the KC(M) move as political betrayal. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president MM Hassan said it was a violation of the agreement reached between the two on the status of the alliance in the local bodies. The party leader had agreed not to alter the equations at the local when it quit the UDF.

Mani, who initially feigned ignorance about the development in Kottayam, has indicated that it had his blessing. The Congress has no right to hurl stones on the KC(M). We are an independent party and we have every right to decide our political course. This is only the beginning. There will be more surprises soon, he said.

Political observers say the move will have far reaching implications in Kerala politics. While Jacob George, a Thiruvananthapuram-based political analyst, told Firstpost that the CPM move to join hands with Mani will weaken the UDF, Left-leaning political observer NN Pearson feels it will erode the credibility of the Left.

People have voted for the LDF because of its anti-bourgeois ideology and the policies. The LDF will lose this support if they forge an alliance with a bourgeois party like the KC(M), Pearson told Firstpost. The duo thinks that this type of opportunistic politics will help the BJP to grow in the state further.
The immediate future of the ruling Left Democratic Front in Kerala seems to be running into a terrible storm. The two major players in the front  the Communist Part of India (Marxist) who is the big brother and the Communist Party of India (CPI), the smaller sibling, have been at each others throats like never before.

They have not yet parted ways and many argue that such a day may be far away considering the equations at the national level, but the coalition is certainly on a ventilator.

The CPI is disgruntled, forlorn and above all immensely angry at not just the step-motherly treatment meted out to it over the last one year since the government came into power but also the non-inclusive attitude of CPM, especially Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, while making crucial policy decisions, the latest being the decision of CPM to support tainted politician KM Mani and his party, the Kerala Congress (M) at the Kottayam District Panchayat election.

The resentment of the smaller ally is not just at the top but is seeping through the ranks to the lowest of the party cadre and the feeling is well-entrenched, setting the stage for a bigger malaise in the days to come.

In 2016, it was an anti-Mani tirade which was the fulcrum around which the Left campaign had caught the imagination of the voters in Kerala which brought the LDF (Left Democratic Front) to power with a strong mandate. Mani, who had been the state finance minister in the erstwhile Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government is accused in the Bar Bribery case (2015) along with then Congress minister K Babu.

On Wednesday, when CPM decided to give support to Manis KC(M) in electing the new president to the Kottayam District Panchayat, it further alienated CPI from the front.

That CPI stayed away from voting in the election and then went on to condemn CPMs stand is only a reflection of the gap widening between the two communist entities in the state.

Although CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran, an upright politician who is known to speak his mind, had downplayed the incident calling it a local issue, he had a word to say about Manis likely attempt to enter the Left front.

"Mani's entry is not an issue that can be decided by just one political party. There is a Left front and all issues would be discussed there. At the moment, there is no such talk anywhere," Rajendran said.

It is beyond doubt that CPI would oppose any such move inside the Left front by tooth and nail. A very senior leader in CPI has also added that the next meetings of the Left front would see heated discussion on the Kottayam episode and question the motive behind CPMs open support to Mani in the panchayat election.

Though the state leadership of the CPM has stayed quiet on the Kottayam episode, the national leadership has stepped in with a statement that no decision has been taken to get Mani into the front. However, a senior leader in the state committee of the CPM told FirstPost that it has no intentions of shutting the door on Mani.

Can Mani be the spoiler?

Mani has always been a shrewd politician who jumps the fence in search of power. Post the Kottayam episode, Mani told reporters: "This does not mean that we have filled an application to join the Left front. But then the CPM is not untouchable for us. We are not against anyone."

Mani did not stop at that. "That CPI feels insecure about the whole episode is understandable. They think we will take their place," added Mani at Thiruvananthapuram.

Political gurus say there is a lot to read from the Kottayam episode than what just Mani or the CPM say. Many feel that by tagging Mani along, the CPM wants to send a clear political message to CPI that it better toe the line of the big brother rather than create noises inside the front that would affect its interests.

"Till yesterday Mani was a complete corrupt politician with whom it was unthinkable for the CPM to get along. Its leaders had even alleged that Mani keeps a cash counting machine at home. If the CPM has forgotten all this, then there is certainly something larger at stake and a bigger message that it wants to send out," CR Neelakandan, a well-known political activist in the state told Firstpost.

Neelakandans words are being echoed by the old guard in CPM like VS Achuthananthan, who on Wednesday said: "I hope what happened in Kottayam was just a mistake. I can never relate with someone like Mani coming into the front."

But then many say that the words of Achuthananthan carry little weight in a party that is now being steered by a leadership which is seen as openly confronting its own trusted partner, CPI.

Meanwhile, CPI is trying to put on a brave face in front of such unexpected developments. "If anyone thinks they can blackmail CPI into submission by showing Mani as their trump, then they are wrong. We have strong political principals on this issue and being a party responsible to our cadre and the people who voted for us, we will never go back on it even if we have to make some other strong decisions if it comes to that," said R Prasad, senior CPI leader and member of the state executive committee.

Resentment at the grassroots

From the alleged fake encounter of the Maoists (November 2016) to the use of the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) in the Law Academy, the strike by self-financed colleges (2017) to the Munnar eviction issue, the CPM and CPI have clashed with each other.

But what makes it worse is the simmering resentment at the grassroots level. If local CPI leaders are to be believed, across most of the local bodies, societies and such organisations where the Left parties have an upper hand or are in power, the CPM had been treating in what many of the cadres say "as nothing but a doormat".

"Whenever there is an election to a local body or a society, the CPM will resort to complete arm twisting. Say, if you have 10 seats for polls, they will reduce CPI's share to two. Then when CPI decides to go alone, they would reverse it to 6-4. This is the tactic everywhere. Its like an open feudal mentality of the CPM. Their arrogance is unbearable. Its like you take it or leave it," a local CPI leader from Alappuzha told Firstpost on the condition of anonymity.

The Alappuzha District Panchayat had witnessed a lot of tension after CPI was denied the vice-presidents post that was promised to them earlier. In Anakkayam Panchayat in Mallapuram, there is no Left front as both the CPM and CPI fought the last elections separately.

Similarly, in Kayamkulam municipality, the tensions between the two parties reached such levels that whenever there is a public meeting planned for an issue, it is held independently by both parties. In most places, the front exists only on paper.

Even at the students level both the Student Federation of India (SFI) and All India Students Federation (AISF) have been at loggerheads over a number of issues in the state.

The politics over Munnar

With the National Green Tribunal (NGT) entering into the picture, it would certainly be difficult for the state government to go slow with the Munnar evictions. Hence the Revenue ministry, which is in the hands of CPI is expected to go on an eviction overdrive in the days to come.

For Mani and his local party leaders in Munnar, the big showdown will come if Manis brother Lambodarans name features in the list of encroachers. Lambodaran is said to have encroached close to a whopping 250 acres of land in Munnar.

If CPI decides to go public with it, then the fight between the two parties will take a new dimension. Already, both parties are on two sides with the revenue minister openly asking the district and revenue officials to go ahead with the eviction while Mani had called the Devikulam sub-collector a "mad man who needs to be sent to an asylum" for doing his job.

In 2007, during Munnar's first anti-encroachment drive, the roles were reversed such that when VS Achuthananthans team of "cats" had come close to demolish CPIs office, all hell broke lose and the government had to call off the mission.

An untimely death of the second anti-encroachment mission is also a probability but so far at least the revenue ministry has shown intent and even CPI state secretary has openly declared that Munnar evictions will happen. A stalemate which could go either way is in the offing.

The new realignment

Even the staunchest of the Left fronts critics are not ready to put their money on a break-up of the front.

The newfound love of the CPM for Mani is also seen by many as an attempt to fish in troubled waters. Mani still holds a sizeable sway among the Christian voters in central Kerala which has traditionally kept away from the reds. Many feel that by backing Mani openly and making him accept it openly, the CPM has achieved its strategy of distancing Mani from the Congress forever.

Killing two birds with one stone seems to be the strategy. Perhaps, the CPM also feels that a CPI exit can be substituted with the entry of Manis KC(M). But many feel it would not be as easy as it seems.

"It is not easy for Mani to get into this front. Firstly, CPI will fight it by tooth and nail. Secondly, Manis vote bank which is the catholic Christian vote will never go with him if he jumps to the Left. Also letting CPI go will have immense ramifications at the national level. Someone like Pinarayi might have plans to get Mani in through the back door, but thats a different matter," S Jayashankar, a political observer told Firstpost.

If Mani indeed makes it to the Left front, it will also upset the applecart that the BJP was trying to build. After the BDJS experiment, the NDA had surely had its eyes on Manis vote bank. In days to come, Kerala would surely see a political churning that would ultimately lead into the 2019 parliamentary elections and closer to it the real picture will emerge.
Editor's note: In a three-part series, Firstpost analyses the complex Presidential election in India. In Part I of the series we looked the election process and how the constitution gives equal weight to the Union of India as well as the states. In Part II we analysed how different parties and camps are stacked up in terms of number of votes in the electoral college. This is Part III of the series where we will analyse at whether a united opposition can defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is slightly short of the magical mark and has a few dissenting voices like Shiv Sena who can spoil its chances.

A rout in election after election at the hands of BJP has forced the grand old Left front and regional parties to come together and think along the lines of putting up a united candidate. Indian National Congress president Sonia Gandhi is back in business, after realising her son and vice-president of Congress Rahul Gandhi cant lead this sensitive but important assignment. She has held meetings with Nitish Kumar, Sharad Pawar, Sharad Yadav, leaders of the Left Front and other regional parties.

At a gathering of nine parties on late socialist Madhu Limayas 95th birth anniversary on Wednesday, the unity of opposition was stressed upon. Congress leader Digvijaya Singh was quoted in The Economic Times, "All progressive forces now must wage a united fight against BJP and RSS on basis of issues and ideology. It is important not to convert political fight into a mere clash of personalities as BJP and NDA regime are trying in order to divert focus from their policies and administrative failures."

This sums up aptly the rationale behind such unity. Opposition politics has moved on and is now centered on "anti-BJPism" and not "anti-Congressism". This fact will bring cheer to BJP though.

The opposition now is trying to make a strategic shift on how to tackle the surge of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP. Instead of attacking Modi personally, which is actually backfiring, the opposition wants to attack the government on policy and programmes presenting an alternative vision to the country. Taking forward this strategy, Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav met former prime minister Manmohan Singh and is drumming support for co-opting citizen initiatives as proposed by the Yashwant Sinha-led group.

BJP has not yet finalised on a candidate. Names of Sushma Swaraj, Sumitra Mahajan, Nejma Heptullah, etc, are doing the rounds. LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi are out of contention after the Babri Masjid judgement. It may prop up a surprise candidate as well. Besides, naming Pranab Mukherjee for a second term may blunt opposition unity.

The opposition, on the other hand, could field Sharad Pawar, Sharad Yadav or Mulayam Singh. Even Mayawati would not be adverse to this idea in the author's opinion. Acceptability of the name across these parties will be the key for nomination and the most difficult part.

As detailed in Part II of this series, this is the current position of the electoral college based on parties' strength in both houses of the Parliament and the state assemblies.

As per the author's research, BJP is 20,390 votes short of a majority to win the election. Even if it is able to garner the entire votes of Independents across the country, it will be still short by around 5,000 votes. Additionally, the possibility of the entire set of Independents voting for BJP is difficult, as the party would need to negotiate with each person individually which is a daunting task.

This brings the role of the three neutral parties (AIADMK, TRS and BJD) to the forefront. Combined together they have 1.19 lakh votes between them. The AIADMK in Tamil Nadu has 59,000, BJD in Odisha 36,500, and TRS in Telangana has 23,200. All these parties have supported many bills of the NDA government in the last three years. In these three states, the principal opposition party till now has been Congress (Odisha and Telangana) and DMK (UPA partner from Tamil Nadu), which prevented these parties from siding with Congress.

Things, however, have changed in these three states in the recent months. In Odisha, BJP emerged as the second largest party in the panchayat elections held in February 2017 growing at the expense of both BJD and Congress. While its tally jumped eight times (36 to 306), its vote share nearly doubled from 18 percent to 33 percent.

The BJP held its national executive meet in Bhubaneshwar in April, clearly making its intent clear that it aims to wrest power from Naveen Patnaik in 2019. The BJD has noticed BJP's surge in Odisha and realised that its citadel is under threat. A weakened Congress and natural anti-incumbency which develops with long tenure governments (17 years) may help a BJP surge in the state.

All this has made Naveen babu jittery. The anti-BJP front constituent Mamata Banerjee has already met him and emphasised the need to remain united to thwart BJPs plans. The dilemma in front of the BJD is that if it supports a BJP candidate, it risks losing some vote share to the party in the state. On the other hand, his support for a BJP candidate cannot be ruled out as BJD has been a constituent of NDA earlier and may still back BJP in case a consensus emerges. The BJD alone (of the three neutral parties) can help an NDA candidate sail through the election.

As for Telangana, Amit Shah has put the state on his radar to expand in the South. This has complicated matters for TRS which has provided issue-based support to NDA in the Parliament. A weakened Congress means BJP along with TDP may emerge as its key opposition in 2019. The fact that the polls to both Telangana and Odisha assemblies will happen simultaneously with the General Election to Lok Sabha in 2019, at the peak of Modi wave, is also a factor that they will consider. By voting for a BJP candidate, both parties will risk conceding space to BJP in their backyard. Interestingly, support from TRS alone can also help a BJP candidate win the election.

The AIADMK issue, however, is a bit complex. The party is divided between OPS and Sasikala camps, each vying to gain control. The merger talks between the two camps have got stuck. OPS has higher support among MPs in the Parliament while Palaniswami has highest support amongst MLAs as of now. Ideologically, the AIADMK has been close to BJP and also an NDA constituent in the past. The BJP needs the support of only one-third of the AIADMK MPs and MLAs (20,000 votes) to go past the halfway mark. Whether or not AIADMK will support BJP depends on how the merger talks shape up between the two factions in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, BJP has pinned its hope on OPS camp for extra votes.

As we see above, BJP needs the support of just one of these three parties to ensure its candidate becomes the next President of India. If any of these three neutral parties abstain from voting that will also help BJP candidate win.

The opposition is also exploring the chinks in NDAs armour especially the irritant Shiv Sena. Uddhav Thackeray has declared that Shiv Sena could support Sharad Pawar if he contests the elections, for the sake of Maratha pride. Shiv Sena had supported UPAs presidential candidate Pratibha Patil in 2007 in similar conditions.

Shiv Sena has 25,893 votes, and BJP needs to ensure that it keeps them in good humour else it will upset its calculations severely increasing the deficit from the current 20,390 votes to 46,000 votes. In that case, it will need the support of both Independents and one either of TRS or BJD.

Votes of Various Blocks in State Assemblies

To conclude, despite a tight contest (tightest since 1969 as per a Hindustan Times report), BJP is ahead in the presidential race and its candidate is most certainly to win in my opinion. What this does for the opposition is that it gives them a platform to test an anti-BJP front before 2019. What should be its structure, who will be the leader/convener, how many parties may join, can this concept work, what are the hiccups, unique selling points etc. BJP is finally set to have its first president from amongst its family.
Hyderabad: The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) on Thursday rallied around the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), stating that the regional party could support the coalition's candidate if it helped Telangana.

"We have been with the NDA whenever it benefited Telangana. We are not with the NDA if it is against Telangana," the TRS leader in the Lok Sabha, AP Jitender Reddy, told PTI.

With Opposition parties trying to put up a common nominee for the poll, Reddy's comments would boost the NDA's chances of installing its candidate in Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Reddy said the TRS would take a final decision on the matter at an appropriate time after assessing whether the NDA needed its support.

The presidential election has to be held before 24 July when President Pranab Mukherjee's term ends.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has been holding consultations with a number of Opposition leaders in a bid to field a joint candidate for the top post.

TRS, which has 15 MPs, is also being supported by two Lok Sabha members  Malla Reddy of the TDP and P Srinivasa Reddy of the YSR Congress.

The electoral college clearly favours the NDA choice for the top constitutional post, more so after the BJPs resounding win in the Uttar Pradesh polls.

Though the BJP-led ruling coalition at the Centre is still short of a clear majority, its leaders are confident of getting the required support.
Rajgir (Bihar):RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Thursday asked his party workers to tie old, non-milking cows outside the houses of BJP leaders to see if they really cared for the animal.

He asked his party men to do so to substantiate his allegation that the BJP and the RSS are using the issue of cow protection for garnering votes.

"BJP leaders and those linked to the RSS are targeting the people belonging to minority communities in the name of gau raksha. They are not doing it for milk but for votes ...Look for old, non-milking cows and tie them outside their houses to see how they treat the animal," he told a RJD national executive meeting.

"Even if the BJP leaders beat you with sticks, bear it and do not resist. We need to show if they are really concerned about cow service," he said.

Prasad slammed the Narendra Modi government over a spurt in attacks on security personnel, saying the prime minister, who talked of a 56-inch chest before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and patted his own back for surgical strikes in PoK, should answer how Pakistani soldiers are entering the Indian territory and beheading our jawans.

The RJD chief, who played a major role in the Mandal movement of 1990 that aimed at ensuring social justice in the country, alleged that the BJP was now "rushing to garland the statues of Dalit icon B R Ambedkar but was doing nothing to uplift deprived sections".

He accused the BJP and the RSS of making efforts to scrap reservation in government jobs and demanded that quota be introduced for three of the four seats of the Shankaracharyas.

The RJD chief also asked his party men to desist from making any comments that could led to strains in the ruling Grand Alliance in Bihar.

"Do not cut off the branch you are sitting on," he told them.

Seven resolutions were passed in the national executive meeting, including one seeking reservation for SCs and STs in the judicial services.

The RJD national executive is being held after a two-day training camp to prepare party workers for the 2019 general elections.

Rabri Devi, RJD vice-president Raghubansh Prasad Singh, Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav, his minister brother Tej Pratap Yadav, Rajya Sabha MP Misa Bharti and party spokesman Manoj Jha were among those who attended the meeting.
Kabul: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has declined invitations by top Pakistani civil and military officials to visit Islamabad, a media report said on Thursday.

Quoting the President's Deputy Spokesman Dawa Khan Minapal, BBC Urdu reported that Ghani, who met Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar and National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq over the past week, rejected their invitations, saying he would not visit Pakistan until Islamabad hands over the perpetrators of terror attacks in Afghanistan.

"I will not go to Pakistan till the perpetrators behind the attacks in Mazar-i-Sharif, the American University (in Kabul) and the Kandahar attacks are handed over to Afghan authorities and until Islamabad takes concrete action against Afghan Taliban on Pakistani soil," Minapal quoted Ghani as saying.

Afghan authorities claimed that the Afghan President, during his meeting with the ISI chief, presented documents relating to investigations into recent attacks in Afghanistan and urged Pakistan to hand over the perpetrators, BBC Urdu reported.

Kabul has long complained about terrorists using sanctuaries on Pakistani soil for launching strikes in Afghanistan - claims that Pakistan has denied.

In the past week, three delegations from Pakistan have visited Kabul to hold talks with the Afghan leadership.

There has been no response from the Foreign Office or military leadership in Pakistan regarding the Afghan President's refusal to visit Pakistan.
Washington: US President Donald Trump is planning to sign an executive order on Thursday that could allow churches and other religious organisations to become more active politically, according to administration officials.

The order will direct the government's Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to exercise "maximum enforcement discretion" over the Johnson Amendment, which prevents churches and other tax-exempt religious organisations from endorsing or opposing political candidates, reports CNN.

It will also provide "regulatory relief" for organisations that object on religious grounds to a provision in Obamacare that mandates employers provide certain health services, including coverage for contraception.

The order will declare that it is the policy of the Trump administration "to protect and vigorously promote religious liberty", a senior administration official said.

Trump plans to sign the order and deliver remarks during an event at the White House on Thursday marking the National Day of Prayer.

The event will bring national religious leaders to the White House, CNN reported.

Briefing reporters Wednesday evening, a senior official downplayed the possibility that churches would soon act as political groups advocating for particular candidates.
Washington: US President Donald Trump vowed to work as a "mediator, an arbitrator or a facilitator" to help broker peace between the Israelis and Palestinians as he welcomed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the White House.

"We will get this done," Trump vowed as he met Abbas on Wednesday.

Trump reiterated the need for Israelis and Palestinians to broker a peace through direct negotiations and called on Palestinian leaders to "speak in a unified voice against incitement to violence and hate".

"There's such hatred, but hopefully there won't be such hatred for very long," Trump said, speaking alongside Abbas in the Roosevelt Room.

The Palestinian leader expressed his support for a two-state solution to the conflict and the long-held Palestinian desire for a capital in East Jerusalem, welcoming Trump's role as a mediator in peace negotiations.

He said he had "hope" about prospects for peace with Trump in that role as he praised the President for his negotiating acumen.

"I believe that we are capable under your leadership and under your courageous stewardship and your wisdom as well as your great negotiating ability.

"I believe we can be partners  true partners to you  to bring about a historic peace treaty," Abbas said through an interpreter. "Now, Mr President, with you we have hope."

Trump expressed his desire to have Palestinians and Israelis draw on the Oslo Accords that Abbas signed as the Palestinian negotiator in 1993 and said he hoped the Palestinian leader would soon sign "the final and most important peace agreement".

The Oslo Accords are a set of agreements between the government of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).

The accords marked the start of the Oslo process, that is aimed at achieving a peace treaty and to fulfil the "right of the Palestinian people to self-determination".

While Trump spoke broadly about his desire for a peace deal and some of the barriers to a deal, Abbas spoke about the specific complaints and demands of Palestinians.

Abbas spoke of the importance of providing solutions that would address the situation of Palestinian refugees and those imprisoned in Israeli prisons, referring to "the suffering of my people".

"It's about time for Israel to end its occupation of our people and of our land," Abbas said, referring to the Palestinian territories in the West Bank under Israeli control.

Trump did not address Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which he had asked the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt, nor did he address the terrorist group Hamas, which controls Gaza and earlier this week opened the door to at least a temporary deal for a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders.

Abbas' visit comes over two months after Netanyahu visited Trump at the White House.
On Thursday, the world will watch if US President Donald Trump's efforts to roll back Obamacare is successful. A newly revised legislation will come up for vote in the House of Representatives, and there is optimism among the president's aides; House majority leader Kevin McCarthy expressed confidence the bill would pass, while several moderate Republican lawmakers who previously objected to the bill said they could now support it.

Keen to score his first major legislative win since taking office in January, Trump threw his own political capital behind the bill, meeting with lawmakers and calling them in an effort to cajole their support. Trump is seeking to make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace Obamacare. Aides said he worked the phones furiously.

A report on CNN said Trump committed to backing an amendment spending $8 billion over five years to fund high-risk pools and go toward patients with pre-existing conditions. In a search for votes, the focus has been almost entirely on moderate lawmakers who were hitherto concerned that the bill will erode too many protections in the Affordable Care Act. Democrats, however, will make the case the bill is far too extreme, no matter what tweaks are made in the end.

The report mentioned White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus saying he is "optimistic about the outcome".

Wavering moderate Republicans had worried that the legislation to overhaul President Barack Obama's 2010 signature healthcare law would leave too many people with preexisting medical conditions unable to afford health coverage.

The compromise proposal

But several Republican sceptics got behind the bill after they met with Trump to float a compromise proposal that is still expected to face unanimous Democratic opposition. The legislation's prospects brightened further after members of the Freedom Caucus, a faction of conservative lawmakers in the House who played a key role in derailing the original version of the bill last month, said they could go along with the compromise.

The key amendment was pushed forth by senator Fred Upton, former chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and an experienced health care legislator. As reported by Vox, Upton was in the White House on Wednesday, and said he worked on the amendment since Monday. It may have been his conversion that persuaded enough wavering Republicans to come onboard.

The earlier proposal

Before Upton came out with his revised version of the bill, the MacArthur amendment had given states the option of opting out of certain insurance reforms, including the requirement that health plans cover essential medical benefits and the ban on charging customers higher premiums if they have pre-existing conditions.

The hardline conservative House Freedom Caucus was quoted as saying by CNBC: "The MacArthur amendment will grant states the ability to repeal cost driving aspects of Obamacare left in place under the original AHCA. While the revised version still does not fully repeal Obamacare, we are prepared to support it to keep our promise to the American people to lower healthcare costs."

First proposal

Opposition from the House Freedom Caucus was cited as among the main reasons that President Donald Trump failed to repeal the American Healthcare Act on 24 March. As reported by The New York Times, the Republican bill would have repealed tax penalties for people without health insurance, rolled back federal insurance standards, reduced subsidies for the purchase of private insurance and set new limits on spending for Medicaid. The bill would have repealed hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes imposed by the Affordable Care Act and would also have cut off federal funds to Planned Parenthood for one year.

House Speaker Paul Ryan had said the bill included "huge conservative wins". But it never won over conservatives who wanted a more thorough eradication of the Act. Nor did it have the backing of more moderate Republicans who were anxiously aware of the Congressional Budget Offices assessment that the bill would leave 24 million more Americans without insurance in 2024, compared with the number who would be uninsured under the current law.

What comes next

However, even if the bill is passed on Thursday, it will have a steep uphill climb in the Senate, where even a few defections could kill the effort. Democrats have also long thought their best chance of stopping the repeal would be in the Senate.

Furthermore, Democrats are also quietly optimistic from the difficulties in the House, that Republicans would face a major backlash from voters ahead of the 2018 mid-term elections, and may end up losing seats.

With inputs from Reuters
French centrist Emmanuel Macron and his far-right presidential rival Marine Le Pen clashed over terrorism, the economy and Europe Wednesday in a bad-tempered TV debate that laid bare their profoundly different visions for the country.

The duel ahead of Sunday's election was billed as a confrontation between Macron's call for openness and pro-market reforms and Le Pen's France-first nationalism.

The tone was set in the opening minutes, with Le Pen branding the former economy minister and investment banker "the candidate of the elite" and the "darling of the system".

Macron replied that Le Pen, the 48-year-old scion of the National Front (FN) party, was "the heir of a system which has prospered from the fury of the French people for decades", adding: "You play with fear."

The 39-year-old frequently branded Le Pen a liar and even a "parasite of the system", who he said lived off the frustrations of France's blocked political system.

On Europe, Le Pen accused Macron of being "submissive" towards German Chancellor Angela Merkel, saying: "France will be led by a woman, either me or Mrs Merkel."

She also accused Macron of an "indulgent attitude" towards Islamic fundamentalism and constantly sought to remind viewers of his role as a minister in unpopular President Francois Hollande's Socialist government.

But Macron was in combative form throughout, repeatedly portraying Le Pen's proposals as simplistic, defeatist or dangerous and targeting her proposals to withdraw France from the euro in particular.

The euro policy "was the big nonsense of Marine Le Pen's programme," he said midway through the 140-minute debate.

Le Pen called the euro, shared by 19 countries in the European Union and blamed by some in France for a rise in prices, as "the currency of bankers, it's not the people's currency."

Trailing in the polls, the debate was probably her last chance to change the dynamics of the race ahead of the final weekend of a long and unpredictable campaign.

According to The New York Times, Macron kept his cool and laid out his policies and plans, however Le Pen spent much of her time attacking him. CNN said that the two candidates spent time talking over each other and that there was little to no moderation.

A poll by the Elabe group for the BFM channel immediately afterwards showed that 63 percent of people interviewed found Macron the most convincing versus 34 percent for Le Pen.

This broadly mirrors forecasts for Sunday's vote.

Macron would win around 59 percent to 41 percent if the vote were held now, surveys suggest, but previous debates during the rollercoaster French campaign have shifted public opinion.

Normalisation of far-Right

The duel marked a new step into the mainstream for Le Pen, whose party was once considered by France's political establishment to be an extremist fringe that should be boycotted.

When her father Jean-Marie Le Pen made it into the final round of the presidential election in 2002, his conservative opponent Jacques Chirac refused to debate with him out of fear of "normalising hate and intolerance".

In the first round of the election on 23 April, Marine Le Pen finished second scoring 21.3 percent after softening the FN's image over the past six years  but without fully removing doubt about the party's core beliefs.

She sees her rise as the consequence of growing right-wing nationalism and a backlash against globalisation seen in the election of Donald Trump in the United States and Britain's decision to leave the European Union.

"I am the candidate of the people of France such as we love it, of the nation that protects jobs, security, our borders," she said in her opening comments.

Abstention factor

The debate was unlikely to have swayed any committed supporters of either candidate, but it could influence the roughly 18 percent of undecided voters and others who were planning to abstain.

Like much of the French press, daily Le Monde deplored a "brutal debate" that was "violent from start to finish".

Many supporters of Communist-backed candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who came fourth in the first round, have said they will not vote on Sunday, comparing the final round as a choice between "the plague and cholera".

President Hollande and members of the government have led warnings about the risk of a Le Pen presidency.

"We are in a zone of absolute danger," warned Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem before the debate. "Do not play Russian roulette with our democracy."

Hollande told reporters that "we shouldn't think the result is a foregone conclusion" and urged Macron, his former adviser and economy minister, to make clear his different vision of France in Europe and the world.

Macron quit the government last August to concentrate on his new centrist political movement En Marche, which has drawn 250,000 members in 12 months.

On Thursday, Macron will hold his final campaign meeting in the southwest town of Albi while Le Pen will have hers in Ennemain in the north.

With inputs from AFP
By Parisa Hafezi

| ANKARA

ANKARA Iran's main pro-reform opposition leaders plan to speak out from their confinement under house arrest this month to publicly back President Hassan Rouhani for re-election, aides say, helping win over voters disillusioned with the slow pace of change.Rouhani was elected in a landslide in 2013 on promises to ease Iran's international isolation and open up society. He is standing for a second term against five other candidates, mostly prominent hardliners, on May 19, with a run-off a week later if no candidate wins more than 50 percent of votes cast in the first round.In his first term, Rouhani expended his political capital pushing through a landmark agreement with global powers to limit Iran's nuclear programme in return for the lifting of international financial sanctions.But even his supporters acknowledge he has made comparatively little progress on his domestic agenda, after promising that Iranians should enjoy the same rights as other people around the world.Some reformist critics say he neglected the cause of curbing the powers of the security forces and rolling back restrictions that govern how Iranians dress, behave, speak and assemble.Nevertheless, Iran's two leading champions of the reform movement, former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi and former parliament speaker Mehdi Karoubi, will urge voters to back him, a spokesman said."The two leaders, like in previous elections, will support the candidate backed by the pro-reform faction," said Ardeshir Amir-Arjomand, the Paris-based spokesman for the two men.Another source close to the opposition leaders said "Mousavi and Karoubi will announce their support for Rouhani a few days before the May 19 vote."Rouhani has already won the backing of former President Mohammad Khatami, considered the spiritual leader of the reformists, who declared his support on his website on Tuesday. Iranian newspapers and broadcasters are banned from publishing the former president's image or mentioning his name.Many reformist voters will look for guidance to Mousavi and Karoubi, who both stood for president in 2009 when opposition to the disputed victory of hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad led to Iran's biggest mass demonstrations since its 1979 revolution.Both men have been held under house arrest for six years, although neither has been convicted of a crime. Their pronouncements from their confinement are eagerly followed by reformists online.

Maryam Zare, a 19-year-old in Tehran who would be voting for president for the first time, said she would vote only if she heard a call to do so from Karoubi and Mousavi."I will vote for whoever they support," she said.Others said they would back Rouhani, but only reluctantly."He is part of the establishment. We have to vote for the lesser of evils," said music teacher Morad Behmanesh in the central city of Yazd. "What happened to Rouhani's promises of releasing the two opposition leaders from house arrest?"PRIORITIES

Under Iran's governing system, the elected president's powers are limited, circumscribed by the authority of the supreme leader, a position held since 1989 by hardline cleric Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.During Rouhani's first term, the president won Khamenei's cautious backing for his nuclear deal. But persuading the leader to accept social change may be a more difficult task.Some of Rouhani's allies say he will now be able to make more progress on his domestic agenda if he wins a clear, fresh mandate for another four-year term, which would prove to the hardliners that the public wants change."Iranians want to be free and live freely. They are not against the Islamic Republic. People will continue to fight for their rights," a senior official in Rouhani's government said on condition of anonymity.But international rights groups and activists in Iran say there were few, if any, moves to bring about greater political and social freedoms during Rouhani's first term. Dozens of activists, journalists, bloggers and artists were jailed on political grounds.Rouhani often suggests that he has no control over such arrests, carried out by the mostly hardline judiciary and the Revolutionary Guards, a powerful military force.

"I have lost my hope over Rouhani's ability to reform the country. His main focus has been economy, not improving civil rights," said Reza, 28, a reformist who was jailed briefly after the 2009 election and asked that his surname not be published for security reasons.The president has had some success on promises to loosen Internet restrictions, but access to social media remains officially blocked, although Rouhani, Khamenei and other officials have their own Twitter accounts.Human Rights Watch said last year that Rouhani had failed to deliver on his promise of greater respect for civil and political rights. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists in 2015 said that more journalists were in jail in Iran than any country other than China and Egypt.The total number of political prisoners held in Iranian jails has not been disclosed. About a dozen people who also hold other nationalities have been jailed for what rights groups consider political offences.Whoever wins Irans presidential election should prioritise improving the countrys dismal human rights situation," said Louis Charbonneau, U.N. director at Human Rights Watch. "Iran has maintained the highest per capita execution rate in the world for years ... it put 530 people to death last year, many for drug offences and a number of them minors."Rouhani benefits because reformist voters have no other choice on the ballot, where candidates are vetted by a hardline body.Reformist voters will have to judge him in the context of what is possible under the system, said Saeed Leylaz, a prominent economist imprisoned under Ahmadinejad for criticising economic policy, who is now close to Rouhani's government."Rouhani's failure to fully deliver his promises on social reforms will impact the vote ... but Iranians are well aware of his limitations and his achievements." (Writing by Parisa Hafezi; editing by Peter Graff)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Seoul: North Korean state media have issued a stinging denunciation of the country's chief ally and diplomatic backer China, saying Beijing should be grateful for its protection. The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) carried a bylined commentary warning of "grave consequences" if China tests its patience further.

Beijing and Pyongyang have a relationship forged in the blood of the Korean War, and the Asian giant remains its wayward neighbour's main provider of aid and trade. But ties have begun to fray in recent years, with China increasingly exasperated by the North's nuclear antics, fearful of a regional crisis.

Beijing regularly calls for parties to avoid raising tensions  remarks that can apply to both Washington and Pyongyang  and in February it announced the suspension of coal imports from the North for the rest of the year, a crucial foreign currency earner for the authorities.

Chinese state-run media have called for harsher sanctions against the North in the event of a fresh atomic test, urged Pyongyang to "avoid making mistakes at this time", and spoken of the need for it to abandon its nuclear programmes.

The KCNA commentary bylined Kim Chol  believed to be a pseudonym  denounced the "reckless remarks" and said nothing will shake Pyongyang's determination.

"The DPRK will never beg for the maintenance of friendship with China, risking its nuclear programme which is as precious as its own life," it said, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The commentary late Wednesday added that Pyongyang had acted as a buffer between Beijing and Washington since the Korean War in the 1950s, "contributed to protecting peace and security of China" and that its ally should "thank the DPRK for it".

Beijing should not try to test the limits of the North's patience, it said, warning: "China had better ponder over the grave consequences to be entailed by its reckless act of chopping down the pillar of the DPRK-China relations."

The text is a sign of the level to which ties between the two have deteriorated -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has yet to visit Beijing, more than five years after taking power.

Washington is meanwhile pushing Beijing to put more pressure on Pyongyang.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson last week warned the UN Security Council of "catastrophic consequences" if the international community -- most notably China -- failed to pressure the North into abandoning its weapons programme.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi brushed aside Tillerson's comments, saying that "the key to solving the nuclear issue on the peninsula does not lie in the hands of the Chinese side".
A Silicon Valley "flying car" startup, Kitty Hawk, reportedly backed by Google co-founder Larry Page, announced plans for deliveries of a "personal flying machine" this year.

"Our mission is to make the dream of personal flight a reality. We believe when everyone has access to personal flight, a new, limitless world of opportunity will open up to them," said a statement on the website of the Kitty Hawk company, based in Google's home town of Mountain View, California.

"Today we're announcing our first prototype of The Flyer, a personal flying machine that will become available for sale by the end of 2017."

A video released by the company showed the single-seat aircraft  with two pontoons and a spider web-like platform  taking off from a lake at an undisclosed location and hovering above the water, where it is meant to be used.

The craft, propelled by eight rotors, takes off and lands vertically, like a helicopter. It is said to weigh about 220 pounds (100 kilograms) and fly at speeds up to 25 miles per hour (40 kph). and can hover at 15 feet (4.5 meters) high.

The company describes the Flyer as "a new, all-electric aircraft," which is "safe, tested and legal to operate in the United States in uncongested areas" under US federal regulations for ultralight aircraft. No pilot's license is required, and two hours' training is said to be all that is needed.

The website offered few details about the company, but several reports in recent months have said Page has poured millions of dollars into Kitty Hawk and another electric car startup.

Kitty Hawk president Sebastian Thrun, a Stanford University computer science professor who has been called the father of Google's self-driving car, tweeted: "Changing the future of personal transportation. Join us @kittyhawkcorp to get information about #theFlyer prototype."

The company announced it was offering three-year "memberships" for $100 to be placed on a waiting list and to get a discount on the price of the new transporter. The price is to be announced later this year.

However, the startup offered only limited details about the company.

Kitty Hawk said the flyer going on sale later this year will have a different design than the prototype.

A blog post by writer Cimeron Morrissey, who took the flyer for a test run, offered some clues on how it feels.

"The prototype looks and feels a lot like a flying motorcycle. You mount the seat and lean forward, just like you would on a bike," she wrote.

"I feel light and ecstatic and utterly free. This is just like my flying dreams!"

Several other companies, including European conglomerate Airbus, have been working on similar flying machines.
London: Prince Philip, who announced on Thursday that he was stepping back from public life, has been Queen Elizabeth II's loyal consort for almost 70 years but has often hit the headlines for his salty off-the-cuff comments.

The 95-year-old has attended countless British and foreign engagements, as well as being patron or president of almost 800 organisations.

Officially known as the Duke of Edinburgh, the gaffe-prone former Royal Navy officer has often been in the news for the wrong reasons.

But the queen emphasised his importance in a 1997 speech marking their golden wedding anniversary, saying he "has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years".

Observers said he was the glue that held the royal family together during a series of divorces by three of his four offspring.

The late Princess Diana addressed him as 'Dearest Pa' in letters in which he offered solace over her deteriorating marriage to his eldest son, heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles.

Philip met the then Princess Elizabeth just before the outbreak of World War II, and they exchanged letters while he served with the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean and the Pacific.

After their marriage in 1947, they spent time in Malta, where he was posted  only for their lives to be changed overnight by the premature death of her father, king George VI, in 1952.

He once admitted the curtailment of his career was "disappointing", but said that "being married to the queen, it seemed to me that my first duty was to serve her in the best way I could".

Philip was an early champion of the conservation movement, serving as the first president of the British branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) from its foundation in 1961 to 1982.

He also gave his name to the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, a youth achievement scheme offering a range of physical and mental challenges to build confidence and life skills.

Since it began in 1956, more than eight million young people have taken part  although he has insisted its success has little to do with him.

He also has a keen interest in scientific and technological research and development. In a rare interview to mark his 90th birthday, the prince admitted he had carved out his role by "trial and error".

"There was no precedent. If I asked somebody, 'What do you expect me to do?' they all looked blank. They had no idea," he told the BBC.

The self-described "cantankerous old sod" is well known for his unvarnished humour, which endears him to some but has been diplomatically embarrassing. "You managed not to get eaten, then?" was one typical remark to a British student who had trekked in Papua New Guinea in 1998.

And on a historic state visit to China in 1986, he warned a group of British students, "If you stay here much longer, you'll all be slitty-eyed."

Philip was born on a kitchen table on the Greek island of Corfu on 10 June, 1921, the only son of Prince Andrew of Greece  the younger brother of Greece's King Constantine  and Princess Alice of Battenberg.

Aged just 18 months, his family were evacuated on a Royal Navy ship from politically unstable Greece, with the infant reputedly carried in a cot made from an orange box.

They settled in Paris, and at seven Philip was sent away to school in England, before attending secondary school at Gordonstoun in Scotland.

He became a Royal Navy cadet following the outbreak of war in 1939. By 1945, he was a first lieutenant and witnessed the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay with the British Pacific Fleet.

He and the princess announced their engagement in July 1947 and tied the knot four months later on 20 November, in front of 2,000 guests at London's Westminster Abbey.

He gave up his Greek title  Prince Philippos of Greece and Denmark  and became a naturalised British subject.

The duke has largely been blessed with robust health, but has been admitted to hospital with various complaints as he advanced into his 90s.

In 2011, he said, "I reckon I've done my bit so I want to enjoy myself a bit now. It's better to get out before you reach the sell-by date."
Islamabad: Pakistan said on Thursday that "provocative statements" by India will further vitiate the regional environment, a day after New Delhi asserted that the mutilation of Indian soldiers' bodies was carried out with the active participation of the Pakistani army.

Foreign office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria, while reacting to Defence Minister Arun Jaitley's remarks, told Radio Pakistan that Pakistan has made it clear that no incident of mutilation of bodies of Indian soldiers has taken place.

India has lost every right of taking any of its allegations before the United Nations because it has never abided by the world body neither has it cooperated with the UN Military Observers Group established for this purpose, Zakaria claimed.

He said "provocative statements" by India will further vitiate the regional environment.

Zakaria said India has always used the "Pakistan card" for its internal political manoeuvring and diverting world attention from its "atrocities" in Kashmir.

Jaitley yesterday had rubbished Pakistan's claim that its military was not involved in mutilating the bodies of two Indian soldiers at the LoC, asserting that the denial of the "barbaric act" carried no credibility.

Jaitley had said cover fire was provided to those who killed and mutilated the bodies of the two soldiers and Pakistan helped the perpetrators escape.

Naib Subedar Paramjeet Singh and BSF Head Constable Prem Sagar were slain by Pakistan's Border Action Team (BAT) which had sneaked 250 metres into the Indian territory in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on May 1.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said a Moscow-backed plan to set up so-called de-escalation zones inside Syria would "50 percent" solve the six-year conflict, in comments published Thursday.

Erdogan on Wednesday discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin a plan floated by Moscow for "de-escalation zones" to be set up in several areas in Syria.

Speaking to Turkish reporters aboard his plane flying back from the meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Erdogan said such zones would include Idlib, part of Aleppo province, El-Rastan in Homs province, a part of Damascus and part of Daraa.

"I hope that if this is implemented then 50 percent of the Syrian issue can be solved," he said in comments published on the websites of the Hurriyet and Yeni Safak dailies.

Details on what the de-escalation zones would comprise have been thin so far but Erdogan described the plan as a "new concept" and distinct from Ankara's previous proposals for terror-free safe zones.

Turkey and Russia have been on sharply opposing sides in the Syria conflict, with Moscow supporting President Bashar al-Assad but Ankara pushing for his ouster.

Relations reached a dangerous low in November 2015 when Turkish warplanes shot down a Russian fighter jet over the Syrian border.

But a normalisation deal was reached last year and the two sides have been working ever more closely in a joint effort to end the fighting in Syria.

Yet tensions remain, and Erdogan said he had personally shown Putin at the talks a photograph purportedly showing Russian forces in Syria with Kurdish militia that Ankara deems to be a terror group.

He said Putin promised that Russian weapons were not ending up in the hands of the Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) and vowed to investigate the picture.

Turkey and Russia have also championed peace talks taking place in the Kazakh capital Astana but these hit a snag Tuesday when pro-Ankara Syrian rebels said Wednesday they were suspending their participation after air strikes.

But Erdogan said the issue had been solved after intervention by Turkey's powerful intelligence chief Hakan Fidan.

"Mr Hakan immediately stepped in, had discussions and the opposition were again satisfied to take part in the talks," Erdogan said.
Colombo: Sri Lanka's main Tamil party today said it was "deeply perturbed" by the government's policy on a proposed counter-terrorism law as it curtails civil liberties and has the potential for abuse.

The Tamil National Alliance said in a statement they were "shocked" by the extent to which the draft framework "curtails civil liberties, erodes judicial control over the state security apparatus and the staggering potential for abuse and torture."

The party, however, said they were not opposed to a legal framework per se against terrorism.

"We are unequivocally committed to supporting a legal framework that would prevent and punish acts of terrorism in a manner that is lawful, in compliance with fundamental rights and the rule of law," it said.

"We are, therefore, deeply perturbed by the turn the government's latest draft has taken."

The proposed Counter Terrorism Act (CTA) is to replace the current Prevention of Terrorism Act, which was enacted in 1979 to deal with the growing Tamil separatist militancy.

The PTA has been criticised by Tamil and rights activists as it allows indefinite detention of people without charges.

During the over three-decade armed campaign by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), many activists of the rebel organisation were held under the PTA.

But according to a proposal by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the CTA aims at ensuring full compliance with Sri Lanka's rights obligations while dealing with terrorism.

The TNA, however, in the statement said that the proposed definition of terrorism would extend far beyond activities defined internationally as terrorism, replicating restrictions on free speech that have previously been used to punish dissenting voices.

"The definitions are also exceedingly vague and indeterminate, and would have a chilling effect on advocacy in favour of greater diversity in Sri Lanka," it

said, adding that the current government was under pressure from international rights watchdogs to repeal the "draconian" Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
ASTANA Syria's armed opposition on Thursday rejected a Russian plan to create safe zones in Syria, calling it a threat to the country's territorial integrity, and said it would also not recognise Iran as a guarantor of any ceasefire plan.Turkey, which supports Syrian rebels, and Iran, which backs Syrian President Bashar Assad, agreed earlier in the day to Russia's proposal for "de-escalation zones" in Syria, a move welcomed by the United Nations."We want Syria to maintain its integrity," opposition delegate Osama Abu Zaid said after Russia, Turkey and Iran - the sponsors of talks in the Kazakh capital Astana aimed at ending Syria's fighting - signed a memorandum on creating safe zones.

"We are against the division of Syria. As for the agreements, we are not a party to that agreement and of course we will never be in favour (of it) as long as Iran is called a guarantor state," Abu Zaid said.He also cited what he called "a huge gap" between the promises of Russia, which intervened militarily in 2015 on Assad's side and gave him back the upper hand in the conflict.

"We have an agreement already (in) our hands, why isnt it implemented? There is an agreement...signed five months ago, why hasn't it been implemented?" he said, referring to a truce deal announced by Russia in December that was largely ignored on the ground. "Why are we jumping now to safe zones?" "Russia was not able to or does not want to implement the pledges it makes, and this is a fundamental problem."

Several opposition delegates walked out in protest, briefly interrupting the signing of the safe zones memorandum.Russia, Turkey and Iran did not immediately publish the memorandum, leaving its details unclear. But the safe zones appear intended to be conflict-free in order to help widen a ceasefire, and would potentially be policed by foreign troops.Senior Russian negotiator Alexander Lavrentyev told reporters on Thursday that under the plan Russia could send observers to safe zones. Third-party monitors could also be invited provided Iran and Turkey agreed, he said. (Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov and Raushan Nurshayeva; writing by Dmitry Solovyov; editing by Vladimir Soldatkin and Mark Heinrich)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Philip Pullella

| VATICAN CITY

VATICAN CITY U.S. President Donald Trump will meet Pope Francis on May 24, the Vatican said on Thursday, a potentially awkward encounter given their diametrically opposing positions on immigration, refugees and climate change.Trump will be coming from the Middle East and stop in Rome before going to Brussels for a NATO summit and then to Sicily for a meeting of the Group of Seven rich countries.The Vatican said the meeting would take place at 8:30 a.m. (0630 GMT) on a Wednesday in the Apostolic Palace, an unusual day and an unusually early time for a head of state to meet the pope. Francis holds his weekly general audience on Wednesday mornings, and senior Vatican sources said the meeting with the president had to be squeezed in before that.

Just last Saturday, the pope told reporters aboard the plane returning from a trip to Egypt that he was not aware of any request from Trump for a meeting. He repeated the policy that a pope meets with any head of state who asks for a private audience.Trump's first foreign trip originally was to have included only Brussels and Sicily but was later expanded to include Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican.Besides being leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, the pope is a head of state. Such meetings allow for an exchange of views on world affairs and a chance for the pope to encourage ethical solutions to world problems.

Last year, in response to an answer about then-candidate Trump's views on immigration and his intention to build a wall on the border with Mexico, Francis said a man with those views is "not Christian".Trump, who grew up in a Presbyterian family, shot back saying it was "disgraceful" for the pope to question his faith.

In March, Cardinal Peter Turkson, a close aide of the pope, urged Trump to listen to "dissenting voices" and reconsider his position on climate change, after Trump signed an executive order dismantling Obama-era environmental legislation.Francis has made defence of the environment a key plank of his papacy, strongly backing scientific opinion that global warming is caused mostly by human activity.About 21 percent of Americans, or 70 million people, are Catholic. Washington has had full diplomatic relations with the Vatican since 1984, when President Ronald Reagan saw the Vatican under Pope John Paul, a Pole, as a crucial ally against communism. (Reporting By Philip Pullella)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump will travel to Saudi Arabia and Israel this month as part of his first foreign trip, wading directly into the tangled diplomacy of Middle Eastern politics, a senior administration official said on Thursday.The swing through the Middle East, added to a trip that includes a NATO meeting in Brussels on May 25 and the Group of Seven summit in Sicily on May 26, suggests Trump is seeking to reinforce alliances with top U.S. allies in the region.Trump's predecessor President Barack Obama had a testy relationship with Israel and Saudi Arabia. Leaders in both nations viewed Obama as less concerned with traditional alliances than with negotiating a deal to rein in Iran's nuclear program.

Trump has made forging peace in the Middle East and fighting Islamic State a focus of his administration's foreign policy.Trump complained in an interview with Reuters last week that Saudi Arabia was not treating the United States fairly and Washington was losing a tremendous amount of money defending the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia's powerful Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Trump in Washington in March in a visit hailed by a senior Saudi advisor as a "historical turning point" in U.S.-Saudi relations.Trump, who met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in February, has assigned his son-in-law Jared Kushner to oversee efforts to broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.

Trump met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House on Wednesday but gave no details of how he would revive long-stalled peace talks.Trump will also stop in Rome to meet Pope Francis at the Vatican as part of the trip, the official said. Senior sources told Reuters Trump was expected to meet the Pope on May 24.Politico first reported the details of the trip. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton, Steve Holland and Susan Heavey; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and James Dalgleish)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Andrew Cawthorne and Alexandra Ulmer

| CARACAS

CARACAS Venezuelan security forces battled protesters who lit fires and hurled stones on Wednesday in rage at President Nicolas Maduro's decree to create an alternative congress, with another fatality taking the death toll to 34 during a month of unrest. In a familiar pattern in protests against the socialist government, thousands of opposition supporters rallied peacefully at first before being blocked, sparking fights around the city between masked youths and soldiers.One 17-year-old protester died in the melee from an object that hit him in the neck, said Gerardo Blyde, a district mayor for the opposition."A young man with all his life ahead. He simply fought for a better country," Blyde said on Twitter of the case which the Venezuelan state prosecutor's office said it would investigate.More than 200 people were injured as fights raged in various parts of the capital, Blyde and another opposition mayor said.Marchers tried to reach the National Assembly legislature, where the opposition has a majority, to protest Maduro's creation of an alternative "popular" congress viewed by foes as a ruse to dodge free elections and cling to power.They were pushed back by National Guard troops with teargas, armored vehicles and riot shields on the Francisco Fajardo highway, which runs through the middle of the city. "They are mobilized as if this was a war," said opposition leader Henrique Capriles, broadcasting from the scene via the Periscope app favored by protest leaders.On the opposition side, youths donned gas masks and bandanas, throwing Molotov cocktails and using slingshots to fire stones. They protected themselves with homemade shields, painted in bright colors and decorated with slogans like "Liberty!" and "Murderer Maduro!"Local media published footage showing two protesters being knocked over by a National Guard vehicle. Both survived.With demonstrators erecting barricades and police helicopters whirring overhead, at least three opposition lawmakers were injured, activists said. "An injury by the dictatorship is a badge of honor," tweeted First Justice legislator Freddy Guevara, who said he was hit by a tear gas canister.

Opposition leaders have vowed to stay in the streets after Maduro's announcement on Monday that he was creating the "constituent assembly" which is empowered to rewrite the constitution. "It's a tool to avoid free elections. We've been marching 18 years but this is our last card. It's all or nothing," said pensioner Miren Bilbao, 66, with friends and family on the Francisco Fajardo highway.While the opposition was keeping up momentum, it was unclear how the protests could achieve their aims after demonstrations in 2014 failed to dislodge Maduro. Back then, however, the opposition was splintered, protests failed to spread to poor areas and the economy was in better shape."WE DESERVE PEACE"

Maduro, 54, the former bus driver who narrowly won election to replace Hugo Chavez in 2013, says his foes are seeking a violent coup with the connivance of the United States and encouragement of international media.Officials say violence around the protests, and the opposition's unwillingness to hold talks, left Maduro with no choice but to shake up Venezuela's governing apparatus.

During a meeting with election officials on Wednesday, Maduro said a vote for the new assembly would take place in coming weeks. At least half of the members would be chosen by grassroots groups including workers, indigenous people and farmers, and the rest in a vote, Maduro has said, although details remained fuzzy."The new constituent process starting today will consolidate the Republic and bring to the nation the peace that we all deserve," he said, clutching a pocket-size blue constitution and later dancing to the beat of drums. "The Republic must defend itself from terrorism," he added, joining supporters in a rally downtown after presenting his plans to the national election board, which backed the move.The opposition is seeking to hold state gubernatorial elections delayed from 2016 and bring forward the 2018 presidential vote amid a devastating economic crisis. It says Maduro's use of a "constituent assembly" is a cynical ploy to confuse citizens into thinking he has made concessions when in fact he is seeking to tweak the system to avoid elections the Socialist Party would likely lose.

Maduro's move has drawn condemnation from the United States and some Latin American countries, including regional powerhouse Brazil that labeled it a "coup."An influential group of U.S. senators filed sweeping legislation on Wednesday to address the crisis in Venezuela, including sanctioning individuals responsible for undermining democracy or involved in corruption.But backing has come from regional leftist allies including Cuba. Bolivia's President Evo Morales said Venezuela had the right to "decide its future... without external intervention."On top of the latest death on Wednesday, officials announced four more fatalities on Tuesday. Two people died when a vehicle tried to avoid a protester barricade in the state of Carabobo, Venezuela's Civil Protection agency tweeted late on Tuesday. Angel Moreira, 28, who was on a motorbike on a highway leading out of Caracas, also died after a vehicle ran him over while trying to avoid a demonstration, the state prosecutor's office said on Wednesday. In addition, the office said Yonathan Quintero, 21, had been killed while a group was "damaging" a business after a protest in the Carabobo state capital of Valencia.Energy Minister Luis Motta said late on Tuesday "a right-wing terrorist plan to paralyze the country" had cut a submarine cable that provided electricity to the palm-tree-studded Caribbean island of Margarita, plunging it into darkness. The president of state oil company PDVSA, Eulogio Del Pino, said "terrorists" had captured a company tanker truck in the western state of Lara, tweeting pictures of it in flames.The opposition scoffs that an inept government blames Maduro critics as a smokescreen for rampant crime and lack of maintenance that have Venezuela's infrastructure creaking. (Additional reporting by Diego Ore, Andreina Aponte, Corina Pons, Brian Ellsworth, Deisy Buitrago and Eyanir Chinea in Caracas, Isaac Urrutia in Maracaibo, Maria Ramirez in Puerto Ordaz, and Patricia Zengerle in Washington; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer and Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Diane Craft and Andrew Hay)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
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Over the past decade, the world's biggest banks have only gotten bigger, as growth and industry consolidation have continued to bolster their balance sheets.The 10 largest financial institutions in the world now have market capitalizations of at least $100 billion each.

Bank Market Capitalization at End of Q1 2017 JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) $319 billion Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) $282 billion Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) $257 billion Industrial & Commercial Bank of China $246 billion China Construction Bank $202 billion Citigroup $165 billion HSBC $161 billion Agricultural Bank of China $157 billion Bank of China $155 billion Commonwealth Bank of Australia $119 billion

Data source: Bank of America.

JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America can all thank major acquisitions for their places at the top of the list. In 2008 alone:

JPMorgan Chase bought Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual.

Wells Fargo more than doubled in size by acquiring Wachovia.

Bank of America inked its long-desired purchase of Merrill Lynch.

Moreover, given that most banks are leveraged by a factor of 10-to-1 or more, market capitalization gives only a partial hint of these banks' true size. To this end, JPMorgan Chase has $2.6 trillion worth of assets on its balance sheet, compared with $2.3 trillion at Bank of America and $2.0 trillion at Wells Fargo.

Image source: Getty Images.

And you can even take this one step further by including assets under management and/or custody. These aren't held on a bank's balance sheet but instead are merely administered on behalf of clients, who retain the assets on their own balance sheets.

That would add $481 billion to Wells Fargo's heft, $2.6 trillion to Bank of America (if you factor in all of its clients balances), and nearly $25 trillion to JPMorgan Chase, which serves as one of only a handful of custodial banks, overseeing trillions of dollars' worth of assets for institutional investors.

Most of the other banks on this list, aside from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and HSBC, are based in China. This illustrates the point that Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, has made repeatedly over the past few years: If regulators in the United States break up the country's biggest banks, they'll cede the apex of global finance to institutions in China.

"I do not want any American to look back in 20 years and try to figure out how and why America's banks lost the leadership position in financial services," Dimon wrote in his 2015 shareholder letter. "If not us, it will be someone else and likely a Chinese bank."

The thing to watch going forward, in turn, is whether China's banks will in fact eventually emerge on top. The country is growing faster, it faces less stringent financial regulations, and its banks have the express backing of the government, given the blurring between public and private institutions in the East Asian country.

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The massive needs for spending on infrastructure and support for poverty alleviation mean the Asian Development Bank can work with, not compete against China's new infrastructure lender, ADB President Takehiko Nakao said Thursday.

Speaking as the ADB began its annual meeting Thursday in Yokohama, Japan, Nakao told reporters he hopes for more cooperation with the Beijing-backed Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank.

"We can complement each other," Nakao said. "The financing needs are so large so we don't need to regard the AIIB as a kind of a rival in that regard. We can cooperate," he said, noting that the two lenders have already agreed on three co-financing projects.

The ADB has been led by Japan and the U.S. since its founding in 1966, and China joined in 1986. Japan and the U.S. have not joined the AIIB, and some critics question China's motives, concerned it may use its financial heft to further its geopolitical influence without enough regard for the benefit or financial health of countries that may borrow from it.

Nakao said it was important for the projects supported by AIIB to be economically sound.

As a developing country, China still borrows from the regional lender, though these days much of that financing goes to mitigating the impacts of climate change, Nakao said.

The ADB has worked for a half-century to fight poverty and support the Asia-Pacific region's ascent as a global center of growth, but poverty remains a daunting problem for such lenders. The more than 5,500 bankers and other leaders gathered in Yokohama are assessing how they can support growth as income inequality grows in both rich and poor countries.

In the early days, the Manila, Philippines-based ADB leadership sought a role as a "family doctor" in supporting its members, who now number 67, mostly in the farm sector.

These days the bank is more focused on lending for a wide range of projects, promoting good policies and supporting social sector projects, including clinics and schools  in addition to infrastructure such as bridges and roads.

The ADB, which commits about 70 percent of its spending to backing infrastructure development, estimates more than $26 trillion will be needed by 2030 for such projects. In 2016, it issued loans totaling $31.7 billion, up 18 percent from the year before.

Among many other projects, the ADB over the years has financed maternity clinics in Bangladesh, flood-control work in Chinese cities, tuna fishing in Indonesia, irrigation repairs in Nepal and fiber-optic cable connecting Tonga to the rest of the world.

The past 50 years have seen Asia's share in global commerce more than double to nearly a third of the total in 2015. Meanwhile, average lifespans have growth to 74 years in East Asia and the Pacific and to 68 in South Asia, from 49 years and 45 years, respectively.

But about 330 million people in Asia live in absolute poverty, on less than $1.90 a day, Nakao said.

He emphasized the need to maintain stability and keep trade open, though he said he did not think trade is suffering from backtracking on agreements such as the U.S. withdrawal from a Pacific Rim trade pact, the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

"Of course free trade is important, but it's too early to say that protectionism is harming Asia," Nakao said.

"Even if some countries want to adjust arrangements I don't think it will have a major impact on trade flows," he said.
HSBC Holdings on Thursday reported a 19 percent fall in first quarter profit, as Europe's biggest bank battles to restore flagging revenues following its restructuring.

HSBC said pretax profit for the first three months of the year fell to $5 billion, down from $6.1 billion a year ago and better than the $4.3 billion average of analysts' estimates compiled by the bank.

The profit decline was due to a change in the accounting treatment of the fair value on its debt and as year-ago earnings included the operating results of the Brazil business that it sold in July, it said.

Revenue in the quarter dropped 13 percent to $13 billion. The bank said it completed its $1 billion share buy back in April, after which its common equity tier 1 ratio - a measure of its financial strength - was 14.3 percent.

Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver said in a statement the bank had now exceeded the risk-weighted asset reduction target that it set in 2015 and would continue to remove low-return risk-weighted assets.

Shareholders at the bank's annual general meeting last week overwhelmingly voted in favor of reelecting Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver to the lender's board, in an affirmation of his strategy in recent years to shrink and refocus the bank.

Gulliver and outgoing Chairman Douglas Flint have sought to unwind much of the empire-building of their predecessors since their appointments in 2010 - a response to a tough environment of low interest rates and increased regulation.

HSBC reported in February a much worse than expected set of full year results for 2016, marred by hefty writedowns and costs from its restructuring efforts.

(Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee and Lawrence White; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
The Latest on Oklahoma City firefighters removing riders from a stuck roller coaster (all times local):

2:20 p.m.

Firefighters say 19 people have been safely rescued from a roller coaster that was stuck on the tracks at an Oklahoma City amusement park.

Fire Lt. Ray Lujan says the last person was removed from the Silver Bullet at Frontier City shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday and no injuries are reported. The ride became stuck about 11:30 a.m.

Lujan says it isn't clear how high off the ground the group was when the ride became stuck, but that the roller coaster is 83 feet tall at its highest point.

Frontier City issued a statement saying the company and the Oklahoma Department of Labor are investigating the incident.

___

1 p.m.

Riders who are stuck atop an Oklahoma City roller coaster are slowly being helped to a catwalk down from a peak on the ride.

Oklahoma City fire Lt. Ray Lujan says crews with expertise in knot-tying and working at heights and tough angles are helping to rescue the riders Thursday.

No injuries have been reported.

It isn't clear how many passengers are stuck and how high off the ground.

Frontier City amusement park said in a statement to TV station KFOR that park personnel helped to remove some riders from the Silver Bullet coaster.

___

12:30 p.m.

Firefighters are helping to remove riders from roller coaster cars that got stuck on the tracks at an Oklahoma City amusement park.

The Oklahoma City Fire Department says no one is hurt. The department tweeted about its emergency response shortly before noon Thursday.

The cars are stuck atop a peak on the roller coaster track. It isn't clear how many passengers are stuck and how high off the ground.

Frontier City amusement park said in a statement to TV station KFOR that park personnel helped to remove some riders from the Silver Bullet coaster. Firefighters are assisting others.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) plans to open nearly 100 new retail, delivery and service locations worldwide this year, as the upstart electric car maker prepares for its biggest test yet: the Model 3.

With the Model 3, Tesla is making its first foray into the mainstream vehicle market. The Model 3 sedan will start at $35,000, making it Teslas most affordable vehicle to date. Analysts are closely watching the Model 3s launch, using it as a gauge for whether Tesla can meet its goal of building 500,000 vehicles in 2018. The company is on pace to produce around 100,000 Model S and Model X units in 2017, according to CEO Elon Musk.

In its quarterly earnings report Wednesday, Tesla said it will expand its geographic footprint to support future owners. The addition of nearly 100 locations marks a 30% increase in global facilities, according to the company. The plans include Teslas first stores in Dubai and South Korea, which opened during the first quarter.

We are building larger service centers over time that have more lifts. Our initial service centers, it might have had two or three lifts. Were building service centers with 40 lifts to 60 lifts, sometimes 80 lifts, Jonathan McNeill, Teslas head of global sales, said during a conference call with analysts.

Tesla also said it intends to open body repair shops for the first time this year and add more than 100 mobile repair trucks in the second quarter.

Tesla previously announced that it will double the number of superchargers available to owners.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company more than doubled its revenue to $2.7 billion in the first quarter, although its losses widened to $330 million from $283 million a year earlier.
United Airlines will be back in the hot seat on Thursday when the U.S. Congress holds its second hearing this week to examine the circumstances surrounding the forced removal of a passenger from a Chicago flight last month.

United President Scott Kirby was to join Chicago Department of Transportation Commissioner Ginger Evans at a U.S. Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing into the state of airline travel, following the high-profile dragging of a 69-year-old passenger from a United flight on April 9.

Amid looming threats of increased oversight of the largely deregulated industry, United hopes to impress the panel that the U.S. sector can best regulate its own practices, including implementing enough customer service-minded changes to improve passenger satisfaction.

Also slated to testify on Thursday are Sara Nelson, the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, and Sharon Pinkerton, an official at the airline trade group Airlines for America.

At a tense Tuesday hearing held by a U.S. House of Representatives committee, lawmakers threatened United and other carriers with legislation aimed at improving customer service.

Top airline executives promised to address customer service failures at the hearing, held to consider ways to address passenger frustrations with problems such as overbooking.

Despite lawmakers' warnings, airlines on Tuesday breathed a sigh of relief that no immediate plans were outlined to tighten regulations on the industry.

Last month, United faced international scorn when video circulated showing a paying passenger, David Dao, being dragged from his seat on United Flight 3411 at Chicago O'Hare International Airport to make room for airline employees.

In initial statements, United Chief Executive Oscar Munoz stoked outrage for declining to apologize to Dao for his treatment at the hands of airport security.

Munoz has since reversed course, apologizing repeatedly to United customers and to Dao, with whom United last week reached a settlement for an undisclosed sum.

After Tuesday's hearing, Munoz said the message that change was needed was loud and clear.

"I think the sense in the room was one of an admonition to get your collective stuff together," Munoz told reporters at the Capitol. The alternative was to face additional legislation, "which I think is fair," he added.

In response to the dragging incident, United has changed its policies by pledging to reduce the amount it overbooks its flights and offering passengers who voluntarily forfeit their seats on oversold flights up to $10,000.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
Deep inside the Rock of Gibraltar is a room known as The Vault. Dug by the British army in World War II, it now houses servers that power the websites of dozens of international online gambling companies.

Those companies were lured to this speck of British territory on Spain's southern tip by its low taxes and its unimpeded access to the European Union's single market of around 500 million people.

It's a flourishing and hugely important business for Gibraltar, accounting for around 25 percent of the economy, some 40 percent of corporate tax revenues and almost 3,000 of its 26,000 jobs.

And the European market is only set to get bigger. According to market data company H2 Gambling Capital, it could be worth around 30 billion euros ($32.5 billion) a year by 2021, nearly double current levels.

Britain's looming departure from the EU, therefore, has cast a cloud over Gibraltar's future because Brexit could see it shut off from the rest of the EU. That possibility is already having an indirect impact on Gibraltar, by magnifying the appeal of other low-tax jurisdictions such as Malta.

Nobody is panicking yet, and no gambling company has said it intends to leave Gibraltar while EU and British officials negotiate Brexit  in March, before calling an early general election for June 8, Prime Minister Theresa May formally triggered the two-year Brexit process.

Senior executives of 888, which runs one of the world's biggest online casinos, have already sounded the alarm about potential dangers, however.

Earlier this year, they warned that 888's reach into the EU's other 27 member countries could be limited in the event of a so-called "hard Brexit" scenario whereby Gibraltar, like the rest of Britain, sees trade disrupted by the imposition of tariffs and businesses potentially becomes ineligible for regulatory licenses in some EU countries.

In its full-year financial report, 888 said it "would reconsider the appropriateness of remaining registered, licensed and operational in Gibraltar in these circumstances" and added that "Malta may be considered as an alternative 'dot com' licensing jurisdiction."

Malta, a small island nation in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, stands ready to attract Gibraltar's gambling firms. The Maltese government is another champion of the online gambling sector, which represents 11 percent of the nation's GDP and employs 8,000 people.

Two other gambling industry big-hitters, Ladbrokes Coral Group and William Hill, say they are monitoring the Brexit negotiations  and, like 888, have no plans at the moment to depart.

William Hill has set up a Brexit Working Group to assess Brexit's possible financial, operational and regulatory consequences and make sure that "suitable arrangements are in place should there be disruption to the Gibraltar (border) crossing or the availability of any services offered through Gibraltar."

For those working in the sector, the coming two years are likely to be a worrisome period. Some 1,800 staff  nearly 60 percent of the sector  commute from Spain to their workplaces, which are often located in smart office blocks overlooking the Bay of Gibraltar where elegant yachts bob on the calm waters.

Their fate, and the industry's, depends to a large degree on whether Madrid opts post-Brexit to hinder cross-border traffic, as it has occasionally in the past.

That is the "real worry" for employees, says Mark Jordan, the head of gambling industry analysis at PwC in London: "How difficult will Spain be?"

Gibraltar has been a thorn in the side of U.K.-Spain relations for decades. In 1969, Spanish dictator Gen. Francisco Franco slammed the border shut in an attempt to wreck its economy and snatch the territory from Britain.

Brexit, some fear, might achieve what Franco couldn't.

The Gibraltar government has made no secret of the importance of the EU. On its website, it still lauds the benefits of EU membership as one reason why firms should set up on The Rock. The people of Gibraltar clearly think it's important  nearly 96 percent of Gibraltarians voted to remain in the EU in last June's referendum.

No wonder  the territory has prospered under Britain's rule and free trade with the EU.

For now, Gibraltar officials are holding their nerve.

Phill Brear, the territory's Gambling Commissioner, says it is "sensible, prudent management" for the online gambling industry to be making arrangements for potential Brexit outcomes.

"They're hedging their bets," he told the Associated Press, noting how many are taking out Malta licenses alongside their Gibraltar ones.

Brear notes that Gibraltar will still have access to U.K. customers, who account for around 40 percent of the entire EU market in financial terms, according to H2 Gambling Capital data.

Brear has not given up hope of working around any future regulatory constraints.

One fear has already come true, though: Gibraltar's worry, he says, "was that if you open this Pandora's box of Brexit, who knows what it'll look like."
The GOPs revised health care bill passed the House of Representatives Thursday, and some Americans hope it is a sign of relief ahead as the ObamaCare marketplace continues to unravel in states across the country.

Shortly after the vote, President Donald Trump said ObamaCare is dead.

The insurance companies are fleeing. It's been a catastrophe  It's essentially dead. If we don't pay lots of ransom money over to the insurance companies, it would die immediately, Trump said during a victory speech at the White House following the health care vote.

Iowa is the latest state to fall victim to an exodus of insurance companies, where the last statewide insurer, Medica, is threatening to drop coverage.

Without swift action by the state or Congress to provide stability to Iowas individual insurance market, Medica will not be able to serve the citizens of Iowa in the manner and breadth that we do today. We are examining the potential of limited offerings, but our ability to stay in the Iowa insurance market in any capacity is in question at this point, the company said in a statement.

#Obamacare in 2017:

5 states (AL, AK, OK, SC, WY) have just one Obamacare exchange insurer

32% of counties have just one exchange insurer  Fox News Research (@FoxNewsResearch) May 4, 2017

Last month Aetna (NYSE:AET) and Wellmark Blue Cross & Blue Shield both said they would not sell plans on the ObamaCare exchanges next year in Iowa. Those two companiesneither of which offer coverage across the entire statein combination with Medica, are the only insurance options available to the vast majority of Iowans this year. If all three companies were to exit the exchanges in 2018, just five of 99 counties would be covered.

During the most recent enrollment period, more than 52,000 Iowans signed up for coverage under ObamaCare, according to a press release from the program. Overall, more than 70,000 citizens in the state buy their coverage from the Affordable Care Act marketplace, according to the Des Moines Register.

Iowans arent the only Americans in danger of losing coverage if changes arent made to the health care law by 2018. Five statesAlaska, Alabama, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Wyoming and 32 percent of counties nationwide have only one ObamaCare insurer covering individuals on the exchanges.

The Republicans revamped effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act advanced through the House of Representatives Thursday afternoon, after a pair of amendments helped draw the support of the House Freedom Caucus.

One of the important changes to the legislation is the MacArthur amendment, which allows states to opt out of the American Health Care Acts original pre-existing conditions clause. As an addendum to that amendment, Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) introduced a second revision that provides $8 billion for high-risk pools in states that opt out of protections for pre-existing conditions.

While many agreed action was needed to remedy the ailing health care system, not everyone believes the American Health Care Act in its current form is the best solution. The American Medical Association criticized the House for the passage of the bill Thursday, claiming it would cause millions of Americans to lose coverage.

The bill passed by the House today will result in millions of Americans losing access to quality, affordable health insurance and those with pre-existing health conditions face the possibility of going back to the time when insurers could charge them premiums that made access to coverage out of the question, American Medical Association president Andrew W. Gurman said in a statement.

The bill will be subject to a vote and amendments in the Senate, so there still could be a long way to go before Americans see any relief.

Earlier this week, top ObamaCare insurer Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) ousted two top executives from the family-run business, Mario and John Molina. In another sign of instability in the health care marketplace, Dr. Mario Molina had threatened to pull out of the ObamaCare exchanges at the end of last month if Congress didnt step in to fund reimbursements for health care support provided to low income individuals.
Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello are happily married, and they are sick of hearing rumors to the contrary.



The A-list couple lashed back at Star Magazines report that the "Modern Family" star cheated on her husband.

The cover of the tabloid mag had a picture of Vergara dancing with an unidentified man sans her wedding ring, and in bold the headlined read, Its Over!

Vergara and Manganiello expressed anger over the cover. They both took their social media accounts to speak out.

The pair claimed the star's wedding ring was Photoshopped out in the snapshot.

Manganiello wrote that "Star created a fake story...in order to sell magazines."

Vergara also blasted the publication on Instagram, writing that she was snapped multiple times on the same night with her ring clearly visible.

The 44-year-old starlet added that the man in the photo is the film producer for her upcoming movie, "Bent." She stated he is a family friend who spent Easter at her home.

Vergara and Manganiello wed in November 2015.


Farmers in the Pacific Northwest say the hottest new apple variety is really out-of-this-world.

The Cosmic Crisp, named for the yellow star-like specks that dot its deep red skin, has become extremely popular with growers in Washington, who have already planted upwards of 12 million Cosmic Crisp apple trees across the state, reports NPR.

In fact, Washington farmers are so invested in the Cosmic Crisp, that they plan to deliver their first shipment of the new variety  5 million 40-pound boxes  to supermarkets in 2019.

HONG KONG SUPERMARKET IS TRYING TO SELL A $22 STRAWBERRY

To put that into perspective, it took farmers around 20 years to reach the same output of Honeycrisp apples after they first hit the market.

"Hitting 5 million boxes right away, that's never happened with any other variety that we've ever planted in Washington state," said Scott McDougall, an apple farmer who spoke with NPR.

But why are farmers so confident consumers will love the Cosmic Crisp?

Well, for starters, experts say theyre incredibly crisp, and deliver the perfect balance of sweetness and acidity-- plus they're "slower to brown" than other apple varieties after they're cut. Whats more, the apple trees themselves are hardier than other varieties, making them easier to grow and harvest. They also bear fruit at the same time as Red Delicious apples  which have grown less and less popular among consumers  making them a prime candidate for a replacement.

And when it comes to longevity, Cosmic Crisps are reported to retain their flavor for up to a year when stored properly.

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However, developing the Cosmic Crisp apple wasnt an easy undertaking. Bruce Barritt, who holds the patent on the apple variety, started working on the Cosmic Crisp over 20 years ago as part of an experiment for Washington State University fruit breeding program.

Now, Barritt is just hoping his efforts will pay off.

"They are my children," Barritt told NPR. "Just like your kids who are 18 years old, we don't know a lot about them yet. Four years from now, we'll know whether they're the real thing."
If you dream of running your fingers through Colonel Sanders frosty goatee while he whispers sweet nothings into your ear, KFC has got the perfect Mothers Day gift for you.

On Thursday, the fast-food chain released an 83-page romance novella called Tender Wings of Desire, which tells the fictional story of Harland Sanders courtship of a young Victorian Lady.

Paired with a $20 Fill Up featuring KFC's Extra Crispy Chicken, mothers can finally get what they want this year  a family meal they don't have to cook, and some alone time with a captivating novella, the company wrote of their ultimate Mothers Day gift in a press release.

KFC SENDS FRIED CHICKEN VIA HOVERCRAFT TO 69-YEAR-OLD WOMAN IN FLOODED VILLAGE

According to its official description, Tender Wings of Desire re-casts Sanders as a handsome sailor with a mysterious past who one day disrupts the rebellious life of one Madeline Parker.

The cover of the novella features a romanticized drawing of the Colonel, his biceps bulging out of his sleeveless white suit, as he literally sweeps a red-headed woman off her feet and carries her across the English coast at sunset.

"The only thing better than being swept away by the deliciousness of our Extra Crispy Chicken is being swept away by Harland Sanders himself," explained George Felix, director of advertising for KFC U.S.

No purchase is necessary to obtain a copy of KFCs first Colonel Sanders novella. For a limited time, Tender Wings of Desire will be available as a free download on Amazon.com. The company is also planning to give away 100 physical copies on Facebook  along with generous helpings of free chicken, of course.

After all, KFC reports that Mothers Day is their busiest day of the year, resulting in a 40-percent increase in sales.

"This Mother's Day, the bucket of chicken I get for my wife will come with a side of steamy romance novella," added Felix. "Dinner is taken care of, and she'll have the time to escape her busy schedule."

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

With "Tender Wings of Desire," however, KFC continues to double down on its efforts with unorthodox advertising.

In 2015, the company debuted an ad campaign featuring "SNL" alum Darrell Hammond as Colonel Sanders, and later recast the part with such comedians and actors as Norm MacDonald, Jim Gaffigan, George Hamilton, Rob Riggle and Billy Zane. And in 2016, the company released fried-chicken-flavored nail polishes and secret-spice-scented candles in order to create some buzz on social media.
A good relationship between a patient and his or her physician is the cornerstone of superb medical care. That relationship is important when you know the doctor well. It may be even more important when you dont, say when you are in the hospital.

Growing competition for new customers is inspiring American hospitals to focus on providing a more positive patient experience  and hospitals expect their doctors to do their part.

We wanted to know what defines great physicians in the hospital setting (sometimes called attending physicians), both in terms of their interactions with patients and how they teach the next generation of doctors  residents and medical students  as they go about their hospital rounds.

To do this, we identified 12 doctors from around the US who are recognized as outstanding teacher-physicians. We scrutinized their bedside behavior, did semi-structured interviews with them, and talked with current and former members of their hospital rounding teams.

Read more: When doctors focus on survival, we can overlook what patients need to feel well

What we learned, in a nutshell, is that the way these doctors work is uniformly at odds with the familiar perception of the hospital physician as rushed and impersonal.

Based on our research, we have drawn up a checklist of items reflecting how these top doctors interact with their patients. It might come in handy if you or a loved one must spend some time in a hospital. One caveat: You may be cared for by a team of hospital physicians, some of whom are in training. We compiled the checklist with the most experienced physician in mind; he or she supervises the team. That said, all team members should ideally display these behaviors.

Preparation. She has studied your medical records and is familiar with the latest lab tests and other diagnostic results.

Arrival. He enters your room smiling, introduces himself to you, and shakes your hand. He establishes a personal connection with you through brief, informal conversation.

Hand hygiene. She washes her hands before touching you.

Physical exam. He closes the hospital door or closes the curtain to preserve your privacy. He warms the stethoscope before applying it directly to your skin  not to your hospital gown. He explains his actions, and works to make sure you feel you are being treated gently.

Communication. She speaks with you while sitting on a stool or kneeling in order to communicate at your eye level. She asks how you are feeling, explains medical issues clearly and in laymans language, and tries to make sure you and, if appropriate, your family member understands. She makes sure that you agree with the medical treatments that have been proposed and asks how you feel about these recommendations. She encourages you to ask questions.

Read more: Doctors who cant communicate bad news are technicians, not true physicians

Departure. He recaps the plan for the day, bids you a pleasant goodbye, and leaves your room as he found it  bedrails, lights, and TV volume adjusted to the way they were before the visit.

Anticipatory planning. She prepares for your leaving the hospital by making sure you have transportation and appropriate medical follow-up, as well as the help you need at home to ensure that you continue to improve.

Collaboration. He treats all members of the hospital team  nurses, social workers, pharmacists, residents, and medical students  with kindness and respect. In short, he plays well with others.

The 12 remarkable doctors we observed had their individual differences, of course. Some spent more time joking with patients than others. A few encouraged the students or residents in the group to speak up more. There were variations in the way they did physical exams and how much time they spent with each patient. But they shared a desire to partner with their patients and to treat them with reverence and compassion  treatment all patients should receive. And they did the same with their colleagues.

If you find yourself in the hospital, use this checklist to see how your doctors measure up. If they fall short in some regard, call them on it  politely, we hope. But if they pass, a resounding thank you would be appreciated.

Sanjay Saint, MD, is the chief of medicine at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan. Molly Harrod, PhD, is a medical anthropologist at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System. They are coauthors of Teaching Inpatient Medicine: What Every Physician Needs to Know (Oxford University Press, March 2017). This article reflects the personal views of the authors and not necessarily those of the University of Michigan or the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The benefits of bystander CPR or use of an automatic defibrillator on a patient suffering from cardiac arrest may last for up to a year, a new study found, with the two techniques also helping to lower the long-term risk of death, brain damage and other health issues.

The Danish study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, used national registries to identify 34,459 people who had received some type of bystander resuscitation after experiencing cardiac arrest outside of a hospital setting. Only 8.3 percent of the sampling survived for a month, Reuters reported.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO HELP BREAST CANCER PATIENTS PAY BILLS

However, of that 8.3 percent, those who received bystander CPR had a 30 percent lower risk of subsequent death from any cause at one year after the event, a 38 percent lower risk of brain damage or nursing home admission, and an overall 33 percent lower risk of all three outcomes combined.

The science provides the linkage to shower that resuscitation is not just important in the immediate cardiac arrest phase, but its an important factor into whether they go back to their lives intact, Dr. Michael Kurz, associate professor of emergency medicine at the University of Alabama-Birmingham Medicine, who was not involved in the study, told Reuters.

While the number of patients in the sampling who required bystander defibrillation was small, the researchers found that among those patients it lowered the date rate by 78 percent, and that they had a 55 percent lower chance of brain damage or nursing home admission, and an overall 55 percent lower risk of all three events.

WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH YOUR SALT INTAKE

If bystanders intervened by starting chest compression, survivors were less likely to experience brain damage or be admitted to a nursing home, Dr. Kristian Kragholm, a study coauthor, told Reuters. And with an AED, the benefit was even greater.

Researchers also noted an increase in the rate of bystander CPR and defibrillation throughout the study period, which Kurz said is likely due to national efforts such as mandatory and voluntary training.

Denmark has a very impressive bystander CPR rate, Kurz told Reuters. Thats one of the reasons the numbers in this article are so good.

Reuters contributed to this report.
An Egyptian woman believed to be the worlds heaviest has left an Indian hospital more than 660 pounds lighter after undergoing weight-loss surgery. Eman Ahmed Abd El Aty, who was removed from her home in Alexandria with the help of a crane, underwent the bariatric procedure in early March.

Abd El Aty, 36, will now undergo further treatment in Abu Dhabi, Reuters reported. She has not walked in 25 years and at her heaviest, reportedly weighed about 1,100 pounds. Her doctor, Muffazal Lakdawala, wrote in a blog post that a series of operations brought her weight to around 440 pounds, but she faces future procedures.

IS THE '8-HOUR DIET' THE KEY TO WEIGHT LOSS?

Her bone structure is poor, Lakdawala wrote, according to Reuters. So many years of disuse have compounded the problem. She will need multiple surgeries to straighten her hips and knees.

However, Abd El Atys sister and her medical team have butted heads over her treatment recently. A report by Mid-Day noted Saifee Hospital called authorities on Selim, claiming she had tried to give her sister water which could jeopardize her health. She also accused the hospital of exaggerating Abd El Atys weight loss and claimed she was suffering seizures and was not stable enough to be moved.

Abd El Atys family could not be reached for comment by Reuters after news of her transfer broke. Before the surgery, Abd El Aty had not left her home in 25 years.

Reuters contributed to this report.
They look like glowing jade necklaces of such unearthly brilliance they could be a Ming emperors. But if Dr. Gerardo Fernandez is right, the green fluorescent images of prostate cells could be even more valuable, at least to the thousands of men every year who unnecessarily undergo aggressive treatment for prostate cancer.

Thats because the glimmering images promise to show which prostate cancers are destined to remain harmless for the rest of a mans life, and thus might spare many patients treatment that can cause impotence and incontinence.

Theres now no reliable way to tell a lethal prostate cancer from one thats so slow-growing it can safely be left alone: the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test cant, and neither can looking at the cancer cells under a microscope. But researchers are developing genetic tests, imaging tests, and algorithms like those in face-recognition software in an effort to reduce the 1 million US men a year who have prostate biopsies and, even more important, reduce the thousands who get treatment they dont need.

The field is on fire, said Dr. Laurence Klotz, of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center in Toronto, whose research has shown that many men diagnosed with prostate cancer can safely choose active surveillance  monitoring to make sure their cancer isnt spreading  rather than treatment. There are a whole slew of blood and urine tests already available or on the way that can take a guy whose PSA is mildly elevated and tell him he doesnt need a biopsy. How much could we drive down overdiagnosis? A lot.

Read more: Should you get screened for prostate cancer? We break down the latest advice

In the bitter debate about PSA tests, proponents have accused critics of condemning men to die by dissuading them from getting a test that can spot cancers early. Critics of PSA say the screening, introduced in the 1980s, causes millions of men to be further tested and then treated for cancers so harmless they would never threaten their health, leaving many to spend the rest of their life in adult diapers and unable to have sex  all from treatment they didnt need.

But both sides agree on two things. First, too many men with an elevated PSA have a biopsy that turns up no cancer. Thats a biopsy  usually done by inserting a thin, 12-gauge needle through the rectum, which can cause infection and other harmful consequences  that could have been avoided. Second, too many men are needlessly treated for a cancer.

This has been a long and chronic problem, in that we have very imperfect tools for cancer detection, said Dr. Clare Tempany, a prostate cancer specialist at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston. Ever since PSA came into disrepute, everyone woke up and said, we have to be smarter about this.

Already a number of beyond-PSA tools let more and more men opt out of biopsy after an elevated PSA reading, which many physicians consider 4 or higher. One-quarter to one-third of men with a PSA of 4 to 10 who have a biopsy will turn out to have cancer, and most of those are harmless.

For instance, a blood test called the Prostate Health Index measures several forms of PSA, not the one kind measured by the standard PSA test; it reduces unnecessary biopsies by about 36 percent, but it misses 2.5 percent of dangerous prostate cancers. The 4K Score, also based on a blood test, is better than PSA at picking up aggressive cancers, said urological surgeon Dr. David Penson of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. It can reduce unnecessary biopsies by as much as 60 percent, but misses nearly 5 percent of serious cancers.

That has spurred researchers around the world to try to do better, with many labs developing advanced imaging as a way to reduce unnecessary prostate biopsies following an elevated PSA. One, called multiparametric MRI, can reveal the size and density of a prostate cancer, and how well-connected it is to the blood supply. Multiparametric MRI reduced unnecessary biopsies by 70 percent, Dutch researchers reported at a European urology meeting in March, but was as good as biopsy at not missing aggressive cancers.

Next weeks annual meeting of the American Urological Association will feature dozens of studies on advanced MRI. Although many confirm the results of the Dutch study, others are less encouraging. One, for instance, finds that advanced MRI missed the main cancer in 63 percent of cases. But other studies have found fewer misses and either larger or smaller reductions in unnecessary biopsies, leaving many physicians unsure whether to trust it.

To do an MRI [rather than a biopsy] on the first pass after an elevated PSA is an area of active investigation, Dr. Anthony DAmico of Brigham and Womens said diplomatically.

Physicians are therefore eagerly awaiting results from a large clinical trial of MRI called PRECISE. Led by Klotz and launched last year, it aims to test whether MRI is good enough at detecting dangerous cancers, and distinguishing them from harmless ones, to reduce the need for biopsies. From early data, Klotz estimates that it could allow 250,000 men per year in the US and Canada to avoid unnecessary biopsies and the associated complications including hospitalization, without compromising our ability to identify clinically significant cancers.

Besides being far from perfect, however, multiparametric MRI costs $1,000 to $2,000. That has made researchers investigate other kinds of imaging that, they hope, will be more precise and possibly cheaper. There are promising indications that PET and other imaging might do better, said DAmico.

PET scans that detect prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), a protein that is prevalent on prostate cancer cells but rare in healthy ones, has shown promise in predicting whether the cancer will spread; a prostate cancer that stays in that gland is almost never dangerous, let alone fatal. Studies are underway to identify which radioactive markers will best let PET scans detect PMSA.

The issue is how precise the scans can be, but the hope is that aggressive cancer cells will take up the markers more than indolent cancer cells, said Dr. Jeffrey Karnes, a prostate cancer specialist at the Mayo Clinic.

Read more: Ben Stiller reveals prostate cancer diagnosis, says PSA test saved his life

No genetic tests on the market have been shown to identify which men with a high PSA can skip biopsy, but one that Dr. Brian Helfand of NorthShore University HealthSystem and his colleagues are developing  based on more than 100 DNA variants  is showing promise. It seems to pick out the one-third of patients who are most likely to have aggressive prostate cancer, meaning other men can opt out of biopsy.

One 64-year-old patient had a PSA of 4.6, considered the low end of elevated and one that leads many physicians to recommend biopsy, but a genetic risk score 40 percent below the average, Helfand said: Other urologists he saw were advocating a repeat biopsy, but I recommended we hold off, which the man did.

At the AUA meeting, European researchers will describe a combination of six biomarkers  proteins in the blood  that reduced unneeded prostate biopsies in men with PSAs of 2 to 10. Of 474 men in the study, 141 of 236 negative biopsies could have been avoided, the researchers will report, which is significantly more accurate than [PSA] alone in determining the absence of prostate cancer. The biomarker approach could halve the number of unnecessary prostate biopsies, they estimate.

The second problem both sides in the PSA wars want to solve is that too many men, after a biopsy suggests a dangerous prostate cancer, undergo treatment that they actually didnt need (because the cancer was in fact harmless). Todays system of analyzing biopsies cant reliably tell threatening cancers from harmless ones.

Called the Gleason score, it is a 2-to-10 grading system developed in the 1960s based on a pathologists eyeballing the stained, biopsied cells. Those that are regularly shaped and not too packed are unlikely to be a significant cancer, and are graded 3 or lower. Those that are irregularly shaped, angular, elongated, and tightly packed are more likely to be a significant cancer. A 3 has zero ability to metastasize and is not life-threatening, ever, Klotz said. But a 4 is aggressive.

The challenge comes when a man has mostly 3 but some 4, which produces a score called 3 + 4. These are the men most likely to undergo surgery or radiation or both for a cancer that would never have harmed them.

One hope is that genetic tests can tell dangerous prostate cancers from harmless ones. At least three already in use test for the presence  in ground-up slurries of biopsied cells  of genes linked to aggressive, metastatic cancer.

They can show if a patient in this gray zone [a score of 3 + 4] has a biologically less aggressive cancer than other men with that, said urologist Dr. Stacy Loeb of NYU Langone Medical Center. What to do with 3 + 4 is the most controversial call, so a genomic test can be a tiebreaker. In a study she will present at the urology meeting, one of the tests, called Decipher, could change minds  assuring a man who was leaning toward treatment that he would be fine with active surveillance, and vice versa  about one-fifth of the time.

Read more: Patients reports may aid prostate cancer treatment choice

But the genetic tests are pricey, around $3,000 or $4,000, and not necessarily covered by insurance. More problematic, they do not give a yes/no answer to whether cancer cells are harmless. Instead, they indicate whether a man has a very low, low, intermediate, or high risk of harboring an aggressive, metastatic cancer.

The problem is, genetic tests dont necessarily shift the risk much, said Mayos Karnes. A man might have a 30 percent risk of an aggressive cancer, before a genetic test, and the test might shift that to 35 percent. What you want is a test that tells you the risk is more like 0 percent or 100 percent.

Even short of perfection, however, genetic tests are offering men reassurance that they can choose active surveillance rather than treatment. Duane Foulkes, 70, recently sold the manufacturing business he founded near Madison, Wis., when, in late 2015, his PSA test came back over 5. It rose to above 9 three months later, and he had a biopsy at Mayo. His Gleason score of 6 concerned me at first, Foulkes said.

But a genetic test indicated that he had at most a slow-growing, non-aggressive type of cancer, Foulkes said, giving him confidence to choose active surveillance.

Fernandezs jade necklaces might do even better. They are prostate cells whose telltale molecules have been tagged with a fluorescent marker that shows up in images of prostate cells taken under a robotic microscope. In the diagnostic system called Precise MD, Fernandez and his colleagues at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York have identified five molecules, including proteins produced by malignant cells but not healthy ones, that promise to tell harmful prostate cancer cells from benign ones.

The researchers started with about 10,000 features, Fernandez said, and then used artificial intelligence [AI] to whittle that down to the 30 best. To those 30 they added a couple dozen features that show up on imaging and 5 to 10 variables such as a mans PSA level and age. Then the AI goes through thousands of permutations and combinations to put together those that best predict the outcome, he said, and the resulting algorithm calculates the likelihood of a harmful cancer.

Although Precise MD is still being tested, early results suggest it is significantly better at predicting aggressive cancer than Gleason scores. If more extensive testing confirms that, well be able to tell men, youre a good candidate for active surveillance or not, Fernandez said. This can really alter the course of treatment.
Authorities in Vancouver shared a grim look at the opioid crisis impacting neighborhoods in the Canadian city, with a photo on Twitter of three pigeon eggs sitting in a "nest" of discarded hypodermic needles.

The photo, posted by Superintendent Michelle Davey, shows three white pigeon eggs on top of used needles in a dirty sink.

"Pigeons spotted making a nest out of #needles in a #DTES SRO room. Sad reality of the #opioidcrisis #fentanyl #frontline #notstaged," Davey tweeted.

Vancouver police Sgt. Randy Fincham told Fox News the photo was captured Wednesday by a Homeless Outreach Coordinator for the department during an inspection of a vacant room of a building in the city's Downtown Eastside neighborhood.

"The picture was shared with the public to show the reality of drug use in the Downtown Eastside and to provide a rare glimpse into the lives of first responders, health care providers, and others involved in the opioid crisis," Fincham said.

PAIR IMPRISONED FOR GIVING LETHAL DRUG DOSE TO DISABLED SON

Vancouver is dealing with a surge of fentanyl-related overdose deaths this year, a problem shared with other cities across the U.S. and Canada.

On Thursday, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said in a tweet there have been 141 overdose deaths in the city so far this year, calling it "BC's most tragic public health emergency in decades."

141 dead in #Vancouver so far this year from #fentanyl ODs. BC's most tragic public health emergency in decades #vanpoli #bcpoli pic.twitter.com/FTxapENoFN  Gregor Robertson (@MayorGregor) May 4, 2017

On April 27, emergency responders in the province of British Columbia dealt with 130 suspected overdoses in a single day, an all-time high, according to CBC News.

OVERCOMING OPIOIDS: WHEN PILLS ARE A HOSPITAL'S LAST RESORT

While Davey said in her tweet the photo was not staged, an ecologist who wrote a book on pigeons told CBC News he doesn't think the "nest" is real.

Luc-Alain Giraldeau, dean of the Faculty of Science at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal, told CBC News that pigeons always lay two eggs, and real nests are "covered with feces."

Fincham, however, said the image was meant to start "a conversation about the harm reduction efforts of first responders, and the need for treatment options for substance users."

Read more from CBC News.
When Cindy, 30, went on a first date with a guy she met on Tinder in June, she was expecting a fun summer fling.

But instead, when they went back to her place for a post-dinner hookup, she was violated.

He took off his condom without telling me in the middle of [sex], Cindy, an administrative assistant in Bushwick who didnt want to disclose her last name for privacy reasons, tells The Post. Minutes later, she realized what hed done but was too intimidated to say something.

I kind of went along with it because he was older and I didnt want to ruin the moment, she says. I felt terrible afterward.

MEN REMOVING CONDOMS DURING SEX IN DISTURBING ONLINE TREND

Although at the time she didnt know what to call the disturbing experience, a report recently published in the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law dubbed it stealthing  when a man secretly removes his condom in the middle of consensual sex.

Alexandra Brodsky, the studys author and a Yale Law School graduate, interviewed and surveyed victims and perpetrators of these encounters, which she calls a form of sexual violence. Other health experts say its a rising epidemic in big cities like New York, where sex is easily available via dating apps.

I found in my accounts that men try to justify this by saying its their right to spread their seed and that its a natural impulse for them, said Brodsky, whos based in Washington, D.C.

THE 4 TYPES OF PEOPLE WHO CHEAT  AND HOW TO SPOT THEM

When Cindy brought up the incident to her sexual partner later that night, he got offended.

He said, Why are you so upset by it? I know youre clean and Im clean. Who cares? she said.

Besides being put at risk for unwanted pregnancies and STIs, the latter of which are at an all-time high for millennials in New York, victims suffer from post-traumatic stress.

They experience a lot of shame after the fact, like, How did I let this happen? said Kathryn Smerling, a psychotherapist and clinical instructor at Mount Sinai on the Upper East Side. She said shes seen this happen more frequently in the past five years. Some have to learn how to talk about what happened to them before they feel comfortable having sex again.

IS PORNOGRAPHY A PUBLIC HEALTH THREAT?

Cindy said shes only told a handful of close friends.

I dont want my friends to judge me or think Im easy and be classified as a slut, she said. She never went out with the guy again and hasnt talked to him since that night.

Clarissa Silva, a behavioral science researcher based in the Financial District, advises women to be wary of meeting men on dating apps for casual hookups.

The less human face-to-face interaction you have with someone, the higher the probability of [things] like this happening, she said.

ASHLEY GRAHAM ON HER CELLULITE: 'IT DOESN'T DEFINE MY WORTH'

Adrianna, 25, a grad student, said shes been the victim of stealthing four times in the past few years, all with men she met on Tinder and Bumble.

Guys would be sneaky and pretend they were putting [the condom] on, Adrianna, whos based in Midtown and didnt want to disclose her last name for professional reasons, tells The Post. I felt violated and disappointed because I invited someone into my bedroom to share this personal moment and I didnt consent.

In each instance, as soon as she found out she was being duped, Adrianna immediately stopped the hookup, got dressed and left.

Nothing kills the mood quite like being violated, she said.

Now Adrianna said she always makes sure shes the one who puts the condom on her partner before every encounter.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

And although Brodsky said that victims of nonconsensual condom removal have the option to take perpetrators to court, Adrianna would rather just move on with her life.

After the last [stealthing] encounter, I just became emotionally shut off, she said. At first I wanted to get pissed and scream at the person, but all that disappointment drains you  Now I just try to be way more careful.

First published on the New York Post
Late last week, President Donald Trump told CBS News that domestic surveillance of American citizens should the No. 1 topic of inquiry until we can find out what the hell is going on with it. Also late last week, the National Security Agency -- the federal governments 60,000-person-strong domestic spying agency -- announced that it would voluntarily hold back on its more aggressive uses of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

That section permits the NSA to capture communications between foreigners and Americans without a warrant from any court, even though the NSA has its own secret court that has granted well over 99 percent of applications for spying brought to it.

Yet the NSA has convinced the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that when it captures the communications of a foreigner and an American and those communications refer to a third person who is an American, Section 702 extends the authority for warrantless spying to that third person, as well. And it extends to any person whom the third person is talking about -- and so forth, out to the sixth level of communication.

If you do the math, this NSA-concocted, Section 702-generated, secret FISA court-approved logic permits warrantless spying on nearly everyone in the United States. So why did the NSA announce that it will pull back on the way it utilizes Section 702 as the basis for its mass spying?

Here is the back story.

FISA was written in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal, which involved illegal domestic spying. The purpose of FISA was to insert the judiciary between the NSA and its targets so as to ensure that there would be a consistent legal basis for the spying. What was that basis?

The Supreme Court has long characterized domestic spying as surveillance, and it has characterized surveillance as either a search or a seizure of communications. The Fourth Amendment requires judicially issued warrants for all government searches and seizures, and it mandates that those search warrants be based on probable cause of wrongdoing on the part of the person whom the government wishes to surveil and that the warrants themselves specifically describe the place to be searched or the person or thing to be seized.

Yet government lawyers, who have no opposition standing next to them when they appear in the FISA court, have convinced the court that the constitutional requirement of probable cause only applies to the government when it is engaging in law enforcement, not when it seeks intelligence data. So when the NSA asks the FISA court for authority to conduct surveillance, the FISA court complies, and it does so with warrants that do not specifically describe the place to be searched or the person or thing to be seized. These warrants typically authorize spying by ZIP codes or area codes or street addresses or telecommunications companies' customer lists.

What the NSA does not tell the FISA court is that its requests for approvals are a sham. Thats because the NSA relies on vague language in a 35-year-old executive order, known as EO 12333, as authority to conduct mass surveillance. Thats surveillance of everyone -- and it does capture the content of every telephone conversation, as well as every keystroke on every computer and all fiber-optic data generated everywhere within, coming to and going from the United States.

This is not only profoundly unlawful but also profoundly deceptive. It is unlawful because it violates the Fourth Amendment. It is deceptive because Congress and the courts and the American people, perhaps even the president, think that the FISA court has been serving as a buffer for the voracious appetite of the NSA. In reality, the NSA, while dispatching lawyers to make sophisticated arguments to the FISA court, has gone behind the courts back by spying on everyone all the time.

In a memo from a now-former NSA director to his agents and vendors, leaked to the public, he advised capturing all data from everyone all the time. This produces information overload, as there is more data than can be analyzed; each year, it produces the equivalent of 27 times the contents of the Library of Congress. Therefore, safety -- as well as liberty -- is compromised.

The recent mass killings in Boston, San Bernardino and Orlando were all preceded by text messages and cellphone conversations between the killers and their confederates. The NSA had the digital versions of those texts and conversations, but it had not analyzed them until after the killings -- because it has and has had too much data to analyze in a critical and timely manner.

So, why did the NSA announce that it is pulling back from its customary uses of Section 702? To give the false impression to members of Congress that it follows the law. Section 702, the great subterfuge, expires at the end of this year, and the NSA, which has spied on Donald Trump since before he was president, fears the debate that will accompany the efforts to renew it -- hence its softening public tone.

The genius of the Fourth Amendment is that it serves as a two-edged sword. By requiring probable cause before judges can issue warrants to agents for surveillance, the amendment both protects the privacy of those uninvolved in wrongdoing by leaving them alone and compels federal agents to focus their appetite for intelligence and their need for evidence on only those they legitimately feel may have done wrong.

In the meantime, Trump knows that he has been the victim of overzealous and unlawful surveillance, and we can expect during the debate over renewal of Section 702 that he will have a more sober and constitutional view of all this than his predecessors have; and that may bring about more freedom and more safety.
On May 6, 1942, in the early months of World War II, the American flag was hauled down on the island of Corregidor in the Philippines. The surrender marked the end to five months of bitter fighting during which invading Japanese forces trapped American and Filipino troops on Bataan. The horrors of the Bataan Death March still resonate three-quarters of a century later, but literally hours after Corregidors surrender, Americans fought another battle that gave hope that the war could be won.

Americas military presence in the Philippines was always controversial. Having acquired the islands during the Spanish-American War, the United States haltingly steered the country toward independence during the 1930s even as it considered its military bases around Manila essential to blunting Japanese expansionism in Southeast Asia. General Douglas MacArthur, commander of American forces in the Far East, formed a Filipino volunteer army to defend the entire archipelago and counted on B-17 bombers to form the backbone of his offshore defenses.

Things began to go awry early on the morning of December 8Manila timewhen MacArthur awoke to news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. A cascading chain of events resulted in half of MacArthurs air force being destroyed on the ground. Multiple Japanese landings throughout the islands subsequently overwhelmed Filipino defense forces.

As the Japanese tightened their grip on Bataan, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered MacArthur to leave Corregidor and proceed to Australia, ostensibly to take command of a relief expedition. His return to the Philippines would take years, but MacArthurs dramatic escape by PT-boat propelled him into legend as the hero the American public desperately needed during the uncertain early months of the war.

Back in the Philippines, there was no hero worship. Faced with starvation, forces on Bataan surrendered early in April. Corregidor hung on until May 6. Where did this disastrous defeat leave America and its allies? As MacArthur hunkered down in Australia and mourned the fall of Corregidor, two aircraft carriers of the US Navy sailed into the Coral Sea to counter an invasion aimed at Port Moresby on New Guinea that threatened Australia itself.

Confusion reined on both sides. Japanese aircraft mistook an oiler and accompanying destroyer for a carrier and a cruiser and pummeled them. American pilots searching for Japanese carriers stumbled onto the invasion force instead. The opposing carriers finally engaged each other directly with their aircraftthe first major battle fought without surface ships seeing one another.

When the smoke cleared from the Coral Sea, the American carrier Lexington was on the bottom, but naval aviators had sunk one Japanese carrier and damaged another in return. The Americans and their Australian allies sustained heavier losses, but strategically dealt the first setback to Japans advances and blunted its drive to cut Australias lifeline to the West Coast.

At the time it was premature to characterize the results of the Battle of the Coral Sea as a victory. Little appeared in the headlines to counter the negative news of Corregidor. But the Battle of the Coral Sea, coming within forty-eight hours of the fall of Corregidor, in retrospect demonstrated that while the war was far from won, it could be won. The battle marked a turning point in the Pacific war.

Seventy-five years later, no one should ever count America out. Fortunes can change in an instant. The margin of victory was slight, but against the tragedies of Bataan and Corregidor, the resolve shown at Coral Sea is proof that Americas will to win is a powerful thing.
Most of the media ignored it, but FBI Director James Comey dropped a bombshell about Hillary Clinton and her aide Huma Abedin's potentially criminal mishandling of classified information Wednesday during testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The FBI boss was trying to explain why he told the nation, just before the presidential election, that the bureau had reopened the investigation into Hillary Clintons private server and mishandling of sensitive government information. The alt-left believes this, and not Clintons woeful campaign, lack of a message and endless baggage, is what cost her the election.

Comey explained how a separate probe had turned up emails from Clinton on a computer owned by Anthony Weiner, the pervert married to Clinton aide Huma Abedin.

What they could see from the metadata was that there were thousands of Secretary Clinton's emails on that device, including what they thought might be the missing e-mails from her first three months as secretary of state, Comey said. We never found any emails from her first three months.

But alas, Comey said, the bureau had no reason to believe Huma Abedin had any criminal intent in mishandling sensitive emails. Once again, he ignored the fact that the statute does not require intent, but thats another issue.

The real issue is, why was Comey only revealing this information now? And we're really supposed to believe that Abedin had no idea that sending classified material to Anthony Weiner's laptop isn't a crime?

Comey, at a minimum, should have done a full investigation of Abedin. By passing, he helped Hillary Clinton. She still lost, but it was in spite of Comey, not because of him. President Trump even said as much on Twitter.

"FBI director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds, Trump tweeted. The phony Trump/Russia story was an excuse used by Democrats as justification for losing the election. Perhaps Trump just ran a great campaign."

Trumps right. Clinton got a free pass, and so did Abedin and her creepy husband. If you or I did a tiny fraction of what they did, we'd be wearing orange jumpsuits and sitting in a tiny cell somewhere.

While Comey goes through all sorts of verbal gymnastics defending Clinton and defending his decision to let her off the hook, he coyly says only enough about the baseless conspiracy theory involving Trump and Russia to keep it alive with the alt-left.

Is there any evidence that the Trump campaign assisted or directed those efforts? Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., asked him.

That's something that I can't answer here, Comey replied. But I would refer you back to what I said was the purpose of the investigation, to understand whether there were any coordination or collusion between elements of the campaign and the Russians.

Maybe Comey is waiting to make a bombshell announcement about the Trump probe just before the 2020 election. Heres a better idea for the man who gave Hillary and Huma a break: Give us one.

Adapted from Sean Hannity's monologue on "Hannity," May 3, 2017
The White House declined to respond Wednesday to CBS talk show host Stephen Colbert's joke about President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that some critics are calling "homophobic."

I wont dignify those comments with a response," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said.

Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, told Fox News "it is not funny."

Conway added that regardless to who the president is, "it is about showing basic respect to the president of the United States, and the office of the president.

Colbert, who has been criticized on social media platforms for the joke, with some calling the comedian homophobic, and demanding CBS fire him.

The "Late Show" star teed off on POTUS during his opening monologue Monday night for abruptly ending an interview with CBS News' "Face the Nation" host John Dickerson after receiving a question on his allegations of wiretapping by former President Obama.

#FIRECOLBERT TWITTER CAMPAIGN GAINS STEAM AFTER STEPHEN COLBERT'S PROFANE DONALD TRUMP TAKEDOWN

"Sir, you attract more skinheads than free Rogaine," Colbert said during his profanity-laced rant, which was bleeped during the telecast. "You have more people marching against you than cancer. You talk like a sign language gorilla that got hit in the head. In fact, the only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin's c--k holster."
A man jailed on drug charges has accused Seattle Mayor Ed Murray of paying him for sex when the man was a teenager decades ago, claims that were vehemently denied Wednesday by a spokesman for the mayor. He is the fourth man over the last month to accuse the mayor of sexual abuse.

The man, whose name was not released, said in a sworn declaration late Tuesday that he was introduced to Murray by Delvonn Heckard, who filed a lawsuit last month claiming he was sexually abused by Murray in the 1980s when Heckard was a teenager.

The man made the declaration from jail, where Heckard's attorney said he was being held on drug charges.

Court records show Heckard was initially charged with cocaine possession and released from jail but re-booked in March and jailed again. He has also had 116 warrants issued for his arrest since 1991, the records said.

Jeff Reading, Murray's spokesman, labeled the fresh claim an "ambush copycat false accusation" in a statement to the Associated Press.

Murray has also denied the claims by Heckard and two other men who separately told The Seattle Times they met Murray while living in a center for troubled teens and that he paid them for sex.

The man making the latest allegations is not suing Murray, but his statement about the mayor was filed by Heckard's lawyer, Lincoln Beauregard, as additional material accompanying Heckard's lawsuit.

The man's history of alleged criminal offenses also include theft, assault, false reporting and resisting arrest. The man said he had been to Murray's apartment in Seattle and he had paid him for sex but did not provide specifics.

Asked why the man should be considered credible, Beauregard told the Associated Press: "I found him persuasive."

Murray's three previous accusers said they wanted their names made public. Beauregard said he did not know if the man making the new accusation wanted his identity made public.

In an interview with Fox affiliate KCPQ-TV, Beauregard defended Heckard's credibility, saying his client is telling the truth.

"The first thing, when I met him, he said, 'Im a drug addict,'" Beauregard told the station in an April 20 interview.

"Hes refreshingly honest ... compared to people who have more to hide," Beauregard said of Heckard.

He also said Heckard wants to stop Murray from serving another term in office.

"Yes, its politically motivated, but thats just because the mayor is in a position of power and that has prompted and caused Delvonn to say, 'I want the public to know the truth,'" Beauregard told the station.

The new court documents were filed Wednesday after Murray's lawyer asked a judge to sanction Beauregard for unethical legal behavior, accusing him of trying to generate negative publicity against Murray.

Reading said Beauregard's latest court filing was designed as a media stunt and reiterated that "Mayor Murray has never had inappropriate relations with any minor."

Murray, a Democrat, is in his first term and seeking re-election after a lengthy career as a state lawmaker.

He was the prime sponsor of Washington's gay marriage law, spearheaded an effort to protect LGBTQ youth in public schools and led the state's push to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Murray has claimed that the abuse claims are motivated by an anti-gay conspiracy aimed at derailing his political career.

The man making the new claim stated in his court declaration: "I am not part of any right-wing conspiracy. I am also gay."

Murray's lawyers on Wednesday renewed their call for sanctions against Beauregard, saying the new court filing was an attempt to try the lawsuit in the media.

"Only the court can stop this misconduct that makes a mockery of the judicial system," said Malaika Eaton, one of Murray's lawyers.

Beauregard said Murray is trying to stifle his right to free speech.

"Their attack on me is unconstitutional and an attempt to silence the truth," Beauregard said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The House overwhelmingly voted Thursday to impose new sanctions on North Korea amid heightened tensions over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The vote, 419-1, targets North Koreas shipping industry and use of slave labor.

It also requires that the Trump administration report to Congress within 90 days on whether North Korea should be reinstated on the governments state sponsors of terror list. Such a designation would trigger more sanctions, including restriction on U.S. foreign assistance.

Adm. Harry Harris Jr., the top American military officer in the Pacific, has warned lawmakers that it's a question of when, not if, Pyongyang successfully builds a nuclear-tipped missile capable of striking the U.S.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was the sole member to vote against the measure. The Senate will take it up next.

The bipartisan legislation is aimed at thwarting North Korea's ambitions by cutting off access to the cash the regime needs to follow through with its plans.

The measure is sponsored by Rep. Ed Royce of California, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Eliot Engel of New York, the committee's senior Democrat.

Specifically, the bill bars ships owned by North Korea, or by countries that refuse to comply with U.N. resolutions against it, from operating in American waters or docking at U.S. ports. Goods produced by North Korea's forced labor would be prohibited from entering the United States, according to the legislation.

Anyone who uses the slave labor that North Korea exports to other countries would be subject to sanctions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the bill states. At times when the nation is facing unusual or extraordinary threats, the president has wide authority under the law, including the power to block or prohibit transactions involving property located in the U.S.

Royce said companies from Senegal to Qatar to Angola import North Korean workers, who send their salary back to Pyongyang, earning the regime billions of dollars in hard currency each year.

"This is money that Kim Jong-un uses to advance his nuclear and missile program, and also pay his generals, buying their loyalty to his brutal regime," he said. "That is what the high-level defectors that I meet with say. So let's squeeze his purse."

Last weekend, a North Korean midrange ballistic missile apparently failed shortly after launch, the third test-fire failure this month but a clear message of defiance. North Korean ballistic missile tests are banned by the United Nations because they're seen as part of the North's push for a nuclear-tipped missile that can hit the U.S. mainland.

The launch comes as both sides in the escalating crisis are flexing their military muscle. President Donald Trump has sent a nuclear-powered submarine and the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group to Korean waters. North Korea last week conducted large-scale, live-fire exercises on its eastern coast.

The U.S. and South Korea are installing a missile defense system and their two navies are staging joint military drills.

The missile defense system, known as THAAD, employs six truck-mounted launchers that can fire up to 48 interceptors at incoming missiles detected by the system's x-band radar.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
James Comey was mildly nauseous over the notion that his last-minute disclosure of a renewed Hillary Clinton investigation might have affected the election.

And Clintons insistence on blaming Comey (and other outside factors) for her loss is making some of her critics nauseous.

Once again, ladies and gentlemen, we are relitigating the 2016 election.

When the FBI director testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, he seemed like a man with months of pent-up frustration over the beating he has been taking. The words came tumbling out.

Having declined to prosecute Clinton over her private emails last summer, Comey said his choice last October was between really bad and catastrophic options, once the bureau learned that many Hillary emails were on the computer of Huma Abedins husband, the notorious Anthony Weiner.

Comey said he felt a duty to notify the Hill or else he would have committed an act of concealment. The probe, of course, went nowhere.

Lordy, has this been painful. Ive gotten all kinds of rocks thrown at me and this has been really hard, but I think Ive done the right thing at each turn. (Comey said he wont say another peep about the investigation of contacts between Trump campaign aides and Russia because its still ongoing.)

Clinton, interviewed by CNNs Christiane Amanpour at the Women for Women forum, admitted she didnt run a perfect campaign. But she could not conjure up a single example of anything she had done wrong.

Instead: I was on the way to winning until the combination of Jim Comeys letter on October 28th and Russian Wikileaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me but got scared off.

The evidence for that was compelling and persuasive, Hillary said, and she endorsed the view of data guru Nate Silver that if the election had been on October 27th, Id be your president.

Clinton also said that misogyny played a role.

And there was this hardball question from Amanpour: What do you imagine your election as the first female president of the United States might have said to the world and to the women of the world who were looking for validation, for somebody to shatter that highest and hardest ceiling? Clinton said it would have been a really big deal. Uh huh.

In a close race, every factor can be said to have made the difference. Comey's brief re-investigation of the Clinton email mess clearly hurt her by shifting the media focus back to her ethical fitness.

But it was her lack of a core economic message--or any inspiring message other than that she wasn't Trump--that ultimately sunk her.

Remember that the Democrats thought they would easily trounce Trump. But he had something to say to white working-class voters and she didnt. Her decision to campaign barely or not at all in Michigan and Wisconsin was why she flunked the Electoral College.

President Trump weighed in (of course) on Twitter, faulting Comeys original decision not to bring charges:

FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds! And: Perhaps Trump just ran a great campaign?

Why does Clintons loss still stir such intense debate? Perhaps its because these arguments about Comey, Russia and Wikileaks keep reverberating throughout the Trump presidencyin a way thats making me slightly queasy.
As former President Barack Obama hits the speaking circuit, Republican lawmakers say they plan to reintroduce a bill that would directly target pensions for ex-presidents raking in more than $400,000 after leaving the Oval Office.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, plan to dust off the Presidential Allowance Modernization Act later this month, according to USA Today.

The push comes after Obama decided to accept a $400,000 speaking fee  the same amount as his White House salary  for a speech at a health care conference run by Wall Street investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald in September.

The Obama hypocrisy on this issue is revealing, Chaffetz told USA Today.

He also tweeted the USA Todays headline, Obamas $400,000 speech could prompt Congress to go after his pension, with the vow, Yes, it will.

The legislation would cap presidential pensions at $200,000 (theyre currently slightly higher), but reduce that amount dollar-for-dollar once their outside income tops $400,000, according to the report.

In 2016, Chaffetz authored the original bill, which Obama vetoed. At the time, Obama reasoned that he had consulted living U.S. presidents who agreed the bill would have unintended consequences  and would unfairly prevent staffers from immediately receiving pay and benefits.

Chaffetz reportedly called that veto self-serving.

Obama accepting the speaking fee from Cantor Fitzgerald hasnt sat well with some of his closest supporters in Congress.

Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have both publicly criticized Obama over the past few days.

Warren said she was troubled by the speaking fee, while Sanders said, Wall Street has incredible power, and I would have hoped that the president would not have given a speech like this.

Obama is hardly the first U.S. president to capitalize on his time at the White House.

Former President Bill Clinton earned more than $200,000 per speech over the course of a decade.

Former President George W. Bush didnt mince words when asked what hed do out of office.

Ill give some speeches, just to replenish the ol coffers, Bush told The New York Times in 2007.

One week worth of speeches in Japan netted former President Ronald Reagan $2 million in 1989.

In response to criticism last week, Obama spokesman Eric Schultz issued a statement saying that while Obama will deliver speeches from time to time, he will be true to his values, his vision, and his record.


When Iran attempted to launch a cruise missile from a midget submarine earlier this week, Pentagon officials saw more evidence of North Korean influence in the Islamic Republic  with intelligence reports saying the submarine was based on a Pyongyang design, the same type that sank a South Korean warship in 2010.

According to U.S. defense officials, Iran was attempting to launch a Jask-2 cruise missile underwater for the first time, but the launch failed. Nonproliferation experts have long suspected North Korea and Iran are sharing expertise when it comes to their rogue missile programs.

The very first missiles we saw in Iran were simply copies of North Korean missiles, said Jeffrey Lewis, a missile proliferation expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Over the years, we've seen photographs of North Korean and Iranian officials in each other's countries, and we've seen all kinds of common hardware.

When Iran tested a ballistic missile in late January, the Pentagon said it was based on a North Korean design. Last summer, Iran conducted another missile launch similar to a North Korean Musudan, the most advanced missile Pyongyang has successful tested to date.

Defense analysts say North Korea's Taepodong missile looks almost identical to Iran's Shahab.

In the past, we would see things in North Korea and they would show up in Iran. In some recent years, we've seen some small things appear in Iran first and then show up in North Korea and so that raises the question of whether trade -- which started off as North Korea to Iran -- has started to reverse, Lewis added.

Irans attempted cruise missile launch from the midget submarine in the Strait of Hormuz was believed to be one of the first times Iran has attempted such a feat. In 2015, North Korea successfully launched a missile from a submarine for the first time, and officials believe Tehran is not far behind.

Only two countries in the world deploy the Yono-class submarine - North Korea and Iran. Midget subs operate in shallow waters where they can hide. The North Korean midget sub that sank a 290-foot South Korean warship in 2010 -- killing over 40 sailors -- was ambushed in shallow water.

North Korea denied any involvement in the sinking.

When those midget subs are operating underwater, they are running on battery powermaking themselves very quiet and hard to detect, said a U.S. defense official who declined to be identified.

During testimony last week, Adm. Harry Harris, the head of American forces in the Pacific, warned the United States has no land-based short- or medium-range missiles because it is a signatory to the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces, or INF, treaty signed in 1987 between Russia and the United States. But Iran and North Korea are under no such constraints.

"We are being taken to the cleaners by countries that are not signatories to the INF, Harris told the House Armed Services Committee late last month.

Perhaps most worrisome for the United States is that Iran attempted this latest missile launch from a midget sub Tuesday in the narrow and crowded Strait of Hormuz, where much of the world's oil passes each day.

Over a year ago, Iran fired off a number of unguided rockets near the USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier as she passed through the Strait of Hormuz in late December 2015. The U.S. Navy called the incident highly provocative at the time and said the American aircraft carrier was only 1,500 yards away from the Iranian rockets.

In July 2016, two days before the anniversary of the nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers, the Islamic Republic attempted to launch a new type of ballistic missile using North Korean technology, according to multiple intelligence officials.

It was the first time Iran attempted to launch a version of North Koreas BM-25 Musudan ballistic missile, which has a maximum range of nearly 2,500 miles, potentially putting U.S. forces in the Middle East and Israel within reach if the problems are fixed.

The extent of North Koreas involvement in the failed launch was never clear, apart from North Korea sharing their technology, according to officials.

In Washington Thursday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson tried to garner support for more United Nations sanctions against North Korea by hosting leaders from Southeast Asia. Days after Irans first ballistic missile test of the Trump administration, the White House put Iran on notice.
The Texas Senate on Wednesday approved one of the toughest anti-sanctuary city bills in the country, sending it to the governor's desk.

Texas Senate Bill 4 would impose steep fines, even jail time, on Texas officials who fail to follow federal immigration laws. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a major supporter of the bill, has said he would sign it into law.

The Texas sanctuary city ban wins final legislative approval. I'm getting my signing pen warmed up. #txlege #tcot https://t.co/OHmspC5Zhz  Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) May 4, 2017

In a tweet, Abbott said he was getting his "signing pen warmed up."

The bill would take effect in September.

TARGETING SANCTUARY CITIES: TEXAS BILL WOULD PUNISH OFFICIALS WHO DON'T COMPLY WITH FEDERAL LAW

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick trumpeted the bill in a prepared statement released Wednesday. He said the legislations would eliminate a substantial incentive for illegal immigration.

In the past six years, criminal aliens have been charged with more than 566,000 crimes in Texas including kidnapping, homicide, burglary and much more, he said. There is no excuse for endangering our communities by allowing criminal aliens who have committed a crime to go free. SB 4 will ensure that no liberal local official can flaunt the law.

The controversial bill has been criticized by police chiefs in Texas major cities. The police chiefs in Dallas, Houston, Austin, Arlington, Fort Worth and San Antonio wrote an opinion piece that ran in the Dallas Morning News calling the bill divisive.

"This will lead to distrust of police and less cooperation from members of the community, the op-ed said. And it will foster the belief that people cannot seek assistance from police for fear of being subjected to an immigration status investigation."

But those who fail to enforce the law could face severe consequences under the proposed law.

TEXAS, CALIFORNIA TAKE VERY DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO 'SANCTUARY CITY' DEBATE

Local jurisdictions that dont comply with federal immigration laws could face fines of up to $25,000 per day and police chiefs, sheriffs or mayors of those towns could be charged criminally.

The bill had already passed the House and was approved by the Senate along party lines, 20-11.

Democrats and groups pushing for more open borders have vowed to challenge the bill in court once its signed into law.
President Trump on Thursday called out Susan Rice for refusing to testify before a Senate committee investigating both Russian meddling in the 2016 election and allegations of Obama-era spying on Team Trump.

Susan Rice, the former National Security Advisor to President Obama, is refusing to testify before a Senate Subcommittee next week on allegations of unmasking Trump transition officials. Not good! Trump wrote in a pair of tweets.

Rice had been asked by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to testify before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism.

Rices lawyer, however, said she was declining to appear before the group because the ranking Democratic member on the subcommittee, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, did not agree Rice should testify, thereby making the request a significant departure from the bipartisan invitations extended to other witnesses.

Multiple sources told Fox News last month that Rice had requested to unmask the names of Trump transition officials caught up in foreign surveillance  including Trumps short-lived national security adviser, Michael Flynn.

Rice largely avoided addressing the specific allegations during an early April interview on MSNBC; however, she said it was absolutely false that Obama officials utilized intelligence for political purposes.

The allegations that members of the Obama administration used classified information to undermine Trump was raised by Trump himself in a March tweet. Asked last month by The New York Times if he thought Rice committed a crime, Trump said: Do I think? Yes, I think.
Donald Trump started tweeting eight years ago today, a strategy that ultimately turned him from a real estate magnate and reality-TV star to becoming the President of the United States.

Ever the self-promoter, Trump's first tweet was about him appearing on since retired David Letterman's late night show.

Since that time, has sent out nearly 35,000 tweets on a variety of topics, interacting with his fans, a strategy he has credited with winning the 2016 presidential election against Hillary Clinton.

FACEBOOK CLAMPS DOWN ON SICK VIDEOS, BRINGS IN 3,000 ADDITIONAL REVIEWERS

"I really believe that, um-- the fact that I have such power in terms of numbers with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, et cetera, I think it helped me win all of these races where theyre spending much more money than I spent," Trump told "60 Minutes" Leslie Stahl in his first interview since winning the presidency in November 2016. "You know, I spent my money. A lot of my money. And I won. I think that social media has more power than the money they spent, and I think maybe to a certain extent, I proved that."

Despite initial claims that he would tamper down his tweeting -- which he said in the same interview -- President Trump has continued to fire off tweets from his personal account, as well as @POTUS, discussing everything from foreign and domestic policy to the Super Bowl.

RUSSIA EYED AFTER FACEBOOK SAYS IT WAS USED BY 'MALICIOUS ACTORS' DURING US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Most recently, President Trump has focused his Twitter attention on a number of topics, including attempting to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, which was a campaign promise of Trump's he has yet to fulfill.

He has also called on Susan Rice, the former National Security Advisor under President Obama to testify, despite Rice turning down a request from Senator Lindsey Gram (R.-SC) to do so.
Battalions of insect cyborgs - stealthier than any man-made mini-drone - could soon hit the skies to join the fight against terrorism.



Draper, along with Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Janelia Research Campus, have created cyborg dragonflies in an effort to aid intelligence and reconnaissance. Known as DragonflEye, the project would allow the US military and intelligence services to deploy these cyborgs as micro-drones capable of spying for their masters.

In addition to the secretive nature of the drones, they're also expected to be more agile, lighter and smaller.

Why build cyborg insects?

The US military, like others around the world, has long pursued tiny flying robots to deploy for surveillance. Armed with tech like cameras and sensors, these flying robots could gather data that larger technology or humans could not.

To be useful in realistic conditions, the drones would need to be able to fly for long periods of time and be able to navigate around obstacles. They also need to be able to carry the weight of the data gathering systems.

NRA EVENT: INSIDE THE ACRES AND ACRES OF GUNS ON DISPLAY

Many programs building tiny drones are inspired by studies of insects and often try to mimic insects and replicate how they move.

Dragonflies use four independently controlled wings to fly  something rather unusual in nature. This is a very attractive feature for military purposes because the four wings provide key capabilities.

Hovering to listen in on a conversation, rapid direction changes to follow a suspected terrorist, darting to avoid detection and even the ability to fly in reverse to go back and zero in on a license plate. These are great advantages that the dragonflies method of flight can provide.

Found on every continent except Antarctica, dragonflies are also native to all sorts of terrains from desert through to wetlands and sea level through to mountains.

This wide range of habitats, where it can blend in to spy and gather information, makes the dragonfly a good choice.

The technology also has potential to be applied to other types of insects.

How does it work?

There have been many attempts to build machines that replicate the dragonfly, but they've all struggled for a number of reasons.

One key challenge has been the complex aerodynamics of the four wings. Fabrication of such complex creatures at such a tiny size has also been very tough.

US MARINES COULD DEPLOY ROBOTS AND 'HYPERSUBS' TO STORM FUTURE BEACHES

Draper has succeeded in achieving these attractive dragonfly capabilities in a different way. Instead of trying to replicate the dragonfly with robotics, their solution is to merge advanced technology with the dragonfly.

There are two fundamental parts to transforming the insects into stealthy recon teams  backpacks for the dragonflies to wear and changes made inside the insect. It uses technology on the inside and outside of the dragonfly to be able to steer it and control its data collection.

Each drone is fitted with a standard issue tiny backpack," which includes a guidance system with miniaturized, advanced navigation, energy harvesting and optical stimulation technology.

Special neurons are also put inside the dragonfly nerve cord. Guidance commands are sent from the backpack. These connect with these special neurons that then help to steer.

How does the dragonfly operate?

In the simplest of terms, the drone is steered via the light.

HHMI conducted research into the steering neurons that control flight in the dragonflys nervous system. By using synthetic biology and inserting genes similar to those in eyes, the team was able to make these steering neurons sensitive to light.

Draper is developing something called optrodes that activate these neurons with pulses of light. The light is sent from the dragonflys backpack and channeled into the nerve cord.

Once kitted out with all the innovations, the operator can guide the dragonfly.

Beyond surveillance

These cyborg drones hold potential to help humans in other ways in the future, including improved medical treatments and agriculture.

The tech developed for DragonflEye could help advance better precision medicine, medical treatments and diagnostics in humans. Ideally, this could then lead to better therapies and elimination of side effects.

For example, Drapers flexible optrodes could enable miniaturized diagnostics. It could help to safely access neural targets and deliver therapies with more precision.

Another application could be tackling the bee problem. Dragonflies are some of the most agile insects so the backpack tech would also be viable for other insects, including some of the other most agile ones - like bees.

The honeybee population has dramatically reduced. Reduction in pollination is a threat to both US agriculture and future food supplies in general. Honeybees could be equipped with the DragonflEye system so that researchers can monitor their health and behavior. By aiding research, the tech could help solve this honeybee problem.
Delta Air Lines apologized Thursday after a husband and wife from California claimed they were kicked off a flight last month with two of their children once they refused to give up a seat they bought for another child.

Brian Schear, his wife, and two of their children, were reportedly boarding a flight from Maui, Hawaii, to Los Angeles on April 23 when airline officials asked the couple to give up a seat Schear says he had purchased for their older son.

However, their 18-year-old son had gone home on an earlier flight, Schear said, and they planned to use their seat for one of their younger children.

DELTA PASSENGER KICKED OFF FLIGHT FOR USING BATHROOM

Delta responded Thursday: "We are sorry for the unfortunate experience our customers had with Delta, and weve reached out to them to refund their travel and provide additional compensation. Delta's goal is to always work with customers in an attempt to find solutions to their travel issues. That did not happen in this case and we apologize."

In a video posted to YouTube May 3, a Delta employee can be heard prompting Schear to leave the plane. Then they can remove me off the plane, Schear replies.

Then you commit a federal offense, then you and your wife will be in jail and your kids will be, a female employee says off camera.

"We're going to jail and my kids are going to be what?" Schear asks the employee.

The female employee proceeds to tell him that they need the seat because the flight was overbooked and, since the ticket was in his older sons name, but he wasnt on the flight, the seat was technically vacant.

You're saying you're gonna give that away to someone else when I paid for that seat? That's not right, Schear tells the Delta employee.

A different employee approaches the family and tells Schear that his younger son cannot sit in a car seat during the flight due to age restrictions. Instead, she says the toddler would instead have to remain in the couples arms during the near six-hour flight.

He cant occupy a seat because hes two years or younger. Thats FAA regulations," she says. "This plane will not go anywhere until you guys choose to go. Im just trying to help you."

Technically, that's not even true. Though most domestic airlines permit children under 2 years of age to fly seated in an adult's lap, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) advises that the safest place for small children is actually in their own seat-- with a government-approved child safety restraint system.

The FAA "strongly urges you to secure your child in a CRS or device for the duration of your flight. It's the smart and right thing to do so that everyone in your family arrives safely at your destination."

Schear responds by explaining that the family flew to Hawaii with their son in a car seat-- but the woman replied that they wouldnt be allowed to fly back the same way. He then agrees to put the baby in his lap during the flight.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

But apparently it was too late. Ultimately, the female employee told Schear and his family to get off the flight. Schear says the family stayed on the island for another night and purchased new tickets-- on United-- to leave the next day.

Schear told CBS Los Angeles that he's shocked at how quickly the situation escalated. He says he doesn't want money but is seeking an apology from the airline.

The video comes as airlines have been under increasing scrutiny amid overbooking policies following the April 9 incident in which Dr. David Dao was forcibly removed from a United Airlines flight to make room for crewmembers.
It's not located on a dark desert highway, and guests are presumably allowed to leave, but the Eagles still feel that a real-life Hotel California is ripping off their biggest hit.

The band filed a lawsuit against the Mexican hotel this week, accusing the owners of encouraging guests to believe that it's associated with the band, Reuters reports.

According to the lawsuit, the hotel pumps "Hotel California" and other hits through its sound system, as well as sells merchandise describing itself as "legendary."

The hotel in Baja California Sur actually opened under the name Hotel California in 1950, more than 25 years before the Eagles released the song of the same name, the Hollywood Reporter notes.

Its name changed several times before new owners took over in 2001 and allegedly sought to boost business with what the lawsuit calls a "reputed, but false, connection to the Eagles." Though the hotel's website states the owners have no connection with the band "nor do they promote any association," it says its guests "are mesmerized by the 'coincidences'" between the song and hotel itself (yes, you can hear mission bells).

The lawsuit, which was filed in Los Angeles, seeks damages and an injunction preventing the hotel from using the name. Reuters quotes a 2016 CBS News interview with Don Henley in which he explained the song wasn't really about Californiaor Mexico, apparentlybut rather "a journey ... it's about America." (This music suit involves Eminem and New Zealand's ruling party.)

This article originally appeared on Newser: Eagles File Lawsuit Against Hotel California
A man and a woman have admitted using online ads for sexual services to find victims for armed robberies.

Thirty-four-year-old Nicole Covey, of Sugar Creek, Missouri, pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Kansas to conspiracy to commit robbery and five counts of aiding and abetting.

And 22-year-old Devon Davis-Aumua, of Independence, Missouri, pleaded guilty to the same charges.

Prosecutors say Covey's picture was posted on Craigslist, Backpage and Skout in ads offering sexual services. Those who responded were confronted by other people, who robbed them at gunpoint.

Federal prosecutors said that the group robbed seven people in 2015 and 2016.

A third defendant in the case, 35-year-old Sage Harrison, also of Independence, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to conspiracy and to two counts of aiding and abetting robbery.
Federal prosecutors in Tennessee say four family members have been convicted of running a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme centered on buying and selling gold and silver coins.

The U.S. Justice Department said Monday that Larry Bates; his sons, Chuck and Robert Bates; and Robert Bates' wife Kinsey, were found guilty of mail and wire fraud during a five-week trial in Memphis.

Prosecutors said the Bateses worked through First American Monetary Consultants, which had offices in Memphis and Boulder, Colorado. More than 360 people lost more than $21 million in the scheme, which lasted from 2002 through October 2013.

Customers gave $87 million to the company for the purpose of buying precious metals. But prosecutors said the Bateses kept money from the payments for their personal use.
An organist at an Episcopal church in Indiana was arrested Wednesday after prosecutors said he vandalized the building following the presidential election in hopes of mobilizing others disappointed with the results.

Nathan Stang, 26, faces a misdemeanor count of institutional criminal mischief for the damage to St. David's Episcopal Church in Bean Blossom, Ind., the Episcopal News Service reported.

The church was targeted with graffiti the weekend after Donald Trump was elected president, which included the words "Heil Hitler," in addition to a gay slur and swastika.

Rev. Kelsey Hutto, priest-in-charge at St. Davids, told the Episcopal News Service the congregation feels "like we had the rug pulled out from underneath us."

Hutto released a statement earlier Wednesday on the church website saying, "Nathan is a member of our St. Davids family and naturally there is a certain amount of betrayal with this act."

"When news broke of the incident we said that we have/will forgive the perpetrator. And that we would invite him into our midst," she said. "This presents us with a unique opportunity to practice what we preach."

Read more from the Episcopal News Service.
The Latest on a vehicle that sped through an indoor auto auction in Massachusetts (all times local):

6:20 p.m.

A family member has identified one of at least three people killed in a crash at an indoor auto auction in Massachusetts that left nine others injured.

Orlando Aponte says it was his sister Leezandra Aponte's first day working at LynnWay Auto Auction in Billerica (bihl-RIH'-kuh) on Wednesday when a driver crashed through a wall, striking bystanders. He says she was in her 30s, lived in Lowell and had three children.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan says a man in his 70s was driving the 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee. He wasn't hospitalized.

Prosecutors say a preliminary investigation suggests it was "a tragic accident."

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1:30 p.m.

Investigators say a man in his 70s was driving the SUV that killed at least three people and injured nine others when it sped through a crowded indoor auto auction in Massachusetts.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan says the driver was an employee of the LynnWay Auto Auction in Billerica (bihl-RIHK'-uh), about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Boston.

Ryan says the driver of the 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee was not hospitalized.

Ryan says two people suffered life-threatening injuries in Wednesday morning's crash.

She says a preliminary investigation suggests it was "a tragic accident."

The SUV crashed through a wall after striking bystanders inside the building.

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This story has been corrected to show that authorities say the driver was not hospitalized, not that it was unclear whether he was hospitalized, and that the vehicle was a 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee, not a 2006 Jeep Cherokee.

___

1:10 p.m.

Authorities say three people have been killed in a crash at an indoor auto auction in Massachusetts and nine others have been injured.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan says the dead were one man and two women. She says two of the nine who were taken to hospitals suffered life-threatening injuries.

Massachusetts State Police say there is no evidence that Wednesday morning's crash inside the LynnWay Auto Auction in Billerica (bill-RICK'-uh) was intentional.

Ryan says investigators are working to reconstruct the accident.

Billerica (bihl-RIHK'-uh) is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Boston.

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12:10 p.m.

Massachusetts State Police confirm there are fatalities in the auto auction crash north of Boston, and they say there is no evidence the crash was intentional.

The state police statement doesn't say how many were killed or injured in Wednesday's crash inside the LynnWay Auto Auction in Billerica (bill-RICK'-uh), about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Boston.

Lahey Hospital and Medical Center says it is treating six injured people, and Lowell General Hospital says it has three others.

Witnesses say cars were lined up on the auction block when one vehicle suddenly accelerated. That vehicle struck several people inside before crashing through a wall.

___

11:50 a.m.

A vehicle has crashed through a Massachusetts auto auction building, and medics are wheeling people out on gurneys.

The crash occurred Wednesday morning at LynnWay Auto Auction in Billerica (bill-RICK'-uh), about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Boston.

A witness tells WCVB-TV that cars were lined up on the auction block when one vehicle suddenly accelerated.

Employee Woody Tuttle says he heard tires screeching and saw the vehicle strike several people.

Tuttle told the station: "(The driver) avoided the cars and went on to hit the people who were standing between the cars."

Images from TV helicopters show a vehicle covered in debris that appears to have crashed through an exterior wall from inside the building.

Several ambulances were on the scene, and medics wheeled people out of the building on gurneys.
St. Louis police say they have detained a male student after Saint Louis University sent out a campus alert that shots were fired near a residence hall on campus.

No injuries have been reported after the alert was issued Wednesday at the private, Catholic university.

The school issued the warning on its social media sites telling students to stay away from Spring Hall, saying a man wearing a black hoodie was seen with a possible handgun.

The school later relocated students from Spring Hall to a recreation center.

The school later said shots were fired outside Marchetti East and ordered people to shelter in place. Police say they cannot confirm the report of shots fired.
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Tony Alamo, a one-time street preacher whose apocalyptic ministry grew into a multimillion-dollar network of businesses and property before he was convicted in Arkansas of sexually abusing girls he considered his wives, has died in prison. He was 82.

Once known for designing elaborately decorated jackets for celebrities including Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley, Alamo died on Tuesday at federal prison hospital in Butner, North Carolina, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

The disgraced preacher was convicted in 2009 on charges that accused him of taking girls across state lines for sex, including a 9-year-old girl. The judge who sentenced him to the maximum 175 years in prison told him: "One day you will face a higher and a greater judge than me. May he have mercy on your soul."

Alamo started preaching along the California streets in the 1960s, advocating a mixture of virulent anti-Catholicism and apocalyptic rhetoric. He claimed God authorized polygamy, professed that gays were the tools of Satan, and believed girls were fit for marriage.

"Consent is puberty," Alamo told The Associated Press in September 2008, during the same weekend that state and federal agents raided the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries in the tiny southwest Arkansas town of Fouke in an investigation of child abuse and pornography.

Witnesses in the ensuing trial said Alamo made the decisions: who got married, what children were taught in school, who got clothes, who was allowed to eat. They said he began taking multiple wives in the early 1990s, including a 15-year-old girl in 1994, followed by increasingly younger girls.

Alamo was convicted after five women testified they were "married" to him in secret ceremonies at his compound when they were minors  including one when she was only 8 years old  and later taken to places outside Arkansas for sex.

Former followers said Alamo grew increasingly unhinged after his wife, Susan, died from cancer in 1982. Her body was kept in a room at the ministry, and his followers kept a vigil, praying for months for a resurrection.

Eventually her body was buried in a crypt on the ministry's 300-acre compound in northwest Arkansas. But in 1991, Alamo ordered his followers to pack up before federal marshals seized the property to satisfy a court judgment.

Authorities found Susan Alamo's concrete crypt smashed open and her coffin gone. Alamo returned his wife's remains seven years later after being threatened with jail.

Before it became widely reviled for its leader's actions and teachings, Tony Alamo Christian Ministries attracted hippies and youngsters alienated from their parents when it started in the streets of Los Angeles in the 1960s. Calling themselves "Jesus Freaks," Alamo's followers preached hellfire and a wrathful version of Pentecostalism, which is known for its spirited worship style and belief in modern-day revelation and miracles.

In the 1970s and '80s, members of his ministry made elaborately designed denim jackets that were sold to celebrities including Presley, Jackson and several country music stars. The iconic red leather jacket Jackson wore on the cover of his "Bad" album was a Tony Alamo original, and it was later sold at auction to settle federal tax claims against Alamo.

At its height, Alamo's ministry claimed thousands of members nationwide. It was perhaps most known for leaving fliers on car windshields that outlined everything from Alamo's feared "one-world government" and his belief in flying saucers to his hatred of the Vatican and homosexuals.

In a 2008 interview with the AP, Alamo claimed to be unique among Christian preachers because he was born a Jew and had a "supernatural experience" through which he became a born-again Christian.

From his compound in northwest Arkansas, Alamo presided over several businesses  including gas stations, a hog farm, a grocery store and a restaurant  that funded his ministry. Ultimately, the IRS claimed Alamo owed $7.9 million in taxes and federal agents raided his properties in 1991.

He was convicted of tax evasion and served four years in prison despite claiming he had no tax liability because he received no salary.

Alamo also was accused in 1991 of child abuse after an 11-year-old boy told police he was paddled 140 times by four men on orders from Alamo in 1988 at the church's compound in Saugus, California. Prosecutors eventually dropped the charges, saying too much time had passed. The same year he was charged with threatening to kidnap a federal judge in Arkansas but was acquitted by a jury.

It was after he left prison in the 1990s that he started the compound in Fouke with about 100 followers.

Tony Alamo was born Bernie Lazar Hoffman on Sept. 20, 1934, to a Jewish family in Joplin, Missouri. He arrived in Los Angeles in the 1960s, claiming he was a music promoter with clients including the Beatles. He and his wife legally changed their names to Tony and Susan Alamo after they married in Las Vegas in 1966.
At least one person died and 16 others were hospitalized after a crash involving a school bus and another vehicle in northeast Las Vegas on Thursday.

According to Las Vegas Metro police, the crash was reported at 8:30 a.m. involving a Clark County School District bus that was heading to Bailey Middle School.

Capt. Ken Young, of Clark County School District police, said 48 students were on board at the time of the crash. Of those students, 14 were sent to local hospitals, as well as the bus driver. Another minor, who was in the other vehicle, sustained critical injuries.

University Medical Center officials confirmed children were sent to the pediatric emergency room of the hospital. They described injuries to all bus occupants as non-life threatening.

Young added the other occupant in the other vehicle died. Police confirmed the driver died.

READ MORE FROM FOX 5 LAS VEGAS.
Advocacy groups in El Paso and the rest of the country are demanding the release of a Mexican journalist who came to the United States seeking asylum because he feared his reporting would cost him his life.

Martin Mendez Pineda, 25, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Feb. 5 after entering the country through El Paso.

Mendez alleged he was beaten and had received death threats for an article he wrote criticizing the Mexican federal police in Novedades, a newspaper in his native state of Guerrero.

The organization Reporters Without Borders backed Mendezs claim that several men went to his home, assaulted him and threatened to kill him.

Immigrant rights groups held a joint press conference Wednesday demanding his release.

It seems an unjust situation that could be handled at the local level, even though we were told orders from Washington prohibit them from releasing him, said Father Bob Mosher, with the Detained Migrant Solidarity Committee.

IMMIGRANT WORKERS FEAR DEPORTATION AT CHURCHILL DOWNS

It seems to be part of a pattern of a growing disregard for the rights of people asking for asylum in this country, he said.

Mosher said he met with Mendez at the request of his attorney, Carlos Spector, and said the reporter was distressed, confused and depressed after being moved around multiple detention centers in the last three months.

I can see hes really struggling and it seems an unjust situation, said Mosher.

Mendezs supporters believe he should be released on parole while he awaits an immigration and asylum hearing.

The reporter has already had a successful interview with ICE in which the government acknowledged he was fleeing from a credible fear, according to Mosher.

SYRIAN WHO FLED MILITARY SERVICE IS NOT REFUGEE

On April 13, Mendez wrote an open letter describing his journey and experience in the detention center he is now at, the El Paso Processing Center.

I ask the American people to give me their support because being detained here is truly a torture. I am a good person and I would never wish for anyone to be held in this place, wrote Mendez.

Delphine Halgand, U.S. Director for Reporters Without Borders, said the detention contradicts some of Americas most precious values.

[The American people] always think they have the strongest press freedom and then, when you compare issues like that of journalists facing death threats and detained when they arrive in the U.S., I think they would be surprised to know this, she said.

The organization has started a petition to free Mendez with 1,600 signatures.

Ten journalists were killed in Mexico in 2016 and three journalists have been killed so far in 2017.

ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Severe flooding has put homes and livelihoods in danger across parts of the Midwest this week, especially for the hundreds of people forced to evacuate their homes in Arkansas.

Major flooding in Oklahoma, Missouri and Illinois has also triggered extensive damage to homes and businesses.

HOUSE CRASHES INTO ARKANSAS BRIDGE AFTER SEVERE STORMS

At least nine people in the region have died due to flooding and rescue operations are ongoing for an 18-month-old Arkansas girl who is missing.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has activated more than 100 National Guard troops to assist with recovery and rescue operations. State police are also assisting and more than 500 people have been evacuated.

TEXAS DAY CARE DESTROYED IN FIRE

Its really extraordinary that five rivers have breached their banks and theres substantial flooding in multiple counties in Northeast Arkansas, Hutchinson said. As a result of that Ive declared a state of emergency in about 20 counties in the state.

Hutchinson said there were nine levee breaches on Wednesday forcing water to flow into new areas. He noted that water in some of the affected areas has started to recede, but homes and business have been damaged.

Parts of Pocahontas, Ark., one of the hardest hit areas of the state was put under a mandatory evacuation order.

In Randolph County where the 5 rivers are flooding Pocahontas. Here is a pic of Walmart from the air. Mandatory evac for part of city.. pic.twitter.com/ZwYkewe00V  Gov. Asa Hutchinson (@AsaHutchinson) May 2, 2017

The Black River rose to a record 28.95 feet before spilling over levees, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Gary Woodall. The previous record was 28.5 feet.

Woodall notes that rain is expected to move out of the region, but flooding in the area could last into next week.

While we dont see a lot more water coming into the drainage basin, whats there is going to persist for a long time, Woodall said. So its going to be a slow process as far as recovering and getting those water levels back down below flood stage.

The American Red Cross of Arkansas has set up four shelters and started serving hot meals to those affected by the flooding.
An engineering student at Saint Louis University prompted a campus-wide lockdown and a hunt for a possible shooting suspect on Wednesday after his class assignment to build a toy gun was mistaken for a real weapon.

The private university in Missouri issued a shelter in place order Wednesday afternoon after a witness reported seeing someone in a black hoodie go into a dorm with what looked like a gun, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

After questioning two students, police and university officials tracked the source of the scare to a toy gun. SLU spokesman Jeff Fowler says the first student questioned was the individual who witness the supposed gun which led police to interviewing the second student who showed police to his dorm where the toy gun was.

As a part of the Aerospace and Mechanical "Engineering Manufacturing Procedures" class, students had been assigned to build a toy rubber band gun.

The university issued a statement asking all of the students to bring the toy guns in closed containers to a university office Thursday, where they will be destroyed.

"This is the first time toy guns have been made in this class, and it will be the last," the university said.

Fowler applauded those that called in response to reports of a potential gunman on campus.

"You can never take incident like this lightly," he said. "It is much, much better to be safe than to be sorry."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
An environmental group is suing President Donald Trump's administration for better protection of a threatened species of shark.

Oceana filed the lawsuit Thursday against the secretary of the Department of Commerce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The lawsuit says the administration's recent moves to protect the dusky shark from bycatch do not go far enough.

It says the new rules don't adequately establish limits on the number of dusky sharks that can be accidentally caught or establish measures to enforce those limits.

Dusky sharks are large sharks that are down to about 20 percent of their 1970s population off the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico. They range from Maine to Florida.

Spokesmen for the sued agencies declined to comment on ongoing litigation.
A former Las Vegas stripper who was convicted of running a drug trafficking ring in four states was sentenced Tuesday to more than 17 years in federal prison, prosecutors said.

Loren M. Toelle, 52, received an additional five years of probation after she pleaded guilty to leading the drug ring from 2009 to 2016. She was also ordered to forfeit assets of more than $2 million in cash and property.

Toelle entered a guilty plea in January to selling oxycodone, heroin, and methamphetamine in parts of Idaho, Washington, Montana and North Dakota, prosecutors said. Her friends and children from other marriages were also involved in the drug-trafficking ring.

PAIR IMPRISONED FOR GIVING LETHAL DRUG DOSE TO DISABLED SON

Toelle took full responsibility for her actions and apologized to everyone she harmed during the hearing, the Spokesman-Review reported.

I did what I did and I deserve to be punished, Toelle said during the hearing.

"To see some of the people I put poison into, would I want that for my own child? I want to apologize to America because that is not the way we were brought up," she added, apologizing to her father, who was a minister, and her children.

Toelle's husband, Dr. Stanley Toelle, also pleaded guilty on Tuesday to filing false federal tax documents with the Internal Revenue Service in 2012 and 2013. He told the judge he didn't know about his wife's drug dealing at the time.

Stanley Toelle, a gastroenterologist, will have to pay nearly $50,000 in back taxes as part of the plea agreement. He forfeited $150,000 in assets that allegedly came from his wife's drug dealing, authorities said. The doctor could still face up to a year in prison. He is expected to be sentenced in August.

MISSISSIPPI WOMAN GUILTY FOR ROLE IN KILLING OF 2 OFFICERS

Loren Toelle, who was nicknamed "Mama" in drug dealing circles, met the doctor in Las Vegas in 2005. They married a year later, making it the fourth marriage for Toelle.

Toelle lived in Las Vegas while her husband lived in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. He sent her a monthly allowance and extra cash to pay bills when she asked for money.

Toelle insisted that her husband didn't know about her drug ring and said she lied to him and told him she had businesses that included a daycare, a hair salon and the sales of hair extensions and beauty supplies, according to court documents.

Ten other people were also charged in connection with the case.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A suicide attempt by a teenage girl in Georgia was stopped just in time Tuesday night after she started broadcasting her plans on Facebook Live.

FACEBOOK CLAMPS DOWN ON SICK VIDEOS, BRINGS IN 3,000 ADDITIONAL REVIEWERS

Facebook has reeled from a string of livestreamed attacks and other crimes that haven't been stopped in time. However, in this case, law enforcement got several calls that led them to the teens home within 30 minutes. Facebook had also called 911 to alert authorities.

Its a good thing that the people watching this called it in, Bibb County Sheriff David Davis told The Telegraph. Those people did the right thing.

THAI MAN HANGS BABY DAUGHTER ON FACEBOOK LIVE THEN COMMITS SUICIDE

The news follows additional moves by Facebook to monitor and remove gruesome videos from the social media site. The company has hired 3,000 additional workers to help monitor content. CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote Wednesday that Facebook was "working to make these videos easier to report so we can take the right action sooner -- whether that's responding quickly when someone needs help or taking a post down."

Last week a man in Thailand killed his daughter and himself on Facebook Live. That incident followed a video in April that showed the murder of an elderly man in Cleveland, and the sexual assault of a Chicago teenager streamed online in March.

All social media is is a conduit for attention, Davis continued. Even in this tragic situation, this young lady was looking for attention, and thankfully, the right people were watching. It could have been more tragic.

The Georgia teen had taken pills and placed a plastic bag over her head before she was reached, Sgt. Linda Howard told WMAZ.

The girl, who still had a pulse after medics removed her from the home, was taken to a hospital and was stable on Wednesday.
A high-school senior from Indiana will graduate college on May 5, then receive her high school diploma two weeks later.

Raven Osborne, 18, is a student at 21st Century Charter School in Gary, Indiana, but has also been taking college classes part-time since she was a freshman, according to USA Today.

She'll receive a bachelors degree in sociology with a minor in early childhood education from Purdue University Northwest.

Osborne completed her college degree by enrolling in year-round classes at her local community college, taking online courses and attending Purdue University Northwest for two years, according to CBS News.

AMERICAN FLAG FLAP FORCES VIRGINIA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO SHOW THEIR PATRIOTISM

Osborne said that she paid absolutely nothing for her college education  a charter school covered the costs through state funding.



The school requires students to take college courses, but Osborne will be the first to receive a bachelors degree while still registered, according to the Big Ten Network.

Next for Osborne is employment. Osborne has recently been hired by the charter school as an early interventionist with elementary-age children. She is slated to begin in the fall.

IS THIS THE FUTURE OF COLLEGE: ONLINE CLASSES, BUT NO DEGREE


Police say a Detroit-area firearms instructor accidentally shot and wounded a man attending a gun training class.

Livonia Police Detective Capt. Robert Nenciarini tells MLive.com (http://bit.ly/2p1mzcT ) that the man was shot Saturday at a gun range west of Detroit.

Nenciarini says the 44-year-old instructor was conducting a class for people seeking concealed pistol licenses when he "pulled his gun out of its holster, pointed it at the door separating the two classrooms and fired a round."

A 39-year-old Detroit man in another classroom was struck in both legs.

The instructor has not been arrested but could face charges in the shooting.

___

Information from: The Grand Rapids Press:MLive.com, http://www.mlive.com
The Latest on Sunday's shooting rampage at a pool party in San Diego (all times local):

7:30 a.m.

Dozens of people attended a candlelight vigil outside the San Diego apartment complex where a gunman shot seven people, one of them fatally.

The mourners who gathered Wednesday night prayed and honored the life of Monique Clark, the 35-year-old mother of three who was killed.

Archie Robinson, a pastor, tells the Union Tribune newspaper (http://bit.ly/2pCumN2 ) that the crowd wanted to stand together for peace.

San Diego Councilwoman Barbara Bry said it was important to show support for Clark's family.

Police killed the gunman, 49-year-old Peter Selis, at the pool. Officials say Selis was despondent over a breakup.

Selis' family said they could not explain the "senseless acts" of violence.
A dispute over legal fees for a white ex-police officer charged in the shooting death of a black motorist in South Carolina has been dismissed.

Court documents show Michael Slager's lawsuit against the Southern States Police Benevolent Association was officially dismissed Tuesday.

That's the same day the former North Charleston officer pleaded guilty to violating Walter Scott's civil rights when he shot him to death during an April 2015 traffic stop.

Slager had argued the union failed to provide legal representation he paid for under an insurance policy. The association initially said it wouldn't pay because Scott's shooting was outside Slager's duties as a police officer. That shooting was captured on a dramatic cellphone video.

Slager and the union settled out of court earlier this year for an undisclosed amount.
A flooded house rammed into a bridge in Arkansas, pushed along by powerful rushing water and captured on video -- just one of the moments of destruction from the deadly flooding pummeling parts of the Midwest this week.

Although flood waters are receding in some areas, severe thunderstorms are still wreaking havoc in four Midwest states: Hundreds of homes and businesses have suffered damage in Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas and Illinois. In addition, flooding is blamed in at least nine deaths, and an 18-month-old Arkansas girl swept away by floodwater is missing and presumed dead.

SEVERE STORMS TO THREATEN FLORIDA TO NORTH CAROLINA INTO THURSDAY NIGHT

We never expected to witness a house be destroyed, said Laura Redus, who was with her boyfriend when they saw it happen in Reyno, about 180 miles northeast of Little Rock. The force of it shook the bridge it was crazy and scary!

Major flooding has unfolded on the Missouri River in eastern Missouri and the Mississippi River in Missouri and Illinois. A Mississippi River bridge at Chester, Illinois, will close at noon Thursday because flood gates on the Missouri side will block the bridge entrance.

City officials in tiny West Alton, Missouri, about 20 miles north of St. Louis, urged residents to get out of town amid concerns the Missouri River levee there could break.

The Meramec River in suburban St. Louis also is on the decline. A levee at Valley Park, Missouri, is holding, as is a sandbag levee consisting of 250,000 bags in nearby Eureka. But the river remains dangerously high, and St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar urged patience for evacuated residents anxious to get back home.

Hundreds of roads across the four states remain closed, including a busy stretch of Interstate 44 in suburban St. Louis.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A New York couple has been sentenced to prison for giving their emaciated and disabled 5-year-old son a lethal overdose of the opioid painkiller oxycodone through his feeding tube.

Broome County Court Judge Kevin Dooley sentenced 46-year-old Charles Burks to 13 years and 40-year-old Jennifer Burks to nine years in prison on Thursday. They had pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

District Attorney Steve Cornwell says the couple's child was severely handicapped after they gave him methadone in 2015 in their home in Endicott, near the Pennsylvania border.

The boy died a year later after they gave him a deadly dose of oxycodone. The couple claimed they were treating his pain.

Cornwell says Charles Burks had a methadone prescription, but the oxycodone was purchased illegally.

Defense attorneys declined to comment after sentencing.
A former crime lab employee in Pittsburgh allegedly stole and used drugs flagged as evidence, the Allegheny County Police Dept. said.

The suspicions started Feb. 15 when Matthew Nicholas Ieraci showed up to work hours later than usual, Sgt. Ken Ruckel told Fox News.

VIDEO: TOY GUN FORCES UNIVERSITY CAMPUS LOCKDOWN

Ieraci asked to stay late to make up for the lost time, but his request was denied. He ended up staying late anyway, according to Ruckel.

A surveillance video reviewed later showed Ieraci was caught twice handling the facilitys drugs at his locker, police claim.

OFFICER ACCUSED OF TRYING TO FAKE HIS OWN DEATH ARRESTED

On Feb.27, Ieraci came to work with slurred speech and poor motor skills. "His behavior washe was acting strangely, said Ruckel.

When an employee notified a supervisor, Ruckel said Ieraci was taken for testing, which turned up positive for marijuana and Alprazolam, a main ingredient found in Xanax.

At that point, Laboratory Director Bob Houston asked for an inventory check of all of the evidence at the crime lab, according to a criminal complaint.

On March 10, the complaint stated the inventory reviewer found white powder throughout Ieracis locker, which tested positive for Alprazolam.

When evidence was further checked in April, it was clear that more than 50 grams of evidence was lost.

Police then arrested Ieraci.

The Allegheny County District Attorneys Office has reviewed approximately 200 active cases affected by the former employee's actions, spokesman Mike Manko told Fox News.

We have not discovered any discrepancies...that would cause any problems with those cases, Manko said.

Ieraci was charged with theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, criminal mischief and prohibited possession of Alprazolam.

Fox News reached out to the crime lab, but a spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
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No evidence has been found that a deadly shooting rampage at a pool party with mostly black victims was racially-motivated, San Diego police said.

Assistant Chief Brian Ahearn said investigators have interviewed party guests and family members, associates and the ex-girlfriend of gunman Peter Selis.

Police also searched his apartment, social media accounts and email while determining he opened fire because he was despondent about a recent breakup with his girlfriend.

"He made no statements, gestures, and showed no behavior toward the group that were racially tinged that would then classify this as a hate crime," Ahearn said. "I'm not suggesting that maybe that didn't happen but we have zero information suggesting that was the case."

Some survivors said they believe Selis selected minority victims at the upscale apartment complex where one woman was killed and six people were wounded. Five of the victims were black, one was Latino and one was white.

Navy Lt. j.g. Lauren Chapman, who was at the party, said the gunman avoided shooting at least one white woman.

Chapman later spoke to the woman, who said the gunman told her, "You can either leave or you can stay here and die," as she tried to help Monique Clark, a black woman and mother of three children who was killed. The woman could not be reached for comment by The Associated Press.

Two white women sitting much closer to the gunman than those who were shot also escaped unharmed, Chapman said.

"I'm a realistic person and we need to acknowledge race was a factor," said Chapman, who is black. "Maybe it wasn't everything, but it was definitely something. We need to get that dialogue open. Yes, he was bankrupt. Yes, he had relationship issues, but I think we need to acknowledge the possibility of bias."

Selis had filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and again in 2015.

Mychael Gary, another black party guest, agreed. He said Selis seemed to calmly pick out his victims.

"I believe the group that he was going after was targeted, that's what I believe," Gary told The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Chapman said the white woman who was shot was sitting at a table surrounded by African Americans.

Ahearn confirmed that Selis told a white woman to leave the area and added that he told a black woman helping another victim that she could not move the person to safety but he would not shoot her if she stayed put. She did not move and was not shot.

Police have said the 49-year-old Selis briefly called his ex-girlfriend during the Sunday night shooting and said he was "shooting it out." He was killed by police after firing his .45-caliber handgun at a sergeant and two officers.

The ex-girlfriend and others who knew Selis told police they did not believe he was a racist, and investigators found no racist propaganda, emails or other materials, Ahearn said.

"Based upon the facts that we have, this group was shot at because it was compact and a large number of people in close proximity to Selis at the moment in time when he decided to shoot innocent people," he said.

Selis' family said they could not explain the "senseless acts" of violence.

"We cannot understand what would have caused Pete to do this," the family said in a statement sent to KFMB-TV (http://bit.ly/2pIw5kx ). "Words cannot express our profound grief and sorrow for all the victims and their families. ... We will miss our beloved Pete forever."

___

Information from: KFMB-TV, http://www.kfmb.com/.
The rector of a church-owned retirement home for Roman Catholic priests has admitted embezzling a half-million to pay for casino visits, high-end dinners and Philadelphia Pops concerts.

Monsignor William A. Dombrow pleaded guilty Thursday to four federal wire fraud counts for skimming money over nine years from a Villa St. Joseph account he controlled.

The Philadelphia Archdiocese runs the facility in Darby to house aging priests and treat those accused of sexual abuse.

Federal prosecutors say much of the stolen money came from insurance payments for priests who died and parishioners' estates.

Lawyer Coley Reynolds says the 77-year-old priest agreed to cooperate as soon as he was confronted.

He faces about three years in prison under federal guidelines when he is sentenced in August.
Prosecutors say a federal inmate in Atlanta and his fiancee ran an "inmate taxi service," taking inmates around town to restaurants and hotels and returning them to prison in exchange for money.

Prosecutors say 41-year-old Deldrick Jackson and 38-year-old Kelly Bass face charges related to helping the inmates escape.

Paul Cognac, an attorney for Jackson, said Thursday his client pleaded not guilty and he had no other comment. Brian Mendelsohn, an attorney for Bass, said in an email he had no comment.

Authorities say the inmates were taken to places and often returned to prison with contraband, and without other guards knowing they left.

Prosecutors say Bass received about $4,000 from inmates' families or accounts associated with inmates at the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta.
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A few hundred protesters lined up on the sidewalks Thursday along Manhattan's West Side Highway, hoping for a chance to boo Donald Trump's motorcade as he made his first trip back to New York since becoming president of the United States.

Trump was scheduled to attend an evening dinner with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull aboard the USS Intrepid, a decommissioned aircraft carrier that is now a museum.

New York was the scene of several huge demonstrations in the early days of the Republican's presidency. Thursday's rally was a much smaller affair.

Protesters in two tightly, controlled pens of demonstrators near the Intrepid held signs saying "Dump Trump" and chanted "Not my president." Some passing cars honked in support.

"We want him to know the resistance remains, even in his hometown," said Ruthie Adler, 30, a Manhattan waitress.

Barbara Good, 58, of Manhattan, said she has been a veteran of street demonstrations since the Vietnam War.

"Even if it doesn't change anything, it's still a force for good," she said.

Some demonstrators yelled "shame!" at people dressed in tuxedos and gowns who appeared to be headed to the dinner, which was being held to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea, a World War II naval battle.
Two Russian Bear bombers -- escorted for the first time by a pair of Su-35 "Flanker" fighter jets -- entered Alaska's Air Defense Zone on Wednesday night, U.S. officials told Fox News.

The Russian formation was intercepted by a pair of U.S. Air Force F-22 stealth fighter jets that were already flying a patrol about 50 miles southwest of Chariot, Alaska. A NORAD spokesperson told Fox News the intercept began at 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday and a defense source said it also occurred into Thursday.

It was the first time the U.S. Air Force has seen advanced Russian Su-35 fighter jets escort Russian Cold War-era bombers near Alaska.

The Russian fighter jets were unarmed and remained in international airspace, officials said.

Late last month, Russian bombers flew near Alaska over four consecutive days for the first time since 2014.

This week's latest episode comes one day after President Trump spoke over the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The White House said the conversation focused on crises in the Middle East and North Korea, with no mention of recent Russian provocations.

The conversation was described in a readout as "a very good one."

Trump in April said U.S. relations with Russia were at an "all-time low," and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also described the relationship between the countries as being at a "low point."

National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster was not as pessimistic, however, telling "Fox News Sunday" that "I don't think they have gotten either better or worse."
A man slashed a nearly $3 million wall-sized painting at an art gallery on Tuesday afternoon, the Aspen Police Department said.

Surveillance video showed the man wearing sunglasses, a hat and in a full beard entering Opera Gallery, then slashing the painting by artist Christopher Wool twice with a razor or knife before running out.

The painting, titled Untitled 2004 and priced at $2.95 million, was destroyed, the gallery owner told the Aspen Times.

Its crazy, Gregory Lahmi told the newspaper. First of all, Im shocked for the work of the artist. Its ugly to do that to (the painting).

The man was in the gallery at 501 E. Dean St. for about 15 seconds. Lahmis assistant was alone in the gallery.

What a jerk, police said on Facebook.

Police are unsure of a motive but believe it was planned.

READ MORE NEWS FROM FOX 31 DENVER.
The Oconee County Sheriff's Office said a man has been arrested and charged with the murder of his missing wife.

Deputies said on April 18, they were asked to conduct a welfare check at the home of 33-year-old Rebecca Murray Cawthon on Welcome Church Road. Cawthon had reportedly not been seen or heard from for several days before family notified law enforcement.

WOMAN SHOT DURING CONFRONTATION OVER HANDICAPPED PARKING

"Rebecca was entered on the day she was reported missing by a family member into the National Crimes Information Center database, said Captain Greg Reed of the Criminal Investigations Division of the Sheriffs Office. Since that time, we have been following up on any leads that have come into our agency but those leads have been exhausted and we are now asking for the publics help in our attempts to locate Rebecca and bring her back home to her family.

On Wednesday, May 3, deputies said 40-year-old Lee Mikeal Cawthon of Welcome Church Road came to the Sheriff's Office and admitted to killing his wife during an interview with investigators.

POLICE FIND NO EVIDENCE OF RACISM IN SAN DIEGO SHOOTINGS

A body was discovered and recovered at the 496 Welcome Church Road residence with Lee Cawthon's assistance. Deputies said the body is presumed to be that of 33-year-old Rebecca A. Murray Cawthon, of the same Welcome Church Address. The cause and manner of death will be determined pending an autopsy.

Lee Cawthon was booked into the Oconee County Detention Center just before 8 p.m. on a temporary custody order on Wednesday. Deputies said warrants will be obtained charging him with murder, possession of a weapon during commission of a deadly crime and domestic violence. He was also charged with manufacturing marijuana as a result of the investigation.

Oconee County Coroner Karl Addis said early Thursday morning that a body had been discovered at the Westminster home and that the death was being investigated as a homicide by the Oconee County Sheriff's Office and Oconee County Coroner's Office.

Read more at Fox Carolina.
A tattooed fitness enthusiast and model accused of a string of robberies in Connecticut has been arrested in California.

Police say 34-year-old David Byers, of Solana Beach, evaded officers in Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and Arizona before his arrest Wednesday. Police noted a neck tattoo when they released a description of the suspect.

FBI agents and local police found Byers in the San Diego area.

The Greenwich Time (http://bit.ly/2pJWlJe ) reports Byers' arrest surprised those who worked with him in the modeling community.

Police say Byers robbed a Chase Bank twice and a Citgo gas station in Greenwich. Police hope to extradite Byers so he can face charges including first-degree robbery and felony reckless endangerment.

Other charges are expected. It wasn't immediately known if Byers had an attorney.

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Information from: Greenwich Time, http://www.greenwichtime.com
A Tennessee school district is under fire from parents after a photo of two students dressed as Nazis ended up in a yearbook.

The picture in the Houston Middle School yearbook showed two boys wearing hats with the Nazi swastika symbol.

We understand the concern and are reviewing the incidents with students and staff who were involved, the Germantown Municipal School District told Fox 13. The Germantown Municipal School District does not condone the placement of photos of this nature in any school publication and apologizes to anyone who was offended by the insensitive image."

AMERICAN FLAG FLAP FORCES VIRGINIA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO SHOW THEIR PATRIOTISM

Principal Liz Dias said in a statement to parents that the photo was taken during a roleplaying lesson designed to examine the racism and prejudice that occurred in Germany before and after Hitler became dictator.

Through role-playing, the students were asked to draw conclusions about unjust laws in Nazi Germany, Dias said. This activity led to students reflecting on discrimination today and how to confront unjust laws in our society.

The school district has offered refunds, a spokesman said.

"An image without context is understandably upsetting to a lot of people," Rabbi Katie Bauman of Temple Israel in Memphis told localmemphis.com.

Click for more from Fox 13.
A Texas police officer accused of trying to fake his own death and escaping to Mexico was arrested Wednesday, police said.

Austin officer Coleman Martin, 29, was arrested at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport after he got off a flight from Colombia, Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said. It's unclear why he returned to Texas or traveled to Colombia.

MAN CONVICTED IN PLOTTING 1985 MURDER OF LAPD DETECTIVE IS SET FOR RELEASE

Martin was charged with misdemeanor false alarm or report and is on restricted duty pending an investigation.

Martin's wife reported her husband missing on April 25 after she received a text message in which Martin said he was going to drown himself in a lake near the Mexico border, FOX 7 Austin reported.

SAN FRANCISCO POLICE FATALLY SHOOT STABBING SUSPECT ON MARKET STREET

Martin's vehicle turned up Wednesday near the Amistad Reservoir on the Rio Grande. A suicide note was left on the seat. They then found an inflatable raft near the shore that had his name, date of birth, date of death and initials of his wife printed on it.

As the investigation unfolded, Austin police believed Martin had faked his own death and was still alive. Martin's email account was accessed about five hours after his wife received his suicide message, Fox 7 Austin reported. The IP address was traced to Mexico.

Another evidence -- a HP tablet with WiFi capability that Martin purchased -- pointed investigators to think that the cop was still alive.

On Thursday, an unidentified woman told investigators she got an email from Martin bragging about pulling off the suicide ruse, according to the station. Investigators said Martin had a "close relationship" with the woman.

Martin also allegedly told the woman that he hailed a taxi to take him across the Mexico border and then took a bus to travel deeper into the country.

Click for more from Fox 7 Austin.
One of the students who seized an administration building at the University of California, Santa Cruz told Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" that "were staying here until our demands are met."

The African/Black Student Alliance group blockaded themselves in Kerr Hall at the university's Stevenson College Tuesday afternoon and issued a list of demands, including required diversity training for incoming students and painting the Rosa Parks African Theme House in the red, black and green colors of black liberation.

"Having that red, black and green house in the middle of Stevenson College, which is a predominantly white-serving college, is a matter of symbolism and visibility," Imari Reynolds of the A/BSA told host Tucker Carlson. "Black students are on this campus. We do exist and we do pay to go here, just like our counterparts and we do deserve to be seen here on this campus."

STUDENT PROTESTERS TAKE OVER UC SANTA CRUZ ADMINISTRATION BUILDING

The protesters are also pushing the university's administration to guarantee four-year housing for black students at the Rosa Parks house, which is currently a housing option for students interested in "historical, present-day, and future experiences of predominately Black/African American peoples," according to the university's website.

When Carlson asked if the students' demands amounted to segregation, Reynolds disagreed.

"Were not asking for only black students," she said. "Were asking for black students to have a guarantee to live in a house that the university advertises as a house thats meant for black students."

"We dont speak for the white students, the Samoan students or the Korean students," Reynolds added. "Right now we speak for the African or black-Caribbean students who are struggling on this campus and need housing while theyre in the house that is meant to protect them and live as a safe space that is currently only being occupied by five black bodies."
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North Korea has issued a rare direct criticism of China through a commentary saying its "reckless remarks" on the North's nuclear program are testing its patience and could trigger unspecified "grave" consequences.

China, North Korea's largest trading partner and main benefactor, has been urging the North to stop nuclear and missile activities amid U.S. pressure to use its leverage to resolve the nuclear standoff.

The commentary released Wednesday by the state-run Korean Central News Agency says "a string of absurd and reckless remarks are now heard from China everyday only to render the present bad situation tenser."

It's unusual for the North to directly criticize Beijing. Previously it has couched such criticism by referring to China only as "a neighboring country."
An Argentinian woman has been stranded since Monday near the top of Canada's highest mountain, Yukons Mount Logan, after two strong earthquakes that morning triggered avalanches that greatly shifted the terrain.

Weather conditions in the icefields have since been poor and are preventing any access to the area.

Natalia Martinez, who was climbing solo, will hopefully be rescued on Friday by helicopter, if and when the heavy storms and windy conditions finally relent.

An accomplished climber who works as a mountain guide and ski instructor, Martinez, 37, was nine days into her trek of the 19,500-foot mountain when a 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck.

FAMED CLIMBER UELI STECK KILLED NEAR MOUNT EVEREST

Her boyfriend, who is staying in contact with her by phone and text, said that she was getting ready to descend when a second, 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit and forced her to move to a ridge that offered protection from falling debris.

Martinez is currently camped about 12,800 feet high in Mount Logan.Shes working very hard to keep her camp safe and to stay sheltered, boyfriend Camilo Rada told The Australian Times.

She has been struck very hard by everything, but she is coping well and staying strong.

Rada said she has not been injured and is in relatively good spirits. She has enough food for another eight days, he said.

The rescue effort is being coordinated by Parks Canada, since the peak is located within the Kluane National Park.

All the best Natalia Martinez Marin See you back here on stable ground soon! https://t.co/9KnooDMenn  Icefield Discovery (@icefieldtours) May 3, 2017

"There should be a good weather window happening by Friday, hopefully, if the forecasts are correct. So yeah, hopefully by Friday," Rada said.

TWO UTAH CLIMBERS DISAPPEAR ON PAKISTAN MOUNTAIN

"It's kind of a painful wait, especially with these weather conditions."

Craig McKinnon, the parks resource conservation manager, said over the last five years, Park Canada has done four rescues in the ice fields of Kluane, and three rescues off Mount Logan.

He said an average of 25 climbers try to reach to climb Mount Logan each year.
Bulgaria's parliament on Thursday approved the country's new center-right government in a bid to restore stability, spur economic development and implement reforms.

Lawmakers voted 133-100 to elect 57-year-old Boiko Borisov to a third term as prime minister.

In a separate vote, legislators also approved the Cabinet  a coalition between Borisov's pro-EU center-right GERB party and the far-right nationalist alliance United Patriots.

Borisov's party won the most votes in the March 26 general election but not enough to form a government alone.

Borisov, a former bodyguard and Sofia mayor, headed his first government between 2009 and 2013 but stepped down amid nationwide social protests that turned violent. In November, he quit halfway into his second term after his party's presidential candidate lost to a Socialist.
Colombian authorities are investigating the purported kidnapping of a United Nations staff member in the southeastern province of Guaviare.

The employee is believed to have been abducted by a dissident faction of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) just as UN Security Council ambassadors were arriving in the Andean nation.

COLOMBIA'S FARC CONCEALING WEAPONS DESPITE DEAL,

INTELLIGENCE ANALYSTS SAY

The individual was apparently kidnapped Wednesday in Barranquillita, a remote hamlet two hours overland from the Guaviare municipality of Miraflores, where he was assisting with an illegal crop substitution program, local media reported.

The government secretary in Miraflores, Edwin Diaz, said the individual, who has not been identified but is believed to be Colombian, may have been kidnapped by FARC dissidents who operate in that area and do not accept the peace agreement the group signed with Colombia's government in November.

An official source, who did not confirm or deny the report, told EFE the individual was not part of the UN mission accompanying the peace process but may work for a UN agency.

IN THIS COLOMBIAN TOWN, MANY RESENT FARC COMMANDERS WERE SET FREE BY PEACE DEAL

A UN mission in Colombia is supervising the leaving aside of weapons by the FARC.

News about the apparent kidnapping coincided with Wednesday night's arrival of UN Security Council ambassadors to express their support for the peace process.

Those ambassadors are to meet on Thursday with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and civil society representatives and on Friday are to visit one of the 26 "Temporary Hamlet Zones for Normalization" where some 7,000 FARC members are preparing to leave aside their weapons and demobilize.
An asylum-seeker in the Netherlands has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for raping a 17-year-old woman after attempting to strangle and drown her.

The rape in September led one local mayor to suggest a curfew for residents of a local asylum-seekers' center. Bort Koelewijn, mayor of the northeastern town of Kampen, told a local television station last month that such a restriction should be considered to prevent similar attacks in the future.

The 33-year-old rapist was not identified Thursday, in line with Dutch privacy guidelines. Prosecutors said in a statement last month that he lived in an asylum-seekers' center. Dutch media reported that he was originally from Eritrea.

The sentence was handed down by a court in the northeastern town of Zwolle.
Pope Francis has moved a Vietnamese cardinal imprisoned for more than 13 years by the communists a step closer to sainthood.

Francis on Thursday signed a decree saying Cardinal Francois Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan lived a life of heroic virtue. It's the first major hurdle before Thuan can be beatified.

Thuan's account of being imprisoned by Vietnam's communist leaders made him an inspirational figure to many Vietnamese Catholics. He died in 2002 of cancer in Rome, where he had been forced to live in exile for the final years of his life.

Thuan was detained for more than 13 years, nine of them in solitary confinement, starting in 1975.

The Vatican must certify a miracle attributed to Thuan's intercession for him to be beatified, the first step toward canonization.
Iraqi forces have started to push into northern areas of Mosul in a new front in their battle against Islamic State fighters.

The forces are fighting their way into the northern part of western Mosul, a region where ISIS fighters are known to be holding onto a group of neighborhoods. Iraqi army, federal police and elite rapid response units are all engaged in the new effort.

Fighting for the western part of Mosul has been slower and deadlier than initially anticipated. A U.S. official said that 774 security forces have been killed in more than six months of fighting. At least 4,600 others have been injured.

The Mosul neighborhoods under ISIS control are still home to hundreds of thousands of people.

IRAQ, US IN TALKS TO KEEP AMERICAN TROOP PRESENCE AFTER IS

For those battling ISIS, it will be a choice of victory or martyrdom, the spokesman for the Iraqi ministry of defense stated.

Iraqi federal police are currently a few hundred meters away from the al-Nuri mosque, the same symbolic location where ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made a public appearance in 2014. There, al-Baghdadi designated the terror groups caliphate after they took over almost a third of Iraq.

But getting to the mosque has proven to be troublesome for security forces. Difficult fighting is still anticipated due to the narrow streets surrounding the site, coalition officials said.

Iraqi forces seem to be circling the old city before proceeding with their operation to clear it.

ISIS took Mosul in 2014 and an operation to take it back has been underway since October 2016. In January, Iraqi forces announced that the citys eastern half had been liberated.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Latest on the flow of migrants into Europe (all times local):

3:35 p.m.

A German court has ruled that a Syrian man who fled to avoid military service isn't entitled to full refugee status.

The 20-year-old, whose name wasn't released, fled to Germany in 2014 after being ordered to start serving in the Syrian army the following spring. He was granted "subsidiary protection," a status short of formal asylum that doesn't allow recipients to bring relatives to join them for two years.

The man sued for full refugee status, which he was granted by a Duesseldorf court, but the German government appealed. North Rhine-Westphalia state's top administrative court on Thursday overturned the earlier verdict.

The court found no evidence that "returning asylum-seekers are viewed as political opponents and persecuted by the Syrian state because of the fact they avoided military service by fleeing."

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3:25 p.m.

Hungarian prosecutors say 11 men have been indicted in the case of the deaths of 71 migrants who suffocated in the back of a refrigerated truck in 2015.

Prosecutors in Bacs-Kiskun County said Thursday that the group includes men from Afghanistan, Bulgaria and Lebanon who allegedly smuggled some 1,200 people from the Hungary-Serbia border to Western Europe in 2015.

Migrants from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan were among the victims found in the back of a refrigerated truck with Hungarian license plates abandoned in the emergency lane of the A4 highway near Parndorf, Austria, not far from the Hungarian border, on Aug. 27, 2015.

Charges against the defendants include human smuggling, while the four people accused of involvement in the deaths also face charges of homicide committed with particular cruelty.
Police say a boy has been killed in a shootout between police and an angry mob after it attacked a police station, demanding they should be allowed to execute a minority Hindu being held over blasphemy charges.

Local police official Atta Ullah said the clash took place in the town of Hub in the southwestern Baluchistan province after police arrested Parkash Kumar, 35, on reports that he shared content allegedly blasphemous against Islam's Prophet Muhammad on WhatsApp.

He said officers were still questioning the man when the mob stormed the police station, sparking a shootout in which a young boy was killed.

Ullah said authorities are still trying to restore order with help from elders.

Blasphemy against Islam and its prophet is punishable by death under Pakistani law.
North Korean state media criticized China directly Wednesday, saying its reckless remarks on the Norths nuclear program was testing its patience and could trigger unspecified grave consequences.

A commentary released by the state-run Korean Central News Agency said that "a string of absurd and reckless remarks are now heard from China everyday only to render the present bad situation tenser."

The article cited commentaries by Chinese state media that it said shifted the blame for deteriorating bilateral relations onto the North and raised "lame excuses for the base acts of dancing to the tune of the U.S."

"China should no longer try to test the limits of the DPRK's patience," the North Korean commentary said. "China had better ponder over the grave consequences to be entailed by its reckless act of chopping down the pillar of the DPRK-China relations."

The commentary was responding to an article in Chinas state-backed Global Times that warned the Norths actions threatened a 1961 treaty of non-aggression between the two countries. It called on the regime to end its nuclear tests.

"China will not allow its northeastern region to be contaminated by North Korea's nuclear activities," the Global Times declared.

In recent days, the paper also warned that China was able to strike back "at any side that crosses the red line" and would impose an oil embargo against the North in response to any more tests. The North Korean commentary said it's China that crossed "the red line."

North Korea rarely criticizes China directly, previously only referring to China as a neighboring country.

China, North Koreas main benefactor, suspended imports of North Korean coal in line with U.N. sanctions and has been urging Pyongyang to stop nuclear and missile activities amid U.S. pressure to use its leverage to help solve the nuclear standoff before tensions escalate even further.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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The months of grueling campaigning have polished her image. The driving ambition has been softened to widen her appeal to French voters.

But Marine Le Pen has not lost the gritty, populist edge that speaks to the common man and the passion for her far-right cause as she heads into Sunday's presidential runoff election against centrist Emmanuel Macron.

"I'm the candidate of the people," Le Pen said at a heated debate Wednesday night.

"I'm the candidate of France as we love it," she added. "I am the candidate of the nation that protects  that protects our jobs, that protects the security of our fellow citizens, our borders, protects us against unfair international competition and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism."

Le Pen's authoritarian bent and propensity for sarcasm mostly have been hidden under layers of practiced composure. She contends her bold ambition is guided only by her love of "eternal France."

"I was never fascinated by power," she said in a recent interview on state-run television. Power, she said, "is a tool ... not an end in itself."

If elected, it is the people who will have power, Le Pen said, adding that she would be their proxy.

At her final rally Thursday night in a Picardy village, she sought to embody those suffering in France, saying she "was the widow of the farmer who killed himself because he couldn't take it anymore," and the taxi driver losing money to "uberization."

The 48-year-old mother of three portrays herself as the guardian of a disabused France, where citizens are losing their culture to an encroaching Islam, their identity to "massive immigration" and their sovereignty to the European Union.

As president, she said she plans to open the way to referendums initiated by citizens, to quickly regain control of the country's borders and bring back the French franc, and to create a "battle plan against Islamic terrorism."

At rallies or in interviews, Le Pen evokes only victory, saying, "When I am president ..."

Her far-right values were forged at home. Born Marion Anne Perrine Le Pen in 1968 in a western Paris suburb, the far-right leader was weaned on family dramas.

She is the youngest of three daughters of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the firebrand politician who co-founded the National Front party.

She says she was "raised on honey and the acid of politics," a reference to her privileged life and the weight of her larger-than-life father and his populism.

"To be the daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen was not always easy," she said in a recent interview on the BFM TV station. But to be his daughter was to follow in his footsteps, she suggested, calling politics "the virus one has within."

The French media relished recounting the divorce of her parents in her teen years. In a reflection of that bitter separation, her mother, Pierrette Lalanne, posed for Playboy in 1987, partly dressed in a maid's costume. The magazine quoted her as saying she was responding to her husband's Playboy interview in which he said she could become a housekeeper if she needed money.

For years, Marine Le Pen had no relations with her mother, but today "there is lots of love between Mama and me," she said.

Le Pen has led her father's party since 2011, and four years later expelled him when he refused to halt the anti-Semitic provocations that were undermining her bid to make the National Front an acceptable political alternative  and hurting her dream of becoming president.

The anti-establishment Le Pen used local, regional and European elections to build a party machine to serve her ambitions.

The lawyer-turned politician ran unsuccessfully for president in 2012. Two years later, the National Front won 11 towns in municipal elections, and her party performed better than any in France in elections for the European Parliament, where she co-presides over a far-right group. She has been a European lawmaker since 2004.

Since 2010, she has served as a regional councilor for northern France, a hardscrabble land where she feels at home.

Twice divorced, Marine Le Pen shuns public appearances with her long-time companion, Louis Aliot, a National Front vice president who lives in far-away Perpignan and has said he would not become "first man" if she wins.

Le Pen is nothing if not loyal. Old friends from her Parisian law school days  members of a radical student group known for violence and anti-Semitism  hold key roles in her inner circle and are at the center of an alleged party financing scheme. The case raises questions about Le Pen as she balances radical forces in the party with people she has won over from the mainstream left and right.

Le Pen has a soft touch that appeals to voters once too timid to vote for the extreme right  but her steely resolve and sharp tongue can be just as cutting as her father's.

At Wednesday's debate, Le Pen portrayed Macron, a former investment banker and economy minister, as an elitist candidate of the system she rejects.

She said his meeting with Angela Merkel was to "seek the benediction" of the German chancellor.

"Either way," she said, "France will be led by a woman; either me or Madame Merkel."

But there were times in the insult-filled debate that the usually unflappable Le Pen appeared vulnerable.

Macron said Le Pen stirred up the hatred and the anger of voters the way her father did, calling her "the high priestess of fear."

"That's what sustains you. That's what sustained your father for decades. That's what nourished the extreme right and that is what created you," Macron said. "You are its parasite."

Le Pen retorted: "What class!"
Turkey, Iran and Russia have agreed to establish four de-escalation zones in Syria in an effort to halt a seven-year war devastating the country.

The deal, worked out in Syrian cease-fire talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana on Thursday, calls for the coordination of four zones in the northern, central and southern parts of the war-torn country.

PUTIN: TRUMP BACKS PLAN TO ESTABLISH SAFE ZONES IN SYRIA

Some members of the Syrian opposition delegation yelled in protest and walked out of the conference room after the agreement was signed. Theyre opposed to Irans involvement at the conference and have accused the country of being involved in the war, which has killed about 400,000 people to date.

The agreement recognized efforts to end all use of weapons, including by aircrafts between clashing parties, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. Itll also work to ensure the movement of humanitarian aid.

"Non-conflict zones" will be specifically established throughout Idlib province and in parts of Lattakia, Aleppo, Hama and Homs provinces and in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta. It would also apply to areas of Daraa and Quneitra provinces.

Turkey has said that it will continue to work toward holding the current cease-fire in order to facilitate a broader political solution.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A United Nations rights expert visiting Saudi Arabia as part of an unprecedented invitation by the government to assess the country's legislation and actions in fighting terrorism says he was not given access to imprisoned bloggers and activists.

Special Rapporteur Ben Emmerson says he was, however, given rare access to top officials overseeing the country's handling of sensitive terrorism cases, including those of human rights defenders serving sentences under sweeping security legislation.

Speaking with The Associated Press on Thursday from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Emmerson says "the picture is extremely mixed."

He says the Saudi government has gone to incredible lengths to humanely rehabilitate Saudis convicted in terrorism cases, while at the same time it has prosecuted and jailed citizens exercising their right to free speech under broadly worded anti-terrorism legislation.
The U.N human rights chief says up to 50,000 civilians in South Sudan's Upper Nile region are at imminent risk of human rights violations as government troops close in.

Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said Thursday that civilians in Aburoc town have nowhere to go. Many recently fled a military attack on nearby Kodok town.

Many in Aburoc are ethnic Shilluk and have faced a sharp rise in government attacks as South Sudan's civil war continues.

Zeid says military commanders on both sides show little regard for protecting civilians.

Separately, the U.N. humanitarian affairs agency says roughly 100,000 civilians have been displaced after a government offensive in the Jonglei region.

Army spokesman Santo Domic Chol did not comment on fighting in either location but said government attacks on civilians "didn't make sense."
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Despite the recent deployment of more U.S. troops to Afghanistan and other heightened efforts to eradicate terrorist groups, especially ISIS, Afghanistans former president, Hamid Karzai, believes the U.S. is in league with ISIS.

"The Daesh is a U.S. product," he told Fox News in an exclusive interview Wednesday in Kabul, using the Arabic word for the extremist Muslim group. "The Daesh -- which is clearly foreign -- emerged in 2015 during the U.S. presence."

Karzai, who was president from December 2004 to September 2014, said he routinely receives reports about unmarked helicopters dropping supplies to the terror faction on the Pakistan and Afghanistan border -- something that the "U.S. must explain."

He also expressed great distress at the dropping of the Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) last month, convinced it was a joint U.S.-ISIS operation.

"The Daesh had already emptied most of their (families and fighters) so this was coordinated. This group is just a U.S. tool. This cannot be any other tool," he went on. "First, the Daesh comes to drive people away and then the U.S. comes and drops that big bomb ... come on."

In Karzai's view, the U.S. simply wants to use Afghanistan terrain to "test" its toys.

"They [America] think this is no man's land for testing and abuse, but they are wrong about that," he said. "We have a deeply patriotic population here that will not allow this."

He also quibbled with MOABs nickname, Mother of All Bombs, saying it should be DOAB.

"The mother is a kind figure. She does not fit with a bomb," Karzai lamented. "This should be the 'Deadliest of All Bombs.' The casualty is Afghan sovereignty, our soil and, most hurtfully, our dignity. How can they say they are our allies and then bomb us?"

He said several metric tons of chemicals were injected into the ground on MOABs detonation, but when asked if it had been tested said they did not yet have the means to do so.

Karzai said that after that bomb was detonated he decided to destroy the "very nice" letter he had carefully crafted for President Trump, proposing such solutions as the need for less military engagement and alternatives "to rivalry" in the war-stricken country.

"I was about to sign it and then the MOAB came, so I abandoned it," Karzai said. "It was so disrespectful, why would I send him a letter?"

In the early years of his administration Karzai, considered to be the first democratically elected leader of the country, had close ties with President George W. Bush, but relations steadily soured and have hit a further low point since he left office almost three years ago.

In the waning years of his presidency, the Karzai team was widely accused of crony capitalism and immense corruption, accusations he staunchly denies as another U.S. fiction.

"When this [accusations] emerged was when I began to speak out in opposition to the U.S. of spraying all our fields with chemicals," he said. "They used [the accusation of] 'corruption' then as another tool."

Karzai regards as his biggest presidential failure allowing a free market "laissez-faire" economic system, whereby transactions between public and private entities can proceed without government intervention.

"I should have gone with a Scandinavian or Chinese model of economy," he noted. "But other than that, I am happy. I did what I did."
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The Vatican and Myanmar have agreed to establish diplomatic relations.

The announcement came Thursday, on the same day that Pope Francis met with Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's top civilian leader.

Myanmar's government is facing international criticism for its activities in the western state of Rakhine, where troops are accused of carrying out widespread abuses against the Muslim ethnic Rohingya minority in what the government says is a counter-insurgency operation.

Francis has appealed for prayers for the Rohingya, who face official and social discrimination in the Buddhist-majority country. In February, he denounced how they had been "tortured and killed, simply because they are continuing their traditions, their Muslim faith."

The Vatican said the decision to establish diplomatic relations would "promote bonds of mutual friendship."
A man has been accused of murdering his next-door neighbor after claiming she trained her parrot to insult him.

Ignazio Frailis is said to have waited for Maria Bonaria Contu as she went for a walk with pals.

Frailis, 46, then allegedly stabbed the 60-year-old married mother of two 11 times and wounded a friend who tried to protect her.

GERMAN WOMAN FINED FOR PHOTO OF NAZI EASTER EGG BASKET

The alleged incident unfolded on the Italian island of Sardinia in the city of Cagliari.

Eugenio Fatone, the arresting officer, told reporters Frailis was very cold, very calm and full of rage.

Investigators say he was driven to kill Mrs Contu by a parrot which she trained to hurl insults whenever he passed the bird, LUnione Sarda reports.

According to investigators, unemployed Frailis spent most of his time playing violent video games in his home where he could hear the birds taunts.

Magistrate Paolo De Angelis said: Listening to the parrot all day, it became an obsession for him.

I dont exclude mental problems. Even the worst parrot in the world doesnt justify this.

UK JURY FINDS STUDENT GUILTY OF PLANTING BOMB ON LONDON TUBE

Officer Fatone added that Frailis had made complaints about the bird before saying: Officers had tried to talk to both sides and had suggested putting the parrot in a different room, not facing Mr Frailiss house.

Frailiss uncle, Dario Serra, said his nephew was not a violent man. He is a good person, he took care of cats and dogs and has never hurt anyone.

The investigation continues.

This article first appeared in The Sun.
Front Burner Expands Leadership Team with New Hires and Promotions

Restaurant Management Company Names Vice President of Information Technology, Vice President of Operations and Appoints Vice President of Marketing

May 04, 2017 // Franchising.com // TAMPA, Fla. - Front Burner, restaurant management company for premier fondue restaurant franchise, The Melting Pot Restaurants, Inc., announced it has strengthened its leadership team with the addition of Randy Barnett as vice president of information technology and Jennifer Dodd as vice president of operations. In addition, former senior director of marketing, Michele Whaley, has been promoted to vice president of marketing. This announcement is a testament to Front Burner's ongoing commitment to strengthen its industry presence.

"As we continue to grow and focus on the brand's next wave of innovation, we are incredibly excited to welcome Randy and Jennifer to the Front Burner family," said Bob Johnston, chief executive officer of Front Burner. "Michele has been vital to the development of strategic and integrated marketing and will continue to share her creative vision as our vice president of marketing. Each member of our executive team has tremendous industry experience, and we look forward to their contributions toward overall company excellence."

In a newly created position, Randy Barnett will serve as the vice president of information technology and will cultivate all polices and network infrastructure, along with planning and budgeting for all technology initiatives for Front Burner. Barnett has an impressive track record, with more than 25 years of technology experience in network design, strategic planning, project management and developing systems engineering strategies. Most recently, Barnett served as director of information technology at My Fit Foods, where he developed a new network infrastructure for support center activities, which was implemented in all corporate and retail locations. Barnett conducted the company's first PCI audits, which led to an increase in cyber security protection.

Jennifer Dodd will join Front Burner as the vice president of operations, where she will forge strategic partnerships and accelerate franchise development growth to maximize revenue and profits on behalf of Front Burner. For more than 25 years, Dodd has demonstrated leadership with top organizations in the restaurant, retail and education industries, including Dunkin' Brands, Applebee's International and Church's Chicken. Prior to joining Front Burner, Dodd served as founder, principal and chief executive officer of The TreeTop Group, a global executive consulting firm, providing leadership strategy and operational expertise to various companies seeking to accelerate growth and performance.

As the newly appointed vice president of marketing, Michele Whaley will expand her previous role of senior director of marketing and continue to oversee the daily operations of Front Burner's marketing department. Whaley, who joined the company in 2014, has over 25 years of marketing experience and most recently served as the director of advertising and public relations at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tampa, Fla. Throughout her career at Front Burner, she has successfully developed the company's strategic-marketing direction and corporate vision to improve the progression of internal resources and services to external vendors and agencies. Whaley's creativity and innovation has proven to be an invaluable resource, leading several teams within the marketing department to success and increasing the efficiencies and value of services to franchisees.

About Front Burner

Front Burner is a franchise management company headquartered in Tampa, Florida and was named one of the 2017 Top Workplaces in Tampa Bay by Tampa Bay Times. It is affiliated with the corporate owners of and its management services extended to The Melting Pot Restaurants, Inc., founded in 1975 with more than 120 restaurants in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. For more information, visit http://www.frontburnerbrands.com.

Media Contact:

Alexya Williams

Account Executive

Fish Consulting, LLC

O: (954) 893-9150

C: (575) 202-7367

E: awilliams@fish-consulting.com

SOURCE Front Burner

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New U.K. Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt has reversed most of an economic package announced by the government just weeks ago, including a planned cut in income taxes. Hunt said Monday he was scrapping almost all the tax cuts announced last month by the Conservative government of Prime Minister Liz Truss, and also signaled that public spending cuts are on the way. It was a bid to soothe turbulent financial markets spooked by fears of excessive government borrowing. The move raises questions about how long the beleaguered prime minister can stay in office, though Truss insisted she has no plans to quit. She vowed to lead the Conservatives into the next general election, but many in the party want her gone.
Bourbon lovers will get the chance to score a once-in-a-lifetime product from one of the nations most famous distilleries next week on the Virginia ABC Departments website.

And it wont come cheap.

From 9 a.m. May 10 to 9 a.m. May 12, customers will be able to enter a lottery for the chance to purchase one of 10 bottles of the extremely rare Old Rip Van Winkle 25-year-old bourbon.

The price? A mere $1,799.99.

I would say the bottles will end up in personal collections. Theyll rarely get opened, Marketing Manager Preston Van Winkle, who joined the family business in 2001, said in a phone interview. They may end up in bars and restaurants that might see daylight.

The Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery has been in the same family for four generations, and its aged whiskeys are high quality and highly sought after, said Matt Thomas, who co-owns Kybecca in downtown Fredericksburg and creates its cocktail recipes.

Most people have probably never heard of it, but people who are whiskey fans have, he said. People ask for it, but I cant get it.

Thomas said that he probably wont enter the lottery, even though bourbon is increasingly popular.

The problem is, when it gets that expensive, the amount youd have to charge per glass would be very high, he said. Id have to think about it.

The Old Rip Van Winkle 25-year-old bourbon is rarer than normal for the Frankfort, Ky., based company. It distilled only 11 barrels, and is sending just 710 bottles to retailers.

The distillery normally makes roughly 7,000 casesor 84,000 bottlesper year. Its aged whiskeys are among the rarest and most expensive in the world, and people will go to great lengths to get someincluding theft. Bourbon bandits stole 65 cases of 20-year-old Pappy Van Winkle from a Kentucky distillery in 2013 as part of a $100,000 multi-year heist.

The barrels of the Old Rip Van Winkle 25-year-old bourbon were distilled in the spring and fall of 1989 and stored in the lower level of a warehouse built in 1935 at the familys distillery in Shively, Ky. In 2002, the barrels were moved to Buffalo Trace Distillery, where they aged for another 12 years on the lower floors in its warehouses.

The lower floor placement helped preserve the sweet, mellow notes of the world-famous wheated bourbon recipe, according to the release. In 2014 the Buffalo Trace team moved the barrels into stainless steel tanks to halt the aging process and preserve the rich flavor profile fans have come to expect from the Van Winkle line.

The company decided that the resulting bourbon needed special packaging, so each bottle comes in a handmade, individually numbered glass decanter from Glencairn Crystal Studio, a Scottish firm renowned in the whiskey industry. The bottle information is engraved on the decanters, which come with a silver stopper as well as a glass top.

The decanters come in a handmade wooden box crafted by James Broyhill II of Heritage Handcrafted in Charlotte, N.C., from oak staves from the barrels that held the bourbon. The outside of the box bears a metal plaque with the Old Rip Van Winkle logo and states asleep 25 years in the wood. Inside is a bourbon certificate of authenticity signed by Julian P. Van Winkle III, grandson of founder Julian P. Pappy Van Winkle and the distillerys president.

(To see a video of Broyhill making a similar box for another Van Winkle bourbon, go to fredericksburg.com.) {iframe src=https://www.youtube.com/embed/0Ty2cj1m10M frameborder=0 width=560 height=315}{/iframe}

We are excited to be able to offer something so unique and rare for our most devoted fans, he said. This is a once in a lifetime offering and the beautiful decanter and wooden box just take it to the next level and make it something in which Im very proud to be associated.

Virginia ABC has held 27 lotteries for exclusive products since the online programs launch in 2016, including lotteries for three high-demand Van Winkle products in December.

The entry form for this months lottery is on the Virginia ABC website, abc.virginia.gov/products/limited-availability.

Due to its price and extremely limited nature, the lucky few with winning entries must take their confirmation email and identification to their local ABC store and prepay for the bottle.

ABCs online lotteries give all customers equal opportunity to purchase products we receive in small quantities, said Virginia ABC Director of Marketing John Shiffer in a news release. It means that residents in rural areas have just as much opportunity to enjoy our high-end products as residents in more urban parts of Virginia.
ARENA STAGE

1101 Sixth St. SW, Washington. 202/488-3300; arenastage.org

A Raisin in the Sun follows a family yearning for a better life far from the cramped confines of their Chicago tenement. Through May 7. $40$90.

CHAMBERLAYNE ACTORS THEATRE

319 N. Wilkinson Road, Richmond. 804/262-9760; cattheatre.com

A Song in the Wilderness, a one-woman show that offers a dramatic exploration of the life and experiences of Gene Stratton-Porter. May 6 and May 13. Includes a reception and talk back with the production staff.

CREATIVE CAULDRON

ArtSpace Falls Church, 410 S. Maple Ave., Falls Church. 703/436-9948; creativecauldron.org

Kaleidoscope is a world premiere musical starring Broadways Florence Lacey. May 4-28. $20$30.

DOMINION ARTS CENTER

Libby S. Gottwald Playhouse, 600 E. Grace St., Richmond. 800/514-3849; dominionartscenter.com

Men Are From MarsWomen Are From Venus LIVE! a one-man fusion of theater and stand-up comedy based on the New York Times best-selling book of the last decade by John Gray. May 19-21. $55.

FOLGER THEATRE

201 E. Capitol St. SE, Washington, D.C. 202/544-7077; folger.edu/theatre

Timon of Athens, Shakespeares gripping tragedy that examines wealth, false friendships and the abuse of generosity. May 9 to June 11. $35 to $75.

FORDS THEATRE

511 10th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 202/347-4833; fords.org

Ragtime, based on E.L. Doctorows novel, confronts both the unbridled optimism and the stark reality of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Through May 20. $20$73.

KENNEDY CENTER

2700 F St. NW, Washington. 800/ 444-1324; kennedy-center.org

Washington National Opera: Madame Butterfly, Puccinis tale of romance and betrayal involving a American naval officer and a naive young geisha. May 6-21. $25-$300.

RICHMOND TRIANGLE PLAYERS

1300 Altamont Ave., Richmond. 804/346-8113; rtriangle.org

A Kid Like Jake is a study of intimacy and parenthood and the fantasies that accompany both. Through May 13. $15-$35.

RIVERSIDE CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

Off U.S. 17 in Falmouth. 540/370-4300; riversidedt.com

Saturday Night Fever the Musical based on the 1977 hit movie featuring disco music of the Bee Gees. Through May 7. $45$69.

SHAKESPEARE THEATRE COMPANY

Sidney Harman Hall, 610 F St. NW, Washington, D.C. 202/547-1122; shakespearetheatre.org

Macbeth, through May 28. April 25May 28.

Lansburgh Theatre, 450 Seventh St., Washington, D.C. 202/547-1122; shakespearetheatre.org

et le Monde, performed by the Bowen McCauley Dance. May 5-6. $24-$44.

The School For Lies, David Ives adaptation of Molieres 17th-century classic The Misanthrope. May 30July 2.

SIGNATURE THEATRE

4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. 703/820-9771; signature-theatre.org

Jesus Christ Superstar, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, tells the story of Jesus life in his final week. May 9July 2.

STAGE DOOR PRODUCTIONS

Kitt Creative Studios, 810 Caroline St., third floor, Fredericksburg. stagedoorproductions.org

Original One Act Festival, featuring six works. May 5-6 at 7:30 p.m. $15 or $10 for students.

VIRGINIA REPERTORY THEATRE

114 W. Broad St., Richmond. 804/282-2620; va-rep.org

Beauty & the Beast, Disneys timeless tale featuring music by Alan Menken. November Theatre. Through May 14. Suggested for ages 5 and up. $38-$60.

Rabbit Hole, by David Lindsay-Abaire, follows a couple whose world is torn upside-down by a life-shattering accident. Theatre Gym. Through May 20. $20 and up.

WOOLLY MAMMOTH THEATRE

641 D St. NW, Washington, D.C. 202/393-3939; woollymammoth.net

Hir explores gender power dynamics in this kitchen-sink drama. May 22-June 18. $35 and up.
A Caroline County crash in which six farm workers died is being used by a federal agency as an example of weaknesses in the migrant worker transportation system. Officials hope lessons learned from the crash can lead to improvements.

On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board released investigation findings of the Caroline crash and two others (one in Arkansas and another in Florida) involving migrant workers.

In the Caroline crash, Wenceslao Cruz-Marquez was driving a 1998 Dodge van carrying 15 passengers when it crashed on Interstate 95 near Ladysmith at about 12:30 a.m. on June 18, 2016, according to Virginia State Police. The group left from North Carolina and was headed to New Jersey to pick blueberries.

The van was headed north when it ran off the left side of the road and veered back across two travel lanes before ramming a 2016 Toyota Camry in the right lane. The Toyota spun out while the van continued off the road to the right. Cruz-Marquez overcorrected to the left and the van overturned five or six times, police said at the time.

Six passengers in the vanfour men, one woman and a juvenile, ranging in age from 5 to 40were ejected and died at the scene, according to police.

Cruz-Marquez and nine other passengers were taken to area hospitals for treatment.

Only the front passenger seat and the drivers seat had working seat belts, and the 5-year-old victim was not strapped into a booster seat as required by state law, according to police.

According to the NTSB report, Cruz-Marquez operated the van, charging money to drive migrant blueberry pickers to jobs in various states. Cruz-Marquez, a Mexican citizen, was operating the for-hire van without a drivers license or the proper commercial registration.

The NTSB report found that Cruz-Marquez violated five for-hire carrier regulations and he was cited by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which issued an imminent hazard order against him. That order put his transportation business out of service.

Cruz-Marquez, a 51-year-old Chicago resident, is serving jail time after he pleaded guilty to reckless driving and one count of involuntary manslaughter.

He was sentenced to one year on the reckless driving conviction with all of the time suspended, according to Caroline County Circuit Court records. Cruz-Marquez was given a 10-year sentence on the manslaughter conviction with all but three years and four months suspended.
A nap in a Wawa restroom resulted in a drug bust in Stafford County Monday night.

When Stafford Deputy B.M. Kanterman responded to the Wawa on State Route 610 at about 9 p.m. Monday, he was told a man looking like a zombie was in the restroom lying down, according to a release from the Sheriffs Office.

The deputy found the man asleep between a urinal and bathroom stall.

Once awakened, the man allowed the deputy to search him, which turned up a syringe and five baggies of suspected heroin, according to the release.

Further investigation led deputies to a BMW in the parking lot of the Stafford Marketplace shopping center along 610. A K9 drug dog notified handlers to narcotics. A search of the car turned up 140 baggies of suspected heroin, or about 10 grams.

Police charged Nicholas Richard Caputa, 24, of Bristol, Pa., the man discovered in the bathroom, with possession with intent to distribute the drugs. Three others with Caputa also were charged. Anthony Ronald Chambers, Megan Rene Lichlytrer, and Sally Elizabeth Nelson, all of Tennessee, face a charge of conspiracy to sell the drugs.

All four were incarcerated at the Rappahannock Regional Jail without bond.
Of all the information available on the importance of dental carebecause studies show problems in the mouth can lead to serious medical issues throughout the bodyone statement about tooth-brushing seems particularly sad.

Mary Foley Hintermann, executive director of the Piedmont Regional Dental Clinic in Orange County, was talking about the range of people who need affordable dental care. Children were high on her list because, even though kids on Medicaid are entitled to dental treatment, there are few dentists in the region who will accept the federalstate health insurance coverage for low-income people.

Thats why the clinic sends pediatric dentists to 26 schools in the Piedmont region, including Culpeper and Orange counties, to conduct oral exams. As staff members talk to children, they learn all kinds of things about their dental-hygiene habits.

We were saddened to learn how many were sharing toothbrushes, Hintermann said, because their parents cant use benefits, such as food stamps, to purchase toothpaste, brushes and floss.

As a result, the clinic gives students goody bags filled with those items during the school visits.

Various medical studies, including a recent report by the Surgeon General, show a clear link between chronic oral infections and severe health problems, such as diabetes, heart disease and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Those with periodontal disease are up to two times more likely to suffer a fatal heart attack and nearly three times more like to have a stroke, according to Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General.

But there are plenty of people who dont see a dentist regularly, according to local officials. A big reason is cost, because much of the expense of cleanings and fillings, crowns and bridges, comes out of the individuals pocket.

While many businesses offer their employees health coverage, dental coverage can be as rare as hens teeth. Unless military veterans have been prisoners of war or are 100-percent disabled or homeless, they dont get dental benefits. Neither do senior citizens with Medicare.

And treatment can be hard to find for those on Medicaid because that insurance reimburses only 47 cents for each dollar of provided services, Hintermann said.

Access to affordable dental care is just huge, she added.

There are several clinics in the Fredericksburg region that provide dental services at reduced prices for those who meet income qualifications. One is the Community Health Center of the Rappahannock Region, and its one of several local practices funded by Central Virginia Health Services, a non-profit community health center.

People pay on a sliding scale, based on their income. A basic dental visit at the Community Health Center could cost as little as $15 for those with the lowest income, said Chastity Withrow, practice manager.

But the center currently has 400 people on a waiting list. Appointments for new patients are booked through November, she said.

We definitely see that theres a huge need in the area for discounted dental services, Withrow said. We would love to have another dentist, but we just cant afford to pay another dentist.

Some private practices have stepped up to help. The Fredericksburg Smile Center had its 11th annual Smiles With a Heart event on Friday, when dentists and staff members cleaned, pulled and filled teeth for free.

In this area, unfortunately, we do have a poverty problem, Meredith Knight, officer manager, said about the need for the free once-a-year services. In some cases, there were adults who had never been to the dentist in their lives.

Some patients have gotten in line at the center in Gateway Village at midnight, hours before the 7 a.m. office opening, to secure their place, Knight said.

The staff at Neibauer Dental Care in Falmouth probably will see the same turnout on Saturday during its free dentistry day. Between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m., dentists and hygienists will provide a patients choice of a free cleaning, filling or extraction. Patients will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis at the office, 11 Smoke House Drive, Suite 115. More information is available by calling 540/899-7751.

We understand that many people in our community and across the nation havent been to the dentist for a long period of time, said Dr. Nazie Starnes. Some dont understand the importance of dental health, but more often than not, they dont have the financial means.

At the Lloyd Moss Free Clinic, the number of dental visits almost doubled from 2015 to 2016and the facility is on track to increase numbers even more this year, said Karen Dulaney, executive director. Instead of limiting its dental clinic to two weeknights, it provides dental services up to four days or nights a week, she said.

The clinic serves uninsured and low-income adults ages 19 to 64. It restructured its schedule in recent years, to give both patients and dentists who volunteer their services more chances for appointments.

The clinic also gets help from Germanna Community College students working to become dental assistants. They come to the clinic with a staff dentist from Germanna and treat patients.

Dulaney hopes the combination of increased times and services will help more people avoid an aching, nagging toothacheand a decline in their overall health.

The two are very intertwined, she said, but a lot of people dont realize that.
Parents of Hugh Mercer Elementary School students who are absent more than a day now get a friendly call from their childs teacher instead of someone in the main office.

She may say something like, We miss him. We hope hes OK, and can we do anything to help?

Hugh Mercer started the effort this school year to improve relations with parents and boost attendance, said Principal Marjorie Tankersley.

The idea was suggested by the schools Positive Home-School Relations committee, one of seven created after the Fredericksburg City Public Schools system joined the Effective Schools movement in 2007.

Tankersley said the committee created a draft script for teachers to use when calling, and also sent home flyers with tips on how parents can create a morning routine for students so they get to school on time.

Teachers have reported better relations and a slight increase in student attendance, she said.

Tankersley and Matthew Terry, principal of Lafayette Upper Elementary School, gave updates on their Effective Schools programs at the Fredericksburg School Board meeting Monday.

The Effective Schools movement was created in reaction to a controversial 1966 report that concluded family background and income were the major factors in how well students did in school.

Other educational researchers believed that schools could make a significant difference, and studied those that were successful in educating students of all backgrounds. They found similarities that, over time, have been refined into seven attributes including positive home-school relations.

Fredericksburg is apparently the only local school system using the program, although others incorporate many of its ideas, said Deputy Superintendent Marci Catlett. Each of the citys schools has a committee made up of parents, teachers and other school employees that meets at least once a month to come up with ideas.

Besides positive home-school relations, they include having a clear and focused mission, instructional leadership, a safe and orderly environment and a climate of high expectations. The others involve monitoring student progress, opportunity to learn and time on task.

Tankersley said Hugh Mercer held its first event combining reading, math and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) this year as part of its clear and focused mission, and because the school will eventually offer the International Baccalaureate Program. IB takes an interdisciplinary approach to education.

The event featured everything from Easter egg races and a chance to build towers out of toothpicks and marshmallows to the opportunity to see nonvenomous snakes and answer math questions from adults dressed up like Harry Potter wizards. They also got to make and taste butter, and test paper airplanes they made in a wind tunnel.

It was hugely successful, Tankersley said.

Terry highlighted two events that Lafayette Upper Elementary held this past year as part of its Effective School program. One was its annual SOL Night, which gives parents a chance to learn about what the states Standards of Learning assessments are like, and any changes that have been made.

This year, we really thought this was important because we have a lot of changes with our assessments, Terry said. Its really important that parents get to hear what this CAT assessments, or computer-adaptive assessments, look like, feel like and how they can practice at home.

Organized by the positive home-school relations committee, SOL Night includes an overview of assessments, breakout sessions for each grade level and dinner.

It really has increased our parent involvement, Terry said. We see a lot of third-grade parents come out because theyre new to this. They really appreciate that quite a bit.

He also touched on the schools graduation ceremony, which is held at James Monroe High School during the last week of school. Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw has been the keynote speaker for the last few years. The ceremony is followed by a farewell party for fifth-graders.

Its an amazing effort, Terry said.

The principals of WalkerGrant Middle and James Monroe High schools will give their Effective Schools updates to the School Board when it meets June 5.
LETS not condemn President Donald Trump for suggesting that people ask, Why was there the Civil War? Its a relevant question, perhaps now more than ever.

In the 152 years since the end of the bloody conflict that pitted the North against the South, the most important issue in the Civil War remains unresolved.

America still disagrees on what kind of country it wants to be.

We view the world through opposite lenses, often depending on which region of the country we live in. We read the Constitution differently, interpreting it in a way that suits our needs. We focus on one anothers differences rather than seek common ground where everyones voice is heard.

The double-barreled cannons, the Gatling guns and the Bowie knives of the Civil War era have long been put away, but polarization over the direction of our country has locked us in a bitter cold war for which there is no obvious resolution.

Though we would not settle for a country that does not offer the freedom to disagree, we must consider that, perhaps, the price of democracy has always been war, in some form or another.

What can we learn from the Civil War? In an interview that aired Monday on Sirius XM, Trump asked, Why could that one not have been worked out?

Trump likely was suggesting that he and his role model, President Andrew Jacksona man who celebrated white supremacy and subjugated Native Americanscould have done a better job than Abraham Lincoln in staving off the war through negotiations. That is unlikely, considering how Trump has further divided Americans during the short time he has been in office.

In the Civil War, one side had to step aside before America could move forward. There was no room for compromise. The ideals of the two sides were so mismatched, their views of right and wrong too diametrically opposed and their visions for America too different. Doesnt that sound familiar?

In 1861, Southerners were ready to secede from the Union because they felt the federal government was interfering too much in the sovereignty of the individual states. Northerners, on the other hand, saw the issue as a fight over slavery.

Near the end of the war, Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman led Union soldiers into the heart of the South, destroying economic hubs in Georgia and South Carolina. The opposition collapsed, and the Confederacy gave up.

Everyone knew that the road to recovery would be a long, hard journey. After one-and-a-half centuries, the United States is still struggling to rebuild a unified coalition. There is no argument that we are a much better nation without the burden of slavery. But what are the lessons from the war?

I would argue that the Civil War itself teaches us nothing about ourselves that we dont already know. The real lessons came from President Lincoln, as he moved closer to victory.

In his famous Gettysburg Address, given on the battlefield where tens of thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers were killed or wounded, Lincoln did not talk about winning or losing. He talked about the thing that the soldiers had most in commontheir dedication to standing up for what they believed in.

The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced, Lincoln said.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before usthat from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotionthat we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vainthat this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedomand that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Perhaps this is why there was the Civil War, Mr. Trump. It serves to remind us that a nation so divided destroys itself from within.

Dahleen Glanton is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune. Readers may email her at dglanton@chicagotribune.com.
Fredericksburg's City Council appears ready to climb aboard a worldwide trend. Last month, the council unanimously approved a property tax exemption and credit for those who have solar energy equipment installed on residential or commercial property.

The final vote on the measure is set for Tuesday night. The savings probably will be $100 or less per home or business annually for five years, but its a step in the right direction.

Solar has been touted as the next big thing in energy for a long time.

Its easy in Virginia to get cynical about the slow pace at which its becoming a significant source of our energy. The momentum, though, is growing.

While City Council is considering the tax exemption, Dominion Virginia Power has unveiled a plan to up its use of solar power over the next 15 to 25 years, adding 5,200 megawatts of solar in the next quarter-century.

And, there is a federal solar tax credit still on the books that lets you deduct 30 percent of the cost of installing a solar energy system. The federal credit is currently set to run through 2019.

We still have a long way to go in terms of harnessing the sun. Less than 1 percent of total utility-scale electricity generation in the United States comes from solar.

The overall trend, though, is heartening, if you think that lessening carbon and greenhouse gas emissions, oil spills and chemical leaks are important. In 1996, the countrys solar photovoltaic capacity was 77 megawatts. Twenty years later, it had grown by more than 500 times. The capacity is now more than 40,000 megawatts (40 gigawatts), according to the International Energy Agency. That figure is projected to nearly triple in the next five years.

Other countries are moving faster. America, which used to lead the world in solar power capacity, has fallen behind China, Japan and Germany.

As with any new technology, the price goes down as production increases. If you think solar isnt starting to shine, consider this. The Kentucky Coal Mining Museum in eastern Kentucky is switching to solar power. Yes, its cleaner, but the turning point is that its cheaper. The museum, while honoring the coal-mining tradition of that region, is projected to save as much as $10,000 by looking to a sun-fueled future.

We applaud the City Council for adding its support to the solar surge and hope its members follow through and approve the tax break on Tuesday.
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You can bet the Kentucky Derby online from California and the world famous Santa Anita race track at any one of the internationally licensed racebooks, none of which will ever require a social security number.

Californias horse racing tracks offer some of the best Kentucky Derby events in the US outside of Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky itself.

Santa Anita typically features a top-of-the-line Kentucky Derby simulcast viewing but please note in regard to the trackside package: The Woodford Reserve Trackside is often sold out with only general admission tending to be available.

Dress in your Derby Day best, sip bourbon and whiskey, and bask in shimmering elegance. Its not Churchill Downs, its part of The Biggest Derby Party West of Kentucky in the legendary Chandelier Room at Santa Anita Park. Be sure to call the venue ahead for full details.

If you can't make it there, you can still bet from the comfort of your own home here .

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State of Honor had odds of winning the Kentucky Derby that would pay $520 for every $10 bet. He was one of the Derbys biggest long shots.

State of Honor had a post position of number 6, which has yielded two wins in Kentucky Derby history (12 in the money finishes).

State of Honor is interesting in that he hasnt won a race as of yet but has still managed to finish in the top three in each of his last seven. That is a trifecta bet if we ever saw one.

And we are talking top races from the Florida Derby with a 2nd place finish to the Tampa Bay Derby, also with a second place finish. The Mucho Macho Man Stakes was also a second place finish.

Show some love for State of Honor! At 52-1 odds, this is one you gotta consider for something.

- Ean Lamb, Gambling911.com
On The Water: You might need a bigger boat for Transpac 2023
Lowell Blain Caudle , 79, of Lebanon, died, February 10, at Samaritan Evergreen Hospice House. A private family memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 21 at the Serendipity Cafe, 638 S. Main St., Lebanon. Huston-Jost Funeral Home is handling arrangements.

Matt M. Fawcett, 60, of Corvallis, died Friday, April 28, 2017 in Corvallis. A celebration of life will be held at 5 p.m. on May 15 at Glacier Raft Company in West Glacier, Montana. McHenry Funeral Home is handling arrangements.
Oregon State University officials say theyve seen little impact on international student recruitment in the wake of the Trump administrations anti-immigrant rhetoric.

To date, overall admissions applications to Oregon State from entering international students are relatively unchanged from a year ago, down only 1 percent, or approximately 16 students, on a total of 1,620 applicants, said Steve Clark, OSU vice president for marketing and university relations.

Clark noted that applications from some regions, including the Middle East, are unchanged. Applications from China are down, but OSU officials believe that is due to a change in Chinese higher education policy rather than a response to any perception of anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States.

Last fall, international students accounted for 3,947 of the universitys total enrollment of 31,303 and 3,769 of the 24,672 students on OSUs main Corvallis campus.

Clark said international travel by OSU students and faculty from the Middle East is down since the president attempted to bar people from seven Muslim-majority nations from entering the country in January. Trumps executive order sparked safety concerns among the campus international community at the time, but Clark said those worries seem to have eased since then.

We are getting more questions from international students and their families regarding safety, Clark acknowledged.

In response, he said, the university has expanded its outreach to potential applicants in some countries. OSU also has joined the ranks of U.S. universities that have produced You Are Welcome Here videos aimed at international students.

We are committed to these efforts to promote a safe and welcoming environment for all students, including international students, Clark said.
Oregon State University scientists invite the community members to "The Colorful World of Pigments," an event to celebrate the university's discovery of the YInMn blue pigment.

The event is today, with most activities scheduled for The LaSells Stewart Center's Austin Auditorium, 875 SW 26th St. on the OSU campus in Corvallis.

The event is free and open to the public.

Tours of the lab where the pigment was discovered are scheduled from 8 to 11 a.m. Space is limited; sign up with preferred times by email, science@oregonstate.edu.

A panel discussion with participants from OSU, Harvard University Forbes Pigment Collection, Nike, the Shepherd Color Co., HGTV Design Star and a special guest runs from 9 to 10:30 a.m.

An art exhibit featuring works by students and professionals using YInMn blue will be on display from 9 a.m. to noon.

A community wall mural, a coloring event for children of all ages, is set for 10:30 a.m. to noon.
THURSDAY

Graduate Showcase and Three-Minute Thesis, 4 p.m., LaSells Stewart Center, 875 SW 26th St., Corvallis. As part of Oregon State University's inaugural Graduate Student Appreciation Week, graduate students will share their research in the Graduate Showcase, and go head-to-head in the Three-Minute Thesis competition. Prizes totaling $2,000 will be awarded.

Science-Climate-Art showcase and film screening, 7 p.m., LaSells Stewart Center, 875 SW 26th St., Corvallis. Oregon State University's Department of Crop and Soil Science will host a free showing of Between Earth and Sky. The film documents the effects of climate change on the soils, ecosystems, wildlife and communities in Alaska. An art showcase is set for 5:30 to 7 p.m. Information: https://www.facebook.com/BetweenEarthAndSkyCorvallis.

FRIDAY

"The Colorful World of Pigments," 9 a.m., LaSells Stewart Center, 875 SW 26th St., Corvallis. This celebration of YInMn blue is a day of art, color, science and conversation. Learn how a serendipitous discovery has illuminated our world. Art exhibit of works using YlnMn blue, 9 to 10:30 a.m. Panel discussion on the intersection of science, color, art, culture and industry through the lens of YinMn blue. Wall mural coloring for all ages, 10:30 a.m. to noon.

Tan Sack Lecture Series, noon, Room 201A, Waldo Hall, 2250 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis. Jeremy Spoon of Portland State University will present Disaster Transitions: Social-Ecological Recovery and Resilience Following the 2015 Nepal Earthquakes.

Hallie Ford Center anniversary, noon, lobby and Bray Conference Room, Room 115, Hallie Ford Center, 2631 SW Campus Way, Corvallis. Join in celebrating the center's fifth anniversary. Hear about the centers impact and future at noon, attend a public reception at 1:15 p.m., and attend Health of Children Living in Chronic War Zones: The Palestinian Case, presented by Salwa Massad, research manager of the World Health Organization Palestinian National Institute of Public Health Project, at 4 p.m.

MONDAY

Eclipse Science Pub, 6 p.m., Room 100, Learning Innovation Center, 165 SW Sackett Place, Corvallis. On Aug. 21, North America will experience a total solar eclipse when the moon passes directly between the sun and earth. At the Science Pub, Randall Milstein will discuss the science and history of solar eclipses, and offer practical tips on how to witness the event safely. Free parking is available on campus after 5 p.m.

TUESDAY

"The OSU/Marys Peak Connection, 1860-2017," 6 p.m., Old World Deli, 341 SW Second St., Corvallis. This presentation, featuring rare photos, shows how Oregon State University has used Marys Peak for research, field trips, recreation, marketing and the symbol of the Beaver spirit. OSU archivists Mike Dicianna and Karl McCreary will speak. Sponsored by the Marys Peak Alliance.

North American Truffling Society, 7:30 p.m., Room 2087, Cordley Hall, 2701 SW Campus Way, Corvallis. Kim Kittredge of Northwest Mycological Consultants will present "Growing Oyster Mushrooms at Home." Many Pleurotus and Hypsizygus species can be grown on a variety of substrates. Some of these mushrooms can yield the shape of an oyster, while others can be very colorful. Spawn and a substrate for some of these edible saprobic mushrooms will be provided; those attending can take home a bag to grow and fruit.

WEDNESDAY

Startup Showcase, 4 p.m., ATAMI Building, HP campus, 1110 NE Circle Blvd., Corvallis. Entrepreneurs from the Oregon State University Advantage Accelerator/RAIN Corvallis program will present their successes and companies onstage.

MAY 11

Fake News speaker series, 3 p.m., Willamette Rooms, Valley Library, 201 SW Waldo Place, Corvallis. Katherine Hubler will present Der Sturmer, Fake News and the Making of the 'Jewish Criminal' in Nazi Germany. National Socialist propaganda frequently spread fake news about European Jews, but few Nazi publications were as belligerent and unrestrained in their antisemitic attacks as Der Sturmer (The Stormtrooper), published between 1923 and 1945. Hubler is an instructor and Ecampus coordinator for the Oregon State University School of History, Philosophy and Religion.

Oregon State University Microbiome Initiative's inaugural public lecture, 6 p.m., Horizon Room, Memorial Union, 2501 SW Jefferson Way, Corvallis. Science writer and journalist Ed Yong will speak based on his bestselling book on microbiome in the human body, "I Contain Multitudes." Reception preceding at 5:30 p.m.

MAY 17

2017 Starker Lectures, "Recreation in the Forests: Finding a Healthy Balance," Capstone field trip, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Explore the local impact of recreationists, public and private landowners, and the relationships between them. Meet at Southwest 53rd Street and Reservoir Avenue in Corvallis. Lunch provided. Dress for the weather. Registration: http://starkerlectures.forestry.oregonstate.edu/capstone-field-trip-registration, by May 10.
Melissa Goff, the superintendent of the Philomath School District, was ready for the state Board of Education at a meeting last week: She donned attire emblazoned with the mascots that go along with the school's "Warrior Pride" motto.

Chances are that members of the board got the point.

Philomath was one of five school districts to appear last week before the state board, seeking approval of deals the schools have hammered out with neighboring Native American tribes. Under the terms of a bill pushed through the Legislature by Rep. Sherrie Sprenger of Scio, the deals will allow the schools to continue to use mascots and logos featuring Native Americans.

It was clear at last week's meeting that at least some members of the Board of Education weren't happy about this latest turn of what has become a five-year battle over the mascots.

But, at this point, the members of the board need to remember that their job isn't to make the law: Their job is to administer it.

In 2012, the board voted to require all Oregon public schools to eliminate the use of Native American names, mascots and imagery by this July or risk the loss of state funding. But a piece of legislation Sprenger championed in 2014 cleared the way for those names and images to remain, as long as schools worked out agreements with local tribes, using rules developed by the state board.

It never was a secret that members of the board were unhappy with Sprenger's legislation. And the process involved in getting the deals approved became onerous enough that at least five of the 16 Oregon schools with Native American mascots have elected to change mascots. (Lebanon High School will continue to use the "Warriors" nickname, but it will phase out most of the related Native American imagery.)

That unhappiness percolated through the meeting last week. Board members have particular reservations about schools such as Philomath, which plan to continue using images depicting people in their logos.

The board's chairman, Charles Martinez, had this to say about a school that uses a Warrior logo similar to Philomath's: "This is difficult to see. In many ways, this looks like other versions that I think have been used as examples of what makes the mascot issue so problematic."

So it was a good thing that Goff was accompanied by Bonnie Petersen, the assistant general manager of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, the tribal government that reached the agreement with Philomath and two other districts, Amity and Siletz.

Petersen replied: "My response is I don't know where that's from because I look at those images and I don't have that same feeling. I don't feel like it's disrespectful." She said the Confederated Tribes supports the agreements.

The agreement between the Philomath district and the tribes calls for the parties to work together to establish an annual in-service for staff, teachers and volunteers on tribal history and culture, and acceptable mascot use. The agreement, which initially is in place for five years, also calls for the creation of a Native Club.

Petersen herself put it well, calling the agreements a "wonderful opportunity." She added: "The whole intent of this is to bring respect and pride to the tribes, to the symbols, to our history and this is the vehicle that's going to get us there."

As it turns out, that was exactly the reason why Sprenger pushed so hard for her legislation, even hitting the road to visit each affected school district.

The Board of Education is scheduled to make a final determination on the agreements at a meeting later this month. It would be a shame if the board once again attempted to derail what, in fact, seems like a wonderful opportunity. (mm)
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.
Reconstruction at Bonn Central Train Station : The Bonner Loch disappears under new buildings

Bonn The Mayor of Bonn approved a contract for the northern commercial area at the Bonn Central Train Station. A groundbreaking ceremony for a new department store, hotel and offices is planned for autumn.

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The so-called Bonner Loch, which literally translated means the Bonn hole, is soon to become history. Lord Mayor Ashok Sridharan gave his signature of approval on Wednesday for a development project to be carried out by a firm from Dusseldorf.

Construction work for the Urban Soul project will begin in late autumn. Plans call for three buildings to house retail stores, catering, offices and a hotel. This project, along with the Maximilian Center being built to the south, will total an investment of around 200 million euros in the next few years, according to Sridharan.

Investor Ten Brinke intends to put up a four-story building, which is to house a shopping area on the ground floor and a department store on the other floors. The main commercial retailer in the space will be fashion discounter Primark.

In the northern commercial area, a hotel with 200 beds will be built. On the opposite side, there will be a multi-story carpark with 300 parking spaces. The hotel and the department store will be connected to Maximillianstrae with a plaza.

After some controversy, the city council passed a solution which now provides a staircase towards the inner city/Poststrae as well as an escalator leading to the central train station. "We are delighted that we have now found a good solution together with politicians, administration and investors after a constructive dialogue," said Stefan Muhling from the development firm in Dusseldorf, die developer Projektentwicklung.

Attractive gateway to Bonn

"With the new buildings at the station, Bonn will be an attractive gateway to the inner city in time for the Beethoven anniversary year," Sridharan praised the investor's plans. He said he would be pleased in the near future "when I see new cranes in the city from my office in the City Administration Building."
United Nations in Bonn : UN campus in Langen Eugen continues to grow

Bonn The new UNIDO bureau is designed to improve cooperation with developing countries and support energy suppliers. It also cooperates closely with the Federal Government.

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The UN campus in the former government district has a new addition: On Wednesday, the UN Industrial Development Agency (UNIDO) opened a new office to promote investment and technology (ITPO) in the former Langen Eugen.

It will be headed by Peter Failer, who was previously Director General for International Development Policy at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Five employees are expected to work in the bureau, which is seen as a starting point for business and politics, and is intended to promote sustainable economic relations between Germany and developing and emerging countries. UNIDO has eight offices worldwide - including locations in Rome, Moscow, Tokyo, Nigeria and Bahrain.

Opening reception at UN headquarters

UNIDO Director-General Li Yong personally attended the opening of the new bureau, along with Monique Barbut, UNCCD Secretary General, Federal Development Minister Gerd Muller and Bonn's Lord Mayor Ashok Sridharan. A reception was held on the 29th floor of the Bonn UN headquarters.

This is a significant event for me today," said Li Yong. The new office also strengthens the cooperation between UNIDO and the Federal Government of Germany. The Director General also paid tribute to the efforts of Germany to promote dynamic economic growth, particularly in some of the least developed countries in Africa. "The office here in Bonn will play a prominent role in this task," he said.

Support for technology suppliers

The Bonn bureau will work closely with the international network of UNIDO offices to provide access to investment and technology for developing countries. At the same time, it supports investors and technology suppliers in Germany to find potential partners worldwide. It is another piece of the puzzle of Agenda 2030, which aims to eliminate hunger and poverty worldwide in a sustainable way, according to Li Yong.

"Germany is a pioneer when it comes to innovative technical solutions from energy supply to environmental technology to mobility," said Minister Muller. He sees the new office as a "bridge builder" in this regard and he gave an example of how important this work will be in the future: By the year 2030, some 400 million new jobs would be created for Africa's youth alone.
Xiaomi is opening its first Mi Home Store in India News oi -Samden Sherpa Manu Jain, Group Vice President, and Managing Director, Xiaomi India, will be inaugurating the store.

Since its entry into the smartphone market three years ago, Xiaomi has become one of the popular smartphone brands in India. While delivering budget-friendly smartphones along with top of the line features, the company has managed to grasp the attention of many consumers in the market.

And to celebrate this milestone as well as to increase its offline presence, Xiaomi is now launching its first Mi Home store in India. The company has sent out press invites for an event to be held in Bengaluru on May 11. Manu Jain, Group Vice President, and Managing Director, Xiaomi India, will be present for the inauguration of the store.

Xiaomi introduces recycling of old electronics in India, gives discount coupons too

Basically, the store will be the first in the country and the company will be using the retail space to highlight its range of smartphones, power banks, headphones, fitness bands, air purifiers, and more. However, it is still unclear whether the company will sell the products immediately or whether the company will use the store as an experience store meaning you can go to the store and try out certain products.

Interestingly, as this will be the first Mi Home store in India, Xiaomi has already over 80 Mi Home stores in China and the company has stated its plans of setting up 200 more stores by the end of this year. Besides, Xiaomi has also opened Mi Home stores in several other countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan already.

Beware: Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 for Rs. 499 is a hoax

In any case, India is one of the important markets for Xiaomi and now that the first Mi Home store is being set up in Bengaluru we could see more Mi Home stores being launched in other states in the coming days. The company has some expansion plans indeed.

Best Mobiles in India
Facebook's Express Wi-Fi launched commercially in India News oi -Chandrika This move will encourage more people to use the internet

Facebook just published its earning report, according to which the company is doing really well. Now, apparently, it is also trying to increase the number of internet users in India. The Social Networking company yesterday announced the commercial launch of Express Wi-Fi. For who don't know, it is an initiative part of Internet.org. Users can access the internet using the Express Wi-Fi at an affordable price.

Currently, Facebook has made the service available in four states: Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Meghalaya, where around 700 hotspots have been installed. Besides India, Express Wi-Fi is available in four other countries: Kenya, Nigeria, Indonesia, and Tanzania. Additionally, Facebook has partnered with Airtel to install 20,000 hotspots in the above-mentioned states.

175 million people are now daily using the WhatsApp status feature

The company has also joined hands with local ISPs like AirJaldi in Uttarakhand, LMES in Rajasthan, and Tikona in Gujarat. The company claims that its local entrepreneur partners will sell really cheap data vouchers (Rs. 10-20 for a day's internet usage).

"Express Wi-Fi is designed to complement mobile data offerings by providing a low-cost, high-bandwidth alternative for getting online and access apps, download and stream content," stated Munish Seth, the regional head of Facebook's connectivity solutions in APAC region.

Notably, Facebook is not the first one to launch this kind of program. Google also offers free Wi-Fi at many railway stations across India. In any case, both the companies need more people to use the internet for their own benefit.

While the Express Wi-Fi program sounds quite nice, the possibility cannot be denied that Facebook wants to use it solely for generating profit.

Best Mobiles in India

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Overall, dont let the bhoot mislead you, nothing bhootiya about this story. Had the makers tried to push the envelope, the idea could have been outstanding for a bhootiya comedy.
Military Strikes Hit ISIS Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, May 3, 2017  U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 11 strikes consisting of 53 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 seven strikes consisting of 14 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike destroyed two ISIS oil tanks.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes destroyed two ISIS oil separation tanks and an ISIS wellhead.

-- Near Palmyra, a strike destroyed a fighting position.

-- Near Tabqah, three strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit; destroyed 12 fighting positions, an ISIS supply route, and a tactical vehicle; and suppressed an ISIS tactical unit.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted four strikes consisting of 39 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Mosul, four strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and a sniper team; destroyed two fighting positions, two artillery systems, a heavy machine gun, a medium machine gun, and an ISIS staging area; and suppressed nine mortar teams.

Additionally, three strikes were conducted in Iraq on May 1 that closed within the last 24 hours:

-- Near Mosul, May 1, three strikes destroyed three vehicle bombs and three ISIS fuel tankers, and suppressed three mortar teams.

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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Liberation Near for Syrian City of Tabqa, OIR Spokesman Says

By Lisa Ferdinando DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, May 3, 2017  Backed by coalition strikes, Syrian partner forces are close to liberating the Syrian city of Tabqa, the spokesman for the Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve said today.

The Syrian Democratic Forces and Syrian Arab Coalition are "dominating" the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in Tabqa, Air Force Col. John Dorrian told Pentagon reporters via videoconference from Baghdad.

"Many of you have probably observed the video footage of ISIS's flag being lowered, which is a signal to all the people in the city that ISIS's brutal control of the city is coming to an end," he said.

The coalition is supporting the liberation efforts with precision strikes, including most recently engaging ISIS fighters and their positions that would have otherwise threatened the Syrian partners as they free long-held neighborhoods, Dorrian explained.

"Coalition strikes have also taken out ISIS command-and-control nodes and the result has been to cause disarray, reducing the enemy's ability to maintain and organize defense of Tabqa city," he said.

Partnered Syrian forces have retaken Tabqa hospital, which the enemy was using as a staging area for foreign fighters and a storage area for weapons and resources, according to Dorrian.

Raqqa Shaping Operations Intensify Pressure on ISIS

Syrian Democratic Forces continue clearing operations in the countryside north of Raqqa, liberating more than 27 square miles this week, Dorrian said.

"As the SDF progresses further in clearing these areas and completes the liberation of Tabqa, the coalition continues shaping operations to isolate Raqqa and increase the ever-mounting pressure on ISIS," he said.

The coalition has disrupted or destroyed ISIS supply routes in and around the city, and has also destroyed more than 40 barges ISIS has used to move fighters and supplies along the Euphrates River, he said.

Iraqi Forces Battle for West Mosul

Iraqi security forces are continuing to experience attacks from ISIS fighters who are encircled in west Mosul, Dorrian said.

"What ISIS is finding is that this force, the Iraqi security forces, are more than capable of stopping attempts for them to escape as the ISF have built up the perimeter in a manner that makes a breakout very difficult," according to the spokesman.

Three coalition strikes this week in Iraq damaged or destroyed vehicle-borne improvised explosive device factories, and several vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, he said.

Coalition air and artillery strikes have also been used to target ISIS snipers and rocket and mortar teams, the colonel added.

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Eucom Chief Makes Case for Continued Funding for European Reassurance Initiative

By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, May 3, 2017  The European theater is critical to America's national interests and the NATO alliance is a key advantage for the United States, said Army Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, the commander of U.S. European Command, during testimony yesterday.

Scaparrotti, who is also NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies that Eucom is a key part of the network of nations that support global operations and secure the international rules-based order.

Eucom and NATO protect almost 1 billion people and safeguard North Atlantic trade that equals almost half of the world's gross domestic product, the general said. "However, this security architecture is being tested," Scaparrotti said. "Today we face the most dynamic European strategic environment in recent history."

Security Threats

Threats to the security system are transregional, cross all domains and are multifunctional, he said. "In the east, a resurgent Russia had turned from partner to protagonist as it seeks to undermine the Western led international order and reassert itself as a global power," he said. "Countries around Russia's periphery -- including Ukraine and Georgia -- struggle against Moscow's malign activities and military actions."

In southeastern Europe, strategic drivers of instability are converging on key allies such as Turkey. The Turks have to simultaneously contend with Russia, terrorism and refugees from the Middle East, he said.

In North Africa, violent extremists, transnational criminal elements spread terror and corruption while refugees seek to go to Europe in search of security and opportunity.

And in a new front, Russia is asserting its claims to the high north, seeking an advantage from newly ice-free areas.

These threats have caused Eucom to shift from a mission of security cooperation and engagement to deterrence and defense, Scaparrotti said. "Accordingly, we are adjusting our plans, our posture, our readiness to remain relevant to combat the threats we face," he said. "In short, we are returning to our historic role as a warfighting command."

European Reassurance Initiative

The command could not do this without the support Congress has provided for the European Reassurance Initiative, the general said, and he thanked the committee and the rest of Congress for passing the 2017 omnibus spending bill.

The European Reassurance Initiative has enabled the command to enhance its forward presence and launch complex exercises and training for American troops and partner nations, Scaparrotti said. It has allowed the command to preposition equipment and supplies and helped to build partner capacity in Europe, he said.

Some concrete examples are the recapitalization of the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center near Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and the Joint Intelligence Analysis Center in England, the general said. The center will serve the needs of Eucom and U.S. Africa Command and will be co-located with NATO's Intelligence Fusion Center.

The command needs continued support from Congress to return to a preeminent warfighting command, he said. "Our force posture needs to increase to provide credible deterrence to Russian aggression, and we must have infrastructure to support this increased posture," Scaparrotti told the senators. "Significant investments are needed to provide capacity for operations, exercises, training, reception, staging and pre-positioned assets."

European Reassurance Initiative funds jumpstarted the infrastructure expansion, the general said, and the command is working with the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the military services on the fiscal year 2018 defense budget request to ensure the funding train continues uninterrupted.

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Transcom Commander: Growing Global Complexities Require Global Organization

By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, May 3, 2017  The world is becoming ever more interconnected, and the U.S. military must be a global force to meet the challenges of an interconnected planet, the commander of U.S. Transportation Command told the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday.

Air Force Gen. Darren W. McDew told the senators that his command was "born global" and it is the glue that ties the military together, gets military forces where they must be and sustains them.

In the last 30 years the world has gone from a Cold War model to a far more complex geostrategic model, he said. The U.S. military uses the "four-plus-one" model to build strategy. "China, Russia, Iran, North Korea and violent extremist organizations continue to challenge us in new ways, ultimately demanding new and innovative solutions," McDew said in his testimony. "As we look to the future, we expect transregional, multidomain and multifunctional conflicts will define our future operating environment."

Global Asset

Transcom is a global asset, and this will be especially important in coming years, the general said. "We also expect that future conflicts will cross regional boundaries and potential adversaries and peer competitors will field numerically superior forces with near-technological parity," he said. "Those adversaries are aware the United States has become accustomed to geographically isolated conflicts and enjoyed technological superiority over its adversaries, so we expect contested global sea lanes and air routes to a degree we have not faced since World War II."

The command is focused on four priorities, McDew said: ensuring readiness today, building capabilities for tomorrow, advancing the command's cyber capabilities, and championing an innovative, diverse and agile workforce.

The United States has forces in harm's way and the command must ensure those forces get what they need, when they need it, he said. Still, forces in the future will need the same support. "In prioritizing today's readiness while keeping an eye toward future capabilities, we are advocating for the right mix of personnel, platforms, systems and training to ensure we can provide the global transportation and logistics capabilities our Nation requires," the general said. "By making the right investments today in enhancements for our air, sea and surface fleets, we will ensure Transcom delivers the nation's objectives tomorrow."

Improving cyber defense just makes sense, the general said. The cyber realm is critical for the command to operate freely and effectively.

Transportation Command is ready "to deliver on behalf of the nation today," he said. "However, as our approach to the future operating environment indicates, there are challenges that demand our attention to ensure our readiness is never called into question. These challenges fall into the following broad categories: airlift and air refueling, sealift, surface, budget, and workforce issues."

McDew asked the senators to consider these problems as they move forward. He asked them for budget certainty in the years ahead saying it would allow the command to plan better and procure capabilities more logically.

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Presenter: Colonel John Dorrian, Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman May 03, 2017

Department of Defense Press Briefing by Col. Dorrian via teleconference from Baghdad, Iraq

CAPTAIN JEFF DAVIS: All right, good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

We are pleased to be joined today by Colonel John Dorrian, coming to us live from Baghdad.

J.D., want to make sure we can hear you and you can hear us.

COLONEL JOHN DORRIAN: I've got you loud and clear, Jeff. Thank you.

CAPT. DAVIS: Great. We'll turn it over to you to give us an update on Operation Inherent Resolve.

COL. DORRIAN: Very good.

Good morning. We'll start in Syria and move on to Iraq.

The Syrian Democratic Forces and Syrian Arab Coalition are dominating ISIS in Tabqa City, advancing deeply into the city on multiples avenues of approach. They've retaken Tabqa hospital, which is -- the enemy was using as a staging area for foreign fighters, and a storage area for their weapons and resources, a tactic that we have seen from them elsewhere.

The city center is also in the hands of our partner force. Many of you have probably observed the video footage of ISIS' flag being lowered, which is a signal to all the people in the city that ISIS' brutal control of the city is coming to an end.

The coalition has continued conducting precision strikes to support the SDF advance in Tabqa, most recently engaging ISIS fighters and fighting positions that would otherwise have threatened our partners as they liberate long-held neighborhoods.

Coalition strikes have also taken out ISIS command and control nodes and the result has been to cause disarray, reducing the enemy's ability to maintain and organize defense of Tabqa City. The SDF also continues clearing operations in the countryside north of Raqqa, liberating more than 70 square kilometers this week. As the SDF progresses further in clearing these areas and completes the liberation of Tabqa, the coalition continues shaping operations to isolate Raqqa and increase the ever-mounting pressure on ISIS.

The coalition has disrupted or destroyed ISIS supply routes in and around the city, and has also destroyed more than 40 barges ISIS has used to move fighters and supplies along the Euphrates River.

In southern Syria, as we continue to apply pressure on ISIS, we've reduced their freedom of movement. The U.S. and coalition special operations forces continue to advise, assist and accompany vetted Syrian opposition partner forces through the Hamad Desert. Vetted Syrian opposition groups continue to clear ISIS from the towns and villages around the An Tanf border crossing between Iraq and Syria. This secure border facilitates the passage of 500 to 900 people each day, opening up opportunities for local goods to flow in and out of Syria, stimulating the economy for the people.

Moving on to Iraq. ISIS continues probing attacks along the Iraqi security forces' perimeter around Mosul, using small arms and indirect fire and vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices to conduct the attacks. What ISIS is finding is that this force, the Iraqi security forces, are more than capable of stopping attempts for them to escape as the ISF have built up the perimeter in a manner that makes a breakout very difficult.

Coalition forces continue using strikes to eliminate enemy fighters and resources, including three strikes this week that damaged or completely destroyed vehicle-borne improvised explosive device factories, as well as several VBIEDs. Coalition air and artillery strikes have also been used to strike ISIS snipers, rocket and mortar teams with precision.

ISIS fighters continue to fire their weapons not just at Iraqi security forces, but also at civilians trying to escape the city. ISIS continues firing their rockets and mortars randomly into civilian areas. The removal of these ISIS fighters and resources from the battlefield protects our partnered forces and the civilians who would otherwise be harmed by ISIS.

And now I'll be happy to take your questions.

CAPT. DAVIS: Sure. We'll start with Bob Burns from the Associated Press.

Q: Colonel Dorrian, on that last point about what's happening in Mosul, they didn't -- you don't describe, but it sounds like there hasn't been much progress lately in west Mosul. Has it come to kind of a stalemated situation there?

And also can you give us an update on what's going on in Syria on the Turkey border, with the presence of U.S. forces up there?

COL. DORRIAN: Sure, Bob. With regard to the progress in Mosul, the Iraqi security forces reduce the number of ISIS fighters with each passing day. They reduce the number of ISIS resources, so vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, weapons, fighting positions, all the things that have caused such mayhem in the city.

So I would say that it's not stalemated. The Iraqi security forces continue their maneuver around the city and they'll position themselves for these last few neighborhoods. It will be very dangerous, difficult fighting. It -- it will certainly be dangerous as they move into these very dense urban areas, the ancient part of the city with the very narrow roads. But they do make progress toward that end every day. And I know that the Iraqi security forces are confident of their ability to finish the enemy in place in Mosul very soon.

With regard to the border with Turkey, in Iraq we have seen, you know, some instances of firing across the border in both directions. This is something that has continued intermittently since -- you know, for the last week or so.

Q: And just to follow up, then. Could you talk about the presence of U.S. forces there? How many and what they're doing?

COL. DORRIAN: With regard to U.S. forces, we do have forces in northern Syria. We don't have a lot of forces in the very northern part of Iraq. So, we have conducted some patrols. You've seen those widely reported. Our presence there is very overt in Syria. And those operations continue. The purpose of them is to observe and report on any security incidents and then reassure our allies on both sides of the border -- our ally Turkey and our partner force -- of our commitment to their security.

CAPT. DAVIS: Okay. Next we go to Tom Bowman, National Public Radio.

Q: Colonel, if I could quickly follow up on that. Roughly how many troops are patrolling? Dozens? More than that in armored vehicles, presumably?

COL. DORRIAN: Tom, I'm not going to get into numbers. We don't have a tremendous number of forces in Iraq, so the number of forces in any given area is not something that we really like to get into great detail on. What I would say is that this is -- these are very capable forces, forces that are capable of defending themselves. And certainly they're capable of observing what's going on in the area. And their presence seems to be a stabilizing presence.

Q: Again to Raqqa, you talked about shaping operations for Raqqa. Talk a little bit about preparations for the final assault on the city. We keep hearing that the Syrian Arabs, Syrian Kurds will need more weapons and equipment before that happens. Talk about the kinds of weapons and assistance they'll need. And is that imminent?

COL. DORRIAN: Well, I'll give you a little bit of detail about the types of defenses that the enemy is building up in Mosul -- or, excuse me, in Raqqa. They're very similar to what we saw in Mosul, so that's elaborate berms, that's tunneling, booby traps, all the types of things -- vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices. We think that that'll be a very dangerous and difficult battle when it does begin.

With regard to the types of capabilities that our partnered forces'll need, I think we need to back up on that and -- you -- you know, because there is still a matter -- you know, policy matters that need to be worked through with regard to what force will go into Raqqa.

Right now, we're focused on the isolation effort, so the operations are largely in Tabqa and then in the area north of Raqqa. And those operations are proceeding at pace.

The Syrian Democratic Forces and the Syrian Arab Coalition are a partnered force, which is made up largely of Syrian Arabs. Have been able to take territory away from ISIS. And ISIS has not been able to either retain or recapture any territory from our partnered forces in Iraq, or Syria for that matter.

Q: And just quickly, we keep hearing that the Syrian Kurds and Arabs will be offered small arms, (inaudible). Is that not the case or you just can't say at this point?

COL. DORRIAN: Well, I -- I don't have any information to share on this with regard to what weapons that we provide currently. What we do is we provide light arms to the Syrian Arab Coalition. That's the policy that we have in place now.

What you're describing is something that really I -- I don't have any detail to offer on.

CAPT. DAVIS: Laurie Mylroie of Kurdistan 24?

Q: Thank you, Colonel Dorrian.

I have a question about the Turkish attitude to the YPG.

President Erdogan is in Moscow today and reiterated his strong opposition to countries working with the YPG. Are you concerned about future Turkish attacks on the YPG? Or do you think the U.S. message has gotten through?

COL. DORRIAN: Well, one of the things that's very important to understand here is we have longstanding ties with Turkey. They're a critical NATO ally and they've been very effective in fighting ISIS in northern Syria.

Their contribution speaks for itself. It's been very important. Some of the areas that they've recaptured from ISIS are areas that ISIS valued very much, areas like Dabiq, which held a special significance for them.

So, this has been very effective.

But with regard to the PKK (sic YPG), they are a part of the Syrian Democratic Forces, and the Syrian Arab Coalition is a part of the Syrian Democratic Forces as well. The forces that are isolating Raqqa now are largely made up of Syrian Arabs, but they are a part of the Syrian Democratic Forces.

They've recaptured more than 8,000 square kilometers of territory from the enemy. And they've been very effective, more recently in Tabqa, where they control somewhere on the order of 80 to 90 percent of the city after some very good advances in the last several days.

So we have continued our -- our partnership with the Syrian Democratic Forces, and they've proven very reliable in keeping their guns trained on ISIS. And that's something that we expect to continue.

Q: Just to be clear, I -- I believe I heard you say that the PKK is part of the Syrian Arab Coalition?

COL. DORRIAN: Did I say that? I said the YPG.

(Laughter.)

CAPT. DAVIS: With that, Ragip from the Daily Sabah.

Q: (Off mic) also contain the Syrian Arab Coalition?

CAPT. DAVIS: J.D., can we ask you to repeat that last question? You were cut off.

Q: (Off mic)

COL. DORRIAN: Yep. What I was saying is that the YPG is a part of the Syrian Democratic Forces, and the Syrian Democratic Forces also contain a group called the Syrian Arab Coalition. The majority of the forces that are fighting in Tabqa, in northern -- in the area north of Raqqa are Syrian Arabs that are from the Syrian Arab Coalition and other Arab elements from the region.

CAPT. DAVIS: Yes, sir. Go ahead.

Q: Thank you, colonel, for doing this.

Syrian Democratic Forces established a civilian city council for Raqqa to administer the city after completion of the operation in Raqqa. Did you decide who will run the city after the operation?

COL. DORRIAN: I didn't -- I didn't hear the last part of your question. I apologize.

Q: Did you decide who will run Raqqa after the operation?

COL. DORRIAN: Yeah, the -- the Raqqa Council is a group of people that live in and around Raqqa. They are going to establish essential services once Raqqa has been liberated.

Q: They are affiliated with SDF, right?

COL. DORRIAN: I'm sorry. I'm just unable to hear what you're saying.

Q: Are they with -- or are they working with Syrian Democratic Forces, this Raqqa Council?

COL. DORRIAN: Yeah, at this point, the Raqqa Council -- essentially, the formation of the group is about what's been accomplished. So as far as who's involved and what their actions are, I don't have a lot of detail for you on that.

Q: Second question -- U.S. soldiers visited Syria's Derik last week to attend the funerals of YPG fighters who were killed by Turkish air strikes. And some pictures show the American flags next to PKK flags during this funeral. Do you have any comment on these pictures?

COL. DORRIAN: Yes. Our forces went up into that area to prevent security incidents from occurring, to observe and report whatever security situation that they saw and to reassure our ally, Turkey, and our partner, the Syrian Democratic Forces, who were struck in those Turkish air strikes last week -- the ones that were not especially well coordinated and left -- were conducted with less warning than would allow our forces to safely leave, or to properly coordinate what should have been done.

So our partner forces were attacked in Syria, as well as in Iraq. The result in Iraq was seven Peshmerga fighters were killed. So the coordination was not done well. Of course, we've expressed our condolences to our partners on that.

Q: Aren't you bothered by the fact that PKK flags were present in the fight?

COL. DORRIAN: I have not seen the images that you're talking about. So I'm not going to comment on those. What I would say is that the force that was attacked was the Syrian Democratic Forces, and those are our partner forces. We were up there to check on them, and then subsequently started patrols to observe any security incidents in the area.

So that's really about all I have for you on that.

CAPT. DAVIS: And next to Courtney Kube, NBC News.

Q: Hey, J.D. One follow up on that, because I have -- I wasn't aware of these photos. What -- I don't understand what security incidents the U.S. presence was concerned about. Were they -- were you worried that there would be attacks on these funerals? And if so, by who? Can you explain that?

COL. DORRIAN: Yes, we had observed or heard reports of firing across the border and what we're doing is putting forces in position to observe for themselves what is happening and to reassure our allies on both sides of the border.

Q: So the U.S. presence at these funerals was the same presence that exists on these patrols along the border between Turkey and Syria right now. Is that what you're saying?

COL. DORRIAN: You know, with regard to patrols, patrols are going to encounter people. Sometimes they're going to encounter people that are massed. So, they were just patrolling and performing their mission. There's nothing more to it than that.

Q: They weren't actually there to be present at the funerals, then. Is that what you're saying?

COL. DORRIAN: That's exactly what I'm saying. They're performing their mission to patrol the area.

Q: And I'd like to back to Raqqa. What's your -- what's your current estimate -- the -- the coalition's current estimate for how many ISIS fighters are still inside of Raqqa? And can you characterize the level? Is there still believed to be leadership there? Is it -- have any of them been fleeing? And if so, where -- where to?

COL. DORRIAN: Yeah, we believe there are 3,000 to 4,000 ISIS fighters in Raqqa, including foreign fighters and various leadership figures. This is a city that holds special significance for the enemy. They consider if their capital in Syria. So it's not an area that they're just going to give up very easily. So it remains a priority target for the coalition to liberate. And that's exactly what we're going to do.

With regard to enemy freedom of movement, the city is being isolated. Each day, it gets more isolated as the Syrian Arab Coalition and Syrian Democratic Forces seize more territory from the enemy. At some point, you know, the city will be very difficult for enemy fighters or leaders to leave.

CAPT. DAVIS: Okay. Next to Carlo Munoz from the Washington Times.

Q: Hey, sir, thanks for doing this.

One quick question -- I was wondering if I could get an update on the situation around Deir ez-Zor? Shaping operations continue around Raqqa. Are you still seeing a flow of I.S. fighters to that area? And if so, how is the coalition sort of addressing that? Are there any efforts underway to kind of prevent them from getting to Deir ez-Zor? Or is all the focus still on shaping operations for Raqqa?

COL. DORRIAN: Well, our priority is to continue isolating Raqqa. That's something that we work on every day; very heavy fighting in Tabqa and then in the northern countryside above Raqqa. As far as Deir ez-Zor, there is a significant enemy presence there. And, you know, at different times we've seen fighters move in and move out of there.

The regime -- Syrian regime also has forces in that area. And I understand there's a significant amount of fighting between Syrian regime forces and ISIS in that area as well. And in addition to that, the coalition continues conducting airstrikes in Syria. So any time that we see an opportunity where ISIS fighters or resources are in a position where they can be struck with precision, we will do so.

We've conducted a very significant number of strikes in that area, many of them against petroleum infrastructure that was under ISIS control. And this has reduced the amount of money that they have available to finance their operations. There have been very successful strikes in those -- in those areas.

Q: And a second quick question. Has the dialogue between coalition and their Turkish counterparts regarding the possible involvement in the Raqqa operation -- has that ceased? Or are those talks still continuing?

COL. DORRIAN: Yes, our -- yes, at diplomatic and leadership levels, conversations with Turkey continue every day. So those types of discussions continue.

CAPT. DAVIS: Next to Thomas Watkins with Agence France-Presse.

Q: Hello, colonel.

Just to follow up on what you were saying earlier. I think you were telling Bob about the -- that you've seen the firing in both directions across the border in northern Syria. Can you -- I just want to be clear. You're talking about when you say the firing going into Turkey, have you identified the group that's doing this? This presumably is just the YPG components of the SDF.

And have you seen any casualties on either side?

COL. DORRIAN: Thank you. I -- what I said is we had heard reports of this. So we have not seen, you know, a tremendous amount of that. I think there is sporadic fire going in both directions. We continue to hear these reports. With regard to what casualties are occurring, we're -- we don't have any information to offer you on that.

Q: Say -- when you say you've -- you hear reports, you're talking about reports from the field, or -- you're saying stuff in the media?

COL. DORRIAN: Both.

Q: Also, I know that your focus, obviously, is Islamic State, but yesterday there was talk of de-escalation zones that potentially are -- I mean, can you -- can you explain to me what -- what de-escalation zones mean? And are there -- is there any possibility that these potential zones could be in areas that are currently covered by OIR?

COL. DORRIAN: Well, I'm not going to go into a tremendous amount of detail about what de-escalation means. What I would say is the very presence of the forces there is reassuring to our allies and our partners.

Generally, what we find is that, if our forces are there, that -- there's no firing, because the forces that are there are not really forces that anyone would want to get into an exchange of fire with or around.

Q: (Off mic) you could foresee an expanded footprint of U.S. troops to reassure these local populations?

COL. DORRIAN: You broke up just a little bit there. Can you repeat the question please?

Q: Does that mean you could foresee an expanded footprint of U.S. troops to reassure these local populations?

COL. DORRIAN: Yeah, I'm not going to speculate about what we might do. I think, for now, what we'll do is we'll continue to observe and report what's happening in the area. Largely, you know, the presence of the force there seems to be a stabilizing presence.

CAPT. DAVIS: Next, to Tara Copp from Stars and Stripes.

Q: Hi, Colonel Dorrian. A couple more on the U.S. presence in Northern Syria. It seems like the special forces that are there are now conducting a peacekeeping role, and pretty -- monitoring fires and monitoring potential escalation. Is that the case?

COL. DORRIAN: No. They're there to observe and report what they see, and to reassure our allies. That's it.

Q: (Off mic) from a peacekeeping role?

COL. DORRIAN: You broke up, Tara. Help me.

Q: Well, you had mentioned that they're also there to prevent future incidents. So how is that different from a peacekeeping role?

COL. DORRIAN: You know what, with regard to a peacekeeping role, you know, I think that's an expanded mission. I'm really not going to get into it. They're there for those specific purposes: to observe and report and, you know, to reassure our allies. That's it.

Q: And then, since last week's air strikes, have there been further discussions with the Turkish ministry on air operations, or understanding of what sort of notice will be given?

COL. DORRIAN: Well, there are already agreed upon procedures for what -- what should occur. Those things didn't occur in those strikes, and the results were a problem.

So, that's been communicated at leadership and diplomatic levels. And those efforts and those discussions continue.

Q: One last on Mosul.

I apologize if you said this at the top, but how many ISIS fighters are remaining in West Mosul? And are you close to a stage where the U.S. presence there would be assisting more of a stabilization -- a post-conflict stabilization role?

COL. DORRIAN: Yeah, we think that there are fewer than a thousand fighters left in the city -- probably well short of a thousand fighters. But they are in the densest urban terrain of Mosul, and they're going to be very difficult to get out and to -- to attack. Because when in that type of dense urban terrain, a small number of fighters can control that territory because the canalized advance that the attacking force would need to take. So, it'll be very difficult and dangerous fighting.

With regard to stabilization roles, that is a job for the government of Iraq, supported by the international community. It's being done by the international community led by the U.N., with a lot of non-government organizations supporting in that effort as well.

So, that's not going to be a primarily military task. We do have planners that work closely with the NGOs and the -- the U.N. to make sure that we understand, you know, what they are doing, and they understand the security situation in areas where they operate.

But this is a job for the government of Iraq, supported by the U.N. and the international community.

Q: (Off mic) follow up on that?

CAPT. DAVIS: Sure, go ahead.

Q: Colonel Dorrian, Bob Burns.

I just want to follow up on your answer to Tara's question about what she called the post-conflict U.S. military presence in Mosul.

Are you saying there won't be any? Or there's been no -- no -- there's no planning for a post-conflict U.S. military presence in the Mosul area?

COL. DORRIAN: Bob, our support to the government of Iraq is going to remain the same type of relationship that we continued with them throughout the campaign. So, the -- there will be an advise-and-assist mission for our forces as they advise and assist the security elements that are maintaining control of the city.

But as far as bringing in humanitarian aid and all that sort of thing, that -- the -- the military is not set up to do that. That's going to be the international community and the U.N. supporting the government of Iraq as they do that.

CAPT. DAVIS: We'll go to Phil Stewart from Reuters.

Q: I -- just a couple of housekeeping questions.

First, going back to the -- your comments before on the PKK, just to be totally clear  you're the spokesman. There is no -- to your knowledge -- you -- you can -- you can state that none of the YPG that are being supported by the coalition are also dual-hatted as PKK? You can say that confidently?

COL. DORRIAN: I -- I can say that we've observed no evidence that that's the case. What we have observed is that the Syrian Democratic Forces have liberated 8,000 square kilometers of terrain, much of it denser than terrain in places like Manbij and Tabqa. They've fought bravely and taken back a tremendous amount of territory from the enemy, and they've proven to be a very reliable force for defeating ISIS.

Q: And secondly, on Turkey, to what extent is Turkey actually part of the coalition right now, and what extent is it just acting independently in Syria? So if you'd just kind of walk us through -- originally they were part of the coalition, they were on the tasking order. You know, a lot of time has passed. You know, are they -- bring us up to speed. How are they actually part of the coalition now?

COL. DORRIAN: Turkey remains a part of the international coalition to defeat Daesh. They're an important part of the international coalition to defeat Daesh. They've made a tremendous contribution by partnering with a force in Syria to take back a tremendous amount of territory in the northern part of Syria, along their border.

This has closed off the border, largely sealed it, so that ISIS will have much more difficulty infiltrating into Europe and other points beyond to conduct international acts of terror. So, their role is -- speaks for itself. It's been very, very important.

Q: (inaudible) -- I'm asking, are they in any way being coordinated by the coalition, or are they acting independently in -- you know, in a -- in a supporting role? You know, are they being -- to what extent is anything that Turkey's doing, you know, being directed by -- by General Townsend?

COL. DORRIAN: They have officers that are a part of the -- the Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve staff performing various functions. They continue all of that. We continue our coordination with them and sharing information and intelligence -- all those things have continued. That's it.

CAPT. DAVIS: Next, to Lucas Tomlinson from Fox News.

Q: Colonel, any reaction to the story from Bob Burns' colleagues at the Associated Press, who said that a -- a firm outside Washington, D.C. has misspent hundreds of millions of dollars in Iraq, and there's been a number of accusations of corruption and, I think, sexual trafficking -- all kinds of bad stuff -- at the base where the F-16s are?

COL. DORRIAN: Yep, I'm aware of those reports. The organization that's alleged to have done that is not a part of Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve. So I think you'll probably have to work with my OSD colleagues to pursue further comment on that. It's not a part of our organization. It's not within my purview to discuss that.

Q: General Townsend have any reaction to this story?

COL. DORRIAN: It's not a part of what Combined Joint Task Force, Operation Inherent Resolve is here to do. We remain focused on fighting ISIS.

Q: Can you say did he read the story? Is he aware of the report?

COL. DORRIAN: I don't know if he's read it or not.

CAPT. DAVIS: Joe Tabet from Al Hurra.

Q: Thank you very much.

Colonel Dorrian, based on what you said, and given the tensions between Turkey and the Kurds in northern Syria, if you can -- if you can remind us, is it safe to say that Turkey will not play a role in the final Raqqa operation?

COL. DORRIAN: Yes, it would be inappropriate to speculate about what their future role would be. Diplomatic discussions continue to happen at leadership level between the coalition nations and Turkey. So, I'm not going to get ahead of any of those discussions.

Q: A quick follow up. You've been telling us that the ongoing diplomatic discussions are still on track with Turkey. Could you give us a sense when these discussions could end?

COL. DORRIAN: That discussion is happening at a level that's many, many, many layers higher than me. So I'm afraid that I cannot do that.

Q: Thank you.

CAPT. DAVIS: Okay. Next, Kim Dozier from the Daily Beast.

Q: Colonel Dorrian, you gave us a figure of 3,000 to 4,000 estimated fighters inside of Raqqa. Could I ask what is the next largest concentration of fighters? Is it in (inaudible) or another town? And how many ISIS fighters do you estimate are in all of Syria?

COL. DORRIAN: I think we'll have to get back to you on that one, Kim. I'll take that question.

CAPT. DAVIS: Okay. Next to Dion Nissenbaum, Wall Street Journal.

Q: Hey, colonel. I'd like to get some more clarifying information on the Turkey-Syria border. You have said a couple of times that the U.S. forces are there to prevent future incidents -- crossfire incidents. Is that one of the roles that these forces are playing there?

COL. DORRIAN: I would say that their presence certainly is reassuring to our allies and our partners. I'd leave it at that.

Q: But you've said a couple of times today and before that they are there to prevent future incidents. Is that accurate?

COL. DORRIAN: Well, what I would tell you is that their presence there, since they've been there, we've not seen any really significant security incidents. So, their presence there is a calming force. It is helpful to what's going on in Syria and it keeps people, all of our partners, focused on defeating ISIS, which is the biggest threat to security in Syria and the region. And indeed, ISIS poses a threat beyond the region.

Q: Okay. And just one quick clarifying question. From your understanding now, what is the total size of the SDF? And how many -- what percentage of them is YPG-Kurdish at this point?

COL. DORRIAN: Yeah, I believe that the size of the SDF is approximately 50,000. And right about half of them are Syrian Kurds. The rest are Syrian Arabs, Christians, and others from in and around the countryside of northern Syria and around Raqqa.

CAPT. DAVIS: Next to Jim Michaels, USA Today.

Q: Colonel Dorrian, you mentioned in regards to the coalition role as the Iraqi forces push ISIS out of Mosul, that the advise and assist relationship continues. I'm wondering also if you could characterize the training mission, though, now and in the future? In other words, are coalition forces continuing to train Iraqi combat formations? Or has it shifted to police and other security forces?

COL. DORRIAN: Sure. The coalition since the beginning of 2015 has trained more than 96,000 Iraqi security forces. So that includes the Iraqi Counterterrorism Service, Iraqi army, Iraqi federal police, Iraqi local police, Iraqi border police, and then tribal forces that are used as hold forces.

We continue training all of those types of forces even today. We've got right about 6,500 troops of various types in training right now. And this is something that we expect to continue. Certainly, the Iraqi security forces have, you know, taken some casualties in the fight against ISIS. It's very difficult and dangerous fighting. And they will want to replenish some of the units that have been involved in this very difficult and dangerous fighting.

So we will help them with that as long as the Iraqi security forces and the government of Iraq would like our help. A lot of the training is conducted by coalition forces that are not U.S. forces. And this training effort, as ISIS is dislodged from the remaining territory that they control in Iraqi, we believe that this is, when we talk about dealing ISIS a lasting defeat, it's this role, the training role, that makes that lasting defeat possible because these additional forces, particularly the police forces that will be trained in the months ahead, they will be responsible for maintaining security once ISIS no longer controls territory and they devolve back into more of a -- just a terror threat.

Q: Does that mean the balance of the training is shifting from conventional combat formations to more police and other local security-type forces?

COL. DORRIAN: I don't think that I would characterize it quite that strongly, because we do continue to train Iraqi Army and Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service Forces as well. So we'll work on all that. All of that's going to continue.

CAPT. DAVIS: Okay, next to Carla Babb, Voice of America.

Q: Hi, colonel. Thanks for doing this.

You said that the military goal in Raqqa is to push Islamic State out so that the Raqqa coalition can run the government. Who is going to be overseeing the Raqqa coalition?

Are they going to be reporting to the Syrian government? Are they going to be paid by the Syrian government, or are they going to be independent in Raqqa?

COL. DORRIAN: These are -- are people that are from Raqqa and they -- and the region right around it. And they will be administering services and reestablishing essential services in the city.

So the establishment of the group is very recent, and there's a lot of planning ongoing, so I don't have a tremendous amount of detail on specifically what and how that'll all be done. That's planning that will happen in the weeks and months ahead.

In the meantime, we remain focused on the isolation of Raqqa.

CAPT. DAVIS: Missy Ryan, Washington Post?

Q: Hi, colonel. I know that there was a question earlier about the safe zones in Syria, but just wanted to ask again. Can you -- can -- can you at all flush out what that proposal means? What safe or de-escalation zones -- what that concept means, and what that potentially could look like, and what the U.S. military role would be in that?

COL. DORRIAN: Yeah, I'm -- I'm afraid I can't do that, Missy, because that would be speculation on my part, if I did. So I do understand that safe zones in Syria were a topic of discussion at leadership levels with the presidents of Russia and the United States. But I don't have any insight onto what the discussions were beyond the fact that they happened.

And I think that's probably a conversation for another day.

CAPT. DAVIS: Paul Shinkman, Time Magazine?

Q: Yes, Colonel Dorrian. Just to follow up on Carla's question, previous secretaries of defense have said that the U.S. would be prepared to defend what has now become the SDF from other regional forces.

Going into these negotiations that you talk about with the Raqqa Council, is the Combined Joint Task Force prepared to tell these council members that the coalition will protect them from other regional forces?

COL. DORRIAN: I think, right now, it's premature into -- going into what security arrangements will exist after ISIS has been eradicated from Raqqa. Right now, we're focused on isolating Raqqa.

Raqqa has to be liberated at some point. And then the role of the Raqqa Council will become a prominent role, and the nature of our relationship with them will -- will be planned out and developed in the months ahead.

So I don't have any detail for you on that.

CAPT. DAVIS: Laurie Mylroie, I think it -- (inaudible) -- for a follow up.

Q: Yes. Laurie Mylroie, Kurdistan 24.

Colonel Dorrian, you mentioned that there were still policy efforts on the question of what force will go into Raqqa. Could you give us a sense of what options are being considered, and when the liberation of Raqqa might occur?

COL. DORRIAN: Yeah, I'm afraid I can't do that, because I don't know that I have visibility on all of those. So I think that's a question best posed in Washington, because that's where that issue will be resolved.

Q: Thank you.

CAPT. DAVIS: Anybody else? All right. Thank you, J.D., for your time, and hope you have a nice evening in Baghdad.

Thank you, everybody.

COL. DORRIAN: All right. Thank you.

http://www.defense.gov/News/News-Transcripts/Transcript-View/Article/1172185/

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A senior Lloyds bank project manager accused of trying to defraud Cheltenham Borough Council into selling her parents house to her at a huge discount was cleared today of two of the four charges against her.

At Gloucester Crown Court Judge Michael Cullum ruled that there was no evidence to warrant the jury convicting Sarah Perkins on the two charges and he directed not guilty verdicts.

The first of the charges related to her father's signature on a right to buy application which she had submitted to the council in bid to purchase her parents rented home in Tanners Road, Cheltenham. The other charge related to her blacking out entries on her bank statements when she supplied them to the council.

The prosecution alleged Mr Perkins was suffering from dementia and did not have mental capacity to sign the document. The judge ruled that could not be proved.

He also ruled that it was not an offence for Ms Perkins to have redacted entries on her bank statement because she did not have a legal duty to supply those details.

Ms Perkins' trial continues, however, on charges alleging that on June 25, 2014 she made untrue claims to the council that her parents house was her 'only, or principal, home.'

She is said to have dishonestly claimed she was entitled to buy the house at a discount of up to 60 per cent because she had principally lived at the address for the previous 12 months.

The prosecution say there is ample evidence that Ms Perkins was in fact living in a rented flat in Edinburgh in the year leading up to the application and not at Tanners Road.

The jury has seen evidence that she was paying rent, council tax and utility bills in the Scottish city, travelling regularly on Lothian Buses, having her hair done, attending dental appointments and using cashpoints in Edinburgh.

Today barrister James Bennett opened the defence case by telling the jury that since 2005 the Tanners road house had been Ms Perkins' principal address because she was leading a 'nomadic' lifestyle - never settling in one place for long because of her work.

He pointed out that the question the council asked on the Right to Buy form was "Is the property the family member's only or principal home?"

Mr Bennett argued that this meant an applicant did not have to live 24/7 at the house they wished to buy under the discount scheme.

It was therefore accurate for Ms Perkins to say she had lived at the address during the previous 12 months because that did not mean she was claiming to have been there all the time, he said.

"The council has fallen into the trap of being too blinkered and adopting too harsh an interpretation of this question," he told the jury. "We say the prosecution has got it completely wrong. Our case is that Sarah Perkins did absolutely nothing wrong."

He asked the jury to 'take a walk in Sarah Perkins' shoes' to understand her lifestyle and accept that she regarded Tanners road as her home address.

"She has no children, she is not married, she has no mortgage, she does not own a home," he said. "She has worked hard to get a job that allows her to travel. She is self-sufficient. She is indepedent, she travels the world, she has never been in any trouble with the courts.

"She has had a nomadic existence. Every few years she moves on.

"The prosecution say Tanners Road was simply her correspondence address. We say that is simply wrong."

The constant throughout her life had been her parents home, where she was born, he said.

"Her driving licence address is there, her bank statements are sent there, she is on the electoral roll there, it is the address registered with her doctor, she pays the gas and electricity bills."

Mr Bennett said the reason she wanted to buy the property was to be able to do it up and make it suitable for her elderly father, who had dementia, to return to after being in hospital and a nursing home.

"Her dad was too proud to seek help from the council. But he needed help. She decided to move back from Edinburgh and make then necessary modifications that her father needed. She was spending much more time with her mum and dad in the period leading up to the application."

The trial continues.
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The rumour mill has gone into overdrive after reports that the Queen's most senior aides have been called to an emergency meeting at Buckingham Palace.

According to the Mirror, staff from royal residences across the country, have been summoned to London.

The Mirror reports that employees will be addressed this morning by the Lord Chamberlain, the most senior officer of the Royal Household , and Her Majesty's right-hand man, Private Secretary Sir Christopher Geidt.

Meetings involving the entire household staff are occasionally called, but one such as this at the eleventh hour is "highly unusual" a source told the Mail.

Staff from royal residences further afield, such as Balmoral in Scotland, as well as those closer to London, including Windsor Castle and Sandringham have all been asked to attend suggesting the announcement will also affect them.

Gloucestershire's Royal residences include Prince Charles' home at Highgrove near Tetbury and the Princess Royal's Gatcombe Park estate near Minchinhampton. It is unclear if staff from Gloucestershire have been asked to attend.

Mirror Online has contacted Buckingham Palace for comment.

Yesterday, the Queen met with Theresa May at Buckingham Palace to mark the dissolution of Parliament for the General Election.

It comes a day after the Duchess of Cambridge visited Gloucestershire to meet staff at a farm project for city children.
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A boy accused of helping those responsible for the death of Paul Pass has spoken of how the atmosphere in his flat turned "properly aggressive".

The 17-year-old from Gloucester, who can not be identified for legal reasons, is on trial at Bristol Crown Court in connection with the death of Mr Pass on October 7 last year.

The 49-year-old, of Marian Court, off Archdeacon Street, Gloucester, died after being stabbed in the leg in his home. It followed a dispute with other men over stolen drugs and cash.

Four teenagers, three of whom are from the city and one is from London, are on trial at Bristol Crown Court in relation to the death.

The jury this afternoon saw a video of an interview that the 17-year-old, who denies assisting an offender, gave voluntarily to police before he was arrested at a later date.

Previously, the trial had heard how Mr Pass and his friend Mark Andrews were marched through Gloucester back to Mr Pass' flat by fellow drug dealers Rezwan Islam and Abdulmalik Adua, who blamed him for the theft of the drugs and cash.

The prosecution alleges that it was there that Mr Pass and Mr Andrews were stabbed and that Mr Andrews was forced to drink urine and soap.

Confirming that he had been in the flat on that afternoon, the boy said he had been spending time with his cousin, Abu, and did not know either Islam or Adua, whom he knew as 'Mellow', well.

He described how the nature of the encounter between Islam and Adua and Mr Pass and Mr Andrews changed dramatically.

"It went from a normal conversation to properly aggressive," he said.

He said Adua and Islam were stood up the whole time and Adua struck a threatening pose at one point, suggesting he was going to hit one of the men.

The boy insisted that he did not know what the situation was about, other than suspecting it was over drugs because of something he had read about the incident after it happened.

"When it got aggressive, that's when we left - me and Abu and Bilal (Bilial Moosajee, one of the other accused) behind us," he said.

He said Islam and Adua left the flat three minutes later and seemed normal to him.

Driving his sister's red Ford Fiesta Fusion, without her permission, he said he drove it around Gloucester for a while before dropping his cousin and Moosajee, Islam and Adua off because he he had to go to work.

The trial continues.

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)

Abdulmalik Adua

Profile: 17-year-old from Woolwich in London

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
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An "exceptional" student who died in a fall at a Cambridge University college had evidence of LSD in his system, a pre-inquest review heard.

Thomas Millward, 19, from Cheltenham, was found injured at the bottom of stairs after police were called to 148-year-old Girton College on March 5 last year and he died the following day at the city's Addenbrooke's hospital.

Cambridgeshire assistant coroner Simon Milburn said medical evidence about a finding of LSD would be heard at a later three-day jury inquest.

Cambridgeshire Police said at the time that Mr Millward's death was not thought to be suspicious but a 19-year-old woman from Cambridge was arrested on suspicion of supplying drugs.

The engineering student, originally from Cheltenham, died of serious head injuries.

Evidence of two people running up and down a corridor before the incident and of a footprint on a vending machine is being considered ahead of the full inquest, Thursday's pre-inquest review hearing at Cambridgeshire Coroner's Court in Huntingdon was told.

Mr Millward's father Brian Millward said he had concerns about the height of safety railings on an upper landing at the college.

"On the upper floor the guard rail was considerably lower than the building regulations that would be recommended for such a guard," he said.

He also expressed concerns that a post-mortem examination had not been carried out, adding: "It might have given possible indications of how high he fell from, whether his knee had given way or that kind of thing."

He continued: "His knee did give him problems. He had to give up rugby for a while and take up rowing."

Mr Milburn said: "The issue of a post-mortem was considered by the senior coroner, as I understand it, and the decision that he made was that because the attending doctors were able to say with a significant degree of certainty what the medical cause of death was, nothing could be added by a post-mortem examination."

A cousin of Mr Millward's parents, whose name was given as Dr O'Driscoll, told the hearing: "We would just like to know the truth as far as possible."

He continued: "Was he sliding down the bannisters, was he balancing and fell, or was he on the [vending] machine?"

The teenager's parents, Brian and Maisa Millward, said he had studied engineering at the university since September 2015.

They described him as "exceptional" and "one of the most promising young men of his generation".

The family said that his organs had been donated so that he could help others.

Girton College was founded in 1869 and was Britain's first residential college for women offering degree-level education.

It was the first of the women's colleges to go mixed more than 30 years ago.

A full inquest will be heard before a jury at a date to be fixed.
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The Co-op has become the first retailer in the UK to only sell British meat - in order to boost sales post-Brexit.

Over 11 years, import costs have doubled to over 6 billion a year for the entire UK, and the supermarket hopes the move will cut back on import costs.

The high street brand, which is the nations sixth-largest food chain, claims it will now ban Danish bacon and New Zealand lamb from its shelves to ensure customers can trust they are buying British meat.

Co-op, which has 2,500 stores across the UK, already only sells British beef, chicken, ham, pork, sausages, duck and turkey, and only uses British meat in its own-label chilled ready meals, pies and sandwiches.

The Co-ops Retail Chief Executive Jo Whitfield said: British consumers will be shocked to see how meat imports have grown while at the same time retailers hang out the bunting and claim to back British farmers.

Only the Co-op offers 100% British fresh meat all year round and not just in the meat cabinet but also in our sandwiches, our pies and our ready meals.

We can do this because were owned by members not shareholders and can invest long-term in what matters to communities, not what provides the fastest shareholder return. I call on other retailers and food providers to do more to help our farmers, particularly as they head towards uncertain times.

Zoe Davies, Chief Executive of National Pig Association - the trade association for the pig industry in the UK - said: Around half of the pork consumed in the UK is imported. Fluctuating currency markets and imports which are cheaper because of lower welfare standards can significantly impact the cost of home produced pork, making it harder for farmers to make a living.

We call on more retailers and food providers to back British and either source more UK pork or follow the Co-ops lead and go 100% British.

According to Co-op. more than 5bn worth of meat is shipped to the UK from EU member states, with around 1.45bn coming from Ireland and almost a tenth arriving from Denmark.

Countries in Asia and Australasia account for 804 million worth of imports, followed by Latin America at 345m.

Almost a tenth of all meat imports come from Denmark, which exports 550m of meat into Britain each year, while New Zealand lamb accounts for 291m worth of UK imports.

There are Co-op branches in both Cheltenham and Gloucester.
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Traffic was brought to a standstill by a man who had collapsed and was lying in the road this afternoon.

Police and ambulance service personnel raced to the scene and closed the road between Nailsworth and Avening at 3.45pm.

He was lying on the B4114 near the Weighbridge Inn. Police could not confirm reports in other media that he was intoxicated.

A police 4x4 was seen at Longfords Mill and an ambulance and a police van were on the corner of the boundary between Nailsworth, Minchinhampton and Avening.

"They closed the road for about 20 minutes, I don't think it was anything major," said a man who works at the Weighbridge Inn.

"I don't know quite what happened but if there was someone lying in the road it can't have been that serious because they weren't there very long."

A spokeswoman for South West Ambulance Service said it was called to an incident at Avening Road, Minchinhampton at 3.45pm.

"There was one male patient with a suspected head injury, who was taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital," she said.

Gloucestershire police said the incident was not a road traffic collision and the man was treated for a head injury after falling. A spokeswoman could not confirm reports that he was intoxicated.
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The inquest into the death of Gloucester man Ashley Simmonds has been opened and adjourned.

The 34-year-old's body was recovered from Gloucester Docks on April 13, after police and SARA search teams were dispatched to the area.

An inquest into his death which was opened by the Gloucestershire coroner on April 21 following a post-mortem found Mr Simmonds died of drowning.

More details about the circumstances leading up to his death will be documented and made public at a later date.

Following the sad discovery of Mr Simmonds' body in the Victoria Basin, three days after he was reported missing, many who knew the former Norfolk Street resident paid tribute to him on social media.

"He was also my friend and a close friend of the family as we knew his dad before he passed away, so my thoughts go out to his friends and family, as what family he has," wrote Kelly Isles.

Andre Grossett said on Facebook: "RIP Ashley. Whenever I forget the code to the gates I could always rely on you to let me in.

"So sad. Will miss our little chats."

Gloucestershire Coroners Service state that the inquest has been adjourned until September 12.
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A motorcyclist has died after he was involved in a crash with a van earlier this evening in Cheltenham.

Village Road has been closed for several hours while the emergency services, including the police and the South West Ambulance Service, attended the accident at around 5.25pm.

It has now been confirmed the motorcyclist involved has sadly passed away. His family have been told.

"We can confirm it was called in at 5.25pm on Village Road and the motorcyclist, a man, has died and next of kin have been informed," said a spokesman for Gloucestershire Police.

An air ambulance landed at the scene and was there for a short time before taking the man to hospital.

A police cordon was set up and Village Road was closed as officers informed drivers there had been an incident.

Gloucestershire police also urged people on Twitter to find an alternative route while the emergency services were providing assistance.

"We got a call at about 5.20pm to Village Road, Cheltenham, where there was a road traffic collision," said a spokeswoman for South West Ambulance Service.

"The air ambulance took the male patient to Cheltenham General Hospital. We sent an air ambulance and two ambulance cars to the scene."

No further details were given about the incident, which left locals in shock.

One woman standing near the police cordon said she had a call to pick her daughter up from a park nearby where the accident happened.

"On social media people are saying somebody was riding a bike and they were hit by a van," she said, wishing to remain anonymous.

"It's very sad as that is the second time the air ambulance has landed in that field in a week.

"It's awful to see something like this has happened in the area."

Another woman said: "People use Village Road as a short cut during rush hour. It's always very busy."

An air ambulance was called to the same area on Thursday, after Lauren Thornton, 13, suffered a fatal asthma attack at All Saints' Academy.

A memorial gofundme page was set up by friends in her memory.

Village Road remains closed while investigations continue into tonight's tragedy.

Any witnesses who the police who have not already spoken to are asked to call 101 quoting incident number 346 of May 4.
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A businessman who says his wife's devastating stroke could have been avoided with a simple dose of aspirin is now battling the NHS for 300,000 damages.

Julie Robinson was poleaxed by a crippling stroke after being sent home from Swindon's Great Western Hospital on December 9, 2010, London's High Court heard.

But her QC, Peter Skelton, claimed the stroke and its grim consequences could have been averted had medics given her a 300mg dose of aspirin.

Instead, the mother-of-two suffered the stroke at home the day after her hospital discharge, resulting in loss of intellect, acute psychological distress and immobility.

At the age of just 59, Mrs Robinson tragically died of cancer at the end of last year, the court heard, in an entirely unrelated development.

But her widower, Edward Robinson, 59, has now picked up the baton and is suing over the catastrophic effects of her stroke.

Mrs Robinson had played a key role in helping her husband run his office furniture business before her life was ripped apart by the stroke.

He had to step in to help care for his stricken wife, and also suffered post-traumatic stress disorder having watched her succumb to the stroke.

As a result Mr Robinson, of Fairford, Gloucestershire, is also suing for the shock he endured after witnessing the "horror" of his wife's collapse.

He is seeking damages from the Great Western Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which disputes liability.

The NHS Trust has admitted that Mrs Robinson should have been given 300mg of aspirin before she left hospital "or prescribed the drug as a take-home medication".

But one of the key issues in the case is whether a timely dose of aspirin would have prevented the stroke.

Medical experts instructed by the NHS Trust say the outcome would probably have been the same, with or without the aspirin.

Mr Robinson is also critical of the earlier care his wife received at the hospital in October 2010, when she was admitted with a perforated pelvic abscess.

They say a failure to carry out prompt surgery at the time may have "contributed" to her stroke two months later.

The High Court hearing continues.
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Mystery surrounds the death of a popular Gloucestershire musician who died shortly after returning home from a stint in a Thai rehab clinic.

Matthew Yemm, from the Forest of Dean, was found at his home on February 3 this year, he died in the intensive care ward at Bristol Royal Infirmary.

Avon Coroners Court heard the 28-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest causing a serious brain injury before his life support machine was turned off with his family around him, reports the Bristol Post.

Matthew had been living in the Fishponds area of the city following his return from Thailand after a struggle with heroin addiction.

His mum Rosalind, told the inquest she believed her son suffered from bipolar and that combined with his drug issues seemed to be a "vicious circle".

In a statement to the coroner she said how Mr Yemm was a recovering heroin addict who had spent two months in a Thailand rehabilitation centre before returning to England in December 2016.

Her statement said she had thought he was sober, but admitted "he was good at telling me what he wanted to hear".

The inquest heard drug paraphernalia and empty packets of tablets were found near Mr Yemm when he was collapsed in Forest Road and it was revealed he had been researching a drug on the internet.

But the inquest was told Mr Yemm had also recently booked a holiday to Chicago to meet up with a fellow musician he had met in rehab and was also looking into moving.

His mum added she had learnt he had talked about the possibility of going deaf through tinnitus the day before he was found collapsed and she believed that her "super intelligent son" who was a "very good musician" would have been devastated at the thought of losing his hearing.

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Doctors said how his heart stopping for 15 minutes after the cardiac arrest on February 3, 2017 had left him with brain injuries.

Assistant coroner Myfanwy Buckeridge recorded a narrative conclusion and said she had not found any intention by Mr Yemm to take his own life adding that he had died of a brain injury due to cardiac arrest due to an unknown cause.
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Ross Moriarty could miss the first game on the Lions tour should Gloucester reach the European Champions Cup play-off final.

The Welshman was selected for the squad to tour New Zealand but if Gloucesters season gets extended until the end of May he, along with several other players, will miss the first two weeks of Lions training.

Warren Gatlands first training week with his squad will begin on Monday, May 15 at the Vale Resort in Cardiff, Wales regular base.

Should Gloucester make the play-offs for the Champions Cup, they will play the play-off semi-finals on May 19, 20 or 21.

That would see Moriarty stay in the Gloucester camp for another week.

This would apply to several other players, including the Pro12 team in the play-offs and those teams in the Pro12 or Premiership semi-finals.

In the event that the Cherry and Whites make it all the way to the Champions Cup play-off final, which will be held on May 26, 27 or 28, Moriarty would also miss the second week of Lions training. Other players in the play-off final would also miss the second training week along with those in the Premiership and Pro12 finals.

The second training week will be held at Irelands base in Maynooth.

The Lions are due to travel to New Zealand on Monday, May 29 and play their first game, against New Zealand Barbarians, on Saturday, June 3.

If Gloucester make it all the way to the play-off final, Moriarty will not have trained with the rest of the Lions squad before landing in New Zealand.

That would make him unlikely to start in the first game on tour and is likely to have to wait a little longer for his chance.
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Old paper 5 notes MUST be spent by the end of tomorrow when they cease to be legal tender.

They are to be withdrawn from circulation and by Saturday, May 6 only the polymer note will be accepted.

More than half the old fivers  which feature prison reformer Elizabeth Fry  have been returned to the Bank of England to be destroyed, leaving around 160 million in circulation.

Some banks and building societies may still accept paper 5 notes after May 5, but this will be at their own discretion.

Whatever they decide, the Bank of England will continue to exchange the old 5 notes for all time, as it would for any other bank note which no longer has legal tender status.

The new fiver is stronger than its predecessor and boasts new security features making it harder to counterfeit.

The Bank of Englands head office in London will let anyone with an out of date note swap it for a current one.

In fact, even if a notes ripped, smashed or otherwise vandalised, as long as theres enough left to identify what it was they will swap it for a new one.
Toronto - Mustang Minerals Corp. (TSXV:MUM) (Mustang or the Company) today announced that it has applied to the TSX Venture Exchange to issue common shares relating to debt obligations pursuant to an audit of its flowthrough share issuances by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). ( see press release dated November 13, 2015 ) The Company has applied to the TSXV to issue common shares at a share price of $0.02 per common share for 75% of the debt obligations of $467,532. The debt obligations relate to a reduction of Canadian Exploration Expense (CEE) renounced to subscribers and indemnification of the subscribers for tax due to the CRA audit of Mustang for the period 2010-2012.

The Company is proposing to issue up to a total of 17,532,450 common shares for $350,650 of debt obligations and $116,883 cash in order to settle up to $467,532 of debt obligations relating to the CRA audit. The Company intends to resolve the CRA debt obligations in order to improve its working capital position to the point where it can move forward proactively with its mineral exploration and development projects.

The issuance of the common shares is subject to all applicable regulatory approvals, including the TSX Venture Exchange. In addition the common shares to be issued shall be subject to the approval of the shareholders of Mustang at its annual and special meeting to be held June 7, 2017 not including any insiders of Mustang who are eligible to receive debt settlement shares. Debt settlement is subject to the final agreement of the subscribers to whom Mustang is indebted. The Common Shares to be issued pursuant to the Shares for Debt Transaction will be subject to a four-month hold period.

The shares issuable will be subject to a four-month hold period. The Company may settle other similar debt obligations relating to the Indemnities through the issuance of securities, although there can be no assurances that the Company will be able to reach agreements with any other indemnified parties in this regard. In addition certain shareholders of the Company have had the CEE reduced by CRA but have not been reassessed by CRA which may present further obligations to Mustang in the future.

About Mustang Minerals

Mustang owns the mineral rights to the Makwa Nickel Property and the Mayville Property both located in the Bird River Greenstone Belt in southeastern Manitoba. The Company completed a PEA on the Makwa-Mayville Project in 2014. The Company also controls the East Bull Lake Property west of Sudbury prospective for PGM and the Bannockburn Nickel Property near Matachewan.

To find out more about Mustang Minerals Corp. (TSX-V: MUM)

visit our website at www.mustangminerals.com or:

Telephone: 416-955-4773 email: info@mustangminerals.com

We seek safe harbour

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and forward-looking information within the meaning of the Securities Act (Ontario) (together, forward-looking statements). Such forward-looking statements may include the Companys plans for its mineral projects in Manitoba, the overall economic potential of its properties, the availability of adequate financing and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements to be materially different. Such factors include, among others, risks and uncertainties relating to potential political risk, uncertainty of production and capital costs estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, physical risks inherent in mining operations, currency fluctuations, fluctuations in the price of nickel and other metals, completion of economic evaluations, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, the inability or failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis, and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in the Companys Management Discussion and Analysis for the most recent financial period and Material Change Reports filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available at www.sedar.com.



Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor it Regulations Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.


VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 4, 2017 / Vendetta Mining Corp. (TSXV: VTT) ("Vendetta" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the results of the recently commissioned ground EM survey targeting the recent Copper-Gold discovery located 2km's southwest of the Pegmont Lead / Zinc Project.

The EM Survey followed up on the October 2016 regional exploration RC hole (PVR040) which intersected 3.0 m of 3.21% Cu and 0.57g/t Au from 113 m down hole (see Vendetta News Release VTT2016 - NR#8).

The high grade intersection of coarse chalcopyrite mineralization was intersected in a silica altered pegmatite, similar in style to the nearby Osborne - Kulthor Copper-Gold deposits. The intersection was centered within a broader silica-pyrite alteration zone of elevated copper-gold mineralization. The hangingwall alteration was intersected over 5 m, grading 0.09% Cu, 0.02 g/t Au, and the footwall alteration zone was intersected over 5 m, grading of 0.24% Cu, 0.09 g/t Au. Additional drilling is required to estimate the true thickness.

EM Survey Results

The ground moving loop EM survey was completed on 100 m line spacing with 50 m station spacing.

Key Highlights of the Survey:

The survey identified three areas where geologic structures interpreted from aero magnetic data correlate with the presence of near-surface conductivity (from the EM survey data).

The "northern" EM conductor coincides with the drilled intercept in PVR040, it has a strike length of over 800 m and is modelled as steeply dipping.

Modelling of the "middle" conductor suggests that exploration hole PVR039 was drilled slightly to the NW of the conductor and the target remains open for testing. The middle anomaly has a strike of around 400 m but remains open to the SW, it has also been modelled as steeply dipping.

The "southern" conductor was identified at the SE end of the planned survey, the grid was extended to capture it. This target has not been drill tested previously.

Follow up drilling will now be planned using the modelled EM data, this is expected to be undertaken during Q2, 2017.

Resource Development Drilling to Commence at Pegmont Lead / Zinc Deposit

The first of two drills is scheduled to be on the property on May 12th, with the second drill arriving prior to the end of May. Lead-Zinc resource development drilling will commence with the "Z" fold and Zone 3. The "Z" fold is a kink fold, located between Zone 2 and 3, where previous drilling has returned high grade massive to semi-massive sulphide, see Figure 2. The fold structure has an interpreted strike length of about 800 m. For more details on the Companies 2016 "Z" fold drilling please see Vendetta Mining new release VTT2016-NR#9, 30th Nov. 2016.

Upon arrival of the second larger capacity resource development drilling on the high zinc grade Zone 5 will re-commence.

2017 NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate Commissioned

The Company has engaged AMC Consultants (Canada) Ltd. ("AMC") to complete an independent mineral resource update on the Pegmont Lead-Zinc Project and to prepare the accompanying NI 43-101 report. AMC is an internationally recognised independent consulting firm with offices in Canada, Australia, Asia and the UK.

The mineral resource update will incorporate over 13,500 m of drilling undertaken since the 2014 NI 43-101, a new geological model and the 2016 metallurgical test work results.

The Company expects to receive the mineral resource estimate prior to the end of May.



Image: https://www.accesswire.com/uploads/26590_a1493877891583_84EDIT.jpg



Image: https://www.accesswire.com/uploads/26590_a1493877892380_51resize.jpg

Figure 1. April 2017 Moving Loop Electromagnetic Response Map Chanel 14To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: http://www.accesswire.com/uploads/26590_a1493877891583_84resize.jpgFigure 2. 2016 "Z" Fold Drilling, See Vendetta Mining new release VTT2016-NR#9, 30th Nov. 2016 for details.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit: http://www.accesswire.com/uploads/26590_a1493877892380_51.jpg

About Pegmont

The Pegmont lead-zinc-silver deposit is located in North West Queensland Mineral Province, 175 km south-east of the major mining centre of Mount Isa, and 25 km west of South32's world class Cannington silver-lead-zinc operation and 28 km north of Chinova Resources' Osborne and Kulthor copper-gold operations. It is proximate to infrastructure including roads, rail, and natural gas for power generation.

Pegmont is a multiple lens, stratiform Broken Hill style deposit that outcrops with an overall shallow dip to the south east and is hosted in a magnetite rich banded iron formation within high grade metamorphic rocks. The Company has, through its programs confirmed Zone 5 is an area of higher grade zinc and multiple mineralized horizons. The project consists of three granted mining leases and two exploration permits that cover an area of approximately 3,468 ha.

About Vendetta Mining Corp.

Vendetta Mining Corp. is a Canadian junior exploration company focused on advanced stage exploration and development at the Pegmont Lead Zinc Project in Australia. Vendetta has an option to acquire a 100% interest by completing certain work requirements and making option and advance royalty payments. Additional information on the Company can be found at www.vendettaminingcorp.com.

Qualified Person

Peter Voulgaris, MAusIMM, MAIG, a Director of Vendetta, is a non-independent qualified person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Voulgaris has reviewed the technical content of this press release, and consents to the information provided in the form and context in which it appears.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

"Michael Williams"

Michael Williams

President & CEO

Forward Looking Information

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.

Disclaimer

All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although Vendetta Mining Corp. 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: the completion of the full exploration program for which the use of proceeds is geared toward, the accuracy of exploration results, the accuracy of Mineral Resource Estimates, the anticipated results of future exploration, the forgoing ability to finance further exploration, 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.

The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release and as such, accepts no responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Vendetta Mining Corp.
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - May 4, 2017) - Southern Silver Exploration Corp. (TSX VENTURE:SSV)(OTCQB:SSVFF)(FRANKFURT:SEG1)(SSE:SSVCL) ("Southern") has acquired strategic mineral claims adjacent to the southwest of its Cerro Las Minitas project located 70 kilometres northeast of Durango, Durango State, Mexico.

The claim package comprises 2 concessions, known as Biznagas and Los Lenchos, totaling 9600 hectares, which are contiguous to the south and west with the Cerro Las Minitas claim block (see Figure 1). The Biznagas claim was recommended for staking by La Cuesta International, Inc. (La Cuesta) whose previous exploration activities in the region resulted in the discovery of the nearby San Sebastian Mine (Hecla Mining Ltd.) and the San Agustin project (Argonaut Gold). Southern has negotiated a Finder's Agreement with La Cuesta as set out below.

The Biznagas claim is largely gravel covered. Initial prospecting and sampling on the claim has identified a +5km x 2km NW-SE trend of quartz and rhyolite float. Locally quartz veins contain fine black bands and limonite after fine grained sulphides. Results from an initial round of prospecting on the claim by Southern has returned float samples with elevated values of gold (up to 1.28g/t Au), silver (up to 14.4g/t Ag), antimony (up to 481ppm Sb) and mercury (1.4ppm Hg).

The larger Los Lenchos claim covers the intervening ground between the Biznagas and Cerro Las Minitas claims as well covers a prominent magnetic high located approximately 4km to the south of the town of Guadalupe Victoria. The claim is similarly gravel covered.

Southern has initiated a more detailed surface sampling program on both claims to be followed by soil sampling, RC/RAB drilling and trenching scheduled for the balance of 2017. Core drilling to follow-up the newly developed targets is planned for 2018. Based on the surface float and metal signatures from sampling, exploration on these claims is targeting a volcanic hosted epithermal vein system, similar to productive veins at the nearby Avino Gold-Silver Mine and San Sebastian Mine.

Southern has acquired a 100% interest in the claims by staking them in accordance with Mexican Law and making application for issuance of title. Southern Silver has agreed to cause Minera Plata del Sur S.A. de C.V. ("MPS") the holder of the Biznagas claim, to pay to La Cuesta periodic payments on a semi-annual basis accelerating from $5,000 to $25,000 over a ninety-six month period and a 1% NSR with such periodic payments being credited to NSR payments. Subsequent to payment of $5,000,000 in NSR payments the royalty is reduced to 0.5%. All monetary references are to U. S. dollars.

Cerro Las Minitas Project

Current exploration on the company's flagship Cerro Las Minitas property, Durango Mexico has been funded by Electrum Global Holdings L.P. ("Electrum") which has financed a broad range of exploration activities and has earned a 60% interest in the project through completion of US$5.0M in accelerated exploration expenditures on the property, with Southern Silver acting as operator.

The Cerro Las Minitas project contains an estimated Inferred Resource of 17.5Mozs silver and 237Mlbs of lead and 626Mlbs zinc (77.3Mozs AgEq) and an estimated Indicated Resource of 10.8Mozs silver, 189Mlbs lead and 207Mlbs zinc (36.5Mozs AgEq).(1)

A total of 93 drill holes for 37,255 metres have been completed on the Cerro Las Minitas project with total exploration expenditures of approximately US$8.6 million spent through to the end of 2016.

To view Figure 1, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/ssv729fig1.pdf.

About Southern Silver Exploration Corp.

Southern Silver Exploration Corp. is a precious metal exploration and development company with a focus on the discovery of world-class mineral deposits in north-central Mexico and the southern USA. Our specific emphasis is the Cerro Las Minitas silver-lead-zinc project located in the heart of Mexico's Faja de Plata, which hosts multiple world-class mineral deposits such as Penasquito, San Martin, Naica and Pitarrilla. We have assembled a team of highly experienced technical, operational and transactional professionals to support our exploration efforts in developing, along with our partner, Electrum Global Holdings LP, the Cerro Las Minitas project into a premier, high-grade, silver-lead-zinc mine. The Company engages in the acquisition, exploration and development either directly or through joint-venture relationships in mineral properties in major jurisdictions. Our property portfolio also includes the Oro porphyry copper-gold project located in southern New Mexico, USA.

The 2016 Cerro Las Minitas Resource Estimate was prepared following CIM definitions for classification of Mineral Resources. Resources are constrained using mainly geological constraints and approximate 10g/t AgEq grade shells. The block models are comprised of an array of blocks measuring 10m x 2m x 10m, with grades for Au, Ag, Cu, Pb, Zn and AgEq values interpolated using ID2 weighting. The models identified at a 150g/t AgEq cut-off, an indicated resource of 3,724,000 tonnes averaging 90g/t Ag, 0.05g/t Au, 2.3% Pb, 2.5% Zn and 0.09% Cu and a cumulative inferred resource of 6,611,000 tonnes averaging 82g/t Ag, 0.17g/t Au, 1.6% Pb, 4.3% Zn and 0.2% Cu. Mineral Resource cut-offs are estimated using an average long-term price of $15/oz silver, $1,100/oz gold, $2.75/lb Cu, $0.90/lb lead and $0.90/lb zinc and metal recoveries of 82% silver, 86% lead and 80% zinc. AgEq calculations did not account for relative metallurgical recoveries of the metals. All prices are stated in $USD. Mineral Resources are conceptual in nature and as such do not have demonstrated economic viability. The current Resource Estimate was prepared by Garth Kirkham, P.Geo. of Kirkham Geosciences Ltd. who is the Independent Qualified Person responsible for presentation and review of the Mineral Resource Estimate.

Robert Macdonald, MSc. P.Geo, is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and responsible for the supervision of the exploration on the Cerro Las Minitas Project and for the preparation of the technical information in this disclosure.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Lawrence Page, Q.C.

President & Director, Southern Silver Exploration Corp.

For further information, please visit Southern Silver's website at southernsilverexploration.com.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include the timing and receipt of government and regulatory approvals, and continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. Southern Silver Exploration Corp. does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by applicable law.
With high-profile local-government economic development deals making headlines and the availability of new transparency data on public giveaways, the tax-incentive debate is in the spotlight in a serious way. The arguments are familiar ones: On one side are those who label incentives as corporate welfare in which cities indiscriminately and unnecessarily fork over public dollars to lure potential jobs. On the other side are businesses claiming to need incentives to make deals pencil out and cities convinced that they must meet business demands to secure future growth.But is the use of incentives really this black and white? Like most things, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. What is lacking, though, is an updated and grounded understanding that goes beyond buzzwords and mudslinging. Digging into local nuances reveals a more complex approach for how, when and why some cities use incentives that others can learn from.Take Washington, D.C.'s LivingSocial deal, for example. In 2012, the daily-deals company was offered $32.5 million in tax breaks to jump-start a technology ecosystem in the District. But the high hopes for LivingSocial, and its job-creation prospects, were dashed as the company lost ground to its competitor Groupon.The District took a lot of flack for making the deal, but in the end LivingSocial did not collect incentives. This is because the agreement included community safeguards, including creating jobs before receiving incentives. And although the company failed to deliver jobs, it did help spur a local startup culture in a town best known for politics.The LivingSocial story sheds light on how many cities, not just D.C., are advancing the practice of economic development. Done right, cities disavow smokestack chasing, start with strategy, commit to data, protect taxpayers and bring meaningful change to the community.Across the Potomac River in Arlington County, Va., Economic Development Director Victor Hoskins (formerly D.C.'s deputy mayor for economic development) views the debate about incentives as too narrow. "Economic development starts with a strategy that determines how resources are allocated to yield a return for the public good," Hoskins says. "Sometimes this includes incentives, sometimes not."Arlington boasts a well-educated workforce, a low unemployment rate, a high concentration of millennials, great schools and a strong transit network. On paper, the urban county has one of the nation's strongest local economies, so why would it even consider using economic-development incentives?As Hoskins points out, "Knowing liabilities is just as important as leveraging your assets." A deeper look at Arlington's economy reveals a heavy reliance on a single and sometimes unpredictable employer -- the federal government, whose employees make up about a quarter of its labor force -- along with some troubling commercial real-estate trends. Case in point: The county is experiencing record-high office vacancies, upward of 22 percent in recent years, as a result of federal relocations and office-space efficiencies.Factors like these inform Arlington's incentive strategy, which prioritizes projects that diversify its economy and improve occupancy rates, such as the recent Nestle deal . A collaboration among the county, the state and the owner of an office building that had sat vacant since its completion in 2013, the $16 million incentive deal occupied the building with 750 non-federal jobs.As Arlington's example illustrates, a community's market strengths and weaknesses are critical to determining its approach to incentives. As noted in the National League of Cities' new economic development policy guide , produced in partnership with the International Economic Development Council, strong- and weak-market cities demand different types of strategies and considerations. In cities with weak real-estate markets, for example, the use of incentives such as tax breaks and fast-tracked approvals is often necessary to secure deals and attract outside investment. Amenities such as talent and affordable housing are particularly vital to business attraction and retention.In Rust Belt cities hit hard with job losses and foreclosures, there is a general sentiment that projects can rarely, if ever, get done without incentives. In Cleveland, for example, rents are a little more than half those in Chicago, yet construction costs are the same or higher. This means that commercial developers can make more money in other locations.To help level the playing field with stronger market cities, Cleveland uses a very targeted approach to help to change the economic calculus for developers. In addition to fiscal impact analyses, performance measures and clawbacks, "we assess and help fill the gap between a return on investment to the developer -- that is still far below that in strong markets -- and their ability to attract capital to the project," says Tracey Nichols, the city's former director of economic development, now with Project Management Consultants.To ensure that these projects benefit all members of the Cleveland community, the city also has a robust Community Benefits Agreement that requires contractors to hire local construction workers and to use minority, female and small-business subcontractors while encouraging developers to provide internships and other opportunities to Cleveland students. Additionally, school revenues are protected in any discussion of tax incentives.On the flip side are some strong-market cities that are rebalancing the role of incentives after, ironically, becoming victims of their own success. Charlotte, N.C.'s incentives program stimulated robust growth of Fortune 500 and other large firms, but it concentrated wealth and did not expand economic opportunities to local residents and small businesses.Charlotte's wakeup call came when it was bestowed the not-so-coveted honor of ranking dead last in the economic mobility index created by economist Raj Chetty. "A rising tide is not lifting all boats," says Kevin Dick, Charlotte's economic development director. "Our policymakers are actively considering alternatives within incentive agreements that more intentionally address local hiring and contracting with local small businesses, including those owned and operated by people of color and women."The city recently took a big step forward when it launched its Economic Opportunity Task Force and became an inaugural participant in the Equitable Economic Development Fellowship led by the National League of Cities, the Urban Land Institute and PolicyLink.What the stories of D.C., Arlington, Cleveland and even Charlotte offer is not a precise recipe for success but a glimpse into how communities can adapt to a rapidly changing economic environment. To be sure, many governments still take an antiquated approach to incentives --offering them to just about any company promising to bring jobs -- that has been found to miss the mark tremendously.The reality is that as long as there is competition there will be incentives. Recognizing this, while shining light on those that are carefully tailoring their incentives strategies to unique local circumstances, is what is needed to advance the practice of economic development.
Should geography determine a child's chances for success? A new look at how much states spend per kid indicates that might be the case.An analysis by the Urban Institute found that states that spend more per child tend to have better outcomes when taking public education, health and social services into account. At the two ends of the spectrum, Vermont spends nearly three times as much annually on children as Utah. The national average is $7,900 per child. A total of 14 states spend less than $7,000 per child and nine spend more than $10,000 each year.The analysis also found regional trends: States in the Northeast are more likely to spend more while states spending less than $7,000 per child are mostly in the South and West.Education spending accounts for most of the annual totals. The data, which count all children in each state, is adjusted for a state's cost of living. For those reasons, the annual spending total often appears lower than education formula funding levels per state.Julia B. Isaacs, who co-authored the study, says the findings are troubling. "These wide disparities in public investment," she says, "raise concerns about whether children nationwide are on equal footing when pursuing the American Dream."Isaacs is concerned about what the current spending trends may mean for future generations as well. That's because the states that tend to spend the least per child are also the ones where child populations are projected to grow the most. Conversely, states in the higher-spending Northeast are facing a child population decline.For example, Texas is projected to see the most growth with 600,000 more children between 2013 and 2030. That means that Texas, just to keep pace with its annual $7,120 per child, would have to spend $4.4 billion more per year by 2030. On the other hand, New York would save $3.5 billion annually as its child population declines and if it keeps pace with its current $12,232 per child.Isaacs says her findings raise broader policy questions about state and federal spending choices and whether more federal resources should be targeted to states with high population growth and low spending on children.The analysis also showed that health and education outcomes correlate with each other. When it comes to health care, for instance, Medicaid provides a lot of support for services delivered in school, such as dental screenings or monitoring health conditions like asthma. In a recent survey of school superintendents, nearly half reported using their Medicaid reimbursement to expand health-related services and supplies.In a new paper on the topic, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities' Jessica Schubel notes that such expansions "benefit all children -- not just those enrolled in Medicaid." It's one of the many reasons, she adds, that "Medicaid coverage has a significant positive impact not only on children's health, but also on their educational attainment and job earnings."Isaacs says other factors that influence a child's chance of success are also at play -- but much harder to measure. For example, the Northeast is also home to many of the nation's higher-income states. Higher earnings are known to correlate with better outcomes for kids. Still, she says, the numbers are a good baseline for considering each state's overall investment."It's not like the data says [Vermont] kids are doing three times better than in Utah," Isaacs says. "But where you look and control for differences, you still find that states that tend to spend more [is where kids] do better."
Earlier this week, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price announced plans for a reimagined HHS. To him, that means an agency that relies more on state and local governments to address the nations health and social needs, and one that improves the coordination between the health and human services sides of the department.Life can send all sort of detours our way that oftentimes get in the way of a healthy living, he said, citing unemployment, drug addiction, neighborhood violence and family conflicts as examples. All of those things can imperil both physical and mental health. Doctors will never be able to get care right for so many of their patients unless patients are able to receive the support that they need from communities in the human services realm.He made those remarks on Wednesday at a conference in Baltimore where state and local government officials met with nonprofit social service providers. The event was co-hosted by the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA), whose members administer a wide array of federal health and social programs -- from food stamps to Medicaid to child care subsidies -- in states, counties and cities. It was the first time since 2009 that the nation's HHS secretary had addressed APHSA members at a conference.His agency is best known for overseeing Medicare and Medicaid and the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, but Price assured the audience that he's aware of the important role that social programs also play in helping people lead healthy, successful lives."I know that the human services side often feels like the red-headed stepchild in HHS," he said. "We want to make certain that they understand that on any given day, on any given issue, we're not thinking about healthhuman services, we're thinking about healthhuman services."Price predicted that as the baby boomer generation ages and retires, more of the federal budget will go to mandatory spending for Social Security and Medicare, and states will shoulder greater responsibility for providing human services. But he said his agency would try to be more supportive and collaborative as that shift occurs.The secretary alsoasked for suggestions from the audience about federal regulations that should be changed, funds that could be combined and other hurdles that ought to be lowered or removed.We want to receive your ideas, he said. I ask you, I challenge you, to think creatively.I think that struck a really good chord with the people in this room, says Tracy Wareing Evans, the president and CEO of APHSA.In his speech, Price identified three priority areas for his department: childhood obesity, opioid addiction and mental health. He did not discuss the Affordable Care Act -- a law he vocally opposed as a Congressman -- or Republican lawmakers' current negotiations to repeal and replace it.Price assumed the secretary post in February after 12 years in Congress and eight years as a state senator in Georgia. Hes an orthopedic surgeon and only the third physician to oversee the department. He described his position in the Trump administration as the culmination of a lifes work.Though most of his remarks on Wednesday praised state and local officials, he urged them to do more to incentivize recipients of government aid to work. As a member of Congress and during his confirmation hearings, he expressed support for block-granting Medicaid and allowing states to set work requirements for government checks.If were not designing our programs to support and encourage work, were doing a disservice to the health and well-being of our fellow citizens, he said. We simply must do a better job.
A pioneering, California-led effort to create retirement security for low-income workers has been thrown into jeopardy after the U.S. Senate voted Wednesday to block states from starting programs to automatically enroll millions of people in IRA-type savings plans.The measure, aimed at stopping the fledgling state retirement programs, now goes to President Donald Trump, who has vowed to sign it.That leaves lawmakers in California, Illinois and other states who only months ago were celebrating the success of their long-planned initiative scrambling to regroup. The Senate voted 50-49 to stop the state plans.The retirement programs that were about to launch in seven states and are under consideration in many more were targeted by Wall Street firms and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.The vote reflected the renewed influence of the business lobby in Washington since the 2016 election, with lawmakers defying the 38-million-member AARP, a vocal supporter of the auto-IRA program. The seniors group had warned senators that its members would hold them accountable for their votes."Nobody had a problem with this except for the big Wall Street companies who invented in their mind that they would be losing business to these state innovations," said Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, D-Conn., whose state was moving to implement an auto-IRA program. "This is a terrible, terrible thing we are doing," he said of the Senate's vote to undermine the state programs.The California Secure Choice program and similar retirement laws generally require employers with no retirement plans to automatically invest a small percentage of each worker's pay in a state-sponsored retirement account. Employers can opt out of the program if they choose.The money is managed by private investment firms that partner with the states. The accounts are intended to help build financial security for some 55 million workers nationwide whose employers do not offer a retirement plan.The push to implement the programs was delayed for years by complicated federal Labor Department rules governing such investment pools. In its final months, the Obama administration gave states the green light to pursue their vision. But Congress has now voted to revoke that authority, leaving the programs in limbo. Opponents of the state programs say they became too risky for consumers after the federal rules were changed.Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, denounced the regulation permitting the retirement plans as something "that President Obama personally ordered Labor Secretary Tom Perez to draft as a gift to certain blue states."Democrats on the Senate floor charged such arguments were a smoke screen to obscure an effort to protect the profits of big investment houses concerned their business could be eroded if companies moved their employees into state-sponsored plans.The congressional vote brought to a head an early confrontation between California and the Trump-era Congress. The retirement law is a signature achievement of California Senate leader Kevin de Leon, who worked on it for years.The House passed the measure to block the programs in March at the urging of de Leon's fellow Californian and longtime political rival, Kevin McCarthy, the House majority leader.De Leon has vowed to push ahead with the state's effort, saying California can redesign its program to avoid federal approval. But such a redesign would make it more vulnerable to legal challenge, and probably delay implementation.California and other states were moved to address the large share of the workforce not enrolled in any retirement plan after efforts to create a federal automatic IRA program stalled years ago. Reports by some bipartisan think tanks and policy analysts suggest the programs could ultimately save states billions of dollars by creating a measure of financial security for elderly Americans who otherwise end up on the rolls of Medicaid, food stamps and other safety-net programs.
Why Secede?

Could a State Pull Out?

APPOMATTOX COURT HOUSE, Va.  When two generals signed papers here 152 years ago bringing the Civil War to a close, they ended the bid by 11 Southern states to secede from the Union. And that, most believed, was that.Yet ever since the Souths Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to the Norths Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in 1865, groups across the United States have advocated seceding from the country, their own states, or in a few cases, their cities. Recently, these efforts have ranged from fairly large, ongoing campaigns in Texas and California to smaller pushes in Oklahoma, Maine, Utah, West Virginia and New Yorks Long Island, among others.Just last month, a longshot effort to allow Californians to vote on seceding fell apart after one of the founders dropped out amid criticism of his ties to Russia. But a new group pushing secession has vowed to collect the nearly 600,000 signatures required by July to put the measure on the November 2018 ballot.Last May, the Texas Nationalist Movement came within two votes of adding Texas independence language to the states Republican platform. And in Oklahoma, Republican state Sen. Joseph Silk in January introduced a bill to remove the word inseparable from the sentence in the state constitution describing Oklahoma as an inseparable part of the Federal Union.The move for independence, whether its from the right of the political spectrum as in Texas, or the left as in California, reflects the political division felt across the country, said Edward Meisse, a supporter of the Yes California secession group that just disbanded. We have two diametrically opposed philosophies in our country, and were just not getting anywhere, he said. I think we should allow states to secede so California can be California and Texas can be Texas.Nationwide, interest in seceding is fairly strong. An online survey by Reuters in 2014 found that nearly one in four Americans want their state to secede. The desire was highest  34 percent  in the Southwest, which includes Texas.In some areas of the country there is no organized effort to split from the U.S., just a feeling that weve been left behind and no one cares about us, said Dwayne Yancey, editorial page editor of The Roanoke Times who in March wrote what he called a tongue in cheek editorial, Should Southwest Virginia secede from the rest of Virginia?Historically we have felt left out, and a number of those issues are coming to a head, Yancey said. Southwest Virginia is mostly rural, white and poor. Coal mining has declined dramatically, although the city of Roanoke has had a stable economy with Virginia Tech University and other employers, he said. Yet, the feeling is that the state Legislature in Richmond is not doing right by us here.Despite the heightened interest in secession, many lawyers and constitutional scholars say its legally impossible for a state to secede because the U.S. Constitution doesnt address the issue, and has no provision to allow it.The U.S. Supreme Court declared in an 1869 case, Texas vs. White, that the United States is an indestructible union. And the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in a 2006 letter that if there was any constitutional issue resolved by the Civil War, it is that there is no right to secede.Yet some lawyers, historians and secession groups argue that Article 10 of the Constitution gives states the right to decide many issues which are not in the power of the federal government. And despite the legal obstacles, the desire for self-rule and separation from others with different political, social or moral views remains strong among some groups.Being part of a secession movement is about being a part of the group as it circles around its sacred values and marks out what is good and what is evil, said Jonathan Haidt, a psychologist and professor at New York Universitys Stern School of Business who has written about the moral differences between liberals and conservatives. Joining a secession movement is an act of both self-expression and group expression, he said.One of the first secession movements arose in New England, prompted by the War of 1812. A trade embargo against England had hurt New Englands economy, and a convention was held to discuss secession. Victory in that war put a halt to the movement.Secession movements have sprung up sporadically ever since. But the election in 2008 of the first African-American president, Barack Obama, set off a spate of efforts to secede, some of which were tied to white supremacist movements.In Texas, which was an independent republic between 1836 and 1846, there have long been groups interested in seceding from the U.S. But the Texas Nationalist Movement, which supports a statewide referendum to settle the question, grew dramatically during Obamas presidency, said Daniel Miller, head of the Texas Nationalist Movement.In California, the election of Donald Trump as president has fueled secession efforts.We had 11,000 [signatures] before Trump, then that jumped to 30,000 in a day, then to 45,000, said Marcus Ruiz Evans, co-founder of Yes California. People joined because they hate Trump, but weve always said, This isnt about Trump. This is about a country that would elect him. A racist, a misogynist? Those are people you want to associate with?A second group in California led by Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tim Draper supported an effort to break California into six states. But supporters werent able to collect enough signatures to put it on the November 2016 ballot.Brexit, the U.K.s vote in June 2016 to leave the European Union, has heartened some U.S. secessionists, many of whom also support Scotlands efforts to separate from the U.K. Drapers group is working with Brexit supporter Nigel Farage of the U.K. to figure out a new strategy for splitting California into six states.Texas and California secession groups argue that their state economies are large enough to stand alone, and that they pay more in taxes to the federal government than they get in services in return.Theres no doubt that some secession groups are pro-white, anti-immigrant and racist, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which studies hate groups nationwide. In 2000, it named the League of the South, formed in 1994, as a hate group. Since 2014, the LOS has funded a billboard campaign in Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and Arkansas with one big hashtag: #SECEDE.Neither the former Yes California nor the Texas Nationalist Movement is on the SPLCs list of hate groups, but the center says that neo-Confederates, who in many cases are openly secessionist, favor segregation and suggest white supremacy.Groups in Texas and California argue, in part, that because their states were once independent, they can be independent again. (A group of northern Californians claimed independence from Mexico for 25 days in 1846.)But the U.S. Constitution doesnt address the issue of secession. It neither gives states the right to secede nor denies it, says Gary Gallagher, director of the John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History and professor of history at the University of Virginia.He and other legal scholars also point to the Supreme Courts ruling in 1869. That case stemmed from Texas sale of U.S. government bonds during the Civil War, to help fund the Confederacy. When Texas rejoined the U.S. after the war, it argued the bonds had been sold illegally and wanted its money back.The court ruled against Texas, declaring that Texas had entered an indissoluble relation when it joined the U.S., and that the country itself is a perpetual union.Miller, who heads the Texas Nationalist Movement, sees it another way.If I had a nickel for every time someone says the Constitution doesnt give your state the right, Id be rich. It means that the Constitution is silent on the issue, he said, referring to the right to secede. So the fact that the Constitution doesnt talk about it doesnt eliminate it. It just means we have to turn to the court.Craig Lerner, professor of law at George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia, disagrees. We had a war over secession once, and that war seems to validate Lincolns view that a state cant secede without the consent of all the states.Lerner agrees that Texas is a bit different because it used to be an independent state. But since Texas became a part of the United States in 1845, it lost that freedom to separate, he said.Why do groups like the Texas Nationalist Movement persevere?The idea that people say that things will never happen, that this is some kind of pipe dream, well, Im pretty sure that was the feeling of the British when they wanted to get out of the E.U., Miller said.Ever since the end of World War I, people have been seeking self-determination, he said. Look at Scotland. It never got a vote, but after 800 years, it gets two. That, he believes, could happen for Texas.Perhaps. But for now and the foreseeable future, only one flag flies at Appomattox Court House in Virginia: The U.S. flag.
'Status quo bill'

A 'gamechanger'

A ban on so-called "sanctuary cities" that would allow police to ask people about their immigration status and could lead to jail time for sheriffs and police chiefs who refuse to cooperate cleared its final hurdle Wednesday after the Senate voted to agree with changes House lawmakers made, sending the contentious proposal to Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature.In a 20-11 party line vote, the Senate's Republican majority effectively handed Abbott his most notable political victory yet, overcoming months of strident Democratic opposition to Senate Bill 4, which would grant new powers to police officers by allowing them to question a person's immigration status if they have been detained with reasonable suspicion.The legislation also would prohibit local jurisdictions from passing or enforcing ordinances that prohibit police officers from inquiring about a detained person's immigration status. It also would require police to honor all federal requests to detain people suspected of being in the country illegally until immigration authorities can investigate the person's status. After nearly three hours of debate Wednesday, senators accepted the House version that added several areas where SB4 would not apply, including government mental health care facilities and hospitals. Among other changes, it also would exclude officers who are contracted by religious organizations and schools, though it will apply to police departments on college campuses.Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who for years championed the measure, cheered the bill's passage late Wednesday."This legislation will eliminate a substantial incentive for illegal immigration and help make Texas communities safer," Patrick said in a statement.Meanwhile, Democrats and progressive groups decried the bill as a "show-me-your-papers" measure and promised to file an immediate court challenge to SB4 after Abbott signs the measure, which they predict will be found unconstitutional."The bill will not immediately take effect because of strong opposition by Democrats in both the Senate and the House," said Democratic Sen. Sylvia Garcia of Houston, hinting at a court battle.However, Attorney General Ken Paxton's office has assured Republican legislators that the bill can withstand such a lawsuit."We will let the court systems figure this out," said GOP Sen. Charles Perry of Lubbock, the bill's author.The term "sanctuary cities" has no legal meaning but has been used to describe jurisdictions whose elected officials restrict, in any way, their police force's cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The state's Republican leaders, including Abbott, have said the bill is necessary to stop some Texas sheriffs and police chiefs, including Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez, from refusing to honor all voluntary requests from ICE to detain a person in the country illegally until federal authorities can investigate their case.Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo has been a harsh critic of the proposal. Acevedo spoke out strongly against the bill last week, calling it a dangerous move by lawmakers that could have "negative consequences" because it would redirect limited HPD resources from crime fighting efforts to an initiative that does not improve public safety.Acevedo did not say whether HPD would alter any policies if SB4 is signed into law, but he emphasized he intends to make public safety a priority over policies he believe are unrelated.Calling it a "status quo bill," Perry said during the debate that his SB4 does not force a police officer to inquire about a person's immigration status nor does it allow an officer to stop someone merely to ask about their status. He defended the bill from critics who said it will lead to racial profiling and will turn Texas police officers into federal immigration authorities."Nowhere in the bill as it came back from the House does it instruct officers to demand papers," Perry said. "Nowhere in the bill does it allow an officer to enforce federal immigration law. Officers still do not have the authority to arrest someone merely for being unlawfully present (in the country), which is a federal power."For months, outnumbered Democrats in both chambers tried to add a host of exemptions to the bill, including one to shield children from inquires about their immigration status and another to exclude college police departments. Other proposals would have created exceptions for homeless shelters and domestic violence centers, but Republicans rejected those amendments.On Wednesday, several Democratic senators resurfaced those concerns and challenged Perry's claims that they had spread "non-factual substance" about SB4 to immigrant communities in their districts."It's gone from a bad bill to a really, really bad, horrible bill that will result in police officers investigating the immigration status of a person, including children, without probable cause," said Garcia, the Houston Democrat. "I'm afraid this legislation will lead to harassment and profiling of Latinos, and this is the last thing any of us would want ... This bill will go from a broken taillight to a broken family to broken faith in our system."Sen. John Whitmire, another Houston Democrat, said he has heard from families who are making contingency plans in case a relative who is in the country illegally is held by police after a routine interaction."Where's the anxiety? Where is the worry on the floor about the unintended consequences?" he asked his Republican colleagues. "This is a gamechanger in a very negative way for hundreds, millions of Texans."The bill now heads to Abbott, the first-term Republican governor who deemed a "sanctuary cities" prohibtion an emergency item for lawmakers this session. The designation, which Abbott made at the start of the legislative session, allowed them to begin work on SB4 at an expedited pace."I'm getting my signing pen warmed up," Abbott tweeted after the vote.
Description

GIS - 04 May, 2017: The 15th edition of the book festival marking the World Book and Copyright Day 2017 kicked off this morning at Trianon Shopping Park. The fair which was launched by Minister of Arts and Culture, Mr Prithvirajsing Roopun, will be open till 7 May 2017. The 15th edition of the book festival marking the World Book and Copyright Day 2017 kicked off this morning at Trianon Shopping Park. The fair which was launched by Minister of Arts and Culture, Mr Prithvirajsing Roopun, will be open till 7 May 2017.

The four-day book festival, organised at the initiative of the National Library, comprises different literary, educational and cultural activities. Some 22 stakeholders, namely booksellers, publishers and authors, are participating in this fair with a view to increase the visibility of books as well as encourage reading and the sales of books to the public.

In his address the Minister of Arts and Culture recalled that all Mauritians should engage towards promoting a reading culture. According to him, the importance of books can be reflected in the way they transmit knowledge and culture from generation to generation.

In a bid to give a boost to local authors, he urged readers to buy more books from Mauritian writers and endorse copyright values.

On the same occasion the Minister proceeded with the launching of the following books:

Memoires espiegles by Mrs Hen in Siao Him Fa

Les Belles Lettres by Lindley Couronne

Parliament in Mauritius by Prof. Mathur  2nd edition by the Faculty of University of Mauritius

Scattered Dandelion by Miss Gungabissoon published by Presidents Fund for Creative Writing

Guldasta & Chulchulie  Stories in bhojhpuri by Mr Dursun Kherroraj Sharma Geerjanand

Other activities on the agenda for this book festival comprise: demonstration of virtual reality, cyber caravans to initiate people to internet and usage of e-books, drawing competitions, dictations for children and adolescents, story-telling, slams, vocabulary competitions, animated quizzes and musical animation.
Traditional government procurement processes are often considered problematic, which is why many jurisdictions (think California Ohio and Utah ) are starting to mix it up  including Colorado, where Deputy CIO and Chief Financial Officer Brenda Berlin says officials are looking at their procurement processes in a couple of different ways.In 2015, the Department of Personnel and Administration, which oversees procurement in the state, began a review of the states procurement statutes, rules and processes in order to identify opportunities to modernize and improve the system to better serve state agencies, vendors and citizens. This ongoing process is called the Procurement Modernization Initiative , which Berlin says has essentially cleaned up the state's procurement statute.In addition, Berlin toldat last week's NASCIO Midyear conference in Arlington, Va., that the state's Office of Information Technology (OIT) held a working group with staff from both the executive and legislative sides. Officials came together to talk about how to improve IT procurement, she said, adding that the hope is legislation to change that process will go through the General Assembly this year."Internal to OIT specifically, we've looked at our procurement process, one of the things we've heard complaints about is the length of time that it takes to actually get something done," Berlin said. "So one thing we did is we went out and prequalified a set of vendors and got them all contracted so all the contract work was done, and it's for a specific set of issues or implementations, and then when we have projects that come up, we send it out to this select group, it's kind of like a mini-bid process. So the goal is to do a quicker procurement than going through the traditional route of putting an RFP on the street."And this mini-bid process has been received positively thus far, she added."It was our first shot at doing it and I think as we've been in this for two years now, we've seen some improvements, so we're looking to change it up. But I think it's been received positively," Berlin said. "Anytime you can make procurement more efficient and effective, I think everybody benefits."
(TNS) -- Standing about 10 feet tall, Miami-Dades new interactive transit kiosk can plot personalized bus routes, charge a cellphone and snap a selfie and email it to a user.Debuting under the brand Connect305, the pair of kiosks added to Miami-Dades Government Center lobby and second-floor transit station are the first in what a Massachusetts company hopes will be 300 devices spread throughout the county.Under a no-bid deal approved in January by the County Commission, Civiq Smartscapes agreed to supply the kiosks and provide free Wi-Fi in Miami-Dades transit system. In exchange, Civiq profits from advertising opportunities in one of the countrys largest transit systems: Each kiosk features a digital screen with advertisements, and the company may push ads out to Wi-Fi users as well.Mayor Carlos Gimenez said Tuesday the county needs to change the law governing digital signs in order to allow Civiq to begin installing kiosks at county bus stops. For now, Civiq only plans to bring the equipment to Metrorail and Metromover stations, where digital advertising isnt restricted. The company expects to have the more than three dozen Metrorail and Metromover stations equipped with the kiosks within the next 18 months. Civiqs no-bid deal requires installing 150 countywide, with a maximum of 300.The kiosk unveiled at Government Center features a pair of touch screens that function as oversized, souped-up transit apps. Users can touch a destination, and then see a route calculated using county buses and trains to get there. Theres also the option to have that route emailed to the user.Connect305 is bringing people together, said Alice Bravo, the countys transit chief.Civiq has already installed similar kiosks in New York, and wants to expand the equipment nationwide as a new advertising vehicle that lets governments benefit from the technology without having to pay for it.Users in Miami can also click the jumbo screen to take a photo right there. An internal camera snaps a pic from above, and will email it superimposed on a palm-tree background. George Burciaga, a managing director at Civiq, said the personal information isnt saved. Should Civiq decide to change that policy and use the email addresses for marketing purposes, users would have the ability to opt out of the service, he said.Its not something were reviewing at this moment, he said. We are not using personal data for anything.Burciaga said the Civiq kiosks offer Miami-Dade the potential for high-tech monitoring, too. Security cameras already peer out from the devices, but other sensors can be added, including gunshot detectors.And while Metrorail cars and many county buses already offer free Wi-Fi, the kiosks bring connectivity to the actual stations. That will let passengers stay on the same signal as they switch from train to bus to station, Burciaga said. The idea is to connect devices, people and services across streets, and transit, he said.
(TNS) -- Somewhere off Japan, a 40-foot buoy is bobbing and weaving in the ocean, dancing with the waves to generate its own electricity.As it slowly gyrates, a floating platform heaves up and down, rotating an internal power generator that can feed up to 150 kilowatt-hours of electric power into a large battery, which can charge an autonomous underwater vehicle much like a Tesla charging station refuels a car.Its owner, New Jersey-based Ocean Power Technologies, parked an identical giant yellow buoy just outside the NRG Center in Houston this week, hoping to strike up business with oil companies at the Offshore Technology Conference.Before it found its way to Houston, the U.S. Navy had deployed the buoy half a dozen times off New Jersey, in tests designed to extend the range of its coastal surveillance. The buoy powered high-frequency radar and sonar technology that probes the ocean for hidden vessels, on the ocean's surface and below it."Unmanned underwater vehicles can be armed with bad stuff and could be sent 50 miles away from the U.S. coast with no way to detect them," said Mike Mekhiche, executive vice president at Ocean Power Technologies. "You could deploy this thing 200 miles offshore, put all kinds of sensors on it, and have a cost-effective surveillance means to detect vehicles we can't detect today."The U.S. Navy funded the first iteration of the buoy in 2009. The idea was that the radar and sonar sensors would collect data off New Jersey and send it to onshore stations. In theory, it could spot things like narco-submarines, narcotics-filled vessels that typically travel from South America.Now, the renewable energy company is trying to commercialize the technology. The buoy could, for example, power subsea oil and gas equipment for three years without requiring any maintenance, or recharge AUVs - essentially, underwater drones - that monitor deep-sea drilling operations, Mekhiche said."Having data to make decisions is a huge advantage when you're dealing with offshore threats or expensive infrastructure," he said.
REPUBLICAN, CONSERVATE SUPPORT

EFFORT TO IMPEDE COMPETITION?

ROLE OF CABLE, PHONE COMPANIES

BUILDING NETWORK AS LAST RESORT

(TNS) -- AUGUSTA  Frustrated by a lack of high-speed internet access, dozens of Maine municipalities are working to build their own networks to attract business and spur economic development. But a bill under consideration in Augusta would make it difficult for them to do so.The bill, introduced by Rep. Nate Wadsworth, a Hiram Republican, would impose stringent conditions that critics say would make it all but impossible for Maine towns and cities to build their own high-speed networks when cable and telephone companies decline to provide upgraded service.It is modeled on a bill thats been advanced in state houses across the country by a secretive and controversial organization called the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC. Wadsworth serves as a state co-chairman for the group alongside Sen. Andre Cushing, a Republican from Newport who also serves on the organizations national board.The reason we started building our own network is because the providers just didnt have any interest in doing it out here, said Islesboro resident Page Clason, who has helped oversee the island communitys ongoing deployment of a publicly financed network that would boost most residents internet speeds by more than 300-fold in the hopes of spurring economic development and boosting the year-round population. This bill would prohibit smaller communities from doing this, essentially condemning them to a slow death.Municipal broadband projects can take a variety of forms, but typically a town puts out a request for proposals to build a network of fiber cables, and pays the winning contractor to do it. Sometimes the town owns the network afterward, and sometimes theres a partnership under which the contractor will own and operate the network and grant the town a long-term lease. The intended result is usually for the community to have access to far faster internet service at an affordable price.Christopher Mitchell, director of community broadband networks at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in Minneapolis, said the Maine bill and others like it across the country are designed to stifle competition. The very large providers recognize that they compete not on service, but on being the only game in town, he said.Neither Wadsworth nor the bills three Republican sponsors  Rep. Lance Harvell of Farmington, Rep. Beth OConnor of Berwick and Rep. Jeffrey Hanley of Pittston  responded to interview requests. ALEC and FairPoint Communications, the states second-largest broadband provider, also did not respond to requests for comment, while Comcast (which provides service in 11 towns in the Brunswick area) and Charter Communications  the largest provider, which owns what was until recently called Time Warner Cable and is now called Spectrum  declined to speak about the bill.At a public hearing Tuesday, Wadsworth said the bill was modeled after similar legislation passed in other states and is an effort to ensure best practices by municipalities. He said to say the bill contains broadband restrictions is akin to saying that banks shouldnt worry about business plans when giving out business loans.Asked directly by committee senate chair David Woodsome, R-Waterboro, about the genesis of his bill, Wadsworth said it was his idea. This is the way my brain thinks, and I was thinking about government-owned networks, he said.The bill also was supported by Mike Quatrano of the conservative Maine Heritage Policy Center. Although he argued that it was about protecting municipalities from making bad investment decisions, he also said that if there was a bill that banned municipal networks outright, the center would likely support its passage. The Telecommunications Association of Maine, which represents Maines 21 independent phone companies, also testified in favor.The Maine Municipal Association and Biddeford-based internet provider GWI testified in opposition to the bill, which members of the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee will take up in a working session Wednesday, when it could recommend that the full Legislature pass or reject it.Critics see the bill as an effort to stymie competition.Its a pretty bald exercise of power to prevent municipalities from being able to provide the kind of service their citizens want, Arn Pearson, general counsel for the Center for Media and Democracy, a Madison, Wisconsin-based organization that closely tracks ALEC, said in an interview. The reason why municipalities do broadband is typically because the private sector doesnt see enough money-making opportunity in that community to provide the service people need.The Maine bill  L.D. 1516  mirrors the ALEC bill in imposing numerous restrictions on municipalities that want to invest in their own network or to form a public-private partnership to build one they can lease. These include mandatory feasibility studies and public referendum provisions, prohibitions on using municipal funds, and restrictions on using funds through a bond issue or setting rates, and the removal of anti-trust liability protections for towns that offer broadband.It pretty much says, You cant pay for this out of your municipality, but also were going to require you go have a referendum vote and a municipal vote to see if your citizens want this,  said Chris Dumais, an information technology director for the city of South Portland. Dumais has been overseeing a city-funded project thats bringing 9 miles of fiber optic lines to South Portland via a public-private partnership with GWI.This bill is aimed to strongly deter private companies from coming in and doing business with a municipality to create a municipal network, he said.The major national firms appear to ultimately be behind the effort, via their past or present membership in ALEC.While ALEC claims to be a nonpartisan professional association for state legislators, critics say it is a corporate-funded conduit allowing businesses to write legislation for compliant lawmakers. Virtually all of its funding comes from its corporate members, and its telecom committee  which created the organizations anti-municipal broadband bill  has counted many of the major cable and telephone companies as members, including Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and Cox. A vice president of their industry association, Rick Cimerman, is the committees current corporate chairman.ALEC does not disclose its rank-and-file members, but documents leaked to the group Common Cause showed that in 2011 the legislative members of its telecom committee included Mike Thibodeau, R-Winterport, who is now president of the Maine Senate, and James Hamper of Hiram, now a Republican state senator.A statement on ALECs website says free-market policies provide the best answer for the provision of broadband to the greatest number of people in the greatest number of places. In many cases government needs to get out of the way and let the market be free to provide demanded services.At Tuesdays hearing, Dumais said South Portlands program wouldnt have happened if L.D. 1516 had been law.When completed in August, the $257,000 project will link municipal buildings in a 1-gigabyte-per-second network while providing connection opportunities for 600 homes and dozens of businesses. It is an open-access network, so other companies can lease access to the network from the city and its partner, GWI.This allows businesses from outside the state to know that if they go to South Portland, they can have high-speed, open-access internet available to them, Dumais told the Portland Press Herald.Sanford, the Cranberry Islands, Rockport and other communities are in the midst of building their own high-speed networks. The towns argue that having adequate internet speeds is an economic development imperative.Briana Warner, economic development director at the Rockland-based Island Institute, has been providing technical assistance to 33 island and coastal communities in improving their broadband service. She says municipalities enter into broadband efforts only as a last resort, when companies dont provide adequate service.The business models for most existing service providers dont allow for any adequate speed and service increases in areas where they dont see it as commercially feasible to expand, she said. As a result, of the 15 year-round island communities in Maine, only part of one  Peaks  has broadband that meets the minimum requirements set by the Federal Communications Commission.Tim Schneider, Maines outgoing public advocate, told the Press Herald that Maines problem is that few towns are demographically attractive enough to prompt major high-speed internet investments by existing service providers, which is why towns are collaborating with service providers to build their own networks. To have a state law that said a town cant do a thing isnt likely to get anywhere, he predicted.Clason, the Islesboro resident, agreed.I can guarantee you if this bill moves forward, they will hear from an awful lot of very angry people, he said. Maine people are self-reliant, but island people are very self-reliant. When the boat stops at the end of the day, we take care of each other, and if somebody comes in from the outside and says we cant take care of ourselves, that message wont go over well.
(TNS)  QUINCY  Gov. Charlie Baker is pushing legislation long sought by law enforcement that could vastly expand the use of police wiretaps in Massachusetts.Baker said his proposed changes, which he announced at the State House on Tuesday, are needed to bring the state's 1968 wiretapping law up to speed with modern communications technology and free law enforcement to employ wiretaps in investigating the most serious crimes. Current law prohibits police from using wiretaps except to investigate offenses committed "in connection with organized crime," which excludes a wide variety of serious and violent crimes."The world has changed. Times change; things change. And we've been unable, as a commonwealth, to secure judicial support for wiretaps in situations that involve all sorts of serious crimes," Baker said in a meeting withreporters and editors ahead of Tuesday's announcement.Baker's proposed update would allow police to seek wiretap warrants for investigations into some of the most serious crimes  including murder, rape, human trafficking, and possession of explosives or chemical, radiological or chemical weapons  regardless of whether they are related to organized crime. It would also allow wiretaps for less serious offenses, including drug distribution and witness intimidation.Under the changes, wiretaps would remain a tool of "last resort" that police can only use when they can show a judge that they have no other way to gather evidence of a given crime. Wiretap warrants can only be issued by a superior court judge and authorized by an elected district attorney or attorney general.Michael Morrissey, the Norfolk County district attorney and a longtime supporter of an expanded wiretapping law, said his office has only sought one wiretap in his 10 years in office, in part because police must prove to a judge that they've exhausted all other options first."It's very hard, and they're expensive, but they're an awesome tool," he said.The lawmakers who wrote the original 1968 law had focused on organized crime, then a major problem in the country, because it "carries on its activities through layers of insulation and behind a wall of secrecy," according to the statute."Normal investigative procedures are not effective in the investigation of illegal acts committed by organized crime," the statute reads. "Therefore, law enforcement officials must be permitted to use modern methods of electronic surveillance, under strict judicial supervision, when investigating these organized criminal activities."The wording of the current law has led courts to throw out wiretap evidence in cases where prosecutors were unable to prove that charges were related to organized crime. In 2011, the Supreme Judicial Court threw out recorded evidence related to a fatal drive-by shooting in Brockton because the defendant was part of a street gang, not an organized criminal group.Prosecutors were still able to get a conviction without the evidence, but the case prompted two justices, including the current chief justice, Ralph Gants, to call for changes to the state's wiretapping law. Writing in their decision, the justices said that because of the narrow wording of the law, "electronic surveillance is lost as a tool to investigate and prosecute a substantial share of the murders and shootings that occur in this commonwealth."District attorneys and the last two attorneys general have called for updates to the wiretapping law for years, but previous legislative efforts have died in committee."This legislation has been a priority of my office for years, as we have long recognized that we need updated statutes and tools to match the organizations we face and to fight the most violent and egregious crimes in the 21st century," Attorney General Maura Healey said in a statement.Baker's proposal would leave in place a provision in the law that prohibits civilians from recording others without their knowledge. The law makes Massachusetts one of just 11 states that prohibit the secret single-party recordings of conversations; most others allow people to secretly record any conversation as long as they are part of it.Baker said he heard no call for amending that part of the law, which carries a jail sentence of up to 21/2 years and a fine of up to $10,000.
(TNS) -- An internet privacy measure that won broad backing from Minnesota lawmakers has been yanked from consideration at the Capitol with little explanation.The provision had been crafted in response to a recent action by the U.S. Congress and President Donald Trump to loosen online privacy regulations, potentially opening the door for internet service providers to sell the browsing data of customers. It would have prohibited internet providers in Minnesota from collecting personal information without permission from customers.The state Senate approved the measure by a 66-1 vote in March, attaching it to a broader spending bill covering state jobs, commerce and energy programs. The House also approved a similar measure as part of its own jobs budget bill.But the chief Senate sponsor of the privacy provision, DFL Sen. Ron Latz of St. Louis Park, learned this week that it was stripped out as House and Senate negotiators met privately last weekend to finalize state spending bills that will be negotiated with Gov. Mark Dayton.Latz accused Republicans of "thumbing their noses at the general public on an issue that the public is instinctively concerned about," suggesting it was a political risk for them to do so. He suggested that GOP leaders removed the provision under pressure from internet service providers.That's not the case, said Sen. David Osmek, R-Mound. He's on the House-Senate conference committee that assembled the jobs, commerce and energy spending bill. Osmek said he and other committee members are listening to input from both businesses and individual Minnesotans, and that the provision's removal was "not under any pressure from any source."He also said it's not a final decision."Internet privacy provisions are a work in progress," Osmek said. "The House and Senate language needs to be reconciled and we will continue to work on it through the rest of this session."The two Republicans chairing the conference committee for the jobs bill, Rep. Pat Garofalo of Farmington and Sen. Jeremy Miller of Winona, did not return calls seeking more information on the removal of the privacy language. The Legislature adjourns on May 22.Minnesota is one of 10 states that acted to tighten internet privacy rules after Trump signed the law allowing internet companies to collect browsing data without customers' consent. The new law erased new internet privacy protections, dating from the Obama administration, that were to take effect this December. They would have limited the ability of broadband and wireless companies to sell customer information including browsing habits, location information and app usage history to advertisers or third parties.Companies including Comcast and AT&T have pledged to keep customers' personal information safe but stopped short of promising not to sell browsing histories and similar details.Latz said his office heard from state legislators from other parts of the country who were interested in learning about the measure he drafted.Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., is co-sponsoring a bill that would put data privacy protections back in place.Latz said he believes the privacy issue will continue to be a priority for Minnesotans. He urged voters to contact state lawmakers to share their thoughts."It really touched a nerve," Latz said.
(TNS) -- WASHINGTON  In the four years since National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden blew the lid off U.S. surveillance overseas, the number of targets the U.S. is monitoring around the globe has steadily increased.Last year, U.S. intelligence agencies intercepted communications on 106,469 targets, according to an annual report released Tuesday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.Thats up from 89,138 targets in 2013, the year Snowden fled his intelligence post in Hawaii and began spilling secrets on the extent of surveillance activities. Snowden now lives in exile in Moscow, where Russia protects him from facing U.S. charges under the Espionage Act.The data are contained in an annual Statistical Transparency Report, which offers details on how the government employs certain national security powers given to it by Congress.By targets, the report says, it refers to individuals, groups or even foreign nations that use a particular telephone number or email address.One observer of the U.S. intelligence community said the rise in targets  which hit 92,707 in 2014 and 94,368 in 2015  might reflect an increasingly diverse gamut of adversaries rather than an intensification of surveillance.It might be that you had to add thousands of Russian hackers that you might otherwise have thought didnt have intelligence value, but now they do, said Mieke Eoyang, vice president for the national security program at Third Way, which describes itself as a centrist think tank in Washington.Interest in the report is likely to be high this year because some authorities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act expire Dec. 31 and will lapse if Congress does not reauthorize them. Some lawmakers want revisions to the act to increase transparency and ensure public trust, while the White House seeks renewal of the spy law without changes.Provisions in the act known as Section 702 empower the NSA to sweep the globe for intelligence. In his nomination hearing to serve as director of national intelligence, former Republican Sen. Dan Coats of Indiana called Section 702 the crown jewels of the intelligence establishment.Tuesdays report offered only sketchy information about how U.S. citizens or permanent residents can fall into the surveillance net.Under Section 702, the NSA can target non-U.S. citizens or residents believed to be outside the country and likely to have information of foreign intelligence value. If Americans or permanent residents are swept up in the search, they are considered incidental and their identities are minimized under what the report called robust internal agency oversight.Under other sections of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the NSA can target Americans overseas if the agency first obtains a court order with probable cause. Tuesdays report said that in 2016 the agency had utilized that power to surveil 336 U.S. persons, which could be citizens or permanent residents, which comprises about 20 percent of the 1,687 targets of such surveillance.Democratic and some Republican members of Congress have pressed Coats to provide Capitol Hill with the extent of the NSAs incidental collection of communications by U.S. persons each year who may be parties to emails or phone calls  or even mentioned in those communications  with foreign targets of surveillance.In an April 7 letter to Coats, the chairman and ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, Reps. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and John Conyers, D-Mich., respectively, said Congress had waited a year for unclassified information about those incidental collections. They told Coats they wanted an answer by April 24.As of Tuesday, Coats had provided no public answer.
14,736 search warrant requests;

6,536 subpoenas;

738 court orders (18 USC 2703(d));

236 court orders (non-18 USC 2703(d));

1,948 pen register/trap and trace requests;

1,695 emergency disclosures; and

125 real-time wiretap requests.

information sought by police that exists in the open; information collected through third-party sources  like the controversial partnership between Geofeedia and various law enforcement agencies; and information that exists on the back end of platforms and services that isnt readily visible to the public.

Young and old alike, Facebook is where millions of people around the world share details of their lives that might have gone unshared 13 years ago. And if the recently released Facebook report on government requests for this data is any indication, law enforcement agencies within the United States are very interested in what the public is doing.The biannual look at the nuts and bolts of these requests, published by the social media company April 27, tells us that authorities are more aware than ever of the value that social media data holds.In the four years the company has been compiling the post-request report, both the numbers of requests and the number of individual accounts targeted have risen in tandem throughout the U.S.The broad disclosures are published after what the social media called a careful review of each request and compliance with laws and terms of service.According to the social media giant, roughly 56 percent of requests made in the U.S. are accompanied by a non-disclosure order, which bars the company from notifying affected users.Between July and December 2016, the company received:As one might expect from an increase in overall requests for data, the percentage of produced data on the part of Facebook has also increased slightly  hovering just around the 80 percentile mark for the last four years.Worldwide, the company reports an increase in user data requests of 9 percent.From the viewpoint of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the disclosures are an essential part of transparency in legal process that stands badly out of date.Nicole Ozer, technology and civil liberties policy director for the ACLU of California, said where California law has seen updates, federal communications privacy law remains a point of serious concern, as it has not been updated in the last 31 years.The federal law, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, is supposed to  make sure there are proper safeguards in place for when the government can demand electronic information, including things like data from Facebook, she said. "That law has not been updated since 1986. In 1986, cellphones were the size of bricks, Mark Zuckerberg was still in diapers, the World Wide Web did not even exist.As a result of the gaps in the federal law, Ozer said law enforcement agencies across the country have pursued various forms of digital communications more aggressively, and without some of the checks and balances required of other investigative avenues.She boils the issue down to three major categories:In the case of Geofeedia, the company was compiling intelligence data collected through social platforms for use by police and other law enforcement. Since the revelations, both Twitter and Facebook have cut ties with the third-party.The latter category is where Ozer sees the most risk of overreach.This data isnt publicly available where you can just go onto Facebook; this is actually data held by the back end of the company and you are compelling it with a warrant or another type of legal process," she said. That third piece, the kind of legal process that is required for sort of accessing this very sensitive back-end data, that law has not been updated and it leaves a lot of gray areas, which can make users quite vulnerable."And in this increasingly connected world, Ozer said she only expects the interest in user data to increase on the part of law enforcement. Though California was able to solidify its own rules around digital privacy, efforts at the federal level have not resulted in new protections just yet despite bipartisan support.Though the Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF), an organization dedicated to issues of online privacy and law, could not be reached for an interview, a spokesperson said toldvia email that as a general matter, "weve seen a consistent increase in the number of user data requests by the government, so the increase at Facebook is part of a general trend.Facebook and the U.S. Department of Justice could not be reached for comment as of press time Wednesday afternoon.
Monaco has denied it pays no fee to host the fabled street race in the Principality.

The race is commonly called F1's 'jewel in the crown', amid rumours its history and status meant it was the only event on the annual schedule that is charged no fee.

"That's just a rumour," Monaco's Prince Albert II told the FIA magazine Auto.

"Maybe the rights are less expensive than for other circuits, but there is a fee," he said.

The Prince's comments come after the now-ousted F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone recently admitted that he overcharged some race promoters.

But now it is confirmed that Ecclestone actually under-charged Monaco.

Prince Albert II said: "Bernie was well aware what Monaco brought to formula one -- he said it himself, as do the sponsors and drivers. He always took care of us, but he still made us pay what he reckoned was the right amount."

(GMM)
Chase Carey has admitted he would prefer if Fernando Alonso was preparing for next month's Monaco grand prix.

Actually, the Spaniard is sitting out F1's 'jewel in the crown' event, and this week started testing for the Indy 500 whose race date clashes with Monaco.

"Under Bernie (Ecclestone), formula one was a business that said no to everything," new F1 supremo Carey told the Spanish press this week.

"Now we want to say yes to many more things," he added.

One of those 'yes' answers was a tentative one to McLaren's Indy 500 foray, with Ecclestone admitting he would have campaigned against it.

Carey said: "I have mixed feelings.

"I would love to have Fernando in Monaco, driving a car with the possibility to win the race. But unfortunately, this does not seem possible in the short term.

"I understand his motives for seeking a challenge that motivates him and his choice is respected," Carey added. "And it is also indirectly beneficial to us as a great F1 driver who reaches the American audience in a different way.

"But it is not an ideal situation," he acknowledged. "If I could choose, I would prefer to see him in Monaco.

"That one of your stars decides to make a temporary jump to another competition is not positive," said Carey. "It is an unusual and unfortunate situation, especially for his team and also for us as organisers.

"But you also have to be pragmatic and constructive."

(GMM)
Molly Daniel has kick-started her lifelong dream of becoming a teacher thanks to the 100 Employability Award available to all final-year De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) students.

The 21-year-old Performing Arts student from South London is set to start her School-Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT) in Sutton this September, after graduating from DMU in July.

During the year-long programme she will gain practical experience of teaching secondary schoolchildren across different types of schools locally, as well as spend time learning the theory behind teaching principles.

Of all the SCITT programmes I applied to, Im so happy that I got into Sutton. Its one of the best in the country with a really high employability rate at the end of it, said Molly.

The 100 from DMU was brilliant  it covered my UCAS application, a new outfit for my interviews and put petrol in my car so I could afford to travel to the interviews as well.

For me it was a great buffer as I had to miss a few shifts at work to make the interviews, so I would have been out of pocket otherwise.

Molly (far right) posing with friends on their #DMUglobal trip in New York

Molly is particularly looking forward to transferring the skills and knowledge shes learned at DMU to her teaching career.

She said: Performing Arts at DMU gives students an unbelievable opportunity to explore. I feel like Ive done film, psychology, gaming and so many other degrees all in one.

There are lots of different aspects that Ive discovered and Im so excited to take it all into a school. Im thinking of exciting projects like doing Hamlet on Snapchat  why not?

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Teaching seems like an unusual route to take for someone who described their high-school years as miserable, but one dedicated teacher inspired Molly to follow in his footsteps.

I hated school so much because I struggled with a lot of subjects. Most of the teachers made me feel worthless, but my Drama teacher Mr Wheel took the time to listen to me and is the only reason I got through school with the grades to apply to university, she said.

Eventually, I figured if he cared so much then I couldnt let him down. Thanks to his passion I got an A* in Drama. I was predicted a D in Maths, but because he let me study in his office and helped me out, I ended up getting a B.

So if I can be what he was to me, then maybe thats one less child planning a future which doesnt feature college or university.

Enjoying an evening stroll during her #DMUglobal trip to Malta

Taking Performing Arts at college gave Molly the confidence to apply to university. She said: I knew if I was going to commit to three years of higher education it would have to be something I absolutely loved.

DMU was the best choice I could have ever made. I have friends and family at other universities and none of them rave about their time there in the same way.

As well as ending her final year on a high, working with a professional company on an unforgettable remaking of a Hitchcock classic, Molly is also grateful for the enriching #DMUglobal opportunities.

She spent a week in Malta last September as part of an International Performance Project and joined more than 1,000 DMU students in New York this January, saying: The trips were such an energising start to our final year, broadening our performance and cultural horizons.

Theyre both on my CV and something Im very proud to speak about at interviews.
To keep up with demand, support manufacturing of new products, and to service its customers, Lightning Systems also will be moving its corporate headquarters to the Rocky Mountain Center for Innovation & Technology in Loveland at Southwest 14th Street and Taft Avenue. The new space has 45,000 square-feet, nearly doubling the size of the companys existing headquarters. Lightning Systems announced that its current portfolio of product offerings will include:

Lightning Hybrids, developer and manufacturer of hydraulic hybrid systems, has changed its name to Lightning Systems, effective immediately. Tim Reeser, CEO of Lightning Systems, made the announcement today at the ACT Expo. Lightning Systems also announced that in the next two years it will introduce a new lineup of fleet efficiency products to support commercial and government fleets.

LightningAnalytics: A new cloud-based, analytics system that offers precise fuel efficiency and emissions data and analysis for unrivaled understanding and optimization of fleet vehicle efficiency, drive cycles and routes, driver behavior, and vehicle maintenance. The system is available now with the Lightning Hybrids system, and will be available standalone in Fall 2017.

LightningHybrids: A medium and heavy duty commercial vehicle energy recovery system that offers 50 percent NOx reductions and up to 25 percent fuel savings for urban drive cycles. Applications include delivery trucks, shuttle and paratransit buses, refuse trucks, and rear-engine transit buses. The system is available now, worldwide on more than 25 platforms.

A variety of new Lightning Systems fuel-efficiency and emissions improvement innovations will be introduced over the next two years. All products will leverage the LightningAnalytics system to validate efficiency results for fleets and will be available as either a retrofit for existing vehicles or for new vehicles from Lightnings network of distributors and upfitters.

The new name, Lightning Systems, and our rollout of new products reflects our company's vision: To be a global leader in efficiency and emissions improvement solutions for fleets of medium and heavy duty commercial vehicles. We are rolling out a full portfolio of products to help fleet operations be as efficient as possible, validate those results with precise analytical information, and help realize a fast return on investment. Tim Reeser

LightningAnalytics is a new cloud-based analytics solution that provides fleets with precise and validated information focused on optimizing fuel efficiency, drive cycles and routes, driver behavior, and vehicle health. This is achieved through high-frequency recording of many real-time parameters from the vehicle, followed by expert data analysis, resulting in reports that provide insights and actionable recommendations for fleets.

LightningAnalytics tracks a fleets vehicles every second, recording up to 70 variablesranging from acceleration rates, braking events, and ABS and traction-control events, to miles per gallon, idle time, and vehicle healthduring that second, Reeser said.

LightningAnalytics is already available to LightningHybrids customers, and will be available as a standalone product for commercial and government fleets that operate diesel, gasoline, hybrid, CNG, and full-electric powertrain systems in Fall 2017. The subscription-based service is currently free to fleets operating the LightningHybrids energy recovery system and has been used by more than 30 fleets on 200 vehicles around the world for the last 12 months.

Lightning Systems has received orders from customers in Alaska, Colorado, Illinois, and Massachusetts, as well as around the world in India and the United Kingdom. Lightning Systems was recently named an Advanced Fuel Qualified Vehicle Modifier (QVM) by Ford Motor Company.
he agreement is consistent with the Letter of Intent with HCS that Gevo announced earlier this year. The Supply Agreement has two phases:

Gevo, Inc. has entered into a definitive supply agreement with HCS Holding GmbH (HCS) to supply renewable isooctane ( earlier post ) under a five-year offtake agreement. HCS is a leading global supplier of high-quality hydrocarbon specialty products. Haltermann Carless, a subsidiary of HCS and one of the oldest companies in the world of chemistry, is expected to be the direct customer with Gevo under the agreement.

In the first phase, HCS will purchase isooctane produced at Gevos demonstration hydrocarbon plant located in Silsbee, Texas. This first phase commences in May 2017 and would continue until completion of Gevos first large-scale commercial hydrocarbon plant. Gevo estimates that this could generate up to $2-3 million of gross revenue per year.

In the second phase, HCS has agreed to purchase 300,000 gallons of isooctane per year with an option to purchase an additional 100,000 gallons of isooctane per year, under a five-year offtake agreement. The supply agreement contains a selling price that is expected to allow for an appropriate level of return on the capital required to build out Gevos existing production facility in Luverne, Minnesota. Gevo would supply this isooctane from its first commercial hydrocarbon facility, which is expected to be built at Gevos existing isobutanol production facility located in Luverne, Minnesota (the Expanded Luverne Plant). Based on Gevos current estimates, this agreement would represent approximately 10-15% of the isooctane production from the Expanded Luverne Plant.

Gevos primary market development target in 2017 is to enter into binding supply contracts for its renewable isobutanol, isooctane, and alcohol-to-jet fuel (ATJ) that represents the majority of the production volume to be produced at the Expanded Luverne Plant. Gevo believes that such contracts would underpin the economics of the expansion, which should facilitate the raising of the capital necessary to finance the Expanded Luverne Plant, potentially at a lower cost of capital than what it has historically achieved through the issuance of common stock and warrants in underwritten public offerings.

Gevo and HCS intend to establish further offtake arrangements for other products such as Gevos ATJ and isobutanol.

The agreement with HCS is a key milestone for Gevo and represents our first definitive purchase agreement for long-term supply from our first commercial scale hydrocarbon site. As we communicated during our last conference call, one of our critical strategic objectives is to secure binding supply contracts for a combination of isobutanol and related hydrocarbon products representing at least 50% of the capacity at the expanded Luverne plant. This is exactly the type of deal I was referencing and we are excited to get the first one on the books. Dr. Patrick Gruber, Gevos Chief Executive Officer

Gevo has developed proprietary technology that uses a combination of synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, chemistry and chemical engineering to focus primarily on the production of isobutanol, as well as related products from renewable feedstocks.

Gevos strategy is to commercialize bio-based alternatives to petroleum-based products to allow for the optimization of fermentation facilities assets, with the ultimate goal of maximizing cash flows from the operation of those assets. Gevo produces isobutanol, ethanol and high-value animal feed at its fermentation plant in Luverne, Minnesota. Gevo has also developed technology to produce hydrocarbon products from renewable alcohols.

Gevo currently operates a biorefinery in Silsbee, Texas, in collaboration with South Hampton Resources Inc., to produce renewable jet fuel, octane, and ingredients for plastics like polyester.
Many of todays electric drives use a combination of an e-motor and transmission with fixed gear ratio. Although solutions of this type are relatively simple in terms of structure, they can be challenged to meet the full range of use cases, IAV says. For example, high hill-climbing performance and maximum efficiency demand very different transmission ratios. To address this, IAV chose a modular concept based on an e-motor and a transmission with one to three speeds.

IAV presented a new version of its modular electric drive concept at the Vienna Motor Symposium. Combining a 50 kW (continuous) / 80 kW (maximum) e-motor and transmission, the modular drive unit can support electrification solutions in vehicle classes A to D. The unit represents a further development of a solution IAV presented in 2010. IAVs aim is to deliver a high level of ride comfort, efficiency and compact packaging at a competitive cost.

Our modular electric drive unit meets the demands on torque with more speeds than comparable solutions. Instead of a multiple-speed transmission, these use a larger motor with means they need more package and encounter problems because of the higher motor speeds involved, such as with NVH. Jens Liebold, Technical Consultant for Electromechanical Drive Systems at IAV

Solutions with a fixed transmission ratio also come with efficiency drawbacks; IAV says that its solution increases traveling range by five to ten percent.

The e-motor developed by IAV generates constant torque of 150 Nm which can be increased to 300 Nm for short periods of time. IAV designed the motor using IAVs e-motor synthesis tool which finds the optimum solution for the given application from an almost unlimited number of potential variants.

Providing a maximum of three speeds, the planetary transmission is installed at the side of the e-motor and is capable of generating output torque levels of up to 3,000 Nm. At the same time, this makes it possible to limit the motors maximum speed to 8,000 revolutions per minute.



Modular transmission system with up to three speeds. Click to enlarge.

The differential is accommodated in the e-motor, making optimum use of limited package. The overall transmission ratio is adjusted by the spurgear stages that are mounted downstream of the differential and are easy to adapt to the specific application case.

Compared to a pure coaxial solution, this produces package benefits as the output axis can be spun in relation to the units actual centerline, making it much easier to observe the ground clearance limit or meet other package restrictions, IAV says. On demand, the hydraulic module with an integrated electric oil pump provides the pressure and volumetric flow required for the circuits that split off downstream of the main control valve for lubrication and cooling as well as actuation.

The system supports hill-climbing ability to a maximum 30% grade, supports a top speed of 160 km/h (99 mph) (continuous) / 185 km/h (115 mph) (maximum), with acceleration from 0  60 km/h in 4 seconds and 0  100 km/h in 10 seconds.

IAVs solution is also flexible in terms of useas the main drive for battery-powered electric vehicles, for fuel cell vehicles or as a component of plug-in hybrids. Its power output is sufficient for vehicles from classes A (subcompact car), B (compact car), C (standard size) and D (upper standard size).

We can match the electric drive unit to different vehicle platforms and demands. Our solution delivers a high level of torque across a wide vehicle speed range. Mathias Krause, head of the Cylinder Head/Crankcase department in IAVs Powertrain System Development division

IAV partnered with Nemak, a global manufacturer of aluminum castings for the automotive industry, on the development of the housing. The housing design was optimized for functional integration, cooling, structural stiffness and NVH as well as cost-effective, large-scale and robust manufacturability. Growing complexity puts more emphasis on low-pressure die casting and core-package sand casting process (CPS).

Developing the casing also presented a particular challenge. Compact design, a high level of functional integration and temperature management have been combined to provide additional benefits.

With IAVs solution, for example, the power electronics are accommodated in the casing to reduce costs from copper wiring, ensure good EMC shielding as well as include the power electronics in the electric motors cooling circuit.

In our case, we use the stators circuit to control the temperature of the power electronics because we can bring it into contact with a large area of the casings cooled sections. The transmission lubrication system, in turn, also cools the e-machines rotor. Mathias Krause
The first of the 12 flights, SQ31, departed San Francisco at 1121hrs (San Francisco Time) on 1 May 2017 and arrived in Singapore at 1910 hrs (Singapore Time) on 2 May with 206 passengers on board. Over the three-month period, flight SQ31 will be powered by a combination of HEFA (Hydro-processed Esters and Fatty Acids), a sustainable biofuel produced from used cooking oils, and conventional jet fuel. The biofuel, produced by AltAir Fuels, will be supplied and delivered to San Francisco by SkyNRG in collaboration with North American Fuel Corporation (NAFCO), a wholly owned subsidiary of China Aviation Oil (Singapore), and EPIC Fuels.

Singapore Airlines (SIA), in partnership with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore ( CAAS ), has started operating a series of 12 green package flights over a three-month period on its non-stop San Francisco-Singapore route. The green package flights are the first to combine the use of biofuels, fuel-efficient aircraftSIAs Airbus A350-900and optimized flight operations. CAAS is facilitating the use of optimized flight operations and Air Traffic Management (ATM) best practices which reduce fuel burn and carbon emissions for the flights.

In collaboration with CAAS and air navigation service providers along the flight route, these flights will also employ optimized flight operations, which will reduce fuel burn and carbon emissions. These optimized flight operations include User-Preferred Routes (UPRs), Dynamic Airborne Reroute Procedure (DARP), 30/30 Reduced Oceanic Separation and Time-Based Arrivals Management.

User-Preferred Routes (UPRs) refer to flight routes during the oceanic phase of flight customized based on factors such as weather and aircraft performance. Dynamic Airborne Reroute Procedure (DARP) is a procedure that allows for periodic modification of a flights lateral profile, based on updated weather forecasts, to save fuel. 30/30 Reduced Oceanic Separation refers to measures allowing for reduced separation distance between aircraft during the oceanic phase of flight. Time-Based Arrivals Management refers to traffic flow management procedures and automated decision support automation which reduce holding time in the air for arriving flights.

The green package initiative supports efforts under the Sustainable Singapore Blueprint (SSB) 2015 to develop Singapore as a Leading Green Economy, where businesses adopt more efficient and sustainable processes and measures to reduce their resource and environmental impact, and contribute towards a Sustainable Singapore. The flights will also raise awareness of sustainable biofuels for aviation and provide the industry with valuable insight on the economics, logistical requirements and performance of biofuels.

Other than the ongoing green-package flights, SIA and CAAS have worked together in recent years on several other carbon emissions-reducing initiatives in international aviation. In January 2010, both organizations participated in the Asia and Pacific Initiative to Reduce Emissions (ASPIRE) program with a demonstration flight from Los Angeles to Singapore via Tokyo which yielded fuel savings of 6%.

The ASPIRE program is a partnership between air navigation service providers which share the aim to reduce carbon emissions from fuel burn in all phases of flight, through best practices and initiatives in air traffic management and flight operation procedures. Examples include measures that permit pilots to take full advantage of atmospheric conditions, such as prevailing winds, to reduce separation between aircraft and shorten flight time.

In May 2011, CAAS and SIA launched regular ASPIRE flights on the Los Angeles-Singapore route. Over the years, routes to various destinations in the Southwest Pacific, including Auckland, Christchurch, Melbourne and Sydney, were incrementally added to the ASPIRE programme, the latest addition being SIAs Capital Express service between Singapore, Canberra and Wellington in September 2016. The series of 12 green package flights will also adopt ATM best practices from the ASPIRE program.

Singapore Airlines is also a member of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group (SAFUG), which was established in 2008 to accelerate the development and commercialisation of sustainable biofuels for aviation, derived from environmentally and socially-sustainable sources.
Bomb squad called in to investigate

A suspicious man sending an envelope at the Green River Post Office resulted in a response from the countys bomb squad Monday night.

According to a release from the Green River Police Department, officers met with a person at 7:47 p.m. who said they were on Interstate 80 between Rock Springs and Green River and were passed by a maroon-colored Toyota Camry with Oregon license plates, driven by a man wearing a gas mask. The person claimed they followed the vehicle to the Green River Post Office, where the man, no longer wearing the gas mask when he exited the vehicle, was described as an older, white man with light, balding hair and wearing long rubber dish gloves pulled over a long-sleeved shirt. He was described as carefully carrying a white envelope into the post office.

The person reported the man left the post office empty handed. The man then returned to his vehicle and drove south on Uinta Drive.

The Sweetwater County bomb squad, along with the Green River Fire Department and area post master, were contacted and responded to the post office. The bomb squad analyzed mail with an X-ray and used air monitors inside the post office. No unusual odors or packages were found. One package was inspected beyond the X-ray, but was found to be standard mail.

The GRPD has not located the person or vehicle described in the report.

According to Eric Manuel, a postal inspector for the United States Postal Inspection Service, the mail system handles 155 billion pieces of mail each year and situations regarding suspicious parcels are very low. He said the Cheyenne-based agent responsible for mail in southwestern Wyoming was unable to arrive in time to inspect mail, but worked closely with the police and fire departments as they inspected the mail.

When situations like this arise, Manuel said suspicious parcels are removed from the mail stream and isolated. Depending on the situation, either individual departments are evacuated or the entire postal facility is vacated. At the Green River Post Office, Manuel said the situation occurred after business hours and didnt greatly impact the facility.

Manuel also said training provided to postal workers since the 2001 anthrax attacks have increased recognition of suspicious letters and packages.
The former senior vice president of Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County has filed a claim against the hospital claiming shes entitled to a previously agreed upon severance package.

Keri Chorazewitz recently filed the complaint in the Third District Court of Judge Richard Lavery against MHSC and its board of trustees, including Richard Mathey, Taylor Jones, Barbara Sowoda, Edward F. Tardoni and Robert Scott.

According to court documents, Chorazewitz began working for the MHSC in 2010 as the director of quality and accreditation. In 2012, she was promoted to vice president of compliance and employee relations and in April of 2016 she was then promoted to the senior vice president position.

On July 15, 2015, a letter to Chorazewitz from the hospital offered her a severance agreement if she were terminated in the future. Chorazewitz accepted this severance agreement outlined by the hospital on July 24, 2015.

On or about Feb. 6, 2017, Chorazewitz was terminated by the hospital in accordance with the terms of the severance pay effective Feb. 7, 2017.

Chorazewitz claims she accepted the termination based on the hospitals promise to keep its commitment to pay the severance benefits.

Chorazewitz started receiving her severance pay until Feb. 21, 2017, when the board apparently voided Chorazewitz severance agreement. She claims the board met in an executive session on that day and after coming out of the executive session, Sowoda made a motion to void Chorazewitz severance agreement and her motion passed. Chorazewitz wasnt informed of the boards decision and claims the board had no grounds to void the agreement.

On March 31, 2017, Chorazewitz then served a notice of claim to Irene Richardson, who was then serving as the hospitals interim chief executive officer.

Chorazewitz is asking the court to rule in her favor for a total of $97,428.69, the remaining amount stated in the severance agreement.
David Lorin Frint, 60, of Green River, passed away April 27, 2017, after a sudden illness.

He was born Nov. 29, 1956, in Rock Springs, the son of William Raman Frint and Ann-Marie Gustavsson Frint. He attended schools in Green River and Connecticut, graduating from Staples High School in West Port, Conn., with the class of 1975. He received his associates degree from Utah Tech in Salt Lake City.

David married Marcene Hale in the Salt Lake LDS Temple on April 26, 1988. He had been employed for Solvay Chemicals as a surface production operator for 35 years.

He was an active member of The C...
Dear Editor,

The most recent election cycle brought to the attention of many Wyoming voters a situation of which they were previously not acutely aware. This came about because they wanted to participate in the presidential primary.

Wyoming is not a state that has such a primary, but rather is a caucus state. Voters would need to know that, if they wish to have a voice, they must attend their precinct caucuses. Well, at least if they are registered Democrats, they could have a voice. Unfortunately, if they are registered Republicans, they dont even have this privilege. Voters who take t...
Dessert? she asked?

Evil temptress, I replied.

I know. Its my job, she responded.

Servers at The Traveled Farmer often have personality that they are allowed to share. They also know the food well. And although this location has housed several previous ill-fated efforts, the restaurant should not be judged in the context of previous occupants. It is a completely new concept, although still under the direction of Chef Jay Pierce, who has established a long term following among Triad patrons.

I would not, by any means, classify it as a health food restaurant, with all the negative connotations such a positive appraisal would imply. But the menu focus on fresh ingredients, with local farms identified, nevertheless allows patrons to dine here without consuming excessive carbs and sugars.

The menu is divided into smaller and bigger plates, allowing more serious full meals or light dining, perhaps in conjunction with a visit to the theater next door.

Among the smaller plates, house-made potato chips use sweet potato slices  some crisp, others tough but all tasty, bearing just the right amount of coarse salt. Although there is an upcharge, be sure to order these with sauces  Thai barbecue, mustard-based S.C.-style barbecue and Mexican ranch dressing. They taste great and add more dimensions to the flavor profiles. And you can excuse the indulgence by observing, correctly, that sweet potatoes are better for you than white potatoes.

Roasted tomato soup is a thick puree  one of the best renditions of this perennial favorite I have encountered. As enjoyable as it has been during cool weather, I would like to see it made available chilled, with creme fraiche or sour cream during summer.

Quite a few salads are offered, and they use high quality ingredients and particularly nutritious greens. The Quinoa Super Salad scatters red and white quinoa (a nutty-tasting, nutritious grain), broccoli and almonds over small kale leaves dressed in light sesame-ginger vinaigrette. Beets salad is an unequivocal winner, with large cuts of the main ingredient interspersed among Goat Lady goat cheese scattered with roasted pistachio nuts.

I was particularly enamored with the Scotch Egg. This small plate encloses an egg inside a ball of ground Giacomos sausage, coated with bread crumbs and fried. The sausage exterior emerges crisp, the yolk inside, soft. Presented in quarters, this is served over kale, dressed with mild vinaigrette.

Flash-Fried Cauliflower is a knockout, for both flavor and texture. Loaded Grits Dip blends white cheddar cheese and sour cream, accented with bacon, served with crisp tortilla chips. These sustain the healthier eating theme, without sacrificing flavor. In fact, they taste better than the fatty counterparts that characterize so many other menus.

In Tuna Tostadas, the main ingredient is seared and served rare, augmented with orange-chipotle glaze, joined by avocado slices, an ideal match, and ancho slaw. Cornmeal-Crusted Shrimp Tacos are incorporated with gem lettuce, radish slices and feta cheese.

Entree salads include grilled chicken breast added to the Quinoa Super Salad, as well as grilled salmon, with green olives, white beans and farro (another healthy grain), over gem lettuce, dressed Caesar style. I enjoyed the flavors in both.

One guest, however, just does not like the taste of kale. The kitchen accommodated with Romaine. So, if you want to stick to the familiar, you can.

Shrimp Bowl hosts seven large shrimp, shelled but not deveined, along with andouille sausage, fingerling potatoes, corn and black-eyed peas, flavored with chives, in rice and broth. Korean Rice Bowl is based on sliced, charred pork, plus pickled vegetables and soft-cooked egg over jasmine rice. Complex and flavorful, these dishes reflect an Asian influence  one aspect of the Traveled element of the restaurants name.

Three coarse-packed (thats a compliment) Riva Meatballs  sausage and ground beef  occupy al dente Drakes linguine, ladled with sweetish tomato sauce. Rich and robust.

If you prefer indulgence, by all means consider the Flat Top Burger. Solid beef flavor emerges from the hand-packed patty, supplemented with bacon and hosted on a soft, flavorful brioche bun. Two Brats are grilled and placed on potato rolls with cooked onions and curried catsup, made in house. With both of these, the accompanying hand-cut french fries exhibit real potato flavor  among the best in the area.

Among the more traditional-leaning entrees, fried chicken breast is first marinated in buttermilk. The chicken is all natural. Hot macaroni causes white cheddar cheese to melt into a lush blend. Collard greens, nicely trimmed, round out the presentation. Blackened Carolina Catfish tastes light and fresh, slightly buttered, served with hoppin john, roasted grape tomatoes and collard greens.

Over multiple visits, deliveries were well paced, with one exception, probably attributable to a very large party at a nearby table that was seated just before we were. Our server advised that she had reported a delay to the manager, who visited, apologized and provided gratis dessert. Thats an appropriate accommodation to a rare misstep.

Lots of elaborate, dark wood establishes the primary decor. In addition to conventional tables and chairs, much seating is provided on long tables with benches, creating especially convenient seating for singles who might want to socialize a bit. A mixology laboratory enclosed behind the bar is equipped with exotic devices, enabling the creation of unique drinks. A huge number of beers, as well as Scotches, are available. Mark Weddle oversees the bar; he is well known for his liquid creations.

One side section is devoted to a take-out market. I found selections pretty slim on one occasion  a few salads and sandwiches, plus a smattering of fresh vegetables (locally sourced, with farms identified), but more prepared entrees were evident on other visits. Little matter  you could order anything from the menu and pick it up here.

I like this new concept. I like it quite lot, in fact. I have returned just for enjoyment after my requisite review visits were completed.
Inspectors said the pills had past their expiry date due to drawn-out customs and pharmaceutical requirements.

A Ho Chi Minh City hospital was forced to jettison nearly 20,000 pills used to treat leukemia in 2015 after prolonged customs procedures and pharmaceutical checks.

Dr. Phu Chi Dung, director of the HCMC Hospital of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, said after some patients developed a resistance to the free medication thay were being prescribed back in 2013, the hospital was forced to look for alternatives.

The answer they came up with was an oral capsule called Tasigna, but it took the Ministry of Health a year to license the new drug, Dung said.

He said his hospital had applied for an import license from the ministrys Drug Administration in December 2013, but had to wait until June 2014 for the municipal government to approve the drug.

To compound the problem, the drugs didn't make it through customs because there was less than 12 months left on their expiry dates.

The citys health department had to make a special request and the drugs were finally cleared in August 2014, 10 months before they expired.

When the pills reached the hospital, only 26 of the 200 patients who had developed a resistance to their original free medication were able to afford the medicine.

Dung said his hospital had sought financial aid for the other patients but found little help.

At the beginning of 2015, the ministry agreed to cover 40 percent of the cost for people with more than three years of health insurance coverage, but there was still not enough time to clear all the pills which expired in May 2015.

The citys health department approved the disposal of 19,997 unused pills in August 2015.

The ministry has ordered an investigation into the matter.
A Kansas abortion clinic that was among the first in the country to open after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade has been inundated with patients. Some drive 10 hours or more to get there, coming from Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and even Louisiana. But thats only if they can get an appointment. Planned Parenthood clinics in the state, including this newest one, are only able to take about 10% to 15% of the patients seeking abortions. Kansas is one of the few states in the region still providing abortions in the wake of the court's ruling.
The instructions come just as 200 senior Communist Party members are convening for a one-week meeting in Hanoi.

Vietnam's Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong has set up eight special task forces to oversee the handling, investigation and trial of major corruption cases across the country on the eve of a major meeting of senior Party members this week in Hanoi.

The Central Inspection Committee, the Communist Partys top watchdog, said on its website on Thursday that the task forces would also scrutinize the anti-corruption progress in 20 provinces and report their findings to the Central Steering Committee on Corruption Prevention, which Trong chairs, by October 30.

These inspections are already conducted on a regular basis, but the latest instructions come just as the Central Committee, a powerful group of 200 senior Communist Party members, are convening for a one-week meeting that opens on Friday in Hanoi.

In a similar meeting last October, Trong admitted that immorality is eroding the ruling Communist Party, chipping away at public trust and threatening the very political system. He said further that falling morality and degrading lifestyles among Party members are evident in the corruption, cronyism, bureaucracy, opportunism and individualism that have distanced them from the public and their grievances.

According to Trong, deviation from socialism is one of the dangers of self-evolution or self-transformation among Party cadres and government officials. This could lead to collaboration with sinister and hostile forces to sabotage the Communist Party, he said at the time.

Last week, the Central Inspection Committee recommended disciplinary action against Dinh La Thang, the chief of the Party unit in Ho Chi Minh City, holding him accountable for a series of serious violations several years ago at state-owned oil and gas group PetroVietnam.

The inspectors have accused Thang of serious mismanagement. He served as the group's board chairman from 2009 until 2011 before his political career took off in Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dungs cabinet as Minister of Transport.

Thang, 57, has been a member of the Politburo, the 19-member decision-making body of the Communist Party, since early 2016. He became Ho Chi Minh Citys Party chief the same year.

In Vietnam, it is unusual for a Politburo member to face sanctions. It is also rare for the Party to publicly announce proposed punitive measures against such a high-ranking official.

Vietnams higher echelons have exhibited steadfast determination to crack down on corruption as well as malfeasance and efficiency that have plagued the much-cosseted public sector.

The Party is clearly concerned about corruption. It is their Achilles heel, and they know it, Zachary Abuza, a Southeast Asia analyst in Washington, said of recent developments.

The leadership wants to send a clear message that it is serious about countering corruption, and that even the senior leadership is not above scrutiny, Abuza said.
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Danny Segers, one of the owners of Letizia's Pizza in Norwalk, Conn., woke up at 7:30 a.m. last Thursday to a text proposition from friend and customer Ken Tuccio. One week later, Letizia's has teamed up with 109 Cheese and Wine in Ridgefield to create (possibly) the cheesiest pizza ever made.

The text from Tuccio was a link to an article about a pizzeria in Portland, OR that set the record for the pizza with the most cheeses. The eatery got the idea from the newest "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie, in which they eat a pizza that has 99 cheeses. The Portland pizzeria beat that with 101 cheeses.

"When I see something like that I think 'how can I top it?'," Tuccio said. He reached out to his favorite pizza shop to help.

Click here to hear Tuccio talk about his pizza plan on his radio spot "Fist Thing Fairfield County."

On the morning of May 4, 2017, Seger and Letizia co-owners, Dennis Letizia and Dave Cook, will drive four pizzas over to Milford where Tuccio will be recording his radio spot "First Thing Fairfield County," on 95.9 the Fox. The pizzas will be topped with 109 different cheeses.

The segment will air at 8:15 a.m. live on 95.9 the Fox and streaming at 959thefox.com.

"We're all pretty proud people," said Seger. "When we found out a place in Portland was in the news [for a pizza record], and given that Connecticut is the pizza capital, that really bothered us."

The process of making the pizza will be documented on the Letizia's Facebook page; food experts from CT Bites and CT Magazine and the folks from 109 Cheese and Wine will be on hand at the radio studio to witness the tasting.

The big hurdle Letizia's was figuring out how to get all the cheese. After some research, they found 109 Cheese and Wine in Ridgefield, drove over and got the cheese experts on board to contribute 102 cheeses. Letizia's will supply another seven to for a grand total of 109 cheeses, in honor of the cheese shop's name.

Those who want to taste the concoction, can buy it by the slice all day at Letizia's on May 4 while supplies last. All proceeds will be donated to Food Rescue US (formerly Community Plates).

Letizia's has a strategy for getting all the cheese onto the pies (blend all the soft cheese and mix all the shredded hard cheese together), but they don't know what it will taste like. Tuccio is not concerned, though.

"I know the guys at Letizia's well enough, and knowing them, they're not going to put anything out with their name on it that's not good," Tuccio said. "That's the way they roll."

So what happens once they break the record?

There are talks of calling Guiness, but Seger and Tuccio are taking it one step at a time. Tuccio has not reached out to the Portland pizzeriayet.

"I'm going to wait until we actually have the pizza before we start talking smack," he joked.
China urges all sides in N.Korea standoff to 'stop irritating' one another

An F/A-18E Super Hornet lands on the flight deck of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. Photo by U.S. Navy/Handout via Reuters

Pyongyang says U.S. has brought the region to brink of nuclear war.

China on Wednesday urged all parties in the Korean standoff to stay calm and "stop irritating each other," a day after North Korea said the United States was pushing the region to the brink of nuclear war.

North Korea's state media published a rare, strong, criticism of China on Wednesday, saying Chinese state media commentaries calling for tougher sanctions over Pyongyang's nuclear program were undermining relations with Beijing and worsening tensions.

The United States has urged China, North Korea's only major ally, to do more to rein in its neighbors nuclear and missile programs, which have prompted an assertive response from the Trump administration, warning that an "era of strategic patience" is over.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday that Washington was working on more sanctions against North Korea if Pyongyang takes steps that merit a new response. He also warned other countries their firms could face so-called secondary sanctions for doing illicit business with Pyongyang.

Tillerson said the Trump administration had been "leaning hard into China ... to test their willingness to use their influence, their engagement with the regime."

Diplomats said this week Washington was negotiating with China on a possible stronger U.N. Security Council response - such as new sanctions - to North Korea's missile tests.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Wednesday U.N. resolutions were clear that further measures would be taken in the event of more nuclear or missile tests.

The United States has sent a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to Korean waters and a pair of strategic U.S. bombers flew training drills with South Korea and Japan in another show of strength this week.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang called the situation "highly complex" and sensitive.

"The urgent task is to lower temperatures and resume talks," he said.

"We again urge all relevant parties to remain calm and exercise restraint, stop irritating each other, work hard to create an atmosphere for contact and dialogue between all sides, and seek a return to the correct path of dialogue and negotiation as soon as possible."

The bomber flights coincided with U.S. President Donald Trump raising eyebrows when he said he would be "honored" to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the right circumstances, and as his CIA director landed in South Korea for talks.

North Korea said the bombers conducted "a nuclear bomb dropping drill against major objects" in its territory at a time when Trump and "other U.S. warmongers are crying out for making a preemptive nuclear strike."

"The reckless military provocation is pushing the situation on the Korean peninsula closer to the brink of nuclear war," North Korea's official KCNA news agency said.

A commentary on KCNA on Wednesday took aim at China and state media articles it said had attempted to shift the blame to Pyongyang for "deteriorated relations" between China and North Korea and U.S. deployment of strategic assets.

It also accused China of "hyping up" damage caused by North Korean nuclear tests to China's three northeastern provinces and said the program was needed for the "existence and development" of the country and "can never be changed nor shaken."

Tension on the Korean peninsula has been high for weeks, driven by concern that North Korea might conduct its sixth nuclear test in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

China opposes Thaad

U.S. officials told Reuters the U.S. military's THAAD anti-missile defence system had reached initial operational capacity in South Korea, although it would not be fully operational for some months.

China has repeatedly expressed its opposition to the system, whose powerful radar it says can reach inside Chinese territory, even as Trump has praised Chinese President Xi Jinping for his efforts to rein in North Korea.

Trump has urged other Asian countries to help pressure North Korea and spoke last weekend with the leaders of Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines.

He drew criticism on Monday when he said he would be "honored" to meet North Korea's young leader.

"If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely, I would be honored to do it," Trump told Bloomberg News.

Trump did not say what conditions would be needed for such a meeting or when it could happen, but White House spokesman Sean Spicer said "clearly conditions are not there right now."

Washington has said any future talks on North Korea must based on its willingness to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Trump warned in an interview with Reuters on Thursday a "major, major conflict" with North Korea was possible, while China has said the Korean situation could slip out of control.

In a telephone call with his Philippine counterpart Rodrigo Duterte, Xi urged all sides to return to talks as soon as possible, Chinese state radio reported.

North Korea on Saturday conducted its fourth successive failed missile launch since March. It has conducted two nuclear tests and dozens of missile tests since the beginning of 2016.

The U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, Joseph R. Donovan, told reporters Indonesia was among several countries Washington was urging to take a "fresh look" at their North Korea ties.

Trump also spoke on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and discussed "how best to resolve the very dangerous situation in North Korea", the White House said.
Its definitely something. Photo: Marka/UIG via Getty Images

Options for gluten-free eating have expanded significantly in both restaurants and grocery stores in recent years. But there is still one force committed to stopping the tide of flourless pasta that you actually want to eat: Japans All Nippon Airways. According to a report in the Telegraph, after Martin Pavelka (who reportedly suffers from celiac disease) ordered a gluten-free breakfast on his nine-hour, $1,311 flight, he received  a single banana. When he complained about the situation, Pavelka says that other customers, high on their eggs and sausages, laughed at him. In defense of All Nippon Airways, the banana was thoughtfully labeled with a GF (gluten-free) sticker and, in the greatest own of all time, served with a packet containing a knife, a fork, and salt  making it a complete meal.
Huawei introduced its first smartwatch in two years at MWC in Barcelona this February and the device is now making its way to the store shelves in the UK. The Huawei Watch 2 is arriving in three variations - the Sport Carbon Black, the 4G Sport Carbon Black and the Classic in stylish Titanium Grey.

The latest smartwatch from Huawei is one of the first devices that comes with Android Wear 2.0 out of the box, and it will be available on Amazon.co.uk this week. If you buy the device, you will also receive a free pair of Plantronic wireless headphones.

Retailers will have the Watch 2 from May 17. The sporty non-LTE device in Carbon Black is priced 329, its 4G sibling goes for 379, again in Carbon Black. The classic version is the most expensive one with a price tag of 409.

If you want to know more about it check out our review.
Are you looking to jumpstart your creative juices? You might want to try playing around in a different tuning, such as open D. This particular tuning has been hailed as []
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by Krissie Allen

In 1995, Pope John Paul II issued his widely acclaimed encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), warning Christians of an emerging culture of death. Pointing to various political, social, and cultural norms that offer a perverse idea of freedom that sacrifices the inherent value of life in favor of individuality, the encyclical affirms that the Gospel of Christ is indeed a Gospel of life. Christians are therefore called to resist the culture of death and embrace a culture that respects, protects and serves every life because [o]nly in this direction will [one] find justice, development, true freedom, peace and happiness.

At times the culture of deaths attack on life is easy to identify and thereby resist. (One need only ponder the struggle over abortion rights or euthanasia to see the menacing culture of death at work.) Other times, however, its attack seems more insidious yet equally dangerous. And one of the most recent examples is Netflixs most tweeted about show geared towards teens:13 Reasons Why.

Based on Jay Ashers debut novel of the same name, the series tells the story behind the suicide of a young teenager named Hannah, and according to the shows producer Selena Gomez, is intended to offer an honest view of suicide so it should never be an option.

With teen depression and suicide on the rise, such a purported intention sounds noble enough. The series questionable (if not unconscionable) methodology, however, has proven to be far from noble.

Essentially, each of the 13 episodes reveals a new audiotape Hannah left behind and allows young viewers to progressively uncover (and essentially experience) the multiple mistreatments that led to her tragic decision. Viewers are accordingly lured, episode after episode, into witnessing just about every shocking teen trauma imaginable: Hannahs homosexual kiss that becomes fodder for teen bullying, her witnessing of a friends rape, her own sexual assault and eventual rape, her failed attempt to receive help from a dismissive guidance counselor, and most disturbingly, her final hopeless and graphic act of slitting of her wrists in the bathtub.

Countless experts have already rung the alarm on the show and criticized its depiction of suicide as explicitly dangerous. Everyone from suicide prevention groups, mental health experts, educators, youth ministers, and even mainstream reviewers have warned that the series graphic images and sensational plotlines could potentially result in harm to young viewers who have previously dealt with these serious issues and could work to desensitize people to suicidal acts in general.

One initial take away from this controversy for Christians is that the culture of death is very much alive and willing to manipulate young people. It might feign concern for human tragedy and difficulty and might even claim to pursue justice and peace. Unwilling to acknowledge Christs love and His redemptive powers, however, its solutions always  always  fall short. Instead of offering hope, it offers despair. Instead of offering love, it offers wrath. Instead of offering faith, it offers skepticism or doubt. And instead of seeking to raise children of light, it seeks to raise children of woe.

The more imperative takeaway, however, is that our culture is in desperate need of hearing, seeing and experiencing the gospel of life. While Netflix and others of its ilk might choose to capitalize off of teen tragedy and continue to promote shows such as 13 Reasons Why, Christians have unyielding power to combat its influence by living Christ-centered lives that bear witness to Jesus, as The Ultimate Reason Why Not.

Krissie Allen is a former teacher and lawyer who serves as Eagle Forum of Alabama Co-chairman. She is currently a fulltime homemaker.
This week, the Fund of Economic and Social Assistance inaugurated the National School of Zoranje in Croix des Bouquets. This new modern educational infrastructure of 1,383m2, was funded by the IDB to the tune of...




Haiti - FLASH : JetBlue flights between Port-au-Prince and Orlando on sale now





Wednesday, airline JetBlue announced that its new service between the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince (PAP) and the Orlando International Airport (MCO) is now available for sale; JetBlue announced last month its ambition to serve this route https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20654-haiti-economy-jetblue-will-also-offer-non-stop-flights-orlando-pap.html and the first flights are scheduled for December 14, 2017.



Orlando will become the fourth nonstop destination by JetBlue with a service to Port-au-Prince, after New York (JFK), Boston Logan (BOS) and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood (FLL). With the Port-au-Prince - Orlando launch, JetBlue will become the only airline linking Port-au-Prince nonstop with major US cities.



Flight schedule between Orlando (MCO) and Port-au-Prince (PAP) :

Beginning of operations December 14, 2017



MCO- PAP Flight 963

9:55 am - 12:07 pm



MCO - PAP Flight 964

1:10 pm - 3:56 pm



JetBlue (New York City's local airline) will serve this new destination for most flights with 100-seat Embraer 190 aircraft, offering the most leg room, a service of excellence as well as unlimited snacks and drinks and newly released free Hollywood movies. JetBlue transports more than 38 million customers a year to 101 cities in the United States, to the Caribbean and Latin America with an average of 1,000 daily flights.



For more information visit :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20654-haiti-economy-jetblue-will-also-offer-non-stop-flights-orlando-pap.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20647-haiti-economy-sunrise-airways-spreads-its-wings-on-orlando.html



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Politics : Tabling of 4 Business Bills





Tuesday, at the invitation of the Chamber of Deputies' Committee on Economy, Finance and Budget, Pierre Marie Du Meny, the Minister of Trade and Industry tabled 4 bills on business intended to create a climate that may encourage the creation of massive jobs and a sustainable recovery of the Haitian economy.



It is a set of business-friendly provisions, including provisions to facilitate and modernize the development and operation of enterprises by increasing their productive capacity and ensuring the protection of investors and creditors.



Bills tabled :



The Bill for the establishment of the sole proprietorship and the overhaul of company law, which brings together in a single text all the provisions on sole proprietorships and commercial companies and is the flagship for the modernization of business law, undertaken by this reform ;





The Bill for Reforming the Status of Traders and Commercial Acts and Organizing the Commercial Register, which is a bill that is part of the revision of a set of old and outdated laws, in order to adapt them to the requirements of globalization and new communication and information technologies ;





The Bill to regulate leasing operations, which aims to provide opur legislation of a credit mechanism, which should facilitate the creation and financing of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), in particular by enabling them to have access to essential goods to the operation of their business ;





The Bill on the lease for professional use, which introduces flexibility in commercial or industrial lease relationships, in order to attract investors towards the construction of commercial buildings in the country.



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Politics : The Senate asks the Executive to declare the State of Emergency





Wednesday, following the worsening situation in the Great South which is struggling to recover from Hurricane Matthew in October 2016 and hard hit by torrential rains in recent days https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20778-haiti-security-heavy-rains-in-figures.html , the senators meeting in plenary voted unanimously (17) a resolution calling on the Executive to declare a state of emergency for the great South (Departments of the South, Southeast, Nippes and Grand'Anse) as well as the state of environmental emergency for the entire national territory.



It should be noted that while a state of emergency is not required for the whole country, senators wish in this resolution that specific measures be taken to assist the various communes affected in other departments than those in the Grand South.



If the Executive decree the State of Emergency, this will allow it to disburse funds more easily in terms of procedures. However, this resolution is not a blank check for the Executive, because of the bad practices of the previous Governments, senators have included an article in this resolution to avoid money being wasted or people getting rich. To this end, the Senate demands from the Executive that, through this state of emergency, an operational plan and a budget be submitted to the Parliament and that the Executive submits itself to the strict control of the Commissions charged with this state of emergency.



PI/ HaitiLibre


















Speaking before the House Armed Services Committee Admiral Harry Harris, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, called North Korea the most immediate threat to the security of the United States and our allies in the Indo-Asia Pacific:

The only nation to have tested nuclear devices in this century, North Korea has vigorously pursued an aggressive weapons test schedule with more than 60 listed missile events in recent years.

Such tests include a failed missile launch on April 16. North Korea has also ratcheted up rhetoric against the U.S. and its allies. These ongoing provocations are why U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a thorough review of U.S. policy pertaining to North Korea upon assuming office in January.

In light of the growing threat, the time has come for all of us to put new pressure on North Korea to abandon its dangerous path, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told the UN Security Council:

I urge this council to act before North Korea does. We must work together to adopt a new approach and impose increased diplomatic and economic pressures on the North Korean regime.

Secretary Tillerson presented a three-point plan to the UN Security Council, calling for full implementation of already standing resolutions, suspension or downgrade of diplomatic relations, and increasing North Koreas financial isolation.

In an interview with Fox News, Secretary Tillerson explained that China, a major trade partner, has a key role:

We know that China is in communications with the regime in Pyongyang. They confirmed to us that they had requested the regime conduct no further nuclear test; and in fact, we were told by the Chinese that they informed the regime that if they did conduct a further nuclear test, China would be taking sanctions actions on their own.

Our goal is not regime change, Secretary Tillerson told the Security Council. Nor do we desire to threaten the North Korean people or destabilize the Asia Pacific region. He noted, however, that diplomatic and financial levers of power will be backed up by a willingness to counteract North Korean aggression with military action if necessary.

We much prefer a negotiated solution to this problem, he said. But we are committed to defending ourselves and our allies against North Korean aggression.
Union salary hikes include hidden costs

by Joe Kent, Grassroot Institute, May 3, 2017

Hawaiis public union members are on track to receive pay raises of between 2-3.5 percent annually for the next few years. However, the hidden costs to the public pension system could be even greater.

Thats because when government salaries increase, so do pension promises, and the added weight could strain the underfunded Hawaii Employees Retirement System (ERS).

Hawaiis public school teachers, for example, will receive a pay raise that will cost taxpayers $116 million, but this will cost the public pension system an estimated $200 million, according to Thom Williams, executive director of the state Employees Retirement System.

In an e-mail to the Grassroot Institute, Williams noted that, ERSs pension liability will increase over the plans 30-year amortization period by approximately $200 million.

That liability increase, he said, results from the additional costs of the benefits we anticipate we will pay due to the teacher salary increases.

Total salary increases for all union negotiations this year will likely exceed $460 million, and this could add even more costs to the pension system.

However, Williams wrote that the extra pension costs have already been anticipated.

We dont expect any increase in the plans unfunded liability resulting from the increase in pay, as the plan incorporates a 3.5 percent general wage growth assumption, he said. The teacher increases fall within that range.

This means that the ERS had predicted the union salary hikes, but it still represents a real cost to a pension fund that is almost half empty. If all public union members receive pay increases at 3.5 percent per year, the pension debt will grow to $12 billion, according to the latest actuarial valuation report.

Its unclear how the increasing salary and pension costs will be paid for, as Hawaiis budget is already being overspent by $364 million, not including the public employee pay raises. The extra spending will draw down all emergency funds, and put Hawaii in a precarious financial situation.

This is not to say that some Hawaii government employees might be due for a pay raise, but the rising payroll costs have put the states finances in jeopardy, whereas Hawaii lawmakers need to balance the budget, as weve detailed before.

There are many ways Hawaii lawmakers could step back from this cliff of financial unsustainability, but ignoring the problem and just continuing to grow spending by record amounts will only make the problem worse.

Hawaii needs leaders who will clamp down on spending sprees, save emergency funds for real emergencies, and live within our means.
A Coffee Club cafe franchisee in Brisbane allegedly coerced an overseas worker to repay $18,000 of his wages by threatening to cancel his 457 skilled worker visa if he didnt do so.



The accusations come amid the Turnbull Government's proposed changes to the 457 visas which are common in Australias cooking profession.



Saandeep Chokhani and his wife owns and runs the Coffee Club franchise at the Nundah Village Shopping Centre.



In addition to the Coffee Club franchisee, Chokhani and his wifes company Gaura Nitai is also facing Court.



The Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James said the agency has a proactive compliance deed in place with the owners of the Coffee Club Franchise, Minor DKL Food Group (MDKL) and commended the companys cooperation through the course of the investigation.



The underpaid worker is an Indian national in his late 20s who was sponsored by Gaura Nitai to work as a cook at the Coffee Club outlet on a 457 skilled worker visa.



The cook was allegedly promised an annual salary of $53,900 when he was recruited but was paid much less.



Moreover, after failing to pay the worker any wages for a four-month period from July to November in 2014 and a one-month period in February-March 2015, Chokhani and Gaura Nitai paid the worker $19,334 by electronic transfer on 22 April 2015.



Chokhani allegedly then told the worker to withdraw $18,000 in cash and repay it to him or his 457 visa would be cancelled. The worker obeyed Chokhanis request on the same day he was asked.



However, the worker only lodged a request for assistance with the Fair Work Ombudsman after his employment was terminated without notice in November 2015.



The Fair Work inspectors allegedly found that because of the unlawful cashback payment, the worker had been underpaid his minimum hourly rates, casual loading, annual leave entitlements, overtime rates, payment in lieu of notice of termination and penalty rates for weekend and public holiday work.



The worker was allegedly short-changed a total of $23,546 between September, 2013 and November, 2015.



The FWO Natalie James added they are pleased that in this instance, the franchise owner presented their inspectors with documents to assist the investigation.



"It should be noted that we received these documents without the need to issue a Notice to Produce. MDKL is to be commended for its approach to ensuring compliance in its network, said James.



The worker has now been back-paid in full. Chokhani faces maximum penalties of up to $10,800 per contravention and Gaura Nitai faces penalties of up to $54,000 per contravention.



The penalty hearing is scheduled for the Federal Circuit Court in Brisbane on 2 June.



Earlier this year, a Court issued record fines of $532,000 against one cafe which coerced 457 visa workers to pay back portions of their wages under threat of violence.


(Reuters) Activist hedge fund TCI Fund Management on Wednesday said Zodiac Aerospace shares were now worth 7-10 euros each ($10.92), after the French firm last Friday posted a first-half loss. TCI is campaigning to pressure Zodiac suitor Safran to drop its bid to buy the firm and had previously valued it at 10 euros a share in a presentation on March 24. The hedge fund manager said in a presentation shared with Reuters on Wednesday that an offer above 10 euros results in value destruction.

To read this article:




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
Its also allowed to speak critically about the European Union, he stated on Sunday.

Timo Soini (PS), the Minister for Foreign Affairs, has lashed out at those who have voiced their doubts about the upcoming appointment of Sampo Terho, the chairperson of the Finns Party Parliamentary Group, as the Minister for European Affairs.

Theres no going back to the self-censorship of the Soviet-era, let alone to other forms of censorship  no way. The same goes for all policy making, Soini asserted in his speech on May Day.

He also pointed out that, contrary to every other cabinet member, the incubent and the presumptive Minister for European Affairs  himself and Terho  both have experience of serving in the European Parliament.

No wonder people are so worked up about the expertise of the Finns Party.

Terho has faced criticism due to his hard-line stance on the European Union ever since he was confirmed as the Finns Partys nominee to take over the newly-created portfolio of the Minister of Sports, Culture and European Affairs. He has, for example, stated that he is open to the idea of calling for a referendum to determine whether or not Finland should leave the EU.

He will formally assume his ministerial duties on Friday, 5 May, 2017.

Anna-Maja Henriksson, the chairperson of the Swedish Peoples Party, questioned the rationale of the appointment in a speech in Pietarsaari on Sunday.

Was there not even a fleeting moment when you had other ideas about whod be the best fit for the portfolio of the Minister for European Affairs? she stated, directing her question to Prime Minister Juha Sipila (Centre). Or is the government intent on having a minister who wont be working on policy towards the EU?

Sipila has asserted that the government does not subscribe to the views of Terho.

The government programme sets forth our policy towards Europe, and together we have agreed to stick to our policy. You should expect no changes in the policy towards the EU, he said to members of the media in Brussels on Saturday.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Heikki Saukkomaa  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
The dedicated Garda Armed Support Unit (ASU), deployed in response to the deadly gangland feud in the capital, is responding to almost three serious incidents a day.

The 55-strong unit, launched by Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald in December, was set up to patrol the streets of Dublin after the Hutch/Kinahan feud claimed 11 lives in just 15 months.

Shortly after it was launched, the feud's latest victim - Noel Kirwan - was murdered in west Dublin.

Ms Fitzgerald yesterday revealed that in a three-month period, the ASU - which operates on a 24/7 basis - was called out to 248 serious incidents.

Firearms

These were not exclusively linked to the ongoing feud, but included serious crimes involving firearms, or gardai intercepting criminals in the process of committing a serious crime.

Speaking at the annual Association of Garda Superintendent's conference in Naas, Co Kildare, Ms Fitzgerald said the introduction of a number of garda units has led to a reduction in crime.

"The dedicated Armed Support Unit for the Dublin Metropolitan Region [DMR] now operates on a 24/7 basis, providing appropriate armed support as required," Ms Fitzgerald said.

"The unit has been involved in a number of successes and associated with a total of 248 serious incidents in a three-month period.

"A new Garda special crime task force in the DMR, under the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, has been established to augment the response to organised crime at a local level through concentrated policing.

"This multi-agency approach to targeting the proceeds of crime is underpinned by new legislation I enacted last summer.

"All of this has led to a reduction in crime and increased public safety," she added.

The Tanaiste also told more than 60 senior officers present that they have "redoubled" their efforts in the face of very serious threats.

"So, as criticism is sometimes warranted, acknowledgement is required too," she said.

"Constant criticism erodes confidence and energy.

"I want to say thank you for those efforts."

Speaking to reporters at the conference, Deputy Commissioner John Twomey welcomed the roll-out of the ASU.

Safer

"Certainly, we are very happy with the work it has done so far. 248 incidents is quite a considerable amount of incidents," Mr Twomey said.

"In the context of lives being saved and communities being made safer, I think it has worked very well so far.

"In the region of 25 lives have been saved directly by the intervention of the Armed Support Unit."
The grieving widow of a councillor killed by a dangerous driver, who was banned at the time, said she was waiting for a miracle that didn't happen.

Kildare councillor Willie Crowley (65) died after he was struck by speeding Damien Klasinski (29), on Eyre Street in Newbridge, Co Kildare, on December 15, 2015.

Klasinski, who had already been banned from driving for previous offences, pleaded guilty.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard he was speeding and didn't brake when his uninsured car struck Mr Crowley.

Shattered

In a heartbreaking victim impact statement, his wife Claire Doyle told how her life came apart.

"I was driven to Naas hospital by a member of the gardai," she said.

"Nothing could have prepared me for what awaited me there - my husband Willie's battered, bruised and broken body, his shattered skull and some hours later the devastating news that there was nothing that could be done because of the severity of the brain injuries.

"I spent the next three days and nights at Willie's bedside hoping against hope for a miracle.

"The miracle did not happen.

"Willie never regained consciousness after being hit by the car. I said goodbye to my husband on Friday, December 18 in an ICU ward where he was incubated.

"The brutal violence of his death shocked me to my core - a shock that has yet to leave me," she said.

She described how Mr Crowley was a volunteer who cooked the Christmas feast in the community each year.

She said her husband was "the love of my life," and added that while prayers were being said for the driver at her husband's funeral, Klasinski was "hiding in a cupboard with a packed suitcase, instead of facing up to the recklessness of his actions".

Klasinski, of The Oaks, Newbridge, who drove off after hitting Mr Crowley, told the passengers in the car: "What am I supposed to do?"

After his arrest he told gardai he had panicked.

"I am very sorry. It was an accident. I'm really hoping this man recovers," he said.

Detective Garda Sergeant James O'Sullivan told prosecuting counsel Lorcan Staines that Mr Crowley was walking home from the pub on the night but was not intoxicated.

He was crossing the street when Klasinski's car struck him.

Klasinski met an oncoming vehicle and the street was too narrow for both vehicles to pass.

He swerved in without braking to let the vehicle pass and swerved out again.

Mr Crowley had been waiting behind the other vehicle and was standing in the middle of the road.

Witnesses estimated that Klasinski was driving at speeds of up to 80kph.

It had rained earlier in the day making the road wet and the street lighting was poor.

Judge Melanie Greally said Klasinski was driving at a speed far too fast for the conditions on the night.

She adjourned the case to May 12 for sentencing.

Remorse

Mr Staines said the prosecution was taken on the basis that the accused was driving at an unsafe speed in circumstances where the ground was wet and on a dark winter night in an area where people were around.

The court heard Klasinski, a Polish national, had 13 previous convictions mainly for road traffic offences, including being disqualified from driving for two years for driving without insurance in November 2015 and being convicted of drunk driving earlier that year.

A prison chaplain said Klasinski felt profound remorse.
The future of greyhound racing in Ireland is under threat as a result of the row over the closure of Harold's Cross Stadium, it has been claimed.

It has emerged that the shutdown has cost the industry more than 500,000 in the past 10 weeks.

Bord na gCon, the commercial semi-State body that controls the industry, has lost about 300,000 because of pickets that have stopped racing at its sister Dublin track, Shelbourne Park, while owners are down about 250,000 in prize money.

The sale of Harold's Cross Stadium was triggered by debts of more than 20m, but it provoked protest pickets at Shelbourne Park.

It was announced this week that the Department of Education has bought the stadium with a view to building badly-needed primary and post-primary schools on the site.

The transaction has to go through normal protocols for the sale of assets between State agencies and, ultimately, Agriculture Minister Michael Creed has to sign off on it.

A Department of Agriculture spokesperson said Mr Creed would consider the proposal for the stadium when it is submitted to him.

Warned

Meanwhile, the Department of Education has had preliminary discussions with the city council about the rezoning of the site.

In a statement last night, Bord na gCon said the sale of Harold's Cross was "absolutely essential in order to reduce the enormous legacy debt that threatens the national greyhound industry".

The board said the debt had to be addressed now, and ruled out a partial sale, which has been suggested, as a "half measure".

It warned that "unless racing is resumed and the debt is reduced now, jobs and the national industry are at risk".

It emerged earlier this week that the board had agreed to the sale, hoping to draw a line under the issue.

A meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will today discuss the accounts of Bord na gCon.

PAC chairman Sean Fleming said the committee wanted to hear what measures the board had taken to ensure future sustainability.
A criminal associated with the notorious 'Mr Big' crime gang has gone on the run from prison.

Kevin O'Keeffe (32), originally from Darndale, north Dublin, failed to return to Mountjoy Prison last Friday after attending an addiction treatment centre in Coolock.

O'Keeffe has been in jail since August 2013 and is serving combined sentences totalling six-and-a-half years.

He is not due for release until December 2018.

The career criminal failed to report back to the jail after attending a training and education programme at the north Dublin facility.

A manhunt is now on for the missing prisoner and when he is caught he is expected to be taken to a full security jail.

Sources said O'Keeffe was believed to be hiding out in the Coolock area of the city.

The on-the-run inmate was caught with 32,000 worth of heroin in November 2012, which sources say was owned by the feared 'Mr Big' crime outfit.

The gang controls a vast patch of drug territory stretching from Clontarf all the way up to Drogheda, Co Louth, though its stronghold is in the Coolock, Darndale and Donaghmede areas of Dublin.

Robbery

However, O'Keeffe is not considered a main player in the gang and most of his current jail time relates to robbery and false imprisonment.

That incident happened at the Spar shop in Clarehall in October 2012. He was also involved in another theft at a cafe in the Mater Hospital in December 2012.

Since being locked up almost four years ago, O'Keeffe has been relatively well behaved and was moved to the training unit in Mountjoy Prison in January last year.

Three months later, he was approved for temporary release to attend case management programmes such as the one he visited last week before he absconded.

Jail sources said there had been no indication that he would "go rogue" and it was expected that he might hand himself back in to serve the remainder of his sentence.

It is understood O'Keeffe is friendly with gangster Mark McCarthy (32), of Elmdale Crescent, Ballyfermot, who recently pleaded guilty in a false imprisonment case.

Authorities are confident that O'Keeffe will be caught.

Such cases are relatively rare in Irish jails.

"The Irish Prison Service is committed to working with all appropriate agencies to ensure that those who abscond from custody are vigorously pursued until they are returned," a spokesman said in March, discussing a separate case.

In that case, Tallaght man John Paul Duncan (33) was extradited from the UK after he walked out of Loughan House open prison in February 2015.
Wes Moore makes history as Maryland's next governor

Maryland's 2022 election is history-making with Wes Moore. Only two other Black politicians have ever been elected governor in the U.S.
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)  A 1-year-old boy has died after being found in a creek in North Carolina.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police told local media outlets that officers were called to a home shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday.

The boy was found unresponsive in a creek behind the home. He was taken to Carolinas Medical Center where he died.

The boy's name has not been released.

Police are still investigating how the child ended up in the creek.
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The governments advocacy for walls of valour at colleges and universities to instil patriotism in students is set to revive the debate on nationalism in educational campuses and outside. A brainchild of Tarun Vijay, former editor of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh mouthpiece, Panchajanya, these structures will come up at a thousand campuses, to start with.

It comes when public memory about the allegedly seditious activities by a section of students in the capitals Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has just started fading. It also feeds into the nationalistic fervour generated by Pakistans dastardly act of beheading of a soldier and jawan on the border and amid unabated unrest in Kashmir Valley.

The proposed walls of valour have the potential to turn the debate in campuses on patriotism -- and not on whether our education system has been able to respond to Make in India, Digital India, or Skill India visions.

These walls will have portraits of the winners of 21 param vir chakras  the countrys highest military decoration. Human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar showered encomium on Tarun Vijay while launching his pet nationalism project at the national media centre last Tuesday. The official endorsement of his personal initiative comes as no surprise. His questions in the Rajya Sabha last year ranged from anti-national activities in JNU to compulsory military training for senior students in universities. He wants the government to establish chairs in universities to study the growth of Indian nationalism since the Vedic days.

Its not that only India is witnessing a debate on nationalism and patriotism; its resonating across the globe. Donald Trump has announced total allegiance to the US as the bedrock of his politics and declared his inauguration day as National Day of Patriotic Devotion. Vladimir Putin has declared patriotism the only possible national idea in Russia. China is re-writing history books to extend 1937-45 Sino-Japan war by six years  to predate it from 1931 to provide patriotic education and establish the role of the Communist Party in it.

Nobody can find fault with Javadekar for espousal of patriotism. A country must celebrate its heroes. But the question he should ask himself is whether he is doing enough to create the enabling environment in our educational institutions to create more heroes.

No Indian institution figured in the top 200 list of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2016-17. Barely 40% of engineering graduates find placements. Only 47.8% of Class V children can read a Class II level textbook, according to the annual status of education report.

The draft national education policy, submitted by a committee in May 2016, is gathering dust as the NDA government completes three years in office this month. Javadekar now wants to set up another committee.

Walls of valour are welcome but the education minister might serve the country better by focusing on the quality of our education system and take advantage of the demographic dividend Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks of with so much optimism.
Sonam Kapoor was on Wednesday conferred with her first ever National Award as she was presented with a Special Mention at the 64th National Film Awards held in New Delhi.

Apart from Sonam, and her rumoured boyfriend Anand Ahuja, who was also present at the event, her father and ageless actor Anil Kapoor was seemingly beaming with joy.

Seen clicking pictures as Sonam received her award, AK surely made for an aww-dorable moment at an otherwise serious event. Nothing can be bigger than this award. President Pranab Mukherjee and the Government of India have given this award to Sonam, so this day is really big and important for me, my family and Sonam. It is a very well deserved award for Neerja, said the 60-year-old.

Neerja, released last year, narrates the story of Neerja Bhanot, a Pan Am purser, who lost her life while saving the passengers when the Pan Am was hijacked at Karachi airport on September 5, 1986.

Meanwhile, Anil Kapoor was all praises for his Welcome and Humko Deewaana Kar Gaye co-star Akshay Kumar too.

Smiling ear to ear! Congratulations #TeamNeerja for giving your best and then some more! Well deserved! pic.twitter.com/90SbBjkX99  Anil Kapoor (@AnilKapoor) May 3, 2017

When asked about Kumar getting his first National award, he quipped, Congratulations to him! Der aaye par durust aaye!

Akshay was conferred with his first National Award for his movie Rustom.
Before actor Manoj Bajpayee ventured into films, he spent years in Delhi studying theatre at the National School of Drama. Though he has established himself in Bollywood, theatre remains close to his heart. He feels that theatre can only grow in a country if it gets the right support from the government.

Theatre can only become independent if the state supports theatre activities and makes sure that the actors associated with it get required support. If theatre is performing well in any part of the world, it is because the state is supporting the art form. Without that, theatre doesnt thrive anywhere, says Manoj, who is known for his films such as Satya (1998), Pinjar (2003) and Gangs of Wasseypur (2012).

The actor recently said that the government should open an acting school in his home-town, Belwa, in order to utilise the acting talent there.  I want the government to take the initiative and really think about opening a film institute and theatre school, similar to the National School of Drama. There is so much of talent there [in Bihar] and most of them dont have the resources to go to a film school. If I am of any help, I am ready to provide it. But alone, I dont have that much of money and resources to start a [theatre] school, adds Manoj.

The National Award winning actor is full of praise for Bihar. I keep visiting my village and at various functions, I meet these young boys and girls. I know for sure the cultural scene of Bihar is very rich. If there are the people who are going to be the cultural representatives of the area, any part of government can pay attention and provide them the right platform, says Manoj.

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Sushant Singh Rajput, who has made his presence felt in Bollywood with movies like Byomkesh Bakshi and MS Dhoni, on Thursday condemned online trolling, adding that one is screwed for both having an opinion and also for not having one!

Sushant, who was in Jalandhar with co-star Kriti Sanon to promote their upcoming movie Raabta, said most online trolls are paid.

Soon, a time will come when intelligent people will not even get affected by trolls, he said.

Kriti agreed with Sushants statement saying trolls put you down. People are very impatient today. You say anything and it is immediately taken out of context. People get offended for no reason, she said. (Pardeep Pandit/HT)

There are ten trending topics every hour of every day on social media. This gives with a platform to say anything about anybody and then tag somebody  eventually you will be heard, the Kai Po Che actor said.

Getting famous today is easy: If you can come up with any obnoxious or stupid thing, you get talked about. You can even become the president of a country! he said.

Kriti, too, agreed with Sushants statement saying that trolls put you down.

People are very impatient today. You say anything and it is immediately taken out of context. People get offended for no reason, she said.

Would love to do a Punjabi movie

The Heropanti actress expressed her love for Punjab, Punjabi films and the songs, saying that she would love to do a Punjabi movie as it will make her fully Punjabi.

I am a Punjabi but cannot converse in the language. So, I will happily do a Punjabi film to become a true-blue Punjabi, she said.

I call myself a fake Punjabi as I dont know the language but I love it when my parents converse in Punjabi. I love the language, she added. A song of the movie has been shot in Amritsar.

Raabta was hard hard work

Talking about the upcoming movie, both the actors said they had to work really hard for the movie. Sushant took training for around three weeks in Bangkok and learned sword fighting.

Sushant said that although he doesnt believe in the concept of reincarnation  the core concept of the movie  he found the script very strong. The concept of reincarnation will appear real to everyone when they watch the movie, the Shuddh Desi Romance actor said.
Soha Ali Khan is brimming over with joy, and you cant miss the pregnancy glow on her face. Calling it an exciting phase and a big deal, the actor says, Kunal and I, were both very new to this. We always get very nervous talking about things that are so personal, but weve made an announcement and Kunal came out with a statement as well confirming the news. We still have a while to go, so were just looking for positive vibes ad blessings from everyone around us.

Happy Republic Day #JaiHind #happyrepublicday  A post shared by Soha (@sakpataudi) on Jan 25, 2017 at 11:39pm PST

Asked about Kunals reaction when she shared with him that she was pregnant, Soha, who met us in Delhi, quips, Im not telling anybody what he said. Thats very private. Actually, I dont want to talk about it too much, apart from saying that we both are clueless about being parents.

As an actor, Soha, 38, has always been compared to her actor brother Saif Ali Khan. Shes not being spared in her pregnancy  now the comparison is with sister-in-law Kareena Kapoor Khans journey to motherhood. Saif and Kareena had their baby son, named Taimur Ali Khan, last December.

On this, Soha says, Nobody wants comparisons, because everybody is different  be it working or dressing up. Some are required to rest more; some are healthy and sail through their pregnancy. Its unfair to make comparisons because every pregnancy is different and theres no right or wrong.

In spite of the comparisons being made, Soha maintains that shes doing things according to her comfort level. When I dont feel I have the energy to do something, I dont do it. Im not taking on too much because this is a priority and everything else takes a backseat. When it comes to heels, I carry my flats, too, in the car. [Also] at this stage, its alright [to wear heels] but later when you are worried about being off-balance, thats when you have to, of course, be comfortable.

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Adani Australia could face a multi-million penalty for possible environmental breaches over floodwaters released from the Indian mining giants Queensland coal port after Cyclone Debbie which wreaked havoc in the country.

The Queensland government said it was probing and considering a compliance action on the issue of possible breach by Adani in respect to water released from its Abbot Point facility that had eight times more sediment than allowed limit.

Jim Reeves, the Director General of Environment and Heritage Protection (EHP), said Adani Abbot Point Bulkcoal was authorised to release water under the licence, for the period March 27 to 30, which was granted to assist with site water management during and after the cyclone Debbie.

There are serious penalties for corporations whose non- compliance with their environmental authorities or temporary emissions licences caused environmental harm, including fines of up to 3.8 million dollar if the non-compliance was wilful or 2.7 million dollar if the non-compliance was unintentional.

Meanwhile, Adani Australia refuted the claims that its Abbot Point coal handling facility discharged contaminated water in the wake of Cyclone Debbie.

The results of the test are not expected until next week, three weeks after the samples were taken. However, DEHP officers have confirmed to Abbot Point management that there was no evidence of environmental harm post Cyclone Debbie, it noted.

The EHP said it would consider compliance action against Adani in respect of water released under a temporary emissions licence after a full report on its investigations which will provide the basis for decisions on what, if any, compliance action will occur.

Adani Abbot Point Bulkcoal provided a report to EHP on April 24 saying it had a water discharge on March 30th from a licensed point on the northern side of the terminal, containing 806mg/L of sediment.

Under its environmental authority, terminal management is required to monitor all water releases and report any non- compliance to EHP.

In this case, Adani Abbot Point Bulkcoal advised EHP that the non-compliant release from the licensed point on the northern side of the terminal did not enter the Caley Valley wetland, with further investigations by port management indicating that no coal-laden water entered any marine environment.

Reeves said EHP was continuing to investigate water discharges and possible environmental contamination from the Abbot Point coal handling facility.

This follows aerial imagery provided to EHP by the State Disaster Coordination Centre on April 6th that suggested there was sediment-laden water flowing from the port into the wetland.

I want to assure all Queenslanders that as the environmental regulator EHP takes these matters very seriously. EHP will prepare a full report on its investigations which will provide the basis for decisions on what, if any, compliance action will occur, he said.

Cyclone Debbie struck the northeastern Australian coastline with devastating force on March 28, forcing tens of thousands to flee and leaving at least 48,000 homes without power.
Indian energy giant Adani today signed a 74 million dollar landmark deal with Australian steel group Arrium to buy steel for a 400-km rail line for its controversial Carmichael coal mine project.

Under the landmark deal, Arriums division OneSteel Manufacturing Pty Ltd will supply 54,000 tonnes of steel to build the rail line linking Adanis proposed coal mine in central Queensland with the Abbot Point port.

This is a landmark deal for the Galilee projects, Adani Australias Head of Country and CEO Jeyakumar Janakaraj said.

Adani is continuing to gain momentum. The North Galilee Basin rail project is an essential open access, multi-user element to open the Galilee basin not only for the Carmichael mine but also other projects, he said.

Our commitment to the Carmichael projects and the benefits that will flow to regional Queensland and India is clearly demonstrated by this deal. There is more work to be done, but this contract is a major step forward, he added.

The contract, which is subject to the normal commercial requirement that the Carmichael mine proceeds, involves over 54,000 tonnes of head hardened rail.

There are many other contracts under active consideration which will benefit regional Queensland businesses and generate jobs, Janakaraj said while reassuring to source resources from regional Queensland and stressing on to create regional jobs in the region.

However, the railway track contract assessment showed the best option for an order of that size was for it to be supplied by the Arrium group. Though it would have clearly been cheaper to source the rail from overseas, Adani values supporting Australian businesses and Australian jobs, he said.

Australia needs a strong local steel industry just as it needs a strong coal and resources sector. Todays announcement strongly supports both, he said.

Arrium was put into voluntary administration, a precursor to bankruptcy, in April last year with debts of over four billion dollars.

Earlier today, South Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy chief executive Rebecca Knol said the deal was a vital breakthrough for Arriums administrator Korda Mentha and Whyalla city which is facing massive job losses if the steelworks close.

Adanis 16 billion dollar Carmichael mine project has been dogged by delays, facing opposition from several environmentalist groups as well as members of indigenous community.

Last month, Adani chairman Gautam Adani met Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull during his first official visit to India.

Adani had sought 900 million dollars loan from Northern Australia Infrastructure fund (NAIF) for the rail line to the Abbot Point coal port.

Last week, Westpac had ruled out supporting Adanis proposed mine under its new climate change action plan.

The banks move was criticised by Australian resources Minister Matt Canavan who dubbed Westpacs position on coal as anti-Queensland and anti-growth while Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called the news disappointing.

Turnbull had said, I am disappointed that Westpac has made that decision. I think these projects should be examined on their merits....Coal has a big role to play for a very long time.
Apple is looking to double its revenue targets in India as the iPhone-makers second quarter results revealed that iPhone sales in China -- the companys largest overseas market -- has slowed down.

Were very optimistic about our future in this remarkable country with its very large, young, and tech-savvy population, fast-growing economy, and improving 4G network infrastructure, Apple chief executive Tim Cook said in the earnings call with analysts.

He also said that revenue in India grew by strong double digits during the quarter ended April 1, setting a record.

But all is not well for the iPhone-maker as India has rejected Apples demand for sops on several fronts to start manufacturing in the country that includes customs duty concessions and tax holidays for its suppliers.

Reports claim that Apple might start trial assembly of its manufacturing plant in Peenya in partnership with contract manufacturer Wistron in the next month.

Additionally, chief financial officer Luca Maestri also quantified that the strong double-digit growth for India at over 20%. The company achieved double-digit growth in the US, Canada, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Turkey, Russia and Mexico, Maestri said. Our growth rates were even higher, over 20% in many other markets, including Brazil, Scandinavia, the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, India, Korea and Thailand.

Globally, Apple sold 50.76 million iPhones in its second quarter financial year, down from 51.19 million a year earlier during the corresponding period. In India, around 2.5 million iPhones are estimated to have been sold between October 2015 and September 2016.

But this according to a BofA report is nearly 70% short of the target that Apple had set for itself.

Historically, India handset market has been a very small market for Apple (iPhones accounting for 1% of sales globally) given the price sensitive nature of the market. Approx. 70-75% of smartphones sold in India are at the sub-$150 level, while just 7% are in the high-end bracket of $300+, the report from Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global shows.

Industry participants noted that the actual selling price (ASP) of an Apple iPhone in India is $612, much higher than Samsungs ASP of $173 and Micromaxs $86. Indeed, Apples sales in India are around 2 million, way short of its target of selling 10 million mobile phones in India by 2016-17, it further explains.

The companys application to open offline exclusive retail stores is also pending for approval with the government.
IT services firm Cognizant is extending a voluntary separation incentive, offering up to nine months of salary, to some of its top-level executives.

This comes after reports of the New Jersey-headquartered software services company laying off 6,000-10,000  redundant and non-performing employees.

The US-based firm, which has a large part of its 2.6 lakh-strong workforce in India, has written to top executives in director and senior vice president roles.

The company has given the top-rung executives an option to exit the organisation by accepting either six (for Senior VPs) or nine (for Directors) months salary as severance pay.

This voluntary initiative is being communicated to management-level associates from Director-level to Senior Vice President and eligibility is at the discretion of Cognizant leadership, a Cognizant spokesperson said.

He declined to divulge details of the incentives that are being offered or the number of employees that would fall under the process.

...we are offering a voluntary separation incentive to some eligible leaders, representing a very small percentage of our total workforce...we believe it provides a fair and positive experience for those choosing to leave, the spokesperson said.

According to sources, these executives will have to inform the company of their decision by May 12, following which the leadership will have the authority to take a decision.

Cognizant will, however, continue to hire across all of its practices and is expanding facilities globally, ensuring that it has the right expertise to help its clients, the spokesperson said.

The company -- which competes with Indian IT players like TCS and Infosys -- had posted a 4.3% decline in net profit to $1.55 billion in 2016.

After stellar revenue growth in the past few years, the pace of growth seems to be slowing down for Cognizant.

Its annual revenues stood at $ 13.49 billion, up by 8.6 per cent over previous year, after slashing its growth forecast thrice during the year.

However, it raised guidance for 2017, estimating revenue to be around $14.5-14.84 billion.
The government hopes to finalise tax rates for individual items by May 19, and expects all state assemblies to enact a crucial legislation by early June, to help in rolling out Indias biggest tax reform Goods and Services Tax (GST) from July.

After the Parliament passed four crucial GST bills last month, eight statesTelangana, Bihar, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Haryanahave passed the State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) Act in their respective assemblies.

The remaining states/UTs are likely to pass the SGST Bill in their respective assemblies before the end of this month, except one or two states which may pass the same in early next month, a finance ministry said in a statement.

The GST Council had approved the model SGST Bill March 16.

The Centre and states have to decide on the fitment of various categories of items under the four-slab GST structure of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%.

The next GST Council meeting is scheduled to be held at Srinagar on May 18-19.

The Centre is firm in meeting the GST deadline of July, 2017.

The quick passage of the State GST Act by the different state assemblies in a time bound manner shows the keenness on the part of the state governments to ensure that implementation of the GST in letter and spirit is not further delayed and takes place from July, 2017 as targeted by the central government, the ministry said.

Tax officials led by Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia and his counterparts in states have already started the outreach programme in order to create general awareness among the people at large and stakeholders in particular and remove their doubts about the various provisions of GST and its related legislations.
Whats in a name? Shakespeare once asked of roses. The 21st century version of this thorny question is: Whats in an ID? With great leaps in digital and biometric technology, the possibility that all individuals can be known by states and other institutions has becoming tantalisingly real. Until the coalescence of nation-states in the early 20th century, most people didnt have ID cards of any kind. Now with over one billion people registered for Aadhaar numbers, India boasts the largest biometric database in the world.

Though wrapped in often opaque and cumbersome legalese, the debate over Aadhaar at the Supreme Court in the past week asks one of the most important questions of our time. In the age of big data, how much should the state know about individuals? It is a classic duel of two rival imperatives: The desire to expand the capacities of the State against the fear of the State developing illiberal powers over individuals.

I have a US green card, an ID loaded with biometric information that also allows me to live and work in the United States. Ive willingly made the bargain of surrendering my bodily data for the purpose of residing in a country. At the same time, here in the United States, citizens are not obliged to possess any single form of identification. The Social Security Number, the unique identifying number most equivalent to Aadhaar, is not connected to a biometric data or even a photograph.

There is an admirable reluctance in much of the West to grant too much to the State. In Britain, a plan to require ID cards for British citizens and residents was scrapped in 2010 in large part because it threatened to erode civil liberties. Many western countries also have legal protections for privacy that dont exist in India.

The United States and Britain are much more robust states than India, with far greater and more sophisticated capacities to identify (and therefore tax) the people within their borders. The Aadhaar card is an attempt to strengthen the Indian State, a shortcut to circumvent the incremental process of institution-building and social development that has enabled wide-scale tax collection in the West.

Proponents of Aadhaar insist that the card will allow the poor easier access to services and benefits. An ID card can certainly be an empowering tool. In New York City, where I live, hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants form an inextricable part of the life of the city. A unique form of municipal identification called NYC ID allows them access to basic city services, a way to open bank accounts, to enter public buildings, and to report incidents to the police.

But after the election of Donald Trump, who pledged to deport millions of undocumented migrants, the NYC ID became a liability. If the Trump administration got access to that database, it would be more able to round up many New Yorkers. The city is no longer keeping personal information associated with new NYC IDs and will delete its existing database if the federal government comes knocking.

Governments should earn our trust, not demand it. As individuals living in ostensibly liberal, democratic states, it is our right and obligation to be sceptical. Big data exponentially increases the knowledge and power of the State, but no amount of buzzword-strewn techno-optimism should extract our complete confidence.

Without serious privacy protections, we should be wary of these efforts to make all people known and knowable. They remain ripe for abuse and error (already, lakhs of Aadhaar numbers have been accidentally leaked). Aadhaar will not only grant the State an electronic leash on citizens, but also allow corporations to build invasive financial profiles of peoples habits and histories. Why should we either repose faith in private sector whose ultimate interest is its own well-being, or surrender so much trust to state institutions with long traditions of incompetence?

Kanishk Tharoor is the author of Swimmer Among the Stars: Stories

The views expressed are personal

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Battling to revamp the organisation in Uttarakhand following the humiliating defeat in the assembly polls, the Congress on Thursday appointed Pritam Singh, a senior legislator as the state new party chief.

Singh replaces Kishore Upadhyay, who shared a troubled relationship with former chief minister Harish Rawat.

The son of late Congress leader Gulab Singh, Pritam Singh had been a contender for the state Congress chief in the past too.

Harish Rawat, who lost from both the assembly seats, was also reportedly eying for the state Congress chiefs job.

The partys drubbing in the assembly polls in March came as a jolt to Congress workers.

A section in the Congress blamed Upadhyay and Rawat for the partys worst ever performance in the state polls.

Upadhyay even faced protest from angry party workers during his recent visit to Kumaon.

Pritam Singh, a Rajput from Garhwal, is a four-time legislators from Dehraduns Chakrata assembly seat and is considered to be a seasoned leader.

By appointing him as the party chief, the Congress intends to keep a check on chief minister TS Rawat, who is also from Garhwal and a Rajput.

The outgoing party president welcomed the appointment of Pritam Singh and added it was not an easy task to boost all time low party moral.

Pritam Singhji been decorated with the crown of thrones. Although as a humble party worker I will support new president in his endeavor to strengthen party Upadhya told HT.

He however denied the role of organization in partys poor performance in the elections.

Party workers say it was necessary to infuse new blood in the party.

We now have a senior and experienced Indiraji as Leader of Opposition and a seasoned leader Pritamji as the president. Workers are sure the party will gain lost ground said Ganesh Upadhyay, a Congress leader from Kumaon.

The Congress has 11 legislators in the 70-member state assembly. Singh, who was in Chakrata, will take charge on Friday.

Besides Pritam Singh, the Congress has appointed Quazi Nizamuddin, a legislator from Haridwar district as the AICC secretary. Quazi is a young minority face of the Congress from the state.

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Senior Congress party leader Ajay Maken and PC Chacko will continue to be Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president (DPCC) and the partys in-charge of Delhi affairs respectively.

The resignations of both the leaders were not accepted by the party.

Maken and Chacko had resigned after taking moral responsibility for the Congress defeat in Delhi municipal elections. The party won only 30 out of 270 seats in the polls and finished third after BJP and AAP.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Delhi pradesh Congress committee president Maken said, Rahul Gandhiji asked me to continue. He said that the increase in vote percentage was encouraging.

The party leadership heard both of us and then Rahul Gandhi asked me to continue, to take things to their logical conclusion and make Congress the number one party in Delhi again, he said.

Some party leaders, including former chief minister Sheila Dikshit, were critical of Maken and had given public statements against him after the municipal poll results were out.

Maken, however, expressed satisfaction over the partys increased vote share in the recent polls. Our vote share was 9% in the Delhi Assembly election in 2015. It has gone up to 22% in the MCD polls, indicating that the traditional voters are coming back to us, he said.

Give us names of those involved in anti-party activities

The Delhi Congress has asked its councillors to name the party leaders and workers who indulged in anti-party activities.

The disciplinary action committee of the party will receive complaints from the candidates till May 5. We have got reports that some Congress workers contested against their party candidates. In such cases, action will be taken based on the report, said Maken.

AAP IS B TEAM OF BJP

Taking a dig at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Maken said that the ruling party was the B-team of the BJP and its top leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, were hand in glove with the RSS.

The 2011 Anna Hazare agitation was given the financial support by the RSS after which the AAP was born to wean away the traditional voters of Congress, he said.

The AAP contested the Punjab and Goa assembly polls only to eat the Congress vote share, he further said.
Former Delhi government health secretary Tarun Seem was on Thursday was booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on allegations that he wrongfully hired private firms to providing security to seven city hospitals.

Seem is known for piloting the AAPs mohalla clinic plan.

Doctor Seem was relieved from his post last year and is currently posted as the director of Delhis health mission which falls under the state governments health department.

CBI officials said that Seem and three private firms, which specialise in providing security personnel, have been booked under conspiracy and corruption charges of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act. Subsequently, the agency followed up their action by conducting raids at Delhi secretariat and residence of the senior bureaucrat.

Reacting to the CBI raids, the AAP again accused the Centre of misusing the CBI against its party leaders. AAP leader Sanjay Singh took to Twitter: Soon, everything came to normal in the AAP; the central government today left its parrot (CBI) behind Satyendar Jain. They kept on disturbing us and we kept on working.

The probe agency said Delhi based Knight Watch Security Pvt Ltd and SIS (India) Ltd, and Innovision Ltd in Gurugram were chosen to provide security personnel at government hospitals.

Undue benefits were allegedly given to these three security agencies, including payments in excess of norms and thereby causing a loss of 10.5 crore (approx) to the public exchequer, a CBI official said.

A Delhi government official said the agencies were hired at higher rates but their contracts were not renewed.

After the strikes by doctors, the best security agencies were hired but their rates were higher than our tender rates. So, they were given a special contract for six months. After the contract period was over, it wasnt renewed. So, some people allege that some sort of setting happened, said an official.

Officials added that the FIR into the case was preceded by a preliminary investigation, which the agency carried out after former L-G Najeeb Jung had referred the case last year.

Seem was made Delhis health and family welfare secretary in February 2016. He was relieved from the post by Jung in August 10. Seem was also holding the post of Delhis director general of health services from which he was relieved in October last year.

Officials said that searches were conducted on Thursday at Delhi and Gurgaon on official and residential properties of the accused and the said firms.

AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj said the raid is nothing, but an attempt to instil fear in the minds of the officers and the party leaders to discourage them from doing good work for the people.

(With inputs from Anonna Dutt)

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A cyclonic circulation over Haryana might have provided Delhi with some relief from the scorching heat on Wednesday, but the pleasant weather is unlikely to last much longer.

The Met department has asked residents of the national capital to brace themselves for yet another spell of heat wave in the next two days.

The mercury is expected to shoot up to 42 degrees Celsius by this weekend, said a senior official of the regional weather forecasting centre in New Delhi.

A heat wave is declared when the maximum temperature rises past the 40 degrees Celsius mark, and at least five degrees above the climatic normal. If the temperature rises seven degrees beyond the climatic normal, the weather condition is termed as a severe heat wave.

The city experienced heat wave conditions in April, when the day temperature hovered around 42 degrees Celsius. However, a cyclonic circulation over Haryana and its adjoining areas brought temporary relief to its residents on Wednesday. While some parts of Delhi-NCR experienced dust storms, others benefited from a slight drizzle.

It is expected to witness similar weather conditions, probably even a thunderstorm, on Thursday.

The cyclonic circulation had been giving rise to dust storms across the region since Wednesday morning, obstructing the suns rays. This phenomenon, accompanied by high-altitude clouds, provided some relief from the rising mercury, said another official.

He said the heat wave will soon return because the cyclonic circulation is moving eastwards. The temperature at some places in Rajasthan has already shot up to 44 degrees Celsius, the official added.

The Met official claimed that though a western disturbance was approaching India from across the border, it wasnt likely to help Delhi. This will only have an effect on the higher zones of Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. Any chances of it impacting the plains are remote, he said, adding that the weather phenomenon was spotted over northern Afghanistan on Wednesday morning.

Western disturbances usually provide some relief to the city during this time of the year because they trigger dust storms and thunderstorms.

On Sunday, a separate western disturbance over Punjab had triggered slight rainfall in Delhi and many parts of northwest India.

While the national capital had recorded a maximum temperature of 44 degrees Celsius on May 3 last year, the mercury barely touched 40 degrees on Wednesday. The highest temperature ever recorded by Delhi for the month was in 1944, when mercury levels shot up to 47.2 degrees Celsius.
If the picture released by the Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday after its crucial Political Affairs Committee (PAC) meeting is anything to go by, then tough times are here to stay for its convener Arvind Kejriwal.

In the picture, the Kejriwal coterie, with his second-in-command Manish Sisodia and leaders like Sanjay Singh, Ashutosh, Gopal Rai and Atishi Marlena, is seen happily sticking together, whereas, poet-politician Kumar Vishwas angles out and gives a rather business-not-yet-over expression. Waiting for a bigger role in the party since its inception in 2012, a go-getter Vishwas, after sparring with the top leadership for over five day, was finally made the in-charge of AAPs Rajasthan unit on Wednesday.

But detractors claim the role is only a consolation prize. Rajasthan goes to poll next year, but the party, post its Delhi municipal, Punjab and Goa polls drubbing is first faced with the task of re-structuring itself. Preparations for Punjab had begun in full swing after the party won four seats from the state in the 2014 general elections. With almost three years of preparation, a rookie party like ours, still managed to become the principal opposition in Punjab in 2017. Similarly, for Rajasthan, the plan is to make our presence felt strongly. Creating hype about winning elections is unnecessary, a party leader said on condition of anonymity.

Kumar Vishwas vs Amanatullah Khan

While a miffed Vishwas and Kejriwals personal attempt to pacify him hogged all the limelight in the last two days, AAP workers, on the other hand, are trying to solve the curious case of Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan.

The partys minority face, Khan, had alleged that Vishwas was an RSS agent and that he was planning a coup in AAP for the top post. Vishwas, who already had begun speaking extensively to the media on how the party needed to introspect on its MCD polls debacle instead of blaming the EVMs, wanted Khan to be removed from the party.

Following this, Khan himself resigned from the PAC and a day later was suspended by the party. It is here that, Kejriwal and Co. acted like typical politicians  the type they have detested all along. Suspension will only temporarily keep him away from party affairs, and setting up a disciplinary committee will give Khan a fair chance of being heard.

Interestingly, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia personally went to Khans residence in Jamia Nagar to convey the PACs action against him. Perhaps, no AAP leader against whom the party took an action has got such a treatment.

Code of loyalty

Swaraj India chief Yogendra Yadav, who along with senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan was expelled from the AAP, told HT that for Kejriwal its all about the code of loyalty. I can give you an outsiders view on this, but I can tell you for sure that Amanatullah is not going anywhere. The leadership is just waiting until it wins back substantial dissidents on its side. They will take him back after that, he said.

Yadav recalled how Khan had gained entry to the party by owning up to the inflammatory communal posters put up by Kejriwal in parts of the city. He took the blame on himself and went to the police station on behalf of Kejriwal. So, he falls within Kejriwals code of loyalty, whereas, Vishwas has broken it. Immediately after the poll defeat, they want to show a united front. The leadership is just waiting for the right time, Yadav said.

Political problems for anti-politics party

If there was one thing that appealed to everyone about this party right from its first Assembly election in 2013, it was their promise of alternative politics.

But three years down the line, the AAP is seen doing everything that makes them just like the other political parties. Despite a series of ugly infighting which saw prominent leaders like Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan and Shazia Ilmi eventually leaving the party, and the recent rift with Vishwas, Kejriwal still doesnt seem to have learnt his lesson.

The party is evolving and a section of workers feel that power needs to be given to more than one person. Kejriwal is our face, but in the long-run there have to be other stalwarts too, said a party worker in AAPs office at Rouse Avenue.

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A couple and their 10-year-old son, who were returning home after buying medicines for their daughter, were killed in outer Delhis Narela on Sunday after a speeding car hit them from behind.

Some eyewitnesses gave chase to the killer car after the incident but the errant driver managed to speed away with the vehicle.

The police, however, did not have to look far in order to identify the car and get to its owner.

In his hurry to escape, the driver of the car had left his vehicles registration plate, that had been undone and come off after the crash, behind at the accident spot.

The driver, identified as Shiv Kumar, was arrested on Sunday, a few hours after the accident and the silver colour Santro car seized.

The Sunday accident left seven-month-old daughter of the couple, Riddhi, orphaned.

As of Wednesday, Riddhi was being cared for by her maternal grandparents, with her uncle, Jagjeevan, telling HT that he and his wife would bring the girl up, along with two of their own daughters and a son at their native village in Uttar Pradesh.

Riddhi lived with her parents, Ram Sanjeevan and Sundara, and brother Mukesh in a rented flat in Narelas Pocket-A. Natives of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, the couple worked in different factories in the area.

Having returned from work on Sunday, Sanjeevan realised that his daughter was unwell and needed medicines. Sanjeevan left his home on a cycle to buy medicines. In the market, he met his wife and son and decided to return home with them on his bicycle, said Sundaras brother, Sharda Prasad.

With his son placed in the front and Sundara occupying the back seat, Sanjeevan pedalled home. But as the trio crossed Raja Harischandra Hospital, a speeding Santro car rammed the cycle from behind.

Sharda Prasad, who happened to be walking on the same road at that time, said that the couple and their son were thrown off the cycle onto a footpath nearby. We rushed them to a hospital nearby, but the boy died on the way. His parents were later referred to Lok Nayak Hospital, but they too succumbed to their injuries a day later, said Prasad.

The eyewitnesses, meanwhile, had collected broken parts of the car, including its number plate, from the accident spot and handed them over to the police when they arrived at the spot.

A case of causing death by negligence and rash and negligent driving was registered at Narela police station. The number plate of the vehicle led the police to the driver who was nabbed from his home in Narela some hours later has allegedly confessed to the crime. He was arrested but later released on bail.
A 24-year-old kaali-peeli taxi driver Debendra Kapri walked into the Domestic Airport police station in Delhi on Wednesday evening and opened a backpack on the reception table. The officer manning the reception desk was shocked when he found that the bag contained gold jewellery, a laptop, one Apple iPhone, a camera, 70 US dollars  all valued over Rs 8 lakh.

Kapri told him that he had come to return the bag that belonged to a passenger who had forgotten it in his cab. Kapri said that he had dropped the passenger in central Delhis Paharganj area and he did not know his identity or where he went from Paharganj.

I was impressed with the honesty showed by Kapri. He knew the value of the items in the bag but decided to return it, said the officer.

Sanjay Bhatia, deputy commissioner of police (IGI), said that the duty officer alerted the station house officer (SHO) who in turn informed him about the matter. The bag was thoroughly checked. In addition to the US currency notes and costly electronic items, the bag also contained important documents, said Bhatia.

Kapri claimed that after dropping the passenger outside a hotel in Paharganj, he returned to Connaught Place area. He was cleaning the windowpanes of his Maruti Esteem car when he saw a backpack lying on the rear seat.

I was confused and did not know what to do with the bag. I could not return it to its owner because I did not know in which hotel the passenger was staying. I opened the bag and found cash, jewellery and electronic items. I decided to hand it over to the police, said Kapri, who came to Delhi four years ago from Bihars Banka district for livelihood.

While scanning the documents, the DCP said, a wedding card was also found. The card had a mobile number on it. A call was made on the mobile number and it was received by a man in Srinagar. When the man was asked if anybody known to him was travelling to Delhi by air, he claimed that his brother reached Delhi in the evening to seek a Visa for himself from the US embassy. He was informed about the bag and was asked to inform his brother in Delhi about it.

As the police personnel were making a list of the items in the bag on a piece of paper, Kapri stood by and ensured that no item is misplaced. I insisted that the list should be made in my presence and even requested for a copy of the list. I wanted to keep it as a proof so that if by any chance the owner of bag finds me and asks me to return the bag, I can prove that his belongings were safe in the police custody, Kapri told HT.

While the policemen were busy completing the legal formalities, the owner of the bag, Mubisher Wani, arrived at the police station and claimed that his brother from Srinagar informed him about his missing backpack. Kapri identified the man as the same passenger whom he had dropped in outside a hotel in Paharganj. The passenger gave details of the items which were there inside the bag. Upon confirmation that the bag belonged to him, all items were returned to him.

Even the bag owner appreciated and thanked him for his efforts His act is exemplary and need highest recognition. I have recommended for a suitable cash reward for the Good Samaritan, said Bhatia.
A three-year-old girl was raped allegedly by her neighbour in central Delhis Anand Parbat on Wednesday morning. The girl suffered injuries in her private parts. The girl underwent a minor surgery and is under observation, said police. They said the condition of the girl was stable and she was recuperating.

The accused, a senior police officer said, was arrested after he was caught red-handed by the girls parents and neighbours. They beat him up, called the police control room and handed him over to the police. The accused was identified as Vijay, a 22-year-old daily wage worker. Vijay was produced before a city court that sent him to jail, said the officer.

According to the officer, the crime came to light around 7.30am on Wednesday. The girl lives with her family in a slum cluster in Baljeet Nagar near Anand Parbat in Delhi. Her father is a rickshaw puller while the mother works as a domestic help. Vijay lives in the same locality and worked with the girls parents. As Vijay was known to the girls family, he often visited them.

Delhis cases of shame March 24, 2017: A 10-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her neighbour in east Delhis Gandhi Nagar.

A 10-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her neighbour in east Delhis Gandhi Nagar. March 13, 2017: A six-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped and raped by an unidentified man in Govindpuri area. The man later left her outside her home and fled.

A six-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped and raped by an unidentified man in Govindpuri area. The man later left her outside her home and fled. March 14, 2017: A four-and-a half-year-old girl was raped allegedly by her neighbour in an under construction building in south Delhis Neb Sarai.

A four-and-a half-year-old girl was raped allegedly by her neighbour in an under construction building in south Delhis Neb Sarai. Feb 25, 2017: A four-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered by her 16-year-old neighbour in outer Delhis Narela.

A four-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered by her 16-year-old neighbour in outer Delhis Narela. Dec 24, 2016: A 60-year-old auto-rickshaw driver allegedly attempted to rape a 10-year-old girl in east Delhis Geeta Colony. The man had allegedly made a similar attempt on the same girl three months ago.

A 60-year-old auto-rickshaw driver allegedly attempted to rape a 10-year-old girl in east Delhis Geeta Colony. The man had allegedly made a similar attempt on the same girl three months ago. Dec 16, 2016: Two men allegedly kidnapped a 13-year-old girl from outside her home in northeast Delhis Khajoori Khas, took her to a nearby shop and attempted to gang-rape her. A local resident saw the two men entering the shop with the girl and informed her family members, who were already looking for her.

Two men allegedly kidnapped a 13-year-old girl from outside her home in northeast Delhis Khajoori Khas, took her to a nearby shop and attempted to gang-rape her. A local resident saw the two men entering the shop with the girl and informed her family members, who were already looking for her. Nov 21, 2016: A four-year-old girl in northwest Delhis Keshav Puram was found dead near her house. Police suspected sexual assault. They later recovered a CCTV footage that showed her neighbour carrying her into the bushes near her house.

A four-year-old girl in northwest Delhis Keshav Puram was found dead near her house. Police suspected sexual assault. They later recovered a CCTV footage that showed her neighbour carrying her into the bushes near her house. Sept 3, 2016: An 11-month-old infant was abducted and raped by her neighbour in west Delhis Vikaspuri.

An 11-month-old infant was abducted and raped by her neighbour in west Delhis Vikaspuri. July 25, 2016: A four-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped and raped by her 28-year-old neighbour in outer Delhis Shahbad Dairy. She was admitted in a government hospital. The accused, Junaid, was arrested later.

A four-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped and raped by her 28-year-old neighbour in outer Delhis Shahbad Dairy. She was admitted in a government hospital. The accused, Junaid, was arrested later. July 23, 2016: A 14-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly raped several times by her neighbour and forced to drink a corrosive substance that severely damaged her internal organs in north Delhis Burari. The girl later succumbed to her injuries.

A 14-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly raped several times by her neighbour and forced to drink a corrosive substance that severely damaged her internal organs in north Delhis Burari. The girl later succumbed to her injuries. May 25, 2016: A 13-year-old girl with Down Syndrome was admitted in AIIMS after she was kidnapped, raped and dumped near the railway tracks allegedly by her neighbour in southeast Delhis Pul Prahladpur.

A 13-year-old girl with Down Syndrome was admitted in AIIMS after she was kidnapped, raped and dumped near the railway tracks allegedly by her neighbour in southeast Delhis Pul Prahladpur. May 10, 2016: A nine-year-old girl was raped allegedly by her neighbour, a toy seller, at his room in Sanjay Camp slum near Nigerian Embassy in Delhis high-security diplomatic enclave. The 21-year-old accused was later found to be an alleged serial rapist, who had earlier raped five more girls in the same locality.

On Wednesday around 7am, the girls parents were busy in some work when the girl went out to play with friends. Finding her playing alone, Vijay approached the girl and allegedly lured her to his jhuggi with the promise of giving her chocolates. Vijay raped the minor girl after threatening to harm her and her parents if she screamed or told anybody about it, said the officer.

Meanwhile, the girls parents found her missing and went looking for her in the locality. As their daughter knew Vijay, they entered his jhuggi to search her. The parents were shocked when they saw Vijay allegedly forcing himself on their daughter. The mother raised an alarm after which Vijay tried to flee. However, the girls father overpowered him with the help of some neighbours.

A neighbour called the police control room and the injured girl was rushed to a nearby government hospital. The girl underwent a minor surgery to stop the bleeding. She was later discharged, the officer said.

A case under relevant sections of protection of children from sexual offences (POCSO) act and Indian penal code (IPC) was registered at the Anand Parbat police station and the accused was arrested, the officer added.

An NGO has been roped in to provide counselling to the girl.
The Delhi government on Thursday told the Delhi High Court that it will introduce self defence classes for girls studying in its schools in the coming months, taking into account the trend in crimes against women.

The governments decision comes after a bench of Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice Yogesh Khanna asked if self defence courses could be made a part of the school curriculum.

The court noted that these self defence classes are preventive measures to arm and strengthen the girls and ensure their protection. It also suggested that these girls could be imparted special techniques on self defence on a priority basis.

You have to train them, the court said, following which senior standing counsel for Delhi government Rahul Mehra said he has got instruction from the government that self defence classes will be introduced on priority basis in coming months.

On allegation by Delhi State Legal Service Authority (DSLSA) that the Rape Victim Compensation Scheme in the capital was starved of funds from the government, the high court directed the government to immediately release Rs 8 crore to DSLSA.

DSLSA, which dispenses monetary compensation to rape victims, said due to fund crunch atleast 308 claims were pending with it.

On this, Mehra assured the court that Rs 40 crore will be made available to DSLSA, the proposal for which will be cleared by the cabinet soon.

Delhi Commission for Women chairperson Swati Maliwal, who was personally present in court, said that six rapes incidents are reported everyday in the capital. Maliwal highlighted the issue of shortage of police personnel to deal with increasing crime rate in Delhi.

The Delhi Police, one of the largest Metropolitan Police force in the world with a current strength of 76,000, currently requires an additional manpower of 54,482 personnel to improve policing in the capital.

However, only 14,753 new posts have been cleared by home ministry and that too is pending approval by competent authority. The police force has been facing criticism for rising crime, particularly those against women.

Mehra also said that due to the addition of a second forensic sciences laboratory (FSL), in Chanakyapuri, the number of cases pending forensic evaluation had reduced to one-third of what was pending about a year ago.

However, taking into consideration that more than 6,000 samples were still pending before the FSL, the high court asked the government to consider formulating a policy wherein the oldest, heinous and important cases are prioritised.

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The Supreme Court will on Friday pronounce its verdict on appeals by the four convicts of December 16, 2012 gangrape and murder case against the death sentences awarded to them. The court had stayed the execution of the convicts three years ago.

The 2012 incident led to large scale protests across the country, forcing the then government to make strict and punitive laws related to harassment of women.

A bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra had, in March this year, reserved the verdict after hearing the matter that was spread almost for a year.

Accused Mukesh, Pawan, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur had moved the top court challenging the High Courts March 13, 2014 verdict, which upheld their death sentences by a trial court.

The top court had stayed the death sentence on Mukesh and Pawan on March 15, 2014 and that of Sharma and Thakur on June 3, 2014. Hearing on the appeals by the four against the High Court order upholding their death sentence had commenced on April 4, 2016.

Six people gangraped a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern in a moving bus on December 16, 2012. The woman succumbed to her injuries at a Singapore hospital on 13 days later.

One of the accused, Ram Singh, allegedly hanged himself in prison.

On August 31, 2013, the Juvenile Justice Board sentenced the minor accused to a three-year stay in a special home for gangrape and murder of the girl.The juvenile, now 21 years old, was released from the reformation home in November 2015.

While upholding the conviction and death sentence of the remaining four, the High Court had said, Societys abhorrence to atrocious crimes perpetrated upon innocent and helpless victims has resulted in the death penalty being retained on the statute book to remind such criminals that human life is very precious and one who dares to take the life of others must lose his own life.

In March this year, the SC had also sought a report on the conduct in prison of the four death row convicts from Delhis Tihar Jail superintendent.

Earlier, the SC had told senior advocates Sanjay Hedge and Raju Ramachandran to assist the court because the lawyer the accused hired were unable to argue well.

Later, Ramachandran represented Mukesh (29) and Pawan Gupta (22), while Hegde argued for Vinay Sharma (23) and Akshay Thakur (31).
Defending the Centres decision to link citizens Aadhaar numbers to their PAN cards, Attorney General (A-G) Mukul Rohatgi on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that the right over ones body is not absolute and called the arguments of bodily intrusion to take biometric data for Aadhaar as bogus. His added that Aadhaar biometrics are no more intrusive than photographs used in other identity documents and that an individual does not have absolute authority over their body because the government was already regulating abortions in women and collecting fingerprints from criminals. The A-G also argued that the leaks did not come from the central database and so the Aadhaar database cannot be called unsafe.

The A-Gs argument that an individuals bodily integrity is bogus is shocking. It undermines individual freedom and raises several other questions including whether the next step could be DNA profiling. If an individual does not have complete rights on ones own body, what is left of individual freedom? In cases involving violations of bodily integrity such as rape, the notion of consent is invoked. Consent implies that an individual has complete authority over her own body and no one can violate that. By claiming that this is a bogus idea, the A-G has done a great disservice to the rights of citizens.

The bedrock of the modern legal system is the assumption that an individual is innocent until proven guilty. But to collect biometric data because criminals surrender fingerprints is to turn that maxim on its head. As Justice AK Sikri pointed out, The State has the obligation to maintain the dignity of an individual and not impose the indignity enforced on criminals on everyone.

The argument that the leaks of Aadhaar data did not come from the Unique Identification Authority of India database, and so it cannot be blamed for the leaks is a bogus argument. Given that details of 135 million Aadhaar card holders may have been leaked, it matters little whether that breach came from the central database or from other states. The fact remains that citizens who have given personal information to the government now have no way to ensure its safety.

Aadhaar will also be connected to bank accounts and other deeply personal aspects of a persons life. It would give the State massive powers over the individual. And given the rate at which the system is leaking, and the amount of scope there is for misuse of such information, Aadhaar is a dangerous and invasive database that cannot be allowed to become mandatory without the right checks and balances.
Concerned over rising violence against them 1,500 resident doctors from All India Institute of Medical Sciences have decided to learn taekwondo so that they are equipped to defend themselves.

A study by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) suggests more than 75% doctors in the country have experienced some form of violence while on duty. Although attacks on doctors, nurses, and hospital staff in India are not new, of late their frequency and brutality has assumed frightening proportions. On May 3rd, taking note of the incidents, the Delhi high court sought a report from the Centre and the AAP government on provision of security to the doctors, nurses and staff in public hospitals in the Capital, within 10 days.

All talk about a central law to protect doctors is up in the air. The Doctors Protection Act 2010 is in force in just 19 Indian states but implementation remains lax. The police register FIRs but hardly ever arrest relatives of patients whove resorted to violence against doctors. In Maharashtra, a brutal attack on an orthopaedic doctor by more than 20 relatives left him with loss in vision. A few days later, a doctor in Mumbai was beaten up by relatives of a 60-year-old patient who had died of a kidney disease. In March, after three incidents of violence in three days, more than 3,000 resident doctors went in Maharashtra on strike for five days. Expressing solidarity with them, their colleagues in Delhi wore helmets while attending to patients.

A 2014 article titled Violence against doctors in India published in The Lancet mentioned delays in attending to patients, seeking hefty advance payments, withholding a deceaseds body until settlement of bills and unethical practices among the reasons that provoke relatives to attack doctors. More than anything, the disturbing trend reflects the lack of trust in the medical profession among patients. While the doctors on duty need to inculcate soft skills that will help them emphathise with the patient and their families, the government should ensure there is adequate security to control any incidence of violence owing to frayed tempers.
The Kerala Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) or Class 10 board examination results will be announced on Friday, officials said on Thursday.

State education minister C Raveendranath will hold a press conference in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram at 2pm to announce details of the results. Students can check their results at www.kerala.gov.in, keralaresults.nic.in and keralapareekhabhawan.in

This year 4,55,906 regular students and 2,588 private students appeared for the SSLC exam that was conducted in March at 2,933 centres in the state and 9 centres in Lakshadweep and the Middle-East region.

This year, the results were delayed after the mathematics question paper was leaked and the exam was rescheduled. At least 11 questions of the model exam were repeated in the final triggering a controversy.

The embarrassed government later cancelled the exam conducted on March 20 and rescheduled it for March 30. It later announced a vigilance inquiry into the paper leak. During the investigation, it was found that an alleged nexus between 2 teachers, who set the question paper, and a private tuition centre in Malappuram led to the leak.

State education secretary Usha Titus, who submitted a report to the government, recommended many changes in the present system and favoured an expert committee to overhaul the examination sector.

Last year, the results were declared on April 27 and the pass percentage was 96.59%.

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President Pranab Mukherjee, in his capacity as Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) visitor, has appointed JN Medical College principal Tariq Mansoor its next vice-chancellor.

According to sources, Mukherjee approved Mansoor for the post on Wednesday. The other contenders for the post were Dr Abu Saleh Shareef, chief scholar & director of US India Policy Institute, Washington DC, and Dr Shahid Jameel, CEO of the Welcome Trust.

Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan had earlier told the HRD ministry that Mansoor did not fulfill the conditions laid down in the UGC rules for appointment as vice-chancellor because his name had figured in a CAG report. Nevertheless, the academician received the highest number of votes - 94 in all - at a meeting of the AMU court held on February 4.

Mansoor, who was born in Aligarh, is regarded as an able administrator.

The professor has been the principal of JN Medical College since 2013. From 2006 to 2013, he had been the secretary of the University Games Committee. Besides being president of the Association of Surgeons from 2010 to 2011, he has been a member of the Medical Council of India since 2015 and that of the AMU Executive Council for 12 years.

Mansoor is a recipient of the Senior Surgical Award from the Association of Surgeons of India, and as many as 49 students have earned MD degrees under him. He was also responsible for the construction of the pediatrics cardiology department at the medical college at a budget of Rs 1.5 crore.

The biggest challenge Mansoor may face as the AMU vice-chancellor is achieving a better balance with the central government. He will also have to ensure that funds are released for AMU off-campus centres at Mallapuram , Kishanganj and Murshidabad, which are currently on verge of closing down due to shortage of funds. A case pertaining to the AMUs minority status is also pending in the Supreme Court.

The present vice-chancellor, Zameeruddin Shah, is facing an inquiry.

Also on Mansoors plate is a six-day-old strike that resident doctors at its medical college took up after a confrontation with students. An FIR has been lodged against student leaders, and this may cause further tension on the campus in the coming days.

Mansoor refused to comment on the development. I have not received any written order so far on my appointment as AMU vice-chancellor, he said.
Many US colleges and universities, faced with declining numbers of applications from overseas, are trying to reassure potential international students they will be welcome on campus despite what they see in the news.

Schools are ramping up marketing efforts geared toward foreign students to combat growing fears that President Donald Trumps stance on immigration reflects a United States that is becoming less welcoming to foreigners.

Nearly half of the nations 25 largest public universities saw undergraduate applications from abroad fall or stagnate since last year, according to data provided by colleges to The Associated Press in response to public records requests. Eight schools did not provide data, while six saw gains.

Students are telling us that they dont feel safe here in the United States. That theyre concerned about discrimination, racism, said Katharine Johnson Suski, admissions director at Iowa State University, which is not among the largest 25. This year it was a little more important to make sure that they felt comfortable with their decision.

Iowa State is ramping overseas mailings to sell the schools Midwestern charm to students. Similarly, Purdue University sent overseas applicants a note from two mayors touting Indianas friendly smiles and hospitality. On a recent trip to India, the president of Portland State University told prospective students theyd be safe on his campus.

International applications to the University of Arizona are down 24% compared with this time last year; California State University, Northridge, is down 26%.

The University of Houston has seen a 32% drop, although its still accepting applications and its numbers will likely rise.

The US Department of Education did not immediately comment.

Students in India have been particularly alarmed, especially after a gunman shot two Indian men at a Kansas bar in March, killing one, after allegedly saying get out of my country.

Portland State president Wim Wiewel was in India soon after the shooting to meet prospective students, and the discussion quickly turned to safety. Wiewel and his wife reassured families that Portland is friendly to foreign visitors.

People in America recognise that even though there are a few crazies around, its not like its open season on Indians or Muslims, Wiewel said. Having us talk to them totally took away their fears. But the problem, of course, is we cant talk to everyone.

Some government officials are trying to tackle the problem, too. Several of the videos feature cameos from state governors or congressional members. A top official from Americas embassy in India penned a newspaper column last week stressing that US colleges and universities take pride in providing safe and welcoming environments.

Along with India, fewer applications have been coming from China and Saudi Arabia, which previously sent large numbers to American colleges. Experts say factors at play include economic turmoil in China and India, but some have blamed the downturn on a Trump effect.
Education boards in West Bengal are expected to release the results of the madhyamik or Class 10 board examination and uchha madhyamik or Class 12 examination on May 10 and May 16 respectively, officials said on Thursday.

The results of both the exams will be available on the state school education departments official website. The results will also be uploaded on the respective websites of West Bengal Board of Secondary Examination (WBBSE) and West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE).

The number of girls, who took the madhyamik or secondary and higher secondary or uchha madhyamik exams in the state, exceeded that of boys this year as in 2016.

Nearly 6 lakh girls appeared for the madhyamik exam, 23% more than the number of boys at 4,80,000. The trend was similar in uchha madhyamik exam in which 3,79,698 girls and 3,64,809 boys took the exam.

West Bengal education minister Partha Chattopadhyay said the Kanyashree scheme, a pet project of chief minister Mamata Banerjee, has been instrumental in encouraging girls to continue their education.

The scheme encourages families to keep their daughters in school rather than marrying them off at an early age.

Kanyashree has been a visionary idea by our chief minister, the positive impact of which can be felt in the sharp increase of female examinees in these two board examinations, Chattopadhyay said.

Last year, the madhyamik pass percentage was 81.80 and that of uchha madhyamik was 81.33%.

This year, the figure is expected to be somewhat same, an official of the state education department said.

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Unless you live under a rock, youve definitely seen the chatter on social media about Vogue Indias 10th anniversary issue. The magazine brought American model Kendall Jenner and the famous Peruvian-born fashion photographer Mario Testino together for the special issue a few months ago. Now that the pictures are out, theyre setting the Internet on fire.

Testinos aesthetics, paired with the effortless style of Kendall Jenner and Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, have garnered much praise, with almost everyone going gaga over how great they look.

Vogue Indias 10th anniversary issue cover, featuring Kendall Jenner. (Vogue India)

But, as much as people are celebrating the 10th anniversary issue, theres a bunch that asks why the magazine got Kendall Jenner (who is Kim Kardashians half-sister) to shoot for an issue that celebrates India, when it could have easily just opted for one of the many beautiful Indian faces instead.

Here are some of the many reactions floating around on social media:

WHY NOT PRIYANKA CHOPRA?

ZERO PERCENT INDIAN:

Someone explain to me why there is a white woman on Vogue India's 10th anniversary? @KendallJenner you represent 0% of Indian women #bull  Hilary Samuel (@HappyHilary86) May 3, 2017

WHY, VOGUE WHY?

WHY THE HELL IS KENDALL JENNER THE FACE OF VOGUE INDIA. THERE ARE SO MANY BEAUTIFUL INDIAN WOMEN OUT THERE AND YOU CHOOSE HER?!?!?!?!  Lajja Majmundar (@lajja_majmundar) May 3, 2017

PICK SOMEONE BROWN:

Vogue India picked KENDALL JENNER for their tenth anniversary cover.. Instead of, you know, someone that's actually brown   Noshin Chowdhury (@noshinxD) May 3, 2017

DO YOU EVEN KNOW BOLLYWOOD?

They put Kendall Jenner on the cover of vogue India does she even know what Bollywood is bruv  Naim (@VintageRogues) May 4, 2017

BAD LOGIC:

Kendall jenner on the cover of vogue india is like eating dhaal with Kingsmill whole grain white bread, just doesn't make sense  Son of Genghis (@sssaqaw) May 3, 2017

DO SOMETHING CULTURE APPROPRIATE:

My thoughts on Kendall Jenner being on the 10th anniversary edition of Vogue India. pic.twitter.com/HvivOExW32  Timmy (@TimmyTheLiberal) May 3, 2017

OUT OF OPTIONS, VOGUE?

So many beautiful women in India and Vogue India puts Kendall Jenner on the cover for their 10th year issue...   Gunjan Vaswani (@gtv58) May 4, 2017

WISHFUL THINKING:

I wish that Vogue India would have chosen an Indian model to be on the cover for their 10th anniversary issue rather than Kendall Jenner.  Em (@Emilykavka) May 4, 2017

SUCH POPULATION, MUCH WOW!

There's 1.34 BILLION people in India and they couldn't find anyone better than KENDALL JENNER????? https://t.co/MQHX2bsABq  Tiny Rhythm Flame (@mediha_say98) May 4, 2017

OPPORTUNITIES LOST:

Kendall Jenner is on the 10 yr anniversary cover of Vogue India. The few opps brown women have to shine are given to white women I'm tiredt pic.twitter.com/D0NoyJeemG  eemi (@eemanabbasi) May 3, 2017

Have a reaction of your own? Let us know in the comments.

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A New Delhi-based commuter Shivanya Pandey, who took to social media over denial of entry to six shabbily dressed kids in a rapid metro station, has demanded checking of CCTV camera footage from the station. This came after the Rapid Metro officials denied the accusation saying that the kids were not allowed in the metro as they did not have money to buy tickets and not because they were shabbily dressed.

Pandey had posted about the incident on her Facebook account on May 1 after which she wrote to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. Union women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi on Tuesday tweeted a screen shot of Pandeys Facebook post and wrote to DMRC officials for an inquiry.

Widespread Sensitization is required to curb incidents of discrimination against poor children. #DelhiMetro /1  Maneka Gandhi (@Manekagandhibjp) May 2, 2017

A Facebook Post stated that few poor children were not allowed to board a Metro Train even though they had tickets. #DelhiMetro 2/ pic.twitter.com/AperjITTvE  Maneka Gandhi (@Manekagandhibjp) May 2, 2017

Ive written to Shri Mangu Singh, MD, #DelhiMetro Rail Corp Lt., to look into the matter & ensure that such incidents are not repeated. 3/  Maneka Gandhi (@Manekagandhibjp) May 2, 2017

According to Pandeys post, four to six children between the age group, between 3 to 8 years, were denied entry into Rapid Metros Indusind Bank Cybercity station just because they were dressed shabbily and sweating even though they were paying fares still guards denied their entry. Rapid Metro fares are from Rs 20 to Rs 35, however, anyone up to 90 centimetres of height or below is allowed to ride free of cost.

On Thursday, a Rapid Metro spokesperson said, The criteria for travel in Metro system, as per guidelines laid down by Metro Act, is for commuters to be able to furnish requisite fare either by token or valid travel card as well as comply with security guidelines. In this instance, the criteria was not met. This is to reiterate, that Rapid metro does not discriminate any citizen and our teams are trained to treat all commuters with respect and dignity.

Meanwhile, Pandey claimed that the eldest child was carrying Rs 50 in hand to purchase the ticket. This is getting ugly now. So Indusind Bank Cybercity Metro official accepted denying entry to the kids but there is a twist. According to them, kids didnt have money to buy tickets, however, if CCTV footage can be seen, it will be clearly visible that the eldest one showing Rs 50 in hand stating he has money to buy tickets. Kids were heading towards ticket counter but the guard came and didnt let them buy tickets, even though the eldest kid bragged of having money. They were not even allowed to reach till ticket counter by guards and other officials which should be visible clearly in CCTV as a proof, Pandey posted on her Facebook account on Thursday.

After the incident, she also emailed to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights urging the body to take action against in the matter. I just talked to concerned person in National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and explained things well and she (official) ensured that there will be sensitisation for sure and directions will be given to avoid such things in future, she posted on Thursday.

Referring to the incident, Maneka Gandhi also wrote on her Facebook account, Widespread sensitization is required to curb incidents of discrimination against poor children. A Facebook Post stated that few poor children were not allowed to board a Metro Train even though they had tickets. Ive written to Shri Mangu Singh, MD, Delhi Metro Rail Corp Lt., to look into the matter and ensure that such incidents are not repeated.

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar inaugurated the second phase of Rapid Metro on May 2 and travelled with a group of 30 underprivileged kids.

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Hollywood star Brad Pitt has opened up for the first time about his much publicised split from actor wife Angelina Jolie, saying that the end of the marriage had a jarring affect on their kids.

Jolie, 41, filed for divorce last September after a reported altercation involving the couples 15-year-old son, Maddox, which led to an investigation by the FBI and the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services.

Pitt was ultimately given a clean chit by the agencies.

(This file photo taken on February 18, 2017 shows Hollywood star Angelina Jolie (1st-L) speaks as her children and actors of her new film stand on a stage during the premiere of Jolie's new film First They Killed My Father at the Elephant Terrace inside the Angkor park in Siem Reap. (AFP)

In a recent interview with GQ magazine, the 53-year-old actor said he and Jolie are now primarily focused on co- parenting their six children.

I was really on my back and chained to a system when Child Services was called. And you know, after that, weve been able to work together to sort this out. Were both doing our best. I heard one lawyer say, No one wins in court  its just a matter of who gets hurt worse. And it seems to be true, he said.

Court proceedings are just an investment in vitriolic hatred, he added.

You spend a year just focused on building a case to prove your point and why youre right and why theyre wrong... I just refuse. And fortunately my partner (Jolie) in this agrees. Its just very, very jarring for the kids, to suddenly have their family ripped apart, Pitt said.

While the actor said he was still grieving the end of his marriage and joy remained elusive, he revealed that after the separation he had abandoned substance use  including alcohol, marijuana and cigarettes  and had been sober for six months.

Actor Brad Pitt arrives at the premiere of the film Allied in Madrid, Spain on November 22, 2016. (REUTERS)

...Im really, really happy to be done with all of that. I mean, I stopped everything except boozing when I started my family. But even this last year, you know  things I wasnt dealing with. I was boozing too much. Its just become a problem. And Im really happy its been half a year now, which is bittersweet, but Ive got my feelings in my fingertips again, Pitt said.

The star delved into his destructive drinking habits.

I mean, we have a winery. I enjoy wine very, very much, but I just ran it to the ground. I had to step away for a minute. And truthfully I could drink a Russian under the table with his own vodka. I was a professional. I was good, he said.

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Child actor Sunny Pawar, best known for his performance in the Oscar-nominated film Lion, has been chosen for the Rising Star Award here. The award will be presented to Sunny at the 7th Annual Asian Awards on Friday, the organisers announced today.

Sunny, grew up in the Mumbai slums, shot to global fame with his role in the Australian drama where he worked alongside award-winning actors Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman. He was cast as young Saroo Brierley in the true life drama.

Sunnys performance was praised by Hollywood celebrities like Viola Davis, Andrew Garfield, Dwayne The Rock Johnson, and late night talk-show host, Jimmy Kimmel, who re-enacted a scene from The Lion King with the child star at the 89th Academy Awards.

Sunnys upcoming film Love Sonia is set to release in 2017 and features Demi Moore and Freida Pinto. The Asian Awards prides itself on honouring people who have achieved the highest levels in their craft. We have been waiting for someone to come along whose debut fits that description in order to justify creating the Rising Star Award. Finally, we have found that achievement in Sunny Pawar, said Paul Sagoo, Founder of The Asian Awards.

Sagoo said what Sunny has achieved in such a short time is remarkable. It is a travesty that other award ceremonies overlooked his performance in the film Lion and we want to correct that.

Founded in 2010, the Asian Awards acknowledge pan-Asian success across all walks of life.

Previous award winners include Shah Rukh Khan, Bruce Lee, Zayn Malik, Jack Ma, Dr Amar Bose, David Tang, Freddie Mercury, Kunal Nayyar and Ahmed Kathrada.
The first trailer for Stephen Kings The Dark Tower has been unveiled and it sets the stage for the mystic and brutal battle between the Gunslinger and the Man in Black.

Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey lead the epic good-vs-evil struggle in the film, reported Digital Spy.

The film has been directed by Nikolaj Arcel and produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, who finally made a Dark Tower movie a reality after a decade of development.

The Dark Tower will release on August 4 in the US and August 18 in the UK.

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A squad of 1,000 saints from the Jan Sena, a Kanpur-based religious organisation, will leave for Jammu and Kashmir on May 7 to help Army jawans and paramilitary forces take on stone-pelters in the strife-torn state.

Additional squads of saints may be sent later as per the requirement, said Jan Sena founder Balyogi Arun Puri Chaitanay Maharaj. Puri is the head priest of the Siddhanth temple in Janjmau.

The Jan Sena founder claimed they have decided to go ahead with the proposed plan under the Yudha Vijay Yagya despite the authorities forbidding them from doing so. We sought permission from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow us into Kashmir for boosting the morale of jawans and helping them take on stone-pelters, but did not get it. The district administration also denied us permission. However, we are determined to go, regardless of the consequences. If our members are stopped, we will travel in our individual capacity and regroup once we get there, he said.

Addressing mediapersons at his ashram on Wednesday, Puri said the saints would assemble at the Shahid Smarak in Nanarao Park on Sunday morning and leave for Kashmir in 100 cars and three buses. Many others will reach the Valley by train on May 14.

The maharaj said a truck loaded with stones will accompany the saints, so that any attack by Kashmiri extremists can be accorded a suitable response. Our disciples will collect more stones once we get there, he added.

According to the Jan Sena founder, as many as 500 volunteers would head to Krishna Ghati  where the jawans were found beheaded on Monday. We will ask the jawans to keep us in the front row, so that Army casualties are avoided. As we dont have families to mourn our death, we dont mind sacrificing our lives to safeguard that of our jawans, he said.

Puri said the volunteers have been trained in patharbaji (stone-slinging) to combat anti-national elements. We plan to open patharbaji training centres in Kanpur and adjoining areas to teach more saints the art of stone-slinging, he added.
Meo Muslims, a community comprising mostly of dairy farmers, want the cow to be declared as the national animal or a countrywide ban on its slaughter in the wake of the lynching of a man by vigilantes on suspicion of cow smuggling.

The Meo community, which has a population of 60 lakhs spread over in parts of Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, has called a meeting of its core committee on May 8 to discuss the issue in the wake of the lynching of 55-year-old Pehlu Khan last month by a group of cow vigilantes.

The government should either declare cow as the national animal or ban cow slaughtering across the country, Sher Mohammad, head of the Meo Panchayat-Alwar, told PTI today.

We have convened a meeting to discuss this issue. We will write letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje, he added.

He noted that Alwar and Bharatpur in Rajasthan and the nearby region in Haryana have over 60 lakh population of Meo Muslim community who are mainly dairy farmers.

We earn our livelihood by selling cow milk, Mohammad said.

He said the allegations of cow slaughtering against the community by cow vigilantes is nothing new.

Despite the fact that we are dairy farmers and do not run slaughter houses, we are beaten up, just on the basis of suspicion, he said.

Pehlu Khan, who hailed from Haryana, was attacked by cow vigilantes in Behror in Rajasthan when he along with others was allegedly illegally transporting cows from Jaipur to Haryana.

Khan died during treatment at hospital while others were given treatment last month.
A 23-year-old Indian Air Force (IAF) airman allegedly shot himself at the Air Force station in Tambaram on the outskirts of Chennai, defence and police officials said on Thursday.

The airman committed suicide on Wednesday night by using a firearm, they said.

It is a case of suicide. An inquiry is on, a defence official said but declined to divulge any further information.

Police said the body of the airman has been shifted to a government hospital.

Airmen are deployed on ground-based jobs in the IAF.
Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar has denied rumours that he is in contention for fighting by-elections on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket for the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency in Punjab. The Lok Sabha seat fell vacant when the sitting BJP MP, actor Vinod Khanna died of cancer last week. Absolutely not true, is how 49-year-old Akshay reacted when we asked him if theres any truth in reports that he may be set to join politics. I dont know where these reports are even coming from. I am shooting near Mumbai for my film Padman, blissfully away from the rumour mills, adds Akshay.

News websites were abuzz since Wednesday evening, first with reports that late Vinod Khannas wife, Kavita, or son, actor Akshaye Khanna, may be given the ticket by BJP to contest from the Gurdaspur LS constituency, and then with rumours that the names of Akshay Kumar and Rishi Kapoor are now in contention. When contacted, actor Rishi Kapoor refused to comment on the speculation.

Akshay Kumar, who won the National Award for Best Actor in Delhi on Wednesday, is currently in news for supporting several social causes, including setting up a crowd-funding platform bharatkeveer.gov.in with the Ministry of Home Affairs, to facilitate financial aid to the families of martyred soldiers.

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The Allahabad high court on Thursday summoned Uttar Pradesh chief secretary on May 11 with records of the 2007 Gorakhpur communal riots case, in which the then local MP and current chief minister Yogi Adityanath is one of the accused.

Hearing a writ petition by Parvez Parwaz and Asad Hayat, a division bench, comprising justice Ramesh Sinha and justice UC Srivastava, directed the chief secretary to also bring the investigation report of the case as well as documents relating to the grant of prosecution sanction under Section 153A of IPC.

As per law, the sanction to prosecute under Section 153A of Indian Penal Code (inciting communal violence) is granted by the state government.

The court directed the chief secretary to file personal affidavit in the matter.

The petitioners have requested the court to direct investigation, by an independent agency, into the case registered in 2008 in Gorakhpur against Adityanath and three others.
BJP president Amit Shah launched an attack on the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh on Thursday, accusing it of not utilising the funds sanctioned liberally by the Centre.

He also predicted a landslide victory in the upcoming assembly elections with a two-third majority and said the Central funds will be spent once the party forms the government in the hill state.

Talking to media persons, Amit Shah, who was here to attend a two-day conclave of top state BJP leaders said that corruption was rampant in the state. While mafias are ruling the roost, it is surprising the chief minister is treating the corruption charges as medals, Shah said, taking a dig at Virbhadra Singh, the states CM.

The funds given by the Centre are not being fully utilised and it appears that these funds would be spent by the BJP government after the assembly polls, he said, adding that the NDA government had been too liberal in sanctioning projects and funds to the state.

He said that the centre had sanctioned Rs 2850 crore for Una-Hamirpur railway line and the survey of Bhanupalli- Bilaspur-Mandi-Manali-Leh strategic railway line had been completed, while several other projects are in the pipeline.

The state got Rs 28,450 crore as deficit grants from 14th finance commission against Rs 11,131 crore by 13th finance commission while share in central taxes jumped from Rs 7,829 crore to Rs 46,250 crore, he said, adding the Modi government was adopting all embracing policies with focus on poor and not discriminating against any government.

He said that tickets for assembly elections would be given to new faces with clean image and the party was fully geared up for the polls.

Amit Shah was flanked by Union Health and Family Welfare minister JP Nadda and former chief ministers Shanta Kumar and Prem Kumar Dhumal, besides state BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti.

Meanwhile, the meetings of BJP top brass started here this afternoon and would conclude tomorrow.

The main purpose of the meeting is to prepare the strategy for Assembly elections and strengthen the party in biggest Kangra district with 15 out of 68 seats, which led to defeat of the party in 2012 elections, a senior party leader said.
An Army Aviation Cheetah helicopter crash landed on Wednesday at Partapur where the armys Siachen brigade is headquartered. Army sources said engine failure led to the crash. The crew is safe.

The Cheetahs play a crucial role in supporting the army on the Siachen glacier, one of the worlds highest battlefields, flying at more than 20,000 feet.

The armys ageing Cheetah fleet has been a cause of concern for several years. In December 2016, the army and air force grounded their fleets of light-utility helicopters, concerned if the machines were fit to fly after three army aviators were killed in a crash in West Bengal.

More than 280 Cheetah and Chetak helicopters, lifeline of troops in high-altitude areas including Siachen glacier, were grounded for comprehensive safety checks.

The design of the helicopters is more than 50 years old and their airworthiness has been questioned after a string of mishaps in recent years. A group of wives of serving officers met then defence minister Manohar Parrikar in 2015, demanding the helicopters be retired.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has licence-produced 625 Cheetah and Chetak helicopters. It no longer builds them but is responsible for their maintenance and repair, a cause for concern.

Nine personnel were killed in six accidents involving these machines during 2012-15.

HAL in 1970 signed an agreement with French aerospace firm Aerospatiale to produce Cheetahs, eight years after it tied up with another French firm, Sud-Aviation (now Airbus), to manufacture Chetaks.

In August 2014, India scrapped a Rs 6,000-crore project to import light utility helicopters to replace Cheetah and Chetak helicopters, the third time the procurement was scrapped due to corruption allegations and technical issues.

The Kamov-226T light utility choppers, to be built with Russia, are to replace these helicopters. However, the programme is yet to kick off and the military may have to wait several years for the new machines.
Suspected militants attacked an army convoy that was returning after conducting a massive search operation that involved 4,000 troopers in south Kashmirs Shopian district on Thursday. A civilian was killed and three security personnel were injured in the encounter.

A Srinagar-based army spokesperson said that an exchange of fire has started between returning the column in Imamsahib area of Shopian district and an encounter was on.

The civilian was injured in the gunfire and succumbed to his injuries, agencies reported.

After a 12-hour dawn to dusk operation, the militants struck when army troops were carrying out a reverse sweep of Chowdari Gund and Kellar area of Shopian this evening, official sources said. Reverse sweep is a term used by army in which they carry out a surprise check of a location after having combed it earlier in the day.

The militants had laid an ambush and fired indiscriminately when the troops approached the village looking for militants, sources said.

The troops returned the fire besides alerting other teams who laid a cordon around the spot.

The cordon and search operation (CASO) followed intelligence inputs about the presence of militants, including foreign terrorists, in the area, an official said. However, no arrests were made during the search operation.

The troops asked all villagers to assemble in a common area so a proper search of their homes could be carried out.

We do not wish to have any civilian casualty and the measure was therefore required, said a senior army official engaged in the operation.

Aiding the security forces, which included a team of concealed anti terrorists (CAT), were drones providing real- time intelligence to the troops.

Door-to-door search of houses -- a practice stopped in the late 1990s -- was reintroduced on Thursday, with the army, police and CRPF personnel marching into villages in Shopian district, about 55km from Srinagar, for Operation Clean Up. Helicopters and drones too hovered over the area.

The operation, launched after a spate of militant attacks in the region, was perhaps the biggest in more than a decade in the troubled Kashmir valley, an army official said on the condition of anonymity.

Two Army personnel and a civilian injured after terrorists attacked an Army patrol party in Shopian(J&K) (visuals deferred) pic.twitter.com/C5Y7IkeCr9  ANI (@ANI_news) May 4, 2017

Soldiers, who were attacked, were returning from a day-long cordon and search operation in 20 villages of Shopian district after no militants were found.

In Delhi, army chief General Bipin Rawat indicated to reporters that security forces had beefed up counter- infiltration postures in Jammu and Kashmir.

Rawat was in Kashmir on a two-day visit earlier this week.

On Wednesday, unidentified gunmen targeted banks in south Kashmir  looting a total of Rs 6.33 lakh from Ellaquai Dehati Bank (EDB) and J-K Bank in Pulwama district in a span of a few hours.

On Tuesday night, suspected militants barged into a court complex in Shopian district and snatched five weapons from the guarding policemen.

The weapon-snatching incident in Shopian came a day after five policemen and two bank guards travelling in a J-K bank van were killed in Kulgam district.

(With PTI inputs)

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An inebriated 32-year-old man in Rajasthans Bharatpur climbed atop a 60-feet-tall water tank and threatened to commit suicide if the government did not take avenge the beheading of two Indian soldiers earlier this week.

Police said Raju Singh of Nadbai town in Bharatpur climbed the tank in Gandhi Park under Kotwali police station around 4 pm on Wednesday, but police was informed about it two hours later, sending them and the local administration into a tizzy.

For two hours, police and administration tried to convince him to climb down but in vain. His family also came to the spot and requested him to come down.

It was only around 8 pm, when deputy superintendent of police Abaddan Ratnu and sub-divisional magistrate Pushkar Mittal, reached the park with heavy police force and asked cops to go up the tank to bring him down, that the drama ended.

After he was brought down, he told reporters that he wants Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take revenge for beheading of soldiers in Kashmir. If they dont take any action, I will climb up the tank again and end my life, he said. Singh said the PM said he will be strict with Pakistan but has not demonstrated that.

For two hours, police and administration tried to convince him to climb down but in vain. His family also came to the spot and requested him to come down. (HT PHOTO)

Singh works in a private finance company in Bharatpur. His brother, Bhupendra Singh, is a former Army soldier. He said the family was shocked to hear that he was threatening to end his life for justice to soldiers.

Police arrested the man under section 60 of the Rajasthan Police Act (punishment for offences on roads etc. causing obstruction, inconvenience, annoyance, risk, danger or damage to residents) after he was brought down.

He was sent to government district hospital for a medical check-up and was found to be drunk. Police said he was later released on bail.

Tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad have mounted following Mondays attack, when a rogue Pakistani team killed and beheaded Paramjit Singh, a 42-year-old army officer and 45-year-old Border Security Force constable Prem Sagar.
Army chief General Bipin Rawat indicated on Thursday the force would retaliate to the beheading of two Indian soldiers by Pakistani troops, but refused to spell out details.

The killing and mutilation of the soldiers in a cross-LoC raid on Monday sparked widespread anger, with family members and political leaders demanding similar action against the neighbouring country.

We dont talk about future plans beforehand; we share details after execution, the chief said in his first public reaction to the attack carried out by Pakistans Border Action Team (BAT) in the Krishna Ghati sector of Jammu and Kashmirs Poonch district.

Members of the BAT, considered a rogue squad of Pakistani army regulars and militant mercenaries, ambushed an Indian border patrol and killed naib subedar Paramjit Singh, a 42-year-old junior commissioned officer with 22 Sikh Regiment, and 45-year-old head constable Prem Sagar of the BSFs 200 Battalion. Their decapitated bodies were found later.

When this kind of action takes place, we also carry out retaliatory action, the army chief said.

His remarks came on a day security forces launched an anti-insurgency door-to-door search operation with around 4,000 troops, helicopters and drones in south Kashmir.

This was the biggest combing mission against militants for more than a decade in the Kashmir Valley, which is besieged by a spate of militant attacks, bank robberies and cross-border shelling from Pakistan.

Insurgents attacked an army patrol in Shopian district, about 55km from Srinagar, on Thursday, killing a civilian and wounding three soldiers.

Gen. Rawat, who has vast operational experience in J&K, said incidents of the past few days had necessitated the move.

Banks have been looted, policemen have been killed. That is why todays combing operation is taking place. These operations are carried out regularly, he said.

The chief, who was in Kashmir on Tuesday, said the army had beefed up counter-infiltration measures as snow was melting and militants would try to sneak into India. The border state witnesses a long and harsh winter, with snow blocking mountain passes used by militants.

Pakistan has denied its soldiers carried out Mondays attack and beheaded the soldiers. But India told Pakistani high commissioner Abdul Basit that theres enough evidence, including a blood trail, to prove troops from the neighbouring nation crossed the border, killed the two men and carried their heads back.

Army vice chief Lieutenant General Sarath Chand said Pakistan army would have to accept responsibility and face consequences for its action. We dont want to talk about what we will do. We will do what we have to do at the time and place of our choosing.

India had last September hit terror launch pads across the Line of Control 10 days after an attack by suspected Pakistani militants on a camp in Uri left 19 soldiers dead.

Gen. Rawat was closely involved in the planning and execution of the operation that has become famous as Indias surgical strike.

He said there was a perception that military expenditure was a burden on the countrys economy, but a strong army is vital to economic growth. He assured that a national military strategy and a security framework would be finalised soon.

(With inputs from HT Correspondent, Srinagar)
PATNA A joint police team of north Bihars East and West Champaran districts, on Thursday, arrested Abi Mohammad Ansari, a Nepal-based alleged supplier of fake Indian currency notes (FICN) who is believed to have with Pakistans Inter-services Intelligence (ISI).

Abi, 35, a resident of Hariharpur in Bara district of Nepal, was arrested from Sikta police station area of West Champaran, following intelligence inputs. Official sources said he carried a reward of Rs 50,000 on his head

According to the police, the anti-terrorist squad (ATS) of the Uttar Pradesh police, the Bihar police and central intelligence agencies were interrogating Abi at an undisclosed place, when reports last came in ahead of the filing of this report.

The UP ATS had come with a warrant for Abis arrest in connection with the recovery near Raxaul in East Champaran district of Rs 25-lakh worth FICN, recently. The fake money was being moved through a courier when the police swooped down on it.

During interrogation, Abi admitted to being involved in the fake currency racket for the last five years, handling heavy consignments coming from Dubai and Pakistan. I mostly dealt in Rs 1,000 notes, but due to demonetization of high denomination currency notes (last November), I lost a lot of money. But my handlers recently assured me that soon I will be getting Rs 2,000 notes, he told the police.

Police said he would be brought to Patna on transit remand and produced in court on Friday morning.

The FICN runner was picked up while he was about to catch a bus for an unknown destination on the Nepal border. Abi, along with six others, including three Nepal and one Pakistan nationals, are accused in a case of FICN, being investigated by the national investigation agency (NIA) since 2014.

Two of them -Ekramul Ansari and Sharda Shankar Mahto - are currently in judicial custody, while Pakistan national Chacha alias Safi alias Haji is residing at present in Dubai. Nepal national Noor Mohd (of Kalaiya in Bara), also residing in Dubai, and Farmullah (Nepal) are absconding.

According to NIA sources, Ekram, a resident of East Champaran, had been arrested from IGI airport, New Delhi by DRI sleuths with 4,988 piece of high quality FICN of Rs 1,000 denomination, having a face value Rs 49.88 lakh, in total.

In course of his interrogation, Ekram confessed that the recovered illegal consignment was handed over to him by a person at the Patna airport on April 18, 2014.

During the investigation, NIA sleuths found that Abi had arrived on a Scorpio vehicle on the Patna airport premises on April 18, to receive Ekram, but the latter had already been detained by immigration officials at IGI airport Terminal 3 in Delhi and handed over to the DRI.

Earlier, on March 21, 2014, Ekram had reached Patna from Dubai via Delhi with a FICN consignment. He hired a taxi and went to Dhaka in West Champaran and later reached Ghorasahan railway station, where one Farmullah received him and handed over Rs 50,000 Nepali currency in exchange for the FICN consignment.

Abi was constantly in touch with Haji Chacha, who is allegedly an ISI agent and had been looking after the FICN trade for a long time. Officials believed he was heading the syndicate, at present.

The NIA had then requested the Interpol to issue a red corner notice against Dubai-based Haji Chacha and his Nepalese associate Abi Mohammad. However, due to insufficient details, a red corner notice could not be issued against Haji in 2014. Abi Mohammad was then listed as a 'wanted' person, said an interrogating officer.

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Abi, 35, a resident of Hariharpur in Bara district of Nepal, was arrested from Sikta police station area of West Champaran, following intelligence inputs. Official sources said he carried a reward of Rs 50,000 on his head

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Two office-bearers of Bihar Police Mens Association (BPMA), including its president, were arrested late Wednesday night for allegedly consuming liquor and creating nuisance on the premises of the new police lines here.

BPMA president Nirmal Singh and office-bearer Shamsher Khan, were produced before the special excise court of ADJ Ravindra Nath Tripathi on Thursday, who remanded them in judicial custody for 14 days.

Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaaj said Singh and Khan, both in the constable rank, were found consuming alcohol when some senior officers, acting on a complaint, reached the new police lines at about 11pm. The two BPMA office-bearers started abusing the police officers and created nuisance on the premises of new police lines. Additional reinforcements were immediately called and the two policemen were arrested, Maharaaj said. They were subjected to medical test which confirmed that they had consumed alcohol, The SSP said, adding that a case had been registered against them with Buddha Colony police station.

The breath analyzer test revealed Singh had alcohol content of 150.9 milligram per 100 ml of blood and in the case of Khan it was 179.6 mg per 100ml, the SSP said.

According to international standards, one who has more than 30 milligram of alcohol per 100 ml of blood comes under the category of drunk.

The state police headquarters has directed the SSP to submit a detailed report on the incident and to initiate the process for their dismissal.

Bihar became a dry state on April 5, 2016. Under the states prohibition law, consuming, keeping or dealing in liquor is an offence, which attracts imprisonment up to 10 years. On February 15, 2017, the Bihar cabinet amended the Bihar Government Service Conduct Rules, barring bureaucrats and judicial officers from consuming liquor or any intoxicating substance even when they are outside the state.

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BPMA president Nirmal Singh and office-bearer Shamsher Khan, were produced before the special excise court of ADJ Ravindra Nath Tripathi on Thursday, who remanded them in judicial custody for 14 days.

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The Madhya Pradesh government has scrapped the scheduled tribe certificate of BJP national secretary and sitting MP Jyoti Dhurve, triggering calls for her resignation from the reserved constituency.

A high-level scrutiny committee set up under the directions of the high court found that the certificate  which stated that the 50-year-old was from the Gond tribe  was not in accordance with her fathers lineage.

In the light of the evidence the high level scrutiny committee has taken its decision on April 1, 2017 unanimously.. to cancel the caste certificate of Gond scheduled tribe of Jyoti Dhruve and confiscate it, read the order, released late on Wednesday. Dhurve couldnt be reached for comment.

State Congress chief spokesperson KK Mishra demanded the election commission immediately cancel Dhurves status as member of Parliament. Mishra said action should be taken against Dhurve for submitting false documents from the reserved Betul constituency.

This case has been going on for the last nine years due to political pressure. The tribal welfare department should be asked why it took them so long to bring the facts to light, he said.

BJP state chief spokesperson Deepak Vijawargiya said the case was sub-judice and he would not like to make any comment.

The committee was set up last year at the directions of the Madhya Pradesh high court. Late Ojha Ram Ivane of Congress, who lost to Dhurve in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections in Betul parliamentary constituency, had filed a complaint against her. He had alleged that Dhurve didnt belong to the Gond scheduled tribe. Later in 2014, another complaint was filed by Shankar Pendram.

Dhurve had contested Lok Sabha elections from Betul seat for the first time in 2009 with the ST certificate. The seat was reserved for the scheduled tribe candidates.
The police on Thursday nabbed the couple who had eloped from Bulandshahr, an incident that led to the killing of a Muslim man.

Fifty-five-year-old Ghulam Mohammad from Sohi village was lynched by suspected Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV) members after a Muslim boy from the village eloped with a Hindu girl.

The girl will be produced before a magistrate to record her statement. SP (Rural) Jagdish Sharma says that further investigation of the case would depend on the statement of the girl as she is not a minor.

But in Sohi village, two days after the incident fear stalks the Muslim families.

While mourning the death of Mohammad, his four sons, brothers and relatives were deeply worried for their safety. The male members of Mohammads family have not gone out for work since the incident fearing a backlash.

A police picket has been stationed in the village but the family is unconvinced. How long will the police protect us? ask community members who are contemplating moving out of the village. There are only four Muslim families in the Thakur-dominated village.

Mohammads family has blamed 55-year-olds death on HYV members, naming one villager, Gavendra. They narrate in unison that attackers arrived on 8 to 10 motorcycles mounted with yellow flags and faces wrapped in saffron cloth. The men warned the Muslim families of dire consequences if the Hindu girl was not traced.

Yasin says though they reported the matter to Pahasu police and the village elders no action was taken against them.

The police have arrested the Vahinis Pahasu town president, teenager Honey Raghav, and workers Pulkit and Lalit. Vahinis district president Sunil Raghav, however, claims those arrested are innocent. He said that Vahini will launch a movement if its members are not released. The arrested men are innocent. They were in Pahasu town at the time of murder.

Police identified Raghav and his fellow workers from their Facebook accounts.

Read more: Mob lynches Muslim man in UPs Bulandshahr, son blames Hindu Yuva Vahini
Kashmir has been rocked by a string of armed bank robberies in the last few months, which the J&K police say is a sign of cash-starved militants trying to keep the funds flowing.

Militants, however, are vehement in their denial. They have enough cash, they are freedom fighters and wouldnt stoop to robbing, they say.

Nine robberies after November 8

The fact, however, is that Kashmir Valley has reported at least nine bank robberies and several such bids after the Centre announced scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bank notes on November 8. On Wednesday, gunmen targeted two banks in Pulwama.

They took away Rs 5 lakh from a branch of Ellaquai Dehati Bank (EDB). The men who robbed J&K Bank in Nehama of Rs 1.3 lakh also smashed the CCTV to avoid being identified. In nearby Kulgam district, some gunmen had barged into a bank a day earlier and walked away with Rs 65,000.

BANK HEISTS SINCE NOVEMBER 8 November 21, 2016: A bank in Chrar-e-Sharief in Budgam district robbed of  14 lakh. Four alleged Lashkar workers held

A bank in Chrar-e-Sharief in Budgam district robbed of 14 lakh. Four alleged Lashkar workers held December 8: Four suspected militants open fire, take away  14 lakh from Jammu and Kashmir Banks Arihal branch

Four suspected militants open fire, take away 14 lakh from Jammu and Kashmir Banks Arihal branch December 15: Around  10 lakh,  16,000 of which were in demonetised notes, taken away from Ratnipora in Pulwama. Police identify the robbers as Lashkarmilitants and a local

Around 10 lakh, 16,000 of which were in demonetised notes, taken away from Ratnipora in Pulwama. Police identify the robbers as Lashkarmilitants and a local February 16, 2017: Four armed men enter a J&K Bank at Turqawangan in Shopian and loot  3 lakh

Four armed men enter a J&K Bank at Turqawangan in Shopian and loot 3 lakh April 19: J&K Bank is the target again. A sum of  5 lakh looted from Harmain branch

J&K Bank is the target again. A sum of 5 lakh looted from Harmain branch April 21: Unidentified persons take away a State Bank of India ATM in Anantnag district

Unidentified persons take away a State Bank of India ATM in Anantnag district May 1: Five policemen and two security guards of a bank are killed after militants attack a J&K Bank cash van.

Five policemen and two security guards of a bank are killed after militants attack a J&K Bank cash van. May 2: Gunmen barge into a bank in Kulgam and loot  65,000

Gunmen barge into a bank in Kulgam and loot 65,000 May 3: Three suspected militants barge into an EDB branch in Waibug and walk away with  5 lakh. Same day,  1.33 lakh is looted from the J&K Bank branch.

The robbery came a day after militants attacked a J&K Bank cash van and killed five policemen and two bank guards.

Lashkar, Hizbul short of funds?

Snatching of weapons is not new to the Valley but bank robberies are. Since demonetisation, more than Rs 50 lakh has been looted.

For any militant organisation to thrive, you need funds and weapons, said deputy inspector general of police (south Kashmir) SP Pani. And when there is a scarcity of these, it turns to robberies and weapon snatching.

Police blame the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Hizbul Mujahideen for the robberies.

Barely two weeks after Modis announcement, gunmen took away Rs 14 lakh from a bank in Chrar-e-Sharief in central Kashmir. Next month, Rs 24 lakh was taken away from two branches of J&K Bank in Pulwama district.

It is difficult to independently get a response from the two outfits, but they have been issuing statements denying their role.

Smartphone craze among militants

Not just demonetisation, but militants spending habits too could be responsible for the cash hunt.

They have moved from low-cost basic phones to high-end smart phones, Pulwama SP Bhat said. Militants also need cash to pay overground workers, or sympathisers, and to get vehicles and army uniforms. They could still be getting money through hawala channels, but the amount would be smaller compared to RS 50 lakh they stole.

Besides that, through robberies you are making news and creating chaos, he said.
Revenue records produced by the Haryana government before the Punjab and Haryana high court have revealed that the controversial 464 acres of Gwal Pahari land in Millenium City was common village land and could not have been transferred to individuals.

The high court also observed that the mutation whereby title of land was changed in the 80s was wrong. It was a gram panchayat land (shamlat deh) and could have been transferred to municipal corporation and not individuals, the HC bench orally said.

Following the revelation, the Punjab and Haryana high court has now directed the Haryana government to submit details as to how much land out has been encroached upon by the next date of hearing. High court also asked the municipal corporation to start process of vacating land from individual occupants.

The direction was issued by high court bench of justice Justice SS Saron and Justice Darshan Singh while hearing a petition seeking a CBI probe on the controversial mutation of land.

Revenue officials such as tehsildar/naib tehsildar and revenue patwari and Kanoongo having the charge of village Gwal Pahari were present in court and produced record pertaining to the land.

The high court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Harinder Dhingra, a city resident, seeking CBI probe arguing that bureaucrats, politicians and local revenue officials were involved in the issue. An independent probe by an agency such as the CBI was required to ascertain the people behind involved in the mutation of prime land, he had argued.

As per the petitioner, ownership of the disputed land was with the gram panchayat of Gwal Pahari since 1940 and transferred to municipal corporation of Gurugram in 2010. Then financial commissioner (revenue),Yudhvir Singh Malik was not competent to pass an order on mutation in 2012, which the petitioner alleged had favoured some builders. Malik had passed the order on the application of a private party challenging the 2010 transfer of land.

Maliks decision was challenged by MCG before financial commissioner Surina Rajan, who stayed the order. But in October 2015, SS Dhillon, an IAS officer, restored the same. Thereafter, the matter had reached the state government and a decision was taken for mutation of land in favour in MCG. But this order too was declared void in January, 2017 by district collector TL Satyaprakash. District collector s decision has now been stayed by Gurgaon divisional commissioner D Suresh in February, as per the petitioner.
Will he, will he not?

Probably not.

Calcutta high court judge Chinnaswamy Swaminathan Karnan, who is on a collision course with the countrys top judges, has to appear before a medical board on Thursday for a mental health evaluation ordered by the Supreme Court.

It would be interesting to see what the court will do to resolve the unprecedented clash in higher judiciary as the judge continues to be defiant.

Here is what has happened so far:

Test them first

Justice Karnan, who has defied several top court orders, on Tuesday said he would not appear before the board and in turn, ordered psychiatric evaluation of the seven judges, including Chief Justice of India JS Khehar, who had on May 1 ordered the test on him.

Arrest them

Justice Karnan went a step further on Wednesday issuing non-bailable arrest warrants against the CJI and the six judges for failing to be represented before him.

Today the accused judges are called absent no representation issue non-bailable warrant against the accused call on 08.05.2017 (sic), the order signed by justice Karnan said.

Home court

The order was issued from his Kolkata home as the Supreme Court has barred him from judicial as well as administrative work.

The judge has so far passed five suo motu orders against the CJI and other judges.

Corruption, caste bias allegations

Matters came to a head in January when in a letter he asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to order an investigation against 20 judges he accused of corruption without providing any evidence.

The judge also accused his colleagues and seniors of caste bias, saying he was being singled out for being a Dalit.

Contempt proceedings

On February 8, the Supreme Court found him in contempt, a first for a high court judge in the country. He was asked for an explanation but he repeatedly ignored the orders of the court. On March 10, the court issued a bailable warrant and took away judicial work from him.

He rejected the warrant and ordered a case against the SC judges for caste bias. A week ago, he barred the judges from flying out of the India.

The clash within the higher judiciary is being closely watched as courts are increasingly being accused of overreach for excessive interference with executive action.
Indore in Madhya Pradesh is Indias cleanest city and Gonda in Uttar Pradesh the filthiest, a nationwide cleanliness survey by the urban development ministry has found.

The survey of 434 cities, conducted as part of the Modi governments Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, or Clean India Mission, has seen the historic city in MP knock off Karnatakas Mysuru, which has been topping the rankings.

The Top 5

Mysuru slipped to number five, an indication it failed to stick to the sanitation standards it achieved in 2016 and 2014. Waste collection, solid-waste processing and checking open defecation were among other criteria cities were measured against.

Bhopal, another city in the BJP-ruled MP, Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Surat in Gujarat are the other five cleanest cities, says the third edition of the Swachh Survekshan released on Thursday by urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu.

The cleanliness survey was carried out during January and February.

Launched in 2014, the Swachh Bharat campaign aims to make India clean and open-defecation free by 2019, the 150th birth anniversary year of Mahatma Gandhi.

TOP TEN CLEAN CITIES RANKINGS* Cities 2017 2016 2014 Indore (MP) 1 25 149 Bhopal (MP) 2 21 105 Vishakhapatnam (Andhra) 3 5 205 Surat (Gujarat) 4 6 63 Mysuru (Karnataka) 5 1 1 Tiruchirapally (Tamil Nadu) 6 3 2 NDMC (Delhi) 7 4 15 Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra) 8 12 3 Tirupathi (Andhra) 9 Not surveyed 137 Vadodara (Gujarat) 10 13 214 *434 cities (over one lakh population each) were part of the survey in 2017 while 73 cities (over one million population each) were covered in 2016 and 476 cities (over one lakh population each) in 2014.

How Delhi & NCR fared

The New Delhi Municipal Council area, the Capitals power district where 1.5 % of Delhis 16.78 million resident live, is out of the top five. It slipped to seventh position, dropping three places from last year.

The rest of Delhi, too, failed to impress.

While Delhi Cantonment is ranked 172, the east, south and north municipal corporation areas are at 196, 202 and 279 places, respectively.

The BJP beat anti-incumbency and recently returned to power in the east, south and north civic bodies, where garbage collection and disposal continues to be a big problem.

In the national capital region except Faridabad, ranked 88, none of Delhis neighbours are among the 100 cleanest cities.

Gurgaon, where around 250 Fortune 500 companies are based, is ranked 112 while Ghaziabad is way down at 351, a stark reminder that infrastructure is struggling to keep up with the rapid pace of urbanisation in the country.

Where Delhi & NCR stands in 2017 survey Cities 2017 1) NDMC 7 2) Delhi Cantt. 172 3) East Municipal Corporation 196 4) South Municipal Corporation 202 5) North Municipal Corporation 279 6) Faridabad 88 7) Gurugram 112 8) Ghaziabad 351 How has Varanasi (PM Modis constituency) fared Year Ranking 2017 32 2016 65 2014 418

UP dirties but Varanasi rising

Indias most populous state Uttar Pradesh is also the dirtiest. Fifty of the 62 of its cities that were surveyed ranked below 300.

The holy city of Varanasi, which is also Prime Minister Narendra Modis parliamentary constituency, is the only exception. It was ranked 32, a dramatic improvement from 2014 when it was close to the bottom at 418 among 476 cities.

One of the oldest living cities in the world, Varanasi has got more than Rs 20,000 crore since 2014 to upgrade its rundown infrastructure, an indication of the effort and money it would require to improve Indias urban landscape.

The worst of the heap

Gonda, a town in Uttar Pradesh, is the dirtiest at 434. Bhusawal in Maharashtra is a rank above. Bihars Bagaha is at number 432, Hardoi in UP 431 and Bihars Katihar at 430.

North India continues to fare poorly. Of the 10 dirtiest cities five are in Uttar Pradesh, two each in Bihar and Punjab and one in Maharashtra.

It also points to the problem the authorities face in informing people about the link between sanitation and public health.

Cities in the south and west India fare better. Modis home state of Gujarat has 12 clean cities among the top 50.

BOTTOM TEN CITIES/TOWNS RANKINGS* Cities 2017 2016 Gonda (UP) 434 151 Bhusawal (Maharashtra) 433 267 Bagaha (Bihar) 432 453 Hardoi (UP) 431 235 Katihar (Bihar) 430 385 Bahraich (UP) 429 449 Muktsar (Punjab) 428 384 Abohar (Punjab) 427 420 Shahjahanpur (UP) 426 425 Khurja (UP) 425 366 *In 2016, the bottom 10 cities/municipalities were not surveyed. Only 53 cities with a population of over one million and 22 Capital cities were covered.

How cities were ranked

Cities were evaluated on five parameters  waste collection, solid-waste management, construction of toilets, sanitation strategies and behaviour change communication.

The rankings are based on the data provided by municipal corporations, independent assessors and feedback from people. In all, 3.7 million citizens participated in the exercise.

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India will launch the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F09) carrying the GSAT-9 or the South Asia satellite, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi said will be a priceless gift to neighbouring countries, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on Friday.

Our dream is that this Saarc satellite will work in the welfare of all our neighbouring countries. And thats why I have proposed in front of you today that we offer a valuable gift to our Saarc countries through a Saarc satellite launch so that we also become partners in their welfare, Modi said in 2014.

The launch is being widely seen as a display of Indias soft power and regional influence.

The process of bringing all Saarc countries on board has not been smooth. Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Maldives, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka agreed but Pakistan is not a part of the project that was initially christened the Saarc satellite.

The launch was scheduled for December 2016 but was delayed.

The satellite will lift off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The lift-off mass of about 2,230kg includes the satellite and its launch vehicle. The mainframe of the satellite is cuboid in shape, built around a central cylinder. The mission life is 12 years and it cost 235 crore.

The GSAT-9 is a Geostationary Communication Satellite and data from it will be shared with the other five countries. It will help to meet the growing telecommunications and broadcasting needs of the region. All participating nations will have access to at least one transponder using which they can telecast their own programming.The countries will develop their own ground-level infrastructure.

The satellite is expected to provide communication channels between countries for better disaster management as the region is prone to natural disasters.

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Defiant Calcutta high court judge CS Karnan refused to be examined by a four-member team of psychiatrists who arrived at his New Town residence to execute a Supreme Court order on Thursday afternoon.

The doctors from the Calcutta Pavlov Hospital for Mental Patients, who were accompanied by police officers, stayed at the judges residence for about an hour. None of them spoke to the media when they finally emerged at 2 pm.

The order for Justice Karnans check-up was passed by a seven-member Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) JS Khehar, on May 1. The high court judge responded the same day by passing a suo motu order directing a psychological examination of apex court judges  including the CJI himself  at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.

The doctors from Pavlov Hospital reached Karnans residence in the eastern fringe of the city along with a police team from the Bidhannagar Commissionerate at 12.45 pm on Thursday. Karnan welcomed them in, and even treated them to tea. He, however, refused to be examined.

I decline medical treatment since I am absolutely normal and with a stable mind. Its my strong view that the Supreme Court order amounts to insulting and harassing a Dalit judge (myself), Karnan said in a three-page statement addressed to the medical board chairman. He handed several copies of the letter to his visitors.

The document also dubbed the judicial services offered by the seven Supreme Court judges as unsuitable for the country. My deep request on the behalf of 127 crore Indian people is to keep the welfare of the nation as the general requirement, the statement read. Therefore, I request the seven honourable judges to do the right thing by resigning as it is only too obvious that (they) are rendering judicial service only for personal gain. The seven judges are encouraging and supporting corruption.

Justice Karnans clash with the judiciary began a couple of months ago, when he accused several Madras high court judges and a Supreme Court judge of corruption, nepotism and casteism. His outburst triggered contempt proceedings, but he ignored the summons and issued counter-orders against the apex court instead.

The escalation led to an arrest warrant being issued against him  an unprecedented development in the countrys history  on March 10. However, Justice Karnan refused to receive it when a Bengal police team led by the DGP reached his home, and summoned the apex court judges instead.

The HC judge has passed six suo motu orders against the CJI and other judges until now. In April, Karnan even directed the Air Control Authority in New Delhi to prevent Chief Justice Khehar and the other apex court judges from travelling abroad.

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RJD chief Lalu Prasad said here on Thursday he was ready to spearhead a full scale war for dislodging the BJP-led Narendra Modi government at the centre.

The BJP hatao, desh bachao mega rally, that I am organising in Patna on August 27, will signal the start of a sustained agitation to end the BJP misrule by way of the partys loss in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, he said at the RJDs national executive meeting.

Prasad also pitched for reserving three out of four Shankaracharya peeth positions (for dalits, OBCs and other socially disadvantaged groups), if the BJPs hard-line Hindutva forces really believed in taking along all sections of society.

The RJD chief, under pressure from national executive members to unite and lead secular forces opposed to the communal design of the BJP-RSS combine, accepted the role, saying, we have only talked till now. But success can come our way only through the launch of a nationwide campaign. It will begin from here.

The RJD chief said that the secular and democratic fabric of the country was under threat. We must corner the BJP on the promise of bringing back black money from abroad, providing jobs,attack on our jawans in our territory, escalation of tension on the border and growing intolerance in the country, he said.

Prasad prompted party workers to start gathering cows that had passed the milk producing age and tie them at the doors of BJP leaders. It will be interesting to see whether they are ready to feed them for life. It will also expose their love for cows, he said, adding, the party will herd aged cows to BJP office in Patna.

Prasad said the frenzy of Hindutva and atmosphere of growing intolerance were not matters that concerned the minorities alone. Rather, they had a bearing on all Indians. If the social fabric of the society is disturbed and constitutional rights are compromised, what will happen to the country? he asked.

The RJD chief claimed that the move to set up a commission to revisit the need for job quotas (based on the Mandal Commission recommendations) was a step directed at establishing Manuwadi varna vyvastha (dominance of the upper castes).

He said that with leaders like Gandhi, Lohia, Ambedkar and Karpoori Thakur not around, it was up to people believing in secularism and social justice to marshal their forces for saving the country from being saffronised.

Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Prasad said that the man who criticized Mayawati for seating leaders of her (the BSP) on the floor, was doing the same with his party MPs and leaders. It is intended to command unquestioned authority. It is the sign of things to come (dictatorship) and must be opposed. he said.

He also asked senior leaders of the party to refrain from speaking against the RJDs ruling grand alliance partners, in public.

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PATNA: The inspector-general (IG) of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Bihar sector, has asked his commandants, including those of its elite Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) batallion to maintain a high degree of alert in Maoist-affected districts of the state, following the recent killing of 25 CRPF soldiers at Sukma area of Chhattisgarh.

Addressing a review meeting in Patna on Wednesday, MS Bhatia, IG CRPF, told the commandants to make effective operational plans and discuss strategy against the tactical counter offensive campaign (TCOC), which the Maoists undertake for 3-4 months, beginning March, to target security forces in order to gain ground, regroup and strategise their plan.

With 22 of the 38 districts in the state being Left wing extremist (LWE)-affected, Bihar ranks third among states hit by Maoist violence, according to information available on the Union ministry of home affairs website.

The Maoists have been targeting security forces in sporadic incidents in Bihar. Among the recent attacks, they killed 10 CoBRA soldiers in an IED blast at Madanpur Dumaria Nala in Aurangabad district last July and three other CRPF jawans in an ambush at Dumaria in Gaya in January 2015.

Bhatia asked his officers not to deploy large contingents in forests during the summer. As the jungles get de-foliated during summer, the troops can be spotted from a distance, making them susceptible to Maoist attacks, he said.

Stick to the standard operating procedures to avoid injuries and casualties, Bhatia said, while stressing on a strong intelligence network in Maoist-affected areas.

The IG said a joint operation with the state police will soon be launched on Bihar-Jharkhand border. It will include fortifying camps of security forces, undertaking special intelligence-based operations and ensuring covert tactics, he said.

The IG directed the officers to remain alert and chalk out new strategies to counter the Maoists, especially in case of sudden attacks.

Later, Bhatia distributed DGs disk and commendation letters to officers and jawans.

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ELKO  People wanting medical marijuana establishments in Elko County may have a friend in County Commissioner Rex Steninger.

The commissioner is concerned about Senate Bill 341, which would revise provisions related to marijuana establishments. His main concern is that the state is trying to keep counties and cities from taxing marijuana establishments.

Steninger said in one part of the bill it says the county could tax the business and in another part it could not tax them.

Everything else I can support except section eight subsection four, thats where it forbids the county from imposing taxes or rules, he said.

The other commissioners agreed SB 341 was poorly written. Commissioners asked Chief Civil District Attorney Kristin McQueary if the County could zone out marijuana businesses. She said they could not, because the law doesnt have an opt-out option like it does for medical marijuana.

You can talk about the moratorium on medical marijuana, but that was imposed back when it was still illegal, Steninger said Wednesday at a meeting of the Elko County Commission. The state of Nevada has declared it legal. I think were foolish to try to prohibit something thats legal.

Unless its the federal governments rules that were following and then it isnt legal, responded County Commissioner Demar Dahl.

Commissioner Jon Karr joked with Dahl that he was a big fan of federal rules. Throughout his career, Dahl has spoken against the federal governments decisions on land use, monuments, sage grouse and other issues.

So what if we said were going to follow the federal rules this time for a change, and were going to zone marijuana out, period, Dahl said. What if we did that?

McQueary said under the law the county cant impose any greater restrictions on marijuana businesses than on any other business.

My question is what if we did? Dahl said.

McQueary said it would depend on if someone wants to fight the County on the issue.

Steninger told Dahl, Thats a pretty liberal way of thinking. Liberals, if they dont like something they outlaw it. Conservatives dont like something, they dont do it.

Commissioner Delmo Andreozzi and Steninger turned the conversation back to the bill. Andreozzi motioned to send a letter to the Legislature to eliminate the sections in the bill that limits counties and cities from taxing marijuana businesses. The commissioners approved the motion.

According to the legislative website the sections the commissioners were concerned about were eliminated in an amendment to the bill April 24. However, the bill still has not been voted on by the state Senate.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Thursday accused the Congress party of making an issue out of nothing, citing that former prime minister Manmohan Singh visited more countries than his successor Narendra Modi.

Our opponents make an issue of PM Modis foreign visits, but as per figures, Manmohan Singh ji visited more countries than Modi Ji, Shah said, while addressing intellectuals meet at Palampur.

Shah asserted that the number of Modis foreign visits appeared to be higher because when his predecessor used to travel, no one got to know about the trips.

Applauding BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Shah said the state no longer belonged to the BIMARU states.

When we governed Bihar, it was on the verge of getting rid of BIMARU state tag. It is due to our governments in MP and Chhattisgarh that they do not belong to the BIMARU category anymore, he said.

The BJP president claimed that wherever there was a BJP government in the country, there was development.

Within two years, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana initiated by the BJP government has provided connections of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders to two crore families in the country, he added.

Himachal Pradesh is facing anti-incumbency with chief minister Virbhadra Singh and the Congress government facing corruption allegations.

The BJP registered a mandate in the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand assembly elections earlier this year.
The military is not getting its due share, and spending on defence is considered a burden by many in the country, army chief General Bipin Rawat said on Thursday.

Citing Chinas example, he said a powerful military will enhance Indias strategic clout.

Dwelling on evolving security challenges for India, the army chief also said that a national military strategy and a security framework will be finalised very soon to effectively deal with various threats.

The two documents are being finalised at a time when the armed forces are dealing with increasing cross border terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir. Last month, a tri-services military doctrine was unveiled listing various response mechanism including carrying out surgical strikes to deal with terrorist attacks.

Pitching for investing more on Indias armed forces, Rawat, addressing a defence think tank, spoke of China to drive home the point that Indias true potential will be realised only when both economic growth and might of the military go hand-in-hand.

While we are developing our economy, the military is not getting its due share. I think here we need to draw a lesson from China, he said, adding military and economic growth should be conjoint as they are two tenets of national power.

He said the country must look for new friends and allies to deal with neighbours along Indias western and northern borders, an apparent reference to Pakistan and China.

Indias defence budget for 2017-18 was Rs 2.74 lakh crore which is 1.63% of the GDP. Chinas military spending for 2017 has been pegged at $52 billion, which is close to around three per cent of the countrys GDP and three times higher than that of Indias defence budget.

There has been a feeling among security experts and the defence establishment that the modernisation of armed forces is taking place at a very slow pace and that government has not been allocating adequate funds for it.

Referring to Indias security challenges, General Rawat said the drafts of national military strategy and national security strategy were ready to deal with pressing issues coherently.

We should be able to identify our own national military strategy. We do not have a national military strategy as of now. Directorate General of Perspective Planning has been tasked to come out with it.

We are also coming out with the national security strategy which will be given to the government. Both the draft documents are ready and hopefully we will be releasing them very soon, he said after unveiling Strategic Yearbook 2017 at the United Service Institution, a national security and defence think tank.

Holding that a strong military is essential for Indias forward march, he said the general thinking among people is that expenditure on defence is a burden on the economy.

He said a very strong military is key for the economy to develop. The army chief also identified ensuring energy security as another important requirement for India to become a major power.

Talking about the evolving security situation in the region, General Rawat said India must have close ties with countries like Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan considering the security matrix. He said such a policy will recreate the outreach India had before partition.

The army chief said such a strategy will create two pronged dilemma for Indias western neighbour, Pakistan, but also help in tackling issues with Indias northern neighbour, China.

We have to start looking at how do we carry out counter-encirclement for our future adversaries. Developing alliances, developing friends to overcome the (current) deficiency is important. That must be part of our strategic thought process, he said.

The army chief said that time has come for India to have a say in all major issues at the United Nations and the country must work hard to attain the membership of the UN security council.

We must create alliances and friends also so that we find a rightful place at the UNSC. Time has come for India to have a say in all that happens in UN, he said.

On energy security, he said India has a huge potential to generate solar and wind energy and it must focus on these energy sources.
Pakistan on Thursday said it would take up with India the issue of about 50 students being sent back following the beheading of two Indian soldiers and criticised New Delhi for being a silent spectator.

Delhi-based NGO Routes2Roots had invited the Pakistani students as part of their student Exchange for Change Programme.

They were sent back on Wednesday after the government advised the NGO against hosting them, saying the time was not appropriate for such exchanges after the beheading of Naib Subedar Paramjeet Singh and BSF Head Constable Prem Sagar by Pakistans Border Action Team (BAT) on May 1.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria blamed hardliners for Indias move to send back students and said, Hindu extremist organisations are involved while the government is watching as a silent spectator.

In India, growing incidents of intolerance, extremism and terrorism have attracted the worlds attention... Indias hostile policy towards Pakistan, and persecution of religious minorities including Muslims, Christians and others within India have been noted by the International community with concern.

He said Pakistan would take up the matter with the Indian government.

Pakistan always raises its concerns wherever warranted, he said.
Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik left the Opposition camp guessing over his position in the upcoming Presidential poll.

With more than 32,500 votes, Patnaiks BJD could have given the Opposition a fighting chance against the ruling NDA in the election.

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury met Patnaik in Bhubaneswar to seek the latters support for the Opposition candidate against the NDA in the Presidential poll in July. Although Patnaik didnt commit his support, he told Yechury that the dialogue process would continue. We will take the dialogue forward, Patnaik told Yechury.

Yechury, who has emerged as a key face of the Opposition unity against the Modi government, told Patnaik that in the present political context of the country, there is need for secular supervision as opposed to communal supervision from Rashtrapati Bhavan.

We want to field a person with impeccable secular credentials. We seek your support, said Yechury.

As the BJD is fighting against the Congress in the state, Yechury also clarified to Patnaik that he hasnt come for any political formation.

Any such formation can happen later. But now, we are only talking about the Presidential polls, Yechury told HT from Bhubaneswar.

At the end of the meeting, when Yechury asked what he should brief the media, Patnaik told him to announce that they have discussed the issue of fielding a secular candidate.

Hours before Yechury was scheduled to meet the Odisha chief minister at the latters residence, a section of the BJP rapidly circulated the name of Draupadi Murmu as the NDAs possible candidate in a bid to pour cold water on the Oppositions effort to woo Patnaik.

Murmu, the governor of Jharkhand, is a native of Odisha. If Murmu is indeed fielded as a candidate, it would be almost impossible for Patnaik to oppose her, said a Congress leader.

The Opposition is banking its hope on the fact that Patnaiks BJD is facing a new challenge from the increasing BJP threat in its state. In the recent rural polls in Odisha, the BJP improved its tally by 850%.

In the last election, Patnaik and J Jayalalithaa fielded PA Sangma as an independent candidate. It prompted the BJP to throw its weight behind Sangma, leading to a contest against UPAs nominee Pranab Mukherjee.

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Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday said Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had the potential to become the Prime Minister of the country. Amarinder further said the time was right for a generational change in the Congress to cater to aspirations of the 70 percent youth population of the country.

In an interview to a news channel, the Punjab chief minister rubbished Niti Aayogs plans to tax farmers, saying such a move will threaten the survival of the states farmers, who were already reeling under the burden of huge debts, forcing many to take the extreme step of committing suicide.

Reiterating his support for Rahul, Amarinder said he had always found the AICC vice-president extremely perceptive and decisive.

There was a deliberate attempt to undermine his image by calling him names, he said.

Confidence among investors

Amarinder also exuded confidence over the response by investors and industry to the change in dispensation in the state, saying his government had, in just six weeks, built investors confidence. Capt also endorsed his claim by adding that the Bathinda refinery was all set for a Rs 20,000-crore expansion.

Drug menace in Punjab

Captain Amarinder said while he could turn things around overnight, his government had succeeded in creating the right enabling environment for the elimination of drugs, which were now less available.

However, he was also quick in pointing point out that it would be difficult to wean youth completely away from drugs without giving them employment, towards which his government was committed. Industrial revival will lead to large-scale creation of employment opportunities in the state, the Punjab CM added.

Working for farmers

Capt also said his government was working to encourage farmers  70% of whom were small farmers  to diversify and shift from paddy to cash crops. Such small farmers, who have less than 5 acres of land, will not be able to survive imposition of taxes as envisaged by the Niti Aayog, he added.

Will promote English

To another question, he said while Punjabi language will be accorded due prominence, it was important to promote English to enable the youth to find jobs in the competitive global market.

Read more | English to be taught from Class 1 in Punjab schools, says Punjab CM Amarinder
Yoga guru Ramdev on Thursday said India should not shy away from beheading 100, if they cut off the head of even one of our soldiers - on the killing and mutilation of two Indian soldiers on the Line of Control.

Addressing an annual press conference of his Patanjali brand of consumer goods, Ramdev told the media that India should follow Israels cue and behead 100, if they decapitate even one or two of our soldiers.

I have seen the relatives of those soldiers crying and asking why my childs body was mutilated, he said. India has accused the Pakistani army of Mondays killing and mutilation of two Indian soldiers on the Line of Control.

Continuing in the same vein, he referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said patriotism is in his blood and he wont flinch from following his duty.

On his brand Patanjali, Ramdev said by next year the homegrown label will have a production capacity of Rs 60,000 crore. Presently, he said, it is Rs 30,000 crore.

He said that Chinese products must be boycotted, and cited the boycotting of foreign goods called for by Mahatma Gandhi and Chandrashekhar Azad during British rule.

Even if one is supposed to shell out a few paise more for swadeshi products, he must do so. We require a general will power for the boycotting of Chinese goods.. Foreign companies have always looted India, Ramdev said, and gave the example of the East India Company run by the British during the colonial period as one of plunderers.

He also accused multinational brands like Colgate, Unilever, Proctor and Gamble, of hoarding capital worth over Rs 50 lakh crore in India.

On May 3, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a research institute run by Ramdevs Patanjali Ayurveda in Uttarakhands Haridwar.

The institute claims to have developed new varieties of wheat and chilli seeds that can more than double the yield  an attempt to fight back criticism after a set of recent reverses that saw the firms products fail laboratory tests and taken off shelves in army stores.
A review of the sanitation programme has thrown up an interesting fact that the open defecation free (ODF) campaign has slowed down in Bihars Rohtas district due to resistance from the affluent and educated class.

Sample this. The village vigilance team of Fuli, under Sareyan panchayat of Kochas block in Rohtas district, 150 kms south-west of Patna, recently caught a primary school teacher defecating in the open.

Another village heavyweight, Rajendra Paswan, a former mukhiya of Rendiya panchayat in the same block, has a pucca dwelling, but no toilet at Bharthara village, says the report of the ODF nodal officer of Shivsagar block, Rajdev Ram.

And, thats not all. The Paswans have a marriage in their family in about a weeks time and are expecting hundreds of guests. They will have no choice but to defecate in the open, the officer points out in his report.

Arshad Ali, who is the Shivsagar circle officer-cum-ODF nodal officer of Karoop panchayat, says in his report that the comparatively rich, residing in pucca dwellings in ward number 10 of Pipari village, take pride in not having toilets and defecating in the open.

Other well-to-do families at Bhadrasheela village, are no exception. They have SUVs and pucca houses, but no toilets, says another officer in his report to the district magistrate.

READ: Virat Kohlis & Chris Gayles to spread Swachh Bharat message in Rural Bihar

On the contrary, he says that the poor are more obedient in constructing toilets and driving the ODF campaign.

The travesty is that all such people, having social stature, were supposed to have driven the ODF campaign in rural Rohtas. Instead, they have turned out to be poor defaulters.

Swachch Bharat Abhiyan More than 3 crore toilets have so far been constructed under the Swachch Bharat abhiyan in India The sanitation coverage in India has gone up from 42% to 60% So far, 1,74, 557 villages, 118 districts and three states have been declared ODF

The challenge is to change the mindset of the people. It is easier to explain to the poor and make them understand. The actual percentage of poor constructing toilets at their home is more than the rich. It is really surprising that people have multi-storied houses and SUVs, with no dearth of resources whatsoever, take pride to defecate in the open, as a matter of right, Rohtas district magistrate Animesh Kumar Parashar told HT.

We have deputed senior deputy collector-rank officers as block nodal officers and block-level senior officials as panchayat nodal officers to achieve the target of making the district ODF, he added.

The resistance to change by the affluent class has slowed down the ODF campaign in Rohtas under the Swachch Bharat Abhiyan, launched by the Prime Minister on Gandhi Jayanti, October 2, 2014. It is Indias biggest cleanliness drive, aimed at making a Clean India by October 2, 2019 - the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Against a target of 2,50,000 toilets, the district has so far been able to construct 89,000, which is 35% of the target. On the contrary, in the hilly tracts of the district, inhabited mostly by the poor and tribals, the progress is 56%, says Dharmvir Singh, the district public relations officer and the ODF nodal officer of Rohtas block.

Only four - Sanjhauli, Tilauthoo, Suryapura and Nokha - out of 19 blocks in the district have so far been declared ODF, as Rohtas races against time to achieve the unique distinction of Bihars first ODF district by May 31.

Rohtas Sanjhauli block was the second in Bihar to be declared ODF on August 30, 2016 in a record 55 days. Piprasi in West Champaran was the first such block to achieve the milestone in 90 days last June. Altogether 53 out of total 245 panchayats and 945 wards have been declared ODF.

On a pan India basis, more than 3 crore toilets have so far been constructed and the sanitation coverage has gone up from 42% to 60%. So far, 1,74, 557 villages, 118 districts and three states have been declared ODF.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday night congratulated the 10 top cities selected in terms of cleanliness and said the healthy competition among the cities for becoming cleaner augurs well for the country.

Congratulations to the top 10 cities, he tweeted while referring to the government survey released earlier in the day which showed Indore in Madhya Pradesh as the cleanest city in the country and Gonda in Uttar Pradesh as the dirtiest.

#SwachhSurvekshan2017 offers an extensive picture on where our cities stand on cleanliness and the roadmap ahead. https://t.co/EzfvYRTQdH  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 4, 2017

The urban development ministry had commissioned the survey for 434 cities and towns with a population of 1 lakh and above in January and February this year.

Overall, 37 lakh people responded to a set of six questions about the city they belonged.

The 434 cities account for about 60% of the total urban population in the country. The response of 18 lakh people was taken into consideration for the survey after the elimination of duplicate feedback.

In response to a tweet by a follower that the survey showed increase in competition among the cities, the Prime Minister said, Yes. Such healthy competition between cities for becoming cleaner augurs well for the nation.

He attributed the success of the cleanliness campaign to the efforts of 125 crore Indians who have taken a vow for making India clean.

Swacchh Bharat (clean India) campaign is an ambitious initiative of the Prime Minister who is according top priority to it.

Bhopal, also in MP, occupies the second best spot among 434 cities and towns, followed by Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Surat in Gujarat, urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu said, announcing the results of an exercise he described as a citizens verdict.
Prime Minister Narendra Modis constituency, Varanasi, has soared up the cleanliness scale occupying the 32nd position in Swachch Survekshan-2017, which is a part of the Modi governments flagship Swachch Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) programme or Clean India Mission. It ranked 65th last year and 418th in 2014.

Incidentally, Varanasi is the lone city from UP to figure in the top 100 cleanest cities followed by Aligarh at a distant 145th rank and Jhansi at 166th rank. Gonda in UP was adjudged the dirtiest city in the country and was ranked 434th in the list. UP has 25 cities in the bottom of the list.

Urban Development Ministry had launched the Swachch Survekshan 2017 on January 4. The survey, conducted by the Quality Council of India, ranked 434 cities across the country on cleanliness and other aspects of urban sanitation. Around 37 lakh people submitted their responses.

Swachch Bharat Abhiyan, which was launched on October 2014, got a push in Varanasi when PM Modi wielded a spade and dug up silt at the iconic Assi ghat on November 8 that year during his visit to the city.

Varanasi Nagar Nigam (VNN) is the nodal body for the mission here. VNN in association with local non government organisations and volunteers carried out over 150 cleanliness awareness drives among locals at different places, including iconic ghats, lanes, mohallas, schools and colleges.

TOP TEN CLEAN CITIES RANKINGS* Cities 2017 2016 2014 Indore (MP) 1 25 149 Bhopal (MP) 2 21 105 Vishakhapatnam (Andhra) 3 5 205 Surat (Gujarat) 4 6 63 Mysuru (Karnataka) 5 1 1 Tiruchirapally (Tamil Nadu) 6 3 2 NDMC (Delhi) 7 4 15 Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra) 8 12 3 Tirupathi (Andhra) 9 Not surveyed 137 Vadodara (Gujarat) 10 13 214 *434 cities (over one lakh population each) were part of the survey in 2017 while 73 cities (over one million population each) were covered in 2016 and 476 cities (over one lakh population each) in 2014.

Sanitation volunteers knocked on the doors of each house in old city and appealed people not to throw garbage in the open and instead use dustbins placed in their respective areas. Simultaneously, sanitation efforts included door-to-door garbage collection in association. VNN involved three NGOs: ILFS, KIANA and Ecopal in cleanliness work.

ILFS looks after cleanliness in 14 wards along with all 84 iconic ghats. It is involved in door-to-door garbage collection and its volunteers also carried out awareness drive as well. Likewise KIANA looks after cleanliness in 30 wards and Ecopal in 25 wards while VNN cleans 21 wards.

Chief health officer at VNN Dr AK Dubey, who is also the nodal officer of Swachch Bharati Abhiyan, said, The awareness drives have brought a positive change in peoples mindset. Now, instead of dumping garbage on roads and lanes, they look for a dustbin. He hopes the ongoing efforts will also change the mindset of those who still dump garbage in open space.

Swachh survey 2017: Chandigarh cleanest city in North India, Muktsar dirtiest

Strict monitoring of garbage collection has also added to cleanliness across the city. As many as 1774 sanitation workers are deployed for cleanliness. Of these, 407 have been outsourced and 103 are on contract basis. A fleet of 104 vehicles ferry garbage to the dumping ground.

A few months back, the municipal body also deployed 103 night sanitation workers who sweep roads during night. The city has also got a well equipped night sweeper machine.

Dustbins placed at ghats

In addition, 150 dustbins were set up at ghats with a slogan: Use me. Around 500 litter bins were distributed in areas alongside the ghats. In all 5,500 dustbins, including smalls and big ones were placed all over the city during last two-and-a-half years.

Dubey said, Our serious efforts have tremendously improved cleanliness across the city. Efforts of VNN are on to achieve the goal of 100 per cent cleanliness in the city, which will be done in cooperation with the the locals.

More public toilets constructed

Earlier, people would urinate against walls due to lack of public toilets. Under the mission, there was target of constructing 330 toilets across the city. As many as 278 community toilets have already been built and 52 are under construction. Of the total, 30 per cent toilets are for women.

In addition, 9702 Individual household toilets are to be built in the city by 2019. Of these, 2375 individual household toilets have already been constructed and 1500 are under construction.

Dust bins installed at the ghats of Varanasi. (Rajesh Kumar /HT Photo)

Locals rejoice

Meanwhile, Varanasi mayor Ramgopal Mohale expressed joy over Varanasis improved ranking and said, We will make Varanasi the cleanest city in the country. Dramatic improvement in its ranking in the survey shows that our efforts have started yielding desired results. Next time, Varanasi will be number 1 in cleanliness.

Similarly, Rajiv Rai, a resident of Teliabagh locality, also expressed happiness over the dramatic improvement in Varanasis ranking. There has been a dramatic improvement in cleanliness across the city following the efforts by Centre. Locals need to change their mindset and must contribute to the efforts being made by VNN to make Varanasi the cleanest city in the country, Rai said. Keeping city clean is responsibility of one and all, he added.

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Two top Maoist insurgents, accused in hundreds of subversive and criminal incidents, voluntarily chose to surrender and join the mainstream in Jharkhand on Thursday.

The two had come out of their hideout area and were picked up by security forces a week ago. The police officially confirmed their surrender on Wednesday and produced them before the media on Thursday.

Sources said in the last one week, the two leaders guided forces to their secret hideouts and arms depots spread in the forests of Lohardaga, Gumla, Latehar and Palamu.

On their tip-off, forces recovered a huge cache of arms from Peshrar area in Lohardaga district. Raids were being carried out in many other secret hideouts, the police said.

Maoists Bihar Regional Commander (BRC) Nakul Yadav, 47, alias Arjun alias Jawahar Yadav alias Budha and zonal commander Madan Yadav , 36, said they were fed up with their life in the forests and hence, decided to join the mainstream and start life afresh.

They said the Jharkhand governments surrender policy titled Operation Nayi Disha attracted them.

An alleged mastermind of Maoists recruitment drives and training programmes, Nakul accepted his involvement in a few subversive incidents reported in his name but declined kidnapping and recruiting children to replenish the dwindling strength of their combat forces.

For years, his name was associated with abducting children and forcing villagers to spare a child from each family for the revolutionary cause.

Those are mere allegations against me. We never abducted children but they came to us on their own driven by our magnanimity, care and grooming, he said.

Nakul had joined the rebel outfit - it was MCC then - in 1993, influenced by then commander Rama Shankar Yadav of Bihars Aurangabad district. He said poverty, ignorance and a rift with upper caste neighbours over landholdings forced him to join the outfit.

Arms and ammunitions seized from the hideouts of Maoists. (HT Photo)

In the last 24 years of his association with the organisation that later merged with Peoples War in 2004 to form CPI (Maoists), Nakul was booked in around 144 criminal and subversive acts.

In 2002, he was arrested from Ranchis Khelari area while he was travelling on a motorcycle and put behind bars. For four years, he fought the cases against him and eventually got bail in 2006 from a Lohardaga court. Once out of jail, he returned to the outfit and took up a bigger role as regional head.

Initially branded a police informer and thrashed by the rebels, Madan joined the organisation in 2009 and rose in the ranks before being nominated as zonal commander of north Latehar area. He reported to Nakul and remained his trusted lieutenant till the two surrendered.

Maoists leaders from Andhra Pradesh have been exploiting local men and women in the rebel organisation. I am glad that our Jharkhandis have understood their ploy and hence, are severing ties from the outfit in the larger interest of the society, state and its people, additional director general of police RK Mallick said.

CRPF inspector general Sanjay Anand Lathkar said the Maoist leaders and soldiers had realised their revolutionary struggle was doing no good to the villagers and was instead making their lives more troublesome.

The police also put on display the arms and ammunitions seized from their hideouts. The seized items included light machine gun (LMG), semi-automatic rifle, AK-47 rifle, 303 bore rifle, SLR rifle, thousands of live cartridges and walkie-talkie sets.
The United Kingdom has agreed to expedite all Indian requests for extradition of Indian fugitives, including that of embattled industrialist Vijay Mallya, government sources said on Thursday.

During the first home affairs dialogue between India and the UK on Thursday all pending extradition requests, including of Mallya, were taken up, said a home ministry official on condition of anonymity.

The Indian side was led by Union home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and the UK delegation was led by Patsy Wilkinson, the second permanent secretary in the home office.

The UK has agreed to help India in 10 such cases while New Delhi has assured support in extraditing 11 fugitives from India.

Later, in an official briefing, home ministry?adviser Ashok Prasad said the specific details of Mallyas case had not been discussed.

We have discussed how to remove the bottlenecks in processing extradition requests. The process involved in matters of extradition and the need to further improve them were also discussed, Prasad said, adding that Mallyas case is under judicial process now.

The 61-year-old Mallya, who called himself The King of Good Times, is wanted in India for alleged financial irregularities such as loan defaults and money laundering.

Last month, Scotland Yard arrested the fugitive liquor baron and a London court granted him bail within hours.

Mallya left India for Britain on March 2 last year after a consortium of 17 banks accused him of defaulting on more than Rs 9,000 crores, mostly loans taken for his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

Since Mallyas extradition case is being heard by a British court, the government can only extend its support to India. It cannot issue an order for the extradition of the flamboyant businessman. All the fugitives are smart operators. They know how to use minor issues to delay the extradition process. During the dialogue it was stressed that India and the UK need to eliminate the possibility of extradition process being circumvented due to minor legal loopholes and minimise the delay in both the countries, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The government statement said the issue of challenges posed by illegal migrants was also taken up during the dialogue.

India also raised the issue of visa-related difficulties faced by its students, skilled professionals and dependents of Indian diplomats. The UK side assured to look into it. Both sides agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding in July on reworking the agreement on security cooperation.

India also offered to drop cases registered against a Bangladeshi national, who is lodged in Assam, so he can be extradited to the UK.
If the information you are seeking, can seriously harm someone, he will definitely harm you, says Dr Anand Rai, Right to Information (RTI) activist and Vyapam whistleblower.

Dr Rai claims he has filed more than a 1,000 RTI applications after the RTI Act came into being in 2005. But now, he and his ilk are a worried lot.

Their worries stem from a set of Draft Rules issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) in April. One of the biggest causes of concern is Draft Rule 12 which states, The proceedings pending before the Commission shall abate on the death of the appellant. The draft rules also have a provision that allows for the withdrawal of appeals based on a written communication by the appellant.

THREAT PERCEPTION

Around 40 to 60 lakh RTI applications are filed yearly in India and a large percentage of these are by the poor and marginalized. Such provisions will provide a perverse incentive to vested interests to silence the information seeker through coercion or physical harm,says Anjali Bhardwaj of the National Campaign for Peoples Right to Information (NCPRI).

Venkatesh Nayak of CHRI says the Draft Rule 12 is very dangerous as it can be misused to threaten information seekers from not pursuing their cases. If an RTI user is murdered his case will be closed automatically. Around 400 incidents of attacks on RTI user have been reported since 2005. They are susceptible to threats, intimidation, physical assault and murder. Even the Whistleblower Protection Act does not come to their rescue, as its coverage kicks in only when a citizen makes a complaint of corruption using the information obtained under RTI, whereas, attacks have occurred simply because citizens filed RTI applications.

And protection from the state does not come easy. As Vyapams skeletons started to tumble, threats to Dr Rai and his family increased. Eventually, it was a supari (murder contract) in his name that led Rai to seek police protection in November 2013. Rai was provided the security  a gunman  at the cost of 50,000. As Rai could not afford 50,000, he appealed to the high court for protection.

Since Vyapam was a very high profile case and the judge was understanding enough. He instructed I should be provided security without being charged for it, he says. So far, Rai has been lucky. However, many others are not. Like Suhas Haldankar who exposed civic lapses at Kharalwadi in Pune was murdered with concrete blocks on April 9. According to data of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, at least 65 murders can be linked to the victims use of RTI. And 2017 has already witnessed three murders of activists.

Harsh Mander a key campaigners of the Act says that the proposed rules would water down, instead of strengthening the Act. It is one of the most important laws for accountability and transparency. Clause 12 will incentivise people to eliminate those who are asking difficult questions. These people are vulnerable and such provisions will make them more vulnerable. Mander says if any RTI applicant is harmed, the information sought should be placed in the public domain. This would disincentives people to at least some extent before killing them (RTI applicants).

Activists highlight since there is no legal provision to provide protection to RTI activists, many of them had sought protection from the state in the past, but failed to get any support. Bhardwaj highlights the murders of Nandi Singh from Assam and Ram Thakur from Bihar. After Nandi Singh was first attacked in August 2012, he filed a case in the court of the CJM seeking security for his life. Failing to get security, Singh was cut into pieces in September 2012. Similarly, Thakur had been attacked at least five times, before he was murdered in March 2013. He had requested the police for protection more than once.

A senior official in the DoPT said the security of the applicants is paramount. The draft rule suggestions came from The Central Information Commission and their view on Clause 12 was that if an applicant dies, whom do they hand over the information to.

However, constructive suggestions from the civil society will be taken into consideration before finalizing, says the official.

On adding a special protection clause in the Act, the senior official stated that the RTI Act was never perceived as penal. The Indian Penal Code has such provisions; therefore there is no need for a specific penal clause in the RTI Act. Police is a state subject and if a complainant is not provided security, then its the failure of the local machinery, he says.

Former Central Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi avers it is the duty of the state to provide protection to every citizen who feels threatened and not just RTI activists. Protection to all, not just RTI activists should be threat assessment based. We should not create a separate class of people and provide for their security.

LOOPHOLES

To protect the identity of the applicants, the DoPT issued an order in October 2016 stating that while uploading the RTI replies on the websites of the ministries and departments, the personal details of RTI applicants should not be disclosed.

We try every bit to protect the identity of the applicant so that he is not caused any harm, clarified the official.

But the reality is different. Pankti Jog of the Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel says that while the primary duty of the Public Information Officer (PIO) is to give out the information sought by the applicant, in most cases the PIO is the first point from where the details of the applicant are leaked. This is especially true in rural and semi urban areas. Shailesh Kantilal Patel of Gujarat filed an RTI application on June 15, 2015 at noon at the district superintendent of polices office. He was murdered on the same evening. There is no definite way to prove, how and who kills RTI applicants, Jog says.

Activists say there is no effective grievances redressal mechanism in the Act, and even when RTI applicants seek protection, the State Security Council weighs the Threat Perception Report before deciding the tenure and eligibility for protection and by that time, the information seeker is already harmed.

Bhardwaj says the political will required to ensure the RTI Act is implemented in letter and spirit is missing. There are three vacant posts in the Central Information Commission. Even the Chief Information Commissioners post was left vacant for more than 9 months and the appointment was made only on the order of the court. Similarly, none of the accountability legislations - Lokpal Act, and Whistle Blowers Protection Act have been operationalised.
Jaipur: For the past one year, 19-year-old Kavita Meghwal and her family are living the life of outcasts in their village, Sihada, in Jodhpur district.

They spend their days in fear ever since Meghwal decided to marry the man of her choice. The family was ostracized by the village elders after the marriage .

I havent been able to see my parents ever since my marriage in April last year. The village elders have forbidden me from returning as I have married the person of my choice, Meghwal told HT.

Meghwals husband Udaram is at his wits end after repeated monetary demands from the village elders, who also threaten him regularly.

My wifes family wanted to marry her off to a mentally challenged man from another village. We knew each other and decided to tie the knot in court. It angered the elders and decided to boycott us, said Udaram. He alleged that in a meeting in October last year, they decided that in order to be accepted in the community, the couple will have to pay 5 lakh as fine.

Following their diktat, I paid 3 lakh but due to demonetization in November, couldnt pay the remaining money. The community leaders then ostracized my family and also gave us death threats, Udaram alleged.

He added that the caste elders began pressurising him to pay the remaining 2 lakh.

For the last several months, no one comes to our house and we live as outcasts in our own village, said Kavita.

After months of intimidation, the family decided to take help of the police and a case was registered at the Shergarh police station in January this year by Kavita.

Police arrested 12 leaders of the Meghwal community on Wednesday, who were named by Kavita in the case.

We have arrested 12 people in connection of the case under section 384 (extortion) of the IPC and further investigation is on, said assistant sub-inspector Hari Singh Bhati from the Shergarh police station.

However, Kavita and her family tell a different story, alleging that the accused cite their influence and say that they will bribe police.

They tell us that there are 21 people and even if they pay a bribe of 1 lakh each, the police will settle the case in their favour. The police have arrested only 12 of them. Ever since the arrests, several of them have got bail and the threats have increased, alleged Udaram.

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The excise department ordered the closure of a liquor shop near a school on Thursday, two days after parents threatened to pull their children out of the school.

Parents of 1054 girls of the government girls senior secondary school in Barmer warned of school boycott if the nearby wine shop was not closed by May 4.

Local residents had also started an indefinite dharna in front of the liquor shop a week ago demanding its closure.

Following directions by district collector Sudheer Sharma at a meeting on Thursday, the department ordered closure of the liquor shop and asked the contractor to search for another location to set up the shop, excise inspector Bhanwar Lal said.

This is the fourth liquor shop that was closed after protests by Barmer residents. Earlier, liquor shops opened at Chohtan Road, Mahaveer Nagar and Raycolony Road were closed.

Considering protests by the locals, the collector had earlier ordered a temporary closure of the shop near the school till the issue was resolved.

On Sunday, women protesters forcefully entered the liquor shop and asked the shop owner to close it. A delegation of women protesters also met chief minister Vasundhara Raje in Jodhpur to demand closure of the shop.

Anti-liquor protests have spread from rural areas to cities in Rajasthan  Jaipur and Barmer recorded many such incidents.

Apart from city residents, BJP leader and Barmer Urban Improvement Trust chairperson Priyanka Choudhary protested against liquor shops in residential areas. A voluntary organisation, Group of People, suggested a separate wine zone outside city limits. Congress legislator from Barmer Mevaram Jain urged district authorities to adopt this concept and shut down all the liquor shops opened in residential areas.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Bengal have arrested two persons who were employed as doctors in the two north Bengal states of Alipurduar and North Dinajpur allegedly on the basis of forged documents.

CID sleuths are also on the lookout of a few more fake doctors working in state-run establishments.

Read: With police too busy to crack down, fake doctors do brisk business in Delhi

While Khusinath Haldar was employed in Madarihat block primary health centre in Alipurduar, Kaiser Alam was employed in a block primary health centre in Chopra in North Dinajpur, both state-run establishments.

Kaiser Alam was employed since September 15, 2011 and used to do a range of activities from issuing death certificates to performing surgeries. He got a monthly salary of Rs 40,000. Haldar was also employed in the same year.

Six IPC sections including fraud have been slapped against both. The sections are 419 (punishment for cheating by personation), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 120 B (punishment of criminal conspiracy).

Alam is the son of Abdul Samad who is a resident of Chopra Bazar in North Dinajpur district.

Read: 15 Nepal doctors arrested for fake certificates from Bihar

Alam used to work for the National Health Mission. He was arrested from his residence. Both are being brought to Kolkata for interrogation.

The sleuths seized two death certificates from the block medical officers office issued by Alam.

According to CID sources, he issued a death certificate in a road traffic accident case related without conducting post mortem. The sleuths also seized the attendance register of doctors where Alam used to sign.

As evidences, CID also got hold of remuneration vouchers and bed head slips of patients admitted and treated by the accused as doctor.
All four members of a family were found hanging in their home in Hooghly on Thursday because the unmarried girl in the family was reportedly pregnant.

Police identified the deceased as Rabin Pandit, 45, Kalpana Pandit, 40 and their son and daughter - who, police say, was pregnant.

The girl was around 19 and her brother was a student of class XI and aged around 17.

Read | Pregnant woman writes to Modi and Adityanath urging for end to triple talaq

Police have arrested Ranjan Pandit, a cousin, who they suspect of being in a relationship with the girl. Officers summoned him to the Chanditala police station where he confessed to the relationship.

Police say they found Ranjans name written on the hand of the pregnant girls brother along with an explanation that he was the reason behind the familys drastic step.

The incident took place at Chanditala, about 25km from Kolkata.

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Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday conveyed to newly elected legislators how public representatives were facing a crisis of credibility and how the misdeeds of some people gave a bad name to the whole system.

Having more sittings of the state legislature could help in monitoring crime across the state, he said. There have been only 25 sittings of the state assembly. Holding 90 sittings will be a big challenge. But having 90 sittings will mean no problem at any police station, said the chief minister.

He also said Uttar Pradesh will change if public representatives behave responsibly in the house.

He was addressing the new MLAs at an orientation programme organised here on Wednesday to make them aware of legislative rules and procedure.

As many as 238 members of the 403-member house are first timers. Both governor Ram Naik and chief minister Yogi Adityanath gave a lesson or two to the new MLAs at the programme.

The governor and the CM tried to educate the new MLAs how they could make best use of the house to raise issues of public importance and serve the people of their respective constituencies.

The governor hoped the new members would behave themselves during his address before a joint sitting of the state legislature on May 15, though creating obstructions during the governors address had become a practice.

The governor spoke about how he got the national song Vande Mataram and national anthem Jana Gana Mana introduced in Parliament, using the rules and procedure, to raise the issue. Naik also referred to his initiative to get the MPLAD fund started, providing funds for development to MPs and get the name of Bombay changed to Mumbai.

This was probably for the first time that any governor was giving lessons on rules, procedure and conduct in the house to new MLAs.

The chief minister referred to Naiks work in public life to make his point that public representatives should uphold high traditions.

Yogi Adityanath spoke about how he went to meet the then speaker Lok Sabha Meira Kumar to inform her about his question on cleaning the Ganga. He said the then union minister Jairam Rameshs reply enabled him to raise the issue of conservation of Ram Garh lake of Gorakhpur. The minister had said he would be happy if any proposal for conservation of the lake was sent to his ministry.

A sum of Rs 196 crore has been spent on Ram Garh lake, the chief minister said.

Adityanath said on many occasions, Parliament worked all night and requested speaker Hridaya Narain Dixit to make arrangements for food to allow the state assembly work overnight. He also referred to his arguments with a bureaucrat-turned politician and said the legislature was the most accountable institution.

He lauded the speaker for bringing leaders of different political parties for the orientation programme. He also lauded new members for their interest in learning parliamentary procedures and said the orientation programme began five minutes early in view of enthusiasm among the new members.

This augurs well for democracy, the chief minister said.
At a mass wedding ceremony in Madhya Pradesh, held on April 29, state minister Gopal Bhargava gave a highly unusual gift to the brides.

The Minister of Co-operative, Social Justice, Panchayat and Rural Development handed mogris (wooden bats used for beating the dirt out of hand-washed garments) to 700 brides. The message on each bat said: Sharabiyon ke sutara hetu bhent, police nahi bolegi (A gift with which to beat drunkards; police wont say anything).

Not leaving it at that, Bhargava, in his address at the ceremony in Garhakota, told the brides without mincing words, If your husband or any other family member comes home drunk, treat him with it. Bizarre as it may seem, this is also being hailed as an empowering move.

When Hindustan Times asked some notable names in society for their views on this, opinion was divided  some told us that it is a praiseworthy move; others felt that a solution to excessive drinking and the consequent domestic violence had to go far beyond gifting a bat.

A newly-wed woman poses with the bat for beating drunkards. (Facebook/Gopal Bhargava)

I think [the gift] is more metaphoric than anything else, says designer Anand Bhushan. Even a literal interpretation isnt a problem. He says, Im all for stopping domestic violence. A person who is indulging in domestic violence should be given back. Theres nothing wrong with it.

This is India...giving bats to ladies to beat their husbands, toh dawa-daroo kaun karega pati ki? The wife will only have to take care of the husband  Neeti Palta, comedian

Comedian Neeti Palta has a lighter take. This is India. Giving bats to ladies to beat their husbands toh dawa-daroo kaun karega pati ki (who will nurse the husband)?The wife will herself have to take care of the [thrashed] husband, she says, in between chuckles.

What if the bats are grabbed by the men, and the women are beaten even more, asks designer Rina Dhaka. The ministers intent sounds laudable, though its humorous, she says. The fact that he got 700 of them means he was quite serious. Nobody has thought of women like this, so its a good thing.I dont advocate violence of any kind, but Id consider this a compassionate gesture. His thought is avant garde and definitely original, she adds.

The bats come with the message: Sharabiyon ke sutara hetu bhent, police nahi bolegi (A gift with which to beat drunkards; police wont say anything). (HT Photo)

Actor Ssumier S Pasricha, who plays a character named Pammi Aunty in short videos made for social media, believes that first women  or most women  have to stop being tolerant of domestic violence. Khaali shaadiyo pe bat dene se kya hoga (whats the point of only gifting bats at weddings)? Most of the women are also okay with the violence. Their mindset needs to be changed, he says, adding that women should be stronger from within.

Khaali shaadiyo pe bat dene se kya hoga? Most of the women are also okay with the violence. Their mindset needs to be changed. Giving a bat at a wedding is not the solution Ssumier S Pasricha, actor

Pasricha continues, Women dont want to use violence against men. Rather, [we should] make and implement strong laws against domestic violence. Jab problem hoti hai tab kuchh hota bhi toh nahi naa (no action takes place when a problem arises). He adds that men should be raised in a way that they dont beat women.

Author Anuja Chauhan, whose novels are populated by female characters, says, I think hes making a bit of a joke out of it. If he strengthens the laws and if he tells [the women] to call the police,thats the right thing. Whats the point of having a justice organisation? I pay my taxes to have a police force that functions.It seems to me like a haath-dhona thing (shirking duties). Put the fear of God into [a] man and tell him not to raise his hand on his wife.

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Almost a year after a cheating scam rocked University of Mumbai (MU) and 10 months after a charge sheet was filed, the trial of 18 men who were arrested for allegedly tampering with engineering exam papers is yet to begin.

These men include MU employees  a security supervisor, peons and clerks  agents and former students who wanted to make easy money.

The police said that the students whose answer sheets were smuggled out of the store room at Kalina would be made witnesses.

We recovered 100 answer sheets and Rs1.18 lakh in the scam, said Shripad Kale, senior police inspector, Bhandup police station.

According to the police, the student were asked by agents to leave blank spaces in their answer sheets to be filled in later.

After getting hall ticket numbers, the MU employees would smuggle out answer sheets for respective students. After writing the answers, the students handed the sheets back to the MU employees, who took them back to the universitys store room at Kalina.

The first arrest was made on May 20 last year when a team of the Mumbai police picked up Manoj Shingade, 22, a student who was found in possession of an engineering exam answer sheet. The police detained and frisked him in front of two independent witnesses. His interrogation led to the other suspects.

The exam was held nine days before he was picked up. The answer sheet contained all details such as the candidates seat number and date stamp. Shingade was allegedly smuggling the modified answer sheet back to the university.

The police questioned several students and university staff. The scam exposed the nexus between agents and university staff who would scout for vulnerable students, mostly with allowed to keep term. Students feared that they may lose an entire year and hence fell in to the trap. Students used to approach agent through word of mouth. The agents would brag about their ability to ensure that students would not fail, said Kale.

Even the prices were decided on the capability of students to pay up. Students paid from Rs2,000 to Rs15,000. If there were agents involved in a particular deal, the MU employees earned less, police said.

The police, however, did not name students whose answer sheets were found as accused.

The police had to be careful in handling the case as students were directly involved. Investigations also pointed out that staff were hired on a contract basis and were paid relatively low wages.

Course correction promises still unfulfilled

A day after the first arrests in the engineering scam on May 20 last year, University of Mumbai (MU) set up a fact-finding committee to prevent cheating and tampering during and after examinations. The committee, among others, suggested that MU needed to install CCTV cameras and monitor entry and exit of its employees. But months after the recommendations, very little seems to have changed.

At the time, the MU also promised a foolproof security for examination building in Kalina. Ironically, these promises are still work in progress. The new examination house should be ready in the next couple of months. All other requirement such as CCTV cameras and biometric entry and exit of employees will follow later, said MA Khan, registrar, MU.

The examination house in Kalina has two separate buildings: Jyotiba Phule building has 20 CCTV cameras while the second building, Ambedkar Bhavan, has none. Ambedkar Bhavan is where all answer booklets are corrected and moderated.

The process to install CCTV cameras is still pending despite floating tenders and receiving fund approvals from the central government, said an official from the examination house.

In a series of meetings held in 2016, MU vice-chancellor Sanjay Deshmukh had promised many security measures. However, the only change introduced to the examination house is frisking of bags of subject examiners and moderators.

Members of the Bombay University College Teachers Union (BUCTU) have repeatedly questioned the vice chancellor about his false promises. (With inputs from Shreya Bhandary

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The Bombay high court upheld on Thursday life sentences for 11 men for gangraping Bilkis Bano during the 2002 anti-Muslim violence and convicted seven people for tampering evidence in one of Indias most high-profile riot cases.

The court, however, rejected the Central Bureau of Investigations appeal to put three of the 11 men to death.

A division bench of justice VK Tahilramani and Mridula Bhatkar also dismissed the defence argument that Bilkis testimony was bogus and full of contradictions.



The appeal against conviction filed by the 11 convicts is dismissed. The conviction and sentence is upheld, the HC said.

Bikis was one of 17 people who were attacked by a mob on March 3, 2002 in Gujarats Dahod district at the height of violence in the state. Eight people were killed, six reported missing and only three  Bilkis Bano and two family members  survived. Bilkis, then 19, was raped and left for dead by the miscreants,

The case grabbed national headlines in 2003 when the Supreme Court ordered a CBI probe after the National Human Rights Commission backed Bilkis petition against a judicial magistrate order closing investigation.

In January 2008, a special court convicted eleven men  Jaswant Nai, Govind Nai, Shailesh Bhatt, Radhyesham Shah, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Pradeep Mordhiya, Bakabhai Vohania, Rajubhai Soni, Mitesh Bhatt, and Ramesh Chandana  for the gang rape of Bilkis and murder of her family members.

The 11 convicts had challenged their conviction in the HC. The CBI also approached the court challenging the acquittal of Gujarat police officers and state hospital doctors on charges of evidence tampering.

The agency also wanted death penalty for Jaswantbai Nai, Govindbhai Nai and Radhesham Shah, saying the three played a significant role in pre-planning and executing the entire incident.

The appeal filed by the prosecution against the acquittal of seven persons (in the case) is allowed. The acquittal is set aside, the court said.

The bench said the seven persons, which includes five policemen and two doctors, are convicted under sections 218 (not performing their duties) and section 201 (tampering of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

We will consider the undergone period in jail of these seven persons as their sentence. But we will impose a fine amount , the court said .

The court had reserved judgment on the appeals in November last year, after conducting a day-to-day hearing on both the pleas for about five months.

(With agency inputs)

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The Bombay high court, hearing the 2002 Bilkis Bano gangrape case, did not take into consideration the key contention of the defence  that differences in the statements Bilkis had recorded at Limkheda police station on March 4, 2002 and the one she recorded before then Godhra collector and district magistrate Jayanti Ravi on March 6, 2002 meant that she had been tutored.

The defence was appealing against the conviction of the 11 men found guilty of raping Bilkis Bano and murdering her family.

The bench noted, It also cannot be lost sight of that as the investigation by Gujarat police was not proper, the prosecutrix approached the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court transferred the investigation to CBI. Looking to all these facts, we hold that the FIR was not correctly recorded and facts have been suppressed and twisted therein.

To debunk the theory that Bilkis statement before Jayanti Ravi, which went on to become key evidence in the case, was the result of tutoring, the bench noted Bilkis was made to stay at the police station through the night on March 4, and observed that almost all relatives of Bilkis had been killed, in such a case, she would not dare to leave the safety of the police station and go outside with some unrelated persons. It found no merit in the defences theory that she was taken out of the police station on March 5, and was tutored to falsely implicate the accused.

The court went on to explain at length section 157 of the Evidence Act to make Bilkis statement before Jayanti Ravi admissible.

The bench noted, Undoubtedly, the trauma of sudden attack and murder of her relatives and of the rape was so horrifying that the delay of two days in the disclosure of the true facts by Bilkis cannot be said to be late. The disclosure was definitely proximate to the fact of occurrence. In any event, the sequence of events was such that Bilkis could not narrate the incident any time before March 6 fearlessly.

Defences counsel, Harshad Ponda, argued that when Ravi found Bilkis in a distraught state at the relief camp, she directed her staff, one Govindbhai Patel, to record her statement. However, as Patel was not a police official and merely an executive magistrate, he neither had the legal competence to probe the incident, nor record evidence. He also argued that as the statement was recorded three days after the incident, its veracity was questionable  Bilkis was sent for a medical examination only after she reached the Godhra relief camp on March 6 and confided in Ravi and a government hospital doctor there. The court cited previous SC judgments on section 157 of the CrPC to establish the redundancy of the defences lapse of time argument, saying that March 6, 2002 was essentially the first time Bilkis found herself to be in a position to give a statement fearlessly.

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With hardly 15 days to the deadline of road repairs in the city and still the procurement of raw materials in limbo, Mumbaiites might face bumpy roads this monsoon.

Last month, Thane collector Mahendra Kalyankar had ordered the shutting down of more than 100 stone quarries, as they did not have the permission from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) to operate it.

While the ruling Shiv Sena called the present situation to be a conspiracy against the party, BJP stood in defence of its chief minister and said the CM is being unnecessarily dragged into the controversy.

Why are quarries shut now just before the monsoon when the works were in full swing and not before? This is a conspiracy against the party, said Yashwant Jadhav, group leader, Shiv-Sena.

Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray also met the chief minister, discussing the halting of road works and asked for intervention for procuring raw materials. The CM has given favourable orders to the administration to assist the BMC, on our request and presentation, to help road work be smooth, tweeted Aaditya Thackeray.

Soon after the meeting, the BJP in the civic body said that the chief minister has nothing to do with the order and they should have a plan to procure raw materials. Corporators in the standing committee meeting criticised the civ administration for not being prepared and not having a solution even after the week of the orders.

According to officials, a majority of contractors working with the BMC get their materials from Navi Mumbai (which falls under Thane district). We are trying our best to complete all road repair works taken up this year. But with the quarries in Thane being shut, we have asked road contractors to source raw material from quarries in Panvel, MIDC and even from Nashik, said Sanjay Darade, chief engineer, roads in standing committee meeting.

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As Egyptian woman Eman Ahmed, who was once the worlds heaviest, left Mumbai today, three severely obese children have come to the city from Gujarat for obesity treatment.

The doctors at Saifee Hospital are expecting four more children  two from Maharashtra and two from Gujarat  to join the trio.

They came to the city this morning, we are taking them to Saifee Hospital now, said Dilip Nandwana, their uncle.

Seven-year-old Yogita Nandwana weighs 45kg, five-year-old Anisha 68kg, and their three-year-old brother Harsh weights 25kg. Together they eat enough food in a week to feed two families of four for a month. Their parents are poor, so the rest of the village pitches in to feed them.

Dr Lakdawala told HT that as in Emans case, a gene mutation was responsible for the childrens severe obesity.

Currently, there is no specific treatment for this condition. However, a drug called MC4R Agonist, only available through a pharmaceutical company in the US, could help these seven children, Dr Lakdawala said.

The children are most likely to be benefitted by the equipment and room prepared for Emans treatment.

As we have treated Eman successfully and brought her weight down to 170kg from over 500kg, we are looking forward to help the children. No bariatric procedures will be performed on them, said Dr Lakdawala.
What we know about the drug haul

On April 13, 2016, the police arrested two people with ephedrine worth Rs12 lakh and later busted a racket worth Rs2,000 crore at Avon Pharma Life Sciences factory in Solapur.

So far, 14 people have been arrested, including Kishoresingh Rathod, the son of a former MLA.

Five of the accused are abroad, including Mamta Kulkarni

Three accused  Jay Mukhi, Rathod and Vicky Goswami  carried out hawala transactions worth crores, said police.
A fire broke out in the college building of BYL Nair Charitable Hospital in Mumbai. Four water tankers and four fire engines doused the blaze quickly. Cooling operations are ongoing.

Meanwhile, a major fire broke out at a shoe godown at Bhiwandi at 7 am on Thursday. Primary investigations revealed that a short-circuit was responsible for the blaze.

Officials said 20-metre-high flames triggered panic among Bhiwandi locals. (HT Photo)

More than six fire water tankers and four fire engines doused the fire by 10.45 am, said senior official from the disaster management cell.
Corporators of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) rejected the civic bodys claim that it had completed 35.64% of the work of desilting the citys drains by the end of April.

According to senior civic officials, as of April 29, the civic body had removed 69,941 metric tonnes of silt from nullahs, well more than that in 2016, where the BMC had completed only 7.59% of the work.

The BMC is expected to remove 1.73 lakh metric tonnes of waste before monsoon sets in by the middle of June. Every year, BMC pushes its own deadline of May 31 to complete the desilting work.

Last week, civic officials said only 7% of the desilting work of nullahs had been completed.

Corporators across party lines dismissed the claims in the standing committee meeting of BMC on Wednesday.

Congress corporator and Opposition leader Ravi Raja said that the BMC has completed only 10% work in the F/North (Matunga), F/South (Parel), G/North (Dadar) and G/South (Worli) wards in South Mumbai.

Raja said, The BMC has asked NGOs to remove silt from minor nullahs, but where do they have the machinery or manpower? The rains will be here in a month, but work is yet to begin in major nullahs also.

Raja said that the BMC is yet to finalise contractors for the transportation of the silt.

With no response to BMCs tenders after three calls, the civic body had to rely on NGOs to remove silt from minor nullahs in the city. Removing silt is an important exercise before monsoon, as it clogs the drains during heavy rains, resulting in flooding.

LS Vhatkar, chief engineer of the storm water drains (SWD) department in BMC said, We have floated tenders for silt transportation three times, but got no responses. Now with relaxed conditions, we are hoping to finalise the contractors by next week. Till then, the transportation work is being done by BMCs solid waste management department.

Currently, 3.70 lakh labourers have been deployed to remove silt from minor nullahs, while 2.41 lakh labourers have been deployed to clean roadside drains, civic officials said.

Rais Shaikh, Samajwadi Party leader said, The richest civic body is Asia is not getting contractors to do desilting work. What can be more worrisome than this? Abhijeet Samant, a corporator from the Bharaitya Janata Party said, Cant the administration begin the tender process from August itself? It is the BMCs job to find contractors. They cannot give such replies to the city.

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A month ahead of monsoon,only 7% of desilting work is complete in Mumbais stormwater drains

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The Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) police recently busted an alleged gang of job racketeers and arrested four men who rented small offices in posh localities, duped unemployed youth and then moved to another city last year. Police said the gang duped more than 20 people using the same modus operandi.

The men, Anwar Shaikh, Jammaludin Shaikh, Raj Shetty and Manish Kamlakumar, ran a recruitment agency called Goodwill International.

It was difficult to trace them as they used fake names to rent offices at Trade Centre and Bandra (East), said police. They did not have a license from the governments foreign ministry required to run a recruitment agency, said police. Police said those who rented the offices to the accused did not verify their credentials beforehand. The men used the premises for a few months last year, after which police were unable to trace them.

It is important for landlords to inform the police when they rent out their premises to recruitment agencies as there are multiple cases in which such bogus agencies dupe people and become untraceable, said a police official.

A civil engineer identified as Imran Sayyed told police that one of the accused offered him a job in Oman. The man gave him forged documents, including a fake visa, to gain his trust. Sayyed paid the group Rs80,000 in June last year, after which the gang vacated their offices and cut off all communication with him. Two others said they were duped in the same way.

Based on technical evidence, assistant police inspector Vijay Kadam arrested one of the accused in Naigaon in Palghar district. The other three members of the gang were subsequently traced and arrested. The BKC police discovered that they had set up a temporary office in Navi Mumbai, intending to dupe more people. One of the accused is in police custody while the rest are in judicial custody.
A businessman was robbed of Rs 1.86 lakh on Wednesday afternoon by four unidentified people who posed as policemen.

Sahul Hamid approached the Vinobha Bhave Nagar police station after he realised something was amiss and a case was registered.

The incident occurred at Hamids flat in Farzana Apartments near Shalimar hotel in Kurla (west). Hamid, who is in the business of selling utensils, was with six workers in his flat, which is in a ground-plus-one structure. It is also used as an office, said a police officer.

The incident occurred around 3.45 pm after the accused barged into the house under the pretext of inspecting it.

They then assaulted the workers and broke open a cupboard using a hammer. The accused stole Rs1.80 lakh and also threatened the workers into giving money. They collected Rs6,000 from them and fled the spot by 4.50 pm, the officer added.

The police suspect an insiders involvement in the robbery.

We suspect that someone close to the victim was involved in the crime, as the accused knew where the money was kept. We scrutinised the CCTV footage and got leads, the officer said.

In the past, there have been cases in the city in which a man posing as an employee of a gas company robbed senior citizens. The accused would ask the victims to fill their details in a form and would make away with cash and valuables after tying them.

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A 16-member delegation, including two ministers, legislators and presiding officers of the Maharashtra legislature left for a 14-day study tour of Australia, New Zealand and Singapore on Sunday.

On the agenda: A visit to local parliaments and studying their laws on farm loans. The delegation, comprising state agriculture minister Pandurang Fundkar, food and civil supplies minister Girish Bapat and his wife, chairman and deputy chairman of the legislative council Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar and Manikrao Thakre respectively, speaker of the Assembly Haribhau Bagde and four MLAs from the state legislative council. They will visit 8 to 10 regional parliaments including that of New South Wales in Sydney; South Australia in Adelaide, the Australian parliament in Melbourne and a few in New Zealand.

The delegation is also expected to visit Singapore. Although the delegation will enjoy dinners and lunches thrown in their honour, each member will incur a cost of more than Rs6 lakh towards airfare and accommodation.

According to conservative figures, the state legislature is expected to incur the cost of more than Rs30 lakh.

Fundkar and Bapat are out on the tour when the state is struggling to handle problems such as delayed procurement of tur crop over which farmers are staging protests. In Pune, there have been agitations over the failure of the local government to lift garbage lying in the city for several days because the civic body is unable to use its dumpyard. Bapat is also guardian minister of Pune.

An official from the parliamentary affairs department said the delegation has a special session in the New South Wales parliament house on the agrarian crisis and hence the participation of the agriculture minister was necessary. Their Farm Debt Mediation Act passed in 1994 is believably effective for farm loans. The delegation will participate in a special session of discussion on the law and its feasibility in Maharashtra, he said.

The tour is organised by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA).

About 50% of the cost has to be borne by members of the delegation. The presiding officers are accompanied with their personal secretaries and principal secretary of the legislature Anant Kalse, while Bapat is accompanied by his wife. The tour is part of the CPAs activities and its state branch will bear the expenditure. We have not organised any tour since 2009 and so the CPA has adequate money accumulated in these years, said the official from the Parliamentary Affairs department.

The CPA gets an annual budget from the state government to spend on various activities, including holding debates on various issues, conducting training of the legislators for the strengthening of the Parliamentary system, among others. The last tour held was in 2008 and it has always put on hold by the Congress-led state government since then in the wake of agrarian crisis and consecutive droughts. Bapat, however, is expected to return by May 10.

Besides three presiding officers, two ministers, Sanjay Dutt and Sharad Ranpise (both Congress), Neelam Gorhe (Shiv Sena) and Rahul Narvekar (NCP) are the legislators of the Upper House on the tour. The official said many members refused to be part of the tour because they didnt want bear the 50% cost.

Vijay Shivtare, minister of state for parliamentary affairs department, told HT, It is a tour of the members from the council. I do not have details, but its a study tour and you will get more details from Bapatsaab.

Farm activists, however, slammed the state government. There could be no comparison between the farmers of Australia and Maharashtra. I do not understand how their technology and laws are going to be implemented by the agriculture minister here. I would be happy if he proves it to us after coming back, Shetkari Sanghatana leader and farm activist Vijay Jawandhia, said.

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The city police arrested two hawala operators Javed Naviwala, 31, and Altaf Qureshi, 33, a day after the Uttar Pradesh anti-terrorism squad (ATS) smashed an espionage racket by arresting alleged Pakistans ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) agent Aftab Ali from Faizabad on Wednesday.

Naviwala and Qureshi were booked under official secrets Act for spying, communicating with foreign agent and using codes or passwords while sharing information. Both the accused were produced in court on Thursday and remanded police custody till May 7.

A source from ATS said that Javed completed his graduation from Sydenham College a few years ago and got into the hawala business in 2009. He is a resident of Agripada area in south Mumbai. The source added that Naviwala and Qureshi came from Dhoraji Wala village in Rajkot, Gujarat. Ureshi used to work for Naviwala, the source said.

During interrogation, Naviwala said that several of his relatives and villagers live in Karachi, Pakistan and he used to do business with them. He added that he got a call from Pakistan saying Dava-paani ke liye paise bhej do (send some pocket money) to the alleged ISI agent Ali. Accordingly, Qureshi transferred Rs15,000 to Alis account, said the ATS official. The police recovered accuseds mobile phone, a diary and Rs71 lakh in cash from their residence. They have been checking the accuseds call records to find out more about their contacts in Pakistan, added the official.

The Uttar Pradesh ATS swung into action after intelligence inputs warned of a possible terror attack in state by ISI men. In a joint operation conducted by the ATS, central and state intelligence agencies, Ali was picked up from Faizabad. He has been to Pakistan and the police believe that the ISI trained him there.

During investigation, the ATS checked Alis bank account and found that the fund was transferred by one Altaf Qureshi from Mumbai. Soon an ATS team came to Mumbai and along with the Mumbai police, they nabbed Qureshi from his residence in Pydhonie. Naviwala was arrested after said that he works with Naviwala and the money was transferred on his orders.

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Despite recent warnings by Central Board of Secondary Education and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, schools in the city continue to sell uniforms and stationery on their premises or through particular traders, calling it a gesture of goodwill for working parents.

According to one of the complaints, an unaided Kalyan school has recently asked parents to buy new uniforms only from the school. A circular issued by the school stated that it has a changed its uniform and the new ones should be bought only from the schools. Students cannot purchase the uniforms from outside, read the circular.

While a partially-aided school in Chembur has asked students from Class 1 to 4 to pay Rs10,000 as book-money, another in Borivli continued to sell uniforms and books.

Education activists said that though guidelines, court orders, government resolutions against schools indulging in such practices are in place, they are not being implemented.

The government has failed to monitor and take action against errant schools and this has given them the freedom to flout rules openly, said Jayant Jain, president of the Forum for Fairness in Education, a parents teachers group that fights for education related issues. Jain added that education minister Vinod Tawde seems oblivious to their plight.

Meanwhile, schools said that they offer such services for the convenience of working parents, and that common vendors help them maintain uniformity. We provide all school accessories under one roof, to save parents time and energy, said Kavita Aggarwal, chief academic advisor, JBCN International Schools, Lower Parel, Oshiwara and Borivli. She added that the school provides uniform and stationery to avoid disparities in brands and quality.

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A policeman, who was one of the 20 personnel injured in a landmine blast triggered by suspected Maoists on Wednesday in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra, succumbed to his injuries on Thursday morning.

The policemen were injured after their mine protected vehicle came under attack on Wednesday evening near Bhamragad in the district while crossing the area, officials said. They were a part of a patrol party of the C-60 commandos - an elite anti-Maoist squad.

The policeman has been identified as 28-year-old Suresh Linga Telami of Gadchiroli.

Five injured soldiers were airlifted to a Nagpur-based hospital for treatment early on Thursday morning.

Maheshwar Reddy, the additional superintendent of police of Gadchiroli, said a team of C-60 commandos were conducting operations in the area after the incident. Additional police forces, including paramilitary soldiers, were also sent to the area and security personnel were conducting a massive combing operation to find out the attackers.

The Maoist attack took place when SP Avinash Deshmukh and collector ASR Naik were in the state capital Mumbai on Wednesday to attend a meeting. Deshmukh rushed back to Gadchiroli on Thursday morning after receiving the information about the incident.

Earlier on Wednesday, 2 state police personnel and a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldier were injured in an encounter between the security forces and suspected Maoists in south Gadchiroli. Injured security personnel were airlifted to Raipur for treatment, the police control room said.

The left-wing extremists fled from the spot, leaving their weapons and ammunition after the security forces retaliated with additional forces. Police found a huge cache of arms and ammunition and Maoist literature from the site of the attack.

The left-wing extremists had targetted a CRPF team near Sukma on April 24 in Chhattisgarh and killed 25 personnel, the deadliest attack by the ultra-leftists targeting security forces this year. The Maoists also killed 12 CRPF soldiers in another attack in Sukma on March 11 this year.
The Mumbai crime branch has added new charges of forgery against Shifu Sunkriti cult leader Sunil Kulkarni after the police found that Kulkarni had made a deal with a Bhopal firm on behalf of one of the girls whom he allegedly influenced.

What we know about the cult Sunil Kulkarni was arrested on April 20 on various charges, including human trafficking. Officials said they found several pictures of women photographed by Kulkarni at his home. Police suspect that Kulkarni sexually exploited and extorted money from them. They said that Kulkarni made fake profiles of the women on Facebook. The police are investigating whether he cheated people using fake accounts. During their search of Kulkarnis Bandra residence, police found his mobile phone and a pen drive, both of which contained sexually explicit clips. They also found a book with explicit material. Before his arrest, Kulkarni had already been charged with was cheating and extorting money from students seeking MBBS seats in Delhi, Nagpur and Pune.

The police came across this information after they found a cheque book of the Malad-based girl, whose father had filed the petition in the high court on April 18. The police found that Kulkarni had forged her signature on the cheque book without her knowledge and had misused her bank account.

Kulkarni was arrested on April 20 following a high court order, after three couples alleged he had lured their daughters  four women in their twenties  into taking drugs and made them leave their homes. The couples claimed their daughters were refusing to come back home because Shifu Sunkriti, which operates on social media, had entrapped them. The couples claimed their daughters behaviour had changed drastically.

The police found that Kulkarni used the girls cheque book to sign an MOU with an ice cream firm in Bhopal on the girls name. He finalised the deal at Rs23 crore. Kulkarni even took Rs5.50 lakh from the company, which was deposited in girls account.

We have recorded the statement of the girl. She told us that she was not aware about the MoU with the company or even that Rs5.50 lakh was transferred to her account. The charge of forgery was added based on her statement, said a crime branch officer.

On Wednesday, Kulkarni was produced in the magistrate court and sent to judicial custody till May 16.
Uttar Pradeshs universities will soon offer its students the Marathi language as a subject  an interesting twist considering how Maharashtra has seen violent attacks against UP migrants in the past decade.

UP CM Yogi Adityanath made the announcement as part of a cultural exchange programme with Maharashtra. At a function in Lucknow on May 1 (Maharashtra Day), Adityanath said the UP government will develop facilities to teach Marathi in its universities. The state will sign a memorandum of understanding with Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, a release issued by UP governor Ram Naiks office said.

It is a curious development, especially after the 2008 attacks on migrants from UP, and considering the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Senas (MNS) sons of the soil stance.

Read more: Now, Marathi to be taught in Uttar Pradesh universities

For years, the MNS chief has been accusing migrants, especially those from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, of grabbing job opportunities of the Marathi Manoos.

The issue was used by the party during elections too, until 2014 when it started losing popularity.

This time, however, the MNS welcomed the UP governments decision. Party spokesperson Nitin Sardesai said, Teaching Marathi is one thing, opposing migrants is another. We oppose only those who come to Maharashtra but are not ready to learn the language or mix with our culture. But we are not against anyone, Sardesai told HT.

The Congress said it was now time for parties like MNS to give up their anti-migrant issue. When our Constitution allows every citizen to go anywhere, how can MNS raise such an issue? We have been opposing this mentality since the beginning, Sachin Sawant, the Congress spokesperson said.

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Alleging that Shifu Sunkriti cult leader Sunil Kulkarni was photographed at a state function with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis portraits and the government emblem in the background, the Congress party on Thursday demanded an explanation from the state.

State Congress general secretary and spokesperson Sachin Sawant said Kulkarni had uploaded these photographs on his Twitter account. Demanding a probe into the issue, he said the either the state or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should clarify whether Kulkarni had participated in government programmes and in what capacity.

The photograph raises the possibility of him having attended a government programme. There are three posters of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and an emblem of the government in the background of this photo. Kulkarni is facing serious charges such as human trafficking, rape, murder. He has been booked in various cities, including Nagpur. If the image is real, then the accused is likely to have participated in a government or BJP-sponsored programme. People have the right to seek clarification from the transparent government, Sawant said.

Kulkarni was arrested on April 20, following a Bombay high court order after three couples alleged he had lured their daughters into taking drugs and made them leave their homes. They said their daughters were refusing to come back home because Shifu Sunkriti, which operates on social media, had entrapped them.

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In an unprecedented move, the Independent Schools Federation of India (ISFI) on Thursday observed a token strike and nearly 128 schools were shut as a mark of protest against the formation of the district committee to look into allegations by parents associations of arbitrary fee hike.

Former district magistrate, Nidhi Kesarwani, had formed a committee headed by additional district magistrate (finance), district inspector of schools (DIOS) and the basic education officer (BEO) after complaints by parents.

ISFI officials said all 128 member schools observed a shutdown on Thursday and the principals, teachers and association members met district administration officials around 11am.

The federation members also refused to hand over their accounts to the district committee for scrutiny.

We have told officials that we will not be handing over our accounts for scrutiny as our accounts are already submitted in the form of a balance sheet to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and are also in the purview of the income tax authorities. Apart from the accounts, if the committee requires such documents as society registration, provident fund registration and fire fighting NOCs, we are ready to provide them, said said Subhash Jain, president, ISFI.

If the district committee still goes ahead and demands accounts for three financial years, we will again hand over a memorandum to them. The option of closing down schools yet again is open to us, Jain added.

In its memorandum handed over to the district authorities, the ISFI has cited July 2014 directions of the Allahabad high court (Lucknow bench) and said that the district magistrate was not authorised to demand a break-up of the annual charges. However, district officials said that the district committee will carry out an investigation into the complaints forwarded by parents and their associations.

We are not doing anything inconsistent with the CBSE, state government and the court directions. We have come to know that, the statements of expenditure by schools are to be submitted to CBSE as per its norms and also to the DIOS, said Rajesh Yadav, additional district magistrate (finance).

The schools have remained shut and if we receive any complaints by parents over their closure, we will take action, he added.

Parents and private schools have been at loggerheads over the issue of arbitrary fee hike in Ghaziabad as well as other areas of the National Capital Region (NCR). In two meetings held between parents, schools and district officials, 28 schools consented to provide their accounts to the district committee. However, the ISFI has now opposed the move and refused scrutiny of their accounts.

The closure of schools is a pressure tactic by private schools. During meetings, they had consented to provide accounts, but now they are opposing it. If their accounts are genuine and already audited, why are schools not open to subjecting them to scrutiny? With regard to the closure of schools for a day, we have forwarded a complaint to officials and sought action, said Sachin Soni, a member of all school parents association.

There had been number of protests held outside various private schools in Ghaziabad before the district magistrate took note of the complaints and formed a committee.

The committee will submit its report to the district magistrate by May 11 and the findings will be sent to state officials for a policy decision. No policy decision can be taken up at the local level, Ministi S, the newly appointed DM of Ghaziabad, said.

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An 18-year-old woman died on Thursday after she allegedly jumped off the 12th floor of a highrise in Gaur City in Greater Noida where she started working as a domestic help six months ago.

The incident took place around 11am on Thursday when, hearing a thud and a shriek, the ground floor residents of Galaxy Apartments came out to the courtyard and found her body covered in blood.

Vinod Kumar Pandey, station house officer (SHO), Bisrakh police station, said, The girl seems to have jumped off the 12th floor. We were informed about the incident through a police control room call. We have sent the body for a postmortem exam and are waiting for the reports. The woman had sustained severe head injuries and was rushed to a private hospital where doctors declared her brought dead.

Police said the woman has been identified as Nishu, who lived with her parents at Biharipura in Ghaziabad. She would come with her mother to Galaxy Apartments where both worked as domestic helps in various flats.

On Thursday, after completing their work in two flats, they were seen heading towards a flat on the 12th floor.

Police sources said they were informed by locals that the two would enter flats together, but that morning, Nishus mother entered a flat while she was seen waiting outside. The incident took place some time after that, they said. Pandey said there was no sign of a scuffle or anything suspicious.

Nishus father Jagdish told the police that his daughter did not seem upset even when he dropped her and his wife to work in the morning and nor were there any issues that could have affected her. No suicide note was recovered either.

Police said the family hails from Bulandshahr and has been living Ghaziabad for a decade. Nishu had started working as a domestic help just six months ago.

We are waiting for the autopsy reports, after which we will be able to establish the cause of death, said Pandey.

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School education (K-12 segment) has recently witnessed a lot of furore owing to the tussle between parents, schools and the regulators on the fee and admission process.

Education is regarded as a charitable activity, deriving its roots from the gurukul system. The enactments on school education in most states have been drafted primarily for regulating government-aided schools. The same enactments have also been made applicable to private un-aided schools. Regulation of aided and un-aided schools with the same piece of legislation has some inherent problems. While government-aided schools need closer monitoring, private un-aided schools require merely a facilitation role, giving maximum autonomy to the school management.

According to the District Information System for Education (DISE) data of 2014-15, nearly 75% of elementary, 43% of secondary and 40% of higher secondary schools are government-owned/managed while the remaining are privately-owned/managed. Private unaided and aided schools account for nearly 42% of the enrolment in schools, indicating their significant role.

Quality education warrants substantial investments in the institution, be it for establishment of infrastructure, hiring quality faculty, providing technology and meeting the continuous need for overall upgradation. Since the education policy of the government requires private schools to play a larger role in providing quality education, they need to be ensured of a viable structure.

Such structure should enable the schools not only to generate adequate revenue to cater to the operating expenses but also to generate reasonable surplus to payback debt and take care of future expansion. Therefore, determination of school fees becomes a highly debatable issue as it needs to pass the litmus test of reasonability.

The recent initiative of the Gujarat government through the Gujarat Self-financed Schools (Regulation of Fees) Act, 2017, to regulate the fee structure of self-financed schools has garnered the interest of all stakeholders including the Centre and other state governments looking to adopt a similar model. The legislation empowers the government to cap the fees charged by schools.

In case a school intends to charge fees above such capped limits, the government shall have the power to determine and approve the fee proposal of each school.

Though such an initiative by the government is a welcome step, it will be interesting to see how the states would amass and involve adequate infrastructure and skilled resources to effectively determine the fee structure of each and every school in a state.

The overt emphasis on the fee issue has hijacked the focus from other more significant issues surrounding the sector such as quality of education and encouraging private participation in establishing new schools.

Therefore, the government should consider enacting a separate code for private unaided schools, which not only tackles the issue of fees but also encourages the schools to provide quality education and imbibe the principles of self-regulation through good governance and compulsory disclosures like key financials, student-teacher ratio, trend in fee increase in the past years etc.

The code should also empower the government to ensure that schools do not engage in unfair practices, profiteering or charge capitation fees.

Inder Mohan is partner and Sadia Khan is principal associate at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co

The views expressed are personal
Bihar came in for praise at the power ministers conference in New Delhi on Thursday, when the Centre urged other states to undertake similar reforms in power tariff as those undertaken by the discoms (distribution companies) in Bihar.

Coming for fulsome praise for filing its tariff petition to the regulatory commission on zero subsidy basis, Union minister for power, coal, new and renewable energy, Piyush Goyal, said the reforms being undertaken by utilities in Bihar was the way ahead for financially distressed power utilities in India.

In keeping with the guidelines of the Union ministry of power (MoP), Bihar has undertaken tariff reforms for rationalisation and simplification of prevalent tariff structure and to reduce the number of consumer sub-categories from 146 to 40 from this financial year (2017-18).

Principal secretary, energy (Bihar), Pratyaya Amrit, explained at the two-day conference that discoms in the state, for the first time, had filed its tariff petition to the Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (BERC) on zero subsidy basis. This resulted in issuance of tariff based on the true cost of supply.

Bihar power minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav (left) at power ministers' conference in New Delhi. (HT file photo)

Previously, the government subsidy used to be paid to discoms without segregating the subsidy to consumers and that to discoms for meeting the aggregate transmission and commercial (AT&C) loss. After receipt of subsidy, discoms used to utilise the same as resource gap. From now, it had been decided to transfer the subsidy directly to targeted consumer categories, which would reflect in energy bills of consumers.

A communique, issued by the energy department, said: The tariff restructuring allowed key stakeholders to have a better understanding of the tariff, cost of supply and subsidy, which was the prime objective of implementing tariff reforms. The restructured tariff will make the consumers aware of the cost of supply of electricity being consumed, enable transparent monitoring of discoms performance (reduction in T&D loss) and allow the government for effective planning of subsidy.

The release further said the added accomplishments of tariff reforms in Bihar was a substantial hike of 21% in tariff for 2017-18, after government subsidy to consumers, as compared to 2.4% hike in power tariff, allowed by the regulator regulatory commission during the last three years.

The other major achievement was to align the distribution loss trajectory with the loss trajectory as agreed in the memorandum of understanding of the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY)-- the Centres financial turnaround and revival package for electricity distribution companies.

Provision of prepaid meters for all consumers, additional 1% rebate for online payment, rebate of 1.5% for timely payment of bills were also key takeaways of the new tariff.

Bihar energy minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav represented the state at the two-day power ministers conference in New Delhi that concluded on Thursday. Managing director of the two state discoms R Lakshmanan and Sandeep Kumar Pudakalkatti also attended the meet.

It was also decided that Bihar would host the next power ministers conference in Bihar.

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CARSON CITY  The Nevada National Guard and the Nevada Department of Veteran Services are set to co-host one of the largest Resource Fairs in eastern Nevada history Friday and Saturday at the Army National Guard Armory, 1375 13th St.

The Resource Fair will feature staff from the Nevada Guards Military and Family Support Services, local and state providers and Veterans organizations. The organizations will team to provide all Nevada Guardsmen, their families and all veterans access to multiple resources, including employment services, family assistance, child and youth programs, financial and legal guidance, health and wellness services, military identification cards, behavioral health and education-assistance guidance.

The Resource Fair will run on May 5 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and May 6 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For information, call 775-887-7250.
The state capitals Kotwali police station caught fire under mysterious circumstances on Thursday evening, leaving behind a trail of destruction. Nearly half a dozen vehicles parked on the police station campus were completely damaged. The fire caused panic among passersby and people working in nearby areas.

However, no casualties were reported. The vehicles parked on the premises of the police station were the ones seized by the police for violation of traffic rules.

At least three fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the fire, said an officer attached to the fire and emergency services. It took nearly an hour to control the fire. Following the incident, vehicular traffic was disrupted between Dak Bungalow and IT roundabout for more than an hour.

We think someone threw a beedi or a cigarette on the premises, which caused the fire. The fire spread suddenly, said a police officer.

After a few minutes, the fire spread and the vehicles caught fire. We tried to douse the fire but without much success. Finally, we had to call the fire brigade, he said.

On the other hand, the SHO of Kotwali police station Ram Shankar Singh said only three vehicles were destroyed. He claimed preliminary reports point to short circuit in the electricity cable over the parking lot as the trigger for fire.

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After the Gian Sagar Medical College and Hospital, Banur, the Punjab government has now set in motion the process to close the Pathankot-based Chintpurni medical college by serving a show-cause notice on it.

The government on Wednesday directed the college management, headed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Swaran Salaria, to respond within seven days as why essentiality certificates issued in 2010 to set up the college and starting its medical courses should not be withdrawn. The notice says the state will take the responsibility of students already enrolled in the college if permissions are withdrawn.

Salaria was recently in the news when he announced to take over Gian Sagar college but backed out later.

If no satisfactory response is received, the department of medical education will immediately withdraw all permissions to the college, read a seven-page notice, copy of which is with HT.

Punjab medical education secretary Vikas Partap said the notice was issued keeping in mind gross deficiencies in college functioning found during the departments inspections in November last year and March this year. Sources said the chief ministers office (CMO) and the attorney general were in the loop before the notice was served.

The college with an annual intake of 150 MBBS students has a total strength of 300. Of these, 150 students enrolled in the 2014-15 session are already fighting a legal battle in the Punjab and Haryana high court demanding they be shifted to other medical college.

Another batch was admitted in the 2016-17 session.

What inspection report says

The notice enclosed two inspection reports dated November 18, 2016 and March 14, 2017. The latest report says that no administrative staff, including the principal, were available during inspection and the faculty list was not provided either.

It says there were fewer patients in the outpatient department (OPD) as against 171 patients in the register as figure was inflated. Not even a single patient was admitted in IPD ward. Even the emergency ward register had just one post-surgery patient. The laboratories, blood bank and radio diagnosis department wore a deserted look, the report says.

Problems in the past Starting with 150 students in 2011-12, college fails to get fresh batches in 2012-13 and 2013-14 due to anomalies In 2014, first-batch students move court demanding they be shifted out of college, even as it was granted nod to enroll second batch in 2014-15 after apex court intervenes In 2015-16, MCI derecognises college; debars it from admitting students In April 2016, first-batch students shift out of college; second-batch students also move HC demanding same Two inspections by Punjab government in six months find anomalies

It stated the management did not take any action despite assurances to the state government and the Supreme Court-appointed committee led by Justice RM Lodha to improve colleges infrastructure as per the Medical Council of India (MCI) norms.

Gross anomalies? Issues show-cause notice, sets one-week deadline to respond as why permissions to set up college should not be withdrawn

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It was the Hindus who resurrected the Congress in Punjab in the February elections. The party is now paying back the community with compound interest.

After making Brahm Mohindra second-in-command in the state cabinet and Rana Kunwar Partap Singh the assembly speaker, the Congress on Thursday passed the baton of the state unit to former leader of opposition Sunil Jakhar.

According to sources, his appointment has the stamp of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh agreed.

The three-time MLA was in political wilderness after being removed unceremoniously from the post of leader of opposition a year before Punjab went to the polls.

Ironically, Jakhar, who was siding with Amarinder in the latters bitter war of succession with his predecessor Partap Bajwa, lost the post while Amarinder replaced Bajwa.

It was preceded and followed by more setbacks. The 52-year-old leader lost from Ferozepur in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The seat had catapulted his father Balram Jakhar to the post of Lok Sabha speaker in 1980. His father too passed away last year and Jakhar could not muster a win from his bastion, Abohar, against BJPs greenhorn Arun Narang.

MENDING FENCES, BUILDING BRIDGE

Stung by the party overlooking his claim to three Rajya Sabha seats filled last year, Jakhar mended fences with Rahul by meeting him in Delhi after his defeat. With a Jat-Sikh as chief minister in Amarinder, Rahul has tried to balance community equations. Other than being a Hindu face, his political legacy and equity with Rahul, Jakhars popularity with party MLAs during his stint as CLP leader too worked in his favour.

On Thursday, Jakhar called on Amarinder soon after being appointed. He had buried the hatchet with Amarinder by meeting him in Delhi after he took over as CM despite not being extended an invite for the swearing-in ceremony of the new government on March 16.

But as state chief, he will have to shoulder the responsibility of keeping the partys disenchanted MLAs, leaders and workers, who are complaining of a disconnect between the party and government, in good humour.

Thanking party president Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Captain for reposing faith in him, Jakhar said, I will try to work as a bridge between the party and the government.

Party insiders said the CM was also keen on former union minister Manish Tewari. But Rahul picked Jakhar owing to his oratory skills, contribution to the party as spokesman during the campaign and his stature as state leader.

Another contender, Lal Singh, had opted out of the race after being appointed Mandi Board chairman.

Also read | Ajay Vir Jakhar to take over as Punjab farmer commission chairman

Congress has appointed 17 new office-bearers, 10 of whom are less than 50 years of age, and seven are from other backward classes, party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.

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The SAS Nagar administration in collaboration with the non-government organisation (NGO) Istri Sangthan pre-launched the Sasta Bhojan scheme here at district administrative complex on Wednesday. Under the scheme, economic and hygienic meals will be provided for Rs 10. The scheme for needy and underprivileged will also be extended to students in the district.

As many as 250 packets of food were distributed at the pre-launch. Giving details about the project, deputy commissioner Gurpreet Kaur Sapra said, As of now, the NGO Istri Sangthan, which provides mid-day meals in schools, is providing us the meal on no profit no loss basis. We are experimenting with the existing scheme of things and will be holding a meeting with Akshaya Patra Foundation regarding expansion of the scheme.

Also read: Video | Meal for Rs 10 in Chandigarh, and the fleecing that marked the launch

The DC said in the coming months, the scheme will be extended to SAS Nagar sub-divisions and areas with student population that is Gharuan and Kharar.

The SAS Nagar administration will distribute 300 food packets on May 5 and 6 at the judicial court complex between 12.30pm and 2.30pm.

From May 8 onwards, regular food packets will be distributed and in the initial stages, the scheme will be implemented in the urban areas of SAS Nagar.

Prominent spots such as Phase-6 civil hospital, its nearby bus stop and a suitable location near Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) building have been selected where 500 food packets will be distributed through two vans at each spot. The administration is also considering increasing the number of food packets.

Treat time The food will be made available from May 8 at Phase-6 civil hospital, its nearby bus stop and a suitable location near PSEB building. As many as 500 packets will be distributed at all locations. In June, the scheme will be implemented at sub-divisional level. A Rs 10 meal will have a cooked vegetable, pickle and four chapatis.

The DC said eventually community kitchens will also be established for supplying food packets in cities as well as villages after coordinating with municipal corporation and village panchayats. The DC also urged the people not to litter around after eating from the packets.

Arvinder Singh, the manager of the NGO Istri Sangthan, said, "We already provide mid-day meals and the administration approached us to provide meal for the scheme also. A Rs 10 meal will have a cooked vegetable, pickle and four chapatis."

Additional deputy commissioner Charandev Singh Mann and sub-divisional magistrate Anuprita Johal were also present during the pre-launch, while local MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu was absent.

Also read | Places in Chandigarh where you can get hearty meals under Rs 50
Cash starved Maoists and splinter groups in Jharkhand have taken to opium cultivation and trading in a big way. The opium is making way to the illegal narcotic factories and dens in Yogi Adityanath ruled Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab where scores of men and youngsters are getting hooked to its addiction every day.

Large consignments of opium that includes its pulpous flowers, stems and raisinsall of these are used in making charas and heroineloaded in trucks and trailers are clandestinely sneaked out of the Jharkhand jungles every day and shipped to various states in the north.

Sources said the traders grease the palms of the law enforcement agencies and in return get easy passage to flee.

Tuesday late night, however, was an odd day for five traders from Uttar Pradesh as the special operation group (SOG) of Ranchi police tracked their truck that originated from Khunti late in the night before they accosted them and seized it near the Dassam Fall police station. All the five men on board the truck, however, managed to flee under the cover of darkness.

When the truck was uncovered, the SOG team found around 21 quintals of doda (opium stem) stacked in around 80 sacks. The truck bore Uttar Pradesh registration number UP 25-T-9517. This means the poppy was headed towards the northern state, where the opium products are in great demand.

Around midnight I got information that a truck laden with opium stems had left a village and was about to hit the highway. I soon sent a team that managed to apprehend the truck. This is one of the biggest seizures of opium product in Ranchi this year, said Ranchi senior police superintendent, Kuldip Dwivedi.

Opium is abundantly grown in the remote villages of Ranchi, Khunti, Gumla, Simdega, Latehar, Chatra and Palamu districts of Jharkhand. Every part of the plant gets a price for the farmers. The raisin derived out of the pulpous fruit is way too costly, as it is the main ingredient for making heroin.

An estimated 5 kg of kada (pulpous raisin) is required to produce 1 kg of heroin. In Jharkhand, a farmer sells the pulp for as cheap as Rs 40,000 per kg.

This easy money has lured the Maoists and other splinter groups to coerce and support farmers grow opium in areas under their control. Every department right from the local police station to officials of the narcotic department gets a cut, people involved in the illegal trade said.

Khunti superintendent of police, Ashwini Kumar Singh, declined that his police were anyway supporting poppy cultivation and trade. We have destructed opium cultivation on large swathes of land in the last three months, he said.

Latehar SP Dhananjay Singh confirmed that without the tacit support of LWE groups, farmers can never take to opium cultivation on such a large scale in the countryside. He said the Maoists also fund the farmers to grow the crop and when it is sold they get a huge cut.
The ongoing tribal unrest in Jharkhand against the amendments made by the BJP government in decades old and longstanding twin tenancy acts, the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act (CNT-1908) and Santhal Parganas Tenancy Acts (SPTA-1949), now has the support of one of BJPs biggest nemesis in the country, Bihar chief minister, Nitish Kumar.

Kumar on Tuesday met a visiting delegation of tribal leaders led by ex-MP Salkhan Murmu and is said to have extended his wholehearted support to the tribals cause in the neighbouring state.

He also assured to consider their invitation to attend a mega tribals protest rally in Ranchi on May 17. Lakhs of tribals from across the state are expected to attend the rally to express their anguish and pledge to overthrow the BJP government.

There is an emergency like situation in Jharkhand. The government in a planned manner is uprooting the tribals from their homes and villages. The state needs a leader like Nitish, who along with Lalu Prasad and others had actively participated in the popular Jaiprakash Narain led (JP) movement against the emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi government, said Murmu, confirming that the Bihar chief minister has agreed in principle to endorse the tribal cause and support the ongoing Sengel (tribal empowerment) movement by joining the proposed May 17 protest rally as chief guest.

Similar protest rallies by tribals, days before the amendment, had turned violent and claimed a few lives.

The Raghubar Das government amended the two laws on November 23 last year after getting it cleared in the assembly through voice vote in order to facilitate infrastructure building. The amendment empowers the government to use agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes.

Majority tribals and few non-tribal leaders, including the governments alliance partner, AJSU Party, are opposed to the amendment and have strongly demanded that the government roll back its decision as it would adversely affect the already marginalized tribal population.

The Raghubar Das government is unfazed by the protests. The chief minister has reiterated on umpteen occasions that there is no chance of rolling back the amendment. He has stressed that those opposing the amendments are tribals enemies as they do not want them to grow and prosper.

Murmu said, the tribal Sengel movement is enthused by Nitish Kumars association and support. He said Kumar would help expose the tribals anger and resistance against the purported RSS/BJP design to roll out a red carpet to business lobbies and industries at the cost of tribals displacement on national and international platforms.

His presence at the May 17 rally would give the Sengel movement a new dimension and make it historic like the JP Movement, Murmu said.

Our CM had met the tribal delegation from Jharkhand and is soon going to confirm his participation in the May 17 protest rally, a spokesperson for the Bihar government, who refused to be quoted, said.

Around 26 % of Jharkhand population is tribal. They have traditionally been loyal to regional and Jharkhand named parties. However, in the last assembly poll, a bulk of tribal votes went to BJP, thanks to the large scale development work carried out by RSS and its affiliates in interior villages. Besides, the RSS and its bodies also successfully managed to widen the rift among the tribes following the Sarna religion and those who converted to Christianity.

The tribals have shed their differences and have now united for a bigger cause. The moderates and hardliners from both Sarna and Catholic practitioners have joined hands to overthrow the Das government. The RSS-BJP agenda now stands exposed, said ex-IPS and a leader of the Sengel movement, Dr Arun Oraon.

He said out of the 81 members in the state assembly, 28 are tribals. Pressure is being built on them to resign from the house, he said.
The Karnataka government has capped the price of film tickets in all theatres at Rs 200 and made it mandatory for multiplexes to screen Kannada and regional cinema during prime time.

The ceiling on movie ticket prices comes into immediate effect, with government issuing a notification implementing the proposal announced in the state budget for 2017-18.

The move comes barely a day after chief minister Siddaramaiah along with his family watched the blockbuster Baahubali 2: The Conclusion by reportedly paying a hefty fee at a multiplex.

It is also made mandatory for multiplexes to screen Kannada and regional cinema during the prime time (between 1.30 pm to 7.30 pm) at least on one screen.

The maximum cap of Rs 200 does not include taxes.

However, in spite of the cap on ticket rates, some multiplexes in the city are still charging the old rates, according to a reputed Kannada film producer, exhibitor and former Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) president.

Some multiplexes are charging the same old rates in the range of Rs 300 to Rs 1,600 for Baahubali 2, Chandrasekhar, who is also Veeresh Theatre Owner, said.

Chandrashekar said some multiplexes have decided to charge the old rates unless the government brings in an amendment to the Karnataka Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1964.

What Siddaramaiah government has announced is addressed to the authority -- that is the home secretary. Now it is for the home secretary to bring in the amendment to the Act and then only it becomes a law. Until then some of the multiplexes will continue to charge old rates, he said.

Chandrashekar said the Multiplex Association of India has written to the government, with a copy to KFCC, partially accepting the Rs 200 cap. But, he said, they have demanded relaxation of the Rs 200 cap on Saturdays and Sundays, and festival holidays.

According to the notification, while Gold Class Screen and Gold Class Seats, IMAX and 4DX screens have been exempted from the ceiling of Rs 200 in admission fee, the number of seats in Gold Class has been restricted to 10% of the total seats.

Baahubali 2: The Conclusion has much better VFX, experts say.

The proposals were announced in the 2017-18 budget based on the recommendations by a 14-member committee, headed by filmmaker and Chairman of Karnataka Chalachitra Academy S V Rajendra Singh Babu.

There were demands from various stakeholders of the film industry to the government, urging it to cap multiplex entry fee at Rs 120 as in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

KFCC President Sa Ra Govindu welcomed the decision on the cap, saying it meets a long pending demand and would give a boost to Kannada film industry.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has said he will not visit Pakistan till the country hands over the perpetrators of recent terror attacks and takes action against Afghan Taliban fighters operating from Pakistani soil.

Ghani declined invitations from Pakistans top civilian and military leaders to visit the country, his deputy spokesman Dawa Khan Minapal told BBC Urdu.

Among the Pakistani officials whose invitations were spurned were Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency director general Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar and National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq.

I will not go to Pakistan till the perpetrators behind the attacks in Mazar-e-Sharif, the American University (in Kabul) and Kandahar are handed over to Afghan authorities and until Islamabad takes concrete action against Afghan Taliban militants on Pakistani soil, Ghani was quoted as saying by Minapal.

During his meeting with the ISI chief, Ghani presented documents related to investigations into recent attacks in Afghanistan and urged Pakistan to hand over the perpetrators, afghan authorities said.

Kabul has often complained that terrorists use sanctuaries within Pakistan to launch strikes in Afghanistan. Pakistan has strongly denied these allegations.

More than 140 people were killed and dozens more injured when Taliban fighters carried out a suicide attack on a key military base at Mazar-e-Sharif.

Pakistan has stepped up efforts to improve relations with Afghanistan in recent weeks. In the past week alone, three Pakistani delegations have travelled to Kabul for talks with the Afghan leadership.

After returning from Kabul, Speaker Ayaz Sadiq had said the Afghan leadership had promised that Ghani and chief executive Abdullah Abdullah would visit Pakistan.

A Pakistan Army delegation led by the chief of general staff, Lt Gen Bilal Akbar, also visited Afghanistan and offered free treatment to Afghans injured in the attack in Mazar-e-Sharif.
An emergency meeting at the Buckingham Palace on Thursday morning fuelled social media frenzy over the health of royal family members, but ended with a statement that Prince Philip, 95, will withdraw from public engagements from the autumn.

There was worldwide speculation overnight after The Sun briefly published online  and later removed  news that Prince Philip had died. A Daily Mail report added to the speculation by reporting that all royal staff had been called to the meeting in London.

File photo from March 2015 shows Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Britain's Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, leaving St Paul's Cathedral in London after attending a memorial service to mark the end of Britain's combat operations in Afghanistan. (AFP)

After the meeting at 10 am, Buckingham Palace released a statement: His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh has decided that he will no longer carry out public engagements from the autumn of this year. In taking this decision, The Duke has the full support of The Queen.

The statement said Prince Philip will attend previously scheduled engagements between now and August, both individually and accompanying the Queen, but he will not accept new invitations for visits and engagements, although he may still choose to attend certain public events from time to time.

Prince Philip is patron, president or a member of more than 780 organisations, with which he will continue to be associated,though he will no longer play an active role by attending engagements, the statement said.

Her Majesty will continue to carry out a full programme of official engagements with the support of members of the Royal Family, the statement added.

Prince Philips decision is likely to lead to Prince Charles  the next in line to the throne  taking over more royal duties.

In this June 19, 1962 file photo, Britain's Prince Philip and his wife Queen Elizabeth II arrive at the Royal Ascot race meeting. Buckingham Palace said on May 4, 2017 that Prince Philip will no longer carry out engagements starting this autumn. (AP)

As the Queens consort, Prince Philip accompanied her to India on three occasions - 1961, 1983 and 1997.

Soon after the statement from Buckingham Palace, Prime Minister Theresa May offered deepest gratitude and good wishes on behalf of the country to the Duke of Edinburgh.

From his steadfast support for Her Majesty the Queen to his inspirational Duke of Edinburgh Awards and his patronage of hundreds of charities and good causes, his contribution to our United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and the wider world will be of huge benefit to us all for years to come, she said.

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China backs Pakistan on the controversial economic corridor through Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) despite Indias concerns because most of its projects are in territory under Islamabads control even if claimed by New Delhi, a top Chinese scholar said on Thursday.

The remarks indicated Beijing has long set aside New Delhis serious sovereignty concerns over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a cluster of energy and infrastructure projects on a route that connects Chinas Kashgar city with Pakistans Gwadar port.

This was despite problems with the project and requests from the Pakistan government to change CPECs alignment, said Wang Yiwei, professor at the School of International Studies of Renmin University.

In Kashmir, the CPEC projects mainly go though Pakistan controlled Kashmir region. This is what the Pakistani people tell us. So the Chinese government is also confused. These are the problems, Wang told journalists at an interaction organised by the All-China Journalists Association.

Wangs comments came days ahead of Chinas Belt and Road Forum on President Xi Jinpings ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, of which CPEC is part. The forum is expected to be attended by nearly 30 heads of state, including Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Despite the confusion and problems, Wang spelt out CPECs importance to China and Pakistan.

The CPEC, which is a flagship project, is of strategic importance, which can help Pakistan to solve their problems and improve infrastructure. So that their economy will take off and become a strong economy, he said.

It is a great project and China and Pakistan are iron friends. We need to first and foremost help our iron friend.

Wang added: We already have the Karakorum Highway. Seven hundred people were killed building it, it was very difficult to build.

He reiterated that CPEC is one of the strategic projects under the larger Belt and Road Initiative and it didnt really matter if there is no financial return in the short-term.

Some projects are strategic and long-term such as the CPEC, energy projects and building of ports in Pakistan. He said it was hard to make money from infrastructure projects but once infrastructure is there, it will boost development, he said.

Wang said Chinese companies such as China Telecom, Huawei and Alipay were already in Pakistan to help build communication networks.

Wang said attention should be paid to Indias concerns over CPEC but it is up to New Delhi and Islamabad to resolve the Kashmir issue.

We must pay a lot of attention to the concerns of India about CPEC. We are now inviting India to take part in it. If we are ready to discuss and talk to India but maybe Pakistan is not willing to do it, as (they are saying) all projects are being built in Pakistan, he said.

Of course, we should persuade Pakistani people to talk to Indians. Because of lack of mutual trust between Pakistan and India, it is also difficult for us, so I guess it is up to India and Pakistan, the two brothers, to make a joint consultation because CPEC has become a regional arrangement. The initiative will bring benefit to a lot of countries so there should be no worry and suspicion, he added.

Wang said there are problems such as governance and corruption in Pakistan.

To be frank, (the Pakistan) government not well government. (There are) corruption problems as well. Prime Minister (Nawaz) Sharif says they want to change the alignment and design (of CPEC). We have to ensure that the design is well carried out. Otherwise, it will not bring benefits to China.

We have reminded the Pakistani side through various channels that cost has increased because of change in alignment. We cannot change our main alignment.
A Hindu businessman has been arrested in Pakistans southern Balochistan province for allegedly sharing blasphemous content on WhatsApp, the latest in a string of instances of members of minorities facing such charges.

Violence erupted after Prakash Kumar, 35, was arrested at Hub in Lasbela district on Wednesday. Police acted after local residents complained he allegedly shared blasphemous content on WhatsApp.

A mob pelted stones at police when they refused to hand over Kumar so that people could administer justice themselves and punish him, Dawn News channel reported. Several police officials were injured during the protest.

Police dispersed the mob by using teargas and firing in the air. Twenty protesters were taken into custody and a search operation was conducted to arrest those suspected of inciting the mob, officials said.

People in Hub also shut their shops and offices to protest against the incident. The violence erupted when protesters organised a demonstration outside a police station in Hub and demanded the closure of the shop owned by Kumar, The Express Tribune reported.

Shops owned by Hindus were shut down and roads connecting Sindh province to Balochistan were closed for the police operation.

Prakash, (the son of) Prem Chand has been arrested after local people accused him of blasphemy, police official Zia Mandokhel said. A case was lodged and the mobile phone from which Kumar allegedly shared the blasphemous content was seized, he said.

A court sent Kumar to jail for further interrogation and he was shifted to Gaddani Central Jail.

Blasphemy, which carries the death penalty, is a sensitive issue in Pakistan. Allegations often prompt mob violence.

A few weeks ago, a mob lynched 23-year-old university student Mashal Khan in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province over allegations of blasphemy. He was shot and beaten to death in the presence of policemen.

Vigilantes have murdered 65 people over blasphemy allegations since 1990, according to figures compiled by the Center for Research and Security Studies.
Hong Kong is unrecognisable now from the city which 50 years ago was the scene of bloody riots, fuelled by resentment of colonial rule and inspired by the Cultural Revolution unfolding in China.

But although memories of the bomb-strewn chaos of 1967 have faded, the city is facing a new era of turbulence as democracy activists take on Beijing and many ordinary residents still struggle to make ends meet.

What started as a labour dispute in an era of poverty and corruption, when many lived and worked in poor conditions, became large-scale street battles fomented by the Chinese Communist Party.

The clashes between leftists and police lasted from May to December 1967 and left 51 dead, including five police officers.

Images from the time show bloodied residents, including women and children, and large groups of protesters facing off against police.

In this photo taken with a slow shutter speed on April 21, 2017, former police inspector James Elms (centre), 75, poses at a crossing opposite the old Metropole Hotel building, the roof of which he landed upon in a helicopter while deployed during a mission to deal with rioters in Hong Kong in May 1967. (AFP)

Luk Tak-shing, now 70, was jailed during the riots and remembers police swooping on the union building where he worked. He says he was beaten, arrested and imprisoned for unlawful assembly as 40 union workers were rounded up.

He had been helping workers organise a strike and he says he saw himself as part of a patriotic movement against colonial power.

These ethnic hostilities had taken root in my heart from a young age, said Luk, who attended a communist-run leftist school where he learned about historic injustices and racial inequality.

The scenes of police beatings infuriated me, even now when I recount them Im very agitated, Luk told AFP.

In this photograph received from the South China Morning Post archive on May 2, 2017 and taken on May 16, 1967, protesters (right) wave the Little Red Book "The Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong" in front of police outside the South Kowloon Magistracy in Hong Kong. (AFP)

Watershed moment

The riots followed the start of the Cultural Revolution in China, which saw mass purges of government opponents, and followed similar unrest in Macau, then under Portuguese rule.

They began on May 6 when sacked workers attempted to prevent goods leaving an artificial flower factory and were arrested.

Clashes, strikes and more arrests were followed by bomb attacks across the city by protesters, including on tram stops and residential streets.

Calm was only restored in December, when Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai ordered the rioting to stop.

Documentary maker Connie Lo, whose film about the riots, Vanished Archives, is now showing in Hong Kong, described the scale of the violence as a watershed.

After experiencing terrorism in the city, people saw the significance of having stability in life, Lo said.

The violence was never repeated, and the city was eventually handed back to China by Britain in 1997, becoming semi-autonomous.

In this photograph received from the South China Morning Post archive on May 2, 2017 and taken on May 12, 1967, riot police prepare to fire tear gas shells to disperse a large group of left-wing protesters at the Tung Tau resettlement estate in Hong Kong. (AFP)

However, as fears grow that Beijing is squeezing its freedoms, issues around sovereignty and identity are again at the fore, with tensions exacerbated by sky-high housing prices and cost of living.

In 2016, frustrations boiled over. Young activists calling for more autonomy or even independence from China were among protesters who fought running battles with police in the commercial district of Mong Kok.

Although far removed from the severity of the 1967 riots, with no fatalities, it was described as the citys worst violence since then.

Leung Kwok-hung, a veteran lawmaker known as Long Hair and a self-identified leftist, told AFP that while there are key differences between todays protesters and those in 1967, the underlying issue for the public is the same a government they did not choose.

Moving on

The pro-Beijing governments approach to democracy activists has become increasingly hardline, with a number of recent arrests of high-profile campaigners.

Leung accuses authorities of being brazenly repressive and points out that some protesters from 1967 are now part of the establishment.

However, others have turned their backs on the Chinese Communist Party.

In this photograph received from the South China Morning Post archive on May 2, 2017 and taken on July 11, 1967, riot police shoot tear gas towards protesters in North Point in Hong Kong. (AFP)

Lau Man-sing, 88, a former underground party member in Hong Kong, recently published a memoir about his disillusionment, saying leftist leaders abandoned ordinary workers after 1997.

They transformed into legislators or business elites, became a group of upper-class workers. Their words confuse right and wrong, wrote Lau, who appears in Los documentary.

As Hong Kong remains politically divided, some of those who were on the streets 50 years ago have managed to build bridges.

Former police inspector James Elms, now 75, deployed to deal with the rioters, says he has become friends with former protesters, although they still have very different views. I see no reason why we need to keep throwing stones at each other, he said.
The body of legendary Swiss climber Ueli Steck, who died on Mount Everest, was cremated at a Buddhist monastery that lies in the shadow of the worlds highest peak on Thursday.

Steck  one of the most feted mountaineers of his generation  became the first fatality of this years spring season on Everest when he fell from a ridge during an acclimatisation climb on Sunday. The climbers body was flown by helicopter on Thursday to the Tengboche Monastery that lies on the trail to the peaks that claimed his life.

Stecks wife Nicole and close family members arrived with the body from Kathmandu for the Buddhist funeral ceremony, according to an AFP photographer at the scene. They had flown to Nepal earlier this week.

Stecks body was carried from the helipad to the cremation site a few hundred metres from the monastery, which is surrounded by sheer Himalayan peaks including Everests towering 8,848 metre summit.

The family surrounded the funeral pyre as it was lit, and monks in flowing maroon ropes offered prayers and played music.

A number of climbers were expected to trek down from Everest base camp  some 20 kilometres from Tengboche  to attend the cremation, according to Nimesh Karki of Seven Summits, a trekking company that helped Steck organise his Everest attempt. It was unclear if any had arrived in time for the ceremony.

Steck was famed for his record speed ascents in the Alps, which earned him the nickname the Swiss Machine  an epithet that he himself disliked.

He lived with it, but Ueli was very modest, Billi Bierling, a climber and journalist who is currently translating Stecks latest book from German to English, told AFP. In a way he knew he was quite extraordinary, but on the other hand he thought that, If I can do it, everybody can.

Steck was attempting to achieve another first this year by charting a rarely climbed route to summit both Everest and Lhotse, the worlds fourth highest mountain, all without the use of supplemental oxygen. Steck was due to summit Everest via the West Ridge - a route that has recorded more fatalities than summits  before climbing Lhotse.

Steck made global headlines in 2013 when he and two other Western climbers came to blows with a group of Nepali guides on Everest.

After the incident he swore he would never to return to Everest, but he was back in the Himalayas just months later to scale Mount Annapurna, the worlds tenth highest, becoming the first mountaineer to complete a solo ascent of the 8,091 metre peak.

Controversially, he offered no photographic proof of his accomplishment, saying an avalanche  that nearly claimed his life  had knocked his camera out of his hand. Nevertheless, he was awarded the Piolet dOr, mountaineerings top accolade, for the 2013 climb.
North Korea has issued a rare direct criticism of China through a commentary saying its reckless remarks on the Norths nuclear programme are testing its patience and could trigger unspecified grave consequences.

China, North Koreas largest trading partner and main benefactor, suspended imports of North Korean coal in line with UN sanctions earlier this year and has recently been urging its traditional ally to stop nuclear and missile activities amid US pressure to use its leverage to resolve the nuclear standoff. Chinese state media have also unleashed regular and harsh criticisms on North Korea.

The commentary released Wednesday by the state-run Korean Central News Agency said that a string of absurd and reckless remarks are now heard from China every day only to render the present bad situation tenser.

Asked about the KCNA commentary during a regular briefing Thursday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Beijings position on developing good neighbourly and friendly cooperation with North Korea is also consistent and clear.

The North Korean article cited recent commentaries by Chinese state media that it said shifted the blame for deteriorating bilateral relations onto the North and raised lame excuses for the base acts of dancing to the tune of the US.

China should no longer try to test the limits of the DPRKs patience, the North Korean commentary said, using the acronym for its official name, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. China had better ponder over the grave consequences to be entailed by its reckless act of chopping down the pillar of the DPRK-China relations.

The article was not attributed to any government agency or official; the writer was identified only as Kim Chol. Still, its unusual for the North to directly criticize China. Previously it has couched such criticism by referring to China only as a neighbouring country.

Analyst Cheong Seong-chang at South Koreas private Sejong Institute said the Norths discontent at China appears to be on the verge of exploding. He said North Korea will likely ignore China from now on while trying to strengthen ties with Russia and improve relations with a new South Korean government to be inaugurated next week.

The Global Times, an outspoken nationalist tabloid published by Chinas ruling Communist Partys flagship Peoples Daily, warned in a Thursday editorial that the Norths actions threatened a 1961 treaty of non-aggression between the two countries. It called on the North to end its nuclear tests.

China will not allow its northeastern region to be contaminated by North Koreas nuclear activities, the Global Times declared.

In recent days, the paper also warned that China was able to strike back at any side that crosses the red line and would impose an oil embargo against the North in response to any more tests. The North Korean commentary said its China that crossed the red line.
Germanys top general on Thursday said it was unclear if the officer arrested last week on suspicion of planning a racially motivated attack was part of a broader network.

We dont know that at this point...We are trying to examine the environment around the suspect, Gen Volker Wieker, inspector general of the German Bundeswehr, told the broadcaster ARD.

German media reports have said officials are looking into a possible network of five people around the 28-year-old lieutenant, identified only as Franco A.

Wieker was due to meet defence minister Ursula von der Leyen in Berlin on Thursday, along with 100 top generals and admirals, to discuss what she has described as weak leadership in the military.

Von der Leyen on Wednesday visited the barracks in the French town of Illkirch where Franco A. was serving in the German-French Brigade, set up in 2010 as a showcase of cross-border cooperation.

She has condemned the failure of his superiors to take action after he submitted a clearly racist masters thesis that was rejected by the French university.

Wieker said the investigation was being led by the Federal Criminal Office and federal prosecutors, but military officials were assisting.

Wieker has this year begun a series of structural reforms after a sexual abuse and hazing scandal rocked the armed forces special operations training centre in southern Germany. Von der Leyen last month fired the general in charge of training for failing to crack down on the problems at the site.
Syrian regime allies Russia and Iran and rebel supporter Turkey on Thursday signed a pact on a Moscow-backed plan to create safe zones in Syria meant to halt fighting in the war-torn country.

The Kremlin has been touting a plan to create safe zones in Syria that is aimed at further pacification and cessation of hostilities.

Several members of the rebel delegation, however, left the room shouting as the signing took place at talks in the Kazakh capital Astana, angry at regime ally Iran, an AFP reporter saw.

The Syrian government and rebel delegations are not signatories to the agreement, which was signed by the talks three sponsors.

Turkeys foreign ministry said the zones would cover the whole of Idlib province, portions of the Latakia, Aleppo, Hama and Homs provinces, as well as the Ghouta suburb of Damascus.

The zones will also include parts of the Deraa and Quneitra provinces, the ministry said.

Moscows draft proposal included four safe zones.

The Kremlins envoy at the Astana talks, Alexander Lavrentiev, said the zones were set to remain in place for six months, a period that could eventually be extended.

The deal also foresees a halt in fighting in the zones, Turkey and Russia said.

The Turkish foreign ministry said the zones parameters would be determined shortly by a working group formed by the talks three sponsors.

We welcome with satisfaction this memorandum, which foresees a halt in the use of all categories of arms among belligerents, including aerial weapons, as well as the rapid and uninterrupted influx of humanitarian aid toward those zones, the ministry said in a statement.

The aim of the zones, according to an Arabic version of the draft seen by AFP, is to put an immediate end to the violence and provide the conditions for the safe, voluntary return of refugees as well as the immediate delivery of relief supplies and medical aid, the document said.

But issues including which countries could police any safe zones remained unclear.

Lavrentiev said Moscow was ready to send observers to monitor the zones, Russian news agencies reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that ways to monitor the zones would be an issue for separate talks.

- Boosting ceasefire -

The Kremlins plan echoes calls by US leader Donald Trump to establish safe zones in Syria.

Putin said Wednesday that as far I could tell the US leader broadly supported the idea in a phone call they held on Tuesday.

After talks with Turkey counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, Putin said the proposed zones would also be no-fly areas if fighting on the ground there stopped entirely.

Erdogan said in comments published Thursday that Moscows plan to set up these zones in Syria would 50 percent solve the six-year conflict.

Although details on the plans implementation remain thin, Erdogan described it as a new concept and distinct from Ankaras previous proposals for terror-free safe zones.

Damascus supports the Russian plan, Syrian state news agency SANA reported.

Syrian rebels said earlier Thursday that they had resumed participation in the talks after having suspended their involvement a day earlier over air strikes against civilians.

More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the countrys war began with anti-government protests in March 2011.
Donald Trump on Thursday confirmed his first foreign trip as president will include stops in Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican.

Trump will add the three stops to an already announced visit to NATO and G7 summits in Brussels and Sicily later this month.

My first foreign trip as president of the United States will be to Saudi Arabia, then Israel, and then to a place that my cardinals love very much, Rome, Trump said.

In a speech in the Rose Garden at an event on religious liberty, Trump cast his trip as an effort to build cooperation and support between Muslims, Christians and Jews for fighting terrorism.

Our task is not to dictate to others how to live but to build a coalition of friends and partners who share the goal of fighting terrorism and bringing safety, opportunity and stability to the war-ravaged Middle East, Trump said.

Trumps predecessor President Barack Obama had a testy relationship with both Israel and Saudi Arabia, whose leaders viewed him as being concerned less with traditional alliances than with negotiating a deal to rein in Irans nuclear program.

Trump has made forging peace in the Middle East and fighting Islamic State a focus of his administrations foreign policy.

Trump complained in an interview with Reuters last week Saudi Arabia was not treating the United States fairly and that Washington was losing a tremendous amount of money defending the kingdom.

Saudi Arabias powerful Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Trump in Washington in March in a visit a senior Saudi advisor called a historical turning point in relations. Trump has said he is counting on Gulf allies in his fight against Islamic State militants.

Trump, who met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in February, has assigned his son-in-law Jared Kushner to oversee efforts to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Trump met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House on Wednesday but did not say how he would revive long-stalled peace talks.

Trump has asked Israel to limit its building of Jewish settlements on land the Palestinians want for a state.

Senior sources told Reuters Trump was expected to meet the Pope on May 24.

arb/ec
Every American president in recent memory has taken a shot at resolving the Israel-Palestine dispute and President Donald Trump has also started his attempt, saying it may not be as tough as it is made out to be.

As has been his style, Trump, in remarks delivered alongside visiting Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas multiple times over the day at the White House on Wednesday, revealed no details of how he planned to accomplish that or timelines.

Its something that I think is, frankly, maybe not as difficult as people have thought over the years, he said. We need two willing parties. We believe Israel is willing. We believe you're willing. And if you are willing, we are going to make a deal.

We want to create peace between Israel and the Palestinians. We will get it done. We will be working so hard to get it done, he said, adding, I think there is a very good chance and I think we will.

It will not be as easy as that, pundits and experts averred. And Abbass remarks made that abundantly clear soon enough  in which he spoke of a two-state solution, with the Palestinian state along boundaries that existed before the 1967 war.

He also mentioned the vexatious issues of the return of refugees and prisoners.

Most of this will not fly with Israelis. And during a visit of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump had indicated he was willing to drop long-standing US support for a two-state solution, and settle for a single-state solution.

If thats what both parties wanted, he added. The Palestinians dont, as Abbas let him know in unambiguous terms on Tuesday, while expressing confidence in his courageous stewardshipas well as your great negotiating ability.

In response, Trump said he was willing to accept the challenge. Well start a process which hopefully will lead to peace. Over the course of my lifetime, Ive always heard that perhaps the toughest deal to make is the deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Let's see if we can prove them wrong.
The US Army has published the final photo of a combat photographer who captured her own death on camera in an accidental mortar explosion in Afghanistan nearly four years ago.

The photograph of specialist Hilda Clayton was published this week in Military Review.

The Armys professional journal noted that Claytons death symbolizes how female soldiers are increasingly exposed to hazardous situations in training and in combat on par with their male counterparts.

Spc. Hilda I Clayton captured the explosion barely moments after it occurred and moments before it took her life. (US Army/Reuters )

Clayton snapped the picture during a live-fire training exercise on July 2, 2013 in the Laghman Province, Afghanistan. The blast also killed four Afghan National Army soldiers. One of them was a photojournalist Clayton had partnered with to train.

Clayton, of Augusta, Georgia, was a member of the Fort Meade, Maryland-based 55th Signal Company. She was 22.
Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, travelled to India four times, thrice as the consort of Queen Elizabeth II, but hit the headlines during his last visit in 1997 for his comments on the number of casualties in the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

The prince, who turns 96 next month, on Thursday announced his withdrawal from public engagements from this autumn. This will lead to his son, Prince Charles, and others members of the royal family taking on more public engagements.

Indias first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru received Prince Philip during his first visit in January 1959. He was then better known in New Delhi as the nephew of Louis Mountbatten, Indias last viceroy.

He subsequently accompanied Queen Elizabeth to India in 1961, 1983 and 1997. They toured Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata in 1961, and returned in 1983 for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

The 1997 visit took place amid a diplomatic row and long remained in Indian public memory for Prince Philip reportedly questioning the number of deaths in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre during a visit to the memorial in Amritsar. It is considered one of his many gaffes.

The backdrop of the 1997 visit was no less controversial. Hours before Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip landed in New Delhi, then prime minister IK Gujral reportedly told a meeting of Egyptian intellectuals in Cairo that Britain was a third-rate power.

Gujral was said to be livid at then foreign secretary Robin Cook for suggesting during a visit to Pakistan that Britain might mediate between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue, and used the third-rate power phrase first mentioned by Lord Curzon, who had said in 1901: As long as we rule India, we are the greatest power in the world. If we lose it we shall straightway drop to a third rate power.

There were demands during the 1997 visit that the royal couple apologise for the 1919 massacre. Over the decades, there have been different estimates of the casualties of the firing ordered by Col Reginald Dyer.

British estimates put it at 379, while Indian estimates are in the thousands. A plaque at the memorial says: "This place is saturated with the blood of about two thousand Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims who were martyred in a non-violent struggle."

During the visit, the Queen bowed her head and placed a wreath at the memorial. On the way out, Prince Philip stopped to query an official on the number of dead: "Two thousand? It wasn't, was it? That's wrong. I was in the navy with Dyer's son. That's a bit exaggeratedit must include the wounded."

The British news media have often compiled lists of Prince Philips gaffes over the decades.

During a tour of a Scottish factory in August 1999, he reportedly said a fuse box was so crude that it "looked as though it had been put in by an Indian". He later clarified his comment: "I meant to say cowboys. I just got my cowboys and Indians mixed up."

At a Buckingham Palace reception in 2009 for 400 influential British Indians, he reportedly told guest Atul Patel after glancing at his name badge: "There's a lot of your family in tonight."

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The pioneering pilots who delivered the U.S. mail in open-cockpit biplanes had one of the worlds most dangerous jobs.

Post Office pilot James Hill once needed three whole cigars and part of another just to find New Jersey. Hill had taken off from the airport in Cleveland, bound for New Brunswick on his leg of a regular airmail route. Hed been told the weather was clear up to the Alleghenies, with cloud cover from there to the coast. In the vicinity of Mercer, Pa., he finished an inflight cigar and looked at his airplanes clock. The clock had stopped. Hill knew the distance from Cleveland to Mercer was 75 miles. He also knew that hed smoked an entire cigar. Doing a bit of math on the fly, he figured he needed to smoke three more cigars and two-fifths of a fourth in order to mark the 255 remaining miles. When he got that far into the final cigar, he dipped below the cloud cover and found himself approaching Hadley Field, outside New Brunswick.

The years that the Post Office Department ran the airmail service were like thatmakeshift maneuvers, dangerous and unreliable equipment, and a collection of genuine characters flying the mail. Dean Smith, a survivor of that period, called the fraternity of early airmail pilots a suicide club. He said that Only pilots desperate to fly would join it, though he also noted, you could at least be comfortable while life lasted. By the end of those early years of hazardous experimentation, however, the United States had a national air traffic network of sorts and the beginnings of a commercial aviation industry.

The airmail service wasnt really the Post Offices idea; the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics had suggested it. But Postmaster General Albert S. Burleson threw his weight behind the NACA proposal. He told Assistant Postmaster General Otto Praeger, who was given direct oversight, The airmail once started must not stop, but must be constantly improved and expanded until it would become, like the steamship and the railroad, a permanent transportation feature of the postal service.

NACA advocated the airmail service to spur the development of facilities, routes and equipment that would also benefit the private sector. Once landing strips were built for airmail traffic, they could be used by anyone, and the routes that airmail pilots charted would prove useful to commercial traffic of all sorts. Furthermore, the need for quality commercial aircraft to carry the mail would lead to new designs that could be employed by the private sector.

That was the idea, at least. Implementing it was a bit of a challenge. The agency expected to pioneer the development of all these things understandably placed a premium on predictability and reliability. Both were in short supply during the early days of airmail.

After a brief stint in the summer of 1918 when U.S. Army pilots and airplanes flew the mail, the Post Office began to hire its own pilots and purchase its own equipment. At first, both pilots and equipment were for the most part Army surplus. The Post Office, which had been upset with the Army pilots poor discipline and disappointed by the quality of its equipment, again found itself having to rely on them.

Praeger was responsible for overseeing the airmail service from 1918 to 1921, and his insistence on maintaining a fixed schedule routinely exceeded the ability of his men, his equipment and his airfields. Years later, Praeger would speak glowingly to a radio reporter about the airmail pilots heroics. Perhaps time had softened his views. In the early going, he maintained a fairly jaundiced view of his men. The first rule in the list Praeger gave them was: Pilots will not perform any stunts with mail aeroplanes. That rule preceded a rule requiring a preflight safety check.

Praeger seems to have spent much of 1918 and 1919 engaged in a battle of wills with his pilots. The first to openly rebel against him were Eddie Gardner and Robert Shank. On November 18, 1918, Gardner and Shank refused to take off from Belmont field on Long Island in foggy weather that had already caused a crash and claimed the life of a pilot at a nearby field. The manager at Belmont backed them up and cabled his opinion to Praeger. Praegers response: Start the Mail Ship Without a Minutes Delay.

Against his better judgment, Gardner attempted to do so, but after a short flight he and Shank returned to the field and parked the plane. Praeger responded by firing them both on the spot. They were rehired a couple months later, however, when the Post Office installed James Edgerton as superintendent of flying operations, a job seemingly created to mitigate the growing conflict between Praeger and the pilots.

Things came to a head on July 22, 1919. After a two-week stretch that had seen 15 crashes and two fatalities, Leon Bonehead Smith refused to fly out of the same fogbound field that Gardner and Shank had refused to fly from the previous year. One by one, every pilot on the eastern seaboard refused to fly that day, and the strike was on. It lasted less than a week, in part because Praeger and the Post Office took a beating in the press. The main concession to the pilots was that deskbound officials in Washington would no longer get to decide if it was safe to fly.

That made a significant difference. Of the more than 200 pilots who flew for the Air Mail Service, 35 died in crashes. Of those, 20 died before 1920.

Although low-grade conflict continued between Praeger and pilots, airmail routes rapidly expanded after the strike. By September 1920, the first transcontinental route was in place, though it combined flight and rail travel. Since it was unsafe to fly at night, mail was transferred from planes to trains after dark, and then transferred back to planes at daybreak.

During this period, pilots were assigned to fly set routes back and forth on a daily basis. In the flat and sparsely populated Midwest, that routine occasionally led to complacency and boredom that tended to reinforce Praegers fear of stunt flying.

Once, E. Hamilton Lee, the second pilot to refuse to fly in the 1919 airmail strike, decided to buzz an iced-in barge on the Mississippi River. During his dive he hit a string of telegraph lines, which broke free and wrapped around the propeller. The prop continued to spin as the whirling telegraph line tore Lees plane apart. He crashed, but was fortunately able to walk away with the mail.

Another pilot deviated from his assignment on a more regular basis. R.C. Tex Marshall used to stop every afternoon in the same Iowa farmers pasture to stretch and smoke. One afternoon, the farmer had his bull in that pasture. The bull took exception to Marshalls presence and charged him. The farmer got between Marshall and the bull, enabling Tex to get safely aboard his plane. Before climbing aboard, the airmail pilot armed himself with a rock, planning to get some payback from the bull. Circling back over the field, he threw out the rock and hit the farmer instead.

Future smoke breaks were taken elsewhere.

Out west, the routes were a bit more dangerous. In October 1920, flying from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Cheyenne, Wyo., barely a month after transcontinental service was established, James Murray encountered a snowstorm while skirting the northern edge of the Colorado Rockies. Seeing a gap in the storm while trying to follow the Laramie Valley northeast of the Medicine Bow range, Murray made for it. The gap closed before he got there, though, and he found himself in a blinding snowstorm with the Medicine Bows on his right and the Laramies on his left. When Murray could see trees about 50 feet below, he forced the plane into a stall and pancaked onto the mountainside right around sundown.

Marking his direction based on the sunset, Murray walked for about two hours before spending the night crouched under a cedar tree. The next day he found his way to a Forest Service road and reached civilization after a 14-mile hike.

The problem with the Post Offices early transcontinental route was that it wasnt much faster than mail sent by train, despite being considerably more expensiveand dangerous. In order for airmail to work, the pilots needed to fly at night. And not even Praeger believed that they could do so safely without ground-based navigational beacons. Yet in a reckless experiment that claimed the life of one of his pilots, thats exactly what he arranged.

Desperate to secure Congressional funding for the beacons before he was replaced by an appointee of Republican President Warren Harding, Praeger scheduled four day-and-night transcontinental flights between New York and San Franciscotwo westbound and two eastboundin February 1921. Praeger was neither a pilot nor a northerner, and its doubtful he ever fully understood the peril he was putting his pilots in.

As would be expected in February for a route that ran almost exclusively through the snowbelt, weather was a problem. The westbound flights were stranded in Dubois, Pa., and Chicago. The first eastbound flight ended tragically when William Lewis de Havilland DH-4B stalled after takeoff outside Elko, Nev. The only thing that saved Praegers hastily arranged publicity stunt was Jack Knights successful flight from North Platte, Neb., to Chicago. Knight had never flown the Omaha-to-Chicago route before, and his first flight was not only at night, it was through rough weather that didnt clear up until about 5 a.m. His strategy was basically to look for Lake Michigan and then find Chicago.

Praeger got all the publicity he wanted, but didnt get the funding he sought. Under the Harding administration, Paul Henderson replaced him, and the Army, not the Post Office, set up the first beacon system. That system, which extended from Dayton to Columbus, was turned over to the Post Office in 1922.

It wasnt until 1923 that funding for a nationwide network of beacons was secured, and the build-out rapidly followed. By the end of 1924, lighted beacons were in place from Rock Springs, Wyo., to Cleveland. The entire route was lighted by the summer of 1925.

The route-marker beacons were rotating lights designed to be visible from 10 miles away. Each was mounted atop a 51-foot-tall metal-frame tower, with a small shack nearby housing the beacons generator. The towers were placed on large concrete arrows painted with yellow reflective paint, pointing the way to the next beacon. Dozens of these arrows survive, generally in the West. A restored beacon and shed can be found at Grants-Milan Municipal Airport in New Mexico, while Montana continues to operate 19 of the beacons for the benefit of general aviation traffic in the state. Much brighter beacons were installed at the Post Offices airfields along the route.

By 1925, the Post Office had the airmail service on a solid footing, with well-lit routes and airfields on the ground and with much better instrumentation and more reliable engines in the planes aloft. That year, Congress also authorized the Post Office to contract out airmail flights.

In 1926 the Post Offices beacon and airfield infrastructure was transferred to the Department of Commerce, and its corps of pilots and fleet of aircraft were wound down. However, the Post Office remained an integral part of commercial aviation after routes were contracted out in the mid-20s.

The so-called Airmail Scandal of 1930-34, in which carriers and the postmaster general rigged the contracts for airmail routes, resulted in sweeping changes to commercial aviation in the U.S. The Black-McKellar bill, passed in the wake of the scandal, resulted in the breakup of William Boeings empire, creating separate entities that became United Airlines, United Technologies and Boeing.

Though it must have seemed like an exercise in futility in the early going, time proved NACA correct in its prediction that airmail would spur commercial aviation. Within seven years of the first routes being flown, the U.S. had a rudimentary air traffic control system, a network of airfields and the beginnings of a competitive market for commercial aviation.

Richard Jensen is a writer and historical preservation consultant based in Sioux Falls, S.D. Recommended reading: By the Seat of My Pants, by Dean C. Smith; and Mavericks of the Sky, by Barry Rosenberg and Catherine Macauley.

This story was originally published in the May 2017 issue of Aviation History magazine. Subscribe here.
North Korea just confirmed that a US citizen who is also a professor in Pyongyang was arrested while the country is dealing with the growing tensions with the United States of America through the administration of Donald Trump. Due to this, some were telling that this will add more fuel to the conflict which started with the nuclear testing.

Reports escalated that Kim Sang-Duk or Tony Kim was detained at the airport of North Korea last April 22. He was arrested after he was trying to leave the country while he became e lecturer at one of the elite universities in Pyongyang.

After it was confirmed that Kim was arrested, Korean Central News Agency said that the reason for the arrest was because of crimes he committed. According to Mail Online, it was reported that the US citizen committed crimes of hostility which was aimed to upturn the DPRK. The name of the country was also used which aggravated the crime more.

Mr. Kim, a US citizen was arrested by special law enforcement forces and made all the preparations regarding his arrest. After being arrested and while being detained, the law enforcements are also conducting investigations regarding his crime.

The arrest of the US citizen is very timely with the ongoing tensions between North Korea and the U.S. It can be recalled that President Donald Trump has been gathering support from Asian countries to stop North Korea's nuclear testing programs.

Moreover, it was also reported that U.S. has been pressuring China to impose sanctions in order to influence North Korea. Latest reports according to Reuters were telling that China is planning to stop the importation of crude oil to North Korea and if this happens, the stability of the latter's regime will really be affected.

As confirmation of Mr. Kim's arrest escalated in the past days, some were telling that this will add to the increasing tension between U.S. and North Korea. But if these two will deal things diplomatically, further conflicts will be prevented.

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
T he rise and rise of Peckham would astound its most famous sons  Del Boy and Rodney of classic TV sitcom Only Fools And Horses. The south-east London outpost has been transformed from rough-and-tumble to alarmingly expensive.

Latest Rightmove figures show average property prices in SE14 were 194,899 in February 2010. Today they are 493,000. This kind of stellar price rise has locked many young buyers out of Peckham, but next month Latimer Homes, part of the Clarion Housing Group, will launch new flats aimed squarely at first timers.

Pomeroy Street is a boutique scheme with 37 homes, of which 34 are being sold on a shared-ownership basis by estate agent Currell. The rest will be rented.

A 30 per cent share of a one-bedroom flat with a full market value of 360,000 will cost 108,000. As well as mortgage, buyers will pay 573 a month in rent for the part they dont own, and 100 monthly service charge. A 30 per cent share of a two-bedroom flat is priced from 110,250, and owners will need to budget 590 a month for rent, and 120 for service charge.

From 108,000: a 30 per cent share of a one-bedroom flat in Pomeroy Street, Peckham, a new boutique scheme aimed squarely at the first-time buyer market / S Saunders / Digital Nation Ph

There is one three-bedroom flat available, priced at 135,000 for a 25 per cent share. Rent on this property comes in at 929 a month, and service charge is 130 a month. Buyers will be able to move in during September.

20 MINUTES FROM SOUTH LONDON'S BEST NIGHTLIFE

Pomeroy Street is on the easternmost fringes of Peckham and the nearest station is Queens Road (Peckham), with train services to London Bridge in just 10 minutes.

Peckham Rye, where trendification of Peckham began, is a mile down the road  so a cool night out at the Bussey Building or a drink at Franks Cafe are only 20 minutes walk away.

Lined with post-war social housing, Pomeroy Street itself isnt the most beautiful road in the area. However, around it are distinct signs that Queens Road  QRP to locals  is smartening up its act, as buyers pile in from more expensive Peckham Rye.

There are still plenty of chicken shops but there are also now some newer, smarter alternatives. The chic Blackbird Bakery cafe has taken a prime unit by the station, and Beer Rebellion, a laid-back bar in Queens Road, sells a range of craft beers.

WHAT ELSE CAN I BUY?

The potential of Queens Road Peckham hasnt gone unnoticed by developers and Crest Nicholson is selling flats at its high-spec Woods Road development, priced from 450,000 for a one-bedroom home.

From 450,000: a one-bedroom flat in Crest Nicholsons new Woods Road scheme in Peckham (020 3858 2854)

The Help to Buy scheme is available, which means buyers need only raise a five per cent deposit.

Those who prefer period property could opt for a two-bedroom Victorian or Georgian conversion flat, which go locally from 400,000 to 500,000. JT Clarke London is selling a top-floor flat in a townhouse in Queens Road for 450,000, while Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward is offering another top-floor two-bedroom flat, also in Queens Road, for 395,000.

450,000: a two-bedroom flat in a Georgian terrace in Queens Road

As ever, you get the most bang for your buck with an ex-council home and there are plenty of low-rise brick-built blocks scattered in the streets around Queens Road. Ludlow Thompson is selling a one-bedroom flat in Carlton Grove for 295,000.
In the first of a series of articles featuring entrepreneurs, we focus on food sustainability start-up Beelong and find out about the founders' motivation and challenges.

After graduating from EHL in 2012, Charlotte de la Baume wanted to turn her passion for food sustainability into a sustainable business. As a student, she had learnt how to manage budgets and food costs, but sustainability had not been part of the curriculum. So she began discussing the issue with the school's chefs and that's when the idea of launching Beelong came about.

"We believed that the restaurant industry has a huge impact in terms of the amount of food that is purchased every day and as one of the top hospitality schools, EHL has to do something and show an example."

The school has supported the project with advice and facilities. As Charlotte and the company's other managing partner, Mathias Faigaux, were able to sign contracts from the start and were given some financial support from the Swiss non-profit Genilem, they didn't need to seek additional funding.

"When you talk about start-ups, the main key to success is timing and we were quite lucky with that," Mathias says. Back in October 2014, when they launched the start-up, the canton of Vaud was seeking a partner to evaluate the environmental impact of its kitchens. "So we were able to have clients from scratch and we never had to go through a round of financing."

"The market is smaller than what you can expect in the US," Mathias says, "so it's quite hard actually. Also because, as a company, you don't have the chance to make an IPO (initial public offering) here. So either you have the chance to sell to industry or it's really hard to raise funds."

The company, which up to now has been operating in the western, French-speaking parts of Switzerland, audits food producers and outlets, and its indicator uses five main criteria (product origin, seasonality, method of production, climate and resources, and product transformation) to evaluate the environmental impact of food products, meals and procurement.

In its first year of operation, Beelong took on more than 50 clients and began hiring. "Then we figured out that our services were working properly (in terms of proof of concept) but we were lacking volume in terms of demand," Charlotte says.

"The truth is that no matter how hard you try to understand your market before you go live, there's no better way to learn how your clients want to work with you, unless you actually work with them," adds Mathias. "So we really learnt a lot of things along the way and it definitely helped us to shape new services that were more suitable for the industry." Those new services include training courses and consulting services.

Two years after its launch, Beelong has yet to turn a profit but that is not deterring the founders, even though other entrepreneurs might already be considering their exit strategy. At this point, they're content to be able to make a living out of the venture and pursue their dreams  at least as long as the company's finances hold out.

The entrepreneurial journey: Beelong | By Stuart Pallister Photo by EHL

Mathias had previously worked for a Swiss bank, helping small and medium-sized enterprises or SMEs to finance themselves. "At the beginning I wasn't thinking about entrepreneurship. But in the end, when you're in that type of big company, you realize that what you do has probably little impact globally and you're thinking what can I do?" Instead, he wanted an opportunity to be more creative and have an impact, and he felt he found that at Beelong.

For Charlotte, food sustainability is her passion. "I was just in love with the projects," she says. "It was just for fun and because I believed in the values. And then the school believed in the values too. So they offered me the opportunity to grow the project and develop it, build partnerships as well, with more scientific partners and then it [became] a company."

Transparency in the industry has been a major challenge for the start-up as its indicator needs detailed data for its evaluation process, but the business partners have sought to gain the trust of their clients through proof of concept as they looked to fill gaps in the market. Now, the company is setting its sights on expanding its operations to the German-speaking parts of the country.

"We are working with companies based in the cantons of Zurich, St-Gallen and Argau," Charlotte says. "We have also just started to work with two major food distributors, who are now displaying the environmental grades for their products in their online stores."

EHL Chief Innovation & Valorisation Officer, Remi Walbaum, writes:

Beelong was born from a student project at the Ecole hoteliere de Lausanne, due to students' concerns about the impact of daily meals served to the EHL community. Initially tested for several years on different parts of the campus, the Beelong indicator on the environmental impact of food was then the focus of a student business project (SBP) in 2012, led by Charlotte de la Baume.

From the beginning, the project has been very ambitious as the approach could have a lasting impact on the way we consume food, by providing practical tools to the restaurant industry.

As Beelong's values are aligned with EHL's and the start-up is positioned as an expert in the sustainable development of the hospitality industry, the school's management board decided to support this project for two years to allow it to test the indicator with external pilot restaurants, especially with the assistance of Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne (EPFL) and the Universite de Lausanne (UNIL).

EHL Hospitality Business School

Communications Department

+41 21 785 1354

EHL

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French Montana recently journeyed to Uganda to shoot the video of his latest single, Unforgettable feat. Swae Lee. Moved by his interactions with the women and children at the Suubi Center, he has decided to donate $100 to the Mama Hope organization, a non-profit that endeavors to held end extreme poverty around the globe through entrepreneurship. Frenchs donation will go to the construction of the Suubi Health Center and Ugandan blood banks.

I feel like sometimes God puts you in a platform where youre supposed to help other people, French Montana told Billboard. He adds of his experience abroad, That touched my heart when I went out there. I wanted to give them the shirt off my back and help as soon as possible.

Learn more about Mama Hope at the organizations official site here.

French Montana
Saturday, September 23, 2017

Belfast's Oh Yeah Centre will feature upcoming artist Lewis Watson who is compared to a young Ed Sheeran.

The concert will take place at the end of September and tickets go on sale this Friday at 10am via Ticketmaster.

Watson's first album, The Morning (2014) is followed by the March 24, 2017 release of Midnight.

"Written and recorded entirely under his own stream, with friends as collaborators, its a sonic leap on from his largely acoustic debut  bigger, bolder, beautifully textured and more experimental, but still as brutally honest and achingly intimate as his bewitching early EPs. Recorded in just three weeks last summer at The Vale in Warwickshire and produced by Lewis close friend Anthony West of Oh Wonder, Midnight was made without any label involvement. In fact, it wasnt until Zane Lowe premiered gritty, drums-driven first single Maybe Were Home on his radio show in January that anyone outside Lewis circle had heard his new material." -- Jeff Robinson
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The Offshore Technology Conference each year recognizes new products that advance technical solutions to the many challenges of offshore drilling. Among them is Wild Well Control's DeepRange Plug & Abandonment, or P&A, Tool.

It's the first system in the market that allows the operator to perform fully regulatory compliant plug and abandonment on wells in a purely riserless mode of operation. The system requires only a multiservice vessel to launch it, as opposed to a rig. The proprietary process saves operators up to 50 percent when compared with conventional P&A operations. This can equate to millions of dollars per well.

DeepRange offers a minimally invasive solution that maintains well-bore integrity throughout the entire plug and abandonment operation.

Wearing the brand

The Norwegian publishers of Upstream, a weekly oil and gas journal, wanted to stand out at the Offshore Technology Conference, amid the hundreds of booths that compete for attention of convention-goers. So the company used some of its newsprint to design fabric that it fashioned into outfits for employees working the booth.

"We realized we wanted something more to be visible," said Rita Hausken Barkhodaee, sales director for the publishing company based in Stavanger, Norway. The company designed the first roll of fabric in 1999 and has updated it yearly to reflect the latest oil and gas news. The outfits are custom tailored in Singapore.

The outfits cause OTC convention-goers to stop and look. And when the employees roam around the exposition floor, they never stop promoting.

"You can always carry the brand with you," Barkhodaee said.

- L.M. Sixel

Historical precedent?

The two-year oil bust resembles the theorized asteroid 66 million years ago that wiped out the dinosaurs but ultimately paved the way for the evolution of human life, said Jose Gutierrez, Transocean director of technology and innovation.

Gutierrez spoke Tuesday at the Offshore Technology Conference about the need to innovate, collaborate and find greater cost efficiencies now that most energy companies can no longer afford to simply throw money at problems. Transocean is one of the world's largest offshore drillers.

"The oil debacle - it's actually the best opportunity for innovation," he said, noting that companies are now forced to collaborate. "This is like the meteor that landed in the Gulf of Mexico."

The theory is the asteroid hit in the Gulf of Mexico near the Yucatan Peninsula and wiped out most of the dinosaurs and much other life. But enough mammals survived and the evolutionary cycle eventually led to humans, who today get around on fuels for which dinos provided the raw materials.

- Jordan Blum

3-D to the rescue

The old cast-iron pipes are corroding at BP's oil and gas gathering center on Alaska's North Slope. The company knew it had to replace them, at an enormous cost. Then it plugged the project into a 3-D model. And the software revealed that the British oil major doesn't need to remove all the old piping, only some of it. Engineers can simply lay the new, stainless-steel pipe over the rest.

The digital subscription that allows BP to see its North Slope gathering center in augmented reality costs the company a few hundred thousand dollars a year. The adjustment to the pipe layout should, BP executives at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston said, save the company tens of millions of dollars.

Digital technology is changing the way companies drill for oil, examine reservoirs and rebuild refineries. And companies like BP say that, because the technology has largely been pioneered for other applications - Microsoft builds 3-D software for gaming, not oil and gas - they can access it for thousands, not millions, of dollars.

"Price points are drastically lower," said Dave Truch, technology director of digital innovation at BP. "We could not have done this two decades ago."

- David Hunn

Next time, take the sushi

In the visual cacophony of OTC's expo floor, companies do whatever they can to grab attention - and few things are more eye-catching than people staring, transfixed, into clunky virtual reality headsets.

It seemed to work for the Dutch offshore services provider Boskalis, at least, which lured passers-by in with the promise of a free out-of-body experience. (Its sushi counter, in contrast, was by invitation only.)

The actual experience, while effective in demonstrating the size and scope of towering rigs and ships, was less than transformative. It may have had to do with low-volume headphones that didn't fit well over the goggles. One user, George Osgood of Kiewit Offshore Services, was underwhelmed.

"I think a lot of it has to do with the content," Osgood says, mentioning that he's seen some of it before in regular videos. Still, some parts of Boskalis' VR demo offered a twist. "When you're on the vessel looking up at the crane, that's when it becomes neat."

- Lydia DePillis
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Fahed Alameri invented a mechanical stabilizer that his employer, the state-owned oil company of the United Arab Emirates, is showing off at the Offshore Technology Conference this week.

But Alameri, a drilling manager, couldn't work on his laptop to prepare his OTC presentation during the 17-hour flight from Abu Dhabi to Houston; he could only use his six-inch mobile phone. "My eyes went crazy with tears," said Alameri, describing how he had to squint to read and write on the small screen.

Alameri was among the international visitors to OTC affected by the new security procedures imposed by President Donald Trump on travelers from 10 airports in the Middle East and North Africa. The rule, put in place in March after tighter restrictions were blocked by courts, is making the long trips even more uncomfortable for business travelers like Alameri, who among other hassles, are prohibited from using laptops in the cabin.

About 20 percent of the attendees at OTC come from outside the United States and Houston typically rolls out the red carpet for them, setting aside special immigration lanes at Bush Intercontinental Airport to speed them through. But this year, while no problems entering the country were reported to OTC organizers, international visitors said they still worried about visa and other hassles that might detain them in the airport or get them sent back home.

Torstein Bringa, chief executive officer of Future Production A/S of Norway, which delivers equipment to drilling rigs, said he headed to OTC with an incident involving one of his countrymen on his mind. He recalled how former Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik was detained at Dulles Airport for about an hour in January because his passport had a stamp from Iran, where he had attended a 2014 human rights conference.

"Everyone was wondering, what's going on?" said Bringa, who had no similar stamps in his passport and no problems in Houston. "What is happening in that country?"

Quantifying ban's effect

Whether travel restrictions and tighter immigration policies have affected OTC attendance is difficult to gauge because organizers won't release figures until Thursday afternoon. It is also difficult to separate such effects on attendance from the tough oil price environment.

The Department of Homeland Security in March banned carry-on laptops and tablets on direct flights leaving Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Morocco, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, following an attempt in January by the Trump administration to impose a travel ban on citizens from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

That action, which Trump said aimed to keep terrorists from entering the country, was blocked by the courts. A revised ban in March, which excluded Iraqi citizens, was also halted by federal courts.

In a statement Wednesday, the Customs and Border Protection said it recognizes the importance of the travel industry to the U.S. economy and remains committed to facilitating lawful travel to the United States. Border officers admitted 548,930 citizens from Middle Eastern countries between October 2016 through March, a 10 percent dip from the same period one year earlier, according to the agency.

At OTC, however, the Trump administration's first attempt at a travel ban was still fresh in the minds of international visitors, who recalled stories of foreign visitors turned away or detained for hours at airports while their documents were scrutinized.

One international visitor, Rita Hausken Barkhodaee, the sales director of "Up-stream," a weekly oil and gas journal published in Norway, said she was asked to provide passwords to her social media accounts when applying for a visa. She said she declined the voluntary request.

Stories foster worries

Stories about the travel problems affect the ability of a city like Houston to attract international travelers for conferences on energy, health care, science and other industries, said M.J. Khan, president of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston, the largest Muslim religious group in North America. "People don't want to go through that," said Khan.

And it's not just visitors from the Middle East who are anxious.

Ewan Lloyd-Baker, chief executive officer of the Haywood Tyler Group, a 202-year-old British company that makes specialty motor pumps and steam turbines, said he worried as he flew across the Atlantic that he'd encounter tougher scrutiny when arriving in Houston. Acquaintances had told him about foreign travelers sent back home from the U.S. when their travel documents were not in order.

"When you hear stories of peoples' visa problems, you worry yourself," said Baker, who cleared customs without incident.

Nabeel Hodi came to the OTC to find customers for his five U.S. clients that make pumps, compressors and boilers. On Monday, relaxing in the international lounge, Hodi said he was worried visa concerns would keep his customers - oil and gas companies from the Middle East and North Africa - at home. "Business people don't want to be harassed or insulted," he said.

Earlier this year, his customers from the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Egypt, stayed away from the air conditioning, heating and refrigeration expo in Las Vegas in late January, which opened shortly after the first Trump travel ban was put into place, said Hodi, who lives in Chicago. They made it to OTC, however, showing up on Tuesday and Wednesday.
SAN FRANCISCO - As a business, Facebook is more successful than ever. On Wednesday, it reported another quarter of huge growth, with nearly 2 billion people using the service and revenue up 49 percent in the first quarter compared with a year ago.

But with the company's vast reach has come another kind of problem: Facebook is becoming too big for its computer algorithms and relatively small team of employees and contractors to manage the trillions of posts on its social network.

Earlier Wednesday, Mark Zuckerberg, the company's chief executive, acknowledged the problem. In a Facebook post, he said that over the next year, the company would add 3,000 people to the team that polices the site for inappropriate or offensive content, especially in the live videos the company is encouraging users to broadcast.

"If we're going to build a safe community, we need to respond quickly," he wrote. "We're working to make these videos easier to report so we can take the right action sooner - whether that's responding quickly when someone needs help or taking a post down." He offered no details on what would change.

The announcement comes after Facebook Live, the company's video-streaming service, was used to broadcast a series of horrible acts to viewers, including a man boasting about his apparently random killing of a Cleveland man and the murder of an infant in Thailand.

More broadly, the company has been criticized for doing a poor job weeding out content that violates its rules, including the sharing of nude photographs of female Marines without their consent and illegal gun sales.

Facebook is also grappling with the limitations of its automated algorithms on other fronts, from the prevalence of fake news on the service to a News Feed that tends to show people information that reinforces their views rather than challenges them.

Most of the company's reviewers are low-paid contractors overseas who spend on average of just a few seconds on each post.
A League City woman sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in federal prison for receiving child pornography offered to provide the sender illicit photographs of one of her teenage relatives, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Galveston said.

Tracey Lynn Bautista, 46, pleaded guilty on Jan. 26, 2017.

Bautista came to the attention of federal investigators because her name was linked to someone already arrested for promotion of child pornography. They found several explicit images and videos sent to Bautista through text messaging and an online message application known as "Kik Messenger," authorities said.

She acknowledged receiving the images by responding "nice" and "(w)ow. (g)ood pic," federal prosecutors said.

The investigators also found text messages from Bautista discussing one of her relatives, an underage girl. She sent the man a photograph of the teenager with her breasts exposed, officials said.

At a hearing on Wednesday, prosecutors said Bautista also offered explicit photographs of her teenage relative to another person.

Following her prison term, Bautista will be ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release and register as a sex offender.
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Students in Deerwood Elementary School's Creating for Care program in Kingwood acted and gave back with a performance of "Pippi," an original stage play based off the book, Pippi Longstocking, to raise money for The Periwinkle Foundation with its fourth annual fundraiser on April 23.

Creating for Care is a service learning organization founded by Robin Robinson, a first-grade teacher at Deerwood Elementary. Robinson started the organization in honor of her son and has seen it be embraced by her family, coworkers, students, parents and community. Each year, proceeds from a performance organized by the Creating for Care program go directly to The Periwinkle Foundation.
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In an explosive and rare move, Texas judicial authorities on Wednesday asked the Texas Supreme Court to suspend a Harris County justice of the peace accused of paying prostitutes for sex, misusing illegal drugs and ruling unethically in favor of a convicted con man.

The sordid list of accusations against Judge Hilary Green, Justice of the Peace in Houston's 7th Precinct, was contained in a 316-page court filing by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct to the state's highest court.

The document describes four separate judicial misconduct complaints against Green made between 2012 and 2016 that were previously not released under commission rules.

In her response to the commission, Green admitted to many of the allegations, including illegally obtaining prescription drugs and using marijuana and ecstasy at the same time she was presiding over low-level drug possession cases involving minors in her court, the records show. She also admitted to sexting a bailiff while on the bench.

"Judge Green's outright betrayal of the public's trust warrants her immediate suspension pending formal proceedings," the filing says.

The Texas Supreme Court has not yet taken action on the suspension request and there is no deadline for it to rule.

The commission filing confirms that the latest misconduct complaint against Green arrived in 2016 from a man who Green has admitted was her extramarital lover, Claude Barnes. Other allegations were made by Green's ex-husband, former Houston Controller Ronald Green, as part of their divorce.

Green has not responded to the commission's request she be suspended. But her attorney, Chip Babcock, said he plans to argue that Green cannot be removed from office for alleged misconduct that occurred prior to November 2016, when she was re-elected to office. He argues that her re-election occurred after most of the allegations against her were made public in articles in the Houston Chronicle, or by her opponents during the campaign.

In support of his argument, Babcock cited a Texas state law that says "an officer may not be removed ... for an act the officer committed before election to office."

Others have interpreted that statute to mean before a public official initially took office, which in Green's case was in 2007.

But Babcock emphasized in an interview that allegations about Green's illegal drug use and sexual misconduct came to light in 2015 and 2016 from "her ex-husband and an admittedly bitter and angry former companion." Babcock said that during Green's 2016 campaign, the bulk of the allegations against her "were aired publicly and after they were aired publicly, Judge Green ran in a contested Democratic Primary against a number of candidates opposing her and defeated them with a substantial amount of the vote and subsequently won the general election."

Admits to misusing drugs

In his complaint, Barnes describes several occasions when he saw Hilary Green illegally abuse drugs. He claims that during their long-time affair the judge asked him to illegally purchase Tussionex, a prescription cough medicine, on the black market for her. He also describes how he consumed both Ecstacy and marijuana with Green. And he claims that one of Green's court officers took marijuana from a detainee and gave it to her.

In her commission responses, Green admitted to misusing drugs with Barnes and to a dependence on Tussionex.

In interviews and in sworn statements, Barnes also provided details of two incidents in which he and the judge hired call girls for three-way sex - including an incident involving a woman summoned from Backpage.com in Houston, and another hired while Green was staying in a hotel for a judicial conference in Austin.

Another misconduct complaint, initiated by the commission itself, is based on broader allegations published by the Chronicle in a May 16, 2015 article that described claims made by Ronald Green. In divorce filings, Green alleged his former wife was a prescription drug addict who engaged in several extra-marital affairs.

In divorce papers, Ronald Green also alleged that his wife had lied to the commission in response to two older judicial misconduct complaints related to Judge Green's relationship with a convicted con man named Dwayne Jordon.

The Houston Chronicle wrote about ethical questions raised about Green's rulings in Jordon's favor in 2012. But the commission initially took no action on two related misconduct complaints alleging she had a conflict of interest.

Two different people filed complaints in 2012 alleging that Green had failed to recuse herself from a real estate dispute and eviction matters involving Jordon, a five-time felon.

In one of those matters, Green's rulings helped Jordon temporarily seize control of his grandfather's home from his uncle, who was the rightful heir, through an illegal eviction. By the time the uncle recovered the property rights through a successful appeal, he said Jordon had taken out mortgages in his grandfather's name and his uncle lost the home to debt. Green has argued that Jordon presented proof of ownership in the form of a deed, according to her responses.

On Wednesday, the commission for the first time revealed that it had dismissed the 2012 complaints only after Green claimed to have no relationship with Jordon outside of court - except for "one time in 2009 or 2010 when my son was invited to a birthday party."

Removal request

In her responses, Green has said she simply forgot about other occasions when they'd socialized, commission papers show.

But commission officials claim that Green told them several lies as they attempted to investigate the complaints against her, the agency's filing says. "Judge Green's pattern of deception to the Commission is incompatible with continuing to serve as a judge."

The removal request against her is based in part on her own admissions to illegal drug use, lying to the commission and sexting with a court employee and asking him to obtain prescription cough medicine for her, the commission record shows.

"Based on the evidence before it, the Commission concluded that Judge Green engaged in willful violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct, willful and persistent conduct clearly inconsistent with the proper performance of her duties that cast public discredit upon the judiciary and on the administration of justice in the State of Texas," the filing says.

Most judicial misconduct matters are resolved quietly in Texas behind closed doors. But Green has vowed to publicly fight removal, Babcock said.

Ultimately, commission officials would have to hold a public trial before seeking authority to remove her from the bench - a step that's very rare in Texas, said Eric Vinson, Executive Director of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. The last contested formal proceeding in Texas was in 2008.
WASHINGTON - Since he was first elected to Congress in 2000, Houston Republican John Culberson has seen few serious challenges in his affluent U.S. House district, which includes the upscale Galleria shopping center and some of the city's wealthiest westside neighborhoods.

On Wednesday, two Texas Democrats launched separate campaigns for a seat that's served as a Republican stronghold since the congressional days of former President George H.W. Bush, who lives in the district.

They are not alone.

Far ahead of a 2018 midterm election in which Democrats hope to see Donald Trump's unpredictable presidency weigh down his party's fortunes in Congress, four other Democrats have filed campaign papers with the Federal Election Commission to run, and one other is expected to soon.

That's in addition to an independent candidate and one declared Republican primary challenger: Houston businessman David Balat.

Another Republican, immigrant crime activist Maria Espinoza, said she also is considering a primary run against Culberson, following her run last year, when she also served as a major Trump booster.

Altogether, there could be nearly a dozen candidates, including Culberson, contending in a Texas congressional election that's 18 months away.

The newest entrants are Alex Triantaphyllis, director of immigration and economic opportunity at BakerRipley, a community development nonprofit; and Dr. Jason Westin, a cancer research doctor at MD Anderson.

Both see an opening after Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton carried the district by 1 point last year, putting a lighter shade of red on a reliably Republican district. Culberson, one of only three Texas Republicans in districts Trump lost, appears to be the closest target of opportunity.

"The results of the 2016 election in this district show that the people in this area are concerned about the direction that the president might take us, and I think they will become increasingly concerned that Congressman Culberson has stood with Trump," Triantaphyllis said.

Westin also sees growing anti-Trump sentiment, particularly around the GOP's latest Obamacare replacement bill, which Culberson supports.

"There are a lot of smart people that don't buy into some of the circus tricks that Mr. Trump is doing," Westin said. "The enthusiasm of the grass-roots movement is exciting."

Democrats also hope to build on last November's general election in the 7th Congressional District, when assistant city attorney James Cargas garnered nearly 44 percent of the vote, topping the best Democratic showing of 43 percent by businessman Michael Skelly in 2008.

Both were unusual election years. In 2008, Barack Obama was at the top of a historic Democratic ticket; in 2016, Trump was making history. Both lost in the 7th District.

District changing

To Cargas, who will be making his fourth try against Culberson next year, the electoral history tells a story about a district that has become more urban, and perhaps less conservative.

"What's different this time is not only the anti-Trump wave that's out there, but Democratic enthusiasm as well," Cargas said.

He also is banking on Trump fatigue within the district's traditional, Bush-era GOP - the establishment Republicans against whom Trump ran.

"That flavor of Republican is not a member of the tea party," Cargas said. "Yet the tea party is pretty loud, and that's who John Culberson and Donald Trump have gotten in bed with."

If Democrats see the dawning of a post-Trump age, Republicans see more of the same, invoking a familiar GOP pinata, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.

"We will watch the Democratic primary with interest," said Culberson campaign manager Jennifer Naedler. "The congressman will be ready to face Nancy Pelosi's hand-picked liberal nominee."

Political outsiders

But apart from Cargas, who worked in the Clinton White House in the 1990s, the Democratic primary is shaping up to be a contest of political outsiders. Westin and Triantaphyllis have not run for public office before.

Two other new Democratic faces are Debra Kerner, an educator who served on the board of the Harris County Department of Education, and Joshua Butler, an administrator at the University of Texas' Health Science Center.

Kerner was pictured in a Texas Tribune photo confronting Culberson at a testy town hall in March, which drew an overflow crowd, one of many targeting Republican House members around the nation.

"Change is on the rise in the 7th District," she said in a news release. "Unfortunately, so is flooding, as well as new concerns about transportation, education and health care."

Also making her first bid for Congress, though with considerable national political experience, is Laura Moser, a Democratic activist and writer who recently moved back to her native Houston from Washington, D.C., where her husband worked in the Obama administration. She is known in progressive activist circles as a founder of Daily Action, a network that promotes citizen calls to lawmakers.

In addition to the six Democrats who have formally announced or filed federal election papers, Houston trial lawyer Lizzie Pannill Fletcher told the Chronicle on Wednesday that she is "very close to making the decision to step into this race."

Ronald Kimmons, a former missionary and Reform Party member who works as a writer and translator, rounds out the field.

Some analysts see the crowd gathering to challenge Culberson as a reflection of the district's changing demographics, its affluence and a measure of grass-roots Democratic rage in the first 100 days of the Trump White House.

Rice University political pollster Robert Stein also sees it as part of the unprecedented residential turnover in Harris County, driven in part by suburban empty-nesters and young professionals moving back to the city, particularly around the medical complexes for which southwest Houston is famous.

His research shows a growing population of discerning, educated voters who, though not necessarily more Democratic, are more susceptible to the sort of ticket-splitting seen in November, when Culberson and Clinton carried the district.

"They're highly educated, very well-informed, and they'll split their ticket," Stein said. "Though they'll tell you they're Republicans in general, it doesn't mean they'll always vote for the Republican candidate."

One potential sign that Culberson has recognized these changes was his softening opposition to a planned rail line along Richmond Avenue and his agreement to seek federal transit money.

Like Republicans in other potentially competitive districts, Culberson's fate could be decided by the quality of the Democrat who emerges from the primary, and the Republicans' performance in Congress, where party infighting has stalled GOP attempts to repeal Obamacare, enact major tax reform, and pay for Trump's signature border wall.

"It's not just Donald Trump," Stein said. "What's beginning to happen is that the Republican brand is getting hurt by this  No one is buying that it's the Democrats' fault. They're just lying low and letting the Republicans chew themselves up."

Fundraising expertise

Facing what could be the race of his long career, Culberson sits atop a relatively modest campaign war chest of $132,058, according to his most recent campaign filings. But if history is any guide, he's a wily tactician who knows how to raise money fast. When needed in past campaigns, he's been able to raise more than $1 million.

Naedler said the campaign is "rebuilding" after last year's election, when he fended off Cargas and two Republican primary challengers, Espinoza and James Lloyd, an energy lawyer who worked in the George W. Bush administration.

"The congressman raised significant money in a short amount of time," Naedler said. "He's very good at it."
AUSTIN - The Texas House sought to reduce the state's emphasis on standardized testing Wednesday by passing a pair of bills eliminating several public school exams and watering down the effect others have on grading schools and districts.

Lawmakers also voted to revamp and delay for two years a controversial grading scale that would issue schools A through F grades based on a mix of standardized test scores, student progress and a series of self-assessments.

"We want accountability in the state of Texas, but we need to make it meaningful," said Public Education Chairman Dan Huberty, a Humble Republican and sponsor of House Bill 22.

His bill, which rewrote much of the state's A through F measuring tool, passed on voice vote.

Scaling down both the number of necessary tests and changing the scope of the state's main report card presents a win for parents and educators who say the state has an outsized focus on standardized tests that stresses out students and teachers while contributing to low school morale.

Controversial tests

The tentative passage of both bills comes as roughly half of the state's 5.3 million public school students prep or sit for mandatory State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, also known STAAR, exams this month. High school students testing began this week and grade school students take exams next week.

Parents across the nation have organized and fought standardized testing in recent years after an uptick of emphasis on school and district accountability programs rooted in student scores on high-stakes tests. Parents around the country have pushed back in recent years by pulling their students out of school on exam days, but Texas law bans students from opting out of the tests.

"There's no longer any high-stakes testing below the ninth grade," Rep. Gary Van Deaver, a New Boston Republican, said to applause while giving a thumbs-up on the House floor.

His bill would drop the total number of mandatory tests from 22 to 20, doing away with exams for eighth grade social studies and 11th grade U.S. history. The bill would also eliminate optional algebra II and English III tests and the retake exams for students who failed fifth- and eighth-grade reading and math and extend a pilot program for writing tests.

Huberty's bill, HB 22, would recast the state's A through F grading scale to reduce the number of grading categories from five to three, and lower the weight of STAAR test results from 55 percent to 50 percent. The new scale would also eliminate factors such as student attendance as a factor for grading a school, and focus data on students who have been continuously enrolled in a school district for three or more years.

The Texas Education Agency would have until the 2019-20 school year to create the new scale, effectively delaying its implementation for a year.

Letter grades an issue

Parents and educators said they back the bills, but they want the Legislature to go further.

Educators, for instance, want the state to do away with using letter grades, for fear the letters can stigmatize struggling schools as failing.

"One of the questions that has to be asked when you look at the A through F system is, is it to inform or is it to inflame," said Curtis Culwell, senior associate for the Texas School Alliance representing the state's largest school districts teaching about 40 percent of the state's student population.

Parents say they like the reduced number of tests, but say they worry about extending the writing pilot test without knowing whether it will work.

Lawmakers are expected to approve the bills on third reading Thursday.
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Souad Benkaddour in Madrid in April. Carlos Rosillo

The first Syrian refugee that Souad Benkaddour, 53, ever helped was a pregnant woman with three children who arrived at Madrids Mendez Alvaro bus station in September 2015. Souad explains that she was actually on her way to Segovia with her family when a neighbor called to ask if she would translate for the woman. I told my husband and he did a U-turn, says Souad, who is Moroccan by birth.

Souads first language is Arabic, but she was thrown by the womans Syrian accent, and she found herself switching to classical Arabic. She could not have imagined at the time that she would go on to help more than 500 arrivals from Syria, Palestine, Iraq and Bangladesh, or that her telephone would become a helpline for so many refugees.

Souad and her neighbors made it possible for that Syrian woman, Fayrouz, and her three children, to continue on to Germany. They had crossed the Moroccan border into the Spanish enclave of Melilla, along the northern coast of Africa, by hiding on the underside of trucks. After meeting Souad, they were able to sit on a bus to Paris.

Souad Benkaddour has helped more than 500 people arriving from Syria, Palestine, Iraq and Bangladesh to continue their journey to northern Europe

Souad and her neighbors subsequently discovered that there were dozens of refugees sleeping in the park across from the Mendez Alvaro bus station, and they decided to work together to get them off the streets.

It was around this time that the refugee crisis in Europe peaked. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians were knocking on Europes doors to escape the war. Many came over land across Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, to enter Europe through Melilla, but for most of them Spain has been a stepping-stone to elsewhere  countries that are perceived to offer more support and opportunity. According to Eurostat, just 2,975 Syrians applied for asylum in Spain in 2016 compared to 300,000 for the whole of the European Union.

Hundreds of NGOs raised money to help them on their way, but thousands of ordinary people like Souad helped too. Together with her neighbors, she set up an ingenious system of favors that is still in operation. The pregnant Fayrouz needed someone to meet her in Paris, so Souad asked friends and family to lend a hand. One of them met Fayrouz at the station and gave her a place to stay. Before she moved on, Souad told Fayrouz to give her phone number to anyone else she knew who needed help. I began to get 20 to 30 calls a day, says Souad.

Souads own story has some similarities with those of the people she assists. In the city of Al Hoceima where she was born, Souad says she was not free to behave as she wished. I wanted to experience success and failure without barriers, she explains.

She realized that she had a talent for helping others, and offered her support to pregnant Moroccan girls dealing with intolerant families while she dreamed of migrating to a more liberal country where women were free to choose how to live their own lives. When she arrived in Spain at the age of 38, she took a long, deep breath. I felt I could be myself, she says. I felt free.

Syrian refugee Halima Nordin with her children in Saarbruken, Germany, winter 2016

According to Souad, the feeling she had of finally reaching her destination is exactly the same feeling experienced by the Kubani family when they got to Saarbruken in Germany. When they left Syria, there were 14 of them but they were abducted twice en route and by the time they entered Europe, only the father Ahmed and one daughter were left.

Now, safe at last, they send Souad the occasional WhatsApp to tell her how they are getting on. She also receives photos of the Nordin family from Saarbruken, whose children have been able to play in snow for the first time. Like the Kubanis, they are grateful.

Although Syrians and Moroccans are culturally alike in some respects, Souad had never met any Syrians before 2015. Now I can tell which town each of them comes from, she explains.

There is a catch, though, to being helped by Souad and her neighbors: a refugee who has received assistance must, in turn, assist someone else. I explain to them that when they arrive at their destination, someone will be waiting to meet them and that in the future they will be expected to meet someone themselves, says Souad.

Souads network extends as far as the Red Cross, which calls her when a busload of refugees leaves Granada for Madrid. The ASLA bus company also uses her when a refugee arrives to buy a ticket and needs a translator.

The agreement signed by the EU and Turkey in March 2016 has drastically reduced the number of refugees able to enter Europe

Souads dedication to the plight of the refugees has at times disrupted her family life. Last summer, her husband told her, When you are at the bus station, you cant be at home. But when youre at home, all you are thinking about are the refugees.

At the time, Souad was spending every day of the week at the bus station and her phone rang 24/7. Sometimes she would switch it off only to find dozens of missed calls when she turned it on again. I couldnt return all the calls, she says. There came a point when I had to learn to balance what I was doing with the needs of my family.

When the EU signed an agreement with Turkey in March 2016, the calls grew less frequent due to the drastic drop in the numbers of refugees able to enter Europe. In a few months, hundreds of daily arrivals had become 50 at the Mendez Alvaro bus station. Now, Souad no longer goes to the station but she is still receiving calls, translating, organizing accommodation and helping in any way she can. I dont regret giving my time or my life to this cause, she says.

Souad is unsure whether to define herself as an activist  she simply feels fulfilled when she helps others. She acts from instinct and independently. And although she has helped hundreds of people, she sometimes wonders if she could not have helped more. These niggling doubts are, however, silenced by another message: Salam Alaikum, Souad. We need your help. And she responds automatically as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Ill turn my phone off when the war in Syria is over, she says.

This story is part of a project called The New Arrivals, funded by the European Journalism Centre with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, in which EL PAIS is a participating member together with The Guardian, Der Spiegel and Le Monde.

English version by Heather Galloway.
Bias, particularly unconscious bias, can subtly undermine the many hours organisations invest in creating a culture that embraces diversity and inclusion, she says. But awareness is the first step in mitigating its effects.

The public sector seems to be leading the way in terms of awareness with 51 per cent of respondents ranking bias as a concern, making it the second most important diversity issue for the field.

Thats not surprising, said Cassidy-MacKenzie. Many of New Zealands public sector organisations have made a real commitment to reducing the impact of bias.

Bias was identified as one of the factors impacting the gender pay gap in New Zealand in research released recently by the Ministry for Women.

Publicity around the gender pay gap and research into its causes may have impacted the Diversity Survey results, acknowledged Cassidy-MacKenzie. Gender was identified as an important issue by 45 per cent of respondents, up from 29 per cent in our previous survey.
Hundreds of icebergs have drifted into North Atlantic shipping lanes this year.

While the record loss of Arctic sea ice may be a bad sign for ships navigating off the coast of Newfoundland  and have several other negative environmental effects  it could open up new, more sustainable transportation routes in northern Canada.

A study published in September in Geophysical Research Letters found that as sea ice declines, it could open up new, shorter trade routes across the Arctic Ocean.

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Right now, the Arctic is mostly used for destination traffic (researchers or adventurous sightseers visiting ports up north) rather than shipping routes to Europe or Asia. Instead, ships travelling between destinations like Rotterdam in Netherlands or Yokohama in Japan take routes through the Suez and Panama canals.

Right now, a non-stop trip from Europe to East Asia takes 30 days. From New York to Japan, it takes at least 25. That's not counting the extra time it can take to navigate the locks of a canal, which can add hours or even days to the journey.

"If human greenhouse gas emissions arent curbed, global shipping could realistically use Arctic routes without ice-strengthened ships, and take advantage of the substantial distance saving they afford," researcher Nathanael Melia wrote for Carbon Brief.

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The researchers used global climate model simulations to predict that by 2030, sea ice will likely have melted enough that the trip from Europe to East Asia will take just 22 days, as ships will be able to travel close to the North Pole. If global greenhouse gas emissions can't be lowered to meet the Paris agreement targets, that trip could take as few as 17 days.

We know what is likely to happen to sea ice, Melia told The New York Times. It will reduce decade on decade, and open up vast swaths of the Arctic Ocean.

"If human greenhouse gas emissions arent curbed, global shipping could realistically use Arctic routes without ice-strengthened ships."

Shorter trips through the Arctic could have huge economic implications. A 30 per cent shorter trip means huge savings in both fuel and crew salaries. Ironically, that means that global warming could make shipping better for the environment.

However, there are concerns that the heavy fuel shipping vessels use could easily damage Arctic ecosystems, The Economist reported.

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And, the same drifting ice that is currently posing a risk to the North Atlantic could make shipping in the Arctic difficult, even in summer.

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On Wednesday evening, following rumors about the health of jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, Venezuelan authorities released a brief proof of life video message from prison. Lopez appeared on video to dispel the rumors after a local journalist tweeted Wednesday night that he had been transported from a maximum security prison outside Caracas, where has been serving a 14-year sentence since 2014, to hospital.

Leopoldo Lopez en una protesta. AP

More information Maduro activa la Constituyente en medio de fuertes protestas

US Republican senator Marco Rubio, who earlier in the day presented a motion calling for sanctions to be imposed on Maduros government, tweeted he had confirmed Lopez was hospitalized in a very serious condition.

Lopezs wife, Lilian Tintori, then tweeted that she was going to the hospital for information on her husband. She later tweeted she was told he was not at the hospital.

Shortly after, Lopez appeared on state television with prison bars behind him.

This is a proof of life message for my family. Today is May 3. Its 9 pm, he said.

Its a message for Lilian. I don't understand the reason why proof of life is needed at this moment. I send this message to my family, to my children and I am telling them that I am well.

Lopezs family last week said they had not received news of him for a month and feared for his health.

New clashes

Earlier on Wednesday, anti-government demonstrators once again clashed with security forces during a march in the capital, Caracas, as they continued protesting President Nicolas Maduros plans to rewrite the Constitution.

The Venezuelan leader took a step forward to setting that process in motion on Wednesday when he handed over a decree to the government-controlled National Election Commission (CNE) to begin organizing elections for a National Constituent Assembly that would further sideline the existing National Assembly, where the opposition enjoys a majority.

An armored police vehicle is hit by petrol bombs thrown by opposition supporters on Wednesday. MARCO BELLO (REUTERS)

Maduros decree was published in the Official Gazette and leaves the door open for the opposition to take part in the selection of the 500 delegates who will be tasked with writing a new Constitution or overhauling the existing text, said a spokesperson for the commission tasked with organizing the process. Seats in the assembly will be assigned in an election organized by the CNE through universal, direct and secret vote.

Hours before the decree was published, Maduro had suggested that the only candidates for election would be from the community and workers councils set up under the former president, Hugo Chavez, over the last 18 years, which under the present Constitution have no legal mandate

The president of the CNE, Tibisay Lucena, said that Venezuela was living through a crucial moment in its political history and that the start of the process represented a great opportunity for Venezuelans to come together in a national debate.

Shortly before meeting with Lucena, Maduro spoke to hundreds of followers gathered in front of the CNE, accusing the opposition of leading an armed insurrection to overthrow him. He referred to the seizure by a group of protesters of two fuel tankers in the central western state of Barquismeto who are demanding the release of 141 demonstrators who have been arrested. I have ordered the state security forces to search for armed groups that have risen up against the Republic. We have the right to defend ourselves from terrorism and we will, he said.

Lopezs family last week said they had not received news of him for a month

On Tuesday night in the city of Valencia, the capital of the Caribbean state of Carabobo, Jonathan Quintero, aged 21, died, bringing the death toll over the last month of protests to 30, sparked by the government-controlled Supreme Courts move in late March to assume the powers of the National Assembly.

The CNEs support for the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela leaves the opposition little alternative but to continue its daily street protests, which is hoping that the slide toward anarchy will create dissent within the administration. The leadership of the opposition MUD coalition insists that this year it will achieve its goal of general elections, along with foreign food and medical aid, as well as the release of political prisoners.

The opposition has refused to take part in the nationwide network of communal assemblies, but has no parallel structure of its own. But the CNE and the armed forces support for Maduro could force a rethink among some parties. The CNE has made it clear that its priority is organizing the new assembly, rather than regional elections delayed in December, a recall referendum, or a general election. In the meantime, a peaceful solution to Venezuelas worsening situation seems further away.

English version by Nick Lyne.
A dash cam video captured the moment a small plane crashed near a busy intersection in Washington state.

On Tuesday afternoon, the pilot of a small plane lost engine power over the city of Mukilteo, Q13 Fox reported. The pilot tried to land on a road that was clear of traffic, but clipped a power line on the way down.

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Another shot of the plane that crashed into two cars on 525/Harbor Pt Blvd in Mukilteo. #Q13FOXpic.twitter.com/0ri2gD12ih  Bhavisha Patel (@BhavishaPatel) May 3, 2017

"It struck the light pole where it erupted a fuel cell. It spilled fuel onto the roadway, onto a vehicle which ignited," officer Myron Davis told King5 News.

Police tweeted that no one was injured in the crash.

Plane down no injuries pic.twitter.com/PEYzmooKLk  Mukilteo Police Dept (@MukilteoPolice) May 2, 2017

"He didn't want to hit a building obviously, he didn't want to hit an area where people are, and he saw this street was empty. He did a fantastic job," witness Khal Nouri told 11 Alive News.

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Model Ashley Graham has made no qualms when it comes to opening up to the world about her past physical insecurities. And in her most recent interview with V magazine, she's once again baring it all.

Speaking to "Black-ish" star Tracee Ellis Ross, the 29-year-old got candid about one trait many women have but few are comfortable embracing  cellulite.

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"I remember my first signs of cellulite, in middle school," the author of "A New Model: What Confidence, Beauty, and Power Really Look Like" recounts. "I remember telling my mom, 'Isnt it disgusting? Its so ugly.' She pulled her pants down and said, 'Look, I have it, too.' And I was like, 'Gasp!' She looked at me, then at it, and just rolled her eyes."

"She didnt tell me that its beautiful or ugly. She just made it a non-issue," she continues. "It doesnt define my worth. If women like you and me continue to preach that, then I feel like younger girls are going to grasp it and theyre going to be like, 'Who cares!'"

And it seems as though the curvy girl has stuck to this mantra way before her feature with V.

Back in late January, she shared a photo on Instagram with her stretch marks and cellulite on full display, writing, "I workout. I do my best to eat well. I love the skin I'm in. And I'm not ashamed of a few lumps, bumps or cellulite. and you shouldn't be either."

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I workout. I do my best to eat well. I love the skin I'm in. And I'm not ashamed of a few lumps, bumps or cellulite.. and you shouldn't be either. #beautybeyondsize #lovetheskinyourein A post shared by A S H L E Y G R A H A M (@theashleygraham) on Jan 25, 2017 at 6:41pm PST

And while Graham seems to have moved well past the negative feelings she had about her body, and has even become a body positive advocate for other women, she can still recall the best words of wisdom she ever got from her mom.

"I think I hit bottom around 18," she confesses to V. "I was disgusted with myself and told my mom I was coming home. And she told me, 'No, youre not, because you told me that this was what you wanted and I know youre supposed to do this.

"It doesnt matter what you think about your body, because your body is supposed to change somebodys life.' To this day that sticks with me because Im here today and I feel that its OK to have cellulite."

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A Conservative leadership candidates longshot private members bill to privatize the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has been overwhelmingly rejected by the House of Commons, including members of his own caucus.

Brad Trosts Bill C-308 was defeated by a vote of 260-6 at second reading Wednesday. Just five other members of Parliament  all of them Tories  backed the Saskatchewan MPs bill: Ontario MP Harold Albrecht, Saskatchewan MP David Anderson, and Alberta MPs Blake Richards, Arnold Viersen, and Kevin Sorenson.

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None of the MPs who voted in favour of the so-called Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Privatization Act have endorsed Trost in the leadership race or his rival, Ontario MP Kellie Leitch, who is calling for the CBC to be dismantled.

Many of the contenders for the top Tory job either skipped the vote or were otherwise not in the House, including OToole, Scheer, Leitch, Ontario MPs Michael Chong and Lisa Raitt, as well as Alberta MP Deepak Obhrai.

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Bernier scores applause

Quebec MP Maxime Bernier, now considered a front-runner in the race, scored some applause by voting against Trosts bill. Though Bernier has pledged to privatize Canada Post and major airports, the libertarian says he wants to refocus the mandate of the public broadcaster and stop CBC from competing for advertising dollars with private outlets.

Fellow Quebecer Steven Blaney also voted to kill the bill, standing to make sure he was recorded as a nay.

In a lengthy interview with HuffPost Canada in March, Trost  who promotes himself as 100 per cent Conservative  said that his calls to privatize the CBC are red meat to rank-and-file Tories.

Ask me why any Conservative believes there should be a state-run broadcaster, Trost said.

Story continues after slideshow:

MPs Who Were Once Journalists (2016) See Gallery

The argument that a public broadcaster is needed to help Canadians better understand their country and culture doesnt carry weight any more, Trost suggested at the time.

What little support there is still left in the Conservative Party for the CBC is generational. It tends to be for the radio, it tends to be people who remember the two-station era. Its not necessary, he said.

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Culture is not something the government produces. Its something the people produce and its something that happens organically. Yes, your political institutions help to form it but I dont see why we need to have a special, $1-billion a year subsidy to do something thats already happening organically.

But when Trosts bill came up for debate in February, Tory MP Kevin Waugh, a former CTV sportscaster for nearly four decades, gave an impassioned defence of keeping the CBC as a Crown corporation.

Tory backbencher's passionate defence of CBC

Privatization of the CBC, as we all know, could really save the federal government well over $1 billion, $1.2 billion and more. But let's ask this question before we talk about the money: what would we lose? Waugh asked.

We would most certainly lose local broadcast news in many remote regions of this country, plus minority language communities. Believe me, the private industry has no appetite, zero, to serve these regions in our country. I know because I have worked for them.

Waugh also said the CBC excels in showcasing Canadian culture and art, pointing to last summers national broadcast of what may be The Tragically Hips final show as a prime example of Canadian culture at its best.

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Canada is a big country with enriching stories that need to be told, Waugh said at the time.

Interim Tory Leader Rona Ambrose, who urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in November not to give the CBC $400 million in additional funding so that it could go ad-free, also voted against C-308 Wednesday.

In total, 60 Tory MPs voted to kill Trosts bill.
digitalskillet via Getty Images African American Father hugging his son graduation day

The Canadian government has raised the age of children who can be included on their family's application to immigrate to Canada.

Right now, children 19 years old and younger can apply along with their parents. On Tuesday, the government raised the age limit to 22, a change that will come into effect on Oct. 24.

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"Raising the age of dependents lets more families stay together. This will bring economic and social gains to our country as it enhances our attractiveness as a destination of choice for immigrants and refugees," said Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen in a release.

"Raising the age of dependents lets more families stay together."

One of the biggest reasons for the change is the trend of children staying at home longer, especially those who are choosing to live at home while they go to post-secondary school, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada explained.

The government said by raising the age limit, it both boosts the pool of applicants schools can draw from and allows those students to eventually contribute to the Canadian economy.

The new age limit won't apply retroactively, but it will apply to all future immigration programs including refugees. Children older than 22 who rely on their parents because of a physical or mental condition will also be able to apply as dependents.

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The age limit change could also be a boon for Canada's aging population. Statistics Canada's 2016 census data shows that for the first time, seniors outnumber children in Canada. The country's average age increased to 41 years old.
Head feeling fuzzy and nose running like a faucet? Yep, allergy season is in full swing and unfortunately for sufferers it doesn't look like there's relief coming any time soon, and you can put some of the blame on a little thing Trump and his cabinet doesn't think is a big deal: climate change.

The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2012

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Springtime is easily the worst season when it comes to allergies. Which pollens are prevalent differs from province to province but the first seasonal allergy to pop up is tree pollen which could start as early as March, allergist Dr. David Fischer told Global News.

Because of this year's warmer winter, experts are predicting an early and heavy pollen season, which is bad news for seasonal allergy sufferers, however Dr. Co, via a news release, revealed some tips to help keep your allergies under control this spring.

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"Although pollen can be difficult to avoid entirely, these tips will help sufferers enjoy the spring," Dr. Co said.

Stay indoors as much as you can during peak pollen days, which are generally sunny and windy. The best time to go outside is on days which are cloudy and windless, and during the early morning.

Keep your windows closed and use air conditioning.

Take a shower after spending the day outside to remove pollen from hair and skin.

When outside, wear sunglasses and a wide-brim hat to reduce pollen blowing into the eyes.

If you find you still aren't getting any relief, or need long-term relief, talk to your allergist or immunologist about allergy shots.

Sometimes though, you might not realize you have allergies, as the symptoms can be mistaken for a cold.

"The mistake people make is that they think it's just a cold  but these symptoms can go on for months," Dr. Susan Waserman, allergist and clinical immunologist of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., told HuffPost Canada in 2013. "One way to distinguish between a cold and allergies is to know that colds can go away within a few days. If your symptoms are persistent, seek medical attention."

Although seasonal allergy sufferers can be vulnerable to tree pollen, ragweed, or grass in the spring and summer, dust mites, pets and mould are also common triggers which can affect allergies.

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There's been plenty of discussion over the past several years about the wage gap between men and women in the workplace, but apparently one Toronto company didn't get the message that it's something that should be changed.

In a job posting by recruiting company Delta Staffing Services that went viral, an ad reads: "We currently need a few ladies and a few guys .. Pay is $11.50 ladies, $12 guys."

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Delta Staffing Services in North York thinks it's OK to pay women less than men. They've since edited the posting, but this is unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/0n5RCWGMwc  Laura Godfrey (@laura_godfrey) May 3, 2017

Though the posting has now been changed to read "Pay is $11.50+," according to a Google review, that still doesn't specify whether or not women are being paid less than men.

In an interview with CityNews, a manager with Delta Staffing Services said the ad had been posted incorrectly by an intern, and the difference in wages was meant to reflect different jobs on offer.

It was a typo, and the person who posted the ad wasnt being detailed about it, said the manager, who did not reveal their name.

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A previous version of the job posting also specified that the company was looking to hire only those from the "Asian and European community."

The full sentence, which was later removed, read, "One of our client [sic] in the North York area is looking for general labours [sic] who are preferably from the Asian and European community."

A March 2017 report from StatsCan revealed that Canadian women made $0.87 for every $1 earned by a man. That was actually an improvement over the previous report, which saw women earning $0.77 for every $1 earned by a man. And, as we know, women of colour make even less.

A March 2017 report from StatsCan revealed that Canadian women made $0.87 for every $1 earned by a man.

Several factors, including a low representation of women in high-paying industries and over-representation in low-paying jobs, were to blame. The responsibility for child rearing, which still falls primarily to women, was also a factor.

"Mothers typically earn less than both women without dependent children and fathers. Previous research demonstrates that this 'motherhood penalty' exists at a given point in time and persists over the life course," the report reads.

So while things might be improving, it looks like there's still a long way to go.

Delta Staffing Services didn't immediately reply to HuffPost for a comment.
Nathan Cullens potty mouth landed him a scolding in the House of Commons Thursday as he tried to creatively express his dissatisfaction with the Liberal governments solution to so-called cash-for-access fundraisers.

The veteran New Democrat rose in question period to charge that Liberals have conveniently managed to miss the entire point of the controversy that erupted last year over the private fundraisers headlined by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other key ministers.

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They keep polishing that turd but its still a turd somehow, the B.C. MP said, adding a hand gesture for good measure.

Opposition MPs argued months ago that such events gave wealthy donors preferential access to Trudeaus inner circle.

Trudeau admitted that he had been lobbied about government business at such gatherings.

In January, the Liberals promised new legislation was coming to increase transparency for events featuring the prime minister, ministers, party leaders, and leadership contenders. In the meantime, Liberals are announcing in advance when Trudeau or other ministers hold fundraisers  which must be done in public spaces  and are pledging to release the guest lists. Media can also tag along.

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But Cullen, who serves as his partys ethics critic, was cut off by House Speaker Geoff Regan as he tried to make his point that the new approach still provides the same access to the prime minister and his cabinet as the old one.

Taking exception to the turd quip, Regan encouraged members to be cautious and appropriate with their language in the Commons.

Call em like you see it, Mr. Speaker, Cullen said with a smile.

'Canadians see through this'

Though the remark yielded some laughter, Cullen was stripped of his question.

Quebec MP Alexandre Boulerice was up next to point out that Trudeau will be featured at a fundraiser in Montreal Thursday night with generous Liberal party donors. He suggested it was hocus pocus to pretend it wasnt privileged access.

Honestly, do they realize Canadians see through this? Boulerice asked.

Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould said the government is taking concrete steps to be more open and noted legislation is coming on fundraisers.

Its always possible to raise the bar and we will continue to make the government more transparent, Gould replied.

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The Canadian Press reports that registered lobbyists had paid to attend the event Trudeau is holding at the Museum of Fine Arts, but were told by the Liberal party that they could not attend. Tickets to rub shoulders with Trudeau cost $250.

With files from The Canadian Press

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On the same day that Donald Trump took the oath of office, Joaquin El Chapo Guzman was brought before a judge in New York. He had been extradited from Mexico the night before: the man who once ran the worlds largest drug-trafficking operation would at last face charges in a US court.

'El Chapo' arrives in the United States after his extradition. AP

More information Los 100 dias de El Chapo: una escalada de delacion y violencia

In the 100 days since he was placed in a maximum security facility in New York, a bloody turf war that has left hundreds dead has broken out in Sinaloa, the northern Mexican state where El Chapos operations were based; new investigations have begun in the United States; and a growing number of drug traffickers have begun to cooperate with the DEA.

Bringing a guy like El Chapo here makes a lot of people wonder if they are going to be next, and many of them are approaching the government to cooperate and try to cut a deal, because they think if they can trap somebody like that, they can do the same with everybody, so a lot of narcos are contacting US lawyers, explains James Hunt, head of the DEAs New York office.

They are starting to wonder who is going to be next to fall foul of the law

James Hunt, DEA officer

Meanwhile, in Mexico, rumors have begun to spread that Guzman, aware that all is lost, has begun to spill the beans on former associates, subordinates and rivals in a bid to improve his current conditions: he spends 23 hours locked in a permanently lit, windowless cell, with no radio or television.

Edgar Veytia, the state attorney for the Mexican state of Nayarit who led the investigation that led to El Chapos arrest has himself been detained, raising further speculation.

El Chapos Sinaloa cartel has been locked in a power struggle that has severely weakened it, says Hunt: They are starting to wonder who is going to be next to fall foul of the law.

On Sunday, Damaso Lopez, one of El Chapos successors, was arrested in Mexico City. He had been involved in a bitter feud with Guzmans sons, as well as with arch rivals the Beltran Levya cartel, also based in Sinaloa. The death toll in the state in the first two months of 2017 was 230, a figure most experts say will now have doubled. There have been kidnappings of police officers, threats, and even bodies thrown from a plane.

A long list of Colombian cartel bosses are expected to testify against Guzman

The DEA says that aside from trafficking drugs all over the world, El Chapo is also responsible for thousands of murders, torturing and kidnapping. He faces 17 charges that could leave him behind bars for the rest of his life. In the 100 days he has spent in prison, his defense lawyers say he has begun to suffer mental health problems.

Hunt has no illusions that the capture of El Chapo will do much to diminish drug trafficking into the United States: Somebody else will occupy the spot: there is too much money there for that not to happen.

On Friday, El Chapo will appear before a judge in Brooklyn. The date of his trial has yet to be announced, but a long list of Colombian cartel bosses are expected to testify against him.

English version by Nick Lyne.
Energy, raw materials and telecom may be signature industries in Canada, but they also carry the worst reputations, according to a new survey.

The Reputation Institutes RepTrak survey for 2017 found the hospitality and technology industries came out on top, while telecommunications had the worst reputation among industries in Canada. Raw materials and energy were not far behind.

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According to RepTrak, perceptions of corporate social responsibility  how the public views a businesss behaviour in society  is becoming increasingly important to its reputation.

In Canada, the largest part of the energy industry, oil, is struggling with perceptions that it stands in the way of climate initiatives. Raw materials companies are often linked to environmental damage, and  in the case of Canadian mining companies  dubious practices abroad.

And with telecom, many consumers complain of unclear billing, unfair billing and high prices.

Its more challenging for companies in these industries to manage reputation, the report said.

The RepTrak survey also asked which companies Canadians view as being the most reputable. This years winner? Google, with a score of 81.96.

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"It's no surprise the reputations of all top 10 companies reflect their commitment to social responsibility, as these companies are associated with making the world a better place," Hecht said.

One notable change on the list from last year is the arrival of two Canadian companies  Mountain Equipment Co-Op (MEC) and Shoppers Drug Mart -- to the top 10. No Canadian companies cracked the overall top 10 last year.

MEC CEO David Labistour attributed some of the company's reputation to its involvement in the community, "from holding community events to support [people] to be active outdoors, to reducing the environmental footprint of our operations through programs like zero waste."

Here are the most reputable Canadian companies, as viewed by Canadians.

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The survey asked respondents to grade companies according to seven criteria: products and services, innovation, workplace, governance, citizenship, leadership and financial performance.

The RepTrak survey collected 30,000 ratings on 300 companies from Canadians in the first quarter of this year. It used only answers from respondents who said they were "somewhat" or "very" familiar with the companies they were rating.

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When the news broke that President Trump's administration might be ending the Let Girls Learn initiative -- a program that provides educational resources and tools to adolescent girls in underdeveloped countries -- there was an immediate outcry on social media. What reason could there be to end such an inarguably positive initiative? The White House quickly backtracked to say the program hasn't changed, but they didn't provide further details. This controversy warrants a dialogue about why Let Girls Learn remains so essential, and the impact that discontinuing it would have for girls and their communities around the world.

Education is fundamental to achieving gender equality -- something that is at the top of the agenda for many Americans and Canadians. From women's marches to protests and social media campaigns demanding companies do the right thing, the collective call for gender equality has never been louder.

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Girls learning in a Plan International-supported school in Vietnam. (Photo: Plan International)

Our respective leaders, President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, introduced the Canada-United States Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders at their very first meeting together, wanting to address the serious issue of gender imbalance in business. There was a clear and mutual understanding that better support of women in the workforce would contribute to the overall economic growth and prosperity of our countries. This basic principle rings true for communities in the developing world.

An investment in a girl is an investment in security, stability, and economic growth, not to mention an investment in her human rights. For every extra year a girl stays in school, her income can increase by 10 to 20 per cent. And on average, a girl with seven years of education will marry four years later and have fewer, healthier children.

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With the support of Plan International, Shesheg no longer has to skip class to access to clean water, because it's now available just five minutes from her home. (Photo: Plan International / Petterik Wiggers)

Over the past two decades, extreme poverty and maternal and child deaths have been cut in half and hunger is on the decline. We can attribute much of this to the evolving role of women in schools and in the workplace. For example, when women farmers have access to land and resources, crop yields increase by 20 to 30 per cent. If this could be made possible in all developing countries, it would translate to feeding up to an additional 150 million people.

With ample evidence, the case for investment couldn't be stronger -- and girls themselves are its fiercest proponents.

Susan is committed to continuing her education, despite the drought and instability in South Sudan. (Photo: Plan International)

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Girls like Susan, an 18-year-old from drought-stricken South Sudan who is battling abject poverty at home and biting hunger in the classroom, but remains unwavering in her determination to attend school every day. "Even if they take away all that we have, they should not take our education," she says. "I walk 30 kilometres to school and back on an empty stomach," says Susan. "My exams are coming and I cannot afford to fail. I am almost there."

Susan is fighting for her future, but she needs someone in her corner.

The President of the United States describes himself as a business leader. It is one of the main reasons he was elected, and many Americans want to see his business practices applied to running a government to effect change. When looking at investing in girls in the developing world, the return-on-investment is massive. A business-savvy leader like President Trump surely recognizes this, and perhaps this is one of the reasons why the White House emphasized that there have been no changes to Let Girls Learn, despite earlier reports to the contrary.

In fact, one of the U.S. Government's most successful development programs, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), is part of Let Girls Learn. PEPFAR's DREAMS program recognizes that education is instrumental to a girl's health and well-being, as girls with secondary school education are six times less likely to marry as children, and works to ensure all girls stay in school. If PEPFAR is a priority of this administration, as they have stated it is, then Let Girls Learn is instrumental in advancing this priority.

Girls reading at a new school library built with Plan International support in Honduras. (Photo credit: Plan International / Howard Padgett)

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We encourage the U.S. government to take this opportunity to make the program even bigger, better and stronger. We would like for President Trump to be able to share stories in a few years' time that showcase how the initiative has resulted in less poverty around the world by providing girls with access to more tools and resources. We would like for him to be able to demonstrate to Americans -- and the rest of the world -- that his administration recognizes the potential of girls and women, and the importance of education. And most importantly, we would like to see the initiative be successful, because our common good depends on it.

During this critical moment of tension between regressing attitudes about gender equality and widespread progressive social change for women, the opportunity is ripe to demonstrate leadership. Girls like Susan are doing their part. They need all of us to step up and create opportunities for girls and women, at home and around the world, to claim their rights.

We challenge world leaders to not simply let girls learn, but relentlessly champion a girl's right to an education.

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Any small business owner understands the importance of time. There's always too much to do, not enough hours in the day and rarely a free moment to consider ways to make things better. While you can't clone yourself to complete your endless to-do list in one day you can leverage a way to automate your day-to-day tasks.

That's what artificial intelligence (AI) is all about. It's hard to pick up a newspaper these days and not see AI or machine learning-related headlines. As a small business owner you're likely thinking "it's not for me" or "I might want to look at it down the road". After all, this bleeding-edge technology looks like it will take a while to roll out and likely carries a steep learning curve.

Who has the time for that, right? If you plan to grow and compete in the digital economy, you'll need to find the time. AI isn't just touching consumers' lives, it's also helping visionary small businesses to engage with customers in innovative ways - today.

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For example, new AI platforms can provide small companies with some customizable models for learning from every interaction to deliver valuable insights and predictions about customer behaviour. These tools will help you understand your customers better, deliver higher levels of service and grow your business.

Here are a few ways small business owners can tap into the power of AI:

Change your mindset to change the game

Small business owners have been known to let technology trends pass them by and then try to play catch up when it's convenient or they have the time - but that can't happen with AI.

AI becomes even more critical when you consider the toll it takes on a business when teams spend hours sifting through data in emails or spreadsheets to accomplish critical tasks, like hunting for top sales leads or determining which marketing assets will best appeal to prospects.

AI can solve this problem by automating these tedious processes. But oddly enough, many small business owners remain on the sidelines. According to a recent Salesforce study, more than a third of small business owners worry about not having enough time in the day but a whopping 61 per cent say they're not ready for AI.

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This kind of mindset needs to change. Today, many companies headed by millennials, the first generation to grow up with connected technology, are already considering the benefits of AI for turning mountains of disparate customer data into a goldmine of intelligent leads and actionable insights.

If your company isn't already considering AI to help automate costly, time-consuming processes, it is highly likely you're at risk to be outpaced by a competitor who simply gets it.

Don't reinvent the wheel

One of the many advantages of AI lies in the fact that businesses can leverage it without adding more technical complexity to their operations. That's particularly important considering 83 per cent of the small businesses surveyed don't have IT staffs to help them when technical difficulties arise.

When AI is embedded in a very natural way within an existing core tool, concerns about technical complications decrease. There's no grappling with framing the business problem, determining which data is available to solve it, and coordinating infrastructure to support it. With AI, small businesses can automate basic tasks, enabling them to work smarter, better connect with their customers and future-proof their business.

That's the route Salesforce took in launching Einstein for example, a set of advanced AI capabilities that fully integrate into our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) apps and leverage all the information that's already available in our business' systems. So teams wearing multiple hats can get up-and-running fast and to get more done in less time.

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Drive more leads with AI-fueled insights

Nobody likes going to a trade show or other industry events, leaving with 500 leads and finding out they're not qualified. You could waste days or weeks learning that fact the hard way: by calling all of them and being told "no."

Lead scoring solves this by using AI algorithms to analyze CRM sales data and make qualified recommendations about which leads are likely to convert into an opportunity and sale. This allows you to go from sticky notes and spreadsheets to a powerful 360-degree view of customers. For example, you can track activities, key contacts, get social insights from LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter -- all in one place. Small businesses can also use AI to determine recommended next-best actions based on customer sentiment, competitor involvement and overall prospect engagement. It's almost like having a data scientist on your payroll who is working for free.

Capabilities such as these are just the start of how AI will prove to be a huge benefit for smaller companies. This technology is coming on fast, and it will undoubtedly continue to evolve, making it impossible for most Canadian small business owners to ignore it.

With the latest advances in AI-driven technology, there's never been a better time to explore the opportunities at a lower risk. And while you may not be able to clone yourself or your best employees anytime soon, AI could be the next best solution - allowing you and your teams to take your business to the next level.
As an adult, being black can have its challenges. From day-to-day prejudices like having shop assistants follow you around in stores, right through to the countless incidences that have spearheaded the international Black Lives Matter movements, it can be hard out there for us.

But these are grown-ups' issues. Largely speaking, race is not something that tends to bother very young children. So when I discovered that my four-year-old daughter and two-year-old son were the only black children in their new preschool, I wasn't sure how to feel.

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To give a fuller picture, my family and I are from England and we're currently residing in Canada. We visited Toronto on holiday last year and enjoyed our stay so much that we returned earlier this year.

This time, it would be for a longer stay in order to get a sense of whether we could move to the city for good. Part of that was getting the kids enrolled in nursery -- or preschool, as we've gotten used to calling it.

Dropping them off on their first day came complete with tears, as they were apprehensive about being left in this new environment. With my kids bawling to my left and preschool teachers reassuring me it was "OK for the children to feel sad" to my right, I didn't pay too much attention to the other children who were milling around.

It was only as the days went by that my husband and I were able to observe the other children in attendance. "I don't see any other black kids," my husband whispered to me when we dropped the children off one morning. I did a subtle scan of the little faces I could see and I too couldn't spot any black children.

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Fast-forward a couple of weeks and the preschool hosted a party for the children and their parents. We arrived optimistically, and as our kids ran around playing, my husband and I, once again, did the subtle scan of the hall. There were no black children or parents.

The notion that kids don't, or shouldn't, see colour is a farce.

At one point, I turned around swiftly when I spotted a brown face in the corner of my eye. It was my son running towards me, yelling, "I need to wee!"

It was conclusive. We were the only black family in attendance. And despite the friendly and welcoming nature of the other parents and the preschool staff, something irked me about my children being the only black children there.

As an adult, I know my reflections about race and identity are valid. I'm well-versed with racial prejudice, so I know it exists.

But my reflections are based on my experiences. My kids didn't care about race -- or so I thought until one day when my daughter remarked of her and her brother:

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"We're the only ones at nursery with brown faces."

I'd assumed she hadn't noticed. She hadn't mentioned it before. But clearly, while enjoying her daily escapades with paint and Play-Doh, my daughter had quietly observed that she and her brother were the only black children at preschool.

I remembered a conversation I'd had with a fellow black mom, whose seven-year-old daughter is the only black child in her year group. "It's not a problem for my daughter, so I don't make it a problem," she told me.

It seemed like an entirely practical approach to take. Why create problems where there are none, especially for a child?

But I also remembered the many articles I'd written and discussions I'd had about the importance of black children being able to see reflections of themselves, whether in books, on television or in day-to-day society.

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The notion that kids don't, or shouldn't, see colour is a farce. Rather, I agree with U.S. writer and university professor Jennifer Harvey, who, in a 2014 blog for HuffPost, argued that it was an entirely good thing for children to notice that popular Disney character Doc McStuffins is black.

What I don't want is for my children to subconsciously develop hang-ups or see themselves as an oddity.

In the blog, titled "Why We Need to Talk About Doc McStuffins and Race," Harvey argued that encouraging colour-blindness in children is a "dead end" ideology, which is "based on the degrading assumption that there must be something 'wrong' with 'colour.' If there wasn't, why wouldn't we want to notice it?"

Ultimately, kids do notice skin colour and there's nothing wrong with that. It's the perceptions they form about skin colour -- sometimes through what they're taught by adults and sometimes through what they soak up subconsciously -- that can become problematic. And what I don't want is for my children to subconsciously develop hang-ups or see themselves as an oddity because they are the only ones at preschool with brown skin and afro hair.

Of course it is, first and foremost, the job of my husband and I to ensure that our children don't consider their blackness a burden. As such, we speak positively about our "brown faces," while also letting our kids know that people come in all different colours and we can all be friends.

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Additionally, we make an effort to incorporate books with black characters into our children's reading collection. I even wrote a children's book myself. Titled Riley Can Be Anything, the book delivers an inspiring message via its main character -- a black boy -- and a diverse range of supporting characters; the intention being to create a book that would allow my children to see faces of different races, including their own.

As my kids get older and prepare to start school, I will endeavour to place them in an environment where they're not the only black children in attendance. Ultimately, I want them to mix with children of a variety of races, so that they grow up to view diversity not as an oddity but rather their normality.

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Anatolii Babii via Getty Images Kiev, Ukraine - May 21, 2014: Woman holding a brand new Apple iPad Air and looking on YouTube music playlist on a screen. YouTube is the world's most popular online video-sharing website that founded in February 14, 2005

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." In our current political climate, it is critical that we keep these wise words from Nelson Mandela at the front of our minds. We need to be prepared for what is coming next. Just like the sociopolitical landscape, education is constantly changing. With the advent of new technologies and an evolving workforce, the ways in which we learn are adapting. A recent example: LinkedIn Learning just announced a partnership with Thrive Global, the newest venture from Arianna Huffington (yes--co-founder of The Huffington Post), to offer online courses which help learners align their professional development goals with their wellbeing. This initiative is a fairly novel approach for thinking about personal and professional enrichment. We are going to start seeing a lot more of these types of innovative models in education moving forward.

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Last month, I attended the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario's (HEQCO) annual conference entitled Rethinking Access: When Non-traditional is the New Normal. The range of panel topics included designing education for older adults (where I contributed as a panelist), approaches to making education more equitable, and how to best leverage technology to improve access to learning. The overarching goal of the conference was to ensure that Ontario's post-secondary schools are offering superior programming for an increasingly non-traditional student body. My personal observation was that this was a gathering of leaders in higher education assembled to consider innovative ways in which we can make education more personalized.

In today's information-based economy, we must constantly be gathering new material and experiences to add to our "repertoire of knowledge". Fortunately, we live in an age where technology has made this an easier feat than ever before. We have seen rapid growth in the field of online learning for over a decade now. Canadian University Dubai and Ryerson University will soon be partnering to offer a wide range of courses online that can be accessed from anywhere in the world. Another exciting development: the Province of Ontario just pledged $190 million over three years in Budget 2017 to support their Career Kick-Start Strategy program. A large component of the Strategy includes granting free access for all Ontario college and university to Lynda.com (yet another LinkedIn initiative), enabling them to develop new skills online.

Technological innovation has made it so that not only are we able to glean large amounts of information through a computer interface, we are also now able to have lifelike experiences through gamification and virtual reality. Humber College and Ryerson are two examples of schools currently using virtual learning environments in their educational programming. Humber's School of Social and Community Services was the first in Canada to use FAAC simulators in their Conflict Resolution Sim Lab, giving their students a 180-degree simulated driving experience. And as an alternative to traditional articling, Ryerson's Law Practise Program (LPP) uses Virtual Law Firms (VLFs) to give their candidates interactive, hands-on experience practicing law before being called to the bar. This is the future of learning.

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Curtis Bonk, Professor at Indiana University teaching psychology and technology courses, is a widely known authority in open and online learning. Dr. Bonk uses his background in educational psychology to inform his research on strategies for best engaging and motivating students in online environments. He believes that there are three megatrends that influence the way learning is changing: 1) engagement, 2) access, and 3) customization. Dr. Bonk asserts that as education and learning evolve, they will become more personalized and collaborative. In the near future, we will be able to access everything at the touch of our mobile devices. An example of this evolution in action is the recently launched Apple Teacher--a free program available on Apple devices that helps teachers build and develop their skills in a collaborative online learning environment.
Dubbing the Conservative leadership race a zoo exhibition is the easy way out.

Maclean's contributor Scott Gilmore expressed his distaste of how far right the party has gone, from Maxime Bernier wanting to send troops to the border, to Brad Trost denying climate change flat out. Gilmore is left wondering how he "ended up in party seemingly dominated by xenophobic, economically illiterate, populist buffoons."

Brad Trost, member of Parliament and Conservative Party leadership candidate. (Photo: Ben Nelms/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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What he doesn't realize is that some of the organizing tactics that Conservative supporters are using to target ethnic communities are particularly problematic. To many people's surprise, a candidate with the name Brad Trost has become hugely popular in the Chinese community, especially with the Chinese evangelicals.

Brad who? Yeah, my thoughts exactly. If you follow mainstream Canadian politics, you are probably oblivious to what a Conservative backbencher from Saskatchewan does. Targeting ethnic communities is not new in Canadian politics. However, this Conservative leadership race has opened up a whole new can of worms of ethnic and identity politics which will haunt them in the long run.

Supporters have exploited the same tactics and rhetoric that were used during the Cultural Revolution.

The most visible political mobilization has not come from the left, but rather from the far right of the Chinese communities. And they have had some recent success. In 2015, the riding of Markham-Unionville was considered a safe Liberal seat with 57 per cent Chinese residing in the riding. However, the Parents Alliance of Ontario, a now-defunct organization which consists of mostly Chinese Christians from mainland China, distributed rounds of fliers in the riding claiming the Liberals will make children smoke marijuana, build injection sites and force children to address their parents as "sperm donors." That coupled with a very unpopular sex-ed curriculum in Ontario pushed out the heavily favoured Liberal candidate. The Conservatives snatched that seat to everyone's, surprise including their own.

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A specter is haunting the Chinese-Canadian community. But nobody can agree about what it is, and whether it's good or bad. In my opinion, it is a very interesting phenomenon that deserves national attention. In this round of Conservative leadership race, some of Brad Trost's Chinese supporters have exploited the same tactics and rhetoric that were used during the Cultural Revolution. I am just as amused and bewildered as I am frightened.

Literature I received on my phone reads in Chinese: "In order to save Canada, we need to join the Conservative Party on the firing line to vote for Brad Trost." The phrase "join the party on the firing line" was a frequently used slogan during the Cultural Revolution. Its purpose was to urge the mass to join the communist party and pledge allegiance to chairman Mao.

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Other campaign literature content is far more incendiary. They consistently demonstrate a theme of homophobia and Islamophobia. But it is far too easy for me to call these people homophobes, Islamophobia or bigots, although some of them probably are.

The Conservative Party's tactics of campaigning on social values will no longer pay out political dividends.

I talked to some Chinese Christians who openly support Brad Trost. Beneath the veneer of their anger and frustration, I sensed their pain and struggle. They felt that casting a ballot for Trost is their way to tell the rest of the world that they still exist and their values still matter. If we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that these are legitimate reactions they have when they experience cultural change. We are asking these new immigrants to absorb a lot very quickly. And not everybody is good at that. Change is hard. Canada has become far more cosmopolitan, multicultural, tolerant and socially liberal than it was a generation ago. These social and demographic shift cannot be undone.

Traditionally, Conservatives have always organized and mobilized the Chinese community with the message that Chinese Canadians and they share similar social values, such as a strong sense of family with the occasional add on of opposition to same sex marriage, marijuana and abortion depends on which riding they are targeting at the time. What they do not realize is that there is an undercurrent of social change within the Chinese community, too, as more people from Mainland China immigrate to Canada.

In a recent survey done by Global Times, a communist propaganda mouthpiece, more than 40 per cent polled said they would support same-sex marriage in China, another 40 per cent expressed a neutral position on the issue, while 19 per cent opposing the same-sex marriage. This represents a gradual shift from their perceived "value voters" base within the Chinese community. In a decade, the Conservative Party's tactics of campaigning on social values will no longer pay out political dividends as the issue of same-sex marriage will likely be sidelined by the changing demographic within the Chinese community.

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In the age of alternative facts and fake news, both the Conservative and Liberal parties must rethink their outreach strategies.

The Conservatives and Liberals have traditionally organized the Chinese community on social and economic issues, respectively. They have consistently and intentionally swayed Chinese Canadians to the polar opposite of what mainstream Canadians feel on these issues. Pew Research Global in 2013 have shown that at least 75 per cent of Canadians are overwhelmingly supportive of same-sex marriage. But the Conservatives have always used this as wedge issue in their outreach to the Chinese community. Similarly, the Liberals have always campaigned on its trade success with China when the most recent Nanos polls have shown that 90 per cent of Canadians are weary of trade deals with China.

Instead of creating these artificial fissures just to gain a few seats within some heavily Chinese-populated ridings, both political parties must spend some of their political capital to educate and encourage Chinese constituents to embrace Canadian values and give them time and space to accept cultural shifts they experience as newcomers.

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I'm not a runner. Despite my brief stint on the grade five track team, I've always known that running was not my sport.

What I do love is walking. If I have the time, and it's a beautiful day, most of the time I will choose to walk over taking the bus, getting a ride, or even riding my bike.

But in many parts of Africa and Asia, walking takes on a whole different meaning. That's because many women and children in these developing areas have to walk six kilometres every day to get water for their family. It's not a stroll in the park, or a breezy city walk -- it's a dangerous, hot, painful journey to provide for the needs of their families.

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In the end, the water they manage to find is often contaminated and makes them sick. But with limited options, they use it anyway.

Nana, 12, is collecting water from a river in Niger where animals also go to drink. (Photo: World Vision)

This is why, every year, World Vision supporters participate in a 6km walk or run to raise money and awareness for clean, accessible water projects. It takes a lot of work to get clean water to a community, and our supporters are the first step to making that happen.

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This year we wanted to let some of our racers tell their own story about why they run, and how it's become an important part of their lives. They might not all be runners, but to us they're heroes for clean water all the same.

Ryan Chan, 8

Ryan and his sister Rebecca in their Global 6K t-shirts (Photo: Chan family)

I am running (with my sister) to experience what people in third world countries do to get dirty and unclean water. I am also running to help the people there by donating money to help build wells in third world countries so that people don't have to walk very far to get clean water.

Because of the Global 6K, I am now aware of how much water I am using.

I also am grateful that we have cars and I don't have to walk to school, because in those countries they have to walk far to get needs when we can walk a short distance or drive to get to different places. We also have what we want but in third world countries many people can't even satisfy their basic needs.

Uncle Kwei, 81, former child labourer and cancer survivor

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Uncle and Aunty Kwei are ready for the race in their Global 6K gear. (Photo: Kwei family)

It is all about "SAVE" and "LOVE"

I hope with my small amount of effort I can save more people who are suffering and die from contaminated water.

There are a lot of people joining the Global 6K from my church and we are all running for the same reason "SAVE" and "LOVE". A lot of brothers and sisters have come to encourage me and I feel a lot of Love already.

God has blessed me and I hope you are blessed too.

(Uncle Kwei will be walking with the assistance of a cane, beside his 71-year-old wife Auntie Kwei)

Carol Chan, 34

(Photo:Carol Chan)

I've never run any race in my life, since I didn't believe I was capable of going even two kilometres. However, when our church started promoting this event, it really caught my attention.

There are children who are walking 6km everyday just for unsanitized water. Meanwhile this morning, it took me 12 steps from my bed to the bathroom for fresh clean water.

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I'm a mother of a two-year-old and we are also expecting our second baby this year. By having them participating in this race with me, I hope they will be reminded that they were part of this meaningful event and to know how fortunate they and not to take our natural resources for granted. They need to be aware that you are capable of helping no matter how young or old you are.

Obviously my unborn child is unaware of what I've signed up for, but baby will be with me in every step, and when he/she is born the pictures will show him or her that we can always participate.

Sandra Racco, Councillor, Concord/North Thornhill, City of Vaughan

(Photo:Sandra Racco)

It was through my good friend, Stephen Woo, who introduced me to World Vision and the Global 6K for Water project, that led me to gain a better understanding of what this cause is all about.

We are so blessed to live in a world where we have everything at our finger tips, and often, giving little thoughts to the everyday needs like water.

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Learning about the millions of people living in the developing world who have no access to clean water is disheartening. Many are young women and girls, missing school in order to fetch water for their families and homes. It's heart wrenching.

So as a community leader, I want to do my part to help.

I truly believe that we are put on earth to help others and do our best to contribute to the betterment of our world.

If we all contribute and do our part, we can increase the number of people who can gain access to clean water. I hope you will come out and join.

This Saturday, I am proud to walk for Keith who is seven years old from Zimbabwe!

Clean water every 30 seconds

Because of people like Ryan, Uncle Kwei, Carol and Sandra, World Vision is now bringing clean water to someone every 30 seconds. Having clean water close to home means children can go to school instead of fetching water. It also means they don't have to get sick from water-borne illnesses anymore. It means life.

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Dagim and his family in Ethiopia now have clean water to drink thanks to World Vision sanitation programs. (Photo:World Vision)

If you'd like to be part of the change, come out to the Global 6K at locations across Canada and around the world this May 6. You don't have to be a runner, trust me. If you're busy that day, no problem. You can still donate to clean water projects online. We can all be water heroes.
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Last week, the Ontario Liberal Government released the specifics of the 2017-2018 Budget. Advertised as a prescription for a "stronger, healthier Ontario", the budget had all the usual darts and laurels typically thrown at a pre-election budget. The Liberals claimed they balanced the budget and were making necessary investments. Their critics claimed not.

From a health care perspective, what became startlingly evident, was that the Liberals seem to be unable to comprehend exactly how the health care system functions. They are seemingly unable or unwilling to look at the big picture when trying to solve problems.

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In response, Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins has been repeatedly stating that he has ensured that hospital funding increase by $518 Million next year. A large number, but it represents only a three per cent increase in the hospital budget, which totals about $17.2 BILLION dollars (and Hoskins thought doctors were expensive!). It is also less than hospitals had asked for.

I won't begrudge hospitals extra money. They have been starved under austerity level budgets during Hoskins leadership. But is throwing money at hospitals the only way to solve the problem? Is it the best solution?

However, one of the main issues that hospitals face is the persistently high rate of Alternative Level of Care (ALC) patients. The official definition of ALC is pretty complicated. The simple definition is patients are well enough to be discharged from hospital, but not well enough to return to their own home. The majority of ALC patients are waiting for nursing homes.

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The rates of ALC patients vary in different parts of Ontario, but the provincial average is around 15 per cent. This means that if you have a hospital with 100 acute care beds, fifteen will be occupied by patients who should be in a different facility, usually a nursing home. But because there aren't enough nursing home beds, they're stuck in hospital.

So, when a patient comes to the Emergency department with, say severe abdominal pain due to internal bleeding, and needs to be admitted to hospital, a large part of the reason why she waits for 5 days in a hallway, is that there are no nursing home beds for the patients currently in hospital to go to.

Despite the fact that it is widely acknowledged Ontario is greying and that our percentage of seniors will rise to almost 18 per cent by 2021, there appears to be no discernable plan to actually build more nursing homes. In fact, the only investments that I can find are those to renovate existing beds. While that's a nice enough thing to do, and will increase the comfort level of LTC residents (which I think is essential), it won't offload the overcapacity from hospitals.

When I was the Health Links lead physician for my area, we were involved in a plan to reduce hospital admissions from nursing homes. As part of that, we found that the cost of a hospital admission was around $975 a day (standard ward bed). The cost of a nursing home? How about $143 a day? Seriously, you can fund seven nursing home beds, for the cost of one hospital bed.

So back to the hypothetical 100 bed hospital. Would it not make more sense to fund fourteen nursing home beds (at the cost of two hospital beds) to take the pressure off the hospital? Especially when we already have a nice mix of private and public companies willing to build LTC homes? And would that not reduce the costs to the hospital because hospitals are chronically paying staff overtime to handle overcapacity situations?

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Now in fairness the final solution probably requires a combination of things. Hospitals do have fixed operational costs that increase yearly and need to be accounted for, and should get more money.

But a proper solution must also look at the big picture, and look at creative ways of reducing hospital expenses. Not only do we need 26,000 more nursing home beds right now, but given how our population is greying, we will need 50,000 more in six years. Otherwise the ALC rates will rise, and the Emergency departments will back up more. To not have a plan in place to address this shows a complete lack of comprehension of the stresses the system faces.

EricHoskins appears to only be capable of reacting to crises. Bad news story about hospitals affecting re-election chances? Throw money at them. That's not good enough. We need leaders that understand how interconnected health care is, and how events in one part of the system, affect others.

The people of Ontario deserve better than what Eric Hoskins is offering.
The weather is a little cold and chilly, but at our Canadian Parliament there are thunderstorms and lighting gathering over our Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan.

Defence Minister Sajjan's serious misstep in New Delhi on April 18 made for a very awkward House of Commons Question Period this past Monday. As many of you know, at the New Delhi conference, our defence minister was speaking about his role as a lieutenant-colonel in Canada's Armed Forces during his deployment in Afghanistan. He made news in Canada and abroad when he claimed to be "the architect" of Operation Medusa, a major and successful anti-Taliban offensive operation.

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Sajjan's claim was not only inaccurate, but amounted to a gross exaggeration of what was his well-documented role in this operation. This whopper of a tall tale has left many baffled that such a high-ranking minister in our government could even conceive of so blatantly exaggerating his role is such a well-known, well-understood and significant chapter of Canadian military history.

Reacting to what amounts to shocking and unacceptable behaviour, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his defence minister took a serious drubbing in Question Period this past Monday, where our prime minister essentially blamed his minister's comments on an error in judgment. While defence minister Sajjan has apologized for his misleading comments, he has thus far avoided providing any explanation as to why he said what he did.

Harjit Sajjan's behaviour in all of this is not only wrong, it fails to meet the standard we all have a right to expect of a military officer, let alone a minister of our government. In this sorry incident, Sajjan has managed to all but trash his own sterling reputation and a promising career.

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In our community he was considered a decorated, brave warrior and a role model.

As a Sikh myself, I admit to reacting to Sajjan's appointment as defence minister with some pride. In our community he was considered a decorated, brave warrior and a role model. As a government minister he came across as a member of cabinet the prime minister could rely on to do their job and get results. This makes his graceless fall all the more disappointing.

Major General David Fraser, who was Sajjan's commanding officer in Afghanistan, wrote a letter of glowing praise when Lieutenant-Colonel Sajjan applied for a position with the Vancouver Police Department. There was little evidence of that lieutenant-colonel on display in New Delhi, and even less as he faced his peers in Parliament this week.

I do not believe this will cost Sajjan his cabinet position. But I am very saddened that someone who was such a source of pride amongst Sikhs and visible minorities in general has disappointed us so badly.

His road to redemption amongst the immigrant community of Canada will be a difficult one, and I for one will be watching closely to see if he is able to rebuild his credibility in a time where people's expectations for politicians is low, even as their hopes for Sajjan were so high.

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Brampton-based Surjit Singh Flora is a veteran journalist and freelance writer.

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The announcement of the forthcoming General Election was met with a collective groan of political fatigue, most effectively summed up by viral star Brenda from Bristol. Whilst Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn, Tim Farron and co are in the midst of campaigning up and down the country, but one has to question how successful this tactic is. Despite May pledging to "get into communities that have felt up until now that politicians have ignored them", statistics show that a worryingly large amount of people feel apathetic towards politics. In the General Election of 2001, voter turnout dipped drastically to 59.4%, and whilst this figure has been slowly climbing to 66.1% in 2015, it still means that a third of eligible voters are opting to not vote.

It wouldn't be wrong to expect that less people will turn up to the polling stations on the 8th June, after all, the sentiment that we're at political saturation point is one that's held by a lot of people. But how can the tide be changed, and the politically disengaged become engaged?

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Whilst it has only been two years since the last General Election, and a year on from the Brexit Referendum, some young people will turn 18 and have no knowledge of what political party to vote for. It's commendable that teachers aim to be as politically neutral as possible in order to not influence students, however this obstructs the opportunity for informed political debates in a monitored environment. By not discussing politics openly in schools, it leaves young adults in a potentially bewildering situation where they feel overwhelmed by the political jargon that's prolific in the media. If politics was presented in a simpler, more matter of fact way, throughout school, then it could help to interest some young people who know more about Hollywood celebrities than the housing crisis.

May's, and subsequently Corbyn's decision, to dodge a TV debate is also disengaging a much wider audience than just young people. Although TV may not hold as much influence as it used to, ITV's Leaders Debate prior to the 2015 Election was seen by a peak audience of 7.4 million and generated a buzz on social media. It can't be assumed that everybody picks up a paper in the morning to read about politics or are willing to listen to them being interviewed on The Andrew Marr Show each Sunday. A TV debate is an event. Even if people don't watch it, clips go on social media which could entice them to research more about the election and could result in a greater voter turnout.

We need to encourage everyone to vote. Although compulsory voting would take away people's right to choose, it is worth remembering that even today people are still fighting to have their voices heard. To those that have yet to register, you have a voice; don't miss your chance to use it!
Considering taking an extended foreign trip with small children? Not sure if it's right for your family? Look no further! I have compiled a list of the questions I've been asked the most since setting out on our adventure (and returning home). If you have a question I haven't answered, feel free to get in touch or post a comment and I'll get back to you.

1.How did you decide to just go?

We have always travelled a lot, as singles and then together, as a couple. We met in Rwanda where I was living and my now husband was visiting his sister. It is pretty natural for us to want to adventure. We'd been discussing the idea of going for a while but the timing hadn't felt right and we hadn't found a place for which we both felt we could give up our jobs. When I suggested Mexico, everything seemed to fall in to place.

2.But how did you choose Mexico?

We had our honeymoon in Mexico and had loved every second of it. We had realised that we had specific reasons (below) for wanting to go so the country we chose would have to answer all those needs. It had to be safe enough to not worry about our kids too much (no war, no awful, awful diseases). We wanted to go somewhere the kids could go to school without too much trouble, where they'd learn a new language, and experience a new culture. For us, Mexico answered those needs. Spanish is a useful language, it's also pretty accessible. With only six months at our disposal we decided that we'd never learn enough Chinese to make a life-long difference to our lives so China was out of the running. Having spent a lot of time in Africa, we decided to save that wonderful continent until the kids are old enough to really appreciate it. Europe was just too expensive so we really felt that a Latin American country was a good fit for us and we'd both wanted to explore more of Mexico.

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3.What were your push factors?

As I said above, we've always travelled and we never planned/meant to settle in London. Early in 2016, the children and I witnessed a stabbing on our way home from school. This really impacted on my thinking and made us both wonder why we were still here (don't get me wrong, I love London and I'm not trying to diss it, this is just explaining our thought process). We both find London quite money focussed and we want our kids to know that there is so much more to life than amassing and spending money! We also want them to understand how lucky they are to have been born in to a rich, western culture. We want them to understand that not everyone has what they have. We are super aware that our kids, having two English parents, are at a disadvantage, linguistically, so we wanted to introduce them to the possibility of speaking two languages.

And probably, most of all, we wanted to slow down. We wanted to spend more time together and enjoy each other.

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4.How did you explain it to the children?

We were very open and honest with them from the beginning. We didn't ask their opinion or permission but we did include them in planning. We showed them maps of Mexico, and photos of places we were likely to see. We talked about the country and the language a lot. We hired a Spanish nanny one day a week so they would get used to the idea of the language even if they couldn't yet speak it.

5.Did you need to take medicines or other supplies with you?

No. We could buy everything we needed there. If you're thinking of moving to a new location abroad, I'd get on Facebook and join local ex-pat groups. Ask what you can and can't get in the new location.

6.How did the children cope with the upheaval?

Really well to be honest. They were hard work for the week or so before we left the UK and then took about a week to settle in to their new life. We tried to put them in school immediately when we arrived but found it wasn't right for them. They were there a few weeks and our little one just couldn't settle. Then, two months later we tried again (after a month of private Spanish classes and a holiday), and we had no tears or unhappiness at all. The kids loved their school, loved the change of pace and were really excited about everything. That said, we worked hard to be upbeat about Mexico and made sure they understood exactly what we were doing and why at every stage. We also resorted to bribery when we needed to do so!

7.Are you happy to be home?

Yes and no. We love London and we love being close to friends and family. The kids are so happy in their schools here and as spring settles in, London is truly a magnificent place to be. That said, we miss Mexico every single day. We miss speaking Spanish, we miss the warmth, we miss living outside and being so close to the beach. And we miss how friendly and kind Mexicans are. Walking down the street and saying hello to everyone is a much nicer way to live than studiously ignoring everyone like people here practice.

8.Was it worth it?

Yes, with every fibre of my being, yes. The kids have blossomed, they're happy and confident. They speak another language and have seen so much. I know Mexico will always form a part of their personal narrative. We loved getting to spend proper quality time together and I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

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POOL New / Reuters

This from November 2014

Bank holiday Sunday morning saw two stories in two national papers which should have featured prominently in TV national news bulletins throughout the day with the debate continuing into the Monday.

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There is little doubt that the 'tipping point' in the Brexit referendum were the vexed issues surrounding immigration/migration therefore in this subsequent election campaign logic suggests that these same issues would play a prominent part.

The fact that Theresa May and her government has apparently sought to conceal a report which deals with a weakness that could be exploited by both terrorists and other criminal groups, should warrant an explosion of indignation across the media.

These nefarious goings on at the heart of government, exposed by Sunday Times journalist Tom Harper, were tucked away on page 14 of that esteemed publication. The story revealed that a report published by the independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, David Bolt, stated that the United Kingdom's east coast was vulnerable due to inadequate border controls.

The vulnerability of the east coast has been raised before and indeed most front line UK Border Force officers would say that the UK's Border Controls are vulnerable across the board due to cutbacks and poor management.

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What makes this report significantly more sinister is that it's being deliberately held back so as not to generate negative publicity for the government as the general election approaches.

This, disturbingly, wouldn't be the first occasion reports concerning borders by the Chief Inspector have been held back or tampered with. David Bolt's predecessor John Vine also found that his publications were being delayed or paragraphs redacted on dubious security grounds.

Shortly before the 2015 General Election, towards the end of her last routine appearance in front of the Home Affairs Select Committee, Home Secretary Theresa May was rebuked by committee chairman Keith Vaz, for failing to release critical reports compiled by John Vine's inspectorate. She promised to release them before the election but as with this current report, they were buried in the pre-election furore.

Burying bad news is of course a tried and tested technique amongst those in government yet to wantonly conceal bad news in the run up to elections is surely an affront to the democratic process and, frankly, in its starkest terms, amounts to cheating.

Don't Look at Those, Look at These.

But what of the other 'borders' story which emerged on Sunday. The Mail on Sunday's Martin Beckford produced a remarkable story which stated that the new deputy head of the UK Border Force, Nick Jariwalla had, due to the terrorist threat, instructed UK Border Force staff to focus on arrivals from the EU rather than those from the non-EU rest of the world.

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UKBF officers would not dispute the desirability of ensuring there was additional focus on EU arrivals given that in the past they have been instructed NOT to engage in conversations unless there is a problem with the passenger's identity document or that the passenger is on a watch list.

The huge concern however is that this will come at the expense of other arriving passengers including those foreign nationals issued with UK visas. There is a school of thought amongst senior managers of the Border Force, that the work with holders of visas has already been carried out in terms of scrutiny during the application process. Mr Jarniwalla's previous appointment as the UK's visa manager for the Middle East suggest he endorses this 'remote' 'hands off' method of visa issue.

Yet front line UKBF officers are more than a little concerned about the current quality of UK visa issue which makes the UK vulnerable to terrorists, other criminals and those intending to 'overstay.'

Under the Labour government, the posts of most UK Entry Clearance Officers (ECO's) deployed abroad were abolished to save money. This means that visa's are issued on the basis of paper or online applications and there are no face to face interviews. A few ECO's remain in embassies and High Commissions to scrutinise the applications for fraud such as forged bank statements and letters of employment which normally have to be submitted with the application.

Many countries where entry of their nationals into the UK requires a visa, are 'high risk' in terms of terrorism or other criminality; therefore to allow visitors an even easier path into the UK by removing the second line of defence, namely further scrutiny upon arrival in the UK, can only be regarded as sheer folly. Ideally, if border security is to be improved, funds have to be provided to ensure both EU and non-EU passengers arriving in the UK are subject to the appropriate level of scrutiny and that air and seaport terminals can physically cope with the additional demand.

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But if arriving UK and EU nationals are to be subject to greater scrutiny, how will this work? UK and EU nationals considered a risk to the UK in terms of presenting a threat in respect of terrorism or the more traditional form of criminality, are likely to be on a watch list and will come to the notice of police and/or the Border Force as the passenger checks in, departs and on arrival in the UK as the passport details are 'read.'

Those not on watch lists but who travel for any sort of nefarious purpose will doubtless head for the e-Gates if they have biometric passports in order to avoid any sort of scrutiny from UKBF officers staffing the UK/EU desks.

The other question is how the additional scrutiny in respect of UK/EU nationals would work. Would UKBF officers be expected to spend longer examining passports, thumbing through pages to look for immigration stamps from countries such as Turkey? Would they be expected to question passengers as to where they had been? How would they profile passengers whilst avoiding allegations of racism or Islamaphobia so often thrown at police?

Spending longer scrutinising UK/EU nationals at passport control would be likely to cause chaos at peak periods. Service level agreements would be breached in respect of queues which would inevitably build up even allowing for non- EU visitors being granted entry to the UK with minimal scrutiny. This, in turn, would result in UKBF officers being taken away from anti-smuggling duties in order to manage passport queues with even greater frequency than is currently the case.

This change of policy must have been 'signed off' by Home Secretary Amber Rudd and, quite possibly, by Theresa May, yet could well leave the UK's borders even more porous than they are at present. UKBF morale, as measured by the Home Office's own survey, is low and there is an unquestionable staff retention problem.

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Disposable Integrity

Theresa May, ironically, has often implied that the police service lacks integrity yet her behaviour before the 2015 election and again in similar circumstances today, clearly shows that integrity is a commodity that is disposable when it suits.
The number of refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced people around the world topped 65 million in 2016, according to estimates by the UNHCR and it has recently been announced by the UN that there are more than 5m Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries.

A very important issue has been largely sidelined in the current debate on the ongoing refugee crisis, is that evidence suggests that how these refugees are treated today will have important consequences for the economic and political stability in Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere in the future.

The challenge of how best to deal with the current Middle East refugee situation is not confined to Europe. In the US, Trump's executive orders emphasise short-term American security interests. However, there are long-term impact for refugees from the six countries on the anti-immigration 'list' as these actions will create repercussions for which will last for decades to come.

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It is the children who are especially vulnerable when it comes to war and the refugee crisis. According to a recent report from the Council of Europe's special representative on migration and refugees, Tomas Bocek, Europe's "abysmal" treatment of refugee children will only increase the danger of their later radicalisation and drift into criminality. About 30% of asylum seekers arriving in Europe in the last two years were children, and almost 70% of these were fleeing conflict in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Academic literature on conflict shows that, the longer and more extensive its human suffering, the harder it is for a country to escape the vicious re-occurring cycle of war.

First of all, trust breeds trust and mistrust breads mistrust. This was something discussed in "War Signals: A Theory of Trade, Trust and Conflict", a paper I co-authored with Mathias Thoenig and Fabrizio Zilibotti. We showed how positive interaction leads to more inter-group trade and trust, which helps to further foster cooperation. In contrast, conflict destroys trust, lack of trust makes inter-ethnic or inter-religious business harder to sustain, and fewer trade links reduce the incentives to try hard to stick to peace in the future.

In other words, a child from Syria growing up in the USA will typically develop a higher level of trust and inter-cultural understanding than if he or she spends their childhood in destroyed buildings hiding from missiles rather than attending school - and that's not withstanding the indisputable physical and psychological harm, such as post-traumatic stress disorders.

Furthermore, my current research confirms that poorly-educated and less healthy people have lower productivity and job market chances, making it harder to escape poverty, which in turn lowers the opportunity cost of engaging in political violence. Child refugees who are given the chance to experience a stable democracy during childhood are the best pillars of society and ambassadors of values of tolerance and peace.

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A question that is becoming increasingly difficult to answer is, what separates humans from the robots? Advances in mathematics and computing power over the last decade have enabled robots to perform many jobs that have long been the remit of humans, from shelf-stacking to book-keeping to personal shoppers. As AI enables autonomous vehicles in the not-too-distant future, even lorry and taxi drivers will find themselves in a precarious labour situation. A recent PWC report predicted that three out of 10 jobs in the UK would be lost to AI. You might assume that the creative industries would be immune to these AI job thieves, however, this AI technology does not discriminate over the sectors it infiltrates.

AI has introduced some useful innovation to the creative industries by making personalised recommendations, based on your behaviour. Amazon will recommend books, Spotify will curate playlists and Netflix will suggest new weekend-stealing boxsets. There are even bots to help you with interior design and recommend art pieces inspired by photos you provide. While AI certainly helps consumers to find more of what they like, can AI do more than recommend books and music? Can robots create stories, compose melodies and even produce works of art?

Sci-fi novels have helped shape the idea that robots will take over, now it could be robots that take over the authoring of sci-fi novels. Last year a Japanese AI-assisted short story came close to winning a literary prize. Also an AI, which christened itself 'Benjamin', out of New York university, helped to write a short screenplay that was later shown to an audience at the Sci-Fi-London Film Festival. While the story and the screenplay both entertained, reviews suggested that the characters lacked depth and the plot of the film was incomprehensible. The general consensus was that robots have a lot of catching up to do before they take work away from fiction writers.

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In the case of music, Google's machine learning project, 'Project Magenta', created a 90-second piano piece after being fed just four piano notes. This may not compare to Mozart's oeuvre, and whether it would make a regular appearance on anyone's playlist is another story. However, a Cambridge-based company, Jukedeck, has been making custom, royalty-free, AI-powered soundtracks for online videos with some success.

As with music, Google's DeepDream has attempted to create original and compelling art. If you've seen the artwork created by the DeepDream algorithms, you will be aware of the trippy-psychedelic pictures it generates. If you are a fan of Pink Floyd album covers, then Google DeepDream may be your new favourite gallery.

If creative AI is possible, albeit in its infancy, another question to determine how similar robots are to humans might be whether or not AI can be emotional. Can robots empathise?

In humans, empathy is felt due to the action of mirror neurons. In the empathetic observer these are the same neurons that fire whether witnessing the action of another or performing the action themselves, thereby 'mirroring' the same behaviour in the observer. This system of imitation learning is believed to underpin how humans feel empathy and understand emotions. This discovery suggests that eventually AI too could learn to read the emotions of humans and react appropriately. Currently, the closest we have to empathetic robots are chatbots like Koko, that give users advice in response to emotional events that are bothering them.

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Despite being trained on data derived from peer-to-peer advice on emotional problems, these chatbots still require a large amount of human moderation, so we are still a little way off robots being completely and independently emotionally intelligent.

Although AI has made some in-roads into the creative industries and may eventually be able to interpret human emotions, it may always struggle to understand and infer the one-off events that it has been trained to ignore and treat as anomalous.

If you see a lorry with smoke coming out of the back while driving along the motorway, as a human you know to drive alongside the lorry and mime to the driver in order to communicate the potential crisis. This might be a rare event but it is important and currently AI has no way to interpret these unique and unpredictable events.

So how do robots compare to humans? At the moment robots may be the equivalent of a toddler when it comes to artistic and musical output, they may be able to recognise and mimic some emotional intelligence and be clueless in a crisis, but they do surpass humans when it comes to the speed, quantity and accuracy of analysing data and making predictions.
Michel Tcherevkoff via Getty Images

You'd be forgiven for thinking that losing all of your clothes and make-up on an overseas trip would be one of the most unfortunate things that could happen to a fashion and beauty vlogger like me.

What's more, before my time in Tanzania with Comic Relief and GSK late last year when my bag spent the entire week 2,000 miles away from me, I'd have probably agreed with you too.

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But thanks to my travelling companion, Davina McCall (a person who's wing is beyond lovely to be tucked under) and her spare clothes, coupled with meeting such inspirational people, I couldn't have cared less about my little luggage malfunction.

Davina and I were in the remote town of Kigoma in the far west of the country to find out more about the fight against the deadly scourge of malaria. As we began to meet with everyone involved in that fight - from doctors, to health workers, to mums fighting the disease on the front line - it soon became apparent that there is a lot of good news to share and that huge progress has been made in that fight. The figures speak for themselves - between 2000 and 2015 the number of people dying from the disease has dropped by 62% worldwide.

That's staggeringly good news by anyone's standards and the humble but effective mosquito net can take a lot of credit for it.

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But as the mothers and fathers of Kigoma whose children are still at risk told us, this is a battle that is far from won. Despite amazing progress, malaria remains one of the world's biggest killers, claiming a child's life every two minutes - and it needs more than the mosquito net to beat it.

That's why Comic Relief and GSK have joined forces to take the fight to the next level and build on the huge progress already made. The work they are funding together is all about helping to control this complex disease and save more lives by helping local communities understand how important it is to test for malaria (misdiagnosis is a big problem), treat the disease in the right way, and also track information about malaria properly so we can learn more about how to defeat it.

At the heart of this new partnership are people like Leonard. Leonard is a volunteer health worker for a project funded by Comic Relief and GSK. He plays the vital role of going out into the community and spreading the word about what needs to be done.

This is a man entirely committed to seeing the back of this awful disease for good and like so many people I met it was personal tragedy that drives him to do it. Leonard lost his first baby to malaria 16 years ago. At the time, he didn't know what the symptoms of malaria were and was told his baby was bewitched. By the time anyone realised, it was too late. Ever since, Leonard has pretty much dedicated his life to the fight against malaria. The world needs more Leonards.

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Then there was the group of women Davina and I met, all in their 20s - my age and younger, who travelled around the local communities house-to-house to spread best practice and dispel myths about malaria and how to keep it at bay. When one of our group asked these women how many of them had lost a child to malaria, the reply was a matter of fact - 'All of us, of course'.

It seems that everyone I met carries a scar inflicted by malaria and the most heart-breaking thing of all is that these deaths can be prevented - which is why this partnership between Comic Relief and GSK is so important.

We've come so far in pushing malaria back that to give up now would be such an utter waste, and in places like Kigoma, where people who still live in its shadow are working incredibly hard to keep fighting it, we should do everything we can to help them.

So what's a week without your own clothes in the face of all that? Nothing!
I must confess to being slightly amused over recent expressions, that UK Travel Consumers will lose their right to access either free or low cost medical treatment when travelling in the European Union, following Brexit! Whilst various article writers now opine on the possible loss of the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), this is a subject that I have been commenting upon since January 2016! In the months before the EU Referendum, I spent a great deal of time on the air-waves, television and press, highlighting the pros and cons of either staying or leaving the EU insofar as it affected travel consumers. I provided commentary on what is now known as a 'Hard Brexit', the 'Norway' option and remaining in the EU; indeed there were many occasions when broadcasters openly accused me of either being involved in 'Project Fear' or delivering a commentary that was as 'clear as mud'. My amusement extends to the fact that I heard no politician, no other consumer commentator making the running on this important consumer issue, but now it seems they are coming out of the woodwork!

Fast-forward to the present day and beyond the rhetoric of the this post-referendum period; what are the issues at stake?

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In the first instance it is important to explain what the EHIC card does. The EHIC card replaced the E-111 document which allowed for reciprocal medical care when you travelled abroad. The replacement created a much broader scheme because it not only provides cover for EU citizens but also to those citizens within the European economic area. The EHIC card provides access to low-cost or free medical treatment when travelling in these areas; consumers could be forgiven for thinking, why is this so important?

Personal experience will answer that question! Last year my wife & I were travelling in France, when she became very seriously ill. In the middle of the night I had to rush her to the emergency department of the local hospital, whereupon she was seen immediately by the doctors on duty. At the time of arrival at the hospital I was asked to produce her identity, her travel insurance and EHIC card. Fortunately I had the presence of mind to bring those with me and duly presented them. Whilst my wife received emergency treatment, I dealt with the administration. My wife was then admitted to hospital, underwent various scans and tests and had to be transferred to another hospital for an operation. Several days later she was discharged but had to return over the following 4 weeks to ensure that she was recovering well. Toward the end of her treatment, we had to deal with the finalisation of the costs of her treatment and the hospital administrator duly presented all of the invoices. The cost for my wife's treatment was 6,500! However, because she held an EHIC card, 6,200 of the cost was covered by that scheme; the remaining 300 was paid without question by the travel Insurer!

The debate since early 2016 has centred on what we as consumers would stand to lose or retain if the UK should vote to leave. The arguments I put forward essentially stated that if we were to 'remain' then there would be no change to our rights or access to healthcare via the EHIC card. If we chose to 'leave' but maintain membership of the single market, with all the rights attached, like the 'Norway' option, then there would be no change to rights or again accessing healthcare via the EHIC card. However, if the country voted to 'leave' and decided to exit the single market and cut off all connections with the EU, in other words, a 'Hard Brexit', then consumers would potentially lose access to all rights and reciprocal healthcare via the EHIC card; this summary is as clear today as it was in the period before the Referendum!

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But what does it mean for travel consumers if indeed the UK heads toward a 'Hard Brexit'?

In the first instance, at this moment in time, UK Consumers should remember that the UK is still a member of the EU and that they have rights as EU Citizens which includes access to EHIC healthcare when travelling in the EU.

I recommend that if you already have an EHIC card, check its expiry date and make sure that it runs until 29 March 2019, the date when apparently the UK leaves the EU. If your expiry date is due to expire during the course of this year or if you do not have an EHIC card, then make sure that you apply for a replacement or new card (remember, this card is free - do not pay for one!).

If we do crash out of the EU and UK Consumers lose rights and access to EHIC healthcare, then you will need to make sure that you are adequately covered via travel insurance (you should always carry travel insurance to cover shortfalls as we did above).

This then raises the question of travel insurance in the post-Brexit period; what will it look like?

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I think we are going to have to pay more for travel insurance simply to make up for the extra risk that travel insurers will be carrying if the EHIC card disappears! I also think that travel insurance will take a leaf out of some pet insurance cover whereby not only do you have to pay an excess but also an extra 20% toward your medical bills - if that system was in place last summer, then we would have had to pay 1,300 toward my wife's medical treatment!
In an unusual show of unity, Innovation Leads for IBM, Intel, Microsoft and other major corporations, will join forces with the European Space Agency, European Commission and representatives from various UK Government Departments in London next week.

The catalyst for this Think Tank is the publication of a white paper predicting a new breed of "Cognitive Home" in joined up digitally empowered neighbourhoods, which will free up hospital beds and institutional care facilities, thereby reducing NHS and social care bills.

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This is far more than a wouldn't it be nice scenario, the socioeconomic implications are momentous. Research from Bank of America Merrill Lynch suggests that age-related expenditure accounts for 40 per cent of government spending in developed markets. With a rapidly ageing population, business as usual is therefore no longer an option. Fortunately, the increasing prevalence and convergence of digital technology, digital infrastructure and data production, capture, and analysis is paving the way for transformational change.

There are of course significant issues still to be navigated - not least security and capitalization of data assets- but we are entering the epicentre of a perfect digital storm, where innovation relating to wearable devices connected to sensor-powered home-based technologies will create large cost savings for health and social care, by removing some of the need and/or desire for traditional public health care facilities.

Driving Transformative Change

Technology has the potential to drive transformative change for all, but only if there is a continuous dialogue between innovators and society. Only such a dialogue can lead to the provision of the capital, skills and marketing needed to create, scale and sustain fresh disruptive ideas.

Waiting for the public sector to facilitate these changes is pointless. There is a growing need for the tech giants to stand up and be counted, and we are planning to get the ball rolling May 10 and 11 in London.

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Ed Steidl Global Programme Manager for Microsoft Innovation Centers, who will be flying in from Seattle, wants to see more co-creation across sectors and disciplines: "In this age of seemingly endless possibilities, meeting the needs of ageing populations cannot be addressed through the lens of a single sector or discipline. So, I am very much looking forward to the London Think Tank where I will invite peers, SMEs and even competitors to join Microsoft in co-creating a Global Open Innovation Challenge."

David Calder, Health Care and Technology Knowledge Transfer manager for Innovate UK's Knowledge Transfer Network agrees: "Now is the time to break down barriers between sectors, we have to think about new ways of helping innovative SMEs that want to invest in health and care to get to market and scale. That means collaborating with big companies and disrupting the status quo."

Neighbourhoods of the Future 'The Shape of Things to Come' will be staged at NatWest HQ London May 10 and 11. Thanks to our partners, Swiss Re, NatWest, KTN, McCarthy & Stone and St Mary's University, there is no cost to attend.

We still have some space available so follow this link for further information and registration details. And for those that can't make it, keep an eye out for my next Huffington Post article where I shall report on proceedings.
We could call them red, white and blue-tinted spectacles. Since the vote to leave the European Union, there is a tendency in Britain to view European politics through the lens of Brexit. Every vote - from the Austrian presidential election to the Italian constitutional referendum and the Dutch general election - is seen as a vote on the EU.

The same has happened in the French presidential election, where on Sunday far-right Marine Le Pen will face off against centrist Emmanuel Macron in the second round. Le Pen is opposed to the European Union; Macron wants to strengthen it.

Despite the fact she is almost certain to lose, Le Pen seems to have attracted more attention in our media than Macron. She only finished second in the first round but The Daily Mail front page told readers the next day: "Le Pen's Far Right in Poll Surge" and "Now voters will have say on Frexit."

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Perhaps unsurprisingly, many more Leave voters think it would be better for the UK if Marine Le Pen wins the presidency rather than Emmanuel Macron, according to a YouGov poll (37% to 6%). Nigel Farage backs her (it is worth remembering that in 2014 UKIP rejected an offer of alliance with Le Pen's National Front party because of the latter's "prejudice and anti-Semitism"). Brendan O'Neill in The Spectator celebrates Le Pen's debate line that: "France will be led by a woman - it will be either me or Mrs Merkel."

The line of thinking presumably goes like this. Macron is pro-EU and will try to punish Britain for Brexit. Le Pen wants to take France out of the EU, and so will weaken the organisation.

Marine Le Pen's party, the National Front, has long been considered beyond the pale by mainstream French politicians. It was founded and led for most of its life by Le Pen's father Jean-Marie, who called Nazi gas chambers a "detail" of history. The man Marine appointed as her replacement as leader last week quit after allegations he denied the existence of those gas chambers. Marine has compared Muslims praying in the street to the Nazi occupation.

This may not bother people who think British foreign policy should be based on a strictly transactional, self-interested basis. Yet even on these terms, Britons should be hoping for a Macron win.

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A Le Pen presidency certainly would damage the EU and the Eurozone. She has pledged to leave the Euro and hold a referendum on Frexit (after negotiations with the EU). Whether she would manage to do this is another matter, as she would likely be a weak president without a parliamentary majority.

Nevertheless, the uncertainty would scare off investors, perhaps leading to capital controls. The European Union has long been based on a balancing of German and French power. With one half of the duo not playing ball, it is hard to see how it could continue in its current form.

However, Brexit is not a zero-sum game: what is bad for the EU is not necessarily good for Britain. Given that 44% of our exports go to the European Union, our economy would be heavily exposed to the damage Le Pen would cause. Getting a bad deal under Macron is better than having no European Union to trade with at all.

But wouldn't a Le Pen government give us a good bilateral trade deal? Well, she dislikes the EU because she claims having borders so open to foreign capital and workers is detrimental to France. She wants to tax imports and make it harder for French companies to employ foreigners: hardly a good sign for British businesses wanting to operate across the channel.

On other aspects of foreign policy she diverges from our interests. She is an admirer of Vladimir Putin, believes Crimea has "always been Russian" and thinks EU sanctions on the country should be lifted. She would also like France to quit NATO.

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Many Brexiteers think the EU should and perhaps will fail whatever happens. A Le Pen victory would therefore just put the whole thing out of its misery sooner rather than later. With the zeal of the revolutionary, some Brexiteers are impatient to see the old order burn down and a new one emerge.

Except, that is not how the rest of Europe sees it. The EU faces many challenges, but its immediate demise looks unlikely. Even in France, Le Pen's Euroscepticism has been a hindrance to her campaign, scaring off wealthier conservatives who fear the effect on the economy. Leaving a political and economic union is one thing, unravelling yourself from a shared currency is another.

In Germany, which holds its elections this autumn, the Eurosceptic Alternative for Germany party is at just under 10% in the polls. If Angela Merkel does not win, the new chancellor will be Martin Schulz, another pro-European.
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On the streets of Paris, figures cloaked in hoods stalk through the acrid smoke lingering upon the boulevard. It's a scene almost theatrical in nature: one that would perhaps not go amiss in the pages of Les Miserables. It seems an unlikely backdrop for Paris' annual May Day labour march: an ominous setting for one of the latest battlegrounds between presidential candidates Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen.

For Alexandra McLeod, an English student in Bordeaux, this protest is only the latest in a nationwide series: "When [Le Pen] visited Le Lac in the north of Bordeaux, she had crowds of hundreds to greet and support her. Meanwhile, there was a protest in the centre of town at the same time, marching against her policies. There were around 1500 people I think, and hundreds of police. They had signs, smoke guns, masks on their faces... It was quite intimidating."

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For many commentators, this election is poised to spark revolutionary upheaval for French politics. The rise of Macron's centrist En-Marche! and Le Pen's far-right National Front (FN) has sidelined France's largest political parties, proposing a radical repainting of the political landscape.

For many commentators, the current climate is a tempestuous one; more so for many international students, who are concerned by the present environment.

"As a person of colour, there's always worry at the back of my mind, no matter where I am," says Nigerian-born Anjeola Salami, currently studying in Paris. "If the FN wins I definitely will feel less comfortable and more cautious, which is a shame because it shouldn't have to be on me to protect myself from racists. If Macron does win however, there's still a big chunk of the population that share the FN's racist views, or are completely fine with excusing them."

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Certainly, the nationalistic ideology propounded by the FN is one that is gaining further credence across France. Its uncompromising pledges to minimise immigration, enhance law and order resources, and clamp down on Islamist extremism have notoriously gained authority among the French electorate. A recent study named the FN as the most popular party for voters aged 18 to 34, while support for Le Pen after the first round of voting stood at a record 21.5%.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Drawing parallels between the rise of Le Pen and Donald Trump, US-born Elizabeth Ehmke, a mature student in Lyon, attributes a swathe of their popularity to the intense levels of media coverage surrounding their "closed-minded views".

Meanwhile for Megan Davies, a University of Exeter student currently interning in Paris, the problem is far more inherent: "Following the terror attacks and the situation with migrants in an uncertain Europe, people are concerned. People are also disgruntled by Hollande and so this strong and determined person that Le Pen has is certainly swaying those that see no hope in socialism or Macron's En Marche! To assume France is some kind of hotbed of right-wing fanatics would be too simplistic, but to underestimate the appeal of Le Pen is equally as dangerous."

Indeed, as an election in which France's stance on both the European Union and immigration are being sorely tested, has it affected international students' desire to remain in France?

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For McLeod, the answer is a resounding "no", asserting her sense of security even during this more controversial period.
Yesterday we landed in India for a human rights project Shape History that is tackling with the United Nations in China, India and then Brazil, and as we landed two things happened:

1) I was lucky enough to be further east than I'd ever been in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

2) Like Millions of LGBT people across India, I instantly became a criminal just for being who I am.

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India's 377 Law makes it illegal to be gay, punishable by a decade in prison. It seems bizarre that somewhere that uses the English language; somewhere so influenced by British customs and somewhere that now boasts an economy the size of the UK would punish it's citizens and tourists just for loving someone. The law itself is a remnant of old-British law, brought back by a leadership that arguably is out of touch and somewhat un-enforced by it's people.

Just a quick google of "Gay in Mumbai" which would usually bring up cultural places of LGBT history in a visited city, brings up lists and lists of men and women of all ages, turning to the secrecy of the internet to fulfil their need for human intimacy.

But there are signs of hope, signs of allied support - in just March of this year, parents of LGBT children formed a public support group and equally the scrapping of Section 377 is repeatedly attempted by jurists.

Denying any small sign of sexuality was so much more of a knee-jerk reaction than I anticipated - something which was strangely so much more rehearsed than I thought it still would be.

I've spent the last 24 hours with the Shape team here in Mumbai, exploring the local area and finding our bearings. The city is stunning, buzzing and full of life - there's not a dull moment at any time day or night, with the jungle's animals seemingly taking over the city when it's human residence go to sleep - and signs of the natural vegetation and wildlife seemingly fighting for existence over the city and people during the day.

But effectively I've had to go back into the closet for a week whilst here.

So much so that when checking into our apartments the staff asked if my coworker and I were "sleeping in different bedrooms?" I felt a quick, cold burst down my spine as I blurted out, "YES" in reply without hesitation. It immediately felt horrible, not because of what I said but because of the speed in which I said it. Denying any small sign of sexuality was so much more of a knee-jerk reaction than I anticipated - something which upsettingly was strangely so much more rehearsed than I thought it still would be. Effectively I was 12 again, hiding my sexuality from the school teachers or parents, for fear of being subjugated, judged or ostracised. A behaviour tragically learnt, for self-protection - something I still didn't have to think twice about.

As I'm exploring and working here, I can't help but be ashamed of my thoughts. I keep remembering how lucky I am to live in a country that doesn't prosecute it's people just for being who they are - and in an experience incomprehensible and unmeasurable to the lived experience of the Indian LGBT community every day - who am I to cast comment?

But thoughts are the one thing un-punishable by any law and whilst they are the first step to making any important change, the next step is the most important of all - supporting those who put thoughts into words and action.

The only way social change can happen is for us all to speak up and have a voice - and those of us with an audience - to use it to try to inspire others to do the same.

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Alexandra Thompson via Getty Images

Another week, another story about more Brexit bickering. This time, the British government has been accused by Brussels of 'ignorance' over how the EU works. Sources claim that Britain's lack of awareness about key issues is threatening to derail talks when they have barely even begun.

In today's rumour-driven political landscape, the chances of these claims being the 'gossip' the Prime Minister says they are, is high.

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Nonetheless, I think it would be hard to argue that there isn't some truth in the fact that Britain's willingness to take an interest in both the complexity and significance of EU decision making is woefully lacking.

Having first entered the journalism industry at the height of Brexit mania, I think of myself as reasonably politically savvy. Between keeping up with the different UK newspapers and watching the main broadcast news programmes, I like to think that I am generally well equipped to have an informed conversation about politics and current affairs.

Or so I thought at the start of the year. I arrived for my five month traineeship at the European Parliament in March with what I can now only describe as an embarrassing ignorance about EU affairs.

Sitting in welcome meetings with the other trainees selected by the Parliament for my intake, I was struck by how well informed my colleagues were about the structure of the EU institutions and their history, in comparison to me. Speaking to a few fellow Brits in the group, however, I also got the impression that I was not alone. So here is a sweeping statement- as a nation, our understanding of how Europe works is, to say the least, pretty sketchy.

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The overall voting turnout across Europe for the most recent EU election in 2014 was a modest 42%, but that number varied significantly between countries. Although by no means the worst of the group, Britain's 35 % voter turnout was well below other major countries like Germany (47%), France (42.43%), Sweden (51%) and Italy (57.2%).

People often say that British people don't care about Europe and the EU in the way that those 'on the continent' do. While that may be the case (and there are many reasons behind it), I would argue that a lack of understanding about what the EU actually does is more to blame for our apparent ambivalence. After all, why would you bother to vote for an MEP, if you don't know what their job is?

Famously after the Brexit vote, Remain voters (or as the Daily Mail likes to call them, Remoaners) reacted with dismay at the spike in people googling 'What is the EU?' after polls had closed. A sign, we all said, of the clear ignorance of the Brexit brigade.

But how many of those who voted remain can truly claim to understand exactly how the EU operates?

On a visit back to London this weekend, I asked friends and family (most of them remain voters) whether they understood what role each EU institution plays. Not one person could confidently tell me that they knew the function of the European Parliament, where I currently work, or understood that it was the Commission (and not the Council) which actually draws up the legislation.

Several people asked me to explain what Nigel Farage is still doing hanging around the EU when he is no longer a member of UKIP (the answer, of course, is that he is an elected MEP for South East England, and the Chair of the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy Group.)

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What is the difference between the job roles of Juncker and Tusk? Ask a British person- be they a waitress, a doctor or a banker- and I would be willing to bet that most would struggle to answer comprehensively. And I include myself (at least until very recently), in that grouping.

When you really think about it, this is astonishing given how much information about the EU we probably all feel that we have been fed over the past few months. I think most people in the UK could reel off that infamous 350 million pounds a week figure that we supposedly should be getting back once we leave, but how many people could give you a breakdown of what the EU funds, or tell you what was decided in the last plenary session?

It would be wrong to suggest that none of this is the fault of the EU itself. Its failure to engage its own citizen and convince them that taxpayers' money is going towards something beneficial has played a key role in the surge of Euroscepticism that is sweeping Europe, not just the UK.

Nonetheless, as my own EU 'education' coincides with Britain's exit, the more I am starting to see just how ignorant British politicians (and also the media), have allowed us to be. Given the scope of legislation, funding and projects that are devised, allocated and carried out from Brussels, it is surely imperative that EU citizens have a basic knowledge- and interest- in what is happening there.

In the same way that every spat that happens in PMQs is splashed across the media and discussed endlessly by politicians, so too should we cover and scrutinise EU politics in a way that leaves the public informed.

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Many people expect Sardinia to be a carbon copy of mainland Italy - wrong! I'm a lover of and frequenter of both places but don't confuse the two whatever you do! Taking my family there for a third year running I thought it might be nice to let others know what really sets Sardinia apart in my eyes.

Flickr Creative Commons

1)They don't just speak Italian here. They have their own language. Sardo is a rich language that varies even from village to village but it's alive and kicking in Sardinia with 1.5m people speaking it! Spanish, Latin and Catalan influences, it's a romance language and adds to the exoticism of this very special island. Sardinian is unintelligible to most Italians! Nevertheless, the following languages are all found in Sardinia; Italian, Sardinian, Sassarese, Corsican Gallurese, Catalan Algherese, Ligurian Tabarchino. It truly is a melting pot in every way.

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2) It's slightly closer to Africa than it is to Italy. Around 200km to either coast. As the oldest part of Italy, Sardinia saw mass migration of Africans before 50000BCE. adding another layer to the island's colourful past.

3) It's all about history, history and geography?! With 1800 km of coastline and beaches closer to those found in the Caribbean than anywhere in Europe. The Sardinians were once very wary of the sea. Whether myth or now so looking more like science, 1153BC seems to have seen a massive tidal wave that wiped out villages and towns. Nobody was aware of tidal waves in this area until the 1980's, yet inscriptions on the walls in the temple of Ramasses III talked about an earthquake and then engulfment by water. Since 2004 scientists have identified hundreds of similar events.

Wikipedia

3) It's not all billionaires, super yachts and supermodels. Sardinia has numerous hotels catering for families with the all-important kids' clubs. The soft sand and amazing little coves dotted around the coast provide near perfection for the little and the not so little. It is one of my favourite family destinations for a beach holiday. My top pick is Delphina Hotels. They have the beautiful north covered, with a range of 4 and 5* properties and an emphasis on nature, food, family and thalassotherapy, they manage to please everyone in the family. Last year we stayed at Le Dune - think kids' clubs, little villages hidden in the bougainvillaea and parks bustling with families and atmosphere well into the late evening- typical Mediterranean. This year we are taking my mum, so are going to Valle Dell Erica- a 5* known for its relaxation and spa but with all the kids' facilities too. ( I'll report back later in the year).

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4) Artisanal Gelato is a BIG thing here. Be prepared to eat lots of it.

5) According to the Sardinian legend, after god created Earth he took all the leftover pieces, threw them into the sea and stepped on them to form the island which is Sardinia.

Wikimedia Commons

6) Don't think pizza but instead flatbread - pane carasau is the most delicious, crisp flatbread. Best eaten warm, sprinkled with sea salt and rosemary. Again steeped in Sardinian history- it was the food of shepherds that keeps for up to a year. Now, it's served everywhere!

7) Rotten cheese with live maggots is a delicacy here. Casu Marzu is a very aged pecorino. Outlawed now in Europe, it is only available in Sardinia, where it is made by introducing cheese fly larvae into the cheese to ferment it. It has to be eaten whilst the maggots are alive although some do remove them first. Now I adore cheese but even I'm not sure I could go this far!

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Wikimedia Commons

8) For the flora and fauna, Sardinia cannot be beaten: 60 wildlife reserves with some rocks dating back 500 million years (there's the history again!) and 3 national parks makes it a dream destination for holidaymakers after more than a few glitzy shops!

Giancarlo Dessi in Wikipedia

9) Sardinia stands for longevity - here live some of the longest lives in the world. In 2002, the oldest man in the world died at 113 years old. Sardinia boasts one of the highest number of centegerians in its population in the world!

10) Despite consuming nearly double the amount of beer of their Italian cousins, Sardinia produces some delicious wine. For oenophiles I'd recommend visiting Sardus Pater - a cooperative of 200 growers and Olianas for biodynamic wines. Cannonau is the main Sardinian wine. With the grape (grenache) grown all over the island. The century old tradition of small plots of vines being cultivated for wine to drink at home lives on. Now, if that's not a good enough reason to get yourself there, I don't know what is!

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CGIAR Climate/Flickr

Photo credit: Tina Hillier/Oxfam

While some still deny the severity of climate change and question the need to combat it, others are struggling for their life as climate change makes a bad situation worse. Today in East Africa, climate change is intensifying a deadly mix of drought, poverty, chronic malnutrition, weak governance and conflict, which has left eleven million people on the brink of starvation.

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"We have never seen drought like this before. There is nothing here. Nothing. This is an empty place without pasture or water in any direction you go. We survive because of the livestock. But now they have died".

Jama's herd of 300 goats and sheep has been reduced to just nine by the deadly drought that is gripping parts of East Africa. As a nomadic pastoralist Jama's livestock are not just his means of making his living, but also food for his family, their savings, their future.

Jama's story was one I heard repeatedly throughout my recent visit to the Somali region in Ethiopia.

Exceptional numbers of people have lost most, if not all of their livestock during this drought, which is now entering its third year. In Somalia, where a famine warning has been issued, ten million of the country's 18 million livestock are estimated to have died.

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Experience shows that when livestock die, human lives usually follow. Lives are already being lost, but the worst is yet to come. The current rainy season which runs from March to June, has been slow to start and is forecast to be poor. Even if the rain comes it will take months for crops and pasture to grow, and with rain comes increased risk of cholera and other diseases spreading.

Eleven million in people in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya are facing starvation. In Somalia the number of people dependent on emergency food aid has doubled to over 6.2 million. Behind these numbers are unimaginable stories of struggle and loss like Jama's.

Increasing scientific evidence shows climate change is helping fuel this crisis. The link to lack of rainfall is debated, but there is widespread agreement that abnormally high temperatures experienced in parts of the region hardest hit are linked to climate change. And higher temperatures have heightened the harmful effects of low rainfall.

The heat has contributed to crops withering in parched, cracked soil. In parts of northern Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, poor rains last year combined with higher temperatures over the past six months have led to a significant loss of soil moisture and has dried out fodder for most of the region's pastoralists.

Oxfam and other agencies rightly lament this crisis as a 'man-made tragedy', caused by people and policies as much as drought. Chronic poverty, malnutrition, slow international action and weak governance, have undermined people's ability to grow, gather or pay for food. But the human fingerprint of climate change can also be found on the extreme weather driving this disaster.

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Today global average temperatures are one degree above pre-industrial levels and the effects in East Africa and many other parts of the world are profound. Even if global temperatures are limited to the 1.5 or well below 2 degrees set out in the Paris Agreement, inertia in the climate system means East Africa still faces higher temperatures and decades of disruptive climate change. The impact temperature increases alone will have on agriculture and livestock will be significant, regardless of rainfall changes.

East Africa faces a race against time to adapt to a changing climate and support people whose lives are so precarious to changes in the weather. In a changing climate we can expect the unexpected - more extremes, more often. Severe drought should no longer be considered exceptional in this part of the world.

There can be no stronger call to climate action than suffering on this scale. As international leaders grapple with how to respond to Trump's roll back on action to tackle climate change, evidence of climate change's role in the unfolding catastrophe in East Africa and elsewhere should be front of mind. When the reality of climate change and need to act on it is denied, the lives of the world's poorest are ignored.

In the coming weeks and months, at the G7, G20 and elsewhere world leaders need to reaffirm their resolve to accelerate action on climate change and support vulnerable countries and communities to cope with climate extremes they did least to cause.
Instead of using a hotline, this is a number you can call or text for free if you need to vent or be comforted. Heres how it works.
Jason Bean valued being able to become bowl eligible with Kansas
The hospital has released what it says is the final offer to the registered nurses' union.

BMC, Nurses Remain at Odds During Contract Negotiations

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Berkshire Medical Center has presented what it says will be its "best and final offer" to settle a contract with the Massachusetts Nurses Association.

A letter sent out by President David Phelps and Chief Operating Officer Diane Kelly was released on Wednesday outlining the hospital's offer. The MNA and BMC have been at an impasse as the two sides try to negotiate a new three-year contract. The current one expired in September.

"We have always offered our nurses a fair and reasonable financial package and have proposed adjustments this year to keep it so. However, we have now concluded that we cannot reach that appropriate result by continuing the pattern of session after session with the MNA without meaningful progress. This is especially so considering the costs, distraction, and discord generated by these time consuming and often unproductive sessions," the letter reads.

"At this point, we believe we have exhausted discussion on all proposals from both sides of the table. Accordingly, we have given the MNA our best and final offer to settle the contract."

A summary of the contract from the hospital calls for continuing its current staffing guidelines with increased participation from nursing staff, a 10 percent pay raise over three years  consisting of general wage increases of 1 percent in year one and two and 2 percent in year three, step increases of 2 percent, and lump sum of 2 percent for those at the top of the scale  retroactive lump sum of raises if the agreement is reached by the end of the month, and increasing the evening and night differential premiums.

The hospital plans to detail the entire offer on a new website soon.

The offer, however, doesn't have staffing ratios embedded in the contract. That has been a top priority of the union during these sessions. The nurses are asking for what they call "safe staffing" levels. The union says often nurses are working shifts with subpar staffing and the negotiation is to include criteria on the number of nurses during each shift.

"Staffing is still their No. 1 issue and it needs to be addressed," said Joe Markman, a MNA spokesman.

The hospital had proposed creating a staffing board and following guidelines from American Nurses Association. The hospital doesn't want to include those specific ratios because it takes away flexibility in the way staffing is managed. Hospital officials say its staffing board uses professionals from various disciplines to ensure patient safety and wants to retain that ability without having to specifically use nurses for every situation.

Markman said the nurses were working on a proposal to move closer to the hospital's request.

"Going into Tuesday, the nurses were pretty intent on trying to craft something that would bring both sides closer to an agreement," Markman said, adding that there was a counter proposal in the works. "They were really trying to reach an agreement."

But now, Markman says the hospital "threw a wrench in the process" by going with a final offer and he is critical in the way the hospital handled it  by sending out a letter to all staff instead of addressing it at the bargaining table.

"BMC nurses were very disappointed by the letter because of management's representation of facts and its tone," Markman said.

Particularly, the letter took shots at the MNA's focus at the table and alleged the safe-staffing issue was not in response to local conditions but rather a statewide effort. The staffing ratios have been something the MNA is trying to work into contracts in various hospitals.

"Yesterday's negotiating session was scheduled to begin at 9 and conclude at 5 but the union delayed the start by two hours and abruptly ended the session at 3:30 despite our request to continue," the letter reads.

"These ongoing negotiations are obviously an expensive process, but when pursued by two parties with a common goal of achieving a fair contract for all, it yields positive results. However, when one party is distracted by interests beyond those directly related to local conditions, these session can become a wasteful and divisive process."

Markman said the hospital is "lying by omission" and the reason the negotiation was cut short was because the lead negotiator had a family emergency and needed to leave. As for the statewide effort, Markman said it is a concern across the state but it was BMC nurses and the local union officials who prioritized it. The proposals had come from the local nurses, not from the MNA's state agency, he said.

But staffing appears to be the top talking point between the two, a point that led to a picket outside of the hospital earlier this year. Health insurance is also an issue, with the hospital trying to change the percentages employees pay from 10 percent now to 20 percent.

"Registered nurses who select BMC's individual health plan coverage currently contribute less to the premium costs than do all other employees of ours who take the individual coverage," Phelps and Kelly wrote.

"For that reason, we have also asked our registered nurses to forego the special 90/10 health insurance cost sharing arrangement for individual health insurance coverage that we have afforded them until now and replace it with the 80/20 sharing that applies to all other Berkshire Health Systems employees electing that individual coverage."

Markman counters by saying those who choose the family plan are paying more than other employees. He said doctors and managers who take the family plan in some cases pay as much as 70 percent less than some of the nurses. The health insurance plan continues to be another holdup between the two sides.

The two sides have been attempting to hammer out a deal since September and have had 22 negotiating sessions. They are expected to be back at the table on Wednesday but over the weekend the nurses will be holding a standout at Park Square.




iciHaiti - Tourism : Haiti hosts YMCA's annual conference





Tuesday, Minister of Tourism Colombe Emilie Jessy Menos participated in the launch of the Annual Conference of the YMCA Alliance of Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Haiti from 2 to 5 May.



75 members of this Organization from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America are taking part in this Conference in Haiti. For the first time in 150 years, Haiti has been chosen as host country for this event. "This type of event is very important for the country. This proves the capacity and hospitality of Haiti" said the Minister of Tourism at the opening of the Conference.



IH/ iciHaiti


















When the EU will liberalize visa regime with Armenia (video)

Armenia-EU new agreement is planned to sign in November. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany to Armenia Matthias Kisler says that much work must be carried out after it. Documents must be translated into all the EU languages. If after the signing of the agreement Armenia implements all the commitments, the EU will light a green light for Armenia. Still a month ago, the EU lit a green light for Georgia, granting visa-free travel to Georgia. Stepan Grigoryan, Head of Analytical Centre on Globalization and Regional Cooperation, inquired from his Georgian colleagues and found out that everybody, who had left for Europe from Georgia in a month, came back. Moldova makes use of that chance for already 1.5 years and no extraordinary case happened. Ambassador Kisler noted, We should understand that Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova and Armenia are different countries, consequently the approaches differ. We havent removed visa requirements for Armenia yet, but we try to make improvements in other directions. For example, we have increased provision of long visas. Now we provide long visas by 20 % more. Stepan Grigoryan notes, before visa liberalization, the rejections in Georgia made up 1%. In Belarus and Russia, where there is no agreement on visa liberalization with the EU, the rejections also make up 1%. Armenia signed the agreement on facilitation of provision of visas still in 2012. At that time 8% of applicants were rejected, but in 2015 12.3% was rejected. The reason for rejection in many cases is the incomplete documents. Germany and France are the countries, which unlike other member countries of the EU, decreased the rejections; compared with 19.2% rejections in 2012, in 2015 Germany rejected only 9.4% of applicants. The index of rejections is still high, but we have carried out improvements in other directions; German consulates started to work better; they have decreased the period between the submission of application and reply, said Matthias Kisler. According to the official statistics, in the third quarter of 2016, three times more citizens of Armenia asked for asylum in the EU compared with the same period in 2015.
Syrian-Armenian hairdresser leads hard life (video)

10 months and 1500 kilometers separate Aleppo Armenian Raffi Simonyan from his family, They can come here, it isnt a problem, but the problem is what they will do here, its difficult. Raffi left his parents and three brothers with their families in Syria. It is hard for him to live in Armenia. Eat, drink, rent for a house and shop, taxes; all these must be ensured first of all. He looked for a job in Armenia for two months, but when he saw the booth available for rent near Republic Square Metro, he decided to start up his business. We are in the tax field and will pay taxes, but when we asked the tax bodies to free us of taxes for 6 months, 1 year, they answered that they will think about and give an answer. For Armenias Government AMD 21 000 for 6 months isnt large sum, says Raffi. He doesnt agree with other Syrian Armenians that the prices are high in Armenia. He states that the prices for food are normal, yet he cannot say the same about clothes. Clothes are expensive here, as there in Syria we have manufacturing of clothes, but there isnt such production in Armenia. For example, in China jeans trousers cost 4 dollars, 2500 drams, but when it reaches people in Armenia it becomes 8500-10000 drams. If Diaspora Armenians come here and open factories, trousers will be sold at 4 dollars like in China. Raffi longs for his family and often meets with Aleppo Armenians. They meet after work around tea table. All the Syrian Armenians living in Armenia impatiently wait for news from Aleppo. He speaks to his brother and mother. The situation is bad, there is no water, electricity, jobs. Irrespective of the condition in Armenia, Raffi can see his future in Armenia. It is his dream, In 1999 I visited Armenia, and then I decided to move here. He also has another request from Armenian Government. Syrian Armenians mostly live in rented houses here. He asks the Government to give a chance to Syrian Armenians to obtain flats under favorable terms.
OSCE PA President regrets lack of consensus over extension of mandate of OSCE Office in Yerevan

COPENHAGEN, 4 May 2017  OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Christine Muttonen (MP, Austria) and Special Representative on the South Caucasus Kristian Vigenin (MP, Bulgaria) expressed regret about todays announcement that it has not been possible to reach agreement to extend the mandate of the OSCEs Office in Yerevan. The Office is expected to close in the coming months. I regret the fact that despite lengthy and extensive efforts, the Permanent Council has been unable to reach consensus on the continuation of the OSCE Office in Yerevans important work, President Muttonen said. The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has repeatedly called for OSCE field operations to be given robust mandates and all the resources they need to allow them to perform their vital tasks, and yet, regrettably, another field operation is being closed. Vigenin noted how important the Office in Yerevans work is for Armenia and the OSCE, and stressed that the OSCE PA will remain actively engaged in the region. Following the closure of OSCE field operations in Georgia and Azerbaijan in past years, the Office in Yerevan has both a symbolic and practical importance that should not be overlooked. Personally, I have benefited from the Offices expertise when carrying out diplomatic visits, and hope that the interim period before the final closure of the mission can be used to find a compromise solution so that the country can continue benefiting from its support, Vigenin said. In its Baku Declaration of 2014 the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly called for the OSCE to adopt full, effective, and long-term mandates for OSCE field operations, reiterating similar previous appeals.




This Isnt Our Last Love Letter



Dear Don Don,

Way back in 92



I walked into the room and knew



Never felt this way before



I shook your hand while gazing into your eyes



And the feeling grew



As I took a seat I knew



A love that would have my heart



Forever



I knew



Way back in 92





They say love at first sight doesnt always last or isnt true



We were the exception to that rule



Our love had no where to hide



A spark set fire



As if this is how the universe started





I never doubted our love or what we could do



Together we grew



Forming a bond everlasting



That became our glue



My euphoria was YOU



Im eternally grateful for the love and life we shared



For how fortunate we were :



to have and to hold

through sickness and in health

Til death do us part



Until we are together again



This isnt our last love letter



I love you with all my heart and soul



Yours forever,



Deirdre (Mrs. Hank Snow)





Im fortunate to have fallen in love with, marry and make a life with the sharpest, coolest, funniest, most rare, bad ass, tender loving, loyal man on the planet, my husband Don Imus.









A True American Hero

I dont know why it has been so hard for me to write about my dear friend Don Imus.



I certainly know what he meant to me, my family, my charity, my hospital and the millions of fans that listened and loved him for so many years.



I keep reading all the beautiful condolences that people are writing about how much a part of their lives were effected by listening to him over the years.

But what most people dont talk enough about is what he did for all of us.

In every sense of the word, he was an American Hero. His work with children with so many different illnesses and his dedication to their future was unmatched by anyone I have ever known or heard about.



Besides raising over $100,000,000 for so many causes, he took care of young people for over 20 years in a state where he could not breathe. Along with his incredible wife Deirdre, he created a world where children were not defined by their disease. That was a miracle! He was a miracle.

I will miss him ever day for the rest of my life.

I was blessed to be a part of his and Deirdes life.

No one will ever do what he did.

I love you Don Imus - A TRUE AMERICAN HERO





David Jurist

IMUS IN THE MORNING

FIRST DAY BACK!
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Acclaimed horror author Stephen King has said Donald Trumps access to nuclear weapons is worse than any story he has written.

President Trump has disturbed many by ramping up the rhetoric surrounding nuclear weapons since taking office. Psychiatrists have suggested Mr Trump shows symptoms of having a dangerous mental illness.

Mr King, author of The Shining and Dead Zone, apparently agreed with this sentiment.

Recommended Stephen King has compared Trump to two characters from his books

Trump's tweets in his first hundred days draw a pretty clear portrait: he's an almost textbook case of narcissistic personality disorder, Mr King wrote on Twitter.

He added: That this guy has his finger on the nuclear trigger is worse than any horror story I ever wrote.

Mr King has been a staunch critic of Mr Trump, particularly regarding his lack of financial transparency.

In April, he wrote: Come on, chickens***, if you're man enough to drop a mega-bomb on Afghanistan, you should be man enough to release your tax returns.

Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Show all 28 1 /28 Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Brian Adcock Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Dave Brown Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Brian Adcock Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Dave Brown Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Dave Brown Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Brian Adcock Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Dave Brown Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Dave Brown Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Dave Brown Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Brian Adcock Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Dave Brown Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Brian Adcock Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Dave Brown Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Brian Adcock Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Dave Brown Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Brian Adcock Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Dave Brown Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Brian Adcock Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Brian Adcock Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Christian Adams for Daily Telegraph Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Martin Rowson for The Guardian Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Christian Adams for Daily Telegraph Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Morten Morland for The Times Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Bob Moran for Daily Telegraph Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Christian Adams for Daily Telegraph Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Morten Morland for The Times Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' KAL for The Economist Trumped! The best cartoons on 'The Donald' Martin Rowson for The Guardian

Mr King was one of hundreds of authors who signed an open letter opposing Mr Trump during his election campaign.
Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the

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Annie Clark (aka St Vincent) has made her directorial debut as part of the all-female horror anthology XX. She also, as it happens, doesnt like horror movies.

I really cant unsee things, she confesses over the phone. And if I see something particularly gory, I will obsessively play it over and over in my mind and not be able to sleep. I just sort of fixate on those things. So, I intentionally avoid things like gore and sexual violence.

Any personal aversion Clark may harbour is untraceable in her XX contribution, however, as it sits comfortably alongside work from horror stalwarts Karyn Kusama, Jovanka Vuckovic, and Roxanne Benjamin.

Entitled The Birthday Party, her short is morbidly hilarious, following a frenetic housewife (Melanie Lynskey) as she attempts to hide her husbands cold, departed body in fear it may ruin her young daughters birthday celebrations.

A piece that she wonderfully, succinctly describes as Weekend at Bernies meets Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, though it was never originally intended as such a comedic venture. Penned alongside Benjamin, her fellow XX contributor, it started off life as this sort of dark wood mahogany, slow-creep, self-serious kind of thing.

Halfway through, the pair realised they were actually in the midst of writing a black comedy, and an entirely new palette was born. The Birthday Party is a pristine, pastel dream, immaculate in its conception, its 1960s-flavoured wigs and dresses, its suburban mirage. Yet, something far more sinister hides within.

Everything that you see is completely fastidious, and everything is in its right place, but you open a drawer and its a mess, Clark explains. This womans so focused on creating this sweet life for her daughter and, in some way, keeping up with the Joneses, that she doesnt realise she has a Leonard Cohen rip in her robe.

 XX - Official UK Trailer

Shes really trying to keep it together, but shes just going to be the whipping boy, she adds. Its just not going to happen for her. Melanie brings so much art and humour to it, shes an absolute vision.

Indeed, Lynskeys role in The Birthday Party arrives during somewhat of a hot streak for the New Zealand actor, thanks to her riveting performance in Sundances Grand Jury Prize winner, I Dont Feel at Home in This World Anymore. Clark, however, is a long-time fan of hers.

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I thought of her for the role, but thought there was no way she would do it," she enthuses. "Shes truly one of my absolute favourite actors of all time. Just on a lark, I asked her, and I was thrilled when she said, Of course! and seemed legitimately excited about it!

That said, Clark reveals Lynskey wasnt actually the biggest star on set. That honour, apparently, belonged to a taxidermy cat that features in the film and happens to be owned by the composer Danny Elfman, whose children are friends with Benjamin.

Annie Clark AKA St. Vincent (Getty)

The cat basically had its own trailer, she laughs. You know what I mean? The cat was the most important person on set, because we were under strict orders to make sure the cat was not harmed.

XXs core philosophy lies in the promotion of female-focused, female-crafted narratives in a genre thats had a troubled history with women; Vuckovic and Kusamas pieces deal with mothers coping with supernaturally difficult children, while Benjamins sees a group of teenagers stalked by an ancient spirit while camping out in the desert.

Though Clarks tale is female-focused only, as she sheepishly admits, coincidentally since shes bad at reading all the way through e-mails, she still has some wise words to say about the state of the industry.

We are all one, she says. And theres this incredible connection between all of humanity that is deep and that is powerful. But, some experiences are not universal. So, thats why its important to have people who have lived stories telling their own stories.

Clark conveys both a deep enthusiasm for, and literacy in, the medium of film. Yet, its something she confesses she approached with a level of naivete, to the point that scoring the film felt like a jump straight back into her comfort zone.

The process of making the film was so immersive and so all-encompassing that, when it came time to do the score, I was just, like, Wow! Phew, I can do this! This is so easy! I did it in, like, a day, she jokes.

Melanie Lynskey stars in 'The Birthday Party', Annie Clark's contribution to 'XX'

That part was just completely instinctual and, I dont want to say I just threw it together, because thats not the truth, but I was so relieved to be in a space that I knew what to do that I just did it really quickly.

Clark, of course, is far more familiar to the public by her stage name St Vincent, best known for her widely-praised, Grammy-winning, self-titled fourth solo album from 2014. Music is a way more ethereal medium, she reflects. As far as structure and form.

Not that her years in the music industry proved entirely useless, as she adds: Both mediums are deeply collaborative. I think, in so many cases, the brilliance doesnt necessarily come from one person and their exact vision. Its more about one persons ability to surround themselves with the most inspired team and, also, to motivate people. And have vision enough that people want to get behind it and execute it.

Either way, Clark confesses shes really caught the bug, as they say. Already, she seems to be brewing plans for a follow-up, which she envisions as falling somewhere between black comedy, drama, and erotic thriller. The cinematic world would do best to gear up for a real treat.

XX will be released on DVD on 8 May
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Debbie Harry rocks up to the stage in a makeshift black dress that reads: Stop f***ing the planet on the front in silver glitter, sunglasses, a headband adorned with giant furry bees, and shiny gold trainers.

Is this the Roundhouse? she asks the crowd. OK.

As Blondie open on One Way or Another, the atmosphere in London is like some raucous family gathering. Maybe its the cheerfulness of their music, that carefree, effortlessly cool vibe that they master even now, or maybe its that the crowd are taken aback by how good Harry sounds.

Caught in the red glow of the stage lights, dancing around Chris Stein as he plays a solo in that same, slightly robotic, comical-yet-sexy way she did 40 years ago, she exudes a warmth and charm that is utterly delightful to witness: the way she delivers those lyrics is both seductive and disdainful.

Theyve put together a perfect setlist, one that tests some of the material off their new album Pollinator but doesnt force it on the audience. So you have Fun, a poppy, disco-infused jam that saw the band work with TV On The Radios Dave Sitek, and Gravity, which was written by Charli XCX.

The latters own music may fall more into the pop category but shes a true punk at heart  you can see that from her live shows  and its clearly something the band has spotted as well. It may not be one of the strongest tracks on Pollinator, but it fits.

Purists may struggle to accept the extensive list of guest features and contributions on this record, but rest assured that it sounds like nothing other than Blondie. And other than those few songs off the album, its a setlist dominated by the hits.

Rapture is one glorious, eternal psychedelic party  Harry seems to stumble on the rap but recovers quickly, and theres a tribal kind of protectiveness from the audience that would forgive her any manner of sins  especially when the band suddenly breaks out into the Beastie Boys' Fight For Your Right To Party.

Crooning a beautiful rendition of In The Flesh, Harry then steps to the side of the stage and watches on as Tommy Kessler breaks into an insane shredding session for Atomic.

There are so many great moments, so many superb songs, that by the time Blondie close their encore with Maria the whole thing is over far too soon. Dazed audience members drift slowly out of the venue, sad to leave the party, but happy with the assurance that Blondie are forever.
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The rapid melting of sea ice in the Arctic is set to open up new shipping routes between the North Atlantic and east Asia, dramatically cutting journey times.

While the pole has been off-limits to most vessels since long before humans were able to voyage across the open ocean, the astonishing rise in temperatures in the Arctic caused by global warming is changing all that.

Scientists expect the region could be almost entirely free of sea ice within the next few decades for the first time in about 100,000 years.

Now researchers have plotted a number of routes from Europe and North America over the top of the world to China and Japan, which are detailed in a paper in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Taking an Arctic route from Europe to China is up to 40 per cent shorter than sailing through the Suez Canal.

And that could mean journey times of 18 to 20 days from Rotterdam to Yokohama, instead of at least 30 days through Suez.

Two once impassable Arctic routes are already open  the Northwest Passage, through the Canadian archipelago from the US east coast to Asia, and the Northern Sea Route, along Russias northern coast.

But shorter, more direct routes over the North Pole itself are expected to become available as the ice melts over the next few decades.

In an article on the Carbon Brief website, Dr Nathanael Melia, of Reading University, who helped calculate the new routes, wrote: Ever since the East India Company sailed the high seas in the days of the British Empire, international traders have sought the most cost-effective route between the worlds ports.

For many, the shortest route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans would be through the Arctic, yet sea ice provides a formidable deterrent for all but the hardiest ships.

However, while once just a dream of early explorers such as Roald Amundsen, an Arctic shipping route may soon become a reality. The decline in sea ice cover means there is now serious speculation over commercial trans-Arctic shipping.

However travelling through the Arctic will still be largely a seasonal activity.

Our findings reveal that Arctic sea ice will still be present in winter for the majority of the 21st century, implying that Arctic shipping routes will open and close at different times and for different periods each year, Dr Melia said.
What will happen in the future?

Some commentators, including the GWPF, adopt a so-called lukewarmist position, arguing that climate change will not be too bad so there is no need to stop using fossil fuels. They point to beneficial effects such as 'global greening' in which plant growth is boosted by the extra carbon in the air.

Others have claimed humanity is plunging headlong towards catastrophe and possibly even a future in which a tiny band of survivors cluster around the last remaining habitable territory near the poles.

Both groups are at odds with the science.

As Professor Tim Palmer, an Oxford University physicist who has worked on reports for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), explained in a recent talk at the Royal Society, the scientific consensus on climate change is that it could be anything between those two extremes.

According to computer models, developed using mathematics, the laws of physics and the best available knowledge, the world could be on course for between about 1.5C and more than 5C of warming as a result of the doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide. So far it has risen from about 280 parts per million  a level that had remained fairly constant from the end of the last Ice Age to the 1800s  to more than 400ppm today.

When we talk about scientific consensus, I would say its basically about this [temperature] distribution, its not individual predictions, Professor Palmer told the Royal Society.

But, according to the models, there is a much higher probability of going beyond 2C of warming, than staying below this point, often regarded as when climate change becomes particularly dangerous.

And, as Professor Palmer also pointed out, there is also a non-negligible probability of 5C or more, which would be utterly catastrophic.

Models are often the source of derision from climate sceptics or deniers, but they have actually proved remarkably successful when measured against actual observations. Even Arrhenius prediction that the Arctic would warm more quickly has proved to be true.
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Bottles of Bombay Sapphire gin are being recalled  because they contain too much alcohol.

Batches in Canada are being recalled by the countrys health authorities, who say a small number of bottles contain nearly double the advertised amount of alcohol.

Recommended 10 best new gins

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the bottles were found to contain 77% alcohol, rather than the typical 40%.

An isolated customer complaint followed by a series of product checks sparked the recall, according to owner Bacardi.

The firm sells alcohol products around the world including Grey Goose Vodka and several well-known rum products.

The firm says the affected batch is only being sold in Canada, and people who return bottles will have their money refunded.

A spokesman added: We do not recommend consumption of this product.

The 10 countries that drink the most alcohol Show all 10 1 /10 The 10 countries that drink the most alcohol The 10 countries that drink the most alcohol 10. Poland Results from an OECD report The 10 countries that drink the most alcohol 9. Germany The 10 countries that drink the most alcohol 8. Luxembourg Rex Features The 10 countries that drink the most alcohol 7. France The 10 countries that drink the most alcohol 6. Hungary Rex Features The 10 countries that drink the most alcohol 5. Russia AFP/Getty Images The 10 countries that drink the most alcohol 4. Czech Republic The 10 countries that drink the most alcohol 3. Estonia Rex Features The 10 countries that drink the most alcohol 2. Austria Getty Images The 10 countries that drink the most alcohol 1. Lithuania AFP/Getty Images

The recall started in Ontario but the move was soon followed by four other liquor authorities across the country.

A spokesman for the Ontario Liquor Control Board said: One batch was bottles before correct dilution to achieve the stated 40% alcohol content by volume.

As a result, the affected batch has alcohol content by volume of 77%.

This product is not safe for consumption. Consuming a product with an alcohol content of 77% could cause serious illness.

No illnesses associated with the faulty batch have been reported.

Its the latest alcohol recall in Canada, following an issue in March in which hundreds of bottles of Georgia Bay Vodka containing 81% vodka were removed from shelves.

The increased alcohol content was due to the bottles not being properly diluted.
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Apple boss Tim Cook pushed back against Donald Trumps attacks, defending the tech giants record of investing in its home country and announcing a $1bn fund for advanced manufacturing in the US.

As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump used Apple as an example of what he perceives to be wrong with corporate America, attacking the company for making iPhones and iPads in China instead of the US. The President also urged his millions of Twitter followers to boycott Apple products unless the company agreed to soften its pro-encryption stance to allow authorities to read messages.

In an interview with CNBC from Apples California headquarters on Wednesday, Mr Cook made his case against Mr Trumps allegations.

Recommended Apple posts surprise decline in iPhone sales

Weve now created 2 million jobs in America. This doesnt include the multiplier effect which would make it a tonne more, he said.

The chief executive also pointed to the billions of dollars worth of components and raw materials that Apple buys from US manufacturers, including adhesives from chemical company 3M and glass for iPhone screens from New York-based Corning.

Through its App Store, the company also supports a developer community of one-and-a-half million people, Mr Cook said. These are folks from really small businesses... and theyre writing apps that can change the world."

A new $1bn fund would seek to encourage advanced manufacturing in the US, he said, while pointing out that Apple already employs 25,000 US workers in research and development.

The pitch from Mr Cook comes after Apple reported a surprise slowdown in iPhone sales, and at a time when the company is seeking what Mr Cook described as comprehensive tax reform. Apple currently has more than $250bn held overseas - the biggest foreign cash pile of any US company. It would face a huge tax bill if it were to bring that money back to the US.

If you sell globally you earn money globally, if you earn money globally, you cant bring it back unless you pay 35 per cent plus your state tax, the Apple chief executive said. Thats kind of bizarre.

Critics have accused Apple of using low-tax jurisdictions such as Ireland to set up its global operations in a way that is not reflective of the true nature of its business. The companys latest annual report show it paid an effective tax rate of just 5.2 per cent on its non-US earnings.

Mr Trumps administration has proposed slashing the US corporate tax rate to 15 per cent, and introducing a one-off repatriation tax of ten per cent for money already held offshore. However, the proposals require approval from Congress, something which is far from assured at present.

Mr Cook also reiterated his stance against the Presidents Muslim ban which saw people from seven mostly-Muslim countries temporarily denied entry to the US earlier this year.

Apple, along with hundreds of other companies, many from Silicon Valleys tech industry which relies heavily on skilled migrants from around the world, filed a legal brief in protest at Mr Trumps executive order, which was later amended after judges ruled against the ban.

In pictures: Apple iPhone 7 launch event Show all 13 1 /13 In pictures: Apple iPhone 7 launch event In pictures: Apple iPhone 7 launch event Apple iPhone 7 launch event Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook discusses the new phone In pictures: Apple iPhone 7 launch event Apple iPhone 7 launch event It looks similar to the 6 and 6s. Apple say it is the "most singular, most evolved representation of this design". In pictures: Apple iPhone 7 launch event Apple iPhone 7 launch event The iPhone has become a "cultural phenomenon". Over one billion handsets have been sold. In pictures: Apple iPhone 7 launch event Apple iPhone 7 launch event There's a new refined design for the iPhone 7. A high gloss finish and a seamless surface between the glass and the aluminium back. In pictures: Apple iPhone 7 launch event Apple iPhone 7 launch event The new enclosure is water and dust resistant. In pictures: Apple iPhone 7 launch event Apple iPhone 7 launch event It does seem to look a lot like the iPhone 6s. The big changes are slightly rounded edges, the loss of antenna lines, and what looks like a very glossy black colour. In pictures: Apple iPhone 7 launch event Apple iPhone 7 launch event Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook discusses the App Store. Reuters In pictures: Apple iPhone 7 launch event Apple iPhone 7 launch event Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook discusses Apple in education. Reuters In pictures: Apple iPhone 7 launch event Apple iPhone 7 launch event Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook greets Nintendo Creative Fellow Shigeru Miyamoto. Reuters In pictures: Apple iPhone 7 launch event Apple iPhone 7 launch event Nintendo Creative Fellow Shigeru Miyamoto announces a Mario Bros game for the iPhone, as a translator stands nearby. Reuters In pictures: Apple iPhone 7 launch event Apple iPhone 7 launch event Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during the Apple launch event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, California, USA. EPA In pictures: Apple iPhone 7 launch event Apple iPhone 7 launch event The new Watch has a new display that's twice as bright as the existing one. It's brighter than any other Apple screen ever. Reuters In pictures: Apple iPhone 7 launch event Apple iPhone 7 launch event Apple Watch "series 2", as it's called, is waterproof up to 50 metres. Reuters

Apple will continue to make its voice heard, Mr Cook said: If you dont show up, I think thats the worst scenario because then youre quiet and that doesnt do your cause any good", he said.

But in an apparent attempt to build bridges with the White House, the chief executive said: With any administration, there are things you will agree upon and things that you will not and you dont want to let the things you dont [agree on] mean that you dont have any interface.

The chief executive refused to give any further details on the specification of the upcoming tenth anniversary iPhone.
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FBI Director James Comey says he expects more Russian meddling in America's 2018 and 2020 elections.

Speaking before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mr Comey said: "I think one of the lessons the Russians may have drawn from this is that this works. And so as I said a month or so ago, I expect to see them back in 2018, and especially in 2020.

When asked about what the FBI is doing to prepare for this, Mr Comey said that an enormous portion of the bureau's counterintelligence and cyber divisions focuses on "making sure that we do everything we can to understand how the bad guys might come at us."

The FBI is currently investigating Russian meddling in the presidential election and whether President Donald Trump's campaign was involved.
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A woman who was charged with disorderly conduct for laughing during the confirmation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been found guilty and could face up to a year in prison.

Desiree Fairooz has been convicted for laughing early in Mr Sessions' confirmation hearing after Alabama Senator Richard Shelby said that the future attorney general's record of "treating all Americans equally under the law is clear and well documented." She has been convicted alongside two other protesters who had donned Ku Klux Klan costumes during the confirmation. Those two protesters could also face up to a year in prison.

The conviction comes after a two-day trial in the United States Superior Court in Washington. Ms Fairooz told the New York Times that she is "really disappointed" and that her lawyer are planning on filing post-trial motions to have the verdict cast aside. It is too early to discuss an appeal she says.

 Jeff Sessions says under oath that he has not had any contact with Russia

All three protesters are connected to Code Pink, a women's rights activist organisation.

I felt it was my responsibility as a citizen to dissent at the confirmation hearing of Senator Jeff Sessions, a man who professes anti-immigrant, anti-LGBT policies, who has voted against several civil rights measures and who jokes about the white supremacist terrorist group the Ku Klux Klan, Ms Fairooz said in a statement released before the verdict came in.

Prosecutors said they brought the charges because the laugh was an attempt to impede, disrupt, and disturb orderly conduct of the confirmation hearing.

Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Show all 14 1 /14 Donald Trump's most controversial quotes Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Isis: "Some of the candidates, they went in and didnt know the air conditioner didnt work and sweated like dogs, and they didnt know the room was too big because they didnt have anybody there. How are they going to beat ISIS?" Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On immigration: "I will build a great wall  and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me and Ill build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Free Trade: "Free trade is terrible. Free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people. But we have stupid people." PAUL J. RICHARDS | AFP | Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Mexicans: "When Mexico sends its people, theyre not sending their best. Theyre sending people that have lots of problems. Theyre bringing drugs. Theyre bringing crime. Theyre rapists." Getty Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On China: "I just sold an apartment for $15 million to somebody from China. Am I supposed to dislike them?... I love China. The biggest bank in the world is from China. You know where their United States headquarters is located? In this building, in Trump Tower." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On work: "If you're interested in 'balancing' work and pleasure, stop trying to balance them. Instead make your work more pleasurable." AP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On success: "What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate." Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On life: "Everything in life is luck." AFP Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On ambition: "You have to think anyway, so why not think big?" Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On his opponents: "Bush is totally in favour of Common Core. I don't see how he can possibly get the nomination. He's weak on immigration. He's in favour of Common Core. How the hell can you vote for this guy? You just can't do it." Reuters Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Obamacare: "You have to be hit by a tractor, literally, a tractor, to use it, because the deductibles are so high. It's virtually useless. And remember the $5 billion web site?... I have so many web sites, I have them all over the place. I hire people, they do a web site. It costs me $3." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On Barack Obama: "Obama is going to be out playing golf. He might be on one of my courses. I would invite him. I have the best courses in the world. I have one right next to the White House." PA Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On himself: "Love him or hate him, Trump is a man who is certain about what he wants and sets out to get it, no holds barred. Women find his power almost as much of a turn-on as his money." Getty Images Donald Trump's most controversial quotes On America: "The American Dream is dead. But if I get elected president I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before and we will make America great again." GETTY

Mr Sessions was a controversial pick to become the nations leading law enforcement official and his confirmation path was wrought with contentious moments. The former senator from Alabama was repeatedly accused of expressing racist views in the past  a history of racist accusations that includes a 1980s ad aired by Mr Shelby himself that accused him of calling the KKK good ole boys.

During his confirmation, Mr Sessions saw rare opposition from a fellow sitting senator, New Jerseys Corey Booker, who testified boldly against him during his hearings saying that his civil rights record disqualified him from the attorney general post. Mr Booker was joined by civil rights legend Representative John Lewis in voicing concerns about Mr Sessions during those hearings.

Later in the confirmation process, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren refocused national attention on Mr Sessions alleged racism when she was silenced by Republican leadership as she read, on the Senate floor, a 1986 letter Coretta Scott King wrote while Mr Sessions was up for a federal judgeship accusing him of using public office to intimidate black voters.
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On the morning of 9 April, 40-year-old Mamdouh Amin Baghdady walked into the Mar Girgis church in the Nile Delta city of Tanta and detonated a suicide vest, upending wooden pews and spraying the congregation with shrapnel. It was Palm Sunday, the first major holiday of Easter, and the church was packed with worshippers. Hours later, another attacker blew himself up outside the Saint Marks Church in Alexandria, where the Coptic Pope Tawadros II was leading the celebrations. The attacks were claimed by the Isis-affiliated Province of Sinai and, in total, 48 people were killed.

Last Friday, less than three weeks after the bombings, Pope Francis arrived in Egypt for a two-day visit that he said would be a message of friendship and respect for all the inhabitants of Egypt and the region. In a video released by the Vatican before his arrival, the pontiff appealed to Egyptians to build bridges of peace, dialogue, fraternity, justice and humanity.

But for many Copts, who make up around 10 per cent of Egypts population, these seem like distant prospects. Violence towards them is at a historic high, with terrorist attacks becoming more frequent and everyday persecution on the rise. In Upper Egypt, there are reports of churches being burned and Christians being attacked and abducted.

Forensics collect evidence following the Palm Sunday bomb attack at the Mar Girgis Coptic Church (Getty)

In the troubled region of North Sinai, Copts face execution at the hands of Sinai Province. After supporting President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisis rise to power following the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood government in 2013, Christians say they feel increasingly abandoned by the state as sectarian tensions that have simmered below the surface for generations begin to boil over.

Atef William, a 60-year-old bureaucrat from Tanta, should have been at the church at the time of the attack, but had gone into his office beforehand and was running late. His wife, 50-year-old Menal Fakry Teriaq, had been present throughout the ordeal. When William arrived at the church, half an hour after the explosion, he found her shaking, and covered in plaster and rubble from the blast. Her knuckles were bloodied, and she had injuries up the left side of her body where shrapnel from the bomb had torn into her.

The last thing I remember before the explosion was seeing the deacons leading a chant on stage, she says. As the bomb went off, the room became thick with smoke and screams. By the time the dust settled, she says, the deacons, who shed known for years, were just a pile of limbs. The couple lost other close friends in the attack, including Williams 40-year-old cousin who succumbed to his injuries in hospital three weeks later.

Suicide bombing at St. George Church, in the Nile Delta town of Tanta, Egypt (Getty) (Getty Images)

They argue that the security services should have realised that an attack that day was likely. Sinai Province had killed 29 in the suicide bombing of a church in Cairos Abbasiya district just four months beforehand, and promised further attacks on Copts in a video message released afterwards, referring to them as their favourite prey. The security services have received criticism for failing to react properly to the threat, especially when it was revealed that the bombers were known to the police and had previously travelled to Syria for terrorist training.

Sinai Province, and the insurgencies that preceded it, have been fighting against the Egyptian state in some shape or form for decades. The repeated targeting of Christian civilians is a new tactic and could mark a shift in strategy. A propaganda piece from 2014, titled The Secret to the Egyptian Enigma, explains that indiscriminate killing of Christians is one of the keys to jihadi success.

Through stoking existing tensions between Christians and Muslims, Sinai Province hopes to reveal the reality of conflict between the two religions. As attacks increase, fuelling sectarian animosity, the theory is that Egypt will become further divided and Muslims won over to the Isis cause, as the country spirals into civil war.

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. 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Women mourn for the victims of the blast at the Coptic Christian Saint Mark's church in Alexandria (Getty) (Getty Images)

Its the same thing Sisi said when he ran for president in 2014 on the ticket of bringing stability to the country. Had he not taking control, he argued, then Egypt could end up going the way of Syria; he won with 97 per cent of the vote. After seeing him oust the Muslim Brotherhood from power in 2013, many in the Coptic community, including William and Teriaq, rallied behind the ex-army general in the hope that he would protect religious minorities.

HA Hellyer, a senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, says that, in the wake of Islamist rule, many Christians felt threatened, on account of the repeated sectarian discourse the Brotherhood used. Against that backdrop, it is not surprising that so many Christians supported Sisi. With attacks on the rise, though, the couple have lost faith in the president. I would definitely not vote for him again, says William.

Sinai Scenery (Flickr/Prince Roy)

Sisi has been keen to present an administration that treats Copts more favourably than previous ones. Less than a year into office, he became the first president to attend Christmas mass. In 2015, when Isis beheaded 21 Coptic Egyptians in Libya, he dispatched a squadron of F-16 fighter jets across the border for a single bombing mission a military statement described as revenge for the blood of Egyptians.

Following the Abbasiya bombing, he announced he would be making a personal donation of LE 100,000 (4,300) towards the largest church in Egypt, to be built at a later date in the proposed new capital city.

All he does is give us empty promises says Naguib Gabriel, the founder of the Egyptian Union for Human Rights and a prominent spokesperson for the Coptic community. We want to see an end to our persecution. But the president has proved unwilling to engage in accusations of discrimination towards minorities.

Egypt prides itself on being more unified than many of its regional neighbours and doesnt like to admit the existence of sectarian conflict. The regime rejects the concept that there are divisions in the country, says Samuel Tadros, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. Egypt is one nation and any talk of these divisions is an attempt to divide us.

Saint Catherines Monastery (Flickr/Marc!D)

Nevertheless, acts of violence and discrimination that have been perpetrated against Christians for decades are still reported under the Sisi administration. Kidnappings in the countryside have spiked, where wealthy Christians are taken for a ransom. There are even more occasional  and generally unconfirmed  reports of Christian girls being abducted and forced to marry their Muslim captors.

There are weekly attacks in [the Upper Egyptian city of] Minya, says Tadros. You get these mob attacks on Christians; burning houses; looting their businesses. Thats the daily life of Copts.

Even official state policy itself has been accused of maltreating the Coptic minority. A long-awaited law on church building, which would ostensibly overturn draconian, Ottoman-era practice regarding Christian places of worship, was finally passed last year. The Christian community hoped that under the new rules, the legislation would no longer be used as a way of preventing new churches being built.

But the law came under instant criticism from groups such as US-based Human Rights Watch, which argued it gives the power to provincial governors to arbitrarily deny construction of a church with no room for appeal. Governors are also urged to consider security and public safety before signing off on new builds, which HRW argues legitimises mob violence as a means to prevent new churches and sends the message that Christians can be attacked with impunity.

Pope Francis is surrounded by security as he rides an uncovered Popemobile before the start of a mass at a stadium in Cairo (Getty Images)

Local disagreements between Muslims and Christians are frequently handled by controversial reconciliation councils, where local community leaders arbitrate disputes. Its a policy that has left Christian minorities marginalised and well-connected criminals allowed to walk free.

In a scathing report, The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said that continuing this policy only serves to perpetuate tensions and creates a climate in which any dispute between citizens is liable to escalate into sectarian violence and collective punishment. In contrast to occasional atrocities at the hands of Sinai Province, Tadros says its really the daily persecution Copts encounter that captures the plight that they live under in Egypt.

But nowhere else in Egypt do Christians suffer more than in the region of North Sinai. The fight between the state and Sinai Province has reached a new intensity in recent years. According to the US-based Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, the first half of 2016 saw an average of 48 attacks against the security forces per month, compared to 28 attacks per month in the previous six months.

The violence has even begun to creep into the generally safe region of South Sinai. Just a week before Pope Francis landed in Cairo, Sinai Province shot up a police checkpoint near the famous Saint Catherines Monastery, leaving one officer dead and four others injured.

Pope Francis speaks to the press from aboard his return flight from Cairo to Rome (Getty) (Getty Images)

Christians living in North Sinai are suffering the full force of ISs encroachment into Egypt. In the last six months, insurgents have begun summary executions of Copts, with reports of at least one man being beheaded and another burnt alive. The region was home to around 5,000 Christians before 2011, but since then most have fled to other parts of the country. Church officials estimate that just 1,000 Copts remain in North Sinai.

In February alone, following the execution of at least seven Christians in the provincial capital of Al Arish, more than 100 families fled en masse to the city of Ismailia on the western bank of the Suez canal, prompting a statement from Amnesty International urging the government to do more to protect Christians.

Theres certainly a growing sense among ordinary Copts that the regime is not doing anything for them, says Tadros. Following the attacks on Palm Sunday, and the bombing in December, there were small spontaneous demonstrations calling for the fall of the regime, although such instances are rare. With the threat of Islamic State looming large, Copts are in no position to oppose the current administration. There are no alternatives, says Tadros. Like the rest of the Egyptian population they realise that there is Sisi and then theres nothing else.
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The phrase fake news seems to be everywhere. And the more we see it, the more different meanings it acquires. Who are the worst perpetrators? What can be done to shut them down? Who should we blame? There are new theories every week.

Well, maybe theres something we can do  we meaning The Independent and its readers. Were launching InFact, a new section of The Independent, to confront fake news head-on. If we see parts of the media use and abuse the facts, well aim to set the record straight. When politicians spin the truth, well aim to debunk their claims. Youll find thorough explainer articles tackling all key issues from immunology to immigration. And youll find fact boxes and graphics across our news coverage to present the truth in bite-size portions. And we need your support: if you see the truth used and abused, tell us and help us call it out on social media. You can follow us via the new accounts on Facebook and Twitter.

But first lets take a moment to think about the epidemic were fighting. The phrase fake news became incredibly popular around the 2016 US election, as websites cropped up that made money by publishing news that didnt have the slightest grounding in reality. Pope Francis Forbids Catholics From Voting For Hillary! Bill Clintons S*x Tape Just Leaked.

The term caught on. Under the banner of fake news, spin from politicians and the media alike was called out, at a time when the UK was still processing the shock of the Brexit referendum result, and looking back at campaigns that marked a new pinnacle for hyperbole, overclaim and disregard for the old-fashioned virtue of honesty.

In a certain world leaders vocabulary, fake news even seems to mean valid reports that make me look bad.

Whichever way you define it, fake news is bad news. It propagates ignorance, and allows voters to be conned and manipulated.

It is not just a problem online, or on social media networks. It is far too convenient for traditional publishers, understandably worried about their futures and revenues, to use fake news as a universal bogeyman of our times. In the UK particularly, we all too acclimatised to a newspaper industry that too often forces the facts to fit an ideological stance, meet a proprietors interests or settle a score. Want to see a misleading story? Read all about it. In the US, TV channels represent a huge range: flick from one channel to the next and you can leap from liberal views to commentators so far to the right as to cause real offence. Yet these uses and abuses of facts are often taken for granted.

Against all this, it is worth remembering that, back in 1986, The Independent was created for a reason, and our title was not chosen by accident. Today those reasons are all the more vital. We engage wholeheartedly with as many platforms as we can  the web, social media, subscription apps  to reach as many readers as possible, because we feel it is important for them to access reliable, unspun news. Our way of combating fake news is to tell the truth, and tell it to as many people as possible.

But dont we have an agenda? We declare it openly: we stand for the values of a progressive, fair world, for liberalism and equality. We are often very forthright about our principles, and sometimes people dont like it. They didnt like our agenda-setting coverage of climate change at a time when so many denied its existence. Our opposition to the Iraq War (in many ways we inherited this age of fake news from that previous era of spin doctors) brought us many opponents. We always approach the major issues with an open mind, but fighting bias does not mean reporting both sides equally when the facts show that one is profoundly wrong.

In our comment pages, we represent so many different views, but we are of course mindful that there is a difference between an opinion grounded in fact and an opinion that seeks to deceive. However elaborately constructed, a lie is always a lie. People in this country, declared the Brexiteer Michael Gove, have had enough of experts. Perhaps the same could be said of other countries. But he wasnt speaking for everyone, and certainly not for The Independent.

Still, we must ensure we hold ourselves to account. And that brings us to the final part of the InFact mission. Youre welcome to flag suspected errors in our own journalism, too. We all need to be kept on our toes.
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Veteran actor Moray Watson has died after a short illness, his family have confirmed.

The 88-year-old was well known for playing the part of the Brigadier in ITV drama The Darling Buds Of May alongside David Jason and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

A renowned stage actor, he won fans for his role as Trevor alongside lead Cary Grant in 1960 film The Grass Is Greener, and went on to play the part of Richard Lowe in 1960s' soap Compact, as well as appearing in two episode of Doctor Who in the 1980s.

The old Etonian, who completed national service in the Army, died in Hillingdon Hospital in London.

Author and presenter Gyles Brandreth led the tributes to his long-time friend, describing Watson as "a gentleman" armed with a stash of witty anecdotes.

"What was extraordinary about him was his versatility," he said. "From a soap like Compact, to making a movie alongside Cary Grant, Doctor Who and the Darling Buds  he really was a safe pair of hands, and a calming influence to have on stage and on set.

"But he was also tremendously funny. People loved him because, as a person, he was very witty, very droll. He had a fantastic sense of humour, and he would bring out these wonderfully amusing anecdotes  including an excellent impression he used to do of Cary Grant.

"He was also extremely kind to people, and he was in every sense a gentleman. He had an extremely successful career on the stage too, and he had three one-man shows which he took around the country at various times. You could rely on Moray."

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 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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. 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Watson is survived by his son Robin, daughter Emma, and four grandchildren. His wife, American-born actress Pam Marmont, died in 1999.

Watson's son Robin said his father had been active throughout his life and had recently been living at the Denville Hall retirement home for former actors, actresses and other theatrical professions.

"He was a very comforting man to be around," he said. "He was terribly funny and had great comic timing. He would play the fool, as well. "I remember him being very generous. If ever he went away anywhere, to New York or South Africa or India or somewhere with work, he would always bring us back something that seemed terribly fun or exotic.

"He used to have an old fashioned Mini and I remember being about seven years old and being sat between his legs helping him drive it around Battersea Park, which is near where we lived at the time. It was rather naughty, of course, and you'd never get away with that sort of thing these days, but that was what he was like  great fun. We were also very proud of him. It was always so exciting to see him on the television."

He added: "I know we have been really touched by all the kind words we've had since he died, and actually since he released his memoirs Looking Back and Dropping Names last year. It is so lovely for us to hear that people care about him, and have enjoyed his work, after all this time. It's been overwhelming."

A private funeral service is to follow, with a public memorial service to be confirmed at a later date.
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Michael Sandford, the British man imprisoned in the US for attempting to shoot Donald Trump, has returned to the UK, The Independent understands.

Sandford was sentenced by a US court to one year in jail in December for being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm and disrupting an official function, but has seemingly been allowed to return to Britain after less than five months.

The 20-year-old was due to fly back to London on a Delta Airlines flight that landed at Heathrow shortly after 11am on Thursday morning.

Recommended British man who tried to shoot Trump pleads guilty on lesser charges

It is understood he was due to be met by his parents at the airport. It is unclear if he will serve the remainder of his sentence in the UK.

Sandford, who has autism, attended a Donald Trump rally in Las Vegas in June 2016 and attempted to grab hold of an police officers gun.

After being arrested, he told investigators he had been trying to shoot the now US President.

US officials had not announced Sandford was being released.

A Home Office spokesperson said they could not comment on individual cases.

During a hearing last September, a court heard that Sandford entered the US illegally and drove from San Bernardino, California, to the Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas to kill Mr Trump.

Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Show all 33 1 /33 Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first 100 days in office were marred by a string of scandals, many of which caught the eye of the Independent's cartoonists Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Trump's first 100 days have seen him aggressively ramp up tensions with his nuclear rivals in North Korea Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has warned of a "major, major conflict" with the pariah nation lead by Kim Jong Un Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump dropped the "mother of all bombs" on alleged ISIS-linked militants in Afghanistan, amid an escalation of US military intervention around the globe Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has been accused of falling short of the standards set by his predecessors in the Oval Office, including Franklin D Roosevelt Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The tycoon's ascension to the White House came at a time when the balance of power is shifting away from Western nations like those in the G7 group Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Western politicians, including the British Conservative party, have been accused of falling in line behind Mr Trump's proposals Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Brexit is seen to have weakened Britain, reducing still further any political will to resist American leadership Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump's leadership has been marked by sudden and unexpected shifts in global policy Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Trump's controversial missile strike on Syria, which killed several citizens, was seen by some analysts as an attempt to distract from his policy elsewhere Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The President has also spent a large majority of his weekends golfing, rather than attending to matters of state Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Though free of gaffes, a visit from Chinese president Xi Jinping spotlighted trade tensions between the two states Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons One major and unexpected setback came when Mr Trump's Healthcare Bill was struck down by members of his own party Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has been a figure of fun in the media, with his approval at record lows Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons A string of revelations about Mr Trump's financial indiscretions did not mar his surge to the White House Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Outgoing President Barack Obama was accused of wiretapping Trump Tower by his successor in America's highest office Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The alleged involvement of Russian intelligence operatives in securing Mr Trump the presidency prompted harsh criticism Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The explosive resignation of Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who lied about his links to the Russian ambassador, was just one scandal to hit the President Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Many scandals, such as the accusation Barack Obama was implicated in phone-hacking, first broke on Mr Trump's Twitter feed Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's election provoked mass protests in the UK, with millions signing a petition to ban him from the country Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump cited a non-existent terror attack in Sweden during a campaign rally Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump stands accused of stoking regional tensions in Eastern Asia Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons North Korea has launched a number of failed nuclear tests since Mr Trump took power Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Theresa May formally rejected the petition calling for Mr Trump to be banned from the UK Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons When Mr Trump's initial so-called Muslim ban was struck down by a federal justice, the President mocked the 69-year-old as a "ridiculous", "so-called judge" Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons A week after his inauguration, Theresa May met with Mr Trump at the White House Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first days in office were marked by a hasty attempt to follow through on many of his campaign promises, including the so-called Muslim ban Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's decision to ban citizens of many majority-Muslim countries from the US sparked mass protests Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Revelations about Donald Trump's sexual improprieties were not enough to keep him from being elected President Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons British PM Theresa May was criticised by many in the press for cosying up to the new President Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons One of Mr Trump's top aides, Kelly Anne Conway, was mocked for describing mistruths as "alternative facts" Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons British PM Theresa May was quick to demonstrate that her political aims did not hugely differ from Mr Trump's Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's inauguration, on 20 January 2017, sparked protests both at home and abroad

Sandford allegedly took shooting lessons in the city the day before the rally. His lawyers said he suffered from mental illness and was in the middle of a psychotic episode at the time of the incident.

During the trial, Judge James Mahan told Sandford: You should not be ashamed or embarrassed about it. You need medication.

Youre not a hardened criminal. Youre not evil or a sociopath like a lot of people we have.

Sandfords mother, Lynne, made an emotional appeal on behalf of her son while he was in custody.

He means everything to me, she said. He made a very bad mistake, a huge error of judgement. It breaks my heart to see him in this environment.

Ms Sandford said her son was a good person at heart but needed psychiatric help. He was very remorseful for what he did, she added.
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The Sun newspaper mistakenly published a story suggesting Prince Philip had died.

The title, owned by Rupert Murdochs News UK, posted a story online with the headline: Prince Philip dead at 95, how did the Duke of Edinburgh die, etc etc.

The story read: "Prince Philip, otherwise known as the Duke of Edinburgh, was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II."

 Prince Philip to stand down from public engagements this year

"He was married to Queen Elizabeth II. The pair had four children together - Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward."

French media also mistakenly published stories wrongly suggesting the Duke of Edinburgh had died.

The article was deleted within minutes of publication, but continued to appear in searches on Google.

Google search results show the article is still available (Screenshot)

It was published after the Queen called an emergency meeting at Buckingham Palace to announce Prince Philip would step down from royal duties.

The Palace said it was Prince Philip's decision taken with the support of the Queen.

A statement released on Thursday read: "Prince Philip will attend previously scheduled engagements between now and August, both individually and accompanying The Queen.

"Thereafter, The Duke will not be accepting new invitations for visits and engagements, although he may still choose to attend certain public events from time to time."

The news of the meeting had originally sparked rumours that either the Queen or her husband had been taken ill, despite a spokesperson confirming the meeting was no cause for alarm ahead of the announcement.

 The Queen in numbers

The whole Royal household was summoned to the meeting, including servants from royal residences cross the country, held at 10am by the Lord Chamberlain, the most senior officer of the Royal Household.

The Independent has contacted The Sun for comment.
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Even Jeremy Corbyn, the Republican Traitor Who Must Never Be Prime Minister, who once refused to wear a tie, or kneel, or bow and scrape before Her Majesty or to kiss her gracious Queenly hand - (or something) - felt moved to offer his humble respects.

I would like to pay tribute to Prince Philip following his decision to retire from public life, said the lifelong republican who may or may not have been influenced by the forthcoming election. He has dedicated his life to supporting the Queen and our country with a clear sense of public duty.

And maybe that is indeed what some people will immediately think of when they reflect upon the Duke of Edinburghs contribution to public life.

Recommended 95 Prince Philip gaffes in 95 years

Others, of slightly less exemplary royalist integrity, while briefly alighting on something to do with loyal consort to Her Majesty and all that, will swiftly move on to remembering that Phil was the bloke who suggested a dodgy fuse box must have been put in by an Indian.

And whose corking one liners have included telling a British student in China: If you stay here much longer, you will go home with slitty eyes; and asking another British student, who had trekked through Papua New Guinea: You managed not to get eaten then?

This 95-year-olds great contributions to diplomacy have included calling Beijing ghastly  in 1986, on the same trip as he made the slitty eyes joke-before calling Stoke-on-Trent ghastly in 1997, and asking a Scottish driving instructor in 1995: How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?

He has charmed a female fashion writer at a World Wildlife Fund event by asking: You're not wearing mink knickers, are you? and told a 13-year-old dreaming of space exploration: You're too fat to be an astronaut.

The rational mind struggles to disagree with Graham Smith, chief executive of the anti-monarchist campaign group Republic, who tells you: He's a pretty awful man, who has been on the make and saying pretty awful things, reflecting the racist attitudes of the 1950s upper class, for decades.

He should have been challenged and told to shut up a long time ago.

The working class had Alf Garnett; the Royal Family have Prince Philip (Getty) (Getty Images)

And yet at some point  maybe somewhere between him telling a group of industrialists I have never been noticeably reticent on subjects about which I know nothing, in 1961, and pointedly telling The Independents editor-in-chief you didnt have to come to a press reception in 2002  you give up.

You find yourself almost powerless to resist in the face of a man so heroically out of touch with the problems of the modern world, that in 1981  with Britain in the grip of recession and unemployment on the way to rising above three million  he could muse: A few years ago, everybody was saying we must have more leisure, everyone's working too much. Now everybody's got more leisure time they are complaining they are unemployed. People don't seem to make up their minds what they want.

The working class had Alf Garnett; the Royal Family came up with Prince Philip  a man whom some took entirely seriously, but who brought many others the gift of laughter, albeit that they were often laughing at him, not with him.

 Prince Philip: 10 memorable quotes from the Duke of Edinburgh

As he recedes gracefully, but probably grumpily from public life, we are left to wonder whether we will ever see his like again.

With Prince Charles managing only the occasional peep about monstrous carbuncles, and even Prince Harry showing signs of maturity and settling down with that American actress companion of his, who now will provide the vital frisson of excitement at otherwise tedious ribbon-cutting events?

Who now will make Palace press officers nervous, and have Royal reporters following closely to see whether they ask the assembled youth club members: Who's on drugs here?... HE looks as if he's on drugs.

It may be extraordinary that the Dukes public career survived the invention of Twitter 11 long years ago, but survive it did.

And now he bows out, maybe not quite as a national treasure, but certainly as a national guilty pleasure.

In vain does Mr Smith protest: These so-called gaffes are racist, sexist and plain insulting. Had he been an elected politician, he would have been thrown out decades ago. The fact that he has been saying these things and getting away with it for so long points to the fact that our Royal Family is completely unaccountable.

When an MP is alleged to have called a police officer a pleb, all hell breaks loose.

The existence of a double standard does seem pretty undeniable. In a world where ambitious Tory MP David Cameron felt he had to give up pheasant shooting when elected Conservative Party leader in 2005, Prince Philip can keep blasting away merrily.

(Although no longer with complete abandon. He doesnt shoot tigers any more. He makes do with the memories of that 8ft beauty he bagged in Ranthambhore, India, in 1961  the year he became president of the British National Appeal, the first national organisation of the World Wildlife Fund.)

And its not just shooting. He has been enjoying the rather upper crust sport of carriage driving for 46 years, ever since giving up polo.

An elected MP would be teased mercilessly. But with Philip, the feeling seems to be, let the man enjoy sporting pleasures in the company of young friends like Lady Penny Brabourne, 30 years his junior and his carriage driving companion of many years.

Indeed, some marvel at how he manages to fit it all in.

Despite his busy schedule, the Duke has enjoyed his hobby of carriage driving (Getty) (Getty Images)

On one occasion in 2000, for example, the then 79-year-old Duke had to attend an engagement at Lowther in Carlisle on a Wednesday, open a new pavilion for the Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes on the Thursday, and attend the Queen Mother's 100th birthday lunch on the Friday.

He did it all, even if he needed a helicopter to get to Cowes, where he is Admiral of the Royal Yacht Squadron. (A man of many sports, the Duke is also keen on sailing. As well as  one assumes  a few toasters, his wedding presents included a 29ft yacht.)

Mr Smith lets the wedding presents thing pass, but attempts some republican insubordination over the idea that Prince Philip has been tireless in his performance of his public duties.

Its the big public engagement con, he insists. People say he does 250 engagements a year, but most of them last about an hour. So that equates to about 35 working days a year when he has actually done something.

The Duke received a yearly Parliamentary annuity of 359,000 to meet the expenses of carrying out his duties, but Mr Smith says that Republics research suggests that once numerous royal perks like free travel have been accounted for, Prince Philip really costs the taxpayer at least 19m.

Let's all stop the toadying, he argues. He's never done a day's work in his life ... Public service? What public service? What he did wasn't really public service unless you count spending the public's money as public service.

Hes essentially been living a life of luxury since he left the Navy.

His time in the Navy, it probably should be said, did coincide with the Second World War, during which he was mentioned in dispatches.

But the 26-year-olds marriage to 21-year-old Princess Elizabeth may well have helped ease his money problems somewhat.

Some Royal watchers say Prince Philip had been left penniless by his father, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, who spent the last part of his life in Monte Carlo  which, for a man known to have taken solace in gambling, was probably rather too handy for the casino.

 Prince Philip jokes he can 'barely stand up'

There were doubts about Philip too, at the beginning.

King George VI's private secretary, Sir Alan Lascelles, noted that some Buckingham Palace courtiers considered that he was rough, uneducated and would probably not be faithful.

Subsequent remarks by the Duke of Edinburgh may rather suggest they got the rough, uneducated bit right.

But unfaithful? All those rumours about showgirls, peeresses, and just about any wholesome household name you and the man in the saloon bar can think of are very likely just that: rumour. Even the one about a night of gay passion with notoriously randy ex-French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing.

And those 24 love children he supposedly fathered? All just an unfortunate misunderstanding. As the foreign newspaper that reported their existence acknowledged after it was pointed out that they had mistranslated information that the Duke had 24 godchildren.

So let us ignore the innuendo, the nudge, nudge wink, wink hints that one sometimes reads between the lines of certain news reports. And let us instead perhaps take the sage advice of the Duke himself, offered to a female journalist who dared ask about the infidelity rumours.

Good God, woman, he chuntered. Have you ever stopped to think that for years, I have never moved anywhere without a policeman accompanying me? So how the hell could I get away with anything like that?

No, the truth is, that he has by all accounts remained true to Her Majesty, the Queen who after nearly 70 years of marriage, he still  according to one Royal biographer  addresses as cabbage. Or bloody fool, depending on the mood, on isolated occasions over the years, according to other reports.

She, of course, adores the man who at their Golden Wedding anniversary in 1997, she described as my strength and stay all these years.

She admires him for many things, one courtier was reported as saying, But mainly I think for the way he has managed to remain himself  the same man she married.

And so say all of us. Because it leaves us with hope, as offered, strangely enough, by Mr Smith of Republic.

He will still carry on going to places like Ascot, said Mr Smith, So I am sure he will still have opportunities to be rude to people.
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Some EU citizens applying to stay permanently in Britain after Brexit will be left in limbo for a decade because the system is broken, a damning report warns today.

It will take around 11 years to process millions of expected residency requests from worried EU nationals at the Home Offices current workrate, it reveals. Just 135,000 decisions were made last year.

The Government is urged to introduce a streamlined process without delay to ease the plight of people who  Brexit Secretary David Davis has admitted  are suffering anxiety.

The call comes from the respected Institute for Government (IfG), which has also warned that Theresa Mays hopes of an early end to free movement of EU citizens will be dashed.

A new immigration system cannot be ready for several years, forcing the Government to keep the current rules to avoid what business leaders fear will be a bureaucratic nightmare.

Any delay is potentially embarrassing for the Prime Minister, who has made regaining control of our borders her red line in the Brexit negotiations about to begin.

But the IfG, in a detailed study, has warned it is unfeasible to create a new immigration system by the time Britain leaves the EU by April 2019, despite Tory promises of an early Bill.

It warns against the disruption to employers from making temporary changes, adding: That means free movement will have to continue post-Brexit until the new regime is ready to go live.

Crucially, the report also says the new Government must clarify the rights and entitlements of EU nationals living in the UK and provide them with documentation.

It points out that 2m of the 3m EU nationals in the UK can already apply for residency  having lived here for five years  with many of the remaining 1m qualifying by 2019.

Around 55,000 work in the NHS  a number that is growing. In 2015-16, EU migrants made up 32 per cent of badly-needed new nurses and midwives.

The IfG noted: To process all EU nationals currently eligible for permanent residence by March 2019, the Home Office would need to make roughly 3,600 decisions per day; it is currently making about 650 decisions per day.

The calculation implies that, on current trends, it will take around 11 years to process the claims  with just two years to go until Britain is due to leave the EU.

It was seized on by Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron who said ministers had shamelessly continued to bury their heads in the sand.

Millions of EU citizens who have made their homes in the UK now find themselves having to apply for permanent residency, and the Home Office simply cannot keep up.

The process must be urgently simplified or expedited for these people to have any hope of having their applications through by 2019.

And Dutch MEP Sophie in t Veld said the EU was determined, in the Brexit talks, to ensure Britain did not penalise innocent people who settled down in the UK in good faith and are contributing to British society.

Brexiteers clearly stated during the referendum campaign that the acquired rights of EU citizens in the UK would be protected by international law  this was a total fabrication, she said.

We will seek guarantees to ensure EU nationals in the UK are issued with residence documents under a simple and swift procedure, before discussions on a future trade agreement can be opened.

The IfG said an army of 5,000 extra Home Office staff would be required to process applications under the current tortuous system, on top of 140 already recruited.

The current process for dealing with permanent residence applications from EU nationals is not fit for purpose, said Jill Rutter, the IfG Brexit programme director.

Britain has refused to grant the 3m EU nationals in the UK the right to remain and work after Brexit until the 1.1m British ex-pats in the EU are given the same guarantee.

Ms May then 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 ex-pats rights.

Meanwhile, the Home Office has been fiercely criticised for the huge bureaucracy involved in applying for permanent residence, 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 Institute of Directors backed the call for free movement to continue for a few years, to multiple changes in the rules.

Recommended European Parliament to block Brexit deal unless EU citizens can stay

That would create a bureaucratic nightmare for recruiters, especially smaller firms, said Seamus Nevin, its head of employment and skills policy.

The IfG also warned of the danger of the next Government copying the immigration system for non-EU migration, which shuts out lower-skilled workers.

That would rule out over 50 per cent of the UKs current physiotherapists, midwives, lab technicians, farmers, butchers, mechanics, plumbers and carpenters.
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The Chancellor has opened up a new front in the Brexit war with Brussels by warning Britain will fight a swoop on a lucrative trade in the City of London.

Philip Hammond claimed a plan to curb Londons dominance in clearing euro-denominated transactions risked economic growth and stability across the entire continent.

London is the worlds number one financial centre with high standards of financial supervision, including longstanding cooperation with EU institutions, he said.

This benefits the entire continent. We trust everyone in the negotiations will see the value in not undermining that.

The EUs proposals  in documents seen by The Independent yesterday  are widely seen as an attempt to force UK clearing houses to move across the Channel or submit to regulation from Brussels.

If successfully, they would deal a sharp blow to the Citys status as a global financial hub, as Brexit gets underway.

Mr Hammonds warning comes just one day after Theresa Mays extraordinary attack on the EU for attempting to alter the course of the general election on June 8.

Meanwhile, in what will be seen as a further provocation, it emerged that Brussels will demand the UK must pay for the cost of the negotiations, including travel bills.

The formal Brexit talks should be conducted in rigorous four-week cycles, in Brussels, with progress published once a month, according to proposals seen by the politico.eu website.

The draft Commission document, published today, calls for beefed-up supervision of clearing houses, with legislation expected to follow next month.

At much as 75 per cent of euro-dominated derivatives are cleared in the UK, mainly at the LCH clearing house, worth hundreds of billions of pounds a day.

The EU fears its regulators, after Brexit, will not have the same ability to step in and calm markets, either through increased supervision or extra funding.

A previous attempt to force big clearing houses to relocate to the continent was thrown out for being contrary to the rules of the single market  which Britain now plans to leave.

In a statement in response, Mr Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer said: We approach the Brexit negotiations with a spirit of goodwill and we will consider any EU proposal before we leave on its merits.

But we should be careful of any proposals which might disrupt growth, raise the cost of investment in Europe and the UK or weaken financial stability.

Clearing houses are positioned between the two parties involved in a financial transaction and effectively safeguard completion of a deal even if one side goes bust.

The Chancellor spoke out after the European Commission rejected the Prime Ministers claim that Brussels officials are trying to influence the result of the election.

This election in the United Kingdom is mainly about Brexit. But we here in Brussels, we are very busy, rather busy, with our policy work, a spokesman said.

We have too much to do on our plate. So, in a nutshell, we are very busy. And we will not Brexitise our work.
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The President of the EUs ruling Council has intervened to calm Brexit tensions 24 hours after Theresa May launched a vicious attack on Brussels bureaucrats on the steps of No 10.

Donald Tusk warned that talks would become impossible if emotions got out of hand between the UK and EU and called for mutual respect between the negotiating parties.

The call for calm comes after Theresa May accused the EUs bureaucracy of trying to influence the result of Britians general election by maliciously leaking the content of discussions to the media. In an aggressive speech on Wenesday she tore into officials, warning that her government would not let the bureaucrats of Brussels run over us.

Recommended Theresa May accuses EU of trying to influence UK election

The European Commission this morning reacted indignantly to Ms Mays conspiracy theory, with a spokesperson telling reporters that the organisation was rather busy and preoccupied with more important matters than trying to fix the poll.

But Mr Tusk, a Polish national who represents the EU states heads of government in Brussels, said on Thursday afternoon: Brexit talks [are] difficult enough. If emotions get out of hand, they'll become impossible. Discretion, moderation and mutual respect needed.

At stake are the daily lives and interests of millions of people on both sides of the Channel.

The call for calm contrasts with that of a Commission spokesperson earlier today, who said: We are not naive, we know that there is an election taking place in the United Kingdom. People get excited whenever we have elections.

This election in the United Kingdom is mainly about Brexit. But we here in Brussels, we are very busy, rather busy, with our policy work.

We have too much to do on our plate. So, in a nutshell, we are very busy. And we will not Brexitise our work.

To put it in the words of an EU diplomat, the 30-minute slot that we are going to devote to Brexit per week, for this week it's up.

Ms Mays intervention was prompted by the leaking of the discussions with Jean Claude Juncker, the Commissions President. The leaks, to the German-language press, characterised her as having a weak grasp on Brexit negotiations.

In apparent response Ms May gave a speech in which she claimed that Britains negotiating position in Europe had been misrepresented in the continental press.

Theresa May rounded on her negotiating opposite numbers (PA)

She continued: "Threats against Britain have been issued by European politicians and officials. All of these acts have been deliberately timed to affect the result of the general election that will take place on 8 June."

The events of the last few days have shown that whatever our wishes and however reasonable the positions of Europe's other leaders, there are some in Brussels who do not want these talks to succeed, who do not want Britain to prosper."

Brexit racism and the fightback Show all 9 1 /9 Brexit racism and the fightback Brexit racism and the fightback Demonstrators protest against an increase in post-ref racism at London's March for Europe in July 2016 PA Brexit racism and the fightback These cards were found near a school in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, the day after the EU referendum Twitter/@howgilb Brexit racism and the fightback Getty Brexit racism and the fightback Romford, Essex, June 25 @diamondgeezer Brexit racism and the fightback A worker at this Romanian food shop was asleep upstairs at the time of this arson attack in Norwich on July 8, but escaped unharmed. Hundreds later participated in a love bombing rally outside the shop to express their opposition to racism and their support of the shop owners. JustGiving/Helen Linehan Brexit racism and the fightback This neo-Nazi sticker was spotted in Glasgow on June 26 Courtesy of Eoin Palmer Brexit racism and the fightback But after news emerged of neo-Nazi stickers appearing in Glasgow, some in the city struck back with slogans of their own. Courtesy of Eoin Palmer Brexit racism and the fightback Getty Brexit racism and the fightback More signs began to appear in some parts of the UK, created by people who wanted to show their opposition to post-referendum racism Courtesy of Bernadette Russell

The Prime Minister took no questions after her speech to clarify her comments, which were widely through to relate to the Commission.

The comments are expected to play well with Ukip voters, who have flocked to the Tories since Ms May called a general election and demanded national unity.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused the Prime Minister of playing party games with Brexit in the hope of winning advantage for the Tories, while Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon accused Ms May of seeking to "poison the atmosphere for partisan reasons" and described the attack as "deeply irresponsible".
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Several local newspapers featured Conservative adverts on their front pages as their readers went to vote in local elections.

The wraparound advert calls for voters to support Theresa May at the forthcoming general election on 8 June.

It appeared on the front of weekly titles such as the Mansfield Chad, Bury Times and Stockport Express.

The advert coincides with the local elections, with readers going to the polls for council and mayoral elections.

Helen Pidd, the North of England editor for The Guardian, noted the Bury Times advert was released on the day readers will vote for the first mayor of Greater Manchester.

"Bit rum, no?" she asked on Twitter.

Others replied to her tweet to say their local papers had done the same, mentioning The Darlington, Aycliffe and Sedgefield Advertiser, The Lancashire Telegraph, The Chorley Citizen and The Westmorland Gazette.

"A good day to Bury bad news," one Twitter user joked.

Jim Watson, political editor at Buzzfeed News, noted the front page advert does not mention the Conservatives.

The back page of the wrap advert encourages readers to back Ms May and vote "for [her] Conservative candidate in your local area."

The Electoral Commission tweeted to confirm campaigners can campaign on polling day, as long as it did not take place inside a polling station. There is also no ban on political advertising.

The Independent has contacted the Trinity Mirror, Johnston Press and Newsquest Media Group for comment.
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Labour's hopes of preventing a Tory landslide in next month's general election have suffered a demoralising blow after a day of losses in local elections.

In a bad result for Jeremy Corbyn's party has lost more than 380 council seats. Meanwhile, the Conservatives won several metro-mayor contests incluing West Midlands and the West of England.

Theresa May's party also gained control of 11 more councils on an encouraging night for the Prime Minister.

Paul Nuttall's Ukip only managing to hold onto a single seat.

You can follow all the action as it happened in our blog below.

Please wait while the liveblog loads...

What elections have taken place?

The local elections on Thursday took place in 88 councils - England saw 2,370 seats contested in 27 county councils, six unitary authorities, one metropolitan authority and two mayoralties. All of the councils in Scotland and Wales were up for election. Some of the results were declared in the early hours of 5 May but the vast majority were announced during the day.

A by-election in Manchester Gorton, triggered by the death of Labour MP Gerald Kaufman, was also due to take place but has now been delayed until the day of the general election.

Will it be a wipe out for Labour? What will the results tell us about the general election?

While the results on Friday will not be a direct read-across for the Westminster elections in five weeks time, they will provide a crucial indicator as to whether Ms Mays Conservatives are gaining traction in the three regions where the local elections are taking place.

One analysis by Robert Hayward, a Tory peer and pollster, suggests that Labour could lose around 125 council seats across the UK as he predicted the worst local election results for an opposition party since 1985  excluding the years when there was also a general election.

Speaking to The Independent, John Curtice, a professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde, who is considered one of the countrys top polling experts, said he was expecting Labour to lose seats in Scotland, Wales and parts of England. Theyre losing ground everywhere, he said.

He said the results will provide answers to how far the Conservatives have advanced. Is it on the kind of scale you might expect from the opinion polls or not? he said.

How far do they advance in Scotland? Is the SNP slipping, if so, by how much?

They will give us further information, further to that of opinion polls, as to where the parties stand at the beginning of the campaign. They wont necessarily tell you where well end up at the end of the campaign. They will provide us with an indication as to whether or not Theresa May has made a good bet or not.

They should be making really big gains if theyre doing as well as the opinion polls suggest, he added. There should be a very substantial movement in their direction.
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A Facebook campaign has been launched to support an independent anti-Brexit candidate to stand in a pro-Leave constituency in Northumberland.

Steven Ford took out a full page advert in local paper, the Hexham Courant, last week, saying he would stand as an independent candidate if he can get 10,000 expressions of support on the Facebook page by 9 May.

It said the Tories plan to deliver a Hard Brexit at any cost to the UK", the Lib Dems "prefer a Soft Brexit, while neither Labour nor the Greens are willing to challenge the referendum result.

This is not strictly true as the Liberal Democrats and the Greens have put the promise of a second referendum in their manifesto.

The advert continued: If more than ten thousand Hexham constituency voters register their interest before 9th May then an independent candidate campaigning to stop Brexit will stand in Hexham.

Dont let a catfight in the Conservative party ruin Britain."

But the campaign is at odds with a constituency that voted overwhelmingly to leave the EU, alongside much of the North East, except Newcastle.

The Leave vote won by a landslide in South Tyneside, by 49,065 votes to 30,014 for Remain, on a turnout of 79 per cent.

If he gains the required support, he will be running against Guy Opperman, a Conservative MP who campaigned for Remain during the referendum campaign.

Following the result Mr Opperman called for the region to move on from the vote and the divisions it caused.

He later became one of the 498 MPs who voted in favour of the bill triggering Article 50 when it passed through Parliament in February.

Dr Ford, a retired GP, first stood for Parliament in the same seat in 2010 having become disillusioned with political meddling in the NHS and won 4.5 per cent of the vote, narrowly losing his deposit.

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

But this latest endeavour may backfire as an independent candidate is unlikely to unseat an MP with a majority of over 12,000.

Some have criticised the campaign on Facebook, saying it draws support from mainstream parties which have a chance of winning.

Bill Day said: Just adding another candidate will only dilute the vote and get nowhere in shifting negotiations.

Voting Lib Dem has the chance to get an MP who could oppose a silly Brexit, even to the point of reversing it.

People shouldn't be subverted by this last minute exercise which will only play into Conservative hands

Caroline Ludlow said the campaign was unlikely to get much traction, so the only thing they are likely to achieve its self-promotion and a split in the anti-Brexit vote".

If they don't like other parties' stances why not talk to them, identify the most anti-Brexit candidate and get a commitment from them to fight Brexit all the way, even if that means defying the party whip, she added.
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Nigel Farage has endorsed far-right politician Marine Le Pen to win the French presidential election, arguing that her victory would be good for the UK.

The former Ukip leader said the politicians election would hasten the disintegration of the European Union and that she was enthusiastic about a trade deal with the UK.

Ms Le Pen went into the first round as the National Fronts candidate but has since quit the party in a bid to detoxify her own brand. She has campaigned on cracking down against religious minorities and espouses nationalism and trade protectionism.

From a UK perspective, as we enter tough negotiations, what is best for our country? Mr Farage wrote in an article for the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

I have no doubt that a Le Pen victory would give the EU an even bigger headache than the UK voting for Brexit, which is why the European Commission is openly backing Macron.

She wants a positive relationship with Britain and was enthusiastic about a bilateral trade deal in the future. She is being grown-up on the issue of trade post-Brexit.

Mr Farage also predicted that if Ms Le Pen did not win in 2017 she would win the next French presidential election in 2022.

The Ukip MEP, who still leads his partys group in the European Parliament, added: Her victory would take much of the pressure off our negotiations. She will put France first and take her country out of the euro, which has damaged their competitiveness.

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

A Le Pen victory would be the beginning of the end for this failed project.

Mr Farage attracted criticism for his endorsement. Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesperson Tom Brake said the politicians mask is slipping, revealing a more sinister face than before.

The Ukip politician previously shied away from allying with the National Front in the European Parliament but interviewed Ms Le Pen on his LBC radio programme in March.
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Labour looks set to back changing Britains voting system to proportional representation (PR) after a key shadow Cabinet ally of Jeremy Corbyn publicly endorsed the policy.

Frontbencher Cat Smith, who is responsible for her partys policy on elections reform, put her name to a new report endorsing PR as a system used by the kind of social democracies that we in the Labour Party want to create.

The document also included a poll revealing more than three-quarters of Labour voters would back a promise to bring in PR  which has also been endorsed by shadow Chancellor John McDonnell.

Recommended Shadow chancellor John McDonnell calls on Labour to back PR

The latest endorsement comes just days before the party is due to unveil its election manifesto and spell out its policies, though aides to leader Mr Corbyn have refused to confirm or deny support for PR, saying only: Our policies will be laid out in the manifesto.

Staunch Corbynite Ms Smith co-wrote the foreword to the report published by the Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform and Make Votes Matter in which she states that PR is a prerequisite of a properly-functioning democracy.

The manifestos content will be officially decided by the partys Clause V committee over the next week and announced on 15 May. The committee is a meeting of the Shadow Cabinet, the parliamentary committee of the Parliamentary Labour Party and the chair and three vice chairs of the National Policy Forum.

The foreword signed by Ms Smith, the shadow elections minister, reads: It is no exaggeration to say that in the 21st Century, proportional representation is a prerequisite of a properly-functioning democracy in which power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many, not the few.

It once again falls to the Labour Party to play a crucial role in transforming the terms on which democracy is conducted by supporting this historic change. In doing so, Labour will find an electorate re-enfranchised.

It will find activists and members across the country re-empowered to organise and use political power to shape a good society. We will find ourselves welcomed by allies, thanked by voters, and lauded by history.

Other frontbenchers who have publicly backed PR include Richard Burden and Jonathan Reynolds. Former frontbenchers Chuka Umunna and Clive Lewis have also been outspoken on the issue, as has prominent backbencher Stephen Kinnock. Mr Corbyn himself has said he believes that reform of the electoral system should be considered as part of a wider constitutional convention, but has so far shied away from explicitly backing PR.

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has already publicly backed PR (AFP)

Labour last backed PR in 1997 when it pledged in its manifesto to set up an independent commission on voting systems to recommend a proportional alternative to the first-past-the-post system.

The resulting Jenkins Commission recommended changing to the Alternative Vote Top-Up PR voting system but its report was ignored and never implemented after opposition from senior figures in the Labour government. In 2010, Labour said it supported changing the voting system to Alternative Vote (AV), which is not proportional representation.

The Liberal Democrats, Green Party and Ukip have long supported PR, while views on the subject have traditionally been split within Labour. As one of the main two parties, Labour has generally benefited from FPTP, though opinion appears to have drifted in favour in recent years, with activists queuing around the block to hear about electoral reform at the partys most recent conference.

Cat Smith co-wrote the foreword to a report that said PR is a prerequisite of a properly-functioning democracy (BBC)

If Labour does back PR the policy could be key to attracting tactical voters from the Lib Dems and Greens  who see themselves as being locked out of the political system by the current FPTP system.

Political parties get wildly different numbers of seats under FPTP for the same number of votes; at the last election Ukips 3.8 million votes won it just one seat, while the SNP won a seat for every 26,000 votes it took.

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

Proportional representation is the name for a family of different electoral systems that produce outcomes where seats won match up with the votes cast. The Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and London Assembly use the additional member system, which drafts in extra MPs to make the overall result proportional. The Northern Ireland Assembly, meanwhile, uses the single transferrable vote system, which produces proportional results by using multi-member constituencies and preference voting.

The UK held a referendum on switching from FPTP to AV in 2011. AV, which is not a proportional voting system, was rejected by voters.
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The Russian Embassy has taken to social media to mock Theresa May over her claims the EU is interfering with the UK election.

Ms May made the astonishing claims during a speech outside Downing Street and the Russian embassy opted to respond on Twitter.

The embassy posted an image of a headline referring to the speech and the caption Praise God its not Russia this time".

The message alluded to accusations that Russia had interfered with both the Brexit referendum in the UK and the US presidential election.

Speaking outside Downing Street, Ms May also tore into some EU leaders and officials and said Britain would not allow the "bureaucrats of Brussels to run over us".

"Britains negotiating position in Europe has been misrepresented in the continental press, the European Commissions negotiating stance has hardened," she said.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. 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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. 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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. 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The Prime Minister took no questions after her speech, which came after the German press gave an account of a meeting between Ms May and Jean Claude Juncker that portrayed the Prime Minister in an unfavourable light.

The European Commission has rejected Ms Mays claim and a spokesperson for the Commission said it was "rather busy" and had other issues on its plate.
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A leading Conservative think tank has urged Theresa May to drop the Governments target to reduce net migration when the party issues its general election manifesto.

Bright Blue, a group of modernisers who describe themselves as liberal conservatives, has attacked the goal of bringing net migration below 100,000 a year as arbitrary, indiscriminate and unachievable".

The groups advisory board includes Damian Green, the Work and Pensions Secretary and former immigration minister; George Freeman, who chairs Ms Mays No 10 policy board; and the former ministers Nicky Morgan, Maria Miller, Nick Boles and Lord (David) Willetts.

It is backed by a total of 140 Tory MPs and peers but insists that not all of its members support its policy proposals.

One senior Tory source said: A lot of people, including ministers, are saying the manifesto is an opportunity to replace the target with a promise to ensure a sustainable level of net migration. But the person at the top wants to keep it.

Further doubts about the target have been raised by Steve Hilton, who was David Camerons director of strategy in Downing Street.

He admitted Mr Cameron set Ms May an almost impossible task of hitting the target when he appointed her Home Secretary in 2010.

He told Bright Blues magazine: That's why she was always looking for ways to restrict immigration, however beneficial the immigration might have actually been in the long term, for example in relation to entrepreneurs.

He said he did not agree with Ms Mays current approach to migration, arguing that it should be based on a notion of quality, not quantity.

A further sign that Ms May is under pressure from her own party on the issue came in a survey of 1,300 Tory members by the ConservativeHome website.

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. 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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. 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It found that 60 per cent want foreign students taken out of the immigration figures, while 34 per cent said they should remain in the statistics.

James Dobson, researcher at the Bright Blue, told The Independent: The Prime Minister should abandon the arbitrary, indiscriminate and unachievable net migration target. The public of course still want migration to be controlled.

This could be better done by introducing new targets  both on gross numbers and the effectiveness of the visa process  for the main different types of migrants: workers, spouses, students, and refugees and asylum applicants.

If the PM is not prepared to do this, she should, at the very least, remove international students from contributing to the net migration target.

He said the target meant all immigrants were lumped together, even though the public had differing views on different groups of migrants. Bright Blues research found that the public, including a majority of Conservative voters, do not want to see a reduction in many types of migrants including doctors, skilled professional workers, and overseas students.

Mr Dobson added: International students bring enormous economic benefits, improve the UKs soft power, and enhance the university experience of UK students. As long as students remain part of the net migration target, which is based on the unreliable International Passenger Survey, the Government has a strong incentive to try and reduce their numbers.

The Independent and the Open Britain group are running a Drop the Target campaign aimed at persuading the Government to abandon its goal to bring annual net migration down to tens of thousands. It stood at 273,000 in the 12 months to last September, during which 134,000 foreign students came to the UK.

Ms May moved last month to dampen speculation that she would change tack after her cabinet ally Karen Bradley, the Culture Secretary, said immigration should be about attracting the brightest and best and not putting numbers on it.

The Prime Minister said: We want to see sustainable net migration in this country. I believe that sustainable net migration is in the tens of thousands. Leaving the European Union enables us to control our borders in relation to people coming from the EU, as well as those who are coming from outside.

Ms May also rebuffed calls from cabinet ministers and Tory backbenchers for overseas students to be removed from the immigration statistics. But they will be measured more accurately in future and Tories have vowed to campaign after the election for them to be taken out of the figures.

Ministers who have called for the students to be omitted include Philip Hammond, the Chancellor; Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary and Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary. But Ms May is said to believe the proposed change would look like fiddling the figures and to want to deny Ukip any space to mount a comeback at the general election.

Please sign our petition to call on the Government to Drop The Target:

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The European Commission has rejected Theresa May's claim that Brussels officials are trying to influence the result of Britain's general election.

Responding dimissively to the Prime Minister's suggestion a spokesperson for the Commission said it was "rather busy" and had other issues on its plate.

Ms May yesterday said outside Downing Street that "the bureaucrats of Brussels" had acted in a way that was "deliberately timed to affect the result of the general election that will take place on 8 June".

Recommended Theresa May accuses EU of trying to influence UK election

Responding to the conspiracy theory a Commission spokesperson said: "We are not naive, we know that there is an election taking place in the United Kingdom. People get excited whenever we have elections.

"This election in the United Kingdom is mainly about Brexit. But we here in Brussels, we are very busy, rather busy, with our policy work.

"We have too much to do on our plate. So, in a nutshell, we are very busy. And we will not Brexitise our work.

"To put it in the words of an EU diplomat, the 30-minute slot that we are going to devote to Brexit per week, for this week it's up."

In an aggressive and unusual speech outside Downing Street on Wednesday the Prime Minister tore into some EU leaders and officials.

"Britains negotiating position in Europe has been misrepresented in the continental press, the European Commissions negotiating stance has hardened," she said.

"Threats against Britain have been issued by European politicians and officials. All of these acts have been deliberately timed to affect the result of the general election that will take place on 8 June."

Ms May continued: "The events of the last few days have shown that whatever our wishes and however reasonable the positions of Europe's other leaders, there are some in Brussels who do not want these talks to succeed, who do not want Britain to prosper."

Brexit racism and the fightback Show all 9 1 /9 Brexit racism and the fightback Brexit racism and the fightback Demonstrators protest against an increase in post-ref racism at London's March for Europe in July 2016 PA Brexit racism and the fightback These cards were found near a school in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, the day after the EU referendum Twitter/@howgilb Brexit racism and the fightback Getty Brexit racism and the fightback Romford, Essex, June 25 @diamondgeezer Brexit racism and the fightback A worker at this Romanian food shop was asleep upstairs at the time of this arson attack in Norwich on July 8, but escaped unharmed. Hundreds later participated in a love bombing rally outside the shop to express their opposition to racism and their support of the shop owners. JustGiving/Helen Linehan Brexit racism and the fightback This neo-Nazi sticker was spotted in Glasgow on June 26 Courtesy of Eoin Palmer Brexit racism and the fightback But after news emerged of neo-Nazi stickers appearing in Glasgow, some in the city struck back with slogans of their own. Courtesy of Eoin Palmer Brexit racism and the fightback Getty Brexit racism and the fightback More signs began to appear in some parts of the UK, created by people who wanted to show their opposition to post-referendum racism Courtesy of Bernadette Russell

The Prime Minister took no questions after her speech to clarify her comments.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused the Prime Minister of "playing party games with Brexit in the hope of winning advantage for the Tories" while Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon accused Ms May of seeking to "poison the atmosphere for partisan reasons" and described the attack as "deeply irresponsible".
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"Already, Im informed by very well informed guys and girls who are working on the area, and in the area at the moment, that theres potentially up to a million migrants already, if not more in the pipeline coming up from Central Africa and the Horn of Africa."

Joseph Walker-Cousins, senior fellow at the Institute for Statecraft and former head of the British Embassy Office in Benghazi, speaking to the House of Lords EU External Affairs Sub-Committee on March 30, 2017.

Hard evidence on irregular migration in North Africa is a much sought after commodity; unfortunately, it is also highly unreliable. In its December 2016 assessment of the situation in Libya, the International Organisation for Migration estimated (IOM) that 425,000 internally displaced persons were resident in Libya and that hundreds of thousands were displaced into neighbouring countries.

Experienced researchers tend to be sceptical of official statistics on migrants for good reasons. North Africa is both a destination and a transit region for sub-Saharan migrants. It is also extremely difficult to count migrants because migration tends to be clandestine, with people moving through politically unstable regions.

Further problems with official reports and comments such as those by Joseph Walker-Cousins are that they tend to focus on Libya (and fail to look at the wider regional picture). Findings are based on indirect evidence  information from informants, detentions, returns, and arrivals in Europe  not primary research that employs sound methodologies, as fieldwork in Libya is not possible.

Unfortunately, the most likely and most effective barrier to migration  barring an effective policy response from other countries in the region  is death and detention. Thousands of migrants have died transiting the Sahara and tens of thousands are detained in North Africa.

While the IOM has been able to access some of the detention facilities in Libya, it has not reported on the number of people detained nor their legal status. While European development agencies are beginning to engage with trans-Saharan migration, very little hard data has emerged from their efforts other than an acknowledgement that conflict and drought in northern Nigeria, Mali, Sudan and the Horn of Africa is pushing people northwards across the Sahara.
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Barack and Michelle Obama have announced they are going to donate $2 million to the summer jobs programmes in Chicago.

The former President disclosed the hefty personal donation during a speech at South Shore Cultural Centre, saying the former first couple are keen to provide a wealth of opportunities to children in his hometown.

One of the things that well be starting this year is Michelle and I are personally going to donate $2 million to our summer jobs programs here in the community, he said.

[It's] so that right away young people can get to work and we can start providing opportunities to all of them.

Mr Obama also unveiled plans for a 200,000-square-foot campus on Chicagos South Side where he launched his political career.

It will also be home to the Obama Presidential Centre which will be used to train the next generation of leadership, the Michelle Robinsons of today and the Barack Obamas of today.

The centre will include a library, museum and a forum which will all be located next to a lagoon. Spokespeople for the foundation have said the project is likely to cost $500 million and should be finished in four years time.

Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Show all 15 1 /15 Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Joe Biden and Dr Jill Biden watch Barack Obama's farewell speech on 11 January. Obama called Biden his 'brother' Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years US President Barack Obama speaks alongside US Vice President Joe Biden about the Affordable Care Act AFP/Getty Images Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama Getty Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years President Obama listens to Joe Biden speak of his work on defeating cancer on 18 October in the White House Reuters Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years U.S. President Barack Obama is applauded by House Speaker Paul Ryan and Vice President Joe Biden while delivering his final State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in Washington Reuters Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years U.S. Vice President Joe Biden interjects as President Barack Obama delivers remarks at a reception for the 25th anniversary of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics at the White House in Washington REUTERS Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Obama and Vice President Joe Biden react after a heckler was removed for their extended interruption (Reuters) Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with Speaker of the House John Boehner (R) as Vice President Joe Biden looks on Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Barack and Michelle Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden observing a moment of silence outside the White House to mark the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks Getty Images Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Barack Obama and Joe Biden putt on the White House putting green Getty Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years President Barack Obama and Joe Biden in April 2013 AFP/Getty Images Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years January 1, 2013: U.S. President Barack Obama winks as he arrives with Vice President Joe Biden (L) in the briefing room Reuters Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and others receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House May 1, 2011 in Washington, DC Getty Images Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Vice-President Joe Biden, right, confirmed that the US was looking at ways of taking legal action against Julian Assange - back in December 2010 GETTY IMAGES Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Joe Biden, left, and retired military officers watch President Barack Obama sign orders to close down the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in January 2009 GETTY IMAGES

What we want this to be is the world's premier institution for training young people and leadership to make a difference in their communities, in their countries and in the world. That is our goal, he said at the design unveiling in Chicago.

More than a building or museum, the Obama Presidential Center will be a living, working centre for engagement - an ongoing project for the community and world to shape what it means to be an active citizen in the 21st century, the foundation added.

Recommended Katy Perry sparks outrage for Barack Obama black hair joke

Mr Obama and the former First Lady have kept a relatively low-profile since leaving the White House, enjoying some well-deserved time off in the British Virgin Isles, but are now slowly but surely returning to the public eye.

The former President took to the stage in Chicago for his first public appearance since Donald Trumps inauguration last week. There he 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.
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A team of bounty hunters who descended on the wrong car have been indicted on first-degree murder charges in the killing of an unarmed man and the wounding of another.

Police said seven bounty hunters shot at four people in a sedan outside a Wal-Mart in Clarksville, Tennessee, and chased them for seven miles.

None of the men in the sedan were wanted on outstanding charges.

In fact, the Clarksville bounty hunters were looking for someone else, and there is no indication that any of the victims fired at the defendants or were even armed, police spokesman Jim Knoll said.

Top row from left: William L Byles, Kenneth Chiasson, Antwon D Keesee and Jonathan Schnepp; bottom row from left: Roger D West, Prentice L Williams and Joshua Young (Clarksville Police Department)

Bail bondsmen are empowered to hire or act as bounty hunters to bring in people who violate the terms of jail bonds, but they can't use deadly force unless it's self-defence.

The family of 24-year-old Jalen Johnson, who was killed in the attack, called the father of three an innocent man who died in an act of terrorising violence.

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

Mr Johnson's uncle, Toni Jenkins, told The Associated Press his nephew and the three men in the car with him had no idea why people would suddenly block their car in the Wal-Mart car park.

Fearing an attack by gang members, they tried to flee.

The bounty hunters, Mr Jenkins said, started shooting in the car park and continued to fire on them during the chase, even ramming the Nissan along the way.

Clarksville police would not confirm or deny these details, but authorities have said they are troubled by how the bounty hunters put people at risk.

The Montgomery County grand jury charged all seven men with first-degree felony murder, three counts of attempted second-degree murder, three counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, attempted especially aggravated kidnapping, four counts of aggravated assault, employing a firearm in commission of a dangerous felony and felony reckless endangerment, police said.

Some of the men charged were bonding agents and others were strictly bounty hunters, Mr Knoll said.
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Chrissy Teigen has suggested the election of Donald Trump has had a detrimental effect on her mental health and her anxiety has been exacerbated by the actions of the Trump administration.

The model, who is arguably one of President Trumps most outspoken and cutting critics, said she has been living in fear of the world exploding in the wake of his tenure.

The 31-year-old said she was growing exhausted of the manically insane, incompetent President" and the "dumpster fire administration and was considering changing her meds.

Launching into a Twitter tirade about President Trump, she said: I'm going to have to go on another med. That is not a joke.

"I think I need to either up my dosage or talk to my doctor to see what works for me when the world explodes.

Teigen then explained she had resorted to having one of her teeth "shaved down" due to being overwhelmed with anxiety.

Today I had a tooth shaved down because crippling anxiety makes me grind and rock my teeth on one side. I blame trump," she said.

I also had Botox in my jaw muscle to relieve tension from constantly clinching. I was not like this before. Pay my bill, POS POTUS. Politics aside, I feel relief for the first time in many months. It really works.

The famous men and women who arent afraid to speak their mind Show all 10 1 /10 The famous men and women who arent afraid to speak their mind The famous men and women who arent afraid to speak their mind Leonardo DiCaprio On climate change: 'Climate change is real, it is happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating.' Getty The famous men and women who arent afraid to speak their mind Chrissy Teigen 'I will never stop talking about how horrible Donald Trump is. Even after he loses, I will set an alert to my phone to remind me to not stop. Getty The famous men and women who arent afraid to speak their mind Nicki Minaj On the war on drugs and US prison system: What it has become is not a war on drugs. It has become slavery. Or something crazier. When I see how many people are in jail, I feel like, Wait a minute. Our government is aware of these statistics and thinks its OK The sentences are inhumane. Christopher Polk/Getty Images for A+E Networks The famous men and women who arent afraid to speak their mind Emily Ratajkowski 'I am not shamed or apologetic of what my body might represent to you. Its the body I was given. I'm no less worthy of making political points about feminism or fighting for the reclaiming of female sexuality because of it.' Andrew Toth/Getty Images The famous men and women who arent afraid to speak their mind Jesse Williams On racial equality: Now what we've been doing is looking at the data and we know that police somehow manage to de-escalate, disarm and not kill white people every day. So what's going to happen is we are going to have equal rights and justice in our own country or we will restructure their function and ours. Getty The famous men and women who arent afraid to speak their mind Zendaya On claiming a magazine photoshopped her: Had a new shoot come out today and was shocked when I found my 19 year old hips and torso quite manipulated. These are the things that make women self conscious, that create the unrealistic ideals of beauty that we have. Getty The famous men and women who arent afraid to speak their mind Jennifer Lawrence Im over trying to find the "adorable" way to state my opinion and still be likable! F**k that. I don't think I've ever worked for a man in charge who spent time contemplating what angle he should use to have his voice heard. It's just heard.' AFP/Getty Images The famous men and women who arent afraid to speak their mind John Legend On Black Lives Matter: 'We should not have to jump through hoops to prove black people shouldnt be shot by police during routine traffic stops. So many people work so hard to find a reason why executing a human being during a traffic stop is ok. ITS NOT OK.' Getty The famous men and women who arent afraid to speak their mind Amandla Stenberg On cultural appropriation: 'What would America be like if we loved black people as much as we loved black culture?' Getty Images The famous men and women who arent afraid to speak their mind Maisie Williams On feminism: I [also] feel like we should stop calling feminists feminists and just start calling people who arent feminist sexist  and then everyone else is just human. You are either a normal person or a sexist. People get a label because theyre bad.' Chris Jackson/Getty Images

This is by no means the first time Teigen has vented her frustrations about President Trump. Both herself and husband John Legend have often taken aim at the billionaire property developer.

Last year, Teigen found herself embroiled in a Twitter spat with Mr Trump himself after she called out the reality TV star's twitter announcement he would be meeting a large group of African American Pastors but claiming it would not be a media opportunity.

Seemingly confused by his decision to publicly broadcast this to his millions of followers in spite of his assertion it wasnt a press event, Teigen responded: So dont tweet about it you tw*t.

Teigen started trolling Mr Trump far before he announced his presidential bid. In February she told USA Today. I've actually been a big Donald Trump hater for a long time. If you go back, I've been trolling him for about five to seven years now.

"I've been doing this forever and I take pride in that. I can't believe somebody could actually do this all day, every day, and still be president. If I mysteriously go missing in the next four years then that's what happened."
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Discrimination and intimidation of employees at Rupert Murdochs Fox News makes parent company 21st Century Fox unsuitable to launch a full takeover of Sky, a lawyer representing alleged victims has claimed.

Douglas Wigdor, a New York-based solicitor acting on behalf of 19 current and former employees of the media giant, has written to Ofcom in a bid to derail Mr Murdochs 11.7bn attempted takeover of the British broadcaster.

The 36-page letter alleging sexism and racism at Fox was sent to the regulators chief executive, Sharon White, on Wednesday.

It details allegations of gender and race discrimination, harassment, and retaliation at Fox that are said to stretch back more than eight years.

The document, seen by The Independent, accuses the company of attempting to intimidate and silence victims of discrimination and force them to litigate their claims in confidential arbitrations in order to prevent the public from learning about its unlawful conduct.

It says Fox has employed attorneys who are so willing to bring meritless retaliatory actions against employees who allege discrimination in order to intimidate those employees and silence their allegations.

The letter continues: This practice, in addition to requiring many employees to sign arbitration clauses to prevent them from publicly disclosing Foxs unlawful conduct, undercut any claim that Foxs Corporate Governance has any real interest in resolving its internal problems.

It also bears noting that Fox has reportedly used various means to attempt to conceal and cover up other misconduct.

In the letter, Mr Wigdor also asks to meet with Ms White to discuss his concerns.

Douglas Wigdor raises his hands as he addresses the media with Fox News host Kelly Wright (L), one of those involved in the race discrimination class-action lawsuit (Reuters)

The timing of the intervention is significant as the media regulator is due to deliver its verdict on the controversial takeover bid next month.

Ofcom has been conducting a review into whether Fox is "fit and proper" to buy the remaining 61 per cent of shares in Sky, with its report due to be published on 20 June.

A spokesman for the regulator confirmed to The Independent it had received the letter and would consider it as part of the review into 21st Century Fox's plans to gain full ownership of the broadcaster, but refused to comment further on the details of the letter or Ofcoms review.

Fox News has faced a torrid few months amid swirling claims of harassment levelled at senior executives.

Last summer, the firms chief executive, Roger Ailes, lost his job over sexual harassment allegations.

Roger Ailes (Getty)

Claims made against him by former Fox & Friends co-host Gretchen Carlson said that he ogled her and suggested they engage in a sexual relationship.

Mr Ailes dismissed the accusations as a retaliatory suit for the networks decision not to renew her contract, which was due to the fact that her disappointingly low ratings were dragging down the afternoon lineup.

Then last month, the right-wing network confirmed it was letting go of high-profile anchor Bill OReilly following a review of accusations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour levelled against him.

In an email to staff, 21st Century Fox said: After a thorough review of the allegations against him, the company and Bill OReilly have agreed that Mr OReilly will not return to the Fox News Channel."

 Bill O'Reilly speaks out after sacking from Fox News: 'The truth will come out'

Mr Murdochs bid to seize control of Sky suffered a further knock this week when a cross-party group of influential MPs met with Ofcom executives to voice their opposition to the takeover attempt.

Tuesdays meeting involved former business secretary Vince Cable, former Labour leader Ed Miliband and former chancellor Ken Clarke, who argued that governance failures and a lack of transparency at 21st Century Fox made it unsuitable to take full control of Sky.

They warned in a letter to Ofcom that there was "clear evidence of the Murdochs' pattern of secrecy and lack of transparency about corporate failure being repeated at Fox News, the subject of ongoing Federal investigations.

The takeover deal has already been cleared by EU regulators but Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have yet to publish their judgments.

Once those verdicts have been given, the Culture Secretary Karen Bradley will have 10 working days to approve it or ask for a more detailed report.

In 2011, Mr Murdoch tried and failed to take over Sky under the News Corporation umbrella.

He faced strong opposition from industry rivals and MPs and was forced to drop the bid following pressure on the company in the wake of phone-hacking claims involving News International.

A representative for 21st Century Fox said the company "has taken prompt and decisive action to address allegations of sexual harassment and workplace issues at Fox News".
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A Nato general has warned climate change poses a global security threat as US President Donald Trump prepares to make a decision on whether to pull out of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

The comments were the strongest yet from the alliance about the importance of upholding the deal, which was signed by 195 countries in the French capital last year.

They come amid lingering tensions between Mr Trump and the leaders of Nato, an organisation the President once called obsolete".

There is a huge necessity that the UN continues to involve all nations and co-ordinate the action of all nations to fight climate change, said General Denis Mercier, Nato's supreme allied commander for transformation.

If one nation, especially the biggest nation... if they do not recognise a problem, then we will have trouble dealing with the causes of climate change.

Though he did not single out any country by name, the United States is the world's largest economy and the second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after China.

The Paris deal pledged to limit global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and to provide funds to poorer countries dealing with the effects of climate change.

Mr Trump has repeatedly complained the US was treated unfairly in the agreement, which requires it to pay more tax than other countries to fight global warming.

His predecessor, former President Barack Obama, pledged the US would drastically cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28 per cent from 2005 levels by 2026.

Recommended Donald Trump fails to mention climate change in Earth Day statement

Nato has a duty to try and predict the impact of greenhouse gases on geopolitical stability, Mr Mercier, who is French, explained.

He said risks include rising sea levels, water shortages and the opening of access to resources in the Arctic - all of which he said are likely to bring about new conflicts that could involve the 28 Nato countries.

But he said a global effort to stem climate change could help the world avert some of these potential crises.

Its not too late, but it is time, he added.

A tweet from Donald Trump in 2012 that claimed climate change was made up (Twitter)

US greenhouse gas emissions have fallen recently due to a switch from coal to natural gas and renewables in generating electricity. But many climate experts fear that if Washington leaves the Paris accord, or reduces its commitments, other countries could follow suit and global emissions could surge.

Many companies, including ExxonMobil Corp, Microsoft Corp, and Arch Coal Inc, have urged the US to stay in the Paris agreement, in part to retain their global competitiveness.

Mr Trump, who has said in the past the concept of global warming was "created by the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive", is expected to announce his decision in the next fortnight.
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The New York Times added record numbers to its subscription list in the first three months of 2017, despite repeated criticism from US President Donald Trump who refereed to the newspaper as "failed".

The publication reported 308,000 new subscribers in the first quarter of this year, more than it ever has before. The new readers helped provide a 19 per cent boost to the company's digital advertising revenue.

The company's net income came to $13m (10.7m), compared to a loss of $14m (10.8m) for the same quarter last year.

 Trump Threatens to Close "Garbage Paper" New York Times If Elected

The Times has written a series of reports criticising Mr Trump's administration and he has repeatedly denounced the publication on social media. Editorials have labelled Mr Trump a liar and accused the Republican of being a desperate, inept apprentice.

The editorial stance of the newspaper in the first days of Mr Trump's presidency has coincided in rapid growth in its subscriptions.

In March, The Times announced it's "sponsor a subscription" programme had provided access to its articles to 1.3 million students in it first month. One anonymous donor gave $1m to the scheme.

Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Show all 33 1 /33 Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first 100 days in office were marred by a string of scandals, many of which caught the eye of the Independent's cartoonists Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Trump's first 100 days have seen him aggressively ramp up tensions with his nuclear rivals in North Korea Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has warned of a "major, major conflict" with the pariah nation lead by Kim Jong Un Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump dropped the "mother of all bombs" on alleged ISIS-linked militants in Afghanistan, amid an escalation of US military intervention around the globe Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has been accused of falling short of the standards set by his predecessors in the Oval Office, including Franklin D Roosevelt Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The tycoon's ascension to the White House came at a time when the balance of power is shifting away from Western nations like those in the G7 group Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Western politicians, including the British Conservative party, have been accused of falling in line behind Mr Trump's proposals Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Brexit is seen to have weakened Britain, reducing still further any political will to resist American leadership Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump's leadership has been marked by sudden and unexpected shifts in global policy Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Trump's controversial missile strike on Syria, which killed several citizens, was seen by some analysts as an attempt to distract from his policy elsewhere Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The President has also spent a large majority of his weekends golfing, rather than attending to matters of state Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Though free of gaffes, a visit from Chinese president Xi Jinping spotlighted trade tensions between the two states Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons One major and unexpected setback came when Mr Trump's Healthcare Bill was struck down by members of his own party Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has been a figure of fun in the media, with his approval at record lows Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons A string of revelations about Mr Trump's financial indiscretions did not mar his surge to the White House Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Outgoing President Barack Obama was accused of wiretapping Trump Tower by his successor in America's highest office Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The alleged involvement of Russian intelligence operatives in securing Mr Trump the presidency prompted harsh criticism Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The explosive resignation of Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who lied about his links to the Russian ambassador, was just one scandal to hit the President Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Many scandals, such as the accusation Barack Obama was implicated in phone-hacking, first broke on Mr Trump's Twitter feed Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's election provoked mass protests in the UK, with millions signing a petition to ban him from the country Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump cited a non-existent terror attack in Sweden during a campaign rally Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump stands accused of stoking regional tensions in Eastern Asia Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons North Korea has launched a number of failed nuclear tests since Mr Trump took power Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Theresa May formally rejected the petition calling for Mr Trump to be banned from the UK Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons When Mr Trump's initial so-called Muslim ban was struck down by a federal justice, the President mocked the 69-year-old as a "ridiculous", "so-called judge" Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons A week after his inauguration, Theresa May met with Mr Trump at the White House Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first days in office were marked by a hasty attempt to follow through on many of his campaign promises, including the so-called Muslim ban Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's decision to ban citizens of many majority-Muslim countries from the US sparked mass protests Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Revelations about Donald Trump's sexual improprieties were not enough to keep him from being elected President Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons British PM Theresa May was criticised by many in the press for cosying up to the new President Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons One of Mr Trump's top aides, Kelly Anne Conway, was mocked for describing mistruths as "alternative facts" Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons British PM Theresa May was quick to demonstrate that her political aims did not hugely differ from Mr Trump's Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's inauguration, on 20 January 2017, sparked protests both at home and abroad

Mr Trump meanwhile, has derided the newspaper, accusing it of spreading "fake news" and claimed its reporters were fabricating stories.

The US leader has not provided evidence to back up his claims.

Although the publication's online members grew, print advertising revenue fell 18 per cent, according to the newspaper.
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One of Americas oldest civil rights organisations has said it does not think the thumb and forefinger OK hand gesture is a white supremacist sign.

The Anti-Defamtion League (ADL) issued the clarification after two journalists known to be supporters of Donald Trump made the sign while standing behind the podium at the White House press briefing room.

The two reporters vehemently denied they were either white supremacists or that they were making a sign in support of such views. However, the image of them sparked a storm on social media, with some commentators arguing that the symbol was a way to indicate white power, as reported by The Independent.

A previous entry on the hate symbols database of the ADL refers to the use by white supremacists of a two-handed hand sign in which one hand forms the letter "W" and the other hand forms the letter "P", to represent WP or "White Power". The "OK" symbol is the same as the "W" in this two-handed gesture.

The ADL has now suggested the one-handed "OK" symbol alone is not a sign indicating white supremacy.

Has the simple thumb-and-forefinger OK hand gesture become a white supremacist hand sign, the organisation asked in a blog post.

Well, no, it hasnt, but you are likely to hear just the opposite from social media, thanks to the latest hoax from members of notorious website 4chan.

The resurgence of the symbol may be traced back to a popular alt-right meme, known as smug Pepe, which began circulating on alt-right, pro-Trump message boards in 2015. Mr Trump often uses the symbol when speaking, explaining its significance with the presidents supporters.

 White House refuses to condemn murder of black man by white supremacist

The ADL, a Jewish organisation established in 1913 to protect civil rights and oppose anti-semitism, pointed to an anonymous 4channer announcing Operation O-KKK in February, telling 4chan members we must flood Twitter and other social media websitesclaiming that the OK hand sign is a symbol of white supremacy.

The ADL said the OK hoax was simply the latest in a series by 4channers and others, to try and take innocuous items, symbols or gestures and falsely attribute white supremacist meanings to them. One was the concept that white supremacists were drinking milk to show the superiority of the white race and the purity of white milk.

Writing on the subject for BuzzFeed, Joseph Bernstein said that that hoaxers hoped their fake Trump hate memes would gain media attention so they could then point to them as evidence of bias against the President and his supporters.

Where it gets really fuzzy, however, is trying to determine when and if these symbols cross over from ironic usage, he added. Take milk. While milk as a supremacist symbol may have started as a sneering troll, it has now become an oft-used prop to publicly signal support for white nationalist politics at rallies, protests, and brawls.

The ADL quoted its own researcher on extremism, Mark Pitcavage, who said that most hate symbols appear and spread organically, over time.

The process of acceptance and growth in use typically takes months or even years, even for on-line symbols, he said.
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It has been less than two years since Perus Indigenous Wampis community declared itself a self-governing community.

The Wampis Statute is built strictly on the obligations of the Peruvian state to respect the rights and autonomy of indigenous peoples and nations. Among other principles, the statute requires that any activity that could affect Wampis' territory secures the free, prior and informed consent of the Wampis nation.

The historic move, which the Wampis argue is in line with the obligations of the Peruvian state to respect the rights and autonomy of Indigenous peoples and nations, was the first of its kind in Peru, giving the Wampis the ability to protect themselves and their land from oil and mining companies, as well as illegal logging and palm oil plantations.

The Wampis people have lived on the same land on the Rio Santiago and Morona watersheds 1,500 km north-east of the Peruvian capital Lima, for at least 7,000 years, according to the Wampis government.

Yet, until the community formed its own government the Wampis had virtually no say in what happened to their territory, which the Forest Peoples programme says is five times the size of Luxembourg and home to roughly 15,000 people.

Now that they have established their own self governing organisation the Wampis are exercising their rights as indigenous people to autonomy to fight major oil companies threatening their land.

In March, the community won a major victory, with the Fourth Constitutional Court of Lima ruling that a private oil company granted permission from the Peruvian government to run assessments on the Wampiss land could not continue their work without the approval of the Indigenous groups government.

The oil firm was forced to halt their work until they had undergone consultation with the Wampis and received their consent to continue  but the company has not yet attempted to consult the Indigenous community.

From now on, if the Peruvian government disagrees with decision made by the Wampis government, it will have to take the Indigenous community to court. But the Wampis still want Perus government to formally recognise their autonomy to govern as an Indigenous people within Peru.

They approached the Commission of Indigenous Peoples on Tuesday to help them become recognised as self-governing community.

For the Wampis, who refer to themselves as a Forest Peoples, the forests and mountains are considered sacred.

It is simultaneously the source of their identity and history, their way of life and their future, says Dr Conrad Feather of the Forest Peoples programme.

Yet, this future is uncertain as this territory is under threat from the voracious demands of the global economy and the Wampiss own integration into a global market and Peruvian society.

The Peruvian governments approval of laws granting private companies access to Indigenous lands for extractive industries have sparked deadly protests in the past.

Members of the Wampis community arrive at an illegal mining site on the Pastacillo river to protest the miners activity (Jacob Balzani Loov)

A free trade agreement between Peru and the United States sparked deadly protests in 2009, with Indigenous groups rallying against the deal that gave oil companies access to the Amazon jungle. Thousands of Indigenous people gathered on Devils Curve, a motorway near Bagua, to block the oil company from accessing the jungle. The standoff resulted in the deaths of 32 people  23 police officers and nine protesters  on 5 June, in what is now known as the Bagua massacre. Hundreds more were reportedly injured and arrested during the protests.

One of the Wampis communitys leaders, Andres Noningo, says that while the community does not seek full independence from Peru, it wants to be able to protect itself from companies and politicians who are only able to see gold and oil in our rivers and forests.

The Wampis are the first Indigenous group in Peru to declare their autonomy in this way, but Dr Feather says there are similar efforts underway by communities in Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil.

He says he believes more communities will follow suit, which could mark a major shift in the way that governments engage with Indigenous groups in the future.
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The owners of an American animal sanctuary have come under fire for killing all 11 of its exotic animals, despite other rescue centres offering to rehome the three tigers, three lions and five bears.

The Lions Gate Sanctuary in Colorado said it was forced to euthanise its animals last month after it was denied permission to relocate away from a site that had repeatedly flooded.

Co-owners doctor Joan Laub and Peter Winney said in a statement they planned to build a new facility on 45 acres of empty land they owned, but were denied permission by commissioners who bowed to pressure from local residents in an "unfair" hearing.

In a statement the couple said they felt "the Elbert County Commissioners did not take... the plight of our animals seriously... [or] the safety of Elbert County residents seriously".

"We told them it was no longer safe to keep the animals at that location and we needed to move," they said.

"The commissioners made a decision based upon emotion, and not the law. The 'not in my backyard' crowd controlled the meeting and the outcome.

"As a result, 11 innocent animals paid the price."

Elbert County officials denied responsibility for the deaths of the exotic animals, saying they did not anticipate the outcome of the ruling.

The couple killed all of the big cats and bears at once without warning, having said in the hearing they intended to continue to care for them at the old site if they were denied permission to move, a spokesman for the three county commissioners said in a statement. .

Furthermore, the Keenesburg Wild Animal Sanctuary, also in Colorado, had publicly offered to care for the animals at their facility if Lions Gate was unable to do so", the commissioners claim.

Dr Laub and Mr Winney claimed they did reach out to other animal centres for help, but nobody offered to take in their animals because most were very old. But several centres inside and outside the state dispute this, saying they did not hear from the couple and could have offered the animals a home.

Pat Craig, who runs the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, told Denver7 the couple were lying.

Taking care of animals that are either sick or have long-term issues is part of our daily thing that we do here, Ms Craig said. We rescue... geriatric animals all the time where theyre definitely in the last phases of their life and most people think it would be traumatic for them to move and we move many animals and every one of them ends up very happy here, even in their elder years.

Thailand's Tiger Temple raid Show all 10 1 /10 Thailand's Tiger Temple raid Thailand's Tiger Temple raid Thai officers carry a sedated tiger outside its cage at the Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua Tiger Temple Getty Images Thailand's Tiger Temple raid Wildlife officials sedate a tiger at the Tiger Temple AP Thailand's Tiger Temple raid A tiger stands in a cage at a property in Saiyok district in Kanchanaburi province AP Thailand's Tiger Temple raid Thai army display a tiger skin found inside Tiger Temple as officials continue moving live tigers from the controversial place REUTERS Thailand's Tiger Temple raid A sedated tiger is stretchered as officials start moving tigers from Thailand's controversial Tiger Temple, a popular tourist destination which has come under fire in recent years over the welfare of its big cats REUTERS Thailand's Tiger Temple raid Thai wildlife officials load a cage containing a tiger onto a truck after they removed it from an enclosure at the Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua Tiger Temple AFP/Getty Images Thailand's Tiger Temple raid Tiger cub carcasses were found in jars containing liquid as officials continue to investigate the Tiger Temple REUTERS Thailand's Tiger Temple raid Thai officers observe the carcasses of 40 tiger cubs and a bear found undeclared at the Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua Tiger Temple Getty Images Thailand's Tiger Temple raid A Thai wildlife official looks at a Malayan sun bear in a cage as found during a raid at the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi Province EPA Thailand's Tiger Temple raid An official looks at a stuffed bear as they continue moving live tigers from the controversial Tiger Temple REUTERS

Meanwhile the Wildcat Sanctuary in Minnesota said they were in a "state of shock" over the decision, especially as they had been "very vocal about our opening for lions in need".

In a post on Facebook the animal rescue facility said they had a long history with Lion's Gate, having rehomed five animals from the centre more than ten years ago when it operated under a different name and had a different owner. They urged members of the public to request an official investigation into the incident.

"It appears this tragedy was a selfish move by these private owners and had nothing to do with the welfare of the animals," the centre said, in a post that has been liked nearly 7,000 times. "Our heart breaks knowing these were senseless deaths of animals that deserved so much more compassion."
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Almost 16 children in the US are hospitalised each day due to gunshot injuries, new research shows.

A new study, which will be presented at a meeting of paediatrics experts in San Francisco, found that more than 5,800 US youth needed hospital treatment for gunshot injuries in 2012. Of those, nearly 90 per cent were male, and a disproportionate number were black. More than half were Medicaid recipients.

This data confirms prior studies finding socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparities in paediatric firearm-related hospitalizations, the majority being those with Medicaid, from the lowest median household incomes and being Black or Hispanic, the researchers concluded.

Recommended Two dead including suspect after attack at Texas campus

Previous research suggests this is partially the result of a vicious cycle: exposure to violence impacts academic achievement and job stability, which then impact income. And researchers in a similar study found yet another factor that plays into this: mental health.

A study from the University of Colorado found that adolescents with mental health diagnoses have an easier time accessing firearms than their peers without such diagnoses. Previous studies have connected easier access to firearms to increased gunshot deaths.

Teens with depression, anxiety, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were twice as likely than their peers to say getting a gun would be easy, according to the study. Those who had attempted suicide were more than twice as likely to have a friend with a handgun than those who had not.

Overall, firearms accounted for 29 per cent of all adolescent deaths.

"Efforts should be made to counsel families of higher risk youth on the safest way to keep firearms away from their children, including either removing guns from the home or keeping them in lock boxes or safe storage devices that kids don't know how to get to," urged Dr Eric Sigel, the lead author of the study.

In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims Show all 30 1 /30 In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims People gather at a vigil in solidarity for the victims of the Orlando nightclub mass shooting, at Taylor Square in Sydney EPA In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims Brett Morian, from Daytona Beach, hugs an attendee during the candlelight vigil at Ember in Orlando AP In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims People and members of the gay community holding the peace rainbow flag gather for a vigil near the Beaubourg art center in downtown Paris AFP/Getty Images In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims A man places a hand print on a makeshift memorial in a parking lot near the Pulse nightclub in Orlando AFP/Getty Images In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims People attend a candlelight vigil for the victims of the Orlando attack against a gay night club, held in San Francisco REUTERS In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims People place candles by a statue of Abraham Lincoln during a candlelight vigil for the victims of the Orlando attack against a gay night club, held in San Francisco REUTERS In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims Tel-Aviv city hall lit up with rainbow flag colors in solidarity with Florida's shooting attack victims AP In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims Juan Mantilla (L) stands with his partner during a vigil in memory of the victims of the Orlando mass shooting, in Miami Beach AP In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims A couple shares a kiss as they embrace each other under a pride flag while residents of San Francisco and the Bay Area gather to mourn, honor, and remember the victims of a mass shooting at a LGBT nightclub in Orlando EPA In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims Austin Ellis, a member of Metropolitan Community Church, carries a cross with a sign in memory of the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting as he marches in the 2016 Gay Pride Parade in Philadelphia Getty Images In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims A rainbow flag flies at half mast on the Space Needle in Seattle, in honor of the victims of the nightclub shooting in Orlando AFP/Getty Images In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims People at the LA Pride event in West Hollywood, write signs and light candles showing solidarity with victims of the mass killings in Orlando AP In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims In reaction to the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida people hug outside the Stonewall Inn near a vigil for the victims in New York AFP/Getty Images In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims A woman offers free hugs in Washington, in reaction to the mass shootings at a gay club in Orlando AFP/Getty Images In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims A U.S. flag is flown at half staff at the White House after the Orlando mass shooting Getty Images In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims A man lays flowers on a rainbow flag in front of the embassy of the United States in Madrid, to pay tribute to the victims of the shooting of Orlando AFP/Getty Images In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims The Michael Fowler Centre is lit in rainbow colours by the city council during a candle lit vigil across the road at Frank Kits Park in Wellington, in remembrance of victims after a gunman opened fire in a gay nightclub in Orlando AFP/Getty Images In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims Participants hold candles during a vigil at Frank Kits Park in Wellington, in remembrance of victims after a gunman opened fire in a gay nightclub in Orlando AFP/Getty Images In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims Vixon Noir (R) consoles Trashina Cann, both of San Francisco, during a vigil at Harvey Milk Plaza in the Castro district of San Francisco AP In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims People gather in the Castro District for a vigil for the victims of the Orlando shooting at a gay nightclub, in San Francisco REUTERS In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims A couple joins residents of San Francisco and the Bay Area to mourn, honor, and remember the victims of a mass shooting at a LGBT nightclub in Orlando EPA In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims Mourners pay tribute to the victims of the Orlando shooting during a memorial service in San Diego AFP/Getty Images In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims The Orlando Eye observation wheel lights up in rainbow colors, to remember the people killed and injured in the Pulse nightclub shooting AP In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims People sit by the water with candles during a vigil in a park following a mass shooting at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando REUTERS In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims Members of The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence carry a sign of remembrance for mass shooting victims in Orlando, at the 46th annual Los Angeles Gay Pride Parade in West Hollywood REUTERS In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims Former Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra and Shawn Lang of Hartford embrace after Segarra spoke, during a vigil organized by the state's Muslim and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, on the steps of the state Capitol building in reaction to the mass shooting in Orlando AP In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims The City Hall Building is lit in the rainbow colors in New York, in reaction to the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando AFP/Getty Images In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims One World Trade Center is lit in the rainbow colors in New York, in reaction to the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando AFP/Getty Images In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims People hold a vigil after the worst mass shooting in U.S. history at a gay nightclub in Orlando, in front of the White House in Washington REUTERS In pictures: The world mourns Orlando shooting victims A man lays down 50 roses to honor each victim of the gay Orlando night club shooting as people gather outside of the Stonewall Inn as a vigil is held following the massacre Getty Images

The authors of both studies said their findings prove the need for more funding for firearms research and public education campaigns.

"Our findings add urgency to the need for preventive public health measures to reduce gun injuries in children," said Alyssa H Silver, lead author of the first study. "The fact that 57 per cent of firearm-related injuries in children under 15 years old were unintentional, for example, highlights the need for improved gun safety and storage practices."

Gun research, however, is notoriously hard to fund: Pressured by the National Rifle Association, Congress pulled all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funding for gun-related research in 1996. Former President Barack Obama ordered the organisation to renew research into the causes of gun violence in 2013  but without government funding, progress has been slow.

An effort to remove the ban on government funding for gun research was blocked by House Republicans last year.

According to Dr Silver, National Institutes of Health  another source of government money for public health research  spent $2.2m of federal funds on gun-related research last year. They were estimated to have spent $115 million on research into cannabis.

Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows gun violence is the least-researched of all leading causes of death.
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The House easily passed a $1.1 trillion government wide spending bill on Wednesday, awarding wins to both Democrats and Republicans while putting off until later this year fights over President Donald Trump's promised border wall with Mexico and massive military buildup.

The 309-118 vote sends the bill to the Senate in time for them to act to avert a government shutdown at midnight Friday. The White House has said Trump would sign the measure, which is the first major legislation to pass in Trump's short, turbulent presidency.

House Speaker Paul Ryan praised the measure as bipartisan, and said the biggest gain for conservatives came as Democrats dropped longstanding demands to match Pentagon increases with equal hikes for nondefense programmes.

No longer will the needs of our military be held hostage by the demands for more domestic spending, Ryan said. In my mind, that is what's most important here.

Democrats also backed the measure, which protects popular domestic programmes such as education, medical research and grants to state and local governments from cuts sought by Trump  while dropping a host of GOP agenda items found in earlier versions.

It's imperative to note what this bill does not contain, said Rep. Nita Lowey of New York, lead negotiator for Democrats. Not one cent for President Trump's border wall and no poison pill riders that would have prevented so-called sanctuary cities from receiving federal grants, defunded Planned Parenthood, undermined the Affordable Care Act.

The bill is the product of weeks of Capitol Hill negotiations in which top Democrats like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi successfully blocked Trump's most provocative proposals  especially the Mexico wall and cuts to popular domestic programmes like community development grants.

The White House won $15 billion in emergency funding to jump-start Trump's promise to rebuild the military and an extra $1.5 billion for border security  each short of Trump demands  leading the president on Tuesday to boast, this is what winning looks like.

The opinions of top party leaders were not shared by everyone in the rank and file, some of whom feel that GOP negotiators too easily gave up on conservative priorities, such as cutting funds for Planned Parenthood and punishing sanctuary cities that fail to cooperate with immigration authorities.

I don't think it was negotiated very well, and I'll just leave it at that, said Representative Jeff Duncan, Republican-South Carolina.

The long-overdue bill buys just five months of funding while Trump and his allies battle with congressional Democrats over spending cuts and funding for the wall, which Trump repeatedly promised during the campaign would be financed by Mexico. Mexican officials have rejected that notion.

Republicans were surprised by tweets from Trump on Tuesday that suggested he was initially unhappy with the measure and might provoke a government shutdown this fall in hopes of getting his way on the wall and other demands.

The measure is the product of a bipartisan culture among Congress' appropriators, with money for foreign aid, grants to state and local governments and protection for the Environmental Protection Agency from cuts sought by Tea Party Republicans. The measure provides $2 billion in disaster aid money, $407 million to combat Western wildfires, additional grants for transit projects and a $2 billion increase for medical research at the National Institutes of Health.

Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Show all 33 1 /33 Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first 100 days in office were marred by a string of scandals, many of which caught the eye of the Independent's cartoonists Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Trump's first 100 days have seen him aggressively ramp up tensions with his nuclear rivals in North Korea Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has warned of a "major, major conflict" with the pariah nation lead by Kim Jong Un Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump dropped the "mother of all bombs" on alleged ISIS-linked militants in Afghanistan, amid an escalation of US military intervention around the globe Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has been accused of falling short of the standards set by his predecessors in the Oval Office, including Franklin D Roosevelt Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The tycoon's ascension to the White House came at a time when the balance of power is shifting away from Western nations like those in the G7 group Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Western politicians, including the British Conservative party, have been accused of falling in line behind Mr Trump's proposals Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Brexit is seen to have weakened Britain, reducing still further any political will to resist American leadership Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump's leadership has been marked by sudden and unexpected shifts in global policy Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Trump's controversial missile strike on Syria, which killed several citizens, was seen by some analysts as an attempt to distract from his policy elsewhere Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The President has also spent a large majority of his weekends golfing, rather than attending to matters of state Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Though free of gaffes, a visit from Chinese president Xi Jinping spotlighted trade tensions between the two states Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons One major and unexpected setback came when Mr Trump's Healthcare Bill was struck down by members of his own party Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has been a figure of fun in the media, with his approval at record lows Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons A string of revelations about Mr Trump's financial indiscretions did not mar his surge to the White House Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Outgoing President Barack Obama was accused of wiretapping Trump Tower by his successor in America's highest office Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The alleged involvement of Russian intelligence operatives in securing Mr Trump the presidency prompted harsh criticism Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The explosive resignation of Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who lied about his links to the Russian ambassador, was just one scandal to hit the President Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Many scandals, such as the accusation Barack Obama was implicated in phone-hacking, first broke on Mr Trump's Twitter feed Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's election provoked mass protests in the UK, with millions signing a petition to ban him from the country Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump cited a non-existent terror attack in Sweden during a campaign rally Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump stands accused of stoking regional tensions in Eastern Asia Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons North Korea has launched a number of failed nuclear tests since Mr Trump took power Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Theresa May formally rejected the petition calling for Mr Trump to be banned from the UK Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons When Mr Trump's initial so-called Muslim ban was struck down by a federal justice, the President mocked the 69-year-old as a "ridiculous", "so-called judge" Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons A week after his inauguration, Theresa May met with Mr Trump at the White House Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first days in office were marked by a hasty attempt to follow through on many of his campaign promises, including the so-called Muslim ban Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's decision to ban citizens of many majority-Muslim countries from the US sparked mass protests Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Revelations about Donald Trump's sexual improprieties were not enough to keep him from being elected President Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons British PM Theresa May was criticised by many in the press for cosying up to the new President Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons One of Mr Trump's top aides, Kelly Anne Conway, was mocked for describing mistruths as "alternative facts" Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons British PM Theresa May was quick to demonstrate that her political aims did not hugely differ from Mr Trump's Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's inauguration, on 20 January 2017, sparked protests both at home and abroad

The White House, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican-Kentucky, and Senator Joe Manchin, Democrat-West Virginia, won a $1.3 billion provision to preserve health benefits for more than 22,000 retired coal miners. Pelosi was the driving force behind an effort to give the cash-strapped government of Puerto Rico $295 million to ease its Medicaid burden.

Copyright Associated Press
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FBI Director James Comey has defended his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, saying it was consistent with his management of a probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US election and links between Moscow and the Trump campaign.

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Mr Comey said that it made him mildly nauseous to think that his decision to disclose an investigation into Ms Clintons use of a private email server may have impacted the election, but that he stood by his choice.

He added that he could not consider for a second whose political fortunes will be affected by revealing an investigation.

Mr Comey sent a letter on 28 October to congressional leaders saying the FBI would continue investigating whether Ms Clinton sent additional classified emails from a private email server while she was Secretary of State. In July, he had recommended that no charges be filed against Ms Clinton or her aides, effectively closing the email probe.

During the hearing on Wednesday, Mr Comey said his investigative team informed him on 27 October that there appeared to be thousands of Ms Clintons emails on the laptop of Anthony Weiner  the disgraced husband of one of her top aides Huma Abedin  including what they thought might be the missing emails from her first three months as Secretary of State.

We never found any emails from her first three months, Mr Comey said. She was using a Verizon Blackberry then, and thats obviously very important because if there was evidence that she was acting with bad intent, thats where it would be.

On the morning of 28 October, Mr Comey said he had to either conceal the information or speak.

Hillary Clinton's life in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Hillary Clinton's life in pictures Hillary Clinton's life in pictures Hillary Rodham Clinton as a Wellesley College senior Getty Hillary Clinton's life in pictures Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham in at Wellesley College Getty Hillary Clinton's life in pictures Hillary Rodham Working with the House Committee on Nixon's Impeachment Case Getty Hillary Clinton's life in pictures US Presidential candidate Bill Clinton with wife Hillary and daughter Chelsea at the Democratic National Convention Getty Hillary Clinton's life in pictures Bill and Hillary Clinton at the Inaugural Ball Getty Hillary Clinton's life in pictures Bill and Hillary Clinton with Barbara Bush Getty Hillary Clinton's life in pictures First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, President William Jefferson Clinton their daughter Chelsea, at the first state dinner of the Clintons administration Getty Hillary Clinton's life in pictures Hillary Clinton meets with 12 chidren in response to their letter to the President concerning their health problems Getty Hillary Clinton's life in pictures Nelson Mandela jokes with First Lady Hillary Clinton Getty Hillary Clinton's life in pictures Senator Hillary Rodham comforts Maren Sarkarat the conclusion of the Family Memorial Service held at Ground Zero of the WTC Getty

Mr Comey said that informing Congress of the restart of the investigation would be really bad, as the election was 11 days away. On the other hand, concealing in my view would be catastrophic, he said. Not just to the FBI, but well beyond. Between really bad and catastrophic, I said weve got to walk into the world of really bad.

Even in hindsight  and this has been one of the worlds most painful experiences  I would make the same decision, Mr Comey added.

Democratic senator Sheldon Whitehouse told Mr Comey that he did not doubt [his] honesty for a minute, but that he does think there were significant mistakes made in the handling of the email case.

Before the House of Representatives' Intelligence Committee in March, Mr Comey said that over the summer the FBI had opened a probe into alleged Russian meddling in the presidential election and whether the Trump campaign was involved. The disclosure elicited further criticism from Democrats during the hearing, who questioned why Mr Comey had not confirmed the existence of the investigation earlier.

I think I treated both investigations consistently under the same principals, Mr Comey responded. People forget we would not confirm the existence of the Hillary Clinton email investigation until three months after it began, even though it began with a public referral and the candidate herself talked about it.

In October of 2015, we confirmed it existed, and then said not another word, not a peep about it until we were finished, he added. Because the investigation into Trump officials connection with Russia began much later, Mr Comey was not in a position to confirm the inquiry.

The FBIs director has said he will not say another peep on the ongoing investigation into alleged links between Donald Trump and Russia until the probe is complete, but did assert that he expects more Russian meddling in future US elections.

I think one of the lessons the Russians may have drawn from this is that this works, Mr Comey said. I expect to see them back in 2018, and especially in 2020.

When asked about what the FBI is doing to prepare for this, Mr Comey said that an enormous portion of the bureau's counter intelligence and cyber divisions focuses on making sure that we do everything we can to understand how the bad guys might come at us.

Ms Clinton said on Wednesday in New York that she takes responsibility for her election loss but believes the FBI email investigation played a key part.

If the election had been on October 27, I would be your president, the former Secretary of State said.
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The US Environmental Protection Agency is being sued after indefinitely suspending rules that prevent arsenic, lead and other toxic waste from being dumped into Americas rivers.

A coalition of environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, the Waterkeeper Alliance, and Clean Water Action, filed a lawsuit in the US District Court in Washington DC, arguing the EPAs action was arbitrary and capricious as well as illegal.

Last month Scott Pruitt, a climate science-denying lawyer who repeatedly sued the EPA before being appointed by Donald Trump to run it, issued an indefinite stay on water pollution regulations introduced in 2015.

These required coal power stations to cut the amount of toxic waste they pump from their plants into rivers and other waterways used for drinking water.

In the lawsuit, the environment groups said: Power plants are by far the largest source of toxic water pollution in the United States.

When finalising the Effluent Limitation Guidelines  in 2015, EPA found that power plants generate more toxic wastewater than the next two-largest polluting industries combined.

Power plant wastewater contains toxic metals such as mercury, arsenic, and selenium, as well as non-conventional pollutants such as nitrogen and dissolved solids that contaminate drinking water and harm ecosystems.

Recommended Trump promises to promote clean water despite scrapping coal rules

It quoted research which found such pollutants could cause severe health and environmental problems in the form of cancer and non-cancer risks in humans, lowered IQ among children, and deformities and reproductive harm in fish and wildlife.

Pollution from power plants was found to make the water in more than 4,000 miles of rivers unsafe to drink; a further 6,000 miles of rivers were deemed unsafe for children to go fishing on.

The lawsuit quoted the EPA itself in explaining why the new restrictions, which companies would have been required to adhere to by 2023 at the latest, were required.

EPA estimates that roughly 30 million people are exposed to fish contaminated by power plant wastewater, including over three million young children exposed to lead and over 400,000 infants exposed to mercury in utero, it added.

National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump Show all 24 1 /24 National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump Joshua Trees in the Mojave Trails, California Encompassing 1.6million acres, this monument includes mountain ranges, sand dunes and ancient settled lava, meaning it is studded with gems and minerals. The Mojave Trails make up 105-miles of Route 66. Kiskamedia-iStock National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, Maine This is the Atlantic Oceans first marine national monuments, and covers almost 5,000 square miles of underwater canyons and mountains off the coast of New England. It was named a national monument in September 2016, shutting off commercial fishermen. The act protects resources and species including whales, deep-sea corals, Kemp's Ridley sea turtles (left), and deep-sea fish. Getty Images National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump Bears Ears National Monument, Utah Bear Ears is a 1.3million acre monument characterised by cliffs, plateaus, rock formations, rivers and canyons, and is the site of an estimated 100,000 archaeological sites, including ancient cliff dwellings. It was created in December 2016, in what was hailed as a victory by Native American tribes and conservationists but a blow to Republicans who wanted to area open for energy developments. The land is considered sacred to a number of tribes, who visit the area to collect herbs and wood for medicinal and spiritual healing, as well as to perform rituals. Bear Ears is a 1.3million acre monument characterised by cliffs, plateaus, rock formations, rivers and canyons, and is the site of an estimated 100,000 archaeological sites, including ancient cliff dwellings. It was created in December 2016, in what was hailed as a victory by Native American tribes and conservationists but a blow to Republicans who wanted to area open for energy developments. The land is considered sacred to a number of tribes, who visit the area to collect herbs and wood for medicinal and spiritual healing, as well as to perform rituals. Getty Images National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump Sand to Snow, California Over 240 species of birds and 12 wildlife species that are endangered and threatened live on what the Bureau of Land Management describes as one of the most biodiverse areas of Southern California. Unfolding across 154,000 acres of land, the monument includes thirty miles of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, used for camping, hiking, hunting, horseback riding, and skiing. Flickr/Creative Commons/Bureau of Land Management National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump Basin and Range, Nevada This area - which is about twice the size of the city of Los Angeles - gets its name from its typography, which abruptly alternates between mountain chains and flat valleys that are comparable to the moons surface. The monument covers 704,000 and encompasses desert mountains and valleys, as well as Native American rock at and sites. It was designated in 2015 Bureau of Land Management/Creative Commons National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump Berryessa Snow Mountain, northern California The monument comprises of 330,780 acres of land, and includes the Cache Creek Wilderness. It was designated as a national monument in in 2015. It is the habitat of animals including bald and golden eagles, black bears, mountain lions, tule elk, black-tailed deer, norther spotted owls, as well as salmon and some of the worlds rarest plants. Native American tribes have lived in the area of 11,000 years. Bureau of Land Management National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump Organ Mountains Desert Peaks New Mexicos Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks covers 496,000 acres of land, and includes canyons, mountains and the Chihuahua Desert. It was used to train WWII bomber pilots and crews for NASAs Apollo space program. Bureau of Land Management National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump Rio Grande del Norte The Rio Grande del Norte National Monument is made up of rugged plains that are 7,000 above sea level which spread across 242,500 acres of land. The topography includes volcanic cones - including the Ute Mountain which stands at 10,093ft - canyons, and rivers. People have been living in the area since prehistoric times. Bureau of Land Management National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump Mariana Trench Marine National Monument, Northern Mariana Islands and Guam The monument established in 2009 protects 95,216 square miles water in the Mariana Archipelago, which consists of submerged islands and volcanic sites. Velvetfish /iStock National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump Pacific Remote Islands Soldierfish swim off Baker Island, which are part of the Pacific Remote Islands. This collection of islands became the most widespread collection of marine and terrestrial life protected areas on the planet under a single country's jurisdiction when it was designated in 2009. Public Domain National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump Papahanaumokuakea, Hawaii Papahanaumokuakea is the worlds largest marine protected area, and is almost double the size of Texas. The remote area stretches 583,000-sq miles, and is home to tuna and the endangered Hawaiian monk seal among others. Public Domain/NOAA National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump Upper Missouri River Breaks Designated in 2001, the monument protects badland featuring rock outcroppings, steep bluffs and grassy plains. Bureau of Land Management National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump Sonoran Desert The desert has an area of 100,000sq miles and covers parts of Mexico, Arizona, California, Sonora, Sinaloa, and Baja California, and is the habitat of unique plants and animals including the organ pipe cactus. Tonda-iStock National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump Carrizo Plain The grassy plain sitting to the northwest of Los Angeles is 50miles long and 15miles wide in some parts. It was designated in 2012 because of its archaeological value. Zeiss4Me/iStock National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump Vermilion Cliffs, northern Arizona and southern Utah This monument has an intense red colour thanks to the iron oxide in its deposited silt and dunes. It was designated a monument in 2000. fotoVoyager/iStock National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump Ironwood Forest National Monument, Arizona President Clinton declared the Ironwood Forest a monument in 2000. It covers 188,619 acres and is home to endangered animals, plants, as well as the ironwood trees which give it its name. Creative Commons National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump Hare Handford Reach, Washington This area is named after the bend in the free-flowing area of the Columbia River. It was designated a monument in 2000. Public Domain National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump Canyons of the Ancients Designated a monument in 2000, its 176,056 acres feature archaeologically significant landscapes including the settlement of the Ancient Pueblo people in the 10th century. iStock National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump Giant Sequoia In 2000, President Bill Clinton set aside an area around 328,000 of land in central California where giant sequoia trees grow. As he made the designation President Clinton said: "These giant sequoias clearly are the work of the ages. They grow taller than the Statue of Liberty, broader than a bus." pavliha/iStock National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument Established as a monument in 2000, the area stretches across over 1million acres of land which has no paved roads or visitor services. It takes its name from the Paiut word meaning tanned elk hide, and features canyons, mountains and buttes. Bureau of Land Management National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump Grand Staircase Escalante, Utah Encompassing almost 2million acres of land, the monument designated in 1996 features platueas, colourful cliffs, and canyons Creative Commons/John Fowler National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump San Gabriel Mountains This monument - established in 2014 - is not on the list of White House monuments under review, but meets Zinkes criteria. It encompasses 246,000 acres of land. Rennett Stowe/Creative Commons National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump Rose Atoll marine National Monument The monument, established in 2009, covers 13,400 square miles in the South Pacific Ocean and encompasses a Samoan island. It is the habitat of creatures including rare giant clams and reef sharks. National monuments reviewed by Donald Trump Gold Butte National Monument, Nevada Situated to the northeast of Las Vegas, this monument covers 300,000 of desert land which features rock art, sandstone towers and the habitat of the threatened Mojave Desert tortoise Bureau of Land Management

Mary Anne Hitt, director of Sierra Clubs Beyond Coal campaign, said the legal action was a firm declaration that we will not stand idly by as Trumps Administration tries to steer America back to an era where rivers caught on fire and polluters dumped their waste into our waterways with impunity.

With the drinking water of millions of Americans at stake, we will fight tooth-and-nail to protect safeguards that restrict coal plants from dumping toxic heavy metals into our drinking water supplies and putting thousands of families at risk of poisoning each year, she said.

Though these irrational attacks against basic science and public health are horrifying, we are confident that common sense will win the day and the American people will prevail over polluter greed in the courts and in the streets.

Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Show all 33 1 /33 Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first 100 days in office were marred by a string of scandals, many of which caught the eye of the Independent's cartoonists Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Trump's first 100 days have seen him aggressively ramp up tensions with his nuclear rivals in North Korea Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has warned of a "major, major conflict" with the pariah nation lead by Kim Jong Un Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump dropped the "mother of all bombs" on alleged ISIS-linked militants in Afghanistan, amid an escalation of US military intervention around the globe Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has been accused of falling short of the standards set by his predecessors in the Oval Office, including Franklin D Roosevelt Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The tycoon's ascension to the White House came at a time when the balance of power is shifting away from Western nations like those in the G7 group Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Western politicians, including the British Conservative party, have been accused of falling in line behind Mr Trump's proposals Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Brexit is seen to have weakened Britain, reducing still further any political will to resist American leadership Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump's leadership has been marked by sudden and unexpected shifts in global policy Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Trump's controversial missile strike on Syria, which killed several citizens, was seen by some analysts as an attempt to distract from his policy elsewhere Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The President has also spent a large majority of his weekends golfing, rather than attending to matters of state Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Though free of gaffes, a visit from Chinese president Xi Jinping spotlighted trade tensions between the two states Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons One major and unexpected setback came when Mr Trump's Healthcare Bill was struck down by members of his own party Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has been a figure of fun in the media, with his approval at record lows Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons A string of revelations about Mr Trump's financial indiscretions did not mar his surge to the White House Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Outgoing President Barack Obama was accused of wiretapping Trump Tower by his successor in America's highest office Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The alleged involvement of Russian intelligence operatives in securing Mr Trump the presidency prompted harsh criticism Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The explosive resignation of Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who lied about his links to the Russian ambassador, was just one scandal to hit the President Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Many scandals, such as the accusation Barack Obama was implicated in phone-hacking, first broke on Mr Trump's Twitter feed Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's election provoked mass protests in the UK, with millions signing a petition to ban him from the country Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump cited a non-existent terror attack in Sweden during a campaign rally Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump stands accused of stoking regional tensions in Eastern Asia Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons North Korea has launched a number of failed nuclear tests since Mr Trump took power Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Theresa May formally rejected the petition calling for Mr Trump to be banned from the UK Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons When Mr Trump's initial so-called Muslim ban was struck down by a federal justice, the President mocked the 69-year-old as a "ridiculous", "so-called judge" Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons A week after his inauguration, Theresa May met with Mr Trump at the White House Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first days in office were marked by a hasty attempt to follow through on many of his campaign promises, including the so-called Muslim ban Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's decision to ban citizens of many majority-Muslim countries from the US sparked mass protests Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Revelations about Donald Trump's sexual improprieties were not enough to keep him from being elected President Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons British PM Theresa May was criticised by many in the press for cosying up to the new President Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons One of Mr Trump's top aides, Kelly Anne Conway, was mocked for describing mistruths as "alternative facts" Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons British PM Theresa May was quick to demonstrate that her political aims did not hugely differ from Mr Trump's Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's inauguration, on 20 January 2017, sparked protests both at home and abroad

The lawsuit urged the court to issue an order overturning the indefinite stay and compel the EPA to reinstate all the Effluent Limitation Guidelines.

Pete Harrison, an attorney for Waterkeeper Alliance, said: These standards would have tackled the biggest source of toxic water pollution in the country, and now the Trump EPA is trying to toss them out. Its indefensible.

The EPA didnt even pretend to seek public input before ploughing ahead with this rollback that could allow millions of pounds of preventable toxic pollution to go into our water.


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President Donald Trump will visit Israel, the Vatican and Saudi Arabia in his first foreign trip as president this month, the White House as confirmed. The visits come in addition to the president's previously scheduled trip to Europe.

Senior White House officials said the purpose of the visit is to fight radicalisation in the area, while furthering US trade and development interests.

The presidents first stop will be Saudi Arabia, where he will visit the Two Holy Mosques and speak with Muslim leaders.

The president hosted Saudi Arabia's Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in March, at which time the crown prince called Mr Trump as a true friend of Muslims. Mr Trump has accused Saudi Arabia of not treating the US fairly in the fight against ISIS.

We are losing a tremendous amount of money in defending Saudi Arabia," he said.

Senior White House officials described Saudi Arabian leaders as eager to work with the US on fighting radicalisation and containing Iran.

10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Show all 10 1 /10 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In October 2014, three lawyers, Dr Abdulrahman al-Subaihi, Bander al-Nogaithan and Abdulrahman al-Rumaih , were sentenced to up to eight years in prison for using Twitter to criticize the Ministry of Justice. AFP/Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In March 2015, Yemens Sunni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was forced into exile after a Shia-led insurgency. A Saudi Arabia-led coalition has responded with air strikes in order to reinstate Mr Hadi. It has since been accused of committing war crimes in the country. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Women who supported the Women2Drive campaign, launched in 2011 to challenge the ban on women driving vehicles, faced harassment and intimidation by the authorities. The government warned that women drivers would face arrest. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Members of the Kingdoms Shia minority, most of whom live in the oil-rich Eastern Province, continue to face discrimination that limits their access to government services and employment. Activists have received death sentences or long prison terms for their alleged participation in protests in 2011 and 2012. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses All public gatherings are prohibited under an order issued by the Interior Ministry in 2011. Those defy the ban face arrest, prosecution and imprisonment on charges such as inciting people against the authorities. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses In March 2014, the Interior Ministry stated that authorities had deported over 370,000 foreign migrants and that 18,000 others were in detention. Thousands of workers were returned to Somalia and other states where they were at risk of human rights abuses, with large numbers also returned to Yemen, in order to open more jobs to Saudi Arabians. Many migrants reported that prior to their deportation they had been packed into overcrowded makeshift detention facilities where they received little food and water and were abused by guards. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses The Saudi Arabian authorities continue to deny access to independent human rights organisations like Amnesty International, and they have been known to take punitive action, including through the courts, against activists and family members of victims who contact Amnesty. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Raif Badawi was sentenced to 1000 lashes and 10 years in prison for using his liberal blog to criticise Saudi Arabias clerics. He has already received 50 lashes, which have reportedly left him in poor health. Carsten Koall/Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Dawood al-Marhoon was arrested aged 17 for participating in an anti-government protest. After refusing to spy on his fellow protestors, he was tortured and forced to sign a blank document that would later contain his confession. At Dawoods trial, the prosecution requested death by crucifixion while refusing him a lawyer. Getty Images 10 examples of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was arrested in 2012 aged either 16 or 17 for participating in protests during the Arab spring. His sentence includes beheading and crucifixion. The international community has spoken out against the punishment and has called on Saudi Arabia to stop. He is the nephew of a prominent government dissident. Getty

The president will then travel to Israel, where Mr Trump has a largely positive relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The prime minister has praised Mr Trumps military aggression in Syria, and called his actions a "great change in the direction of American policy." Mr Netanyahu had a strained relationship with former President Barack Obama.

At a recent meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Mr Trump said he was "committed" to working with Israel and the Palestinians to reach a peace agreement.

"Let's see if we can find the solution, Trump said during a luncheon with Mr Abbas and his advisors. It's something that, I think, is, frankly, maybe not as difficult as people have thought over the years.

Officials did not comment on the status of Mr Trumps controversial campaign pledge to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The president will finish his visit with what White House officials called a historic trip to the Vatican. Mr Trump has expressed interest several times in meeting with the Pope, and Vatican spokesman Greg Burke told AFP that they would "welcome" a request for an official audience.

The president previously announced that he would travel to Brussels, Belgium for a Nato meeting on 25 May. He also told Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni he would attend the G7 summit in Sicily, taking place the next day.

The White House had remained silent on Mr Trumps additional travel plans until now.
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Donald Trump held a press conference with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and said his administration will get it done regarding a peace agreement with Israel.

Mr Trump said he had always heard "this was the toughest deal to make, lets prove them wrong.

This was the first face-to-face meeting with a US president for Mr Abbas, who has low popularity ratings in Palestine at the moment.

Mr Trump said that Mr Abbas was present for the first peace agreement signed between Israel and Palestine and wants to be the US president that has Mr Abbas sign the last agreement between the two parties.

He noted that no agreement can be imposed by the US or any other nation but said he would love to be a mediator, arbitrator, or facilitator for the peace process.

Mr Trump has tasked his son-in-law Jared Kushner to help though the former real estate professional has no discernable foreign policy experience.

The meeting is expected to be tense, as the Los Angeles Times described it.

Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Show all 33 1 /33 Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first 100 days in office were marred by a string of scandals, many of which caught the eye of the Independent's cartoonists Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Trump's first 100 days have seen him aggressively ramp up tensions with his nuclear rivals in North Korea Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has warned of a "major, major conflict" with the pariah nation lead by Kim Jong Un Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump dropped the "mother of all bombs" on alleged ISIS-linked militants in Afghanistan, amid an escalation of US military intervention around the globe Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has been accused of falling short of the standards set by his predecessors in the Oval Office, including Franklin D Roosevelt Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The tycoon's ascension to the White House came at a time when the balance of power is shifting away from Western nations like those in the G7 group Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Western politicians, including the British Conservative party, have been accused of falling in line behind Mr Trump's proposals Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Brexit is seen to have weakened Britain, reducing still further any political will to resist American leadership Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump's leadership has been marked by sudden and unexpected shifts in global policy Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Trump's controversial missile strike on Syria, which killed several citizens, was seen by some analysts as an attempt to distract from his policy elsewhere Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The President has also spent a large majority of his weekends golfing, rather than attending to matters of state Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Though free of gaffes, a visit from Chinese president Xi Jinping spotlighted trade tensions between the two states Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons One major and unexpected setback came when Mr Trump's Healthcare Bill was struck down by members of his own party Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Mr Trump has been a figure of fun in the media, with his approval at record lows Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons A string of revelations about Mr Trump's financial indiscretions did not mar his surge to the White House Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Outgoing President Barack Obama was accused of wiretapping Trump Tower by his successor in America's highest office Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The alleged involvement of Russian intelligence operatives in securing Mr Trump the presidency prompted harsh criticism Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons The explosive resignation of Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who lied about his links to the Russian ambassador, was just one scandal to hit the President Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Many scandals, such as the accusation Barack Obama was implicated in phone-hacking, first broke on Mr Trump's Twitter feed Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's election provoked mass protests in the UK, with millions signing a petition to ban him from the country Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump cited a non-existent terror attack in Sweden during a campaign rally Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump stands accused of stoking regional tensions in Eastern Asia Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons North Korea has launched a number of failed nuclear tests since Mr Trump took power Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Theresa May formally rejected the petition calling for Mr Trump to be banned from the UK Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons When Mr Trump's initial so-called Muslim ban was struck down by a federal justice, the President mocked the 69-year-old as a "ridiculous", "so-called judge" Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons A week after his inauguration, Theresa May met with Mr Trump at the White House Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's first days in office were marked by a hasty attempt to follow through on many of his campaign promises, including the so-called Muslim ban Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's decision to ban citizens of many majority-Muslim countries from the US sparked mass protests Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Revelations about Donald Trump's sexual improprieties were not enough to keep him from being elected President Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons British PM Theresa May was criticised by many in the press for cosying up to the new President Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons One of Mr Trump's top aides, Kelly Anne Conway, was mocked for describing mistruths as "alternative facts" Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons British PM Theresa May was quick to demonstrate that her political aims did not hugely differ from Mr Trump's Donald Trump's first 100 days: in cartoons Donald Trump's inauguration, on 20 January 2017, sparked protests both at home and abroad

In late December 2016 during the waning moments of the Obama administration, the UN Security Council passed a resolution condemning Israel's settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Mr Abbas allegedly played a role in pushing the vote through and members of Mr Trumps team have not forgotten it, according to the LA Times.

Despite that, Mr Abbas was almost effusive in his faith in Mr Trump, saying that the Palestinian people are capable, under your stewardship...and great negotiating ability to be true partners with the US.

He was also clear that Palestine wants a two-state solution, a long-held US stance that Mr Trump was open to changing earlier this year. US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, and other officials clarified that the US is committed to a two-state solution.

The Palestinian leader said he hoped to resolve the problem of refugees and prisoners with regards to international law in whatever agreement may be signed.

One of Mr Trumps requests during the private meeting will likely be that Palestine stops paying the families of those who carry out terrorist attacks against Israel.

Mr Trump also said the two leaders would discuss economic opportunities for the people of Palestine through private sector development in the region, but that no lasting peace would be achieved unless Palestinian leaders speak in a unified voice.

The two also spoke of defeating terror group Isis and general counter-terrorism efforts in the region.
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More than 8,000 people in Flint have been told they could lose both their water supply and even their homes, if they continue to refuse to pay bills for polluted water provided by the Michigan city.

The residents have been sent water shutoff notices and threats that the city will take financial possession of their homes until they pay their water bills  or forever if they cannot make payments on looming deadlines. The city says the threat of taking financial control of property, known as a tax lien, is necessary because it is not bringing in enough money from its water utility. But that very same government, which serves one of the nations poorest cities, is still pumping dirty water through the tap after receiving close scrutiny for having dangerously high levels of lead in their drinking water.

Melissa Mays, a mother and Flint resident who started the advocacy group Water You Fighting For, said that when she began seeing water shutoff notices months ago, she and her husband determined that they would simply let the utility shut off their water and they would begin living solely on bottled water.

Her family has already stopped doing laundry at home, cooking with tap water, and has begun limiting their showers to seven minutes because the water is so toxic. They still don't drink the water because the filters grow bacteria, she said.

She is now scrambling to pay an $891 bill by May 19 and will have to miss house and car payments to keep their home.

Some of her neighbours have simply decided they'll have to walk away from their homes. Others don't know what they're going to do. Ms Mays said there's a sense of panic in Flint.

 Sanders talks Flint water crisis during Michigan rally

City officials say that they have no choice but to take the strong measures. The state of Michigan stopped subsidising Flint's water in March after the state Department of Environmental Quality found Flint's lead levels tested within federal limits. That subsidy paid $40m to pay for roughly two-thirds of the residents' water bills.

"We have to have revenue coming in, so we can't give people revenue, I mean excuse me, give people water at the tap and not get revenue coming in to pay those bills," Al Mooney, a representative with the city's Treasury Department, told a NBC.

In pictures: Flint water crisis Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: Flint water crisis In pictures: Flint water crisis Anthony Fordham picks up bottled water from the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan to deliver to a school after elevated lead levels were found in the city's water in Flint Reuters In pictures: Flint water crisis Michigan National Guard Staff Sergeant William Phillips (L) assists a Flint resident with bottled water at a fire station in Flint Reuters In pictures: Flint water crisis Flint residents Arthur Woodson, left, and Tony Palladino Jr. protest the arrival of Flint native and filmmaker Michael Moore as Moore accuses Gov.Rick Snyder of poisoning Flint water during a rally outside of city hall in Flint AP In pictures: Flint water crisis Flint residents pick up bottled water and water filters at a fire station in Flint. Michigan National Guard members were set to arrive in Flint to join door-to-door efforts to distribute bottled water and other supplies to residents coping with the city's crisis over lead-contaminated drinking water Reuters In pictures: Flint water crisis Soldiers from the Michigan Army National Guard Flint prepare to give Flint residents bottled water at a fire station in Flint Getty Images In pictures: Flint water crisis Justin Roberson (L), age 6, of Flint, Michigan and Mychal Adams, age 1, of Flint wait on a stack of bottled water at a rally where the Rev. Jesse Jackson was speaking about about the water crises at the Heavenly Host Baptist Church in Flint Getty Images In pictures: Flint water crisis A man sits next to a stack of bottled water at the Heavenly Host Baptist Church in Flint 2016 Getty Images In pictures: Flint water crisis The top of a water tower is seen at the Flint Water Plant. President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Michigan and ordered federal aid to be used to help state and local response efforts to an area affected by contaminated water Reuters In pictures: Flint water crisis Rosie Wright, center, rallies with the crowd over Flint's water crisis in Ann Arbor, Michigan AP In pictures: Flint water crisis Rick Catherman participates in a rally around Flint's water crisis in Ann Arbor, Michigan AP

The City of Flint made national headlines in 2015 after testing showed elevated levels of lead in the citys drinking water. The water had seen a spike in lead levels after staff in charge of switching the citys water supply from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to a different provider to save money failed to follow proper anti-corrosion protocol.

Because the water wasn't treated properly, ageing service lines leading to homes in the city began to release lead. Soon after the switch, Flint residents began complaining about the smell and colour of the water coming out of their taps.

Those complaints preceded nearly a year of mixed messages coming from city officials and studies of the water before a lead advisory was issued, and, later, the declaration of a state emergency by Governor Rick Snyder and former President Barack Obama. Fallout from the crisis has led to at least four officials being charged with felonies for false pretences and conspiracies, an award of $100m to the city from the EPA to upgrade infrastructure, and a $97m federal class action lawsuit settlement that requires the state of Michigan to replace lead or galvanised steel water lines.
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The US Air Force has intercepted advanced Russian fighter jets escorting Cold War-era bombers near Alaska for the first time.

Two Russian SU-35 fighter jets were seen by two F-22 stealth fighter jets escorting two Russian Bear bombers in Alaskas Air Defence Zone about 50 miles southwest of Chariot, Alaska. The Russian formation stayed in international air space and were unarmed, officials told Fox News.

Russia has been sending aircraft into the area recently after a lengthy dry spell. Russian bombers were spotted in the area over four consecutive days last month, the first time since 2014.

Relations between the US and Russia have been strained recently. US President Donald Trump said last month that the relationship was at an all-time low. Even so, Mr Trump spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone Wednesday. A readout following the conversation described it as a very good one. The White House indicated the two had talked about the situations in Syria and North Korea. Russian provocation were not mentioned.

The White House announced in the readout that they will be sending a representative to Kazakhstan on May 3 and 4 to participate in cease-fire talks for Syria. Two two presidents discussed implementing safe zones in Syria for "humanitarian and other reasons." Russia and the US have been divided on several fronts including what approach is appropriate in Syria, Russia's annexation of Ukraine, and Moscow's interference in the 2016 election that saw Mr Trump ascend to the presidency.

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

That division has pushed Mr Trump to modify some of his most controversial positions. After a meeting between US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Putin that failed to resolve differences on those issues, Mr Trump reversed course on his assessment of NATO and said that it was "no longer obsolete."
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The House of Representatives will vote on Donald Trump's revised healthcare bill on Thursday, Republican leaders have announced, suggesting they that have secured enough support for it to pass.

The US leader, who repeatedly promised to repeal and replace Obamacare during his presidential campaign, suffered a major setback after a vote on an earlier version of the American Health Care Act was dramatically cancelled at the last minute when it failed to gain enough support from members of his own party.

Keen to score his first major legislative win since taking office in January, Mr Trump has been personally engaged in building support among fellow Republicans in the House of Representatives.

The bill, which has been vehemently opposed by the Democrats, would require 216, all Republican, votes to pass.

Congressmen Billy Long and Frank Upton are among those who have flipped their vote to 'yes'. The pair said Mr Trump has endorsed their plan to add $8bn (6.2bn) over five years to help cover the cost for people with pre-existing illnesses.

Mr Long is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, one of the the groups in charge of healthcare policy. Mr Upton, a former chairman of that committee, said that the bill is now likely to pass in the House, but added that he is not on the whip team, so he cant know for sure.

They had previously withdrawn their support for the Obamacare repeal after the addition of the MacArthur Amendment, which would have allowed states to drop the guarantee that pre-existing conditions would be covered. The incorporation of that provision helped Republican leadership in the House gain the endorsement of the Freedom Caucus  a group of roughly three dozen conservative hardliners who demanded that the new law repeal more of Obamacares insurance mandates.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Vice President Mike Pence was on Capitol Hill to meet with politicians about healthcare and the rest of the presidents legislative agenda.

Meanwhile, congressional Democratic leadership said the addition of Mr Long's and Mr Upton's amendment does not actually improve the quality of the bill. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called it a very sad, deadly joke.

What you would need is probably about $200 billion over 10 years. What theyve done is $8 billion over five years, she said at a press conference outside her office in the Capitol. If you divide that by the number of people who have a pre-existing medical condition, you get about [$200 or $300] a year.

Even if the bill passes the House, it faces an uphill battle in the Senate, where Republican leader Mitch McConnell has repeatedly said that if the House passes a healthcare bill, the Senate would work on one, but that it would be difficult.
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Donald Trump's administration is planning to ask people applying for visas to live and work in the US, to let officials review five years worth of social media posts.

The State Department will also ask email addresses and phone numbers, plus 15 years worth of work and travel history and the names and dates of birth for immediate family members

The enhanced screening questions will be part of the President s crackdown on immigration. They would only apply to individuals who have been identified for extra security, like people who have travelled to countries and areas with known terrorist organisations.

The new policy would not ask for social media passwords or access to personal computers, though Mr Trump has called for that as recently as last month. The State Department posted the proposed new questions in the Federal Register and asked for public comments.

The new protocols would apply to roughly 65,000 people per year, which accounts for about 0.5 percent of visa applicants worldwide, according to State Department estimates. The department did not elaborate on which countries specifically would be flagged for the new standards of questioning but noted that foreign posts would get to weigh in.

Immigration lawyers and advocates say that the measures may gum up the entry process for immigrants who simply cant remember their past social media handles, for example. Plus, the new standards of review would take a lot more time with questionable merit for catching terrorists.

The more effective tactics are the methods that we currently use to monitor terrorist organisations, not just stumbling into the terrorist who is dumb enough to post on his Facebook page I am going to blow something up in the United States, John Sandweg, a former senior official at the Department of Homeland Security, told Reuters.

Mr Trumps administration has repeatedly attempted to limit travel from individuals entering the United States from Muslim countries after having called for an outright ban on Muslim entry into the states during his campaign. Mr Trump attempted twice during his first 100 days in office to implement a travel ban but was thwarted both times by federal judges. The second ban would have barred citizens of Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya.
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Venezuelan security forces battled protesters who lit fires and hurled stones on Wednesday in rage at President Nicolas Maduro's decree to create an alternative congress, with another fatality taking the death toll to 34 during a month of unrest.

In a familiar pattern in protests against the socialist government, thousands of opposition supporters rallied peacefully at first before being blocked, sparking fights around the city between masked youths and soldiers.

One 17-year-old protester died in the melee from an object that hit him in the neck, said Gerardo Blyde, a district mayor for the opposition.

A young man with all his life ahead. He simply fought for a better country, Blyde said on Twitter of the case which the Venezuelan state prosecutor's office said it would investigate.

More than 200 people were injured as fights raged in various parts of the capital, Blyde and another opposition mayor said.

Marchers tried to reach the National Assembly legislature, where the opposition has a majority, to protest Maduro's creation of an alternative popular congress viewed by foes as a ruse to dodge free elections and cling to power.

They were pushed back by National Guard troops with tear gas, armoured vehicles and riot shields on the Francisco Fajardo highway, which runs through the middle of the city.

They are mobilised as if this was a war, said opposition leader Henrique Capriles, broadcasting from the scene via the Periscope app favoured by protest leaders.

On the opposition side, youths donned gas masks and bandanas, throwing Molotov cocktails and using slingshots to fire stones. They protected themselves with homemade shields, painted in bright colours and decorated with slogans like Liberty! and Murderer Maduro!

An armoured police vehicle is hit by petrol bombs thrown by opposition supporters while clashing with riot police during a rally (Marco Bello/Reuters)

Local media published footage showing two protesters being knocked over by a National Guard vehicle. Both survived.

With demonstrators erecting barricades and police helicopters whirring overhead, at least three opposition lawmakers were injured, activists said. An injury by the dictatorship is a badge of honour, tweeted First Justice legislator Freddy Guevara, who said he was hit by a tear gas canister.

Opposition leaders have vowed to stay in the streets after Maduro's announcement on Monday that he was creating the constituent assembly which is empowered to rewrite the constitution.

It's a tool to avoid free elections. We've been marching 18 years but this is our last card. It's all or nothing, said pensioner Miren Bilbao, 66, with friends and family on the Francisco Fajardo highway.

While the opposition was keeping up momentum, it was unclear how the protests could achieve their aims after demonstrations in 2014 failed to dislodge Maduro. Back then, however, the opposition was splintered, protests failed to spread to poor areas and the economy was in better shape.

Maduro, 54, the former bus driver who narrowly won election to replace Hugo Chavez in 2013, says his foes are seeking a violent coup with the connivance of the United States and encouragement of international media.

Officials say violence around the protests, and the opposition's unwillingness to hold talks, left Maduro with no choice but to shake up Venezuela's governing apparatus.

During a meeting with election officials on Wednesday, Maduro said a vote for the new assembly would take place in coming weeks. At least half of the members would be chosen by grassroots groups including workers, indigenous people and farmers, and the rest in a vote, Maduro has said, although details remained fuzzy.

Opposition supporters clash with riot police (Marco Bello/Reuters)

The new constituent process starting today will consolidate the Republic and bring to the nation the peace that we all deserve, he said, clutching a pocket-size blue constitution and later dancing to the beat of drums.

The Republic must defend itself from terrorism, he added, joining supporters in a rally downtown after presenting his plans to the national election board, which backed the move.

The opposition is seeking to hold state gubernatorial elections delayed from 2016 and bring forward the 2018 presidential vote amid a devastating economic crisis.

It says Maduro's use of a constituent assembly is a cynical ploy to confuse citizens into thinking he has made concessions when in fact he is seeking to tweak the system to avoid elections the Socialist Party would likely lose.

Maduro's move has drawn condemnation from the United States and some Latin American countries, including regional powerhouse Brazil that labelled it a coup.

An influential group of US senators filed sweeping legislation on Wednesday to address the crisis in Venezuela, including sanctioning individuals responsible for undermining democracy or involved in corruption.

But backing has come from regional leftist allies including Cuba. Bolivia's President Evo Morales said Venezuela had the right to decide its future... without external intervention.

On top of the latest death on Wednesday, officials announced four more fatalities on Tuesday.

Opposition supporters brandishing shields and smoke bombs on the streets of Caracas (Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)

Two people died when a vehicle tried to avoid a protester barricade in the state of Carabobo, Venezuela's Civil Protection agency tweeted late on Tuesday.

Angel Moreira, 28, who was on a motorbike on a highway leading out of Caracas, also died after a vehicle ran him over while trying to avoid a demonstration, the state prosecutor's office said on Wednesday.

In addition, the office said Yonathan Quintero, 21, had been killed while a group was damaging a business after a protest in the Carabobo state capital of Valencia.

Energy Minister Luis Motta said late on Tuesday a right-wing terrorist plan to paralyse the country had cut a submarine cable that provided electricity to the palm-tree-studded Caribbean island of Margarita, plunging it into darkness.

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 president of state oil company PDVSA, Eulogio Del Pino, said terrorists had captured a company tanker truck in the western state of Lara, tweeting pictures of it in flames.

The opposition scoffs that an inept government blames Maduro critics as a smokescreen for rampant crime and lack of maintenance that have Venezuela's infrastructure creaking.

Copyright Reuters
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Japan rejects more than 99 per cent of refugees attempting to claim asylum in the country, accepting only 28 people in 2016.

That was an increase of one person on 2015s refugee intake. The country approved a further 97 people for Japanese residence on humanitarian grounds last year.

Japan saw its highest ever number of applicants for refugee status in 2016, at 10,901, an increase of 3,315 compared to the previous year.

Refugee advocates have argued Japan  which has one of the wealthiest economies in the world - has a humanitarian duty to do more, especially given its shrinking population.

Japan is a highly homogenous society and has traditionally been sceptical of immigration.

"Here they do not pay for your studies, they do not help you to get bank loans, or give you social housing, one of Japans few refugees told AFP anonymously. We are left to ourselves, we have to fight alone."

She added: For us with our black skin, it is a bit difficult. Sometimes when I sit on the train, some Japanese switch seats."

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

Around 30 per cent of migrants living in the country said they were abused for being foreign, according to a government survey.

But Japans population is ageing rapidly and is predicted to fall by 40 million by 2060, to 87 million people. The population is currently 127 million.

"Japan has kept a mindset of closing doors to foreigners as it is an island nation that until recently had ample population," Hidenori Sakanaka, a former Justice Ministry official who heads a pro-immigration think tank, told AFP.

Government officials say most asylum applications are rejected because the migrants are actually trying to get into Japan for economic reasons, rather than escaping conflict.
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A tourist has been attacked by a Komodo dragon in Indonesia.

Lon Lee Alle, from Singapore, was severely injured by a bite to his left leg, witnesses said.

The 50-year-old backpacker was reportedly visiting Komodo National Park in East Nusa Tenggara, the country's southernmost province, when the incident occurred on Wednesday.

Mr Alle was watching several of the large lizards eating pigs and goats belonging to villagers when he approached the animals to take photographs, according to local media.

He reportedly ignored repeat warnings from villagers that he should not get too close to the dangerous creatures.

He must have been too close. A Komodo doesnt like to be disturbed when eating, park manager Sudiyono told The Jakarta Post.

Mr Alle was rescued by villagers and rushed to hospital on a military speed boat.

This is the first incident of a human being bitten by a Komodo dragon in the past five years, said Mr Sudiyono.

He added that the Singaporean had stayed with locals for three days before the incident to save money.

He said the incident occurred outside of the area set aside for tourists to observe Komodos.

I also appeal to all tourists to take guides with you when wandering around to see Komodo dragons," he told journalists. "Never risk your safety by staying with locals and watching Komodos without an official guide only for the sake of your budget."

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

Komodo dragons are the largest species of lizard in the world and are found living in the wild only on a handful of small and remote Indonesian islands.

Every year tens of thousands of visitors travel to Komodo National Park to see the rare animals, which are closely related to the smaller, commoner monitor lizard.

Komodos can grow up to three metres in length and are strong enough to hunt and kill water buffalo.

It is often claimed that Komodos have a venomous bite; the animals have two glands in the lower jaw which secrete toxic proteins. It is believed these can cause bite wounds to become infected, gradually killing injured prey that escapes an initial attack.
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North Korea is building up islands in the Yellow Sea and may be preparing them for installation of military hardware, analysts have claimed.

A string of islands near the Sohae satellite launching station, north-west of Pyongyang, have been beefed up with buildings, extra concrete areas and wide roads over a period of several years, according to reports.

Sohae has been used to launch satellite-bearing rockets but also, earlier this year, to test a new engine for an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Analysts suggested construction work on the nearby islands, some of which are linked to the mainland by causeways, may allow North Korea to launch missiles there or install defensive anti-aircraft weaponry. Some of the islands may have been built from scratch, it is thought.

A researcher from the Strategic Sentinel geospatial analysis company, writing in The Diplomat, said drawing definitive conclusions was difficult because evidence is limited.

They said: "An offensive ballistic missile deployment makes little sense, and the available pictures are missing some of the infrastructure indicative of one.

"An air defence deployment makes more sense, but there still isnt enough evidence to support the presence of necessary infrastructure.

"A third option, that some of the structures pictured are missile silos, would make some logistical and strategic sense, and the surface-level infrastructure does look quite similar."

The sites may be intended for dual civilian and military use.

Strategic Sentinel's chief executive, Ryan Barenklau, told the LA Times: "They have observation areas for someone like Kim Jong-un to observe a missile launch.

"Every time we see VIP buildings, that tells us theres most likely a military application, because Kim Jong-un likes to view the operations of whatever theyre building."

In pictures: North Korea military drill Show all 8 1 /8 In pictures: North Korea military drill In pictures: North Korea military drill North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un watches a military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) is seen in this handout photo by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) is seen in this handout photo by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill This image made from video of still images broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea's KRT, shows what was said to be a 'Combined Fire Demonstration' held to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the North Korean army, in Wonsan, North Korea. KRT via AP Video In pictures: North Korea military drill This image made from video of still images broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea's KRT, shows what was said to be a 'Combined Fire Demonstration' held to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the North Korean army, in Wonsan, North Korea. KRT via AP Video In pictures: North Korea military drill This image made from video of still images broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea's KRT, shows what was said to be a 'Combined Fire Demonstration' held to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the North Korean army, in Wonsan, North Korea. KRT via AP Video

It comes as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced his country had prepared new sanctions against the North.

He said the US would take action against countries failing to fully implement existing United Nations penalties on doing business with Pyongyang.

The Donald Trump administration has urged China, North Korea's only major ally, to do more to rein in its neighbour's nuclear and missile programmes, warning that the "era of strategic patience" is over.

China called on all parties in the Korean standoff to remain calm and "stop irritating each other". It followed military exercises by both North and South Korea, as well as the US, after a period of tense rhetoric.

Mr Trump has said he would be willing to meet Mr Kim and Mr Tillerson signalled Washington was seeking diplomatic talks to curb Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

Additional reporting by agencies
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Barack Obama has endorsed French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron in a video released by the frontrunner's camp.

The former US president said in a 70-second message: "The French election is very important to the future of France and the values that we care so much about.

"[Mr Macron] has stood up for liberal values. He put forward a vision for the important role that France plays in Europe and around the world.

"He appeals to people's hopes, and not their fears. I know that you face many challenges and I want all of my friends in France to know how much I am rooting for your success."

In the final TV debate before Sunday's second-round ballot, Mr Macron labelled his opponent, the National Front's Marine Le Pen, the "high priestess of fear".

In turn she called him a "darling of the system" and said he was "complacent" on extremism.

Mr Macron has accused the far-right Ms Le Pen of spreading lies by suggesting he had an undisclosed offshore fund.

His party said it was taking legal action after an internet campaign suggested shortly before the debate on Wednesday night that he had concealed funds in a foreign tax haven. Mr Macron himself denied the allegation.
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French presidential candidates Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron traded accusations and insults as they clashed over their vision of France's future, the euro and ways of fighting terrorism in an ill-tempered television debate.

Millions of viewers tuned in to watch the head-to-head between centrist candidate Mr Macron and the far-right leader.

While Mr Macron claimed his opponent was unworthy of holding the French presidency, Ms Le Pen accused her rival of groveling in front of big banks, the EU and sectarianism.

For Ms Le Pen, the two-and-a-half hour debate was a last major chance to persuade voters of the merits of her programme, which includes cracking down on illegal immigration, ditching the euro and holding a referendum on EU membership.

However, 63 per cent of viewers found Mr Macron more convincing than Ms Le Pen in the debate, according to a snap opinion poll by Elabe for BFMTV, reinforcing his status as favourite to win.

With just a small, two-and-a-half metre long table separating them, the pair sparred over globalisation, the economy, security and the European Union.

As he aimed to show his knowledge on a number of issues on the economy and the labour market, Mr Macron repeatedly told Ms Le Pen to stop saying idiocies and lies and he accused her of not having a serious programme and making no propositions whatsoever - calling her "the high priestess of fear".

His opponent meanwhile, played up his links with current president Francois Hollande, and she highlighted his former role as minister of the economy, as she sought to portray him as more of the same.

Accusing Mr Macron of being a darling of the system in her opening statement, she said he wanted to turn France into a trading floor.

"I'm the candidate of purchasing power," she told the former investment banker: "You are the candidate of buying up France."

She went on to accuse Mr Macron of being complacent on Islamic extremism, as she sought to portray herself as strong on security  one of the issues which has dominated the campaign.

She suggested Mr Macron was "waiting for an attack" rather than taking proactive measures.

Mr Macron replied that Ms Le Pen would lead France to civil war and give in to what Islamist extremists want by creating fear and infringing on the rights of Muslim residents.

 French Election: Macron and Le Pen to fight for presidency

Insisting he would make terrorism a priority and fight it on every front including on the internet, he added that closing the borders would not help to tackle the issue.

Ms Le Pen accused Mr Macron of European extremism and of seeking German Chancellor Angela Merkels blessing.

France will be steered by a woman, it will be me or it will be Ms Merkel, she said.

Mr Macron said his rival was proposing an exit from history and said he would build a strong euro and a strong european politic to serve the interest of France.

On international relations, Mr Macron gave a hand to US President Donald Trump saying he will continue to work with the US and that France needs a strong cooperation [with the US] to ensure its security.

The former leader of the Front National said she will be best placed to hold talks with Russia, the US and Mr Trump and the UK as it prepares to leave the EU.

Ms Le Pen used her conclusion to tear apart Mr Macron's programme once more. In turn, he criticised her attitude, telling her: France deserves better than you. As time ran out she got in the last word - calling Mr Macron "Hollande's project".

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

While there were two moderators  journalists Christophe Jakubyszyn and Nathalie Saint-Cricq  they mostly allowed the debate to flow and at times struggled to be heard over the bickering of the two candidates.

Observers on social media reacted to the lack of authority of the journalists in the television studio.

Michelle ONeill tweeted: The moderators cannot cope. Benjamin D showed compassion for the journalists and tweeted: Courage Nathalie. Llowett said: Journalistes useless #rip #2017LeDebat.

This was the first time a candidate from the Front National has ever been debated head-to-head in a presidential debate.

In 2002, when Jean-Marie Le Pen faced conservative Jacques Chirac in the second round of the election, Mr Chirac refused to take part in a TV debate.

For the first time since 1981, both candidates also agreed to be filmed when they were not speaking, meaning neither had a moment to relax in what to proved to be a relentless two-and-a-half hour snapshot of this extraordinary campaign as a whole.
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Germanys domestic intelligence agency expects new cyber attacks targeting politicians and government officials ahead of federal elections.

Hans-Georg Maassen, head of the BfV agency, said spies are keeping a very close watch on threats as the country gears up for Septembers vote.

We expect further attacks, and we are keeping a very close watch on the threats, Mr Maassen told a cyber security conference in Potsdam.

We are finding increasingly aggressive cyber espionage.

He said his agency had detected and foiled repeated email phishing attacks directed at Angela Merkels conservative CDU/CSU party, and other attempts targeting politicians and institutions.

The Chancellor is bidding for a fourth term in office amid record levels of politically-motivated crime in Germany, where tensions over the refugee crisis, immigration and a string of Isis-linked terror attacks are running high.

The head of Germany's domestic intelligence service, Hans-Georg Maassen, takes part in the Potsdam Conference on National Cybersecurity on 4 May (EPA)

Large amounts of data were seized during a previous attack on the Bundestag in May 2015, which was blamed on Russian hacking group APT28, and there are fears the information could now be used to influence the vote.

Mr Maassen also warned of a disinformation campaign, citing false stories on the rape of a German-Russian girl called Lisa that were spread by Russian media alongside several other prominent incidents of fake news.

He also highlighted emails sent to Lithuanian authorities accusing German soldiers deployed to the country of rape, which sparked an investigation finding the alleged incident did not take place.

The email address where they originated disappeared and authorities were attempting to track the culprit through their IP address.

Mr Maassen claimed it would ultimately be up the Kremlin to decide whether cyber attacks would continue, saying German officials were on high alert given recent assaults on the US military by Russian hackers and reports by American intelligence officials on interference in the Presidential election.

Our counterpart [in Russia] is trying to generate information that can be used for disinformation or for influence operations, he said.

Whether they do it or not is a political decision...that I assume will be made in the Kremlin.

Bruno Kahl, head of Germanys BND foreign intelligence agency, said there was increasing evidence that a state actor stands behind cyber attacks, adding: For such attacks, state resources are needed.

 Hillary Clinton: Vladimir Putin helped 'influence' the election

Attempts have increased over recent months, he added, calling for intensified cooperation between international intelligence agencies.

Mr Kahl first warned that Germanys upcoming federal elections could be the target of disruption in November, adding: The perpetrators have an interest in delegitimising the democratic process as such  whomever that later helps.

I have the impression that the outcome of the American election isn't causing mourning in Russia so far.

The allegations are among several issues driving worsening relations between Russia and the West, as well as the wars in Syria and Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin dismissed accusations of aiding Mr Trumps campaign as unproven rumours used for internal politics during a tense press conference with Ms Merkel on Tuesday.

We never interfere in other countries politics and we want no one to meddle in ours, the Russian President said in response to a question from a German journalist.

Unfortunately, we have seen the opposite happening for years. We have seen attempts to influence political processes in Russia through the so-called NGOs and directly.

Realising the futility of such efforts, it has never occurred to us to interfere.

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

There is also concern over potential meddling in the French presidential election, where Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen will face off in the final vote on Sunday.

Mr Macron has launched legal action over fake news stories brought up by his adversary in a television debate that falsely claim he has an offshore bank account in the Bahamas.

The Paris prosecutors office said no one was named in Mr Macrons complaint, which has triggered an inquiry into the suspected spread of false stories aimed at influencing the election.

Theresa May has also accused foreign powers of attempting to influence the UKs snap general election, although her allegations were levelled at the EU itself.

Britain's negotiating position in Europe has been misrepresented in the continental press, the Prime Minister said, in a reference to a German newspaper's account of her dinner with the EU Commission chief.

"The European Commission's negotiating stance has hardened. Threats against Britain have been issued by European politicians and officials.

"All of these acts have been deliberately timed to affect the result of the general election that will take place on 8 June."

The European Commission hit back at the claims, with a spokesperson saying it was too busy with policy work to make such an attempt.

Russias embassy in London reacted gleefully to the row, tweeting a news article with the caption: Praise God it's not Russia this time."
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A Norwegian village has been overrun by tourists looking for a famous cliff because of a mistake in Google Maps.

Confused travellers have been turning up in Fossmork looking for the famous Preikestolen cliff - over 18 miles away. Queues of minibuses have also lined up outside the village.

Resident Helge Fossmark said at certain times of the year dozens of cars arrive in a day.

We have sent hundreds of tourists away in no uncertainty that theyre on the wrong side of the fjord. In the summer season up to 10-15 cars show up each day, Mr Fossmark told the Stavanger Aftenblad newspaper.

Another local resident, Gunnar Be, said they get to speak to tourists from all over the world.

When we are in the cabin, sometimes two, three, four or five tourists come in. Every day. They say they are going to Preikestolen and understand nothing, Mr Be told the newspaper.

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

Google Maps leads them over the Lysefjord bridge and into Fossmork. The road here is quite narrow and it they sometimes get quite upset when we tell them to go back, he added.

Google has said it appreciates all the feedback it receives and it is always looking to improve its service.
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When Baris Yazgis family heard a refugee boat had sunk in the Aegean Sea, they started to worry.

The 22-year-old Kurdish violinist had disappeared for two days after telling relatives of his dream to study music in Belgium, and his mother couldnt get through to his phone.

It was not until the Turkish coastguard found the body of a young man clutching a violin that the news they feared was confirmed.

Recommended Pregnant woman survives boat disaster that killed 16 refugees

With pictures we recognised him, said Bariss brother, Cengiz Yazgi. He loved his violin so much that he didnt let it go when he drowned.

I dont know why he got on the boat, I guess it was because he had no hope anymore.

In a desperate attempt to reach Europe, Baris had boarded a refugee boat over the Aegean sea like more than a million men women and children before him.

But it sank on 23 April, killing at least 16 people including two children, and leaving only two survivors  a pregnant woman from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and another woman from Cameroon.

Turkish coastguard officers line up the bodies of migrants who drowned when their boat sank as they were trying to reach the nearby Greek island of Lesbos on 24 April (AP)

The victims are among more than 1,100 migrants killed attempting treacherous sea journeys to Europe this year  each one with a personal story frequently engulfed by the scale of the ongoing crisis.

Baris was the baby of his family, the youngest of nine brothers who was troubled in his teenage years before finding a sense of purpose in his passion for the violin.

The young Kurdish mans death has caused shock among friends in Istanbul and across Turkey, which is now accustomed to seeing Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans drowned off its shores.

An ex-girlfriend, who did not want to be named, said Bariss former school friends were still in shock.

He was never good in class, she told The Independent. He was an aggressive kid in school and outside, but when he loved someone as a romantic way or as a friend you would know he would do anything for you.

She recalled him defending friends as a teenager, sometimes getting into fights and crossing the line, before mellowing as he matured.

His talent for music was always on show, seeing him playing the guitar and writing his own songs, which he would perform at school.

Baris Yazgi, whose talent for music was always on show, seeing him playing the guitar and writing his own songs, which he would perform at school (Supplied)

He became a man who knows what he wants, Baris former girlfriend said. He told me he was considering going to live with his big brother  I told him it was a good opportunity.

We never thought his ending will be like that he saved himself from where he grew up or any trouble he got into. His life would be great if he didnt get in that boat.

Cengiz, who is also a musician, partly credits his brothers transformation to his love of the violin, which he gave his little brother five years ago to protect him from bad habits.

He came a long way, he was good, he recalled. He was even giving lessons to students.

He loved music, he loved classical western music in particular and he was playing it, learning and teaching it to others.

Baris played in cafes and on the streets of Istanbul, while doing odd jobs for money and being paid for music lessons, but dreamt of a more formal musical education.

He started taking English lessons, asking his teacher whether a qualification would help him get a visa in Europe.

He loved the violin so much, he didnt let it go even when he drowned (Supplied)

But Baris had no job, no insurance and no money  none of the requirements needed to obtain a legal visa.

Baris knew he wouldnt get the visa anyway so he probably didnt even try, or maybe he did and got refused, Cengiz told The Independent.

He had already taken a smugglers boat to Greece last year, surviving that journey to stay with another brother who lives in Ghent. He didnt really adapt well there, he was young, he didnt know what he really wanted maybe, said Cengiz, who lives in Istanbul.

Belgium has lots a good music schools, I contacted some and some people I knew so they could help him a bit. No one did, they couldnt or maybe they didnt want to.

He told us he wanted to come back to Turkey  we advised him to try in another city or another country.

But Baris returned on 15 July  hours before the outbreak of the violent attempted coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The ensuing crackdown has seen more than 100,000 people detained and heightened suspicion turn against Kurds following a series of terror attacks by separatist extremists.

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

As soon as he got back he started to regret it, Cengiz recalled. We told him to stay, not to try to leave again  we were scared it was too dangerous.

He went away sometimes: we learnt that he went between Canakkale and Ayvacik to see how he could go again.

He met smugglers that offered him passage to Greece on a small boat but Baris didnt accept. He was a smart boy who was questioning himself and he said no initially as he knew it was too dangerous.

But in the end he changed his mind, he stopped resisting and got on the smugglers boat.

Bariss family did not know where he was until they heard news of a boat sinking in the Aegean  a rare occurrence since the controversial EU-Turkey deal slowed crossings to a trickle.

As my mother started to worry more and more, I called the coast guards to ask if Baris was one of the victims, Cengiz said.

 Refugees in Greece: Every day you die many times

He had no identity papers on him, he had left his Turkish ID at home so I asked if a young boy was also there, a boy with a violin maybe.

They said a short young boy with a violin was one of the victims.

Bariss family is still reeling from the shock, with his mother and sister needing psychological treatment.

The violinist was buried in Istanbul, where musicians are planning a memorial playing some of his original scores.

The authorities gave me his violin and the clothes he had had on, said Cengiz. We have learnt that other young people were also dead, we have to focus on them also.

Baris got attention in the Turkish media because he was Turkish but what about this other boys?

Something has to be done to prevent these drastic situations. It has to stop.
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Any attempt to prevent refugees crossing the Mediterranean Sea by holding them in Libya would trap thousands of men, women and children in catastrophic conditions, the EU has been warned.

Sigmar Gabriel, the German foreign minister and Vice Chancellor, rowed back on Berlins previous support for plans led by Italy to increase cooperation with the war-torn African state.

Ruthless smugglers have capitalised on widespread lawlessness to expand their human trade, while migrants are routinely detained by armed gangs and extorted or forced into forced labour and prostitution.

The camps existing on the ground already show horrible and catastrophic conditions, Mr Gabriel said.

The idea to set up [EU-backed] camps...would be an utter disregard of circumstances for the people.

Italy signed a deal with the fragile Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli in February that also promised training, equipment and money to fight human traffickers - an agreement initially endorsed by EU states at a summit in Malta.

But the move has been criticised by humanitarian groups and the UN, which warned refugees suffer arbitrary detention, rape and torture.

 Desperate journeys: Rescued at sea, refugees detail abuse in Libya

Last month, Pope Francis said the holding centres had become "concentration camps", while the International Organisation of Migration documented young African men being traded in slave markets.

The dire situation has so far scuppered prospects of replicating the controversial EU-Turkey deal, which has cut boat crossings over the Aegean Sea by seeing anyone arriving on Greek islands detained under the threat of deportation.

Mr Gabriel said parallels should not be drawn because Ankara had granted access to its camps to UN human rights experts.

"All of that does not apply to Libya, he told reporters in in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa after a meeting with African Union officials.

What we are trying instead is to help stabilise the countries on the continent. But that is difficult.

Turkey was offered huge amounts of money towards housing millions of refugees as part of the agreement, but there are concerns funding in Libya could pass to countless armed groups including Islamists and Isis.

The EU is currently considering a request for equipment including ships armed with machine guns for the Libyan coastguard, which itself which stands accused of beating and shooting refugees while pushing back boats launched by smugglers into the Mediterranean Sea.

In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea Show all 7 1 /7 In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea A baby being taken on to MSF's Bourbon Argos ship from a boat carrying 130 migrants and refugees Lizzie Dearden In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea A refugee boat carrying 101 people being rescued by MSF's Bourbon Argos Lizzie Dearden In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea A refugee boat carrying 101 people being rescued by MSF's Bourbon Argos all images by Lizzie Dearden In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea A baby among refugees on a boat carrying 185 people off the coast of Libya Lizzie Dearden In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea Migrants and refugees sleeping after being rescued by MSF's Bourbon Argos ship Lizzie Dearden In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea A crew from MSF's Bourbon Argos ship rescuing a boat carrying 130 migrants and refugees off the coast of Libya, at sunrise Lizzie Dearden In pictures: A day of refugee rescues in the Mediterranean Sea A woman in a stretcher being lifted onto MSF's Bourbon Argos ship from a boat carrying 130 migrants and refugees off the coast of Libya Lizzie Dearden

Improving the capacity of the Libyan authorities to better manage borders and migration is a key objective of the EU's approach including that agreed by the EU and member states in Malta on 3 February, a spokesperson for the European Commission said.

"We are looking at ways in which we can follow this up in terms of providing non-military assets that would enable those that we have trained to do their job in the Libyan territorial waters.

A warlord supported by Russia, Khalifa Haftar, runs a rival government and army in eastern Libya that does not recognise the authority of the UN-backed GNA.

Both sides issued statements promising to calm tensions and fight terrorism on Wednesday, but offering no way forward for a political deal to unify the fractured country.

General Haftar and Prime Minister Fayez Seraj met in Abu Dhabi but were unable to agree on a hoped-for joint declaration.

Conflicting accounts of initial agreements and leaks of documents neither side signed have confused international mediation and negotiations to end the conflict in Libya, where a civil war has continued to rage since the British-backed ousting of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

The country is now the main launch point for smugglers boats carrying refugees to Europe, with more than 37,000 asylum seekers crossing from Libya to Italy so far this year, and a record of 1,100 dying on the treacherous voyage.

Men carry bags containing dead bodies of migrants as they bury them in a cemetery fin Sabratha, Libya, on 18 April (Reuters)

Charities operating rescue ships in the Central Mediterranean have increasingly come under attack for taking migrants to Italy, being accused of aiding smugglers.

The Migrant Offshore Aid Station (Moas) group appeared before an Italian committee conducting a fact-finding mission on the claims on Thursday, as numerous rescue operations were underway at sea.

Representatives Ian Ruggier told politicians that the maritime rescue coordination centre in Rome (MRCC) has de facto responsibility for the coordination of all search-and-rescue activities and confirmed the group has no contact with gangs in Libya.

We hope that attention can now be diverted back to the unfolding crisis; and that efforts on all sides can be channelled to finding the sustainable, legal and humanitarian solutions hundreds of thousands of people desperately need, a spokesperson for Moas said.

Director Regina Catrambone said that search and rescue operations were not a solution to the crisis and called for lasting solutions, adding: It is time for European and national leaders to step up and provide those alternatives.

The hearing came as the European Commissioner for Migration urged China to stop the export of rubber dinghies used by people smugglers in the Mediterranean.

I requested the support and cooperation from the Chinese authorities in order to track down this business and dismantle it, because what they produce is not serving the common good of the country, Dimitris Avramopoulos said after a meeting Chinese ministers.

A conference by the 28-nation Union for the Mediterranean was also held on Thursday, seeing members meeting in Malta reinstate their commitment to addressing the root causes of irregular migration, including conflict, persecution, poverty and drought.
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Prominent Russian dissident Alexei Navalny is unlikely to be able to run in the countrys presidential elections after a court upheld an embezzlement conviction.

Mr Navalny was behind some of the largest anti-government protests Russia has seen for years in March and is seen as the main challenger to strongman ruler Vladimir Putin.

He has insisted the five year suspended sentence for embezzlement, which was upheld in an appeals court, was politically motivated. Mr Navalnys team now wants the case to go to the European Court of Human Rights. The ECHR previously determined the case to be arbitrary.

 Hundreds protest at Russian embassy over 'gay concentration camps' in Chechnya

The law surrounding entry into Russian presidential elections is open to interpretation on whether a candidate could run with a suspended sentence. Mr Navalny has said the law only applies to candidates in prison and has been holding events and rallies around the country regardless.

Even if Mr Navalny was able to run in the election, polls have suggested Mr Putin would still win comfortably.

Supporters of Mr Navalny, a former lawyer who now investigates corruption and has a massive social media following, have vowed to push on with his campaign.

Both his lawyer and campaign manager told media the electoral bid would continue despite the courts decision.

"Nobody promised it would be easy," said another ally, Leonid Volkov, on social media following the decision. "Navalny has the right to run, but ensuring he is able to exercise it won't be easy."

Electoral officials have said Mr Navalnys conviction must be quashed if he is to be allowed to run.

"He [Navalny] is already trying to conduct a presidential campaign and, it seems to me, is manipulating people's understanding about how the law, allegedly, does not apply," Nikolai Bulayev, deputy chairman of Russia's Central Election Commission told the RIA news agency.

"It's a delusion. If he's doing this deliberately he's deluding other people. For now, as far as I understand, he does not have the right to stand for election and in order to get it he needs to act via the courts. There is no other way."

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

Despite the case, Mr Navalny has remained politically active, though it has come at a cost. He recently lost much of his sight in his right eye after pro-Kremlin activists threw a green chemical dye on his face. It was the second such attack Mr Navalny has suffered.

Some analysts believe the Kremlin may ultimately allow Mr Navalny to run in order to boost turnout and create the impression of genuine political competition.

However, having Mr Navalny on the ballot paper could be an irritant for the Kremlin by providing a focus for anti-government protests, especially in the big urban centres where he draws most of his support.

Additional reporting by Reuters
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A skydiver has had a narrow escape after his parachute became caught under an aircraft he had moments earlier jumped from.

The failed skydive, which took place at Lindtorp airfield, west of Denmark's second city Aarhus, went disastrously wrong when the 45-year-old parachutist's foot became caught in a cable.

He was then stuck, dangling perilously under the aircraft at 2,500ft.

Duty officer Jens Claumarch of Mid and West Jutland police told a Danish news agency: As soon as his instructor, who jumped before him, was able to get radio contact with the pilot and people on the ground, a rescue operation was started.

At that point, the aircraft was down to a height of around 500 metres, but went up to around a kilometre in case he came loose and needed to use his parachute.

The aircraft was forced to fly in circles, burning fuel, while being followed by a helicopter ambulance until the diver was ready to land.

The incident lasted almost an hour until the pilot was able to land safety, dragging the skydiver 200 metres along the airfields grass before it came to a halt.

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

People on the ground laid out foam along the runway so the skydivers impact would be softened when the plane landed at its lowest possible speed.

Pilot Leif Johannsen, who has had 37 years flying experience, told Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten: It was a nightmare scenario that I have seen others experience before.

A scenario in which there is no rulebook on how the problem should be solved.

It only went well because we worked together. People on the ground and me in the air with a calm skydiver waiting for us to help him.

He said he did not know the man had got tangled until he was told by ground control.

Officer Claumarch said the man was in a good condition given the circumstances and had escaped with little more a groin strain and graze.

Theres not much need for him to play the lottery this week. Hes used up all his luck, he added.
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US President Donald Trump has boldly stated his desire to do whatever is necessary to achieve a lasting peace deal in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict, despite the failure of several previous US administrations.

I will do whatever is necessary... I would love to be a mediator or an arbitrator or a facilitator, and we will get this done," Mr Trump told Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas during his visit to Washington DC on Wednesday.

The president did not elaborate on any new policies or timetables to revive the long-stalled negotiations, and stopped short of explicitly endorsing a two-state solution.

In the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders Mr Trumps administration called on the PA to do more to tackle violence against Israelis and end payments to the families of those killed or imprisoned by Israel.

Mr Abbas told Mr Trump that Palestinians would be partners in seeking a historic peace treaty under your courageous stewardship and your wisdom, as well as your great negotiating ability, while reiterating the core Palestinian belief Israel must end its occupation of Palestinian land in the West Bank over the 1967 Green Line.

To the scepticism of many observers of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the US president added that a peace deal is maybe not as difficult as people have thought over the years.

Mr Trump is widely viewed in Israel and the wider Middle East as far more sympathetic to Israeli interests - including the contentious issue of settlement building - than his predecessor Barack Obama.

 Netanyahu blames Palestinians for lack of peace in Israel

However, he has reiterated his desire to secure peace in the region on several occasions, appointing his son-in-law Jared Kushner to broker a peace deal.

During Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus state visit to DC in February Mr Trump suggested that he is open to the idea of a one-state, rather than two-state, solution to the intractable conflict. Such a move would be a marked change from US policy since Bill Clintons tenure which, alongside the UN, EU, Arab League and others, has been to promote the idea of a peace deal involving a Palestinian state.

But the presidents first 100 days in office have proved he can be unpredictable on foreign policy matters.

Israel: From independence to intifada Show all 7 1 /7 Israel: From independence to intifada Israel: From independence to intifada 26973.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26974.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26975.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26976.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26977.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26985.bin Robert Capa/Magnum Israel: From independence to intifada 26986.bin Robert Capa/Magnum

Despite his pro-Israeli campaign trail rhetoric, since entering the White House Mr Trump has caught some Israeli hard-liners off guard with the suggestion the Netanyahu coalition government should hold back on settlement building, and his administration has equivocated over whether the US embassy will move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as promised.

Sources in the State Department told Reuters that plans for a visit to Mr Netanyahu in Jerusalem later this month, and possibly Mr Abbas in Ramallah, are being firmed up. Both US and Israeli officials have declined to comment on whether there will be a meeting between the three.

The trip would be Mr Trumps first outside the US as president.
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Politicians in Israel are calling for the UN to be expelled from Jerusalem following a resolution from the agency's cultural body rejecting the states sovereignty over holy sites in the eternal city.

Tuesdays Unesco vote, which reaffirms the importance of the Old City of Jerusalem and its walls for the three monotheistic religions", also accused Israel of actions that have "altered, or purport to alter the character and status of the Holy City".

The declaration that the city is occupied and Israels rule over it is null and void was backed by 22 countries. The US, Germany, UK and seven other countries voted against it.

 Jesus's 'tomb' in Jerusalem reopens for Easter crowds after nine-month restoration project

Israels Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev of the right-wing Likud party said the decision should prompt the government to expel the UN from its headquarters in the city altogether.

"50 years of our sovereignty in the city, there is no need for the presence of UN observers, she told Channel 2 on Tuesday.

They were given the opportunity to use [a compound] to supervise the ceasefire agreements of the Six Day War  agreements that are no longer relevant. This saga must end.

Israels envoy to Unesco Carmel Shama-Hacohen was more cautious, telling Israeli media the country would need to weigh the issue carefully before deciding how to respond.

Ancient Roman estate found in Jerusalem Show all 12 1 /12 Ancient Roman estate found in Jerusalem Ancient Roman estate found in Jerusalem Ancient pottery shards found on the site Israel Antiquities Authority Ancient Roman estate found in Jerusalem The ruins were found on the site of the famous Schneller Orphanage which operated until the Second World War Israel Antiquities Authority Ancient Roman estate found in Jerusalem The archaeologists also found evidence of a Roman bathhouse Israel Antiquities Authority Ancient Roman estate found in Jerusalem A brick stamped with the insignia of the Tenth Roman Legion who garrisoned the province Israel Antiquities Authority Ancient Roman estate found in Jerusalem An ancient candle holder Israel Antiquities Authority Ancient Roman estate found in Jerusalem Shards of pottery unearthed from the site Israel Antiquities Authority Ancient Roman estate found in Jerusalem Archaeologists believe the site to be around 1,600 years old Israel Antiquities Authority Ancient Roman estate found in Jerusalem Archaeologists also found evidence of an earlier Jewish home on the site Israel Antiquities Authority Ancient Roman estate found in Jerusalem Jerusalem district archaeologist Amit Re'em said the find showed 'the magic' of the city Israel Antiquities Authority Ancient Roman estate found in Jerusalem An ancient Roman estate has been found on the site of the Schneller Orphanage in Jerusalem Ancient Roman estate found in Jerusalem Excavation Director Alex Wiegmann holds up a candle holder used in the Roman period Israel Antiquities Authority Ancient Roman estate found in Jerusalem Archaeologists found a wine press in the centre of the complex Israel Antiquities Authority

The resolution first proposed in October 2016 by several Muslim majority states criticised restrictions placed by the Israeli government on Muslim worshippers at the Temple Mount, as it is known in Judaism, or Haram al-Sharif, as it is called in Islam.

The Jerusalem hilltop is revered by Jews as the site of two destroyed Biblical temples. In Islam, it is said to be where the Prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven.

A draft of the text also included a clause that said that the holy Western Wall which runs along the perimeter of one edge of the site should be considered part of the al-Aqsa mosque compound  a space currently reserved for and administered by Muslims.

Such a move could have been a starting point for removing the Jewish right to pray and leave written messages between the stones at the Western Wall. It was dropped from the final copy, which still led Israel to suspend ties with Unesco over the "denial of Jewish history."

Muslim worshippers access to al-Aqsa  or lack of it  has been a recurrent flashpoint for Israeli-Palestinian tensions in a renewed wave of violence over the last 18 months.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Malki welcomed the result of the vote.

The world has chosen to "stand on the side of what is right in the face of [Israel's] injustice, occupation and its illegitimate policies, he said.

"We will defend our heritage and culture, our past and our future.

The watered-down draft decision was still widely derided by Israeli officials as well as the US mission to the UN.

Israel: From independence to intifada Show all 7 1 /7 Israel: From independence to intifada Israel: From independence to intifada 26973.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26974.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26975.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26976.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26977.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26985.bin Robert Capa/Magnum Israel: From independence to intifada 26986.bin Robert Capa/Magnum

Once again, the United States rejects the adoption of these anti-Israel resolutions at Unesco, a spokesperson from the US mission to the UN told the Times of Israel.

Like other parts of the UN system, Unesco is too often used as a vehicle by member states inclined to deride and delegitimise the state of Israel."

Palestine was recognised as a full member of Unesco in 2011 despite intense opposition from Israel and the US. The decision was celebrated by Palestinians and campaigners who saw it as a stepping stone on the path to giving the Territories full statehood.

Relations between Unesco and Israel have been rocky since.

The cultural heritage bodys executive board decision goes to the plenary on Friday, a spokesperson said.
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The reliability of sources in the Syrian civil war is always in question - particularly when verifying pictures and video shared on social media is involved.

We know for a fact that on 4 April, 87 people in the village of Khan Sheikhoun died after exposure to what extensive testing by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said was sarin or a chemically similar banned toxin.

What we lack is a definitive answer as to who is responsible for their deaths. President Bashar al-Assad and Syrias rebels as usual blamed each other, pointing out it is not in their strategic interests to gas scores of civilians.

Both the far-left and far-right settled on conspiracy theories claiming the opposition either faked the attack or used sarin on their own people in order to manufacture worldwide outrage at the Syrian regime. Damascus and Moscow, on the other hand, said that the casualties occurred when a conventional air strike hit an al-Qaeda-affiliated weapons depot, releasing the deadly gases in the explosion.

Yet the overwhelming evidence - gathered from radar and satellite imagery, eyewitness reports, medical charities, Western intelligence services and geolocated photos and video - supports the conclusion that the Syrian government deliberately used sarin in Khan Sheikhoun.
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Spring has sprung in the forests of British Columbia. The snow has melted, trees are budding. Grizzly bears are ending their hibernation  and hunters have begun pursuing them.

But two local wilderness lodges are trying to stop that from happening. Their cunning plan? To offer free stays in their luxury accommodation to any hunter willing to surrender their shooting pass.

Its no mean feat  hunting grizzlies has long been part of BC life. Half of Canadas grizzly population  about 15,000 animals  live here in Canadas westernmost province. Coastal grizzlies can weigh over 63 stone and stand over three metres tall. Omnivorous, they love salmon and avoid contact with humans  though they can be ferocious when provoked.

The rare 'spirit bears' of British Columbia (Maximilian Helm/Wikimedia Commons)

Its their size, elusiveness and aggression that makes them especially popular with trophy hunters. Bears are the most dominant species, explains hunter Brent Sheppe, from Port McNeill, a small town on the north of Vancouver Island.

All hunting in Canada is regulated, and hunting grizzlies is subject to major restrictions. Unless theyre indigenous peoples, BC residents need a Limited Entry Hunt (LEH) authorisation to hunt  and the BC government holds lotteries every spring and autumn to dole out the controversial permits. The current lottery, for the autumn hunt, ends on 26 May.

Sheppe isnt a trophy hunter. He does it for the exercise and the challenge, he says, eats everything he kills and has only rarely hunted bear because Im not very fond of the taste. When he bagged a prestigious permit in 2015, he became one of the first hunters to swap his chance to kill a bear for a luxury hotel stay.

Remote Nimmo Bay is offering hunters a stay worth nearly 7000 for surrendering their passes (Johanna Read/Traveleater.net)

Since 2015, Nimmo Bay Wilderness Resort, in the Great Bear Rainforest  home to grizzlies, black and brown bears, as well as the rare white Kermode or spirit bear  has run the Bullets for Binos (binoculars) programme. The initiative offers a free top-of-the-range stay to hunters who turn in their licences in a bid to persuade hunters that if theres anything better than mounting a grizzly head on their den wall, its a 7,000 holiday.

I knew something had to be done, says Becky Murray, General Manager of Nimmo Bay. There are so many good people working tirelessly to stop the trophy hunt and I thought that Nimmo Bay was in a great position to support these efforts by trading bullets for binoculars and empowering hunters to save bears.

In exchange for turning in their LEH licence and pledging never to trophy hunt grizzlies again, Nimmo will give hunters a three-night Wilderness and Wildlife Adventure Package for two. Thats three days of bear watching, whale watching, hiking, kayaking, and stand-up paddleboarding in the Broughton archipelago; and three nights in an intertidal chalet on a full board basis. The package is worth CAD$11,370  just under 7,000. In contrast, the hunting permits cost $118.30, or 71. And although the package depends on availability, theres no limit on how many hunters can take them up on it.

Grizzly Bear, drinking from river in the Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada (Rex)

Sibling hotel Tweedsmuir Park Lodge joined the programme in 2016. Hunter Jamie Scott was the first hunter who traded in his grizzly tag for a free stay last year, and ended up using the bear-viewing trip for his honeymoon. I was a bit hesitant since its a pretty hard hunting tag to acquire, he says. I was taking away a different experience from someone else. He worried about backlash from other hunters, and he says he received a mixed reaction. Some agreed that protecting bears was more important than killing them; others were angry at "wasting" a precious hunting tag.

But it looks like the Nimmo programme may be part of something bigger. Over 90 per cent of BC residents oppose trophy hunting, according to a 2015 study. Coastal First Nations have banned the bear trophy hunt in their territories, and its a divisive issue in the upcoming regional elections. Not just for ethical reasons either  bear viewing generates far more value to the economy than killing them, according to a Stanford University study in conjunction with the Center for Responsible Travel.

Spring is grizzly hunting season in British Columbia (Scott Calleja/Flickr (CC by 2.0))

As such, more and more organisations are turning to bear-viewing tourism. The Raincoast Conservation Foundation even invites tourists aboard their 21-metre sloop for bear-watching while they undertake research.

As the tide slowly turns, some hunters have even turned in their licences without taking advantage of a free trip. They simply believe in the cause and wanted to help, says Brianna Sloan, Nimmos Guest and Travel Trade Relations Coordinator.

Jamie Scott ended up seeing more than a dozen bears when he exchanged his bullets for binoculars. I don't think I will ever be that close to grizzlies again, so the experience was surreal, he says. His trip dispelled the feared myth and reputation [grizzlies] usually carry  in fact, having watched them up close, he he now sees the bears as wild vulnerable animals.

Soon, perhaps, the only shooting of bears will be with cameras.

Click here for the latest hotels and resorts in Canada.
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Thousands of passengers who had anticipated payouts of up to 600 (510) for flight delays caused by bird strikes have been told they have no right to compensation.

The latest flight-delay verdict from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that "a collision between an aircraft and a bird is an extraordinary circumstance". Therefore airlines can reject claims for compensation from passengers delayed by three hours or more by a bird strike.

The case involved two Czech passengers, Marcela Peskova and Jiri Peska, who claimed 400 each from Travel Service AS, which runs Smartwings. Their flight from Bourgas in Bulgaria to Ostrava in the Czech Republic was delayed by over five hours by a bird strike.

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Airlines have long argued that events such as bird strikes are beyond their control. In previous judgments, the test applied by the court has been inherency: whether or not the problem is inherent to airline operations.

But the judges in Luxembourg concluded: "The air carrier cannot be obliged to take measures which would require it to make intolerable sacrifices.

"Although the air carrier may be required to take certain preventative measures in order to reduce or even prevent the risks of any collisions with birds, it is not responsible for the failure of other entities (such as, inter alia, airport managers or the competent air traffic controllers) to fulfil their obligations."

Airlines for Europe, which represents carriers flying two-thirds of European passengers, welcomed the verdict. Aage Dunhaupt, head of communications, said: "It's a positive decision. There are certain things we cannot control. The first line of defence for bird strikes is the airport managers and air-traffic controllers taking preventative action."

He called for "a more precise set of rules for the future", saying: "No other sector has this degree of regulation.

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The Flight Delay Team at Bott & Co, a firm of solicitors based in Wilmslow, Cheshire, had 2,500 compensation cases stayed awaiting the decision, with potential payouts estimated at 1m. Had the decision gone in favour of the passengers, tens of thousands of other travellers could have made retrospective claims for delays.

Kevin Clarke, flight delay legal expert at Bott & Com said: This is not the decision we were hoping for, but nonetheless it is clarity from the highest court in Europe who have found that bird strikes are an extraordinary circumstance.

We are particularly disappointed because we have a track record of winning bird strike cases in the UK, even to appeal level. Well be taking a long look at this judgment in the coming days to work out the best course of action for our clients and all UK passengers.

The judgment also clarified the rules as to when a delay has more than one cause, one of which is classed as an "extraordinary circumstance". To decide whether an incident qualifies under the three-hour rule, the lateness caused specifically by the extraordinary circumstance must be subtracted from the total delay.

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When Europes passengers rights legislation, known as EC261, took effect a decade ago, it stipulated compensation only for cancellations and denied-boarding cases. But the ECJ ruled that a delay of three hours or more amounted to a cancellation, and therefore triggered payouts of 250, 400 or 600, depending on the length of the flight.

Recent court decisions have extended the range of issues for which airlines must pay out. The extraordinary circumstances defence now excludes incidents in which a plane is damaged by ground equipment. or a flight returns to the airport of departure  as a British Airways jet did last week after a pressurisation issue on a Heathrow-Delhi flight.

The airlines argue that being forced to pay many times the original air fare in compensation for modest delays pushes up prices for other passengers.

The European Commission is seeking to reform the regulations, but the process is being delayed by a row between Britain and Spain over Gibraltar airport.
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Uber is one of the worlds most popular apps, but it's not without controversy. Transport for London announced on Friday that the ride hailing app's private hire licence will not be renewed after 30 September, as Uber "demonstrate[s] a lack of corporate responsibility in relation to a number of issues which have potential public safety and security implications". This is just one of many legal battles, regulatory disagreements and driver strikes that have taken place across the globe, and more than one country has outright banned the leading taxi app.

Here is a comprehensive list of all of the places you won't be able to order an Uber on your next trip away.

Europe

Bulgaria

Uber suspended services after being accused of unfair trade practices. The chairperson of the transport committee, Grozdan Karadzhov said that if Uber wants to return to the Bulgarian market, it will have to meet the minimum requirements of legislation and register as a taxi service.

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Denmark

Taxi metres have been made mandatory for Danish taxi drivers, meaning Uber was forced to pull out of the market this year after operating there since 2014.

Italy

Uber will soon be completely banned from the country, after its business practices were found to constitute unfair competition. Uber's services have been blocked, and it is not allowed to advertise. The company is permitted to continue operating until a final court ruling is made, but that time will soon run out.

Hungary

The Hungarian government passed legislation saying that Uber drivers breach[ed] regulations other taxi firms must adhere to after allowing them to operate for two and a half years. The new law permits the Hungarian national communications authority to block internet access to "illegal dispatcher services".

Uber has also faced suspensions in Finland, France, Spain and the Netherlands, primarily over its UberPOP service. Barcelonas main taxi operator accused the company of running an illegal taxi service and is currently awaiting a ruling from the European Court of Justice.

Not everywhere thinks Uber is handy (Reuters)

USA

Austin, Texas

The company pulled operations from the Texas city after being told to fingerprint and background check all prospective and current drivers, which it said did nothing to improve safety and penalised minorities.

Alaska

Uber operated for six months in the state, before pulling out over a dispute as to whether drivers were independent contractors or registered taxi drivers  which would mean they are entitled to workers' compensation insurance. Uber paid a $77,925 (60,000) fine to the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development over the dispute, before abandoning the Alaskan market. New legislation could change that, but for now the state remains Uber-less.

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Uber also faced a huge backlash in the US following Donald Trumps Muslim ban, when drivers didnt adhere to a taxi strike in New York City aimed to show solidarity to those affected. #DeleteUber trended worldwide, and hundreds of users deleted the app. Its main competitor, Lyft, capitalised on this boycott by donating $1m (775,000) to the American Civil Liberties Union and issuing a statement condemning the Muslim ban.

Canada

Vancouver, British Columbia

Ride share apps are not legal in Vancouver. The Liberal Party promised earlier in the year to move forward with legalisation and make Uber possible in the city by Christmas. Transport Minister Todd Stone said: We think we are striking a balance between what the vast majority of British Columbians wantall the whilerespect[ing] the industry thats been there for so many generations and get this right to protect the jobs that already exist.

Asia

China

The company was losing huge amounts of money in the Chinese market, and it was bought out by Chinese competitor Didi Chuxing after allegedly losing billions of dollars.

Taiwan

Services were suspended after Uber faced millions of dollars' worth of fines by the government. However, it has reached an agreement to use rental car agencies on the ground under the Uber brand, but the service remains limited.

Australia

Northern Territory

The territory has completely banned Uber after refusing to change the law to accommodate the app's legality. It will allegedly re-evaluate this at a later date but, for now, Uber remains out in the cold.
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Last January, my husband and I woke up in his childhood apartment in Gracia, a neighbourhood in Barcelona. For old times sake, we decided to take a walk in nearby Park Guell  something hed done hundreds of times before moving to the United States, and on return visits too. Imagine our surprise when we approached, surrounded by the usual throngs of tourists, and saw a maze of queues, ropes and guards.

Not only do you now have to pay to access the part of the park with its prized Gaudi features, we were told, but tickets had been sold out for weeks in advance. My husband had spent almost 30 years of his life living just around the corner, but there was no chance of getting in. Better luck next time.

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We were indignant. It was a public park! An exceptionally beautiful and heavily visited park maybe, but public, nonetheless. Gaudi originally designed the park for a private commission, but his work was eventually deemed too important to not be made public. In a city known for being hostile to tourists, we were on the wrong side of the equation.

But what is the point of public monuments if not everyone is free to enjoy them?

It was recently announced that Venice is planning to go one step further by charging visitors an entry fee to access Piazza San Marco. The idea is to limit tourist access to the over-choked main square, while encouraging people towards lesser known parts of town. In a city that sometimes resembles an overstuffed amusement park, particularly during peak summer times, its generally agreed upon that something must be done to quell the crowds.

But what makes this a particularly odious option is the commodification of it all  that one must pay for something that should be public and egalitarian, putting us shoulder-to-shoulder, facing the organic pull of our common history.

Imagine having to pay to cross a street or walk along a pavement  this is that, and more. Were talking about limiting access to a literal and figurative representation of a citys life force. According to the Project for Public Spaces, great public places provide a visual sense of character of a place, reflecting the identity and history of a location. In a city like Venice, Piazza San Marcos importance can hardly be overstated. The squares history dates back to the ninth century. It chronicles not only Venices ascendance, but the very course of western civilisation up until modern times.

Making tourists stump up to access what Napoleon reputedly called the drawing room of Europe adds another pre-packaged, commodified experience to our already over-marketed-to lives and cedes an important world landmark entirely to tourism.

It also sets a precedent thats easily replicated around the world. How long will it be until we have to hand over a euro to see the Trevi Fountain instead of throwing it into the water? To stand below the Brandenburg Gate? To pose beside the Eiffel Tower? Should all city centres become pay-to-play?

This isnt Venices first foray into its war against tourists. Previously, there was veiled talk about banning wheeled luggage within the city and separate lines for tourists and locals were enacted at popular vaporetto stops. For every vaporetto ride, tourists pay 7.50 where locals pay 1.50. And protests abound, the grievances of which are understandable.

Its true that this isnt a world first. Lijiang in China charges tourists 9 to enter the historic old town. Hoi An in Vietnam  also a UNESCO World Heritage Site  charges 4 to access many of the citys historical sites, with the proceeds going towards maintenance. The difference is that this includes entrance to museums, historical homes and performances  not an enormous public square. And tourists find value in it, as it includes entrance to several locations.

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Ultimately, the Venice plans are a slap in the face of an economic engine that keeps the city moving. Its especially insulting, considering the city already  and rightly  makes money off tourists visiting. Stay the night in Venice and youll have to pay a city tax of up to 2.50 per night.

A more reasonable step  one that doesnt infringe on the free movement of people through public thoroughfares  would be to limit the number of cruise ships that dock in the city, bringing in day trippers who rarely spend money. If limiting access is the goal, the city could issue a set number of tickets each day, or have designated hours when cruisers can access the square. That still impinges on the value of public spaces, but its less obnoxious than requiring people to pay to enter.

The idea of charging to enter St Marks Square is so over the top and so against the very spirit of what a public square is intended to provide that its an immediate repellent to visiting Venice. And in that sense, maybe the ticketing plan does have legs. Why would anyone want to take their hard-earned money and time and spend it in a location that doesnt want their business?

Im only one person, of course, but there are plenty of other beautiful and historical places to visit, and personally, Ill stick to those for future jaunts  at least, while theyre still free. Plus, with tickets, queues and blocked-off entrances, the city is beginning to sound a bit too much like the amusement park its desperately trying not to become.

You wanted to get rid of tourists? Mission accomplished, Venice. Now lets hope nowhere else follows suit.
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Counter-insurgency wars  struggles against terrorism  always breed corruption and counter-murder. And now the Egyptian army is following the same contaminated path as many of its neighbours by using a killer-militia in its war against Isis in Sinai. Most armies have proxy allies who can act as informants and treat civilians with brutality. The Syrians, the Iraqis, the Turks  and the Israelis when they co-opted their own Lebanese militias between 1976 and 2000, and the Americans in Iraq  all ended up shamed by the cruelty of their supposed allies.

But now Egypt  whose own President staged the original military coup which overthrew the countrys first elected president, Mohamed Morsi  is employing uniformed militias in the Sinai, where Isis has taken over many areas of the peninsula. It is a sign of just how desperate the military situation has become in the battle with Isis that the Egyptian Army, whose former field marshal and commander, Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, is now the president, should be resorting to such measures. Egyptian police and soldiers are now attacked daily and civilians are disappearing, either for fear of Isis or because they are seized by the armys collaborators (for so they are of course called) who are also executing suspects.

 A round-up of the attacks in Egypt after 'state of emergency' is to be declared

A number of videos now circulating in Cairo clearly show two civilian men being executed with a rifle after a brief interrogation; other pictures show the corpses of eight civilians, including the two in the earlier frames, being positioned on the ground with weapons beside them in an apparent attempt to make it appear that they are terrorists. A uniformed man from the Egyptian armys intelligence service directs the executions. The videos have for some time been appearing on Egyptian social media. When copies reached Human Rights Watch, the organisation condemned the murders as outrageous, suggested that the Egyptian governments campaign in Sinai is out of control  and pointed out that US-supplied armoured vehicles carried the detainees to their place of execution.

But HRWs demand that countries providing weapons, material or training to the Egyptian military should suspend their assistance until the Egyptian army ends its violation of human rights is pie-in-the sky.

Neither the shoot-from-the-hip US administration nor its unhinged President is going to care a whit about such innocent deaths when Donald Trump has recently agreed to sell F-16 fighter bombers to Bahrain without the slightest demand for human rights from its minority government and monarchy. Did the Russians make any such demands on the Syrians when they came to their rescue? US forces were on active duty with Iraqi troops when Shia militias were disappearing hundreds of Sunni civilians fleeing Fallujah  and now Mosul. And we didnt hear a peep out of the American military. And which EU nations (including, for now, I suppose, the UK) are going to damage their lucrative arms trade with the Arab world because of a few grainy videos and militia executions? Even Time magazine, which has cossetted so many US presidents, was able to report last month that Trump wants a reliable, like-minded ally in the Middle East and al-Sisi fits the bill. He is expecting the same treatment as Bahrain. Right now, al-Sisi is still trying to persuade Trump to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation, in the same way that Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants the US to designate the Gulenists as terrorists, along with one of the Kurdish groups which (unwisely) believes it is Americas ally in the fight against  yes, well, Isis terror.

Any discussion of Sinai must take into account Isiss own executions of policemen, soldiers and civilians in the peninsula. Infidels have been beheaded, Christians murdered, cigarette sellers beaten, women forced to wear the niqab in some districts: in other words, the usual Isis regime of cult cruelty. And now that, within five months, we have seen attacks on Christian churches in Cairo, Alexandria and Tanta, we can expect further Isis operations in central Egypt. And more soldiers deployed west of the Suez canal. And more killer-militias.

Typically, the Egyptian press have turned to a tactic which the Algerian government used to adopt when it claimed to be winning its 1992-1998 war on terror: to explain that continued or even increased bomb explosions, killing and executions were quite normal because they went on elsewhere in the world. Now the Cairo papers are insisting that the Egyptian army cannot be accused of failing to conquer terror when Stockholm, London and Paris are also subjected to terror. The war in Sinai is rightly compared by the Al-Araby Al-Jadid website in London (funded by Qatar) to Turkeys war on the Kurdish PKK. These (Egyptian press) nonsenses, says its writer Maan al-Bayari, cannot change the fact that from day to day it becomes clearer that this (al-Sisi) regime, since it came to power with a coup detat, goes from failure to failure, both from a security and an economic point of view.

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

Indeed, Cairenes who had fallen understandably silent under the new police state rules which al-Sisi has imposed are now speaking ever more angrily about the military saviour who was going to rid Egypt of poverty as well as terror. That, of course, is one reason why the Christians protected by the regime feel ever more isolated among a Muslim population which is once more talking ominously of revolution  and perhaps not quite the pure revolution that accompanied the downfall of Moubarak.

Pure is the interesting adjective that Egyptians often use now about the rebellion of the youth of Egypt against decades of dictatorship in 2011. Al-Sisi still promotes himself as the Great Moderate who protected Egypt from Islamic extremism  hence his joy at the Popes visit  although there are said to be strains between him and Sheikh Ahmad al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar who hosted the Pope in Cairo last weekend. Al-Sisi, they say, suspects that Al-Tayeb is not doing all he could in private to combat terror.

Which seems a little unfair. Al-Tayeb is a very intelligent man, a graduate of the Sorbonne where he studied the philosophy of international relations and the philosophy of religion, his family originally from upper Egypt but with none of the dogma associated with earlier imams. He is no jurist. He issues no clueless interpretations of the Koran. Indeed, he created the Beit el-aila el-musriya  The House of the Egyptian Family  where Christian religious leaders can feel at home to discuss confessional tensions and quickly end sectarian quarrels.

The problem is that Egypts out-of-control war against Isis  and Isiss new killer cells west of the canal  may soon make such institutions powerless. And when army militias are now at work to execute the states supposed enemies Well, just think Iraq.
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One of Theresa Mays most frequently repeated slogans over the past few months has been that we are leaving the EU, but we are not leaving Europe. It carries the comforting assurance that when we are outside the EU we will still retain good relations with our continental partners, will cooperate closely on foreign policy, defence, anti-terrorism and migration.

It suggests we will retain with goodwill on all sides without drawing attention to the difficulties of reaching such a happy outcome after a long and bruising negotiation. It also signals that she does not share the underlying antagonism to Europe in general and Germany in particular of the outright Europhobes in her party.

Her outburst this Wednesday takes her to a different place. European negotiators, "Brussels bureaucrats" most of all, now appear to be our enemy. They are trying to influence the British election campaign, as the Russians have tried to influence other Western elections. They refuse to accept the British terms for negotiation, or British assumptions about the relative strengths of the contending parties.

While the leader of open and democratic Britain insists that talks should proceed in maximum secrecy on both sides, the secretive and undemocratic EU is insisting that there must be transparency and public accountability. Contrary to her earlier assurances that I want the EU to be successful, the Prime Ministers language in Downing Street suggested that she would like the EU to implode.

 Theresa May's full statement marking the dissolution of Parliament

Her rhetoric, and its enthusiastic reception on the British right, increases the likelihood that negotiations will break down. Chancellor Merkel was clearly among the Prime Ministers targets and her criticisms of British "illusions" will have stung May. Cumulative irritation with British demands for exceptional treatment has burst out in a hardening of positions from other governments  the outcome of successive negotiations, of David Camerons tantrum at the European Council of December 2011, of Boris Johnsons shallow flippancy and David Daviss arrogance, of the sustained aggression of Ukip and Conservative MEPs in the European Parliament, and the anti-German and anti-European excesses of the British press.

Recommended The outcome of the general election is irrelevant to EU officials

A strong, stable government acting in the national interest would step back from such a destructive confrontation. The national interest will not be served by reaching a point at which long queues of lorries stretch out from ports on both sides of the Channel, because no agreement has been reached on fast-track customs clearance, nor by dropping out of Eurocontrol, leaving UK aviation having to negotiate flightpaths across the European continent. Nor by abandoning Europol, insisting on taking back control of our borders while criminal networks and terrorist groups still manage to work across them.

Reports from within Government that it intends to follow the Trump administration into further military action in Syria suggests where the UK will end up in foreign policy as it leaves the EU framework through which we have worked for 40 years. British policy in the Middle East has been most effective when coordinated with the French and Germans, in what has been known as the E3. In the Iranian nuclear negotiations this was reinforced by the EUs own high representative for foreign policy  Cathy Ashton, a British nominee. As we cut off our regular meetings with other EU foreign ministers, it appears we will wait for Washington to propose what action to take, and follow its lead.

Conservative Europhiles, who understand where our long-term interests lie, must be aghast. They must also fear that the Conservative manifesto, when published, will box them into positions they cannot support. Many will face Ukip opponents, attacking them for their Remain campaigning, while their Eurosceptic colleagues are spared such competition. Watching Dominic Grieve on Newsnight taking a different line from his party leader while trying not to appear disloyal was painful, and their agony will only grow.

In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Show all 12 1 /12 In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions European commission member in charge of Brexit negotiations with Britain, French Michel Barnier listens at the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty Images In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of the Federal Republic of Germany, delivers his speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg EPA In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, President of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), addresses the European Parliament during a debate on Brexit priorities and the upcomming talks on the UK's withdrawal from the EU Reuters In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Michel Barnier, European Chief Negotiator for Brexit reacts during a meeting at the European Parliament in Strasbourg EPA In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Member of the European Parliament and former leader of the anti-EU UK Independence Party (UKIP) Nigel Farage wears socks with Union Jack flag at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty Images In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Nigel Farage, United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) member and MEP, addresses the European Parliament during a debate on Brexit priorities and the upcoming talks on the UK's withdrawal from the EU Reuters In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions European commission member in charge of Brexit negotiations with Britain, French Michel Barnier gestures during speeches at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions The President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker (L) speaks with European commission member in charge of Brexit negotiations with Britain, French Michel Barnier at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, President of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), addresses the European Parliament during a debate on Brexit priorities and the upcomming talks on the UK's withdrawal from the EU Reuters In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions Getty In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier delivers a speech during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg Getty In pictures: European parliament Brexit discussions The European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France Getty Images

May called this election partly because she realised that the triggering of Article 50 marked the awkward transition from broad promises of a cost-free Brexit to the hard detail of complex negotiations, dossier by dossier, rejecting Liberal Democrat demands to stay in the single market or give the people a say on the final deal.

Better to secure a comfortable majority before the public begin to understand the difficulties, and costs. The Prime Minister has little experience of international negotiation. Her assumption, over dinner with the EU delegation, that this comprehensive negotiation could be handled like the opt-out negotiations on police, counter-terrorism and justice that she conducted as Home Secretary, cherry-picking those elements that suited Conservative preferences, infuriated her visitors.

As she said in Downing Street, these negotiations are vital to the future of Britain  but they are also vital to the future of Europe. If the Prime Minister has considered this, and the importance to Britains long-term national interests of maintaining a close and mutually-confident relationship with our partners, she has not yet told anyone what she wants to achieve.
Michel Barnier is being given a privilege normally only afforded to visiting heads of state and prime ministers

Europe's chief Brexit negotiator is to address a joint sitting of the Irish parliament next week.

Michel Barnier is being given a privilege normally only afforded to visiting heads of state and prime ministers, and he joins esteemed speakers such as Nelson Mandela and Bill Clinton.

During his two-day visit to the Republic he will also travel to the border region and see first-hand where the UK split from the European Union is likely to be most keenly felt.

Mr Barnier will deliver a second speech while in Ireland, to the European People's Party (EPP), which is having a two-day meeting with the focus on Brexit.

Tony Blair is also due to address the get-together of centre-right, pro-European parties from 40 countries next Friday.

The meeting, which will involve MEPs from up to 70 parties and Irish government ministers and other politicians, is closed to the public and the media.

The EPP said Mr Barnier and Mr Blair will take part in a panel discussion on Brexit and objectives for the upcoming negotiations where the former British prime minister will make his speech.

The future of the European Union's transatlantic relations are also on the agenda.

Mr Barnier was with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker for dinner with British prime minister Theresa May in Downing Street last week, which has become the subject of a row over alleged Brussels interference in the UK election.
Charlie Flanagan (right) met Saudi Deputy Minister for Education Dr Nasser al Fawzan in Riyadh last November (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade/PA)

The Irish Government has said it would be irresponsible and damaging to confirm whether it backed Saudi Arabia's bid for a seat on an international body on women's rights.

Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan is facing deep criticism after refusing to divulge how the Republic voted in a secret United Nations (UN) ballot last month.

Saudi Arabia successfully secured membership of the UN's Commission on the Status of Women, which Ireland has been chair of since March .

Mr Flanagan said Ireland observes the conventions of UN participation, including secrecy around elections.

" It is my strong view that it would be very damaging to Ireland's ability to conduct international relations successfully if we moved away from this established practice," the minister said.

"It would be irresponsible of me to abandon a practice that has been in place for over six decades, observed by all previous governments and is grounded on protecting and promoting the values of small countries on the world stage."

The UN's Commission on the Status of Women was set up in 1946 and is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.

It says it is instrumental in promoting women's rights and documenting the reality of women's lives throughout the world.

Human Rights Watch states there have been "marginal improvements" on women's rights in Saudi Arabia in recent years, mainly in employment and higher education, but men continue to control female relatives' lives.

Women in Saudi Arabia could not vote until two years ago.

The kingdom was one of 13 countries to be given a role on the Commission on the Status of Women for the next four years and f ive of the country's 47 votes are said to have come from European countries.

A similar controversy erupted in Belgium, where the country's prime minister Charles Michel subsequently revealed the government would have voted differently if given another chance.

Mr Flanagan said the secret ballots at the UN allow its diverse membership to function well and "facilitate outcomes on sensitive issues".

"In meetings with governments of countries where Ireland has human-rights concerns, I clearly set out those concerns," he said.

"When I was in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia last year, I directly raised the need for progress in my discussions with the Saudi authorities.

"This is a matter of record. Ireland uses all the diplomatic channels at our disposal to promote and advance human rights."
One of Bord na Mona's peat briquette factories is to be shut down after sales collapsed over the last four years.

Sixty-nine staff at the Littleton plant in Co Tipperary face the threat of redundancy over the next year as the energy company plans to switch to large scale production of biomass briquettes at Derrinlough, Co Offaly.

The future of another 56 peat harvesters in Littleton are also at risk but Bord na Mona said none of them would be laid-off this year.

The company warned briquette sales have been steadily falling amid unprecedented challenges from changes in customers' habits, carbon tax, i ncreased competition and low oil prices.

Bord na Mona head of fuels Eddie Scaife said: "This has been a very difficult decision following a period of uncertainty for employees.

"We took a great deal of care with this review to ensure that a wide range of factors were taken into account.

"Briquette sales have declined significantly in the past few years as we have encountered unprecedented market, financial and regulatory challenges.

"Ultimately we had to make a decision that ensured we had a business that could survive these challenges and safeguard the biggest number of briquetting jobs."

Derrinlough will be the sole location for future Bord na Mona peat and new biomass briquette production.

Littleton will keep running until next April.

The Bord na Mona Group of Unions said it does not accept the company's decision.

Secretary and Siptu organiser John Regan said: "It will be opposed by our members by all legitimate means including industrial action.

"There have been issues with sales of peat briquettes in the last two years.

"However, our members believe this move is premature and unwarranted, particularly as the plant is also in a process of diversifying its output with the development of a biomass briquette."

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said the Government should do more to protect workers vulnerable to shifts away from fossil fuel industries.

"Some of the Bord na Mona workers threatened with job losses today are the third and fourth generations of their families working on bogs since the 1940s.

"They have a very proud tradition but are now facing into a different future," he said.

Mr Ryan said the 120 million euro a year that is paid as a levy for peat to be burnt in power plants expires in 2019 and the money should be put into a fund to re-train the bog and briquette workers.
Brexit is likely to boost funding for Ireland's serious infrastructure shortage as the European Central Bank reins back on investments in the UK in favour of its smaller neighbour.

Andrew McDonnell, the vice president of the European Investment Bank, the EUs development bank, delivered the upbeat news in an address to the Oireachtas Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform Committee this morning.

Mr McDonnell, a former adviser to Taoiseach Enda Kenny, said the EIB would "do less in the UK" as a result of Brexit and also raised the question of whether its exit would trigger a return of its deposit in the bank.

The UK holds a 16 pc stake in the EIB but Mr McDowell said there were no provision for the "share capital paid in" to be returned as the bank had not envisaged the departure of a member state.
The Central Banks top economist has said EU countries cant use lax supervision or regulation as a way of competing for Brexit jobs, but suggested governments can use other sweeteners like taxation.

Gabriel Fagan also told the Seanad Brexit Committee that Ireland stands out as the EU economy most likely to be affected by Brexit.

And he reiterated a warning given earlier this year by the Department of Finance that a hard Brexit could cost Ireland as many as 40,000 jobs.

Under this scenario, our estimates suggest that after 10 years, GDP would be lower by 3pc and the number of people employed would be 40,000 fewer, compared to a benchmark no-Brexit scenario, Mr Fagan said.

This estimate is in line with those of the ESRI and the Department of Finance.

Mr Fagan said EU regulators are unable to use regulatory advantages to attract companies as supervision is largely harmonised across the EU.

There is very little scope for any supervisory authority anywhere in Europe to attract business by changing or adopting lax regulation, Mr Fagan said.

Regulation now more or less is harmonised across Europe. There are other dimensions by which countries can compete in terms of taxation in particular.

Countries cannot compete on the basis of supervision or regulation.
Britains PM Theresa May speaks outside 10 Downing Street after Parliament was dissolved ahead of the general election Picture: Reuters

The relationship between Britain and the EU has deteriorated further, heightening concerns about the chances of a deal on Brexit.

British prime minister Theresa May launched a blistering attack on the EU, accusing officials of making threats and trying to interfere in the general election.

Mrs May lashed out at European politicians and officials for plotting to "deliberately affect" the result of next month's poll.

She said bureaucrats had "misrepresented" the British position on Brexit, adding that some of them "do not want these talks to succeed".

She hit back after EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told Britain to pay an "incontestable" Brexit divorce bill of up to 100bn or face being taken to court.

Mrs May's comments followed leaks of her factious meeting with Mr Barnier and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker last week.

Although she was careful not to accuse anyone by name, her speech was clearly aimed at German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said last week Britain had "illusions" about the outcome of Brexit, as well as Mr Barnier and Mr Juncker .

Mr Barnier also said yesterday he will "pay great attention to the situation in Ireland".

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Despite Mr Barnier's assurances, Ireland's Brexit concerns will not be allayed until a second phase of EU-UK talks, due to begin later this year.

A senior EU official said clarity on customs checks for goods crossing the Border and other trade-related issues would take longer to achieve.

"We will not solve all Ireland-specific issues in the first phase," the official said, "but we want to make a good start."

The official said a deal on the transit of goods across the Border would require "a better understanding of what the future relationship will be with the UK in terms of customs".

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Mr Barnier confirmed talks on a future relationship would only begin after the EU gets assurances on citizens, money and borders, the three priorities agreed by EU leaders in their guidelines last week. He said he hoped that could happen by October or November.

"We shouldn't start this second phase of negotiations, on the scoping [of a future trade deal], on the transitional arrangements, in a climate of mistrust and uncertainty," he said. "The UK must put a great deal of energy and effort into these three issues over the next weeks and months and that will increase the chances of reaching a deal."

The EU published more detailed negotiating texts building on those guidelines yesterday, confirming that there should be no return to a "hard border" on the island of Ireland. The texts go further than the leaders' guidelines on customs controls.

"The Agreement should also address issues arising from Ireland's unique geographic situation, including transit of goods (to and from Ireland via the United Kingdom)," the text says.

The text also explicitly recognises the EU citizenship rights of Northern Irish people holding Irish passports, and the common travel area, which was not mentioned specifically in the guidelines.

Mr Barnier, who will visit Ireland next week, took a tough but conciliatory stance ahead of talks with Britain, promising to remain "cool-headed and solution-oriented".

But he hit back at attempts by the British to wind up a deal on citizens in June.

"Negotiations will be difficult," Mr Barnier said.

"Some have created the illusion that Brexit would have no material impact on our lives, or that negotiations can be concluded quickly and painlessly. This is not the case. We need sound solutions, we need legal precision and this will take time."

The EU wants all citizens that have acquired residency, work, pension or other rights in the UK up to Brexit day to keep those rights for life - including citizens that have now left the country.

EU officials also believe the UK does not own a share of the bloc's assets, which include loans, cash, property and other assets valued at 154bn at the end of 2015.

It implies Britain cannot use those assets to offset its final exit bill, though the matter has not been settled.

The EU also insists that the European Court of Justice has a say over the terms of the EU-UK divorce deal, including citizens' rights, long after Brexit.
Ollie Lyons of agents TWM is quoting in excess of 1.7m for 4 Upper Baggot Street, an attractive single-let investment in the heart of Dublin 4.

Permanent TSB occupy the building on a 35-year lease from April 1 1990, providing investors with an eight-year term certain. The investment has an open market rent review in April 2020 and a rent of 102,500 per annum, offering the buyer a net initial yield of 5.75pc (assuming standard purchaser costs of 4.46pc). Number 4 is an impressive Georgian building with excellent profile onto Upper Baggot Street. The three-storey-over-basement building is laid out for retail banking at ground floor, while the basement, first and second floors are in storage and office use.
Soros Fund Management is disappointed by the terms of the proposed merger of Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate Plc and Kennedy-Wilson Holdings Inc. and says it would welcome a sale of the European company if it were priced and structured appropriately.

In a letter to Kennedy Wilson Europe's board of directors released last Tuesday, the family office of billionaire George Soros urged them to "honour their fiduciary duties and conduct a strategic review of all alternatives available to KWE, including a cash sale to unaffiliated third parties and an orderly liquidation of the company over time".

Soros Fund Management owns about 12pc of KWE.

Kennedy-Wilson Holdings, which owns real estate in the US, Europe and Asia, plans to acquire the remainder of KWE in an all-share deal. The price offered is a 3.4pc discount to KWE's net asset value at the end of 2016, the companies said in April. The merger would improve liquidity and give the combined firms more scale, improving their ability to generate returns for shareholders, Kennedy-Wilson chairman and chief executive officer William McMorrow said at the time.

Shareholders have sold off UK landlords since the country's vote last year to leave the European Union, even as overseas investors have kept faith with real estate and continued to pay high prices to acquire some large London office buildings.

The mismatch has seen landlords such as Land Securities Group Plc and British Land Co. trading at wide discounts to asset values, prompting a wave of M&A activity in the industry.

KWE was "priced for distress along with other UK domestic stocks" after the Brexit vote, despite having about 44pc of its assets outside the country. Darren McKinley, an analyst at Merrion Capital Group, said in a note published last week.

"There is some risk that shareholders from either side do not vote the deal through, but I suspect a slightly higher offer may emerge once Kennedy-Wilson US shareholders realise the value within KWE's portfolio," he said, while describing the current offer as "not unattractive".

Kennedy-Wilson Holdings owns the investment manager that runs KWE and is the company's largest shareholder.

Soros Fund Management said it is also concerned about the process leading to the agreement. "A more robust strategic review has the potential to attract additional value-enhancing offers and thus allow KWE shareholders to make a more informed decision as to the intrinsic value of their shares," it said in the letter.

Both the proposed Kennedy Wilson deal and a bid by Teddy Sagi to acquire Market Tech Holdings Ltd. show investors see Brexit-related property share-price discounts as a buying opportunity.

KWE traded at a 20pc discount to net asset value and Market Tech was at a 11.2pc discount at last Friday's close.

Industry researchers forecast that the Brexit discounts will lead to more M&A in Britain this year.

"If you look at the price of some of the listed UK real estate companies, they are cheap now compared to buying private real estate assets," said Mahdi Mokrane, head of European research at property asset manager LaSalle Investment Management Inc., which oversees 53bn in investments.

"It's hard to pinpoint which companies will be targeted, but we can expect to see more of these deals."

Fears that Brexit could lead to London office buildings falling by as much as a third in value hasn't deterred overseas investors, who continue to pay premiums for modern properties in the UK capital. They've been attracted by the fall in the pound after last year's vote to leave the European Union and the demand has supported the underlying property values of landlords.

The Kennedy-Wilson and Market Tech Holdings offers sent the shares of real estate investment trusts higher.

Great Portland Estates Plc, which renovates older properties, rose as much as 2.1pc to the highest since the Brexit vote. Shaftesbury Plc, the owner of Carnaby Street, rose as much as 1.3pc. Hong Kong billionaire Samuel Tak Lee now holds more than 18pc of the landlord, compared with 5.2pc last June.

KWE's shares rose as much as 16pc initially, the most ever. Shareholders in the firm, which focusses on office, industrial, retail and private-rental properties, will own about 36pc of the combined group.

"The company's stock price has been suppressed by perceptions that it is at risk due to the impact of Brexit, given its holdings in the UK, as well as uncertainty in the other European markets - Ireland, Italy, Spain - in which it operates," BTIG LLC analysts including Mark Palmer wrote in a note to clients.

Sagi will purchase the part of Market Tech, the owner of a large swathe of property in London's Camden borough, that he does not already own through a trust. The 188 pence a share offer values the company at about Stg892.5m (1.05bn).

Commenting on the recent activity, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Sue Munden wrote in a note: "M&A activity has kicked off in the UK listed-property sector."

(Bloomberg)
EU agriculture chief Phil Hogan is on a mission in Canada this week to promote a recently signed trade deal with the country.

He is also due to make a quick detour to the US, where a similar but much larger trade deal has been on ice since the elections of US president Donald Trump.

His colleague, EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, met US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross in Washington last week following his more positive signals about a transatlantic deal.

She said then that "there is still a case" for a deal but that both sides "need a bit more time to see where we are" and to "clarify that both sides share an ambition to find solutions to difficult issues".

Mr Hogan also warned against getting too excited about the development and said there was still considerable uncertainty over what the US wanted.

"It is very unclear what the US trade policy is as yet," Mr Hogan told reporters in Brussels ahead of the trip. "There isn't any evidence of a settled policy."

Mr Hogan will not be meeting newly confirmed agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue on his trip but will speak to him by phone this week, he said..

Meanwhile, the EU is focusing on trade deals with Japan and Mexico - one of the parties to the Nafta trade agreement, which US president Donald Trump's last week promised to review.

"I see this new trade rhetoric - if not political policy - of the United States in terms of protectionism as a wonderful opportunity for the European Union," Mr Hogan said.

"We have, I think, about two years now of a head start on the US administration in trying to achieve these objectives."

One of the deals the EU has been trying to pursue for more than a decade is a deal with the Mercosur bloc of countries, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

The EU had wanted to wind up the deal this year, though many see that goal as impossible as progress has been slow so far, with disagreements over beef plaguing the talks, which were reopened last year after a years-long freeze.

Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy met the president of Uruguay, Tabare Vazquez, in Montevideo last week to push the deal, saying there was a "magnificent time" for the deal.

He added that the EU would work "intensely" to find agreement before the end of the year.

Mr Hogan said a deal can be done this year, but only if "conditions are right". A further round of talks will take place in Brussels before the summer.
Intel has secured planning permission for a massive extension to its factory in Leixlip, Co Kildare, which will enable it to compete for as much as $4bn (3.6bn) of investment in the future.

Its good news for Leixlip, which has been hit in the past year by hundreds of job losses at Intel and Hewlett-Packard.

However, a spokeswoman for the company said there are no plans to build at the Kildare site.

Planning applications are a "normal and prudent part of our regular business practice", she said.

Intel Ireland vies with other Intel sites for investment within the business, and planning permission means it could expand faster if required.

"It is a prudent measure for Intel to have flexible options available to allow them to be responsive," Intel planners said in their application.

Last month, Intel announced that it was restarting a project to invest $7bn to finish a chip facility in Arizona.

US president Donald Trump claimed credit for the decision, but the plan was originally announced back in 2011 and had been put on hold.

Intel has invested about 12bn in its Leixlip campus to date, with roughly 4,500 people employed at the vast site.

If the new facility goes ahead, it could create 3,000 construction jobs and employ as many as 850 full-time staff.
KBI Global Investors CEO Sean Hawkshaw (right) and Eoin Fahy Chief Economist outside the asset managers offices in Dublins IFSC. Photo: Tom Humphreys

It took Dublin-based asset management firm KBI Global Investors six years to land the equivalent of the holy grail among investors - a mandate from one of the world's biggest pension funds.

Not that there was time to celebrate the hard-won achievement - the firm, housed in the IFSC, was in the midst of another period of upheaval back in December 2015.

Its Brussels-headquartered parent, the Anglo-German banking group, BHF Kleinwort Benson, was caught in the crosshairs of an aggressive suitor; China's sprawling investment conglomerate Fosun International, famous for its ownership of the Club Med chain.

KBIGI's CEO, Sean Hawkshaw, recalls the takeover battle became "messy and hostile", particularly after a competing bid was lobbed in by the eventual victor, the French family-controlled bank, Oddo & Cie.

Hawkshaw and his long-serving directors in the business had hoped Fosun would prevail as the Chinese behemoth had shown a strong interest in the Irish asset manager. The mutual appreciation had even resulted in a meeting in Shanghai between KBIGI's directors and Fosun's top brass.

However, once Oddo took over the reins a parting of the ways became inevitable.

As Hawkshaw outlined to the French company's management at the time, Oddo's business model, with its captive distribution strategy - selling its own products to customers irrespective of performance - was anathema to KBIGI's boutique structure.

Hawkshaw claimed the powerful investment consultants, who determine how the world's largest asset managers invest, dislike captive distribution, and he feared the impact of the merger on KBIGI's business and shareholder value.

KBIGI's divorce proposal met with support from Oddo. By then Korea's National Pension Service fund - the third-largest pension fund in the world after Norway and Japan funds - had agreed to hand over a 1bn-plus mandate which, as Hawkshaw acknowledges, proved "fantastic timing".

While the influential new client represented an "endorsement" - according to Hawkshaw - of KBIGI's "specialist" investment strategy, it also delivered a timely fillip to the firm's valuation.

Large-scale private-equity firms came hunting, as did vast asset-management houses.

On one occasion KBIGI spurned the advance of a big US firm after 65 of its executives combed through the data room. "We only have 62 employees, so it was obvious if that many were in due diligence there was going to be a big difference in culture," says Hawkshaw.

After an exhaustive sales process - run by the Wall Street partnership of Sandler O'Neill + Partners - KBIGI embraced the French Goliath, Amundi Asset Management.

According to Eoin Fahy, KBIGI's chief economist and investment strategist, the union has proved harmonious, with their new owners "unwilling to intervene, but willing to help if asked".

The hands-off approach has led to a partnership model in Asia and Europe, where Amundi has greater knowledge and influence of the markets, while in the UK and US KBIGI continues to plough its own furrow.

The firm now has close to 10bn assets under management and aims to double that figure within four years.

It's a remarkable turnaround for a company that faced an existential crisis in 2012 when AUM had dwindled to just 2.8bn as Irish pensions funds bolted en masse from equities amid a regulatory clampdown that discouraged riskier investments in favour of low-yielding bonds - a move that Fahy and Hawkshaw, virtually in unison, describe as "madness" and "entirely the wrong structure".

KBIGI now sources close to 90pc of its income from overseas investors.

Fahy, who joined the firm in 1988, when it was run by Ulster Bank, warns the decline of Ireland's defined-benefit pension schemes - still decimated by the financial crisis with most in deficit and closed to new members - presents a "big problem" for the Government further down the track. "That's a no-brainer," he said.

But the Irish pension funds' flight from risk forced KBIGI to intensify their fight for new mandates from offshore funds, particularly in the US.

In what has become an increasingly desperate search for yield, pension and endowment funds piled back into equities and raised exposures to alternative investments.

This, in turn, lifted the fortunes of KBIGI with its twin strategy of diversified global equities, which has ballooned to 8.5bn, along with a 1bn-plus natural resources portfolio.

Hawkshaw points out that it pitches against the top firms in the world for its international mandates and attributes KBIGI's growth to a well-hewn, specialised strategy.

Rather than compete against "alpha"-seeking investors, the firm trumpets its consistent, small "beta" returns. Hawkshaw concedes "it's not sexy" but insists it's "designed to do exactly what it says on the tin".

Guided by a traditional investment philosophy that excludes any companies not paying a dividend, KBIGI aims to outpace the benchmark index by dispersing risk throughout a universe of 120 stocks. Typically active managers chasing higher returns confine the portfolio to 40-50 stocks.

Fahy argues KBIGI's cautious, conservative approach fits the diversified requirements of the larger funds. "We deliver downside protection" he says, which is why the firm's worst returns occurred in the spring of 2009, during the dash-to-trash craze - a market swing that resulted in bombed-out stocks rocketing.

He added if KBGI's global equities portfolios suddenly soared during a bull run, their clients' investment management consultants would come knocking, demanding to know why they had departed from their strategy.

The 1bn-plus Korean mandate sits within this core segment of the business, yet Hawkshaw acknowledges the higher fees are drawn from its riskier natural resources portfolio, which centre on innovative environmentally and socially-friendly companies.

Hawkshaw is acutely aware of the headwinds buffeting the investment-management industry as large firms merge, piling further pressure on fees and profit margins amid rising demand for exchange-traded funds.

He argues this is why KBIGI strives to remain in "the specialist space rather than occupy the middle ground".

Over the past year, the industry has been transformed by mega-mergers. Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Managers, two of the UK's biggest fund managers, are in the final stages of a tie-up, while KBIGI's new parent Amundi is applying the finishing touches to its takeover of Pioneer, which employs over 400 people in Dublin.

Hawkshaw emphasises the motivation behind that deal is very different from its acquisition of KBIGI.

As an "independent" asset manager, long-serving staff were viewed as a key asset. Hawkshaw stresses few firms are helmed by directors that have been in place for over two decades. He joined in 1992 as did Noel O'Halloran, chief investment officer.

Despite shifting between five different owners - KBIGI was established by Ulster Bank in the 1980s, then taken up by RBS and RHAI, an earlier manifestation of BHF Kleinwort Benson, before Oddo held it for just three months - management were unable to snare a stake in the firm.

That changed after the Amundi deal. KBIGI's management now hold a 12.5pc slice, in a deal entirely funded by Oddo and their new owner.

Hawkshaw points out the ownership stake would have been larger - possibly as high as 25pc - if they had opted for a private-equity firm but said this option was shunned because of concerns about accumulating high debt levels "six years into a bull market".

While Hawkshaw declined to clarify the precise agreement on the management stake, the executives are subject to earn-out periods over a five- and seven-year time frame.

And as Amundi beds in its 120m-140m acquisition, Hawkshaw and Fahy are confident KBIGI has moved into a sweet spot after years of uncertainty and change.

Greater advances in technology, coupled with a wider shift towards a low-carbon economy, have fuelled hopes for the firm's natural resources strategies, which have already won mandates from US funds like LA Fire and Police Pensions.

While the lengthy due diligence demanded to win these mandates means each victory is savoured, Hawkshaw and Fahy seem to take even greater glee in trouncing competitors touting a fossil fuel investment portolio.

In one pitch to a Californian fund, Fahy and Hawkshaw listened to a larger rival flogging an oil and gas portfolio and then pitched their alternative 'green' strategy in renewables.

In California pension funds force investment firms to compete publicly for new mandates.

"After we had pitched we could sit back and listen to the ... debate, and they were discussing exactly what we had argued: 'should we be sitting back and investing in what has delivered for the past 20 years or should we look forward to the next 20 years'," says Hawkshaw.

Hawkshaw and Fahy insist these ESG-friendly strategies are lucrative, pointing out their fund has generated an average 3pc return for the past 15 years.

"That is a lot of outperformance", says Fahy. He claims the firm has carved out a reputation in the space and with brokerage and research still sparse in the sector, "companies now come to us".

Yet ethical principles are not clung to blindly. An investment in oil and gas behemoth, ExxonMobil, numbers among its largest holdings within its global equities portfolio.

Asked how this squares with its alternative strategies, Hawkshaw replies, "it's not a religion".
US global logistics giant UPS has acquired Irish firm Nightline, making for a multi-million-euro pay day for its two founders.

Nightline CEO John Tuohy founded the business in 1992 with his friend David Field in the spare bedroom of Mr Tuohy's house, having each invested the equivalent of 10,000 in the company. The pair grew up in Artane in Dublin, on the same street.

Nightline is unlimited, meaning it doesn't have to make its accounts public, so it's difficult to know for sure how it's performing. In 2015, it generated turnover of more than 50m, however. It's owned by the founders via a company in the Isle of Man.

The purchase price agreed by UPS hasn't been revealed.

Millions of euro have been invested in Nightline over the past few years, and it now employs 410 direct employees, while 480 people subcontract for it. It's the country's largest independent parcel and freight delivery firm.

The company's Parcel Motel facilities are a familiar sight at locations such as filling stations and shopping centres.

"This is the right time in the company's evolution to join the world's largest parcel delivery company - one with a reputation for taking care of its people and a culture that aligns well with our own," said Mr Tuohy.

UPS Europe region president Nando Cesarone pointed out that Ireland has long been a strong, global trade player, with deep connections to the UK, the United States, Germany, China and other countries.

"With the addition of Nightline, we continue on our growth path in Europe, and will now be able to better serve customers who export into, and out of, Ireland," he said. "This is in addition to UPS's commitment announced in 2014 to invest $2bn in its European infrastructure by 2020."

UPS said that the UPS and Nightline brands will both initially operate in Ireland following the acquisition.

But it said that the businesses will be integrated "over time".
The services sector recorded its highest growth in 10 months in April as companies continue to display confidence despite Brexit, a new survey has shown.

The Investec Services Purchasing Managers' Index has improved to 61.1 in April from the previous months 59.1 reading.

The report also found that the rate of expansion in new business remains substantial, notwithstanding a cooling in the pace of growth in new export business to the slowest seen in the year to date.

In spite of the latter, services firms backlogs of work continue to increase and services companies continue to add to head-counts in an effort to meet the flow of new client demand and also put a dent into the stock of outstanding orders.

This latest news follows data this week showing that Irish manufacturing growth has expanded to a three month high in March, driven by improved market conditions both at home and abroad, Philip O'Sullivan, economist with Investec, said.

Read more: Improved market conditions leads to three month high in manufacturing growth

On the margin side, input costs continue to rise, which panellists have put down to higher payroll, fuel and insurance costs, however the report found that firms were able to pass on some of these costs to customers by increasing prices.

All in all, there is a sense of deja vu in the above, given that Tuesdays Investec Manufacturing PMI release also pointed to stronger new business, expanding head-counts and some pressure from input costs. Taken together, this weeks reports suggest that economic activity in Ireland picked up at the beginning of the second quarter, OSullivan said.

Confidence among businesses remains strong, with more than 10 times as many firms expecting to record growth in activity over the coming 12 months as opposed to those who anticipate a decline.
PEOPLE with a claim that involves bust insurer Setanta are still waiting for compensation three years after the collapse of the company.

Some 1,600 claims are now outstanding at a total cost of 95m, according to Dail replies received by Fianna Fail finance spokesman Michael McGrath.

The people waiting for a settlement were not directly insured with the Malta-regulated Setanta. Instead, they have a third-party claim where the driver responsible was insured with Setanta.

The claims have not been paid pending the outcome of a Supreme Court hearing last year. People who had claims and had comprehensive cover from Setanta - so-called first-party claims - are not affected by the court action. But others with third-party claims have been caught.

In October the Supreme Court heard an appeal by the Motor Insurers' Bureau of Ireland against a decision that it is liable for claims brought against the collapsed insurer.

The Bureau argued that the Insurance Compensation Fund should pick up the tab.

It is not clear when the Supreme Court will deliver its judgment on the dispute.

The liquidator of Setanta has stated that he will only be able to pay out 30pc of the value of the claims.

Setanta mainly insured van drivers, many of whom are self-employed.

Mr McGrath said: "The 1,649 outstanding claims are expected to cost between 87.7m and 95.2m and the liquidator has again stated that he will not be in a position to meet more than 30pc of claims."

He argued that even at this stage, the Government should bring the parties together in a bid to agree on meeting the cost of the outstanding claims pending the outcome of the Supreme Court decision.
Charles Haughey and TK Whitaker  he wrote frequent letters to the taoisigh of the day insisting that pay remained within the realm of what could be afforded

THE dreary steeples of Fermanagh and Tyrone are casting their shadows over the salons of Brussels, but there is another quarrel whose integrity is almost as long-lasting - that over public sector pay.

There have been cataclysms aplenty down the years and none greater than the deluge of 2007. As the waters subside, it is public sector pay which reappears as the central issue, just as so often before.

Whatever your views about the role of religion in the northern quarrels, there can be little doubt about the place of the public-sector pay bill in our recurring economic troubles.

Rapid increases played a central part in the crises of the 1980s and 2000s, if in somewhat different circumstances on each occasion.

Go further back and Dr Ken Whitaker is writing anxious letters to the taoisigh of the day insisting that pay remains within the realm of what can be afforded.

Normal enough from a finance ministry but pay for government workers appears to occupy a much more central role - and a much more dangerous one for governments - than in other northern European countries.

Despite all the years of stress and the overwhelming evidence that excessive public spending in general, and pay in particular, has been the single biggest threat to economic stability in Ireland, there has been no progress in agreeing a permanent, stable system for fixing public-sector pay which would remove, or at least alleviate, this ever-present threat.

It is not for the want of trying. All kinds of rules and any amount of learned analyses appeared down the years but, as we approach the 2020s, we are once again making it up as we go along.

Two principles seem to have been established as being at least desirable: that negotiations be done for the sector as a whole, and not individual groups; and that some kind of external analysis should precede negotiations.

The principles are sound enough, and are used in more successful systems elsewhere. Nor are they new - they governed social partnership. But the first was never fully accepted by rank-and-file workers, while analyses from the National Economic and Social Council and Competitiveness Council were wilfully ignored by the social partners, culminating in the infamous benchmarking report.

This month the new Pay Commission will try again, after a decade of cuts and emergency agreements. The first question to be asked is whether the current process is genuine - as the previous one most certainly was not. Its conclusion - large pay increases all round - had already been agreed and the benchmarking report was meant to give respectability to that.

After honest presentation of the facts, the objectives of a pay deal should be the next point of agreement, but rarely has been. There is a longer than usual list this time, headed by the reversal of post-crash cuts on the union side and the perennial demand for productivity on the Government side. To these must be added equal pay for all age groups and a path, at least, towards higher incomes than 2007.

We can expect some of this to be conditional on productivity. It is a difficult thing to define in public services. There is a bit more meat to chew on than in previous bouts, with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform's civil service renewal and public service reform plans providing some kind of template for what might be done.

Behind the big words, productivity boils down to fewer people achieving the same outcomes (which did happen during the crisis) or the same number of people achieving more.

None of that is ever appealing to any section of workers. The unions' opening position is that any extra work demanded of them during the past 10 years should be withdrawn, or paid for. Their consistent position in the past has been that pay deals are simply income maintenance or enhancement; doing more with less requires extra money on top.

This is the next difficulty - on what basis are government workers paid? There are no profits to be shared with capitalists, as in private firms; only tax revenues from those who pay taxes (including of course public sector workers) in return for services delivered - especially to those whose incomes are less than those of government workers.

Everyone turns their face away from this last uncomfortable truth. There is an inescapable connection between levels of pay and the levels of public provision. The unions argue, with some supporting evidence, that Ireland's total tax take is too low to pay for the services which many northern European countries enjoy.

Others disagree, just as they do about where exactly public-sector workers are on the income scale. What is clear is that no agreement has ever made precise allocations between pay, employment and the cost of services.

Nor did they deal properly with the allocation of money to investment in equipment and facilities. Capital spending is what, if anything, is left over. The results are all to obvious to anyone comparing Ireland's public infrastructure to that of other countries with similar levels of income, or even less.

Any proper agreement on such choices would require agreements on staffing and work practices at a level of detail which has never been forthcoming at a national level. Much necessary investment has been delayed or abandoned because the running costs are unsustainable.

Such sensitivities are why public pay discussions nearly all end up with relativities. The remit of the Pay Commission to include "a comparison of pay rates for identifiable groups within the public service with prevailing non-public sector market rates and international rates and comparisons where possible" will probably end up as central to the talks.

It may be hard to believe but the orthodox official view is that public-sector pay should follow the private sector, so as not to damage the economy's competitive standing.

Easier said than done, as benchmarking demonstrated, but changes to the world order, especially since 2007, make it more difficult still. The tendency in the past has been to select those private sectors where earnings are rising fastest; banks in the case of remuneration of higher public servants, and tech firms when it came to benchmarking.

Nice work if you can get it and there are already signs that it is about to be tried again by public sector unions. But things are quite different in the Irish private sector than they were back then, making comparisons even more difficult and dangerous.

Wages in the Irish business sector have been flat since 2010, having fallen 5pc in the previous two years. In the same period, based on Eurostat data, the productivity of the sector, which excludes manufacturing, has increased by 18pc.

Private-sector workers could argue that they are entitled to recover a large chunk of that difference but it is highly improbable that they will be able to do so. Unless, that is, and despite all the rhetoric and past failures, public sector workers lead the way in a national deal which covers everyone but leaves them doing better than their private sector counterparts. Just as so often before.
Vodafone Ireland CEO Anne O'Leary, and Colm 'Gooch' Cooper of AIB who was involved in HQ Tralee funding and is convinced more startups will follow suit as they get online thanks to Siro

A recent set of trade figures from the European Commission showed something startling. Irish small businesses out-perform all other European small businesses when it comes to ecommerce.

The figures from the European Commission's Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) showed that Ireland ranks first out of 28 countries in Europe when it comes to small firms selling online, turnover from eCommerce and cross-border ecommerce.

But there's a catch. To get into this thriving group, the small firms first have to have access to genuinely high-speed broadband. In Ireland, that has traditionally ruled out any company outside cities or the very largest towns.

And with a rollout of the state's National Broadband Plan still a year off from even starting, dozens of regional towns are being starved of basic infrastructure that could enable their local businesses to compete with counterparts in Cork, Dublin, Galway and cities around Europe.

However, some towns are starting to fight back. Aided by new plans from some of the country's largest broadband infrastructure companies, a number of regional centres have hustled to get connected to proper fibre internet access systems.

One such town is Tralee. The Kerry capital has had a challenging time in recent years. While Killarney and Dingle have been booming thanks to their stellar tourism brands, Tralee has been left to fight a more blended development strategy, trying to mix industrial progress with commercial, retail and tourist expansion. Compared to neighbouring towns, it has struggled to offer up a clear reason to attract startups and other businesses.

However, it recently got onto the development roadmap of regional fibre broadband supplier Siro, a joint venture between Vodafone and the ESB. As a result, 8,000 of the town's 12,000 homes and businesses now have access to fibre broadband lines directly into their premises.

The service offers speeds of up to 1,000Mbs, many times faster than equivalent speeds from traditional telephone landline broadband.

Faced with such opportunity, demand has instantly rocketed with 1,200 orders already taken.

One of the beneficiaries of Tralee's new fibre network is HQTralee, a new office working facility located in the middle of the town. Set up by local entrepreneurs Ken Tobin and Tom O'Leary, the building is kitted out like a tech co-working space with bright, airy meeting rooms, one-person offices and a series of hot-desks.

"You see working spaces like this popping all over cities like Dublin, London, and San Francisco," says O'Leary. "The advantage is that you get access to almost everything you need as a small company. You get massive broadband speeds, a desk or an office if you need it, access to meeting spaces and the ability to meet and mix with other small businesses if you want."

As soon as HQ Tralee opened its doors, there was a flood of startups and businesses who took space. Demand became so high that it filled up, forcing the founders to set up a second building next to the first one. Whereas the original HQTralee building houses 52 people across 18 companies, the second will hold 30 people with a target of 15 companies.

"This is amazing for Tralee," says Colm 'Gooch' Cooper, a Kerry GAA star forward who now works with AIB in Killarney and who was involved in helping to fund HQTralee. "People are so used to thinking that you can't stray outside Dublin for things like startups, but you absolutely can. We're going to see more and more here over the next 18 months. The economy has changed in the last couple of months and there's a lot of optimism around. We can see it here on the ground."

Like towns such as Westport, Galway or Tramore, Tralee is positioning itself as a lifestyle option for executives, developers and entrepreneurs who want to work in high-growth industries in a surfing or non-city environment.

Siro, which took the decision to go into Tralee to meet demand for fibre broadband, is set to repeat the move in a further five towns in the coming months. Its director of corporate affairs, Stephen O'Connor, said that it is targeting similar fibre launches in Carlow, Dundalk, Cavan and Letterkenny to complement an almost-completed rollout in Drogheda. In all, the company says that it will reach 50 towns around the country with such fibre rollouts.

Siro isn't alone. Eir is currently rolling out fibre broadband in some towns and rural areas, including a targeted launch with Udaras na Gaeltachta in Tralee's neighbouring town, Dingle.

"Dingle now has access to broadband speeds that are on a par with leading European cities," says Bill Archer, managing director of Eir Business. "This is extremely positive for local business people, entrepreneurs, startups and visitors to the region. It means they can live, work and visit Dingle and be able to connect on a national and global scale."

Back in Tralee, HQTralee charges 250 per month for a one-person office of about 100 sq ft. For that, the small firm gets high-end broadband and access to all the building's facilities, including meeting spaces and beverages. It also has 'hot desk' options from 90 per month.

HQ Tralee currently has a mixture of businesses from graphic designers and software firms to PR companies, architects and clothes companies. It also has executives from businesses who use the facility as a remote office. All need office space and high-end broadband to do business effectively.

One of the startups at the facility is Creative Practice, a graphic design agency run by Aisling Carmody.

"I work with clients around the country," she says. "That includes food, retail, lots of areas. It's a different project every day. I need this type of broadband."

Another young company is Harpoon Connect, a software startup that specialises in commercial development technology such as targeted advertising systems for local media companies.

"We're up to seven people now," says Derek Counihan, the company's CEO. "We're doing well in Ireland and the UK. We're just about to sign a deal with a US-based company that delivers audio advertising. We basically step in to help small radio stations and others like them to monetise their audio streams. From an advertiser's point of view it's gold because they can do hyper-local, targeted advertising."

Carmody and Counihan, who are both under 30, could not hope to sell nationally or internationally without proper broadband access. They are following in the footsteps of famous Kerry entrepreneurs such as Jerry Kennelly, the former Stockbyte stock photo founder who sold his locally-based business to Getty Images for 110m in 2006 after branching out around the world.

"There's a hotbed of entrepreneurialism in Kerry," said O'Leary. "We're trying to put it out there that there is an alternative to two-hour commutes or having to move altogether."

With an eye on what Tralee has pulled off, other towns in Kerry are starting to ramp up bids to attract the main telecoms providers. Killorglin is one such town. At the launch event for HQTralee, a senior executive from one of Killorglin's biggest companies, Fexco, was on hand to press the case directly for Siro and Vodafone to wire up Killorglin as it has done to Tralee. Catherine Evans, senior relationships manager at Fexco, was joined by local TD Michael Healy Rae at the event's launch.

Siro started out with a general principle that it needed 4,000 premises in an area to consider it as a potential location for its fibre rollout. However, it sometimes makes exceptions on the edges of this criteria. Last summer, it wired up Skibbereen, a well-to-do town in West Cork with the potential to attract high-growth companies seeking a lifestyle-focused setting.

For towns such as Killorglin, the presence of influential companies like Fexco could prove vital to its prospects.

Eventually, all Irish towns are to be hooked up to fibre broadband through the state-subsidised National Broadband Plan. But with negotiations ongoing as to who might stay engaged with that competition (Siro is understood to be reconsidering whether it will bid for the contract), a rollout of the government-backed scheme looks several years off from completion.

"The landline speeds are awful and mobile isn't much better," says O'Leary, talking about regular landline broadband available outside the fibre zones. "You still have people desperately trying to get two megabits using a mobile dongle in their laptop. Or others who end up having to buy 10 cups of coffee to sit in the lobby of a hotel in town that has broadband."

He says that many of the entrepreneurs who work at HQTralee live outside the town, where such high speed broadband isn't available.

However, despite its high tech connectivity and fit-out, HQ Tralee isn't pitching itself exclusively as a space for tech companies. "Whereas places like Dogpatch Labs in Dublin are really for tech businesses, we cater to designers, architects, videographers, marketers. If an electrician comes to us and needs a modern space, that's no problem. We want that kind of collaboration across different disciplines."

Tralee is just the first of several co-working facilities planned by Tom O'Leary and Ken Tobin. "We hope to follow Siro around," says O'Leary. "Where they go and roll out their fibre, we'll go to open up a HQ."
President Barack Obama (R) gives Michelle Obama a kiss as they wait for President-elect Donald Trump and wife Melania at the White House before the inauguration on January 20, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Trump becomes the 45th President of the United States. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)

A new biography into the life of the former US president Barack Obama, reveals that Mr Obama asked another woman to marry him long before he met his wife Michelle.

In the biography titled 'Rising Star' by David J. Garrow, an insight is given into Mr Obama's determination to be successful and his early relationships.

According to the Washington Post, the book reveals for the first time the story of a woman Mr Obama lived with and loved in Chicago, in the years before he met Michelle.

The book claims that Mr Obama met Sheila Miyoshi Jager, now a professor at Oberlin College, and asked her to marry him when they were in their early 20s.

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Ms Jager was of Dutch and Japanese ancestry and, like Obamas distant mother, also studied anthropology.

In the winter of 86, when we visited my parents, he asked me to marry him, Ms Jager told David J. Garrow in his book.

Her parents were opposed, not because of racial differences, but because her mother thought that Ms Jager, two years Mr Obamas junior, was too young.

Ms Jager said that Mr Obama suddenly became more ambitious and soon had his sights set on becoming president.

Expand Close U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama speak onstage at TNT Christmas in Washington in December 2014 (Photo by Theo Wargo/WireImage) / Facebook

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The book examines how race and politics suddenly overwhelmed Ms Jager and Mr Obamas relationship. The marriage discussions dragged on and on, but now they were clouded by Obamas torment over this central issue of his life . . . race and identity, Ms Jager recalls. The resolution of his black identity was directly linked to his decision to pursue a political career, she said.

The pair went their separate ways and Mr Obama soon met Michelle Robinson at the Chicago law firm where she worked and got married.

According to the Washington Post, the book also looks at Mr Obama's political ambitions and his road to becoming the 44th US President.
Irish actress Susan Ateh is set for primetime stardom on new RTE series Redwater.

The Killester woman (38) stars as a garda in the EastEnders spin-off show, which sees soap favourites Kat and Alfie travel to Ireland in search of Kat's long-lost son.

Expand Close Kat and Alfie Moon, played by Jessie Wallace and Shane Richie, filming in Ireland. Photo: BBC / Facebook

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"We filmed in Wicklow and Dunmore East, which is where the fictional village is set. We had pure sunshine so we were very lucky," she told the Herald.

"They're coming over looking for their son and they're looking for their son in this town in Ireland.

"They discover that the village itself has a secret that it doesn't want to be uncovered.

"I play a local garda named Bernie. She's strong and intelligent and very caring, but she's very emotionally guarded."

Susan (inset), who has previously worked with Aidan Turner and Martin McDonagh, lives in Los Angeles, where she is hoping to make it big.

"LA is good, it's just very competitive. It's a hard town to crack," she said.

Susan currently divides her time between California, Dublin and London.

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"I'm going to be filming a pilot in LA in a couple of weeks and after that I don't know, I might be in London," she said.

"I've been travelling a lot the last couple of years.

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"Whenever I'm in London I always go back to Ireland. I definitely love the lifestyle in LA, it's very laid-back. You can go hiking or the beach, it's all a 20-minute drive away but there's nothing like being at home."

With so much competition for roles in LA, Susan has learned not to take rejection too personally.

"I'm always auditioning, always in meetings. They're very different to the actual work," she said.

"The more you do them, the more confident you get.

"The biggest lesson I've learned is to just do them and let it go - if it's meant for you, it's meant for you and if it's not, it's not."

Redwater is on RTE One on Sunday, May 14, at 9pm.
President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina stand with members of the Defence Forces at the Arbour Hill Commemoration Ceremony in Dublin. Photo: Defence Forces

President Michael D Higgins, Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, and Housing Minister Simon Coveney were amongst the political figures at the 1916 Arbour Hill State Commemoration ceremony yesterday.

President Higgins and the Taoiseach laid wreaths at the memorial on behalf of the people of Ireland.

Bishop Dennis Nulty spoke passionately, urging "us little nations" to learn from the past and mediate in current global conflicts. He cited North Korean and US relations as an example of conflict.

The bishop said: "Pope Francis reminds us little nations can play a significant role in world peacekeeping in his call on Norway to mediate in the current dispute between North Korea and the United States.

"The personnel of Oglaigh na hEireann are equally equipped to mediate and have done so with great success in the past," he said.

The bishop said we owe a debt to those who died in 1916 as we now "speak proudly of an Irish nation".

He said there was "too much blood spilled" during the 1916 Rising.

He was reminded of areas in conflict now which "merit much more than a fleeting headline on a news bulletin".

Imam Sheikh Hussein Halawa, representing the Islamic Community in Ireland, and Leonard Abrahamson, the President of the Jewish Community in Ireland, also attended the event. Reverend Andrew Dougherty of Coptic Orthodox Church was also present. Mr Halawa said: "On the occasion of the centenary celebration of the 1916 Easter Rising and national day of commemoration, we pray to our lords make our country Ireland safe, prosperous and a country of peace and to let no one despair."
The husband of the late Malak Thawley, who died at the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin while undergoing surgery for ectopic pregnancy, said he hopes lessons will be learned from her death after it emerged doctors had to ask a local pub for ice to save her life.

Mrs Thawley (35) died in May last year after one of her main blood vessels was accidentally injured during the operation.

It emerged yesterday that up to three doctors who were involved in her surgery had to rush to the nearby O' Connor's pub for ice to cool her brain as they battled to save her.

The family solicitor, Caoimhe Haughey, confirmed the incident and said she hoped the hospital has reviewed its procedures.

She said she and Mr Thawley intend to seek an explanation from the hospital regarding this ice shortage "which is critically relevant to the timeline of events and what happened".

"Hopefully the hospital will provide an explanation and take on board all the lessons to be learned from this tragic maternal death," she told the Irish Independent.

An internal hospital report said Mrs Thawley, who was undergoing a simple keyhole operation, died after one of her main blood vessels was accidentally injured by a sharp-pointed instrument used to create an opening early on in the surgery.

A barwoman in the pub yesterday recalled how she first believed the arrival of a doctor in blue scrubs was a prank.

He told her "there is an emergency at the hospital" and he said he "needed as much ice as I could give".

She gave him a plastic bagful of ice. Not long afterwards two more doctors arrived asking for more ice and she gave them two more black bags.

The master of Holles St, Dr Rhona Mahony, in a letter to Mr Thawley, said the hospital apologised for the "shortcomings in the care" provided to Mrs Thawley "which resulted in her untimely death" and for the distress and suffering this has caused.

She said: "We appreciate that in this circumstance there are no words that can begin to address the pain that follows the loss of Malak's life."

A spokesman for the hospital yesterday declined to comment on the shortage of ice during the care of Mrs Thawley. It is understood that there have been no similar incidents since.

Mrs Thawley's inquest will take place at the end of June.

The couple were living in Ireland where Mr Thawley, an American, is working.
FORMER Tanaiste Joan Burton became emotional and asked for the jury to be sent out when footage of the Jobstown water charge protest was replayed in court today.

The Dublin West Labour TD asked Judge Melanie Greally if she could view the video privately, saying: "It's very very distressing to me, what happened."

The jurors were asked to leave for a short time so Ms Burton could watch the clip, in which people were heard shouting "shame on you, you're a f***ing disgrace."

Ms Burton was in the witness box for a fourth day today in the trial of Solidarity TD Paul Murphy, two south Dublin councillors and four other men, who all deny falsely imprisoning Ms Burton and her advisor, Karen OConnell.

Ms Burton was allegedly falsely imprisoned in cars for around three hours at Fortunestown Road, Jobstown, Tallaght on November 15, 2014.

Mr Murphy (34), is on trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court along with South Dublin councillors Kieran Mahon (39), Michael Murphy (53). The other four are Frank Donaghy (71) of Alpine Rise, Tallaght, Ken Purcell (50) of Kiltalown Green, Michael Banks (46) of Brookview Green and Scott Masterson (34) of Carrigmore Drive, all in Tallaght.

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Today, Ms Burton also denied trying to smear water protesters by suggesting they were an uncaring bunch who let their children roam the streets.

She told the jury her mind was on safety rather than strategic thinking during a protest in Jobstown in which she was allegedly falsely imprisoned.

She was commenting on another video clip taken in the back of the car in which she was heard saying her advisor should put on social media that there were children there and it was shameful that they were not being minded.

The suggested tweet in question was never sent, the court heard.

Mr Burton was cross-examined this morning by Michael OHiggins SC, representing Ken Purcell.

In the clip from the car, Ms Burton could be heard telling Ms OConnell what she should do was go on social media and say there were children there and it was a shame they were not being looked after and were let roam free.

Ms Burton said her state of mind at the time was very fragile and frightened because she had already been through several very unpleasant episodes. She was worried about the children, but she was also worried about ourselves and what they would do if the door was opened.

It was a moment in a very tense period of time and I was making conversation, she said, but she would not have had a problem if Ms OConnell had gone on social media to say there were children there.

She did not follow it up, saying I would have left it to Karen whether or not she went on social media.

Mr OHiggins said her motivation for the suggestion was to paint again a picture to people reading social media that this was an uncaring bunch of people who didnt supervise their children and let them roam the streets.

I had no idea to whom these children belonged, I had no idea whether their parents were present, Ms Burton replied.

She said she was only concerned that they did not seem to be supervised.

If Mr OHiggins was suggesting that she had anger towards the protesters and thought what they were doing was wrong and bad, the answer was yes, she said, because she was very frightened.

She was also concerned about what damage could be caused to others if the car moved and had all these ideas running through my mind in a very confused and noisy situation.

You are this out to smear in the public eye what was going on, you were misrepresenting it, Mr OHiggins said.

He told Ms Burton she would say anything to gain what she perceived was a material advantage.

She replied that her focus was on getting safely out of the car and seeing an end to the situation as quickly as possible.

She said it was being implied that she had some big strategy in her head, but what was in her head was safety.

Ms Burton said she was not particularly tech-savvy. She used an iPad and iPhone and had used social media quite a lot but found that particularly female politicians were subject to very very denigratory material on it.

Mr OHiggins then read from a November 1, 2010 article in Hot Press in which she was quoted along with Fine Gaels Simon Coveney TD about an RTE Morning Ireland interview with then-Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

Mr Coveney had tweeted that Mr Cowen had seemed half way between drunk and hungover and the controversy gained a global audience and became known as Twittergate.

In the Hot Press article, she had supported Mr Coveney, Mr OHiggins said. She was quoted as referring to older people who wouldnt be familiar with Twitter.

Is it a case where politicians see an advantage and they just take it? he asked.

Ms Burton said she had been listening to the interview live on radio and people were remarking on Twitter that it had been a disgraceful performance.

Ms Burton told Mr OHiggins she was a moderate social media user and would not use it as much as others.

She said we are all aware of a master Twitter operator and agreed she was talking about US President Donald Trump, and others.

Social media such as Twitter and Facebook had become a very sad space and a very difficult space so that people like her did not get involved in it as much as they might like to.

There are people in my family who might regard me as a total IT and computer idiot, she said.

Mr OHiggins put it to her she had given an interview with Miriam ODonoghue in the Sunday Independent in which she slept with her iPad under her pillow.

Ms Burton replied that she did in the first year. Ms OHiggins said the Attorney General had told her no texts before 7am.

He also told Ms Burton she had 18,000 Twitter followers as of 48 hours ago.

He asked her how she could reconcile these things with her presentation of herself to the jury as a tech idiot.

She said people in her family might regard her this way.

When the jury returned, Mr OHiggins said he apologised that the footage was distressing for Ms Burton and it had to be played.

He said the gardai were quick stepping Ms Burton in the video from one car to another.

He then asked for a YouTube video of the protest to be played. In it, Paul Murphy could be seen being held by gardai.

Mr Murphy had no top on in the video and people could be heard shouting to the gardai: Get your hands off him, thats a TD you are mishandling.

There were also cries of dirtbirds, and you started this, this was a peaceful protest till you started dragging people out of it.

A garda was struck by a water bomb on the head and another protester shouted: Stand firm everyone.

Mr OHiggins put it to Ms Burton that that was Paul Murphy.

If you can identify him to me, I havent seen him with his clothes off before, she replied.

Her answer was greeted with laughter throughout the courtroom and one man in the public gallery was heard to say: I wouldnt know about that.

A garda called for quiet in the court and Mr OHiggins continued, putting it to Ms Burton that they had seen protesters at the front of the car being removed.

Well, its protesters, she said.

Mr OHiggins said there were two sides to every story and asked Ms Burton of she agreed.

She replied that she had not been able to leave the car or use the public road and she felt quite frightened a lot of the time.

Mr OHiggins said they had seen protesters sittings down and being forcibly removed in a chaotic way and this side of the story had not been described in the evidence.

Mr Murphy like myself has the honour to be a member of Dail Eireann and in this democracy we have freedom to vote, to speak and to protest, and as I have said, I believe in the right to peaceful protest, she said. Mr Murphy is one of a very elite group of people who have the right to speak in the Dail.... elected representatives of the people have quite a number of different opportunities to speak.

Ms Burton told Sean Gillane, SC prosecuting, that she had never experienced anything like the events of the protest before.

In your experience, is being called a b**ch and a c**t part of political discourse? he asked.

No, she replied. In fact, as I think I have said in a lot of media interviews, I find in general people are very kind to me and most people are very polite, particularly people like me who are working class people from working class backgrounds.

The trial continues.
FORMER Tanaiste Joan Burtons advisor has said she felt like she was in a maul when an angry mob swarmed around them at the Jobstown water protest.

Karen OConnell told a jury protesters ran at them, shouting get the c***s as they fled from one car to another.

She said a windscreen of one car she was in was smashed, cans of beans and eggs were thrown, she was hyperventilating and it was one of the most scary experience of her life.

Ms OConnell was giving evidence this afternoon in the trial of Solidarity TD Paul Murphy, two south Dublin councillors and four other men, who all deny falsely imprisoning her and former Tanaiste Joan Burton.

The pair were allegedly falsely imprisoned in cars for around three hours by protesters at Fortunestown Road, Jobstown, Tallaght on November 15, 2014.

Ms OConnell told Tony McGillicuddy BL, for the prosecution, she attended the graduation ceremony at An Cosain in Tallaght with the Tanaiste on the day. She was Ms Burton's special advisor at the time.

It was a graduation ceremony for adults that had returned to education and they were there at the invitation of Catherine Zappone TD.

She noticed around 20 protesters outside and some on the opposite footpath when she arrived.

They had placards and were chanting water-related slogans. The graduates were to proceed from An Cosain to the church for a conferring ceremony and it was decided that the Tanaiste would go out at the end of the procession.

The protesters thought that Ms Burton was coming out and began booing and chanting and Ms OConnell said she started to clap. When the protesters realised the Tanaiste was not coming out, some of them started to clap too to acknowledge the students presence, she continued.

When Ms Burton came out, Ms OConnell noticed the protesters starting to surround her and move in towards her. Ms OConnell went to her side and the Tanaistes protection officer went to the other side.

The protesters came in very close at that stage and started screaming at Ms Burton.

They were generally trying to infiltrate, if you like, trying to come in towards us, physically surrounding us in very close proximity, Ms OConnell told the court.

The protesters were using not nice language like b***h, c**t, she said.

They were using horrible language towards her - you f***ing b***h, I hope you die, Ms OConnell said.

As they proceeded to the church, they were pushed and shoved and an egg was thrown at Ms OConnell, hitting her hair and her coat. She noticed a water balloon was thrown at Ms Burton, and it hit the back of her head and exploded on her.

They eventually made their way to the church gates and into the grounds. She was concerned for both their safety.

I felt it was a very angry crowd, unlike protests I had seen before, she said. It was a very physical experience. I was concerned at the anger of the crowd. It was going to be a very difficult situation to get out of.

In the church, they went into a small bathroom and she gave Ms Burton her black blazer for the conferring ceremony as the Tanaistes was wet.

After the ceremony, a detective told them the crowds outside were getting bigger and a decision was made that they would leave by the side entrance.

They both ran to an unmarked black garda saloon because the protesters were running at us as we were moving to the car.

They intended leaving as soon as possible.

What happened then was the protesters surrounded the car and started placing posters and placards on the car windows and to shake the car, she continued. They were banging on the bonnet, they were banging on the windows, they were banging on the roof and screaming at us.

They were chanting Labour scum and personal things like you f***ing b***h, you c***s, I hope you die.

The driver was trying to reverse but could not because there were protesters at the back and side of the car, which was facing into a wall.

At one point they could not see anything because of the placards on the windows.

I was petrified (Ms Burton) was very scared, she was trying to calm me down, I was very upset, she was saying its OK, itll be alright, Ms OConnell said. I was crying, I was very fearful, I had tears coming out of my eyes.

They were in that car for about 40 minutes, she told Mr McGillicuddy.

She started to record the protesters, who were also taking pictures on their phones.

Ms OConnell said she recognised Paul Murphy, who was at the back of the car taking photos on his phone. He was standing there with other protesters, shouting and chanting slogans, she said.

Gardai opened the window and said they were going to try to help them leave. The officers surrounded the side of the car and said they would escort them to a waiting car further away.

They got out and were surrounded by what was like a scrum of gardai and protesters were on the outer perimeter of the gardai, huddling around them.

They were running in at us, shouting things at us.

I was petrified, absolutely petrified, it was a horrible experience, because I felt like they were trying to get at us, and if the guards werent there, I dont know what would have happened, Ms OConnell said. It was a very intense experience. We were almost carried by the gardai to the car that was waiting at the gate of the church grounds. We were held very closely together. At one point (Ms Burton) said my shoes after falling off. I bent down to get it because I didnt want her to have to walk with one shoe.

Ms OConnell said the protesters were swarming around us and trying to get in at us. It felt like an angry mob. I was crying and hyperventilating. I was very very fearful and very very scared.

The gardai pushed Ms Burton into the jeep. One of the protesters grabbed Ms OConnell by the coat collar and their hold had to be broken by a garda.

She heard someone shout get the c***s, there they go.

She said it was as if she had just been through a maul.

It felt like we were physically carried along, we were really scared, I was crying and very very upset. She told me to try to calm down and not be as upset. She was trying to reassure me, Ms OConnell said.

One of the protesters smashed the jeeps windscreen, and it felt like they were trying to get in.

The crowd got bigger and some sat in front of the jeep, she said. The more that were moved by the gardai, the more came and sat, she said.

There was a general sense of hostility towards the guards. The jeep driver attempted to move but could not.

Ms OConnor recognised Paul Murphy in front of the jeep with a megaphone. The jeep was moving slowly at that stage and they were told they would be slow-marched out of Tallaght.

The crowd got angrier and cans of beans were thrown at the gardai, and eggs and bottles at the jeep.

She heard shouting of you ugly b***h, how do you sleep at night? and could hear the garda helicopter above.

The garda public order unit arrived to help clear the crowds but there were more protesters than police.

They were in the jeep for about two hours and a plainclothes garda told them to get out of the jeep very quickly and run.

Gardai again surrounded the door as they got out.

I could see protesters running towards us when we were getting out of the jeep, she said. I was petrified. We were told to run and Joan was just in front of me. I stumbled just a little bit.

The gardai surrounded them and ran with them, saying run, run, run.

She did not know where they were going and she was led to a getaway car, with Ms Burton going to another.

The cars drove off at high speed, while protesters shouted there they are, there they are, get the c***s, she said.

I was petrified, I was really upset, I was crying, I hit my head as I was getting in the door, I was very upset, I was crying, she said. It was one of the most scary experiences I have ever experienced in my life, she said.

She told Mr McGillicuddy she had wanted to leave but was unable to because of the protesters.

In cross-examination, Ms OConnell told Kerida Naidoo SC, for Kieran Mahon there was a discussion about driving from An Cosain to the church but it was decided that it was not safe to drive.

She said she had been involved in Shell to Sea protests when she was in UCD but added there is a distinct difference from preventing people from entering a site, we certainly didnt deprive anybody of their ability to leave.

Asked by Roisin Lacey SC, for Mr Masterson, if she and Ms Burton had discussed what the protest was about, she replied Im sure Joan new.

The trial continues.
TWO youths have been spared sentences for viciously attacking a Garda on Dublins Henry Street while onlookers stood back and filmed with their phones.

The boys, aged 16, have pleaded guilty at the Dublin Children's Court to assault causing harm to Gda Sgt Damian OHara who was attacked while on duty in the city-centre on June 18 last year.

Judge John OConnor had warned them previously that they would each face six-month custodial sentences if negative probation reports on them were furnished to the court. He noted when the case resumed today that the reports were positive and the pair said they would follow recommendations made by the Probation Service.

Judge OConnor recorded convictions and imposed 10-month probation bonds on them. The pair must stay out of trouble and obey the directions of their probation officers to divert them from re-offending.

The judge warned them that breaking the terms of the supervision order would result in an alternative sentence.

At an earlier hearing, a victim impact statement was read in court and Judge OConnor had said the incident had a traumatic effect, adding that the case demonstrated the dangers faced by gardai every day.

He noted from the statement that the sergeant is more weary in dealing with situations and felt that there was a lack of respect to gardai. In the statement he also revealed that during the incident, the public preferred to stand back and record a garda being clearly assaulted, and not assist.

In evidence, Garda Sergeant Adrian Kinsella had said there were difficulties among a crowd watching a street performance.

He said his colleague spoke to a busker and asked to see his permit when boys attempted to intervene. They were not connected to the busker and were directed by the garda sergeant to move on at which one boy said f*** yourself to Sergeant OHara.

That youth then pulled the sergeants bicycle helmet over his face and punched him in the head. Both fell to the ground and the boy got on top of the sergeant and continued to punch him in the face and head area.

CCTV footage showed he was punched a number of times. The garda restrained the teenager, however, during the struggle he also sustained a kick to his leg from the co-defendant.

A medical report was furnished to the court showing he suffered restricted movement in his thigh, an abrasion to his nasal bridge and his left elbow was hurt.

Judge O'Connor noted that the sergeant recovered from his injuries but said it was a traumatising incident for him.

Defence counsel Damian McKeone represented the instigator of the attack and he asked the judge to note that his client had mental health issues as well as drug abuse problems. He is receiving help and had been prescribed medication but needed to cut down on his cannabis use, counsel said.

He has one prior criminal conviction for violent disorder for which he was placed on probation for 12 months in February last year.

The youth also has a range of other behavioural disorders and a brief letter from him was read out. In the it, that teen, who was accompanied to court by his mother, said that at the time of the attack, my head was messed up and he apologised.

An earlier probation report showed he was at a high risk of re-offending and he had difficulties accepting responsibility for his actions.

Counsel also said the youth needed to address getting involved in a education or training. A letter from an addiction treatment service in relation to the boy was furnished to the court today.

The court was told the second teenager, who kicked the sergeant, also had mental health issues and is being helped for a number of disorders. Positive probation reports on him were furnished to the court in March and again today/

He was accompanied to court by his mother, who had told the court her son is now taking part in an educational course. His solicitor Margaret Evilly also pointed out that the boy has expressed remorse in a letter of apology.

Judge OConnor had said the majority of children affected by the same disorders as either youth do not have issues in relation to criminal behaviour.
Willie Crowley, who was killed by dangerous driver Damien Kalinski, pictured with his wife, Claire Doyle

The grieving widow of a councillor killed by a dangerous driver, who had been banned from the road at the time, said "the brutal violence of his death" had shocked her "to the core".

Kildare councillor Willie Crowley (65) died after he was struck by speeding driver Damien Klasinski (29), on Eyre Street in Newbridge, Co Kildare, on December 15, 2015.

Klasinski, who had already been banned from driving for previous offences, pleaded guilty.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard he was speeding and didn't brake when his uninsured car struck Mr Crowley.

The councillor was on his way home to prepare a menu for a communal Christmas dinner for people in need when he was fatally injured.

Claire Doyle said her husband was a volunteer who cooked for the festive feast in the community each year.

In her victim impact statement Mrs Doyle told how her life unravelled after her husband's death.

"I was driven to Naas hospital by a member of the gardai," she said.

"Nothing could have prepared me for what awaited me there - my husband Willie's battered, bruised and broken body, his shattered skull and some hours later the devastating news that there was nothing that could be done because of the severity of the brain injuries.

"I spent the next three days and nights at Willie's bedside hoping against hope for a miracle.

"The miracle did not happen," she said.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard Klasinski was speeding at the time.

He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death. Klasinski, of The Oaks, Newbridge, drove off after hitting Mr Crowley. He told the other passengers in the car: "What am I supposed to do?"

After his arrest he told gardai he had panicked, saying: "I am very sorry. It was an accident. I'm really hoping this man recovers."

Detective Garda Sergeant James O'Sullivan told Lorcan Staines BL, prosecuting, that Mr Crowley was walking home from the pub on the night but was not intoxicated.

He was crossing the street when Klasinski's car struck him. Eye witnesses estimated him to be travelling at speeds up to 80kmh. It had rained earlier in the day making the road wet.

Judge Melanie Greally said Klasinski was driving at a speed much too fast for the conditions on the night. She adjourned the case to May 12 next for sentence.

The court heard Klasinski, a Polish national, has 13 previous convictions mainly for road traffic offences, including being disqualified from driving for two years for driving without insurance in November 2015 and being convicted of drunk driving earlier that year.
Dissident Republicans "want no part" in the bloody Hutch-Kinahan feud, they said in a statement.

A year after Michael Barr was gunned down in Dublin's Sunset House, Republican political group Saoradh have denied reports they are planning retaliation.

The Irish Daily Star reports: "Republicanism has had no part nor does it want any part of the criminal feuding that is tearing apart working-class Dublin."

Barr (35) was killed by the Kinahan gang after they suspected him of being involved in the killing of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel in February 2016.

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Tyrone native Barr was a member of the New IRA but they have denied they are plotting revenge.

Speaking a ceremony at Barr's grave in Strabane last weekend, an activist said: "The blame for Micky's death lies squarely with the southern state and its proxies.

"Also to blame are those former republicans who have besmirched the cause of Irish freedom by siding with criminality and blurring the line between republicans and gangsters in the public's view - providing the state with invaluable propaganda to damage the republican struggle.

"Let us understand that the only ones who have benefited from the death of Micky Barr is the failed 26-county state that republicans want to see overturned.

"The state has tried through this heinous deed to draw republicanism, at a time when it is strong and resurgent, into a counter-revolutionary trap that would set us back in our current task of building."
The ASTI leadership is being forced to hold a special convention to consider suspending all industrial action after more than 1,000 members signed a petition demanding the move.

Two long-term ASTI activists yesterday handed in the names of 1,141 members who support the call for a convention, to be held within the next six weeks.

Former president Brendan Broderick and executive committee member Noel Buckley presented the signatures to senior ASTI officials at the circa 17,000-member union's headquarters yesterday afternoon.

Mr Buckley said that more names had been pledged and he expected the overall figure to be several hundred higher by the time the union's 180-member central executive committee gathered for a scheduled meeting on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the ASTI leadership is also embroiled in an embarrassing internal dispute over its refusal to attend the Workplace Relations Commission about a staff complaint.

ASTI staff will ballot tomorrow on industrial action, up to and including a strike, arising from a decision by the leadership to decline to attend talks that had been arranged recently in the WRC.

The grassroots petition for the special convention met a furious response from Association of Secondary Teachers' Ireland (ASTI) president Ed Byrne, when it was launched last week. Mr Byrne described the letter to schools from Mr Broderick and Mr Buckley as "unofficial" and not approved by the leadership.

However, under ASTI rules, with a petition signed by a minimum 800 members, union general secretary Kieran Christie has no option but to call the convention, within six weeks.

The matter is likely to come up for discussion at a meeting today of the union's governing body, its 23-member Standing Committee, and again on Saturday, when the executive committee meets. If a date for the convention has not been announced by Saturday, Mr Christie will be asked to set it.

The petition was borne out of a frustration that the union's go-it-alone dispute strategy had failed and that, in the words of a delegate at its recent annual conference it was a "hermit kingdom" and the "North Korea of the trade union movement".

The ASTI is the only public service union not to have accepted the Lansdowne Road Agreement (LRA), which started the process of post-austerity pay restoration, while it is also refusing to co-operate with junior cycle reforms. The union strategy has been driven by hardline factions, but as members feel the effects, disquiet has grown. Although the union action has not closed schools since last November, it is causing serious disruption to school life, while teachers are suffering heavy financial losses.

Recently-qualified teachers are the worst hit, missing out on partial pay restoration, and on the opportunity to get a permanent contract within two years, rather than four - because they have not signed up to the LRA.

Almost 450 members resigned from the union in the first three months of the year and many more have held off doing the same, pending the petition initiative outcome.

Mr Buckley said that in some schools as many as three to five young teachers face losing the opportunity to get a permanent contract if the dispute is not resolved soon.

Mr Buckley and Mr Broderick initiated the petition, having tried unsuccessfully to have the motion to consider a suspension of action debated at the recent annual conference.

"A lot of members out there want a discussion. The end of the school year is approaching and people want to know what is happening," he said.
A 16-year-old girl was left to sleep on a chair at an adult psychiatric unit after she was admitted to the hospital for mental health treatment.

The Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) expressed deep concern at the admission of the teenager to the adult Acute Mental Health Unit (AMHU) at Waterford Regional Hospital (WRH) last week.

The PNA said staff at the AMHU was extremely concerned at the incident which is completely unacceptable.

PNA Industrial Relations Officer, Michael Hayes said that no child should ever be put in that situation.

"Not only was this child admitted to an adult unit, but there was not even a bed available and the child spent the night on a chair. No child should be put in this situation. This incident highlights at the most extreme the crisis in staffing, beds and community services in mental health services in the South East.

"Unfortunately this is not an isolated event. Since January the unit has been over capacity on 17 occasions. This has led to patients being nursed in interview rooms. The service is licensed by the Mental Health Commission to operate a 44 bed unit but this number has increased to 48 on several occasions this year."

The PNA said that there are currently approximately 20 nursing staff vacancies in the service.

The Mental Health Commission (MHC) is due to report on the Waterford unit on May 15.

Previous MHC inspection reviews found critical levels of noncompliance in the unit. There is no Child and Adolescent Mental Health Beds, no Community Mental Health services as envisaged under Vision for Change, or Day Hospital facilities available in the Waterford mental health services.

Mr Hayes added: "The current crisis in mental health services in the SE cannot be allowed to continue. PNA is demanding that the HSE put the resources and staffing in place that will guarantee a comprehensive mental health service that meets the needs of the Waterford region."

In a statement, the HSE said it does not comment on individual cases but is happy to do so with patients/service users directly and/or their families.

"The Dept. of Psychiatry (DoP) acute mental health facility on the grounds of University Hospital Waterford is an approved centre. On occasion, it is required to extend beyond its licence. In such circumstances, the DoP is required to comply with all mental health regulations.

"A number of factors contribute to the admission of children to adult units, including increased referrals to Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), community CAMHS capacity, change in clinical need/complexity of cases, emergency and out of hours CAMHS services, geographical considerations, increase in referrals for admission, increase in admissions and clinical needs profile of children presenting for admission."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has described his teenage trip to Ireland and recalled the moment he visited the Lake Isle of Innisfree.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny is meeting with Mr Trudeau later today and this morning the Canadian leader recounted his own memories of Ireland.

Speaking to RTE Radio One, he said he has visited the country: "My best memory was actually as a teenager. I toured around Ireland with my father after he had retired from politics and we got to go on a very misty, cloudy, slightly drizzly morning to the lake isle of Innishfree.

"I was a big Yeats fan. It was one of the things that burned into my mind of just an extraordinary beauty."

Mr Trudeau will discuss Irish-Canadian relations with the Taoiseach when they meet in Montreal later today. He spoke of the role that generations of Irish immigrants had made to Canadian society.

"Every generation comes with different waves of immigration. We have always been open to people who want to build a better world for themselves. Whatever their background is we don't discriminate, we just look for people who are likely to be able to succeed. That is what we build our immigration system on."

The EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) is currently making its way through the Canadian parliament and also needs to be ratified by the parliaments in European member states.

Mr Trudeau said he was excited by the potential it offers.

"Trade deals between countries don't just have to benefit the 1pc." He said that low-income workers got better deals during the trade agreements.

He added that they are "a long way" from watching trade between the US and Canada collapse.

Asked about separatist movements Mr Trudeau denied that other political movements have sparked further calls for Quebec independence.

Mr Trudeau also said that those in favour of independence for the province of Quebec had not been reinvigorated by the Brexit outcome, saying separation "doesn't make as much sense as it perhaps once did".
European Chief Negotiator for Brexit Michel Barnier speaks during a news conference in Brussels, Belgium May 3, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Vidal

The EUs chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier is to make a rare address to the Dail.

It has been decided Mr Barnier will appear before a joint sitting of the Dail and Seanad next Thursday where he will deliver a speech on his priorities for the Brexit negotiations.

The leaders of the main parties and groupings will then be allowed to make a short statement.

The honour of addressing the Dail is usually reserved for visiting presidents and prime ministers, and even then only on special occasions.

It will be the first time such event since the President of the EU Parliament Martin Schulz addressed the Houses five years ago.

In the past decade it has occurred only four times. Among those to have previously made Dail speeches are Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Ronald Regan and John F Kennedy.

Mr Barniers visit coincides with a meeting of the European Peoples Party in Druids Glen where he will also be a speaker.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair will also attend that event, as will Taoiseach Enda Kenny.
Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar has refused to say whether he believes Simon Harris should continue as Health Minister under a new leader.

He said: "I'm not going there" when it was put to him that the Department of Health needs some stability after three ministers in three years.

"That's something I haven't given much consideration to at this stage. Before I answer any questions from the media about future positions people might hold I should have that conversation with them first," he said.

Mr Harris has not yet declared his support for a potential successor to Taoiseach Enda Kenny, but sources say he will be a central figure in Simon Coveney's campaign.

Separately, Fine Gael bosses will not give in to demands from Leo Varadkar for a televised debate between the contenders to replace Enda Kenny as leader.

Mr Varadkar and his main rival Mr Coveney have both expressed a willingness to take part in a TV head-to-head - but party officials have warned them "not to go rogue".

The Irish Independent understands a compromise will be offered to the candidates whereby the media will have full access to four regional hustings due to take place in Dublin, Cork, the midlands and the west.

Sources said the party would not enter a situation where it had to chose one media outlet over another for a debate.

"The party will lose control once a broadcaster takes over. A debate might sound like a good idea now but they might be hit with questions they don't like," a source said.

Mr Varadkar has already demanded that Fine Gael's executive council changes its approach, arguing the competition to replace Mr Kenny is "not just an internal matter for Fine Gael".

"When the contest does come we're not just electing a Fine Gael leader, we're also electing potentially the new Taoiseach of the country," he said.

A spokesperson for Mr Coveney said he would be "happy" to take part in a debate, "but that it would need to be worked out by Fine Gael headquarters in terms of the campaign".

Speculation

Speculation about the Taoiseach's departure date has again engulfed Leinster House following the adoption of the EU's negotiation position for Brexit.

Mr Kenny is in Canada today where he will meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. A spokesperson said he currently had no other plans for foreign trips. As a result there is a growing expectation within the Cabinet that Mr Kenny will outline his plans to step down by the end of the month.

Yesterday Mr Varadkar said he had "given up speculating".

"I've always said the timeline is a matter for Enda Kenny. I've never departed from that position," he said.

In an apparent swipe at his leadership rival, Mr Varadkar added: "I know Simon [Coveney] has talked about announcements being made shortly after St Patrick's Day, about it being weeks rather than months.

"As far back as February he was saying that, I've never set a deadline. I've always said it's up to the Taoiseach."
Taoiseach Enda Kenny became visibly irritated at the media's questions over his leadership during a conference with the Canadian Prime Minister in Montreal.

Mr Kenny reacted with frustration after he was asked whether he intends to announce his plans to step down at next Wednesday's parliamentary party meeting.

During a press conference in Montreal with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Mr Kenny expressed his surprise that the leadership issue was even raised at all.

"I can't believe actually that you have travelled this distance to ask a question like that,"Mr Kenny said.

"I have come here to meet with the Canadian Prime Minister and Canadian Business to explore the opportunities that exist across the Atlantic for the creation of jobs and investment and to the benefit of Canadians and Irish people. That is my business here. Next question," he added.

Mr Kenny was asked again about the leadership to which he responded;

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"I have just said to you I can't believe you have travelled this distance to ask a question like that.

"My function here is to have a discussion with the Prime Minister of Canada to discuss opportunities that present themselves for investment and job creation."

After the press conference , a spokesman for the Taoiseach told Independent.ie:

"I utterly refute any notion that the Taoiseach was angry or lashed out at anybody."

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The tense press conference was held just minutes after Mr Kenny delivered a powerful speech, which focused on themes such as immigration and political extremism.

Earlier, Mr Kenny used a address to the Montreal Chamber of Commerce to emphasis the need for the centre ground of politics to hold.

And it is the centre that the Irish Nobel laureate WB Yeats once said cannot hold, now must hold, and hold with alacrity, Mr Kenny said.

Across democracies, our best are being pushed to the hard left by anger, to the hard Right by fear, he added.

The Taoiseach told the event that Irish people are currently celebrating the arrival of Bealtaine, or the month of May, which he said symbolises new growth, new promise, new summer.

He received a spontaneous round of applause after raising the prospect of United Ireland in light of the decision by the EU to make provision for the North rejoining the EU.

In his speech, Mr Kenny cited Canadian diplomat John de Chastelain, who oversaw the decommissioning of weapons as part of the Peace Process.

During their bi-lateral meeting, Mr Kenny and Mr Trudeau spoke about issues such as trade and emigration.

There was much discussion at the event in Montreal over the choice of Mr Trudeaus odd socks.

The prime minister later tweeted, explaining that the socks symbolised the Star Wars robots R2D2 and CP3O.

"May the fourth be with you," he said.
Two Fine Gael ministers have warned Richard Burton not to rush into changing the school admission rules for fear it could have unintended consequences for Protestant communities.

The Education Minister has committed to tacking the so-called 'baptism barrier' that gives Catholic children priority admission to nine out of 10 of the country's primary schools.

However, a significant number of his colleagues, including Arts Minister Heather Humphreys and Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan, have warned him that he must tread carefully on the issue.

TDs and senators told a private Fine Gael meeting that schools run under the ethos of minority religions face the prospect of being destabilised by the changes.

According to sources, Ms Humphreys said that there was "huge concern about how it will impact upon Protestant schools".

Mr Flanagan warned colleagues that Protestant communities could feel their identity was under threat if children were not guaranteed a place in a school under their own ethos.

He said the "perception" of Mr Bruton's well-intentioned plans could be a big issue in the debate.

Earlier this year, Mr Bruton held a public consultation on four options he is considering as an alternative to the legal entitlement enjoyed by denominational schools in relation to protecting their religious ethos.

His aim is to have proposals to table when a Labour Party bill in this area comes before the Oireachtas next month.

The options currently under consideration are:

* A catchment-area approach, prohibiting religious schools from giving preference to children of their own religion who live outside the catchment area ahead of non-religious children who live inside the catchment.

* A 'nearest school rule', allowing religious schools to give preference to a religious child only where it is that child's nearest school of that particular religion.

* A quota system, which would allow a religious school to give preference to children of its own religion in respect of only a certain proportion of places, meaning the remaining places would be allocated based on other admissions criteria, such as proximity to the school or a lottery.

* Outright prohibition on religious schools using religion as a factor in admissions, meaning all places would be allocated based on other factors.

Mr Bruton told the meeting that one-third of couples are now marrying outside of religion.

"Change is coming, I'm trying to shape that change," he said.

However, TDs Colm Brophy and Peter Burke, aswell as Senator Neale Richmond, argued there should be some exemptions for minority religions to help them protect their ethos.

Several party member expressed concerns that some small Protestant schools could ultimately be populated by a majority of Catholic or non-denominational children under the proposals.

Mr Brophy said it was better to raise the issue now, rather than allow it to "explode" at a later stage in the legislative process.

A spokesperson for Mr Bruton told the Irish Independent last night that work is progressing to find an appropriate approach.

"The Minister will convince a roundtable discussion with interested parties who've put in submissions as part of the consultation process in the coming weeks," he said.
Charlie Flanagan (right) met Saudi Deputy Minister for Education Dr Nasser al Fawzan in Riyadh last November (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade/PA)

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan has said he would damage Irelands international diplomatic relationships if he revealed how the Government voted in a United Nations vote that resulted in Saudi Arabia securing a seat on womens rights body.

Mr Flanagan refused to bow to pressure despite calls for the Government to say how it voted in an election which saw a Saudi Arabian official appointed to the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

The Independent Alliance has called on the minister to reveal how the Government voted as have opposition politicians.

Speaking in the Dail, Mr Flanagan said: It would be very damaging to Irelands ability to conduct international relations successfully if we were unilaterally to move away from this established practice.

It would be irresponsible to abandon a practice that has been in place for over six decades, observed by all previous governments and that is grounded on protecting and promoting the values of small countries on the world stage, he added.

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Mr Flanagan said all UN member states keep election votes secret in order to maintain diplomatic relationships.

This is not a practice that is specific to Ireland or to elections for the Commission on the Status of Women, he said.

It relates to elections to any UN body and I am not aware of any Member State which, as a matter of practice, publicly reveals how it votes. It allows for the good functioning of the UN which is made up of Member States of very different views and political backgrounds, he added.

There are many countries in the world with which we have important policy differences, including in the area of human rights. The UN provides us with an important forum to discuss these differences. Our membership and leadership of the Commission on Women will provide us with such an opportunity.

"We will take that opportunity.

Irelands engagement on human rights at international level enables us to reaffirm our commitment to the universality, indivisibility and interrelatedness of all human rights, to accountability for human rights violations and abuses, and to the protection of those  including women and girls - who are most vulnerable and marginalised, Mr Flanagan said.
What do you think?

Sean Spicer made use of PowerPoint again in a tense exchange with journalists about funding for Donald Trumps flagship policy: the border wall.

After a question from Breitbarts White House correspondent, Charlie Spiering, about funding for the wall, the White House press secretary thanked him for the opportunity to show you some things and promptly brought up a collection of photos of the current border with Mexico.

Gesturing to the photos, he said: This is the kind of barrier that exists right now in our country. He also quoted a report which said that from 2010 to 2015, 9,287 breaches of pedestrian fencing were made, costing an average of $780 to mend each time.

Next, he brought up a selection of example photos showing how $341m of funding would help replace the current border fencing, something which has been restricted by Democrats in the upcoming budget.

You would be forgiven for thinking those photos look suspiciously like fences rather than walls, and thats exactly what Spiering came back with, asking: Are those photos of fences or walls?

Spicer hit back, gesturing at the photos saying: That is called a bollard wall. That is called a levee wall.

Another journalist fired back: Its not the wall the President promised.

What Im telling anybody is that the President said he was going to build the wall and hes doing it, and hes using the best technology, Spicer retorted.
From pledges on healthcare to immigration, what has the Trump administration ticked off?

White House chief of staff and ex-Breitbart editor Steve Bannon has been pictured in front of a list of pledges on a whiteboard.

Bannon met with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach as he visited the White House to discuss Israel Independence Day. After their meeting, the pair took a selfie, which the rabbi duly posted to Twitter.

Eagle-eyed social media users spotted a list of pledges on the whiteboard behind Boteach and Bannon, some with ticks against the items.

It took no time at all for the sleuths of Twitter to get to work transcribing the whiteboard text and commenting on its contents.

Some were aggravated that ticks were against items that were not yet complete; for instance: Suspend the Syrian refugee program and suspend immigration from terror-prone regions  both of Donald Trumps executive orders on this topic have been struck down by the courts.

There was also speculation about whether the accident may not have been accidental after all.

Either way, at least we know what they are planning.
Aung San Suu Kyi, left, with Pope Francis, right, at the Vatican (Tony Gentile/Pool Photo via AP)

The Vatican and Burma have agreed to establish diplomatic relations as Aung San Suu Kyi met Pope Francis.

The announcement came as the Nobel Peace Prize winner, also the country's top civilian leader, visited the Vatican.

Burma's government is facing international criticism for its activities in the western state of Rakhine.

Troops are accused of widespread abuses against the Muslim ethnic Rohingya minority in what the government says is a counter-insurgency operation.

Francis has appealed for prayers for the Rohingya, who face official and social discrimination in the Buddhist-majority country.

In February, he denounced the way they had been "tortured and killed, simply because they are continuing their traditions, their Muslim faith".

The Vatican said the decision to establish diplomatic relations would "promote bonds of mutual friendship".

Elsewhere, Pope Francis has moved a Vietnamese cardinal imprisoned for more than 13 years by the communists a step closer to sainthood.

On Thursday he signed a decree saying Cardinal Francois Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan lived a life of heroic virtue.

It is the first major hurdle before he can be beatified.

Mr Thuan's account of being imprisoned by Vietnam's communist leaders made him an inspirational figure to many Vietnamese Catholics.

He died in 2002 of cancer in Rome, where he had been forced to live in exile for the final years of his life.

Thuan was detained for more than 13 years, nine of them in solitary confinement, starting in 1975.

The Vatican must certify a miracle attributed to his intercession for him to be beatified, the first step toward canonisation.

AP
Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen pose prior to the start of a live prime-time debate

Far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron clashed over their vision of France's future, the euro and ways of fighting terrorism in an ill-tempered televised debate on Wednesday before Sunday's run-off vote for the presidency.

The two went into the debate with opinion polls showing Macron, 39, with a strong lead of 20 percentage points over the National Front's Le Pen, 48, in what is widely seen as France's most important election in decades.

For Le Pen, the two-and-a-half hour debate, watched by millions, was a last major chance to persuade voters of the merits of her programme which includes cracking down on illegal immigration, ditching the euro single currency and holding a referendum on EU membership.

However, 63 percent of viewers found Macron more convincing than Le Pen in the debate, according to a snap opinion poll by Elabe for BFMTV, reinforcing his status as favourite to win the Elysee on Sunday.

In angry exchanges, Le Pen played up Macron's background as a former investment banker and economy minister, painting him as heir to the outgoing unpopular Socialist government and as the "candidate of globalisation gone wild."

He savaged her flagship policy of abandoning the euro, calling it a fatal plan that would unleash a currency war, and he accused her of failing to offer solutions to France's economic problems such as chronic unemployment.

The barbs at times were personal. Macron called Le Pen a "parasite" and a liar, and Le Pen labelled him a "smirking banker" and - in a reference to his youthful looks - said: "You are young on the outside, but old on the inside".

In a final put-down, when Le Pen attempted to interrupt his summing-up, Macron told Le Pen: "You stay on TV. I want to be president of the country."

CLASHES ON TERRORISM

The sharpest exchange was over national security, a sensitive issue in a country where more than 230 people have been killed by Islamist militants since 2015.

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Le Pen accused Macron of being complacent in confronting Islamist fundamentalism. "You have no plan (on security) but you are indulgent with Islamist fundamentalism," she said.

Macron retorted that terrorism would be his priority if he is elected and accused Le Pen of offering false solutions.

"I will lead a fight against Islamist terrorism at every level. But what they are wanting, the trap they are holding out for us, is the one that you offer - civil war," he said.

Macron attacked Le Pen's flagship policy of scrapping the euro to return to the franc, pressing Le Pen on how this would work in practice and accusing her of "fiddling" and "a crass lack of preparation" on the issue.

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Leaving the euro would be a "a fatal plan and a dangerous plan", Macron said. "What you propose is currency war."

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Le Pen accused Macron of launching "project fear" over her plans. "The euro is the currency of bankers, not that of the people," she said.

Le Pen has appeared to flip-flop on her euro policy in recent days. Around three-quarters of French people oppose abandoning the euro and analysts say the policy could cost her support among people fearful that their savings could lose value.

Wednesday night's event marked the first time a National Front candidate has appeared in a run-off debate - an indication of the degree of acceptance Le Pen has secured for the once-pariah party by softening its image in an attempt to dissociate it from past xenophobic associations.

OPPOSING VISIONS

The two candidates, seated opposite one another at a table in the television studios, offered diametrically opposed visions for France. Macron calls for liberal reforms to kickstart the French economy, while Le Pen would adopt protectionist trade measures to defend French jobs.

Frederic Dabi, an analyst with pollsters Ifop, said the debate was "extraordinarily violent, bitter (and) harsh".

"Le Pen's strategy was to push Macron into making a mistake, but she didn't really succeed," he told Reuters.

Macron and Le Pen finished top of the 11 candidates who contested the first round of the election on April 23.

Macron finished only three points ahead of Le Pen in that first round, but he is widely expected now to pick up the bulk of votes from the Socialists and the centre-right whose candidates were eliminated.

Though Le Pen has a mountain to climb, the campaign has been packed with surprises.

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Upwards of 20 million viewers out of an electorate of close to 47 million were expected to tune in to the two-and-a-half hour debate.

A Cevipof poll published on the website of Le Monde on Wednesday - one of the last big surveys before Sunday's vote - saw Macron getting 59 percent of votes versus 41 percent for Le Pen. An Ifop-Fiducial poll for Paris Match, CNews and Sud Radio gave Macron a 60-40 lead.

Assuming he wins, one of Macron's immediate tasks will be to build a parliamentary majority in follow-up elections in June to push through his programme.

He heads only a fledgling movement called En Marche! (Onwards!) which has no representation in parliament.

A poll for Les Echos newspaper by OpinionWay-SLPV Analytics suggested Macron was rising to that challenge, showing his party set to emerge as the largest single party in the lower house.
US soldiers fire artillery in support of Iraqi forces fighting Islamic State militants from their base east of Mosul (AP/Maya Alleruzzo)

Iraq is in talks with the US to keep American troops there after the fight against Islamic State in the country is concluded, government officials say.

A US and an Iraqi government official said Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is in talks with the administration of US president Donald Trump.

The officials emphasised that the discussions are ongoing.

The talks point to a consensus by both governments that, in contrast to the US withdrawal in 2011, a longer-term presence of American troops in Iraq is needed to ensure security.

Iraqi forces are struggling to push IS fighters out of a cluster of areas in the western part of Mosul that mark the last patch of significant urban terrain the group holds in the country.

AP
Coal miners and rescue workers gather at the scene following an explosion in a coal mine in Azadshahr, in northern Iran, which left dozens of miners trapped. Photo: Hassan Zadeh/Getty

An explosion in a coal mine in northern Iran yesterday killed at least 35 workers and injured scores, state media reported.

The blast occurred at 12.45pm local time in the Zemestanyurt mine when workers tried to jump-start a locomotive.

Ali Rabiei, cooperatives, labour and social welfare minister, was quoted as saying by semi-official Tasnim news agency that 35 miners died in the incident.

Iranian media said more than 30 of the injured were transferred to nearby hospitals.

The semi-official Fars news agency reported earlier that more than 50 workers were trapped in a 2km-long tunnel filled with gas that hampered rescue efforts.

The mine has 500 workers and the explosion happened during a change of shift, Fars reported.

President Hassan Rouhani sent Mr Rabiei to the mine in order to oversee the rescue operations and treatment of victims, state news agency IRNA reported.

Ambulances, helicopters and other rescue vehicles raced to the scene in Iran's northern Golestan province as authorities worked to determine the scale of the emergency.

IRNA quoted Golestan provincial emergency management department head Sadeq Ali Moghadam as saying that 40 to 50 people were believed to be trapped in the mine outside the town of Azadshahr. But Pir Hossein Kolivand, who runs Iran's emergency department, later said as many as 80 miners could be trapped.

At least 25 people who had entered the mine to try to save those trapped were taken to hospital after inhaling gas, said Hamidreza Montazeri, the deputy head of the emergency management department in Golestan.

News agencies posted pictures online from the scene, showing ambulances and emergency workers gathered at the mouth of the mine.

Some images showed dazed workers, covered in coal dust, being helped by bystanders or laying on the ground as rescuers rushed past with oxygen bottles.
Dad is captured in eight-minute video which was posted on YouTube

A father from California was threatened with jail when he refused to leave an overbooked flight in Hawaii last week.

An eight-minute long video has emerged on YouTube showing the latest debacle for a US airline.

A Delta Airlines staff member can be heard in the video saying; "Then thats going to be a federal offense and you and your wife will be in jail and your kids."

Brian Schear can be heard replying; "Were going to be in jail? And my kids are going to be in what?"

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The argument kicked off when the airline wanted to give the extra seat Schear had originally purchased for his son - who caught an earlier flight home - to a standby passenger.

But the family insisted on keeping the seat for one of their two toddlers, who would be placed in a car seat.

The staff member argued that the plan was against Federal Aviation Administration rules.

"He cant occupy a seat because hes 2 years or younger. Thats FAA regulations. This plane will not go anywhere until you guys choose to go. Im just trying to help you," she said.

Schear replied; "Trying to help us wouldve been not overselling the flight and not trying to force us to get him out of that seat that I paid for and holding this whole plane up. So what are we supposed to do? Ive got two infants, nowhere to stay, theres no more flights. What are we supposed to do? Sleep in the airport?"

The family eventually got off the plane and booked another flight for the following day, according to US reports.

"The bottom line is, they oversold the flight," the dad-of-three said afterwards.

He said he did not want his money back, but would appreciate an apology from the airline.

In a statement to CBS, Delta Airlines wrote; " We are sorry for what this family experienced. Our team has reached out and we will be talking with them to better understand what happened and come to a resolution."
Donald Trump said last night that he wants to "prove wrong" those who doubt there can be peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and vowed to work to secure this "toughest deal".

In their first meeting at the White House, Mr Trump and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, sought to show renewed determination to end the near seven-decade-long conflict. "We'll start a process which hopefully will lead to peace," Mr Trump said.

"Over the course of my lifetime, I've always heard that perhaps the toughest deal to make is the deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Let's see if we can prove them wrong, OK?"

Mr Trump, a real estate and casino mogul who ran for the presidency largely on the promise of his negotiating skills, said he would be a "mediator, an arbitrator or a facilitator" for peace. He said both sides should be willing to participate in direct negotiations.

"There's such hatred, but hopefully there won't be such hatred for very long," said Mr Trump, speaking alongside Mr Abbas in the Roosevelt Room after their meeting.

While the US president spoke only in broad terms, Mr Abbas called for a two-state solution that would see the creation of a Palestinian state based on pre-1976 borders. Israel rejects a full return to 1967 borders as a threat to its security.

"Mr President, it's about time for Israel to end its occupation of our people and of our land," Mr Abbas said, referring to the West Bank, which is under Israeli control.

Mr Abbas also played to Mr Trump's ego, praising his "courageous stewardship" and "wisdom" which he said had given Palestinians "hope".

Mr Trump expressed near unequivocal support for Israel throughout his election campaign. And in his meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, two months ago, he signalled an era of renewed relations between the two countries.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to work together to make diplomatic progress on the threat posed by North Korea, following weeks of escalating tensions between the state and the US.

The White House said in a short statement that the two leaders spoke by telephone about the best way to resolve the "very dangerous" situation in North Korea.

The Kremlin said that Mr Putin and Mr Trump agreed to try to schedule a face-to-face meeting in Germany in July - around the G20 summit in Hamburg.

"Russia's influence will be helpful [on North Korea], but not nearly as much as China's co-operation," Matthew Wallin, Senior Fellow at American Security Project, said.

He said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un needs to see that having functioning nuclear weapons is a bigger threat to the country's existence "than the threat of an American or South Korean invasion without them".

"Like China, Russia sees North Korea as a useful check on American power in the region", but Mr Wallin said it was "unclear" if either Mr Putin or Chinese President Xi Jinping are willing to put pressure on Mr Kim.

Moscow described the call as "business-like and constructive" with the two presidents also discussing the crisis in Syria. ( Daily Telegraph London)

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Serena McKay (19) was beaten to death in the assault

Two Canadian teenage girls have been arrested after they allegedly posted a video to Facebook Live showing them beating a fellow student to death.

The two teenagers have been arrested on second-degree murder charges and have not been named in the media.

The girls, aged 16 and 17, shared the footage to their social media page and a private messaging app.

Serena McKay (19) was beaten to death in the assault.

McKay was last seen by her family on April 23, New York Daily News reports, and was found dead nearby later that day.

CBC reports that the footage was left streaming on Facebook for a total of nearly four hours before it was ordered to be taken down.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are currently investigating the incident.

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday announced that the company will hire 3,000 more people to review videos of crime and suicides after criticism.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said he is hopeful after his first meeting with US president Donald Trump, although they did not discuss the specifics of restarting Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

Mr Abbas said he believes the Trump administration can play an important role as a mediator.

"What is needed is to bring the two parties together, to bring them closer and then to facilitate things between them," he said after the White House meeting.

Mr Trump also struck an optimistic note, saying he believes an Israeli-Palestinian deal can be reached.

The Palestinians want to set up a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. Mr Abbas reiterated the demand as he stood next to Mr Trump.

There have been no serious negotiations since gaps widened with the 2009 election of Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel's prime minister.

Mr Netanyahu rejects the 1967 frontier as a baseline for border talks and rules out a partition of Jerusalem where Palestinians hope to establish a capital.

The Netanyahu government, like those before it, has expanded settlements on war-won lands, despite US appeals to curb construction.

Mr Abbas described his meeting with Mr Trump as positive and said "we build hopes on it".

"So far, we didn't talk about a mechanism, but the contacts between us and the Americans began and will continue," he said.

Mr Abbas said he is ready to meet Mr Netanyahu, and suggested the Israeli leader is avoiding such talks.

"We had planned to meet in Moscow, but he didn't show up," Mr Abbas said, referring to Russian efforts several months ago to set up talks.

Mr Netanyahu has said he is willing to meet Mr Abbas.

In the past, Mr Abbas balked at the idea of such a summit, saying it would be pointless without general agreement on the framework of negotiations and a significant curb in settlement construction.

On Thursday, Mr Netanyahu said he looks forward to discussing with Mr Trump the "best ways to advance peace". Mr Trump is reportedly visiting Israel at the end of the month.

He said Mr Abbas's comments that Palestinians are cultivating a culture of peace "are unfortunately not true", pointing to Palestinian schools named after militants who killed Israelis.

"But I hope that it's possible to achieve a change and to pursue a genuine peace. This is something Israel is always ready for.", Mr Netanyahu said.

US officials had said Mr Trump would press Mr Abbas to end payments to families of Palestinians in Israeli jails.

A senior US official said on Tuesday that the issue of payments had been raised in preliminary talks with the Palestinians in Washington.

Mr Abbas said the issue was not raised in his talks with Mr Trump. Officials said it would be addressed in a future meeting.

His positive portrayal of the meeting with Mr Trump may not be enough for a sceptical public at home.

Many Palestinians have become disillusioned with Mr Abbas' strategy, after two decades of intermittent US-led negotiations ended in failure while Israeli settlements keep expanding.

In the West Bank, the main focus appears to be a hunger strike by hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, now in its 18th day.

Mr Abbas also faces fierce opposition from his main political rival, the Islamic militant group Hamas. It has dismissed Mr Abbas' strategy of negotiations and said he does not represent Palestinians.

After a decade of failed reconciliation attempts, Mr Abbas recently adopted a tougher stance toward Hamas, saying he would use financial pressure to force the militants to cede ground.

AP
Ambassador Nguyen Duc Hoa and Consul General Pham Manh Hai met overseas Vietnamese in Vancouver. (Photo: VNA) The Ambassador affirmed that the Party and State have always paid attention to the policy for overseas Vietnamese, including those in Canada. The Ambassador affirmed that the Party and State have always paid attention to the policy for overseas Vietnamese, including those in Canada.

He emphasized that the visit also aimed to listen to their thoughts, aspirations, sentiments, opinions and precious experiences for promoting Vietnam-Canada bilateral relations and developing the homeland.

According to him, the overseas Vietnamese community in Canada has good advantages for development because most of them have a stable life and have integrated into the local life; younger generations have a development future; the Government of Canada has good policies for foreigners.

On this occasion, the Ambassador reviewed the situation in the country and the orientation of developing the Vietnam-Canada relations in the future, especially in cooperation in education, economic, trade and healthcare, saying that the Vietnamese Embassy in Ottawa and Vietnams Consulate General in Vancouver will always be bridges between overseas Vietnamese and the homeland.

During the first meeting with the newly-appointed Ambassador, many Vietnamese people in Vancouver frankly addressed issues of great concern such as investment procedures into Vietnam, marriage guarantee and nationality. Their ideas were thoroughly explained by Ambassador Nguyen Duc Hoa and Vietnamese Consul General in Vancouver Pham Manh Hai.

The two Vietnamese officials received sincere comments relating to administrative procedures, guidelines of the Party and policies of the state for overseas Vietnamese.

During the visit, the Ambassador also visited typical overseas Vietnamese businesses in Vancouver, such as Champ's Mushrooms and HenLong supermarket.

Champ's Mushrooms is the largest export mushroom growing company in the West and the third largest exporter in Canada built by overseas Vietnamese family Tony Vu for decades.

He also visited HenLong supermarket - one of the largest supermarkets selling Asian products in Vancouver, importing many items from Vietnam such as rice, frozen seafood, vegetables, coffee and dry goods./.
Rhode Island voters will head to the polls Tuesday to choose the first new face to represent the state's 2nd congressional district in 20 years as leading candidates Seth Magaziner and Allan Fung vie to replace the retiring James Langevin, who has served in the role since 2001. The tightly-contested congressional race is just one of a number of important contests taking place Tuesday as the state will also select its next Governor, voters will decide the fate of a number of high-priced ballot initiatives and towns up and down Rhode Island select their local officials in a number of highly-divisive and politicized town council and school committee races. Do you believe the results of this years election will make a positive or negative impact on your community? Let us know in this week's poll question below.

You voted:
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Durban, May 3 (IBNS): The World Economic Forum, in partnership with the Government of South Africa, will this week announce the launch of a new platform project called South Africa Internet for All, which aims to bring millions of South Africans, including those in rural areas, onto the internet for the first time through new models of public-private collaboration.

Currently, according to the International Telecommunications Union, 52% of South Africans use the internet.



The project, which is aligned to the Governments National Development and South Africa Connect plans, will address the barriers that prevent universal internet access: infrastructure connectivity, affordability, skills and awareness, and relevant content; and also explore how Internet for All can better support the development of e-government services and SMEs.



Siyabonga Cwele, Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services of South Africa, said, The partnership with the World Economic Forum and local partners will help us accelerate our efforts to connect South Africans to the benefits of the internet. We are very pleased to welcome the World Economic Forum to South Africa to partner with the government on Internet for All. We value inclusive, multistakeholder efforts that will help bring many more South Africans onto the internet.



Internet for All is a global project of the World Economic Forum that accelerates internet access and adoption through a multistakeholder platform.

Partner organizations such as Cisco, Digital Opportunity Trust, Ericsson, Huawei, Microsoft, MTN and Telkom work on this platform together with government, civil society, academia and international organizations to develop and scale new internet access models, attract and coordinate investments, and align programming.



Jabu A. Mabuza, Chairman of Telkom Group, said that the project creates fertile ground for sustainable, accelerated, inclusive economic growth in Africa. We are pleased to partner with the World Economic Forum on the Internet for All initiative, where we can demonstrate our commitment to the promotion of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Africa as a catalyst for inclusive growth.



Country-level Internet for All platforms are already operating in Argentina, Rwanda and Uganda, where they have so far succeeded in developing major projects such as Rwandas Digital Ambassadors Program, a skills development activity that will train 5,000 trainers who will work in rural Rwanda to teach digital skills to 5 million people.



Janet Longmore, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Digital Opportunity Trust, an organization involved in the programme, said that, "the Digital Ambassadors Program brings together government, the private sector and civil society to help citizens access a growing number of e-services in Rwanda, and to develop and support young women and men as digital champions and job creators. The programme is a collaborative response to community need, and offers a potential model for adoption by South Africa to close the digital divide.



A new report outlines a methodology for determining the level of investment required to achieve internet for all, An Investment Framework for Digital Adoption.

The report will be previewed at the meeting. It will highlight the impact that policy choices can have on the feasibility of connectivity investments, and provide tools that companies and government can use to apply the methodology themselves.

The findings from the report will be applied to the Internet for All country-level programmes to help policy-makers better understand the various options and levers that can be used to accelerate internet access and adoption.



Alex Wong, Head of Global Challenge Partnership and Member of the Executive Committee at the World Economic Forum, said, We congratulate the Government of South Africa and our Internet for All partner organizations for their leadership in launching the South Africa Internet for All project, as well as the progress in our other Internet for All country programmes. The new report, An Investment Framework for Digital Adoption, provides additional tools and examples of how internet for all can be achieved through public-private collaboration.
Mumbai, May 4 (IBNS): Despite being an almost sold out show with the whos-who of India expected to attend , White Fox India, the company behind the JIO Justin Bieber Purpose World Tour will host underprivileged children, who donat have the resources to purchase a ticket for the hotly anticipated event will be created.

The lounge will accommodate close to 100 children who will be given complimentary food and beverage apart from the best view of the show of their lifetime.

The promoters state that Justin Bieber is known world over for his associations with various charitable causes and they felt that aligning with a noble endeavour to the concert would further enhance the purpose of the tour and compliment the altruistic side of Bieber.

Recently the most expensive ticket- the 75,000 worth ticket, was gifted to an autorickshaw drivers teenage son who is an avid fan of Bieber.

In the past Bieber has helped patients with Leukemia, Meningitis, Down Syndrome etc apart from building schools and it will be interesting to see whether he visits a few charitable institutes and underprivileged homes when in India.

White Fox India will be bringing the 23-year-old Canadian megastars Purpose World Tour to Indias DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai on May 10.

Biebers latest jaunt is in support of his fourth album, the critically acclaimed Purpose, wherein he experimented with more exploratory electronic sounds. Apart from India, the Asia leg of the tour comprises Tel Aviv in Israel and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

Touring in support of his fourth studio album Purpose  which debuted at #1 in over 100 countries and has sold over 8 million copies worldwide, Bieber is without a doubt one of the most successful pop stars in the world today with a recent world tour imbibing sold out dates across countries.

Concert goers can book tickets at www.bookmyshow.com for the hotly anticipated event. Concert goers can look forward to a set list that will surely comprise worldwide smash hits including Where Are U Now, Boyfriend, Love Yourself, Company, As Long As You Love Me, What Do You Mean?, Baby, Purpose, Encore: Sorry amongst others
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www.indiainfoline.com is part of the IIFL Group, a leading financial services player and a diversified NBFC. The site provides comprehensive and real time information on Indian corporates, sectors, financial markets and economy. On the site we feature industry and political leaders, entrepreneurs, and trend setters. The research, personal finance and market tutorial sections are widely followed by students, academia, corporates and investors among others.
Local radio personality Liz Faith Dixson is the embodiment of determination and dedication to ones career. Any Hoosiers who have listened to the radio within the past 20 years have probably heard her work, whether hearing her chat on air or listening to a show she was contributing to behind the scenes.

When Dixson was a student at Purdue University, she studied to be an engineer. She gained an interest in radio after scoring an engineering internship at WGCI 107.5, a radio station in Chicago. While working, she met famed on-air personalities Doug Banks and Tom Joyner. Her co-workers encouraged her to question if engineering was truly her calling after experiencing her cheery personality.

I never went to school to be on-air in radio, but I accidentally bumped into the career. They said I had a bubbly personality and I didnt seem like an engineer. They gave me the name Shotglass. They liked my personality, they liked my laugh, and I got bit by the industry bug, said Dixson.

Dixson feels the foundation of her career was laid in Chicago. She wore many hats as she advanced from an intern, to a record rep, to a programing assistant. In the late 90s, Dixson moved to Indianapolis and started working as a producer for the Tom Joyner Morning Show, and the rest is history.

Over the course of her career, she has worked with 106.7 WTLC, Hot 96.3, AM 1310 The Light and Radio Now 100.9. One of her most memorable moments involved working as a producer for the late Amos Brown and learning from his years of wisdom. She is thankful for the opportunity to build such a strong presence in our city.

A lot of people in this career have to go from market to market, but my entire on-air career was in Indy. I have been really blessed to not have to go seek another market or move my family around, said Dixson, who refers to her first son as her radio baby because he went everywhere with her and would often sleep at the station when she worked late nights.

The road to success wasnt always glamorous or easy. Dixson says the radio business can be quite cutthroat and that there is still a glass ceiling that makes it difficult for women to advance in the field.

I had to overcome being overlooked for positions because I wasnt male. I had to work three times as hard to be accepted for the work that I did. At the time, there were a lot of men in leadership. I have watched women give their all and never get a promotion, and a man would be there for two years and get a promotion, said Dixson, who took it upon herself to work hard and make a name for herself despite obstacles. She credits God and her children for giving her the motivation to keep going.

Her determination has paid off. Today, Dixson is a business owner who offers media training for individuals and corporations across the country through her company Media Concept Solutions. Emmaus Christian Church recently hosted a free appreciation concert for Dixson to allow the community to thank her for her hard work and service. Dixson says she is incredibly blessed to see firsthand the impact she has had.

I could not believe that people would come together. I dont ever give expecting a return, because I will get my reward from the Lord, said Dixson. To know that anyone would want to celebrate me when I didnt ask for it, there is no way. Its a blessing. Im speechless.
Two Men and a Truck is giving back to mothers in need with the annual Movers for Moms donation drive, a national campaign that began in 2007.

Now through May 12, Two Men and a Truck in Indianapolis is partnering with local businesses to collect items to donate to the Salvation Army Shelter for Women and Children and Sheltering Wings in honor of Mothers Day.

Scott Hodgin, marketing director for Two Men and a Truck in Indianapolis, said the company is collecting womens essential care items  everything from shampoo and soaps to clothes and blankets  as well as items for children.

Hodgin said touring and working with the womens shelters has been a life-changing experience, and hes proud of his companys grassroots efforts to support the community.

We have fewer than 100 employees. We dont have the ability just to write checks, he said. Our motto is movers who care, and we try to show that and give back to the community.

Last years Movers for Moms program was the most successful to-date, with more than 285,000 items collected for hundreds of shelters nationwide. The company is aiming to top that this year by collecting 300,000 items for moms across the country  including 2,500 items in Indianapolis.

Donations are being accepted at the following central Indiana locations:

Courtneys Kitchen

654 Logan St.

Noblesville, IN 46060

Covered Bridge Apartments

4909 Covered Bridge Road

Indianapolis, IN 46268

Pebble Brook Village Apartments

5475 Winding River Road

Noblesville, IN 46062

Strandz Hair Design

9535 Delegates Row

Indianapolis, IN 46256

Teachers Treasures

1800 E. 10th St.

Indianapolis, IN 46201

The Fort Apartments

9230 Memorial Park Drive, #1

Indianapolis, IN 46216

Two Men And A Truck

11787 Technology Drive

Fishers, IN 46038

For more information, visit twomenandatruck.com/movers-for-moms.
Marion County court operations will be moved from the Indianapolis City-County Building to the forthcoming Community Justice Campus that will be built in the Twin Aire neighborhood on the citys south side, after the Marion County Circuit Court and the General Term of the Marion Superior Court voted to OK the relocation.

The decision was announced last Thursday, in conjunction with a deadline set by Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett as part of his larger plan for justice reform in Indianapolis.

The need for justice reform has been a hot topic in Indianapolis since former Mayor Greg Ballard proposed constructing a new jail in 2014. Ballards plans hit a roadblock when he was unable to get enough support from the City-County Council.

Hogsett is spearheading his own plans for reform that include finding new ways to support individuals with mental illnesses or addictions, building a prison complex to replace the outdated and overcrowded jails that are currently in use, and working with churches and hospitals to find preventative solutions to decrease the number of people entering the prison system.

In May of 2016, the mayor organized a criminal justice reform task force to research what was working in other cities and to get suggestions from community leaders regarding what they would like to see happen here. Timothy Moriarty, a member of the task force, says after a year of work, the city is advancing from the planning stages of justice reform toward putting those plans into action. He feels moving facilities to one centralized location will increase cooperation among various groups.

The move is a critical piece and a significant step, because it is part of a larger project. This isnt just about building facilities; its about reforming our entire criminal justice system. The courts are a key criminal justice partner. Having them on-site with the other criminal justice entities fosters a kind of community. Justice delayed is justice denied, and if they are with the other facilities, the system moves much quicker, said Moriarty.

Maggie Lewis, president of the Indianapolis City-County Council, says moving the facilities to one location will make it easier for the public to navigate the system.

Once you are caught up in the system, its costly. For a person with a job and a car, it may be OK to have your attorney on one side of town and then to come downtown to the courts. If you are on a fixed income, it is so much easier to have everything at one location. This move will help individuals navigate our system, said Lewis.

The task force is continuing their justice reform efforts by collaborating with Eskenazi Health to create a mobile crisis unit. In Marion County, 30 percent of inmates are classified as mentally ill, and more than 80 percent have substance abuse problems. The mayor plans to include an Assessment and Intervention Center on-site at the Community Justice Campus to assist individuals who have mental health and substance abuse needs. The goal is to support individuals who are suffering from mental illness and drug addiction, or people who are in jail for minor offenses, and to keep them out of jail and in treatment programs.

In August, we will be kicking off the mobile crisis unit. It will be a collaboration between the police department and Eskenazi that will have mental health professionals responding to incidents in a way that benefits the entire criminal justice system and entire community at large, said Moriarty.

Lewis wants the community to be a part of the process. She plans to bring the conversation to the public by having meetings regarding justice reform at various locations around the city. She is excited to see what happens next.

I am optimistic and excited about having this community discussion and digging deep into why folks are going to jail in the first place. I have worked with homeless individuals and folks who have struggled with substance abuse. I have witnessed them turn to crime to get that fix that they needed. Its not about jail beds; its about getting to the root cause of the problem of why folks are going to jail in the first place, said Lewis.

To read the mayors plans for justice reform, visit indy.gov/mayor and click on Criminal Justice Reform Task Force: Key Findings and Report.
Last week, surrounded by a crowd of well-wishers, Jeremiah Davis was honored with an award. Davis is no politician or celebrity, but a man who has been blessed with a second chance.

The occasion was Goodwill of Central & Southern Indianas Annual Awards Breakfast, and Davis, who was there to accept the Employment Achievement Award, was bestowed an additional recognition, Goodwills Achiever of the Year.

It was breathtaking, he said. It was a surprise.

About six years ago, the award winner was in a much different space. After serving 11 months in Marion County Jail II, Davis went to work release for one month, after which he took a temporary position with Goodwill. After his assignment was completed, he stayed persistent, consistently calling and checking in to see if there were any positions available. Davis also pounded the pavement around town, seeking employment at 45 to 50 jobs, each of which he was turned down for.

It was virtually impossible to get employed because youve got this, this thing that youve come to terms with and grown from, and you still dont get the opportunity to showcase that youve changed, he said.

Its hard when you go to an interview and you have your portfolio and youre dressed up and you think youre good to go, and then that one little thing throws you off. After so long I tried not to let it get to me, but it does.

Davis story is not unlike many others who have been convicted and served time on felony offenses. Each year, thousands of ex-offenders, now commonly referred to as returning citizens, find themselves coming back to environments that are either ill-equipped or completely unwilling to assist in their assimilation back into life on the outside. Though their debt to society has been paid, many, like Davis shared, feel that their punishment is relived each time they are denied employment based on their past. Some, finding no respite or opportunity, eventually go back to whatever it is they were doing that got them in trouble before and wind up back in the system.

Programs that assist in re-entry can be the key to lowering the rates of recidivism. Statistics show that in Indiana, of the formerly incarcerated that participated in work release programs, 31 percent were less likely to return to prison.

Davis stressed that he wanted to become a provider for his children and live out the messages he taught them about staying determined and never giving up.

I knew if that was the case, I would feel overly defeated, he said.

When Davis was eventually re-hired by Goodwill, he took full advantage of the various resources available to him, one being the Goodwill Guides Program. While in the program, he attended a session on the power of having a positive attitude. He described the experience as a true turning point for him. I realized that I was my biggest (barrier to) being successful, not the jobs I wasnt getting or the felony I had. That wasnt the biggest thing; it was actually myself, because I wasnt doing what was necessary to get to where I wanted to be. You can let those things define you, but those are gonna keep you crippled from moving to the next level, said Davis.

The Goodwill Guides Program, which has been in existence for six years, has professionals in the areas of mental health, education, financial literacy, wellness and other areas work alongside Goodwill employees.

Betsy Delgado, Goodwills vice president of Mission and Education Initiatives, said that the goal of the initiative is centered on self-efficacy.

They go in and ask people, Whats your dream around employment, education and health? So as our guides build relationships, they learn a lot about them, she said.

Some of the employees most immediate needs are around transportation, housing and food. Guides act as a bridge to community resources and provide continual support to those involved for as long as they need it. The guides visit stores monthly or bi-monthly and also work with people in and out of the store atmosphere.

Delgado said that since the programs inception, guides have assisted more than 2,000 people.

The dignity of work is something that is core to our values. So over 103 years, that has evolved into  understanding that there are a number of steps and resources that folks need to be able to do that, she said, adding that Goodwill is committed to hiring, at a high rate, individuals with significant barriers to employment  particularly those with a criminal background and those that are differently abled mentally and physically. She noted that Davis story is a perfect example of those core values in action.

We dont want to always focus on the negative. Yes, people come to us with a lot of barriers, but they also come to us with strengths, so lets work on those strengths in order to help this person build their own capacity.

Davis, who currently manages more than 80 employees at the Greenwood Outlet store  75 percent of whom face barriers to employment of their own, according to Goodwill  said he enjoys being in the position to help others reach their potential.

Every day I feel like Im giving back, so when Im in here Im able to see people transform, he said. It feels good, because I see where I was at, and see them and its like a reflection. It can almost be emotional. Its overwhelming. Every day is a giving back moment.
WFYI Public Media has launched a free text-messaging program to assist parents and caregivers in the development of newborns to 5-year-olds. The program uses research-based, expert content that is delivered via text message directly to a persons phone. Messages will offer information on health and safety, early literacy, nutrition and other topics, and also include URLs linking users to more in-depth information and helpful videos. Users will receive no more than four messages per week per registered child and can opt out at any time. Each message contains age-appropriate information based on the childs birthdate used during registration. Anyone can receive the messages, available in English and Spanish, by texting WFYI to 274448. More information is available at wfyi.org/bright.
Organizers in Indianapolis have been preparing for the arrival of a rising star in national politics, Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota.

Ellison, who recently became deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee, will speak here during the Indiana Democratic Partys Hoosier Hospitality Dinner on May 5 in Indianapolis.

Ellison is best known for his progressive activism, however he is also recognized as one of only two Muslim members of Congress.

He became the firm Muslim in Congress when he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006, and was sworn in on the Quran.

Ellison was once a member of the controversial Nation of Islam, which has been led for nearly 40 years by Minister Louis Farrakhan. However, he later renounced what some say is the organizations extreme views, and adopted a more traditional and mainstream form of Islam.

Although Ellison takes pride in his faith, he has stated that he is not trying to be a spokesman for everyone who shares his religious beliefs.

Ive never gotten up in front of a Muslim congregation and played the role of a religious leader, and I decline those invitations, because thats not what I am, he said in a recent interview. I dont really see myself as a spokesman for the Muslim community. Im not a scholar of Islamic history or jurisprudence or anything. Im just, like, a guy.

Ellison is among lawmakers who have increased the religious diversity of Congress (the House and Senate), which drafts the laws of the United States and provides a check and balance to the policies of the president.

Members of various Christian denominations still hold the overwhelming majority of seats in Congress, according to the Pew Research Center, which released a landmark study in March about the religious composition of Congress.

Most federal lawmakers, 91 percent to be exact, describe themselves as Christians, compared to 71 percent of the American population who claim that faith.

However, in 2016 Americans elected the most religiously diverse Congress, the 115th, which includes 30 Jews, three Buddhists, three Hindus and two Muslims.

Of those, Ellison, Indiana Congressman Andre Carson  the other Muslim member of Congress  and Georgia Congressman Hank Johnson, a Buddhist, are also members of the Congressional Black Caucus, which addresses specific concerns of African-Americans.

Most of the non-Christian members of Congress serve in the U.S. House; eight Jews and a Buddhist, Mazie Hirono from Hawaii, serve in the U.S. Senate.

Political party affiliation is also a key factor in the diversity of beliefs in Congress, noted Aleksandra Sandstrom, a copy editor and lead author for the Pew Research Center.

Of the non-Christian members of Congress, most of them are in the House and most of them are Democrats, she said. There are only two non-Christian Republicans in Congress, and one of them is a new member of Congress.

Carson, the first Muslim to serve on the influential House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, was elected to Congress during a special election in 2008 following the death of his grandmother Julia Carson.

In sharing the important role of his religion, Carson recently told the Recorder that his Islamic faith reminds him that each person has value and deserves respect, no matter their ethnicity, background or circumstances.

Explaining his concerns about the impact of political unrest in the Middle East, Carson added, Caring for those who are suffering is a core part of my faith and my representation in Congress.

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii was sworn in using a Bhagavad-Gita, the sacred Hindu text, when she became the first Hindu in Congress in 2013.

Gabbard believes religious diversity is on the rise in Congress, and American politics in general, because more people are making a candidates qualifications and ability to be trusted more important than their personal religious beliefs.

When you look at the national issues that our country is facing, people are not qualified or disqualified because of their spiritual practice, she said. People are looking for someone they can trust.
Baahubali fever has not only gripped the entire nation but has also put several people across the world into a frenzy. You might have seen people queuing up at the ticket counters and waiting for hours to watch the magnum opus, but have you ever even heard of people travelling from one nation to the other to catch up a show of a movie? Well, this just happened for SS Rajamoulis blockbuster Baahubali 2!

Yes, you werent the only crazy fan wanting to know Why Kattappa Killed Baahubali. There were several others from Bangladesh too. About 40 Bangladeshis were so excited to know the mystery that they flew down to Kolkata on a chartered flight to catch the evening show of Baahubali 2.

tollywood.net

"Baahubali 1 was a huge hit. Even we were wondering why Baahubali was killed in the first part of the series. So we had to watch part two for the answer. Many of our friends who have watched it in India wanted to tell us the answer but we asked them not to since we wanted to watch it ourselves," India Today quoted one of the fans as saying.

2.bp.blogspot.com

"We didn't have much idea about films made in south India. After watching the Hindi version of Baahubali 1, we were mesmerised. We could not differentiate them from any of the Hollywood films," another one said.

Be proud to be born in an era when a magnum opus as huge as Baahubali had released! Be proud that you witnessed the crazy excitement of fans like this!
After a week of veteran actor and politician Vinod Khanna's demise, there are already talks about who can possibly fill his position in the Lok Sabha seat.

In 1997, Khanna joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and was elected from Gurdaspur constituency in Punjab in the next year's Lok Sabha poll. In 1999, he was re-elected to the Lok Sabha from the same constituency.

DailyO

And then in 2014 general election, Vinod Khanna was again elected for 16th Loksabha from the same constituency.

With such a prestigious and highly responsible position, the members of the party are considering someone from Bollywood only to replace him.

Since Rishi Kapoor has been backing the actor ever since he passed away, there were some views that he should take over.

This is embarrassing. Don't miss the symbolic "flower pe bee mundaraing" lol. Those days this was the way of filming. Filmed in Chennai https://t.co/HEdQpqjrt1  Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) May 1, 2017

In fun times. When VK played AB, I played VK and Juhi played RK. Only David Dhawan could think this! pic.twitter.com/nmNH80NXZr  Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) April 28, 2017

According to reports, Rishi Kapoor is being considered, but he talks too much on Twitter (tweets above), though he will be good for the masses. Besides, there has been no one from the Kapoor family in politics and it is high time someone does.



Another viewpoint suggested Akshay Kumar take the plunge since he has been doing movies with social messages and has been working for a lot of social causes including drought-ridden families of farmers and martyrs.

Well, looks like it's going to be a tough call since both are popular and both present their views strongly which is really the need of the hour in our country. Who's your pick?
Doesnt matter if you are not convinced by Katrina Kaifs acting skills but if we talk about being photogenic, she for sure is one of the most photogenic faces of the Tinsel town.

Be it gracing the ramp or featuring on the magazine covers, Katrina Kaif has always been a stunner. Just a few days ago, a picture of a towel-clad Katrina, from her shoot by Peruvian celebrity fashion photographer Mario Testino started doing rounds on the internet and for all the right reasons.

Love this look!!  A post shared by katrina kaif updates (@kaifdailyupdates) on May 4, 2017 at 3:12am PDT

With the photoshoot, Katrina Kaif managed the first ever Bollywood celebrity to pose for the Mario Testinos towel series.

Thank you @mariotestino for the wonderful experience of shooting for the legendary #TowelSeries ... You must come see us again soon . Here u go @anaitashroffadajania A post shared by Katrina Kaif (@katrinakaif) on Apr 27, 2017 at 11:21pm PDT

Even though the photograph was a monochrome one, Katrina looked so stunning in the picture that taking eyes off her was difficult. And now, some more pictures of her shoot with Testino have been revealed online and several of her fan clubs have started sharing the photos.

The pictures by Testino have been shot for Vogue and with each and every picture, you'll be stunned by Kat's magic. Have a look!

#1

#KatrinaKaif for #VogueIndia | Photographs by #MarioTestino #Bollywood A post shared by Heroine Katrina Kaif  (@kkaifc) on May 3, 2017 at 3:02am PDT

#2

#KatrinaKaif for #VogueIndia | Photographs by #MarioTestino #Bollywood A post shared by Heroine Katrina Kaif  (@kkaifc) on May 3, 2017 at 3:05am PDT

#3

#KatrinaKaif for #VogueIndia | Photographs by #MarioTestino #Bollywood A post shared by Heroine Katrina Kaif  (@kkaifc) on May 3, 2017 at 3:11am PDT

#4
It turns out that its not your willpower or just your unhealthy habits that are responsible for you reaching out for your favourite sweet, research reveals that the fault may lie in your liver.

elytis-hospital.ro

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen discovered that people with a specific variant of the FGF21 gene (a hormone) were predisposed to having sugar cravings by up to 20%.

shredded.com

Strict or not people with this particular variant will find it very hard to resist the urge to indulge in sweets, claims the study.

The study published in the journal Cell Metabolism, suggests that this is the first time that role of the liver on controlling of human eating behaviour is being assessed through the hormone FGF21.

"We're now a step closer to understanding the molecular basis of the sweet toothsomething that has not been well understood," Matthew Gillum, assistant professor of biological sciences at the university who co-authored the study told The Telegraph. "We think the liver sends messages to the brain and influences eating behaviour."

aufeminin.com

Gillum and co would like to conduct similar tests on a larger group of people to gather more information about how the hormone acts in different individuals. The study has also opened the door to assess how the FGF21 gene is associated with hormonal levels as well as metabolic conditions, such as type 2 diabetes or obesity.
The US military has released a photographs taken by its camerawoman who aptly caught the moment on her camera when she and four Afghans were killed in an explosion. Specialist Hilda Clayton, 22, and four Afghan national army soldiers died when a mortar shell blew up during a training exercise on 2 July 2013.

US Army

The military also released a photo by an Afghan whom Clayton was training for photojournalism. He was also among the dead. The incident took place in the eastern province of Laghman. In 2013.

Military Review magazine published the images. "Clayton's death symbolises how female soldiers are increasingly exposed to hazardous situations in training and in combat on par with their male counterparts," the Army wrote in the edition.

Hilda Clayton

The military has published the pictures after permission from Clayton family. The Army said that "not only did Clayton help document activities aimed at shaping and strengthening the [US-Afghan] partnership but she also shared in the risk by participating in the effort."

Hilda Clayton

Clayton who was the visual information specialist hailed from US state of Georgia. She also had photography award named in her honour by the Department of Defense.
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This post contains affiliate links For the last six years, I have helped organize a chili cook-off in my office. It is always around Valent...
The US is Helping Create a Famine in Yemen

By Kathy Kelly

May 03, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - On April 26th, 2017, in Yemens port city of Hodeidah, the Saudi-led coalition which has been waging war in Yemen for the past two years dropped leaflets informing Hodeidahs residents of an impending attack. Our forces of legitimacy are heading to liberate Hodeidah and end the suffering of our gracious Yemeni people, one leaflet read. Join your legitimate government in favor of the free and happy Yemen. And another: The control of the Hodeidah port by the terrorist Houthi militia will increase famine and hinder the delivery of international relief aid to our gracious Yemeni people.

The leaflets represent one aspect of a confusing and highly complicated set of battles raging in Yemen. Given alarming reports about near famine conditions in Yemen, it seems the only ethical side for outsiders to choose would be that of children and families afflicted by hunger and disease.

Yet the United States has decidedly taken the side of the Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council. Consider a Reuters report on April 19, 2017, after U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis met with senior Saudi officials. U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition was discussed including what more assistance the United States could provide, including potential intelligence support, U.S. officials said, according to the report. The Reuters notes that Mattis believes Irans destabilizing influence in the Middle East would have to be overcome to end the conflict in Yemen, as the United States weighs increasing support to the Saudi-led coalition fighting there.

Iran may be providing some weapons to the Houthi rebels, but its important to clarify what support the United States has given to the Saudi-led coalition. As of March 21, 2016, Human Rights Watch reported the following weapon sales, in 2015 to the Saudi government:

 July 2015, the US Defense Department approved a number of weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, including a US $5.4 billion deal for 600 Patriot Missiles and a $500 million deal for more than a million rounds of ammunition, hand grenades, and other items, for the Saudi army.

 According to the US Congressional review , between May and September, the US sold $7.8 billion worth of weapons to the Saudis.

 In October, the US government approved the sale to Saudi Arabia of up to four Lockheed Littoral Combat Ships for $11.25 billion.

 In November, the US signed an arms deal with Saudi Arabia worth $1.29 billion for more than 10,000 advanced air-to-surface munitions including laser-guided bombs, bunker buster bombs, and MK84 general purpose bombs; the Saudis have used all three in Yemen.

Reporting about the role of the United Kingdom in selling weapons to the Saudis, Peace News notes that since the bombing began in March 2015, the United Kingdom has licensed over $4.26 billion worth of arms to the regime, including:

 $2.84 billion worth of ML10 licenses (aircraft, helicopters, drones)

 $1.42 billion worth of ML4 licenses (grenades, bombs, missiles, countermeasures)

 $55, 5700 worth of ML6 licenses (armored vehicles, tanks)

What has the Saudi-led coalition done with all of this weaponry? A United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights panel of experts found At least 3,200 civilians have been killed and 5,700 wounded since coalition military operations began, 60 percent of them in coalition airstrikes.

A Human Rights Watch report , referring to the UN panels findings, notes that the panel documented attacks on camps for internally displaced persons and refugees; civilian gatherings, including weddings; civilian vehicles, including buses; civilian residential areas; medical facilities; schools; mosques; markets, factories and food storage warehouses; and other essential civilian infrastructure, such as the airport in Sanaa, the port in Hodeidah and domestic transit routes.

Five cranes in Hodeidah which were formerly used to offload goods from ships arriving in the port city were destroyed by Saudi airstrikes. Seventy percent of Yemens food comes through the port city.

Saudi coalition airstrikes have hit at least four hospitals supported by Doctors Without Borders.

In light of these findings, the leaflets fluttering down from Saudi jets on the beleaguered city of Hodeidah, encouraging residents to side with the Saudis in favor of the free and happy Yemen seem exceptionally bizarre.

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UN agencies have clamored for humanitarian relief. Yet the role the UN Security Council has played in calling for negotiations seems entirely lopsided. On April 14, 2016, UN Security Council Resolution 2216 demanded that all parties in the embattled country, in particular the Houthis, immediately and unconditionally end violence and refrain from further unilateral actions that threatened the political transition. At no point is Saudi Arabia mentioned in the Resolution.

Speaking on December 19, 2016, Sheila Carpico, Professor of Political Science at the University of Richmond and a leading Yemen specialist called the UN Security Council sponsored negotiations a cruel joke.

These negotiations are based on UN Security Council resolutions 2201 and 2216 . Resolution 2216 of 14 April 2015, reads as if Saudi Arabia is an impartial arbitrator rather than a party to an escalating conflict, and as if the Gulf Cooperation Council transition plan offers a peaceful, inclusive, orderly and Yemeni-led political transition process that meets the legitimate demands and aspirations of the Yemeni people, including women.

Although scarcely three weeks into the Saudi-led intervention the UNs deputy secretary-general for human rights said that the majority of the 600 people already killed were civilian victims of Saudi and coalition airstrikes, UNSC 2216 called only on Yemeni parties to end the use of violence. There was no mention of the Saudi-led intervention. There was similarly no call for a humanitarian pause or corridor.

The UN Security Council resolution seems as bizarre as the leaflets delivered by the Saudi jets.

The U.S. Congress could put an end to U.S. complicity in the crimes against humanity being committed by military forces in Yemen. Congress could insist that the United States stop supplying the Saudi-led coalition with weapons, stop helping Saudi jets to refuel, end diplomatic cover for Saudi Arabia and stop providing the Saudis with intelligence support. Perhaps the U.S. Congress would move in this direction if elected representatives believed that their constituents care deeply about these issues. In todays political climate, public pressure has become vital.

Kathy Kelly is an American peace activist, pacifist and author, one of the founding members of Voices in the Wilderness, and currently a co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence.
Let's Call Western Media Coverage of Syria By Its Real Name: Propaganda

By Michael Howard

May 03, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - In his essential study of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, University of Kent Professor Richard Sakwa writes that, somewhere down the road, Western medias reductive, ideological coverage of the conflict will undoubtedly become the subject of many an intriguing academic study. Thats if the human race isnt wiped out by environmental catastrophe or nuclear holocaust firstfar from a sure thing, especially with the Trump regime running amok, lobbing cruise missiles and sending armadas ( or not ) and dropping MOABs, and all of it to quell suspicions that the presidents undersized hands might reflect a certain priapic compactness.

But while, as Sakwa says, the reportage of Ukraines civil war by our renowned newspapers has been abysmal and embarrassing, it doesnt hold a candle to that of Syria, where any pretense of real journalism was done away with long ago. Syria is proof of how low mainstream Western media are prepared to sink in the service of state power; its where journalistic standards, like global jihadists, go to die. Rank propaganda is the order of the day. Honest observers are appalled. Stephen Kinzer wrote that coverage of the Syrian war will be remembered as one of the most shameful episodes in the history of the American press, while Robert Fisk described the war as the most poorly reported conflict in the world. Patrick Cockburn registered a similar concern, writing that Western media has allowed itself to become a conduit for propaganda for one side in this savage conflict. This has grave implications:

News organizations have ended up being spoon-fed by jihadis and their sympathizers who make it impossible for independent observers to visit areas they control. By regurgitating information from such tainted sources, the media gives al-Qaeda type groups every incentive to go on killing and abducting journalists in order to create and benefit from a news vacuum they can fill themselves.

So the ideology-driven Western media, in allying themselves with the armed opposition in Syria, have helped to create a situation in which it pays to kidnap and murder people who seek to report the truth. Ergo, they have violated the canons of their profession in the most egregious manner possible. And youll have noticed that theyre totally shameless about it. None of this gives them a moment of pause. They keep pumping out the propaganda, day in, day out, never stopping to reflect on the potential consequences. When one story falls apart, they move on to the next one. The most, or perhaps only, important thing is to manipulate public opinion so that it corresponds to government policy. Beyond that, who cares?

The list of media half-truths and outright lies in the context of Syria is endless. Take chemical weapons. Numerous incidents have been cited in the news, most of them small-time (meaning crude attacks with no casualties), all of them blamed on the government. And yet the UN has documented numerous cases in which terrorist outfits, including ISIS, used chemical weapons against civilians and Syrian soldiers. It also heard testimony from witnesses on the ground that opposition fighters were staging chemical attacks with the goal of framing the Syrian military. And contrary to every major media outlet in the West, the UN did not blame Assad for the infamous sarin attack of August 2013, stating after an investigation that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used by one of the parties in the Syrian Arab Republic. The culprit was not identified. But all of this is irrelevant. We want Assad to be responsible for every chemical incident; therefore, he is. See Trumps Tomahawk salvo.

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Then theres the so-called White Helmets, the subject of an Academy Award-winning Netflix documentary. Billed as a volunteer, nonpartisan rescue organization, the White Helmets have become a symbol of heroic resistance to the Syrian governments barbarism. But appearances can be deceiving, and they most certainly are in this case. Some salient facts: the White Helmets program was put together not in Syria but in Turkey, by James Le Mesurier, a former British military contractor; the White Helmets operate exclusively in rebel-held territory, meaning theyre embedded with groups like al-Nusra (al-Qaeda); the White Helmets are paid tens of millions of dollars by the US, UK and other Western governments; the White Helmets have repeatedly called for a NATO-imposed no-fly zone over Syria (think Libya); the White Helmets rail against the United Nations for recognizing the legitimacy of the Syrian government. Curious work for a neutral NGO. It should be noted that the White Helmets have been accused of staging rescue videos for propaganda purposes. Naturally, they deny this indignantly. And yet a video exists in which the White Helmets quite literally do stage a rescue as part of the mannequin challenge, whatever the hell that is. Take from that what you wish.

In any case, its plain to see that the White Helmets are not exactly who they purport to be. The Oscar-winning Netflix documentary is nothing more than a glossy advertisement, or contrived infomercial, as investigative journalist Rick Sterling put it . The film is shot in Turkey, not Syria, and it contains no useful information whatsoever, unless you count the fact that one of the White Helmets admits to having been a rebel fighter for a period of three months, and thus can hardly be regarded as neutral. Its also a very boring documentary, but thats beside the point. That such a thinly-veiled propaganda film about such a thinly-veiled propaganda organization won an Academy Award should, by rights, engender a minor scandal. But were living in the era of fake news, as The New York Times ironically insists.

For a good, comprehensive look at the White Helmets, see Max Blumenthals recent article for Alternet.

What else? There was the notorious Caesar hoax, in which a self-described defector from the Syrian armya former army photographer with the codename Caesarclaimed to have photographic evidence that the Syrian government had tortured to death 11,000 political prisoners. As it happens, something like half of the 55,000 images depict dead and mutilated Syrian soldiers and pro-government militia. Theyre war photos. Tons of dead bodies from both sides of the conflict, some of them blown apart by car bombs, others beaten and emaciated, were photographed for documentary evidence. As Rick Sterling wrote last year, The photographs show a wide range of deceased persons, from Syrian soldiers to Syrian militia members to opposition fighters to civilians trapped in conflict zones to regular deaths in the military hospital. Had some been tortured by Assads security forces? No doubt. But the story was grossly misrepresented in the Western press, leading us to believe that the 55,000 images proved the existence of a network of Nazi-style death camps run by the Syrian government. They didnt.

Speaking of atrocity propagandavery chic these daysthe eminent BBC joined the club in 2013, throwing journalistic integrity to the wind with its broadcast of Saving Syrias Children, a documentary that ostensibly showed the aftermath of an incendiary bomb raid. According to the report, the Syrian government used either napalm or thermite to attack schoolchildren in a remote district of Aleppo. The resulting footage, filmed in a nearby hospital, is bizarre in the extreme, with the alleged burn victims clearly taking stage directions from people off-camera. The story was dissected and ultimately exposed as a sham by journalist Robert Stuart, at which point the BBC began removing all traces of the film from YouTube, citing copyright issues. No formal retraction was ever made, to the BBCs everlasting shame. But perhaps I shouldnt fault them for exercising prudence. After all, if the BBC began retracting every false and/or inaccurate report on the Syrian conflict there would be very little left.

The fake news reached its acme toward the end of last year as the Syrian military, backed by Russian air support, closed in on eastern Aleppo, then occupied by al-Nusra and some other Wahhabi gangs. Fresh war crimes were being reported almost daily. The last hospital in Aleppo was destroyed twelve different times. Women were committing suicide en bloc to avoid being raped (source: rebel commander). Assad and Putin were starving and/or bombing to death 250,000 civilians. We heard that figure over and over again: a quarter of a million people trapped in the jihadist enclave. It was drilled into our heads like a religious precept. Nobody seemed to care very much when the real number turned out to be something like 100,000 (or perhaps only 40,000 ). Presumably the old amnesia kicked in. As they say in the psychology world, motivated forgetting: Americas go-to defense mechanism.

Our memory is very selective indeed. There does appear to be at least one aspect of the battle we havent quite forgot: Bana Alabed, aka The Face (or Voice) of Aleppo. The seven-year-old earned that moniker by narrating the citys gradual fall via Twitter. It mattered not that she was being cynically exploited as an instrument of pathos by her mother, who obviously controlled the account and who evidently forgot on occasion that she was tweeting on behalf of a seven-year-old girl (at one point, in a tweet that has since been taken down, she explicitly lobbied for World War Three). Bana, or the idea of Bana, served a useful propaganda function. You see, people in the West need to be shown dead or suffering children before they can, on the one hand, apprehend how despicable war is and, on the other, support another bloody US military adventure in the name of humanitarianism. Because youd have to be a monster to look at the child and not feel motivated to do something.

Thats the way it works. Hence the image of the dead three-year-old refugee who washed up on a beach, or the one of the dust-covered boy sitting in the back of an ambulance, or Trumps talk of beautiful babies. Of course, the effects of the humanitarian escalation, should it come to pass, are duly sanitized. We didnt, for instance, see any pictures of dead Iraqi children that were killed as a result of the US invasion. Nor do we keep up with the Twitter account of some seven-year-old child living under siege in Mosul, where American bombs continue to rain down on civilian sites. That would be bad for business. But Bana is good for business. So good, in fact, that she now has a book deal with Simon & Schuster. Youve just crossed over into The Twilight Zone .
President Trump Joint Statement with President Mahmoud Abbas



Video

May 03, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - President Donald Trump says hell do whatever is necessary to reach a Mideast peace agreement and he believes theres a very, very good chance of bringing Israel and the Palestinians together.

Trump has met with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the Oval Office, and the president says hed love to be a mediator, an arbitrator or a facilitator between the two sides.

Abbas focused on specific demands that the PA will be sticking to in regard to the possibility of peace with Israel: namely, that Israel returns to its 1967 borders, that Israel end the "50-year" occupation and that a two-state solution be considered with Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state.

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American Democracy: A Dead Man Walking

By Paul Craig Roberts

May 03, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Trumps sell-out, as it is called, coming on top of Obamas eight-year sell-out, is instructive. We have now had a Democratic president who sold out the people who elected him and a Republican president who has done the same thing. This is a very interesting point, the meaning of which most people miss.

But not Russias president, Vladimir Putin. At the Valdai discussion club, Putin summed up Western democracy, which I paraphrase as follows:

In the West, voters cannot change policies through elections, because the ruling elites control whoever is elected. Elections give the appearance of democracy, but voting does not change the policies that favor war and the elites. Therefore, the will of the people is impotent.

People are experiencing that they and their votes have no influence on the conduct of affairs of the country. This makes them afraid, frusrated, and angry, a combination of emotions that is dangerous to the ruling elite, who in response organize the powers of the state against the people, while urging them with propaganda to support more wars.

Obama promised to get out of Afghanistan or Iraq or perhaps it was both. He promised to reverse the police state created by the George W. Bush regime. He promised to focus American resources on American domestic problems, such as health care.

But what did he do? He expanded the wars and launched new ones, destroyed Libya and attempted to destroy Syria, but was stopped by British non-participation and Russian objection. Obama overthrew democratic governments in Honduras and Ukraine. He expanded the police state. He began the demonization of Russia and Putin. He betrayed the American people again by allowing the private insurance industry to write his health care plan known as Obamacare. The private interests wrote a plan that diverts public monies from health care to their profits.

All of this is forgotten when the ruling elites and the presstitutes that serve only them refocused the demonization on Trump. Suddenly, it was the president-elect of the United States who was the main danger to the US and the American people. Trump was a Russian agent. He had conspired with Putin to steal the US election from Hillary Clinton and make the White House a partner of Putins alleged reconsruction of the Soviet Empire.

The nonsense was hot and furious, and it was effective. Trump succumbed to pressure and sacrificed his National Secuity Advisior, who was supportive of Trumps promise to normalize relations with Russia. Trump replaced him with a Russophobic idiot who apparantly cannot wait to see mushroom clouds over cities all over the Western world.

Why did two presidents in succession completely sell out the people who voted for them?

The answer is that presidents are not as powerful as the interest groups who make the decisions.

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Trump was going to get us out of Syria, so he committed an unambigious war crime by gratuitously attacking Syria with Tomahawk missiles.

Trump was going to normalize relations with Russia, so his Secretary of State announces that US economic sanctions will stay on Russia until Russia hands over to Ukraine the Russian Crimean naval base on the Black Sea.

It is impossible to normalize relations when the cost to the other party of the normalization is national suicide.

Despite Trumps complete surrender to the powers that be, today (May 2) on NPR I heard raw propaganda dressed up as expert opinion that Trump is biased against the media, when what all of us have seen is massive media bias against Trump, including the program to which I was listening.

For example, NPR had accumulated experts who said that Trump had slandered Obama by accusing him of intercepting his comunications. NPR said nothing about the Obama regimes charge that Trump conspired with Putin to steal the election from Hillary Clinton.

If anything was slander, this was, but all the talk was about how Obama could sue Trump.

But, of course, both are public figures, and neither can sue the other.

I wonder why NPRs expert didnt get around to this point.

Why is the ruling oligarchy still using its presstitutes to campaign against a president who has surrendered to them?

Perhaps the answer is that the real powers that be are going to make an example out of Trump so that never again does a person running for elected office make a populist appeal to the electorate.

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts' latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West , How America Was Lost , and The Neoconservative Threat to World Order .
Home Is North Korea a Diversion for a US-Jordan Invasion of Syria?



By Mike Whitney Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad said that his country has information that Jordan is planning to send its troops into southern Syria in cooperation with the United States.Jordan is not an independent country. Whatever the United States wants, it will happen, said Assad.  Middle East Monitor In the event of a de-facto partition of Syria, the US and its allies will get a strategically important region. It is through Deir Ezzor that the proposed gas pipeline from Qatar is supposed to run.The Deir Ezzor province is also home to Syrias largest oil deposit, the Al-Omar. the city and the province are of particular value since the deposits there contain the highly valuable light sweet crude usable in the production of gasoline and diesel fuel.  South Front, The Stronghold of Deir Ezzor; What You Need to Know May 03, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - The United States is not going to launch a preemptive attack on North Korea. The risks far outweigh the rewards and, besides, the US has no intention of getting bogged down in a conflict that doesnt advance its geopolitical objectives. The saber-rattling is just an attempt to divert attention from the Syria-Jordan border where the US and Jordan are massing troops and equipment for an invasion of Syria. Thats whats really going on. The Korean fiasco is a smokescreen. True, the Trump administration is milking the situation for all its worth, but that doesnt mean that they want a war with the North. Thats not it at all. Washington wants to deploy its controversial THAAD anti-missile system to South Korea, but it needs a pretext to do so. Hence, the ominous threat of an unstable, nuclear-armed North Korea, thats all the justification Washington needed to get its new weapons system deployed. Mission Accomplished. But the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD) isnt aimed at North Korea, its aimed at China, and China knows it which is why it has protested its deployment repeatedly. The US wants to surround China and Russia with military bases and missile systems that are integrated into its broader nuclear weapons system. These lethal systems are a crucial part of Washingtons plan to pivot to Asia and rule the world into the next century. Heres the rundown from Tass: Anti-missile elements that are being deployed around the world are part of a very dangerous global project aimed at securing US overall overwhelming superiority to the prejudice of security interests of other states.The US missile defense architecture is tilting the strategic balance of forces in the area of offensive weapons and creates more and more serious risks of global instability. (US anti-missile systems in Eastern Europe violate INF Treaty) And heres how Russian President Vladimir Putin summed it up: The US is developing an anti-missile defense system which.when it is operational there will be a moment in time when our entire nuclear capability will be neutralized, which means that the entire global balance of power will be overturned.. This means one of the powers will have absolute security and be able to do whatever it likes in regional conflicts. Were talking about unrivaled power in global conflicts. ..This system forces us to create weapons that can nullify the system asymmetrically. (Tass) Is missile defense something the American people should want? Heck no. Just think of the number of people that Uncle Sam has slaughtered in the last 16 years. Now try to imagine if all the constraints on Washingtons rampaging were removed allowing the US to conduct its bloody war on the world with complete impunity? No one in their right mind would ever give the Washington crazies that kind of power. Its a prescription for global annihilation. Besides, absolute security for one country means no security for everyone else. But deploying the THAAD anti-missile system is just one part of Washingtons North Korea swindle. The fear-mongering is also being used to grease the wheels of the Military Industrial Complex (MIC). Heres the scoop from The Hill: Sen. John McCains (R-Ariz.) push for a $7.5 billion fund to bulk up the U.S. militarys capabilities in the Asia-Pacific is gaining momentum as tensions with North Korea mount. The commander of U.S. forces in the region threw his support behind the idea this week, This kind of money can help us bring together our allies and partners, said Patrick Cronin, senior director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. The  proposal has gained more visibility amid the intensifying concerns over North Korea and its nuclear program. (McCain plan gains momentum amid North Korea threats, The Hill) So the MIC lackeys in Congress had already been pushing this latest boondoggle, but they needed a trumped up crisis in North Korea to put them over the finish line. Typically, the process is called creative advertising, which means scaring the shit out of the public so you can rip them off. Heres more from the same article:

Id like to thank Chairman McCain and this committee for proposing and supporting the Asia-Pacific Stability Initiative, Adm. Harry Harris, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, said at Thursdays hearing. This effort will reassure our regional partners and send a strong signal to potential adversaries of our persistent commitment to the region. The weapons manufacturers love sugar-daddy McCain whos always on-hand with gobs of moolah. Heres more: We can thank North Korea for one thing in this, said Harry Kazianis, director of defense studies at the Center for the National Interest. Theyre amplifying the imbalance in the Asia-Pacific. (The Hill) Good idea, lets thank North Korea for this latest windfall for the weapons makers. Why not? Lets send Kim a nice big valentine from the American taxpayer with John McCains name writ large at the bottom. In any event, Washingtons policy towards North Korea hasnt changed. All the chest thumping and fireworks are just part of a circus sideshow designed to justify additional defense splurging and missile deployment. At the same time, the media is trying to divert attention from critical developments in the Middle East, particularly the Syria-Jordan border where Washington has rallied its proxy-fighters into a makeshift army that will (likely) invade southern Syria, charge northward to Deir Ezzor, establish a no-fly zone over the occupied territory, and partition the area east of the Euphrates preventing loyalist forces from reestablishing Syrias sovereign borders. That appears to be the basic game-plan. Check this out from the Middle East Monitor: The Syrian regime of President Bashar Al-Assad said that his country has information that Jordan is planning to send its troops into southern Syria in cooperation with the United States We have this information, not only from mass media, but from different sources

Speaking to The Washington Post, King Abdullah of Jordan reiterated that a planned joint operation could take place against terrorists. It is a challenge, but we are ready to face it in cooperation with the US and Britain. (Assad accuses Jordan of planning Syria invasion, Middle East Monitor) The pretext for the invasion will be to fight ISIS, but the real goal is to seize the eastern part of the country consistent with a plan that was concocted by the Brookings Institute two years ago. After 6 years of covert support for CIA-backed militants on the ground, the Trump administration appears to be leaning towards a more traditional military approach. Heres more from the LA Times: No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Daily Newsletter Reports have also emerged of Jordanian and U.S. troops on the section of the Jordanian border opposite southwest Syria, a possible prelude to a campaign in which rebels, supported by Jordanian and coalition forces on the ground, would overrun Islamic States pocket in the Yarmouk basin, near southwestern Syrias borders with Israel and Jordan. (How long can Jordan keep walking the Middle East tightrope?, LA Times) Naturally, Moscow is concerned about the developments on the Jordanian border. Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov issued a statement saying, We will pay special attention to the issues most important for us which concern the situation on the Jordan-Syria border. Also worrisome, is the fact that US Defense Secretary James Mad Dog Mattis has been traveling across the Middle East rallying Washingtons allies in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Israel. Mattis sees the fighting in Syria as a proxy-war between the US and Iran for influence in the region. This same erroneous view is shared by all of the main powerbrokers in the Trump administration. Everywhere theres trouble in the region, you find Iran, Mr. Mattis said on a stop in Riyadh, adding that nations in the region are working to checkmate Iran and the amount of disruption, the amount of instability they cause. These latest developments take place just days before the resumption of negotiations in Astana, Kazakhstan (May 3 and 4). Russia, Turkey, Iran and a number of the leaders from the rebel groups will gather to see if they can agree on the terms of a ceasefire and an eventual settlement to the 6 year-long war. The Trump administrations cruise missile attack on a Syrian airbase in early April has boosted the morale of many of the jihadists militias and is keeping them away from the bargaining table. In other words, Trumps unexpected escalation has sabotaged Putins efforts to resolve the crisis and end the hostilities. The last thing Washington wants in Syria is peace. A number of reports have confirmed that Trump has handed control of his foreign policy to his Generals, Mattis and McMaster. And while Mattis has shown little interest in getting more deeply involved in the Syrian conflict, McMaster sees Russia as a hostile revisionist power that intimidates our allies, develops nuclear weapons, and uses proxies under the cover of modernized conventional militaries. McMaster is a hard-boiled militarist with a driving animus towards Russia. In a speech he delivered at The Center for Strategic and International Studies, McMaster offered this remedy for so called Russian aggression. He said: what is required to deter a strong nation that is waging limited war for limited objectives is forward deterrence, (is) convincing your enemy that (he) is unable to accomplish his objectives at a reasonable cost. McMaster can be expected to use his forward deterrence theory in Syria by trying to lure Putin into a confrontation with US forces east of the Euphrates. But theres no reason to think that Putin will fall into the trap, in fact, it seems highly unlikely given the potential for a catastrophic face-off between the two nuclear-armed superpowers. Instead, Putin will probably take the high-road, present his case to the UN Security Council, and denounce the US intervention as another example of Washingtons destabilizing and expansionistic foreign policy. Putins worst mistake would be to base his strategy entirely on the situation on the battlefield. He doesnt need to liberate every inch of Syrian soil to win the war. Let the US and its proxies seize the territory, establish their military bases and no-fly zones, throw up a DMZ along the Euphrates, and wade deeper into the Syrian morass. Putin has other fish to fry. He needs to focus on winning hearts and minds, strengthening alliances and building a broader coalition. He needs to look like the only adult in the room, the rational leader whose sole ambition is to end the dispute and restore security. He needs to establish a contrast between his behavior and that of his recklessly-violent and mentally-unstable rival, Washington, whose flagrant disregard for international law and civilian lives has plunged the Middle East and Central Asia into chaos and carnage. If Putins ultimate goal is to rebuild the system of global security based on the bedrock principles of national sovereignty and greater representation for all the countries in the world, he must lead by example. Restraint and maturity in Syria will move him closer to that goal. Mike Whitney lives in Washington state. He is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion (AK Press). Hopeless is also available in a Kindle edition . He can be reached at fergiewhitney@msn.com . This article was first published by Counterpunch - The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load. What's your response? - Scroll down to add / read comments Please read our Comment Policy before posting - It is unacceptable to slander, smear or engage in personal attacks on authors of articles posted on ICH. Those engaging in that behavior will be banned from the comment section. Click here to comment on our Facebook page
Syria Summary - A New Russian Proposal And A Battle For The South

By Moon Of Alabama

May 03, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Russia is extremely active in search of a diplomatic way forward in the Syria conflict. Last month talks were held in Russia with the Syrian foreign minister and the Iranian foreign minister. New plans were discussed and agreed upon.

A few days ago Russia's foreign minister had talks with the U.S. Secretary of State. This week a visit of Merkel to Putin followed. On the same day Putin had a phone-call with Trump. A new round of the Astana piece talks under Russian sponsorship with the Syrian opposition and a Syrian government delegation is ongoing. (Unlike before the U.S. dispatched a high State Department official to this round.) Today Putin met with the Turkish president Erdogan.

Russia is offering a proposal for "de-escalation zones ":

According to the documents obtained by Sputnik, Russia proposed to set up four security zones  in the Idlib province, to the north of the city of Homs, in Eastern Ghouta and in the south of the country.

The rough draft offers:

- de-escalation zones aimed to "put an immediate end to the violence" and "to provide conditions for safe, voluntary return of refugees"

- security zones or buffers created around the de-escalation zones with checkpoints and monitoring centers manned by Syrian government troops and "rebels"

- military units from unspecified "observer countries" could be deployed to these security zones

- Turkey, Iran and Russia are named as as guarantors and will create a joint working group immediately after the de-escalation is agreed upon between the Syrian parties.

The crux with the proposal is of course al-Qaeda which rules in Idleb and is also an important power in the other areas. Russia offers the de-escalation zones as a way to further negotiations and settlement only under the condition that al-Qaeda is eliminated from the zones. In the press conference with Erdogan Putin emphasized this position :

"About terrorists, in spite of creation of these zones the war on terror will be ongoing - against such organizations as so-called Islamic State, Jabhat al-Nusra and those ones that are put on the list of terrorist organizations approved by the United Nations," Putin said.

But by now the "rebels" are to a large part associated with Jabhat al-Nusra aka al-Qaeda. The al-Qaeda terrorist hardcore is the backbone of their army. The U.S. sees al-Qaeda, at least temporarily, as a valuable proxy. They will surely not agree to give up on that.

The draft proposal is another attempt to get Turkey and the U.S. to finally admit that there is an al-Qaeda problem, that a UN designated terrorist organization is at the core of these areas, and that no peace can be achieved unless al-Qaeda and the associated elements are eliminated. I doubt very much that Turkey and the various sponsors of al-Qaeda in Syria will agree to that plan. The Russian government surely knows this but it sees an advantage in dragging the problem into the open whenever possible.



Map via ISW - bigger

Meanwhile military operations continues throughout Syria. Turkey shelled Syrian-Kurdish areas in the north-east and in the north-west. It is pressing the U.S. to shun the Kurds as partner in the fight with ISIS and offers Turkish troops as replacement. But the U.S. does not agree with that plan. It sent a platoon of Ranger Regiment 75 up to the Kurdish held Syrian-Turkish border in the east to stop the Turkish shelling. Likewise Russia sent a platoon to the border in the western area around Afrin. That was a clear (coordinated?) message to Erdogan from the two big powers involved in the conflict.

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Russia deployed airborne warning and control aircraft to Syria. These can detect enemy fighter approaches over 600 kilometer range and direct friendly aircraft against such targets.

In the east the Kurdish troops under the control of U.S. "advisors" have retrieved the city of Tabqa from the Islamic State. The Tabqa Euphrates dam right north of to city is still held by ISIS but will be the next target on the way to Raqqa. So far no further U.S. troops have arrived. There are rumors of a U.S. group concentrating in east Jordan ready to move up through the Syrian desert towards Raqqa. This would split Syria in half and establish an embattled eastern U.S. proxy enclave. I assume that this move has been held back for political reason but could proceed in any moment.

ISIS is also under pressure in the area around Palmyra where the Syrian army is recovering oil-fields and pushing ISIS further east.

ISIS responded to its defeat near Raqqa by dispatching five suicide bombers to Rajm al-Salibi, near Shaddadi, in Hassakeh province next to the Syrian-Iraqi border. This is deep in the Kurdish held areas. The bombers exploded next to Kurdish security forces barracks at a displaced persons camp. Some 30 people were killed. Another suicide bomb went off in "rebel" held areas near the western border with Turkey. The local "rebel" office for civilian services in Azaz was blown up and at least five people were killed.

Near Damascus renewed infighting is ongoing within the "rebel"-held east-Ghouta enclave ( map ). The "Islamic Army" under Mohammad Alloush is trying to create a monopoly of force in the area presumably to then negotiate some agreement with the Syrian government. Jaish al-Islam attacked the significant al-Qaeda contingent in the area. Over 120 fighters on the various "rebel" sides have been killed so far. The area is surrounded by the Syrian army which enjoys watching the fight.

The U.S., Jordan and Israel have a plan to install a southern "no fly zone" which means to occupy the south-western part of Syria. To achieve that they need to capture the city of Daraa which is the main administrative center for the area.



bigger

Daraa city is at the southern point of the government held area. It is under attack from US. controlled "rebel" forces but the Syrian army has held its area. The situation is dangerous for Damascus city. Israel could now march from the west through "rebel" held areas right to the doors of Damascus without any problem. To eliminate that danger Hizbullah has launched a large operation from the north along the Syrian-Israeli border towards the Quneitra area. At the same time forces move from around Damascus to evict "rebels" from the area. This could easily become a major battle involving "rebels", Israeli and Jordanian forces on one side against Hizbullah and the Syrian army on the other.

Russia would clearly prefer to find a political solution instead of continuing or escalating the war. This even if it means to give up control over some parts of Syria. For the moment the U.S. seems ready to listen and may even agree to some deal. But there are still way to many spoilers on the ground 8ant their sponsors) who will do their best to disrupt any ceasefire or de-escalation attempts.

Pat Lang has long been urging for a big Syrian army attack on Idleb governate and city to eliminate al-Qaeda from the area. But the Syrian and Russian governments know that such a fight, with the too small forces they have, would bog down as long as the "rebels" and al-Qaeda get resupplied through the Turkish border. Their aim in the ongoing negotiations is to move the U.S. and Turkey into some agreement that would stop such supplies to those terrorists. Only when that happens can Idleb and all of Syria be freed.

This article was first published by Moon Of Alabama -
NYT

Cheers the Rise of Censorship Algorithms





The New York Times is cheering on the Orwellian future for Western democracy in which algorithms quickly hunt down and eliminate information that the Times and other mainstream outlets dont like, reports Robert Parry.



By Robert Parry

May 03, 2017 " Information Clearing House " - Just days after sporting First Amendment pins at the White House Correspondents Dinner  to celebrate freedom of the press  the mainstream U.S. media is back to celebrating a very different idea: how to use algorithms to purge the Internet of what is deemed fake news, i.e. what the mainstream judges to be misinformation.

The New York Times, one of the top promoters of this new Orwellian model for censorship, devoted two-thirds of a page in its Tuesday editions to a laudatory piece about high-tech entrepreneurs refining artificial intelligence that can hunt down and eradicate supposedly fake news.

To justify this draconian strategy, the Times cited only a fake news report claiming that the French establishments preferred presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron had received funding from Saudi Arabia , a bogus story published by a Web site that mimicked the appearance of the newspaper Le Soir and was traced back to a Delaware phone number.

Yet, while such intentionally fabricated articles as well as baseless conspiracy theories are a bane of the Internet  and do deserve hearty condemnation  the Times gives no thought to the potential downside of having a select group of mainstream journalistic entities feeding their judgment about what is true and what is not into some algorithms that would then scrub the Internet of contrary items.

Since the Times is a member of the Google-funded First Draft Coalition  along with other mainstream outlets such as The Washington Post and the pro-NATO propaganda site Bellingcat  this idea of eliminating information that counters what the group asserts is true may seem quite appealing to the Times and the other insiders. After all, it might seem cool to have some high-tech tool that silences your critics automatically?

But you dont need a huge amount of imagination to see how this combination of mainstream groupthink and artificial intelligence could create an Orwellian future in which only one side of a story gets told and the other side simply disappears from view.

As much as the Times, the Post, Bellingcat and the others see themselves as the fount of all wisdom, the reality is that they have all made significant journalistic errors, sometimes contributing to horrific international crises.

For instance, in 2002, the Times reported that Iraqs purchase of aluminum tubes revealed a secret nuclear weapons program (when the tubes were really for artillery); the Post wrote as flat-fact that Saddam Hussein was hiding stockpiles of WMD (which in reality didnt exist); Bellingcat misrepresented the range of a Syrian rocket that delivered sarin on a neighborhood near Damascus in 2013 (creating the impression that the Syrian government was at fault when the rocket apparently came from rebel-controlled territory).

These false accounts  and many others from the mainstream media  were countered in real time by experts who published contrary information on the Internet. But if the First Draft Coalition and these algorithms were in control, the information scrubbers might have purged the dissident assessments as fake news or misinformation.

Totalitarian Risks

There also should be the fear  even among these self-appointed guardians of truth  that their algorithms might someday be put to use by a totalitarian regime to stomp out the last embers of real democracy. However, if youre looking for such thoughtfulness, you wont find it in the Times article by Mark Scott. Instead, the Times glorifies the creators of this Brave New World.

In the battle against fake news, Andreas Vlachos  a Greek computer scientist living in a northern English town  is on the front lines, the article reads. Armed with a decade of machine learning expertise, he is part of a British start-up that will soon release an automated fact-checking tool ahead of the countrys election in early June. He also is advising a global competition that pits computer wizards from the United States to China against each other to use artificial intelligence to combat fake news. 

As Europe readies for several elections this year after President Trumps victory in the United States, Mr. Vlachos, 36, is one of a growing number of technology experts worldwide who are harnessing their skills to tackle misinformation online.  Computer scientists, tech giants and start-ups are using sophisticated algorithms and reams of online data to quickly  and automatically  spot fake news faster than traditional fact-checking groups can.

The Times quotes the promoters of this high-tech censorship effort without any skepticism:

Algorithms will have to do a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to fighting misinformation, said Claire Wardle, head of strategy and research at First Draft News , a nonprofit organization that has teamed up with tech companies and newsrooms to debunk fake reports about elections in the United States and Europe. Its impossible to do all of this by hand.

The article continues: So far, outright fake news stories have been relatively rare [in Europe]. Instead, false reports have more often come from Europeans on social media taking real news out of context, as well as from fake claims spread by state-backed groups like Sputnik, the Russian news organization.

Little Evidence Needed

Though providing no details about Sputniks alleged guilt, the Times article links to another Times article from April 17 by Andrew Higgins that accuses Russias RT network of fake news because it detected a surge in opinion polls for Francois Fillon, who stands accused in the mainstream media of having a positive relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Oddly, however, further down in the story, Higgins acknowledges that lately, Mr. Fillon has seen a bump in real opinion polls.

(Ultimately, Fillon finished a strong third with 20 percent of the vote, one percentage point behind National Fronts Marine Le Pen and four points behind Emmanuel Macron, the two finalists. Its also curious that the Times would fault RT for getting poll results wrong when the Times published predictions , with 90 percent or more certainty  and 85 percent on Nov. 8  that Hillary Clinton would win the U.S. presidential election.)

Beyond failing to offer any evidence of Russian guilt in these fake news operations, Tuesdays Times story turns to the NATO propaganda and psychological warfare operation in Latvia, the Strategic Communications Center of Excellence, with its director Janis Sarts warning about an increased amount of misinformation out there.

The Stratcom center, which oversees information warfare against NATOs perceived adversaries, is conducting a hackathon this month in search of coders who can develop technology to hunt down news that NATO considers fake.

Sarts, however, makes clear that Stratcoms goal is not only to expunge contradictory information but to eliminate deviant viewpoints before too many people can get to see and hear them. State-based actors have been trying to amplify specific views to bring them into the mainstream, Sarts told the Times.

As the Times reports, much of the pressure for shutting down fake news has fallen on American tech giants such as Facebook and Google  and they are responding:

After criticism of its role in spreading false reports during the United States elections, Facebook introduced a fact-checking tool ahead of the Dutch elections in March and the first round of the French presidential election on April 23. It also removed 30,000 accounts in France that had shared fake news, a small fraction of the approximately 33 million Facebook users in the country.

A Growing Movement

And, according to the Times, this censorship movement is spreading:

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German lawmakers are mulling potential hefty fines against tech companies if they do not clamp down on fake news and online hate speech. Since last year, Google also has funded almost 20 European projects aimed at fact-checking potentially false reports. That includes its support for two British groups looking to use artificial intelligence to automatically fact-check online claims ahead of the countrys June 8 parliamentary election. 

David Chavalarias, a French academic, has created a digital tool that has analyzed more than 80 million Twitter messages about the French election, helping journalists and fact-checkers to quickly review claims that are spread on the social network.

After the presidential election in the United States last year, Dean Pomerleau, a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, also challenged his followers on Twitter to come up with an algorithm that could distinguish fake claims from real news.

Working with Delip Rao , a former Google researcher, he offered a $2,000 prize to anyone who could meet his requirements. By early this year, more than 100 teams from around the world had signed on to Mr. Pomerleaus Fake News Challenge . Using a database of verified articles and their artificial intelligence expertise, rival groups  a combination of college teams, independent programmers and groups from existing tech companies  already have been able to accurately predict the veracity of certain claims almost 90 percent of the time, Mr. Pomerleau said. He hopes that figure will rise to the mid-90s before his challenge ends in June.

So, presumably based on what the Times, the Post, Bellingcat and the other esteemed oracles of truth say is true, 90 percent or more of contrary information could soon be vulnerable to the censorship algorithms that can quickly detect and stamp out divergent points of view. Such is the Orwellian future mapped out for Western democracy, and The New York Times cant wait for this tightly regulated  one might say, rigged  marketplace of ideas to take over.

Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can buy his latest book, Americas Stolen Narrative, either in print here or as an e-book (from Amazon and barnesandnoble.com ).

This article was first published by Consortium News -
It was celebration cut short for the corp members serving in Abuja as their colleague who is identified as, Charity Thilza, was confirmed dead with just three days to the completion of her National Youth Service Corps programme in Abuja.

The Borno State indigene was killed by some robbers along Wuse 2 Road while she was returning home from a nightclub in Carribean, Wuse 2, around 3am on Monday.

The passing-out parade, which marked the completion of her one-year programme, would hold on Thursday (today). She studied Linguistics and English at the University of Maiduguri.

It was gathered that Thilza and four friends, identified simply as Lola, Bisi, Pooja (an Indian) and a man had attended a show at the club, where a hip hop artiste, Chibuzor Azubuike, popularly called Phyno, performed on Sunday.

They were said to be returning home from the party in a car the following day when the robbers gave them a chase.

The assailants reportedly shot at the car repeatedly and some of the bullets pierced through the windscreen and hit Thilza, who was sitting at the back. One of the friends, Lola, was said to have also sustained gunshot injuries.

Our correspondent learnt that the robbers retreated when they noticed that the driver of the car was heading towards a police station.

Thilzas close friend, Thlama Bukar, said she was rushed to a hospital, but was rejected. She said she died on the way to another hospital that she was referred to.

Bukar, who spoke with pressmen via the telephone, said she was together with Thilza until Friday, when she (Bukar) returned to Maiduguri, Borno State, where she lives, according to reports by the Punch.

She said, Phyno performed at the Carribean (the club) on Sunday. They were coming back home around 3am on Monday when they noticed that a car was trailing them. They took a detour, but the car continued following them. The driver of their car started speeding and the robbers opened fire on the car. Unfortunately, some of the bullets hit Thilza from the back of the car.

Five persons went for the party. One of them is a man, but I dont know his name. I learnt Lola was also hit by the bullets and has been admitted to a hospital. The incident was reported to the police.

Thilza lived in Zone 6, Wuse 2, and served at the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Abuja. She clocked 25 years in January. Her corpse will be brought to Maiduguri on Thursday (today). Her father is late. Presently, her mother is not talking; she is very distraught. She was the first child of the family. She has four young siblings.

Bukar said Thilza had planned to join the NSCDC after the service, adding that her death was a big loss to the family.

She said, She was a kind and simple person. I left her and other friends in Abuja on Friday. They accompanied me to the airport when I was returning to Maiduguri. She told me she wanted to join the NSCDC.

Friends of the deceased on Facebook have also expressed shock over her death, extending their condolences to her family.

One Monsurat Abdulrasaq wrote, Oh, Charity! Our souls are full of pains on hearing of your unfair demise. This got to me like a swift wind. May God comfort your entire family at this tough time. May God bring you comfort. Amen.

A colleague, Jabal Gadzama, wrote on Thilzas timeline that they met a few days ago.

Please, can someone explain what happened to me? I was with her last week during the biometric for our NYSC final clearance. Please, just tell me it is not true, she said.

The spokesperson for the NYSC, Federal Capital Territory, Mrs. Abosede Aderibigbe, said the corps was making efforts to ensure the release of the corpse for burial.

She said, The victim was our member with code number, FCT/15a/5295. She was supposed to pass out on Thursday (today). We learnt she and her friends went clubbing.

When they were coming back around 3am in a flashy car, armed robbers trailed them. When they could not get them, they shot at the car and the bullets hit her.

They tried rushing her to the National Hospital, Abuja, but she died on the way. The family members are in Abuja with the NYSC coordinator. The corpse is with the police. Possibly, it will be released for burial tomorrow (Thursday).

The police spokesperson, FCT Command, ASP Anjuguri Mensah, said he was on a course and promised to send the number of his deputy to our correspondent for comments on the incident. He had, however, yet to send the number as of press time.
An official of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Yisa Olarenwaju has been sentenced by the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, on Wednesday charged with obtaining proceeds of unlawful act. An official of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Yisa Olarenwaju has been sentenced by the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, on Wednesday charged with obtaining proceeds of unlawful act.

They were brought to court on a six-count charge of money laundering to the tune of N500 million, which they pleaded not guilty but the second defendant later changed his plea to guilty.

Olarenwaju, thereafter, entered into a plea bargain agreement with the EFCC on May 2. At the resumed hearing, Justice Mohammed Idris convicted and sentenced the INEC official.

According to the Judge who presided over the case, Justice Mohammed Idris, the INEC official was sentenced based on a plea bargain agreement he reached with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The court adopted the plea bargain agreement as the judgment of the court. The plea bargain agreement stated that;

Upon the conviction of the second defendant, he should forfeit to the Federal Government of Nigeria all the parcel of land and its appurtenances which was acquired with the sum of N23 million, the proceed of the second defendants unlawful acts.

That a fine of N10 million be imposed on the second defendant, upon his conviction based on count four of the amended charge.  That in paying the fine of the sum of N10 million, the second defendant shall raise a draft of N5 million in addition to the sum of N5 million already recovered from him.

He shall within seven days after the payment of the fine imposed by the court, enter into a bond with the EFCC, never to be involved in economic and financial crimes within and outside the shores of Nigeria.
The National Commission for Energy, Housing and Utilities Services Regulation (NCER) has denied information of public joint-stock company Ukrnafta that Ukrainian gas producing companies will have to pay for gas transportation twice.

"The tariffs for natural gas transportation services for Ukrainian consumers, in particular, for gas transport system entry points that are located on the natural gas fields are set only in NCER resolution No. 348 dated March 28, 2017. Thus, there is no double payment for gas transportation by producers," the commission said.

As reported, earlier Ukrnafta said that Ukrainian gas producing companies will have to pay for gas transportation twice over the decisions made by the regulator.

"Since April the company has to pay for gas transportation twice: under the tariffs that are in effect from January 1, 2017 and under new tariffs approved in resolution No. 348 [introduces the customer charge for gas distribution] that was left in effect for gas producers [it was annulled for other companies returning to the old tariff system]," the company said.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) says it has released results of the Mock Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) conducted on Saturday.

The Head, Information and Media of the board, Dr Fabian Benjamin, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone interview on Thursday in Lagos that 150,000 candidates registered for the mock examination nationwide.

The examination was initially scheduled to hold on April 8 but was postponed to April 29 due to some hitches.

Benjamin said the results of the mock examination had been uploaded to the boards website.

We have finished marking the scripts and uploaded the results to our website.

We call on all candidates that participated in the examination to check on their results on our website.

However, these results have nothing to do or add to the main examination scheduled to begin on May 13.

So, we will not want those who did not participate in the mock to entertain any fear, because it will not take anything away from the main examination.

We also want to inform all our stakeholders that registration for this 2017 UTME will officially close by 12.00 midnight of May 5.

No fewer than 1.7 million candidates have so far registered for the examination, and by 12 midnight of May 5, JAMB website for registration will be closed, he said.

Benjamin enjoined candidates who registered for the examination to get themselves ready and improve on their computer skills.

NAN reports that 633 centres will be used nationwide for the main UTME starting on May 13.
Cerebro Spinal Meningitis (CSM) has killed not less than eight people at Tsabu village in Maiadua Local Government Area of Katsina State, an official has said.

Nasiru Mani, the director of primary health care of the council, confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiadua on Thursday.

Mr. Mani said the outbreak of the deadly disease was discovered in the last two days following a report from the community.

He said 16 cases were recorded out of which eight people lost their lives.

According to him, the remaining patients have been admitted at the Maiadua and Daura general hospitals for proper medical attention.

We (LGC) had since deployed a surveillance team to the area to address the situation, said the director.

He said the combined efforts of state and local government medical teams have succeeded in addressing the problem.

I called on our people to avail themselves for the ongoing vaccination against such diseases to curb further spread of the disease.

We have designated centres at our rural clinics where people are being immunised or vaccinated against such diseases, he said.

Mr. Mani commended the role of Medicines San Frontiers (MSF) or doctors without borders for their efforts in addressing the outbreak.

He called on the people of the area to adhere to the safety measures of sleeping inside ventilated rooms, houses and environs.

Besides, the director advised residents to report suspicious cases and visit nearby health centres over any symptom.

(NAN)
A commissioner has revealed shocking details about actress Mercy Aigbes domestic violence story which broke the internet recently.

It has been revealed that with civil and criminal actions being instituted against Lanre Gentry, estranged husband of Nollywood actress, Mercy Aigbe, there are indications of a tough time ahead for the hotelier who, on Tuesday, was quizzed by the Lagos State department of Domestic and $exual Violence Response Team (DSVRT).

According to The Nation, the visibly angry Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation in Lagos State, Mrs. Lola Akande, revealed that it was disheartening to see the state Aigbe was when she came to her office to report the case.

She was coughing blood from her nose and mouth and she had injury on her face which the doctor said she must have an operation.

I was so angry that I need to see the face of the man that did this to her, and so we invited him and he came yesterday (Tuesday) to say his own side of the story to the official in charge of domestic violence.

But any man that can beat a woman to a pulp like that to the extent that she is still coughing blood one week after the incident need to have his head examined, said Akande.

According to her, the Lagos State Government has secured a restraining order for Aigbe from any further abuse by her husband.

She commended the courage of Aigbe for voicing out her ordeal, and urged other women going through similar situation not to keep quiet about their ordeal.

I must commend the courage of mercy, because what she did is what other women who are victims of domestic violence out there need to do, they dont need to hide it except they want to die there.

Adding her voice to the matter, Coordinator of DSVRT, Mrs. Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, said the order henceforth prevents Mr. Gentry from getting close to his wife until further notice, assuring that the government would pursue the case to a logical conclusion.

She disclosed that Gentry, who may be charged for domestic violence, is expected to appear in court in two weeks time to give reasons why the restraining order should not be made perpetual.

Vivour-Adeniyi said the State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode was committed to stemming the tide of domestic violence, regardless of who the victim or the offender is, saying that Aigbe is yet another victim whose case would be treated according to the law.

We are actually working on the case with the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA), we are handling both civil and criminal. The criminal aspect of the domestic violence has been reported to the DPO of Area F and we accompanied her to the station with a view to charging the criminal aspect to court. So that is being handled.

The civil aspect which is to ensure that she is protected, that is where the restraining order comes in, which is provided by the Prevention Against Domestic Violence Law 2007. So, we approached the family court and we got a restraining order on her behalf, restraining Mr. Gentry from I think one mile from her.
The minister of Public works has been shot dead in Somalia, this was confirmed by officials, they said he was shot by Somali security forces shot dead in his car in the capital Mogadishu, after mistaking him for an Islamist militant.

Mogadishu mayoral spokesman Abdifatah Halane said the minister, Abbas Siraji, who was also a lawmaker, was killed by mistake. They opened fire on his car accidentally.

May God rest his soul.

Police Major Nur Hussein told Reuters that security forces on patrol encountered a car blocking the street and, believing it was being driven by militants, opened fire.

Al Qaeda-affiliated al Shabaab militants often carry out attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere in their campaign to topple Somalias government and drive out African Union peacekeeping troops out of the Horn of Africa country.

Source:( PM News )
It is the end of the road for a notorious deaf and dumb robber after he was caught stealing a car in Lagos state.

Men of the Nigerian police in Lagos have apprehended Godspower Eriemo, a 31-year-old who operates a car wash bay for allegedly stealing a Toyota Sienna car belonging to one of his customers. Eriemo was allegedly given the car to wash by its owner, Mrs. Blessing Bassey.

To the chagrin of Bassey, Godspower duplicated the key of the car and fled with it. The detectives in Area D police command swung into action and traced the car to Ikorodu, where it was recovered.

The suspect will soon be charged to court.
A strategy for state-owned banks being designed will focus on settling the problem of competition between the financial institutions, first of all PrivatBank and Oschadbank (both based in Kyiv), Ukrainian Finance Minister Oleksandr Danyliuk has said.

"Oschadbank is competing with PrivatBank. I cannot criticize managers of the two banks for competition: they are commercial structures, they fight for clients and this is a normal thing. However, often in this competition banks forget about economic effectiveness, restricted capital and the necessity of comparing their decisions with their possibilities. The main goal of commerce is profit making, and not to steal clients from a rival at a sacrifice This is the main problem that should be settled now, as the state could lose large money," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

Danyliuk said that the ministry is studying all options how to solve the issue.

"I want that a serious analysis is carried out before announcing the strategy under development. I take it seriously, as when you own 50% of the banking sphere, the cost of a mistake is huge," he said.

The ministry does not believe that it is appropriate to unite the two banks. Taking into account potential losses from competition of state-run banks the Finance Ministry does not rule out that the sale of one of them could bring smaller loss with the current small demand than support of the two banks.

"If we cannot sell it now, lets think how to restrict counterproductive competition. The strategy should make so that there is no this ineffective competition. Otherwise, the budget will pay for the 'race' of state-owned banks. Frankly speaking, we have got sick of paying," he said.

Danyliuk said that the ministry is discussing the appropriateness of involving investors like the International Finance Corporation (IFC) or the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Ukrgasbank. If there is an opportunity of selling the entire bank, the ministry will sell it.

"Ukrgasbank is a good bank with good managers, interesting portfolio and products: lets sell and forget! We will have energies and time for other tasks that the Finance Ministry has a lot," Danyliuk said.
New revelations about Controversial Nigerian pastor, Tim Omotoso has emerged. Details from Herald SA claims that he allegedly made teenage girls rub Vaseline on their thighs and told them to recite Psalm 51, an act he claims would cleanse them from their sins.

Read the Report below:

Pastor Omotoso was arrested and dragged at the Port Elizabeth Airport on April 20. He has now been charged to court and some of the revelations at the court hearing are shocking!

The manner in which Nigerian pastor Tim Omotoso lured teenage girls into sexual relations with him was laid out at the Port Elizabeth Magistrates Court on Wednesday, May 3.

Tensions were high at the Court in the morning ahead of the appearance of the controversial pastor who is facing charges of sexual assault and human trafficking.

While groups sang struggle songs outside the building inside a large contingent of people filled the corridor outside the courtroom where the pastor is to appear for his formal bail application.

Descriptions of how he would allegedly have the girls rub Vaseline on their thighs while telling them to recite Psalm 51  a psalm that deals with sin and being cleansed  were read out in court.

Reading from a statement by investigating officer detective warrant officer Peter Plaatjies of the Hawks state prosecutor advocate Nceba Ntelwa told the court that the pastor would then tell the girls that If they spoke about the encounters they would be cursed and would die.

National Hawks spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Robert Netshiunda confirmed that the pastor was facing 22 charges related to contravening the sexual offences act stemming from sexual assault to human trafficking with possible additional charges to be added at a later stage.

It was the defence submission that the pastor denied any wrongdoing and intended to stand trial to prove his innocence.

Ntelwa said the state would oppose bail because he was a flight risk had no permanent residential address and would intimidate and interfere with state witnesses.

He has the propensity to commit the same crimes Ntelwa embers of the media and general public inside the court were instructed by members of the polices Tactical Response Team to switch off all cellphones and recording devices during court proceedings or face the consequences.

One member of the TRT told the gallery that he would personally remove anyone whose cellphone lights up during proceedings. The pastor is due back in court today.
Larry Gentry said this in a chat with BONONLINE, on Wednesday morning. His words: Mercy has mental issues and Im the one who knows how many places weve been to so she can remain stable. I have papers to prove this.

Larry disclosed that contrary to the news that made the rounds that he beat her up, it was Mercy that ganged up with her friends in her designer, Luminee House, to attack him. He claimed that while the others beat him, his wife hit him hard with a stool.

Invoking biblical curses on himself, he sweared that he has never beaten Mercy before, despite the fact that he caught her several times with different men. He cited an example of last year when she said that she was going to China for 2 weeks but instead, went to a Dubai hotel with a man. .

To prove his point, Larry showed BON different whatsapp conversations and a particular one where Mercy was asking a third party to get some dollars from the man for her.

When I confronted my wife, she said she only wanted to collect money from him  a married woman!!! But I discovered that it was the same man that paid for the Magodo house she just moved to.

See, I understand her antics too well. All she wants is be free to live the life of a single woman. What I have tolerated from her all these years, no man can tolerate from any woman.

I worshipped her and I have deposited N8m at Benefit Motors to buy her a N16m Range Rover Evoque for her 40th birthday. I have also paid N1.2m for a hall opposite Sheraton Hotel to celebrate her big, but she has her eyes on other things.

Asked why he has not consulted her family to intervene, he says Mercy has no regard for her parents, citing an example of last year when her dad collapsed while on the queue to get his pension and was rushed to the hosipital. .

When Mercy was informed, Larry said she lied that she was in Calabar and till now, had not gone to see the old man. He claimed that he was the one that went there and spent about N180k adding that because she refused to take care of her mom, he put the old woman on a salary of N25k per month.
The workers of the Nigerian Embassy in Washington have embarked on strike, the workers said they have not been paid for five months, which forced them to embark on strike, according to reports from Channels TV.

Although some departments of the embassy are said to still be functional, they threatened to report the embassy to the U.S. Labour Department. There were no official functions at the embassy on Tuesday, as the workers only gathered at the lunch room in the basement.

The embassy in Washington and the consulate in New York are said to be currently cash strapped, with staff and local workers not being paid for months.

A source close to the Presidency said there has been a lot of mismanagement of resources in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, causing a lack of concern for staff welfare and difficulty in the missions being able to carry out their functions.

Source: Channels TV
Morning Weakness for Cotton Market Barchart - 19 minutes ago So far the morning trade has cotton prices working 50 to 100 points in the red. The rally faded momentum on Tuesday with a tighter range on a mixed mostly lower close. Dec futures ended the day with another... CTZ22 : 87.52 (-0.18%) CTH23 : 85.75 (+0.01%) CTK23 : 84.61 (-0.27%)

Midweek Cattle Market gets USDA Data Barchart - 19 minutes ago Live cattle futures stayed in a relatively tighter range on Tuesday and closed UNCH in the Dec contract. The other nearbys went home 15 to 30 cents weaker. Feeder cattle were mixed on the board on Tuesday.... LEZ22 : 153.050s (unch) LEG23 : 154.775s (-0.16%) LEJ23 : 158.250s (-0.19%) GFX22 : 178.275s (+0.03%) GFF23 : 179.900s (-0.01%)

Hogs Head into Wednesday Barchart - 19 minutes ago Following the sharp +$4 run up 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%)

Wheats Red into Report Day Barchart - 19 minutes ago So far wheat markets are down by 2 to 4 cents across all classes ahead of the WASDE data. Overnight action was mostly higher, with Dec SRW up 6 cents at one point. Tuesdays wheat trade ended with futures... ZWZ22 : 824-4 (-0.39%) ZWH23 : 844-0 (-0.41%) ZWPAES.CM : 7.5691 (-0.43%) KEZ22 : 943-0 (-0.29%) KEPAWS.CM : 9.0108 (-0.30%) MWZ22 : 949-0 (-0.16%)

Corn Prices 2 Cents Red so far Barchart - 19 minutes ago Overnight trading has the board at a 2 cent loss from Dec through Sep 23 so far into the report day. Overnight action saw a tight 4 cent range around UNCH. Corn futures faded more on Tuesday to complete... ZCZ22 : 665-4 (-0.30%) ZCPAUS.CM : 6.6325 (-0.33%) ZCH23 : 671-6 (-0.30%) ZCK23 : 671-6 (-0.30%)

Meal Higher on Weak Beans and Soy Oil Barchart - 19 minutes ago Soy futures are trading mostly lower with 2 to 5 cent weakness in soybeans into report days day session. Overnight meal trade added to the Tuesday gain with the board another $2 higher so far. Soymeal... ZSX22 : 1442-0 (-0.14%) ZSPAUS.CM : 14.1253 (-0.10%) ZSF23 : 1444-6 (-0.12%) ZSH23 : 1451-4 (-0.12%)

Chart of the Day: Oshkosh Truck - Trending Higher Barchart - 46 minutes ago The Chart of the Day belongs to thespecialty truck manufacturer Oshkosh Truck (OSK) . I found the stock by sorting the Russell 3000 Index stocks first by the most frequent number of new highs in the last... OSK : 88.58 (-0.64%) GTY : 31.95 (+0.50%)
The winner of a tender to implement the project entitled the project "The reconstruction of the maritime approach channel and inland water approaches to the deep-sea quays of Yuzhny seaport (construction and assembly work)" is China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd.

The press service of Ukrainian Sea Port Authority reported that earlier Novadeal Ltd, the subsidiary of DEME Group (Belgium), was announced the winner, but the bidder failed to provide a full list of documents for finishing the tender procedure. The tender committee rejected the offer and announced the second best price bidder as the winner.

According to the tender documents drawn up to meet international standards, the offer is to be proved by relevant technical documents. The bidder incorrectly calculated the price. It did not take into account Ukrainian national standards and the rules for calculating the cost of project works.

As reported, Novadeal was the tender offering UAH 586 million for the service with the expected price of UAH 839.606 million.

According to the results of the auction, the initial price of the company's offer was not minimal and stood at UAH 818.05 million, while its nearest competitor, China Harbor Engineering Company Ltd, offered services for UAH 747.25 million.

In the first round the Chinese company kept the price, while Novadeal Ltd reduced it to UAH 710.5 million. In the second round Novadeal Ltd set the price at UAH 671.5 million, and China Harbor Engineering Company at UAH 671.685 million. The Chinese company completed the third round with a price of UAH 586.045 million, and Novadeal Ltd with UAH 586 million.

Thus, the price was cut by 30% compared to the initial price.

Earlier China Harbour Engineering company Ltd. won an open tender to implement the first stage of the project to reconstruct the marine approach canal and internal water approach canals to deep-water berths of Yuzhny maritime merchandise port (Odesa region), offering the service for UAH 1.065 billion with the expected price of UAH 1.197 billion.
Update 11/14/19  Rosemurgy Properties and Sentry Self Storage completed construction on the partnerships Hollywood facility, holding a grand-opening even on Nov. 7. The design by Kenneth Carlson Architects includes a two-story glass storefront. The property features covered parking and loading zones, multiple freight elevators, and zoned keycode access for customers, according to a press release.

With the growth of the local area and the downsizing of both rental and for-sale living units that East Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale are experiencing, the need for storage space is increasing, Rosemurgy said. Sentry Self Storage-Hollywood is located in a prime location for these markets. As these areas continue to grow and businesses expand, commercial storage needs will continue to increase accordingly.

We were ecstatic to partner again with Rosemurgy Properties to bring this beautiful project to the city of Hollywood, added Norman Schulman, CEO of Sentry. We wanted to create a consumer-friendly, secure self-storage facility with all the modern conveniences that make it easy for customers to move and store their belongings, and thats exactly what we built. The Carlson design team worked closely with us to create this modern and architecturally beautiful building in this growing Hollywood market.

10/3/18  Rosemurgy Properties and Sentry Self Storage received a $10.4 million construction loan for their self-storage development project in Hollywood, Fla. The lender is BB&T Corp., a bank-holding company based in Winston-Salem, N.C. The partners paid $885,000 for the 32,200-square-foot lot in 2016, according to the source.

Once complete, the facility will contain 870 climate-controlled units.

4/6/18  Rosemurgy Properties and Sentry Self Storage have completed their conversion project in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The two-story site contains 726 units. Features include three freight elevators, a double-bay loading dock and controlled gate access.

The companies also broke ground on the new development in Hollywood, Fla. Slated to open in summer 2019, itll be built by DC Construction Associates Inc. of Boca Raton, Fla., according to a press release.

Exciting growth is occurring in both cities, which is creating a strong demand for these projects, Rosemurgy said.

5/4/18  Rosemurgy Properties, a privately owned commercial real estate development, investment and management firm, and Sentry Self Storage LC, an industry consulting and management firm, are developing two new facilities in Florida. One will be a newly built property while the other is a conversion of an existing structure.

The partnership purchased a .78-acre site at 2060 Coolidge St. in Hollywood, Fla., to build Sentry Self Storage-Hollywood. The five-story facility will comprise 121,000 square feet of climate-controlled space. The project will break ground in the fall, with completion slated for summer 2018.

The partnership also acquired and plans to convert the 3.2-acre site at 545 S. Federal Highway in Deerfield Beach, Fla., to Sentry Self Storage-Deerfield Beach. Expected to be finished this summer, the facility will comprise 93,163 square feet of climate-controlled space.

Kenneth Carlson - Architect P. A. of Deerfield Beach is designing the new facility. The firm is also working in conjunction with Gallo Herbert Architects, also of Deerfield Beach, on the conversion project.

We are excited to partner once again with Sentry Self Storage and bring two best-in-class developments to Broward County, said Alex Rosemurgy, CEO of Rosemurgy Properties. We are looking forward to adding these locations to our existing portfolio.

Established in 1977 and headquartered in Deerfield Beach, Rosemurgy Properties portfolio includes multi-family, office, retail, self-storage and undeveloped land with the focus of a long-term diversified investment strategy. The company, which includes construction and property-management services, continues to expand its portfolio through acquisition and development.

Based in Coral Springs, Fla., Sentry Self Storage manages more than 30 properties in several states, and works with 14 ownership groups.

Source:

The Real Deal, Rosemurgy, Sentry Score Financing for New Hollywood Self-Storage Facility




The ESMA is considering charging countries outside the E.U. to help cover the cost of assessing their potential risks to the European financial system.

Financial firms in the U.K. may have to pay the European Securities and Markets Authority to regulate them should they do business in the European Union post-Brexit, according to a proposal floated by ESMA Chairman Steven Maijoor at the ICMA Annual Conference in Luxembourg on Thursday.

Maijoor said the regulator is considering charging financial firms from countries outside the E.U. to help cover the cost of assessing the risks they pose to the region's markets. It is a very resource-intensive activity, he said, questioning whether it would be right to rely solely on the U.K.s Financial Conduct Authority to judge the potential problems that British firms may create in the European financial system.

While Britains exit from the E.U. isnt good for Europe, its very bad for the U.K., according to Pierre Gramegna, Luxembourgs finance minister, who spoke before Maijoor at the conference. Brexit will be completed in 2019.

It is not a win-win game, Gramegna said. It cannot be mutually beneficial.

Luxembourg is among the European cities that may absorb financial talent from London as banks and asset managers consider leaving London due to Brexit-related challenges. Frankfurt, Paris and Dublin are also in the mix to become stronger financial hubs. For example, BlackRock, the worlds largest asset manager, is looking at moving London staff to Paris, according to Christian Noyer, the former Bank of France governor. Noyer is tasked with bringing jobs to the French capital as cities in the E.U. compete for financial jobs leaving the U.K.

As concerns rise surrounding Brexit, Gramegna sought to calm banks and fund managers at the ICMA Annual Conference. After all, financial firms outside the E.U. do have relationships with the trading bloc.

Take Switzerland, he said. Does that prevent the major Swiss banks doing business in the European Union? Not at all. My comment on all of this is lets de-dramatize.
The move to cut stamp duty from agricultural products in Victoria has been welcomed by the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA).In its state budget announced earlier this week, The Andrews Government confirmed that it would axe the 10% stamp duty on agricultural insurance, making products more affordable for farmers.Rob Whelan, ICA CEO, called the move a great decision as stamp duty, combined with GST, can add more than 20% to insurance premiums and has been blamed for high numbers of underinsurance or non-insurance.Whelan said that the ICA will look to work alongside the Andrews Government on the details of the proposed reform to ensure maximum effectiveness.The removal of insurance stamp duties has been endorsed by the Black Saturday Royal Commission, the Henry Tax Review and the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Natural Disaster Funding Arrangements, Whelan said.Not only does it make sense to remove barriers to homes and businesses purchasing insurance, research by Deloitte Access Economics in 2015 found that the long-term impact of replacing these inefficient taxes would be a boost to Victorias economy of more than a billion dollars.The removal of stamp duty from insurance products has long been a talking point for the insurance industry. Whelan said that the industry hopes that the decision will flow through to all other commercial and personal policies.
A major insurance brokerage has announced a new acquisition that enhances its employee benefits capabilities as well as the firms footprint in global benefits consulting and solutions. Aon plc has revealed it has completed a deal for Mayfair Groups international health and benefits brokerage portfolio.Established in 1990, Mayfair Group specialises in the design, placement, and administration of international benefits programmes for Indian multinational companies, with offices in Bangalore, Manila, and Melbourne.Tim Dwyer, CEO of Aon Health & Benefits Asia Pacific, said he was excited by the opportunity to expand the firms offering in India.Mayfairs expertise with Indian multinational companies and their leading operational platform, combined with Aons world class consulting, analytics, and placement capabilities will create a powerful value proposition for Indian multinational companies, Dwyer said.Mayfair Group CEO Mike Chopra said they also look forward to offering Indian multinational companies and their subsidiaries distinctive solutions.We have been exploring opportunities to enhance our offering to clients, and Aon was the perfect fit in terms of global footprint, expertise and culture, he said.
In November 2015, a report from the Northern Australia Insurance Premiums Taskforce was released, which proposed, among other things, the set-up of a Government-backed reinsurance pool or mutual insurer to ease the burden of insurance in Northern Australia.However, two cyclone seasons on from the report and a year after the anticipated formal reply, the Federal Government remains mum on the issue.A spokeswoman for the Revenue and Financial Services minister said the report is still being reviewed by the Federal Government, and that there are more actions the State Government could take to reduce high premium costs.There are immediate actions the State Governments could take to reduce premiums including removing stamp duty and addressing strata title regulations which place pressure on premiums, she told The West Australian.Additionally, the government has clearly communicated to insurers that they must ensure any mitigation efforts undertaken by consumers are being reflected in the premiums being charged.WA regional development minister Alannah MacTiernan hit back at the idea that the State Government should shoulder more of the responsibility, and called for the Governments response to the report.If this is a State Government issue, why did the Abbott-Turnbull Government waste everyones time establishing a taskforce, she told the publication.This has dragged on for two years with no result other than the production of shelf fillers.We urge the Minister to deliver on her promise and give the Governments response. If it is all too hard for the Turnbull Government, admit it and do not leave Northern Australians hanging.
Global ratings agency Fitch has warned the financial services sector about its cyber risk, stating that cyber insurance may only cover nominal losses.In a report published last month, the ratings giant warned that cyber risk is a growing threat that can adversely affect credit ratings and have detrimental financial or operational consequences for both companies and financial systems.The report followed an attack in the UK, which saw some 270,000 UK and Polish based customers of payday lender Wonga possibly impacted by a major breach.We believe that institutions with substantial consumer lending businesses and deposit franchises are most at risk of financially motivated attacks due to the scope for theft from customer accounts and the large volume of personal data they hold, Fitch said in a statement.However, larger institutions typically have stronger risk controls and regulatory oversight, mitigating some of the risks.The ratings agency also warned businesses working in trade execution, clearing and settlement services as their interconnectivity with the financial system may expose them to risk.Fitch noted that while the underwriting and uptake of cyber insurance has increased in recent years, the cover may not be adequate for firms that are impacted by a data breach.Insurance against cyber-attacks may cover nominal losses but may not contain reputational damage that could lead to client outflows or loss of investor confidence, the statement continued.While there may be drawbacks to cyber cover, Fitch notes that it expects the market to continue to grow over the coming years.
A Fairfield man has been arrested and brought to court for allegedly defrauding the compulsory third party (CTP) insurance scheme.The move is part of an ongoing crackdown on syndicates targeting the scheme by the detectives from the State Crime Commands Fraud and Cybercrime Squad, the Strike Force Ravens.The 31-year-old man is set to appear before the Fairfield Local Court on May 29 for lodging a fraudulent $120,000 CTP claim related to an Atkinson St, Liverpool, crash on May 30, 2015, The Daily Telegraph reported.The man was charged with fraud and was granted conditional bail before his court appearance.In addition, a further investigation has led the detectives to the arrest of a 35-year-old man who was allegedly involved in two staged crashes in Liverpool  one on May 06, 2015, the other on May 30 of the same year, the report said.Charged with 17 fraud-related offences, the mans allegedly fraudulent claims have a total value of more than $1.7 million.The Strike Force Ravens has so far apprehended five people and filed 69 charges in relation to a combined $6.2 million in CTP insurance fraud, The Daily Telegraph said.
IAN MURESS, CEO of international operations at Crawford & Company, is approaching four decades in the claims space  and in the next decade, the industry veteran expects insurance to transform significantly.I would say the industry could be unrecognizable from what we now know, he says, with likely insurer and broker consolidation, the growth of new markets in the rising economies of the East, and markets in Dubai, Singapore, and Hong Kong becoming less reliant on London with local capital and skill sets available.For the past 15 years, Muress has occupied executive roles at Crawford & Co., the worlds largest publicly listed independent provider of claims management solutions to insurers and self-insured entities. Based in London, today he heads up Crawfords international businesses outside of the US. As such, hes attuned to the threats and opportunities currently facing the industry  particularly disruptors.Disruption is often seen to be driven by technology, and certainly this is right, but it is aligned to, and mostly about, anticipating customer expectations of service, he says. Customer expectations have evolved  they want their needs met immediately and available on numerous platforms, reflecting their lifestyles and work patterns. We need to find the insurance solutions that meet those expectations.He points to the use of artificial intelligence to automate back-office tasks and handle high-volume, rules-based work.Once programmed, AI systems can replicate decision-making processes and apply them more quickly and more efficiently than human operators, he says. What is clear is that AI has evolved in the past 18 months and is here to stay, and needs to be factored into future planning in order for companies to remain competitive.While many in the industry have reacted to technological advances with dismay, Muress describes the recent activity around disruption and change as very healthy.It is forcing the industry to consider entrenched positions and develop new ways of doing business that put the customer at the heart of what we do, he says. Comparison websites should really have been called disruptors, but their emergence took place in a different business environment, and they werent being chased by such a huge cohort of businesses as seems to be the case now.Dont get me wrong, he continues, I believe the industry is in the midst of a hugely turbulent period in which many of the services and income streams it has relied upon are being questioned and attacked by innovators. This doesnt necessarily mean all innovation is going to come from outside the industry.Worth nearly $5 trillion, the global insurance industry faces challenges from insurtech firms  businesses with a mission to develop new technologies that will revolutionize the client service experience for insurance customers across the globe.One insurtech startup that has attracted considerable attention is Lemonade, said to be the worlds first modern peer-to-peer insurance company. It initially provided homeowners and renters insurance in New York, but the company has for a license in 46 US states and the District of Columbia, hoping to be available to 97% of the US population in 2017.But the burgeoning insurtech space brings with it opportunities for incumbents to form new partnerships.Muress highlights Crawfords foray into the gig economy through its $36 million acquisition of a majority stake in WeGoLook, a business focused on making it easier for consumers to verify information so they can more easily make important decisions.WeGoLook [is] an online and mobile platform that deploys thousands of people called lookers from a nationwide network to inspect and verify information, helping clients make real-time decisions, Muress explains. We are looking to bring the WeGoLook model to the UK, Australia and Canada in 2017. The model is very portable, in that the technology and business architecture readily lends itself to a lift and shift model. Its good to go. We are very ambitious about how quickly we can push this out into the international businesses, and were working on a very successful, established model coming out of the US. It is our belief that the demands of both insurers and customers can be met quickly and easily with applications such as this.Muress says hes been pleased to see organizations such as the Association of BritishInsurers taking a positive role in developing the framework for liability insurance, particularly around driverless cars, allowing change in the industry to occur.The industry could choose an entrenched position, given that it faces something of an existential threat once vehicles learn to drive for themselves, he says, but where there is change, there is opportunity, and it is pleasing to see insurers put their best foot forward.Muress believes it is incumbent upon the industry as a whole to embrace advances in technology.Disruption is happening now, and even if you dont belong to the millennial age group, you can still be part of the future. Either you want to be part of disruption or you might want to collaborate, but to not work with change is not an option.Illustrating the point, he recalls events that kicked off at Crawford & Co. back in 2009.We saw the need for more complex skill sets to meet the claims needs of the future, so we developed our complex claims offering, Crawford Global Technical Services, he says. It became increasingly clear that dualqualified adjusters were an essential piece of our solution. We needed engineers, forensic accountants, surveyors, cyber experts, all of whom would also be adjusters.Muress says the days of fixed roles in underwriting, claims or distribution are long gone.The forward-thinking insurance business should embrace skills like analytics, coding and applied mathematics, he says, because these are the types of backgrounds that will drive innovation and allow them to think beyond todays methodologies.
Specialist global insurer Hiscox has announced the appointment of Adam Szakmary as director of underwriting for Hiscox Insurance Company Bermuda, subject to immigration and regulatory approval. Szakmary replaces Damien Smith, who is returning to London after six years in Bermuda to become head of Specialty for Hiscox Re.

Szakmary will join the Hiscox Re executive team, the underwriting leadership team as well as the board of Hiscox Insurance Company Bermuda. He will report to incoming CEO of Hiscox Re and ILS Mike Krefta. Szakmary will be responsible for the companys underwriting activities in Bermuda including the internal reinsurance for the group. Szakmary will start in October once his notice period is complete.

Szakmary joins from Sompo Internationals asset management platform, Blue Capital Management Ltd. He initially joined Montpelier Re, the former parent company of Blue Capital, in a terrorism underwriting and risk analytics role. Later he become a founding executive of its Lloyds platform where he developed the companys international property risk book, before going on to underwrite its U.S. property catastrophe book and took a group-wide role focused on enterprise risk management. In 2012 he moved internally to start up Blue Capital as the founding portfolio manager and then in 2015 became CEO and director of the platform.

Discussing Smiths appointment, Hiscox said he is one of the companys most experienced underwriters, having worked across most reinsurance lines during his more than 20 years with the group. Specialty reinsurance is a growth area within Hiscox Re and Smiths appointment will further bolster the team, which already includes Jonathan Lord in London and Devin Page in Bermuda, the company said.

Source: Hiscox

Topics Excess Surplus Underwriting
Estonia's national airline Nordica from May 13, 2017 jointly with Poland's LOT Polish Airlines will resume direct flights Tallinn-Odesa-Tallinn.

The press service of the Odesa international airport reported that the flights will be serviced every week on Saturdays: taking off from Tallinn at 12:25 local time and from Odesa airport at 15:15.

In the period from June 28 through August 24, 2017 the number of flights will be increased to three flights a week: on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays using Bombardier CRJ900 planes. The flight will last two hours and 15 minutes.
Swiss Re reported net income of US$656 million during the first quarter of 2017, a 45 percent drop from $1.2 billion reported in the same period last year.

Swiss Res Q1 result was hammered by expected claims from natural catastrophe events, especially in Australia with Cyclone Debbie, which could cost the reinsurer $350 million.

Notwithstanding these claims, which are an inherent part of our business and a reflection of the value we provide to society, as well as continuing challenges of a low-yield environment and pricing pressures, our overall results remain satisfactory, demonstrating the benefits of our diversified portfolios, our continued excellent financial condition and our strong market position, said Group CFO David Cole in remarks to discuss the Q1 results.

Gross premiums written for the quarter declined 10.5 percent to US$10.2 billion ($11.4 billion in Q1 2016), which the company attributed to its disciplined underwriting approach and carefully selected the risk pools to which it allocates capital.

Swiss Res P/C combined ratio for the quarter was 95.6 percent, compared with 93.3 percent in Q1 2016. (The company expects a combined ratio of around 100 percent this year).

The groups annualized return on equity for the first quarter was 7.5 percent, compared with 14.6 percent during the same period last year.

I am satisfied with our performance in the first quarter, given the challenging market environment. We have responded decisively to the continued pricing pressure across the industry by not accepting unprofitable business, and our top line clearly shows that, said Christian Mumenthaler, Swiss Res group chief executive officer in prepared remarks.

Additional highlights from Swiss Res Q1 results include:

Property & Casualty Reinsurance . The groups P&C Re segments Q1 net income was $321 million, which included Cyclone Debbie claims of $320 million. Last years Q1 net income was $587 million. Gross premiums written for Q1 2017 were $5.8 billion, compared with $7.0 billion last year. The segments ROE was 10.8 percent; 19.1 percent in 2016.

. The groups P&C Re segments Q1 net income was $321 million, which included Cyclone Debbie claims of $320 million. Last years Q1 net income was $587 million. Gross premiums written for Q1 2017 were $5.8 billion, compared with $7.0 billion last year. The segments ROE was 10.8 percent; 19.1 percent in 2016. Corporate Solutions. The segments net income was $55 million ($80 million in Q1 2016.) The Q1 2017 net income includes expected claims of nearly $30 million from Cyclone Debbie. Gross premiums written were $717 million ($804 million in Q1 2016). ROE was 10.1 percent in Q1 2017 (13.5 percent in Q1 2016). Corporate Solutions opened a new office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia during the quarter.

The segments net income was $55 million ($80 million in Q1 2016.) The Q1 2017 net income includes expected claims of nearly $30 million from Cyclone Debbie. Gross premiums written were $717 million ($804 million in Q1 2016). ROE was 10.1 percent in Q1 2017 (13.5 percent in Q1 2016). Corporate Solutions opened a new office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia during the quarter. Life & Health Reinsurance. L&H Res net income was $193 million, compared with $244 million last year. ROE in Q1 2017 was 11.6 percent (16.1 percent in Q1 2016).

L&H Res net income was $193 million, compared with $244 million last year. ROE in Q1 2017 was 11.6 percent (16.1 percent in Q1 2016). Life Capital.Life Capitals gross cash generation was $336 million, net income was $73 million and ROE was 3.9 percent. Cole said Life Capital continues to be a good source of cash generation and earnings diversification.

April Renewals

Commenting on P&C Res April renewals, Cole said, Swiss Re maintained underwriting discipline through the renewals when approximately 10-15 percent of the companys business is up for renewal. We actively reduced capacities in those areas of the business that did not meet our profit expectations. Premium volume, therefore, decreased by 2 percent.

Cole mentioned the rationale for Swiss Re planned launch in 2018 of a subsidiary in Singapore, which will become the companys regional headquarters for its reinsurance operations in Asia.

He said the subsidiary will help the company position itself for the significant growth expected for the region.

We chose Singapore as a result of proximity to clients, the stability of the legal entity, the regulatory regime and access to good quality talent, Cole added. It reflects our strategic intent to make sure we bring our resources and our capabilities closer to our clients.

Related:

Swiss Re Q1 Net Income Down 15% to $1.23B; New Head of Reinsurance Named

Topics Profit Loss Claims Reinsurance Property Casualty Swiss Re
House Republicans plan to vote Thursday on their long-stalled Obamacare repeal measure, setting up a high-stakes test given the continuing doubts about whether they have enough votes to guarantee passage.

Were going to pass it, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters Wednesday evening, adding that we have enough votes.

The decision comes after several weeks of agonizing over how Republicans would deliver on seven years of promises to repeal Obamacare, as well as intense pressure from the White House to hold the vote. Even so, a number of GOP moderates remain opposed or undecided, adding significant suspense to the Thursday vote.

A key momentum shift came Wednesday morning, when Representative Fred Upton reversed his earlier opposition and embraced the bill after a meeting with President Donald Trump. He told reporters that he would vote for the measure once a new amendment he helped devise is added that would boost funding for people with pre-existing conditions.

I think it is likely now to pass in the House, Upton said at the White House.

It remains unclear whether Uptons reversal swayed many other holdouts.

Several moderates, including Representatives Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, Leonard Lance of New Jersey and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, said Wednesday they remain opposed even with the latest changes.

Im still a no, Lance said, adding that Uptons amendment isnt enough to resolve his concerns about coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.

Uptons amendment, which he said would be posted later Wednesday, would provide $8 billion over five years to reduce premiums and other costs for those with pre-existing conditions who have a gap in coverage and reside in states that received waivers from some of Obamacares requirements under another provision in the bill.

Representative Walter Jones of North Carolina said he remains opposed to the bill, and that some Republicans were talking privately about how little money was actually being added under Uptons amendment.

Hard to Believe

He said one colleague told him he finds it hard to believe members would change their vote for $8 billion.

Jones said he talked to his states insurance commissioner, who gave him an estimate of up to 100,000 North Carolinians ending up in the high-risk pool, which would lead to additional costs of as much as $1.5 billion.

Just in North Carolina, he said. So, all the money theyre talking about, Im just talking about one state.

Even so, Uptons reversal gave new energy to the GOP bill, which on Tuesday appeared to be well short of the votes needed for passage, with a number of moderates opposed.

Since no Democrats are expected to vote for the bill, Republicans can only lose 22 members of their party if everyone in the House casts a vote.

Even if the bill makes it out of the House, it remains well short of the 50 votes it would need in the Senate. A number of senators are unhappy with an earlier Congressional Budget Office estimate showing it would result in 24 million more people without insurance within a decade and skyrocketing premiums for lower-income people, particularly those over the age of 50.

At least eight Senate Republicans have expressed significant reservations about different elements of the bill, including the recent changes related to pre-existing conditions, and GOP leaders can only afford to lose two votes.

Industry Opposition

A wide array of industry groups and health advocates remained opposed to the GOP measure, despite the most recent changes.

AARP, the influential lobby that advocates for older Americans, says it remains opposed to the GOP bill, posting in a tweet that the Upton amendment is an $8 billion giveaway to insurance companies; wont help majority of those w/preexisting conditions.

The American Medical Association also said that none of the recent revisions soften its opposition.

Proposed changes to the bill tinker at the edges without remedying the fundamental failing of the bill  that millions of Americans will lose their health insurance as a direct result of this proposal, Andrew Gurman, the groups president, said in a statement.

The decision to hold a vote was made before the text of Uptons amendment was released, but health-care experts said the added funding is unlikely to make a big difference, unless very few states receive those waivers.

The $8 billion in funding is a drop in the bucket, said Matt Fiedler, a fellow at the Brookings Institutions Center for Health Policy. He said the money, even including the bills stability fund and risk-pool funding, wouldnt be enough to fully protect people with pre-existing conditions from facing higher costs.

The Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank in Washington, estimated that the Republican health bill, which includes about $130 billion over 10 years that could be used to help low-income Americans with pre-existing conditions, would fall about $20 billion short annually.

About 27 percent of adults have a pre-existing condition like cancer or heart disease that insurers refused to cover before Obamacare, said Larry Levitt, senior vice president for special initiatives at the Kaiser Family Foundation.

There are millions with pre-existing conditions, he said.

Upton Amendment

Uptons defection was significant because until last year, he was chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over much of health-care policy, and he has been a staunch supporter of Obamacare repeal.

Voters have confronted lawmakers at town hall-style meetings across the U.S. in recent weeks with their concerns about losing health insurance under the GOP plan, giving some moderate Republican lawmakers jitters about backing the measure.

Yet party leaders have pushed to create a sense of urgency among their members to make good on a years-long promise to repeal former President Barack Obamas signature health-care law now that Republicans control Washington. A scheduled vote in late March was scrapped at the last minute for lack of Republican support.

House Speaker Paul Ryan tried to boost the pressure on Republican moderates to advance the bill. This is who we are. This will define us, the speaker told Republicans during a private meeting, according to Representative Dennis Ross of Florida.

Upton on Tuesday cited the bills provision on pre-existing conditions as a reason for his defection. Under the bill  prior to his proposed amendment  states could allow insurers to charge higher premiums for people with pre-existing conditions who have had a gap in coverage of at least 63 days in the prior year. States could also let insurers charge older customers more than the original bill allowed  at least five times more than younger ones, beginning in 2018.

I told the leadership I cannot support the bill with this provision in it, Upton said Tuesday. Its not going to get my yes vote the way it is.

Attached Media

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Politics
Insurance companies have closed 87 percent of the 18,193 insurance claims filed in Beaufort County in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, resulting in a payout of more than $159.3 million.

News outlets report that South Carolina Department of Insurance Director Ray Farmer says that nearly $587 million has been paid on 114,700 statewide claims related to the October storm.

Farmers department assists residents who are experiencing difficulties in resolving their claims with insurance companies, as some in the region still havent been able to move home. He says 25 complaints have been filed by Hilton Head property owners.

Teri Lewis, the Land Management Ordinance official for Hilton Head, says the town has 2,822 structures that need a repair permit, yet only 986 buildings have received the permit so far.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Claims South Carolina
Mississippi Commissioner of Insurance Mike Chaney has issued a strong recommendation to residents of the state to secure flood insurance and noted several new private flood carriers have entered the states flood insurance market.

According to a May 1 bulletin, Chaney urged residents to make sure they have coverage throughout the year and not just the beginning of hurricane season. However, with the 2017 hurricane season set to begin on June 1 and forecasters projecting 11 named storms, he noted that residents should review their flood coverage.

Mississippians should not become complacent about the lack of a major storm in the Gulf Coast in nearly a decade. Preparation should be the same every year regardless of how many storms are predicted, and a key component to preparation is having proper flood insurance, Chaney said.

He added that with the 2017 Hurricane Season set to begin on June, 1, everyone needs to be aware that it takes 30 days for a flood policy to take effect.

The time to check if you have proper flood insurance is now, before hurricane season begins. It just takes one storm to cause significant damage and flooding as evidenced by recent flooding in the Jackson area. Dont wait too late; contact your agent about flood insurance today, Chaney said.

The Mississippi Insurance Department (MID) does not regulate the NFIP, approve its rates or changes or have any authority over the program. However, the department encourages all citizens to determine their flood insurance needs to protect their homes and property.

MID noted that coastal residents now have more options when purchasing flood insurance with the addition of several new private companies offering the coverage along the Mississippi gulf coast.

Source: Mississippi Insurance Department

Topics Flood Hurricane Mississippi
A California bill that could affect auto repair costs is making its way through state Legislature, and one group thats happy about that is the Association of California Insurance Companies.

ACIC is one of several groups backing Assembly Bill 1679, which would govern the so-called steering of automobile repair businesses by insurers by providing an alternative to the California Department of Insurance auto body labor rate survey safe harbor regulation.

Earlier this year the CDI adopted rules that included asking insurers conducting a labor rate survey to use only information from the body shops surveyed.

The CDI has noted that the rules are voluntary and were created in the interest of consumer protection.

However, ACIC has a beef with the regulations.

Armand Feliciano, ACIC vice president, offered an example to explain why the group has a problem with the CDI asking insurers to use only information from the labor rate survey as a factor:

A hypothetical insurer knows that a body shop the carrier has done business with charges $60 an hour for a certain type of repair. Under the CDI regulations, if that body shop decides to state on the survey they are charging $80, the regulations prevent the insurer from using the past knowledge of the $60 per hour rate as a factor in determining auto repair costs.

If my companies followed exactly the way the department wants it under the regulations, our concern is thats going to drive up costs for policyholders, Feliciano said.

The ACIC said it conducted a recent study using anticipated increases in labor rates due to the CDI regulations that showed that between $280 and $300 million dollars could be added to systemwide costs.

The CDI asserts that it conducted a financial analysis that showed up to 9 cents per year, per vehicle could be added to costs.

The CDI in lieu of commenting for this article refereed to an opposition letter written last month by CDI Deputy Commissioner Robert Herrell.

In the letter Herrell writes that AB 1679 represents a full-frontal assault by insurance companies on the rights of consumers to receive accurate information before deciding where their vehicle will be repaired, and that the bill would enable insurers to steer consumers to their own preferred insurer-endorsed operation.

AB 1679 completely guts brand new regulations that were developed after an exhaustive process over six years and dozens of meetings with all interested stakeholders, the letter states. The bill also wipes out decade-old important consumer protections authored by consumer champions such as then-State Senator Jackie Speier that are contained in the California Auto Body Consumer Bill of Rights.

AB 1679, authored by Assemblywoman Autumn Burke, D-Inglewood, is still making its way through the Assembly. Its been heard in several committees, including the Assembly Committee on Insurance, and has been referred to the Appropriations Committee.

Its supporters include ACIC, the American Insurance Association, the California Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies.

The opposition includes the CDI, the California Autobody Association, the California New Car Dealers Association and the Consumer Federation of America.

According to an analysis from the Assembly Insurance Committee, the bills intent is to supersede in its entirety the DOIs steering regulations, among other changes it would make.

The CDIs regulations took effect at the end of February, and there are indications that some auto body shops have taken notice, according to the ACIC.

The group said that one of its California insurer members received invoices from a body shop that had traditionally charged $71 per hour for a certain repair, but by March the same shop was charging $116 an hour for those repairs.

According to the ACIC, auto repair costs are already on the rise as cars get more sophisticated and costly, and the number of accidents are up 6.9 percent in California.

The CDI regulations are set to make things worse, Feliciano said.

Another part of the new CDI regulations addressed geo coding by requiring that when insurers conduct the labor rate survey they must use six body shops plus body shops a mile out to fairly compare rates.

According to Feliciano, this could impact rates in densely populated areas like Los Angeles, where there might be 20 shops in a mile in some places.

He believes that with so many shops near each other, it would be easy for shop owners to start talking to one another about the prices they quoted on the survey, and then for those prices to start reflecting those conversations.

In a place like L.A., there so many more body shops, its easier to compare their labor rate survey and get them talking and prices can start going up, Feliciano said.

While he may have been referring to whats known as collusion, which is an illegal practice, he avoided going so far as to say that.

The words I would use are inappropriate price comparison,' Feliciano said.

AB 1679 instead sets the boundaries for the comparison of six auto body shops in a contiguous geographic area, such as a city or a county.

In his letter, Herrell outlines what the CDI feels are several problematic provisions in AB 1679:

De facto abolishment of the consumers right to select a repair shop of their choice.

Allowing insurers to make misleading statements to consumers.

Allowing insurers to make consumers travel an unreasonable distance to get an estimate for their damaged vehicle and/or to get the vehicle repaired.

Allowing insurers to unreasonably delay inspection of a consumers vehicle.

Allowing insurers to require use of their own contracted shops for inspections after a consumer has chosen their own preferred repair shop.

Attempting to preclude any future Insurance Commissioner from addressing certain consumer protection issues via regulation.

Allowing insurers to utilize old and outdated labor rate surveys without updating them.

Allowing insurers to hide how they arrived at the prevailing rate in a labor rate survey, and yet still receive the presumption of fairness.

Topics Carriers California Trends Legislation Auto
Higher taxes in India may kill the cryptocurrency trade in the country, according to Binances CEO, while the UK government faces calls from BT to extend its 130% super-deduction.
The regulation specifies that there is avoidance of the taxable facts in case of abuse of the legal forms or simulation.

In case of abuse, the tax obligation that arises from the taxable facts established by law will be demanded. On the other hand, in case of simulation, the corresponding taxes will be applied to the real transactions made by the parties, regardless of the simulated acts or transactions.

Nevertheless, the rule recognises the right of the taxpayers to choose between the alternatives contained in the tax law, without the need to consider that simple option an abuse of the law.

The existence of avoidance must be declared by the corresponding Tax Court, previous request by the Chilean IRS.

As the start of the procedure depends on the IRS appreciation, its interpretation of the different situations and tax schemes implemented by the taxpayer becomes highly important.

Progressing in this matter and following foreign tax administrations, the Chilean IRS has recently published a catalogue of tax schemes that under specific circumstances might be found elusive and, as result of that, be subject to review by the mentioned authority.

This catalogue centers in an enumeration and description of twelve specific cases which hold operations that the Chilean IRS, a priori, considers a potential case of avoidance and as a result, they might be monitored and reviewed by this entity to determine if they can be classified as an aggressive planning or elusive scheme.

For these matters, the Chilean IRS established a warning of determined operations that it qualifies as unusual, in which some of the following characteristics can be found:

 Cases in which the tax benefits of the transaction or planning are excessive or unproportioned;

 Schemes that cannot be technically understood by the upper management nor owners of the companies, apart from the fact that they produce a good tax effect;

 Cases in which the signature of unusual contracts to the business is required;

 Schemes that imply a flow of funds or goods between the same companies, even though that does not have a logical explanation except producing a tax advantage.

 Using tax havens, or companies without personnel nor functions, that move important amounts of funds or assets, unproportioned to the company.

The aforementioned operations carry an adjective as unproportioned, unusual or tax advantage. The incorporation of these subjective standards, uncontemplated in the law, and the interpretation of which will be controlled by the Chilean IRS, generates uncertainty among the taxpayers and, therefore, an elevated amount of controversy which could lead to an increase in the amount of judicial conflicts with the tax administration.

What should the Chilean IRS do to declare an operation as elusive?

First, the Chilean IRS National Director is the only authority within the institution with the capability to start a request of abuse or simulation before the Tax Court.

Prior to the request, the Chilean IRS must summon the taxpayer, so it can defend itself in an administrative stage.

Then, within the deadline of nine months, in case that the taxpayer does not answer to this notice, or complies but in an unsatisfactory manner, the Chilean IRS could start a judicial request before the Tax Court to get a judicial declaration of the existence of an abuse or simulation through a reasoned decision.

It is interesting to underline that is the Chilean IRS who will need to prove the existence of the abuse or simulation.

The Chilean IRS and the taxpayer can file an appeal to the judgement of the Tax Court.

This article was prepared by Gonzalo Schmidt and Felipe Dominguez of PwC, International Tax Reviews exclusive correspondent firm for Chile.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see winners and finalists

Infosys, the Indian IT multinational, won the award for Asia in-house tax team of the year, with Nissan, the Japanese carmaker, winning the equivalent award for transfer pricing. Annie Pan, Asia tax director of the RELX Group, the digital information publisher, was named as Asia in-house tax director the year.

Ken Dwijugiasteadi, director general of tax in Indonesia won the award for Asia Tax Commissioner of the Year in recognition of his attempts to modernise and reform the tax system there, including the implementation of the much-heralded amnesty, which, it is estimated, raised close to $100 billion.

Among the firms, KPMG led the way with 13 awards, including a repeat of its 2016 success as Asia Tax Firm of the Year. It was closely followed by Deloitte with 12. The other big four firms, EY and PwC, came next with eight each. The other firms to win more than one award were Baker McKenzie with four, and Grant Thornton, Kim & Chang, TP Solutions and Shearn Delamore & Co who all won two each.

The individual awards for practitioners went to:

 Khoon Ming Ho of KPMG (Asia Tax Practice Leader of the Year);

 Shannon Smit of TP Solutions (Asia Transfer Pricing Practice Leader of the Year); and

 Anand Raj (Asia Tax Disputes & Litigation Practice Leader of the Year).

The awards were held for the sixth time at the Goodwood Park Hotel in Singapore on May 4. Companies, firms and individuals had to the opportunity between November and February to make submissions to be considered for the awards. These were then thoroughly researched, with input from tax practitioners and their clients, and shortlists were selected by International Tax Review.

Read about who was nominated here.

ITR Asia Tax Awards 2017

FINALISTS (winners in bold)

COUNTRY AWARDS

Australia Tax Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Deloitte

DLA Piper

Greenwoods & Herbert Smith Freehills

KPMG

Australia Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Deloitte

Grant Thornton

KPMG

Quantera Global

Transfer Pricing Solutions

Australia Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Deloitte

Herbert Smith Freehills & Greenwoods & Herbert Smith Freehills

KPMG

Cambodia Tax Firm of the Year

Bun & Associates

Deloitte

DFDL

Sciaroni & Associates

VDB Loi

Cambodia Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Deloitte

DFDL

Sciaroni & Associates

China Tax Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Deloitte

DLA Piper

EY

Jun He

King & Wood Mallesons

KPMG

PwC

Zhong Lun

China Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Deloitte

DLA Piper

EY

KPMG

PwC

Quantera Global

China Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

EY

KPMG

PwC

Hong Kong Tax Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Deloitte

DLA Piper

KPMG

PwC

Hong Kong Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

EY

KPMG

PwC

Hong Kong Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Clifford Chance

Deloitte

DLA Piper

KPMG

PwC

India Tax Firm of the Year

Advaita Legal

Cyril Amarchand & Mangaldas

Deloitte

Dhruva Advisors

EY

KPMG

Majmudar & Partners

Nangia & Co

Nishith Desai & Associates

PwC

India Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

PwC

India Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

BMR Advisors

Deloitte

Dhruva Advisors

EY

KPMG

Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan

PwC

Indonesia Tax Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

Hadiputranto Hadinoto & Partners

KPMG

PwC

Indonesia Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

PwC

Indonesia Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

Hadiputranto Hadinoto & Partners

KPMG

PwC

Japan Tax Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

DLA Piper

KPMG

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu

Withers

Japan Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

PwC

Japan Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

DLA Piper

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu

Nishimura & Asahi

Malaysia Tax Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

PwC

Wong & Partners

Malaysia Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

PwC

Malaysia Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Deloitte

KPMG

Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill

PwC

Shearn Delamore & Co

Wong & Partners

Myanmar Tax Firm of the Year

DFDL

KPMG

Tilleke & Gibbins

VDB Loi

Myanmar Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

VDB Loi

New Zealand Tax Firm of the Year

Bell Gully

Chapman Tripp

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

PwC

Russell McVeagh

New Zealand Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Bell Gully

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

PwC

New Zealand Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Bell Gully

Chapman Tripp

Deloitte

KPMG

Russell McVeagh

Pakistan Tax Firm of the Year

Grant Thornton

HaidermotaBNR

RIAA Barker Gillette

Pakistan Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Grant Thornton

HaidermotaBNR

RIAA Barker Gillette

Philippines Tax Firm of the Year

Deloitte

Isla Lipana & Co (PwC)

Quisumbing Torres

Reyes Tacandong & Co

RG Manabat & Co (KPMG)

Salvador Llanillo & Bernardo

SyCip Gorres Velayo & Co (EY)

SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan

Philippines Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Deloitte

Isla Lipana & Co (PwC)

Quantera Global

RG Manabat & Co (KPMG)

SyCip Gorres Velayo & Co (EY)

Philippines Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

BDB Law

Deloitte

Quisumbing Torres

RG Manabat & Co (KPMG)

Salvador Llanillo & Bernardo, Taxand Philippines

SyCip Gorres Velayo & Co (EY)

Singapore Tax Firm of the Year

Allen & Gledhill

Baker McKenzie.Wong & Leow

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

PwC

Withers KhattarWong

WongPartnership

Singapore Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie.Wong & Leow

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

PwC

Quantera Global

Transfer Pricing Solutions Asia

Singapore Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie.Wong & Leow

Deloitte

KPMG

Rajah & Tann

Withers KhattarWong

South Korea Tax Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

Kim & Chang

Lee & Ko

PwC

Yoon & Yang

Yulchon

South Korea Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

Kim & Chang

KPMG

PwC

Yoon & Yang

Yulchon

South Korea Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Bae Kim & Lee

Kim & Chang

Lee & Ko

Yoon & Yang

Yulchon

Sri Lanka Tax Firm of the Year

FJ&G De Saram

KPMG

Nithya Partners

Sri Lanka Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

KPMG

Taiwan Tax Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

Lee and Li

PwC

Taiwan Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

Grant Thornton

KPMG

PwC

Taiwan Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

PwC

Thailand Tax Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Deloitte

KPMG

SCL Tax Consultants

Tilleke & Giobbins

Thailand Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Deloitte

KPMG

Quantera Global

Thailand Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

KPMG

LawAlliance

SCL Tax Consultants

Vietnam Tax Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Deloitte

KPMG

Vietnam Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

PwC

Quantera Global

Vietnam Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Deloitte

KPMG

PwC

REGIONAL AWARDS

Asia Indirect Tax Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

PwC

Asia Tax Transactions Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Cyril Amarchand & Mangaldas

Deloitte

EY

Jun He

Kim & Chang

KPMG

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu

PwC

Yulchon

Asia Tax Policy Firm of the Year

Dhruva Advisors

EY

KPMG

Yoon & Yang

Asia Tax Compliance & Reporting Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

Asia Tax Technology Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

Thomson Reuters

Wolters Kluwer

Asia Tax Innovator of the Year

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

Global Executive Mobility Tax Team of the Year in Asia

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

US Corporate Tax Team of the Year

EY

KPMG China

Withholding Tax Team of the Year

Deloitte

EY

Lee & Ko

Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu

PwC

International Tax Law Firm of the Year in Asia

Baker McKenzie

DFDL

DLA Piper

Withers

Best Newcomer of the Year

Advaita Legal

SCL Tax Consultants

Transfer Pricing Solutions Asia

VDB Loi (Indonesia)

Asia Tax Disputes & Litigation Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

PwC

Asia Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

Deloitte

EY

KPMG

PwC

Asia Tax Firm of the Year

Baker McKenzie

Deloitte

EY

Kim & Chang

KPMG

PwC

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

Asia Tax Commissioner of the Year

Ken Dwijugiasteadi, Director General of Tax, Ministry of Finance, Indonesia

Asia Tax Disputes & Litigation Practice Leader of the Year

Ahdianto, GNV Consulting Services

Sujit Ghosh, Advaita Legal

Oh-Young Jeon, Yoon & Yang

Yuko Miyazaki, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu

Nguyen Huong Giang, PwC

Anand Raj, Shearn Delamore & Co

Vikna Rajah, Rajah & Tann

Steven Sieker, Baker McKenzie

Angela Wood, KPMG

Asia Transfer Pricing Practice Leader of the Year

Kyung Geun Lee, Yulchon

Amit Maheshwari, Ashok Maheshwary & Associates

Rahul Mitra, KPMG

Shannon Smit, Transfer Pricing Solutions

Geoffrey Soh, KPMG

Shanwu Yuan, Baker McKenzie

Ay Tjhing Phan, PwC

Michael Tabart, Deloitte

Asia Tax Practice Leader of the Year

Khoon Ming Ho, KPMG

Dinesh Kanabar, Dhruva Advisors

Dong Soo Kim, Yulchon

Shinya Matsumiya, Deloitte

Chung-Sim Siew Moon, EY

Eric Roose, Withers

Manish Shah, SKP Group

John Walker, Baker McKenzie

Asia In-house Tax Director of the Year

Annie Pan, RELX Group

IN-HOUSE AWARDS

Asia In-house Tax Team of the Year

GE China

Infosys

PT Freeport Indonesia

Yum! China Holdings

Asia In-house Transfer Pricing Team of the Year

Infosys

Nissan

Samsung
LIstat ha rivisto al rialzo la crescita del primo trimestre del 2017, con il Pil che balza allo 0,4% sui precedenti tre mesi e all1,2% su base annua. Le prime indicazioni dellIstituto, diffuse a meta maggio, davano il Prodotto interno lordo a +0,2% a livello congiunturale e a +0,8% in termini tendenziali. La revisione, a sorpresa, e dovuta, spiegano dallIstat, allintegrazione nei dati della buona performance dei servizi.

LIstat rileva che il primo trimestre del 2017 ha avuto due giornate lavorative in piu sia rispetto al trimestre precedente, sia rispetto al primo trimestre del 2016. La variazione acquisita per il 2017 e pari a 0,9%.

Rispetto al trimestre precedente, i principali aggregati della domanda nazionale hanno registrato una crescita dello 0,5% dei consumi finali nazionali e un calo dello 0,8% gli investimenti fissi lordi. Le importazioni sono aumentate dell1,6% e le esportazioni dello 0,7%. La domanda nazionale al netto delle scorte ha contribuito per 0,3 punti percentuali alla crescita del pil (0,3 i consumi delle famiglie e delle Istituzioni Sociali Private (Isp), 0,1 la spesa della pubblica amministrazione (Pa) e -0,1 gli investimenti fissi lordi).

Anche la variazione delle scorte ha contribuito positivamente alla variazione del Pil (0,4 punti percentuali), mentre lapporto della domanda estera netta e stato negativo per 0,2 punti percentuali. Si registrano andamenti congiunturali positivi per il valore aggiunto di agricoltura (+4,2%) e servizi (+0,6%), mentre quello dellindustria risulta negativo (-0,3%).

#Istat Riviste al rialzo le stime per il 2017. LItalia cresce piu del previsto e limpegno continua ha commentato su Twitter il premier Paolo Gentiloni.

Per Matteo Renzi i dati di ieri e di oggi dellIstat dimostrano che con la flessibilita ottenuta nei Mille Giorni e con le riforme fatte, leconomia riprende fiato. Sulla sua pagina Fb il segretario del Pd parla di risultati figli degli anni di lavoro serio e rigoroso che abbiamo alle spalle.

Con la revisione delle stime sul Pil lItalia recupera anche a livello europeo. Il +0,4% congiunturale e il +1,2% tendenziale non vedono piu lItalia isolata, fanalino di coda. LIstat infatti, diffondendo i conti trimestrali, riporta anche i dati relativi agli altri Paesi. Svetta la Germania (+0,6% e +2,9% su anno), ma la Francia fa come noi a livello congiunturale (+0,4%) e peggio su base annua (+1,0%). Restiamo pero sotto la media dellEurozona (+0,5% e +1,7% annuo).
The Committee on International Trade (INTA) of the European Parliament has voted down the increase of the annual tariff rate quotas for imports of Ukrainian wheat, tomatoes and urea, Bloomberg has reported, referring to the decision of the committee.

The European Union (EU) should continue offering trade preferences to Ukraine, but some agricultural products do not require additional support by the EU.

As reported, in September 2016, the European Commission proposed to increase the annual tariff rate quotas for some goods from Ukraine: maize by 650,000 tonnes, wheat by 100,000 tonnes, barley by 350,000 tonnes, cereal and processed grain by 7,800 tonnes, oats by 4,000 tonnes, honey by 3,000 tonnes, grape juice by 500 tonnes and processed tomatoes by 5,000 tonnes.

In March 2017, the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) of the European Parliament voted down the increase of the quotas for grain crops and processed tomatoes from Ukraine.
In a recent announcement, GE has said it will work with AE Energia to install a system for fast, digital power in Angola. The order includes seven TM2500 mobile aeroderivative gas turbine generator sets, services agreements and digital solutions for PRODEL, the state-owned company responsible for power production.

The TM2500 units will be installed in Namibe, Huila and Cuando Cubango provinces and will be capable of providing the remaining 200 megawatts (MW) of power for the government to achieve a targeted one gigawatt (GW) of electricity by end of 2018.

Our industry-leading TM2500 units deliver reliable and efficient power with speed, and with the addition of these seven units up to an additional 15 percent of the population of Angola can gain access to electricity, said Scott Strazik, chief commercial officer, Gas Power Systems, GE. We are very proud to help achieve this significant milestone and look forward to continuing to support Angolas ambitious energy goals in the years to come.

Angolas national grid is aging and in need of upgrade and rehabilitation as the grid is currently able to provide electricity to only about 30 percent of the population. The TM2500 generator set is trailer mounted and can be installed faster than traditional power plants. Together, the seven new units will be used for grid stability in existing plants and will provide electricity to off-grid communities.

GE will provide the generating equipment, installation, commissioning, fuel treatment solution, spares and electrical balance of plant to PRODEL. The orders multi-year service agreements for up to nine TM2500 generator sets will support optimum performance, efficiency and reliability of the equipment for a period of six years. The services agreements also include GEs Predix software, which was deployed for the first time in aeroderative gas turbines with the Marubeni project in Japan in April 2017.

AE Energia, an Angolan promoter, integrator and implementation partner, will oversee the project execution with GE in the region.

AE Energia will collaborate with GE on the project execution and work on behalf of the Angolan government to connect the best global power company with the local private sector power company delivering capability in Angola, said Ricardo Machado, CEO, AE Energia. Our goal is to ensure the country gets full value for money as we provide the local know how to support GE in every phase of this power project responding to the national priorities for the energy sector.

Edited by Alicia Young
Interpol has substantiated by documents that it has stopped the search for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his son Oleksandr, Yanukovych's spokesperson Yuriy Kirasir said.

"Interpol has confirmed by documents that it has ceased to search for former Ukrainian President Yanukovych. The document said that there had been no so-called 'red notice' regarding Yanukovych on the database of the agency," Kirasir wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday.

Interpol confirmed that a Red Notice or a Special Notice has had no effect on Yanukovych and there is no data about him on the Interpol database, he said.

Kirasir has also posted on Facebook a photocopy of the relevant Interpol statements regarding Yanukovych and his son Oleksandr Yanukovych.

"This response has been made to a claim by the JHA LLP law firm, which serves (Viktor) Yanukovych's interests, to announce the data that the former Ukrainian president is not wanted by Interpol. Interpol has thus confirmed the fact that criminal cases against (Viktor) Yanukovych are politically motivated," the spokesperson said.

At the same time, Interpol has made a decision to remove from its database all the data about Oleksandr Yanukovych, "who has earlier not been placed on the wanted list, but the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office has filed requests to Interpol," he said.

Later on the same day Ukrainian National Police spokesperson Yaroslav Trakalo confirmed in a commentary to the Ukrayinska Pravda online edition that Interpol ceased the search for former President Yanukovych. The Interpol Commission for the Control of Files has filed the relevant data to the National Bureau, he said.

This commission also compelled the Interpol General Secretariat to remove Viktor Yanukovych and all the data about his son Oleksandr from the search database.

The Ukrainian bureau has transferred the obtained data, that is, a copy of the decision made by the Interpol Commission for the Control of Files regarding Yanukovych, to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office as a body of pretrial investigation, Trakalo said.

As to reasons behind such actions, the Interpol police spokesperson said that it can be commented only in the Prosecutor General's Office.

As reported, Interpol placed Yanukovych on the wanted list at the Ukrainian prosecution service's request dated January 12, 2015, but as he has appealed a claim regarding a breach of Article 2 and Article 3 of the Interpol Constitution, the Interpol Commission for the Control of Files has suspended access to the data on the Interpol General Secretariat register regarding international search for Yanukovych.

On January 19, 2017, head of the Interpol National Central Bureau in Ukraine Vasyl Nevolia said that Interpol could consider the resumption of international search for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych at the Commission for the Control of Files meetings on January 26-29.
Organizations with employees who derive value from AI are 5.9 times more likely to see financial benefits from it 
Bravo Blog to dish on this week's episode of The Real Housewives of Potomac. Charrisse Jackson Jordan addresses the "dropping one name" comment and Gizelle Bryant and Monique Samuels' game night fight. Check it out! Charrisse Jackson Jordan is taking to herto dish on this week's episode of. Charrisse Jackson Jordan addresses the "dropping one name" comment and Gizelle Bryant and Monique Samuels' game night fight. Check it out!

Charrisse Jackson Jordan: Monique telling Hank to flirt with me was done out of fun, I'm sure. For some reason, people feel that I'm this lonely person who needs a man in my life, when in all candor I am just facing the fact that my marriage is over. The last thing I'm thinking about is a situation with anyone. Flattered? The fact that that she thinks I can attract someone who can chronologically be my son is flattering, of course.CJJ: Knowing that I am headed towards a divorce, there's the option of dropping my married name. Coming to a place of acceptance of my situation, for some reason, helps me to go through this process by being open about my status. Quite frankly, I could care less what Gizelle thinks or has to say about anything as it pertains to my marriage. She has not been a supportive component in my life, but to hear Robyn report back to her with that petty bit of information was a little disheartening. However, look who she was reporting to... The Miserable One wouldn't be interested in hearing how great the evening was, so Robyn did the best she could to make an overall great night appear crazy on my behalf to appease her miserable friend.CJJ: I'm not surprised by Gizelle and Cal's messy behavior in Monique's home because that's what dumb and dumber does. They go around and try to tear people down to make their weak souls feel good. But clearly Gizelle has met her worst nightmare in Monique, because she will get shut down immediately.CJJ: Of course she was wrong. She wasn't expecting to get called out on it. Gizelle loves running her mouth behind a person's back, but can't handle being confronted with her mess. Monique has a low tolerance for petty behavior, and Gizelle has demonstrated nothing but pettiness from the moment she met Monique.CJJ: OMG! That was the day from hell! I remember it like it was yesterday. I woke up and literally could not stop crying the entire day. Nothing happened specifically to trigger my state of sadness and nothing apparently could turn it off. Perhaps it was realizing my life was about to change and the fear of it all overwhelmed me. It felt like a death of a loved one. I truly wanted to stay home but felt compelled to show my support for my girl Monique. I knew all the ladies were coming, and it being her first gathering for us, I did my best to pull it all together to only fall apart. My life is a huge roller coaster at this point. This day was a big drop, but I will be on a incline momentarily. Ugh! Divorce sucks!What do you think about Charrisses blog?airs Sunday nights at 9/8c only on Bravo. For International TV ListingsSource/Photo Credit: Bravo
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Employees at a Limerick plant hire company have been evacuated from the building as a large scrap metal fire rages close to the premises, writes David Raleigh.

According to emergency services sources, the fire began around 3pm at a scrap metal yard in Crossagalla Business Park, located off the Ballysimon Road.

The fire is now spreading to the GPT plant hire facility.

A fire control dispatcher confirmed five units of Limerick City Fire Service are attending the scene, including two high-rise platform tenders, a 10,000 litre water tanker, and a special incident unit.

A massive plume of smoke, which can be seen for miles, is billowing across the Treaty City.

Eye witnesses have reported flames reaching between 50-60 feet high.

A passer-by said: "The flames are 50 to 60 feet high and there have been a number of loud bangs from the fire."

Gardai and approximately 15 firefighters are currently at the scene.

A source said: "It's close to a Topaz petrol and dispel filling station but there is no danger to the petrol station.

"There is a plant hire company called GPT situated beside the fire - it has been evacuated as a precaution," the source added.

"It seems to be piles of scrap metal that are on fire," they said.

There are a number of scrap metal company's located close to the yard.

Motorists have been advised to avoid the area with long tailbacks reported.
Speaking on the back of a strong third quarter trading update Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin yesterday said the Dublin area is big enough to absorb a number of new openings in the coming years.

The group currently operates five pubs in Ireland  four in suburban Dublin and one in Cork  and has long-term plans to operate 40-50 premises here. While it has undeveloped sites in Carlow and Waterford, these are effectively on the back burner as Dublin has become priority for Wetherspoons Irish operations.
Decision of Committee of Ministers of Council of Europe on Crimea confirms inevitability of Russia's responsibility  Poroshenko

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko has welcomed the adoption by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe of a comprehensive decision in connection with the situation in Crimea occupied by Russia in 2014.

"I welcome the unique comprehensive decision of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the situation in Crimea! Confirmation and the inevitability of Russia's responsibility," Poroshenko wrote on his Twitter on Wednesday evening.
It saw an operating profit of 7.2m before exceptional costs, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of 18.9m.

In his chairmans address, Alo Duffy said: There are going to be implications for how trade will be conducted between EU countries and the UK. Its going to be complex, but I believe business will always find a way.
We want to open new doors for our exports, he said, stressing that the EU is justifiably proud of the culture, heritage and taste of its high-quality foods.

Mr Hogan said Europe continued to be a global leader in food and drink in 2016, exporting 130bn worth of produce to global markets, keeping its position as the number one exporter in the world.
The window is tight to get infrastructure such as housing, schools and office accommodation in place but financial institutions will base their decisions on how quickly the faults will be fixed, Mr Lane said.

Speaking to reporters, he also expressed confidence the Central Banks controls over mortgage lending would prevent any future overheating of the housing market. There are many brakes in the system, he said.

The shortage of housing across Ireland has become a hot political debate over whether the country will attract a large share of the banking jobs that will likely shift out of London as the UK prepares to exit the EU.

But Mr Lane said no single EU centre will replace the City of London as EU cities compete by offering different advantages such as their housing, taxation and legal systems.

There had been fears that Ireland could lose out after insurers such as AIG and the Lloyds of London market opted to set up bases in other EU countries despite the large international insurance industry that is based here.

However, investment banking giant JPMorgan Chase has confirmed it plans to move hundreds of London-based bankers to expanded offices in Dublin, Frankfurt and Luxembourg to preserve easy access to the EUs single market after Brexit.

We will have to move hundreds of people in the short term to be ready for day one, when negotiations finish, and then we will look at the longer-term numbers, said its head of investment banking, Daniel Pinto.

Global banks are preparing to move some London-based operations into new or expanded bases inside the EU after UK prime minister Theresa May began the formal process for exiting the bloc.

We have to plan for a scenario where there is no UK-EU passporting deal, and we have to move a substantial portion of our business to continue serving our European clients, said Mr Pinto. Well have to wait to see what kind of deal can be achieved and see what we need to do from there.

The firms EU investment banking operations will likely be based in Frankfurt, while custody will be located in Dublin and treasury services will be handled in Luxembourg, a source said. JPMorgan will initially move between 500 and 1,000 staff to the three cities and others in the region.

PwCs Brexit business partner David McGee said there is at least a 75% chance of a hard Brexit and planning had to reflect that. Speaking in Cork, he said the continued row over the divorce bill between the EU and the UK, as well as the free movement of people and the complications of trade talks all pointed to a hard Brexit.

The question, Mr McGee said, was whether the risks posed by Brexit to the agri-food industry could be offset by opportunities in financial services and information technology. He said Cork was in prime position to take its place as a European leader in financial services and IT. Mr McGee said both Dublin and Cork had the existing critical mass to support financial technology and cyber firms who were looking to operate away from London.
Business consultant Alf Smiddy, who was chairman and managing director of Beamish and Crawford plc between 1998 and 2008, said public confidence in the process has been shattered by the projects spiralling costs which have risen from 53m to 65m, and the lack of a clear timeline for the delivery of the 6,000-seat venue earmarked for the former brewery site.

I think this controversy is going to drag on and drag on, and that the time has come to bite the bullet and start with a clean slate, Mr Smiddy said.

BAM is a great international company but I do think the whole event centre project has spiralled out of control.

And if you dont have public confidence around a big project like this, questions will continue to be asked.

The Irish Examiner revealed on Wednesday how developers BAM, who won a public tender more than two years ago for 20m in state aid for the venue, have requested a further 18m in public funding.

It won the tender with designs for a 10,600sqm venue. But Bam said when event centre operators Live Nation came on board afterwards, a larger 13,500sq m venue was required to ensure it was commercially viable.

BAM told councillors in February that an extra 12m in state aid was required, and that consultants had told them a 6m contingency was also required pending further detailed design.

But Lord Mayor Cllr Des Cahill and FF Cllr Terry Shannon both said they believed BAM would cover the contingency costs.

However, it has emerged that BAM has lodged a formal request for an extra 18m in public funding.

The request has been assessed by a team in Cork City Council which oversaw the original tender, and has been forwarded to the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, which is providing the funding.

Mr Smiddy said the time has now come for the entire project to be retendered.

Alf Smiddy

I think public confidence in this project is now very low and there are huge credibility issues, he said.

There were many potential developers who didnt bid for the initial public funding over two years ago because of the criteria at the time, and because of the downturn.

But many are back up and running again and they should be given an opportunity to tender for this project.

And there are other sites in the city which could be considered at this stage.

A spokesperson for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DEPR) said it is a matter for the Department of Arts to first assess the funding request and then seek approval from DEPR.

Any proposal from the Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs on the project will fall to be considered as part of the governments mid-term capital review.

Local Government Minister Simon Coveney has said he believes the Government will look favourably on the extra funding request, pending a value for money appraisal.

It is hoped that a decision could be made within a matter of weeks.
Minister for the Office of Public Works Sean Canney said the plans have been designed to protect homes and businesses in the city.

Local campaigners have expressed fears that the construction of concrete walls along some of the quays would result in a loss of access to the river without any guarantee of alleviating flooding in the city centre.

Speaking on Corks RedFM, Mr Canney said all views will be taken on board but a decision has to be made to protect homes and businesses.

In Cork anybody who has experienced flooding knows exactly what the consequences are. It is devastating for them and it leaves an indelible mark on them. I think it is important that we as a Government provide as much in terms of comfort in providing flood defences where we can and putting in a solution that works. And also bringing about a situation where these houses, these businesses can be re insured again.

The multimillion-euro project aims to protect more than 2,000 homes and businesses from flooding, by creating washlands for flood waters upstream, and by constructing walls and embankments along the rivers edge in the city centre.

The main issue raised in the Save Cork City campaign is the building of flood defence walls on the quays in the city and a concern that this will damage the existing historic fabric of the quays, remove vegetation and remove the existing diversity of frontage to the river.

As an alternative to flood walls, it is claimed that storage achieved by upstream diversion of open drainage and the utilisation of woodland and wetland buffers or linear parks could reduce the flows sufficiently to avoid the necessity for flood walls on the quays.
The crew of the Naval Services flagship LE Eithne have been training for the humanitarian mission since the end of last year.

But is has emerged that the Department of Defence and its Italian counterpart did not complete the necessary paperwork.

Dr Judith Wharton, a spokeswoman for the recently formed Wives and Spouses of the Defence Forces (WSDF), described the situation as appalling.

There are migrants drowning again in the Med and the crew just want to get out and help. Theyve been training for months for this mission and the ship is now tied up at the quay wall because the paperwork hasnt been finalised. Its shocking, she said.

The UNs refugee agency UNHCR confirmed more than 1,000 migrants have been reported dead or missing so far this year, while more than 8,000 were plucked from dinghies over the Easter weekend. On April 11, the Government sanctioned the dispatch of the vessel to participate in the humanitarian mission.

The Department of Defence said: This matter is in hand and the department is continuing to liaise with Italian counterparts in concluding the written agreement to facilitate deployment to the Mediterranean.

The Naval Service had signalled several weeks ago that the LE Eithne was scheduled to leave its base in Haulbowline Island on May 1. The crew are on standby.

PDforra vice president Mark Keane said: They are ready, willing and anxious to undertake this mission and put into practice their training.
Barry Gargan, from Piercetown, Dunboyne, Co Meath, was crushed beneath a cleaning arm inside a safety cage containing production machinery at a Kilsaran concrete plant in Meath on September 6, 2011.

The company was fined 1m at the Court of Appeal in relation to the mans death last month.

Witness Chris Bagnall, who was operating a control panel outside the cage, said he had safety concerns around the production methods for a particular type of concrete kerbing but was afraid to raise the issue.

I didnt say anything to anyone because I was afraid I would lose my job, Mr Bagnall said at Dublin Coroners Court.

He said he could see the two employees operating within the cage but he had to turn away in order to operate the control panel. The procedure required the machine to be switched from automatic to manual as part of the production process, the court heard.

When I restarted the machine to move onto the next panel, thats when the accident happened, he said.

Another employee, Michael Munster, was working inside the cage with Mr Gargan. He [Mr Gargan] was usually a forklift driver, he was filling in for a guy that morning, said Mr Munster.

Kilsaran group health and safety officer Tony Reville said he had never seen anyone behind the safety barrier before and was not aware of this practice.

He said there is a sign on the cage door stating no unauthorised access but admitted under questioning that there was nothing in the company safety document stating that workers should not be inside the safety cage.

Kilsaran was fined 125,000 by Judge Michael OShea at Trim Circuit Criminal Court on February 18, 2016.

The DPP sought a review of the fine on grounds that it was unduly lenient. The Court of Appeal agreed and increased it to 1m last month.

The inquest before coroner Myra Cullinane was adjourned until July to hear evidence from two more witnesses.
I never met Ueli Steck. I heard him speak once, and we exchanged a few emails three years ago. (He had signed up to run the Lake Sonoma 50 Mile, later withdrawing before the race with a calf injury.) He was the most accomplished mountaineer of a generation, and perhaps ever. Unbeknownst to many, he was also a pretty good ultrarunnerhardly elite, but well better than average. Last year he finished the rugged Eiger Ultra Trail 101-kilometer race in 14:35:05, 26th place out of 345 finishers.

Steck was perhaps most well known for his speed records on the iconic North Face of the Eiger, near his Interlaken home in Switzerland. (I suggest you check out this video chronicling his 2008 record effort on YouTube; its pretty much mind blowing.) But the mountaineering community will point to his solo ascent of the South Face of Annapurna in Nepal as his most impressive effort. The most audacious accomplishment in the history of mountaineering is the way one veteran observer, Italian climber and climbing journalist Venicio Stefanello, described it.

Steck died last Saturday in a climbing accident in the Himalayas. He was 40. His death shocked me and the entire outdoor world. Yes, mountain climbing is an extremely perilous endeavor. Its an activity where a single misstep is often fatal; even the strongest and most talented climbers can make a mistake. Yet Steck was just so gifted, experienced, and careful it seemed he would be the rare climber that would live to a ripe old age.

As ultrarunners, we generally have one foot on or very near the ground at all times. A technical mistake might mean an embarrassing face plant or a scraped knee. Yes, we push the boundaries of what is humanly possible but the risks we take are incremental: generally small and rarely dangerous. For most of us its hard to grasp taking potentially life-threatening risks for sport. And yet, when Steck was asked about the risks and his motivation, his response was akin to the response one might expect to hear from an ultrarunner:

I have repeatedly asked myself, why I do this. The answer is pretty simple: because I want to do it and because I like it. I dont like being restricted. When I climb, I feel free and unrestricted. This is what I am looking for.

This simple, yet eloquent summary resonates with us all.

Call for Comments (from Meghan)
ISAAA Brief 52-2016: Executive Summary



This 2016 ISAAA Brief is an extension of the 20 Volumes of Annual Briefs (1996 to 2015) on global status of biotech/GM crops authored by Clive James,

Founder & Emeritus Chairman of ISAAA





Introduction

The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications publishes the Annual Global Review of Biotech Crops Commercialization or ISAAA Briefs. ISAAA Brief 52 is the 21st of the series which documents the latest information on the subject, global database on the adoption and distribution of biotech crops in 2016 as well as the accumulative data since 1996 (the first year of commercialization), country situations, trends in approval of biotech crops, and future prospects of the technology in the biotech crop growing countries and the world. ISAAA Brief is one of the most cited references in the field of modern agri-biotechnology due to its credibility and accuracy. Since the adoption of biotech crops in 1996, ISAAA has remained the single most prominent source of this information.

The year 2016 was momentous since for the first time, Nobel Laureates released a statement in support of biotechnology and condemning critics in their critical stance against the technology and Golden Rice. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization, International Food and Policy Research Institute, the G20 countries and other like-minded bodies, guided by 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Agriculture have committed to eradicate hunger and malnutrition in 15 years or less. More importantly, the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine published a review of 900 researches on biotech crops since 1996 and found that genetically modified crops and conventionally-bred crops have no difference in terms of probable risks to human health and the environment. Biotech crops have now had an unblemished record of safe use and consumption for over 20 years. Future generations can benefit more from wide choices of biotech crops with improved traits for high yield and nutrition as well as safe for food use and environment.

Highlights of the 2016 Adoption of Biotech Crops:

 Biotech crop planting in 2016 resumes high adoption at 185.1 million hectares worldwide.

A year after the second decade of commercialization of biotech/GM crops in 2016, 26 countries grew 185.1 million hectares of biotech crops  an increase of 5.4 million hectares or 3% from 179.7 million hectares in 2015. Except for the 2015 adoption, this is the 20th series of increases every single year; and notably 12 of the 20 years were double-digit growth rates.



 Biotech crops provide more diverse offerings to consumers in 2016

Biotech crops have expanded beyond the big four (corn, soybean, cotton, and canola) to give more choices for many of the world's consumers. These biotech crops include sugar beet, papaya, squash, eggplant, potatoes that are already in the market, as well as apples which will be in the market in 2017. Potato is the fourth important staple crop in the world and eggplant is the number one vegetable consumed in Asia. Non-bruising and non-browning apples and potatoes can contribute to the reduction of food waste. Additionally, research done by public sector institutions include crops such as rice, banana, potato, wheat, chickpea, pigeon pea, mustard and sugarcane at advanced stages of evaluation, and are likely to provide even more diverse offerings to consumers, especially those in developing countries.

 New biotech crops and traits in the pipeline for the benefit of farmers and consumers

It is noteworthy that new biotech crops and traits are being field tested to cater to farmers and consumers. These include among others, staple crops such as beta-carotene enriched Golden Rice being tested in the Philippines and Bangladesh; bunchy top virus resistant biotech banana in Uganda; Fusarium wilt resistant biotech banana and biotech wheat with disease resistance, drought tolerance, altered oil content and grain composition being field tested in Australia; high yield and biomass wheat in the United Kingdom; late blight resistant potato varieties Desiree and Victoria in Uganda and late blight and nematode resistant potato variety Maris Piper with less bruising and less acrylamide potato in the EU; insect resistant chickpea and pigeon pea, and biotech mustard which are staple vegetables and oil source, respectively, in India; drought tolerant sugarcane in India and Indonesia; and omega-3 enriched camelina in the EU.

 Biotech crops increased ~110-fold from 1996, the fastest adopted crop technology in the world; accumulated hectarage at 2.1 billion hectares

Global hectarage of biotech crops has increased ~110-fold from 1.7 million hectares in 1996 to 185.1 million hectares in 2016  this makes biotech crops the fastest adopted crop technology in recent times. An accumulated 2.1 billion hectares or 5.3 billion acres was achieved in 21 years (1996-2016) of biotech crop commercialization.

 26 countries, 19 developing and 7 industrial countries grew biotech crops

The 185.1 million hectares of biotech crops were grown by 26 countries, of which 19 were developing and 7 industrial countries. Developing countries grew 54% (99.6 million hectares) of the global biotech crop area compared to 46% (85.5 million hectares) for industrial countries.

 Biotech soybean reached 50% of global biotech crop hectarage

The four major biotech crops: soybean, maize, cotton, and canola, in decreasing area, were the most adopted biotech crops by 26 countries. The area planted to biotech soybean was the highest at 91.4 million hectares, which is 50% of the global hectarage of 185.1 million hectares for all biotech crops. Although the soybean area only showed a marginal decrease of 1% from 2015 (92.7 million hectares), the area is still substantial at 91.4 million hectares. Based on the global crop hectarage for individual crops, 78% of soybean, 64% of cotton, 26% of maize and 24% of canola were biotech in 2016.

 Stacked traits occupied 41% of the global hectarage, second to herbicide tolerance at 47%

Herbicide tolerance deployed in soybean, canola, maize, alfalfa, and cotton, has consistently been the dominant trait at 47% of the global hectarage. A declining trend on herbicide tolerant crops planted was observed with the rise of stacked traits (combined insect resistance, herbicide tolerance, and other traits). The area planted to herbicide tolerant crops was 86.5 million hectares in 2016, occupying 47% of the global biotech hectarage of 185.1 million hectares. On the other hand, area planted to stacked traits increased by 29% in 2016 at 75.4 million hectares from 58.4 million hectares in 2015. Stacked traits occupied 41% of the global biotech crop hectarage of 185.1 million hectares.

 Of the top five countries growing 91% of biotech crops, three are developing countries (Brazil, Argentina, and India) and two are industrial (USA and Canada).

USA leads biotech crop planting in 2016 at 72.9 million hectares, followed by Brazil (49.1 million hectares), Argentina (23.8 million hectares), Canada (11.6 million hectares) and India (10.8 million hectares) (Table 1, Figure 1) for a total of 168.2 million hectares, 91% of the global hectarage.

USA continued to be the leader in the global commercialization of biotech crops since 1996. In 2016, 72.9 or ~73 million hectares were planted to major biotech crops: maize (35.05 million hectares), soybean (31.84 million hectares), cotton (3.70 million hectares), some areas of biotech crops: alfalfa (1.23 million hectares), canola (0.62 million hectares), and sugar beet (0.47 million hectares) and small areas of virus resistant papaya and squash (1,000 hectares each), and non-browning Innate potatoes (2,500 hectares). The USDA estimates indicate that the percentage adoption of the three principal biotech crops were at, or close to optimal adoption: soybean at 94% (same as 2015), maize 92% (same as 2015), and cotton 93% (lower by 1% in 2015) (USDA, NASS, 2016), for an average of 93%. The 2016 biotech crop area in the USA of ~73 million hectares is 39% of the global biotech area and 3% higher than the 2015 planting of 70.9 million hectares. The immediate increase of biotech/GM crop planted area in the USA in 2016 indicates that the 2015 slight decrease attributed to low commodity prices of maize and cotton was only temporary. Resumption of global prices and the active trade with countries for livestock feeds, food processing, and biofuel needs in 2016 put the US biotech crop adoption back on track with 3% increase from 2015.

Brazil retained its #2 world ranking after the US, with 49.1 million hectares of biotech crops planted, representing 27% of the global hectarage of 185.1 million hectares. Brazils total biotech crop hectarage of ~49.14 million hectares is an increase of 11%, from 2015 (44.2 million hectares), or 4.9 million hectares. This 4.9 million hectare increase was by far the highest increase in any country worldwide in 2016 making Brazil the engine of growth in biotech crops worldwide. Biotech crops planted include: ~32.7 million hectares biotech soybean; 15.7 million hectares of biotech maize (summer and winter maize); and ~0.8 million hectares of biotech cotton. The total planted area of these three crops in Brazil was estimated at 52.6 million hectares of which 49.14 million hectares or 93.4% was biotech. The adoption rate of 93.4% is a 2.7% increase in adoption compared to 2015 (90.7%). Similar to the U.S., adoption rates of the three major biotech crops are almost optimal at an average of 93.4%. IR/HT soybean Intacta has gained popularity among the farmers because of the savings in pesticide and the no-till technology, thus, the increased hectarages. The need for continuous and steady supply of maize for pork and livestock industry in the country may push farmers to plant more maize in 2017.

Argentina maintained its ranking as the third largest producer of biotech crops in the world in 2016, after the USA and Brazil, occupying 13% of global hectarage. The country planted 23.82 million hectares, 0.67 million hectares less than the 24.49 million hectares in 2015. Biotech crops in the country was comprised of 18.7 million hectares of biotech soybean, an all time high of 4.74 million hectares of biotech maize and a reduced cotton biotech area of 0.38 million hectares. The country had a slight decline in hectarages of biotech crops due largely to soybean and minimally with cotton due to global low cotton prices. The adverse weather condition was not conducive to wheat planting and affected the 2nd soybean planting after wheat. On the other hand, increased maize planting was mainly due to favorable weather conditions. With almost maximum adoption of biotech crops in Argentina of 97%, expansion of biotech crop commercialization can be achieved using new crops and traits.

Canada is fourth in world ranking of biotech crops, with an area of 11.55 million hectares, a 5% increase from 2015 of 10.95 million hectares, with an average adoption rate of 93%, similar to 2015. The four biotech crops grown in Canada in 2016 were canola (7.53 million hectares), soybean (2.08 million), maize (1.49 million), sugar beet (8,000 hectares with 100% adoption) and for the first time low lignin alfalfa (809 hectares). Total planting of these crops also increased by 5% from 11.74 million hectares (2015) to 12.38 million hectares. The country increased biotech crop planting following increases in total area of canola, soybean, and maize. Canola Council of Canada actively pursues its Strategic Plan of producing 26 MMT canola by 2025 through yield improvement technologies. Increase in soybean area is due to its profitability and high oilseed prices. For maize, increased gasoline and ethanol consumption due to lower gas prices provided incentive for maize planting.

India had a slight decrease (7%) in biotech cotton planting brought by a small reduction in the total cotton area (8%) in the 10 states of India. Adoption however increased from 95% to 96% indicative of acceptance by as much as 7.2 million farmers benefiting from the technology. Biosafety regulations in the country have been streamlined with revised guidelines on the monitoring of confined field trials of biotech crops. Biotech mustard expressing the barnase-barstar gene is under final review including public comments for environmental release in 2017. Mustard production and yields have remained stagnant for the past 20 years and the future introduction of the biotech mustard can potentially increase yield by as much as 25%, revive the mustard industry and be competitive with canola. Insect resistant chickpea and pigeon pea were approved for field trials by the government regulatory agency in 2016. India retained the title as the number one cotton-producing country in the world with cotton production surpassing 35 million bales despite the slowed down global cotton market.

 Ten countries in Latin America grew ~80 million hectares of biotech crops

Except for Chile and Costa Rica which continuously plant biotech crops for export, biotech crop countries in Latin America grew biotech crops for food, feed and processing. Brazil obtained the highest increase of 11% or 4.9 million hectares of biotech crops in 2016 and occupied 27% of the global biotech crop area. Intacta has gained popularity among farmers because of savings in pesticide and the no-till technology. Adoption rates of the three major biotech crops were almost optimum at an average of 93.4% in Brazil and Argentina. Total soybean and biotech plantings in Argentina and Bolivia were affected by severe drought. Moreover, in Paraguay, marginal decrease in soybean area was due to competition with maize planting to cater for the increasing demand of the expanding pork industry in the country. In Mexico, reduced soybean planting was due to conflicts resulting from negative propaganda for biotech crops. Biotech soybean and maize decreased in Uruguay due to lowered prices, higher production costs and positive policy developments for grain and soybean sector in Argentina. Lowered cotton prices also negatively affected Argentina, Mexico, and Colombia.

The possible expansion in the pork and livestock industry in Brazil may push farmers to plant more maize in 2017. New products waiting to be commercialized which are expected to impact the Brazilian economy are the biotech eucalyptus and virus resistant bean. In Argentina, the development of drought tolerant soybean which is now in testing stage will allow utilization of marginal areas affected by drought. Also, adoption of virus resistant potato will be beneficial to farmers in increasing yield and reduction of production cost. The area expansion in Paraguay and Colombia for total maize was due to the increasing expansion of the pork industry. This is likely to continue in the next few years with maize prices relatively higher due to demand from Brazil and Chile. Biotech maize adoption may also increase consequently. Countries affected by low global cotton prices may rebound back as soon as prices become stable, similar to maize which suffered low prices in the last two years. New biotech crops and traits that can withstand drought and other stress will be a welcome respite from the losses of the past years.

 Eight countries in Asia and the Pacific grew ~18.6 million hectares of biotech crops

Biotech crops planted in the 8 biotech crop countries of Asia and the Pacific ranged from fiber (cotton), feed (maize and canola) and food (maize and eggplant). Adoption of these biotech crops varied in 2016: India and Chinas biotech cotton planting were extremely affected by low global cotton prices, while Pakistan and Myanmar maintained their biotech cotton area. The area planted to biotech maize in the Philippines and Vietnam increased due to high demand for livestock and poultry feeds, as well as favorable weather conditions. In Australia, favorable weather conditions after two years of drought permitted increased planting of biotech cotton and canola. In addition, farmers were provided BollgardIII/RRFlex cotton for extreme insect pest protection with herbicide tolerance. Bangladesh increased its Bt eggplant planting to 700 hectares and more brinjal varieties with Bt gene are being field tested for future commercialization.

There are still huge potential biotech maize areas in China, Vietnam, Pakistan and the Philippines, as well as biotech cotton for Vietnam, Bangladesh and the Philippines. In China, food and manufacturing industry considered potato as the fourth staple with renewed interest on its research, development and production. The upcoming biotech potatoes which are non-bruising, low acrylamide, lowered reducing sugar and late blight resistant, as well as beta-carotene enriched Golden Rice will help address malnutrition and hunger in Asia and the Pacific.

 Four countries in the European Union continued to plant biotech maize at more than 136,000 hectares

Four countries in the EU (28) continued to plant biotech maize (IR maize event MON 810). In 2016, they were Spain with 129,081 hectares, Portugal (7,069 hectares), Slovakia (138 hectares) and Czechia (75 hectares) for a total of 136,363 hectares. Thus, a significant difference of 19,493 hectares or 17% increase from 116,870 in 2015 was achieved. The more than 95% of the total biotech maize in the EU was planted in Spain. In Spain and Slovakia, increases in biotech maize planting were due to favorable farmers decision to plant insect resistant maize because of the devastating European corn borer infestation. In Portugal, in addition to the low market price of maize, drought spell affected the highest maize producing state, Alentejo. This resulted to a decline in total maize area and consequently the biotech maize area. In Czechia however, the continuing decline in biotech crop planting was due to the inconvenience of stringent reporting requirements for IR maize resulting in less incentive for farmers and all stakeholders seeking to capture the benefits offered by IR maize. This matter also affected Romania, which, similar to the other countries have opted to grow GM crops after the EU directive was issued in 2015. Thus, for 2016, there was no biotech maize planting in Romania.

Possible expansion of biotech crops in these countries includes the approval of new crops and traits that will address the recurring problem of corn borer infestation such as the various IR/HT maize technologies. In addition, drought tolerant maize available in the US and a product similar to the biotech maize with drought and insect resistant trait of the WEMA Project will benefit farmers in Portugal.



 South Africa and Sudan had increased planting of biotech crops

By 2016, at least four countries had in the past placed a GM crop in the market  Burkina Faso, Egypt, South Africa, and Sudan. However, due to a temporary setback in Burkina Faso and Egypt, only South Africa and Sudan planted biotech crops at 2.8 million hectares. South Africa is one of the top ten countries planting more than 1 million hectares in 2016 and continued to lead the adoption of biotech crops in the African continent. Biotech maize, soybean and cotton area increased to 2.66 million hectares in 2016, a 16% increase from the 2.29 million hectares in 2015.

A new wave of acceptance is emerging in the continent. Three countries: Kenya, Malawi and Nigeria transitioned from research to granting environmental release approvals, while six others  Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Swaziland and Uganda made significant progress in moving towards completion of multi-location trials in readiness for considering commercial approval. Three of these crops  banana, cowpea and sorghum are new and primarily for food security. It is noteworthy that under the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA), Tanzania planted its first ever confined field trial of drought tolerant maize while Mozambique granted its first ever approval for a confined field trial of a stacked trait, an insect reistant and drought tolerant maize.



Status of approved events for biotech crops used in food, feed, and processing

Biotech crops were planted in small scale as early as 1994 and large scale plantings were recorded in 1996. From 1994 to 2016, a total of 40 countries (39 + EU - 28) have issued regulatory approvals to genetically modified crops for consumption either as food and/or feed as well as for environmental release. From these countries, 3,768 approvals have been issued by regulatory authorities across 26 GM crops (not including those for carnation, rose and petunia) and 392 GM events. Of these approvals, 1,777 are for food use (direct use or for processing), 1,238 are for feed use (direct use or for processing) and 753 are for environmental release or cultivation (Table 2). Maize still has the most number of approved events (218 in 29 countries), followed by cotton (58 events in 22 countries), potato (47 events in 11 countries), canola (38 events in 14 countries), and soybean (35 events in 28 countries).

The herbicide tolerant maize event NK603 (54 approvals in 26 countries + EU-28) still has the most number of approvals. It is followed by herbicide tolerant soybean GTS 40-3-2 (53 approvals in 27 countries + EU-28), insect resistant maize MON810 (52 approvals in 26 countries + EU-28), insect resistant maize Bt11 (50 approvals in 24 countries + EU-28), insect resistant maize TC1507 (50 approvals in 24 countries + EU-28), herbicide tolerant maize GA21 (49 approvals in 23 countries + EU-28), insect resistant maize MON89034 (48 approvals in 24 countries + EU-28), herbicide tolerant soybean A2704-12 (42 approvals in 23 countries + EU-28), insect resistant maize MON88017 (41 approvals in 22 countries + EU-28), insect resistant cotton MON531 (41 approval in 21 countries + EU-28), herbicide tolerant maize T25 (40 approvals in 20 countries + EU-28) and insect resistant maize MIR162 (40 approvals in 21 countries + EU-28).

Global value of the biotech seed market alone was US$15.8 billion in 2016.

In 2016, the global market value of biotech crops, estimated by Cropnosis was US$15.8 billion (up by 3% from US$15.3 billion in 2015); this represents 22% of the US$73.5 billion global crop protection market in 2016, and 35% of the US$45 billion global commercial seed market. The estimated global farm-gate revenues of the harvested commercial end product (the biotech grain and other harvested products) are more than ten times greater than the value of the biotech seed alone.

Contribution of biotech crops to food security, sustainability and climate change

Biotech crops contributed to food security, sustainability and climate change by:

 increasing crop productivity 574 million tons valued at US$167.8 billion in 1996-2015; and 75 million tons valued at US$15.4 billion in 2015 alone;

 conserving biodiversity in 1996 to 2015 by saving 174 million hectares, and 19.4 million hectares in 2015 alone;

 providing a better environment

 by saving 620 million kg. active ingredient (a. i.) of pesticides in 1996-2015, and by 37.4 million kg in 2015 alone;

 by reducing pesticide applications, saving 8.1% in 1996-2015, and by 6.1% in 2015 alone;

 by reducing EIQ (Environmental Impact Quotient) by 19% in 1996-2015, and by 18.4% in 2015 alone

 reducing CO2 emissions in 2015 by 26.7 billion kg, equivalent to taking 11.9 million cars off the road for one year; and

 helped alleviate poverty by helping 18 million small farmers, and their families totaling >65 million people, who are some of the poorest people in the world (Brookes and Barfoot, 2017, Forthcoming).

Thus, biotech crops can contribute to a sustainable intensification strategy favored by many science academies worldwide, which allows productivity/production to be increased only on the current 1.5 billion hectares of global crop land, thereby saving forests and biodiversity. Biotech crops are essential but are not a panacea and adherence to good farming practices, such as rotations and resistance management, are a must for biotech crops as they are for conventional crops.

Regulatory barriers holding back biotechnologys benefits

Onerous regulation for transgenic crops remains the principal constraint to adoption, which is particularly important for many developing countries, denied the opportunity of using biotech crops to address food, feed, and fiber security. Opponents of GM crops are against science-based regulation and are demanding onerous regulation that is denying poor farmers in the developing countries, as well as Europes access to the technologies. All these challenges are faced by farmers and technology developers despite the overwhelming evidence in support of the safe use of these technologies. By using these technologies, small poor farmers will be able to survive and contribute to the doubling of food production to meet the needs of a growing population which will reach over 11 billion in 2100.

Future of Biotech Crops: A Game Changer

As biotech crops enter the third decade of planting/commercialization, game changing innovations are projected to revolutionize development of new biotech crops and traits. Firstly, the increasing adoption and appreciation by farmers of stacked traits; secondly, the advent of biotech crops and traits that not only cater to farmers agricultural needs but more so the preference and nutritional needs of consumers; and thirdly, the heightened utilization of innovative tools of gene discovery and their subsequent use in crop improvement and varietal development.

The first generation of biotech crops targeted input traits of herbicide tolerance, insect resistance and virus resistance where farmers and food producers benefited economic gains of 574 million tons valued at US$167.8 billion in 1996-2015. These benefits also provided accessible food and nutrition for the 7.4 billion global population. The second generation biotech crops include stacks of these traits, as well as drought tolerance  one of the problems related to climate change. Adoption of IR/HT soybean (Intacta) and corn rootworm stacks for maize have been phenomenal with an economic benefit of US$2.4 billion in 2013-2015 and US$12.6 billion in 2003 to 2015, respectively (Brookes and Barfoot, 2017 Forthcoming).

Output traits for improved quality and composition were the traits of the third generation biotech crops geared towards consumer preference and nutrition. These include the various health-improving products of soybean for humans and animals (omega-3 fatty acids, high oleic acid, low phytate, and high stearic acid), modified starch/sugar (potato), low-lignin (alfalfa), non-browning potatoes which are already available; non-browning apples projected to be available in the US market in 2017; as well as beta-carotene and ferritin in major staple crops which are already in the advanced stages of development. It is noteworthy that Innate potato series have been commercialized successfully in the USA, with 2,500 hectares of potatoes and 70,000 non-browning apple trees (~81 hectares). Acceptance of these two biotech crops can contribute in the reduction of food waste due to browning and easy spoilage of products.

Innovative molecular biology tools are continuously being developed and tapped to discover new genes that would make food available, accessible and nutritious. Biotech products which are already in field testing and maybe released in the next few years reflect the increasing trends for various inputs and output traits for farmers and consumers. Staple crops such as rice, banana, potato, wheat, ryegrass, Indian mustard, chickpea, pigeon pea and sugarcane, among others were improved to contain new traits for insect and disease resistance, drought and stress tolerance, improved nutritional content, and yield and biomass among others.

The encouraging outlook is that technology, in conjunction with conducive policies can double food production. However, the doubling of food production cannot be realized by society unless it ensures that regulation of GM crops is science/evidence-based, fit for purpose, and to the extent possible harmonized globally. Failure by global society to ensure timely and appropriate regulation on food production will have dire consequences. On the one hand, the world will suffer because of inadequate food supplies, while on the other hand, the power of science and technology to produce a safe, adequate and assured supply of food for all mankind will be rejected because of the dominant ideological voices of the opponents of the new biotechnologies.

Conclusion

In 2016, global hectarage of biotech crops increased from 179.7 million hectares to 185.1 million hectares, a 3% increase equivalent to 5.4 million hectares. Predictions made by James, C. (2015) that the slight decline in biotech crop area in 2015 due to the low global commodity price would immediately reverse once crop prices revert to higher levels were realized  this is contrary to propaganda by critics that biotech crops are failing the farmers. Fluctuations in biotech crop hectarage of this order (both increases and decreases) are influenced by several factors. In 2016, these factors were: acceptance and commercialization of new products in the USA, Brazil and Australia; increasing demand for pork and livestock feeds in Brazil; needs for livestock and poultry feeds in Vietnam; favorable weather conditions and improved market price for maize in the Philippines and Honduras; need to address corn borer infestation in Spain and Slovakia; governments strategic plan to harness biotechnology and improve economy in Canada; the lifting of the GM ban in West Australia; and consumers demand for more of the clean and healthy brinjal in Bangladesh. Biotech crop hectarage in Myanmar and Pakistan did not change, as in some smaller countries.

A few countries had decreased biotech crop planting due to global low cotton prices such as in Argentina, Uruguay and Mexico, and high cotton reserve stocks particularly in China and low cotton price in India; low profitability in soybean and competition with maize in Paraguay and Uruguay; environmental stress (drought/submergence) in soybean plantings in South Africa, Argentina and Bolivia; negative biotech perception in China as well as onerous reporting requirements in Czech Republic. Lastly, onerous requirements made farmers in Romania stop planting biotech crops in 2016.

Finally, biotech crops are here to stay and will continue benefiting the burgeoning population with new biotech crops and traits to cater to the needs of farmers and consumers alike. However, even after 21 years of successful commercialization of biotech crops, some challenges remain including:

 First, the regulatory barriers that limit scientific innovation and restricts technology development that would have benefited farmers and consumers.

 Second, the growing trade disruptions brought by asynchronous approvals and thresholds on low level presence in GM crop trading countries. Following the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, countries allow entry of only approved biotech events, and a threshold for unapproved events. Some countries have stringent or long process of approvals that cause problems if imported products contain unapproved events, especially in a stacked event. The report and analysis by the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST, 2016) on the Impact of asynchronous approvals for biotech crops on agricultural sustainability, trade and innovation indicate that there are large volumes of trade worth billions of dollars at risk. A thorough research is needed to evaluate the global cost of asynchronous approvals and low level presence (LLP), the impacts of asynchrony on innovation and crop improvements, and the decision-making process of biotech developers, in both the public and private sectors. Timely research and possibly, an international dialogue on trade would inform policymaking and improve the design of policy instruments.

 Third, the need for continuous dialogue among all stakeholders for the expeditious understanding and appreciation of biotechnology, emphasizing benefits and safety. Innovative communication modalities using social media and other forms of venues should be tapped and utilized effectively and immediately.

Overcoming these challenges is a daunting task that requires a cooperative partnership among the North and the South, East and West, and public and private sector. Only through partnerships can we be assured that nutritious and sufficient food will be readily available on the table, stable supply of feed for our poultry and livestock, and accessible clothing and shelter for everyone.

Dr. Clive James, founder and emeritus chair of ISAAA, has painstakingly authored the 20 annual reports ensuring the ISAAA Brief to be the most credible source of information on biotech crops in the last two decades. He has been a great advocate of the technology and biotech products following the footsteps of his great mentor and colleague the late Nobel Peace Laureate Norman Borlaug, who was also the founding patron of ISAAA. The 2016 ISAAA Brief continues this tradition of providing an up-to-date report on biotech products through information gathered from an expansive global network of biotechnology information centers and other partners.
Interpol has refused to issue an arrest order for Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine deputy Olekandr Onyschenko, who is suspected of organizing a criminal scheme to steal funds from the sale of natural gas. The news was reported by Kyiv's Internet news portal Ukrayinska Pravda, which cited National Police of Ukraine Spokeswoman Yaroslav Tarkalo.

"[According to Tarkalo] the commission overseeing Interpol files at its 99th session decided not to issue an arrest order for Onyschenko. Ukraine's Interpol bureau passed on this information to the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine," the news portal said.

Onyschenko is suspected of organizing a scheme to steal funds from the extraction and sale of natural gas under agreements with the public joint-stock company Ukrgazvydobuvannia. The scheme resulted in losses to the government of about UAH 3 billion.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on July 2016 voted to strip Onyschenko of immunity of prosecution, but he fled Ukraine before he could be arrested.

On April 20, 2017 the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine submitted a request to Interpol to put Onyschenko on the wanted list.
A sophisticated Google Docs phishing scam has been spreading rapidly on Wednesday as it began landing in Gmail users inboxes. The malware attack starts with a deceptive email invitation to edit a Google Doc, which is the popular app for writing and sharing files. Internet users should beware of an email with a subject line stating a contact has shared a document on Google Docs with you.

Thousands of employees at multiple organizations that use Google for email have reported the dangerous email phishing scam today. Thousands of personal Gmail customers have also reported the same scam. Google has already stated awareness of the issue and is currently launching an investigation on it.

Here's how the scam develops to a widespread internet malady. First, an invitation to edit Google Docs is sent to the email. According to The Guardian, once the user clicks the Open in Docs button in the email, a legitimate Google sign-in screen appears. It then asks them to continue in Google Docs, which if the user clicks will grant permission to a bogus third-party app that could possibly access contacts and email, spreading the spam to additional contacts.

In order to protect yourself from this deceptive and rapid-spreading scam, the company encourages users to delete any email about a shared Google Doc. However, if you already clicked on the link, it's wise to set up a two-factor authentication using a cell phone number. According to BGR, removing permissions for the fake Google Docs app from your Google account is also a great way to go.

With regards to action against the sophisticated phishing scam, Google spokesperson has said in a statement that they have taken action to protect users against the criminal activity. Additionally, the firm has disabled offending accounts, deleted the fake pages, and have also pushed updates through Safe Browsing. The company's abuse team is also already in place to prevent this sophisticated phishing scam from happening again.
The presiding judge of the Obolonsky district court of Kyiv, Vladyslav Deviatko, has refused to satisfy the motion of defense lawyer of ex-President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych to remand the session on the treason case before the decision of the appeal court on the change of the jurisdiction of the case is taken.

The judge made such a decision at a meeting on Thursday in response to the relevant motion of the ex-president's lawyers, the Kyiv-based news agency Interfax-Ukraine reports.

Until the Court of Appeal considers the issue of changing the jurisdiction, taking into account the systemic facts of pressure on the court, the interference in the operation of the automated system, it is not possible to begin consideration and there is no possibility for the defense to determine the position regarding the grounds for challenge [judges, court clerk], Vitaliy Serdiuk, lawyer of Viktor Yanukovych said during the court session.

The defense appealed the court with a motion to continue the consideration of the case only after the decision of the Court of Appeal of Kyiv on the issue of the jurisdiction of the case is taken.

The lawyer also said that there are facts of interference in the automatic system of distribution of cases, and on this basis it was decided to file a lawsuit to the Court of Appeal of Kyiv.

Judge Daviatko denied the motion.
Apple and Qualcomm have escalated their legal battle, and repercussions may hit U.S. consumers next. The feud between two tech giants heats up on Wednesday as Qualcomm prepares to ask the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) to ban iPhones from entering the country. The ITC has the power to restrict the import of products that have violated intellectual property rights.

In 2013, Apple had also requested the US agency to block some older phones by Samsung over alleged patent infringements. In the same way, Qualcomm could also place a ban on iPhones over some legal charges. It should be noted that although the iPhone is designed by Apple, it is largely manufactured in Asia and therefore must be imported to enter the U.S. market.

Both Apple and Qualcomm have declined to comment regarding the iPhone blocking issue. According to Fortune, the feud between the two tech and telecommunication giants started in January after Apple began using modem chips from Intel. About half of new iPhones last year were equipped with the Intel chips instead of buying all its chips from Qualcomm.

The business dealings of both companies shifted after Apple sued Qualcomm of charging unfair royalties for "technologies they have nothing to do with". Apple also refused to pay quarterly rebates, which resulted to Qualcomm counter-suing Apple on April 10 allegedly for harming its business and breaching deals between the two companies. If Qualcomm continues to pursue the ban on iPhone imports this would likely make Apple's decision to completely stop paying royalties to Qualcomm.

Qualcomm revealed last week that Apple still has not paid the disputed fees of about $500 million for the second quarter. According to MacRumors, Apple has also withheld a portion of the fees over the previous three-quarters, totaling the unpaid fee to $1 billion. Should the ITC side with Qualcomm, it could potentially put a stop to iPhone shipments to the United States.
The Samsung Gear 360 could be the world's cutest video camera that can surprise you with its big photography and video features. It's a two camera setup, which means that it doesnt just record the world, it also records the world with you in it. It's also probably the most fun camera you'll ever use.

The first Gear 360 was filled with experimental stuff: an ergonomically-designed camera that can record your world in 360 degrees, with 4k resolution. The new camera still tries to retain the same goal, but with a much sleeker design, even easier grip, and more fun features. Its hardware still has limitations, and its nascent software and platforms for viewing could make it less attractive for more serious photographers

However, Samsung Gear 360's eyeball shape and two wide-angle lenses on each side, plus its slim body, make it the cutest gadget you'll ever lay your hands on. According to Digital Trends, it's a funky device like its predecessor but modified to have a more comfortable grip. Smaller and lighter than the previous model, it measures approximately 4 x 2 x 1.8 inches and weighs 4.6 ounces.

It can withstand dust and splashes aside from lending a quirky sense to your style. However, according to TechRadar, when you compare the latest model with the older one, you'll see that it isnt exactly an upgrade. For one, the aperture and megapixel values on both the two 180-degree lenses are actually less superior than last years version.

However, if you are content in viewing the photos and videos from your Samsung's Gear 360 on your smartphone, or on any other small device, the photo quality is actually not that bad. One real issue about this adorable device is its battery capacity, which has suffered a hit as its design slimmed down. Overall, its slick, ergonomic design, fun software, and high novelty factor make it a tiny camera that you should try using.
On Tuesday, at an event in New York City, Microsoft unveiled its Surface Laptop. It is the firm's new flagship device aimed to take on Apple's MacBook Air and Google's Chromebook. The laptop runs on a lighter version of Windows operating system called the Windows 10 S, which was also announced at the event. The new OS will be the rival of Chrome OS.

Microsoft Surface Laptop: Specs

The new Microsoft Surface Laptop is a premium device thats more similar to the Chromebook Pixel. It has a 3:2 aspect ratio with a 13.5-inch screen display. It also gets factory color calibrated to help users see accurate tones with its adequate 3.4million pixel resolution. It comes in four color choices: cobalt blue, platinum, burgundy, and gold.

With the thickness of 3.5mm, Microsoft claimed that Surface Laptop is the thinnest touchscreen laptop ever. As a whole, the device measures 14.5mm at the thickest point, with the 10 mm front edge. Also, according to PC Advisor, it is very light with just 1.25 kg. Thanks to the heat pipes that are designed into the bottom part of the body because it enables the slimness of the device.

Around the edges of the Surface Laptop, there is a USB 3 port, a headphone jack, a mini DisplayPort output and an SD card reader. Microsoft claimed that the battery can last up to 14.5 hours. Its operating system is the newest Windows 10 S and with storage options of 128GB, 256GB or 512GB SSD. On the other hand, its processor may come either the seventh-generation Core i5 or Core i7.

Microsoft Surface Laptop: Price And Release Date

According to Trusted Reviews, Microsoft confirmed that the Surface Laptop is now available for pre-order. Its in-store availability and shipping are scheduled for June 15, 2017. The basic model of the laptop will cost $999 in the USA and 979 in the UK, while the most expensive model will cost $2,199 in the USA and 2,149 in the UK.

Microsoft's newest laptop is a device that aims to help the learning in any classroom set-up. "Students are asking for a laptop. Theyre asking for a Surface Laptop, Panos Panay, CVP of Microsoft Surface, said while describing the Surface Laptop. He also claimed that this new education inspired laptop device is "50% faster than the MacBook Air."
HMD Global, the company with the license to sell Nokia-branded products, has already introduced its first range of smartphones, the Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and Nokia 6, that are set to go on sale later this year. The company is also expected to unveil more smartphones this year and that includes its flagship device.

It seems the Nokia 8 is the latest of a number of devices said to sport a 25601440 5.7-inch display powered by Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 835 SoC. The Snapdragon SoC is an octa-core 2.45GHz CPU coupled with 6GB of 1866MHz LPDDR4 and includes 128GB of storage capacity. The screen is wrapped with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and the sensors on the cameras are 24MP and 12MP. Its features include a heart rate sensor, fingerprint reader, stereo speakers, and a GPS. The upcoming Nokia device seems to follow Apple's lead in audio jack, by using a USB type-C connector. More so, Nokia also sells a nifty wireless headset which should go well together. Nokia/HMD Global seem to remain true to its motto "pure Android experience" with this flagship, as for the operating system, it will surely run Android Nougat out of the box.

The new Nokia device has not been revealed yet, however, reports claim it is expected to launch around June. Nokia 8 is said to come in two size variants; a smaller and larger model price tag between $$580-650. Furthermore, the upcoming Nokia 8 is most likely to feature a dual camera set up.
The presiding judge of the Obolonsky district court of Kyiv, Vladyslav Deviatko, has given permission to a defense lawyer of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to organize videoconferences for the participation of their defendant in the judicial process.

"The court, having consulted on the spot, has decided to partially satisfy the defense's motion ... to allow the defense to participate in the meeting via video link," judge Deviatko said during the meeting on Thursday.

The judge said that the accused Viktor Yanukovych was summoned to the preparatory court session in accordance with the norms established by law.

At the same time, considering Article 6 of the Convention on Human Rights, as well as taking into account the practice of the European Court, the court considered it necessary to provide the defense the opportunity to participate in the preparatory hearing by means of a videoconference.
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As of Wednesday evening, official foreign delegations from 39 countries participating in the international song contest Eurovision-2017 arrived in Kyiv. A total of 41 foreign delegations are expected to arrive, the Department of Preventive Activities of the National Police of Ukraine said.

"To date, 475 people from among the official foreign delegations of Eurovision from 39 countries have arrived in the capital, and 700 people from the official foreign delegations of 41 countries participating in the Eurovision Song Contest are expected to come," a message, released on Wednesday night, says.

The law enforcement agency said that the places of residence of official delegations would be under round-the-clock security, and all their travels will be accompanied by the police.

"More than 10,000 law enforcers will be involved in the implementation of security measures in connection with the Eurovision Song Contest. Not only special police units, but also explosive technicians, canine teams, soldiers of the National Guard, employees of the State Emergency Service and other law enforcement agencies," the National Police said.

As is known, the semifinals of Eurovision-2017 in Kyiv will be held on May 9 and May 11, the final - on May 13. This year 42 countries will take part. This number of participants was exceeded only twice in the history of the contest - in 2008 and 2011.
Militants have fired on the positions of the Ukrainian military in Donbas 52 times over the past day, the ATO press center said on its Facebook page on Thursday morning.

"Nine servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces sustained injuries over the day," the staff said.

In the Donetsk sector, the hostiles used a tank, mortars, anti-tank missile systems, grenade launchers of various types and heavy machineguns against strongholds in the Avdiyivka area, the staff said. Mortars, infantry combat vehicle weapons, grenade launchers and heavy machineguns were fired on positions near Pisky, and 120mm mortars and infantry combat vehicle weapons shelled strongholds near Luhanske. Various types of grenade launchers and small arms were used against strongholds in the vicinity of Zaitseve.

In the Mariupol sector, the hostiles used 122mm artillery, 82mm mortars, infantry combat vehicle weapons, grenade launchers, heavy machineguns and small arms against Ukrainian army positions near Vodiane. Mortars, heavy machineguns and small arms were used against strongholds near Pavlopil. Positions near Hnutove came under attack by 120mm mortars, grenade launchers and heavy machineguns, while a Grad Partizan man-portable rocket launcher, 82mm mortars and infantry combat vehicle weapons were employed near Shyrokyne.

In the Luhansk sector, 120mm mortars were fired near Krymske, while 82mm mortars, grenade launchers and heavy machineguns were used near Novozvanivka and Novo-Oleksandrivka.
January 29, 2001 18:19: Hes best known for his Saturday evening magic shows on TV, and a rather annoying catchphrase, but TRACEY WYE finds theres more to Paul Daniels than meets the eye

They say you cant teach an old dog new tricks but try telling Britains favourite pint-sized magician that.

Not content with being a comedian, conjurer, special effects expert and ballet impresario, the multi-talented Paul Daniels has now added website producer to his skills.

He told Leisuretime he wanted a website for the ballet company he formed with Debbie McGee but designers charge so much he thought hed do it himself.

He said: I started to read a magazine in the morning and had made a website in HTML script by the evening.

I wanted it to be fast and simple and provide information, and thats what it does. I dont want to hang about waiting for pictures to load.

While Debbie is busy with the ballet, Daniels has decided to go out on his own with his latest show, An Audience With Paul Daniels, where he takes questions from the floor (he promises anything could happen) before dazzling those watching with his trademark tricks and illusions.

The idea dates back to the days he spent as an entertainer on cruise ships when he was asked to step in and fill the gaps.

He said: I pulled up a chair and said, What shall we talk about?

People would ask me about politics, religion, my time in the army and my love life.

It was comedic and sometimes a bit serious. Sometimes the things which came out of my mouth surprised me.

Some things you may not know about Paul Daniels: in the 50s he was stationed with the army in Hong Kong, where he rose to the dizzy heights of Lance Corporal, he designs special effects for shows such as Phantom of the Opera and Cats and for films, and he doesnt like cauliflower cheese.

He did his first professional performance at the age of 30, and has found his audience hasnt changed teenagers are laughing alongside OAPs.

He said: It is because the subject matter is completely timeless. With the new show I want to be intimate. I want people to leave with a feel-good factor saying, Weve had a good night.

So what other ambitions does he have?

Film-makers take note Paul Daniels wants to be in a movie, small-budget productions considered.

You can contact Paul Daniels through his website www.balletimaginaire.co.uk or see him at The Orchard Theatre, Home Gardens, Dartford, on Wednesday, February 7. The show starts at 7.45pm and tickets, priced 12.50, are available from the box office on 01322 220000.

Tracey Wye
ICRC humanitarian convoy delivers over 200 tonnes of food, medicines, construction materials to Donbas

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has sent 13 humanitarian trucks to the Donbas territory uncontrolled by Kyiv, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine said in a report.

"Thirteen International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) trucks have entered the uncontrolled territory through the Novotroyitske checkpoint," the service said on Thursday.

The vehicles brought 236 tonnes of food, construction materials and medicines to people in the Donetsk region, it said.
Feds laud $83M to better Pell Bridge The congressional delegation of Rhode Island was in Jamestown to celebrate an $82.5 million grant to upgrade the bridge that connects Conanicut Island to Newport. U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, a...

Local author, illustrator collaborate on book A local woman has turned her digital cross-country teatimes with her granddaughter into a childrens book. Tuesday Tea, written by Debby Furness Saletin and illustrated by Maryann England, both of...

Local group asks for rental rules changes A group of residents is expected to present its recommendations on how to improve the ordinance that governs short-term rentals. Member Ron Ratcliffe said the item is scheduled to be...
The state prosecutor will ask Kyiv's Obolonsky District Court to sentence former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to life imprisonment in a high treason case.

"Since Yanukovych has not admitted his guilt, the prosecution will request the maximum penalty for him, namely life imprisonment," state prosecutor Ruslan Kravchenko, who is a representative of the Ukrainian Chief Military Prosecutor's Office, said at a press briefing in Kyiv on Thursday.
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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has said that the decision of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the situation in Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine) is a serious contribution of the Council of Europe to ensuring democratic security in Europe.

"We consider the decision of the Committee of Ministers as one of the elements of the complex response of the international community to the criminal actions of the Russian Federation in Ukraine. This decision undoubtedly strengthens the position on Crimea expressed last year in the UNGA Resolution 71/205 "The Situation of Human Rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine)" and joins the Council of Europe to the implementation of this resolution," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement released on Wednesday night.

The Foreign Ministry also believes that the adopted document is "one of the Council of Europe's serious contributions to ensuring democratic security in Europe and upholding the fundamental values and principles of the Organization - the protection of human rights, democracy and the rule of law."

The commentary says that on May 3, the EC's Committee of Ministers adopted a decision on the situation in Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine), which was the first comprehensive document of the main governing body of the Council of Europe devoted to the purely Crimean issues.

In it, in particular, the Committee of Ministers once again confirmed the unchanged position regarding the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within the internationally recognized borders.

Condemning the illegal annexation by the Russian Federation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, which undermines peace and democratic security in Europe, the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers once again stressed that such an act on the part of the Russian Federation is a violation of international law.

"It is important that the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, like the UN General Assembly earlier, recognized Russia's responsibility in accordance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law and urged the Russian authorities to fulfill their obligations to the full," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

Along with such violations of human rights as the restriction of freedom of speech and peaceful assembly, freedom of religion and belief, the decision includes repressions against national minorities, in particular, Crimean Tatars. The decision of the so-called Supreme Court in the occupied Crimea to recognize the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people as an extremist organization and the ban on its activities also caused a condemnation of the Committee of Ministers.

"So, the document contains a clear requirement to the Russian Federation to take all measures to ensure human rights in Crimea, including viewing the injunction of the Mejlis," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said.

One of the central provisions of this decision is the call for unimpeded access to the human rights mechanisms of the Council of Europe, in particular its Commissioner for Human Rights, to the temporarily occupied peninsula to monitor human rights compliance in accordance with their mandate.

"We believe that the presence of international convention and institutional monitoring bodies in the territory of the occupied Crimea in a rapidly degrading situation with human rights is vitally important and urgent," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

In this context, Ukrainian diplomats emphasize that it is important to call on the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, which for today is the only international institution that made a monitoring visit to the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimea in September 2014, to continue monitoring the situation on the peninsula.

Earlier, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko welcomed the adoption by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe of a comprehensive decision in connection with the situation in Crimea occupied by Russia in 2014 and called it "a confirmation of the inevitability of Russia's responsibility."
An anonymous threat circulating on social media and thought to be targeting East Forsyth High School has been linked back to a source out of state.

Extra police are on campus today, but school officials said they do not consider it a credible threat.

Some students started resending a Snapchat threat that referenced East, said Brent Campbell, spokesperson for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. Thats all it said. Not specific school, so of course they assumed it was East Forsyth (High School).

Kernersville police and school security investigated and tracked it back to Colorado.

A screenshot of the Snapchat shows a hand-written message scrawled in green marker on what looks like a desk, or floor. It says "Im shooting up the school May 4th."

Text typed over the picture says "For my friends at East. I have no idea if this is true, I hope it isn't but please stay safe tomorrow."

Campbell said the messages started circulating around East Forsyth around 8 a.m. Thursday.

A message was sent to parents around 9:30 a.m., letting them know school officials were aware of the rumor and it was being investigated.

A second message was sent around 11 a.m., letting parents know the threat originated from out of state and was not connected to East Forsyth.

We remain confident the threat is not credible, or related to our school, said Principal Rodney Bass, but please know we always take every threat and the safety of our students seriously.

About 100 students signed out early for the day.
Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) is conducting a pretrial investigation in a criminal case relate to facts of embezzlement of funds in the amount of over UAH 4 billion by employees and shareholders of public joint-stock company Pivdencombank (Donetsk) and public joint-stock company Terra Bank (Kyiv) that resulted in declaring these banks insolvent.

The PGO said in a press release that the funds were embezzlement in 2011-2014 via signing some doubtful credit agreements with shell companies which were directly or indirectly affiliated with the owners and top managers of the above-mentioned banks.

The PGO said that today investigators have proved facts of embezzlement of UAH 360 million belonged to Terra Bank. Seven members of a criminal group headed by the owner of the bank Ruslan Tsyplakov were notified that they are charged with the embezzlement of the bank's funds on an especially large scale.

On April 27, 2017, PGO jointly with the police raided the places of residence of the suspects. Two persons were detained and five other were put on a wanted list.
Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko has assured that they will resolve the situation with Interpol's decisions to remove former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, ex-head of his administration Andriy Kliuyev and Verkhovna Rada member Oleksandr Onyschenko [also spelled Onyshchenko] from its international wanted list.

"Yanukovych's supporters should not rejoice at Interpol's decision to remove Yanukovych, Onyschenko, and Kliuyev from the wanted list. We will resolve this problem. We will either convince the Pechersky Court (district court in Kyiv) to comply with the demands of the new leadership of Interpol or will get a court verdict and will put these VIP-fugitives on the wanted list for execution of their sentence," Lutsenko wrote on his Facebook page on Thursday.

As reported, the Interpol Commission for the Control of Files (CCF) at its session in early March 2017 decided to remove the red notice for Viktor Yanukovych and his son Oleksandr. Head of the special investigations department of the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine Serhiy Horbatiuk confirmed this information. According to him, the report on this matter was received by law enforcement agencies of Ukraine in late April 2017. He also noted that Interpol had taken a similar decision regarding the international search of former head of Yanukovych's Presidential Administration Andriy Kliuyev.

At the same time, Ukrayinska Pravda Internet news portal reported citing press secretary for the National Police of Ukraine Yaroslava Tarkalo that Interpol also refused to put Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksandr Onyschenko, who is suspected of organizing a criminal scheme to steal funds during the natural gas production and sales, on its wanted list.

Meanwhile, defense lawyer Yuriy Ivaschenko said Interpol also decided to stop the international search for ex-minister of energy and coal industry of Ukraine Eduard Stavytsky.
Ukrainian political prisoner Artur Panov charged with preparing a terrorist attack in Rostov-on-Don (Russia) has announced at the court session that he started an indefinite 'dry' hunger strike demanding his extradition to Ukraine within two weeks, the Russian regional Internet portal Kavkaz Uzel reported referring to a corresponding letter by Panov.

According to the publication, at a court session on Wednesday Panov appealed to the panel of judges with a request to extradite him to Ukraine.

Kavkaz Uzel also published a letter signed by Panov dated May 3, 2017, and addressed to journalists, in which the political prisoner denies rumors of his death and expresses the hope that he will someday return to Ukraine.

"I am alive, I live and I will live. I will live to return to Ukraine one day, to my family, my compatriots, in order to start to truly appreciate freedom and my life," the letter reads.

"The court decided to attach Panov's statement to the case materials and notify the administration of the detention facility," the Internet portal reported.

Some Russian media reported on May 1 that Panov had died of cardiac failure in a pre-trial detention facility in Rostov-on-Don.

Next day, on May 2, Rada's Human Rights Commissioner Valeria Lutkovska refuted the report of Panov's death.

Panov was detained in the Rostov region in early December 2015 after crossing the Ukrainian-Russian border. Investigators suspects him of plotting a terrorist attack in Russia. Panov was a minor at the time of his detention.

The North Caucasus Military District Court in Rostov-on-Don started Panov's trial on February 14, 2017.
Prominent Thai human right lawyer Prawet Prapanukul was charged [advocacy report] Wednesday with 10 counts of breaking Article 112 [text] and 3 counts of breaking Article 116 [text] of Thailands criminal code for allegedly insulting members of the royal family. If found guilty of all the charges, Prapanukul faces [Asian Correspondent report] up to 171 years in prison. Article 112 prohibits defaming, insulting or threatening members of the royal family and is punishable by 15 years in prison for each violation. Article 116 prohibits speech, writings, or other means designed to instigate a violation of the constitution and is punishable by 7 years in prison for each violation. It is currently not clear what Prapanukul said or wrote which led to his arrest and array of charges, which is the largest number of charges an individual has received in recent years. Prapanukul has advocated against Thailands royalty protection [BBC backgrounder] laws in the past when he provided legal assistance to the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship [BBC backgrounder] and served as legal counsel for Daranee Charnchoengsilpakul, who was convicted of violating Thailands laws against insulting the royal family.

Thailands enforcement of lese majeste laws and stifling of free speech has become increasingly prevalent in the past few years. In February the Supreme Court of Thailand upheld [JURIST report] the sentence of a former magazine editor who published stories criticizing the royal family under the lese majeste laws. Earlier in February human rights groups urged the Thai Army to drop defamation charges [JURIST report] against three activists. Prior to that, UN Special Rapporteur David Kaye called on [JURIST report] Thai authorities Tuesday to cease using royal defamation laws to counter free speech that is critical of the royal family. In December the Thailand Parliament passed [JURIST report] a controversial cyber-crimes bill that gave the government the right to obtain user data without court approval, which rights groups feared would give the government unrestricted power to police the web and suppress criticism. In September Thailands Bangkok South Criminal Court found [JURIST report] British labor rights activist Andy Hall guilty of criminal defamation and violating cyber crime laws.About a week earlier the same month Thailands military government announced [JURIST report] that it will prosecute cases concerning national security and royal insult in civilian courts, as opposed to military courts where the cases have been tried since 2014.
[JURIST] UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism [official website] Ben Emmerson said [press release] Thursday that Saudi Arabias anti-terrorism laws are too broad and post a threat to individual rights. He said that Saudi Arabias definition of terrorism, which includes endangering national unity or undermining the reputation or position of the State' is over-inclusive and should conform to international law, which says terrorism must include acts or threats of violence. Emmerson also expressed concern about the reported prosecution of writers and activists for non-violent actions. He urged Saudi Arabias government to establish an independent national security and due process review mechanism to reexamine those prosecuted for political expression. Emmerson also voiced concern about Saudi Arabia failing to adequately investigate its counter-terrorism actions in Yemen, which the UN believes accounted for 60 percent of Yemeni civilian casualties.

Saudi Arabias justice system has drawn international criticism for perceived human rights abuses in recent years. In February Human Rights Watch reported [JURIST report] that Saudi Arabia was intensifying actions against human rights advocates and writers. In January 2015 a Saudi judge sentenced prominent human rights lawyer Walid Abu al-Khair to an additional five years in jail [JURIST report] after he refused to show remorse for showing disrespect to authorities and creating an unauthorized association. In October 2014 a Saudi Arabia Court sentenced three lawyers to between five and eight years in prison for criticizing the justice system [JURIST report] on Twitter by accusing authorities of carrying out arbitrary detentions. Earlier that month Amnesty International issued a report claiming that Saudi Arabia persecutes rights activists and silences government critics [JURIST report], especially in the years since the Arab Spring in 2011. In July 2014 then-UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navy Pillay, expressed deep concern [JURIST report] over the harsh sentences and detention of peaceful human rights advocates in Saudi Arabia in recent months.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has confirmed the fact of the visit of Italian MEP Eleonora Forenza as part of the delegation of the left-wing group to the temporarily occupied part of Donbas, and said it will seek bringing them to justice.

"We sent a note to the Italian Foreign Ministry back on April 28 about the inadmissibility of violating Ukrainian legislation and demanded that measures be taken to prevent such a visit. As the result of these contacts, the Italian Foreign Ministry sent all the competent authorities and organizers of this provocation the information regarding criminal liability for violation of Ukrainian law. Italy stressed that its government supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine and this position remains unchanged," the Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman, Maryana Betsa, said in a comment to Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.

The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said that the Italian side stressed that this was a separate initiative of individuals and it in no way reflected the official position of Italy.

Betsa also said Kyiv will suggest bringing these delegates to justice.

Eleonora Forenza is an Italian politician, spokesperson for culture and communications in the Communist Refoundation Party and a member of the European Parliament.

According to a number of media reports, Forenza visited the occupied areas of Luhansk during May holidays.
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Nestle has sold a clutch of brands in Italy to Germany-based frozen food group Frosta, the companies have confirmed.

Frosta has acquired Nestles La Valle degli Orti, Mare Fresco and Surgela brands for an undisclosed sum.

The agreement also sees Frosta attain a multi-year licence for various Buitoni frozen ready meals in Italy.

The deal was announced a month after the companies said they were in discussions over a possible transaction.

Nestle described the deal as a preliminary agreement, although Frosta said the brands would be formally transferred on 1 June.

The worlds largest food maker said Frosta was the ideal partner to continue [the] development and promotion of the brands.

The deal is the latest disposal Nestle has made in Italy. Last July, Nestle sold its Ore Liete biscuit brand to local business Tedesco Group. A month earlier, Nestle offloaded a range of Italian confectionery brands, including Rossana and Fluxes, to local candy maker Fida.
BEIJING, May 3 (Xinhua) -- As the biggest tax cut in U.S. history has a domino effect on the rest of the world, China may be about to become more aggressive in cutting its taxes to stay competitive.

China has been trying for years to reduce business costs. May 1 is the one year anniversary of VAT reform, which replaced all business taxes with value-added tax, the most significant tax overhaul for two decades.

Tangible goods have been subject to VAT for some time, but the levy on services was imposed on the value of a firm's sales. Such a crude system resulted in a tax on tax. VAT avoids this, as it is applied to the value added at each link in the production chain.

Since last year, taxes on construction, property, finance and consumer service sectors are on value-added, such as the difference between wholesale and final sales price for a retailer.

According to the State Administration of Taxation, VAT reform cut roughly 680 billion yuan (100 billion U.S. dollars) of tax for business, with some 98 percent of them feeling the difference.

The reform is an attempt to reduce the burden on service industries, which have historically paid a disproportionate share.

In 2016, the number of newly-established businesses in the service sector increased by a brisk 25 percent, hiring 43.5 percent of the labor force, compared with 36 percent in 2012.

Auto maker Geely has benefited from the reform. Li Shufu, chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, said the new tax scheme eased corporate payment by nearly 493 million yuan in 2016. That gives the company more leverage to increase spending on research.

To fulfill its promise of around 350 billion yuan tax cuts in 2017, government announced new measures in April. From July 1, value-added tax will be simplified, small businesses will enjoy more income tax incentives, and pre-tax deductions for innovation-based tech companies will rise.

"We must cut non-tax charges along with cutting taxes to reduce the burden on enterprises and raise their competitiveness. The government is responsible for creating a sound environment to achieve these goals," Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said at a State Council meeting in April.

In late April, the U.S. government unveiled the biggest tax cut plan in U.S. history. It plans to reduce the number of income tax brackets and lower the tax on corporations from 35 percent to 15 percent.

While any change to U.S. taxes still needs to be approved by Congress, it could see a wave of companies move back to the United States from overseas.

Liu Xuezhi, an analyst with the Bank of Communications, said the U.S. tax overhaul is expected to reshuffle the global business environment. China needs more tax cuts to stay competitive.

Compared with the United States, China's tax policy is not aggressive enough, he added.
Spain-based multinational food company GBfoods has formed a joint venture with African private-equity firm Helios Investment Partners to create what they have called one of the continents largest FMCG businesses.

Free Report Whats the forecast for the food and grocery industry? Market drivers and inhibitors

Five-year forecasts and the impact of COVID-19

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Major trends in the market including rapid delivery, ambient retailing, supply chain disruption, and inflation Assess developments within this sector to help your business thrive in 2022 and beyond. The food and grocery sector thrived during the pandemic, largely due to the shutdown of the food service industry and the sectors subsequent necessity, panic-induced bulk purchasing, and spending more time at home. The market has grown as a result of inflation. Consumer unwillingness to go out and socialize, and the reopening of several hospitality facilities, helped maintain the demand for groceries, particularly online, in 2021. As consumer behavior changes, we consume more food and drink at home, and inflation increases basket sizes. GlobalData predicts that the sector will continue to hold a higher share than had been predicted prior to the pandemic. This is true despite the fact that the food and grocery sector's share of overall retail will decline from its peak in 2020. This report will discuss market forecasts and key themes in the global food & grocery industry in 2022 and beyond. It covers:Assess developments within this sector to help your business thrive in 2022 and beyond. by GlobalData Enter your details here to receive your free Report. Please enter a work/business email address Country United Kingdom United States Afghanistan Aland Islands Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Congo, The Democratic Republic of The Cook Islands Costa Rica Cote D"ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and Mcdonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, Democratic People"s Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People"s Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Reunion Romania Russian Federation Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and The Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and The South Sandwich Islands Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand Timor-leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United States Minor Outlying Islands Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Viet Nam Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, U.S. Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Download free Report By clicking the Download Free Report button, you accept the terms and conditions and acknowledge that your data will be used as described in the GlobalData privacy policy By downloading this Report, you acknowledge that we may share your information with our white paper partners/sponsors who may contact you directly with information on their products and services.



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A spokesperson for GBfoods, which owns plants in Algeria and Senegal, told just-food today (4 May) the company will hold a 51% stake in the venture, known as GBfoods Africa Holdco. The spokesperson declined to discuss financial details.

The new venture has acquired a clutch of assets from African companies including bouillon brand Jumbo, Gino and Pomo tomato pastes, Jago milk powder and mayonnaise, as well as the distribution rights for Bama mayonnaise on the continent. The moves will give the pan-African joint venture a presence in more than 30 African nations.

Asked to name the companies from which the venture had bought the brands, the GBfoods spokesperson told just-food it was not the policy of the company to discuss details relating to acquisitions. However, the spokesperson confirmed GBfoods had previously fully owned Jumbo, which is now part of the joint ventures portfolio.

In a statement, GBfoods CEO Ignasi Ricou said the company has a long history operating in Africa and we are pleased to extend our footprint in partnership with Helios. Africa is a core part of our growth strategy and we look forward to building on this platform of very strong brands with continued investment in local capacity and product innovation.

The GBfoods spokesperson told just-food the company decided to team up with Helios, rather than grow an African presence alone, because its an important operation and GBfood wanted to have a partner who is an expert in these kinds of operations in Africa.

The spokesperson said GBfoods is not considering investing in further acquisitions in the near future, but is always attentive to possible opportunities.

Helios co-founder Babatunde Soyoye said: GBfoods innovative pipeline of convenience products adds value to the African consumer by saving both money and cooking time versus the alternative of buying individual ingredients.

GBfoods was originally formed as a manufacturer of concentrated stock cubes but has diversified its operations into taste enrichers, soups, sauces, noodles and ready meals. The group said it has a daily foods presence in Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States and in 28 countries on the African continent and the Middle East, through brands such as Gallina Blanca, Star and GrandItalia.

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Dallas, TX, USA, 05/04/2017 /SubmitPressRelease123/

In criminal cases, in state or federal court, the government has to turn over evidence before trial. Usually, it consists of police reports and the documents and physical evidence (like photographs, videotapes, objects, phone records, and test results) that the government plans to introduce as evidence in court at trial. In federal court, you usually get an investigating agents memos of interviews with witnesses during the investigation, says Dallas criminal lawyer John Helms.

Criminal defense lawyers show these materials to the client, and the lawyer and defendant go over them. The evidence that the government produces often shows how strong or weak the governments case would be at trial. But does it include all of the evidence that will come in at trial?

A lot of criminal defendants want to believe that a trial will consist only of the information the government has turned over. They sometimes think that they can win at trial based on the assumption that there will be no other evidence. But that is not a safe assumption.

First of all, it is not true the government is required to turn over all of the evidence it will use at trial. The government is NOT required, for example, to tell the defendant what every witness will say on the witness stand. Even if the prosecutor follows common federal court practice and turns over the investigating agents witness interview memos, the law does not say that the witness can only testify about things that are in the interview memo.

The government is also not required to say HOW the government will use the evidence it does turn over. For example, the government may turn over phone records, but the government may not be required to tell the defendant what they will use the phone records to prove. If the phone records show a flurry of phone calls to and from the defendant just before and after a drug transaction, the defense may have to figure that out for themselves.

It takes an experienced criminal defense attorney to fill in these blanks, but even the best lawyers cannot anticipate everything that will happen at trial. The best defense lawyers know that there will be unexpected testimony and surprises at every trial, and they take that into account in evaluating the case as well as preparing for trial. There are almost never depositions in criminal cases, and many witnesses will not talk to the defense before trial, so a defense lawyer may not have a great sense of how the witness will come across during testimony. Sometimes, a witness turns out to be more credible than you expected. Sometimes, a witness might be less certain about what really happened or admit to having a poor memory of the event. Good lawyers know trials involve uncertainty. They have to be able to adjust their approach and strategy when there are surprises.

If you or your loved one is accused of a crime, you should never assume that you can just look at the evidence the government produces and know how the trial will come out. One of the reasons to hire a top-notch criminal defense lawyer is because they have the experience it takes to anticipate, as well as anyone can, what could and probably will happen. In this way, they can give the best advice before trial and do the best possible job in trial.

If you, a family member or someone you know has been charged with a crime in the Dallas area, contact Dallas criminal lawyer John Helms at (214) 666-8010 or fill out the online contact form. You can discuss your case, how the law may apply and your best legal options to protect your rights and freedom.

Press Contact

John Helms

(214) 666-8010

https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-helms-69172699

source: http://johnhelms.attorney/dallas-criminal-lawyer-evidence-defense-gets-see-trial/

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Dallas, 05/04/2017 /SubmitPressRelease123/

Most people enjoy the summer. Warm temperatures and much-needed vacations are almost universally loved.

However, summer is not without its downsides. Certain crimes, including household crimes, peak in the summer months. To avoid being a victim of a summer crime, keep the following tips in mind.

Lock Your Car

When the weather heats up, you might be tempted to leave your windows down. However, this makes it easier for thieves to gain access to your vehicle, along with any items inside it.

Always lock your vehicle  even if you live in a low-crime area. In many cases, thieves specifically target residential neighborhoods, where residents are less likely to be cautious about leaving a car unlocked in the driveway.

Lock Your Home

You should also secure your doors and windows  especially at night. Household burglaries are highest in the summer months, when the weather is warm. With children running in and out and guests coming over for picnics and get-togethers, it can be easy to overlook an open window or unlocked door. Make a habit of going around your house each night before bed and checking all of your doors and windows.

Dont Advertise Vacations on Social Media

Social media is a big part of everyday life. Before you post that photo of yourself reenacting scenes from Titanic on the cruise ship, remember that it might not just be your friends who see your photos.

Just because your account is private or restricted to online friends only doesnt mean the photos cant find their way into the wrong hands  or the wrong computer screen. Savvy thieves deliberately monitor the internet to see which homeowners are away from their houses during typical vacation months.

Dont Carry a Lot of Cash on Vacation

Whether youre vacationing across the world or right around the corner from your home, be careful about how much cash you carry while youre taking in the sights and relaxing by the beach.

Pickpocketing is a serious problem in most major cities. Carry just as much cash as you need to pay for food and items you need for the day. Even better, use a bank card. If your card is stolen or lost, you can contact your bank right away to have them shut it down, which prevents thieves from accessing your account.

Enjoy the Summer and Stay Safe

With a little caution and some common sense, you can enjoy the summer without worrying about being a victim of crime. If you have been wrongfully charged with a crime in Texas, speak to an experienced Texas criminal defense lawyer as soon as possible.

Sources:

Broden & Mickelsen, LLP Criminal Defense Lawyer

http://www.brodenmickelsen.com/

2600 State St Dallas, Texas 75204

Main Phone: (214) 720-9552

source: http://www.brodenmickelsen.com/blog/dont-victim-summer-crimes/

Social Media Tags:Texas Summer Crimes, Texas criminal defense lawyer, Summer Crimes

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Chinese Premier Li Keqiangholds a welcome ceremony for Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen before their talks in Beijing, capital of China, May 3, 2017. (Xinhua/Wang Ye)

BEIJING, May 3 -- China said on Wednesday it would send two giant pandas to Denmark and work on panda protection during Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen's visit.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiangand Rasmussen held talks on Wednesday afternoon and witnessed the signing of cooperation documents on food and drug supervision, quarantine and panda protection, among others.

It will be the first time China has sent pandas to Denmark.

"The Danish prime minister visited Chengdu to see the two giant pandas to be sent to the Copenhagen Zoo to live there for some time. But The arrival of the pandas in Denmark will depend on when Denmark gets (the Panda House) ready," Liu Weimin, an official with the Chinese Foreign Ministry told reporters after the talks.

"The giant pandas, as messengers of friendship, will play a positive role to our bilateral relations," Liu said.

Copenhagen Zoo revealed in March the design of the panda house.Construction will begin in November and take about a year, according to Copenhagen Zoo director and CEO Steffen Straede.

China and Denmark unveiled a plan to deepen cooperation from 2017 to 2020 and agreed to expand two-way trade and investment. Both sides identified agriculture, fisheries, food security, health and tourism as major areas for cooperation.

"China hopes to work with Denmark to advance bilateral practical cooperation and guide the economic globalization towards more inclusiveness and fairness and promote liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment," Li said.

Rasmussen said developing a comprehensive strategic partnership with China is a diplomatic priority for Denmark and invited Chinese investment to Denmark.

As a EU member, Denmark supports progress in the talks of EU-China investment treaty and contribute to the EU-China relations, Rasmussen said.

Before the talks, Li held a welcome ceremony for Rasmussen at the Great Hall of the People.

Hexing, one of the two pandas to be sent to Denmark [Photo: Chinanews.com]
German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends a joint press conference in Berlin, capital of Germany, on March 24, 2017. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi/ File photo)

BERLIN, May 3 -- German Chancellor Angela MerkelWednesday told B20 Summit 2017 in Berlin that globalization and inclusive growth are important for the global economy.

To the G20-related business gathering, Merkel said the world is interconnected and the prosperity should be shared.

There need to create a shared mechanism that can enable all countries to benefit from globalization and to restrict risks attached.

Merkel assured Germany, as the host of Group of 20 (G20) Summit 2017, would commit to further promoting globalization and a strong, sustainable and inclusive economic growth.

Merkel reaffirmed her position against protectionism and isolationism, warning, "Anyone who tries to withdraw from international competition can perhaps deliver short-term advantages. But over the medium- and long-term, their own capacity to innovate will be weakened."

She said China's host of G20 Summit 2016 was a great success and offered good experience to Germany.

But she also pointed to the difficulty of making progress in the G20.

"We are 20 different countries, with 20 different political systems, with 20 different development levels," said Merkel. "This is no simple task (to get things approved)."

She even said that sometimes holding on to what has been achieved is already a success, while some countries are reluctant to revisit previous statements on climate change and trade.
BANGKOK, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Bangkok remains the top destination in terms of visitor numbers out of 171 destinations in the Asia-Pacific region, the latest figure from the influential Mastercard Asia-Pacific Destinations Index 2017 showed.

It welcomed 19.3 million international overnight arrivals in 2016 of the 339.2 million visits made to the 171 Asia-Pacific destinations on the Mastercard list. The Thai capital dethrones Singapore, which attracted 13.1 million.

Thai destinations Phuket and Pattaya also placed among the Top 10 in the report, with 9.1 million and 8.1 million overnight visits, respectively.

Bangkok also topped the list of total nights stayed with 87.6 million nights.

In terms of overall tourism expenditure in the region, Bangkok took second place with spending of 12.7 billion U.S. dollars of the 244.9 billion dollars spent in 2016. Singapore topped the list with 15.4 billion dollars.

Meanwhile, China was the top source market for visitors to Bangkok.
By Zhao Ruixue in Jinan ( Chinadaily.com.cn ) 08:53, May 04, 2017

A person poses next to an aquatic mural in Dianzizhang village, in Shanghe county of Jinan, capital city of East China's Shandong province. [Photo by Zhang Ming/chinadaily.com.cn]

A village at Shanghe county of Jinan, capital city of East China's Shandong province is getting more visitors thanks to lifelike 3D paintings on almost every household's wall.

The 3D murals in Dianzizhang village feature animals, fairies and historical-themed paintings. They have been welcomed greatly by local residents, especially children.

With a total population of 355, Dianzizhang village has 32 people who are now living in poverty.

Since 2016, the local tourism authority has been putting efforts into developing the village into a rural tourism destination in a bid to lift the villagers out of poverty.
A group of students traded books and pencils for fishing poles and bait on Wednesday. The fifth graders at Truman Elementary School went to the Prairie Park Fishery in Cedar Rapids.

Truman paid for the field trip with money they got from the Kids in the Community Grant. With their $250 award, the school was able to supply kids with fishing poles and bait. One teacher at Truman talked about why she thought it was important to put the poles in the kids' hands.

"The thing about fishing, it's such a great lifetime sport that they could go out and do it either on their own or their parents or grandparents," Truman's physical education teacher, Lisa Shaver said. "It's just a way to get them out here to show them what's out here for the kids to do. At barely any cost to them."

The children did manage to snag a few fish, but they returned them all back to the fishery.
Gulu Village is located on a cliff by Dadu River (file photo)

CHENGDU, May 3 (Xinhua) -- On a precipitous cliff by the roaring Dadu River in southwest China's Sichuan Province, Gulu Village has sat in isolation and poverty for hundreds of years.

Chang Zhaolin is among some 400 Yi ethnic minority people living in the village, known as the "Village on the Ladder to the Sky," situated on the 1,000-meter-high cliff. The name "Gulu" is said to be an onomatopoeia taken from the sound of a rock falling from a mountain. In the past, residents used a ladder when they wanted to leave the village.

"When I was little, we used to climb down the cliff with a ladder made of sticks and cane," recalled Chang, 50. "The wind was usually quite strong and often made the ladder dangle. When we looked down, our legs would be shaking."

In 2003, the local government built a narrow road, less than a meter wide. It takes more than six hours from the village to the cliff bottom and back via the road, which snakes along the mountain edge.

"On a market day, we had to set off before dawn and always got back to the village at night," Chang said.

Soon the treacherous journey will be a thing of the past. A ropeway for cable cars connecting the mountaintop and the bottom of the cliff has been built, and official operation will begin soon.

The ropeway is about 650 meters long and 700 meters high. Its cable cars can hold up to 40 people each. What once took three hours from the village to the cliff bottom will only take three minutes.

"We are currently looking for a company to operate the ropeway," said village official Luo Yunlian. "We will not only facilitate transportation for fellow villagers, but also try to attract tourists to boost the local economy through the ropeway."

"EVERYBODY GETS NERVOUS"

Legend has it that more than 400 years ago, the forefathers of the Gulu villagers had a huge fight with two other big families in Tianba Town, and only six of their ancestors survived. Two of them climbed over the mountains and the Dadu River before reaching the cliff. They settled into the dangerous landscape, realizing that the spot was easy to guard and hard to conquer. They could overlook their hometown from the top of the mountain.

For now, elementary students in the village have to walk three hours down the mountain road to go to school. Chang Zhaolin said that even adults have to walk the road with extra care, especially when they carry heavy baskets full of goods on their backs.

"Everybody gets nervous when they go on the narrow road," he said.

ROPEWAY TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD

In 2013, authorities began discussing plans to tackle the transportation problem in the village.

"Local villagers demanded a highway be built, but it would cost more than 50 million yuan (7 million U.S. dollars)," said Hou Hongbin, an official of Yongli Township, which administers Gulu Village. "Besides, building a highway would inevitably damage the ecosystem in the mountain."

Experts suggested that a ropeway would be a better choice to connect the village and the outside world, but the idea was met with strong opposition at first.

"People were suspicious because none of us had tried a ropeway before," Chang said.

To ease their concerns, authorities went door to door to explain the plan.

"We told them about the safety of a ropeway and the benefits it would bring," said Hou.

"A ropeway will not only make it easy to leave and return to the village while protecting the local ecosystem, but will also boost the local tourism industry, which can guarantee long-term revenues," said Luo Yunlian.

The villagers finally accepted the plan, and with government funding of 24 million yuan, construction began on a ropeway stretching over the Dadu River in August 2015.

The ropeway is supported by H-shaped hangers and two parallel cables, which keep two cable cars stable even in strong wind. A separate ropeway has been built near the main one for use by safety personnel in case of emergencies.

The ropeway underwent testing late last year. During the test runs, curious villagers came to the construction site every day.

"I did not expect the journey out of the village to be so easy!" said villager Li Shucai. "Besides, it will be fun to travel in the air."

Authorities plan to develop tourism to boost the local economy and eliminate poverty. A tourist service center has been built near the ropeway station, and the local government has helped renovate traditional houses, build village roads and public restrooms to create a "Land of Idyllic Beauty" to attract tourists.

The local forestry bureau has given out more than 130,000 walnut saplings to local villagers to encourage cultivation of the crop in the lush green mountains.

"We are confident that Gulu Village will improve in the future," said Luo Yunlian.
KEARNEY  Former Kearney investor Jeff Sikes has pleaded guilty to one count of federal wire fraud for defrauding a real estate developer.

Sikes, 35, pleaded guilty last week in U.S. District Court in Lincoln to one count of wire fraud. In exchange for his plea, federal prosecutors will dismiss 18 other charges at sentencing in July.

Although Sikes pleaded to one count, the plea agreement says the judge may consider all of Sikes alleged schemes in the 18 dismissed counts and may determine restitution based on the dismissed counts at sentencing.

According to court records, between April 1, 2013, and July 1, 2014, Sikes devised a scheme to defraud and obtain money and property under false pretenses. Sikes, under the business name of Vanguard Nebraska LLC, contacted representatives of a partnership about leasing commercial property it owned in Lincoln.

Prosecutor Steven Russell said Sikes represented to the partnership that he intended to establish laboratory space in Lincoln for use in research and development. Sikes proposed the partnership provide a $750,000 loan for improvements to the leased property. In exchange, Vanguard would guarantee all amounts it owed under the lease agreement and promissory note.

Sikes knowingly provided the partnership with a fraudulent balance sheet supposedly representing Vanguards 2010-2013 cash flow as well as other fraudulent forms, Russell said.

On June 19, 2013, Sikes and the partnership executed the lease agreement. Once the partnerships total contributions equaled $750,000, Vanguard was to be responsible for all remaining construction expenses.

As part of the scheme, Russell said, Vanguard made ADC, a Delaware corporation controlled by Sikes, the general contractor for the construction project.

Sikes provided false invoices and billing statements to the partnership representing bills payable to subcontractors for work performed or materials provided related to the construction costs for the commercial property, Russell said.

Sikes then provided instructions for the payment of the false invoices from an escrow account with funds provided by the partnership. The instructions would be sent by Sikes or others at his request, either personally or through ADC. The funds were wire transferred to accounts controlled by Sikes.

The disbursed funds from the false invoices were then converted to Sikes own use, Russell said.

On July 30, 2013, construction invoices for $207,377 were submitted, and Sikes later admitted knowing the invoices were false. Sikes admitted the money was paid via wire transfer to ADA through a Lincoln bank.

Sikes faces up to 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, up to three years of supervised release after prison and a $100 special assessment fee. Restitution will be ordered, court records say, although an amount hasnt been determined. The 18 charges that were dropped included similar alleged frauds involving victims from the Kearney area.

Sikes was released after the hearing.

@HubChic
BEIJING, May 3 (Xinhua) -- China's large commercial banks have been asked to set up inclusive finance departments to support small companies, agriculture, poverty relief and entrepreneurship before the end of 2017.

Large banks should become the backbone in the development of inclusive finance, according to a statement following a State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday.

Their lending to small and micro enterprises should rise no slower than growth in all loans, the statement said, adding that the number of small and micro borrowers in a year should not be lower than the same period of the previous year.

Banks should tolerate a reasonably higher non-performing loan ratio for lending to small and micro enterprises, agriculture and poverty alleviation, according to the statement.

The government will offer monetary and credit policy incentives to financial institutions that meet the requirements for inclusive finance businesses, and support commercial banks to improve their service networks.

"By coordinating different measures, inclusive and convenient financial services will promote job creation, economic upgrading and improvement of people's lives," the statement said.

The executive meeting decided to raise the subsidy for emergency assistance efforts in natural disasters, the pension for family members of the deceased from major disasters, life assistance fund in the transitional period and central government subsidy for recovering and rebuilding damaged residential buildings.

In 2017, the country should solve the housing problems for all the people still staying in temporary places affected by natural disasters last year.
A man charged with motor vehicle homicide is one of four defendants listed in a wrongful-death lawsuit that stems from a wreck last July on Interstate 80 west of Brule.

Kathrynn Pals and Gordon Engel are suing Tony Weekly Jr., Bohren Logistics, Interstate Highway Construction Inc. and D.P. Sawyer Inc. for the wrongful death of Pals son Jamison Pals and Engels daughter Kathryne Pals, along with the couples three children, Violet, Ezra and Calvin, all of St. Paul, Minnesota.

According to the lawsuit, because of an ongoing construction project between mile markers 106 and 115 on I-80, both eastbound and westbound traffic was using the eastbound lanes of the interstate on July 31. The lawsuit states that this caused traffic to slow down or stop frequently.

According to an accident report, Tony Weekly Jr., a Florida truck driver, was westbound when he entered the construction zone. The accident report states that authorities believed Weekly was inattentive and distracted by an outside influence, and failed to slow down or stop despite several vehicles in front of him that had either stopped or were coming to a stop.

The semitrailer truck was going more than 50 mph when it collided with the minivan the Pals family was in near mile marker 113, causing a chain reaction, according to the accident report. The minivan struck a compact utility vehicle, which struck another minivan. The third and fourth cars came to rest in the median, while the Pals van and Weeklys semi stopped in the roadway and burst into flames, according to the report.

The young parents and their children became trapped in their van, having survived the initial accident. They could not escape, the lawsuit states. All five died in the van from smoke inhalation and experienced pain and suffering including fear and apprehension of impending death.

The lawsuit claims that Weeklys negligent inattentiveness was a contributing factor to the deaths of the Pals family.

A sixth victim, Terry Sullivan of Denver, Colorado, died later at a hospital. Sullivan was driving the second minivan.

In October, Weekly pleaded not guilty to six felony counts of motor vehicle homicide and one misdemeanor reckless driving charge.

When the wreck occurred, Weekly was driving for Indiana-based trucking company Bohren Logistics. According to the lawsuit, a reasonable and ordinarily prudent employer would not have hired Weekly after learning of his driving record. The lawsuit alleges that court records indicate Weekly had been charged or convicted with a number of driving violations including failure to obey a traffic control device, careless driving and driving with a suspended or revoked license. The lawsuit also alleges that Weekly had been involved in no fewer than seven wrecks, including two that occurred in 2007 while Weekly was driving a semi on public roadways.

The lawsuit states that Bohrens negligent decision to allow Weekly to drive for them proximately and directly caused the Pals family pain and suffering.

Bohren Logistics and Weekly are being represented by Terry Waite of North Platte in the civil case.

Waite called the wreck a terrible tragedy, and said on behalf of both defendants that their hearts go out to the Pals family and friends. Waite said he understands that the wreck has been devastating for the family and noted that it has been difficult for Weekly, who is a father and grandfather, as well.

The final defendants in the lawsuit are Interstate Highway Construction Inc. and D.P. Sawyer Inc. The lawsuit states that Interstate Highway Construction Inc. was the general contractor for the Big Springs-Brule project. D.P. Sawyer Inc. was a subcontractor.

The lawsuit alleges that there was no sign warning drivers that they might need to stop.

The lawsuit claims that this wreck wasnt the only one: Data show that no reported rear-end or motor vehicle transport wrecks had occurred for nearly a year prior to the start of the project. Since road work began in March 2015, there have been at least 18 wrecks in the area, the suit says.

The lawsuit alleges that the wreck might not have happened if warning signs had been in place. It also states that the companies should have changed traffic control procedures once they observed that traffic was frequently stopping and that wrecks had been occurring.

Court documents do not list attorneys for IHC or D.P. Sawyer, and neither company returned requests for comment.

The attorneys representing Engel and Pals have filed a motion asking that the trial take place in Omaha, because of cheaper flights, more hotel options and a desire to avoid traveling the same interstate that the family was killed on. Waite has argued that it should occur in North Platte, because its closer to where the wreck occurred and would require less travel for some of the witnesses.

The attorneys representing the Pals family did not return requests for comment.
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China's first home-built aircraft carrier (file photo)

China launches its first home-built aircraft carrier last week. Besides massive media coverage, enthusiastic netizens also called for an online poll for this unnamed vessel, which saw "Mantis Shrimp", "Shandong", and "Liuhuaqing" topping the list. The bizarre name "Mantis Shrimp" received over 1.26 million votes online. Chinas Ministry of National Defense later denounced that the aircraft carrier would be named after the mantis shrimp, an animal widely ridiculed by Chinese internet users into memes for its bizarre appearance.

You might wonder what is the "mantis shrimp" at this point. It's a popular seafood in China, which recently became a new buzz for netizens to express themselves. More often than not, the meme is used with the phrase "let's go, mantis shrimp". The meme of a man riding a mantis shrimp has become one of the most popular photos used on Chinese social media in 2017.

"Let's go, mantis shrimp" (file photo)

The number of Chinese netizens has exceeded the total population of Europe. Buzzwords like "Mantis Shrimp" are younger generations new approach to interact online and show their passion for national affairs. The official reply for this passion from the Chinese Ministry of National Defense has also bridged the gap between serious military affairs and internet buzz.

(This commentary is from the editorial board of the People's Daily)
Interim Conservative Leader Rona Ambrose asks a question during Question Period in the House of Commons in Ottawa, Tuesday, April 11, 2017. Ambrose is criticizing the Nova Scotia Liberals for reinstating a communications director who pleaded guilty to assaulting a woman in 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Indian army soldiers walk back towards their base camp after a search operation in Shopian, about 60 Kilometers south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, May 4, 2017. Thousands of Indian government forces cordoned off at least two dozen villages in southern Kashmir on Thursday while they hunted for separatist militants believed to be hiding in the area. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
The Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, has claimed that Lagos State is not part of Yoruba land.

Akiolus statement is coming barely a week after he publicly humiliated the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi at an event.





In a statement

from Akiolus palace, the monarch traced the historical background of

the state and why it should not be regarded as part of Yoruba land.

The statement

reads: Coming from the palace, with what I was told by my late paternal

grandmother who is a descendant of Oba Ovonramwen Nogbaisi and also

reading from factual Historical books, let me share this Knowledge with

you all on Eko/Lagos.

Modern day

Lagos was founded by Prince Ado, the son of the Oba of Benin, Prince Ado

was the first Oba of Lagos, the son of the Bini King, Prince Ado, named

the town Eko until the Portuguese explorer Ruy de Segueira changed the

Maritime town to Lagos, which at that time from 1942 was Portuguese

expedition center down the African Coast.

It was a major

centre of the slave trade until 1851. Lagos was annexed by Britain via

the Lagos treaty of cession in 1861, ending the consular period and

starting the British Colonial Period. The remainder of modern day

Nigeria was seized in 1886 when the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria

was established in 1914 Lagos was declared its capital due to the

struggle of the Bini King.

Lagos

experienced growth prior to the British Colonial rule and even more

rapid growth during the Colonial rule throughout the 1960s, 70s,

continued through the 80s and 90s till date. Thanks to the Aworis,

Binis, Yorubas, migrants across the nation and world at large, as no

particular group of people can take the glory alone.

Lagos is made

up of Lagoons and creeks. The Lagos lagoon, Lagos Harbour, five cowne

creeks, Ebute-Metta creeks, Porto-Novo creeks, New canal, Badagry

creeks, Kuramo waters and Light house creeks.

The Aworis

and Binis are known to be the first settlers of the Eko land. The

Aworis are speakers of a distinct dialect close to that of the Yoruba

language with a rich Bini mixture. Traditionally, Aworis were found in

Ile-Ife, they were known to be the Binis who followed their self-exiled

Prince, the first son of the Ogiso (now called Oba) of Benin Kingdom,

whose step-mother was after his head.

The exiled

Benin Prince Izoduwa known to the Yorubas as Ooduwa (Oduduwa) was made

ruler of the Ife people due to his powers and followers from the Great

Benin-Kingdom.

Izoduwa

(Ooduwa) was made the first King of Ile-Ife in 1230 AD. His followers

from his fathers Kingdom in Benin are the todays Awori people who

settled in Eko now called Lagos.

In the 1300,

the King of Benin-Empire heard from one of his traders who was a settler

in Eko on how the Binis were treated by the Aworis who lived in their

area. Upon hearing this, the King of Benin commanded the assembling of a

war expedition, led by his son, Prince Ado, which headed the settlement

of the Aworis and demanded explanation.

On arriving

Eko, Prince Ado and his Army were more than received. The Aworis asked

the Bini Prince to stay and become their leader. Ado agreed on the

condition that they surrender their sovereignty to the Oba of Benin, to

which the people agreed. Hearing this, the King of Benin gave his

permission for Prince Ado and the expedition to remain in Eko.

The Oba of

Benin sent some of his chiefs including the Eletu, Odibo, Obanikoro and

others to assist his son, Oba Ado in the running of Eko.

From the

crowing of Prince Ado as the first Oba of Lagos (then called Eko), Lagos

served as a major center for slave trade from which the Aworis, the Oba

of Benin and his son the Oba of Lagos and all the children/descendants

who took over as his successors for over four centuries supported the

trade.

The Oba of

Benin was the head of the Benin Empire which are the present day

Western, Southern and Eastern modern day Nigeria. The King never obliged

anyone to speak the Bini language as he believed everyone was entitled

to their own choice of language.

The name Eko

was given to it by the first king of Lagos, Oba Ado, the young and

vibrant Prince from Benin. Eko was the land now known as Lagos Island,

where the king palace was built.

The palace is

called Idugaran meaning palace built on pepper farm Oba Ado and the

warriors from Benin together with the early Binis settlers in Eko and

the Awori people settled in the southern part of Eko called Isale Eko.

Isale literally means bottom . Must have been used to indicate

downtown (as in down town Lagos)

Until the

coming in of the Benins 1300AD , Lagos geographical boundary was Lagos

mainland, Lagos Island, the seat of the Oba of Lagos then consisted of a

pepper farm and fishing post. No one was living there.

About 1450 AD

some Yorubas who hailed from Isheri in Ogun-state and Ekiti were allowed

by the King to settle in Eko during a war, they came in a very large

numbers thereby surpassing the numbers of the Aworis and Binis. (Hence

Yorubas claim to own Eko due to their numbers).

Oba Ado fell

in love with a beautiful woman whose father was Awori and mother a

daughter to one of the chief; they had two sons and also a daughter

Erelu Kuti, who begot Ologun Kutere who later became King.
A memorial before restoration [Photo/jxnews.com.cn]

Several memorials unearthed from the Haihunhou tomb in Nanchang have been confirmed to be official documents presented to the imperial court. The three pieces already released were all written with ink in Li script, according to the Nanchang Evening News.

Based on the analysis by Zhang Yuzheng, an expert in history at Beijing Union University, the memorials may be the oldest original copies of senior official documents in Han Dynasty (BC 206-AD 220), which has great value for the study of ancient official documents.

The unearthed bamboo slips were memorials to the throne

Among the three publicly released memorials, two of them remain fairly intact with exact date information, though the handwriting is partly damaged. Chinese characters meaning "concubine" and "Haihunhou He" can be seen on the memorials, which shows that they were written by the Marquis of Haihun Liu He and his wife.

Zhang Yuzheng suggested that according to Hanshu(History of Han), the memorial presented to the imperial court should be in two copies, with the original copy submitted to the emperor and the duplicate to the minister. The minister would first review the contents and then decide whether it was appropriate to be submitted to the emperor. The system was abolished during the reign of Emperor Hanxuan in the Han Dynasty. The unearthed memorials from Haihunhou tomb are believed to have been written on the fourth year of Yuankang during the reign of Emperor Hanxun when the system was already abolished.

Therefore, Zhang holds that the unearthed memorials written with date information "fourth year of Yuankang" were very likely the original copies of official documents, instead of duplicate ones.

The whole structure and content are also complete, the handwriting is quite neat, and the format is strict, consistent with the features of an original copy, according to Zhang.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (file photo)

BEIJING, May 3 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government plans to cultivate a large number of competitive private medical institutions to complete a diversified multi-layered healthcare system by 2020, which is expected to meet growing demands for customized services.

The target was set in a guideline that encourages private businesses to provide diversified medical services, which was approved at a State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday.

Encouraging private medical services is vital to developing a prosperous healthcare industry, unleashing the potential for domestic consumption and promoting economic restructuring and upgrading, the guideline said.

The premier said that the necessity to develop healthcare industries cannot be overestimated. Healthcare has great potential as people's lives are getting better, but is still in short supply. The key is to transform governmental functions and push forward administrative reforms, he said.

As one of the document's seven key tasks, the guideline eyes private businesses to set up and operate high-quality general clinics, which will offer customized services.

Support will be given to the private sector to create strongly competitive institutions with their own branding in subfields such as stomatology. The advantage of traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) should be fully utilized to offer services such as TCM-based healthcare and rehabilitative services.

The guideline encourages private medical institutions to provide services featuring advanced medical technologies. Customized services will be enhanced to offer value-added and ancillary services such as long-distance diagnoses. Business models integrating different sectors, such as medical services and nursing homes for seniors, will be promoted.

The guideline also aims to build industrial clusters for healthcare industries that meet high-end demands in and outside China.

The healthcare market will be further opened up with lower threshold of access as private medical institutions will be supported to introduce strategic investors and partners, and forge cooperation with public hospitals to boost diversified services, the guideline said.

In addition, the document envisages foreign investors as partners to establish high-level medical institutions in China through joint ventures and other forms of cooperation. China is open to overseas professionals, medical technologies, management experiences and operation models.

Premier Li called for making full use of the market dynamics to nurture an environment for different medical institutions to grow, compete and prosper. Private businesses will be encouraged to enhance the supply of healthcare products and services that cater to people's diversified demands, he added.

Since the start of a new round of medical reform in 2009, the State Council has been working to boost enthusiasm and participation of private businesses with a slew of guidelines, including one that encourages private capital to enter the healthcare sector in November 2010.

In March, the central government promulgated another guideline to further promote participation of private businesses in areas such as medical services.

The premier said the central government has emphasized equal treatment for state-owned and private capital. He called for pragmatic measures to invigorate the enthusiasm of private businesses to participate in remedying shortcomings in these fields.

Wednesday's meeting also approved another guideline, which aims to develop a system of health and medical tourism by 2030.
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After Michael Uvannis older brother, James, was diagnosed with a deadly form of skin cancer, it seemed as if everyone told the family what they wanted to hear: Have hope. You can beat this, and we are here to help.

The brothers met with doctors at a half-dozen of the countrys best hospitals, all with impressive credentials that inspired confidence.

Michael Uvanni was in awe when he visited the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, one of the worlds most respected cancer hospitals. It was like seeing the Grand Canyon, said Uvanni, 66, of Rome, N.Y. You never get used to the size and scope.

Even the MD Anderson logo on buses and buildings  with Cancer crossed out in red, above the words Making cancer history  made the familys battle seem winnable.

I thought they were going to save him, said Uvanni, an interior designer.

Patients and families are bombarded with the news that the country is winning the war against cancer. The news media hypes research results to attract readers. Drug companies promise a chance to live longer to boost sales. Hospitals woo paying customers with ads that appeal to patients fears and hopes.

Im starting to hear more and more that we are better than I think we really are, said Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer at the American Cancer Society. Were starting to believe our own bullshit.

The consequences are real  and they can be deadly. Patients and their families have bought into treatments that either dont work, cost a fortune or cause life-threatening side effects.

We have a lot of patients who spend their families into bankruptcy getting a hyped therapy that [many] know is worthless, Brawley said. Some choose a medicine that has a lot of hype around it and unfortunately lose their chance for a cure.

Although scientists have made important strides in recent years, and many early-stage cancers can now be cured, most of those with advanced cancer eventually die of their disease.

For Uvanni, hope gave way to crushing disappointment when his brothers health declined and he died from metastatic melanoma in 2014.

You get your hopes up, and then you are dropped off the edge of a cliff, said Uvanni. Thats the worst thing in the world.

Caregivers like Uvanni can suffer prolonged grief and guilt if their loved ones are riddled with side effects and dont survive as long as the family expected, noted Holly Prigerson, co-director of the Center for Research on End-of-Life Care at Weill Cornell Medical College.

For decades, researchers have rolled out new cancer therapies with great fanfare, announcing that science has at last found a key to ending one of the worlds great plagues, said Dr. Vinay Prasad, an assistant professor of medicine at Oregon Health & Science University. When such efforts fail to live up to expectations, the cancer world simply moves on to the next big idea.

Hyping early scientific results  based on lab tests or animal studies  can attract investors that allow researchers to continue their work. Positive results can lead biotech firms to be bought out by larger drug companies.

Its in the interest of almost every stakeholder in the health system to be optimistic about these therapies, said Dr. Walid Gellad, co-director of the Center for Pharmaceutical Policy and Prescribing at the University of Pittsburgh.

Of course, there is plenty of money to be made.

The U.S. spent nearly $88 billion treating cancer in 2014, with patients paying nearly $4 billion out-of-pocket, according to the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. Spending on cancer, a disease that most afflicts the aging, is predicted to soar as people live longer.

While many people are trying to make patients lives healthier and longer and better, there are others that are exploiting their vulnerability, said Dr. Leonard Saltz, chief of the gastrointestinal oncology service at New Yorks Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

Others argue that the excitement about cancer research is justified. A spokeswoman for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, an industry group, said cancer patients have good reason for optimism.

We continue to see great strides in identifying the genetic mutations and related factors that can drive the seemingly random formation of abnormal cells in cancer, spokeswoman Holly Campbell said in a statement. In the last decade, weve seen a number of scientific advances transform the landscape of many cancers.

Promises to cure abound

Even the countrys top scientists sometimes get carried away.

In 1998, Nobel laureate James Watson  who co-discovered the structure of DNA  told The New York Times that scientists would cure cancer in two years using drugs that block tumor blood supplies. At that time, the drugs had succeeded only in mice.

In 2003, the director of the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, announced a goal of eliminating suffering and death due to cancer by 2015 by better understanding tumor genetics.

Last year, when President Barack Obama announced the Cancer Moonshot, which aims to accelerate and better coordinate research, he said, Lets make America the country that cures cancer once and for all.

In a recent interview, von Eschenbach acknowledged he didnt communicate his goal well.

We all fall into that trap, said von Eschenbach, now a senior fellow at the Milken Institute, a health and public policy think tank. Were offering what we have, but making it appear that its more than what it is.

Its easy to see how patients hopes are raised, said Timothy Turnham, former executive director at the Melanoma Research Foundation, an advocacy group. Researchers are frequently overly enthusiastic about early discoveries that have little chance of leading to a new drug.

There is a disconnect between what researchers think is statistically significant and what is really significant for patients, Turnham said. Patients hear progress, and they think that means theyre going to be cured.

A marketing blitz

Uvanni said his brothers experience was nothing like the sunny images in TV commercials, in which smiling cancer patients hug their grandchildren, hike in the mountains and lead dance classes.

A TV commercial for the Bristol-Myers Squibb drug Opdivo projects the words a chance to live longer on the side of skyscrapers, as a captivated crowd looks on. In much smaller type, a footnote reveals that lung cancer patients taking Opdivo lived just 3.2 months longer than others.

A TV ad for Mercks Keytruda features reassuring images of a smiling, healthy patient hugging her family  not fighting for breath or struggling to walk. Although the commercial notes that the people in the ad are portrayed by actors, the commercial claims the drug provides a chance for a longer life. Its Tru.

Your heart sinks when you see those ads, Uvanni said. Seeing the family depicted in the ad, he said makes you wonder if theyre going down the same path that we did.

The Keytruda ad notes that 71 percent of patients given the drug were alive at the time of patient follow-up, compared with 58 percent of those who received chemotherapy. The ad doesnt mention that the time of follow-up was 11 months.

Its not false; its just incomplete, said pharmacist Harold DeMonaco, a visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston. They dont give patients or the patients family enough information to make a reasonable decision.

In an interview, Merck senior vice president Jill DeSimone said that the company aims to be responsible with its advertising, noting that the Keytruda ad reminds patients to talk to their doctors. The physician is the ultimate decider on treatment, DeSimone said.

In a statement, Bristol-Myers senior vice president Teresa Bitetti said that Opdivo ads play an important role in educating patients about new treatment options and fostering informed conversations between patients and their doctors.

Hospitals also have drawn criticism for overstating their success in treating cancer. In 1996, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, a for-profit chain, settled allegations from the Federal Trade Commission that they made false and unsubstantiated claims in advertising and promoting their cancer treatments.

The companys current commercials  dozens of which are featured on their website  boast of offering genomic testing and precision cancer treatment.

The commercials dont tell patients that these tests  which aim to pair cancer patients with drugs that target the specific mutations in their tumors  are rarely successful, Prasad said. In clinical trials, these tests have matched only 6.4 percent of patients with a drug, according to Prasads 2016 article in Nature. Because these drugs only manage to shrink a fraction of tumors, Prasad estimates that just 1.5 percent of patients actually benefit from precision oncology.

In a statement, Cancer Treatment Centers of America said, We use national media to help educate cancer patients and their families about the latest diagnostic tools and treatment options.  All of our advertising undergoes meticulous review for clinical accuracy as well as legal approval to ensure we tell our story in an informative and responsible manner, and in compliance with federal guidelines.

Spending on ads for hospitals that treat cancer soared 220 percent from $54 million in 2005 to $173 million in 2014, according to a 2016 article in JAMA Internal Medicine. Ads for Cancer Treatment Centers of America accounted for nearly 60 percent of all total cancer center advertising.

Targeting melanoma

For more than a decade, the Food and Drug Administration approved no new treatments for metastatic melanoma. Patients typically died within a year of diagnosis.

Since 2011, however, the FDA has approved 11 new treatments, including several immunotherapies, which aim to harness the immune system to fight cancer. Last year, doctors leading a clinical trial announced that the median survival of patients taking the drug Keytruda had grown to two years. Forty percent of patients were alive three years later, according to the clinical trial, presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Researchers have tested immunotherapies against a variety of tumors, leading to approvals in lung cancer, kidney cancer, bladder cancer and others.

Such success has led doctors to label cancer immunotherapy as a game changer. Newspapers and magazines call it a breakthrough. And hospitals laud them as a miracle in the making.

Yet these treatments  which were initially assumed to be gentler than chemotherapy  can provoke fatal immune system attacks on the lungs, kidneys, heart and other organs.

And there are no approved immunotherapies for tumors of the breast, colon, prostate and pancreas.

Only about 10 percent of all cancer patients can expect to benefit from immunotherapy, Prasad said.

Uvannis brother  who tried immunotherapy, as well as a number of other approved and experimental treatments  survived 3 years after his diagnosis. That might lead many oncologists to describe his story as a success.

Uvanni sees no reason to celebrate. He wanted more than short-term survival for his brother.

I thought we were going to have a treatment where wed at least have a good block of quality time, Uvanni said.

But treatments meant to control the cancer only made him sick. Some caused flu-like symptoms, with fever, chills and shakes. Others left him nauseated, unable to eat or move his bowels. Others caused dangerous infections that sent him to the emergency room.

I hope that if something like that happens to me, Uvanni said, I would be strong enough to say no to treatment.

Liz Szabo is a health reporter. This article originally appeared in Kaiser Health News.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
JAKARTA, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Senior officials of Chinese and Indonesian anti-drug agencies met here Wednesday to discuss ways to enhance cooperation to fight against drug trafficking.

The meeting is a follow-up to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on anti-drug cooperation signed by the two countries in March 2012.

"The cooperation between China and Indonesia is very essential to prevent the trafficking of illegal drugs into the respective countries," Lan Weihong, deputy secretary-general of China National Narcotics Control Commission (NNCC), told a joint press conference.

Lan said both sides discussed issues such as the establishment of an annual meeting mechanism, the liaison hotline, intelligence information exchange, law enforcement cooperation and cracking down on drug trafficking in the sea as well as from the air, drug profiling, equipment assistance and capacity building programs.

Deputy for Legal Affairs and Cooperation of the Indonesian National Narcotics Agency (BNN) Arief Wicaksono Sudiutomo said that BNN and NNCC officials already held a meeting in Beijing in August last year.

The meeting was part of the mandates mentioned in the MoU to hold rotating periodical meetings between anti-narcotics officials of both countries, he said.

"Most of those drugs were crystal meth smuggled through golden triangle area that covers Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia," he added.

The NNCC delegation's visit to Indonesia will last till Saturday.

Besides holding a meeting with BNN, the NNCC delegation is also scheduled to visit the Indonesian Foreign Ministry and other related authorities.
More than half of Americans either own or work for a small business. It's a growing business choice for many in the country.

This week marks National Small Business Week, which recognizes the contributions of America's entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Small businesses create about two out of every three new jobs in the U.S. each year.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, there has been a 38 percent increase in minority ownership - Hispanic being the highest.

In Texas there are 4.4 million people employed by small businesses.

One local business owner says small businesses depend on the community's support.

"You're supporting a local Laredoan. Its not your typical Pizza Hut or chain restaurant. It's something different you come and experience here," says Janet Zapata, of the Laredo Pizza Factory.

Janet Zapata says in order for a small business to thrive in town, it needs the community's support.

She adds by buying at local businesses you are supporting a neighbor and it's a chain reaction that helps grow the local economy.

Zapata is now part of the 7.2 percent of women in Texas who owns their own business.

For ways to start or expand a small business, the Laredo Chamber of Commerce and Laredo Community College's Economic Development Program offer services.
LArche Kilkenny is gearing up to join its 138 worldwide sister organisations in an historic global meeting in which 500 people with and without intellectual disabilities from 37 countries, speaking at least 17 languages, from all faiths and none, will get together to embrace each other and celebrate their differences.

This unique, week-long meeting, which will take place in Belfast from June 20, is one of the few large-scale events worldwide where people with intellectual disabilities come together as equal partners with other members of society.

The event is organised by LArche, an international network of communities whose mission of peace and justice is rooted in developing mutual relationships between people with and without intellectual disabilities. The organisation was founded in 1964 by Templeton Laureate, Dr. Jean Vanier.

Ours might seem like a simple goal, but if you analyse whats happening in the world, where differences seem to be excluded and even punished, you realise how important our message is and how challenging this work can be, Callan-based Mairead Boland-Brabazon, CEO at LArche Ireland and Northern Ireland explains.

Across the world LArche fosters residential communities, work projects and friendships that create places of belonging for some of the worlds most vulnerable citizens. These spaces enable each person to live as a full citizen and to contribute their unique gifts to society.

Among the preparations in Kilkenny, the LArche community has planned an audio-visual display in MacDonagh Junction Shopping Centre from the May 2. It will receive visitors from LArche Spain previous to the event in Belfast.

In a world where people who are weaker are so often kept on the margins, LArche is a voice of unity. We firmly believe a different kind of society is possible. We hope that this meeting, and all the local events leading to it, will be a wake-up call for people to re-think their approach to disabilities, differences and even to their own lives. Our main message is that everybody, regardless of their conditions or limitations, has a gift to offer to others and to society. That is what we have learned in LArche, and that is what we will be celebrating in Belfast, Mairead said.

Now a global federation with presence on five continents, LArche holds Federation Assembly meetings every five years, as a way to propel its mission forward. This version of the event, held for the first time in Northern Ireland, will bring together delegates and leaders from all 139 LArche Communities, including places as challenging as Syria and Haiti.

In LArche, people with intellectual disabilities are equals, involved in fundamental decision-making about their lives and about our mission to help change the way people with disabilities are seen and treated in all cultures. This event shows us that a new world free of discrimination is within reach. That makes it a very powerful symbol of hope, Mairead added.

Speakers at the Assembly will include Rev. Dr. Ruth Patterson OBE, Director of the Charity Restoration Ministries; Padraig O Tuama, Leader of the Corrymeela community of Northern Ireland, and Michael McDonald, filmmaker.

Eileen Glass, LArche Vice International Leader says: Too often we are taught to fear whats different. We are told not be friends with people from other religions, colours, cultures, or sexual inclinations. As result, we have events such as Brexit, the recent elections in the United States, and the clashes with migrants all around the world. These are all symptoms of our need to learn to live together, to see the gifts of each other and promote harmony, not discord.

LArches Federation Assembly Belfast 2017 will take place at Queens University from June 20 to 27. During the event, the 500 delegates will be joined by an additional 80 people from LArche communities in Ireland and Northern Ireland, for a daytrip to Downpatrick which will include visits to local congregations and parishes.
SYDNEY, May 4 (Reuters) - Iron ore shipments to China from Australia's Port Hedland terminal, used by BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals Group , rose nearly 11 percent in April to 34.86 million tonnes from 31.5 million in the previous month, port data showed on Wednesday. Overall shipments from the world's biggest iron ore export terminal increased to 42.29 million tonnes from 39.09 million in March, according to the Pilbara Ports Authority.

(Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Richard Pullin)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
(Updates with opening price, adds background)

HONG KONG, May 4 (Reuters) - Shares of Hong Kong-listed property and healthcare group Fullshare Holdings Ltd jumped nearly 17 percent on Thursday after it rejected allegations by a U.S.-based shortseller about its financial health.

Shortseller Glaucus Research, in a report last week, had queried Fullshare's stock trading patterns, its valuation and asset disposals. The report said Fullshare was "one of the largest stock manipulation schemes trading on any exchange anywhere in the world". Fullshare said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange late on Tuesday the allegations, which had caused its shares to plunge last week, were "misleading and groundless" and it was consulting legal advisers. Shares of Fullshare surged as much as 16.7 percent early on Thursday to HK$2.85, recouping all of the losses it incurred following the Glaucus report.

The company halted trading last week after its shares plunged nearly 12 percent following Glaucus' allegations. Glaucus said in another statement on Thursday that Fullshare's response was totally inadequate and failed to present any meaningful rebuttal to its allegations.

On Wednesday, Fullshare said in a separate statement that China CITIC Bank Corp had agreed to provide it with credit of not less than 10 billion yuan ($1.45 billion).

($1 = 6.8970 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Stephen Coates)
LAGOS, May 4 (Reuters) - Nigeria's central bank has lifted a ban on currency allocation for importers bringing in goods worth up to $20,000 per quarter, the bank said in a circular seen by Reuters on Thursday. The bank in 2015 placed a restriction on 41 items for which importers could no longer get dollars including rice, toothpicks, cement, private jets, steel products, plastics and rubber, soap, cosmetics, furniture, Indian incense and foreign bonds.

(Reporting by Oludare Mayowa; Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by Toby Chopra)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
UNITED NATIONS, May 3 (Xinhua) -- China's Belt and Road initiative will connect many countries and promote exchanges between different cultures, religions, and civilizations, said Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, UN high representative for the Alliance of Civilization.

"It's a great initiative that comes at a time when the world economy is facing big challenges," said Al-Nasser in a recent interview with Chinese media.

Noting that the initiative has the potential to strengthen both regional and international economic relationship, Al-Nasser said it will also promote inter-cultural as well as inter-religious dialogues to ultimately contribute to world peace and stability.

The UN Alliance of Civilization (UNAOC) was established in 2005 and aims to improve understanding and cooperation among nations and peoples across cultures.

Al-Nasser noted that the China's ancient Silk Road created a very "unique" cooperative relationship where countries could benefit not only with the exchange of goods but also the exchange of culture, knowledge and human activities.

"We need something like that today," said Al-Nasser, adding that the world is facing the challenge of migration and refugees since there has been a rise of xenophobia and discrimination against them in many countries.

"So this initiative (Belt and Road Initiative) will bring countries, people, together and work, cooperate and understand each other. And this is what we need today," he added.

Served as former president of the UN General Assembly and former permanent representative of Qatar to the UN, Al-Nasser assumed the position of high representative of UNAOC in 2013. He will attend the upcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to be held from May 14-15 in Beijing.

Al-Nasser said it is within the mandate of UNAOC to promote people-to-people exchanges, and therefore he will sign a memorandum of understanding with Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the Belt and Road initiative.

"So an initiative like that, it would be great for our work, and the benefit will be bigger...when bringing people together and (let them) understand each other..." he added.

China has proposed the Belt and Road initiative to build a trade and infrastructure network along and beyond the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which offers opportunities for cooperation and development for all countries amid a sluggish world economy.

Since 2013, over 100 countries and international organizations have responded to the initiative, and over 40 countries and organizations have signed cooperation agreements with China.
(Adds quote, details)

LAGOS, May 4 (Reuters) - Nigeria's central bank has lifted a ban on currency allocation for importers bringing in goods worth up to $20,000 per quarter, the bank said in a circular seen by Reuters on Thursday.

The bank in 2015 placed a restriction on 41 items for which importers could no longer get dollars, including rice, toothpicks, cement, private jets, steel products, plastics and rubber, soap, cosmetics, furniture, Indian incense and foreign bonds.

Aimed at conserving its foreign reserves, the move curbed access to dollars for importers bringing in a wide range of goods, helped fuel the currency black market and worsened investor perceptions about policy in Africa's biggest economy.

"Importers of items classified as not valid for forex with transactions value of $20,000 and below per quarter shall now qualify for allocation of foreign exchange," the bank said.

Last month the bank cut the amount of paperwork needed for small firms to buy dollars, to ease doing business and help narrow the gap between official and black market exchange rates. It said it will offer them up to $20,000 per quarter. Nigeria introduced capital controls in 2015 after a sharp fall in oil prices caused chronic dollar shortages, weakened its currency and slashed government revenues, tipping the economy into its first recession in a quarter of a century last year.

It subsequently introduced and then abandoned a currency peg and now uses a system of multiple exchange rates which the bank says help it manage "frivolous" dollar demand.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had said on Tuesday that Nigeria aimed to replace the list of 41 import items with more trade policy-driven restrictions taking into account items that are required and locally unavailable raw materials. (Reporting by Oludare Mayowa; Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by Catherine Evans)
(Adds Hitachi, details)

By Claire Ruckin, Arno Schuetze and Christoph Steitz

LONDON/FRANKFURT, May 4 (Reuters) - Toshiba has turned down preemptive bids for its Swiss-based smart meter group Landis+Gyr, hoping for a higher price at auction, for which bankers have begun preparing debt packages of around $1 billion, people familiar with the matter said.

Buyout group CVC and Japan's industrial conglomerate Hitachi several weeks ago offered to buy Landis+Gyr for almost $2 billion, and another private equity group also made an offer earlier this year, but both were declined, the sources said.

Toshiba is instead waiting for tentative offers to come in by a May 22 deadline, they said, adding that groups including Advent, AEA, BC Partners, Bain, Blackstone, Carlyle, Cinven, CD&R, Onex and Triton are expected to bid. CVC declined to comment, while Hitachi was not immediately available for comment. The other bidders also either declined to comment or were not immediately available to comment.

Toshiba said it considering strategic alternatives, including an IPO for Landis+Gyr, adding nothing concrete has been decided yet.

It hired UBS earlier this year on the potential divestment of the group. Some $1 billion of debt equates to around 5-6 times Landis+Gyr's approximate $200 million in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, the sources said.

The financing is expected to be denominated in dollars and euros and could either be in the form of leveraged loans or high yield bonds, the sources said.

Smart meter makers have seen a wave of M&A activity. CVC is selling German metering and energy management group Ista, which could be worth up to 4 billion euros, while German metering group Techem could be put up for sale later in the year.

Toshiba bought Landis+Gyr in 2011 for $2.3 billion jointly with state-backed Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, which holds the remaining 40 percent in the company.

Landis+Gyr, in which Toshiba has a 60 percent stake, employs more than 5,700 staff and is active in over 30 countries.

(Editing by Christopher Mangham and David Evans)
Nick Cohen writes:

To paraphrase the paraphrase of Voltaire, the liberal view of sexual tolerance used to be: I may disapprove of who you take to bed, but I will defend to my death your right to bed them. Just as liberals used to tolerate free speech, except when the speaker was inciting violence, so they allowed free love between consenting adults. Few now care about defending rights to the death. Many turn authoritarian and maintain you have no right to disapprove. To recap, the great mid-20th century movement for homosexual rights culminated in the recommendation of the Wolfenden report of 1957 that sexual acts between consenting adults in private should be decriminalised. It did not say that fundamentalist Christians, Jews, Muslims or ordinary secular homophobes must stop believing that homosexuality was a sin. Indeed, their freedom of speech guaranteed their freedom to disapprove. They simply lost the power to call for the police to raid bedrooms.

Exactly.

Equally, the old liberal insistence that free speech must be tolerated, except when it incited violence, did not mean that an audience must approve of a speaker. It remained free to argue back, denounce or satirise in the most robust manner. It just could not call on the authorities to ban speakers or the police to arrest them for hate speech when the speech was not so hateful it provoked attacks on its targets.

The answer to bad speech is good speech, not banning it.

The strange controversy the leader of the Liberal Democrats began when he equivocated on whether he believes homosexuality is a sin shows how dead the old liberalism is. On the record, Tim Farron supports equal rights for LGBT people and LGBT rights in this country and overseas. But he also believes Christianity is the most important thing in the universe bar nothing. The contortions he put himself through as he dodged questions about homosexualitys sinfulness suggested he took his Bible literally and had dwelt on the murderous condemnations of homosexuality in Leviticus, echoed by St Paul, for longer than is healthy. If he once did and has now changed his mind, so what? Farron was being a true liberal. He disapproved of homosexuality but was prepared to defend gay rights, just as I disapprove of religious fundamentalists but am prepared to defend their freedom to worship.

Being a liberal means defending things you disagree with.

Jeremy Corbyn worked for Iranian state television and spoke at Khomeinist ralliesin London. Everywhere he went, he looked a willing collaborator with a regime that flogs and executes gay men, treats women as second-class citizens and imprisons trade unionists. If Corbyn was questioned on this, which he never is, he might say he does not approve of every aspect of Shia theocracy. But he worked for it, and was paid by it, and never found the courage to speak out on Iranian television for the victims of its oppression. A liberal society that condemns one politician who bothers God, but gives a free pass to another who works for a queer-bashing, queer-killing regime is so lost that it may never find its way home again.

A true double standard.

Trump won in part because tens of millions of Americans had had it with being told what to think. Some were genuine bigots. Others could be won over if only liberals stopped upholding an illiberal policing of thought. Unless they understand how they drive so many into the welcoming embrace of the right, Trumps four-year presidency could stretch to eight. In Britain, we will have at least five more years of Conservative rule. Basic self-interest ought to persuade liberals not to provide justifications for censorship and control when the right  and the right alone  has the power to deliver both. The politically correct movement is not only an intellectual and practical failure, it fails on the more basic level of human psychology. You cannot demand respect from others. You can only earn it. You cannot force others to admire you, endorse your lifestyle and drop even private doubts about you. You can only persuade them to see what good there is in you. And if you dont know by now you that cannot compel others to love you, you never will. All you can do  and all you should want to do  is take the deal when a politician says: dont ask if I respect you, ask if I respect your rights.

Another great Cohen column.

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Peter Dunne writes:

For those who follow British politics, the prospect of the coming General Election turning into a major train wreck for the British Labour Party looms large. Barely a day passes without another set of contradictory views or comments emerging from senior members of that Party. Most of the criticism inevitably finds its way back to the Partys veteran socialist leader, Jeremy Corbyn, a man who, in a long political career has never been chosen to hold any Government office.

34 years in Parliament and never has held Government office. Few seriously think he could lead a Government, let alone actually negotiate Brexit with the EU.

Jeremy Corbyn was never elected leader of the British Labour Party by the Partys MPs  indeed, only a few months ago, they passed overwhelmingly a vote of no-confidence in his leadership. Yet he remains, having twice been selected by the Party at large and its trade union base to be Labours standard bearer. New Zealand Labour has a similar selection system  current leader Andrew Little was installed in his role in 2014 with the backing of well under half his MPs, and then only narrowly because of the union vote.

Little only received four votes in caucus. He also lost the membership vote to Robertson, but as Dunne says the unions installed him.

As with Mr Corbyn, Mr Little knows that the key to his retaining the leadership, lies not with his MPs, but with the Partys trade union affiliates. He has already shown his recognition of that by his installation of trade union officials as candidates in a number of seats around the country. Many are likely to feature high up on the Partys democratically selected list. And, like Mr Corbyn, he has eschewed any prospect of Labour claiming the centre ground of politics, indeed going so far as to dismiss the political centre and those who occupy it as irrelevant.

It is all about keeping the leadership after the election.

Last week, Mr little was reported widely as proposing to cut immigration numbers by 51,000. While the announcement came from nowhere, there was no denial by any Labour MP at the time that this was their policy. Now, over a week later, having been widely criticised for the announcement, Mr Little says he was misreported, that when he said immigration levels should fall from about around 71,000 to about 20,000, he did not mean a reduction of 51,000. It is difficult to know what else he meant, particularly when his defence was to confirm his original figures, and that he was talking about a drop of tens of thousands only. It was a pure Corbyn moment. (It came just a week after a similar moment when responding to Nationals pay equity decision.) National will be hoping for many more over the next few months.

NCEA Maths Not Achieved.

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Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Windy. Cloudy skies will become partly cloudy this afternoon. High near 75F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Mostly cloudy early followed by partly cloudy skies and gusty winds overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 64F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph.
Chinese medical specialists in South Sudan (file photo)

JUBA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in South Sudan on Wednesday hailed China's continued efforts to support the country' health sector by contributing at least 15 Chinese medical specialists annually to various health units for the past six years.

Since independence of South Sudan in 2011, Beijing has dispatched five medical teams with a total of 66 members who offered specialized medical care and surgeries for more than 50,000 patients across South Sudan.

Speaking during a farewell ceremony for Chinese doctors who ended their one-year mission in April, Health Minister Riek Gai Kok said there is no doubt that the health sector in South Sudan needs the technical and material support of China, now more than any time.

"I appeal and would like to repeat it here that China's support to the health sector of South Sudan is not only needed, but vital and mandatory if South Sudan is to address the current worst health indicators ever recorded in contemporary human history," Kok said.

He appreciated the Chinese medical teams for helping the people of South Sudan, calling on the Chinese government to increase the number of specialists' doctors coming to South Sudan.

"This is the generosity of the People's Republic of China to send this dedicated team to South Sudan to help us fight these worst health indicators in the world," Kok said.

"I would like to sincerely thank the outgoing Chinese medical team for their contribution in supporting service delivery at Juba teaching l and Kiir Mayardit Hospitals respectively," he added.

Pawil Arop Yor, Acting Director of Juba Teaching Hospital, said the Chinese doctors helped to build capacity of local staffers and reduce the burden of work overload on the understaffed Hospital.

"In addition to provision of medicines for our patients which is free of charge, we thank the team for the great job they have done here in Juba Teaching Hospital and we will work with this new team to establish a center for treating cervical cancer," Yor said.

Chinese Ambassador to South Sudan He Xiangdong said health sector is among the top priorities of the Chinese assistance to South Sudan and bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

The envoy added that China would continue to support South Sudan by funding health projects, capacity building and knowledge exchange through sending medical teams to help the African nation address the Challenges facing its health sector.

"In addition to the provision of anti malarial drugs every year, China has assisted South Sudan with The construction of Kiir Mayradit in Rumbek, cash donations to eradicate cholera and training of medical personnel in China," He said.

"I also wish early resumption of complete peace and stability of the republic of South Sudan," the envoy added.

Early this year, China and South Sudan agreed to boost cooperation in the health sector by enhancing knowledge sharing, capacity building, and hospital to hospital collaboration.

The pacts will also seek to modernize the health facilities in South Sudan, hospital to hospital collaboration and allow Chinese health specialists to set up experimental operations and management units in the East African nation.
Sino-French joint venture Dongfeng Renault now offers a primer on Communism as part of its training for foreign employees.

According to a Weibo post by the automaker on May 3, the company's Party chief, Guo Tao, gave a lecture to newly recruited employees on the organization of the Communist Party of China (CPC), including information about the Party committee and Party members' roles in Dongfeng Renault.

Guo also said that it is beneficial for cooperation if foreign employees understand the role of the CPC committee in pursuing the company's goals, news site Thepaper.cn reported.

The post had been removed from Weibo as of press time.

According to Thepaper.cn, Guo stated that many foreign employees are unfamiliar with the special political structure, and their lack of awareness could hinder the company's development.

The news site added that the proposition of a lecture for new employees actually came from a foreign executive who hopes that the crash course could help foreign employees to better integrate in the joint venture. HR representative Nicholas Costa Veiga was cited as saying that the CPC committee could unite the company and help lead its employees.
Recently, students at a primary school in Zhuji, Zhejiang province wrote a letter to their city mayor, asking him to plant a big tree outside their school. Instead, the students were thrilled to see not one but a total of 26 adult ginkgo trees planted outside their classroom window after the mayor received their letter.

The letter written by the primary school students asking for a big tree (photo from news.zj.com)

The students explained that they hoped to have a big tree in the schoolyard, but they couldn't wait for a young tree to grow bigger because they are about to graduate in one years time. Fortunately, the mayor's response to their plea went above and beyond in considering this requirement.

The mayor brought the students more trees than they expected (photo from news.zj.com)
The Barbie exhibition showcases a collection of namesake dolls in various dresses. / Courtesy of Mattel



Barbie dolls attract parents, girls as memorable event



By Kim Jae-heun

Parents might wonder where to take their kids on Children's Day today.

Among several options, "Barbie: The ICON" exhibition is perhaps one of the most attractive choices to make unforgettable memories. The exhibition showcases 200 Barbie doll art pieces.

The collection celebrates the toy's 58th anniversary -- exhibiting mostly limited editions with less than 4,000 pieces produced around the world. The most desirable Barbie is displayed in the very first chapter of the show where the oldest Barbie in the world greets children.

Since it was sold to the world's No.5 Barbie Doll collector at an auction for $27,450 in 2006, it has barely made any public appearances. It is the first time the doll is exhibited in Korea -- together with many other toys displayed at Lotte Avenuel Art Hall in Jamsil, Seoul.

The exhibition consists of five chapters and visitors can learn the history of Barbie dolls and the range of doll variations in fashion and "jobs."

One of the main sections in the show is fashion, displaying Barbie dolls with concepts from esteemed fashion designers and celebrities. Chanel's creative director Karl Largerfeld's Barbie set a new record, selling out worldwide within 10 minutes after it was revealed. Other fashion Barbie dolls wear Christian Dior's "New Look" dress and Vera Wang's best wedding gown.

Eighty top fashion designers have made dresses for Barbie including luxury brands like Anna Sui, Moschino of Jeremy Scott and Versace. Thirty of them are available in Seoul.

However, the most important value of the Barbie doll is it has not only lived through history and reflects the fashion of each era, but also helped to introduce various jobs to children.

Barbie's first job was as a fashion designer in 1959, but she soon had over 180 different occupations -- showing ideal jobs of the time. In 1961, she was a flight attendant and she became a surgeon in 1973, then a rock star in 1986. In early 2000, Barbie became president and turned into a ballerina six years later.

If Barbie showed mainly female-oriented jobs in the 1960s and 1970s, there is some variety in the 1980s and 1990s where she challenges male-dominated occupations and has had jobs as a doctor, pilot and rock star. Now Barbie has even more specific jobs such as computer programmer and president. The doll also represents different races and has many different hair and makeup styles.

"Ruth Handler, who first made Barbie, wanted to deliver the message through the toy that you can be anything. Handler wanted the doll to hold a certain philosophy, thus the Barbie doll became not just a toy but a history that reflects ideas and fashions of the time," exhibition curator Sung Yun-jean said.

"It particularly shows a lot of fashions as many top designers have been showing love for the doll. It has become an icon of the time and I believe this exhibition is interesting for not only kids but also adults."

The Barbie exhibition goes on until May 28 free of charge.

Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) is also hosting an exhibition in time for Children's Day with Pixar animation characters celebrating the animation studio's 30th anniversary.

The event shows works that have been created while producing its animated films, such as a pastel drawing of Nemo from "Finding Nemo."

The handworks of Disney characters have barely been seen in real life as many artists work on computers.

However, the Pixar exhibition in Seoul shows some animation art pieces drawn with pencil and characters made into sculptures using traditional methods.

A digital painting of Princess Merida of the Disney's animated film "Brave" is also displayed at the exhibition.

The exhibition goes on until Aug. 18. Tickets cost 9,000 won to 13,000 won.




(Sanya's sea reclamation construction under way Photo/Courtesy of Friends of Nature)

A Beijing-based environmental protection NGO has revealed that Sanya, Hainan province is struggling with rampant sea reclamation construction far exceeding government-approved projects.

The NGO, Friends of Nature (FON), claimed in a report on May 3 that their investigation team discovered massive sea reclamation construction sites near Sanya's Hongtang Bay, allegedly spreading across 100 hectares. Meanwhile, local authorities have only approved projects to occupy 49.68 hectares.

FON further noted that a series of small reclamation project applications, each one to occupy an area of no more than 50 hectares, have been submitted to Sanya's Oceanic and Fishery Department. Together, these projects would cover 418 hectares  an area large enough to have a major impact on the environment.

(Sanya's sea reclamation construction under way Photo/Courtesy of Friends of Nature)

Sanyas sea reclamation construction projects began drawing attention in late April, when the city started to solicit public opinion on its reclamation project for a new airport, set to occupy more than 2,500 hectares. Many environmental activists have expressed concern that the project would cause damage to surrounding wildlife, including coral reefs and white dolphins, especially since a protected coral reef reserve is situated nearby.

The NGO cited the provincial oceanic and fishery authority as saying that the government could conduct assessments on individual projects, but the environmental impact assessment (EIA) reports should consider them as a whole.

FON alleged that many of the ongoing projects fail to block the spread of silt, noting that some construction sites have already been penalized for this infraction. Nevertheless, the NGO called on authorities to halt all illegal construction.

Local authorities have not responded to the NGO's call as of press time.

According to the EIA report for the new airport, related sea reclamation construction will have only a minor impact on coral reefs, but preventative measures must be carefully implemented or greater damage will be done. Specifically, there must be strict oversight of silt in the water. The report suggested that coral reefs at risk of becoming buried by deposits should be relocated, and artificial reefs planted as additional habitat for coral.

(Sanya's sea reclamation construction under way Photo/Courtesy of Friends of Nature)
By Park Hyong-ki



Korea maintained its current account surplus for the 61st consecutive month in March, thanks to brisk exports of semiconductors, according to preliminary data by the Bank of Korea (BOK) Thursday.



But its services account deficit widened due to increased deficit in the travel account.



The current account, the broadest measure of trade, stood at $5.93 billion in March, down from $10.5 billion a year earlier.



However, the country was able to achieve its longest-running surplus since March 2012 as Asia's fourth-largest economy saw a rebound in exports. Imports increased in March as well amid a rebound in international oil prices.



Korean exports increased 12.8 percent to $50.4 billion in March year-on-year, thanks to an increase in exports of chips and petrochemicals.



Imports also climbed about 28 percent to $40.6 billion as oil prices jumped almost 70 percent to $55 per barrel in the same period.



Korea's exports to Southeast Asia and China increased, but its outbound shipments to the U.S. decreased.



The decrease appears to reflect its efforts to ease trade tensions with the Trump administration, which recently called their bilateral free trade deal "horrible."



The services account deficit widened to $3.27 billion from $920 million as the balance of payment for its travel account saw a deficit of $1.35 billion.



The increased services account deficit, overall, was due to the decreasing number of Chinese tourists to Korea amid China's retaliation against Korea's deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system.



In March, the number of Chinese tourists came to 360,000, down from 600,000 a year earlier, the BOK noted.



"Korea saw a surge of tourists from Japan and Southeast Asia but it was not enough to offset the rapid decrease of Chinese tourists," a BOK official said. "We expect the travel account deficit to increase if the problem persists between Korea and China."




By Jun Ji-hye

North Korea is unlikely to conduct a nuclear test or launch an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) immediately on mounting pressure from the United States and China, officials said Monday.

South Korean military officials said that it would be hard for Pyongyang to conduct any provocations at this time as it has been driven into a corner by Washington's warnings of military action, and Beijing's threat of reducing its oil supply to the North.

"Every situation going forward is unfavorable to North Korea," said a source, asking not to be named. "The question is whether the North is still able to conduct large-scale provocations in this environment."

While not actually conducting any major provocation, Pyongyang is ratcheting up its harsh rhetoric against U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, warning of war in response to any hostile action by the U.S.

Another source cited Seoul and Washington's ongoing Foal Eagle exercise as a reason behind this.

"U.S. troops and their weapons are currently here for the exercise. It would be difficult for Kim Jong-un to push ahead with provocations," the source said.

He noted that there is greater possibility for the North to take a wait-and-see attitude at least for this month, waiting for U.S. troops and weapons here for the exercise to leave after it is wrapped up.

The comments came amid concerns that the North may conduct provocative actions on and around today when it celebrates the 85th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army.
Satellite images of islands off North Korea, gathered by Strategic Sentinel. / Courtesy of Strategic Sentinel



By Lee Han-soo

North Korea is building three islands near Sohae, a port city about 200 kilometers west of Pyongyang, for what appears to be military bases for missile launches, according to the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday.

Sohae is home to the isolated country's alleged satellite launching site.

Satellite images obtained by the American newspaper showed at least three islands had been under construction since 2012 and all appear to have characteristics of a military base, such as paved roads and rectangular lots, the newspaper said.

The newspaper claimed the North appeared to get the idea of building islands for missile launches from China, which has been creating islands in the South China Sea and using them as forwarding military bases.

"We can't make definitive statements as to what these islands are being used for," the newspaper quoted Ryan Barenklau, chief executive of Strategic Sentinel, as saying. "Military use is likely. Roads on the islands feature wide turns, indicating that they could be used for various military vehicles."
China has been in talks since last August with North Korea over the dumping of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons, according to a report from Hong Kong news agency Aboluowang on Wednesday. / Korea Times file



By Eom Da-sol

Are China and North Korea in the final stage of talks to abandon the latter's nuclear weapon and long-range missile programs?

With various rumors swirling amid escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Hong Kong-based news outlet Aboluowang claimed the two countries have been in secret talks since last August and the dialogue has evolved to the point where they negotiated detailed terms to ensure the programs' permanent termination.

The four terms the North reportedly suggested to China are: offering unconditional financial aid of $600 billion a year for the next 10 years (raised by China, South Korea, the United States, Japan and Russia), lifting all U.N. and international sanctions on the isolated country, settlement of the Washington-Pyongyang peace treaty and to promise the safety of the Kim Jong-un regime.

The only condition China reportedly suggested in return was the dumping of nuclear weapon and missile programs within three years of the deal's signing.

But talks are reportedly deadlocked over China's determination to send nuclear experts to the North to monitor dismantling of the programs.

Experts here consider the rumor baseless, coming amid heightened tensions on the peninsula and rising hope for a diplomatic breakthrough.

South Korea's foreign ministry did not know about the report.

"We are working to check whether the report was grounded," a foreign ministry official said.
By Lee Han-soo

North Korea's state media made a rare, direct criticism of China saying its "reckless remarks" on the North's nuclear program are testing its patience and could trigger unspecified "grave" consequences.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), through a commentary written identified only as Kim Chol, said China had "crossed the red line" of their alliance and Pyongyang "will never beg for Beijing's friendship," following China consenting to tougher sanctions on the isolated country, including a possible suspension of oil supply.

China, North Korea's largest trading partner and main ally, halted North Korean coal imports in accordance with U.N. sanctions in February and has been urging its traditional ally to stop nuclear and missile activities amid U.S. pressuring to use its military to resolve the issue.

The comments reflect China's increasingly limited influence on the nuclear-armed state that has stoked regional tensions with nuclear and missile tests and North Korea's concerns over China's political interference.
Walter Sharp, third from left in front row, former U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) commander, poses for a photo with other participants from Korea and the U.S. during the foundation ceremony of the Korea Defense Veterans Association (KDVA) at the official residence of the Korean ambassador to the U.S. in Washington, Wednesday (local time). Sharp is the first president of the KDVA that will bring together 3.5 million members including former and incumbent USFK servicemen as well as Koreans who served in the U.S. military under the Korean Augmentation to the United State Army (KATUSA) program. / Courtesy of Korean Embassy in the U.S.
By Lee Kyung-min and You Soo-sun





Hundreds of voters cast their ballots at Seoul and Yongsan train stations, Thursday, as part of a two-day early voting period ahead of the May 9 presidential election.

Seoul Station, the major transport hub in the country, is where one of more than 3,500 polling stations has been set up nationwide for early voting.

The National Election Commission (NEC) said the polling booths are available between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., to better accommodate the 42.4 million eligible voters who are unable to vote on May 9.

Some of voters set up tents near the polling stations to stay there overnight to be the first to cast their ballot.

At least six voters were among those who stayed up all night to line up even before the polling booths opened at 6 a.m. at Seoul Station.

An IT industry worker surnamed Seo, 33, said he voted for Hong Joon-pyo of the far-right Liberty Korea Party (LKP).

"Moon is pro-North Korea. The country is bound to self-destruct if a man holding such sympathetic views toward the North takes office," he said.

Seo said his decision was affected by the intensifying threats from North Korea and his belief in protecting capitalism.












By Park Si-soo



South Korea's leading presidential candidate Moon Jae-in warned the United States not to meddle in the country's democracy -- in a rare critical tone against the country's closest ally -- in an interview published in Thursday's Washington Post.



Referring to what he saw as the rushed installation of a THAAD anti-missile system here and U.S. President Donald Trump's abrupt demand Seoul shoulder the $1 billion cost for its operation, Moon said: "It is not desirable for the [caretaker] South Korean government to deploy THAAD hastily at this politically sensitive time, with the presidential election approaching, and without going through the democratic process, an environmental assessment or a public hearing.



"Would it happen this way in the United States? Could the administration make a unilateral decision without following democratic procedures, without ratification or agreement by Congress?



"If South Korea can have more time to process this matter democratically, the U.S. will gain a higher level of trust from South Koreans and, therefore, the alliance between the two nations will become even stronger."



The American newspaper said Moon "fears" the U.S. government has been acting to box him in on the THAAD issue and circumvent South Korea's democratic process.



Moon said he has "some reservations" about the U.S. trying to meddle in the May 9 presidential election.



"I don't believe the U.S. has the intention [to influence our election], but I do have some reservations," he said.



With the election just five days away, the human rights lawyer-turned-politician leads the latest polls by a wide margin.




More may follow suit amid voter backlash

By Choi Ha-young





Jeong Woon-chun

Rep. Jeong Woon-chun of the Bareun Party said Thursday he would not quit the minor conservative party.

Jeong earlier said he would join 13 fellow lawmakers who had quit the party, Tuesday, to attempt to rejoin the larger conservative Liberty Korea Party (LKP) and support its presidential candidate Hong Joon-pyo.

However, as public criticism mounted over their "unscrupulous" behavior, Hwang Young-cheul, one of the 13 lawmakers, retracted his decision the next day and vowed to stay in the Bareun Party to help its candidate Yoo Seong-min win the May 9 election.

And on Thursday, Jeong showed up to apologize.

"Last winter, we worked together to impeach then-President Park Geun-hye out of respect for the Constitution, and we did it," Jeong told reporters. "In line with citizens who voted for me, I will protect the Bareun Party and its reasonable conservative values."












By Kim Rahn



Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said he faced great pressure to step up as acting president while former President Park Geun-hye faced her impeachment hearing.



In his last press conference Thursday before the new government begins in only five days from now, Hwang said he tried to stick to his principles, contemplating to what extent the acting president could exercise his power.



"I had a heavy heart to manage the state as acting president especially after the presidential corruption scandal," he told reporters at his official residence in Seoul. "I wished, a dozen times a day, that I would have quit. But I thought doing so would be against my duty as a public official."



Regarding his role, Hwang said, "I thought I should do things required for stable management of the country if they are not issues that should be carried out only by an elected president."



The former prosecutor first joined the Park administration as a justice minister in March 2013 when it was inaugurated. He was then tapped as prime minister in June 2015.



While the presidential corruption scandal was snowballing late last year, Hwang tendered his resignation in October to take responsibility for the administration's failure. Park nominated Kim Byong-joon, a former secretary for former President Roh Moo-hyun, but opposition parties boycotted the nomination sessions.



After the National Assembly passed the impeachment motion for Park about a month later, Hwang became the acting president, bearing the pressure to address the political confusion and leadership vacuum.



Earlier this year, he emerged as a potential presidential candidate from the conservative bloc after another hopeful, former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, withdrew from the presidential race. His support rate once reached nearly 20 percent.



But he faced criticism from the liberal bloc for attempting to be a "player" while the acting president's role was to manage the election as a "referee." He finally decided not to enter the race.



During his acting presidency, he was also criticized for "abusing" his authority: he opposed the investigators' search attempts of Cheong Wa Dae for the corruption scandal; he refused to extend the special prosecutor's probe period into the scandal; and he and the nation's security team pushed ahead with installing a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here despite calls that the next government should deal with it.



Hwang said he would tender his resignation right after the presidential election results are confirmed. "But the next government will be launched without a transition period, so a vacuum in state affairs is expected. If the next president wants me to stay for a while, I'll take it into consideration."



But it remains to be seen whether Hwang can have an honorable exit and peaceful life after retirement, as he is likely to face investigation over his alleged abuse of power: two independent lawmakers recently asked the prosecution to investigate him and security-related ministers for pushing ahead with the controversial THAAD deployment. The next government may also try to investigate his role in the Park administration's failure.




Baku, Azerbaijan, May 4

Trend:

The OSCE monitoring held along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops passed without incidents on May 4, Azerbaijans Defense Ministry said May 4.

The monitoring was held under the mandate of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative in Azerbaijans Aghdam district, the ministry said.

On the Azerbaijani side, the monitoring was held by Andrzej Kasprzyk, OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative, as well as Gennady Petrica and Martin Schuster, field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative.

On the Azerbaijani territories occupied and controlled by Armenian armed forces, the monitoring was held by Simon Tiller and Mikhail Olaru, field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative.

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.
By Kim Bo-eun





The National Election Commission (NEC) is looking into a broadcaster's report which claimed the maritime ministry and leading presidential contender Moon Jae-in made a deal on delaying the salvaging of the ferry Sewol.



Citing an unnamed ministry official, SBS TV reported Tuesday that the ministry and Moon agreed on postponing refloating the ferry, in return for Moon expanding the ministry if he becomes president.



The salvaging of the ferry which sank in April 2014, began three years later, right after former President Park Geun-hye was removed from office in March. The Park administration had come under fire for its inept in handling the disaster.



The election watchdog plans to dig into how the report was made, and identify the official who spoke to the SBS reporter.



If the NEC finds the broadcaster made the report to prevent the election of a certain candidate, or if the ministry official gave a false account with the same intention, this would be a violation of the Election Law.



The report drew a fierce backlash from Moon's camp, which said it would take legal action against those responsible.



The maritime ministry's team working on the site of the salvaged ferry held a briefing, denying the allegations SBS raised. The ministry said it identified the official that spoke with the SBS reporter and suspended him.



The official said he was surprised because he was misquoted by the broadcaster, according to the ministry. He also told the ministry that SBS quoted him without his consent and edited what he said.



Meanwhile, the broadcaster's journalists' union released a statement claiming the report initially included allegations that the delay of the salvaging was due to disapproval from the Park administration. However, these elements were deleted in the editing process, the union said.



SBS delivered an apology during its 8 p.m. news section, Wednesday, claiming the report was "not intended to exert influence on the election or slander a certain candidate."



The online report has been deleted.



However, rival contenders _ Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor opposition People's Party and Hong Joon-pyo of the conservative Liberty Korea Party demanded Moon's withdrawal and a parliamentary investigation of the allegation.




By Jun Ji-hye





Yoo Seong-min Hong Joon-pyo

A public uproar over the 12 Bareun Party lawmakers waiting to rejoin the Liberty Korea Party (LKP) is having mixed implications for the Bareun Party candidate Yoo Seong-min and the LKP's Hong Joon-pyo.



It is evident that this case is pouring cold water on Hong's recent rally in the presidential race, while Yoo is seeing an upsurge in popularity thanks to public sympathy and encouragement.

Twelve lawmakers, including Reps. Kweon Seong-dong and Kim Sung-tae, quit the Bareun Party earlier this week to support Hong in an apparent bid to prevent the Democratic Party of Korea's candidate Moon Jae-in from being elected in the May 9 election. The lawmakers said they wanted to "unify forces to prevent a pro-North Korea, leftist politician from prevailing in the election."

Earlier than this, Rep. Lee Eun-jae who had belonged to the Bareun Party also made a move to return to the LKP last week.

Their decisions came as Yoo has been suffering from stagnant, low single-digit support, while Hong's popularity has been increasing among conservative voters.

However, contrary to expectations that their defection would exert a favorable effect on Hong's presidential bid, it faces huge criticism from members of the public as well as some LKP lawmakers loyal to former President Park Geun-hye. This consequently has put Hong in an awkward situation.












By Kim Bo-eun



The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family's report on sex slaves published Thursday is drawing criticism from civic groups and victims.



The report is about women who were sexually enslaved by the Japanese military before and during World War II. It confirmed Korea's stance that the Japanese government was involved in forcing the women into sexual slavery, and that it therefore bears legal responsibility. But at the same time, it also referred to the controversial deal reached between the two governments in 2015 as "somewhat of an accomplishment." The agreement is disputed because the Japanese government did not acknowledge legal responsibility for its atrocities.



The government decided to draw up the report in 2014, when the Japanese government had attempted to deny that the victims were forced into sex slavery. It was intended to pressure Japan by globally promoting the Korean government's stance through various foreign-language translations.



A civic group representing the victims released a statement, taking issue with the report's crediting of the 2015 agreement between Korea and Japan as an accomplishment of the Park Geun-hye administration.



"The report's conclusion is that the 2015 agreement was the best possible deal and that it must be followed through with," it said.



"The next administration must dispose of the agreement and allow victims to call for a proper official apology and legal reparation."



The report was initially devised as a government compilation, but plans were revised earlier this year for the private sector to author it.



Ten researchers affiliated with Kookmin University Institute of Japanese Studies and Sungkyunkwan University's Center for East Asian History compiled the report.



"Publishing that the private report, one not a government has not compiled, shows that the Korean government gave up on its sovereignty over the issue," the House of Sharing, a facility for sex slave victims said, following the release.



The 216-page report is available on the ministry's website as well as at central and local government bodies.




By Jung Min-ho

With the clock ticking toward the May 9 presidential election, the candidates  and their children  are making a last-ditch effort to appeal to voters.

Compared with previous elections, their children have played bigger roles in the campaigns this time around. They don't just pose for pictures, but also deliver their parents' key messages directly through press interviews and participate in promotion activities through social media.

Ahn Seol-hee, the daughter of People's Party candidate Ahn Cheol-soo, took a backseat during her father's election campaign in 2012, but she stepped forward this time to help him out.





Ahn Seol-hee, the daughter of People's Party candidate Ahn Cheol-soo

Ahn is a doctorate student who is studying mathematics and chemistry at Stanford University in California. She took a leave of absence recently to join his campaign.

Earlier this week, she uploaded a video in which she expressed her love and respect for her father. "As your daughter, who loves you so much, maybe I can't judge you objectively. But I can say it is time for Korea to have an ethical leader who strives to make the country fairer and better. I think you are the right one," she said.












In the left photo, Moon Jae-in, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, is welcomed by participants at a conference about Korean pop culture in southern Seoul, Thursday. In the right photo, Ahn Cheol-soo, the candidate of the People's Party, greets a child while campaigning in Hahoe Folk Village in North Gyeongsang Province the same day. / Yonhap



By Kim Hyo-jin



With their voices becoming huskier and pain growing in their hands from all the handshaking with voters, presidential candidates are moving briskly from here to there campaigning nationwide, Thursday.



As the campaign is heading into the final stretch to the May 9 election, their appeal for votes and negative campaigning against rival candidates has become stronger.



Ahn Cheol-soo of the People's Party started canvassing voters door-to-door without the use of his official car, an unusual move on the campaign trail.



He met Daegu citizens, walking around the city for seven straight hours with his guards several meters away distance. Such ways of canvassing will continue until the last day of the campaign, May 8, according to his campaign team.



In a bid to turn around conservative voters whose support has been shifted to Hong Joon-pyo of the rightist Liberty Korea Party (LKP) in recent polls, Ahn focused on campaigning in Gyeongsang Provinces, traditional home ground for the conservative bloc. He visited Haein Temple in Hapcheon and moved to Andong, then Gumi.



Targeting candidates in the leading group in polls, Ahn said voters should avoid voting for the establishment.



"To defeat Moon Jae-in, I'm the only competent candidate. Hong is not even qualified to be a presidential candidate," he wrote on a Facebook post. "If you hope to create hope for the conservatives, vote for Yoo Seong-min. And if you hope to give more power to the liberals, vote for Sim Sang-jung."



Ahn added, if elected, he will join hands with Yoo of the Bareun Party and Sim of the Justice Party in running the administration.













He has laid out his vision to launch a coalition government with reformative figures regardless of their political lines, but it was the first time that he mentioned that minor contenders are included in his plan.



Hong, who has recently emerged as a strong contender to Ahn, also canvassed in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, a move to boost further support from conservative voters.



His party has a positive outlook for the election, given his popularity has sharply risen in the last few weeks. The party's think thank earlier said, according to an internal survey, Hong already overtook Ahn and is hot on trail of Moon.



Hong then moved to Chungcheong Province, the crucial swing vote area, in the afternoon, and then to Gangwon Province, another conservative-leaning region.



The choice of the itinerary is viewed as his focus on prospective supporters. His campaign has framed the election as a competition between the leftists and the rightists, fanning concerns among traditional conservative supporters about losing the government to the rival force.



In an apparent move to court supporters of former President Park Geun-hye, Hong said he will reinstate pro-Park lawmakers whose party memberships were suspended following the presidential corruption scandal.



"Our priority should be deterring the launch of a pro-North Korea government. Those aligned with Park and those who are not should work together for the presidential election," he told citizens.



Moon, the candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea, met with entertainers and officials in the music and drama industry and held a roundtable discussions on ways to revive the so-called Korean wave that has been halted in China by a row between Seoul and Beijing over the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery.



Yoo also stayed in Seoul and canvassed in the university areas starting from Ewha Womans University to Hanyang and Hongik Universities. He targeted a receptive audience for change among young voters, according to his campaign team.



Meanwhile, Sim attended a roundtable session arranged to discuss the future of the Korea-U.S. alliance with foreign policy experts.



She said the need to reset the alliance is ever higher now that both governments are poles apart over the cost of the U.S. missile defense system operating here, claiming the ROK-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty be revised. "I call for a democratic alliance with the U.S. by redefining its goal and means," she said.



After meeting Jeju citizens in the afternoon, she moved to Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, and consoled the bereaved families of those killed by a crane that collapsed at a Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard.
By Frank Ching





What a difference a year makes. Last year, at the 29th ASEAN summit in Laos, a Chairman's Statement, without mentioning China, "took note of concerns expressed by some Leaders on the land reclamations and escalation of activities in the area, which have eroded trust and confidence, increased tensions and may undermine peace, security and stability in the area."



While the leaders of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations were careful not to criticize China by name, they let it be known that Chinese actions had eroded trust and raised tensions.



But even such subdued voicing of concern over Chinese actions was missing from this year's statement, issued Sunday in Manila after the 30th summit was held under the chairmanship of the Philippines.



President Rodrigo Duterte, who assumed office last summer, visited Beijing in October and there dramatically announced "my separation from the United States."



Since then, he has gone to great lengths to woo China. Duterte announced that he would not mention in the Chairman's Statement a ruling by a Hague arbitral tribunal that rebuked China for its construction of artificial islands and found its claims to sovereignty over the waters without legal merit. The case was brought by Duterte's predecessor.



Since then, China has succeeded to a large extent in taming Asean, especially when the new Trump administration flailed about aimlessly, neglecting Southeast Asia. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman in January said, "Countries that have disputes with China over the South China Sea have come to an agreement with us that these disputes should be peacefully resolved through consultation and negotiation with parties directly concerned.This hard-won situation is worth cherishing."



The Chairman's Statement last weekend underwent several drafts and, it seems clear, China successfully brought its influence to bear. An earlier draft included mention of land reclamation and militarization. However, both terms are absent from the final statement.



Agence France-Presse reported that the Chinese embassy had asked Manila not to mention international law and to remove the phrase "respect for legal and diplomatic processes," which could be taken to refer to the arbitral ruling. The phrase was removed from the section on the South China Sea, but it appears in the section on "Asean Community Building and the Way Forward." Asean is marking its 50th anniversary this year.



Now, the US is trying to make up for lost ground. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump spoke on the phone with both the prime minister of Singapore and Thailand and invited them to the White House. But the most significant call he made was to President Duterte.



Barack Obama had criticized Duterte over human rights, which earned him a curse from the Philippine leader. But, after Trump's election, Duterte and the new American leader hit it off, with Trump praising Duterte's crackdown on drugs, which has resulted in thousands of deaths.



They spoke on the phone again Saturday night, during which they discussed North Korea, regional security and Asean. According to the White House, they also discussed "the fact that the Philippine government is fighting very hard to rid its country of drugs, a scourge that affects many countries throughout the world."



Trump invited Duterte to visit the White House "to discuss the importance of the United States-Philippines alliance, which is now heading in a very positive direction."



Trump is scheduled to visit the Philippines in November to take part in the East Asia Summit and the US-Asean summit. That month, he will also be in Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit meeting.

Vice President Mike Pence, while in Asia last week, confirmed that Trump would attend the Asean meetings as a sign of "unwavering commitment" to the region. The region is a powerhouse in its own right. If it were one country, Asean would be the world's sixth largest economy and is continuing to rise.



It is unclear to what extent this belated US effort to regain lost ground will succeed, especially since Trump pulled the US out of a 12-nation Pacific trade deal, which included four Southeast Asian countries.



Last month Duterte, in Myanmar, said while he wants to enhance relations with Trump and is ready to "give all," it was "short of military alliances. I don't like that. We can't handle those."



If Trump manages to salvage the US-Philippine alliance despite Duterte's pledge in China to join Beijing and Moscow to face down the rest of the world, it will be a well-deserved feather in his diplomatic cap. China will be watching closely the development of events.





Frank Ching is a freelancer writer based in Hong Kong. Contact Frank.ching@gmail.com.
By Joschka Fischer



BERLIN  A lot can happen between now and the second round of the French presidential election on May 7, so it is still too early to celebrate. But, even with the nationalist, populist candidate Marine Le Pen still in the running, many observers are genuinely hopeful that the first-round winner, Emmanuel Macron, will be France's next president.



With Macron's victory, Europe would avoid self-destruction yet again. A President Le Pen would almost surely bring about the end of the European Union. Taking France out of the eurozone, as Le Pen has promised, would lead to the collapse of the euro itself. After that, the EU common market and other core institutions would fall like dominoes. Europe would plunge into the abyss, and 60 years of political, economic, and social progress would be lost.



Moreover, Le Pen wants to withdraw France from NATO and pursue friendlier relations with Vladimir Putin's Russia. This would throw current security arrangements across Europe into chaos, quite possibly leading to panic among investors and plunging the continent into economic crisis. The political consequences are scarcely predicable.



After France's second-round vote, Europe will likely be spared this nightmare scenario for the time being  meaning the next five years. Still, to avoid a future disaster, European leaders must learn the right lessons from this year's French election.



For starters, it is in Europe's interest that a President Macron not fail. The EU's future, and particularly that of Germany, depends on a successful Macron presidency to lift France from its long economic malaise and resolve its paralyzing identity crisis.



A weak, economically stagnant, and politically insecure France poses an acute danger to the entire European project, because a France that remains in that state will inevitably succumb to the type of anti-European nationalism that Le Pen represents. At the same time, a strong, self-confident France is necessary for the EU's long-term survival.



Whether or not Macron's presidency is a success will depend on his ability to heal France's social divisions, restore its economic dynamism, and tackle its high unemployment, particularly among young people. We should not lose sight of the fact that almost half of the French electorate voted for Euroskeptic and anti-establishment candidates in the first round. The EU cannot survive many more elections with that kind of outcome, so "business as usual" is no longer an option.



Above all, the next French president will have to restore economic growth. And the same can be said for all other eurozone member states. After Germany's general election in September, the government will finally have to take the plunge and pursue a more robust economic policy, unless it wants to cede the stage to nationalists who would destroy the EU.



Although Germany has made valid arguments in defense of its fiscal and external surpluses, its current economic model has failed to stimulate enough growth in the eurozone to stabilize the single currency. Achieving that goal will require a new consensus between Northern and Southern Europe, led by Germany and France.



It will also require Germany finally to take some decisive steps toward accommodating France's economic needs, and to dispel the illusion that the EU can survive under a regime of exclusive German leadership. The EU is a complicated entity that can be led only by a strong French-German axis working in concert with other member states. That, too, is a lasting lesson that European leaders should take from the French election.



Macron, for his part, will have to avoid a trap that ensnared his predecessors Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande. Both cozied up too closely to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and thus could not confront the German government when necessary. For example, I would wager that if France had done more to challenge Germany's opposition to Eurobonds, anti-European populists on both the left and the right would not have gained the political momentum that they have in recent years. Constructive conflict in Europe is sometimes necessary. Without it, what the EU stands for remains obscure.



As the French presidential election reaches its conclusion, the description of Europe as a "community of destiny" still holds true, even after 60 years. On May 7, France will decide not just its own fate, but that of the EU, too. Europeans should rejoice  but then they must get down to work.



Joschka Fischer, Germany's foreign minister and vice chancellor from 1998 to 2005, was a leader of the German Green Party for almost 20 years. Copyright belongs to Project Syndicate.









Joschka Fischer, Germany's foreign minister and vice chancellor from 1998 to 2005, was a leader of the German Green Party for almost 20 years. Copyright belongs to Project Syndicate.




Every eligible Korean should vote to rebuild the country

Ahead of the May 9 presidential election, two days of early voting began Thursday at 3,500 polling stations. This is the first time for early voting to be introduced in a presidential election. By 11:00 a.m. Thursday, more than 1.5 million people had cast their ballots. The big turnout demonstrates the people's desire to close the chapter on incompetent, corrupt politics once and for all and start afresh with a new leader.

The voters' enthusiasm for early voting should be transferred to actual voting day. Since this falls at the end of a long holiday, it is easy to think about forgoing it for leisure. Many people also may think that because this election is rather predictable, their votes won't be able to change the outcome. Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea has a stable lead in polls, but every voter should cast their ballot, considering the grave tasks lying ahead for their country.

During the 2012 presidential election, surveys showed that voters in their 20s and 30s were the least interested in voting. But regardless of age, there are three very good reasons for every eligible person to vote.

First, we need a leader who can turn around a long economic slump and put the nation on the path of recovery. Second, we need a leader who can restore the people's confidence in our diplomacy and national security. Third, the Park Geun-hye administration is in the past, but it needs to be judged by voters for the way it took the nation backwards in so many ways.

Special circumstances ahead of this election have made it hard for voters to get to know the candidates properly. The May 9 election was confirmed only after the disgraced leader was impeached by the National Assembly and removed from office by the March 10 Constitutional Court ruling. Due to the short campaign period, many voters have had to rely on a series of TV debates, but they only disappointed voters because they were mostly about mudslinging, rather than mature discussions on policies. Even during the last debate on social issues earlier this week, the candidates were preoccupied with making personal attacks against each other.












Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has laid out a road map to enable Japan to be a "normal state" that can go to war. In a video message delivered to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Japan's pacifist Constitution Wednesday, he expressed hope that a revision to this will take effect in 2020 when the Tokyo Olympics take place.



The conservative leader proposed that the new Constitution clearly define the status of the country's Self-Defense Forces (SDF), the island country's de facto military. He also proposed to keep intact the so-called peace clause of the current Constitution requiring Japan to renounce the use of force in settling international disputes and not to maintain land, sea and air forces. Pundits see Abe's plan to keep the war-renouncing clause as a shrewd calculation to calm skeptics and leave open the possibility of a revision later.



Abe also showed his willingness to have the new Constitution stipulate the expansion of free education. This is seen as a move to open public debate concerning constitutional change by touching on less controversial issues first for later discussions on the key clause.



Not surprisingly, Abe cites Japan's changing security environment arising from China's rise and North Korea's nuclear and missile threats as reasons to push for the constitutional change. One can easily figure out why the Japanese government has hyped escalating tensions over North Korea recently.



Against this backdrop, there are clearer signs that more Japanese support the revision. U.S. President Donald Trump also wants Japan to play a bigger role in Asia's regional security to deter China's advance.



If the SDF wins the official right to exist after the pacifist Constitution is revised, Japan may be able to send its forces to the Korean Peninsula to fight alongside American troops. That is why the resurgence of Japan's militarism is so fearful.



As a defeated nation of World War II, Japan has a duty to contribute to world peace as well as stability in Northeast Asia. There is no question that Abe's constitutional timetable will ramp up regional tension.



The Japanese prime minister should offer a sincere apology first for Japan's wartime atrocities before pushing his constitutional ambition.




By Park Moo-jong





Most politicians live and die by their use of language. Some win thanks to their witty silver tongue. Some lose due to their poor sense of humor or an absurd slip of the tongue.



Over the decades, "successful" world leaders have demonstrated how humor can be the best weapon.

When it comes to a politician's humor, Winston Churchill (1874-1965) could be second to none, together with Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).



Sometime in 1946, Churchill, the British prime minister during World War II, was leaving the House of Commons, when Bessie Braddock (1899-1970), a member of parliament from the Labour Party, hit him with an insult saying, "Winston, you are drunk and what's more you are disgustingly drunk."



Churchill fired back at her with an insult, too, saying, "Bessie, my dear, you are ugly, and what's more you are disgustingly ugly. But tomorrow I shall be sober and you will still be disgustingly ugly."



Lincoln, who led the United States through its Civil War and paved the way for the abolition of slavery, was accused of being two-faced by his arch-rival Stephen A. Douglas during a debate in Illinois in 1858 for a Senate seat. Lincoln replied calmly, "I leave it to my audience: If I had two faces, would I be wearing this one?" (Douglas also lost to Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election.)



Ronald Reagan's (1911-2004) age-old wisdom and humor shows how a leader can be awe-inspiring.



In a presidential TV debate for his reelection in 1984, then 56-year-old Walter Mondale tackled Reagan's age of 73, asking if he is too old to be president.



Reagan quipped, "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience," even soliciting a laugh from his rival. (The Republican actor-turned-statesman ended up winning by a landslide).



These episodes give crystal-clear testimony about the importance of a politician's sense of humor.



How about the reality in the Republic of Korea where the presidential candidates are making last-ditch campaigns for the May 9 (Tuesday) election?



The answer is simple and very easy: Where has all the humor gone? The five TV debates featured only tough verbal attacks, vulgar curses and shallow witticisms plus threatening words.













Voters watching TV, particularly undecided voters, had to sigh, as they could not choose the candidate to vote for.

Ahead of the few days to go, the candidates have been all out in their production of menacing remarks only to boost the split among the people and encourage conflicts between the left and right.



In selfish attempts to bind their supporters closer, the candidates are fanning the deep-rooted feud between conservatives and progressives without presenting any forward-looking views to help unite the acute split in public opinion over crucial national issues, including the ever-mounting security crisis over North Korea's nuclear threats.

They were busy picking on their rivals, condemning each other as deep-rooted evils and even abusing each other's supporters.



Many people might get chills upon hearing the "spiteful" words of former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan, the co-chief campaigner of front-runner Moon Jae-in, during a stump rally where he said "(we) have to completely destroy the extreme conservative forces."



Moon, himself, also said earlier that he would "burn" conservatives (if elected), and his conservative rival Hong Joon-pyo quipped, "I shall be burnt at the stake."



In short, the campaigning is something like a "blood and thunder" film. Korean politicians really lack humor and laughter.



When we need a bridge over troubled water, it should be through the power of humor. It plays the role of a lubricant to help open mutual communication and sympathy. Humor is one of the important virtues political leaders of today should have.



ABC (American Broadcasting Company) TV reported in October 2015 that nearly three-quarters of the American people count a sense of humor as an essential attribute of successful politicians.



Indeed, the leader's sense of humor is a barometer of a nation's political level.



Barrack Obama upgraded the class of U.S. politics with his mastered art of using humor to humanize himself and advance his agenda in this age of viral videos and unconventional new modes of communication, as NBC reported last December.



His successor, Mr. Donald Trump? At the moment, the U.S. president seems to have a silver tongue, but does not seem to be witty or deliberate enough, giving rise to a newly coined term, "Trump Risk."



Human life has more tragic elements than comedic ones. But it is humor and the spirit of affirmation that help humans think of life as worth living despite a hard and difficult reality.



Whoever becomes the president five days from now, the new leader will travel a long and winding road to tackle North Korea's nuclear threats, conflict with China, the split of national opinion and economic problems among others.



The new occupant of Choeng Wa Dae will be able to enjoy public support in solving this heap of questions only when he helps the people laugh with humor and tolerance.





Park Moo-jong is The Korea Times advisor. He served as president-publisher of the nation's first English newspaper founded in 1950 from 2004 to 2014 after working as a reporter for the daily since 1974. He can be reached at moojong@ktimes.com or emjei29@gmail.com
Details added (first version posted on May 3, 17:54)

Baku, Azerbaijan, May 3

Trend:

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has today received credentials of newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Mali Tiefing Konate.

Ambassador Tiefing Konate reviewed a guard of honor.

Tiefing Konate presented his credentials to President Ilham Aliyev.

President Ilham Aliyev then had a conversation with the ambassador.

The head of state noted the importance of the upcoming visit of President of the Republic of Mali Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to Azerbaijan, saying the issues relating to the development of bilateral relations between the two countries will be discussed during the visit.

President Ilham Aliyev noted that Tiefing Konate's starting diplomatic activities in Azerbaijan creates a good opportunity for discussing a number of significant issues relating to bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

Ambassador Tiefing Konate conveyed greetings of the people and government of the Republic of Mali to the people of Azerbaijan, saying the two countries enjoy friendly and brotherly relations.

He said that during his tenure he will spare no efforts to contribute to the development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Mali.

Tiefing Konate recalled his first visit to Azerbaijan as a minister in 2013, underlining that he is very pleased to be appointed as an ambassador in Azerbaijan. He thanked President Ilham Aliyev for warm hospitality shown to him.
By Donald Kirk





TOKYO  The shadows of war lengthen over Japanese society in thrall to Article 9 of a "peace constitution" foisted under the "occupation" led by the victorious World War II Pacific commander, General Douglas MacArthur.

Much as the "rightist" Prime Minister Shinzo Abe might want to do away with it, Article 9 still bans Japan's euphemistically named "self-defense forces" from waging war. Or, to be precise, under Article 9 "the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes."



Abe would like dearly to revise or rescind Article 9, but he just cannot get away with it despite shrill anti-Japanese invective from North Korea and concerns about the rising power of China as seen in challenges to the Senkaku Islands, known to the Chinese as Diaoyutai. Japanese coast guard vessels, not naval or "Maritime Self-Defense Force" ships, rigorously fend off intruding Chinese "fishing boats" besieging the uninhabited islands, much closer to Taiwan than to either mainland China or the southernmost Japanese island prefecture of Okinawa, and Japanese "air self-defense force" planes warn away Chinese aircraft.



The minuet, however, risks turning into warfare with every confrontation in the narrow space between Japan and China or, more immediately, between Japan and the Korean peninsula. Now the pride of the "maritime self-defense force," a 19,500-ton helicopter carrier named the Izumo, is about to protect a U.S. Navy supply ship on its way to the flotilla -- or "armada," as President Trump called it -- led by the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson.



Practically speaking, North Korean rhetoric to the contrary, there's virtually no chance of North Korean submarines endangering these vessels. If gunfire did break out, however, the Izumo would be there in a departure from the restraint of Article 9. In fact, no Japanese warship has previously sailed off in defense of foreign interests. The rationale is Japanese ships should fight for Japan's allies as they would for Japan.



If that seems like a stretch, so is a large standing military that's limited to consuming one percent of Japan's gross domestic product  a seemingly small figure that's actually huge considering Japan's GDP this year is coming to about $4.84 trillion. That's way behind the projected U.S. GDP of $19.42 trillion or China at $11.8 trillion but ranks third ahead of Germany at $3.42 trillion  and means Japan still boasts one of the world's strongest armed forces.



Outside of Japan's conservative establishment, Japanese have mixed feelings about where they're going militarily. A poll conducted by Kyodo, the Japanese news agency, shows the Japanese split nearly evenly over revising the constitution so their troops can operate as full-fledged allies of the U.S. Slightly more than half of those polled don't want to revise Article 9. Three fourths of them credit adoption of the constitution 70 years ago with keeping Japan out of war.



The Izumo represents more than its role with U.S. warships. It's 249 meters long but called a "destroyer"  a euphemism for its purpose as a carrier big enough for a dozen or so helicopters on its deck. In case of war, the Izumo could be converted into a small jet aircraft carrier  not nearly as big as China's newly launched Shandong, 50,000 tons and 315 meters long, but a sign of Japan's eagerness to buttress defenses while rightists talk darkly of "the changing security environment" created by North Korea and China.



One reason Japanese are disposed to work with Americans on defense is they have no good friends in the region. At U.S. urging, Japanese and South Korean warships may cooperate in exercises, but historical differences go too deep to imagine an alliance. The Japanese are not going to agree the rocks they call Takeshima belong to Korea, which clings tenaciously to Dokdo as a symbol of defiance of the centuries of Japanese depredations.



Nor are the Japanese on great terms with Russia despite Abe's recent meeting with President Vladimir Putin.

"Why did Abe fly to Moscow to talk to Putin when North Korea is making trouble," a Japanese friend asked me. The two may agree North Korea should not test nukes, but who thinks the Russians will cede those small "northern islands" seized from Japan in the last week of World War II? In the Great Game for the region, Japan's real fear is isolation.





Donald Kirk, www.donaldkirk.com, has been covering tensions in Northeast Asia for decades. He's at kirkdon4343@gmail.com.
By Jhoo Dong-chan



Hyundai Steel is having difficulties negotiating with the nation's carmaker duo over the automotive steel supply price. The nation's second-largest steelmaker is trying to raise the supply price, but the domestic automakers' sales slump in overseas markets is an obstacle in the negotiation.



The deadline for the negotiation is near, but Hyundai Steel and its counterparts -- Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors -- have yet to find common ground for the steel supply price, an industry insider who is familiar with the issue said.



Hyundai Steel planned to conclude the negotiation by the end of February with raising the steel supply price because the price with the carmakers has been frozen for the past two years while iron ore prices surged last year.



Hyundai Steel demanded an increase in the automotive steel supply price by 130,000 won ($114) per ton, but an industry observer said it will be difficult to raise the price even 80,000 won per ton since the two carmakers suffered a serious sales slump in overseas markets.



"Hyundai Steel lowered the automotive steel price by 80,000 won per ton in December 2015, and the price has since stayed the same," said former Daishin Securities and future trade analyst Lee Sang-hoon said.



"Due to Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors' poor sales performances in the Chinese market, it is difficult for Hyundai Steel to demand an increase in the steel supply price. The steelmaker had good sales last year. The carmakers may ask for the burden sharing in the negotiation."



Hyundai Steel said, however, that the supply price increase is inevitable.



"Iron ore prices surged for various reasons last year, including natural disasters such as a cyclone in the mining region," a Hyundai Steel official was quoted as saying. "It takes more time to conclude the deal as the iron ore price issue is now on the table."



Hyundai Motor posted a 21 percent fall in quarterly net profit, dragged down by a U.S. recall and sales declines in China stemming from trade retaliation following the Korean government's decision to deploy a U.S. anti-missile battery here.



Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors reported a first-quarter net profit of 2.17 trillion won, down by 20 percent year-on-year.



In the meantime, Hyundai Steel's sales reached 4.57 trillion won, up by 22.2 percent compared to the same period last year. The company's net profit in the period was 341.1 billion won, surging by 115.1 percent year-on-year.








By Park Jae-hyuk





Lotte Chairman Shin Dong-bin Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon

Lotte Shopping has recently filed administrative litigation against the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) for causing a delay in the construction of a shopping mall in Digital Media City (DMC), the company said Thursday.

The new mall, which was initially expected to open this year, has been denied a building permit from the city over the past four years, due to strong opposition from small retailers in northwestern Seoul.

"The city government and small retailers have urged us to open one of three buildings as a non-sales facility," a Lotte Shopping spokeswoman said. "We will not be able to make any profits if we accept their unfair demand."

In April 2013, the SMG sold a 20,644-square-meter parcel of land in the DMC to Lotte Shopping for 197.2 billion won ($174 million) so that the retail company could build a large shopping mall consisting of a department store, theater, discount store, supermarket and offices.

Small retailers at nearby traditional markets, however, have argued that the new shopping mall will deal a severe blow to their sales, so they demanded the conglomerate satisfy certain conditions.

The SMG also supported them, following Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon's principle of protecting small local retailers and "economic democratization."

The authorities urged Lotte and other retail giants to agree with small retailers if they want to gain approval for building discount stores or large shopping malls.

In response to the small retailers, Lotte gave up its discount store and supermarket in the new shopping mall, but the company did not accept the demand to open one of three buildings as a non-sales facility.

After the negotiations failed, the SMG launched a task force in July 2015, to find a solution which can satisfy them all. However, it failed to find any solution in 12 meetings over a year-and-a-half.

Lotte Shopping said the SMG favored the small merchants, even though it sold the land at a high price to the company. Following the result of the administrative litigation, the company may additionally sue the local government for damages caused by the delay in business.

"Although we filed the suit a month ago, the SMG has yet to give any response," the company spokeswoman said.

An SMG official said, "Our legal affairs team will deal with the lawsuit, and we will continue our policies of protecting small local retailers."

The SMG and small retailers' demands, however, are facing a backlash from consumers and residents in the area. Some of them said the SMG should repurchase the land from Lotte if it continues to delay the project.
Lee Dong Gun and Jo Yoon Hee surprised everyone with their announcement of having married. This couple even expects that they are expecting a baby. Recently, Jo Yoon Hee spoke about the reason for her marriage.

Previously, Lee Dong Gun shocked everyone because he dated Jo Yoon Hee not long after broke up with his girlfriend Jiyeon. Even though some people didn't really like the quick decision but many fans rooted for them.

Recently, Lee Dong Gun made an announcement to fans that he already registered his marriage with Jo Yoon Hee. He is legally married now. In his letter, he also said that he and his wife were expecting a baby. Regarding with his new project, he wants to focus on that and the ceremony of the wedding will be held after that, Soompi reported.

Jo Yoon Hee's agency also gave their official statement about the wedding. They said that they asked support from the fans. After Lee Dong Gun left a message to his fans, Jo Yoon He also gave her statement about the news. On her radio program where she is hosting, she said that the timing was just right for her marriage and pregnancy, AllKpop reported.

It seems that it is really fast but Jo Yoon Hee's words explain it all. They met when they were cast as the leads in "Gentlemen of Wolgyesu Taylor Shop." Filming drama together, they fell in love with each other. Lee Dong Gun then announced his breakup with Jiyeon and he started to date, Jo Yoon Hee.

Even though Lee Dong Gun and Jo Yoon Hee are having a new relationship, but they look to match to each other. They are often caught to date in public. That's why many netizens already thought that they were meant to be.

This great news really makes the fans happy. Moreover, with Jo Yoon Hee's pregnancy, they will have their baby soon. For the wedding, they will hold it after Lee Dong Gun's new drama ended filming.

Read Next: TWICE's Tzuyu Gains Weight: Netizens Expressed Their Feeling About It
Gong Yoo has just wrapped up his first fan meeting in Taiwan. However, that doesn't mean there's nothing left to talk about, especially when it comes to his longing for "Goblin" cast, including Lee Dong Wook.

Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook turn out to be the ultimate bromance goal ever since the actors starred in the top-grossing tvN drama "Goblin". The "Coffee Prince" actor has been frequently expressing his compliment to Lee Dong Wook, leaving fans to want to discover more about their friendship.

According to Soompi, Gong Yoo first met Lee Dong Wook in the army. He used to think that Lee Dong Wook was more of the cool guy, but Gong Yoo comes to realize that the "My Girl" actor is way more fun when he worked with him in "Goblin".

On the fan meeting, Gong Yoo also stated that Lee Dong Wook is one of his friends who's always considerate towards him. Because of his experience in the industry, Gong Yoo was able to find a sense of ease when he's working with Lee Dong Wook. He also didn't forget to mention his other "Goblin" pals like Kim Go Eun, Yoo In Na, and Yook Sungjae, saying he misses the old times with them and hopes someday they could find a time to catch up.

Drama Fever also mentioned that Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook's bromance is over the top. At Lee Dong Wook's special fan meeting in Seoul on March, Gong Yoo made a surprise appearance. Fans were losing it when they saw Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook recreating some iconic scenes in "Goblin". Lee Dong Wook also complimented Gong Yoo at the event, saying the "Train to Busan" actor is the savior of his acting career.

Gong Yoo is scheduled for his next fan meeting in Hong Kong on May 6. The fan meeting includes numerous fan activities such as interview, video sharing, and fans interaction. Hong Kong fans will surely be thrilled by Gong Yoo's affectionate yet humorous personality.
It appears "Goblin" actor Gong Yoo isn't just all about good visuals, the actor himself also has a good heart. Gong Yoo will be donating money to children with serious diseases.

Gong Yoo was recently in Taiwan for a fan meeting on Saturday, April 29. The "Goblin" actor will reportedly put all the profits he garnered from selling his personal collection of postcards to good use.

During the fan meeting event, Gong Yoo reportedly sold his special collection of postcards. As reported by Koreaboo, the actor apparently sold a thousand copies of postcards at the event.

Gong Yoo gathered a total of $3,310 selling his special collection of postcards. That is over 3.5 million Korean won (KRW).

Together with a percentage of the profits from the fan event, Gong Yoo's profit from selling his postcards will be given to a charity. Gong Yoo's chosen charity will then be disseminating the money to children that age from 3 to 18 years old with a serious disease.

Meanwhile, during the same fan meeting event in Taiwan, Gong Yoo revealed the reason why he does not have a single SNS account. As previously reported, the "Goblin" actor's explanation revealed just how much of a simpleton he is.

A fan asked Gong Yoo why he does not have an SNS account. "First of all, I don't have SNS accounts because I don't like taking selfies and photos in general," replied Gong Yoo.

"Most of the time, these services are used to share photos. So when you show a photo, you have to package and edit it in a certain manner and I don't like it because it's unnatural," added Gong Yoo. It was obvious that the actor doesn't want to put too much effort in editing photos just for the visuals.

However, Gong Yoo clarified that his reason was just to his own. He further added that SNS accounts are not just for him.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 4

Trend:

The 4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue has kicked off in Baku on the theme Advancing Intercultural Dialogue: New Avenues for Human Security, Peace and Sustainable Development.

The forum will last until May 6, and it aims at further promoting and sustaining understanding and dialogue within and between cultures.

The Second Academic Forum of UNESCO Chairs working in the field of intercultural and interreligious dialogue, as well as the third meeting of the International Network for the UNESCO Silk Road Online Platform, are being held in Baku within the 4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue.

The forum is organized in cooperation with UNESCO, the UN Alliance of Civilizations, the UN World Tourism Organization (WTO), the Council of Europe, the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the North-South Center of the Council of Europe.

The agenda includes topics such as the role of faith, religions, migration, human security, sport, education, art, sustainable development, preventing violent extremism, business in building trust and cooperation among cultures and civilizations.

The three-day forum brings together nearly 120 officials from foreign countries, representatives of 39 international organizations and more than 50 non-governmental organizations, heads of governments, ministers, senior policy makers, cultural professionals, goodwill ambassadors, experts, journalists, practitioners, prominent intellectuals and activists.

In this context, it aims to be an international platform to enable and encourage people, countries and organizations around the globe to take concrete actions to support diversity, dialogue and mutual understanding among nations by raising awareness on the importance of intercultural dialogue worldwide.
Details added (first version posted at 11:29)

Baku, Azerbaijan, May 4

Trend:

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy Tacan Ildem.

Ildem said he is pleased to pay his first visit to Azerbaijan as NATO assistant secretary general for public diplomacy. He said despite two years had passed since his last visit, he observed great development processes in the country.

Tacan Ildem conveyed greetings of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to the head of state.

President Ilham Aliyev hailed NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy Tacan Ildems participation in the 4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in Baku.

The head of state touched upon relations with NATO, saying Azerbaijan has fruitfully cooperated with the organization for many years, acting as a reliable partner in peacekeeping operations under various programs, including the Partnership for Peace program.

Ilham Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan makes significant contribution to freight transport for peacekeeping operations. The president said Azerbaijani servicemen contribute to ensuring security in Afghanistan, adding that the country expands its cooperation with Afghanistan in various areas.

The importance of the Baku-hosted 4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue was stressed, and they said it plays a significant role in strengthening of relations among countries and nations.

They also exchanged views over the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

President Ilham Aliyev thanked for the greetings of Jens Stoltenberg and asked Tacan Ildem to extend his greetings to the NATO secretary general.
Details added (first version posted on 11:51)

Baku, Azerbaijan, May 4

Trend:

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has today received President of the US-based Foundation for Ethnic Understanding (FFEU) Marc Schneier.

They emphasized the contribution of the Baku-hosted 4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue to strengthening of international cooperation.

They hailed the fact that representatives of different nationalities and religions live in an atmosphere of brotherhood in Azerbaijan.

High tolerance existing in the country was described as an example to the world.

They also praised successful development of Azerbaijan-US bilateral relations in a variety of fields.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 4

By Elchin Mehdiyev  Trend:

Azerbaijan makes a great contribution to the development of intercultural dialogue in the world by holding the 4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, said Azerbaijans Permanent Representative to UNESCO Anar Karimov.

He made the remarks while addressing the third meeting of the International Network for the UNESCO Silk Road Online Platform.

Karimov noted that the Baku process has become a platform for discussing issues concerning the world.

Politicians of many countries, representatives of international organizations, influential social and political figures are gathering here to exchange opinions on issues and problems affecting our life, and are looking for ways to solve them, he noted.

The official added that Azerbaijan always contributes to the development of intercultural dialogue in the world and the holding of the next Forum demonstrates the countrys commitment to this process.

The 4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, titled Advancing Intercultural Dialogue  New avenues for human security, peace and sustainable development kicked off in Baku on May 4.
City police are looking for two people who broke into a car and stole a handgun last Saturday night. They released photos of the thieves from the parking garage at Lake Regional Hospital, where the theft occurred.

The thieves broke out the passenger side window and stole a Smith & Wesson 380ACP Semiautomatic pistol.

The thieves appear to have left in a newer model maroon Ford Escape SUV with what appears to be damage to the right rear bumper area. The license plate on the vehicle at the time of the theft was reported stolen earlier in the day.

If you can help police identify the men in the photos, you can contact Detective Salerno at (573) 302-2010 ext 402 or by email at

detectives@osagebeach.org
Headline changed, details added (first version posted on 11:38)

Baku, Azerbaijan, May 4

Trend:

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser.

The importance of the Baku-hosted 4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in strengthening the international cooperation was stressed during the meeting.

The UN highly appreciates your leadership. This leadership particularly shows itself in cultural, inter-religious dialogue and in mutual understanding. This is a very important issue. The world is now facing a tough time. In Azerbaijan, unlike in other countries, we see that stability and security was excellently provided. There is a great need in leaders like you in the world. We highly appreciate that, Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser told President Aliyev.

The head of state thanked Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser for good words.

President Aliyev said Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser made great contribution to developing and strengthening intercivilizational dialogue in the world.

The head of state highly appreciated Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nassers role in and support for the organization of the 4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue and the 7th Global Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations in Baku.

President Ilham Aliyev expressed his confidence that successful Azerbaijan-UN cooperation will continue to develop.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 4

Trend:

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri.

They hailed the importance of the Baku-hosted 4th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, saying ISESCO was the founder, active participant and staunch supporter of the Forum from the very beginning.

They noted the significance of Azerbaijan's contribution to intercultural and interreligious dialogue. They said that declaration of 2017 the Year of Islamic Solidarity in Azerbaijan and the country's hosting the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games contribute to bringing Muslim countries closer to each other.

The sides also hailed the long-term fruitful and successful cooperation between Azerbaijan and ISESCO, praising the organizations support for Azerbaijans fair stance on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

They expressed their confidence that Azerbaijan-ISESCO bilateral cooperation will be further expanded.

Director General Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri informed President Ilham Aliyev about ISESCOs activities and plans.
Historic ties of north Meck span throughout region Though the north Mecklenburg area didnt see significant population growth until a few decades ago, its rich history dates back to the Revolutionary War. That was the basis of...

An easier-than-expected first mammogram experience HUNTERSVILLE  Scheduling a cancer screening probably ranks somewhere on your to-do list between "clean out the garage" and "donate those clothes that don't fit." Sure, you'll get to it at...
PRESS RELEASE

Astana Meeting on Syria Opens with High-Level U.S. Representation

May 3, 2017 (EIRNS)The Fourth International Meeting on the Syrian Settlement opened in Astana, Kazakhstan, today, with, for the first time, U.S. representation higher than an ambassador, in the person of Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Middle East Affairs Stuart Jones. The White House announced yesterday that Jones would be going after President Trumps phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, though the decision to send him was reportedly made the day before. Otherwise, all the delegations that were expectedthe Russian, Turkish, and Iranian delegations representing the guarantor powers of the cease fire that was announced on Dec. 29, 2016; UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura, the representative from Jordan, and the Syrian government delegation.

The delegation representing the armed opposition groups, led by Mohammed Alloush, the political director of Jaish al Islam, arrived in Astana yesterday, but announced today that it was suspending its participation in the talks "because of the violent air strikes on civilians," a source in the opposition told Agence France Presse. A source close to the opposition confirmed to AFP, however, that the Russian proposal to create de-escalation zones in Syria, which Putin and Trump had also discussed the day before, is under consideration.
PRESS RELEASE

Chinese Press for U.S. Participation in the Belt and Road Forum

May 3, 2017 (EIRNS)The Belt and Road "can be a new platform for Sino-U.S. cooperation" states a Global Times editorial on May 2. "The curtain will soon rise on the Belt & Road Forum for International Cooperation," the editorial states. Although many nations from Asia, Europe, and Africa will attend, unfortunately, the U.S. "has cast a cold eye on the initiative." The speculation and anxiety about the B&R "lays bare the stereotypical U.S. zero-sum mind-set."

But, "public opinion in the U.S. is subtly changing from being against it to attaching more importance to studying it," states the editorial. Joining could be "a lucrative choice for Washington" to "attract more Chinese investment to boost its own manufacturing industry" and to be "carry out more cooperation with Beijing in third countries..."

For the U.S. and China, cooperation would "elevate their mutual trust to the next level," and "create a new platform for Sino-U.S. collaboration.

"Will Trump, whose business is all over the world and has dozens of trademarks in China, neglect all the economic and political benefits? Beijing has already extended the invitation, and how the U.S. will respond is worth observing."
PRESS RELEASE

FBI Continues To Stonewall on British Role Against Trump

May 3, 2017 (EIRNS)The Senate Judiciary Committee, Chaired by Chuck Grassley, held an oversight hearing today on the FBI, featuring testimony by Director James Comey. As in most hearings of this type, Comey refused to answer most questions on the grounds that he could not talk publicly about criminal or classified matters, and Senators postured in front of the cameras along established partisan lines asking questions for the camera which could not be answered. In this case, the Democrats continued to accuse Comey of fixing the elections by publicly disclosing the renewed Clinton email investigation while withholding information about the FBIs investigation of the Trump campaign for colluding with the Russians. Comey provided an impassioned defense of his actions involving Clinton, noting that metadata on Anthony Weiners laptop showed thousands of Clinton emails, including classified emails, from the early days of Clintons time in office not otherwise available to the FBI, which might be probative of Clintons intent (the key element to an obstruction of justice charge). From the early press coverage, Comeys Clinton explanation and the relatively mysterious fact that nothing ultimately came of this startling metadata, trumped the Russia story.

With the exception of Grassley, the Republicans for the most part accepted the proposition that the Russians interfered in the elections. Comey told the cameras at the behest of Lindsey Graham that the Russians continued to interfere in American politics and represented the greatest threat ever to American democracy, requiring the dangerous policing of allegedly fake news now being further implemented by the Congress and undertaken by Facebook and other entities. The Republican counter to the Democrats continued to take the form of questions about the illegal unmasking of classified information concerning Michael Flynn and others.

The notable exception in this fixed process has been Senator Chuck Grassley, who has opened a specific and promising investigation of the FBIs relationship to British agent Christopher Steele and the dodgy dossier as well as Fusion GPS, who employed Steele for opposition research on behalf of the Clinton campaign. In his opening statement today, Grassley continued to cast doubt on the intelligence communitys firm conclusion about Russian interference in the election, since it relies solely on the British dodgy dossier paid for by backers of Hillary Clinton. Grassley has asked for the details of Steeles long-time relationship to the FBI in anti-Russian investigations and activities and details of FBI payments to Steele including the specific offer of $50,000 to continue his investigations after President Trumps election and meetings with Steele. Obviously, these questions are directly relevant to probing Obama Administration and FBI illegalities against the Trump campaign. The FBI has so far stone-walled Grassley. Comey told Grassley today that he would clear up any confusion about these matters in a classified briefing.

Grassley has also focused on the clear conflicts of interest of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, whose wife is a Virginia political candidate funded by long-time Clinton operative Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe to the tune of almost $1 million. McCabe did not recuse himself from either the Clinton email investigation or the Trump investigation.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 4

By Anakhanum Hidayatova  Trend:

Azerbaijan is an important partner of NATO and the Alliance highly appreciates Azerbaijans support to the mission in Afghanistan, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy Tacan Ildem told a press conference in Baku.

Azerbaijan does not only participate in the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan, but also renders assistance to the countrys trust fund, he said May 4.

Ildem noted the significance of cooperation within the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP).

Azerbaijan and NATO also cooperate within the Partnership for Peace program.

In 2017, NATO will continue to work with Azerbaijan to clean territories of mines and unexploded ordnance within the Jeyranchel program.
In the title story for his new collection, Men Without Women, Haruki Murakami has his unnamed, middle-aged narrator receive a phone call at 3 in the morning informing him that his ex-girlfriend M. has committed suicide.

The call surprises the narrator for several reasons. First, M. is the third woman that he dated who killed herself. He ponders this fact: Why these women, all still young, had taken their lives, or felt compelled to take their lives, was beyond my comprehension. I hoped it wasnt because of me. He drops the matter of his possible complicity as quickly as he raises it. Instead, he fixates on the motivations of the caller, M.s husband: he didnt explain a single thing to me.  It seemed his intention was to leave me stuck somewhere in the middle, dangling between knowledge and ignorance. But why? To get me thinking about something?

Such a line of questioning forms the boilerplate for all of Murakamis fiction. Each story or novel derives from an unsolvable mystery. For Murakami, the process of thinking is what matters, and in this collection of seven stories Murakami wants us to consider the paradoxical interrelatedness of love and loneliness, specifically, how certain men become Men Without Women.

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Although the narrator in the title story has a wife, he describes himself as the second-loneliest man on earth, having found himself in this tragic state after he and M. parted ways decades earlier. As he puts it, Its quite easy to become Men Without Women. You love a woman deeply, and then she goes off somewhere. Thats all it takes.

Murakami displays his singular genius in moments...when he manages to find a concrete image for human emotion.

The widowed husbands phone call brings about a painful intensification of the narrators endless remembering and longing. He develops the habit of walking along a path in a park that leads him to the statue of a unicorn. He sits down on a bench and starts musing about the husband, the loneliest man on the planet. In the whimsical figure of the unicorn with its phallic-like horn he sees a universal symbol of all lonely men. Time and again in these seven stories, Murakami displays his singular genius in moments like this one, when he manages to find a concrete image for human emotion.

Perhaps the most striking instance of this visual equivalency occurs in Yesterday, one of two stories in the collection that derive their titles from a Beatles song.

In this story, a man recalls an incident from 16 years earlier that involved himself and his good friend Kitaru, a kind of aimless neer-do-well who couldnt do what was necessary to pass the entrance exams for college. For reasons not altogether clear, Kitaru asks the narrator to take his girlfriend out on a date, which the reluctant narrator agrees to do after much persuasion.

The date proves to be a casual undertaking, except for a key moment in the conversation during dinner when the girlfriend tells the narrator about a recurring dream that seems to embody all her fears about her relationship with Kitaru. In the dream, she and Kitaru gaze out of a ships porthole at a moon made of pure, transparent ice with the bottom half of it sunk in the sea. Her fear is that one night the moon will simply disappear. Her foreboding proves to be justified since Kitaru does indeed disappear a few weeks later.

In his reflections about the past, the moon made of ice becomes a symbol of loneliness for the narrator: when I look back at myself at age twenty what I remember most is being alone and lonely. Essentially, he has adopted the girlfriends recurring dream as a frame for understanding who he was then. Such is the nature of Murakamis brand of surrealist fiction, which always feels twice-told, recast, archetypal. As the narrator says, Dreams are the kinds of things you can  borrow and lend out.

The dreams that Murakami shares with his readers resonate better in his novels, the big narratives like The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, which veer off in surprising directions where reality bleeds into the supernatural. The stories in this collection find their power within the confines of common but momentous disturbances that linger on in memory.

Like dreams, memories can be borrowed and shared, as we observe in the other Beatles-inspired story, Drive My Car. Here, a middle-aged protagonist who is aptly named Kafuku visualizes his deceased wife as a small, locked safe lying at the bottom of an ocean, since he cant fathom her reasons for having an affair with an unremarkable man. Kafuku can only begin to find a measure of relief from his questioning, self-doubt, and yearnings after the young woman he hires to be his chauffeur lends an ear to his tormented concerns.

Murakami suggests that every man is a Kafaku, a sufferer who takes aimless drives to ponder past loves or who gazes at moons made of ice with nostalgic aches of longing and loneliness and regret. Simply put, one cannot forget what one has lived, a sentiment best expressed by philosopher Emil Cioran: Knowledge is the plague of life, and consciousness, an open wound in its heart.

It then comes as no surprise that the one figure of hope in the collection is the innocent protagonist in the story Samsa in Love, a revamped version of Kafkas antihero who awakens one morning to discover that he has returned to his human form with his memory erased and with a limited understanding of human behavior, an existential tabula rasa that Murakami seems to believe might be the only way that we can move beyond the past and free ourselves of the nightmare of history that Stephen Dedalus wanted to escape. That said, Murakamis Gregor Samsa is reborn at a pointed and brutal moment in the 20th century, the Russian invasion of Prague. Be that as it may, he falls for a young woman who is both a hunchback and a locksmith. In his honest and forthright embracing of her physical shortcomings we find a model for how we too might unlock a hitherto unknown human self who can truly love.

Jeffery Renard Allen is professor of creative writing at the University of Virginia and author of the novels Rails Under My Back and Song of the Shank, the latter shortlisted for the PEN/Faulkner Award. His story collection Holding Pattern won the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence.

Men Without Women

Haruki Murakami

Knopf: 240 pp., $25.95
Jane Goodall, the anthropologist and chimpanzee expert known for her advocacy of conservation and animal welfare, responded to being quoted in Ivanka Trumps new book, the Washington Post reports.

Trump included a quote from Goodall in her recently released Women Who Work: Rewriting the Rules for Success. It reads, What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.

I understand that Ms. Trump has used one of my quotes in her forthcoming book, Goodall told the Post. I was not aware of this, and have not spoken with her, but I sincerely hope she will take the full import of my words to heart.

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Goodall said that environmental legislation has been jeopardized by the Trump administration.

I hope that Ms. Trump will stand with us to value and cherish our natural world and protect this planet for future generations, she added.

Goodall had previously made an unflattering comparison between President Trump and a chimpanzee.

In many ways the performances of Donald Trump remind me of male chimpanzees and their dominance rituals, she told the Atlantic last October. In order to impress rivals, males seeking to rise in the dominance hierarchy perform spectacular displays: stamping, slapping the ground, dragging branches, throwing rocks. The more vigorous and imaginative the display, the faster the individual is likely to rise in the hierarchy, and the longer he is likely to maintain that position.

This isnt the first time someone quoted in Trumps book has responded to being included. On Tuesday, Reshma Saujani, founder of the nonprofit Girls Who Code, tweeted at Trump after she learned there was a passage about her in the book.

The tweet read ".@ivankatrump dont use my story in #WomenWhoWork unless you are going to stop being #complicit #askivanka.

In a statement to CNN, representatives for Trump responded, Ivanka has always believed that no one person or party has a monopoly on good ideas. When she was writing this book, she included quotes from many different thought leaders whove inspired Ivanka and helped inform her viewpoints over the years.

New Age author Deepak Chopra was also quoted in Trumps book, and his response was a bit more measured.

Ivanka means well, he told CNN. She is in a tough position and it is obvious she knows whats right and whats not. Perhaps she will speak up to her father soon.

Trump also raised eyebrows by including a quote from Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrisons slavery-themed novel Beloved:

Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another.

Critic Annalisa Quinn, reviewing the book for NPR, notes that the spectacularly misapplied quotation precedes a chapter that includes the passage Are you a slave to your time or the master of it? Despite your best intentions, its easy to be reactive and get caught up in returning calls, attending meetings, answering e-mails...

Trumps book has received mostly negative reviews from critics, but it hasnt stopped readers from snapping up copies. As of Thursday morning, the book was 35th in all books on Amazon.
Republicans in the House say they have the votes to pass the American Health Care Act, a measure that will repeal the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. The vote is scheduled for Thursday. We analyzed the AHCA in March, when the original version was scheduled for a vote that eventually was canceled.

[UPDATE: The House passed the bill 217-213 on nearly a strict party-line vote, with 20 Republicans voting against it and no Democrats in favor.]

The new version is appreciably worse. Like the original, it threatens the health coverage of more than 24 million Americans but includes provisions that are even crueler. Heres a handy guide to the worst elements of a nasty bill that will harm you and your neighbors.

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1. The AHCA guts protections for those with pre-existing conditions.

Safeguards for people with pre-existing conditions long was thought to be the line in the sand, the last frontier, the third rail of Obamacare repeal  the point that Republicans wouldnt cross. The final version of the AHCA crosses it.

However ambivalent Republicans may be about health reform, they are not at all ambivalent about big tax cuts to the wealthy.  Nicholas Bagley, University of Michigan

The measure allows states to opt out of ACA rules prohibiting insurers from charging sick people higher premiums. (The ACA allows only a limited surcharge on smokers and slightly higher premiums for older customers.) This represents a return to the pre-ACA era, when insurers closely scrutinized applicants medical histories for any hint of conditions that could result in higher claims now or in the future.

Some people with a history or heart disease or cancer, or even acne, heartburn, back pain, asthma, hay fever or hives could be rendered uninsurable for life. (See this detailed 2011 guide for medical underwriters from Blue Shield of California for a list of conditions warranting higher premiums or automatic rejection.)

How many people could be affected? The Department of Health and Human Services in 2011 estimated the number of Americans with conditions that could result in insurance denials at 129 million. The ratio of those with such conditions rose sharply with age  from about 35% of Americans 18 to 24 to 86% of those 55 to 64.

Do Republicans understand the magnitude of this threat to the average American? Its doubtful. On May 1, right-wing Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) explained to CNNs Jake Tapper that people with higher-cost conditions should contribute more to the insurance pool to offset the cost to those people who lead good lives, theyre healthy, theyve done the things to keep their bodies healthy. Suggesting that the sick are guilty of some sort of moral turpitude is essential right-wing dogma, but it has no place in the making of sane healthcare policy.

Republicans say that sick people would be protected from higher prices because even in states allowing medical underwriting, higher premiums couldnt be charged unless the customer had allowed a lapse in his or her insurance for more than 63 days  the so-called continuous coverage provision. Thats cold comfort, however, because gaps in insurance coverage are relatively common, typically because buyers run into a bad financial stretch. The Commonwealth Fund estimated that in 2016, some 30 million Americans would have faced a premium surcharge if they tried to buy insurance in the individual or small group markets.

2. Its high-risk pools are a scam that wont protect sick Americans.

The flaws in the Republican mantra that sequestering sick people in high-risk pools to save money for everybody else have been outlined so often its shameful to have to do it again. The truth is that high-risk pools can work  if theyre properly funded. They have not been properly funded in the past, and the GOP repeal bill doesnt do it now.

As Abigail Barker, Timothy McBride, and Lyndsey Wilbers of Washington University in St. Louis estimate in an new policy brief, shifting patients with costs greater than $60,000 in a year into a high-risk pool would save almost $300 in average premiums and other costs for those in the low-risk group. But it would require funding of more than $18 billion annually.

The AHCA doesnt provide anything near that amount. The measure appropriates $130 billion over 10 years for a range of state-based initiatives, including high-risk pools, plus $8 billion over five years in a last-minute addition to win moderate votes. Even assuming that all that money went to high-risk pools, it wouldnt be enough.

The Center for American Progress estimates that it would cover about 700,000 people a year  but if only 5% of todays individual and small-group enrollees needed high-risk coverage, 800,000 would still be left out. And there are no guarantees that every state would use its entire allocation for a high-risk pool.

High-risk pools were tried by 35 states before the ACA. In almost every case, they failed because of underfunding. California gives a good window into the consequences.

When Californias pool, the Major Risk Medical Insurance Program, or MR. MIP, was started In 1990 with a $30-million budget funded by tobacco taxes, that was sufficient to enroll only 10,000 of the estimated 300,000 Californians who qualified. In 2009, enrollment was cut back to 7,100. Premiums were set as much as 37% higher than market rates for individual policies. The plans came with annual caps of $75,000 in benefits, not enough to cover treatments for some major diseases.

The same problem was seen nationwide. Enrollment in state pools was so meager that you could almost invite some of these pools over for dinner, Georgetown University health policy expert Karen Pollitz reported. Theyre really dinky.

3. Even people with employer plans could lose coverage.

Matthew Fiedler of the Brookings Institution puts his finger on a provision of the AHCA that could gut safeguards against catastrophic costs for people with coverage through large employer plans across several states.

The problem is that the ACAs ban on annual and lifetime benefit limits and its requirement that insurance plans cap enrollees annual out of pocket spending apply only to essential health benefits as theyre defined by law. But the GOP bill allows states to opt out of or redefine essential benefits. If a state defines them narrowly, these protections could be eviscerated. Indeed, if nothing was considered an essential health benefit, he writes, then these requirements would be completely meaningless.

As Fiedler observes, current regulations allow large employer plans to apply any states definition of essential health benefits for the purposes of determining the scope of the ban on annual and lifetime limits and the requirement to cap out-of-pocket spending. Employers with workers in several states could choose which states regulations to comply with for all its employees.

4. The bill kills Medicaid expansion and cuts traditional Medicaid by a massive $800 billion.

Under the GOP plan, Medicaid expansion, which currently provides coverage to some 10 million low-income Americans, would be killed as of 2020. It also converts Medicaid into a block-granted program, stripping more than $800 billion from the program over 10 years. Because block-granted program cant keep up with the needs of beneficiaries, this means that states would have to respond to fiscal stringencies by cutting benefits or throwing enrollees out.

5. It defunds Planned Parenthood and threatens abortion protections in many states.

The AHCA strips funding for Planned Parenthood for at least one year  a provision almost certain to be renewed every year as long as Republicans control Congress and the White House.

It could also render enrollees in health insurance plans in states such as California and New York, where abortion coverage is a required benefit of all health plans, ineligible for premium subsidies. As my colleague Melanie Mason reported, the GOP plan would prohibit subsidies from being spent on plans that cover abortion  a ban that would make virtually all health plans in California ineligible for such credits.

The provision goes further than the existing ban on using federal funds for abortion  it would disallow spending on health plans if they so much as included abortion in their roster of coverage, as is required in California. The House GOP proposal is directly at odds with California law and Californias constitutional protection of an individuals right to have access to abortions, Dave Jones, the state insurance commissioner, says.

6. More than 24 million Americans could lose their coverage.

The House GOP is planning to vote on the repeal bill without submitting its latest version to hearings or to analysis by the Congressional Budget Office. Thats unsurprising, because the CBOs analysis of the original bill was horrific. The CBO projected that the bill would cost 24 million Americans their health coverage.

Moreover, premiums would rise by 15% to 20% in the first two years after repeal, the CBO said. They would fall thereafter, compared with their level under current law. But thats largely because the repeal measure would allow insurers to offer junkier insurance by eliminating requirements that qualified plans cover a specified percentage of medical costs.

Several provisions added after the CBO analysis would constrain the individual market even more, raising the prospect that a new analysis would show even more dire consequences.

7. Its really a poorly disguised tax cut for the rich.

As we reported earlier, repeal of the Affordable Care Acts tax provisions would provide Americas wealthiest taxpayers with an immediate tax cut totaling $346 billion over 10 years. Every cent of that would go to taxpayers earning more than $200,000 a year ($250,000 for couples). As Nicholas Bagley of the University of Michigan observed a few days after the election, the imperative of handing their wealthy patrons a gift of this magnitude may well outweigh their solicitude for the mostly middle- and low-income constituents whose individual insurance plans would be at risk from repeal.

However ambivalent Republicans may be about health reform, he wrote, they are not at all ambivalent about big tax cuts to the wealthy.

Obamacare repeal would reduce the average incomes of Americans in the lowest 60% of income earners, mostly because of the reduction of tax subsidies for insurance premiums, according to the Tax Policy Center. But it would give the incomes of those in the top 20%  and especially the top 1%  a significant boost. In general, the TPC found, repealing the health reform law would, on average, cut taxes for the rich and raise them for low-income households.

Put it all together, and the Republicans are preparing to gut health coverage for millions of Americans in order to fund a tax cut for the rich. The most remarkable aspect of this effort is that the GOP caucus in the House of Representatives is proud of itself for doing this.

Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com.

Return to Michael Hiltziks blog.

MORE FROM MICHAEL HILTZIK

Trump and the GOP launch an attack on contraception benefits

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UPDATES:

11:50 a.m.: This post has been updated with the House passage of the American Health Care Act.
A Fox News radio correspondent has sued the network, saying she was fired last month in retaliation for contacting the law firm investigating sexual harassment and gender discrimination complaints at the company.

The suit filed in New York State Supreme Court is the latest in a litany of complaints that have plagued Fox News in the last nine months, resulting in the ouster of its top anchor, Bill OReilly, and its two highest-ranking executives, Roger Ailes and Bill Shine.

Jessica Golloher, a correspondent who covers the Middle East and North Africa, has worked for Fox News since 2008 and has been under contract as a full-time employee since 2014. She alleges that she was told her employment contract, which is up in August, was not being renewed after she contacted the law firm Paul Weiss regarding discriminatory treatment at the company.

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[The] Defendants decision to terminate Ms. Golloher is a transparent act of retaliation and a clear attempt to silence yet another victim of discrimination at Fox, the suit alleges.

A Fox News representative said in a statement that Gollohers claims are without merit. Her allegations of discrimination and retaliation are baseless, the representative said. We will vigorously defend the matter.

Throughout her tenure at Fox News, Golloher alleges, she was marginalized and subjected to discrimination based on her gender by her supervisors, Mitch Davis and Hank Weinbloom. Both men are named in the suit.

Gollohers complaint said she was asked to serve as an assistant to a male correspondent with less experience during the networks coverage of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, in 2014. She said she was given less desirable shifts and humiliating story assignments during the event and had been the subject of countless sexist comments and has borne witness to boorish comments regarding other female employees.

Golloher did not consider complaining to human resources because she had heard the department was not to be trusted as it had failed to assist employees with valid concerns, according to the lawsuit. She only decided to come forward after a company-wide April 4 email was sent by recently hired Fox News human resources head Kevin Lord encouraging employees to speak up about any issues they had with workplace behavior, according to the suit.

Golloher said she sent an email to an attorney at Paul Weiss on April 17 to set up an appointment to discuss her complaints. Within 24 hours she was contacted by Davis and told that she was being terminated at the end of her deal due to budgetary concerns, according to the suit.

A person briefed on the matter but not authorized to discuss it publicly said that Gollohers position was eliminated because of broader cuts at Fox News Radio and that Davis was not aware that Golloher contacted Paul Weiss.

Golloher is represented by Wigdor Law, the same law firm representing Fox News employees in a racial discrimination case against the companys former controller, Judy Slater.

stephen.battaglio@latimes.com

Twitter: @SteveBattaglio

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The latest airline passenger dispute  this one involving Delta Air Lines and an Orange County couple traveling with two toddlers  again points to confusing and little-known regulations that led to a delayed flight and frustrated fliers.

The couple, Brian and Brittany Schear of Huntington Beach, said they were kicked off a Los Angeles-bound Delta flight from Hawaii last month after airline staff insisted that their 2-year-old son could not sit by himself, even though the family had already paid for a ticket and had a car seat for the child.

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The dispute comes as airlines face criticism for a series of onboard confrontations that have prompted federal lawmakers to hold hearings in Washington, D.C., on ways to improve customer service.

The conflict involving the Schear family touches on at least four airline and federal regulations, some of which were incorrectly cited by the flight crew.

Delta issued a statement Thursday saying: We are sorry for the unfortunate experience our customers had with Delta, and weve reached out to them to refund their travel and provide additional compensation. Deltas goal is to always work with customers in an attempt to find solutions to their travel issues. That did not happen in this case and we apologize.

The argument began when crew members told the Schears that they could not put their 2-year-old son in an individual seat they had purchased for their 18-year-old son, Mason, who flew back to California on an earlier flight.

A flight attendant also can be heard on a video telling Brian Schear that both Deltas guidelines and Federal Aviation Administration rules stipulate that the 2-year-old child must fly while seated on a parents lap.

Schear and flight crews are heard on the video, which Schear posted Wednesday on YouTube, debating the rules for several minutes before a flight attendant told the couple that they must leave the flight or be taken off by force. The couple left the April 23 flight and had to pay an extra $2,000 to take another flight the next day.

The dispute involves several rules:

Federal law requires each passenger 18 and older to show identification that matches the name on the boarding pass. Children under 18 are not required to show identification to board a flight. (This is where the conflict gets murky. Because the Schear family had bought a ticket for Mason but wanted to use the seat for their 2-year-old son, there was no way for the flight attendant to prove that the child was not Mason.)

Delta rules say a child younger than 2 may travel on the lap of an adult. If one adult brings two infants, the adult must buy a ticket and put the second child in an approved safety seat. Children who are 2 or older must be put in a child safety seat.

The FAA strongly urges parents to put young children in a child safety restraint system. The federal agency says, Your arms arent capable of holding your child securely, especially during unexpected turbulence.

FAA rules also say that an airline cannot keep an adult from using a child seat for their child.

hugo.martin@latimes.com

To read more about the travel and tourism industries, follow @hugomartin on Twitter.

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This article was originally published at 12:30 p.m.
Dutch brewing giant Heineken said Thursday it bought full ownership of California craft beer maker Lagunitas Brewing Co. in a move to further expand Lagunitas overseas distribution.

Heineken, which acquired a 50% stake in Lagunitas two years ago, didnt disclose how much it paid for the remaining half.

Amsterdam-based Heineken already had helped Lagunitas move into France, Mexico, Italy and Spain while expanding the craft brewers presence in other foreign markets, including Britain, Canada and Japan.

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With Heinekens full ownership and vast distribution channels  the company has 165 breweries in 70 countries  Heineken will accelerate the export of Lagunitas to many more markets around the world, Heineken said.

Only by fully committing to this relationship can we both respond to the historic opportunity that awaits us in all 24 time zones, Lagunitas founder Tony Magee said in a statement.

Magee started Lagunitas in 1993. The Petaluma, Calif., company also has a brewery in Chicago and plans a third in Azusa that initially would produce more than 400,000 barrels a year.

Lagunitas is known for its India pale ale style of beer, one of the fastest-growing categories in the craft-beer segment, which has been outperforming the overall U.S. beer market.

Craft beers produced by about 5,300 breweries accounted for 12.3% of overall U.S. beer volumes last year, according to the Brewers Assn. trade group.

Thats why major brewers have been acquiring smaller craft brewers. Two years ago, for instance, Anheuser-Busch InBev acquired Golden Road Brewing, Los Angeles largest craft brewer, and alcoholic beverage conglomerate Constellation Brands Inc. bought Ballast Point Brewing Co. in San Diego.

The deals often have prompted grumbling among some craft-beer purists. But Lagunitas will continue operating independently within Heineken to help maintain the Lagunitas culture and free spirit, the companies said, adding that Magee would remain executive chairman of Lagunitas and be supported by his current management team.

james.peltz@latimes.com

Twitter: @PeltzLATimes
Last-minute wrangling over the Republican healthcare bill, approved by the House on Thursday, centered largely on whats known as the MacArthur Amendment. House Speaker Paul Ryan said it strengthens the legislation and protects people with preexisting conditions.

It strengthens the bill only from the perspective of maintaining support from far-right lawmakers who have sworn blood oaths to undo the healthcare-reform legacy of former President Obama.

And it protects people with preexisting conditions much as starving people may be welcome at a restaurant, but only if they order the most expensive dishes on the menu.

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The MacArthur Amendment is a Band-Aid on a very bad plan, and it likely wont staunch the bleeding, said Dana Goldman, director of the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics.

I spoke with the amendments namesake, Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.). He painted a sunnier picture.

We have to make sure the most vulnerable are protected, but we also have to bring down costs for everyone else, he told me. I think were doing that.

This much is clear: Republican lawmakers have provided a textbook example of how not to enact major legislation.

Theyre aiming to radically overhaul the $3-trillion U.S. healthcare system yet have shunned the input of major stakeholders such as medical organizations, hospitals and patient-advocacy groups, which are uniformly against the measure.

A key focus of the GOP has been a provision of the Affordable Care Act that people with preexisting conditions not be discriminated against in any way by health insurers. Prior to Obamacare, insurers could deny coverage to such people or charge premiums beyond most peoples ability to pay.

The MacArthur Amendment would empower states to waive protections for those with preexisting conditions as long as they come up with some alternative way of making insurance available.

The catch, however, is that the amendment would not require insurers to charge the same rates that healthy people enjoy. Thats why the likes of the American Medical Assn. and AARP have warned that, under the Republican plan, sick people could face rates so high that theyd be unaffordable for any but the wealthy.

Dr. James Madara, chief executive of the AMA, said in a letter to Congress last week that claims the MacArthur Amendment would protect people with preexisting conditions are illusory.

The reason he can say this is because the Republicans would rely mostly on so-called high-risk pools to provide coverage for the sick. This means such people would be grouped together for insurance purposes, which would relieve healthy people of the financial obligation of covering their needs.

While that would lower premiums for the healthy  which, along with tax cuts, appears to be the Republicans primary goal in tackling healthcare reform  it would cause rates to soar for those in the high-risk pool.

We know that because this isnt a theoretical idea. High-risk pools have been tried in nearly three-dozen states, and in almost all cases resulted in limited access to coverage and skyrocketing costs.

Californias high-risk pool was the Major Risk Medical Insurance Program, which was intended only as insurance of last resort for the up to 400,000 people with preexisting conditions who, prior to Obamacare, kept having doors slammed in their face by profit-hungry insurers.

The program was chronically underfunded, meaning that it eventually had to limit the number of people covered to only about 7,000  a small fraction of the states uninsured. Thousands languished on the waiting list.

And even when people obtained coverage in Californias high-risk pool, monthly premiums would run as much as $1,000, annual coverage would be capped at $75,000 and there would be a lifetime limit of $750,000. It was, in other words, too little coverage at too high a price.

The Republican bill now includes a potential $130 billion in subsidies over a decade, plus another $8 billion over five years, to fund high-risk pools. But some experts say thats nowhere near enough.

The Center for American Progress estimates that, depending on the number of states involved, an additional $200 billion could be needed.

Jennifer Kent, director of the California Department of Health Care Services, told me the Republicans $138 billion might sound like a large amount until you face the actual costs of covering people with serious conditions.

We had one person, a child with hemophilia, in Medi-Cal who cost $21 million last year, she said. We had five other people who cost over $10 million each. Put them together and thats just six people costing almost $100 million.

The simple fact, Kent said, is that any risk pool comprised solely of sick people will be very, very expensive.

The problem with Californias high-risk pool was that there was never enough funding, she said. We had to close enrollment because the money ran out.

This shouldnt be news to MacArthur, the Republican lawmaker. Hes a former insurance executive who got rich selling his company, York Risk Services Group, for about half a billion dollars in 2010.

MacArthur told me the Republicans are prepared to make a tremendous down payment on funding high-risk pools. If we find that things have to be tweaked, well make adjustments, he said.

Thats a surprising commitment to flexibility considering the Republicans adamantly refused to consider even a single tweak to Obamacare. It also displays an optimism about taxpayer funds being used for the sick that doesnt seem warranted.

Republicans currently say that healthy people shouldnt have to cover those with preexisting conditions through higher premiums. Yet those same healthy people will be willing to shoulder a possibly higher tax burden?

MacArthur insisted that were not leaving people high and dry. And the Republican bill does contain responsible-sounding language that makes it seem like people with preexisting conditions have little to fear.

The reality, however, is that it lays the groundwork for the sick to be ghettoized. It punishes people not for misdeeds but for medical misfortune.

Thats not healthcare. Its an act of cruelty.

David Lazarus column runs Tuesdays and Fridays. He also can be seen daily on KTLA-TV Channel 5 and followed on Twitter @Davidlaz. Send your tips or feedback to david.lazarus@latimes.com.
A few years ago, Washington state awarded the Boeing Co. the largest corporate tax break any state had given any corporation  a massive $8.7-billion handout aimed at encouraging the aerospace industry generally, and Boeing specifically, to maintain and grow its workforce within the state.

Unwisely, state legislators and Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee didnt make that a hard and fast requirement of the handout. So theyve had to stand by powerlessly as the company has cut 12,655 jobs, or more than 15% of its Washington workforce, since that heady signing ceremony in November 2013. Layoff notices have gone out to 429 more employees in just the last few weeks.

Now the state is poised to strike back. Two bills in the state legislature would claw back part of the tax break or eliminate it completely if the company continues to pare jobs.

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When youve got a company so dominant it can have its way with the tax code, you have to build in safeguards.  Greg LeRoy, Good Jobs First

This is a poster child for the incentives we give away, Democratic State Rep. Noel Frame, one of the bills sponsors, told me this week. Laying off workers despite billions in tax breaks, she said, has been so blatant in its disrespect for the will and intent of why we give tax incentives, the outrage is bipartisan.

The outrage comes partially from Boeings habit of forcing its workers to shoulder the pain of managements inability to compete more effectively with Airbus, its European chief rival in the airliner business. Last December, the company blamed that competition for a sharp slowdown in orders for its 777X airliner, a mainstay of Washington state production lines, which it said would mean a hit to the workforce. But the very same day, the company announced a 30% increase in its quarterly dividend and a new $14-billion share repurchase program. Chairman and CEO Dennis Muilenburg crowed that those initiatives signified Boeings determination to meet our commitment to provide competitive returns to our shareholders.

Dont expect Boeing to take the threat of cuts in its tax subsidies lying down. Changing Washingtons aerospace tax incentives would prevent Boeing from being able to respond to future market challenges, Bill McSherry, a company spokesman, told the Legislature this week. He cited significant competitive pressure on every order and said that job reductions have occurred only when absolutely necessary.

Boeing has kept its word to Washington, McSherry said, but that may be true only because its commitment was so vague. Many of Washingtons lost jobs, according to the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, have gone to South Carolina, Oklahoma, Missouri or Alabama, states where the company faces more tolerant employment regulations or has agreed to more explicit employment mandates, or both.

According to Good Jobs First, which tracks corporate subsidies, Missouri has offered Boeing $229 million in subsidies if the company maintains a workforce of 14,500 and creates 2,000 new jobs; if employment falls below 11,000, Boeing must repay the subsidy. South Carolina capped some of its $450 million in incentives to attract a 787 Dreamliner plant at $12,500 per new job and mandated other investment.

Theres little mystery to why Boeing was able to extract a lavish no-strings-attached handout from Washington. The company is the states biggest corporate employer and the source of thousands of high-paying professional jobs. But its demands also have turned Washington into the national leader in Boeing handouts, with $12.3 billion in incentives bestowed on the company over the years by the reckoning of Good Jobs First. (South Carolina comes in second.)

Washingtons multibillion-dollar endowment to Boeing dates back to 2003, when the state awarded the company more than $3.2 billion in incentives through 2024. But the big handout came in 2013, when Inslee and the legislature extended the incentives through 2040, at an estimated value of $8.7 billion.

But that only heightened the need for Washington to be smarter. When youve got a company so dominant it can have its way with the tax code, says Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, you have to build in safeguards.

Even beyond the scale of the subsidy, Washington was especially indulgent toward Boeing. We gave aerospace and Boeing the largest tax break in U.S. history, says Bill Dugovich, a spokesman for the engineering union, and were the only state that didnt tie the break directly to jobs.

The measures under consideration at the Olympia statehouse aim to rectify that failure. A Democratic version sponsored by Frame would set a baseline for Boeings Washington employment at 70,000 jobs. If the workforce falls below that point, the company would lose half its tax break; if it falls below 67,500, it would lose the entire subsidy. A companion Republican bill would require average employment of 75,000 jobs through 2024. Fall below that, and the tax incentive will expire in 2024. Frame says she expects the final version to resemble a melding of both measures.

The bills reflect rising awareness that Washington, like some other states, has been lining corporate pockets with crucial revenues and getting nothing in return. As a state we are dealing with a financial crisis related to funding for public schools, Frame says. Were in violation of the state constitution and in contempt of a court order. The incentives mean our taxpayer dollars are going to Boeings bottom line, not to create jobs.

Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com.

Return to Michael Hiltziks blog.

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I was worried there for a minute. Whod kidnapped K. Michael Hays and what had they done with him?

I was watching a man on my computer screen who looked a lot like Hays as he gave the introductory remarks in the first online course offered by Harvard Universitys Graduate School of Design, where he is the Eliot Noyes Professor of Architectural Theory. The free course, which launched in February on edX, the online portal founded in 2012 by Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is called The Architectural Imagination.

Billed as an introduction to the history and theory of architecture, its part of a growing collection of arts and culture courses online, from both universities and tech startups, that in a few weeks time will include a master class by Frank Gehry. That one will cost $90.

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The Hays lookalike on my monitor was wearing a loose outfit of black on black (naturally) and standing beneath the sloping glass ceiling of the Graduate School of Designs Gund Hall. He was asking us to look at a pair of photos that had just appeared on the screen. At the top was Ludwig Mies van der Rohes Farnsworth House in Plano, Ill. At the bottom was the Parthenon.

He was doing so lucidly, with real clarity and ease. He was comfortable in front of the camera. I scribbled in my notes, using Hays initials, KMH is pretty good at this!

This is where I began to suspect foul play. The Hays I know  the Hays Ive seen give lectures and interview architects onstage and whose essays Ive tried again and again, in headachy attempt after headachy attempt, to hack my way through  is not known for an especially accessible or public-minded sensibility. Instead he represents an approach to teaching architecture and architectural theory that has held sway in the American academy for at least a generation. This approach doesnt simply treat architecture as a discipline separate from the rest of the world, with its own passwords and protocols. It guards that separation with its life.

That might sound like a paradox given that architecture is, by far, the art form most dependent on and intertwined with outside forces. A short list of those forces would include physics, the capital markets, the whims of clients and the passage of time.

To be fair to Hays and his generation of academics, there once were very good reasons for this insistence on independence  on what they often refer to as architectures autonomy. When these scholars were young  in the 1970s, especially, at the tail end of the modern movement  architecture (even academic architecture) had become far too cozy with big business and government and had lost a good deal of sharpness and rigor. The new generation pushed for a clean break, for political as well as pedagogical reasons.

Over time, that fierce independence morphed into isolationism, which hardened into a self-satisfied insularity. (Its also important to say that while this stance might have made sense back then for a design curriculum, the idea that you can teach history or theory in a vacuum is questionable in any era.) By the time I encountered Hays around 2000, in the series of genial but truly inscrutable public talks on architecture he organized with the Whitney Museum in New York, he was part of a group that had succeeded not only in taking over the architectural academy but walling it off from the rest of the culture.

Hays interest in joining forces with the Whitney is another paradox: Why would a scholar so invested in the idea of an autonomous architecture seek such a prominent civic role, only to fill those appearances with an especially opaque brand of jargon? The best answer I can come up with is that Hays doesnt see his approach as insular or hard to parse. Either that or the inscrutability itself remains a badge of honor or hard-to-earn membership card for this group (as for so many others in the academy), something to take pride in and even show off. Nobody will be surprised to hear that my own experiences studying architectural history at Yale and Columbia featured more than a little posturing of this second kind.

In the years since that Whitney series, as the Hays generation has become fully entrenched, its become only more obvious that what architectural education needs is not autonomy but something more like its opposite. Many younger professors  and increasingly their students  have pushed for a renewed engagement with all those topics that the longstanding focus on self-reliance had succeeded in crowding out of the conversation at most architecture schools: urbanism, the politics of housing, race, gender, history, patronage and authorship (which is to say, who gets credit for architecture and why).

This is not to suggest that its the professions job to confront or (God forbid) solve all the issues on that list  only that to keep up an elaborate charade that the field is somehow independent of them is to warp architects view of their place in the culture from the start.

Over the last two weeks, this column has featured interviews with the incoming and outgoing leaders of the architecture departments at USC and UCLA. In both cases, I made a point of asking the subjects  first Hitoshi Abe and Qingyun Ma, then Milton Curry  how the architectural education at those universities had become so thoroughly detached from any meaningful discussion of Los Angeles and its shifting civic identity. The story of that detachment begins with figures like Hays.

In any case, it turns out that I worried about Hays and his whereabouts for nothing. Near the end of the first week of material  edX calls each week a module  the professor took a few minutes to explain an influential study by German historian Rudolf Wittkower of 16th century villas by Andrea Palladio, the Italian architect.

We might say, he concluded, that the imagination organizes the sensuous manifold according to organizing principles that can be received by the understanding. The old K. Michael Hays was back!

By the second module, hed been joined by his colleague Erika Naginski, who extended the discussion of Wittkower in less impenetrable but more telling terms. Wittkowers continuing importance, she explained, is linked to his belief in an architecture that could construct its own world within a world, that could emerge as self-reflective and  drum roll, please  an autonomous project.

And what one solitary piece of writing were we asked to read for those first two weeks? An essay by Hays, of course: Architectures Appearance and the Practices of Imagination, from a journal known for publishing wooden prose and called  you cant make this stuff up  Log.

Hays piece, though mercifully short, was predictably hostile to the idea that any neophyte might effectively grasp what he was trying to say. And this is a course, remember, designed largely if not directly for neophytes; it marks the schools widely promoted first attempt to engage a broad digital public.

It was reassuring, in a way. The old order was restored. Hays had fashioned another piece of writing into a hood to slip over the heads of his unsuspecting readers. I felt strangely comforted. I felt perversely at home.

Building Type is Christopher Hawthornes weekly column on architecture and cities. Look for future installments every Thursday at latimes.com/arts.

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christopher.hawthorne@latimes.com

Twitter: @HawthorneLAT

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A Star Is Born: Morgan Freeman turns 80 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) I like to play characters who are the absolute opposite of me. I think the farther you get from yourself, the more fun you have because the real you is hidden away. Those are the kind of parts where you can become totally empty and let the character fill you up. Thats what I look for -- a role that gives me a chance to be someone completely different.  Morgan Freeman, 1993 FROM THE ARCHIVES: No Sweat: Morgan Freeman Slides Into the Directors Chair Facebook

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Chloe Grace Moretz addresses body-shaming controversy over Snow White movie By Josh Rottenberg (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) Actress Chloe Grace Moretz has long been known as a strong voice when it comes to issues of feminism, whether its over-sexualization of female characters or equal pay for women. Now shes speaking out against the marketing campaign behind one of her own projects. Moretz went on social media Wednesday to address criticism that marketing for the animated film Red Shoes and the 7 Dwarfs  an updated tweak on the Snow White story, with Moretz as the voice of the classic fairy-tale character  engages in body-shaming. I have now fully reviewed the [marketing] for Red Shoes, I am just as appalled and angry as everyone else, this wasnt approved by me or my team, the actress wrote. According to the website of the South Korean animation studio behind the film, its story centers on a Princess who doesnt fit into the celebrity world of Princesses  or their dress size. When she puts on a pair of magical red shoes, she instantly becomes skinnier. The films synopsis promises an empowering message in which Snow White learns not only to accept herself, but to celebrate who she is, inside and out. But the films trailer and other marketing materials have been blasted as fat-shaming. Plus-size model Tess Holliday took to Twitter to criticize a billboard for the film that appeared at the Cannes Film Festival, where Red Shoes was seeking distribution, that suggested that the less svelte Snow White was no longer beautiful. How did this get approved by an entire marketing team? Why is it okay to tell young kids being fat = ugly? @ChloeGMoretz pic.twitter.com/PVhgwluGTM  Tess Holliday  (@Tess_Holliday) May 30, 2017 Hearing the complaints about the films tone-deaf marketing, Moretz agreed  and told her more than 3 million followers so in a pair of tweets. I have now fully reviewed the mkting for Red Shoes, I am just as appalled and angry as everyone else, this wasn't approved by me or my team  Chloe Grace Moretz (@ChloeGMoretz) May 31, 2017 Pls know I have let the producers of the film know. I lent my voice to a beautiful script that I hope you will all see in its entirety https://t.co/IOIXYZTc3g  Chloe Grace Moretz (@ChloeGMoretz) May 31, 2017 Even as she apologized, she promised that the marketing doesnt represent the complete picture and the films ultimate message is a far more positive one than initial impressions may suggest. The actual story is powerful for young women and resonated with me. I am sorry for the offense that was beyond my creative control https://t.co/HZP2ydPCAX  Chloe Grace Moretz (@ChloeGMoretz) May 31, 2017 Facebook

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Singing tween ventriloquist from Americas Got Talent is the cure for what ails you By Christie DZurilla Had enough outrage? Heres the cure for what ails you, courtesy of Americas Got Talent. Take a deep breath, exhale slowly and witness one Darci Lynne Farmer, a 12-year-old singing ventriloquist from Oklahoma City, who on Tuesday night got the Golden Buzzer from AGT judge Mel B for a performance that exuded unadulterated joy. Armed with bunny-puppet pal Petunia on lead vocals, Darci Lynne delivered a surprising version of Summertime for her audition. She ended up earning a ticket straight to the competitions live shows. You made my heart melt, said Mel B, who Darci Lynne later dubbed the best Spice Girl. I believe that that rabbit is a real separate person, judge Howie Mandel said. I love you. I believe youre gonna go far. You just changed your life tonight, young lady. https://t.co/VZmgRXv4PZ  Darci Lynne (@ItsDarciLynne) May 31, 2017 Facebook

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John Legend makes case to take canceled drama Underground elsewhere By Nardine Saad (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times) John Legend is making a case for the recently canceled TV drama Underground to be picked up by other content providers. The Oscar-winning musician, who is an executive producer and played abolitionist Frederick Douglass on the Underground Railroad-centered show, rallied fans to give it a second life when cable broadcaster WGN America announced Tuesday it would be canceling the series after two seasons. The network has been scaling down its investment in original programming as part of a deal that its parent company, Tribune Media, made with conservative-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. Sinclairs purchase of Tribune gives it control of more than 200 local TV stations and WGN America. The shift was not lost on Legend, who fired off a series of tweets to promote the content brought forth by Underground and its creators, Misha Green and Joe Pokaski. WGN America has been bought and is going a different direction strategically. We will find a new home for Underground! he tweeted, adding, Content wins. Were not reliant on a particular network to make great content. Were so proud of our show and the audience that supported! Legend, who has made no secret about his liberal politics, cautioned fans to be wary of Sinclair and claimed that theyre trying to make local stations mini Fox Newses that lean even further to the right. He completed his plea by asking followers to feel free to drop some hints to the network/streaming services you want to pick up #Underground. Show them who will be watching! View Instagram post Despite Underground being a terrific and important series, it no longer fits with our new direction and we have reached the difficult decision not to renew it for a third season, Peter Kern, president and CEO of Tribune Media, said in a statement. It is our hope that this remarkable show finds another home and continues its stories of courage, determination and freedom. Sony Pictures Television, the studio that produces Underground, is said to be trying to find it a new home. See The Times roster of new, returning and canceled series here. Facebook

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Liam Gallagher plays new music at Manchester benefit show By August Brown In the wake of the terrorist attack outside an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, scores of artists joined forces to raise money for the victims. Among them was Liam Gallagher, the former singer and frontman for the citys most beloved rock band, Oasis. Gallagher played a benefit show for the bombing victims on Tuesday at the O2 Ritz Manchester. At the show, his first as a solo artist, he played several new songs, including the single Wall of Glass, which you can watch above. It was a preview of his forthcoming solo LP, As You Were. (Previously, Gallagher fronted the post-Oasis rock band Beady Eye.) For Oasis fans, he played several classic tracks, including Be Here Now with Oasis guitarist Paul Bonehead Arthurs and an a cappella take on Live Forever. Facebook

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CNN fires Kathy Griffin from New Years Eve show over controversial Trump picture By Christie DZurilla (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) Kathy Griffin is out of a job at CNN. The cable network on Wednesday terminated its agreement with the comic, who for years has co-hosted its New Years Eve program with Anderson Cooper, after a photo of Griffin holding a bloody, severed head in the likeness of President Trump went viral on social media. The image, taken by photographer Tyler Shields, elicited strong criticism from liberals and conservatives alike. Griffin apologized for the gory image in a 30-second video posted online Tuesday night. I beg for your forgiveness, Griffin said in the video. I went too far. Trump denounced the image Wednesday, calling it Sick! and saying Griffin should be ashamed. CNN has terminated our agreement with Kathy Griffin to appear on our New Year's Eve program.  CNN Communications (@CNNPR) May 31, 2017 Facebook

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Lebanon officially bans Wonder Woman from theaters By Josh Rottenberg If you live in Lebanon, Wonder Woman wont be coming to a theater near you anytime soon. On Wednesday, the country officially banned the superhero film just hours before it was set to arrive in theaters. The ban followed an effort by a group called Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel, which urged the Lebanese governments Ministry of Economy and Trade to block the film because its star, Gal Gadot, is Israeli. News of the ban, which had been the subject of speculation since Monday, was announced on social media by Lebanons Grand Cinemas and Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel. Lebanon has had a contentious relationship with the state of Israel for decades and has an official law on the books that encourages boycotts of products from its neighbor to the south. Israeli citizens and anyone whose passport shows theyve traveled to Israel are prohibited from entering Lebanon. Earlier films featuring Gadot, including Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Furious 7, have successfully screened in theaters in Lebanon, however. Batman v Superman, which introduced Gadots Wonder Woman, was the third biggest hit at the box office in Lebanon last year. And, as has been pointed out, Wonder Woman was, in fact, made by three companies based in America and two based in China, so calling it an Israeli product is debatable. But, on its Facebook page, the Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel complained that Gadot had served two years in the Israeli Defense Forces (national military service is mandatory for Israeli citizens over 18) and boasted about the army training her for Hollywood. Wonder Woman lands in American theaters on Friday and, fueled by overwhelmingly positive reviews, is expected to perform strongly. Read our recent profile of director Patty Jenkins, in which she explains why the world needs Wonder Woman, right here. Facebook

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If President Trumps got the whole world in his hands, Trevor Noah says were in trouble By Robert Lloyd Having caught fire too late Tuesday for late-night TV, and with several hosts extending their Memorial Day weekend, the #covfefe hashtag would have to wait at least until Wednesday for its monologue moment. There were, however, some late-night-related tweets reacting to Twitter addict @realdonaldtrumps since-deleted mistyping of what is assumed to be the word covering or coverage. What makes me saddest, wrote Jimmy Kimmel, is that I know Ill never write anything funnier than #covfefe. The account for CBS Late Late Show poked some fun at Trumps gaffe, too. who do you want to see on the next covfefe karaoke  The Late Late Show with James Corden (@latelateshow) May 31, 2017 Meanwhile, Trevor Noah and Comedy Centrals The Daily Show were back after a week off, above, catching up with President Trumps whole first trip abroad. International Hand Stuff was the name of the segment, which framed the excursion in terms of the presidents mitts. There were references to Trump touching the glowing white orb and Jerusalems Western Wall (they build one wall 2,000 years ago, Noah said in his Trump voice, zero Mexicans in their whole country); the question of whether First Lady Melania Trump swatted away her husbands hand on the tarmac in Tel Aviv (leave it to Fox News not to recognize what rejection from a woman looks like); and Trumps power handshake from new French President Emmanuel Macron (the first time that President Trump was on the receiving end of an unwelcome hand grab). The last manual metaphor was given to the German chancellor, who, after her visit with the American president, said, We Europeans must take our fate into our own hands. Yeah, said Noah, clearly Angela Merkel got one look at Trump and was like, All right, our fate is in our own hands, because his clearly ruin everything they touch. Jimmy Kimmel also looked at Trumps trip abroad, which he described, with probable irony, as spreading joy and optimism all over the world. Titled Drunk Donald Trump: Sicily, the segment replayed a portion of Trumps speech at half-speed. The effect is uncanny. Later, sitting outside on some steps -- urine-stained steps, apparently -- Kimmel asked a series of kids, who really do say the darnedest things, about the state of the union. If we measure a late-night host solely by an ability to engage with children in a way thats friendly, direct, deadpan and mostly honest, Kimmel is in a league with David Letterman, nearly. How did he think Donald Trump was doing, Kimmel asked one boy. Not really well, the child replied. My sister told me that Donald Trump is against another state. Which state? Is it  Nebraska? Yeah, Nebraska. A lot of people are happy that he is bombing Nebraska, said Kimmel. (I did say mostly honest.) Do you think it was a good idea? No, replied the boy, cause they have, like, better bombs. I think theyre going to be OK, though, I really do, the host said. Once football season starts, theyre usually pretty solid. Facebook

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Kathy Griffin apologized for that bloody severed-head stunt. But few are forgiving her By Nardine Saad (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) First Lady Melania Trump is the latest detractor of Kathy Griffins bloody depiction of the presidents decapitation. As a mother, a wife, and a human being, that photo is very disturbing, FLOTUS said in a statement to NBC News. When you consider some of the atrocities happening in the world today, a photo opportunity like this is simply wrong and makes you wonder about the mental health of the person who did it. Griffins photographs and video by photographer Tyler Shields showed the comic straight-faced, holding up a blood-splattered severed head that appeared to be Trumps. The president denounced Griffins stunt, saying that she should be ashamed of herself and that the piece greatly disturbed his 11-year-old son, Barron. Griffins apology wasnt accepted by some on Twitter either, which spewed a variety of reactions, including several right-wing jabs that Griffin had been radicalized by Islamic State, the terror group that frequently beheads its victims. Several also sympathized with the presidents family, citing TMZs story about Barron believing that something horrible had happened to his father when he saw the images on the news. CNN subsequently fired Griffin from her co-hosting duties for its New Years Eve broadcast, and she has also been dropped as a spokesperson for Squatty Potty. Trumps eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., was delighted by the bathroom footstool makers response but criticized CNN for not immediately doing the same. So Squatty Potty pulls the plug on Kathy Griffin, but CNN still evaluating and weighing their options, the presidents eldest son tweeted. Insane whats going on there!!! He then added, Apologies for my last tweet. I didnt mean to group Squatty Potty with CNN. Obviously one of them has moral/ethical standards. Griffins CNN compatriot, Anderson Cooper, who co-hosts the giggle-filled New Years Eve show for the cable news channel, did not come to his pals defense. For the record, I am appalled by the photo shoot Kathy Griffin took part in. It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate, Cooper tweeted. CNN host Jake Tapper also said on the air that he thought the beheading imagery by Griffin about the president was disgusting and inappropriate. For the record, I am appalled by the photo shoot Kathy Griffin took part in. It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate.  Anderson Cooper (@andersoncooper) May 31, 2017 For those asking, I said on air that I thought the beheading imagery by Griffin about the president was disgusting and inappropriate.  Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 30, 2017 Meanwhile, others believed that Griffins apology was a step in the right direction. Kathy Griffin did the right thing by apologizing. That sort of behavior, that sort of message, isn't acceptable in any setting.  George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) May 31, 2017 I think she did the right thing asking for forgiveness and acknowledging that this was a horrible mistake, so I think she can, Minnesota Democrat and former Saturday Night Live writer Sen. Al Franken told CNN on Wednesday. Kathys a friend and shes a terrific comedian, but this had no business being in our public discourse..., Franken said. And I talked to her. She has apologized  a real, fulsome apology. Shes actually begged for forgiveness, and I believe in forgiveness. Still, there was more snark to be had. Kathy Griffin's stupid photo was gross & offensive. She should lose her leadership role in the DNC and no longer be a candidate for office.  Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) May 31, 2017 Update, 10:55 a.m.: Story added news that CNN has fired Griffin from its New Years Eve broadcast. Facebook

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Melania Trump questions Kathy Griffins mental health after inflammatory photo shoot By James Reed President Trump and Melania Trump (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) As a mother, a wife, and a human being, that photo is very disturbing. When you consider some of the atrocities happening in the world today, a photo opportunity like this is simply wrong and makes you wonder about the mental health of the person who did it.  Melania Trump, responding to Kathy Griffins controversial stunt involving a severed head in the likeness of President Trump Read More Facebook

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A Star Is Born: Clint Eastwood turns 87 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times) If you want to be in for the long haul, you just have to trust your judgment about the material. ... If you go whoring for the money, the audiences will figure you out. They know when youre being a jerk, when youre just trying to get them in a room and show them a movie you dont even care about.  Clint Eastwood, 1993 FROM THE ARCHIVES: Clint, closing in on El Dorado Facebook

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This Is Us not moving to Thursdays, after all By Yvonne Villarreal Consider it a flash-forward flashback: Poised to help NBC reclaim its Must See TV glory on Thursday nights, This Is Us is now staying put in its Tuesday time slot before the switch even happened. The breakout drama from last season will keep hold of the 9 p.m. hour on Tuesdays where it performed mightily in its debut season, the network announced Tuesday. Itll retain its lead-in, The Voice. The move means some rejiggering for Thursdays. The revival of Will & Grace, which was slated to open the night, will now kick off the 9 p.m. hour. It will be surrounded by comedies Superstore, The Good Place and Great News to create a two-hour comedy block. Chicago Fire will take up the 10 p.m. hour instead of Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders. That drama will keep its This Is Us lead-in by moving to Tuesdays. Heres NBCs revised schedule: Tuesdays 8 p.m.  The Voice 9 p.m.  This Is Us 10 p.m.  Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders Thursdays 8 p.m.  Superstore 8:30 p.m.  The Good Place 9 p.m.  Will & Grace 9:30 p.m.  Great News 10 p.m.  Chicago Fire Facebook

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Erin Moran died of cancer, autopsy report confirms By Christie DZurilla Erin Moran is shown in 1992. (Wally Fong / Associated Press ) The coroner reportedly says Happy Days actress Erin Moran died of complications from cancer and cancer alone. Thats in line with what her husband said in an open letter written shortly after her death on April 22 at age 56. Tests showed no illegal narcotics were involved in her death, according to an autopsy report obtained by TMZ on Tuesday from the coroners office in Harrison County, Ind. Moran struggled with substance abuse earlier in her life, and media assumptions about her cause of death were amplified by a comment from Scott Baio during an early morning radio interview April 24. When Baio learned his former costar had been battling cancer, he fell all over himself trying to set the record straight. I was asked ONLY about Erins troubled past due to drug & 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, he said on Facebook. THIS WAS BEFORE THE CAUSE OF DEATH WAS ANNOUNCED STATING STAGE 4 CANCER. One of the former child stars brothers, Tony Moran, told the Sun on May 30: My first thoughts were she must have had a heart attack caused by years of substance abuse. She has always battled demons and in recent years things have gone from bad to worse. In reality, as described by her husband, Moran had discovered last December that she had squamous cell carcinoma of the throat. After undergoing chemotherapy and radiation, by April she could no longer speak, eat or drink. She had a feeding tube. Baio posted the open letter from Steve Fleischmann, Morans husband of nearly 24 years, on his own Facebook page April 25. It got so bad so fast, Fleischmann said. The coroner told me it was really really bad. It had spread to her spleen, she had alot of fluid in her lungs and part of her brain was infected, Fleischmann wrote. The coroner said even if she was in the hospital being pumped full of antibiotics she still would not of made it. He said it was the best that she was with me and went in her sleep. Facebook

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WGN America cancels Underground, but will it really be the end? By Yvonne Villarreal  A chat with Aisha Hinds and Jurnee Smollett-Bell, the badass women from Underground. WGN America has canceled slavery-era-set drama Underground. The fate of the series, which centered around the Underground Railroad, seemed doomed given how the network has been scaling back its investment in original programming. Until now, the drama, from creators Misha Green and Joe Pokaski, had stood as the lone original scripted series on the network following the recent cancellation of Outsiders. The shift away from original programming comes after Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., the conservative-leaning Baltimore-based company, announced it had agreed to buy Tribune Media in a deal that would give it control of more than 200 local TV stations and WGN America. As WGN America evolves and broadens the scope and scale of its portfolio of series, we recently announced that resources will be reallocated to a new strategy to increase our relevance within the rapidly changing television landscape, Peter Kern, president and CEO of Tribune Media, said in a statement. Despite Underground being a terrific and important series, it no longer fits with our new direction and we have reached the difficult decision not to renew it for a third season. Kern added: It is our hope that this remarkable show finds another home and continues its stories of courage, determination and freedom. Sony Pictures Television, the studio that produces Underground, is said to be trying to find it a new home. When Underground stars Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Aisha Hinds stopped by the Los Angeles Times video studio last week, both seemed hopeful that Undergrounds story wasnt over. We havent heard anything yet on the status of Season 3, said Hinds, who joined Season 2 portraying Underground Railroad icon Harriet Tubman. But I do know there is quite a bit more of this story to tell. And I know that we have engaged viewers waiting to see the story. If WGN is not our home, well find a home. Facebook

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Lebanon might ban new Wonder Woman because of stars Israeli heritage By Libby Hill A new foe has arisen to oppose Wonder Woman at the box office: Lebanon. The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Lebanon is seeking to ban Warner Bros.'s new Wonder Woman movie because lead actress Gal Gadot is an Israeli. On Monday, Lebanons National News Agency reported that the Ministry of Economy and Trade was adopting measures necessary to ban the film from screening. Relations between Israel and Lebanon have been strained since Israels independence in 1948, with Lebanon still abiding by the Arab League boycott of Israel adopted in 1945. Lebanon does not recognize the State of Israel and does not accept Israeli passports or passports indicating a person has entered Israel. But is Wonder Woman an Israeli product? The film is produced by five production companies DC Films, Atlas Entertainment, Cruel and Unusual Films, Tencent Pictures and Wanda Pictures  three companies based in the United States and two in China. Gadot, however, is proud of her heritage. She served two years in the Israel Defense Force as required by the countrys conscription requirements and has posted in the past in support of IDF during the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict. The ban of the film would have to move quickly, as screenings are scheduled to begin in Beirut on Wednesday. But such action would require approval from a six-member committee from the Ministry of Economy, a process that had yet to begin, according to the Associated Press. Wonder Woman debuts in U.S. theaters Friday. 4:10 p.m.: This article was updated with information from Lebanons National News Agency. Facebook

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Olivia Newton-John has a new cancer diagnosis; her June shows are postponed By Christie DZurilla (Esteban Felix / Associated Press) Olivia-Newton John has reluctantly postponed her June concert dates after learning that the back pain shes been waylaid by recently is caused by breast cancer that has metastasized to her sacrum. I decided on my direction of therapies after consultation with my doctors and natural therapists and the medical team at my Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness and Research Centre in Melbourne, Australia, the 68-year-old singer said Tuesday in a statement on social media. Those therapies include a short course of photon radiation therapy in addition to natural wellness therapies, the statement said. Newton-John was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992, at which time she underwent chemotherapy after a modified radical mastectomy with reconstruction. Her treatment also included acupuncture, which she said helped her with nausea, as well as yoga, meditation and massage. Three weeks ago, Newton-John postponed her May shows, with her team citing a bad issue with Olivias sciatica. Now, her June shows in the U.S. and Canada have been put off. Ticket-holders are being directed to venues for refunds, and any rescheduled dates will be posted on Newton-Johns official website. Olivia ... is confident she will be back later in the year, better than ever, to celebrate her shows, the Tuesday statement said. Facebook

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After Cannes delay, Victoria & Abdul trailer debuts By Amy Kaufman One week after Focus Features scrapped plans to unveil the trailer for Victoria & Abdul during the Cannes Film Festival, a preview of the upcoming British drama has debuted online. Set in 1887, the film stars Judi Dench as Queen Victoria and follows the monarch as she strikes up an unlikely friendship with a Muslim Indian (Ali Fazal) who has traveled to the U.K. to deliver a ceremonial coin to her majesty. Focus, which is owned by Universal Pictures, was set to debut the trailer last Wednesday but postponed the release after the bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, on May 22. A source told The Times the decision was made in part because a big piece of marketing right after the attack could seem insensitive. Directed by Stephen Frears, Victoria & Abdul is set for release at the start of awards season in September. The trailer centers on the real-life relationship that blossomed between the two, with Abdul going from servant to teacher while informing the queen about everything from the Koran to the joys of Indian mangoes. Facebook

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Ready for Alanis Morissettes Jagged Little Pill as a musical? Its happening By August Brown (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) Alanis Morissettes angsty, groundbreaking 1995 album, Jagged Little Pill, always seemed like it had enough melodrama to make it into a theatrical production. Now its coming to a stage in Massachusetts. The new production of Jagged Little Pill, helmed by Juno writer Diablo Cody and director Diane Paulus, will debut at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge next May. The musical will feature songs from the LP  famed for its unsparing look at relationships  along with other music from Morissettes catalog and Pill producer Glen Ballard. This team that has come together for this Jagged Little Pill musical is my musical theater dream come true, Morissette said in a statement. The chemistry between all of us is crackling and I feel honored to be diving into these songs again, surrounded by all of this searing talent. Facebook

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Reunited Brady Bunch kids fondly remember Florence Henderson on Today By Nardine Saad It was a very Brady reunion on Tuesday. The Brady Bunch kids Barry Williams (Greg), Christopher Knight (Peter), Mike Lookinland (Bobby) and Susan Olsen (Cindy) came together on NBCs Today show to reflect on the iconic family sitcom and pay tribute to its late matriarch, Florence Henderson, nearly 50 years after the show debuted in 1969. The syndicated series about a blended family of six children and their housekeeper has permeated the pop culture zeitgeist with its unmistakable style and earworm theme song. With numerous parodies and attempted reboots in its wake, the comedy has endured because of its wholesome values, the cast members said. What you have on The Brady Bunch is something youre not going to see these days, which is a family where the parents and the kids respect each other today the formula is get the parents out of the show for the kids shows, said Olsen, a.ka. the youngest one in curls. You know how you dont grow old for yourself until you see yourself in a photo? Somehow you just dont see it, Knight explained. Its as though the show keeps us young in everyones mind, but were really this old. Added Williams: Everyone always refers to us as kids. No matter how we mature, were still the kids. After acknowledging that they would always be best known for The Brady Bunch, the actors said, they realized early on that they would never be able to walk away from the series at different stages of their careers. For Williams it was when a teenage girl asked him to sign an autograph for her mother and for Lookinland it was when he realized that his fans now had grandchildren. Knight said the show was always going to be in the room before me and it was always going to be in the room after me. Olsen, who claimed that she had written some off-color lyrics attached to the theme song, added that you spend a little while trying to run away from it, but you cant. Its like having a hunchback. You cant disguise it, so you might as well dress it up. As for their TV mom, Henderson, who died in 2016, the kids remembered her fondly. Everyone she met felt better about themselves and about the world around them after having spent a moment with Florence, Knight said. She was a mentor, a friend. We learned from her, added Williams. We learned how to interact with the public. She was so gracious with her fans, and we all learned how to do that graciously. Mostly she loved to make people laugh. You probably know that if youve been in her space. Facebook

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Prince William talks about taboo of mental illness and death of Diana in new interview By Libby Hill As the 20th anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales approaches, her son Prince William has opened up to British GQ about the loss. I would like to have had her advice, William told the magazine. I would love her to have met Catherine and to have seen the children grow up. It makes me sad that she wont, that they will never know her. The prince was just 15 when his mother was killed in a high-speed car crash on Aug. 31, 1997, and he and younger brother Harry were left to deal with their grief under great public scrutiny. While Prince William has of late found the words to speak publicly about his mother, the journey to that place has not always been easy. It has taken me almost 20 years to get to that stage, William said. I still find it difficult now because at the time it was so raw. And also it is not like most peoples grief, because everyone else knows about it, everyone knows the story, everyone knows her. View Instagram post It may have taken years, but William and Harry have found a way to honor their mother in a fashion that she would likely greatly appreciate: charitable work. Known as the Peoples Princess, Diana was a tireless advocate for those in need and worked to destigmatize AIDS in the 1980s, to fight the use of landmines and to better the lives of the underprivileged. In the last year, William and his brother, alongside Williams wife, Kate, have expanded their involvement in Heads Together, a mental health campaign led by the Royal Foundation, which aims to start a productive conversation about the reality of mental illness. Smashing the taboo is our biggest aim. We cannot go anywhere much until that is done. People cant access services till they feel less ashamed, so we must tackle the taboo, the stigma, William said. The Heads Together campaign has sparked several headlines for the royal family in recent months. In April, Prince Harry admitted that the death of his mother left him very close to a complete breakdown for which he finally sought professional help three years ago. The experience that Ive had is once you start talking about [mental health], you suddenly realized, actually, youre part of a big club ... and everybodys gagging to talk about it, Harry said during the Mad World podcast with Bryony Gordon. The GQ interview is not the only conversation that Prince William has had recently about mental health, either. He participated in a highly publicized FaceTime chat with Lady Gaga on the matter. In the interview, Prince William acknowledged that his public persona might suggest otherwise, but privately, he is impassioned about the issue. I cannot understand how families, even behind closed doors, still find it so hard to talk about it. I am shocked we are so worried about saying anything about the true feelings we have, the prince said. Prince Williams full interview with British GQ is available in its July issue, on newsstands June 1. Facebook

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Ariana Grandes mom has a message for Manchester bombing victims By Christie DZurilla Joan Grande, left, and Ariana Grande in September 2015. (Kevin Mazur / Getty Images) Days after daughter Ariana Grande issued a statement about last weeks post-concert bombing in Manchester, England, mom Joan Grande posted her own thoughts about the incident that left 22 dead and scores more injured. I join my daughter in extending my help & services to all those affected by the diabolical act of terror which occurred in Manchester! she wrote on Twitter as a Memorial Day message that also thanked U.S. servicemen and women. My heart goes out to all the victims: those who lost their lives, those injured, those recovering & all survivors of that night, along with the families and friends whose grief knows no bounds. The elder Grande was still in her front-row seat at the show, about to go see her daughter backstage, when the suicide bomb went off, TMZ reported. Mama Grande took about 10 kids who were seated around her to safety backstage, the website said. Ariana Grande similarly offered her assistance to those in need on Friday in a statement declaring her intention to return to the incredibly brave city of Manchester for a benefit concert. We will never be able to understand why events like this take place because it is not in our nature, which is why we shouldnt recoil, the Bang Bang singer said. We will not quit or operate in fear. We wont let this divide us. We wont let hate win. #MemorialDay pic.twitter.com/oUDmB7VD6x  Joan Grande (@joangrande) May 29, 2017 Facebook

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A Star Is Born: Annette Bening turns 59 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) "[W]hen they teach you to act, they teach you about objectives. You have a need -- a kind of emotional imbalance -- its not neurotic, but you want something. I try to consciously beef up that motivation in order to intensify what Im doing. You get an image in your head of what you want and then you find a way of expressing that.  Annette Bening, 1991 FROM THE ARCHIVES: Regarding Annette Facebook

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Swedens The Square wins Palme dOr and Sofia Coppola wins best director at Cannes By Los Angeles Times Swedish director Ruben Ostlund reacts on stage after he was awarded with the Palme dOr for the film The Square during the closing ceremony of the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. (Alberto Pizzoli / AFP / Getty Images) Ruben Ostlunds The Square, a ferocious drama of conscience, according to Times critic Justin Chang, about how a single lapse in judgment can cause a mans entire life to unravel, won the Cannes top prize, the Palme dOr on Sunday. The Grand Prix award went to Robin Campillos 120 Beats per Minute. Sofia Coppola won best director for her film The Beguiled, which stars Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell. Kidman also won the festivals 70th anniversary prize. Joaquin Phoenix won best actor for Lynne Ramsays You Were Never Really Here and Diane Kruger won best actress award for Faith Akins In the Fade. More coverage to come. Meanwhile... Here is what Justin Chang wrote about Ostlunds The Square, and Steven Zeitchiks interview with the director, who talked about the element of surprise in his movies: I really like scenes that when they end where you dont know 100% where to put them. It starts funny or it starts sad and then it becomes something else. When you get that shift, you know youve succeeded. Read More Facebook

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A Star Is Born: Kylie Minogue turns 49 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Axel Koester / For The Times) I have this following  mainly young girls. This album had to appeal to those fans. If the singing was too R&B, they wouldnt like it, I guess. These producers think pop music is candy music. Theyre saying: Here, kids, have a piece of candy.  Kylie Minogue, 1988 FROM THE ARCHIVES: Fame, fortune, but no respect Facebook

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Gregg Allman, pioneer of Southern rock, dies at 69 By Nardine Saad Gregg Allman performs with the Allman Brothers Band in 1979. (George Rose / Los Angeles Times) Gregg Allman, the gravel-voiced singer who helped lift the Allman Brothers Band to prominence with a hard-churning brand of soulful rock that became part of the soundtrack of the 1960s and 70s and set the coordinates for a musical genre known as Southern rock, died Saturday at the age of 69. According to a statement posted on his official website, Allman, who had canceled concerts and entire tours in recent years as he battled a variety of health issues, passed away peacefully at his home in Savannah, Ga. Read More Facebook

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70 years of Cannes in 17 seconds: The art of the yacht deal, from Steven Spielberg to Steve Bannon By Steven Zeitchik  Steven Zeitchik, Justin Chang and Kenneth Turan are bringing us Cannes moments from the 70 years of the international film festival -- in 17-second increments (or thereabouts). Here, Zeitchik, with Chang behind the camera, recalls the time he wound Steven Zeitchik, Justin Chang and Kenneth Turan are bringing us Cannes moments from the 70 years of the international film festival -- in 17-second increments (or thereabouts). Here, Zeitchik, with Chang behind the camera, recalls the time he wound up on a yacht with a future member of the Trump administration. Facebook

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70 years of Cannes in 17 seconds: The time Sofia Coppolas Marie Antoinette was booed By Justin Chang Steven Zeitchik, Justin Chang and Kenneth Turan are bringing us Cannes moments from the 70 years of the international film festival -- in 17-second increments (or thereabouts). Here, Chang, with Zeitchik behind the camera, recalls the year Sofia Coppolas Marie Antoinette played in competition and was booed by certain members of the media audience.  Steven Zeitchik, Justin Chang and Kenneth Turan are bringing us Cannes moments from the 70 years of the international film festival -- in 17-second increments (or thereabouts). Here, Chang, with Zeitchik behind the camera, recalls the year Sofia Cop That same year, when the film debuted in theaters, Times critic Kenneth Turan looked back on the boos at Cannes and concluded the reaction wasnt just about the filmmaking. Here is the essay he wrote on Oct. 13, 2006: -------------------- WHO OWNS HISTORY? And, more to the point, who owns Marie Antoinette? Though theyre not usually phrased that way, those questions have swirled around Sofia Coppolas quietly exuberant new film about the doomed young French queen (only 18 when she ascended the throne, 37 when she was executed) since it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year to some scattered  and widely misunderstood  boos. For the displeasure came not, as might be expected, from the French critics -- whod already seen the film and whose generally positive notices were already on record in Le Film Francais, the French trade paper -- but from political types who had an ax to grind about the films portrait of the woman in question. Read More Facebook

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Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor split after 17 years of marriage By Christie DZurilla (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor have split up after 18 years together, 17 of them as husband and wife. With tremendous love and respect for each other, and the 18 years we spent together as a couple, we have made the decision to separate, they said Friday in a joint statement. Our priority will continue to be raising our children as devoted parents and the closest of friends. We kindly ask that the media respect our privacy at this time. The Zoolander director and the Brady Bunch Movie actress met in L.A. in 1999, while he was developing a pilot in which she was going to star. They started dating that April and by November were engaged. They got married in May 2000. Stiller, 51, who proposed to Taylor while he was doing Meet the Parents, told Parade in 2013 that art imitated life when he was about to pop the question. I asked her father for permission before I did it, he said. It was like Meet the Parents in real life, because Christines father is an intimidating guy who owns a security company; were good friends now, but at the time I was in the basement rec room saying, I really would like to marry your daughter... Why the basement? " He was trying to find a place to sort of secretly ask my dad if it was OK to ask my hand in marriage, Taylor told New York magazine in 2008. The Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story costars have two kids together, daughter Emma, 15, and son Quinlan, 11. Facebook

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70 years of Cannes in 17 seconds: The home away from home for luminaries By Kenneth Turan  Kenneth Turan, Justin Chang and Steven Zeitchik are bringing us Cannes moments from the 70 years of the international film festival -- in 17-second increments (or thereabouts). Here, Turan, with Chang behind the camera, brings us to the historic Hot Kenneth Turan, Justin Chang and Steven Zeitchik are bringing us Cannes moments from the 70 years of the international film festival -- in 17-second increments (or thereabouts). Here, Turan, with Chang behind the camera, brings us to the historic Hotel Splendid, which over the last 146 years has been a home away from home for luminaries ranging from the French composer Jacques Offenbach to the late critic Roger Ebert. Facebook

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L.A. music fixture Rodney Bingenheimer will leave KROQ next month By Mikael Wood Rodney Bingenheimer, the veteran radio DJ and rock-scene insider familiar to several generations of Los Angeles music fans, is ending his long-running show on L.A.'s KROQ-FM (106.7) after more than 40 years. Rodney on the ROQ will air for the final time on June 4 at midnight, Bingenheimer, 69, wrote on Facebook Thursday. It has been an amazing run, and I will be thanking all of you when I say goodbye to KROQ next week, he said in the post. I am planning on some special callers and special music as I say a proper goodbye. In a statement to The Times, KROQ program director Kevin Weatherly called Bingenheimer one of the most influential voices on the radio and said he and his staff will forever be grateful for the indelible mark that Rodney on the ROQ has left on this station, our listeners and the alt-rock music scene. Bingenheimer launched his show on the influential modern-rock station in 1976, four years after he opened Rodneys English Disco, a nightclub on Sunset Boulevard popular among the decades glam acts. On the radio, Bingenheimer quickly became known for championing new artists including the Sex Pistols and Blondie; he continued playing music by up-and-coming talent over the years, throwing his considerable enthusiasm behind the likes of Oasis and Coldplay. In his Facebook post, Bingenheimer  the subject of a 2003 documentary called Mayor of the Sunset Strip  didnt say why he was leaving KROQ. But he noted that hes not retiring from music. As this chapter closes, he wrote, I will be opening another chapter of my rock life soon. Heres his full statement on Facebook: Facebook

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Ariana Grande to hold benefit concert in incredibly brave city of Manchester By Christie DZurilla (Valerie Macon / AFP/Getty Images) Ariana Grande on Friday announced her intention to return to the incredibly brave city of Manchester to spend time with fans and play a benefit concert to assist victims of the suicide bomb attack launched after her show in the British city earlier this week. I have been thinking of my fans, and of you all, non stop over the past week. The way you have handled all of this has been more inspiring and made me more proud than youll ever know, the 23-year-old singer said in a statement on social media. The compassion, kindness, love, strength and oneness that youve shown one another this past week is the exact opposite of the heinous intentions it must take to pull off something as evil as what happened Monday. YOU are the opposite. Grande gave no details about when she would return other than to say theyd be coming as soon as things were confirmed. The statement was her first since a brief tweet after the bombing saying she was broken and so so sorry. That day, Grande and her mother left Britain for Florida. She acknowledged her own reaction to the incident in saying she was sorry for the pain and fear you must be feeling and the trauma that you, too, must be feeling. She also talked about not wanting to go the rest of the year without being out there for her fans; at this point, her tour has been suspended only until June 5. There is nothing I or anyone can do to take away the pain you are feeling or to make this better, she said to the victims of the attack and their loved ones. However, I extend my hand and heart and everything I can possibly give to you and yours, should you want or need my help in any way. Those who were most tragically affected, Grande said, will be on my mind and in my heart everyday and I will think of them with everything I do for the rest of my life. View Instagram post Facebook

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Equality, not feminism, is the watchword at Wonder Woman premiere By Sonaiya Kelley Victoria Ikerd from San Diego, left, and Sylvia Vale from Culver City strike their best Wonder Woman pose. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) The stars of Warner Bros. Wonder Woman took to the red carpet outside Hollywoods Pantages Theatre Thursday night to celebrate the films premiere with a unified message. It just wasnt the message some people might expect. I think the world needs all types of superheroes, director Patty Jenkins said when asked why we need Wonder Woman. What a beautiful message right now because were in a dark place, and thats the only way were going to get to the other side, if everyone becomes a hero. (Warner Bros. canceled the films London premiere after Mondays attack in Manchester.) Despite the obvious girl power on display, many of the films stars and creators shied away from identifying it as a feminist film, hoping not to isolate the male fans in attendance. SEE PHOTOS FROM THE WONDER WOMAN PREMIERE  I think that the film just takes a great character and tells a great story about how that character came to be, Charles Roven, the films producer, told the Los Angeles Times. Obviously the character wouldnt be who she is if she wasnt a woman, but shes a very specific woman, Roven added. Theres no other superhero character in the DC Universe who embraced their legacy and knew what they wanted to be and became [it]. And thats completely inspirational to everyone, not just women. Read More Facebook

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Bella Thorne and Scott Disick together in Cannes? Legit nothing By Christie DZurilla (Joshua Blanchard / Getty Images, left; Lars Niki / Getty Images) In whats been called a battle of strategic hookups between exes Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick, Bella Thorne has put up a white flag and flown away. Disick, 34, and Thorne, 19, were seen Monday at LAX on their way to the Cannes Film Festival, where  surprise!  Kardashian, 38, was already hanging out and getting handsy with Younes Bendjima, a 24-year-old boxer-turned-model. According to E! News, the latter twosome is for real but keeping it light. The Kardashian ex and the actress from The DUFF? Perhaps not so much. Thorne and Disick raised eyebrows Wednesday with a high-profile cuddle-fest by a pool in Cannes. Alas, by Thursday, word has it via TMZ, Thorne wasnt comfortable with her party-boy travel partner when he got his drink on: After tweeting Thursday that Yo this #cannes fancy life isnt for me, she told one person that she had been doing Legit nothing trolololo with Scott and another, Hahahah Im not talking to scott or anyone else. Scott is partially using Bella and a few other girls as a crutch to make Kourtney upset and feel jealous, a Keeping Up With the Kardashians"-related source told People on Thursday, sounding like a description of an upcoming episode of the show. They are both playing this game with each other and at the moment neither one of them are backing down. Around 3 a.m. Friday, Cannes time, Disick was paying attention to another lady, putting this pic of his and Kardashians 4-year-old daughter, Penelope, up on Facebook: Um, hashtag #supersad? Bye Cannes you were boring Thorne said Friday on Snapchat, posting video from the seat of what appeared to be a private plane. Kardashian, Bendjima and half-sis Kendall Jenner left Cannes on Friday as well. Yo this #cannes fancy life isn't for me  BITCHIMBELLATHORNE (@bellathorne) May 25, 2017 @bellathorne bells, what were you doing with Scott?  chrystal (@justintheslayer) May 25, 2017 Legit nothing trolololo https://t.co/t9eW4B17oI  BITCHIMBELLATHORNE (@bellathorne) May 26, 2017 Facebook

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Netflix cancels London premieres of Orange Is the New Black and GLOW By Libby Hill The fatal terrorist incident at an Ariana Grande concert Monday in Manchester, England, continues to resonate throughout the entertainment industry. Netflix canceled its plans for a London premiere for Season 5 of Orange Is the New Black and the pilot for GLOW, the latest series from Orange creator Jenji Kohan. Following the terrible events in Manchester on Monday night, we have decided to cancel our special screening of Orange Is the New Black and GLOW on Tuesday [May 30], a Netflix spokesperson told The Times on Friday. Our thoughts are with all of those affected by this tragedy. According to those knowledgeable about the decision, the streaming services choice to forgo its screenings comes from internal discussions only, not from any pressure from local authorities. This is just the latest cancellation in the wake of Mondays tragedy, which took the lives of 22 individuals, including victims as young as 8 years old. On Wednesday, Warner Bros. scuttled plans for a London Wonder Woman premiere, originally scheduled for May 31. Similarly, Universal Pictures announced Thursday that it had canceled its London premiere for The Mummy originally slated for June 1. Facebook

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Oasis Liam Gallagher schedules Manchester benefit show By Mikael Wood (Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times) Former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher will play a hometown concert next week in Manchester, England, to benefit the families of Mondays bombing at the Manchester Arena. Its outrageous, the singer told the Manchester Evening News regarding the terrorist attack that killed 22 people following a concert by Ariana Grande. There are kids and people dying all over the world. And for what? He went on to say, I want to try and help pick people up. People like me, doing what we do, its our duty to give people a good time. The show, scheduled for Tuesday night at the O2 Ritz, will serve as Gallaghers first solo gig and comes ahead of the release of his debut solo single, Wall of Glass, from an album expected in October. Facebook

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Body-slamming? Late-night hosts remind us that Donald Trump once did that on TV By Yvonne Villarreal Lest America forget the nations history of political candidates with body-slamming tendencies, the late-night circuit offered a refresher course Thursday night. Playing catchup to Wednesdays news that Greg Gianforte, the billionaire Republican candidate in Montanas special congressional election, had allegedly body-slammed a Guardian reporter after the journalist asked him about the Republican healthcare bill, TV hosts weighed in on the matter. Think about that, Late Night host Seth Meyers said. The GOP healthcare plan is so bad, Republicans would rather body-slam reporters than answer a question about it. His response to the question, Meyers continued, was to give the reporter a preexisting condition. Late Show host Stephen Colbert expressed faux skepticism about Gianfortes ability to move past the incident and win the election. That happened the night before the election, Colbert said. I just dont know how anyone could vote for a candidate who body-slams people. Cue a clip of Donald Trump performing such a move in 2007 when he appeared on WrestleMania 23" and tackled WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to the ground before shaving his head. I forgot, Colbert said after playing the clip. Nothing matters. During his A Closer Look segment, Meyers also played the Trump clip. That was a thing, a real thing that happened. and we still said Yeah, he should be president. For the record: Gianforte won Montanas special election Thursday. Facebook

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A Star Is Born: Stevie Nicks turns 69 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times) I think if people like to dress like a gypsy and they get a little inspiration from me to do it, then its great. Its definitely something everyone should try at least once in their lives. Dress like a gypsy!  Stevie Nicks, 1997 FROM THE ARCHIVES: Airy Godmother Facebook

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For the 40th anniversary of Star Wars, see how fans packed L.A. theaters in 1977 By Los Angeles Times Staff When the original Star Wars opened on May 25, 1977, only about 40 theaters across the country initially screened the movie. In Los Angeles, fans packed showings in ways theater managers and moviegoers had never seen. For the 40th anniversary of Star Wars, we revisit this story examining the earliest stages of the Star Wars phenomenon. The Times originally published this story on June 4, 1977. Read More Facebook

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George Lucas predicted Star Wars Disney future in 1977 interview with The Times By L.A. Times staff Happy 40th anniversary, Star Wars! Before the first-ever Star Wars premiered on screens across America on May 25, 1977, Los Angeles Times writer Paul Rosenfield sat down with the creator of a galaxy far, far away. Then 33, George Lucas was just a few days shy from the release of his space opera, prophetically claiming that Star Wars was the movie he thinks Disney would have made when Walt Disney was alive. Who knew decades later that the droids and the mouse would reside in the same castle? This story was originally published on June 5, 1977, and titled, Lucas: Film-Maker With the Force. (Also from our archives, read The Times original Star Wars review here.) I think of this as a movie Disney would have made when Walt Disney was alive ... I call it space opera. Thats a genre thats been around a long time, in the books of Burroughs and Heinlein, but never really done on film.  George Lucas in 1977 Read More Facebook

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Guns N Roses is playing Los Angeles again By Mikael Wood Guns N Roses will play two hometown concerts this fall, the reunited Los Angeles hard-rock band announced Thursday, one Nov. 24 at Staples Center and another Nov. 25 at the Forum. The dates are part of a new extension of GNRs Not in This Lifetime Tour, which launched in April 2016 with a show at the Troubadour that marked the first time in decades that frontman Axl Rose had performed in public with guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan. The tour went on to hit Coachella and Dodger Stadium. Opening acts for the L.A. shows werent announced, but GNR revealed that country singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson will warm up crowds at stadium shows in August in Denver; Little Rock, Ark.; and Miami. Other acts with opening slots on the tour include ZZ Top, Deftones and Royal Blood. Tickets for the newly scheduled concerts go on sale June 3. Facebook

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Claire Foy shoots down Lisbeth Salander rumors: I dont know about any of this By Glenn Whipp Claire Foy (Jennifer S. Altman / For The Times) Claire Foys sister called her last week, none too pleased that her sibling hadnt told her that shed be playing Lisbeth Salander in The Girl in the Spiders Web, the long-delayed follow-up to the 2011 David Fincher film The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. My sisters like, Oh, what are you doing? and I was like, Im not doing anything! I dont t know about any of this! Foy told The Times Wednesday in an interview before an Emmy season promotional event for the actress Netflix series, The Crown. Its really weird, Foy added. Ive never experienced that before where theres a rumor about a possible job like this. Its very surreal. News broke last week that Foy was either in talks, eyeing or had been all but cast to play Lisbeth in the reboot of the Stieg Larsson book series. So is Foy, who plays Queen Elizabeth on The Crown, even in the running? No. Im not even in the same arena, Foy said. I cant even contemplate doing anything at all, to be honest, at this present time. The 33-year-old British actress just finished shooting Season 2 of The Crown last week. The ambitious series requires a nine-month commitment, meaning that Foy hasnt had much down time the last two years. She also has a 2-year-old daughter with her husband, actor Stephen Campbell Moore. So you can understand why, when asked about her immediate future, she emphatically states: Good God, no. I have got no plans to do anything. Those sentiments would seem to preclude her from The Girl in the Spiders Web, which is scheduled to begin filming in September to make an Oct. 15, 2018, release date. Then again, when asked what kind of role shed like to do after playing the reserved Elizabeth, a woman nicknamed Shirley Temple, Foy replied: I think I need to play somebody who expresses themselves and is able to communicate on a more open level, something really different. Like the avenging anti-heroine Lisbeth? Well ... Foy answered, with a hint of a smile. Well just have to wait and see. Facebook

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Sony taps Gina Prince-Bythewood to direct Spider-Man spinoff Silver & Black By Libby Hill (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) Sony continues to get its superhero ducks in a row, with Deadline reporting Thursday that the studio had tapped Gina Prince-Bythewood to direct Silver & Black, a film centered around comic book characters Silver Sable and Black Cat. Prince-Bythewood also will rewrite the script for the film, originally written by Christopher Yost, screenwriter of Thor: The Dark World. Silver Sable and Black Cat are characters that originated in correlation to Spider-Man and have served as both allies and antagonists to the web-slinging superhero over the years. Silver & Black is the latest Spidey-related endeavor for Sony, with Spider-Man: Homecoming, starring Tom Holland, premiering July 7, and Venom, starring Tom Hardy as the sometimes villain, sometimes anti-hero, hitting theaters Oct. 5, 2018. The film will not be Prince-Bythewoods first dalliance with superheroes. She directed the pilot for Freeforms upcoming series Marvels Cloak & Dagger, about two teenagers learning to deal with both superpowers and love. Prince-Bythewood is an experienced director of critically acclaimed films including Love & Basketball and Beyond the Lights, and she is well-versed in the world of television, where Foxs Shots Fired, the show she created and produced with husband Reggie Rock Bythewood, just concluded its first season. The director becomes the latest woman tapped to helm a superhero film, with Patty Jenkins Wonder Woman debuting in theaters June 2. Facebook

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Happy puking: Baywatch is the summer blockbuster critics love to hate By Christie DZurilla  Dwayne Johnson, Zac Efron and Priyanka Chopra star in Baywatch. Whats more fun than seeing the new Baywatch movie? Having movie reviewers see it for you! Los Angeles Times critic Jen Yamato was in the Enjoy It for What It Is camp, describing the film thusly: "[I]t not only owns its dumbness but hurtles itself all the way back around through a flurry of genitalia jokes and F-bombs to splash unapologetically in an R-rated surf of winking postmodernism, led by the charismatic Dwayne Johnson, Hollywoods most unsinkable movie star. But although not everyone hates it  64% of audiences dug it, according to Rotten Tomatoes  a lot of reviewers put the bouncing-beach-bodies flick firmly in its place, damning it, and then damning it with faint praise. That said, here are a few snacks, both bad and (relatively) good, from the Baywatch snark buffet. Over at the Chicago Tribune, they took the Yeah, and ...? approach to the review. The Bad: The movies comic instincts... are consistently coarse and frequently scrotal. The Good: The bodies on screen are pretty, which I seem to remember was a selling point of the 1989-2001 TV series. As we said, yeah, and ...? The Roger Ebert website perhaps cut closest to the bone, pulling few punches. The Bad: "[T]his is another one of those raunchy comedies thats barely a movie, that looks like it was edited by dumping a bunch of footage into whatever movie-cutting software theyre using and hitting randomize. The Good: "[T]he movie has a pervading air of crass amiability about it  its almost like a two-hour end-credits gag reel. (Nevertheless, it contains an end credits gag reel.) Now could you tell us what you really think?: Rolling Stone painted a vivid picture of the Baywatch experience. The Bad: Think of yourself sitting down for a big two-hour wallow in instant stupid with a vat of popcorn, slathered in fake butter and possibly a mound of melted M&Ms on top. It feels great chugging it down, then your stomach hurts, your head aches and you puke the whole thing up so you can forget about it in the morning. Thats Baywatch in a nutshell. Happy puking. The Good: Of the recent spate of moldy TV material morphing into movies, with 21 Jump Street on top and CHIPs bringing up the rear, Baywatch barely escapes the basement. One reason it does: The Rock. Helpful! Turns out if you liked 21 Jump Street and CHiPs, this flick is for you! The New York Times loosened up its necktie for this one. The Bad: The digital effects  fire and water, mostly  are lackluster, and the whole thing has a crummy, overcast, second-rate-theme-park look to it. The Good: Like its source material, Baywatch is sleazy and wholesome, silly and earnest, dumb as a box of sand and slyly self-aware. Its soft-serve ice cream. Crinkle-cut fries. A hot car and a skin rash. Tacky and phony and nasty and also kind of fun. Tacky? Phony? Nasty? We didnt know it was a date movie. The Washington Post, of course, just couldnt leave politics out of it. The Bad: Its no shock that the women in Baywatch dont have much to do beyond look good. ... Maybe dodging bad lines was a relief for the actresses. Its not like the screenplay, by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift, gives performers a lot to work with. The Good: If, indeed, Dwayne the Rock Johnson ditches Hollywood to become our next commander in chief, Baywatch may be singled out as the low point of his pre-political career. Well, at least Johnson has that out of the way. The Tampa Bay Times went deadpan. The Bad: Imagining Johnson and genetically gifted co-stars in swimsuits is all it took to pitch Baywatch. Director Seth Gordon and six writers didnt come up with much beyond that. The Good: What Baywatch has in its favor is Dwayne Johnson fireman-carrying a dead weight comedy to safety. We think thats a compliment. Maybe. Variety noted the films nods to current market and societal trends. The Bad: Baywatch ... is a stupidly entertaining trash folly, the kind that could only be made today: an obscenity-and-insult-laced, aggressively competent adaptation of a 25-year-old TV show that manages to repackage every aspect of the series except, perhaps, the reason it was popular in the first place. The Good: They wear their butt-hugging red bathing suits with dignity and pride, which makes this a highly sexually responsible Baywatch. The reviewer at the New York Post appeared to be familiar with the TV series global success. The Bad: Even the action scenes need CPR, often undermined by effects so chintzy, you wonder if the money intended for them was instead eaten up by the productions seven-figure waxing budget. The Good: On the bright side, itll probably do killer business in Germany. Wait, were they just dissing the Hoff? Finally, one need go no further than the AV Club to understand Rotten Tomatoes 19% positive critics rating. The Bad: "[N]obody not even the filmmakers cares about Baywatch all that much. Yet the jokes on them: In spoofing something so forgettable, theyve made something even less memorable. The Good: Nobody cares about Baywatch. Nuff said. Facebook

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Seth Meyers says Trumps cruel budget cuts would harm the presidents supporters most By Chris Barton After a number of weeks filled with late-breaking developments on the Trump administrations apparent ties to Russia, Wednesday night was a chance for late-night hosts to sort of catch their breath and essentially choose their own adventure. Jimmy Kimmel focused on the seemingly less-than-happy photos of the pope with President Trump that circulated on Wednesday, while Stephen Colbert took a brief swipe at the $2-trillion double-counting error in Trumps budget. Seth Meyers, however, took advantage of his shows A Closer Look segment to make time for all of the above. After addressing the photo of the stone-faced pope with Trump, Meyers recapped the latest developments in the investigations into whether, among other things, the president engaged in obstruction of justice by firing FBI Director James Comey. But then Meyers took on the administrations proposed federal budget, which could cause harm to many. While noting the budget amounts to a wish list that Congress will battle over, Meyers said the proposals harshness was not to be discounted. What someone wishes for tells you a lot about that person, Meyers said before recounting the many cuts the budget proposes to Social Security and Medicaid. The show then rolled a number of clips in which Trump the candidate promised not to do just that. This budget lays bare just how much of a fraud Trumps campaign was, Meyers added, noting how hard many of these cuts to the social safety net would hit Trump supporters. He then squared off the pointed words of Trump the candidate versus his actions as president to underscore his point. Maybe its better those two never meet, Meyers said. I think they would hate each other. Watch the clip above. Facebook

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Universal Pictures cancels London premiere of The Mummy in wake of Manchester bombing By Libby Hill  Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe, Annabelle Wallis and Sofia Boutella star in The Mummy. The specter of Mondays terrorist attack in Manchester, England, continues to loom large. Universal Pictures announced Thursday morning the cancellation of next weeks London premiere of The Mummy, the second such development this week. All of us at Universal have been devastated by the terror attack in Manchester and continue to stand with the community and country as it recovers, the statement from the studio read. Out of respect to those affected by this tragedy we have decided not to move forward with the London premiere for The Mummy scheduled to take place next week. The film, starring Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe, serves as the launch of Universal Pictures Dark Universe, an extended universe that will see the reboot of several classic monsters from the Universal vault, including the Invisible Man and Frankensteins Monster. Cancellation of the June 1 London premiere for The Mummy comes just a day after Warner Bros. nixed its May 31 Wonder Woman London premiere. Ariana Grande, whose concert was targeted in the Manchester attack that killed 22 people, similarly suspended her tour through June 5 on Wednesday. A statement from the artists representatives said the suspension comes until we can further assess the situation and pay our proper respects to those lost. Facebook

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Al Gore on the French Riviera: Why he was reluctant to make An Inconvenient Sequel By Kenneth Turan Former Vice President Al Gore arrives on the red carpet for the screening of The Killing of a Sacred Deer at the Cannes Film Festival. (Alberto Pizzoli / AFP / Getty Images) It has not been a very good year for those concerned with climate change. The U.S. is considering leaving the landmark Paris climate pact, a hostile appointee leads the Environmental Protection Agency, and right-wing websites chortle, Trumps Latest Move Will Make Al Gore Fry. But is Al Gore himself despondent or depressed about it all? Not in the slightest. Ive been inoculated in the year 2000, he says, combining a burst of genial good humor with a reference to his presidential election loss to George W. Bush. I now have a resistance to being disheartened, the antibodies are still thriving in my bloodstream. As we all learn, one of the hidden secrets of the human condition is we learn the most from our most painful experiences. Former Vice President Al Gore at the Carlton hotel for the Cannes Film Festival, which is screening his documentary An Inconvenient Sequel. (Stephanie Cornfield / For The Times) To spend time with Al Gore is to meet a man enough at ease with himself to dress as if for a Senate hearing in white shirt, suit and tie even though hes in the south of France; a warm, engaged, surprisingly funny individual whose innate courtesy has him personally hang a reporters sports coat on a nearby hotel room hanger. Yes, he does tend to stay on message when he talks (how could he not) and he likes to draw graphs in the air with his hands (Im going to get a little geeky for a moment, he apologizes with a smile, Im sorry, its a failing). But he combines this with good-humored self-awareness and a fiercely committed intelligence. If you think Im earnest now, you should have seen me earlier, he says. You cant change who you are. At times Ive tried, but Im old enough to stop worrying. Gore is in Cannes to promote the worldwide release of an impassioned and involving new documentary, An Inconvenient Sequel. Due in U.S. theaters on July 28, it brings us up to speed on where the battle against climate change stands more than a decade after the Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Im here for a lot of to-ing and fro-ing is how Gore puts it. I think Ive done 75 seven-minute interviews  Japan, Russia, Brazil, everywhere. The day before yesterday I was live on [the French cable channel] Canal Plus when the interpreter talking in my earpiece was evacuated from his building because of a bomb scare. The questioner was going a mile a minute in French, but because of those 75 seven-minute interviews, I picked up enough key words to fight my way through it. Gore has been concerned with climate change since he took a class with pioneering global warming theorist Roger Revelle as a college student in the 1960s. Not only did Gore never imagine when I was a young man that this would become an all-consuming body of work for me, he also never anticipated that the work would involve the movies. More than that, he was frankly dubious about both of his films. Read More Facebook

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Ellen DeGeneres says shes in for a Netflix stand-up comedy special By Christie DZurilla Ellen DeGeneres is working on a new comedy special  for the first time in a very long time  and this time shes working with Netflix. Looks like its been 15 years since you did a stand-up special. ... How about one for Netflix? the streaming service asked her Wednesday on Twitter. Minutes later, DeGeneres replied, Let me think about it. Ok Im in. Heres how in she is: Im writing it now, I cant wait, DeGeneres said in a statement confirming the upcoming gig. Ill keep you posted when and where Im gonna shoot my Netflix special. Im excited to do it; Im excited for you to see it. Previously, HBO was home for DeGeneres comedy specials: her One Night Stand in 1992, Ellen DeGeneres: The Beginning in 2000 and Ellen DeGeneres: Here and Now. The second and third shows notched two Emmy nominations each. In March, the former sitcom star announced shed be returning to prime time with Ellens Game of Games, which shes hosting for six episodes on NBC. No air dates have been set. Its going to be like a combination of American Ninja Warrior, RuPauls Drag Race and a water park, DeGeneres said in a statement. OK, its nothing like that, but you should still watch. Looks like it's been 15 years since you did a stand-up special, @TheEllenShow. How about one for Netflix?  Netflix US (@netflix) May 24, 2017 Let me think about it. Ok I'm in. https://t.co/kUAdHyXAjS  Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) May 24, 2017 UPDATES 2:30 p.m.: This article was updated with confirmation from Netflix and a statement from DeGeneres. Facebook

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Chris Cornells body has been cremated, report says; funeral set for Friday By Christie DZurilla Chris Cornell in 1991. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) The body of Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, who died last week in Detroit, was reportedly cremated Tuesday in Hollywood, and a funeral is planned for later this week. Widow Vicky Cornell, brother Peter Boyle and friends Linda Ramone and singer J.D. King were at Hollywood Forever Cemetery for the cremation, sources familiar with the service told TMZ. Cornells body was flown to Los Angeles from Detroit on Sunday, family attorney Kirk Pasich told Rolling Stone on Monday, and a private funeral will be held Friday. Pasich told Variety on Sunday that public memorials will be held when its decided. The short time between the end of Soundgardens May 17 show and 52-year-old Cornells death was chronicled in a police report obtained by the Detroit News. He and the band walked offstage around 11:15 p.m. May 17. Fifteen minutes later Cornell was in his hotel room, the report said, where bodyguard Martin Kirsten (who used to work for and date Heidi Klum) helped him fix his computer and gave him two Ativan. At 11:35 p.m. Cornell was talking to his wife, Vicky, who said Friday through her attorney that she had been concerned because her husband was slurring his words and told her he might have taken a few too many anxiety pills. She called Kirsten at 12:15 a.m. Thursday and asked him to check on the singer, the report said; the bodyguard kicked in the hotel room door, then the locked bathroom door, and found Cornell. At his final show, Cornell seemed high and was out of character from note 1, lead sound engineer Ted Keedick told TMZ in an interview published Wednesday. He said the Soundgarden frontman did not appear depressed. However, Keedick said: Id never heard his voice that way before. He was having serious control problems. One concert-goer told the Detroit News last week that as far as she could tell, Cornells final show was honestly great. Nothing seemed off. Tuesday at Detroits Fox Theatre, the site of that last performance, Norah Jones played a tribute to Cornell: an acoustic version of Black Hole Sun. Facebook

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Ariana Grande suspends tour through June 5 By Christie DZurilla Ariana Grandes tour has been suspended through June 5, her management team said Wednesday. That includes the cancellation of concerts planned for Thursday and Friday at Londons O2 Arena. Twenty-two people died and at least 59 were injured in a suicide attack Monday night outside Manchester Arena, where Grande had just concluded a stop on her Dangerous Woman Tour. We ask at this time that we all continue to support the city of Manchester and all those families affected by this cowardice and senseless act of violence, the singers reps said in a statement. Our way of life has once again been threatened but we will overcome this together. The dates that have been put on hold until we can further assess the situation and pay our proper respects to those lost, the statement said, are: London, May 25-26

Antwerp, Belgium, May 28

Lodz, Poland, May 31-June 1

Frankfurt, Germany, June 3

Zurich, Switzerland, June 5 The next tour stop after that is a June 7 concert in Paris. Speculation that the tour would be put on hold has been rife since the day after the bomb went off  actually, immediately afterward and before the number of casualties was known, many on social media were already worried that shows would be axed  but the situation had been in limbo until now. An exhausted"-looking Grande returned home Tuesday to Florida, where she and her mother were met at the airport by Mac Miller, who hugged and kissed his girlfriend in an emotional reunion. Facebook

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Warner Bros. cancels London Wonder Woman premiere following Manchester attack By Josh Rottenberg In the wake of Mondays deadly terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, Warner Bros. has announced it is canceling a planned premiere in London next week for its superhero film Wonder Woman. Our thoughts are with those affected by the recent tragedy in the UK, the studio said in a statement. In light of the current situation, we will not be proceeding with our plans for the premiere and junket activities in London. Starring Gal Gadot and directed by Patty Jenkins, the highly anticipated film  which is set in Europe during World War I  will hold its U.S. premiere on Thursday in Los Angeles. It arrives in theaters June 2. The studio faced a similar situation last year when its European premiere of Batman v. Superman was scheduled to be held in London just hours after terrorist attacks struck Brussels, killing 32 people and injuring many others. In that case, the studio said in a statement that it had decided to go ahead with the event rather than yield to terror. But as Britain mourns the 22 people killed in the Manchester bombing, with scores more wounded, and with the countrys security threat level raised to its highest, signaling the possibility of another imminent attack, Warner Bros. clearly determined that the circumstances called for a different course of action. Facebook

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New Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer shows off Spideys tricked-out, Iron Man-style super-suit By Josh Rottenberg Spider-Man has a few new tricks up his spandex sleeve, with the latest trailer for Sonys upcoming franchise reboot Spider-Man: Homecoming offering a deeper look at Spideys newfangled, tech-enhanced super-suit. Courtesy of billionaire inventor/playboy Tony Stark, the suit is embedded with Iron Man-style technology. A Jarvis-like computer assistant informs Peter Parker (Tom Holland) of the 576 possible web shooter combinations he has at his command. A parachute can also be deployed out of the back of the suit when needed, and the chest piece can detach and turn into a drone. For those who prefer their Spidey old-school, though, the trailer also promises a return to Parkers teenage roots  though with a decidedly cockier spin than the shy, alienated high school nerd weve often seen depicted in the comics and onscreen. Hollands Parker is clearly feeling his superhero oats, boasting to Stark of taking down a petty bike thief and raring for bigger challenges, Spanish quiz or no Spanish quiz. (Cue Michael Keatons villainous Vulture.) Informed by his best friend Ned that Stark has installed a training-wheels protocol on his super-suit to disable some of its abilities, Parker gripes, Im sick of Mr. Stark treating me like a kid. But you are a kid, Ned reminds him. Yeah, Parker says, a kid who can stop a bus with his bare hands! Spider-Man: Homecoming hits theaters July 7. Watch the trailer below. Facebook

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Performers move U.K. concerts after Manchester bombing, but for some, the show goes on By Christie DZurilla Floral tributes in Manchesters St. Anns Square on May 24, 2017. (Jeff J. Mitchell / Getty Images) Manchester Arena has postponed concerts by Take That, an English pop group from the city that was to play there Thursday, Friday and Saturday. But its working to see that a KISS show proceeds next week. Unfortunately, due to the tragic events that unfolded on Monday night, it is not possible for the concerts to take place, the arena said in a statement. These have now been postponed and more information will follow. In another statement, the arena cited the ongoing police investigation. Take That had previously postponed a show at another location, saying Tuesday on its website, Out of respect to all of the people and their families that were affected by the horrific incident last night at the Manchester Arena, we have decided to postpone our show tonight in Liverpool. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all. KISS is scheduled to play Manchester Arena on Tuesday, and the venue said it is working on that show with promoters and police. pic.twitter.com/HkR9ilSTSt  Manchester Arena (@ManchesterArena) May 23, 2017 As far as the Ariana Grande concerts set for Londons O2 arena on Thursday and Friday, as of Wednesday morning no decision had been made. Were still in contact with the tour promoters regarding a final decision, the O2 team said on Twitter Wednesday morning. As yet the tour is not officially postponed or canceled, despite media reports. Katy Perry, Lorde, Lana Del Rey, Imagine Dragons, Shawn Mendes and the Chainsmokers will all go ahead with performances this Saturday and Sunday in Hull, England, at BBC Radio 1s Big Weekend, according to TMZ. Hull is about two hours from Manchester. Blondie postponed a Tuesday-night show at the Round Chapel in London, saying in a series of tweets the day of the show that the move was out of respect for the victims of the terrible attack at the Manchester Arena, and noting that plans to reschedule the show were in the works. The Afghan Whigs have moved their Friday show to the O2 Ritz Manchester from Manchester Cathedral, which, as of Wednesday morning, was still cordoned off by police. The Ritz said Tuesday that it would stay silent on social media for two days in sympathy with those who lost their lives or were injured, physically or mentally, but that it would have news Thursday about any rescheduled shows. Other acts that had been scheduled to perform in the Manchester area but not in the arena in coming days, including Colour of Noise, Damien Dempsey, Shriekback and the Cranberries, canceled their shows for reasons unrelated to the suicide attack. Most announced those plans well before Monday. Facebook

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A Star Is Born: Bob Dylan turns 76 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times) When people think of me, they are not necessarily going to buy the latest record anyway. They may buy a record from years ago. Besides, I dont think interviews sell records.  Bob Dylan, 1985 FROM THE ARCHIVES: Bob Dylan -- Still A-Changin Facebook

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Late-night TV hosts, U2 plead for love after Manchester bombing By Robert Lloyd After the news, late-night talk shows are televisions most topical forum. We turn there for the satirical distance and perspective that might allow us to process the day and get to sleep  for laughs when laughter is appropriate, but also for a thoughtful response when events go beyond ordinary human folly to the terrible and unthinkable. Mondays suicide bombing after an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, was on the minds of some late-night hosts Tuesday night. Theres really nothing you can say that can approach the shock and the grief of the victims and their families, said Stephen Colbert on Late Show, asking his audience to go online to hear what his CBS colleague James Corden, who follows him on The Late Late Show, had to say the night before. All we can add here, said Colbert, is that following acts of senseless violence like this, its all the more important not to be controlled by fear, but instead to be reminded by the action of people of Manchester who rushed to the aid of their friends and strangers alike. It is just more proof that evil cannot succeed as long as good people are willing to love each other. On NBCs Late Night, host Seth Meyers had similar thoughts. At its best, being at a concert is an incredible collective experience, he said. Its a chance through a shared love of music to connect with, to sing with and to dance with people you dont know.... And so this comes down to the way we treat strangers, and while some cowards chose to treat strangers with hate, from everything I read, Manchester was filled with people last night who provided aid and comfort to help victims who were total strangers to them. He ended with a plea for all of us to not need a tragedy to remind us of the importance of treating those we do not know with love instead of hate. The Irish band U2, in Los Angeles to perform concerts of their own, were among Jimmy Kimmels guests on ABCs Jimmy Kimmel Live. Kimmel brought up Manchester. I imagine that is something you guys have been thinking about, he said. They hate music, they hate women, they even hate little girls  they hate everything that we love, lead singer Bono replied. The worst of humanity was on view in Manchester last night  but so was the best, as people took perfect strangers into their houses and queued up for blood banks. Manchester has an undefeatable spirit, I can assure you. Kimmel wondered how growing up in Northern Ireland in an era of political and sectarian violence had affected their music. It was so commonplace for a number of years, answered the Edge, the bands guitarist, that it just became a constant background to life. And occasionally something particularly awful would happen and it would really affect you  but that was almost the worst of it. You got to the place where [it was] just ongoing every week, every month. Punk rock helped, added Bono. It made us suspicious of partisanship, it made us up suspicious of sectarian ideas. Facebook

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Elisabeth Moss and BBC America join forces for Typhoid Mary limited series By Libby Hill (Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times) The Handmaids Tale star Elisabeth Moss is wasting no time in lining up new projects. BBC America announced Tuesday its partnership with Moss and Annapurna Television in developing Fever, a limited series focused on the tale of Typhoid Mary. The series will adapt the novel of the same name, written by Mary Beth Keane and set in early 20th century New York, where Mary Mallon is unknowingly transmitting typhus to those around her. She was an immigrant in turn-of-the-century New York, a time of huge change and progress in America, Moss said of the character in a statement released by the network. She was incredibly unique, stubborn, ambitious and in fierce denial of any wrongdoing until her death where she lived out her days imprisoned on an island just off of the Bronx in N.Y. She is incredibly complicated, something I seem to enjoy playing, said Moss. Moss will star in the series and serve as executive producer alongside director Phil Morrison (Enlightened, Junebug) and writer Robin Veith (The Expanse, True Blood). Annapurnas Sue Naegle and Megan Ellison will also serve as executive producers. Facebook

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Universal Music Group CEO on Manchester attack: A level of evil beyond comprehension By Christie DZurilla Lucian Grainge, CEO of Universal Music Group, in November 2016. (Frazer Harrison / Getty Images) Lucian Grainge of Universal Music Group sent a company-wide memo Tuesday, calling it a day of remembrance of victims of the suicide attack in Manchester, England, and acknowledging that emotions were raw. "[W]e grieve for all of those lost there, offering our deepest condolences to their families and loved ones, said the chief executive of UMG, parent company of Ariana Grandes recording label Republic, in a note obtained by Variety. Twenty-two people, one only 8 years old, were killed Monday night and at least 59 were hurt when a bomb exploded as Grandes concert at the Manchester Arena was ending. This hits home for us as a music company, Grainge said, because so many of us, myself included, spend so much time out seeing our artists perform, let alone attending concerts as fans. Thats why weve chosen music as our career  or rather music has chosen us. No UMG employees, including Grande and her crew, were injured in the blast, he confirmed, and help from human resources and security was offered to those with questions or concerns. That said, Grainge continued, the fact that such an unspeakable act can be committed at a place where innocent people  including so many young people  come together peacefully to enjoy music reflects a level of evil beyond comprehension. READ MORE: Suspected Manchester suicide bomber identified as U.K. son of Libyan immigrants>> Facebook

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Ariana Grande returns home to Florida after Manchester attack By Christie DZurilla People attending a vigil for Mondays suicide-attack victims brought flowers to St. Ann Square in Manchester, England, on Tuesday. (Jeff J. Mitchell / Getty Images) Ariana Grande reportedly returned home to Florida on Tuesday after the bombing outside her Manchester, England, concert that left 22 dead and at least 59 injured. As they exited a private plane, Grande, her mom and her dog were met on the tarmac in Boca Raton, E! News said, by family members and rapper Mac Miller, whom the 23-year-old has been dating since last summer. Miller gave Grande a long hug and a kiss, a source told E! It was a very emotional reunion and they stood talking for a minute before getting into the car, t
Students of Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS) became winners of the Azerbaijani national finals of Microsoft Imagine Cup 2017, the large-scale international annual technology competition.

The national finals were organized by Microsoft Azerbaijan and Nar companies with support from the Ministry of Education of the Azerbaijan Republic, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of Azerbaijan, and Pool of High Technologies.

A team Oilman, which included BHOS fourth-year Process Automation Engineering students Kerim Kerimli and Shamil Omarov, fourth-year Petroleum Engineering student Lala Mamedova, and fourth-year Oil and Gas student of the Azerbaijan State Oil and Industrial University Rufat Zeynalli, took the first place at the national final. As the winner, the team came through to the competition next stage, which will be held in Kiev, Ukraine. During the regional finals, the Azerbaijani team will have a chance to contend for participation in The Imagine Cup 2017 Worldwide Finals to be held in Seattle, USA, in July 2017, and for the competitions main prize in an amount of US$100,000 to be awarded for successful implementation of the winning project.

Microsoft Imagine Cup is held in Azerbaijan for the third time. It is an annual competition sponsored and hosted by Microsoft Corporation, which brings together young technologists worldwide to help resolve some of the world's toughest challenges. It is considered one of the top competitions and awards related to software design. The Imagine Cup comprises two major technology competitions, including Software Design, and Game Design. All Imagine Cup competitors create projects that address the Imagine Cup theme: "Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems".
Wheres Dolph Lundgren when you need him?

The aging action figure likely would have found himself right at home in Black Site Delta, a slab of D-grade, B-movie nonsense set in a maximum security military prison that serves as a cover for a secret drone control operation.

Following a violent bar altercation, a despondent war vet (Cam Gigandet) awakens to find himself locked up in a cell surrounded by group of standard-issue bad-asses and kept in the dark as to the reason for the group incarceration (although, if hammy acting were a crime, theyd all deserve life sentences).

Turns out theyre doing time in a black site prison for special cases, but while the general public has no knowledge of its existence, terrorists are well aware of the drone command center hidden within the building and have plans to take out a major U.S. city unless the assembled dirty half-dozen manage to save the day.

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While a lot of gunfire ensues, Jesse Gustafsons mechanical direction and Guy Stevensons cut-and-paste script shoot laughably hollow blanks (sample dialogue: If war is business, then come with me and own the company!) .

Filmed extensively in a single Mississippi location, the low-budget production carries the musty remainder-bin whiff of something Lundgren would have signed up for a couple of decades ago, quite likely to considerably more entertaining effect.

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Black Site Delta

Not rated

Running time: 1 hour, 27 minutes

Playing: Arena Cinelounge Sunset, Hollywood

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calendar@latimes.com
If you were looking for the ultimate exemplar of early-70s soft rock, you could hardly do better than the 1972 song Brandy (Youre a Fine Girl) by the largely forgotten 1-hit wonder Looking Glass.

With its infectious earworm of a melody, its background doo-doo-doos and its goofily heart-on-sleeve lyrics about a fetching barmaid in a harbor town who loves a man whos not around, Brandy has been the go-to selection over the years for many a sozzled Gen-Xer on karaoke night. And there are more than a few fortysomething Brandys walking around today who owe their very name to the songs brief reign on the Billboard charts.

Brandy is not, however, the kind of song youd typically think of to put on the soundtrack for a big-budget sci-fi-superhero movie in the year 2017. Unless, of course, youre James Gunn. And unless the movie is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

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In that case, it would be so perfect, youd build a whole plot point around it.

For Gunn, 70s AM-radio staples like Brandy, Blue Swedes Hooked on a Feeling and Rupert Holmes Escape (The Pina Colada Song) have been the unlikely secret sauce in the Guardians franchise since its inception. In both the original 2014 Marvel Studios smash and its follow-up, which opens this week, these retro roller-rink hits of yesteryear have given Gunns bizarro space opera much of its earthly heart and soul.

I knew Guardians was a rather outlandish concept  its a talking raccoon, a bunch of space aliens, one character whos from Earth but has been in outer space for nearly 25 years  so I needed a way to ground people emotionally, says Gunn, who grew up with songs like Brandy  which he counts as a personal all-time top-10 favorite  as part of his childhood musical wallpaper. My thinking was that these AM pop hits would give the audience something they can hold on to thats very familiar amidst all this strangeness.

Gunn was clearly on to something. The first Guardians soundtrack  which, according to the films conceit, was an awesome mix made for the main hero Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) by his late mother, Meredith  proved a massive success.

In most films, screenwriters will put in songs and theyre almost never the song that ends up in the actual movie. With James, they are always the songs.  Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige

To date, the album has sold more than 1.75 million copies in the United States, with many of those bought by people who werent even born until decades after songs like Spirit in the Sky faded from the charts. More than 11,000 copies of the soundtrack have even been sold on cassette tape in stores like Urban Outfitters, ushering in a mini-revival of an analog format that had all but died out in the 1990s.

The coolest thing that happened out of the first soundtrack was turning these songs by these bands that people had for the most part forgotten on to young kids, Gunn says. If you go on iTunes and read the reviews, its all young people who say, I wish songs today were like this. Today things are much more moody and less song-like, really.

Some millennials might dismiss this kind of bygone music from the 8-track cartridge era as dad-rock. But Gunn, respectfully, begs to differ.

If you think about it, it would be way more like mom-rock, he says. I mean, a lot of dads were listening to Led Zeppelin or Cream or whatever at that time. Maybe its the feminine side of me but I like that AM radio pop. People are always saying, Why dont you put Led Zeppelin in? Im like, Thats not my thing. 

Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige credits Gunn, who once sang in a band called the Icons and has composed music for various films, with having an unerring knack for picking just the right song for a given cinematic moment.

James writes [the songs] into the outlines and scripts and gives us a CD, Feige says. In most films, screenwriters will put in songs and theyre almost never the song that ends up in the actual movie. With James, they are always the songs.

For the sequel, Gunn wanted to take the awesome mix idea a step further than in the first film, incorporating songs like Brandy, Fleetwood Macs The Chain and Yusuf/Cat Stevens Father and Son that wouldnt just provide a fizzy hit of nostalgia but would resonate on a deeper level with the storys themes of family and commitment.

I think Meredith Quill made the first mix for a kid who was 8 years old and she made the second mix for a kid who was a little older, says Gunn, who keeps an enormous catalog of songs on his computer that he thinks a feisty, pop-loving 70s mom like Meredith would have liked. The songs are a little more complex and theyre technically a little better in some ways.

Theyre also, in some cases, better known. Armed with a bigger music budget this time around, Gunn and music supervisor Dave Jordan went after a handful of major hits by big-name acts, like The Chain and George Harrisons My Sweet Lord. Those are songs that we would never have been able to afford on the first movie, Gunn says.

Clearing the use for such classic chart-toppers can sometimes prove an onerous process. Gunn feared that securing the rights to The Chain could be particularly difficult, with each member of the famously contentious Fleetwood Mac needing to sign off on its use. But after watching an early cut of the film, they all agreed.

The Electric Light Orchestra song Mr. Blue Sky, which helps kick off the movie, was a different story. ELO leader Jeff Lynne initially resisted letting Gunn use the 1977 tune  which Feige calls one of our favorite songs at Marvel Studios  perhaps because he was miffed that another ELO song, Livin Thing, had been cut from the first film. Maybe he wasnt so happy about that, Gunn says. We were screwed. In the end, for the right price, Lynne relented.

While songs like The Chain and My Sweet Lord are still in regular rotation on classic-rock stations, the Guardians sequel also includes a handful of highly obscure picks that could stump any self-professed rock nerd.

Lake Shore Drive, a twangy 1971 country-rock number by the band Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah, was a regional hit in the Midwest where Gunn grew up but is otherwise all but unknown. Surviving member Skip Haynes was so thrilled to have the song rescued from historical oblivion, Gunn says, he recorded a new version incorporating the directors name into the chorus.

Another little-known song, Wham Bam Shang-a-Lang by the band Silver  which plays in the film over a pitched space battle  was suggested to Gunn by a fan on Twitter.

I had never heard it, and I was like, What is this song?  Gunn says. I thought it might have been a modern band doing a retro version of a 70s song. Because I really have listened to practically every single song that was in the Top 40 during the 1970s.

The song that helps lend the film its most heartstring-tugging emotional moment, Father and Son, had the strangest provenance: Gunn was reminded of the wistful 1970 acoustic ballad when he heard Howard Stern attempt to play the song on his Sirius XM Radio show.

As with all the films music, Gunn had Father and Son played on the set for the cast and crew while shooting the pivotal scene in which it would be used. For Pratt, whose character wrestles in the film with father issues, it was a potent moment. I cried not only when I watched it  I cried when I was doing it, for real, Pratt recalls. Its a powerful piece of music.

Given the huge success of the first soundtrack album, the bar has been set high for the second volume, which has been perched near the top of the iTunes and Billboard charts even before the films opening. But Gunn says he deliberately tried not to think about eventual record sales when he was picking the songs for the film.

I have to tune that out, he says. Ive been making movies a long time. Im a professional at it. Im not a professional at making soundtracks  thats not my job. My job is to put the right songs in the movie so the movie works the best it possibly can.

With the new Guardians film set for global box-office domination, Gunn has already signed on to write and direct a third installment in the franchise  which means going back once again to that deep well of Meredith Quill songs he has accumulated on his hard drive.

Things are opened up a little bit in the soundtrack in the third movie, so Im going to have to make some pretty specific choices in the not-too-distant future, he says, being deliberately cryptic to avoid any whiff of a spoiler. I think I know a few songs that are in there already. But all that could change.

He laughs. Im already panicking about the soundtrack.

Times staff writer Meredith Woerner contributed to this report

josh.rottenberg@latimes.com

Twitter: @joshrottenberg

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Top French director Julien Duvivier spent World War II in Hollywood, and though the experience did not make him happy, it led directly to 1946s Panique, a dark and compelling film, chilling to the bone, long little-seen but now widely accepted as a neglected classic.

For five years I had seen optimistic films with the predictable happy ending, the director, best known for pre-war gems Pepe le Moko and Poil de Carotte, said once back in France. I know its easier to make poetic films full of sweetness and charm, with lovely photography, but by nature I am more inclined to themes that are harsh, dark and bitter.

Playing at Laemmles Royal in West Los Angeles in a crisp new restoration, Panique is all that and more. Taken from a novel by the mordant George Simenon (also the basis for 1989s Patrice Leconte-directed Monsieur Hire), it is part shadowy film noir, part compelling character study and, most surprising of all, part powerful indictment of mob violence in general and the French character in particular.

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For Panique very much plays like Duvivier returned to a bleak postwar France and did not like what he saw, especially the remnants of wartime collaboration with the Germans and the betrayal of Jews that went with it. The result was a picture that did without the milk of human kindness, a quietly unnerving film that refuses to go where you expect it.

Also unexpected is the delicate work of Swiss-born Michel Simon, a pillar of French cinema in the 1930s, who gives an unsettling, multifaceted performance as protagonist Monsieur Hire. His real name turns out to be Hirovitch, and when that information is added to a shot of the Paris suburban trolley destination of Villejuif, Hires Jewish identity is revealed without anyone having to say it.

Whats fascinating about the way this character functions in Panique is that our frame of reference for who he is constantly changes. First we see him the way his neighborhood views him, then the way one particular woman sees him, before then the reality of who he actually is sets in.

Nattily dressed with a thick full beard, Hire is something of a standoffish fussbudget. An amateur photographer who documents human misery and orders the bloodiest meat possible from the local butcher, he gives the neighborhood the creeps, and it is easy to see why.

Almost immediately people have something else to gossip about when the corpse of a brutally strangled local woman is discovered by a traveling carnival setting up shop on a vacant lot. Sharp dresser Alfred (Paul Bernard) takes charge of the scene until the police arrive.

Also arriving, for no apparent reason, is the beautiful Alice (Viviane Romance). Though she doesnt want the locals to know, Alice is there to rendezvous with Alfred, who turns out to be a petty criminal she is so in love with she just spent months in prison taking the rap for a crime he committed.

Because Hires room at the local hotel overlooks hers, Alice views him as a creepy voyeur, and as we see him shadow her and Alfred at the carnival, we tend to agree.

Then comes one of Paniques numerous turning points. When Hire follows the young couple to the carnivals bumper car ride, the entire neighborhood brutally gangs up on him in a beautifully done visualization of what total loneliness and isolation can feel like. And more is yet to come.

For it soon develops that Hire is simply a man who has fallen sincerely in love with Alice. Both smarter and more sophisticated than those around him, Hire is also completely naive about love and about people, including the neighbors he has contempt for.

Those neighbors are unsparingly depicted by Duvivier as small-minded busybodies and self-important fools who think they know more than they do, with ruinous results. In its portrayal of the effects of the fear of strangers, the rejection of the other, Panique could not be more unnerving or more timely.

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Panique

No MPAA rating.

Running time: 1 hour, 31 minutes.

Playing Laemmles Royal, West L.A.

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kenneth.turan@latimes.com

@KennethTuran
In the four films hes directed, Oren Moverman has mounted what feels like a career-long inquiry into the lost soul of America. That may be a crushingly pretentious thing to say about a filmmaker who shuffles moods, genres and visual palettes with enviable ease, and who can leap from the sun-streaked LAPD noir of Rampart (2011) to the gloomy Manhattan neorealism of Time Out of Mind (2014) without breaking a sweat.

But in each of those earlier pictures, and in his piercingly sad debut, The Messenger (2009), the director projected a chastening moral vision of a country that had on some fundamental level forsaken its own. He gave us despairing snapshots of men who found themselves on the outskirts of civilian society  a pair of soldiers tasked with notifying the bereaved, a dirty cop, a homeless man on the verge of fading away  and asked us to consider the world that had necessitated their particular strain of torment.

The Dinner, Movermans elegant and acerbic fourth feature, both continues and disrupts his style of social critique. Adapted and Americanized from the Dutch novelist Herman Kochs bestselling book (which has already inspired two earlier film versions), the movie has something to say about class struggle, racial tension and mental illness in this country, all couched in a withering portrait of the moneyed elite. Set over the course of one long evening, The Dinner turns a high-end double date into a seething evisceration of the upper class and the moral rot lurking beneath its well-heeled facade.

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This is not a new or especially interesting dramatic thesis, and not even Movermans ability to find nuance in the cracks of a familiar story can quite offset the sense that we are watching an artificial construct, a cleverly rigged parlor game that fancies itself a moral lament. You admire the skill and wit of the performers  a superb cast led by Steve Coogan, Laura Linney, Richard Gere and Rebecca Hall  in much the same way you might savor the movies candlelit ambience. For all the actors commitment and ferocity, the experience they offer feels less like a confrontation with the anxieties of modern life than a plush, moody escape.

The dinner in question has been called by Stan Lohman (Gere), a slick congressman and gubernatorial candidate who must put politics aside for one evening to deal with some unpleasant family business. He and his wife, Katelyn (Hall), join his abrasive brother, Paul (Coogan), and his wife, Claire (Linney), at the sort of posh dining establishment where the waiters serve up ornate postmodern culinary sculptures and painstakingly identify each ingredient by geographical origin.

Paul, a high-school history teacher with an advanced degree in misanthropy, spends a lot of time mocking the restaurants pretensions, even as he strikes up an improbable friendship with the nervous but resourceful host (a charming Michael Chernus). He makes little secret of how much he resents Stan for his narcissism, his celebrity and his very long shadow, though in truth, Paul may like himself even less. His withering assessments of everyone and everything around him are a way of deflecting his own crippling sense of failure, which he in turn sees as evidence of the wretchedness of all humanity.

The troubling incident that has brought the Lohmans together would seem only to confirm Pauls worldview. Several nights ago, his son, Michael (Charlie Plummer), and Stans son, Rick (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick), stumbled across a homeless woman inside a bank ATM booth, initiating some drunken teenage high jinks that ended  badly. Just how badly is gradually revealed in one set of flashbacks; suffice it to say that the fallout could derail Stans political career and destroy the boys future, a prospect that has sent the family into damage-control mode.

Moverman spends a lot of time fleshing out the familys more distant history, intercutting Pauls memories of everything from Claires cancer diagnosis years earlier to Stans first wife, Barbara (Chloe Sevigny). The flashbacks, most of which are brightly lighted to offset the restaurants dim interiors, get to be a bit much, but they also nicely suggest the convulsive inner workings of Pauls deeply troubled mind. His synapses are firing like crazy, and the audience has a front-row seat.

Stripped of both his British accent and his comic flair (and with no Rob Brydon to spar with over all this haute cuisine), Coogan gives a deliberately alienating performance that is by far the pictures riskiest element. His Paul seethes, rants and turns physically violent when the occasion suits him, and he thaws only in the presence of his son, Michael, who cant stand him. (Plummer is excellent as a good-looking kid who has clearly inherited a measure of his dads sociopathic side.)

Gere, who gave an excellent change-of-pace performance as the homeless protagonist of Time Out of Mind (Movermans best and least-seen picture), is unsurprisingly fine as a silver-haired politico who winds up showing more spine than most would give him credit for. His determination to do the right thing proves particularly offensive to the Lohman women, both of whom have made too many sacrifices to lose everything now: Hall has poignant moments as a wife all too aware of her second-class position in the family, while Linney peels back her characters serene surface to reveal some of the icy maternal ruthlessness she displayed in Mystic River.

As barbed marital four-handers go, The Dinner may be a contrived and diagrammatic piece of work, but its also considerably richer and more human than a hollow snarkfest like Roman Polanskis Carnage. Here, at least, the characters are allowed to live and breathe in three dimensions before the director goes in for the kill. And if the movie is an indictment of their complacency, it at least acknowledges the messiness of the world that lurks beyond, and occasionally penetrates, the Lohmans bubble.

At times, Moverman directs our attention to the black characters on the periphery of the story  from Stans adopted son, Beau (Miles J. Harvey) and his poker-faced assistant, Nina (Adepero Oduye), to the homeless woman who has inadvertently set this drama in motion. Youll want to see and hear more from them, though their marginalization is hardly an accident; its essential to the pictures point about the ugliness of the American legacy and what it means, and has always meant, for people who dont look, talk, sound and live like the Lohmans.

The Dinner might start to lose you by the time Paul, drawing on his knowledge of history, starts ranting about the Battle of Gettysburg and the personal point of no return that it may represent. But go with it. Youve heard dumber Civil War references, possibly even this week.

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The Dinner

MPAA rating: R, for disturbing violent content, and language throughout

Running time: 2 hours

Playing: In general release

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justin.chang@latimes.com

@JustinCChang
Chef Dominique Crenn is a woman. Now get over it. No, really. She may have won the title of Worlds Best Female Chef from the London-based Worlds 50 Best last year, but shes doing much more than simply being a female in the kitchen. In 2013, her modernist French San Francisco restaurant, Atelier Crenn, was awarded two Michelin stars. She opened a second San Francisco restaurant, a French bistro called Petit Crenn, in 2015.

Shes also one of the leading forces behind the Root Project, a joint effort with Michelle Jean and other chefs to rebuild the infrastructure for farmers in Haiti following the devastation of Hurricane Matthew last year. Part of that effort includes traveling to Haiti to help plant trees for coffee and cacao farmers.

You may have seen Crenn, who is from the Brittany region of France, featured on Season 2 of the Netflix documentary series Chefs Table. Or maybe you caught her TED talk. Shes also the author of the cookbook Atelier Crenn: Metamorphosis of Taste.

It seems her career is teetering on the edge of critical mass, without any sign of slowing. And Friday, shell be in Los Angeles to speak on a panel about food waste with chefs Massimo Bottura, Mario Batali, Mary Sue Milliken and Roy Choi. Recently I talked to Crenn by phone from San Francisco. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Tell me about the Root Project and how it started.

Dominique Crenn talks about her work with the Root Project in Haiti.

Michelle Jean, we connected because we have this love for fashion and food. Shes from Haiti. And for a long time, me being French and the French history in Haiti  its not that beautiful of a story. I just never understood why this beautiful country was not taken care of after the earthquake. They have an amazing culture and coffee and chocolate but its one of those countries that has been forgotten. I wanted to get involved in something and what Ive noticed is when there is a disaster that happens, often in a country, the organizations go and donate but you dont know where the money goes. So I think the idea was to partner with PADF [Pan American Development Foundation] and for me, to go back to the farmer. What do they need? What is this money going to do for them?

For me, I dont need much. What I want is to make sure this world is a better world and if I can help I just want to be a part of it.  Dominique Crenn

So why trees?

When we went, we found out they dont want us to give them like millions of dollars. They want us to give them trees that they can plant. The people know how to make coffee  they want us to rebuild their infrastructure and to give them trees. And thats all. They can do the work; they want to do the work. And this is beautiful. We cant forget this country. And its 50 cents a tree  thats all Im asking. Its like you dont need to give me $100,000, just 50 cents. We need to get into the community and understand who they are and their needs instead of just giving them something without understanding what they want.

Chef Dominique Crenn, left, plants trees in Haiti as part of the Root Project. (Root Project)

If you werent a chef, what would you do? Take on more projects like the Root Project?

I think Im going to be a cook for the rest of my life, but I would definitely want to be out there and in the world and really doing projects like this. For me, I dont need much. What I want is to make sure this world is a better world and if I can help I just want to be a part of it. Its much more richer for me than just, I dont know, driving a BMW  which I dont have. Its pretty amazing getting to know people and understanding that we are all one world.

Youve often discussed your love of art and poetry. And your plates often resemble works of art. How does that inform your cooking?

Ive loved poetry since a very young age and my parents, especially my dad, he really introduced us to art when we were quite young. So I think everything is connected. And maybe the fact that I didnt go to school and learn how to cook in school, that gives me the opportunity to look at things different and connect food and poetry together. I just came back from Tokyo, and I was really taken by everything; I saw that everything has a purpose. I feel that when you connect something that you do, especially serving food, and connect that together with words  I think its very important.

Any thoughts on opening in L.A. any time soon?

I think Los Angeles is an incredible city. Its also very diverse, which I love about it. I mean, I never say no. But right now, Im really focusing on my community here in San Francisco and what I can do around it. If something came around, the right thing for L.A., then yes of course. Im in L.A. all the time. We went to this restaurant in Koreatown, Heres Looking at You, and it's a great place. Its nice to go to a place in this community where, years ago, theres no way a chef would open a restaurant there. I just love it and the creativity. People now cook with a personal touch.

Its 2 a.m. and youre up. What are you eating?

I was up at 3 a.m. last night. I was watching a movie. I think I was eating popcorn.

Microwave popcorn?

No. I cook my own popcorn. Ive been taking some sorghum and cooking it and its delicious. But I was eating popcorn last night.

Maximus makes frequent appearances on your Instagram account. Who is he?

Ha, you're talking about my dog. Hes an incredible little human being. I rescued him about 9 years ago. He was abused by his past owner. I dont think hes a dog  hes like this really cool little man and he just hangs out with everyone and chills out. Hes very sensitive, loving. He travels with me everywhere. He loves organic food. He doesnt like processed food. I think animals are very precious and I think as humans, when you have pets, you cant treat them like a commodity. Hes a little Chihuahua.

Why the name Maximus?

I think good things come in small packages. I dont run big restaurants; I run small restaurants. I think you can do so much more. Its not about how big you are. Maximus is a very strong name. it comes from the Roman Empire and when I look at him I think he went through a lot of different stuff in his life before he got to me. And hes like a little bit of an emperor when he sits and looks at me with his big brown eyes.

As part of the Los Angeles Times Food Bowl, Dominique Crenn will be on a panel discussion about food waste called Food for Soul, at the theater at the Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, at 8 p.m. on May 5. 929 S. Broadway, Los Angeles.

Jenn.Harris@latimes.com

@Jenn_Harris_

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On Thursday, Feeding the 5000 will hold its first Los Angeles event, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles, as part of the Los Angeles Times Food Bowl festival. The event culminates in a feast created with the help of local partners using fresh produce that otherwise would have gone to waste.

Among the festivities, Feeding the 5000 LA will include cooking demonstrations by Monica May of Nickel Diner, who will show how to make a savory French toast, and chef Ryan Stewart of L.A. Kitchen, who will demonstrate how to transform produce into delicious dishes.

Feeding the 5000 held its first event in 2009 in London as a showcase for local initiatives and a way for ordinary people to send a powerful message to the food industry that food waste on this scale has to stop. To date, 40 Feeding the 5000 events have been organized around the world, including in New York, Oakland, Denver and Washington, D.C.

Tristram Stuart is the founder of Feeding the 5000 and Feedback, a nonprofit environmental organization devoted to ending food waste at every level of the food system. Recently, I interviewed him by email about the Los Angeles event. The interview was edited for clarity and length.

How much food would you estimate is wasted on a global scale?

A third of the worlds food is wasted  even more in a country like the USA, where its nearer to 40%. The U.S. government and the U.N. have set a goal of halving food waste by 2030. In order to achieve this, Feedback is calling on businesses to start transparently reporting how much food theyre wasting each year: That way, the government, entrepreneurs and nonprofits seeking to make use of unsold product will know where to invest to solve the problem. Companies who continue to sweep food waste under the carpet are just hindering the solutions.

Los Angeles Times Food Bowl: A new kind of food festival 

In the U.K., where measurement has been ongoing for some years, and progressive businesses report annually, weve seen a dramatic reduction  21% at household level and nearly as much from the industry  which demonstrates to the world that the global goal to halve food waste is achievable.

How does the United States compare with other countries in terms of food waste?

Food waste has massively taken off as an issue in the USA  with chefs, civic society organizations, government and big business realizing that cutting waste is a huge environmental and economic opportunity. Its great to see some beginnings, such as L.A.s Zero Waste goals, which commits the city to sending 1 million tons less waste to the landfill by 2025.

But California will need to go much further. For one thing, when food is wasted, all the water used to grow that food is wasted: A quarter of all U.S. water consumption can be attributed to the growing of food that never gets eaten. In California, thats 9,000 million gallons a day  equivalent to leaving a faucet running for 9,000 years! For a state like California, cutting food waste may prove to be an existential necessity.

Feeding the 5000 is a showcase for local initiatives and a way for people to send a message to the food industry that food waste on this scale has to stop.  Tristram Stuart, founder, Feedback and Feeding the 5000

Youve traveled around the world documenting food waste. What are some of the worst examples youve seen? And what are some of the most inspiring innovations?

The global food system is so interconnected  its fascinating and terrifying visiting farms in a country like Peru, and seeing piles of onions rotting in the desert because theyre too small, or too big or not round enough for the U.S. or European markets. One innovation I am particularly proud of is Toast Ale, the award-winning beer I created, which transforms fresh surplus unsold bread into craft ale. One hundred percent of the profits will be poured into nonprofits like Feedback, seeking to toast the end of food waste. We just launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to bring it to the U.S.

Why did you decide to hold an event in Los Angeles?

Los Angeles is such a fascinating city from a food waste perspective. On the one hand, you have a really vibrant, active, forward-looking environmental movement  no one knows better than Southern Californians what adverse weather conditions can mean. In many ways, it feels like the hub of action on climate change in the U.S. But L.A. also has a reputation as a symbol of consumption and excess  and of course, L.A. has an incredible food movement, which makes hosting a Feeding the 5000 here a really exciting prospect.

Has the city government gotten involved, and how many organizations are you working with to put on this event?

Here in L.A., we have some really incredible partners, doing amazing things to tackle food waste. Feeding the 5000 is a way of bringing them together and showcasing what theyre doing and why it is so vital. L.A. Kitchen, set up by my friend Robert Egger to tackle food waste and social issues, is our partner to cook the meal.

The city government has really welcomed the event, and Ive been learning about their plans to tackle waste going to the landfill. The zero waste by 2030 ambition is admirable and something I hope Angelenos really engage with. What wed love to help inspire next is more action to not only deal with waste that does occur, but to prevent it from happening in the first place. And to do that, the city needs to be encouraging companies that produce food to be transparent about how much of it theyre wasting  that way we can start coming up with some solutions together.

Do you have a few tips to help readers at home learn to combat food waste?

The great thing about food waste as an issue is that theres something practical that every individual can do to solve the problem. The first step is to buy less: On average, were all buying way more than we end up eating. In the USA, theres a dire need for the industry to standardize food labels and for people to understand that most of them are hyper-cautious dates set by the industry merely to guarantee optimal quality, but that its still safe to eat food after its best-by date.

And although we should all consider food waste our responsibility, we shouldnt let big business off the hook. Californians should be asking their supermarkets, restaurants and retailers what theyre doing about their food waste too.

Chefs and scientists will discuss solutions for tackling the global problem of food waste at the Los Angeles Times Food Bowl throughout the month of May. For a full schedule of events, click here.

Chef Monica May, of Nickel Diner, will be doing a cooking demo at the Feeding the 5000 Los Angeles event.

noelle.carter@latimes.com

Instagram: @carternoelle

Twitter: @noellecarter

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As helmeted demonstrators descended on this college town last week for more rallies, a decidedly quieter form of activism was struggling to be heard.

One Berkeley resident held up a sign reading: No hitting. Love Mom.

Other residents hired a plane to pull a banner: Fly above the hate!

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Over the last few months, staunchly liberal Berkeley and the University of California campus have become a national stage for tensions over the Trump presidency.

Thousands of protesters turned out in February to prevent conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos from speaking. Street brawls that erupted during rallies in March and April by far right and white nationalist groups forced the cancellation last week of an appearance by conservative author Ann Coulter. In its place another large rally was called, made possible by the heavy presence of police.

My nightmare is that someone is going to die

Many residents are unhappy with whats happening. And now, this movement is finding its voice.

We dont need you to come to our community to be violent, said Dan Robinson, 55, a 20-year Berkeley resident and full-time student who with like-minded residents banded together to form a group called Respect Berkeley.

By the April 27 demonstrations, it had more than 100 members and reflected a larger sentiment expressed by local elected officials as well as merchants who grappled with shutdowns and vandalism during the unrest.

What we think is going on here is were being used politically by much larger forces to become a punching bag, Robinson said.

Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin was more blunt, saying the city is being used by extremists on both the right and left to literally fight and challenge each other. He said the situation poses unique challenges because the agitators are looking for publicity and have no interest in easing tensions.

We have to find a way to stop this, he said. My nightmare is that someone is going to die.

Protesters rally against a scheduled speaking appearance by Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos at UC Berkeley. (Ben Margot / Associated Press)

Is Berkeley becoming a fight club?

In the end, there was no mass violence by demonstrators who converged on Berkeley to support or oppose Coulter.

Some credited the relative peace to the heavy presence of police. More than 50 helmeted city officers formed a human wall between chanting sides with dozens more waiting in vans around the corner, instead of relying on the plastic netting they tried to use to separate angry demonstrators two weeks earlier.

Arreguin said Berkeley has become a surrogate for the Trump resistance and a magnet for extremist Trump supporters. He blames the deterioration in part on the unrest that forced the cancellation of Yiannopoulos speech. He believes there was insufficient planning by police, giving violent protesters the upper hand.

And that engendered this intense animosity against Berkeley, he said, adding those protesters were trying to turn our city into Fight Club.

Even though the Coulter controversy didnt incite more violence, some in Berkeley believe something has fundamentally changed about protest culture. UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof noted that the university has hosted many controversial speakers, all without incident until the last few months.

The rise of Donald Trump and the 2016 presidential election has heightened divisions in the country. And at Berkeley and elsewhere, its drawn extremists on both sides willing to make trouble.

Something shifted, and it touches on broader societal trends. We cant ignore it. This is a subject of conversation throughout the higher education sector, Mogulof said.

Others believe the community is simply being used by others trying to score points.

Pranav Jandhyala, president of the centrist student organization that agreed to co-host Coulter for a speech on immigration, said neither the university nor Coulter and her national sponsors had much interest in real dialogue.

Its frustrating as a student to see this free speech thing become spectacle, said Jandhyala, president of BridgeUSA, a student group formed after the November election to help foster dialogue about Trump.

People protest the scheduled appearance of Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos at UC Berkeley. (Ben Margot / Associated Press)

Berkeley criticizing leftists? Its a sensitive area

Berkeley residents by and large are no fans of Trump. The town and its university take pride in a reputation as the birthplace of the free speech movement of the 1960s. So calling out left-wing protesters is a sensitive undertaking.

It speaks to a division in the leftist protest movement that emerged during the Occupy movement a few years ago. Many of those demonstrators are peaceful, but a small but loud bloc believes violence is the only way to bring change.

Sharp struggle is often how people learn the most in a quick period of time, said Berkeley resident Raphael Kadaris, 35, an organizer for RefuseFascism.org as he held a placard at last weeks demonstrations.

But there were also some signs that the extremists were trying to tone down the clashes.

After brawls at demonstrations two weeks ago sent seven people to the hospital and resulted in 20 arrests, anarchist and pro-immigration activists were present in the April 27 crowds but did not don masks and attack with explosives and pepper spray. When battle-ready members of the alt-right rushed forward to confront those on the other side, a leader of the far-right Oath Keepers ordered retreat.

Let the police do their job! she commanded.

Oath Keepers President Stewart Rhodes said one goal last week was to keep the hotheads in check.

We dont support anybody going out there and trying to get revenge or retribution on somebody else, Rhodes said. Once someone has broken off the attack, youre not supposed to keep going after them.

Berkeley is likely to face new tests.

Yiannopoulos has vowed to return later this year for what he describes as Milos Free Speech Week in Berkeley.

paige.stjohn@latimes.com

Twitter: @paigestjohn

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Worried about homes being operated like hotels, Los Angeles lawmakers have been weighing new regulations that would cap the number of nights Angelenos can rent out their homes for short stays.

But when Mayor Eric Garcetti proposed his budget, he banked on allowing Airbnb rentals to continue without those kind of restrictions. City officials say the plan assumes the status quo on such rentals, which are already sending tens of millions in tax revenue to the city, because new rules have yet to be approved.

Relying on that money has nonetheless troubled some city lawmakers, neighborhood activists and representatives of the hotel industry, who fear that Los Angeles could face pressure to adopt looser regulations to avoid hurting its bottom line.

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Airbnb, for instance, has asserted that current proposals to restrict its rentals could cost the city some $15 million in tax revenue.

If the city ends up depending on that money, it could build up a fiscal firewall against sensible regulations on Airbnb and similar platforms, said City Councilman Mike Bonin, who has pushed to bar Angelenos from renting out a home for short stays if it is not their primary residence. I dont know if the budget committee is going to accept that.

Renting out rooms or whole homes for short stays is currently barred in many neighborhoods, according to the planning department. But those rules are rarely enforced. The phenomenon has exploded with the rise of online platforms such as Airbnb and HomeAway, which link travelers to hosts offering places to stay.

Airbnb and its backers say hosting travelers is an economic lifeline to homeowners and a boon for local businesses, bringing tourist spending to new parts of the city. But critics counter that without regulations, some homes and apartments have been rented out constantly like hotels, disrupting neighborhoods and displacing tenants.

L.A. is still debating rules that would legalize and restrict such rentals. But as that plan slowly works its way through City Hall, Los Angeles is already taxing some of them: Under an agreement with Airbnb struck last year, the company is charged with collecting lodging taxes from its hosts and passing the money along to the city.

City officials estimate that by the end of June  10 months after the money started flowing  Airbnb rentals will have yielded more than $27 million in lodging taxes. The company argues that such rentals increase that tax revenue overall by bringing new travelers to Los Angeles.

The budget proposed by Garcetti for next year includes more than $33 million from Airbnb and any other rental platforms that agree to collect lodging taxes, part of his plan to close an estimated $263-million shortfall.

It is one of several sources of revenue that hinge on upcoming policy decisions at City Hall, along with money from digital billboards and a development fee.

Assistant City Administrative Officer Benjamin Ceja said that when it comes to existing sources of revenue such as the lodging taxes, the standing practice has been to assume the status quo because the unknown impact of policy decisions and timeline for implementation can be difficult to accurately predict and quantify.

Airbnb has warned that revenue could be slashed by proposed restrictions. In a recent letter to lawmakers, it estimated that a proposal that caps such rentals at 180 days annually  an idea already backed by the planning commission and a council committee  would knock $15 million off an estimated $37 million in annual funding for the city.

[Tax money from short-term rentals] has become a sort of drug that they have a hard time saying no to.  Judith Goldman, co-founder of Keep Neighborhoods First, which wants to cap short-term rentals at 60 days a year.

The Los Angeles Short Term Rental Alliance, which includes hosts who use Airbnb, HomeAway and other platforms, has also warned against caps.

If you cut the number of days in half, theres no way that you can get the same amount of revenue, said its executive director, Robert St.Genis. Why would the city want to turn away opportunities to increase revenue?

The hotel industry has disputed the idea that city revenues are at risk. Lynn Mohrfeld, president and chief executive of the California Hotel & Lodging Assn., argued that if the city restricts Airbnb and similar platforms, many travelers would instead go to hotels that also collect lodging taxes. In addition, he said, more Angelenos might sign up as Airbnb or HomeAway hosts to meet the demand.

I just dont buy the premise that if you limit it, people are going to go away, Mohrfeld said.

Neighborhood activists and housing advocates concerned about commercialized rentals have urged the city not to rely on the predicted revenue from taxing Airbnb rentals. Many were leery when the city first struck the tax agreement, fearing it would discourage future regulations. Now they say the proposed budget bears out those fears.

The tax money has become a sort of drug that they have a hard time saying no to, said Keep Neighborhoods First co-founder Judith Goldman, whose group wants to cap short-term rentals at 60 days annually. We cant allow City Hall to make decisions based on the bottom line instead of the good of our city.

In a written statement, Garcetti spokesman George Kivork said that the mayor supports reasonable regulations of short-term rentals like the proposed rules backed by the planning commission. Those draft regulations included a cap of 180 days annually, as well as registration requirements and other restrictions.

But the budget reflects the current collection agreement with Airbnb, as final council approved policy is still pending, Kivork wrote.

Airbnb did not weigh in specifically on the budget plan, but its Los Angeles deputy policy manager, Connie Llanos, said in a written statement that the company was eager to adopt common sense home sharing rules that empower our hosts and protect the quality of life in our neighborhoods.

At a recent hearing at City Hall, Councilwoman Nury Martinez asked city staffers to provide their own estimates of how different regulations might affect the lodging tax revenue. However, Martinez stressed that she did not want the budget item to decide what rules they would ultimately impose.

Financial officials point out that even after the budget is adopted, the city can adjust its plans if revenues shift.

Ceja, the assistant city administrative officer, said that if and when policies are adopted that impact the assumed revenue for the year, this office will report on options to address any revenue shortfalls.

emily.alpert@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATimesEmily
An Orange County couple says they were kicked off a Los Angeles-bound Delta flight last month after airline staff insisted their 2-year-old son could not sit by himself, even though the family had already paid for the seat.

Brian and Brittany Schear of Huntington Beach told KABC-TVs Eyewitness News they were removed from the flight with their two toddlers and had to scramble to find a hotel room. They wound up paying $2,000 for another flight home the next day, according to the report.

A video of the familys April 23 clash with airline staff was uploaded to YouTube on Wednesday. In the clip, employees of either the airline or the airport can be heard threatening the family with arrest if they dont immediately leave the cabin.

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You and your wife will be in jail, a female employee said, after Brian Schear refused to exit the plane, according to the video.

When you buy a plane ticket, heres what you have to agree to 

Staff members began arguing with the Schears because they wanted their 2-year-old son to be allowed to fly in an individual seat while fastened into a car seat, according to the video. Brian Schear told staff that the seat was originally intended for his 18-year-old son, Mason, who instead flew back to California on an earlier flight.

I paid for the seat, Brian Schear said in the video. This is ridiculous.

The employees can be heard telling Schear that both Deltas guidelines and Federal Aviation Administration rules stipulate that a 2-year-old child must fly while seated on their parents laps, but rules posted on each agencys website appear to contradict that.

On its company website, Delta recommends that children under the age of 2 should fly in individual seats while secured in an approved car seat.

FAA guidelines on flying with children offer similar advice, according to the agencys website. The agency released a statement on Wednesday saying, in general, that young children should be seated in child safety restraints when aboard airplanes, rather than a parents lap.

The safest place for a young child under the age of 2 on an airplane is in a child restraint, not on a parents lap. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) strongly encourages parents to secure children in a separate seat in an appropriate restraint based on weight and size, the statement read. If a seat is purchased for a child, an airline must allow that child to use the restraint as long as the child meets the restraint manufacturers height and weight criteria, it is properly labeled and says that it is approved for use on aircraft, is not in an exit row, can be properly installed in the aircraft seat, and the child holds a ticket for the seat.

There is no written FAA policy that addresses the use of an assigned seat by a passenger who is not the person the ticket was originally purchased for, as the airline staff claimed in the video, according to FAA spokeswoman Allison Duquette, who said FAA rules only govern safety.

Transportation Safety Administration rules, however, indicate that adult passengers need to hold valid identification that matches the name on their boarding pass. It is not clear how, or if, those rules would apply to a 2-year-old.

In the video, another employee can be heard saying the child could not fly because the seat had been assigned to the familys teenage son, rather than the 2-year-old. (The family was also traveling with a 1-year-old child, according to CBS2.)

Brian Schear insists to the employees that the family had taken a Delta flight earlier in the week from Los Angeles to Maui with their son fastened in a child safety seat and placed in an individual seat.

How did we get through security with two kids, two car seats, go all the way through your gateway, and through the gate and then they come down and say that we have to get off this plane? he asks.

An employee insists they were simply trying to help the family, prompting another irritated response from Brian Schear.

Trying to help us would have been not overselling the flight and not trying to get him out of that seat, that I paid for, he said.

After several minutes of arguing, Brian Schear relented and agreed to fly with his son in his lap. But at that point, the flight staff ordered his family off the flight.

Once he was informed that his family was being removed from the plane, Brian Schear asked where his family was supposed to stay or how they were supposed to get back to Los Angeles.

Sir, you should have thought about that in the beginning, the attendant responds. At this point you guys are on your own.

In a description attached to the YouTube video, the Schears complained that Delta had overbooked the flight and immediately replaced them with standby passengers.

An email sent to the Schear family and calls to Delta seeking comment were not immediately returned Wednesday morning.

The dispute comes during a national discussion on airlines treatment of their customers that was sparked by a video of a Kentucky doctor being bloodied and dragged when he refused to leave an overbooked United flight in Chicago last month.

Earlier this week, legislators issued stern warnings to airline executives during a hearing before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Issues of overbooked flights and poor customer service must be resolved immediately or else Congress will step in, the legislators warned.

If you want to keep treating us this way, fine, said Rep. Michael E. Capuano (D-Mass.). But there will come a day when Congress wont accept it anymore on behalf of the American people.

james.queally@latimes.com

Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in California.

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A search warrant was served Wednesday night at the offices and home of Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford as part of an investigation involving his past employment with a consulting firm that paid him nearly $200,000, according to city officials and the mayors former campaign manager.

Members of the Los Angeles County district attorneys offices Bureau of Investigations descended on six locations, said Shiara Davila-Morales, an agency spokeswoman. The mayors office at Palmdales City Hall were among those locations, city spokesman John Mlynar said, adding that a laptop was taken by investigators.

The mayors office was the only city property that was subject to a search warrant, Mlynar said. A search warrant was also executed at Ledfords Palmdale home, according to Kamal Al-Khatib, who served as Ledfords campaign manager during his 2016 reelection bid.

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This has nothing to do with the city of Palmdale, Mlynar said. It was the mayors office.

In a statement, Mlynar said the city has fully cooperated with investigators and will continue to provide information and documentation as requested.

A law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation said prosecutors are looking into a quid pro quo relationship involving Ledford, but declined to elaborate. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.

Davila-Morales declined to say what locations were searched or comment on the nature of the investigation.

Ledford, 63, has served as the citys mayor since 1992, and worked as a planning commissioner and councilman before that. In all, he has been involved in city government for more than 30 years.

Calls and emails to Ledford seeking comment were not returned Thursday.

Al-Khatib said in an email that the investigation centers on allegations first lobbed against Ledford in a 2013 deposition taken as part of a lawsuit alleging that the citys election process discriminated against minority candidates. The suit was one of many filed against California cities that had refused to adopt district voting, which supporters say helps boost minority representation.

Palmdale settled the lawsuit in 2015 and agreed to align its voting structure with general state elections.

In the 250-page deposition, Ledford was grilled by Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris, a longtime rival who was serving as an attorney for the plaintiffs. In the contentious, hours-long exchange, Parris strays from the voting rights case to repeatedly ask Ledford about his income and the nature of a job he had taken with Complex Culture Change Consulting, a Palmdale firm. Ledfords attorneys objected to nearly every question Parris asked about the job, and often advised the mayor not to respond.

Ledford  whose only other income at the time was his $1,300-per-month salary as mayor  received $60,000 a year from the firm. The mayor worked for the company for three years starting in 2010, earning approximately $180,000 in that time, according to the deposition.

Asked to summarize his duties for the firm, Ledford said he conducted educational research that included a trips to Portland, Ore., and Mountain View, Calif., where he visited a NASA research center. But Ledford often struggled to describe any work he did or reports he produced, or provide a timeline of hours he worked for the firm, according to the deposition.

My job has been to research educational conferences, Ledford said.

Parris then asked Ledford if he had written or dictated any research memorandums, or submitted any emails to his employer about the conferences he researched. The Palmdale mayor answered no to each question, according to the deposition. Ledford eventually said he typed a 20-page summary of his observations during a trip to a NASA research center in Mountain View.

During the course of the deposition, Parris insinuated that Ledford had taken a no-show job, saying the Palmdale mayor was receiving payments of 2,500 dollars every two weeks for doing what appears absolutely nothing.

The head of the firm, Susan Miller, was also executive director of the Aero Institute in Palmdale, which describes itself on its website as a strategic partnership of Federal, State, and Regional governments, commercial companies, academic institutions, and non-profits addressing our nations need for a technically skilled workforce and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

In the deposition, Ledford said the company at one point leased property from the city for $1 a year.

A Palmdale city spokesman confirmed that the office of the Aero Institute was searched by district attorney investigators.

Al-Khatib dismissed the allegations as a desperate attack launched by political opponents who have failed to unseat Ledford. The mayor won reelection by a wide margin in 2016, garnering 57% of the vote. Al-Khatib described Ledford as an honest man who is loved by his residents.

These allegations are politically motivated, and have no foundation, the Mayor had to go through vetting process with Palmdale City attorney and legal Department before he accepted the job, Al-Khatib wrote in an email to The Times and two other news outlets. His political opponents were not able to defeat him in the election and using this smear tactics and false allegations to remove him from his office, we believe in the justice system and the truth will come out once the investigation is over.

In a telephone interview Thursday afternoon, Al-Khatib said he believes Parris is helping drive the investigation and said there was no connection between Ledfords decision to accept the consulting job and the citys decision to essentially give free land to the Aero Institute.

The city of Palmdale chose to give the Aerospace Institute because  the Aerospace jobs are bringing companies to the city of Palmdale. But the consulting firm he was working with, they dont have anything to do with that institute, he said. Its a separate entity.

Al-Khatib said the allegations have left Ledford distraught.

Hes very sad to see this is happening. Hes extremely upset because the people of Palmdale, they know how much he cares about the city, Al-Khatib said.

Miller, who ran Complex Culture Consulting until she closed the business in 2013, said she spoke with officials from the district attorneys office once, about four years ago. She declined to say what they discussed.

It was privileged information, she said. They told me to keep my mouth shut.

She said she was not at liberty to discuss the purpose of the company or what Ledford was paid to do, and declined to answer additional questions.

Dont be surprised when I hang up on you, said Miller, who moved to Las Vegas in 2014, before ending a phone interview.

Parris, who has said he openly despises Ledford and once accused him of turning Palmdale into a personal fiefdom, said Ledford has long struggled to explain his income.

I think people are going to prison here. I dont have any other explanation, he said. What Ledford said he did in the deposition is criminal.

james.queally@latimes.com

benjamin.oreskes@latimes.com

richard.winton@latimes.com

Follow @JamesQueallyLAT @boreskes & @LAcrimes for crime and police news in California.

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UPDATES:

5:40 p.m.: This article was updated to include a city spokesmans confirmation that the office of the Aero Institute was searched.

3:50 p.m.: This article was updated with additional comments from Kamal Al-Khatib.

3:35 p.m.: This article was updated with details from a 2013 deposition of Ledford, and comments from the mayors former campaign manager, Kamal Al-Khatib, Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris, and a woman who previously employed Ledford in a consulting job.

10:05 a.m.: This article was updated with comments from a Palmdale city spokesman.

This article was originally published at 7:30 a.m.
Today, Baku Business Factory (BBF) celebrates the 2nd anniversary of establishment.

The BBF Director Alovsat Muslumov said that the company by supporting the business initiatives of young people, tried to make its contribution to development of the ecosystem during two years through close cooperation with start-ups, freelancers and other enterprises of ecosystem.

Generally, BBF has received about 800 appeals within two years. The projects and freelancers, which have been selected among the appeals, have got support to build and develop their businesses using BBF services.

Currently, nearly 70 persons, including 20 projects benefit from services of the company. Fifteen projects have already been commercialized, one is carrying out works on export of its services and products. Five projects are under preparation. In general, about 30 startups have taken benefits of the company's services so far.

Within two years, various training services on office co-working and office equipment, mentoring and business have been rendered to the projects selected by BBF. Besides these services, other companies of the same sector have also been cooperated with and various projects launched.

Alovsat Muslumov said that as in the first year of establishment, Baku Business Factory in the second year of its operation has attached special importance to support of steps taken by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev towards diversification of national economy. Thats why Baku Business Factory pays a special attention to diversification of selected business projects. As a result, 20 projects covering all four major economic sectors, namely manufacturing, services, trade and agriculture as well as 14 different types of business activities now benefit from BBF services.

In second year of its activity, Baku Business Factory took serious steps to gain access for start-ups to international market. The BBF founder Anar Alizade touched upon the topic in his personal blog. According to him, development of international relations aimed at finding support for access of start-ups of the center to world market, and holding international exchange of experience is one of BBFs priorities. Memorandums of understanding with two international companies have been signed, for this purpose were held preliminary meetings aimed at cooperation with more than 10 foreign missions and companies.

BBF Director noted that if to have a look on separately taken projects, one can see that there are many start-ups in the center that can be regarded as quite successful.

Among supported projects, MrBee produces high quality honey in the country and handles its sale online, at the same time carrying out honey exports. Keepface renders influencer marketing services on social networks by combining celebrities and advertisers on its web platform. Obanatur offers cost-effective method for delivery of healthy food all over the country. Banco.az is a well-known banking portal in the country.

Qyizmindups perfect test and recruitment platform have already found customers in various countries of the world. Alkredit.az is an indispensable resource for loan seekers. BrandCream team has already proved itself in the field of design. A solution offered by Eventwex for issue and sale of tickets is competitive with leading companies in this field. Invex Team together with its engineers paves the way for the future. Also each of other startups accommodated in the center alike managed to advance their businesses as a result of close cooperation with BBF in a year.

Notably, Baku Business Factory was established by Azerbaijani businessman, founder of group of companies Union Grand Energy PTE, Anar Alizade. The main purpose of Baku Business Factory is to support young people with promising business ideas with the potential of positive impact on social and economic life of the country at the initial phase of the project and create conditions for rapid implementation of these projects and to make them sustainable.
Relatives of the victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against Twitter, Google and Facebook, accusing the tech giants of knowingly supporting Islamic State and its extremist agenda.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California contends the three companies have allowed Islamic State to build an outsize online presence and propagate its extremist beliefs, drawing recruits and promoting attacks such as the Dec. 2, 2015, shooting at the Inland Regional Center.

The attack by Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, left 14 people dead, including Sierra Clayborn, Tin Nguyen and Nicholas Thalasinos, whose family members filed the suit. Twenty-two others were injured in the shooting.

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The family members say in their lawsuit that the social media companies platforms amounted to material support to Islamic State and that the online content posted there fueled the radicalization of Malik and Farook.

Even if Farook and Malik had never been directly in contact with ISIS, ISIS use of social media directly influenced their actions on the day of the San Bernadino massacre, the lawsuit states, using an acronym for Islamic State.

Without defendants Twitter, Facebook and Google (YouTube), the explosive growth of ISIS over the last few years into the most feared terrorist group in the world would not have been possible, the suit says.

The suit contends the companies are liable for aiding and abetting acts of international terrorism, wrongful death and providing support to a designated foreign terror group, among other claims.

Spokespersons for Twitter, Facebook and Google could not be reached for comment.

Across the U.S., similar lawsuits against social-networking companies have been dismissed by courts because of the Communications Decency Act, which immunizes online providers from liability over user postings.

The lawyers representing the victims families have filed lawsuits with nearly identical accusations against social media companies on behalf of the victims in the massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., and the father of a Cal State Long Beach student who was killed in a terrorist attack in Paris.

In these cases, Google, Facebook and Twitter have said in court papers that they are sympathetic to victims of such heinous events but are not liable for what happened.

In a bid to dismiss the Pulse lawsuit in court papers filed Friday, the tech giants argued that the victims families relied on a tenuous and speculative chain of events to cast blame on social media for the Orlando gunmans self-radicalization.

The companies stated that accepting such an unbounded theory of the Orlando nightclub massacre would have staggering consequences, exposing every online platform to possible liability for terrorist violence anywhere in the world, at any time, simply because terrorists who committed the attack may have been loosely affiliated with some of the platforms billions of users.

Shortly after the San Bernardino massacre, FBI Director James B. Comey said there was no evidence that the couple was directed by a larger terror network, although there were signs of potential inspiration by foreign terrorist organizations.

The Internet allows the opportunity for people to consume poison and radicalize, Comey said.

Investigators later uncovered private messages that Malik sent on Facebook to a group of Pakistani friends in 2012 and 2014, pledging support for Islamic jihad and expressing her desire to join the fight.

On the day of the shooting, Malik used Facebook to pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr Baghdadi, the leader of Islamic State. The post was made before Malik and Farook were gunned down in a shootout with authorities.

At the time, Facebook said it discovered the post and removed it after notifying the FBI.

To read the article in Spanish, click here

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Twitter: @MattHjourno

UPDATES:

11 p.m.: This article was updated with additional background on similar lawsuits.

This article was originally published at 9:30 p.m.
A man convicted in the 1985 plot to kill a Los Angeles police detective will be released on parole within the week, over the objections of Gov. Jerry Brown and city police leaders, according to state corrections officials.

Voltaire Williams, 54, has spent 27 years in state prison after being convicted of joining the scheme to kill LAPD Det. Thomas C. Williams.

Voltaire Williams was not directly involved in the murder and has no relationship to the slain detective, who was fatally shot while picking up his 6-year-old son from a Canoga Park school. The child was not harmed, but the detective died almost instantly from the spray of gunfire.

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A jury convicted Williams of conspiracy to commit murder, and in 1989, he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, according to a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

In October, a two-person panel of parole commissioners found Williams suitable for parole.

But in December, the governor said he opposed Williams release, finding that he had not confronted his actions and responsibility in the detectives killing, according to a letter sent to the Board of Parole Hearings.

Because Williams was convicted of conspiracy in a murder case  and not a murder charge  the governor was unable to reverse the parole decision outright. Instead, he called for a review by the full panel of parole commissioners.

On Tuesday, the full panel upheld the ruling to grant Williams his release, said Luis Patino, a corrections department spokesman. A release letter will be delivered to California State Prison Solano, where Williams is being held, and hes expected to be out of prison within five days after that, Patino said.

The union that represents rank-and-file LAPD officers said Wednesday that it was appalled by the decision, saying that Williams should remain behind bars for life.

Detective Williams was assassinated because he did his job. The Parole Boards decision is an affront to every peace officer who risks their lives to protect others on a daily basis, the Los Angeles Police Protective League said in a statement. He does not deserve freedom.

The plot to kill the detective was masterminded by Daniel Jenkins, a North Hollywood limousine driver who was on trial for robbery at the time. Det. Williams was the lead investigator in the case, and he was killed just hours after testifying against Jenkins.

Jenkins recruited Voltaire Williams to kill the detective, but the plan was foiled when the detective did not show up where he was expected to. Officials also said Williams recruited a neighbor to kill the detective, but the neighbor  after much planning  backed out.

Jenkins and another man, Ruben Antonio Moss, ultimately carried out the killing, ambushing the detective on Oct. 31, 1985. Jenkins fired 17 times from a machine-gun-type weapon from a car window as Moss drove the vehicle.

Williams defense attorney at the time said his client was in Oakland on the day of the killing.

Jenkins was sentenced to death in the gas chamber; he remains on Californias death row.

Five men in total were charged in the plot to kill the detective. Only Jenkins, Williams and Moss were convicted. Moss was sentenced to life in prison and remains behind bars at a state prison in Lancaster.

A jury acquitted Williams of first-degree murder in the slaying. His defense attorney said Williams initially agreed to take part in the shooting but changed his mind about a week beforehand.

He gave back the gun and the gloves six days before the murder took place, defense attorney Lewis Watnick said at the time.

james.queally@latimes.com

Twitter: @JamesQueallyLAT

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Twitter: @MattHjourno

ALSO

California parole panel recommends release of former follower of Charles Manson

Tony Alamo, Hollywood street preacher convicted of sexually abusing girls, dies at 82

I took someones life  now I am giving back: In Californias prisons, inmates teach each other how to start over
Tony Alamo, a one-time Hollywood street preacher whose apocalyptic ministry grew into a multimillion-dollar network of businesses and property before he was convicted of sexually abusing young girls he considered his wives, has died in prison at age 82.

Once known for designing elaborately decorated jackets for celebrities such as Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley, Alamo died on Tuesday at a federal prison hospital in Butner, N.C., according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

The disgraced preacher was convicted in 2009 on charges that he took underage girls across state lines for sex, including a 9-year-old. The judge who sentenced him to the maximum 175 years in prison told him: One day you will face a higher and a greater judge than me. May he have mercy on your soul.

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Alamo started preaching along the California streets in the 1960s, advocating a mixture of virulent anti-Catholicism and apocalyptic rhetoric. He claimed God authorized polygamy, professed that gays were the tools of Satan, and believed girls were fit for marriage even at a young age.

Consent is puberty, Alamo told the Associated Press in September 2008, on the same weekend that state and federal agents raided the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries in the tiny southwest Arkansas town of Fouke to investigate possible child abuse and pornography.

Witnesses in the ensuing trial said Alamo made all key decisions on the compound: who got married, what children were taught in school, who received clothes, who was allowed to eat. They said he began taking multiple wives in the early 1990s, including a 15-year-old girl in 1994, followed by increasingly younger girls.

Alamo was convicted after five women testified they were married to him in secret ceremonies at his compound when they were minors  including one when she was only 8  and later taken to places outside Arkansas for sex.

John Wesley Hall, a lawyer who had represented Alamo, said Wednesday that Alamo denied that he ever did anything [wrong].

Former followers said Alamo grew increasingly unhinged after his wife, Susan, died from cancer in 1982, while the couple operated their ministry near Fort Smith in northwestern Arkansas.

Her body was kept in a room at the ministry, and his followers kept a vigil, praying for months for a resurrection.

Eventually her body was buried in a crypt on the ministrys 300-acre compound in Dyer, Ark. But in 1991, Alamo ordered his followers to pack up before federal marshals seized the property to satisfy a court judgment.

Authorities found Susan Alamos concrete crypt smashed open and her coffin gone. Alamo returned his wifes remains to her family seven years later, after being threatened with jail.

Before it became widely reviled for its leaders actions and teachings, Tony Alamo Christian Ministries attracted hippies and youngsters alienated from their parents when it started on the streets of Hollywood in the 1960s. Calling themselves Jesus freaks, Alamos followers preached hellfire and a wrathful version of Pentecostalism, which is known for its spirited worship style and belief in modern-day revelation and miracles.

In the 1970s and 80s, members of his ministry made elaborately designed denim jackets that were sold to celebrities such as Presley, Jackson and several country music stars. The iconic black leather jacket that Jackson wore on the cover of his Bad album was a Tony Alamo original, and it was later sold at auction to settle federal tax claims against Alamo.

At its height, Alamos ministry claimed thousands of members nationwide. It was perhaps most known for leaving fliers on car windshields that outlined such topics as Alamos feared one-world government, his belief in flying saucers and his hatred of the Vatican and gays. Hall said the ministry still produces the fliers.

My staff still gets them in the mail, Hall said Wednesday.

In a 2008 interview, Alamo claimed to be unique among Christian preachers because he was born a Jew and had a supernatural experience through which he became a born-again Christian.

From his compound in northwest Arkansas, Alamo presided over several businesses  including gas stations, a hog farm, a grocery store and a restaurant  that funded his ministry. Ultimately, the IRS claimed Alamo owed $7.9 million in taxes, and federal agents raided his properties in 1991.

He was convicted of tax evasion and served four years in prison despite claiming he had no tax liability because he received no salary.

Alamo also was accused in 1991 of child abuse after an 11-year-old boy told police he was paddled 140 times by four men on orders from Alamo in 1988 at the churchs compound in Saugus. Prosecutors eventually dropped the charges, saying too much time had passed. The same year he was charged with threatening to kidnap a federal judge in Arkansas, but was acquitted by a jury.

It was after he left prison in the 1990s that he started the compound in Fouke with about 100 followers.

Alamo was born Bernie Lazar Hoffman on Sept. 20, 1934, to a Jewish family in Joplin, Mo. He arrived in Los Angeles in the 1960s, claiming he was a music promoter with clients such as the Beatles. He and his wife legally changed their names to Tony and Susan Alamo after they married in Las Vegas in 1966.

Kissel writes for the Associated Press.
The House plans to vote on the GOP healthcare plan today. Im Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I dont want you to miss.

TOP STORIES

What Trumpcare Could Learn From California

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Just when it looked as if the GOP healthcare plan was slipping away, a last-minute change and intense talks appear to have given it new life. House Republican leaders plan to hold a vote on it today, and Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California predicted they have enough votes to pass it. Unlike the $1-trillion spending bill the House approved yesterday, the healthcare bill could still face a tough fight in the Senate. And if Californias experience before Obamacare is any indication, states will have a huge challenge making it work, including the use of high-risk pools. As one former senior executive at Blue Shield of California put it: The market was a disaster.

More Politics

-- James B. Comey said he has suffered anguish but does not regret his late-October disclosure about the reopened FBI inquiry into whether Hillary Clinton had mishandled classified emails.

-- North Korea is building mysterious artificial islands that would be just perfect for missile launches.

-- Whats written on that whiteboard behind Steve Bannon? Weve transcribed and annotated it line by line.

Video: One Small Mistake and Youre Dead

Wissam Daoud carries an Iraqi flag in his pants pocket, to be draped over his body should the need arise. His job is to defuse Islamic State bombs for the Iraqi army, for about $1,000 a month. Though hes seen his colleagues get killed, dying in an explosion is no longer his worst fear; its the prospect of being shot and disabled by snipers. Better to die than to be injured, Daoud says. No one cares about you in Iraq when you are injured. L.A. Times foreign correspondent Molly Hennessy-Fiske and photographer Marcus Yam have the story of this chain-smoking veteran bomb technician.

Wissam Daoud treads carefully through salvaged Islamic State explosives at the abandoned house where his bomb defusing team camped near West Mosul, Iraq. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Berkeley to Protesters: Take It Somewhere Else

In Berkeley, many residents say theyre not going to take it anymore. No, theyre not upset about conservative speakers coming to the UC campus. Instead, theyve had it up to here with protesters on the left and the right turning our city into Fight Club, as the mayor describes it. We dont need you to come to our community to be violent, says one member of a group called Respect Berkeley.

To Protect and to Serve  and to Be Courteous

As part of its efforts to reform the LAPD, the civilian Los Angeles Police Commission approved a policy last month requiring officers to try to defuse tense situations before using deadly force. Now its adopted changes aimed at making the department more committed to the concept of procedural justice  a fancy way of saying that officers fairness and courtesy go a long way toward building trust in the police. That can be as simple as officers handing out business cards or spending some time explaining why they pulled someone over.

And Now, the Floods 

In California, the rains have eased, but dont let the weather fool you: The threat of flooding has communities across the Central Valley on edge. As temperatures rise, a deep layer of snowpack in the mountains will begin to melt, putting the states aging flood-control system to the test. Here is a look at the rush to shore up levees and carefully coordinate just how much water can flow through rivers and into reservoirs.

MUST-WATCH VIDEO

-- Highlights from Comeys testimony on the Clinton investigation.

-- Food going bad in the fridge? A chef gives his tips for reducing food waste.

-- These L.A. dancers are changing the way people protest.

CALIFORNIA

-- A pioneering, California-led effort to create retirement security for low-income workers has been thrown into jeopardy after a U.S. Senate vote.

-- A man convicted in the 1985 plot to kill a Los Angeles police detective will be released on parole, over the objections of Gov. Jerry Brown and city police leaders.

-- Tony Alamo, whose apocalyptic ministry grew into a multimillion-dollar network before he was convicted of sexually abusing young girls, has died in prison at age 82.

-- Nearly one-third of the airlines at LAX will switch gates and terminals starting May 12. Heres how to navigate it.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- Times film critic Kenneth Turan says that what felt fresh in Guardians of the Galaxy now seems institutionalized in the sequel.

-- Men rule the fictional world in The Handmaids Tale, but behind the scenes, women were instrumental to the Hulu show.

-- The refurbished Los Angeles State Historic Park could become one of the citys best spots for live music.

-- Times arts writer Carolina Miranda remembers Jean Stein, the author she once drove around L.A. in a banana-yellow Mustang II while doing interviews about the 1992 riots.

CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD

When Audrey Hepburn was born on this date in 1929, she seemed destined to a life of privilege as the daughter of a Dutch noblewoman and a British banker. But when the Nazis occupied the Netherlands, she endured years of hardship, including malnutrition. After she became a Broadway and Hollywood star, she devoted herself to feeding the worlds hungry.

NATION-WORLD

-- Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello said that federal courts would help protect the U.S. territory from its more than $70-billion debt crisis, after multiple creditors filed lawsuits.

-- Trumps approach to an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal: Get to yes, and figure out the details later.

-- The two candidates in Frances presidential runoff Sunday engaged in a heated debate. Here is a side-by-side comparison of their starkly different visions for the country.

-- In Russia, a green-colored antiseptic has become a weapon in attacks against opposition activists and journalists.

-- A detailed look at the global warming hiatus again confirms that humans are changing the climate.

-- Buckingham Palace has announced that Queen Elizabeth IIs husband, Prince Philip, 95, will stop carrying out public engagements this fall.

BUSINESS

-- Beware: Theres a big phishing scam spreading through Google Docs.

-- A federal agency says Exxon Mobil Corp. relied on outdated procedures and used old equipment, which led to a 2015 explosion at a Torrance refinery.

-- American Airlines confirmed it will shrink the distance between economy seats in some new planes. But dont accuse the carrier of cutting legroom  its all about the pitch.

SPORTS

-- The Dodgers retired Vin Scullys microphone at Dodger Stadium, as he told stories of the Boys of Summer.

-- The fate of the Clippers rests on the decisions of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, who can opt out of their contracts and become unrestricted free agents this summer.

OPINION

-- Donald Trump supported Amanda Knox when she was on trial in Italy for murder. Now she asks in this op-ed: Do I owe him my loyalty?

-- GOP hard-liners resist spreading the costs of healthcare to the healthy: See the David Horsey cartoon.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- Two ways Trump could be removed from office. But is it just a liberal fantasy? (The Atlantic)

-- Anybody can end up homeless  We never thought itd be us. (Seattle Times)

-- A reading list related to Americas national parks. (Longreads)

ONLY IN L.A.

Why is Santa sitting next to the pool of a run-down motel on Hollywood Boulevard in Thai Town? Filming an episode of Fargo, dont-cha know. Last nights installment went beyond the shows usual snow-covered Minnesota setting for a visit to L.A., and reporter Yvonne Villarreal took it all in. Yah.

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.

If you like this newsletter, please share it with friends.
Donald Trump supported me during the worst crisis and most vulnerable moment in my life, defending my innocence when I was on trial in Italy for murder. He is now the president of the United States and reportedly very upset with me because I didnt vote for him.

Do I owe him my loyalty?

Trumps remarks were reported by the New York Times in a profile of his neighbor George Guido Lombardi. Yet I received negative backlash from his supporters even before Lombardis comments were published. They felt that I owed Trump my allegiance and were outraged at columns I wrote in which I criticized his policies and explained my reasons for endorsing Hillary Clinton. One person commented:

Im sorry I ever supported you. You have turned into a left wing lunatic. I see your experience in Italy has left you completely ungrateful to be an American.  Donald Trump stood by you, but now you turn around and indirectly attack him? You should be ashamed of yourself.

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Another wrote that, while I neednt endorse Trump, my criticism of him wasnt nice.

By holding personal loyalty above all else, Trump and some of his supporters create a political environment where reason and justice hold little sway.

The message was clear: Trump defended me in the past; how dare I not defend him now? Never mind that Trump doesnt share my values. If I wont endorse him, at the very least I should keep my left-wing lunacies to myself.

This conviction is both undemocratic and dangerous. Just as a persons support of me should not be based upon my politics or identity, hinging instead on the fact of my innocence, so should my politics hinge on the merits of policy, not personal loyalty.

In The Righteous Mind, Jonathan Haidt describes loyalty as one of the moral foundations that conservatives feel more strongly than liberals. Its part of what makes morality a force that binds and blinds. Loyalty can bind people together under a common cause, but it can also blind people as to whether or not their cause is just.

I discovered just how blinding loyalty could be when, in December 2009, an Italian court convicted me of a murder I didnt commit. That judgment rested heavily on the courts bias in favor of the prosecution, which represented the Italian people and the Italian state, over the defense, which represented a foreigner.

This is loyalty taken too far. And it calls to mind the party-over-policy approach that currently plagues our own politics.

Yes, Trump donated to my defense. And yes, Trump defended my innocence, recognizing that coercive interrogations produce false testimony authored by the interrogators themselves, a well-studied and documented fact.

But Trump claimed the exact opposite in the Central Park Five case, calling for the death penalty even though the accused teens rape convictions rested solely on coerced false confessions. Even now he views them as guilty, years after they were exonerated based on DNA evidence.

Trump recognized me as a fellow American who deserved to be assumed innocent until proven guilty, but he condemned the Central Park Five as other  guilty until proven innocent. Loyalty motivated Trump to call for all Americans to boycott Italy, even though, ironically, it only served to amplify anti-American sentiment in the courtroom, stacking the deck against me.

There is a kind of loyalty I wholeheartedly support: loyalty to our ideals of due process, equal protection under the law, the freedom to speak ones mind and to vote according to ones principles. Only in banana republics do political leaders dole out favors to citizens in exchange for their silence and their vote. By holding personal loyalty above all else, Trump and some of his supporters create a political environment where reason and justice hold little sway. He was probably right when he said he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and not lose voters  thats what happens when personal loyalty is paramount.

I know many Republicans who recognized the danger of Trumps worldview, and broke party loyalty this past election. My dad was one of them. Its to their credit that they could be critical of their own party for the sake of the country.

And its to Italys credit that the Italian Supreme Court ruled against the popular opinion of the Italian people when they acquitted me. I owe my freedom to those people who saw reason beyond loyalty.

What do I owe Trump? A thank you for his well-intentioned, if undiplomatic, support. So for the record: Thank you, Mr. President.

But the more important question is, what do I owe my country? Civic engagement, careful consideration of issues that affect my fellow citizens, and support for policies that deserve support, even if it makes the president very upset.

Amanda Knox is the author of Waiting to be Heard: A Memoir.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook

MORE FROM OPINION

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Turns out the French election is a lot like Lord of the Rings
The board is set, the pieces are moving. We come to it at last, the great battle of our time. As Lord of the Rings fans should know, Ian McKellens Gandalf says these lines to Billy Boyds Pippin as, standing on a terrace at Gondor, they gaze in horror at the storm clouds massing over Mordor. With the fate of Middle Earth hanging in the balance, the forces of light and darkness prepare for their epic clash.

Standing on a terrace in Paris, French voters might well be muttering the same words  in French, of course  as they prepare for next weeks presidential election between the moderate Emmanuel Macron and the ethno-nationalist Marine Le Pen. In fact it seems to me that J.R.R. Tolkiens masterpiece serves as a guide to current events in France.

Tolkiens epic, inspired by World War II, traces the journey of the hobbit Frodo Baggins to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mordor. As he stumbles toward his goal, and Middle Earths salvation, coalitions form, or fail to form, in his wake. There is, for example, the decision by the wizard Saruman, once dedicated to preserving the order of the world, to collaborate with Sauron the Abhorred, master of Mordor.

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A similar betrayal stunned France on April 28. Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, the leader of Arise France  a hard-right party that won nearly 5% in the first round of voting  appeared with Le Pen to announce that they were uniting their forces. Should she win, Le Pen vowed, Dupont-Aignan would become her prime minister.

Just as the future of Middle Earth was thrust into the hands of an untested youth with a weakness for older blonds, this now is also the case for France.

Though Dupont-Aignan doesnt campaign in a flowing beard and gown, he has long flaunted something equally dramatic: the political and moral standard of Gaullism. Dupont-Aignan has always described himself as a Gaullist  namely, someone committed to reestablishing Frances role as a powerful and sovereign nation. This, in turn, has made him skeptical of transatlantic or European alliances and hostile to the EUs monetary union  just like Le Pen. And yet he scorned her party, the National Front. Just a few months ago, he declared that a republican Gaullist has nothing in common with the National Front. Period.

That was then. At the recent news conference, Dupont-Aignan declared that he was sacrificing personal interests for the superior interest of the nation. Skeptical observers were as unimpressed by this claim as, say, the Ents were by Sarumans landscaping ideas for Fanghorn Forest. Not only did Le Pen promise Dupont-Aignan the keys to the Matignon  the prime ministers official residence  but also a check to cover the debts he had run up during his presidential campaign. Thus for the first time in the nations history, a mainstream political party has struck an alliance with Le Pen the Abhorred.

Once an Axis of Evil forms, everyone else must choose sides  or be condemned by history for failing to do so. Take Denethor, the Steward of Gondor, who refuses to commit himself even as Saurons forces breach the city walls. Or Jean-Luc Melenchon, the Steward of Revolutionary Purity, a.k.a. the leader of the hard-left party Defiant France. Having failed to reach the elections second round, he has not called on his followers to join, well, the Rohirrim  the republican front forming against Le Pen  by voting for Macron.

Macron is our French Frodo. Just as the future of Middle Earth was thrust into the hands of an untested and provincial youth with a weakness for older blonds, this now is also the case for France. There are, of course, important differences. Frodo goes about barefoot, while Macron, one imagines, wears shoes to bed. More important, Frodo never sought his task, while Macron has run toward it with the swiftness of one of Legolas arrows.

Granted, many of Le Pens followers have strictly nothing in common with Saurons chthonic creatures. They are, instead, the assembly line and skilled workers whose lives have been overturned by the forces of globalization. Yet a President Le Pen will forget them as quickly as President Trump has forgotten his own base. Moreover, the National Front continues to harbor subterranean and sordid elements, including neo-Nazis and Holocaust revisionists in senior positions.

At the end of the trilogy, Frodo succeeds in his task and Mordor is destroyed. Here lies both the greatest difference and greatest similarity. The forces that have lifted the National Front to the threshold of power will not, like Mordor, disappear after next weeks election; if anything, they will strengthen and remobilize for the next election in 2022. But given the expectations of the French people, the weight on Macrons shoulders, should he win as expected, will be as great as that on Frodo.

Robert Zaretsky teaches at the University of Houston and is finishing a book on Catherine the Great and the French Enlightenment

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook
To the editor: Despite containing unfavorable statutes including mandates and taxes on innovation, passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010 was probably due to a favorable message of access, which it provided at an unsustainable cost. Republicans need to improve their messaging and make the fight not against sick Americans, but against the lack of responsibility on the part of states. (House sets up risky vote on GOPs Obamacare repeal, May 4)

The current divide in healthcare policy occupies the spectrum between universal healthcare or not, when it should be federal versus state. Conservatives should not deny liberals the freedom to pursue their utopia, but it should be at the financial risk of their own communities.

State responsibility is the inarguable medium, as no one loses the opportunity to live and die on their own terms.

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The current GOP bill asks states to do their job and provides an excess of funding through a new Patient and State Stability Fund so that states such as California can care for high-risk patients.

Michael Kendall, Azusa

..

To the editor: Finally, as a nation, we seem to agree on one thing: that whatever takes Obamacares place, something should. Healthcare for everyone in this country is an absolute necessity, and the current law is only the first step, not the last.

The most obvious next move is to eliminate the middleman. Right now, we pay private insurers to cover millions of low-income people who cant afford the premiums on their own. That means that we not only pay insurance companies for the actual cost of healthcare, but also their profits and their risk reserves.

This does not make sense, especially since we already have a Medicare system that could be expanded to do the job. We could be collecting the premiums from all those healthy people who are now required to have health insurance.

Our government could have a lot more money coming in to pay for healthcare and a whole lot less to pay out. People would still have the option to use private health insurance if they can afford it. Its a win-win deal.

Paying for private insurance companies profits with our tax dollars is grotesque.

L.J. Jesten, Auburn, Calif.

..

To the editor: Does the Affordable Care Act need strengthening? Certainly. This monumental achievement had never been done before in our history as a nation. President Obama knew that it would take a decade for it to run on all cylinders, but that it also needed bipartisan support and fixes; that never happened.

So here we are. The solution now is really clear: Keep the current healthcare law intact, but change the name. Simply call it Trumpcare.

The president would be pleased to see his brand extended further into our lives.

Diane Welch, Cypress

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
To the editor: Although there are many examples of U.S. hypocrisy on human rights issues, at least it has been beneficial for our government to take a strong public stand in favor of human rights and freedom of the press around the world. (Philippine President Duterte is a self-professed killer. Why did Trump invite him to a cozy White House schmooze? editorial, May 2)

President Trumps willingness to warmly welcome Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has encouraged thousands of summary executions, steps into the uncharted waters of the U.S. government making a show of support for a murderous autocrat. Our president now welcomes extrajudicial killings by foreign leaders, denies the importance of a free press and the protection of journalists, and supports torture as a military tactic.

Trumps bold rhetoric, whether it leads to legislative mandates or not, erodes respect for the United States around the world, clearly emboldens other heads of state to follow his lead, and sets the stage to drag us all down a path of unprecedented discrimination, vile disrespect for human rights and the demise of all that civilized societies claim to value.

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Therese Sweeney, Santa Monica

..

To the editor: The Times editorial took Trump to task for inviting Duterte, a man with blood on his hands, to the White House.

Do you feel the same way about Trump meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, another man with blood on his hands  the blood of innocent Israeli victims due to Palestinian Authority incitement to violence? Or will you feel that this meeting is justified because you favor a two-state solution?

I see no advantage to a two-state solution when one of the parties has expressed support for wiping out the other.

Emanuel R. Baker, Los Angeles

..

To the editor: Why does Trump invite a killer like Duterte to the White House? Why does he say it would be an honor to talk with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un?

Why does he call Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan to congratulate him on a referendum that vastly expands his power? Why does he praise Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi? And why has he gushed over Russian President Vladimir Putin?

Simple: Trump is an amoral and practiced liar who has a long history of associating with other con men, including members of New York mafia families.

Trump is a national embarrassment, and the thought of his shoes touching even the flooring of our White House makes me feel ill.

Darlene Olympius, Yorba Linda

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
Sen. Kamala Harris says she hasnt considered running for president By Phil Willon U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) Despite swirling speculation, Californias U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris said shes not giving any consideration to running for president in 2020. Harris was appearing at the annual Code Conference hosted by the tech news site Recode in Rancho Palos Verdes on Wednesday night when site co-founder Kara Swisher asked if she had eyes on the White House. Im not giving that any consideration. Ive got to stay focused, said Harris, a Democrat who was elected to the Senate in November after serving as Californias attorney general. After she won the seat vacated by former Sen. Barbara Boxer, Harris quickly gained a reputation as a potential presidential candidate in 2020. Harris took questions from Swisher alongside Laurene Powell Jobs, a philanthropist and the widow of Apple founder Steve Jobs. Though she brushed off the presidential rumors, Harris urged Democrats to try harder to make convincing arguments on issues such as climate change instead of just criticizing those who disagree with them. She told the audience at the posh Terranea Resort where the conference is being held that it would be a mistake to dismiss the concerns of Americans who supported Trump in the November election. She said the issues that concern them  good jobs and the future of their families  are the concerns of all working-class Americans. There is a healthy number of people in our country who are feeling displaced, rightly, Harris said. I think we have to deal with that. Still, Harris dished out plenty of jabs at the Trump administration. She criticized Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions for resuscitating the war on drugs and told him to leave Grandmas medical marijuana alone. Harris also criticized the Trump administrations more hard-line immigration policies, and said she was concerned about allegations of collusion between Trumps campaign and the Russian government. These are serious times. These are not issues we can just sit around with a glass of Chardonnay debating and philosophizing about, Harris said. The decisions that are being made right now are impacting real human beings. Watch the entire interview: Facebook

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Trump wouldnt release his tax returns, so lawmakers move to make it mandatory for Californias primary By John Myers (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) Legislation to require presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns in order to gain a spot on Californias presidential primary ballot won passage in the state Senate on Wednesday, but only after a tense debate that largely centered on President Trump. Senate Bill 149 was approved on a strict party-line vote, 27-13. The bill now moves to the state Assembly, and was one of the last bills debated during a marathon session at the state Capitol to consider bills before a Friday deadline for action. The bill would require presidential candidates to file copies of their income tax returns with state elections officials for the five most recent taxable years. Failure to do so would mean their name wouldnt appear on Californias presidential primary ballot. The legislation was introduced in December, in the wake of Trumps refusal to disclose his tax returns during the 2016 campaign. The president has continued to reject calls for the information. Hes shaping international policy which could enrich himself, and the American public has no way to know, state Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) said of Trump during Wednesday nights floor debate. This legislation will help make transparency great again. Republicans denounced the bill as another in a long line of efforts by Democrats in the Legislature to lash out at the election of Trump and the defeat of Hillary Clinton. I get it that some people hate Trump, state Sen. Joel Anderson (R-Alpine) said. Weve got to move ahead. Weve got to get over it. Tensions flared after Anderson tried to amend the bill on the floor  first, to require statewide and legislative candidates to also release their tax returns, and then to require a birth certificate from candidates who want access to the states primary ballot. Both were rejected by Democrats. A legislative analysis of SB 149 said some legal scholars believe the plan, which would be the first of its kind in the nation, would pass muster with the U.S. Constitution. Nonetheless, the analysis concluded that it would probably be challenged in court if signed into law. Facebook

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California Senate moves forward with bill that would overhaul Los Angeles County MTA By Patrick McGreevy Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia) proposed to revamp the Los Angeles County MTA. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) The state Senate on Wednesday approved a bill that would expand and reshape the agency that oversees mass transit in Los Angeles County. Opponents of the measure include Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, the city and county of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. The bill by Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia) was sent to the Assembly for consideration after squeaking by with a 22-11 vote in the Senate. The measure would expand the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board from 12 to 15 members. It would also reduce the number of county supervisors on the board from five to two, remove the appointment of two public members and increase Los Angeles City Council member appointments by the mayor from two to five. This will allow for proportional and fair representation, Mendoza told his colleagues, adding that the board currently is made up of haves and have-nots fighting to get their share. Sen. John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa) opposed the measure because he said he saw it as Sacramento meddling in local policymaking. But Sen. Scott Wilk (R-Palmdale) supported SB 268. Too much power is concentrated in too few people, he said of the current board. Facebook

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Single-payer healthcare is popular with Californians  unless it raises their taxes By John Myers (Rich Pedoncelli / Associated Press) Almost two of every three Californians in a new statewide poll said they like the idea of a single-payer, government healthcare system, but far fewer support the idea if it includes a tax increase. The poll released Wednesday night by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found that 65% of adults surveyed support the creation of a single-payer state healthcare program to cover all of the states residents, and 56% of likely voters approved of the idea. Opinion was sharply divided between Democrats (75% support) and Republicans (66% oppose) who were surveyed. The single-payer proposal under consideration in the state Capitol, Senate Bill 562, assumes at least $50 billion in new taxes to fund the healthcare system. Asked about taxes, support drops to 42% of the adults surveyed and 43% of likely voters. While a majority of Democrats in the PPIC poll continued to support the idea if it means more taxes, support drops substantially among unaffiliated independent voters. The state Senate is expected to consider the single-payer bill before the end of the week. A legislative analysis put the estimated total cost of a new healthcare system that covers all Californians at $400 billion, while an analysis released on Wednesday by supporters provided a $331-billion estimate. The pending legislation by state Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) does not identify what taxes would be raised but makes the enactment of the plan contingent on a full funding proposal. Facebook

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Knowingly exposing others to HIV should no longer be a felony, state Senate says By Patrick McGreevy The Senate voted to no longer make it a felony for HIV-positive people to donate blood or semen without telling the blood bank they are infected. ( (Toby Talbot / Associated Press)) The state Senate on Wednesday voted to no longer make it a felony for someone infected with HIV to knowingly expose others to the disease by having unprotected sex without telling his or her partner about the infection. The crime would be downgraded to a misdemeanor, and the bill would also apply to people who donate blood or semen without telling the blood or semen bank that they have acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS, or have tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, the precursor to AIDS. The measure, which next goes to the Assembly for consideration, was introduced by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who said it is unfair to make HIV/AIDS the only communicable disease given such harsh treatment by prosecutors. These laws are irrational and discriminatory, Wiener told the Senate, adding that the current felony status is creating an incentive not to be tested, because if you dont know your status you cant be guilty of a felony. The measure was widely opposed by Republican lawmakers including Sen. Joel Anderson of San Diego. If you intentionally transmit something that is fundamentally life-threatening to the victim, you should be charged and go to jail, he said. Sen. Jeff Stone (R-Murrieta) said, My friends, its not a gay issue. Its a public health issue. We shouldnt allow someone to play Russian roulette with other peoples lives. Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), a physician, voted for the bill and argued that it undermines public health to imprison those with HIV under the current law. Facebook

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Hillary Clinton: I was the victim of a very broad assumption I was going to win By Seema Mehta Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that she has no plans to run for office again, but she plans to remain involved in civic life, particularly helping the Democrats efforts to regain control of the House in 2018. Im not going anywhere, Clinton said at the annual Code Conference in Rancho Palos Verdes. I have a big stake in what happens in this country. I am very unbowed and unbroken about what happened because I dont want it to happen to anybody else. I dont want it to happen to the values and the institutions I care about in America. And I think were at a really pivotal point, she said. And therefore Im going to keep writing and keep talking and keep supporting people who are on the front lines of the resistance. The 2016 Democratic presidential nominee said she woke up on election day expecting to win. Clinton told the gathering that she was responsible for every decision the campaign made, though she did not believe they caused her surprise loss. She attributed that to several things, including alleged Russian interference in the election and weaponizing stolen information and fake news. She also pointed a finger at the Democrats for falling behind the GOP in using technology and data to target voters, the media for covering her e-mail controversy like it was Pearl Harbor, misogyny and the high expectations many had for her candidacy. I was the victim of a very broad assumption I was going to win, she said, adding that she always expected the race to be close. Trump responded on Twitter, saying that Clinton still refused to accept that she lost because she was a terrible candidate. Crooked Hillary Clinton now blames everybody but herself, refuses to say she was a terrible candidate. Hits Facebook & even Dems & DNC.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 1, 2017 Clinton, who has increasingly jabbed President Trump, including at last weeks commencement address at Wellesley College, blasted his reported plan to pull out of the Paris climate accord as really stupid because of the economic implications. She described his personality as impulsive and reactive. And she joked about his peculiar overnight tweet about constant negative press covfefe, saying she thought it was a hidden message to the Russians to laughter from the audience. Going forward, Clinton said that she believes that it was realistic for Democrats to retake the House in 2018, notably by focusing on Republican congressional districts she won  including seven in California. She sounded less optimistic about the Senate. Updated at 6:06 p.m.: This post was updated to add President Trumps response to Clintons remarks. This post was first published at 5:41 p.m. Facebook

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California lawmakers take aim again at establishing statewide rules for drones By Jazmine Ulloa A state senator from Santa Barbara is taking another shot at establishing statewide regulations for the use of drones after the budding industry thwarted her efforts to pass similar legislation last year. Senate Bill 347, introduced by Democratic Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, would limit disruptive drone use near private property and prohibit the weaponization and reckless operation of the unmanned aerial vehicles. It also would require pilots to obtain insurance and to license, register and mark the aircrafts per federal regulations. The bill moved out of the Senate on Wednesday with a 26-13 vote. It heads to the Assembly for consideration. Speaking on the Senate floor, Jackson urged support for what she called comprehensive drone legislation, saying California needs common-sense rules that provide certainty for everyone and keep the public safe. Washington is not going to be acting on this issue very soon, she said, citing a federal appeals court decision that this month found the Federal Aviation Administration doesnt have the authority to regulate the use of drones by hobbyists. Debate has raged in recent years over just where federal authority begins and ends. And Jacksons attempts at drone legislation last year were blocked amid opposition from lobbyists who argued against creating a patchwork of laws that varied by state. Under Jacksons new proposal, violations would be punishable by a fine of up to $250 or a misdemeanor, and the California Department of Transportation would be tasked with developing liability insurance requirements. It has the support of the California State Assn. of Counties, the League of California Cities and the Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Assn, but it once again faces tough industry opposition. Facebook

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School districts would be prohibited from shaming students whose parents havent paid for school lunches By Patrick McGreevy Students eat lunch at Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High School in Los Angeles. (Christina House / For the Los Angeles Times) Students whose parents have not kept their school lunch bills current would no longer go through shaming that includes marking their hand so they cannot be served, under legislation approved Wednesday by the state Senate. The measure by Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) would require school districts to ensure that any student whose parent has unpaid school meal fees is not treated differently, or delayed or denied a nutritiously adequate meal. Hertzberg introduced the legislation after hearing of school districts taking lunch trays from students whose accounts were not current and throwing the food in the trash, embarrassing the students in front of their friends. No more shaming, Herzberg told his colleagues. Dont visit the failures of the parents on their kids. The measure passed on a 39-0 vote and was sent to the Assembly for consideration. Facebook

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Emilio Huerta, undaunted by 2016 loss, is back to challenge Rep. David Valadao By Sarah D. Wire (Sarah D. Wire / Los Angeles Times) Bakersfield lawyer Emilio Huerta came more than 13 percentage points short of winning Californias 21st Congressional District seat in 2016, but he plans to try again in 2018. Huerta, 59, blames his loss to Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford) on inexperience and a rash of negative ads at the end of the campaign. We learned a lot in the last campaign. As a first-time candidate there was certainly a lot to learn and I think we did a good job, Huerta said Wednesday. The son of labor icon Dolores Huerta, he has worked for the United Farm Workers union  which his mother co-founded  throughout the Central Valley district. Huerta said Valadaos vote for the Republican healthcare plan shows hes ignoring Valley residents needs because it would end the expansion of the MediCal program, which many of the districts residents use for healthcare. Its going to be a pretty significant issue, he said. He is the first Democrat to announce a bid for the seat. Democrats are heartened by the fact that, while Valadao won the seat with 56.74% of the vote, the district has continued to trend Democratic in voter registration and chose Hillary Clinton for president with 54.72% of the vote. That tells me that there were die-hard Democrats, committed Democrats that vote, Democrats that were not convinced that my campaign should be supported and I think a lot of that has to do with me being a first-time candidate, Huerta said. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has made the seat a target for 2018. The majority-Latino district includes parts of Fresno, Kern, Kings and Tulare counties. Facebook

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Gov. Jerry Brown and Democrats say Trump is going backwards if he pulls out of Paris climate pact By John Myers Gov. Jerry Brown warned Wednesday that a decision by President Trump to withdraw the United States from a 2015 global climate change agreement could be tragic, and vowed to keep Californias ambitious efforts in place and on track. Here we are, in 2017, going backwards, Brown said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. It cannot stand, its not right and California will do everything it can to not only stay the course, but to build more support  in other states, in other provinces, in other countries. The governor also criticized efforts to the president to dismantle climate change initiatives launched by former President Barack Obama. Trump is going against science. Hes going against reality, the governor said. We cant stand by and give aid and comfort to that. News that the president had either made the decision to pull the country out of the Paris Accord on climate change or was on the verge of doing so drew swift condemnation from California leaders. Brown and other top lawmakers attended the talks in late 2015 that resulted in the international agreement, and insisted on Wednesday that it would not hurt the states own efforts to sharply curtail greenhouse gas emissions. As with so many other matters, from human rights to healthcare, the Trump administration has continued to surrender our nations longstanding role as a global leader, Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) said. Others pointed out that a decision to remove the United States from the agreement would leave it in rare company among other nations. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted that such a decision by Trump would be more than just dumb + destructive. Brown, who leaves Friday for a weeklong visit to China to encourage more climate-change cooperation, predicted any decision to step away would suggest the countrys priorities arent clear. It sends a very muddled message, the governor said during an interview in his state Capitol office. Is the message [that] we like dirty cars and gas guzzlers? And were going to have a coal future? That cant happen. And Brown again suggested that Californias experience on the issue offers a road map for others. If we want to retain and enhance manufacturing, we have to do what California is doing, in clean energy and clean technology, he said. Thats the future of jobs, the future of sustainability. And we better get on board. And California will be right there with the best of them. Facebook

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This Orange County congressmans immigration town hall turned chaotic and led to three arrests By Sarah D. Wire The majority of calls into Rep. Lou Correas Orange County congressional office are about immigration worries and what the Trump administrations enforcement policies mean for Correas many Latino constituents. Theres a lot of fear in my district, he said. So the freshman Democrat has held seven town halls, all focused on immigration and explaining immigrants rights. Theyve been peaceful, with representatives from groups such as the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles and the Mexican Consulate invited to help Correa answer questions. But as the crowd of about 100 people gathered at Santa Anas Delhi Center on Tuesday evening, Correa knew this time would be different. We had some people there, probably a dozen of them, that immediately had signs that were not complimentary to yours truly, he said. Two women arguing about immigration issues had already gotten into an altercation outside the town hall. They were cited for assault and battery, and barred by police from going inside. Correa told the crowd inside he would give a short presentation about immigration policy coming out of Washington and then have a question-and-answer session. About a dozen people were having none of it. Some of the most tense moments came when Correa started talking about green card holders who served in the U.S. military and have since been deported. Maam, Im trying to be courteous here, he said as a woman kept speaking over him. As soon as I started speaking, it became very clear they were not going to let me speak, Correa said Wednesday. They just got louder and louder. Video of the town hall posted on social media shows people in the crowd yelling Americans first and Illegals have no rights. Correa repeatedly asks them to let him speak. Are you guys going to cooperate, or am I going to have to ask you to leave? he said. About 15 minutes in, as some in the crowd continued to shout and their attention turned to berating a group of counter-protesters, Correa declared the meeting over. A handful of people circled around Correa as he tried to leave, yelling Shame, shame and You guys all want welfare. One womans voice can be heard repeatedly yelling Coward! Police emptied the room amid chants of USA. The crowd streamed into the parking lot, where confrontations quickly started between supporters of President Trump and others who appeared to be focused on Native American rights. Videos posted on social media show men shouting at one another, their faces so close their noses are practically touching. Police officers kept trying to separate the groups. (Warning: The video below includes language that some readers might find offensive.) Santa Ana Police Department spokesman Anthony Bertagna said a man struck a Trump supporter on the head with a pole bearing an anti-fascism flag. He was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, Bertagna said. The man was brought to police headquarters, and a group of about 10 people followed along to protest, he said. Shortly after, the town hall peacefully resumed in a different room with a much smaller crowd, Correa said. Several California members of Congress have held similar immigration-specific town halls or workshops in the last few months as questions swirl about changes to federal immigration policies and enforcement. The purpose of the town halls is to let people know how to follow the law, let them know their legal rights and responsibilities, Correa said. Protesters have characterized it as teaching people who are in the country illegally how to avoid deportation and get federal benefits. Facebook

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California plan for 100% renewable energy by 2045 clears key hurdle By Liam Dillon California will receive all of its power from renewable energy, such as solar and wind power, by 2045 under legislation that passed the state Senate on Wednesday. Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) touted his bill, Senate Bill 100, as the most ambitious program in the world. Clean energy is the future, De Leon said. SB 100 ensures that California leads into the future. The measure would also speed up the states goal of reaching 50% renewable energy, changing the deadline from 2030 to 2026. SB 100 passed over objections from Republican senators. Sen. Jeff Stone (R-Temecula) criticized the measure as government getting ahead of technological capacity. What if we cant make that mandate that were putting into law today? Stone said. What its going to do is drive up electricity bills for our businesses. De Leons bill now moves to the Assembly. Facebook

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A new proposal on Californias cap-and-trade program emerges as vote is delayed By Chris Megerian Assemblyman Adam Gray (D-Merced), left. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) A coalition of business-friendly Democrats is detailing their own ideas for cap and trade, a centerpiece of Californias fight against global warming, the latest bid in a crowded field of efforts to extend the program. Cap and trade requires polluting companies to buy permits to release greenhouse gas emissions, and lawmakers have been considering a push from Gov. Jerry Brown to extend the program beyond 2020. The new plan would force the program to sunset in 2025, earlier than previous proposals from other lawmakers. It would also direct revenue from the program toward improving air quality and helping agricultural and trucking companies lower their emissions by replacing aging equipment. The plan is also aimed at keeping costs down for industries regulated by cap and trade, allowing them to support green projects known as offsets instead of reducing their own emissions. California must continue to lead the world by implementing a strong climate policy that ensures both a healthy environment for future Californians and growth in all sectors of our economy, Assemblyman Adam Gray (D-Merced) said in a statement. The pro-business Democrats plan is the fourth such effort announced by various factions within the states ruling Democratic Party this year with two others emerging from the Assembly and one from the Senate. The plans offer varying degrees of changes to the existing program, either to prioritize pollution reductions in disadvantaged communities or eliminate offsets. Republican lawmakers also have said they want to be part of the cap-and-trade debate. Brown has pushed for a two-thirds supermajority vote of the Legislature to extend the program by the state budget deadline next month. But Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) said at a Wednesday news conference that that wasnt going to happen. Cap-and-trade is a very complex issue, De Leon said. Its very arcane. We want to make sure we get it right. De Leon said he hoped for a deal by the end of the year. Read More Facebook

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Senate fails to back bill to delay the Aliso Canyon reopening, but lawmaker will try again Facebook

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California state Senate advances bill to ban smoking and use of e-cigarettes in government housing By Patrick McGreevy Californians would no longer be able to use tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes, in public housing and within 25 of those buildings under a measure approved Tuesday by the state Assembly. Assemblyman Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg) said the measure builds on a smoking ban approved last year for federal public housing projects by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In addition to applying the smoking ban to state housing, expansion to include e-cigarettes makes sure the law cover new technology in tobacco use. The bill takes effect by July 30, 2018. Wood said tobacco-related diseases cost taxpayers significant funds each year. This bill will save money but will more importantly save lives, Wood told his colleagues before the vote. The measure is opposed by the Western Center on Law and Poverty, which worries it will lead to more evictions. Facebook

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Californians would not be able to buy more than one rifle a month under bill approved by state senators By Patrick McGreevy Terry McGuire, owner of Get Loaded in Grand Terrace, shows a customer a Cobalt Kinetics BAMF rifle about a week after the 2015 shooting rampage in nearby San Bernardino. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) Californians would be prohibited from buying more than one firearm in any 30-day period under a measure approved Tuesday by the Senate to reduce straw purchasing and circumvention of gun laws. California already bars people from buying more than one handgun a month. The bill by Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Canada Flintridge) expands the limit to also cover long guns, including rifles and shotguns. The measure, which next goes to the Assembly for consideration, seeks to address concerns that some people buy large quantities of guns and then sell them on the underground market to criminals and others not eligible to own guns. There is no need or reason why a person would need to purchase more than one gun a month, Portantino said during the floor debate. Republicans, including Jeff Stone of Murrieta, opposed the legislation. This is yet another example of the government trying to infringe on the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens, Stone said. Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Chico) said he has seen no proof that past gun-control measures approved by the state have made the state safer. Its more of the same that will not decrease violent crime, Nielsen said. Facebook

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California state senators want to stop the public from smoking at California beaches and parks By Patrick McGreevy Californians would be barred from smoking or using electronic cigarettes in state parks and at beaches under a bill approved Tuesday by the state Senate. Sen. Steve Glazer (D-Concord) said his bill would address the health problems caused by smoking but also the harm done to the environment by discarded cigarette butts and the fire danger posed by the practice. Cigarette butts contain more than 150 toxic chemicals and although small in size, have a huge negative impact on the environment and the animals that live in them, Glazer told his colleagues. A legislative analysis said the bill does not address the concerns raised by Gov. Jerry Brown when he vetoed a similar bill last year. The veto message read, in part, The complete prohibition in all parks and beaches is too broad. A more measured  and less punitive  approach might be warranted. Facebook

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School day wouldnt begin before 8:30 a.m. in California under bill that clears the state Senate By John Myers (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) California teenagers wouldnt be required to start their school day before 8:30 am under a bill approved Tuesday by the state Senate. The legislation by Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Canada Flintridge) would not fully take effect until 2020, and sparked a lively floor debate over the science on the sleep patterns of middle and high school students, and whether they simply need to go to bed earlier. I expect this would only dispose them to stay up later, said state Sen. Jim Nielsen (R-Gerber). Another Republican lawmaker, Sen. Jean Fuller (R-Bakersfield), said students need to learn what its like in the workforce. Job preparation is what schooling is all about, Fuller said. Unless youre a musician or someone who works nights, you probably did not start in the later morning. Opponents also said the later start time could affect collective bargaining agreements with teachers and other school employees. Supporters, however, pointed to a recommendation for later start times from the American Academy of Pediatrics. A University of Minnesota study linked school start times to sleep deprivation and the rate of car crashes among teenage drivers. The morning sleep time is the most valuable for student health, said Portantino. Their test scores go up, their attendance goes up, their graduation rates go up. The bill would allow rural school districts to obtain a waiver if they couldnt make the change. Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) ended the debate with a simple request of the senators on behalf of teenage students. "Lets just let them sleep in a little bit, he said with a smile. Facebook

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More transparency proposed for prescription drug price increases under bill passed by California Senate By Patrick McGreevy Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-Azusa), shown speaking in March, won Senate approval Tuesday on a bill that would require more transparency on drug prices. (Melanie Mason / Los Angeles Times) Alarmed by skyrocketing prices for some prescription drugs, the California Senate on Tuesday approved a measure aimed at increasing pressure to hold down costs to consumers by requiring more public reporting of price hikes. The lawmakers approved a bill that would require drug manufacturers to notify health plans and state purchasers such as the prison department of increases in the wholesale cost of drugs in writing at least 90 days before the new costs were to take effect. The measure also requires that health plans and insurers notify state regulators of pricing information for the most costly drugs. Were not saying that they cant raise the price. Were just saying notify us, Hernandez said during the floor debate. And if [the price] goes up a significant amount, we should be able to question why. The measure passed by a 26-10 vote with some Republicans, including Sen. Ted Gaines of El Dorado Hills, opposed. Gaines said the pharmaceutical industrys pricing of drugs helps it pay for development of new medications. It funds their research, Gaines said during the debate. The measure next goes to the Assembly, where a similar bill last year failed to win passage. Hernandez said more opponents are talking to him this year about possible compromises, although the bill is opposed by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. Hernandez said the bill is needed, adding that current regulations allow pharmaceutical companies to reap obscene profits at the expense of the entire healthcare system. Facebook

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California Senate advances bill to make pot use in cars an infraction By Patrick McGreevy San Bruno police officers stop cars at a DUI checkpoint. State officials are proposing to make it an infraction to use marijuana in motor vehicles. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) Just months after state voters legalized the recreational use of marijuana, the state Senate on Tuesday voted to prohibit its use in automobiles because of concerns over drugged driving. A bill by Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) makes it an infraction for drivers and passengers to use marijuana in motor vehicles. Stiffer penalties already exist for motorists found to be driving while impaired by drugs. California voters legalized recreational use of marijuana in November although the state does not plan to begin issuing licenses for its legal sale until January. In Washington state, which previously legalized pot, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that the number of drivers who had recently used marijuana before fatal accidents doubled from 2013 to 2014, Hill told his colleagues. Washington serves as an eye-opening case study for what other states may experience with road safety after legalizing the drug, Hill told his colleagues before the unanimous vote to approve the measure and send it to the Assembly for consideration. Facebook

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California lawmakers want to give parents at smaller companies 12 weeks of protected family leave By Jazmine Ulloa State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara). (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) California lawmakers are once again seeking to expand the states paid family leave program to smaller businesses after Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a similar measure last year. SB 63, authored by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), on Tuesday moved out of the state Senate with a 25-13 vote. It now heads to the Assembly for consideration. The legislation, a priority bill for the California Legislative Womens Caucus, would allow parents at companies with 20 to 49 employees to take 12 weeks of leave to care for a newborn or newly adopted child  without fear of losing their jobs. Under the current state law, only workers at businesses with 50 or more workers can take advantage of program. On the Senate floor Tuesday, the debate on the issue echoed that of last year. Republican lawmakers argued the bill would kill jobs and hurt small businesses already struggling in California. Those in favor argued progressive family leave policies attracted a strong and healthy workforce. Jackson said her bill would impact only 6.3% of California companies, while helping 16% of its workforce, a population of 2.7 million residents across the state. With so many women in the workforce than ever before, and with so many struggling, two-income families, this is a critical moment in time, she said. Facebook

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Kimberly Ellis files formal challenge over result of state Democratic Party chairperson election By Seema Mehta (Jay Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) The candidate who narrowly lost the race to be the next leader of the California Democratic Party on Tuesday filed a formal challenge of the election result. Kimberly Ellis campaign, which was already in the process of reviewing the ballots cast during the state partys convention two weekends ago, said they were filing the challenge to meet a requirement in the party bylaws that such an action must be taken within seven days of the contested act. Our review process is ongoing. Its critical that all formal processes outlined by the CDPs bylaws are followed at this time so that there can be no concern about raising issues in the manner prescribed by our party, said Hilary Crosby, immediate past controller for the state party and an Ellis supporter. Ellis campaign said challenges were also being filed in races for a vice chair, secretary and multiple regional directors. Chris Masami Myers, state party executive director, acknowledged receiving the challenges and said in a statement that they would be reviewed in accordance with the standard practices described in the bylaws. The partys compliance review commission, made up of six members who were appointed during former Chairman John Burtons tenure, will review the evidence and take oral or written testimony before issuing a ruling in mid- to late June. The state party chair race was the most heated and contentious. Longtime party leader Eric Bauman entered the race with advantages, but Ellis made the contest competitive. In the election, held this month at the state party convention in Sacramento, Bauman beat Ellis by just over 60 votes. But amid allegations levied by her supporters of ballot-box stuffing and ripped-up ballots, she refused to concede the race. Her campaign has been reviewing individual ballots for a week. Bauman did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Updated at 4:57 p.m.: This post was updated to add additional information about how the review will be conducted. Updated at 3:35 p.m.: This post was updated to add a comment from a state party official. This post was originally published at 2:37 p.m. Facebook

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Darrell Issa gets on his office roof to take a picture of protesters. A mild hubbub ensues By Sarah D. Wire Yes, this is really @DarrellIssa on the roof of his district office building. Too afraid to come speak with assembled constituents below. pic.twitter.com/wCYRjO8Ev8  Mike Levin (@MikeLevinCA) May 30, 2017 It began when one of Rep. Darrell Issas 2018 opponents, Mike Levin, posted an image on Twitter, saying the Vista congressman was hiding on his office roof from hundreds of protesters on the street below. The photo of Issa standing on the roof ricocheted around Twitter, with many comparing it to a scene from the popular television show The Office, and left-leaning media outlets quickly publishing headlines like Darrell Issa Appears to Flee to Building Roof to Avoid Protesters. Like most things, what happened at Issas office appears to have been a bit more nuanced. Issa soon tweeted that he had spent the morning talking with constituents gathered outside the office today, then popped upstairs to take a quick pic!. Multiple images, including one from Levins account and from Issas account, show the congressman on the street with protesters. Spent the morning talking with constituents gathered outside the office today, then popped upstairs to take a quick pic! pic.twitter.com/K2CFdenOIj  Darrell Issa (@DarrellIssa) May 30, 2017 I just received an unprompted call from @DarrellIssa who said he tried, unsuccessfully to speak with protesters outside his district office.  Joshua Stewart (@jptstewart) May 30, 2017 .@DarrellIssa said the protesters wouldnt' speak with him, so he went up to the roof and took pictures.  Joshua Stewart (@jptstewart) May 30, 2017 The protests occur weekly outside Issas Vista district office, and the congressman has come out to speak with the group at least twice since President Trumps inauguration. Issa narrowly won reelection in 2016 over a novice opponent, and Democrats are targeting his seat in 2018. Issas staff said he tried to speak with all the protesters using their sound system, but was rebuffed. Rally organizer Ellen Montanari said she decided not to hand over the protesters microphone so Issa could take questions from the crowd because he refused to shake her hand before the protest began. He refused to do that, and he said, Step away, you are a protester. And I said I am a constituent,  Montanari said. She said he also made disparaging remarks about the protesters and the signs they carry. Issas spokesman, Calvin Moore, said Montanari cant simultaneously organize people to stand outside our office with Where is Darrell? signs and feign outrage how he wont answer her questions  and then deny him the ability to answer his constituents questions, he said. Facebook

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State Senate Democrats pass bills designed to protect against Trumps possible changes Facebook

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Rep. Adam Schiff says alleged Russian meddling in election was an effort to destroy American democracy By Seema Mehta U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, left, discusses Russias threat to liberal democracies around the world at discussion discussion hosted by Erwin Chemerinsky at UCI. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) said Tuesday that the alleged Russian meddling in last years presidential election was about far more than favoring one candidate over another. He said it was an effort to undermine the foundation of American democracy in order to prop up an authoritarian regime in Moscow. Now if you look at this as just a one-off intervention, you might be inclined to dismiss the greater significance of it, or if you listen to the president, you might be inclined to dismiss this as simply efforts to relitigate a lost election, Schiff told several hundred people at UC Irvine. But the significance is really far greater. Quite separate and apart from the desire of the Russians to help Donald Trump and hurt Hillary Clinton was a more fundamental objective, and that was really to tear down at our democracy. Schiff is the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, which is investigating allegations of Russian intervention in the presidential election, including the leaking of hacked Democratic emails and contacts between Trump associates and Russians. Trump has declared the investigation the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history on Twitter. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare), the former chairman of the committee, recently told hundreds of Republicans at a fundraiser that the investigation is about nothing more than Democrats trying to justify Clintons loss. Nunes stepped down from his position after allegations arose that he mishandled classified information. Schiff said Russian President Vladimir Putin would have reasons for wanting to see Clinton fail and Trump succeed  he believed that the CIA and Clinton were secretly behind mass demonstrations in Russia in 2011, and because Trumps positions on issues such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization were more favorable to Russia than Clintons. But Schiff argued the larger point was sowing discord in the U.S., so Putin could argue that American democracy is no better than his government. Talk of rigged elections and surveillance, questioning the independence of the judiciary and freedom of the press  as Trump has done  boost Putins message, Schiff said. And the efforts are not limited to the United States, he added, pointing to allegations that the Russians made an effort to interfere in Frances recent election. The reality is there is new ideological struggle. Its not communism versus capitalism anymore. It is authoritarian versus democracy, he said. This is the broader challenge we are facing. Schiff also warned that there is no way to prevent Russian cyber-spying and that future attempts to interfere with American elections will only be more sophisticated, so voters must be educated. One of the most important conclusions the intelligence agencies have reached is the Russians will do this again, he said. The only real defense is to inoculate ourselves, to educate ourselves about what the Russians have done, why they are doing [it and] what they may do in the future and somehow we have to develop a consensus regardless of which party it helps and which party it hurts  that we will reject it. Facebook

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Rep. Devin Nunes: Democrats are using Russia investigation to justify Clintons loss By Sarah D. Wire (Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA) House Select Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes told hundreds of local Republicans at a recent private fundraiser that congressional investigations into Russias interference in the 2016 election are about Democrats trying to justify Hillary Clintons loss. The Democrats dont want an investigation on Russia. They want an independent commission. Why do they want an independent commission? Because they want to continue the narrative that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are best friends, and thats the reason that he won, because Hillary Clinton would have never lost on her own; it had to be someone elses fault, Nunes told Republicans the day after he stepped away from leading the House investigation. His remarks were recorded on video and provided to The Times. Read More Facebook

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Californias embattled tax board would lose power over staff and funding under lawmakers plan By John Myers Following months of accusations about mistakes and improper use of power by its elected members, the state Board of Equalization could lose substantial power and gain an independent overseer under legislation introduced in the state Assembly. The bill by Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles) would shift much of the power over staff and spending authority away from the independent tax board and create a new inspector general to watch over its actions. What were trying to do is make sure that the reform is transparent, Ridley-Thomas said. Thats what I think the moment demands. The plan, introduced as an amended bill just before the Memorial Day holiday, comes in the wake of audits alleging the tax agency made multimillion dollar miscalculations on revenue allocations and that some of its elected members improperly used staff members who were supposed to be focused on tax collection. Earlier this month, Gov. Jerry Brown called the situation a mess and in April asked for an investigation by the state Department of Justice. Four members of the Board of Equalization are directly elected by voters. The fifth, state Controller Betty Yee, serves in an ex officio capacity. The Assembly bill would transfer significant staff decisions to the agencys executive director and would require the Board of Equalizations members to have their operations funded in detailed line items included in the state budget. It would also create an inspector general office and would require the boards members to disclose all ex parte communications with those seeking action by the agency. I think that these issues can be addressed if we keep them in the sunlight, said Ridley-Thomas. Facebook

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New advertising campaign targets lawmakers over votes for climate change policies By Chris Megerian A coalition of California businesses launched a new advertising campaign on Saturday to pressure lawmakers against enacting tighter policies on climate change and air pollution. The campaign includes online videos and television advertising that warn of higher costs for business and residents. It arrives as Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers are debating whether to extend the cap-and-trade program, which requires companies to buy permits to release greenhouse gases, and how restrictive the system should be. The first lawmaker being targeted is Assemblyman Ken Cooley (D-Rancho Cordova), accusing him of allowing unelected state employees to raise hidden taxes on gasoline and electricity because he voted last year for a tougher target to reduce emissions by 2030. Other lawmakers could face similar advertisements. Were locked, loaded and ready to go statewide, said Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable, which is funding the campaign through an advocacy group called Californians for Affordable and Reliable Energy. The roundtable represents the states largest corporations, including oil refineries and manufacturers who have been critical of climate policies. A dollar figure was not disclosed for the advertising campaign, which will represent a balancing act for the roundtable. It supports the cap-and-trade program as an alternative to more restrictive regulations, but it opposes some of the current proposals to extend it. One measure would tie the program to air quality, targeting a wider range of pollutants than just greenhouse gases, and another would make it function more like a tax and charge higher prices for emission permits. Were at a tipping point here, Lapsley said. We need to get this information out into the public in order to try and create balanced policies. Although polls show broad support for fighting global warming in California, concerns about higher costs for constituents could be influential with some lawmakers who recently passed legislation to raise gas taxes to fund road repairs. Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) is facing a recall campaign over his vote. Nonpartisan legislative analysts have said cap and trade could boost the price of gasoline by 24 cents to 73 cents by 2030. Environmentalists have said its inaccurate to tie any single policy to fluctuations in gas prices. Facebook

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California Politics Podcast: The debate among Democrats didnt end at their convention By John Myers The official gathering of California Democrats lasted only three days, but the lingering debate and simmering tensions could keep going well into next years elections. On this weeks California Politics Podcast episode, we look back at the line in the sand drawn at last weeks California Democratic Party convention by some of the partys most passionate progressive activists -- including the blunt speech delivered by an influential labor union leader last weekend. We also discuss big new developments this week on the topic that energized those Democratic activists: a single-payer healthcare system for California. On Monday, a fiscal analysis put a large price tag on legislation to enact that sweeping healthcare change. Im joined this week by Times staff writer Melanie Mason. Facebook

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California lawmakers quietly refuse to stop unlimited cash flowing from political parties to their campaigns By John Myers (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times) An ambitious effort to close a widely used loophole that allows large donations from political parties to be funneled into California races was rejected on Friday. The bill by Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-San Rafael) would have made political party money donated to statewide and legislative candidates subject to the same contribution limits as individuals. Under the language of a voter-approved initiative, Proposition 34, money from political parties is exempt from those existing limits. Its a money-laundering scheme that has completely duped voters, Levine said last fall when he first promised to introduce the bill. The proposal was quietly killed, without a formal vote, by the Assembly Appropriations Committee during its biannual session to act on bills placed on the so-called suspense file due to their estimated costs. Committee staff estimated that Levines AB 1234 would have six-figure costs both for enforcement and for placing the issue before voters in 2018. Facebook

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Veteran Democratic operative criticizes Kimberly Ellis for refusing to concede party chair race By Seema Mehta Supporters of Kimberly Ellis make signs, refusing to accept her loss to Eric Bauman for the California Democratic chair post. (Jay Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) Veteran Democratic operative Bob Mulholland slammed infighting among California Democrats, and urged Kimberly Ellis, who came up short in a nasty party chair election, to work to unify the party. I  and others did not understand some of your supporters  attacks on those of us who have spent decades or years building the Democrats in California as the most successful political Party in the country, he wrote in an open letter to Ellis on Thursday. He sent the email in the aftermath of the partys rancorous convention last weekend that featured a bitter leadership battle between Ellis, a favorite of newer members including the backers of Bernie Sanders failed presidential bid, and longtime party leader Eric Bauman. After Bauman was declared the winner by a razor-thin margin of just over 60 votes, Ellis refused to concede and demanded an audit of the vote as some of her backers floated rumors of ballot-box stuffing and discarded ballots. Ellis demurred when asked about Mulhollands scathing letter. While our review continues, we are refraining from making any statement that might cause further division, Ellis said. If we hope to truly unify this party, it will require patience by all. Officials with the Ellis campaign have been reviewing ballots this week. A spokesman said they had looked at about two-thirds by the end of Friday and hope to be done by the middle of next week. Joe Macaluso, Ellis strategist, declined to discuss the results and said her team needed to review additional documentation beyond the ballots. Were trying to stay true to our process and not release anything, but were in it, he said. Its an extensive process. Mulholland argued in his public letter that the convention should have showcased the partys message, not intraparty spats. Our annual Conventions should take care of internal business (Platforms, election of Officers, Resolutions, etc.), but more importantly a communication to voters, especially moderate Democrats and Independents about their concerns and issues, Mulholland wrote. If such busy people had a minute to read some news about our Convention, they saw Democrats yelling and arguing about ballots being stuffed, sounding like a Trump event. This Convention failed them. Mulholland listed the partys successes in the state, including Democrats lopsided voter registration edge, its nearly three-decade record of supporting Democratic presidential candidates, its election of female senators since 1992 and its hold of every statewide office, supermajorities in both chambers of the Legislature and nearly three-quarters of the congressional delegation. Over the last 29 years, thats a [1.000] batting record, he wrote. Mulholland called on Ellis to hold a news conference with Bauman once she is satisfied with her audit of the vote. Then, he wrote, lets move on. Facebook

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California lawmakers block proposals meant to make it easier to track and report hate crimes By Jazmine Ulloa Graffiti mars the steeple on the Greater Holy Faith Missionary Baptist Church in Compton in January. Cases of vandalism make up close to one-third of reported hate crimes, according to a new report. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times) California lawmakers Friday stalled measures meant to help report and track hate crimes across the state, proposals filed amid a wave of incidents reported after the 2016 presidential election. The state Assembly Appropriations Committee shelved bills that would have created new hate-crime reporting requirements for police and a hotline under the attorney generals office for victims wishing to report an attack. Of those bills, a proposal filed by Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima) initially sought to develop a state government database with the names of felons convicted of hate crimes related to race, religion and sexual orientation. That proposal was amended to instead require every law enforcement agency to forward a summary of a reported hate crime, upon conclusion of an investigation, to the human relations commission within its jurisdiction. But a committee analysis found it could cost the state more than $150,000 to help agencies redact personal information from their records. The committee also shut down bills that would have required police to update policies to address hate crimes and include a checkbox on the front pages of reports that would prominently provide an option to indicate whether a crime was bias-related. Local law enforcement officials have reported a recent rise in reported hate crime incidents. Existing state laws require local and state law enforcement officials to compile hate crime information. California jurisdictions reported a 10.4% statewide increase in those incidents last year. Facebook

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Here were the top six moments from last nights L.A. congressional race debate By Christine Mai-Duc Robert Lee Ahn, left, and Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez sparred in a debate Thursday night ahead of the runoff for the 34th Congressional District seat. (Michael Owen Baker / For The Times) Attorney Robert Lee Ahn and Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez sparred Thursday night at the first and only debate in the runoff race for the 34th Congressional District seat. The candidates, both Democrats, offered little in the way of policy differences. Both agreed President Trump has racist tendencies, that keeping the Affordable Care Act is a top priority, and that they would fight to protect immigrants rights. Ahn came out swinging, repeatedly calling Gomez an insider whos sponsored by special interests, while Gomez pointed to his work supporting progressive policies in the Legislature and endorsements hes received from left-leaning groups. Here are the top six exchanges: The numbers problem: Gomez again criticized Ahn for a response he gave in an L.A. Times questionnaire that suggested he would negotiate with Republicans to protect parts of Obamacare. Gomez said Democrats need to take a hard line and that Ahn was too soft on support for Medicaid. In case you havent noticed, we have a numbers problem in Congress, Ahn shot back. Until were able to take back the House, were going to have to talk to the other side.

Gomez again criticized Ahn for a response he gave in an L.A. Times questionnaire that suggested he would negotiate with Republicans to protect parts of Obamacare. Gomez said Democrats need to take a hard line and that Ahn was too soft on support for Medicaid. In case you havent noticed, we have a numbers problem in Congress, Ahn shot back. Until were able to take back the House, were going to have to talk to the other side. Gomez fact-checks Ahns name-check: Ahn made the case that voters should send an attorney to Congress to help in the legal battles against the Trump presidency. I will join fellow attorneys and Congress members Ted Lieu and Adam Schiff in the fight, Ahn said to the crowd. Gomez, who spent much of the evening bringing up his legislative experience and vast array of endorsements, responded: I hate to mention it, but, you know, Adam Schiff and Ted Lieu have endorsed me.

Ahn made the case that voters should send an attorney to Congress to help in the legal battles against the Trump presidency. I will join fellow attorneys and Congress members Ted Lieu and Adam Schiff in the fight, Ahn said to the crowd. Gomez, who spent much of the evening bringing up his legislative experience and vast array of endorsements, responded: I hate to mention it, but, you know, Adam Schiff and Ted Lieu have endorsed me. Getting more personal: In discussions about immigration and healthcare, Gomez and Ahn delved a little deeper into their backgrounds. Gomez talked about his young nephew who feared that his mother, a permanent resident, might be deported after Trump was elected. Ahn told the story of how his parents came to the United States with $700 each and cobbled together enough money to open a hamburger stand, eventually building their piece of the American Dream.

In discussions about immigration and healthcare, Gomez and Ahn delved a little deeper into their backgrounds. Gomez talked about his young nephew who feared that his mother, a permanent resident, might be deported after Trump was elected. Ahn told the story of how his parents came to the United States with $700 each and cobbled together enough money to open a hamburger stand, eventually building their piece of the American Dream. Ahn on the attack: Ahn repeatedly criticized Gomez for taking money from corporate interests. Special interests, big pharma, big bankers. ... Its all payback time [for Gomez donors] on Day One, Ahn said. On Day One, I owe the people of the 34th District and thats it. Ahn pitched himself as an outsider who understands the district and whose small-business experience will help him relate to the problems facing everyday residents.

Ahn repeatedly criticized Gomez for taking money from corporate interests. Special interests, big pharma, big bankers. ... Its all payback time [for Gomez donors] on Day One, Ahn said. On Day One, I owe the people of the 34th District and thats it. Ahn pitched himself as an outsider who understands the district and whose small-business experience will help him relate to the problems facing everyday residents. A litmus test: Gomez fought back against the idea that hes a corporate Democrat, primarily by pointing to several endorsements hes received from left-leaning groups. If I was so establishment, I dont think Our Revolution ... would actually endorse me, Gomez said of the Bernie Sanders-affiliated group. If you want a litmus test, thats a litmus test if youre a progressive ... if youre actually able to take on the status quo.

Gomez fought back against the idea that hes a corporate Democrat, primarily by pointing to several endorsements hes received from left-leaning groups. If I was so establishment, I dont think Our Revolution ... would actually endorse me, Gomez said of the Bernie Sanders-affiliated group. If you want a litmus test, thats a litmus test if youre a progressive ... if youre actually able to take on the status quo. Gomez gets skewered on gas tax: As part of his argument that he has fought for the little guy, Ahn expressed outrage that Californias gas taxes will increase July 1, saying theres nothing progressive about the gas tax hike Gomez voted for. We already paid 38 cents per gallon. Where is that money going? Ahn said, echoing a line many legislative Republicans have used. Sacramento politicians, this is what they do, they take our money and they spend it and theres no accountability. Gomez responded by saying public safety was at stake and that fixing roads was the responsible thing to do. If you missed it, you can watch the entire thing here. The election is set for June 6. Facebook

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Rob Reiner, Hollywood bigwigs and Netflix co-founder team up to give Villaraigosas campaign a major cash boost By Seema Mehta (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Hollywood heavyweights are set to host a major fundraiser for Antonio Villaraigosas gubernatorial campaign on June 15, ensuring an infusion of large contributions shortly before a key fundraising deadline. Donors are being asked to contribute up to $29,200 to attend a summer reception at the home of media executive Peter Chernin and his wife Megan, the site of a celebrity-studded fundraiser for President Obama in 2013. Co-hosts include Paramount Pictures chief Jim Gianopulos, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, video game honcho Robert Kotick, comedian George Lopez, Sony chief Michael Lynton, NBCUniversal vice chairman Ron Meyer, producer Rob Reiner, super-agent Rick Rosen, producer Orly Adelson, former U.S. Ambassador to Spain James Costos, former White House decorator Michael Smith and attorney Michael Tuchin. Villaraigosa, the former mayor of Los Angeles, entered the governors race in November. Through the end of 2016, he raised $2.7 million, a respectable haul in a short time period when Democratic donors were reeling from the presidential election and distracted by the holidays. But his fundraising lags behind that of his top rivals, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Treasurer John Chiang. So political observers will be scrutinizing his next financial disclosure report, which will cover the first six months of 2017. The fundraiser occurs 15 days before the fundraising period closes on June 30. Read More Facebook

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A delay on cap-and-trade vote would be a victory for Donald Trump, Gov. Jerry Browns office says By Chris Megerian (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Despite hesitance and resistance from state lawmakers, Gov. Jerry Brown is refusing to budge from his goal of reaching a deal next month to extend Californias cap-and-trade program. The latest tug-of-war on the issue came this week in an email exchange circulated among Capitol staff members and advocates working on climate change policies. Kip Lipper, an environmental advisor for Senate leadership, wrote in a Thursday email that there were no plans to take up a cap and trade reauthorization bill anytime soon. Echoing concerns that have percolated among lawmakers, Lipper said senators were gas tax weary about the possibility of another difficult vote after deciding to raise gas taxes to pay for road repairs earlier this year. The cap-and-trade program, which is a cornerstone of Californias fight against global warming, requires companies to buy permits to release greenhouse gas emissions and could boost the price of gasoline. With votes hard to come by, Lipper wrote, the issue should not be rushed. Camille Wagner, Browns legislative secretary, responded on Friday saying there was no reason to delay. Weve all been meeting for months on this issue, she wrote. We know the areas of agreement and disagreement  now is the time to work through those. She added that NOTHING is more important than getting a deal as soon as possible. This is not a time for retreat or a time to give aid and comfort to Donald Trump by undermining a pillar of Californias bold program to arrest climate change, Wagner wrote. If Californias Cap and Trade falls because we fail to act, climate denial wins. Brown had already faced resistance to his push to reach a deal on cap and trade in June, when the state budget is due. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) previously said we dont have to extend it this year. The disagreement over the timeline for reaching a deal is only one of the disputes surrounding cap and trade. Assembly leaders have raised the possibility of pushing legislation with only a majority vote, an idea the governors office rejected. Brown wants a two-thirds vote to insulate cap and trade from legal challenges. There are also varied ideas about how the program should function in the future. Assembly legislation would modify cap and trade so it also targets local pollution, rather than just greenhouse gases. Senate legislation would make the program function more like a carbon tax. Facebook

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The effort to make tampons tax free in California has been delayed until 2018 By John Myers (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Legislation to eliminate California sales taxes on the purchase of tampons was delayed Friday by the Assemblys fiscal committee until 2018, a blow to advocates who say the tax is an unfair burden on low-income women and families. The delay imposed on AB 9 is the second setback this month for efforts to eliminate taxes on products for women and children. A separate bill that included a tax-free provision for diapers was killed in a legislative committee on May 8. The bill that was held back on Friday, written by Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens), would have excluded tampons, sanitary napkins and other menstrual products from sales taxes. A legislative committee analysis estimated the proposal would reduce state general fund revenues by $10.5 million a year. Dozens of other bills with a cost to state government were killed by the Assembly Appropriations Committee, while AB 9 was instead reclassified as a two-year bill, meaning it is eligible to be heard again in the second year of the legislative session. Gov. Jerry Brown last year rejected a similar measure that sought to make tampons tax-free, writing in his veto message that tax breaks are the same as new spending  they both cost the general fund money. Facebook

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Outside money spills into L.A. congressional race as election day nears By Christine Mai-Duc Spending by outside groups hoping to influence Los Angeles congressional race is picking up, with less than two weeks to go before the runoff for the 34th Congressional District. Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez and attorney Robert Lee Ahn, both Democrats, are competing to fill the former seat of Xavier Becerra in the June 6 election. Becerra stepped down months ago to become the states attorney general. Spending separate from the candidates campaigns is reaching into the six-figure range, with most of the outside money going to support Gomez, the heavy favorite of establishment Democrats. One group funded primarily by an Ahn donor, Citizens for a Better Government, has spent $40,264 on data, printing and postage for mailers, and $8,000 on treasury services to support Ahns bid. The Latino Victory Fund, which has endorsed Gomez, recently spent $29,640 on direct mail and $30,000 on phone banking and voter canvassing for the candidate. Billboard company Outfront Media LLC has spent $1,973 on billboards for him. Also backing Gomez is a group called Middle Class Values PAC. The group spent $19,653 on mailers supporting Gomez despite not having reported receiving any major contributions so far this year. The groups biggest donors last year were a handful of Nevada casino owners and developers, but most of that money appears to have been spent on Democrats running for Congress in Pennsylvania and Nevada. Outside spending in the 34th Congressional District race has been dwarfed by candidate spending. As of March 31, Gomez had spent $446,455 and Ahn had dropped about $767,315 on his run. New campaign finance figures from both candidates are due at midnight Friday. Facebook

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Gov. Jerry Browns budget team drops its hotly debated plans to redefine the states spending limit By John Myers (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) With questions mounting about the legal justification for omitting some $22 billion in expenses from Californias long-standing spending cap, Gov. Jerry Browns administration dropped the plan Thursday while promising to work on the issue again later this year. Browns advisors told the Assembly Budget Committee that this could include some changes in state law to clarify the rules surrounding whats known as the Gann limit, a cap on state spending growth imposed by voters in 1979. The cap has rarely come into play in state budgeting in recent years, as it was loosened by a subsequent ballot measure in 1990. The governors administration said it continues to worry about how the law interacts with other mandates related to school funding. School financing has changed significantly since the limit was first established in 1979, said H.D. Palmer, Browns budget spokesman. Because of that, we continue to believe we need statutory clarifications related to these school funding changes. Legislative analysts warned lawmakers in April that the governor may have been overestimating how much room for spending was left under the cap, a dispute that continued for weeks while lawmakers began drafting plans for formal budget negotiations next month. Earlier this week, state senators again raised concerns about the complex estimates used to determine how much spending the Gann law would allow in the budget year that begins July 1. And they provided an analysis by the Legislatures lawyers that suggested Browns proposal could be unconstitutional. The spending limit is enforced over two fiscal years, which means Brown and lawmakers have time to reconcile different estimates. But absent changes similar to those advocated by the governor, a portion of future tax revenues would have to be split between schools and rebates to taxpayers. Facebook

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California Senate, Assembly advance their own plans on how to spend tobacco tax revenue By Melanie Mason (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) Perhaps the biggest budget skirmish that remains unsolved this year is how California should spend revenue from the tobacco tax voters approved last fall. Gov. Jerry Brown wants to put that money to expand overall spending on Medi-Cal, which provides subsidized healthcare for the poor. But the some of initiatives backers, namely doctor and dental groups, have cried foul, arguing that money is meant to go to increasing payments for providers. Now, the Senate and Assembly are weighing in. In plans approved in their respective budget committees this week, both houses stray from Browns proposal to put the money toward general Medi-Cal costs and lay out their own ideas on how to divvy up the revenue. But while both houses reject Browns approach, there are key differences between their proposals. Most significantly, the Assembly would allocate all $1.1 billion in projected tax revenue in the next budget year. The Senate, meanwhile, would spend just under $350 million next year, gradually ramping up spending to $1.1 billion by fiscal year 2020-21. Both houses also would increase provider payments, but in different ways. The Assembly would put around $857 million toward once-yearly incentive payments to physicians and dentists that would be tied to their Medi-Cal and Denti-Cal caseloads. The Senate proposed putting $150 million next year to physician rate increases that would be targeted for those working in high-need areas and specialties. That number would increase in successive years, topping out at $700 million by 2020. The Senate also would put $130 million toward higher rates for dentists. The California Medical Assn., which has been pushing for higher reimbursement rates, praised both houses for including the higher rates, but group spokeswoman Joanne Adams noted that the current Legislature cannot tie the hands of a future governor or Legislature, indicating a preference toward the Assembly approach. Each house would allocate $50 million for reimbursement rates for family planning providers, a priority of Planned Parenthood. And both houses put money toward expanding Medi-Cal to cover young adults up to age 26 who are in the country illegally. The proposal builds on Californias policy of making children without legal status younger than 19 eligible for Medi-Cal, which went into effect last year. Anthony Wright, of the advocacy group Health Access, noted that by expanding coverage for those up to age 26, it would align with Obamacares policy of letting children stay on their parents health insurance until that age. This is a concrete and tangible way to show we are actually taking steps forward in expanding coverage, Wright said. The Brown administration estimates that around 130,000 people would be eligible for Medi-Cal under such a proposal, and such an expansion would cost the state just under $230 million. The Senate proposal would put around $63 million toward that expansion in the upcoming budget year and around $85 million in subsequent years. The Assembly would put $54 million toward the plan. The Brown administration did not take a position on the Medi-Cal expansion proposal, but H.D. Palmer, spokesman for Browns Department of Finance, noted that the Senate was using higher revenue projections than Browns plan, which allows legislators to propose more funding. Palmer said the administration was sticking with its original proposal to use tobacco tax dollars for general Medi-Cal spending. The budgets proposal for Prop. 56 will provide increased funding for healthcare programs and services in a way thats consistent with the measure that voters approved last fall, Palmer said. ------------ FOR THE RECORD May 25, 2017, 4:58 p.m.: A previous version of this article reported that both houses were using higher revenue projections than Gov. Browns budget proposal. The Senate is using higher projections; the Assembly is using the same estimates as the Brown administration. Facebook

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California chief justice says she stands by her decision to speak out against Trumps immigration actions By Jazmine Ulloa California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye on Thursday said she stands by her position that courthouses should be areas where immigration arrests should not occur. Cantil-Sakauye, a former prosecutor who rose through the judicial ranks as an appointee of Republican governors, drew national attention in March after she blasted the federal governments expanded immigration actions, among which she said included stalking immigrants at courthouses. Speaking at a Sacramento Press Club luncheon on Thursday, she said the Supreme Court chambers fielded an outpouring of calls and letters after her comments. Some were profane and angry, from residents living outside the state. Others came from supporters. At Sac Press Club luncheon, Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye said she fielded lots of anger, support after courthouse enforcement remarks. pic.twitter.com/6OBrZOfI45  Jazmine Ulloa (@jazmineulloa) May 25, 2017 Many said that as a judge, she should not wade into politics. U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions and Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly admonished her in a letter, spurring California state leaders to respond in defense of state policies. On Thursday, Cantil-Sakauye stood by her decision to denounce the actions, saying, If I couldnt speak out as chief justice, I dont know who could. Courthouses in California have numerous programs to encourage people to come forward and ask questions, seek services and mediate issues, Cantil-Sakauye said. If we have a segment [of the population] that is afraid to come, then we are looking at no access to justice, [and] potentially public safety issues, which is antithetical to what the justice system exists for, she said. To me, it is a safe zone, and I ask that courthouses be placed on par with school districts and hospitals and churches. Facebook

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Rep. Darrell Issa says the federal employee insurance program should be expanded to all Americans By Sarah D. Wire Though it wasnt included in the House Republicans healthcare bill, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) still believes Americans should have access to the same insurance plans federal employees pick from, and hes hoping the Senate will embrace the idea. In a letter Thursday, Issa asked the Senate Health Care Working Group to consider opening the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program to more, or all, Americans. Its a national insurance idea thats persisted since the program began in 1960, and a proposal Issa has pitched before. The program allows more than 8 million current and retired federal employees across the country to shop among hundreds of health insurance plans and then apply their employer contribution to whatever plan they choose. Private insurance companies have pulled out of several state insurance marketplaces, where people whose employers dont offer insurance can purchase insurance using a federal subsidy. That leaves people with fewer health insurance choices, a common complaint cited by Republicans as a reason to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Its choice. If the government can maximize choice to you and then subsidize where appropriate based on need, then weve met the two bases for government involvement, Issa said. Issa voted for the American Health Care Act, the GOP bill to roll back much of Obamacare that passed May 4 without Democratic support, but he stresses that he did so just to keep momentum. One of the reasons I voted for this in the House was to keep the process alive so we could do reform, Issa said. Leveraging business models that work is the goal that somebody like me wants to do. Find out what works and invest in it, find out what doesnt work and fix it or abandon it. On Thursday, the Congressional Budget Office said the bill as passed by the House would cause 23 million fewer people to have health insurance by 2026. The budget office, which Congress relies on to analyze the complex legislation, projected that many additional consumers would see skimpier health coverage and higher deductibles. The Senate has essentially said it will write its own version of the bill. Issas letter to his Senate colleagues also urges members to protect people with preexisting conditions, safeguard coverage for people with mental illnesses and protect people near retirement age from a spike in their premiums. Theres still more to be done. This bill is going to be about compromise, and a down payment on change, Issa said. Facebook

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Senate President Kevin de Leon is busy raising campaign funds  but for what office? By Phil Willon Senate President pro Tem Kevin de Leon. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) California Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) stirred up speculation about a possible run for governor or U.S. Senate when he released a slickly produced video just before the California Democratic Partys convention last weekend, but he has remained coy about his future political plans. That doesnt mean he isnt padding his campaign war chest, though. De Leon has two fundraisers lined up in Los Angeles in June, presumably for his 2018 campaign for California lieutenant governor. The question is whether De Leon actually will run for lieutenant governor. In the past, he has said he hasnt made a decision. He has also given his supporters the go-ahead to endorse state Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-Azusa), a longtime political ally, in the race. De Leons campaign account for lieutenant governor had $1.7 million in the bank at the end of last year. He raised close to a half-million this year, according to state political financial disclosure reports. The first fundraiser in June is being hosted by veteran Hollywood executive Peter Guber and his wife, Tara, in Bel Air on June 8, with suggested contributions ranging from $500 to $2,500. The second is in late June at the Palm in Los Angeles. The fundraiser is hosted by Craig Darian, CEO of the Occidental Entertainment Group, and his wife, Kimberly, as well as Albert Sweet, the founder of the company. The suggested donations are the same as for the earlier fundraiser. De Leon made history in 2014 when he was selected by his colleagues as the first Latino to lead the California Senate. The tenure has been marked by significant action on climate change, immigration and gun control. Facebook

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Volkswagens clean car plan falls short in low-income neighborhoods, California regulators say By Chris Megerian (Markus Schreiber / Associated Press) State regulators have asked Volkswagen to revise its plan to invest in zero emission technology in California, a victory for critics who said the automaker wasnt doing enough in disadvantaged communities. The investment plan, which will total $800 million over 10 years, is part of Volkswagens obligation under a multi-billion settlement for evading pollution rules. California, which is struggling to get enough zero emission vehicles on the road to meet its goals, is eager to move forward, wrote Air Resources Board Executive Officer Richard Corey in a Wednesday letter to Electrify America, a Volkswagen subsidiary. However, Corey wrote, we need more information on how the company will meet its target of spending 35% of its investment in disadvantaged communities, a target set by state regulators in hopes of broadening the adoption of electric vehicles. Corey also asked Electrify America to consider supporting hydrogen fueling stations, rather than just electric chargers. Once the company submits an updated version of its plan, state regulators will consider whether to approve it. Electrify America said it is reviewing the letter. Dean Florez, a member of the Air Resources Board, said the original investment plan had significant holes and included no real investment in disadvantaged communities. He praised the decision to request revisions and said the board should hold VWs feet to the fire. This story has been updated with additional comments. Facebook

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Lawmakers scrap effort to make it easier to pass local transportation taxes By John Myers An effort to boost the chances of local ballot measures raising taxes for transportation needs was quietly killed Thursday in the state Capitol. The proposal, which would have ultimately required changing the California Constitution through a statewide vote, was in response to the high hurdle set decades ago for local taxes earmarked for specific projects. Those kinds of taxes in cities and counties require two-thirds of the vote. The constitutional amendment by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) would have lowered the vote threshold to 55% of ballots cast for any transportation proposal. Wiener argued the long list of local transportation projects lacking funds wont completely be erased by the $52-billion transportation plan signed into law last month. And he pointed specifically to examples like a transportation tax plan in the Bay Area last year that garnered 62% of the vote  still slightly shy of the two-thirds mandate. While the effort can be brought back before lawmakers adjourn the current session in the summer of 2018, Thursdays action represented a major setback for transportation groups and labor unions that supported it. The measure was opposed by business and anti-tax advocates. Wiener said he intends to re-introduce the measure in the coming weeks. We must improve and expand transportation throughout our state, which has suffered from decades of underfunding, he said in a written statement. Update 1:29 p.m. This story was modified with additional information regarding constitutional amendments and the legislative process. Update 4:10 p.m. This story was updated with comment from Sen. Wiener. Facebook

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Sex offenders will not be banned without exception from school grounds after state bill is shelved By Jazmine Ulloa State Sen. Connie M. Leyva, right. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) The state Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday shelved a bill that would have banned all registered sex offenders from school campuses without exception. Senate Bill 26 by Sen. Connie M. Leyva (D-Chino) would have made it a misdemeanor for a registered sex offender to enter any school building or grounds without lawful business. State laws keep registered sex offenders from living near schools. But those who have not been convicted of having sex with a minor under age 16 can visit or volunteer with groups or organizations that work with children if they give proper notice, and are granted permission. They cannot work directly with children. The committee advanced another bill by Leyva that would extend benefits under the Safe at Home initiative to former victims of forced prostitution or labor. Senate Bill 597, introduced with Secretary of State Alex Padilla, passed with a unanimous 7-0 vote. Read More Facebook

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Measure to help California students refinance private loans is shelved By Melanie Mason State Treasurer John Chiang, a candidate for governor, is behind a new effort to help people with student debt refinance their loans. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) A measure to help Californians saddled with student debt refinance their student loans was shelved in a key fiscal committee on Thursday. The measure by state Sen. Benjamin Allen (D-Santa Monica) was touted as a way for the state to coax private lenders to offer more favorable interest. The proposal would have carried a $25-million price tag. We will continue to push for sensible solutions to the student loan crisis that provide real relief to the millions of Californians saddled with too much debt, Allen said in a statement. State Treasurer John Chiang, a 2018 gubernatorial candidate, had championed the bill, SB 674, as a way to try to get [Californians] out of debt as quickly as possible. College graduation is supposed to be synonymous with opportunity and prosperity and not a detour into a modern-day debtors prison, Chiang said in a statement. Although I am disappointed SB 674 will not be moving forward, I will continue to use my position as the states banker to invest in Californias young people and its future with innovative solutions that will make it more financially feasible to obtain a higher education, he added. 3:58 p.m.: This article was updated to add comments from Sen. Benjamin Allen and Treasurer John Chiang. This article was originally published at 11:17 a.m. Read More Facebook

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Where bills go to die: Lawmakers begin clearing the suspense file with hundreds of measures in limbo By John Myers (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times) From a sales tax exemption on tampons to healthcare rules and marijuana regulation, a massive stack of proposed laws faces a major deadline Friday morning at the state Capitol. To survive, they must clear whats known as the suspense file -- the place where bills that would cost taxpayers money are held in legislative limbo. By law, bills with a fiscal impact must be sent to the floor of the Assembly and Senate by the close of business on Friday. That means its decision time for more than 800 pieces of legislation. The Senates fiscal committee will decide the fate of bills on Thursday; the Assembly will do so on Friday. Bills are generally sent to the suspense file if their projected cost to the state is $150,000 or more. The procedural move was widely used during Californias deficit years as a way for lawmakers to weigh the pros and cons of proposals in light of limited resources. But government watchdog groups have long pointed out that the clearing of the suspense file ends up hiding some of the legislative sausage-making from public view. Thats because bills that dont clear Fridays hurdle are essentially killed without a recorded vote. And neither chamber offers any explanation for why those bills were killed. Decisions on the fate of the suspense file are made in private, hours or days before the public hearing. In the Assembly, the appropriations committee chairperson will simply tell the public that a decision has been made to hold the bill. In the Senate committee, killed legislation wont even be mentioned during Thursdays hearing. That means that no one will know for sure whether a bill is really killed because of its price tag or its politics. Facebook

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Formal apology sought after U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters was cut off during state convention speech By Jazmine Ulloa (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) In my 20 years as a Democratic Party leader, I have never experienced such the type of behavior as I did at the Sacramento Convention hall on Saturday evening.  Darren Parker, longtime chairman of the African American Caucus The California Democratic Party African American Caucus is asking the state party for a formal apology to U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters and its members for what it called disrespect by a private subcontractor at its weekend state convention. Waters, a Los Angeles Democrat known for her comments on President Trump, had been speaking at a caucus meeting during the event Saturday night when the sound to her microphone was cut off. SEE THE VIDEO OF WATERS SPEECH> Read More Facebook

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California sees a rebound in cap-and-trade auction, bolstering key climate change program By Chris Megerian (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) State regulators announced strong results from Californias cap-and-trade program on Wednesday, spurring analysts and supporters to say the system remains solid despite questions about its political future. The program requires oil refineries, food processors, power plants and other facilities to buy permits to release greenhouse gas emissions. Nearly all of the permits offered by the state in its latest auction were purchased, generating an estimated $500 million in revenue. Thats a shift from other recent auctions, where most of the permits went unsold, reducing revenue that state leaders have counted on for 
Oil prices settled slightly higher on Wednesday after a choppy trading session as the market digested U.S. government data showing that while there were signs a crude glut may be receding, inventories remained large with gasoline demand weak, Reuters reported.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 settled up 16 cents at $47.82 a barrel. Benchmark Brent crude LCOc1 was up 33 cents at $50.79.

In early trading, WTI fell as low as $47.30, the lowest since March 27, after the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said weekly crude stocks fell by 930,000 barrels to 527.8 million. That was less than half the forecast draw of 2.3 million barrels.

The session low for U.S. crude was close to a 50 percent retracement of the rally that started on Aug. 3, 2016, said David Thompson, executive vice-president at Powerhouse, an energy-specialized commodities broker in Washington.

If prices break below that level, he said, the "next major support zone comes in at the $45.33 to $44.09 zone."

Prices see-sawed as analysts also weighed EIA data showing gasoline stocks rose 191,000 barrels, much less than the predicted 1.3 million-barrel gain. However, gasoline demand slipped 2.7 percent over the last four weeks from the same period a year ago.

"This is continuing a trend since the beginning of the year in which sales have been lower and that is casting a shadow on the market and pressuring crude oil prices," said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston.

"Gasoline demand is going to be the story going forward."

Kyle Cooper, consultant at ION Energy in Houston, saw "a slightly bullish report" when looking at the total inventory comparisons.

"With the (Strategic Petroleum Reserve) drawing, total U.S. petroleum stocks fell 161,000 barrels. Total U.S. inventories fell further below last year while the surplus to the five-year average fell. Total U.S. petroleum demand rose to almost 19.9 mbd and the highest since March 3," he said.

While the market fixates on U.S. production, investors are also monitoring whether producing countries have been complying with their 2016 deal to cut output around 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) by the middle of the year.

Russia, contributing the largest production cut outside OPEC, said as of May 1, it had cut output more than 300,000 bpd since hitting peak production in October. However the latest Reuters survey of OPEC production showed the country's compliance had fallen slightly. OPEC meets on May 25 to discuss extending the agreement.
President Trump was the clincher: He wants more offshore oil drilling, so forget it. California is right to put up the barricades.

This guy just cant be trusted. He shows no respect for history or the truth. No way should California place its beautiful beaches in his soiled hands.



For the record: An earlier version of this article contained a quote from a Union Oil official, published during original coverage of the spill, that turned out to be erroneous. It has been removed.

One of this presidents latest head-shakers, after all, was to claim in a newspaper interview that Andrew Jackson was really angry about the Civil War. He said, Theres no reason for this. 

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But Jackson had been dead 16 years before the first shot was fired.

Further wounding himself, Trump added: Why was there the Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?

As any middle-school kid could tell him, the Civil War was about slavery. What would have been the compromise? Free the women and children, but keep the men in chains? Phase it out over a few generations?

This is not about Trumps ideology and beliefs. Its about his not seeming to have any beliefs and therefore being unpredictable.

Trump should not be the judge of how much oil spill risk is acceptable to California. The answer is none.

And the oil companies cant be trusted either, despite their repeated insistence that modern drilling has become much safer because of new technologies.

Full confession: I used to buy into that. Nine years ago I wrote a column advocating the renewal of drilling off the California coast. The country needed to reduce its oil imports and produce more of its own, I wrote. Oil exploration provided good paying jobs. California could use the tax revenue.

And drilling had become a lot safer than nearly 40 years earlier when a Union Oil platform six miles off Santa Barbara spilled crud all over the coast from Goleta to Ventura while also fouling the Channel Islands. An estimated 3,500 sea birds were killed, plus dolphins, elephant seals and sea lions.

At the time, in 1969, it was the largest oil spill ever in U.S. waters.

Four decades later, it seemed like the oil industry had become a bit more enlightened. So I plugged more offshore drilling.

Admittedly, I was biased. My dad worked on oil rigs in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties most of his adult life. My first summer job out of high school was in an oil field. While many considered oil derricks unsightly, I found them fascinating.

But I loved the surf and the beaches a lot more. Oil-tinted breakers depicted the devil.

What started turning me around was the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 people and injured 17. An estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil were unleashed in the worlds biggest marine spill. So much for safety. Where theres offshore drilling, no beaches are safe. Period.

Now Trump has asked the Interior Department to reconsider several safety regulations imposed after the Horizon spill. That could make offshore drilling even more dangerous.

And he has signed an executive order that could open the Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic oceans to new drilling in federal waters.

California will fight this every step of the way, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) pledged.

In Sacramento, state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) said shell push legislation that would block any oil pumped in federal waters from reaching Californias shore. It would forbid the state Lands Commission from allowing any new pipeline or other facility to handle expanded oil flow.

If they want to go out and sell leases and try to develop new production in federal waters, were not going to provide them with the infrastructure to transport the oil on shore, Jackson said. Were going to make the three miles we control a no-oil zone.

Updates from Sacramento 

Federal waters are those between three and 12 miles off the coast.

Gov. Jerry Brown undoubtedly would sign the bill. He and the Democratic governors of Oregon and Washington released a statement calling Trumps action short-sighted, adding: We cannot return to the days where the federal government put the interests of big oil above our communities and treasured coastline.

The Lands Commission needs no convincing. Its already dead-set against allowing more offshore oil to reach land.

Californias door is closed to President Trumps Pacific oil and gas drilling, announced Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the commission chairman.

The three Democratic commissioners, Newsom said, will ensure that any oil and gas product from new drilling never makes landfall in California.

Anyway, all these Democrats emphasize, California is leading an effort to save the planet from global warming by dramatically reducing the burning of fossil fuel and increasing reliance on renewable energy. Force the oil companies to develop clean energy sources, they say.

There are 27 oil platforms off the California coast. But there havent been any new leases in state waters since the Santa Barbara spill, and none in federal waters since 1984.

Youre not likely to see any new ones either. The California coast, fortunately, is a dry hole for Trump.

george.skelton@latimes.com

Follow @LATimesSkelton on Twitter

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Boy Scouts: Top leaders didnt call Trump to praise speech as the president said By Associated Press The Boy Scouts denied Wednesday that the head of the youth organization called President Donald Trump to praise his recent politically aggressive speech to its national jamboree. Trump told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Wednesday, I got a call from the head of the Boy Scouts saying it was the greatest speech that was ever made to them, and they were very thankful. Politico published the transcript of the interview. We are unaware of any such call, the Boy Scouts responded in a statement. It specified that neither of the organizations two top leaders  President Randall Stephenson and Chief Scout Executive Mike Surbaugh  had placed such a call. The White House had no immediate response to the Boy Scouts denial. Surbaugh apologized last week to members of the scouting community who were offended by the political rhetoric in Trumps July 24 speech in West Virginia. Other U.S. presidents have delivered nonpolitical speeches at past jamborees. To the dismay of many parents and former scouts, Trump promoted his political agenda and derided his rivals, inducing some of the scouts in attendance to boo at the mention of former President Obama. I want to extend my sincere apologies to those in our Scouting family who were offended by the political rhetoric that was inserted into the jamboree, Surbaugh said. That was never our intent. Surbaugh noted that every sitting president since 1937 has been invited to visit the jamboree. Stephenson told the Associated Press two days after the speech that Boy Scout leaders anticipated Trump would spark controversy with politically tinged remarks, yet felt obliged to invite him out of respect for his office. Hoping to minimize friction, the Boy Scouts issued guidelines to adult staff members for how the audience should react to the speech. Any type of political chanting was specifically discouraged. Stephenson, who did not attend Trumps speech, said the guidance wasnt followed impeccably. Facebook

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Mayor of London again calls on Trump to cancel state visit By Christina Boyle (AFP/Getty Images) The mayor of London has reiterated his calls for President Trumps state visit to Britain to be canceled in the wake of the citys terrorist incident, saying his policies go against everything we stand for. The war of words between the two leaders intensified further Monday evening after Trump criticized Mayor Sadiq Khans response to the London Bridge terrorist attack in two tweets, and the mayor said Trump should not be welcomed in the capital. Since Saturday Ive been working with the police, with the emergency services, with the government and others to deal with the horrific attack on Saturday, Khan said Monday evening. I just havent got the time to deal with tweets from Donald Trump. But when pressed on whether he thinks a state visit for later this year should go ahead as planned, Khan was unequivocal. My position remains the same. I dont think we should be rolling out the carpet to the president of the United States in the circumstances where his policies go against everything we stand for, Khan told Channel 4 news. When you have a special relationship, it is no different to when you have a close mate: You stand with them in times of adversity, but you call them out when theyre wrong. And there are many things about which Donald Trump is wrong. Trump initially criticized Khan hours after the London attack posting on Twitter: At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is no reason to be alarmed! Khans office soon pointed out that the president had, in fact, misquoted Khan, who actually said that Londoners should not be alarmed by the increased armed police presence on the streets. Trump took to Twitter again on Monday to slam the London mayor once more. Pathetic excuse by London mayor Sadiq Khan, who had to think fast on his no reason to be alarmed statement. MSM [Mainstream media] is working hard to sell it! the president wrote. This is not the first time Khan, the first Muslim mayor of a major Western capital city, has called for Trumps state visit to be banned. He previously branded Trumps policies on immigration and proposed travel ban on people entering the U.S. from predominantly Muslim countries cruel. An online government petition calling for the invitation to be withdrawn also gathered more than 1.8 million votes. The visit was first announced during Prime Minister Theresa Mays trip to Washington, where she became the first foreign leader to meet the newly-inaugurated president. State visits are personal invites from the British monarch and involve a significant amount of pomp and ceremony, and usually a state banquet. Facebook

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He helped bring down President Nixon. He thinks President Trump is even worse. By Mark Z. Barabak (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times) John Dean is a connoisseur of coverups, a savant of scandal, so he can more than imagine what its like inside the Trump White House right now. Its a nightmare, he said, presiding in a high-backed leather wing chair off the lobby of the Beverly Hills Hotel. Not just for those in the headlines  political strategist Steve Bannon, jack-of-many-duties Jared Kushner  but for their unsung assistants and secretaries as well. They dont know what their jeopardy is. They dont know what theyre looking at. They dont know if theyre a part of a conspiracy that might unfold. They dont know whether to hire lawyers or not, how theyre going to pay for them if they do, Dean said in a crisp law-counsel cadence. Its an unpleasant place. Dean was a central figure in Watergate, the 1970s political scandal against which all others are measured, serving at the tender age of 32 as President Nixons White House attorney. In that capacity Dean worked to thwart investigators after the clumsy break-in at Democratic Party headquarters, then flipped and helped sink Nixon by revealing the presidents involvement in the coverup. Read More Facebook

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Two decades ago, Washington state Republicans repealed and replaced a healthcare overhaul there. It didnt end well By Noam N. Levey Republicans in the state of Washington didnt wait long in the spring of 1995 to fulfill their pledge to roll back a sweeping law expanding health coverage in the state. Coming off historic electoral gains, the GOP legislators scrapped much of the law while pledging to make health insurance affordable and to free state residents from onerous government mandates. It didnt work out that way: The repeal left the states insurance market in shambles, sent premiums skyrocketing and drove health insurers from the state. It took nearly five years to repair the damage. Two decades later, the ill-fated experiment, largely relegated to academic journals, offers a caution to lawmakers at the national level as Republicans in the U.S. Senate race to write a bill to repeal and replace the federal Affordable Care Act. Its much easier to break something, said Pam MacEwan, who led a Washington state commission charged with implementing the law in the mid-1990s and now oversees the state insurance market there. Its more difficult to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.  And thats when people get hurt. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office echoed that warning last week, when it concluded that the healthcare bill passed by the House last month would destabilize insurance markets in a sixth of the country and nearly double the number of people without health insurance over the next decade. Read More Facebook

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Companies accelerate hiring, adding a robust 253,000 net new jobs, ADP says By Jim Puzzanghera A now hiring sign is seen in Baton Rouge, La., on May 5. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) Companies accelerated their hiring last month, adding a robust 253,000 net new jobs in a sign the labor market remains healthy and the economy is strengthening after a weak winter. The private-sector job creation figures reported Thursday by payroll firm Automatic Data Processing far exceeded analyst expectations and was well above the downwardly revised 174,000 net new positions added in April. Job growth is rip-roaring, declared Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moodys Analytics, which assists ADP in preparing its report. Read More Facebook

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All jokes aside, Trumps covfefe tweet sparks questions too By Brian Bennett President Trump sparked a global kerfuffle over covfefe with his bizarrely truncated tweet just minutes into Wednesday, spawning countless jokes across Twitter but also more serious questions for which the White House gave no answers. Press Secretary Sean Spicer, during an unusually short 11-minute briefing in which he insisted he not be on camera, declined to give any explanation for Trumps tweet posted just after midnight. Nor would he translate what the president was trying to say in the garbled message that broke off midsentence. But Spicer told reporters that the public should not be concerned that the president sent what the questioner called somewhat of an incoherent tweet. The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant, Spicer said. Read More Facebook

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Biden launches new PAC, keeping the 2020 door open By David Lauter (Steven Senne / Associated Press) Former Vice President Joe Biden is launching a new political action committee, a platform that will allow him to provide help to favored candidates and, inevitably, boost speculation about a possible run for the Democratic nomination in 2020. The organization, which Biden is calling American Possibilities, will be staffed by a former top political aide to the vice president, Greg Schultz, who is also a veteran of President Obamas reelection campaign. The PAC will allow Biden to raise money that he can use to travel the country, contribute to candidates in governors races this year and congressional and state races in 2018 and generally do the sorts of things that aspiring politicians do to keep their names in the headlines. All that cant help but nurture questions about whether Biden, 74, will try yet again to attain the office he first started running for in 1987. In public appearances, which have taken him to electorally important states, and interviews since the 2016 election, Biden has been sharply critical of the Trump administration, but has also pointed to flaws in his own party. In one interview, he pointed to a bit of elitism thats crept in to the partys approach to working-class voters. At the same time, he has given carefully ambiguous answers when asked about his plans. At a conference in Las Vegas earlier this month, he responded to the question about a presidential run by saying: Could I? Yes. Would I? Probably not. In the announcement for the new group, Biden said that the negativity, the pettiness, the small-mindedness of our politics drives me crazy. Its not who we are. Its time for big dreams and American possibilities, he said. Facebook

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U.S., regions foreign ministers debate Venezuela By Tracy Wilkinson (AFP / Getty Images) The United States and foreign ministers from across the hemisphere met in Washington on Wednesday to attempt to force Venezuelas leftist government and its angry opposition into talks. Hunger and violence have pushed Venezuela to the brink of humanitarian disaster, diplomats say. But Wednesdays meeting of the Organization of American States faced unlikely prospects for success: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro does not trust the organization and has said his nation will withdraw its membership. Some OAS nations, including several U.S. allies in the Caribbean, have criticized the regional bodys efforts as intervention promoted by Washington. But U.S. officials are hoping the sheer weight of the crisis will unite the region to put pressure on Venezuela. Theres more and more concern about what were seeing, and so more and more countries have gotten over their reluctance to question or go against the wishes of the Venezuelan government, a senior State Department official said in a briefing for reporters. Its really hard to stand by and do nothing in the face of the kinds of institutional steps weve seen in Venezuela, and the increasing humanitarian suffering, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, in keeping with frequent administration practice. Although the OAS periodically brings its members foreign ministers together, this is the first time a meeting has been convened to deal with a single topic, U.S. officials said. At the conclusion of Wednesdays session, diplomats said they had discussed two resolutions. One, promoted by Caribbean nations, called on Venezuela to reconsider withdrawing from the OAS. A second more pointed resolution authored by the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Panama and Peru urged the Maduro administration not to go ahead with a constituent assembly that would rewrite the Venezuelan constitution. Many fear it would dissolve the few democratic institutions that remain and favor the ruling Socialist Party. Separately, the Venezuela opposition, emboldened by a string of increasingly massive street demonstrations, sharply criticized Wall Street for extending what it called a lifeline to the Maduro government. At issue is the purchase by Goldman Sachs of Venezuelan government bonds for a reported $865 million, a major discount for paper originally worth $2.8 billion. Goldman Sachs confirmed the purchase of the bonds, issued in 2014 by the state oil company PDVSA, after it was reported in the Wall Street Journal. We are invested in PDVSA bonds because, like many in the asset management industry, we believe the situation in the country must improve over time, Goldman said in a statement. The firm added that it made the purchase through a secondary dealer to avoid direct interaction with the Venezuelan government. That distinction meant nothing to the Venezuelan opposition, which accused Goldman of making a buck off the suffering of the Venezuelan people. The Trump administration previously has targeted the Maduro government, slapping economic sanctions on its vice president and pro-Maduro Supreme Court justices. Facebook

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Former FBI director spoke with new special counsel and is cleared to testify before Senate panel By Joseph Tanfani The special counsel investigating possible links between Russia and the Trump presidential campaign has cleared former FBI Director James Comey to testify before a congressional committee about his contacts with President Trump, according to an associate close to Comey. Comey met with Robert S. Mueller III, whom the Justice Department appointed on May 17 to investigate any Russian ties to the Trump campaign, and Mueller said he had no problems with Comeys testifying, the associate said. Trump abruptly fired Comey as head of the FBI on May 9. The president later said in an interview on NBC News that he was concerned about the FBI investigation into what he called the Russia thing. Comey reportedly wrote internal memos after his meetings with Trump. In one, he wrote that the president had requested he ease up on the FBI probe of Michael Flynn, who served as Trumps national security advisor until he was ousted in February for lying about his contacts with Russian officials. The Senate Intelligence Committee announced on May 19 that Comey had agreed to testify after the Memorial Day holiday. The hearing has not been scheduled. The FBI separately declined a request from the House Oversight Committee to turn over Comeys memos. The bureau said it would need to consult with Mueller before making any decisions. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), the committee chairman, said in response that he would not push the matter. The focus of the committees investigation is the independence of the FBI and the events leading to Comeys firing, he wrote. In a separate development, a senior Justice Department lawyer with experience in complex financial fraud investigations has agreed to join Muellers investigation. Andrew Weissman has led the fraud section at Justice, where he oversaw probes into corporate wrongdoing at Volkswagen and Takata. Weissman also is a veteran of the FBI. Weissman is the highest-ranking Justice Department official to join the special counsel office being set up a few blocks from the main Justice building in downtown Washington. Mueller also hired two colleagues from the WilmerHale law firm, where he worked, and brought on a former Justice Department spokesman, Peter Carr, to handle media inquiries. Facebook

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Analysis: In President Trumps wake, divisions mark both Democratic and Republican parties By Cathleen Decker Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez address a crowd at the California party convention in May. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) Six months after President Trump breached long-standing political boundaries to win the White House, the nations major political parties still muddle in his wake. On the sun-swept lawn of the Hotel del Coronado two weeks ago, national Republican leaders sipped cocktails and listened to San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, one of the partys brightest lights in the most populous state, praise a brand of moderate Republicanism that looks nothing like the versions coming out of Washington  either the populism of the president or the more orthodox conservatism of congressional leaders. A week later, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez talked in a Sacramento interview of the remarkably constructive debate underway in his party, characterizing its divisions as largely in the past. Within hours, he and other party leaders were booed as they welcomed delegates to a state convention that would be filled with persistent internal warfare on healthcare and other issues. No political party is immune to disagreement; indeed the path to power often relies on combustible ideological diversity. But Democrats and Republicans alike seem particularly adrift and quarrelsome these days. Read More Facebook

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Trump preparing to pull U.S. from Paris climate accord, amid last-minute lobbying By Evan Halper President Trump hasnt made a final decision on whether the U.S. will quit the Paris Accord on climate change, but White House officials indicated Wednesday that he was headed in that direction, setting off a worldwide reaction. A flurry of leaks, counter-leaks and public statements thrust back into the spotlight a decision that has been agonized and untidy even by the standards of a White House known for internal drama. Wednesday morning, when officials told some news organizations that Trump had settled on pulling out of the climate agreement, seemingly everyone in the world jumped in to try to influence or spin his decision, from the Chinese government to the coal industry to the state of California. That offered a foretaste of the reaction Trump likely will receive if he does follow through on his vow to pull the United States out of the 195-nation pact, which President Obama hailed in 2015 as one of his major achievements. Other nations have swiftly moved to take over the leadership role on climate that the United States would be abandoning. Some states have followed suit, promising they would break with Washington to work with other countries in their efforts to contain global warming. During Trumps recent overseas trip, U.S. allies warned him that Americas broader diplomatic influence would be undercut if the administration gave up its seat at the climate negotiating table. All the public lobbying on Wednesday moved Trump to weigh in himself. He knocked down reports that he had decided to withdraw with a tweet announcing that he was still making up his mind. The mixed messages coming out of the White House left open the possibility that the original news reports reflected the views of officials who were aiming to steer the final outcome by presenting withdrawal as a done deal. Trumps schedule for the day includes meetings with advisors hoping to talk him into staying in the agreement, at least to some extent. If Trump does withdraw the U.S. fully from the Paris pact, scientists warn it will be a tremendous setback to the worldwide effort to contain temperatures from rising an average of 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The consequences for the United States would extend beyond global warming. It will be a very big deal all over the world, said Todd Stern, the lead U.S. climate negotiator during the Obama administration. There will be consequential blowback with respect to our diplomatic position across the board. UPDATES 9:27 a.m.: This post was updated throughout with staff reporting and additional details. 6:23 a.m.: This post was updated with Trumps tweet. 6:04 a.m.: This post was updated throughout with additional details. Facebook

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U.S. Supreme Court makes it harder to sue police for barging into homes By David Savage The U.S. Supreme Court made it harder to sue police for barging into a home and provoking a shooting, setting aside a $4-million verdict against two Los Angeles County deputies on Tuesday. The money was awarded to a homeless couple who were startled and then shot when the two sheriffs deputies entered the shack where they were sleeping. The unanimous ruling rejected the so-called provocation rule that some lower courts have used. Under that rule, police can be sued for violating a victims constitutional rights against unreasonable searches if they provoked a confrontation that resulted in violence. Read More Facebook

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Trump lashes out at Germany over NATO spending and trade after Merkel questions the U.S. commitment to its allies By Brian Bennett (Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images) President Trump took aim at German trade practices and defense spending Tuesday following pointed criticism from Chancellor Angela Merkel that Germany may not be able to rely on its allies. We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change, Trump wrote in a tweet. Last week, White House spokespeople had denied that Trump criticized German trade practices after the German newspaper Der Spiegel quoted him as having done so. Trump unsettled Merkel and other allies during the recent NATO summit when, during his remarks, he did not mention the central commitment members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization make to defend each other. We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2017 Trumps policy toward climate change is another point of contention with many European countries. Trump promised during the election to tear up the landmark Paris climate accord. Merkel said the conversation with the U.S. on climate change last week during the G-7 meetings in Sicily, which followed the NATO summit, was extremely difficult. During a campaign speech in Munich on Sunday, Merkel said Germany must rethink how much it can rely on its allies. The era in which we could rely completely on others is gone, at least partially, Merkel said. I have experienced that over the last several days. In a 2014 meeting, NATO defense ministers agreed that each state would move toward a goal of raising military spending to 2% of its annual economic output by the year 2024. German defense spending is below that goal. The U.S. trade deficit with Germany shrank to $65 billion in 2016 from $75 billion the year before. Facebook

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Consumers spend at fastest pace in four months in a sign of spring economic rebound By Jim Puzzanghera (Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) Americans ratcheted up their spending in April at the fastest pace in four months, in a sign the economy has rebounded this spring after a lackluster winter. The new data also could help push Federal Reserve officials to hike a key interest rate again when they meet in two weeks. Personal consumption expenditures increased 0.4% in April, up from 0.3% the previous month, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. Americans had more money to spend, with personal incomes also rising 0.4%  twice the pace of growth in March. Read More Facebook

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White House communications director Michael Dubke resigns By Associated Press White House Communications Director Mike Dubke listens as a reporter asks a question during a press conference in the East Room of the White House on April 20. (Shawn Thew / EPA) White House communications director Michael Dubke has resigned. Kellyanne Conway, White House counselor, told The Associated Press that Dubke handed in his resignation before President Donald Trump left for his international trip earlier this month. In an interview on Fox News on Tuesday, Conway said Dubke made very clear that he would see through the presidents international trip, and come to work every day and work hard even through that trip because there was much to do here back at the White House. Dubke issued a statement Tuesday morning: It has been my great honor to serve President Trump and this administration. It has also been my distinct pleasure to work side-by-side, day-by-day with the staff of the communications and press departments. A Republican consultant, Dubke joined the White House team in February after campaign aide Jason Miller  Trumps original choice for communications director  withdrew from consideration. Dubke founded Crossroads Media, a GOP firm that specializes in political advertising. -- 6:03 a.m.: Updated with Dubkes statement Facebook

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Should Jared Kushner keep his security clearance? Adam Schiff isnt sure By Laura King The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), says hes not sure that President Trumps son-in-law and advisor, Jared Kushner, should retain his security clearance. The California Democrat, who has been a sharp critic of Trump, also said in an interview aired Sunday that national security advisor H.R. McMaster, a highly respected military officer, had been tarnished by his association with the White House. Schiffs comments, on ABCs This Week, came amid growing questions about Kushners contacts with Russian officials before Trump took office. Trump has denounced the latest round of news reports, saying that some of them could be based on fabricated sources. Top Trump aides, including John F. Kelly, the secretary of Homeland Security, pushed back Sunday against the suggestion that there was anything untoward about establishing back channel communications with the Russians during the presidential transition. Schiff said he regretted that McMaster had done so as well, saying he believed the White House used the solid reputations of people like him to back up dubious actions. Sadly, I think this is an administration that takes in people with good credibility and chews them out and spits out their credibility at the same time, said Schiff, who acknowledged that what McMaster said about back channel communications was true in the abstract. I think anyone within the Trump orbit is at risk of being used, he said. Kelly, in separate talk-show appearances on Sunday, said there was nothing untoward about an incoming administration establishing communications with a foreign power in order to lay the groundwork for better relations. Schiff declined to discuss the substance of the allegations regarding Kushners contact with Russian officials during the transition and whether Kushner had been forthcoming about them, but said enough questions had been raised that his access to top-secret intelligence should be scrutinized. I think we need to get to the bottom of these allegations, Schiff said. But I do think there ought to be a review of his security clearance to find out whether he was truthful, whether he was candid. If not, then theres no way he can maintain that kind of a clearance. Schiff was also critical of continuing involvement in aspects of the Russia probe by fellow Californian Devin Nunes (R-Tulare), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, who stepped aside from the probe earlier this year after the House Ethics Committee began investigating whether he had improperly revealed classified information. Nunes remains involved in decision-making about the issuance of subpoenas, Schiff said, adding: I dont think that he should, given that he has stepped aside or recused himself. The committee is investigating Russian entanglements by figures in Trumps circle, including fired national security advisor Michael Flynn, who has been the target of multiple subpoenas. Facebook

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Trump still wide open on climate change, Pentagon chief says By Laura King With President Trump set to make a decision this week about whether the U.S. should remain part of the landmark Paris climate accord, Defense Secretary James Mattis said Trump remains wide open on the issue. During a visit to Europe that ended Saturday, Trump dismayed European allies by refusing to commit to remaining in the 2015 accord during talks with European Union officials in Brussels and at the Group of Seven gathering in Sicily. The president said in a tweet that he will make a decision this week. Mattis, who was present at some of the Brussels talks, said that Trump is still making up his mind, and that he has been inquisitive about other leaders opinions. The president was open  he was curious about why others were in the position they were in, his counterparts in other nations, the Defense secretary said in an interview aired Sunday on CBS Face the Nation. And Im quite certain the president is wide open on this issue as he takes in the pros and cons of that accord. During his European trip, Trump met privately at the Vatican with Pope Francis, who presented him with a copy of his papal encyclical on environment and climate change. French President Emmanuel Macron, who met with Trump in Brussels, also said he had pressed the issue with the U.S. president, though the White House did not mention that appeal in a summary of their meeting. Facebook

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Homeland Security secretary defends Jared Kushner, blasts Manchester intelligence leaks By Laura King There is nothing inherently wrong with an incoming presidential administration establishing back channel communications with a foreign power such as Russia, Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly said Sunday. Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Kelly was asked about reports by the Washington Post and other outlets that President Trumps son-in-law and close advisor, Jared Kushner, sought to set up secret lines of communication with Russian officials prior to Trump being sworn in. The retired general did not confirm the reports, but said the principle of establishing secretive contacts during a presidential transition doesnt bother me and is a legitimate means of building relationships. I think that any channel of communication, back or otherwise, with a country like Russia is a good thing, he said. Kelly did not address a central element of the reports  that Kushner discussed the possibility of using Russian communications channels from a Russia diplomatic outpost to shield from U.S. intelligence surveillance whatever discussions Trump transition officials wanted to have with Moscow. The FBI, a special counsel and multiple congressional committees are probing Russian interference in the presidential campaign and whether the Trump camp colluded in it. The U.S. intelligence community says Russian cyberattacks were meant to boost Trump and harm his opponent, Hillary Clinton. In a separate interview on NBCs Meet the Press, Kelly defended the integrity of Kushner, whose involvement in communications with Russia has brought the investigation closer to Trump personally than has previous scrutiny of others in his campaign circle or the White House. Calling Kushner a great guy, a decent guy, the Homeland Security secretary said the presidents son-in-laws No. 1 interest, really, is the nation. Also in the NBC interview, Kelly excoriated intelligence leaks in the wake of last weeks deadly bombing in Manchester, England. British officials including Prime Minister Theresa May were angered by disclosures about details of the investigation, including the release of the dead attackers name and detailed photos from the bomb scene that were published by the New York Times. Several outlets cited unnamed U.S. officials as the source of the information including the bombers identity. The Times did not say how it obtained the photos. Britain routinely shares intelligence with close allies like the United States with the expectation that it will be kept confidential. Kelly said that failing to keep such secrets could seriously damage intelligence-sharing arrangements with other nations. I believe when you leak the kind of information that seems to be routinely leaked - high, high level of classification I think its darn close to treason, Kelly said. It is not clear what level of classification, if any, the information about the British investigation would have had. Trump himself, who recently caused controversy when he passed sensitive intelligence on Islamic State to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and discussed the location of U.S. nuclear submarines with the president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, has denounced the Manchester leaks and vowed to track down the source or sources. Facebook

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In tweets, Trump says stories based on White House leaks are fabricated By Laura King President Trump is back  and tweeting. In a Sunday morning series of posts on Twitter, the president repeated his denunciations of the fake media, celebrated the Republican victory in a Montana special election and declared his overseas trip a success. Trump returned to the White House late Saturday after a swing through the Middle East and Europe, the first foreign trip of his presidency. During it, he tweeted only sparingly. While Trump was away, controversy continued to swirl around his White House, with media reports focusing on son-in-law Jared Kushners role in Trump campaign contacts with Russian officials. The GOP healthcare plan and Trumps budget also came under withering scrutiny during the presidents absence. In Sundays tweets, Trump said cascading leaks from within his administration were in fact fabricated lies by news organizations based on sources that did not exist. One tweet was corrected to fix the spelling of exist. It is my opinion that many of the leaks coming out of the White House are fabricated lies made up by the #FakeNews media.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 28, 2017 Trump also complained that the special congressional election in Montana, called to fill the seat vacated when Ryan Zinke became his Interior secretary, was such a big deal to Dems & Fake News until the Republican won. The V was poorly covered, he said, referring to the Republican victory. The victory by Republican candidate Greg Gianforte received extensive coverage. It was widely expected, given Montanas significant Republican edge, but made more suspenseful on the eve of the election when Gianforte was charged with misdemeanor assault for an incident in which he struck a reporter who had asked him a question. The president received mixed reviews for his inaugural overseas venture. He was praised by some for his outreach to Sunni Arab allies in the Persian Gulf, but continued his administrations practice of making no public criticism of serious human rights violations. In Europe, he rattled allies by declining to explicitly endorse the NATO alliances bedrock common defense pledge or pledge to adhere to the Paris climate accord. Whatever the commentary surrounding the trip, Trump counted it a success. Hard work but big results, he wrote. Facebook

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Trumps international trip underscored what America First looks like on the world stage By Michael Memoli Donald Trump made no secret during the presidential campaign of his disdain for Americas trading partners, his skepticism of longtime alliances and his eagerness to refocus U.S. foreign policy on the single-minded pursuit of American security. That was the largely the president the world got as Trump made his way through the Middle East and Western Europe over the last nine days, Trumps first foreign trip may have produced memorable, and at time cringe-inducing, images of the new president, whether grasping a glowing orb in Saudi Arabia or shoving the prime minister of Montenegro at a NATO meeting in Brussels. But perhaps most profoundly, the trip underscored what America First, as Trump has branded his governing philosophy, looks like on the world stage. Read More Facebook

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Trump says hell decide on Paris climate deal next week By Associated Press Seven wealthy democracies ended their summit Saturday in Italy without unanimous agreement on climate change, as the Trump administration plans to take more time to say whether the U.S. is going to remain in the Paris accord on limiting greenhouse gas emissions. The other six nations in the Group of Seven agreed to stick with their commitment to implement the 2015 Paris deal that aims to slow down global warming. The final G-7 statement, issued after two days of talks in the seaside town of Taormina, said the U.S. is in the process of reviewing its policies on climate change and on the Paris agreement and thus is not in a position to join the consensus on these topics. Trump tweeted he would decide his stance on the Paris agreement next week. The announcement on the final day of the U.S. presidents first international trip comes after he declined to commit to staying in the sweeping climate deal, resisting intense international pressure from his peers at the summit. I will make my final decision on the Paris Accord next week!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2017 Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, who chaired the meeting, said the other six wont change our position on climate change one millimeter. The U.S. hasnt decided yet. I hope they decide in the right way. Gentiloni said climate was not a minor point and that he hoped the United States would decide soon and well because the Paris accords need the contribution of the United States. French President Emmanuel Macron also chimed in on the climate issue, praising Trumps capacity to listen. Macron said he told Trump it is indispensable for the reputation of the United States and the interest of the Americans themselves that the United States remain committed to the Paris climate agreement. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was more downbeat, calling the G-7 climate talks very unsatisfactory. Facebook

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Everyones a winner! Or what to take away from that special congressional race in Montana By Mark Z. Barabak Republicans were celebrating Friday, and relieved, and it was easy to see why: The party hung on to Montanas sole congressional seat even though its candidate faced a freshly lodged criminal charge for physically assaulting a reporter on election eve. Though they fell short in yet another special election  Greg Gianforte won handily, 50% to 44%  Democrats also found reason to be pleased: Their candidate, flawed as he was, continued a pattern of polling better than might be expected  over-performing, to use the political parlance, and that could hold future promise. Its possible, as elections analyst Nathan Gonzales put it, to lose and still have momentum. Read More Facebook

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In commencement address, Hillary Clinton remembers fallout from Nixon, makes subtle jab at President Trump By Kurtis Lee Hillary Clinton delivers the commencement address at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Mass., on Friday. (Josh Reynolds / Associated Press) Hillary Clinton delivered a subtle dig at President Trump on Friday, offering some parallels between his presidency and that of former President Nixon. While delivering a commencement address at her alma mater, Wellesley College, a private womens liberal arts school in Massachusetts, Clinton, without naming Trump, recalled how many young people in the 1970s reacted to Nixons reelection and later battles with the Justice Department. We were furious about the past presidential election of a man whose presidency would eventually end in disgrace with his impeachment for obstruction of justice, she said, pausing to note she was referring to Nixon. Actually, Nixon was not impeached, though many in Congress, including members of his own party, called for it. Clinton said Nixons resignation came after he fired the person heading the investigation into him at the Department of Justice. In 1973, Nixon ordered Justice Department officials to fire a special prosecutor who was looking into taped conversations recorded in the Oval Office as part of the Watergate investigation. A year later, in August 1974, Nixon resigned. Some political observers  mostly Democrats -- have compared Trumps recent firing of FBI Director James B. Comey, who was overseeing an investigation of possible collusion between Russians and Trumps campaign, to Nixons actions. Last week, Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) called for Trump to be impeached. Clinton, who has made few public appearances since Trump defeated her in last years presidential election, also assailed the Republicans new budget proposal. She called the budget, which proposes cuts to education and Medicaid, an attack of unimaginable cruelty on the most vulnerable among us  the youngest, the oldest, the poorest and hard-working people who need a little help to gain or hang on to a decent, middle-class life. In a statement, the Republican National Committee said Clinton was lashing out after her election loss. Clinton graduated from Wellesley in 1969 and last delivered a commencement address at the school in 1992. Facebook

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At G-7 Summit, a day of clarification for the White House By Michael A. Memoli (Sean Gallup / Getty Images) As President Trump met with leaders of the worlds leading economies here Friday within miles of an active volcano, the White House was working to ease a pair of diplomatic eruptions. Trump was due to meet with British Prime Minister Theresa May on the sidelines of the G-7 Summit in this coastal Sicilian resort town, amid tensions between their countries, longtime allies, following leaks to U.S. media outlets involving Britains investigation of the Manchester terrorist bombing. Separately, a top White House adviser partially confirmed reports that Trump had said Germany is very bad during Thursdays NATO meetings in Brussels, but clarified that the president was referring only to German trade policies. Trump said, according to the German magazine Der Spiegel, See the millions of cars they are selling to the U.S.? Terrible. We will stop this. Gary Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, acknowledged that Trump made the remark but added that the president doesnt have a problem with Germany. He said his dad is from Germany. He said I dont have a problem with Germany, I have a problem with German trade, Cohn said. Press access to the G-7 meetings has been extremely limited, though the surrounding setting has produced abundant compelling visuals. Editorial press access extremely limited for G7 meetings. But man, pretty pictures & good times for Taormina Chamber of Commerce (via AP) pic.twitter.com/WT2EdKrwJ5  Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) May 26, 2017 Trump tweeted that he expected to spend the day focused on economic growth, terrorism and security. The summit, and Trumps eight-day inaugural foreign trip, ends Saturday. Other allies here were likely to press Trump on another issue: climate change, specifically whether Trump will carry out his campaign promise to pull the United States out of the landmark Paris climate deal. Trump was hoping to better understand the European position, Cohn said. White House officials have said the president will make a decision once he is back in the United States. He knows that in the U.S. theres very strong opinions on both sides but he also knows that Paris has important meaning to many of the European leaders. And he wants to clearly hear what the European leaders have to say, Cohn said. Facebook

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As Trump wavers over Paris climate accord, European leaders give him an earful By Evan Halper Mining operation near Grevenbroich, Germany. (Martin Meissner / Associated Press) With President Trump balking on his vow to shred the Obama-negotiated Paris agreement on climate change, the last place the pacts staunch opponents wanted to see the president is where he will be this weekend  meeting other world leaders unanimous in their warnings that withdrawal from the accord would seriously damage Americas economy and world stature. Trump has repeatedly delayed fulfilling his campaign pledge to move against the agreement. The longer the White House deliberates over Paris, the more Trump seems to be searching for a face-saving excuse to walk back his previous position. The White House indecision over the climate accord  which has the support of every nation except Syria and Nicaragua  reflects a deeply divided worldview in a Trump inner circle now packed with establishment Republicans. The issue also presents yet another policy reckoning for Trump. On the campaign trail, he vowed to strike blows against the existing world order. But on the Paris agreement, as on other matters, he is finding that political backup for such pledges can fade quickly when the moves lack robust support from major U.S. companies or majority voting blocs. Read More Facebook

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Overcoming assault charge, Republican Greg Gianforte wins Montana congressional seat By Mark Z. Barabak Republican Greg Gianforte overcame a last-minute assault charge to win Montanas special congressional election Thursday, keeping its lone House seat in GOP hands and dealing Democrats a setback in their bid to gain a red-state toehold ahead of the 2018 midterm election. Gianforte, 56, a wealthy businessman who ran unsuccessfully for governor in November, had long been the front-runner against Democrat Rob Quist, a professional bluegrass musician making his first run for public office. With more than 90% of the votes counted, Gianforte was holding a healthy lead with just over 50% support. Appearing at an exuberant victory rally in Bozeman, the congressman-elect hushed the crowd and apologized to the reporter with whom he tangled on election eve, reversing his campaigns initial assertion that the journalist was to blame. Read More Facebook

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FBI investigating Kushner meetings, report says; House leader seeks more Comey documents By Associated Press (Andrew Harrer / Getty Images) The chairman of the House Oversight Committee asked the FBI on Thursday to turn over more documents about former FBI Director James B. Comeys interactions with the White House and Justice Department, including materials dating back nearly four years to the Obama administration. Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported that the FBI is investigating meetings that President Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, had in December with Russian officials. The FBI and the Oversight Committee  as well as several other congressional panels  are looking into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and possible connections between Russia and the Trump campaign. Trump fired Comey on May 9 amid questions about the FBIs investigation, which is now being led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, a former FBI director. Kushner, a key White House advisor, had meetings late last year with Russias ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, and Russian banker Sergey Gorkov. The Post story cited anonymous people familiar with the investigation, who said the FBI investigation does not mean that Kushner is suspected of a crime. Kushners attorney, Jamie Gorelick, released a statement saying: Mr. Kushner previously volunteered to share with Congress what he knows about these meetings. He will do the same if he is contacted in connection with any other inquiry. Earlier Thursday, House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz told acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe that he wants records of Comeys contacts with the White House and Justice Department dating to September 2013, when Comey was sworn in as FBI director under President Obama. In a letter to McCabe, Chaffetz said he is seeking to review Comeys memos and other written materials so he can better understand Comeys communications with the White House and attorney generals office. Facebook

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Banks want higher debit-card swipe fees, but an effort to allow them has crumbled By Jim Puzzanghera Banks had hoped Congress would let them charge merchants higher fees to process debit card purchases, but an effort to allow that has crumbled  a victory for retailers and, possibly, shoppers who might have had to shoulder those costs. In the latest chapter of a long-running fight, a repeal of federal limits on so-called swipe fees no longer will be part of a House financial regulation bill, said the legislations author, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas). Hensarling, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said he decided to strip the provision from the bill because many lawmakers are balking at removing the limits. Read More Facebook

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Appeals court rules against Trump travel ban By David Lauter A federal appeals court has ruled against President Trumps travel ban, upholding a nationwide injunction barring the administration from enforcing the executive order. The ruling is the latest legal setback for Trump on the travel issue and, like several previous court rulings, the outcome rested heavily on his own words. Trumps order restricting travel from six majority-Muslim countries speaks with vague words of national security, but in context drips with religious intolerance, animus and discrimination, Chief Judge Roger L. Gregory of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in his ruling. Read the 4th Circuits decision to uphold the block on Trumps travel ban The 10-3 ruling included numerous citations to campaign statements in which Trump called for a ban on Muslims immigrating to the United States. The plaintiffs who have challenged the travel order have argued that it is a disguised version of the Muslim ban that he called for during the campaign. Trumps statements provide direct, specific evidence of what motivated both EO-1 and EO-2, the court said, referring to ther first and second versions of the travel order: President Trumps desire to exclude Muslims from the United States. The 4th Circuit, based in Richmond, Va., is one of two appeals courts that have recently heard arguments on the travel ban. A similar case is pending before the 9th Circuit, based in San Francisco. Read More Facebook

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Obama, in Berlin with Merkel, says world cant hide behind a wall By Erik Kirschbaum Hours before German Chancellor Angela Merkel flew to Brussels to meet with President Trump and other NATO heads of state, she rekindled an old acquaintance with Trumps predecessor, Barack Obama. About 70,000 people packed an avenue by Berlins landmark Brandenburg Gate on Thursday to hear the two leaders speak, with cheers and chants of Barack, Barack! breaking out when the former president took the stage. Without mentioning Trump by name, Obama spoke of the need for universal healthcare and a nuanced approach to immigration in response to security threats. This is a new world we live in  we cant isolate ourselves, the former president declared, with Merkel looking on. We cant hide behind a wall. Obama spoke of this weeks deadly bombing at a pop concert in Manchester, England, saying leaders had to find ways to balance security fears and fundamental rights. One of the biggest challenges is how do you protect your country and your citizens from the kinds of things that we just saw in Manchester, he said. And how do you do it in a way that is consistent with your values and your ideals? Making his first European speech since his presidential term ended, Obama told the crowd he had spent the last four months trying to catch up with my sleep and devoting more time to his family. Im very proud of the work I did as president, he said to more cheers, adding that he considered healthcare reform a signature achievement. Republicans are now in the midst of trying to dismantle his Affordable Care Act. My hope was to get 100% of people healthcare, he said. We didnt quite achieve that, but we were able to get 20 million people healthcare who didnt have it before. Obamas speech was not timed to coincide with Trumps first visit to Europe as president, aides said. The invitation was extended before Trumps trip to Brussels  the fourth leg on multi-stop tour  was scheduled. Facebook

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Macron says he pressed Trump on climate accord By Catherine Stupp French President Emmanuel Macron, who met President Trump for the first time on Thursday, said he urged the U.S. leader to respect the Paris climate accord. The White House, however, did not mention the issue in its readout on Trumps working lunch in Brussels with the newly elected French president. Macron told reporters as he headed into the meeting that climate change would be one of the issues he raised, along with concerns about terrorism and the economy. Afterward, at a news conference, the French president said that in his talk with Trump, he reiterated the importance of the landmark climate accord. No hasty decision on this subject should be taken by the U.S., Macron said. Our collective responsibility is to make sure this commitment remains a global commitment. Referring to the agreement, he added: Its one of a kind. In its readout, the White House said Trump urged Macron to meet NATO commitments on French defense spending and help ensure that the alliance is focused on counter-terrorism. It also said the two leaders talked about the importance of defeating Islamic State and other vital issues. Facebook

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Trump lawyers ask Supreme Court to reject 2nd Amendment claim by men who lost gun rights over nonviolent crimes By David Savage President Trump speaks at an NRA event in Atlanta in April. ( Scott Olson / Getty Images) Trump administration lawyers are urging the Supreme Court to reject a 2nd Amendment claim that would restore the right to own a gun for two Pennsylvania men who were convicted more than 20 years ago of nonviolent crimes. The case of Sessions vs. Binderup puts the new administration in a potentially awkward spot, considering President Trumps repeated assurances during the campaign that he would protect gun ownership rights under the 2nd Amendment. But the Justice Department under Trump has embraced the same position in this case that was adopted under President Obama: to defend strict enforcement of a long-standing federal law that bars convicted criminals from ever owning a gun, even when their crimes did not involve violence. Read More Facebook

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Former Sen. Joe Lieberman withdraws from FBI director search By Associated Press (AFP/Getty Images) Former Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut has withdrawn his name from consideration for the role of FBI director. Lieberman interviewed last week with President Trump, who publicly identified him as a leading candidate. But in a letter sent to the White House, Lieberman says hes pulling out. He says he wants to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, given Trumps hiring of one of Liebermans law partners to represent him in the investigation of ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. The White House declined to comment. Several other people interviewed for the job have also withdrawn from consideration. Trump fired former FBI Director James B. Comey earlier this month. Facebook

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At NATO celebration, Trump tells allies to spend more on defense By Michael A. Memoli (Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images) President Trump used his first NATO meeting to rebuke member nations who fail to meet the trans-Atlantic alliances defense spending target, saying American taxpayers unfairly are left to pick up the slack. Speaking at dedication ceremonies for NATOs new headquarters, Trump noted that the defense budgets of 23 of the 28 members dont meet a target equal to 2% of each respective nations economic output, while the United States has spent more on defense in eight years than the other 27 combined. Many of these nations owe massive amounts of money from past years, he said. We have to make up for the many years lost. By his scolding, Trump was directly delivering to NATO allies the criticism that was a staple of his nationalist campaign for president. But his lecture came at an event intended to be celebratory, showcasing unity and resolve for the nearly 70-year-old alliance: the dedication of its shining, glass-enclosed new headquarters in Belgiums capital. The ceremony also was meant to call attention to the fact that the only time NATO has invoked its collective defense agreement was on behalf of the United States, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. Trump stood beside a section of wrenched steel from the downed World Trade Center Towers, a relic NATO calls the Article V artifact, to signify that post-9/11 invocation of the NATO charters article holding that an attack on any one member would be considered an attack on all. Speaking to reporters before the president arrived, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged that the alliance had a long way to go to meet its goals. But its much better than it was just two years ago, he said. The reality is that when we decrease defense spending when tensions are going down, as we did after the end of the Cold War, we have to be able to increase defense spending when tensions are going up. And now we see that tensions are going up. Facebook

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Watch: Trump lectures NATO leaders on defense spending By L.A. Times staff  As NATO leaders looked on, President Trump told NATO members that they must finally contribute their fair share of defense payments. President Trump lectured members of the NATO alliance on Thursday, urging them to pay their fair share on defense. As NATO leaders looked on during a ceremony at the alliances new headquarters, Trump said that member nations must finally contribute their fair share and meet their obligations. The president has been urging NATO leaders to live up to a 2011 decision to increase spending on defense to 2% of GDP by 2024. Trump said 23 of the 28 member nations are not paying what they should and that the situation is not fair to the people of the United States. Facebook

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President Trump promises to review Manchester investigation leaks after anger from Britain By Noah Bierman Trying to head off a diplomatic rift with Britain, President Trump on Thursday issued a statement promising a complete review of possible intelligence leaks related to this weeks deadly terrorist attack at a Manchester concert. Some British officials have suggested that U.S. officials are leaking sensitive information to American media outlets about the investigation into the attack. The New York Times posted forensic photographs collected from the scene of the Manchester concert bombing, which upset British officials. Whether the photographs were provided by U.S. officials or came from some other source is not publicly known. Trump avoided questions earlier Thursday about the possible leaks. His statement came just before he was set to address NATO at its new headquarters in a speech considered pivotal to his first trip abroad as president. British Prime Minister Theresa May was expected to confront Trump over the issue when they meet later in the day. May told reporters as she entered the NATO gathering that she would make clear to Trump that intelligence shared between law enforcement agencies must remain secure. We have a special relationship with the USA. Its our deepest defense and security partnership that we have, she said. Of course that partnership is built on trust, and part of that trust is knowing that intelligence can be shared confidently, and I will be making clear to President Trump today that intelligence shared between law enforcement agencies must remain secure. In his statement, Trump said that the alleged leaks coming out of government agencies are deeply troubling. These leaks have been going on for a long time, and my Administration will get to the bottom of this. The leaks of sensitive information pose a grave threat to our national security. The statement continued with a promise to request the Department of Justice and other relevant agencies to

launch a complete review of this matter, and if appropriate, the

culprit should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Trump also reiterated said there is no relationship we cherish more than the special relationship between the two countries. Separate leaks within his own administration and related to investigations of his campaign ties to Russia have also been a source of anger to Trump. Facebook

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Montanas congressional election: that assault charge, the Trump factor, and why is it on a weird day (Thursday)? By Mark Z. Barabak Its election day in Montana after a wild 24 hours, with voters deciding who will fill the House seat vacated when Republican Ryan Zinke left to head the Interior Department under President Trump. The contest Thursday has drawn nationwide attention and an extraordinary amount of money  and that was before the GOP front-runner was accused of attacking a national political reporter. The events have turned the contest into one of the strangest in memory. Read More Facebook

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Trump ignores questions about intelligence sharing ahead of NATO meeting By Michael A. Memoli (Peter Dejoing / Associated Press) President Trump refused to answer questions Thursday about concerns among key allies on intelligence sharing with the United States, just as he prepares to join many of them here to inaugurate the new NATO headquarters. During a brief photo opportunity at his first meeting with Emmanuel Macron, Frances newly elected president, Trump for a second time remained silent as a reporter asked about a potential breakdown in the U.S.-United Kingdom intelligence-sharing relationship. British Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to press Trump on the issue when they meet later Thursday, after the New York Times posted forensic photographs collected from the scene of the Manchester concert bombing. The acting U.S. ambassador to Britain told the BBC that the leaks were deeply distressing. Speaking to reporters at the site of a NATO leaders meeting, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also deflected questions about whether the incident has led him to reevaluate his nations intelligence-sharing arrangements. We will continue to work with all our allies to keep Canadians and all citizens around the world safe, he said. Ahead of a working lunch with Macron, Trump said terrorism was at the top of the agenda, while also offering his congratulations to the 39-year-old for his tremendous victory. All over the world, theyre talking about it, he said. In addition to terrorism and the economy, Macron said he planned to discuss climate change and energy. His nation hosted the climate summit that produced the agreement under which countries pledged to reduce their carbon emissions, of which the Trump administration is considering dropping out. Trump also ignored a question about whether former national security advisor Michael Flynn should cooperate with the investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Trump has no news conference scheduled with reporters for the entirety of his eight-day foreign trip, which ends Saturday. Facebook

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Trump visits European Union headquarters; EU leaders cite some differences By Catherine Stupp Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, said Thursday that differences remain between the Trump administration and the European Union on Russia, energy and trade. I am not 100 percent sure that we can say today that we have a common opinion about Russia, Tusk, a former Polish prime minister who is sometimes called the other Donald, said after a meeting with President Trump at EU headquarters. Tusk added that while some issues remain open, like climate and trade, the leaders agreed first and foremost on the need to combat terrorism. EU officials were skeptical in advance of Trumps visit. Their concerns were driven in part by the U.S. leaders positive stance on Britains vote last year to leave the bloc. Trump at the time called it a great idea. However, he has since spoken of the importance of European unity. European officials are also concerned that the Trump administration might withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate agreement to limit global warming, and turn away from trade arrangements with the EU. Trumps visit to Brussels marked the fourth leg of his first overseas trip. Before heading into the talks with Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, he spoke enthusiastically about his earlier stops in Saudi Arabia and at the Vatican. His ceremonial welcome last week in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, Trump told the European officials, was beyond anything anyones seen. The Saudis staged elaborate festivities including a traditional sword dance. And the president called his private encounter with Pope Francis on Wednesday very impressive. The president and the pontiff met privately for half an hour, and Francis presented Trump with gifts including a copy of a papal encyclical on climate change. The pope was terrific, Trump said. After the visit to the EUs sprawling new headquarters, Trump headed to a luncheon with the newly elected French president, Emmanuel Macron. The two men were meeting for the first time. During the French presidential campaign, Trump had praised Macrons far-right opponent Marine Le Pen for her tough positions on immigration and borders, but he had stopped short of endorsing her. Facebook

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Manchester attack makes terrorism the focus of Trumps NATO meeting By Michael A. Memoli (Emmanuel Dunand / AFP/Getty Images) The deadly suicide bombing in Britain and threats of more attacks thrust counter-terrorism to the top of President Trumps agenda for talks with NATO leaders here on Thursday, buttressing his bid to enlist the alliance he had called obsolete to join the fight against Islamic State. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, anticipating the alliance meetings, told reporters flying with the president to Brussels from Rome, where Trump met Pope Francis earlier Wednesday, that Mondays attack in Britain is going to strengthen the resolve in this fight against terrorism. Tillerson stopped short of predicting that NATO would agree to formally join the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, but said it would be a really important step if the alliance did so. The attack, which killed 22 people at a pop concert and was said to be the work of a 22-year-old British man whose family is from Libya, also figured in Trumps brief meeting with the pope at the Vatican. Read More Facebook

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Analysis says 23 million more people would be uninsured by 2026 under GOP healthcare bill By Noam N. Levey (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) An analysis released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office finds that the Republican healthcare bill that passed the House earlier this month would nearly double the number of Americans without health insurance over the next decade. The report likely will complicate Republican efforts to get the controversial bill through the Senate. Read More Facebook

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By throwing Americas lot in with Sunni Arabs, does Trump miss opportunities with Iran? By Tracy Wilkinson On his first official trip to the Middle East, President Trump has resoundingly thrown Americas lot in with Sunni Arab states and cast Shiite Iran as a global pariah, even as Iranians reelected a president who has offered to work with the West. During his two days in Riyadh, Trumps full-throated support for the autocratic monarchies in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, as well as his fierce denunciation of Iran, allowed him to claim an historic new coalition of interests. In the next two days, in Jerusalem, he doubled down and argued that Israel and the Arabs should join forces against Iran and along the way, resolve Israels conflict with Palestinians in a grand bargain that has eluded diplomats for decades. But as he departed for Rome on Tuesday, Trump had little to show beyond lofty rhetoric, symbolic visits and a shower of flattery from kings, potentates and a prime minister. Read More Facebook

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Fed officials appear ready for another interest rate hike and are considering how to reduce assets By Jim Puzzanghera Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet L. Yellen (Michael Dwyer / Associated Press) Most Federal Reserve monetary policymakers indicated they were ready for another small interest rate hike -- perhaps as soon as next month -- if economic data strengthened as expected following a weak winter, according to an account released Wednesday of their most recent meeting. Fed officials also considered a plan to start reducing the $4.5 trillion in Treasury and mortgage securities and other assets the central bank has purchased since 2008 in an attempt to stimulate the economy. The plan, which they said likely would begin later this year, would involve slowly allowing some of the maturing securities to be cashed in instead of reinvesting the money in new securities, the meeting minutes showed. The goal would be to avoid roiling financial markets and causing interest rates to jump. Read More Facebook

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So whats with the president and Melania Trump holding, or not holding, hands? By Tom Kington First Lady Melania Trump does not say much in public, but her actions seemed to speak louder than words  or at least sent tongues wagging  when she appeared to rebuff the presidents proffered hand as the couple descended from their plane in Rome late Tuesday. As President Trump looked to take her hand on the steps of Air Force One, Melania Trump quickly moved it out of reach, raising it to her head to adjust her hair. That made for two such episodes in two days. She had appeared to brush Trumps hand away at the airport in Tel Aviv during the previous stop in the presidents foreign tour. Video of that scene, often accompanied by snarky commentary, quickly went viral. Compare that to Melania Trumps positively hands-on visit on Wednesday to a Rome childrens hospital, Bambino Gesu, following the couples visit with Pope Francis. After praying to a statue of the Madonna at the entrance to the hospital, the Catholic first lady smiled cheerfully and chatted to children, posing for selfies and providing a very happy, maternal presence, according to one onlooker. Great visiting you! Stay strong and positive! Much love, Melania Trump, she wrote in the visitors book. Staff at the hospital said Melania Trump had been buoyed by her meeting with Pope Francis, and further proof came when photos emerged of the Trumps quick visit to the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday. As the president and first lady stood together to admire Michelangelos 16th century fresco, the Last Judgment, they held hands. Facebook

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House Intelligence Committee will subpoena Michael Flynn, Schiff says By Sarah D. Wire The House Intelligence Committee is preparing to issue subpoenas to President Trumps former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, according to the committees ranking Democrat, following the lead of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) said the House subpoenas will be designed to maximize our chance of getting the information we need for the committees investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign. I think we need to use whatever compulsory [processes] necessary to get the information that he possesses, Schiff said. Earlier this week, Flynns lawyers said he would refuse separate Senate subpoenas for any records about his former business dealings with Russia, citing his constitutional right to avoid self-incrimination. The Senate committee then issued separate subpoenas to two of Flynns businesses, which the panel said were not entitled to 5th Amendment protections. A federal grand jury in Virginia also has issued subpoenas regarding Flynns business dealings with Turkey and Russia, and the newly appointed special counsel investigating the Russia matter, Robert Mueller III, is expected to focus on Flynns role as well. Given the criminal investigations, Schiff said the House panel is highly unlikely to grant Flynns earlier request, through his lawyers, for immunity in exchange for his testimony. He said the panel would need more information about what Flynn would say and whether the testimony would be truthful. It also would need to ensure that granting immunity wouldnt affect the special counsels ongoing investigation, he said. Thats not somthinge I think we would entertain until far later, if at all, said Schiff, a former prosecutor. Certainly count me as very skeptical that we would get to that point. Trump forced Flynn to resign as national security advisor in February after news accounts revealed Flynn had misled White House officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, about his contacts with Russian officials. Schiff spoke to reporters at a breakfast Wednesday hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. Facebook

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Watch live: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos testifies on Trumps budget Follow live coverage from Times education reporter Joy Resmovits: Facebook

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Israel acknowledges pinpoint change needed after Trump intelligence disclosure By Joshua Mitnick After a week of silence, Israel publicly acknowledged for the first time, though in oblique terms, that it was the source of sensitive intelligence that President Trump shared with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last week in a White House meeting. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israels army radio on Wednesday that Israeli officials had carried out an internal pinpoint correction after discussing and reviewing the episode. Lieberman did not elaborate, and declined to confirm or deny whether Trumps remarks had endangered an agent of Israel. But he said his government considered the matter resolved. Everything that needed to be clarified with the friends in the U.S. was done, he said. All of the conclusions we had to draw  it was all done. The Israeli defense ministers comments came the day after Trump wrapped up a two-day visit to Israel and the West Bank. When word of Trumps disclosure to Lavrov emerged in U.S. news reports last week, the defense minister and other Israeli leaders confined themselves to expressing public confidence in the two countries intelligence cooperation. Israel did not comment more directly, presumably to avoid embarrassing the U.S. president just before his visit. But Trump himself mentioned the controversy anyway, in an awkward on-camera moment during the trip. With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu biting his lip alongside, Trump volunteered to reporters being hustled out of a news appearance: Just so you know, I never mentioned the word or name Israel. Never mentioned it during the conversation. News reports, however, had not said the president mentioned Israel in connection with the intelligence, only that the specificity of his remarks to Lavrov would in all likelihood have allowed the Russians to determine the source. The White House at first denied Trumps disclosure to Lavrov had occurred as reported, but then the president himself tweeted about it, saying he had the right to share information as he deemed fit. Facebook

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Trump calls meeting with Pope Francis an honor By Michael A. Memoli "A very great honor," Trump says to the pope when they began their meeting in the pope's private study pic.twitter.com/NGsbsahAyT  Carol Lee (@carolelee) May 24, 2017 President Trump held a half-hour private meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Wednesday, declaring it a great honor despite their past public dissension. The unconventional Republican and the first Jesuit pontiff made for an unlikely pair in the Vaticans Apostolic Palace, where Catholic leaders have presided or centuries and American presidents have come or decades. Francis was silent as the two sat across one another at the popes wooden desk to begin the audience at approximately 8:30 a.m. local time. Exactly a half-hour later, the ringing of a bell signified the end of the private encounter. For the White House, the Vatican stop caps a tour through key sites of the worlds three major religions, following stops in Saudi Arabia and Israel, designed to promote tolerance and a united approach to terrorism. When you put it all together, youre really showing that this problem of radical extremism is one of the great problems of our time, a senior Trump aide told reporters Tuesday en route from Israel to Rome, briefing anonymously as is common White House practice. By putting everybody together you can really build a coalition and show that its not a Muslim problem, its not a Jewish problem, its not a Catholic problem, its not a Christian problem, it really is a world problem. In an exchange of gifts after their private meeting, Francis offered the president a medal by a Roman artist of an olive, a symbol of peace. We can use peace, Trump responded. Where Trumps and Francis interests may align on peace and combating terrorism, they disagree sharply on issues like immigration and poverty. Like Trump, the Argentine pope has shown a predilection for unscripted comments that have shaken the staid Vatican bureaucracy, as when he criticized candidate Trumps proposed stricter immigration policies including a border wall as not Christian. Trump fired back, calling the popes remarks disgraceful. Any animosity was not apparent Wednesday, as a meeting between Francis and a larger U.S. delegation ended. Thank you. I wont forget what you said, Trump said. Facebook

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Proposed budget would deeply cut State Department and its programs By Tracy Wilkinson (AFP / Getty Images) The State Department leadership voiced support for President Trumps proposed budget, which would impose deep cuts on spending for diplomacy and foreign aid, but critics vowed to fight to restore the funds in Congress. In a statement, the department said the presidents $37.6-billion request for it and for the U.S. Agency for International Development would support a leaner, more efficient government in line with Trumps America first mantra. If approved by Congress, that would represent a reduction of roughly 30% from the current fiscal year. Nongovernmental agencies that receive State Department support to carry out humanitarian and other work around the globe expressed deep alarm. The State Department statement said its new priorities would include efforts to counter terrorism, support Israel, promote border security and battle transnational crime and the spread of infectious diseases. The statement makes no mention of women-empowerment programs or efforts to fight climate change, issues that rose to prominence under the Obama administration. The proposed budget would allow the United States to remain engaged in the United Nations, but officials would seek a more fair distribution of the funding burden, the statement said. And it would eliminate direct funding for quasi- and non-governmental organizations that serve niche missions. The American Jewish World Service, which fights poverty all over the world through 450 local organizations, said much of its work would be jeopardized. At a time when poverty, human rights abuses, famines and conflicts are wreaking havoc globally, said the groups president, Robert Bank, the United States must not abdicate its long bipartisan tradition of providing development assistance and diplomatic support to the most vulnerable people around the world. Mercy Corps, a U.S.-based development and advocacy organization that works in 40 countries, said gutting development programs was short-sighted and absolutely shameful and could put millions of lives at risk. Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), ranking member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, called the budget cruel and mean-spirited and said it would force the United States to abandon our global role as a champion for freedom, democracy and the rule of law. If President Trump thinks the United States can shrink into a defensive crouch without long-term repercussions, hes sorely mistaken, Engel said. Facebook

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Sessions first proposed budget: A crackdown on immigration and violent crime By Joseph Tanfani Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) In the first budget proposal under President Trump and Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, the Justice Department is seeking hundreds of millions in new funding to pay for an immigration crackdown on the border and a surge in resources to fight violent crime. Like the Department of Homeland Security budget, which includes billions for expanded immigration detention, more border agents and technology to catch those crossing the border illegally, the Justice Department budget is a reflection of the new get-tough policies promised by Sessions. The budget asks for another 300 federal prosecutors  230 to focus on violent criminals and gangs, and another 70 to concentrate on filing criminal charges on those crossing the border illegally. The shift in the spending priorities are in line with other policy changes ordered by Sessions, including a renewed focus on seeking stiff mandatory minimum sentences for drugs and other crimes. The $27.7-billion budget seeks 450 new attorneys and support workers for the immigration courts, which are now clogged with a backlog of 560,000 cases. There would also be another $50 million for increased immigration detention, plus 40 new U.S. marshal jobs to help take care of the expected increase in immigrants heading to federal court. With Trumps immigration initiatives tied up in federal court, the budget seeks another 15 lawyers to handle that litigation, plus 12 more to help handle property acquisition needed for Trumps promised Southwestern border wall. Violent-crime enforcement would get another $198 million, with the largest amount, $70 million, going toward setting up more anti-violence and gang task forces. Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod J. Rosenstein said more resources are needed because of what he called an alarming increase in the rates of murder and other violent crimes. The department is also asking for another $40 million for more drug enforcement to combat the opioid epidemic, which he said is spreading havoc throughout the United States. Sessions new policies should lead to an increase in prison population, so the budget contains funding to fully open a new supermax prison in Thomson, Ill., with room for 1,500 to 2,000 inmates. The department also wants to put more resources behind the FBIs efforts to counter cyber attacks and to figure out ways around encryption technology, along with another 50 agents to counter foreign intelligence and threats from homegrown terrorists. Facebook

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Economists say Trumps budget proposal doesnt add up By Don Lee President Trumps inaugural budget proposal claims to eliminate the nations deficit in 10 years, thanks largely to faster economic growth that it projects will come from the presidents sweeping tax cuts. Never mind the overly optimistic projections on economic growth. Or that Trumps tax overhaul has not happened yet. Even allowing for both, economists say Trumps budget still does not add up. The administration is counting on generating $2.1 trillion in additional revenue over 10 years from better economic growth. But Trumps budget proposal leaves out the cost, or the revenue lost, from the massive tax cuts. In other words, the economic gains that the administration has said it would use to pay for tax reform is apparently also being counted on to pay for deficit reduction. Some people call that double-counting. You cant use the same money twice, said Marc Goldwein, a senior vice president for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan group that advocates keeping government budgets under control. Lawrence Summers, former Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration and top economic advisor to President Obama, called it an elementary but egregious accounting error. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the right-leaning American Action Forum and former director of the Congressional Budget Office, said the proposal did not necessarily mean there was an outright omission or a double-counting. Its possible that the administration is looking for such strong economic growth to drive significantly extra revenue from payroll taxes, he said, or it could be that Trump officials were using different base lines from which they were drawing their results. But on the face of it, he said, the budget and tax-plan numbers dont seem to match. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has estimated that Trumps plan to cut corporate and individual taxes would cost the federal government about $5.5 trillion over 10 years, adding more than $6 trillion to the national debt. Details of Trumps tax overhaul, however, are still being developed, and its possible that the administration is assuming a revenue-neutral tax plan  although experts say big tax cuts never pay for themselves. On Tuesday, Mick Mulvaney, Trumps budget chief, did not provide a direct answer or explanation to questions about double-counting. Instead, he told reporters that you have to make assumptions about a budget. He went on to say that one of the assumptions that was not made was to take into account the uncollected taxes every year, which he said amounted to $486 billion last year. And we dont assume an additional penny of that being closed as part of our tax reform, said Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget. Of the 3% annual economic growth assumption, Mulvaney responded that the Obama administration in its first couple of years had based its budget on growth of 4.5%. In fact, Obamas first budget proposal as president, in May 2009, assumed economic growth of between 4% and 4.6% for the budget years 2011 to 2013. Since the Great Recession ended in mid-2009, the U.S. economy has been growing on average about 2% a year, and the Congressional Budget Office, the Federal Reserve and most private economists see the economy advancing at about 2% annually over the next 10 years. Alice Rivlin, a former Fed vice chair and director of the Office of Management and Budget under Clinton, said its true that the Obama administrations growth assumptions proved too optimistic. But she noted that those projections were not unreasonable for that time and period in the economic cycle. Then, there was greater potential for growth with unemployment high and many more people than today available for work. Today, the economy is nearing its eighth year of expansion, and the jobless rate is 4.4%, at or near full employment. With the aging of baby boomers, labor force growth slowing, and lackluster productivity gains, economists see the current moderate growth persisting for the foreseeable future. This has been a very long period of growth and were at the high end already, Rivlin said. If we are so lucky to have continuous, steady growth, its not likely to be at 3% or 4% or 5%. Facebook

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Who wins and who loses in Trumps budget The White House Office of Management and Budget sent Congress the presidents inaugural budget today, projecting spending and revenues over the next 10 years. The fiscal package, which include a partial skinny budget from March, reflects President Trumps priorities for the nation, but lawmakers are sure to reject many of the deep cuts in domestic and foreign affairs programs. The departments of State, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Education and Housing, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, are the biggest losers. The winners are the Pentagon and Homeland Security programs. Even with the increases in defense spending and large tax cuts, the administration projects that economic growth spurred by tax cuts will erase annual deficits by 2027. Take a look at some of the numbers released today. Read More Facebook

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What that Montana special congressional race will  and wont  tell us about Trump and his political problems By Mark Z. Barabak Democrat Rob Quist is a quintessential cowboy who doesnt seem to relish campaigning in Montanas special congressional election. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images) On Thursday, the political world will eagerly look to Montana and a closely fought congressional race for the latest test of Democratic strength and Republican resilience in the turbulent age of Trump. The major candidates and outside groups have sunk more than $8 million into the contest, a huge sum in a state where $250,000 pays for a robust week of television advertising. But for all that money and all the outside interest, the election will turn less on national trends than circumstances close to home: on the personalities and histories of the main contestants, their different campaign styles and, perhaps most of all, on who is regarded as the more authentic Montanan. Read More Facebook

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Terrorist attack in England has conservative media focused on safety of allies By Kurtis Lee (Dave Thompson/Getty images ) Its a sight witnessed all too often: an explosion, screams, people sprinting to safety. Late Monday night, this was the scene at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, after a man with possible ties to Islamic State militants set off a suicide bomb, killing 22 people and, once again, setting in motion a global discourse on how to fight terrorism. President Trump, while visiting Bethlehem, said the attack was committed by evil losers in life. Throughout the campaign and early in his presidency, Trump has said defeating the Islamic State is a top priority. (He reiterated that point in a speech Sunday in Saudi Arabia, urging Muslim leaders to plot their own course in combating terrorism.) In recent months, with attacks in Berlin, Paris and London, conservative media have questioned the safety of Europe and warned that the United States could face similar attacks. With the latest attack, some on the right are again homing in on the safety of our allies. Here are some of todays headlines: 2017 has seen a terror attack attempted in Europe every nine days (Breitbart) The attack in Manchester blankets the home page of the right-wing website. Europe has indeed been the location of high-profile attacks this year. In Paris last month, Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack on the Champs-Elysees in which a man fired an automatic weapon, killing a police officer. And in March, a man plowed his car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, near the British Parliament in London, and then fatally stabbed a police officer. In all, four people were killed and dozens injured in what police called a terrorist attack. The Breitbart piece is an analysis of different terrorist attacks attempted and carried out in Europe since January. Attacks and attempted attacks have taken place in Austria, France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Italy, Russia, Sweden, Norway, and Germany, on average every nine days, the piece says. Pences message of civility and open debate lost on those who most needed to hear it (Weekly Standard) The debate over free speech on colleges campuses continues. In recent months, conservative speakers have canceled speeches on college campuses in the face of anticipated protests. And others, who have opted to speak, have faced vocal backlash. On Sunday, as Vice President Mike Pence began to address students at the University of Notre Dame commencement, several dozen stood and walked out of the ceremony. In his speech, Pence talked about civility and open debate, and this piece argues that the m
Long after the victims are laid to rest and the shell casings are collected and cataloged, new research shows, mass shootings have a lasting ripple effect: For several weeks after the mayhem stops, a shooters deadly rampage pumps a higher-than-usual number of firearms into general circulation in the United States.

A study published this week in Annals of Internal Medicine finds that in the six weeks following the 2012 shootings at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., acquisitions of handguns in California alone ticked 53% higher than usual rates.

And, in the six weeks following the 2015 shootings in San Bernardino, in which 14 were killed and 22 others seriously wounded, handgun purchases in the state increased 41% over normal sales volumes.

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In and around the city of San Bernardino, the spurt was especially dramatic: Gun sales there rose by 85% in the six weeks following the rampage by American-born Syed Rizwan Farook and his Pakistani-born wife, Tashfeen Malik.

The additional 53,000 handguns that found their way into California households following the Newtown and San Bernardino assaults represent a tiny fraction of the estimated 30 million firearms privately owned statewide. But the study suggests that mass shootings are prompting the introduction of handguns into households that had never had them before, and spurring gun ownership among people  including women and Latinos  who have rarely bought them in the past.

As mass shootings continue unabated, the additional gun sales they spur have the power, bit by bit, to nudge the nations arsenal of privately held weapons  estimated to be 310 million in 2009  ever higher.

A large number of smaller spikes could add up to a major addition to the number of guns in a community, said Stanford University injury-prevention researcher David M. Studdert, the studys lead author.

The new findings, drawn from gun acquisition records in the Golden State, may well be a conservative gauge of how much mass shootings drive increases in gun sales and ownership. In California, would-be gun buyers must clear many more hurdles than exist in most states, including a 10-day waiting period, a purchase limit of one gun per month and a safety training requirement.

In an editorial published alongside the new study, Daniel W. Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, wrote that in states with fewer restrictions and a more robust culture of gun ownership, it seems likely that gun acquisitions inspired by mass shootings would be greater.

The new findings didnt just document increases in gun sales. They compared sales in the brief period following a highly publicized shooting to well-established patterns of gun sales, which vary seasonally and with events such as national elections.

The finding that gun sales exceeded expected levels jibes with less rigorous observations by gun researchers and journalists, who frequently chronicle runs on gun stores following mass shootings.

But the motives that drive those purchases are a matter of intense debate. Some have argued that those increases are largely driven by gun enthusiasts. Anecdotal evidence suggests that, in the wake of mass shootings, many gun owners fear the adoption of new limits on access to firearms. These consumers act quickly to buy or stockpile controversial weapons while they can.

That impetus may only be part of the picture. Instead, the new research offers evidence that in the wake of mass shootings, some citizens  probably rattled by the randomness of these events  conclude that owning a gun will make them safer.

The new studys dissection of gun sales following two widely publicized events points to self-defense as an important prod to gun buying after a mass shooting. In particular, gun acquisition among two groups of people  women and first-time gun owners  bolsters that conclusion.

As buyers of handguns, men typically outnumber women 10 to 1. While men continued to be the leading buyers of handguns after a mass shooting, the bump in handgun purchases by women was 75% higher than usual after the Newtown shooting and 50% higher after the San Bernardino attack. (For men, the sales increased 48% and 38%, respectively, after the two shootings.)

People who had never bought a gun before were disproportionately more likely to buy a gun in the aftermath of a mass shooting as well. Handgun purchases by first-time buyers rose 72% more than expected after Newtown and 52% more than expected after San Bernardino, compared with increases of 35% and 29%, respectively, among established gun owners.

In the wake of the shootings in Newtown, the National Rifle Assn.s Wayne LaPierre famously asserted that the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

The research says exactly the opposite, counters Dr. Garen Wintemute, an emergency department physician who directs the violence prevention research program at UC Davis. A welter of research on households and states has found that higher rates of gun ownership are consistently linked to increased risks of suicide, of death or injury resulting from domestic violence and of firearms-related violence and injury, he noted.

That so many consumers react to mass shootings by bringing a handgun into the home means we have been unable to translate our research knowledge into public awareness, Wintemute said.

The new analysis did not consider rifles, which in 2014 and 2015 accounted for 45% of all rearm acquisitions in California. State data suggest, however, that before and after San Bernardino, the acquisition of such long guns saw increases that tracked with those seen in handgun sales. So handguns may represent only about one-half of the total rearm acquisition response in California to the San Bernardino shooting, the study authors suggested.

Regardless of how they are defined (whether three or four people must be killed, for instance), mass shootings have become a regular  some say escalating  feature of American life. If they drive even modest bumps in handgun ownership, the cumulative effect of such shocks ... may be substantial, the authors concluded. These events may drive nontrivial increases in overall rearm prevalence, which may in turn increase the risk for rearm-related morbidity and mortality in the long run.

As durable goods, Wintemute noted, handguns can be expected to last for decades. And so might the risks that come with owning them.

Someone may buy a handgun in his 20s and use it to kill himself in his 60s, said Wintemute. Theres the potential for long-lasting harm every time one of these events occurs, and theres this excess in purchases. Thats especially true, he added, when that post-shooting boost in purchases extends gun ownership to households that had never had a firearm.

It just ratchets the risk up one extra notch, Wintemute said.

melissa.healy@latimes.com

@LATMelissaHealy

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Richard Figueroa still shudders at the memory of the calls he fielded as enrollment director of Californias special health plan for sick patients whod been rejected by insurers.

Desperate callers pleaded to get off the waiting list as cancer or other illnesses worsened. Enrollees struggled to understand why the plan would not cover all the treatment they needed.

Most heart-wrenching were the quiet, polite calls from those whod received a letter that a sick relative could finally get on the plan. They would say, Thank you, but you can give our slot to someone else, because my brother or my wife or my daughter has died, Figueroa recalled.

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Californias high-risk pool  like similar overstretched state plans around the country became obsolete when the Affordable Care Act established a new federal system to guarantee coverage to Americans even if theyre sick.

Now President Trump and congressional Republicans are trying to shift responsibility for overseeing health protections back to states. This approach, including re-creating state high-risk pools, is a cornerstone of the GOP healthcare bill that Republicans are laboring to get through the House this week.

GOP House leaders announced late Wednesday that they plan to hold a vote Thursday. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy predicted they have enough votes for passage, despite earlier struggles to win over moderates and conservatives.

But Californias experience underscores the limitations of what states can do on their own.

The nations most-populous state tried repeatedly over the years to plug the many holes in its healthcare system. Yet even with a huge economy, extensive medical system and committed advocates, including in powerful industries, California came up short, again and again.

We did all these things as stop-gaps, said Figueroa, who now works at the California Endowment, one of the states largest foundations. None of it was enough.

When President Obama signed the federal health law in 2010, nearly 20% of Californians  about 6 million people  lacked health coverage.

Today, by contrast, the states uninsured rate is below 9%, as California has used the federal funding and insurance rules enacted through the Affordable Care Act to extend health protections to hundreds of thousands of previously uncovered Californians.

Once we had that framework and the federal funding, we were off to the races, said Anthony Wright, the longtime head of Health Access California, one of the states leading consumer advocates. But without it, it was very, very hard.  We have the experience to show that if health reform was easy at the state level, California would have done it. We couldnt.

The states healthcare struggles are hardly unique.

In the decades before Obamacare, some states  including Arizona, Washington, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota and New York  tried to expand health protections for their residents by bolstering safety net health programs or rewriting insurance rules to ensure sick customers could get coverage.

But most states  including many with the highest uninsured rates, such as Texas, Florida and Georgia  never undertook serious efforts to guarantee coverage.

And although there were some modest successes, mostly in expanding Medicaid coverage, nearly every state effort to guarantee coverage failed until Obamacare made such protections possible nationwide.

In fact, in the last two decades, only Massachusetts successfully crafted a healthcare overhaul that provided all of its residents with insurance protections. That 2006 initiative  which was heavily subsidized by the last Bush administration  became the model for Obamacare.

We have the experience to show that if health reform was easy at the state level, California would have done it. We couldnt.  Anthony Wright, head of Health Access California

California elected officials labored for years to build their own system of health protections. The state long had among the highest uninsured rates, despite being a hub of healthcare innovation whose leading medical centers have been international destinations.

Medi-Cal, the states Medicaid safety net, was perpetually overburdened as it struggled to care for millions of poor Californians.

And insurance companies worked aggressively to exclude sick, costly customers, in many cases rescinding policies after customers got ill by alleging they misrepresented their medical histories.

The market was a disaster, said Tom Epstein, a former senior executive at Blue Shield of California, one of the states leading insurers.

Among other things, California tried to require large employers to provide health coverage to their workers, though that effort was defeated in a statewide referendum just months after it was enacted.

The state adopted insurance rules to give consumers more power to challenge decisions by health plans, though state leaders were never able to make insurers cover all sick patients.

In 1991, the state set up the Major Risk Medical Insurance Program, commonly called Mr. Mip, a high-risk insurance pool to offer a lifeline to patients whod been turned down for coverage on the commercial insurance market.

By the late 90s, the plan, which was funded in part by premiums and in part by a voter-approved tobacco tax, was serving 22,000 people.

But as premiums soared because insuring sick patients was so expensive, the program became increasingly difficult to sustain. Enrollment was capped, as were benefits. The plan would only cover $75,000 of enrollees medical costs per year.

By 2010, when Obamacare was signed, the cost for a 50-year-old consumer in the Sacramento area who wanted a PPO plan had soared to $878 a month.

It was a nice little program for a few thousand people, said Lucien Wulsin, former head of the Insure the Uninsured Project, a state advocacy group. But we never got close to reaching the hundreds of thousands of Californians who needed help.

Finally in 2007, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, launched a sweeping campaign to push through a major healthcare overhaul to extend coverage to millions of uninsured Californians.

The landmark effort, in which Schwarzenegger partnered with Democrats in the state Assembly, picked up critical support from hospitals, patient groups and even some insurers and leading businesses.

But the effort ultimately collapsed amid opposition from advocacy groups on the left and right, and questions about how the state could pay for extending health coverage.

Engaging in comprehensive reform is not for the faint of heart, said Kim Belshe, who served as health secretary under Schwarzenegger. You are talking about nearly 20% of the states economy. You are talking about issues that affect people in the most personal way. And you are dealing with the pocketbooks of a diverse array of healthcare providers, each of which have their own interests.

Belshe and others credit that effort for helping setting the stage for the states aggressive implementation of the Affordable Care Act, which Schwarzenegger and other state leaders enthusiastically embraced.

California has undertaken a massive expansion of its Medicaid program and runs an insurance marketplace  Covered California  that is widely seen as a national model.

The state has recorded among the largest drops in its uninsured population, and though costs remain a challenge, most California consumers can still shop among many health plans that are required by the state to offer lower out-of-pocket costs for some medical care than the federal standard.

Doctors, hospitals, insurers, patient advocates and elected officials now worry that progress in California will be reversed if the federal law is rolled back and the state is once again left on its own.

Said Figueroa: Its so odd to think that we would even consider going back to the bad old days.

noam.levey@latimes.com

Twitter: @noamlevey

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This article was orginally published at 11:40 a.m.
The renovated Lido Marina Village recently welcomed new stores to its waterfront retail center situated at the entrance to the Balboa Peninsula.

The latest stores are beauty shop Cos Bar, jewelry shop Broken English and activewear retailer Sweaty Betty.

Cos Bar, a luxury cosmetics and skincare boutique featuring products for men and women, originated 41 years ago in Aspen, Colo., and has since opened stores in Brentwood, Montecito and Wailea, Hawaii, among others.

The Newport Beach location carries more than 30 brands, including Sisley-Paris, Tom Ford and Tata Harper.

Broken English, a Los Angeles-based company featuring a mix of contemporary and vintage jewelry, offers pieces by Los Angeles designers, such as Jennifer Meyer, Anita Ko and Jacquie Aiche.

The boutiques newest address in Orange County also showcases a mix of contemporary brassware and ceramics, as well as antique and vintage finds from French fashion house Hermes and other brands.

British workout clothing line Sweaty Betty started in Notting Hill, London, and became known to women for its reversible yoga pants, prints, sculpting leggings and technical fabrics.

The styles are designed for multi-sport use, and the all-female design team created collections intended to go from studio to street.

This summer, Lido Marina Village also will welcome a few more tenants to the shopping center, including Sugar Paper, Lido Bottle Works, Bixby & Ball, Yolk and Lido Marina Village Electric Boat Rental.

Recently opened stores and restaurants include Japanese cuisine Nobu and Honor Coffee Roasters, a specialty coffee shop that started in Portland, Ore.

Lido Marina Village is at 3434 Via Lido, Newport Beach. The center is open from 10 a.m to 7 p.m. daily and store hours vary. For more information, visit lidomarinavillage.com.

kathleen.luppi@latimes.com

Twitter: @KathleenLuppi
The Newport Beach and Laguna Beach police departments will deploy additional officers Friday and Saturday in an effort to stem drunk driving over Cinco de Mayo weekend.

The officers will be on the lookout for drunk drivers or those who are under the influence of marijuana or prescription drugs, the departments announced this week.

Historically, the fifth of May commemorates Mexicos 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War. But for many in the United States, present-day Cinco de Mayo celebrations often lead to impaired driving, and there is no victory in that, Newport Beach police wrote in a news release.

Nationwide, 40 people were killed in vehicle crashes over Cinco de Mayo weekend in 2015. From 2011 to 2015, 270 people were killed nationwide in impaired-driving crashes on the holiday, according to statistics provided by the departments.

The California Office of Traffic Safety is offering a free mobile app  DDVIP  aimed at rewarding sober designated drivers with perks and free offers at bars and restaurants.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
A 28-year-old Costa Mesa man was sentenced Tuesday to 24 years in state prison for kidnapping and inflicting burns on a woman who authorities say worked for him, another man and a woman as a prostitute in Costa Mesa.

In 2014, Orange County prosecutors charged Renice Stevenson Flores-Davis with two counts of torture, two counts of mayhem and one count each of human trafficking, kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, pimping and pandering.

On Tuesday, as part of a plea deal, prosecutors dismissed all counts except one each of human trafficking, kidnapping, mayhem and assault with a deadly weapon, according to Orange County Superior Court records.

Prosecutors said Flores-Davis, along with Cierra Rose Thompson, 29, of Oregon and Oscar Gonzalez-Salinas, 36, of Costa Mesa, abused a woman who authorities allege was working for the trio as a prostitute.

Thompson pleaded guilty in February to human trafficking and assault with a deadly weapon. She is expected to be sentenced May 26.

Gonzalez-Salinas is accused of eight felonies, including human trafficking, torture, kidnapping and pimping. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is expected to appear in court May 10 for a preliminary hearing, according to court records. He could face 39 years to life in prison if convicted.

Authorities allege that in May 2014, Flores-Davis met a then-26-year-old woman in Costa Mesa during a drug deal and persuaded her to work for him as a prostitute.

On July 22, 2014, the district attorneys office contends, Flores-Davis got angry with the woman and burned her with a heated glass pipe used to smoke methamphetamine, used zip ties to bind her to a chair, duct-taped her mouth and blindfolded her.

Later that evening, authorities allege, Flores-Davis and Thompson, his girlfriend at the time, taped the womans mouth again and tied her to a bathroom sink.

Authorities allege Flores-Davis and Gonzalez-Salinas beat the woman five days later and placed a hot electric iron on her back, tied her to a chair and poured water in her mouth and nose. Thompson was accused of aiding and abetting them, prosecutors said.

The woman was able to send a Facebook message asking for help, police said. The recipient called the Costa Mesa Police Department and directed officers to the Days Inn on Newport Boulevard.

Flores-Davis and Thompson were arrested, and the woman was treated for bruises and burns. Gonzalez-Salinas was arrested in a motel nearby.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
The Orange County Sheriffs Department Harbor Patrol is getting out of the mooring administration business in Newport Beach.

Starting in July, a mix of city staff and private contractors will manage temporary mooring rentals, permit transfers, verification of boat owners maintenance and insurance obligations and emergency towing. Civilians will also enforce city harbor code, which includes live-aboard regulations, time limits at piers and sea lion deterrence.

City Manager Dave Kiff said the switch, initiated by the city, is to enhance customer service, not to cut costs  he doesnt have financial figures yet but said its possible that the reassignment could cost more. This year, the second of a five-year contract, the city paid the county $313,000 for mooring administration.

Kiff said the sheriffs department doesnt provide poor customer service but their main focus is crime, fire suppression and responding to boater needs, as necessary.

We would like an approach that is being there to anticipate needs, and thats just probably not what their model has been, he said. And I dont fault that.

Kiff said city officials are still hammering out details on personnel needs and potential contractor proposals. The cost estimate will be part of the budget for the next fiscal year, which will come before the City Council this month or in early June.

Lt. Mark Alsobrook, the harbormaster based at the OCSD headquarters in Corona del Mar, said the sheriffs department will still enforce boating laws and protect public safety on the water. It will also continue to manage the 30 county-owned moorings.

Alsobrook said OCSD has been managing the Newport moorings since the mid-1980s. It made sense at the time, with economies of scale and the Harbor Patrols established 24-hour presence.

The Harbor Patrol processes about 150 visitor rentals and 10 to 15 permit transfers per month, with each transfer requiring about 45 minutes to an hour. In March, which he said was a slow month for towing, the Harbor Patrol wrangled about 30 loose boats.

During Februarys storms, deputies moved 110 boats. They will also pump out vessels taking on water. Its physical and sometimes dangerous work, Alsobrook said.

In the winter months, we call it a rodeo because deputies dont have time  its just chasing them down, tying them up and putting them back on their moorings, he said. Its busy.

Kiff and Alsobrook said Newport is the only city in Orange County with moorings, and, with about 1,200 mostly offshore spaces, it has one of the larger mooring programs in California, Kiff added.

At Huntington-Sunset and Dana Point harbors, vessels are berthed at docks and marina slips. Dana Point also has an anchorage for temporary safe harbor or short-term visitors.

Moorings are essentially on-water parking lots for boats. Boat owners rent their spaces, with a city-issued permit allowing them that patch of water. Theyre a basic and relatively low-cost option compared to a slip in a private marina, which generally comes with more conveniences and creature comforts.

Harbor Commission Chair Paul Blank said he needs more details on the switch, but he is generally in favor of putting the moorings in civilian hands.

Blank said the moorings are privately managed at Belmont Shore in Long Beach and at the remote coves on Catalina Island, all within Los Angeles County. In Catalinas Avalon, city employees handle them.

He said moorings are the most visible relationship between boaters and the city, and from an optics standpoint, a civilian in a polo shirt is received differently than a uniformed police officer.

Councilman Scott Peotter said the city has been mulling the change for more than a year.

The contract cancellation did not require council approval. But Peotter, who was part of the discussion, said the current council is interested in enhancing harbor amenities and thinks the city can do things differently. For example, the city could provide boat washes, require more aggressive sea lion control or launch a smartphone app for renting temporary moorings.

Mooring holders are the citys tenants, and he said the city wants to know them better, just like a good landlord would do.

Kiff said the citys civilian park patrol, code enforcement and community services  or parking enforcement  officers are trained to handle frequently unpleasant situations, which includes calling law enforcement if the situation escalates.

He said he expects the same for the workers, who will handle harbor code violations, with backup from the sheriffs department.

I think we still want to be partners with the Harbor Patrol, and I know theyll still want to be partners with us, he said.

Alsobrook agreed. He said he works well with city staff and hopes for the best.

This is not a sink or swim, he said. Well be there to help and make this the best transition that we can.

hillary.davis@latimes.com

Twitter: @Daily_PilotHD
Four years after citizens renewed a decades-long effort to transfer the Sagebrush area of La Canada Flintridge into the La Canada Unified School District, the area could be stripped from Glendale Unifieds jurisdiction following a decision Wednesday by the Los Angeles County Committee on School District Organization.

The committee voted to give preliminary approval to a petition to transfer the territory into La Canada Unifieds boundaries during an hours-long meeting at the Los Angeles County Office of Education in Downey.

Tom Smith, a former Sagebrush resident now living in Chicago, started working with neighbors several years ago to transfer the territory.

Its something our friends  our neighborhood  theyve been fighting for this for 50 years, and to see us get this much of a step closer  Im just thrilled for the neighborhood. Its been a grassroots effort from the very beginning. Thats whats been so personally rewarding to me, just seeing the neighbors rise up and band together for the community. Fortunately, I had a good team that rallied around me early.

Following the committees approval to transfer the Sagebrush territory, the proposal must now undergo a California Environmental Quality Act study to determine the environmental impacts of the transfer, which could take place sometime next year.

If the environmental findings favor a transfer, the transfer would go to local voters to decide on.

If Glendale school officials decide to appeal the committees decision, they would not be able to appeal to the California State Board of Education until the environmental study is complete.

Glendale Unified Supt. Winfred Roberson, Jr. said the financial impact of losing the Sagebrush students could equate to a loss of $2 million annually.

There was clearly a disregard for the financial impacts or any impacts on the Glendale Unified School District, Roberson said in response to the committees vote. That was disappointing, to have professional staff that run analysis and presented, I called, a fair assessment. It was a bit disappointing to see the committee completely disregard all of staffs recommendations.

Several days before the committees meeting, county officials released a report recommending that the committee deny the transfer and cited La Canada Unifieds inability to abruptly house all of the roughly 300 students that would transfer from Glendale Unified.

But during the meeting, former La Canada school board member Andrew Blumenfeld said the school district would install eight bungalow classrooms.

The report also referenced two permanent impacts to Glendale Unified: the loss of enrollment money the district would endure, and the toll on remaining residents in the district who would pay more in bond rates to make up for the loss of Sagebrush residents.

Glendale and La Canada school officials submitted conflicting numbers on how many students live in the Sagebrush area, and how many of those students attend La Canada schools, according to the countys report.

County officials cited an averaged number of 387 students who live in the Sagebrush area. The 75 who already attend La Canada schools is the best averaged estimate, according to the report.

La Canada school officials supported the transfer but suggested the Sagebrush students phase in to La Canada Unified over a few years, instead of all at once, which cemented the county committees staff recommendation to deny the petition.

This is tantamount to not being able to support the petition since they could not support it on its face, the report stated.

Despite the recommendation to deny the transfer, the committee voted to approve it during a process that did not seem entirely clear to them.

The nine-member committee proceeded to vote on nine individual conditions, with some members believing that afterwards the committee would vote to approve or deny the petition, as a whole.

The committee decided by a majority vote that each one of the conditions had been met, except for one that had not been met, with regards to the increase of housing costs for La Canada Unified. In a 7-2 vote on that condition, the committee determined the transfer would result in an increase in school housing costs.

Thats when the committees chairperson, Frank Ogaz, reiterated directions from the California State Board of Education about the voting process, saying that the committee had to determine that all nine conditions had to be substantially met in order for the petition to be approved as a whole.

This is new to us all. We were always used to making that final decision, Ogaz said. Now, it states if one condition fails, it doesnt pass. Were kind of struggling with that.

For several tense minutes, as it became clear the transfers approval hinged on whether or not committee members believed it would result in a significant increase in school housing costs for La Canada Unified, they decided to vote on that condition again.

The committee pulled their earlier vote and determined the condition had been met after all during a second vote, with 7 ayes, a no from Ogaz and an abstention from Joel Peterson, who is a former La Canada school board member.

Member AJ Willmer said he wanted to approve that condition because La Canada school officials are choosing to solve the housing cost dilemma.

That condition approval led to the committees final 8-1 vote, Ogaz dissenting, in which they preliminarily approved the transfer.

Glendale school board member Greg Krikorian said officials will examine the legalities of this meeting and how it was held, saying the committee was all over the place.

In June 2013, upon the urging of UNITE LCF! led by Smith and others, La Canada Flintridge City Council passed a resolution supporting the transfer in what was the first step leading to Wednesdays vote.

La Canada school officials subsequently passed a similar resolution, and by late 2014, both school districts had attempted negotiating a deal to swap the 385 acres on their own.

That November, the Glendale school board voted on a proposal in which La Canada Unified would pay Glendale Unified $23 million  $16 million to make up for loss of enrollment funds, and another $6.8 million to cover the costs of Measure K and S bonds.

The price was too steep for La Canada, and negotiations stalled. Last summer, UNITE LCF! submitted a petition to county officials to vote on the transfer.

In the fall, county officials held two hearings that brought hundreds of people to weigh in on the matter.

Prior to this decade, there have been several attempts to transfer the territory into La Canada Unified.

The last nearly successful attempt began in November 1991, when the Sagebrush Committee, as it was known then, filed a petition with the Los Angeles County Committee on School District Organization, and the committee approved the transfer in 1992.

But Glendale Unified filed an appeal with the California State Board of Education, which sided with Glendale.

The latest report by the county committee referenced past failed attempts only vaguely, stating that the committee is not bound by any prior decision, according to the report.

The fact remains that a transfer of the petition area has never been approved in its final form by any body with authority to do so, the report stated.

Scott Tracy, a former La Canada school board member who has worked for several years in support of the transfer, said the committees approval is positive but preliminary.

Its a big, important step, but theres a lot of work to do, Tracy said.

kelly.corrigan@latimes.com

Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
Officials from the Crescenta Valley Sheriffs Station have reported that five suspects  three adults and two juveniles  were arrested Tuesday night following a residential burglary on Paulette Place that occurred shortly after 8 oclock that night.

According to a release issued Wednesday afternoon, a homeowner called the Crescenta Valley Station at 8:19 p.m. after he received a notification that his home security alarm system had activated while he was away from the residence.

A portable video device showed two suspects inside the home, the report stated. When deputies arrived at the 400 block of Paulette Place, they saw two males running from the location. One was quickly detained, but the other fled on food.

A helicopter was called to aid in the search, but the second man could not be immediately found. During the search, a third suspect was located in the drivers seat of a vehicle parked in front of the burglarized home and detained.

Two more suspects were detained after driving into the containment area in a second vehicle, according to the release. They were both found to be from the same South Los Angeles neighborhood as the two detained suspects.

The release indicates all four suspects were arrested for residential burglary and booked at the Crescenta Valley Station.

Then, on Wednesday morning at around 6 a.m., a concerned citizen called the sheriffs station about a suspicious person hed seen coming from a trail near the burglarized property, according to the release. Deputies arrived to the scene and identified the person in question as matching the description of the outstanding suspect whod fled the crime scene the night before.

The fifth suspect was also arrested and booked at the Crescenta Valley Station. The release did not provide further details on the names, ages or descriptions of the suspects apprehended.

The arrests came just hours after Crescenta Valley Capt. Chris Blasnek addressed residents at a regular meeting of the La Canada Flintridge City Council Tuesday, assuring them hed established a plan for thwarting burglaries.

I want to commit to the audience here tonight that there is a plan in place. Its already in place, it already took effect, (although) you may not see it, Blasnek said, adding he was working closely with the stations crime analyst. I stand by this plan  were going to catch these guys.

The captains remarks were made in response to concerns raised by two residents in public comments, including Mary Kilmer, who lives in a house on Palm Drive that was broken into last month.

The word is out our response times arent as great as they can be, Kilmer told the council. Id like to see a little bit more sheriffs presence.

Recognizing a noticeable increase in burglaries, La Canada City Manager Mark Alexander said resources have been allocated in the budget for additional patrols as needed.

We can have as many units as the captain feels are needed to address particular issues as they arise, Alexander said, indicating hes been in meetings with Blasnek and higher officials. They are very, very interested, very much concerned about what were seeing, not only in this community, but in other communities.

sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 4

By Azad Hasanli  Trend:

Currently, several segments of Azerbaijans agrarian sector are quite profitable for making investments, according to the countrys Agriculture Minister Heydar Asadov.

Creation of wholesale and retail outlets, organization of logistics and packaging of fruits and vegetables, creation of a network of small and medium grain warehouses are among these segments, said the minister in his interview with the Our Business World magazine.

Asadov noted that there is a serious potential for investments in the creation of export-oriented and import-substituting products.

He went on to say that investors can also be interested in the creation of big livestock complexes and enterprises for processing of meet and feed.

"The development of cotton, tobacco, silk, leather and wool clusters is also very promising both in terms of export, and in terms of meeting the demand in the domestic market," added Asadov.
Lori La Bey, founder of a Minnesota-based organization called Alzheimers Speaks, maintains an online community in which patients and their caregivers meet and discuss common challenges.

Now she plans to bring them and others together on a weeklong Eastern Caribbean cruise in November.

The Dementia Friendly Symposium & Cruise will feature chats in which Alzheimers patients discuss how they live with the disease and what strategies they use to focus on what they want to do rather than on what they can no longer do.

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Other on-board programs include morning meditations; Memory Cafes, in which folks make social connections on a range of subjects; music therapy sessions; and speakers. And theres free time for excursions too.

The whole cruise is about  getting back into the space of your personal relationships, finding joy within the relationships, La Bey said. We expect lots of laughing and sharing, and purging of emotions.

La Bey sums up her advocacy as seeking to shift dementia care from crisis to comfort.

She knows firsthand how stressful life can be for Alzheimers patients and those who care for them. Her mother had the disease for 30 years, and her father suffered from a brain tumor that compromised his abilities. Though her parents were ill, she remembered taking a cruise with them and her siblings, and the good memories created on the trip.

The whole pitch with dementia is its doom and gloom, she said. My moms disease is the biggest gift Ill ever get in my life. It taught her to find joy and learn to laugh again rather than be stuck in what she calls the fears-and-tears mode, which keeps people trapped in the past or with a dark outlook for the future.

The cruise is appropriate for those diagnosed with early to mid-dementia and their caregivers (family members or professionals); families and friends of loved ones with dementia; and professionals and advocates who work on dementia issues.

It sails aboard Holland Americas ms Nieuw Amsterdam and leaves Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Nov. 11, stopping at Nassau, Bahamas; San Juan, Puerto Rico; St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; and the private island Half Moon Cay.

Prices start at $1,389 per person, based on double occupancy, for an inside cabin. Gratuities, airfare and insurance are extra. Reservations must be made exclusively through Kathy Shoaf, (219) 608-2002 or email kathy.shoaf@cruiseplanners.com

travel@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimestravel

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An image of a diminutive green tree frog in the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in southern Texas took top honors in a national parks photo contest.

Craig McIntyre shot the winning image in the 2016 Share the Experience contest sponsored by the National Park Foundation.

The Texas resident will receive $10,000, and his photo will be featured on the annual National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass.

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Second place ($5,000) went to Gary Hamer for his photo of friends paddling into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northeastern Minnesota.

Christopher Regala won third place ($3,000) for a photo of his son standing in the Narrows at Zion National Park in Utah.

Other featured photos were selected for depictions of categories such as night skies, wildlife and family, friends and fun.

Submissions for the 2017 amateur photography contest are now being accepted. You may submit photos until Dec. 31 at www.sharetheexperience.org.

Here are the 2016 winners as well as images that got a shout-out from fans online.

travel@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimestravel

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Hes admitted to personally killing people while he was a mayor, acknowledged that he supports death squads and boasted of his authoritarian leadership style. But that hasnt prevented Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte from being invited to the White House.

Administration officials have defended the invitation President Trump extended last week, saying it will help repair relations between the U.S. and the Philippines  which reached a veritable low during the Obama administration  and build Asian support for countering an increasingly recalcitrant North Korea.

Duterte has been quoted as saying he may be too busy to show up in D.C.. But that hasnt tamed the barrage of condemnation from critics who say his human rights record is so abysmal that if he werent a head of state he would be barred from entering the U.S.

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They have a point. Heres why.

First, heres how regular people get permission to come to the U.S.

The Immigration and Nationality Act establishes the types of visas available and the conditions that must be met before an applicant can be issued one. Visa applicants must pass certain health checks, be fingerprinted and interviewed in person. Its up to a consular officer at a U.S. Embassy or consulate to determine whether an applicant qualifies.

There are many reasons somebody might be denied, including human rights violations

Having a communicable disease of public health significance, failing to provide proof of vaccination against certain preventable diseases such as mumps and measles, or having a physical or mental disorder that is determined to be a threat are all grounds for denial.

So are convictions for certain crimes, including rape, murder and incest. The U.S. also bars drug traffickers, money launderers, suspected terrorists or members of the Communist party or any other totalitarian party.

Certainly human rights violations would meet the definition of criminal grounds, said Niels W. Frenzen, an expert on immigration and refugee law at USC.

By law, participants in Nazi persecution, genocide or the commission of any act of torture or extrajudicial killing are not eligible to receive a visa, according to the State Department. And those who have engaged in the recruitment or use of child soldiers are also barred.

Protesters in Manila on May 1 carry a mock coffin to protest the continuing killings under Philippine President Rodrigo Dutertes war on drugs. (Bullit Marquez / Associated Press)

Presidential Proclamation 8697, which was signed by President Obama in 2011, states that any alien who planned, ordered, assisted, aided and abetted, committed or otherwise participated in, including through command responsibility, war crimes, crimes against humanity or other serious violations of human rights, is not eligible for a U.S. visa.

So Duterte would probably not be allowed into the U.S. if he werent a president

Experts said he would likely not be granted a visa based on several of the criteria that make a person ineligible.

As part of his anti-drugs campaign, Duterte has publicly encouraged vigilante killings, allegedly paid police to kill suspected drug offenders and threatened to slay journalists, human rights activists said.

Since Duterte took office on June 30, 2016, police and unidentified gunmen together have killed more than 7,000 suspected drug users and dealers, Human Rights Watch reported in April. A Filipino lawyer has filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court in The Hague accusing Duterte of crimes against humanity and mass murder.

Human Rights Watch said Duterte has been dirty for a long time, and the agency has called on the United Nations to create an independent, international investigation into the killings to determine responsibility, and ensure mechanisms for accountability.

An undated photo provided by Columbia University was part of a series of Pulitzer Prize-winning images showing the violence in the Philippines brought about by a government assault on drug dealers and users. (Daniel Berehulak / Associated Press)

But of course he is a president. Heads of state still need a visa to visit

Diplomats and other foreign government officials traveling to the United States to engage solely in official duties or activities on behalf of their national government must obtain A-1 or A-2 visa prior to entering the U.S., a State Department official said in an email. Heads of State or Government must obtain an A visa regardless of the purpose of travel.

Applicants for this type of visa are subject to limited ineligibilities, the official said. They dont have to have their fingerprints taken and they may forgo the personal appearance interview.

But all the other rules apply, including restrictions on human rights abusers.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in Pasay City, Philippines on April 29. (Mark R. Cristino / EPA)

But there is some wiggle room

Waivers in the immigration act allow the State Department not to enforce certain conditions, except for genocide and espionage, Frenzen said.

The secretary of State does have the legal authority to waive the grounds of inadmissibility for those who have committed extrajudicial killings, Frenzen said.

In addition, the 2011 presidential proclamation states that the secretary of State, in consultation with the secretary of Homeland Security, could decide that a person who would otherwise have been barred entry should be allowed in because the entry of such person would not harm the foreign relations interests of the United States or would be in the interests of the nation.

Drug suspects are detained at a secret cell behind a wooden cabinet in Manila. (Jes Aznar / Getty Images)

Duterte wouldnt be the first foreign dignitary blocked from the U.S. if the Trump administration decided to deny him entry

Among those currently barred is Zimbabwes President Robert Mugabe, a target of U.S. sanctions since 2001 because of political violence and intimidation and the Zimbabwean governments increasing assault on human rights and the rule of law, according to the State Department.

Until he became Indias prime minister in May 2014, Narendra Modi was not allowed to set foot in the U.S. In 2005, he was denied a U.S. visa over accusations that he failed to stop religious pogroms in which hundreds of mostly Muslims citizens were killed in Gujarat state, where he was serving as chief executive.

In January, the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo refused to issue a diplomatic visa to Bosnian Serb nationalist leader Milorad Dodik several weeks after he was reportedly invited to President Trumps inauguration, according to Reuters. Dodik faces sanctions for actively obstructing efforts to implement the 1995 Dayton Accords that ended the more than three-year war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the news agency reported.

In 2014, President Obama signed into law a bill that blocked Hamid Aboutalebi, Irans would-be ambassador to the United Nations, from entering the U.S. The law allows the president to deny admission to any diplomat who has been engaged in terrorist activity against the United States or its allies and may pose a threat to U.S. national security interests, The Times reported.

ann.simmons@latimes.com

For more on global development news, see our Global Development Watch page, and follow me @AMSimmons1 on Twitter
It has long been a divisive issue: how much money the United States gives to foreign nations in aid, what kind of effect development assistance actually has on recipient nations, and whether America should be involved in the aid-giving business at all.

Advocates of foreign aid say programs backed by U.S. funding help feed the needy, promote social and economic progress, and foster political stability. Critics, on the other hand, point to fraud and the misuse of aid, inadequate tracking of provisions, and the prospect of nations becoming dependent on U.S. handouts.

So whats true and whats false about one of politics most contentious issues?

More than 20% of Americas federal budget goes to foreign aid.

False

The amount is actually about 1%. The current projected spending for fiscal year 2017 is $4 trillion. The Obama administration had planned for $41.9 billion in foreign aid for this year. Polls show that Americans typically believe that the U.S. spends 25% to 27% on foreign aid.

Tons of basic food supplies such as grains, flour and protein powders, donated by the U.S. Agency for International Development, are kept in secured buildings to provide for the hundreds of thousands of people at the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times) (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Afghanistan is slated to be the biggest recipient of U.S. foreign aid this year.

True

The planned amount of American aid for Afghanistan in 2017 is $4.7 billion, according to the website ForeignAssistance.gov, a tool for tracking U.S. foreign assistance spending. Funding to this Asian nation is intended to support the agricultural sector by creating jobs; build a national education system; assist reproductive health; and establish basic infrastructure, such as schools and hospitals, according to information published by the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID. In 2014, Afghanistan received $7.3 billion in foreign assistance from the U.S., of which more than half went toward conflict prevention and security, according to USAID.

Israel comes in second among U.S. aid recipients, with a planned disbursement of $3.1 billion in 2017, according to U.S. government statistics. Jordan is third at $1 billion.

This 2012 photo shows hand pump mechanics who have been trained through USAIDs Afghan Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation Project. They are paid by community contributions for the maintenance of wells. (Tetra Tech) (Tetra Tech)

Slashing foreign aid would reduce the federal deficit by as much as 20%.

False

Experts say cutting the foreign aid budget, which currently amounts to $50.1 billion, would do very little to reduce the deficit, which in 2016 was $552 billion.

The New Stock Exchange in New York. (Bryan R. Smith / AFP/Getty Images) (BRYAN R. SMITH / AFP/Getty Images)

President Trump wants to slash the U.S. foreign assistance programs by more than 20%.

True

In March, as part of his suggested budget for fiscal year 2018, President Trump proposed a combined budget of $25.6 billion for both the State Department and that U.S. Agency for International Development. That would be an estimated 28% cut in current spending on foreign assistance programs and U.S. diplomatic engagement, which total $50 billion for the current fiscal year.

According to a 15-page State Department budget document obtained by Foreign Policy magazine and detailed in a report by the publication in April, global health programs would take a 25% cut in aid while, among other sectors, the Bureau for Food Security, which works on eliminating hunger, would lose 68% of its funding.

Congress would have to vote on the presidents budget once he releases it, possibly late this month. In the meantime, a more than $1-trillion funding package that Congress and the White House agreed to on Sunday to keep the government afloat through the remainder of the 2017 budget year maintains most foreign aid programs and increases spending for international famine relief.

Copies of President Trumps America First budget at the Government Publishing Officebookstore in Washington, D.C. (Shawn Thew / European Press Agency) (SHAWN THEW / EPA)

Aid to Israel will face the ax next year.

False

Aid to Israel is safe  at least under Trumps proposed budget. Last year, the U.S. signed a 10-year defense deal with Israel that promises to provide the Middle Eastern nation a record $38 billion in security aid.

The United States agreed to a $38 billion, 10-year aid package for Israel in September. (Drew Angerer / Pool Photo) (DREW ANGERER / POOL / EPA)

Scandals that have beset U.S. aid programs include theft of malaria drugs and laundering of HIV/AIDS program funds.

True

Millions of dollars worth of antimalarial drugs provided by the U.S. government are being stolen and resold on the black market in Africa, according USAIDs office of inspector general, which monitors the agency. The U.S. government fights malaria in 19 African countries through a program called the Presidents Malaria Initiative.

In January, the inspector generals office reported that an investigation it launched in the West African nation of Guinea led to the arrest of eight people on suspicion of illegally selling USAID-issued antimalarial drugs in public markets of Conakry, the countrys capital. U.S. funding for combating malaria has exceeded $72 million since fiscal year 2011 and amounted to $15 million in fiscal year 2016, according to the office.

Last year, the monitoring agency announced the relaunch of its Make a Difference Malaria hotline to make it easier for Nigerians to report stolen, counterfeit or resale antimalarial drugs. The hotline offers rewards of $100 to $10,000. A similar program is underway in Malawi, according to the office.

USAIDs funds have also fallen victim to money laundering. In February, the agency announced the arrest of a South African doctor, Eugene Sickle, who served as deputy executive director of the Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute program. Sickle is being investigated for his alleged role in a fraud scheme that targeted funds from USAID, which since 2012 has awarded grants worth nearly $77 million to help strengthen treatment programs for HIV/AIDS patients, according to the agency.

A baby in Kenya receives a malaria vaccine. (Karel Prinsloo / Associated Press) (Karel Prinsloo / AP)

Once a foreign aid recipient, always a foreign aid recipient.

True and false

Critics have contended that foreign aid make nations perpetually needy and unable to break the cycle of dependency.

Perhaps the largest reason is corruption, James M. Roberts, a research fellow for economic freedom and growth at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that has called for a scaling back of USAID funding, wrote in a 2014 commentary. Its the pre-existing condition that keeps many aid recipients from ever recovering. Its a major obstacle to economic growth.

Some critics single out Afghanistan, where international aid has become the backbone of its economy, as a likely candidate for dependency on aid. They point to a 2014 report from the the office of special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, which said evidence strongly suggests that Afghanistan lacks the capacity  financial, technical, managerial or otherwise  to maintain, support and execute much of what has been built or established during more than a decade of international assistance."

But several of Americas key trading partners were once recipients of U.S. aid and today receive limited, if any, assistance from USAID, according to data from the agency. South Korea, for example, has been dubbed by some analysts as a poster child for successful poverty eradication and is today itself a donor of humanitarian assistance. USAID calls the Asian nation a textbook example of aid-recipient-turned donor.

According to a 2012 report from the Center for Global Development and the Center for American Progress, nations need not be aid recipients forever.

In the 1960s, nations across Latin America and Asia were dismissed as perennial basket cases yet countries in both regions combined sensible reforms with a jump-start from U.S. assistance programs to achieve dynamic, lasting growth, according to the report.

South Korea, once a recipient of U.S. aid, is today Asias fourth-largest economy (Ahn Young-joon / Associated Press) (Ahn Young-joon / AP)

Foreign aid has long enjoyed bipartisan support among Republicans and Democrats.

True

In the 1990s, foreign aid bills had a hard time passing through Congress, but that changed with Presidents George W. Bush and Obama, said George Ingram, a senior fellow in the global economy and development program at the Brookings Institution .

Speaking during a Brookings Cafeteria Podcast last month, Ingram said the last Congress had passed eight bills supporting foreign aid. After Trump proposed cuts to foreign aid and international diplomacy in his budget, 43 U.S. senators signed a bipartisan letter urging against the reductions.

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, where U.S. foreign aid has long enjoyed bipartisan support. (Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images) (SAUL LOEB / AFP/Getty Images)

Foreign aid does more harm than good and is a waste of money.

Depends on whom you ask

Supporters arguments include:

 Helping to end maternal and child mortality. At least 4.6 million children and 200,000 mothers are alive today in part because of USAID-funded programs, agency officials said.

 Ensuring that people dont go hungry. The U.S. governments Feed the Future initiative has helped more than 9 million farmers gain access to new tools or technologies such as high-yielding seeds, fertilizer application, soil conservation and water management, according to USAID.

 Improving reading instruction and creating safe learning environments for more than 41.6 million children from 2011 to 2015.

 Providing access to clean water and sanitation. As of 2015, more than 7.6 million people had received improved access to drinking water and more than 4.3 million people had improved sanitation.

 Helping to stabilize nations by promoting democracy, human rights and good governance around the world.

Detractors counter that:

 U.S. aid shouldnt go to countries that harbor terrorists who want to harm Americans, such as Pakistan, where Osama bin Laden had taken refuge not far from a Pakistani military compound before U.S. intelligence discovered him there. The U.S. has drastically cut aid to Pakistan in recent years, but the South Asian nation still received $383 million in 2016, according to U.S. government data, and $742,200,000 is planned for Pakistan in fiscal year 2017.

 There is too little accountability for those who abuse U.S. aid through theft or misuse.

 Foreign aid encourages corruption and conflict and stifles the will to pursue free enterprise, because recipients become dependent.

 A saturation of food aid can undermine opportunities for local agricultural markets to develop.

 American money should be spent on aiding Americans, such as the almost 50,000 U.S. veterans who are homeless, according to data from the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

ann.simmons@latimes.com

For more on global development news, see our Global Development Watch page, and follow me @AMSimmons1 on Twitter

UPDATES:

5:05 p.m., May 10: This article has been updated to reflect current data from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the website ForeignAssistance.gov.

This article was originally published at 6:45 p.m. on May 3, 2017.
North Korea has issued a rare direct criticism of China through a commentary saying its reckless remarks on the Norths nuclear program are testing its patience and could trigger unspecified, grave consequences.

China, North Koreas largest trading partner and main benefactor, suspended imports of North Korean coal in line with U.N. sanctions earlier this year and has recently been urging its traditional ally to stop nuclear and missile activities amid U.S. pressure to use its leverage to resolve the nuclear standoff. Chinese state media have also unleashed regular and harsh criticisms on North Korea.

The commentary released Wednesday by the state-run Korean Central News Agency said that a string of absurd and reckless remarks are now heard from China every day only to render the present bad situation tenser.

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Asked about the KCNA commentary during a regular briefing Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Beijings position on developing good neighborly and friendly cooperation with North Korea is also consistent and clear.

The North Korean article cited recent commentaries by Chinese state media that it said shifted the blame for deteriorating bilateral relations onto the North and raised lame excuses for the base acts of dancing to the tune of the U.S.

China should no longer try to test the limits of the DPRKs patience, the North Korean commentary said, using the acronym for its official name, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. China had better ponder over the grave consequences to be entailed by its reckless act of chopping down the pillar of the DPRK-China relations.

The article was not attributed to any government agency or official; the writer was identified only as Kim Chol. Still, its unusual for the North to directly criticize China. Previously it has couched such criticism by referring to China only as a neighboring country.

Analyst Cheong Seong-chang at South Koreas private Sejong Institute said the Norths discontent at China appears to be on the verge of exploding. He said North Korea will likely ignore China from now on while trying to strengthen ties with Russia and improve relations with a new South Korean government to be inaugurated next week.

The Global Times, an outspoken nationalist tabloid published by Chinas ruling Communist Partys flagship Peoples Daily, warned in a Thursday editorial that the Norths actions threatened a 1961 treaty of non-aggression between the two countries. It called on the North to end its nuclear tests.

China will not allow its northeastern region to be contaminated by North Koreas nuclear activities, the Global Times declared.

In recent days, the paper also warned that China was able to strike back at any side that crosses the red line and would impose an oil embargo against the North in response to any more tests. The North Korean commentary said its China that crossed the red line.

The Peoples Daily declared Sunday  and again on Tuesday  that the Norths nuclear ambitions put itself and the whole region into dire peril.

On Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed North Korea during a phone call with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who referred to Beijings important role in promoting peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Chinas state-run New China News Agency quoted Xi as urging all parties to exercise restraint and return to dialogue and negotiations in realizing a denuclearized peninsula.

In Manila, presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella told reporters that Duterte referred to Chinas important role in promoting peace on the Korean Peninsula during Wednesdays call in a bid to encourage Beijing to broker peace in the region.

The U.S. has been pressuring China to do more to stop Pyongyang from further missile and nuclear tests.

Despite having competing territorial claims in the South China Sea, Duterte has said he prefers to forge closer ties with Beijing.

The news agency quoted Xi as saying the Philippines and China are deepening political mutual trust, are carrying out cooperation in various fields, and have set up a channel of dialogue and consultation on the South China Sea.

Xis call came after President Trump called Duterte on Saturday at the close of a summit of Southeast Asian leaders hosted by Duterte, and expressed Washingtons commitment to their treaty alliance.

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Several Palestinian activists were arrested in downtown Sao Paulo on Tuesday night after clashing with members of a far-right group who were protesting a new immigration bill, according to police.

Four of the men were charged with assault, criminal association, causing an explosion and resisting arrest and as of Wednesday afternoon were awaiting custody hearings.

Protests over immigration and refugees are a rarity in Brazil, which has generally welcomed immigrants.

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The immigration bill  which was passed by Brazils Senate last month and needs approval from President Michel Temer to become law  has not been controversial. It eliminates some of the red tape involved in getting legal documentation and joining the workforce, removing discriminatory language adopted by the military dictatorship that ruled the country from 1964 to 1985.

Brazil is home to 1.5 million to 2 million immigrants, including as many as 600,000 in Sao Paulo. They come from nearly every nation.

Brazil has open-door policy when it comes to Syrian refugees. In 2013, it created a special humanitarian visa for those escaping the war there and as of last June issued 8,450 of them.

Many Syrian refugees in Brazil say they feel comforted by its long-standing Syrian and Lebanese communities, which arrived in two waves of migration  first in the 19th century, then after World War I  and today are concentrated in downtown Sao Paulo.

Significant numbers of refugees also come from Angola, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the Catholic charity Caritas, which provides services to them.

The anti-immigrant protest Tuesday was organized by two groups  the Free Brazil Movement and Right Sao Paulo  to urge Temer not to sign the bill.

Protesters appear in videos posted on social media calling Palestinians and other immigrants lazy-ass communists and saying communists have to die and those rats hit women while cheering on police officers breaking up fights and making arrests.

Right Sao Paulo posted a video on its Facebook page purporting to show a terrorist attack in which someone of Arabic descent threw a homemade bomb. But it is unclear from the video what was thrown or who threw it.

The protest took place on Sao Paulos main business stretch, Paulista Avenue, the same place where Right Sao Paulo held a rally in November to celebrate Donald Trumps victory in the U.S. presidential election.

Local media reported that one man was taken to a hospital with a possible nose fracture and other injuries after the violent confrontation.

Among those arrested was Hasan Zarif, leader of the Palestine for All Movement and owner of Al Janiah, a restaurant run by refugees and known for supporting activism in favor of immigration from the Middle East. In a show of solidarity, 50 people spent the night in front of the police station where the detainees were taken.

None of those who organized the anti-immigration protest were detained.

Langlois is a special correspondent.
At least 10 people were killed, including four soldiers, in clashes between Mexican troops and fuel thieves in Puebla state, Mexican officials said Thursday.

The clashes, which took place Wednesday evening, were the most deadly confrontations to date between Mexican law enforcement authorities and fuel smugglers known as huachicoleros.

The bands of smugglers specialize in pilfering fuel from pipelines belonging to the state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, and selling the product on the black market. The thieves hawk the cut-rate gasoline in plastic containers along roadsides.

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The military has been deployed in force against the massive gas-smuggling industry, which reportedly costs the financially troubled Pemex hundreds of millions of dollars a year in lost revenue. But entire families have come to depend on the smuggling enterprise, authorities say.

Analysts say the smugglers work in tandem with organized narco-gangs, such as the ultra-violent Zetas, who have a major presence in the oil-producing Gulf Coast state of Veracruz. Veracruz borders Puebla, a hub of the gasoline-pilfering industry.

The huachicoleros have been tapping into pipelines and pilfering fuel for more than a decade, authorities say, but the thefts have accelerated as gasoline prices have risen this year.

Wednesdays clashes occurred in the town of Palmarito Tochapan, where, according to authorities, smugglers and their supporters attacked military forces responding to reports that thieves had breached a pipeline. The army said it deployed about 1,000 troops to quell the violence.

Palmarito Tochapan is part of the municipality of Quecholac, one of the towns in what authorities call the red triangle of fuel smuggling. Authorities say the pipeline theft gangs practically control some regions and work in collusion with corrupt police and politicians.

The 10 dead were four soldiers and six presumed criminals, Diodoro Carrasco, government secretary in Puebla, told reporters. Among the six civilians killed was one woman, Carrasco said. More than a dozen people were injured, officials said.

Authorities have arrested 14 suspects in the attacks, Carrasco said.

Officials accused the smugglers of using women and children as human shields during Wednesdays altercations.

Soldiers take positions in front of villagers mounting roadblocks with burning tires to protest an army crackdown in Palmarito Tochapan, Mexico. (Jose Castanares / AFP/Getty Images)

But civilians protesting the army actions mounted a blockade Thursday on the Puebla-Veracruz highway. The protesters blamed the army for the clashes and casualties.

We dont want the military to attack us, read one banner raised by a protester.

The military said it responded appropriately to what it called an aggression by armed gangs in five trucks, three of which were armored. Authorities vowed to continue cracking down on the pipeline tappers and the entire huachicolero industry.

These operations against illegal [pipeline] taps will not only continue, but will be more frequent, said Tony Gali, governor of Puebla. This criminal presence is poisoning families, children. We saw women and children being used as shields by these cowards.

patrick.mcdonnell@latimes.com

twitter: @mcdneville

Cecilia Sanchez of the Times Mexico City bureau contributed.

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Midway through the closing ceremony of the fourth round of Syrian peace talks on Thursday, as delegates from Russia, Turkey and Iran prepared to sign an agreement that would create de-escalation zones in Syria, a Syrian rebel fighter stood up.

Iran[ians] are criminals! shouted the rebel, Yasser Abdul Rahim, pointing a finger at the Iranian delegation. They [should] not sign! We do not accept their guarantee!

He ripped the headphones off his head and slammed them on the table in front of him.

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Well see you on the battlefield. Were not giving up, he said, turning to leave.

The outburst was yet another example of how difficult it has been to create a lasting cease-fire in Syria, where a six-year civil war is estimated to have killed more than 400,000 people, made millions refugees and devastated large swaths of the country.

A displaced Syrian child, who fled the countryside surrounding the Islamic State group stronghold of Raqqa, eats at a temporary camp in the village of Ain Issa on May 2, 2017. (Delil Souleiman / AFP/Getty Images)

On Thursday, Russia, the top supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, won agreement for a comprehensive draft of a proposal that would pause fighting in four areas of the country, starting on Saturday, with international troops acting as monitors to the cease-fire.

But like others before it, the agreement appears to have arrived stillborn. The opposition refused to sign. A statement released later on Thursday by the rebel delegation said it would not accept any role for Iran and its affiliated militias.

Iran  which, like Russia, has been a staunch supporter of the Assad government  has dispatched thousands of Shiite irregulars from Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan to bolster Damascus battered troops. Members of Irans elite Quds Force, a branch of its Revolutionary Guards corps, act primarily as battlefield advisors.

The zones delineated in the agreement are in areas where rebel factions, excluding Islamic State, hold sway. According to an Arabic translation of the draft agreement given to The Times, the de-escalation agreement would encompass Idlib province, northern areas in the central province of Homs, the besieged Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta and segments of southern Syria.

The agreement, hammered out in the Kazakh capital, Astana, would bring about an end to the fighting in those areas using any type of weapons, while guaranteeing unfettered access to humanitarian aid and restoring basic services. The zones would be established for six months, with the possibility for extension, according to Alexander Lavrentiev, head of the Russian delegation.

The zones would also have border checkpoints manned by both government soldiers and rebels, who would guarantee the freedom of movement of civilians humanitarian aid delivery, as well as economic activities, according to the draft proposal, even as they continue the fight against [Islamic State] and the Nusra Front. The latter group, which is affiliated with Al Qaeda, has changed its name to the Organization for the Liberation of Syria but is still widely known as the Nusra Front.

Although it was not mentioned in the copy of the proposal, activists said that control of the enclaves would be in the hands of local councils, pro-opposition administrative bodies that have risen in many areas in the wake of the states ouster.

The agreement was hailed by the U.N.s special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura.

Today in Astana, I think we have been able to witness an important promising positive step in the right direction in the process of de-escalation of the conflict, said Mistura in a press conference in Astana, according to a transcript provided by the U.N.

Yet it was not clear if the injunction on weapons use in the safe zones would extend to Syrian government warplanes, which continue to mount a large-scale air campaign on rebel-held territories throughout the country  including the four areas mentioned in the proposal. However, Lavrentiev said Russia would do everything possible to ensure Syrias air force would be grounded.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry has stated that the leadership of that country welcomes the agreements on creating de-escalation zones and ceases its aviation flights over them. We express the confidence that after such a statement the flights by Syrian combat aircraft and their operation on the territory of de-escalation zones will cease said Lavrentiev, according to a report by the Russian state news agency, Tass.

Russian aircraft would cease combat operations on this territory, he continued, but only if the opposition in the the de-escalation zones did not mount attacks to destabilize the situation in the countrys other territories.

The proposal, said pro-government media activist Nicolas Zahr, would formalize crossings for commercial goods shuttling from government to rebel-held areas that had been opened up in recent weeks.

Zahr mentioned commercial corridors that would go from government-controlled parts of Aleppo province, in the far north near Turkey, towards Idlib, immediately to the south; and from the countryside areas of southern Syria towards Daraa, near the Jordanian border.

The U.S., which was represented at the talks by Acting Assistant Secretary of State Stuart E. Jones, said it appreciate[d] the efforts of Turkey and the Russian Federation to pursue this agreement. However, Jones did not participate, and the State Department statement said it had reason to be cautious.

We continue to have concerns about the Astana agreement, including the involvement of Iran as a so-called guarantor. Irans activities in Syria have only contributed to the violence, not stopped it, and Irans unquestioning support for the Assad regime has perpetuated the misery of ordinary Syrians, the statement added.

It also said that the U.S. expect[ed] the regime to stop all attacks on civilians and opposition forces, something they have never done.

We expect Russia to ensure regime compliance.

Even if Iran is excluded, the proposal did not elaborate on how the opposition would be able to separate itself from what Moscow and Damascus deem terrorist organizations, which the agreement said included the Nusra Front.

The group has a major presence in a number of the prospective zones, and its jihadists are an important battlefield asset who have spearheaded much of the oppositions gains.

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Bulos is a special correspondent.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 4

By Azad Hasanli  Trend:

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced two new initiatives to improve and monitor the business environment for public-private partnerships (PPPs) in Asia and the Pacific, the ADB said in a message posted on its website May 4.

The first initiative announced today is the Infrastructure Referee Program (IRP), which is the first program of its kind in the PPP market. Under the program, ADB will provide independent third party advice through qualified consultants to help public and private parties resolve disagreements that may arise over the life of a PPP project.

Disagreements between public and private parties over risk allocation can arise during tendering, negotiation, construction, or operation, potentially triggering protracted delays, increased costs, and failure to deliver critical services, said Ryuichi Kaga, head of ADBs Office of PublicPrivate Partnership (OPPP), at the 50th Annual Meeting of ADB's Board of Governors in Yokohama, Japan.

ADB, through the IRP, will help resolve disagreements between public and private stakeholders and support successful delivery and implementation of PPP projects in Asia and the Pacific, added Kaga.

The second initiative, the PPP Monitor, is a new ADB publication that tracks the development of the PPP business environment across ADB member countries and provides insight for the public sector on structuring a sound environment for PPPs.

The PPP Monitor will provide country-specific information critical not only for sound policy formulation but also for the private sector to make informed business decisions, noted Kaga.

The PPP Monitors first edition includes information on Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Future editions are expected to cover more countries and include a broader range of factors.

ADB, based in Manila, was established in 1966 and is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth and regional integration.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 3

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

Implementation of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project is of critical importance on a political, geo-political and business level, said Azerbaijans Ambassador to Greece Rahman Mustafayev.

He made the remarks during a breakfast meeting co-hosted by TAP AG consortium to inform the embassies located in Greece about the progress of the project, reads a message posted on the consortiums website.

During the event, TAP managing director Ian Bradshaw noted that the project ensures strategic targets of the European Union, namely energy security and diversification.

He also elaborated on TAPs progress in its three host countries  Greece, Albania and Italy  as well as the projects key achievements.

TAP is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor, which is one of the priority energy projects for the European Union. The project envisages transportation of gas from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz Stage 2 to the EU countries.

The pipeline will connect to the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) on the Turkish-Greek border, run through Greece, Albania and the Adriatic Sea, before coming ashore in Italys south.

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May 4, 2017, 1:17pm ET

Colorado legislators ban 'rolling coal'

A \'nuisance exhaust display\' can result in a $100 fine, without risk of license points or other penalties.

Colorado legislators have passed a bill that bans the controversial practice of 'rolling coal.'

The term is used to describe a 'nuisance exhaust display' from diesel trucks that have been modified to increase soot output, creating billowing clouds of black smoke. In some cases, drivers trigger the clouds when passing bicyclists or hybrid cars.

The Colorado ban was approved by the state Senate and House on the second attempt. The first was rejected because some legislators were concerned over language that stated an intention to harass or obscure the vision of cyclists and other motorists, according to The Colorado Independent.

Colorado is one of only a few states that explicitly prohibits rolling coal, though some critics point out that such exhaust modifications are already illegal under the federal Clean Air Act and many state-level laws related to vehicle inspections and smoking exhaust.

New Jersey passed a similar law after a state legislator's Nissan Leaf was blasted by a cloud of black diesel smoke.
May 4, 2017, 11:41am ET

Elon Musk says ride sharing obviates need for Tesla bus

The company is still considering a Model X-like vehicle with a higher passenger density, potentially accommodating up to a dozen riders.

Tesla Motors is reconsidering an electric minibus as the company expands its vision for a crowdsourced ridesharing fleet of customer-owned vehicles.

Known as the 'Tesla Network,' the company's platform will allow owners to make money from their vehicle when it would otherwise sit parked. Owners will be able to choose who is allowed to ride in their vehicle, restricting availability to just friends or riders with five-star ratings.

During a TED interview, Musk said he expects the convergence of ride sharing and full autonomy to be cheaper than purchasing a bus ticket.

In an investor conference call yesterday, he added a bit more detail and suggested a ridesharing service that is cheaper than riding a bus will eliminate the demand for more buses.

The executive spent some more time thinking about the company's plan to build a minibus and concluded that it might not make sense in a market dominated by autonomous ridesharing vehicles.

The company still sees merit in a model with higher passenger density, but it could take the form of a large Model X-like vehicle that could fit up to a dozen passengers.
May 4, 2017, 10:14am ET

Imperial AT-AT Walker recalled for hydraulic issues

Canada\'s Transport ministry celebrates May 4th with recall.

Transport Canada issued a recall notice Thursday for the Imperial All-Terrain Armored Transport--the iconic AT-AT "Walker" first introduced in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. The spoof notification was posted by the ministry in celebration of May 4th--Star Wars Day.

The recall notice states that the AT-AT's central hydraulic system "...could fail in extreme cold temperatures, such as on planet Hoth or in Northern Canada. This could impair laser cannon tracking, and affect the walker's ability to maintain balance and could ultimately result in a crash causing injury to imperial troops."

Though this sounds like a serious issue, especially for Imperial forces patrolling the Yukon, the defect was qualified as "inconsequential" by Transport Canada. It sounds a bit more urgent to our ears, but they're the experts.

As TechCrunch points out, the recall notice spares some of the more arcane minutiae regarding the AT-AT, such as its actual manufacturer (Kuat Drive Yards), instead choosing to make the joke a but more universally (galactically?) accessible.

Regardless, we tip our hats to Transport Canada for a rare and welcome dose of humor from a source which rarely exhibits it. May the 4th be with you, eh.
May 3, 2017, 6:05pm ET

Judge hesitates to order injunction in in Waymo-Uber lawsuit

Judge William Alsup says Waymo has not yet presented any \"smoking gun\" to justify further action against Uber.

Waymo attorneys have apparently failed to convince a federal judge to approve an injunction against Uber's autonomous car operations.

Lawyers defending Uber do not dispute allegations that the executive at the center of the lawsuit, Anthony Levandowski, may have downloaded thousands of proprietary files before resigning from Google.

Waymo's legal team argues that Uber conspired with Levandowski to steal the technology and form an independent startup, Otto, that was allegedly only a shell company designed specifically to be acquired by Uber.

"We've learned that Uber and Levandowski created a coverup scheme for what they were doing," Waymo attorney Charles Verhoeven said at a hearing today.

Juge William Alsup reminded Waymo that it is suing Uber, not Levandowski, and has not yet presented convincing evidence that Uber has used stolen designs to create Lidar sensors for its self-driving cars.

"I've given you lots of discovery, and so far you don't have any smoking gun," he said.

Verhoeven claims Uber has improperly blocked plaintiffs from accessing thousands of documents related to the Otto buyout.

With no decisive rulings handed down in the first important hearing, the lawsuit could become a protracted legal battle. It is viewed as particularly important, as both Waymo and Uber are vying for leading roles in the shift to autonomous vehicles.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, May 4

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

A two-day international conference on transport and logistics kicked off on May 4 in Turkmenistans Avaza tourist zone, the Turkmen government said in a message.

Turkmenistan has become one of the major states in the transport and logistics sphere. At the current stage, our country is consistently working to expand the transport infrastructure and implement projects to create transnational corridors, said Turkmenistans President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov in his message to the conferences participants.

Representatives of foreign transport and logistics companies, international organizations, government agencies and investors are taking part in the forum. The conferences agenda includes topical issues, including the role of transport and logistics in the economy, the future of the logistics system, prospects and development of the communication infrastructure of railway industry, sea, river transportation.

Ashgabat is involved in a number of large-scale projects. The Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan railways, automobile and railway bridges over the Amudarya River, airports, highways, international sea port of the Turkmenbashi city are meant to become important links in the international network of transport communications in the region.
A female driver was injured when her car was struck head-on along Freemansburg Avenue at Willow Park Road in Bethlehem Township.

The SUV that hit the woman's car then plowed into the side of a home that was occupied at the time.

The crash occurred 2:33 p.m. Thursday when Joyce Speciale-Detweiler, 57, of Easton, was driving west on Freemansburg in a Toyota sedan and Jorge Cruz-Gonzalez, 19, of Puerto Rico, was heading east in a Nissan Xterra.

Cruz-Gonzalez went to make a left onto Willow Park Road north and crossed the double yellow lines into the path of Speciale-Detweiler.

The vehicles collided head-on, and Cruz-Gonzalez's SUV careened into the side of a home at 1671 Willow Park Road, according to police.

A woman was inside the home but was uninjured, police said.

Speciale-Detweiler was taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.

Cruz-Gonzalez was uninjured.

Portions of Willow Park Road and Freemansburg Avenue were shut down as responders cleared debris.

Charges are pending against Cruz-Gonzalez, according to police.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
A 33-year-old man is accused of threatening another man at gunpoint inside an Easton apartment.

Charged is Shajabbar Milik McRae, who has addresses in the 100 block of South 12th Street in Easton and 1100 block of Sioux Street in Bethlehem.

Easton police at 6:48 p.m. Tuesday were called to an apartment in the 600 block of Bushkill Street. A male victim reported McRae during an argument put a handgun to his head and began threatening him.

Court records do not state what led to the dispute or the relationship between the pair. It's unclear if the pair knew each other prior to the incident.

Witnesses reported McRae fled the apartment building in a silver sedan, and officers quickly a 2004 Mercedes-Benz at North Ninth and Bushkill streets in the city's West Ward.

The victim identified McRae, who was a passenger in the Mercedes, as the person who previously held a handgun to his head and threatened to harm him, police said.

McRae also was charged in a separate case for allegedly selling heroin last Sept. 29. In that case, he is facing charges of delivery of a controlled substance and criminal use of a communications facility.

McRae in Tuesday's case is charged with making terroristic threats and providing a false identification to a law enforcement officer. He was arraigned Tuesday before District Judge Nancy Matos-Gonzalez, who set bail at $75,000 for the September case and $100,000 for Tuesday's case.

In lieu of bail, McCrae was sent to Northampton County Prison.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Easton's planning commission approved a proposal for a bank with a drive-through overlooking the Simon Silk Mill redevelopment.

The bank would go on the site of a former junkyard at 1275 Bushkill Drive just east of 13th Street.

Developer Mark Mulligan said he doesn't have a tenant for the bank yet.

Plans call for a 68-space parking lot for bank customers as well as customers and residents at the silk mill.

The bank plan was approved 7-0 on Wednesday, according to Easton Chief Planner Carl Manges.

The bank property sold for $215,000 in April 2016, according to Northampton County tax records. Freejack Inc. sold it to 1275 Bushkill LP.

The mill abandoned in the 1960s is undergoing a $100 million restoration. Twelve businesses are either open or opening soon. There will be 160 apartments when work wraps up by late 2018 or early 2019.

Mulligan's company, VM Development, is restoring the mill.

Tenants started moving into the businesses last fall.

The first residents moved in April 1, 2017.

BUSINESSES @ SILK

The following businesses are open at the Simon Silk Mill

Trinity Fitness

Elaine Zelker photography

Zeke Zelker's videography studio

Exemplum medical devices

Salon at the Silk

Alisha Nycole Makeup Artistry

KLO Events

Businesses in negotiations or coming soon:

Brick + Mortar gallery

Tucker Silk Mill, a cafe and wine bar

Sole Artisan Ales

Boeser Geist Brewing Co.

BalloonWorks

Preservation Works, a masonry and plaster workshop

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook.
Two Northampton County residents and two Monroe County residents face felony charges filed in March involving welfare fraud, Pennsylvania's inspector general reports.

And a Northampton County woman faces a misdemeanor count, the inspector general added in a news release.

Charges were filed against 67 people in the month and the state expects to recover about $252,000 in restitution, the news release said.

Fourteen people from Lehigh, Northampton and Monroe counties have been charged by the inspector general so far this year with welfare fraud.

Changed in March with felonies, which can result in seven years in jail and a $15,000 fine, are:

Sharon A. Sanchez, 52, of East Stroudsburg, $1,204 in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) fraud and $3,145.64 in medical assistance fraud

Ciarah Peters, 28, of

Vimary Rios, 32, of

Walkidia Medina, 28, of Stroudsburg, $3,087.80 in subsidized day care fraud

Charged with a misdemeanor, which can result in five years in jail and a $10,000 fine, is:

Briana L. McElroy, 27, of Easton, $1,869 in SNAP fraud

"Every dollar of welfare fraud we catch and return to the commonwealth in restitution is a dollar that can go to a Pennsylvanian who truly qualifies for the assistance and needs it," Inspector General Bruce Beemer said in the news release.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
UPDATE: Robbery suspects charged in Bethlehem, Slate Belt holdups

A Slate Belt teen has been charged in a Slate Belt convenience store holdup early Monday, and court records say his accomplices included the pair arrested Wednesday in a similar crime in Wilson Borough.

Christopher Michael Rauh (Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com)

Christopher Michael Rauh, 18, of the 700 block of Garibaldi Avenue in Roseto, is accused of taking cash and cigarettes at gunpoint from Penn Jersey Mart at 975 Mount Bethel Highway in Upper Mount Bethel Township.

Pennsylvania State Police responded at 2:13 a.m. Monday to the store for the report of an armed robbery. Troopers obtained descriptions of two male suspects -- later identified as Rauh and Ezekial Dingle, 21, of Bangor -- based on a witness account and store surveillance footage.

Dingle was seen wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt, denim jeans, white sneakers and dark sunglasses while Rauh was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, black short and black shoes and had a red bandanna partially covering his face, according to court records.

A store clerk reported one of the males, later identified as Dingle, pulled a silver handgun from his waistband area and held it at his waist as he demanded cash, according to police. The clerk placed the register drawer on the counter and Dingle allegedly grabbed about $400 in cash.

Dingle also demanded the clerk hand over four cartons of cigarettes as Rauh peered out the window as a lookout, police said. The pair allegedly then fled in a light brown SUV.

Investigators were able to connect the pair with the crime when Wilson Borough police Wednesday nabbed Dingle and 17-year-old Alan Oren, of Washington Township, Northampton County, in a similar holdup at CVS, at 15th and Northampton streets in the borough. While in custody, Dingle allegedly admitted to robbing the Penn Jersey Mart robbery, along with Rauh and Oren.

Dingle told investigators Oren served as the getaway driver in the Penn Jersey Mart robbery, state police at Belfast said. The three allegedly split the stolen $400.

State police Wednesday obtained a search warrant and raided Rauh's Roseto home. Seized were cigarettes and the red bandanna believed to have been used in the crime.

Rauh in an interview with investigators then admitted to robbing the Penn Jersey Mart, along with Dingle and Oren, police said. Rauh allegedly pointed himself out on surveillance footage as the robber with his face partially covered and told officers he received $100 in stolen cash.

Rauh is charged with robbery (two counts), theft and receiving stolen property. He was arraigned Thursday before District Judge Nancy Matos Gonzalez and sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Following the Wilson Borough robbery, Dingle and Oren allegedly admitted to committing at least two other robberies in addition to the robbery at Penn Jersey Mart.

The crimes followed a string of convenience store robberies in the Lehigh Valley.

Holdups were reported at 3:09 a.m. Sunday at the Turkey Hill at 602 Chestnut St. in Emmaus and at 4:24 a.m. that same day at the Turkey Hill at 6020 Sterners Way in Hanover Township, Northampton County.

Armed robberies were also reported at 10:55 p.m. Sunday at the Penn Jersey Food Mart at 989 Pennsylvania Ave. in Plainfield Township, at 11:06 p.m. Sunday at the 7-Eleven at 14 E. Lawn Road in Upper Nazareth Township and at 4:26 a.m. Monday at the Turkey Hill at 1060 Main St. in Northampton.

Dingle and Oren each were arraigned Wednesday afternoon before District Judge Richard Yetter III on charges stemming from the CVS robbery. In that robbery, the pair each are charged with robbery, theft, criminal conspiracy and receiving stolen property, the police chief said, adding the adult will also face weapons offenses.

Dingle and Oren were not charged, as of late Thursday afternoon, in the Penn Jersey Mart robbery.

They are being held at Northampton County Prison in lieu of $175,000 bail each.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
A 43-year-old Warren County woman allegedly stole about $12,000 from DeVoe Funeral Service Inc. while working there.

Cassandra Mohan was arrested Wednesday by Washington Township police, according to a news release.

Mohan, whose address is listed only as Stewartsville in the release, stole the money between March 2015 and October 2016, according to police.

Police had responded Feb. 6 to the funeral home at 136 W. Washington Ave. in Washington for a reported theft, and detectives linked her to the crime, according to the release.

Mohan was charged with theft by unlawful taking, processed and released with a mandatory court date.

She could not be reached for comment Wednesday night. A number listed for her was no longer her number.

Mark DeVoe, owner, president and managing director of the funeral home, said Wednesday night Mohan had resigned as an employee before her crime came to light.

"We were very hurt," he said, "because we considered her a very good friend and part of the family."

The funeral home marked its 100th year of business in November 2015.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
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A developer has bought the former Fenwick store and revealed its plans for the iconic building.

Aimrok Holdings announced yesterday that the landmark building at the corner of Market Street and Belvoir Street would be transformed into shops and apartments.

Speaking exclusively to the Mercury, project manager Vijay Patel said Aimrok planned to split the basement and ground floors into four retail units, plus a bar, restaurant and gym, with 90 apartments planned for the upper floors.

He said: "The scheme will include high-end apartments for the private rental sector, as well as a champagne bar and retail units.

"We are working on scheme drawings now, ready for planning late summer.

"The purchase of this iconic building in Leicester is really important to us.

"It has a great deal of history and our plans will create an exciting concept for Leicester and will secure the building's future.

"By creating a mixed use scheme, the building has a future which is sustainable for many years to come."

Aimrok Holdings completed the purchase of the former Fenwick store last week, paying a seven-figure sum for the 106,000 sq ft building.

Fenwick, which owns a chain of department stores across the UK, closed its Leicester branch at the end of March, making all 97 of its staff redundant.

Group chairman Mark Fenwick blamed the closure of the store, which had been trading in Leicester since 1962, on "the challenging trading environment and gradual loss of footfall" as the city's retail heart shifted towards Highcross shopping centre.

James Badley, a director of Leicester architect RG+P, said: "We intend maintaining the facade, while modernising parts of the building to increase its longevity.

"In order to ensure the building is sustainable and that it is around for another 100 years, we want to adapt it so it is suitable for a range of uses."

Aimrok claims the new development is expected to create 150 jobs during the build  and following its completion.

James Coningsby, head of commercial property at Nelsons Solicitors, advised Aimrok on the purchase.

He said: "The new development will invigorate the Market Street area. The Aimrok plans will secure the building's future, create employment during the build and after its completion.

"The new owner will be creating a significant development in an employment district.

"The gym will be an excellent addition for the Market Street area. This, coupled with a high end bar and restaurant, will really appeal to office workers and fit well with the surroundings."

Aimrok, based in Enfield, north London, said it has a proven track record in Leicester, having developed other schemes in the city, including the Bishop Street Post Office site where its IMAP Student Properties subsidiary created 74 student bed spaces.

Aimrok also completed a major residential development in Hotel Street.

Finance for the deal was provided by Leicester-based Cambridge & Counties Bank.

Business development manager Adam Jolley said: "The new owners are highly experienced and their vision of developing this iconic city centre building will breathe new life into Market Street and attract further investment into this area of the city."

Martin Herbert of Space Retail Property Consultants advised Aimrok.

He said: "We look forward to working with all stakeholders in creating a special mixed use scheme to help to further regenerate the southern sector of the city centre feeding off the recent office lettings and commercial activity in New Walk and Welford Place."

IBM recently opened its client innovation centre in New Walk, creating 300 jobs and Mattioli Woods is moving back to the area from Grove Park. Its new offices are under construction on the site of the former City Council offices, opposite the former Fenwick.
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Enderby-based fashion giant Next announced a drop in sales, blaming a "challenging" consumer market.

The company said full-price sales in its first quarter were down 3 per cent while total sales, including markdown sales, slipped 2.5 per cent.

Next also issued a profit warning, reducing the upper end of its group full-year profit forecast to 740 million, down from 780 million previously.

At the time of its full year results in March, Next said it expected full-price sales in the first quarter to be towards the lower end of its then full-year guidance range of a 2.5 per cent rise in sales to a 3.5 fall.

The firm has now reduced that upper end guidance to a gain of just 0.5 per cent, while maintaining its upper-end forecast of a 2.5 per cent rise in sales.

The company said: "The UK consumer environment remains challenging, particularly in the clothing and homeware markets, and real wage growth is now close to zero.

"In our full-year results announcement in March we talked about omissions in some of our product ranges.

"We said that we expected some improvements from May onwards, but that our ranges would not be where we wanted them to be until the Autumn season in September.

"We still believe this to be the case.

"With the first quarter of the year complete, we are now able to narrow our profit guidance range. We have maintained the lower end of the range and reduced the upper end."

In early trading, Next shares topped the FTSE 100 fallers list, dropping almost 6per cent, or 255p lower to 4,155p.

Independent retail analyst, Nick Bubb, said: "After the modest rally in the Next share price yesterday, we had hopes that today's eagerly-awaited Q1 update might strike a more optimistic note, given the benefit from warm spring weather, but, alas, no such reassurance has been forthcoming."

Email here.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, May 4

By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:

Some 30 officials representing financial institutions, relevant ministries, law enforcement and regulatory bodies of Turkmenistan participated in an OSCE-organized seminar held in Ashgabat on best practices in combating the financing of terrorism, the OSCE said in its press release.

During the two-day event participants discussed the traditional methods of terrorism financing, and the emerging threats and vulnerabilities in this field. They also stressed the important role of strengthening interagency cooperation in combating the financing of terrorism.

An expert from Moldova provided an overview of international legal provisions and standards on countering terrorism financing and the best practices for their implementation in OSCE participating states.

The Office of the Coordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities supported the seminar and presented the OSCEs activities in strengthening good governance.

Terrorism is nowadays widely recognized as one of the most serious threats to peace, security and stability, as well as to ensuring human rights and social and economic development in the OSCE area and beyond, said Natalya Drozd, the head of the Center.

Effective measures of combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations need to include the blocking of networks used for terrorism financing, she added. Our Center plans to continue providing advisory and technical support to Turkmenistan's efforts to combat the financing of terrorism and other related issues.

This event is part of a range of OSCE-organized activities focused on combating terrorism and builds on the Centers multi-year efforts in promoting good governance principles.
Six local schools are to under improvement works over the summer months.

The announcement was made by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charlie Flanagan.

"The Summer Works Scheme will see mechanical and sanitation upgrades to buildings in a number of primary and secondary schools across the county," said Minister Flanagan.

The local schools that will benefit from the scheme include St Josephs Girls NS, Mountmellick (toilets), Mountmellick Boys NS (toilets), Cill An Iubhair NS, Killinure (toilets),Scoil Mhuire Muigheo, Crettyard (toilets), Mhuire Fatima NS, Timahoe (mechanical) and Mountmellick Community School (mechanical).

"This local investment is part of an overall allocation of 47million for vital school projects around the country," stated Minister Flanagan.

"Works will be carried out in schools in Laois over the summer months, so the disruption to students, teachers and other school staff will be kept to a minimum.

"I am confident that school authorities here in Laois will be able to achieve best value for money on prices for jobs, and I call on schools to ensure that they maximise the benefit to their schools of the works sanctioned by my Fine Gael colleague, Education Minister Richard Bruton.

The Action Plan for Education, which aims to make the Irish education and training service the best in Europe within a decade, puts a big priority on investment in school educational infrastructure.

Todays announcement confirms the Governments continuing prioritisation of capital funding for school buildings here in Laois which will enhance the learning and working environment for pupils and teachers.

The Summer Works Scheme is designed to allow schools to carry out small and medium scale building works that will improve and upgrade existing school buildings.

Some 438 schools at both primary and secondary level around the country will receive 47 million for vital school improvements through the scheme.

This year, almost 500 million will be invested in school building infrastructure under the school building and modernisation programme.
The Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, has started to accept complaints from children living in Direct Provision.

He is now encouraging children or adults on their behalf to come forward with their issues adding that complaints will not affect their refugee status.

Currently there are 79 asylum seekers including six children living at the Eyrepowell Direct Provision Centre in Newbridge.

There were concerns in the past with the lack of facilities for children at the former hotel including no outside play area and cramped in-house living conditions. There were also concerns raised at the time back in 2012 about poor hygiene conditions at the centre and lack of adequate toddler food.

According to the Ombudsman he has been accepting complaints from children living in Direct Provision, or from adults who complain on their behalf since April 3 last.

This means for the first time, young people living in Direct Provision will have the same rights as every other child in Ireland. They will have a safe, secure and independent place, where they can come to make a complaint, he said.

It is still early days, but it is clear already that many find making a complaint very daunting. Understandably people in Direct Provision are fearful that a complaint of any kind, to any organisation, may affect their refugee status. That is not the case.

As Ombudsman for Children, I cannot investigate decisions on asylum, citizenship, family reunification, residency or visas. However, it is understandable, that people, many of whom have been through traumatic experiences, are wary of drawing any attention to themselves.

For the past number of months the Ombudsman has worked with the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA), the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP), and with the staff of Direct Provision centres and Emergency Reception and Orientation Centres (EROC) to accept complaints about children in Direct Provision. He is also now meeting with children and their families to inform them about their rights and how to make a complaint.

It is clear that greater understanding, and improved communication is needed across the public service, and in all Government Departments to make it easier for people living in both Direct Provision centres and EROCs, to make a complaint. At the OCO we are travelling around the country and working to build trust so that children and families know they can come to us.

We expect to receive complaints about life in Direct Provision centres, but we also anticipate complaints about all aspects of a childs life; access to school, education supports, health and welfare.

Providing access to the complaints process for children living in Direct Provision is long overdue. We now need to ensure that people have confidence to come forward and to highlight issues that they feel are negatively impacting on children.

Read More

http://www.leinsterleader.ie/news/local-news/72538/Reception-and-Integration-Agency-hosts-information.html
Welcome to our Election Night open thread. Well be looking at the results as they come in from all over the country. The most exciting thing we are likely to find out tonight is whether we have managed to make up ground in Cardiff. Most results come in tomorrow.

Where are the key battlegrounds?

Lets have a look at the elections being contested. Every council seat in Wales and Scotland is up for grabs, as is every County Council seat in England. For us key battlegrounds include Cardiff, Edinburgh and Cornwall. We have new mayoral contests in Greater Manchester (where Jane Brophy is our candidate), Cambridgeshire and Peterborough (Rod Cantrill), Tyne Tees (Chris Foote-Wood), West Midlands (Beverley Nielsen), Liverpool (Carl Cashman) and Western Counties (Stephen Williams). These elections all took place on different nights the last time. The last Scottish and Welsh elections were in 2012 and they were grim for us. We lost more than half our councillors in Scotland and pretty much half our councillors in Wales. The county elections in 2013 were pretty grim too, with 124 losses. There will be a few Welsh results in tonight but other than that (fingers crossed for our Welsh colleagues) but the main action happens tomorrow. So, what is Twitter telling us about the elections so far, in this early part of the night.

Swansea Liberal Democrats are talking of a collapse in the Labour vote.  Britain Elects (@britainelects) May 4, 2017

And it seems, incredibly, that Labour has contrived to lose control of Nottinghamshire County Council. This is pretty bit  I used to live down there and find that incredible. There is more truth in this than probably even Jim realises:

Weird rule of election counts: The only person who truly knows whats happening is always an odd man from the Lib Dems with a spreadsheet. https://t.co/cMyJyJoFvS  Jim Waterson (@jimwaterson) May 4, 2017

I remember us having to convince Labour that they had won the Glenrothes by-election back in 2008. Simon Hughes is now on LBC. He was late. Apparently watching Millwall.

23:47

At the moment, Im being half amused, half irritated by the manel on LBC. Farage and Gove are irritating enough, but Andrew Gwynne remains in 2012, bashing the Lib Dems for going into coalition. While precisely nothing is happening, they discussed proportional representation. It wasnt a surprise to see that Alex Salmond favours a national list rather than regional ones for the Scottish Parliament. Very impressed that I tweet this:

Is nobody going to have a go at @nigelfarage on @lbc for backing Le Pen. And UKIP isnt a racist party, right?  Caron Lindsay (@caronmlindsay) May 4, 2017

And Shelagh Fogarty asked him. Apparently Marine Le Pen hasnt said anything offensive this campaign and got rid of her dad. So advocating a burkini ban and being mean about immigrants is just fine, according to Nige. Quelle surprise.

23:53:

We have the first Lib Dem gain of the night  in Monmouthshire  Caldicott Castle  from Labour. But it is matched by a loss to the Tories.

Is nobody going to have a go at @nigelfarage on @lbc for backing Le Pen. And UKIP isnt a racist party, right?  Caron Lindsay (@caronmlindsay) May 4, 2017

00:24

Good stuff from Stephen Crosher in the Gospel Oak by-election in Camden  almost tripled the vote to 20% and up from 5th to 2nd. And in Wales, weve held on to Aberaron with the fantastic Elizabeth Evans.

02:43

Ive had a wee nap and woken up to discover a mixed bag of results. Very strong results in St Albans, gaining St Albans North from the Tories. This bodes well for the election where Daisy Cooper is challenging Brexiteer Tory MP Anne Main. Weve had a couple of gains across the county. Weve won all the seats in the Eastleigh constituency, which also bodes well for Mike Thornton regaining the seat on 8 June.

Tessa Munt ousts Tory council leader in Somerset

Good news in Wells as Tessa Munt claims a big scalp. And in Dorset, weve taken the Tory leaders seat too.

Lib Dems win two seats off Tory Council leaders in the South West. Huge congratulations to @TessaMunt in Somerset and Jon Andrews in Dorset!  Lib Dem Press Office (@LibDemPress) May 5, 2017

Its also clear that there is very little point to UKIP any more. They havent successfully defended anything yet.

Indicators for the General Election

In the seats where we want to do well on the General Election, there are encouraging signs. Lets compare the vote from 2013 and 2017 in St Albans East In 2013 St. Albans East MASON, Michael UK Independence Party (UK I P) 636 *PROWSE, Robert Graham Liberal Democrat 1,229 (E) RIENER, Greg The Green Party 239 WINDLE, Vivienne The Labour Party Candidate 1,030 YOUNG, Guy Martin The Conservative Party Candidate 631 Now

Lib Dem Hold: St Albans East, LD 2339, Con 849, Lab 753, Green 169, UKIP 125  Herts Lib Dems (@HertsLibDems) May 5, 2017

In Cheltenham and Eastleigh we are doing very well. We have gained 3 seats from UKIP in the Hampshire seat that we held till 2015. It shows that our vote is holding up in our areas of strength. One of the seats we gained from UKIP was won by former MP Mike Thornton. Similarly, in Wales, across Ceredigion, were holding our own. It will be interesting to see what happens once Scotland comes into play  what will happen in the western part of Edinburgh, East Dunbartonshire, North East Fife and in the Highland seats.

03:38

Good showing for Stephen Williams in the Bristol first preferences for the Western Counties Mayor where he is in second behind Labour.

Not quite as good in South Gloucestershire but it will be interesting to see what the vote in Bath does:

Back in Bristol for the Metro Mayor. Tim Bowles takes S Glos 1st pref 22,547. John Savage 9,503, @swilliamsmp 9,098, @MansellForMayor 7,814.  Charlotte Gay (@CharlotteGay92) May 5, 2017

In Somerset, Cllr Amanda Broom has won the seat of Chard North. Amanda joined us from the Conservatives last year. She had to give up her job as she worked for Yeovil Tory MP Marcus Fysh.

It was also good to see Bill Revans win North Petherton. From 20 votes behind in 2013, he took 51% of the vote tonight.

Labour and UKIP

I havent mentioned them much yet, but just hold this thought in your mind. UKIP have lost everything they had in their stronghold in Lincolnshire. What is the point in voting for them when the Tories have adopted all their policies. Labour are tanking virtually everywhere. I mean, when they lose control of places like Merthyr Tydfil, its not a good night for them. Its an indictment on them that when we have such a horrendous government that they are incapable of taking the fight to them. That is going to have to be our job over the next few weeks.

We also managed a 17% swing from Labour in a ward in Sheffield  which is just what our Joe Otten needs to win Sheffield Heeley. Not making any predications on that score but its a very encouraging sign.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
The Scotsman ran a feature the other day on the candidates from the EU who are standing for election in Scotlands council elections.

Aude Boubaker-Calder is standing in West Fife and Coastal Villages in Willie Rennies old Westminster constituency.

I wanted to join a fair, tolerant party that supports the European Union, said Boubaker-Calder, who moved across the North Sea from Belgium after meeting her Scottish husband while working in Brussels. In Belgium, we tend to be a bit more involved in politics as voting is compulsory. However, in Scotland, and the UK in general, people are more passionate when they talk about politics. Involvement in Belgium is more subtle. Aude, who lives in Dunfermline, added: Im someone who likes to be involved in their community. I want to make a positive difference. Education is my priority in the Dunfermline area. We have issues affecting the catchment areas of schools, and rising school rotas. Everyone deserves the best start in life.

Aude recently won an award for making the best speech of Scottish Conference on the subject of EU nationals right to stay.

In Edinburgh, Latvian Vita Zaporozcenko is standing for us and has been playing a blinder in no less than 5 hustings around the city. Most recently, she had a right go at the SNP for their letter targeting EU nationals  when they still wont commit to full EU membership for an independent Scotland.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
With more and more people relying on the private rented sector for their housing, the Liberal Democrats will be looking to develop a workable policy that supports tenants and encourages good landlords.

Last year Caroline Pidgeon from the Greater London Assembly published startling research. It showed that in the whole of 2015/16, just 411 landlords had been prosecuted across the capital, with a quarter of all boroughs not prosecuting any landlord at all. This is despite there being over 400 regulations governing the sector.

This highlights that the problem of tackling bad landlords is in large part due to regulations not being properly enforced, rather than a lack of rules in general.

The RLA, in its election manifesto, is calling for long term funding for council enforcement supported by the new civil penalties they can charge criminal landlords under the Housing and Planning Act.

In 2014, Lord Shipley quoted a report produced for the RLA, which noted that too much resource goes into regulating good landlords and too little in tackling bad landlords. He was right. We need to be smarter in tackling the crooks who have no place in a modern rental market.

To enable councils to focus on rooting out the bad landlords there should be a system of co-regulation. This would enable the majority of good landlords to self-regulate, with independent dispute resolution to protect tenants. Local authorities can then identify and chase after those not registered.

We all want to see longer letting terms which give tenants more security. One of the deterrents to this is that landlords are faced with the prospect of an average of 43 weeks to repossess a property where a tenant is not paying their rent or is committing anti-social behaviour.

We need to address the long, expensive court processes that landlords and tenants face in seeking to uphold their rights. The RLA is calling for the establishment of new, specialist housing courts. Tenants could use them to ensure their contractual rights are enforced where landlords are not meeting them, and landlords could use them to more quickly regain possession of their properties where tenants are not behaving or are failing to pay their rent. This will help to give landlords the confidence they need to provide longer term tenancies and allow tenants to obtain their rights without relying on local authorities.

The manifestos for this election need to recognise the private rental market as a key part of tackling the housing crisis, with the majority of good landlords being partners, rather than scape goats.

We can then work with the next government to address the biggest issue, which is the shortage of rented accommodation in many areas which drives up rents and reduces choices for tenants. The RLA has a suite of policies to boost supply including bringing smaller plots of unused public sector land and empty properties into use for private rental homes, coupled with positive taxation policies that promote growth. We hope that they can be supported by the Liberal Democrats.

* Alan Ward is Chairman of the Residential Landlords Association. It tweets @RLA_News. Its manifesto for the private rented sector is available on its website.
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Tashkent, Uzbekistan, May 4

By Demir Azizov Trend:

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev by his decree has approved the countrys hydropower engineering development program for 2017-2022, the press service of the Uzbek president said.

The program envisages construction of new hydroelectric power plants and modernization of existing ones through wide use of environmentally friendly renewable energy sources.

In total, it is planned to build 42 new and modernize 32 existing hydroelectric power plants within the program.

The construction and modernization of hydroelectric power plants should be carried out with the introduction of modern and well-grounded scientific and technical solutions, while ensuring preservation of the existing flora and fauna during the construction of hydraulic structures.

Currently, 45 power plants with the capacity of nearly 13,000 megawatts, including 16 power plants of Uzbekenergo with the total capacity of 12,040 megawatts, operate in Uzbekistan's power supply system.



Up to 90 percent of electricity is produced by 10 thermal power plants of Uzbekenergo with the total installed capacity of 10,600 megawatts. The company's 29 hydropower plants with the installed capacity of 1,400 megawatts are mostly united within hydropower plant cascades.



The rest of the electricity is generated by autonomous thermal power stations of the industrial enterprises and small hydroelectric power stations belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources.
Yes, its polling day for many of our readers, including here in Suffolk, where Im our candidate in the evocatively named Upper Gipping division. Its a river, by the way. Good luck to everyone, be it as candidate, agent, activist or supporter. Your efforts are greatly appreciated.

Here, again, are some of the press releases not covered elsewhere on our pages that were issued yesterday

Lamb: IFS figures reveal both health and social care spending to fall per person

Both health and social care spending per person are set to fall in the coming years under current government plans, analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has revealed. The figures predicted that health spending per person will be 1.3% lower in 2020 than in 2010 once the UKs growing and ageing population is taken into account. Meanwhile even if councils make full use of powers to raise council tax to pay for social care, spending will still be 3.4% lower per adult than in 2010.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary Norman Lamb commented:

These figures reveal the sheer scale of the crisis facing the NHS and social care in the years ahead. Its time to be honest with the public about the bold solutions needed to ensure patients and elderly people continue to receive the right level of care. Otherwise we will see standards fall and hospitals collapse under the pressure of growing demand. The Liberal Democrats are prepared to take the difficult decisions required to secure the future of the NHS and care, including increasing tax.

Farron: May must not rush into unilateral military action in Syria

Responding to reports Theresa May plans to push through a vote to bomb Syria if she wins the elections, Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron said:

The idea that after months of disinterest and inaction Theresa May would back military intervention against Assad in Syria outside of a wider diplomatic strategy and without UN backing is deeply worrying. Assad is a brutal dictator, and the use of chemical weapons is indefensible. The action taken by Donald Trump earlier this month was a necessary and proportionate response to the horrific use of chemical weapons. However, we were absolutely clear that we disagreed with the way in which he conducted it- unilaterally, without allies, outside of a wider strategy. That is why the UK must not rush headlong into supporting further unilateral military action in Syria by Trump. Undermining international law and rejecting international cooperation has the potential to create instability on a global scale  seen all too clearly by the illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003. May would be wise not to use Syria as a campaign tool in this election. This would come across as calculating, unconsidered, and without the best interest of the Syrian people at heart.

Olney responds to Brexit research warning

Responding to the results of a survey about the impact of a hard Brexit on research and development conducted by the Academy of Medical Sciences, the British Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society, Lib Dem Richmond Park candidate Sarah Olney said:

Our country has always been a world leader in research and innovation, but hard Brexit threatens to destroy that reputation by making cross-border collaboration too costly, too complicated and too bureaucratic. Instead of scoffing at experts, the Conservatives must engage with these esteemed national academies to ensure that leaving the European Union does not damage their vital work.

Lib Dem response to Institute for govt report on free movement

The Institute for Government today (Thursday) have released a report urging the Prime Minister to accept the continuation of the free movement of people as part of a transitional arrangement. Commenting on the news, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron: The Conservatives have no plan. They paint a picture of competence but this report shows that their vision is unrealistic and potentially disastrous. Theresa May was the Home Secretary during the referendum campaign and it is now becoming clear that she failed to plan for a leave vote. This hard Brexit government is intent on pulling us out of the EU in the most brutal way possible  damaging our economy, jobs and public services. This election is your chance to change the direction of our country and get an opposition that will stand up to the Conservatives and get a better deal for you and your family.

Hospital waiting lists to rise above 5m  Lamb responds

Norman Lamb has responded with anger to reports that more than five million people could be waiting for NHS treatment within two years, according to confidential documents reported in The Times.

Liberal Democrat Health spokesperson Norman Lamb said:
A LIMERICK man accused of murder was headbutted by the man he is accused of killing, a trial has heard at the Central Criminal Court.

Dylan Hayes. aged 22, of The Crescent, Kilteragh, Dooradoyle and Ger Hogan, aged 33, of Raheen Square, Ballinacurra Weston have pleaded not guilty to the murder of 26-year-old Shane Murphy at The Grove, Pallasgreen on April 30, 2015.

In his evidence this Wednesday witness Graham Kelly agreed with Michael Bowman SC that the deceased man Shane Murphy headbutted his client  Ger Hogan  during an argument before the fight that ended in Mr Murphy's death.

He added that he could remember seeing Gers nose bleeding.

Paul Burns SC, prosecuting, also read a statement that was made by Mr Kelly to gardai two days after Mr Murphy died.

In the statement, he gave his account of the subsequent attack on Mr Murphy and said that he heard the accused men say: Give it to him, give it to him.

I think they were both saying it, he added.

Witness Ailish Flood told Mr Burns that she had been staying at the house, which belonged to Mr Murphys girlfriend, for about a month.

On April 30, 2015 she said Ger Hogan, Shane Murphy, Jodie Byrnes and Sharon Kelly were at the house drinking and that Dylan Hayes arrived with Graham Kelly some time during the night.

Dylan and Graham were in a bad enough state, she said.

They were on something.

She said she could remember a lot of shouting but she couldnt understand what it was about.

She said Sharon Kelly wanted Dylan Hayes, Ger Hogan and Graham Kelly to leave and that Ms Kelly tried to push Ger Hogan out the front door.

She remembered that a punch was thrown but she couldnt remember who threw it. Then she saw that Dylan and Ger started on Shane.

She said Shane had asked them to leave in a polite manner, but they didn't like it one bit.

She said she saw the attack and thought the two men were throwing punches but later realised they were stabbing Mr Murphy.

She said that Dylan Hayes was holding a knife and Ger Hogan held a screwdriver.

She also said that she heard the accused men say: Give it to him, give it to him.

Being cross-examined by Michael Bowman SC she accepted that her recollection of some things that happened was not good.

When Mr Bowman put it to her that she had not actually seen Ger Hogan stab Mr Murphy, she said he must have stabbed him, adding: Dylan could not have stabbed him that many times.

Previously, the jury was told they will hear medical evidence that Mr Murphy died after he was stabbed in the heart.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and a jury of five women and seven men.
CONCERNS have been expressed over the lack of a vital clinical psychologist at a city mental health hospital for nearly 10 months.

The post at St Annes Hospital, on Roxboro Road, has been left vacant since August due to a long term illness and will not be filled until the end of June, a spokesperson for the HSE said.

The facility, which saw 2,173 clients in 2016, provides follow-on care for former 5B inpatients, as well as new outpatients, aged 18 to 65.

Sinn Fein TD Maurice Quinlivan told the Limerick Leader this week that a constituent alerted him of the issue, as their child was not getting the services because the psychologist was absent.

And I understand that 14 others have been left in the same situation. Obviously, they have been diagnosed and need their regular counselling, and they are not getting it, he said, adding that he was very concerned about the issue.

We seem to have instances where somebody is off or sick, but they dont seem to be replaced. Its not good enough.

You dont go to counselling unless you have to go. And we have a huge problem with mental health, suicide, across the city and across the region, he said.

The HSE told the Leader that any emergency or high priority referrals are referred to the remaining psychologist at St Annes Hospital.

However, Deputy Quinlivan said that a locum clinical psychologist should be at the facility in the interim, especially when it is specialised work.

When the Limerick Leader questioned Minister of State for Mental Health, Helen McEntee about this issue, she said that it is a worldwide deficit with clinical psychologists and child and mental health psychologists.

There is a shortage worldwide, so we are obviously doing everything that we can to try and attract them to Ireland and keep them here, she said.

Minister of State McEntee, after the launch of the Connecting for Life Mid-West three-year strategy last week, said that one of the biggest challenges and one of the biggest difficulties that we have is recruitment and retention of staff.
FIANNA Fail deputy Willie ODea will vote in favour of keeping the Dail prayer later today, saying he uses those moments to pray for guidance and wisdom.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fail will vote this Thursday to amend Standing Order 27 to keep the prayer, read in both English and Irish, before Dail business commences, alongside a new 30 second period for silent reflection.

However, Sinn Fein is proposing an amendment to the proposal urging that there should be no prayer in Dail chambers and simply a short period of reflection instead.

Sinn Fein deputy Maurice Quinlivan said prayer in parliament has long been associated with former colonies of the British Empire, and said as a Republic, the Government should make the distinction between church and State.

He said the amount of time devoted to this issue is absolutely ridiculous.

Very few countries have a prayer in parliament and those that do have been subjects of the British Empire, he said.

Twenty-four European parliaments have no prayers in the plenary, while Ireland remains one of six where prayer or reflection is observed in plenary, alongside the UK, Australia, South Africa, Canada and the US.

Prayer observed in Canada, in both the House of Commons and the Senate, includes in part, We pray for our sovereign, Queen Elizabeth, and has been part of the daily house proceedings since 1877.

Its absolutely ridiculous the amount of time being devoted to this debate, given the homeless crisis in the country, the crises in hospitals, and with the Brexit disaster coming down the line which will batter Ireland economically like we havent been before, through no fault of our own, he told the Limerick Leader.

This is the last thing we should be talking about at the moment. We live in a Republic. If people want to have a prayer, off they go and have a prayer but not in a public space, he said.

When the reading of the prayer is concluded members would remain standing for the 30 seconds of reflection.

The proposal has been criticised by several deputies, with some saying they will refuse to stand during the prayer.

Deputy ODea said that the current proposal of prayer and a 30-second period of silent reflection at the start of business each day is designed to include everybody.

He said that the Catholic section of the Dail is still in the vast majority, and that this solution affords a reasonable compromise to all faiths.

He added, with a laugh, that he uses the time to pray for wisdom and guidance for the day ahead.

Fianna Fail deputy Niall Collins said he has had zero communication from members of the public on this issue.

I wouldnt like to see it removed, but theres far more important business to discuss, said deputy Collins.

Labour deputy Jan OSullivan said she personally feels that simply having just a moment of reflection is more appropriate, but Labour has proposed prayer and a moment of reflection.
THE Irish Greyhound Boards decision to sell its Harolds Cross stadium is partly due to debts associated with the construction of the 21m Limerick track, the Public Accounts Committee has heard.

However, the board defended its agonising decision to sell Harolds Cross stadium to the Department of Education to offset its crippling debts, as well as the commercial practicality of operating nearby Shelbourne Park stadium.

The PAC heard that the construction of the Limerick greyhound stadium at Greenpark in 2011 had put considerable financial strain on the organisation.

That development currently accounts for 12.5m of the companys 20.3m debt.

Limerick was a bit of a disaster, to say the least, said Social Democrats deputy Catherine Murphy.

We have a duty to turn it [Limerick] into a profitable stadium, and it will be enormously challenging, responded Mr Brady.

A 45-page, 2014 report by Comptroller and Auditor General on the construction of the Limerick stadium queried whether it should ever have been built, particularly given the downturn in the greyhound industry.

An earlier site bought in Meelick, county Clare, was acquired for 1.5m and intended to be used for a new stadium, however due to flooding and other issues it is now worth just 100,000.

The board has been unable to sell the Meelick site, describing it as a difficult site to sell.

A consultants report prepared in relation to the site - before it was bought - identified specific risks in relation to access to the national road network, but it was not examined by the board. It subsequently became clear that direct access to the adjacent national road would not be allowed, and that alternative access routes would require additional costs.

The decision to purchase the Meelick site was taken in 2005, which predates the current board of the IGB.

Phil Meaney, chairman of Bord na gCon, told the PAC that an offer to purchase Harolds Cross site was received from the department this Monday.

After a meeting of the board, it received advice from its property agents, Savills, who informed them that the offer was acceptable.

However, Mr Meaney would not disclose the sale price, nor the market valuation, saying there are a number of steps to be taken in the weeks and months ahead.

A decision was taken to sell Harold's Cross on March 23, following its closure in February, with significant amount of interest in the site, including expressions of interest from Northern Ireland.

IGB board member Pat Creed said there was a trigger event on December 9 last as 12.5m of its 20.3m debt was due for repayment to the bank, so the asset had to be sold.

It's almost a State bailout of an organisation that has clearly failed, said Sinn Fein deputy David Cullinane.

Mr Meaney said the decision to sell Harold's Cross was not solely to offset its debts, but also as it did not make commercial sense to continue to operate Harold's Cross when it's two miles away from Shelbourne Park [stadium], which is twice the size.

It is their hope, he said, to turn Shelbourne Park into a state-of-the-art stadium.

Mr Meaney said that while Harold's Cross was identified as "the asset most likely to yield significant value", he said the board "agonised long and hard about" its closure and sale.

Harold's Cross was an iconic stadium of great importance to our Dublin colleagues, who have a huge emotional attachment to it. We acknowledge that the closure is a blow to the greyhound fraternity in Dublin, he said.

Examined under their 2015 financial accounts, they show that Shelbourne Greyhound Stadium Ltd was the most profitable subsidiary up to December of that year within the group, retaining capital and revenue reserves of 4.5m.

Interim chief executive Sean Brady said the board has to pull like dogs for the future success of all stadium under its control, particularly in a new environment where online gambling has diminished live attendances.

The zoning of the site at Harold's Cross will have to be changed from its current use as a recreational facility to allow for the construction of a new school or schools to be built.

In the period 2014-2015, wages and salaries grew from 6.7m to 9.3m, with an increase of 15 full-time staff during that period.

Three related High Court cases had been ongoing since September 2010, with a settlement reached in September 2015. Details of the settlement are subject to a confidentiality clause, it advised.

The session was suspended at lunchtime this Thursday due to other business, and the hearing will resume on Thursday, May 18.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, May 4

By Demir Azizov  Trend:

A delegation of the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR) will pay an official visit to Uzbekistan on May 10-12, a source in the Uzbek government told Trend May 4.

The delegation will be headed by High Commissioner Zeid Raad Al Hussein.

The aim of the visit is to discuss the current state of cooperation between Uzbekistan and OHCHR, as well as possible areas for future cooperation in the spheres of mutual interest.

This is the first visit of Al Hussein to Central Asia since he became a UN high commissioner for human rights on September 1, 2014.
May 1, 2021, 1 PM

The 1994 set of nine Eritrean Flag of Eritrea stamps (Scott 211-219) is difficult to find and a good buy in mint never-hinged condition at the 2017 Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue value.

Tip of The Week  By Henry Gitner and Rick Miller

Eritrea lies on the Horn of Africa, bordering Djibouti, Ethiopia, Sudan, and the Red Sea. Eritrea was an Italian colony and, after World War II, a region of Ethiopia before gaining its independence in 1991.

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The stamps of independent Eritrea do not enjoy a huge following in the United States. However, most of its earliest issues from 1991 to about 1995 are very difficult to find in the stamp market. The demand is relatively low, but the supply is even lower.

The 1994 set of nine Flag of Eritrea stamps (Scott 211-219) has appeal to flag topical collectors. The 2017 Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue values the set at $58.50 in mint never-hinged condition.

The set is very similar to an earlier (1993) set of six Flag of Eritrea stamps (Scott 205-210). The border of all the stamps in the earlier set is blue, while the stamps issued in 1994 have different colored borders. This is a difficult set to find, and it would be a good buy at full Scott catalog value if you see it offered.
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Tashkent, Uzbekistan, May 4

By Demir Azizov Trend:

The 21st Oil and Gas Uzbekistan / OGU 2017 international exhibition and conference will be held in Tashkent May 17-19, the ITE Uzbekistan world class exhibition company told Trend.

The event is timed to the 25th anniversary of the Uzbekneftegaz National Holding Company in 2017.

The official opening ceremony of the 21st exhibition and conference will be held at Uzexpocentre in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on May 17.

The conference entitled "Key Development Prospects for the Future Growth of the Oil and Gas Industry of Uzbekistan" will start on the same day.

Over 80 Uzbek authoritative oil and gas experts are expected to deliver speech at the conference.

Some 400 companies and delegates from 27 countries have confirmed their participation.

OGU is one of the most important specialized exhibitions and conferences, including MIOGE (Russia), KIOGE (Kazakhstan), Caspian Oil & Gas (Azerbaijan), TUROGE (Turkey), OGT (Turkmenistan).
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 4



By Khalid Kazimov  Trend:



Irans former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has issued a complaint against incumbent Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri over baseless accusations and falsifying statistics.



The former presidents representative has joined a meeting of a commission monitoring Irans presidential elections to brief members about Ahmadinejads decision to complain against Jahangiri, a nominee at the May 19 presidential election, Fars news agency reported.



According to the report, Ahmadinejad wants the public broadcaster to allow him to go on air to respond to Jahangiris recent comments on the performance of the government under Mahmoud Ahmadinejads term as Iran's president.



As part of ongoing presidential election debates in Iran, Jahangiri on May 2 during a televised speech accused Ahmadinejads administration of inflicting huge economic harms to the country.



Ahead of the May 19 poll, six candidates standing in Iran's presidential election have squared off in debates.



Incumbent President Hassan Rouhani and his Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri, influential cleric Ebrahim Raisi and Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf are among the key election candidates.



Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his ally Hamid Baqaei have been barred from contesting in the upcoming election.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 4

By Elena Kosolapova  Trend:

OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers are interested in extending the agreement to reduce oil production during the meeting in late May, Denis Davydov, chief analyst at the Russian Nordea Bank, said.

"We think that the countries will manage to agree, Davydov told Trend over phone. The extension of the current agreement is likely to be discussed at the meeting.

He added that further reduction of oil production is unlikely to be discussed at the meeting because the countries which joined of the OPEC agreement intend to maintain the market share, while other oil producers which have not joined the agreement are close on their heels.

"Keeping the oil production volumes at the current level [after reduction] is probably the best option because OPEC has the task to target the global level of oil reserves, rather than the price," Davydov said.

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, 2017 for six months, extendable for another six months.

The analyst added that the previous agreement on the reduction of oil production, despite the slight price increase since its signing, should be regarded as rather effective.

"The countries have been increasing their oil production without any control during 2-3 years, but trying to settle the market situation within six months," he said. Given the weak demand growth, six months are not enough to stabilize the market.

He added that it is beneficial for the OPEC biggest oil producers, namely, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, the UAE and, probably, Kuwait, to extend the agreement over the second half of 2017.

Davydov also added that it would be good for the OPEC deal participants if Libya and Nigeria, which have not joined the previous agreement, to join it this time.

He said that Libya has been recently an irritating country in the market, although its nominal oil production volumes are small.

"If Libya joins OPEC deal participants, it would be convenient for everyone, Davydov said. It will create more comfortable conditions for other participants and can be a favorable occasion for reaching agreement."

He said that Libya and Nigeria will likely to try to avoid obligations to reduce oil production.

Further speaking, he noted that there is certain risk, as if the agreement is extended, the US may increase its oil production.

"In a short time interval, it looks rather dangerous as further growth in oil production in the US can neutralize the results of OPEC actions," he said.

Davydov added that proceeding from geological exploration data, the US reserves are not unlimited and the US oil production is unlikely to go past the best results of the past.

"Without additional investments, there will be 9.5-9.6 million barrels of oil in the US per day, and the US is unlikely to continue to more increase oil production volumes.

He said that the uncontrolled oil production growth will cause a new market collapse and in the long term it will lead to the lack of long-term investments.

As a result it will change the situation in the market, which will affect everyone, mainly, shale oil producers, he said.

"These investments are required, he said. Therefore, it is important for the market to achieve such a balance of reserves and prices that would allow the oil industry to continue to develop in a more harmonious way," the analyst said.

---

Follow the author on Twitter:@E_Kosolapova
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 4

By Orkhan Quluzade  Trend:

Seven Turkish servicemen were injured in the shootout with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants during the special operation carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces in the countrys Cukurca district, southeastern Hakkari province, said the website of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces May 4.

The wounded servicemen were taken to the nearest hospital. Two PKK militants were neutralized.

It is noted that the Turkish Air Force supported the ground operation, using the F-16 fighter and the Bell AH-1 Cobra helicopter.

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.
Venezuelan security forces battled protesters who lit fires and hurled stones on Wednesday in rage at President Nicolas Maduro's decree to create an alternative congress, with another fatality taking the death toll to 34 during a month of unrest, Reuters reported.

In a familiar pattern in protests against the socialist government, thousands of opposition supporters rallied peacefully at first before being blocked, sparking fights around the city between masked youths and soldiers.

One 17-year-old protester died in the melee from an object that hit him in the neck, said Gerardo Blyde, a district mayor for the opposition.

"A young man with all his life ahead. He simply fought for a better country," Blyde said on Twitter of the case which the Venezuelan state prosecutor's office said it would investigate.

More than 200 people were injured as fights raged in various parts of the capital, Blyde and another opposition mayor said.
Somalia's Minister of Public Works and Reconstruction Abbas Siraj was shot dead in capital Mogadishu on Wednesday evening following a gunfire from Somali government forces, officials said.

The incident took place in front of the presidential place in Mogadishu, Anadolu reported.

Mohamed Bulle, a police captain in the area, told Anadolu Agency over the telephone that the 31-year-old minister was killed after forces belonging to Somali government opened fire into his car near the state house in Warta Nabada district.

Abbas Siraj, Somalia's public works and reconstruction minister, was killed near the presidential palace by government soldiers. We dont yet know the motive behind this [shooting] but an investigation is underway," Captain Bulle said.

Information Minister Abdirahman Osman Yerisow also confirmed the incident in a short statement posted on his Facebook account, saying the Somali minister of public works died this evening in Mogadishu following gunfire from soldiers.

A former humanitarian worker, Abbas Sheikh Abdulahi Siraj grew up in Dadab, the worlds largest refugee camp in northeastern Kenya. He was the youngest member of the Somali cabinet, as well as the youngest MP.

Hassan Ali, MP from Jubaland state where Siraj was elected, called on the Somali government to hold accountable those who were behind the killing.
Find not too frequent updates from the Livesay family here
The image on the left is an X-ray of the man's neck. The arrow is pointing to a small chip of bone that broke off in the injury. The image on the right is a CT scan, looking up at the vertebra. There are two fractures, one on the right side and one on the left side.

A young man in Tunisia who was in a high-speed crash suffered a broken neck  in an injury doctors call a "hangman's fracture"  yet recovered with no lingering problems, according to a recent report of the man's case.

A "hangman's fracture" refers to a neck injury that occurs when a person's neck snaps backwards, as it would during a hanging.

And though the name refers to an act that's far less common today than it once was, the injury itself is not incredibly rare: Dr. Anis Khelifi, who was an orthopedic surgeon at the Kassab Orthopedic Institute in Tunisia when he treated the patient, said he's seen this type of fracture twice. [Here's a Giant List of the Strangest Medical Cases We've Covered]

The fracture occurs in the second cervical vertebra (in other words, the second-from-the-top vertebra of the spine), and is the second most common type of fracture for this vertebra, Khelifi told Live Science.

After the car crash, which took place in August 2012, the 25-year-old man came to the emergency room in severe pain, according to the brief report of the man's case, which was published today (May 3) in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The doctors examined the man and concluded that the crash had not damaged his spinal cord, according to the report. Spinal cord damage can lead to paralysis, and if the damage is extreme, it can cause death, Khelifi said.

To check for spinal cord damage, the doctors did a neurological exam, including checking to see if the man had any weakness in his arms or legs and if he could sense a light touch or pinprick on his skin, according to the report.

Although the man hadn't damaged his spinal cord, the doctors concluded that his injury was "unstable," Khelifi said. In other words, there was a chance the injury would get worse and cause more damage.

The man underwent surgery to stabilize the injury, and he fully recovered. Four years after the injury and surgery, he was pain-free and had no neurological problems, according to the report.

Originally published on Live Science.
On May 6, 1937, the German zeppelin Hindenburg exploded, filling the sky above Lakehurst, New Jersey, with smoke and fire. The massive airship's tail fell to the ground while its nose, hundreds of feet long, rose into the air like a breaching whale. It turned to ashes in less than a minute. Some passengers and crewmembers jumped dozens of feet to safety while others burned. Of 97 people aboard, 62 survived.

At the time, the Hindenburg was supposed to be ushering in a new age of airship travel. But the crash instead brought the age to an abrupt end, making way for the age of passenger airplanes. The crash was the first massive technological disaster caught on film, and the scene became embedded in the public's consciousness. A horrified radio reporter's exclamation  "Oh, the humanity!"  has since become somewhat of a catchphrase. Speculation about the cause of the crash has been the subject of numerous books and movies. "It was like the Titanic in that sense," said Dan Grossman, an aviation historian at Airships.net and author of "Zeppelin Hindenburg: An Illustrated History of LZ-129 (opens in new tab)."

A luxurious leviathan in the sky

Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, a German military officer, developed the first rigid-framed airships in the late 1800s. He had observed hot-air balloons in the United States during the Civil War, according to Airships.net. He built his first airship, LZ-1, in 1899. Over time, his name became synonymous with all rigid airships.

The Hindenburg  officially designated LZ-129 Hindenburg  was the biggest commercial airship ever built, and at the time, the most technologically advanced. It was 245 meters (803.8 feet) in length and 41.2 m (135.1 feet) in diameter, according to Airships.net. It was more than three times larger than a Boeing 747 and four times the size of the Goodyear Blimp. It could reach cruising speeds of 122 km/h (76 mph) and a maximum speed of 135 km/h (84 mph).

The Hindenburg featured 72 passenger beds in heated cabins, a silk-wallpapered dining room, a lounge, a writing room, a bar, a smoking room, and promenades with windows that could be opened in-flight. The furniture was designed using light-weight aluminum. Special precautions were taken to ensure that the smoking room was safe, including a double-door airlock to keep hydrogen from entering, according to the American Enterprise Institute.

The Hindenburg was named for former German Weimar Republic president Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934). It took its first flight in March 1936, and flew 63 times, primarily from Germany to North and South America, said Grossman.

Development and technology

Blimps, zeppelins and hot-air balloons are all types of lighter-than-air airships. They are kept aloft through a lifting gas, such as helium, hydrogen or hot air. Zeppelins, including the Hindenburg, have rigid frames constructed of rings and longitudinal girders. Gas cells allow them to maintain their shape without deflating, unlike hot air balloons and blimps, according to Space.com.

The frame was built of duralumin, an aluminum alloy. The Hindenburg was wider than other airships, which made it more stable. Four engines powered the Hindenburg.

Sixteen gas cells made from gelatinized cotton kept the Hindenburg aloft. These cells were designed to be filled with helium, which was known to be safer than hydrogen because it is non-flammable. However, the Germans could not obtain helium. It was very expensive, required more operators, and reduced the payload. Most importantly, only the United States and Soviet Union had helium at the time, said Grossman.

"No one was doing business with the Soviets and because helium was difficult to extract, the U.S. had a law that prohibited exporting helium," he said. "One myth is that the Hindenburg didn't have helium because the U.S. wouldn't sell it to the Nazis. That is not true; the prohibition was passed six years before the Nazis took power. By 1936, the U.S. was making more helium and it is possible they would have sold it to the Germans, but they never asked for it."

Nazi pride, the ongoing economic depression in Germany and the difficulties of making a profit with a helium-lifted airship all prevented the Germans from attempting to use helium for the Hindenburg, said Grossman.

The crash

On its final, fateful voyage, the Hindenburg took off from Frankfurt, Germany, on May 3, 1937. The trip was smooth, though headwinds slowed the crossing and delayed the estimated landing time by 12 hours. Bad weather awaited in New Jersey, where thunderstorms had raged all day. Captain Max Pruss and other senior officers aboard the Hindenburg requested delaying the landing further and flew the ship around the beaches until weather conditions improved somewhat, according to Airships.net.

The Hindenburg approached Lakehurst just after 7 p.m. on May 6. Concerned that weather conditions would deteriorate and faced with changing wind patterns, the officers decided to execute a sharp S-turn to land in a better direction for the current gusts, according to Airships.net. After the turn was made, landing lines were dropped. Handlers on the ground used these ropes to help guide the landing. The Hindenburg was about 180 feet in the air.

A few minutes after the landing lines were lowered, members of the ground crew saw what they described as "wave-like fluttering" beneath the ship's fabric covering near the end of the ship, possibly caused by hydrogen that had escaped from its cell, according to The Royal Society of Chemistry.

At 7:25 p.m., flames appeared on the Hindenburg's tail. Within seconds, fire covered the entire tail. The tail sank to the ground and the nose jutted up into the sky for several seconds before crashing down, engulfed in flames, according to Don Adams, a coordinator and historian at the Navy Lakehurst Historical Society, which maintains the Hindenburg crash site. The fabric covering was gone, leaving the duralumin skeleton standing for a moment before it buckled and collapsed.

"It took only 34 seconds to burn," said Adams. "People are always shocked by that. Just 34 seconds."

Because of the speed of destruction, survival mostly depended on where passengers and crew were at the time the fire started, Adams continued. Most people on the periphery of the ship were able to jump to safety. Most passengers in their cabins died. More crewmembers than passengers perished because they were scattered throughout the ship, while the majority of passengers had gathered at the windows to watch the landing.

The crash was filmed by four newsreel companies, though none caught the first moments of fire. "They always had reporters and film crews when it landed because celebrities flew on it," said Adams. "It was the thing to do at the time. Thousands of people would come to watch the landings."

The most famous media from the Hindenburg crash is Herbert Morrison's eyewitness radio account (opens in new tab), which was broadcast by WLS Chicago the next day. In it, he describes the scene in vivid detail and exclaims his famous line: "Oh, the humanity!"

What caused the crash?

There are several theories about the reason for the crash, which range from crackpot to respectable, according to Grossman. When it comes to the basics of what happened, "there is zero controversy among all respectable scholars in the field," he said. It is established that there was a leak in the fuel cells, hydrogen escaped and mingled with oxygen, creating a highly flammable mixture, which then ignited and caused a massive fire.

There is no evidence to support theories that a bomb or arrow hit the Hindenburg in an act of sabotage or that a chemical or material other than hydrogen caused the fire. "The most well-known crackpot theory is that the fabric was extremely flammable," said Grossman, who wrote an essay about Hindenburg myths. "It was not. There is no evidence that it was. Airships in general and the Hindenburg in particular had been hit by lightning. Hydrogen airships had been hit by lightning frequently enough to burn holes in the covering but they never caused a fire because the hydrogen wasn't leaking."

What remains uncertain is why the hydrogen was leaking and exactly how it was ignited. "There are a lot of speculations on why the leak happened," said Adams. A common theory is that the sharp S-turn caused a wire to snap and cut into a gas cell, but that has been "pretty much disproved," said Grossman. "Given that all the evidence burned up, we'll probably never know why it was leaking."

Experts do have a good idea of what caused the ignition. There are two primary theories: electrostatic discharge and St. Elmo's Fire. Both Adams and Grossman subscribe to the electrostatic discharge theory of ignition "to the extent that you can say anything with certainty when reconstructing an accident," said Grossman. In both theories, the high electric charge on the day, caused by the lightning storms, plays an important part.

"You could still see the lightning [when the ship was landing]," said Grossman. "There was so much electricity in the air that nearby rubber factories were closed (rubber dust is highly explosive)." Flying through the air, the ship had a positive charge. When the landing lines touched the ground, they received a negative charge. "It was like walking across the rug and touching the doorknob," said Adams. "You are the positive charge and the knob is negative. Anytime you have two differences in electrical potential, a spark is likely to jump."

"The nature of the electrostatic discharge theory that I find most convincing is that it's consistent with as much of the physical evidence as we have," said Grossman. "There was a difference in the electric potential of the metal framework of the ship, which was grounded by the landing lines, and the fabric covering of the ship which, was electrically isolated from the framework. There was no way the charge in the fabric could discharge or equalize because it wasn't connected to anything that was conductive. It was connected to nonconductive rami cords and wooden dowels. So you had a huge electrical charge on the fabric and a very different electrical charge on the framework because the ship was 60 to 80 meters in the air but the framework had the electrical charge of the ground."

Grossman noted that St. Elmo's Fire, or brush discharge, which is caused by a difference in electrical charges between an object and the air, could have also caused the spark. "There was so much electricity in the air, it could have easily happened. But neither St. Elmo's Fire or electrostatic discharge would have been dangerous if there hadn't been a hydrogen leak."

Nazi connection

"Never forget the role Nazi of pride," said Grossman. "Nazis lay over this story."

The Hindenburg was already under construction when the Nazis came into power in Germany in 1933. The Third Reich saw the zeppelin as a symbol of German strength, according to History.com. The Hindenburg was partly owned by the government and partly owned by the Zeppelin Company, its creators. Giant swastikas were painted on its tail fins.

The German minister of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, ordered the Hindenburg to embark on a propaganda mission early on, before the ship's endurance tests had even been completed. For four days, it flew around Germany, blasting patriotic songs and dropping pro-Hitler leaflets, said Grossman. The weather was bad during the flight, and commander Ernst Lehmann ended up damaging the tail.

Some theorize that the crash was an act of anti-Nazi sabotage. While Grossman noted that many people would have been happy to see the Nazi ship go up in the flames, there is no physical or witness evidence to support that possibility. "But," he said, "there is so much evidence that points to the static-electro discharge theory."

Nazis played a role in the Hindenburg crash in another way, however. Lehmann, the senior officer aboard the Hindenburg, and Pruss, captain of the ship, were both influenced by the Nazi Party. Pruss was a party member and while Lehmann was not, he "had a demonstrated history of bowing to Nazi pressure," said Grossman. "He damaged the Hindenburg on the propaganda flight because he did something a Nazi officer told him to do that he knew wasn't a good idea. After that, three of the four untested engines failed on the first flight back from Rio."

During the last flight, Hindenburg officers were under pressure from the Nazi party to stay on a strict time schedule. Adams explained that while the Hindenburg was only half full on its flight from Frankfurt to Lakehurst, it was fully booked with celebrities, dignitaries and other notables for the return flight. They needed to get to Europe to attend the coronation of Britain's King George VI. "They were already late coming into Lakehurst so they wanted to try and make up that time and do a fast turn around and get out of here," he said. "He (Lehmann) was almost like a fanatic on keeping his schedule."

This fanaticism came from a place of fear. Not arriving in time for the coronation would have reflected poorly on the Germans, and the Nazi party was very sensitive to public opinion, explained Grossman. "Hindenburg officers knew the weather wasn't right but were asking themselves, 'Who are we more afraid of, the weather or the Gestapo?' The weather may or may not kill you but you can't say that about the Gestapo."

Lehmann and Pruss were criticized, even after their deaths, for bowing to Nazi pressure and attempting to land the Hindenburg in bad conditions. Thy should have waited for the electricity in the air to dissipate before landing, according to Grossman.

Aftermath

The Hindenburg crash ended the airship era. "No one wanted to fly with hydrogen ships anymore; they were afraid of it," said Adams. "Not only that, as Hitler gained more power, people really didn't want to fly on a Nazi airship."

American and German companies had plans to build more airships and saw the Hindenburg as a test case for their investment, said Grossman. After the crash, those plans were canceled.

But technological advancements also contributed to the demise of airship popularity. "The Hindenburg would have been an amazing technical achievement in 1928. But by 1936, it was out of date because of fixed wing heavier-than-air airplanes," said Grossman. "When it was launched, there were already aircraft that could fly faster, carry as much, fly cheaper, with fewer crew, that were better in every way.

"Even if the Hindenburg hadn't burned, it would have been made obsolete by aircraft."

Additional resources
A US drone strike killed at least seven militants of the Islamic State, also known as Daesh, terror group in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province, Sputin reported.

According to the Khaama Press news outlet, citing the provincial police commander, no local security forces or residents of the region suffered any casualties in the strike, which took place Wednesday.

Afghanistan has been facing instability for years with government troops fighting against the Taliban, an Islamist terror organization (outlawed in Russia) seeking to establish strict Sharia law in the country, as well as other terror groups, including the Daesh. The US forces support the Afghan government counter-terror operations.
The first fleet of robotic spacecraft that humanity launches to explore exoplanets may include a few kamikazes.

The $100 million Breakthrough Starshot initiative is working to develop an interstellar spaceflight system that would use powerful lasers to accelerate tiny, sail-equipped probes to 20 percent the speed of light.

The baseline plan calls for the robotic nanocraft to hunt for signs of life and gather other data during flybys of nearby alien worlds such as Proxima b, a potentially habitable planet located just 4.2 light-years from Earth. But the scientific return would be even greater if some of the 1-gram probes actually slammed into their target worlds, some researchers said. [Breakthrough Starshot in Pictures: Laser-Sailing Nanocraft to Study Alien Planets]

"I want 10  at least 10 ships, not just one," Harvard University astronomy professor Dimitar Sasselov said April 20 during a panel discussion at the annual Breakthrough Discuss conference at Stanford University.

"So then, two of them I'll point at the planet, straight into the planet, hit the planet and create a thermal event in the atmosphere," added Sasselov, who's also the founding director of the Harvard Origins of Life Initiative. The other eight probes would "beam the data back, because you'll get a lot better characterization of what's in the atmosphere," he said.

(Sending 10 probes shouldn't be a problem; each spacecraft will be relatively cheap to manufacture, Breakthrough Starshot team members have said, and the project aims to launch many of the spacecraft toward each target body.)

The postage-stamp-sized space probes of Breakthrough Starshot could make a flyby of planets around Alpha Centauri within 20 years after launch. See how Breakthrough Starshot could work in our full infographic (Image credit: by Karl Tate, Infographics Artist)

This suicide strategy was also raised as a possibility by Philip Lubin, a physics professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who's the driving force behind Breakthrough Starshot's planned laser-propulsion system.

"Maybe you have a small mothership that sends out little daughters [and] drops them in the atmosphere," Lubin said during a separate presentation at Breakthrough Discuss on April 20. "And then perhaps you could telemeter data back from the daughters to the mother saying, 'I'm sacrificing myself for the good of science and humanity back home.' You could possibly do spectroscopy from the impact on the atmosphere and the surface, and there are ways to measure gravity."

Spectroscopy is a technique in which astronomers study the wavelengths of light coming from a planet to figure out what's in that world's atmosphere. If gases produced by life are present, spectroscopic observations could potentially spot them. (Because "biosignature" gases can generally also be created by abiotic processes, a compelling case for alien life would probably require the detection of more than one, researchers have said. For example, the presence of both methane and oxygen in a planet's atmosphere would make a strong case, since these two gases can't coexist for long.)

The data-generating "thermal event" referenced by Sasselov would be pretty dramatic. A Starshot probe traveling at relativistic speeds would release about as much energy as 1 kiloton of TNT when it detonated in the atmosphere, Lubin said.

University of Hawaii physicist Jeff Kuhn said the explosion would be even more powerful; during a different Breakthrough Discuss panel on April 21, he estimated the yield at perhaps 100 kilotons. For comparison, the atomic bomb that the United States dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima toward the end of World War II had an explosive yield of about 15 kilotons.

One of the biggest challenges facing the Breakthrough Starshot program is ensuring that the tiny probes can relay their images and other data back to their handlers here on Earth, team members have said. If the project cannot solve that problem, suicide dives could at least provide confirmation that an interstellar mission reached its target, Kuhn said.

"If we could string out a bunch of these  maybe we could set it up so that, with all of our ground-based telescopes, we could get the self-destructive signal that said, 'Yeah, we made it,'" he said. "It might start interstellar warfare, but it would satisfy that."

As that last remark suggests, the kamikaze strategy would likely be controversial and provoke spirited debate, especially considering that Starshot aims to prioritize the study of worlds that may be capable of supporting life. (Indeed, Sasselov's comments were greeted with nervous chuckles by some of his fellow panelists at the Breakthrough Discuss conference, one of whom said, "I'm picturing 'Independence Day.'")

But the Starshot team and the world at large have some time to chew over such ethical issues. The first interstellar nanoprobes probably won't launch for another 20 years or so, even if the team makes good progress and everything goes well, Starshot team members have said.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.
The number of marijuana-related ER visits made by teens and young adults more than quadrupled at one Colorado hospital after the state legalized the drug, a new report finds.

Researchers analyzed information from people ages 13 to 21 who visited the emergency room at Children's Hospital Colorado or one its satellite urgent-care centers between January 2005 and June 2015.

The investigators found that the number of yearly ER visits that involved teens and young adults who had recently used marijuana increased from 146 visits in 2005 to 639 visits in 2014. The overall rate of these visits increased from about one per 1,000 people in this age group in 2009 to four per 1,000 people in the same age group in 2015. [Mixing the Pot? 7 Ways Marijuana Interacts with Medicines]

In Colorado, the commercial production and distribution of marijuanafor medical use was legalized in 2010, and the recreational use of marijuana was legalized in 2014.

Previous research using data from the entire United States has suggested that marijuana's legalization has not significantly affected teen marijuana use, with about the same percent of adolescents using the drug before and after legalization.

But based on the new findings, the researchers said they suspect that national surveys do not entirely reflect the impact of legalization at a more local level.

"The state-level effect of marijuana legalization on adolescent use has only begun to be evaluated," Dr. George Sam Wang, an author of the report and an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, said in a statement.

The report additionally found that 66 percent of the teens and young adults who went to the ER for a marijuana-related reason were also evaluated by a psychiatrist while they were there. This suggests that the individuals had symptoms of a mental health condition, the report said.

Due to that finding, doctors may consider screening teens for mental health conditions if those teens have recently used marijuana, Wang told Live Science.

The researchers noted that they could not determine from their data exactly how each patient's marijuana use led to an ER visit. For example, some patients may been diagnosed with marijuana dependence, while others had marijuana-related injuries. Some of the patients could have been at the ER for some other reason, but tested positive for marijuana during a urine drug screen, the report said.

The report will be presented on Monday (May 8) at the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting in San Francisco.

Original article on Live Science.
England's Salisbury Plain is famous as the home of Stonehenge and other enigmatic ancient sites. But it has just yielded a much more recent archaeological wonder: a network of World War I tunnels.

Archaeologists report they've found these century-old passages on a military base, complete with grenades, food tins and graffiti preserved inside.

A large portion of Salisbury Plain is used as training grounds for the British Army. This was true during World War I, too, and combat engineers and miners were trained at the site to build tunnels that would allow soldiers to plant bombs under enemy trenches on the Western Front. [World War I in Photos: See Images from 1914-1918]

The tunnels were discovered recently by archaeologists conducting salvage excavations ahead of the construction of new Army housing at Larkhill on Salisbury Plain. So far, theyhave excavated about 5 miles (8 kilometers) of trenches, with the work being done alongside bomb-disposal specialists, because some grenades left there were still live, according to a statement from Wessex Archaeology, one of the organizations working on the site.

Martin Brown, an archaeologist with the consulting group WYG, said the project is "the largest single investigation of First World War training trenches anywhere in the world."

"That we didn't expect these underground tunnels shows that much remains left to discover, even from only a century ago," Brown said in the statement.

Ahead of the 1917 Battle of Messines in Belgium, British Gen. Herbert Plumer reportedly told his soldiers, "Gentlemen, we may not make history tomorrow, but we shall certainly change the geography."

His remark could have applied to many of the battles fought during World War I. The dense networks of trenches and tunnels, and the huge explosions from bombs, left irreversible scars in the landscape. In addition to Salisbury Plain, sites like the Gallipoli battlefield in Turkey have been studied by archaeologists looking for new historical insights. World War I battlefields have also attracted the attention of geologists and geographers. Researchers have, for example, shown how heavy bombing changed the long-term ecology of Verdun in France.

At the newly discovered training tunnels in England, archaeologists said they discovered more than 100 bits of graffiti. They documented many names of soldiers scratched into the chalk walls, including that of Australian Army Pvt. Lawrence Carthage Weathers. He was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest British military honor, for attacking a German machine-gun post and taking 180 prisoners during the 1918 Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin.

"It has been a humbling experience for archaeologists to stand and read the names of young soldiers in the very spaces they occupied before embarkation to the horrors of the trenches," Si Cleggett, project manager at Wessex Archaeology, said in the statement. "It may be a clichebut, having stood in their footprints a hundred years after their days of training at Larkhill, we really will remember them."

Original article on Live Science.
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,...
"Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer" is set in the Manhattan business world, and yet it has the flavor of Washington, D.C. The title character, played by Richard Gere, is a grating yet dogged go-between, shuttling from politician to banker to diplomat to religious leader and other muckety-mucks.

It's the first English-language film from Joseph Cedar, the Israeli-born, U.S.- trained director of the 2011 Oscar-nominated comedy "Footnote," and Cedar says he moved to New York while writing and filming so he could better understand his American milieu.

"I came to New York to work on this film, not knowing what this film would be," Cedar said during a recent interview while in Washington to promote the movie. "It evolved from the things that I absorbed while I was there."

The 48-year-old filmmaker, now living in Tel Aviv again, calls "Norman" a character study of a quintessential American type: the sometimes sad but always fascinating middleman who makes a living by bringing people together, even if his methodology isn't always clear - or ethical. Cedar spoke about why that role fascinates him.

Q: "Norman" is partly set in Washington and the world of politics. How familiar are you with that world?

A: There was one event that I was invited to. It was a research trip for me, but it turned into a key to understanding something about Norman. I came to the National Prayer Breakfast a few years ago, which blew my mind when I learned what it actually is.

Q: And what is it?

A: There's a spiritual agenda, which brings people from both sides of any political question together around some form of prayer. But it's also an excuse to get many other people - who are not necessarily there for the prayer - under the same roof with politicians, diplomats, businesspeople who otherwise would have a hard time being in the same room. It's that kind of situation where someone like Norman flourishes. Where the function of getting the right people to speak about something that both sides have an interest in ... creates a need for someone like Norman. On the one hand, it's a prayer breakfast. On the other, it's a national convention of Normans.

Q: Norman is what in Yiddish would be called a "macher" - someone who makes things happen - although the term may not be universally familiar. Why did you change it to "fixer"?

A: I suggested "macher." The word "fixer" came up for the reason you just gave. Anyone who knows that word knows that "fixer" is a substitute, just like "New York" is a substitute for "Jewish."

Q: Wasn't the character of Norman also inspired by the anti-Semitic caricature of the historical court Jew, the Jewish banker to royalty?

A: The court Jew isn't itself an anti-Semitic caricature. The court Jew is a real thing that served actual needs, and in many ways modernized Europe. If it weren't for the anti-Semitic angle on it, it would be seen as a very positive function. Part of what drew me to this function in the world is to try to correct that anti-Semitic spin. People who have character traits that would make them a good macher - some of them are not positive, but a lot of them are.

Q: Are there real-life Normans? I was grateful when Charlotte Gainsbourg's character, the prosecutor Alex, asks Norman to explain exactly what he does. Like her, I just didn't get his business model.

A: That was my experience, too. There are a lot of people around me who do something that is hard to explain.

Q: People in the film business?

A: In any business. People who are in the middle of two sides: the person with the idea and the person with the money. It's complicated. There's a mantra that I've taken from "Norman." Toward the end of the film, someone asks him, "Why isn't anything ever simple with you?" and he says, "Who says simple is good?" Some of the best things that I enjoy in life are extremely complicated.

Q: Such as?

A: Human needs are not simple.

Q: Complexity makes a better story.

A: I see why there's beauty in something simple. In farming. you plant a seed. It grows into fruit. You eat that fruit, and that's your life. But then there's a whole other side of experiencing life that's extremely complicated, and around that one seed are 50 people who are trying to find the same hole in the ground to put in different seeds.

Q: Is Norman homeless? We never see where he lives, and in one scene, he's eating herring out of a jar on a Ritz cracker. Yet he wears a nice camel-hair coat and carries an iPhone.

A: I can answer any biographical question about Norman.

Q: So then why don't you, in the film?

A: Because the people who encounter Norman don't know those details about him and are afraid to ask. Because he's forced to lie in almost every encounter and relationship he has. Most people don't ever want to get close enough to Norman to confront him with his lies and ask for the truth. I know people around me who are like that. I don't understand exactly how they make a living. They're alone in the world. I'm pretty sure they're OK. I'm not positive. I don't know where they go to at night. They go somewhere. Alex is the one person who asks Norman, who wants to know. And once he realizes that she's aware of him lying, it creates a closeness he doesn't have with anyone.

Q: What did you do to Richard Gere's ears?

A: We're not going to reveal exactly what we did, but we were looking for something that would change how he looks, without being too intrusive. We changed the way his face is shaped, in some subtle ways. We played around with his hair. It's very difficult to disguise Richard. There are actors who give themselves to extreme makeup, like Daniel Day Lewis. But there's something about Richard that anything too aggressive suddenly calls attention to itself. The primary effect of it is how the actor sees himself. There's something a little goofy about his look in this film.

Q: Is your curiosity about Norman anthropological or personal?

A: Something about Norman says something about my identity. I'm embarrassed by Norman at times, and many times I feel real pride in what I think is his genius. The embarrassment comes from Norman's actions that are things I find myself doing. Norman is an extreme version, almost a fairy-tale version of this character trait.

Q: Things you have to do as a filmmaker?

A: Absolutely. Raising money for a movie can never be taken for granted.

Q: This film and "Footnote" explore the theme of the outsider seeking access to closed systems. What is it about this that fascinates you?

A: It definitely does. I'm not sure I can explain why. When I see someone who feels absolutely comfortable in a certain place that I don't have access to, that's a mystery to me. I don't feel that way almost anywhere.

Q: Not even in the film industry?

A: Every time I do, I immediately question whether I should or not. Many Israelis, for instance, feel that. If you're embraced by the establishment, on the one hand, it's extremely nice, and it allows you to do things you couldn't otherwise do. At the same time, you don't really want to be that person who's embraced by the establishment.

Q: It's the old joke about not wanting to join a club that would have you as a member. What did you mean when you said, in an interview, that American cinema is in a crisis?

A: I don't know what the context of that comment was. But it's the studio system. I've heard Richard speak about it, and he's been working in the studio system his entire life. The kind of movies he's always done are no longer being made by the system.

Q: It was in the context of criticizing the 2017 Oscar best picture nominees "Hell or High Water" and "La La Land." You said, "I'd rather re-watch 'Singin' in the Rain.' "

A: (Laughing) Oh, OK. That was an interview in Hebrew. OK. I did say that. This is true.

Q: Have your words come back to haunt you?

A: I stand behind them. The standard that I think existed a few years ago - or before I was at a point where I am as critical as I am now - was much higher than it is now.

Q: Talk about the political themes of "Norman." The idea of a secret middleman - someone who sets up meetings and trades favors - is especially timely. Is that an evergreen function of government and business?

A: I think so. State leaders have a type that makes them vulnerable to certain temptations. Businesspeople have certain desires that are beyond their bottom line, having to do with power. That has always been the way the world is. If people exchange favors, I might as well use it to my advantage. The result of this isn't always bad. In return for that favor, maybe something good will happen.

Q: Such as peace in the Middle East, as happens in the film. Is it still a good thing if peace is brokered by a corrupt politician?

A: Israelis have had this dilemma the last 10 years or so: Are we willing to live with a politician who apparently is in the gray area of corruption, but forwarding a policy that some of us think is good?

Q: What's the answer?

A: I don't have an answer. That's what makes a story worth investigating.
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The Cognac watch

In February 2016 Wealth Solutions teamed up with Armin Strom to present the Cognac Watch as a limited edition of just 40 pieces, each containing a tiny drop of the worlds oldest cognac  a Gautier 1762.





The Rum watch

Speake-Marin followed in the same year with the worlds oldest rum inside one of its watches. The 1780 Harewood rum is preserved for posterity inside a small sapphire crystal capsule inside the watch.



The Whisky watch

The latest watch brand to team up with Wealth Solutions is Louis Moinet, which has incorporated the worlds oldest whisky  Old Vatted Glenlivet 1862, into a limited edition of 10 watches in rose gold and 40 in stainless steel. This latest project was only made possible with the support of Sukhinder Singh, a British collector of rare alcoholic beverages, who wanted to pass one of his greatest treasures on to future generations. Its the kind of values that those in the watch industry are only too familiar with.





Whats next  the absinthe watch?

Swiss cheese has already been immortalised in a one-off Swiss timepiece, so why not absinthe  the spirit that originate in Switzerland and was a favourite tipple of famous authors and artists, from Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce to Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh. Because of spurious claims about the danger it posed, absinthe was banned in the United States and across much of Europe (including its native Switzerland) at the turn of the twentieth century. Its revival only started in the 1990s and it now flourishes in its original homeland in the Val de Travers. So although the absinth watch is a stunt you might expect from the same people who brought you the cheese watch, there are three other watch brands with a much more legitimate reason to preserve a capsule of the Green Fairy in their watches. Bovet, Chopard and Parmigiani all have production facilities in the Val de Travers and are thus primate candidates for an absinthe watch. There is no shortage of pre-ban bottlings available if you know where to look.




On this date in ...

1917: Another day, another youth crime ring broken in Albany. Dominic Farina (AKA Young Maxwell) and James Fitzpatrick (AKA Cookoo), both of Albany, and Frank Smith of Syracuse were arrested in Union Station where they were found sleeping on a bench next to a dress suitcase filled with sweaters, other garments and a batch of 17 keys. According to Smith, who claimed not to be part of any criminal enterprise, he met Farina and Fitzpatrick three weeks before in Syracuse when they told him about their scheme of robbing stores at night and indulging in eating "sundaes," going to "movies" and smoking expensive cigarettes during the day.

1967: A bill permitting police officers in the state to moonlight up to 20 hours a week was among measures signed into law by Governor Rockefeller as he completed action on legislation left with him by the 1967 legislature. The police bill would not affect Albany police officers, who were already authorized to have outside employment, said Mayor Corning. But in New York City, Mayor John Lindsay was disappointed by the approval since he had strongly recommended this bill be vetoed.

1992: With documents and a few pictures to guide them, an archaeologist and a historian had pieced together the first comprehensive map of the Shaker community in Colonie. A year in the making, the map was already upsetting some long-held ideas about the physical layout of America's first Shaker community, and shed some light on its spiritual aspects, too. Pinned down in the course of the research were the locations of the buildings in the original Shaker village, the center of an imagined "Holy City" that surrounded the community, and a very real spring that had been thought to be only a spiritual legend.

Want to read more about the Capital Region's past? See http://blog.timesunion.com/history/
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A 15-year-old male juvenile involved in a human smuggling attempt that ended in a fatal vehicle rollover was sentenced this week to serve eight years in jail, Webb County Attorney Marco A. Montemayor announced Wednesday.

Originally facing a murder charge, the juvenile entered a guilty plea Monday to charges of manslaughter and aggravated assault after reaching an agreement with the County Attorneys Office.

We believe that this resolution adequately addresses the needs for justice, as well as for providing rehabilitation for this individual. And, likewise considering the age of this individual, ultimately allows him to still have an opportunity to lead a successful life, Montemayor said.

The juveniles case links to a joint investigation initiated by Laredo police and U.S. Border Patrol in January 2016. The investigation, dubbed River Ratz by the District Attorneys Office, targets juvenile offenders smuggling narcotics and immigrants along the Rio Grande.

READ MORE: Mugshots: 17 arrested in Webb County's Operation GOTCHA

It is important for the public to understand the seriousness of this type of activity occurring in our city and our county. Our youth are being taken advantage of, exploited and utilized to commit serious crimes in our community, Montemayor said.

The Webb County Attorneys Office recently resolved a similar case that resulted in the incarceration of another individual for similar charges, according to Montemayor, who said his office will continue its efforts to put put an end to the exploitation of our youth for the benefit of criminal organizations.

I can not stress enough the significant increase in criminal cases my office has seen when it comes to criminal organizations using our youth to commit serious human and drug trafficking crime, he said.

The incident

The minor sentenced this week became involved in criminal activity when two members of an alleged criminal organization of smugglers recruited him to transport the immigrants, according to federal court records.

The incident occurred on May 22 when U.S. Border Patrol agents attempted to conduct a stop on a maroon Ford F-150 driven by the juvenile on Interstate 35 near the 27-mile marker underpass.

An agent said he noticed the driver swerving and continually looking at the agent through the side mirror of the truck. The truck failed to stop after the agent activated his lights and sirens.

In an attempt to avoid a tire deflation device, the driver lost control of the truck.

The truck rolled over several times. Unseen passengers were ejected from the truck, a federal complaint states.

One of the passengers, a Honduras native, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Law enforcement determined the truck contained 10 passengers  the driver and nine immigrants.

The two individuals identified by federal authorities as the men who recruited the juvenile await their sentencings in federal court.

In October, Manuel Alejandro Arellano-Espinoza and Juan Alberto Tijerina-Mata pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport immigrants within the United States resulting in death, or causing injury or placing another in jeopardy of life.

RELATED: 19-year-old Laredoan charged with arson in fatal stabbing case

Each faces up to life in prison and a possible $250,000 fine.

Both were indicted July 19 on conspiracy and transportation of immigrants resulting in death.

During a post-arrest interview on May 27, the duo admitted to recruiting the juvenile to transport the immigrants, according to documents filed in support of the Tijerina-Matas plea agreement.

The men transported the juvenile to a load vehicle, parked at a stash house, so that he could transport the immigrants.

Arellano-Espinoza stated that he and Tijerina had been involved for about three weeks with a subject known as Chalate smuggling and transporting illegal aliens, the factual statement filed in Tijerina-Matas case states.

The men allegedly harbored immigrants on three prior occasions and received $50 from Chalate for each individual harbored.

Sentencing hearings for Arellano-Espinoza and Tijerina-Mata have not yet been scheduled, according to court records.

Similar incident

To date, the Border Prosecution unit of the District Attorneys Office has indicted 15 individuals identified through Operation River Ratz for offenses ranging from possession of marijuana and smuggling of a person to engaging in organized criminal activity and murder.

Three of those indicted  Jesus Alejandro Calderon, Carlos Ruben Cruz and Rogelio Eduardo Morales  were allegedly involved in fatal rollover involving human smuggling in January 2016.

A criminal complaint filed in federal court alleges Morales did not pull over on Jan. 31, 2016 when agents turned on their units emergency equipment and continued driving at a slow speed.

A tire deflation device was deployed but Morales maneuvered around it. Morales lost control of the van and rolled over. Several occupants were thrown from the van and one died at the scene.

In February, 406th District Court Judge Oscar J. Hale Jr. granted Morales, 18, deferred adjudication and sentenced him to serve 10 years of probation.

Assistant District Attorney Jack Frels said Morales was never part of the River Ratz operation, rather his association was limited to this one incident due to the availability of his mothers vehicle.

Calderon and Cruzs role in the incident remains unclear.

Calderon, 18, also known as Jesse Bangz, was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison in September after pleading guilty to two separate offenses of conspiracy to possess marijuana and conspiracy to smuggle persons/fatality.

He was identified as one of the principal leaders of the River Ratz.

Cruz, 18, was sentenced in April to serve four years in prison after pleading guilty charges of conspiracy to smuggler persons and possession of marijuana. The charges were the result of two separate cases.

Eradication

At Wednesdays press conference, Montemayor asked for the publics assistance in helping to eradicate this problem in our community.

He requested anyone with information regarding juveniles smuggling narcotics and immigrants contact the County Attorneys Office or any local, state or federal law enforcement agency.

My office will continue to collaborate with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to continue to address these serious matters, Montemayor said.

Taryn Walters may be reached at 956-728-2528 or twalters@lmtonline.com
Alberto Gonzales, former attorney general under President George W. Bush, says hes troubled by some of President Trumps attacks on judges.

You cross the line when you actually criticize someones competence or integrity, Gonzales, a former Texas Supreme Court justice, said Wednesday in a panel discussion of the American Bar Associations litigation section in San Francisco.

Some of the comments President Trump has made ... to me (are) troubling, he said.

After a federal judge appointed by Bush blocked Trumps executive order in February banning U.S. admission of anyone from seven nations whose populations are almost entirely Muslim, Trump derided the so-called judge and said the jurist would bear the blame of any resulting violence.

During the presidential campaign, Trump said the federal judge who was overseeing a fraud suit against Trump University was biased because of his Mexican heritage. Trump later settled the suit by former students of the for-profit school for $25 million.

Trump accused the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco of bias while the court was considering his travel ban, and later called its ruling against him ridiculous. When a federal judge in San Francisco refused last month to let the president strip funding from sanctuary cities that withhold information from immigration agents, Trump blamed and criticized the Ninth Circuit, which is in line to hear his appeal of the ruling.

Gonzales had his own run-ins with the legal system as White House counsel from 2001 to 2005 and as attorney general until September 2007, when he resigned during an uproar over the firings of U.S. attorneys. He is now the law school dean at Belmont University in Tennessee.

As White House counsel, Gonzales took part in the Bush administrations approval of waterboarding and other interrogation methods generally considered torture forbidden by international law. He was attorney general when the Supreme Court rejected the administrations plan for military commissions to hold trials of suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay.

Gonzales also supported the administrations renewal of a program of clandestine surveillance of U.S. citizens, and went to then-Attorney General John Ashcrofts hospital bedside in 2004 in an unsuccessful attempt to gain his concurrence.

At Wednesdays panel, Gonzales contrasted Bushs and Trumps responses to unfavorable court rulings.

President Bush took very muscular measures to protect our country, Gonzales said. When courts disagreed ... President Bush, to his credit, and thank God, said, Thats what the courts are for.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko
Free China (Photo : NTDTV/YouTube)

It is not just the Chinese sci-fi movie Reset that was recognized at the recently concluded WorldFest  Houston International Film Festival. A romantic movie based on a South Korean comic book was given a special jury award at the same filmfest.



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South Korea Comic Book



Special Encounter was given a Special Jury Remi Award, China.org reported. It was based on Botox, a comic book in South Korea authored by Mina Kwang. Wanda Pictures produced the movie which stars Yan Ni, a Chinese actress, and Calvin Tu, a Taiwan actor.



Directed also by the comic book author, Mina Kwang, Special Encounter would show in China on May 19. The comedy film concluded the Third Annual Panorama China platform which showed 33 Chinese movies during the film event.



Improved Box-Office Results



The filmfest ended its 10-day run on Wednesday. The 50th annual independent film festival registered a nine percent increase in its box-office result, Style Magazine reported. Besides the movies given award, Rob Reiner, an American actor, was given by the filmfest organizers a WorldFest Remi Career Achievement Award.



There were 17 movies that held its world premiere at the WorldFest  Houston International Film Festival which was established as an International Film Society in 1961. The event concluded with the showing of a Japanese movie, Tatara Samurai by Yoshinari Nishikori to a full house of indie moviegoers. Eugene Nomura, the producer of the epic movie, also attended the film showing.



The 2017 edition of the filmfest celebrated its 12th annual Panorama Italia. It featured The Stuff of Dreams (La Stoffa dei Sogni) and five other indie Italian-language movies. The movie was directed by Gianfranco Cabbidu.



On Saturday night, April 29, the filmfest held its Grand Awards Gala. The event culminated with the VIP NASA Rocket Park tour and Consular Regatta & barbecue hosted by the Houston Yacht Club on Sunday morning.


1 Soda tax rejection: Voters rejected a measure that would have raised taxes on soft drinks in New Mexicos capital city, giving a rare victory to the beverage industry after a string of recent defeats at the ballot box. The ballot initiative failed with 11,533 votes against and only 8,382 votes in favor, the Santa Fe city clerks office said. Opponents The vote came after similar taxes were adopted last year in cities from Philadelphia to San Francisco. Outside groups and political committees spent more than $3 million on the special election in Santa Fe, with opponents led by the soft-drink industry and supporters by billionaire Michael Bloomberg, a staunch supporter of taxes on sugary beverages.

2 Missile test: An unarmed missile capable of sending a nuclear bomb across the world was launched Wednesday from a coastal California military base amid rising tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. The unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile blasted off from a silo from Vandenberg Air Force Base (Santa Barbara County) and delivered a single re-entry vehicle to a target about 4,200 miles away at Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. It was the latest aimed at checking the readiness and accuracy of a weapon system that forms part of the U.S. nuclear force. The U.S. has about 450 of the missiles, which can travel about 8,000 miles.
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Royal Caribbean is expanding its ship lineup in Galveston.

The island will welcome the Enchantment of the Seas on June 23, 2018. Sailings on the new-to-Galveston vessel will be available to book starting Friday, May 5.

WHERE TO GO FROM GALVESTON: Cruise destinations that depart from the Port of Galveston

Some Miami guests who were previously booked on this ship for cruises after June 23, 2018 will now board the Mariner of the Seas instead.

The cruise liner also announced in a press release that after a three-year hiatus, it will start cruising from New Orleans again with the 915-foot, 2,435-passenger ship Vision of the Seas. Cruises will begin Dec. 15, 2018 with seven-night itineraries to the Bahamas and Yucatan Peninsula.

WHAT NYT GOT RIGHT AND WRONG: The New York Times highlights some of Galveston's best restaurants and attractions

Previously when the Royal Caribbean's two-year agreement with the Port of New Orleans ended the cruise line declined to resume travel from the city.

The Vision of the Seas will be sailing from to the Panama Canal from Miami to Los Angeles on two separate 16-day trips before making its way to New Orleans.

See the video above to learn how cruise liners are affecting the travel industry.
Humble Which Wich owner Julio Chavez, was honored with The Founder's Award at the LEAP Conference that was held in Dallas on April 24-27 and happens every two years.

Chavez first began working at Which Wich when he was 17 and climbed to a general manager position before deciding to taking ownership over a location at the age of 23.

"I really admire our Founder- to see what he was done with the brand and the passion he puts into the company," said Chavez. "The award motivates me to not let him down, to keep moving forward."

Chavez said as of last year he has started to spread into the Katy area by purchasing two new locations from an existing owner.

"We plan on giving them the same experience we have provided the Humble/Atascocita area that has given us so much recognition," said Chavez.

Chavez said the ability to own more locations all stems from the support of his family.

"I get a lot of help from my family- I have the support of my parents, wife, brother, and sister. We are all part of the brand now," said Chavez.

Jeff Sinelli, Founder, CEO and Chief Vibe Officer of Which Wich said The Founder's Award is his own special award that really highlights that work that goes beyond the typical system.

"Julio is the embodiment of the positive vibe that is our culture at Which Wich," said Sinelli.

Julio started out working at one of the stores, which Sinelli said serves as an example to all employees of the levels of success they can reach through hard work and dedication.

"He's a great example to the employees in our system that if they are committed and have the same spirit as Julio, they could go from working in a Which Wich to owning a Which Wich one day.

Julio's success also brings success to the franchise as a whole.

"Julio's work in Texas has really helped create positive experiences for those who enter his locations - and that positive experience then goes with those guests wherever they travel afterward," said Sinelli.

Currently the only location within Humble is on Bypass Road East, but Sinelli said with the area growing rapidly, with more than 20 locations in the greater Houston area, it presents more opportunities for anyone interested in opening a franchise.
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The voices of third, fourth and fifth graders in the Charles R. Drew Choir rang out into the pleasant afternoon air as they performed a lively rendition of "Joyful, Joyful" in front of the elementary school's new park.

Representatives from Crosby ISD, Drew Elementary School, the Barrett Station community, Harris County Precinct 2, and SPARK gathered for a dedication ceremony to celebrate Drew Elementary School's new SPARK Park Thursday, April 27.

The SPARK School Park Program has helped create more than 200 community parks across Houston and Harris County over the past 30 years. SPARK Parks are built on public school properties in collaboration with schools, community organizations and government entities. In addition to providing a space for students to play, exercise and socialize, SPARK Parks are open for community use after school and on weekends.

"We love our SPARK Park," said Christy Tisdom, principal of Drew Elementary School. "It means more to us than just a park. It's an outdoor learning center where first graders can classify living and nonliving objects. It's a place where our PTA can host the community-wide Easter egg hunt. It's a place where our third, fourth and fifth graders can socialize while climbing to the top of the pyramid. It's even a place where the community can come to exercise around the walkway."

The new SPARK Park at Drew Elementary School contains several features, including more than 30 trees, a quarter-of-a-mile walking trail and playground equipment.

The district broke ground on the Drew Elementary School SPARK Park approximately one year ago.

Commissioner Jack Mormon and his staff work closely together with Crosby ISD and the Barrett Station community. Mormon, as the guest of honor, joined those who gathered at Drew Elementary School to help in the SPARK Park dedication.

"With this partnership between the SPARK Park board and staff, Crosby ISD, Drew Elementary and the county, we were able to finish this nearly half-a-million-dollar park," Mormon said. "That the precinct was able to help secure the county funds for this park for the kids - not only for the school, but also for the community - is truly the best part of my job. This is one of the best things that we get to do."

Through community development funding, federal funding through the county, the county and Mormon were able to provide $330,630 toward the SPARK Park project.

Sledge Engineering designed the park free of charge, amounting to approximately $23,000 of in-kind services.

Kyle Kelley, precinct 2 parks director, allocated approximately $5,000 from his budget for the project.

Trees for Houston donated the trees.

A committee of community members helped with the park design and fundraising. The committee, with the participation of students, raised $5,000 for the park through various fundraising initiatives.

Senator Whitmire sent a signed certificate of congratulations to be "presented to Charles R. Drew Elementary School in celebration of the dedication of their new SPARK Park and in recognition of the efforts of the students, staff and parents to improve their community."

Crosby ISD Superintendent Keith Moore recognized those involved in bringing the SPARK Park to fruition, including representatives from SPARK, State Sen. John Whitmire's office, Harris County Precinct 2, Trees for Houston, Sledge Engineering, Millennium Projects Solutions and Crosby ISD.

"This list is pretty indicative that this was a pretty intensive project that involved a lot of people  So many people were a part of bringing this together, and so I just want to say thank you," Moore said. "This, to me, is the true spirit of a community, true spirit of our county and true spirit of the great state of Texas."

For more information about Crosby ISD visit www.crosbyisd.org.
DALLAS  A minuscule pest few Texas farmers had ever heard of three years ago has quickly gained notoriety as the most important insect pest of grain and forage sorghum in Texas, said an expert entomologist.

The pest is the sugarcane aphid, and its already been found infesting sorghum in the lower Rio Grande Valley and lower Gulf Coast this year, said Dr. Allen Knutson, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service entomologist at Dallas. As in past years, the sugarcane aphid is expected to move into Central Texas and eventually the Texas High Plains, potentially infesting all of Texas sorghum-producing regions by late summer.

Grain and forage sorghum producers can now monitor the progression of the sugarcane aphid across Texas via an online mapping program conducted by AgriLife Extension in cooperation with Kansas State University, Knutson said.

The sugarcane aphid distribution map can be accessed at https://www.myfields.info.

Growers and consultants can use the map to determine where sugarcane aphids have been found in sorghum fields across the state and anticipate the need to scout fields to determine aphid infestation levels in their area.

Since it was first discovered feeding on sorghum in 2013, the sugarcane aphid has become an annual pest, infesting both grain and forage sorghums. The tiny insect sucks plant sap, causing leaves to yellow and die, thus reducing yields, Knutson said. In addition to the feeding damage to the crop, the aphids sticky excrement called honeydew, can actually become so heavy that it can gum up combines and forage harvesters, rendering them inoperable.

Knutson said the monitoring system is manned by a network of AgriLife Extension entomologists who report sugarcane aphid presence in sorghum on a county-wide basis from the Rio Grande Valley through the upper Gulf Coast, North and Central Texas, the South Plains and High Plains; essentially all of Texas sorghum producing regions.

Once sugarcane aphid is found in a county, Knutson said the report is posted online through the MyFields.info program developed at Kansas State University. Information from AgriLife Extension on scouting, thresholds, insecticides and integrated pest management practices for sugarcane aphid is also posted on the site.

Danielle Sekula, AgriLife Extension integrated pest management agent in Weslaco, said sugarcane aphid was first reported this year in Texas on March 21 in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Dr. Robert Bowling, AgriLife Extension entomologist at Corpus Christi, confirmed that by April 28, the pest had been documented on sorghum in 15 counties in the Lower Rio Grande Valley and Lower Gulf Coast.

Sugarcane aphids overwinter on Johnsongrass in South and Central Texas and likely move into planted sorghum in the early summer, Bowling said. As their numbers increase in northern Mexico and South Texas in the weeks ahead, I expect to see more winged aphids moving north into the Gulf Coast region.

How can such a tiny insect cover so many miles so quickly? Knutson said adult aphids with wings develop in the aphid colony as it becomes crowded and food quality declines. Although these winged aphids are weak fliers, its believed they are carried by the wind from field to field and over very long distances.

Sugarcane aphid infestations, especially in Central and West Texas, likely result from long distance dispersal of wind-blown aphids from South Texas, he said. By using the sugarcane aphid mapping site, growers and consultants can monitor the movement of sugarcane aphids as they move across the state. The mapping project also supports the U.S. Department of Agricultures Agricultural Research Service program studying the long-distance movement of sugarcane aphid from South Texas to Oklahoma and Kansas.

Insecticides are effective for control of sugarcane aphid, but Bowling said applications must be properly timed before aphid numbers begin to rapidly increase and damage the crop.

Its important to remember these aphids can build their populations to extremely large numbers in a very short time, so scout early and dont delay treatments once infestations reach the crop-damage threshold, Bowling said. Using the Sugarcane Aphid Distribution Map is a classic case of forewarned is forearmed.

For more information on sugarcane aphid, see the AgriLife Extension websites http://txscan.blogspot.com/ and http://betteryield.agrilife.org/.
ISTANBUL -- Russia, Iran and Turkey said Thursday that they have agreed to create "de-escalation zones" across four areas in Syria, renewing diplomatic efforts to bring warring parties in the country to heel after six years of fighting.

Meeting in the Kazakh capital, Astana, the three powers said the cease-fire deal would come into force Saturday and would apply to both government and rebel forces in the designated areas, where the Islamic State does not hold large swaths of territory.

The agreement, signed by all three guarantor countries, said the zones would be demarcated by checkpoints on the ground and that "unarmed civilians" would be able to move freely between government- and opposition-held territory. Checkpoints would be overseen by the three guarantors but could, "if necessary," be manned by unspecified "third parties," it said.

But it was unclear how the deal differed from several previous failed cease-fires in which the Syrian air force continued to bomb rebel-held areas. The agreement said "the parties agreed to take all necessary measures to continue the fight" against designated terrorist groups "within and outside" the zones.

Although Russia and Iran exert influence over Syrian President Bashar Assad and Turkey is an important backer of the rebels, there were few early signs that either side was committed to the deal.

In Astana, where the three international powers are overseeing peace talks, the announcement caused a ruckus in the rebel delegation, with one top commander shouting, "See you on the battlefield!"

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group based in Britain, also said that the Syrian air force stepped up strikes in the proposed de-escalation zones after their locations were revealed in a Russian draft proposal Wednesday.

The State Department, noting it was "not a direct participant" in the talks, although it sent an official to observe, said it supported "any effort that can genuinely de-escalate the violence in Syria," ensure humanitarian aid and promote a political resolution to the conflict.

But the statement, by spokeswoman Heather Nauert, said that "we continue to have concerns" about the agreement, "including the involvement of Iran as a so-called 'guarantor.' " It added: "Iran's activities in Syria have only contributed to the violence, not stopped it, and Iran's unquestioning support for the Assad regime has perpetuated the misery of ordinary Syrians."

The cease-fire agreement excludes attacks on al-Qaida's Syrian affiliate, the group known then as Jabhat al-Nusra and now as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, and the Islamic State. In earlier truces agreed to between the Obama administration and Russia, that exclusion led both Russia and Syria to continue bombing rebel and civilian areas, arguing that they were targeting "terrorists."

"In light of the failures of past agreements," Nauert's statement said, "we have reason to be cautious. We expect the regime to stop all attacks on civilians and opposition forces, something they have never done. We expect Russia to ensure regime compliance."

The White House said this week that President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed "safe, or de-escalation, zones" in a Tuesday phone call. But the Trump administration has not specified publicly what it is willing to support or how.

At least half a million people are estimated to have been killed in Syria's war, and half its population displaced.

According to the Kazakhstan agreement, the proposed safe zones will cover four areas: the northern province of Idlib, where almost a million displaced people are packed among rebel forces dominated by al-Qaida, and some portions of adjoining provinces; Eastern Ghouta, a besieged area on the outskirts of Damascus that is the last remaining threat to Assad's hold on the capital; a besieged district of the government-controlled city of Homs, 100 miles north of Damascus; and a swath of Syria's southern border with Jordan where the United States is supporting rebel forces against Islamic State militants.

Except for the stated exceptions for "terrorists," it said that "hostilities between" Assad's forces and those rebel groups that sign on, "with the use of any kinds of weapons, including aerial assets, shall be ceased."

Maps of the delineated cease-fire areas are expected to be agreed to by June 4, along with plans to deliver humanitarian aid and ensure the safe return of civilians who fled.

The United Nations' Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, hailed the announcement as a "step in the right direction" toward a broader truce. But experts suggested its guarantors might be using its provisions to secure their own interests in Syria.

"Russia opposed no-fly zones at the time when it was still busy, along with Iran, assisting Assad's forces in, first, stabilizing the front and then rolling back the gains made by the opposition forces," said Simon Saradzhyan, the founding director of the Russia Matters Project at Harvard's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

With the rebels all but defeated, Saradzhyan argued, Russia is now ready to support a diplomatic solution with international backing.

Turkey has also backed safe zones in the past, albeit in different areas along its southern border with Syria, viewing them as a way to block Kurdish ambitions in that region.

While Washington is backing the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) as an essential partner in the fight to defeat the Islamic State in Syria, Turkey is locked in battle with the group's Turkish affiliate, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which the United States also lists as a terrorist organization.

The U.S.-Kurdish alliance has been a major thorn in the side of the U.S. relationship with Turkey and is likely to be a central agenda item when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visits Trump in Washington on May 16.

"Every side in this fight wants something," said one rebel official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly. "The foreign powers aren't doing this for altruism."

---

Zakaria Zakaria in Istanbul and Andrew Roth in Moscow contributed to this report. DeYoung reported from Washington.
A Southern California father said he and his family were booted from a Delta flight after they declined to give up a seat they had bought for their teenage son and were attempting to use for his 2-year-old sibling.

Brian and Brittany Schear, of Huntington Beach, were on a red-eye flight April 23 from Maui to Los Angeles when they got into an argument with officials after being told that they had to give the seat to another passenger.

"I bought the seat," Brian Schear is seen telling the agents in a video of the incident, explaining that he initially purchased the seat for his 18-year-old son but sent the teen home early on another flight so that the toddler would have a seat on the plane. "It's a red-eye. He won't sleep unless he's in his car seat. So, otherwise, he'd be sitting in my wife's lap, crawling all over the place, and it's not safe."

The couple said they were also traveling with a 1-year-old.

An agent told Schear that unless he complied, he would have to leave the plane, which had yet to take off.

"Then they can remove me off the plane," he replied.

"You and your whole family?" the agent asked.

"Yeah, that's fine," he said.

"So, then, it's going to be a federal offense," another agent quickly chimed in, "and you and your wife will be in jail and your kids will be -."

"We're going to be in jail and my kids are going to be what?" Schear interrupted.

"It's a federal offense if you don't abide by it," she said.

"I bought that seat," Schear said. "You're saying you're going to give that away to someone else when I paid for that seat. That's not right."

Later in the video, an agent can be heard telling Schear that according to Federal Aviation Administration regulations, his 2-year-old son could not occupy a seat during the flight and would need to sit in an adult's lap.

Schear explained that his toddler had been strapped into a car seat in his own seat on the destination flight, but the agent brushed him off.

In actuality, the FAA states that children are safer in government-approved car seats - not on laps, saying, "Your arms aren't capable of holding your child securely, especially during unexpected turbulence."

"The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) strongly urges you to secure your child in a CRS or device for the duration of your flight," the agency states. "It's the smart and right thing to do so that everyone in your family arrives safely at your destination. The FAA is giving you the information you need to make informed decisions about your family's travel plans."

Even Delta urges parents to purchase seats for children younger than 2 and to use approved child-restraint systems during the flights.

The issue, it seems, is transferring airline tickets from one passenger to another. Delta Air Lines maintains on its website that "all tickets are nontransferable per the fare rules. Name changes are not permitted."

Eventually, Schear asked whether he could concede, move the toddler and get in the air, but an agent told him it was too late, saying his family would either have to exit the aircraft or the crew would have to deplane all of the passengers.

"So we're getting off this plane no matter what now?" Schear asked.

"I told you guys at the beginning you had two options and now it's come too far," an agent replied.

"I have two infants," he said, "and nowhere to stay. There's no more flights. What are we supposed to do - sleep in the airport?"

"At this point, you guys are on your own," she said.

Delta Air Lines said it was "sorry" for what the Schears went through.

"Our team has reached out and will be talking with them to better understand what happened and come to a resolution," the airline said in a statement to The Washington Post.

In another statement late Thursday, the airline said, "We are sorry for the unfortunate experience our customers had with Delta, and we've reached out to them to refund their travel and provide additional compensation. Delta's goal is to always work with customers in an attempt to find solutions to their travel issues. That did not happen in this case and we apologize."

The incident occurred April 23 but didn't make headlines until Wednesday, when Schear posted his video on YouTube.

Fiascoes on airplanes are hardly uncommon - but they have been receiving increased attention in recent months.

United Airlines became embroiled in a public relations crisis in April when security agents were seen brutally dragging a passenger from a plane because he would not give up his seat to a crew member.

Videos showed 69-year-old David Dao being knocked against an arm rest and dragged down the aisle and back to the terminal at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

Days later, a passenger was booted from a Delta flight because he had to get up from his seat to make an emergency restroom run.

United came under fire again when a giant rabbit that was being transported from Britain to Chicago died after its flight.

On Tuesday, a video recorded on an All Nippon Airways flight captured a fistfight that broke out between two male passengers.

After the release of Schears' video, his wife told ABC affiliate KABC that she and her husband were justified in refusing to give up the seat. But, she said, when agents threatened her with jail time, she was terrified. "As a mother, you have a 1-year-old and a 2-year-old - it doesn't matter whether that's true or false," Brittany Schear said. "It put fear in me."

The FAA says it's a federal crime to interfere "with the duties of a crewmember."

Brian Schears told CBS Los Angeles that he and his wife never expected the situation to escalate to the point where they would get booted from the plane.

"We never thought it was going to get to the point where they were actually getting us all off the flight," he said. "As we were leaving the plane, there's four or five passengers waiting for our seat."

---

https://youtu.be/p7pM8IyxpTc
Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Leo Thorsness, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during a dogfight over North Vietnam and who later spent six years in the enemy prison camp known as the "Hanoi Hilton," died May 2 at a hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. He was 85.

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society announced his death. The cause was not disclosed.

During the Vietnam War, Col. Thorsness was one of only 13 members of the Air Force to receive the Medal of Honor, the military's highest award for valor. The award was not announced during the six years he was held in North Vietnam, to keep his captors from inflicting additional torture on him and his fellow POWs.

Col. Thorsness was held in the same prison as another downed pilot, John McCain, now a Republican senator from Arizona. In a statement, McCain said Col. Thorsness "never let this experience break his spirit, and inspired the rest of us with his patriotism, perseverance, and hope that we would someday be free."

Col. Thorsness joined the Air Force in 1952 and was sent to Vietnam in 1966 as a member of a squadron known as the Wild Weasels, whose mission was to destroy surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) based in North Vietnam.

On April 19, 1967, Col. Thorsness was the lead pilot in a strike force of four U.S. F-105 fighter-bombers attacking SAM positions near Hanoi. He and his electronic warfare officer, Harold Johnson, knocked out one site with a missile and scored a direct hit on another with bombs.

But they soon realized that one plane in their group had been hit, and the crew members had ejected. While flying in circles over the parachuting airmen, Col. Thorsness spotted an enemy MiG-17 fighter jet and shot it down.

As U.S. rescue helicopters approached, Col. Thorsness heard through his radio that another MiG formation was nearby. Despite being low on fuel and ammunition, he flew through antiaircraft fire and single-handedly engaged four MiGs in aerial combat for 50 minutes.

Col. Thorsness pursued one MiG, "flying right up his tailpipe," he said later, and damaged it with cannon fire. Flying as low as 50 feet above the ground and as fast as 900 mph, he chased the other MiGs from the area.

As he returned to his base, he was about to refuel from an airborne tanker when he learned that another F-105 in his group was in even greater need of fuel. Col. Thorsness let the other plane go to the tanker, hoping he could glide back to safety on fumes. When he touched down, his fuel tanks were empty.

Eleven days later, on April 30, Col. Thorsness was shot down over North Vietnam on his 93rd mission. Ejecting from his plane at 600 mph, he suffered serious leg injuries before he and Johnson were taken prisoner.

For the first year, Col. Thorsness was held in solitary confinement and tortured almost every day. His back was broken in four places.

Another Air Force pilot, Fred Cherry, was tortured for teaching Col. Thorsness and other POWs a system of communication by tapping on walls.

While at the Hanoi Hilton, Col. Thorsness shared a tiny cell with McCain and two other men.

"Other than when they took you out to beat you or interrogate you, you were together 24 hours a day," Col. Thorsness told the Huntsville Times in Alabama in 2008. "You get to know each other so well, talking about your families, failures, weaknesses, hopes and dreams, everything."

He and McCain were released in 1973. Later that year, Col. Thorsness received the Medal of Honor from President Richard M. Nixon; he then retired from the military.

Leo Keith Thorsness was born Feb. 14, 1932, in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, and grew up on a family farm. After joining the Air Force, he graduated in 1964 from what is now the University of Nebraska at Omaha and later received a master's degree in systems management from the University of Southern California.

In 1974 he was the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in his wife's home state of South Dakota. His opponent was incumbent Sen. George S. McGovern, the 1972 Democratic presidential nominee. He lost by six points.

Four years later, Col. Thorsness lost a race for the U.S. House of Representatives by 139 votes to Tom Daschle, who later became a senator from South Dakota.

After working as an executive for Litton Industries in California, Col. Thorsness moved to a suburb of Seattle. He served in the Washington state senate from 1988 to 1992, then retired to Arizona and later Florida.

In 2015, he condemned President Donald Trump's campaign comment that McCain was "not a war hero" because "I like people that weren't captured."

"Trump owes us an apology," Col. Thorsness said.

Survivors include his wife since 1953, the former Gaylee Anderson; a daughter; and two grandchildren.

While at the Hanoi Hilton, Col. Thorsness and other prisoners measured their cell, calculating that one mile equaled 225 laps around the cell's 23-foot circumference.

By walking 60 miles a week, Col. Thorsness figured that he could cover the distance to the United States - 10,000 miles - in about three years.

"All of a sudden it became 100 percent real to us," he said in 1992. "If we could walk home in our cell, we knew whatever had to happen in the world would happen, and we really would get home."
Egypt's Court of Cassation has ordered a retrial for 86 people who received in 2016 sentences of life in prison or the death penalty for involvement in a feud between two Aswan clans that resulted in the deaths of at least 28 people.

The deadly events took place in April 2014 between the Arab Bani Helal and the Nubian Daboudiya clans, reportedly over the harassment of a girl and insulting graffiti.

State authorities mediated between the two clans and a cessation of hostilities was agreed upon.

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TOKYO - Japan is facing a dilemma after it was disclosed that the nation's bluefin tuna catches topped the annual limit set under an international accord on resource conservation - evidence of its poor management of marine resources.

Observers are calling the violation of the regulation by Japan, the world's largest tuna consumer, a serious breach of conduct. It will likely result in growing calls from Europe, the United States and other countries for Japan to improve its resource management of Pacific bluefin tuna, which are popular as sushi.

At the Pacific Bluefin Tuna International Stakeholders Meeting in late April in Tokyo, member countries discussed restrictions on bluefin tuna fishing.

Japan's annual catches of small Pacific bluefin tuna weighing less than 30 kilograms (66 pounds) will likely exceed the ceiling set for the period from July last year through June this year, a senior official of the Fisheries Agency said at the meeting. The ceiling for Japan's annual catches of bluefin tuna is set at 4,007 tons.

"We take this matter seriously," the official said. "We'll analyze the cause of the problem and take various preventive measures."

It was unusual for a participating nation to apologize at a meeting attended by the fishing authorities of foreign countries.

The Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPFC) will hold a meeting in August in which member countries will negotiate new fishing restrictions. Japan is a member of WCPFC.

Some Fisheries Agency officials are increasingly concerned about the negotiations. "Japan topped the limit, which will affect the negotiations," a senior official of the agency said.

Pacific bluefin tuna stocks topped 160,000 tons in 1961, but plunged to as low as about 10,000 tons due to excessive fishing, among other reasons.

Japan took the initiative over the need to raise bluefin tuna for breeding purposes to increase stocks, introducing international restrictions on smaller fish. This year, however, a series of illicit practices have come to light, with some fishery operators failing to report their catches to fisheries cooperatives and unauthorized fishermen catching bluefin tuna.

On April 27, Japanese fishermen's catch of bluefin tuna reached 4,008 tons, topping the annual ceiling for the first time since the restriction was introduced.

"We intend to observe the catch quota, but it's also true that we can't make a living without catching [bluefin tuna]," a senior member of a fishing cooperative said.

Japan has been trying to aid the recovery of marine resources while refraining from imposing excessive restrictions such as a fishing ban, and is trying to minimize the impact of restrictions on fishermen and consumers. Now that Japan's Pacific bluefin tuna catches have surpassed the upper limit, however, it is unclear whether it will be able to secure understanding from other countries for such an approach.

The Fisheries Agency plans to impose penalties for ignoring catch limits on the threatened fish from 2018 as part of efforts to seek understanding from the international community.

Fishermen who ignore an order to stop tuna fishing would face up to three years of imprisonment or a fine of up to 2 million yen ($17,800 U.S.).

However, the current annual limit system adopts a "first come, first served" approach that gives an advantage to those who fish earlier and catch a large volume of tuna. In addition, the restriction would be ineffective even with the introduction of penalties unless the amount of catches is accurately recorded.

"Japan failed to even observe the catch quota, which other countries called lenient," said Toshio Katsukawa, associate professor at Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology. "As a result, it's now difficult for Japan to object to moves to strengthen restrictions. Japan needs to review its system for having fishermen observe regulations."
WASHINGTON - House Republicans are rushing through a health-care bill that would mean massive changes for how people are insured and how much they'd pay for it, with little to no information on what those changes actually are and no guarantee it'll become law.

Why the rush? Because this health-care bill is more about sending a political message to Republicans' constituents than any real attempt to change health-care policy.

Republicans need to prove they can govern, that they can follow through on their most vociferous campaign promise for the past seven years: to get rid of Obamacare. They already failed to do that once. Next week, they'll be back in their districts facing constituents, and the month-long August recess is just around the corner.

At this point, any bill - even one that probably can't pass the Senate and one that breaks virtually every promise Republicans made about open governance - is better than no bill.

"The rush suggests House Republicans are trying to get this done before their break, so they can go home and say: 'Look! We tried!' " said Molly Reynolds, a congressional expert with the Brookings Institution.

Certainly, Republicans want to change health-care policy. Pretty much every single Republican in Congress today got there after campaigning, in some form, on repealing and replacing Obamacare.

And Republican leaders have been selling this particular bill as an imperfect vehicle for that: Just get something through the House of Representatives, and the Senate will amend what parts you don't like, we'll hash out an agreement, and then we'll send something more agreeable to moderate Republicans to President Trump's desk.

But there are still two, three, four more levels to go before this becomes law. And House Republicans are on the verge of passing a bill that is less likely to get through those levels than more. When it comes to changes to private insurance, this bill is more conservative than the one that couldn't pass the House in March.

Specifically, it would allow states to apply for waivers to get out of requiring insurance companies to offer plans that have a minimum number of benefits covered. It would also allow states to apply for waivers to essentially let insurance companies charge as much as they want for some people with preexisting conditions, essentially pricing them out of the market. (Health experts are skeptical the $8 billion this bill provides to subsidize health care for people with preexisting conditions would make up for the loss of coverage: "Not even close," said Karen Pollitz with the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.)

As a result, this bill could face major problems in the Senate - even more than the original version did.

Assuming no Democrats vote for the bill (a very safe assumption), Senate Republicans can afford to lose only two votes. Last time, we counted more than 10 senators who expressed skepticism about the legislation - including six moderate senators from states such as Ohio, Colorado, West Virginia and Maine who didn't like how much this legislation cuts Medicaid. (This bill does nothing to address that, either.)

Even if this got to the White House, Trump may not be supportive of its limits on people with preexisting conditions.

Basically, there are so many "ifs" about this legislation's future that it doesn't make sense that Republicans are rushing it through now. Unless you consider this from a political angle: They can at least say they tried, and then, if Obamacare never gets changed, they can share the blame with the Senate and, perhaps, the president.

At its core, this legislation says: Government should get out of health care. And that's consistent with the philosophy of many Republicans, who would rather have cheaper health care than more expansive health care.

We have no way of knowing how Americans will feel if this becomes their new health-care reality. A late April Washington Post-ABC News poll found that large majorities of Americans oppose what this bill does.

Almost a decade ago (!) Democrats passed their own health-care legislation, and it ended up costing the majority in the House ever since. Back then, now-Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., decried how fast Democrats pushed the bill through (a process that took almost a year).

"We shouldn't rush this thing through just to rush it through for some artificial deadline," Ryan said at the time. "Let's get this thing done right."

This is as artificial as it gets. And it appears to be for purely political reasons.

---

https://youtu.be/Hdr49iGZOUw
WASHINGTON - House Republican leaders said Wednesday that they plan to bring their controversial plan to revise key parts of the Affordable Care Act to a vote on Thursday, capping weeks of fits and starts in their attempt to fulfill a signature campaign promise.

The flagging Republican effort to reshape the nation's health-care system picked up steam Wednesday as GOP leaders tried to address concerns about people with preexisting medical conditions. But independent analysts remained skeptical that the new proposal would fully address the needs of at-risk patients who receive coverage guarantees under the Affordable Care Act, underscoring the contentious nature of the Republican effort.

Republican leaders huddled in the office of House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) on Wednesday evening to figure out the next steps after a whirlwind day at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. Several said they would hold a vote this week only if they felt certain it could pass - meaning they now think they have the votes.

Exiting the relatively brief leadership meeting, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., guaranteed victory. "Do we have the votes? Yes. Will we pass it? Yes," he told reporters.

Several Republicans said a vote is expected by lunchtime on Thursday. The House Rules Committee met late Wednesday to take procedural steps in advance of the floor vote, approving final GOP adjustments to the measure.

If the bill passes, it will face a steep climb in the Senate, where widespread disagreement remains among Republicans about how to proceed on health care.

Rep. Fred Upton, an influential Republican from Michigan, introduced the amendment that was key to resolving a major sticking point this week. It provides more financial assistance - $8 billion over five years - to help people with preexisting conditions pay for medical costs. Those people are at risk of losing protections under the GOP plan, which seeks to repeal and replace major parts of the ACA.

Just a day earlier, Upton said he could not support the Republican plan because of its stance on preexisting conditions. But he sounded an optimistic note after sketching out his fix Wednesday and meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House.

Upton said Trump called him Tuesday afternoon. The two had a "good give and take," he said, and Trump grew "a little angry" when Upton said he could not support the bill. But eventually, he said, they came to an agreement on his amendment.

Rep. Billy Long, R-Mo., who like Upton was against the bill earlier this week over the issue of coverage for preexisting conditions, was also in the White House meeting.

A Washington Post analysis showed 20 House Republicans either opposed to or leaning against the bill late Wednesday, and 36 more either undecided or unclear in their positions. If no Democrats support the measure, House Republicans can lose no more than 22 GOP votes to pass their bill.

Upton's amendment was not met with resistance by the House Freedom Caucus, a key bloc of conservatives whose opposition to an earlier version of the health-care bill led GOP leaders to yank the measure.

"I don't see any defections because of this particular amendment from our previous whip count," said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., the chairman of the group. Meadows and Upton both said they had been in touch.

Documents filed with the House Rules Committee showed the Upton amendment was co-sponsored by Long and four other Republicans who had been previously undecided, suggesting that the quartet would support Ryan's bill on final passage.

Under the GOP plan, states could opt out of parts of the ACA, meaning people with preexisting conditions could be denied coverage or charged more. Such states would have to set up "high-risk pools" to absorb some of the costs.

Upton's amendment would help some patients with expensive conditions, such as cancer or diabetes, pay premiums and out-of-pocket costs.

Some experts doubted that $8 billion was enough to aggressively address those costs over a five-year period. According to an analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation, the temporary high-risk pool created by the ACA covered just 100,000 people; the government paid out $2 billion in subsidies to that pool in one year.

Far more people with preexisting conditions are likely to lose health coverage under the GOP health-care plan - some estimate about 5 million individuals. Depending on how many states apply for the funds, $1.6 billion a year could be spread thin.

"For subsidies to cover 68 percent of enrollees' premium costs, as ACA tax credits do now in the individual market exchanges, the government would have to put up $32.7 billion annually," Emily Gee, a health economist at the progressive Center for American Progress, wrote in an analysis of the plan. "Even after applying that subsidy, high-cost consumers would still owe $10,000 annually toward premiums."

After meeting with Trump, Upton said his amendment would "more than cover those who might be impacted."

There was also uncertainty about how the bill would be scored by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which measures how much the legislation will cost and how many people stand to lose coverage.

Republican leaders were willing to move ahead with a vote even before obtaining an updated score. Speaking on the House floor Wednesday afternoon, McCarthy brushed off a Democrat's concerns about a new score, noting that a previous version of the bill had already been reviewed by the CBO.

The CBO projected in late March that a revised GOP health-care plan would result in 14 million more people being uninsured in 2018 than under current law. It projected the plan would slash the federal deficit by $150 billion between 2017 and 2026.

The House is slated to go on recess Thursday until May 16, which forced GOP leaders to make a quick decision about whether to try to hold a vote before leaving town.

The White House has been putting heavy pressure on Ryan to swiftly pass a health-care bill, amid fears that Republicans will lose their opportunity if the effort continues to drag out.

Trump dispatched top administration officials to the Capitol on Wednesday, including Vice President Pence; White House budget director Mick Mulvaney; Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.

Democrats, who have held firm against the GOP's revision push, said they were not impressed by the newly proposed changes.

"Trumpcare means heart-stopping premium increases for people with preexisting conditions, and no Band-Aid amendment will fix it," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who like many in her party has sought to associate the bill closely with Trump.

At the House Rules Committee meeting Wednesday night, Democrats expressed displeasure with both the substance of the Republican bill and the process by which it was brought up.

"We've been forced to rely on press reports to figure out what the hell's even in this bill," snapped Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass.

The Upton change is the latest fix Republicans have added to their measure as they've tried to keep it viable. Last month, they added $15 billion for a program to reimburse insurers who cover patients with preexisting conditions - an effort to appease conservatives worried about lowering premiums.

It remained unclear whether all states would be able to apply for the newly proposed funding, or just states where patients with preexisting conditions could be charged higher premiums. Under a separate proposed amendment to the bill from Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-N.J., which persuaded many conservatives to sign on to the bill, states could apply for a federal waiver from a ban on insurers charging those patients more.

Several prominent health-care and advocacy organizations voiced their unequivocal opposition to the legislation.

Andrew Gurman, president of the American Medical Association, warned in a statement that "none of the latest legislative tweaks under consideration changes the serious harm to patients and the health care delivery system" should the bill pass. Millions would still lose coverage or have to pay far higher insurance costs "as a direct result," Gurman said.

And in a letter to lawmakers, AARP said the changes to be voted on Thursday "would make a bad bill even worse," increasing out-of-pocket costs for Americans ages 50-64 and weakening the fiscal stability of Medicare, which covers people 65 and older.

Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., a moderate seen as a top Democratic target in 2018, was pressed several times by party whips and told reporters that he could be persuaded to move from no to yes.

"The easiest thing to do in this town is to say no," he said. "That's usually the politically expedient thing to do. If I believe this legislation can be improved by the time it comes back to the House, I will be supporting it."

Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., who represents a swing district in suburban Denver that voted for Hillary Clinton, offered mixed reviews in a written statement.

"If House Leadership will work to tighten protections for those with preexisting conditions, I'm a yes on sending this bill to the Senate for further consideration," he said Wednesday. "If not, I'm a no, and we'll go back to the drawing board."

- - -

The Washington Post's Paul Kane, John Wagner, Ed O'Keefe, Amber Phillips and Paige Winfield Cunningham contributed to this report.

- - -

Video: 'On behalf of Democrats, we are disgusted', Rep. McGovern says about health-care bill

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) lambasted Republicans' plan to revise key parts of the Affordable Care Act, calling it "indefensible." (The Washington Post)

Short URL: http://wapo.st/2pJtC9e

Embed code: <iframe width="480" height="290" scrolling="no" src="//www.washingtonpost.com/video/c/embed/be172f6a-3063-11e7-a335-fa0ae1940305" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
A Cairo criminal court ordered on Thursday the release of prominent Muslim Brotherhood leader and businessman Hassan Malek on EGP 20,000 bail pending trial on charges of harming the countrys economy and financing the banned Brotherhood group.

The prosecution can appeal to the courts decision to release Malek on bail.

Egypt's State Security Prosecution referred Malek to trial in 2015 on charges of collecting foreign currency from the Egyptian market and transferring it outside of the country with the aim of harming the national economy.

Malek was arrested at his home in New Cairo's Fifth Settlement in October 2015, and has been in jail since pending investigations.

All of Maleks assets have been frozen since September 2014, when the North Cairo Criminal Court upheld a decision by the prosecutor-general to freeze the assets of prominent Muslim Brotherhood leaders.

Since the 1990s, Malek has been considered one of the most prominent Muslim Brotherhood businessmen, along with his business partner deputy chairman of the Brotherhood in Egypt Khairat El-Shater, who is serving time in prison on various charges.

Maleks commercial and industrial ventures included textile manufacturing, electrical supplies and furniture.

The Muslim Brotherhood was designated a terrorist organisation by the Egyptian government in November 2013.
An Egyptian prosecution ordered on Wednesday the four-day detention pending investigations of a judge who shot a man to death in Cairo's Nasr City district on Tuesday.

According to the prosecution, the judge got into a fight with the victim, a graduate of the German University in Cairo, in front of the judges home in Nasr City. The judge reportedly drew a pistol and shot the victim, instantly killing him.

The judge then reportedly took the victim to the hospital in an attempt to save him, after which he turned himself in to the prosecution.

According to investigators, the judge had seen the victims fiancee standing in front of his apartment building and questioned her presence in the area, after which he got into a fight with her fiancee, who arrived at the scene shortly after.

Egypts Supreme Judicial Council ordered on Wednesday the withdrawing of judicial immunity from the judge so he can be prosecuted.
For the second time in seven months, voters within the Houston Independent School District will determine how - and if - it should pay tens of millions to help subsidize districts that collect little in property taxes.

The vote Saturday comes as some HISD trustees have reassessed a decision by voters in November not to write a $77.5 million check to the state to comply with Texas' "recapture" policy.

While district leaders don't think it's fair that an urban district with many poor students and English-language learners should be slapped with such a financial penalty, they're split over the best way to respond.

Some trustees argue that Proposition 1 will deal a blow to progress in getting state legislators to rethink Texas' widely criticized school finance system. They believe refusing to pay will allow the district to sue the state to free HISD of its recapture obligations.

More Information A vote "for" Proposition 1 would give HISD the green light to pay the state recapture fees this June. A vote "against" Proposition 1 means the district would refuse to pay the recapture money, which would likely see the state take some of the city's most valuable commercial properties from HISD's tax rolls and transfer their tax revenue to property-poor districts. On the ballot A vote "for" Proposition 1 would give HISD the OK to pay the state recapture fees. A vote "against" Proposition 1 means the district would refuse to pay the money, which would likely see the state take some of the city's most valuable commercial properties from HISD's tax rolls and transfer their tax revenue to property-poor districts. See More Collapse

Others believe that voters should hold their nose and vote for the measure, especially with Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath threatening that a "no" vote would prompt him to move some of Houston's most valuable commercial properties out of the district's taxable area.

'Either scenario is bad'

That "detachment" scenario has never happened in Texas and could cost HISD $98.4 million in lost tax revenue this year, district officials estimate.

"Either scenario is bad," acknowledged Glenn Reed, HISD's general manager of budget and financial planning, adding that the district could end up losing more than 15 percent of its annual budget in a few years under either option. "You get used to living at a certain level, but now you can't deal with cost increases. You have to start selling off furniture and only eat out once a week. It causes you to change how you do business."

The voters' decision on Proposition 1 could reverberate well beyond HISD. State officials across the country have wrestled with how to redistribute school funding so that districts in poor and rural areas get the same kind of financial support as those in urban and wealthier districts.

At least 16 other Houston-area school districts will be required to pay the recapture fees by June 1, including Cypress-Fairbanks, Spring Branch, Katy, Tomball, Fort Bend and Conroe ISDs.

"This is going to become more and more of an issue as years move on," said Mike Griffith, school finance strategist for the nonprofit Education Commission of the States. "Are you going to get above 50 percent of school districts being recaptured? You might."

At issue is Texas' school-funding formula, instituted after the state Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that the state must provide equitable financial support across rural, urban, property value-rich and property value-poor districts.

But because the Texas Constitution prohibits levying a state income tax or statewide property taxes, lawmakers have few other options to fund its poorer school districts than "recapture."

Only Texas and Vermont use such recapture measures to adequately fund schools across their states, Griffith said. But in Vermont, such recapture measures primarily affect vacation homes owned by wealthy part-time residents from Boston and New York. Texas is an anomaly in how it funds education, Griffith said, and for voting on whether or not to pay the state money even though it's mandated by law.

"This is pretty unique to have this 'recapture' impacting a large number of districts, and it's unique because constitutionally there's no income tax or statewide property tax, which would be options most other states would look at," Griffith said.

Fee began in 1993

It would be virtually unprecedented nationwide if the state took properties off of Houston ISD's tax rolls to provide those taxes to other districts, he added.

Since recapture became part of Texas law in 1993, the state has leaned more on property value-wealthy school districts to keep their rural and less wealthy counterparts afloat.

When recapture began, 34 school districts paid the state about $131.5 million to help buoy others statewide. This year, as many as 379 of Texas' more than 1,200 school districts have been told they likely must pay a total of about $1.87 billion in fees to the state. In fact, as many as 43 percent of Texas' more than 5.3 million students live in districts that could be subject to recapture this year.

Recapture fees will account for 5 percent of the state's education budget, according to Texas' Legislative Budget Board.

But while many of the Houston area's suburban districts also owe recapture fees, 77 percent of Houston ISD's students come from low-income families.

Griffith said state budget directors aren't talking about the student populations when they refer to a district as "wealthy," instead simply dividing tax revenue by the weighted number of students enrolled in a district.

"Originally people were thinking, 'Oh, recapture is targeting very wealthy places,' and in the beginning that's kind of what it was," Griffith said. "But now you're looking at places people don't think of as wealthy, and having places like Houston paying these fees makes people say 'Hey, it shouldn't be us - we're not wealthy.' "

Debating detachment

While Houston will owe $77.5 million in recapture fees this year, that number will soon balloon to $376 million owed just for the 2019-2020 school year, according to Houston ISD budget estimates. That same school year, Houston could lose as much as $413.2 million under the "detachment" scenario if property values rise (it would lose less than that amount if property values remain stagnant or decline).

Trustees including board President Wanda Adams, Rhonda Skillern-Jones and Mike Lunceford said they now fear vindictive action from the Texas Education Agency and lawmakers if the district doesn't pay the recapture fees. But other trustees, including Jolanda Jones and Manuel Rodriguez Jr., want the district to hold steadfast in its decision not to pay the recapture fees. Jones said the district could take the state to court and argue that detachment is unconstitutional.

She contends that Houston ISD - the state's largest school district - has the power to pressure the state to change its funding formulas.

"We can't debate detachment until there's an actual detachment," Jones said. "No district has voted to detach, so that hasn't been heard at all (in the courts)."

Either way, officials say the district faces losing a large chunk of its $1.8 billion budget each year to recapture payments, or to detachment, if nothing changes at the state level.

"I know, yes, there are things we could do better in this district, but taking $300 million or $500 million of our budget - it'll be hard to fill that hole," Reed said. "If there's something we want to do (in the future), and we were missing that much money, that's where cannibalizing comes in. We'll either have to raise our tax rates or have to cut programs within."
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Ilene Garza, 39, couldnt believe that a man and a woman were found dead on a quiet Wednesday afternoon in their North Side apartment just a few spaces away from her own.

Its actually a very peaceful place, Garza said of the Indigo Apartments, 11501 Braesview. If there was any fighting the cops would show up quickly and it would be handled.

San Antonio Police Department Chief William McManus said the man, in his 30s, fatally shot his girlfriend, in her late 20s, before killing himself using a shotgun.

The incident was estimated to have occurred sometime last week, McManus said.

Management was alerted by residents Wednesday to a strange odor coming from the second floor residence, he said.

Upon opening the door, McManus said the manager discovered the couples bodies inside, alerting police at about 3 p.m.

Investigators said there were no witnesses and that the door was secure until management opened it.

A sergeant at the scene said there were two women who pointed officers to the apartment when they arrived.

Resident Peter Garza who lives in an apartment building adjacent to where the couple was found, said he hadnt seen or heard anyone arguing in the area recently.

He said the tenants living in and around where police were investigating are friendly, and that some of them had recently moved in.

Residents noted construction has been going on daily throughout the apartments for some time.

On Wednesday, work crews could be seen installing new roofs on the opposite side of the complex from where the couple was found.

Everybody knows everybody here, Ilene Garza said, still shocked at the news. Its so bizarre.

jbeltran@express-news.net

Twitter: @JBfromSA
courtesy /

A man convicted of murder by a jury last month of murder has been sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Rosalio Anthony Barraza, 22, had faced up to life in prison in the death of Isaac Arocha, 25, who he fatally shot when an argument between the two escalated. Visiting Judge Raymond Angelini sentenced Barraza on Tuesday in the 290th District Court.
Egypt's Foreign Ministry welcomed on Thursday the newly reached agreement between Russia, Turkey and Iran on setting up four safe zones in Syria in an attempt to reduce violence in the war-torn country.

The agreement was announced on Thursday during the current round of talks held between regional powers in Kazakhstan's capital Astana.

The signing ceremony was briefly interrupted when members of a delegation from the Syrian armed opposition protested Iran's participation in the deal.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry praised all efforts to secure a ceasefire in all Syrian territories, facilitate humanitarian aid, and reach a political solution to the crisis that eliminates the presence of terrorist organisations in the country.

The ministry also expressed hope that the agreement would lead to the resumption of the UN Geneva talks on Syria.
As a member of the dynamic Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, Sister Neomi Hayes took a special interest in empowering women.

Establishing Visitation House with co-founder Sister Yolanda Tarango in the 1980s, Sister Hayes wanted to provide homeless single mothers with a future.

Starting out as a small shelter, the nonprofit has since grown to provide transitional housing and educational services for women and children for up to two years.

In the early 2000s, Sister Hayes, with Sister Dorothy Ettling, co-founded Womens Global Connection, an organization that provides support and a network of resources to women in San Antonio, Peru, Tanzania, Zambia.

More Information Sister Neomi Hayes Born: Jan. 19, 1935, Essex, England Died: April 30, 2017, San Antonio Preceded by: Parents Anastasia Tynan and Pierce Hayes. Survived by: Brothers William Hayes, Pierce Hayes, and James Hayes. Services: Mass at 11 a.m. today at the Chapel of the Incarnate Word, 4503 Broadway, followed by burial in the Convent Cemetery. See More Collapse

She had a broad vision, said Sister Theresa McGrath. And was always conscious the human condition, and justice issues.

Sister Hayes died April 30 at 82.

The only daughter of four children, Sister Hayes was raised in Ireland and joined religious life early on.

She was making a brave decision when she answered the call to come to Texas.

The sisters who came at that time  came with no expectation of ever returning, Sister Yolanda Tarango said. When they said goodbye to their families, they thought they were saying goodbye forever.

Receiving a bachelors in history from what was then Incarnate Word College, Sister Hayes taught elementary school for a time before taking permanent vows in 1960.

As an administrator at Incarnate Word, Sister Hayes was a steadfast presence to both students and faculty as assistant registrar and dean of women.

Elected provincial, and later general superior of the San Antonio province, Sister Hayes served until 1984.

Sisters Hayes and Tarango started Visitation House in 1985, after realizing that homelessness was especially complicated for mothers.

At traditional shelters, women with children would spend one night and not return, Sister Tarango said. What was needed was a place they felt safe.

The sisters took it step-by-step.

Our goal from the very beginning was to offer hospitality, Sister Tarango said. We didnt have a program or a plan; we lived with the women to find out what their needs were and shaped the plan around their needs.

Starting Womens Global Connection as a message board in the early days of the Internet, Hayes and Sister Dorothy Ettling quickly progressed to organizing mission trips to other countries, although Sister Hayes left the traveling up to Sister Ettling.

Her main role was nurturing the project at home, Sister Tarango said.

mheidbrink@express-news.net
Syrian regime allies Russia and Iran and rebel supporter Turkey on Thursday signed a memorandum on a Moscow-backed plan to create safe zones in Syria to bolster a fragile truce.

An AFP reporter at peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana saw the heads of the delegations, representing the three countries sponsoring the negotiations, sign the document.

However a member of the rebel delegation left the room, shouting against regime ally Iran, the AFP reporter saw. The Syrian government and rebel delegations are not signatories.

The Kremlin has been touting a plan to create safe zones in Syria that is aimed to "further pacification and cessation of hostilities."

"Over the past two days, the participants in the Astana talks reviewed the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and the cessation of hostilities," Kazakhstan's foreign minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said of a frail truce brokered by Moscow and Ankara in December.

"As a result the guarantor countries agreed to sign a memorandum on the creation of de-escalation zones in Syria."

An Arabic-language version of the Russian draft proposal seen by AFP calls for the creation of "de-escalation zones" in rebel-held territory in the northwestern province of Idlib, in parts of Homs province in the centre, in the south, and in the opposition enclave of Eastern Ghouta near Damascus.

The aim is to "put an immediate end to the violence" and "provide the conditions for the safe, voluntary return of refugees" as well as the immediate delivery of relief supplies and medical aid, the document said.

But issues including which countries could police any safe zones remain unclear.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that ways to monitor the zones would be an issue for separate talks.

Syrian rebels said earlier Thursday that they had resumed participation in the talks after having suspended their involvement a day earlier over air strikes against civilians.

After talks with Turkey counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the safe zones were meant to lead to "further pacification and cessation of hostilities."

He also said the proposed zones would also be no-fly areas if fighting on the ground there stopped entirely.

The Kremlin's plan echoes calls by US leader Donald Trump to establish safe zones in Syria.

Putin said Wednesday that "as far I could tell" the US leader broadly supported the idea in a phone call they held on Tuesday.

Erdogan said in comments published Thursday that Moscow's plan to set up these zones in Syria would "50 percent" solve the six-year conflict.

Damascus supports the Russian plan, Syrian state news agency SANA reported.

More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the country's war began with anti-government protests in March 2011.

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It comes out of a now-familiar playbook.

Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood recently attempted to deflect attention from his unprofessional conduct by attacking the media coverage about it.

On Monday, as the community settled in to the workweek after a long Fiesta weekend, LaHood posted a letter on Facebook lashing out at the San Antonio Express-News opinion pages.

The first-term district attorney took issue with the Editorial Board for asking the State Bar of Texas to investigate threats he made against two local defense lawyers during a conference in judicial chambers. The editorial called LaHoods behavior unprofessional and said it merits challenge.

We expect those elected to the highest position in our criminal justice system to maintain a certain level of civility, temperament and decorum. There is no room in the criminal justice system for a district attorney who throws temper tantrums and bullies defense lawyers, the editorial said.

It is a view this Editorial Board continues to hold  a view now reinforced by the district attorneys attempt to slam the newspaper for factually reporting  well, the facts. Apparently, if LaHood views the coverage as unfavorable, attack the coverage.

Where have we seen and heard this before? Like, lately?

The editorial was based on the findings of fact and conclusions of law in a five-page order signed by visiting State District Judge W.C. Kirkendall of Seguin and the newspapers coverage of several hearings on the issue.

In an order signed April 25, the judge found in favor of the state in a defense motion to dismiss a murder case, but took issue with LaHoods threats  made in chambers before the trial judge  to end the defense lawyers legal practices.

Kirkendall said, Mr. LaHood engaged in an unprofessional and uncalled-for rant, which may be subject to sanctions in another tribunal.

District Judge Lori Valenzuela, the trial judge in the murder case, testified before Kirkendall that she heard LaHood make the threats and considered it official oppression.

LaHood maintains he did no such thing. There was a heated exchange, but I did not make a threat, he told the Express-News in a text message after Kirkendalls ruling.

In his Facebook post, LaHood alleged the newspaper has an agenda to attack me and the District Attorneys Office. They continuously ignore the truth and fail to report the facts.

While everyone is welcomed to have their own opinion of any public servant or public office, nobody should be allowed to create their own facts, and then serve it up as truth for the public to absorb. I fully expect the Express News will continue this slanted journalism. Many of us see the unsettling reality that journalism is turning from objective reporting to profit-driven opinion creation, he wrote.

But he left unaddressed what he believed was not factual. Was it reports of his threat to the defense attorneys legal practices? News accounts and the editorial both included his denial, which is now refuted by the judge in whose chambers the comments were made. And, again, another judge has labeled his comments unprofessional and a rant, subject to sanctions by another court.

These are the facts as reported. The editorials conclusion was that much of it rendered LaHoods denial implausible. A State Bar investigation is indeed warranted.

All of which is in a newspapers purview to write  in fact, is its obligation to write. It is called public watchdog journalism, but it is very clear that some politicians would prefer it be more like lapdog journalism, and when it isnt, shoot the messenger.

The reporting on LaHoods behavior and the subsequent editorial wasnt slanted journalism. But LaHoods response to the factual coverage could very well be calculated outrage to change the subject from his own behavior, which, even if not ultimately judged to be official oppression, was decidedly unprofessional.

Bexar residents deserve better from their district attorney and all other elected officials who, when held to account, point fingers everywhere but at themselves. Again, where have we seen this before?
The agreement between the national PP and the PNV to refloat the approval of the General State Budget has generated great discomfort in the Asturian left while Ciudadanos and Foro, allied with the PP in the debate on accounts, look the other way and keep a pretty revealing silence about the reduction of the Basque quota. The Asturian Government avoided giving its opinion yesterday on the impact of the reduction on the contribution of the Basque Country to the state accounts, although it has repeatedly claimed the need to recalculate the quota (the economic expression of the agreement, included and recognized in the Constitution) and not precisely downward, a position held also by other autonomic governments. The Asturian PSOE claims that the regional institutions make contributions to solidarity through the Inter-territorial Compensation Fund.

Podemos has been the most conclusive and critical party against the PP-PNV agreement. "Rajoy has laughed at Javier Fernandez and then at Mercedes Fernandez, who are more concerned about their vote quota than about the Asturian wellbeing", Emilio Leon said, for whom "the opportunistic favoring should not guide the negotiation of the autonomic model". According to the spokesperson for the purple party in the regional parliament, "outside a framework of solidarity and cooperation, Asturias is a loser, as we have seen in the State Budget".

IU spokesperson at the General Meeting, Gaspar Llamazares, went "against territorial trade in the Congress", an action that he described as "worrisome" and in his opinion "negatively conditions the negotiation of the financing system". For the representative of the coalition, this new decision of the Government "shows the seriousness of the consequences of the so-called unblocking, which was a mistake of the PSOE and Ciudadanos".

Albert Riveras party has always been in favor of putting a stop to the agreements, which he considers "a privilege" for the regional communities, the Basque Country and Navarra. But they were silent yesterday. Neither the national leadership of the orange party, which includes the Asturian Ignacio Prendes, nor his organization in Asturias spoke yesterday about the content of an agreement which is quite the opposite of their political roadmap, even thought Ciudadanos is the greater support of the PP to put a solution to the accounts. Foro, also an ally of the Popular Government for the Budgets to cross the particular Rubicon of the totality amendment, avoided pronouncing on the agreement of the quota, of which he said "we are not against or in favor, we are only concerned about the budgets of Asturias".
Center Parcs bosses are keeping their fingers crossed over Longfords bid to secure access to Irelands national gas pipeline, writes Liam Cosgrove.

Senior representatives from the UK leisure giant say they are no nearer to learning whether ongoing talks between government chiefs and Gas Networks Ireland have brokered any meaningful resolution.

Center Parcs PR Manager Simon Kay told the Leader he and his fellow colleagues at senior management level were conscious of recent speculation but remained oblivious to suggestions an agreement was in the offing.

We dont have any update, no, said Mr Kay, in an interview with the Leader on Tuesday.

We are very aware of the talks and conversations that are going on about providing gas to the site and about it (gas) going further into the county but we are still waiting.

Mr Kay said Center Parcs as a company had no insider knowledge of where negotiations were presently at, claiming such dialogue was outside of our control.

Those admissions follow remarks made by Independent TD Kevin Boxer Moran back in March that an agreement in principle had been reached over extending the pipeline to Longford.

Last week, the Leader also reported on how county council officials are currently planning to modify the county development plan ahead of any prospective announcement being made.

Mr Kay, who was in Ballymahon last week himself for the second of a series of community forum meetings with locals, revealed plans for its 233m Longford Forest were continuing to take shape.

The firm, he told the Leader, have recently recruited a grounds services manager to its ranks, some three weeks on from the appointment of its first employee and general manager Daragh Feighery.

Meanwhile, its also emerged Center Parcs are planning to secure closer ties with a number of local service providers over the coming months.

A suitably named Meet the Buyer event is already pencilled in for the end of May with local suppliers being invited to attend.

The occasion, which is expected to be held over two days will involve one day consultations in Mullingar and Longford.

For more on this story, see www.longfordleader.ie over the coming weeks.
A Longford business owner has hit out at the callous thieves who ransacked her salon in the middle of the night by stealing valuable merchandise and hundreds of euro in cash.

Pauline Duffy, proprietor of Axis Hairdressing, turned up for work at her premises at Longfords N4 Axis Centre this morning as she has done for the past five years ready for another busy day.

Little did she know that moments later she would be stumbling across a crime scene and forced into contacting her local garda station.

They (thieves) just seem to have broken in through the front door of a dry cleaners and then coming up into where we are, she told longfordleader.ie this afternoon.

Fortunately, Pauline and her staff have been able to continue trading this today despite the loss of several hairdryers, straighteners and TV.

They just took all electrical stuff and got some money too, she revealed.

The unscrupulous nature of the break-in also saw the culprits make off with the salons CCTV hard drive in a bid to escape without leaving any clues behind.

And while Pauline admitted she remains oblivious as to who might have been behind last nights episode, she expressed hope that camera footage might be available to detectives from adjoining and nearby retail units.

We are set up in the corner at the minute and working away, she continued, not before underlining the difficulties hard pressed firms have to endure irregardless of the challenges brought about by criminality.

That said, Pauline adopted a philosophical stance as she switched her focus on ensuring her business remained on an even keel.

Its annoying thats for sure, she added.

Things are hard enough but what can you do?

Anyone with information or who might have seen anything untoward around the vicinity of Axis Hairdressing, N4 Axis Centre, Battery Road, Longford overnight is asked to contact Longford Garda Station at (043) 3350570.
Suffolk County, NY - May 4, 2017 - Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone today announced that the Suffolk County Landbank has issued a request for proposal (RFP) to revitalize nine blighted, environmentally distressed sites in the Towns of Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone today announced that the Suffolk County Landbank has issued a request for proposal (RFP) to revitalize nine blighted, environmentally distressed sites in the Towns of Babylon Brookhaven and Islip that have been tax-delinquent for an average of 16 years. This is the second time the Landbank has issued a series of RFPs with the intention of placing blighted properties back on the tax roll to improve the regions economy and facilitate the clean-up of potentially environmentally challenged sites. Proposals are due on June 12, 2017.

We will use every tool in our arsenal to revitalize these neglected properties into tax-paying entities and transform each community, said County Executive Bellone. I encourage anyone interested to submit their proposal to the Suffolk County Landbank as we continue to make progress is restoring promise to these locations."

The nine sites on average have been tax delinquent for approximately 16 years and cumulatively owe nearly $11 million in delinquent taxes. Once back on the tax rolls, the properties would pay back a cumulative property tax of more than $500,000.

The sites, which include former commercial, light industrial, automotive and residential uses, include:

The Suffolk County Landbank issued its first RFP to revitalize blighted properties in 2016, and closed on two of those properties resulting in approximately $180,000 in taxes that would not have been collected otherwise. The second RFP, similar to the first, provides a tax deed to buyers, free of back taxes as well as past New York State clean-up costs, if applicable.

Since its inception, the Suffolk County Landbank has recouped more than $5 million in unpaid property taxes from more than 90 property owners.

Prior to the creation of the Suffolk County Landbank in 2013, the County had no way of collecting delinquent taxes on these types of properties without exposing the County to the liability associated with the contamination of the site. Today, the County can transfer the liens to the Landbank, which can then sell the lien at a marketable value to a fully vetted developer or buyer. In turn, the developer or buyer would remediate the contamination and revitalize the property in alignment with the local communitys plans.

To access the Suffolk County Landbank Request for Proposals please visit: http://suffolkcountylandbank.org/2017RFP

All proposals are due by Monday, June 12 and should be delivered to:

Suffolk County Landbank Corp.

H. Lee Dennison Building,

100 Veterans Memorial Highway

2nd Floor

PO Box 6100

Hauppauge , NY 11788
Local News, Crime

By Long Island News & PR Published: May 04 2017

Nahtralique Ferro was last seen leaving his home address on Monday, May 1.

NCPD are seeking Nahtralique Ferro, 13, a Missing Juvenile from Hempstead.

UPDATE - May 15, 2017 - Police report that the missing juvenile has been located.

Below is the original report.

Hempstead, NY - May 4, 2017 - Missing persons Squad detectives are investigating a Missing Juvenile that occurred on Monday, May 1, 2017 at 9:00 pm in Missing persons Squad detectives are investigating a Missing Juvenile that occurred on Monday, May 1, 2017 at 9:00 pm in Hempstead

According to detectives, Nahtralique Ferro, 13, of a Terrace Avenue residence, was last seen leaving the address wearing dark colored jeans, a dark shirt and denim sneakers. He is 59 tall and 140 pounds.
Saudi Arabia should urgently review its definition of terrorism under a law used to prosecute non-violent journalists and human rights defenders, a United Nations special rapporteur said on Thursday.

After a visit to the kingdom, Ben Emmerson told reporters that a 2014 counter-terrorism law contains an "unacceptably broad definition" of the crime and does not comply with international rights standards.

"I strongly condemn the use of counter-terrorism legislation and penal sanctions against individuals peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression", religion, or association, said Emmerson, who reports to the UN's Human Rights Council.

He urged Saudi Arabia to create an independent review mechanism to examine cases of people jailed for exercising such rights "and to commute or pardon all such prisoners with immediate effect".

Emmerson, a British lawyer, said he gave the government on Thursday morning a list of nine "priority cases" which a UN group in 2015 said had been arbitrarily detained for exercising their rights to free speech and peaceful association.

"I am profoundly concerned" that they remain in detention, he said.

The list includes Saudi blogger Raif Badawi and human rights lawyer Walid Abulkhair.

Emmerson said he sought to interview people detained for expressing non-violent views but "the government was unable to give access".

The independent expert expressed additional concern about persistent reports of "the use of torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement officials to extract confessions".

He said he had also received reports of secret trials, trials proceeding without lawyers, and other violations of due process at the Specialised Criminal Court which handles terrorism cases.

Saudi officials denied those and the torture allegations, Emmerson said.

Saudi Arabia is one of the world's most prolific users of the death penalty, including for people convicted of terrorism.

Emmerson said there appear to have been "multiple due process violations" in one death penalty case, "and there may well be others".

At the same time, he said standards of care at the kingdom's prisons for terrorist suspects "are amongst the highest in the world".

The kingdom can also be proud of its rehabilitation of terrorist suspects, added Emmerson, who also reviewed Saudi involvement in Yemen and Syria.

Saudi Arabia for more than two years has led a military coalition conducting air strikes in Yemen, where the government says it is battling "state-sponsored terrorists".

Emmerson raised the issue of civilian casualties caused by the coalition in Yemen.

A coalition team of military and legal experts, which it describes as independent, has issued findings on numerous incidents in Yemen.

But Emmerson reminded Saudi Arabia that it has an international legal obligation to conduct a probe "independent of the chain of command" in every case where civilians are reliably believed to have been killed or wounded.

He said every case must be investigated and "the true civilian death toll made public."

Emmerson also noted the kingdom has made a significant contribution to the United States-led coalition fighting Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria and Iraq.

Saudi Arabia has assigned warplanes to that coalition.

"However, I am concerned at allegations that some of the most violent armed groups involved in jihad which have committed serious human rights violations" in Syria "appear to have enjoyed various forms of support, financial and logistical, implicating sources inside Saudi Arabia", Emmerson said.

He did not elaborate on which Islamist militants he was referring to but said the allegations come despite Riyadh's stated commitment to stem terrorist violence.

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May 04, 2017 | By AFP Relaxnews

Over the next few years, the international wine market will look strikingly different, with Portugal projected to overtake France when it comes to per capita wine consumption, and India, Mexico, South Africa expected to see notable growth as well.

Those are some of the newest projections from a study conducted by Vinexpo, one of the worlds leading wine trade fairs which takes place in Bordeaux, France this summer. Overall, the report notes that consumers around the world tipped back the equivalent of 267 million hectoliters last year, marking a modest 0.4 percent rise and the stabilisation of the market.

There are also a few longstanding wine trends that havent changed over the last few years: The US and China remain the worlds biggest wine markets. By 2020, China will represent 72 percent of the growth in wine imports by volume, while the US is also projected to post a 12 percent growth by value. The US will retain the title of the worlds biggest wine market by both volume and value.

But the story is markedly different in France, where wine consumption rates are projected to plummet 7.5 percent by 2020 with a per capita consumption of 43 liters, ceding the top spot for European consumption to Portugal, where consumption is projected to rise to nearly 50 litres per capita over the next three years.

Another big player in the wine market by 2020 will be India, says Vinexpo, which is expected to grow by a whopping 50 percent. Chinas growth is pegged at 20 percent, while Mexico and South Africa are also expected to become increasingly important players in the market with 18 percent and 17 percent growth rates respectively. Other countries where wine consumption is projected to grow include the Philippines, Taiwan, and South Korea.

Vinexpo takes place June 18-21 in Bordeaux. The 19th edition is expected to draw 2,300 exhibitors from 42 countries and 48,000 visitors.
Iraq's oil ministry said on Thursday it had begun loading a tanker with 2 million barrels of crude oil bound for Egypt, marking the first shipment under a bilateral agreement.

Under a one-year agreement reached last month between Baghdad and Cairo, Iraq will sell 12 million barrels of oil to Egypt, the ministry said.

Thursday's announcement comes a couple of months after Iraqi envoy to Egypt Habib Al-Sadr said in press statements that Iraq's oil marketing company SOMO had inked the supply contract.

Al-Sadr said that Iraqi and Egyptian officials finalised the technical aspects of the contract after receiving the green light from their respective political leadership. Tarek El-Hadidi, the head of Egypt's state oil company EGPC, had recently confirmed that a deal was signed with the Iraqi government to import Iraqi oil under a one-year agreement, which could be renewed.

Egypt has been aiming to procure oil for domestic market needs from several sources since November 2016, when Saudi national oil company Aramco halted shipments of oil products to Cairo that had been part of a multi-billion dollar aid deal.

However, Aramco decided last March to resume oil shipments to Egypt following a six-month suspension as a sign of warming relations between the two countries following a period of reportedly strained relations.

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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.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has approved a Japanese loan worth 49.4 billion yen (approx. $460 million) to carry out the second phase in the construction of the Grand Egyptian Museum, state news agency MENA reported on Thursday, citing the countrys official gazette.

In October last year, Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr signed the exchange of letters for the loan with the Japanese ambassador in Cairo.

Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Anani has said that 50 percent of the work to create the new museum has been finalised and the first phase will be inaugurated by the end of this year; it will include a room for Tutankhamuns relics.

The museum, expected to be one of the largest in the world, is located two kilometres from the Giza Pyramids.



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The PRC Trade Mark Office (TMO) has had a long-standing policy prohibiting class 35 service mark coverage for "retail services" and similar descriptions. This policy has been directly and indirectly challenged through recent changes in the Nice Classification, judicial decisions and comments by many Chinese legal scholars. But for the time being, the policy remains largely intact.

That said, there are strategies available to maximise protection for retail services in China that need to be considered given the high levels of piracy and infringement in the country.

Nice Classification changes

Since 1992 (the 6th edition Classification), the services description closest to "retail services" has been "sales promotion for others". The TMO placed this description into a similarity subgroup the heading for which was "sales (contract) agency", but is now "sales promotion for others" (subgroup 3503).

In 2006 (9th edition Classification) a new description skirting retail services was added: "presentation of goods on communication media, for retail purposes". The TMO accepted this with effect from January 1 2007 and placed it in the similarity subgroup for "advertising" (subgroup 3501), an item that the TMO deems prima facie dissimilar to "sales promotion for others" (subgroup 3503). Clearly, advertising is only one aspect of retail services, not sufficiently broad enough effectively to provide coverage for retail services.

In 2013 (10th edition Classification, 2013 version) a new description was added: "retail or wholesale services for pharmaceutical, veterinary and sanitary preparations and medical supplies", which the TMO adopted with effect from January 1 2014. At last, retail services of some kind were registrable in China  but only for these narrow industry fields. A new similarity subgroup was created (subgroup 3509), into which this description was placed.

However, the majority of retail businesses are not focused on preparations and medical supplies in the pharmaceutical, veterinary or sanitary products industries, so the inclusion of this item in the Classification has not had a significant impact on the TMO's policy or practice in regard to retail services coverage for businesses.

As far as the TMO is concerned, this is the extent to which retail or retail-like services can be covered.

Judicial decisions

Although there are not many influential cases that have been decided in respect of retail services-related issues, PRC courts have dealt with this mainly in the context of whether (1) a party engaged in such services could be found to have infringed a registration for a similar mark that covered "sales promotion for others", and (2) use evidence of actual provision of retail services could be effective evidence to defend against a non-use cancellation. Some courts support the idea that the description "retail services" is roughly equivalent to "sales promotion for others", while others have rejected the concept.

In a 2016 case, the Beijing High People's Court (BHPC) ruled that use of marks in conjunction with the operation of retail shops (for example store signage, contracts and commercial invoices) does not constitute "sales promotion for others" such that a registration covering that item of services could survive a non-use cancellation.

Drawing from the 8th edition Classification's Explanatory Note for class 35, the BPHC's decision concluded that the services in class 35 include mainly services rendered by persons or organisations principally with the object of: (1) help in the working or management of a commercial undertaking, or (2) help in the management of the business affairs or commercial functions of an industrial or commercial enterprise; and that class 35 does not include, in particular: the activity of an enterprise the primary function of which is the sale of goods, that is of a so-called commercial enterprise. The mark at issue in that case was registered back when the 8th edition Classification was in effect.

However, an important change was made to the Explanatory Note when the 9th edition came into effect on January 1 2007 (which has remained through to the present): the exclusion of commercial enterprise activity was removed. The Supreme People's Court picked up on this in a 2007 case (Fengyang Industrial v Xinjiang Pacific Department Stores) involving a Taiwanese-owned chain of department stores operating in mainland China, indicating that it could be inferred from the removal of that exclusionary language that retail services were intended to be included within class 35.

With the split between various courts, the issue of whether class 35 should cover retail services awaits ultimate resolution. One of the BHPC judges responsible for the 2016 decision has written separately to express support for legislative reform aimed at granting protection to retailers by allowing registration of retail service marks in class 35, a sentiment that is echoed by many legal scholars in China.

Madrid practice

The TMO will typically reject applications to extend international registrations to China that contain retail service descriptions.

However, the TMO has accepted the following description which clearly comes closer to covering retail services than is permitted under the TMO's own index of "standard" descriptions: "The bringing together, for the benefit of others, of a variety of goods (excluding the transport thereof), enabling customers to conveniently view and purchase those goods."

This is not a standard Nice description, but one the TMO has accepted.

The language itself is taken from the Class 35 Explanatory Note. Notably, that Note includes the following additional language that, if included in an international registration extended to China, would very likely result in rejection by the TMO: "such services may be provided by retail stores, wholesale outlets, through mail order catalogues or by means of electronic media, for example, through web sites or television shopping programmes" (emphasis added).

While this truncated description stops short of covering retail services per se, it could still provide a stronger basis for attacking in a Chinese court pirates using a mark for retail services.

SIPS Hong Kong

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Wanchai, Hong Kong

China

mail@sips.asia

Tel: +852 2866 6400

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In a recent decision, the Austrian Supreme Court had to answer the question whether a defendant can be forced to recall goods from the channels of commerce by means of a preliminary order.

In this dispute, the Appeal Court found that a specific catheter having protective means for a needle infringed a European patent. The defendant argued non-infringement as well as nullity of the patent in suit. However, during the appeal proceedings as in the provisional proceedings in Austria, the Board of Appeals of the EPO found the patent in suit to be valid, the Vienna Appeal Court followed these findings on the validity of the patent in dispute. Accordingly, the Appeal Court granted a preliminary injunction and the defendant was also ordered to recall the infringing catheters from the channels of commerce. Thus, the Vienna Appeal Court found that the defendant who has no power of disposition of the infringing goods anymore cannot remove the infringing goods from the channels of commerce, but he must make a serious endeavour to recall these goods even before a decision on the merits is handed down.

The defendant appealed to the Supreme Court of Austria. The Austrian Supreme Court agreed with the Vienna Appeal Court that the patent is valid and infringed. However, the Supreme Court reversed the findings regarding the recall from the channels of commerce in provisional proceedings. The Supreme Court reasoned its decision that generally by a provisional measure it is not allowed to create a situation that cannot be undone after the end of the provisional proceedings. However, if a recall is finalised, this would create a situation which cannot be undone anymore as the defendant has no right that the former customer will agree to a new contract after the provisional injunction was eventually lifted. Additionally, in its reasoning the Supreme Court referred to the Enforcement Directive where the recall of goods is only referred as a corrective measure in a decision on the merits. However, a recall of goods is not mentioned in Article 9 referring to provisional and precautionary measures.

Thus, the Supreme Court (correctly) concluded that a recall of infringing goods is generally not available in provisional proceedings. These findings are not restricted to patents, but apply to all IP rights.

Rainer Beetz

Riemergasse 14A-1010 ViennaAustriaTel: +43 1 512 84 05Fax: +43 1 512 98 05
Egypt is set to receive in December the third and final $1 billion tranche of a $3 billion loan from the World Bank, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported on Thursday, citing the bank's vice president for the Middle East and North Africa Hafez Ghanem.

Ghanem's statements were made during his meeting in Washington with a delegation from the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo that is in the US to promote investment in Egypt.

Ghanem said that the bank's strategy with Egypt is based on two main pillars; an increase in investments to provide job opportunities and improving the social safety nets (SSN) and living standards for the poorest in the country.

The statement by the World Bank official comes a few months after Egypt said it was negotiating the third and final tranche from the World Bank loan to support the governments ongoing economic reform programme.

In late March, the World Bank announced it had handed over the second $1 billion tranche to Egypt, with the funds intended for fiscal consolidation, ensuring energy supply and enhancing competitiveness in the private sector.

Egypt received the first tranche of the loan in September.

The World Bank finances several projects in Egypt, including projects related to energy, transport, water, wastewater, agriculture and irrigation, population and health. It also supports employment-intensive projects and finances small and medium-sized enterprises.

According to the bank's data, the current portfolio of the World Bank in Egypt includes 26 projects for a total commitment of $5.92 billion.

On Wednesday, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) said the country's foreign reserves edged up to $28.641 billion at the end of April from $28.5 billion at the end of March.

Egypt's foreign reserves have been climbing since it clinched a $12 billion three-year loan from the International Monetary Fund in November in a bid to lure back foreign capital.

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The greatest thing about Chanel has everything and nothing to do with the clothes. I think Ive always known this but it hit me over the head last night at the Greek-themed resort 2018 show, which was held at the Grand Palais in Paris. This venue is almost always the brand;s choice when they present in Paris, but it is a bit surprising given Chanels ambitious geographic track record (Cuba last year, Seoul the one before) for this particular season.

Of course, it was nothing like any show before it  not even the one where a rocket was launched. We were escorted up a set of stairs into a room, quite small relative to the sheer magnitude of the space, that was decorated to look like Ancient Greece. For a minute, I could have sworn I was actually there. The collection was called La Modernite de lAntiquite (The Modernity of Antiquity) and the garments were a very literal representation of archetypical Grecian relics: most of the shoes (rendered in neon and patent leather) laced up the models legs, platform sandals with columns for heels.

Totally same page ladies. Pants are lame @chanelofficial resort serving an ode on a Grecian urn. A post shared by Leandra (Medine) Cohen (@leandramcohen) on May 3, 2017 at 10:09am PDT

There were tie-waist belts and slinky, toga-style (originally Roman) dresses and the most literal braided headbands. It was a collection that was so on the nose, it left nothing to the imagination. No one had to think too hard to get it. As for the modern, per the collections title, I think the real point is that modernity is almost always still antiquity. That the old things we try to make new never actually become new. Is that so bad, though?

They say if it aint broke, dont fix it. I like that saying because were living inside an era of hyper-innovation, but sometimes I just want to sit back and let things be what they are. You dont have to go in and reinvent the wheel just to make sure it still works, or to make it fresh. On the contrary, you can use tweed, a fabric non-endemic to ancient Greece, to tell your story. There could be acrylic cuffs and layers of chain necklaces. Chanel-branded backpacks and sacks that certainly had no place then but look great now. Doesnt it make you feel like taking a deep breath? Dont kill yourself to make something so new! Just do what you want and do it well.

Chanel after party = Sephardic wedding A post shared by Leandra (Medine) Cohen (@leandramcohen) on May 3, 2017 at 10:42am PDT

Following the show was an afterparty downstairs featuring a generous display of raw vegetables, feta cheese, Kalamata olives, dried fruits, manifold dips (hummus, tahini, taramasalata, babaganoush and so forth) and very attractive male waiters carrying trays full of fruit smoothies and very French rose wine. Neck pecking, I scanned the room and noticed ecstatic women dressed in head-to-toe runway from the previous three seasons. They were taking pictures and drinking champagne and perhaps plotting what their following season purchase strategies would look like. Heres where I want to get back to the initial point that I made  that Chanels success has everything and nothing to do with the clothes. Everything because the clothes make you feel so damn expensive. Respected. Like you have made it. The accessories are like a gateway drug that promise access and the clothes are it  your stamp of approval or confirmation.

But then theyre nothing, too, because even if fiscal constraints prevent you from buying the clothes, or wearing the clothes, or simply being among the clothes  as long as you care, youre in.

We talk a lot about the energy of brands. Some deliberately exclude, others want to let you in but arent sure how. For all of them, though, its the wistful air around their labels that catch you. To have an air that your consumer can read is a state most designers aspire to but only the very focused can sustain. And the focus of Chanel? Of Karl Lagerfeld? Modern, antique, whatever you want to call it  mind-boggling.

Photo by Stephane Cardinale  Corbis and Pascal Le Segretain via Getty Images.
Some of the best pictures from the popular Everyday Egypt Instagram page are going on display this month at a new exhibition in Maadi.

The first exhibition organised by the social media project opened on Sunday, and will continue until 15 May, at the Beit El-Sura photography centre in Street 15.

As the exhibition name indicates, on display are shots that capture ordinary life around the country, taken by cameras and mobile phones.

The subjects of the photos are wide-ranging: dishes from popular restaurants, fishermen, children playing in the street, people crossing roads, an engagement in a working-class area, guards at a temple in Luxor, young workers at a marble workshop, a man fixing the satellite dish on the roof of his house, four young boys on a motorcycle, and a bread-seller on a bicycle holding his tray of bread in one hand and reading the newspaper in the other.

Most of the images are from Cairo or Alexandria, but there are also entries from Sohag, Luxor, Sinai, Minya, Ismailiya, Beni Suef and Mansoura.

"Everyday Egypt reveals the stories, habits, traditions, rituals, streets, and different patterns of Egyptian society, in a different way than the news does it. They are all the scenes that we would not find anywhere else. This is daily life, said Roger Anis, an Egyptian photographer who is now in charge of the Everyday Egypt project.

Capturing ordinary life

The photos come from the Everyday Egypt project, which has around 95,000 followers on Instagram and 350,000 on Facebook.

"We have been thinking of making our first exhibition for a year and a half, but we lacked finance, and once it was available we started," added Anis.

"We were three people responsible for choosing 35 photos for the exhibition, he said, adding that the number of submissions was 1,600.

The project launched on June 8, 2014 when President El-Sisi was inaugurated.

All international eyes were on Egypt again, but only on the political aspect. We felt we also needed to show the everyday," Tinne Van Loon, the founder of Everyday Egypt, told Ahram Online by email.

The Belgian-American documentary photographer had always wanted to work in the Middle East. Her research for stories took her to the West Bank in Palestine, and then, in January 2013, to Egypt where she wanted to study Arabic and to work as a freelance documentary photographer and filmmaker.

"I fell so in love with life in Egypt, she comments, adding that she spent four years managing the Instagram project before moving to the USA two months ago.

"When I first started photographing Egypt, I was very conscious of the fact that what I document could easily inform Western people's impression of Egypt and the Arab world. I thought that apart of documenting serious issues such as sexual harassment and FGM, there were also many good aspects of the country. I wondered how to capture that. That's what motivated me to start Everyday Egypt, to show foreigners that life in Egypt is also fun, but it can also be familiar and even boring," Van Loon added.

She started reaching out to fellow photographers, both Egyptian and foreign, and invited them to join the project. The main concept was to capture Egypt as it is, without glamorising the country like tourism campaigns do.

That was when Anis stepped in. "I was also thinking of taking mobile photos of the daily life in the streets, so when Tinne talked to me about her project, I got excited right away," Anis added.

"We had just finished 2013, when restrictions on media increased, and no street events to be pictured. It was even hard to take photos in the streets. As a street photojournalist, I was wondering what is left to do. Everyday life seemed to be the perfect answer."

The project grew quickly and now has 22 photographers, both local and foreign, regularly uploading their pictures.

Every Friday, the photographers in charge of the page go through all photos with the hashtag #EverydayEgypt, choose the best ones and republish them on the Everyday Egypt Instagram account.

The platforms growing local popularity has also inspired many local offshoots: Cairo, Ismailiya, Beni Suef, Port Said, Fayoum all have their own pages, and the Everyday Cairo Instagram group organised their own exhibition in 2015.

From Africa to the Middle East and beyond

Everyday Egypt is not an initiative born in Egypt; it was inspired by similar projects that aimed to shed light on misrepresented parts of the world.

Before Van Loon launched her project, she was already a fan of Everyday Africa  the first of the Everyday projects and Everyday Middle East, both of whom she asked for advice before launching Everyday Egypt.

Everyday Africa was initiated by Austin Merrill and Peter DiCampo, an American photographer and photojournalist currently based in Kenya. His previous travels include Ghana, a country which he explored in 2006 and was his first motivation to the continent.

"In 2012 I went with my colleague Austin Merrill to the Ivory Coast, where we were covering the aftermath of the civil war. We felt stuck telling the same stories, the extreme ones about war, despite the fact that most of the country was normal, so we decided to tour the country and document the daily life with our phones, and invited other photographers to contribute, and we established the Instagram account," DiCampo told Ahram Online via Skype.

"There are many news stereotypes about Africa, with images depicting it as poor, miserable, and in need of help. But those are extremes and the stories are incomplete, since they always lack the everyday life context. I felt I had a mission to tell the truth, to complete the story about Africa, the continent that became a second home to me," DiCampo added.

Everyday Africa includes pictures from all over the continent, including North African countries like Egypt, taken by both local and foreign photographers, and has 300,000 followers on Instagram.

DiCampo said he was surprised at the impact his simple idea had had on others, with Everyday pages now springing up around the globe.

One of those offshoots was Everyday Middle East, which was founded before Everyday Egypt, in March 2014, by Lindsay Mackenzie, a Canadian photographer who has spent much of the last decade in and out of the Middle East.

She first worked as tour leader in Egypt and Jordan, then as a freelance photojournalist in Tunisia, Algeria, and Yemen, and now she holds a communications post with the UN in Iraq.

"When I was living in Tunisia in 2012, I came across Everyday Africa in an article online. I reached out to Peter DiCampo and started contributing photos to Everyday Africa from Tunisia and Algeria," Mackenzie told Ahram Online.

A photo editor from Esquire, Elizabeth Griffin, put it well. Mackenzie quoting her saying that "in places like the US, the visual exposure to non-Western European nations has often been delivered in the form of very distinct, very dramatic, very foreign, and sometimes incomprehensible images. And while they are important photos in their own right, they tell a specific story  and not one that captures a country or a region as a whole."

Everyday Middle East now has 23 photographers, both foreign and local, contributing to the project from all around the Middle East and North Africa, and over 148,000 followers on Instagram.

The project has also spread further; like-minded platforms have sprung up across the world, in Japan, India, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, many Arab countries, the USA, and in Europe and Latin America.

An international photography movement

In 2014 some of the different Everyday projects began to coordinate with a joint exhibition in Brooklyn in New York.

They then repeated those exhibitions twice in different countries, and there is now an account on Instagram called Everyday Everywhere, which selects the best from the different pages.

Individual projects are also planning to develop and expand their work. DiCampo is interested in expanding, as they are currently registered as a non-profit organisation in the US.

He is now getting ready for the second launch of the teams first book, which will be in Nairobi this month. Everyday Africa: 30 Photographers Re-Picturing a Continent features a selection of images from Everyday Africa that find beauty in stories rarely seen, according to the authors.

The team has also organised workshops for school pupils in the US and in Kenya.

"We ask them what comes to their mind when thinking about Africa, and when they answer us with the stereotypes of the news, we show them the Everyday Africa photos, and then help them to start their own projects documenting their everyday life," DiCampo said.

Anis and the Everyday Egypt group, who will take their current exhibition to Alexandria, are also planning to expand their coverage outside Cairo and Alexandria, and to organise photography workshops using the profits of their first exhibition.

For him the Everyday projects are expanding the idea of street photography, and providing new images of countries he has not visited.

"My idea changed about Iran for instance; as a country I'm not allowed to enter, I thought it was very strict, but through their account I saw landscapes, people, young Iranians, and a night life that I never imagined existed," Anis said.

"Everyday Egypt receives ongoing feedback, especially from foreigners who used to live here, wishing that they had been to the places we are posting photos of," he added.

Van Loon believes that the Everyday projects have shown that everyday life can be just as valuable and interesting to photograph as exceptional historical events.

"Perhaps you can even say that daily life is more important to document, as it happens every day and truly defines the lives we live," she said, adding that the Everyday projects have also shown that mobile photography is "real" photography.

For her, there are multiple professional photographers who mainly use a camera phone to create their work. It's not the tools that create the professional, it's the vision and skill that set professionals apart from the rest.

For her part, Mackenzie thinks that projects like these that connect people are critical.

"I think one of the most valuable aspects of the feed is that many of the photographers who contribute to Everyday Middle East will answer questions that people from all over the world post in the comments. You can see by following those conversations that our followers are learning something new, or are surprised by the commonalities that come through in some of the images," she added.

Mackenzie also believes that having the material of everyday projects feed into classrooms, as a result of all the work that Peter DiCampo and Austin Merrill at Everyday Africa have done, is "a great way to reach young people so that the next generation is more media-literate and more open minded."

All photos are published with the permission of the interviewees from the Everyday projects.



For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

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The hunger strike of valiant Palestinian captives in occupation prisons has sparked the flames of popular resistance in all parts of Palestine

The total strike on Thursday, 27 April, reminded us of the first days of the first Intifada, especially that it comprised the whole of the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and the Gaza Sector.

On Friday, popular confrontations against occupation forces erupted in tens of villages and cities. Thus, these confrontations confirmed the new rise of popular resistance in compatibility with the escalation of the boycott movement of the occupations commodities and products.

If the captives strike has succeeded in unifying the Palestinian popular struggle in way that transcends political division between the PLO and Hamas, it also asserted that the strategy of confronting the occupation and changing the balance of power with it through unified popular struggle and boycott, is the alternative to the losing bet on the illusion of negotiations with the Netanyahu government.

In other words, the popular rise in solidarity with the captives asserted the unity of struggle instead of division based on a conflict over authority still under occupation.

Moreover, it emphasised the importance of self-reliance instead of depending on others' approaches. It proved the preferential priority of the national struggle, instead of participating in unequal negotiations that have failed time and again.

A year and a half ago, the Jerusalem Intifada stirred the Palestinian youth to awaken in popular resistance. Similarly, the captives strike invigorated popular resistance but through focusing on collective popular struggle, not individual struggle.

We are confident that the captives strike will end with their triumph and the fulfillment of their demands and this popular rally around them will accelerate reaching these objectives.

However, its important that after the captives triumph and as we are approaching the 50th anniversary of the West Bank and Gaza Sectors occupation and starting the 70th anniversary of the Palestinian peoples Nakba (Catastrophe) and the displacement of its sons and daughters, that the popular resistance and boycott movement escalate and that the unity of struggle deepens for the sake of larger objectives.

On top of these objectives comes ending the occupation and overthrowing the apartheid regime and racial discrimination against the Palestinian people.

It is high time that all embrace a unified struggle strategy, concentrating on changing the balance of power not adapting with its imbalance. It is also high time that all political and societal forces throw their weight behind this strategy and towards the objective of ending the occupation in order that the rise of the popular resistance not be transient, transitional or seasonal.

The Palestinian people and its popular and official institutions stand today at a crossroads. The captives strike and the rise of popular struggle drive us towards the path of struggle and the fight for freedom, dignity and real independence.

The projects of Israel, those supporting Israel and those who have mutual interests with the occupation or those who have adapted to it, attempt to push the Palestinian people towards succumbing to the occupations injustice and racial discrimination.

This is done one time through talking about economic facilities and another time by replacing the idea of an independent state with a self-governing system intended for reservations and Bantustans. A third time through propagating the illusion of new negotiations with the Netanyahu government while settlement activities are continuing and expanding.

Many times it is done through attempts to exert shameful pressure for the sake of denying the valiant captives and the martyrs families rights and allocations. It reached the extent of denying the national discourse and Palestinian thought through talking about what they call incitement, in an attempt to distort the Palestinian narrative after falsification of the narrative on the international level.

Many peoples before us faced the same choice. But as Algeria, India under Gandhis leadership and South Africa under the leadership of Mandela and the African National Congress have chosen the path of freedom and dignity, the people of Palestine is capable of choosing the same option.

The option of freedom and human dignity.

The option of the future, instead of dangling in a painful and gloomy past.

The writer is secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative.

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SPRINGFIELD -- The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority Advisory Board has selected Sandra E. Sheehan of Hampden as the agency's next administrator.

"The Advisory Board was very impressed with Ms. Sheehan and strongly supported offering her the administrator position," said Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz, chairman of the PVTA Advisory Board. "We felt that she has the right mix of transit industry experience, leadership skills, and local knowledge to lead the PVTA as it faces new challenges in the coming years."

The board officially hired Sheehan Tuesday during a special meeting at the Holyoke Transportation Center, according to a news release. The Advisory Board interviewed Sheehan and two other finalists -- Patricia O'Leary, PVTA's chief financial officer, and Dana Roscoe, a principal planner with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.

Following the interviews, the board chose Sheehan in a near unanimous vote to be the next administrator.

She will succeed Mary MacInnes, who retired April 28 and was PVTA administrator for the past 10 years.

Sheehan is director of grants and contract administration for the Greater Hartford Transit District in Connecticut.

Prior to that, she was PVTA's director of transit and procurement from 1994 to 2007, as well as a transportation planner with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission from 1991 to 1994.

During her interview, Sheehan said she would focus on transitioning PVTA's Springfield hub to Union Station, which starts June 25, as well as managing the construction of PVTA's new $55 million bus operations and maintenance facility on Cottage Street in Springfield. The maintenance facility is due to open in late 2018.

PVTA's Chief Information Officer Carolyn Hart-Lucien will continue to serve as acting administrator until Sheehan assumes her new post, which is expected to take place within four to six weeks.

MacInnes was paid $137,000 a year. The PVTA, which is used by 12 million riders a year, serves Hampden and Hampshire counties including high-traffic Springfield, Northampton and Amherst, with special service at the University of Massachusetts. The PVTA has an annual budget of $47.2 million.
Slain President John F. Kennedy was born in Brookline on May 29, 1917.

A Navy war hero, the Harvard-educated Kennedy represented Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives and later Senate prior to becoming president.

Elected during the height of the Cold War, Kennedy is remembered for his leadership during the Cuban Missile Crisis and support for West Berlin. (Unknown until 34 years after his death was JFK's rejection of Project Northwoods, a plan by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to orchestrate domestic terrorist attacks and blame Cuba in order to justify a U.S. invasion.)

He increased the number of military advisors sent to South Vietnam. Privately, he described the situation as unwinnable, but politically necessary in order to guarantee his re-election in 1964.

JFK established the Peace Corps, and set a goal for manned lunar landing by the end of the decade. His proposed civil rights bill was passed as the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

He was assassinated during a visit to Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963.
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Courtesy Marshfield Police

Four people were rescued off the coast of Massachusetts Wednesday evening as their small boat filled with ocean waters.

South Shore radio station WATD reports that Marshfield police received a call around 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, alerting them that a boat had launched for the first time out of Green Harbor and had begun to sink.

Marshfield Police Chief Phil Tavares, fellow officer Bob Coakley and an assistant Harbormaster Bob Coakley reportedly launched a rescue boat soon after to save the four people stranded in the freezing ocean. Rough, choppy waters had sent the boat toward the entrance of Plymouth and Duxbury harbors, away from its original spot near Green Harbor.

According to WATD, the three rescuers ripped off the cruiser's canvas roof to help an elderly man stuck in a chair and another man. They saved two other people who were in the ocean, one reportedly screaming and one without a life-preserver jacket.

Chief Tavares told WATD that water was rapidly filling the boat, and the whole cruiser completely sank as soon as they arrived. The four people were transported to BID-Plymouth.
Leezandra Aponte started her first day at the Lynnway Auto Auction, in Billerica, Wednesday, a job she took to raise money for her daughter's quinceanera, the Boston Globe reports.

Then, just two hours into her first day at work, tragedy struck: A 70-year-old unidentified man drove a Jeep SUV into a cinder block wall inside the business, killing Aponte.

Two other people were killed in the crash, and several others were injured, police said. Authorities have not identified the other victims.

The crash appears to be accidental, and police are investigating whether the driver suffered from a medical emergency or if the vehicle malfunctioned.

Scrolling through social media posts about Aponte, it becomes clear that faith and family were very important things in her life.

According to the Boston Globe, she had multiple kids attending high school. Her son, who had just graduated, was planning to join the military.

Along with the three people who were killed, another nine people were injured. One of those nine people has life-threatening injuries, authorities said.

Three of the injured have since been released from the hospital. The other six remain hospitalized, including the victim with life-threatening injuries.
SPRINGFIELD -- A Dominican national who sneaked into the U.S. with phony documentation admitted Thursday to brokering false immigration papers.

Sandro Tavara Mora, 47, once of 108 Groveland St., Springfield, pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court to three criminal counts including conspiracy to possess and transfer identification documents and fraud and misuse of visas.

He faces certain deportation, plus 27 months behind bars in a federal prison in this country, under a plea agreement with prosecutors. Mora's plea marks another of several dozen convictions under Operation Island Express, a sweeping effort by the U.S. Department of Justice and partner agencies to crack down on illegal residency through the use of fraudulent documents.

Mora, like many of his co-defendants, bought and sold identification papers including birth certificates, Social Security cards and driver's licenses from legal citizens of Puerto Rico and sold them on the black market, according to court records.

He is set for sentencing on June 22.

Mora was arrested by Springfield police in June 2014 while he was living under the alias Jose Laureano Ayala, a Puerto Rican citizen, court filings show. Mora was arrested as part of a drug investigation focused on his home that yielded thousands of bags of heroin, previous news stories show.

Sandro Tavara Mora

Mora was identified by local investigators as a player in a "large heroin factory." City officers uncovered a trove of false identification records during a search of his home. They invited immigration officials into the fold and he was eventually properly identified through fingerprints. Court records show he was deterred from coming into the country in 2000 by the U.S. Coast Guard and redirected back to the Dominican Republic.

It is unclear how long Mora had been living in Springfield or in the U.S. prior to his arrest. He was charged in federal court the following year.

Operation Island Express dates back several years, public accounts show. An intensive investigation focused on Puerto Rico led law enforcement to packages Mora had been receiving in this city. The drug investigation operated on a separate track.
Senator: Montana Small Businesses are Bringing Cutting Edge Inventions to the Table

U.S. Senator Jon Tester today highlighted https://sentester.app.box.com/s/ti9huo2tz16hwkwz30yg9x62skxg0uvt Montana small businesses and their work to keep Americans safe and create high-paying jobs.

During a Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, Tester emphasized to top Pentagon officials the innovative work Montana small businesses are doing to enhance all branches of the military and support members of the Armed Forces. Tester has used his seat on the Appropriations Committee to secure funding each year for Defense Department grants that Montana small businesses use to hire workers and provide critical equipment and services to the Armed Forces.

"Robust defense research funding ensures that we provide the brave men and women serving our nation with the best possible tools to accomplish their mission and to keep them safe," Tester said. "Montana entrepreneurs and small businesses are often on the forefront of technology, and they bring fresh ideas and cutting edge inventions to the table. I know this is true in Montana."

Tester plans to vote for a federal budget this week that makes strong investments in defense research. Many Montana businesses will receive a portion of these funds to provide research, equipment, and services to the military.

Tester listed some of the important contributions that Montana small businesses are already making to Americas service members during the hearing. Tester specifically emphasized the work of Polsons Adelos Inc. http://www.adelosinc.com/ that develops fiber-optic sensors, Bozemans S2 Corporation https://www.s2corporation.com/ that analyzes spectrum communication around the world, and Bozemans Mystery Ranch http://www.mysteryranch.com/ that manufactures backpacks for members of the Armed Forces. Adelos was recently awarded a Rapid Innovation Fund contract from the U.S. Air Force to provide a cost-effective solution for securing the perimeters of Intercontinental Ballistic Missile launch facilities.

"Our small, innovative, Montana-based startup has developed a passive fiber optic sensing system that is capable of detecting, classifying, and localizing surface, underground, and airborne threats," said Scott Colton, CEO of Adelos, Inc. "Sen. Tester has been a strong and consistent advocate for small businesses in Montana making it possible for companies like Adelos to provide the Department of Defense with innovative solutions that help them meet their mission needs."

"At a time when security threats are increasing across the globe, S2 Corporation is hiring Montanans to develop dynamic technologies that detect and geolocate the radio frequency emissions for communication and radar of our adversaries, across the entire spectrum simultaneously," said Kris Merkel, CEO of S2 Corporation in Bozeman. "Thanks to Senator Tester, we have been able to secure and extend several important competitive federal contracts that help keep this country safe and create more high-tech jobs right here in Montana."

"As a member of the Warrior Protection and Readiness Coalition, Mystery Ranch has provided Americas service members with critical equipment that is built for their specific mission," said Dana Gleason, CEO of Mystery Ranch. "These resources are critical to Mystery Ranch and help us create more jobs right here in Bozeman. We want to thank Senator Tester for his continued support for our troops and the Montana small businesses who equip them."

Tester has been celebrating National Small Business Week by taking actions each day to help Montana small business grow and create more jobs.

On Monday, Tester sent a letter https://www.tester.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=5236 to the Trump Administration to help Montanas small-scale gun manufacturers better compete and sell products across the world.

On Tuesday, Tester sponsored legislation to cut taxes for Montanas small breweries and distilleries.
While people around the planet continue to grapple with the pandemic, theres also a call to pause and reflect on another cause  Time for Nature, the theme of the UNs World Environment Day on 5 June.

Emirates, acutely aware of its role in the planets natural ecosystem, has continued to make progress in the attainment of its environmental goals. The airline showcased this environment performance in its annual financial report for 2019-20, painting a holistic picture and filling in the context of its achievements.

An important cause close to Emirates heart is keeping wildlife in the wild. The airline is committed to tackling the illegal trade in the sale of wild animals either as pets, or for their hides, tusks or other body parts for use in food, medicine, exotic leathers, jewellery and ornaments  all worth around US$ 20 billion every year.

Emirates is active across industry and international efforts, and is part of United for Wildlife, ROUTES (Reducing Opportunities for Unlawful Transport of Endangered Species), and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).

Emirates has a zero tolerance on carrying banned species, hunting trophies or any products associated with illegal wildlife activities. The airlines ground-handling team is trained in IATAs Live Animal Regulations and its internal policies, and more than 2,500 airport services employees were trained last year to recognise and report suspicious cargo. Employees have access to a dedicated reporting channel to stop illegal trade. Customer awareness was heightened through interviews, wildlife programmes and films on ice, its inflight entertainment system, and the inflight magazine.

Emirates efforts in the areas of wildlife conservation are well known. The airline has been helping protect Australias extraordinary flora and fauna for over 10 years at Emirates Wolgan Valley, the conservation-based resort in New South Wales. The resort worked closely with the local community to evacuate on-site animals as bushfires swept across the country last year. Involving guests who were keen to volunteer, the resort created a one million-plus seed bank, representing 25 local native species that will play a vital role in repopulating damaged areas. Native wildlife like kangaroos, wallabies, wombats, reptiles and birdlife have already returned to the area.

Emirates 20-year partnership with the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve (DDCR) continued to build on its successful programmes to track, maintain and reintroduce native wildlife species, such as the Arabian oryx, Arabian gazelle, sand gazelle. In January, the reserve released 250 MacQueens bustards into its natural habitat  a remarkable achievement by any standard. The DDCR continues to be a regional leader in ecological research, actively collaborating with local and international universities. The reserve was accepted as a candidate for the IUCN Green List for Protected and Conserved Areas, a global standard for the worlds most effectively managed of protected areas, in 2018.

Reducing carbon emissions is central to Emirates environmental sustainability strategy, which is underpinned by its young, technologically advanced fleet with an average age of just 6.8 years. The airlines comprehensive fuel efficiency programme, which analyses and implements ways to reduce unnecessary fuel burn and emissions wherever operationally feasible, delivered a 1.9% improvement in passenger fuel efficiency for the full year. The airlines efforts to optimise flight plans and fuel uplift, while ensuring safety and operational integrity, alone saved an estimated 38,000 tonnes of fuel or around 120,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions. This was supported by data-driven methodologies and awareness programmes for pilots.

Emirates is committed to environmental stewardship, and uses the power of collaboration, consensus and change right along its ecosystem  from framing internal policies to empowering employees and mandating standards with partners and vendors. Last year, the Emirates Groups leadership team approved an updated Environmental Framework, and throughout the year, the airline took positive action, both big and small, to make impressive progress.

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A loccasion du 50e anniversaire de letablissement des relations diplomatiques entre Maurice et la Chine, YIHAI Smart City, avec la collaboration du ministere des Affaires etrangeres, de lIntegration regionale et du Commerce international et de lambassade de la Republique populaire de Chine, a eu lhonneur dorganiser le Symposium Gala Dinner du 50e anniversaire le vendredi 6 mai 2022 au Chateau Clos de St Louis, YIHAI Smart City.

Cet evenement a ete honore par la presence de Son Excellence M. Prithvirajsing Roopun, G.C.S.K, President de la Republique de Maurice, de Son Excellence M. Liying Zhu, Ambassadeur de la Republique populaire de Chine a Maurice, de lHonorable Alan Ganoo, Ministre des Affaires etrangeres, de lIntegration regionale et du Commerce international, de Lady Sarojini Jugnauth et de plusieurs autres personnalites.

Les invites ont ete accueillis avec un spectaculaire danse du lion par le Wuji Cultural Group, une representation de lechange culturel entre Maurice et la Chine present depuis larrivee des premiers immigrants chinois il y a 241 ans. Levenement sest enchaine dun symposium et, en tant quorateurs, nous avons eu la chance dentendre les opinions de M. Lianhong Li, PDG de Bank of China Mauritius, de M. Daniel Essoo, President de lAssociation des banquiers de Maurice et de M. Debao Li, deuxieme secretaire de lAmbassade du peuple de Chine sur linnovation et le developpement economique de Maurice et de la Chine dans les 50 prochaines annees. Nous avons egalement eu le merveilleux honneur decouter les discours inspirants de nos dirigeants, suivis dun toast pour un avenir meilleur de Son Excellence M. Prithvirajsing Roopun, de Son Excellence M. Liying Zhu et de lHonorable Alan Ganoo.

 Maurice et la Chine partagent des experiences historiques similaires. Abritant des cultures et des ethnies diverses, nous avons tous deux le meme objectif de promouvoir un developpement et une prosperite egaux et inclusifs pour notre peuple , a mentionne Son Excellence M. Prithvirajsing Roopun.

Son Excellence M. Liying ZHU a declare:

 Je suis certain que Maurice et la Chine peuvent devenir un exemple de relations fructueuses entre les Etats pour les decennies a venir sur les bases construites au cours des 50 dernieres annees. Japprecie donc beaucoup le theme de cet evenement  Mauritius  China, The Way Forward car je crois que lavenir reside dans notre esprit, entre nos mains, sous nos pieds. 

Alan GANOO a parle du soutien de la Chine a Maurice a travers le processus de developpement economique, y compris la fourniture dune assistance technique et le financement de grands projets dinfrastructure. Il a egalement mentionne YIHAI Smart City comme un autre exemple de collaboration entre les deux pays.

Le discours de M. Hai LI, president de YIHAI Investment Ltd, a ete lu par M. Jean Paul LAM, promoteur commercial de YIHAI Smart City et President de la Chambre de Commerce de Shanghai a Maurice, qui a declare:

 Nous pensons que Maurice, sous la direction et la gouvernance du gouvernement actuel, atteindra un pays a revenu eleve dici 2030, comme prevu par le gouvernement et de devenir un pays politiquement stable, economiquement developpe, socialement harmonieux et legal au niveau national. 

Cet evenement a reuni plusieurs partenaires economiques de Maurice, creant loccasion de discuter des futures collaborations et propositions pour stimuler a nouveau notre economie. Levenement sest termine par un diner chinois et sur une note tres positive. Nous esperons tous que les relations entre Maurice et la Chine continueront de prosperer economiquement et culturellement pour les decennies a venir.

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Scientists from University College London and Imperial College London in the United Kingdom have identified new genetic locations that might make some people more prone to developing type 2 diabetes. Share on Pinterest Scientists identify 111 new genetic locations that indicate susceptibility to type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide, and the numbers have skyrocketed in recent years. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of people with diabetes has almost quadrupled in the past few decades, from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014. In the United States, 29 million people currently have diabetes, and 86 million are thought to have prediabetes. Until now, researchers were aware of 76 chromosomal locations, or loci, that underlie this metabolic disease. However, new research analyzed the human genome further and found an additional 111. The new study  published in the American Journal of Human Genetics  was co-led by Dr. Nikolas Maniatis of University College Londons (UCL) Genetics, Evolution, and Environment department, together with Dr. Toby Andrew of Imperial College Londons Department of Genomics of Common Disease.

Identifying the type 2 diabetes genetic loci Using a UCL-developed method of genetic mapping, Maniatis and team examined large samples of European and African American people, summarizing 5,800 cases of type 2 diabetes and almost 9,700 healthy controls. They found that the new loci  together with the ones previously identified  control the expression of more than 266 genes surrounding the genetic location of the disease. Most of the newly discovered loci were found outside of the coding regions of these genes, but within so-called hotspots that change the expression of these genes in body fat. Of the newly identified 111 loci, 93 (or 84 percent) were found in both European and African American population samples. After identifying genetic loci, the next step was to use deep sequence analysis to try to determine the genetic mutations responsible for the disease.
Recognizing the seriousness of the problem, the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted a resolution in 1998 to eradicate trachoma as a public health problem by 2020.

Trachoma is one of the oldest diseases known to mankind and has occurred in many parts of the world including the United States and Europe as recently as the 20 th century. With advancements in treatment and improvements in hygienic conditions, many countries have succeeded in eradicating trachoma but it still remains a serious health concern in nearly 42 countries worldwide.

Trachoma is caused by Chlamydia trachomatis, a bacterium found in the discharge from the eyes and nose of infected individuals. The infection is contagious and spreads from person to person via hands, clothes or shared bedding. It can also be spread by flies which have been in contact with the infected discharge.

In areas where the disease is endemic, it usually affects pre-school children and infection spreads from one child to the other in the family setting, usually in overcrowded and poor sanitary conditions.

The following are the risk factors of being infected with trachoma:

Poor hygiene  Unclean hands and faces increases risk of spread of trachoma

 Unclean hands and faces increases risk of spread of trachoma Poverty  The disease is endemic in developing countries amongst the very poor due to overcrowded and unhygienic living conditions, not to mention malnutrition

 The disease is endemic in developing countries amongst the very poor due to overcrowded and unhygienic living conditions, not to mention malnutrition Lack of sanitation  Absence of toilets increases the incidence of the disease

 Absence of toilets increases the incidence of the disease Gender  In many populations, women are more susceptible, possibly because they are the primary caregivers for the affected children

 In many populations, women are more susceptible, possibly because they are the primary caregivers for the affected children Age  The disease is most commonly seen in children between the ages of 4-6 years

 The disease is most commonly seen in children between the ages of 4-6 years Flies  In places where there are many flies, the risk of transmission is much higher

Trachoma is an endemic disease and a major public health concern in 42 countries globally. More than 200 million persons living in trachoma endemic areas are at risk. It has caused the blindness of nearly 2 million persons worldwide.

globally. More than are at risk. It has caused the blindness of nearly 2 million persons worldwide. The disease is highly endemic in the most backward and poorest regions of Africa, Asia and Middle East, South and Central America, and Australia. Africa remains the most affected continent.

It is a common and preventable cause of blindness.

The WHO adopted a resolution in 1998 to work towards global eradication of trachoma as a public health issue by the year 2020 .

. The health cost due to trachoma and the economic impact due to loss of productivity following blindness and visual deficit caused by trachoma is estimated to be between US $ 3-5 billion annually.

Blindness due to trachoma is irreversible, and can only be cured through corneal.

In 2015 alone, approximately 56 million persons worldwide were treated with antibiotics and nearly 200,000 persons underwent surgery for advanced disease.

The WHO theme for the elimination of trachoma encapsulates the acronym SAFE

S  Surgery for advanced disease

 Surgery for advanced disease

A  Antibiotics for C trachomatis infection

 Antibiotics for infection

F  Facial cleanliness

 Facial cleanliness

E  Environmental improvement to decrease risk of spread.

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Following infection, symptoms appear within a week or two. Initially the symptoms are mild and include mild irritation and pain in the eyes and the eyelids. Repeated attacks or untreated infection ultimately leads to scarring and visual impairment. Symptoms of trachoma include the following:

Mild irritation and itchiness of eyelids

Pain in the eyes

Light sensitivity (photophobia)

Swelling of the eyelids

Mucoid or mucopurulent discharge from the eyes

A single infection of trachoma is easily treated with antibiotics. Repeated and recurrent infections, as is bound to occur in highly endemic zones, can lead to long-term complications such as the following:

Thickened eyelid and scar formation on the inner aspect of the eyelid. The upper eyelid is more commonly involved

Indrawing of the eyelid (entropion) and ingrowing of the eyelashes (trichiasis)

Opacity or clouding of the outer layer (cornea) of the eye

Blindness or visual impairment

Dryness of eyes

In endemic areas, diagnosis is usually made based on physical examination. The Chlamydia trachomatis bacterium cannot be detected by routine laboratory tests that are employed for other bacterial agents. Confirmation of the diagnosis necessitates sending a sample of the eye discharge to specialized labs for tests which may not be available in these areas..

Recognizing the appearances and prompt treatment with antibiotics is essential to prevent complications. The WHO has identified 5 stages in the evolution of trachoma infection.

Stage of follicular inflammation  Presence of tiny follicles (tiny bumps) 5 or more in number on the inner surface of the upper eyelid.

 Presence of tiny follicles (tiny bumps) 5 or more in number on the inner surface of the upper eyelid. Stage of intense inflammation  The eye becomes infectious and the upper eyelid becomes thickened and swollen.

 The eye becomes infectious and the upper eyelid becomes thickened and swollen. Scarring of eyelid  Repeated episodes of infection cause scarring of the upper eyelid which may become drawn inwards.

 Repeated episodes of infection cause scarring of the upper eyelid which may become drawn inwards. Stage of ingrown eyelashes  The deformed and scarred eyelids cause the eyelashes to grow inwards and rub against the outer transparent surface of the eye, the cornea, through which light normally enters the eye.

 The deformed and scarred eyelids cause the eyelashes to grow inwards and rub against the outer transparent surface of the eye, the cornea, through which light normally enters the eye. Clouding of the cornea  Due to repeated irritation by rubbing of the ingrown eyelashes, the cornea becomes clouded or opaque. This can lead to loss of vision.

With the evolution of the disease through the various stages, the cornea becomes opaque resulting in gradual loss of vision. Typically, the visual impairment occurs between 30-40 years of age but may occur earlier in highly endemic regions where the transmission is intense.

The treatment of trachoma depends on the stage. In the initial stages, the disease is easily treated with antibiotics.

Medications

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends one of two antibiotics for trachoma treatment namely, oral azithromycin or local application of tetracycline as an ointment.

The advantages of azithromycin are that it is administered as a single dose under the supervision of the health care authorities; therefore, the health care worker can be sure that the patient has taken the medication. It is highly effective and has very few side effects which may include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and rash. It is also effective against incidental skin, respiratory or genital Chlamydia trachomatis infections that might be present.

infections that might be present. Tetracycline is a cheaper agent but its use by patients cannot be confirmed as it is not administered under the supervision of healthcare workers.

The WHO recommends treating the entire population in communities where more than 10 percent of the children are affected. This measure is to reduce the spread of the disease.

Surgical treatment

Surgery is recommended in advanced disease with complications. The various surgical options include the following:

Eyelid rotation surgery (bilamellar tarsal rotation)  A tiny cut is made on the scarred eyelid and it is rotated away from the cornea. This will prevent rubbing of the eyelashes against the cornea and reduce or prevent corneal scarring and opacities, thereby halting the progression of loss of vision.

(bilamellar tarsal rotation)  A tiny cut is made on the scarred eyelid and it is rotated away from the cornea. This will prevent rubbing of the eyelashes against the cornea and reduce or prevent corneal scarring and opacities, thereby halting the progression of loss of vision. Corneal transplant  If the cornea has become severely opaque, corneal transplant is an option to restore the vision. Unfortunately, this procedure does not show good results in trachoma.

 If the cornea has become severely opaque, corneal transplant is an option to restore the vision. Unfortunately, this procedure does not show good results in trachoma. Epilation  This procedure is done to pluck out the ingrowing eyelashes rubbing on the cornea; it will need to be repeated regularly.

 This procedure is done to pluck out the ingrowing eyelashes rubbing on the cornea; it will need to be repeated regularly. Placing an adhesive tape over your eyelashes to keep them from touching the corneal surface is a temporary option when surgery is not available.

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The adage, prevention is better than cure is very applicable to trachoma. The disease can be easily prevented and rate of transmission reduced by following the measures outlined below:

Keeping face and hands clean to prevent re-infection.

Access to clean water for bathing, washing and for use in toilets

Proper disposal of human and animal waste to reduce spread through flies

Fly control measures.

The WHO has adopted a resolution to prevent trachoma infection and eradicate it by 2020. It is actively implementing the SAFE strategy to make its goal a reality.

Trachoma is easily treatable with antibiotics, and complications such as blindness can be avoided. However, in the poorest population, lack of awareness, poor sanitary conditions and access to health care results in advanced disease with complications leading to blindness and visual impairment.
The book, titled Rising Star: The Making Of Barack Obama', is written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author, David J. Garrow. Tracing the life of the former US President in his younger days, the book reveals telling details about the man's life in no less than 1,078 pages! And while many of the details are rather personal more than they are about his political views, one can tell that while the book has been written in a manner of humanizing the man who holds the stature of a celebrity, it also sensationalises certain aspects of his character, especially at a time when the media needs just the juiciest bits to spice up news pieces and fire up the numbers' board.

 News Week

All in all, it is still going to be the book everyone will be talking about and trying to get their hands on at the earliest possible. And while I'm going to try to do the sameand I suggest you should too (not because of the personal revelations, but to understand the making of a man who shaped the world)here are some firsthand details that have made it to the news, straight from the pages of this book.

1. Michelle Obama Was Not His First Choice

According to the writer, former US President, Barack Obama had proposed twice to his girlfriend of that time who is a woman named Sheila Miyoshi Jager. Sheila now works as a professor at Oberlin College in Ohio. It has been stated in the book that Obama even went to the extent of cheating on Michellewho was, at the time, his girlfriendwith Sheila time and again. I always felt bad, says the professor, when asked about their secret rendezvous.

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2. He Had Considered' A Gay Affair

The author also makes a claim in the book that Obama had contemplated having a gay affair when he was in college. There isn't any further mention about the details of this alleged affair and we can only quantify this once we actually have more intel on the book. But, even if it were so, haven't many of us always thought of swinging the other way at some point or the other in our lives?

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3. He Had A Long-Term Lover Before Michelle

And it was not the same woman he had proposed twice to. A woman named Genevieve Cook, an Australian-born graduate who is said to have been three years senior to the ex-president in college, has spoken out in a memoir which Garrow has recounted in his biography of the book in great detail about the very intimate relationship she is supposed to have shared with Obama, claiming having had sex on their first date itself. She talks about meetings with a younger Obama around New Year's Eve back in 1983, following which she had visited him at his Manhattan apartment where he lived at the time, along with two other roommates. She goes on to say how after dinner they went to his room where they had sex. Then we went and talked in his bedroom. And then I spent the night. It all felt very inevitable, she reveals in the book. She goes on to say that she spent the night again with him a few days later and went on to rate the former President highly in bed. Cook, supposed to be the daughter of an Australian diplomat, even wrote a poem for Obama. It read: B. That's for you. F's for all the f***ing that we do. The two of them allegedly split June 1985 after having been together for a year and a half.

 Hollywood Reporter

4. Barack Obama Did Drugs

According to Cook, Obama is supposed to have consumed a few drugs, as well. She reveals that the two of them would occasionally smoke pot (marijuana) when at social gatherings. She also talks about a certain time when the two of them were at a party and got high on cocaine.

 Andrale Marie
In the hearing, Branstad spoke about a wide range of issues sensitive to Beijing, including human rights, South China Sea, Taiwan and trade. And pledged to not go easy on Xi.

In his opening statement, he pledged to use what he called his unique position as an "old friend" of President Xi and a trusted confidant of President Trump to positively influence the U.S.-China relationship. He also made sure that lawmakers didnt interpret that as a sign that he was in Xi's pocket.

But, being an "old friend" could be a blessing and a curse, analysts say. During his hearing on Tuesday, Branstad received praise from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and his nomination seems almost certain.

President Donald Trump's nominee to be the next ambassador in China is seen as an "ld friend" of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Iowa Governor Terry Branstad has known Xi since the young communist leader paid a visit to his home state in 1985.

"The fact that the leader of China calls us an old friend doesn't mean that I'm going to be at all reluctant or bashful about bringing up issues where we think they have not been fair, and where Americans or anybody has been treated unfairly," said Branstad.

Francesco Sisci, a Beijing-based China commentator, said that given all of the thorny issues the two countries face, there are still some "choppy waters" ahead.

Having Branstad as ambassador will help, but Trump's vacillating policy remarks have left a lot of room for interpretation from Beijings perspective, said Sisci.

"He [Trump] called Taiwan's president and said oh well maybe it was not the right thing to do, but there was not a U-turn. And yes, I am not calling China a currency manipulator, but, you know, maybe in the future. And yes, I want China on board with North Korea, yeah, but I could act against North Korea on my own," said Sisci.

Given the tense nature of ties and the enormous challenges the two countries face, it will be important that Branstad has a relationship with Xi. But from his perspective, Sisci said it is more important that Xi knows Branstad. That way, Chinas leader can use Branstad to relay messages to President Trump when needed.

"At the end of the day, however friendly he may be, he responds to another government, but the fact that he's friendly especially at this moment, it could be a great help," said Sisci.


He fears Sweden would in turn hand him over to the United States to face prosecution over WikiLeaks' publication of thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents in one of the largest information leaks in U.S. history.

Assange, 45, has been holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since 2012, after taking refuge there to avoid extradition to Sweden over allegations of rape, which he denies.

Julian Assange's lawyer has requested a Swedish court rescind a detention order against the WikiLeaks founder over an alleged rape and allow him to go to Ecuador to be safe from extradition to the United States.

Lawyer Per Samuelson said the United States had now openly said it wants to arrest Assange. "Given that the U.S. is obviously hunting him now, he has to make use of his political asylum and it is Sweden's duty to make sure that Sweden is no longer a reason for that fact he has to stay in the embassy," Samuelson said.

"If they rescind the detention order, there is a possibility he can go to Ecuador and then he can use political asylum in an entire country."

CIA Director Mike Pompeo last month called WikiLeaks a "hostile intelligence service", and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, responding to a question about Assange, said the administration was stepping up its efforts against all leaks of sensitive information.

"Whenever a case can be made, we will seek to put some people in jail," Sessions said.

Samuelson said Sweden's Supreme Court had previously rejected a similar request for the detention order to be torn up on the grounds that there was little chance that Assange would be handed over to the United States.

"With the Supreme Court's own reasoning, his detention should now be rescinded because we can now prove that the U.S. is hunting Julian Assange," he said.

He said it was unreasonable to demand that he should give up the 100 percent security of political asylum in Ecuador in exchange for the lower protection given by Swedish rules on extradition to the United States. Samuelson said he expected the High Court to consider the request in the next few weeks.

Assange was questioned in November in Ecuador's London embassy over the alleged rape, and Sweden is now considering whether to proceed with its preliminary investigation. The offence is alleged to have occurred in 2010.

Samuelson said Swedish prosecutors would still be able to pursue their investigation against Assange even were he to be allowed to go to Ecuador.

"If they want to charge him and go to trial, that can happen just as well with him at liberty in Ecuador since that's the only place he can be," Samuelson said. "It does not mean there would be any disadvantage to Sweden."
UPPER THUMB  Haley Buckey, a 2012 Caseville High School graduate, announced a new initiative called, Caseville to College.

The goal is to help students in rural areas to access more college opportunities.

I would be ecstatic to see more Caseville students get to college, and to apply to more selective colleges. The thing is, they are totally capable  they just dont know that they should be applying to more selective schools, including Ivy League schools and other well-known, private colleges, Buckey stated in an email to the Tribune. The only reason I applied to Brown in the first place was because my friends parents (Andy and Remona Nowak) really pushed me to apply. Now I would like to be that push for other students, if they are curious. This part is hard to believe, but I really want to emphasize it: Brown University (although yearly sticker price is over $68,000) ended up being cheaper for me than going to the University of Michigan and even Saginaw Valley State University. This is because most elite/selective schools have a financial aid policy such that, if a low-income student gets accepted, what they pay is only based on their familys income. So what they pay can be close to $0.

Buckey believes elite schools like Harvard, but also not limited to Ivy League, are looking to diversify their student body in terms of socioeconomic status.

 ... But they cannot accept you if you dont apply, she stated. There is nothing to lose by giving it a try  and so much to gain. Students from extremely rural areas, like ours, are considered an underrepresented group. In addition, in Huron County, I think many of our parents do not have bachelors degrees, which means we are considered first-generation college students, and many of us are low-income. If an applicant has these characteristics, they should definitely be emphasized on the students application.

The URL for the Caseville to College Facebook group is www.facebook.com/groups/CasevilletoCollege/

The group is open to any students in Huron County.

I really hope that high-achieving, low-income students join because I know from personal experience, these students may think paying for college will require some kind of miracle, Buckey stated. Any member can share opportunities they hear about, but what I personally share tends to be resources that I think do not usually reach rural students.
ELKTON  The Oliver Township Fire Department is inviting everyone to come out and enjoy a family-friendly day to honor all the brave men and women who serve in departments across our communities.

Beginning at 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the Elkton Missionary Church Outreach Center, the Oliver Township department will be hosting a Blessing of the Fleet event.

It is a way for the department to show off its new fire truck. But all Huron County fire department fleets, families, friends and neighbors are encouraged to attend.

We will line the fire trucks up, said Oliver Township Fire Chief Jim Seley. There will be three ministers in town and each one will say a little blessing on the firefighters families and the trucks.

Blessing of the Fleet is an age-old tradition in some professions, including the profession of firefighter. Seley said he decided to have one following an event back in January that put the departments old 1990 Spartan fire truck out of commission.

Responding to a call for help at a single-vehicle accident in the area Jan. 17, the truck hit some bad ice, spun around and wound up tipping over in the ditch. Fortunately, no one was injured.

Because we had that wreck this winter, Im really thankful that nobody got hurt, Seley said. I just thought that this would be a good way to show our thankfulness for guys not getting hurt.

The event also includes free hot dogs and brats and offers local firefighters a chance to get together and interact.

Well get together as a fire department family  the whole county wide  have a little prayer, have a hot dog and be on our way, Seley said.

Added Seley: The family is really encouraged to come and spend time with their firefighter mom or dad. The rest of the family plays a big part in a firefighters life too.

As a result of the accident in January, the fire department was tasked with replacing its former truck. After receiving a check from agent Ken Lind of EMC Insurance, the department settled on a 2011 Ferrara heavy duty rescue they found in Alabama for $296,000.

While the red truck may stand out from the rest of the departments white fleet, it comes with several advantages. Although its five feet shorter than old one, the storage space is more efficient, so they have more room. It also comes with a cascade system, which allows firefighters to fill their air bottles right in the truck.

Seley said it has been in service for about a month and has already been on six runs.

Things are going well, Seley said. Its got a lot more space in it for storage. Its really user friendly.
Cases disposed for the week of April 18-25:

 Karrah Anne Augle, 19, of Bad Axe, no proof of insurance, $150 in fines and costs; license plate violation, and $235 in fines and costs.

 Jan Marie Behrens, 52, of Pigeon, operating while visibly impaired-first, one day in jail, six months probation, and $1,320 in fines and costs.

 Angelique M. Guyaux, 47, of Sebewaing, attempted retail fraud-third degree, two days in jail, six months probation, and $605 in fines and costs.

 Christina M. Mendalski, 38, of Harbor Beach, operating while visibly impaired-alcohol/controlled substance, one day in jail, and $1,180 in fines and costs.

 Cody Allen Ney, 26, of Bad Axe, operating while visibly impaired-first, six months probation, four days community service, and $1,070 in fines and costs.

 Stardust Lynn Padilla-Medina, 34, of Bad Axe, assault and battery-attempted, 30 days in jail, and $700 in fines and costs.

 Timothy Alan Pawloski, 36, of Kinde, bound over to Huron County Circuit Court on a charge of perjury.

 Robert William Schave, 38, of Bad Axe, stray animal violation, $375 in fines and costs.

 John Ervin Trost, 36, of Bad Axe, operating while visibly impaired-first, three days in jail, six months probation, and $1,105 in fines and costs.

 Michael Joseph Weiderhold, 31, of Elkton, disorderly person, two days community service, and $800 in fines and costs.
TUSCOLA COUNTY  Incidents law enforcement officers responded to between April 28 and May 1 in Tuscola County by township and community.

Almer Charter:

 Family trouble  trespassing on 1000 block of Orr Road.

Arbela:

 Investigation on 6000 block of Barns Road  shopping cart on property.

 Animal at large on 10000 block of South Lewis Road  dogs attacked chickens.

 Obstructing justice  warrant, and operating while under the influence on Belsay Road.

 Assistance  traffic control on Bray road for funeral procession.

Dayton:

 Traffic  single-vehicle accident on 2000 block of Cat Lake Hills Road.

 Assault and battery 2000 block of Lisa Marie Lane.

 Assault and battery on East Sanilac Road.

 Possession of marijuana on East Caro Road.

Ellington:

 Domestic on 2000 block of West Deckerville Road  family trouble/domestic dispute

Elmwood:

 Car/deer on Cedar Run Road.

Gilford:

 Investigation on 2000 block of North Bradleyville Road  suspicious vehicle in driveway.

Indianfields:

 Investigation on 2000 block of West Caro Road  suspicious person knocking on door  unable to locate.

Juniata:

 Domestic on 2000 block of South Vassar Road  family trouble  refusal to leave.

Kingston:

 Operating while under the influence on East Bevens Road.

Koylton:

 Investigation on 4000 block of Marlette Road  vehicle at vacant home.

Millington:

 Accident on Irish Road  hit and run dirt bike/vehicle, failed to stop and identify.

 Traffic  single vehicle accident on Murphy Lake Road  failed to report accident.

 Traffic on Caine Road  dispatched for possible drunken driver, unable to locate.

 Car/deer accident on Sheridan Road.

 Car/deer on Millington Road.

Novesta:

 Domestic on 1000 block of North Kingston Road  domestic dispute with person refusing to leave.

Tuscola:

 Disturbing the peace on 1000 block of West Saginaw Road.

Watertown:

 Family trouble on 9000 block of Foster Street  trespassing.

 Reckless use of firearms on 200 block of Barnes Road

 Possible larceny 2000 block of Millington Road  possible breaking and entering, door open with no sings of forced entry.

Wells:

 Traffic on Frankford Road  single vehicle accident  failed to report accident.

Fairgrove Village:

 Burglary on 5000 block of Armstrong Street  forced breaking and entering/home invasion.

Millington Village:

 Operating while under the influence on Vassar Road.

 Investigation on 4000 block of Bishop Street  suspicious vehicle at vacant home.

 Assist MMR with a chocking subject on 4000 block of Main Street.

City of Caro:

 Assist at car seat event on 1000 block of Cleaver Road.

 Assist Caro Police Department with intoxicated person.

*Listing includes information from the Michigan State Police and other law enforcement agencies.
U.S. Army weapon officials announced Wednesday that the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) will be the first unit to receive the service's new Modular Handgun System.

The announcement comes as the service waits for the Government Accountability Office to rule on a protest filed by Glock Inc. in February against the Army's selection of the Sig Sauer P320 as the replacement for its current M9 9mm pistol.

The GAO is expected to make a decision in early June, but the service is free to continue work on the effort.

The Army awarded Sig Sauer a contract worth up to $580 million Jan. 19. Sig Sauer beat out Glock Inc., FN America and Beretta USA, maker of the current M9 9mm service pistol, in the competition for the Modular Handgun System, or MHS, program.

The 10-year agreement calls for Sig to supply the Army with full-size XM17 and compact XM18 versions of its 9mm pistol. The pistols can be outfitted with suppressors and accommodate standard and extended-capacity magazines.

The service launched its long-awaited XM17 MHS competition in late August 2015 to replace its Cold War-era M9 9mm pistol. The decision formally ended the Beretta's 30-year hold on the Army's sidearm market.

Army officials have said very little about the new MHS since the contract award.

"It has increased lethality, faster target acquisition, better reliability," Lt. Col. Steven Power, who runs Product Manager for Individual Weapons, told an audience at the National Defense Industrial Association's 2017 Armaments Systems Forum.

Power said there have been a lot of misconceptions about what the requirements community meant when they described the new pistol as modular.

"This largely focused on the shooter's hand size and the enablers that the weapon is compatible with," Power said, describing how the MHS offers different grip sizes and can accept various attachments such as lights and optics.

The base configuration of the full-size XM17 pistol will come with Tritium sights and three magazines -- one standard 17-round magazine and two extended 21-round magazines. Army equipment officials are developing a holster for the MHS as well.

One aspect of the MHS that Army officials have been reluctant to talk about is the type of ammunition the service's new sidearm will use.

A new Defense Department policy -- that allows for the use of "special-purpose ammunition" -- allowed the Army to require gunmakers to submit ammunition proposals along with their pistols to be evaluated in the competition.

The ammunition chosen to go with the Sig Sauer is a "Winchester jacketed hollow point" round, Power told Military.com.

But before it can be issued, the Pentagon must complete a "law of war determination," which is scheduled to be complete in the next two months, Army officials said.

"Before we can field it, we have to have a law of war determination on the specific ammunition that was submitted with the handgun before we actually continue to field it to the soldier," said Col. Brian Stehle, head of Project Manager Soldier Weapons.

"We have a law of war determination that stated that this type of ammunition is usable. We are very confident that the winning ammunition will be usable."

The current plan is for the Army to buy 195,000 MHS pistols. Here's a look at the MHS quantities the other services intend to buy, according to Army officials:

-- Air Force: 130,000

-- Navy: 61,000, XM18 only

-- Marine Corps: 35,000

As long as the GAO upholds the Army's decision in the Glock protest, the service will conduct final testing of the MHS this summer, service officials maintain.

"Our first fielding of this is going to the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, by the end of the calendar year," Power said.

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.
The Tories pounced immediately pointing to the interview as evidence that their main electoral opponents cannot be trusted with public money. Recent polls suggest the Tories may be trusted more than Labour by the public when it comes to running the country's national health service -- a major shift in public sentiment.

The worries mounted this week as the parties started to campaign in earnest in an election that risks becoming totally dominated by the countrys vote last June to leave the European Union. Labour is trying to shift the focus of the election on to the woeful state of public services, traditionally its strong ground. But it had a clumsy start to its campaign when top Labour lawmaker Diane Abbot drew hoots of media derision after stumbling badly on a major radio show Tuesday about the party's funding pledge on increasing police numbers.

But the prospect of a huge Conservative majority is leaving some commentators -- including a few who support the party -- alarmed at what the broader impact might be for the country when it comes to post-election government restraint, accountability and acknowledgment of minority rights.

Positioned to secure an overwhelming majority in the country's House of Commons, the Tories, as they're known colloquially, are gleeful that next month's parliamentary polls will likely leave the main opposition Labour Party led by the hard-left Jeremy Corbyn in ruins.

With giant opinion poll leads over their opponents, Britain's Conservatives have never entered a general election as popular -- not even at the height of Margaret Thatcher's power in the 1980s.

Political commentator Iain Martin, who's a Brexit supporter, worries about the consequences of a huge Tory win for British democracy. "As someone who voted for Brexit, this should be giving me a warm feeling inside, on the basis that a large majority on June 8 will bolster the prime minister's authority in the negotiations to come," he notes.

"Instead, I feel only deep disquiet about the likely scale of the Tory victory and what it means. Beyond Brexit, this election gives me the heebie-jeebies," he wrote in a column for The Times.

British political philosophers in the classical liberal tradition -- like their counterparts in the U.S. -- have long worried about the dangers of over-strong governments.

The theme was one the Founding Fathers in the U.S. also explored, including John Adams, whose phrase "tyranny of the majority" is being bandied about now in Britain.

Even before Prime Minister Theresa May announced last month a snap poll, flying in the face of previous pledges not to call an early parliamentary election, there were worries that the Conservatives were riding roughshod over dissent.

 Concerns Among Torries

In the wake of June's divisive Brexit referendum, which saw 52 percent of voters backing Brexit, some Tory heavyweights expressed concern about May's determination to interpret the result as support for a hard break from the economic bloc, Britain's largest trading partner. They have fulminated at her governments decision to withdraw from the Single Market, theoretically something it could maintain access to even after giving up EU membership, if it would agree Europeans can live and work in Britain without constraints.

Speaking on the BBC, Ken Clarke, a former Thatcher-era minister, who served also in the Cabinet of May's predecessor David Cameron, complained earlier this year, "the tyranny of the majority [is] being used to silence people's opinions." He argues the reservations of 48 percent of the voters who didn't back Brexit are being ignored and that they shouldn't be, as it isn't clear a majority of the country favors a hard Brexit.

A former civil service head of the country's Foreign Office, John Kerr, who served as an envoy in both Washington and Brussels, has publicly castigated May for allowing the hard right of the party to dictate Britain's policy towards the EU.

The naysayers are being treated with scorn by Tory diehards. Spectator magazine writer Ross Clark has dismissed talk about the "tyranny of the majority," as absurd, arguing, "the whole basis of democracy is that the majority gets its way."

The bulk of Conservative lawmakers and activists see no need to worry about the consequences of a big electoral win in June. For them the "tribal urge," as Martin dubs it, "runs strongest when so many parliamentary seats are there for the taking."
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...
ABOARD THE USS GEORGE H. W. BUSH, Persian Gulf -- Recent investigations into a series of U.S. airstrikes that allegedly killed scores or hundreds of civilians near Mosul, Iraq, have raised troubling questions about the way the fight against the Islamic State is being prosecuted.

But a less-known story about a planned strike aborted with only seconds to spare is proof for Capt. James McCall that his aviators are doing what they ought. McCall, the commanding officer of Carrier Air Wing 8, attached to the Bush, told Military.com the nerve-wracking call took place in mid-April.

F/A-18 Super Hornets attached to the wing's Strike Fighter Squadron 87 were operating near Mosul, where a coalition ground campaign to flush ISIS militants out of the urban stronghold rages on. The carrier, which has been deployed since January and currently patrols the waters of the Persian Gulf, launches between 12 and 20 such missions daily, over Syria as well as Iraq.

"They were issued their clearance to drop. They had about 20 seconds before they were going to release ordnance, and that ordnance would have impacted the target within, say, 45 seconds of the drop," McCall said. "In those moments beforehand, one of the aircrew thought he saw someone leave a building, and he couldn't possibly identify that person as a soldier or a civilian. So he issued an abort on the radio."

The mission called off, the pilots watched as, over the next 10 minutes, hundreds of civilians poured out of buildings adjacent to the one the man had come out of. While not all the people coming into view would have been reached by the collateral effects of the planned strike, the aviators estimated, many of them would have been.

Despite the harrowing nature of the close call, McCall is encouraged by the outcome of the incident.

"That to me is a great story that tells me that we've given them enough training -- granted, not always necessarily experience -- but we've prepared them adequately for them to make those hard decisions," he said. "And when a guy comes back and says, 'I potentially aborted the bomb affecting civilians,' then I think, 'Hey, our guys understand the implications of their actions.' "

While the four Super Hornet strike fighter squadrons within the wing did not participate in the Mosul strikes currently under investigation, McCall said, the reports have prompted the units to re-examine elements of training on avoiding civilian casualties, already a rigorous part of their drilling and workups.

"I think our culture is such that any time an adverse event happens ... I think it is by our nature to take that and see if we can draw any lessons out of that, that we can apply to the near term as well as the long term to ensure that those things don't happen again," he said. "Even though our air wing was not involved in some of the accusations that came out, we take a look at it, and we certainly go, 'Hey, is there any threat we can pull out of this that affects the way we do business, that can make us safer and more effective in the long run.' "

While the squadrons have been conducting airstrikes on Islamic State targets since February in support of this deployment, McCall said training to prevent collateral damage was underway long before the carrier passed through the Strait of Hormuz and entered the Gulf. While the carrier was in transit from its homeport of Norfolk, Virginia, to the waters of the 5th Fleet, pilots were gaming out complex airstrike scenarios requiring sharp judgment calls and meeting with attorneys to discuss rules of engagement and decision-making.

"We invest a lot of time in an average pilot's progression, getting ready for a deployment, and close-air support," McCall said. "Actually physically dropping the bomb is probably the easiest part of that. It's this judgment piece that is the difficult piece. And it requires them to practice that. It requires us to put them in scenarios that are difficult and sometimes gray in the training environment."

There have been other instances, McCall said, when his pilots have called off strikes because they lacked complete certainty of the collateral impact of the planned action. While he acknowledged that even the best training can't inoculate against tragic human error, he said the careful training and preparation give him the confidence that the wing's fighter squadrons will represent the coalition well.

"One of the unique things I believe about aviation is we send these kids out, a thousand miles away from leadership, and we tell them, 'OK, now you make decisions that have strategic impact to our country and our coalition,' " he said.

"So I have to be able to trust those guys to make really difficult decisions in really challenging scenarios. Does it mean it's perfect? No, because there are humans in the loop," McCall said. "But I also think that's one of the great things. We have real human beings in the loop and we're making decisions, and I think we do spend a lot of time making sure our folks get that right."

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck.
Extended Metro hours welcomed as traffic record broken yet again

From:Shanghai Daily | 2017-05-03 02:30

FRIDAY was a record day for Metro traffic  the first day the system introduced an extended night schedule to seven lines.

The number of commuter trips reached nearly 11.9 million, 75,000 higher than the previous record. This was also the fourth time this year that traffic records on the Metro were broken.

Most stations in downtown had extended their operating hours until midnight over the weekend.

If I did not get on the train, it might take me a good while to secure a taxi to go home, said a passenger surnamed Zhang, who was traveling on Line 1 on Friday around midnight, when the line would have been closed for an hour under the old timetable.

Like Zhang, many residents and tourists were grateful the Metro will now stay open longer. A total of 17,000 passengers were ferried during the extended operation hours on Friday, including over 6,000 on Line 10, 5,000 on Line 2 and more than 2,000 on Line 1.

Any extension of the timetable is welcome news, said Kenneth Jarrett, president of The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, which has been urging extended Metro hours.

Shanghai is not a city that shuts down at 10:30 and the absence of the Metro as a mass transportation option after 10:30pm is a major inconvenience, said Jarrett. It is also inconsistent with Shanghais ambitions to become a global city.

As a New Yorker, Jarrett said he was accustomed to a subway system that ran for 24 hours. Interestingly, the length of Shanghais Metro network now exceeds that of New York City, but in terms of operating hours, Shanghai still has a long way to go, he said, adding he hoped the system could operate until 2am, even if trains were to run less frequently. Other expats in Shanghai, particularly those used to an extended or overnight Metro service, echoed Jarretts viewpoint.

The Metro operator told Shanghai Daily that its key challenge lay in the citys Metro rail design.

In cities with overnight Metro services, networks had two or even more rail lines, which meant when one was under maintenance, others were still available for operation, said Yang Yizhong, an officer with the Metro operator.

However, Shanghais Metro was based on single rail for a single direction, which left little time for Metro workers to ensure a safe operation.

Last weekends extension cut the maintenance window by about a third, according to the Metro operator.

With the maintenance window cut, we have to speed up the work and improve our efficiency, said Shan Guokai, a Line 1 maintenance official. Shans job is to inspect the trains to ensure their key components are in place and to fix any potential issues such as a loose bolt.

Three maintenance groups  train maintenance, signal information maintenance and cleaning  have to prepare about 22 trains on Line 1s Meilong Base, where Shan works, to be ready by 3:30am, to enable the trains to be ready for drivers.

Metro station staff and the Metro police also extended their working hours to match the later operating times.

From last Friday, lines 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 10 extended their schedules by 70 to 80 minutes on Fridays, Saturdays and the night before national holidays; while lines 10 and 16 extended their operating hours by 25 and 30 minutes respectively through Sunday to Thursday.
ANN ARBOR, MI - Toyota's North American operations have come a long way from the small garage it first opened in Ann Arbor in 1972.

Officials celebrated the opening of the automaker's largest research and development center outside of Japan on Thursday, May 4 in York Township.

More than 400 officials from Toyota and across the state, including Gov. Rick Snyder, gathered at the Toyota Motor North American R&D Purchasing and Prototype Development Center to recognize the automaker's presence in Michigan.

It was three years ago Toyota announced a $154 million expansion as part of the "One Toyota" plan to consolidate operations in North America.

The company has moved talent to Michigan from a Kentucky engineering and manufacturing center and California vehicle development and powertrain facilities.

Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota in North America, said the new center represents more than just a building, but a mindset.

Toyota is not limited to automotive capabilities, he said, but the development of robots to assist the elderly and those with physical handicaps.

"We're seeing that mindset in action, especially here in Michigan," Lentz said. "We're researching the many ways connected car technologies can produce a more personalized automotive experience."

The new facility employs about 1,600 people, and in the process for certification as a LEED Version 4 Platinum building, an environmental designation determined by the U.S. Green Buildings Council.

If approved, it would be the first such building in the state.

The governor praised Toyota's 40 years of research and development operations in the state and said the company's latest investment in York Township represents a "new era" of innovation in the automotive and emerging mobility industries.

"It's more than just the physical facilities," Snyder said. "One of the things the Toyota official should be proud of is the collaboration. You're great at teaching people to work together. I'm really proud to see you're doing it here."

He said the state is committed to help the auto industry attract talent to fill roles at facilities like Toyota's.

"We believe we are at the center of the industry, but one of the reasons we are at the front of the industry is because of forward-thinking companies like yours," Snyder said.

He also noted the nearby autonomous and connected vehicle facilities like M-City on the campus of the University of Michigan and The American Center for Mobility, a testing facility about 15 miles away in Ypsilanti Township that's currently under construction.

"We want you to feel like this is home for making the best products in the world," Snyder said. "We'll be with you for the next 40 and beyond. I'm excited to be part of this process."

As part of Toyota's commitment to its new community, donations worth $200,000, including two Toyota trucks, were announced during the grand opening event.

The $200,000 donation was divided between several groups, including:

The grants will go toward helping several organizations in Washtenaw County:

Ypsilanti Meals on Wheels, to help fund a location for volunteers to prepare meals for those in need

Growing Hope, which also received a Toyota Tacoma truck for use in towing the farm stand to Ypsilanti locations

Ypsilanti Consolidated School District

Dixboro Road Shared Use Trail, a hiking and biking trail to connect Parker Mill County Park and the Border-to-Border Trail with Matthaei Botanical Gardens.

York Township, which received a Toyota Tundra truck

It was nearly a decade ago that Toyota first entered negotiations to secure the 700-acre site for its future facility, said Kristen Tabar, vice president of Toyota's North American Technical Strategy Planning Office.

"The York Township people have been very much of a partner to us, and their governing bodies have put in such a great effort to realizing this great facility and all of the opportunities it gives us to design and engineer great vehicles here," Tabar said.

York Township Supervisor Chuck Tellas toured the facility and spoke about the process of working with Toyota officials over the last few years.

"What may be overlooked is the special culture that not only fills these buildings, but in fact, made them possible," Tellas said.

Scattered throughout the campus of the York Township site are around 200 cherry blossom trees, a reminder of Toyota's heritage and its international presence.

The cherry blossom trees were planted in time to welcome Shinichi Yasui, the new executive vice president of Toyota Motor North America R&D and managing officer of Toyota Motor Corp. He was previously the chief engineer of the Toyota Corolla, one of the company's highest-selling vehicles.

Yasui recalled Toyota's humble beginnings at the Hilbert's Garage location in Ann Arbor, and the company's initial certification to import into the U.S., to what is now the largest research and development facility outside of Japap.

"I'm excited to join the North America research and development here, especially as we celebrate Toyota's 40th R&D anniversary in Michigan," Yasui said.

Toyota dealerships sold 2.45 million cars and trucks to U.S. buyers in 2016
Sears and Kmart shoppers soon may notice the chains' stores getting smaller - or sold.

Trimming store sizes is one strategy that Sears Holdings Corp., their parent company, is using as it seeks to cut $1.25 billion from annual structural costs. Another strategy is the sale of its owned properties, many of which are Sears stores.

At the same time, the real estate trust that took over 224 former Sears and Kmarts in 2015 is actively "recapturing" portions of 10 stores in Michigan that have been leased to either chain.

An additional Kmart in Michigan - located in Macomb County's St. Claire Shores - could face closure as Seritage Growth Properties diversifies its full U.S. portfolio, which is about 80 percent dependent on rental income from Sears Holdings.

Both moves to generate cash from real estate come as Sears Holdings continues a restructuring effort to combat "continued softness" in store traffic during the first quarter, following concerns raised in March over its continued viability.

"(W)e will ... continue to closely evaluate the longer-term viability of stores where a clear path to return to profitability is not in sight. We are determined to take all necessary actions to improve the performance of Sears Holdings and will leverage our lease optionality to reconfigure our stores and reduce capital obligations," said Edward Lampert, chairman and CEO, in a recent statement from Sears Holdings.

There are 18 Sears stores in Michigan and 28 Kmart stores. So far this year, Sears and Kmart have closed at least 150 stores across the U.S., along with 92 in-store pharmacies and 50 auto centers. That affected 10 Kmart stores and one Sears location in Michigan, with an additional Kmart in Livonia closing in early April.

Now - following first quarter results that showed an 11.9 percent year-over-year sales drop - Sears Holdings is looking at where stores may be too big for a single tenant, or which underperforming stores may be more suited to closing then sale.

"Our strategy is to use the real estate we occupy productively," said Howard Riefs, director of corporate communications at Sears Holdings, in an email.

"To this end, we aim to generate enough profit from our operations and, if we can't do that, derive profit by using the property in other ways. "

Seritage, meanwhile, is marketing Sears and Kmart stores that it owns. The REIT's agreement with Sears Holdings allows for a "recapture" of its stores leased to Sears or Kmart, in amounts ranging from 50 percent to the full store. Some stores are closed; others remain operational.

That's recapturing is how the Sears at Woodland Mall in Grand Rapids closed, with mall owner PREIT taking that store and two others in the U.S. back to release to new tenants. Von Maur department store replaced Sears.

Here are the stores owned by Seritage in Michigan:

Sears

Ann Arbor, Briarwood Mall. 71,120 square feet is for lease within the store; so is the 19,000- square-foot auto center, according to Seritage. The full store is 162,000 square feet, according to city tax records. This is a joint venture with Simon Property Group.

Jackson, Jackson Crossing. A space of 66,754 square feet is available in the 150,893 square foot building.

Lincoln Park, 2100 Southfield Road. About 162,656 square feet is available, with 124,653 listed now. The store is 300,174 square feet, and it remains open.

Roseville, Macomb Mall. One space of 65,828 square feet listed as available within the store. Almost 200,000 of the 379,712 square foot store space will be recaptured.

Troy, Oakland Mall. One 100,000 square foot space available; up to 202,311 of the store space - half of the full store- will be recaptured. So will the auto center.

Kmart

Alpena, 2355 S. US 23. Full store available, or 118,360 square feet. This store closed in 2016.

Manistee, in Hillside Plaza on US 31. Up to 43,924 square feet available, or about half of the closed store.

St. Clair Shores, 22801 Harper. Up to the full store available, or 122,140 square feet. This store is open.

Sault Sainte Marie, 2760 I-75. Up to the full store available, or 94,222 square feet. This store is closed.

Ypsilanti, 3100 Washtenaw. This store was leased to At Home in 2014.

Across the U.S., Sears already has been selling some of its most profitable locations. Outside of the properties that moved into Seritage, the chain typically owns its stores, many of which are anchor positions in the regional malls.

"It's like throwing them a lifeline to them to keep them from going out of business," said Phil Cody, broker at the Cody Co. in Milford.

Sears has selectively turned to leasing stores, notably when they close.

"Over the last seven years, we have executed leases in stores with other retailers such as Primark, Whole Foods, DICK's Sporting Goods, Nordstrom Rack, Forever 21, West Elm, ALDI and others," Riefs said.

Across the 10-property Seritage portfolio in Michigan, the annual rental income averages $7.5 million with an average rate of $4.07 per square foot.

According to the Seritage annual report released in March, At Home is a tenant in three of the buildings: Ypsilanti; along with pending store openings in Macomb Mall and Oakland Mall.
KALAMAZOO, MI -- Stryker Corp. is strong financially and is growing, its chairman and chief executive officer says.

"It is a good time to be at Stryker and a good time to be at Stryker in Kalamazoo," Kevin A. Lobo said, following the medical technologies company's 38th annual shareholders meeting Wednesday afternoon in Kalamazoo.

He told the stockholders that the Kalamazoo-based company is proud to have surpassed the $11 billion mark for sales last year. It reported $11.3 billion in net sales during 2016. And he said the company's stock price grew by 28.9 percent during 2016 versus the 9.5 percent performance of others tracked by Standard and Poor's.

"Stryker is a growing company," he said. "We've continue to outpace the med-tech (medical technologies) market, growing at the high end of med-tech."

Lobo's comments to more than 250 company shareholders, executives and others Wednesday came eight days after its first-quarter release of sales and earnings The company's numbers surpassed Wall Street expectations.

On April 25, the maker of powered surgical implements, hospital beds and replacement joints reported net earnings of $444 million for the period ended March 31. That was up 10.4 percent from $401 million during the same period a year ago. Net sales for the period were $2.96 billion, up 18.4 percent over first-quarter 2016.

Stryker reported net earnings of $1.19 per fully diluted share, up 9.3 percent from $1.07 a year ago. On an adjusted basis, that was per share earnings of $1.48, which exceeded a $1.43 consensus estimate by analysts.

Sales for its three business segments grew at rates of: 36.2 percent for Medical-Surgical; 7.4 percent for Orthopaedics; and 7.3 percent for Neurotechnology and Spine.

Asked what people here should know about the company going forward, Lobo said, "Within Kalamazoo we have our corporate offices. We also have Instruments and Medical, two of the big divisions within our MedSurg segment. They are both growing extremely well, both divisions."

He said the Medical Division made two big acquisitions last year, referring to the mid-2016 acquisitions of Sage Products LLC and Physio-Control International Inc., "and have integrated those very successfully." The two acquisitions are credited with adding $245 million to net sales in the quarter.

He also said the Instruments Division recently launched its latest generation of powered tools and will be opening a new facility. That is the $154-million corporate campus Stryker is building on about 288 acres in Portage. It is expected to add 105 new jobs over three years.

The campus will include a customer experience center, a product showroom, a state-of-the-art research and development lab, and a bio-skills lab for research and new product development.

Asked by a shareholder about international sales, which account for about 27 percent of Stryker's sales, and how much of the company's assets are held overseas, Lobo said that about 80 percent of Stryker's cash is "trapped" overseas.

"Trapped" cash refers to overseas earnings that, for any number of reasons, including foreign regulations, cannot be brought back to the U.S. or that won't be brought back as U.S. corporations avoid taxes here.

Lobo said that having cash trapped abroad has caused Stryker to borrow when it has major needs in the United States. He said he hopes the Trump administration makes favorable business tax reforms as were promised when the president was campaigning.

"We certainly are looking forward to tax reform," Lobo said. "... My greatest hope is that they deal with this issue of trapped cash and we're able to access our cash and not have double-taxation, which is one of the big challenges. We do not have a territorial tax system in the United States, which all over major companies do."

The top executive did not mention a reorganization that is taking place in its Instruments Division. That unit has been undergoing an organizational restructuring that will mean a loss of jobs. It has not said how many.

Asked about Stryker's biggest challenge overall this year, he said, "Our biggest challenge for the company is really growing in emerging markets."

"We've done a spectacular job in the United States," he said. "We've now gotten Europe to be a high-growth country (market). Canada's doing well. Australia's doing well. But we have work to do in China, Brazil, Russia, Turkey. India is doing very well but it's quite small."

What's the most favorable development for the company?

"The best thing happening for the company is growth and innovation," Lobo said. "We have so many new products that we're launching. The biggest launch in Stryker's history is the Mako total knee. We've got System 8 Power Tool out of Instruments (Division) here in Kalamazoo launching. So we have a steady flow of new products and that's fueling our growth."

Stryker completed a $1.65 billion buyout of Florida-based Mako Surgical Corp. in late 2013. It is considered a pioneer in the advancement of robotic-assisted surgery in orthopedics, and the company has high hopes for the robotic-arm assisted technology that will allow surgeons to more efficiently do total knee implants.

Lobo said the company's core strategies continue to be:

-Business Unit Specialization -Maintaining decentralized business units that have dedicated sales, marketing, research and development, and business development. "That is at the core of this company -- staying very close to your customer, being able to innovate very quickly and launch new products and also to identify new acquisitions," he said.

-Acquisitions - "We are going to continue to be a very active acquirer as we have been over the last five years," he said.

-International Growth - "International growth remains a very significant opportunity," he said, mentioning that the company looks forward to doing better in emerging markets such as China.

-Cost Transformation - Lobo said the company is focused on controlling costs and driving out unnecessary costs.

During Wednesday's gathering, which lasted less than 40 minutes at the Radisson Plaza Hotel & Suites in downtown Kalamazoo, the company re-elected members of its board of directors.

Along with Lobo, the board includes: Allan C. Golston, president of the United States Program for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Srikant M. Datar, the Arthur Lowes Dickinson Professor at the Graduate School of Business Administration of Harvard University; Ronda E. Stryker, granddaughter of company founder Homer Stryker and a director of Greenleaf Trust bank, Spelman College and Kalamazoo College; Howard E. Cox Jr., a partner with Greylock and its affiliated venture capital partnerships; Andrew K. Silvernail, chairman and CEO of IDEX Corp.; Louise L. Francesconi, former vice president of Raytheon Co. and former president of Raytheon Missile Systems; and Roch Doliveux, CEO of global biopharmaceutical company UCB S.A.
50 Monroe00.jpg

CWD Real Estate Development plans to convert one of its buildings at 50 Monroe NW into a 130-room AC Hotels by Marriott that will be operated by the Amway Hotel Corp.

(Courtesy rendering)

GRAND RAPIDS, MI - The Grand Rapids Brownfield Redevelopment Authority on Thursday, May 4 green-lighted tax breaks for three projects that will transform their city neighborhoods.

The projects will transform an automobile junkyard into two industrial buildings, an outdated office building into a downtown hotel and an obsolete Heritage Hill office building into an affordable housing.

In each case, the developer asked the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority to approve their requests to recapture new property taxes to cover their costs of cleaning up the property before they start new construction. The requests will now be forwarded to the state for its approval.

The projects include:

AC Hotel by Marriott

CWD Real Estate Development is seeking $2.3 million in tax reimbursements as part of its $38 million plan to convert two aging downtown buildings into a 130-room AC Hotel by Marriott at 50 Monroe Avenue NW and an office tower along Ottawa Avenue NW.

The buildings were conjoined in the 1980s when developers built an atrium and added panels, glass and chrome strips to the exterior to mask the exteriors of the 127-yearold office building and warehouse on the site.

CWD plans to remove the cladding and restore their ornate brick exteriors as part of the redevelopment project.

The 6-story building at 50 Monroe NW will be converted into an AC Hotel, a unit of Marriott Hotels. The new hotel will be operated by the Amway Hotel Corp., which also operates three other downtown hotels: Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, JW Marriott and Courtyard by Marriott.

Grand Rapids Auto Parts Redevelopment

A partnership headed by Visser Development Co. is proposing to redevelop Grand Rapids Auto Parts, a 5.87-acre salvage yard that has long occupied one of the most city's visible gateways along US-131. The project also would include a limousine rental business at 331 Ann Street NW.

The developers plan to build two new industrial buildings on the site. The developers have signed a purchase contract for the business are working with a tenant to lease one building. A second building would got up after the first is completed.

But before they commit to the $9.8 million project, the developers say they need $1.7 million in tax breaks over the next 14 years to help them clean up the site, which has two cement block buildings and is littered with hundreds of inoperable cars and trucks.

Greg Boll of Visser Development said they hope to close on the property by mid-June, after which the property owners will remove the cars. Boll said they plan to clean up the site by removing one foot of topsoil and adding two feet of fill dirt.

Heritage Place Apartments

The $9.75 million Heritage Place apartment project will replace an office building that was vacated by the U.S. Social Security Administration when it moved its district offices to Knapp Street NE in 2011.

Orion Real Estate Solutions plans to build a four-story apartment building on the site at 38 College Avenue SE with 116 parking spaces for residents. Orion will preserve two buildings that were used as carriage houses for historic homes that once stood on the site.

The developer is seeking permission to recaptures $786,230 over the next 11 years as reimbursement for the demolition and site preparation costs.
DEARBORN, MICHIGAN-The search for Michigan's Best sub sandwich took three weeks, 2500 miles, 62 stops, and 169 subs tasted. The best we found? At Alcamo's Market in Dearborn.

This family-owned market can trace its origins to 1942. Originally opened as an Italian market featuring hard-to-find imports, it now has a full service deli, complete with those amazing subs, house-made sausage, and a huge wine section.

Alcamo's started making subs for some of their Italian customers and "things just blew up" owner Emily Chimento told us. Her mom, and co-owner Pina said "it wasn't the original intent, but it's just kept growing on its own". They now make hundreds of subs every day for their customers.

These are incredible subs, on delicious local bread, featuring imported Italian meats, at prices that you just can't beat anywhere. They are top-notch quality, with fantastic flavor, in a massive sub. And for only $5. Crazy.

"I offer these subs at these prices as a gift to my customers," Emily said. "If I'm not going to eat it, I'm not going to serve it."

The meat here is all natural and all prime, with most of the Italian specialties coming direct from the old country. This means real mortadella, actual prosciutto, and the best salami. We were impressed with how you could taste each of the four meats in their "Famous Italian" sub.

That sub is by far the most popular one at Alcamo's, and with good reason. It features Genoa salami, capicolla, mortadella and cooked prosciutto ham on it, as well as provolone cheese, all on a locally baked bun. It then gets topped with fresh shredded lettuce, tomato and onion, and a good dousing of house-made sub sauce.

The sub sauce at Alcamo's was one of the best we tried during our search. It's an oil-and-vinegar-based sauce, with a bunch of secret ingredients added, and it adds a great acidic punch to the sub. Delicious.

The Famous Italian comes in two sizes. The standard 8 inch comes loaded with meat and cheese and is only $5. Or, if you have a slightly smaller appetite, you can get the same bun, but with a little less meat and cheese for $4. Yes, you are reading those prices right.

We also loved the "Spicy Italian," which has pepperoni, hot ham, hot capicolla, all the fresh fixings, plus hot pepper rings. In my notes, I wrote "spicy, rich, and perfect". The "Super E" was created to highlight the most popular meats at the deli. It has salami, mortadella, hot ham, smoked turkey, and Italian herb turkey on it, and is massive. Cost? $6.50.

The "Original Turkey" is also very popular, and the combination of both roasted and smoked turkey takes it over the top. One special sub that is unique to Alcamo's is the "Grandma Sub," which is stuffed with German potato salad.

The whole family works at the market, and many of their employees have been their long term. "Our employees are family," Emily told us. The whole crew works hard to know all of their customers, and to provide friendly, excellent service.

What were we looking for in Michigan's Best sub? Fresh bread, high quality meats, crisp veggies all combined to create something bigger and better than just the sum of the parts. The subs at many of our visits achieved this. There are seriously great subs all over Michigan.

At Alcamo's Market they have great subs. They also have that certain something that you just can't name, but know as soon as you walk in the door. Alcamo's Market is one of Michigan's Best.

Watch the surprise and joy from Alcomo's Market staff and owner when they are named the best sub shop in Michigan.
Tulip Time dancers take a break in the 1930s.

Photo courtesy of the Holland Museum

By Tanda Gmiter

It's nearly Tulip Time in Holland - that nine-day stretch marked by millions of vibrant flowers, costumed Dutch Dancers and three big parades filling the city's main streets. Not to mention the trolley tours, concerts and street vendors who round out this annual party.

It's how Holland celebrates its Dutch heritage: with a big, lace-covered, Klompen-dancing embrace. But the tourists lining the streets show you don't have to have stoopwafels and oliebollen in your DNA to have a good time.

The following collection of vintage photos has been shared by the Tulip Time Festival and Holland Museum. So let's take a peek back in time, as we look at what's coming this year.

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Photo courtesy of Tulip Time Festival

Tulip Time is May 6-14

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Tiptoe through the ...

It's all about the tulips - tall, squat, blush or vibrant. The city plants about 5 million of them each fall, all destined to bloom at staggered times to lengthen the chance for a colorful show, no matter what Mother Nature dishes out each spring.

To see how the tulips in Holland's Centennial Park are doing, check the Tulip Tracker.

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Photo courtesy of Tulip Time Festival

More cowbell ... I mean, water

The festival packs a lot of activities into slightly more than a week. To plan your trip, check the schedule at the Tulip Time Festival's website.

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Photo courtesy of Tulip Time Festival

Dutch Dancers

The Dutch Dancers are synonymous with Tulip Time. And yes, before you ask, girls and women largely outnumber the boys and men dancing in costume. And yes, this means many girls and women are dressed as boys and men. That's just how it is. So if you're new to this, just relax and watch the show.

About 1,000 dancers are taking part in the traditional performances each day across the city, according to Tulip Time. Kinder Dutch Dancers are 8-10 years old, Alumni Dutch Dancers are out of high school, and the largest group is the high school dancers.

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Photo courtesy of Tulip Time Festival

OK ladies, now let's get in formation

Sharp eyes will spot similarities among the Dutch Dancers' costumes. Of The Netherlands' 12 provinces, eight are represented with the official costume patterns allowed at Tulip Time.

Each costume is handmade. With accessories and wooden shoes, prices for a full outfit can range up to $240.

Before they're allowed to represent the festival, a dancer's costume is inspected. It has to meet the rules for fit, authenticity and safety. To learn more about all the different costumes, check here.

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Photo courtesy of Tulip Time Festival

Tulip Bed Glamour Shot

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With 3 parades, you learn to perfect the wave

The showcase events drawing the biggest street-lining crowds are the festival's three parades.

The first, the Volksparade, is the traditional street-scrubbing parade. That's the one where you'll see the most local adults in their Dutch garb.

The second is the Children's Parade. Students get out of school, get in their costumes, and all the grownups cheer. Cute kid moments abound.

The third - and the largest - is now called the Muziekparade. It used to be called the Parade of Bands - which is exactly what it is. Find a seat and get comfortable. It's a packed roster.

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Photo courtesy of Tulip Time Festival

Volksparade

Holland's signature street-scrubbing parade is not just for show. Participants come armed with heavy-duty brooms meant to strip the dirt from the pavement. Others carry heavy buckets of water on yokes across their shoulders, slopping water on the streets so others can come behind them and scrub.

A few can get a bit overzealous. It's best to stand back.

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Photo courtesy of Tulip Time Festival

The Town Crier

Before the street-scrubbing can begin, an official Town Crier sets everything in motion. He takes a look, declares the streets are dirty and they must be washed. Then they are off.

This photo shows longtime Holland Town Crier John Karsten in action.

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Street Scrubbing 101

Instruction starts at an early age. Get every spec, little buddy.

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Cleanest Streets in West Michigan

Sometimes they do such a good job, it takes a while for the main streets to dry.

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Every nook and cranny

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How you keep the little marchers in line

The Children's Parade is a lot of fun. In this photo, it looks like the adults have found an ingenious way to keep the kids in straight, well-spaced lines as they head down the route.

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A band marches down 8th Street during the 1947 Tulip Time Festival.

Photo courtesy of the Holland Museum

Parade of Bands

Love pomp, drums and great outfits? The Muziekparade is for you. A big, showy parade that typically draws a huge crowd.

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Photo courtesy of Tulip Time Festival

Dutch Babies

Think this pose is just for ceramic lawn ornaments? Nope. Holland is kid-friendly, which means lots of costumed munchkins recreating this pose hundreds of times a day. Want a sure bet? Walk down to the city tulip fields at Window on the Waterfront Park and wait 5 seconds. It will happen.

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Photo courtesy of Tulip Time Festival

On curb, in costume

Standing, sitting or in the grandstands. There are lots of perches where you can find a comfortable spot to take in the parades. But don't save seats. That's a no-no.

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Dutch Dancers go Rockette

Longtime Dutch Dancers will let you in on a few of their tricks. One of them is socks. Lots of them. Multiple layers of socks are worn inside wooden shoes, not only for comfort but to make sure the shoes stay on their feet during Klompen dancing and high kicks.

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Keep it movin'

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Hollywood star power

Actors and actresses like Hollywood icon Dorothy Lamour were frequent guests during Tulip Times of old. Visits by future presidents and their wives were common, too. More of those photos can be found here.

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Photo courtesy of Tulip Time Festival

Duck on a Leash

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Tea Party for Two

There are countless backdrops for great photos at Tulip Time, but tell your little ones to look and not pick. While accidental picking is overlooked, plucking a bouquet to take home is not allowed.

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Boat Float

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Smiles for the Troops

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Men in uniform, one in plaid and one in blue

This baby is wearing a popular Dutch costume. It's the same style that former Gov. John Engler wore when he marched in the Volksparade with his wife and triplet daughters.

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Klompen practice

Entertaining Dutch Dance performances don't just happen. There are many hours of practice behind the scenes.

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DeZwaan

DeZwaan, Holland's iconic windmill which was taken apart, shipped from the Netherlands, and rebulit on the city's Windmill Island, is a must-see during Tulip Time. Its name means "The Swan."

It is also a working mill, grinding flour that's available for sale. Tours inside the windmill give visitors its history, including the World War II bullet holes still visible.
LANSING, MI - A Lansing man was arrested in Iowa last month stemming from an investigation into his online activity, according to a release from Michigan State Police.

The investigation, a joint venture of the MSP's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the FBI, led to the arrest of James Hunsucker, 43, who was taken into custody on April 13 in Des Moines.

Hunsucker has been been charged with one count of child sexually abusive activity, one count of possession of child sexually abusive material and two counts of using a computer to commit a crime, according to state police.

His crimes are believed to have occurred in 2010. Assistance from MSP's First District Fugitive Team and a Crime Stoppers tip led investigators to Hunsucker in Iowa, state police said.

Hunsucker was arraigned in Ingham County district court. His bond was set at $100,000.

Anyone with information regarding possible child sexual exploitation is encouraged to report it at www.missingkids.org/cybertipline.
ANN ARBOR, MI - A 61-year-old Hamburg Township woman accused of embezzling more than $50,000 from an elderly Ann Arbor woman will likely take a plea deal, according to attorneys.

Cheryl Elaine Smith

Cheryl Elaine Smith's case was adjourned until June 21 at the request of the prosecutor's office when she appeared briefly before Judge Archie Brown in Washtenaw County Trial Court on Wednesday, May 3.

"Hopefully we'll have some resolution at the time," said Assistant Washtenaw County Prosecutor Jonathan Emmons.

Brown agreed to let Smith off her tether until then. Smith's attorney, Bill Amadeo, told Brown his client intends to pay back the money she allegedly embezzled.

Smith is accused of bilking 89-year-old Agnes Jamieson, a family friend who lived in the same Ann Arbor neighborhood where Smith grew up, of $50,000 to $100,000.

Witnesses at the preliminary examination testified Jamieson was living in filth while Smith was supposedly taking care of the elderly woman.

Jamieson's house in the 3000 block of Rosedale in Ann Arbor was filled with feces, and only had narrow pathways for the elderly woman to get from her bedroom to the kitchen and bathroom, according to court testimony.

Smith's case was bound over to circuit court March 21 by Judge Elizabeth Hines in the 15th District Court on charges of embezzlement of a vulnerable adult - $50,000 or more but less than $100,000, and larceny-more than $20,000, records show.
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Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan talks about collaborative efforts between the city and the University of Michigan during the um3detroit event hosted on May 3 in the Stephen M. Ross School of Business. Martin Slagter l The Ann Arbor News

ANN ARBOR, MI - From clean air to food literacy, the University of Michigan and the city of Detroit have long partnered on research and learning projects to help solve regional problems, and the deep-rooted connection was celebrated Wednesday, May 3 in a day-long event on campus.

UM President Mark Schlissel said the city has played a major role in the university's growth since it was founded in Detroit two centuries ago, noting that future success will depend largely on maintaining those relationships.

"UM's success in our third century will be measured in part by Detroit's success," Schlissel said during the event titled um3detroit at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business

"It's the largest city in Michigan with strengths, challenges and opportunities that model many urban areas in our nation and around the globe. The greatest opportunities will emerge where all sides of our partnership can grow by creating new educational opportunities and new knowledge in ways that could not be done alone. Fostering mutual benefits will be our core principle."

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who earned two degrees from UM, said that interest in the city from younger generations, including students, has grown in recent years, crediting the longstanding UM partnership with helping to make Detroit an attractive place in which to live and work.

"It's only been relatively recently that students coming out of Michigan want to go to Detroit," he said. "We've had these little pockets of initiative with dedicated faculty and individual students and now Dr. Schlissel is doing something that is visionary.

"Instead of several different initiatives, each one having value by itself, how much more value would you have if you brought all of it together? When you think about the fertile opportunity in the city of Detroit, you have to focus on where you came from."

James Holloway, UM vice provost for global engagement and interdisciplinary academic affairs, said the university has identified more than 300 partnerships with the city, including research and educational connections.

"Our work in Detroit encompasses all of the aspects of our mission, both in education and in scholarship and research," he said. "The research connections attach to many important priorities for the university."

Some of those partnerships, like UM's $25 million Third Century Initiative and a Poverty Solutions initiative, have encouraged faculty and staff to transform learning in the university's third century, while providing engaged learning in Detroit.

Much of the collaboration between UM and the city takes place in various forms of research opportunities to examine issues like air quality, design, health inequity, human rights, migration, urban development, sonic archaeology and sustainability, which were highlighted during breakout sessions throughout the day.

UM Professor of Art and Design Nick Tobier, who convened one of the event's panels on whether it was necessary to establish a school of urban studies in Detroit, said the university and Detroit share responsibility in confronting the many challenges the city has faced, like sustained deindustrialization, depopulation, disinvestment and poor race relations.

"The relationships are continually complex," Tobier said. "Much of that has to do with the legacy of the University of Michigan moving from the city out to Ann Arbor, and our regional relationships between cities and the areas that surround them. There are unanswered questions about race and class and how we contend with our inner cities and our suburbs and how we think of these things regionally, as well as locally."
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Former University of Michigan Health System Chief Executive Officer Ora Hirsch Pescovitz was voted as the seventh president of Oakland University, the university announced Thursday, May 4. Photo provided l Jason Willis

(Jason Willis)

ROCHESTER, MI - Former University of Michigan Health System CEO Ora Hirsch Pescovitz has been voted the next president of Oakland University.

The university announced the hire Thursday, May 4 after a national search involving 61 candidates.

The OU Board of Trustees voted unanimously to make Pescovitz its president beginning July 1. Pescovitz will be the university's seventh president, succeeding George W. Hynd, who is completing a three-year term.

She was one of two finalists for the position, along with Kelly Services CEO Carl Camden.

Pescovitz served as CEO and vice president of medical affairs at UM from 2009 to 2014. She left UM to become the senior vice president and U.S. medical leader for Eli Lilly's Lilly BioMedicines in October 2014. In her time at UM, she helped the health system grow financially, increasing its net assets from $3.4 billion to $3.8 billion.

"Dr. Ora Hirsch Pescovitz has the ability to foster and guide the university toward a bright future given her expansive experience and leadership positions coupled with her broad vision for OU," said Ric DeVore, chair of OU's Board of Trustees, in a news release. "Based on her performance throughout the entire interview process and the open forum with the campus community, she emerged as the right leader at the right time who can continue the development of academic excellence at Oakland University, as well as lead the garnering of additional fiscal resources."

Pescovitz said she was excited to take on a new challenge as the head of the university after visiting the campus during the search process.

"As I went through the presidential search process, I was impressed by the students, faculty, staff and Board and realized that that this was the right next step for me both professionally and personally," Pescovitz said. "I am eager to join OU and share the knowledge, insights and life experiences I have accumulated during my career as we work to maximize our potential for the benefit of the campus community and, in particular, the students."

In addition to her time at UMHS, Pescovitz also spent 21 years at Indiana University in a variety of roles, including Endowed Professor, Executive Associate Dean for Research Affairs at the Indiana University School of Medicine, President and CEO of Riley Hospital for Children, and Interim Vice President for IU's Research Administration.

Much of her research focused on the physiologic and molecular mechanisms responsible for disorders of growth and puberty, and the development of novel therapies for these conditions.
Shanghai-published book tells story of Tokyo Trial

From:Shanghai Daily | 2017-05-03 02:30

SHANGHAI Jiao Tong University Press released a book about the Tokyo Trial yesterday to mark the 80th year of the start of the Chinese Peoples War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.

The book The Tokyo Trial: For World Peace details the process of the trial and its historical significance, as well as providing opinions from related parties.

The book, which has about 380 pages, contains both words and pictures.

An English edition is also being prepared under an agreement signed with the international publisher Springer Nature.

The book is important for defending the results of the Tokyo Trial as people in the world now actually do not know much about the history, said Cheng Zhaoqi, the books author and head of the Center for Tokyo Trial Studies at the university, adding that Japan refused to accept the trials legitimacy.

The Tokyo Trial and the Nuremberg Trial were based on justice and laid foundation for the development of modern international criminal law and advancement of humanity, said Wang Xin, a professor at the law school of Peking University, said at the books release ceremony.

I think the Japanese right-wingers are playing the political card by denying the history.

Xiang Longwan, whose father Xiang Zhejun was the chief China prosecutor at the Tokyo Trial, advocated at the release ceremony that China should include more information of the trial in its education system so that it could be better remembered.

The Tokyo Trial, also referred to as the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, opened on May 3, 1946, and tried high-ranking political and military leaders of Japan with conventional war crimes, crimes against peace, and crimes against humanity for their actions during World War II.

The trial lasted more than two and a half years, with 817 court sessions and 419 court witnesses. As many as 4,336 pieces of evidences were admitted, and 48,412 pages of trial transcripts were recorded.

Twenty-five were found guilty of being Class A war criminals and seven were sentenced to death.
PITTSFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI - No foul play is currently suspected after a man was found dead on Wednesday, May 3 near U.S. 23 in Pittsfield Township.

Police were called about 2:45 p.m. Wednesday after a lawn care worker found the man facedown behind trees and cement blocks between U.S. 23 and the CVS parking lot at 3090 Carpenter Road.

AK Lawn Care Inc. employee Matt Smith, 30, said he was attempting to mow the grass when he spotted the man lying shoeless in his path. He and his crew leader yelled at the man in attempts to rouse him, but called police when he didn't respond.

The man, who police have not yet named while they attempt to contact family, was in his early 50s and is listed under an Ann Arbor address, Pittsfield Township Deputy Police Chief Gordon Schick said.

Though the matter is still under investigation and the medical examiner has not made a ruling, Schick said its possible the man has been dead for about a day. He had no obvious trauma and no foul play is currently suspected.
ANN ARBOR, MI -- Washtenaw County commissioners are receiving mixed responses to new policies that offer support for the county's immigrant community, including taxpayer-funded legal aid and emergency assistance to families affected by federal immigration enforcement actions.

Most of the dozens of people who packed into the county building Wednesday night, May 3, applauded the board's 5-2 vote to give initial approval to the set of three resolutions that await final approval in two weeks.

But some offered strong criticism.

"Any representative who places the interests of illegal aliens above the law and above the citizens of this country needs to resign or be recalled or removed from public service," argued Northfield Township Trustee Tawn Beliger.

Beliger said the Road Commission recently told her township the county is still lacking resources for fixing roads despite increases in taxes.

She suggested there are insufficient funds because the county's elected leaders are irresponsible with money, and she argues allocating money to help undocumented immigrants is a slap in the face to people here legally.

Commissioner Conan Smith, D-Ann Arbor, introduced the package of resolutions approved in committee Wednesday night.

Read a full overview of the resolutions.

"The work we're doing tonight, I believe, really does directly address a problem that I've heard over and over and over again in our community," Smith said just before the vote, making a case for helping immigrant families affected by federal immigration enforcement actions under the Trump administration.

"Our neighbors, our friends, our other families, are suffering," he said. "They're being hurt by actions that break their families up. We have an opportunity and the wherewithal to help not all of them, because that problem is beyond our financial capacity, but some of them, either with legal aid or emergency services for their families, or even simply by saying to them, 'You are welcome here, you are part of our community, and when you come to us for that help, you need not be afraid.'

"Those are insufficient answers to the problems that we have in front of us in this community, without a doubt, but I think as Commissioner LaBarre said, they are the answers that we are empowered to take and rightfully ought to take."

Commissioners Jason Morgan, Andy LaBarre, Ricky Jefferson and Kent Martinez-Kratz joined Smith is voting in favor of the resolutions, while Alicia Ping and Ruth Ann Jamnick voted against them.

Commissioners Felicia Brabec and Michelle Deatrick were absent.

Ping, R-Saline, said she agreed the resolutions try to address issues immigrants in the community are facing.

"And I think what we're really addressing is illegal immigrants, and I think that isn't clearly stated here," she argued.

"I think we all should support our legal immigrant community members, neighbors, friends, and I do think certain protections are needed and already being addressed by the sheriff's department without having to explicitly state ... 'This is what we're going to do.' He's been doing it. It happens we have a great sheriff's department," Ping continued. "And I take great exception on spending dollars to help one specific group of people when we have such great need in the rest of our community and it's not a small dollar amount. It's significant."

Martinez-Kratz, D-Chelsea, tried unsuccessfully Wednesday night to get specific dollar amounts attached to the different funding items included in the resolutions, saying he wanted to be transparent with the public. Only two other commissioners -- Smith and Morgan -- were in favor of doing so.

A memo accompanying the resolutions still states the board's actions would result in appropriations of $135,200 from the general fund's cash reserves.

That assumes the following:

$50,000 for the Barrier Busters program through the county's Office of Community and Economic Development to provide emergency financial support to low-income immigrant families, including support for housing, utilities, transportation, child care, psychological services and food assistance. The OCED also is expected to coordinate with organizations that primarily serve and work with undocumented immigrants to ensure the funds are available to those affected by immigration enforcement, both directly or indirectly.

$75,000 for the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center to provide community-based trainings and to coordinate and provide legal services for individuals and families for immigration and immigration-related issues, including but not limited to child custody, power of attorney, visas, citizenship or legal resident applications, and detention and deportation actions.

$10,200 for OCED efforts related to the county joining the national Welcoming America initiative to promote mutual respect and cooperation between foreign-born and native-born Americans.

Whether those are the exact dollar amounts that will be spent remains to be seen, as the resolutions leave it up to the county's staff to handle administratively.

LaBarre, D-Ann Arbor, said he likes the idea of giving the county's administration that flexibility.

LaBarre acknowledged some are wondering why, among the many challenges the county faces, this is an issue the county is choosing to address right now.

"I think the answer is because it's a more clear and present threat than at any time, frankly, since the last immigration overhaul, which I think was the second Reagan term -- quite a while," LaBarre said.

"We are considering these proposals because the federal government and the Trump administration is targeting the immigrant community right now," added Morgan, D-Ann Arbor, who argued families are being ripped apart.

Morgan said if the Trump administration comes after any members of the community, the county has an obligation to stand together and resist.

"I think that we really are doing the right thing by considering these proposals," he said. "What they do is they ensure fairness and they ensure that those in our community who are immigrants are protected from inappropriate discrimination and they are protected to seek county services that keep our community as a whole safer, so ... I'm very strongly supportive of the proposal before us."

Smith said he believes the $135,200 for Barrier Busters, MIRC and the OCED are appropriate amounts to provide services to immigrants. He said the $75,000 for MIRC, a legal resource center for Michigan's immigrant community with an office in Ann Arbor, would allow the center to hire an attorney dedicated to Washtenaw County so immigrant residents here are ensured direct, undiluted services.

"Should the resolution be granted, we would go a long way to ensuring that citizens in Washtenaw County have access to affordable or free legal services, and providing them these services will create stability in the county and the communities," said Ruby Robinson, an attorney with MIRC.

Robinson said the center's goal is to support people who are vulnerable and right now many immigrants are vulnerable.

He said the resolutions and policies commissioners voted on Wednesday night are more critically and urgently needed than ever. He argued people, including victims of domestic violence, are more afraid to come forward and report crimes to police now because of fears related to immigration status, so it's important for the county to send the message that immigrants are welcome here.

Robinson said MIRC's demands for legal services have increased significantly this year, with more than 500 cases and more than 750 technical support requests from attorneys, social workers, doctors and community groups about what's happening in their community. He reiterated it's more critical than ever to ensure county residents have access to those services.

"We provide free immigration legal assistance to many people, regardless often times of their income, and there are no other entities around the state that provide these services besides a few law school clinics and one other organization known as Justice for Our Neighbors," he said.

Relative to the county's budget, Ping said it's not a lot of money that commissioners are talking about, but it is a lot of money to most people.

"And I think we live in a very giving and generous community, and I think these type of efforts can be funded through raising dollars and pro-bono work, and I think our community would come together and support an initiative like that," she said, adding she doesn't want the county "supporting illegal activities."

Jamnick, D-Ypsilanti Township, raised similar concerns before voting against the resolutions. Her district includes Ypsilanti and Augusta townships.

"I spoke with leadership in my two communities and they find themselves with lots of challenges in the communities themselves today," she said. "They don't want to see anybody harmed. They don't want to see anybody thrown out, so to speak. They're not throwaway people; there's a concern for them."

"But there is just a very strong belief that people should be here legally, that we do everything that we can to help them to be legal."

LaBarre and Morgan tried unsuccessfully to persuade Ping and Jamnick to change their positions, arguing the detainment and deportation of undocumented immigrants breaks up families and hurts children who are legal residents.

"I understand the issue of someone who comes here in violation of U.S. law," LaBarre said. "At the same time, many people who are part of our community, who are productive parts of our community, are here in violation of U.S. law, leading productive and contributing lives. But most importantly, many of them have children, some of whom are U.S. citizens. It's not just the individual who did not comply with immigration law who suffers."

Morgan argues the county should ensure anyone in the community who needs to call police or seek health care or other services can do so without fear.

"And that is what I think these policies are about," he said.

"In regard to the funding, I can understand, you know, it's an issue of funding priorities," Morgan added. "I personally believe this is a critical need at this time, but I would understand disagreement on that point."

Martinez-Kratz said he doesn't think the county is doing any illegal by approving the resolutions. He also considers the money to aid immigrants a relatively small amount considering what the county spends on other efforts.

"We pass out often hundreds of thousands of dollars for brownfield development and economic development," he said. "This is a small token."

Jefferson, a Democrat who represents the Ypsilanti area, said the county has a lot of competing funding needs and people in poverty who need help, so he said he couldn't support the "the financial part" of the resolutions, though he still cast the deciding yes vote Wednesday night to give it the five votes it needed.

'This is my life as an undocumented immigrant'

Maria Ibarra-Frayre, a local immigrant rights advocate and undocumented immigrant, spoke out before commissioners Wednesday night. She was brought to the United States from Mexico at the age of 9 and grew up in Detroit.

She said she's lucky to have DACA status, meaning she has been allowed to stay in the country under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which former President Barack Obama enacted in 2012 by executive order.

Trump has suggested people with DACA status are not deportation priorities, saying it's a "very difficult subject for me ... because you have these incredible kids" and he's "going to show great heart."

Ibarra-Frayre said she's not taking anything for granted, though, as Trump could change his mind any time.

Maria Ibarra-Frayre, a local immigrant rights advocate and undocumented immigrant, at the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners meeting on May 3, 2017.

Ibarra-Frayre works for Synod Community Services, a local nonprofit that delivers safety-net support services for vulnerable and marginalized populations. She's also the community liaison for the Washtenaw ID project.

"I've been doing immigrant rights activism for almost a decade and I have been called illegal more times than I can count," she said. "I have seen my family friends break down in front of me after a deportation and I have seen my friends being arrested for advocating for federal immigration reform and the DREAM Act.

"This is my life as an undocumented immigrant, but living in Washtenaw County makes it a little bit easier. I moved to Ypsi only four months ago from Detroit, but I already know it was the right decision."

Ibarra-Frayre said she wants to belong to a community with policies like the ones the commissioners are now considering.

"I want to belong to a community that values me as a person," she said. "I want to pay taxes to a city that knows that, regardless of my immigration status, I am a human being, and I want to continue building relationships with a county government that respects and appreciates the perspectives that I bring to the table. It's not easy to do this work. Actually, it's quite the opposite."

Ibarra-Frayre said people are quick to judge her without understanding "there is no line or no application for me to fix my immigration status."

"In times like these, it helps to remember why we do this work," she said. "We fight for immigrant rights because they're human rights, because no one should be afraid that a routine traffic stop is going to turn into a deportation, and because asking for help should not come with a request to disclose your immigration status. There are so many things in our world today that strip away our humanity and we must actively remind ourselves what it means to stand in solidarity with those who are most vulnerable, what it means to act courageously even when it's uncomfortable. Yes, I pay taxes in this county and I deserve these services."

She said it's a matter of human dignity.

"This is the Washtenaw County that I want to live in," she said.

Ypsilanti Township resident Melanie Harner, a co-founder of the Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights, also thanked commissioners for bringing forward the package of resolutions Wednesday night, saying she hopes it can be a model for other counties in Michigan.

"We've been working closely with the immigrant community for the last nine years and we've seen many encounters with ICE and the aftermath that ICE leaves with the families," she said, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and calling for approval of funds to aid immigrant families.

She said the money for MIRC and Barrier Busters would help many taxpaying immigrants who do not have access to services available to other residents.

"Say, for instance, psychological counseling, which is definitely needed," she said. "There are many families and individuals who are left with trauma, are not sure how to deal with trauma in their children or in their own lives as adults."

She said many other residents, even if they haven't experienced trauma, may need assistance with food or utilities.

"So I would hope that if these policies and resolutions could go forward, that WICIR and other social service agencies in Washtenaw County could really help those immigrant residents who, again, are paying taxes," she said. "They should be able to receive the same services that other Washtenaw County residents are receiving to be able to help themselves as healthy, functioning residents in Washtenaw County and help their children to receive the services they need."

Harry Freedman, who recently graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in economics, also spoke in support from an economic standpoint.

"It is economically more useful to help the people within the community who are least well-off succeed and let them contribute to the community than to try to keep them down, as this only creates costs for them and for your own community," he told commissioners, saying the resolutions represent a small step the county can take to push back against what's happening on a national scale.

"Everyone I know who is my age, I can say that they are in support of this," he said. "This is the America we want to grow up in. This the America that we have been told about. This is the America that we want to be a part of moving forward and what we believe in and what makes us happy. And to not pass this resolution would be to further drive cynicism into the hearts of the young people who are hoping they can make an America that is inclusive and that works for everybody and that works the way that America is supposed to work."
Trump nominee for China ambassador pledges to "positively influence" U.S.-China relationship

From:Xinhua | 2017-05-03 09:29

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Iowa Governor Terry Branstad (Front) testifies before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on a hearing considering him to be U.S. Ambassador to China on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., the United States, on May 2, 2017. U.S. President Donald Trump's pick for Ambassador to China, Terry Branstad, said on Tuesday that if confirmed, he would work to "positively influence" the U.S.-China relationship. (Xinhua/Bao Dandan)

WASHINGTON, May 2 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's pick for Ambassador to China, Terry Branstad, said on Tuesday that if confirmed, he would work to "positively influence" the U.S.-China relationship.

"As Governor of Iowa, I saw first-hand the importance of a positive and healthy trade relationship between our two countries," Branstad said here at his confirmation hearing.

If confirmed, he hoped to work towards the goal of positively influencing the U.S.-China relationship, he added.

As the governor of a U.S. state whose economy is mainly driven by agriculture industry, Branstad noted that almost one out of every two rows of Iowa soybeans is sent to China, as well as 33.5 million U.S. dollars in pork in 2016.

However, the importance of trade between the United States and China extends well beyond agriculture, he said.

"Aviation products, manufactured goods, chemicals, electronics, and many other products and services are exported to China daily and help support and sustain the American economy," he told U.S. lawmakers.

Calling U.S.-China relationship "multi-faceted," Branstad also noted that the two countries must work together on major security issues, including the denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and cybersecurity.

Branstad also said that he looked forward to "connecting with the Chinese people and continuing a vibrant exchange of culture and ideas."

Branstad, 70, is the longest-serving governor in the United States, who also has long nurtured a close relationship with China and has visited China multiple times.

He served as the governor of Iowa in 1983-1999, and again since 2011. He was nominated by Trump to be the next U.S. ambassador to China in December 2016.

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Iowa Governor Terry Branstad (C) prepares to testify before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on a hearing considering him to be U.S. Ambassador to China on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., the United States, on May 2, 2017. U.S. President Donald Trump's pick for Ambassador to China, Terry Branstad, said on Tuesday that if confirmed, he would work to "positively influence" the U.S.-China relationship. (Xinhua/Bao Dandan)

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Iowa Governor Terry Branstad (2nd R) prepares to testify before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on a hearing considering him to be U.S. Ambassador to China on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., the United States, on May 2, 2017. U.S. President Donald Trump's pick for Ambassador to China, Terry Branstad, said on Tuesday that if confirmed, he would work to "positively influence" the U.S.-China relationship. (Xinhua/Bao Dandan)

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Mike Glasgow, Flint's utilities director, speaks to a special committee of the Michigan Legislature in this Flint Journal file photo.

(Flint Journal file photo)

FLINT, MI -- Nearly a year after he agreed to cooperate with Flint water prosecutors, former utilities administrator Michael Glasgow is headed back to court for a hearing.

MLive-The Flint Journal could not reach Robert Harrison, an attorney for Glasgow, for comment on the appearance, which is scheduled for Thursday, May 4, before Genesee District Judge Jennifer Manley.

Glasgow, 41, accepted a plea deal with prosecutors last May, admitting to filing false information about lead in Flint water and agreeing to cooperate in other in prosecutions related to the city's water crisis.

He was originally charged with tampering with evidence and willful neglect of duty.

Four weeks before he was charged, Glasgow told The Journal he was following "marching orders" from supervisors to do whatever was necessary to start using the Flint River as the city's source of drinking water in April 2014.

Special prosecutor Todd Flood has said previously that Glasgow has already provided important testimony showing how state officials orchestrated the manipulation of water test results here.

In a transcript of an interview with investigators, Glasgow has claimed that two Michigan Department of Environmental Quality regulators told him to removes selected test results that registered high lead levels, lowering the overall readings for the city.
ADA, MI -- In recent years, Amway has been opening dozens of brick-and-mortar locations around the globe.

The pace has been slower in the company's North America market. Amway recently opened a location in the Los Angeles area, four years after trying the concept out in New York.

Depending on its success, more could be added in major U.S. cities.

"We will be looking at if we do another one, what is the next, most logical place for us to go," said Jim Ayres, Amway North America's managing director. "I would suspect though in the coming years, we will do at least a few more of these in major cities around the United States and Canada."

He added that Amway will take a measured approach to opening more locations because they require a large capital expense.

Described as a business center, Amway recently spent $2.5 million on the 8,000 square-foot space in Southern California. It includes a retail component where Amway products such as Nutrilite supplements and Artistry cosmetics are sold.

"We do have a really, really nice store location there," said Ayres. "It doesn't have all our products but it does have a selection of our most popular products and different brands we have at Amway."

The space isn't a traditional storefront. Instead, it's geared primarily for Amway's distributors -- who are called Independent Business Owners or IBOs - to bring their prospects to learn more about the company's direct selling model.

The newest facility is in Buena Park, about 20 miles southeast of Los Angeles -- on the company's Nutrilite campus.

Amway picked New York and the Los Angeles area for the first U.S. business centers because those markets comprised a "pretty big share of our business in North America," Ayres said.

The newest facility, which opened April 18, is expected to draw distributors from across the West Coast region.

The New York City location in Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets stadium, has done well since opening in 2013 as a pilot. It relaunched in October 2015 after a major renovation which added retail space for Amway products.

More than 500 distributors and their prospects walk through the doors daily. The center sells nearly $70,000 in products a day, according to Menaka Abel, manager of sales operations, for Amway North America.

"We are very focused on the product training that comes out of these centers, and in differentiating why the Amway product line is better and giving them the tools to be able to sell those products," she said.

In other countries, the business centers are part of the supply chain and distribution model. That isn't the case in North America where most products are ordered online, and delivered by either the U.S. Postal Service or FedEx.

Amway sees the potential for the L.A. area location to surpass the New York center's success

"The business performance metrics we look at in New York compared to the rest of the United States, for instance, is significantly better," Ayres said. "The Amway business owners in the area that use the facility are getting real results from it."
WMU-Aquinas agreement signing

School officials take part in the announcement and signing of an engineering partnership between Western Michigan University and and Aquinas College at the college's Donnelly Center on Wednesday, May 3. Pictured are, from left to right, Western Michigan University Extended University Programs Associate Provost Dr. Dawn Gaymer, WMU President Dr. John M. Dunn, Aquinas College President Dr. Juan Olivarez and Aquinas Vice President and Provost Dr. Stephen Barrows.

(Courtesy | Tyler Lecceadone)

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Students pursuing an engineering degree can now attend Aquinas College in Grand Rapids through a new partnership with Western Michigan University.

The agreement allows Aquinas students to earn an associate degree from the private college and then transition into an engineering program before earning a bachelor's degree from WMU.

The school presidents, both of whom are retiring next month, met on Aquinas' campus in Grand Rapids Wednesday, May 3, to sign the partnership agreement.

"This innovative partnership will help students reap the benefits of an Aquinas liberal arts education while also taking advantage of the resources, technology and engineering faculty that WMU has to offer," Aquinas President Juan R. Olivarez said.

Currently limited to industrial and entrepreneurial engineering degrees, the program is the first of several engineering majors planned to be developed through the partnership.

WMU President John M. Dunn said Aquinas' strong math and science programs is "an enormous asset" for the new partnership.

"That strength and the fact that both institutions share a commitment to ensuring all students graduate with a broad-based liberal arts background made this partnership a natural fit," Dunn said. "We'll be preparing young people to bring the best of both worlds to their professional lives, and they will be ready to immediately contribute to the needs of our region, state and nation."

Olivarez touted the benefits offered by the educational experience offered through the hybrid program.

"With a partnership like this, the ultimate winner is the workforce, as our two institutions team-up to produce graduates who have the skills and experience for in-demand engineering careers with the well-rounded background of an Aquinas education, grounded in Catholic and Dominican values," he said.

In a "frequently asked questions" page on Aquinas' website, the university explains that courses will primarily be offered at Aquinas or the WMU Grand Rapids campus during students' first five semesters.

Classes in the sixth and seventh semesters will be primarily offered at WMU's main campus in Kalamazoo, with the potential to return to the Grand Rapids campuses for classes during the eighth and final semester.

The page also explains why students might be interested in pursuing their engineering degree through the two-school partnership rather than enrolling at WMU directly.

"This joint program is ideal for a student who wants to blend the experience of a small, Catholic liberal arts education with the resources, research opportunities and diverse campus of a top 100-public university," the page states. "At Aquinas, a student's study is comprehensive and multidimensional, happening both in the classroom and outside. Prayer, study, community, and service are the foundation of all our students do."

General education and engineering prerequisites will be taught by Aquinas faculty, while WMU faculty will teach engineering courses. Students may apply for acceptance in the engineering program at the end of their sophomore year.

Aquinas tuition rates will apply in the first two years, with WMU's lower tuition rates for its Extended University Programs for engineering coursework once students are accepted to the program.

Graduates of the special program will hold both an Associate of Arts degree from Aquinas and a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Western Michigan University.

WMU's industrial and entrepreneurial engineering program emphasizes engineering design, creativity and innovation, according to Department of Industrial and Entrepreneurial Engineering and Engineering Management Chair Steven E. Butt. The program gives students the opportunity to solve real-world problems in a practical setting, Butt said.

"Students learn how to bring real products and services to market," he said. "And they learn how to market and sell their product ideas."

Butt said he expects some Aquinas students will also take advantage of the fact that WMU offers an accelerated master's degree in the discipline, allowing undergraduates to begin taking graduate courses during their junior and senior years.

The signing ceremony was held Wednesday afternoon at the Donnelly Center on the Aquinas College campus. It marks the end of a two-year-long effort by school officials to put the program in place.

WMU President Dr. John M. Dunn,left, and Aquinas College President Dr. Juan Olivarez, right, shake hands after signing the agreement for an engineering partnership between the institutions on Wednesday, May 3, at Aquinas College's Donnelly Center.

Once the industrial and entrepreneurial engineering program is underway at Aquinas, officials at both schools plan to turn their attention to adding a civil engineering degree program.

Wednesday's announcement comes near the end of the tenures of the two college presidents, both of whom plan to retire on June 30.

Olivarez has served as president for six years and Dunn has been at the helm of WMU for a decade.

Both schools announced replacements for the two men within a day of each other last month.

The Aquinas College Board of Trustees announced in April that Kevin Quinn, currently an administrator at a college in Wisconsin, will take over as the school's president in July.

The next day, the Western Michigan University Board of Trustees announced Edward B. Montgomery was selected as the school's ninth president in a unanimous vote.

More information about the new engineering degree option and how to apply is available at www.aquinas.edu/engineering
Malik Carey

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Malik Carey, the 18-year-old shot by police after he fired at officers, has died at St. Mary's Hospital, a relative said.

Police also confirmed about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 3, that he had died.

Lee Bluntson, the relative, said Carey died in the mid-afternoon hours.

Carey was shot after police say he fired upon them in the 1300 block of Dickinson Street SE in early afternoon.

Police initially responded to the area about 12:30 p.m. and made contact with Carey because he was a probation absconder. Police said he would not follow their commands and eventually pulled out a gun.

Carey fell to the ground after being shot.

Police said it was a period of time before they could safely approach Carey because he would not move his hands from below his body, Grand Rapids police Sgt. Terry Dixon said. He could not give an exact time, although some witnesses said it was minutes.

Dixon said Carey initially was talking with officers after he was wounded.

When officers were able to reach Carey, a gun was found underneath him, police said.
Pot-bellied pig looking for a home for Christmas

(MLive File Photo | Yfat Yossifor)

MONTMORENCY COUNTY, MI - A 500-pound pig was recently found dead in Montmorency County.

That's a lot of bacon.

According to an official report by conservation officers with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the incident occurred when COs Brad Bellville and Paul Fox of DNR District 3 responded to a complaint of a dead pig on state land in Montmorency County.

Upon arrival, the COs found a deceased 500-pound pig with the back straps removed. Coincidently, CO Bellville recognized the pig from responding to a call last summer where the pig had escaped from her pen.

According to the report, the CO made contact with the owner of the pig, who admitted to having the pig dumped on state land.

Enforcement action was taken, according to the report. DNR District 3 includes Alpena, Antrim, Cheboygan, Charlevoix, Emmet, Montmorency, Otsego and Presque Isle counties.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Michigan's U.S. senators joined 26 others in signing a letter that asks their colleagues to fully fund veterans home construction projects, including two in Michigan.

The letter urges senators to support "robust funding" through the State Veterans Home Construction Grant Program, which provides federal funding to help individual states construct new facilities and make improvements to existing ones. It points out that only 10 of 57 high-priority project requests were funded in 2017, resulting in a backlog of projects awaiting funding.

Michigan is applying for $66 million in federal funds this year to help fund the construction of new veterans homes in Grand Rapids and Detroit, estimated to cost $180 million in total.

The two construction projects, which could conclude in 2019 if funds are secured this year, is part of a larger plan by the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency to build seven new facilities across the state. It's a much-needed reconfiguration of Michigan's veterans home system, according to agency officials, that is expected to better serve veterans and their family members and result in long-term cost-savings for the state.

The letter from more than two dozen U.S. senators praises the system of state homes for ensuring veterans "receive the respect and dignity they have earned through their service."

U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters were among the 28 senators signing the letter sent on Wednesday, May 3, to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies.

"The growing backlog of more than 100 construction and renovation projects across the country, the majority of which have already secured matching state appropriations, presents challenges to meeting the long-term care needs of these veterans, particularly in rural states or states lacking alternate VA-certified facilities," the letter states.

Sen. Gary Peters, the junior senator from Michigan, and Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, worked to together to draft the letter and build support for it among their colleagues in the Senate.

All state veterans homes are operated by individual state governments and partner with the federal Department of Veterans Affairs to provide nursing home, domiciliary and adult day care services to veterans with special medical needs, including thousands of elderly veterans.

Michigan currently has two such homes -- located in Grand Rapids and Marquette -- that serve about 539 Michigan veterans in total.

Plans to update the state's veterans home system stemmed from a 2016 audit that identified serious issues at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans.

Based on recommendations from a workgroup formed in the wake of the scathing audit, the plan to replace existing facilities calls for seven 132,000-square-foot buildings, each housing about 120 residents.

Though that will result in smaller facilities than the existing homes, the ultimate plan calls for an overall increase in statewide bed space to 840 beds or more. But instead of being based in only two locations, those beds will be spread across the state in seven different communities.

That all starts with the $108 million construction of new homes in Grand Rapids and Detroit.

Applications for federal project funding were due in mid-April. Officials expect to learn whether Michigan's projects are selected by late 2017 or early 2018.

If selected for funding, construction of both new facilities would begin in 2018 and conclude in 2019.
walmart.jpg

Walmart is looking for U.S.-made products to stock on store shelves.

(Courtesy | Walmart)

Walmart, the world's largest retailer, is looking for Michigan entrepreneurs to pitch their made in the USA products to the company's buyers in a daylong event in June.

The pitch session will be held at Walmart's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. on June 28.

The deadline to register at walmart-jump.com is May 18.



The underlying goal is creating more U.S. jobs by stocking more American products on store shelves.

"By investing in products that support American jobs, we are able to bring new products to our shelves that our customers want and new jobs to our communities," said Cindi Marsiglio, Walmart's vice president of U.S. Manufacturing, in a statement. "Increasing domestic manufacturing will help create additional jobs in the U.S., and that's good for American businesses."

Walmart buyers will be looking to make deals of varying sizes ranging from supplying product to a handful of stores in a local market, to supplying hundreds or thousands of stores as well as Sam's Club locations and Walmart.com, the company said.

Michigan firm Carhart Products recently landed a deal with Walmart.

The 15-person company in Saranac sells kids' tee ball sets made from recycled automotive plastic at 72 Walmart stores and on Walmart.com.

"Our deal with Walmart gives us the potential to reach a national audience and take our company to the next level," said Dave Hartman, Carhart Products founder. "We have a lot of items we are working on now and hope to have in the stores and on Walmart.com soon. Our deal with Walmart was a game changer."

In 2013, Walmart pledged to boost job creation and U.S. manufacturing by buying an additional $250 billion in products that support American jobs over 10 years.

The program is an attempt to reverse the retailer's reliance on products made in China and other countries. While the sourcing has provided cheaper merchandise for consumers, the overseas sourcing has cost the U.S. economy manufacturing jobs.

Walmart's 10-year initiative is expected to create 1 million new U.S. jobs, according to the Boston Consulting Group.

In Michigan, the retailer has a multi-billion dollar impact on the economy. Walmart's 118 Michigan stores employ 32,085 workers. It also spends $3 billion a year with vendors across the state, which support another 47,138 jobs, according to the retailer.

Last year, Walmart also donated $26.5 million in cash and in-kind donations to local nonprofits across the state, the company said.
KENTWOOD, MI -- District Judge William Kelly said he saw a different Kari Moss standing in his courtroom Thursday morning from the one he first met in January.

Moss, who is accused of threatening to blow up a Kentwood mosque earlier this year, appeared calm and polite during her May 4 hearing. Her mother, Charlotte Steigenga, noted the progress as well during a brief statement to Kelly.

"Kari is doing so much better," Steigenga said. "I do feel she will have to go to a hospital, before she can come home, to finish her healing process."

A psychiatric assessment done last month determined that Moss is competent to stand trial. Kelly accepted that finding Thursday and took it into consideration when lowering her bond from $500,000 to $200,000.

"You're in better condition but this is a very serious case," Kelly said.

Moss, 33, was arrested Jan. 2 outside the At-Tawheed Islamic Center, 3357 E. Paris Ave. SE.

Police said they responded to a caller's report that a woman was standing outside the mosque holding a gun, demanding money and threatening violence. Officers found no gun or explosives upon arresting Moss.

During her first court appearance, Moss told Kelly she was a devout Muslim who was mistreated by the mosque, the jail and her family. Her mother said it was obvious Moss needed mental-health treatment.

Since being detained, Moss has received medical treatment.

Kelly ordered a psychiatric examination, which found Moss was competent and could assist her defense counsel if the case were to go to trial.

Attorney Laura Joyce, filling in for Brett Stevenson, represented Moss on Thursday. She waived her client's preliminary exam in order to continue negotiations as the case moves up to circuit court.

Joyce requested bond be lowered on the basis that Moss has no criminal record before this incident, and that she's received significant support from her family during this process.

Prosecuting attorney Rachel Wustman called the $500,000 bond appropriate, and said Moss is a potential danger to the community based on the serious nature of the alleged threats.

Kelly approved the bond decrease with conditions including that if released, Moss must notify the court of her address, she can't purchase or own a weapon, and she isn't allowed within a mile of the mosque on E. Paris.

"I trust you judgement, your honor," Moss said.

Moss remains in Kent County jail as of Thursday morning. Her next court date has not been scheduled.
Trump, Putin discuss Syrian crisis, DPRK in 1st call after bickering over Syria strike

From:Xinhua | 2017-05-03 09:29

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WASHINGTON, May 2 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed the Syrian crisis and fighting terrorism in the Middle East, the White House said on Tuesday.

The two leaders also discussed "the very dangerous situation" on the Korean Peninsula, the White House said in a statement.

"The conversation was a very good one, and included the discussion of safe, or de-escalation, zones to achieve lasting peace for humanitarian and many other reasons," said the statement, adding that they also discussed "at length working together" to fight terrorism across the Middle East.

The United States would send a representative to the cease-fire talks in Astana, Kazakhstan on May 3-4, the statement added.

It was the first phone call between Trump and Putin since Washington and Moscow wrangled over a U.S. strike on the Syrian government last month.

On April 6, Trump ordered a targeted missile strike at a Syrian military airfield in response to a chemical weapons attack in the rebel-held Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun.

After the U.S. strike, Syrian state TV called the assault an "aggression" and both Russia and Syria had denied that the Syrian government launched the chemical weapons attack.

The Russian government also condemned the U.S. strike against the Syrian government as "aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law."

After the incident, Trump told reporters last month that the United States is "not getting along with Russia at all" and the relations between the two countries "may be at an all-time low."
michigan capitol dome.jpg

The House of Representatives passed a "transformational" brownfield plan on Thursday.

(MLive file photo)

LANSING, MI -- The House of Representatives on Thursday passed bills to let big developers capture taxes over objections from mostly Republican lawmakers.

Senate Bills 111-115 would grant special tax-capturing ability to large-scale "transformational" brownfield projects that win approval from local authorities, the Michigan Strategic Fund and the state treasurer. The Senate approved the package in February.

The bills were originally introduced last session with backing from Detroit Businessman Dan Gilbert. The House approved them on wide margins Thursday.

Rep. Jim Tedder, R-Clarkston, shepherded the bills through his House Tax Policy Committee. He said he'd been looking at brownfields a while to help blighted sites in his community, particularly in Waterford Township.

"This is the first piece of legislation that actually gives us a glimpse of hope," he said.

During the construction phase, an approved project could capture sales and use taxes. Afterward, the project would capture income and withholding taxes. The total tax capture the state authorizes cannot exceed $1 billion over the life of the bill.

To win approval, the project would have to demonstrate that it was a net fiscal gain for the state. In other words, that it would produce more tax revenue than it captured. The legislation anticipates five such projects per year in different cities across Michigan, and specifies a certain level of investment from each project based on the size of the community it's located in.

The House made the legislation good for five years so they could revisit it then, and set a guideline for 35 percent of projects to take place in communities with populations under 100,000.

A number of Republicans spoke against the legislation, including Rep. Martin Howrylak, R-Troy. He questioned what the bills did for regular Michiganders who may help their communities in other ways but aren't big developers.

"Why should they be rewarded by taking their taxpayer dollars and handing it to a private entity for an uneconomic project?" Howrylak said.

Rep. John Reilly, R-Oakland, said it was the same thing the legislature had done time and time again with incentives.

"It's a government redistribution of wealth, plain and simple," he said.

House Speaker Tom Leonard, R-DeWitt, said the bills leveraged private dollars to use old brownfield sites. He supported the legislation.

"We have hundreds of brownfield sites around the state, I have visited some of them myself. We've got to get them cleaned up, and I believe that this package of bills is the most conservative way to do that," Leonard said.

Democrats including Rep. Leslie Love, D-Detroit, and Rep. Andy Schor, D-Lansing, spoke in support of the bill.

"This is about taking those abandoned buildings and sites that have been empty for decades and replacing them with developments," Love said.

Most Democrats voted for the legislation, but it didn't earn a vote from Rep. Yousef Rabhi, D-Ann Arbor. He said he'd served on a brownfield board and supported them, but that's not what the bills did.

"This is not a brownfield. This is completely different. This is corporate welfare," Rabhi said.

A core group of 22 voted against all the bills in the package: Reps. Sue Allor, R-Wolverine; Tom Barrett, R-Potterville; Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit; Triston Cole, R-Mancelona; Gary Glenn, R-Midland; Shane Hernandez, R-Port Huron; Michele Hoitenga, R-Manton; Pamela Hornberger, R-Chesterfield Twp.; Gary Howell, R-North Branch; Howrylak; Steve Johnson, R-Wayland; Tim Kelly, R-Saginaw; James Lower, R-Cedar Lake; Mike McCready, R-Bloomfield Hills; Aaron Miller, R-Sturgis; Jeff Noble, R-Plymouth; Rabhi; Reilly; Rose Mary Robinson, D-Detroit; Jim Runestad, R-White Lake; Rep. Lana Theis, R-Brighton; and Rep. Jason Wentworth, R-Clare.

In voting against two of the bills, senate bills 113 and 114, they were joined by Rep. Kristy Pagan, D-Canton and Rep. Jon Hoadley, D-Kalamazoo.

The bills head back to the Senate, which would have to approve the House's changes before sending them to the governor. If that happens, and the governor signs the bills, they would become law.
EAGAN, MN - You're eyes aren't deceiving you. It's simply a magic trick of the mind.

While it may look it impossible, it's really an emerging art form known as rock balancing and Peter Juhl is among those leading the charge. Juhl, a Minnesota database administrator by day, has been perfecting the art for 23 years.

His collection of photos taken almost exclusively on the north shore of Lake Superior are nothing less than extraordinary. Just ask anyone who sees them.

"Part of the appeal is it's like a magic trick," Juhl said. "You're just delighted because it's something that you can't wrap your head around."

Like waves crashing against the shore or a campfire burning into the night, Juhl said that watching rocks balance tediously on top of one another seems to have a calming effect on those who view them.

It's something that can't really be explained, he said, but it happens with 99 percent of people who gaze upon the seemingly impossible structures.

The hobby turned side career is one that began on accident. While on vacation more than two decades ago, Juhl was bored and began skipping rocks. After a few minutes he picked a couple up and realized they could be stacked.

Juhl has been developing his craft since then. In the last seven or eight years, he's made it his goal to seriously develop and spread the art form. The result has been a collection of mind-bending photos that send the laws of physics into a tailspin.

But how does he do it?

The simple answer is practice and patience, but Juhl explained the basic idea. It involves finding a rock with some kind of indentation or imperfection to use as a base. Additional rocks must then be manipulated so their center of gravity is directly above that indentation.

Juhl's hobby is now a way to make extra money. He sells prints of his photos, teaches classes on rock balancing and has written a book titled "Center of Gravity: A Guide to the Practice of Rock Balancing."

Thanks in part to his efforts and the development of social media, rock balancing has become somewhat of an emerging art form.

And while it certainly isn't a phenomenon yet, Juhl said he's been in contact with 100s of like-minded people around the world who are passionate about rock balancing as an art form.

Juhl traveled to Italy in 2012 and Germany in 2013 to meet with two such people. They are part of an ever-growing community of artists making what seems impossible possible.

"It's not something you expect to be possible," he said. "Everyone has seen stacks of rocks on a beach, but when they see these delicate ones, something different happens. The first time someone walked by and saw that I did this, they couldn't believe it was real."

For more of Juhl's work, visit his website at http://temporarysculpture.squarespace.com, "Like" his Facebook page or follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
JACKSON, MI - A 90th birthday is a milestone.

But when the birthday boy is part of Jackson's oldest business - and Michigan's oldest floral company still operated by the same family in its original location - it's even more special.

Robert Kempf, the third generation to run the 152-year-old Brown Floral Co., 908 Greenwood Ave., turns 90 today, Thursday, May 4.

The celebration, though, started Wednesday, May 3, with a small party in a sunny room of the shop filled with blooming flowers and the scent of roses. In attendance were family members and employees Brenda Marsh, Jeana McDonald and Peggy Vandenburgh.

"The only thing older than me is dirt," Kempf quipped, still showing the well-known wit and colorful personality that time has not dimmed.

Kempf, a Jackson city commissioner for 14 years, battles Alzheimer's. Tears come easy as he reads a funny birthday card or gets a hug from one of the shop's employees, affectionately called "the girls."

Known to them all as "Pops," Kempf still is the backbone of Brown Floral Co., said his daughter Chris Grostefon, who with sister Diane Jonas makes up the fourth generation to carry on the business.

"His favorite place in the whole wide world is this flower shop," she said.

On the party's menu were baked beans, potato salad and Kempf's favorite food - hot dogs with diced onions.

"A hot dog without onions is like making love without a woman," he joked, as those in the room broke out in loud laughter.

His birthday gift? A six pack of Bud Light.

"Boy, I've drank enough of that stuff to float a battleship," Kempf said when opening the present.

The party game? "Pie In The Face," of course, complete with a huge can of whipped cream.

"When you're 90, there's not many of your friends left," Grostefon said. "But we wanted to do something special. This is a momentous occasion."

Kempf was elected as fourth ward Jackson city commissioner in 1977 and was re-elected every time until he decided to step down in 1991.

"Boy those are days I'd like to forget," Kempf said, laughing.

He was known as an attentive, productive commissioner who believed in supporting downtown business and bringing industry to town. He was an extrovert who loved talking with people.

"I'll never change," he said.

Brown Floral Co. was started by Kempf's grandfather, Fritz Kempf a German immigrant, in 1865. Kempf's father, Milton followed in his footsteps.

Kempf came on board at age 12 and obtained his driver's license at age 14 during World War II so he could make deliveries.

At Kempf's side during his birthday party was his 80-year-old sister Margaret Dailey, who showed the family's sense of humor isn't limited to her brother.

"How old are you?" Kempf asked Dailey.

"Not as old as you," she said, with a grin.
KALAMAZOO, MI -- Police arrested a carjacking suspect about a half hour after a woman told police she was forced from her vehicle by a passenger, the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety reports.

Kalamazoo Public Safety Officers responded Wednesday, May 3, at 10:54 p.m., to the area of Riverview and Gull for a report of a carjacking. The female victim reported that she was driving her car when her male passenger assaulted her, forced her from the vehicle, and stole the vehicle, police said.

With help from information provided by a citizen, Kalamazoo Township and Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety officers located the stolen vehicle and suspect within 30 minutes in the 1000 block of Darwood Avenue in Kalamazoo Township.

Police arrested the 31-year-old Inkster man on charges of carjacking, operating while intoxicated, resisting and obstructing officers, and possession of marijuana, police said.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety at 337-8994 or Silent Observer at 343-2100.
KALAMAZOO, MI - Some constituents of U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, are not happy with his yes vote on the GOP health care legislation, which they made clear with multiple protests at his Kalamazoo office.

The bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, was narrowly approved in the U.S. House Thursday afternoon.

"High premiums, lack of access, rising costs. These don't just impact Republicans or Democrats. They impact us all. The status quo is simply unacceptable," Upton said in a statement released after the bill passed.

"Our legislation is a first step in the right direction to ensure all Americans have access to quality, affordable healthcare."

Two separate protests, one at 1 p.m. and another at 4:30 p.m., took place at Upton's office in downtown Kalamazoo Thursday. The 1:30 p.m. protest was organized by MoveOn.org while Michigan People's Campaign and ProKzoo organized the 4:30 p.m. protest.

The later protest was scheduled prior to the passing of the bill and was a direct result of Upton's decision to support the bill, said Christine Lewis with the Michigan People's Campaign.

Protesters at 1 p.m. took time to enter Upton's office to voice their complaints to staff members while at 4:30 p.m., they lined the street outside his office with signs and chants to make their opinions known.

Upton had previously come out against the GOP health care legislation on Tuesday saying he would not support the latest version of the legislation to repeal and replace the ACA.

He, along with other members of the House, met with President Donald Trump on Wednesday to discuss the legislation.

Later that day, Upton said he would support the legislation with an $8 billion amendment added over five years to assist those with pre-existing conditions in states that seek waivers under the Republican health care plan.

That's not going to be nearly enough," Martha Faketty, of Kalamazoo said of the amendment. "It's going to cost lives."

Jessica Martin, vice president of the Young Democrats of Michigan, said she felt betrayed by Upton's new stance.

"He's falsely representing the 6th district," she said.

Martin, who has preexisting conditions, is also worried about her access to healthcare with a repeal of the ACA.

State Rep. Jon Hoadley, D-Kalamazoo, released a statement following the news of the bill's passing.

"I am absolutely appalled that Congressional members -- including many from Michigan -- voted today to break their promises to the American people, by agreeing to repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with truly terrible legislation," Hoadley said.

"What is even more despicable is the fact that Congress voted to exempt themselves from the new health care plan because they knew it was wrong. The people of Michigan, and this nation, deserve better. I hope that our members of Congress who supported this disastrous bill are ready for a fight, because we're not giving up without one."
Matthew Krueger

OCEANA COUNTY, MI - A man judged insane after he allegedly drove his truck through the U.S. Coast Guard gates in Grand Haven two years ago has been charged with doing the same thing at a grocery store in Hart Wednesday.

Matthew Krueger, 35, of Mears was arraigned Thursday on three charges alleging he deliberately drove his vehicle through the front entrance of the Shopko grocery store in Hart.

Krueger received mental health treatment after pleading not guilty by reason of insanity to the Grand Haven charges, said Oceana County Prosecutor Joseph Bizon. Krueger was charged in Ottawa County with phoning in a false bomb threat to the Coast Guard facility as well as malicious destruction of property for the January 2015 incident.

At the same time the Ottawa County charges were issued, Oceana County brought four arson charges against Krueger for a fire that was set at family property where Krueger was staying at the time. The fire was set the same day the Coast Guard bomb threat was called in and the gates were crashed.

Krueger ended up being found legally insane and so the arson charges were dismissed, Bizon said. For the Grand Haven incidents, Krueger was ordered to receive inpatient mental health treatment until it was appropriate for him to be released for continued outpatient treatment, Bizon said.

Bizon said he didn't know when Krueger was released. He has family in Oceana County, Bizon said.

On Thursday, Krueger was charged with malicious destruction of a building, $20,000 or more, which is a felony; assault with a dangerous weapon, also a felony; and reckless driving, according to a spokeswoman with the 78th District Court in Oceana County.

Bond was set at $100,000 cash or surety and the preliminary examination was set for 3 p.m. May 22.

In the Wednesday afternoon incident, Krueger allegedly drove his full-size Dodge Ram pickup truck through the store parking lot before turning and driving through the main entrance of the Shopko store, Bizon said.

No one was directly hit by the vehicle and no injuries have been reported, Bizon said. He would not comment on whether Krueger had had an argument with anyone prior to the alleged incident.

On Feb. 8, 2015, parts of Grand Haven were on high alert after Krueger allegedly claimed to have a bomb in a truck that was then driven through the gates at the Coast Guard facility.

Krueger, who was a resident of Illinois at the time, allegedly set fire to the seasonal residence in Oceana County's Golden Township at 4:08 a.m. that day, which was a Sunday. He then allegedly headed toward Grand Haven, calling 911 and telling the dispatcher he had a bomb in his truck and was going to drive into the Coast Guard's Grand Haven Station.

A truck did end up driving into the gates of the station, 601 S. Harbor Dr., at 6:07 a.m. Authorities said the driver assaulted Coast Guard personnel and again made a threat of a bomb inside the truck. It turned out the truck was not carrying a bomb.

Grand Haven's Harbor Drive and the popular downtown boardwalk were closed for much of the day and nearby condominium residents were advised to take shelter in their homes.

Following his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, Krueger was to be transferred to the state's Center for Forensic Psychiatry for at least 60 days.

Bizon said his office worked cooperatively with the Ottawa County Prosecutor's Office on the cases. The Center for Forensic Psychiatry had found Krueger legally insane, prompting dismissal of the arson case and Ottawa County overseeing the transformation of the case from a criminal matter to a mental health one, Bizon said.

"It's my understand that (Krueger) was treated pursuant to the law and pursuant to all appropriate standards," Bizon said.
MUSKEGON, MI - More than 240 graduates were celebrated Wednesday evening during Muskegon Community College's 89th commencement.

Family and friends gathered at the L.C. Walker Arena to applaud the graduates and their accomplishments. Dr. Donald Crandall, chairman of the MCC board of trustees, welcomed the audience and conferred the degrees to graduates.

Representing the graduates were Eric Carballido and Gabe Cerchiori, who delivered remarks on behalf of the class of 2017.

Cerchiori, a 2008 Whitehall High School graduate, studied psychology as part of his pursuit to serve others, and presented scientific research at academic conferences in Nashville and Phoenix. He plans to continue his psychology studies at Ball State University.

Carballido, who graduated in 2011 from Shelby High School, took full- and part-time classes for six years at MCC where he developed a love of geography and a career goal of being a city planner. He will continue his higher education at Western Michigan University.

Presenting the commencement address was Terri Tchorzynski, a 1999 MCC graduate who received this year's Distinguished Alumni Award. An employee of the Calhoun Area Career Center, Tchorzysnki was honored at the White House in January as the 2017 National Counselor of the Year.

The inaugural MCC Alumni Achievement Award was presented to Rudy Bartels, who graduated from MCC in 2007. Bartels is a climatology researcher at the Southern Regional Climate Center in Baton Rouge, La., and has worked with NASA and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Daniel Dwayne Wright, left, and Bobby Derrick Gamble.

MUSKEGON, MI - The hair-raising details of an armed invasion of a couple's home in Muskegon are laid out in an appeals court document upholding a prisoner's convictions.

Daniel Dwayne Wright, 60, was convicted by a jury in December 2015 for home invasion, armed robbery and unlawful imprisonment. He recently appealed the conviction to the Michigan Court of Appeals.

In an unpublished opinion April 27, 2017, the Court of Appeals affirmed the convictions of Muskegon County's 14th Circuit Court.

Wright and co-defendant Bobby Derrick Gamble were convicted of entering a home on Aug. 12, 2014, and tying up a 22-year-old man and a 17-year-old female. Gamble allegedly A four-year-old boy in the home had a bag placed over his head and was made to sit on a bed until it was over.

The appeals court described the facts of the ordeal from the perspective of the woman, who was sleeping in an upstairs bedroom at 9 a.m., according to the document.

"She was awakened by a man, later identified as co-defendant Bobby Gamble, who was standing over her wearing a Halloween mask and pointing a gun at her head."

Gamble forced the victim downstairs into another bedroom where the male victim was allegedly already tied up, with Wright standing nearby. Wright had a bandanna covering his face from the nose down, but "she specifically took notice of his eyes, his large hands, and his posture," according to the court document.

The woman also was tied up. Then, Gamble pointed the gun at the male victim and demanded he give him the money - the male victim assumed the gunman was referring to $1,200 he had won gambling the day before. He said he didn't have the money, that he had given it to someone else for safekeeping.

Gamble and Wright then put a pillowcase over the man's head and left the house with him to head to a location on Superior Street, according to the appeals court document. After they left, the woman untied herself, "grabbed the kids" and ran to a neighbor's house to call 911.

Gamble and Wright were later confronted by a couple searching for the male victim, according to the appeals court document. Wright, discovered taking off the bandanna, said he had nothing to do with the situation and walked away. However, Gamble fired at the vehicle several times, with one bullet striking a woman in the shoulder.

Gamble also faces a separate trial for the murder of Robert Lee Dawson Jr.

Wright's appeal

Wright's appeal was based on arguments that a lineup where the female victim identified him wasn't properly conducted, and that a request he made to represent himself wasn't properly handled by the court.

But according to the Appeals Court, Wright almost immediately followed up on request to represent himself with written letters that caused Judge Timothy G. Hicks to call into question Wright's mental health.

Wright wrote to the trial court asking for his bond to be changed so he could travel to Nigeria and claim his "divine kingship" there.

The Appeals Court opinion documented Wright's claims in some detail:

"According to the letter that defendant wrote to the trial court, and as he explained at the hearing, defendant's true name, based on his 'rootreading and genetic code' and according to the 'sacred order of Ifa,' which 'deals with different expressions of consciousness, energy patterns of that sort,' and based on 'numerology, astrology, ontology,' is Mwata Oba Olatunde. In addition, according to defendant, he is the 'rightful heir to the throne of Ile Ife' in 'Oshun State, Nigeria.' Defendant also admitted, however, that he is a lifelong resident of Muskegon County and has never been to Nigeria. ...

"The trial court also found concerning defendant's statement, 'If I'm able to incorporate my divine kingship and its resources with this great land, we will be able to usher in a thousand years of peace and prosperity.'"

Wright's request to represent himself in court was revoked while he was examined for his competency to stand trial, according to the appeals court. Wright was connected with a new attorney and he never renewed the request for self-representation.

In the conclusion to its appeal, the court of appeals wrote that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in withdrawing permission for Wright to represent himself or commit a reversible error in allowing a lineup of suspects where Wright was identified.
Erin Kuhn

Erin Kuhn is executive director of the West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission.

(Stephen Kloosterman/MLive.com)

WEST MICHIGAN -- The West Michigan Shoreline Regional Development Commission will receive a $210,000 grant to encourage economic development.

U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters announced Wednesday, May 3 the Economic Development Administration is awarding the group with the EDA Partnership Planning grant.

Erin Kuhn, executive director of the WMSRDC, said in a statement the commission is pleased to receive the funding.

"Over the past 45 years, much of the economic infrastructure in West Michigan has been developed through this collaborative process," Kuhn said. "We look forward to continuing our economic development efforts in West Michigan."

Peters said in a statement the grant will allow the WMSRDC to continue investing in the communities it serves to promote economic development and growth in West Michigan.

Stabenow said in a statement she applauds the West Michigan communities collaborating to create more jobs and strengthen the economy.

"This investment will help strengthen this cooperation and build on the region's success in fostering economic growth," Stabenow said.

The grant funding will be used to work with the local communities in the five-county region the WMSRDC serves, including Lake, Mason, Muskegon, Newaygo and Oceana counties.

The award will also help create a collaborative economic development strategy that identifies regional goals and objectives in addition to other regional economic development projects.
SAGINAW, MI -- The first of 21 men who murdered as teens in Saginaw County and were sentenced to life in prison without parole will soon see how close he is to freedom and a second chance.

After nearly 35 years in prison, Henry Hill Jr. will be re-sentenced Thursday, May 5, and become eligible for parole either now or within five years for a homicide he committed in 1980 at the age of 16.

The guidelines for the 53-year-old's re-sentencing are a minimum of 25 to 40 years in prison with a maximum possible sentence of 60 years, said Marilena David-Martin, training director at the Michigan State Appellate Defender Office.

On July 16, 1980, Hill helped 16-year-old Dennis Johnson and Johnson's brother, 18-year-old Larnell Johnson, chase down 21-year-old Anthony Thomas and shoot him dead in Wickes Park in Saginaw before as many as 200 witnesses.

The motivation for the homicide was a familial dispute between the Johnsons and Thomases over a girl, according to past Saginaw News articles.

In 2011, the American Civil Liberties Union argued Hill should have a chance at parole because, among other things, they said he had the maturity of a 9-year-old at the time of the crime.

Hill's re-sentencing guidelines were enacted under Michigan law after a January 2016 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a 6-3 vote, justices ruled their 2012 decision that mandatory life sentences for juveniles were unconstitutional should be applied retroactively, opening the possibility of parole for the roughly 350 juvenile lifers in Michigan.

But a new sentence of a term of years for juvenile lifers isn't assured. Up until Feb. 22, Hill faced the possibility of remaining in prison for life.

After the 2016 ruling, prosecutors across the state had six months to file motions on whether they'd re-pursue the original life sentence.

The Saginaw County Prosecutor's Office initially declared it would seek life without parole for all of the county's 21 juvenile lifers, including Hill.

In that instance, David-Martin said, a special hearing is later held to determine the circumstances and character of the convict's life before, during and after the crime.

According to David-Martin's office, which is representing roughly 200 of Michigan's juvenile lifers, the following are evaluated during the special hearing:

Chronological age and immaturity, impetuosity, and the failure to appreciate risks and consequences.

The offender's family and home environment.

Circumstances of the offense, including extent of participation in the criminal conduct.

Impact of familial and peer pressures.

Effect of offender's youth on the criminal justice process, such as inability to comprehend a plea bargain.

The possibility of rehabilitation.

Hill never had that special hearing, because on Feb. 22 the Saginaw County Prosecutor's Office withdrew its motion to pursue a sentence for him of life in prison without parole.

Saginaw County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Chris Boyd said the motion withdrawal was prompted by new information coming to light.

The trouble with these cases, Boyd said, is it takes hours and hours of reviewing records pertaining to a juvenile lifer's time in prison and time as a youth.

"We're talking about going back 30 years in some of these cases," Boyd said.

Boyd's office, along with several others in the state, were lumped into a recent lawsuit which claimed the prosecutors' offices issued blanket rulings on all juvenile lifers under their purview, Boyd said.

Boyd said that claim is far from accurate and was dismissed by an Ingham County court earlier this week.

"We're reviewing them on a case-by-case basis and the people that are asserting we have a policy or a stance are incorrect," Boyd said.

Boyd said his office reserved the right to seek life without parole again until greater information was known about the merits of each individual, whether they'd bettered their lives and what their situations were before and at the time of the crime.

Apart from Hill, the cases for each of Saginaw County's juvenile lifers are in the process of developing the information necessary for showing the convicts had extenuating circumstances before incarceration and maintained a good track record in prison.

It's a costly process for the county, David-Martin said, because attorneys will likely seek court funds to pay for investigations and evaluations necessary for their cases.

Attorney A. Lee Sturtz, who is representing at least two of Saginaw County's juvenile lifers, said he's been communicating by letters with his clients and is soon to travel across the state to visit one of them incarcerated in Muskegon.

"What they're looking at is what these inmates have been doing, psychological improvements, etc.," Sturtz said. "Right now, it's just kind of in the building, whatever information I can get."

Hill might not be the only Saginaw County juvenile lifer who is able to forgo the special hearing and have a clear path to re-sentencing.

While Boyd said he wouldn't predict which, or how many others his office might withdraw its motion to pursue continued life in prison without parole, he did say there are a "couple within the framework."

Hill will be re-sentenced at 1:30 p.m. Thursday before Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson.
News Analysis: Is Italy's Renzi able to fight populist Five Star Movement?

From:Xinhua | 2017-05-03 09:29

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by Stefania Fumo

ROME, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is back in the saddle after being reappointed as leader of the ruling Democratic Party (PD) in the latest PD primary vote.

The staunchly pro-European Union (EU) politician beat two other contenders by a wide margin, garnering over 70 percent of the vote as almost 2 million Democratic Party (PD) rank-and-file members and sympathizers cast their ballots -- down from the 3 million who elected Renzi in 2013 party primaries.

Sunday's victory positions Renzi as the center-left candidate for prime minister in the next general election, which will likely occur in early 2018 and will see him pitted against Italy's current number one party: the populist, Eurosceptic, Five Star Movement led by comedian Beppe Grillo.

In his victory speech at PD headquarters, Renzi did not hesitate to throw jabs at his political opponent. "The only alternative to populism is the people," Renzi told supporters.

"When 2 million turn out to vote...these are persons not algorithms, flesh and blood not tiny numbers, votes and faces not emoticons on social media," he said in reference to the Five Star Movement's online voting system and internet-based methods.

Renzi, who entered politics at the age of 21 and who turned 42 this year, quit as prime minister and PD secretary in December 2016 after almost three years in the post when close to 60 percent of Italian voters turned down his government's flagship constitutional reform.

That vote -- which was widely hailed by populist, right-wing and Eurosceptic parties -- was seen as a judgment against the reformist premier and his pro-European, pro-immigration policies in times of sluggish economic recovery, in which the euro is being widely blamed for continued unemployment and a lack of prospects for Italy's youth.

A caretaker government led by former foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni -- also of Renzi's PD -- was in place a week later, but the party suffered the defection of a left-wing dissenting minority in February led by former party chief and ex-premier Pier Luigi Bersani.

As a result, the Democratic Party slipped to second place in nationwide polls while the Five Star Movement, which is clamoring for a referendum on leaving the eurozone, replaced it at the top.

On April 25 this year, the Five Stars were polling at just over 29 percent and the Democratic Party at 26.8 percent, with Bersani's breakaway faction garnering 4 percent. By comparison, exactly two years ago, Renzi's PD stood at almost 37 percent of the vote, followed by the Five Star Movement at just under 20 percent.

Remaining a member of the EU is becoming a tough sell in Italy, where average household income plummeted from some 40,000 U.S. dollars a year in 1991 to about 32,000 U.S. dollars in 2010, according to an April study from the Pew Research Center.

By comparison, in 2010, Luxembourg had average household income of over 60,000 U.S. dollars a year, against about 52,000 U.S. a year in Norway and over 41,000 U.S. dollars per year in Germany, according to the Pew report titled "Middle Class Fortunes in Western Europe."

While Renzi exceeded forecasts to score a resounding victory on Sunday, it remains to be seen whether he will be able to restore his weakened personal image, heal his party from the constitutional referendum defeat, and the fraction that followed. He will also have to answer to continuing popular discontent over sharpening economic divisions and 11.5 percent unemployment, and sway a majority of voters over to his EU vision.

"We want Europe, but not this Europe," said the newly restored PD chief, pledging to fight for social and economic justice in the EU.
SAGINAW, MI -- It was the day Henry Hill Jr.'s sister had been holding out hope 35 years for, and it didn't matter that she lived more than 1,500 away or that she had work; she'd be there.

"This is the day I've been waiting for, for my brother to be released," said Marva Jones, wiping tears from her eyes. "God is so great."

Henry Hill Jr. was re-sentenced Thursday, May 4, to 34 to 60 years in prison for a 1980 homicide he'd committed as a 16-year-old. He had previously been serving life in prison without parole.

Because he's already served nearly 35 years, his parole hearing is expected to be expedited. One of Hill's attorneys, Robert Dunn, said he believes Hill will be released by summer of this year.

On July 16, 1980, Hill helped 16-year-old Dennis Johnson and Johnson's brother, 18-year-old Larnell Johnson, chase down 21-year-old Anthony Thomas and shoot him in Wickes Park in Saginaw before as many as 200 witnesses.

The motivation for the homicide was a familial dispute between the Johnsons and Thomases over a girl, according to past Saginaw News articles.

The courtroom Thursday was packed with friends and family of Hill. Jones had traveled from her home in Arizona.

None of Thomas' family attended the re-sentencing.

Before Hill received the new sentence, he was able to address the court.

"Each and every day, I think about him losing his life, at one time me and Anthony was friends," Hill said. "I'm very remorseful for Anthony's death. My heart and my hurt goes out to Anthony and his family and friends for the moment they lost a loved one."

Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson handed down the sentence Thursday afternoon and noted Hill's mental ineptitude and susceptibility to influence at the time, his glowing prison record and the stable life awaiting him outside of prison.

Jackson said Hill was influenced by and wanted acceptance from the Johnsons, who were his cousins, and was ultimately not the one who killed Thomas.

In 2011, the American Civil Liberties Union unsuccessfully argued Hill should have a chance at parole because, among other things, they said he had the maturity of a 9-year-old at the time of the crime.

"The man who stands before you today in no way resembles the man who came to the prison system 35 years ago," one of Hill's attorneys, Michael Pitt, said. "He came to prison really as a young punk ... He stands before the court as a fully developed human being."

Hill was the first of 21 men in Saginaw County to be re-sentenced on life without parole sentences they received for murders they committed as youths.

The re-sentencing was made possible by the U.S. Supreme Court in a January 2016 ruling.

In a 6-3 vote, justices ruled their 2012 decision that mandatory life sentences for juveniles were unconstitutional should be applied retroactively, opening the possibility of parole for the roughly 350 juvenile lifers in Michigan.

But a new sentence of a term of years for juvenile lifers isn't assured. Up until Feb. 22, Hill faced the possibility of remaining in prison for life.

After the 2016 ruling, prosecutors across the state had six months to file motions on whether they'd re-pursue the original life sentence.

The Saginaw County Prosecutor's Office initially declared it would seek life without parole for all of the county's 21 juvenile lifers, including Hill.

In that instance, a special hearing is later held to determine the circumstances and character of the convict's life before, during and after the crime, said Marilena David-Martin, training director at the Michigan State Appellate Defender Office.

Hill never had that special hearing, because on Feb. 22 the Saginaw County Prosecutor's Office withdrew its motion to pursue a sentence for him of life in prison without parole.

Saginaw County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Chris Boyd said new information about the case prompted the decision to withdraw the motion.

Hill might not be the only Saginaw County juvenile lifer who is able to forgo the special hearing and have a clear path to re-sentencing.



While Boyd said he wouldn't predict which, or how many others his office might withdraw its motion to pursue continued life in prison without parole, he did say there are a "couple within the framework."
22559464-mmmain.jpg

Left to right, Carl Wardell Jr., Hannah Joanne-Lee Grace and Megan Gloude. (Courtesy Photos/Saginaw County Sheriff's Office)

Alexis Welsh

SAGINAW, MI -- A 24-year-old woman accused of doing a revenge drive-by shooting with two teens and a 41-year-old woman was formally charged Thursday morning.

Alexis Welsh faces a punishment of life in prison on two counts of assault with intent to murder.

She was additionally charged Thursday, May 4, with two counts of conspiracy to commit assault with intent to murder, one count of discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle, one count of discharging a firearm at a building and three counts of felony firearm.

Welsh is the final person accused in the arrest warrant issued after at least two houses were shot up in the city late April 9 as retaliation, police say, for the homicide of 19-year-old Michael Albrecht earlier that day.

At least one of the drive-bys occurred on North Oakley, Michigan State Police Lt. David Kaiser said. No one was injured.

Welsh's co-defendants -- Megan Gloude, 41, Carl Wardell Jr., 17, and Hannah Joanne-Lee Grace, 18 -- all face the same charges.

All remained lodged in the Saginaw County Jail.

Welsh and Grace were given $500,000 bonds. Wardell was given a $540,000 bond and Gloude a $300,000 bond.
Bombay Sapphire's London Dry Gin brand has been recalled due to having too high of an alcohol content.

The gin has a 77 percent alcohol content as opposed to the typical 40 percent, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency reports. The recall covers all of Canada, as the 1.14-liter bottles were only sold in the country.

Bombay Sapphire is owned by Barcardy, who issued the recall on Tuesday, May 2.

"This recall was initiated after the discovery that, during production, one batch was bottled before correct dilution to achieve the stated 40% alcohol content by volume," the Canadian Food Inspection Agency reports. "As a result, the affected batch has alcohol content by volume of 77%."

There have been no reports of illnesses related to this recall as of a Wednesday update.

CNN Money reports Bombay Sapphire is headquartered in Bermuda, and represents 8 percent of its parent company's global sales.
MICHIGAN CITY, IND. - Four years after a little boy was sucked into a hole in a massive sand dune and trapped for hours before being rescued, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore staff say they plan to reopen the beach area in front of Mount Baldy.

A park spokesman said that while the beach in northern Indiana will reopen to visitors, the sprawling sand dune itself will remain off-limits because research has shown that more holes could open, according to the Associated Press.

Nathan Woessner, a 6-year-old boy from Sterling, Ill., was playing with a friend on Mount Baldy on July 12, 2013, when he stepped into one of the deeper holes and was quickly covered with sand, disappearing from sight.

There was a frantic search to save him. His family, bystanders and rescue workers dug for three hours before he was found at the bottom of a tube-like cavity deep in the dune. He spent two weeks in the hospital, according to media reports. He's since made a full recovery.

Mount Baldy, the beach in front of it, and trails nearby were closed after the incident.

Researchers have since determined that those mysterious holes in the dunes are caused by trees that have been buried by sand and have left hollow tubes behind as they decayed.

Those studying the phenomenon have said it may have implications for other sections of Lake Michigan that have large blowouts or migrating dune areas, including the popular Silver Lake State Park in West Michigan.

But the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, which oversees state parks along the lakeshore, has said holes in the Silver Lake dunes near Mears are not something to worry about.

Ron Olson, the DNR's chief of parks and recreation, told MLive and The Grand Rapids Press in 2016 that Silver Lake was mentioned in the Mount Baldy research because it is what's known as a migrating dune - which over the decades has shifted to cover trees - and because some holes in the dunes have been found there. But park staff say they can't recall any reports of people falling into large holes or being injured there.

"I don't think it's a prototypical example," Olson said of the park where rolling dunes have become a hotspot for off-road vehicle lovers. "Do sinkholes happen? Yeah. It's a natural area. But they are not really something to worry about. It hasn't created any problems."
NASA has released footage from its first dive through the gap between Saturn and one of its rings from April 26.

The footage was taken from the U.S. space agency's Cassini spacecraft, which NASA reports is sending back science and engineering information collected during its journey.

Cassini took a movie sequence of images during its first dive between Saturn and its rings on April 26, 2017. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

"In the grandest tradition of exploration, NASA's Cassini spacecraft has once again blazed a trail, showing us new wonders and demonstrating where our curiosity can take us if we dare," Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters, said in a release.

The video from NASA shows the one-hour of observation the spacecraft made while it moved south over Saturn.

"The region between the rings and Saturn is 'the big empty,' apparently," Cassini Project Manager Earl Maize said in a NASA release. "Cassini will stay the course, while the scientists work on the mystery of why the dust level is much lower than expected."

Kunio Sayanagi, an associate of the Cassini imaging team based at Hampton University in Virginia, said in the NASA release he was "surprised to see so many sharp edges along the hexagon's outer boundary and the eye-wall of the polar vortex."

During the video, Cassini's altitude was said to drop from 45,000 miles to 4,200.

"The images from the first pass were great, but we were conservative with the camera settings. We plan to make updates to our observations for a similar opportunity on June 28 that we think will result in even better views," Andrew Ingersoll, a member of the Cassini imaging team based at Caltech in Pasadena, California, said in the release.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.

In April, NASA made an announcement that revealed one of Saturn's moons, Enceladus, has "all the ingredients needed to support life." The announcement revealed two new discoveries; possible hydrogen gas found on Saturn's moon of Enceladus, and possible plumes erupting on Jupiter's moon of Europa.

Previous results from the Cassini spacecraft showed Enceladus has chemical energy that indicates life. The spacecraft, orbiting Saturn for more than a decade, went through a spouting plume of water shot out of the moon's surface, which revealed evidence of hydrogen gas.

The Cassini has not revealed phosphorus or sulfur in the moon's ocean, but officials suspect the chemicals to be present due to Enceladus' rocky core.

NASA will launch a Europa Clipper mission in the 2020s based off of the Hubble's monitoring of Europa, and Cassini's look into Enceladus' plume.
The United States Army released the final photo taken by combat photographer Spc. Hilda Clayton, which was the moment of her death in a 2013 accidental mortar explosion in Afghanistan.

Clayton's photo was published Monday, May 1 in the U.S. Army's Military Review Journal. The journal wrote that "Clayton's death symbolizes how female soldiers are increasingly exposed to hazardous situations in training and in combat on par with their male counterparts."

In this undated photo released by the U.S. Army, U.S. Army combat camera photographer Spc. Hilda Clayton poses for a photo. Spc. Clayton was killed July 2, 2013 while making photographs during an Afghan National Army live-fire exercise where a mortar tube exploded in Laghman Province, Afghanistan. (U.S. Army via AP)

Clayton and four Afghan National Army soldiers, July, 2 2013 during a live-fire training exercise. One of the those killed in the accidental blast was a fellow photojournalist the U.S. combat photographer was training.

The Associated Press reports the explosion occurred during a critical time, in which U.S. and Afghan forces were working together to stabilize Afghanistan. The Afghan soldier whom Clayton was training also took a photo of the moment of the mortar explosion.

ABC News reports that Clayton's final image created was released with the permission of her family, who has declined comment on the matter. The network adds that Combat Camera named an annual award for best combat photography after Clayton.
U.S. 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 to fill high-skilled jobs during a visit to the world headquarters of Snap-On Inc, a tool manufacturer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S., April 18, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Eleven American governors urged US President Donald Trump not to withdraw from the Paris agreement, saying that if the US does not make the transition to clean energy then China and India will reap the benefits of the low-carbon leadership.

The 11 governors  including those from California, New York, Oregon, Washington, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Virginia, Connecticut, Hawaii, Delaware and Rhode Island  wrote a letter in this regard to Trump, days after he said that he is going to take a "big decision" on Paris Climate Change Agreement.

Trump has been highly critical of the Paris Agreement arguing that the US has been unfairly treated by this international agreement and that countries like India and China have benefited from this.

"Collective action to limit emissions world-wide is critical; without collaboration, climate change will cost the world's nations several trillion dollars in damages. Under the Paris Agreement, all the world's major economies are taking action on climate change for the first time, including China and India, which have put forward their own commitments to cut their carbon pollution domestically," the letter said.

"If the US does not maintain global climate leadership through national policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transition to clean energy, China and India will. This would be a huge lost opportunity, putting us at a competitive disadvantage and potentially locking us into technologies and economic pathways that are increasingly obsolete while China and India reap the benefits of low-carbon leadership," the governors said.

Observing that Americans citizens demand the low-cost, clean-air benefits that a clean energy transition can provide, the letter said the leading US companies recognise the need to address business risks and opportunities through the Paris Agreement, and are wisely investing in low-carbon fuels and technologies to stay on the cutting edge of the global economy.

"Our track recordreducing carbon pollution while growing jobs and our economiesprovides proof that we need not sacrifice opportunity for action. Indeed, we can secure that opportunity only by continuing to lead," they wrote.

The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gases emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance starting in the year 2020.

The agreement was adopted by consensus on December 12, 2015.

India, the world's fourth-largest carbon emitter with its population of 1.3 billion people, ratified the Paris agreement on climate change to become the 62nd nation to join the deal last year.
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We would like to inform that pursuant to Regulation 30(6) of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 and further to our press release dated May 3, 2017, we hereby inform that the Company has signed a definitive Agreement to acquire Esencia Technologies Inc, USA. The acquisition will also include its Indian subsidiary i.e Esencia Technologies India Private Limited. In this regard, please find enclosed disclosure containing the details pursuant to Regulation 30(6) of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 read with SEBI circular number No. CIR/CFD/CMD/4/2015 dated September 9, 2015. This is for your information and record.Source : BSE
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Further to our Letter Ref. No. SECY/2017/228 dated 29th April 2017 and with reference to the captioned subject, we wish to inform you that :- 1. The 162nd Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company was held on Thursday, the 4th May 2017 at Nagpur. 2.The Board of Directors of the Company has considered the recommendations of the Audit Committee of the Company and subject to compliance of certain pre-requisite conditions or approvals, as may be required, has approved the following matters namely :- i)the formation of a Joint Venture (JV) Company, a Company limited by Shares and having a Share Capital, promoted by and comprising of Sunflag Iron and Steel Company Limited & Uttam Galva Metallics Limited, with a Main Object to participate in the 5th Tranche of Auction of Coal Block/s (Auction of Coal mines for captive consumption of Iron and Steel sector) as notified by the Ministry of Coal, Government of India; ii)the shareholding of a Joint Venture (JV) Company comprising of Sunflag Iron and Steel Company Limited & Uttam Galva Metallics Limited shall be in the ratio of 50 : 50. iii)the proportionate investments either by way of subscription to the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the proposed Joint Venture (JV) Company or through application for allotment of shares in the capital of a proposed Joint Venture (JV) Company, by whatever name called, comprising of Sunflag Iron and Steel Company Limited & Uttam Galva Metallics Limited, not exceeding to Rs. 5,00,00,000/- (Rupees Five Crores) Only, for and on behalf of the Company namely Sunflag Iron and Steel Company Limited; iv)the Registered Office of the Joint Venture (JV) Company, promoted by and comprising of Sunflag Iron and Steel Company Limited Uttam Galva Metallics Limited within the premises of the Registered Office of the Company at 33, Mount Road, Sadar, Nagpur  440001 in the state of Maharashtra  India. On compliance of certain pre-requisite conditions and other obtaining the approvals, as may be required, the Company shall proceed further in the matter and accordingly, the further details shall be provided in compliance of the SEBI (LODR) Regulations 2015. You are therefore, kindly requested to place the aforesaid information on records and do the needful. Meantime, kindly acknowledge the receipt.Source : BSE
Infosys Chief Executive Vishal Sikka attends a news conference in Mumbai, India, February 13, 2017. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui - RTSYGKL

After TV Mohandas Pai, another former Infosys executive and shareholder has raised concerns about the companys plans to hire more people in the US, which could hurt its margins at a time when it is already seeing slow down in its net profit growth.

Former Infosys CFO V Balakrishnan has said that the move to replace Indian H-1B workers with American workers, could have an impact on the margins of the company, which are already under pressure. Infosys is estimated to have over 15,000 workers in the US, a majority on a work visa.

"Even if we replace two-thirds of foreign workers with American workers, costs will still increase and productivity could go down. This might impact margins of the company which are already under pressure since last few quarters, he said in a conversation with Moneycontrol.

In the IT industry, new employees are usually trained in a project for about three months, before being assigned to a client. For the period ending March 31, 2017, Infosys net profit declined to Rs 3,603 crore from Rs 3,708 crore registered in the December quarter. On a yearly basis, the net profit grew just 0.2 percent from the corresponding quarter, last year.

Must read: Vishal Sikkas statement to hire 10K people in the US could be just a rhetoric, says Pai

Infosys this week announced in a statement that it plans to hire 10,000 American workers over the next two years in areas such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, user experience, emerging digital technologies, cloud, and big data. The company would establish four tech hubs across the US for the purpose.

Indian IT companies including Infosys should start following a 90:10 offshore model instead of the current 70:30, where only 70 percent of the project gets delivered offshore," he opined.

The US is planning to end the H-1B lottery system as indicated by a White House official in a press briefing last month. The move to end the H-1B lottery system by the US could result in more offshoring of work to India. IT companies will just apply for lesser visas now," the ex-CFO said.

TV Mohandas Pai this week said that Indian companies would find it difficult to hire a large number of people skilled in machine learning and artificial intelligence in states such as Indiana, where Infosys is planning a tech hub.

harsimran.julka@nw18.com
Gujarat State Fertilizer & Chemicals Limited, India (GSFC) has been buzzing in trade lately. It hit a 52-week high in trade on Wednesday.

To know what is happening in the company, CNBC-TV18 spoke to AM Tiwari, Managing Director of the company.

He said the company is focused on improving its logistics which helps improve margins.

So far the capacity utilisation for fertiliser plants was around 50 percent but the company is now targeting 100 percent of capacity utilisation in FY18.

Last year the company received Rs 1900 crore subsidy from the government unlike earlier years where they had received around Rs 900-950 crore subsidies, said Tiwari.

He said last year the overall numbers were weak due to fall in fertilizer prices but this year the performance is likely to be better on back of debottlenecking. Fertilisers constitute more than 60 percent of the companys business, he added.
Stayzilla founder Yogendra Vasupal

Paying off Stayzillas vendor Jigsaw Advertising, the alleged dues worth Rs 1.7 crore, just to 'settle the issue' would have given a wrong message, since it was a disputed invoice, said Avnish Bajaj, managing director of Matrix Partners in an exclusive interaction with Moneycontrol.

Matrix was one of the early investors of Stayzilla. It had invested close to USD 31 million along with another investor Nexus Venture Partners in the company.

"We had supported Yogi and the family saying if you guys want to settle you should settle (it with Jigsaw) but Yogi (Yogendra Vasupal) was very clear that this was a disputed invoice...an extortion, that there was mal-intention. The question was - did we want to encourage such a behaviour? As far as we are concerned, we were supporting Yogi's stand on it," said Bajaj.

Vasupal, the founder of Stayzilla was taken into custody by Chennais police commissioner after advertising firm Jigsaw slapped charges of fraud against the company early this year.

The issue became public in March when an emergency SOS email by co-founder Sachit Singhi was shot to investors Nexus Venture Partners and Matrix Partners asking for help. The email was made public on social media on March 14, even as the police detained Vasupal, the same day.

On whether or not Matrix Partners itself could have bailed out the CEO by settling the claimed amount to Jigsaw, Bajaj said it was a matter of principle. "This was not the question of dues, but a disputed invoice. Secondly, it is not my money it is run by a fund which makes equity investments and the logic of putting in more after a 100 percent loss is very tenuous  how can an equity investor lose more than 100 percent? But the point is that you are saying it was Rs.1.5-2 crore, it is not about the amount  what if it was Rs 20 crore, by that logic it would never stop (in such disputes)," he said.

According to Bajaj, this was a civil case and the way it was treated, there clearly was a political influence. Vasupal, who had shut Chennai-based Stayzilla in February, was arrested in the Tamil Nadu capital on March 14.

"It was a civil case, there should have been no criminal jurisdiction. Until you go to a fast track court and there is an investigation process as part of that. Let us say that in the investigation process, it was discovered that what the complainant is alleging is correct if it is a case of cheating it is the case of cheating...but first civil and then criminal," he said.

Vasupal was released 28 days later. About 400 CEOs and founders had signed a letter asking for his release, including Bajaj.

"The problem is this was a state subject. And from what we understand, it was highly managed with political influence," he added.

While the Central Government has not made any public comments on the issue so far, according to Bajaj, people in the government machinery have condemned the incidence.

"As far as the Central Government is concerned, I do believe they have taken cognizance of this and they want to do something about strengthening the laws," he said.

Stayzilla last raised over USD 13 million in a Series C round of funding from Matrix Partners and Nexus Ventures in three tranches spread across November 2016 to February 2017.

The funding round was the last ditch effort of the existing investors to keep the company afloat.

However, it wasn't that simple claims Bajaj. The company failed to get new investors on board.

"We kept investing in Stayzilla as we believed in the model and Yogi. We were looking for new investors but kept failing. The company was trying to cut its burn rate and managed to reduce it to some level. But these are businesses which continue to lose money. If new investments do not arrive, ultimately the company will run out of money," Bajaj said adding that as existing investors they had a limit on how much they could put in.

"It reached a stage where it wasn't happening. Even Yogi started saying this is not going in the right direction. You have to cut your losses at some stage. In February, we had a discussion that this model in its present form is not working and then we told Yogi that we are going to write this off," he added.

Stayzilla has currently stopped operations and is expected to be working on a different business model.
Answer: Vijay Mallya

India today asked Britain to ensure early extradition of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, wanted back home in a bank default case of over Rs 9000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi sought early conclusion of the extradition process of Mallya, who has been declared a proclaimed offender by a Mumbai court, during his talks here with his UK counterpart Patsy Wilkinson, the second permanent secretary in the British Home Office, official sources said.

"We have discussed how to remove the bottlenecks in processing extradition requests. The process involved in matters of extradition and the need to further improve them were also discussed," home ministry adviser Ashok Prasad said.

Though Prasad maintained no specific case was discussed at the meeting, some other official sources said the Mallya case was indeed raised by the union home secretary. Prasad said Mallya's case was subjudice.

The presence of certain Khalistani militant elements in the UK also came up for discussion.

"We discussed the issue of Khalistani militants based in the UK and they have promised to look into it," Prasad said.

Both sides agreed to address the challenges of illegal migrants and resolved to work together to ensure smooth return of Indians overstaying in the UK after proper verification.

Prasad said the Indian side brought up visa-related difficulties faced by Indian students, skilled professionals and dependents of Indian diplomats which the UK official assured would be looked into.

"Both India and the UK laid emphasis on cooperation on anti-terrorism mechanism and to strengthen mutual support to check cyber crimes. Both sides agreed to finalise these arrangements," Prasad said.

Sharing of intelligence inputs on a real time basis, particularly with regard to the ISIS, both from ISIS-held territories and modules being busted in the UK and Europe, were discussed at the two hour meeting, sources said.

Counterterrorism cooperation between India and Britain, besides a host of other issues figured during deliberations.

Matters relating to the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, strengthening of the intelligence sharing mechanism and visa- related issues were also deliberated upon, the sources said.

61-year-old Mallya, who has been living in Britain since last year, was arrested by Scotland Yard last month at India's request for his extradition.

Within hours of his arrest, Mallya, who is accused of cheating and fraud, was released on bail by a London court.

The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will argue the case on behalf of the Indian authorities when it comes up before the court.

Mallya, whose defunct Kingfisher Airlines allegedly owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016.

India and the UK signed an extradition treaty in 1992, but so far only one person has been sent back under it. Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel was extradited last October to face trial for his alleged involvement in the post-Godhra Gujarat riots of 2002.

However, unlike Mallya, Patel had submitted to the extradition order without offering legal challenge. India had made a formal extradition request for Mallya through a note verbale, a diplomatic communication, on February 8.

Mehrishi lauded the UK's effort for extraditing Mallya and offered New Delhi's help to the prosecution in pursuing the case in London.

The sources said India told the British delegation if one-on-one contact could be established between the prosecuting agency in India and the Crown Prosecution or Department of Prosecution, it would be speedier and easier to present evidence before the judge concerned.

The Indian side said authorities here will inform the UK about the proceedings or court hearings happening in cases of criminals wanted by Britain living in India and wanted it to be reciprocated.

Both sides agreed to sign an MoU in July on reworking the agreement on security cooperation.

India also offered to drop cases registered against a Bangladeshi national, who is lodged in Assam, so he can be extradited to England.

Sources said India expected reciprocity from England. If people wanted here are facing criminal charges in Britain, those should be dropped and their extradition facilitated, they said.
Answer: Vijay Mallya

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi met his British counterpart Patsy Wilkinson, the Second permanent secretary in the British Home Office, at North Block on Thursday.

India is likely to press for early extradition of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya from the United Kingdom during the Home Secy-level talks.

The counter-terror cooperation between India and the UK besides a host of other issues will figure in the meeting, official sources said.

Within hours of his arrest, Mallya, who is accused of cheating and frauds, was released on bail by a London court. The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will argue the case on behalf of the Indian authorities.

The 61-year-old Mallya, who has been living in Britain since last year, was arrested by the Scotland Yard last month on the extradition request of India.

India and the UK have an extradition treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement - Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was sent back to India last October to face trial in connection with his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.

However, unlike Mallya, he had submitted to the extradition order without legal challenge. India had given a formal extradition request for Mallya as per the extradition treaty between India and the UK through a note verbale, a diplomatic communication, on February 8.
FDI

The government approved a proposal of Twin Star Technologies, promoted by billionaire Anil Agarwal's family, envisaging investment of up to Rs 9,000 crore from a Mauritius-based company.

The foreign investment is likely to generate direct and indirect employment opportunities for over 30,000 people. The decision was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As per the proposal, Twin Star Technologies will get foreign investment up to Rs 9,000 crore (by on or before March 2025) from Twin Star Overseas, Mauritius.

"The investment will be through a combination of equity, compulsorily convertible debentures, compulsorily convertible preference shares and other FDl compliant instruments...," an official release said.

The proposed investment is for undertaking downstream investment in NRI billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Twin Star Display Technologies and other Indian operating companies engaged in activities eligible for receiving FDl on the automatic route.

. "Foreign direct investment of up to Rs 9,000 crore will be received in the country (on or before March 2025) and will provide direct and indirect employment to over 30,000 people," the release added.

Last year, the Agarwal-led company had announced that it will set up India's first LCD manufacturing facility, which will see an investment of nearly Rs 68,000 crore in five phases.
FDI

Pitching for foreign direct investment in the food processing sector, India has asked the US companies to take advantage of its liberalised foreign investment rules, ready made infrastructure and improving business environment.

A high-powered team of Indian officials led by Jagdish Prasad Meena, Special Secretary in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries yesterday started their two-day trip to Midwest from Chicago holding meetings with high-level officials from several Chicagoland food services, logistics and restaurant companies.

During the meeting, Meena urged them to take advantage of India's liberalised foreign investment rules, readymade infrastructure and improving ease-of-doing-business climate, the Indian Consulate in Chicago said in a statement.

Given its size and location in the Midwest, Chicago has been the hub of the US food and food processing industry and is home to many of the world's leading food and agriculture companies.

During his trip here, Meena is scheduled to meet with Potbelly, headquartered in downtown Chicago, and Mondelez, which has a bakery in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood.

Meetings are also scheduled with Sensient, Griffith Foods, and Ingredion among others.

The first of its kind visit of US officials comes as the Narendra Modi government has significantly liberalised FDI regulations, and has allowed 100 per cent FDI in manufacturing of food products and 100 per cent FDI in trading including e- commerce in food products manufactured and produced in India.

India has undertaken several national and state-level programmes to improve the nation's standing in the World Bank's annual Ease of Doing Business Index, the Consulate said.

India's food processing industry is experiencing significant growth and boasts existing infrastructure in new Mega Food Parks around the country as well as state-of-the-art Cold Chain facilities, it said.

From November 3 to 5, New Delhi will host the World Food India 2017, a first-of-its-kind mega-scale event showcasing the large agricultural or horticultural produce base of India and its huge young population, providing a ready market providing immense investment opportunities for the entire food processing and food retail sector.

Leading US companies are invited to learn about India's proactive policies and profitable opportunities available across the entire food processing and food retail value chain.
Kerala Government today said it was expecting an additional revenue of at least Rs 3,000 crore per annum post GST implementation.

"Our revenue will increase considerably... (the increase) is expected to touch Rs 3,000 crore (per annum) once the Goods and Services Tax is implemented," Finance Minister Thomas Isaac told the state assembly during Question Hour.

He also said that in 2016-17 fiscal, the state was able to register a growth of 8.98 per cent compared to previous year. However, demonetisation and the resulting economic slowdown had affected the state's tax revenue.

As part of its initiative to meet the currency shortage in the state treasuries, government had deposited collections totalling about Rs 74.12 crore from beverages corporation, Rs 339.66 crore from KSEB and Rs 102.80 crore from lottery department till Apr 28 last, he said.
The cabinet has approved the new national steel policy. This is aimed at bolstering growth for Indian steel makers who are facing troubles due to cheap imports.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Aruna Sharma, Steel Secretary said that national steel policy is a visionary statement for domestic steel industry.

She further said that the target for domestic steel capacity is 150 million tonne by 2020.

On iron ore front, she said there is an excellent iron ore reserves in India and therefore looking at utilising them.

Below is the verbatim transcript of the interview.

Latha: Is it one of the parts of this policy to encourage both government sector and private sector to consume domestic steel before looking at imports? Is there anything in this policy that will give the domestic steel producers an advantage when it comes to orders placed by the government?

A: There are two documents which have been approved by the cabinet yesterday. One is the steel policy which is a visionary statement, which is giving a vision for 2030, how we are going to go about import replacements, how we are going to go about reducing the production cost, how we are going to go about enhancing the domestic consumption.

The other policy, the response to your question, which is a preferential treatment for procurement by government and its agencies of steel made in India. So, Make in Steel, Make in India - under that policy on equivalent quality basis and competitive rate, the preference will be given to the steel made in India. This will give a boost to Indian manufacturers, this will also encourage foreign direct investments (FDIs) so that anybody who wants to be a participant in this will be welcome to establish steel making within the geographical boundaries of the country.

Sonia: This preferential treatment is a big positive but I also wanted to ask you about the projection to grow the capacity to 300 million tonne by 2030 because the issue now is one of demand. Demand seems to be very low at the moment. So do you think adding capacity at this point in time is a prudent thing to do because currently there is quite a bit of overcapacity in the system, right?

A: You are absolutely right on that that in India we have a capacity on date of 126 million tonne and this year we made a big jump and also the domestic consumption has gone up by 3 percent, so, in the sense that it has started showing an upward trend.

If you look at the domestic consumption, we are abysmal low. Now with the usage of steel in the housing sector, in the rural housing sector in a big way, that itself will give a big boost. Steel being a deregulated sector, 150 million tonne will be easily reached by 2020 because it is already in process, like both the public and the private sector investment will start fructifying.

Latha: At the moment the world is itself reeling under huge overcapacity. We have been complaining of dumping by China, havent we, and even you have made policies to bolster India. So in that situation why are we increasing capacity?

A: We have to understand how we define excess capacity; it is in totality or is it the geographical bound. This has been debated in the global forum, where India is in the committee, because if domestic consumption is on par, like in India 85 percent we domestically consume, we exported only 8.2 million tonne, we imported 7.4 million tonne.

So, in the sense we are a country where domestic consumption and it makes a lot of sense that if India is going to consume the steel and we have an excellent iron ore with us that we should make our steel instead of importing to the requirements which are going to come in future. Definitely the market forces will decide how much of investment goes into the sector.

Sonia: I think the worry is that, the worry is that who is going to really fund this expansion because if you are looking at 150 million tonne by 2020, I understand that every 100 million tonne will cost almost Rs 7 lakh crore. That is putting a lot of pressure on the government at a time when there is so much overcapacity already?

A: The overcapacity is definitely not in India. So, that is not a point of worry at all. Definitely the utilisation is going up, the non-performing asset (NPA) jam is getting eased out and the sector is making profit. If you look at the 2016-2017 graph of sector, definitely it has done. Let me correct you that 51 percent contribution in the 300 million tonne will also come from the secondary sector where the investment is only Rs 2,500 crore per million tonne. So, in the sense you will have less investment, more steel capacity, better quality regime which will be coming out very quickly. So, blast furnace route is not the only route on which it will be going. There will be other routes also.

The input cost consciously we are trying to bring it down so that will be very competitive. So, in India we are very clear that with the 7 percent growth rate and our contribution, the steel contribution in gross domestic product (GDP) last year has gone up more than 2 percent. Generally we used say it is 2 percent, we have crossed 2 percent and become 2.3 percent. So, with this kind of a contribution, with the growth rate in India continuing to be 7.3 percent and infrastructure consumes more and more of steel, Rs 400,000 crore per annum if it is going in infrastructure, and in that if the bigger percentage comes from the steel, then definitely domestic need is going up. Now the choice is whether it is our steel or outside steel, but definitely answer is our steel.
Prime Minister Narendra Modis recent statement in Surat about government contemplating a new law making it mandatory for doctors to prescribe only using generic names of drugs has set the cat among the pigeons.

Taking cues from Modis statement the Medical Council of India (MCI), the body that registers doctors and regulates medical education, immediately came out with notices directing doctors to use generic names and warned of disciplinary action against those violating the code.

To be sure other than the statement made by the PM, there wasnt yet any clarity on the proposed law.

We have not yet taken any legal route but we are seeing if we have to take steps to push this (prescribe and use generic drugs)...perhaps through a legal course, reported Bureaucracy Today quoting Union health secretary CK Mishra.

Here is why the government enthusiasm to enforce use of generic names may not end the practice of using brand names by doctors in prescriptions anytime soon.

Why do we need a law to force doctors to write prescription using generic names?

To make medicines cheaper and break the unhealthy nexus between pharmaceuticals companies and doctors. It is generally believed that many doctors predominantly prescribe those brands, which are promoted by a pharmaceutical company even when a low-cost generic substitute is available. Around 90 percent of little over one trillion rupees Indian pharmaceutical market is dominated by these brands.

Unlike in US and some other developed countries where branded drugs refers to patented drugs, while the off-patent ones are called as generics. In India the so called branded drugs are nothing but generic drugs promoted as brands, like the example of Amoxycillin and Clavulanic acid which is promoted by GSK as Augmentin and Clavam by Alkem.

Why is MCIs notification generating so much confusion?

The devil is in the details. The MCI circular says that Every physician should prescribe drugs with generic names legibly and preferably in capital letters and he/she shall ensure that there is a rational prescription and use of drugs., but several bodies representing doctors including the influential Indian Medical Association say that MCIs code doesnt prohibit doctors from writing the name of a company or a brand on a prescription.

In essence MCI code isnt going to end the practice of doctors using brand names anytime soon until it is suitably amended to make it mandatory for doctors to prescribe by generic names failing which they would be liable for prosecution.

Taking advantage of loophole in MCI notification some pharmaceutical companies have given directions to their medical representatives to inform doctors that they can prescribe brand names along with the generic name of the medicine.

Implementation problem

Even if MCI addresses the technical aspects and amends its code  enforcement is million dollar question. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), a Paris-based international humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization says to implement use of generic names in prescriptions would require a "major behavioral change from the medical fraternity which mistakenly associates more expensive brands with quality."

Also there is no mechanism to regulate doctors as hundreds of thousands of prescriptions are written every day. How will these be checked, so its not practical to implement generic only prescriptions," says SV Veeramani, ex-president of Indian Drug Manufacturers Association.

Even if generic prescription is made mandatory  the doctor-pharma company nexus will only be replaced by chemist-pharma nexus, which is much worse as many people working as chemists arent even qualified and giving them the task of substituting generic is risky. Its a common place in India that most chemists sell drugs to patients including antibiotics without a valid prescription, despite laws in place prohibiting them to do so.

Quality issues

In theory there shouldnt be any difference between branded and generic drug because both are chemically the same. Given the lax regulatory oversight and enforcement, substandard drugs with little or no efficacy are often flooded in the market endangering patient health. In a long overdue move the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has recently amended the law to make bio-equivalence studies compulsory for certain classes of generic drugs manufactured in India.

India drug regulator has a long way to go to ensure availability good quality medicines  this will be only possible through strict quality control, audits and deterrent punishment of companies violating regulatory standards.

Implementation of uniform quality standards gives comfort to the doctors and put to rest to their concerns about quality of generic drugs.
A plug is seen coming from the Chevrolet Volt electric car during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan January 13, 2009. REUTERS/Mark Blinch (UNITED STATES) - RTR23CT6

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Last week the Nitin Gadkari-headed Ministry of Road Transport and Highways concluded a tender inviting companies for leasing electric cars for its official use. A minimum of five such cars will be run daily for at least 100 km at a stretch, stated a notification.

Further, the municipal corporation of Nagpur, the home town of Gadkari, is talking to Mahindra & Mahindra, the only manufacturer of electric cars in India, to procure 200 electric cars to be run as taxis in that city.

Speaking to Moneycontrol at a recent CII event held in Mumbai Gadkari said: Very soon we will have electric taxis running in Nagpur.

Reducing Fossil Fuels

These are the small but initial steps taken by the government towards promotion of environment-friendly mobility solutions, highlighting the need to reduce dependence on traditional petrol, diesel and CNG-fired engines.

In fact, the government plans to completely eliminate traditional fuels as per plans unveiled by Power Minister Piyush Goyal who also said that the Center is supporting electric vehicles in a big way. The idea is that by 2030, not a single petrol or diesel car should be sold in the country, Goyal said recently.

While the Center is pushing for electric vehicles aggressively state governments are not very far behind. Plans are afoot by various state governments to have fully electric buses that would be replacing the traditional diesel and CNG-run intra-city buses.

A pilot e-bus run in Shimla was carried out recently by Tata Motors, Indias biggest bus maker, on the Parwanoo-Kalka route. The company is bidding for the order for 75 electric buses (worth Rs 150 crore) from the Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation. The same corporation bought 25 electric buses for Rs 48 crore from a Chinese company BYD to be run at an altitude of 13,000 feet.

Ravindra Pisharody, Executive Director (commercial vehicles), Tata Motors said, If the government increases the subsidy for fully electric buses, which should be higher than those given on diesel hybrid (Rs 55 lakh) and CNG hybrid (Rs 65 lakh) then it would make the costs of making electric buses more practical.

A 12 meter electric bus from Tata Motors costs Rs 2 crore while a 9 meter bus costs Rs 1.6 crore without subsidy. The Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) was in talks with Tata Motors for buying electric buses. The deal was reworked later to include 25 confirmed units of diesel hybrid electric buses (diesel engine + electric motor).

Benefits of a JV

Indias drive towards electrification got its biggest shot in the arm only last month when Suzuki, Toshiba and Denso announced a tri-partite joint venture for setting up a lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant in the country.

The plant will bring down cost of batteries to a significant extent which until now were imported from China, the battery manufacturing capital of the world. Batteries alone make up 50 percent of the cost of an electric car.

Car market leader Maruti Suzuki , which is working independently towards alternate fuel technology such as electrics, will be a major beneficiary of the battery plant. The Delhi-based company has confirmed that batteries produced by its parent Suzuki will be bought by it for its own cars.
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The huge run-up in tyre space in the last one year has seen companies like Balkrishna Industries, JK Tyre & Industries and Govind Rubber double their stock prices. Going ahead, analysts expect still more upside left in select tyre stocks.

In February, rubber prices surged touched a 52-week high of Rs 160 per kg, but the commodity is trading close to Rs 139.50 per kg. As natural rubber prices have started correcting, the subsequent decline in rubber prices is likely to be benefit to tyre companies in their input costs.

Moneycontrol picked up tyre companies with a market cap of over Rs 2,000 crore. Interestingly, all these tyre stocks have given over 50 percent stock price returns in the last one year.

"Tyre industry is one sector which uses synthetic rubber and natural rubber and both have crashed since 2014 peak. The oil price crashed almost 50 percent and the synthetic rubber is the derivative of oil. Similarly, natural rubber after touching Rs 240 per kilogram (kg), last year it fell as low as Rs 91 per kg, so this gave a phenomenal opportunity for the tyre stocks to get re-rated because they have led to margin expansions. That is why despite all demonetisation, index of industrial production (IIP) number being zero, the cumulative growth, the tyre stocks have done phenomenally well in the market," G Chokkalingam of Equinomics Research & Advisory told CNBC-TV18.

"I have come out of stocks like JK Tyres and Ceat, but we are suggesting hold on MRF for long-term because this is a leader in the industry. It has a strong balance sheet  the debt is almost zero and also, recently it has gone on an aggressive expansion to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore. Therefore, my aggressive target of Rs 1 lakh on stock for MRF in the next three years. ," he said.

"There is a lot of scope for further re-rating of MRF because it is a leader and massive expansions are in place and also tactical opportunities there because number of shares is just 42 lakh shares and if at all any regulator forces MRF to split the share and give bonus then overnight it can shoot up," he added.

A KR Choksey research report expects CEAT to get benefits from its strategic focus on the higher growth (twowheeler and passenger vehicle) segments".

Additionally, the companys CAPEX program is expected to be completed by FY18end, which should help CEAT reap benefits of operating leverage in FY19. Recommend accumulate rating on the stock and value the stock at 15x FY19E EPS of INR 117.7 with a target price of INR 1,766, the report stated.

An ICICI Direct research report maintains buy on JK Tyres and Industries (JKTIL) with a target of Rs 215.

"The expectation of a revival in the capex cycle makes us optimistic about the revenue/earnings growth possibilities. Its plans to explore the 2-W space and new radial capacity would drive incremental growth. JKTIL is available at attractive valuation - currently trading at PE of 8x FY18E vs.the tyre industry average of >13x. Thus, we value JKTIL at 5x FY19E EV/EBITDA to arrive at a target price of Rs 215. We maintain BUY on JK Tyres," according to the ICICI Direct report.
Indian telecom's newest entrant Reliance Jio is in early talks with Chinese manufacturers for a sub-Rs 1,500 4G LTE feature phone, according to various media reports.

The telecom arm of Reliance Industries is believed to be in discussions with Chinese firms including Techchain, FortuneShip and Uniscope.

The move would make sense for Jio as the companys 4G SIM cards are not compatible with 3G smartphones. Also, with low prices, the new phone can further increase Jios customer base of more than 100 million.

Currently, on an average, a 4G smartphone costs around Rs 3,000. However, some of Jios Lyf Flame 4G smartphones are available for less than Rs 3,000.

Domestic manufacturers such as Micromax and Intex are also working on sub-Rs 2,000 4G smartphones.

According to a report in the Financial Express, Jio has sought some engineering samples for 4G smartphones from Chinese contract manufacturers.

Till now, Jio was following a model where once commercial orders are placed, the handsets will initially be imported, but manufacturers will later have to make the handsets within the country.

The feature phones market  which doesnt have many low priced 4G phones  could see Jio grabbing more share if it starts producing affordable phones.

According to another report in the Economic Times, Chinese mobile chip company Spreadtrum Communications is planning features phones that could reduce prices by nearly half.

"We are working on a technology that makes a Rs 1,500 4G feature phone viable. We have already started concept promotions to our partners," Spreadtrum Communications' country head Neeraj Sharma told ET.

Spreadtrum currently has a two-year partnership with Reliance Industries.

Disclaimer: Reliance Jio is owned by Reliance Industries, who also own Network18, the publisher of Moneycontrol.
May 04, 2017 / 08:25 AM IST

Bull's Eye, CNBC-TV18's popular game show, where market experts come together to dish out trading strategies for you to make your week more exciting and compete with each other to see whose portfolio is the strongest.

Remember these are midcap ideas not just for the day, but stocks that look attractive in the medium-term as well.

This week, Pankaj Jain, Vijay Chopra and Ruchit Jain battle it out for top honours.

Below their top stock picks and analysis:

Pankaj Jain of SW Capital

Buy NBCC with a stoploss at Rs 197 and target of Rs 207

Buy Union Bank of India with a stoploss at Rs 176 and target of Rs 187

Buy GIC Housing Finance with a stoploss at Rs 534 and target of Rs 565

Buy Maruti Suzuki India with a stoploss at Rs 6590 and target of Rs 6795

Vijay Chopra of enochventures.com

Buy SREI Infrastructure Finance with a stoploss at Rs 100 and target of Rs 109

Buy Raymond with a stoploss at Rs 775 and target of Rs 800

Buy Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals (GSFC) with a stoploss at Rs 130 and target of Rs 139

Buy IFCI with a stoploss at Rs 30.25 and target of Rs 34.50

Ruchit Jain of Angel Broking

Buy Arvind with a stoploss at Rs 410 and target of Rs 434

Buy Siemens with a stoploss at Rs 1308 and target of Rs 1400

Buy Pidilite Industries with a stoploss at Rs 715 and target of Rs 760

Buy Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company with a stoploss at Rs 1060 and target of Rs 1150
Zydus Wellness | Brokerage: Sharekhan | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 1,472 | Return: 18 percent

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ICICI Bank

Analyst: Bank of America Merrill Lynch | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 376

The research firm believes that ICICI Banks stock is pricing in stress and is trading at 1.2 times and 0.9 times FY18 and FY19, respectively and is a fully stress-adjusted book value. It also increased earnings per share (EPS) by over 1 percent for the current fiscal and the next one, while profit after tax (PAT) growth has been forecast at 17 percent in FY18 and 22 percent in FY19.

Analyst: Citi | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 330

The global financial services firm said that the use of contingent provisions helped cushion the profit and loss (P&L) account, adding that 50 percent of NPL additions at Rs 11,300 crore came from one cement account. Going forward, asset resolution is the key to its CASA gains and liabilities.

Analyst: Deutsche Bank | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 350.

Analysts the firm saw strong CASA growth aiding margins for the bank. Meanwhile, it cut earnings by 14 and 11 percent in FY18 and FY19, assuming higher credit costs. It observed that these costs have peaked and will remain elevated in FY18. Higher slippages from corporate books is also a key risk to the stock, it said.

Analyst: JPMorgan | Rating: Neutral | Target: Rs 265

JPMorgan termed ICICI Banks slippages as disappointing though they were largely from the drill-down list. It observed that headline growth was weak largely due to stressed book. Meanwhile, retail book bounced back to 7.5 percent quarter on quarter post demonetisation. Yields could be under pressure from price competition, base rate to MCLR transition.

Analyst: Goldman Sachs | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 320

The research firm expects slippages to moderate in FY18 to 4 percent from 6.7 percent in FY17. It feels the stock is a buy on attractive risk reward. Having said that, higher corporate loan slippages and lower than expected margin are the key risks to the stock.

Analyst: IDFC Securities | Rating: Outperform | Target: Rs 315

The brokerage firm termed the earnings better than expected, especially on the CASA and new stress loan formation front. It cited how the management expects slippages and credit cost to decline in the current fiscal. It prefers the bank over Axis Bank and SBI in the sector.

Analyst: Macquarie | Rating: Outperform | Target: Rs 330

The firm believes that the current market price is adequately discounting asset quality woes of the bank. While slippages will be lower in FY18, they will still be high on absolute basis, Macquarie said in its report. However, margins from the March quarter surprised positively, but are unlikely to see material improvement in FY18, it said. Cheap valuations, lower slippages key catalysts for the stock going forward.

Marico

Analyst: Credit Suisse | Rating: Neutral | Target: Rs 300

Credit Suisse continues to fundamentally like its solid core portfolio of coconut oils. Having said that, it believes that Maricos future growth drivers outside hair oils hold good potential over 5 years. Its valuations At over 43x FY18 leave no room for upside.

Analyst: Deutsche Bank | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 340

Given the focus on volume and strong innovation pipeline, Deutsche Bank expects Maricos valuation to sustain. Among key risks to the stock are rural slowdown and market share losses.

Analyst: JPMorgan | Rating: Neutral | Target: Rs 300

The brokerage believes that current valuations appear demanding. It revised FY18 and FY19 ERPS estimates by over 2 percent on factoring a better Q4. It expects coconut oil/VAHO to witness over 20 percent and 16 percent, respectively. Saffola is likely to post over 10 percent revenue growth, it added. Moreover, it expects youth portfolio to revive over 15 percent from subdued base in FY17.

Analyst: Goldman Sachs | Rating: Neutral | Target: Rs 262

Faster new product growth, commodity benefits are the key risks for the stock, it said. Meanwhile, slower hair oil sales, slower international growth are key risks.

Analyst: Macquarie | Rating: Outperform | Target: Rs 331

For Macquarie, Marico remains one of the top picks in the consumer space. It believes that strong earnings delivery should sustain the higher valuations. It feels that the Street is underestimating margin expansion on account of operating leverage.

Future Retail

Analyst: Nomura | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 476

The brokerage house initiated coverage on the stock and sees 46.6 percent upside to the stock. This is on the back of projected earnings growth trajectory and better returns. It expects Indias modern retail share to reach 12 percent by FY20 against 9 percent currently. It expects Future Retail to be key beneficiary of growing modern retail share in India. Furthermore, it sees margin touching 4 percent by FY19 on better product mix and cost control.

DHFL

Analyst: Nomura | Rating: Buy | Target: Rs 335

Nomura said that the companys Q4 results were in line with forecasts with marginal beat on margin and assets under management (AUM) growth. But, it highlighted the risk for housing finance companies with respect to mortgage growth, pressure on spreads in the core business as well.
In an interview to CNBC-TV18's Sonia Shenoy and Anuj Singhal, SP Tulsian of sptulsian.com shared his readings and outlook on the fundamentals of the market and specific stocks.

Below is the verbatim transcript of the interview.

Q: I wanted your thoughts first on ICICI Bank. You have seen a 10 percent rally here. Would you expect more?

A: Coming specifically on ICICI Bank, if you really see that definitely there has been two or three sweeteners on the asset quality, provisioning, maybe that unexpected 1:10 bonus issue which market or maybe the analysts have not much talked about. But honestly, if you really ask me, I have heard you in the morning also giving opinion on the positive bias. Positive bias was seen, but the over-exuberance of or if you take the contribution of ICICI Bank, it is singlehandedly on a net-basis, about 47-48 points are contributed by ICICI Bank to the Nifty, I do not think that these kind of upmoves is really seen warranted.

But as I said, no disappointment on the asset quality front and actually the RBI or the cabinet committee which has approved the recovery or having empowered the RBI to recovery the amounts of the stressed loan, that will be seen quite positive. So, it is a combination of all the factors, number one.

Number two, it has to do with the expiry management also of the Bank Nifty which is happening today because if you see, last week if I am not mistaken on Thursday, the expiry of Bank Nifty happened at 22,200 and that itself was looking quite stretched. And after that, we have seen a rise of about 500-600 points. I am probably expecting that this momentum has to do more with this.

If the RBI comes and actually I am very positive on this RBI move because they will, this time, be very ruthless. Let us not expect that we will be having dilly-dallying with the defaulting promoters. You have 8-10 promoters. The clear cut guidelines which we are getting inside informations that about 15-20 promoters will called by RBI and they will be given a clear message to clear the debts or the defaulting amounts or maybe the alternatives will be exercised.

So, in that background, ICICI is definitely seen to be a big beneficiary. Even they had their problems and all that. I am satisfied with the numbers. I am satisfied with the unexpected bonus having announced, but I think that probably this has got reflected more than what the bank deserves into the share price. Probably it has to do with the expiry management though I may be wrong. So, from tomorrow I may be a bit cautious that profit booking may be seen, but yes, things are as of now, fully priced for ICICI Bank.

Sonia: For Exide Industries, this time around, we have seen a double digit revenue growth for the fourth consecutive quarter and the management commentary is quite positive as far as the revenue trajectory is concerned. At Rs 232, how would you be positioned on this stock?

A: Again, you have rightly summed it up that the topline growth which we have seen Rs 2,200 crore plus is really remarkable. Actually market is not too bothered about the margins though the margins are not disappointing. The sub-Rs 2 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, I am only referring for Q4, but the topline growth has been seen quite robust for the company.

We knew that the raw material prices of led which is the main raw material for the battery makers are seen to be though the battery makers have been kept passing these increases in the form of increase in the battery prices having taken place in this Q4 two or three times. Amara Raja Batteries, as well as Exide. But actually if the market, what is happening now that if you do not have any kind of disappointment or big negatives, then the market is overlooking all those things and prepared to give you a valuations.

Take the case of Ceat tyre. I was just going through the numbers which came about three days back. There was huge disappointment but market has reacted positively.

So maybe because of the technical stance and because of the topline growth and which actually, I am equally impressed and I am keeping a positive view on Exide industries going forward including Amara Raja both, the topline growth is really phenomenal and if that continues, the kind of growth which we have been seeing in this one, in the automobile segments, including all the auto ancillaries, things are looking good and I am quite happy and satisfied with the results, not so much on the margin fronts, but yes, on the topline fronts, the things are really quite good.

One may argue that the stock is looking quite expensive, but both the duo in this space, in this sector that is Amara Raja and Exide have always ruled quite dearly and I continue to have the positive bias.

Anuj: We were discussing fertiliser stocks. You track these stocks fundamentally, but is the market betting too much on the change of government, the current regime? Is that why we are seeing this kind of rerating in fertiliser stocks and would you be betting on any of these stocks?

A: There are two or three things which we need to understand for the fertiliser sector. Firstly, we are quite positive on the phosphatic based fertiliser. I will not be taking that equal bullish view on the pure urea maker. Now just to come on that point, if you first take a call on that, Coromandel International had come out with the results recently, maybe three days back where they have posted an EPS of Rs 17, I am not going into the quarter which has shown a growth of about 66 percent in the operating profit on year-on-year basis.

So, if you take these type of things, take the case of Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals (GNFC), GNFC is making again, there is talk that anti dumping duty is being talked of, government may levy because of the too much import of Toluene Di  isocyanate (TDI) happening from the South-East Asian countries. So probably because of that GNFC is into the news. Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals (GSFC) again for the caprolactum that some more contributing than the complex fertiliser.

So, what my point is that overall yes, there is a quite positive view on the complex fertiliser maker going from here on in which space you can include Coromandel International, you can include Tata Chemicals or you can include stocks like GSFC. But I will not be too equally positive on the stocks like Chambal Fertilisers now having seen the stock moved by 16-17 percent, no doubt that they are taking the asset monetisation move, selling their ship and all that which will not fetch, maybe there will loss on the sale of ship as well over the book value.

But I will not be painting all the fertiliser stocks with the same brush. Maybe even Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) falls in the same category though they have a presence in the complex fertiliser, but that presence is quite small as compared to urea because their major presence is more in urea they have plant at Thal at Alibag.

So, my point is that yes, keep a positive view on phosphatic acid because now, what is happening onward of this government policy that they want to have the combination of NPK  nitrogen, phosphatics and potash, all three must be used in a proper combination and those who can offer that kind of product mix to the farmers, they will be having the higher margin because of their product mix innovation or because of their depend on crop to crop.

So, I am keeping my positive stance, but few and selective basis, like GNFC, GSFC for other reason for caprolactum and TDI, expectation of import duty being levied or maybe dumping duty being levied or on the stocks like Coromandel fertiliser or Tata Chemicals going forward from here on.

Anuj: Thoughts on MRF? Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin of 15 percent, there are so many headwinds, but of course, the stocks keep making new all-time highs.

A: We have discussed a while back on Ceat and actually I tend to defer here. If you see, probably I will not have the commodity chart in front of me, but if you see, the companies have enjoyed the lower rubber prices of closer to about Rs 140, practically for the whole month of March because since then, the prices have started correcting and actually that kind of benefit it enjoyed by the companies for the last one month of Q4 or maybe for the last two months of this period.

So, there is definitely disappointment. I will not subscribe to this argument of the margin shrinkage, purely because of the increase in the rubber prices because as I said that commodity prices have started softening, number one.

Number two, if you do not have the volume growth, someone is eating your share and we have discussed a while back that Ceat again which is a prominent stock, which is a leader or maybe after MRF, they have disappointed on that front. Third company which I closely track and again, it is not talked as a tyre stock but that was Kesoram Industries. Again Kesoram have posted disappointment because they have shown good performance. I am not worried for Q3, but Q4 these kind of results at least I was not expecting from the companies and the best part is that in spite of these having these type of disappointing numbers, the shares are not correcting.

Case in point was Ceat tyres, but I think that probably technical factors may not continue to last for a very long time. The tyre stocks are seen having practically reached to its peak levels for all the tyre stocks.

Sonia: We have discussed this space quite a bit, but do you think the best of the returns have already been or the easy money has already been made in this sector or would you still look at this entire pocket as a buy on dip?

A: In fact I have been throwing caution on the tyre sector maybe for the last 15 days or maybe last couple of weeks, but since then post that also, the stocks have risen. And in fact if you see, these kind of performances coming in, the channel has just now plotted nicely the fall in the margins.

And if you see, confined only to FY17 where the margins have continuously fallen and you see the stocks prices are hitting at all-time high and that too when the commodity cycle is at its lowest, when the rubber prices are seen ruling at 140 where the rubber prices or maybe the rubber growers are seen screaming, that is number one.

Number two, if you really go situation, take going forward, I do not think that you can just rely on the northern and western for the agrarian economy to really move to see, because that market share will be probably be taken away by the companies like Balkrishna Industries who are more into the tractors or maybe the off the road tyres and all kind of things.

A company like MRF has to really fire on all cylinders. They have to see growth in two-wheeler, growth in three-wheeler, growth in commercial vehicle, passenger vehicles, so I will not be jumping because in fact, we have the past instances, stocks have swiftly corrected by 15 percent. In fact that situation, forget traders, even investors get shivers in the spine because you cannot see this kind of fall correcting. Maybe the stocks can bounce back, but do you have that kind of conviction at the highest point, at the highest level.

Probably the historic high when the margins are seen continuously on a falling trend because I was not expecting margins at least to deteriorate on a sequential basis in Q4 as I have said that because of the soft rubber prices which we have seen in the last at least 30 days of the quarter, so I am quite cautious and I am quite will keep a cautious and avoid taking a buy call on any of these tyre stocks.
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Shares of Punj Lloyd gained 7.6 percent intraday Thursday as it has inaugurated small arms manufacturing plant at Malanpur in Madhya Pradesh.

"The company through its wholly owned subsidiary Punj Lloyd Industries, and its JV partner Israel Weapon Industries (IWI), today inaugurated the country's first private sector small arms manufacturing plant at Malanpur in Madhya Pradesh," company said in press release.

"The JV company Punj Lloyd Raksha Systems will be manufacturing small arms in the above plant for the Indian Defence Forces and also for export," it added.

Atul Punj, Chairman, Punj Lloyd said, "This is the first opportunity for the country to get its own 'Made in India' small arms. The need of the hour is to replace the country's defence weapons with sophisticated and high precision products and Punj Lloyd Raksha Systems is the answer to the country's immediate need."

At 14:33 hrs Punj Lloyd was quoting at Rs 23.20, up Rs 1.45, or 6.67 percent on the BSE.

Posted by Rakesh Patil
Ashwani Gujral of ashwanigujral.com told CNBC-TV18, "Tata Motors is a sell with a stop loss of Rs 446 and target of Rs 428. Vedanta is also a sell with a stop loss of Rs 240 and target of Rs 226."

"Bajaj Finance is a buy with a stop loss of Rs 1,290 and target of Rs 1,340."

"Indiabulls Housing Finance has run up quite a bit. It is in an uptrend, but possibly on declines it still is a great buy. All housing finance companies are in a strong uptrend, but now they are getting off the charts, quite a distance away from their moving averages. Generally the best place to buy stocks is nearer to its 20-day moving average which clearly these stocks are not showing. However, over a period of time I would not be surprised if another 25-30 percent is gained on all of these housing stocks," he said.

"I dont think there is much to do in pharmaceutical because a) they have had large rallies over a number of years. So, this correction is also looking like a very long correction. However, if you see, possibly Sun Pharmaceutical Industries is giving back 50 percent of what it gained. So, right now it is still not the right time to enter pharmaceutical. Maybe a couple of stocks are outperforming, but even Biocon is coming off. So, these are not sectors to play in. The sector of the moment is housing finance, NBFCs, etc. I think it is best to concentrate out there," he added.
Tata Steel

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Tata Steel tdoay welcomed the National Steel Policy, saying it will help focus on infrastructure-led growth and help the industry achieve world-class cost efficiencies.

"The steel industry is poised to grow from the current level of 60 kg per capita to 160 kg per capita consumption by 2030-31, as envisaged by the National Steel Policy 2017 cleared by the Cabinet last evening," Tata Steel managing director TV Narendran said in a statement.

The cabinet approved a new policy that envisages Rs 10 trillion investment to create more capacities. The priority will be given to domestic steelmakers in government tenders for infrastructure projects. The policy also aims at increasing supply of domestic coking coal to cut dependence on imports by half and a production capacity of 300 million tonne by 2030-31. Crude steel production in 2015-16 stood at 89.77 million tonne.

"We believe that the focus on infrastructure lead growth will not only support the demand growth but will also help us achieve world class cost efficiencies outside our factory gates," Narendran said.

The new policy would help in realigning the enablers in paving the way for the country to realise its potential by creating modern infrastructure and meeting the aspirations of its young population.

"We look forward to the implementation of the policy and the projected growth while we work with government to address supply side issues like raw material availability and debottlenecking logistics constraints in realising the goals of the policy," he said.

The steel ministry had earlier said the policy was a step towards steering the industry to achieve its future potential and strategy to deal with various impediments like high input cost, availability of raw materials, dependency on imports, financial stress etc, it added.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump arrives at the the main clubhouse at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, U.S., November 19, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar - RTSSEN9

US President Donald Trump has told Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas that he is ready to act as a "mediator or facilitator" for brokering peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, as he exuded confidence that a deal to end their protracted conflict could be struck.

Just two and a half months after he received Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump welcomed Abbas and ushered him into the Oval Office for their talks.

In their first meeting, Trump and Abbas discussed the advancement of the Middle East peace process and the strengthening of US-Palestinian relations, the White House said in a statement.

"Trump and Abbas reaffirmed the commitment of both the US and the Palestinian Authority to achieve a genuine and lasting peace between the Israelis and Palestinians," it said.

Trump stressed that he is personally committed to helping the Israelis and Palestinians achieve a comprehensive peace, and that any peace settlement can only be the product of direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.

The US President expressed his appreciation for Abbas' unambiguous support for a negotiated settlement of the conflict.

Trump also offered himself as a "mediator, arbiter or facilitator" to help reach a peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians, but said, "any agreement cannot be imposed by the US or any other nations."

"We will get it done," Trump said, exuding confidence of facilitating a deal.

Trump told Abbas that together with the Israelis they could bag "the toughest deal to make."

"It is something that I think is frankly, maybe not as difficult as people have thought over the years," Trump said.

Abbas echoed Trump's optimism, saying, "Our strategic option, our strategic choice is to bring about peace."

"We believe that we can... be true partners to you to bring about a historic peace under your stewardship," he said.

However, Abbas asserted that, "Mr. President, it's about time for Israel to end its occupation of our people and our lands."

The two leaders discussed the value of actions that can help create a climate conducive to tangible progress toward peace.

According to the White House, the two leaders reaffirmed the joint determination of the Palestinian Authority and the US to combat violence and terrorism.

They discussed the importance of the US-Palestinian partnership in building and sustaining the capacity of Palestinian security forces to counter terrorism, maintaining peace and security for the Palestinians, and continuing strong coordination with the Israeli government to benefit both peoples.

President Trump emphasised the importance of making a clear commitment to preventing inflammatory rhetoric and to stopping incitement, and to continue strengthening efforts to combat terrorism, the White House said.

"President Trump raised his concerns about payments to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails who have committed terrorist acts, and to their families, and emphasised the need to resolve this issue," it said.

On his meeting with Abbas, Trump tweeted, "An honour to host President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House today. Hopefully something terrific could come out between the Palestinians and Israel," Trump tweeted.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at his daily news conference that the two leaders discussed a wide range of issues.

"Some of the topics that were discussed during their meeting and the lunch were: advancing the Israeli-Palestinian peace; preventing incitements to violence, particularly media outlets directly associated with the Palestinian Authority; strengthening efforts to combat terrorism, including defeating ISIS; measures to empower the Palestinian economy and provide economic opportunity for the Palestinian people," he said.
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh

In the sharpest statement from an opposition leader on the mutilation of the bodies of Indian soldiers, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said on Thursday that India should cut the heads of three Pakistani soldiers for every Indian soldier who was beheaded. Speaking at Network18's 'Rising Punjab 2017' event in Chandigarh, Singh also spoke about the drug menace in Punjab and the future prospects of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.

'Treat their soldiers the way they treated ours'

Captain Amarinder Singh called for retribution against Pakistan for the dastardly attack on Indian soldiers at the LOC. "I am a former soldier and I find this unacceptable. If Pakistan cuts the heads of one of our soldiers, we should cut the heads of the three of theirs. We should treat their soldiers in a similar manner in which they treat ours," he said.

He added, "When I was Chief Minister for the first time, I tried to build peace between the two nations on my level as well. I thought that since both sides have Punjabi culture, Punjab-to-Punjab contact would be the catalyst to build relationships. But the recent events are unacceptable."

'Street value of drugs down by 60%'

"I never promised to completely eradicate drug menace in the state in four weeks but I did promise that I would break the back of the drug trade. We have been successful in doing just that. If you try to buy chitta (a synthetic drug sold in Punjab) on the street today, you will find that the price has gone up by 60%," Singh told Network 18.

He added, "Nobody can eradicate a decade of drug trade overnight but I believe we are on the right path. If you see, you will find that the number of out-patients and in-patients at government rehab centers have gone up. This is despite the fact that people usually prefer going to private rehab centers."

Captain Amarinder Singh also said that the only way to bring Punjab's youth out of drugs is to generate employment. "The biggest problem in the state right now is unemployment. I have 90 lakh young people who are out of work right now. Unless we give them jobs, we can never bring them out of drugs," he said.

'Rahul will make great leader for the country one day'

When asked whether it was time for a "generational change" in the Congress, the Captain said, "I agree. 70% of the country is under the age of 40. That is why even Congress brought in younger legislators."

Singh also said it was time for Rahul Gandhis elevation to party chief. "As a political leader, I have seen him grow immensely. He is very perceptive and open to new opinions. However, once he takes a decision, he stands by that decision. The media has projected a different image of him. They should not call him names like 'Baba and 'Pappu'. It does not behove them to do so. I may not be here to see that day but I am sure that Rahul will make a great leader of the country one day."

'Inherited debt, deficit from last govt.'

Launching an attack on the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which ruled Punjab for ten years before Amarinder was voted to power, he said, "When we came to power this year, we expected the state debt to be around Rs 1.30 lakh crores. As it turns out, it was around Rs 2.50 lakh crore. Even the budget deficit was massive."

The CM added, "India is growing at 7.2% while Punjab is growing at 5.6%. But since we have come, investor confidence has returned. I met 22 investors in Mumbai recently and they all agreed to come to Punjab."

Singh said that Punjab needed to focus on industry over agriculture to grow faster but added that his government was also working to improve the agricultural sector.
NEW DELHI, INDIA - OCTOBER 2: Workers of North Delhi Municipal Corporation take brooms back without been used during Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in front of Jama Masjid area, on October 2, 2016 in New Delhi, India. The programme was launched on Gandhi Jayanti in 2014 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given a clarion call on the Independence Day from the ramparts of the Red Fort to make India clean by 2019 which will coincide with 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. (Photo by Vipin Kumar/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

Indore in Madhya Pradesh is Indias cleanest city, while Bhopal, located in the same state, is a close second according to a Swacch Survekshan 2017 list of 25 Indian cities announced by Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu today.

The Swacch Survekshan survey scores the Swachh Bharat or Clean India Mission in 434 cities across the country.



Happy to announce results of #SwachhSurvekshan2017 survey. I would call these results as Citizens Verdict on sanitation in Urban areas! pic.twitter.com/YbYfD3n57s

 M Venkaiah Naidu (@MVenkaiahNaidu) May 4, 2017

The number three spot has been taken by Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh followed by Surat, Gujarat at number four. Mysuru  which topped the list last  has gone down to fifth spot this year.

"Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are the movers and shakers of the ongoing drive," Naidu said at the unveiling of the survey.

He also expressed concerns over condition of Uttar Pradesh where Yogi Adityanaths government took charge in March. UP has 25 cities at the bottom of the list with Gonda been the dirtiest in the country.

Gujarat and Chattisgarh has the most cities improving in cleanliness rankings, the Urban development minister said.

The survey also reveals that nearly 80 percent of people believe that there has been improvement in cleanliness and sanitation.

The survey is a part of the Prime Minister Narendra Modis Clean India mission by 2019.

Around 37 lakh citizens submitted their responses. The survey was conducted by the Quality Council of India.
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By Venkat Ganesh

As you drag yourself out of bed at 4 in the morning after a night out at the famous Pub Street in downtown Siem Reap in Cambodia, you wonder if watching the sunrise over Angkor Wat would be worth it. An hour later as you wade through the crowds thronging towards the largest Hindu temple, your doubts are only reinforced.

You start questioning the need to give in to the literature on the Internet about the temple complex and its pre-dawn twilight glory.

Siem Reap, a town in northwestern Cambodia, provides a gateway to Angkor Wat  the largest Hindu temple complex.

Soon enough, yours doubts are dispelled. As the sun rises behind Angkor Wat's temple complex, silhouetted spires and their reflection in the pool has the entire area abuzz with the click of the tourists' cameras.

Mind you, it is almost impossible to get that picture perfect or a unique shot  you compete with fellow tourists and shutterbugs. Therefore, unless youre on a photographic assignment, it is better to put away that camera and marvel at the dance of light and shadows.

An excellent alternative to sunrise at Angkor Wat is to head to Srah Srang  the royal bathing pool at the time when the Khmer prosperity was at its zenith.

In contrast to the clamour at Angkor Wat, you won't have to jostle for space to get that perfect sunrise shot Srah Srang. Having said that, its is difficult to avoid crowds overall. With most of the tour groups or tuk tuk drivers driving in a set order around the complex, it takes a lot of planning to view nooks and crannies of the temples at leisure.

Travel Tip: It is always best to visit the entire temple complex over a period of 3-5 days. You can buy a one day pass for USD 37 or a 3-day pass (valid for a week) for USD 62 while a 7 day pass with a month long validity costs USD 72.

Most travel operators in the region offer a predetermined tour called the Grand Circuit or Small Circuit  which works best for those visiting the town for a day. Longer duration travellers must plan the visit on their own to make the best of the trip. Local guest houses and hotels are happy to help you arrange a tour as per your needs. You could also take a stroll down the streets of Siem Reap and find a tuk tuk driver who can customise the route to your needs.

Avoiding crowds at temple complexes

A good beginning to your day is to getting to a bigger temple first and doing the others in reverse. Skip the masses at Angkor Wat and dedicate a morning each to Bayon and Ta Prohm and you wont be disappointed.

Built in late 12th century, Bayon was the official state temple of King Jayavarman II capital Angkor Thom and features 216 serene faces of bodhisatva Lokesvara on the 54 towers of this relatively small temple.

While Ta Prohm of the Tomb raider will have you wondering how nature took over this temple with massive trees and roots covering the temples. It is one place where theyve let nature work its way and not interfered with restoration.

Preah Bakhong is another temple that you can have to yourself if youre willing to go on a bit of a hike early in the morning. Come sunset, itll be teeming with crowds.

Angkor Wat is a good temple to be at for sunset with most of the crowds having left and you getting the chance to see the temple in twilight glory.

Another way to avoid crowds is to head to the temples that lie outside the circuit. The Angkor Archaeological Park spans across 162 hectares and provide plenty of opportunities to get off the beaten path. Temples such as Roulous group, Beng Mealea, Srei Vibol will transport you into an Indiana Jones-esque land.

The Angkor Archaeological Park spans across 162 hectares and provide plenty of opportunities to get off the beaten path.

The best time to visit Siem Reap is from October to February, but it also means higher prices and more crowds. The wet season of June to September will present the temples to you in shades of green. March to May mean battling the sun.

Irrespective of time of the year you choose to visit, the Angkor Wat complex will leave you breathless with its beauty and grandeur. Take your time to visit these relics of history built over a period of couple of hundreds of years. It would be injustice to just think of them as something to check off your bucket list by cramming it all in a day.

(Venkat Ganesh blogs at India Backpack Motorbike where he writes about responsible travel, backpacking advices and motorbiking roadtrips. You can follow him on Twitter @indiabckpckmoto and @indiabackpackmotorbike on Instagram)
Society, movies or peers: Who is to blame for crimes by jilted lovers, stalkers? | News Brake Ep 41
"I wasn't for the sale of it in the beginning, we voted against it, and raised our voices and made the calls. It's like anything else, I'm tired of everything going up: heating oil, fuel, food, and now the sewer," said voter Lowell Delp.
'Captain America' star Chris Evans has been named People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive, and admits his mother will enjoy being able to "brag" about his new title.

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The House on Thursday gave its OK to a GOP deal erasing much of former President Barack Obama's health care law.

The third time was the charm, as the vote failed to come to fruition on two other occasions.

The measure skirted through the House by a thin 217-213 vote, as all voting Democrats and a group of mostly moderate Republican holdouts voted no.

GOP leaders predicted they'd deliver a victory for President Donald Trump just weeks after nearly leaving the measure for dead. Passage of the AHCA gives Trump a victory, following through on a campaign promise to repeal and replace "Obamacare."

The Republican health care bill had been pulled from the House floor twice because it didn't have enough GOP support.

But some Republicans flipped their votes from "no" to "yes" after an amendment was added to help with costs associated with enrollees' pre-existing conditions.

"After seven long years, Americans across Florida and the entire nation can breathe a sigh of relief today because we fulfilled our promise to repeal and replace Obamacare," Republican Florida Rep. Dennis Ross said.

"By working with President Trump and uniting to pass the AHCA, we are putting patients first and ending an era of skyrocketing premiums, massive tax hikes and burdensome mandates and penalties," he said.

Democratic Rep. Val Demings said the Republican party "ignored the voices of millions of Americans by pushing through this disastrous bill."

"We know 24 million people will lose coverage, premiums will go up, and people with pre-existing conditions will face astronomical out-of-pocket costs," Demings said. "Trumpcare will use its "savings" to give tax breaks to the richest in America."

House Democrats sing words of warning to GOP after health care vote: Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey goodbye https://t.co/2rZp95hZWK pic.twitter.com/1GPvtedSP7  CNN (@CNN) May 4, 2017

A few minutes before the vote became official, Trump tweeted that Democrats were trying to defend a "lie."



I am watching the Democrats trying to defend the "you can keep you doctor, you can keep your plan & premiums will go down" ObamaCare lie."  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 4, 2017

The amendment would provide an extra $8 billion over the next five years to an existing $130 billion to help people with pre-existing conditions pay for their coverage. This funding would go to so-called "high risk pools" that will be set up by states.

The current legislation also allows states to apply for waivers that could result in insurance companies charging higher premiums to those with pre-existing conditions.

The legislation would eliminate tax penalties under Obamacare for people without health insurance. It would also cut the Medicaid program for low-income people and would allow states to impose work requirements for Medicaid recipients.

Groups such as AARP and the American Medical Association were opposed to the bill. They don't think it offers the same protections Obamacare did for people with pre-existing conditions.

But the White House pledged everyone will be covered.

The president has made it very clear that pre-existing conditions are covered in the bill in every scenario. I don't know how much clearer we can state it, Press Secretary Sean Spicer said.

How each Central Florida, Tampa Bay-area representative voted

Congressmen and women in the Central and Bay areas voted along party lines.

District Congressman AHCA vote District 2 Rep. Neal Dunn (R-Panama City) Y District 3 Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Gainesville) Y District 6 Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Marineland) Y District 7 Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Winter Park) N District 8 Rep. Bill Posey (R-Rockledge) Y District 9 Rep. Darren Soto (D-Kissimmee) N District 10 Rep. Val Demings (D-Orlando) N District 11 Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Minneola) Y District 12 Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Palm Harbor) Y District 13 Rep. Charlie Crist (D-St. Petersburg) N District 14 Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Tampa) N District 15 Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Lakeland) Y District 16 Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Longboat Key) Y District 17 Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Okeechobee) Y

SOURCE: House.gov

Previous info

A day before the House vote, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California was very confident, telling reporters they have enough votes.

We're going to pass it, we're going to pass it. Let's be optimistic about life, he said.

He also tweeted the following:

#AHCA will cover those with pre-existing conditions while decreasing the cost of health care overall. https://t.co/tQhyfKxakM  Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) May 3, 2017

Democrats, however, say the GOP plan still doesn't have enough support, and no Democrat plans to vote for it.

The latest Republican plan to gut essential health benefits and protections for pre-existing conditions will make it impossible for millions of Americans to afford the health coverage they desperately need. This is deadly, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said.

Tennessee Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper said via Twitter that the plan won't help those with pre-existing conditions financially.

$23 a month. Thats what the GOP amdt would give Americans w/pre-existing conditions while premiums & cost of care may increase by $1000s. https://t.co/UiKfVBhQBk  Jim Cooper (@repjimcooper) May 3, 2017

Not all House Republicans have gotten on board with the GOP's bill. On Thursday, Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen maintained her standing not to support her party's health care bill.

Even with the revisions to the AHCA, I cannot and will not vote for a bill that does not substantially benefit my South Florida constituents. I remain a no vote on this bill because too many in my community will be negatively impacted by this bill."

Read my statement on why I still intend to vote NO on the #AHCA today as it doesn't deliver for #SoFla constits https://t.co/1G2w7erf23  Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (@RosLehtinen) May 4, 2017

Ros-Lehtinen plans to retire from Congress next year.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.


First-hand accounts from witnesses and first responders in newly-released Markeith Loyd murder case documents shed light into how the state is building its case against Loyd.

Hundreds of pages released in Markeith Loyd case

State Attorney's Office is seeking death penalty

Pages include interviews, incident reports, witness statements

READ MORE: Excerpts of transcripts, medical examiner's report, search warrants (PDF)

Loyd is accused in the killings of his pregnant ex-girlfriend, Sade Dixon, and Orlando Police Lt. Debra Clayton.

Almost four dozen documents were released by the State Attorney's Office in the Fifth Judicial Circuit. Some of the 44 discovery documents have previously been released, but others had not been seen by the public before. Those include search warrant documents, Florida Department of Law Enforcement reports and even transcribed witness interviews.

One document in the batch is a transcription of an interview between a witness to the shooting of Clayton and a detective. The woman is a worker at the Wal-Mart on John Young Parkway in Orlando where Clayton was shot and killed and was outside of the store at the time.

The officer asks the woman what happened during the exchange of gunfire with Clayton and the shooter. The woman tells the detective that she saw Clayton fall to the ground. She says the shooter walked up to her, and the woman says she thought the gunman shot three to four more times down at Clayton.

A few pages later, the woman describes going over to try to help Clayton. The worker says she thought Clayton was trying to talk but couldn't because of her injuries.

This woman ended her interview by saying, "I just wished she had survived.... I looked at her take her last breath."

Also included in the documents released Thursday are interviews with first responders who showed up at the Wal-Mart as well as those who helped arrest Loyd.

State Attorney Brad King is seeking the death penalty in the case against Loyd.
As plans for a Pulse memorial were announced Thursday, Orlando City Police Chief John Mina and Orlando City Mayor Buddy Dyer recognized law enforcement personnel who responded to the Pulse tragedy.

Pulse first responders were honored at special ceremony

About 300 people from local, state and federal agencies were recognized

49 people were killed in the Pulse nightclub shooting



About 300 people were honored at the Orlando Police Department's headquarters.

The ceremony started Thursday morning with a moment of silence for the 49 people who were killed.

The gunman, Omar Mateen, opened fire inside the Pulse nightclub on June 12.

First responders from local, state and federal agencies were recognized at the ceremony.

Police Chief Mina talked about how the first responders worked tirelessly taking care of the victims during the shooting.

He also discussed the SWAT team's work during the early morning hours of the shooting.



They were feet from the killer knowing that he possibly had explosives and didnt retreat from safety, so they put their lives in danger, said Orlando Police Chief John Mina.

Weeks after the shooting, law enforcement personnel continued to help the victims who were impacted.
In anticipation of a Texas Department of Transportation project for the rehabilitation of bridges along Interstate 27 over U.S. 70 and State Highway 194 (Dimmitt Highway), the Plainview City Council on Thursday agreed to reduce the speed limit within highway work zones.

The temporary speed limit change was approved, on first reading, during the councils work session. A second and final vote is on its agenda for the groups regular session Tuesday.
MERIDEN  A New York man was injured in a rollover crash on Bee Street Wednesday night.



Police responded to 315 Bee St. about 9:45 p.m. for a report of a rollover. Acting Capt. Tom Cossette said a car crashed into a pole. The driver of the vehicle, identified as John Carbone, 70, of New York, was taken to Hartford Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. He was in stable condition as of Thursday morning.



Police are investigating the accident.



Bryan Lipiner






WALLINGFORD  Parker Farms Elementary School hosted its third-annual career fair for third, fourth and fifth-grade students Thursday morning.



The school welcomed police officers, real estate agents and carpenters, along with representatives from regional and national companies such as Metro North Railroad and the United States Postal Service.



Parker Farms teacher and event coordinator Chris Puzio said the career fair was created to connect students to the community. Puzio hopes students will begin to consider careers before they get to high school.



We have a great blend of things... Puzio said. This is the time where we felt students need to really be exposed to careers.



Steve Zion, owner of Toyota of Wallingford on Route 5, emphasized being ambitious and working toward a goal.



I see theres a room full of achievers, he said to the students. Were always forward and always thinking ahead.



He also spoke of the growth of his car dealership from 20 employees to almost 100.



You can do anything you want to do, Zion said. You can make it happen.



Jerry Giammattei, a postal service office manager and carrier based out of Hamden, was in one of several booths.



I think this is a fantastic seminar for the kids, they get to see a little bit of everything, he said.



Giammattei said many students expressed interest in the postal service.



The kids have been really inquisitive. Its a really good group.



blipiner@record-journal.com 203-317-2444 Twitter: @BryanLipiner



Myrecordjournal.com video: http://bit.ly/2pLdAtw






In an era in which public criticism of government appears to be at an all-time high, Mark Ojakian, president of Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, is to be commended for taking it head on.



Ojakian has been touring the state, highlighting his plans for saving a failing system that governs four universities, 12 community colleges and an online college.



He has met tough crowds, but told the Journal Inquirer recently that he doesnt mind them because it is out of these sometimes fractious occasions that good ideas can emerge.



Ojakian is pitching a more centralized, streamlined approach, recognizing that the system is facing anywhere from a $38 million to $93 million deficit. About 60 percent of community college funding comes from the state, which is facing hefty deficits over the next two years. The loss of state funding cant be countered by tuition hikes alone, he said.



A more centralized approach could entail establishing a central administration office, which he said would free up about $28 million, and concentrating tasks like purchasing, financial aid processing and human resources, by which $13 million could be saved. Another plan involves a more regional approach that would mean fewer presidents of individual colleges.



You dont need a president on each individual campus in a state the size of Connecticut, he said.



Ojakian at this point is not in favor of shutting schools, for while there might be savings up front, the effect on students could be more costly.



Along with reducing through retirements and attrition, layoffs may also be necessary. Ojakian said 80 percent of the systems $1.2 billion operating budget is made up of payroll and benefits.



Reducing jobs is obviously not a popular topic, and Ojakian deserves praise for being up front about the problems the system faces and transparent about the hard choices that will be unavoidable in the effort to solve them.



My job is to push the envelope, he said. We should be changing the way we do business.



In these harsh economic times, thats a most reasonable approach.






Soon there will be 145 as the Petroleum Hall of Fame expands to include its three newest members.

Joe McShane, Curtis Mewbourne and the late J. Cleo Thompson will be inducted Tuesday at a dinner at the Petroleum Club.

The three exemplify the character and spirit of the oil and gas industry and are well-known for their significant impact on the Permian Basin oil fields, said Taylor Mayne, chairman of the nominating committee.

They made their mark on the industry and impacted it and (raised) the bar, he said.

The Hall of Fame members, who range from Frank Pickrell -- who spearheaded the drilling of the Santa Rita No. 1 and Frank Phillips -- founder of what is now ConocoPhillips -- to two former U.S. presidents  George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush  all uphold the traditions of achievement, Mayne said. These three dovetail nicely into that group, and were excited.

The Hall of Fame is a real opportunity for the industry to honor individuals who made the industry what it is today, people who set the groundwork, whose strength and character are inspirations to us and to future generations, Mayne said.

Committee members considered 33 nominations, according to Mayne, who said some nominations had been submitted previously. Those not chosen remain eligible for two cycles, he said. Members are chosen every two years.

It was interesting to see the different histories. There are some nominees who had or have colorful histories, Mayne said.

Even if a nominee is not chosen, they are deserving and esteemed, he said.

Joseph B. McShane, Jr.

Joe McShane was born in San Antonio in 1929. After earning a bachelors degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Texas in 1952, he moved to West Texas, where he spent his entire career in the petroleum industry. That career primarily entailed waterflood development in the Permian Basin. He worked for several major oil companies including Forest Oil and Signal Oil and Gas.

In 1959, he ad B. Oliver Wood formed the partnership, Wood and McShane, and four years later, joined geologist W. H. Thams to form Wood, McShane and Thams. The company acquired, developed and operated a number of properties.

McShane was a pioneer in the drilling of coal bed methane wells into coal formations in the Raton Basin. In the early 1990s, he drilled several deep exploration wells in Martin, Midland and Andrews counties based on emerging 3-D seismic technology. He was extensively involved in many professional organizations, including the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, National Stripper Well Association, IPAA and TIPRO.

He and his wife, Marie, moved to the Hill Country in 1995.

Curtis W. Mewbourne

Curtis W. Mewbourne was born in 1935 in Shreveport, Louisiana. After receiving his bachelors degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Oklahoma, he served in the U.S. Army.

He founded Mewbourne Oil Co. in 1965. The company has drilled more than 1,000 wells in the Permian Basin and 1,400 wells in the Anadarko Basin. His commitment and innovation has led to the discovery of multiple new resource opportunities.

Mewbourne, who lives in Tyler, has served as a board member and chairman of several civic and charitable organizations. His commitment to children and education is demonstrated in his funding of the Mewbourne Hall of Mathematics and Science at All Saints Episcopal School in Tyler and St. Johns School in Houston. He has endowed seven Mewbourne Chairs in Petroleum Engineering at the University of Oklahoma, as well as the Mewbourne Professorship in Petroleum Engineering.

J. Cleo Thompson

J. Cleo Thompson was born in Dallas in 1930. He began studying engineering and geology at Southern Methodist University in 1948. He served in the naval reserve as an between 1948 and 1950 and then enlisted in the Air Force ROTC at SMU.

He planned to enter law school in 1952, but entered the oil industry instead. He and his father had bought 12 oil wells near Crane and he was sent there to clean up the leases and get the wells back into production. More leases were acquired and an office was opened in Crane. In 1960 when the Thompsons began drilling on the Paul Moss ranch near Odessa, the Crane office was moved to Yukon Road in Odessa. That office stands today as the West Texas field office and has 100 employees.

Since 1952, Thompson has been responsible for the discovery, development and unitization of such fields as the Hoban, West Means, Fuhrman Mascho, University 29, University 21, Slaughter, Levelland and Cowden South. The Railroad Commission gave him the title Texas Discoverer 1994 for the discovery of four fields: The West Richardson (Strawn) field, the Ernie Pinnell (Fusselman) field, the West Richardson North (WLFC) field and the West Richardson (Ellenberger) field.

Thompson was one of the first operators to sand frac and to use rubber balls for diversion back in the early 1950s. In the late 1980s he was one of the smaller independents to incorporate the use of 3-D seismic.

Thompson died in 2010. His two daughters work in the company, which operates more than 925 wells and has interests in about 9,000 wells, most of which are in the Permian Basin.
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With no body, crime scene or weapon, an attorney for the man charged with killing Morgan Hill teenager Sierra LaMar told a Santa Clara County jury Wednesday that there is no evidence of a murder.

The jury, therefore, must find Antolin Garcia-Torres, 26, not guilty of murder in the 2012 disappearance of the 15-year-old Ann Sobrato High School student, defense attorney Alfonso Lopez said during his closing statement Wednesday in the high-profile capital-murder case.

If you cant prove a person is deceased, you dont have capital murder, he said, laying out the centerpiece of his defense as the months-long trial drew to a close in a Santa Clara County courtroom.

Lopezs statements began after more than a day of arguments from prosecutors, who laid out a heap of circumstantial evidence  including DNA, fiber and hair evidence  against Garcia-Torres in the March 12, 2012, disappearance of Sierra.

But Wednesday, Lopez dismissed the arguments presented by Deputy District Attorney David Boyd, while putting on theatrics for the jury.

Placing orange balls into a bucket labeled shame evidence, piece-by-piece Lopez sought to punch holes in the case against his client  which includes three separate attempted kidnapping charges from 2009.

By the end of the day, the bucket was overflowing with balls.

Why is there so much inconclusive or bunk evidence in this case? Lopez asked the jury. Its because theres no conclusive evidence in this case.

While he hacked away at the prosecutions argument, Lopez came back to the most glaring void in the case: no body.

I know that feelings run deep, and there is a lot of emotion in this case, Lopez said. Were not trying to minimize the pain and fear of the family, but wheres the evidence that shes dead?

He then ran through a list of 10 reasons why he said the prosecution had not proved Sierra had been murdered.

Lopez said a video captured at a Morgan Hill Bank of America shows Garcia-Torres looking calm and not covered in mud  as prosecutors suggested  almost six hours after Sierras disappearance.

He said there were no tools found that would have been used to hide a body, no statements of guilt by the defendant, no motive, no murder weapon, no eyewitnesses or video, no crime scene, no evidence of violence and no cause of death.

Finally, Lopez said of Sierra, Shes a missing person, and thats all that it is. It doesnt mean shes deceased. Thats the heart of this case.

The day after Sierra disappeared while walking to catch a bus to school, her cell phone was discovered in a field a mile from her house. The next day, some of her clothes, her purse and other personal items were found abandoned in a bag among cacti.

Despite the fact that Sierra had never met Garcia-Torres, who lived 7 miles from her, investigators said they found his DNA on her abandoned clothing. Detectives added that they found Sierras DNA on the defendants red Volkswagen Jetta and on the outside of a pair of gloves in the car.

Investigators also said they discovered Sierras hair on a rope found in the trunk of Garcia-Torres car.

At trial, Garcia-Torres attorneys argued that Sierra may have run away, pointing to an obscure statement written in one of her school notebooks and statements she made to friends.

Lopez began his argument Wednesday by refuting charges that Garcia-Torres attempted to kidnap and carjack three women in separate incidents at two Morgan Hill Safeway stores in 2009.

None of the victims could identify their attacker, but investigators found Garcia-Torres fingerprint on a battery in a stun gun used in one of the attacks.

Lopez suggested that the prosecution included the 2009 charges to build a motive for Sierras alleged killing.

The government is putting weak cases together to hope you will use one against the other, and thats not allowed, he said.

Holding the bucket of shame evidence balls up for a final time, Lopez concluded his statement, saying, At the end of the day, youre going to see this case for what its worth, and theres no evidence here.

Boyd will have a chance to respond Thursday before the jury begins its deliberations.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky
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Police fatally shot a 24-year-old man in San Jose on Wednesday night after he allegedly broke into the home of his former girlfriend, killed her parents and held her 13-year-old brother hostage, officials said.

The incident marked the second officer-involved shooting this week in San Jose and the fourth this year for the citys Police Department.

Its a horrible, horrible crime, San Jose Police Chief Eddie Garcia said. The suspect had choices. He did not give the family choices or our officers choices.

Officers responded to the house in the 1000 block of Laura Ville Lane around 9 p.m. Wednesday when the 20-year-old son of the slain victims called 911 after running out of the residence when the killer stormed in, officials said.

He told authorities that his parents had been shot by the man who forced his way into the home, which is located in an upscale neighborhood less than a quarter mile from Willow Glen Elementary School, Garcia said.

The suspect, a San Jose resident whose name was not immediately released, allegedly shot to death the father of his ex-girlfriend as he entered the residence.

As a SWAT team surrounded the house, the gunman released the 13-year-old boy he was holding captive. Officers attempted to talk him into surrendering, but he pointed a handgun through the window of the house, prompting a SWAT sharpshooter to open fire, Garcia said.

Police found the bodies of the suspect and the parents of his ex-girlfriend inside, Garcia said.

Police are drilling down on a motive, he added.

The victims, whose names were not immediately released, were the parents of two sons and two daughters.

The suspects former girlfriend had filed a restraining order against the suspect. She was not at the house at the time of the shooting. It was unclear whether she lived there.

The suspect had a criminal history of driving under the influence and domestic violence. Garcia said he also had mental health issues.

Police are investigating how he got the handgun used in the slayings; it was not registered to him, Garcia added.

The Santa Clara County coroners office was at the residence Thursday morning as crime-scene technicians taped off the roadway.

Kim Vostermans, 46, who lives on Willow Glen Way, about half a block away, said she and her neighbors started trickling out of their houses when they noticed the police activity.

As she stood outside her house, Vostermans said she heard police on bullhorns, saying, Come out with your hands up.

And then she heard two pops.

I heard the gunshots. It was pretty scary, Vostermans said.

As detectives went in and out of the house Thursday, parents walked their children to school, seemingly unaware of the horror that unfolded overnight.

This is a tight-knit community. Its unfortunate. And wed all like to know what happened, Vostermans said.

Vostermans said she was trying to determine who lived in the house, especially since many of her neighbors have children who attend the nearby school and play Little League together.

I dont feel unsafe here, she said. We are just worried about the family.

The identity of the officer who shot the man was not released. The officer was immediately put on paid administrative leave, in keeping with standard protocol as the Santa Clara County District Attorneys Office and the San Jose Police Departments homicide unit investigate the shooting.

It was the second San Jose officer-involved shooting this week. The earlier one was on Tuesday night when police fatally shot a man, who on Thursday was identified as Joseph Tourino, 28, after he charged at officers with two knives, one held above his head, officials said. He was pronounced dead at the Regional Medical Center.

Police identified the officer who shot him as Mario Martinez, a 15-year veteran of the force.

The shooting Wednesday night came just hours after a San Francisco police officer fatally shot a man who was stabbing a victim on Market Street about 11:22 a.m. The stabbing victim was transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
If melancholy had an odor, it probably would smell like the clothes consigned to the racks and bins of secondhand shops  dank, musty and oddly intimate.

The scent greets you the moment you walk into UTSA Terminal 136, where I Came From Wet, Daniela Cavazos Madrigals exhibit of sculptural works made from castoff wardrobe items, is currently on display.

A response to the anti-immigrant rhetoric of Donald Trumps political campaign and subsequent policies as president, the exhibit examines the notion of the American Dream and the obstacles immigrants face in its pursuit.

The clothes are stand-ins for the anonymous masses who risk everything to cross the border into the United States in search of a better life, sometimes with tragic results. Embroidered across the back of what looks like a hastily folded mens shirt, the title of the show is a lyric from a song by norteno band Los Tigres del Norte - me vine de mojado  as awkwardly rendered into English by Google Translate. (A more accurate translation would be, I came as a wetback.)

A Laredo native and the daughter of a Mexican mother and first-generation Mexican American father, Cavazos Madrigal moved to San Antonio in 2014 to attend grad school at the University of Texas at San Antonio. At the time, she didnt want to do work that referred to her cultural heritage, only because I felt that maybe there was a lot of Mexican American, Hispanic artists doing work about that here, Cavazos Madrigal said.

The presidential election changed that.

I thought it was necessary to talk about, she said.

As an undergraduate at Texas A&M International, Cavazos Madrigal, 25, studied oil painting, but when she found out she was pregnant, she began working in other media to avoid fumes and toxic ingredients. She found compelling material to work with in her own closet when she went on a cleaning binge after the birth of her son.

I was trying to turn a page, and then I thought why not use it in the work? she said. So I just started deconstructing all the clothes that were too big or too small for me, and thats where I began approaching the material.

Using textiles and processes such as sewing and weaving typically associated with women appealed to Cavazos Madrigal.

Ive always really loved the history behind womens work and been interested in how its also a history thats been looked down on, and so I wanted to do something that would honor those traditions, but also in a way try to elevate it, she said.

For the works in I Came From Wet, Cavazos Madrigal returned to Laredo to buy used clothes from a warehouse where rejected thrift stores items are sold by the pound. She learned from the owner that the clothes he sells are shipped to Laredo from Dallas but come from all over the country.

I thought that was an amazing journey, and this idea of something being unwanted and unwanted and unwanted again, Cavazos Madrigal said.

On the wall labels, the textiles are not described as recycled or re-purposed. Instead, they are forsaken, deserted, renounced and neglected like the undocumented immigrants they represent, she said. At the far end of the gallery, an imposing pile of clothes forms what Cavazos Madrigal refers to as a landscape of the border area between Laredo and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

Along with lyrics from songs by Los Tigres del Norte, works in the show feature fragments of text from the story of a friend  written down at Cavazos Madrigals request  who came to the United States from Mexico as an undocumented immigrant when he was a teen. Like the lyrics, some excerpts from the story were fed into Google Translate  the inaccurate, sometimes comic results serving as a metaphor for cultural misunderstanding.

Christie Blizard, an assistant professor of art at UTSA, served as the chair of Cavazos Madrigals thesis committee.

One of my favorite aspects of her work is how she uses language and how she uses poetry and kind of weaves that into the work, Blizard said. The mistranslation and the way she pairs that with found clothing and how that references the body is really beautiful.

One piece consists of vignette from her friends account, the words shaped from wire and tightly wrapped in strips of cloth: Teniamos un pasto verde y un arbolito que teniamos la ilusion que el arbol iba crecer con nosotros. The Google translation on the wall label reads: We had a green grass and a tree that we had the illusion that the tree was going to grow with we.

Another phrase  And only the hardest was missing  is embroidered on a series of wall works made from clothes twisted and knotted so as to occupy the least amount of space. Cavazos Madrigal made the pieces after watching La Bestia, a documentary by Pedro Ultreras and Hiram Gonzalez, about Central American immigrants who crowd atop freight trains to journey across Mexico in an effort to reach the United States, bringing only their most prized possessions in small bundles, if anything at all.

If the mistranslated text introduces an element of ambiguity to the exhibition, the meaning comes through loud and clear in the a pair of large scale works. Why Cant We Be Friends? is a gargantuan friendship bracelet like those exchanged by teens woven from strips of cloth. The loose ends trail out on the floor like tentacles.

A ladder of the same length as the bracelet leans against a wall, tightly wrapped in strips of cloth. Perched at the top, theres a flower print blouse with bell sleeves sewn from mismatched scraps of cloth and embellished with bells that reach all the way to the ground. Inflated by fans, the sleeves sway gently .

The ladder I made as a response to the whole talk about the wall, Cavazos Madrigal said. I wanted to approach it in an optimistic way to think that our people are always fighting, theyre luchadores. I thought, They build a 10-foot wall, well build an 11-foot ladder.

The sleeves reference airdancers used by car lots and other businesses to attract customers. And like the advertising tools, the piece is intended to draw attention even if its subtle, Cavazos Madrigal said, to say This is whats happening. These are the issues we need to talk about.

I Came From Wet opens with receptions 6-9 p.m. Thursday and 6-9 Friday. The show runs through May 20 at UTSA Terminal 136, 136 Blue Star. 210-458-4391, art.utsa.edu

lsilva@express-news.net
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Adorable preteen actress Gabriella Graves, who was born and raised in San Antonio, previously charmed viewers as the young "Agent Carter" in flashbacks to the childhood of the British spy (played by Hayley Atwell) on ABC's eponymous TV drama.

Starting Friday, kids can thrill to her work in another series -- an animated one set in a small Western town called "Spirit Riding Free" -- that starts streaming on Netflix Friday.

It follows rich and spunky ex-city girl Lucky, who forms a tight bond with wild horse Spirit while having adventures with her fun-loving pals.

Graves, 11, voices two of Lucky's school friends, identical twins named Mary Pat and Bianca.

"It's so exciting, so much fun," Graves said in a phone chat. "I love all the cast and friends I'm making. The story is so wonderful, and I'm really enjoying it."

It isn't her first experience with animation. She supplied the voices of some of the kids in "The LEGO Batman Movie."

But "Spirit" is her first animated TV series -- one which features her in recurring roles.

Graves' love of acting convinced her parents, Michelle and Justin Graves, to move to Los Angeles nearly two years ago.

"We knew there was something there," her mom said. "She has the personality for it -- a born entertainer."

She enjoys coming back to her hometown whenever possible to visit family that still lives here. Her next visit happens in July, Graves said.

Meanwhile, she's brushing up on her musical side -- singing and learning to play the guitar and ukulele. After all, she was born into a performing family.

"My husband and I have a music ministry" called the Justin Graves Band, mom said in a previous interview.

"So Gabi has been on stage with us since she was a baby. We travel and play at churches, camps and conferences."

Their daughter started her own stage training at the age of 2. She took creative movement classes at the old Stone Oak Youth Theatre.

Gabriella, who attended Summit Christian Academy in Boerne a few days a week while being home schooled in San Antonio, soon graduated to acting roles. At the age of 7, she starred in a production of "Anne of Green Gables."

jjakle@express-news.net
JOHNSTOWN  A Gloversville man who shot and killed a masked burglar last November faces charges because the gun he used had been stolen the month before, Fulton County officials said Thursday.

The burglar's accomplice was also indicted by a Fulton County Grand Jury, District Attorney Chad Brown's office said.
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BRIDGEPORT  Mark Ojakian was greeted at Housatonic Community College on Thursday with welcome signs, not protest signs.

Faculty, staff and students expressed concerns about his evolving Students First ideas to streamline management of the 17 colleges and universities under the Board of Regents. But there were no votes of no confidence, as was done at Central Connecticut State University two weeks ago.

Instead, student Raheem Smith, of Stratford, offered Ojakian his business card and left saying he felt he got good answers.

I feel like his heart is in a good place, Smith said.

Barbara Richards, a Housatonic sociology professor and chair of the Faculty Advisory Committee to the Board of Regents, said there were initially mistakes made in how Ojakians ideas were rolled out.

But he sounded as if there are still a lot of options, Richards said. He is saying it is not a done deal.

Ojakian said his sobering vision is meant to be a conversation starter and a means to save campuses as the state faces a multibillion-dollar budget crisis.

Prospects for a 4.4 percent cut in state funding to the $1.2 billion system has become a best-case scenario. At Housatonic, that scenario would translate into a cut of about $1.8 million, even as tuition rises in the fall by 2.5 percent to $4,276.

It absolutely will have an impact on us, Ojakian warned. Conversations are around what would we (would) save if we closed one or two community colleges.

Ojakians strategy would consolidate back office administrative functions. There would be a reduction of staff who do not directly interact with students  about 400 to 450 employees out of 11,000, systemwide. It would not involve faculty or student services.

Another part of the plan would make community colleges centrally managed, allowing colleges to retain missions, foundations and names. Some of that is already under way. Housatonic President Paul Broadie is set to also become president at Gateway this summer.

At Housatonic, Ojakian heard concerns and ideas.

Whats the five-year plan? Is just going to keep getting worse, said Fred Kaesmann, a student from Stratford.

Ojakian said he hopes to create a sustainable model for the system.

Why has UConn not been part of the conversation, asked Michael Amico, a Housatonic psychology professor.

Ojakian said the University of Connecticut, not part of the Board of Regents system, is facing cuts as well.

What can we do, Dean Andrade, a student from of Naugatuck, asked.

Organize, Ojakian suggested. Be part of the planning process.
The Houston area's suburban voters head to the polls this Saturday, and some contests have been more heated than others.

Tensions are high in Pasadena, with a recent ruling by a federal judge that the city, under outgoing Mayor Johnny Isbell, violated the Voting Rights Act.
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"Green acres" isn't the place to be when a family buys a dilapidated house in the country in "George Washington Slept Here," which plays through May 21 at Bay Area Harbour Playhouse in Dickinson.

"I play the bumbling fool who is gullible enough to buy the place," said Harry Little of La Marque. "Everything that can go wrong does go wrong, until the end."

The theater veteran appears as Newton Fuller, opposite relative newcomer Elizabeth (Lizzie) Brewer of Clear Lake, as his wife, Annabelle. The couple in the play see their stress level rising as costs continue to mount.

"I feel like Doris Day mixed with Carol Burnett," said Brewer, whose only previous acting experience was portraying the brittle matriarch, Lavinia Penniman, in last season's "The Heiress" at the playhouse.

"It was fun to wear big, kooky dresses with a petticoat," Bremer said.

The Pasadena native graduated in 1983 from Deer Park High School, where she was a springboard diver.

"I always wanted to try acting; so when my husband and I went to see a show this time last year at Harbour Playhouse, at intermission I mentioned it to the lady who took our tickets," Bremer said. "She pointed at the director, Bennie Nipper, and said, 'There's the lady you need to talk to.' "

While "The Heiress" had nine characters, the Moss Hart-George Kaufman comedy "George Washington Slept Here" boasts 13 actors covering 14 roles.

Among them are Rebecca Bauerlein, Constance Bowers and Ajay Vakil, who also appeared in "The Heiress."

More Information WANT TO GO?What: "George Washington Slept Here" Where: Bay Area Harbour Playhouse, 3803 Texas 3, Dickinson When: 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sundays through May 21 Details: 281-337-7469, www.harbourtheater.com See More Collapse

"Community theater is nice because you become so close to everybody in the cast," said Bremer, who feels a maternal connection to Denea Melvin-Oppelt, the Dickinson High School sophomore who plays Annabelle's daughter, Madge, in the play.

"She tells me, 'You're my backstage mom,' " Bremer said. "I even do her hair for the play."

Melvin-Oppelt, the 17-year-old daughter of Tamela Oppelt of Dickinson, previously played Clara in "The Nutcracker" and Anne in "Cheaper By The Dozen," which ran through March 5 at the playhouse.

When an actor called in sick for "Cheaper By the Dozen," Little stepped up to the plate and covered his role.

"It was only seven lines. I was onstage 90 seconds," Little said.

In contrast, the role of Newton Fuller challenged Little with "a Bible full of lines."

Little was born in Galveston, where he teaches social studies at Ball High School.

"I was an average guy at La Marque High School," he said, graduating in 1972 but prolonging his college diploma until 1985, when he earned a bachelor of history at the University of Houston-Clear Lake.

Sixteen years ago, while teaching at Dickinson High, Little was enlisted to portray a hillbilly in the theater department's production of the 1956 Broadway musical "Li'l Abner."

"I saw on the Harbour Playhouse marquee that they were doing the same show that summer; so I auditioned and got the part of Earthquake McGoon."

Little has returned to the Harbour stage for 20 plays and six musicals, including a production 15 years ago of "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," in which he played the governor of Texas.

Rounding out the cast of "George Washington Slept Here" are Joanna Alexander, Ashley Baker, Gabrielle Oliver, Isaiah Fernandez, Susan Hamel, Daniel Partida and Felipe Bautista.

The show is directed by Jeremiah Maddix.

Don Maines is a freelance writer who can be reached at donmaines@att.net
The Sugar Land Police Department will have more officers on the street during the Memorial Day weekend thanks to a state-funded traffic enforcement grant.

The special drunk-driving enforcement effort will run from May 22 through June 4, officials annunced in a news release.
Sociologist Dana Fisher moved to Washington for the protests. She'd been studying environmental activism for more than a decade at Columbia University, and when she was offered a job as director of the Program for Society and the Environment at the University of Maryland six years ago, it seemed like an ideal opportunity to get close to the action.

But little action came. In Fisher's first five years in the Washington area, she didn't see a single large-scale progressive protest - meaning 50,000 people or more - on the Mall. She wound up traveling back to New York City for the 2014 Peoples Climate March.

"It was just funny to me that I got here, and it was just not happening," Fisher said Monday. "Now look at how the world has changed."

Since President Trump's inauguration, major demonstrations on the Mall have become almost a weekly occurrence. Few of Fisher's past students had ever participated in a protest, but these days "everybody has to get out of class to go downtown because they're chaining themselves to something or they're marching," she said.

Fisher has deployed so many teams of researchers to survey march participants she's running out of energy - and funding. She looked ahead at the calendar for May, which is momentarily mostly protest-free, and said with relief, "I will be excited to take a few weeks off."

"There's an exhaustion about studying protests when it's happening so frequently. . . . But I can't miss out on collecting data."

Fisher's research is focused on why people wind up at a protest. How did they find out about it? What issue motivated them to join? Are they involved in other civic groups, or is this their first time being part of something so big and public?

"I always have been interested in why and how people participate in democracy," she said. "What gets people off their butts and into the street?"

Here's what Fisher has learned from the many events that have rallied big crowds this year.

- In some ways, the marchers are more or less who you'd expect.

The crowds have been overwhelmingly people who voted for Hillary Clinton (82 percent to 90 percent). More than 90 percent of participants surveyed at the Women's March in January said their political views ranged from "slightly" to "very" left. The vast majority of Women's March participants were women. At the March for Science and Peoples Climate March last month, women made up 57 percent and 54 percent of demonstrators respectively.

The Women's and Peoples Climate marches were somewhat more diverse than most liberal protests Fisher has studied. The crowd at the Jan. 21 event was 77 percent white, 4 percent Hispanic/Latino, 6.5 percent black, 0.2 percent Native American, 4 percent Asian and 8 percent multiracial or other. The numbers were similar at the Peoples Climate March, although last Saturday's event included significantly more Native American participants and fewer black and multiracial demonstrators. The March for Science had more white and Asian participants.

- The marchers are really well educated.

More than three-quarters of participants at each march had at least a bachelor's degree (for the overall U.S. population, it's just one out of three, according to the Census). Interestingly, the Women's March, not the March for Science, was the most highly educated - a stunning 53 percent of survey respondents had a graduate or professional degree at the January event.

- Protesters are mobilizing in new ways - many of them for the first time.

The Women's March, the March for Science and the Peoples Climate March all brought out large numbers of first-time demonstrators. About a third of the people at the first two events had never been to a protest before, and a quarter of those at Saturday's march said it was their first protest.

And the people joining the movements aren't being recruited in traditional ways. Usually, people will attend a protest because a friend or family member recommends it, or because they are part of an organization that is participating. But in recent months, Facebook was cited more often than any other source when Fisher asked people how they heard about a march. Many of those surveyed were not members of any of the hundreds of partner groups that helped orchestrate the events.

"Across the board, the marches are bringing out not just new people but people who are not members of those coalitions," Fisher said. "People who are really new to participating in anything. This is a really interesting time where democracy has gotten a shot in the arm, and I suppose we have President Trump to thank for that."

- These marches wouldn't be happening without Trump.

Organizers of the March for Science insisted repeatedly that the demonstration wasn't just about opposing the White House. But participants told a different story. More than half said that Trump and what he stands for were a main motivation for marching; the only other motivation cited by more than 50 percent of protesters was the environment. At the climate march, 55 percent of participants said the same.

A whopping 98 percent of the people who attended the science march said the outcome of the 2016 election was important to their decision to participate. At the climate march, that number was 97 percent.

- But people's reasons for marching are becoming more diverse.

Fisher noted that protesters' motivations at recent marches were unlike anything she'd seen before. Whenever she surveys demonstrators, she allows them to check off their reasons for protesting from a list of causes: "Women's rights," "Environment," "Racial justice," "Equality," "Peace," "Labor," "Religion." Typically, protesters will tend to pick the same, single motivation: the environment at a climate march, LGBTQ rights at a pride parade.

But at recent marches, "I asked about the issues that mobilized them, and they were just like, 'All of them. Across the board, I'm here because of all of them,' " Fisher said.

At the Women's March, 60 percent of participants said they were protesting for women's rights. But 36 percent also cited the environment, and 35 percent cited racial justice. At the science and climate marches, 90 percent of participants were motivated by concern about the environment. But still, a third were marching for women's rights, a third for LGBTQ issues, a third for racial justice, a third for reproductive rights. Fisher met a grandmother at the climate march who said she was protesting for a healthy planet, as well as for a more tolerant society. Her grandchild is transgender, she told Fisher, and she wanted to make sure the child has equal rights as well as clean air.

"Since the inauguration . . . the resistance has become the umbrella for a suite of issues that used to have their own individual movements," Fisher said. "They are not just coming out for the one issue that is their big issue. They have a much more intersectional sense of an identity as an activist."

- The protesters aren't tired yet.

Despite concern about eventual "protest fatigue" (and Fisher's own fatigue from covering so many protests), "the resistance" seems to be building momentum rather than losing it, she said. Close to half of attendees at the March for Science had been to the Women's March in January. At the Peoples Climate March, 70 percent of participants were return protesters from the Women's March, and 34 percent had also been to the March for Science, even though it was held only the weekend before.

"What I think this is showing is that there are people who are getting involved and staying involved and coming out even if it's every weekend," Fisher said. "There's only so many weekends in a row you want to march, but we have not hit that exhaustion yet."

Does this signal a shift in how Americans participate in democracy? "The only answer I can give you is, I hope so," Fisher replied.

Most people used to be content to vote every four years and then disengage from politics, she said, "but many Americans no longer feel like their concerns are being heard just by voting."

Fisher will keep surveying protesters to figure out whether the momentum can be sustained. "Are they really civically engaged, are they going to do something before the midterm election, or are they going to go back to watch TV?" she said. But she said she's optimistic: "The data we have collected so far suggest they are not going back to watching TV."
The night of April 23, a group of bounty hunters and bail bondsmen in Clarksville, Tennessee, tracked a black Nissan sedan to a Walmart parking lot on the edge of town.

A wanted man was riding in the car, or so they thought, according to police. So when the timing was right, the seven of them converged on the vehicle and tried to snatch up their suspect.

What happened next isn't quite clear, but a struggle ensued and at least one of the bounty hunters opened fire, police said.

The Nissan screeched out of the parking lot, and the bounty hunters gave chase in two cars of their own. Over the next seven miles, they continued to fire at the sedan and at one point rammed it from behind, the Associated Press reported.

The pursuit ended when the driver pulled over, injured by the gunfire. A passenger, Jalen Johnson, had been shot as well. A 24-year-old father of three, Johnson died at a hospital shortly after, according to the Associated Press. Two other passengers made it out unharmed.

The bounty hunters had the wrong people.

Nobody in the car was suspected of a crime, police said. Nobody had outstanding warrants. Nobody was carrying a weapon.

On Wednesday, a grand jury in Montgomery County, Tennessee, indicted all seven bounty hunters and bondsmen on counts of first-degree felony murder, attempted second-degree murder, kidnapping and several other charges, local media reported.

"After an exhaustive investigation, numerous man hours expended interviewing individuals, processing crime scenes, and sorting through statements and evidence, the information was presented to the grand jury for consideration," Clarksville Police spokesman Jim Knoll told the Leaf-Chronicle.

The grand jury also found that the four men in the Nissan had not committed any crimes.

Most of the defendants are bounty hunters and others were bail bondsmen, although police didn't specify the exact breakdown. They range age from 27 to 38. All are from Clarksville except one who is a resident of Nevada, reported the Leaf-Chronicle.

Their bonds were set at $300,000 each, and all were booked in the Montgomery County jail, local media reported. Attorney information for the defendants wasn't immediately available Wednesday.

Emergency dispatchers started receiving calls for a shooting in progress at about 12:30 a.m. the night of the car chase, police said. Around that time, a few of the bondsmen involved called 911 and reported that the men in the Nissan were firing shots, according to the Leaf-Chronicle, which reviewed audio from the calls.

After investigating, police said there were no indications that anyone in the car was armed or firing at the group.

The Leaf-Chronicle tweeted: Bounty hunter told 911 he opened fire because he was shot at first in slaying of Jalen Johnson.

Johnson, the passenger who died, had three young children. His uncle, Toni Jenkins, told the Associated Press that Johnson and his friends thought they were being attacked by gang members when the bounty hunters swarmed them in the Walmart parking lot.

Another relative, Ronnie Milan, said he wished the judge had ordered the defendants held without bond.

"He can't get out of the casket, so they shouldn't be able to get out on bond," he told the Leaf-Chronicle. "He was 24 and healthy as a tree and now he's dead and gone."

Debra Morehead, the grandmother of the driver who was injured by gunfire, said her grandson was grieving from the ordeal.

"This has messed him up," she told the Leaf-Chronicle. "He's such a good kid."
Romanian senators voted down a measure that would have pardoned officials convicted of corruption on Thursday, just a day after the senate's legislative affairs committee had agreed upon it. What changed?

Up to two thousand angry Romanians took to the streets. "We don't want to be a country of thieves!," they shouted.

The whole episode was reminiscent of protests that happened back in February. Then, hundreds of thousands took to the streets to push back against legislation that would have decriminalized certain cases of official misconduct where the amounts involved are less than $48,000 - which, coincidentally, would have covered Liviu Dragnea. Dragnea is not prime minister, but he is nevertheless regarded as the head of Romania's ruling Social Democratic party - and is charged with defrauding the state of roughly $25,800.

That legislation was pulled, criticized by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and the powers that be in Brussels, although protests continued for a while thereafter.

"This bill withdrawn today was in the same vein, but even more brazen, pardoning officials jailed for corruption, abuse of office, etc. or reducing their sentences significantly-so no wonder people poured to the streets again," Zselyke Csaky of Freedom House told Foreign Policy.

Given that last potentially corruption-enabling legislation resulted in the largest protests the country had seen since 1989, one might wonder why legislators were even considering an amendment that would allow convicted government officials to get off scot free, or nearly so.

According to a statement by one of the men behind the amendment - Traian Basescu, who ran for office on an anti-corruption platform - it was proposed because "Romania needs a clean slate."

Csaky seems it somewhat differently. "Much of the Romanian political class is still beholden to a system that rewards cronyism, patronage, and under-the-table dealings," she said. The support from members of the ruling party demonstrates the degree of political resistance to rooting out corruption in Romania, she said.

The response from the international community was decidedly more muted, although the proposal goes farther than that which was protested in February. However, Romanian Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu, Iohannis, and Dragnea each came out against the amendment.

But they did not come out as forcefully as the hundreds who took to the streets Wednesday night, or those who drove around parliament honking their horns on Thursday, or the activists who called for new protests Thursday night and Saturday - that is, the Romanian people.
BERLIN - At a recent rally in the French city of Lille, presidential hopeful and right-wing nationalist Marine Le Pen took aim at one person she has repeatedly slammed on her improbable road to Sunday's runoff vote.

Her competitor, Emmanuel Macron?

Non.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"We do not want the migrants of Madame Merkel," Le Pen said, accenting the foreignness of the chancellor's name to loud applause.

"Don't you think Madame Merkel is toxic for Europe?" Le Pen added two days later in an interview with the BBC. "She let 1.5 million migrants in. Isn't that toxic? She imposes austerity on all the nations of Europe. Isn't that toxic?"

In Europe, Le Pen's barrage highlights a rallying cry going up in elections and populist movements from France to Italy, Britain to Germany:

Blame it on Merkel.

Since the election of President Donald Trump, some have dubbed the stoic German chancellor the new leader of the free world. Blazing a humanitarian trail, she opened the door to war-torn refugees. Her even-tempered diplomacy kept a lid on the crisis in Ukraine. Her insistence on tough fiscal love pulled near-bankrupt Greece - and Europe - back from the financial brink more than once.

At least, that's one narrative.

The other is the one making the rounds on campaign trails and at protest rallies across the continent, where Merkel is emerging as a symbol of everything that is wrong with the German-dominated European Union. Amid a string of major European elections this year - including Merkel's bid for a fourth term in September - Europe's decider has also become its divider.

Her initial policy of welcoming asylum seekers, critics charge, brought foreign faces not just to Germany, but to small towns and big cities across Europe - setting up the challenging task of integrating hundreds of thousands of mostly Muslim newcomers.

Her contentious stance on austerity and balanced budgets across the bloc, meanwhile, came as she led economically strong Germany to the zenith of its post-World War II power, partly on the back of a trade surplus with its neighbors. Many other E.U. nations, meanwhile, have been hogtied combating high unemployment and stagnation through economic stimulus.

The German stamp on the E.U. emerged as a rallying cry against the bloc during Britain's vote last year to leave. Now, Merkel's critics insist, her policies are at least partly responsible for giving a lift across the continent to nationalist populists such as Le Pen who may seek to unravel the E.U.

"The politics of Angela Merkel and [her finance minister] Wolfgang Schauble up to this point have contributed significantly to the deepening crises in the E.U.," Merkel's foreign minister from the rival Social Democratic Party, Sigmar Gabriel, wrote on his party's website.

He added, "A result of this has been the strengthening of anti-European populist parties."

In France, Le Pen's attacks have lent an anti-German bent to her National Front's euroskepticism, exposing the historical rifts that have led some in France to chafe against the rise of German influence under Merkel.

At the same time, Le Pen supporters increasingly see Merkel as the essence of the globalized, multicultural society that they are seeking to reject.

"We cannot accept the threat of Madame Merkel to our country, to our national identity," said Davy Rodriguez, 23, a deputy of a National Front youth organization in Paris and a student at Sciences Po in Paris, one of France's elite universities.

"They're putting migrants all over the countryside," said Rodriguez, who conceded that his parents were immigrants from Spain and Portugal who arrived in France in the 1980s. "We have to take back our sovereignty."

---

Merkel as lightning rod is hardly new - for years, the Greeks were hauling out Merkel-as-Adolf Hitler posters to protest her cuts-for-cash bailout demands. And last year Trump took clear swipes at Merkel during the bitterly fought U.S. election campaign.

Now she is emblematic of a bloc in which Germany is seen to have enjoyed outsized benefits, even as some other residents of the E.U. find themselves questioning the value of their membership.

On the ancient streets of Rome, posters recently went up across the city advertising an anti-E.U. protest organized by the nationalist Polo Sovranista movement. An image of Merkel stood at the center of the poster - between European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and French President Francois Hollande - under the caption: "Against this Europe."

The anti-German sentiment is reaching hyperbolic proportions in some quarters. The chief of Italy's populist Northern League - posturing as Italians brace for possible elections as soon as this year - recently blasted Merkel's Germany as doing with economics what Hitler did with bombs.

"They aren't employing tanks, but they're managing to economically subjugate the whole continent," Matteo Salvini told Italian radio in March.

It isn't just the right-wing populists calling German leadership out. In an interview with The Washington Post, Sandro Gozi, state secretary to European affairs from Italy's ruling center-left Democratic Party, also pointed a finger of blame.

"Whether it is Angela Merkel herself, I don't know," he said. "But the German approach to the euro zone is not effective."

Merkel's handling of European policy is also surging to the surface in Germany, where she is waging a critical reelection campaign. In a nation that lost its appetite to lead after the horror of World War II, it is almost as if some blame her for being too successful at imposing Germany's will on the continent.

Sven Giegold, a Green Party politician and member of the European Parliament, chalked up the high voter support for Le Pen in the first round of France's presidential elections last month to anger over "German dominance in the E.U."

"The 21 percent vote for Le Pen is also a result of German politicians' lecturing attitude towards others in Europe," he wrote on his website.

Yet when it comes to leading Europe, rather than seek power, Merkel and Germany have in many ways inherited it by default. Weak and diminished by his domestic unpopularity, Hollande was ultimately drowned out on the European stage. Italy has had five prime ministers in six years. Britain is more focused on leaving Europe than leading it.

Merkel's supporters, meanwhile, say the chancellor - widely popular among Germans after nearly 12 years in office - is being unfairly blamed. Jurgen Hardt, a close Merkel ally from her center-right Christian Democratic Union, defended her against the charge that her politics of austerity and budget deficit caps have slammed Germany's neighbors. And she has been more flexible on that front than her critics say.

"It's not austerity policy that's to blame, but the previous policy of making debts," he said.

As for migrants, Merkel has taken heat for famously saying in 2015 that "we can do this" and suggesting that there was no limit to the number of asylum seekers Germany would accept.

But she has since sought to close the door, forging a deal last year with Turkey to block migrants from entering Europe. In addition, she has taken a harder line on integration - backing legislation passed last week by the German parliament that imposes a partial ban on full Muslim face coverings.

Hardt conceded that these days, "being anti-EU means being anti-German." But he added that Merkel stood out as the sure-footed leader that Europe needs.

"If Europeans could freely vote on who should be the president of Europe . . . Angela Merkel would have the best chance," Hardt said.

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The Washington Post's Stephanie Kirchner in Berlin contributed to this report.
AUSTIN -- The Senate voted Wednesday to concur in House amendments to SB 4, the bill to ban so-called "sanctuary city" policies, sending the measure to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk. The House passed the measure after hours of debate and an amendment that moved that body's version closer to the one that passed out of the Senate in February. "This bill changed several ways, I believe, for the better," said author Sen. Charles Perry of Lubbock.

One major difference between the Senate bill and the version that came out of a House committee relates to the difference between "arrest" and "detention." The Senate version prohibits cities or other governmental entities from prohibiting a peace officer from inquiring into the immigration status of any lawfully detained person. This is a lesser standard than arrest and can include things like traffic stops. The version presented on the House floor would have only applied to immigration inquiries when a person was under arrest. The bill was amended, however, to move closer to language in the Senate version, putting the lawful detention standard back in the bill. Provisions in bill would ban city and law enforcement agency from adopting policies that prohibit cooperation with federal immigration officials. It would also permit the attorney general to charge mayors, sheriffs or police chiefs who implement such policies with a crime and levy financial penalties on non-compliant governmental entities.
Congress moved to kill an Obama-era rule that would make it easier for states to launch retirement programs for millions of workers who do not have plans through their jobs.

The Senate narrowly approved 50-49 a resolution that removed regulatory hurdles for states creating the programs. The vote broke down mostly along party lines, with the exception of Republican Sens. Bob Corker (Tenn.) and Todd Young (Ind.), who voted against the resolution.

The resolution now heads to President Trump's desk.

The vote creates uncertainty for the seven states that have passed laws to create a retirement program. The states - California, Oregon, Illinois, Maryland, Connecticut, New Jersey and Washington - could face confusion over which regulations they would be subject to.

The programs would generally work by automatically enrolling employees who don't have plans through their jobs, including many small business workers and part-timers, into individual retirement accounts. Those employees would have the contributions taken straight from their paychecks. People who do not want to participate would be able to opt out.

About 55 million Americans don't have a simple way to save for retirement through work, according to AARP.

The resolution eliminates a Labor Department rule finalized last year, which clarified that states would not have to comply with the strict rules and reporting requirements governing employer-based retirement plans and pensions. Those regulations could lead to additional paperwork and higher compliance costs.

But the accounts have been strongly criticized by business groups and Republicans who say states should not be running retirement plans. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Investment Company Institute, a financial trade group, are among those who called on Congress to eliminate the rule. "The Senate has taken a positive step to ensure that savers in state-run retirement plans have the same strong consumer protections that workers with private-sector employer retirement plans have relied on for more than four decades," said ICI President Paul Schott Stevens.

Some lawmakers defending the plans said they were surprised to see strong Republican opposition over an approach that has had bipartisan support. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., pointed out Wednesday that the bill authorizing Maryland's retirement program was signed into law by Republican state governor Larry Hogan. And in March, Utah's Republican Treasurer David Damschen sent a letter to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, asking him to vote against the resolution.

Sen. Corker was the lone Republican to vote against a similar resolution in March affecting city plans, but this time he was joined by Sen. Young, who said in a statement after the vote that he thinks the state plans can help people struggling to save for retirement. "It is clear our current retirement system is based on an outdated model," he said. "While state-based retirement plans are not my first choice, if implemented carefully, they could help close the retirement savings gap."

The loss of the labor rule could cause delays in two dozen states considering their own programs, Democrats and consumer advocates say. "This will have a significant chilling effect across our retirement system," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., on the Senate floor Wednesday. "It would send the political message that Congress is opposed to state flexibility to increase retirement savings."

Some of the states launching retirement plans, including Oregon and California, are planning to move forward with the programs even if the rule is overturned. California, for example, hired an executive director for its retirement plan earlier this year and expects to have the program running by early 2019. Oregon is on pace to launch its state-run plan this summer.

On Wednesday evening, Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., introduced a bill that could provide some clarity for the cities and states seeking to launch retirement plans. The bill, which was co-sponsored by Sen. Murray, would amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the law governing workplace retirement accounts, to state that it does not apply to IRAs launched by states and cities.

While savers can open individual retirement accounts on their own, research shows that workers are much more likely to save for retirement if they can do it easily through their jobs. A report released last month by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College found that most of the people using IRAs already have access to a retirement account.

The majority of money flowing into IRAs came from people who were transferring money over from a workplace retirement account, such as a 401(k). The researchers concluded, however, that automatically enrolling workers into IRAs would be a way to increase participation from people who aren't already saving for retirement.
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WESTPORT  Art Buckmans petition to allow coyote trapping in town was presented to the full Representative Town Meeting May 1 for its first reading.

A controversial topic which has been debated at length by RTM committees, the coyote trapping ordinance change is intended to quell the increasingly common attacks by coyotes on Westport pets, particularly in the neighborhood by Coleytown Road.

If passed, the amendment will allow residents and town officials to trap coyotes under very specific circumstances, Buckman said.

The change would permit residents to hire a licensed Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator to trap and remove coyotes from their property. To do so, the NWCO has to get a permit from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and notify the town animal control office, along with all residents whose properties are both abutting and across the street.

Also allowed in the proposal is the ability of town officials to engage a NWCO for coyote trapping and removal on both private (with consent of the owner) and public property. The process also requires a permit from the DEEP and the town to notify the public of trapping at least seven days before the traps are set. The notification must be published in a newspaper and requires signage in a prominent place on the public property.

Buckman said currently the response to problem coyotes is not enough, The police can use force to deal with nuisance coyotes, but in all practical manner, they do not have the tools to do so. He referenced that out of 24 coyote-related calls the police have responded to this year, only one time a coyote was on site when they arrived.

Local veterinarians don't think trapping is the answer to the coyote problem. They believe residents should be more proactive in deterring coyotes by not leaving their pets unattended or implementing a fence, using coyote hazing techniques and not leaving out food or garbage.

Trapping is also considered inhumane by The Humane Society of the United States.

In an earlier RTM joint committee meeting on the petition, the Public Protection Committee unanimously opposed the measure, the Environment Committee unanimously opposed it and the Parks and Recreation Committee voted against it.

Those committee reports will be presented to the full RTM in June.

@chrismmarquette; cmarquette@bcnnew.com
Boerne school trustees have selected Thomas Price, currently a deputy superintendent in the Humble Independent School District, as the sole finalist to succeed Superintendent David Stelmazewski when he retires June 30.

Dr. Price is an educator who possesses a wide range of leadership experiences, said Donna Sharp, president of the Boerne Independent School District board, which selected Price as its finalist Wednesday. His record of success is impressive.

The finalist designation triggers a 21-day waiting period, required by Texas law, before Price, 54, can be formally named to the position.

He was among six candidates picked for interviews from among more than 60 applicants for the post. Stelmazewski held it from December 2011 after serving three years as principal of Boerne Champion High School.

Im just honored that a progressive, exciting community like Boerne would be interested in me, said Price by phone Thursday from Humble, where he is deputy superintendent/chief academic officer, a job he has performed since 2012.

What appealed to me about Boerne was its reputation for having great students who are very successful because the community there has such a student-first attitude, Price said. Thats very attractive to any administrator.

Price was attending an awards banquet Wednesday in Humble and was unable to attend the special meeting in Boerne where he was the unanimous choice as superintendent finalist.

If hes hired in Boerne, as expected, Price said he hopes to begin work there in June to gain insights from Stelmazewski before he retires.

Prior to his tenure at Humble ISD, Price served as superintendent at Splendora ISD, Sealy ISD and Anderson-Shiro CISD, and an assistant superintendent at West Orange-Cove CISD, according to a Boerne ISD announcement. It noted Anderson-Shiro and West Orange-Cove are so-called Chapter 41 districts that must operate under the same Robin Hood provisions as Boerne ISD.

Price attended the University of Houston as an undergraduate and earned a masters degree and doctorate degree in education from Lamar University.

Through a collaborative process Boerne trustees began in January, which included assistance from the Texas Association of School Boards, Sharp said, We can say with confidence that we found in Dr. Price someone who matches the qualities and characteristics expressed by the community as desirable in our next superintendent.
Brooke Army Medical Centers commander told reporters Thursday that the hospital has eliminated a shortage of sterilized surgical instruments that had forced the hospital to reduce the number of elective surgeries but that it would take time to increase the tempo of operations.

Brig. Gen. Jeffery Johnson said the hospital would bring on more than two dozen additional surgical technicians to help meet the demand, which can reach 1,400 operations a month.

It isnt clear when  or if  the hospital will resume operations at that pace. Although acknowledging that instruments tainted with unintended retained materials had reached the operating room on some occasions and were rejected by surgical teams and sent back, Johnson, a physician, stressed that theres no indication that patient infection rates had increased.

He declined to say how many potentially unsterile surgical instrument sets had arrived in BAMCs operating rooms, citing regulations, but said the hospital has enjoyed a low infection rate and that patients should have confidence that their surgeries will be safe.

I think we have to talk about what is the ultimate outcome that were looking for here, and thats that surgical infection rate, he said. So we have great numbers where we can provide that trust and that confidence back to our patients.

The San Antonio Express-News reported Sunday that BAMC, the flagship of the Armys health system, had closed 16 of its 28 operating rooms. It also reduced elective surgeries after it found improper sterilization last month of instruments in 73 cases, including 16 incidents in which fragments of organic material such as bone, skin or blood were left on surgical tools, which is potentially dangerous.

The hospital also had a backlog of more than 600 surgical instruments that needed to be processed, assembled and moved to a highly specialized facility that cleans them. The backlog was eliminated nine days after an OR shutdown was ordered in mid-April, officials said.

A BAMC physician detailing problems with the instruments told the paper that surgical tools with human tissue on them had arrived in operating rooms before surgeries. Johnson confirmed that Thursday, calling the leftover matter unintended remained material, but he has cited regulations in declining to confirm the numbers given by the doctor, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation.

Johnson and other BAMC officials, as well as the doctor, said theres no evidence that contaminated tools had been used on patients.

Another BAMC doctor, Col. Douglas Soderdahl, has said leftover human material was unlikely to survive the sterilization process, but Weston Hank Balch, director of sterile processing operations at San Antonios University Health System, said there are risks. He said a substance called biofilm can form on an instrument after it has been sterilized and cause illnesses if used on a patient.

Johnson and Soderdahl, BAMCs deputy commander for surgical services, have said infection rates at the hospital are lower than average.

The temporary closure has not affected BAMCs Level 1 trauma center, which gets priority for the sterilized equipment. One of 15 such centers in the country, it handles 48,000 patients from San Antonio and 22 surrounding South Texas counties, prompting Johnson to tell reporters, We understand that any interruption in surgical care is significant. But more significant is the safety of our patients.

Johnson and other hospital officials traced the problem to an increase in elective surgeries over the past nine months, a decision that was meant to ensure that doctors, nurses and technicians remained proficient as they await possible overseas deployments. But last month, BAMC put a lid on elective surgical procedures after warning signs arose.

The hospital revealed the problem in an April 21 briefing with several hundred doctors and other medical personnel. The physician who talked to the Express-News said leaders told staff that they had recorded 24 cases of improperly processed surgical sets in December and 14 in September, adding that several surgeons stood up and said, Hey, this is an issue. Were having poorly sterilized equipment, its a recurring issue and it happens, if not on a daily basis, multiple times a week.

The hospital this week added six workers to its Sterilization Processing and Distribution facility, which cleans instruments after surgeries, and plans to bring on four more people Monday. Seven additional technicians will arrive at the facility in the coming weeks.

The SPD, as the facility is called, is responsible for sterilizing 4,000 instrument sets in the hospitals inventory. Surgeons typically use more than one set of instruments during an operation, depending on the type of surgery.

Sterile processing had around 60 people on its staff when the hospital decided last month to reduce the number of operating rooms it would use for surgeries. Johnson told reporters that there are plans to bring 27 additional technicians on board to support sterile processing.

Even when sterilization processing reaches its projected staffing mark, other factors ultimately will determine how many operations of all kinds are done every month, he said.

Our initial focus was to address the clean instruments that were not assembled and ready for surgery, he said. Weve accomplished that task in the first nine days. Now were beginning to build up the ability to increase the number of surgical procedures that were doing each day.

This is a place that is known for quality, he said. Thats the commitment that we have, thats the passion that we have regardless of whether thats one of our wounded warriors, whether thats somebody who has an unexpected medical event that takes place or whether thats a trauma patient that has no affiliation with the United States military. Thats who we are, thats what we strive to be.

sigc@express-news.net
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An active duty soldier who says he helped chase down the suspected purse thief at a Northwest Side H-E-B on Wednesday said he did it in his dress blues.

"I saw him running out of the door, sprinting with the purse. I just went with my instincts," said Tyler Eckblad, a 21-year-old cavalry scout in the U.S. Army who is currently stationed at Fort Hood.

RELATED: Citizens chase down suspect who allegedly tried to steal woman's purse at NW Side H-E-B

Eckblad said he was stopping by a Starbucks in the area with his wife, Joselynn, and parents before they all attended a funeral service for his grandfather, Lt. Col. Stanley Allen, a retired fighter pilot with the U.S. Air Force and former Golden Glove boxer who recently died at the age of 92-years-old.

He was in his dress blues at the time for the funeral, but that didn't stop him from jumping into action when he saw the suspect, whose identity has not yet been released, darting out of the H-E-B in the 5200 block of De Zavala Road, purse in hand.

Eckblad told his wife to hang on, and he began pursuing the suspect in his car.

"She just wanted me to catch him," Eckblad said, laughing.

RELATED: Central Texas police arrest 10 in prostitution, drug sting

Also following the suspect was a man with a concealed handgun, who was giving chase on foot, and two other citizens following in a van.

Eckblad said once he got close to the fleeing suspect, he parked his car and started running. Soon after, the suspect then tossed the woman's purse in a trashcan. He said he picked up the purse to return to the H-E-B as the others continued to follow the suspected thief.

The other citizens eventually caught the man, pinning him down at a nearby Five Guys, where he was later arrested and taken to jail on a theft charge.

Eckblad said he and his wife returned the purse it to the woman in front of the H-E-B.

"She was all thankful and gave me a massive hug and a little kiss on the cheek," he said.

Noticing Eckblad's uniform, the woman told him that she was a Navy veteran. The two thanked each other for their service and then Eckblad left. He had a funeral to catch.

RELATED: Police catch suspect who allegedly did 'donuts' near crime scene, drove into oncoming traffic

"We saw the guy on the side of the road in handcuffs, but we were already pushing time so we didn't pull over," he said.

Of his grandfather's funeral, Eckblad said though it was sad, his grandfather had lived a fulfilled life as much as he could. It was just his time to go.

Yesterday at the scene, Police thanked the citizens who helped pin down the suspect and return the woman's purse yesterday at the scene.

"We need more of this," said San Antonio Police Department Capt. Tracy Powers. "These were concerned citizens willing to get involved."

Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com

cdowns@mysa.com

Twitter: @calebjdowns
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Police on Wednesday arrested a man accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a Dominion-area shopping center.

Lionel Payne, 58, now faces a charge of sexual assault, a second-degree felony. He remains in the Bexar County Jail on a $20,000 bond.

RELATED: Police ID couple found dead in North Side apartment, cause of death unclear for woman

Officers responded to the alleged sexual assault around 3:30 p.m. in the 22200 block of Interstate 10 near the Dominion Ridge shopping center. There they detained Payne, and paramedics with the San Antonio Fire Department checked the victim.

RELATED: Police chase suspect who allegedly did 'donuts' near crime scene, drove into oncoming traffic

Both Payne and the victim were transported to the Special Victim's Unit for further questioning. They also visited a hospital for a sexual assault examination, police say.

Payne was later booked into jail on a charge of sexual assault.

Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com

cdowns@mysa.com

Twitter: @calebjdowns
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents saved 18 immigrants Wednesday who were locked inside a cold tractor trailer at the Falfurrias checkpoint, according to a news release.

The agents conducted the rescue after the refrigerated tractor trailer went under a secondary inspection following a K-9 alert. The immigrants were found near a load of produce, with the temperature of the tractor trailer set to 51 degrees, the news release said.
So the threats were no more than bluster, and all is well. That is one view of President Donald Trumps foreign policy at the 100-day-or-so mark.

Wrong.

Yes, theres no sign of the Wall, and NATO is no longer obsolete, and the One China policy has not been scrapped, and the Iran nuclear agreement endures despite Trumps dismissal of it as the worst deal ever, and the U.S. Embassy is still in Tel Aviv, and neither the Paris climate deal nor the North American Free Trade Agreement has been abandoned.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and H.R. McMaster, national security adviser, have ring-fenced Trumps recklessness and bellicosity. They have neutralized his ignorance even if nobody can help the president grasp its extent. Some of the loonier members of the presidents entourage have been fired or marginalized. Adults have taken charge. There is still a lot of noise, but America First has not upended the world.

Except that it has. A disaster is unfolding whose consequences for humanity and decency will be devastating.

The United States under Trump has embarked on a valueless foreign policy. The president has not met a strongman whose machismo does not beguile him. He prefers guns to diplomats. Militarism and mercantilism constitute a new policy, unconstrained by any consideration of what the United States stands for in the world or the values its alliances have defended since 1945.

This is a radical departure. America is also an idea. That idea is inextricable  whatever the countrys conspicuous failings  from the defense of liberty, democracy, human rights, open societies and the rule of law. Realist, neoconservative and liberal internationalist schools have different interpretations of how this may be achieved, and what limits exist on Americas capacity to extend the reach of freedom. But the unblushing embrace of the torturer for mutual gain does not appear in any pre-Trump foreign policy manual I know.

A very friendly conversation with President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines leads to a White House invitation for a man accused of waging a brutal extrajudicial drug war. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey cements his repressive and increasingly imperious rule in a dubious referendum and gets a congratulatory call from Trump. The red carpet rolls out for Egypts autocratic president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who becomes Trumps great friend. President Xi Jinping of China goes from currency manipulator to terrific person and seems to inspire in Trump awe. President Vladimir Putin of Russia, having been lumped early on with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany as somebody Trump may or may not be able to trust, basks still in Trumps agnosticism on brutality.

The message is clear: The United States has granted carte blanche for despots. This is not effective foreign policy realism; it is a form of depravity.

The toll is considerable. France and Germany are no longer asking whether they have been cast loose between a hostile Moscow and a hostile Washington, as they did in the first weeks of the Trump administration, but nor have they forgotten the experience. The suspicion remains, with Trump, of shared Russian-American sympathy for the weakening or breakup of the European Union.

Trust has been eroded. The State Department, led by a cipher, has been undermined.

When I covered the war in Bosnia, , I got to know an honorable Foreign Service officer  I have known many over the years  named Ron Neitzke. He had been troubled by the United States attempt to ignore genocide and done all he could to right that. Reflecting later, Neitzke wrote: One must, in essence, be guided by the belief that a policy fundamentally at odds with our national conscience cannot endure indefinitely  if that conscience is well and truthfully informed.

What Trump is attempting is no less than the destruction of Americas national conscience. This must be resisted by all means.

Roger Cohen writes a column for the New York Times.
Cinco de Mayo took on a renewed meaning for Mexican-American communities this year, particularly with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott poised to sign Senate Bill 4, the Arizona-style show me your papers law targeting undocumented immigrants.

The commemoration of the unlikely Mexican military victory over a superior French army at the Battle of Puebla in 1862 resonates with the resolve with which many Mexican-Americans view as their untenable position in the current debates about migration and cultural change in this country. Like the seemingly unstoppable French military in 1862, nationalist nativists have the upper hand in imposing harsh measures through sheer might.

While a Republican-dominated Congress and conservative state legislatures rush to implement anti-immigrant measures, the alt-right media stoke racially tinged fears of the cultural Latinization of the United States. This tone is set at the top. President Donald Trump has spoken of Mexican immigrants as criminals, rapists and bad hombres. And now he seeks to build a 30-foot wall along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border. More recently, a fraternity at Baylor University brought old-fashioned anti-Mexican racism into news headlines by throwing a Cinco de Drinko event where partygoers, dressed as maids and constructions workers, chanted Build that wall.

Still outsiders to the circles of state and media power, Mexican-Americans find themselves in a familiar role alongside Mexican immigrants: that of the underdog facing powerful opponents.

U.S. citizenship, educational accomplishment or professional status is little defense against such attacks. While some argue that Mexican-Americans should separate themselves from Mexican immigrants to avoid the taint of negative association, history suggests that alliance rather than avoidance would better protect the rights of both, particularly since many Mexican-Americans are but one or two generations away from the experience of migration to the U.S.

At the founding convention of the League of United Latin American Citizens in 1929, the great divide was about the requirement that members be U.S. citizens, a contentious issue given the large numbers of Mexican refugees from the Mexican Revolution of 1910-20 who had been active in the fight against racial discrimination in Texas. The requirement was kept, and the Mexican refugee contingent walked out. While a citizens-only LULAC was instrumental in advancing the civil rights of Mexican-Americans during its first decades, it missed a golden opportunity to make common cause against the common enemy of institutionalized racism.

LULAC has since dropped U.S. citizenship as a membership requirement and has become a leading advocate for immigrant rights regardless of status; and Mexican immigrants, Mexican-Americans and their fair-minded allies have stepped up to fight the good fight against misguided legislation that doesnt amount to immigration reform but does infringe on human rights. In addition to opposition from immigrant rights groups, organizations as diverse as law enforcement and religious leaders provided more than 16 hours of testimony against SB 4.

But as Mexican-Americans, along with Mexicans, know all too well from history, the path to achieving social justice has never been easy, and there have been nearly as many setbacks as there have been successes. Even the Mexican victory at Puebla in 1862 was short-lived, as French troops occupied Mexico for another five years until the resistance, led by Mexican President Benito Juarez, regained control of the country.

Today, the famous words of Juarez ring true as never before: Entre los invididuos, como entre las naciones, el respecto al derecho ajeno es la paz, which means, between individuals, as between nations, respect for the rights of others means peace.

In this spirit, Mexican-Americans must continue to work alongside other communities to bend the arc of history toward the peace that flows from social justice.

John Moran Gonzalez is director of the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin and a Public Voices fellow.
Boycotts are nothing new in America. After all, arguably the most consequential consumer movement in American history  the Boston Tea Party  predates the republic itself.

But could their overuse be undermining their purpose? I say it is. Even worse, boycotts are actually taking power away from those who are the least able to effect political change.

Lost in the discussion lately is what exactly boycotts are supposed to achieve. People who organize them are often outsiders who lack financial or political power. This means they must pursue social and political change through nontraditional tactics. Usually, their goal isnt to hurt a firms bottom line but rather to make the public aware of what they believe are unethical corporate practices.

Its no surprise, then, that research finds little evidence that boycotts impose lasting economic costs on companies. Instead, boycotts can succeed by winning concessions from companies, changing how firms engage with stakeholders, and pressuring politicians to distance themselves to avoid guilt by association. These successes, however, have introduced challenges and disadvantages.

First, although boycotts have traditionally been weapons of the weak, we have seen recent efforts by those in power to co-opt the tactic for their own ends  such as President Donald Trumps criticism of Nordstrom and his supporters subsequent call for a boycott. Although a boycott inspired by a presidential tweet is no more likely to succeed than others, the use of the tactic by people with power can delegitimize the serious calls for boycotts by those without power.

Second, boycotting can involve targeting firms indirectly. The most recent example was the call on advertisers of Fox News OReilly Factor to withdraw their sponsorship of the show in the wake of sexual harassment allegations against the host. Although this boycott succeeded, it introduces a risk that Politicos Jack Shafer identified: Weary of consumers and advertisers reactions, media firms may be more cautious in airing controversial voices, in effect giving advertisers implicit control.

Additionally, the recent increase in boycotts is likely limiting their effectiveness by overwhelming the public. Between 1990 and 2007, only 213 boycotts were mentioned in the six largest U.S. newspapers; by contrast, in the 200 or so days of its existence, the anti-Trump #GrabYourWallet campaign alone has launched boycotts against over 50 companies. This explosion in activism is overwhelming for consumers, and each new boycott decreases the likelihood of any individual one achieving its broader goals.

And firms are learning how to strategically adapt when theyre targeted. In recently published research, my colleague and I found that when activists boycott a firm, politicians respond by distancing themselves, lest their reputations be sullied by the boycott. In a follow-up study, we found that targeted firms do not simply withdraw from politics to avoid the appearance of impropriety but instead resort to tactics that require less disclosure and are harder to trace.

Sociologists and political scientists have long viewed boycotts as an important (if not always successful) tool for those who lack the resources or access needed to participate in the formal political process, but this view needs rethinking.

Good first steps for those pursuing change are to be more selective in their targeting and to launch supportive buycotts. After all, the highest single day of revenue for Chick-fil-A came when its customers rallied to its defense following a highly publicized boycott.

As it stands now, though, the boycotts efficacy as a weapon of the weak or disenfranchised is lessening in our increasingly polarized world, further reducing the limited power of those who feel their voices go unheard.

Timothy Werner is an assistant professor in the business, government and society department at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.
WASHINGTON  The 14 Republicans in Californias House delegation helped give their party its biggest victory to date Thursday in its seven-year campaign against the Affordable Care Act, voting to gut the law in defiance of Democratic threats to have them tattooed with the decision come next years elections.

The states GOP contingent voted unanimously for a Republican bill to replace the health-insurance law commonly known as Obamacare, including seven members who represent districts that President Trump lost in November. All seven had said until Thursday that they were undecided on the repeal-and-replace bill, and many were intensely lobbied by the president and House GOP leaders.

The 217-to-213 vote left the GOP almost no room for error. No Democrats voted for the bill, which would remove the mandate that all adults carry insurance, let states strip coverage requirements for such services as emergency care, and allow insurers to charge higher premiums for people with past or current health problems.

The legislation now goes to the Senate, where majority Republicans have looked warily on the House effort and are certain to make changes  if they pass anything at all.

Trump, whose first 100 days in office were notably short on legislative wins, said after the vote that this is a great plan. I actually think it will get even better. ... Premiums will be coming down. Yes, deductibles will be coming down.

Many of the California Republicans who voted for the bill had stayed on the fence until the last moment. Some such as Reps. Darrell Issa of Vista (San Diego County) and Ed Royce of Fullerton (Orange County) ducked reporters seeking to interview them, issuing press releases instead.

With 20 Republicans from other states, many of them also in vulnerable districts, voting no, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield needed GOP colleagues in his state on board.

Gov. Jerry Brown, who described the bill as an abomination, called out three California Republicans just before the vote for their co-sponsorship of an amendment that won over some center-right Republicans.

Brown listed the members by name and the estimated number of their constituents who could lose coverage under the bill: Reps. David Valadao of Hanford (Kings County), 111,000; Jeff Denham of Turlock (Stanislaus County), 109,000; and Steve Knight of Lancaster (Los Angeles County), 76,000.

Valadao and Denham, who said in a Facebook post last month that he opposed the bill as it was written then, retorted that Brown has prioritized access to health care for those living in urban areas and along the coast, while neglecting people in the San Joaquin Valley. They said Brown needed to work to improve Medicaid reimbursement rates to attract more doctors to their districts.

Republican leaders said their bill, the American Health Care Act, would lower insurance costs for younger and healthy people, provide customers with more options, and supply funding to help people who have health problems, or pre-existing conditions, pay what could be sharply higher premiums.

We know we can have fair health care that helps those who need it without trapping everyone in a government-run system dreamed up by Washington central planners, McCarthy said.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said the vote heralded a new era of reform based on liberty and self-determination.

Democrats cited independent analyses indicating that millions of people who gained coverage under the Affordable Care Act would lose it under the GOP measure. They hope both to kill the bill in the Senate and use the House vote to bludgeon Republicans in the 2018 midterm elections.

Most Americans dont know their member of Congress, but they will now, said House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, a chief architect of the Affordable Care Act. She told Republicans, You have every provision of this bill tattooed on your forehead. You will glow in the dark.

California Democrats said the bill would prove devastating in their home state, especially lower-income areas where many of the working poor could be stripped of Medi-Cal coverage. The bill could cost the state $24 billion in federal Medicaid funds alone.

Democratic Rep. Mark DeSaulnier of Concord said many Republicans complaining about the Affordable Care Acts problems cited states that refused to work to implement the law. Im in shock that they would do this, he said of Thursdays vote.

But one of the California Republicans who had said he was undecided, Rep. Doug LaMalfa of Richvale (Butte County), said he was hearing from constituents who complained about high premiums that they are paying under the current health law.

We had to do something, LaMalfa said. Middle-income people were pleading that we cant do this anymore.

Other California Republicans voting for the bill were Reps. Devin Nunes of Tulare, Mimi Walters of Irvine, Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa (Orange County), Ken Calvert of Corona (Riverside County), Paul Cook of Yucca Valley (San Bernardino County), Duncan Hunter of Alpine (San Diego County) and Tom McClintock of Elk Grove (Sacramento County).

The Affordable Care Act has been a GOP target ever since it became then-President Barack Obamas main domestic priority in his first term. Trump said during the campaign that he wanted to sign a repeal bill on his first day in office, voiced frustration with both Republicans and Democrats when an earlier version of the bill stalled in March, and lobbied hard for the latest measure.

As attention focused on how Republicans would replace the Affordable Care Act, public support for the law grew. Throughout Obamas presidency, it was opposed by more Americans than backed it, according to the RealClear Politics average of opinion polls. Now, however, it is backed by 49.6 to 42.1 percent. A Quinnipiac poll in March showed that 17 percent of Americans supported the GOP replacement.

The Republican proposal was retooled in recent weeks to appease far-right GOP members of the Freedom Caucus. They won the provision allowing states to opt out of the ban on charging more for people with pre-existing conditions. They also won a provision that would let states end requirements that insurers offer essential benefits in any policy they sell, such as coverage for prescription drugs, maternity care and emergency room services.

The amendment co-sponsored by Denham, Valadao and Knight that was key to winning over moderates added $8 billion over five years to help people with pre-existing conditions pay for health insurance. Democrats and other critics of the measure derided the total as far too little to cover the number of people who would be at risk of skyrocketing premiums.

Republicans held the vote without an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan arm of Congress that assesses the effects of legislation on the public. Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., said Republicans did not need a new analysis because there were only minor changes to the original repeal-and-replace legislation that Republicans withdrew just before a vote in March.

The budget office said that legislation would cause 24 million people to lose or drop their insurance by 2026, and that premiums in the individual market could spike as much as 20 percent in the first two years before leveling off. California officials estimated that 3 million people in the state could lose their coverage.

Many of those who lose insurance qualified for coverage under the Affordable Care Acts expansion of Medicaid. The Republican bill guts funding for that expansion.

In addition, the measure would repeal the Affordable Care Acts requirement that all adults who can afford it carry health insurance or pay a tax penalty. That was one of the main sources of funding for covering people who had been unable to obtain coverage before the acts passage.

It would also repeal taxes on high-income people, prescription drugs, medical devices and indoor tanning that had paid for expanded coverage.

To replace at least some of that money, the GOP bill would let insurers impose a 30 percent surcharge on people who go more than 63 days without coverage, then seek a new policy.

One little-noticed detail in the legislation could further punish California by denying the states residents even the basic tax credits it would provide to help lower-income people buy insurance. Thats because California requires insurance policies to cover abortion, and the GOP legislation would ban any federal aid for abortion.

Republicans said California would have to change its law to gain access to the tax credits.

Carolyn Lochhead is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. Email: clochhead@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @carolynlochhead
TITIS is Tranter IT Infrastructure Services Limited, it is a spin-off of Tranter International Company. Tranter International Company was incorporated in November 1989 under the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Company's registered address is at 3/6, Alhaji Adejumo Avenue , Ilupeju Industrial Estate, Lagos State , NigeriaA personal driver is urgently needed in Lagos.Must possess a valid driver's license and LASDRIMust possess knowledge of Lagos Road NetworkMust possess a minimum of five year driving experiencePossess a minimum of SSCEA good communication skill in English and any of Nigeria dialect.Must be living in VI/Lekki/Ajah axis.All intending applicants should send their CVs to experienceddrivers@yahoo.com Before 12 noon on Friday 5th of May, 20175 May, 2017
African Development Bank (AfDB) - Established in 1964, the African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 80 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries). The Banks development agenda is delivering the financial and technical support for transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth. The Bank is seeking to build a management team that will lead the successful implementation of this vision.Reference: ADB/17/133Location: NigeriaGrade: EL.3Position N: 50092322The Vice President and Chief Financial Officer oversees the financial management of the Bank Group.This encompasses the Bank Groups treasury activities including borrowings from the capital markets and investment activities; controllership functions including financial reporting and loan administration; strategic resource mobilization and the strengthening of the non-statutory financial resources and instruments; the overall asset/liability management for the Bank Group.Reporting directly to the Bank President, the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Finance is responsible for providing strategic leadership on all Finance-related activities of the Bank Group, comprising primarily the treasury, accounting and financial reporting, financial management, resource mobilization including syndication and co-financing activities.The Administrator of the African Development Banks staff retirement plan also reports to the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.The Vice President of Finance provides strategic advice to the President on the key financial matters of the African Development Bank, the African Development Fund and the Nigeria Trust Fund.DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIESThe Vice President and Chief Financial Officers specific responsibilities will include the following:Provide leadership in the formulation and implementation of the Banks financial strategies in support and furtherance of its development mandate;Oversee the development and implementation of new financial products and services to meet the Banks client needs;Oversee the optimal utilization of the Banks risk bearing capacity between non-core (treasury and asset-liabilitymanagement) and core (lending or credit) activities:Promote policies, processes and guidelines to enhance cost effective funds raising in all major currencies and certain regional members currencies to encourage on-lending to clients and increase investment income;Provide the leadership required to assure the on-going confidence of key stakeholders in the financial management capacity of the Bank Group;Serve as an advocate or sponsor for important organizational or process change initiatives;Foster an environment, throughout the Bank, that stimulates and rewards partnership, encourages continuous learning, open communication and teamwork, and employs managerial best practices to motivate staff and ensure their most productive and cost-effective utilization and deployment.Represent the Bank in key discussions with various stakeholders (investors, borrowers, rating agencies, shareholders and other development financing partners) on financial matters;Oversee the administration of the Staff Retirement Plan.Including desirable skills, knowledge and experience:Hold at least a Master's degree or equivalent in Finance and/or Business Administration or related disciplines;Have a minimum of fifteen (15) years of relevant experience acquired in a reputable financial institution. The last five (5) years should have been at a senior management level;Broad, executive level experience in the area of Finance;Experience working in large, multicultural organizations in the public or private sector with a diverse workforce and sensitivity to diversity concerns of staff and Boards of Directors;Proven intellectual leadership in managing and maintaining an efficient and transparent environment in an international financial/banking organization;Established reputation and track record of performance, innovations and change management;Ability to listen and communicate effectively with oversight bodies such as multi-national Boards of Executive Directors and Governors and other senior government officials;Ability to think strategically and design long term plans and programs to develop staff in line with strategic priorities;Ability to inspire, generate and sustain staff commitment and professional excellence;Good negotiating skills and ability to communicate orally and write effectively in English or French with a good working knowledge of the other language;Proficient in the use of standard Microsoft Office Suite applications.23 May, 2017
As we wrote earlier this week, it was troubling to see CalPERS Board President Robert Feckner refused to make any comment whatsoever at a public board session when asked about the persecution of, um, disciplinary process against fellow board member JJ Jelincic. Recall that Jelincic had been promised a public airing of the charges, the opportunity to review the evidence against him and a public process for considering the charges.

The day after our post ran, as well discuss in more detail below, CalPERS took the astonishing step of announcing, via responses to Los Angeles Times reporter Mike Hiltzik, that it was punishing Jelincic despite never having told him what he did supposedly did wrong. Jelincic said, I have been found guilty of unspecified secret charges based on unspecified evidence. It would be hard to find a better example of a kangaroo court.1

As Hiltzik wrote in CalPERS credibility takes another hit as a board controversy blows up in its face:

The affair now appears to have reached its dismal conclusion. CalPERS Board President Rob Feckner has determined that Jelincic did disclose nonpublic information, but wont say what it was. The punishment, according to sources, is that Jelincic is to attend a one-day public conference by the California State Bar on the states open meetings and public records laws already scheduled for May 19 at UC Berkeley Law School. As discipline goes, thats risibly meager. If Id have known that conference existed, Jelincic says, I probably would have asked to go to it.

Jelincic indicates that he and his attorney were presented with some instances of his supposedly leaking confidential information. He and his attorney explained how each of those supposed breaches in fact all involved information that was already public. Even worse, Ashley Dunning, who had been engaged to act as the Boards attorney, said CalPERS had not made any actual or even potential charges against Jelincic. Yet CalPERS was clearly determined to sanction Jelincic, evidence and facts be damned.

The members of the board are such cowards that after years of attacks on Jelincic,2 they werent capable of relenting from bullying and fighting fairly. Nor were they willing to give up on their vendetta against Jelincic, a board member who is very popular among beneficiaries and held up by experts as an example of a courageous board member. It is important to understand how outrageous both the allegations and the process were. We summarized the situation earlier this week:

Apparently CalPERS is determined to censure Jelincic yet recognizes that its charges and procedures wont stand up to scrutiny. The result is that CalPERS reneged on its promise to Jelincic and the public and insisted on a secret process. CalPERS even tried to gag Jelincic by cheekily asserting that an early April meeting was attorney-client privileged even though Jelincic had his own counsel and his interest was clearly adverse. Keep in mind that CalPERS has been trying to find a way to neutralize Jelincic for a very long time. As we wrote in 2015: This section of the Governance Committee meeting clearly shows that the board, aided and abetted by [fiduciary counsel Robert] Klausner, is in the process of establishing a procedure for implementing trumped-up sanctions against Jelincic, presumably so as to facilitate an opponent unseating him in his next election. But Jelincics term isnt up until 2018, so from their perspective they are stuck with an apostate in their ranks for an uncomfortably long amount of time. Part of their strategy appears to harass him into compliance with the posture the rest of the board, that of ceding authority to staff and conducting board meetings that are largely ceremonial. Now for a recap of the latest chapter of this sorry saga. In January, board member Bill Slaton made an astonishing attack on Jelincic at an offsite, demanding that the board strip Jelinicic of substantive authority unless he resigned. Not only does the board lack the power to do that, but on top of that, Slaton failed offer a single specific example of misconduct. Yet showing that CalPERS lives in an Alice in Wonderland, Sentence first, verdict later realm, general counsel Matt Jacobs swung into support behind Slaton.

As Hiltzik pointed out:

The outcome suggests that Jelincics offenses must have been minor indeed, certainly not warranting his resignation. It also suggests that Slaton was out of line in publicly lodging explosive but unspecified accusations against Jelincic in public.

Another troubling aspect of this episode is that the CalPERS board and staff no doubt are congratulating themselves on having scored some sort of win by being able to depict Jelincic as having been sanctioned. But as Hiltzik stressed, all this episode does is further diminish CalPERS credibility when it and other pension funds are under attack. Now more than ever, CalPERS needs to be an exemplar of good governance, yet is it behaving in a more reckless and high-handed manner with every passing day.

At least as important, sanctioning Jelincic when he has never been told what exactly he is being punished for and no proper process for review is a patently illegitimate procedure. Jelincics real sin was standing up to a weak, lazy, and captured board. But this will backfire against them and CalPERS, potentially sooner rather than later.

With the board members having either embraced the witch hunt against Jelincic, or merely sat pat, anyone can now be targeted for trumped-up charges to discredit them, even if they happen upon corruption or other serious improprieties. For CalPERS board to throw its weight behind stymieing asking perfectly reasonable questions of staff, which seems to be Jelincics actual sin, less than a year after its former CEO was sentenced to over four years in prison, is a clear dereliction of duty.

And what is the boards rationalization?

Law professor and white collar criminologist Bill Black pointed out that excuse boards use to legitimate silencing board members who are trying to engage in supervision and oversight is  I am not making that up  they are violating norms of decorum. From his post:

I worked closely with board members in my role as the general counsel of Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. It takes enormous courage to confront senior corporate officers or fellow-directors when they are maintaining a solid front. We had a good board, officers, and institution. In an institution with a deeply rooted, sick culture like CalPERS, everything works against forceful directors trying to cure the rot. They have to confront a phalanx of directors and officers who are genuinely horrified that someone would disturb the highly prized decorum of the boardroom. The officials maintaining that the sick culture is not sick become enraged at anyone that blows the whistle on their unwillingness to act aggressively to cure the sick culture. CalPERS has had the great fortune of having a board member willing to take on its board and officers to insist on rooting out its culture of corruption. In doing so, JJ Jelincic discovered the great truth  no good deed goes unpunished. His fellow board members, with the clear connivance of the senior officers, are ginning up an effort to destroy his ability to continue to try to root out the rot at CalPERS. Neither Jelincic, who has among the greatest expertise of any board member in finance, nor the directors as a whole, knows what Jelincic is supposed to have done wrong.

Feckners comments are consistent with Blacks assessment:

Feckner told me by email that he decided that a confidential resolution is the best way to provide leadership to the Board in terms of collegiality, civility and ethical conduct and is appropriate under the circumstances. He concluded, As far as Im concerned, this matter is closed.

If Feckner and the CalPERS board think this shameful affair is over, they are going to have a rude awakening. Stay tuned.

Update 11:50 PM: This post launched just as a reader sent me the Sacramento Bees report on the laffaire Jelincic. The Bee has regularly takes CalPERS spin, and this is no exception. The headline depicts Jelincic as guilty even though, as we stressed, CalPERS own counsel on this matter said there were no actual or pending charges against Jelincic. So pray tell, how can one be guilty in the absence of charges? Apparently Jelincic is guilty simply by virtue of his existence, a special case of original sin from which the rest of the board has chosen to exculpate itself.

The story, while attempting to tell CalPERS story, shows how dubious the process was. Feckner adds a different allegation to the one he made to the Los Angeles Times: that Jelincic supposedly leaked information related to litigation. This gets back to the issue we flagged earlier: the board members are either not on top of the state of play and making unfounded charges against Jelincic, or are willing to make stuff up. It is perfectly kosher for any board member to tell members of the public about information that is already in court filings. Jelincic maintains he was strict in observing that rule: I am absolutely certain that I have never discussed any information in a litigation with the public other than that which was already in the public record.

Confirming that the charges against Jelincic were based on hearsay rather than actual evidence Feckeners tries legitimate his arbitrary ruling by saying:

Feckner on Wednesday said Slaton raised concerns about Jelincic because several board members in anonymous surveys before the January meeting said they believed Jelincic had improperly leaked information.

Weve embedded the board review document below. At the end of page 2, you can see no one offered any specifics, much the less any backup for their claims. This is persecution by innuendo.

Nevertheless, we do thank the Bee for citing Naked Capitalism and giving us a link for breaking this story. We very much appreciate getting credit where credit is due.

___

1 Hiltzik did confirm that two incidents that we had discussed on Naked Capitalism were among the bogus charges initially thrown at Jelincic:

He did confirm two specific charges against him that previously had leaked out, but that dont make CalPERS look any better. He says he was accused of revealing in November the confidential information that CalPERS had adopted a new asset allocation  that is, had rebalanced its various investment portfolios. Yet that fact had already appeared on a board meeting notice and Chief Investment Officer Ted Eliopoulos had confirmed it in an open session of a board committee. The second charge involves a consultants report the board commissioned to examine its private equity investments, a perennially underperforming portfolio about which Jelincic has been raising questions for years. One can understand why CalPERS wanted to keep this report under wraps, because it seems to have been overpriced and under-informative. Yves Smith, the ace financial commentator at nakedcapitalism.com, terms it a garbage-in, garbage-out private equity whitewash based on dubious methodology. In any event, the report had been leaked earlier  Jelincic says not by him.

In fact, as we discussed, the FTI report was leaked by FTI itself. But since these had been rebutted by Jelincic, and separately we are in possession of CalPERS records that show they knew full well that FTI was the source of the leak, it is a remarkable show of bad faith that CalPERS continued to harass Jelincic about this matter.

2 For instance, one public board session was so clearly intended to harass Jelincic that a CalPERS retiree called it a hating on JJ session.
Yves here. While i like the idea of describing success stories of organizing participants in the gig economy to secure better rights, I wish some of these examples had been fleshed out in more detail. If readers can provide more information about these or other good models, please pipe up in comments!

By Adam Fishwick, a Senior Lecturer in Urban Studies and Public Policy, De Montfort University. Originally published at Open Democracy

Workers in the so-called gig economy face heightening conditions of precarity and exploitation. From delivery couriers to taxi drivers, this series has shown that conditions of work are increasingly deleterious and show little sign of improvement.

To combat this, innovative new strategies of organisation and mobilisation have been developed. New, and more direct, tactics of trade union struggle have been at the heart of successful disputes led by the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain in London and via spontaneous strikes by Uber drivers and others across the USA, the UK, France, and beyond.

As yet, there has been less traction for these forms of the gig economy in Latin America. This may be about to change, as according to a recent Bloomberg report Uber HQ is responding to recent negative press attention by turning to the region as its new Promised Land.

Three reasons may explain why the gig economy has had little success so far in the region. First, it relies on a business model that requires particular market conditions, namely a high volume of relatively high-income consumers living alongside significant surplus labour. Such conditions are not as widespread in Latin America as in Europe and North America.

Second, there may be little need to push further precarity upon workforces across the region. The informal sector dominates in these areas and, after decades of structural adjustment and the return of a harsh neoliberalism to countries in the region, precarious work is the norm.

Third, where Uber and Lyft  the two dominant ride-sharing companies of the gig economy  have sought to establish themselves in major cities in Argentina and Brazil, for example  a combination of worker protest and regulation has contained their ambition.

Workers in the region have mobilised through a whole repertoire of innovative tactics to confront and, in some cases, overcome the negative impacts of the increased precarity that typifies work in the gig economy. We only need to think of the variety of horizontalist organisational forms and radical practices that emerged out of the 2001 crisis in Argentina, for example, which continue to echo in in the worker recuperated factories and even the recent womens strike.

In this article, I will reflect on some of the strategic lessons that can be drawn from Latin American workers in organising against conditions similar to those underpinning the growth of the gig economy across the global north. Specifically, I will consider what can be learnt from experiences of workplace occupation and workers control as a strategy for confronting the gig economy.

Workers Control in Latin America

The recent experience of workplace occupation and workers control in Latin America is wide-ranging. It encompasses hugely diverse political-institutional contexts and a vast range of economic sectors  from Socialist Production Units created through the communes and supported by the state in Venezuela, to land seizures and communal farming organised under the banner of Occupy, Resist, Produce by the Landless Workers Movement in Brazil.

The most well-known of these, however, are the Worker Recuperated Enterprises in Argentina. Emerging en masse after 2001, according to a recent report by the Open Faculty in Buenos Aires, there are now 376 worker-controlled workplaces that employ 15,948 workers.

As has been documented by Marcelo Vieta, these worker-controlled workplaces  which range from industrial factories and hotels to park services and medical centres  have faced a range of challenges, but have overcome them through a variety of innovations.

These include gaining access to funds as collectives, through neighbourhood solidarities, and through the construction of new economies of solidarity; establishing horizontal working structures via workplace assemblies and job rotation; enforcing equitable pay across sites; open communication through assemblies, with clear detailing of tasks, work-goals, and accounts; and offering space and services  from housing to healthcare  for surrounding communities.

Importantly, these occupations and the subsequent transformations of the workplace and of social relations between workers derived, initially at least, from the independent self-activity of precarious workers operating in increasingly poor conditions. These workers then came together to resolve directly the problems they encountered at work and in everyday life.

It is this foundational basis of autonomous collective action that is vital for thinking on the significance of workers control as a means to confront and overcome conditions of workplace precarity and insecurity.

The Possibility of Workers Control in the Gig Economy

But how can we translate these experiences in Latin America to workers organising in the gig economy under very different conditions and in very different contexts? For a start, many of these examples of workers control relate to more traditional workplaces, with fixed sites  factories, land occupations, hotels, medical centres, etc.  that can be brought under control by entering, occupying, and limiting access to that space.

The gig economy, by its very nature, is flexible and mobile  in most instances it is represented by a virtual platform with self-employed workers operating independently from each other, spread out across major cities and with no concrete space to occupy.

Yet the very terms of work offered in the gig economy lend themselves to thinking about  and acting upon  utilising this independence to take control. Ann Pettifor, a UK-based financial analyst, recently called for this exact response from Uber workers:

So the drivers of the cars own the car, they have bought the car, they have invested in it, they maintain it, they invest in its maintenance, they insure it They pay for all of that and then they pay something for the app. They are then allowed by Uber in California, in Silicon Valley, to retain some of their allowance but why on earth should Uber be such a company? Why should it operate in this way? Why do taxi drivers not come together and form a collective?

It is this option  of coming together through a shared, precarious experience of work and developing a collective, cooperative form of work organisation  that represents a clear possibility for contesting the vagaries of the gig economy. Workers control may seem a distant dream, but it may be that  as Marx envisaged  the contours of an alternative mode of organising work and life can be seen already within the innovations of capital.

Cooperatives in the US, for example, have been successful in challenging the dominance of Uber. Taxi cooperatives formed in Austin and in Denver, have shown how drivers can compete with  and win against  the ride-sharing firms of the gig economy. Moreover, the precarious conditions of work experienced across the gig economy are clearly analogous to the experiences of precarious work in and across Latin America and so they can offer some important strategic lessons for organising.

In a recent article, Maurizio Atzeni explores the possible new grounds for solidarity that have emerged amongst precarious workers in Buenos Aires, focusing on theatre technicians and  most interestingly for discussing the gig economy  motorbike couriers. Building on a concept developed in his earlier writings, he outlines the conditions for new modes of solidarity that emerge from the living encounter that occurs in the workplace.

Atzeni shows how, despite the fragmented, diffuse, and increasingly precarious modalities of work, it is in their shared experience of this labour process overwritten by the specific institutional and historical contexts of labour organisation in Argentina that the foundations of collective action can begin to emerge.

It is from similarly increased precarity  from threats of unemployment and heightened insecurity in work  that the examples of workers control previously highlighted in Venezuela, Argentina, and Brazil developed. Seemingly spontaneous decisions to mobilise, occupy, and repurpose workplaces were enabled by comparable new solidarities emerging from below.

In combination, these factors may point to new strategic directions for workers in the gig economy. Shared grievances and emerging solidarities amongst these precarious workers can find expression in the new tactics mobilised by trade unions, but it can also offer foundations for establishing collective forms of ownership modelled on experiences in Latin America.

As capitalism changes  pushing heightened insecurity and deepening exploitation  so too do the foundations for collective actions and the terms on which workers can begin to fight back. Latin America provides a useful signpost for how to establish new ways of living and working, and to building workers control in face of the insecurity and precarity of the gig economy.
Yves here. On Real News Network, Colin Powells former chief of staff Lawrence Wilkerson describes the lunacy of what passes for US strategy in Afghanistan. Note there are some sour notes. For instance, Wilkerson depicts Larry Summers as directly connected to Goldman Sachs. Summers was a protege of former Goldman co-Chairman, later Treasury Secretary Bob Rubin, but Summers never did a stint at Goldman (he did have a handsome sinecure from hedge fund DE Shaw).

Aaron Mate: Its The Real News, Im Aaron Mate. Afghanistan is the longest US war, and its deadlier than ever. The new US government report says the toll for Afghan civilians and military forces last year was the highest on record. The violence forced more than 660,000 people to flee their homes, also the most to date. US generals have requested thousands of additional troops. In a recent interview, national security advisor, H.R. McMaster hinted at a looming escalation.

H.R. McMaster: This is really the modern day frontier between barbarism and civilization. With those high stakes in mind, recognizing that the Taliban groups that were fighting here, that the ISIS groups that we alongside, really the Afghan forces are really fighting and were just enabling them in the Eastern part of the country, are a threat to all civilized peoples.

Aaron Mate: The Taliban is said to control at least one-third of Afghanistan, more than 15 years after the US invasion. A recent Taliban attack on an Afghan base was one of its worst to date, killing some 160 Afghan soldiers. The violence could only rise as the spring fighting season begins. Joining me is Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff to Secretary of State, Colin Powell; now a distinguished professor at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. Colonel Wilkerson, welcome back.

Col. Wilkerson: Good to be here.

Aaron Mate: We have talk now of President Trump sending more US troops back to Afghanistan at the rest of its generals. What amazes me about this discussion is that it wasnt too long ago, in 2011 at the height of President Obamas surge, we had 100,000 US troops there. That wasnt sufficient to beat the Taliban, so now with about 9,000 troops, theres talk of sending a few thousand more; as if that could somehow make a difference. What do you make of what is this never ending US war in Afghanistan, almost 16 years old?

Col. Wilkerson: The first thing I make of it is that Ive heard this before. I guess Im getting too old. Ive heard generals ask from foreign theaters for more troops, enough times to know that none of them have succeeded with those more troops; and that it seems to be the only thing that generals know how to ask for, more troops. That said, the situation in Afghanistan is truly bad. Its probably as bad as it has been in the past 16 years. The Taliban, as you indicated, control more territory now probably than they have at any time since the inception of the conflict, when they more or less were the government of the state of Afghanistan. Its looking pretty bad.

That said, I think the strategic rationale for staying in Afghanistan is shifting. Let me back up just a moment and say that if it is going to shift, then the major impediment to what has been, according to the generals, the problem in Afghanistan, too few troops, is going to be exacerbated majorly. We simply do not have enough troops to do all these brush fire wars, these peripheral empire wars. We just dont have enough troops. If were going to do these things, and were going to do them more effectively, wed better think about conscription, or at least a much larger armed force than we have. Given recruitment details of late, theres no way we could recruit an all volunteer force of that size, so as I said, we probably need to be thinking about conscription.

All of that to say that I think the strategic rational has shifted, I think were staying in Afghanistan for the next 50 years. The reason I say that is because Afghanistan presents us with the only opportunity, land opportunity, territory opportunity upon which to put US forces that can, at any given time that they desire to, that the president orders it, interdict, interfere with, or give the Chinese some trouble with their one belt, one road theory; essentially building a new silk road from Xinjiang Province all the way through the region and up into Europe.

The only way the United States can impact that with hard military force would be from a position somewhere along that route. We discovered, with regard to the Eastern Mediterranean in Afghanistan, for example, that its extremely difficult, if not well nigh impossible to do it out of the Eastern Mediterranean with naval air forces and air forces. I dont see that we are going to leave Afghanistan if this is indeed the shifting strategic rationale any time soon.

Aaron Mate: Okay, so this is a reasoning that is not mentioned, if ever mentioned, as a reason for the US being in Afghanistan. Youre saying that it is not linked to Taliban control of Afghanistan, and their original harboring of Al Qaeda, but actually US designs when it comes to China. When you served under the Bush administration, back in 2001 when this invasion was launched, was China a consideration back then?

Col. Wilkerson: China was a consideration only in the sense that we knew we were getting very close. After all, wed had an experience with getting close to the Chinese border when we ran Korea in 50, you may recall. The Chinese entered with 300,000 volunteers. Situations changed a lot, but we were somewhat concerned about having a border with China, and being in Afghanistan, that features that border. People looking at it at that time made sure that the Chinese knew that we were not going to linger. Well, weve lingered for 16, almost 17 years now. Were looking at a whole different tapestry of possibilities now, too. Were looking at the possible Israeli now financed I understand largely by people like Goldman Sachs. Wow, wonder why Donald Trump has Goldman Sachs in the White House. Pipeline, running up from.

Aaron Mate: Well, wait a second, Colonel Wilkerson. Are you suggesting that Goldman Sachs being in the White House is somehow linked to the Israeli governments financial ties to Goldman?

Col. Wilkerson: How in the world would anyone ever not think that? I mean how could I be so naive to think that I dont believe Goldman Sachs is connected in some way to the leadership in Israel, and the Israeli leadership connected to Goldman Sachs?

Aaron Mate: Well, that may be true, but that doesnt mean that, thats why Trump has them in the White House. I mean it could just be, as many administrations have close ties to Wall Street, Trump is just following that trend; certainly as a billionaire with a lot of billionaire friends, thats not very implausible.

Col. Wilkerson: Oh absolutely, absolutely. President Obama, President Bush, everybody has Goldman Sachs in the White House, whether its Bob Rubin, the most powerful member of Clintons administration, or its Larry Summers, or whomever. We always have Goldman Sachs in the White House, as it were. Thats how influence is exerted. You stopped me as I was trying to tell you about the pipeline coming out of Israel and going up into Europe. The pipeline coming out of Iran, and going ostensibly into Europe. The old TAPI pipipeline, the Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.

There are so many pipelines running across there at the tune of billions and billions of dollars in investment and potential investment, and ultimate profit, that one boggles when one looks at a map at whats happening in this area both East, West, and North and South now. Its very difficult for me. Now, I have to realize that we dont have too many strategic thinkers in the White House, nor apparently anymore do we have too many in the Pentagon. If there are any, theyve got to be looking at things like this.

They got to be looking at Afghanistan and saying, Voila! Look what we have here. We have a place where we have military forces in the middle of all of this. If I were a military professional and I saw that, I dont believe Id be recommending to the Commander in Chief that we remove those military forces any time soon.

Aaron Mate: Okay, let me put you the conventional reasons that we hear for arguing against the US withdrawal. Its said that now we dont just have the Taliban, but theres also the remaining Al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan. Now we also have ISIS with a foothold there, especially on the border with Pakistan. We also have the Haqqani network, another militant group. Then, theres the central argument also that if the US withdraws, its feared that, that would destabilize Pakistan. How do you address those issues?

Col. Wilkerson: Those are all serious issues. Of course, had we not invaded Iraq in March of 2003, all of that would probably be a hell of a lot lesser level than it is right now. I read an analysis, I believe it was by the Soufan Group recently, where we had so many thousands of Al Qaeda, for example, in the world immediately after 9/11, and now we have so many more thousands of them. We have all kinds of other organizations, too, like Abu Musab al-Zarqawis ISIS, which came out of Iraq, and the Al Qaeda. The policies of the United States have indeed created lots more problems in the world, particularly problems with burgeoning and growing terrorist groups, who are burgeoning and growing on account of our policies with regard to them.

So yes, but I would not look at that except as a tactical issue. Bad, got to be dealt with, of course; but its a tactical issue. The strategic issue, the issue of trillions of dollars, the issues of two clashing economies, the issues indeed of the two giants of the world, the United States and China, criss-cross nicely in Afghanistan; and Pakistan, who happens to be ostensibly a US ally that seems more often a Chinese ally than it does US. Yes, your point is well taken, but I pull it up into the grand strategic issues, rather than the tactical issues and say this is all about the great game. The great game used to be Russia and England, and so forth. The great game is now the United States and China.

Aaron Mate: You mention Pakistan being a Chinese ally. There are elements in Pakistan that are also closely tied to the Taliban. The Taliban itself, as a foe, as a US foe, now they did harbor Al Qaeda but aside from that, correct me if Im wrong, but they do not pose an international terrorist threat. They dont attack people abroad, as far as I know. Is there a possibility of making peace with them right now in Afghanistan with them controlling so much territory, and this war just never seeming to end?

Col. Wilkerson: I think Id be moving that way if I were the United States and I had a brain. Id be moving that way, because as I said, this is a much bigger game than just these regional terrorist groups, or even as you say, terrorist groups with a global capability. Which, to this point, has only been Al Qaeda. I say that because youre looking at a nuclear country in Pakistan. Youre looking at a nuclear country in India, and of course, China. Youre looking at the intersection of all the interests of these countries, plus the imperial power, the United States, all coming to bear right there.

Youve got India and Pakistan still not settled, in terms of the main issues between them. Youve got Pakistan supporting the Taliban to per debate Afghanistan because that gives India heartburn. Youve got Kashmir, again, bubbling a little bit. Youve got Modi in India and what hes done to stabilize India; but the problem between the Muslims and the Hindus in that country. Youve got India as a major, shall we say bulwark against China. More and more are closely associated with the United States; particularly, its navy.

Youve got all these powers aligning themselves from time to time in different ways, but basically, laying themselves down as China versus the United States; and the others having to choose from time to time which side diplomatically or otherwise theyll be on, on any given issue. Its all about power. Its all about grand strategic power. Frankly, these terrorists are insignificant to that. Theyre a problem. Theyre a problem that has to be dealt with by all of those countries in the region. Rashkari Kayaba, for example, in Kashmir. Theyre not the grand strategic problem that the interstices and the interplay of all these great powers and near great powers in the region are.

Aaron Mate: Now, on the issue of foreign powers in Afghanistan, I want to play for you the comment of General John Nicholson, the Commander of US forces in Afghanistan. He recently suggested that Russia is now arming the Taliban. This is what he said.

John Nicholson: We continue to get reports of this assistance, and of course, we have the overt legitimacy lent to the Taliban by the Russians, that really occurred late last year, beginning through this process theyve been undertaking.

Reporter: Youre not refuting that theres any weapons.

John Nicholson: Oh no, Im not refuting that.

Aaron Mate: Colonel, theres a certain irony here, whether or not the charge is true or not; because in the 80s, we all remember that it was the US that waged sort of this proxy fight against Russia through support of the forces that eventually became the Taliban  Drawing Russia into this long, protracted war inside Afghanistan that lasted about ten years. Now the US is inside Afghanistan as an occupying force of its own, has been there even longer. Its been there 15 years. Now, we have the US accusing Russia of arming the Taliban, who the US long ago armed to weaken Russia.

Col. Wilkerson: You just named the great game. The partners change, the side fluctuate a bit, but the great game goes on. If I were to  Im not saying that I believe General Nicholson. Im not saying that I believe that the Russians are arming the Taliban, but if I were Moscow, I would be arming the Taliban. I would be turning the tables on the other empire in the world, the United States. I would be doing it for good reasons, good, solid, strategic reasons because the United States is in Afghanistan. Thats very close to my borders. I dont like the United States in Afghanistan. I dont like it in Georgia. I dont like it in Ukraine. I dont like it in Latvia, Estonia, or Lithuania, either. This is all about power. Its about strategic power. If I were Moscow, I would be arming the Taliban against the United States in Afghanistan in an effort to get the United States out of Afghanistan.

Aaron Mate: Okay, so Im sorry to end on this grim note, but youve mentioned all these different foreign powers and their [inaudible 00:15:44] inside Afghanistan. You mentioned you thinking that the US will be there for decades to come. What does this mean then for the people of Afghanistan?

Col. Wilkerson: As with the people of all the satellite countries that the United States and the Soviet Union, they then to contesting imperial powers, per debated with their proxy wars and everything, probably the same thing. I mean I recall Central Africa, I recall Angola, I recall Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Southeast Asia in general, South America, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras. These are places where the great powers play in their proxy wars. Its all shifted now. Not completely, of course. Theres still some things going on in other places, too, like Yemen.

It shifted and its major focus now, instead of being in South America, in Africa, or wherever, its major focus is right there in Central Asia on the old silk road, if you will, and the contestation between some fairly formidable powers: China, India, Russia, the United States. This is history. Its happening. Its about real power interests. Its about real economic and financial interests. Its going to go on. We use terrorism as an excuse to be places or to do things when in fact, it has very little to do with terrorism and everything to do with great power, economics, and the finances associated with that great power.

Aaron Mate: Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, the former Chief of Staff to Secretary of State, Colin Powell, now a professor at the College of William and Mary. Colonel, thank you as always.

Col. Wilkerson: Thanks for having me.

Aaron Mate: Thank you for joining us on The Real News.
As part of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Year of Sustainable Grassland initiative, the Irish Grassland Association are organising a Reseeding Demonstration event on Wednesday, May 17, in Cahir.

The aim of this event will be to promote the benefits of reseeding and best practice procedures that farmers can follow to achieve better yields from their grassland.

The Irish Seed Trade Association are kindly sponsoring the event and it will be held on the farm of Donald and Lucy Bateman, Ballylooby, Cahir.

The Batemans have been dairy farming in Ballylooby since 1999 and currently milk 230 cows on 82 hectares. Donald and Lucys focus has always been on utilising grass to help them to successfully reach their profit targets.

Through adopting an ongoing program of reseeding, combined with good grassland management practices, the Batemans have maximised their overall farm output.

The figures involved are very impressive - the farm grew 14.5 t/ha of grass dry matter (DM) and produced 440kg of milk solids per cow (1254 kg/ha) in 2016.

On the day of the demonstration, leading experts will speak and give advice on a range of topics relating to reseeding grassland. All farmers should find this of interest regardless of their farm system or soil type as there will be numerous lessons and take-home messages delivered.

Some of the topics to be covered include: a farm introduction from Donald and Lucy Bateman, weed control, grazing management, grass variety selection and soil fertility.

Unlike other reseeding events, attendees on the day will have an opportunity to see the results of three cultivation methods. Comparison blocks on the site will have been reseeded approximately four weeks in advance of the event using the following machines.

Direct drill system with a power harrow and seed drill.

Moore Unidrill

Einbock Seeder

An assessment of the success and pros and cons of each of the methods should lead to an interesting discussion on the day. There will be a stationary display and discussion of the machinery used for each method. There will also be a discussion on ground preparation and the factors influencing choice of suitable cultivation systems.

This demonstration should be of interest to all grassland farmers and members of the agri-industry and will run on Wednesday, May 17, from 10.30am until 1pm. Please contact the Irish Grassland Association for further details or keep up to date with our website www.irishgrassland.com for full details of all our events.
Over thirty people came together in the Stable Cafe, situated downstairs in the newly opened Fethard Horse Country Experience, to celebrate World Poetry Day last Thursday, May 27.

The brief was to come along and read a poem, one you had written yourself or a favourite by a chosen poet.

We served up a plethora of poems, from much-loved, perennial favourites like Robert Frosts Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening, recited beautifully by Marian Gilpin, to the newly-minted words of local poets Tom Power (Ballingarry) and Pat Feehily (Clonmel).

Mary Hanrahan read her own Thoughts Dance, about the trials of writing and that magic moment when it all comes together on the page.

Georgina Conroy raised a chuckle with Roald Dahls take on Little Red Riding Hood, while Doirin Saurus beguiled us with her chosen Spider. Yvonne Casey shared Monster in the House, a poem with a twist that spoke to the child in all of us, while Anne ODonnell took us down memory lane with Longfellows nostalgic My Lost Youth.

In tribute to our surroundings, Goldie Newport and Carol Kenny recited poems about the Town Hall long ago and Fethard author, John Fogarty, shared a wonderfully poetic prose piece depicting his memories of the dances there in his youth.

Kate Corcoran introduced us to Longing by Ethiopian poet Mengistu Lemma, written while he lived in London, an intensely moving depiction of what it is to live in one place while part of you yearns to be elsewhere. It is an emotion with which all exiles can identify.

Congratulations to two ladies who made their debut at reading in public: Marie OHara who read her own poem 747 (a mesmerising account of cardiac arrest) and Christine Nevin who had selected the very apposite Trainers.

We would like to thank everyone who came along at such short notice, especially those who came to listen and were such an appreciative audience. Were especially delighted that some young people were present too. Were planning to do it again in the near future and were already promised haikus, poems en francais and as Ghaeilge, as well as some new readers.

Coffee, cookies and words, words, words  what more could one ask for? As one lady later remarked it was, a most pleasant sojourn, in lovely surroundings.

Just a reminder that Fethard Horse Country Experience is now open from 10am to 4pm, from Wednesday to Sunday, with a special introductory admission fee of 5.
Children from five schools in Tippeary Town living in disadvantaged communities were locked out of the Department of Education last Wednesday.

One hundred and forty pupils, school principals and parents were faced with padlocked gates at the Department of Education offices at Marlborough Street.

They spent over forty minutes on the street outside the Department of Education until they negotiated their way in to hand over letters protesting at their exclusion from the DEIS programme which allocates additional resources to schools in disadvantaged areas.

St. Joseph's principal, Louise Tobin blasted the heavy handed security tactics engaged by the Department of Education and said she was shocked by how the children were treated.

These gates are normally open, they are never locked between business hours. The children wanted to hand in letters, that is all. They were all very quiet and calm. It was disgraceful they were treated like that said Ms Tobin.

The pupils were only allowed into the courtyard to hand in letters of protest once they agreed to put their banners back on a bus.

They have closed the door on us for the DEIS scheme and we were absolutely disgusted they locked us out of the Department after travelling to Dublin to hand in letters to the minister said Ms Tobin, principal of St. Josephs national school, one of the five schools involved.

It was heavy handed security. We were not a protest, there was no shouting and roaring, we were a delegation from five Tipperary schools, a group of children and education professionals, who are deeply concerned about being excluded from the DEIS scheme and this type of security was over the top, she insisted .

The five schools - St. Josephs , St. Michaels Junior Boys and Girls Schools, Monastery BNS and Gaelscoil Tiobraid Arann all believe they meet the criteria for inclusion in the scheme.

Last February an additional 79 schools were granted DEIS status. The Tipperary schools, despite the town having a deprivation index of minus 12, were not included and a school with a plus 1 deprivation index in Calway city did as did other schools in Mayo that did not have the double figure deprivation measure applied to Tipperary Town.

The letters handed in by the Tipperary town delegation on Wednesday called for more transparency and for a review mechanism to be put in place regarding the addition of new schools to the DEIS lists.

They have criticised what they've called "an injustice" being doled out to the children of Tipperary town.

The Minister for Education has given over seven hundred children in Tipperary town no hope.

The schools have been refused, there is no transparency and there is no review process in place.

Every year in primary school is important for pupils. These children face starting yet another school year next September without the proper resources being put in place, resources they deserve and are entitled to, said Louise Tobin.
(As delivered)

Prime Minister Erna Solberg, its a real pleasure to welcome you back to the NATO Headquarters.

Weve just finished an excellent meeting where we addressed how NATO is adapting to a new and more demanding security environment and also the upcoming meeting of NATO leaders on the 25th May.

Norway is a founding member of the Alliance, Norway is a very committed member of the Alliance and we highly value the many contributions of Norway to the Alliance. You have been in Afghanistan with Norwegian troops for many many years, you continue to be there, you are going to participate in the NATO battlegroup in Lithuania, enhancing our presence in that part of Europe. You help us with support to NATO partners like Georgia, Ukraine and Jordan. And we also appreciate that Norway is the host nation for the Joint Warfare Centre in Stavanger. And all of this are important contributions to our collective defence, to the strength of the Alliance.

Let me also thank Norway for Norways presence in the high North. And over the last years Norway has invested heavily in new capabilities, new frigates, you are in the process of buying new F-35 planes, and youve decided to buy new submarines and new maritime patrol aircrafts. So Norway is increasing its capacity when it comes to presence in the high North which is important for the whole Alliance.

We discussed also the preparations for the upcoming meeting in May. It will be a very short meeting but it will be an important meeting because it will be the first visit of the new US President to NATO and to meet Allies and it will also be the meeting where we will meet the new French President. And Im absolutely certain that the meeting in May will express NATO unity, NATO resolve and thats something I welcome in times of more uncertainty, that we need a strong Alliance. The two main issues that we will address at the meeting in May are transatlantic bond, burden-sharing, and NATOs efforts in the global fight against terrorism. When it comes to NATOs role in the fight against terrorism we will address issues like Afghanistan. NATO has been there for many years, we are unwavering in our support for the Afghans, we will continue to provide them with financial support, train, assist and advice and we have to address the future of our Resolute Support Mission, the forces level, and how we can continue to provide support to the Afghans.

We will also discuss how NATO can step up its efforts to provide support to the Counter-ISIL coalition. We provide some AWACS support, we train Iraqi forces, but we will look into what more NATO can do.

Regarding burden-sharing, the transatlantic bond, all 28 Allies made a very important decision in Wales in 2014 to stop the cuts in defence spending to gradually increase and then to move towards spending 2% of GDP on defence within a decade and the good news is that we have turned a corner. After many years of decline we have now seen the first increase in defence spending across Europe and Canada and it is important that we keep up the momentum and make sure that we continue this positive development with increased defence spending across Europe and Canada.

So there are many important issues on the agenda. I look very much forward to welcoming you back to NATO on the 25th May here in Brussels, where we are also going to have a hand over ceremony for the new building just across the street.

So once again, welcome to NATO Erna Solberg.

[Remarks by Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway]

Oana Lungescu (NATO Spokesperson): Okay. Wall Street Journal.

Q: Mr. Secretary General, a couple questions about the upcoming meeting. One, why is it too short? Two, are you making progress on the national plans toward, agreeing toward national plans? And finally do you personally support a counter terrorism coordinator, would this be helpful? And to the Prime Minister is 2 % of GDP a realistic goal for Norway? Do you anticipate Norway would adopt a national plan to reach 2 %?

Jens Stoltenberg (NATO Secretary General): First on the CT coordinator. What we are now discussing is how NATO can do more in the fight against terrorism. How we can utilize the untapped potential in NATO because we have the structures, we have the experience, we have the knowledge. We have done it before in Afghanistan, but also in Bosnia-Herzegovina when it comes to the issue to train local forces, build local capacity. And I really believe that the most important thing we can do is to build local capacity, enable local forces to fight terrorism themselves and to stabilize their own country. Exactly how were going to do that, exactly which measures we will agree on ... its a bit too early to say but we are looking in to different measures addressing how NATO can step up its efforts in the global fight against terrorism.

Regarding the national plans we are now looking into how we can make sure that we keep up the momentum. That we are able to continue the increase in defence spending we have seen over the last couple of years. And we have to also underline that burden sharing is of course about defence spending, but its also about capabilities and contributions to NATO missions and operations. And all these three strands of efforts are important and we are looking into what kind of documents, what kind of tools can we develop to make sure that we continue to see a positive development in these areas. Exactly what will be decided and announced in the meeting on the 25th of May.

Erna Solberg (Prime Minister of Norway): And I would just like to say that Norway has last year proposed a long-term plan for the Norwegian defence which is an enormous increasement in the years to come in our budgets. And we are working towards the 2 % goal, the next four years we will have a large increase and then of course there will be a new revised plan every fourth year based on that. But we are increasing our support for the military activities and on the top of that of course there are new demands always on international cooperation and participations.

Q: Secretary General about these national plans. In your view what do you think should be the main elements of those plans? Can you be a bit more specific about that? And also now Prime Minister Solberg mentioned the Norwegian long term plan, do you expect that Norway would have to be more specific about its plans? Is the long term plan enough or should Norway prepare to lay some more details on the table?

Jens Stoltenberg: First of all regarding the national plans no decision has been made. So we are now in the process discussing within NATO with NATO allies exactly how we can develop different tools to make sure that we continue to deliver on what we promised in 2014. But the idea as it has been presented by some allies and which is now discussed in the alliance is to have documents where allies can report on how they are following up the pledge, both when it comes to defence spending but also when it comes to capabilities and contributions to NA TO missions and operations. And the whole purpose of having these kind of documents is that they will then provide us a better understanding of where different nations are when it comes to implementing the pledge we made together in 2014. And again, Im confident that we will have decisions by the 25th of May and then I can go into more details.

Erna Solberg: And I think our plan is moving towards all of the goals that is set by ... we will have ... we will not ... we will be above 20 % in investments, we are transforming the capabilities that we have, we are working on the principle of inter-operability between Norway and others and we are contributing to the international operations both mainly through NATO but also in some of the others that the EU are doing and also some of the UN operations.

Oana Lungescu: Politico.

Q: Mr. Secretary General on, in terms of the most relevant or perhaps most dangerous conflict right now, military conflict in Syria, two of your biggest allies are very active, the United States and Turkey but not exactly on the same side. I wonder at what point does that potentially become problematic and do you expect that to come up perhaps in the sidelines of the meeting later this month? And for the Prime Minister, as the Secretary General noted youll have two new colleagues from France and the United States. What might you say to them to really convince them that NATO is not obsolete?

Jens Stoltenberg: As you know NATO provides support to the coalition fighting ISIL in Iraq and Syria, but NATO is not present in Syria as an alliance, some NATO allies are. And since NATO is not present on the ground in Syria I think I should refrain from commenting on, or to say, operational issues related to the activities of NATO allies. But I of course expect all NATO allies to coordinate their activities, especially in Northern Syria where there is a very complex and very difficult military situation. What NATO will do is that we will look into whether or how we can provide more support. We provide some support to the coalition with our AWACS planes -improving the air picture for the coalition operating over Iraq and Syria, and it may also be in other areas that we can provide more support for the coalition.

Erna Solberg: My message to, well they are not my colleagues since I am a Prime Minister not a President but, remembering to understand the differences in a monarchy like Norway, but my biggest message to them is of course that the Atlantic tie has shown itself to be extremely important. The military capacities that we need also in the Atlantic is important, that was one of the issues that we were very concerned about before the Warsaw meeting because we know that if the Northern Atlantic part is controlled, the seaway, you will not be able to have support for Europe, in a crisis or conflict this will be a very difficult issue. And so its important to have this connection and I think when we started to work on this one of our partners was in fact France who have a different understanding of the Atlantic ties now I think than they had, if you look 20 years back, 30 years back and the understanding that the connection between North America and Europe is extremely important, also military.

Oana Lungescu: Thank you very much. This concludes this press point.
(Natural News) The rise of high-deductible health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), nicknamed Obamacare, has led to a rise in unpaid hospital bills among the insured population. This has prompted more hospitals in America to require patients to pay before they are wheeled into the operating room.

Thanks to Obamacare, millions of Americans now have a health insurance plan. Attracted by the lower monthly cost, many people are choosing for the bronze and silver plans, which can carry deductibles of up to $15,000. According to a poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, nearly half of Americans already have difficulty paying for an unexpected $500 bill. The most widely used Obamacare health plan, however, has a deductible of $6,000 for an individual and double the amount for a family, which is an 18 percent spike compared to 2014, reported Reuters.

Do you know what youve signed up for?

Insurance plans can be confusing, leaving many patients puzzled when they find out they must pay thousands of dollars before their insurance kicks in. Often, patients with high-deductible insurance plans do not understand their responsibilities and find themselves unable to pay their share once they leave the hospital.

Jessica Curtis, a senior advisor at Community Catalyst, a consumer advocacy group in Boston, noted that the impact these insurance plans have on patients goes beyond financial issues. Drowning in debt from the deductibles not covered by their plans, some patients skip or delay further care or dont follow advice on prescription drugs, which usually pushes them further down the lane. Because these people waited to seek medical attention, they often require more expensive procedures after.

More and more hospitals are burdened by bad debt from uncompensated care. Therefore, they are now encouraging individuals with high-deductible plans to pay up front to reduce the growing mountain of unpaid bills. The Henry County Health Center in Iowa is one of the hospitals that recently started to experiment with pre-payment strategies, offering discounts for patients who pay early.

Most patients are appreciative that were telling them up front, said David Muhs, chief financial officer for the Henry County Hospital. (Related: Read more news coverage of health care plans at HealthCoverage.news.)

The ACAs plan to shrink debt from uninsured patients has failed dramatically

As reported by Reuters, the ACA insured 20 million more Americans to help hospitals cope with the debt from uninsured patients who could not pay their medical bills. The introduction of Obamacare, however, hasnt turned out to be the better solution. Because most people already have a hard time feeding their family and paying off mortgages or rent, most Americans opt for Obamacare plans or employer-based health plans with low premiums they can afford. Unfortunately, most of these people do not realize that when they need care, out of pocket costs will be very high. In 2015, U.S. hospitals faced uncompensated medical bills of nearly $36 billion.

One of the first hospitals to change to the pre-paid strategy was Novant Health, headquartered in North Carolina. With four medical centers and hundreds of outpatient and physician facilities, it saw patients debts increase dramatically after employers started to provide high deductible health care plans.

New technology now allows hospitals to determine how much a patient will have to pay after treatment, creating more transparency into the procedure. If patients cannot pay their bill up front, some hospitals will recommend financial assistance programs such as payment plans or low-interest loans.

We are trying to minimize the after-service bill shock and get them into financial assistance or some other program for more affordable care, said Andy Scianimanico, vice president for revenue cycle at Northwestern Memorial HealthCare, the parent company of Chicagos largest hospital.

Prevention is better than cure. Stay informed about natural ways to prevent disease at Prevention.news.

Sources include:

Yahoo.com

BeckersHospitalReview.com

Money.CNN.com

Advisory.com
(Natural News) A recent report by Today.com showed that the average American home collects as much as 40 pounds of dust annually. According to the report, dust is home to microscopic organisms called dust mites, which reproduce fast and pose a threat to the general publics health. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) cautioned that dust mites may particularly be hazardous to people with allergies and asthma, as these minute organisms may trigger adverse reactions to patients.

According to the organization, dust mites measure only about one-quarter to one-third of a millimeter, which makes them too small for the naked eye to see. There are at least 13 species of these minute organisms. The AAFA also noted that dust mites prefer temperatures between 20 to 25 degrees Celsius. The microscopic arthropods were also shown to prefer humidity levels of up to 70 to 80 percent. Dust mites primarily feed on tiny flakes of human skin that people regularly shed on various household items such as furniture, carpets, bedding, and toys.

Both the body parts and waste materials of dust mites trigger allergic reaction in humans. According to the AAFA, symptoms of dust mite allergy include sneezing, runny nose, red, watery eyes, and postnasal drip. The association also noted that symptoms of dust mite-induced asthma include chest pain, wheezing, and difficulty in breathing. Taking antihistamines, nasal corticosteroids, and decongestants may help counter the effects of dust mite allergy, the AAFA stated.

Household dust may also contain toxic chemicals

Aside from dust mites, the report also cautioned that household dust may contain toxic chemicals that were previously associated with a plethora of adverse medical conditions. The report cited a study published last year, which identified more than 45 toxic chemicals found in household dust. As part of the study, a team of researchers at the George Washington University School of Public Health analyzed various studies and found that most dust samples examined contained the same types of chemicals such as flame retardants, pthalates, and phenol. According to the study, 92 percent to 100 percent of dust samples contained traces of flame retardants, while nearly all dust samples contained traces of pthalates and phenol. (Related: Find out more about these hazardous chemicals at Toxins.news)

A recent study showed that flame retardants were linked to increased odds of developing thyroid cancer. According to the study, people with high exposure to flame retardant-containing dust were twice as likely to develop thyroid cancer than those with lower exposure. The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in Orlando, Florida.

The Endocrine Society has also issued a Scientific Statement indicating that pthalates, commonly found in dust mites, were associated with the rising diabetes and obesity rates in the U.S. According to the statement, pthalates were especially harmful to unborn children. The organization also cited that pthalates were tied to increased odds of developing neurodevelopmental issues, thyroid disorders and certain types of cancer.

Get rid of dust with these easy tips

With the health risks associated with dust exposure, it might prove beneficial to take note of the following tips in clearing the house of dust.

Toys  According to healthy home expert Lisa Beres, toys harbor a great deal of dust. Putting toys in the freezer for 24 hours may help kill dust mites. Air vents  Air vents are another source of excessive dust. Clear the vents using a vacuum cleaner, Beres suggested. Mattresses and pillows  Beres noted that mattresses and pillows are staples for dust collection. The expert recommended using an allergen barrier to cover pillows and mattresses. Air purifiers  According to Beres, air purifiers cleared the air of dust and allergens. This makes it easier to breath and sleep.

Sources include:

Today.com

AAFA.org

UPI.com

EndocrineNews.Endocrine.org
Thursday, May 04, 2017 by: Bridgette Wilcox Tags: Creative living , stress relief , tiny homes This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author

(Natural News) If life is getting too stressful for you, you may want to consider selling your house and downscaling your life to fit in an old trailer. In an article on MindBodyGreen.com, business owner and blogger Sheena Armstrong talked about how in 2016, she and her husband did a full overhaul on their lifestyle, ditching their house to move into a 40-year-old Airstream trailer.

We realized that we found true contentment when we took vacations and spent time outdoors exploring, seeing new things, and living in the moment, not when we were spending days stuck in traffic, sitting in a cubicle, or staring at the TV screen, Armstrong wrote. After we decided it was time for a change, we spent years downscaling and dreaming, sketching, and reading about tiny homes. The one thing we couldnt decide on was where to build our tiny home. Then it hit us. Why not build our home on wheels? That, to us, would be the ultimate act of freedom.

When they realized that living in a house on wheels was the best thing for them to do, the couple bought a vintage trailer that they would spend the next seven months molding into the picture-perfect home they now live in today. At the same time, Armstrongs husband started to look for remote work: a new career for a new lifestyle.

Armstrong confessed that moving into their dream home wasnt as easy as people may think. Rescaling their life and reacquainting themselves with a smaller space was as exciting as it was challenging  and sometimes even frustrating. Working, eating, sleeping, and exercising  all the things wed always taken for granted  suddenly became activities we had to relearn in a small space, she shared.

The couple worked through the difficulties and eventually found their groove, mastering their new nomadic lives as if theyd been living in a trailer all along. As Armstrong shared, they ended up loving every little thing about their trailer. They also realized that their entire home was only a fraction of the cost of one of the cars they owned before. Because of this, Armstrong appreciated the value of simplicity.

Our minds are clear and the anxieties we once thought were a normal part of existence are gone. This whole experience has led us to a deeper understanding of whats really important in this life  accumulating experiences, not stuff, Armstrong shared.

Nomads for the new age

Armstrong and her husband are one of the growing number of people who are eschewing materialism in favor of a simpler minimalist lifestyle. Many young couples and families are selling their possessions in favor of having more freedom and mobility.

Tech entrepreneur Garrett Gee and his wife Jessica are another example of one such couple. In 2015, the couple sold their gadgets, cars, clothes, and furniture, and used the money they earned to travel full-time with their two young children. Since then, the family has been completely nomadic, living in rentals and hotels all over the world  from Southeast Asia, to Europe, to French Polynesia.

Living with less possessions actually has its benefits. An article on Bustle.com lists six ways that a decluttered life may be better. Among these benefits include improved concentration, a boost in creativity, better sleep quality, a better mood and self-esteem, emotional cleansing, and the ability to focus more.

With such appealing benefits, its no wonder that there arent more people living out of trailer homes and backpacks. These new nomads may just be onto something.

Interested in leading a less stressful lifestyle? Check out LivingFree.news.



Sources include:

MindBodyGreen.com

TheBucketListFamily.com

Bustle.com
(Natural News) When it comes to female genital mutilation, the general consensus is that the practice is a major violation of human rights  and in fact, is internationally recognized as such, according to the World Health Organization. More specifically, however, female genital mutilation (or FGM for short) is an issue of womens rights, because as the name implies  it is a barbaric act that is perpetrated against women, and predominantly, young girls.

Apparently, the Left-wing media has forgotten that they are supposed to be advocating for womens rights. Or perhaps, theyve just determined its more fruitful to pander to other groups these days. Recently, The New York Times took their political correctness to new heights by referring to the savage procedure not by its name or acronym, but simply as genital cutting. Not genital mutilation or FGM, which is the correct description for what is being done to little girls often under the tender age of 15; nope, just genital cutting, a term which all but strips the act of its brutality

As The Daily Caller reports:

Theres a gulf between the Western (and some African) advocates who campaign against the practice and the people who follow the rite, and I felt the language used widened that chasm, NYT science and health editor Celia Dugger explained Friday.

Dugger exemplifies what is wrong with political correctness: By changing the terminology, she has diminished the pain and suffering that the act of FGM brings about. She is effectively putting the needs of the oppressors  those who support FGM  ahead of their victims. As the WHO explains, there are many misunderstandings in communities that uphold the tradition of FGM. While many proponents of the atrocious procedure claim its a religious rite of passage, FGM is not actually linked to any specific religion. As Human Rights Watch explains, FGM has infiltrated a number of cultures, irrespective of their religion. Beyond religion, FGM is considered a cultural practice that, as the WHO describes, represents an extreme form of discrimination against women.

It is true that many supporters of FGM do not understand that it is an egregious violation of human rights because it is so ingrained in their traditions and way of life. In many of the nations that practice FGM, there are erroneous beliefs about it  such as that it promotes cleanliness, ensures virginity and fidelity, and is a part of being feminine. Many of these cultures also believe FGM ensures the marriageability of young girls.

But, the fact remains that Dugger chose to change the terminology to make it much less shocking while discussing a recent FGM case that had occurred in the United States, where FGM is illegal and carries a sentence of up to five years in jail. She was not protecting the culture of another country as she seems to insinuate  she was protecting a criminal doctor in the U.S. who mutilated a young girls genitals. According to Dugger, the term mutilation is culturally loaded. Apparently, because she traveled to sub-Saharan Africa in 1996, Dugger is now allowed to police the use of the term female genital mutilation as she sees fit, in order to dull the instinctive blow of horror afforded by the word mutilation.

Some human rights organizations distinctly frown upon the use of the word cutting in place of mutilation because it takes away from the suffering imposed upon these young girls. As the United Nations Population Fund explains,Use of the word mutilation also emphasizes the gravity of the act and reinforces that the practice is a violation of womens and girls basic human rights.

To put it simply, the use of the term cutting instead of the more appropriate word mutilation serves only to undermine the suffering felt by millions of girls in countries where FGM is the norm. FGM is a cultural practice that reeks of the very misogyny that Leftist media outlets like the Times claim to fight against  and yet, with a simple change of words, they reveal that they are, in essence, condoning this literal violence against women.

Sources:

DailyCaller.com

WHO.int

HRW.org

UNFPA.org
A man who claimed to be the world's oldest person has died at the age of 146 in his village in the Seragaen district of Central Java.

According to local reports, ID's and papers of Saparman Sodimejo, also known as Mbah Ghoto (meaning, Granpa Ghoto), verify that he was the oldest person, having been born in December 1870. This has also been confirmed to BBC, albeit Indonesia only started recording births in the1900s.



"Since he came back from the hospital, he only ate spoonfuls of porridge and drank very little," Sodimejo's grandson Suyanto told the BBC. He added that on April 12, Mbah Ghoto was rushed to the hospital because of his weakening health condition. A few days after, he insisted on coming home.

"It only lasted a couple of days. From that moment on to his death, he refused to eat and drink," Suyanto added.

Indian Express cited that Sodimejo had been preparing for his death since he was 122, and a gravestone was made for him in 1992. He had outlived his children, 10 siblings and four wives.



A former fisherman and admittedly a heavy smoker, Sodimejo was interviewed last year by the Jakarta Post wherein he shared that as soon as he retired from fishing, he spent most of his time listening to the radio and smoking. He remained physically strong through the years. As a matter of fact, he only started using a cane in 2015 at the age of 144. Asked about his secret to longevity, he responded fortitude and wholeheartedness:

"Life is only a matter of accepting your destiny wholeheartedly. I have wanted to die for a long time. My wives, children and siblings all have passed away but Gusti Allah [God] has blessed me with a long life. I have to live my life patiently and accept my destiny wholeheartedly," Mbah Ghoto said.

Meanwhile, as mentioned by Metro, the oldest person ever recorded with verified documents is Jeanne Calment -- a French woman who was 122 when she passed away in 1997.
In a city with a history of strange sights, there are few sights in San Francisco lore stranger than the eleven-foot bronze bunny  a bronze bunny with a skull in its mouth  floating gracefully through the air at the mercy of a crane.

The bunnys creator Jeremy Fish was as awed by the scene as the dozen or so onlookers who gathered near Haight Street and Laguna to see Fishs nearly-mythical bunny actually turn up.

I just still cant believe its sitting here, Fish marveled as the massive sculpture finally touched down and was wiggled into place in front of the new Haight Street Art Center.

Fish had good reason to fear this blessed moment might never arrive. The installation of the two-ton behemoth was mired for months in a purgatory of city red tape, insurance issues and permit hell.

Despite a public crowd-funding campaign that generated $70,000 for its construction, a neighborhood psyched for its appearance, the bunny remained in storage in Berkeleys Artworks Foundry where it was created.

Making the statues pretty hard, Fish said. Getting it permitted in a public place  super hard.

On Saturday a few hundred people turned-out to witness the sculptures unveiling  Fish peeled off a Pepto-Bismal colored shroud to enraptured applause.

I would have to say this is probably one of the proudest moments of my career, announced Fish, who last year served as the San Franciscos first-ever city hall artist-in-residence.

Fishs bunny sculpture was an homage to the pink fiberglass bunny he constructed in a friends driveway several years ago and installed in a corner of a building down the street that was slated for demolition. The six-foot tall pink bunny, as well as the murals on surrounding walls, was intended to remain about six months  but instead lasted three-and-a-half years  endearing itself to the neighborhood.

I genuinely put that original statue there just for the fun of it, Fish said, emphasizing he is not a sculptor  and has no desire to be a sculptor.

When the building came down, Fish staged a public funeral for his creation  it was demolished by a tractor. But the spirit of the bunny didnt die in the demolition which yielded a corner of new condos. Instead he was approached by the Lower Haight Street Neighbors Association and a soon-to-come Haight Street Art Center to build a more lasting version of the bunny.

Would you consider making a permanent version of it if we raise the money? Fish recalled. I was like yeah good luck.

But the Kickstarter campaign kicked in the funds and Fish hit-up an actual sculptor to help him create the piece. Despite figuring out how to actually build the thing, Fish said the most impressive part to him was that the public ponied-up the money to build it.

This was literally paid for by citizens, mainly of this city and around the world, Fish said.

Though San Francisco is filled with art, both good and bad, the sculpture may be the strangest. Fish said its believed to be the largest public bronze sculpture in California paid for by crowd-funding.

"Usually when youre in public and you see a giant bronze, Fish said, some foundation paid for it or some rich collector paid for it.

I dont think theres too many people with that on their resume, said Kevin Brancato, who manages Upper Playground, the Lower Haight shop that sells t-shirts emblazoned with Fishs peculiar mix of creepy/cuddly illustrations.

Fishs art is prolific in San Francisco, emblazoned on everything from skateboards, to murals to vinyl toys. But the bronze bunny may be his Pieta.

Trying to describe it to people is fairly indescribable, said Maeve Forester who turned-up to watch the installation.

To Fish, the bunny is more than just a peculiar art piece at what was once considered the gates of the Haight. It strikes him more as a statement about the kookiness of San Francisco, which somehow still glimmers beneath sparkling new condos and swanky hip restaurants.

No matter what anybody wants to say about San Francisco becoming the tech city or the gentrified this or that, Fish opined, theres still enough weirdos here to think a giant eleven foot tall bunny at the entrance to a neighborhood is a good idea.
Protesters came out this week to support 52-year-old Luis Barrios, who left Guatemala more than two decades ago and was expected to be deported back to the country as soon as Thursday morning.

On Wednesday, Barrios was granted a 30-day stay.

It's 25 years ago (that) I left my country, I dont know how is Guatemala now, its very dangerous, Barrios told NBC Connecticut.



Barrios said he has been on the radar of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, since police pulled him over in 2011 because a taillight on his truck was out. He explained that he had been authorized to work in the country over the years, but recently has been labeled as a threat.

"Now, they decide I'm a dangerous person in this country," Barrios said. "I'm very sad because I don't have any problems with nobody."

He had a deportation order to take a one-way 4 a.m. flight from New York to Guatemala on Thursday. U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy wrote to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, seeking reconsideration of the decision to deport Barrios.

"Fifteen minutes ago, I got off the phone with Luis Barrios and informed him that he would not have to board a plane tonight," Blumenthal said in a statement following a press release on Thursday.

According to the New Haven Register, Barrios fears going back to Guatemala since his father and brother were killed in the country.

Barrios' last attempt to stay in the country was denied, the paper reports, ever since he missed a court date to determine an asylum request in 1998. Barrios said he missed the hearing because the notification was sent to an address where he no longer lived, the Register reported.

Hartford police arrested 19 people during a protest outside the federal building Tuesday as activists fought the order to deport the Derby father of four.

Police said 200 to 250 people protested outside the Abraham Ribicoff Federal Building in Hartford, the Hartford Field Office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The 19 people, who are from Hartford, New Haven, West Haven, Waterbury, Middletown in Connecticut, as well as from Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Ohio, Wisconsin, have been charged with first-degree criminal trespass and disorderly conduct.

It does not appear that Mr. Barrios poses a threat to the integrity of the immigration system. Mr. Barrios has no aggravated felonies, felonies, or misdemeanors in the United States, is a productive and valued member of his community, and has four U.S. citizen children. Based on these factors, we respectfully ask that his request for prosecutorial discretion be granted, the senators wrote.

Organizers said the protest was a civil disobedience action.
As the House voted Thursday on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, President Donald Trump and legislators took to Twitter to argue their case up to the final moments.

Trump mocked "Obamacare," Democrats and independents mocked the GOP's replacement bill and some Republicans urged caution over a bill that could not win enough support last month to get a vote. That failure was a major defeat for Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan and exposed divisions among the GOP on how to handle a health care law that had grown popular among many in their districts.

But on Thursday, Republicans were confident that modifications made to the replacement, the American Health Care Act, were enough to pass the bill, which passed by a four-vote margin.

Here's a look at some of the tweets about the health care bill:

I am watching the Democrats trying to defend the "you can keep you doctor, you can keep your plan & premiums will go down" ObamaCare lie."  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 4, 2017

Insurance companies are fleeing ObamaCare - it is dead. Our healthcare plan will lower premiums & deductibles - and be great healthcare!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 4, 2017

Im about to go to the Floor to vote no on #TrumpCare. Well hold every Republican who votes for this bill accountable. pic.twitter.com/INH9i14ce0  Steny Hoyer (@LeaderHoyer) May 4, 2017

Live look at the House health care bill: pic.twitter.com/C3eKBFXBSc  Senator Angus King (@SenAngusKing) May 4, 2017

People who cant afford health care do not deserve to die. I dont know how we can make it any clearer than that.  Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) May 4, 2017

A bill -- finalized yesterday, has not been scored, amendments not allowed, and 3 hours final debate -- should be viewed with caution.  Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) May 4, 2017
Authorities have identified the three victims killed after a vehicle plowed into a crowd and crashed through a wall at an auto auction site Wednesday morning in Billerica, Massachusetts.

Brenda Lopez, 48, and Pantaleon Santos, 49, both of Rhode Island, died at the scene, and 36-year-old Leezandra Aponte of Lowell, Massachusetts, was pronounced dead at Lahey Hospital in Burlington, according to Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan.

Police retured to Lynnway Auto Auction on Charter Way Thursday to continue investigating whether the accident was caused by operator error, a medical issue or a mechanical problem.

"The information we have right now suggests that this was a tragic accident," Ryan said on Wednesday.

State police said there is no indication that it was an intentional or terrorist act.

Seven men and one woman were treated and released from area hospitals, but a 55-year-old man is still hospitalized with serious injuries.

Lynnway Auto Auction has announced plans to raise funds for the victims' families.

"Our Lynnway community is a close group," auction president Jim Lamb said in a statement. "Many of the auto dealers who attend our weekly auctions have done so for years and all of us feel the impact of this tragedy. While investigators work to understand what happened and why, we intend to support those impacted by donating a portion of the proceeds from yesterday's auction and next Wednesday's auction to those families. Details will be forthcoming."

Lamb added that the auction will be installing new barriers, called "bollards," to keep vehicles in their lanes, adding that the organization is dedicated to keeping people safe.

The victims who were killed include a man and two women, Ryan said. She said nine others suffered injuries, one of them life-threatening; however, a Lahey Hospital doctor said two people were in critical condition.

As of Thursday morning, there were three survivors remaining at the Lahey Clinic, with two in critical condition and one stable. Lahey Clinic said as of 1:20 p.m. two people were still critical, but another patient had been treated and released.

Lowell General Hospital confirms one patient from the Billerica crash was still there Thursday morning after treating and releasing seven other patients Wednesday. The remaining patient's condition is unknown.



The accident occurred at 10:13 a.m. at the Lynnway Auto Auction on Charter Way. There were 1,500 people in the building when the vehicle crashed.

Although the names of the deceased victims have not been released by authorities, the brother of Leezandra Aponte of Lowell said his sister was killed in the car auction crash.

Ryan said an auction was going on at the time of accident, just like every Wednesday. She said vehicles, which are only driven by employees in order to prevent accidents, are moved through the building during the day so people can bid on them. She said a 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee was inside the auction site and someone was moving it when they lost control and hit a wall.

She said the driver was an older male, in his seventies, and that he was an employee at the auction site.

Although the cars generally don't travel more than five miles per hour, witnesses tell us the Jeep may have been going as fast as 20 miles per hour before it fatally struck three people standing near the safe lane.

Lynnway Auto Auction President Jim Lamb expressed his company's shock and sadness through a statement.

"We are stunned at the loss of life and serious injuries that occurred to our patrons. We are heartbroken that this accident occurred at our premises with a vehicle driven by one of our drivers," Lamb said.

Lamb said that the driver, who has not been named, was very distraught and would not be driving cars at the auction until the investigation was complete.

Investigators said they don't know yet exactly what caused the driver to accelerate. The driver was not hospitalized.
A Maine meteorologist who was found dead in April is the suspect in a sexual assault that occurred days before he took his own life, according to the Oxford County Sheriffs Department.

Tom Johnston, 46, of Old Orchard Beach, was a meteorologist at affiliate WCSH-TV.

According to a redacted police report, the assault took place in Newry, Maine around 8:30 p.m. April 1, the same weekend Johnston was hosting an event at Sunday River Ski Resort.

Investigators say Johnston left the ski area after the event and returned to a home in Newry with a group of people.

Police say the alleged victim had been napping in a bedroom, and woke up to find Johnston in the bed with her.

Police say the victim was an adult female who lived outside of Maine. Investigators say the victim did not know Johnston, but recognized him as the meteorologist at WCSH.

Investigators say the victim woke up when her friend walked into the bedroom, interrupted the alleged assault, and confronted Johnston. Thats when he quickly got out of bed, dressed, and left the residence.

He left the place quickly. Theres a reason you leave like that, said Oxford County Sheriff Wayne Gallant.

The victim called the Sheriffs Department and went to a Bridgton hospital for examination.

Johnston left the ski area the next morning, but never returned home. He was reported missing April 3, and on April 6, his body was found in a wooded area in Auburn, dead from suicide.

Sheriff Gallant said because the suspect is dead, Johnston cannot be charged. If he were alive, Gallant said he would have been charged with Gross Sexual Assault, Class B.

Johnstons sister called the release of these allegations a disgrace.

He is not here to defend himself, said Deneen Morrotta. Its someones word against a dead man.

Brian Cliffe, President and General Manager of WCSH, called the revelation shocking.

We are disturbed to learn this troubling information, Cliffe said in a written statement. We began covering Toms disappearance in early April. During todays Oxford County Sheriffs Offices new conference, we learned for the first time with everyone else that Tom would have been charged in a Class B gross sexual assault that happened on April 1, if he was still alive. We share in the communitys shock and our thoughts are with the victim and the families involved.

Cara Courchesne, a spokesperson for the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault said the overlap of sexual violence and suicide can be traumatizing.

Its important for victims to know that someones suicide is not their fault, said Courchesne, who urged anyone impacted by sexual violence to call the statewide crisis hotline at 1-800-871-7741.
Facebook is responding to growing outrage over violent videos, many of them broadcast live--and several of them in Chicago. Now, Facebook executives are coming to the city to speak with Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.'S Rainbow Push leaders Thursday morning.

The social platform plans to hire 3,000 more people to review videos and other posts after being criticized for not responding quickly enough to murders shown on its service, the Associated Press reported. Facebook receives millions of reports each week with 4,500 screeners overseeing 2 billion users.

Chicago has seen an alarming amount of violent Facebook Live videos ranging from a special needs teen beaten in January online for thirty minutes, to a girl gang raped while 40 viewers did nothing. In February a man and a killed a 2-year-old shot to death while riding in a car.

But what happened in Cleveland recently might have been the final straw.

"When Mr. Godwin was killed on Easter Sunday, that was the straw that broke the camel's back," Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin said. "We could not take anymore."

The Cook County commissioner has joined forces with other local leaders to ask for a 30 day moratorium on live streaming from Facebook.

"There wouldn't have been action if we didn't take the first steps," he said.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg addressed the issue while briefing investors Wednesday.

"It's clear we have more to do here," Zuckerburg said. "We're going to continue building new tools to keep people safe on our platforms."

Jameka Brooks wishes someone would have stopped the video of her loved one's dead body from being live streamed earlier this year in Chicago.

"I felt that it was very disrespectful to him, his family," she said.

Boykin says violent content on Facebook is part of the larger problem of violence Chicago and beyond.

"Social media has a role to play in terms of reducing violence in Chicago and all over country," Boykin said.

Boykin says he wants to know how many of the 3,000 jobs will be in Illinois.
A threat that prompted a Wisconsin high school to be evacuated Thursday morning was actually a student wearing a "Star Wars" costume and mask in celebration of May the Fourth.

Officials said they were investigating a possible threat at Ashwaubenon High School, and the school, along with Parkview Middle School and a community center were evacuated for a short time.

The Ashwaubenon School District said some students were taking an AP test at the time and were put into lockdown.

[[421308794, C]]

Soon after, students were reported to be returning back to class, according to the Ashwaubenon Public Safety Department.

Their [sic] was no actual threat at the high school a student came to school wearing a Star Wars costume with a mask, the department tweeted, adding that the costume was part of May the Fourth Be With You Day.

The department confirmed the student was dressed as Darth Vader.

[[421308714, C]]

For "Star Wars" fans, May 4 is a day of celebration, with this year being even more special as 2017 marks the 40th anniversary of the franchise.

"Thanks for your understanding as we maintaing [sic] our number one priority of keeping students safe," the district wrote.


What to Know Two bodies found inside a building -- police believe the deaths are the result of a murder-suicide. No other injuries reported.

Students reported hearing between three and five gunshots.

All North Lake College campuses will remain closed for the rest of the week; people are urged to avoid the area during the investigation.

A man took his own life Wednesday after shooting a woman multiple times in a hallway at North Lake Community College in Irving, sending the North Texas school into a lock down for more than an hour while police searched the campus for an active shooter.



The active shooter alert, with confirmed shots fired, was reported on North Lake College's Irving campus at about 11:45 a.m. About an hour later, police confirmed the bodies of two people had been found in what investigators suspect is a murder-suicide.

A man took his own life Wednesday after shooting a woman multiple times in a hallway at North Lake Community College in Irving, sending the school into a lock down for more than an hour while police searched the campus for an active shooter.

On Wednesday night, Irving police identified the woman as 20-year-old Janeera Nickol Gonzalez. The suspected gunman has also been identified as 21-year-old Adrian Victor Torres.

Irving police have also confirmed that Gonzalez was found inside the Performance Hall Building at a common study area. Investigators said Torres was found inside a locker room shower stall in Building F.

North Lake College confirmed Wednesday night that Gonzalez was a current student at the sollege. School leaders confirmed that Torres is a former student.



Students can be seen running from buildings at Irving's North Lake College campus May 3, 2017, after reports of an active shooter were received. Two bodies were later found in a building -- police believe the deaths are the result of a murder-suicide.

Irving police said they were no longer looking for a shooter at the college just before 1 p.m. and that there appeared to be no continuing threat to students or faculty.



Irving police spokesman Ofc. James McLellan and Commissioner Lauretta Hill, of the Dallas County Community College District Police Department, give an update on the apparent murder-suicide at North Lake College in Irving, May 3, 2017.

Lauretta Hill, Commissioner, Dallas County Community College District Police Department, gives an update into an apparent murder-suicide at North Lake College in Irving, May 3, 2017.

"North Lake students and employees followed lockdown procedures, and we are relieved that no one else was injured. We also offer our thanks to officers from the Irving Police Department, who partnered with North Lake College Police, to protect students and staff on campus," North Lake president Dr. Christa Slejko said.

Irving police said they continued a secondary search of the campus as the investigation unfolds. North Lake students exited the campus as each building was cleared.

Dr. Christa Slejko, president of North Lake College, gives an update after an apparent murder-suicide on campus, May 3, 2017.

"This is an emotional time for the North Lake family. We're heartbroken that such a tragedy has occurred on campus. We will address any needs for counseling on campus as soon as we re-open," said Slejko.

Slejko said there could have been between 4,000 and 5,000 people on campus at the time of the shooting.

Active Shooter at North Lake College in Irving

School officials said all North Lake College campuses will be closed until Monday. Irving police, which is leading the investigation, asked people to stay away from the campus while the investigation continues. School leaders said anyone who needs to retrieve personal belongings can visit the Central Campus Library and get a police escort from 9 to 11 a.m. Thursday.

Shots Fired Inside Building C



North Lake College police confirmed shots were fired at North Lake's Irving campus, at 5001 North MacArthur Boulevard, at about 11:45 a.m. Wednesday.

Nasrin Nanbakhsh, a tutor at North Lake College, says she saw a man shoot a woman three times in building C211.

Nasrin Nanbakhsh, a tutor at North Lake College in the math learning center, said she walked out of her room in Building C into the hallway and saw a man shoot a woman multiple times.



"I saw a guy standing and there was a girl sitting on the chair. It happened too quickly. I saw him shooting her three times," she said. "We've been trained how to handle these types of situations. I immediately ran back to the room I'm working in, locked the doors and asked all the students to go back to the back room and to turn off the lights and be quiet."

A student inside C building at the North Lake College Irving campus describes the moments from when announcements came over the loud speaker to evacuating the building.

A math tutor who witnessed the shooting at North Lake College says she is trained for active shooter situations and describes who she put that training to use.

Dani, a student at the school, told NBC 5 over the telephone that she had just arrived at the school and was walking down the stairs near the art gallery when she heard three loud pops.

"It sounded just like gunshots," Dani said. "We heard the first one and thought somebody dropped something ... but then it just kept going and everybody just started running."

Dani, a student at the school, told NBC 5 over the telephone that she had just arrived at the school and was walking down the stairs near the art gallery when she heard three loud pops.

"The only thing that went through my mind was just to run," Dani said.

Ro Olvera was barricaded in a classroom not far from the shooting and said her instructor said if anyone came through the door they would have to fight.

"My instructor, the whole time, was like, 'If he comes in, hell have to get through me first. But if it comes to that, grab a chair, throw at him, do anything you can. Fight.' So I did feel safe with our instructor," Olvera recalled.

Students at North Lake College in Irving were instructed to clear the area as police searched for an active shooter on campus Wednesday.

Dennis Holmes, who is part of the faculty at the college and a freelance photographer with NBC 5, was on campus when the active shooter was reported. Holmes told NBC 5 by telephone he was locked down in a professor's office and was told by school officials to barricade the doors.

Dennis Holmes, who is part of the faculty at the college and a freelance photographer with NBC 5, was on campus when the active shooter was reported. Holmes told NBC 5 he has been locked down in a professor's office and was told by school officials to barricade the doors.

Despite the lockdown, a large number of students were seen frantically running from multiple buildings toward parking lots.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit stopped Orange Line service at the North Lake College Station until about an hour after the incident ended.

Two nearby Irving Independent School District schools, MacArthur High School and Singley Academy, were also placed on lockout during the incident. That restriction has since been lifted.

Students at North Lake College run to safety as police search for an active shooter on campus.

Texas Concealed Carry Law

Gun owners with a valid LTC, licensed to carry, permit were permitted to carry weapons on the campuses of four-year colleges and universities in Texas effective Aug. 1, 2016. The law goes into effect for all community colleges on Aug. 1, 2017.

The law does not allow open carry, where the weapon is visible, or allow for the carrying of rifles and shotguns on campus.

Christa Slejko, North Lake College President, and Lauretta Hill, DCCCD Police Commissioner, discuss campus safety and security after Wednesday's murder-suicide.

Check back and refresh this page for the latest update. As this story is developing, elements may change. NBC 5's Meredith Yeomans, Don Peritz, Ashley Barry, Kris Gutierrez, Tim Ciesco and Eva Parks contributed to this report.
House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz says the decision about whether Connecticut should have a third casino will likely be decided during state budget negotiations.

The Democrat predicted Wednesday "the casino itself will be part of the budget solution."

While Republicans won't rule out the idea, they say it's hardly a budget fix.

"I dont think casino revenue is the kind of stable revenue the State of Connecticut should be looking at. Those are the type of decisions that get us in trouble," Rep. Vin Candelora said.



It's unclear what that means for the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes, who want legislation allowing them to build a jointly owned casino in East Windsor to compete with the MGM Resorts casino in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The tribes said Wednesday they believe momentum is in their favor. They brought about 35 workers from their southeastern Connecticut casinos to the Capitol to push for the bill.

Uri Clinton, MGM's senior vice president and legal counsel, contends momentum is building for a second bill allowing other casino companies to possibly build a third Connecticut casino.
A mild winter means a bad tick season is ahead for Connecticut, and some businesses have been extra busy trying to fend them off of lawns.

TurfMasters in South Windsor said their phones have been ringing off the hook.

Weve fielded an awful lot of phone calls on ticks specifically being such a mild winter," Gary Donovan, owner of TurfMasters, said.

The business has received phone calls from residents like Kmila Briton, who just moved into her South Windsor home and has already found ticks on her children.

The ticks are just crawling all over them. Weve actually found a few in bed and ones in their hair and like on their stomachs," Briton said.

To prevent that from continuing to happen, Justin Donovan, a service manager with TurfMasters, is spraying her yard to fight against ticks.

Donovan said ticks arent very mobile. They have to jump on a host, like a mouse, to get from point A to point B to get into the yard.

Ticks typically live in shady places where theres moisture, such as a wooded brush, under pine straw or in tall grasses.

TurfMasters uses an insecticide that is a synthetic pyrethroid.

Basically it attacks the nervous system of the insect. And its derived from the chrysanthemum. Its a natural defense mechanism that the chrysanthemum flower has to prevent insects from eating it that they found does a great job killing insects," he said.

Donovan said the spray works for the most part, unless someone or a pet brings ticks onto a property.

The ticks arent extremely mobile  but pets certainly can be and kids can be, so if the dog runs off and goes into a neighbors yard he could absolutely end up with ticks and this application isnt going to do anything to stop that, Donovan said.

He recommends anyone coming back from an untreated area, like a park, check themselves and any pets for ticks.

If someone finds any ticks, remove them in a different location instead of on their lawn to prevent ticks from coming back in.

Dr. Kirby Stafford, the chief scientist and state entomologist for the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, and other researchers at CAES have done studies on insecticides, including the synthetic pyrethroid that the company, TurfMasters, uses.

He said pyrethroid is extremely effective in controlling ticks and is probably the most effective option. After the spray dries on the lawn, it does not move. Stafford said it stays on for a long period.
A club is on a mission to connect people with thousands of dollars in pension money they arent aware they are entitled to.

Pension money from the former Connecticut Bank and Trust (CBT) has been long forgotten, however, there are many more companies involved.

Former Connecticut Bank and Trust branch manager Don Wilson thought when CBTs parent company, the Bank of New England, failed in 1991, his pension went up in smoke.

But in 2015 at the CBT Alumni Club Christmas party, when co-workers asked if the former Hartford branch manager was receiving his pension, Wilson said no. It wasnt too long after that Wilson got a back pension payment of $8,000 and now gets a monthly check for $700 the rest of his life.

Noreen Cullen sits on the board of the CBT Alumni Club and says in the past decade the club has found $3 million in pensions for well over 600 former employees, or their surviving family members, Some people call me crying to tell me that, they have this, they're sitting with a check for forty thousand dollars.

Cullen, a geneologist, has undertaken the difficult task of reconnecting former co-workers with long-lost pensions. She estimates there are hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of people still out there without their pension money, potentially millions of dollars that remain unclaimed.

Cullen explains people lost track of their pensions because of company mergers and acquisitions, the bank failure itself, subsequent lawsuits and lost or missing records.

The money was found at:

 Aetna

 Fidelity

 New York Life

 John Hancock

 Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, or PBGC, which is the federal agency that holds pension monies left behind by larger, often failed companies.

The PBGC said when CBTs parent company failed, it had pension funds in the tens of millions of dollars-- more than enough to pay everyone. The PBGC said it now has hundreds of thousands of dollars in pension monies owed to 790 employees of CBT and its parent company. It tries to contact people at their last known address, phone number and email.

The NBC Troubleshooters reached out to the financial companies. Aetna, New York Life and John Hancock said a majority of the people due to receive pensions from their respective companies have been located and they make efforts to contact the people still owed CBT pensions. Fidelity said it also reaches out to people still owed CBT pensions as they near retirement age, but they cannot confirm if it currently has any unclaimed pensions.

Cullen does not want to focus on what happened with the CBT pensions; she just wants to get them back to people like former CBT branch manager Wilson.

Cullen said its important to not that anyone who has worked at a defunct Connecticut company, including Caldor or Ames, can go to the PBGC website, for information about pensions owed to employees. People can search the website by with their name.

The CBT Alumni Club also wants to help. The club has set up a special number for questions about pension money (860)788-5900 or you can reach the club on their website.

he club wants to help anyone who worked for CBT, or Bank of New England. The club is also willing to guide people from any Connecticut company who are trying to use the PBGC website.

Below are the full statements on the CBT pensions from the PBGC and the financial institutions involved:

New York Life

New York Life is committed to meeting the promises we make, which includes paying pension obligations to more than 1,000 former employees of Bank of New England and Connecticut Bank and Trust. Any former employee who has questions about their payments may call New York Life at (800) 695-0462. -Jason Weinzimer, VP & Head of External Communications

Aetna

Aetna has supported the CBT/BNE pension plan (Plan) for nearly 30 years. Through the Plan, Aetna currently manages the pensions of more than 1,200 people. At this point, we have fewer than 50 people in the Plan that have not started receiving their pension. The vast majority of this group of 50 people have not reached the age where we begin our outreach to members in the Plan (three months before their 65th birthday  the age at which they would be eligible for benefits). There are only 6 people who have attained the eligibility age but have not started their benefit, and we have made multiple attempts to reach out to these individuals. When a member reaches that age, we automatically send them a letter (including Aetna contact information) informing them of the benefits available to them. If we do not hear back, we make multiple additional attempts through various means to contact the individual. The Aetna team makes a concerted effort to reach members in the Plan who may be entitled to benefits. Even if our sustained outreach is not initially successful, the benefits remain available to the member. If at a later time we successfully make contact with a member or their family, we honor our commitment and provide them the benefits to which they are entitled. Over the years, we have also received many requests from CBT/BNE individuals who are not associated with the Aetna Plan. In these situations, we make every effort to direct them to several different resources to try to identify where their pension may be located. -Ethan Slavin, Aetna Communications

Fidelity Investments

We send notifications to pensioners as they are nearing retirement to ensure they are taking their benefits in a timely manner. We comply with all regulations governing pension administration and all pensioners have access to their pension through our on line tools as well as our call center. - Stephen Austin, Spokesman

John Hancock

Weve looked into this matter and believe we have one contract in-force that may be related to your query. That contract had a few hundred participants at the time of sale with the majority already receiving their retirement benefits and a small group in a deferred status awaiting to attain normal retirement age to begin receiving retirement benefits. Deferred status refers to someone not yet in pay status. They could be in deferred status as (i) they have not yet reached the eligible age to commence benefits, (ii) they may be able to delay commencement of benefits based on their plan requirements and the group annuity contract, (iii) they have not responded to requests for information to process their benefit, (iv) they are being located, or (v) they were not located and their benefit is being tracked for escheatment purposes. Currently, there is only one participant in a deferred status under that contract. John Hancock utilizes several resources to get up-to-date information and locate deferred participants. John Hancocks process involves sending a series of letters to notify deferred participants of their benefit options. We also utilize a third-party vendor to locate deferred participants. Based on a quick review of our information, fewer than 20 individuals under a group annuity contract that may be related to former BNE employees eligible to receive retirement benefit payments from John Hancock have not been located.-Melissa Berczuk, John Hancock Corporate Communications

PBGC

Facts on the Bank of New England Pension Distribution

There were approximately 16,000 participants covered by the Bank of New England Plans. The Bank of New England, which was in FDIC receivership, terminated the plans with sufficient assets to pay all the benefits that were due, and certified that all participants owed a benefit were paid. Pension benefits were distributed either by the purchase of annuities from private insurers or through direct distributions to participants. In addition to plan benefits, an additional $38 million in excess plan assets were distributed to plan participants. At the time of distribution, the benefits of about 1,100 people who could not be located were sent to PBGC. These funds are not necessarily the result of litigation. The Bank of New England transferred 1,100 missing participants to PBGC who were owed $1.38 million in benefits. PBGCs Missing Participant Program still has benefits for 790 participants under the Bank of New England. In addition, 203 missing participants from the New Bank of New England (successor to Bank of New England run by FDIC for six months in 1991) were transferred to PBGC and were owed $159,000 in benefits. PBGC continually engages in outreach efforts to find all missing participants. -Marc Hopkins, PBGC Spokesman
A San Diego model accused of robbing three banks in two days in Connecticut appeared in court for the first time Thursday to face a prior charge.

David Byers, 34, of Solana Beach, California, a professional model, pleaded not guilty to one count of grand theft for stealing a rowing machine from a gym in a Pacific Beach apartment complex in San Diego. He failed to appear in court in March on the charge.

Michael Stokes Photography

He also faces robbery, larceny and reckless endangerment charges connected to his recent crimes.



Byers allegedly robbed three banks in Greenwich, Conn.

The robberies at a Chase bank on East Putnam Avenue in Greenwich were about a mile away from a Citgo gas station in Cos Cob that was also robbed during a 48-hour crime spree.

Michael Stokes Photography

A copy of the FBI search warrant revealed Byers also allegedly stole a Range Rover and emailed photos of the cash he stole to his girlfriend.

Greenwich Police determined the 34-year-old suspect had fled to San Diego and informed authorities in California. He was arrested at 12 a.m. (PST) Wednesday in San Diego's North Park neighborhood.

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Elysha Ramin was behind the register of the Citgo on Monday night when a man he described as calm came in with his face covered and showed what looked like a gun.

He said he would not hurt me, so I gave him the money as quickly as possible, and then he left, Ramin said.

[[420560213,C]]

Clearly this person has some level of desperation to commit three crimes of this nature one after the other, Greenwich Police Captain Kraig Gray said.

[[421305823,R,300,340]]

Despite a manhunt helmed by a slew of law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and New York State Police, the suspect managed to evade authorities for weeks.

Byers also allegedly led Yuma, Arizona authorities on a pursuit and escaped in a stolen Range Rover; he will likely face charges in Arizona as well.

Byers' bond was set at $35,000. He is set to appear in court again May 15.
A mother and 5-year-old boy from Honduras who had been detained at a Berks County immigration detention facility were put on a flight Wednesday back to their native country, according to Sen. Bob Casey and an immigration attorney.

The two were among 14 "longterm" families held at the controversial Berks County Residential Center outside Reading. They had been detained at the Pennsylvania facility since Dec. 18, 2015, attorney Bridget Cambria said Wednesday afternoon.

The 14 families were all part of a court case, Castro v. Department of Homeland Security. Over two dozen families without criminal records filed habeas corpus lawsuits in November 2015 claiming that their credible fear interviews for asylum were unfair. The Supreme Court denied a petition to hear the case on April 17, and attorneys feared their clients would be subject to deportation because of the decision.

The Berks County facility is one of only three detention centers in the country for undocumented immigrant families. The other two are in Texas. The facility, which is run by the county and paid for with federal funds, was scheduled to lose its license to operate with the state of Pennsylvania. But last week, a judge overruled the states decision.



Cambria said she and other attorneys were arguing on behalf of the woman and her son before a federal judge on the Eastern District of Pennsylvania when they were notified that Immigration and Customs Enforcement put the two on a plane for Honduras.

"We applied for the child this week who had qualified for a special immigrant juvenile status (SIJS) and brought it to ICE and the courts and we were in court today," Cambria said. "We literally were arguing to include this child while immigration was watching the plane take off."

Casey, the Pennsylvania Democrat, first tweeted about the mom and son about noon in a series of tweets in which he accused the Department of Homeland Security of sending a mother and her young child on "a plane ride that can very likely lead to their death."

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He said in another tweet that "the 5yr old's mother witnessed the murder of her cousin in Honduras and was being pursued by gangs."

"They had a final order of removal but it doesnt change the danger they are facing or that they were held for over a year and a half," Cambria said.

On Tuesday, Casey sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly urging "the immediate release" of four other undocumented mothers and their children who are also being detained at the Berks County facility.

During his Twitter streak about the Honduran mother and child, Casey also called out the Trump administration for how this deportation frames the president's immigration priorities.

.@realDonaldTrump If you're on twitter- Call @DHSgov Sec. Kelly and tell him this makes no sense.  Senator Bob Casey (@SenBobCasey) May 3, 2017

The senator then appeared on MSNBC, appearing at times enraged that a woman and young boy could be sent back to one of the most dangerous countries in the world.

He said he'd talked with President Trump's chief of staff, Reince Priebus, by phone, but that messages he left for Kelly at Homeland Security and Thomas Homan, the acting director of ICE were not returned by the late afternoon.

"Still waiting for those two to call back," Casey said. "I shouldnt have to make those calls. They shouldnt be doing this."

He added, "Why dont they focus on people that present a threat to us? Instead, they are pretty much letting ICE do whatever they want."

ICE, in a statement later in the evening, defended the deportation of the mother, who the agency identified. NBC10.com is only identifying the woman as Fany H. after an attorney for her said she fears for her safety in her native country.

"It's unfortunate that politicians are repeating misleading information and in the process, demonizing the men and women whose job it is to enforce the laws Congress writes," assistant director Liz Johnson said in the statement. "(H.) was removed May 3, 2017 after her claims were denied at multiple levels and she had exhausted all legal remedies available to her. (H.) sought and was afforded judicial review of her claims challenging her removal order before the Executive Office for Immigration Review, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and the nations highest courts, namely the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court, which unanimously denied (H.'s) Petition for Writ of Certiorari."
A dreaded cut-off low is going to pay Connecticut a visit this weekend and early next week. The result will be days and days of gloom. Cut-off lows get their name because they effectively become "cut-off" from the jet stream and they can stall out and linger for days on end.

The pattern is a classic one for something like this to form. A dramatic block over Greenland will help force a large dip in the jet stream over New England. What doe it mean for us? An extended period of clouds, chilly temperatures, rain, and possibly even thundersytorms and small hail.

This is pretty ridic for mid May. #spring ftl pic.twitter.com/Nv8RKpkq2D  Dan Leonard (@DanLeonard_wx) May 1, 2017

It's tough to time out which days will be coldest or wettest or stomiest but things are not looking great for those who want sunshine. In June or July these cut-off lows are notorious for producing localized areas of excessive rainfall and even severe weather but in early May the impacts should be a bit more muted - though some heavy rain and strong thunderstorms are certainly a possibility.

Unfortunately, even after the cut-off low weakens its grip on us the day 11-day 15 period isn't looking so hot (literally) either with a cooler than normal regime over the northeastern U.S.
Police received reports of an active shooter with shots fired on the North Lake College campus in Irving at around 11:45 a.m. Wednesday.

The campus and transit to the campus were immediately locked down and anyone on campus was advised to take cover. Students, police and the school kept everyone outside informed using social media.

Active shooter at Northlake College - avoid the area.  Irving Police Dept. (@IrvingPD) May 3, 2017

Reporters took to social media upon their arrival on the scene with their firsthand accounts as well.

Students outside Northlake College in Irving. School on lockdown after shots fired. Updates to come.@NBCDFW pic.twitter.com/hnm9yb73HS  Lexie Houghtaling (@LexieNBC5) May 3, 2017

Students chronicled their experiences inside as everyone outside waited for answers.

Lockdown at Northlake college pic.twitter.com/X1ZNlz9vtK  hmz (@ZaboltF) May 3, 2017

Police with assault rifles escort evacuees from the buildings of North Lake College in Irving during an active shooter situation.

Police and teachers sprang into action.

Students at #NorthLakeCollege trying to figure out how to get home... their vehicles are still part of a large crime scene. @NBCDFW pic.twitter.com/aoPT3lTIbo  Kris Gutierrez (@KrisGutierrez) May 3, 2017

Students at North Lake College tell me despite lockdown they felt safe, said teacher told them "he'll have to come through me to get to you" pic.twitter.com/BoyllIQlfg  Tim Ciesco (@TimCiescoNBC5) May 3, 2017

People were evacuated room-by-room from the buildings of the school once police cleared them. Some gave witness accounts to reporters waiting outside.

North Lake College students emotional after shooter kills one person, then himself on campus. @NBCDFW #NBCDFWNow pic.twitter.com/twwj4nD0Sm  Alice Barr (@AliceBarrNBC) May 3, 2017

Witness at North Lake College says she saw the shooter fire his gun at a woman on campus. https://t.co/FEOw72AsVd pic.twitter.com/pfMofoEZPS  NBC DFW (@NBCDFW) May 3, 2017

Irving Police Department took to Twitter to break the news of two bodies found on the campus.

We have what appears to be one victim deceased & the shooter has committed suicide.  Irving Police Dept. (@IrvingPD) May 3, 2017

North Lake College and DART tweeted updates on the status of their closures.

(1) All campuses will be closed until Monday, May 8. If you need to retrieve any of your personal belongings...  North Lake College (@northlakenow) May 3, 2017

(2) please visit the Central Campus Library tomorrow Thursday, May 4 from 9 - 11 a.m. to be escorted by police.  North Lake College (@northlakenow) May 3, 2017

Orange Line trains have resumed service to North Lake College Station.  DARTAlerts (@DARTAlerts) May 3, 2017

NBC 5 News and reporters will continue to use social media for updates on the investigation.
There are day-to-day changes at the Balch Springs Police Department after a fatal shooting involving one of its officers.



Investigators with the Dallas County Sheriffs Office and District Attorneys office continue their probe into the incident that left 15-year-old Jordan Edwards dead.

The accused officer, Roy Oliver, has been terminated from the department and Edwards family is calling for justice.

The departments Internal Affairs Unit is currently interviewing officers while collecting and watching hours of video from the night of the incident.

Not only do we have body cameras that the officers have on their body, but we also have to pull in-car video from the vehicles that were at the scene, Ofc. Pedro Gonzalez said.

As this investigation continues, so does the work.

Were taking care of the community, Gonzalez said. Were still taking calls.

At the police station, there is still a steady line of people walking through the front door.

I just came to take care of a traffic ticket, Daisy Castillo said.

Castillo, like many in the region, has followed this story closely and she said she wants to see justice.

For him to pay with prison. That would be justice, she said.

Castillo was surprised the department severed its ties with Oliver so quickly.

Because on other cases [police] didnt really do anything about it, she said They didnt move so quickly.

Since the incident officers have faced anger.

Weve been getting threats to our work e-mails. They are telling us they are going to publish our residencies; which puts our families at risk, Gonzalez said. A lot of officers are taking precautions to make sure that not only they are safe, but also their families.

Officers have changed their passwords for fear of hacking and they are changing their operating habits.

We are now riding two-man on certain calls where we normally dont, Gonzalez said.

Police could not give a timetable of when they expect to wrap up their internal investigation, but investigators are still looking for any witnesses to come forward.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who last week helped persuade President Donald Trump not to abandon the North American Free Trade Agreement, said Wednesday that the administration would renegotiate the pact with Canada and Mexico with a focus on what has worked and what hasn't.

Trump appeared to be on the brink of pulling out of the trade agreement last week after strongly criticizing it during the 2016 campaign as a job-killer. But the former Georgia governor was one of several top officials who helped convince him not to do so, pointing out its benefits to agriculture and the potentially disruptive effect of an abrupt withdrawal.

"I tried to demonstrate to him that in the agricultural market sometimes words like 'withdraw' or 'terminate' can have a major impact on markets," Perdue said in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press. "I think the president made a very wise decision for the benefit of many agricultural producers across the country."

Perdue was only in his second day in office at USDA when he found himself urgently arguing agriculture's case to the president. As Trump balances his strong dislike of trade agreements like NAFTA, which he called a "disaster" on the campaign trail, Perdue is prepared to continue that role.

Still, he's supportive of renegotiating the pact and says that while it has been good for Midwestern grain and dairy farmers, it hasn't been as beneficial for some other growers, including fruit and vegetable producers in South Florida.

"These things will be done individually, whether it's milk, whether it's with the Canadians and the Mexicans, whether it's fruit and vegetables, whether it's feed grains, whether it's oilseeds, cotton and the many products that we grow," Perdue said. "All those will be on the table as we come back and say what's working and what's not?"

As for his meeting with Trump, Perdue says the president was "well aware" that he was elected with strong margins in farm country. That was something agricultural commodity groups desperately sought to remind the White House last week as Trump considered withdrawing from the pact, with the head of the National Corn Growers Association saying in a statement: "Mr. President, America's corn farmers helped elect you."

Despite his decision not to withdraw, Perdue says Trump is very serious about changes.

"I think we can come up with a better plan," Perdue said.

In his first week on the job, Perdue announced changes to Obama administration rules that make school meals healthier, delaying upcoming standards to lower sodium in meals and allowing some schools to get waivers from whole grain requirements. Perdue said the move "is a pause in the process to give us and school lunch professionals the opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of the program."

He did have some potentially good news for nutrition advocates who were frustrated by the changes. Asked if the department will act on a request from some schools who say requirements to take fruits and vegetables on the lunch line are costly and wasteful, he said he'll take a look but will be hard to convince.

"I'm a big fruit and vegetable kind of guy," he said. "Frankly, I have no immediate plans, and I'm not sure I have any future plans, to reduce fruits and vegetables in wholesome meals."

On USDA's food stamp program, which cost more than $70 billion last year and has been the target of some proposed cuts by Republicans, Perdue said he plans to investigate how much states are spending administratively. Those amounts vary widely and the federal government shares part of that cost, he said.

Perdue said he's already met with Maine Gov. Paul LePage, who has pushed USDA to allow states to ban food stamp recipients from buying junk food. The Obama administration wouldn't grant LePage's request, and Perdue didn't say how he would rule on the issue. But he said LePage, a Republican, "has some very creative programs that we're exploring."

Perdue is also inheriting a decision by Trump administration officials to remove animal welfare inspection reports, enforcement records and other information about the treatment of animals from USDA's website. Some of the documents have been restored, but many are still inaccessible.

Department officials said in February that they removed the records because they are trying to balance the need for transparency with rules protecting individual privacy rights. Though the decision came before he was in office, Perdue says he agrees with it and the department is reviewing the issue.

"I'm not very much of a name it and shame it kind of guy," Perdue said. "If I want to call somebody's name out, I want to make sure they've done wrong."
If you consider yourself a comic book buff, someone who knows the classics, the superheroes, the anti-heroes, the anti-superheroes, and the whole multiverse of complicated, fascinating characters, you've likely uttered the following words to a friend at some point: "I know the best shop..."

Or "you've gotta hit my favorite store" or "I've got a place for you." Because loving comics is also loving the places where you buy comics, the colorful, jam-packed spots that are typically staffed by comic fans with an encyclopedic knowledge of titles, artists, and authors, and a desire to share what they know.

Enter Free Comic Book Day.

Yes, Free Comic Book Day, as the name 100% suggests, is about the procuring of free comic books from your local go-to comics emporium, but, like Record Store Day, it spotlights and loves up local stores, whether they sport a single aisle of comics-filled racks or half a warehouse of graphic novels.

The 2017 Free Comic Book Day is on Saturday, May 6, and chances that your beloved fan-run shop will be doing something are as solid as a villain forming his hands into tent fingers as he hatches a maniacal plot.

So what comics will be handed out, gratis? And which one will you score?

There's a load of "depends" atop that answer. It depends upon the shop you visit, and what they have, and what they have left, and all of that good and easy-to-predict stuff.

But, if you're curious, here's the line-up of Gold and Silver comic books for Free Comic Book Day 2017. You won't receive them all in one fell swoop, but one, and probably a great one at that. Maybe two? Manage your expectations but, of course, dream big.

The shops very frequently have some other holiday-fizzy hubbub going on, like special deals or readings or similar, so you might check in with your favorite location if you want to know ahead of time.

Or just show up, and feel the thrill of surprise.

On the Free Comic Book Day shop list for Southern California? Golden Apple, which has a big sale listed for May 6, Meltdown Comics & Collectibles, Blastoff Comics, and several others. Check here just to be doubly-triply-super sure your store is on board for the big event.

And continue recommending that shop to other comic book lovers. After all, word-of-mouth-y recs are the lifeblood of a local enterprise, or, at least, a source of profound energy, much like Captain American grew stronger thanks to the Super-Soldier serum and Spider-Man derived his powers from the bite of an irradiated, extra-bitey arachnid.
A confrontation caught on camera shows a Southern California family being booted off a Los Angeles-bound Delta Air Lines flight after they refused to give up a seat that was occupied by their infant son.

Brian Schear of Huntington Beach was headed home with his wife and two infants from Maui to Los Angeles International Airport on April 23 when they were kicked off the plane.

In a video posted online, Schear tells airline employees he purchased a ticket for his older son 18-year-old Mason. Mason ended up taking an earlier flight, so the family decided the younger son would instead occupy his place in a car seat instead of having the child sit on the wife's lap.

"He won't sleep unless he's in his car seat," the father explains to the employees.

The staff tells Schear his younger son can't sit on the seat because Mason's name is on it, not the infant's.

Although the ticket was initially bought for his teenage son, Schear says he was led to believe the switch was not a big deal. He told NBC4 his family told airline staff about the situation from the beginning, and that Delta suggested using the seat for the infant son.

At the airport, Schear claims they spoke with a ticketing agent downstairs who said they technically needed to cancel and buy a new ticket, before saying it was fine. The family obtained the boarding pass.

When the airline asked the family to give up the seat, at first, Schear refused to abide. He claimed the airline ordered his family to do this because Delta overbooked the flight.

Delta  like other airlines  has a strict policy that customers cannot transfer a ticket to another person.

In the video, an employee tells him refusing to get off the plane was a federal offense and he could be jailed.

"What blew me away was when they said, if you don't give the seat up, you're going to jail, your wife is going to jail, and they're gonna take your kids away," he told NBC4 Wednesday.

The eight-minute-long video was filmed by his wife and posted on YouTube.

"When you're a mother, and they say they're gonna take the kids, it made my heart drop," said Brittany Schear. "I was shaking the rest of the time."

In the video, a flight attendant argues that it is Federal Aviation Administration policy to put children under the age of two on an adult's lap and not in a plane seat.

"He cannot be in a seat at all," the flight attendant tells the father.

Both Delta and the FAA state on their websites that children under the age of two could travel in a seat, so as long they are sitting in an approved child safety seat. In fact, the method of travel is highly recommended by both the airline and the FAA.

"What are we supposed to do?" Schear asks an employee in the video. "I got two infants and my wife, I've got no where to stay, there's no more flights. What are we supposed to do? Sleep in the airport?"

At the end of what the family said was an hour-long exchange, the Schears left the plane. They said they were forced to find a taxi in the middle of the night, pay for a hotel room and buy tickets for a new flight. The family was never contacted or reimbursed, the Schears claimed.

Delta Air Lines issued this statement Wednesday to NBC4:

"We're sorry for what this family experienced. Our team has reached out and will be talking with them to better understand what happened and come to a resolution."

Delta also told NBC4 it has apologized for not helping the family find solutions for their travel issues and says it will refund the Schears for their travel and other compensation.

But the Schear family says there is nothing the airline can do to make up for their ruined vacation and frustrating traveling experience.

"They need to change the way they treat us," Brian Schear said. "They treat us like cattle. It's unbelievable. It's not fair to treat people this way. We're the customers, we're supposed to be treated with respect."
A news photographer was honored Wednesday after he became the story, jumping into action to help save a man's life after his car burst into flames.

Austin Raishbrook says it was a three-to-four minute experience that'll stick with him his entire life. He owns a stringer company, which are photographers who cover news overnight then sell their footage to news stations.

This past New Year's Eve turned out to be anything but a routine night for Raishbrook.

A stalled car on the 110 freeway was rear-ended by another car with such force, the stalled car burst into flames. In that split second Raishbrook went from photographer to rescuer.

"I just put my camera down. Didn't think twice about it," Raishbrook said.

He ran across the freeway and saw an unconscious driver in the burning car.

"The flames were already above his head -- heavy smoke in the car," he recalled.

Raishbrook says a fire extinguisher did nothing to help put out the fire but he did use it to smash the car window.

"I was in there with the thick wall of black smoke, so I felt my way around his waist to see if he was buckled in. He was and it was jammed," he said.

A jammed seat belt didn't stop him. He managed to pull the driver out of the burning car and with the help of his coworker, pull him to safety.

"I went through range of emotions, heart pounding, to complete elation, that moment when victim was out of the car -- I'm probably never going to feel that again," he said.

The California Highway Patrol honored him Wednesday for his heroic actions.

"It is my distinct honor Austin, to present you with CHP's outstanding community service award for bravery," Capt. Charlie Sampson said at the ceremony.

With his proud parents and step-parents watching via Skype from London, Raishbrook humbly accepted the award and said the true heroes are those in law enforcement.

"You guys are out there day and night putting your lives on the line," Raishbrook said as he choked back tears.

He also revealed a detail about the man whose life he saved.

"I didn't know his name until I heard it today. Obviously I'd love to meet the guy," he said.

The CHP says officers haven't been able to contact the driver, 43-year-old Arnoldo Quezada.

Raishbrook says he doesn't think Quezada owes him anything, he simply wants to shake his hand.
Jailed Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo appeared on Venezuela state TV from his prison cell saying he was okay after a report on social media that he was taken to a military hospital.

Footage showed Lopez's wife outside the military hospital asking for information about her husband's well-being.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio also tweeted he confirmed that Lopez was taken to a military hospital in very grave condition. But, an hour after, Venezuela state TV aired a video of Lopez saying he was still in his prison cell.

#Venezuela regime denies media reports @leopoldolopez in hospital Easy to clear up.Allow wife access to him after preventing for over month  Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) May 4, 2017

Earlier, one of Venezuela's most-prominent journalists tweeted that Lopez was taken from the Ramo Verde military jail outside Caracas to the hospital without vital signs.

Venezuelan ruling party leader Diosdado Cabello says nothing has happened to Lopez, who he calls the "Monster of Ramo Verde." Cabello accuses the opposition of trying to stage a "show."
Federal and local authorities arrested a drug dealer in Queens and seized 12 pounds of cocaine, much of it disguised as fruit-flavored candy, prosecutors said.

The cocaine, which was uncovered in a backpack and a basement apartment in Jackson Heights, has a street value of $2 million, the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor of New York City said in a press release Thursday.

Authorities said they arrested Juan Pablo Martinez after finding cocaine disguised as fruit-flavored Mini Bums and other candies in a backpack he was carrying.

A drug enforcement task force group was conducting surveillance near 77th Street and Northern Boulevard Wednesday evening as part of an ongoing drug investigation when they spotted Martinez riding a bicycle and carrying a backpack, prosecutors said.

They followed Martinez to a gas station on Northern Boulevard, where he met up with the driver of a grey Acura, according to prosecutors, who said agents and officers approached Martinez and found two colorful, heat-sealed bags of individually wrapped candy.

Except the apparent candies were actually individually wrapped pieces of cocaine weighting a little under 4  pounds, prosecutors allege.

Police searched Martinezs basement apartment on 82nd Street and found more cocaine, a kilo press, drug ledgers and $12,000 in cash, according to prosecutors.

The DEA estimates the black market value of the 12 pounds of cocaine recovered to be $2 million.

Martinez was expected to be arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday.
What to Know Donald Trump is making his first visit to the city since he became president

He flew regularly back to NYC during the campaign to sleep in his own bed but said last week the trips were costly and inconvenient to NYers

The president will deliver remarks at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum after meeting with the prime minister of Australia

Donald Trump turned his first trip home as president into a victory lap on Thursday, returning to the city that has largely opposed him while celebrating House passage of legislation undoing much his predecessor's health law.



Trump only received 18 percent of the vote in New York in November's presidential election. Multiple modest protests were held across the city during his visit, some visible from the presidential motorcade as it roared past Wall Street and Manhattan's famed skyscrapers.

Hundreds of protesters lined up along the West Side Highway, from about West 43rd Street to West 46th Street, Thursday evening. Some of them shouted "shame" at people in tuxedos who appeared to be going to the Intrepid event. A handful of Trump supporters were also at the West Side Highway.

"We want him to know the resistance remains, even in his hometown," said Ruthie Adler, 30, a Manhattan waitress.



Trump's visit was shorter than first expected so that he could commemorate the House vote with a Rose Garden news conference, the White House eager for the appearance of a victory after an uneven first 100 days in office. Slated to be in Manhattan only a few hours, Trump was not expected to visit his home at Trump Tower and pushed back his first-time meeting with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull by several hours.

"We have a fantastic relationship, but I love Australia," said Trump after a brief meeting with Turnbull. He then downplayed the contentious call he had with Turnbull in January, dismissing the reports of tension as "fake news."

After meeting with Turnbull, Trump spoke at a gala dinner aboard the USS Intrepid to commemorate the 75th anniversary of a World War II battle that reinforced the ties between the U.S. and Australia. Both countries' warships and fighter planes engaged the Japanese from May 4-8, 1942, forcing the Japanese navy to retreat for the first time in the war.

In his speech, Trump said few people share ties in history, affection and culture like the Americans and the Australians.

Trump said "iron bonds" between the United States and Australia were forged in the waters of the Pacific during the World War II naval battle in which both countries halted a Japanese advance.

Those ties, Trump said, were "sealed with the blood of our fathers and grandfathers" who lost their lives in the Battle of the Coral Sea.

His triumphant appearance aboard the World War II carrier was just hours after jubilant Republicans bused in from Capitol Hill to the White House for the victory lap, an unusually early celebration for the passage of a bill through just one house of Congress. The legislation, which was met with sharp Democratic opposition, squeaked through the House by a vote of 217-213 and faces an uncertain fate in the Senate.

Trump said he was "so confident" that the measure would pass the Senate and vowed that premiums and deductibles would come down.

"People are suffering so badly with the ravages of Obamacare," Trump said.

At one point the president turned to the representatives lined up behind him and, suggesting the victory was especially impressive for a novice politician, exclaimed: "Hey, I'm president! I'm president! Can you believe it?!"

House leaders came through with the votes to give Trump a major political win more than a month after Republicans' first attempt to pass a health care bill went down in a humiliating defeat.

Known as the American Healthcare Act, the bill has yet to receive a price tag from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and is opposed by a number of physician and health care groups, including the American Medical Association, amid concerns it could strip millions of Americans of their coverage, including those with pre-existing medical conditions.

Trump and Turnbull had been expected to discuss North Korea's missile testing and security and economic issues, as well as Turnbull's deal with Obama for the United States to resettle up to 1,250 mostly Muslim refugees from Africa, the Mideast and Asia who are housed in immigration camps on the Pacific island nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea.

The agreement was a source of friction when Trump and Turnbull spoke by telephone shortly after Trump took office Jan. 20. The conversation made headlines, and Trump later tweeted about the "dumb deal." But Vice President Mike Pence assured Turnbull during a visit to Australia last month that the Trump administration will honor the deal, but "that doesn't mean we admire the agreement."

Manhattan is where Trump made a name by transforming himself from real-estate developer into a celebrity businessman and now president. During the campaign, Trump would fly thousands of miles back to New York to sleep in his own bed, leaving the impression that he would make frequent trips home after he became president.

But he hasn't set foot in the city since leaving on Jan. 19 for Washington to be inaugurated into office the following day. But now deeply unpopular in his hometown, Trump said in an interview last week that he so far has avoided returning to the city because the trips are expensive for the government and would inconvenience New Yorkers.

"I hate to see the New Yorkers with streets closed," Trump told Fox News. He has received some criticism for spending about half of his weekends as president at his waterfront estate in Palm Beach, Florida.



Trump's wife, Melania, and son Barron live at Trump Tower most of the time while the 11-year-old finishes the school year. The president was not expected to spend the night there, instead slated to sleep at his golf club an hour away in Bedminister, New Jersey.

Security had been upped all over midtown in anticipation of the president's visit, with explosive-sniffing dogs canvassing the area outside Trump Tower, barricades erected and other safety and surveillance measures implemented.

Its a $300,000 price tag for a day of security  though Congress has approved $61 million to reimburse New Yorks security costs.
Two Chicago policemen wounded in the Back of the Yards neighborhood Tuesday night were shot with a rifle powerful enough to penetrate the officers body armor, police say.

Chicago police were working around the clock, saturating the streets of the city's South Side as the manhunt for those responsible for shooting the plain-clothes officers intensified Wednesday night.

Were all family, were all brothers and sisters and what you see in that greater presence is what youd see if anyone else was hurt, Cpt. Warren Richards said.

A rifle was one of the weapons recovered from the scene, police said.

"The use of rifles has increased the lethality in these gang conflicts, where in the past, it was fist fights or fights with objects," said Cmdr. Stephen Chung, of the 9th District. "Now it's the guns, then more recently the rifles have been introduced into our neighborhoods."

Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms officials say 70 semi-automatic rifles were recovered in Chicago so far this year.

The officers were conducting a follow-up investigation to a previous incident, when two vehicles pulled up alongside them and opened fire Tuesday evening in the high-crime Back of the Yards neighborhood. One officer was shot in the arm and hip and the other in the back, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.



The officers were wearing civilian clothes with vests bearing police badges and their vehicle was unmarked. Police are investigating if the shootings were targeted or if the officers were randomly attacked.

The fact that they shot specifically at officers is outrageous, Ald. Ray Lopez said earlier Wednesday.



Three people of interest were being questioned but they are not suspects, police say.

ATF Special Agent in Charge Celinez Nunez says law enforcement is facing a "different criminal element" with regards to gang activity, "one that has a total disregard for human life and a total disregard for law enforcement."

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Both of the wounded officers are back home with their families after being released from Stroger Hospital Wednesday. Kevin Graham, the president of the local Lodge 7 police union, spoke with both officers and said one of the officers is in "a lot of pain."

Graham said he will press state legislators for laws to keep active officers safe.

"We are there to help people and we are here to protect people," Graham said. "But we are not going to be targets."



Lopez repeated his support for such legislation. Investigators say a high powered assault rifle recovered from a seized vehicle at the scene was used in the attack.

"We have to get serious about doing what it takes to keep guns out of the hands of repeat offenders," he said. "The government has to start banning assault weapons once more."
A mother of three has been granted extra time with her family after a Philadelphia immigration judge postponed a hearing some advocates feared would lead to deportation.

Araceli Rosendo Torres was calm as she and her husband entered court Thursday morning. With more than a dozen advocates by her side, the petite restaurant worker smiled and said God would protect her.

I am confident everything will turn out in my favor, she said moments before walking into her hearing. My faith in the people helping me, and my childrens support, will get me through this.

Torres has lived in the country undocumented for 18 years. She has three children who are all citizens. The family lives in South Philadelphia  both she and her husband are employed full-time.

The 42-year-old crossed from Mexico with her mother when she was in her early 20s. The elder woman was sick and alone, and the two couldnt make ends meet in their native town.

Her mother died five years ago, and Torres said she was grateful for the life and care she was able to provide in Philadelphia. Now, she hopes to provide the same for her children.

I want them to get ahead, she said. I could not have provided them with a good career path in Mexico. I think it would have been much harder.

Torres petitioned for a cancellation of deportation seven years ago and has since attended regular check-ins with immigration officials. But Thursdays hearing was fraught with anxiety as more immigrants are being deported and detained without due process.

Its not unusual for someone to go to their check-in and be picked up before even getting into the building, said Erika Almiron, executive director of community group Juntos.

Almiron credits immigration Judge Steven A. Morley with postponing Torres hearing and reopening her request to stay in the county. Morley, one of five immigration judges in Philadelphia, has a reputation for being kind and patient during these proceedings, reportedly going out of his way to pronounce foreign names correctly and read every bit of evidence before coming to a decision.

For Torres, that evidence comes in the form of those who gathered outside 9th and Market streets at 7:30 a.m. Many of the people present for the small vigil didnt speak Spanish and had never met Torres. They came to show solidarity with her plight and encourage Philadelphia to remain a so-called sanctuary city.

Immigrant rights are workers rights, said Naomi Zewe. Its a reflection of how all of our social problems are related to each other.

The show of support is becoming more and more necessary as the Trump administration continues to crack down on undocumented immigrants, Almiron said.

Earlier this week, a mother and her son were deported from Berks County Residential Center to their native Honduras. They arrived in the U.S. seeking asylum from the bloodshed plaguing portions of Central America but instead were detained for more than one year. On Wednesday, the two were put on a flight back to Honduras, where lawyers fear the family will be killed by thugs they were trying to escape.

Torres is not facing the same fate. However, she has no family in Mexico. Her children have never lived outside the U.S. Leaving Philadelphia would mean leaving home and, along with it, the most important people in her life.

Thursdays postponement will allow Torres and her legal representation to gather enough evidence to prove that she belongs in the U.S., Almiron said.

Its a good day for us to celebrate, she said. We see no reason for her to leave. This is her home. She has decided this is her home and we have all decided this is her home.

Torres next court date is June 26.
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Moments after the Republican-led House approved the bill aimed at replacing Obamacare, the public reaction started.



The measure passed the House by a narrow 217-213 vote. All voting Democrats and a group of mostly moderate Republicans rejected the measure.

U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-49th District), who was described by one of the undecided going into Thursday's vote, decided to back the measure.

There were reports that Issa was the 216th vote, securing the measure's passage, but a spokesperson was unable to confirm the timing of Issa's vote to NBC 7.



Today, we made good on our promise to repeal and replace Obamacare, Issa said in a written statement. Let's stop pretending Obamacare is going to fix itself or that somehow, someday, its going to get better. "

"Obamacare was a failure from the get-go," he continued. "Now is the time to make it right."

U.S. Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R-50th District) also voted for the bill.

The San Diego-area Democratic congressional delegation voted against the measure and were quick to issue public statements.



U.S. Rep. Juan Vargas (D-51st District) wrote: "In Congress, we should be working to increase access to quality, affordable health care for all Americans, not turn back the clock on progress. If we want to lower costs and make health care accessible for every American, Trumpcare is not the answer."

TrumpCare would be disastrous for millions of Americans. I will be voting NO on the Republican health care bill.  Rep. Juan Vargas (@RepJuanVargas) May 4, 2017

Earlier Thursday, U.S. Rep. Susan Davis (D-53rd District) shared a post in which she explained why she would be voting against the bill.

TY for the calls. My NO vote on #TrumpCare is for you & constituents like Elizabeth & Tim, whose pre-existing cond will mean higher premiums pic.twitter.com/sY9UPMPnrb  Rep. Susan Davis (@RepSusanDavis) May 4, 2017

On his Instagram account, U.S. Rep. Scott Peters (D-52nd District) posted video of protestors outside the Capitol as well as his colleagues boarding what he described as "the party bus" for the White House.



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The bill now faces an uncertain fate in the Senate, where even GOP lawmakers say major changes are likely.

Scripps Health President and CEO Chris Van Gorder issued a statement saying the passage of the GOP health care bill brought him sadness.



"What the passage of this bill today will do is to continue the uncertainty about the future of health care and how it is going to be funded and it will cause confusion and fear with patients and health care providers," Van Gorder said.



He also suggested Congress stop "partisan bickering" and work together.

Darrah DiGiorgio Johnson, President & CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest vowed to "fight like hell."



The American Health Care Act is the worst bill for womens health in a generation. By passing this bill, Congress just voted to block millions of people around the country from essential health care. Its wrong, its harmful and its cruel," Johnson said.


From a young girl growing up in war-torn Liberia to the prestigious Johns Hopkins University, 32-year-old Sharon Patray's journey has been a remarkable one.

It's a dream," said Patray. "Going to John Hopkins has been my dream since I started.

Patray was born in Liberia during the country's civil war in the 90s. She said the fighting left many dead. With the port blocked, there was little food. Her family experienced severe hunger.

I remember that when my mom was saying we need to get out of here, Patray recalled.

Her family fled to Ghana and was forced to live in a refugee camp. She spent time there when she was not at a nearby boarding school.

At 15, her family was able to move to the U.S.

But for Patray, the thought of leaving was overwhelming.

"All my friends are here, everything I know is here, she remembered thinking.

Patray quickly realized that the move would be life changing.

In the U.S., Patray graduated high school and was offered a full ride scholarship to study science. However, she could not accept because she was not a U.S. citizen.

Patray learned from a friend, who was joining the military, that she could become a citizen and receive money through the G.I. bill to attend school.

"Maybe I can do that," she thought.

Patray joined the U.S. Marine Corps and serve eight years. She deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, where she provided security for the 2005 election - something she is particularly proud of.

"They had the opportunity for their voice to be heard," she said. It was especially poignant for her because she grew up under a dictatorship. As she served, she hoped for the same for the people of her home country of Liberia: free and fair elections.

Patray finished out her Marine career at Camp Pendleton. The lessons from the Corps, she says, still guide her today.

Even when I struggle I have to back up and attack in a different direction, that drive to keep going forward has pretty much stayed with me, Patray said.

She says she was inspired by the Marines who served beside her, many of whom were injured, to pursue her dreams in medical research.



Through various programs, like the Bridges to the Future Program, which connects students from community colleges to California State University, San Marcos (CSUSM, Patray was able to work alongside many mentors.

On May 20, Patray will graduate from CSUSM with a degree in biochemistry. In the fall, she will be heading to Baltimore to study at John Hopkins.

As for the her road to success, Patray says it was scary at times.

But at the end, I wouldn't change anything, I'm glad I took this journey, she said.


American University students met again Thursday to address how to combat racism on campus, after bananas were found hung in trees.

The displays included bananas marked with the letters "AKA," the abbreviation for historically black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha. They were found in at least three locations on campus starting Monday morning.

The racist displays were found on the same day student government president Taylor Dumpson, an AKA member, started the new position. She is the first black woman in the role.

At a standing-room-only town hall meeting, Dumpson spoke about what happened.

"I am appalled as a student. Second, I am outraged. As a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, I am nauseated, and as a target, I am numb," she said.

University president Dr. Neil Kerwin condemned the racist acts.

"What occurred here has nothing to do with the fundamental values of this university," he said.

The FBI's Civil Rights division is helping American investigate the displays. Students have urged the administration to find who committed the hate crimes and address repeated acts of racism.

In her first interview after the racist acts, Dumpson told News4 she wants to foster improved communication among students.

Campus police distributed two videos Tuesday evening of a suspect. The blurry video clips show someone walking on the empty campus. Campus police believe at least three bananas hung in nooses were placed on campus Monday between 3:45 a.m. and 4:10 a.m.

In a list of demands, black student groups demanded that the perpetrator is expelled if he or she is a student and that students be notified when that occurs. They also asked for the school to hire more staff members of color and provide more resources for students of color.

On Tuesday, hundreds of students marched, asked the registrar's office for withdrawal forms and waved them in the air in protest.

"If our existence isn't valued on this campus, then we don't need to be here," student Ma'at Sargeant said Tuesday.

In an email to students sent Tuesday morning, the university president called the creation of the displays a hate crime.

"American University remains committed to principles of diversity, inclusion, common courtesy and human dignity, and acts of bigotry only strengthen our resolve. Anyone who does not feel similarly does not belong here," the email from Kerwin said.

Anyone who recognizes the person is asked to call campus police at 202-885-2527 or submit an anonymous tip online. A reward of as much as $1,000 is offered for tips.
Congresswomen who also are members of the historically black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) called for federal civil rights investigations Thursday after bananas were found in nooses Monday on American University's campus.

Bananas with "AKA" written on them were found in multiple locations on campus the day student Taylor Dumpson started as the Washington, D.C. university's first black woman to be student government president.

"This has shaken us to our core, but we're not going to be stopped," Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) said.

The congresswoman called for U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to testify before the House education committee on how the education department will address racist harassment and discrimination on college campuses.

"The first thing I would like to see is our secretary of education coming before our education committee to testify on what the Department of Education will do to address this problem that we see springing up all across this nation," Wilson said.

The congresswoman also called for university presidents to testify on Capitol Hill.

"We would like to have a hearing to hear from some of the university presidents as to what they're doing on their individual campuses to address this issue," she said.

If United Airlines can be called to testify before Congress about mistreatment of airline passengers, university presidents can be called to testify about mistreatment of students, Wilson suggested.

The Department of Education did not immediately respond to inquiries.

The Congresswomen and AKA members dressed in the sorority's famous salmon pink and apple green. Participants included Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC), Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX).

Dumpson attended and spoke about how she hopes the incident sparks action on fighting discrimination and harassment against multiple groups.

In her first interview after the racist acts, Dumpson told News4 on Wednesday that she wants to foster improved communication among students.

"Cross-cultural communication is the key," she said. "Because we aren't in a post-racial society. But I think the way to move towards a better society, and a more inclusive society, is to really focus on and appreciate the differences among us. Because what makes us different is very, very important."

A report by the Department of Education's civil rights division found that complaints of racial harassment on college campuses had more than doubled between 2009 and 2016.

Some have led to federal prosecutions. One of two former University of Mississippi students was sentenced to probation last year for placing a noose on the statue of James Meredith, the school's first black student. The other was sentenced to six months in prison.

Stay with News4 for more details on this developing story.
An attempted murderer who escaped police custody last week spent five days surviving on food from trash cans and water from puddles before he was found hiding in a drainage pipe Wednesday night.

David M. Watson, who had been on the loose since April 28, was found lying inside a drainage pipe in a wooded area off of Dorsey Run Road about 9:40 p.m., police said.

Police believe Watson was moving constantly while on the run, walking no more than a mile and a half in several directions around the hospital. Watson told investigators he had been eating out of trash cans and drinking water out of puddles to survive.

He also used several drainage pipes in the area to rest, according to police.

The pipe he was found in, which is about 18 inches in diameter, was confirmed to be empty earlier in the day, but officers rechecked the area with night vision equipment after dark, police said.

When officers found Watson inside, he surrendered and was taken into custody in good condition, police said.

Earlier Wednesday morning, someone called 911 after spotting a man near the railroad tracks behind a building in the 8200 block of Dorsey Run Road, police said. The caller said the man was wearing a white hard hat and a safety vest. The man ran off when he was spotted.

Police responded to the area discovered a hard hat and safety vest had been stolen from a storage building about a mile away. They also found packing materials inside of a concrete drainage tunnel and believed Watson had been in the tunnel.

Watson, 28, was being transported to Clifton Perkins Hospital Center on April 28 for a psychiatric evaluation. When a guard opened the van in the hospital parking lot, Watson pushed the guard down and ran into nearby woods, police said. Authorities searched for Watson in the area surrounding the hospital, but they were unable to find him.

Police believe Watson managed to get out of his handcuffs and waist chain inside the van, Howard County Police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn said Friday. Both were found outside the van, according to police.

His leg shackles were not found, but his sweatpants were found in tact, Llewellyn said. He would have had to free at least one of his legs from the shackles to remove the sweatpants without ripping them.

Police do not know whether Watson had planned the escape or had any help.

Watson is currently serving a sentence in Delaware for attempted murder for shooting a police officer's Laurel-area home. He is also charged with attempted murder on the Eastern Shore, where authorities say he shot at two officers' homes.
An 18-year-old student in Montgomery County, Maryland, has been accused of driving a stolen car with a stolen assault weapon inside to school, police say.

Mario Alvarado, of Wheaton, was arrested near Albert Einstein High School on Monday, police said.

Montgomery County police said a school resource officer saw Alvarado park a blue Mazda 3 behind the school. After getting out of the car and returning a short time later, Alvarado drove away from the school, police said.

The officer then initiated a traffic stop on the Mazda at the intersection of Norris Drive and Kenton Drive. Police said Alvarado immediately got out of the Mazda and ran from the officer. He returned to the intersection a short time later and police arrested him.

Inside the trunk of the Mazda that was reported stolen on Thursday, officers found an assault weapon, which belonged to the Rockville City Police Department. Police discovered the gun had been stolen from a police cruiser in the Kensington area on Saturday.

Alvarado has been charged with possessing a deadly weapon on school property, possession of an assault weapon, possession of a stolen vehicle and other firearm-related charges. He is being held on a $2,000 bond.

Officers also found another stolen vehicle, a black Nissan Frontier, parked near the high school. A shotgun inside the Nissan had been stolen from the same cruiser that the weapon was taken from, police said.

On Tuesday, police arrested a 15-year-old boy and charged him in connection to the crimes. He was released to the custody of his parents, police said.

Montgomery County Public Schools released the following statement:

"On Monday, May 1, a student at Albert Einstein High School committed a serious offense by bringing a gun onto school property. While the gun never entered the school building and remained in a car parked on a remote part of the campus, this is inexcusable. As Principal James Fernandez described in his letter to the community on Monday, this incident was resolved thanks to the vigilance and proactive actions of the schools dedicated School Resource Officer. I thank our partners in law enforcement and our MCPS security teams for their commitment to keeping schools safe every day.

"It is our responsibility to provide a safe learning environment for our students and we will do everything within our power to protect them. MCPS does not tolerate guns on school property. Any student who brings a gun on school property will be referred to law enforcement and disciplined accordingly.

"While the mission of MCPS is to educate our students, know that our first priority is, and will always be, to keep your children safe in our schools."
A man who stabbed his ex-girlfriend to death then lit her on fire in an attempt to collect life insurance money has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Maurice Wigfall was convicted in February for the 2015 killing of Latiqua Cherry. Cherry, 21, was found dead in a third-floor apartment in Oxon Hill, Maryland on May 17, 2015.

Prosecutors said Wigfall entered Cherry's apartment and stabbed her in the neck multiple times. He then removed the fire alarm in the apartment before he poured gasoline on her body and set her ablaze.



This defendant is very cold, calculating and ruthless and there is simply no place for him in our community, Prince George's County State's Attorney Angela Alsobrooks said. I hope this conviction and sentence sends a message that we will not tolerate violence, especially domestic violence and no matter how well you think you have planned a crime, you will be caught and you will be held accountable.

Wigfall and Cherry had a child together before their relationship ended. After the breakup, Cherry was awarded primary custody of their 2-year-old daughter. She issued a protective order against Wigfall, the state's attorney's office said.

Wigfall secretly purchased a life insurance policy for Cherry and their child and made himself the sole beneficiary.

Wigfall was sentenced to a life without parole, plus 50 years and 90 days for his crime.
A racist symbol of hate has been found on a college campus in the D.C. area for the second time in a week.

A noose was discovered in the kitchen of the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity house on University of Maryland's campus in College Park, campus authorities announced Wednesday.

The University of Maryland Police Department said the noose was found at "Fraternity Row #5" between 1:30 and 1:45 p.m. last Thursday, April 27.

"This incident is is despicable. A thorough UMPD investigation is underway," University of Maryland President Wallace D. Loh said in a statement. "I resolutely condemn the use of a symbol of violence and hatred for the purpose of intimidating members of our University of Maryland community."

Police are investigating the display as a hate/bias incident.



Members of the fraternity with students of multiple ethnic backgrounds were stunned, chapter president A.J. Coleman said.

"We are shocked and appalled. The chapter's reaction to this event has been confusion and outrage. For all of us, it is beyond the realm of belief that anyone could have perpetrated such a heinous act," he said.



Student Ifeanyi Ike-Azubogu said he was appalled to hear what happened.

"It's sad and disgusting," he said.

Student Jordan Glenn described the climate on campus.

"Being a black student at UMD is kind of heartbreaking. I live right behind there, and it's just, I didn't think this would happen on my own campus. It just sucks to have racism so close to home," she said.

On Monday, bananas marked with the letters "AKA," the abbreviation for the historically black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha, were found in at least three locations on American University's campus in D.C. The FBI's Civil Rights division is helping American University investigate.

In 2015, a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity on campus sent a profane email telling fellow frat brothers not to invite African-American, Asian and Indian women to parties. Students protested how the administration handled the incident, and the student who sent the email left the school.


Bananas hung in nooses were found on American University's campus on Taylor Dumpson's first day as student government president. She's the first African-American woman in the role.

In her first interview after the racist acts, Dumpson told News4 on Wednesday that she wants to foster improved communication among students.

"Everyone is hurting on this," she said.

"Cross-cultural communication is the key," she continued. "Because we aren't in a post-racial society. But I think the way to move towards a better society, and a more inclusive society, is to really focus on and appreciate the differences among us. Because what makes us different is very, very important."

Bananas were found hanging from nooses Monday in at least three locations on AU's campus. The bananas were marked with the letters "AKA," the abbreviation for the historically black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha. Dumpson is an AKA member. Hundreds of students protested, walking out of a campus townhall and symbolically signing paperwork to withdraw from the school.

Dumpson said she was doing as well despite the situation. She said she was overwhelmed by messages of support she had received from across the country.

Though many students say the university has not done enough to respond to multiple racist acts, Dumpson said she appreciated the school's response to the latest incident.

"I'm very supported by the university," she said. "I'm proud of the way they've handled it. It's been very direct. It's been very transparent so far."

The Salisbury, Maryland, native studying law said she had already encountered racism on campus. During her freshman year, a flurry of racist comments by purported AU students were posted on the social media app Yik Yak. The app lets users within a 10-mile radius post comments and replies anonymously.

But she said she was glad she stayed.

"Staying at AU was one of the best decisions I ever made," Dumpson said. "I think at the end of the day, going through the adversity that I faced in the past three years has molded me into the person that I am, into the leader I'm becoming. I don't think I would truly be who I am, standing in front of you, if it wasn't for the American University."

She said her parents raised her to be ready to face racism.

"They recognized that we did not grow up in a post-racial society and that there were going to be situations where I was going to have to stand my own," she said. "From a young age, they prepared me for that, now this is the time for me to let that shine and let that show."
When a Virginia woman booked a trip to see a dying friend, she purchased travel insurance in case she was too late, but when that turned out to be the case, she learned the protection she paid for didnt cover what she expected, she turned to NBC4 Responds for help.

When Roz Gann of Reston recently booked a nonrefundable flight through an online travel site to visit a dying friend, she chose to purchase travel insurance.

They say, Do you want to protect this flight? she said. Sure I wanted to protect it because she might die.

Gann said payed $43 for cancellation protection, but when she needed to actually cancel her flight a few days later, she was denied a refund.

If you're refusing to give refunds, even for very legitimate reasons, are you really serving the public? Gann said.

She couldn't understand how she could have interpreted cancellation protection any differently.

For Gann to have understood what was covered, she needed to click on another link to see the terms of the policy. She would have been covered if she got sick and couldn't travel or if a family member had died, not a friend.

Neither the airlines, the travel insurance company nor the online travel agency would budge.

I wrote a congressman, Gann said. Still haven't gotten an answer.

NBC4 Responds contacted both Delta and American Airlines, explaining Ganns situation. Though they weren't obligated to, they both agreed to refund their portion of the trip.

I think it showed me the value of shedding light on what's happening, Gann said.

If travel insurance isnt going to cover what you need, consider another option.

If you think you might change at the last minute, your schedule is up in the air, you might want to spend a little bit more money and get a ticket that's refundable, said Jeanne Salvatore of the Insurance Information Institute.

If you are going on a big trip with your family or spending thousands of dollars on a trip, you should buy the insurance. It will cost a few hundred dollars.

The Insurance Information Institute has advice for choosing travel insurance.
An outbreak of measles in Minnesota has sickened more than 30 children in recent weeks, primarily in the state's large Somali-American community, where many parents avoid the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine because of unfounded fears that it causes autism.

Somalis are just the latest example of a tight-knit community in which the highly contagious disease has gained a foothold in the U.S. in recent years.

Medical professionals and state health officials are working to contain the virus, but they expect more measles cases in coming weeks. A look at the situation:

MEASLES OUTBREAK

As of Wednesday, 34 measles cases were confirmed in Minnesota. It's the largest outbreak in the state since 1990, when 460 people contracted measles and three died.

Nearly everyone infected is unvaccinated, and all but a few are of Somali descent. So far, 11 children have been hospitalized.

The source of the outbreak is unknown, said Kris Ehresmann, infectious disease director with the state Department of Health. But since measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, outbreaks in the U.S. are typically caused when international travelers are infected overseas and bring the virus home.

Nine other states have seen measles cases so far this year, but none has reported an outbreak of Minnesota's magnitude, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

WHY SOMALIS?

Somali children are getting sick because the community has a low rate of immunization for measles, mumps and rubella, Ehresmann said. Unvaccinated children from other communities are also at risk.

According to the Health Department, 42 percent of Minnesota-born Somali toddlers had received the MMR vaccine as of 2017  but the community's immunization rate hasn't always been that low.

In 2004, 92 percent of Somali toddlers had the MMR vaccine. The community's immunization rate fell sharply to 70 percent in 2008 amid a perception that autism was becoming more common among Somali children.

A University of Minnesota study that examined 7- to 9-year-olds in Minneapolis in 2010 found no statistical difference between the rate of autism among Somali children and white children, Ehresmann said.

OPTING OUT

Minnesota law requires that a child be vaccinated before enrolling in child care, early education or school. But it also allows exemptions for medical reasons or "conscientiously held beliefs."

A 2014 study by the American Board of Family Medicine found 35 percent of Somali parents surveyed believed the measles vaccine causes autism, compared with 8 percent of non-Somalis.

Research that links the vaccine to autism has been widely discredited. But Anab Gulaid, a University of Minnesota researcher who worked on the autism study, said autism is often diagnosed in children around the same age as they receive their measles vaccine, so some fears persist.

"It's an emotional issue for people," she said.

Other communities with low vaccination rates have also been affected by measles in recent years. Nearly 20 people in the Orthodox Jewish community in Los Angeles were sickened by measles in December. Fifty-eight were sickened in 2013 when the measles swept through Orthodox Jewish communities in New York.

In Ohio, 360 people got the measles in 2014 after unvaccinated Amish travelers visited the Philippines and brought the disease home.

Minnesota health officials say they'd like to see at least 95 percent of the population immunized to protect everyone from measles, a highly contagious disease that can cause respiratory problems, brain swelling, or death.

COMMUNITY FEARS

Dozens of Somali parents attended a recent meeting organized by groups that believe there's a link between vaccines and autism. Some in attendance said they would rather face measles, or a child's death, than a lifetime of autism.

Patti Carroll, with the Vaccine Safety Council of Minnesota, said the goal was to empower parents.

"We did a presentation that helped the Somalis put the measles and the MMR vaccine into perspective," Carroll said. "It's their right to say no."

Sophia Mohamed, a New Brighton mother of two who believes her 16-year-old son got autism after receiving the MMR vaccine as a toddler, said officials need to listen to parents like her.

"We are not against the vaccine, but we want a safe vaccine," Mohamed said. "We have a choice ... I don't need any researcher to tell me. I know. I saw the results."

MEDICAL COMMUNITY ON ALERT

Evidence-based research has repeatedly shown no relationship between the MMR vaccine and autism, and there should be no hesitations about vaccines, said Patsy Stinchfield, senior director of infection control at Children's Minnesota hospital.

"In medical science, there is no debate about the safety of vaccines," she said.

Stinchfield worked at the hospital during the 1990 outbreak and recalls when an entire floor was turned into a measles ward. Two of the three deaths that year were children at the hospital.

The hospital has taken extra precautions.

On Tuesday, two workers sat at a desk outside the clinic's main lobby, assessing all patients who entered for risk of measles. A negative air filter hummed in the background, sucking away contaminated air, while all the clinic's tiniest patients and parents were told to wear masks.

Anyone with measles' symptoms is ushered in through a back door, away from other patients.

Amira Hassan, 4, came for a wellness check Tuesday and wore a mask in the waiting room. Her father, Mohamud Hassan, said she's been vaccinated, and he doesn't refuse a vaccine if a doctor says it's OK.

Hassan, who is Somali, said rumors about vaccines persist, but it's best to ask a doctor or someone who knows. He chose vaccination, saying: "If your child is going to school, you don't want other kids to be affected too."
Four people had to be rescued on Wednesday after their boat took on water and sank off the coast of Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Fire officials said the boaters had left from Brant Rock in Marshfield when their cabin cruiser began to sink.

The boat ended up in Plymouth waters by the time rescue crews arrived.

All four people were rescued and taken to Beth Israel Hospital to be treated for possible hypothermia.

Crews will head back to the area on Thursday to try and recover the boat and determine why it sank.
Six inmates at a prison in the area of Plymouth, Massachusetts walked away during work detail at state forest.

Police say that the inmates escaped into the Myles Standish Forest just after 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

Three of the inmates were found at 9 p.m. that night near the forest.

Police are still looking for the other three at this time.

No confirmation yet on which prison the prisoners were being held prior to their escape. However, the Department of Corrections said they were "civilly committed" males from a detox facility and are not convicted felons.
A Rhode Island barber is heading to court to face charges that he was selling heroin out of his shop.

Authorities say 39-year-old Jesse Rego is scheduled to arraigned Wednesday in Newport District Court on a charge of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.

Tiverton police executing a search warrant at the Upper Cuts Barber Shoppe on Tuesday say they found 170 bags of heroin and $571 in cash.

Rego, of Tiverton, is the owner of the shop and is licensed as an apprentice barber according to the Rhode Island Department of Health.

It could not immediately be determined if he has a lawyer.
Five people were arrested Thursday in connection with a sex trafficking operation that spanned several cities in Massachusetts.

According to the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, a four month investigation with the FBI uncovered sex brothels in Boston, Cambridge, Quincy and North Reading.

"Today's arrests follow a tragic pattern we are seeing in our neighborhoods  vulnerable individuals being preyed upon and sexually exploited for profit," said Attorney General Maura Healey. "We want victims to know that they will not be prosecuted and that our offices will work to make sure they receive the services they need and deserve.\"

Pingxia Fan, 40, of Boston, Timothy Hayes, 50, of Gloucester, Simon Shimao Lin, 59, of Boston, and 47-year-old Biqun Xiao and 65-year-old Robert Mozer, both of Deerfield, New Hampshire, were all arrested in connection with the case.

During an arraignment at Woburn District Court, Assistant Attorney General Nancy Rothstein said the defendants helped build a sophisticated sex trafficking operation that transported women from New York to Massachusetts for months. The victims, according to Rothstein, were all Asian women who spoke little English.

Three of the five brothels they uncovered were luxury apartment buildings that Rothstein said two of the defendants leased. Inside them, they kept several women who they allege were not allowed to leave. Their customers reported to police that the apartments only had mattresses inside them.

"Sex trafficking is without a doubt, the most common form of modern-day slavery and it's big business," said Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division. "As alleged, Fan and her co-conspirators were offering sex for a fee on a large-scale basis."

Police were first tipped off to the alleged business by ads that were posted on the site, Backpage.com. Detectives with North Reading Police called the number listed and were instructed to go to an apartment complex in the city. From there, they began interviewing men who came and went from the units they suspected were involved in the operation.

During interviews with the customers, Rothstein said they learned the pricing structure for the operation, which they estimated earned the defendants approximately $105,000 per week. Financial analysis of various bank accounts helped detectives link the five defendants together.

Fan, Hayes and Lin were each charged with one count of Trafficking of Persons for Sexual Servitude, Deriving Support from Prostitution, Money Laundering, Keeping House of Ill Fame, and Conspiracy. Mozer and Xiao were charged with one count each of Conspiracy to Traffic Persons for Sexual Servitude.

All the defendants, with exception of Xiao, pleaded not guilty. Xiao is scheduled to be arraigned Friday, at which point a plea can be entered.

Bail was set at $150,000 cash for Fan, Lin and Hayes. Mozer was held on $50,000 cash bail.

A probable cause hearing is scheduled for June 2 at Woburn District Court.
Boston University will present former Red Sox player David Ortiz with an honorary degree at the university's 144th Commencement Address.



According to Boston University, Ortiz will receive his degree on May 21 during the ceremony on Boston University's Nickerson Field.

Last month, Ortiz was the commencement speaker at the New England Institute of Technology in Rhode Island.

The school presented Ortiz with a Doctor of Humane letters in recognition of his creation of the David Ortiz Children's Fund. The fund helps provide pediatric care to children who do not have access to certain healthcare services in New England, as well as those in his native country of the Dominican Republic.

During his 14 seasons as a Red Sox player, Ortiz earned three World Series wins and was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2013 World Series.
Local lawmakers are sounding off after Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the latest health care bill.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker is criticizing fellow Republicans in the U.S. House for approving a health care bill he says "would significantly reduce critical funds for the commonwealth's health care system."

With Thursday's vote, House Republicans moved one step closer to dismantling former President Barack Obama's 2010 health care overhaul.

All voting Democrats and a group of mostly moderate Republican holdouts voted no.

Baker said he'll continue to urge Congress to reject the bill in its current form as it moves to the Senate. He said maintaining flexibility through the Medicaid program is critical to the state's ability to provide coverage for the needy.

Baker had said an earlier version of the bill that failed would have cost Massachusetts at least $1.5 billion in annual federal payments within five years.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders calls the Obamacare replacement bill "almost incomprehensible."

Sanders flew home to Burlington, Vermont, Thursday and said the legislation will cost millions of Americans their health insurance, while giving the nation's wealthiest citizens a tax break.

"We're going to fight this as hard as we can," Sanders said. "This is a disastrous piece of legislation - should never have been passed by the House and we'll do everything we can to defeat it in the Senate."

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released a statement that read in part, "Trumpcare isn't a health care bill. A bill that destroys health care for millions to shovel cash to the rich isn't a health care bill. This is the same cruel bill that House Republicans tried to pass weeks ago. It still strips coverage from millions. Still guts Medicaid. Still strips funds away from states like Massachusetts that are battling the opioid crisis. The only thing that's changed about Trumpcare in recent weeks is that they made the original plan even more brutal.

"This isn't football. It's not about scoring points," she continued. "Trumpcare will devastate Americans' healthcare. Families will go bankrupt. People will die."

Congressman Stephen F. Lynch (D-Boston) said in a statement, "This proposal would hurt retirees access to healthcare by weakening Medicare and by dramatically increasing costs for individuals over age 50. And TrumpCare does nothing to address the rising cost of prescription drugs."

Congressman Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) said in a statement, "Congress failed the American people today, but its not over yet. The fight for health care as a human right goes on in the Senate. We need the American people to speak out now more than ever.

Congressman Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.) said in a statement, "If there is any silver lining to this vote it is that the American people are engaged, awake and on notice like never before. It is a long road to the President's desk. We will be fighting every step of the way."


Tim Bajarin asked his friends to name the top contributors to the tech industrypeople who should be on a Tech Mount Rushmore if one were to be built. Who is Bajarin? He is the president of Creative Strategies, an analyst, and a futurist located in Silicon Valley where he has followed technology for almost four decades.

People such as financial analyst Mark Stahlman, long-time tech editor Joel Dreyfuss, and investor Roger McNameeall with almost the same four decades of experience covering the tech industry in their separate fieldscast their votes. The 30 or 40 individuals that contributed the nominations are all experienced people in the tech sector, though fairly heavily weighted towards digital technology.

The names came from a Facebook conversation (shared only with Bajarins friends) on Bajarins Facebook page. The names were ranked based on the number of times individuals proposed them. The first three positions on Techs Mount Rushmore were uncontested. The fourth position was a five-way tie.

First place will not surprise anyone. Steve Jobs is the tech industrys George Washington. The second position (Nikoli Tesla) and third position (Martin Cooper) were an unexpected surprise, though. Few people will know who they are without searching Google.

Techs Mount Rushmore

1. Steve Jobs, co-founder and twice CEO of Apple Computer, is best remembered for returning to Apple and leading the company back from the brink of financial disaster when Microsofts Bill Gates lent Apple $100 million in 1997, as well as for the invention of the iPhone.

Jobs was known for his mercurial management style, his product design skills and his ability to sell a consumer product with his reality distortion field.

2. Martin Cooper led a team of engineers in the early 1970s to design, build and bring to market the first wireless cell phone.

He was also the leading contributor to the development of wireless networks, with 11 patents related to radio spectrum management.

Unknown - Public Domain Nicoli Tesla

3. After leaving the employment of Thomas Edison, Nikoli Tesla invented the alternating current (AC) induction motor and related polyphase AC licensed to Westinghouse, which contributed to the success of the AC standard for electricity transmission and distribution.

Tesla earned a reputation as the mad scientist with his pronouncements of technology futures such as wireless communications and his attempts to build an intercontinental wireless communication and power transmitter.

Tesla spent all the money he earned from Westinghouse and died a pauper.

We have a five-way tiefor the fourth position on the Tech Mount Rushmore.

Douglas Engelbart debuted the computer mouse in 1965 in a 90-minute public demonstration to 2,000 people reporting the work of the Augmentation Research Center (ARC) at SRI. It is remembered as the Mother of all Demos. The demonstration was projected on an 18 x 22-foot screen in which his computer screen was overlaid with his video image. The demonstration included precursors to the interconnected office computing system, hypertext linking, collaborative composing, multiple windows with flexible view control, knowledge management, and teleconferencing.

Unknown, Public Domain Hedy Lamarr

Hedy Lamarr, whom most people remember as punch lines to Harvey Coreman jokes, was an actress and performer from Austria-Hungary during the 1940s. She and composer George Antheil developed a radio guidance system for Allied torpedoes, which used spread spectrum and frequency hopping technology to defeat the threat of jamming by the Axis powers. The principles of their work are now incorporated into modern Wi-Fi, CDMA and Bluetooth technology.

Gordon Moore co-founded Intel with Robert Noyce. He is the author of Moores Law, which stated that every 18 months the number of transistors on a semiconductor would double. Up until recently, Moores Law ruled the microprocessor business. Moore and Noyce were among the traitorous eight who left Beckman Instruments to found Fairchild Semiconductor.

William Shockley was a co-inventer of the transistor with John Bardeen and Walter Brattain at Bell Labs. His move from New Jersey to California to found Shockley Semiconductor to commercialize the transistor is considered the beginning of Silicon Valley.

Shockleys paper Electrons and Holes in Semiconductors became the reference text for other scientists working to develop and improve new variants of the transistor and other devices based on semiconductors.

Unknown, Public Domain Alan Turing (age 16)

Alan Turing, though a British citizen, received a tying number of votes. Mathematician Turing was a prolific applied scientist. Whether his cryptography contribution to breaking the German Enigma machines code and shortening World War II by two years and saving millions of lives or his development of the stored program computer is more important could be debated, but both were significant contributions.

He also is known for the Turing test, the theory for testing machine general intelligence (GI) to be indistinguishable to that of a human. GI is confirmed by an observer of a computer human conversation from which the observer cannot distinguish the machine from the human.

The full list of nominations for the Tech Mount Rushmore can be seen and downloaded from Google Drive. Most interesting is that the nominations all focus on technologies that enabled the internet and mobile internet, and not the layer that runs on top (e.g., Google, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, etc.).
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The government will shortly come out with an Ordinance to empower the Reserve Bank of India to effectively deal with the problem of mounting non-performing assets in the banking sector.

The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday cleared a proposal to amend a key banking law  Section 35 A of the Banking Regulation Act  through the Ordinance route.

The amendment will empower RBI to issue direction to banks to recover dues from loan defaulters.

Section 35A empowers RBI to issue directions to the banks in the public interest and depositors.

Public-sector banks are saddled with non-performing assets (NPA) or bad loans to the tune of a staggering Rs 6 lakh crore.

Bad loans rose by Rs 1 lakh crore in the first nine months of last fiscal to Rs 6.07 lakh crore by December 31, 2016.

Gross NPA of PSBs stood at Rs 5.02 lakh crore at the end of March 2016, up from Rs 2.67 lakh crore in March 2015.

The amended law will also empower RBI to set up oversight panels that will shield bankers from later action by probe agencies looking into loan recasts. RBI will also be able to give specific solutions for specific cases.

NEW DELHI: The government will shortly come out with an Ordinance to empower the Reserve Bank of India to effectively deal with the problem of mounting non-performing assets in the banking sector. The Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday cleared a proposal to amend a key banking law  Section 35 A of the Banking Regulation Act  through the Ordinance route. The amendment will empower RBI to issue direction to banks to recover dues from loan defaulters. Section 35A empowers RBI to issue directions to the banks in the public interest and depositors. Public-sector banks are saddled with non-performing assets (NPA) or bad loans to the tune of a staggering Rs 6 lakh crore. Bad loans rose by Rs 1 lakh crore in the first nine months of last fiscal to Rs 6.07 lakh crore by December 31, 2016. Gross NPA of PSBs stood at Rs 5.02 lakh crore at the end of March 2016, up from Rs 2.67 lakh crore in March 2015. The amended law will also empower RBI to set up oversight panels that will shield bankers from later action by probe agencies looking into loan recasts. RBI will also be able to give specific solutions for specific cases.
By Reuters

GERMANY: Thousands of Thyssenkrupp steelworkers protested on Wednesday against the German industrial group's plan to merge its European steel operations with those of India's Tata Steel.

The two companies have been talking since last year about a merger they say would support steel prices and raise efficiency by taking excess capacity out of the market. Trade unions fear large-scale job losses and question the logic of a deal.

"I find it intolerable the way that Thyssenkrupp is talking the steel business into the ground," said Detlef Wetzel, the representative of trade union IG Metall on Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe's supervisory board.

"With friends like our management, who needs enemies?" he asked at a demonstration at Thyssenkrupp's steel headquarters in the German city of Duisburg,

IG Metall, which said about 7,500 steelworkers attended the demonstration, fears 4,000 out of the 27,000 jobs at Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe will be lost if the merger goes ahead.

Andreas Goss, head of Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe, denied any such plans. He reiterated that the business planned to cut costs by 500 million euros ($545 million) over the next three years, which he said would help save jobs.

"There are no plans for job cuts of this order," he told the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung. "At the moment, we have no plans to close any sites. But of course we have to negotiate if certain areas show no signs of making a profit long term."

He also told the paper that Thyssenkrupp was considering building a new steel plant in North Rhine Westphalia, to serve demand from the automotive industry for hot dip galvanised steel.

"It would be an investment of over 100 million euros, which would create jobs," he was quoted as saying.

Thyssenkrupp, which also builds elevators, submarines and car parts, agreed in February to sell its loss-making Brazilian steel mill CSA to rival Ternium for $1.3 billion and took a 900 million euro writedown.

Thyssenkrupp's European steel operations are profitable and considered among the continent's most efficient but the company, which is 15 percent owned by activist investor Cevian Capital, wants to focus on its capital goods businesses.

Talks with Tata have stumbled on the question of who will assume liability for Tata Steel UK's huge pension fund. Thyssenkrupp has said there are other, unspecified partners with which it could merge its steel business.

GERMANY: Thousands of Thyssenkrupp steelworkers protested on Wednesday against the German industrial group's plan to merge its European steel operations with those of India's Tata Steel. The two companies have been talking since last year about a merger they say would support steel prices and raise efficiency by taking excess capacity out of the market. Trade unions fear large-scale job losses and question the logic of a deal. "I find it intolerable the way that Thyssenkrupp is talking the steel business into the ground," said Detlef Wetzel, the representative of trade union IG Metall on Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe's supervisory board. "With friends like our management, who needs enemies?" he asked at a demonstration at Thyssenkrupp's steel headquarters in the German city of Duisburg, IG Metall, which said about 7,500 steelworkers attended the demonstration, fears 4,000 out of the 27,000 jobs at Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe will be lost if the merger goes ahead. Andreas Goss, head of Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe, denied any such plans. He reiterated that the business planned to cut costs by 500 million euros ($545 million) over the next three years, which he said would help save jobs. "There are no plans for job cuts of this order," he told the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung. "At the moment, we have no plans to close any sites. But of course we have to negotiate if certain areas show no signs of making a profit long term." He also told the paper that Thyssenkrupp was considering building a new steel plant in North Rhine Westphalia, to serve demand from the automotive industry for hot dip galvanised steel. "It would be an investment of over 100 million euros, which would create jobs," he was quoted as saying. Thyssenkrupp, which also builds elevators, submarines and car parts, agreed in February to sell its loss-making Brazilian steel mill CSA to rival Ternium for $1.3 billion and took a 900 million euro writedown. Thyssenkrupp's European steel operations are profitable and considered among the continent's most efficient but the company, which is 15 percent owned by activist investor Cevian Capital, wants to focus on its capital goods businesses. Talks with Tata have stumbled on the question of who will assume liability for Tata Steel UK's huge pension fund. Thyssenkrupp has said there are other, unspecified partners with which it could merge its steel business.
Shruthi H M By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: Micro Focus, a UK-headquartered software firm, plans to treble its workforce in India this year. The company expects to have a slice of the countrys lucrative cyber security solutions market and the expansion in staff strength is to bolster its offerings in data security solutions.

Till now, Micro Focus had limited presence in India with three offices. The firm will now set up 12 offices across the country.

Notably, the companys expansion in India comes at a time when Indian IT firms are also focusing on India in terms of jobs and business opportunities, in the wake of protectionist policies in other countries.

Our recent acquisitions have given us a lot more opportunities for growth in India, Micro Focus president for Asia-Pacific & Japan, Stephen McNulty, told Express.

Micro Focus had in September 2016 announced its intention to merge with Hewlett Packard Enterprises software business segment for $8.8 billion. The anticipated merger with HPE is on track and expected to close in Q3 2017.

According to McNulty, gone are the days of ensuring security through mere username and password. This is the age of retina scan, biometrics, etc, he said adding that the company is in talks with government agencies to provide such security solutions.

We believe the fastest way to get results from new technology is to build on what you have. Our past acquisitions have included Novell, Borland and Serena Software Just to name a few. These acquisitions have helped growth and complement Indias cyber-security and digital initiatives, McNulty added. On the nature of services, he said that the company spent a significant amount on developing innovative solutions from Mainframe to Mobile, Testing Suite to Security, etc.

BENGALURU: Micro Focus, a UK-headquartered software firm, plans to treble its workforce in India this year. The company expects to have a slice of the countrys lucrative cyber security solutions market and the expansion in staff strength is to bolster its offerings in data security solutions. Till now, Micro Focus had limited presence in India with three offices. The firm will now set up 12 offices across the country. Notably, the companys expansion in India comes at a time when Indian IT firms are also focusing on India in terms of jobs and business opportunities, in the wake of protectionist policies in other countries. Our recent acquisitions have given us a lot more opportunities for growth in India, Micro Focus president for Asia-Pacific & Japan, Stephen McNulty, told Express. Micro Focus had in September 2016 announced its intention to merge with Hewlett Packard Enterprises software business segment for $8.8 billion. The anticipated merger with HPE is on track and expected to close in Q3 2017. According to McNulty, gone are the days of ensuring security through mere username and password. This is the age of retina scan, biometrics, etc, he said adding that the company is in talks with government agencies to provide such security solutions. We believe the fastest way to get results from new technology is to build on what you have. Our past acquisitions have included Novell, Borland and Serena Software Just to name a few. These acquisitions have helped growth and complement Indias cyber-security and digital initiatives, McNulty added. On the nature of services, he said that the company spent a significant amount on developing innovative solutions from Mainframe to Mobile, Testing Suite to Security, etc.
Roshne B By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Forty years ago, a movie  an epic space opera film  was released, paving the way to multiple fandoms and the creation of an extended fictional universe, across the globe. From black robes, Stormtroopers and helmets, Jedi hoods, white combat uniforms to some even trying their hands at the famous cinnamon buns, a cult worship of George Lucas film series, Star Wars, became a phenomenon impressing people of all age groups. With the citys Star Wars fanbase  men, women and children chanting, May the Fourth Be With You (a play on the films catchphrase May the force be with you), today, City Express chats with a few, to know about how and when they stepped into this galaxy far, far away

Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Ben Kenobi

The first and original film of the series Star Wars: Episode IV  A New Hope was released in May 25, 1977 in the US, and like every Hollywood movie those days, India had to wait for a year to watch the film in theatres. But the wait was worth it, opine old-timers who managed to watch the movie between 1978 and the early 80s at Devi Paradise, Mount Road. For 49-year-old Vivish George, director, Aeria Living Spaces, watching the first movie without any expectations, made it memorable. I remember going to the movie as a young teen. The movie certainly blew us away! Thats the charm of watching a movie without knowing anything about itwhich is impossible today! But after getting a taste of it, I remember eagerly waiting for the other releases, he recalls.

With a storyline that was way ahead of its time and never-before-seen VFX, the film series captured everyones attention with a surreal world that gave characters everyone loved and rooted for. Though the graphics and the effects in the original and prequel trilogy might seem lame for this generation, it was mindblowing thenit was like James Camerons Avatar (2009) of those times! he exclaims. And for most, the interesting part was the order of the series. Why someone would start with a Part Four was the question. But only people who have seen them all will understand it, he grins.

And if you thought that only the Gen Y were into buying collectibles and merchandise of their favourite series, you are wrong! Alladi Mahadevan, an organic farmer in the city, shares that he had invested `50,000 to `60,000 on Star Wars Lego sets! The movie has been part of my life since the 80s. I was a teenager then and the Lego sets based on two characters in the film  R2-D2, an astromech droid and C-3PO came much later. They are awesome characters that taught me a lot in life, he shares.

Kenny Baker as R2-D2

Manick, an IT professional, recalls his school days and says, I was supposed to dress up as Darth Vader for my farewellbut I couldnt make it. Having Cosplay here in the city would be fun! But for now, I am just waiting for the release of The last Jedi and Episode IX.

And so are some of us in City Express!

Did you know?

The Jawa language is based on a speeded-up version of the Zulu while what Greedo speaks is a South American language called Quechua.

Every Star Wars film has been released the week after George Lucas birthday on May 14.

The phrase I have a bad feeling about this is said in every film.

Harrison Ford was never intended for Han Solo. He was just helping other actors read their lines.

Eventually Lucas realised Ford already had the part down cold.

Doctors collection

To Dr Siddharth Ravishankar, an ophthalmologist, the franchise is almost like a religion. I have a lot of merchandise and collectibles at home. From the ones I collected as a kid, to those that used to come with cereal boxes, I have plenty. The eye chart in my office is a secret. No one wants their doctor to be a Star Wars buff with a Star Wars eye chart! But many of my young patients are aware of it. And yes, I do have a normal eye chart too! he laughs.

A Starry wedding

Arun Moses says he was lucky to find another

Star Wars fan in his wife! Did the force bring them together? We had the same connection and it came as a revelation when we found about our common love for Star Wars. We would have loved a Star Wars-themed wedding, but didnt want to offend anyone or any tradition. But, we didnt give up our dream; we had a Star Wars-themed reception, he grins.

CHENNAI: Forty years ago, a movie  an epic space opera film  was released, paving the way to multiple fandoms and the creation of an extended fictional universe, across the globe. From black robes, Stormtroopers and helmets, Jedi hoods, white combat uniforms to some even trying their hands at the famous cinnamon buns, a cult worship of George Lucas film series, Star Wars, became a phenomenon impressing people of all age groups. With the citys Star Wars fanbase  men, women and children chanting, May the Fourth Be With You (a play on the films catchphrase May the force be with you), today, City Express chats with a few, to know about how and when they stepped into this galaxy far, far away Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Ben KenobiThe first and original film of the series Star Wars: Episode IV  A New Hope was released in May 25, 1977 in the US, and like every Hollywood movie those days, India had to wait for a year to watch the film in theatres. But the wait was worth it, opine old-timers who managed to watch the movie between 1978 and the early 80s at Devi Paradise, Mount Road. For 49-year-old Vivish George, director, Aeria Living Spaces, watching the first movie without any expectations, made it memorable. I remember going to the movie as a young teen. The movie certainly blew us away! Thats the charm of watching a movie without knowing anything about itwhich is impossible today! But after getting a taste of it, I remember eagerly waiting for the other releases, he recalls. With a storyline that was way ahead of its time and never-before-seen VFX, the film series captured everyones attention with a surreal world that gave characters everyone loved and rooted for. Though the graphics and the effects in the original and prequel trilogy might seem lame for this generation, it was mindblowing thenit was like James Camerons Avatar (2009) of those times! he exclaims. And for most, the interesting part was the order of the series. Why someone would start with a Part Four was the question. But only people who have seen them all will understand it, he grins. And if you thought that only the Gen Y were into buying collectibles and merchandise of their favourite series, you are wrong! Alladi Mahadevan, an organic farmer in the city, shares that he had invested `50,000 to `60,000 on Star Wars Lego sets! The movie has been part of my life since the 80s. I was a teenager then and the Lego sets based on two characters in the film  R2-D2, an astromech droid and C-3PO came much later. They are awesome characters that taught me a lot in life, he shares. Kenny Baker as R2-D2Manick, an IT professional, recalls his school days and says, I was supposed to dress up as Darth Vader for my farewellbut I couldnt make it. Having Cosplay here in the city would be fun! But for now, I am just waiting for the release of The last Jedi and Episode IX. And so are some of us in City Express! Did you know? The Jawa language is based on a speeded-up version of the Zulu while what Greedo speaks is a South American language called Quechua. Every Star Wars film has been released the week after George Lucas birthday on May 14. The phrase I have a bad feeling about this is said in every film. Harrison Ford was never intended for Han Solo. He was just helping other actors read their lines. Eventually Lucas realised Ford already had the part down cold. Doctors collection To Dr Siddharth Ravishankar, an ophthalmologist, the franchise is almost like a religion. I have a lot of merchandise and collectibles at home. From the ones I collected as a kid, to those that used to come with cereal boxes, I have plenty. The eye chart in my office is a secret. No one wants their doctor to be a Star Wars buff with a Star Wars eye chart! But many of my young patients are aware of it. And yes, I do have a normal eye chart too! he laughs. A Starry wedding Arun Moses says he was lucky to find another Star Wars fan in his wife! Did the force bring them together? We had the same connection and it came as a revelation when we found about our common love for Star Wars. We would have loved a Star Wars-themed wedding, but didnt want to offend anyone or any tradition. But, we didnt give up our dream; we had a Star Wars-themed reception, he grins.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: An airman allegedly shot himself dead while on duty at the Tambaram Air Force base in the city on Wednesday night. The deceased was transferred to the base, located in the southern suburb of the city, in March, and was found dead during change of duty, officials told police.



Gulbeer Singh (24) was found dead with a gunshot by his colleague, after which air force officials lodged a complaint at Selaiyur police station.

Police are yet to ascertain a cause for the extreme step, and the body was sent to a government hospital for autopsy.

Further investigations are on.

CHENNAI: An airman allegedly shot himself dead while on duty at the Tambaram Air Force base in the city on Wednesday night. The deceased was transferred to the base, located in the southern suburb of the city, in March, and was found dead during change of duty, officials told police. Gulbeer Singh (24) was found dead with a gunshot by his colleague, after which air force officials lodged a complaint at Selaiyur police station. Police are yet to ascertain a cause for the extreme step, and the body was sent to a government hospital for autopsy. Further investigations are on.
By PTI

CHENNAI: Brown sugar weighing around two kilograms was seized from two Colombo-bound passengers at the airport here today, airport officials said.

A team of DRI sleuths intercepted two men on suspicion, when they arrived at the airport to board a flight to Sri Lanka, they said.

Officials found the contraband concealed in their baggage, they added.

The narcotic substance was seized and the duo, one hailing from Devakottai in Sivaganga district and another from here were being questioned, officials said.

The duo are expected to be handed over to anti-narcotics authorities for further action, they added.

CHENNAI: Brown sugar weighing around two kilograms was seized from two Colombo-bound passengers at the airport here today, airport officials said. A team of DRI sleuths intercepted two men on suspicion, when they arrived at the airport to board a flight to Sri Lanka, they said. Officials found the contraband concealed in their baggage, they added. The narcotic substance was seized and the duo, one hailing from Devakottai in Sivaganga district and another from here were being questioned, officials said. The duo are expected to be handed over to anti-narcotics authorities for further action, they added.
By IANS

NEW DELHI: The CBI on Thursday said it has registered a corruption case against Delhi government's former Health Secretary Tarun Seem in connection with a Rs 10.50-crore contract awarded to three security agencies to augment security at Delhi hospitals.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) teams on Thursday also conducted searches at six places, including the Delhi government's Secretariat, in Delhi and the National Capital region.

The agency officials also carried out raids at the official and residential premises of Seem and other accused to collect documents pertaining to the contract for hiring Knight Watch Security Limited, Innovision Limited, and Security and Intelligence Service.

The CBI filed the FIR against Seem and the companies for criminal conspiracy and cheating under the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

"Irregularities were committed in the engagement of three private agencies for security in the emergency areas of Delhi government hospitals," the CBI official said.

Reacting to the CBI raids, the AAP again accused the Centre of misusing the CBI against its party leaders.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh took to Twitter: "Soon, everything came to normal in the AAP; the central government today left its parrot (CBI) behind Satyendar Jain. They kept on disturbing us and we kept on working."

Seem, considered close to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain, was earlier appointed Health Secretary by the Aam Aadmi Party government.

But the decision was overturned by then Lt. Gov. Najeeb Jung because only an IAS officer can serve as a Secretary to the government.

Seem, an Indian Revenue Service officer, was later appointed Director of Health Services in Delhi by the Kejriwal government.

NEW DELHI: The CBI on Thursday said it has registered a corruption case against Delhi government's former Health Secretary Tarun Seem in connection with a Rs 10.50-crore contract awarded to three security agencies to augment security at Delhi hospitals. Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) teams on Thursday also conducted searches at six places, including the Delhi government's Secretariat, in Delhi and the National Capital region. The agency officials also carried out raids at the official and residential premises of Seem and other accused to collect documents pertaining to the contract for hiring Knight Watch Security Limited, Innovision Limited, and Security and Intelligence Service. The CBI filed the FIR against Seem and the companies for criminal conspiracy and cheating under the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act. "Irregularities were committed in the engagement of three private agencies for security in the emergency areas of Delhi government hospitals," the CBI official said. Reacting to the CBI raids, the AAP again accused the Centre of misusing the CBI against its party leaders. AAP leader Sanjay Singh took to Twitter: "Soon, everything came to normal in the AAP; the central government today left its parrot (CBI) behind Satyendar Jain. They kept on disturbing us and we kept on working." Seem, considered close to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain, was earlier appointed Health Secretary by the Aam Aadmi Party government. But the decision was overturned by then Lt. Gov. Najeeb Jung because only an IAS officer can serve as a Secretary to the government. Seem, an Indian Revenue Service officer, was later appointed Director of Health Services in Delhi by the Kejriwal government.
By PTI

MUMBAI: Two suspected agents of Pakistan's spy agency ISI were arrested from the city in a joint operation by anti-terrorism squads of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, an official said today.

While one of them identified as Altaf Qureshi was arrested late last night from Masjid Bunder area in South Mumbai, the second operative identified as Javed Iqbal was taken into custody from Yusuf Manzil building at Agreepada this morning, the official said.

Qureshi (37) is a hawala operator and also allegedly worked for ISI. Iqbal is an aide of Qureshi, the official said.

Qureshi had allegedly deposited money in the bank account of Aftab Ali, another ISI agent, in Lucknow for carrying out espionage activities, he said.

Aftab was arrested from Faizabad in UP yesterday.



READ HERE: UP ATS breaks espionage ring, arrests ISI agent in Faizabad



ATS officials seized a cellphone and Rs 71.57 lakh in cash from the house of Qureshi, who was in hawala business at the behest of one Jawed Naviwala, the official said.

During the duo's interrogation, it was found that Javed used to get instructions from Pakistan and at his behest Qureshi often deposited money in Aftab's bank account, he said.

Javed was in constant touch with ISI officials in the neighbouring country, he said.

During their interrogation, names of some more persons cropped up, the official said, adding more arrests are likely.

WATCH VIDEO HERE

Aftab, booked under the Official Secrets Act, had allegedly passed on information about Indian Army's movements to officers posted at Pakistan High Commission and also to ISI, the official claimed.

He had allegedly provided information about the army's movements and units in Faizabad, Lucknow and Amritsar, he said.

Qureshi and Javed will be produced in a Mumbai court for transit remand and taken to Uttar Pradesh for further interrogation, the official said.

MUMBAI: Two suspected agents of Pakistan's spy agency ISI were arrested from the city in a joint operation by anti-terrorism squads of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, an official said today. While one of them identified as Altaf Qureshi was arrested late last night from Masjid Bunder area in South Mumbai, the second operative identified as Javed Iqbal was taken into custody from Yusuf Manzil building at Agreepada this morning, the official said. Qureshi (37) is a hawala operator and also allegedly worked for ISI. Iqbal is an aide of Qureshi, the official said. Qureshi had allegedly deposited money in the bank account of Aftab Ali, another ISI agent, in Lucknow for carrying out espionage activities, he said. Aftab was arrested from Faizabad in UP yesterday. READ HERE: UP ATS breaks espionage ring, arrests ISI agent in Faizabad ATS officials seized a cellphone and Rs 71.57 lakh in cash from the house of Qureshi, who was in hawala business at the behest of one Jawed Naviwala, the official said. During the duo's interrogation, it was found that Javed used to get instructions from Pakistan and at his behest Qureshi often deposited money in Aftab's bank account, he said. Javed was in constant touch with ISI officials in the neighbouring country, he said. During their interrogation, names of some more persons cropped up, the official said, adding more arrests are likely. WATCH VIDEO HERE Aftab, booked under the Official Secrets Act, had allegedly passed on information about Indian Army's movements to officers posted at Pakistan High Commission and also to ISI, the official claimed. He had allegedly provided information about the army's movements and units in Faizabad, Lucknow and Amritsar, he said. Qureshi and Javed will be produced in a Mumbai court for transit remand and taken to Uttar Pradesh for further interrogation, the official said.
By ANI

NEW DELHI: Theres one word that simply does not exist in global star Priyanka Chopras dictionary: STOP!



After making a fashion statement at the recently held MET Gala 2017, the actress flew off to South Africa to attend a fundraising event, organized by UNICEF.

On this note, the 'Quantico' star is theGoodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.



The 34-year-old took to Instagram to share a picture with the entire team and wrote a long heartfelt caption.

A post shared by Priyanka Chopra (@priyankachopra) on May 3, 2017 at 1:10pm PDT

Her post read, "Its the end of a long day of travel from NYC to Harare but Im not tired. In fact, Im energized, waiting for dawn to break so I can set out on the journey of discovery that these amazing women and men have laid out for me. Meet Team @Unicef. Their passion and compassion is contagious and their hard work and dedication evident in everything I have just seen and heard in our meeting."



Adding, "We are here in Harare Zimbabwe on a field visit in the first part of my trip to Africa as part of our efforts to #EndViolence against Children. Im looking forward to tomorrow and the opportunity to meet the courageous young survivors, their amazing caregivers and the teams that wake up every day and try to make the world a better place one child at a time. I want to take you all on this journey with me, real time, and I hope you will join me here on these pages to bring awareness to some very important issues. Like, share, comment do something. This is so very close to my heart, and know that every action (big or small) counts. #ThisTimeForAfrica #PeaCeLoveHope #foreverychild."

This is what survivors of sexual violence look like. Not Victims! We can't name the girls to protect their identity, but their stories of resilience are so inspiring.. thank u for sharing with me #EndViolence #thistimeforafrica #bindibonding @unicef A post shared by Priyanka Chopra (@priyankachopra) on May 4, 2017 at 2:48am PDT

On the work front, Priyanka will be making her much awaited Hollywood debut with Seth Gordon directed 'Baywatch', this month, alongside Dwayne The Rock Johnson and Zac Efron.(ANI)

NEW DELHI: Theres one word that simply does not exist in global star Priyanka Chopras dictionary: STOP! After making a fashion statement at the recently held MET Gala 2017, the actress flew off to South Africa to attend a fundraising event, organized by UNICEF. On this note, the 'Quantico' star is theGoodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. The 34-year-old took to Instagram to share a picture with the entire team and wrote a long heartfelt caption. A post shared by Priyanka Chopra (@priyankachopra) on May 3, 2017 at 1:10pm PDT Her post read, "Its the end of a long day of travel from NYC to Harare but Im not tired. In fact, Im energized, waiting for dawn to break so I can set out on the journey of discovery that these amazing women and men have laid out for me. Meet Team @Unicef. Their passion and compassion is contagious and their hard work and dedication evident in everything I have just seen and heard in our meeting." Adding, "We are here in Harare Zimbabwe on a field visit in the first part of my trip to Africa as part of our efforts to #EndViolence against Children. Im looking forward to tomorrow and the opportunity to meet the courageous young survivors, their amazing caregivers and the teams that wake up every day and try to make the world a better place one child at a time. I want to take you all on this journey with me, real time, and I hope you will join me here on these pages to bring awareness to some very important issues. Like, share, comment do something. This is so very close to my heart, and know that every action (big or small) counts. #ThisTimeForAfrica #PeaCeLoveHope #foreverychild." This is what survivors of sexual violence look like. Not Victims! We can't name the girls to protect their identity, but their stories of resilience are so inspiring.. thank u for sharing with me #EndViolence #thistimeforafrica #bindibonding @unicef A post shared by Priyanka Chopra (@priyankachopra) on May 4, 2017 at 2:48am PDT On the work front, Priyanka will be making her much awaited Hollywood debut with Seth Gordon directed 'Baywatch', this month, alongside Dwayne The Rock Johnson and Zac Efron.(ANI)
Fayaz Wani By

Express News Service

SRINAGAR: The suspected militants on Wednesday looted two banks in volatile South Kashmir within the span of one and a half hour and decamped with over Rs 6 lakhs while in a separate attack, militants snatched five rifles from policemen guarding a court complex in Shopian district last evening.

A police official said a group of militants barged into Elaquai Dehati Bank (EDB) branch at Wahibugh area of south Kashmirs Pulwama district at around 1.50 pm today.

He said the militants threatened the bank employees at gunpoint and decamped with about Rs 4.90 lakhs from the bank.

After the bank robbery, a contingent of police and paramilitary personnel reached the bank to take stock of the situation.

The police officials talked to the bank staff to know how many militants were involved in the robbery.

As the investigation into the bank robbery was going on, militants at J&K Banks Nihama branch in Kakapora area of Pulwama at around 3.30 pm.

The militants looted Rs 1.30 lakh from the bank on gunpoint, a police official said.

He said the initial investigation has revealed that militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba were involved in the bank robbery.

We have launched an investigation into both the bank robberies, the police officer said.

It was the third bank robbery in South Kashmir in two days.

Yesterday also militants had looted Rs 65,000 from Elaquai Dehati Bank branch in Kadyer area of South Kashmirs Kulgam district.

The Kashmir has witnessed a surge in bank robberies after old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes were scrapped by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November last year.

DIG South Kashmir S P Pani told New India Express that militants are resorting to bank robberies because they are facing a cash crunch.

He said the measures are being taken to prevent militants from looting banks in the future.

Meanwhile, a group of militants snatched five rifles from policemen guarding District Court complex in Shopian town in South Kashmir last evening.

A police official said militants barged into the court complex at around 10.30 pm yesterday. Three policemen deployed there could not retaliate as they were overpowered by the militants.

He said after overpowering the cops, militants decamped with five rifles --- four INSAS and one AK-47.

The incident took place after militants had attacked a bank cash van on Monday killing seven persons including five policemen and two bank guards. The militants had looted four AK-rifles from the slain policemen.

On March 26, militants had snatched four rifles from cops by attacking policemen guarding residence of senior PDP leader and MoS for Hajj and Auqaf Farooq Andrabi at Shishtergam village of Dooru in South Kashmirs Anantnag district.

DIG South Kashmir S P Pani said a manhunt has been launched to track the militants involved in weapon snatching.

He said militants are resorting to weapon snatching because they are facing a shortage of arms and ammunition.

SRINAGAR: The suspected militants on Wednesday looted two banks in volatile South Kashmir within the span of one and a half hour and decamped with over Rs 6 lakhs while in a separate attack, militants snatched five rifles from policemen guarding a court complex in Shopian district last evening. A police official said a group of militants barged into Elaquai Dehati Bank (EDB) branch at Wahibugh area of south Kashmirs Pulwama district at around 1.50 pm today. He said the militants threatened the bank employees at gunpoint and decamped with about Rs 4.90 lakhs from the bank. After the bank robbery, a contingent of police and paramilitary personnel reached the bank to take stock of the situation. The police officials talked to the bank staff to know how many militants were involved in the robbery. As the investigation into the bank robbery was going on, militants at J&K Banks Nihama branch in Kakapora area of Pulwama at around 3.30 pm. The militants looted Rs 1.30 lakh from the bank on gunpoint, a police official said. He said the initial investigation has revealed that militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba were involved in the bank robbery. We have launched an investigation into both the bank robberies, the police officer said. It was the third bank robbery in South Kashmir in two days. Yesterday also militants had looted Rs 65,000 from Elaquai Dehati Bank branch in Kadyer area of South Kashmirs Kulgam district. The Kashmir has witnessed a surge in bank robberies after old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes were scrapped by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November last year. DIG South Kashmir S P Pani told New India Express that militants are resorting to bank robberies because they are facing a cash crunch. He said the measures are being taken to prevent militants from looting banks in the future. Meanwhile, a group of militants snatched five rifles from policemen guarding District Court complex in Shopian town in South Kashmir last evening. A police official said militants barged into the court complex at around 10.30 pm yesterday. Three policemen deployed there could not retaliate as they were overpowered by the militants. He said after overpowering the cops, militants decamped with five rifles --- four INSAS and one AK-47. The incident took place after militants had attacked a bank cash van on Monday killing seven persons including five policemen and two bank guards. The militants had looted four AK-rifles from the slain policemen. On March 26, militants had snatched four rifles from cops by attacking policemen guarding residence of senior PDP leader and MoS for Hajj and Auqaf Farooq Andrabi at Shishtergam village of Dooru in South Kashmirs Anantnag district. DIG South Kashmir S P Pani said a manhunt has been launched to track the militants involved in weapon snatching. He said militants are resorting to weapon snatching because they are facing a shortage of arms and ammunition.
By PTI

AHMEDABAD: Opposition Congress and human rights activists today welcomed the judgement of the Bombay High Court in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case, saying that all victims of the 2002 Gujarat riots should get justice.

Activist Teesta Setalvad, who has been fighting for the victims of post-Godhra communal violence through her organisation Citizen for Justice and Peace, noted that apart from upholding the conviction of the lower court, the HC set aside the acquittal of five policemen.

She, however, said that she never supported the CBI's plea for death penalty to three of the convicts and lauded the court for dismissing it.

"We had in any case argued against death penalty. The fact that the court has upheld the conviction and also convicted five policemen is a welcome judgement," she said.

Opposition Congress in Gujarat said that all victims should get justice.

"We had always demanded that the victims should get justice. And justice should be done. We would not like to make any further comment on the judgement of the High Court, but we would say, 'der aaye. durust aaye' (better late than never)," Congress' national spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil said.

Gujarat cabinet minister and BJP leader Rajendra Trivedi, who has been in the past involved in legal proceedings related to several riots cases as a practising lawyer, refused to comment on the development. "I was not involved in the case, so I cannot comment on this," he said

The Bombay High Court today upheld a trial court's sentence awarding life imprisonment to 12 people in the case while setting aside the acquittal of seven persons including policemen and doctors.

The court also dismissed an appeal filed by CBI seeking death penalty for three of the convicts. According to the prosecution, on March 3, 2002, Bilkis Bano's family was attacked by a group of persons at Randhikpur village in Dahod district when they were fleeing to escape a marauding mob during the post-Godhra riots.

While Bilkis, who was five months pregnant, was gang- raped, seven members of her family were killed. Six others escaped.

AHMEDABAD: Opposition Congress and human rights activists today welcomed the judgement of the Bombay High Court in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case, saying that all victims of the 2002 Gujarat riots should get justice. Activist Teesta Setalvad, who has been fighting for the victims of post-Godhra communal violence through her organisation Citizen for Justice and Peace, noted that apart from upholding the conviction of the lower court, the HC set aside the acquittal of five policemen. She, however, said that she never supported the CBI's plea for death penalty to three of the convicts and lauded the court for dismissing it. "We had in any case argued against death penalty. The fact that the court has upheld the conviction and also convicted five policemen is a welcome judgement," she said. Opposition Congress in Gujarat said that all victims should get justice. "We had always demanded that the victims should get justice. And justice should be done. We would not like to make any further comment on the judgement of the High Court, but we would say, 'der aaye. durust aaye' (better late than never)," Congress' national spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil said. Gujarat cabinet minister and BJP leader Rajendra Trivedi, who has been in the past involved in legal proceedings related to several riots cases as a practising lawyer, refused to comment on the development. "I was not involved in the case, so I cannot comment on this," he said The Bombay High Court today upheld a trial court's sentence awarding life imprisonment to 12 people in the case while setting aside the acquittal of seven persons including policemen and doctors. The court also dismissed an appeal filed by CBI seeking death penalty for three of the convicts. According to the prosecution, on March 3, 2002, Bilkis Bano's family was attacked by a group of persons at Randhikpur village in Dahod district when they were fleeing to escape a marauding mob during the post-Godhra riots. While Bilkis, who was five months pregnant, was gang- raped, seven members of her family were killed. Six others escaped.
By PTI

RANCHI: Security forces today recovered a cache of over a dozen arms and more than 3,000 rounds of ammunition as part of an anti-Naxal operation in Jharkhand's Lohardaga district.

Officials said a joint operation was launched by the CRPF and state police in the district after which a light machine gun (LMG), a semi-automatic US made rifle, an AK 47, a self loading rifle (SLR), three INSAS rifles, six other guns and some communication gadgets were seized from a hideout.

Over 3,000 bullets of different calibre and magazine pouches were also seized by the team, they said.

The operation is being conducted by the 158th battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and district police and it is still on, they added.

RANCHI: Security forces today recovered a cache of over a dozen arms and more than 3,000 rounds of ammunition as part of an anti-Naxal operation in Jharkhand's Lohardaga district. Officials said a joint operation was launched by the CRPF and state police in the district after which a light machine gun (LMG), a semi-automatic US made rifle, an AK 47, a self loading rifle (SLR), three INSAS rifles, six other guns and some communication gadgets were seized from a hideout. Over 3,000 bullets of different calibre and magazine pouches were also seized by the team, they said. The operation is being conducted by the 158th battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and district police and it is still on, they added.
By PTI

MUMBAI: Egyptian national Eman Ahmed, who was until recently believed to be the world's heaviest woman, today got discharged from the Saifee hospital here where she underwent treatment for severe obesity.

The 37-year-old was discharged from the city hospital around 12.40 PM for further treatment in the UAE, bariatric surgeon Muffazal Lakdawala said.

A green corridor has been created for transporting Eman from Saifee Hospital to Gate No. 5 of Terminal 2 at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International airport here. Her flight to UAE will take off around 6 pm today, he said.

According to Lakdawala, Eman's weight has now come down to 170 kg (as on Wednesday evening).

She weighed a whopping 498 kg on her arrival here in February this year.

Yesterday, Lakdawala had said that Huzefa Shehabi, COO Saifee Hospital, had received an e-mail communication from VPS Burjeel Hospital (in Abu Dhabi, UAE) saying that Eman is "stable, in good health and fit to fly" paving way for her discharge this afternoon.

Eman's sister Shaimaa in an online video last month had alleged that she was not receiving proper treatment at the privately-owned hospital in South Mumbai.

She had alleged that the doctors at Saifee, made "false claims" about Eman's complete recovery and weight loss of 262 kg.

Refuting the allegations, Aparna Bhaskar, section chief of bariatric surgery at Saifee Hospital, had said that Shaimaa may be criticising the doctors to extend her sister's stay at the hospital.

Lakdawala too had denied the charge.

Eman, a resident of Alexandria in Egypt, had not stepped out of her house for more than two decades due to her obese condition followed by a stroke that left her paralysed on one side a year ago.

It was Shaimaa, who learnt about Lakdawala and his expertise in bariatric surgeries and approached him for help early this year.

"It took almost a month for me to form a team of doctors, chalk out a detailed plan for her treatment and then we decided to get her here. Every treatment plan, method was debated with great detail. Hence, we could reduce her weight from 498 kgs to 170 kgs," Dr Lakdawala said yesterday.

In a blog, Lakdawala said yesterday that Eman's sister has been promised by Burjeel Hospital officials that "Eman will be able to stand and walk".

The doctor said that Shaimaa insisted she had wanted the hospital (Saifee) to keep Eman till she could walk and the management said that was not possible because of the advice we have received from one the foremost orthopaedic surgeons in the country.

"Shaimaa then said she has been promised by Burjeel Hospital officials that Eman will be able to stand and walk soon. We told her we would not over-promise and we would not put the patient at risk. This is the crux of her issue with the Indian doctors and hospital," he said in the blog.

Eman underwent bariatric surgery in March in which doctors reduced the size of her stomach by two-thirds, so as to reduce her food intake. Her genetic tests had showed that she has a rare gene mutation that cannot be cured through surgery.

She was treated by Lakdawala and a team of around 15 doctors from various disciplines since she was brought here from Alexandria on February 11 this year.

MUMBAI: Egyptian national Eman Ahmed, who was until recently believed to be the world's heaviest woman, today got discharged from the Saifee hospital here where she underwent treatment for severe obesity. The 37-year-old was discharged from the city hospital around 12.40 PM for further treatment in the UAE, bariatric surgeon Muffazal Lakdawala said. A green corridor has been created for transporting Eman from Saifee Hospital to Gate No. 5 of Terminal 2 at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International airport here. Her flight to UAE will take off around 6 pm today, he said. According to Lakdawala, Eman's weight has now come down to 170 kg (as on Wednesday evening). She weighed a whopping 498 kg on her arrival here in February this year. Yesterday, Lakdawala had said that Huzefa Shehabi, COO Saifee Hospital, had received an e-mail communication from VPS Burjeel Hospital (in Abu Dhabi, UAE) saying that Eman is "stable, in good health and fit to fly" paving way for her discharge this afternoon. Eman's sister Shaimaa in an online video last month had alleged that she was not receiving proper treatment at the privately-owned hospital in South Mumbai. She had alleged that the doctors at Saifee, made "false claims" about Eman's complete recovery and weight loss of 262 kg. Refuting the allegations, Aparna Bhaskar, section chief of bariatric surgery at Saifee Hospital, had said that Shaimaa may be criticising the doctors to extend her sister's stay at the hospital. Lakdawala too had denied the charge. Eman, a resident of Alexandria in Egypt, had not stepped out of her house for more than two decades due to her obese condition followed by a stroke that left her paralysed on one side a year ago. It was Shaimaa, who learnt about Lakdawala and his expertise in bariatric surgeries and approached him for help early this year. "It took almost a month for me to form a team of doctors, chalk out a detailed plan for her treatment and then we decided to get her here. Every treatment plan, method was debated with great detail. Hence, we could reduce her weight from 498 kgs to 170 kgs," Dr Lakdawala said yesterday. In a blog, Lakdawala said yesterday that Eman's sister has been promised by Burjeel Hospital officials that "Eman will be able to stand and walk". The doctor said that Shaimaa insisted she had wanted the hospital (Saifee) to keep Eman till she could walk and the management said that was not possible because of the advice we have received from one the foremost orthopaedic surgeons in the country. "Shaimaa then said she has been promised by Burjeel Hospital officials that Eman will be able to stand and walk soon. We told her we would not over-promise and we would not put the patient at risk. This is the crux of her issue with the Indian doctors and hospital," he said in the blog. Eman underwent bariatric surgery in March in which doctors reduced the size of her stomach by two-thirds, so as to reduce her food intake. Her genetic tests had showed that she has a rare gene mutation that cannot be cured through surgery. She was treated by Lakdawala and a team of around 15 doctors from various disciplines since she was brought here from Alexandria on February 11 this year.
Fayaz Wani By

Express News Service

SRINAGAR: After rise in bank robberies and militant violence and emergence of videos of groups of armed militants, security forces aided with drones and helicopters conducted massive search operation in at least 20 villages in South Kashmirs Shopian district on Thursday.

It was one of the biggest combing operation conducted by security forces in any part of the Valley in over a decade.

In the early hours today, a column of army, police and paramilitary personnel laid siege around at least 20 villages in Shopian district, some 55 kms South of Srinagar, the summer capital of the State.

The villages where combing operation was launched included Chillipora, Sugan, Hefkuri, Dragad, Maldera, Turkwangam, Kashew and Aripora

The security personnel sealed all the exit and entry routes in the villages and announced about crackdown through public address system.

The security men asked male population of the villages to assemble at a single place, where they were frisked and their identity cards checked.

The security personnel conducted intense house to house searches in the villages.

Each and every house was checked thoroughly by the security personnel, an army official said.

The house to house searches by security forces were a norm in Valley till a decade back after eruption of militancy in 1989.

As the security personnel were conducted searches in Shopian villages, the helicopters and drones hovered in air to assist the security forces on the ground.

The search operation lasted for about eight hours. However, no contact was established with the militants during the operation in which over 4000 security men participated.

In Turkwangam and Sugan villages, the youth took to roads to protest against the search operation.

They pelted stones on the security personnel, who fired tear smoke shells and pellets to disperse them.

At least two youth sustained pellet injuries and were evacuated to Srinagar hospital for treatment.

A police official pleading anonymity said massive operation was launched in Shopian early this morning after inputs that a group of militants was hiding in the villages.

We had information that Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hizbul Mujahideen militants including some foreigners were hiding in the area, he said adding thorough searches were conducted during the operation.

However, sources said the operation was launched after emergence of videos of a group of Lashkar and Hizb militants. In one of the video, at least 30 militants could be seen while in another video, a man gave pits about how to handle weapons to the militants.

They said according to intelligence agencies, all the militant videos were shot in Shopian.

The search operation was launched to push militants out of their comfort zones, sources said.

They said such operations will continue to prevent militants from moving freely from one place to another and strike at will.

The massive search operation took place a day after militants looted over Rs 6 lakhs from two banks in South Kashmirs Pulwama district yesterday.

Earlier, on Monday, Hizbul Mujahideen militants attacked a bank cash van near Pombai village of Kulgam district. In the militant attack, five policemen and two bank guards were killed.

South Kashmir comprising four districts of Shopian, Anantnag, Pulwama and Kulgam is emerging as hub of militants. The region was the epicenter of over five months-long unrest in the Valley last year triggered by killing of 21-year-old Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8, 2016.

SRINAGAR: After rise in bank robberies and militant violence and emergence of videos of groups of armed militants, security forces aided with drones and helicopters conducted massive search operation in at least 20 villages in South Kashmirs Shopian district on Thursday. It was one of the biggest combing operation conducted by security forces in any part of the Valley in over a decade. In the early hours today, a column of army, police and paramilitary personnel laid siege around at least 20 villages in Shopian district, some 55 kms South of Srinagar, the summer capital of the State. The villages where combing operation was launched included Chillipora, Sugan, Hefkuri, Dragad, Maldera, Turkwangam, Kashew and Aripora The security personnel sealed all the exit and entry routes in the villages and announced about crackdown through public address system. The security men asked male population of the villages to assemble at a single place, where they were frisked and their identity cards checked. The security personnel conducted intense house to house searches in the villages. Each and every house was checked thoroughly by the security personnel, an army official said. The house to house searches by security forces were a norm in Valley till a decade back after eruption of militancy in 1989. As the security personnel were conducted searches in Shopian villages, the helicopters and drones hovered in air to assist the security forces on the ground. The search operation lasted for about eight hours. However, no contact was established with the militants during the operation in which over 4000 security men participated. In Turkwangam and Sugan villages, the youth took to roads to protest against the search operation. They pelted stones on the security personnel, who fired tear smoke shells and pellets to disperse them. At least two youth sustained pellet injuries and were evacuated to Srinagar hospital for treatment. A police official pleading anonymity said massive operation was launched in Shopian early this morning after inputs that a group of militants was hiding in the villages. We had information that Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hizbul Mujahideen militants including some foreigners were hiding in the area, he said adding thorough searches were conducted during the operation. However, sources said the operation was launched after emergence of videos of a group of Lashkar and Hizb militants. In one of the video, at least 30 militants could be seen while in another video, a man gave pits about how to handle weapons to the militants. They said according to intelligence agencies, all the militant videos were shot in Shopian. The search operation was launched to push militants out of their comfort zones, sources said. They said such operations will continue to prevent militants from moving freely from one place to another and strike at will. The massive search operation took place a day after militants looted over Rs 6 lakhs from two banks in South Kashmirs Pulwama district yesterday. Earlier, on Monday, Hizbul Mujahideen militants attacked a bank cash van near Pombai village of Kulgam district. In the militant attack, five policemen and two bank guards were killed. South Kashmir comprising four districts of Shopian, Anantnag, Pulwama and Kulgam is emerging as hub of militants. The region was the epicenter of over five months-long unrest in the Valley last year triggered by killing of 21-year-old Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8, 2016.
Aishik Chanda By

Express News Service

KOLKATA: Continuing his showdown with the Chief Justice of India (CJI), Jagdish Singh Khehar and six other judges of the Supreme Court, Calcutta High Court judge Justice Chinnaswamy Swaminathan Karnan on Thursday refused to undergo a medical examination in violation of the apex court order.

Justice Karnan sent back the four-doctor medical board team, who were assisted by Kolkata police personnel, from his residence in New Town, Kolkata. The team was ordered by the Supreme Court to submit the medical report of Justice Karnan by May 8.

In a written statement to the chairman of Medical Board of Pavlov Mental Hospital, Justice Karnan reiterated that he refused to avail the medical treatment as he is absolutely normal with a stable mind and believes that the Supreme

Court order amounts to insult and harassment of a Dalit judge.

Stating the people of India have lost faith in the judiciary, he demanded resignations of the seven judges.

Speaking at a press conference at his residence, he called the Supreme Court order as a mad order issued by mad judges. Its a mad order by mad, illiterate judges. They even sent four doctors. One doctor is enough for my medical examination. Do they need one doctor for each of my limbs? Justice Karnan asked jokingly.

In a written statement, he alleged the seven judges misused their judicial powers after misconception of the Suo Motu Contempt Petition No.1 of 2017. He also stated the seven judges are operating their judicial powers outside the law, out of cause of action and jurisdiction. He accused them of encouraging and supporting corruption.

The Calcutta High Court justice had ordered psychiatric examination of the seven Supreme Court judges and sought a report from a medical board of AIIMS and Delhi police before May 7, a day before the apex court set the deadline for his medical report. Justice Karnan also issued non-bailable warrants against the seven judges, whom he accused of discriminating him for being a Dalit and hence liable to prosecution under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocity) Act.

KOLKATA: Continuing his showdown with the Chief Justice of India (CJI), Jagdish Singh Khehar and six other judges of the Supreme Court, Calcutta High Court judge Justice Chinnaswamy Swaminathan Karnan on Thursday refused to undergo a medical examination in violation of the apex court order. Justice Karnan sent back the four-doctor medical board team, who were assisted by Kolkata police personnel, from his residence in New Town, Kolkata. The team was ordered by the Supreme Court to submit the medical report of Justice Karnan by May 8. In a written statement to the chairman of Medical Board of Pavlov Mental Hospital, Justice Karnan reiterated that he refused to avail the medical treatment as he is absolutely normal with a stable mind and believes that the Supreme Court order amounts to insult and harassment of a Dalit judge. Stating the people of India have lost faith in the judiciary, he demanded resignations of the seven judges. Speaking at a press conference at his residence, he called the Supreme Court order as a mad order issued by mad judges. Its a mad order by mad, illiterate judges. They even sent four doctors. One doctor is enough for my medical examination. Do they need one doctor for each of my limbs? Justice Karnan asked jokingly. In a written statement, he alleged the seven judges misused their judicial powers after misconception of the Suo Motu Contempt Petition No.1 of 2017. He also stated the seven judges are operating their judicial powers outside the law, out of cause of action and jurisdiction. He accused them of encouraging and supporting corruption. The Calcutta High Court justice had ordered psychiatric examination of the seven Supreme Court judges and sought a report from a medical board of AIIMS and Delhi police before May 7, a day before the apex court set the deadline for his medical report. Justice Karnan also issued non-bailable warrants against the seven judges, whom he accused of discriminating him for being a Dalit and hence liable to prosecution under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocity) Act.
Anand ST Das By

Express News Service

PATNA: In prohibition-bound Bihar, the governments zeal to prevent people from drinking liquor has taken rodents to a new high. A significant portion of the lakhs of litres of liquor seized during the past one year of prohibition has been consumed by rats in the dingy store rooms of police stations.

The discovery recently came to light during a meeting of police inspectors in Patna district chaired by senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaaj. Upon asking the inspectors about the status of the liquor stored at the malkhanas of the police stations, he was informed that more than half of them have been consumed by rodents. Similar situations prevailed at police station store rooms in other districts too, said sources.

With the store rooms at police stations remaining in a perennially shabby condition, they have turned into safe abodes for rats.

The metal caps of the liquor bottles were nibbled-off by the rodents, who then guzzled the contents of the bottles.

Ever since Bihars Nitish Kumar-led government imposed a total prohibition in the State in April 2016, nearly 9.15 litres of domestic and Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) have been seized and stored mainly in police stations. Over 45,000 people have been arrested and jailed so far violating the prohibition.

After learning the scenario, I ordered random breathalyzer tests of police personnel at the police stations. If found drunk, they would face prosecution and may lose their jobs, said Maharaaj. He also said senior officials in Bihars police and excise departments have been apprised of the rodents act in order to formulate a policy to deal with the liquor stocked at police stations.

Sources, however, said much of the liquor seized from smugglers have been consumed and sold illegally by police personnel posted at police stations. The Patna zonal IG has been asked to begin a probe into the matter. The State police headquarters will take suitable action based on the findings of this probe, said ADGP (headquarters) SK Singhal.

PATNA: In prohibition-bound Bihar, the governments zeal to prevent people from drinking liquor has taken rodents to a new high. A significant portion of the lakhs of litres of liquor seized during the past one year of prohibition has been consumed by rats in the dingy store rooms of police stations. The discovery recently came to light during a meeting of police inspectors in Patna district chaired by senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaaj. Upon asking the inspectors about the status of the liquor stored at the malkhanas of the police stations, he was informed that more than half of them have been consumed by rodents. Similar situations prevailed at police station store rooms in other districts too, said sources. With the store rooms at police stations remaining in a perennially shabby condition, they have turned into safe abodes for rats. The metal caps of the liquor bottles were nibbled-off by the rodents, who then guzzled the contents of the bottles. Ever since Bihars Nitish Kumar-led government imposed a total prohibition in the State in April 2016, nearly 9.15 litres of domestic and Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) have been seized and stored mainly in police stations. Over 45,000 people have been arrested and jailed so far violating the prohibition. After learning the scenario, I ordered random breathalyzer tests of police personnel at the police stations. If found drunk, they would face prosecution and may lose their jobs, said Maharaaj. He also said senior officials in Bihars police and excise departments have been apprised of the rodents act in order to formulate a policy to deal with the liquor stocked at police stations. Sources, however, said much of the liquor seized from smugglers have been consumed and sold illegally by police personnel posted at police stations. The Patna zonal IG has been asked to begin a probe into the matter. The State police headquarters will take suitable action based on the findings of this probe, said ADGP (headquarters) SK Singhal.
By PTI

MEWAT (HARYANA): Haryana's Muslim-dominated Mewat district has the lowest immunisation rate among children under the age of 6 years, which is a matter of concern for the authorities who are now trying to rope in clerics to address the situation.

The immunisation rate here is 13 per cent, much lower than the state average of 62.2 per cent, according to the National Family Health Survey.

Officials say the rate of immunisation in Mewat is low mainly because of rumours which started spreading more than 3 months back that the vaccines being administered under the Central government's Indradhanush programme would have a sterilising effect on the children.

With an aim of addressing the situation, top officials of the district and National Health Mission (NHM) yesterday held an interaction with the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and the clerics, who agreed to render their help by negating the rumours.

Maulana Yahya Kareemi, president of Al-aman Islamic Centre, Mewat, said he would speak about the "misinformation" related to the immunisation during the prayers at the mosque, including on Fridays when the number of devotees swell.

"We have 400-500 youth coming to our institute every day and the number rises to over a thousand on Fridays. If the administration wants, we can spread the word quelling misinformation related to immunisation," he said.

The Indradanush programme is aimed at guarding children against diseases like polio, BCG, pentavalent (diptheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis b, haemophilus, influenza type-B) rubella-measles.

Officials said the immunisation rate had risen to 30 per cent but it started sliding post-February after a video went viral on social media, claiming that the injections being administered would make the children sterile and check the population of the minority community.

"As of now, no such injection or tablet has been invented which could render children sterile," asserted Mewat Deputy Commissioner Mani Ram Sharma, while rubbishing the rumours.

He told the gathering, which included several clerics, that the region has several people affected by polio as the Meo community had skipped the polio vaccination drive 15 years back, again due to unfound apprehensions.

"I see 15-20 physically disabled youngsters coming to see me at my office every day to seek assistance in the form of employment or finances," the IAS officer said.

"We can tell only you (the ASHAs and religious leaders), but it is for you to spread the word among the stakeholders and raise awareness at grassroots level," Sharma said.

Director of the National Health Mission in Haryana Amaneet P Kumar also rejected the rumours and said, "They are wrong. We should have faith in science."

On their part, the ASHA workers highlighted the reasons, like vehement denial by some people, for the low immunisation rate. "People hurl strong words at us, they shut their doors at us but we still make an effort to go back to such houses to ensure that no child is left out," said 48-year-old Rehmani, ASHA at Karedi village in Nagina block. Raziya, ASHA coordinator at Mewat, highlighted the insufficient number of ASHAs and Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery (village level health workers) in the district.

"At present there are 874 ASHAs in Mewat as against a stipulated requirement of over 1400," said Raziya.

As per the guidelines, she said, one ASHA is required for every thousand people. Also one Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery (ANM) is needed for every 5,000 people but in the district it is an ANM per 15- 17,000 people.

Another Islamic scholar, Hakim uddin, told the gathering of Muslim clerics and government officials besides Haryana Waqf Board CEO Hanif Qureishi, that any rumour must be checked. He also asked the community members to shun any "negative mindset" about government measures and instead verify reports/rumours.

Qureishi, who is also the Commissioner of Police, Faridabad, said it was sad that health indicators in Mewat were the "lowest".

"Its ramifications would not appear now but after 15-20 years," he remarked.

Appealing to the community members for support in the immunisation drive, Qureishi underlined that in a democracy, the government has a social responsibility to look after the welfare of the people. "But the people have a freedom of choice, no decision can be imposed on them," he said.

"This is your (religious leaders') responsibility to spread the message for welfare of the children, both for their safety as well as education," he added.

MEWAT (HARYANA): Haryana's Muslim-dominated Mewat district has the lowest immunisation rate among children under the age of 6 years, which is a matter of concern for the authorities who are now trying to rope in clerics to address the situation. The immunisation rate here is 13 per cent, much lower than the state average of 62.2 per cent, according to the National Family Health Survey. Officials say the rate of immunisation in Mewat is low mainly because of rumours which started spreading more than 3 months back that the vaccines being administered under the Central government's Indradhanush programme would have a sterilising effect on the children. With an aim of addressing the situation, top officials of the district and National Health Mission (NHM) yesterday held an interaction with the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and the clerics, who agreed to render their help by negating the rumours. Maulana Yahya Kareemi, president of Al-aman Islamic Centre, Mewat, said he would speak about the "misinformation" related to the immunisation during the prayers at the mosque, including on Fridays when the number of devotees swell. "We have 400-500 youth coming to our institute every day and the number rises to over a thousand on Fridays. If the administration wants, we can spread the word quelling misinformation related to immunisation," he said. The Indradanush programme is aimed at guarding children against diseases like polio, BCG, pentavalent (diptheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis b, haemophilus, influenza type-B) rubella-measles. Officials said the immunisation rate had risen to 30 per cent but it started sliding post-February after a video went viral on social media, claiming that the injections being administered would make the children sterile and check the population of the minority community. "As of now, no such injection or tablet has been invented which could render children sterile," asserted Mewat Deputy Commissioner Mani Ram Sharma, while rubbishing the rumours. He told the gathering, which included several clerics, that the region has several people affected by polio as the Meo community had skipped the polio vaccination drive 15 years back, again due to unfound apprehensions. "I see 15-20 physically disabled youngsters coming to see me at my office every day to seek assistance in the form of employment or finances," the IAS officer said. "We can tell only you (the ASHAs and religious leaders), but it is for you to spread the word among the stakeholders and raise awareness at grassroots level," Sharma said. Director of the National Health Mission in Haryana Amaneet P Kumar also rejected the rumours and said, "They are wrong. We should have faith in science." On their part, the ASHA workers highlighted the reasons, like vehement denial by some people, for the low immunisation rate. "People hurl strong words at us, they shut their doors at us but we still make an effort to go back to such houses to ensure that no child is left out," said 48-year-old Rehmani, ASHA at Karedi village in Nagina block. Raziya, ASHA coordinator at Mewat, highlighted the insufficient number of ASHAs and Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery (village level health workers) in the district. "At present there are 874 ASHAs in Mewat as against a stipulated requirement of over 1400," said Raziya. As per the guidelines, she said, one ASHA is required for every thousand people. Also one Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery (ANM) is needed for every 5,000 people but in the district it is an ANM per 15- 17,000 people. Another Islamic scholar, Hakim uddin, told the gathering of Muslim clerics and government officials besides Haryana Waqf Board CEO Hanif Qureishi, that any rumour must be checked. He also asked the community members to shun any "negative mindset" about government measures and instead verify reports/rumours. Qureishi, who is also the Commissioner of Police, Faridabad, said it was sad that health indicators in Mewat were the "lowest". "Its ramifications would not appear now but after 15-20 years," he remarked. Appealing to the community members for support in the immunisation drive, Qureishi underlined that in a democracy, the government has a social responsibility to look after the welfare of the people. "But the people have a freedom of choice, no decision can be imposed on them," he said. "This is your (religious leaders') responsibility to spread the message for welfare of the children, both for their safety as well as education," he added.
Anand ST Das By

Express News Service

PATNA: While police in Bihar has been mandated with the task of implementing prohibition, two functionaries of an association of the State police personnel were on Thursday arrested after being found drunk.

Bihar Police Mens Association (BPMA) zonal president Nirmal Singh and the associations secretary Shamsher Singh were arrested at the police lines in Patna for having consumed liquor. The duo was produced in the special excise court of Judge Ravindra Nath Tripathi, who remanded them to a 14-day judicial custody.

I was informed that there was a drinking session and some trouble at the police lines. Upon visiting the site, I found these two officials drunk. They were arrested as per the law, said Patna SSP Manu Maharaaj.

Several police personnel in civil dress were seen reaching the court apparently in support of the arrested duo. Shamsher Singh told journalists outside the court that he and Nirmal Singh were being punished for raising the voices of the association members. Maharaja, however, rubbished this allegation.

The arrests were welcomed by the Bihar Police Association president Mritunjay Singh. Ruling JD(U) spokesperson and MLC Neeraj Kumar said, It is a good step that shows the rule of law is intact in Bihar. The law is the same for everyone.

PATNA: While police in Bihar has been mandated with the task of implementing prohibition, two functionaries of an association of the State police personnel were on Thursday arrested after being found drunk. Bihar Police Mens Association (BPMA) zonal president Nirmal Singh and the associations secretary Shamsher Singh were arrested at the police lines in Patna for having consumed liquor. The duo was produced in the special excise court of Judge Ravindra Nath Tripathi, who remanded them to a 14-day judicial custody. I was informed that there was a drinking session and some trouble at the police lines. Upon visiting the site, I found these two officials drunk. They were arrested as per the law, said Patna SSP Manu Maharaaj. Several police personnel in civil dress were seen reaching the court apparently in support of the arrested duo. Shamsher Singh told journalists outside the court that he and Nirmal Singh were being punished for raising the voices of the association members. Maharaja, however, rubbished this allegation. The arrests were welcomed by the Bihar Police Association president Mritunjay Singh. Ruling JD(U) spokesperson and MLC Neeraj Kumar said, It is a good step that shows the rule of law is intact in Bihar. The law is the same for everyone.
S N M Abdi By

I have kept an eye on Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, since she left New Delhi with a parched throat because we failed to quench her thirst for Teesta waters. Her actions on her return to Dhaka after the state visit to India are significant. But for starters lets dissect Bangladeshs agenda in May.

This month Bangladesh will participate with great enthusiasm in the grand One Belt One Road (OBOR) Summit China is hosting in Beijing. Not only has Narendra Modi turned down an invitation to the event but he is unlikely to even send a representative. India is boycotting OBOR as one of its key arteries, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) from Xinjiang to Gwadar port runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. If we give in to Chinese entreaties, we would legitimise the joint illegal occupation of our territory by Pakistan and China.

But Bangladesh, which will be represented by Hasina or senior Awami League leaders and top government officials, has no reservations about jumping onto the OBOR bandwagon. The worlds 47th largest economy in our backyard publicly romancing the second largest sends a rather grim message. And thats not all.

In May, Bangladesh will participate in a meeting of Defence Ministers of Islamic Military Alliance (IMA), a Saudi Arabia-led coalition of 41 Sunni Muslim countries for fighting terrorism and extremism. But the IMA Commander-in-Chief is Pakistans recently retired General Raheel Sharif who, incidentally, derived great pleasure from bleeding India during his tenure as army chief. And that General Sharif has summoned defence ministers to Riyadh to chalk out the Muslim NATOs structure and modalities. As Hasina retains the defence portfolio, either she will fly to Riyadh or dispatch her Defence & Security Advisor, retired Major General Tariq Ahmed Siddiqui. Both scenarios will displease New Delhi immensely. But what can it do except grin and bear it!

Now lets rewind to April. Within a day of returning from her botched up trip to India, she surrendered before Hefazat-e-Islam, or Protectorate of Islam, giving in to a hardline Islamist groups demand to remove a statue of the goddess of justice from the Supreme Court in Dhaka. The statue, a sari-clad version of the blindfolded Greek goddess Themis found in courtrooms the world over, was sculpted by a top Bangladeshi artist, Mrinal Haque, and Surendra Kumar Sinha, the Hindu Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, presided over its inauguration in December 2016. Hefazat and other right-wing outfits immediately launched a campaign against the idol insisting that it was against the tenets of Islam.

But the idol became a test case for upholding secular and liberal values in the predominantly Muslim country. Countless intellectualsinvariably Muslimsurged Hasina not to give in to fundamentalists. Like any good politician, Hasina kept her counsel. Her silence seemed to indicate that as her own reputation as a progressive administrator was at stake, she would hold her ground come what may. But on April 11 she invited the Hefazat chief, Shah Ahmad Shafi along with representatives of various Islamic outfits to her residence and announced that she disliked the statue and would talk to Justice Sinha about it. Speaking on the occasion, cleric Fariduddin Masud ecstatically called Hasina the political head of the state and Shafi the religious head of Bangladesh.

The removal of the statue is now a certainty. But Hasina declared a bonus too! She announced her governments decision to recognize degrees from madrassas, or Islamic educational institutions, paving the way for millions of madrassa products to qualify for jobs in public and private sectors. This has shocked secular groups, who consider it further evidence of creeping Islamisation.

The appeasement of Hefazat is clearly a watershed in Hasinas long innings in power. Hefazat wants enactment of Pakistan-style blasphemy laws, expulsion of Ahmediyas from the Islamic fold and introduction of Shariat laws rule in Bangladesh. When 17 poems and stories were recently removed from school textbooks on the grounds that they were either atheistic or promoted Hindu culture, no one had an inkling of the compromises to come.

I dont think that India can wash its hands of Hasinas capitulation domestically or externally. She has to fend for herself after New Delhis betrayal. Lets admit it that Hasina returned to Bangladesh empty-handed. She came to India knowing fully well that the Teesta River water-sharing treaty wasnt going to be signed in April. But she was given a solemn assurance that Big Brother India would handle the crucial water-sharing issue with such finesse that her countrymen would believe that the Teesta Treaty is going to land in Hasinas bag in no time.

But Modi and Sushma Swaraj had not factored in an angry Mamata Banerjee who was looking for an opportunity to prove to the whole world that as Chief Minister she doesnt necessarily take orders from the Prime Minister! So, without mincing her words, Mamata announced during Hasinas visit that the question of sharing the Teesta waters with Bangladesh doesnt arise as there isnt enough water even for West Bengal. Whatever Modi said subsequently to repair the damage didnt mean a thing after Mamata's stand. She had the last word and the last laughand her popularity in West Bengal shot up for safeguarding the states interest.

New Delhi is guilty of not doing its homework before inviting Hasina. Let alone gauge Mamata's mood, the Centre didnt seriously pursue the idea of augmenting the Teesta flow through the Manas-Sankosh-Teesta-Ganga canal conceived under the Himalayan component of Indias River Linking Project. These failures account for Hasinas post-visit behaviour which has a direct bearing on Indias national interests.

S N M Abdi



Award-winning journalist and commentator based in Kolkata



Email: snmabdi@yahoo.com

I have kept an eye on Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, since she left New Delhi with a parched throat because we failed to quench her thirst for Teesta waters. Her actions on her return to Dhaka after the state visit to India are significant. But for starters lets dissect Bangladeshs agenda in May. This month Bangladesh will participate with great enthusiasm in the grand One Belt One Road (OBOR) Summit China is hosting in Beijing. Not only has Narendra Modi turned down an invitation to the event but he is unlikely to even send a representative. India is boycotting OBOR as one of its key arteries, the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) from Xinjiang to Gwadar port runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. If we give in to Chinese entreaties, we would legitimise the joint illegal occupation of our territory by Pakistan and China. But Bangladesh, which will be represented by Hasina or senior Awami League leaders and top government officials, has no reservations about jumping onto the OBOR bandwagon. The worlds 47th largest economy in our backyard publicly romancing the second largest sends a rather grim message. And thats not all. In May, Bangladesh will participate in a meeting of Defence Ministers of Islamic Military Alliance (IMA), a Saudi Arabia-led coalition of 41 Sunni Muslim countries for fighting terrorism and extremism. But the IMA Commander-in-Chief is Pakistans recently retired General Raheel Sharif who, incidentally, derived great pleasure from bleeding India during his tenure as army chief. And that General Sharif has summoned defence ministers to Riyadh to chalk out the Muslim NATOs structure and modalities. As Hasina retains the defence portfolio, either she will fly to Riyadh or dispatch her Defence & Security Advisor, retired Major General Tariq Ahmed Siddiqui. Both scenarios will displease New Delhi immensely. But what can it do except grin and bear it! Now lets rewind to April. Within a day of returning from her botched up trip to India, she surrendered before Hefazat-e-Islam, or Protectorate of Islam, giving in to a hardline Islamist groups demand to remove a statue of the goddess of justice from the Supreme Court in Dhaka. The statue, a sari-clad version of the blindfolded Greek goddess Themis found in courtrooms the world over, was sculpted by a top Bangladeshi artist, Mrinal Haque, and Surendra Kumar Sinha, the Hindu Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, presided over its inauguration in December 2016. Hefazat and other right-wing outfits immediately launched a campaign against the idol insisting that it was against the tenets of Islam. But the idol became a test case for upholding secular and liberal values in the predominantly Muslim country. Countless intellectualsinvariably Muslimsurged Hasina not to give in to fundamentalists. Like any good politician, Hasina kept her counsel. Her silence seemed to indicate that as her own reputation as a progressive administrator was at stake, she would hold her ground come what may. But on April 11 she invited the Hefazat chief, Shah Ahmad Shafi along with representatives of various Islamic outfits to her residence and announced that she disliked the statue and would talk to Justice Sinha about it. Speaking on the occasion, cleric Fariduddin Masud ecstatically called Hasina the political head of the state and Shafi the religious head of Bangladesh. The removal of the statue is now a certainty. But Hasina declared a bonus too! She announced her governments decision to recognize degrees from madrassas, or Islamic educational institutions, paving the way for millions of madrassa products to qualify for jobs in public and private sectors. This has shocked secular groups, who consider it further evidence of creeping Islamisation. The appeasement of Hefazat is clearly a watershed in Hasinas long innings in power. Hefazat wants enactment of Pakistan-style blasphemy laws, expulsion of Ahmediyas from the Islamic fold and introduction of Shariat laws rule in Bangladesh. When 17 poems and stories were recently removed from school textbooks on the grounds that they were either atheistic or promoted Hindu culture, no one had an inkling of the compromises to come. I dont think that India can wash its hands of Hasinas capitulation domestically or externally. She has to fend for herself after New Delhis betrayal. Lets admit it that Hasina returned to Bangladesh empty-handed. She came to India knowing fully well that the Teesta River water-sharing treaty wasnt going to be signed in April. But she was given a solemn assurance that Big Brother India would handle the crucial water-sharing issue with such finesse that her countrymen would believe that the Teesta Treaty is going to land in Hasinas bag in no time. But Modi and Sushma Swaraj had not factored in an angry Mamata Banerjee who was looking for an opportunity to prove to the whole world that as Chief Minister she doesnt necessarily take orders from the Prime Minister! So, without mincing her words, Mamata announced during Hasinas visit that the question of sharing the Teesta waters with Bangladesh doesnt arise as there isnt enough water even for West Bengal. Whatever Modi said subsequently to repair the damage didnt mean a thing after Mamata's stand. She had the last word and the last laughand her popularity in West Bengal shot up for safeguarding the states interest. New Delhi is guilty of not doing its homework before inviting Hasina. Let alone gauge Mamata's mood, the Centre didnt seriously pursue the idea of augmenting the Teesta flow through the Manas-Sankosh-Teesta-Ganga canal conceived under the Himalayan component of Indias River Linking Project. These failures account for Hasinas post-visit behaviour which has a direct bearing on Indias national interests. S N M Abdi Award-winning journalist and commentator based in Kolkata Email: snmabdi@yahoo.com
By PTI

BENGALURU: The Multiplex Association of India (MAI)today urged the Karnataka government to withdraw its order capping movie ticket rates in all theatres in the state at Rs 200, calling it a "retrograde and unfair step against the interests" of film industry and people.

"We urge the Karnataka government to withdraw its notification of putting a cap on ticket prices for all cinema theatres in the state at Rs 200 as we believe it is a retrograde and unfair step against the interests of film industry and people," MAI President Deepak Asher said in a statement here.

He also said MAI is evaluating options at its disposal to protect the interests of its members and other stakeholders.

Citing reasons for withdrawal of notification, Asher said the move to cap ticket prices is extremely investor unfriendly and will stop the growth of new multiplexes in Karnataka.

In addition, it would also lead to many existing multiplexes to consider shutting down because of financial inviability, he said.

"The flexibility to decide ticket prices enable multiplexes to optimise occupancies and hence remain financially viable," he added.

Asher also argued that charging relatively higher prices for peak shows like evening shows on weekends, help multiplexes charge lower prices on non-peak shows, like morning shows on week-days.

The order to exempt only 10 per cent of the total seats of the cinema having Insignia,Gold Class,VIP seats from the price cap, will deprive the people of Karnataka from watching a movie in comfortable and luxurious seats as multiplex operators will not invest in these type of seats going forward, he contended. "The two largest multiplex chains in India, which together account for around 50 per cent of multiplex screens in the country, have a combined net profit margin of less than 5 per cent, not even sufficient to provide any return on capital," Asher claimed.

In fact, most of the other multiplexes are barely able to meet their costs, he added.

The Association President further stated that there was no rationale for controlling ticket prices of cinema theatres as the government does not control prices of other similar activities, like airlines, amusement centres, hotels and restaurants, among others.

The Karnataka government has capped the price of film tickets at all theatres at Rs 200 and made it mandatory for multiplexes to screen Kannada and regional cinema during prime time.

The notification also makes it mandatory for multiplexes to screen Kannada and regional cinema during the prime time (between 1.30 pm to 7.30 pm) at least on one screen.

However, the maximum cap of Rs 200 does not include taxes.

BENGALURU: The Multiplex Association of India (MAI)today urged the Karnataka government to withdraw its order capping movie ticket rates in all theatres in the state at Rs 200, calling it a "retrograde and unfair step against the interests" of film industry and people. "We urge the Karnataka government to withdraw its notification of putting a cap on ticket prices for all cinema theatres in the state at Rs 200 as we believe it is a retrograde and unfair step against the interests of film industry and people," MAI President Deepak Asher said in a statement here. He also said MAI is evaluating options at its disposal to protect the interests of its members and other stakeholders. Citing reasons for withdrawal of notification, Asher said the move to cap ticket prices is extremely investor unfriendly and will stop the growth of new multiplexes in Karnataka. In addition, it would also lead to many existing multiplexes to consider shutting down because of financial inviability, he said. "The flexibility to decide ticket prices enable multiplexes to optimise occupancies and hence remain financially viable," he added. Asher also argued that charging relatively higher prices for peak shows like evening shows on weekends, help multiplexes charge lower prices on non-peak shows, like morning shows on week-days. The order to exempt only 10 per cent of the total seats of the cinema having Insignia,Gold Class,VIP seats from the price cap, will deprive the people of Karnataka from watching a movie in comfortable and luxurious seats as multiplex operators will not invest in these type of seats going forward, he contended. "The two largest multiplex chains in India, which together account for around 50 per cent of multiplex screens in the country, have a combined net profit margin of less than 5 per cent, not even sufficient to provide any return on capital," Asher claimed. In fact, most of the other multiplexes are barely able to meet their costs, he added. The Association President further stated that there was no rationale for controlling ticket prices of cinema theatres as the government does not control prices of other similar activities, like airlines, amusement centres, hotels and restaurants, among others. The Karnataka government has capped the price of film tickets at all theatres at Rs 200 and made it mandatory for multiplexes to screen Kannada and regional cinema during prime time. The notification also makes it mandatory for multiplexes to screen Kannada and regional cinema during the prime time (between 1.30 pm to 7.30 pm) at least on one screen. However, the maximum cap of Rs 200 does not include taxes.
Prabhakar T By

Express News Service

COIMBATORE: While the mystery about valuables looted from the Kodanad estate bungalow, which belongs to former CM J Jayalalithaa, continues, the Nilgiris police are likely to interrogate a businessman in connection to the case. The police decided to do so after it was found that the prime accused Kanakaraj had contacted the businessmen just a few days before the robbery and murder.

Speaking to Express, a mid-level officer of Nilgiris district police involved in the investigation, said, One of the accused, who was arrested in connection with the estate, had worked in the interior design concern of the businessman. The businessman had gone to Dubai just two days before the incident. As of now, the businessman is not in Nilgiris. Once he reaches Nilgiris, we are to investigate with him.

The Nilgiris district police were frustrated, as they did not know what was actually robbed from the bungalow. As suspicions are developing in the case, we are to investigate whether they had robbed documents or anything else from the estate, a top official in Coimbatore range said on condition of anonymity.

The businessman was allegedly said to be in close contact with a top AIADMK functionary, which could be confirmed only after investigating with him, the official said.

Meanwhile, Nilgiris Superintendent of Police Murali Rambha on Wednesday, visited the site in Salem, where C Kanagaraj was involved in an accident, to corroborate evidence and search for new clues. The SP later went to Coimbatore, where he met Sayan, who was admitted in a private hospital.

COIMBATORE: While the mystery about valuables looted from the Kodanad estate bungalow, which belongs to former CM J Jayalalithaa, continues, the Nilgiris police are likely to interrogate a businessman in connection to the case. The police decided to do so after it was found that the prime accused Kanakaraj had contacted the businessmen just a few days before the robbery and murder. Speaking to Express, a mid-level officer of Nilgiris district police involved in the investigation, said, One of the accused, who was arrested in connection with the estate, had worked in the interior design concern of the businessman. The businessman had gone to Dubai just two days before the incident. As of now, the businessman is not in Nilgiris. Once he reaches Nilgiris, we are to investigate with him. The Nilgiris district police were frustrated, as they did not know what was actually robbed from the bungalow. As suspicions are developing in the case, we are to investigate whether they had robbed documents or anything else from the estate, a top official in Coimbatore range said on condition of anonymity. The businessman was allegedly said to be in close contact with a top AIADMK functionary, which could be confirmed only after investigating with him, the official said. Meanwhile, Nilgiris Superintendent of Police Murali Rambha on Wednesday, visited the site in Salem, where C Kanagaraj was involved in an accident, to corroborate evidence and search for new clues. The SP later went to Coimbatore, where he met Sayan, who was admitted in a private hospital.
S Senthil Kumar By

Express News Service

COIMBATORE: Finally, their worst fears have been confirmed. A three-year-long study undertaken by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) India underlined what environmentalists and locals of the Nilgiris have been crying hoarse about  water from River Bhavani is no longer safe for consumption. Not just the Bhavani, even the Kallar is in a bad state. A quick glance is enough to tell anyone that it is no longer a river, but a sewerage system for Coonoor town.

The WWF report, submitted to District Collector P Sankar by WWF landscape coordinator Boominathan and Osai president K Kalidass in Coonoor on Wednesday, was part of its work in the Western Ghats-Nilgiris Landscape. The study found that the upper reaches of the Bhavani and Moyar have been polluted by both Udhagamandalam and Coonoor municipalities and industries, including a government-owned factory.

Take the case of Coonoor town. With a population of 50,000, it generates about 5 million litres per day (MLD) of sewage, which is discharged untreated into the Kallar through a drain that joins near Runnymede station. The municipality lacks a treatment plant. Worse, the coliform bacteria levels found in the waters in Coonoor is 10 times higher than the permissible level stipulated by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

A cordite factory in Aruvankadu, which manufacturers nitro-cellulose and nitro-glycerine for ammunition, discharges its effluents into a small stream that eventually joins the Kallar. The WWF has found effluents loaded with nitrates and aluminium, far exceeding the CPCB standards for discharge of environmental pollutants in inland fresh waters, read the report titled Water Quality Assessment in the Upper Reaches of the Bhavani and Moyar in the Nilgiris.

The Bhavani does not fare well in Mettupalayam either. Pollution from the Kallar and Mettupalayam and ill-conceived hydropower projects have made its waters unsafe for use. Mettupalayam generates six to eight MLD of domestic sewage, which is currently being discharged untreated into the river.

Pollution is further exacerbated by two micro-hydel dams (10 MW each), recently built both upstream and downstream, converting the entire river stretch into a stagnant cesspool. Our assessment shows significant decline in river water quality post commissioning of the dams in late 2015, the WWF report said.

During the meeting with the Collector on Wednesday, it has been decided to form a stakeholder committee to address pollution related issues.

The committee includes Forest Department, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control board (TNPCB), Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited and local bodies. Representatives of these department also attended the meeting.

The TNPCB officials conveyed that they have already sent notices to the industries on setting up zero liquid discharge units within a month. The Collector said the administration will take up lake restoration projects and design treatment plants for both Ooty and Coonoor municipalities.

Coonoors coliform quagmire

With a population of 50,000, Coonoor town generates about 5 million litres per day of sewage, which is discharged untreated into the Kallar through a drain that joins near Runnymede station. The municipality does not have a treatment plant. Worse, the coliform bacteria levels found in the waters in Coonoor is 10 times higher than the permissible level stipulated by the Central Pollution Control Board

COIMBATORE: Finally, their worst fears have been confirmed. A three-year-long study undertaken by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) India underlined what environmentalists and locals of the Nilgiris have been crying hoarse about  water from River Bhavani is no longer safe for consumption. Not just the Bhavani, even the Kallar is in a bad state. A quick glance is enough to tell anyone that it is no longer a river, but a sewerage system for Coonoor town. The WWF report, submitted to District Collector P Sankar by WWF landscape coordinator Boominathan and Osai president K Kalidass in Coonoor on Wednesday, was part of its work in the Western Ghats-Nilgiris Landscape. The study found that the upper reaches of the Bhavani and Moyar have been polluted by both Udhagamandalam and Coonoor municipalities and industries, including a government-owned factory. Take the case of Coonoor town. With a population of 50,000, it generates about 5 million litres per day (MLD) of sewage, which is discharged untreated into the Kallar through a drain that joins near Runnymede station. The municipality lacks a treatment plant. Worse, the coliform bacteria levels found in the waters in Coonoor is 10 times higher than the permissible level stipulated by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). A cordite factory in Aruvankadu, which manufacturers nitro-cellulose and nitro-glycerine for ammunition, discharges its effluents into a small stream that eventually joins the Kallar. The WWF has found effluents loaded with nitrates and aluminium, far exceeding the CPCB standards for discharge of environmental pollutants in inland fresh waters, read the report titled Water Quality Assessment in the Upper Reaches of the Bhavani and Moyar in the Nilgiris. The Bhavani does not fare well in Mettupalayam either. Pollution from the Kallar and Mettupalayam and ill-conceived hydropower projects have made its waters unsafe for use. Mettupalayam generates six to eight MLD of domestic sewage, which is currently being discharged untreated into the river. Pollution is further exacerbated by two micro-hydel dams (10 MW each), recently built both upstream and downstream, converting the entire river stretch into a stagnant cesspool. Our assessment shows significant decline in river water quality post commissioning of the dams in late 2015, the WWF report said. During the meeting with the Collector on Wednesday, it has been decided to form a stakeholder committee to address pollution related issues. The committee includes Forest Department, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control board (TNPCB), Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited and local bodies. Representatives of these department also attended the meeting. The TNPCB officials conveyed that they have already sent notices to the industries on setting up zero liquid discharge units within a month. The Collector said the administration will take up lake restoration projects and design treatment plants for both Ooty and Coonoor municipalities. Coonoors coliform quagmire With a population of 50,000, Coonoor town generates about 5 million litres per day of sewage, which is discharged untreated into the Kallar through a drain that joins near Runnymede station. The municipality does not have a treatment plant. Worse, the coliform bacteria levels found in the waters in Coonoor is 10 times higher than the permissible level stipulated by the Central Pollution Control Board
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: As many as 28 schools from across the state registered zero pass percentage in the Telangana SSC examinations, the results of which were announced here on Wednesday by education minister Kadiam Srihari.



The overall pass percentage also witnessed a drop of 1.48 per cent, achieving 84.15 per cent, though 2,005 schools recorded a 100 pass percentage. For the slight drop in the overall pass percentage, the minister reasoned the same to stringent invigilation and strict conduct of the examination.

The examination was conducted from March 14 and 30 saw participation of 5,07,938 regular students and 25, 763 private candidates.

As usual, girls outshone the boys this year too. In the private category, girls secured a pass percentage of 85.37 as against 82.89 pc secured by boys. In the regular category also, girls performed better with a pass percentage of 38.94 pc against 34.09 pc by boys. The Backward Class Residential Schools have once again secured the highest number of pass percentage of 94.63 pc.



Residential, model, residential social welfare, tribal welfare and private schools together have secured more pass percentage than the state average. Government schools, on the other hand, secured the lowest pass percentage. KGBV, Zilla Parishad, Ashram and aided schools secured lower pass percentage than the state average. Hyderabad secured 73.26 pc pass percentage, which is lower than last years performance of 76.23 pc.



Chandu Manasa, a student of the Government High School, Bollaram, was elated on securing 9.8 CGP. I am so happy that all my efforts have paid off. I spent nearly 15 hours studying every day, she said. Sri Chaitanya School students across the state also fared well with 288 of them securing CGPA of 10/10.



Mohammed Mustafa from MS Creative School, a perfect 10/10 CGPA scorer, said he was confident that he would do well. Given my rigorous preparation, I had no doubts about scoring well. I am happy that I have achieved the goal I had set for myself, he said. His school awarded a cash prize of `30,000 to Mustafa.



Fearing failure in exam, girl hangs self

Suryapet: Fearing that she might fail in the SSC examinations, the results of which were announced on Wednesday, a 15-year-old girl committed suicide by hanging herself at her house at Singi Reddy Palem village on Wednesday.



Students in distress can contact Roshni Counselling Centre in Hyd on 040 66202000/2001 between 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. or email at roshnihelp@gmail.com

HYDERABAD: As many as 28 schools from across the state registered zero pass percentage in the Telangana SSC examinations, the results of which were announced here on Wednesday by education minister Kadiam Srihari. The overall pass percentage also witnessed a drop of 1.48 per cent, achieving 84.15 per cent, though 2,005 schools recorded a 100 pass percentage. For the slight drop in the overall pass percentage, the minister reasoned the same to stringent invigilation and strict conduct of the examination. The examination was conducted from March 14 and 30 saw participation of 5,07,938 regular students and 25, 763 private candidates. As usual, girls outshone the boys this year too. In the private category, girls secured a pass percentage of 85.37 as against 82.89 pc secured by boys. In the regular category also, girls performed better with a pass percentage of 38.94 pc against 34.09 pc by boys. The Backward Class Residential Schools have once again secured the highest number of pass percentage of 94.63 pc. Residential, model, residential social welfare, tribal welfare and private schools together have secured more pass percentage than the state average. Government schools, on the other hand, secured the lowest pass percentage. KGBV, Zilla Parishad, Ashram and aided schools secured lower pass percentage than the state average. Hyderabad secured 73.26 pc pass percentage, which is lower than last years performance of 76.23 pc. Chandu Manasa, a student of the Government High School, Bollaram, was elated on securing 9.8 CGP. I am so happy that all my efforts have paid off. I spent nearly 15 hours studying every day, she said. Sri Chaitanya School students across the state also fared well with 288 of them securing CGPA of 10/10. Mohammed Mustafa from MS Creative School, a perfect 10/10 CGPA scorer, said he was confident that he would do well. Given my rigorous preparation, I had no doubts about scoring well. I am happy that I have achieved the goal I had set for myself, he said. His school awarded a cash prize of `30,000 to Mustafa.Fearing failure in exam, girl hangs self Suryapet: Fearing that she might fail in the SSC examinations, the results of which were announced on Wednesday, a 15-year-old girl committed suicide by hanging herself at her house at Singi Reddy Palem village on Wednesday. Students in distress can contact Roshni Counselling Centre in Hyd on 040 66202000/2001 between 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. or email at roshnihelp@gmail.com
JR Prasad By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Amid talk of early elections, the possibility of forging a grand alliance of like-minded political parties against the ruling TRS in the state has again come to the fore.



The proposal, mooted earlier by AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh, seems to have gained currency now with Telangana Telugu Desam leaders also beginning to think on similar lines.



Despite the slide in its position from a considerable political force to a lightweight, the TTDP has begun devising plans to improve its position by the next Assembly elections. It is also considering a proposal for formation of an alliance of all like-minded opposition parties to take on the TRS.

The party thinks that the TRS is still on a strong wicket, protests by chilli farmers and other agitations notwithstanding.



A slew of sops being showered by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on various sections of the electorate  farmers (free fertilisers), BCs (new welfare schemes) and minorities (12 pc reservation)  with an eye on the next Assembly polls is helping it retain ground. Thus, the TRS still enjoys considerable support of people in rural areas. The opposition parties, therefore, need to redraw their strategies to effectively battle the ruling party, a senior TDP leader said.



TDP TS unit working president A Revanth Reddy, a bitter critic of the government, claims that every section of people in the state is vexed with the policies of the KCR government and has recently given an open call to all opposition parties to join hands to take on the TRS.



Realignment of political forces is necessary to end KCRs oppressive rule.

The CM is adopting all undemocratic and dictatorial methods to weaken the opposition parties. He is engineering defections from other parties to his party to strengthen his party. He is stifling the opposition to enable his party stay in power for long. As such, all those forces which oppose his policies should come together, Revanth Reddy said.



Interestingly, TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, during a recent interaction with his partys Telangana leaders, told them that the new state was poised to have coalition governments. No party will be in a position to come to power on its own in Telangana by the next Assembly polls, Naidu predicted.



In a bid to strengthen their bond with like-minded parties, TDP leaders have, of late, been soliciting the views of Left parties and Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) before organising agitations on peoples problems.



In March, AICC leader in charge of TPCC affairs Digvijaya Singh suggested to his party leaders in the state to make efforts to form a rainbow coalition against the TRS, similar to the one formed by YS Rajasekhara Reddy to defeat the then chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu in the erstwhile united state in 2004.

HYDERABAD: Amid talk of early elections, the possibility of forging a grand alliance of like-minded political parties against the ruling TRS in the state has again come to the fore. The proposal, mooted earlier by AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh, seems to have gained currency now with Telangana Telugu Desam leaders also beginning to think on similar lines. Despite the slide in its position from a considerable political force to a lightweight, the TTDP has begun devising plans to improve its position by the next Assembly elections. It is also considering a proposal for formation of an alliance of all like-minded opposition parties to take on the TRS. The party thinks that the TRS is still on a strong wicket, protests by chilli farmers and other agitations notwithstanding. A slew of sops being showered by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on various sections of the electorate  farmers (free fertilisers), BCs (new welfare schemes) and minorities (12 pc reservation)  with an eye on the next Assembly polls is helping it retain ground. Thus, the TRS still enjoys considerable support of people in rural areas. The opposition parties, therefore, need to redraw their strategies to effectively battle the ruling party, a senior TDP leader said. TDP TS unit working president A Revanth Reddy, a bitter critic of the government, claims that every section of people in the state is vexed with the policies of the KCR government and has recently given an open call to all opposition parties to join hands to take on the TRS. Realignment of political forces is necessary to end KCRs oppressive rule. The CM is adopting all undemocratic and dictatorial methods to weaken the opposition parties. He is engineering defections from other parties to his party to strengthen his party. He is stifling the opposition to enable his party stay in power for long. As such, all those forces which oppose his policies should come together, Revanth Reddy said. Interestingly, TDP chief and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, during a recent interaction with his partys Telangana leaders, told them that the new state was poised to have coalition governments. No party will be in a position to come to power on its own in Telangana by the next Assembly polls, Naidu predicted. In a bid to strengthen their bond with like-minded parties, TDP leaders have, of late, been soliciting the views of Left parties and Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) before organising agitations on peoples problems. In March, AICC leader in charge of TPCC affairs Digvijaya Singh suggested to his party leaders in the state to make efforts to form a rainbow coalition against the TRS, similar to the one formed by YS Rajasekhara Reddy to defeat the then chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu in the erstwhile united state in 2004.
By PTI

MUMBAI: Egyptian national Eman Ahmed, who was until recently believed to be the world's heaviest woman, was flown to Abu Dhabi in UAE for further treatment this evening.

The 37-year-old was discharged around 12.40 pm from the city-based Saifee hospital, where she was undergoing treatment for severe obesity since February this year.

EgyptAir cargo airbus 300, fitted with medical equipment for shifting Eman to Abu Dhabi, took off at 7.41 pm from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, an airport official said.

A green corridor was created for transporting Eman from Saifee Hospital to Gate No. 5 of Terminal 2 at the airport.

According to bariatric surgeon Muffazal Lakdawala, Eman's weight came down to 170 kg (as on Wednesday evening).

She weighed a whopping 498 kg on her arrival here in February this year.

Eman's discharge from Saifee hospital got delayed amid reports that there was some difference of opinion on Eman's handing over to the authorities of Burjeel Hospital in UAE (where she would undergo further treatment).

However, Dr Lakdawala dismissed the reports of any dispute between the officials from both the hospitals. "It was simply some paper work that took little longer time. There was no dispute," he claimed.

As her discharge got delayed, Maharashtra Health Minister Dr Deepak Sawant rushed to Saifee hospital and intervened in the matter. Likewise, BJP leader Shaina NC was also present.

Sawant later said, "There are some lessons to be learnt from Eman's case. I think the state government will have to form some standard operating protocol for handling such complex cases." Shaina NC, in her official communication, said that Eman's sister Shaimaa Selim signed the discharge papers at the hospital in the presence of Dr Sawant and herself.

"Obviously, after all the false allegations (levelled by Eman's sister Shaimaa Selim), the hospital authorities would want to make sure that their patient is going back in good health.

"It is the onus of the next hospital once they leave, and hence proper documentation with comprehensive reports and medical advice needed to be exchanged between the hospitals. It was necessary to confirm that everything is in order," Shaina NC said.

"This has been a landmark case when it comes to the medical fraternity and the good doctors and the large heart shown by India, Maharashtra and Mumbai, when it comes to medical tourism is something that everyone echos unequivocally," she said.

Eman underwent bariatric surgery in March in which doctors reduced the size of her stomach by two-thirds, so as to reduce her food intake. Her genetic tests had showed that she has a rare gene mutation that cannot be cured through surgery.

She was treated by Lakdawala and a team of around 15 doctors from various disciplines since she was brought here from Alexandria on February 11 this year.

Yesterday, Lakdawala had said that Huzefa Shehabi, COO Saifee Hospital, had received an e-mail communication from VPS Burjeel Hospital (in Abu Dhabi, UAE) saying that Eman is "stable, in good health and fit to fly" paving way for her discharge this afternoon.

Eman's sister Shaimaa in an online video last month had alleged that she was not receiving proper treatment at the privately-owned hospital in South Mumbai.

She had alleged that the doctors at Saifee, made "false claims" about Eman's complete recovery and weight loss of 262 kg.

Refuting the allegations, Aparna Bhaskar, section chief of bariatric surgery at Saifee Hospital, had said that Shaimaa may be criticising the doctors to extend her sister's stay at the hospital. Lakdawala, too, had denied the charge.

Eman, a resident of Alexandria in Egypt, had not stepped out of her house for more than two decades due to her obese condition followed by a stroke that left her paralysed on one side a year ago.

MUMBAI: Egyptian national Eman Ahmed, who was until recently believed to be the world's heaviest woman, was flown to Abu Dhabi in UAE for further treatment this evening. The 37-year-old was discharged around 12.40 pm from the city-based Saifee hospital, where she was undergoing treatment for severe obesity since February this year. EgyptAir cargo airbus 300, fitted with medical equipment for shifting Eman to Abu Dhabi, took off at 7.41 pm from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, an airport official said. A green corridor was created for transporting Eman from Saifee Hospital to Gate No. 5 of Terminal 2 at the airport. According to bariatric surgeon Muffazal Lakdawala, Eman's weight came down to 170 kg (as on Wednesday evening). She weighed a whopping 498 kg on her arrival here in February this year. Eman's discharge from Saifee hospital got delayed amid reports that there was some difference of opinion on Eman's handing over to the authorities of Burjeel Hospital in UAE (where she would undergo further treatment). However, Dr Lakdawala dismissed the reports of any dispute between the officials from both the hospitals. "It was simply some paper work that took little longer time. There was no dispute," he claimed. As her discharge got delayed, Maharashtra Health Minister Dr Deepak Sawant rushed to Saifee hospital and intervened in the matter. Likewise, BJP leader Shaina NC was also present. Sawant later said, "There are some lessons to be learnt from Eman's case. I think the state government will have to form some standard operating protocol for handling such complex cases." Shaina NC, in her official communication, said that Eman's sister Shaimaa Selim signed the discharge papers at the hospital in the presence of Dr Sawant and herself. "Obviously, after all the false allegations (levelled by Eman's sister Shaimaa Selim), the hospital authorities would want to make sure that their patient is going back in good health. "It is the onus of the next hospital once they leave, and hence proper documentation with comprehensive reports and medical advice needed to be exchanged between the hospitals. It was necessary to confirm that everything is in order," Shaina NC said. "This has been a landmark case when it comes to the medical fraternity and the good doctors and the large heart shown by India, Maharashtra and Mumbai, when it comes to medical tourism is something that everyone echos unequivocally," she said. Eman underwent bariatric surgery in March in which doctors reduced the size of her stomach by two-thirds, so as to reduce her food intake. Her genetic tests had showed that she has a rare gene mutation that cannot be cured through surgery. She was treated by Lakdawala and a team of around 15 doctors from various disciplines since she was brought here from Alexandria on February 11 this year. Yesterday, Lakdawala had said that Huzefa Shehabi, COO Saifee Hospital, had received an e-mail communication from VPS Burjeel Hospital (in Abu Dhabi, UAE) saying that Eman is "stable, in good health and fit to fly" paving way for her discharge this afternoon. Eman's sister Shaimaa in an online video last month had alleged that she was not receiving proper treatment at the privately-owned hospital in South Mumbai. She had alleged that the doctors at Saifee, made "false claims" about Eman's complete recovery and weight loss of 262 kg. Refuting the allegations, Aparna Bhaskar, section chief of bariatric surgery at Saifee Hospital, had said that Shaimaa may be criticising the doctors to extend her sister's stay at the hospital. Lakdawala, too, had denied the charge. Eman, a resident of Alexandria in Egypt, had not stepped out of her house for more than two decades due to her obese condition followed by a stroke that left her paralysed on one side a year ago.
By Associated Press

ANNAPOLIS: The U.S. Army has published the final photo of a combat photographer who captured on camera the blast that killed her in an accidental mortar explosion in Afghanistan nearly four years ago. The Army's professional journal says the image illustrates how women are increasingly exposed to dangerous situations in the military.

The photograph of Spc. Hilda Clayton was published Monday in Military Review.

"Clayton's death symbolizes how female soldiers are increasingly exposed to hazardous situations in training and in combat on par with their male counterparts," Military Review wrote.

Clayton snapped the picture during a live-fire training exercise on July 2, 2013 in the Laghman Province, Afghanistan. The blast also killed four Afghan National Army soldiers. One of them was a photojournalist Clayton had partnered with to train.

Military Review noted that the explosion happened during a critical moment in the war, when it was important for U.S. and Afghan forces to work in partnership to stabilize the country.

"Not only did Clayton help document activities aimed at shaping and strengthening the partnership but she also shared in the risk by participating in the effort," the journal added.

Clayton, who was from Augusta, Georgia, was a member of the Fort Meade, Maryland-based 55th Signal Company, which is known as Combat Camera. She was 22.

Gordon Van Vleet, a spokesman for the Network Enterprise Command, which is the higher headquarters for the 55th Combat Camera Company she served under, said Clayton's final photo was published with her family's permission. Van Vleet said the family is declining to comment.

Combat Camera honored Clayton by naming an annual award for the best combat photography after her, Military Review wrote. Combat Camera soldiers are trained to take photos and video in any environment and accompany soldiers to document combat operations.

ANNAPOLIS: The U.S. Army has published the final photo of a combat photographer who captured on camera the blast that killed her in an accidental mortar explosion in Afghanistan nearly four years ago. The Army's professional journal says the image illustrates how women are increasingly exposed to dangerous situations in the military. The photograph of Spc. Hilda Clayton was published Monday in Military Review. "Clayton's death symbolizes how female soldiers are increasingly exposed to hazardous situations in training and in combat on par with their male counterparts," Military Review wrote. Clayton snapped the picture during a live-fire training exercise on July 2, 2013 in the Laghman Province, Afghanistan. The blast also killed four Afghan National Army soldiers. One of them was a photojournalist Clayton had partnered with to train. Military Review noted that the explosion happened during a critical moment in the war, when it was important for U.S. and Afghan forces to work in partnership to stabilize the country. "Not only did Clayton help document activities aimed at shaping and strengthening the partnership but she also shared in the risk by participating in the effort," the journal added. Clayton, who was from Augusta, Georgia, was a member of the Fort Meade, Maryland-based 55th Signal Company, which is known as Combat Camera. She was 22. Gordon Van Vleet, a spokesman for the Network Enterprise Command, which is the higher headquarters for the 55th Combat Camera Company she served under, said Clayton's final photo was published with her family's permission. Van Vleet said the family is declining to comment. Combat Camera honored Clayton by naming an annual award for the best combat photography after her, Military Review wrote. Combat Camera soldiers are trained to take photos and video in any environment and accompany soldiers to document combat operations.
By AFP

PARIS: French centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron and his far-right rival Marine Le Pen clashed over terrorism, the economy and Europe Wednesday, trading barbs in a heated TV debate ahead of this weekend's runoff.

Macron branded Le Pen a liar whose "hidden project" was to raise taxes and borrow heavily to fund her nationalist ambitions.

She hit back that the 39-year-old former investment banker favoured "uncontrolled globalisation" and would sell off state assets to the highest bidder.

In particularly sharp exchanges, Le Pen accused Macron of an "indulgent attitude" towards Islamic fundamentalism and said he opposed measures to fight extremism after a series of deadly attacks in France.

Macron retorted that he would be "uncompromising" in fighting terror, but said what she was proposing would lead to "a civil war".

"The terrorists want there to be divisions between us," he said, accusing her of "hate-filled speech".

Opinion polls show Macron is ahead going into Sunday's decisive vote, scoring 59 percent to 41 percent for Le Pen, but previous debates during the rollercoaster French campaign have quickly shifted public opinion.

The tone was set in the first minutes of the only face-to-face debate before the second-round vote, with Le Pen branding the former economy minister "the candidate of the elite" and the "darling of the system".

Macron retorted that Le Pen, the 48-year-old scion of the National Front (FN) party, was "the heir of a system which has prospered from the fury of the French people for decades", adding: "You play with fear."

Le Pen said she would protect state assets and increase people's spending power, while her rival would sell off French state companies to foreign buyers.

"In my vision, everything is not for sale, everything cannot be bought," she said.

Macron hit back: "Your strategy is to tell lots of lies, you don't propose anything."

'Merkel would lead France'

Turning to the European Union, Le Pen said Macron as president would allow France to be crushed by its economically powerful neighbour Germany.

"France will be led by a woman, either me or Mrs Merkel," she said, referring to the German chancellor.

Le Pen wants to hold a referendum on whether France should stay in the European Union, while Macron is fervently pro-Europe.

She set out her plans -- criticised by economists -- to scrap the euro for daily purchases and return to the franc, although the euro would remain the currency "for central banks and companies".

"The euro is the currency of bankers, it's not the people's currency," she said.

Her rival responded: "The euro is important. It's not just a policy."

The debate marks a new step into the mainstream for Le Pen, whose party was once considered by France's political establishment to be an extremist fringe that should be boycotted.

When Jean-Marie Le Pen made it into the final round of the presidential election in 2002, his conservative opponent Jacques Chirac refused to debate with him out of fear of "normalising hate and intolerance".

Fifteen years later, Le Pen scored 21.3 percent in the first round of the French election on April 23 after softening the FN's image -- but without fully removing doubt about the party's core beliefs.

The debate was her biggest chance in front of a live television audience of millions to impress undecided voters.

Socialist President Francois Hollande and members of the government have led warnings about the risk of a Le Pen presidency, with around a third of voters set to abstain, according to pollsters' predictions.

"We are in a zone of absolute danger," warned Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem before the debate. "Do not play Russian roulette with our democracy."

Hollande told reporters that "we shouldn't think the result is a foregone conclusion" and urged Macron, his former advisor and economy minister, to make clear his different vision of France in Europe and the world.

Macron quit the government last August to concentrate on his new centrist political movement En Marche, which has drawn 250,000 members in 12 months.

PARIS: French centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron and his far-right rival Marine Le Pen clashed over terrorism, the economy and Europe Wednesday, trading barbs in a heated TV debate ahead of this weekend's runoff. Macron branded Le Pen a liar whose "hidden project" was to raise taxes and borrow heavily to fund her nationalist ambitions. She hit back that the 39-year-old former investment banker favoured "uncontrolled globalisation" and would sell off state assets to the highest bidder. In particularly sharp exchanges, Le Pen accused Macron of an "indulgent attitude" towards Islamic fundamentalism and said he opposed measures to fight extremism after a series of deadly attacks in France. Macron retorted that he would be "uncompromising" in fighting terror, but said what she was proposing would lead to "a civil war". "The terrorists want there to be divisions between us," he said, accusing her of "hate-filled speech". Opinion polls show Macron is ahead going into Sunday's decisive vote, scoring 59 percent to 41 percent for Le Pen, but previous debates during the rollercoaster French campaign have quickly shifted public opinion. The tone was set in the first minutes of the only face-to-face debate before the second-round vote, with Le Pen branding the former economy minister "the candidate of the elite" and the "darling of the system". Macron retorted that Le Pen, the 48-year-old scion of the National Front (FN) party, was "the heir of a system which has prospered from the fury of the French people for decades", adding: "You play with fear." Le Pen said she would protect state assets and increase people's spending power, while her rival would sell off French state companies to foreign buyers. "In my vision, everything is not for sale, everything cannot be bought," she said. Macron hit back: "Your strategy is to tell lots of lies, you don't propose anything." 'Merkel would lead France' Turning to the European Union, Le Pen said Macron as president would allow France to be crushed by its economically powerful neighbour Germany. "France will be led by a woman, either me or Mrs Merkel," she said, referring to the German chancellor. Le Pen wants to hold a referendum on whether France should stay in the European Union, while Macron is fervently pro-Europe. She set out her plans -- criticised by economists -- to scrap the euro for daily purchases and return to the franc, although the euro would remain the currency "for central banks and companies". "The euro is the currency of bankers, it's not the people's currency," she said. Her rival responded: "The euro is important. It's not just a policy." The debate marks a new step into the mainstream for Le Pen, whose party was once considered by France's political establishment to be an extremist fringe that should be boycotted. When Jean-Marie Le Pen made it into the final round of the presidential election in 2002, his conservative opponent Jacques Chirac refused to debate with him out of fear of "normalising hate and intolerance". Fifteen years later, Le Pen scored 21.3 percent in the first round of the French election on April 23 after softening the FN's image -- but without fully removing doubt about the party's core beliefs. The debate was her biggest chance in front of a live television audience of millions to impress undecided voters. Socialist President Francois Hollande and members of the government have led warnings about the risk of a Le Pen presidency, with around a third of voters set to abstain, according to pollsters' predictions. "We are in a zone of absolute danger," warned Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem before the debate. "Do not play Russian roulette with our democracy." Hollande told reporters that "we shouldn't think the result is a foregone conclusion" and urged Macron, his former advisor and economy minister, to make clear his different vision of France in Europe and the world. Macron quit the government last August to concentrate on his new centrist political movement En Marche, which has drawn 250,000 members in 12 months.
By Associated Press

SEOUL: North Korea has issued a rare direct criticism of China through a commentary saying its "reckless remarks" on the North's nuclear program are testing its patience and could trigger unspecified "grave" consequences.

China, North Korea's largest trading partner and main benefactor, suspended imports of North Korean coal in line with U.N. sanctions and has been urging its traditional ally to stop nuclear and missile activities amid U.S. pressure to use its leverage to resolve the nuclear standoff.

The commentary released Wednesday by the state-run Korean Central News Agency said that "a string of absurd and reckless remarks are now heard from China every day only to render the present bad situation tenser."

The article cited commentaries by Chinese state media that it said shifted the blame for deteriorating bilateral relations onto the North and raised "lame excuses for the base acts of dancing to the tune of the U.S."

"China should no longer try to test the limits of the DPRK's patience," the North Korean commentary said, using its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "China had better ponder over the grave consequences to be entailed by its reckless act of chopping down the pillar of the DPRK-China relations."

The article was not attributed to any government agency or official; the writer was identified only as Kim Chol. Still, it's unusual for the North to directly criticize China. Previously it has couched such criticism by referring to China only as "a neighboring country."

Chinese state media, meanwhile, have recently unleashed regular and harsh criticisms over the North's actions.

The Global Times, an outspoken nationalist tabloid published by the ruling Communist Party's flagship People's Daily, warned in a Thursday editorial that the North's actions threatened a 1961 treaty of non-aggression between the two countries. It called on the regime to end its nuclear tests.

"China will not allow its northeastern region to be contaminated by North Korea's nuclear activities," the Global Times declared.

In recent days, the paper also warned that China was able to strike back "at any side that crosses the red line" and would impose an oil embargo against the North in response to any more tests. The North Korean commentary said it's China that crossed "the red line."

The People's Daily declared Sunday  and again on Tuesday  that the North's nuclear ambitions "put itself and the whole region into dire peril."

SEOUL: North Korea has issued a rare direct criticism of China through a commentary saying its "reckless remarks" on the North's nuclear program are testing its patience and could trigger unspecified "grave" consequences. China, North Korea's largest trading partner and main benefactor, suspended imports of North Korean coal in line with U.N. sanctions and has been urging its traditional ally to stop nuclear and missile activities amid U.S. pressure to use its leverage to resolve the nuclear standoff. The commentary released Wednesday by the state-run Korean Central News Agency said that "a string of absurd and reckless remarks are now heard from China every day only to render the present bad situation tenser." The article cited commentaries by Chinese state media that it said shifted the blame for deteriorating bilateral relations onto the North and raised "lame excuses for the base acts of dancing to the tune of the U.S." "China should no longer try to test the limits of the DPRK's patience," the North Korean commentary said, using its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "China had better ponder over the grave consequences to be entailed by its reckless act of chopping down the pillar of the DPRK-China relations." The article was not attributed to any government agency or official; the writer was identified only as Kim Chol. Still, it's unusual for the North to directly criticize China. Previously it has couched such criticism by referring to China only as "a neighboring country." Chinese state media, meanwhile, have recently unleashed regular and harsh criticisms over the North's actions. The Global Times, an outspoken nationalist tabloid published by the ruling Communist Party's flagship People's Daily, warned in a Thursday editorial that the North's actions threatened a 1961 treaty of non-aggression between the two countries. It called on the regime to end its nuclear tests. "China will not allow its northeastern region to be contaminated by North Korea's nuclear activities," the Global Times declared. In recent days, the paper also warned that China was able to strike back "at any side that crosses the red line" and would impose an oil embargo against the North in response to any more tests. The North Korean commentary said it's China that crossed "the red line." The People's Daily declared Sunday  and again on Tuesday  that the North's nuclear ambitions "put itself and the whole region into dire peril."
By AFP

WASHINGTON: Louisiana police will not face federal charges over the shooting of a 37-year-old African American man whose death sparked widespread protests, the US Justice Department said Wednesday, in a decision slammed by rights groups as a message of impunity.

Alton Sterling's videotaped shooting in Baton Rouge was one of a series of police killing of black men that triggered nationwide protests spearheaded by the "Black Lives Matter" movement.

Civil rights groups said the decision not to bring charges in the emblematic case -- the first taken under Donald Trump's incoming attorney general, Jeff Sessions -- sent a clear signal that "black lives don't matter."

Sterling was shot to death July 5, 2016 in a scuffle with two officers, Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake, outside a convenience store where he had been selling CDs.

During a 10-month probe, FBI agents and prosecutors reviewed images of the incident captured by body cameras, cellphones and store surveillance cameras as well as witness accounts and other evidence.

At the close of the investigation, the Justice Department said it found "insufficient evidence to support federal criminal charges" against either officer.

Members of Sterling's family were grief-stricken at the news.

"It hurts so bad," Sandra Sterling, the victim's aunt, told a local television station, choking back tears.

"All of this was for nothing."

'Public execution'

According to investigators, Officer Salamoni, shouting "going for a gun," shot Sterling three times in the chest and then three more times in the back in an encounter that lasted less than 90 seconds.

The Justice Department said Lake subsequently found a .38 caliber revolver in Sterling's back pocket. No independent witness account has corroborated the police claim that Sterling reached for the gun.

Nonetheless, the probe concluded that -- although videos show Sterling's right hand was not in or near his right pocket -- he was continuing to move, even after being shot three times.

At that point, it said, Officer Salamoni was lying on the ground, facing Sterling's back.

"Given these circumstances, the evidence cannot establish beyond a reasonable doubt that it did not appear to Officer Salamoni that Sterling was reaching for his pocket. Nor could the Department prove that the officer's conduct was willful," the Justice Department said.

The head of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which combats racism and extremism, called the decision not to press charges "deeply troubling."

"The American people need an answer as to why the final moments of Sterling's life looked less like a police stop and more like a public execution," said its head, Richard Cohen.

Civil rights group Color of Change said the decision showed that, as far as Trump's administration was concerned, "black lives do not matter."

Sterling's fatal shooting came amid a spate of race-tinged violence involving law enforcement. His death was followed by the killing of another black man, Philando Castile, a day later.

That victim was shot dead by police in his car -- in front of his girlfriend and her young daughter -- after he was pulled over near Minneapolis, Minnesota for a broken tail light.

The deaths sent shockwaves nationwide, fueling mass protests and a fierce debate over race and criminal justice.

The United States was then set on edge for weeks in July after a gunman shot and killed five officers in Dallas as peaceful protestors finished a march against police brutality. A similar assault took place in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where three officers were shot dead by a former military veteran.

WASHINGTON: Louisiana police will not face federal charges over the shooting of a 37-year-old African American man whose death sparked widespread protests, the US Justice Department said Wednesday, in a decision slammed by rights groups as a message of impunity. Alton Sterling's videotaped shooting in Baton Rouge was one of a series of police killing of black men that triggered nationwide protests spearheaded by the "Black Lives Matter" movement. Civil rights groups said the decision not to bring charges in the emblematic case -- the first taken under Donald Trump's incoming attorney general, Jeff Sessions -- sent a clear signal that "black lives don't matter." Sterling was shot to death July 5, 2016 in a scuffle with two officers, Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake, outside a convenience store where he had been selling CDs. During a 10-month probe, FBI agents and prosecutors reviewed images of the incident captured by body cameras, cellphones and store surveillance cameras as well as witness accounts and other evidence. At the close of the investigation, the Justice Department said it found "insufficient evidence to support federal criminal charges" against either officer. Members of Sterling's family were grief-stricken at the news. "It hurts so bad," Sandra Sterling, the victim's aunt, told a local television station, choking back tears. "All of this was for nothing." 'Public execution' According to investigators, Officer Salamoni, shouting "going for a gun," shot Sterling three times in the chest and then three more times in the back in an encounter that lasted less than 90 seconds. The Justice Department said Lake subsequently found a .38 caliber revolver in Sterling's back pocket. No independent witness account has corroborated the police claim that Sterling reached for the gun. Nonetheless, the probe concluded that -- although videos show Sterling's right hand was not in or near his right pocket -- he was continuing to move, even after being shot three times. At that point, it said, Officer Salamoni was lying on the ground, facing Sterling's back. "Given these circumstances, the evidence cannot establish beyond a reasonable doubt that it did not appear to Officer Salamoni that Sterling was reaching for his pocket. Nor could the Department prove that the officer's conduct was willful," the Justice Department said. The head of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which combats racism and extremism, called the decision not to press charges "deeply troubling." "The American people need an answer as to why the final moments of Sterling's life looked less like a police stop and more like a public execution," said its head, Richard Cohen. Civil rights group Color of Change said the decision showed that, as far as Trump's administration was concerned, "black lives do not matter." Sterling's fatal shooting came amid a spate of race-tinged violence involving law enforcement. His death was followed by the killing of another black man, Philando Castile, a day later. That victim was shot dead by police in his car -- in front of his girlfriend and her young daughter -- after he was pulled over near Minneapolis, Minnesota for a broken tail light. The deaths sent shockwaves nationwide, fueling mass protests and a fierce debate over race and criminal justice. The United States was then set on edge for weeks in July after a gunman shot and killed five officers in Dallas as peaceful protestors finished a march against police brutality. A similar assault took place in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where three officers were shot dead by a former military veteran.
By PTI

WASHINGTON: Michelle was not the only women in Barack Obama's life and he had been in a serious relationship before he met his future wife, according to an upcoming biography of the former US president.

The book - "Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama" written by David J Garrow - shares for the first time the story of the woman Sheila Miyoshi Jager, his love interest, with whom Obama lived in Chicago, The Washington Post said in a review.

Jager tells author David Garrow, "In the winter of '86, when we visited my parents, he asked me to marry him."

Jager's parents objected to the union, believing her to be too young, as she was in her early 20s and two years younger than Obama, according to the review.

She was 23 and Obama was 25.

Their romance continued, but Jager says Obama's political ambitions got in the way. Possessed by a sense that he was destined to a life in politics, and could even become the first African-American president, she says race soon cast a shadow over their relationship.

"I remember very clearly when this transformation happened, and I remember very specifically that by 1987, about a year into our relationship, he already had his sights on becoming president," Jager told Garrow.

Obama eventually asked Jager to marry him again before he departed for Harvard Law School. He wanted her to go with him, she says, despite their increasingly fraught relationship, "mostly, I think, out of a sense of desperation over our eventual parting and not in any real faith in our future."

After his first year at Harvard, Obama returned to Chicago as a summer associate at a prestigious local law firm. There he met Michelle Robinson, the future first lady and an employee at the firm, the report said.

Their relationship quickly became serious, although he still saw Jager when she arrived at Harvard on a teaching fellowship.

"I always felt bad about it," Jager tells Garrow.

Eventually, Obama and Robinson got married in 1992.

WASHINGTON: Michelle was not the only women in Barack Obama's life and he had been in a serious relationship before he met his future wife, according to an upcoming biography of the former US president. The book - "Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama" written by David J Garrow - shares for the first time the story of the woman Sheila Miyoshi Jager, his love interest, with whom Obama lived in Chicago, The Washington Post said in a review. Jager tells author David Garrow, "In the winter of '86, when we visited my parents, he asked me to marry him." Jager's parents objected to the union, believing her to be too young, as she was in her early 20s and two years younger than Obama, according to the review. She was 23 and Obama was 25. Their romance continued, but Jager says Obama's political ambitions got in the way. Possessed by a sense that he was destined to a life in politics, and could even become the first African-American president, she says race soon cast a shadow over their relationship. "I remember very clearly when this transformation happened, and I remember very specifically that by 1987, about a year into our relationship, he already had his sights on becoming president," Jager told Garrow. Obama eventually asked Jager to marry him again before he departed for Harvard Law School. He wanted her to go with him, she says, despite their increasingly fraught relationship, "mostly, I think, out of a sense of desperation over our eventual parting and not in any real faith in our future." After his first year at Harvard, Obama returned to Chicago as a summer associate at a prestigious local law firm. There he met Michelle Robinson, the future first lady and an employee at the firm, the report said. Their relationship quickly became serious, although he still saw Jager when she arrived at Harvard on a teaching fellowship. "I always felt bad about it," Jager tells Garrow. Eventually, Obama and Robinson got married in 1992.
By PTI

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's main Tamil party today said it was "deeply perturbed" by the government's policy on a proposed counter-terrorism law as it curtails civil liberties and has potential for abuse.

The Tamil National Alliance said in a statement they were "shocked" by the extent to which the draft framework "curtails civil liberties, erodes judicial control over the state security apparatus and the staggering potential for abuse and torture."

The party, however, said they were not opposed to a legal framework per se against terrorism.

"We are unequivocally committed to supporting a legal framework that would prevent and punish acts of terrorism in a manner that is lawful, in compliance with fundamental rights and the rule of law," it said.

"We are, therefore, deeply perturbed by the turn the government's latest draft has taken."

The proposed Counter Terrorism Act (CTA) is to replace the current Prevention of Terrorism Act, which was enacted in 1979 to deal with the growing Tamil separatist militancy.

The PTA has been criticised by Tamil and rights activists as it allows indefinite detention of people without charges.

During the over three-decade armed campaign by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), many activists of the rebel organisation were held under the PTA.

But according to a proposal by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the CTA aims at ensuring full compliance with Sri Lanka's rights obligations while dealing with terrorism.

The TNA, however, in the statement said that the proposed definition of terrorism would extend far beyond activities defined internationally as terrorism, replicating restrictions on free speech that have previously been used to punish dissenting voices.

"The definitions are also exceedingly vague and indeterminate, and would would have a chilling effect on advocacy in favour of greater diversity in Sri Lanka," it said, adding that the current government was under pressure from international rights watchdogs to repeal the "draconian" Prevention of Terrorism Act

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's main Tamil party today said it was "deeply perturbed" by the government's policy on a proposed counter-terrorism law as it curtails civil liberties and has potential for abuse. The Tamil National Alliance said in a statement they were "shocked" by the extent to which the draft framework "curtails civil liberties, erodes judicial control over the state security apparatus and the staggering potential for abuse and torture." The party, however, said they were not opposed to a legal framework per se against terrorism. "We are unequivocally committed to supporting a legal framework that would prevent and punish acts of terrorism in a manner that is lawful, in compliance with fundamental rights and the rule of law," it said. "We are, therefore, deeply perturbed by the turn the government's latest draft has taken." The proposed Counter Terrorism Act (CTA) is to replace the current Prevention of Terrorism Act, which was enacted in 1979 to deal with the growing Tamil separatist militancy. The PTA has been criticised by Tamil and rights activists as it allows indefinite detention of people without charges. During the over three-decade armed campaign by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), many activists of the rebel organisation were held under the PTA. But according to a proposal by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the CTA aims at ensuring full compliance with Sri Lanka's rights obligations while dealing with terrorism. The TNA, however, in the statement said that the proposed definition of terrorism would extend far beyond activities defined internationally as terrorism, replicating restrictions on free speech that have previously been used to punish dissenting voices. "The definitions are also exceedingly vague and indeterminate, and would would have a chilling effect on advocacy in favour of greater diversity in Sri Lanka," it said, adding that the current government was under pressure from international rights watchdogs to repeal the "draconian" Prevention of Terrorism Act
By Associated Press

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order Thursday targeting a rarely enforced IRS rule that says religious organizations and other non-profits that endorse political candidates risk losing their tax-exempt status.

The order also promised "regulatory relief" for groups with religious objections to the preventive services requirement in the Affordable Care Act, according to a White House official. Those requirements include covering birth control.

Still it was not clear just how those pledges would be carried out and the plans fall short of what religious conservatives expected of the president, who won overwhelming support from evangelicals by promising to "protect Christianity" and religious freedom.

Trump will sign the order as he marks the National Day of Prayer at the White House Thursday. He was hosting members of his evangelical advisory board at a dinner Wednesday night and planned to meet Catholic cardinals in the Oval Office before signing the order.

Trump has long pledged to protect religious freedom. He promised to "totally destroy" the law prohibiting the political activities, known as the Johnson Amendment, when he spoke in February at the National Prayer Breakfast, a high-profile Washington event with faith leaders, politicians and dignitaries. Fully abolishing the regulation would take an act of Congress, but Trump can direct the IRS not to enforce the prohibitions.

The White House official, who sought anonymity despite the president's criticism of anonymous sources, told reporters Wednesday night that the order will direct the IRS to use "maximum enforcement discretion" over the rule. The move is favored by some of the Christian conservatives who helped fuel his rise to the presidency.

The regulation, named for then-Sen. Lyndon Johnson, was enacted in 1954 and prohibited partisan political activity for churches and other tax-exempt organizations. The policy still allows a wide range of advocacy on political issues, but in the case of houses of worship, bars electioneering and outright political endorsements from the pulpit. The rule has rarely been enforced.

The IRS does not make public its investigations in such cases, but only one church is known to have lost its tax-exempt status as a result of the prohibition. The Church at Pierce Creek in Conklin, New York, was penalized for taking out newspaper ads telling Christians they could not vote for Bill Clinton in the 1992 presidential election. Even so, some religious leaders have argued the rule has a chilling effect on free speech, and have advocated for years for repeal.

Easing political activity rules for churches also raises questions about whether churches could be pulled into the campaign finance sphere and effectively become "dark money" committees that play partisan politics without disclosing donors.

The order's health care provision could apply to faith-based groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor, who run more than two dozen nursing homes for impoverished seniors, and have moral objections to paying the birth control costs of women in the health plans. The Obama administration created a buffer meant to shield those groups, but they said it didn't go far enough. They continued to press their case in the courts. Last year, the Supreme Court asked lower courts to take another look at the issue in search of a compromise.

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order Thursday targeting a rarely enforced IRS rule that says religious organizations and other non-profits that endorse political candidates risk losing their tax-exempt status. The order also promised "regulatory relief" for groups with religious objections to the preventive services requirement in the Affordable Care Act, according to a White House official. Those requirements include covering birth control. Still it was not clear just how those pledges would be carried out and the plans fall short of what religious conservatives expected of the president, who won overwhelming support from evangelicals by promising to "protect Christianity" and religious freedom. Trump will sign the order as he marks the National Day of Prayer at the White House Thursday. He was hosting members of his evangelical advisory board at a dinner Wednesday night and planned to meet Catholic cardinals in the Oval Office before signing the order. Trump has long pledged to protect religious freedom. He promised to "totally destroy" the law prohibiting the political activities, known as the Johnson Amendment, when he spoke in February at the National Prayer Breakfast, a high-profile Washington event with faith leaders, politicians and dignitaries. Fully abolishing the regulation would take an act of Congress, but Trump can direct the IRS not to enforce the prohibitions. The White House official, who sought anonymity despite the president's criticism of anonymous sources, told reporters Wednesday night that the order will direct the IRS to use "maximum enforcement discretion" over the rule. The move is favored by some of the Christian conservatives who helped fuel his rise to the presidency. The regulation, named for then-Sen. Lyndon Johnson, was enacted in 1954 and prohibited partisan political activity for churches and other tax-exempt organizations. The policy still allows a wide range of advocacy on political issues, but in the case of houses of worship, bars electioneering and outright political endorsements from the pulpit. The rule has rarely been enforced. The IRS does not make public its investigations in such cases, but only one church is known to have lost its tax-exempt status as a result of the prohibition. The Church at Pierce Creek in Conklin, New York, was penalized for taking out newspaper ads telling Christians they could not vote for Bill Clinton in the 1992 presidential election. Even so, some religious leaders have argued the rule has a chilling effect on free speech, and have advocated for years for repeal. Easing political activity rules for churches also raises questions about whether churches could be pulled into the campaign finance sphere and effectively become "dark money" committees that play partisan politics without disclosing donors. The order's health care provision could apply to faith-based groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor, who run more than two dozen nursing homes for impoverished seniors, and have moral objections to paying the birth control costs of women in the health plans. The Obama administration created a buffer meant to shield those groups, but they said it didn't go far enough. They continued to press their case in the courts. Last year, the Supreme Court asked lower courts to take another look at the issue in search of a compromise.
By AFP

LONDON: Theresa May was awaiting the results of her first nationwide electoral test as Britain's prime minister on Thursday, as the Brexit debate grew increasingly bitter just weeks away from a crucial general election.

British voters went to the polls to choose thousands of new local councillors, with the outcome set to be closely watched for proof of the strength of May's Conservatives ahead of the June 8 parliamentary elections.

Polling stations closed at 10:00pm (2100 GMT) with results due throughout Friday to determine nearly 5,000 local authority seats across England, Scotland and Wales, along with eight metropolitan mayoralties.

Experts caution against using the results to predict the outcome of next month's vote, as they are typically fought on local issues.

But the proximity of the general election and the increasingly hostile atmosphere between London and Brussels over the Brexit negotiations overshadowed Thursday's polls.

'Threats against Britain'

Acting on last year's referendum, May gave the European Union formal notice of Britain's intention to leave the bloc on March 29, and two weeks ago called a surprise general election.

She says she wants to strengthen her mandate as she heads into the Brexit negotiations.

Speaking outside her Downing Street office on the eve of the local polls, May blasted Brussels for making "threats against Britain" over the divorce proceedings.

The two sides have clashed over the costs of leaving, prompting May to accuse the EU of toughening its stance in statements "deliberately timed to affect the result of the general election".

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani dismissed the claim, insisting: "No one is trying to influence the outcome."

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble meanwhile weighed in with a warning of tough times ahead.

"The negotiations will become terribly difficult for the UK, they will see it," he told a reception at South Africa's University of Kwazulu-Natal, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Durban.

And EU President Donald Tusk said that early rows over Brexit risked the entire process.

"These negotiations are difficult enough as they are. If we start arguing before they even begin they will become impossible," he told a news conference.

"The stakes are too high to let our emotions get out of hand," he added.

"To succeed we need today discretion, moderation, mutual respect and a maximum of goodwill."

But the EU fired a fresh salvo on Thursday, proposing new rules that would require a huge slice of London's vital banking business to leave the UK after Brexit.

Unveiled by European Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis, the rules would deny London the right to host banking "clearing houses" that deal in euros, the EU's single currency.

Local elections spillover

British opposition leaders have claimed May is using the EU talks as a distraction from other issues, with Labour chief Jeremy Corbyn accusing her of "playing party games with Brexit".

A YouGov poll of 2,066 adults on Tuesday and Wednesday for The Times newspaper put the Conservatives on 48 percent, Labour on 29, the Liberal Democrats on 10 and the UK Independence Party on five ahead of the general election.

Labour says the local election results could show the huge gap could be inaccurate.

"Let's see what happens. That might be an interesting measure of how things are going more generally, and how accurate the polling is," a senior Labour source said.

Roger Scully, a politics professor at the University of Cardiff, said national issues would inevitably have some effect on the outcome of Thursday's vote.

"The Conservatives are doing very well and that is almost certainly likely to have some spillover into the local elections," he said.

"They will provide some vital information about the pattern of support and where parties are performing particularly strongly or weakly," added Anthony Wells of YouGov.

The smaller, pro-EU Liberal Democrats are hoping to garner some momentum for the June vote with gains on Thursday.

By contrast the anti-EU, anti-mass immigration UK Independence Party is predicted to lose most of its council seats as it struggles to define itself now that its principal goal -- Brexit -- is on its way to being achieved.

LONDON: Theresa May was awaiting the results of her first nationwide electoral test as Britain's prime minister on Thursday, as the Brexit debate grew increasingly bitter just weeks away from a crucial general election. British voters went to the polls to choose thousands of new local councillors, with the outcome set to be closely watched for proof of the strength of May's Conservatives ahead of the June 8 parliamentary elections. Polling stations closed at 10:00pm (2100 GMT) with results due throughout Friday to determine nearly 5,000 local authority seats across England, Scotland and Wales, along with eight metropolitan mayoralties. Experts caution against using the results to predict the outcome of next month's vote, as they are typically fought on local issues. But the proximity of the general election and the increasingly hostile atmosphere between London and Brussels over the Brexit negotiations overshadowed Thursday's polls. 'Threats against Britain' Acting on last year's referendum, May gave the European Union formal notice of Britain's intention to leave the bloc on March 29, and two weeks ago called a surprise general election. She says she wants to strengthen her mandate as she heads into the Brexit negotiations. Speaking outside her Downing Street office on the eve of the local polls, May blasted Brussels for making "threats against Britain" over the divorce proceedings. The two sides have clashed over the costs of leaving, prompting May to accuse the EU of toughening its stance in statements "deliberately timed to affect the result of the general election". European Parliament President Antonio Tajani dismissed the claim, insisting: "No one is trying to influence the outcome." German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble meanwhile weighed in with a warning of tough times ahead. "The negotiations will become terribly difficult for the UK, they will see it," he told a reception at South Africa's University of Kwazulu-Natal, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Durban. And EU President Donald Tusk said that early rows over Brexit risked the entire process. "These negotiations are difficult enough as they are. If we start arguing before they even begin they will become impossible," he told a news conference. "The stakes are too high to let our emotions get out of hand," he added. "To succeed we need today discretion, moderation, mutual respect and a maximum of goodwill." But the EU fired a fresh salvo on Thursday, proposing new rules that would require a huge slice of London's vital banking business to leave the UK after Brexit. Unveiled by European Commission vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis, the rules would deny London the right to host banking "clearing houses" that deal in euros, the EU's single currency. Local elections spillover British opposition leaders have claimed May is using the EU talks as a distraction from other issues, with Labour chief Jeremy Corbyn accusing her of "playing party games with Brexit". A YouGov poll of 2,066 adults on Tuesday and Wednesday for The Times newspaper put the Conservatives on 48 percent, Labour on 29, the Liberal Democrats on 10 and the UK Independence Party on five ahead of the general election. Labour says the local election results could show the huge gap could be inaccurate. "Let's see what happens. That might be an interesting measure of how things are going more generally, and how accurate the polling is," a senior Labour source said. Roger Scully, a politics professor at the University of Cardiff, said national issues would inevitably have some effect on the outcome of Thursday's vote. "The Conservatives are doing very well and that is almost certainly likely to have some spillover into the local elections," he said. "They will provide some vital information about the pattern of support and where parties are performing particularly strongly or weakly," added Anthony Wells of YouGov. The smaller, pro-EU Liberal Democrats are hoping to garner some momentum for the June vote with gains on Thursday. By contrast the anti-EU, anti-mass immigration UK Independence Party is predicted to lose most of its council seats as it struggles to define itself now that its principal goal -- Brexit -- is on its way to being achieved.
F-4E fighter jet crash in August caused by engine nozzle defect: Air Force The crash of a South Korean F-4E fighter jet in August was caused by an engine nozzle problem, the Air Force said Wednesday. It announced the outcome of its probe into the cause...
By AFP

NEW YORK: More than 300 protesters marched in New York on Thursday against a scheduled visit by President Donald Trump as the House of Representatives passed a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare.

"Hey hey, ho ho Donald Trump has got to go!" members of the group shouted, protesting his policies as they marched up 12th Avenue toward a decommissioned aircraft carrier serving as a museum where Trump is scheduled to dine with the Australian prime minister later Thursday.

"Trump listen, we're in the fight!" they sang in Spanish. Some protesters banged on pots and pans.

"Protect Americans, Save Obamacare," one placard read.

"I'm just here to protest everything Trump," real estate broker Nina Horowitz said. "It just gets worse and worse and he's just not president material by any stretch of the imagination."

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Thursday narrowly passed a Republican effort to repeal and replace Obamacare, which will now head to the Senate, where it faces substantial opposition.

"We're hoping it can get defeated in the Senate," Horowitz said. It's just shocking to me."

Multiple groups are organizing protests to mark Trump's first visit to his hometown since becoming president. The Republican's policies are heavily disliked in the largely Democratic city, where 80 percent of the electorate voted for his opponent Hillary Clinton last November.

His moves to restrict immigration, roll back federal protections for transgender students and assault Obamacare are all widely unwelcome in America's most populous city, and one of its most liberal.

The massive police presence and huge cost necessary for securing his Trump Tower home -- where the first lady and the couple's 11-year-old son have continued to live through the school year -- are also deeply unpopular.

"I'm here to show my discontent with Donald Trump and the example that he's setting and the way that he's leading this country based on hate, bigotry and divisiveness," said one of the march organizers, Flav Maximus, 39.

"He's an anti-intellectual who's not qualified for the job and I believe he contradicts what America is supposed to be about."

NEW YORK: More than 300 protesters marched in New York on Thursday against a scheduled visit by President Donald Trump as the House of Representatives passed a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare. "Hey hey, ho ho Donald Trump has got to go!" members of the group shouted, protesting his policies as they marched up 12th Avenue toward a decommissioned aircraft carrier serving as a museum where Trump is scheduled to dine with the Australian prime minister later Thursday. "Trump listen, we're in the fight!" they sang in Spanish. Some protesters banged on pots and pans. "Protect Americans, Save Obamacare," one placard read. "I'm just here to protest everything Trump," real estate broker Nina Horowitz said. "It just gets worse and worse and he's just not president material by any stretch of the imagination." The Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Thursday narrowly passed a Republican effort to repeal and replace Obamacare, which will now head to the Senate, where it faces substantial opposition. "We're hoping it can get defeated in the Senate," Horowitz said. It's just shocking to me." Multiple groups are organizing protests to mark Trump's first visit to his hometown since becoming president. The Republican's policies are heavily disliked in the largely Democratic city, where 80 percent of the electorate voted for his opponent Hillary Clinton last November. His moves to restrict immigration, roll back federal protections for transgender students and assault Obamacare are all widely unwelcome in America's most populous city, and one of its most liberal. The massive police presence and huge cost necessary for securing his Trump Tower home -- where the first lady and the couple's 11-year-old son have continued to live through the school year -- are also deeply unpopular. "I'm here to show my discontent with Donald Trump and the example that he's setting and the way that he's leading this country based on hate, bigotry and divisiveness," said one of the march organizers, Flav Maximus, 39. "He's an anti-intellectual who's not qualified for the job and I believe he contradicts what America is supposed to be about."
By AFP

VATIAN CITY: Pope Francis will receive US President Donald Trump at the Vatican on May 24, the first official meeting for the two leaders who have found themselves starkly at odds on issues including migration and climate change.

Trump's morning audience with Francis will come just days before he is scheduled to attend a G7 summit meeting in Sicily.

It will be followed by meetings with his Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States.

The two leaders have previously staked out opposing policy positions, most notably in a heated exchange through the media while Trump was campaigning in February 2016 to become the Republican Party's nominee for the White House.

"Anyone, whoever he is, who only wants to build walls and not bridges is not a Christian," Francis told journalists, responding to a question about the real estate mogul's anti-immigrant stance.

Trump retorted: "For a religious leader to question a person's faith is disgraceful."

Trump later softened his tone, saying the pope was misinformed, unaware of the impact of the drugs coming into the United States and a range of security issues that made it necessary to build a wall along the southern US border.

On a visit to Mexico in February 2016 Francis held an open-air mass on the US-Mexico border, where he described forced migration as "a human tragedy."

More recently, in an interview with Spanish daily El Pais conducted as Trump was being sworn in as president on January 20, Francis warned against populism, saying it could lead to the election of "saviours" like Hitler.

He also condemned the idea of using walls and barbed wire to keep out foreigners.

Just days after his inauguration, however, Trump took a first step toward fulfilling his pledge to build a 2,000-mile (3,200 kilometres) wall along on the Mexican border, signing two immigration-related decrees.

His administration has also tried to impose travel bans for people from seven mostly-Muslim countries as well as all refugees, a move directly at odds with Francis's calls for welcoming and integrating people forced from their homes.

The pope has also been an ardent supporter of efforts to combat climate change and its consequences to the world's most vulnerable populations, in terms of pollution, disease, wars and migration.

In November he criticised politicians who have yet to show "concrete will" in implementing global climate agreements.

The comments were seen by many as a swipe at Trump's pledge to pull the United States out of the COP21 Paris Agreement which binds countries to national pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Trump has said he will make his decision on sticking to the agreement before the G7 meeting in Taormina, Sicily.

But there could be areas for the two leaders to find common ground, in particular over Trump's efforts to curb abortions.

He has signed legislation that removes Obama-era rules protecting tax-funded financing of family planning clinics that offer abortions.

Last month, Trump said he was looking "very much forward" to meeting with Francis, and it appears that both sides made an effort to make the meeting happen.

Leaders normally give the Holy See several months' notice when requesting a papal audience, but both Vatican and White House officials said they were trying to arrange a meeting.

VATIAN CITY: Pope Francis will receive US President Donald Trump at the Vatican on May 24, the first official meeting for the two leaders who have found themselves starkly at odds on issues including migration and climate change. Trump's morning audience with Francis will come just days before he is scheduled to attend a G7 summit meeting in Sicily. It will be followed by meetings with his Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States. The two leaders have previously staked out opposing policy positions, most notably in a heated exchange through the media while Trump was campaigning in February 2016 to become the Republican Party's nominee for the White House. "Anyone, whoever he is, who only wants to build walls and not bridges is not a Christian," Francis told journalists, responding to a question about the real estate mogul's anti-immigrant stance. Trump retorted: "For a religious leader to question a person's faith is disgraceful." Trump later softened his tone, saying the pope was misinformed, unaware of the impact of the drugs coming into the United States and a range of security issues that made it necessary to build a wall along the southern US border. On a visit to Mexico in February 2016 Francis held an open-air mass on the US-Mexico border, where he described forced migration as "a human tragedy." More recently, in an interview with Spanish daily El Pais conducted as Trump was being sworn in as president on January 20, Francis warned against populism, saying it could lead to the election of "saviours" like Hitler. He also condemned the idea of using walls and barbed wire to keep out foreigners. Just days after his inauguration, however, Trump took a first step toward fulfilling his pledge to build a 2,000-mile (3,200 kilometres) wall along on the Mexican border, signing two immigration-related decrees. His administration has also tried to impose travel bans for people from seven mostly-Muslim countries as well as all refugees, a move directly at odds with Francis's calls for welcoming and integrating people forced from their homes. The pope has also been an ardent supporter of efforts to combat climate change and its consequences to the world's most vulnerable populations, in terms of pollution, disease, wars and migration. In November he criticised politicians who have yet to show "concrete will" in implementing global climate agreements. The comments were seen by many as a swipe at Trump's pledge to pull the United States out of the COP21 Paris Agreement which binds countries to national pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Trump has said he will make his decision on sticking to the agreement before the G7 meeting in Taormina, Sicily. But there could be areas for the two leaders to find common ground, in particular over Trump's efforts to curb abortions. He has signed legislation that removes Obama-era rules protecting tax-funded financing of family planning clinics that offer abortions. Last month, Trump said he was looking "very much forward" to meeting with Francis, and it appears that both sides made an effort to make the meeting happen. Leaders normally give the Holy See several months' notice when requesting a papal audience, but both Vatican and White House officials said they were trying to arrange a meeting.
By AFP

WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives on Thursday overwhelmingly voted in favor of broadening sanctions against North Korea, including efforts to cut the regime's sources of international financing.

Lawmakers voted 419 to 1 for the bill, which now heads to the Senate.

Rhetoric between the West and the reclusive regime have spiked in recent weeks, and Pyongyang has threatened to carry out a sixth nuclear test that would further inflame tensions.

"Real threats demand real responses," House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Ed Royce said.

"This bill gives the administration a powerful tool to cut off North Korea's funding by going after those who do business with the regime."

The legislation prohibits vessels owned by North Korea or other countries that violate United Nations Security Council resolutions on the country from operating in US waters or docking at US ports.

In a bid to cut off Pyongyang's access to hard currency, the measure sanctions persons or entities that import North Korean coal, iron or iron ore beyond UN-imposed limits, or that facilitate the regime's online business activities.

And it targets those involved in the export or use of North Korean forced labor, in part by banning goods produced under such conditions from entering the United States.

"Our vote today demonstrates that America will use every tool at our disposal to end the threat North Korea is posing," House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said in a statement.

"We must increase the pressure on the Kim regime and use all points of leverage to achieve lasting stability and peace."

The measure requires President Donald Trump's administration to determine within 90 days whether the North Korean government should be re-designated as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Pyongyang was removed from the US list in 2008.

WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives on Thursday overwhelmingly voted in favor of broadening sanctions against North Korea, including efforts to cut the regime's sources of international financing. Lawmakers voted 419 to 1 for the bill, which now heads to the Senate. Rhetoric between the West and the reclusive regime have spiked in recent weeks, and Pyongyang has threatened to carry out a sixth nuclear test that would further inflame tensions. "Real threats demand real responses," House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Ed Royce said. "This bill gives the administration a powerful tool to cut off North Korea's funding by going after those who do business with the regime." The legislation prohibits vessels owned by North Korea or other countries that violate United Nations Security Council resolutions on the country from operating in US waters or docking at US ports. In a bid to cut off Pyongyang's access to hard currency, the measure sanctions persons or entities that import North Korean coal, iron or iron ore beyond UN-imposed limits, or that facilitate the regime's online business activities. And it targets those involved in the export or use of North Korean forced labor, in part by banning goods produced under such conditions from entering the United States. "Our vote today demonstrates that America will use every tool at our disposal to end the threat North Korea is posing," House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said in a statement. "We must increase the pressure on the Kim regime and use all points of leverage to achieve lasting stability and peace." The measure requires President Donald Trump's administration to determine within 90 days whether the North Korean government should be re-designated as a state sponsor of terrorism. Pyongyang was removed from the US list in 2008.
RI Election Day Coverage Recap: Election Results and more

In the Nov. 8 election Rhode Islanders cast their vote for governor, Congressman, and ballot issues. Here's everything you need to know.
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Some clouds this morning will give way to generally sunny skies for the afternoon. High 74F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

A few passing clouds. Low near 55F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.
According to a doctoral dissertation being examined at the University of Helsinki, Chinese people of a higher socioeconomic status are on average in better physical and cognitive condition at baseline. However, socioeconomic status does not protect people from age-related decreases in the ability to function.

The results indicate insufficient financial resources and healthcare services correlated with a decreased ability to function in China. High levels of education and domestic income levels predicted better cognitive skills for Chinese people 65 years of age and older. A high income level was also linked to higher ability to function in terms of daily chores.

The study used the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy and Longevity Survey (CLHLS) which was conducted in China between 2002 and 2011. CLHLS is the most extensive population-level study of Chinese people aged 65 years and older. It is based on internationally comparable survey forms, and yielded comprehensive data on socioeconomic status, family structure and background, living arrangements, daily activities, lifestyle and health.

High education of children reduced male mortality

According to the dissertation, cohabiting with a highly educated spouse or child was connected to lower mortality. Highly educated spouses reduced mortality among seniors, particularly among men. Highly educated children were linked to reduced mortality, both for men and women.

"In addition, men and women who were less educated but who cohabited with more educated children, were healthier. It seems that the health impact of education among seniors is partially influenced by the education level of the children," says Lei Yang, doctoral candidate at the University of Helsinki.

People in the higher social classes were healthier on average and had lower mortality than lower classes. However, it is not clear whether these differences become less pronounced later in life.

"There is still limited data about this in China, even though it has the largest population of seniors in the world," Yang explains.

Family's social status has a highimpact on senior health

Unlike in western countries, Chinese seniors typically live with their children, and family members play an important role in their healthcare.

"The social standing of the family members seems to have even more impact on the health of the senior population in China than it does in western societies," Yang states.

The main objective of the study was to investigate the trajectories of health in later life by means of different indicators of socioeconomic status, and to assess how the socioeconomic status of family members affects the health and mortality risk of elderly people in China. The specific aim was to find out whether elderly people with a higher socioeconomic status have better physical and cognitive functioning and a lower rate of decline with age.

Source: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/good-socioeconomic-status-means-better-health-for-the-chinese
A new pilot study reports that Mexican-American stroke survivors are less likely to receive inpatient rehabilitation than non-Hispanic whites.

It's the next step for University of Michigan researchers examining stroke disparities.

"We already know that Mexican-Americans have worse stroke outcomes," says Michigan Medicine neurologist Lewis Morgenstern, M.D., one of the principal investigators of the new study in Stroke. "The main question now is: Why?"

Morgenstern's research with Lynda Lisabeth, Ph.D., MPH, of U-M's School of Public Health, investigated the allocation of rehabilitation services for 72 subjects who had a stroke.

The research team followed stroke patients for 90 days, calling subjects or caregivers every two weeks to find out whether stroke rehabilitation was happening at home or in another setting, and what kind of rehab service was provided.

Examining inpatient vs. in-home

Fifty of the 72 stroke survivors studied were Mexican-American, and the remaining 22 were non-Hispanic whites. The rates of those who received any type of rehab service were not significantly different.

Of those who received stroke rehabilitation, only 30 percent of Mexican-Americans received inpatient rehabilitation while 73 percent of non-Hispanic whites did. More than half of Mexican-Americans (51 percent) received in-home rehab while none of the non-Hispanic whites did.

Inpatient rehabilitation is intensive and may include several hours of work each day. It's actually too much exertion for some with severe strokes, Morgenstern says. Alternatively, home rehab may involve a few appointments each week.

These trends could affect patient outcomes, researchers say. But more research is needed to determine a relationship between rehab disparities and stroke recovery.

"A lack of intensive rehabilitation may partially explain why Mexican-Americans experience worse neurological, functional and cognitive results in the months after a stroke," Lisabeth says.

Limiting factors

"We found statistically significant results, which is unusual in a small study, but it remains a pilot study," Morgenstern says. "There aren't enough patients to figure out why (this occurs), and more research is needed."

The severity of the strokes didn't differ significantly among the two groups, nor did age or sex. And both were as likely to hold insurance, though the quality varied.

Morgenstern notes that patient and family preference may be a factor in choosing at-home versus inpatient rehab.

Adding to health disparity knowledge

Multiple studies on stroke disparities have been published thanks to data collected about every single stroke in Nueces County, Texas, since 2000.

The BASIC, or Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi, project has led to the publication of more than 70 research papers. It's funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

"One day, all of the U.S. is going to look like this community," says Morgenstern, also a U-M School of Public Health faculty member who has spent more than 20 years researching health disparities. "We're looking at a stable population of U.S. citizens with origins from our Southern border."
A new study has shown that approximately 53 per cent of NHS patients displayed clinical symptoms of depression and anxiety within a year after completing psychological treatments.

A total of 439 patients, who were considered to have recovered from their symptoms following therapy on the NHS, took part in the study. Over half of these were found to have suffered a relapse event, with up to 79 per cent of events occurring within the first six months after treatment.

The study, published in Behaviour Research and Therapy, was conducted by a team of NHS clinicians and scientists from the Universities of York, Sheffield, Huddersfield, and Trier.

Dr Shehzad Ali, from the University of York's Department of Health Sciences, said: "Our research highlights that, under the current system, some patients are being discharged too soon. As a result, patients who have low levels of depression at the time of discharge are more likely to relapse within a few months."

Participants in the study were in contact with researchers on a monthly basis for 12 months after treatment to monitor their wellbeing and to quantify the percentage of cases that relapsed. Patients with residual depression symptoms at the end of treatment were twice as likely to relapse.

Dr Jaime Delgadillo, from the University of Sheffield, said: "These findings underline the importance of monitoring patients' wellbeing for at least six months after treatment and offering adequate support to ensure they stay well. We argue that relapse prevention is a crucial but often neglected aspect of psychological care in the NHS.

"Incomplete or insufficient treatment also costs the NHS, as patients who relapse often need further care or support."

According to a report in 2016 from the independent Mental Health Taskforce to the NHS, poor mental health carries an economic and social cost of 105 billion a year in England. In total, 9.2 billion is spent every year by the NHS on mental health support and services.

Depression and anxiety are highly common and often disabling mental health problems, experienced by one in six adults in the UK.

Available treatments in the NHS include medication and psychological therapy. The most widely available form of psychological care for these conditions is known as Low-intensity Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (LiCBT), which is a brief and simplified adaptation of a treatment called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).

LiCBT involves weekly contact with a mental health professional who guides patients on how to look after their mental health and typically lasts under two months. LiCBT has been found to lead to short-term improvement of depression and anxiety in previous studies, although there is as still limited evidence about its long-term effectiveness after treatment.
Social smokers' risk for high blood pressure and high cholesterol is identical to those who light up every day, new research has found.

This large, nationally representative study is the first to look at blood pressure and cholesterol in social smokers. More than 10 percent of 39,555 people surveyed said they were social smokers, meaning they didn't smoke every day. That's on top of the 17 percent who called themselves current smokers.

Among current and social smokers (after researchers adjusted for differences in factors including demographics and obesity), about 75 percent had high blood pressure and roughly 54 percent had high cholesterol.

"Not smoking at all is the best way to go. Even smoking in a social situation is detrimental to your cardiovascular health," said lead author Kate Gawlik, assistant professor of clinical nursing at The Ohio State University.

"One in 10 people in this study said they sometimes smoke, and many of them are young and already on the path to heart disease," she said.

Smoking is a risk factor for unhealthy blood pressure and cholesterol and both are significant contributors to cardiovascular disease, the leading killer of men and women worldwide.

The study appears in the American Journal of Health Promotion

"These are striking findings and they have such significance for clinical practice and for population health," said study senior author Bernadette Melnyk, dean of Ohio State's College of Nursing and chief wellness officer for the university.

Melnyk said doctors and nurses should strive to identify social smokers and offer them advice and tools to quit smoking.

"This has been a fairly neglected part of the population. We know that regular smoking is an addiction, but providers don't usually ask about social smoking," Melnyk said.

"The typical question is 'Do you smoke or use tobacco?' And social smokers will usually say 'No'."

Participants in the study were screened from February 2012 to February 2016 as part of Ohio State's Million Hearts educational program. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2012 launched Million Hearts, a five-year initiative to improve cardiovascular health co-led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Ohio State was the first university-wide partner.

During the screenings, participants identified themselves as nonsmokers, current smokers or social smokers. The screenings also included measures of blood pressure and total cholesterol.

Social smokers in the study were more likely to be younger (between 21 and 40 years old), male and Hispanic. After the researchers took into account demographic and biometric differences between the smokers and social smokers in the study, they found no difference in the risk of hypertension or high cholesterol.

Social smokers were defined as those who do not smoke cigarettes daily, but who smoke in certain social situations regularly.

The good news about this study is there's plenty of room for intervention and prevention of future death and disease, the researchers said.

"Simple healthy lifestyle behavior changes including appropriate aspirin therapy, blood pressure control, cholesterol management, stress management and -- very importantly -- smoking cessation can do away with much of the risk of chronic disease," Melnyk said.

The percentage of participants who called themselves "current smokers" was in line with estimates from the CDC, which reports that 17.8 percent of U.S. adults identify as smokers.

Gawlik and Melnyk said those who consider themselves social smokers should be aware that the toll on their cardiovascular health could be just as great as if they smoked every day.

And this study should prompt clinicians to rethink how they ask patients about smoking, they said.

"Are you a smoker?" isn't likely to work with social smokers, because they don't think of themselves as addicted, Gawlik said.

In the study, the researchers advise asking "Do you ever smoke cigarettes or use tobacco in social situations such as at bars, parties, work events or family gatherings?"

Another option: "When was the last time you had a cigarette or used tobacco with friends?"

Furthermore, clinicians working with smokers should be aware that cutting back on smoking isn't a good answer from a heart-health perspective.

"Doctors and nurses need to educate patients that social smoking is still a major health risk and is not a long-term healthy choice," Gawlik said.

Limitations of the study include the fact that the researchers don't have information about prior smoking behavior, just what the participants reported at the screenings. In addition, the screenings were open to people who chose to participate, meaning the study subjects were self-selected.

Gawlik said she'd like to know more about how many of those who smoke socially go on to become everyday smokers.

"That's a huge area for clinical intervention because you might be able to reach them before they're completely and totally addicted," she said.
Speech or language impairments may not be the cause of more frequent tantrums in children with autism, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers. The findings could help parents of children with autism seek out the best treatment for behavior problems.

Children with autism experience more tantrums than children without, according to the researchers, and speech therapists, preschool teachers, parents and others often blame these frequent outbursts on speech and language problems. Some children with autism spectrum disorder are not able to speak or have speech that is not clear or well-understood by others.

To investigate this correlation, the researchers studied the relationship between language and tantrum frequency in 240 children with autism between the ages of 15 and 71 months of age. The researchers, who published their results in a recent issue of the Journal of Development and Physical Disabilities, said that the children's IQ, their ability to understand language and their ability to use words and speak clearly, explained less than 3 percent of their tantrums.

"We had children in our sample with clear speech and enough intelligence to be able to communicate, and their tantrums were just as high in that group," said Cheryl D. Tierney, associate professor of pediatrics, College of Medicine, and section chief, behavior and developmental pediatrics, Penn State Children's Hospital.

The researchers also found that children who spoke at the level of a 2-year-old with normal development had more tantrums than children with lower speech skills.

"There is a common pervasive misbelief that children with autism have more tantrum behaviors because they have difficulty communicating their wants and their needs to caregivers and other adults," Tierney explained. "The belief is that their inability to express themselves with speech and language is the driving force for these behaviors and that if we can improve their speech and their language the behaviors will get better on their own. But we found that only a very tiny percentage of temper tantrums are caused by having the inability to communicate well with others or an inability to be understood by others."

In the study, Tierney and co-investigator Susan D. Mayes, professor of psychiatry, addressed the limitations in previous research by including a larger sample of children and capturing more measurements. They add that their study is unique because it measures IQ and it separates speech and language as different variables that might affect tantrum behavior in children with autism.

"IQ is extremely important because a child that has the mental capacity to understand and use language may display different behaviors compared to a child who doesn't have the mental capacity and comprehension to use language," Tierney said.

She also explained the difference between language and speech in the study of children with autism.

"Language is a child's ability to understand the purpose of words and to understand what is said," she said. "Speech is their ability to use their mouth, tongue, lips and jaw to form the sounds of words and make those sounds intelligible to other people."

The study doesn't answer the question of what causes tantrums in children with autism, but mood dysregulation and a low tolerance for frustration -- two common traits -- are likely factors that should be studied further, Tierney said.

Tierney suggests enough evidence has accumulated to shift the emphasis from improving speech to improving behavior.

"We should stop telling parents of children with autism that their child's behavior will get better once they start talking or their language improves because we now have enough studies to show that that is unlikely to happen without additional help," she said.

That help should come in the form of applied behavior analysis, and having a well-trained and certified behavior analyst on a child's treatment team is key to improved outcomes, Tierney added.

"This form of therapy can help children with autism become more flexible and can show them how to get their needs met when they use behaviors that are more socially acceptable than having a tantrum," Tierney said.
A large randomized controlled, pragmatic trial involving 1445 patients with allergic asthma found that an integrative medicine approach in which acupuncture is added to routine care demonstrated improvements in both quality of life and physical and mental health for those receiving acupuncture. The successful results, reported after 3 months of treatment and maintained through the 6-month follow-up, are described in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (JACM), a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the JACM website until June 3, 2017.

In the article entitled "Acupuncture in Patients with Allergic Asthma: A Randomized Pragmatic Trial," Benno Brinkhaus, MD, and coauthors from Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin, Universitat Freiburg, Germany, and University Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich, Switzerland, undertook the study as part of a governmental assessment of the practice. Patients in the active arm received on average 15 acupuncture sessions during the first 3 months of the trial and no acupuncture between months three and six. As a pragmatic trial, reflecting real world conditions, a majority (70%) only received 5-10 visits.

"This pragmatic, multi-center trial - engaged to inform policy-makers - leaves the dual message of multiple patient-centered benefits while at the same time requiring what was typically a surprisingly low number of treatments," states JACM Editor-in-Chief John Weeks, johnweeks-integrator.com, Seattle, WA. "Given the challenges presented to individuals dealing with the symptoms of allergic rhinitis, one might postulate that had the outcomes included productivity markers, the benefits from the protocol would have been even more positive for the intervention."
The American Cancer Society, the largest non-government, not-for-profit funding source of cancer research in the United States, has approved funding of a new research grant totaling $792,000 to a researcher at Yale University. The grant is among 109 national research and training grants totaling more than $45 million that will fund investigators at 75 institutions across the United States; 102 are new grants while seven are renewals of previous grants. The grants go into effect July 1.

Ryan B. Jensen, Assistant Professor of Therapeutic Radiology at Yale School of Medicine, will begin work on his project titled, "Elucidating Cancer Risk in Homology-Directed Repair Variants." According to a news release from the cancer society, Jensen's lab is working to understand how failures in DNA repair contribute to both cancer risk and improved treatment strategies. Their focus has been on genes involved in repair of DNA double-strand breaks, such as BRCA2, which when inherited in a mutant form predisposes an individual to high-risk for breast, ovarian, and other epithelial cancers. Understanding how these genes function in DNA repair may pave the way for not only understanding how cancer cells initiate, but may also reveal clues on how to stop tumors from progressing.

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The generous support from the American Cancer Society and its donors will ensure our lab will continue our investigations into DNA repair and will ultimately help to more precisely determine the genetic risk each person has of developing cancer, Jensen said in the release.

In the coming months, Relay For Life participants across Connecticut and the US will help save lives by raising the necessary dollars to help fund groundbreaking research projects such as Dr. Jensens. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, the Society has invested more than $4.5 billion in research since 1946 that has helped with the research and training of health professionals to investigate the causes, prevention, and early detection of cancer, as well as new treatments, cancer survivorship, and end of life support for patients and their families. Currently there are 21 research grants in effect totaling more than $10.3 million in funding at Connecticut institutions.
The disease is characterized by inflammation and a buildup of tissue around the eyes that cause them to bulge painfully from their sockets.

There has never been a safe and effective treatment for Graves' eye disease, also known as thyroid eye disease, for the one million Americans with the condition. Patients see inconsistent results from anti-inflammatory medicines and complex orbital surgery helps give some a more natural appearance once the disease has run its course.

The results of a clinical trial led by the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center offers hope for those with moderate-to-severe active TED. Patients had a significant reduction in eye symptoms after treatment with teprotumumab, a study drug the U.S. Food and Administration designated a "breakthrough therapy."

Most study patients in the trial who got the active drug instead of a placebo had reduced eye bulging, eye pain and swelling and improved quality of life, the study's primary and secondary end points.

For some, the therapeutic benefit was rapid, occurring within six weeks of intravenous infusions of the drug that blocks what researchers say is an autoimmune attack on muscles around the eyes.

The clinical trial data published in the New England Journal of Medicine represents a key milestone in research led by study principal investigators Kellogg Eye Center's Terry J. Smith, M.D., an endocrinologist and professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, and Raymond Douglas, M.D., Ph.D., a Graves' eye disease specialist and renowned oculoplastics surgeon.

TED is a rare condition associated with Graves' disease, an autoimmune disorder that causes an overproduction of thyroid hormone, or hyperthyroidism. Symptoms include swelling of the eyelids, constant stare, bulging eyes, eyelid retraction, optic neuropathy, double vision and other symptoms.

Approximately 25 to 50 percent of those with Graves' disease will develop TED, most of them women.

Previous findings in Smith's laboratory suggested that an insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R) plays an important role in Graves' disease and other autoimmune diseases.

"Specifically, we have found that there is an unusually high presence of IGF-1 receptors on cells surrounding the eye in TED," says lead study author Smith, who is widely recognized for his groundbreaking research on treatments for TED and related autoimmune disorders.

Building on this discovery, an outgrowth of basic science research conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles, and then at the Kellogg Eye Center, Smith, Douglas and colleagues, initiated the study of thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy.

"The eyes are particularly susceptible to Graves' disease because the autoimmune attack often targets the eye muscles and connective tissue surrounding the eye," Douglas says. "This occurs as a consequence of these tissues containing proteins that are shared with the thyroid gland."

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The Phase 2 clinical study, lasting 24 weeks and involving 88 patients, was the largest randomized, placebo-controlled multi-center TED trial conducted. Patients were recruited between July 2, 2013 and Sept. 23, 2015, from 15 sites across the United States, as well as Italy and Germany and the United Kingdom.

Study investigators examined the benefit of teprotumumab, a monoclonal antibody shown to inhibit IGF-1 function and was originally developed as a cancer drug.

Although teprotumumab failed to exhibit efficacy in patients with cancer, the team believed it might be useful in interrupting the TED disease process.

At the end of the trial, 69 percent of study patients receiving infusions of teprotumumab once every three weeks had reduced eye bulging (proptosis), improved vision and increased quality of life compared to 20 percent in the placebo group.

Patients were randomly assigned to receive either a placebo or an active drug. Neither participants nor researchers knew which medicine was being used so they could describe what happened in the trial without bias.

Many participants showed improvements within six weeks when, according to the study, a reported 43 percent of patients in the treatment group compared to 4 percent in the placebo group had a response.

Patients who responded to the treatment reached the study's primary end point of a reduction by 2 points or more in the severity of the disease, which was measured on a 7-point Clinical Activity Score, and reduction by 2 mm or more in the degree of proptosis. Secondary end points included better quality of life.

Those in the treatment group had a baseline Clinical Activity Score of 5.1. The marked reduction in proptosis is similar to the kind of results surgical patients would expect, authors note.

"The findings have implications for other autoimmune diseases in which IGF-1 reception has already been implicated such as rheumatoid arthritis," Smith says.

The most common side effect of treatment was nausea. Muscle spasms and diarrhea were also reported, particularly among patients with pre-existing gastrointestinal disease. The only drug-related adverse event was hyperglycemia in patients with diabetes; these events were controlled by adjusting medication for diabetes.

The results provide inroads for a new therapy to safely minimize the severity of the eye condition.

"The study is an important step in achieving registration of teprotumumab as the first approved therapy to prevent TED symptoms," says Guido Magni, chief medical officer of River Vision Corporation.

The drug cannot be prescribed to TED patients except in clinical trials. A follow-up clinical trial is underway, but not recruiting participants, and is expected to be complete in 2018.
A new article in JAMA Psychiatry details the first step in revealing how craving works in the brain. Scientists at the Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas are the first to propose a systematic and quantitative model for drug addiction research. The model focuses on craving: the intense, urgent feeling of needing or wanting drugs. Their ongoing research and subsequent findings have the potential to open a new frontier of alcohol and substance abuse treatment that may also apply to binge-eating disorders.

"Craving is considered one of the strongest predictors of relapse," said Dr. Xiaosi Gu, who runs the Computational Psychiatry Unit at the Center for BrainHealth. "Even after an individual has broken the cycle of compulsive drug taking, craving can still persist. Although current treatment can handle a lot of the behavioral aspects of addiction, especially physical symptoms, craving is difficult to treat because it is a subject state. For example, when you are hungry, you have the urge to eat, but it is difficult to measure how compelling your urge to eat is in a quantitative way. However, if we could visualize craving activation in the brain, we would be better able to quantify and target it. We aim, with this new framework, to begin to separate craving from reward- or drug-seeking behavior."

Research on drug craving has traditionally centered on studying cue response. For example, a marijuana study participant typically undergoes a brain scan while being shown a picture of a bong, and researchers analyze the brain activation in response to the cue. In this scenario, the bong is a valuable item to someone who uses marijuana. However, as Dr. Gu points out, there is no way to know whether the brain activation occurs in response to the reward (an item associated with smoking marijuana) or the craving (the bong image triggers craving for marijuana).

Dr. Gu and Dr. Francesca Filbey, also of the Center for BrainHealth and Bert Moore Chair at BrainHealth, are collaborating to identify - using a new computational model - the exact regions of the brain that encode craving. They plan to reanalyze brain scans from previous research to lay the groundwork for quantifying craving, its effects and ways to target treatments to counteract it.

Initial results are promising, but it will take a few years and additional funding to complete reanalysis of the thousands of brain scans previously compiled through Dr. Filbey's research as well as data from consortia to which Dr. Filbey belongs.
The synthetic biologists from Imperial College London have re-engineered yeast cells to manufacture the nonribosomal peptide antibiotic penicillin. In laboratory experiments, they were able to demonstrate that this yeast had antibacterial properties against streptococcus bacteria.

The authors of the study, which is published today in the journal Nature Communications, say their new method demonstrates the effectiveness of using this kind of synthetic biology as a route for discovering new antibiotics. This could open up possibilities for using re-engineered yeast cells to develop new forms of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs from the nonribosomal peptide family.

Nonribosomal peptides are normally produced by bacteria and fungi, forming the basis of most antibiotics today. Pharmaceutical companies have long experimented with nonribosomal peptides to make conventional antibiotics. The rise of antimicrobial resistance means there is a need to use genetic engineering techniques to find a new range of antibiotics from bacteria and fungi. However, genetically engineering the more exotic fungi and bacteria- the ones likely to have antibacterial properties -- is challenging because scientists don't have the right tools and they are difficult to grow in a lab environment, requiring special conditions.

Baker's yeast, on the other hand, is easy to genetically engineer. Scientists can simply insert DNA from bacteria and fungi into yeast to carry out experiments, offering a viable new host for antibiotic production research. The rise of synthetic biology methods for yeast will allow researchers to make and test many new gene combinations that could produce a whole new range of new antibiotics.

However, the authors are keen to point out that the research is still in its early stages. While this approach does show promise, they have so far produced nonribosomal peptide antibiotic penicillin in small quantities. More research needs to be done to see if it can be adapted to finding other compounds and to get production up to commercially viable quantities.

Dr. Tom Ellis, from the Centre for Synthetic Biology at Imperial College London, explains: "Humans have been experimenting with yeast for thousands of years. From brewing beer to getting our bread to rise, and more recently for making compounds like anti-malarial drugs, yeast is the microscopic workhorse behind many processes.

"The rise of drug-resistant superbugs has brought a real urgency to our search for new antibiotics. Our experiments show that yeast can be engineered to produce a well-known antibiotic. This opens up the possibility of using yeast to explore the largely untapped treasure trove of compounds in the nonribosomal peptide family to develop a new generation of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories."

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Previously, scientists have demonstrated that they could re-engineer a different yeast to make penicillin. However, that species of yeast is not as well understood or amenable to genetic manipulation compared to baker's yeast, used by the authors in today's study, making it less suitable for the development of novel antibiotics using synthetic biology.

In their experiments, the team used genes from the filamentous fungus, from which nonribosomal peptide penicillin is naturally derived. These genes caused the yeast cells to produce the nonribosomal peptide penicillin via a two-step biochemical reaction process. First, the cells made the nonribosomal peptide base -- the 'backbone' molecule -- by a complex reaction, and then this was modified by a set of further fungal enzymes that turn it into the active antibiotic.

During the experimentation process, the team discovered that they didn't need to extract the penicillin molecules from inside the yeast cell. Instead, the cell was expelling the molecules directly into the solution it was in. This meant that the team simply had to add the solution to a petri-dish containing streptococcus bacteria to observe its effectiveness. In the future, this approach could greatly simplify the molecule testing and manufacturing process.

Dr. Ali Awan, co-author from the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London, explains: "Fungi have had millions of years to evolve the capability to produce bacteria-killing penicillin. We scientists have only been working with yeast in this context for a handful of years, but now that we've developed the blueprint for coaxing yeast to make penicillin, we are confident we can further refine this method to create novel drugs in the future.

"We believe yeast could be the new mini-factories of the future, helping us to experiment with new compounds in the nonribosomal peptide family to develop drugs that counter antimicrobial resistance."

The team are currently looking for fresh sources of funding and new industrial collaborators to take their research to the next level.

Dr. Ellis added: "Penicillin was first discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming at St Mary's Hospital Medical School, which is now part of Imperial. He also predicted the rise of antibiotic resistance soon after making his discovery. We hope, in some small way, to build on his legacy, collaborating with industry and academia to develop the next generation of antibiotics using synthetic biology techniques."
Mumbai: Automobile company General Motors India on Thursday said that it will accept new applications for a separation scheme from employees who have been impacted by the decision to cease manufacturing at the company's Halol plant in Gujarat.



According to GM India's President and Managing Director Kaher Kazem, the decision to accept the new applications for the separation scheme was taken after a number of employees had approached the company's management "individually requesting that fresh applications for the VRS be considered".



"As we continue to consolidate GM India manufacturing at our Talegaon plant, we are listening to our employees and supporting them through the transition," said Kazem.



"We are mindful of the impact on our workforce of ceasing GM production at Halol, but we need to ensure our manufacturing consolidation remains on track," said Kazem.



"Halol employees have the option of a generous separation payment or continuity of employment at our Talegaon facility."
"We strongly believe that India can build up to a 10 percent GDP growth in the next three years. For the current year, CII analysis shows the GDP growth rate can be 8 percent,"Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) President Shobana Kamineni told reporters in New Delhi.

The drivers for this step up in growth would include the benefits from implementation of GST, and greater participation of women in the labour force, she added.

Stating that industry has been asking for a single national tax, Kamineni said: "Industry is completely ready for the introduction of the landmark tax reform from July 1, 2017. CII has been calling for a single national tax for the last 10 years and we will try to make its implementation as smooth as possible".

: India can achieve a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 10 percent by fiscal year 2019-20 on the back of tremendous opportunities available in the economy, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said on Thursday.This can be achieved by targeting 1 percent additional growth each year that would also lead to creating many more jobs, she added."It is eminently possible to create 5 million jobs each year, if the GDP growth rate can be boosted by an extra 1 percent. CII's analysis shows that as of now, we are creating about 3.7 million jobs annually," Kamineni said.The urbanisation process will drive greater economic activity in areas such as construction and government spending of up to Rs 30 trillion in various infrastructure projects over the next few years. Growth in service sector and tourism are other important drivers, Kamineni said.A CII estimate shows that the entire construction sector can add 30 million jobs in the next 10 years, she added.Favouring a reduction in corporate tax, she said: "CII would continue to request the government for quick action in reducing income tax for all corporates."The 25 per cent rate is currently applicable only for companies with turnover up to Rs 50 crore. Eventually, the corporate tax rate could be brought down to 18 per cent, together with the removal of all incentives. This will lead to much better tax compliance, she added."Solution to the NPA issue can no longer be postponed. We are encouraged by the package approved by the Cabinet last night," Kamineni said.
@AnilKapoor @sonamakapoor @MIB_India Aww so sweet ! Proud father! No greater joy in life than seeing your kids succeed  Shalini (@gracesha15) May 3, 2017

On Wednesday, while actress Sonam Kapoor was being presented with a 'Special Mention' at the 64th National Awards ceremony held in the capital, it was her father and actor Anil Kapoor who was living and enjoying each moment of the special event.Looking gorgeous dressed in a pastel green saree, as Sonam went up on the stage to accept her citation, her father who accompanied her at the prestigious ceremony, got up to click photographs of his daughter, just like any non-celebrity dad would, whose daughter had made him proud.In the images shared on social media, dad Anil Kapoor was gleaming with excitement and joy as he clicked pictures of Sonam with his smartphone.In fact, the actor himself took to Twitter to share an image of him clicking his daughter's pictures while Sonam received the huge honour from President Pranab Mukherjee. He captioned the image, "Clearly cannot contain my excitement! Father turns photographer (sic)."Soon after Mr Kapoor shared the image, various reactions poured in. While some congratulated Sonam and him, others wrote that they totally related to the proud dad's candid gesture of getting up to click his daughter's pictures.Apart from dad Anil Kapoor, Sonam's rumoured beau Anand Ahuja and mother Sunita Kapoor were also present by her side at the 64th National Film Awards.
Lucknow: Hindu Yuva Vahini, the right-wing organisation founded by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, has put its membership drive on hold amid questions over its involvement in violence.



Hindu Yuva Vahini general secretary PK Mall told CNN-News18, HYV will not accept any new membership for the next six months or even a year.





Mall said it is because the organisation believes that goons from non-BJP parties were posing as its members and carrying out violent attacks in the name of gau raksha and love jihad.







"Goons from Samajwadi party are wearing a Bhagwa Gamcha (saffron stole) and indulging in violence. We have asked our members to be careful," he said.





Mall, who is a close associate of Adityanath, admitted that the three people arrested in the Bulandshahr lynching case were its members but added the cases against them awere "fabricated". A 60-year-old Muslim man was beaten to death for allegedly helping his relative elope with a woman from another community.



Mall claimed the Vahini leadership is frequently getting complaints that people with a criminal record were trying to infiltrate the organisation.



"We are now in the process of visiting districts and holding meetings to check infiltration in the ranks. Yogi ji's message is clear: the Vahini needs to be an instrument of delivery mechanism of government schemes and not a self-appointed custodian. Such acts will not be tolerated," Mall said.
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday upheld the conviction of all the 11 accused in the Bilkis Bano gang rape case.



The court also set aside the acquittal of five other accused and convicted them for tampering of evidence.



The HC, however, refused CBIs appeal of death penalty for three accused.



"The appeal against conviction filed by the 11 convicts (one convict is dead) is dismissed. The conviction and sentence is upheld," a division bench of Justices V K Tahilramani and Mridula Bhatkar said, reported PTI.







A special court had on January 21, 2008, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment 11 men for gang-raping Bilkis and murdering seven of her family members in the aftermath of the Godhra riots.



The convicts later approached the HC and sought quashing of the trial court's order.



The CBI had also filed an appeal in the HC seeking death sentence for three of the 11 convicts on the ground that they were the main perpetrators of the crime.



According to the prosecution, a mob had attacked Bilkis' family at Randhikpur village near Ahmedabad during the post-Godhra riots on March 3, 2002, and killed seven members.




"We were advised by the British that if any particular name is mentioned it may be used by the person to cry political witch hunt in court when the extradition matter come up. Hence the decision to not name any individual was taken." a top officer told CNN News18.

Sources said it was also decided to fecilitate point to point contact between prosecuting agencies like CBI and ED and Crown prosecution UK so that communication is timely. Lack of timely exchange of documents and information has been blamed in the past for unsuccessful extradition pleas in UK courts. India was caught unaware when Scotland yard recently arrested Vijay Mallya.



Mallya, 61, who has been living in Britain since last year, was arrested by Scotland Yard last month on India's extradition request.

India and the UK have an extradition treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement - that of Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was sent back to India last October to face trial for his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.



India on Thursday asked Britain to remove bottlenecks in the extradition process so that fugitives like liquor baron Vijay Mallya are brought home to justice sooner.This was conveyed by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi to his British counterpart, Patsy Wilkinson and sources privy to the meeting said the Indian side did not take the name of Mallya, or any other individual, but made Indias concerns clear on long-pending extradition requests.Newly appointed MHA spokesperson Ashok Prasad said, "the need to improve the extradition processes was discussed without naming individual cases."The issue of the presence of certain Sikh militant elements in the UK, sharing of intelligence inputs on a real-time basis particularly with regard to the ISIS - both from ISIS-held territories, and modules being busted in the UK and Europe, were discussed at the two-hour-long meeting, official sources said, reported PTI.Counter-terror cooperation between India and Britain besides a host of other issues figured in the parleys.Matters relating to the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, strengthening of the intelligence-sharing mechanism and visa- related issues were also deliberated upon, the sources said.Within hours of his arrest, Mallya, who is accused of cheating and fraud, was released on bail by a London court.The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will argue the case on behalf of the Indian authorities when it comes before the court.Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines allegedly owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016.However, unlike Mallya, Patel had submitted to the extradition order without legal challenge. India had given a formal extradition request for Mallya as per the extradition treaty between India and the UK through a note verbale, a diplomatic communication, on February 8.
New Delhi: The Election Commission of India has convened an all-party meeting on May 12 to discuss the issue of electronic voting machines.



As many as 16 opposition parties have questioned the reliability of EVMs. The proposed meeting is seen as an effort by the EC to convince the political parties that EVMs are tamper-proof.



We will soon hold an all-party meeting in which they will be told how our EVMs are non-tamperable and secured as per our administrative and technical safeguard system," Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi had said on April 29.







Recently, 16 opposition parties had urged the poll panel to revert to ballot system, claiming that the faith of the people in EVMs has been "eroded". Seven national parties and 49 state parties will be invited.



Meanwhile, political parties may be asked to nominate their representatives who will participate in the Election Commission's EVM challenge. This will be discussed at the all-party meet. The EVM challenge is likely to take place on the last week of May.



(with PTI inputs)






New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday filed a case of corruption against former Delhi health secretary Dr Tarun Seem and three other private firms over alleged irregularities in handling funds meant for improving security in hospitals across the national capital.



The agency raided Seems office early on Thursday morning. Seem is currently the managing director of State Health Mission. He has been accused of mishandling Rs 10.50 crore that was meant for improving security around emergency areas of state-run hospitals. According to the case filed, the govt exchequer incurred huge losses because the irregularities in the handling of funds.



This is a fresh blow to the Aam Aadmi Party, as Seem was appointed by Delhi health minister by Satyendra Jain as health secretary, superseding atleast two senior IAS officers. Seem is an IRS officer from the 1992 batch. The CBI has made it clear that Jain has not been named in the FIR as of now.







The agency, however, is looking into the appointment of Satyendra Jains daughter, Saumya, as advisor to the director, State Health Mission. The LG had earlier agreed to the CBI investigating the appointment of Saumya by her father in his own ministry.
New Delhi: Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi met his British counterpart Patsy Wilkinson, the Second permanent secretary in the British Home Office, at North Block on Thursday.



India is likely to press for early extradition of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya from the United Kingdom during the Home Secy-level talks.



The counter-terror cooperation between India and the UK besides a host of other issues will figure in the meeting, official sources said.



Issues related to Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, strengthening of the intelligence sharing mechanism and visa related issues will also be deliberated upon, they said.



The 61-year-old Mallya, who has been living in Britain since last year, was arrested by the Scotland Yard last month on the extradition request of India.







Within hours of his arrest, Mallya, who is accused of cheating and frauds, was released on bail by a London court.



The UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will argue the case on behalf of the Indian authorities.



Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines allegedly owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016.



India and the UK have an extradition treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement - Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was sent back to India last October to face trial in connection with his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.



However, unlike Mallya, he had submitted to the extradition order without legal challenge. India had given a formal extradition request for Mallya as per the extradition treaty between India and the UK through a note verbale, a diplomatic communication, on February 8.
Kolkata: Facing contempt charges, Calcutta High Court judge Justice CS Karnan on Thursday declined his permission for the medical test, which was ordered by a seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court.



On Thursday morning, a three-member medical team visited Justice Karnans house in Kolkatas New Town area and requested him to appear for the test as per the Supreme Court order. However, Justice Karnan refused to undergo any sort of medical test and gave then a written reply.



Minutes before the medical team arrived, Justice Karnan held a press briefing where he termed his the Supreme Court order for his medically examination illegal.



Justice Karnan said, As per law, guardian signature is necessary if someone has to go through such medical test. In my case. this procedure was not followed. Let them come and do my medical test.







The order passed by the seven judges does not have any merit. This is not a legal order. This is a mad order. My fight is against corruption and I will continue to fight against it, he said.



On May 1, the seven-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India J S Khehar, Justice Dipak Misra, Justice Chelameshwar, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Madan B Lokur, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Kurian Joseph instructed the Director General of Police, West Bengal to constitute a team of police personnel and ensure that Justice Karnan is medically examined on May 4 and a report is submitted in the court by May 8.



He said, Even if they give medicines, injections or any medical aid...doctors are bound to tell the patients. I am not saying it...this is what written in the law.



Responding to a question whether he will take any action against the doctors or the policemen who will come for his medical test, he said, Everything you will come to know soon.



The seven judges had issued a suo motu contempt order against Justice Karnan in February after he had named 20 corrupt judges and was seeking probe against them to curb high corruption in the Indian judiciary. Also, he was stripped off of his judicial and administrative powers.


Some videos and other "incriminating evidence" were recovered from her house, said Mukesh Kumar Meena, Special Commissioner of Police, New Delhi range.



The woman had filed a rape case against another MP at Tilak Marg police station last year. In 2014, she had filed a complaint at Safdarjung Enclave police station against BJP leader from Uttarakhand Harak Singh Rawat, who was then a minister in the Congress-led government in the state, said Meena.



The Indirapuram residence of the 40-year-old woman, who was arrested earlier for allegedly honey-trapping and blackmailing a BJP MP KC Patel for Rs 5 crore was raided by the Delhi police on Wednesday.He added that the woman, hailing from Muzzafarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, would mostly target high-profile people.Sources claimed that a police team had also been sent to Muzzafarnagar to check on her criminal antecedents and to ascertain whether her law degree was genuine or not.In Rawat's case, the woman had subsequently changed her statement, he added.The woman told the police that several men and women were involved in the racket, said another officer, adding that some of the gang members were identified while the police were trying to identify the others.The core gang consists of five to six members, he said.KC Patel, the BJP MP from Gujarat's Valsad, had filed a police complaint last week, alleging that the woman had drugged him and shot obscene videos of him.The woman had approached a city court, claiming that the police refused to lodge her complaint, accusing Patel of rape.The woman came to Delhi around five years back. In her statement, she has said that she came to Delhi to prepare for the Rajasthan Public Service examination. As per the statement, she had even appeared in the preliminary exams of the UPSC, but couldn't clear them.In Patel's case, the woman claimed that the MP had called her. However, Patel told the police that she had approached him for some help.According to the investigators, the woman had installed spy cameras and CCTV cameras in her house and the gang had bugged the room where Patel was taken.The woman always kept a spy camera in her bag, they said.(With PTI inputs)
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday refused a public interest litigation which had demanded that Hindi be made compulsory up to Class VIII in all schools across the country.



We cant pass such orders. Tomorrow somebody will (say) make Sanskrit compulsory make Punjabi compulsory, said a bench led by Chief Justice of India J S Khehar.



The bench pointed out the government was already taking steps to promote Hindi. They are doing it themselves very much these are all policy decisions. How can we issue orders? the court asked senior lawyer R S Suri, who was appearing for PIL petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay.



With writing on the wall, Suri then withdrew the PIL.



Upadhyay is a Delhi BJP spokesperson. In his petition, he said Hindi in schools was a must for national integration. Upadhyay further claimed that it was a constitutional obligation to promote Hindi.
New Delhi: Ten suspected Naxals, one of them a juvenile, who are believed to be involved in the Sukma attack were arrested during a search operation in Chhattisgarh's insurgency-hit Sukma district, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) informed the ministry of home affairs on Thursday.



CRPF's report said that the four suspects were arrested after a joint operation with Chhatisgarh police from Chickpal and Phoolbagri villages in Sukma district. The suspects were later handed over to the state police.



Those arrested were identified as Hunga Madkami, Pujra, Aayati and a 17-year-old juvenile.



"At least two of those arrested are believed to be hardcore PGLA members. Investigation is on to ascertain the role of the other two," an officer told CNN-News18.



PGLA or People's Guerrilla Liberation Army is the militia wing of CPI-Maoist and its Sukma wing is believed to be headed by one Hidma.



Twenty-five CRPF jawans were killed in the attack in Sukma on April 24 on a road-opening party moving towards Chintagufa area.



"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 had said.



Eyewitness accounts had said 300 Naxals, mostly women had attacked the 74th battalion of CRPF. Interrogation of the arrested suspects will give police further leads into the conspiracy.


New Delhi: A three-year-old was allegedly raped by her neighbour in central Delhi following her abduction, police said on Thursday. The victim is in a critical state.



The accused, Vijay, 22, a daily wage labourer, has arrested hours after committing the crime in Anand Parbat on Wednesday, the police said.



An officer told IANS that he whisked the child away while she was playing and took her to his home on Wednesday morning.



The incident came to light when her parents, also daily wagers, started searching for their child. They were told by the neighbours that she was last seen with Vijay.



"When the parents reached Vijay's house, also in the same neighbourhood, they found the girl bleeding profusely and in an unconscious state," the officer said.



"She was immediately taken to Lady Hardinge Hospital, where she was operated twice on Wednesday."



Her condition was "still critical as bleeding hasn't stopped yet", the officer added.



The accused was arrested on Wednesday evening from his friend's house.



A case has been registered under the Protection of Children against Sexual Offence.
Muzaffarnagar: Police have arrested two men who they said were involved in a petrol theft racket in Uttar Pradesh.



The police said the men had inserted a chip-based device in a petrol pump dispenser, which showed correct readings but gave customers less fuel than what they paid for.



The men were arrested last night and some electronic goods seized from them after the police received a tip off from the state's Special Task Force, which has been conducting raids in petrol pumps in the state to monitor fuel theft.



According to some estimates, petrol pump owners in Lucknow have been duping customers of Rs 200 crore worth of petrol every per month.
Mumbai: Three suspected agents of Pakistan's ISI have been arrested from Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh, police said on Thursday.



An official said the arrests were made in a joint operation by anti-terrorism squads of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, PTI reported.



Acting on leads provided by ISI suspect Aftab Ali, arrested from UPs Faizabad on Wednesday, the UP ATS picked up Altaf Qureshi on Wednesday night from south Mumbais Masjid Bunder and Javed Iqbal from Agreepada, also in Mumbai, on Thursday morning, IG UP-ATS Aseem Arun said in Lucknow.



According to police, the trio was involved an espionage racket, with Aftab, believed to have been trained by ISI, maintaining constant touch with officials in the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.



IG Arun said pictures of the cantonment area in Faizabad have been recovered from Aftabs mobile phone. He was also allegedly keeping a close vigil on the movement of troops in the area, especially between Faizabad and Lucknow.



Following Aftab's interrogation, Qureshi, a hawala operator who also allegedly worked for ISI was held,

while Iqbal, the third suspect, is an aide of Qureshi.



Qureshi had allegedly deposited money in the bank account of Aftab for carrying out espionage activities. ATS officials seized a cellphone and Rs 71.57 lakh in cash from Qureshis house. He was in the

hawala business at the behest of Jawed Naviwala, the official said.



Javed told police that he used to get instructions from Pakistan and on Qureshis orders often deposited money in Aftab's bank account. Javed was in constant touch with ISI officials.



Aftab, booked under the Official Secrets Act, had allegedly passed on information about Indian Army's movements to officers posted at Pakistan High Commission and also to ISI, the official claimed.



He had allegedly provided information about the army's movements and units in Faizabad, Lucknow and Amritsar.



with PTI Inputs
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Veteran actor Mithun Chakraborty's daughter Dishani is all grown up now and looks stunning. Dishani Chakraborty is creating a buzz on social media. We have seen how Navya, Jhanvi, Sara and Samara grabbed the attention on social media. In the same way, now its turn of the daughter of our own disco dancer Mithun Chakrabortys Daughter. Her Instagram account has over 30,000 followers.Mithun adopted Dishani when she was a baby, and raised her along with his sons, Mahaakshay (Mimoh), Ushmey, and Namashi. Dishani has largely stayed away from the limelight but she is apparently interested to follow her father's footsteps. She is reportedly pursuing an acting course in New York Film Academy.Bollywoods Disco Dancer Mithun Chakraborty will soon be seen in a Bangladeshi movie Hasan Raja. This film is directed by British-Bangladeshi Filmmaker, Rahul Amin. Raima Sen will also be seen with Mithun Da in the movie. While, Mithun is busy with his Bangladeshi project, his daughter Dishani Chakraborty is ready to make her debut in Bollywood.Dishani Chakraborty is among those star kids of today who love to make style statements with her clothes. She dresses up with oodles of style and panache and sure looks chic in every outfit. She is touted as the next star kid who will make a much hyped debut.Have you seen her recent pictures? The star kid seems Bollywood ready! Take a look:Dishani has grown up to be such a stunner!Her pictures scream 'selfie addict' loudly.Her fashion game is on point!Dishani Chakraborty also seems to love Snapchat filters.She is a true daddy's girl and these pictures say it all.Her picture with Salman Khan is giving us fangirl feels!Isn't She cute?Though, the other two sons of this dancing prodigy failed to do something worthwhile in Bollywood, we certainly have high hopes with this pretty woman, Dishani.
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After B-town beauty Katrina Kaif flaunted her sexy back in her latest photoshoot shot by Mario Testino, it was actor Sushant Singh Rajput who slipped into a white towel, flaunting his chiselled body and toned backside for the celebrated Peruvian fashion and portrait photographer's iconic Towel series, becoming the second Indian actor and the first male Bollywood star to feature in the series.The Kai Po Che! actor turned up the heat in the photo by strategically placing the towel only to cover his assets. And while Rajput's image immediately reminds one of actor John Abraham who stripped down his yellow trunks to show off his shapely backside in the movie Dostana, the actor it seems just like Abraham, effortlessly managed to send a thousand female hearts aflutter.And while Rajput's ripped body, that has been put on an all out display in the photo, is proof of the strict regime and intense workout sessions that the actor indulges in, his out-of-the-shower messy hair and killer look is what sets hearts racing.Both Testino and Rajput took to Instagram to share the image and ever since the photo surfaced on social media, it has been breaking the Internet for all the right reasons.The actor also recently shot with reality star turned model Kendall Jenner for one of the leading fashion magazine Vogue India's May issue which was a special edition guest edited by photographer Mario Testino. Both Rajput and Jenner slayed in the photoshoot. Take a look.The actor will be next seen in Raabta opposite rumoured girlfriend Kriti Sanon which is slated for release on June 9.
I congratulate all those who were conferred with the National Film Awards. We are proud of their creativity & contribution to cinema.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 4, 2017

Shri K Vishwanath has distinguished himself as an outstanding filmmaker. I congratulate him on being conferred the Dada Saheb Phalke award.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 4, 2017

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today congratulated the winners of the National Film Awards and hailed their creativity and contribution to cinema."I congratulate all those who were conferred with the National Film Awards. We are proud of their creativity & contribution to cinema," he tweeted.He particularly showered praise on filmmaker and actor K Vishwanath who was conferred with the highest honour of Dada Saheb Phalke Award."Shri K Vishwanath has distinguished himself as an outstanding filmmaker. I congratulate him on being conferred the Dada Saheb Phalke award," Modi added.The National Film Awards were presented by President Pranab Mukherjee here yesterday to the winners.Bollywood star Akshay Kumar won the award for the best actor for his portrayal of a patriotic naval officer in "Rustom". "Neerja", directed by Ram Madhvani, was awarded the best Hindi film.Rajesh Mapuskar received the award for the best director for his film Ventilator while C M Surabhi was given the best actress award for her role in the Malayalam film Minnaminungu-The Firefly.
He added, "When I was Chief Minister for the first time, I tried to build peace between the two nations on my level as well. I thought that since both sides have Punjabi culture, Punjab-to-Punjab contact would be the catalyst to build relationships. But the recent events are unacceptable."

Captain Amarinder Singh also said that the only way to bring Punjab's youth out of drugs is to generate employment. "The biggest problem in the state right now is unemployment. I have 90 lakh young people who are out of work right now. Unless we give them jobs, we can never bring them out of drugs," he said.

The CM added, "India is growing at 7.2% while Punjab is growing at 5.6%. But since we have come, investor confidence has returned. I met 22 investors in Mumbai recently and they all agreed to come to Punjab."

: In the sharpest statement from an opposition leader on the mutilation of the bodies of Indian soldiers , Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said on Thursday that India should cut the heads of three Pakistani soldiers for every Indian soldier who was beheaded. Speaking at Network 18's 'Rising Punjab 2017' event in Chandigarh, Singh also spoke about the drug menace in Punjab and the future prospects of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.Photo of Indian jawans who were mutilated by Pakistani army. (Captain Amarinder Singh called for retribution against Pakistan for the dastardly attack on Indian soldiers at the LoC. "I am a former soldier and I find this unacceptable. If Pakistan cuts the heads of one of our soldiers, we should cut the heads of the three of theirs. We should treat their soldiers in a similar manner in which they treat ours," he said."I never promised to completely eradicate drug menace in the state in four weeks but I did promise that I would break the back of the drug trade. We have been successful in doing just that. If you try to buy chitta (a synthetic drug sold in Punjab) on the street today, you will find that the price has gone up by 60%," Singh told Network 18.He added, "Nobody can eradicate a decade of drug trade overnight but I believe we are on the right path. If you see, you will find that the number of out-patients and in-patients at government rehab centers have gone up. This is despite the fact that people usually prefer going to private rehab centers."When asked whether it was time for a "generational change" in the Congress, the Captain said, "I agree. Seventy percent of the country is under the age of 40. That is why even Congress brought in younger legislators."Singh also said it was time for Rahul Gandhis elevation to party chief. "As a political leader, I have seen him grow immensely. He is very perceptive and open to new opinions. However, once he takes a decision, he stands by that decision. The media has projected a different image of him. They should not call him names like 'Baba and 'Pappu'. It does not behove them to do so. I may not be here to see that day but I am sure that Rahul will make a great leader of the country one day."Launching an attack on the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which ruled Punjab for ten years before Amarinder was voted to power, he said, "When we came to power this year, we expected the state debt to be around Rs 1.30 lakh crore. As it turns out, it was around Rs 2.50 lakh crore. Even the budget deficit was massive."Singh said that Punjab needed to focus on industry over agriculture to grow faster but added that his government was also working to improve the agricultural sector.
Kolkata: Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal on Thursday alleged that the assets of many Trinamool Congress leaders and their family members are disproportionate to their known sources of income and picked Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees nephew for special mention.



TMC government has always said they are not corrupt. I would, however, like to ask the Chief Minister how her nephew Abhishek Banerjee gets to afford a bungalow for Rs 100 crore, said BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya.



Once we make Banerjees documents public, we will release property documents of TMC Vice-President Mukul Roy and minister Subhendu Adhikary. We want to see how the CM reacts to that, he added. Roy and Adhikary are both named in the chargesheet that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed in the Narada case.



Mamata dares BJP to send one TMC leader to jail



Meanwhile, in a separate development, Mamata hit back at the saffron partys comments on leaders to be jailed for the Saradha and Narada scams and challenged the BJP to send one leader of TMC to jail.



If they do it, people will send lakhs of BJP workers behind bars, she said, addressing a public meet in English Bazar in Malda.



For the last two days, a BJP leader has been claiming that all TMC leaders will be in jail. Id like to ask him what authority he is to make such statements. Politics of violence and threat will not work for India, she added.



Her statement comes after Vijayvargiya said that TMC leaders were all going to be behind bars soon on corruption charges.



Mamata also accused the saffron party of spreading lies on the ban on Saraswati Puja in Bengal. They are a party full of rioters. They have questioned my gender, and my religion. Religion and gender are not above the country for me, said the Chief Minister, adding that she performs Kali Puja with the same enthusiasm as she celebrates Eid.



The Chief Ministers criticism has not gone well with the saffron party, which called it a stunt to garner minority votes in the state.



I saw a poster of a lady offering namaz. I asked people who she was, and they told me it was the Chief Minister. All that I could wonder was how someone could stoop to such low levels for votes, said Vijayvargiya, as he pulled out a picture of the poster from his pocket at a rally organised by the saffron partys youth wing.



Other than appeasement politics, they have sucked the blood of poor people through corruption. All of them will go to jail. BJP is a democratic party, TMC is not. We are not afraid of going to jail for the right cause, he said, adding that Mamata was only keen on power, and not governance.
The other interesting development was that Vishwas was handed the reins of the party organisation in Rajasthan, replacing Manish Sisodia.

Challenges for them, however, will be immense. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has already kicked off the BJP's campaign. Congress, too, has been waiting in the wings for five years and has deep organisational roots in the state.

But not everyone is not convinced about it. A former AAP leader on condition of anonymity said, Kejriwal has given Vishwas the charge just to placate him. "Rajasthan elections are more than a year away. They gave this post to Vishwas only to pacify him. Kumar does not work well with others because he has a bigger ego than even Arvind. Kumar loves Kumar."

Ashok Parnami, Rajasthan BJP president, said, "If the AAP decides to come to Rajasthan, I can promise to you that they will be decimated. The people have seen that the Kejriwal government has not completed any of its promises in the last two years. On the other hand, we have the BJP government which has completed 72% of the promises it had made in the 2013 manifesto."

: After a humiliating defeat in Municipal Corporation of Delhi polls, the rift in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led to a churn last week with talks of "course correction". After a week-long drama, on Tuesday, Kumar Vishwas reaffirmed his faith in the party and said he was not running after any post or power. As a part of his compromise with Arvind Kejriwal, the party expelled Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan, who had called Vishwas a "BJP stooge".Vishwas's elevation is significant since Rajasthan Assembly polls are due in the second half of next year. Sources say after being kept out of the campaign in Punjab, Vishwas was keen to lead the charge and prove himself in a poll-bound state. Rajasthan could accord him that opportunity.Manish Sisodia, who was the AAP state-in-charge in Rajasthan, had already set in motion the process of organisation building. Vishwas, when he takes charge, will not have to start from scratch.Ashok Jain, AAP state coordinator, said, "The organisation building work in Rajasthan is happening rapidly. We are not thinking about elections right now. Our first priority is to build the party from the ground and take AAP's message to the people. It is premature to say much at this stage, but we are confident that we will get support. The rest is up to the leadership. There are around 46,000 polling booths in Rajasthan. In over 20,000 of them, we have a fully functional organisational base."Arvind Kejriwal's party may have underperformed in the Punjab Assembly polls, but it was successful in making it a three-cornered fight. Rajasthan has traditionally seen only BJP and Congress as the main parties. The AAP will be hoping to emerge as an alternative. Sisodia, in a press conference earlier this year, had said, "People here are disenchanted with the BJP rule and they are not willing to trust Congress. AAP will provide them an alternative."An AAP leader, on condition of anonymity, admitted that "work needs to be done". The source said, "You cannot compare Rajasthan to Punjab. After Punjab gave us four seats in the Lok Sabha, we got a natural fillip. In Rajasthan, we don't have that kind of launch pad. A lot more work needs to be done but we are on the right path."For Jain, however, Vishwas's entry is a game changer. "When Manish Sisodia came, we were enthused with confidence and worked hard to build the party. Kumar Vishwas's entry will bring a new energy. He is an excellent speaker with a mass appeal."Despite rumours that Vishwas has been given charge of Rajasthan just to pacify him, a source close to Kejriwal said the party was serious about the northern state."Manish had already said we were going to fight elections in Rajasthan and we are serious about contesting. Elevating Kumar Vishwas to Rajasthan state-in-charge is a smart move. Not only is he a good speaker, he also has a connection with Rajasthan. During his days as a professor of Hindi literature, he taught at a college in Bharatpur. Even his wife is from there. He is no stranger to the state," the source said.Rajasthan hasn't been kind to smaller parties. BJP and Congress have ruled the state alternatively since 1989. And if there is one thing on which the archrivals agree, it's the unlikelihood of AAP finding any ground in the state.He added, "The Congress is facing a crisis of credibility and leadership. They have an internal tussle for power between Sachin Pilot, CP Joshi and Ashok Gehlot."When asked if AAP will not gain from the Congress decline, Parnami said, "AAP won't, we will."Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee (RPCC) vice-president Rajendra Chaudhary said, "There is no way AAP will find a foothold in Rajasthan. The state always chooses between BJP and Congress. Some former Congress and BJP leaders had formed new parties, but they have not been successful. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje is hugely unpopular in the state. That is why the common people will choose Congress, a party with experience."
Speaking to News18, Shiraz Ahmed, additional executive director of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, said "Triple Talaq as a concept is against Quran and it must be abolished."

About a million Ahmadiyyas  who believe that there was another Holy Prophet after Prophet Muhammad, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad from Qadian, Punjab, who started this sect in 1889  live in different parts of India.

He said a ban on cow slaughter or beef does not hamper his community's religious beliefs and should be allowed to promote secular harmony. "Our prophet, in 1908, wrote a book 'Message of Peace', where he stated that if consuming beef hurts the religious sentiments of Hindus, then we must forego it. Beef is banned in Punjab where our sect originated... if such a ban can solve communal issues, then it must be allowed," said Ahmed.

: At a time when India is facing crucial questions on Muslim personal laws, members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, a minority sect among Muslims, have denounced All India Muslim Personal Law Board's (AIMPLB) stand on triple talaq calling it "baseless". The Ahmadiyya leaders have also condemned the persecution that they face from Maulvis and Ulemas in India, who they said "are of the same breed like that of their Pakistani counterparts"."A marriage in Islam is based on love and compassion where the question of divorce does not arise. But even then, if the situation of divorce crops up, then the mandatory period of reconciliation and mediation has to be followed as prescribed. Divorcing in one sitting needs to be scrapped. If the judiciary thinks that it is not lawful then such a practice should be abolished," said Ahmed.Looked down upon by other Muslim sects, they face severe persecution across the world, especially in Pakistan which has constitutional provisions debarring them the right to be called Muslims.Ahmed said his community feels safer in a secular India than in Pakistan. He said Pakistan's laws are against human rights and Islam. In Pakistan, Ahmadis continue to be targeted by religious hardliners and terror groups. In May 2010, nearly 100 Ahmadis were massacred in attacks on two mosques of the Ahmadi sect in Lahore. This year, there have been several killings of our community members, the latest being that of a medical professional."Pakistan has state-sponsored or legal persecution of our community members India is secular and we feel safe here. But even here in areas like Bengal and all, we feel like a minority within a minority where Maulvis and Ulemas, who are of the same breed like that of their Pakistan counterparts, give hate speeches to target specific households and make life difficult for us," said the Jamaat member.The Ahmaddiya community leaders are in the process of writing a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi citing how Triple Talaq in one sitting is not Quranic and are also stating that Nikah Halala is something which is "prohibited" in the religion.
New Delhi: 'Ebar Bangla' roared Amit Shah launching his 95-day countrywide campaign from Kolkata last month. In retaliation, Trinamool Congress (TMC), facing the BJP onslaught, has delved into Delhi's turbulent history to launch a counter offensive.



On Thursday, TMC MP Shukendu Shekhar Roy returned Shah's clarion call with an adaptation of eponymous quote by twelfth century Sufi saint Nizamuddin Aulia: "Bengla door ast".



Amidst this political fusillade between the Dilli Darbaar and the Writers Building, political developments and changes in the last one month have somehow attracted a few TMC leaders to a city not far off from the Grand Trunk Road which connects Delhi and Kolkata.



Sources tell CNN-News18 that some ruling party leaders in West Bengal including ministers have of late made discreet trips to Lucknow.



A BJP politician, earlier active in Bengal, has recently shifted base to the UP capital after Yogi Adityanath's ascension to power.



Within political circles, speculation is rife in the UP capital on the intent behind these visits amidst escalating war of words between BJP and TMC.



In the last three months, CBI has turned its screws in both Sharada and Narada case. Both the probes have been ordered by the courts.



BJP, in its attempt to enlarge its political footprint, has as a matter of policy never in the current dispensation shied away from adopting turncoats - from Assam to Uttarkhand to UP it is a long list. But in Bengal, it is treading with extreme caution.



"We will not take any scam tainted leader. No Narada-Sharada in the BJP," says a party leader now working in the state.



The Narada scam interestingly has also been referred to the ethics committee of Parliament headed by BJP leader L K Advani. The matter has been pending with the panel for over a year now.



Bengal with more than forty seats in the Lok Sabha remains high on the priority list of the BJP to fill in any deficit in states where party has already peaked in 2014.



With both Congress and the Left conceeding space, BJP is giving a strong push to its preparations for 2019.



The aim is to emerge as the main opposition party to the ruling TMC. In the recent by-polls for a vacant Assembly seat, BJP came second relegating the Left and the Congress to a poor third and fourth position.
Emphasizing that Adobe Experience Cloud represents the largest opportunity for the company, Adobe President and CEO Shantanu Narayan says the tech giant has clearly established itself as a leader in helping companies roll out digital transformation in India and globally with its cloud solutions.Read more: WhatsApp Down: Messaging App Back After Outage of Several Hours in India, Canada and US The change in consumer expectations is the main factor that triggered innovation and growth for Adobe's digital marketing business and brands across verticals are readily embracing its cloud solutions globally, he adds."The massive tailwind across the world is that consumer expectations have changed and one of them is that consumers prefer to interact with any company digitally. Mobile as way to interfacing with businesses has become a de-facto standard. Digital is cheaper, faster and it delivers better experience," Narayen told IANS.Adobe Experience Cloud, which was released earlier this year, is a comprehensive set of cloud services designed to give enterprises everything they need to deliver exceptional customer experience.Watch the video of Honor 8 Pro first lookAbout innovation, Narayan said India has an edge over other countries and is leapfrogging in some aspects."Not only in innovation, India also has a lead when it comes to the cost of transaction. Financial institutions here often say that they are the most efficient in the world. I think it's the nice blend of east and west," Narayan said.Artificial Intelligence to power Adobes new selfie appThe CEO said artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning is what Adobe is using fundamentally to innovate.The company recently announced innovations in Adobe Sensei -- the intelligence layer in the Adobe Cloud Platform which offers customers a unified AI and machine learning framework and intelligent services.About India as a market, Adobe's Managing Director, South Asia, Kulmeet Bawa said Indian firms are embracing digital marketing solutions in a big way."Indian firms are taking a lead in several areas whether it is mobile or android development. Certain things are very specific to India where we are ahead of other countries and these trends are being adopted in some other parts of the world," Bawa told IANS.The company is working with some of the largest brands from verticals including e-commerce, banking, technology, telecom and retail to enable digital transformation in India.
Baghdad: Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is in talks with the Trump administration to keep American troops in Iraq after the fight against the Islamic State group in the country is concluded, according to a US official and an official from the Iraqi government.



Both officials underlined that the discussions are ongoing and that nothing is finalised. But the talks point to a consensus by both governments that, in contrast to the US withdrawal in 2011, a longer-term presence of American troops in Iraq is needed to ensure that an insurgency does not bubble up again once the militants are driven out.



"There is a general understanding on both sides that it would be in the long-term interests of each to have that continued presence. So as for agreement, yes, we both understand it would be mutually beneficial. That we agree on," the US official said.



Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.



The talks involve US Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis and Iraqi officials over "what the long-term US presence would look like," the American official said, adding that discussions were in early stages and "nothing has been finalised."



US forces in Iraq would be stationed inside existing Iraqi bases in at least five locations in the Mosul area and along Iraq's border with Syria, the Iraqi government official said. They would continue to be designated as advisers to dodge the need for parliamentary approval for their presence, he said.



He said al-Abadi is looking to install a "modest" Iraqi military presence in Mosul after the fight against the Islamic State group is concluded along with a small number of US forces. The forces would help control security in the city and oversee the transition to a political administration of Mosul, he said.



The US official emphasised that there were no discussions of creating independent American bases in Iraq, as such a move would require thousands more personnel. He said the troops levels would be "several thousand ... similar to what we have now, maybe a little more."



Currently, the Pentagon has close to 7,000 US troops in Iraq, many not publicly acknowledged because they are on temporary duty or under specific personnel rules. The forces include troops training Iraqi forces, coordinating airstrikes and ground operations, and special forces operating on the front lines.



The news comes as Iraqi forces are struggling to push IS fighters out of a cluster of neighbourhoods in western Mosul that mark the last patch of significant urban terrain the group holds in Iraq, nearly three years after the militants overran nearly a third of the country.



Such an agreement would underscore how the fight against IS has drawn the US into a deepening role in Iraq.



At the height of the surge of US forces in 2007 to combat sectarian violence that nearly tore Iraq apart, there were about 170,000 American troops in the country. The numbers were wound down eventually to 40,000 before the complete withdrawal in 2011.



The US intervention against the Islamic State group, launched in 2014, was originally cast as an operation that would largely be fought from the skies with a minimal footprint on Iraqi soil. Nevertheless, that footprint has since grown given Iraqi forces' need for support.



During a visit to Iraq in February, Mattis and Lt Gen Stephen Townsend, the top US commander in Iraq, described an enduring partnership between the US and Iraq.



"I imagine we'll be in this fight for a while and we'll stand by each other," Mattis said.



Townsend, who was standing by Mattis, declined to say how long the United States will stay in Iraq. But, he said, "I don't anticipate that we'll be asked to leave by the government of Iraq immediately after Mosul." He added, "I think that the government of Iraq realises their very complex fight, and they're going to need the assistance of the coalition even beyond Mosul."



The talks over a longer-term US presence has greatly concerned Iran, which in turn is increasing support to some of Iraq's Shiite militia forces, said Jafar al-Husseini, a representative from Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi Shiite militia group with close ties to Iran.
Colombo: Sri Lanka's former president Mahinda Rajapaksa on Thursday accused the Maithripala Sirisena government of withdrawing his security cover, prompting the joint opposition to raise the issue in the Parliament.



Rajapaksa claimed that some 42 police personnel tasked to ensure his security were removed on Wednesday night.



Opposition MP Dullas Alahapperuma said in the Parliament that Rajapaksa's security must be ensured as there is a threat to his life.



Speaker Karu Jayasuriya has sought a clarification from the government on the issue.



Rajapaksa on Thursday alleged that the government has withdrawn his personal security after the joint opposition successfully organised a public rally on May 1, local media reports said.



Sri Lanka's former strongman Rajapaksa, whose nearly a decade-long rule was ended by President Maithripala Sirisena in 2015, is entitled to getting personal security as the nearly three-decade-long civil war was ended during his regime with the defeat of the LTTE.



According to the UN figures, up to 40,000 civilians were killed by the security forces in the conflict.
JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's High Court on Thursday ordered President Jacob Zuma to provide reasons for his decision last month to fire finance minister Pravin Gordhan in a cabinet reshuffle that led to sovereign debt downgrades, eNCA television said.



The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) had filed the court application to compel Zuma to give his reasons for the reshuffle, which triggered large street protests against the president and led to more calls for his resignation.



The DA has also called for a no-confidence motion against Zuma in parliament.



"We got the order that we wanted with some very minor adaptations and it allows us now to go ahead with the main review application into the rationality of dropping Mr Gordhan from the cabinet," James Selfe, DA lawmaker and head of its executive, said.



The opposition and even some members within Zuma's cabinet, including Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, said at the time that Zuma removed Gordhan on the basis of a "spurious" intelligence report.



That report accused the former finance minister and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas of plotting with banks in London to undermine the South African economy. Jonas was also fired by Zuma.



"We expect that document to be part of the record," said Selfe, referring to the intelligence report.



Ramaphosa usually publicly backs Zuma and his criticism of Gordhan's sacking was a sign of deepening divisions in the ruling African National Congress that are likely to worsen until the party elects a new leader in December.



It was not immediately clear if Zuma would appeal Thursday's ruling.



In a bid to reassure markets, Zuma has said that he expected the addition of several younger ministers would add energy to his cabinet.



He has so far not given any specific reasons for removing Gordhan and replacing him with new Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba.
Mexico City: The United States is plotting an ambitious attempt to shore up Central America, with the administration of President Donald Trump pressing Mexico to do more to stem the flow of migrants fleeing violence and poverty in the region, US and Mexican officials say.



The US vision is being shaped by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary John Kelly, who knows Central America well from his time as chief of the US Southern Command, when he helped the administration of former President Barack Obama design his Alliance for Prosperity.



That $750 million initiative sought to curtail migration from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador through development projects as well as law-and-order funding to crack down on the region's dominant gangs.



Kelly aims to retool the Obama-era alliance without a large increase in American funding by pressing Mexico to shoulder more responsibility for governance and security in Central America, and by drumming up fresh private investment for the region.



"Partnering with Mexico is critical," Kelly said at an event in Washington on Thursday. "It's the economics that we have to improve, and I believe we can help. And we're not talking huge money - we're talking about maybe what it cost to run military operations for a day in Iraq."



Kelly added he was unable to do as much on the economic front as he would have liked when he was Southcom commander, but now had Trump's blessing to fix the Southwest U.S. border, an effort that necessitated improving Central America's economies.



William Brownfield, the U.S. assistant secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, told Reuters he expected Mexico to engage more directly with Central American governments in order to re-invigorate the Alliance.



"We're going to see a strategy that has already been developed, but it is going to be pushed harder and more aggressively in the coming year, and the year after," he said.



The reshaped alliance stands in contrast to some of the isolationist views jostling for power in the White House. Still, it is consistent with Trump's foreign policy efforts to pressure China to do more to tackle the North Korea nuclear threat and to persuade European allies to pick up more of the tab for NATO.



The plan also puts Mexico in a delicate spot. President Enrique Pena Nieto has repeatedly expressed his desire to preserve the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which has become a pillar of Mexico's economy.



But he must avoid the appearance of capitulating to Trump, who has enraged the Mexican public with his threats to withdraw from NAFTA and force Mexico to pay for his proposed border wall.



"We want to be on good terms with them, because we're dealing with a much more important issue," said a senior Mexican diplomat who was not authorized to speak publicly. "In return, we want a beneficial NAFTA renegotiation."



Neither Kelly nor the DHS responded to requests for comment for this article.



"The prosperity and security of Central America ... represent a priority of Mexico's foreign policy," the country's foreign ministry said in a statement. "The Alliance for Prosperity ... is a valuable tool that can be strengthened with the participation of other governments."



A MAN WITH A PLAN



The new-look Alliance will be firmed up in Miami next month, when US, Mexican and Central American officials will meet to negotiate various issues, including Mexico's role, according to a draft U.S. schedule seen by Reuters.



Mexico's foreign minister, Luis Videgaray, has said publicly Mexico is willing to work with the United States in stabilizing Central America, without giving much detail.



In private, though, local officials say cash-strapped Mexico lacks the money to invest significantly in the region - a fact that has not eluded the United States.



"We do not have significant expectations of major ... financial contributions by the government of Mexico at this time," Brownfield said.



However, he said it was reasonable to expect Mexico to help train Central American officials, and deepen coordination along its southern border. Mexican government agencies could also work more closely with their southern counterparts, he added, citing the example of Colombia, which is training Central America's police forces at the United States' behest.



Brownfield said the redesigned plan would be executed by the State Department and development agency U.S. AID, working closely with the DHS. The Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) is working with U.S. AID to design mechanisms for luring fresh investment, he added.



IADB President Luis Alberto Moreno told Reuters the Miami meeting, coordinated with DHS officials, aimed to deliver "an investment shock" to create jobs and prevent migration.



However, the Mexican diplomat who requested anonymity expressed concern the new plan could presage a deeper militarization of Central America. The region's armies have launched violent attacks on the powerful "Mara Salvatrucha" and "Calle 18" gangs, sparking accusations of rights abuses.



Mexico, which is also grappling with widespread violence, is open to training Central American security forces, the diplomat said, but will not send troops to fight the gangs given its long-standing policy not to intervene in foreign conflicts.



The "Alliance for Prosperity" was cooked up by the Obama administration after a 2014 surge in child migrants from Central America. It aimed to stabilize Central America with funding for security and development. But critics say the focus skewed heavily toward funding for tackling drug smuggling and gangs.



Brownfield pointed to falling homicides in Honduras, where the murder rate dropped to 59 killings per 100,000 people last year from 90.4 in 2012, as evidence it is starting to yield results. Still, Central America remains one of the most violent regions on earth.



Mexican diplomats say U.S. and Central American officials for years quietly pressed Mexico to join the alliance - pressure they ignored until Trump was elected, threatening to scrap NAFTA.



"Now we're facing a different scenario because we have an American government pressuring us on lots of issues," said the Mexican diplomat. "We want to be on good terms with the United States."
After at least two years sitting in storage, the Hunters Raid Civil War plaque will return to its original home in Centertown Plaza in the town of Bedford.

D.W. Lawhorne, the towns public works director, said the plaque was removed in 2015 when the town began renovations to the plaza located on the corner of North Bridge and Main streets.

Interim Town Manager Bart Warner said his understanding is the sign, which is a freestanding, table-like structure, was removed as a practical matter associated with the complete renovation of the Centertown Plaza.

The marker is a reminder of Union General David Hunters march south from Cedar Creek near Winchester to Lynchburg to drive out Confederate forces and destroy the railroads at Lynchburg. Hunter passed through Bedford on May 26, 1864, on his way, terrorizing the residents of the town, said Jennifer Thomson, genealogical librarian at the Bedford Museum & Genealogical Library.

Thomson said the sign is important as it tells the story of the one time an enemy was in Bedford.

He tormented citizens and walks these streets, she said. I just want it back. Its a part of our history thats been taken down.

Lawhorne said the marker is in storage at the public works department.

We emailed the county and asked if they wanted it in front of the courthouse and they didnt, so we asked the [Bedford] Welcome Center, and they said it needed to go back to where it was, he said.

Warner said Wednesday the marker will be returned to Centertown in a few weeks.

Nicole Johnson, director of tourism for the county, said the marker needs to go back to Centertown because there is so much literature that states the marker still is there.

The sign is a part of the Virginia Civil War Trails. If the marker was moved elsewhere, all of that literature would need to be changed indicating the markers new location.

We have requested that it be put back there, she said. It makes sense with the historic downtown that it be placed where it once was.

Though the sign soon will be returned, members of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and Sons of Confederate Veterans, as well as Thomson, were disturbed with how the situation was handled by the town.

The Hunters Raid trail is completely detailed [by many websites], and it is listed as an official driving tour stop, said Mark Day, member of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. The last update to the trail map was published one year ago. I dont believe for one minute that the town of Bedford can remove a sign that was placed by a state agency and is part of a published tourist program sponsored by the state.

The civil war markers are sponsored by the Virginia Department of Transportation, and Virginia Civil War Trails owns the sign, Warner said.

Thomson said the Hunter's Raid marker was installed in 2004 and cost $2,800. It was paid for by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Doug Cooper, director of the museum as well as a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said it is worrisome the sign has been down so long.

Its important to those of us who want to honor our Confederate ancestors, he said.

He said he has been trying to get the town to put the sign back up since the remodeling of Centertown finished earlier this year.
No one was injured in a Nelson County wreck involving a wrong-way motorist who collided with a Virginia State Police trooper Tuesday night, according to a VSP release.

Mary C. Tenhoopen-Jones, 75, of Amherst, was taken into custody Tuesday and charged with a first-offense DUI, refusal to take a DUI breath test, reckless driving, eluding police, driving the wrong way and failing to update her information, the release states.

The incident began at 9:58 p.m. when Amherst and VSP officials received calls about the wrong-way driver headed north in the southbound lanes of U.S 29, Corinne Geller, VSP public information director, said in a release.

The vehicle continued the wrong-way into Nelson County and just missed hitting Trooper [T. A.] Hackenbrachts vehicle as he was responding to the call, the release stated

A Nelson County sheriffs deputy also narrowly avoided being hit by the 2013 Mercedes Benz, according to the release.

Hackenbracht pulled his vehicle perpendicular to the vehicle in an attempt to stop it, the release states, and the front of his vehicle was rammed into at 20 mph by Tenhoopen-Jones.

The vehicle then accelerated and tried to keep going, but Trooper Hackenbracht was able to reach into the Mercedes from the passengers side and get the gear out of drive, the release states.

Hackenbracht is investigating the incident.
Police and protocol: Lessons from Egypt

I was in the middle of Dubai when I was advised that a state of emergency was called in Egypt for a three- month period as a result of the terrorist attack in the city of Alexandria.

Naturally, there was some hesitation to continue the journey into Egypt. However, curiosity overcame fear, and my journey continued into the worlds only contiguous Afrasian nation. My first thought upon entry into the country, is that I anticipated a higher and more stringent security presence. However, I was later advised that the presence was there, but there was little need to cause more discomfort in arrivals.

Tourism is one of the most important sectors in Egypts economy. More than 12.8 million tourists visited Egypt in 2008, providing revenues of nearly $11 billion.

The tourism sector employs about 12% of Egypts workforce.

Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou told industry professionals and reporters that tourism generated some $9.4 billion in 2012, a slight increase over the $9 billion seen in 2011.

[Wikipedia].

Though within the various roadways and entrances to the various tourist sites, the heightened security presence is visible and palpable, and visitors are required to produce identification before re-entry into various Cairo based hotels, one does not feel intimidated, nor unnerved by the protective services, nor does one feel any real threat, even in the wake of the recent terrorist attack.

Egyptologist, and professional tour guide, Hussien Abu El Ella, when asked about the balance between policing and protocol, stated that tourism in Egypt is a big business. . It (tourism) is one of our main income sources, so we have to take extra care of it. Egypt has a department in our police called Tourism Police. They are very professional men, highly trained in both protecting tourists, as well as ensuring they are treated in a good manner. These special police officers must learn and follow protocol, because we see every visitor to Egypt as a VIP. Abu El Ella continued, As a result of the increased security challenges over the years, the requirements for these special officers increased, and as a direct result, the impact has been that sometimes, tourists may have to wait a bit longer in lines, and you may see them with more firearms. However, they generally operate with an understanding that our visitors must feel both safe and comfortable. I can certainly attest that I did feel safe and comfortable, even in the midst of the increased threat levels.

The state of emergency was not coupled with a curfew, nor were you in any way made to feel that your basic rights were being infringed.

Whilst certain clear measures were taken, any measure that may have been perceived as bringing discomfort was clearly articulated to ensure you understood the rationale and outcome. If, of course there were any language barriers, your tour official would provide the buffer.

Security services operate with an unwritten social compact. This undocumented, but understood contract between the public and the protective services demonstrates a collaboration between the two groups, where the protective service is expected to provide a measure of public protection and service, whilst the public is expected to do their part in providing the necessary support to the protective services to support them in getting their jobs done in an effective and efficient manner.




Fate of the Senate

Is Being Decided:

4 Big Races Still

Too Close to Call
President Trump is expected to sign an executive order on religious liberty on Thursday, and civil rights groups are prepared to sue if the order resembles an earlier version leaked in February, BuzzFeed News reports. According to Politico, the leaked executive order would have basically let people, groups, and some businesses claim religious objections in pretty much any situation. Civil liberties groups say the order would have legalized discrimination against LGBT people, CNN reports. If such an executive order is signed Thursdaywhich a senior administration official says is "definitely possible"it would be a big victory for Vice President Mike Pence, whose attempt at religious freedom legislation while governor of Indiana went poorly.

The ACLU and Lambda Legal say they're prepared to sue Trump in federal court if the order he signs is similar to the leaked version. The ACLU says the previous order would have violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Lambda Legal says it "will fight this with everything we have." Pence and others have been reworking the original version of the order and pressuring Trump to sign it. While sources in the administration say lawyers are still tweaking the order's language, one person who's seen it says it's pretty much unchanged from the leaked version. "The language is very, very strong," the source tells Politico. (Read more Donald Trump stories.)
Taylor Dumpson began her first day as the first black female president of American University's Student Government Association on Monday. That same day, bananas hanging from nooses were found at three spots on campus in what the DC school's president calls a "crude and racially insensitive act of bigotry," per NBC Washington. The bananashung by an unknown individual around 4am Mondaywere scrawled with phrases "Harambe bait" and "AKA free," a reference to Alpha Kappa Alpha, a predominantly black sorority of which Dumpson is a member, report NBC News and BuzzFeed. In a statement, the sorority says it is "outraged by a demonstration of racism" and calls for the university to protect its members.

Others students have made similar appeals, but many accuse the school of doing little in response to the incident. The president of American's Black Student Alliancewho says students threw a rotten banana at her and also targeted another female student in Septembersays students just don't feel supported. "We shouldn't have to be begging for our existence to be validated on the campus that we pay to be on," she tells the Washington Post. Hundreds of students marched to the registrar's office and requested withdrawal forms in protest Tuesday, though American says "racist, hateful messages have no place in our community" and that it's investigating with police. A $1,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest of the individual, seen in surveillance videos. (Read more racism stories.)
When Steve Bannon moved into his office in the White House, he moved out bookshelves and a couch to make room for a bunch of big whiteboards, CNN reports. Thanks to "America's rabbi," we now know what's on at least one of those whiteboards. According to the Daily Dot, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach visited the White House for Israel Independence Day and posed for photos with Bannon, which he shared on Twitter. A whiteboard full of "pledges" is visible in the background. NBC News describes the whiteboard as Bannon's "hand-written to-do list." Topics on the whiteboard include "Pledges on Obamacare," "Pledges on Tax Reform," and "Pledges on Infrastructure."

Despite the internet scouring Bannon's whiteboard for secret plans, there isn't anything on there the Trump administration hasn't talked about publicly. Items include "Eliminate the estate tax," "Hire 5,000 more Border Patrol agents," and "Suspend the Syrian refugee program." There is one interesting item, however: "Cancel all federal funding to sanctuary cities." President Trump's executive order to withhold funding from sanctuary cities is currently being argued in federal court, with Justice Department lawyers arguing the order would only really keep a small amount of funding from sanctuary cities. But Bannon's use of "all federal funds" on his whiteboard may hurt that argument. (Read more Steve Bannon stories.)
For some who chose Dr. HH Holmes' hotel as their lodging during the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, it was a deadly mistake. The 19th-century serial killer, born Herman Webster Mudgett, had fashioned a 100-plus-room house of horrors well-equipped for making people disappear: a building of soundproof, windowless rooms; gas vents controlled from Holmes' bedroom that could be used to asphyxiate guests; and a macabre basement complete with a dissecting table. As for what he allegedly did with the bodieshe confessed to killing 27 or 28the Washington Post reports many were stripped down to bone via acid or some other means and the skeletons then sold to medical schools. But it's questions about Holmes' own body that is spurring the exhumation of his remains in suburban Philadelphia.

Three years after the fair, Holmes was hanged there after murdering his business partner. But rumors that he conned his way out of death have persisted: Some said he was able to swap places with another inmate; the Chicago Tribune reports others believed he convinced guards to instead hang a cadaver and planned to flee to South America. Now, at the request of three great-grandchildren who have supplied their DNA, those remains will be exhumed from the Holy Cross Cemetery in Yeadon and tested by the University of Pennsylvania's Anthropology Department. One who isn't expecting a surprise: Erik Larson, who wrote about the killer in his 2003 best-seller The Devil in the White City. "I have absolute confidence the body in that grave is Holmes," he tells the AP. (This US president's body may be dug up ... for a third time.)
Stephen Colbert says he doesn't regret insulting President Trump in Monday's Late Show monologue but if he did it again, he would probably "change a few words that were cruder than they needed to be." The host opened his Wednesday monologue by addressing the controversy that caused the #FireColbert hashtag to trend, saying: "Im your host, Stephen Colbert. Still? I am still the host? I'm still the host!," reports the Washington Post. Colbert was accused of using homophobic language in Monday's stream of insults, when he said the only thing Trump's mouth was good for was being "Vladimir Putin's c--- holster."

The insult led to calls for Colbert's firing and a boycott of the CBS show. "I was a little upset at Donald Trump for insulting a friend of mine," Colbert said Wednesday, referring to Trump's interview with Face the Nation's John Dickerson, the AP reports. "So at the end of that monologue I had a few choice insults for the president in return," Colbert continued. "I don't regret that. He, I believe, can take care of himself. I have jokes; he has the launch codes. So, its a fair fight." He added: "I just want to say for the record, life is short, and anyone who expresses their love for another person, in their own way, is to me, an American hero. I think we can all agree on that. I hope even the president and I can agree on that." (Read more Stephen Colbert stories.)
Worst colleague ever? Oregon man Scott Edward Iverson, 26, has been charged with assault and attempted murder after allegedly trying to push a fellow worker at a tree service company near Salem head-first into a wood chipper. Police say a witness told them that as 22-year-old Austin Crawford was loading brush into the running chipper, Iverson "snuck up," put the man in a chokehold, and tried to send him to a gruesome Fargo-style death, the Oregonian reports. As they struggled, with Iverson reportedly trying to push Crawford's head into the machine, another employee noticed the commotion and intervened.

Crawford tells KATU that he remembers thinking, "I don't want to die this way" as his head neared the chipper's blades. He says he had been working with Iverson for three months before the sudden attack, which he says was totally unprovoked. "Prior to this we got along great, you know, we laughed, we joked, we talked," he says. Police say Iverson, who is now being held in the Marion County Correctional Facility, left the scene before they got there and was on the loose for two days until he was arrested at a restaurant on Friday. (This arborist was wearing a helmet when he fell head-first into a wood chipper.)
Puerto Rico has taken a big step toward a bankruptcy that would be unprecedented in two ways: It would be the first by an American state or territory, and it would be by far the biggest of its kind, dwarfing Detroit's $18 billion restructuring in 2013. Puerto Rico's financial oversight board filed a debt restructuring petition in federal court Wednesday, the day after several creditors sued over bond defaults, reports Reuters. The island territory has been mired in economic crisis for a decade and has seen its population shrink by a tenth over that time as residents move to the mainland US. The New York Times reports that the filing includes $74 billion in debt and $49 billion in pension obligations.

NPR describes the process Puerto Rico has entered as a "bankruptcy-like process" tailor-made for the island, with the same underlying principles as Chapter 9 protections. It's not clear how much holders of Puerto Rico government bonds will receive, the Washington Post reports, but a group representing senior bondholders described the filing as a necessary step forward. "The move enables Puerto Rico to freeze numerous lawsuits, maintain essential services for its residents, and rely on a court-driven restructuring process to objectively determine respective creditors' rights," the group said. The petition was filed under the terms of a Puerto Rico rescue bill lawmakers passed last summer. (Read more Puerto Rico stories.)
An SUV being shown to prospective buyers at a crowded indoor auto auction suddenly accelerated with a screech of its tires and crashed through a wall on Wednesday, killing three people, including a woman working her first day there, and injuring nine. An auction employee in his 70s was behind the wheel of the 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee when it apparently lurched out of control and mowed people down at LynnWay Auto Auction in Billerica, Mass., about 20 miles northwest of Boston, the AP reports. One man and two women were killed in the crash. Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan says two of the injured had life-threatening injuries but the driver wasn't hospitalized.

"The preliminary investigation suggests this is a tragic accident," Ryan says. Orlando Aponte identified one of the three people killed as his sister, Leezandra Aponte, who was in her 30s, lived in Lowell, and had three children. He said it was her first day working at LynnWay. An auto auction employee who saw the crash, Woody Tuttle, told WCVB the building has eight lanes in which vehicles on the auction block line up. People were standing between the lanes when one vehicle suddenly took off, Tuttle said. "I heard a screeching of tires," he said. "In avoiding the cars, whoever was driving this vehicle hit several people." (Read more auto show stories.)
Two suspects are in custody in the case of an American man and his Canadian girlfriend found murdered in Belize, reports the CBC. No details on the suspects have been released, reports WSB, but CNN previously reported police were questioning two ex-pats who live near the Corozal home of Francesca Matus, who police say had been threatened. Matus, 52, and Drew DeVoursney, 36, of Georgia were last seen leaving a bar in Corozal last Tuesday before a cane cutter found their bodies in "an advanced state of decomposition" in a sugarcane field outside of town on Monday. A day earlier, Matus' white SUV had been discovered in another field about six miles away.

Police tell 7 News Belize that the body of DeVoursney, a former marine who served in Iraq, was on top of Matus' body. Both had duct tape on their wrists and had been strangled, police say. They also had broken bones in their necks and blunt force trauma, CNN reports. Devoursney's mother tells WSB that police have not provided family members with the names of the suspects or any motive for the killings. She adds her son, who owned a vacant lot in Belize, "was supposed to come home next week and was signed to start school with his brother where he was going to learn to operate heavy machinery," per the Globe and Mail. "Now he's coming home in a way I've always dreaded." (Read more Belize stories.)
Jason Chaffetz had a concise response to a Wednesday USA Today headline, which read "Obama's $400,000 speech could prompt Congress to go after his pension": "Yes, it will." That speech, one Obama will make at a Cantor Fitzgerald conference, is earning him some heat, prompting Chaffetz, chair of the House Oversight Committee, to pull up a bill Obama vetoed last summer that would've slashed ex-presidents' pensions once outside income hit $400,000. Chaffetz says Obama's veto of the Presidential Allowance Modernization Act, which he and Senate sponsor Joni Ernst say they'll re-up later in May, was "self-serving," and the former president's "hypocrisy ... is revealing," per USA Today. At the time, Intelligencer notes, Obama said he was opposed to suddenly leaving staffers of ex-presidents in the lurch, though he would've been open to "technical fixes" in the bill.

Former presidents now take home a $207,800 pension, plus $150,000 for staff and office space; other benefits also boost costs. Chaffetz's bill strove to cap the total at $400,000: a $200,000 pension, $200,000 for expenses, and a dollar-by-dollar reduction of that total once an ex-president earns beyond $400,000. If they "want to go fishing in Utah for the rest of their lives," they'll be "well compensated," Chaffetz said in 2015, per USA Today, but if they're going to rack up big bucks, "taxpayers shouldn't have to subsidize them." No comment from a current Obama rep, though ex-White House spokesman Eric Schultz says any speech Obama gives will stay "true to his values, his vision, and his record"; President Trump has been mum. Pols on both sides of the aisle, however, seem open to such a measure, including Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings, who co-sponsored the original bill. (Chaffetz is winding his governmental tenure down.)
Don't expect pressure from China to have an effect on North Korea's nuclear weapons program. That was the message in an editorial published by the North's state news media Wednesday, described by an expert as the harshest critique of China to come out of the country in recent memory, per the New York Times. The commentary, with the byline "Kim Chol," said the weapons program is as precious to North Korea "as its own life" and the "line of access to nukes for the existence and development of the country can neither be changed nor shaken," no matter what China does. It adds that the program will continue even if it means the end of North Korea-China relations, though it warns China that such a scenario would bring "grave consequences."

Other commentaries critical of China have appeared in North Korea's state news media recently, but none were so pointed or identified China by name. It isn't clear if North Korea would actually give up its ally, which supplies almost all of its external trade and oil imports, but one expert suggests the country could make do with stronger ties to Russia and South Korea. Now might actually be a good time: The leading candidate for president in South Korea, Moon Jae-inwho met Kim Jong Un's father a decade agoappears willing to soften tensions, reports the Wall Street Journal. A rep for China's Foreign Ministry, however, says China remains committed to "developing friendly, good-neighborly relations with North Korea," per Reuters. (Read more North Korea stories.)
Seven bounty hunters who descended on the wrong car outside a Walmart have been indicted on first-degree murder charges in the killing of an unarmed man and the wounding of another, Tennessee cops announced Wednesday. The charges come after a chaotic scene in Clarksville on April 23, where police said the bounty hunters shot at four people in a Nissan sedan and chased them for seven miles. None of the men in the car was wanted on outstanding charges, the AP reports. In fact, the bounty hunters were looking for someone else, with no indication any of the victims fired at the defendants or were even armed, police spokesman Jim Knoll says. Killed was 24-year-old Jalen Johnson, a father of three from Clarksville. His family called him an innocent man who died in an act of terrorizing violence.

Johnson's uncle, Toni Jenkins, says his nephew and and his three companions thought they were being attacked by gang members and tried to flee. The bounty hunters, Jenkins says, started shooting in the Walmart parking lot and kept firing during the chase. Clarksville cops wouldn't discuss these details. The Montgomery County grand jury charged the seven men from ClarksvilleWilliam Byles, 31; Kenneth Chiasson, 38; Antwon Keesee, 32; Jonathan Schnepp, 31; Roger West, 31; Prentice Williams, 34; and Joshua Young, 27with first-degree felony murder, three counts of attempted second-degree murder, and a slew of other charges, police say. Some of the men charged were bonding agents, others were strictly bounty hunters, per Knoll. Bail bondsmen can hire or act as bounty hunters to bring in people who violate jail bond terms, but they can't use deadly force unless it's self-defense. (Read more bounty hunter stories.)
A testament to how funny Veep is: While watching the first episode of the latest season, an Australian lawmaker laughed so hard he ultimately ended up unconscious. Member of parliament Graham Perrett was eating sushi while watching the episode in which (spoiler alert) the character Jonah shaves his head to fake cancer, and during one scene he was laughing so hard "some of the rice went down the wrong way," he explains, per BuzzFeed. "I started choking and I kind of stumbled forward and knocked my head on the corner of the kitchen cabinet." He was unconscious, but only for a few moments; "when I came to again, I was still laughing at Jonah." He ended up with a black eye and stitches for a gash on his face.

The cast and crew of Veep is now responding, some with appreciation and some with incredulity, the Guardian reports. "I mean, c'mon, I'm actually having a hard time believing it. But the real question is - what episode?" Julia Louis-Dreyfus tweeted. Perrett answered her question, to which she replied with thanksand warning him, "for God's sakes - be careful!" Timothy Simons, who plays Jonah, tweeted that "we'll tone it down a bit next year for this guys sake or maybe send him some edited eps." But executive producer David Mandel has a different idea: "I can think of a few officials in the USA that I may send the episode to," he tells the Guardian. (Read more Veep stories.)
Confronted with a neo-Nazi in the Czech Republic, a 16-year-old Girl Scout stood her ground, engaging the man in a heated debate. But it's a "powerful" photo of the exchange that now has people talking, per USA Today. Police tell the Guardian some 150 neo-Nazis had gathered for a May Day rally in Brno on Monday when they were met with 300 counter-protesters, including Girl Scout Lucie Myslikova. Amateur photographer Vladimir Cicmanec, who was part of the counter demonstration, tells CNN he took notice of Lucie as she stood face-to-face with a neo-Nazi sporting a shaved head and listened as the pair debated "the concept of nations and nation-states, immigration, refugees." "Shes 16 years old and she stood proud and made some profound arguments," he says.

With a sign carrying the Scout motto "We will raise your children," per Mashable, Lucie "tried to explain to him that nationalism makes no sense because we are all people and should not be treated differently based on some arbitrary distinctions," says Cicmanec. His photo of the exchange, which has since gone viral, has many applauding Lucie for her courage. According to the World Organization of the Scout Movement, the teen was one of several Scouts who joined the rally "to express their support for values of diversity, peace, and understanding." They are "creating a better world," the group says. (The photo closely resembles this one, snapped in the UK last month.)
Originally facing 10 years in prison for giving water to pigs on their way to a slaughterhouse, a Canadian animal rights activist is a free woman after a judge dismissed the mischief charge against her Thursday, the Guardian reports. According to CBC, the pigs were in a truck headed for an Ontario slaughterhouse in 2015 when 49-year-old Anita Krajnc gave them water, ignoring the truck driver's orders to stop. She was accused of tampering with private property and giving the pigs an "unknown substance," the Canadian Press reports. The farmer who owned the pigs says he was worried Krajnc had contaminated them in some way.

Judge David Harris ruled Krajnc only gave the pigs water, and since the pigs were still accepted by the slaughterhouse, Krajnc didn't "obstruct, interrupt, or interfere with the lawful use, enjoyment, or operation of the property." By the time the charge was dismissed, Krajnc was only facing a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a $3,600 fine. Krajnc's lawyers say she was acting in the public good and compared her actions to those of Nelson Mandela and Gandhi. Following her victory in court, Krajnc said she and her fellow activists still have "a lot of work to do" because while the judge ruled in her favor, he also ruled that pigs were property and not persons. (Read more animal rights activists stories.)
"Did you know that the safest place for your child on an airplane is in a government-approved child safety restraint system (CRS) or device, not on your lap?" That's per the FAA, but Delta ordered a California family to go the lap route as they returned from a Hawaii trip last month. Per KABC, Brian Schear was with his wife and two babies after deciding to send their teen son, Mason, home on an earlier flight. They put 2-year-old Grayson, in his car seat, in Mason's seat instead. But the flight was overbooked and Delta wanted Mason's seat. Schear posted a YouTube video of the incident, in which a Delta staff member tells him Grayson has to sit on his lap for the entire flight. "It's not a Delta rule, it's FAA, because he's 2 and under," the woman says. "You and your wife will be in jail and your kids will be in foster care," another worker notes when Schear says he bought that seat and they'll have to remove him from the flight.

The issue, as the Washington Post notes, is Delta tickets are "nontransferable," meaning because Mason wasn't there, the airline could take the seat back. As for Delta's lap-sitting mandate to Schear, FAA rules are murky (there's no age reference), but Delta's own site spells it out clearly. "You'll need to purchase a ticket for your child when you have a child that is age two or older  a reserved seat and ticket are required for the entire journey." The Schears finally agreed to hold Grayson, but by then the airline wanted them off. The family disembarked around midnight, tracked down a hotel, and coughed up another $2,000 for a flight home the next day on United. Per CBS Los Angeles, Schear said he doesn't want their money backjust an apology. Delta told CBS in a statement it was sorry for the family's experience and has "reached out" to them. (Another recent airline fiasco.)
Col. Leo Thorsness survived six years of captivity and torture at the "Hanoi Hilton," cellmates with John McCain. He died Thursday in Florida at the age of 85 from leukemia, the New York Times reports. With two Silver Stars, five Distinguished Flying Crosses, and the Medal of Honor, Thorsness was one of the most decorated members of the Air Force during the Vietnam War. According to the Washington Post, Thorsness was given the Medal of Honor for a 1967 mission in which he knocked out two surface-to-air missiles, shot down an enemy fighter while protecting two airmen who had ejected from their plane, and fought four more enemy fighters for nearly an hour while low on fuel and ammunition. He was commended for "extraordinary heroism, self-sacrifice, and personal bravery."

Eleven days after that mission, Thorsness was shot down and captured by the North Vietnamese while only seven missions shy of being able to end his tour. He was kept in solitary confinement and tortured nearly daily for the first year of his captivity; his back was broken in four places. "Sometimes, it was more important to take that beating to prove you still had something in you." AL.com quotes Thorsness as saying in a 2013 speech. He would later be cellmates with McCain. "Leo never let this experience break his spirit, and inspired the rest of us with his patriotism, perseverance, and hope," McCain said in a statement on Thorsness' death. Thorsness retired from the Air Force after returning home in 1973the injuries he sustained during his ordeal preventing him from flying a plane. (Read more obituary stories.)
When Lulu died tangled in fishing nets in Scotland last year, she was one of the last killer whales in the UK. She was also "one of the most contaminated animals on the planet," Dr. Andrew Brownlow tells the BBC. Brownlow says Lulu's body contained "shocking levels of PCBs." Researchers found 957 milligrams of PCBs per kilogram in the killer whale; it's believed the toxic chemical starts causing health problems for marine mammals at just 9 mg/kg, according to the Guardian. The average concentration of PCBs in killer whales in the northeast Atlantic is 150 mg/kg.

PCBs can hurt the immune system and hamper reproduction, and the latter effect has scientists worried for the future of killer whales in the UK. Despite being at least 20 years old, Lulu doesn't appear to have ever been "reproductively active." If the rest of Lulu's eight-whale pod has similar levels of PCB contamination, it's "increasingly likely" it will go extinct, Brownlow tells USA Today. Scientists haven't seen any killer whale calves born in the waters around the UK in the past 25 years. PCBs were outlawed in the 1970s but don't break down in nature and may still be leaking into the environment from waste storage sites. They work their way up through the food chain stored in the fat of animals; and killer whales are near the top of that chain. (Read more killer whale stories.)
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New Delhi:

The parents of the December 16 gangrape victim voiced their displeasure after the government named the "one-stop" crisis centres for women 'Sakhi' instead of Nirbhaya.

They alleged on Thursday that it was a bid to erase the memory of their daughter from public discourse.

"Initially, the women and child development ministry had announced setting up one-stop crisis centres across the country and name them 'Nirbhaya centres'. But as the project rolled out, they named them 'Sakhi'. It's not done!" said Asha Devi, mother of the victim. "What happened with my daughter had sent a message to the society and government that crimes against women has crossed all boundaries and that we need to wake up and act. How can you just forget her," she asked the government.

Nirbhaya centres, or Sakhi centres, are a one-stop crisis centre for women in distress and are funded by Union government. They are to be set up in all 640 districts and 20 additional locations across the country.

The programme to launch such centres was conceived as a tribute to the victim of the December 16, 2012 gang-rape case. But Asha Devi alleged the government was trying to wipe off the account of their daughter's sufferings.

"Government and society can forget her, but how can I? Her face flashes before my eyes the moment I close them, and then I look deeper in her eyes and I could feel the pain she endured on that fateful night and I wake up with a soul-shattering chill."

The victim's father, Badri Singh Pandey, rued that the Nirbhaya Fund, a corpus announced by Union government in 2013 budget, was not being "properly utilised" and that there still were several dark spots in the city, which needed to be lit.

"A substantial amount of Rs 500 crore from the Nirbhaya Fund is being used on installing CCTV cameras at railway stations, but that should have been done by the Railways. Tell me, how many victims of rape have been benefited by the fund," he said.

The parents visited 'Gandhi Samadhi' to remember their 23-year-old daughter, who died on December 29, 2012, at a hospital in Singapore where she was airlifted from Delhi.

Four of her six rapists have been lodged in jail as they have appealed against their death penalty. One committed suicide and another, a juvenile at the time of the crime, was released after spending three years at a correctional home.

According to Delhi Police statistics, 2,199 rape cases were registered in the capital in 2015 and till November 30 this year, 1,981 cases of rape have been reported. As per National Crime Records Bureau, Delhi has highest rate of crimes against women among all cities in India. Last year, the total number of cases of crime against women in Delhi was 17,104.

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New Delhi:

US tech giant Google successfully doused out a phishing scam which could have led to massive ramifications with an intent to supply personal information of Gmail users and put their security in jeopardy. The scam was conceptualized to fool people using a Google Docs link.

However, the ultimate objective of the phishing scam and the preparators behind it are still unknown.

The scheme was envisaged to take advantage of technology that the search engine giant makes available to any website allowing people to log in to them with their Google username and password. The websites can get access to information people store with Google, including their contacts.

Googles response to an AFP inquiry was through an email. The email stated "We have acted to protect users against an email impersonating Google Docs, and have disabled offending accounts," the email further stated that "We've removed the fake pages, pushed updates through Safe Browsing, and our abuse team is working to prevent this kind of spoofing from happening again."

Cooper Quintin, staff technologist of the Electronic Frontier Foundation explained the phishing scam. He stated that the scam worked through a deceptive email that used both phishing attack and a worm. Once the email was opened, it would open the door to malicious code that worked its way into their messaging programs and spread rapidly to others.

Initially an email would arrive from a known contacts real address, containing a link for a file to be shared through Google Docs, and if you clicked on the link, it led to a real web address of Google and asked for permission to run an application cleverly titled Google Docs.

It asked for authorizations which included allowing it read and send emails on the users behalf. It was quite cleverly concealed so that it immediately did not look like phishing email.

Quintin stated that authorizing the app led to it sending the same emails to everyone in the users contacts.Quintin also stated that the app was disabled within hours of it spreading rapidly along with the online domains it was connecting to.

"I suspect that it was far more successful than whoever released it into the world hoped or expected, and was maybe undone by its own success," he said.He further added that the domains were blocked quickly and Google disabled the application, so it was no longer a threat.

The California based internet powerhouse claimed that it was stopped within an hour and the scam affected less than 10% of Gmail users. Gmail at present has more than 1 billion users.

The spokesperson also said that apart from contact information, no other data was accessed by the scam.
New Delhi:

Patanjali founders Baba Ramdev and Acharya Bal Krishna addressed a press conference on Thursday.

Highlights:

#Boycott Chinese products because sales generated by them fund terrorism against India

#Patanjali products will recapture the market currently held by Chinese products

#We are soon going to enter the spice market under the Patanjali banner as well



#Till now, Foreign companies CEO are under an impression that we have abysimal share market. There survey says our turnover is mere Rs 2000cr.



#But the fact is, only Patanjali Ghee iteself is worth Rs 1467cr.



#Patanjali toothpaste enjoys 14 per cent share of the market

#Baba Ramdev announces Patanjali Residential Army School for children of martyrs of military and paramilitary soldiers. "Will open 'Patanjali Aavasiya Sainik school' this year for children of martyred soldiers, free of cost. Location will be around NCR"

#Viral message that Patanjali is hiring 10 thousand people is false. Lakhs have been looted in the name of the message.



#Currently 1 Lakh people work for Patanjali and wherever we are hiring, we send authorised people.



#We are going to increase our distributors from 6,000 to 12,000



#Patanjali will be India's biggest Swadesi brand within a year or two.



#Patanjali's sole purpose is charity - 3 aims are education, research and cow preservation



#Every Patanjali product according to FSSAI standards

#Patanjali uses 'Gaumutr' or cow urine in only five products



#Pointless questions raised against Patanjali Amla Juice

#Growth/profit target for Patanjali in 2017/18 set at 100%

#Current product capacity of 30-35 crore



#Accusations of Gaumutr in Patanjali products false



#Plans to build production plant in Vijay Nagar



#Target to cross 60 thousand units

# Patanjali trunover crosses Rs 10,561 crores
New Delhi:

Considered as one of the leading global operators of marine and inland terminals DP World pledged USD 1 billion investment in India in order to tap into the opportunities the country offers in infrastructure space.

"We are very excited about the opportunities in India. We are not constrained for capital given the right commercial and economic dynamics," says CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem.

The operator is looking at several investments in India in the logistic sector and online transactions of customs services. "Our expertise can help India grow faster in this space as millions of tonnes of wheat and thousands of tonnes of fruits and vegetables get wasted here in want of warehousing and storage," Sulayem said.

He also confessed that teh company wants to become one of the major contributors in partnership with the government to achieve the objectives of lowering logistics cost in India.

The supply chain has lots of inefficiencies here and farmers are not able to preserve their crops with half of it going wasted.

Also Read: India can attain 10 percent GDP growth by FY 2020 amid vibrant economic landscape: CII

"We have expertise in logistics. We have done it throughout the world so we are excited to join hands with government to invest in this opportunity. It will involve policy, procedure, IT hardware, warehouses," he said.

He earlier had made comaprison between India and China saying that both the economies had maximum population but there is a huge difference in the amount of cargo handled in both the countries."While China handles 100 million container cargo, India handles barely 10 million," he said.

DP World can help India augment its marine infrastructure as it has helped Dubai, he added. He said Dubai has made its custom clearance processes online and around 10,000 transactions are completed in 100 days.

Traders in Dubai do not have to step out of their offices for any kind of custom clearances and everything is done online, he said. Being one of the strongest emerging economies in the world, it offers immense potential for growth in maritime and inland trade, Sulayem added.

He said that free trade zone in Dubai contributed 25 per cent of the countrys GDP and DP World was expert in developing industrial parks and had developed a logistics park in UK and was ready to do the same here.

Also Read: Nifty rallies to record closing high of 9359.9, Sensex reclaims 30,000-mark amid positive market sentiment post banking, infra reforms

It has already made contribution in the development of five international gateway ports in India, also it needs to reach internal markets, invest cold storage facilities and networks as well as using coastal and inland waterways to increase efficiencies and lower costs.

This deal would lead to direct economic impact benefiting manufacturing and agriculture sectors as well.
New Delhi:

Alia Bhatt and Shraddha Kapoor are two of the popular actresses in Bollywood who is leaving no stone unturned to give Bollywood hits. The two talented actress have commonalities with each other but they are also unique in their differences and contemporaries at work.

Shraddha and Alia fall in the same age group and hence they are pitted against each other. But while talking to an English daily Shraddha Kapoor said that she get inspired by Alia (Bhatt); shes done some good work. In certain amount of roles shes shown such variety, and she look up to her as her inspiration.

Looking at the tuff competitors as inspiration is an 'INSPIRATION' in itself. And with the current trend, you would feel that the Dear Zindagi actress and Rock On 2 actress are ofent in the news because of their relationship.

Recently, Shraddha Kapoor has finally cleared the air about her relationship status with Farhan Akhtar and stated the two are just good friends. The diva's statement came after Farhan officially got divorced with wife Adhuna Bhabhani recently. Farhan and Adhuna called off their 16-year wedding last year and announced their separation with a joint statement.

Also Read: MOM Poster: Check out Nawazuddin Siddiqui's first deceptive look; check out release date here

Also 'Student of the Year' fame Alia Bhatt and Siddharth Malhotra who have been seen several times hand in hand creatd a buzz over their rumoured relationship.

Though both the stars remained tight-lipped about their affairs, were often spotted arriving and departing various shows and award functions together.

While people have always made different gossips over their time to time break ups and patch ups, Soni Rajdan, mother of B-town diva Alia Bhatt has recently shared her views giving a natural death to all those speculations that Alia is going be tie her knot soon.

Watch here:

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New Delhi:

Pradeep Kumar's wife Pavani Reddy has finally opened up on his suicide and revealed that the Telugu actor took the drastic step over a small argument with her. Pavani, who had married Pradeep a year ago, was reportedly the last person who had a word with Kumar before his suicide. She asserted that the two had a casual dispute just like any other couple. However, she is still finding it difficult to accept the fact the Pradeep killed himself over such a minor misunderstanding.

"I had a conversation with Pradeep before he committed suicide. A small misunderstanding arose out of the conversation. Every couple faces this kind of situation. We have had even bigger disputes than this one, but he had never taken such an extreme step. His suicide was a big shock for me too as the misunderstanding was not such a big deal," Pavani told a web portal.

Also Read | Pradeep Kumar suicide: Is this the reason behind Telugu actor's death?

The actress even recalled the entire conversation she had with Pradeep hours before he committed suicide.

"I returned home from the shooting at 11.00 pm. I spoke to Pradeep about a birthday party. He was happy and attended it gladly. But he was damned tired and angry with something. He was telling me that he was suffering from a severe headache due to the hectic work. After that he started drinking a lot and I have never seen him drink so much," Reddy stated

"When Pradeep was saying something, I was attending to some other work. This led to an argument and I went inside the washroom and started crying. Pradeep knocked the door and smashed a glass pane when I did not open the door. My brother Shravan applied the medicine to his injured hand," Pavani Reddy added.

Also Read | Telugu TV serial actor Pradeep Kumar commits suicide by hanging self at his house in Hyderabad

Pradeep kumar, who is known for his role in 'Saptha Matrika', was found hanging in his Hyderabad residence on Wednesday early morning.

According to the media reports, post the argument Pavani had left Pradeep alone in his room. She later went back to the room at 4:30 am to wake Kumar for an early morning shoot only to find him dead. Pradeep was soon rushed to the nearby hospital, where he was declared brought dead.

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New Delhi:

A lot has been speculated about Sonam Kapoor's secret affair with Delhi based bussinessman Anand Ahuja. Recently when Sonam received National Film Award for Neerja, Anand was spotted supporting the actress in the event.

Well, this shows that Anand had been a huge support for Sonam who had led to accompany actress in the National Film Award ceremony as well.

All this while, Sonam had never spoken about her relationship with this Delhi guy but now the actress has herself spilled beans about her supposed boyfriend.

While talking to HT Cafe she said, Honestly, thats one aspect of my life I choose to not speak about at all. I have nothing to hide, so the people close to me know all they need to. I work very hard and I dont feel the need to throw open discussions about my personal life. Id rather people talk about my work.

Also Read: National Film Awards 2016: Sonam Kapoor, Akshay Kumar felicitated by President Pranab Mukherjee

The actress unlike any other father in this world would do, was also accompanied by her father Anil Kapoor who expressed his joy while her daughter was felicitated by the National Award from the President Pranab Mukherjee.

The smile on Anil and Anand's face was indeed, a delight to watch. Her rumoured boyfriend could not hide his triump which was later caught on camera.

Anil Kapoor shared the picture on his Instagram account.

Clearly cannot contain my excitement! Surrounded by cameras but a father always turns photographer in these moments! Congratulations @sonamkapoor !! So proud!! #nationalfilmawards A post shared by anilskapoor (@anilskapoor) on May 3, 2017 at 7:59am PDT

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New Delhi:

India-China relationship, which is under stress but the gap caused because of these differences but the Indian mythological TV dramas like 'Mahabharat', 'Devon Ke DevMahadev' and 'Nagin' are playing a major role as Chinese audience are liking and enjoying the show turning it out to be a big hit, an article in a state-run daily said.

"Indian mythology itself is just fascinating. Its philosophy and worldview, which are very exotic, have been a wonderful new world to me," Yang Buhui, 29, who works in the gaming industry, was quoted as saying by the state-run Global Times.

Yang who is a volunteers a group that provides Chinese subtitles for Indian TV dramas.

She began the group of providing Chinese subtitles because of her favourite Indian TV series of all time, 'Devon Ke Dev Mahadev' (DKDM), which premiered in 2011 and ran a total of 820 episodes. It tells the stories of Lord Shiva, also known as Mahadev.

"I love the drama because it's a key to the world of Indian mythology," she said. "Besides, the actors and actresses are not only gorgeous, but their acting skills are good." Indian dramas are quite new to the Chinese audience, but they are gaining popularity, the report said.

Qing Qing, 35, who works in education industry, said she loves the actors so much that she would watch the "raw meat" episodes - the episodes in Hindi language that are not translated or subbed in Chinese yet.

In the beginning, there was not much translation work completed for Indian dramas, and Qing said she had to wait along time for Chinese subtitles. "Their acting skills are sogood that even the evil characters seem adorable, and you just can't hate them," Qing said.

While many of the popular domestic actors are young, gentle and slender with porcelain skin, Indian actors havemore exotic looks ranging from sweet to masculine to mature,she said.

"People like different things at different stages oftheir lives," she said. "When I was younger and knew less, I considered the most eye-catching the best, which was also promoted by the media."

The most viewed episodes by the group on bilibili.com,one of China's largest video-sharing communities, are the first four episodes of the second season of 'Naagin,' which have gained about 180,000 views as of May 1. The series, which began airing in 2015, is a supernatural drama.

Yang said "We translate the Russian subtitles into English and then into Chinese, which largely relies on us being familiar with the mythology and the dramas' storylines. Then we have people who major in Hindi language as well as experts in Indian mythology double check the subtitles."

Besides the language barrier, the biggest challenge for Indian dramas to gain popularity in China is the cultural differences. "In China, there is still a lack of interest and literature about Indian culture. People's knowledge of Indiais not objective enough," Yang said.

"Everybody knows that both China and India are among the greatest ancient civilizations in the world. However, compared to what they know about the countries from the West or other Asian countries such as Japan, what many Chinese know about India is still limited to the simple introductions in text Books," Qing said. "I hope that there will be a massiveimport of Indian films and dramas in the future."

With Input from PTI
New Delhi:

'World's heaviest woman' Eman Ahmed flies out of India today for Abu Dhabi after 82 days of treatment. Eman, who has lost over 350 kgs, will continue her treatment at Abu Dhabis Burjeel Hospital. When she arrived almost three-months ago, Ahmed had reportedly weighed over 500 kg and was treated at Mumbai's Saifee Hospital for several health issues.



Doctors at Saifee Hospital developed a special treatment room and plan for her for careful and unique medical care. However, weeks of painstaking work turned acrimonious when Eman's sister expressed discontent over her treatment plan.



This was apparently triggered by the hospitals decision to send Eman back to Egypt after bariatric surgery. Her brother, Selim felt her sister should have remained at Saifee Hospital for a longer period, but her doctor Dr Lakdawala and the team were of the opinion that she needed neurological rehabilitation and physiotherapy, which could be done back home.

Read | Eman Ahmed to be shifted in UAE hospital for further treatment, to travel in business class



The disagreement soon turned into an ugly spat, and Selim decided to shift the patient to Burjeel Hospital in Abu Dhabi after consulting doctors there. The management there has promised to keep her in hospital for at least a year, and are also flying her mother, Thanaa, to be with her.



When we brought her to Mumbai, she had a million and more health problems. Today, she is much better and will have a safer journey, Dr Lakdawala said. Huzeifa Sehabi, COO, Saifee Hospital said, We will bid adieu to Eman from our doorstep. She will be backed by our good wishes.

Read | Dr Lakdawala clears the air on allegations made by Eman Ahmed's sister

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New Delhi:

Jammu & Kashmir witnessed an unfortunate incident when a mini bus travelling on Bhaderwah-Basholi Highway was hit by an avalanche. The snow covered area had five persons buried alive travelling from Bani to Bhaderwah.

The incident led to the death of 5 persons travelling in the bus while several other passengers were injured. The bus had 12 passengers in it.

According to the BRO workers, the avalanche hit the bus and rolled down into a 1500-feet gorge.

Also Read: Jammu and Kashmir: Pakistan violates ceasefire in Mendhar's Mankote area

The BRO workers at that moment were clearing the snow and debris near Chattar Gali pass, 38 kms from Bhaderwah.

Workers along with other locals immediately started rescue operations and also informed the police about the accident.

Also Read: Govt releases Rs 20K cr to Jammu and Kashmir under PM's development package

"As of now three of the injured including driver of the vehicle have been rescued and sent to Sub District Hospital Bhaderwah," said SDPO, Bhaderwah, Birjesh Sharma.

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New Delhi:

All victims of the 2002 Gujarat riots should get justice, Congress and human rights activists said on Thursday, welcoming the judgement of the Bombay High Court in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case.



Apart from upholding the conviction of 12 people sentenced by the lower court, the HC set aside the acquittal of five policemen, activist Teesta Setalvad noted. She has been fighting the case for the victims of post-Godhra communal violence through her organisation Citizen for Justice and Peace.



Setalvad lauded the court for dismissing the death penalty to three convicts saying she never supported the CBIs plea.



We had in any case argued against death penalty. The fact that the court has upheld the conviction and also convicted five policemen is a welcome judgement, the activist said.

ALSO READ: Bilkis Bano rape case: Bombay HC upholds life imprisonment to 12 convicts



All victims should get justice, the Gujarat Congress said.



Congress national spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil said, We had always demanded that the victims should get justice. And justice should be done. We would not like to make any further comment on the judgement of the High Court, but we would say, der aaye. durust aaye (better late than never).

However, Gujarat cabinet minister and BJP leader Rajendra Trivedi refused to comment on the development. He has been in the past involved in legal proceedings related to several riots cases as a practising lawyer.



I was not involved in the case, so I cannot comment on this, Trivedi said.



Bilkis, who was five months pregnant, was gang-raped and seven of her family member were killed. While the other six escaped.

ALSO READ: Bombay High Court seeks details of Bilkis Bano gangrape convicts from CBI

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New Delhi:

The new housing scheme under the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is coming soon as the authority has completed the formalities and has sent the proposal to Delhi Lt Governor for his approval.



DDAs new housing scheme this time comes with 12,000 flats on offer. Most of the total number of flats are in Rohini, Dwarka, Narela, Vasant Kunj and Jasola, while 10,000 unoccupied flats are from the 2014 scheme. Rest other flats are those that have been lying vacant.



We have completed all formalities from our side and the proposal has been sent to the L-G for the final nod. So, we are awaiting his response. If the L-G asks for some changes, we will effect them, otherwise the scheme stands the same, an official source said.





Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, also chairman of the DDA, had instructed senior officials in April to ensure that adequate public transport connectivity and other necessary basic infrastructure were available before the roll-out of the new scheme.



DDA had last month said that the scheme would be launched soon after the completion of the MCD polls.



The MCD elections were held on April 23. However, the new local government in all three corporations is yet to take charge.



The urban body has tied up with 10 banks for sale of application forms and scheme-related transactions.



Eight banks we had roped in earlier and recently two more were added, i.e., ICICI Bank and Canara Bank. The other eight banks areAxis Bank, Yes Bank, IDBI, Bank of Baroda, Central Bank, SBI, Kotak Mahindra and HDFC, a senior official said.



The scheme was earlier planned to be launched in February but ancillary infrastructure work, like building of connecting roads and installation of street lights, had stretched the timeline.



The official said this time the DDA only wants genuine buyers to apply and check market speculation.

ALSO READ | Explained: Real Estate Act or RERA that makes consumers the king; benefits for home buyers | 10 key points



So, we have done away with the provision of surrendering of flats. And, this means if the buyer later seeks to surrenders the flat, he will have to forfeit the registration fee of Rs 1 lakh or Rs 2 lakh depending on the nature of flat.



People are free to visit the areas where the flats are being offered before making up their mind. We have also removed the lock-in period clause, as we realised, this was also a factor in buyers surrendering the flats. This is also to keep a check on those elements who do market speculation, he added.



Both husband and wife can apply for the scheme but if both are alloted flats, one of them would have to give up the property.



Sources said most of the flats are one-bedroom LIG (Lower Income Group) flats from the last housing scheme and no new flat is on offer this time.



About 10,000 are LIG flats from 2014 DDA scheme. Unlike EWS (Economically Weaker Section) category last time, in this scheme there would be no such category, the official said.

ALSO READ | DDA to launch new housing scheme post MCD polls



For LIG category, the registration fee will be Rs 1 lakh while for MIG (Middle Income Group) and HIG (Higher Income Group) it would be Rs 2 lakh.



Application forms will be available both online and off line, he said.



From application to refund, the DDA this time has planned to make the scheme an online affair to reduce long queues of flat buyers at its headquarters.



Scheme 2014 offered 25,040 flats across categories, with prices ranging between Rs 7 lakh and Rs 1.2 crore.



The online response was so massive that DDAs official website had crashed soon after the launch. The one-bedroom flats were offered in Dwarka, Rohini, Narela and Siraspur areas.

(With inputs from PTI)

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New Delhi :

The election commission of India has called an all-party meeting on EVM issue on May 12th in Delhi.

The chief election commissioner Nasim Zaidi had informed that the commission would call a meeting of all political parties to assure them that the electronic voting machines (EVMs) were tampering-proof and secured.

He had said that the commission intends to use Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in all coming elections to bring in more transparency and boosting the confidence of people in the electoral process.

We will soon hold an all-party meeting in which they will be told how our EVMs are non-tamperable and secured as per our administrative and technical safeguard system, the CEC had informed.

He was responding to questions about allegations levelled by various political parties against EVMs. Recently sixteen opposition parties had urged the ECI to revert to ballot system, claiming the faith of the people in EVMs had been eroded.

Zaidi also said that the ECI is planning to hold a challenge for which time frame is being worked out.

Also Read | EVM Hackathon: Will all-party meet called by Election Commission put an end to the row?

The CEC had said that the ECI had placed an order for the supply of VVPAT machines for use in elections.

For VVPAT, we have got all the funds. We have placed an order for the supply of 15 lakh VVPAT with two PSUs Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Electronic Corporation of India (ECI), Zaidi had said. (With PTI Inputs)

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New Delhi:

The chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh has been summoned by the Allahabad High Court on Thursday. He was also asked to bring along all documents relating to the 2007 Gorakhpur riots. Current Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was also named as an accused in the case.

The chief secretary has been asked to appear in person on May 11 and file a personal affidavit besides producing all documents relating to the 2007 riots by a division bench of justices Ramesh Sinha and Umesh Chandra Srivastava.

ALSO READ: UP CM Adityanath to discuss key proposals in third cabinet meet today, Gorakhpur may get approval of Metro project

The division passed the order on a petition filed by Parvez Parwaz, the complainant in the FIR that was lodged at Cantt police station of Gorakhpur in connection with the riots.

Apprehensions in the petition were raised that the CB-CID (which is an arm of the state police and at present probing the riots) may not conduct an impartial inquiry.

The person against whom sanction for prosecution has been granted by the state government has himself become the head of the state, the petitioners counsel SFA Naqvi said on the previous hearing.

ALSO READ: No caste, religion based discrimination, promises UP CM Yogi Adityanath in Gorakhpur

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BEIJING -- The South China Sea issue is not a problem between China and ASEAN, nor between China and the United States, let alone between the United States and ASEAN, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Wednesday in Beijing.

"The South China Sea issue involves China and a few members of ASEAN," Geng said at a daily press briefing. "We hope that countries outside the region could respect efforts made by countries within the region for peace and stability in the South China Sea."

Geng's comments follow reports that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will hold an informal meeting with ASEAN foreign ministers on May 4 in Washington. It has been suggested that the South China Sea issue and China's sovereignty of the area could be discussed.

Geng said the situation in the South China Sea is becoming stable thanks to joint efforts from China and ASEAN countries.

The hard-won results must be cherished and safeguarded by all sides, he said.
New Delhi:

India is said to be a secular state with no state religion and safeguarding the rights of minorities forms an essential core of its polity. The claim came under criticism from pakistan over treatment of minoritites.

During the 27th session of the Universal Periodic Review Working Group at the UNHCR, attorney general Mukul Rohatgi assures that the Indian Constitution enshrines various provisions for the protection of the rights and interest of the minorities.

He also claimed that India makes no distinction between caste, creed, colour or religion of a citizen.He also said that the right to speech and freedom of expression occupies its perfect place in the core of the Indian Constitution.

Also Read: CM Mehbooba Mufti on Kashmir issue: PM has intention of holding talks, but dialogue can't happen amid stone pelting, bullet firing

As the worlds largest multi-layered democracy, we fully recognise the importance of free speech and expression. Our people are conscious of their political freedoms and exercise their choices at every opportunity, Rohatgi told the member states.

The Pakistan delegation raised the Kashmir issue, demanding a complete ban on the use of pellet guns by Indian security forces.

Also Read: UP: Hoarding put up in Meerut asking Kashmiris to leave after stone pelting incidents on security forces

It also asked India to allow a UNHRC fact-finding team to visit Kashmir and review the situation. It also fired the issue of "mob violence" against the minorities including Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Dalits.

(With inputs from PTI)

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New Delhi :

The Indian Army on Thursday launched a massive anti-terror operation in the wake of rising incident of bank robberies, cash van robberies and snatching of rifles in Jammu and Kashmir.

The security forces cordon off more than 20 villages of Kashmir's Shopian district and began search operations.

"Today's combing operation (in Kashmir) is to make sure that situation is brought under control, post recent incidents," Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat told media on Thursday. "Banks have been looted, policemen have been killed. That is why today's combing operation is taking place," he informed.

Army Chief further added, "Terrorists are going to attempt infiltration, snows are melting, summer months started so like each year infiltration will commence. We are taking measures, have beefed up our counter-infiltration posture to take care of the situation.

On Tuesday, the militants had snatched five rifles from police guards posted at the Shopian district court complex in south Kashmir, police had informed.

The militants attacked the guard room of the court complex around 9PM and snatched five self-loading rifles (SLRs) from the policemen posted there.

All the five policemen were suspended for the alleged dereliction of duty as they offered no resistance when the militants looted their weapons, they had said.

Also Read | J&K: 2 militants open fire on CRPF men in Anantnag bank

On Monday, the terrorists had killed seven people, including five policemen, after dragging them out of a vehicle carrying cash of a bank in Kulgam district of south Kashmir.

J&K: Security forces cordoned off more than 20 villages of Shopian after recent terror attacks in the valley, search on. (Visuals deferred) pic.twitter.com/ClI37cgXl7  ANI (@ANI_news) May 4, 2017

The cash van of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank, which was returning to Kulgam district headquarter from Damhal Hanji Pora, was waylaid by a group of heavily-armed terrorists this afternoon, a police official had said.(With PTI Inputs)

Also Read | J-K: Terrorists attack cash van in Kulgam; 5 police personnel, 2 bank officials dead

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New Delhi:

Justice C S Karnan of the Calcutta High Court has refused to undergo a medical examination by a four-member medical team from a government hospital in Kolkata on Thursday, stating that he is "quite normal and has a stable mind".

"I declined to avail medical treatment since I am quite normal and have a stable mind", Justice Karnan wrote to the doctors, after declining to undergo a medical check up.

"Further my strong view about the Supreme Court order (is that) it amounts to insult and harassment towards the judge (myself)", he said.

Justice Karnan told the doctors wife and a son are in Chennai while his another son is working in France and for holding such a medical examination, guardian's consent is required.

Read more: Visit each road and count total number of speed breakers in Delhi: High Court to authorities

"As my family members are not here, there is no such consent. So any medical test cannot be held", he added.

The Supreme Court had ordered medical examination of Justice Karnan by a board of doctors on May 1, to be setup by a government hospital in Kolkata.

A seven-judge bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar had also directed the director general of police of West Bengal to form a team of police officers which could assist the medical board in carrying out the medical examination of the HC judge.

Read more: Uttarakhand High Court orders sealing of EVMs for six assembly constituencies within 48 hours

A four-member team of doctors along with police had gone to Justice Karnan's residence in New Town, Kolkata in the morning.

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New Delhi :

Union Defence minister Arun Jaitley dismissed Pakistans denial of its involvement in beheading of two Indian soldiers in the Krishna Ghati of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir, saying that it had no credibility.

The minister blamed the neighbour for its active participation in the barbaric act, alleging that the cover fire provided by the Pakistani Army paved way for its troops to execute the misdeed.

While talking to media, the defence minister said it cannot be possible without the indulgence of Pakistani Army to sneak their force in Indian territory.

Earlier, Pakistani high commissioner Abdul Basit on Wednesday summoned by the ministry of external affairs in connection with the beheading of two Indian soldiers by Pak forces.

Also Read | Number of militant camps increased across LoC after surgical strike by Indian army: Officials

The external affairs ministry informed that Basit was called in by foreign secretary S Jaishankar to convey India's strong views on the incident.

The Indian Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) Lt Gen A K Bhatt had conveyed to his Pakistan counterpart that such a dastardly and inhuman act was beyond any norms of civility and merits unequivocal condemnation and response.

Also Read | PM Modi does 'Mann ki baat,' its time for him to do 'Gun ki baat': Thackeray on mutilation of soldiers

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New Delhi :

The Pathankot police on Thursday found two unattended bags near Mamun Army cantonment area. The locals informed the police which rushed to the spot.

The police recovered two mobile tower batteries from the bags. The cops have launched an investigation to ascertain terror linksA if any.

On Wednesday, the Pathankot police had launched a massive search operation to track down three persons who went missing after abandoning a robbed SUV at a village.

Police had informed that the trio was asked to stop at a checkpost at Berhampur in the district, but instead they sped through it. The cops tracked the vehicle, but found it vehicle abandoned at Makhanpur village near Bamiyal.

Punjab: Unidentified bag recovered near Mamun army cantonment in Pathankot, police found 2 mobile tower batteries from the bag after search pic.twitter.com/tVjXD0elem a ANI (@ANI_news) May 4, 2017

Pathankot SSP Vivek Sheel Soni had said the SUV was robbed by the suspects from Sambha in Jammu on Tuesday.

aWe have launched a search operation to trace them,a Soni said. Around 200 policemen have been deployed near Mankahnpur village, police had said.

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New Delhi:

The government on Thursday announced results of the Swachh Survekshan-2017 and Prime Minister Narendra Modis home constituency, Varanasi, is nowhere in top 10, neither in top 20 or 30.

The holy city has been ranked at no. 32 with Indore being the cleanest city of India and Gonda the dirtiest.

Before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Varanasi (Kashi) was known only as the holy city of India and famous for its Ghats. But ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to contest from Varanasi, the city became high profile and famous for everything.

With Prime Minister himself being the flag bearer of Swachh Bharat mission, people were hoping Varanasi to do better.

Apart from Varanasi, UP CM Yogi Adityanaths home turf Gorakhpur has performed poorly and ranked 314 in the list.

The survey was carried out by the Quality Council of India, which had deployed 421 assessors for on the spot assessment of 17,500 locations in 434 cities and towns.

Here is the complete list of cities covered in the Swachh Bharat 2017 survey and their rankings:

Ranking City

State 1 Indore Madhya Pradesh 2 Bhopal Madhya Pradesh 3 Visakhapatnam (Vizag) Andhra Pradesh 4 Surat Gujarat 5 Mysuru (Mysore) Karnataka 6 Tiruchirappalli (Trichy) Tamil Nadu 7 New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) Delhi 8 Navi Mumbai Maharashtra 9 Tirupati Andhra Pradesh 10 Vadodara Gujarat 11 Chandigarh Chandigarh 12 Ujjain Madhya Pradesh 13 Pune Maharashtra 14 Amdavad (Ahmedabad) Gujarat 15 Ambikapur Chattisgarh 16 Coimbatore Tamil Nadu 17 Khargone Madhya Pradesh 18 Rajkot (M. Corp) Gujarat 19 Vijayawada Andhra Pradesh 20 Gandhinagar (NA) Gujarat 21 Jabalpur Madhya Pradesh 22 Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Telangana 23 Sagar Madhya Pradesh 24 Murwara (Katni) Madhya Pradesh 25 Navsari Gujarat 26 Vapi Gujarat 27 Gwalior Madhya Pradesh 28 Warangal Telangana 29 Greater Mumbai Maharashtra 30 Suryapet Telangana 31 Tadipatri Andhra Pradesh 32 Varanasi Uttar Pradesh 33 Bhavnagar Gujarat 34 Kalol Gujarat 35 Jamnagar Gujarat 36 Omkareshwar Madhya Pradesh 37 Kumbakonam Tamil Nadu 38 Rewa Madhya Pradesh 39 Jetpur Navagadh Gujarat 40 Narasaraopet Andhra Pradesh 41 Chas Jharkhand 42 Erode Tamil Nadu 43 Kakinada Andhra Pradesh 44 Tenali Andhra Pradesh 45 Siddipet Telangana 46 Rajahmundry Andhra Pradesh 47 Shimla Himachal Pradesh 48 Ratlam Madhya Pradesh 49 Godhra Gujarat 50 Gangtok Sikkim 51 Singrauli Madhya Pradesh 52 Junagadh Gujarat 53 Chhindwara Madhya Pradesh 54 Bhilai Nagar Chattisgarh 55 Sehore Madhya Pradesh 56 Shirdi (Shirdhi) Maharashtra 57 Madurai Tamil Nadu 58 Dewas Madhya Pradesh 59 Hoshangabad Madhya Pradesh 60 Bharuch Gujarat 61 Pithampur Madhya Pradesh 62 Tambaram Tamil Nadu 63 Mangaluru (Mangalore) Karnataka 64 Jamshedpur (NAC) Jharkhand 65 Karnal Haryana 66 Dwarka Gujarat 67 Gandhidham Gujarat 68 Tiruppur Tamil Nadu 69 Nadiad Gujarat 70 Ongole Andhra Pradesh 71 Chittoor Andhra Pradesh 72 Pimpri-Chinchwad Maharashtra 73 Khandwa Madhya Pradesh 74 Mandsaur Madhya Pradesh 75 Satna Madhya Pradesh 76 Chandrapur Maharashtra 77 Korba Chattisgarh 78 Betul Madhya Pradesh 79 Botad Gujarat 80 Nandyal Andhra Pradesh 81 Giridih Jharkhand 82 Hosur Tamil Nadu 83 Machilipatnam Andhra Pradesh 84 Velankani (Vellankanni) Tamil Nadu 85 Durg Chattisgarh 86 Eluru Andhra Pradesh 87 Bhimavaram Andhra Pradesh 88 Faridabad Haryana 89 Ambarnath Maharashtra 90 Panaji Goa 91 Hazaribag Jharkhand 92 Chhatarpur (Chhattarpur) Madhya Pradesh 93 Guntakal Andhra Pradesh 94 Bhubaneswar Town Odisha 95 Palanpur Gujarat 96 Morbi Gujarat 97 Tadepalligudem Andhra Pradesh 98 Bhuj Gujarat 99 Mehsana Gujarat 100 Leh Jammu and Kashmir 101 Veraval Gujarat 102 Deoghar Jharkhand 103 Anand Gujarat 104 Raigarh Chattisgarh 105 Aizawl (NT) Mizoram 106 Dindigul Tamil Nadu 107 Chilakaluripet Andhra Pradesh 108 Vellore Tamil Nadu 109 Dhanbad Jharkhand 110 Karaikkudi Tamil Nadu 111 Patan Gujarat 112 Gurugram (Gurgaon) Haryana 113 Pudukkottai Tamil Nadu 114 Nagda Madhya Pradesh 115 Solapur Maharashtra 116 Thane Maharashtra 117 Ranchi Jharkhand 118 Guntur Andhra Pradesh 119 Srikakulam Andhra Pradesh 120 Deesa Gujarat 121 S.A.S. Nagar Punjab 122 Imphal Manipur 123 Amreli Gujarat 124 Dhule Maharashtra 125 Rajapalayam Tamil Nadu 126 Vizianagaram Andhra Pradesh 127 Kancheepuram Tamil Nadu 128 Bhind Madhya Pradesh 129 Raipur Chattisgarh 130 Mira-Bhayandar Maharashtra 131 Mango (NAC) Jharkhand 132 Bathinda Punjab 133 Proddatur Andhra Pradesh 134 Guwahati Assam 135 Salem Tamil Nadu 136 Neemuch Madhya Pradesh 137 Nagpur Maharashtra 138 Burhanpur Madhya Pradesh 139 Vasai Virar City Maharashtra 140 Ludhiana Punjab 141 Ichalkaranji Maharashtra 142 Valsad Gujarat 143 Udupi Karnataka 144 Adityapur Jharkhand 145 Aligarh Uttar Pradesh 146 Biharsharif Bihar 147 Shivamogga (Shimoga) Karnataka 148 Mandya Karnataka 149 Dharmavaram Andhra Pradesh 150 Surendranagar Dudhrej Gujarat 151 Nashik Maharashtra 152 Tumakuru (Tumkur) Karnataka 153 Gondal Gujarat 154 Kadapa Andhra Pradesh 155 Pallavaram Tamil Nadu 156 Gudivada Andhra Pradesh 157 Satara Maharashtra 158 Kulgaon Badlapur (Badlapur) Maharashtra 159 Kavali Andhra Pradesh 160 Hindupur Andhra Pradesh 161 Nagaon Assam 162 Jalgaon Maharashtra 163 Seoni Madhya Pradesh 164 Rajnandgaon Chattisgarh 165 Nellore Andhra Pradesh 166 Jhansi Uttar Pradesh 167 Gadag Betageri Karnataka 168 Raurkela Odisha 169 Avadi Tamil Nadu 170 Panvel Maharashtra 171 Bundi Rajasthan 172 Delhi Cantonment Delhi 173 Vidisha Madhya Pradesh 174 Nagercoil Tamil Nadu 175 Kanpur Uttar Pradesh 176 Kurnool Andhra Pradesh 177 Kolhapur Maharashtra 178 Nizamabad Telangana 179 Bilaspur Chattisgarh 180 Sikar Rajasthan 181 Nandurbar Maharashtra 182 Miryalaguda Telangana 183 Ahmednagar Maharashtra 184 Porbandar Gujarat 185 Nagapattinam Tamil Nadu 186 Pali Rajasthan 187 Berhampur(Brahmapur Town) Odisha 188 Pathankot Punjab 189 Puducherry (Pondicherry) Puducherry 190 Balasore(Baleshwar Town) Odisha 191 Ramagundam Telangana 192 Nanded Waghala Maharashtra 193 Tirunelveli Tamil Nadu 194 Puri Town Odisha 195 Adilabad Telangana 196 East Delhi Municipal Corporation Delhi 197 Anantnag Jammu and Kashmir 198 Thanjavur Tamil Nadu 199 Hubli-Dharwad Karnataka 200 Nalgonda Telangana 201 Karimnagar Telangana 202 South Delhi Municipal Corporation Delhi 203 Bagalkote(Bagalkot) Karnataka 204 Cuttack Odisha 205 Morena Madhya Pradesh 206 Ozhukarai Puducherry 207 Ulhasnagar Maharashtra 208 Kohima Nagaland 209 Jodhpur Rajasthan 210 Bruhat Bengaluru (BBMP) Karnataka 211 Panchkula Haryana 212 Bhilwara Rajasthan 213 Ananthapuramu (Ananthapur) Andhra Pradesh 214 Srikalahasti Andhra Pradesh 215 Jaipur Rajasthan 216 Itanagar Arunachal Pradesh 217 Bhadravathi(Bhadravati) Karnataka 218 Roorkee Uttarakhand 219 Osmanabad Maharashtra 220 Ranebennur (Ranibennur) Karnataka 221 Port Blair Andaman and Nicobar Islands 222 Ferozepur Punjab 223 Thoothukudi (Thoothukkudi) Tamil Nadu 224 Adoni Andhra Pradesh 225 Chickamagaluru (Chikmagalur) Karnataka 226 Ajmer Rajasthan 227 Hassan Karnataka 228 Shivpuri Madhya Pradesh 229 Parbhani Maharashtra 230 Yavatmal Maharashtra 231 Amravati Maharashtra 232 Jagdalpur Chattisgarh 233 Jalandhar Punjab 234 Kalyan-Dombivli Maharashtra 235 Greater Chennai (Chennai) Tamil Nadu 236 Khammam Telangana 237 Sangli Miraj Kupwad Maharashtra 238 Tiruvannamalai Tamil Nadu 239 Malegaon Maharashtra 240 Udgir Maharashtra 241 Srinagar Jammu and Kashmir 242 Damoh Madhya Pradesh 243 Sonepat (Sonipat) Haryana 244 Haridwar Uttarakhand 245 Saharanpur Uttar Pradesh 246 Jaunpur Uttar Pradesh 247 Allahabad Uttar Pradesh 248 Belagavi (Belgaum) Karnataka 249 Mahabubnagar Telangana 250 Cuddalore Tamil Nadu 251 Jammu Jammu and Kashmir 252 Ayodhya Uttar Pradesh 253 Thanesar Haryana 254 Kozhikode (Calicut) Kerala 255 Gangapur City Rajasthan 256 Kashipur Uttarakhand 257 Kishanganj Bihar 258 Amritsar Punjab 259 Kullu Himachal Pradesh 260 Dabra Madhya Pradesh 261 Baripada Town Odisha 262 Patna Bihar 263 Agra Uttar Pradesh 264 Silvassa (Silvasa) Dadra and Nagar Haveli 265 Jind Haryana 266 Guna Madhya Pradesh 267 Ambur Tamil Nadu 268 Rameswaram (Rameshwaram) Tamil Nadu 269 Lucknow Uttar Pradesh 270 Bettiah Bihar 271 Kochi (Cochin) Kerala 272 Hajipur Bihar 273 Orai Uttar Pradesh 274 Sirsa Haryana 275 Bhagalpur Bihar 276 Shillong Meghalaya 277 Dimapur Nagaland 278 Sasaram Bihar 279 North Delhi Municipal Corporation Delhi 280 Silchar Assam 281 Madanapalle Andhra Pradesh 282 Kaithal Haryana 283 Ballari(Bellary) Karnataka 284 Barnala Punjab 285 Beawar Rajasthan 286 Palakkad Kerala 287 Barshi Maharashtra 288 Davanagere Karnataka 289 Datia Madhya Pradesh 290 Agartala Tripura 291 Hisar Haryana 292 Jhunjhunu Rajasthan 293 Bodh Gaya Bihar 294 Kalaburagi (Gulbarga) Karnataka 295 Rohtak Haryana 296 Akola Maharashtra 297 Dibrugarh Assam 298 Bareilly Uttar Pradesh 299 Aurangabad Maharashtra 300 Sujangarh Rajasthan 301 Chittorgarh(Chittaurgarh) Rajasthan 302 Beed(Bid) Maharashtra 303 Rewari Haryana 304 Muzaffarpur Bihar 305 Chandausi Uttar Pradesh 306 Guruvayur Kerala 307 Jehanabad Bihar 308 Ambala Sadar (Ambala) Haryana 309 Sultanpur Uttar Pradesh 310 Udaipur Rajasthan 311 Achalpur Maharashtra 312 Vijayapura (Bijapur) Karnataka 313 Wardha Maharashtra 314 Gorakhpur Uttar Pradesh 315 Bidar Karnataka 316 Dehradun Uttarakhand 317 Hosapete (Hospet) Karnataka 318 Latur Maharashtra 319 Bikaner Rajasthan 320 Lalitpur Uttar Pradesh 321 Moradabad Uttar Pradesh 322 Sambalpur Town Odisha 323 Hoshiarpur Punjab 324 Thrissur (M.Corp) Kerala 325 Rudrapur Uttarakhand 326 Shamli Uttar Pradesh 327 Buxar Bihar 328 Raichur Karnataka 329 Tonk Rajasthan 330 Nainital Uttarakhand 331 Loni Uttar Pradesh 332 Hanumangarh Rajasthan 333 Akbarpur Uttar Pradesh 334 Dehri Bihar 335 Panipat Haryana 336 Etawah Uttar Pradesh 337 Chitradurga Karnataka 338 Deoria Uttar Pradesh 339 Meerut Uttar Pradesh 340 Diu Daman and Diu 341 Kota Rajasthan 342 Purnia Bihar 343 Gondia Maharashtra 344 Muzaffarnagar Uttar Pradesh 345 Bhiwani Haryana 346 Yamunanagar Haryana 347 Robertson Pet Karnataka 348 Motihari Bihar 349 Bhadrak Odisha 350 Daman Daman and Diu 351 Ghaziabad Uttar Pradesh 352 Mathura Uttar Pradesh 353 Bahadurgarh Haryana 354 Baran Rajasthan 355 Hinganghat Maharashtra 356 Darbhanga Bihar 357 Aurangabad (Bihar) Bihar 358 Sawai Madhopur Rajasthan 359 Ganganagar Rajasthan 360 Modinagar Uttar Pradesh 361 Ballia Uttar Pradesh 362 Gaya Bihar 363 Malerkotla Punjab 364 Alwar Rajasthan 365 Kollam Kerala 366 Kannur Kerala 367 Hindaun Rajasthan 368 Jalna Maharashtra 369 Moga Punjab 370 Maunath Bhanjan Uttar Pradesh 371 Bharatpur Rajasthan 372 Thiruvananthapuram Kerala 373 Kolar Karnataka 374 Pilibhit Uttar Pradesh 375 Firozabad Uttar Pradesh 376 Siwan Bihar 377 Farrukhabad-cum-Fatehgarh Uttar Pradesh 378 Sambhal Uttar Pradesh 379 Mainpuri Uttar Pradesh 380 Alappuzha (Alleppey) Kerala 381 Gangawati Karnataka 382 Mughalsarai Uttar Pradesh 383 Faizabad Uttar Pradesh 384 Nagaur Rajasthan 385 Banda Uttar Pradesh 386 Basti Uttar Pradesh 387 Dhaulpur Rajasthan 388 Badami Karnataka 389 Mirzapur-cum-Vindhyachal Uttar Pradesh 390 Arrah Bihar 391 Dinapur Nizamat (Danapur) Bihar 392 Bhiwandi-Nizampur(Bhiwandi) Maharashtra 393 Amroha Uttar Pradesh 394 Rae Bareli Uttar Pradesh 395 Haldwani-cum-Kathgodam Uttarakhand 396 Saharsa Bihar 397 Palwal Haryana 398 Azamgarh Uttar Pradesh 399 Rampur Uttar Pradesh 400 Khanna Punjab 401 Shikohabad Uttar Pradesh 402 Jhalawar Rajasthan 403 Bhiwadi Rajasthan 404 Begusarai Bihar 405 Churu Rajasthan 406 Etah Uttar Pradesh 407 Sitapur Uttar Pradesh 408 Hathras Uttar Pradesh 409 Kasganj Uttar Pradesh 410 Lakhimpur Uttar Pradesh 411 Patiala Punjab 412 Fatehpur Uttar Pradesh 413 Ghazipur Uttar Pradesh 414 Jamalpur Bihar 415 Munger Bihar 416 Kavaratti Lakshadweep 417 Unnao Uttar Pradesh 418 Batala Punjab 419 Kishangarh Rajasthan 420 Badaun(Budaun) Uttar Pradesh 421 Baraut Uttar Pradesh 422 Chapra Bihar 423 Bulandshahr Uttar Pradesh 424 Hapur Uttar Pradesh 425 Khurja Uttar Pradesh 426 Shahjahanpur Uttar Pradesh 427 Abohar Punjab 428 Muktsar Punjab 429 Bahraich Uttar Pradesh 430 Katihar Bihar 431 Hardoi Uttar Pradesh 432 Bagaha Bihar 433 Bhusawal Maharashtra 434 Gonda Uttar Pradesh







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Lucknow:

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy said on Thursday that if Muslim community doesn't want a compromise on the Ram Temple-Babri Mosque issue, the court is there to resolve the dispute in Ayodhya.

Sounding confident of legal victory in the matter, Swamy said: "We have already won in the Allahabad high court, which has ruled that Lord Rama was born at a place of central dome as per faith."

"If you talk of Hindu-Muslim unity, a mosque can be constructed anywhere, but it cannot be constructed where Lord Rama took birth," Swamy, also a Rajya Sabha MP, told reporters after his meeting with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow.

Read | Babri case: Ready to sacrifice life for construction of Ram temple, says Uma Bharti



Swamy said, "There was a temple where a mosque was constructed... The clerics, who are adamant, should know that." "There is a way (of settlement) through the Supreme Court. I have a fundamental right under Article 25 of the Constitution to worship at the place of my faith. I am fighting for my fundamental right, while they are fighting for property right," he said.



The Rajya Sabha MP claimed that the high court had made it clear that the structure of a temple was found at the disputed site.



In September 2010, a three-judge Lucknow bench of the high court had stated that Lord Rama was born under the central dome of the makeshift temple and Hindus have the right to worship there. Subsequently, the apex court had stayed the implementation of the HC decision. The case is pending since then.

Read | BJP National Executive meet: Party underlines commitment to build Ram Temple

"Babri Masjid was built after the temple was demolished and the Hindu community has been demanding construction of the Ram temple for a long time," Swamy had said. "If the issue is settled amicably, it will be all right, otherwise we will enact a law to construct a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya when we get majority in the Rajya Sabha by April, 2018," he had asserted.

Swamy, who was asked by the Supreme Court to talk to all parties in the dispute, said he had discussions with Muslim leaders -- AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi and Babri Masjid Action Committee convener Zafaryab Jilani -- over the issue.

"The Muslim leaders did not agree to a bilateral negotiation but wanted mediation of the Supreme Court," he had said.

(With inputs from PTI)

Ayodhya dispute: Ready to give or take life for the sake of building Ram temple, says BJP MLA T Raja Singh



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New Delhi:

The Supreme Court Thursday dismissed a plea filed by Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, BJPs Delhi spokesperson seeking a direction to the Centre, the states, and union territories to make Hindi compulsory for students of class I-VIII across.

A bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar asked why does he not ask his party to do it? He belongs to the governing party. He is part of the government.

The bench, which also comprised Justices D Y Chandrachud and Sanjay Kishan Kaul, said the people speaking other languages may also start asking why their languages are not being taught and added that the government could look into it.

The bench also did not allow the plea of Upadhyay, who is also an advocate, that he would withdraw the plea and let it be treated as a representation to the central government.

We will not say anything. You withdraw it, it said.

Upadhyay, in his plea, had referred to constitutional

provisions and the non-execution of the three-language formula enunciated in the 1968 National Policy Resolution by the Centre in consultation with the states.

The plea said the three-language formula provided for the study of Hindi, English and modern Indian language in Hindi-speaking states and Hindi, English and a regional language in the non-Hindi speaking states and it is still not implemented.

In order to promote fraternity, assuring dignity of individual and unity and national integration, study of Hindi should be compulsory for all the students of I-VIII standard through the country, the plea said.

It said the 1968 policy, adopted by Parliament, was framed in response to demands from non-Hindi-speaking states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

However, all these states have not followed the three-language formula till date, it claimed.

Public servants and judges of higher judiciary, who have studied regional languages, find it difficult to read, write and speak Hindi while serving in Hindi-speaking states, it contended.

(With PTI inputs)

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New Delhi:

In a joint exercise with Maharashtra Police, the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad nabbed a suspected ISI operative in Mumbai by carrying out overnight raids. It was a part of a spying racket linked to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.



IG UP-ATS Aseem Arun on Thursday said that the UP ATS picked up Altaf Qureshi on Wednesday night from Masjid Bunder area in South Mumbai and Javed Iqbal from Yusuf Manzil building at Agreepada on Thursday morning. These arrests were made after getting leads from another ISI suspect Aftab Ali. So far, three suspects of the ISI have been arrested since Wednesday.



The trio was involved in an espionage racket, said Arun. Aftab is believed to have been trained by Pakistans ISI, he further added. Also, Aftab was in constant touch with the Pakistan High Commission officials in New Delhi.

ALSO READ: UP ATS arrests ISI agent from Mumbai in joint operation with Maha Police



After interrogating Aftab, Qureshi, a hawala operator who also allegedly worked for ISI was held in Mumbai, while Iqbal, the third suspect, is an aide of Qureshi.



A cellphone and Rs 71.57 lakh in cash have been seized by ATS from the house of Qureshi. Javed used to get instructions from Pakistan and at his behest Qureshi often deposited money in Aftabs bank account, an ATS official said after doing the duos interrogation.



The official further added that Javed was in constant touch with ISI officials in Pakistan. More arrests are likely to be made as other names have also been cropped up following the interrogation.



The ATS got cracking after Uttar Pradesh Police recently issued a warning of a possible terror attack in the state by ISI-trained terrorists.



The group, allegedly trained by Pakistans ISI, has reportedly been asked to target Ayodhya, Varanasi, Vrindavan, and the Taj Mahal in Agra, UP police said.



A Khurasan module was unearthed after Saifullahs death in March. Recently, some self-radicalised youths were also arrested by the UP Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).

With inputs from PTI.

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New Delhi:

Discussions on Press freedom included topics like Shrinking spaces, violence against journalists and sliding work conditions on Wednesday in New Delhi.

The discussion was organized by Indian Women and Press Corps (IWPC) to mark the occasion of World Press Freedom Day. During the discussion, senior journalists expressed their concern over the issue.

IWPC in a statement told that resolution was moved and adopted at the meeting that focuses on upholding freedom of independent journalism in order to create a just, fair, democratic and humane society.

The panelists included senior journalists and media professionals Neerja Choudhary, Siddharth Varadarajan, Mukesh Bharadwaj and Gurdeep Sappal.

The meeting condemns the violence faced by media persons at workplace as well as society, on a global scale as well as in India and deterioration in working conditions, unfair terms of contract and employment, according to the resolution.

It urged the government to uphold the rule of law in media establishments and to take steps that ensure social security and decent wages for journalists.

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Mewat:

Mewat in Haryana which is dominated by Muslims, has the lowest immunisation rate among children under 6 years of age. This is a matter of concern for the authorities who are now trying include clerics to address the situation.

According to the National Health Survey, the immunisation rate in Mewat is 13 per cent, much lower than the state average of 62.2 per cent.

Officials believe the reason behind low immunization in Mewat rumours which started spreading more than 3 months back that the vaccines being administered under the Central governments Indradhanush programme would have a sterilising effect on the children.

In order to address the situation, top officials of the district and National Health Mission (NHM) on Wednesday held an interaction with the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and the clerics, who agreed to render their help by negating the rumours.

Maulana Yahya Kareemi, president of Al-aman Islamic Centre, Mewat, said he would speak about the misinformation related to the immunisation during the prayers at the mosque, including on Fridays when the number of devotees swell.

We have 400-500 youth coming to our institute every day and the number rises to over a thousand on Fridays. If the administration wants, we can spread the word quelling misinformation related to immunisation, he said.

The Indradanush programme aims at protecting children against diseases like polio, BCG, pentavalent (diptheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis b, haemophilus, influenza type-B) rubella-measles.

Officials said the immunisation rate had risen to 30 per cent but it started sliding post-February after a video went viral on social media, claiming that the injections being administered would make the children sterile and check the population of the minority community.

As of now, no such injection or tablet has been invented which could render children sterile, asserted Mewat Deputy Commissioner Mani Ram Sharma, while rubbishing the rumours.

He told the gathering, which included several clerics, that the region has several people affected by polio as the Meo community had skipped the polio vaccination drive 15 years back, again due to unfound apprehensions.

I see 15-20 physically disabled youngsters coming to see me at my office every day to seek assistance in the form of employment or finances, the IAS officer said.

We can tell only you (the ASHAs and religious leaders), but it is for you to spread the word among the stakeholders and raise awareness at grassroots level, Sharma said. Director of the National Health Mission in Haryana Amaneet P Kumar also rejected the rumours and said, They are wrong. We should have faith in science. On their part, the ASHA workers highlighted the reasons, like vehement denial by some people, for the low immunisation rate.

People hurl strong words at us, they shut their doors at us but we still make an effort to go back to such houses to ensure that no child is left out, said 48-year-old Rehmani, ASHA at Karedi village in Nagina block.

Raziya, ASHA coordinator at Mewat, highlighted the insufficient number of ASHAs and Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery (village level health workers) in the district. At present there are 874 ASHAs in Mewat as against a stipulated requirement of over 1400, said Raziya. As per the guidelines, she said, one ASHA is required for every thousand people.

Also one Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery (ANM) is needed for every 5,000 people but in the district it is an ANM per 15-17,000 people.

Another Islamic scholar, Hakim uddin, told the gathering of Muslim clerics and government officials besides Haryana Waqf Board CEO Hanif Qureishi, that any rumour must be checked.

He also asked the community members to shun any negative mindset about government measures and instead verify reports/rumours.

Qureishi, who is also the Commissioner of Police, Faridabad, said it was sad that health indicators in Mewat were the lowest.

Its ramifications would not appear now but after 15-20 years, he remarked.

Appealing to the community members for support in the immunisation drive, Qureishi underlined that in a democracy, the government has a social responsibility to look after the welfare of the people.

But the people have a freedom of choice, no decision can be imposed on them, he said.

This is your (religious leaders) responsibility to spread the message for welfare of the children, both for their safety as well as education, he added.
London:

Scientists have discovered a new species of giant dinosaurs in France that has been identified as the earliest relative of Brachiosaurs. The discovery was made after the scientists at Imperial College London in the UK re-examined a fossil kept at a museum.

The fossil named Vouivria damparisensis was overlooked for more than 80 years and is a brachiosaurid sauropod dinosaur. The researchers said that the Vouivria is around 160-million-year old. This makes it the earliest known fossil belonging to the titanosauriform family of dinosaurs. The family comprises well-known dinosaurs such as the Brachiosaurus.

The fossil was first discovered in 1930s in France. However, then its species was not identified and it has been largely ignored in scientific literature.

According to the new analysis of the fossil, the Vouivria died at an early age. It weighed around 15,000 kgs and was more than 15 metres long. This makes it roughly 1.5 times the size of a double-decker bus.

The long-necked dinosaur had a long tail and four legs of equal length. Its long neck held around a 45 degree angle. It is thought to be a plant eater.



Vouivria would have been a herbivore, eating all kinds of vegetation, such as ferns and conifers, Philip Mannion, lead author of the study from Imperial College London, said.



This creature lived in the Late Jurassic, around 160 million years ago, at a time when Europe was a series of islands.



We dont know what this creature died from, but millions of years later it is providing important evidence to help us understand in more detail the evolution of brachiosaurid sauropods and a much bigger group of dinosaurs that they belonged to, called titanosauriforms, said Mannion.

A diverse group of sauropod dinosaurs, Titanosauriforms were some of the largest creatures to have ever lived on land.



They lived from at least the Late Jurassic, right to the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, when an asteroid wiped out most life on Earth.



A lack of fossil records means that it has been difficult for scientists to understand the early evolution of titanosauriforms and how they spread out across the planet.



The re-classification of Vouivria as an early titanosauriform will help scientists understand the spread of these creatures during the Early Cretaceous period, a later period of time, around 145-100 million years ago.



The teams incorporation of Vouivria into a revised analysis of sauropod evolutionary relationships shows that by the Early Cretaceous period, brachiosaurids were restricted to what is now Africa and the US, and were probably extinct in Europe.

ALSO READ | Dinosaur that resembles crocodile: Scientists discover fossils of six-foot-long giant reptile Teleocrater rhadinus

Previously, scientists had suggested the presence of another brachiosaurid sauropod dinosaur called Padillasaurus much further afield in what is now South America, in the Early Cretaceous.



However, the teams incorporation of Vouivria into the fossil timeline suggests that Padillasaurus was not a brachiosaurid, and that this group did not spread as far as South America.

The Vouivria fossil was originally discovered by palaeontologists in the village of Damparis, in the Jura Department of eastern France, in 1934. Ever since, it has been stored in the Museum National dHistoire Naturelle, Paris.

ALSO READ | Scientists unveil world's most diverse set of Dinosaur tracks in Australia's Jurassic Park



(With inputs from PTI)

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New Delhi:

French presidential candidates Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron released a barrage of attacks on each other is Wednesdays televised debate. The debate, which turned ill-tempered from the get go, saw little of policy discussion and a sea of personal attacks.



Only head to head debate before Sundays polls presented two opposite visions of France's future and ways of handling terrorism.



Here are the highlights of Wednesdays debate between far-right Le Pen and pro-EU Macron:



Terrorism



Far-right leader Marine Le Pen accused centrist rival Emmanuel Macron of being soft on Islamic extremism as the candidates discussed security in a bad-tempered presidential debate ahead of this weekends runoff.



Le Pen said Macron was against all tough propositions to improve security and fight extremism after a series of deadly attacks in France.You have an indulgent attitude towards Islamic fundamentalism, Le Pen added.



Saying Frances fight against terror would be his priority if elected, Macron countered that Le Pens anti-terror plans would play into the hands of the extremists and divide France. This is what the terrorists expect. Its civil war, its division, its heinous speech, he said.



The Merkel factor



Le Pen accused Macron to be a front for German Chancellor Angela Merkel and said if elected he will be in Merkels pocket. Either way France will be led by a woman; either me or Madame Merkel, she said derisively.



High priestess of fear



Macron portrayed Marine Le Pen as an empty shell, shaky on details, seeking to profit politically by stirring up hatred and the anger of French voters  a dominant theme of the campaign  without feasible proposals. He called her the high priestess of fear.



Your project consists of telling the French people, This person is horrible. Its to cast dirt. Its to lead a campaign of lies and falsifications. Your project lives off fear and lies. Thats what sustains you. Thats what sustained your father for decades. Thats what nourished the extreme right and that is what created you, Macron said. You are its parasite.



Economic plans



Macron and Le Pen clashed over Frances finances, its future and their respective proposals for tackling its ills. Macron scoffed at her monetary plans, saying reintroducing a franc for purchases within France but allowing big firms to continue using the shared euro currency that Le Pen wants to abandon made no sense.



She dismissed his economic proposals with sweeping critiques and bristled at his suggestions that she didnt understand how finance and business works.



US or Russia: Next French ally



Moderate Macron showed preference to working with US President Donald Trump over Russian president Vladimir Putin. He said he wants work with US on intelligence-sharing, at the United Nations and on climate change. He spoke less favourably of Putin, saying on many subjects we dont have the same values and priorities.



Le Pen, on the other hand, saw no reason to be in a cold war with Russia.



Who won?



Despite no major party backing, 39-year-old Macron is ahead in pre-polls by at least 20 points. Le Pen needed to land knockouts to secure lead in this debate but failed to do so.



Nevertheless the 2-hour, 30-minute debate was an intense prime-time slugfest. Both sought to destabilise each other; neither really succeeded. For the large cohort of voters who remain undecided, the debate at least had the merit of making abundantly clear the stark choice facing them at the ballot box on Sunday.

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A memorial before restoration [Photo/jxnews.com.cn]

Several memorials unearthed from the Haihunhou tomb in Nanchang have been confirmed to be official documents presented to the imperial court. The three pieces already released were all written with ink in Li script, according to the Nanchang Evening News.

Based on the analysis by Zhang Yuzheng, an expert in history at Beijing Union University, the memorials may be the oldest original copies of senior official documents in Han Dynasty (BC 206-AD 220), which has great value for the study of ancient official documents.

The unearthed bamboo slips were memorials to the throne

Among the three publicly released memorials, two of them remain fairly intact with exact date information, though the handwriting is partly damaged. Chinese characters meaning "concubine" and "Haihunhou He" can be seen on the memorials, which shows that they were written by the Marquis of Haihun Liu He and his wife.

Zhang Yuzheng suggested that according to Hanshu (History of Han), the memorial presented to the imperial court should be in two copies, with the original copy submitted to the emperor and the duplicate to the minister. The minister would first review the contents and then decide whether it was appropriate to be submitted to the emperor. The system was abolished during the reign of Emperor Hanxuan in the Han Dynasty. The unearthed memorials from Haihunhou tomb are believed to have been written on the fourth year of Yuankang during the reign of Emperor Hanxun when the system was already abolished.

Therefore, Zhang holds that the unearthed memorials written with date information "fourth year of Yuankang" were very likely the original copies of official documents, instead of duplicate ones.

The whole structure and content are also complete, the handwriting is quite neat, and the format is strict, consistent with the features of an original copy, according to Zhang.
The seven-day Abu Dhabi book fair which closed Tuesday has brought Chinese literature closer to readers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and beyond.

As this year's official "guest of honour" country, China's participation at the 27th Abu Dhabi book fair was the country's largest at a foreign book fair to date.

Abu Dhabi is the capital of the UAE which supports China's The Belt and Road Initiative, the strategy to bring the Far East with the Middle East, Africa and Europe closer together in relation to trade, investments and cultural exchange.

Xiao Guanglu, the representative for China as "guest of honour," told the Abu Dhabi daily, The National, that the 650 sq.-metre Chinese pavilion hosted books of "famous Chinese authors" as well as 3,400 titles and 5,400 copies in Arabic, English and Mandarin."

Nasser Yousuf Alzaabi, a sales director at Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi Media, told Xinhua "I think this is a great book fair. The UAE government's mission is to connect people through reading, to reach out to all people in the world."

On China's role at this edition, Alzaabi said "The Chinese has a big culture, and this book fair is a great platform to merger their culture with our culture. It is normally difficult for us to access Chinese literature, but this year's book fair made it easy."

Moroccan historian and scholar Abdallah Laroui, who was awarded the Sheikh Zayed Book Award in the category "Cultural Person of the year," told Dubai daily Gulf news in an article published earlier in the day he considers to be "very important" for the future of Arabs to have different and very variant culture.

The Confucius Institute at University of Dubai and several schools in Abu Dhabi started to offer lectures in Mandarin. The 300,000 Chinese community is one of the fastest growing group of foreigners in the Gulf Arab state.

Since 2014, China's becomes Dubai's biggest trade partner.
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The latest installment of the Saks Shops Greenwich is open for business.

The Vault, serving as the brands majestic home of the worlds most exclusive jewelry, is open as of May 4 at 200 Greenwich Ave.

It joins The Collective, featuring contemporary fashions, across from Saks main store. A short walk away, Saks first store just for shoes, 10022-SHOE, opened in October.

The Vault held a private preview party on May 3 with live music, passed champagne and a sneak peek at the impressive jewelry on sale, including some exclusive brands to the Greenwich market like Amsterdam Sauer, Anita Ko and Noor Fares.

Some specialty pieces include De Grisogono diamond earrings for $2,571,500, a Bulgari serpent bracelet for $99,000 and a blue Vhernier necklace for $175,600.

The Vault is the only Saks store dedicated solely to fine jewelry. It features jewelry viewing rooms, jewelry design, repair and cleaning and complimentary delivery of purchases

With its 61,500 square feet of space downtown within a two-minute walk, Saks has become the largest retailer in Greenwichs main business corridor. But the brands investment in its Greenwich properties wont be completed until later this fall, when the main store is set to complete a round of renovations.

The store openings are part of the companys efforts to broaden its metro New York City footprint, Saks Fifth Avenue President Marc Metrick told Hearst Connecticut Media last fall.

Greenwich is one of our most productive stores on a sales-per-square-foot basis, he said at the opening of 10022-SHOE.

The February opening of The Collective arrived amid news of many large brands, such as Aeropostale, Macys and Sears, shuttering stores. Regardless, Metrick voiced optimism about his companys future during an interview.

Department stores arent dying, Metrick said. Bad ones are.

Even with the large growth of Saks within Greenwichs downtown area, the brand hadnt seen a slowdown in sales as of February, he added.

With small being the new big, as Metrick said, Saks slate of boutique Greenwich shops aims to encourage shoppers to take advantage of the brands diverse offerings without the big box-store atmosphere.

mbennett@greenwichtime.com
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Teslas upstart Greenwich franchise has hit a pothole, with the state Department of Motor Vehicles issuing a cease and desist order to the electric car manufacturer on its Connecticut sales.

The DMV says that Tesla is illegally selling cars from a storefront on the towns main shopping thoroughfare, which the Silicon Valley company refers to as a gallery.

An automotive retailers trade association successfully argued that the location  Teslas lone showroom in the state  is a car dealership and violates the state law prohibiting direct Tesla sales to consumers in Connecticut.

The flagship store will be allowed to remain open, pending an expected appeal by Tesla of the May 2 ruling to state Superior Court. Tesla must otherwise suspend all business activities at the 340 Greenwich Ave. location until it gets a license for a new dealership from the state, which would require approval of the Legislature.

The clear intent of Tesla at the Greenwich gallery is to provide the company with a means of merchandizing its motor vehicles with the further intent to conclude all activities conducted there in a sale, the DMVs hearing officer, William Grady, wrote in the ruling.

A top Tesla executive urged legislators this week to support a bill allowing direct sales of the car in the state  in line with New York and Massachusetts  and accused the Connecticut Automotive Retailers Association of going to extreme lengths to stymie the competition.

It sent secret shoppers to the Greenwich gallery in a failed attempt to trick our local employees into selling them a vehicle, Diarmuid OConnell, Teslas vice president of business development, wrote legislative leaders. Despite these fake shoppers repeated requests, our employees did not sell them a car or take their order. What our employees did, and what they continue to do, is educate visitors about Tesla, its cars and other products, and broadly about electric vehicle technology and its many benefits. It is a basic constitutional right for Tesla to be able to communicate with Connecticut residents about these topics. Ironically, even this limited non-sales activity is too much in the eyes of CARA, which is seeking to entirely shutter the Greenwich gallery.

Jim Fleming, president of the 300-dealer automotive trade group, admonished Tesla Thursday and said it is blatantly ignoring the law.

CARA continues to oppose any attempt to sells cars without using the franchise system, Fleming said.

Connecticut has emerged as the top expansion market for Tesla, the Palo Alto, Calif., tech giant founded by Elon Musk. Not counting a $35,000 Model 3 that the Silicon Valley company plans to start production on this year, the least expensive Tesla model on the market is $68,000. There are about 1,300 Teslas registered statewide.

The DMV ruled that the business activities at Teslas Greenwich flagship store were not substantially different than those conducted by licensed new car dealers.

The owner advisers received bonuses and commissions tied to the number of gallery visitors who later purchased a vehicle, a practiced which stopped at the end of 2016 after the CARA petition was filed, the ruling said. The payments to employees were consistent with those employees who operated out of licensed locations.

Teslas supporters say Connecticut is losing out on sales tax revenues on vehicles purchased by residents in New York and Massachusetts, the percentage of which rises from 6.35 percent to 7.75 percent for luxury vehicles over $50,000. They also contend that a regional distribution facility, eyed for Bridgeport, could bring jobs to the state.

Twice before, Tesla bills have stalled in the Legislature after intense lobbying by traditional car dealerships.

I support the concept, said Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, who previously shepherded the proposal.

The current version of the legislation is idling in the House and hasnt reached the Senate.

I dont know if theres votes in the House to pass it, Duff said.

nvigdor@hearstmediact.com; 203-625-4436; http://twitter.com/gettinviggy
LA BALADE POUR LA PAIX  AN OPEN-AIR MUSEUM

MONTREAL, May 3, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - Artist Charles Joseph (1959) of the Kwakiutl Nation of the West Coast of Canada will unveil his work Residential School Totem Pole to be raised in the ancestral territory of Kanien'keha:ka, the nation to which it pays homage, in the context of an official opening ceremony for the work. This totem pole, displayed for the first time, will form part of La Balade pour la Paix  An Open-Air Museum, an exhibition of public art, designed and organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts with the support of McGill University as part of the official programme celebrating Montreal's 375th anniversary

This monumental piece (21.45 metres high) will open the exhibition route along Sherbrooke Street West in front of the MMFA's Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion. The totem pole is a tribute to the First Nations children, of whom the artist Charles Joseph was one, who were taken away from their families and sent to the residential schools of religious communities. On May 29, 2015 the Canadian government acknowledged that these children had been, between 1820 and 1996, the victims of a cultural genocide.

Charles Joseph states: "Presenting this pole is for all Canadians, not just residential school survivors. This is my reconciliation, and my story is on the pole. The story is not just about Charles Joseph, it's about everyone who went through it. I need to tell the story in this form, but it is about survivors from across Canada."

According to Nathalie Bondil, the Museum's Director General and Chief Curator, "We are deeply moved today to unveil this new totem pole by Charles Joseph in the context of the celebrations. Only six of the First Nations of the West Coast ever carved these works and there are even fewer today because the technical and artistic skills required to make them are so demanding. Traditionally the gigantic witnesses to their history perpetuated the story of important events for the Native Peoples. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada estimates that 150,000 children were torn from their families during the past century, complying with the government's assimilation policy. Telling the story of this tragedy through the powerful artistry of one of our leading creators is essential in the perspective of our new century."

"We are very honoured to be a part of this totem raising ceremony here on Kanien'keha:ka territory," says Christine Zachary Deom, Chief of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake. "Our territory has always been a place of gathering and exchange and we are very pleased to see these bridges being built with Montreal, the Kwakiutl Nation, and our community. Our people have been eager to have their presence and history acknowledged, and this is a great initiative towards reconciliation" she added.

"We salute the involvement of our First Nations artists in making Canadians aware of our history, even of its darkest side, as in the case of the residential schools. I thank Charles Joseph for this work, and above all for its positive consciousness-raising effect. This is a contribution that will help to bring about the reconciliation of our peoples that is so vital", stated Ghislain Picard, Chief of the Quebec-Labrador Assembly of First Nations.

"The Society for the Celebration of Montreal's 375th Anniversary is happy to emphasize the close links that bind together the First Nations peoples and our City. With its over 30,000 Native citizens, Montreal constitutes the largest indigenous community in Quebec. La Balade pour la paix, the flagship project of the official programme for the celebrations of the 375th anniversary, is an ideal expression of the wealth of links between our peoples. The work of the artist Charles Joseph of the Kwakiutl Nation, raised on the ancestral territory of Kanien'keha:ka, is a prime example of the cultural richness of the First Nations and of the ties that bind us", said Alain Gignac, Director General of the the Society for the Celebration of Montreal's 375th Anniversary.

"The City is firmly committed to reconciliation, and our pledge takes on new meaning as we stand before this totem pole and remember the thousands of Aboriginal people who passed through the residential school system. This totem pole reminds us of our present duty, and we are humbled by history. I would like to commend Charles Joseph for creating this work of art and thank all the partners who made its presentation in Montreal possible. As we celebrate Montreal's 375th anniversary, understanding and reconciliation with Aboriginal peoples are of vital importance," said Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montreal.

The totem pole is a symbol of reconciliation and commemoration. It embodies a strong sense of the identity and pride of the Kwakiutl Nation of the West Coast of Canada. Joseph's Residential School Totem Pole depicts, from the bottom to the top: the members of the family of the sponsor of the Totem; the cedar ring symbolizing safety; the wild woman responsible for the traditional culture; the killer whale, the guardian of memory; the crow representing the alliance of Church and State; the bear for its strength and wisdom; the Arctic fox, the witness of the past; the Kulus, the great black ravens that according to the legend created the islands of the West Coast of Canada by dropping pebbles into the ocean; and at the top the two-headed snake with its wings unfurled in the shape of a cross.

The sculptor Charles Joseph also works as a fisherman and in the forest to provide for his family. As a child he spoke only his mother tongue, kwak'wala, before he learned English. He is deeply committed to preserving his culture. The revitalization and dissemination of the Kwakiutl traditions is the legacy he hopes to pass on to future generations. His works breathe new life into a culture, his own, which might have been decimated by the policies and practices of the colonizing powers. These creations are part of the process of reappropriating the Kwakiutl identity and the preservation of the way of life of the ancestors.

La Balade pour la Paix An Open-Air Museum

On Sherbrooke Street West between the sections the MMFA/Concordia University  the McCord Museum/McGill University

June 5 to October 29, 2017

La Balade pour la Paix  An Open-Air Museum is part of the official programme for the 375th anniversary of Montreal. A truly open-air museum, the route will display works by Canadian and international artists, and fly the flags with the colours of the Confederation of Canada and of some 200 other countries. Commemorating two other important events, the 50th anniversary of Expo 67 and the 150th anniversary of the Confederation, the Balade reminds us that Expo 67, visited by 50 million people, was a window on to the world, a memorable event for Quebec and for Canada.

The ambassador for this exhibition is no other than Louise Arbour, who has battled throughout her career for the rights of man. She is currently the UN Special Representative for International Migration.

The exhibition has been designed and organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts with the support of McGill University. Thanks to the support of the City of Montreal, La Balade pour la Paix runs for a kilometre along Sherbrooke Street between the MMFA and Concordia University and the McCord Museum and McGill University. The curators are Nathalie Bondil, Director General and Chief Curator of the MMFA, Sylvie Lacerte, art historian and consultant for public art and Diane Charbonneau, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Decorative Arts, Design and Photography at the MMFA. The design for the installation was conceived by Claude Cormier, landscape architect, in collaboration with designer Michel Dallaire.

Credit : Charles Joseph, Born in Alert Bay, British Columbia, in 1959, Residential School Totem Pole, 201416, Red cedar, acrylic paint H. 1,524; W. 762; Diam. 152.4 cm. Private collection. Photo Greg McKee 2016

Press kit and images: mbam.qc.ca/en/media

Source and inquiries:

Patricia Lachance Press officer | MMFA T. 514-285-1600, ext. 315 C. 514.235-2044 [email protected] Elisabeth-Anne Butikofer Press officer | MMFA T. 514-285-1600, ext. 205 C. 514-272-4653 [email protected]

About the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

The MMFA welcomes a million visitors annually. Quebec's most visited museum, it is one of the most popular museums in Canada, and ranks twelfth among art museums in North America. With their original designs, its temporary exhibitions combine the artistic disciplines (fine arts, music, film, fashion and design) and are exported around the world. Its rich encyclopedic collection, distributed among five pavilions, includes international art, world cultures, decorative arts and design, and Quebec and Canadian art. The MMFA complex also includes a concert hall that seats 460, Bourgie Hall. In addition, the MMFA is one of Canada's leading publishers of books on art in French and English, which are distributed internationally. Finally, the Museum houses the Michel de la Cheneliere International Atelier for Education and Art Therapy, the largest educational complex in a North American museum of art, enabling the MMFA to offer innovative education, well-being and art-therapy projects.

About the Society for the Celebration of Montreal's 375th Anniversary

The Society for the Celebration of Montreal's 375th Anniversary is a non-profit organization whose mission is to organize the celebrations and socioeconomic contributions that will mark Montreal's 375th anniversary in 2017. With a focus on promoting Montreal expertise, it acts as a catalyst for local forces in carrying out its mandate: to mobilize the community, implement a funding strategy, rigorously manage public funds, develop quality programming and ensure the visibility of the celebrations.

The Society benefits from the support of the Ville de Montreal, the Quebec government, the Canada government and private funding from 12 Great Montrealers. For more information, see http://www.375mtl.com

You can find all our press releases and additional pictures and videos in our virtual press room.

Get all the latest news in real time on our Twitter feed: @375Mtl.

Follow us on Facebook.

To learn more about the contribution of the Quebec government to Montreal's 375th Anniversary celebrations, click here.

www.375mtl.com

SOURCE Societe des celebrations du 375e anniversaire de Montreal

For further information: Media relations, Isabelle Pelletier, [email protected], 514-238-4178

Related Links

www.375mtl.com


Canadian Guidelines Now Recommend Aerobic Exercise  Like Running  To Treat Mild To Moderate Depression

TORONTO, May 3, 2017 /CNW/ - Mental health problems are on the risei, with one in five Canadians affected.ii More than three million Canadian youth 12 to 19 years of age are considered at high risk of developing depression,iii and females are at an ever greater risk.iv The good news is there's a way to help manage mental health issues that is accessible to everyone. Canadian clinical guidelines now recognize aerobic exercise as a first line treatment for mild to moderate depression. Shoppers Drug Mart has teamed up with The Running Room, local police departments and high schools across Canada to educate female students about mental health and the benefits of physical activity through the Run for It program.

"Studies show exercise that raises your heart rate for at least 25 minutes can have the same effect on your brain as anti-depressant drugs," says Dr. Valerie Taylor, Psychiatrist-in-Chief at Women's College Hospital in Toronto. "The goal of the program is to empower young girls with the knowledge and training needed to take their mental wellness into their own hands."

Run for It is a six week program available at select local high schools in fifteen cities across Canada. It is a mental health education program that provides female high school students aged 12 to 19 with information and strategies for managing mental health while also incorporating training for a 5 km race.

"Shoppers Drug Mart has always been a proud champion of putting Women's Health first," says Lisa Gibbs, Director of Community Investment, Shoppers Drug Mart. "Our goal through this program is to boost confidence and help young women across Canada gain coping strategies to improve their mental wellness."

In addition to the physical training, students are educated in mental health topics such as the prevalence of mental health illnesses, strategies to deal with mental health issues, ways to fight the stigma and the power of exercise in managing mental health. Specifically, the topics include:

Week 1: Runners High = Brain Health

Week 2: Anxiety: Good Stress vs. Bad Stress

Week 3: Mental Health Issues are Normal

Week 4: Let's Erase the Stigma

Week 5: Women's Mental Health

Week 6: Social Media  Is it affecting your mental health?

At the end of the six weeks, the youth are ready to participate to participate in the SHOPPERS LOVE. YOU. Run for Women in their city. The SHOPPERS LOVE. YOU. Run for Women is Canada's first and only women's and girls' running race series. Proceeds from each run benefit local women's mental health initiatives.

The Run For It mental health curriculum was developed by Dr. Valerie Taylor in partnership with mental health experts from across Canada. The program's run training was developed by John Stanton, Founder of Running Room.

"The solution to the growing concern on mental health requires total community collaboration and action," says John Stanton. "Exercise, combined with clinical care, are both powerful and proven antidotes to assist a vast variety of mental health issues, most importantly the personal empowerment and support of the individual."

The program was introduced in 2015 with the endorsement of the York Regional Police in Ontario. In its first year (2015) the program involved three schools and 150 students. In 2016, it grew to 44 schools and 561 students across Unionville, Ottawa and Winnipeg.

This year marks the national launch of the program in fifteen cities to coincide with the SHOPPERS LOVE. YOU. Run For Women, including: Unionville, Moncton, Ottawa, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Kitchener Waterloo, Edmonton, Oakville, Quebec City, Regina, Montreal, London, Toronto, Calgary, St. John's.

For more information and to find out if the program is offered in your region, visit www.runforitprogram.ca. To register for SHOPPERS LOVE. YOU. Run for Women in your area, visit www.runforwomen.ca.

About SHOPPERS LOVE. YOU.

SHOPPERS LOVE. YOU. is the identity for our long-standing commitment for women's health. To help women live their best lives, the SHOPPERS LOVE. YOU. program is designed to help women stay focused on making their own health a priority by connecting them to the expertise of our partners at leading women's health organizations and to others in support of women's health initiatives across Canada. Learn more at shoppersloveyou.ca

About Shoppers Drug Mart Corporation

Shoppers Drug Mart Corporation is one of the most recognized and trusted names in Canadian retailing. The Company is the licensor of full-service retail drug stores operating under the name Shoppers Drug Mart (Pharmaprix in Quebec). With more than 1,300 Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmaprix stores operating in prime locations in each province and two territories, the Company is one of the most convenient retailers in Canada. The Company also licenses or owns 51 medical clinic pharmacies operating under the name Shoppers Simply Pharmacy (Pharmaprix Simplement Sante in Quebec), five luxury beauty destinations operating as Murale and 40 Shoppers Home Health Care stores. In addition to its retail store network, the Company owns Shoppers Drug Mart Specialty Health Network Inc., a provider of specialty drug distribution, pharmacy and comprehensive patient support services, and MediSystem Technologies Inc., a provider of pharmaceutical products and services to long-term care facilities. Shoppers Drug Mart is a unique and independent operating division of Loblaw Companies Limited. For more information, visit shoppersdrugmart.ca.

About The Running Room

The Running Room is proudly a family-owned company. It originated in 1984 out of founder John Stanton's wish to purchase quality running shoes from someone knowledgeable about the sport. New to the sport of running, John had a thirst for knowledge as well as a desire to buy the right product. This entrepreneurial retailer decided to fill a niche in the marketplace by opening a small one-room store in the renovated living room of an old house in Edmonton, hence the name, "Running Room." The concept was highly successful, and the stores have since expanded to over 117 locations across Canada and the United States.

__________________________ i http://www.mentalhealthcommission.ca/sites/default/files/2016-06/Investing_in_Mental_Health_FINAL_Version_ENG.pdf. Accessed April 7, 2017 ii http://strategy.mentalhealthcommission.ca/the-facts/ iii http://www.cmha.ca/media/fast-facts-about-mental-illness/#.WML7FFUrK00 iv Depression in Women. Women's Health Matters  Women's College Hospital. Accessed Apr 21, 2016. Available: http://www.womenshealthmatters.ca/health-centres/mental-health/depression/depression-in-women/.

SOURCE Shoppers Drug Mart Corporation

For further information: Aliya Darvesh, Environics Communications, [email protected], 416-969-2777

Related Links

http://www.shoppersdrugmart.ca


VAUGHAN, ON, May 4, 2017 /CNW/ - The Board of Directors of Cara Operations Limited (TSX: CARA.TO) ("Cara" or the "Company") has declared a quarterly dividend of 10.169 cents per share on its outstanding Subordinate Voting Shares and Multiple Voting Shares, or approximately $6.1 million in the aggregate.

Payment of the dividend will be made on June 15, 2017 to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 31, 2017. Cara has designated this dividend as an eligible dividend within the meaning the Income Tax Act (Canada) and all provisions of provincial laws applicable to eligible dividends.

Dividend Reinvestment Plan

On May 5, 2016, the Company suspended the Dividend Reinvestment Plan which provided holders of Subordinate Voting Shares of Cara and Multiple Voting Shares of Cara, to acquire additional Subordinate Voting Shares by reinvesting all of their cash dividends at a purchase price discount of 3%.

The Company will continue to review its Dividend Policy on a quarterly basis and may reinstate the Dividend Reinvestment Plan in the future.

About CARA

Founded in 1883, Cara is Canada's oldest and largest full-service restaurant company. The Company franchises and/or operates some of the most recognized brands in the country including Swiss Chalet, Harvey's, St-Hubert, Milestones, Montana's, Kelsey's, East Side Mario's, Casey's, New York Fries, Prime Pubs, Original Joe's, State & Main, Elephant & Castle, Bier Markt and Landing restaurants. As at March 26, 2017, Cara had 1,238 restaurants, 1,181 of which were located in Canada and the remaining 57 locations were located internationally. 84% of Cara's restaurants are operated by franchisees and 54% of Cara's locations are based in Ontario. Cara's shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CARA.TO. More information about the Company is available at www.cara.com.

SOURCE Cara Operations Limited

For further information: Investor Relations: Cara Operations Limited, Ken Grondin, (905) 760-2244, Chief Financial Officer, Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.cara.com


MONTREAL, May 3, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - The closing show of the Signature Canada 150 Project Dictee P.G.L. 150: Travelling through History will take place on May 26 at 7 p.m. at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau. For the occasion, the LNI's comedians will take to the stage for a lively show.

This event will mark the end of a cross-Canada tour. Dictee P.G.L. and the Ligue Nationale d'Improvisation (LNI) will be travelling across Canada in May 2017, making stops to host workshops and improv matches in VIA Rail Canada stations (or nearby). Two teams will be travelling by train to six destinations: the first team will set out from Vancouver and the second will be departing from Halifax. These activities are among the hundreds of events organized with VIA Rail's participation to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation.

On May 26, the two teams will meet at the Canadian Museum of History to celebrate the history of Canada's Francophonie in a special way. This event is possible thanks to a partnership with the Canadian Museum of History. Free tickets are now available: bit.ly/2paJYEF

The project has been made possible with support from the Government of Canada, VIA Rail Canada, Theatre de la LNI, the Alliance des radios communautaires du Canada, MAtv, Canal Savoir, Francolab and the Canadian Museum of History. The Fondation Paul Gerin-Lajoie would also like to thank the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, Alliance Francaise in Toronto and Vancouver, and Ecole de technologie superieure supporting the cross-Canada tour.

ABOUT THE FONDATION PAUL GERIN-LAJOIE AND LA DICTEE P.G.L.

The Fondation Paul Gerin-Lajoie celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2017. It is active in Canada and internationally, promoting its mission of Education for All! In Canada, it is undoubtedly best known for La Dictee P.G.L., an educational initiative that was introduced in 1991.

SOURCE Fondation Paul Gerin-Lajoie

For further information: Information: Caroline Cantin, Project Manager, La Dictee P.G.L. for Canada 150, [email protected] / 514-288-3888, ext. 240

Related Links

https://fondationpgl.ca/accueil/


TORONTO, May 3, 2017 /CNW/ - Echelon Financial Holdings Inc. ("EFH" or "the Company") (TSX: EFH), which operates in the property and casualty insurance industry in Canada, today reported net income attributable to shareholders on continued operations of $7.5 million, or $0.62 per diluted share, for the three months ended March 31, 2017.

All operating results below refer to continuing operations.

First Quarter 2017 Highlights

Net operating income on continued operations of $0.19 per share compared to an income of $0.09 per share in the first quarter of 2016.





per share compared to an income of per share in the first quarter of 2016. A Canadian combined operating ratio of 94% compared to 100% in the first quarter of 2016 driven by strong results in both Personal Lines and Commercial Lines.





A 30% increase in direct written premiums over the same period in 2016 to $54.6 million as a result of growth in existing products in Personal Lines and new Commercial Lines products.





as a result of growth in existing products in Personal Lines and new Commercial Lines products. Total pre-tax gain on invested assets of $5.1 million in the quarter compared to a pre-tax loss of $0.6 million in the first quarter of 2016 due to strong Preferred Share and Fixed Income performance.





in the quarter compared to a pre-tax loss of in the first quarter of 2016 due to strong Preferred Share and Fixed Income performance. Closing book value per share of $12.10 , an increase of 3.4% over the fourth quarter of 2016.

"We are pleased to report strong results this quarter in both Personal and Commercial lines, despite adverse weather conditions in the Maritime provinces" commented Serge Lavoie, Chief Executive Officer.

"Direct Written Premiums increased by 30% compared with the prior year quarter, driven by growth in both new and existing business lines", he continued. "Our full suite of products is being well received by the broker community, and the introduction of our enhanced systems will continue to support Echelon's growth in 2017 and beyond. We look forward to further building our relationships with our brokers across Canada, and are committed to building strong and sustainable insurance solutions, aligned directly to their needs".

Financial Summary on Continued Operations

$000s (except per share amounts) Three Months Ended

March 31, 2017 Three Months Ended

March 31, 2016 %

Change Direct written and assumed premiums 54,586 42,121 30 Net earned premiums 49,025 43,348 13 Underwriting income 716 (2,055) NM Investment income 8,487 3,945 115 Net income 7,466 901 729 Net operating income(1) 2,316 1,025 126 Net income per diluted share $0.62 $0.08 675 Net operating income per diluted share(2) $0.19 $0.09 111 Book value per share $12.10 $15.16 (20)

(1) Net operating income is defined as underwriting income plus interest and dividend income, net of tax, excluding catastrophe losses. (2) Net operating income is adjusted to that attributable to shareholders for per share calculation.

First Quarter Review

Net operating income of $2.3 million or $0.19 per share was recorded in the quarter, compared to an income of $1.0 million or $0.09 per share in the first quarter of 2016.

Personal Lines generated underwriting income of $1.9 million compared to an underwriting income of $0.7 million in the same period last year primarily due to strong performance in non-standard auto and motorcycle, partially offset by weaker performance in Atlantic Canada related to severe winter weather conditions.

Commercial Lines generated an underwriting income of $1.0 million compared to a $0.8 million underwriting loss in the same period last year primarily due to strong performance in warranty, commercial property and liability lines. The Company continues to focus on growing the Canadian business through product expansion, technology investments, and strong broker relationships.

Direct written premiums increased by 30% to $54.6 million, primarily due to growth in Ontario personal lines and Quebec commercial lines, driven by broker transfers on existing products and the launch of new products in 2016.

Investment income was $8.5 million compared to $3.9 million in the first quarter of 2016 primarily due to realized foreign exchange gains arising on investment hedges from the sale of the European operations. The total pre-tax gain on invested assets was $5.1 million in the quarter compared to pre-tax loss of $0.6 million in the first quarter of 2016, primarily due to strong performance of Preferred Share and Fixed Income investments. The fair value of Echelon's investment portfolio, including finance receivables, was $417 million.

Net favourable development of prior year claims of $3.3 million was recorded in the first quarter of 2017 compared to favourable development of $2.1 million in the same period in 2016.

Operating Results

Underwriting Income (Loss)(1)

$000s Three Months Ended

March 31, 2017 Three Months Ended

March 31, 2016 Personal Lines 1,890 743 Commercial Lines 1,000 (763) Key Operating Ratios



Loss ratio 58.9% 65.3% Expense ratio 35.2% 34.7% Combined ratio 94.1% 100.0% Loss Ratios



Personal Lines 62.5% 65.7% Commercial Lines 47.9% 63.8%

(1) Excluding head office overhead costs

Capital Management

All related entities remain well capitalized. The Minimum Capital Test (MCT) ratio of EFH's Canadian subsidiary, Echelon Insurance, as at March 31, 2017, was 258%, which exceeds the supervisory regulatory capital level required by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI). ICPEI's MCT ratio of 354% was in excess of provincial supervisory targets.

The Company has approximately $10 million of excess deployable capital invested in liquid assets in the holding company. All regulated entities remain well-capitalized.

For the three months ended March 31, 2017, total shareholders' equity increased by $5.6 million to $143.0 million from December 31, 2016.

Full Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) are available on SEDAR and on the Company's web site at echeloninsurance.ca

Non-IFRS Financial Measures

EFH uses International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and certain non-IFRS measures to assess performance. Readers are cautioned that non-IFRS measures do not have a standardized meaning under IFRS and may not be comparable to similar measures used by other companies. EFH analyzes performance based on operating income and underwriting ratios such as combined, expense and loss ratios.

Director Elections

Daniel Courtemanche has, for personal reasons, withdrawn his name as director nominee for the Company Board of Directors. The Board of Directors has resolved that 8 directors will be elected at the May 9, 2017 Annual General Meeting. With the exception of Mr. Courtemanche, the slate of director nominees will remain the same as previously set out in the Proxy and Management Information Circular.

Forward-looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking information based on current expectations. This information includes, but is not limited to, statements about the operations, business, financial condition, priorities, targets, ongoing objectives, strategies and outlook of EFH for 2017 and subsequent periods.

This information is based upon certain material factors or assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making a projection as reflected in the forward-looking information. By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific. A variety of material factors, many of which are beyond EFH's control, affect the operations, performance and results of its business and could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed in any of this forward-looking information.

EFH does not undertake to update any forward-looking information. Additional information about the risks and uncertainties about Echelon's business is provided in its disclosure materials, including its Annual Information Form and Management Discussion & Analysis, filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada, available at www.sedar.com.

Conference Call

A conference call for analysts and interested listeners will be held on Thursday, May 4, 2017, at 11:00 a.m. (ET). The call-in numbers for participants are 647-427-7450 or toll free 1-888-231-8191, Conference ID 2940919. A live audio feed of the call will be available online through the Company's website at echeloninsurance.ca, or directly at conference call.

A replay of the call will be available until May 11, 2017. To access the replay, call 416-849-0833, or toll free 1-855-859-2056, enter password 2940919. An archive will be available on our website following the event.

About Echelon Financial Holdings Inc.

Founded in 1998, Echelon operates in the property and casualty insurance industry in Canada, primarily focusing on non-standard automobile insurance and other specialty P&C insurance products. The Company operates and distributes insurance products through Echelon Insurance and The Insurance Company of Prince Edward Island. It trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol EFH. For more information, please visit echeloninsurance.ca.

SOURCE Echelon Financial Holdings Inc.

For further information: Kathy Shulman, Manager, Investor Relations, 905-214-7880, [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.echeloninsurance.ca/


(TSX: KBL)

EDMONTON, May 3, 2017 /CNW/ - K-Bro Linen Inc. (the "Corporation") will host its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, June 14, 2017 at 9:00 am Eastern Time at the offices of Stikeman Elliott LLP, Toronto, Ontario, which will be broadcast via conference call and webcast. The presentation will include a formal meeting component followed by a presentation by Linda McCurdy, President and CEO, and Kristie Plaquin, CFO.

Date: Wednesday, June 14, 2017 Time: 9:00am ET Call: 1.888.231.8191 (Canada and USA)

Participants are asked to call at least 10 minutes prior to the start of the call.

This meeting will be webcast live over the internet and can be accessed by all interested parties at the following URL http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=1400158&s=1&k=0EAC8B14C089E46F01F35B0F55539A93

To listen to the live webcast, visit the Corporation's website at least 10 minutes early to register, download and install any necessary audio software.

CORPORATE PROFILE

K-Bro is the largest owner and operator of laundry and linen processing facilities in Canada. K-Bro provides a comprehensive range of general linen and operating room linen processing, management and distribution services to healthcare institutions, hotels and other commercial accounts. K-Bro currently operates nine processing facilities and two distribution centres under three distinctive brands, including K-Bro Linen Systems Inc., Buanderie HMR and Les Buanderies Dextraze, in ten Canadian cities: Quebec City, Montreal, Toronto, Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Victoria.

Additional information regarding the Corporation including required securities filings are available on our website at www.k-brolinen.com and on the Canadian Securities Administrators' website at www.sedar.com; the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval ("SEDAR").

K-Bro est le plus important proprietaire et exploitant de buanderies au Canada. K-Bro fournit une gamme etendue de services de buanderie aux etablissements de soins de sante, hotels et autres clients commerciaux. K-Bro exploite actuellement neuf usines et deux centres de distribution sous trois entites distinctes, incluant K-Bro Linen Systems Inc., Buanderie HMR et Les Buanderies Dextraze, dans dix villes canadiennes: Quebec, Montreal, Toronto, Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver et Victoria.

Vous pouvez obtenir des renseignements supplementaires sur la Societe, y compris les documents deposes aupres des autorites de reglementation, sur notre site Web, au www.k-brolinen.com et sur le site Web des autorites canadiennes en valeurs mobilieres au www.sedar.com, via le Systeme electronique de donnees, d'analyse et de recherche ( SEDAR ).

SOURCE K-Bro Linen Inc.

For further information: Kristie Plaquin, Chief Financial Officer, K-Bro Linen Inc. (TSX: KBL), Phone: 780.453.5218, Email: [email protected], Web: www.k-brolinen.com

Related Links

http://www.k-brolinen.com


WHAT: SESQUI, a Canada 150 Signature Initiative, presents the world premiere of the 360 film

HORIZON at TELUS Spark. A revolutionary cinematic journey across Canada, HORIZON

celebrates the people, landscapes and freedoms that make Canada home. Created and captured

with advanced 360 technology and presented in full dome and virtual reality platforms, HORIZON

is a sensory and emotional experience for audiences of all ages. See Canada like you've never

seen it before.
Partnership established between Government of Canada and the Nova Scotia Mental Health Court

OTTAWA, May 4, 2017 /CNW/ - A new initiative announced today by The Honourable Kent Hehr, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence, will provide additional support for Veterans who come in contact with the criminial justice system in Nova Scotia, with the long-term goal of better outcomes for Veterans across Canada.

The Veterans Justice Outreach initiative is the first project of its kind in Canada. The goal of the initiative is to better identify, track and explore alternatives to incarceration. A successful implementation in Nova Scotia will allow Veterans Affairs Canada to pursue similar partnerships in provinces and territories across the country.

In addition to working directly with Veterans themselves, Veterans Affairs Canada will consult with law enforcement and representatives of the justice and correctional systems in Nova Scotia to help them understand the unique challenges faced by Veterans living with the impact of operational stress injuries resulting from their service.

Quotes

"This initiative will help Veterans with mental health issues at a time when they need it most. I intend to be in contact soon with officials in jurisdictions across Canada to gauge their interest in implementing similar programs. It is my job, and the job of Veterans Affairs Canada, to do the very best we can on behalf of each and every Canadian Veteran, including those who find themselves appearing before the courts."

The Honourable Kent Hehr, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence

"Nova Scotia's Mental Health Court provides a collaborative environment where therapeutic and restorative practices are used to help people struggling with mental health and addictions issues, who find themselves in conflict with the law. Unfortunately, due to the often-traumatic nature of their service, we're seeing more and more Veterans in this type of situation. Our team is pleased to be working with a Veterans Affairs case worker on individualized support plans that will help these men and women get their lives back on track."

The Honourable Pamela S. Williams, Chief Judge of the Provincial and Family Court of Nova Scotia.

"Allowing Veteran Affairs case workers to participate on mental health court interdisciplinary teams, when cases involve Veterans suffering from Operational Stress Injuries, is an inspired way of ensuring Veterans are treated equitably and that they have access to the resources that are available to them. The Chief Provincial Court Judge of Nova Scotia is to be applauded for taking the initiative on this idea in the Mental Health Court of Nova Scotia. As well, those of us who worked on this issue over many years congratulate Veterans Affairs Canada for adopting this progressive policy approach in assisting our Veterans. It is a capital idea that will hopefully spread across the country."

Lt.-Gen. The Honourable Romeo A. Dallaire, O.C., C.M.M., G.O.Q, M.S.C, C.D. (Retired)

Quick facts

The Veterans Justice Outreach Initiative is presently focused on criminal justice diversion programs such as Mental Health Courts. However, the goal is to work toward a standardized model that will include other sectors of justice and correctional systems across the country.

Nova Scotia's Mental Health Court is located in Dartmouth . The Court's team is made up of professionals from the provincial justice and healthcare systems, including a Crown attorney, defence counsel from Nova Scotia Legal Aid and a dedicated Judge (currently The Honourable Pamela S. Williams, Chief Judge of the Provincial and Family Courts of Nova Scotia ). A Veteran Affairs case worker will work with the team to screen applicants and work with those eligible for the program.

Mental Health Court is located in . The Court's team is made up of professionals from the provincial justice and healthcare systems, including a Crown attorney, defence counsel from Nova Scotia Legal Aid and a dedicated Judge (currently The Honourable Pamela S. Williams, Chief Judge of the Provincial and Family Courts of ). A Veteran Affairs case worker will work with the team to screen applicants and work with those eligible for the program. Veterans Affairs Canada staff at area offices across the country currently support Veterans in contact with the criminal justice system by doing such things as attending bail/sentencing hearings, providing letters to the courts as part of the mental health diversion process and working with probation and parole officers.

This program is modelled after a successful program that has been operating in the United States since 2009. The program incorporates the Veterans military experience into decisions regarding Veterans in conflict with the law. The program promotes and facilitates referrals to Mental Health Courts.

since 2009. The program incorporates the Veterans military experience into decisions regarding Veterans in conflict with the law. The program promotes and facilitates referrals to Mental Health Courts. A recent study (2015) by Correctional Service Canada (CSC) indicated that approximately three percent of federally incarcerated individuals identify themselves as Veterans. In 2012, Veterans Affairs Canada established a memorandum of understanding with CSC to better facilitate access to treatment and benefits concerning mental health and other health services for Veterans who are federally incarcerated.

Related Products

Nova Scotia Justice Outreach Initiative

SOURCE Veterans Affairs Canada

For further information: Contacts : Sarah McMaster, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Veterans Affairs, 613-996-4649; Media Relations, Veterans Affairs Canada, 613-992-7468, [email protected]; Jennifer Stairs, Communications Director, Nova Scotia Judiciary, 902-221-5257

Related Links

www.veterans.gc.ca


TORONTO, May 3, 2017 /CNW/ - A new report by the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) confirms that racial profiling is a daily reality that damages communities and undermines trust in public institutions. In Under suspicion: Research and consultation report on racial profiling in Ontario, the OHRC combines social science research with lived experiences gained through consultation with over 1,600 individuals and organizations.

The report provides personal accounts that show the harmful impact that racial profiling has on Indigenous, Black, Muslim and other racialized individuals, their families, their communities, and society. It draws on information from an online survey, applications to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, and extensive province-wide engagement with affected communities, legal and academic experts, educators, human rights practitioners and police, among others.

Under suspicion highlights how racial profiling is often the result of seemingly neutral organizational policies, procedures and decision-making practices, and deeply rooted institutional cultures. The OHRC heard that dealing with racial discrimination  including racial profiling  can have a negative effect on people's mental and physical health. Racial profiling can be all-encompassing and affect nearly every aspect of a racialized person's public life  from shopping, to driving and getting around, to attending school.

"This report confirms what racialized communities have known for generations: racial profiling is real," said OHRC Chief Commissioner Renu Mandhane. "Rebuilding trust requires concrete action to address racial profiling in all its forms."

In Under Suspicion, the OHRC commits to creating specific policy guidance to help individuals, community groups and organizations in law enforcement, child welfare, courts and corrections to prevent and address racial profiling. The OHRC will collaborate with First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities to develop resources and tools to address Indigenous peoples' experiences of racial discrimination. The OHRC will continue to use its full range of legal powers to actively challenge racial profiling.

Related resources:

SOURCE Ontario Human Rights Commission

For further information: Media contact: Vanessa Tamburro, Senior Communications Advisor (Acting), OHRC, 416 314 4528, [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.ohrc.on.ca


MONCTON, NB, May 3, 2017 /CNW/ - Family members of first responders impacted by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) will now have access to new supports in increasing resiliency and improving mental health outcomes. Medavie Health Foundation is partnering with the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) to develop Road to Mental Readiness (R2MR) for Families and other Supportive Relationships. The Foundation is providing $74,600, with Brain Canada Foundation providing matching funding, for further adaption and knowledge exchange, making this a near $150,000 initiative.

This new national program - to be available in both French and English - will be adapted for family members and others in supportive relationships of paramedics and other first responders. Relevant stakeholders will be involved in the development of the program, which will be evaluated by those it is aimed at supporting.

"This new program embodies our commitment of investing in the health and well-being of Canadians through our support of innovative, evidence-based solutions that address the health care needs of our communities. It's also an example of a different kind of heath care, one that doesn't start in a doctor's office, but in our kitchens and living rooms in keeping Canadians healthy and living their best lives."

 Bernard Lord, CEO, Medavie

For more on this mental health initiative, visit medaviehealthfoundation.ca.

About Medavie Health Foundation

Medavie Health Foundation is funded by Medavie Blue Cross and Medavie Health Services as part of a long-term commitment to make a lasting impact in the communities where our employees and customers live and work. The Foundation supports and promotes innovative and evidence-based solutions to address some of our country's most pressing physical and mental health care challenges, with a focus on child and youth mental health, post-traumatic stress disorder, and type 2 diabetes. It aims to bring organizations and communities together through collaborative multi-year partnerships and to support grassroots, community-based initiatives through an annual grants program. For more information and to sign up for our e-newsletter, visit us at medaviehealthfoundation.ca.

SOURCE Medavie Health Foundation

For further information: Joanne Elliott, Stakeholder Relations, Tel: 902-496-7189, [email protected]
TSX symbol: BX

TORONTO, May 4, 2017 /CNW/ - BIOX Corporation (TSX: BX), will release its second quarter fiscal 2017 financial results on Tuesday, May 9, 2017, after markets close. The Company will subsequently hold a conference call the next day, Wednesday, May 10, 2017, at 9:00 AM Eastern Time hosted by Mr. Alan Rickard, Chief Executive Officer. A question and answer session will follow the corporate update.

CONFERENCE CALL DETAILS DATE: Wednesday, May 10, 2017 TIME: 9:00 AM ET DIAL IN NUMBER: (647) 427-7450 or (888) 231-8191 TAPED REPLAY: (416) 849-0833 or (855) 859-2056 REFERENCE NUMBER: 18583372

About BIOX Corporation

BIOX is a renewable energy company that, owns and operates 287.5 million litres of nameplate biodiesel production capacity at plants located in Houston, Texas and two facilities in southern Ontario. BIOX has an innovative, proprietary and patented production process that is capable of producing the highest quality, renewable, clean burning and biodegradable biodiesel fuel utilizing a variety of feedstocks - from pure seed oils to animal fats to recovered vegetable oils with no change to the production process. BIOX's high quality biodiesel fuel meets North American (ASTM D-6751) quality standards.

SOURCE BIOX Corporation

For further information: Alan Rickard, CEO, BIOX Corporation, 905-521-8205 ext. 253, [email protected]

Related Links

www.bioxcorp.com


MONTREAL, May 4, 2017 /CNW/ - Listening to the diverse voices of young Canadians will help us build a stronger, more prosperous Canada, where everyone has a real and fair chance at success. That is why the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, will meet with the Prime Minister's Youth Council over the coming days to discuss the role of youth in reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. This will be the third in-person meeting of the Youth Council since its inaugural meeting in September 2016.

The Youth Council will meet with several Cabinet ministers, the Parliamentary Secretary for Youth, and Indigenous leaders. They will also meet with Indigenous youth in the Montreal area, and visit the Kahnawa:ke Mohawk Territory, where they will meet with local youth from the community.

The Government of Canada is committed to listening to young people about issues that matter to them. As Minister of Youth, the Prime Minister wants to hear directly from young people about reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, and the Youth Council is one way to support this dialogue. In the months to come, the Youth Council will continue to meet with other youth and leaders in their communities to talk about reconciliation as well as to hear the perspectives of young people on the pressing challenges of our time.

Quotes

"I believe in the unlimited potential of Canada and young Canadians. I am pleased to once again meet with the Youth Council to get their important views on how we can build a better and stronger Canada where everyone has a chance to succeed."

 Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada



"Young Canadians can make  and are already making  significant contributions to advancing reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. Our meeting over the next few days continues this important conversation and will help raise awareness of reconciliation among young Canadians from coast to coast to coast."

 Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

Quick Facts

On May 5, 2017 , at 4:30 p.m. ET , the Prime Minister, Minister Melanie Joly and the Youth Council will take part in a Facebook Live event and the public is encouraged to join the discussion. The livestream will showcase the Prime Minister's Youth Council at work, and provide an opportunity for all Canadians to ask questions and contribute to the conversation about what young Canadians can do to support reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.

, at , the Prime Minister, Minister Melanie and the Youth Council will take part in a Facebook Live event and the public is encouraged to join the discussion. The livestream will showcase the Prime Minister's Youth Council at work, and provide an opportunity for all Canadians to ask questions and contribute to the conversation about what young Canadians can do to support reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. The Youth Council is currently composed of 26 young Canadians, from diverse communities from all regions of Canada , who have a wide range of knowledge and experience. The Youth Council provides non-partisan advice to the Prime Minister and the Government of Canada on issues of importance to them and to all Canadians.

, who have a wide range of knowledge and experience. The Youth Council provides non-partisan advice to the Prime Minister and the Government of on issues of importance to them and to all Canadians. Over 17,000 young Canadians have signed up to learn about and participate in engagement and consultation activities supported by the Government of Canada . These opportunities range from online and in-person discussions, to consultations, and domestic and international delegations on topics such as accessibility legislation, climate change, agriculture, international relations, and youth employment.

. These opportunities range from online and in-person discussions, to consultations, and domestic and international delegations on topics such as accessibility legislation, climate change, agriculture, international relations, and youth employment. In March 2017 , the Government of Canada issued its first online newsletter for young Canadians, which highlights the work of the Youth Council and engagement opportunities and activities for all Canadian youth. Young Canadians are encouraged to sign up to receive the newsletter and learn about more ways to get involved.

Associated Link

This document is also available at http://pm.gc.ca

SOURCE Prime Minister's Office

For further information: PMO Media Relations: 613-957-5555

Related Links

http://pm.gc.ca/


Dr. Weiss credited with discovery of adult neural stem cells, opening the door to possible new treatments for brain diseases

OTTAWA, May 4, 2017 /CNW/ - Dr. Roderick McInnes, Acting President of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), along with CIHR's Governing Council, announced today the appointment of Dr. Samuel Weiss as the new Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction (INMHA). This appointment will be effective July 1, 2017.

Since 2004, Dr. Weiss has served as the inaugural Director of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the University of Calgary, where he leads a team of 127 faculty members, over 300 neuroscience trainees and 350 professional staff. He is also a tenured professor at the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine.

Dr. Weiss is well known for his discovery of neural stem cells in the brains of adult mammals in 1992, which suggests that the adult brain can generate new cells. This research has opened the door to potential new treatments for brain diseases and a better understanding of brain cancer. His current work is focused on finding new ways to treat high-fatality brain tumours.

Dr. Weiss has had a long association with CIHR, having been awarded a post-doctoral fellowship by CIHR's predecessor, the Medical Research Council of Canada, in 1983. More recently, he was the co-lead of the Stand Up to Cancer Canada Cancer Stem Cell Dream Team, which received $11.7M in funding from CIHR and other partners to study the cancer stem cells that the drive the growth of tumours.

As the Scientific Director of CIHR-INMHA, Dr. Weiss will work with the Canadian neurosciences, mental health and addiction communities to identify research priorities, develop research funding opportunities, build partnerships and translate research evidence into policy and practice to improve the health of Canadians and people around the world. Finally, as a member of CIHR's leadership team, he will participate in setting and implementing CIHR's strategic direction.

Quotes

"I'm delighted to welcome Dr. Sam Weiss to CIHR as the new Scientific Director of the Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction. Amongst many other contributions, Dr. Weiss was the discoverer of brain stem cells. He has been a greatly respected leader as Director of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the University of Calgary. The CIHR community will benefit from his leadership in supporting research on scientific and government priorities such as mental health, dementia, and opioid addiction."

Roderick McInnes, CM, MD, PhD, FRSC

Acting President, Canadian Institutes of Health Research

"I'm humbled and thrilled to be taking up this exciting opportunity with CIHR and follow in the footsteps of my colleagues Drs. Remi Quirion and Tony Phillips. They have done so much to support the impactful research the Canadian neuroscience and mental health communities are doing in vital areas such as dementia, brain injury, autism, addiction and depression. I look forward to doing my own part to advance the Canadian national agenda for neuroscience, mental health and addiction."

Dr. Samuel Weiss

Incoming Scientific Director, CIHR Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction

"Dr. Weiss' contributions to the University of Calgary's Eyes High goals have been tremendous. As the inaugural Director of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute and leader of the university's brain and mental research strategy, he has been key in establishing UCalgary as a leader in brain and mental health research and education. We are excited that he has been recognized for his outstanding leadership and will continue to contribute to brain and mental health research on a national scale."

Dr. Ed McCauley

Vice President (Research), University of Calgary

Quick Facts

CIHR is comprised of 13 Institutes, each led by a Scientific Director responsible for championing specific areas of health research, establishing and nurturing partnerships, and promoting the use of research evidence to inform policies that support better health for Canadians.

The CIHR Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction's overall objective is to ensure a more integrated approach to patient care, emphasis on brain health across the health care spectrum from biomedical to clinical, to health systems and services, and to the social, psychosocial, cultural and environmental factors that affect the health of populations.

At the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), we know that research has the power to change lives. As Canada's health research investment agency, we collaborate with partners and researchers to support the discoveries and innovations that improve our health and strengthen our health care system.

The Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI) at the University of Calgary consists of more than 120 scientists and clinician-scientists who are dedicated to advancing brain and mental health research and education. The Institute's research strengths, in the areas of Brain & Behaviour, Neural Injury & Repair and Healthy Brain Aging, are leading to new treatments for neurological and psychiatric disorders, aimed at improving quality of life and patient care.

The University of Calgary is a global intellectual hub located in Canada's most enterprising city. In our spirited, high-quality learning environment, students thrive in programs made rich by research, hands-on experiences and entrepreneurial thinking. Our strategy drives us to be recognized as one of Canada's top five research universities, engaging the communities we both serve and lead. This strategy is called Eyes High, inspired by the university's Gaelic motto, which translates as 'I will lift up my eyes.' For more information, visit ucalgary.ca/eyeshigh.

SOURCE Canadian Institutes of Health Research

For further information: Media Relations, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, 613-941-4563, [email protected]; Jordanna Heller, Director, Communications and Media Relations, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, 403-220-2431, [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca


TORONTO, May 3, 2017 /CNW/ - Today, Rise Asset Development announced the winners of the fifth annual Dr. Paul E. Garfinkel Awards for Entrepreneurial Achievement and a new volunteer award in the name of the Honourable Michael Wilson, Chancellor of The University of Toronto.

"We are grateful to our presenting sponsors, Bell Let's Talk and the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), for their support as we continue to reduce the stigma associated with mental health issues by focusing on the incredible talent of Canada's aspiring entrepreneurs," said Jodi Butts, CEO of Rise. "This year, we present a new volunteer award in recognition of the Honourable Michael Wilson's recent Rotman Lifetime Achievement Award."

"Bell Let's Talk congratulates this year's Garfinkel Awards winners and is very proud to support these talented entrepreneurs through the Rise program," said Mary Deacon, Chair of Bell Let's Talk. "Helping people who live with mental health challenges access support to start their own businesses is critically important to improving their quality of life."

"We're delighted to be working with Rise," said Craig Ryan, Director, Social Entrepreneurship at BDC. "Rise fulfills a singularly important role. As Canada's only bank devoted exclusively to entrepreneurs, we of course want to see its clients succeed."

Garfinkel Award Winners

The Garfinkel Awards recognize the outstanding personal and business achievements of people who have received support through Rise. The Awards also acknowledge the leadership and inspiring contributions of Dr. Paul E. Garfinkel, through his role as founding President and CEO of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and his leading role in the advocacy for psychiatric science and reducing the stigma associated with mental health challenges and addictions.

Rise's EnterpRISEr of the Year Award

Darren Leu of Darren Christopher Projects in Toronto, is a OCADU graduate who runs an artist's hub which rents space to local artists and to groups for events, exhibitions and workshops. Darren credits Rise's training, mentoring and small business loans with the successful growth his business has enjoyed.

RISE-ing Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award

Julie Riemersma, a graduate of Humber College's Creative Photography program, is the owner of Julie Riemersma Photography (JRP), a photography studio specializing in portraiture and fashion book photography. Since the business's inception in 2009, Julie has been building her client base and fashion portfolio while continuing to hone her skills.

The Shoppers Love. You. Female Entrepreneur Award

Mary Whitaker is the owner of London, Ontario-based Rite Careers, a career services company providing career transition, development and progression support. The business offers career assessments, prepares professional resumes and cover letters, conducts mock interviews, and supports outplacements.

The Honourable Michael H. Wilson Rise Volunteer Award was presented to Mr. Bernard Lewis, a long-serving and dedicated mentor and advisor for Rise.

About Rise

Rise provides low interest small business loans and mentorship to men and women living with mental illness and addictions who are interested in pursuing self-employment but are unable to obtain traditional financing. The Rotman School of Management and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health participate in advisory functions, lending their respective expertise for business mentoring and mental health supports and services to the benefit of Rise clients. Rise is supported by founding donor Sandra Rotman, the Government of Ontario and impact donors: RBC Foundation, Bell Let's Talk and Janis Rotman. Rise is online at www.riseassetdevelopment.com.

About Bell Let's Talk

The Bell Let's Talk initiative promotes Canadian mental health with national awareness and anti-stigma campaigns, like Bell Let's Talk Day, and provides significant Bell funding for community care and access, research and workplace initiatives. To learn more, please visit Bell.ca/LetsTalk.

About BDC

BDC is the only bank devoted exclusively to entrepreneurs. It promotes Canadian entrepreneurship with a focus on small and medium-sized businesses. With its 110+ business centres from coast to coast, BDC provides businesses in all industries with financing and advisory services. Its investment arm, BDC Capital, offers equity, venture capital and flexible growth and transition capital solutions. To find out more, visit bdc.ca .

SOURCE Rise Asset Development

For further information: Jodi L.H. Butts, Executive Director, Rise Asset Development, Supporting business growth. Investing in people., 105 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3E6, 416-978-5530, [email protected], www.riseassetdevelopment.com

Related Links

www.riseassetdevelopment.com


TORONTO, May 4, 2017 /CNW/ - A sweeping review of the province's use of segregation in provincial jails is being welcomed by Ontario's registered nurses, nurse practitioners and nursing students. Also praised is the Ontario government's commitment to explore transferring responsibility for the health care of inmates from the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

Howard Sapers, the man tapped by the government to conduct an independent review of the corrections system, released his report Thursday. The report highlights the need for best practices for incarcerated people and a transformation of the correctional system to one that delivers better health for inmates  priorities for which the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) has long been advocating.

Sapers spent more than a decade serving as Canada's correctional investigator and ombudsman for federal offenders before the Ontario government admitted its own review of the provincial corrections system didn't go far enough and hired him to conduct an independent assessment.

Among the recommendations in the report:

Establish a new legal and policy framework, including modernizing the Ministry of Correctional Services Act in the current legislative session

in the current legislative session Enhance respect for human rights within corrections

Update the ministry's definition of segregation so it meets international standards

Prohibit the segregation of vulnerable populations, including people with mental illness, those at risk of self-harm or suicide, pregnant women, and those who have recently given birth

Increase procedural safeguards, transparency and oversight

"We commend Mr. Sapers for his thoughtful and comprehensive report, including his recommendations on segregation. The evidence is clear and unequivocal: segregation can have profound impacts on people, especially those suffering mental health issues. And it can lead to increased risk of self-harm and suicide for those confined for long periods," says RNAO President Carol Timmings, noting that on a typical day last year, 575 of Ontario's almost 8,000 inmates were in segregation. "If we get segregation right, then the rest will start to fall into place."

RNAO says the more than 500 nurses who work in corrections  most of whom are RNs  know first-hand the challenges of working in the system. Timmings says they may represent the largest group of health professionals in corrections, but they work in an area where health isn't necessarily a priority, despite their best efforts. For example, compared to the general population, inmates are more likely to suffer mental illness, substances use disorders, infectious diseases and chronic conditions.

Shirley Kennedy, who has spent 28 years working as a correctional nurse and is president of RNAO's Ontario Correctional Nurses' Interest Group (OCNIG), says she is "pleased with the report's recommendations on segregation." Kennedy also strongly supports Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Marie-France Lalonde's announcement Thursday that she is committed to exploring with Minister Eric Hoskins the transfer of responsibility for inmate health care from her ministry to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. This move, as Sapers highlights in his report, has already been embraced by B.C., Alberta and Nova Scotia.

"One of the more stunning findings in Sapers' report is that 70 per cent of incarcerated people have mental health issues. RNAO calls on the government to build on the momentum of the report, and to make improvements to community mental health and addiction services so individuals with mental illness that break the law have, where possible, access to alternative models that divert them from the criminal justice system to innovative community programs so they can get the help they need," says RNAO's Chief Executive Officer Doris Grinspun, adding that such support is more cost-effective and benefits society as a whole.

Grinspun says both a respect for human rights and a public health approach have been severely lacking in the government's overall approach to incarcerated people. "Inmates are citizens of this province who need health services just like you and I and denying them adequate health services is a public health concern. We urge the government to immediately adopt all 63 recommendations in the Sapers report so that marginalized and mentally ill people in our corrections system can be reintegrated into their communities healthier and be able to live with dignity."

RNAO is the professional association representing registered nurses, nurse practitioners, and nursing students in Ontario. Since 1925, RNAO has advocated for healthy public policy, promoted excellence in nursing practice, increased nurses' contribution to shaping the health-care system, and influenced decisions that affect nurses and the public they serve. For more information about RNAO, visit our website at RNAO.ca or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.



SOURCE Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario

For further information: Marion Zych, Director of Communications, RNAO, Cell: 647-406-5605 / Phone: 416-408-5605, [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.rnao.org


Reported Q1 2017 IFRS net income attributable to SNC-Lavalin shareholders of $89.7 million , or $0.60 per diluted share.

, or per diluted share. Q1 2017 G&A expenses of $107.8 million , 12.1% lower versus Q1 2016.

, 12.1% lower versus Q1 2016. Q1 2017 adjusted net income from E&C (1) of $60 .7 million, or $0.40 per diluted share.

of .7 million, or per diluted share. 2017 Outlook maintained: adjusted diluted EPS from E&C(2) in the range of $1.70 to $2.00 .

MONTREAL, May 4, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. (TSX: SNC) announces its results today for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017.

"We are pleased with our first quarter performance, all four segments and the Capital group performing slightly ahead of our expectations, and we are on track to meet our 2017 outlook," said Neil Bruce, President and Chief Executive Officer, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. "We are also very pleased with the recently announced proposed acquisition of WS Atkins, as we continue to execute on our growth strategy. This announcement reflects our progress towards our goal to position SNC-Lavalin to benefit from the expected future growth that is ahead, particularly in Infrastructure and Nuclear sectors."

Q1 2017 reported IFRS net income attributable to SNC-Lavalin shareholders was $89.7 million , or $0.60 per diluted share, compared with $122.1 million , or $0.81 per diluted share, for the corresponding period in 2016. Q1 2016 Reported IFRS net income attributable to SNC-Lavalin shareholders included a net gain after taxes of $51.1 million , or $0.34 per diluted share, on Capital investments disposals.

, or per diluted share, compared with , or per diluted share, for the corresponding period in 2016. Q1 2016 Reported IFRS net income attributable to SNC-Lavalin shareholders included a net gain after taxes of , or per diluted share, on Capital investments disposals. Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses in Q1 2017 were $157.1 million compared with $168.1 million , in Q1 2016. General and administrative (G&A) expenses decreased by 12.1% to $107.8 million , while selling expenses increased to $49.3 million compared to $45.4 million in Q1 2016. This increase was mainly due to higher business development activities than in Q1 2016, particularly in the Infrastructure sector.

compared with , in Q1 2016. General and administrative (G&A) expenses decreased by 12.1% to , while selling expenses increased to compared to in Q1 2016. This increase was mainly due to higher business development activities than in Q1 2016, particularly in the Infrastructure sector. Adjusted net income from E&C (1) for Q1 2017 increased to $60.7 million , or $0.40 per diluted share, compared to $57.2 million , or $0.38 per diluted share for Q1 2016, mainly due to higher gross margin-to-revenue ratio and lower G&A, partially offset by higher financial expenses and income taxes. On a segmented basis, the higher segment EBIT (5) in Q1 2017, compared to Q1 2016, was mainly due to Oil & Gas and Power.

for Q1 2017 increased to , or per diluted share, compared to , or per diluted share for Q1 2016, mainly due to higher gross margin-to-revenue ratio and lower G&A, partially offset by higher financial expenses and income taxes. On a segmented basis, the higher segment EBIT in Q1 2017, compared to Q1 2016, was mainly due to Oil & Gas and Power. Adjusted net income from Capital (3) for Q1 2017 was $44.4 million , or $0.30 per diluted share, compared with $39.9 million , or $0.26 per diluted share for the corresponding period in 2016, mainly due to a higher level of activity of Capital investments and an increase in dividends from Highway 407 ETR.

for Q1 2017 was , or per diluted share, compared with , or per diluted share for the corresponding period in 2016, mainly due to a higher level of activity of Capital investments and an increase in dividends from Highway 407 ETR. Total E&C revenue for the first quarter ended March 31, 2017 was $1.8 billion , compared with $1.9 billion in the first quarter of 2016. The variation was due to a decrease in the Infrastructure segment, principally attributable to the disposal, in December 2016 , of SNC-Lavalin's non-core E&C business in France and Real Estate Facilities Management business in Canada .

was , compared with in the first quarter of 2016. The variation was due to a decrease in the Infrastructure segment, principally attributable to the disposal, in , of SNC-Lavalin's non-core E&C business in and Real Estate Facilities Management business in . The revenue backlog (7) totaled $10.1 billion at the end of March 2017 , with the Mining & Metallurgy segment increasing by more than 50% since December 31, 2016 . Total new contract awards for the first quarter amounted to $1.2 billion .

totaled at the end of , with the Mining & Metallurgy segment increasing by more than 50% since . Total new contract awards for the first quarter amounted to . The balance sheet remained strong at the end of March 2017 with cash and cash equivalents of $0.8 billion .

Outlook

The Company is maintaining its previously announced 2017 outlook for the adjusted diluted EPS from E&C(2), which is expected to be in the range of $1.70 to $2.00, without taking into account the recently proposed acquisition of WS Atkins or related financing.

While we anticipate continuing market challenges in 2017 in certain of the Company's sectors, we expect to benefit from our recent restructuring savings and "Operational Excellence" program. As such, we expect increased Segment EBIT(5) margins for all segments in 2017, compared to 2016, except for Mining & Metallurgy.

This outlook is based on the assumptions and methodology described in the Company's 2016 Management's Discussion and Analysis under the heading, "How We Budget and Forecast Our Results", which should be read in conjunction with the "Forward-Looking Statements" section below and is subject to the risks and uncertainties summarized therein, which are more fully described in the Company's public disclosure documents.

Quarterly Dividend

The Board of Directors today declared a cash dividend of $0.273 per share, payable on June 1, 2017, to shareholders of record on May 18, 2017. This dividend is an "eligible dividend" for income tax purposes.

Q1 2017 Results Conference Call / Webcast

SNC-Lavalin will hold a conference call today at 1:30 p.m. EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) to review results for its first quarter. To join the conference call, please dial toll free at 1 800 263 0877 in North America, 647 794 1827 in Toronto, 438 968 3557 in Montreal, 080 0279 7204 in the United Kingdom, or 180 093 6686 in Ireland. A live audio webcast of the conference call and an accompanying slide presentation will be available at investors.snclavalin.com. A recording of the conference call will be available on our website within 24 hours following the call.

Annual Shareholders' Meeting / Webcast

SNC-Lavalin will also hold its Annual Shareholders' Meeting today at 11:00 a.m. EDT at the Palais des congres, 1001 Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle, Montreal, Quebec. The event will be webcast live, and will be available at http://www.icastpro.ca/esnc170504.

About SNC-Lavalin

Founded in 1911, SNC-Lavalin is one of the leading engineering and construction groups in the world and a major player in the ownership of infrastructure. From offices in over 50 countries, SNC-Lavalin's employees are proud to build what matters. Our teams provide engineering, procurement, construction, completions and commissioning services together with a range of sustaining capital services to clients in four industry sectors: oil and gas, mining and metallurgy, infrastructure and power. SNC-Lavalin can also combine these services with its financing and operations and maintenance capabilities to provide complete end-to-end project solutions. www.snclavalin.com

(1) Adjusted net income from E&C is defined as net income attributable to SNC-Lavalin shareholders from E&C, excluding charges related to restructuring, right-sizing and other, acquisition-related costs and integration costs, as well as amortization of intangible assets incurred in connection with the acquisition of Kentz in 2014 and the gain (loss) on disposals of E&C businesses. E&C is defined in the Company's 2016 financial statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis. The term "Adjusted net income from E&C" does not have any standardized meaning under IFRS. Therefore, it may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Management uses this measure as a more meaningful way to compare the Company's financial performance from period to period. Management believes that, in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, certain investors use this information to evaluate the Company's performance. See reconciliation below.

(2) Adjusted diluted EPS from E&C is defined as the adjusted net income from E&C divided by the diluted weighted average number of outstanding shares for the period.

(3) Adjusted net income from Capital is defined as net income attributable to SNC-Lavalin shareholders from Capital, excluding the gain on disposals of Capital Investments.

(4) Adjusted diluted EPS from Capital is defined as the adjusted net income from Capital divided by the diluted weighted average number of outstanding shares for the period.

(5) Segment EBIT is defined herein as gross margin less i) directly related selling, general and administrative expenses; ii) corporate selling, general and administrative expenses that are directly related to projects or segments; and iii) non-controlling interests before taxes. Corporate selling, general and administrative expenses that are not directly related to projects or segments, restructuring costs, goodwill impairment, acquisition-related costs and integration costs and amortization of intangible assets related to the Kentz acquisition, as well as gains (losses) on disposals of E&C businesses and Capital investments are not allocated to the Company's segments. The term "Segment EBIT" does not have any standardized meaning under IFRS. Therefore, it may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Management uses this measure as a more meaningful way to compare the Company's financial performance from period to period. Management believes that, in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, certain investors use this information to evaluate the Company's performance.

(6) Adjusted E&C EBITDA is defined herein as earnings from E&C before net financial expenses (income), income taxes, depreciation and amortization, and excludes charges related to restructuring, right-sizing and other, acquisition-related costs and integration costs, as well as the gains (losses) on disposals of E&C businesses and Capital investments. The term "Adjusted E&C EBITDA" does not have any standardized meaning under IFRS. Therefore, it may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Management uses this measure as a more meaningful way to compare the Company's financial performance from period to period. Management believes that, in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, certain investors use this information to evaluate the Company's performance.

(7) Revenue Backlog is defined herein as a forward-looking indicator of anticipated revenues to be recognized by the Company, determined based on contract awards that are considered firm. Management could be required to make estimates regarding the revenue to be generated for long-term firm reimbursable contracts. In order to provide information that is comparable to the revenue backlog of other categories of activity, the Company limits the O&M activities revenue backlog, which can cover a period of up to 40 years, to the earlier of: i) the contract term awarded; and ii) the next five years. The term "Revenue backlog" does not have any standardized meaning under IFRS. Therefore, it may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. Management believes that, in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, certain investors use this information to evaluate the Company's future performance.

SNC-Lavalin Financial Summary





(in thousands of Canadian dollars, unless otherwise

indicated) First Quarter

2017 2016





Revenues



From E&C 1,788,324 1,930,773 From Capital 60,946 57,397

1,849,270 1,988,170





Net income attributable to SNC-Lavalin's shareholders



From E&C 45,338 31,199 From Capital 44,376 90,908

89,714 122,107





Diluted EPS ($)



From E&C 0.30 0.21 From Capital 0.30 0.60

0.60 0.81











Adjusted net income attributable to

SNC-Lavalin's shareholders



From E&C(1) 60,724 57,180 From Capital(3) 44,376 39,860

105,100 97,040





Adjusted diluted EPS ($)



From E&C(2) 0.40 0.38 From Capital(4) 0.30 0.26

0.70 0.64





Adjusted E&C EBITDA(6) 99,991 99,850 Adjusted E&C EBITDA margin 5.6% 5.2%











Revenue backlog(7) 10,078,700 13,417,300





Cash and cash equivalents 810,533 1,388,390

Reconciliation of IFRS Net Income as Reported to Adjusted Net Income















Net income,

as reported Net charges related to

the restructuring &

right-sizing plan and

other Acquisition Net gain on

capital

investment and

E&C business

disposals Net income,

adjusted





Acquisition-related

costs and

integration costs Amortization of

intangible assets

related to Kentz





First Quarter 2017 In M$ E&C 45.3 2.6 1.1 12.3 (0.6) 60.7 Capital 44.4 - - - - 44.4

89.7 2.6 1.1 12.3 (0.6) 105.1 Per Diluted share ($) E&C 0.30 0.02 0.01 0.08 (0.0) 0.40 Capital 0.30 - - - - 0.30

0.60 0.02 0.01 0.08 (0.0) 0.70

First Quarter 2016 In M$ E&C 31.2 9.2 1.0 15.8 - 57.2 Capital 90.9 - - - (51.1) 39.8

122.1 9.2 1.0 15.8 (51.1) 97.0 Per diluted share ($) E&C 0.21 0.06 0.01 0.10 - 0.38 Capital 0.60 - - - (0.34) 0.26

0.81 0.06 0.01 0.10 (0.34) 0.64

Forward-looking Statements:

Reference in this press release, and hereafter, to the "Company" or to "SNC-Lavalin" means, as the context may require, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. and all or some of its subsidiaries or joint arrangements, or SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. or one or more of its subsidiaries or joint arrangements.

Statements made in this press release that describe the Company's or management's budgets, estimates, expectations, forecasts, objectives, predictions, projections of the future or strategies may be "forward-looking statements", which can be identified by the use of the conditional or forward-looking terminology such as "aims", "anticipates", "assumes", "believes", "cost savings", "estimates", "expects", "goal", "intends", "may", "plans", "projects", "should", "synergies", "will", or the negative thereof or other variations thereon. Forward-looking statements also include any other statements that do not refer to historical facts. Forward-looking statements also include statements relating to the following: i) future capital expenditures, revenues, expenses, earnings, economic performance, indebtedness, financial condition, losses and future prospects; and ii) business and management strategies and the expansion and growth of the Company's operations. All such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the "safe-harbour" provisions of applicable Canadian securities laws. The Company cautions that, by their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and that its actual actions and/or results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements, or could affect the extent to which a particular projection materializes. Forward-looking statements are presented for the purpose of assisting investors and others in understanding certain key elements of the Company's current objectives, strategic priorities, expectations and plans, and in obtaining a better understanding of the Company's business and anticipated operating environment. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes.

The 2017 outlook referred to in this press release is forward-looking information and is based on the methodology described in the Company's 2016 Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") under the heading "How We Budget and Forecast Our Results" and is subject to the risks and uncertainties described in the Company's public disclosure documents. The purpose of the 2017 outlook is to provide the reader with an indication of management's expectations, at the date of this press release, regarding the Company's future financial performance and readers are cautioned that this information may not be appropriate for other purposes.

Forward-looking statements made in this press release are based on a number of assumptions believed by the Company to be reasonable as at the date hereof. The assumptions are set out throughout the Company's 2016 MD&A, particularly in the sections entitled "Critical Accounting Judgments and Key Sources of Estimation Uncertainty" and "How We Analyze and Report our Results" in the Company's 2016 MD&A, and as updated in the first quarter 2017 MD&A. The 2017 outlook also assumes that the federal charges laid against the Company and its indirect subsidiaries SNC-Lavalin International Inc. and SNC-Lavalin Construction Inc. on February 19, 2015, will not have a significant adverse impact on the Company's business in 2017. If these assumptions are inaccurate, the Company's actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. In addition, important risk factors could cause the Company's assumptions and estimates to be inaccurate and actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks include, but are not limited to: (a) the outcome of pending and future claims and litigation could have a material adverse impact on the Company's business, financial condition and results of operation; (b) on February 19, 2015, the Company was charged with one count of corruption under the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act (Canada)(the "CFPOA") and one count of fraud under the Criminal Code (Canada), and is also subject to other ongoing investigations which could subject the Company to criminal and administrative enforcement actions, civil actions and sanctions, fines and other penalties, some of which may be significant. These charges and investigations, and potential results thereof, could harm the Company's reputation, result in suspension, prohibition or debarment of the Company from participating in certain projects, reduce its revenues and net income and adversely affect its business; (c) further regulatory developments could have a significant adverse impact on the Company's results, and employee, agent or partner misconduct or failure to comply with anti-bribery and other government laws and regulations could harm the Company's reputation, reduce its revenues and net income, and subject the Company to criminal and administrative enforcement actions and civil actions; (d) if the Company is not able to successfully execute on its strategic plan, its business and results of operations would be adversely affected; (e) a negative impact on the Company's public image could influence its ability to obtain future projects; (f) fixed-price contracts or the Company's failure to meet contractual schedule or performance requirements or to execute projects efficiently may increase the volatility and unpredictability of its revenue and profitability; (g) the Company's revenue and profitability are largely dependent on the awarding of new contracts, which it does not directly control, and the uncertainty of contract award timing could have an adverse effect on the Company's ability to match its workforce size with its contract needs; (h) the Company's backlog is subject to unexpected adjustments and cancellations, including under "termination for convenience" provisions, and does not represent a guarantee of the Company's future revenues or profitability; (i) SNC-Lavalin is a provider of services to government agencies and is exposed to risks associated with government contracting; (j) the Company's international operations are exposed to various risks and uncertainties, including unfavourable political environments, weak foreign economies and the exposure to foreign currency risk; (k) there are risks associated with the Company's ownership interests in Capital investments that could adversely affect it; (l) the Company is dependent on third parties to complete many of its contracts; (m) the Company's use of joint ventures and partnerships exposes it to risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside of the Company's control; (n) the competitive nature of the markets in which the Company does business could adversely affect it; (o) the Company's project execution activities may result in professional liability or liability for faulty services; (p) the Company could be subject to monetary damages and penalties in connection with professional and engineering reports and opinions that it provides; (q) the Company may not have in place sufficient insurance coverage to satisfy its needs; (r) the Company's employees work on projects that are inherently dangerous and a failure to maintain a safe work site could result in significant losses and/or an inability to obtain future projects; (s) the Company's failure to attract and retain qualified personnel could have an adverse effect on its activities; (t) work stoppages, union negotiations and other labour matters could adversely affect the Company; (u) the Company relies on information systems and data in its operations. Failure in the availability or security of the Company's information systems or in data security could adversely affect its business and results of operations; (v) any acquisition or other investment may present risks or uncertainties; (w) divestitures and the sale of significant assets may present risks or uncertainties; * a deterioration or weakening of the Company's financial position, including its cash net of recourse debt, would have a material adverse effect on its business and results of operations; (y) the Company may have significant working capital requirements, which if unfunded could negatively impact its business, financial condition and cash flows; (z) an inability of SNC-Lavalin's clients to fulfill their obligations on a timely basis could adversely affect the Company; (aa) the Company may be required to impair certain of its goodwill, and it may also be required to write down or write off the value of certain of its assets and investments, either of which could have a material adverse impact on the Company's results of operations and financial condition; (bb) global economic conditions could affect the Company's client base, partners, subcontractors and suppliers and could materially affect its backlog, revenues, net income and ability to secure and maintain financing; (cc) fluctuations in commodity prices may affect clients' investment decisions and therefore subject the Company to risks of cancellation, delays in existing work, or changes in the timing and funding of new awards, and may affect the costs of the Company's projects; (dd) inherent limitations to the Company's control framework could result in a material misstatement of financial information and; (ee) environmental laws and regulations expose the Company to certain risks, could increase costs and liabilities and impact demand for the Company's services; as well as the risks identified in respect of the Company's agreement with WS Atkins plc ("Atkins") on the terms of an acquisition by the Company of Atkins in section 11 of the Company's first quarter 2017 MD&A (entitled "Risks and Uncertainties"). The Company cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. For more information on risks and uncertainties, and assumptions that could cause the Company's actual results to differ from current expectations, please refer to the sections "Risks and Uncertainties", "How We Analyze and Report Our Results" and "Critical Accounting Judgments and Key Sources of Estimation Uncertainty" in the Company's 2016 MD&A and as updated in the first quarter 2017 MD&A.

The forward-looking statements herein reflect the Company's expectations as at the date of this press release and are subject to change after this date. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by applicable legislation or regulation.

SNC-Lavalin's Consolidated Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis and other relevant financial materials are available in the Investors section of the Company's website at www.snclavalin.com. These and other Company reports are also available on the website maintained by the Canadian Securities regulators at www.sedar.com.

SOURCE SNC-Lavalin

For further information: Media: Louis-Antoine Paquin, Manager, Media Relations, 514-393-8000, ext. 54772, [email protected]; Investors : Denis Jasmin, Vice President, Investor Relations, 514-393-8000, ext. 57553, [email protected]

Related Links

www.snclavalin.com


Lake George.JPG

Lake George, N.Y., is a village at the southern end of Lake George in the Adirondacks. The population is about 1,000, but the small village attracts. thousands of tourists in the summer months.

(Teri Weaver | tweaver@syracuse.com)

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. (AP) -- People planning to rent boats on a popular upstate New York lake will be required to watch a safety video before being allowed to take a rental vessel onto the water.

The Post-Star of Glens Falls reports the Lake George Park Commission's new rules announced Wednesday also require boat rental businesses to review education materials with customers.

Boat renters will have to watch a 6-minute, 35-second video that goes over basic marine safety and navigational rules. Marinas will be given the equipment to show the video.

Dave Wick, the state commission's executive director, says employees of the 28 marinas that rent boats on the 32-mile-long Adirondack lake will undergo an educational program to ensure they know about the new rules.

Officials say those rules were prompted by several accidents last summer involving rental boats.

A 24-year-old man was charged in a boat crash on Lake George last summer that killed an 8-year-old girl from California who was visiting relatives.
The members of staff of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, an affiliate of ExxonMobil have commenced a three-day warning strike to protest alleged flouting of local content Act by the company and sacking of Nigerian workers among other issues.The workers, who are members of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), said they would proceed on an indefinite strike on Monday if nothing was done to address the situation.The management of ExxonMobil in a statement said: Our company policy concerning employee conduct specifically prohibits the use of threats of harm or violence in the workplace.We remain committed to the safety of our personnel and security of our facilities. The Vice Chairman, ExxonMobil branch of PENGASSAN, Mr. Gbenga Ekundayo, accused the oil company of disengaging Nigerian workers and replacing them with expatriates.
The Senate on Thursday expanded its panel currently investigating alleged N30 trillion revenue leakage in the Nigeria Customs Service following revelation of more leakages.This followed a Point of Order raised by the Chairman, Committee on Customs Excise and Tariff, Sen. Hope Uzodinma, at plenary.The chamber also mandated the Committee on Marine Transport to collaborate with the committee on Customs, in the probe in view of more revelations emanating from the exercise.Uzodinma, who was made chairman of the joint committee, cited Order 42 and Order 52, and said that the committee discovered more startling discoveries beyond the N30 trillion currently being investigated.According to him, the committee requires more hands in the investigation as it discovered that beyond foreign exchange fraud, more trillions of Naira was lost to shady deals by some Asian companies. The recent one which is mind-blowing is that shipping companies will load full cargoes worth billions of Naira, come into the country and go to bonded terminals, offload and Nigeria Government will not collect one kobo.All they do is informal negotiation with the terminal operators, the regulators and then they will offload. This is an international crime.We have identified over 228 vessels with their registration numbers, the terminals where they offloaded and we are going through Customs database tracking every shipment and vessel that came and offloaded.There is another fraud we discovered, which is, all the Asian companies moving all their goods to Cotonou in Benin Republic and these goods are meant for Nigerian market.From our investigation, the companies change their documents by mid night as if the shipment is either done from Cote divoire or Cotonou and they move into Nigeria, he said.While lamenting the level of decay in the system, Uzodinma added that the fraudulent activities were carried out through various infractions, including incorrect classification, undervaluation, under-declaration and incorrect origin.He stressed that the money being lost through the infractions was more than what the country was getting from crude oil, lamenting that nothing serious was being done about it.The lawmaker, who said the investigation panel would explore all available data on the matter, added that it would bring it to a logical conclusion to save the country from losing money that should have been used for development.On Tuesday Nov. 15, 2016, we debated the motion on the need to examine the operations of the Nigeria Customs Service revenue drive.We resolved to mandate the committee on customs to carry out a holistic investigation into the activities of the service.This was with a view to identifying the leakages and irregularities in the import and export circle as well as causes of the reducing revenue profile of the service, and come up with recommendations.We have gone into this assignment and honestly speaking, we have identified between 2006 and 2017, over N30 trillion worth of foreign exchange in form of approved Form M and there is no evidence that the goods came into the country.The commercial banks apply for this foreign exchange and the Central Bank of Nigeria allocates it to them and these monies are transferred to foreign banks and there is no evidence to show that the goods came into the country.So they have been round-tripping with the limited foreign exchange we have in Nigeria, he said.In his remarks, the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided at the plenary, said the senate ought to be commended for blowing whistle into the fraud in the Customs Service. He expressed concern that while Nigeria was seeking loans from foreign organisations, it was losing trillions of Naira that would have been used for developmental purposes.The Committee on Marine Transport will join the committee on customs to have a holistic investigation into this matter.I think this is one area the law enforcement agencies must move in quickly to ensure that these monies are recovered.We cannot be going to China and all over the world trying to borrow money when we can recover easily all the monies that were lost through some corrupt practices.This is one area the senate must be praised for blowing a whistle. This is the real whistle, Ekweremadu said.He commended the committee for a job well-done and urged it to expedite action on the investigation, adding that recovering such money would enable the country to implement the 2017 budget effectively.
Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikati Baru, on tuesday disclosed that the volume of oil production in the country has risen to two million barrels per day.Baru, who gave the indication, after he briefed President Muhammadu Buhari on the activities of the NNPC and its subsidiaries at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.The GMD, who hinted that the volume, which increased from 1.2 million bpd to 2 million, attributed the development to the relative peace and stability in the Niger Delta area, resulting in oil production increase.He said he also briefed President Buhari on fuel supply across the country, crude oil and gas productions and the ability of the corporation to supply gas to the power sector. I briefed the President on the state of the NNPC and its subsidiaries and also nationally to get him briefed on the situation of fuel supply, crude oil productions, gas production and by extension ability to supply gas to the power sector.We had an extensive briefing as you could see. I passed here over two hours. I spent quite some time with him to discuss these national issues.He was happy with the state of the corporation and told us to continue with the efforts that we are doing and if we need any executive attention we should not hesitate to come back to him, he said.He dismissed speculations that the NNPC plans to review the prices of petroleum products, saying the corporation has no mandate to do so.According to him, NNPC sells products according to the prices officially stipulated by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA.




The Federal Road Safety Corps has confirmed that two persons died, while eight others sustained injuries in an accident along the Ilo-Awela Road in Sango-Ota, Ogun State, on Thursday.The Unit Commander of the FRSC in Ogun, Mr. Adekunle Oguntoyinbo, made the confirmation while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria in Sango-Ota.He said the accident was caused by brake failure at about 8.20 a.m.Oguntoyinbo said the incident involved two buses, one of which was a commercial bus.He stated, The brake of the commercial bus failed and it crashed into another bus at the toll gate, resulting in the death of two persons and injuring eight others.The bodies of the dead have been deposited at the morgue of the Ota General Hospital in Sango-Ota, while the injured persons are receiving treatment in the same hospital.
Former President Barack Obama weighed in Thursday in a big way on the upcoming French presidential election, endorsing Emmanuel Macron over right-wing candidate Marine Le Pen in a video statement.The ex-U.S. president already had spoken by phone with the center-left Macron late last month, in an early indication of his support. But Obama openly endorsed ahead of Sundays closely watched runoff.Im not planning to get involved in many elections now that I dont have to run for office again, but the French election is very important to the future of France and the values that we care so much about, Obama said, in a web video tweeted Thursday by Macron.Obama, in the video, said Macron has stood up for liberal values and praised his vision for the role France plays in Europe and around the world.Le Pen has been a fierce critic of the European Union, and wants to curb immigration. In a debate Wednesday, she reportedly blasted Macron as beholden to big business and called herself the candidate of the people. She also cast her rival as soft on Islamic extremism.Obama said Macron appeals to peoples hopes and not their fears  I am supporting Emmanuel Macron to lead you forward.
The National Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party has alleged that a cabal is now ruling Nigeria. It believes the healt...

The National Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party has alleged that a cabal is now ruling Nigeria.It believes the health challenge of President Muhammadu Buhari has shown that some individuals have taken over the running of the government from the ailing President.The reaction of the committee followed the inability of Buhari to attend the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting for the third consecutive week.Though there is nothing unusual in the President being sick, the former ruling party submitted that what was bad was the refusal of the President to disclose the true state of his health.The PDP argued that the health of the President must be bad to have prevented him from attending the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting consecutively for three weeks.Spokesperson for the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led caretaker committee, Dayo Adeyeye, stated this in an interview with one of our correspondents on Wednesday.Adeyeye, a former Minister of State for Works, said the health of the President and the attitude of his handlers had shown that the country is now on auto pilot.He said, We sympathise with the President on his health and we pray that God will lay His hands on him.However, it is now certain that the country in now being ruled by a cabal. Members of the cabal are not known.Who is in charge of the country now? We dont know. Nigeria is now on auto pilot. We dont know who is rocking the country and who exactly is churning out orders or exercising the executive powers of the President anymore.This cant happen in saner climes. We have a President who has not been seen in public for some days and the government is not worried.Efforts to get presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, on the telephone on Wednesday did not yield any result.He did not respond to an email and text message sent to him as of the time of filing this report.Buhari not being fed through tubeMohammedMeanwhile, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Wednesday, said Buharis continued absence from the weekly FEC meetings could not be described as a strange development.Mohammed said this while answering questions from State House correspondents who sought to know why Buhari was again absent from the councils meeting on Wednesday having missed two previous ones.He said the development was not strange because the President was only following the advice of his doctors that he should take things easy.The minister stated, All he (the President) is doing is he is following his doctors advice.Mr. President himself told the nation he has never been this sick and he is going to take it easy. He said it from day one when he came back from the UK.So, whatever is happening today is not any strange development; it is exactly what he said he has been advised to take it easy by his doctors and that he will soon also go back for further treatment.So, I dont think it is anything that is out of place from what he said. He has been quite transparent and upfront in the matter concerning his health.Mohammed also faulted a media report that claimed that Buhari was being fed through tube, describing the report as absolute bunkum.He added, It is absolutely untrue that he is being fed. He was in the office yesterday (Tuesday) as you all reported.You are aware that the President was at his office yesterday (Tuesday), and he worked at his office yesterday. A few days before now, we came out to say he has been asked to take some rest by his doctors, and he chose today to rest and not to attend the Federal Executive Council meeting.We want to seize this opportunity to thank Nigerians who have expressed a lot of concern and sympathy, and who have been praying for him. Like we have always said, Mr. President will stick to his doctors advice so that he can recover much more quickly.The minister also said the present administration would mark its second anniversary because it has a lot of stories to tell.
Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed said that the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari at the Wednesdays Federal Executive...

Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed said that the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari at the Wednesdays Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting followed medical advice from his doctors.Mohammed stated this while briefing State House correspondents after the FEC meeting, which was presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.He explained that the President, who was in office on Tuesday, was asked to take some rest by his doctors.He thanked Nigerians for their concern and prayers for the quick recovery of the president.Cue in audio  MohammedI know you will want to know why the President was not at the meeting.You are also aware that the President was at his office yesterday (Tuesady) and worked at the office. I think about a few days before now we did come out to say he has been asked to take some rest by his doctors and he chosed today to rest instead of attending the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.I want to use this opportunity to thank Nigerians who have expressed a lot of concern and sympathy and those who have been praying for him.We always said Mr President will stick to his doctors advice so that he can recover much more quickly, he said.Cue out audio  MohammedMohammed dismissed as wicked and ungodly the insinuation that the Presidents health had deteriorated to the extent that he was being assisted before taking his meals.Cue in audio  2It is absolutely bunkum. It is absolutely untrue that he is being fed.He was in the office yesterday as you all reported. And if the doctor says `oh, you take a rest, I think you recover faster when you rest and when you ought to rest rather that forcing yourself to work when you are not fit to work.All he is doing is that he is following the doctors advice.So, whatever is happening today is not any new development. Is actually what he said that he has been advised to take it easy by his doctors and that he would soon also go back for further medical attention in the UK., he added.According to the minister, President Buhari deserves commendation from all well-meaning individuals and groups for being transparent and upfront in the matter concerning his health. (NAN)
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday accused the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, of raising ...

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday accused the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, of raising false alarm that the agency was plotting to raid his residence and plant monies.It said the antics of planting monies and guns in suspects houses were alien to the commission.It said the alarm by the deputy senate president was not only strange but smacks of a scripted propaganda campaign to distract the commission by putting it on the defensive.It advised Ekweremadu to sleep easy if he is not involved in the looting spree that seems to be the pastime of many Nigerians in the corridors of power.EFCC, however, said no amount of scare-mongering would dissuade the commission from vigorously enforcing its mandate to rid Nigeria of corruption.A statement issued by the Head of Media and Publicity of EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said the alleged plot only existed in the fertile imagination of Ekweremadu.The statement said: The attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been drawn to the alarm purportedly raised by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, at Wednesday plenary of the upper chamber of the National Assembly.The distinguished Senator alleged that there were plots by the Commission to set him up by planting monies and guns in his residence.Ekweremadu who claimed that he was tipped off about the purported plot by an EFCC covert investigative journalist privy to the design, told his colleagues that the agency had secured a warrant and plans to storm his home on May 6, 2017, under the guise that it was working on information provided by a whistle blower regarding huge amount of money of (sic) currency in the apartment said to be belonging to you Ike Ekweremadu.He said going by the script of plot he is to be arrested, detained for three weeks and charged to court while his constituents would be mobilized to protest and seek his recall from the National Assembly!The commission wishes to state in very strong terms that it is not aware of any plot to set up Ekweremadu for any arrest.If any agency is plotting to plant monies and guns in Ekweremadus residence, it is certainly not the EFCC as such antics are alien to the commission.
French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron appeared to cement his position as the front-runner after his clash with far-right rival Marine Le Pen in Wednesday evening's final TV debate.French pundits, newspapers and a highly regarded viewers' poll all declared the centrist candidate the most convincing.The candidates traded insults for more than two hours, arguing over terrorism, the economy, and Europe.The second round run-off between the pair takes place on Sunday.Both candidates were hoping to make an impression on the estimated 18% of undecided voters in the first election the country has ever held without a candidate from the two traditional mainstream parties.The French broadcaster BFMTV found viewers had a more favourable view of Mr Macron than Ms Le Pen in most categories.He was the "most convincing" of the pair in the opinion of 63% of those interviewed.The major French newspapers broadly agree in their Thursday morning editorials.
Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani Kayode has declared President Muhammadu Buhari unfit to continue to function as the Commander-in-Chi...

Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani Kayode has declared President Muhammadu Buhari unfit to continue to function as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Fani Kayode advised the ailing president to give up and take a bow.





According to the PDP chieftain, the absence of Buhari at the fourth Federal Executive Council meeting in a row was a clear indication that the presidents health had worsened and no longer fit to discharge his duties as the number one citizen of Nigeria.

In an article entitled, The Resurrection of Corpocracy, the former minister warned that what happened to the late President Umaru Musa Yar'adua might be knocking at the door of Buhari.

Yar Adua died on May 5, 2010 after a long protracted battle with Acute Pericarditis at the age of 58.

Whoever is holding this poor, frail, sick and elderly man to ransom and keeping him in the Presidential Villa, probably against his will, is wicked and ungodly and he or she is committing a grave sin against God and the Nigerian people, FFK wrote.

It is clear that the President is no longer fit to govern. It is obvious that his time is almost up. It is self-evident that for him the bell is tolling.

It is incontrovertible that those around him have held him captive and are indulging in what I once described in an essay that I wrote seven years during the last days of President Umaru Yaradua as corpocracy. The essay was titledCorpocracy: A Gift from Umaru to the Modern World.

This is what happened during Yaraduas last four months on earth whilst he still had one foot in the land of the living and it is happening to Buhari today, he wrote.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed has explained that president Muhammadu Buhari was absent at the Federal Executive Council, FEC, based on the advice of his doctors.
Dutse Magistrates Court has granted bail to former Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State.Lamido was standing trial on a four-count charge of inciting public disturbance, defamation of character, criminal intimidation and disturbance of public peace.The magistrate granted the two-term governor bail on self-recognition and adjourned the case until July 5.The court had ordered Lamido remanded after he was charged with incitement and adjourned the case till May 4 for continuation.The offences contravened sections 113, 114, 392 and 394 of the Penal Code.His counsel, Yakubu Ruba, and Felix Jones said the offences were bailable and wondered why the court did not grant the accused bail.Lamido was arrested by the police in Kano on Sunday for the offences.
Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has described as shameful the importation of vegetables from South Africa.Obasanjo said in Abuja that despite the massive land and good vegetation in the country, larger per cent of vegetables used by hotels in Lagos are being imported.The former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain said it was inappropriate and as such, every Nigerian should become a major stakeholder to reposition the agriculture sector.According to him, with over 180 million people, the country could turn around food insecurity in the country and do exports.His words: lets do something, we must all pledge to do something positive, let us be producers, we are all consumers, but we can do more than that. You are either a producer, a financier, a researcher, an enabler, an advocate, a processor, a marketer, an exporter.Let us do something positive and productive. God is at this time, giving us another chance, hence the present situation of our economy, are we going to accept the challenge and move forward, if we dont we will have ourselves to blame as a nation.We have the land, we have the population, we are about 180 million, now let me digress a little bit, almost all the vegetables that the hotels in Lagos are using are being imported from South Africa, carrots, lettuce, cucumber, now population of South Africa is only 50 million, we are 180 million and we cannot produce vegetables, I think it is shameful.Speaking on the popular term, food security, Obasanjo defined it as a situation where people have access at all time to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.In short there must be availability of food which means there must be enough production or if you are not producing enough you are importing enough to make up for your shortfall in your production.There must be affordability, which means every family must be able to afford the food to make them live a healthy and an active life, he added.Though, the current administration under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development initiated the Green Alternative Policy, a four-year agricultural development plan to reposition the sectorIt targeted vegetables as part of the priority commodities listed for exports. Vegetables were listed as pineapples, pawpaw, bananas, vegetables among others.As contained in the policy document of the Buhari-led administration, the identified commodities are cocoa, cashew, cassava products such as ethanol, cassava starch and cassava chips. Other crops include ginger, sesame, oil palm, gum Arabic, fruits and yam.
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Edo State, Charles Idahosa, has lamented that Nigeria is faced with another YarAdua ...

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Edo State, Charles Idahosa, has lamented that Nigeria is faced with another YarAdua era.

He described leaders of the party who are saying President Muhammadu Buhari will contest in 2019 instead of praying for his health as sycophants.

He said, It is a shame that they are saying this despite the Presidents state of health. I expected these leaders to advise the President to go and get medical attention while they find solution to the problems in the APC.

We have a President who is sick, which of course is normal because anybody can be sick. But for them to say that he will run for 2019 when he is yet to complete two years in office, is unfortunate. I feel worried and I fear for the APC. I thought the party would take advantage of the confusion in the main opposition party, that is the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, but from all indications, the APC is having problems just the same way PDP is having problems.

The way some top leaders and those powerful people at the national level are talking, it frightens me and I fear for Nigeria. I feel sorry for President Buhari because I can conclude, without any fear of contradiction, that he is surrounded by sycophants and people that are just ready to tell him what he wants to hear. Nobody is telling him the truth and the country is drifting.

I fear that we are going back to 2010 over the issue of his health and what happened to YarAdua, a situation where top members of the party and some persons in government will be talking about a president running for a second term when we are all aware that the man needs to take care of his health. It has nothing to do Buhari, anybody can fall sick at any time. I am not happy at the way things are going at the national level and the feud between the National Assembly and the Presidency might lead us to where we started from. We might just erode the gains since 1999 if we are not careful. I am using this opportunity to call on those at the top to forget about their self-interest and save the party.

If you look at this whole thing, the National Assembly, the Presidency, the confusion in the hierarchy of the party over to run or not to run, we shouldnt be talking about that, we should be talking about the welfare of the president because when the president is not well, Nigeria is not well. It is because the party is not in control of its members in the National Assembly.
Mr Fulvio Rustico, Italian Ambassador to Nigeria, says his country is ready to partner with Nigeria to combat the menace of human traffic.Rustico disclosed this when he visited the Director-General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Mr Julie Okah-Donli, in Abuja on Thursday.He said the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies in Italy, Hon. Laura Bodrini, will soon visit Nigeria to get first-hand information to address the problem.The envoy said that the Speaker would visit Benin City, Edo, reported to have the highest number of human traffickers in the country.Rustico said that he was in the office to intimate her of the planned visit of the lawmaker with a view to making an informed decision on how to partner with NAPTIP to combat the menace of trafficking.It is necessary to share experience with NAPTIP on human trafficking management and have an overview of the phenomenon as well as nature of human trafficking from the state.The Italian legislator will be in Nigeria to have a direct knowledge of the phenomenon in order to be proactive in response to the problem, he said.The envoy assured of his countrys support to NAPTIP, saying that the fight against human trafficking is a technical process that requires support and assistance of all stakeholders.Respoding, Okah-Donli explained that for the fight of human trafficking to be won, international partners and stakeholders like Italy must key in into collaboration with Nigeria to record success.She called for the collaboration of Italian government in the fight against human trafficking in the country.According to her, human trafficking is an evolving phenomenon that requires the active collaboration of all partners through accelerated justice delivery system and surveillance.The NAPTIP boss said that aggressive massive sensitisation of Nigerians, especially those in the endemic communities on the danger of human trafficking have commenced.She stated that her concern was also on rehabilitation of victims of human trafficking and the need to ensure accelerated justice for human traffickers.The director-general thanked the Italian Government for the assistance rendered to the agency in past and solicited for more support in the area of capacity building.She also solicited for assistance in the areas of technical and logistic support as well as empowerment of rescued victims of human trafficking.
The National Agricultural Quarantine Service says Nigeria has secured an offer from the Indian government to export pigeon pea worth $10...

The National Agricultural Quarantine Service says Nigeria has secured an offer from the Indian government to export pigeon pea worth $100bn to the country.The Coordinating Director, NAQS, Mr Vincent Isegbe, on Thursday, said that the country would generate appreciable revenue from pigeon pea exports to India when the scheme was successfully executed.He said NAQS and other Federal Government agencies made a submission to the Indian government on 25 categories of crop analyses, all of which were based on new innovations.One of our submissions was on Pigeon Pea Pest Risk Analysis, which was successfully done by a team of NAQS scientists.We did not invite any other specialist or researcher from outside the country for the submission and Nigeria was given an offer to export pigeon pea to India.If one commodity like pigeon pea can fetch Nigeria so much and Nigeria is able to make two to three supplies; the country can begin to reap the benefits of agricultural exports, he said.The pigeon pea is a perennial legume from the family, Fabaceae, and its seeds have become a common food grain in Asia, Africa and Latin America.The high protein content of pigeon pea seeds also makes the crop an excellent variety of livestock feed.The green fodder of pigeon pea also has a protein content of 10 to 15 percent; while its straw, husks and screenings can be used to provide roughage.Isegbe said that the service had partnered with some states and All Farmers Association of Nigeria to meet the pigeon pea demand.We have started interacting with the governors of Kano and Kaduna states as well as AFAN and other relevant groups in order to meet the Indian governments demand for pigeon pea.Besides, NAQS will educate the partners on how to get genuine seeds with the help of the National Agricultural Seed Council to meet the demand.Officials of the NAQS will train some groups of people to serve as extension workers to the pigeon pea farmers in clusters and teach them when to plant and nurture their crops until harvest.We encourage farmers to start with what they have now and government will support them later. When there are challenges, we will give them technical advice, he said.NAN
Army authorities disclosed on Thursday that several Boko Haram commanders were killed in several Operation Deep Punch attack on hideouts and camps of the terrorists around the Sambisa Forest general area.According to the Director, Army Public Relations, Brigadier-General Sani Usman, the attack on the hideouts and camps which were jointly carried out by the Nigerian Airforce and Troops of Lafiya Dole, also destroyed logistics bases, arms stockpile and terrorists equipment in Mangusum and various parts of Sambisa including Balla and Parisu.Brigadier General Usman said, There were enquiries on alleged wounding one of the Boko Haram terrorists group factional leaders.As you are aware, the Boko Haram terrorists have been on the run, but now they have nowhere to go.We wish to confirm that there are ongoing clearance operations in
A court in Malta has remanded a Nigerian drug peddler in prison custody until it decides on his sentence.

A court in Malta has remanded a Nigerian drug peddler in prison custody until it decides on his sentence.Uchenna Onyema was arrested after Malta authorities discovered 50 capsules of cocaine in his St Pauls Bay hotel room during a raid.According to Times of Malta, the capsules were discovered in circumstances indicating that they were not intended for his personal use.Onyema, 49, appeared before magistrate Francesco Depasquale over his involvement in the trafficking of cocaine.Onyema, who gave his profession as security guard pleaded guilty to charges of complicity in the importation of cocaine, as well as the importing and possession of the drug.The court solemnly warned the accused of the consequences of pleading guilty to the charges. Onyema proceeded to confirm his plea of guilt.The court noted the admission and ordered the records and exhibits of the inquiry to be transmitted to the Attorney General.The accused sat with his head bowed and hands clasped in the dock as the court issued its decree.Mr Onyema, in view of the fact that your accusations are of a certain gravity, the court cannot deliver judgment itself but this must be delivered by the criminal courtYou will remain in custody until that final judgment is delivered, the magistrate said.
Inspector General of police special squad Wednesday raided the house of senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwasos younger brother Lawan Musa Kwankw...

Inspector General of police special squad Wednesday raided the house of senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwasos younger brother Lawan Musa Kwankwaso in Kano.Security sources revealed that heavily armed squad sneaked into the commercial city at the wee hours of Wednesday and were booked at Sharada police station for smooth conduct of the operation. It was not clear the target of the covert operation, but inside sources stated that  it has something to do with business deal involving senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso where his younger brother served as a front.Impeachable security sources claimed that the special squad stormed the Sharada residence of the Kwankwasos midday and conducted a thorough search in an operations that lasted 3 hoursIt was also learnt that Lawan Musa Kwankwaso who was caught unaware by the security agents offered total cooperation to the visitors Although there were no clear picture as regarded what was recovered from the residence, but inside sources claimed that it was a successful operation Reacting to the development, Kano Police Public Relation officer,DSP Magaji Musa Majia said our command was not behind the operation and cannot comment on it. Majia stressed we should be let out of this because Kano command has nothing to do with the operation
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved $186million to combat and stem the cycle of criminalities on the Nigerian waters.The Federal Government has also approved N100m for the dredging of the River Niger.The Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi made the disclosure on Thursday, at a-Day National Conference on Fast-Tracking Port Reforms organised by the Federal Ministry of Transportation in collaboration with The Nation Newspapers and Epsilon Limited in Lagos.Addressing over 800 participants at the forum, Amaechi said that $186m has been approved by President Buhari for the fight against piracy and other criminalities on the waterways.Part of the money, the Minister said, would be used to buy three helicopters and three aircrafts among others.His words: Mr. President has approved $186million to fight piracy in our waters. The funds will be used to buy three helicopters, three aircrafts, 12 vessels stationed in the water. In the next 3 months, all of them would be deployed to fight piracy in our waters.We promised change. Change is not talked about, it is felt. That is why we asked that the people should give us time.On the dredging of the River Niger, Amaechi said that N100m has been budgeted for the dredging of the project against the N34b paid by the former administration of President Goodluck Jonathan for the same project.When the River Niger was first approved for dredging by the previous administration, it was approved for N47billion and N34billion was paid to the contractor. Dancers were called in and there was a party.We are not dredging the River Niger with billions of naira, we are dredging the River Niger with just N100m. When we flagged it off recently, did you see us dancing? Was there a party? I just went to see the Governor and told him that the project will start today and will be finished in one month.The Governor said he will accompany me, and I said ok. So, I asked the Governor to flag it off since its located in his State.People are wondering how on earth we are going to dredge the River Niger for N100m when the previous government awarded same contracts for N47billion. But we are going to dredge the River Niger using dredgers owned by the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA).NIWA has dredgers, but the previous government preferred to give contractors money to dredge the river with private dredgers while NIWAs dredgers were lying idle somewhere in Port Harcourt.The NIWA MD told me the agency has dredgers, but its been hired out to somebody in Port Harcourt. So we had dredgers, but the previous administration hired it out to some persons in Port Harcourt, while paying a contractor billions of naira to use privately owned dredgers at a very high coat.I told the NIWA MD that I will look for money to fuel their dredgers, and work has started. That is why we are dredging the River Niger with just N100m, Amaechi said.In her speech, the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Ms Hadiza Bala Usman said are the gateways to international trade and regarded as major accelerators of local economic development.According to the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the Netherlands has been able to sustain a relatively high economic growth rate because of the Port of Rotterdam, in spite of the intensely competitive environment in Europe. The success of Singapore is equally attributed to the Port of Singapore which has developed a transport logistic centre and has successfully been able to attract foreign investment.It is thereby acknowledged that the maritime sector, an essential component of the transportation system is crucial for wealth creation.However, a port becomes an active wheel of an economy only if it is run efficiently. One of the key areas of efficiency that our ports require is the national single window .I am pleased to announce that the Authority and the Nigerian Customs service have concluded the operational model for establishing the National single window and will in the next few months commence with the public tender process of selecting the vendors that will deploy the required information technology infrastructure.Presently, the function of a port is not only limited to the traditional activities but has expanded to a logistical platform. Ports not only perform the basic operations (embarking, disembarking and transferring of passengers and crew, loading, unloading and transshipment of cargo to and from the vessels, storage and warehousing of merchandise on land and stevedoring to and from vessels), they provide inland access and intermodal connections as well as complementary services to shipping carriers, She said.Given the abundant mineral and agricultural resources available in most regions of Nigeria and the desire of the Federal Government to diversify the economy, Ms Usman said there was need to explore opportunities to boost economic development.The Federal Government under President Mohammadu Buhari, she said, has identified agriculture and Solid Minerals as upbeat and that the maritime Industry will play a major role in the movement of the produce and minerals to international market.In February this year, all terminal operators and shipping companies were mandated by the Nigerian Ports Authority to set up fast-track desks for export of solid minerals and agricultural produce. Process of review of associated existing procedures and protocols has been commenced to ensure efficiency and intended results are achieved.For the Nigerian ports to play this key role in the economy an efficient rail system will be needed in moving agricultural produce and solid Mineral from the locations of production that are usually in the hinterlands to the seaports for export. The Federal Ministry of Transportation has embarked on a $2 billion concession rail project to be handled by General Electric which will provide the needed intermodal support. It will cover about 3,500km (2,200 miles) of existing narrow gauge lines from the south western commercial capital, Lagos to Kano in the north and south Eastern oil hub, Port Harcourt, to Maiduguri in the North-East.We are already recording increase in export of agricultural produce. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in its Trade Intensity Index Report for the Q3, 2016, export of frozen shrimps and prawns for the period July to September were worth over N5billion; Sesame seed export was worth over N4.8billion in the same period; income from cashew export exceeded N2billion; Soya beans yielded over N4billion; Ginger contributed over US$30millionDeveloping the ports is very crucial for realising the lofty but achievable development objectives of the Federal Government, she said.In his speech, the Managing Director and Editor -in-Chief of The Nation Newspaper Mr Victor Ifijeh thanked Amaechi for acceding to the request to collaborate with the paper on the port reform summit.This clearly attests to his willingness to make himself available for all initiatives that can move the maritime sector or ward and help fast-track the Nigerian economy.We all know the problems of the Nigerian sea ports, they have been well documented. They have also been the subject of various talks. Nevertheless, until the problems are adequately addressed, the need for more engagements like we are having now cannot be over emphasized.For the Federal Governments plans for the sector to succeed, the Editor-in-Chief said the port agencies need to integrate their plans and carry along not only the stakeholders but the Nigerian public.He urged the forum to create a peer-facilitated platform which can be used to make the agencies accountable to the goal jointly agreed.Considering the presence of maritime experts at this forum, we are confident that lasting solutions will be provided to the challenges bedevilling smooth ports operation, he said.Ifijeh thanked the Chief Executives of NPA, NIMASA, NIWA, the Nigerian Shippers Council, the participants and other stakeholders at the forum for their support.
The Senate, on Thursday, restricted coverage of its proceedings to six television stations, making all the cameramen to boycott coverage of the plenary altogether.The development came less than 24 hours after Senate President Bukola Saraki held a chat with journalists at the Senate to mark the Worlds Press Freedom Day, where he assured the press of the freedom to carry out their responsibilities.Thirteen television stations had been accredited to gain entry into the chamber to cover plenaries, but the coverage has now been restricted to six TV stations comprising the Africa Independent Television, Nigerian Television Authority, Channels Television, Silverbird Television, Television Continental and the in-house New Age.The Senate Press Corps, however, protested against the restriction.Chairman of the corps, Mr. Cosmas Ekpunobi, in a petition to the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Sabi Abdullahi, urged the management of the National Assembly to rescind the decision.The petition read in part, The attention of the Senate Press Corps leadership has been drawn to a decision by the Senate bureaucracy to further reduce the number of television crews covering Senate plenary from 13 to six. The change came into operation today, precipitating the reported boycott by the cameramen today of all Senate proceedings.Recall, sir, that we had a meeting on Wednesday with the Clerk of the Senate on the subject matter, during which he raised some issues and alleged misconduct by some of our colleagues. The leadership of the Senate Press Corps, however, accepted to call our erring members to order and to get back to the clerk for further action. We expected the clerk to also rescind his decision pending the outcome of our meeting with the cameramen today.We want to reiterate here that the Senate Press Corps leadership will never condone any unprofessional conduct by any of our members, even though we have been told that there are other cameramen covering the chamber who are not our registered members but are brought in by principal officers and other senators. We had since referred the said misconduct to our disciplinary committee for necessary action.Ekpunobi noted that the issue could still be resolved through dialogue.He added, We do not also want to subscribe to certain insinuations in some quarters that the new policy is another step to gag journalists covering the upper chamber, especially as the Senate President paid us a visit on Wednesday to celebrate the World Press Freedom Day.We have been repeatedly told that there is no parliament in the world where cameramen are allowed into the chamber. But we are also aware that such chambers, as mentioned, have functional central pool units where broadcast cameramen using latest television technologies such as Ultra High Definition cameras operate to deliver quality feeds. And until such equipments are installed with the requisite broadcast professionals to man them, we plead for a stay of execution.Ekpunobi, therefore, urged Abdullahi to prevail on the Senate bureaucracy and leadership to reverse the policy. In the meantime, we see the development as very unhealthy and a recipe for avoidable friction between the media as a professional body and the National Assembly, he added.
Somalia's security forces have shot dead a 31-year-old government minister after mistaking him for a militant Islamist, officials have said.Mr Abas was a former refugee who grew up in Dadaab camp in Kenya, home to hundreds of thousands of Somalis who fled drought and civil war.He became the country's youngest MP last November, aged 31, when he defeated a former minister.Much of Somalia is still under the control of Islamist militant group al-Shabab, which is affiliated to al-Qaeda.The country held elections in February and Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo became the new president in a surprise result.
The mysterious death of a 100 level Law student of the University of Ibadan, UI, has continued to generate lots of dust. Management of the institution is still shocked over the death of Miss Effiong Imarbong of the Faculty of Law.Imarbong was said to have committed suicide on Wednesday at Queen Elizabeth II Hall where a wild party was supposedly held.The Universitys management issued a statement on Wednesday to tell its own side of the state, saying that she died during a show at her hall residence.Director of Public Communications, Olatunji Oladejo, UI, in the statement said Imarbong died after she jumped from a dangerous position having displayed signs of restlessness during the show.It is with deep regret that the management of the University of Ibadan announces the sudden death of Miss Effiong Deborah Imarbong, a 100 Level student in our Faculty of Law on Monday, May 1, 2017 at the University College Hospital, Ibadan.Her sudden death, however, remains a mystery. It is in the light of the above that the university management wishes to state that the cause(s) of her death are still being investigated by the appropriate authorities. Moreover, her parents had been duly contacted by the relevant key officers of the university on the loss.It is pertinent to state that by the tradition of the Queen Elizabeth II Hall where she was a resident, an event tagged Freshers/Finalists Week was organised by the halls Executive Council, he said.Oladejo explained that her colleagues reported that the deceased was seen at the hall cafeteria, the venue of the movie show and that it was reported that she was seen at about 8.40pm.He added that she received a telephone call from a fellow; she left the venue of the movie show to meet the caller. The fellow had been identified after her death by the Campus Security Service.Oladejo said Imarbong became hyperactive and developed strange attitude after returning to the hall and left the venue after a wild dance.It was further revealed that she left the venue of the movie show and, thereafter, there was a bang, which her colleagues explained, she jumped from a dangerous position in the Hall. She was later found by her colleagues in a seemingly helpless condition in the precinct of the hall, he said.He added that the deceased was rushed to the University of Ibadan Teaching Hospital, where she died.
Nigerian talk show host, Olufunmilola Aduke Iyanda, better known as Funmi Iyanda, made some startling revelation on the latest episode o...

Nigerian talk show host, Olufunmilola Aduke Iyanda, better known as Funmi Iyanda, made some startling revelation on the latest episode of her Vlog series Ask Funmi.Funmi spoke of the Yoruba culture and its bastardisation.Highlighting how the social media trend Yoruba demons came about and what inspired it, Funmi said, The original Yoruba culture does not consider sex a sin. It considers sex a natural thing.I will challenge anybody to prove that his grandparents and great-grandparents married once and one woman.The average Yoruba man wants to be like his grandparents, he doesnt mind his woman cheating. Yoruba men dont have a stringent ownership culture towards cheating.In the real sense of it, once you sleep with a Yoruba woman, you are her husband. If she has a child for you, youre her husband, there is actually nothing like a bastard with the Yoruba culture.The modern Yoruba is two-faced because he is finding his way with his identity and not his culture. They are life loving, party going and generally just satisfied with their wife being loyal to them.Watch the video:
MGM Resorts International, owner of Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, plans to launch an online casino and poker platform in New Jersey later this year, jumping into the booming online gaming market that has been helping to save Atlantic City's casinos.

MGM's platform, which will offer real-money gambling, was developed through a partnership with GVC Holdings PLC, a software and support services provider to MGM, according to a report by PressofAtlanticCity.com.

MGM's platform will operate under the license of the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, the report said. MGM purchased full control of the Borgata last year.

An exact date for the platform's launch this year is not yet known.

Online gaming, which was regulated by the state in November 2013, has been exploding in New Jersey. In March, it recorded its best month ever, registering a more than 40-percent increase since a year ago, totaling more than $21.7 million, previous reports said.

There are four other casinos that currently offer internet gambling in New Jersey: Caesars Interactive; the Golden Nugget; Resorts Casino Hotel; and the Tropicana Casino and Resort.

Corey Sanders, chief operating officer of MGM Resorts, said in the Press of Atlantic City's report that the platform would be under the MGM brand for the first time.

Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find the Find NJ.com on Facebook.
-- Two men identified as members of a street gang were sentenced Wednesday in connection with an armed robbery two years ago, the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office said.

Kavon Carter, 19, of Lumberton, and 20-year-old Tayron Brown of Edgewater Park pleaded guilty in the armed robbery May 7, 2015.

MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. - Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina and Mount Holly Police Chief Thomas Mastrangelo announced today that two criminal street gang members have been sentenced to New Jersey state prison terms for robbing a Mount Holly man at gunpoint two years ago.

Carter and Brown approached the victim as he walked home from his job at a gas station and demanded the keys to the business's safe at gunpoint. When the victim said he could not access the safe, Carter and Brown went to the victim's house but were chased off by relatives. They were arrested a short time later and a gun was found.

Carter was sentenced to 8 years on weapons and drug charges, while Brown was sentenced to seven years for robbery and weapons offenses.

Another defendant in the case, Tifani Young Jr., 22, of Pemberton Township, is scheduled for trial on May 17. Young is charged with three counts of witness tampering,m robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery.

"There are a multitude of facts that indicate these defendants are involved in organized criminal activity," Assistant Prosecutor Michael Angermeier said in court.

"An extensive investigation established that these defendants are in fact members or associates of the Bloods criminal street gang and have a long history of contacts with law enforcement, including multiple arrests and convictions in the juvenile, municipal, or superior court levels. This repeated contact with law enforcement and the criminal justice system has failed to deter them from offending, and thus incarceration in state prison is necessary."

All three are members of a street gang they call the Gotti Boy Movement (GBM), which is associated with the Bloods, authorities said.

Another GBM member was sentenced to prison Wednesday for leading police on a car chase following a shooting in October 2015 in Sunbury Village in Pemberton Township.

Adam Clark, 23, of Pemberton Township, received a five year term in state prison in exchange for pleading guilty to eluding after leading police in a lengthy pursuit during which two firearms were thrown from the vehicle. Young also faces charges in that case.

A 17-year-old male who was also a defendant in that case was fatally shot in February 2016 at a Cherry Hill motel.

Paul Milo may be reached at pmilo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@PaulMilo2. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
A former South Jersey woman who mailed a friend a batch of heroin that killed him was sentenced to six years in prison Wednesday, according to a report.

Amanda Guarneri

Amanda Guarneri, 25, of Farmingville, N.Y., must serve 75 percent of her sentence in a state prison in Illinois before she is eligible for parole, ChicagoTribune.com said.

Dane Carver, 26, died last fall after overdosing while staying at an Extended Stay hotel in Darien, Ill. while in the Chicago area on a work trip.

The heroin contained fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, according to authorities in DuPage County, Ill.

Guarneri pleaded guilty in March to the drug-induced homicide, the Chicago Tribune report said. The five months she has been in custody will be credited to her sentence.

Carver was a 2008 graduate of Lenape High School, according to an online obituary. He worked as a machine operator for Loram Maintenance of Way, a track maintenance machinery and service company.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.


Angry tweets may have called for his ouster from "The Late Show," but Stephen Colbert isn't backing down.

On Wednesday's episode, Colbert addresses the kerfuffle over his Monday monologue, according to CNN, which obtained a transcript ahead of the show's airing.

"Welcome to 'The Late Show.' I'm your host, Stephen Colbert," he began, with a nod to criticism of his recent insult jokes about President Donald Trump. "Still? I am still the host? I'm still the host!"

Colbert's Monday night opener took President Trump to task for his slights against Colbert's CBS colleague John Dickerson, host of "Face the Nation." Trump had referred to the long-running news program as "Deface the Nation" during an interview with Dickerson at the White House and had prematurely ended the interview after Dickerson asked Trump about his claims that President Obama had wiretapped him.

"Mr. Trump, your presidency? I love your presidency. I call it 'Disgrace the Nation,'" Colbert said on Tuesday night's episode, mimicking Trump's delivery when speaking to Dickerson.

Referring to the president as a "prick-tator," Colbert went on roasting Trump to raucous applause from the audience: "You have more people marching against you than cancer," he said.

"The only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin's **** holster," Colbert continued, addressing the president.

That line had some crying foul on Twitter, spurring the rise of the #FireColbert hashtag. Some charged that the joke was homophobic, while others criticized right-leaning viewers for taking offense to the Montclair comedian when Trump's own language has a track record of being salacious and lewd.

"So at the end of that monologue I had a few choice insults for the president in return," Colbert said in the new episode, speaking of his defense of Dickerson and verbal assault on Trump. "I don't regret that," he continued. "He, I believe, can take care of himself. I have jokes, he has the launch codes. So, it's a fair fight."

Colbert also seemed to address the Putin joke -- he'd "change a few words that were cruder than they needed to be," he said. The "Late Show" host didn't apologize for his comments, but he did respond to the charge of homophobia.

"I'm not going to repeat the phrase, but I just want to say for the record, life is short, and anyone who expresses their love for another person, in their own way, is to me, an American hero," he said. "I think we can all agree on that. I hope even the president and I can agree on that. Nothing else. But that."

Also on Wednesday, Gov. Chris Christie said he thought Colbert should not be fired for the Putin joke, but that he should be suspended.

"I can't believe he said it," Christie said. "My concern is: Where's the outrage?"

The governor said that if a late-night host had uttered something similar about President Obama, they would have been fired.

"I think Stephen's lost it a little bit and he needs to come back to earth," he said.

Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup or on Facebook.
TRENTON -- A group of Newark parents has lost a legal battle to overhaul the way public school teachers in the state are laid-off -- dealing another blow to education reform groups that have tried to dismantle similar protections across the country.

In New Jersey, school districts must lay off teachers based on seniority, regardless of performance in the classroom.

On Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Mary J. Jacobson dismissed a lawsuit filed by six Newark parents who argued the last-in-first-out rule for teacher layoffs violated constitutional rights of the students.

"It was a tough loss today for sure, but we need to remain vigilant and make sure that civil rights and education are put at the forefront of this debate in the state and in this country," said Ralia Polechronis, executive director of the Partnership for Educational Justice, which helped organized the lawsuit. "I think (the parents) really took a valiant step forward."

The teachers union lauded the ruling and reiterated that students need experienced teachers in the classroom.

"This dismissal puts a fine point on the need to keep experienced teachers in schools rather than find ways to undermine and fire them," Donna Chiera, president of the American Federation of Teachers New Jersey said in a statement.

Newark Teachers Union President John Abeigon told NJ Advance Media, eliminating seniority protections would allow districts to fire the most veteran -- and highest paid -- teachers to appease budgets.

"We know that experience makes a difference," he said. "These schools are already stretched thin by years of underfunding, adding instability by removing experienced teachers would only hurt students."

Abeigon added that there is no evidence to show how the law is hurting kids.

"The plaintiffs were about ideology not evidence," he added.

Parents and their attorneys argued that last-in-first-out rules were impairing the district's ability to place the most qualified teachers in classrooms and forcing the district to match teachers with schools that weren't the best fit.

Newark spent millions on a pool of "educators without placements" who were languishing without assignments. Most of the teachers were displaced by school closures, poor performance or ongoing tenure charges. In the last two years, the district reduced the pool to less than 100, returning many educators to the classroom to fill vacancies.

"The fact that the statute exists is limiting the remedies that are offered to the district," said Kathleen Reilly, an attorney representing the parents. She said whether or not a district must layoff teachers, children are still negatively affected.

"They are putting these teachers back into the classrooms in order to fill these empty places ... they may not be the right fit for that particular classroom," she said.

Newark Schools Superintendent Christopher Cerf told NJ Advance Media in a statement that he supported changing LIFO.

"I believe that the effectiveness of the teacher should always be the priority in determining who educates our schoolchildren, rather than the quantity of years a teacher has been in the classroom," he said.

The judge dismissed the case without prejudice, which means she'd consider hearing the complaint again if new facts arise.

"I don't think these parents want us to move on" from this cae, Reilly said.

Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook.
Cases of a newly-emerging strain of fungal disease that can be fatal have jumped in New Jersey and New York since the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention first warned hospitals about it late last year.

There have now been 15 reported cases of Candida auris in New Jersey, and 39 in New York, according to the CDC.

Some strains are resistant to all three major classes of antifungal drugs.

"This type of multidrug resistance has not been seen before in other species of Candida. Also of concern, C. auris can persist on surfaces in healthcare environments and spread between patients in healthcare facilities, unlike most other Candida species," the CDC warned.

The fungus can prove to be dangerous to patients who have major underlying health problems. In a previously reported New Jersey case, it was found in a patient who died of a brain tumor in 2015 - but was not the cause of that death, the CDC said.

This latest update does not identify the locations of the cases, when they were diagnosed or even if they were diagnosed in a hospital. In its warning last fall, the CDC confirmed that one of the New Jersey cases involved a patient from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.

That hospital, one of the first in the nation to confront a newly-resistant form of fungal infection, said at the time it had not seen any new cases since a patient was treated there in 2015.

The fungus is difficult to diagnose because it mimics conventional yeast infections and can be misidentified in standard lab tests.

It emerged first in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, the United Kingdom, Africa, and elsewhere in the past several years. announcement last fall was the first indication it has made it to the United States.

At the time, there were in at least seven cases in four states. Since the CDC announcement asked hospitals to report any suspicious cases, the number has jumped to 61 cases in six states.

Kathleen O'Brien may be reached at kobrien@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @OBrienLedger. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
JERSEY CITY  A Jersey City police lieutenant was charged with theft and assault by auto this morning resulting from his involvement in an early-morning collision in a city car two months ago, according to the county prosecutor.

Raymond J. Mahan, 56, of Bayonne, faces up to five years in state prison if found guilty of the theft charge, related to Mahan driving an unmarked police car at the time of the collision. Mahan was suspended without pay following the March 2 incident, which left him and the driver of a second vehicle injured.

Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez confirmed the charges this afternoon. The theft charge is a third-degree crime and assault by auto is a disorderly persons offense.

Mahan surrendered to the HCPO on the charges this morning and was released, according to Suarez. His first court date is scheduled for May 25.

Mahan's attorney, Jeffrey Garrigan, told The Jersey Journal that Mahan has a "32-year, unblemished record" with the Jersey City police force. Mahan joined the department in 1985.

"He understands these charges are serious and will be prepared to address them," Garrigan said.

Yesterday, The Jersey Journal reported that Ramon Lugo, who was driving the Toyota that Mahan struck while he was going through the intersection of Kennedy Boulevard and Bartholdi Avenue at about 4 a.m. on March 2, filed notice of his intent to sue the city for $1 million for his injuries and lost wages.

Mahan, a commander in the city's north police precinct, was headed south on Kennedy in a Chevrolet Malibu when he collided with Lugo, who was driving west on Bartholdi, according to an accident report issued that day. Police say Lugo told them he had the green light and thought he could make it through the intersection in time, but Lugo says in his notice of claim that officers never interviewed him that night and accused the department of a "deliberate cover-up."

Mahan was drunk, speeding and did not have his car's emergency lights on at the time of the collision, according to Lugo. The accident report says the city-owned Chevrolet was found four blocks from the site of the collision.

A HCPO spokesman declined to comment when asked if prosecutors had subpoenaed the results of any blood work that may have been performed on Mahan after the collision, when he was taken to Jersey City Medical Center for a head injury.

A source with knowledge of the investigation said city officials asked prosecutors to charge Mahan with theft, saying he did not have permission to be using the police car at the time of the collision, which also led to damages to two parked cars on Kennedy Boulevard.

In a statement, city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill commended Suarez "for taking action."

"These are serious charges and the type of actions that we do not tolerate from any employees," Morrill said. "Lt. Mahan was immediately suspended without pay and following the outcome of these criminal charges, he will also face departmental charges."

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.
JERSEY CITY - Two people were fatally shot in an apparent murder-suicide early Thursday morning, officials said.

Authorities said a man and woman were found dead on Bright Street behind Hudson County Prep High School and across the street from the Booker T. Washington housing complex, the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office said.

Sources say a gun was found near the two bodies.

By 6 a.m., police had already left the scene leaving behind a few strands of crime scene tape. As residents awoke and employees arrived at the nearby high school, many were searching for answers about what happened.

One man who works at the school, who asked not to be identified, couldn't believe what happened just feet away from County Prep. Yesterday afternoon, he said, a man and woman were arguing nearby, though it may have just been a coincidence.

"Even during the day it's usually pretty quiet," he said.

Several residents in the housing complex said the man fatally shot the woman before turning the gun on himself.

Rosa Toledo was walking past the scene Thursday morning with tears her eyes. She identified the woman killed as being in her early 20s with a young son, about 3 years old.

"She was a good, good girl," Toledo said.

Toledo, who has lived in Jersey City for nearly two decades, said she's known the woman's family for many years. The victim was always smiling and worked as a cashier at ShopRite.

"This is a hurt to our hearts," Toledo said of the woman's death.

A resident of the housing complex, who did not want to be identified, said the pair may have had a dispute over a cell phone. She also said the two had been in a relationship.

Gene Rubino, Chief of Investigations with the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office, did not comment if the murder-suicide was a domestic incident. The murder is the third in Jersey City in less than a week.

Early Saturday morning, Amir Pleasant, 20, was shot in the chest on Dwight Street. He attempted to drive himself to Jersey City Medical Center, crashed his car outside the hospital, and was pronounced dead a short time later.

Later that morning, Albanelis Vidal De Larosa, 51, was found dead wrapped in blankets on Reservoir Avenue. Her ex-boyfriend, Miguel Angel Cabrera Romero, has been charged with her death.

Additional information was not immediately available.

Caitlin Mota may be reached at cmota@jjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @caitlin_mota. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.
senior luncheon.jpg

Guests enjoy a Mother's Day Luncheon held in Hudson County a few years ago.

(Jersey Journal file photo)

MOTHERS DAY EVENT

The Town of West New York will hold a Senior Citizens Mother's Day Party from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, May 13, at West New York Middle School, 201-57th St.,, West New York. Call 201-295-5100 for information.

NARFE MEETING CHAPTER 1490

National Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE), Chapter 1490, will hold its regular meeting on May 10 at 1 p.m., at the Senior Center, 56th Street and Avenue B in Bayonne. A representative from the American Hearing Centers will be conducting an educational seminar and on-site screenings. All NARFE members and prospective members are welcome. Meetings are held on the second Wednesday of the month from March to June and from September to December. For further information, call Jean at (201) 339-3032.

JERSEY CITY AARP PLANS TRIP

The Jersey City AARP Chapter 5102 will sponsor a trip to Atlantic City, Resorts Casino, on Monday, May 29. Cost of trip is $30, $25 casino play upon arrival. Pickup is at 8:15 a.m. at St. John's Lutheran Church parking lot, corner of Summit Avenue and North Street. The bus will leave at 8:30 a.m. and return at 5 p.m. Payment is due by May 15. Participants must be over 21. All are welcome. For more information, contact Charles at 201-420-1166.

MONTHLY MOVIES FOR SENIORS

Free monthly movies for senior citizens are being offered in the renovated movie theaters at Newport Centre Mall in Jersey City. Movies are open to Jersey City senior citizens only. An ID is required with a Jersey City address. The free senior movies are held on the 1st Tuesday of every month. The next movie date is Tuesday, June 6, at 10 a.m. Movie location is Newport Centre Mall, AMC Newport Centre 11, 30-300 Mall Drive W, Jersey City. For more information about the free movies program, call the Department of Health & Human Services, Division of Senior Affairs at 201-547-5750.

OUR LADY OF MT. CARMEL

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Seniors is sponsoring a trip to Wildwood, September 10- September 14. Please call, 201-435-7080 for more information on the trip.

EXERCISE AT LIBRARY

The Jersey City Free Public Library will hold intermediate, low-impact aerobics classes for adults and seniors on Mondays and Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m., at the Heights branch library, 14 Zabriskie St. The classes are presented by Eddes Gonzalez. Low-impact exercise involves a full range of motion, tones and tightens muscles, improves balance and posture, increases heart rate for a healthier cardiovascular system, and stretching, which improves coordination. Consult a doctor before beginning any fitness program. For more information, call the library at 201-547-4556.

DANCE, EXERCISE PROGRAMS

The Kennedy Dancers Inc. located at 79 Central Ave., Jersey City, is offering a dance and exercise program specifically created for older Americans, aged 60 and above, to improve muscle tone, posture, flexibility, joint mobility, range of movement, and to promote socialization and camaraderie. The programs are modified to accommodate senior citizen abilities, to increase metabolism, help lose excess weight, lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and reduce doctor visits due to minor complaints. Seniors who live in the Hudson County area and are 60 and older may attend this program free of charge. (Voluntary donations of $1 or more suggested.) Bring is a valid driver's license or State ID. All weekday classes run from 2 to 2:45 p.m. Classes include: Tuesdays, line dancing; Wednesdays, Yoga/Pilates; Thursdays Latin Dance & Ballroom; and Saturdays, 10:45-11:30 a.m., Zumba. Call for more information at 201-659-2190 or E-mail kennedydancers@aol.com.

OLM SENIORS

OLM Seniors meet every Wednesday at 1 p.m. in the Maria Room at 40 Sullivan Drive, Jersey City. New members are always welcome.

SUMMIT CLUB SENIORS

The Summit Club Seniors meet on the second and fourth Mondays of each month at the Second Reformed Church, 940 Summit Ave., Jersey City. For information, contact 201-963-1614 or 201-795-2811.

DOWNTOWN SENIORS OF BAYONNE

The Downtown Seniors of Bayonne meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at 1 p.m. in the 4th Street Senior Center in Bayonne. Participants should try to arrive at the meeting place early during meeting days. Non-members are welcome. For information, call the senior center at 201-858-6144.

HORTICULTURE CLASS

The Hoboken Senior Program sponsors a horticulture class for seniors every Wednesday. The class is held from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at the Senior Center at the Hoboken Multi-Service Center, 124 Grand St. From 10 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, the center also holds a knitting and crocheting session. For information on either program, call the center at 201-420-2054.

To submit information on events, trips or programs your senior group is holding, email lditommaso@jjournal.com or write to Senior Notes, The Jersey Journal, One Harmon Plaza, Suite 1010, Secaucus, N.J., 07094. You may FAX information to 201-468-5100.
The memorial service and visitation times have been set by the Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Office for the late Deputy Mark Burbridge.

Burbridge will be honored Monday at 10 a.m. inside the Mid-America Center, 1 Arena Way. The public is encouraged to attend the service.

The funeral procession is still being arranged as of Wednesday. The sheriffs office will publish the route information when finalized. No graveside service will be held.

On Saturday, a private visitation open only to members of law enforcement will be held between 1 and 5 p.m. at the Hoy-Kilnoski Funeral Home, 1221 North 16th St.

Non-uniformed officers must bring law enforcement identification to be allowed entry.

A public visitation will be held Sunday at the funeral home from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Community members are welcomed to attend.

Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker said a number of honor guards from local branches of law enforcement and other organizations are planned to take part in the event.
The Iowa West Foundation has announced it will fund the entirety of the beautification aspects of the West Broadway renovation project in Council Bluffs.

In a letter to the Council Bluffs City Council and Mayor Matt Walsh, the board said it will fund phases two through five of the master plan. The board had paused its funding of those phases after the City Council removed medians from the plan.

The foundation will grant the city $7.93 million, amending its initial pledge of $9 million, less the cost of the medians.

Iowa West Foundation President and CEO Pete Tulipana delivered the letter and met with Mayor Matt Walsh and City Council members Roger Sandau and Melissa Head Wednesday evening.

We look forward to establishing a strong three-way partnership between the Iowa West Foundation, city staff and council on this and future projects, Tulipana said.

At its March 13 meeting, the City Council voted 3-2 to approve an amendment to the master plan that removed all medians from the project. Council members Al Ringgenberg, Roger Sandau and Melissa Head voted in favor of the amendment, while Nate Watson and Sharon White were opposed.

The council had approved a master plan with medians covering about 20 percent of the roadway in October 2016 on a 4-1 vote, with Sandau casting the lone nay.

Iowa West paused its funding after the amendment for a chance to examine the revised master plan.

In the letter, the foundation board noted that after consulting the landscape architects involved in the project, the master plan will still achieve the goals and objectives of the IWF on this project.

Funding for each phase is conditioned upon the city following the amended master plan, the board said in the letter. Any additional material change to the master plan could result in your partner, the Iowa West Foundation, defunding the project.
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee grilled FBI Director James Comey about the investigations into Hillary Clintons private email server and Russian influence in the 2016 election Wednesday.

Comey insisted during repeated questions he was consistent in disclosing information about an investigation into Hillary Clintons emails before Election Day while keeping quiet about a probe into possible contacts between Russia and the Donald Trumps campaign.

At the forefront of the questioning was Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the committee.

We need the FBI to be accountable, because we need the FBI to be effective. Its mission is to protect us from the most dangerous threats facing our nation, Grassley, chair of the committee, said in his opening statement at the hearing.

In his weekly media call after the hearing, Grassley said hes working to determine whether (the) FBI is working to ensure politics has not interfered in its work on both Hillary Clintons email server and Russian influence on our elections.

Comey, in his most impassioned public defense of how he handled the case, told senators it made him feel mildly nauseous to think his actions in October might have influenced the race won by Republican Trump over Democrat Clinton. But he told the Senate Judiciary Committee the FBI cannot take into account how its actions might benefit or harm politicians.

I cant consider for a second whose political futures will be affected and in what way, Comey told the senators. We have to ask ourselves what is the right thing to do and then do it.

Persistent questions from senators, and Comeys testimony, made clear that the FBI directors decisions last summer and fall involving both the Trump and Clinton campaigns continue to roil national politics and produce lingering second-guessing about whether the investigations were handled evenly.

In his opening statement, Grassley again brought up FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, whose potential involvement in the Clinton campaign Grassley has questioned.

Grassley has noted McCabe is under investigation by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, which is examining whether the political and financial connections between McCabes wifes Democratic political campaign and Clinton associates warranted his recusal in the FBIs Clinton email investigation.

Grassley also questioned if the FBI had paid for an unverified dossier by a British intelligence officer that included wild conspiracy theories and if the FBI has bought into the dossiers theories on collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Unfortunately, the FBI has provided me materially inconsistent information about these issues, Grassley said. That is why we need to know more about it and how much the FBI relied on it. Once you buy into its claims of collusion, then suddenly every interaction with a Russian can be twisted to seem like confirmation of the conspiracy theory.

Speaking at times with a raised voice, Comey said he faced two difficult decisions when agents told him in October that they had found emails potentially connected to the Clinton case on a laptop belonging to former Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., who separated last year from top Clinton aide Huma Abedin. Weiners laptop was seized as part of a sexting investigation involving a teenage girl.

Comey said he knew it was unorthodox to alert Congress to that discovery 11 days before Americans picked a new president. But he said he decided it would have been catastrophic to keep silent, especially when he had testified under oath that the investigation had been concluded and had promised to advise lawmakers if the probe needed to be reopened.

I sat there that morning and could not see a door labeled, No action here, Comey said.

The FBI obtained a warrant to search the laptop and sifted through thousands of emails, Comey said, including ones with classified information that had been forwarded to the laptop by Abedin to be printed out. Though officials found many new emails, there was nothing to change the FBIs decision from July not to recommend charges, Comey said.

He also said he had not intended to harm the Clinton campaign with his unusual public announcement in July that Clinton and her aides had been extremely careless in their handling of classified information though there was not evidence to support criminal charges.

He said he had been concerned for months about how to report the investigations findings to the public; and because of Justice Department actions including an impromptu airplane meeting between Bill Clinton and Attorney General Loretta Lynch, he had concluded he needed to make the announcement himself.

My goal was to say what is true. What did we do, what did we find, what do we think? And I tried to be as complete and fair as possible, Comey said.

He said he himself had been interviewed by the Justice Departments inspector generals office as part of the watchdogs investigation into the Clinton email case. He said he welcomed that review and continues to believe he did things the right way.

Under questioning from Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Comey said he did not treat disclosures about investigations into Clintons emails differently than potential connections between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The FBI began a counterintelligence investigation last July into whether Russia had coordinated with Trump campaign associates to influence the American election, but he did not disclose that until a hearing in March, after Trump had been elected and taken office.

That prompted Democrats to complain of a double-standard in the way the investigations were treated.

But Comey said that other than confirming the Clinton investigation existed, he did not discuss it until after it concluded last year. And he said the FBI does not expect to have anything to say about the Russia investigation until that one was over.

He declined on Wednesday to discuss that investigation or to say which Americans the FBI was looking at.

In his press call, Grassley said he would meet with Comey in a classified environment to discuss the questions Comey was unable to answer in the hearing.

Some of these topics need further discussion in a classified setting, Grassley said. Anyway you look at it, Americans need to be able to trust that the chief federal law enforcement agency is not influenced by politics.

 Tucker of the Associated Press contributed from Washington D.C.
At a time when relations between the United States and China are at a crucial juncture, the Senate has the responsibility of approving the appointment of Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, President Donald Trumps nominee to serve as ambassador to China.

Given the importance of the position, particularly at this point in time, Trump has, in our opinion, made the right decision.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is tasked with vetting Branstads nomination, and the six-term Republican governor received bipartisan praise Tuesday at his confirmation hearing.

If his nomination is approved, Branstad, now 70, would then be responsible for helping manage one of the most important bilateral relationships on the planet.

Trump tapped Branstad for the ambassadorship in part because of the governors long-standing trade diplomacy with China that has boosted Iowa exports to that country.

Theres also a personal relationship with now-Chinese President Xi Jinping that goes back to 1985. Branstad was a first-term governor, welcoming Xi, who was then the leader of an agriculture delegation from Chinas Hebei province, Iowas sister state. Xi reportedly still talks about the hospitality he received on that trip.

Much of Tuesdays hearing focused on Chinas role in U.S. efforts to deter North Koreas nuclear program.

Noting that millions of lives hang in the balance and with China being in the best position to influence North Koreas behavior to achieve a peaceful outcome, Branstad said that China has an interest in helping head off a conflict.

During Tuesdays hearing, Branstad said repeatedly he hopes to lean on his personal, long-term connection with Xi. At the same time, he sought to assure senators he wont be a pushover.

I know I have a lot to learn about foreign policy and a lot of these issues, Branstad said. Ive been trying to get up to speed as best I can, but Im not bashful about bringing these issues up, and just the fact that the leader of China calls us an old friend doesnt mean that Im going to be at all reluctant or bashful about bringing up issues where we think they have not been fair.

As the nations longest-serving governor, Branstad has proven himself in the political arena where tough negotiations with opposing parties have been the norm until this year.

While he has limited experience in foreign policy, his lengthy and positive history with Chinas president should be a positive in the efforts to defuse North Koreas escalating threats, an outcome that both countries want.

The Senate, in our opinion, should move quickly to approve Branstads appointment as ambassador to China.
The memories of their early life is something I never get tired of hearing about.

Over the years I have related many stories about my parents and our ancestry. My mom Naomi and I sat down together for a couple of hours to talk about what she remembers of her childhood.

Moms family comes from the area of Spain known as the Basque, which is a region in the western Pyranees mountains that borders France. Her grandfather is Alfredo Samora who was killed in a mining accident before mom was born.

My grandmother Donna Marquez was married to Silverio Marquez and mom was the youngest of their large family. She had three brothers and five sisters.

The family lived on a small ranch at the foot of the Spanish Peaks in southern Colorado. Grandpa was a miner and did his best to provide for his family, but life was difficult.

Mom said she remembers grandma killing a chicken and making enough with some home grown vegetables to scrape together a meal. At that time, mom went to a small country school where she was one of two children in the kindergarten class.

The school was located a few miles from the ranch in the area of the Spanish Peaks, which is just south of the Walsenburg, Colorado, west of I-25 and the highway that crosses La Veta pass.

One memory mom has is of her winning a spelling bee at the school. She won the right to go to the big city of Denver to compete for the state title, but mom was extremely shy and refused to go.

Shortly after she finished the eighth grade, grandpa and grandma moved to Pueblo where my aunt Sophie had purchased a lot on East Sixth Street. They couldnt afford to build a house, so grandpa and my uncles took the old farm house apart board by board and transported it to Pueblo where they reconstructed a two-bedroom home there.

Mom then started school as a freshman at Centennial high school. She wanted to go to work with my aunt Sophie at the local laundry, but Sophie insisted mom go to school.

It was difficult for mom because she was very much an introvert. She didnt have any trouble with the schoolwork, but just couldnt establish her identity.

The family faithfully attended a small church in Pueblo and mom sang in the choir. At one fellowship meeting that involved all the churches in the association, my dad Felix was in attendance.

He had just applied for and got a job at the CF&I Steel Corporation in Pueblo and began to ask about mom. At the time, mom was just 15 years of age and wasnt really interested in him or any boys for that matter.

That year my aunt Orpha, who was just 13 years old at the time, got married. A couple of years later, after mom and dad had become better acquainted, dad asked my grandpa for her hand in marriage.

Mom was 16 at the time, but grandpa agreed because he liked my dad. Mom quit school and the rumor was that she was getting married because she was pregnant, which was not true.

Felix and Naomi were married in November and I was born in September. Mom turned 17 on Sept. 3 and I was born on Sept. 10.

Dad had been drafted and was scheduled to depart for Korea that same month. However, the Army changed his assignment and held off shipping him out until after I was born. Dad was able to spend just a day or two with me before he went to his new assignment in Germany for 18 months.

Mom lived with grandma and grandpa Marquez all the time dad was away. I grew very close to my grandparents as they helped mom raise me.

After all three of us were born, mom went to school and got her GED, graduated from business college and worked for the Pueblo County School District for many years until her retirement.

My parents will celebrate 67 years of marriage this year and they have come a long way together. They have been such a good example of what a good marriage should be and I appreciate their commitment to each other, to their children and their grandchildren as well.
With two hours to go, the community has donated more than $186,000 to 62 charities for the second annual North Platte Giving Day.

Until midnight, residents can donate to any of 62 causes online at www.northplattegivingday.org. On the website, live leaderboards keep track of online donations, sometimes jumping thousands of dollars in minutes.

People can also drop off checks at the Mid-Nebraska Community Foundation, Bills U-Save Pharmacy, Prairie Arts Center, the Senior Center/Ready to Serve Program and the Catholic Schools Endowment Trust.

We had someone bring in one check for $12,000, said Judy Rossetter, an administrator with the Mid-Nebraska Community Foundation, at a free lunch in the downtown NebraskaLand National Bank parking lot. She said checks would be posted throughout Wednesday. Final totals, including sponsored prizes, will be announced in the coming days.

Faces of some of Giving Days charities turned out for the grilled lunch, as well as to a private event Wednesday evening at the Prairie Arts Center. At the social hour, live leaderboards kept track of totals as people introduced themselves, discussed their individual charities and wished each other luck.

The social event also featured various centerpieces up for silent auction, each donated by various participating nonprofits. Many individual centerpieces were themed around the nonprofit that donated it.

Were having a lot of fun, said Dalene Skates, executive director at North Platte Area Habitat for Humanity, at the social hour. Were just very blessed.

Throughout Wednesday evening, were still entering checks and were still taking donations, said Eric Seacrest, executive director of the Mid-Nebraska Community Foundation.

What feels good is, one, everything worked, Seacrest said, referring to a website glitch in North Plattes pilot Giving Day last year. As he spoke, both the live and online leaderboards soared with seemingly no problems.

And, Seacrest said, the community was supportive to so many good causes.

Each of the charitys totals reflect the decision of an individual donor, Seacrest said.

Jodi Howard, executive director of the North Platte Public Schools Foundation, had watched the live leaderboards throughout the day. She said the foundations totals climbed in its second year of Giving Day.

Rather than funding the schools themselves, the foundation supports causes within the schools, Howard said. Donations will go toward causes like endowments, scholarships for students going to college and staff scholarships for employees wishing to further their education.

Howard also had some giving of her own planned, including to one of North Plattes animal causes, as its benefited her family, she said.

The Prairie Arts Center, itself, was one large recipient from Giving Day. As of 6:30 p.m., the venue, currently undergoing an upstairs renovation project to create a reception and banquet hall, led the leaderboards with nearly $29,400 in donations.
LEXINGTON  Four Dawson County businesses failed alcohol compliance checks last week, the Nebraska State Patrol reported.

The patrol checked 13 businesses during the evening of April 27, and four sold alcohol to a minor, according to a press release. The retail outlets checked included convenience stores, liquor stores, restaurants and bars.

Two Gothenburg businesses were found to be noncompliant: Nebraska Barn & Grill and Pizza Hut, patrol Lt. Col. Thomas Schwarten said in an email. In Lexington, Macs Short Stop and Thriftys Gas & Liquor were noncompliant, he said.

Law enforcement performs compliance checks to ensure businesses are complying with the states alcohol laws and to decrease youth access to alcohol. The compliance checks were made possible in part by a grant from Region II Human Services.
The Sydney Roosters have today announced the marquee signing of the reigning Dally M Fullback of the Year, James Tedesco.

24-year-old Tedesco has signed a four-year deal with the Roosters commencing in 2018.

"James is a tremendously exciting talent whose signature we are pleased to have secured and we look forward to welcoming him to the Roosters in 2018," said Sydney Roosters CEO, Joe Kelly.

Tedesco has played 78 NRL matches to date. He made his State of Origin debut with New South Wales in 2016 and represented NSW City on two occasions (2013, 2015). He has also represented the Prime Ministers XIII on one occasion (2016) and played three Tests for Italy (2013).
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Amid rough conditions for retail in general and supermarkets in particular, the century-old Strack & Van Til parent company Central Grocers is winding down its distribution operations over the next two months and will lay off nearly 550 workers.

The Joliet-based company announced it is filing for bankruptcy and looking to sell 22 Strack & Van Til stores and its 934,490-square-foot distribution center in Joliet through an auction in bankruptcy court. Central Grocers reported it owes more than $16 million in debt to its 20 largest creditors, including $3 million to Kellogg, $2.3 million to Kraft Foods, $1.9 million to Nestle USA, and $1.3 million to Tyson Foods, according to its bankruptcy filing.

Strack & Van Til stores will remain open.

Our stores are open, and we are as focused as ever on supporting our customers and providing the legendary service that we are known for," Strack and Van Til Chief Executive Officer Jeff Strack said. "As we move through this process, our priorities, values and commitments to our customers and our communities will not change. We thank our loyal customers for their continued support, and we thank our employees for their hard work and dedication.

Saying Central Grocers hadn't been paying its bills, creditors such as Coca Cola and General Mills had filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition earlier this week trying to liquidate the Joliet-based company  a $2 billion cooperative which has been in business for 100 years. Central Grocers, which supplies 400 independent grocery stores across the Chicago area, responded by filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which would let it sell off its assets before going out of business instead of being stripped apart by a court-appointed liquidator.

The impact will be far-reaching and extend beyond the Region's largest locally owned grocery chain, which once operated as many as 38 stores under the Strack & Van Til, Ultra Foods and Town and Country brands across Northwest Indiana and the greater Chicago metro. Central Grocers distributes the Centrella brand products, meat, produce and other grocery items to many local independent grocers, including Save More Foods in Gary, Central Market in Lake Station, Reliable Supermarket in Hammond, Walt's Food Centers in Dyer and the south suburbs and Treasure Island in Chicago.

Its dissolution may mean the end of the Centrella Brand, a store brand of supermarket staples like ketchup, mayo, beef stew, green beans, canned peas and bottled water.

The wholesaler is looking to sell remaining Strack & Van Til stores to an interested buyer of its choosing to avoid a low bid. The grocery chain expects to sell off the 22 remaining Strack & Van Til stores, its distribution center in Joliet and other assets through a court-supervised auction process under Section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

In light of the increasingly difficult environment for independent supermarkets and retailers, we have been working tirelessly to achieve an outcome that is in the best interests of our stakeholders," Central Grocers President and Chief Executive Officer Ken Nemeth said. "We are using this court-supervised sale process to provide us the time and flexibility to conduct an orderly sale of the Strack & Van Til stores, while we work to sell the warehouse in Joliet and wind down our wholesale distribution operations.

Conditions have been rough for the retail sector, which has announced more than 3,100 store closings nationwide so far this year as e-commerce continues to sap market share from brick-and-mortar shops, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates more than 90,000 retail jobs have vanished since the fall.

It's been particularly tough for grocery stores, low-margin businesses that have been struggling with the worst price depreciation in decades and intense competition. Michigan City-based Al's Supermarket has closed locations in South Haven and LaPorte over the last two years. Indianapolis-based Marsh announced Friday it was closing nine more locations, just weeks after it said it would close 10 of its grocery stores. Even tony, high-end Whole Foods has been struggling and activist investors have clamored for it to find a buyer to take it over.

Amid industrywide pressures, Central Grocers faced competition from the much larger co-op Associated Wholesale Grocers, which has a warehouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and has been making an increased push into the Chicago area market.

The Joliet-based co-op, which allowed mom-and-pop grocers to pool their resources and negotiate lower prices by buying in greater volume, is sending employees a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act or WARN notice saying it expects 549 layoffs in Joliet. It said in the letter that no buyer had stepped forward to operate the central warehouse as a distribution facility so there was no expectation that any jobs would be retained.

"This is anticipated to be a permanent shutdown of the entire plant; no bumping rights will exist," Nemeth wrote in the letter to employees.

Warehouse workers and truck drivers are expected to lose their jobs between June 26 and July 10. Central Grocers expects to completely wind down operations in the next six to eight weeks.

It owns 80 percent of its largest customer Strack & Van Til, which it acquired in the 1990s, according to the bankruptcy filing. Andrew Raab and Jeff Strack each own 10 percent of the grocery chain, which started in 1959 and is widely considered the Region's grocery chain.
And they're off ... to Frankfort to sip a new whiskey being released to celebrate the Kentucky Derby.

Frankfort Spirits at 23320 S. LaGrange Road in Frankfort will release its Emil Stimple Rye on Saturday on its annual Derby Day Party, a costume and watching party for "The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports" down in Louisville. The oak barrel-aged rye whiskey soon will be rolled out to retailers throughout Chicagoland, but will only be available at the distillery until June.

"Made from 90 percent plus rye and aged for three years in once used cooperage, this rye whiskey will not disappoint," Frankfort Spirits distiller Phil Casey said. "It fills the senses with its pleasing aroma, exceptional peppery taste and wonderful smooth feel."

Frankfort Spirits, which opened in Frankfort in 2014, makes an array of whiskies under the Emil Stimple brand, including Aged Whiskey, Barrel Strength Bourbon and Double Barrel Bourbon.

It will mark the release of its latest rye whiskey in style with a party from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday that includes specialty cocktails, a Derby-inspired buffet complete with carving stations and a live bluegrass band. Attendees are encouraged to dress as though they're going to Churchill Downs in Kentucky  in seersucker suits and bow ties or fancy hats and dresses.

For more information, call (815) 200-1192 or visit www.frankfortspirits.com.
Yesterday's media circus is today's documentary.

It has, recently, seemed like all the stories that once dominated our tabloids are now cramming our screens. O.J. Simpson, Anthony Weiner, Amanda Knox. It's as though we're haunted by the ghost of nightly-news past.

That's not say that many of the films haven't been good. Ezra Edelman's "O.J. Made in America" was a brilliant, expansive Tolstoy novel of a film. And, certainly, our media coverage and our collective slavish attention to these cases deserve continual reckoning  even if some of these films trade on the same sensationalism that got the presses humming in the first place.

Kitty Green's "Casting JonBenet," a film that debuted on Netflix, returns us to the tragic, unsolved case of the child pageant queen JonBenet Ramsey, the blonde and blue-eyed 6-year-old found dead in the basement of her family's Boulder, Colorado, home on December 26, 1996.

The case and its bizarre backdrop  the world of child pageantry  brought endless speculation over her death and who might have done it. Theories abounded over her parents John and Patsy Ramsey, and even their son, Burke, who was 9-years-old at the time.

"Casting JonBenet," however, is not a procedural or an investigation, and it makes no attempt to answer that sad, lurid whodunit from the '90s. Instead, it uses the Ramsey story as a prism for documenting our rabid rumor-mongering and far-away judgments of personalities hoisted onto a media stage. It is, oddly enough, about acting.

Without comment or introduction, "Casting JonBenet" sits us down with a number of Colorado actors who are ostensibly auditioning for a drama based on the case. Speaking into the camera, often in costume, they relate their presumptions about the case and the motivations of their would-be characters. Most are to play either Patsy or John.

All have their suspicions, most pure gossip, others more reflective. The details of the case, including the lengthy ransom note found in the home, leave plenty of room for theories of all kinds. Given the circumstances, one participant notes wisely, "Any theory in this is kind of cracked."

It's a clever premise, but maybe not one that leads in profound directions. That was also an issue with another recent film that attempted to use acting as a method for finding a deeper understanding about an old media sensation. In Antonio Campos' "Kate Plays Christine," the director followed one actress' attempts to get into the head of Christine Chubbuck, the 1970s TV reporter who committed suicide on the air.

Green's film is simpler than Campos', but it arrives somewhere more genuinely moving. Gradually, as the actors get closer to their roles, they begin finding empathy for the Ramseys. They go, tenderly, from hearsay to sympathy, from hypotheses of child pornography rings to speaking about their own related challenges in life. One woman speaks about being sexually abused as a girl. Another talks of alcoholic parents. A man talks about his battle with cancer.

Green culminates "Casting JonBenet" by filling a soundstage of rooms modeled after the Ramseys' house with the many actors all at once performing their version of events. It's a small but affecting moment of compassion, acted out long after all the drama disappeared from the tabloids.

"Casting JonBenet" is an unrated Netflix release. Running time: 80 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
A Gary man wanted out of Porter County led law enforcement on a lengthy, high-speed chase Monday afternoon through sections of Gary, Lake Station and along Interstate 80/94 in a stolen Chevy Camaro.

A Lake County sheriffs detective patrolling Garys Glen Park area about 1 p.m. Monday noticed a blue Camaro driving eastbound on 37th Avenue approaching Broadway, according to a news release from the Lake County Sheriffs Department.

The driver, later identified as 35-year-old Allan Briggs, of Gary, did not match the description of the vehicles owner, a 64-year-old Hammond man, police said. The sheriffs detective then identified the driver as Briggs, who was wanted for felony identity deception, unlawful possession of a syringe and theft, according to police.

Briggs is being held at the Lake County Jail and faces charges of felony resisting law enforcement, misdemeanor resisting law enforcement, driving while suspended prior, and license never issued in connection with Monday's incident.

Briggs allegedly disregarding the detectives attempt to initiate a traffic stop near 21st Avenue and Broadway, and he continued driving recklessly at a high rate of speed to the area of Massachusetts and 20th Place, according to police. The vehicle proceeded onto I-80/94, onto southbound Grant Street, and back onto I-80/94, heading eastbound at a high rate of speed, police said.

The car was "recklessly weaving in and out of traffic as the detective and other officers were in pursuit," department spokesman Mark Back said in the release. Once on Central Avenue in Lake Station, Briggs allegedly drove to the area of Clay Street and 25th Avenue and onto U.S. 20 approaching I-65. He cut over the median at U.S. 20, and drove southbound on the northbound I-65 ramp with Lake County sheriff and Gary police in pursuit.

Briggs exited onto 15th Avenue west of I-65 and fled on foot through a small ditch, police said. Detectives gave chase. He was eventually apprehended by a department K-9 police dog "after being order to stop running numerous times," according to police.

One of the passengers, Chris Briggs, 33, of Gary, had an active failure to appear warrant in Lake Station. Both Chris and Allan Briggs were transported to the Lake County jail. Two woman passengers were released at the scene.
CROWN POINT  A disbarred local attorney was convicted at federal trial Wednesday of mail fraud on allegations he stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the estate of a defunct supermarket chain.

Robert E. Stochel is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 15 for the theft of $331,840 from Tip Top Supermarket Inc., according to court records.

Stochel, 64, of Crown Point, was appointed by a court to serve as the receiver of the dissolved supermarket in 1999, according to court records.

The attorney was required to pay the company's creditors and then return any remaining funds to the two brothers that owned the company, but Stochel instead used all the company's assets for his personal benefit, records state.

Stochel hid the thefts from the company's owners and the court until 2012, when he defied a judge's order to turn over receivership records to an independent accountant, according to state records.

Stochel was charged last March in the U.S. District Court of Northern Indiana with mail fraud.

A jury returned the guilty verdict after a three-day trial before District Court Senior Judge Rudy Lozano, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

A jury was unable to reach a verdict on the charge after two days of deliberations at a prior trial in December.

R. Brian Woodward, the attorney for Stochel, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Stochel was admitted to the state bar in 1978. He was disbarred by order of the Indiana Supreme Court in 2015.

The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by assistant U.S. attorneys Diane Berkowitz, Alexandra McTague and Maria Lerner.

Stochel is allowed to remain free on bond until his sentencing hearing, according to court records.
INDIANAPOLIS  Secretary of State Connie Lawson will run next year for a second full term and potentially become Indiana's longest-serving chief elections officer.

The Danville native announced on her Facebook page Thursday that she is once again seeking the Republican nomination that will be awarded at the party's 2018 state convention.

"We need strong GOP leadership in states like Indiana so states can maintain control of local election administration," Lawson said. "I'm seeking re-election to continue the work we have started."

Lawson said that work includes efforts to preserve the integrity of Indiana elections, make it easier to vote, eliminate red tape in the business registration process and protect Hoosiers from investment scams.

Indiana Republican Chairman Kyle Hupfer immediately endorsed Lawson's re-election bid on behalf of the state GOP, a move likely to dissuade any intra-party challenges to her renomination.

"Secretary Lawson is a remarkable public servant and the Indiana Republican Party fully supports her and will be fully invested in her re-election efforts," Hupfer said.

The four-term state senator was appointed secretary of state by Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels in 2012 to finish the term of Republican Charlie White, who lost his office after being convicted of felony voter fraud.

Lawson was elected to the post in 2014.

If she is re-elected in 2018 and serves at least three years of her new term, Lawson will surpass Robert New, Indiana's first secretary of state, for the longest tenure in the office.
INDIANAPOLIS  The two congressmen expected to vie next year for Indiana's Republican U.S. Senate nomination cheered House approval Thursday of a measure repealing portions of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

U.S. Rep. Luke Messer, R-Shelbyville, and U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita, R-Brownsburg, both said they were pleased to vote for legislation that moves the United States closer toward fully eliminating the 2010 health law enacted by former Democratic President Barack Obama.

"Today is an exciting day for those of us who have been working and fighting to end Obamacare's reign over this country," Messer said.

"This is a step away from more government control of our health care and our day-to-day lives, and a return to freedom for all Americans."

Rokita, a Munster native, said: "Whether piece by piece, or all at once, I will continue fighting to repeal the insidious Obamacare law because it has hurt so many people. Many, many more than it ever pretended to help.

"I'm proud to support President Trump and our collective efforts to fix the health-care system for the American people."

Those sentiments were echoed by U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Elkhart, who said the proposal delivers on a promise she made to residents in her district, which includes part of LaPorte County, that she would replace Obamacare with a new patient-centered system.

"The American Health Care Act protects patients with pre-existing conditions, ensures access to quality, affordable health care and gives states the flexibility they need to enact innovative reforms like those in Indiana," Walorski said.

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Merrillville, who represents Lake, Porter and western LaPorte counties, said he was disappointed the Republican-controlled House chose to advance a measure that will have a "very negative" impact on his district and the nation.

"It is estimated that up to 24 million Americans could see their health coverage eliminated or rendered unaffordable," Visclosky said. "The purpose of government is to protect people, not hurt them."
CROWN POINT  Lake County is in the hunt to land a $30 million commercial warehouse east of Lowell.

Karen Lauerman, president/CEO of the Lake County IN Economic Alliance, said Tuesday the cold storage distribution facility would support an annual payroll of $2.1 million for 60 employees.

"This is not a done deal," she said, adding they must continue working with the developer, who prefers to remain anonymous at this point, during the site selection process to arrange state and any local government approval.

She and Don Koliboski, LCEA's vice president, spoke of the prospect Thursday at a workshop meeting of the Lake County Council.

Lauerman and Koliboski thanked the council for rezoning 120 acres northeast of the Interstate 65/Indiana 2 interchange as an industrial park. The warehouse could occupy 80 acres there.

Its 215,000 square feet, which could nearly double in size if necessary, would hold products for a number of food manufacturers.

She said LCEA also has invited Indiana Secretary of Commerce Jim Schellinger to Lake County to meet county officials on Tuesday.

The County Council also heard a request to give preliminary approval to borrow $12 million to continue a multi-year project of removing asbestos, installing new security measures and upgrading lighting inside the Lake County Government Center.

Councilman Dan Dernulc, R-Crown Point, and Eldon Strong, R-Crown Point, said outside Thursday's meeting they will oppose new borrowing for the county.

It is unclear whether there are enough Democratic council members to pass the new spending.

Council President Ted Bilski, D-Hobart, said he will be absent Tuesday. Council members Elsie Franklin, D-Gary, and Jamal Washington, D-Merrillville, were absent from Thursday's workshop meeting.

The County Council also will consider an interlocal agreement with Crown Point to reconstruct two miles of Iowa Street between 113th and 129th avenues at a cost of $486,327. The two share jurisdiction over the county highway, which is east of Crown Point.
GARY  The City Council has approved a resolution to withdraw its financial support for the South Shore rail extension, although some members noted the action is probably only symbolic.

The initial resolution considered by the council earlier this year called for reducing the contribution of its share of County Economic Development Income Tax revenue from 7.5 percent to 5 percent. For calendar year 2017, such a reduction would cut the contribution from $347,308 to $231,538.

After further discussion, however, the council approved a resolution calling for elimination of the pledged amount by a 7-1 vote, with Councilman Michael Protho, D-2nd, absent.

"We don't have the money," said Councilwoman LaVetta Sparks-Wade, D-6th.

The council's resolution follows one approved earlier this year by the Merrillville Town Council, which voted to reduce its annual commitment from 22 to 8 percent.

That action prompted state legislation to make sure the pledged contributions from the communities are not reduced or eliminated. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb last month approved Senate Enrolled Act 128, which requires the state treasurer to intercept local funds if a county or municipality that has contracted to support the South Shore Line fails to make its required payments.

Councilwoman Rebecca Wyatt, D-1st, voted against the resolution saying that the agreement initially entered into by the council to help fund the extension by the council "very clearly" said it could not back out of its commitment. She indicated the resolution would hurt the city in future negotiations with the state Legislature and noted the state was still going to take the money.

Some council members said what was being adopted was merely a non-binding resolution rather than an ordinance.

Council President Ron Brewer, D-at large, said earlier Tuesday that the council still wanted to send a message that taking the money away from the financially strapped city for the rail line extension was not right.

"It's just symbolic," said Councilman Herb Smith, D-at large. "It's just a reflection of how we feel. I feel we have a right to tell downstate how we feel."
Jeff Marquardt of Garage Doors Incorporated donated $500 to Gary Baba Bouchard in support of the upcoming Babapaloosa music festival at Sunset Hill Park on Aug. 6 in Valparaiso. Bouchards son, Erik Bouchard, is the founder of See Change Foundation in Nepal. Marquardt and Garage Doors Inc has been a sponsor for Babapaloosa and See Change Foundation for the past five years. The Chesterton-Porter Rotary Club is promoting and sponsoring the event in order to raise funds for See Change Foundation and also in support of local charitable giving. The Chesterton-Porter Rotary club is a group of community-focused and globally concerned individuals. The club meets weekly every Tuesday at 11:45 for a luncheon meeting at the Westchester Library Service Center in Chesterton. All are welcome.
President Trump is returning to the city tomorrow for the first time since his inauguration.

He'll be at an event honoring surviving veterans of a key World War II naval battle.

Both Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio say they are not attending  but aren't telling the full story of their invitations to the event.

A bit of context. The Battle of the Coral Sea was a pivotal time in the Pacific Theater. It happened just months after Pearl Harbor, and it is seen as turning the tide against the Japanese and preventing the capture of Australia.

Ten U.S. Navy enlisted men died in the Coral Sea.

The United States and Australian forces fought together, and that is bringing the president and the Australian prime minister to the Intrepid Thursday.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, in particular, rarely misses an opportunity to criticize Trump. But the mayor said Monday he wasn't invited. And Cuomo also told us Wednesday he's not attending.

"I don't feel slighted," Cuomo said. "Sometimes, I feel slighted by the press, but besides that, and it happens that I've gotten over that, and I don't even know what the events are tomorrow."

But two days after the White House said Trump would attend, an event that prompted major headlines, the governor's director of scheduling wrote to event organizers, "On behalf of the Governor, I regret to inform you that his schedule will not permit him to attend."

And the mayor's office wrote to organizers Tuesday, "Unfortunately the Mayor will not be able to attend due to a scheduling conflict."

Remember, Monday, in explaining on NY1 why he believed he was not invited, the mayor mistakenly said that the White House organized the event.

"The White House organized that event. If they invite me in my role as mayor, I would respect that," de Blasio told NY1.

The event's real organizer, a former ambassador under President Barack Obama and official in the Clinton White House, rejects de Blasio's claim while saying Cuomo was also invited.

"That is inaccurate," said Ambassador John Berry, president of the American Australian Association. "The invitations were sent, and we've been informed by their staff that neither are coming."

"There should be no differences when it comes to people who have paid the ultimate sacrifice, and we'll be honoring those who couldn't be with us tomorrow night because they lost lives. Over 500 brave men lost their lives 75 years ago in this battle."

The governor's spokeswoman emails, "The American Australian Association invited the governor to its dinner - at which the presidents attendance was not confirmed  and unfortunately it did not work for his schedule."

The mayor's spokesman emails, "When we made the decision not to attend, the president had nothing to do with the event, and the White House never invited the mayor when the president decided to go to the event. Our response wouldnt have changed had we known he would be there."

Ambassador Barry says the invitation is still open.
A former Linden police officer was found guilty Thursday of homicide and other charges for a car crash that killed two people on Staten Island in March of 2015.

Pedro Abad, 29, was convicted of all of the top counts against him, including four counts of Aggravated Vehicular Homicide, the Staten Island district attorney's office said.

Officials said Abad was intoxicated when he drove in the wrong direction on the West Shore Expressway in the early morning hours March 20, 2015, and crashed head-on into a tractor trailer.

Joseph Rodriguez and Frank Viggiano, who were in the car with Abad, were killed in the crash.

Another passenger, Patrick Kudlac, 25, suffered serious injuries, along with Abad. The truck driver was also injured in the crash.

Prosecutors said Abad's blood alcohol level was .24, which is triple the legal limit in New York.

Abad faces eight to 25 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced June 8.
Monica Rose is fed up.

Forced to live right next door to a massive mound of trash.

It was like coming over the fence,  said Rose.

As bad as it looks she said it smells even worse.

"Guys they come here to urinate, urine, feces, " she said.

While the trash sits in whats supposed to be a private dumpster lot for this Family Dollar store near the corner of 109th road and Merrick Boulevard, Rose says people in the neighborhood have turned it into a public dumping ground.

While we were there we spotted an old door, a couch, even an old cracked toilet all tossed in the pile. Joan Ramberan who lives across the street says its ruining the neighborhood.

"Its not uplifting us just taking us down," said Ramberan.

Rose showed us this ledger of all the people shes reached out to for help; from the company to the citys Department of Sanitation. Shes even contacted Council Member Daneek Millers office and yet the trash remains.

Sanitation officials say they are aware of the problem, in March they issued a summons to the store for dirty sidewalks which carries a $100 fine. Its still pending.

The store has also received a summons for not displaying a certificate showing which company is supposed to pick up the trash.

On Wednesday a sanitation worker gave the store yet another summons.

A spokesperson for Family Dollar thanked us for bringing it to his attention.

He says hes gathering more information to quote address this concern promptly.

Councilman Millers office says illegal dumping is a challenge in the district, but his office is committed to working with the community to address it.

As for Rose, she says this all could be resolved if the company just put up a gate, tall enough to prevent the illegal dumping.

"They need to do something the garbage is coming onto my fence. This is not fair to me, she said.
For the NYU News team, 2016-17 was the year we crowdsourced the ultimate guide to busting finals season stress, tracked our faculty's analysis of the most talked about (and maybe most contentious) election cycle ever, learned to stand up to wine snobs, and interviewed faculty couples about who hogs the bookshelf. (It goes without saying that there's never a dull moment around here.) As our final gift to the graduating class of 2017, we offer this list of at 17 other favorite stories from the past school yearthe kind of stuff that just might make you miss this place.
New York University President Andrew Hamilton today named Lisa Coleman to be Senior Vice President for Global Inclusion, Diversity, and Strategic Innovation and NYUs inaugural Chief Diversity Officer. Dr. Coleman will start in her position in September 2017.

Dr. Coleman comes to NYU from Harvard, where she has served as the Chief Diversity Officer and Special Assistant to the President since 2010.

Dr. Hamilton said, Many people on our campus have long worked hard to improve NYUs record on equity, diversity, and inclusion. But this issue is a priority for me, and appointing a senior person  who will report directly to me  in whom we can repose the responsibility, is an important and necessary step to advance our efforts.

Among the many candidates the Search Committee reviewed, Lisa Coleman stood out. She has a strong record at her previous posts. She already knew and understood NYU well, having received her doctorate here. And her scholarly background will benefit NYUs efforts. But more even than these important qualities, what distinguished Dr. Coleman was her character: her forthright nature, her wisdom, her ability to connect with students, faculty, administrators, and staff; her energy; and her evident desire and ability to bring people together.

We are glad to welcome Lisa Coleman back to NYU and have great faith in her ability to help us be the diverse, welcoming, and inclusive university we want to be.

Dr. Coleman  who will report directly to the president and be part of the Senior Leadership Team  will, in close collaboration with Provost Katherine E. Fleming, lead the development and implementation of a strategic plan to systematically advance equity, diversity, and inclusion across all NYU schools and units.

Prior to Harvard, Dr. Coleman had worked in a similar capacity at Tufts University from 2007 to 2010. Prior to becoming Tufts first senior diversity officer, she directed the Africana Studies Program and taught in American Studies, English, and Womens Studies. Before joining Tufts, Dr. Coleman also taught in the City University of New York system and held positions at Merrill Lynch, Inc. and the Association of American Medical Colleges in Washington DC.

Dr. Coleman is an alumna of NYU, where she earned a Ph.D. in the American Studies program. She earned her B.A. from Denison University in Granville, Ohio, and three masters degrees from the Ohio State University.
According to a popular rumor among pregnant women, spicy food can help induce child labor, and while that has yet to be confirmed by medical specialists, a pizza place in Charlotte North Carolina has become a popular destination for mothers-to-be eager to bring their offspring into the world sooner.

Hawthornes New York Pizza and Bar in Charlotte is considering changing the name of its Buffalo Wings Pizza into The Inducer after dozens of pregnant women have credited it with helping them deliver their babies ahead of schedule. Tales of the labor-inducing properties of this medium-hot pizza have been circulating around Charlotte for over half a decade, and some women actually swear by it.

Photo: Hawthornes New York Pizza and Bar/Instagram

Charlotte Five recently investigated this local rumor, and talked to some of the women who claim to have benefited from the labor-inducing effects of The Inducer. The latest case involves Henley Schmiedel, whose due date was April 10. On March 31 she had decided that she had had enough of being pregnant and wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. While hanging out with a group of friends, they started talking about the legend of Hawthornes pizza, and decided that it was worth a try. They went to the restaurant, ordered the famous pie, and four hours later her water broke.

The legend can apparently be traced back to Ali Aldrich, who in 2010 she was almost due to have her baby. She couldnt wait any longer either, and having heard that spicy food helps induce labor, she decided to try her favorite pizza, the Buffalo Wings Pizza at Hawthornes.

Photo: Hawthornes New York Pizza and Bar/Instagram

Like most women in the last few weeks, I was ready to go, she told Charlotte Five. I barely could wait to see my baby girl, who is 6 now. Ali had the pizza for dinner, went to the hospital that night and gave birth to a healthy girl the next morning. She has been talking about the miraculous effects of The Inducer ever since.

Aldrich is the one who recommended the spicy pizza to Kristin Kogan, who were approaching her due date when she decided to speed things up. Her water broke after finishing just one slice.

Photo: Hawthornes New York Pizza and Bar

I think its amazing, Michael Adams, the owner of Hawthornes, said. When the first person posted that our Buffalo Wing Pizza induced their labor, several new moms followed up to say the same thing. I bet my wife wished she had known about the inducing pizza when she had our two kids at 9 lbs plus. Hes now considering making the nickname of the pizza its official name.

As far as ingredients go, The Inducer sounds pretty ordinary  a pizza pie topped with mozzarella cheese, grilled chicken and a medium-hot Buffalo sauce  but pregnant women in Charlotte definitely consider it special.

Photo: Hawthornes New York Pizza and Bar/Instagram

Research doesnt support this rumor, as confirmed by Dr. Leslie Hansen Lindner, an Obstetrician Gynecologist with Charlotte Ob/Gyn.

Most evidence points to a signal from the babys adrenal glandswhich is released to trigger contractions, she said. Spicy foods may cause some digestive upset, which in turn may cause or even feel like contractions, but this most often doesnt lead to labor, unless the baby has already given the signal. It remains a mystery if this pizza actually works to cause labor.

Its too bad vegetarian moms-to-be cant give The Inducer a try, right? Well, it just so happens that we also found a labor-inducing salad. Its made at Caioti Pizza, in Los Angeles and its apparently just as legendary there as Hawthornes pizza is in Charlotte.
WPPs Group M Worldwide is handling Ukraines Ministry of Culture and Information Policys Advantage Ukraine campaign to promote confidence among businesses, investors and policymakers that the battered country will recover from the Russian invasion.
Easter Jeep Safari is a celebration of the Jeep culture. During the week leading up to Easter, the small, charming town of Moab, Utah, plays host to Jeep lovers from all over North America, and youll see everything from mild to wild, custom builds  and everything in between.

After having the chance to get behind the wheel of Jeeps Concept Vehicles the day prior, Jeep hosted another type of ride the following day. This time, we didnt hit the trail with a Wrangler or any of the concepts sitting on 35s or 37s  nope, wed instead be taking out the far more civilized Compass and Grand Cherokee SUVs, but we would be driving the Trail-Rated Trailhawk models of each.

The Trail Rated badge is something the designers and engineers at Jeep take very seriously. Regardless of the Jeep being a compact SUV, a mid-size SUV or the brand ambassador Wrangler, if it has a Trail Rated badge that means it can hold its own on the trails.

The new Compass came on the scene for 2017 as an entirely new model for Jeep, filling in the compact SUV spot held by the previous incarnation of the Compass and the Jeep Patriot. The new Compass Trailhawk model can make a solid case as the most capable compact on the market, and what helps make it more trail-ready is that it sits 1 inch higher than the 2WD model. The Trailhawk model sits a 1/2-inch higher than the standard AWD model. The approach angle nearly doubles from roughly 15 to 30 degrees, which is due to the lift and the redesigned fascia unique to the Trailhawk. Mind you, the Compass Trailhawk still only features 8.5 inches of ground clearance, but thats just enough to still have some fun on mild trails. Added peace of mind comes in the form of underbody skid plates.

MORE: Jeep Wrangler JT Pickup Truck Spotted with Production-Style Bed

The Compass Trailhawk is powered by a 2.4L inline four-cylinder engine that is rated to produce 180 horsepower and 175 lb.-ft. of torque. The SelecTerrain system fine tunes wheel speed depending upon the terrain. Hill ascent and descent control takes the speed out of the equation for tricky off-road sections and allows the driver to focus on just driving. The Compass Trailhawk doesnt have a proper transfer case but it does have 4WD low setting that keeps the vehicle in the low end of the 9-speed transmissions gear range, with a decent first-gear ratio of 20.4:1.

Situated a little further outside of town, Boxcar isnt the most challenging trail in Moab by any stretch, but there are a few sections that could cause some trouble for drivers if they dont take the right line. On the trail, our Compass Trailhawk performed better than expected. The upgraded Falken Wildpeak H/T tires offer great grip on the rocky, sandy, slickrock trails, with the 2.4L engine offering enough get-up-and-go to power up the steeper climbs. While the AWD Compass offers settings for Auto, Sand, Mud and Snow, the Trailhawk version also offers the Rock setting, which is the setting we used most of the time on the trail. Rock mode clearly helped with wheel spin reduction while climbing obstacles, offering a more composed and predicatble crawl up steep sections.

Overall, the Compass feels right at home on mild trails and can take outdoor lovers just about anywhere they want to go  especially if its off the beaten path. The cabin feels spacious (larger than the Renegade but not quite as large as the Cherokee), and the loaded Trailhawk package not only offers improved capability but also unique exterior styling and a loaded interior. For a little more than $30,000, the Compass Trailhawk is a great option for the adventurous minded who doesn't want a full-size SUV.

The Grand Cherokee Trailhawk still may not rival the Wrangler, but it offers far more capability than most realize considering it is aimed at a family-focused, luxury buyer. The Grand Cherokee Trailhawk can tackle more aggressive sections than the Compass thanks to its longer wheelbase and its Quadra-Drive II 4x4 system, which offers a limited slip rear diff to help provide additional traction. The catch with all of that capability is you have to have the guts to do it with a $50K vehicle. Thankfully we had Nena Barlow of Barlow Adventures leading our trail ride for the day, who provided her local knowledge of the trails and helped the group pick the proper lines in tricky sections.

One of the best off-road features of the Grand Cherokee Trailhawk is the Quadralift air suspension system that provides the Grand Cherokee with 10.8 inches of ground clearance in the highest off-road setting. We tackled a few climbs that would offer a bit of challenge for even Wranglers, and yet the Grand motored up the grades with supreme confidence. Our vehicle, priced at right around $50,000, features the standard 3.6L V6 engine, which is perfectly adequate for the trails and the highway. The option of the 3.0L Ecodiesel engine is an option, if you can afford to fork over the additional $4,000.

The addition of skid plates for the front suspension, fuel tank, transfer case and underbody certainly doesnt hurt driver confidence. One added benefit for the Trailhawk when on the trails is that it offers improved suspension articulation thanks to bumpstops that are smaller than non Trailhawks Grands. Its those little differences that add to the Trail Rated label, and its what make Jeeps so unique in their respective segments.

Arguably our favorite upgrade on our Trailhawk is the optional rock rails to help protect the rocker rails - especially important on a pricey vehilce such as this. Of course, just like the Compass, the Trailhawk version features bold red tow hooks up front - just in case the trail gets a little too tough and recovery is needed.

After a full day on the trail with Jeep and Nena from Barlow Adventures, we came away with the reminder that the Jeep Trail Rated badge isnt simply a marketing slogan. Sure, the Compass wont be your next hard-core trail rig by any means, but that Trail Rated badge tells you it aims to be the most capable vehicle in its class. Regardless of what SUV segment youre looking at, Jeep has a capable SUV in it, and chances are the off-road version will be as capable or better off of the highway than its competitors in the class.

MORE JEEP STORIES

Jeep Safari Concept: Future Wrangler JL Teaser?

Jeep Switchback Concept is a Test-Bed of Future Wrangler Parts

2017 Easter Jeep Safari: Jeep Concepts and More
Beef Buzz News

NCBA Shaking its Head after RCALF Launches Attack on Beef Checkoff with Supporters in Congress

The Beef Checkoff has come under attack recently. The organization known as the Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America, or R-CALF USA, has long been opposed to the way in which the Checkoff operates. This year, R-CALF has found support from a few others including some members of Congress who have agreed to introduce legislation that would alter how it works, especially in regards to its relationship with its main contractor, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. During a recent fly-in to Washington, DC, Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays spoke with Colin Woodall, vice president of governmental affairs for NCBA, about this affront to the cattle industry. He says there is little chance of success for this legislation to pass.





"Fortunately, these bills will go through the House and Senate Ag committees and we have two chairmen that understand the Checkoff," Woodall assured. "So, what we're trying to do is bolster their efforts in order to educate all the new members of Congress and new staffers to let them know, these are not tax payer dollars. These are producer dollars and ultimately it's producers who make the decisions on where that money is being spent."





Woodall insists a voluntary program, as R-CALF would have it, would simply not work. He points out that all producers benefit the same and it was in fact the industry itself that came together to form the Checkoff as it is today, back in 1985. Another piece of legislation originating from this group would prohibit the Checkoff from contracting with any organization that employs lobbyists.





"That's a direct attack on NCBA," Woodall asserted. "But the fact is, the firewall that's in place ensures that no Checkoff dollars are ever used on the policy activities we undertake."





Listen to Hays speak with Woodall about this attempt by R-CALF and its associates to alter the operations of the Beef Checkoff, on today's Beef Buzz.





The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.























Listen to Hays speak with Woodall about this attempt to alter the Beef Checkoff, on today's Beef Buzz

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Will Shelby of Madill FFA Named Winner of the 2017 FFA State Star in Ag Placment Award







Madill FFA member Will Shelby found a passion for agriculture through his involvement in FFA and his family's agricultural background, leading him to capture one of Oklahoma FFA's highest honors: the 2016 State Star in Agricultural Placement.





Shelby's supervised agricultural experience was rated the best in agricultural placement among the 797 FFA members who received the State FFA Degree during the 91st annual State FFA Convention on May 2.





Shelby's passion for veterinary medicine began at an early age when he began assisting his dad, Troy Shelby, on farm calls and at the sale barn, where he helped with aging, tagging and processing cattle.





Watch a video clip featuring the 2017 State Star in Ag Placement, Will Shelby, describe his ag placement SAE, by clicking or tapping the PLAY BUTTON in the video box below.







Throughout his employment with his father's veterinary services clinic, Shelby said he learned a wide variety of knowledge about the agricultural industry as well as experiences in veterinary medicine. He also expanded his knowledge of the beef industry, having been given the opportunity to work at the sale barn, he said.





"From my agricultural education and FFA experience, I have learned skills which will help me throughout life," Shelby said. "Time management, record keeping and making lifelong friends are all valuable skills I have learned through these opportunities."





Following graduation, Shelby plans to earn a degree in veterinary medicine from Oklahoma State University and return to rural Oklahoma to practice veterinary medicine.





Shelby received the Governor's Trophy and a $1,500 cash award, which sponsored at the state level by the Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives. The national sponsor for the award is CNH Industrial Capital.





The 17-year-old Madill FFA member is the son of Troy and Merrily Shelby. His agricultural education instructors and FFA advisers are Michelle and Bart Harper.





FFA is an integral part of the Agricultural Education division in the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education system. With more than 27,000 members and 357 chapters, the Oklahoma FFA Association is the fourth-largest state FFA association. The FFA mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. To learn more about the Oklahoma FFA, visit okffa.org.





Shelby was featured on the Blue-Green Gazette page of our website earlier this year in recognition of his achievement being named the Southeast District Star in Ag Placement. Click or tap here to jump to that story.





Source - Oklahoma State FFA Association











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This Week on SUNUP- Snow in the High Plains Could Damage 1% of U.S. Exports, but Time will Tell

This week on SUNUP - host Lyndall Stout is joined once again by OSU Grain Market Economist Dr. Kim Anderson, talking wheat production and price impacts.





According to Anderson, recent winter weather storms have greatly impacted production outlooks for this year, especially in Kansas where they hit the worst. He cites one estimate that predicts the impact of these storms will reduce production by as much as 18 million bushels, but reiterates that only time will tell what the actual damage is.





Whatever the damage, initial reactions in the market caused prices in Oklahoma to leap 13 percent, almost $0.50 over the last week.





Anderson reports on the wheat tours going on as well. Oklahoma is guessing the state's crop this year will come in around 100 million bushels compared to 130 million last year. Kansas producers are estimating their state's crop this year will only meet 50 to 60 percent of last year's total production.





The big price factor though, Anderson contends, is still going to be quality over quantity. Currently, the market needs high protein content, and he lists the protein premiums currently being offered, ranging from $0.17 for 11 percent protein to $1.23 for 12 percent.





You can watch their visit tomorrow or Sunday on SUNUP- but you can hear Kim's comments right now by clicking on the LISTEN BAR below.







Beyond Dr. Anderson's weekly chat - the SUNUP crew has a very full lineup for your viewing this weekend:





This week on SUNUP, Dave Lalman explains the science behind hormone implants for calves.







- In the Mesonet weather report, Al Sutherland says the soil across most of the state is full of moisture and Gary McManus shows us where drought is lingering in Oklahoma.







- Kim Anderson says the recent snow in the High Plains could damage one percent of U.S. exports, but time will tell.







- In Cow-Calf Corner, Glenn Selk has realistic expectations for artificial insemination goals when breeding cattle.







- Derrell Peel says retail beef prices should remain low, even with higher cattle prices.







- Finally, we travel to Blaine County to highlight a family business that has been a cornerstone in the wheat industry of Western Oklahoma for a century.







Join us for SUNUP:



Saturday at 7:30 a.m.



Sunday at 6 a.m. on OETA-TV



































You can watch their visit tomorrow or Sunday on SUNUP- but you can hear Kim's comments right now

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COUNCIL BLUFFS  The Iowa West Foundation has announced that it will fund the entirety of the beautification aspects of the West Broadway renovation project in Council Bluffs.

In a letter to the Council Bluffs City Council and Mayor Matt Walsh, the board said it will fund phases two through five of the master plan. The board had paused its funding of those phases after the City Council removed medians from the plan.

The foundation will grant the city $7.93 million, amending its initial pledge of $9 million, less the cost of the medians.

Iowa West Foundation President and CEO Pete Tulipana delivered the letter and met with Mayor Matt Walsh and City Council members Roger Sandau and Melissa Head on Wednesday evening.

We look forward to establishing a strong three-way partnership between the Iowa West Foundation, city staff and council on this and future projects, Tulipana said.

At its March 13 meeting, the City Council voted 3-2 to approve an amendment to the master plan that removed all medians from the project. Council members Al Ringgenberg, Roger Sandau and Melissa Head voted in favor of the amendment, while Nate Watson and Sharon White were opposed.

In October 2016, the council approved, on a 4-1 vote, a master plan with medians covering about 20 percent of the roadway. Sandau cast the lone nay.

After the council passed the amendment on medians, Iowa West paused its funding so it could examine the revised master plan.

In the letter, the foundation board noted that after consulting the landscape architects involved in the project, the master plan will still achieve the goals and objectives of the IWF on this project.

Funding for each phase is conditioned upon the city following the amended master plan, the board said in the letter. Any additional material change to the master plan could result in your partner, the Iowa West Foundation, defunding the project.
LINCOLN  A proposal to repeal mandatory minimum prison terms for drug offenders wont return to debate this year in the Nebraska Legislature, but it will remain alive for next year.

State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha said Thursday that his priority bill lacks the 33 votes needed to overcome a likely filibuster. Earlier this session, Legislative Bill 447 advanced from the first-round of debate on a vote of 25-22.

Rather than spend more time debating the bill this session, Chambers decided to take up the issue again in 2018.

Under legislative rules, the bill will remain on the second round of debate for next session.

As written, the bill would have ended mandatory minimum sentences for nearly all Class IC and ID felonies, which include gun crimes, drive-by shootings, assaults on police and corrections officers, manufacturing of child pornography, and hate crimes.

But it was amended during first-round debate to repeal mandatory penalties only for serious drug felonies, such as dealing methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine.

Supporters of the bill said it would help the state address prison overcrowding by giving judges greater discretion to sentence nonviolent drug offenders to probation. Opponents, who promised a filibuster when the bill came up for more debate, said the bill would have lessened punishment for major drug offenses, not minor possession violations.

Prosecutors oppose the bill, as does Gov. Pete Ricketts, who argued that it would risk public safety.

In the meantime, prominent conservatives such as Newt Gingrich and Grover Norquist wrote letters and editorials in support of the Nebraska bill, saying it would help save tax funds while still protecting public safety.

Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Omaha, who wrote the amendment that allowed the bill to advance, said she supports Chambers decision to bide his time. She expressed hope that she and other backers of the measure can win more support for the concept before the next session begins.
LINCOLN  Nebraska lawmakers reversed course Wednesday on state budget language that would take family planning funds away from Planned Parenthood.

The senators voted 25-19, with four abstentions, to maintain the controversial clinics eligibility for federal Title X funds.

The vote came after leading senators pleaded with their colleagues to remove the poison pill language from the state budget package.

This is not a pro-life issue, said Speaker of the Legislature Jim Scheer of Norfolk, of the budget bill.

This is a budget, he said. I am quite perturbed this was slipped into a budget bill.

Lawmakers ended the day by advancing key pieces of the budget package to the final stage of consideration.

The package calls for general fund spending of $8.9 billion over the two fiscal years ending June 30, 2019, an annual average growth of 1 percent.

It draws $173 million from the cash reserve, or rainy day fund, and avoids tax increases.

Some lawmakers argued Wednesday that the package did not do enough to cut government spending and warned that tax revenues would remain in a slump.

State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard predicted that the Legislature will have to come back for a budget-cutting special session this year. He was among 18 senators who voted against advancing the main budget bill.

But it was the Title X funding that occupied most of second-round debate on the state budget, just as it had during first-round debate.

The issue concerned language that Gov. Pete Ricketts, for the first time ever, had included in his budget proposal and the Appropriations Committee added to their budget plan with little discussion.

On Wednesday, Appropriations Chairman John Stinner of Gering apologized for not thoroughly reviewing the language and its implications in committee. He proposed an interim study, with the goal of having legislation introduced next year.

The language would have steered Nebraskas $1.9 million annual share of federal Title X funds away from Planned Parenthood and three independent clinics based in Tecumseh, Grand Island and North Platte.

The four providers collect 50 percent of the states Title X funds, which pay for contraceptives, cervical cancer screening, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and related services to low-income women and men.

Twice during the first-round debate, lawmakers had voted against changing the budget language. The result was the same during a first vote on Wednesday, despite Scheers appeal and Stinners proposal.

The tide turned after Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte said he wanted to leave abortion politics out of the budget and to focus on government spending and taxes instead.

I am a fiscal conservative, he said. I didnt come here for social fights.

But others continued to support some type of budget language setting priorities for Title X funding.

Sen. Joni Craighead of Omaha proposed an amendment that would have prioritized clinics with comprehensive health services for funding but allowed money to go to other clinics if needed to provide access to services.

It was not clear which clinics might qualify under that amendment.

The budget package closes a budget gap that stood at nearly $900 million in January, making cuts to some budgets, slowing other spending growth and tapping several cash funds.

Appropriations Committee members made additional cuts and transfers Tuesday to bring the proposal back in balance after updated revenue projections came in $55 million lower.

The biggest change was a vote to shrink the states budget cushion from 3 percent to 2.5 percent for the two-year period. The size of the cushion, also called the minimum reserve, is set by law.

That change drew criticism from the governor, who called it a risky budget move.

Instead of setting priorities and making needed cuts to spending, Appropriations Committee members have placed the states finances on shaky ground, he said.
Control of Congress hangs in the balance as Democrats have shown surprising strength, defeating Republicans in a series of competitive races and defying expectations that high inflation and President Joe Bidens low approval ratings would drag the party down. In the most heartening news for the party, Democrat John Fetterman flipped a Republican-controlled Senate seat that is key to the partys hopes of maintaining control of the chamber. It is too early to call critical Senate seats in Wisconsin, Nevada, Georgia and Arizona which could determine the majority. In the House, Democrats kept seats in districts from Virginia to Kansas to Rhode Island, while many districts in states like New York and California have not been called.
Nebraska Democrats are raising questions about Mayor Jean Stotherts decision to announce a budget issue at a campaign press conference.

Earlier this week, Stothert announced at her campaign headquarters that she planned to add $5 million for street resurfacing to the budget, mostly to be spent this year.

Finance Director Steve Curtiss later answered questions from The World-Herald about the source of the money.

Thursday, the state Democratic Party said it had filed a complaint against her with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission.

This blurring of the line between city business and campaign activities is in clear violation of NADC rules, says the complaint. Any fiscal analysis necessary to put forth such a plan must have been completed by city employees, as they have access to city budgeting numbers.

Stothert, a Republican in an officially nonpartisan office, is running for a second term against Democrat Heath Mello.

Nebraska law prohibits officials from using public resources for campaigning. It does not prohibit a candidate from talking about governance decisions in the course of campaigning.

Stothert campaign spokesman Dave Boomer said: All of the details about the additional $5 million for streets was developed by the Mayors Office and posted on their website. We held the news conference at our headquarters because the mayor talked about her opponent and that would not be appropriate to do at City Hall.
Omaha Mayor Jean Stotherts opponents are again criticizing her record on public safety, drawing a rebuke Wednesday from the citys police and fire chiefs.

The commercial in question, paid for by Firefighters for Better Government, says Stotherts policies are stretching Omahas police too thin. It also criticizes Stothert for police patrols near her home. The ad is airing in the homestretch before Tuesdays city election.

Top police officials, including Chief Todd Schmaderer, took issue with the ad from a group connected to the fire union, which has endorsed challenger Heath Mello.

Schmaderer said Wednesday that he twice contacted a representative of the group, whom he declined to name, to ask that the group not air the commercial.

He said he was disappointed with the groups decision to move forward with the ad, which he described as misleading.

Quite frankly, I am tired of my department being thrown out there in these political circles, Schmaderer said.

Fire union president Steve LeClair said in a statement that he was disappointed by Schmaderers response. He said the ad is accurate.

I stand firmly behind it, he said.

Late Wednesday night, Mello announced that his next ad will say that Stotherts aggressive annexation policy is stretching our heroic public safety officers too thin.

The same firefighters group and the Nebraska Democratic Party also sent out mailers about public safety recently.

Third-party groups are not allowed to work with campaigns on advertisements.

Still, said Stothert in an interview, Heath Mello should be ashamed to let the Omaha fire union run a commercial like they are doing for his benefit that openly criticizes Chief Schmaderer, his management and the entire Omaha Police Department.

Schmaderer and all four deputy chiefs also released a statement Wednesday, saying the ad is misleading and referencing this weeks shooting death of a Pottawattamie County sheriffs deputy.

Running the commercial now is insensitive and self-serving in light of the recent tragedy in our law enforcement community, the police officials said in a statement.

LeClair said in the statement that Schmaderer was politicizing the deputys death.

It would serve the Mayor and Chief Schmaderer well to remember that the Chief of Police is a classified position, with civil service protection, not a political appointment, he said.

Fire Department leaders released their own response to the ad, saying that they are disheartened by the broadcast and saying the negative connotations do not reflect the opinion of the Omaha Fire Departments Management Team and do not reflect the overall view of the rank and file.

The Fire Department statement, signed by Fire Chief Dan Olsen and Assistant Fire Chief John McCormick, called those behind the ad a splinter group.

Schmaderer had previously objected to a television ad by a third-party group connected to some Omaha firefighters.

That ad featured Douglas County Sheriff Tim Dunning, who said Omaha has become a more dangerous place to live.

Specific allegations in the commercial:

 The ad says that Stothert has police patrolling her gated community day and night.

Schmaderer said police cars patrol more near Stotherts Millard home in St. Andrews Pointe if there is a threat made against her.

He said that its common department practice and that the city has done the same for previous mayors and others who are targeted by threats.

Still, the Mello campaign jumped on the allegation Wednesday, requesting that the city release police logs and correspondence pertaining to patrols near Stotherts house.

The Mayor needs to come clean and release patrol logs that show how often shes using cop cars to police her gated community as response times climb and violent crime is up, Mello campaign manager Paige Hutchinson said in a statement Wednesday.

And recently retired police officer Curtis Atkinson, who was assigned to the southwest precinct for 10 years, said he and other officers were directed to drive by Stotherts house up to five times in an eight-hour shift, far more than he saw for other officials whod faced threats.

In my entire career Ive never seen anything like it, he said. Its just beyond crazy.

 The commercial lists several dates when dispatchers reported there that were no cars citywide.

But Deputy Chief Dave Baker said people shouldnt be alarmed if they hear that no cars are available  he said its a phrase dispatchers use to alert officers to reprioritize less-important issues. He said it does not signal that no officer is available to respond to a 911 call.

 The ad also says response times are up under Stothert.

Response times for Priority 1 calls  the most urgent calls for help  have improved since 2013, dropping by 27 seconds. The response times for less serious Priority 2 calls have increased by about a minute.

 Finally, it says rape and aggravated assault numbers have increased.

Aggravated assaults did increase over the four-year period, but reported rapes dropped slightly. (Omaha did see an increase in reported rapes between 2015 and 2016).
India always views war as last resort, but... : PM Modi to armed forces in Kargil

3,000 Army personnel carry out operation to snuff out terrorists in Kashmir

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

The Indian Armed forces are undertaking a major operation in Kashmir to snuff out terrorists. The operation comprising nearly 3,000 security personnel is being undertaken after videos of terrorists moving around freely in the Shopian district surfaced. Around 30 villages are under the radar of the security forces where the terrorists are said to be holed up.

In the past one week several videos of terrorists moving around freely have surfaced. Videos of terorists training on how to kill Army personnel have also been doing the rounds.

The operation is a coordinated one with the help of inputs from the Intelligence Bureau. IB officials have reported the presence of 160 terrorists in the Valley of which several have infiltrated from Pakistan.

Local sources say that the operation is being carried out in 30 villages of Shopian district.

According to sources, the government forces in a bid to neutralise insurgents suspected to be hiding in Sugan, Turkuwangan and adjoining villages, launched a major cordon and search operation this early morning.

Source said people at Sugan and Turkuwangan resisted security operation and pelted stones on government forces including army. Police retaliated by teargas shelling, ensuing clashes between two sides.

OneIndia News
'Kejriwal ji, if my claims true, you'll resign and retire': Sukesh writes a new letter

IRCTC update: 151 trains cancelled on Nov 09; here is the complete list

AAP dubs CBI as Centre's 'parrot'

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, May 4: The AAP on Thursday again accused the Centre of misusing the CBI against its party leaders following the central agency's raids at the Delhi Secretariat.

Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh took to Twitter to vent out his ire.

"Soon, everything came to normal in the AAP; the central government today left its parrot (CBI) behind Satyendar Jain. They kept on disturbing us and we kept on working," Singh tweeted.

Sanjay Singh's remarks came following the Central Bureau of Investigation raids at six places, including Delhi Secretariat, following alleged irregularities in the expenditure of Rs 10 crore on security of Delhi hospitals by former Health Secretary Tarun Seem, considered close to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Seem, an Indian Revenue Service officer, was earlier appointed the Health Secretary by the AAP government. But the decision was overturned by the then Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung because only an IAS officer can serve as a Secretary to the government.

Seem was later appointed Director of Health Services in Delhi by the Kejriwal government.

IANS
Power cut in Chennai on November 8: These areas will be affected

'The Kerala Story': TN scribe asks govt to probe claims made in the movie

Morbi Bridge is not the only Incident - Quality of Bridges, roads and Highways in BJPs government!

Airman shoots self at Tambaram Air Force Station

India

oi-Anusha

An Airman with the Indian Air force allegedly committed suicide at the Tambaram Air Force Station near Chennai. Initial reports suggest that Sarbir Singh, working as an airman shot himself at the air force base on Thursday.

An investigation has been ordered into the incident. An official statement from the Air Force is awaited. The news of an airman committing suicide comes a day after an Indian army jawan allegedly committed suicide in Rajouri along the Line of Control.

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Story first published: Thursday, May 4, 2017, 11:45 [IST]
Why is BJP not bringing Uniform Civil Code across the country: Kejriwal in Gujarat

Muslim body rejects Uniform Civil Code

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board on Thursday has rejected Uniform Civil Code in a pro forma submitted to the Law Commission.

In an one-page pro forma, AIMPB says it is fully satisfied with the commands of Islamic laws on Islamic order, especially, related to Nikah (Marriage), Talaq ( Divorce), Khula (Woman's right to seek divorce) , Fusqh, and Virasat (inheritance). According to reports, the proforma submitted to the Law Commission rejected Uniform Civil Code in any form.

The decision to continue with Islamic laws by AIMPB comes a few days after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi said not to politicise the issue triple talaq. He also said that mature men evolve from Muslim community challenge the age-old traditions.

Several Muslim women have challenged the practice of 'triple talaq' in which the husband, quite often, pronounces talaq thrice in one go, sometimes over phone or even a text message.

Influential Muslim organisation, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board have opposed the court's adjudication of these matters, maintaining that these practices stemmed from the Holy Quran and were not justiciable.

The Modi government had submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court sekking ban on Triple Talaq. The government took a stance that the practice violates the fundamental rights of Muslim women and leads to their exploitation. Taking cognizance of number of petitions filed in the apex court, the Supreme Court has said that a five-judge Constitution Bench will look into the legality of triple talaq during the court's summer vacation in May. The bench begins the hearing on May 11.

(With input from agencies)
Suspected ISI operative's family cries foul, says he is being framed

India

pti-PTI

Ahmedabad, May 4: The family members of Gujarat native Altaf Qureshi, arrested in Mumbai for allegedly working for Pakistan's spy agency ISI, on Thursday claimed that he is innocent and has been framed as per government's conspiracy.

Qureshi, 37 was arrested late on Wednesday night from Masjid Bunder area in South Mumbai in a joint operation by the anti- terrorist squads of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. The police also arrested his aide Javed Iqbal on Thursday morning from Yusuf Manzil building at Agreepada in Mumbai.

Qureshi is a native of Dhoraji town in Rajkot district of Gujarat where his family still lives. On learning about his arrest, Qureshi's younger brother Munaf told mediapersons at Dhoraji that Altaf is a simple person who can never indulge in such activities.

"This is a conspiracy by the government to frame innocent people like Altaf who belong to a humble background and do not have any backing. If he was connected to the ISI, where are the others working for it? Why only Altaf? How is it possible that only he was working for the ISI," alleged Munaf.

"My brother went to Mumbai few years back to earn money. He was leading a simple life and trying to support the family. It seems the government is intentionally linking him with the ISI. If such claims are true, then efforts must be made to nab all those who are linked with the ISI," he added.

Altaf's mother Zarinabanu too vouched for her son's innocence, saying he can't do anything like what he has been accused of.

"My son is innocent. He can never indulge in such activities. It seems that someone has framed him. He is a very simple person" a teary Zarinabanu told media persons outside their small house in Vohravad area of Dhoraji.

After his arrest on Wednesday, the police had said Qureshi had deposited money in the bank account of Aftab Ali, another ISI agent, in Lucknow for carrying out the espionage.

Aftab was arrested from Faizabad in UP on Wednesday. ATS officials also seized Rs 71.57 lakh and a cell phone from the house of Qureshi, who was in 'hawala business' at the behest of one Jawed Naviwala, a police official said.

During the duo's interrogation, it was found that Javed used to get instructions from Pakistan and at his behest Qureshi often deposited money in Aftab's bank account, the official said.

Javed was in constant touch with the ISI officials in Pakistan, he said.

Aftab, booked under the Official Secrets Act, had allegedly passed on information about the Indian Army's movements to the officers posted at Pakistan High Commission and also to the ISI, the official claimed.

PTI
Bengaluru: Crackdown on industries polluting Bellandur lake; HAL, ISRO also polluters

India

oi-Anusha

The Karnataka state pollution control board has cracked its whip on polluting industries around Bellandur lake. Following the National Green tribunal's order, the board is all set to shut down industries polluting the lake. The board has released a list of 488 industries which come under the Bellandur catchment area and their STP details.

The industries have been categorised in order of effluents produced and effective disposal. The board has found that 46 industries pose a threat to the lake and have them as red. Industries have been colour coded depending on various parameters. The 46 units that have landed in the red zone include units of HAL, Karnataka compost development corporation, ISRO satellite centre among other government agencies. 76 industries have landed in the orange zone while 366 industries have been categorised under green.

Officials claimed that close to 97 units were inspected prior to the NGT 's order and efforts were in full swing to finish inspection of the rest of the units in the vicinity within 30 days. Photographic evidence was also recorded before serving notices to the polluting industries.

It may be recalled that the Bengaluru Development Authority and the Bengaluru water supply and sewage board had jointly taken efforts to clear debris and de-weed the dying lake. Civic authorities swung into action only after the NGT reprimanded senior officials for violating its orders.

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Story first published: Thursday, May 4, 2017, 17:17 [IST]
Beware, spammers using Google Docs in email attack

India

oi-Prabhpreet

In times of constant and growing threats for individuals and governments, from online hackers, a new type of attack which uses a popular Google tool has emerged.

In India, where there is a growing push from the government towards digitization of all transactions as part of Digital India scheme, the level of such a threat and its repercussions can be even higher. As details like passwords, personal information are being stored in users accounts and computers, such an attack can leave users vulnerable to data and identity theft.

Alphabet Inc, the parent company of Google, has warned users that all Gmail/Google users are vulnerable to the latest mode of attack. It also warned its users to be careful of emails being sent, which look as if they are from known contacts, asking them to click on what appears to be a Google Docs hyperlink.

The warning came after a large number of people complained on social media that their accounts

had been hacked.

A novel approach to phising was applied by the attackers. They used a technique of hacking where users were tricked into giving sensitive information, by gaining access to their accounts without having to hack their passwords. They achieved it by getting an already logged-in user to grant access to a malicious application posing as Google Docs.

While Google has said that it had taken steps to protect users from the attacks by disabling offending accounts and removing malicious pages, there are steps that users should take to try to protect themselves.

These include steps like being careful not to press on, or just deleting, mails appearing to be from known contacts but having an unknown address. The users have to carefully check these details before clicking on them as this could lead to malicious software getting downloaded.

Another step that users can take is choosing multifactor authentication, similar to what banking services , social media accounts offer, which is considered the most basic way to protect your accounts. This method sends a one-time-password to the registered mobile number to protect from an unauthorized user access.

And in case that users have already clicked on such a link and given access to their Google docs, this should be immediately revoked through the permission link available in the account settings. Also, simple steps like changing passwords and using words which are not in the dictionary, as attackers use a program which tries all the words in the dictionary to find the password, and reporting of such attacks by clicking on "Report Phishing" option available should be taken.

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Story first published: Thursday, May 4, 2017, 11:54 [IST]
BJP organizes protest rallies on Naxalbari family issue

India

oi-PTI

Kolkata, May 4: The BJP today held protests in many parts of West Bengal accusing the Trinamool Congress of "kidnapping and forcing" the Naxalbari tribal couple, who had hosted BJP president Amit Shah during his visit last week.

The activists of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and the BJP organized protest rallies and meetings in Kolkata, Naxalbari, Siliguri and districts of of north and south 24 Parganas. They accused the TMC of "kidnapping" the Mahali couple who had served lunch to the BJP chief during his visit to the area in north Bengal on April 25 last. The BJP also alleged that the couple was "forced" to join the TMC, a charge which was, however, rejected by the duo--Raju Mahali and his wife Geeta. "The kidnapping of the Mahali family and forcing them to join the TMC only shows that the TMC is afraid about the growth of BJP and that is why they are behaving in such a way.

Such kind of heinous act is a reflection of a dirty, vindictive mentality, which TMC represents," BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said, while addressing a protest rally here. A war of words has started between the BJP and TMC on the issue with Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad calling it a "textbook case of revenge politics" which drew sharp reactions from the TMC which asked Prasad "to maintain dignity of the office he holds". Meanwhile BJP women's wing leader Locket Chatterjee today visited a house in Chetla area of Bhawanipore in Kolkata, where Amit Shah had gone during his 'Booth Chalo Abhiyan' in Kolkata last week.

"I am here to meet the family members as we are concerned about their security. If TMC can carry out such a heinous act in north Bengal, then they can repeat it in Bhawanipore, Kolkata. But TMC should remember one thing- you can force someone to join your party, but you can't force someone to vote for you," Chatterjee said. Seeking to expand his party base in West Bengal, Shah had visited a slum in Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Bhawanipur Assembly constituency last week.

PTI

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Story first published: Thursday, May 4, 2017, 16:52 [IST]
Siddaramaiah faces Lokayukta trouble for alleged corruption in police transfers

India

oi-Anusha

A complaint alleging largescale corruption in police transfers has been filed against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Shashidhar Venugopal, the chief of Karnataka police Mahasangha has approached the Lokayukta accusing Siddaramaiah, 28 ministers of Karnataka cabinet as well as 21 police officers.

In his complaint, Shashidhar has alleged that police officials have paid money to the ministers for favourable transfers and appointments. He has urged the Lokayukta to probe the allegations of large-scale corruption that involves key functionaries of the government including the Chief Minister himself. Shashidhar was previously in the news for 'instigating' police constabulary to go on mass leave in protest. Charges of sedition were slapped against Shashidhar for instigating police personnel to skip work.

In June 2016, Shashidhar was arrested by the Bengaluru police in a midnight action for being the brain behind the unprecedented constabulary protest. After being slapped with sedition charges he was granted bail by Justice Anand Byrareddy of the Karnataka High Court. He had spent two weeks in jail. The man has now come out accusing the government of taking bribes for transfers and appointments. The Lokayukta is currently looking into the merits of the case.

OneIndia News
Justice Karnan refuses to undergo medical check, calls SC judges 'mad'

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Justice C S Karnan refused to undergo medical check up even as a group of doctors reached his residence to check his mental health status. The Calcutta High Court judge claimed that he was 'mentally fit' and refused to cooperate with the team of doctors. The doctors arrived at his residence in Kolkata following a Supreme Court order which prescribed a medical check up for the judge of the Kolkata High Court.

The court directed that the report be submitted by May 8. The court had also directed that he submit his reply to the contempt plea. If he does not then it would be assumed that he has no response the Bench observed. Further the Bench also said that all orders passed by Justice Karnan stood invalid.

On the last date of hearing the Chief Justice of India J S Khehar asked if he was mentally fit to understand the gravity of the case. If so give us a medical certificate, the CJI also said. You suffer from work related instability, the CJI also said. Justice Karnan however refused to relent and demanded that his work be restored. I will not appear before you until you restore my work he said while adding that he ready to go to jail.

When asked if he wanted to make oral or written submissions, he said that his fight is against corruption in the Madras High Court and not a personal one. Justice Karnan who has been asked to stay away from judicial work at the Calcutta High Court said if you want my senses restored, then let me get back to work.

The judge of the Calcutta High Court also said that he could prove that he is not fighting against the judiciary. I am fighting against corruption he said before a seven judge bench of the Supreme Court. I can prove the corruption charges and also how appointments are based on a caste basis he also said.

I am innocent and have done nothing wrong, he said. The Bench then said that it wanted him to relax and answer questions. I will relax once you restore my work, Justice Karnan shot back.

The Bench then suggested that he take the assistance of an advocate since he is too involved in the case. If you want we will provide you assistance. In the given circumstance this would be better for you, the Bench said. The Bench then referred to a letter of March 25. It asked if he was willing to apologise. If you apologise the case will take a different turn and if you do not then there will be a trial, the Bench said.

I am not a contemnor and I have done no wrong. Your lordships did not give notice before issuing suo motu contempt notice, Restore my work as I am answerable to the public, Justice Karnan had said.

OneIndia News
Power cut in Chennai on November 8: These areas will be affected

'The Kerala Story': TN scribe asks govt to probe claims made in the movie

Morbi Bridge is not the only Incident - Quality of Bridges, roads and Highways in BJPs government!

DRI officials seize narcotic substance: two arrested

India

oi-PTI

Chennai, May 4: Brown sugar weighing around two kilograms was seized from two Colombo-bound passengers at the airport on Thursday, airport officials said.

A team of DRI sleuths intercepted two men on suspicion, when they arrived at the airport to board flight to Sri Lanka, they said.

Officials found the contraband concealed in their baggage, they added.

The narcotic substance was seized and the duo, one hailing from Devakottai in Sivaganga district and another from here were being questioned, officials said.

The duo are expected to be handed over to anti-narcotics authorities for further action, they added.

PTI

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Story first published: Thursday, May 4, 2017, 14:01 [IST]
EVM controversy was avoidable but I was concerned about EC's integrity: Zaidi

Why Congress is not happy with pink ballot papers in Telangana

EC calls for all party meet over EVM issue on May 12th

India

oi-Madhuri

Election Commission of India on Thursday called an all party meeting on electronic voting machines issue on May 12th in New Delhi.

Recently, 16 opposition parties had urged the EC to revert to ballot system instead of EVMs in upcoming elections in view of the alleged tampering.

Earlier, the government had sanctioned funds of Rs 3,173.47 crore to buy 16.15 lakh VVPATs as sought by the EC.

The poll panel has already placed an order for the same with Bharat Electronics Ltd and Electronic Corporation of India Ltd and expects to get the machines by September 2018.

After the latest assembly elections in five states, many opposition parties raised questions over the integrity of EVMs.
Maximum damage

The first option would be to bring in the artillery and fight Pakistan along the Line of Control. This is an option that has been exercised several times in the past as well. The idea would be to inflict maximum casualties and damage on Pakistan and its men creating terror along the border.

The Army is contemplating using the Bofors gun like it had done following the killing of Sepoy Mandeep Singh in October 2016. Sepoy Singh was killed at the Macchil sector in Kupwara, Kashmir.

Cross border raid:

The Army would also carry out a cross border raid. Those battalions posted along the border have already been told to ready for such an exercise. It is not uncommon and has been conducted several times in the past.

The Indian Intelligence Bureau has reported that several launch pads of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba have come up across the Line of Control. A massive offensive on these launch pads will be undertaken, top sources also said.

Flattening BAT

Pakistan's Border Action Team of the BAT was responsible for the killing of the two Indian soldiers on Monday. The first priority would be to flatten BAT. For this a major offensive would be required, the source also said.

It would be a all out offensive and not a surgical strike, the source also said. A counter-assault is being planned to hit at BAT. The soldiers have been told that the action that would be taken must demoralise the force across the border.

Surprise element

However the Army would not go in for an immediate strike. The entire mechanism across the border is on very high alert and is expecting a retaliatory hit by India. There would be an element of surprise. The action could come a month of even three to six months later.

Top sources also said that India would engage Pakistan and expect it to act. Although Pakistan has denied killing and mutilating the bodies of the two soldiers, India says that there is ample proof to suggest that Pakistan is lying. The offensive by Pakistan would be met and the sacrifice of the jawans would not go wasted the source also added. He said that there would be an element of surprise and the Indian Army will hit hard at a time and place of its choosing.

OneIndia News
#GiveHer5: How Rs 12/month can ensure girls don't drop out of schools

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Did you know that 80 percent of India's girls cannot afford sanitary protection? 1 in 5 adolescent girl students drop out of school due to inaccessibility of menstrual protection? A group of NGOs in India are trying to change the trend. With as little as Rs 12 per month, one girl can have access to safe, hygienic, sanitised menstrual protection. #GiveHer5 is creating waves on social media with celebrities, businessmen, common citizens alike contributing to keeping our girl children in schools.

#GiveHer5 claims that of the 600 million females in India, well over 400 million struggle every month to go to school or work because of their period. At least 80 percent of girls in India can't afford sanitary aides. At least 40 million girls do not have places to change. Unfortunately, this forces them to miss five days of school or work on a monthly basis that translates to missing two months of school every year. Considering that the biggest barrier to access sanitary care is affordability, the #GiveHer5 campaign is raising money to provide sanitary aides.

Their solution to the affordability factor is Saafkins, an advanced reusable sanitary protection. It is an easier and cheaper alternative to current sanitary aides. With current sanitary aides being unaffordable for many, over 88 percent of women resort to shocking alternatives like unsanitised cloth, ashes, husk or sand. the #GiveHer5 campaign is pushing for Saafkins, a 12-hour reusable menstrual aide.

Saafkins is a bacteria and yeast killing, reusable, washable, affordable sanitary solution. Donors can contribute anywhere between Rs 150 and Rs 6,000. Every Rs 150 takes care of sanitary protection for one girl for a whole year. The campaign says that every Saafkins napkin is treated with Livinguard, a proprietary disinfecting textile-treatment technology. This makes the fabric antimicrobial and skin safe. Due to a special stain-release technology, the four-layer Saafkins is easy to wash and reuse. It is reusable for up to 1 year and can sustain 60 washes. it is also 80 percent biodegradable.

Celebrities like Arjun Kapoor, Dia Mirza, Varun Dhawan have pledged to #GiverHer5 in an attempt to encourage more people to give our girls the freedom to follow their dreams without 'those five days' becoming a barrier.

OneIndia News
Hindi not compulsory for Class 1-8: SC

India

oi-Madhuri

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a plea to make Hindi compulsory across country in primary schools.

"We can't pass such orders. Tomorrow somebody will say make Sanskrit compulsory... make Punjabi compulsory," said a bench led by Chief Justice of India J S Khehar.

The bench pointed out the government was already taking steps to promote Hindi. "They are doing it themselves very much... these are all policy decisions. How can we issue orders?" the court asked.

In a PIL filed by Delhi BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyaya said it will promote fraternity, unity and national integration, the great golden goals as set out in Preamble of the Constitution.

The petitioner had said besides the fact that Hindi is the official language as has been enunciated in the Article 343 of the Constitution, it is spoken and used in major part of the country. There are only few states where there is only regional language is spoken.

OneIndia News
How CBI trapped this Income Tax commissioner in a corruption case

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

On Wednesday, the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested an income tax official and five others in a corruption case. It was a Rs 2 crore bribery case that the CBI had busted.

The commissioner of the income tax (appeals) B B Rajendra is alleged to have taken a bribe to pass a favourable order on an appeal filed by a trust under the Essar group. While the CBI said that it had recovered the bribe amount of Rs 1.7 crore, Essar on the other hand has denied the allegations.

Rajendra was arrested from his house in Vishakapatanam. The 1992 batch officer of the Indian Revenue Service was in charge of appeals in the IT department at Mumbai. The CBI also arrested Essar Power vice-chairman, Pradeep Mittal, an accountant for the group, Vipin Bajpai, chartered accountant Shreyas Parikh and two others.

The CBI's case:

In the FIR the CBI said that Balaji Trust through its CA had agreed to bribe Prasad. Mittal was looking into the matter, the CBI also said. On April 21, according to the CBI, Prasad had passed a favourable order for the trust.

The CBI said during its probe it found that Prasad had got in touch through an associate, Suresh Jain who is into real estate and bullion. Jain is said to have got in touch with another person and enquired about the delivery of the money. It was promised that the money would be delivered either in Mumbai or Hyderabad.

The money was then ordered to be delivered. A person was put in charge to collect the first instalment. On Monday Prasad got in touch with Jain and asked him to hand over the money he had collected on his behalf.

The CBI was tipped off about the transaction. It was said that the money would be delivered at Prasad's residence in Vishakapatanam.

On Tuesday, a trap was set and the CBI caught Prasad receiving a sum of Rs 19.34 lakh from Jain. Both were arrested the remaining Rs 1.50 crore was also seized.

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Story first published: Thursday, May 4, 2017, 13:45 [IST]
How terrorists beat demonetisation with ease

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

In the past 48 hours there have been three incidents of banks being looted in the Kashmir valley. Rs 3 lakh was looted at a bank in Kakapora, South Kashmir. This was the second incident in two hours after masked men looted Rs 5 lakh from a bank in the Wahibugh district.

On Tuesday another incident was reported at the Ellaquai Dahati Bank and took away Rs 65,000. On May 1, terrorists attacked a cash van of the J&K bank and killed five policemen at Kulgam in south Kashmir.

It is clear that the terrorists are in need of cash and what better way to raise funds after the decision on demonetisation was announced. Terrorists and their funders took a hard beating after the decision on demonetisation was made on November 8. With hawala routes and operatives too taking the hit and with the fake currency market going bust, terrorists decided that they would raise funds by looting banks.

Beating demonetisation with ease:

Investigations have shown that the two most active groups in the Valley-Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Tayiba are behind the bank robberies. They were falling short of money. It acted as a two edged sword for these terrorists. One is that they raise funds and secondly hitting a bank is symbolic considering it is such a key establishment.

With Intelligence Bureau officials warning that bank loots could go up, a decision to enhance central security would also have to be taken. This would mean deploying more central forces at the banks. Security would have to be provided for nearly 1,500 banks across the Valley. The central forces are already burdened with maintaining law and order on the streets of Kashmir.

With the number of bank robberies on the rise, it may force people to keep money at home. Terrorists would have an advantage in such an event. If large chunks of cash are kept at home, then they could loot easily. Moreover if money stops reaching the banks, the economy suffers and this serves the agenda of terrorist groups as well.

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Story first published: Thursday, May 4, 2017, 7:39 [IST]
HP: CM Virbhadra slams Shah for calling him corrupted

India

oi-Gulam Rabbani

Shimla, May 3: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Wednesday hit back at Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah for accusing him of being involved in corruption, saying the BJP leaders have the habit of leveling baseless charges.

"Everyone knows about the role of BJP leaders in Godhra riots and making false charges against others would not help them," he said addressing a public meeting at Chandi in Doon assembly constituency in Solan district.

Singh said that the BJP president has levelled charges of corruption against me today but he should better know that merely terming someone as corrupt would not make a person corrupt.

"It is the habit of the BJP leaders, who never believe in facts and try to manipulate the things," he said. Alleging that former HP chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and his son, in connivance with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, had conspired against him by levelling false charges, he said that "So much so, three central investigating agencies were probing a single charge of my income tax returns which had long been closed."

The chief minister said that "it is for first and the last time I am quoting the name of the opponent leader in my speech and henceforth, whatever the BJP leaders say, I will consider it as their mere frustration and nothing else." He said that Shah was the guest of the state but he had no right to make 'unpalatable' statements, and he was speaking as if he was the judge though the matter was still sub-judice.

He advised Shah not to be a judge himself before the judgment of the court. "I have no complaints against the Prime Minister, and I know him since long," he said. PTI

Interestingly, in a rally on April 27, Prime Minister Narendra Modi without naming Singh, who is facing corruption cases, had said, "He's the only chief minister in the country who is spending much of his time with advocates."

"Himachal is looking for an honest era," he said, indirectly appealing to the people to vote out the present Congress government in the coming elections slated in November.

OneIndia News ( With PTI inputs).

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Story first published: Thursday, May 4, 2017, 9:54 [IST]
FM Nirmala Sitharaman hints at possibility of Centre considering restoration of state status to J&K

In J&K, 14,000 dropouts find their way back to schools

J&K: After recent terror attack, security forces cordon off over 20 villages

India

oi-Madhuri

Security forces on Thursday cordoned off more than 20 villages of Kashmir's Shopian after recent terror attacks in the valley and began its search operation.

On May 1, Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists had carried out a major attack in Kashmir, killing seven people, including five policemen, after dragging them out of a banks cash van in Kulgam district.

Security agencies said that local militants, who've mostly joined Hizbul Mujahideen, have no weapons and arms training. They depend mostly on snatched weapons from J&K police.

Support to militants in these southern districts, Pulwama, Anantnag, Shopian, Kulgam, has increased since the encounter killing of Hizb commander Burhan Wani in June 2016.

Reacting to the combing operation, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said that the combing operation in Kashmir was to make sure that situation is brought under control in valley post recent incidents.

Rawat said,''Banks have been looted, policemen have been killed. That is why today's combing operation is taking place.''''We are taking measures, have beefed up our counter infiltration posture to take care of the situation. Terrorists are going to attempt infiltration,snows are melting,summer months started so like each year infiltration will commence,'' said Rawat.

OneIndia News
2 non-local labourers shot at by terrorist in J&K's Anantnag

FM Nirmala Sitharaman hints at possibility of Centre considering restoration of state status to J&K

In J&K, 14,000 dropouts find their way back to schools

J&K: Gun battle between security forces, militants underway in Kulgam

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

A gun battle broke out between the security forces and the terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam region on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, two army personnel and a civilian were injured in an attack on Army patrol party in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district.

The Indian Armed forces are undertaking a major operation in Kashmir to snuff out terrorists.

The operation comprising nearly 3,000 security personnel is being undertaken after videos of terrorists moving around freely in the Shopian district surfaced.

Around 30 villages are under the radar of the security forces where the terrorists are said to be holed up.

The operation is a coordinated one with the help of inputs from the Intelligence Bureau. IB officials have reported the presence of 160 terrorists in the Valley of which several have infiltrated from Pakistan.

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Story first published: Thursday, May 4, 2017, 20:11 [IST]
Know why Pak students were not allowed to meet Indian friends, denied visit to Taj Mahal

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

New Delhi, May 4: In this time of turmoil between India and Pakistan, the biggest casualty seemed to be free and unrestricted interaction between civilians of both the countries.

According to reports, India has sent back Pakistani students and teachers, who were in the national capital, as tension between the neighbouring countries have accelerated after Pakistani forces killed and beheaded two Indian soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir recently.

Around 50 Pakistani students, visiting India at the invitation of an NGO, were sent back on Wednesday after the government advised it against hosting them at a time which was not "appropriate" in the aftermath of beheading of two Indian soldiers.

"An NGO had invited Pakistani school students here. They came to India on the same day when the barbaric and inhuman act of killing and mutilating our soldiers happened. The ministry advised the NGO that it was not an appropriate time for such exchanges after we learnt that the children had crossed over to India on May 1," Gopal Baglay, a spokesperson of the ministry of external affairs, said.

Routes2Roots, a Delhi-based NGO, had invited 50 students from Pakistan as part of their Student 'Exchange for Change' Program.

The students from Pakistan were scheduled to go on a day-long trip to Agra on Wednesday and participate in an exchange of experiences with Indian students on Thursday at the Pakistan Embassy in Delhi.

Expressing regret over the return of the delegation, Routes2Roots said that the trip had to be shortened and the students and teachers have been sent back to Lahore.

"Around 50 students aged between 11-15 years old from Pakistan along with their teachers arrived in Delhi on May 1 and were supposed to meet their Indian pen friends and hosts of other programs which had to be cut short. Keeping in view the security and sentiments of fellow Indians the delegation has been sent back to Lahore safely," Rakesh Gupta and Tina Vachani, founders of Routes2Roots, said in a statement.

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Story first published: Thursday, May 4, 2017, 10:40 [IST]
How the narrative of 'forgotten' Pasmanda Muslims is changing in India

Meet Daz Sidhu: An Inspirational Figure Who Stands Out To Serve His Community

Lambanis living in Goa with dignity and pride: Parrikar tells Karnataka CM

India

oi-PTI

Panaji, May 4: Even as one of his ministers has spoken out against the Lambani community, a Kannada-speaking nomadic tribe, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has said the community has been living in Goa with dignity and pride for many generations.

Parrikar has written a letter to his Karnataka counterpart Siddarmaiah, in which he said that members of the Lambani community have been living in Goa with dignity and pride for many generations.

Parrikar was responding to a letter written by his Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on April 19, in which the latter had expressed concerns over the safety of lambani community in Goa.

Goa tourism minister Manohar Ajgaonkar was quoted in certain media reports saying that lambanis should be thrown out of Goa for creating nuisance on the beaches, which are frequented by the tourists.

"Goa is a vibrant melting pot of various national and international cultures, where people belonging to various background have a long history of living together in harmony and peace, without losing their native identities," Parrikar said in the letter to Siddarmaiah written on

"Members of the Lambani community have been living in Goa with dignity and pride for many generations, which makes them Indians first and Goans next," the Goa CM said.

"I assure you that I have an uncompromising sense of moral and administrative responsibility towards ensuring peaceful co-existence and prosperity of every Goan, which invariably includes every member of the Lambanis community," he said.

"You would agree based on your own past experience that newspaper reports can be misleading and they ought to be supplemented by detailed due diligence," Parrikar added.

After being lambasted for his statement against the community, Ajgaonkar had later said that the state government would take action against anyone who is creating nuisance on the beaches.

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Story first published: Thursday, May 4, 2017, 10:39 [IST]
Five years of demonetisation: Notes in circulation on rise; so are digital payments

PM Modi should admit that demonetistion a failure: Owaisi on cash seizure in UP

'May take months to complete counting of old notes':Shaktikanta Das

India

ians-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi/Yokohama, May 4: It will still be a few months before the total amount of old currency notes deposited with banks post-demonetisation is known since the RBI is doing a thorough physical verfication, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said on Thursday.

"I expect the process of counting to get completed in the next few months. Counting capacity with the Reserve Bank of India is to take care of a normal situation when business is as usual. But here, suddenly 86 per cent of the currency in circulation got demonetised (on November 8 last)," Das told NDTV in an interview.

"Counting capacity has limitations, that's why it's taking time. I will not be able to spell out the deadline. Let's wait for the RBI to complete the process," he added.

Das is in Japan to attend the Asian Development Bank's 50th annual meeting.

He said the Finance Ministry, in discussion with the RBI, identified areas where double counting of notes might be happening because currency was moving from bank branches to their regional offices and then to the currency chests and the RBI.

"A decision was taken that it will be desirable to count the notes physically, to do a thorough physical verification of the notes received," he said.

Das said the task of counting of notes was enormous.

"The RBI has put all its counting machines to use. They are currently working overtime. The RBI is exploring possibility of getting additional counting facilities to speed up the process," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 last year announced demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. The last date for depositing the scrapped currency notes in banks was December 30, 2016, though the window is still open till June 30 for Non-Resident Indians.

IANS
Modi, not the media, will decide Pakistan policy, and Kashmir's future

India

oi-Prabhpreet

With the recent killings and brutal mutilations of two Indian soldiers in Kashmir coming to light, the media is on its way, again, to try to create public pressure and forcing the government into retaliation.

This is not the first time the media has done this and it will not be the last. The anger and the overflowing emotion for retribution in the people, following such a brutal act is quite understandable.

But rather than helping, the creation of hysteria by the media and calls for immediate action which seems to be passing off as journalism, is more likely to force the government into making a mistake than achieving a meaningful result.

The media has if any, role to play in it. But given the enthusiasm of the same news anchors that raised the pitch after last year's Pathankot attacks, it seems they believe actions of the Indian army which were termed as 'surgical strikes,' were its achievement and not an action taken by the government which was following a plan.

Whatever maybe the opinion on the government's decision, whether it was right or not, it is the government's mandate, and only its, to choose how to handle such a situation especially with another country involved.

The Kashmir issue is as complicated and uncertain as it can get. Unlike other more conventional conflict zones, Kashmir is only in its present situation because of its positioning on the map between two countries, and would not have been an issue if it existed in any other part of India.

Whether it suits the various sides or not, it has to be acknowledged that there are three sides involved. India, Pakistan and the people of Kashmir.

Pakistan and the dichotomy of its power system

The role of India's neighbour in Kashmir is well known and since the 90's when terrorism started in Kashmir, it is the single most important factor. If it decides to give up its interest in Kashmir and does so tomorrow, the valley would immediately cease to be in a crisis.

And no matter how many people wish for this to happen, it is not going to. And the reason for this is simple, that Pakistan gains from the ongoing conflict. To be more precise, the Pakistani army does. While conflicts make governments weaker, it makes armies stronger.

The policy of Indian governments of the past, and which was continued when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took charge is of dealing with the Pakistan government and trying to have friendly relations with it and find solutions to long-standing problems.

But no matter what its government wants, it is the Pakistan army that decides what the country's Kashmir, and in turn India, policy will be.

Every time the two civilian governments have tried to find a way to have friendly relations, from the Lahore declaration to Modi going to Pakistan on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's birthday or the back channel talks between the two countries through a meeting between Indian businessman Sajjan Jindal and Sharif, the Pakistani army has been able to derail them by following every such attempt with an attack on Indian territory.

Such attempts by the Indian establishment to negotiate solely with the Pakistan's government is a negotiation between unequals and can reap no results. The negotiation can only find a solution when it takes place between the two main players, the Indian government and the Pakistani army, with decision-making authority.

India and it's changing Pakistan Policy

This is the negotiation that the prime minister and his trusted lieutenant in foreign policy, National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval, are trying to have with the other side. This cannot be done through the conventional means of sitting across tables, at least not till a civilian government is in place in Pakistan.

The only tool in such a dialogue is the cost of conflict, that comes not only in the form of international pressure, but actions that cost lives and monetary resources, which could hurt Pakistan as it is engaged on its western front in Afghanistan. And to make all of this visible to the world is an important aspect of it.

The publicity that followed the 'Surgical strikes' was not for the sake of building political capital, though a lot of those involved did try, but to display that costs would occur in both the countries not just one. And make the countries around the world take notice, that things could get ugly, and have far-reaching ramifications. It was backed up by a diplomatic offensive which resulted in nations condemning Pakistan.-pp

The Modi government came to power with a majority not won by anyone in decades. With such a mandate comes the power to choose and even change the country's policies.

Except at times of war, the policy that India has applied in terms of Pakistan has been consistent. That of growing ties with the civilian government in power and issuing condemnation when attacks take place. Even if army action took action, it was never made public.

For the first time since independence, we now have a government of a party on the political right which is not dependent on support from others. The conservative government's throughout the world have a consistent way of responding to such attacks. For example, the way Republican Presidents of the US respond to a strike against them is markedly different from those who are Democrats.

The problem with such policy is that it entails losses in the short run. At home and abroad. Under these circumstances, a lot of criticism follows, parts of which are merited and others not. The criticism of the government's policy is not necessarily a bad as it might point to legitimate concerns of those affected and make the government take notice.

And it is at this juncture that the courage of the leader's conviction in the path chosen is tested. Along with their ability to be humble, accept mistakes, and undertake course correction if they feel that mistakes have been made.

But in a complicated conflict, the body count is not always, and sometimes not the best way, to judge whether a mistake has been made. And that is what seems to be what the present leadership seems to believe.

Kashmir and its people

For all intents and purposes, except in the case of a full-fledged war, it will be in the valley that such a battle will be mostly played out. And it is in Kashmir that the price of the new Indian policy on Pakistan will have to be paid.

As a consequence, the risk is that the people of Kashmir will end up being over-generalised and put into a single bracket of either 'with us' or 'against us,' by the people and the establishments of India and Pakistan.

Kashmir has been witnessing turbulent times since July of last when the Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed by the Indian security establishment. Protests have been a part of life in Kashmir since, with ordinary people caught in the middle.

Recent reports have suggested that even the ordinary people from the state have been joining in the protests. And maybe is the reason, recently concluded Srinagar constituency by polls for the Lok Sabha witnessed only a 7 voter turnout.

These can again be seen as of the change in of Kashmir by the central government, which is part of the policy called the "Doval Doctrine," which includes stand against protesters and no talks with the separatist leaders such as those of the Hurriyat.

This change has come in following what the current dispensation clearly feels a failure of the steps the governments of the past have taken and not brought results worthy of them being continued. As stalemate is not a solution and trying the same thing repeatedly expecting different results or waiting for the other side to set the narrative can also not be seen as viable option.

And now

Going by the previous actions of this government and in case the same policy is to be continued, there will eventually be a reply of some sort to the recent actions of the Pakistan Army.

So the media has to realise that its constant effort to build up mass hysteria does not affect or help the government's foreign policy, and in the end might only lead to further alienation of the already troubled people of the valley.

This is not a game, it is a solution chosen by leaders of the world's largest democracy trying to solve one of the toughest problems of geopolitics that exist in the world. It involves human lives, territorial integrity, a checkered past, but the mandate for finding solutions to it quite clearly lies in political decision making.

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Story first published: Thursday, May 4, 2017, 15:49 [IST]
'Kejriwal ji, if my claims true, you'll resign and retire': Sukesh writes a new letter

IRCTC update: 151 trains cancelled on Nov 09; here is the complete list

Will Nirbhaya's killers hang? The big SC order today

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

The Supreme Court will pronounce its verdict in the heinous gang rape of 23-year-old girl in Delhi on December 16,2012, on Friday. The verdict in the case, also known as Nirbhaya case, will be delivered at 2 pm.

The girl who was in a very serious condition was moved to Singapore for treatment, but breathed her last on December 29, 2012.

The incident had drawn a great deal of attention as there was a national outpouring of grief.

The police did manage to arrest the perpetrators of the crime in quick time and even file a chargesheet. Ram Singh, Mukesh, Vinay Sharma and Pawan Gupta were arrested in four days of the crime being committed. The fifth a juveline was arrested on December 21 while the sixth accused Akshay was picked up by the police a day later.

The juvenile who was considered to be the most violent got away with a correction stay in a juvenile home.

The police action was quick. The chargesheet was filed on January 3 2013 and proceedings began two days later. On February 2 charges were framed against the accused persons.

Ram Singh however committed suicide in Tihar Jail in March. On September 10, the court sentenced the other accused to death.

The case went up before the High Court for confirmation of death penalty on September 23. On March 13, 2014 the High Court upheld the death sentence.

The matter then reached the Supreme Court.

OneIndia News
Six lakh Karnataka government employees to get big salary hike

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

There is good news for the employees of the Karnataka government. The employees who have called of their strike schedule for Thursday have been assured that a panel will examine a major salary hike for them.

Karnataka is most corrupt state in India, reveals survey

The assurance came from the Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah who said that a panel will be set up to explore the possibility of a salary hike. The strike call for May 4 had been backed by pensioners who were dependant on the Karnataka government. If the panel recommends a hike then it would benefit six lakh pensioners and employees of the Karnataka government.

The finance department has already approved the proposal and is likely to notify the new panel in a day or two. Once it is notified, the Karnataka State Government employees association will press for release 30 per cent of amount as an interim relief, with effect from April 1 2017.

OneIndia News
To beat Pakistan, one act of valour won't do: Terror state needs to be hit everyday

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

One act of valour is not sufficient to keep the 'blood thirsty' Pakistan quiet. The nation controlled by the Pakistan army and the ISI in which the civilian government is a mere formality thrives on an anti-India stance. Following the September 2016 surgical strikes across the Line of Control, the government went to town with its achievement.

No doubt, it was a brave act that mandated a pat on the backs of all those behind it. Terror launch pads had been destroyed and terrorists moved back to Pakistan. The problem however today is that these launch pads are back and terrorists continue to infiltrate into India. Worse, they have positioned themselves at such strategic locations which makes it easy for them to attack the Indian Army personnel with the backing of the Pakistan army.

Once is not enough:

There is no consistency in the retaliation policy by India. Pakistan needs to be hit almost everyday. The iconic Om Puri while essaying the character of a soldier in the movie Lakhshya had said, " woh Pakistani hamesha mudke aate hai saab." (Those Pakistanis always turn and come back).

The above statement is so true in the current scenario. The launch pads that were destroyed in September are back and the terrorists are present in large numbers waiting to infiltrate or already infiltrated. This only means that the action needs to be continuous and the retaliation consistent.

We get to see that there is a loud bang from India and then a continued silence when it comes to dealing with Pakistan. Yes, back-channel talks with the existing civilian government is needed, but then military action is equally important. If India feels that talks are needed then it should not allow the Pakistan army to bully.

Pakistan exploits India's inconsistent policy:

Inconsistencies in the Pakistan policy are not restricted to the existing government alone. It was there during the UPA and the NDA prior to that as well. When in January 2013, a soldier was beheaded, the then Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh had said that it cannot be business as usual although he favoured the dialogue route.

Following the Parliament attack, the Vajpayee government had recalled the ambassador to Pakistan. He also ordered moving the Army to the border apart from closing down the Indian skies to all Pakistan planes. However it did not move beyond that and the government decided to go in for talks instead.

These inconsistencies have been exploited by Pakistan repeatedly. Be it the Mumbai 26/11 attack, the strike on Parliament, Kargil war, beheading soldiers, Pathankot airbase attack and the Uri strike. Remember all these incidents took place almost immediately after India decided to take the dialogue route. This is nothing but exploitation of India's soft policy towards Pakistan.

Need of the hour:

The need of the hour is to keep hitting Pakistan. Declaring Pakistan a terrorist state may not provide the best solution as it would not matter to them. However neutralising every terrorist in the Valley, breaking the backs of the Pakistan backed separatists and hitting the terror launch pads everyday will make a difference to Pakistan in a big way.

One surgical strike is clearly not enough. Cross-border raids need to be conducted on a regular basis and the terror machinery backed by the Pakistan army needs to be destroyed. Breathing space is something that Pakistan should never get. Between September and May, the Pakistan army had enough time to breathe life back into the terror camps. The repercussions of this we witness everyday in Kashmir and along the border when the brave soldiers guard the nation. In a nut-shell the government needs to toughen its stance and ensure that those soldiers who are ready to die for the nation do not return to their loved ones in a mutilated state.

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Story first published: Thursday, May 4, 2017, 16:27 [IST]
TRS to back BJP's presidential candidate, but with a clause

India

oi-Gulam Rabbani

Hyderabad: The Telangana Rashtra Samithi Party on Thursday said that it will support the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate for Presidential elections that is scheduled to be held in July.

Member of Parliament and TRS leader Jithender Reddy said that the party will support the BJP candidate but on one condition. He asked the Central government to work for the welfare of Telangana. The MP said that TRS will support if the Central government is in favour of the state.

The party warned of turning the table against the Union government if it fails to work for the welfare of the state.

Reddy said that if it is good both for the Centre and the state then we will support the BJP candidate.

It is to remind that the tenure of President Pranab Mukherjee will end in July,On the other hand, the oppositions are not leaving any chance to fight for the Presidential polls.

Congress, to be in precise had gathered all other opposition leaders to fight for the polls. The party president who had been out of the news for quite some time is now expected to meet Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, Trinamool Congress Party head Mamata Banerjee and even the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's president M K Stalin.

According to reports, Sonia had already met National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Wednesday.

Following the party president's steps, vice-president Rahul Gandhi is also believed to be on toes. He met Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav. Then again, Sonia had spoken to Mulayam Singh Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal head Lalu Prasad Yadav.

In recent developments, Sonia who had a chat with CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, had directed him to seek support from the rival party in Odisha Biju Janata Dal Party chief Naveen Patnaik who won 32, 500 votes in the last elections.

She also is believed to had met NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and CPI's D Raja on joining hands together to pressurise BJP in the Presidential polls.

As of now, the united opposition which is likely to be formed claim that the polls might be an acid test.

Now the people may wonder that the day when all party lehar (wave) is going to be against Modi lehar.

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Story first published: Thursday, May 4, 2017, 17:01 [IST]
No more pellet guns, now sound will shoo away stone pelters in Kashmir

Two Metro stations in Delhi closed after pro, anti CAA protesters pelt stones at each others

UP sadhus to fight Kashmiri stone pelters, protect jawans

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Lucknow, May 4: A group of 1,000 Hindu religious men, under the umbrella of Jan Sena in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, are all set to reach Kashmir to fight against stone pelters and protect army personnel. However, the members of Jan Sena have got no official permission to visit Jammu and Kashmir.

"We sought permission from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow us into Kashmir for boosting the morale of jawans and helping them take on stone pelters, but did not get it. The district administration also denied us permission. However, we are determined to go, regardless of the consequences. If our members are stopped, we will travel in our individual capacity and regroup once we get there," said Jan Sena founder, Balyogi Arun Puri Chaitanay Maharaj.

The sadhus of UP are likely to leave for Kashmir from Kanpur on May 7, said a statement of the Jan Sena.

Puri told reporters that the 1,000-member Kanpur contingent will leave for Kashmir in 100 cars and three buses. Many more members of the Jan Sena will also leave for Kashmir on May 14.

As a part of their journey, they will also have a truck loaded with stones to fight against Kashmiri stone pelters. "Our disciples will collect more stones once we get there," he added.

"We will ask the jawans to keep us in the front row, so that army casualties are avoided. As we don't have families to mourn our death, we don't mind sacrificing our lives to safeguard that of our jawans," Puri said.

Puri informed that the volunteers have been trained in patharbaji (stone slinging) to combat 'anti-national' elements. "We plan to open patharbaji training centres in Kanpur and adjoining areas to teach more saints the art of stone slinging," he added.

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Story first published: Thursday, May 4, 2017, 9:33 [IST]
Why can't Pakistan be declared a terror state?

After the Private Bill was moved, the Ministry for Home Affairs had said that any move to declare Pakistan a terror state would damage international relations under the Geneva Convention. India is bound by international norms and since there are trade relations that are shared, it would not be correct to declare such countries as terror states, the Home Ministry report had said.

Photo credit: PTI

Private Bill

In the Private Bill, the MP had sought to impose legal, economic and travel sanctions on citizens of countries that promoted terror. As per the rules, the Bill was to be first screened by a house committee and once this process was done, it was to become a law. However the same was withdrawn.

The Home Ministry says that any move to declare Pakistan a terror state would jeopardise international relations under the Geneva Convention.

Photo credit: PTI

Engagement even after Kargil War

The Home Ministry had also told the Parliament Secretariat that it was opposing the Bill. This is because India has diplomatic relations with the neighbouring country which includes High Commissions as well as trade relations. It would not be prudent on India's part to declare any country as a terror state because we are bound by international norms.

On the floor of the House, Minister of State for Home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said that the government had taken many steps to deal with terror. The existing laws already have sufficient provisions for dealing with citizens of a terrorist country. To declare a country as a terrorist state can have diplomatic as well as other far-reaching consequences. Before doing so a detailed study is required, he had also said.

Photo credit: PTI
BJP wants Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, says Shah; asks other parties must make stand clear on the issue

'There is partnership between TRS and BJP', says Rahul Gandhi in Telangana

Why PM Modi is silent on mutilation of jawans: Chacko

India

oi-Gulam Rabbani

New Delhi, May 4: The Congress on Thursday alleged that if Bharatiya Janata Party-led government does not take action Pakistan then it will become the weakest government till date.

The allegations came after Pakistan denied of mutilating the bodies of two jawans recently after they were killed in a terror attack along Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

Speaking on the denial of Pakistan, the Congress leader P C Chacko said that the situation in Kashmir is out of control as the Pakistan troops were dared enough to behead our two jawans in Jammu and Kashmir.

"There is a situation which is totally out of control. We saw that two Indian soldiers were beheaded by the Pakistani forces and their bodies were mutilated. We don't hear anything from our Prime Minister. The government should be able to rise up to the occasion and retaliate in strongest possible manner, otherwise, this will be the weakest government in the country till date," Congress leader P.C. Chacko told ANI.

Chacko added that there will be a BJP government lacks strict policy towards Pakistan.

He blamed the government that it is not able to respond to the situation adding that the many soldiers are laying down their lives for no reason.

Similarly, another congress leader Randeep Sujrewala had said that the BJP does not seem to know how to tackle with the current situation.

"Currently in Pakistan, more than 65 terrorist camps are spreading their wings which are pushing militants inside our border. I don't understand what strategy the BJP is making to tackle these issues. Sometimes they invite the Islamic States in Pathankot or visit Pakistan without invitation and the next day they talk of taking revenge from them," Surjewala told ANI.

He said that the country wants to know when the Indian Army will be given free hand so that the soldiers will be protected.

It is to remind that Union Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday had said that Pakistan's denial on mutilation of jawans across LoC carries no credibility.

"The denial itself carries no credibility because the entire gambit of circumstances clearly indicates that this barbaric act of first killing two of our soldiers and then neutralising their bodies has been carried out with the active participation of the army," Jaitley had said.

Responding to the incident, Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit was summoned by New Delhi on Wednesday and lodged a protest against the killing and mutilation of jawans across LoC.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Gopal Baglay in a tweet had said that "Foreign Secretary summoned Pakistan High Commissioner, conveyed India's outrage, demands action against Pakistan soldiers and commanders responsible."

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Story first published: Thursday, May 4, 2017, 10:32 [IST]
Prez polls: Will Odisha CM Naveen help opposition against BJP?

India

oi-Gulam Rabbani

Bhubaneswar, May 4: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) party general Secretary Sitaram Yechury is likely to meet Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday to discuss the Presidential polls.

The Biju Janata Dal party which has 32, 500 votes had observed threat from the widespread Bharatiya Janata Party which improved its tally by occupying the Congress space and had won 180 seats in the civic polls held in Odisha in February. The BJP got 4 districts to control.

The BJD which opposes Congress in any matter might now join hands with opposition to avoid the defeat in 2019 assembly polls in Odisha.

Now, if the BJD supports the oppositions, there are chances that oppositions can have a fighting chance against the ruling BJP-led government in the Presidential elections. The Congress president is believed to have requested Sitaram Yechury to hold talks with the Odisha chief minister to seek support from BJD to pressurise the BJP.

It is to remind that during the last Presidential polls, it was Naveen Patnaik and J Jayalalithaa who chose P A Sangma which was quickly supported BJP against the Congress nominee Pranab Mukherjee.

It is believed that the opposition is leaving no stone unturned for the upcoming presidential elections and has plans to approach Shiv Sena and Shiromani Akali Dal, the two allies in Maharashtra nad Punjab for their support.

BJD was supporting the NDA government in many occasion but had turned aggressive in the recent times. The polls for the country's highest office post will take place in July.

OneIndia News
UP polls: Law against triple talaq saved families of thousands of Muslim women from breaking-up: PM

Explained: What the SC said and how is Talaq-e-Hasan different from triple talaq

For triple talaq victims, judicial verdict in favor but social verdict still against them!

Woman wants to give Triple Talaq to her husband in Uttar Pradesh

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

In a rare incident, a woman wanted to give triple talaq to his husband for alleged ill-treatment by husband's family in Uttar Pradesh.

Amreen, a resident of Meerut, alleged that she wants to give triple talaq to her husband as he has denied keeping her and her child, after his brother beat her for money. She justified her decision to give triple talaq to her husband and get rid of him the way men do away with women using triple talaq.

The triple talaq is a Sharia law practice that allows men to end a marriage simply by saying 'talaq' to their wives three times in succession.

Meerut:Want to give #tripletalaq to my husband since he has denied to keep me&my child,after his brother beat me&my sister for money-Amreen pic.twitter.com/obSmwI98iC  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 4, 2017

Earlier, Muslim women from Uttar Pradesh have written letters to PM Narendra Modi seeking his intervention to ban of Triple Talaq. Namely, Atiya Sabri, Shagufta Shah and Alka alias Parveen from Uttar Pradesh have raised their voice against Triple talaq.

The Modi government has submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court supporting ban on Triple Talaq. The government took a stance that the practice violates the fundamental rights of Muslim women and leads to their exploitation. Taking cognizance of number of petitions filed in the apex court, the Supreme Court has said that a five-judge Constitution Bench will look into the legality of triple talaq during the court's summer vacation in May. The bench begins the hearing on May 11.

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Story first published: Thursday, May 4, 2017, 10:44 [IST]
China denies shift in Kashmir policy, says it is bilateral issue

International

oi-PTI

Beijing, May 4: China on Wednesday denied that it has plans of mediating between India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue due to its investments in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, saying the $50 billion project has not affected its stand that the vexed issue should be settled bilaterally.

"China's position on the issue of Kashmir is clear and consistent. It is an issue left over from history between India and Pakistan, and shall be properly addressed by India and Pakistan through consultation and negotiation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang.

He also said that "China will play a constructive role for the improvement of relations between India and Pakistan."

"The building of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor does not affect China's position on this issue," he said in a written response to a question about the article in the state- run Global Times, a ruling Communist Party of China publication.

"We sincerely hope that India and Pakistan will properly handle differences by increasing communication and dialogue, and jointly uphold regional peace and stability. China is willing to make constructive efforts for the improvement of India-Pakistan relations," Geng said.

The article sparked concerns about a shift in China's stand on the Kashmir issue as India is averse to any third-party mediation.

The article had also sought to justify Chinese intervention in bilateral disputes on the grounds of protecting heavy investments being made by Beijing under its Silk Road initiative, which is officially called the 'One Belt and One Road' project.

The article had said China cannot turn a deaf ear to protect heavy investments by its firms in the CPEC and the Silk Road projects by continuing with its policy of non- interference.

"Given the massive investment that China has made in countries along the One Belt, One Road, China now has a vested interest in helping resolve regional conflicts including the dispute over Kashmir between India and Pakistan," it had said.

This was perhaps the first time that the Chinese official media floated Beijing's interest in playing a mediatory role to resolve the Kashmir issue.

PTI

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Story first published: Thursday, May 4, 2017, 9:05 [IST]
Missile strike a slap on the face for US: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Farmers' Protest: US lawmakers back farmers protesting against new farm laws in India

NASA seeks industry help on commercial cargo service to Moon

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Washington, May 4: In a possible push to advance space mining, NASA is seeking information on commercial payload delivery services to the lunar surface, media reported.

This week, NASA issued a Request for Information to the private industry for proposals related to cargo transportation to the lunar surface, as well as a potential mission to collect lunar samples and deliver them back to Earth.

The exact purpose of such a request for information, like most of the agency's RFIs, remains ambiguous, the report said.

"NASA has identified a variety of exploration, science, and technology demonstration objectives that could be addressed by sending instruments, experiments, or other payloads to the lunar surface," the RFI reads.

NASA said it is interested in assessing the availability of payload transit and delivery services from Earth to the lunar surface as early as fiscal year 2018 and through the next decade.

"To address these objectives as cost-effectively as possible, NASA may procure payloads and related commercial payload delivery services to the Moon," it said.

IANS

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Story first published: Thursday, May 4, 2017, 16:00 [IST]
Imran Khan discharged from hospital, to resume long march from same point where he was shot

This cop from Pakistan became a millionaire overnight: Here is how

Pak humiliated as Afghan President declines invitation

International

ians-IANS

By Ians English

Kabul, May 4: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has declined invitations by top Pakistani civil and military officials to visit Islamabad, a media report said on Thursday.

Quoting the President's Deputy Spokesman Dawa Khan Minapal, BBC Urdu reported that Ghani, who met Director General Inter-Services Intelligence Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar and National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq over the past week, rejected their invitations, saying he would not visit Pakistan until Islamabad hands over the perpetrators of terror attacks in Afghanistan.

"I will not go to Pakistan till the perpetrators behind the attacks in Mazar-i-Sharif, the American University (in Kabul) and the Kandahar attacks are handed over to Afghan authorities and until Islamabad takes concrete action against Afghan Taliban on Pakistani soil," Minapal quoted Ghani as saying.

Afghan authorities claimed that the Afghan President, during his meeting with the ISI chief, presented documents relating to investigations into recent attacks in Afghanistan and urged Pakistan to hand over the perpetrators, BBC Urdu reported.

Kabul has long complained about terrorists using sanctuaries on Pakistani soil for launching strikes in Afghanistan - claims that Pakistan has denied.

In the past week, three delegations from Pakistan have visited Kabul to hold talks with the Afghan leadership.

There has been no response from the Foreign Office or military leadership in Pakistan regarding the Afghan President's refusal to visit Pakistan.

IANS
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by  Graham Pierrepoint



Doctor Who  the long-running British sci-fi series  recently returned for its tenth season since reviving in 2005, and with new companion Bill Potts accompanying the outgoing Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor, its been subject to considerable praise. This season will also be showrunner Steven Moffatts last, who will be making way for Broadchurchs Chris Chibnall for Season 11 onwards. Moffatt has overseen a series of popular villains, monsters, companions and allies over the years, and rumors suggest that it appears he really cant bear to let one of them go. There are already rumors circulating regarding whether or not Game of Thrones and Harry Potter star David Bradley will appear as the First Doctor this Christmas  and it seems he may be accompanied by a familiar face from the Doctors recent past.

Clara Oswald was one of the longest-accompanying friends the Doctor has had in recent years, and she has also proven divisive among some members of the shows fanbase  particularly following two seasons which were heavy on giving the character story arcs of her own. Season 9s finale saw Oswald depart on her own journey into time and space with a TARDIS shaped like a 50s diner, and while many assumed that this would be the last we would see of Jenna Colemans character, rumors appear to quash that rather curiously.

The rumors are starting thanks to reports that the BBC seem to have booked Eddies Diner in Cardiff for filming this July  the location, of course, for the interior of Claras own TARDIS. While its thought that Capaldi has already filmed his final scenes, does the booking indicate that we could be seeing a final cameo from Clara before he bows out this holiday season? It wont be the first time that Moffatt has chosen to bring back an iconic assistant for the Doctors final moments  famously, Karen Gillans Amy Pond returned in a vision to Matt Smiths Doctor in his final scenes  meaning that Who fans could be in for a real smorgasbord of characters coming back out of nowhere.

Regardless of whether or not Coleman or Bradley will materialize this Christmas, the final episode for Capaldi is promised to be particularly dramatic, as it has been asserted that his regeneration  where he will morph into the 13th Doctor  will run slightly different to those which we have seen before. We will  unfortunately  have to hold our collective breaths for another seven months to find out exactly how things go down!
Taipei, May 4 (CNA) Since the government's New Southbound Policy came into force last year, Taiwan has seen significant growth in number of tourist arrivals and students from countries covered by the policy as well as a considerable increase in trading volume with those nations, Minister without Portfolio John Deng () said on Thursday.
Mashable 18 Sep 2022

*TL;DR: *As of September 18, you can get the Refurbished Lenovo Chromebook N22-20 for just $64.99 instead of $100  that's a 35%..
BANG Showbiz 09 Nov 2022

Sir Jonathan Pryce thinks Queen Elizabeth's death will drive more people to watch the new series of 'The Crown', in which he plays..
Global Sol-Gel Coatings Market 2017 - Aspen Aerogels, Cabot, Chemat Technology, Prinz Optics GmbH, Gaema Tech

Sol-Gel Coatings

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Sol-Gel Coatings Market 2017 Industry research report provides important information to identify and analyze the market need, market size and competition. This market research report used in maintaining competitiveness over competitors.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Sol-Gel Coatings 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.Sample of Report @Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers3M CompanyAspen AerogelsCabotChemat TechnologyPrinz Optics GmbHGaema TechHybrid Glass TechnologiesMarkeTech InternationalNanogate AGNTC Nano Tech Coatings GmbHMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis coversEurope: Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy and Benelux;Middle East: Saudi Arabia, Israel, UAE and Iran;Africa: South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and Algeria.Enquiry for Buying Report at:Market Segment by Type, coversDip CoatingSpray CoatingCapillary CoatingSpin CoatingFlow CoatingRoll CoatingMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoAutomobileElectronic ProductAerospaceConstructionSol-Gel Coatings market report provides a detailed view based on applications and segment. Key applications included in the report.It also provides market volume and revenue for each application and product under every country level segment.Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and methodology of the report are offered.About Us:"SpireMarketResearch" is a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact Us5001 Spring Valley Road,Suite 400 East,Dallas, TX 75244, USA
Brachytherapy Afterloaders Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth and Forecast Report To 2017

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Detailed TOC and Charts & Tables of Brachytherapy Afterloaders Market Research Report available @Brachytherapy is also well known as sealed source radiotherapy, internal radiotherapy, curie therapy or endocurietherapy, is a type of radiotherapy where a fixed radiation source is set inside or by the region requiring treatment. Global Brachytherapy Afterloaders Market usually shows the utilization as a powerful treatment for prostate, cervical, breast, and skin cancer and can likewise be utilized to treat tumors in numerous other body sites. Brachytherapy Afterloaders is somewhat machine utilized as a part of brachytherapy to deliverer radioactive sources into the treatment site, to avoid risk of radiation presentation or exposure to clinical staff. Treatment outcomes have shown that the malignancy cure rates of brachytherapy are either tantamount to surgery and EBRT or are enhanced when utilized as a part of mix with these methods. Brachytherapy can be utilized alone or in mix with different treatments, for example, surgery, external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) and chemotherapy. A course of brachytherapy can be finished in less time than other radiotherapy methods. This can help decrease the shot for surviving growth cells to isolate and develop in the interims between every radiotherapy measurement.To Request Sample Copy Of This Report:Geographically, the improvement of Brachytherapy Afterloaders Market is contributing supervised control to maintain the market. The major key vendors available in this market are Varian, Elektra, and Eckert & Ziegler. The Global Brachytherapy Afterloaders Market depending upon its applications is widely classified into several parts, i.e., Prostate Cancer, Gynecological Cancer, and Breast Cancer, with their different types like HDR Afterloaders and PDR Afterloaders. This market segment projected with higher development growth results in upcoming years generally in medical and pharmaceutical industry. As per the trends this markets this segment consisting medical drivers with several many aspects on healthcare industries. Based on regions, this industrys market is segmented into Europe, Japan, India, China, Southeast Asia and North America.Global Brachytherapy Afterloaders market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingVarianElektaEckert & Ziegler...COMPLETE REPORTS @Some points from TOC:-Global Brachytherapy Afterloaders Market Research Report 20171 Brachytherapy Afterloaders Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Brachytherapy Afterloaders1.2 Brachytherapy Afterloaders Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Brachytherapy Afterloaders Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Brachytherapy Afterloaders Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 HDR Afterloaders1.2.4 PDR Afterloaders1.2.4 Type II1.2.4 Type II1.3 Global Brachytherapy Afterloaders Segment by Application1.3.1 Brachytherapy Afterloaders Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Prostate Cancer1.3.3 Gynecological Cancer1.3.4 Breast Cancer1.3.5 Other1.4 Global Brachytherapy Afterloaders Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Brachytherapy Afterloaders 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 Brachytherapy Afterloaders (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Brachytherapy Afterloaders Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Brachytherapy Afterloaders Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)Enquiry before Buying @Contact us:Email- sales@qyresearchgroups.comWeb-Follow Us:LinkedIn | Twitter| FacebookAbout Us:QY Research Groups is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. QY Research Groups is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends.Contact us:Jia WangRoom B1510, ShijiKemao Building, No.66, Zhongguancun East Road,Haidian District, Beijing, 100190, China
Global Drug Coated Stent Industry 2017 Research Report | Market Intel Reports

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In this report, we analyze the Drug Coated Stent Industry from two aspects. One part is about its production and the other part is about its consumption. In terms of its production, we analyze the production, revenue, gross margin of its main manufacturers and the unit price that they offer in different regions from 2012 to 2017. In terms of its consumption, we analyze the consumption volume, consumption value, sale price, import and export in different regions from 2012 to 2017. We also make a prediction of its production and consumption in coming 2017-2022.The report can answer the following questions: What is the global (North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Middle East, Asia, China, Japan) production, production value, consumption, consumption value, import and export of Drug Coated Stent? Who are the global key manufacturers of Drug Coated Stent Industry? How are their operating situation (capacity, production, price, cost, gross and revenue)? What are the types and applications of Drug Coated Stent? What is the market share of each type and application? What are the upstream raw materials and manufacturing equipment of Drug Coated Stent? What is the manufacturing process of Drug Coated Stent? Economic impact on Drug Coated Stent Industry and development trend of Drug Coated Stent Industry. What will the Drug Coated Stent market size and the growth rate be in 2022? What are the key factors driving the global Drug Coated Stent Industry?Objective of Studies: To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast of the various segments and sub-segments of the global Drug Coated Stent market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To analyze the Drug Coated Stent market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, Porte five force analysis etc. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World. To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective of Drug Coated Stent Industry. To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by application, product type and sub-segments.Our Research Methodology SWOT analysis PEST analysis Five forces mode Time seriesGet Sample Brochure @Order a copy @About us:MarketIntelReports (MIR) aim to empower our clients to successfully manage and outperform in their business decisions, we do this by providing Premium Market Intelligence, Strategic Insights and Databases from a range of Global Publishers.A group of industry veterans who are well experienced in reputed international consulting firms after identifying the sourcing needs of MNCs for market intelligence, have together started this business savior MarketIntelReports.MIR intends to be a one-stop shop with an intuitive design, exhaustive database, expert assistance, secure cart checkout and data privacy integrated. It curates the list of reports, publishers and studies to ensure that the database is constantly updated to dynamically meet the targeted, specific needs of our clients.MarketIntelReports currently has more than 10,000 plus titles and 35+ publishers on our platform and growing consistently to fill the Global Intelligence Demand  Supply Gap. We cover more than 15 industry verticals being: Automotive, Electronics, Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, Chemicals, Building & Construction, Agriculture, Food & Beverages, Banking & Finance, Media and Government, Public Sector Studies.Contact us:Mayur.SSales Manager2711 Centerville Road, Suite 400,Wilmington, Delaware, 19808United Statesmayur.shethe@marketintelreports.comTelephone: 1-302-261-5343
The Greater Jacksonville USO has earned the highest rating possible from Charity Navigator

www.jaxuso.org

The Greater Jacksonville USO has earned a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, the leading charity evaluator in America. The nonprofit organization received the designation for demonstrating strong financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency.This award is a validation of the high quality of work that we put into our service to military personnel at home or on deployment, said Mike OBrien, executive director of The Greater Jacksonville USO. I feel our nonprofit group has been able to effectively contend with many external forces and challenges to always meet our mission regardless of the circumstances that we face.The Greater Jacksonville USO earned their second consecutive 4-star rating. Charity Navigators says only 26 percent of the charities they rate have received the consecutive designation. The 4-star rating means The Greater Jacksonville USO exceeds industry standards and outperforms most charities in their area of work. It sets them apart from their peers, demonstrates trustworthiness, and speaks to the quality of work its volunteers, staff and supporters provide to its clientele.Angelica Lockwood, a volunteer at the Mayport USO and an ABFAN crew member of the USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) said, The Greater Jacksonville USO has been a great place for me to volunteer because they always seem to know what we may need at their USO Centers or while we are on deployment.The Greater Jacksonville USOs mission is to strengthen Americas military service members by keeping them connected to family, home and country, throughout their service to the nation. OBrien said this 4-star rating is a testament to their mission.Charity Navigator has become the nation's largest and most used evaluator of charities because it employs professional analysts to develop an unbiased, objective, numbers-based rating system to assess over 8,000 of America's best-known and some lesser known charities.About the Greater Jacksonville Area USOIn December 2016, the USO completed its 75th year of service to members and families of our Armed Forces! The Greater Jacksonville Area USO is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and one of eighteen "Independent Chartered Affiliate" USOs throughout the country. As such, they do not receive funding from USO Headquarters, nor any city, state or federal funding. The Greater Jacksonville Area USO is totally dependent upon the generosity of community donors, civic organizations and local corporate partners for donations to operate their three local Jacksonville USO Centers.Naval Air Station Jacksonville USO CenterPO Box 108NAS Jacksonville, 32212-0108
Universal Lithium Ion Battery Cells Market Trend Share Opportunities and Forecast to 2021

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Description:This report studies Lithium Ion Battery Cells in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringPanasonicAESCPEVELG ChemLEJSamsungHitachiACCUmotiveBoston PowerBYDRequest sample report @Market Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Lithium Ion Battery Cells in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaSplit by product type, with production, revenue, price, and market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoType IType IIType IIISplit by application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Lithium Ion Battery Cells in each application, can be divided intoApplication 1Application 2Application 3Enquire About Report @Table of Contents1 Lithium Ion Battery Cells Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Lithium Ion Battery Cells1.2 Lithium Ion Battery Cells Segment by Type1.3 Lithium Ion Battery Cells Segment by Application1.4 Lithium Ion Battery Cells Market by Region1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Lithium Ion Battery Cells (2011-2021)2 Global Lithium Ion Battery Cells Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Lithium Ion Battery Cells Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Global Lithium Ion Battery Cells Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 Global Lithium Ion Battery Cells Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers Lithium Ion Battery Cells Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Lithium Ion Battery Cells Market Competitive Situation and Trends3 Global Lithium Ion Battery Cells Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2011-2016)4 Global Lithium Ion Battery Cells Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2011-2016)5 Global Lithium Ion Battery Cells Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type6 Global Lithium Ion Battery Cells Market Analysis by Application7 Global Lithium Ion Battery Cells Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis8 Lithium Ion Battery Cells Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Research Findings and ConclusionFor More Enquiry @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 97220U.S. & Canada Toll Free: + 1-800-910-6452UK: + 44-845-528-1300, India: +91 20 66346070Fax: +1 (855) 550-5975Email: help@researchbeam.comWeb:
France Land Registry records searches made easy!

France Land Registry searches and records retrieval

http://www.france-land-registry.com

FLR is a specialist law firm which specialises in carrying out searches through the French Land Registry's records.The service enables clients to:- Find out whether an individual or a company owns property in a specific area of France; and/or- Ascertain who owns a given property or land, when exactly the said property was purchased and what was the price paid at the time.- Find out if there are any encumbrances, mortgages, or charges registered by creditors against the property's Title Deed.FLR are also able to help you prove your ownership of a registered property, by retrieving a copy of French property title documents including deeds and title plans.You can order copies of title registers or deeds, title plans and flood and other risk indicators for millions of registered properties in France.rance-Land-Registry.com is the domain name of French Law Firm Fabien Cordiez Avocat & Solicitor, a registered trade mark and the property of Fabien Cordiez, Avocat & Solicitor, a law Firm registered with the Aix-en-Provence Bar Association.Established in 2002 , our firm is located in Provence, France, with a secondary office in Nice on the French Riviera. We offer a nationwide service and can meet you in Paris, Aix-en-Provence or Nice on the French Riviera.We have been successfully advising English-speaking clients buying or selling French property, or needing help with French succession matters, since 2002.The firm's principal, Fabien Cordiez, is a registered French lawyer or 'Avocat' (Attorney / Barrister) who qualified in France in 1994 and re-qualified as solicitor of England & Wales in 2000.France Land Registry SearchesCordiez Avocat & Solicitor12 rue de l'Ancienne Madeleine13100 Aix en ProvenceFranceT. +33 486 688 968 / UK: 0203 445 0720fc@france-land-registry.com
Can Women Solve the American Manufacturing Skilled Workforce Shortage?

Women in Welding

https://formaspace.com/articles/industrial-furniture/women-in-manufacturing/?utm_source=openpr&utm_medium=content&utm_campaign=013017

American manufacturing is on the upswing. But a looming skills shortage threatens. What can be done? Recruiting more women to make a career in manufacturing can help the industry solve the talent shortage while becoming more innovative and productive at the same time.Women are a major driving force in the workplace.If you consider that women earned more than half of the associates, bachelors, and masters degrees in the US  and the fact that women also hold more than half of all managerial, professional positions in this country  you could be forgiven for thinking that all industries are benefiting from this critical source of worker talent equally.But thats not the case. The manufacturing sector lags far behind in its efforts to attract women to join its ranks.How far behind?According to a study by Catalyst Research, women represent nearly half (46.6%) of employees in the U.S. labor force. However, far fewer women than men work in the manufacturing sector  only 24.8% of workers employed in manufacturing durable goods are women.From a purely economic point of view, these numbers just dont add up.As jobs at manufacturing companies become more high-tech, employers are facing a shortage of applicants to fill these positions.According to a study by The Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte, the automotive industry, energy and resources, aerospace and defense and industrial products have been especially hard hit by the skills gap in US manufacturing  with the most serious shortages for skilled production workers, engineers, and scientists.These are not low-paying jobs  according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), its quite the opposite. In 2011, the average annual compensation for manufacturing workers was $77,060 (including benefits) which was about $17k higher than salaries averaged across all industries.So if the manufacturing industry has an increasing number of openings for high-tech jobs that pay well above average, why do women still represent such a small percentage of the manufacturing workforce?One possible explanation is that gender bias is still alive and well.Surveys of young women entering the job market indicate that they rarely consider manufacturing as a career on their own. (This can change if they have personal experience in the manufacturing industry, more on that later.)Gender bias works both ways. According to a recent New York Times article, a significant number of unemployed men looking for work are not pursuing careers in the growing healthcare field, such as caregivers for the elderly, because they perceive these roles as pink-collar jobs better suited to women.Employers striving to improve their diversity and inclusion (D&I) hiring have found that even subtle shifts in the language used for open job positions can have an effect on the relative number of men and women job applicants.Job-search company, Textio, found that job descriptions for home health aide positions tended to use feminine keywords like sympathetic and empathy while jobs for cartographers used masculine terms like forces, exceptional, and superior.Recruiters are discovering that revising these phrases to be more gender neutral affects the relative percentage of men and women applying for jobs.How can we encourage more women to enter the manufacturing sector?Unfortunately, antagonism toward women working in manufacturing and high-tech industries is a reality.If you need a reminder of that, think back a couple years to the case of Isis Wenger, a young female engineer working at OneLogin, who was featured in a recruiting advertisement. Her photo set off a firestorm in social media, where people questioned (presumably on appearances alone) whether she could be a real engineer or not.A survey by Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute found that over half of the women surveyed think there is a perception that the manufacturing industry culture was biased toward men  and this is the primary reason women are underrepresented in manufacturing.The survey found other barriers to women choosing a career in the manufacturing sector as well:- Many women are looking for flexible work practices which would allow them a better work/life balance.The manufacturing industry has lagged in this area, but it needs to catch up.- Women want customized learning and development programs, (such as continuing education) to help improve their skills and help them advance in their career.Unfortunately, the manufacturing industry overall does not have a good track record in promoting women to higher positions.- Women place a lot of value on the visibility of key leaders (e.g. are there women holding top positions) as well as the need for career guidance, such as mentorship and sponsorship programs when making career decisions.As a result, manufacturing companies wanting to hire more women will need to step up their mentoring and sponsorship programs to compensate for the relative few number of women in the top ranks of manufacturing companies.What can be done to encourage more women to join the manufacturing workforce?Read more ...Formaspace advances the spirit of discovery and creation through the design and manufacture of custom business furniture. Our furniture marries form to function with flexible solutions for clients in the laboratory, industrial, and office environments.Formaspace serves over 80% of the Fortune 500, as well as universities, governments, small businesses, and individuals.Formaspace1100 E. Howard LaneSuite 400Austin, Texas 787538002511505
This year's Dog Bowl set for May 27-28 in Frankenmuth

www.dogfunfest.com

Dog owners throughout Michigan and beyond have already marked and blocked off their calendars this Memorial Day Weekend, Saturday, May 27 and Sunday, May 28 as Dog Bowl 2017 gets set to release its usual dose of canine energy and dog lovers enthusiasm.Taking place in iconic Frankenmuth and now in its 11th year, this FREE family fun event is said to be the world's largest Olympic-style event for dogs, with most events free of charge.The high-energy weekend will showcase the usual (or unusual) dogs running, jumping, diving and retrieving, all around Frankenmuth River Place Shops.With 25-plus great events such as Dock Dog Diving and Disc Dog Competitions, Wiener Dog Races, Best Costume Contest, Pet Retail Vendors, and Dog Bowl King and Queen, this Memorial Day Weekend in Frankenmuth is a real highlight for those with even a hint of enthusiasm for our canine friendsmany of them just like family (or more so!).Information on Dog Bowl 2017 is already on thewebsite. For more information, call 1-800-600-0105. Remember, general admission to the event is free!713 S. Main StreetFrankenmuth, MI
Valuechain acquires calibration technology business to enhance its Industry 4.0 offering

Valuechain

British software developer, Valuechain Technology has acquired the assets of calibration software developer Retriever Technology.Valuechains acquisition of Retriever Technology is the latest in a string of actions to develop their DNA4.0 platform into a holistic solution for manufacturing businesses to prepare for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It builds on the acquisition of Tricorn Systems in 2016, the formation of a data science team in Bangalore and recent announcements of collaborative projects through LCR4.0 with University of Liverpool, John Moores University, Sensor City, Hartree Centre and IBM.Retriever Technology has been providing specialised calibration software for over 30 years to hundreds of advanced manufacturing companies, including BAE Systems, GKN, Toyota, Cosworth and Force India.Valuechains CEO Tom Dawes explained the strategy behind the acquisition We plan to combine the proven Retriever calibration software with the latest sensor technology and machine learning algorithms to connect smart factories using our DNA4.0 platform.Over the next few years, manufacturing businesses are going to invest significantly in Industry 4.0 technologies which will generate huge volumes of data. However, to generate effective return on investment, companies must convert data into intelligence by ensuring that the right data is shared in the right format, with the right people, at the right time.The first aspect is assuring that reliable data is consistently generated from standardised processes, and we see integrating Retrievers calibration software as a key step to helping our clients capture reliable data from their assets.Richard Tatlow, founder of Retriever Technology, commented We are delighted to have sold our business to an organisation that has the vision, team and technology to transform our calibration software into a world leading solution.Valuechain provides innovative technology to connect smart factories and smart supply chains. Our DNA4.0 platform provides productivity solutions that streamline operations and convert data captured dynamically from people, plant and processes, into business intelligence. Our iQluster supply chain collaboration and intelligence platform simplifies intercompany communication and securely captures multi-tier supply chain intelligence. Following the award of a 3.2m Horizon 2020 project from the European Commission, we are working with global manufacturing businesses, governments, industry associations and Universities to continually innovate our smart technologies and connect cross-sector collaborative ecosystems that can compete as world class supply chains.Valuechain Enterprises LtdThe Innovation CentreSci-Tech DaresburyKeckwick LaneDaresburyCheshireWA4 4FS
Global and Chinese Temperature Sensors and Switch Industry, Successful & Dominant Market Trends & Analysis for the Forecast 2017-2022

Market Research HUB

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A fresh report, evaluating the global temperature sensors and switch industry has been recently added to the huge report collection of Market Research Hub (MRH). This study primarily focusses on predominantly active companies in this market, and it is titled as Global and Chinese Temperature Sensors and Switch Industry, 2017 Market Research Report. The research study later focuses on the global and Chinese sector market through the study of trends, developments, and manufacturers for the forecast period of 2017-2022.Request Free Sample Report:The temperature sensors and switch industry produce premium quality products which accurately indicates the external and internal surface temperature at all places. The instrumental report initially begins with the introduction of this paramount sector. Likewise, the synopsis reveals the exciting developments that have occurred in the past few years. The manufacturing technology is also described to help the readers accurately understand the sector. The analysts also shift the focus of the reader to the present market status to enable new investors to gain a better grasp of the business. A careful examination of the trends, developments in the technology used during manufacturing is also rendered in this principal section.The next section contains the significant elaboration of the globally successful manufacturers in this growing sector. This specific section gauges these manufacturers by the company profile, product information, and the production information. The analysts have later summarized the global production, capacity, and production value of the business in this highly purposeful report. The estimation of the global cost and profits in this sector will help readers plan successful strategies for the future.The buyer can learn about the global reach of the industry with a special focus on the Chinese market. The study offers a detailed analysis of the supply and consumption of these products, in terms of the Chinese and global market. Readers can then equip themselves with the data on the interesting competition in the market. This information is processed by studying the most profitable countries and regions that include the United States, EU, Japan, and China.Browse Full Report With TOC:Finally, the study describes the key effects of the world economy over this industry. The interesting study also analyzes the most successful vendors chosen for this in-depth analysis. With the thorough assessments, new buyers can learn profitable methodologies from the market leaders in this stimulating sector.About Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: press@marketresearchhub.comFollow us on:Twitter: twitter.com/MktResearchHubLinkedIn:Facebook:
Taiwanese Server System and Server Motherboard Industries, Worthy Insights & Key Market Analysis for the First Quarter of 2017

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Currently, the server system and server motherboard sector functions based on the demand for such systems and motherboards in the IT, health and telecommunications sectors in the world. This is seen as one of the leading factors contributing to the steady rise in the server system and server motherboard industries market. In order to get a clearer idea, a fresh research study with the title The Taiwanese Server System and Server Motherboard Industries, 1Q 2017 has been added to the enormous database of Market Research Hub (MRH). The buyer now can get access to the complete forecast and trends related to this sector in terms of classification, application, shipment volumes and market analysis. The research also provides valuable forecast till 2017, in terms of the cardinal aspects that can lead to greater profits in this industry.Request Free Sample Report:Almost all sectors rely heavily on the server system and server motherboard industry since today every record and work is fed directly into the computer system. Correspondingly, the first section of the report renders a brief overview of the industry. The research examines the most impressive products that are being produced from this growing sector. This section also imparts the different classifications that occur in this industry. Soon the report begins to talk about the several applications, which have become the most profitable in the past few years. Specifically, it also curates some major estimation on the application share. Likewise, the buyers can benefit from the added knowledge about the market evaluation, as well as the analysis of the chain structure.Browse Full Report With TOC:The report further shifts the attention entirely towards the segmentation based on geographical region. Later, it reveals the predominant causes behind the rapid growth of this sector in this particular area. The study reveals that the barebones levels added to almost 1 million units, portraying a 9.1% sequential rise. Later on, the assessment reveals that the assignments that were shipped at the board level accumulated to almost 1.3 million units. The evaluation identifies that the sequential rise can be estimated to be between 4.2% and 14% every year. Interestingly, the study focuses on the Taiwanese sector largely, which explains why the region is the most eventful in this industry. Thus, the report exposes all the decisive and fruitful methods to help future investors reap maximum revenues.About Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: press@marketresearchhub.comFollow us on:Twitter: twitter.com/MktResearchHubLinkedIn:Facebook:
Professional Service Robotics Global Market by Application, Scope, Analysis and Forecasts to 2019

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Market outlook of the professional service robotics marketProfessional service robots have the tendency to work closely with humans and can be used in a wide application ranging from surveillance to underwater inspection. They provide convenience and safety, among other benefits, thus creating demand worldwide. Publisher expects the global professional service robotics market to multiply at a remarkable rate of nearly 16% during the forecast period. Today, the adoption of robots is on the rise globally as they tend to minimize manual labor and reduce the chances of human error.For more informationIn the last decade, there have been numerous technological advancements in the field of robotics that have made the adoption of robots easy, viable, and beneficial. For instance, there has been a lot of innovations and improvements in the Internet of things, automation, M2M communications, and cloud. The modern robotic manufacturers are trying to take advantage of these technologies as a communication medium between the robots and humans, thus increasing the convenience as well as the transfer of real-time information within the business entity seamlessly.Segmentation of the professional service robotics market by applicationDefense, rescue, safety, and aerospace applicationField applicationLogistics applicationHealthcare applicationOthersThe defense application segment was the largest contributor to the growth of the global professional service robotics market with more than 44% share of the overall shipments in 2014. The demand for UGV and UAV for surveillance and safeguarding lives of personnel from ammunition, landmines, and bombs is expected to drive the demand for robotics.Request Sample CopyGeographical segmentation of the professional service robotics marketAmericasAPACEMEAAs of 2014, EMEA was the largest contributor to the global professional service robotics market and accounted for nearly 42% of the market share. Countries such as Germany, France, and Italy are the leading revenue contributors to the market in Europe.Competitive landscape and key vendorsThe entry of many new vendors with high technological capabilities is elevating the competition in the global professional service robotics market, however, large international vendors dominate the market in terms of quality, durability, reliability, and technological innovations.Top vendors in this market are -Northrop GrummanDaifukuOther prominent vendors included in this report are AB Electrolux, Agrobot, Argo Robotics, Blue River Technology, Boston Dynamics, BouMatic Robotics, Curexo Technology, ECA SA, Elbit Systems, Fullwood, GEA, GeckoSystems, Hansen Medical, Harvest Automation, Health Robotics, iRobot, Kinova Robotics, Macdonald Dettwiler & Associates, MAKO Surgical Corp., SAC, THINK Surgical, Titan Medicals, and Touch Bionics.Make an enquiry:Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028
Market Overviews: Global Steroids Market Research Report 2017

Global Steroids Market Research Report 2017

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This report studies the Steroids market status and outlook of global and major regions, from angles of players, regions, product types and end industries; this report analyzes the top players in global and major regions, and splits the Steroids market by product type and applications/end industries.The global Steroids 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.The Asia-Pacific will occupy for more market share in following years, especially in China, also fast growing India and Southeast Asia regions.North America, especially The United States, will still play an important role which cannot be ignored. Any changes from United States might affect the development trend of Steroids.Europe also play important roles in global market, with market size of xx million USD in 2016 and will be xx million USD in 2022, with a CAGR of XX.The major players in global Steroids market include Sumitomo, Pfizer, Novartis, Merck, Sanofi, Johnson and Johnson, GSK, AstraZeneca, Cipla.Ask a complete & professional report sample, please send message to tinaning@qyresearch.com or visit atTable of contents:1 Steroids Market Overview2 Global Steroids Market Competition by Manufacturers/Brand3 Global Steroids Sales (Kilogram), Revenue (Million USD) by Regions (2012-2017)4 Global Steroids Sales, Revenue, Price Trend by Types5 Global Steroids Market Analysis by Applications6 Global Steroids Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7 Steroids Manufacturing Cost Analysis8 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers9 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders10 Market Effect Factors Analysis11 Global Steroids Market Forecast (2017-2022)12 Research Findings and Conclusion13 Methodology and Data SourceRelated Reports:Global Steroids Market Research Report 2017Europe Steroids Market Research Report 2017China Steroids Market Research Report 2017India Steroids Market Research Report 2017Korea Steroids Market Research Report 2017Japan Steroids Market Research Report 2017USA Steroids Market Research Report 2017Contact Details:Company Name: QYResearch CO.,LIMITED | focus on Market Survey and ResearchContact Person: Tina Ning | Professional Market Research Report PublisherEmail: tinaning@qyresearch.com or qyresearcheurope@126.comTel: 0086-20-22093278(CN)Web:QYResearch established in 2007, focus on custom research, management consulting, IPO consulting, industry chain research, data base and seminar services. The company owned a large basic data base (such as National Bureau of statistics database, Customs import and export database, Industry Association Database etc), experts resources (included energy automotive chemical medical ICT consumer goods etc industries experts who own more than 10 years experiences on marketing or R&D), professional survey team (the team member with more than 3 years market survey experience and more than 2 years depth expert interview experience),Excellent data analysis team (SPSS statistics and PPT graphics process team); QYResearch has always pursuit product quality, adhere to the quality is the soul of business.Room 2311 VILI International Building No.167 Linhe West Road Tianhe District
EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Activated Charcoal Capsules Market Report 2017

EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Activated Charcoal Capsules Market Report 2017

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In this report, the EMEA Activated Charcoal Capsules market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report split EMEA into Europe, the Middle East and Africa, With sales (K MT), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Activated Charcoal Capsules for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast)Europe: Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy and Benelux;Middle East: Saudi Arabia, Israel, UAE and Iran;Africa: South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and Algeria.EMEA Activated Charcoal Capsules market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Activated Charcoal Capsules sales volume (K MT), price (USD/MT), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingBraggs OriginalsHolland & BarrettNature's WayChangtian PharmaCharcoal HouseNatures True MedicinePurest Vantage...On 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 into0.6gOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume (K MT), market share and growth rate of Activated Charcoal Capsules for each application, includingAntidiarrhealDetoxicationEliminate SwellingAsk a complete & professional report sample, please send message to tinaning@qyresearch.com or visit atTable of contents:1 Activated Charcoal Capsules Overview2 EMEA Activated Charcoal Capsules Competition by Manufacturers/Players/Suppliers, Region, Type and Application3 Europe Activated Charcoal Capsules (Volume, Value and Sales Price), by Players, Countries, Type and Application4 Middle East Activated Charcoal Capsules (Volume, Value and Sales Price), by Region, Type and Application5 Africa Activated Charcoal Capsules (Volume, Value and Sales Price) by Players, Countries, Type and Application6 EMEA Activated Charcoal Capsules Manufacturers/Players Profiles and Sales Data7 Activated Charcoal Capsules Manufacturing Cost Analysis8 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers9 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders10 Market Effect Factors Analysis11 EMEA Activated Charcoal Capsules Market Forecast (2017-2022)12 Research Findings and Conclusion13 AppendixRelated Reports:Global Activated Charcoal Capsules Market Report 2017Europe Activated Charcoal Capsules Market Report 2017China Activated Charcoal Capsules Market Report 2017India Activated Charcoal Capsules Market Report 2017Korea Activated Charcoal Capsules Market Report 2017Japan Activated Charcoal Capsules Market Report 2017USA Activated Charcoal Capsules Market Report 2017Contact Details:Company Name: QYResearch CO.,LIMITED | focus on Market Survey and ResearchContact Person: Tina Ning | Professional Market Research Report PublisherEmail: tinaning@qyresearch.com or qyresearcheurope@126.comTel: 0086-20-22093278(CN)Web:QYResearch established in 2007, focus on custom research, management consulting, IPO consulting, industry chain research, data base and seminar services. The company owned a large basic data base (such as National Bureau of statistics database, Customs import and export database, Industry Association Database etc), experts resources (included energy automotive chemical medical ICT consumer goods etc industries experts who own more than 10 years experiences on marketing or R&D), professional survey team (the team member with more than 3 years market survey experience and more than 2 years depth expert interview experience),Excellent data analysis team (SPSS statistics and PPT graphics process team); QYResearch has always pursuit product quality, adhere to the quality is the soul of business.Room 2311 VILI International Building No.167 Linhe West Road Tianhe District
Market Overviews: United States Pocket Otoscope Market Report 2017

United States Pocket Otoscope Market Report 2017

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This report studies sales (consumption) of Pocket Otoscope in United States market, focuses on the top players, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player, coveringDr Mom OtoscopesRA Bock DiagnosticsDixie EmsADCZZZRT TradersWelch AllynKaWeInstruments GBMarket Segment by States, coveringCaliforniaTexasNew YorkFloridaIllinoisSplit by product types, with sales, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoStainless HandlePlastic HandleChrome Finished HandleOthersSplit by applications, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Pocket Otoscope in each application, can be divided intoHospitalsResearch CentersOthersAsk a complete & professional report sample, please send message to tinaning@qyresearch.com or visit atTable of contents:1 Pocket Otoscope Overview2 United States Pocket Otoscope Competition by Manufacturers3 United States Pocket Otoscope Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) by States (2012-2017)4 United States Pocket Otoscope Sales (Volume) and Revenue (Value) by Type (2012-2017)5 United States Pocket Otoscope Sales (Volume) by Application (2012-2017)6 United States Pocket Otoscope Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7 Pocket Otoscope Manufacturing Cost Analysis8 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers9 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders10 Market Effect Factors Analysis11 United States Pocket Otoscope Market Forecast (2017-2022)12 Research Findings and Conclusion13 AppendixRelated Reports:Global Pocket Otoscope Market Report 2017Europe Pocket Otoscope Market Report 2017China Pocket Otoscope Market Report 2017India Pocket Otoscope Market Report 2017Korea Pocket Otoscope Market Report 2017Japan Pocket Otoscope Market Report 2017USA Pocket Otoscope Market Report 2017Contact Details:Company Name: QYResearch CO.,LIMITED | focus on Market Survey and ResearchContact Person: Tina Ning | Professional Market Research Report PublisherEmail: tinaning@qyresearch.com or qyresearcheurope@126.comTel: 0086-20-22093278(CN)Web:QYResearch established in 2007, focus on custom research, management consulting, IPO consulting, industry chain research, data base and seminar services. The company owned a large basic data base (such as National Bureau of statistics database, Customs import and export database, Industry Association Database etc), experts resources (included energy automotive chemical medical ICT consumer goods etc industries experts who own more than 10 years experiences on marketing or R&D), professional survey team (the team member with more than 3 years market survey experience and more than 2 years depth expert interview experience),Excellent data analysis team (SPSS statistics and PPT graphics process team); QYResearch has always pursuit product quality, adhere to the quality is the soul of business.Room 2311 VILI International Building No.167 Linhe West Road Tianhe District
Market Overviews: Europe Rollators Market Report 2017

Europe Rollators Market Report 2017

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This report studies sales (consumption) of Rollators in Europe market, especially in Germany, UK, France, Russia, Italy, Benelux and Spain, focuses on top players in these countries, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player in these regions, coveringDriveInvacareKarmanGraham-FieldHugoEvolutionHuman CareAirgoHandicareHuman CareHubangYuyueMikiKaiyangDongfangMatsunaga...Market Segment by Countries, this report splits Europe into several key Countries, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of Rollators in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), likeGermanyFranceUKRussiaItalyBeneluxSpainSplit by product types, with sales, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided into3 Wheel Rollators4 Wheel RollatorsOtherSplit by applications, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Rollators in each application, can be divided into65 to 85years OldAbove 85 Years OldYoung PopulationAsk a complete & professional report sample, please send message to tinaning@qyresearch.com or visit atTable of contents:1 Rollators Overview2 Europe Rollators by Manufacturers, Type and Application3 Germany Rollators (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4 UK Rollators (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5 France Rollators (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6 Russia Rollators (Volume, Value and Sales Price)7 Benelux Rollators (Volume, Value and Sales Price)8 Italy Rollators (Volume, Value and Sales Price)9 Spain Rollators (Volume, Value and Sales Price)10 Europe Rollators Manufacturers Analysis11 Rollators Manufacturing Cost Analysis12 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers13 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders14 Europe Rollators Market Forecast (2017-2022)15 Research Findings and Conclusion16 AppendixRelated Reports:Global Rollators Market Report 2017Europe Rollators Market Report 2017China Rollators Market Report 2017India Rollators Market Report 2017Korea Rollators Market Report 2017Japan Rollators Market Report 2017USA Rollators Market Report 2017Contact Details:Company Name: QYResearch CO.,LIMITED | focus on Market Survey and ResearchContact Person: Tina Ning | Professional Market Research Report PublisherEmail: tinaning@qyresearch.com or qyresearcheurope@126.comTel: 0086-20-22093278(CN)Web:QYResearch established in 2007, focus on custom research, management consulting, IPO consulting, industry chain research, data base and seminar services. The company owned a large basic data base (such as National Bureau of statistics database, Customs import and export database, Industry Association Database etc), experts resources (included energy automotive chemical medical ICT consumer goods etc industries experts who own more than 10 years experiences on marketing or R&D), professional survey team (the team member with more than 3 years market survey experience and more than 2 years depth expert interview experience),Excellent data analysis team (SPSS statistics and PPT graphics process team); QYResearch has always pursuit product quality, adhere to the quality is the soul of business.Room 2311 VILI International Building No.167 Linhe West Road Tianhe District
Neutropenia Treatment Market to Worth at a CAGR 4.45% to 2021: Growth Factors & Trends

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Neutropenia Treatment Market Report offered by Market Size Forecasters gives a market overview of the Neutropenia Treatment 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.Neutropenia is an abnormal condition, characterized by critically low levels of circulating neutrophils, a type of WBC found in the blood. These cells make up for the majority of circulating lymphocytes and help defend the body against infections by bacteria, viruses, and other pathogenic organisms. Decrease in the neutrophil count in blood makes a patient susceptible to infections and may even prove fatal. Therefore, the condition requires immediate prophylaxis.The Report analysts forecast the global neutropenia treatment market to grow at a CAGR of 4.45% during the period 2017-2021.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global neutropenia treatment market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sales of neutropenia drugs.Request a sample copy of Neutropenia Treatment Market Research Report @The market is divided into the following segments based on geography: Americas, APAC, EMEAThe report, Global Neutropenia Drugs 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 Amgen, Novartis, Teva PharmaceuticalOther prominent vendors Hospira, PfizerMarket driver Presence of branded therapies with extended version, For a full, detailed list, view our reportThe listed pricing for this Neutropenia Treatment Market report starts at $ 3500. Request Discount for Neutropenia Treatment Market Research Report @Market challenge Reducing demand for chemotherapy, For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend Paradigm shift in management of febrile neutropenia, 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 vendorsBrowse full table of contents and data tables For Neutropenia Treatment Market Report @Related Reports: -Global (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa) Bone Replacement Market 2017 Forecast to 2022Damaged bone can be replaced with bone from other parts of the body (autografts), from cadavers (allograft), or with various ceramics or metallic alloys. The use of autografts limits how much bone is available.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:News:
Global 3D Magnetic Sensors Market, by top manufacturers(Infineon, Melexis, STMicroelectronics), By Type (Linear 3D Magnetic Sensors, Rotary 3D Magnetic Sensors) - Global Scenario - Global Industry Status & Growth Prospects, 2021

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Big Market Research has recently added latest report, titled, Global 3D Magnetic Sensors Market Report 2017. The research offers comprehensive analysis of production, consumption, growth rate, and market share for the period, 20162022. It helps key vendors to understand industry dynamics and take appropriate steps to ensure growth in the market.Report details & Sample enquiry:The report provides an overview of the global 3D magnetic sensors market, in terms of scope, product overview, and market share. It offers classification of the industry based on type, into linear 3D magnetic sensors and rotary 3D magnetic sensors. The other categorization of the market in the research are application and regional distribution. Based on the geographical distribution, it is categorized into European Union, U.S., China, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. Based on the application, it is divided into automotive, industrial, and consumer electronics. The report offers the exploration of the industry based on each region for the period, 20122022. The experts discuss the global market size in terms value, status, overlook, and capacity during the aforementioned period.The study provides an in-depth information on status of competition by each manufacturer in the global 3D magnetic sensors market. It offers explanation of capacity, product specification, and share by each vendor during the historic period, 20122017. In addition, it also discusses the average prices, production base, sales area, and market trends for the historic period. In addition, the report provides details of the top three and five manufacturers, their mergers, expansion, and acquisitions. It gives a comprehensive understanding of capacity, production, and revenue generated by each region during the aforementioned period. Furthermore, the research offers an in-depth analysis of price and gross margin of every country for the historic period. The experts discuss export, consumption, and import by the countries mentioned in the report.Also Request For Discount:The research offers analysis of profit and price trend based on product type of the global 3D magnetic sensors market. It provides detailed account of industrial share, price, and production growth for every product type during the historic period. Furthermore, it gives aforementioned information for application of the industry during the historic period. The report also offers information of the factors which can influence the market, such as drivers and challenges. The analysts discuss the potential applications and emerging countries of the industry. They include key manufacturers in the study, such as Allegro MicroSystems, ams, Infineon, Melexis, NXP, and STMicroelectronics.The big market players are explored by the analysts based on various measures which includes companys basic information, production base, revenue, and capacity. The firms are briefly evaluated for the historic period. The report offers analysis of manufacturing cost of the global 3D magnetic sensors market. It provides discussion on raw materials, labor costs, and market concentration. The experts explore industrial chain, downstream buyers, and sourcing strategy. They evaluate the marketing strategy of the manufacturers and the factors which influences the industry, such as risk of substitution, progress in technology, and shift in consumer needs. The report offers examination of the forecast period based on each application, type, and manufacturers.The research on the global 3D magnetic sensors encourages the new entrants identify the successful prospects. It aids the investors to recognize the future possible threats and challenges.About Us: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
Steel Flat Rolled Products Market - Global Industry Analysis 2025

Steel Flat Rolled Products Market

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Steel flat rolled products are made of steel and these products have flat surfaces instead of grooved faces. These products include cold rolled coil, hot rolled coils, slab, coated steel products among others. With the help of melting, steel flat rolled products are manufactured and these products have their extensive applications in automotive, construction, packaging and heavy machinery industries. Zinc coating is applied with steel to prevent it from any kind of corrosion. Steel flat rolled product market witness growing demand in coming years.With the rising population base coupled with increasing disposable income, global steel flat rolled product market experience growing demand overtime. Emerging economies such as China, India and South Korea have witnessed significant economic growth rate and that high growth rate is translated into infrastructural development. With the growing base of infrastructure, demand for steel flat rolled products is likely to increase overtime. Industrialization based economic growth has been a growth strategy for many economies including advanced and emerging economies. Higher concentration of industries in these economies spur the demand for steel flat rolled products thus projecting higher growth trajectory for this market. Real estate industry is a booming sector in these economies and use of steel flat rolled products in residential and non-residential buildings accelerate the growth prospect of this market during the forecast period.Browse Market Research Report @Steel is an expensive material and this factor limits its uses. Hence, contractors switch their preference from steel flat rolled products to other type of products. Moreover, when steel is exposed to environment, this can lead to corrosion and that adversely impacts the life time of these steel products. These factors limit the use of steel in construction industry thus hindering the market prospect of this products in coming years.With the rising vehicular population, market for steel flat rolled products is expected to witness growing market share overtime. Coated steel have increasing application for making the structural parts of cars and these type of products primarily serves the purpose of corrosion resistance. Cold rolled coils have extensive application in car body parts and in these cases corrosion resistance is not primary objective; rather maintaining certain level of strength to weight ratio is the prerequisite. Hence, cold-rolled steel have their maximum application in seat belt components and auto transmission components. Hence, growing market share of automotive industry in advanced and emerging economies is triggering the growth prospect of steel flat rolled products market during the forecast period.Enter your information below to receive a sample copy of this report @Steel flat rolled products market is segmented on the basis of end users industry and the segments are construction, infrastructure and transport, consumer goods, packaging, automobile and defense. Construction segment held the largest market share in recent days. Steel flat rolled products are generally used in residential and commercial buildings as roofing, walling and ceiling materials. With the rising manufacturing of residential and non-residential buildings, market for steel flat rolled products is expected to follow steep growth rate during the forecast period.On the basis of geographic locations, global steel flat rolled products market is segmented into five regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (MEA) and Latin America. North America and Europe held considerable market share in steel flat rolled product market as these regions have higher concentration of industries including real estate sector. Key automobile manufactures belong to these regions thus increasing the use of steel products as auto parts. However, Asia Pacific is the fastest growing segment as this region consists of emerging economies such as China, India which have their increasing share on construction, renewable energy sources and automotive sectors.Some of the key market players are POSCO, United States Steel, ArcelorMittal, JFE Steel, Shanghai Baosteel Group and others.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking 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:
The U.S. Doctors Get Accustomed to Surgical Robotics for treatment of Spine Diseases

Surgical Robots For The Spine(Picture Courtesy)

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The robots were developed to assist human to perform complex tasks. The Surgical robotics is one such example which has benefited doctors and patients at large. It performs surgeries in such an efficient way that it has led to decrease in the post operation complications. Recent news from the U.S. explains the benefits of this technology.Request sample report @Of late, Dr. Anthony Leone, a surgeon of orthopedic spine at Sister's St. Joseph campus, conducted surgery on Mr. Robert Russo. Russo had spinal stenosis and consulted numerous doctors before he met Dr. Leone. He explained how he was introduced to a surgical robot. Dr. Leone told him that they would follow slightly different and new procedure. The doctor said that it is 99.9% accurate. It was up to Mr. Russo whether he wanted to get it done or not.The surgery is called minimally invasive spine surgery. The surgery is common in other parts of the world but Mr. Russo would be the first patient on whom the surgery would be performed in Western New York. This surgery was unknown to many people owing to high price of the robot. For instance, one of the machines of small size costs about a million dollars. However, Mr. Russo approved for the surgery. Dr. Leone explained the surgery procedure in which, a tube and a small three centimeters helps to perform the surgery. The doctors are able to relax nerves and extend the bones and do everything with the help of this incision.Lay eyes on complete report @The surgery is synchronized with a program called computer mapping and then spine of the person is scanned through computed tomography (CT) scan. The health specialists have reported that the time taken by the invasive surgery is same as traditional spine surgery. According to them, the surgical robots are more advantageous than the traditional surgery. The robot is capable to conduct surgery on its own, but doctors are required for small parts, such as smaller cuts. The surgical robots cause less blood loss, fast recovery, less pain, and decreased use of opioids.Mr. Russo was able to stand just after one day of the surgery. He was completely off the medicines for pain after few days of operation. He said that his legs felt normal and had complete comfort. According to him, the surgery gave him his life back.New technology is introduced in hospitals of the U.S. An arm of the surgical robotic which belongs to its third generation has been introduced in Idaho on February 2017. The robotic arm is called The Mazor X surgical robotic arm, which is used in the hospitals of 18 countries. Presently, it is applied by eight hospitals of the U.S. This effective technology is developed for the treatment of scoliosis.The continuous research and development in the market of surgical robotics have led to invention of more developed technologies to treat spine related diseases. The U.S. will witness tremendous growth in the industry in the upcoming decade. This trend has been mentioned in the report added by Big Market Research, titled, United States Surgical Robots For The Spine Market Research Report Forecast 2017-2021.Ask for discount @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:
Middle-East and Africa Food Colors Market is poised to reach $352.3 million by 2021

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Market Data Forecast recently published a report on the Middle-East and Africa Food Colors Market which estimates the market to grow from $239 million from 2016 to $352.3 million with a CAGR of 8.06% in the forecast period 2016-2021View Full Report atDownload Free Sample report atFood colorants are additives that impart color when added to food or drink. Natural and synthetic food colors are used to retain the faded color of the product during the processing. Food colorants are used in different other industries like cosmetics, medical devices and pharmaceuticals.The standing of food products in Middle-East is based on suitability, fitness, and value for money. Their earnings have improved gradually over a number of decades, which is why they have started spending on food and food colors. Color and food combinations can be particularly powerful by leveraging the sensitive connection to taste.The market is driven by the natural colors and is anticipated to grow faster than the synthetic and nature identical colors. The market is also fuelled by effortlessly available raw materials which comprises of fruits & vegetables. Due to the fast paced life in American region there has been a rise in demand of packed food products, baked goods, and ready to eat meals and canned eatables.The Food Color products are based on different type, form, solubility and application. Each sub segment is accompanied with Market Size Estimations and Y-o-Y Forecasts as well.Segmentation By Type. Natural Color.o Anthocyanins.o Carotenoids.o Caramel. Synthetic Color.o Red.o Yellow.o Blue.o Green. Natural-Identical Color. By Application. Beverages. Bakery and Confectionery. Dairy and Meat. By Form. Liquid. Liquid Gel. Gel Paste. Powder. By Solubility. Dyes. Lakes.Geographically the market is segmented into Middle-East and Africa. Africa has taken the lead in market growth and is dominant in Middle-East and Africa.Various companies are contributing for this market such as LycoRed, DD Williamson, Archer Daniels Midland Company (U.S.), Sethness Products, Fiorio Colori, Chr. Hansen S/A (Denmark), Roha Dyechem, Sensient Technology Corporation (U.S.), Koninklijke DSM N.V. (Netherlands), San-Ei Gen F.F.I. Inc., WILD, DSM, Naturex, Phytone, GNT Group and FMC Corporation (U.S.).About usMarket Data Forecast is a firm working in the areas of market research and business intelligence. We have rich experience in research across major industry segments like Healthcare, Agriculture, Food & Beverages etc. and we cater to the needs of both individual and corporate clients. Our research services contribute to key business areas like business process improvement, key decision making and developing appropriate corporate strategy. We are truly committed to our clients and other stakeholders for providing customized research services of the highest quality all the while being an organization thats trusted for its integrity, respected for its accountability, and admired for its excellence, by both clients and competitors alike.Contact:Abhishek ShuklaManager (International Business Development)Market Data ForecastDirect Line: +1-888-702-9626Mobile: +91 998 555 0206Mail: abhishek@marketdataforecast.com
United States Cloud-Based Database Market Driven By Development In Innovative Technologies

Cloud-Based Database

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bigmarketresearch.com include new market research report United States Cloud-Based Database Market By Manufacturers, States, Type And Application, Forecast To 2022 to its huge collection of research reports.A cloud-based database is a database, as the name suggests, resides on a cloud computing platform. Databases are used to store and manage various forms of data generated by a company. Database services can be provided on-premises or on-demand. On-demand services are known as cloud-based databases, which is gaining increasing acceptance among several organizations. A cloud-based database is suitable for organizations that require immediate access to database services, easy scalability options, low cost, and low maintenance. Service providers offer end-to-end solutions, which help organizations focus on their core business areas.Request sample report @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Cloud-based Database in United States market, to split the market based on manufacturers, states, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversAmazon Web ServicesGoogleIBMCouchbaseTeradataAlibabaTencentMarket Segment by States, coveringCaliforniaTexasNew YorkFloridaIllinoisLay eyes on complete report @Market Segment by Type, coversSQL DatabaseNoSQL DatabaseMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoSmall and Medium BusinessLarge EnterprisesKey Chapters to deeply display the United States Cloud-based Database market :Chapter 1, to describe Cloud-based Database Introduction, product type and application, market overview, market analysis by States, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the manufacturers of Cloud-based Database, with profile, main business, news, sales, price, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the United States market by States, covering California, New York, Texas, Illinois and Florida, with sales, price, revenue and market share of Cloud-based Database, for each state, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5 and 6, to show the market by type and application, with sales, price, revenue, market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, to analyze the key States by Type and Application, covering California, New York, Texas, Illinois and Florida, with sales, revenue and market share by types and applications;Ask for discount @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 Specialty Frozen Bakery Market Analysis, Applications, Segmentation, Trends, Growth, Forecast to 2022

Global Specialty Frozen Bakery Market

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Market Highlights:Globally the Specialty Frozen Bakery market share as a frozen-bakery product is estimated to escalate at a higher growth rate which is supported by the rising consumption of convenience frozen food products. Based on the high shelf-life of the product, specialty frozen bakery products is gaining popularity amongst the consumers. The developing economic conditions of various regions are fueling up the market demand for specialty frozen bakery products.All these factors contribute to the calculated CAGR of 3.05% of Specialty Frozen Bakery market during 2016-2022.Request a Sample Report @Major Key Players: Aryzta (Swirtzerland) Csm Bakery Solutions Llc (U.S.) Bimbo Bakeries (U.S.) Rich Products Corporation (U.S.) Flowers Foods (U.S.) Harry Brot GmbH (Germany) Lantmannen Unibake International (Denmark) Vandemoortele (Belgium)Market Forecast:The increasing sale of Specialty Frozen Bakery Market is driven by the changing consumers food consumption preference and economic development. The development in technologies in various countries of the developed regions has led to the innovation in flavors and shelf life of the specialty frozen bakery products. This has raised the consumption of Specialty Frozen Bakery amongst various regions.The sale of specialty frozen bakery is high amongst the population of present young generation based on the high preference towards sweetened ready-to-eat food products. High focus on research and development has a positive impact on the growth rate of the market. The consumption of specialty frozen bakery products is high in Europe and is also evaluated to increase at a high growth rate in various other regions.Downstream Analysis:Consumption of Sweet baked goods & morning goods is increasing at a higher CAGR as increased consumption of sweetened food products. Amongst the various distribution channels, the quick service restaurants is found to hold a lions share based on raising consumers preference towards on-the-go food products. The popularity of unconventional bakery products is also increasing steadily which has increased the sale of specialty frozen bakery goods. People are more inclined towards consumption of Specialty Frozen Bakery with high nutritional value which has led to intense focus on the R & D sector of the manufacturing industries.Competitive Analysis:The major key players in Specialty Frozen Bakery market are Aryzta (Swirtzerland) Csm Bakery Solutions Llc (U.S.) Bimbo Bakeries (U.S.) Rich Products Corporation (U.S.) Flowers Foods (U.S.) Harry Brot GmbH (Germany) Lantmannen Unibake International (Denmark) Vandemoortele (Belgium)Regional AnalysisThe Global Specialty Frozen Bakery Market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and rest of the world (ROW). Among these Europe region has the major market share followed by North America. Europe region is found to be concentrated with the established key players in the Specialty Frozen Bakery market. Raising consumption of frozen foods and bakery goods is supporting the growth of the market in developed countries of North America and Europe region. U.K., U.S., France, Germany and Canada are the major importers of specialty frozen bakery products.Browse Full Report Details @Market Segmentation:Global Specialty Frozen Bakery market is segmented by type, customer-type, distribution channel and region.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- U.K.Table 3 Pestle Analysis- GermanyContinued.List of FiguresFigure 1 Research MethodologyFigure 2 Primary Data Analysis ApproachFigure 3 Secondary Data Analysis ApproachAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 524/528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune  411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Mobile Value-Added Services (VAS) Market to hit 17.65% by 2021: Market Size Forecasters

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Mobile Value-Added Services (VAS) Market 2017 Market Research Report was a professional and depth research report on Mobile Value-Added Services (VAS) Market industry that you would know the world's major regional market conditions of Mobile Value-Added Services (VAS) Market industry, the main region including (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa).Mobile value-added services (VAS) are user-friendly and convenient to use. These services help users save much time and effort. For instance, users can download music or videos, read news headlines, and book tickets at their convenience without the constraints of time and place. It becomes easier for end-users to search for a location, find directions, avail location-based advertising for their requirements, and find friends using location-enabled VAS.The Report analysts forecast the global mobile VAS market to grow at a CAGR of 17.65% during the period 2017-2021.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global mobile VAS market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sales of mobile VAS.Request a sample copy of Mobile Value-Added Services (VAS) Market Research Report @The market is divided into the following segments based on geography: Americas, APAC, EMEAThe report, Global Mobile VAS 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 America Movil, Apple, Comviva Technologies, GoogleOther prominent vendors AT&T, Blackberry, CanvasM Technologies, KongZhong, Near (AdNear), Nokia, OnMobileMarket driver Increased adoption of mobile broadband, For a full, detailed list, view our reportThe listed pricing for this Mobile Value-Added Services (VAS) Market report starts at $ 3500. Request Discount for Mobile Value-Added Services (VAS) Market Research Report @Market challenge High bargaining power of communication service providers, for a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend Adoption of location-enabled mobile VAS, 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 vendorsBrowse full table of contents and data tables For Mobile Value-Added Services (VAS) Market Report @Related Reports: -Global and Chinese Wireless Communications Equipment Industry, 2017 Market Research ReportGlobal and Chinese Wireless Communications Equipment Industry, 2012-2022 Market Research Report' is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the global Wireless Communications Equipment industry with a focus on the Chinese market. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Wireless Communications Equipment manufacturers and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the industry.MarketSizeForecasters.com, a Skyline Market Research LLP brand, is an online aggregator of market research reports. MarketSizeForecasters.com offers a comprehensive collection of full length reports on global and regional markets in 100+ industry verticals. We have partnered with some of the leading business and market research publishing houses and regularly update our online library to offer wide range of reports to our customers.Market size forecastersThe Green Suite #4594,Dover, DE 19901United StatesPhone: 1-201-355-0868US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketsizeforecasters.comWebsite:News:
Global PoE Injector Market 2017- Phihong , ICP , Sixnet , L-com Connectivity, Microchip Technology Inc.

Global PoE Injector Market 2017

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https://market.biz/report/global-poe-injector-market-2016/30400/

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The Worldwide PoE Injector Report does an extensive study of the Market Segment, Product categories, market revenue, product cost, Forecast 2017-2022. After that, the Global PoE Injector market 2017 Report is segregated into different categories based on geographical regions, key vendors and range of applications. The report also studies the PoE Injector Market Share and Growth.The latest PoE Injector global report presents insightful details related to the current scenario of the market. The report labeled PoE Injector filters out the crucial factors having an impact on the growth of the market. Present market trends along with future growth opportunities have been covered in depth in this report.Competitive Landscape View of Global PoE Injector Market 2017 and Dominant Sellers -1 Phihong2 ICP3 Sixnet4 L-com Connectivity5 Microchip Technology Inc.6 American Power Conversion7 SL POWER AULT8 N-TRON Corporation9 Sixnet10 Speco Technologies11 Advantech12 Flir Commercial Systems - FLIR DivisionDo Inquiry Before Buying Report Here:The report then discusses the distinct characteristics of the PoE Injector market and analyses the different market segments. Particularly, the report focuses on the progress of the PoE Injector market in regions like (US, EU, China and Japan). Other regions can be added conveniently. Different aspects that have the direct or indirect impact on PoE Injector market are discussed in this report.The PoE Injector report then evaluates the market based on product definition, categorization, applications and key players. Some major industry players are profiled in this report along with their business overview, revenue segmentation, their contribution in market share, consumer volume and production capacity. The PoE Injector market size, gross market share and potential users are covered at length in this report.Buy Complete Report Here (To Get Fast Access):Hence, this report is an important guide for all readers including established players, new players and all individuals interested in gaining knowledge about PoE Injector 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.Contact Us:James JohnsonS no. 51/14 First Floor,Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade,Near Navale Lawns, PuneMaharashtra, India 411041Tel: +1(857)2390696Web:Email: inquiry@market.bizBrowse Latest News-
Global Point of Care Devices Market 2017- Roche Diagnostics, Radiometer , Beckman, Abbott, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics

Global Point of Care Devices Market 2017

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The Worldwide Point of Care Devices Report does an extensive study of the Market Segment, Product categories, market revenue, product cost, Forecast 2017-2022. After that, the Global Point of Care Devices market 2017 Report is segregated into different categories based on geographical regions, key vendors and range of applications. The report also studies the Point of Care Devices Market Share and Growth.The latest Point of Care Devices global report presents insightful details related to the current scenario of the market. The report labeled Point of Care Devices filters out the crucial factors having an impact on the growth of the market. Present market trends along with future growth opportunities have been covered in depth in this report.Competitive Landscape View of Global Point of Care Devices Market 2017 and Dominant Sellers -1 Roche Diagnostics2 Radiometer3 Beckman4 Abbott5 Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics6 Johnson & Johnson7 Alfa Wassermann8 Nova Biomedical9 Alere10 Accriva11 MicronitDo Inquiry Before Buying Report Here:The report then discusses the distinct characteristics of the Point of Care Devices market and analyses the different market segments. Particularly, the report focuses on the progress of the Point of Care Devices market in regions like (US, EU, China and Japan). Other regions can be added conveniently. Different aspects that have the direct or indirect impact on Point of Care Devices market are discussed in this report.The Point of Care Devices report then evaluates the market based on product definition, categorization, applications and key players. Some major industry players are profiled in this report along with their business overview, revenue segmentation, their contribution in market share, consumer volume and production capacity. The Point of Care Devices market size, gross market share and potential users are covered at length in this report.Buy Complete Report Here (To Get Fast Access):Hence, this report is an important guide for all readers including established players, new players and all individuals interested in gaining knowledge about Point of Care Devices 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.Contact Us:James JohnsonS no. 51/14 First Floor,Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade,Near Navale Lawns, PuneMaharashtra, India 411041Tel: +1(857)2390696Web:Email: inquiry@market.bizBrowse Latest News-
Global Diagnostic Electrocardiography Devices Market to Partake Significant Development by 2021

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Diagnostic Electrocardiography (ECG) Devices essentially work on the principle to sense the cardiac electrical signals through electrodes, which are recorded and transmitted into graphical images. Consequently, ECG interpretation is used for diagnosing cardiac diseases such as arrhythmia, myocardial infarction and other such conditions resulting from damage to the heart muscles, conductive tissue, which transmits cardiac electrical signals. The market has been segmented based on device type, ECG data management systems, Resting ECG systems, Stress ECG Testing System, Ambulatory ECG devices, Holter ECG Monitors, ECG Recorder, Transmitter and PageWriter Cardiographs and Mobile Cardiac Outpatient Telemetry (MCOT) devices. The drivers for growth will be an increasing prevalence and higher predisposition for cardiac diseases due to global rise in obesity, along with sedentary and other lifestyle factors. According to American Heart Association (AHA) estimates, arrhythmia affects nearly 4 million U.S. with close to half million deaths due to arrhythmia citizens on an annual basis. Therefore, as a diagnostic tool ECG despite being established in the market for a long period will continue to grow with next generation ECG technology. Recently advances include loop recorders that can be implanted in patients body for recording cardiac rhythms for an extended duration.A Sample of this Report is Available Upon Request @The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, 2009 provides financial incentives for adoption of EMRs by 2015. This widespread adoption of electronic medical databases globally will act as an incentive for diagnostic ECG data management solutions because electrocardiograms are an important component of patients medical records. ECG data management solutions and telemetry provide beat-by-beat recording for post-operative management of coronary artery by-pass graft (CABG). However, they are incapable of monitoring patients during their mobility as they are fixed post-installation. To overcome these limitations, potable ECG event monitors penetrated the market for sub-acute cardiac rhythm monitoring for short durations. Similarly, Mobile Cardiac Outpatient Telemetry (MCOT) based on cellular capabilities is another technological advancement. CardioNet has established itself as a market leader through MCOT ECG solutions, which has witnessed an explosive growth in the market. Further, MCOT devices are now coupled with enhanced features e.g. expanded memory and light sensors. Thus, MCOS device technology is under constant innovation and has been the latest evolution in the diagnostic ECG device market. For instance, CardioSecur, is the first ECG device based on an iPhone. This segment is expected to grow rapidly because of higher precision and detection, enhanced patient compliance and post-operative care. Geographically, the demand for these devices will be shaped by sharp differences in market penetration based on the tradeoff between cost and technological aspects.There is a growing demand for ECG data management solutions in developed countries in North America and Europe for streamlining patient data management. Many vendors are therefore bundling technology by eliminating the need for stand-alone ECG devices in developed countries. Following on the demand for affordable ECG devices, GE Healthcare introduced portable MAC 800 ECG in the emerging markets. Certain other market players are using the strategy of combining two or more technology under a single diagnostic ECG device. The market for diagnostic ECG devices is undergoing rapid transformation in its landscape, as new market players are gaining entry through innovative products.To View TOC of this Report is Available Upon Request @Some of the key players operating in the diagnostic electrocardiography devices market include Aerotel Medical Systems (1988) Ltd., CardioComm Solutions, Inc. F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., GE Healthcare, Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (Labcorp), Personal MedSystems GmbH, Philips Healthcare, Mortara Instrument, Inc., Schiller AG and Siemens Corporation 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.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Global Polishers Market 2017- Stanley, Atlas Copco, HITACHI, Apex Tool Group , Makita

Global Polishers Market 2017

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The Worldwide Polishers Report does an extensive study of the Market Segment, Product categories, market revenue, product cost, Forecast 2017-2022. After that, the Global Polishers market 2017 Report is segregated into different categories based on geographical regions, key vendors and range of applications. The report also studies the Polishers Market Share and Growth.The latest Polishers global report presents insightful details related to the current scenario of the market. The report labeled Polishers filters out the crucial factors having an impact on the growth of the market. Present market trends along with future growth opportunities have been covered in depth in this report.Competitive Landscape View of Global Polishers Market 2017 and Dominant Sellers -1 Stanley2 Atlas Copco3 HITACHI4 Apex Tool Group5 Makita6 Snap-on7 Toku8 Paslode9 PUMA10 Bosch11 Basso12 P&F Industries13 SENCO14 Dynabrade15 Ingersoll Rand16 URYU SEISAKU17 Rongpeng18 Taitian19 JETECH20 AVIC QIANSHAO21 TianShui PneumaticDo Inquiry Before Buying Report Here:The report then discusses the distinct characteristics of the Polishers market and analyses the different market segments. Particularly, the report focuses on the progress of the Polishers market in regions like (US, EU, China and Japan). Other regions can be added conveniently. Different aspects that have the direct or indirect impact on Polishers market are discussed in this report.The Polishers report then evaluates the market based on product definition, categorization, applications and key players. Some major industry players are profiled in this report along with their business overview, revenue segmentation, their contribution in market share, consumer volume and production capacity. The Polishers market size, gross market share and potential users are covered at length in this report.Buy Complete Report Here (To Get Fast Access):Hence, this report is an important guide for all readers including established players, new players and all individuals interested in gaining knowledge about Polishers 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.Contact Us:James JohnsonS no. 51/14 First Floor,Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade,Near Navale Lawns, PuneMaharashtra, India 411041Tel: +1(857)2390696Web:Email: inquiry@market.bizBrowse Latest News-
U.S. Commercial Refrigeration Equipment Market is projected to expand at a healthy CAGR of 3.2% in terms of value over the forecast period

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Future Market Insights (FMI) delivers key insights on the commercial refrigeration systems market in its latest report titled, Commercial Refrigeration System Market: U.S. Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2015-2025. According to the report, the U.S. commercial refrigeration systems market is projected to expand at a healthy CAGR of 3.2% in terms of value over the forecast period. Commercial refrigeration systems are refrigerators with remote or self-contained condensing units. These refrigerators are designed especially for commercial use with a wide range of temperature control (typically from -18C to +10C) options. Commercial refrigeration systems are mainly used in hypermarkets, supermarkets, convenience stores, warehouses and distribution centres, foodservice industry and food & beverage production units. Commercial refrigeration systems include products such as ice machines, vending machines, beverage refrigeration equipment, refrigerated display cases, trailers, trucks, containers and walk-in and reach-in refrigerators. Commercial refrigeration systems also include various components such as compressors and refrigerants. Refrigerants mainly used in commercial refrigeration systems include R507A, R417A and R422A. The selection of a refrigerant depends on various properties such as non-corrosiveness, global warming and ozone depletion potential, inflammability, toxicity, cost, erosional properties, leak-detection capability and thermodynamic properties.Growing demand for frozen and chilled products, expansion of cold chain capacity, technological advancements in commercial refrigeration systems and rebates for energy-efficient products and practices are some of the major underlying factors anticipated to fuel growth of the U.S. commercial refrigeration systems market between 2016 and 2025. This is forecast to create unprecedented opportunities for commercial refrigeration systems manufacturers, distributors and HVAC contractors. The U.S. commercial refrigeration systems market is segmented on the basis of application and product type. By application, the market is segmented into foodservice, food & beverage distribution, food & beverage retail and food & beverage production. On the basis of product type, the market is classified into transportation & refrigeration systems, refrigerator & freezers, beverage refrigeration equipment, refrigerated display cases, ice machines and refrigerated vending machines.Request For Sample@By application, foodservice segment accounted for the highest share of 30% in terms of value in the U.S. commercial refrigeration systems market in 2014. This segment is expected to remain dominant in the market over the forecast period. Ice machines segment and beer dispensing equipment sub-segment are projected to play an important role in the foodservice industry due to various factors such as increasing per capita food consumption and rising number of foodservice restaurants in the country. By product type, transportation refrigeration systems segment is projected to expand at the highest CAGR of 5.5% during the forecast period due to expansion of cold chain capacity in the U.S. By region, Southeast region represents the largest market potential, followed by the Middle-east and Far West regions. California, Texas and Florida represent a huge potential for refrigerated systems due to high density of restaurants and convenience stores in these states. Other high-growth markets include Arizona, Georgia and Utah due to rapid growth in the restaurant industry in these states.Key trends identified in the U.S. commercial refrigeration systems market include rapid adoption of Internet of Things (IoT), compatible commercial refrigeration systems for enhancing system output, government initiatives to support utilisation of eco-friendly refrigerants and continued advancements in energy-efficient products. However, declining replacement rate of commercial refrigeration equipment and stringent government regulations could pose major challenge for tier II & III players.Send An Enquiry@The report analyses the U.S. commercial refrigeration systems market in terms of value (US$ Mn) and volume (000 units) by product type and end-use application, and provides insightful information regarding market dynamics, value chain, competitive landscape, current trends, market estimations and forecast.It is observed that customisation holds the key for tier 2 and tier 3 players in order to further penetrate into the market, thus creating a competitive threat for tier 1 suppliers in the market. Meanwhile, key players are strengthening their market positions through both organic and inorganic growth. Also, acquisition of HVAC contractors is leading to the addition of a new customer base for commercial refrigeration systems manufacturers. Key market participants covered in the report include Daikin Industries, Ltd., Standex International Corporation, Whirlpool Corporation, United Technologies, Dover Corporation, Ingersoll-Rand Plc, Hussmann Corporation, Lennox International Inc., Manitowoc Company, Inc., Emerson Electric Co. and Illinois Tool Works Inc.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Global Polyester Tire Cord Fabric Market 2017- FORMOSA TAFFETA CO. LTD. , HYOSUNG GROUP, JIANGSU TAIJI INDUSTRY NEW MATERIALS CO. LTD., PERFORMANCE FIBERS INC.

Global Polyester Tire Cord Fabric Market 2017

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The Worldwide Polyester Tire Cord Fabric Report does an extensive study of the Market Segment, Product categories, market revenue, product cost, Forecast 2017-2022. After that, the Global Polyester Tire Cord Fabric market 2017 Report is segregated into different categories based on geographical regions, key vendors and range of applications. The report also studies the Polyester Tire Cord Fabric Market Share and Growth.The latest Polyester Tire Cord Fabric global report presents insightful details related to the current scenario of the market. The report labeled Polyester Tire Cord Fabric filters out the crucial factors having an impact on the growth of the market. Present market trends along with future growth opportunities have been covered in depth in this report.Competitive Landscape View of Global Polyester Tire Cord Fabric Market 2017 and Dominant Sellers -1 FORMOSA TAFFETA CO. LTD.2 HYOSUNG GROUP3 JIANGSU TAIJI INDUSTRY NEW MATERIALS CO. LTD.4 PERFORMANCE FIBERS INC.5 SHINKONG SYNTHETIC FIBERS CORP.6 SINOPEC SHANGHAI PETROCHEMICAL CO. LTD.7 TORAY INDUSTRIES INC.8 ZHEJIANG HAILIDE NEW MATERIAL CO. LTD.Do Inquiry Before Buying Report Here:The report then discusses the distinct characteristics of the Polyester Tire Cord Fabric market and analyses the different market segments. Particularly, the report focuses on the progress of the Polyester Tire Cord Fabric market in regions like (US, EU, China and Japan). Other regions can be added conveniently. Different aspects that have the direct or indirect impact on Polyester Tire Cord Fabric market are discussed in this report.The Polyester Tire Cord Fabric report then evaluates the market based on product definition, categorization, applications and key players. Some major industry players are profiled in this report along with their business overview, revenue segmentation, their contribution in market share, consumer volume and production capacity. The Polyester Tire Cord Fabric market size, gross market share and potential users are covered at length in this report.Buy Complete Report Here (To Get Fast Access):Hence, this report is an important guide for all readers including established players, new players and all individuals interested in gaining knowledge about Polyester Tire Cord Fabric 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.Contact Us:James JohnsonS no. 51/14 First Floor,Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade,Near Navale Lawns, PuneMaharashtra, India 411041Tel: +1(857)2390696Web:Email: inquiry@market.bizBrowse Latest News-
Global Portable Anesthesia Delivery Machine Market 2017- GE Healthcare, Draegerwerk AG & Co. KGaA , Mindray Medical International Limited

Global Portable Anesthesia Delivery Machine Market 2017

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The Worldwide Portable Anesthesia Delivery Machine Report does an extensive study of the Market Segment, Product categories, market revenue, product cost, Forecast 2017-2022. After that, the Global Portable Anesthesia Delivery Machine market 2017 Report is segregated into different categories based on geographical regions, key vendors and range of applications. The report also studies the Portable Anesthesia Delivery Machine Market Share and Growth.The latest Portable Anesthesia Delivery Machine global report presents insightful details related to the current scenario of the market. The report labeled Portable Anesthesia Delivery Machine filters out the crucial factors having an impact on the growth of the market. Present market trends along with future growth opportunities have been covered in depth in this report.Competitive Landscape View of Global Portable Anesthesia Delivery Machine Market 2017 and Dominant Sellers -1 GE Healthcare2 Draegerwerk AG & Co. KGaA3 Mindray Medical International Limited4 Maquet Holding B.V. & Co. KG5 Philips Respironics, IncDo Inquiry Before Buying Report Here:The report then discusses the distinct characteristics of the Portable Anesthesia Delivery Machine market and analyses the different market segments. Particularly, the report focuses on the progress of the Portable Anesthesia Delivery Machine market in regions like (US, EU, China and Japan). Other regions can be added conveniently. Different aspects that have the direct or indirect impact on Portable Anesthesia Delivery Machine market are discussed in this report.The Portable Anesthesia Delivery Machine report then evaluates the market based on product definition, categorization, applications and key players. Some major industry players are profiled in this report along with their business overview, revenue segmentation, their contribution in market share, consumer volume and production capacity. The Portable Anesthesia Delivery Machine market size, gross market share and potential users are covered at length in this report.Buy Complete Report Here (To Get Fast Access):Hence, this report is an important guide for all readers including established players, new players and all individuals interested in gaining knowledge about Portable Anesthesia Delivery Machine 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.Contact Us:James JohnsonS no. 51/14 First Floor,Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade,Near Navale Lawns, PuneMaharashtra, India 411041Tel: +1(857)2390696Web:Email: inquiry@market.bizBrowse Latest News-
Global X-Ray Crystallography Market to Significant Growth Foreseen by 2022

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X-Ray Crystallography is the study of crystal structures, when an X-ray beam bombards them. The diffraction pattern is created by the X-ray diffraction technique, produces wavelengths, which are in the same order of magnitude and interatomic distances. Currently, X-ray crystallography has gained popularity for determining protein structure and biological macromolecules. The scientists can reconstruct the molecular crystalline structures; X-ray crystallography technique is being used for research on protein structures and is being extended to examining enzymes, viruses, protein- nucleic acid complexes, protein-ligand interactions in recent times. The commercial applications of X Ray Crystallography include examination of crystalline structures in DNA, bones and teeth, cosmetics, electronic chips, jewels and artefacts, pharmaceutical drug discovery etc.A sample of this report is available upon request @To promote research and discovery in the field of X Ray Crystallography, for celebrating the important role of this technique UNESCO declared the year 2014 as an International Year of Crystallography. This declaration was made with an intent to promote X-ray Crystallography as a potential tool for making new discoveries, acknowledging the major role played by this technique in understanding the pre-existing natural and mad made atomic structures.The technique has led to discoveries of many new biological, organic, and organometallic compounds. Furthermore, these newer areas of application have broadened the commercial appeal of this technique, as it is becoming a powerful and precise technique for examining crystalline single structures. The X-Ray Crystallography Market is segmented based on type of devices, X-Ray Crystallography Diffractometers, X-Ray Crystallography Reagents, X-Ray Optics, CCD (Charge Coupled Device) Detectors, Cryoprotectants, and Others.The manufacturing industries engaged in rigorous research and development activities in the field of material science, chemicals, physical and atomic science will be the prime end users in this market, besides academics and research institutes engaged in the field of material and chemical sciences. Moreover, key market players engaged in research and development in the field of biotechnology, pharmacy, cosmetic industries, and others would have a constant demand for X-ray crystallography. The technique has gained widespread popularity in hospitals and research laboratories due to its clinical applications in examining atomic composition of the crystalline structures in human body.On the basis of end users X-Ray Crystallography market is segmented into pharma companies, life science and biotechnology companies, hospitals and research laboratories, CROs, technology vendors and other end users. Geographically, North America (U.S and Canada) dominate the X-Ray Crystallography market followed by Europe as leading manufacturers such as Agilent Technologies Inc., are domiciled in these regions having majority of their operations in local regional markets.The potential drivers for this specialized and niche market includes demand side factors from research and development organisations. A wide range of commercial applications along with numerous important landmark discoveries has made X-ray crystallography more useful, accurate in the past few years. Moreover, this market would boost advent of new molecules for pharmaceutical drug discovery. Exhibitions and conferences prove to be a great platform for the promotion of X-Ray Crystallography as it provides scientists, developers and manufacturering companies an opportunity to introduce their ongoing projects, products, and research to new as well as existing customers.Request to View Tables of Content @The major players in the X-Ray Crystallography market include Bruker Corporation, GBC Scientific Equipment Pty Ltd, Materials Science International, GmbH, MVB Scientific, Moxtek, Inc., PANalytical B.V., Rigaku Corporation, Shimadzu Corporation, and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 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.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA - Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Industrial Machinery Market share to grow at 5.3% CAGR from 2016 to 2024

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The technology research report Industrial Machinery Market Size By Application (Agriculture, Construction, Packaging, Food Processing, Mining, Semiconductor Manufacturing), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Mexico, Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Africa), Growth Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016  2024; by Global Market Insights, Inc. says Industrial Machinery Market size is expected to reach USD 771.59 billion by 2024; impelled by rising adoption of smart packaging solutions.Escalating industrialization & growing trend of automation will stimulate industrial machinery market growth over the coming years. Agricultural sector is significantly sharing the industrial machinery business space, driven by the ease of crop harvesting and growing demand for agricultural automation.Incorporation of technological features such as GPS in agricultural equipment along with economic development will propel industrial machinery industry trends. Agricultural equipment includes farm tractors, planting & fertilizing, plowing & cultivating, haying, harvesting, liquid fertilizer sprayers, and livestock machinery.Moreover, supporting regulatory norms regarding infrastructural tax will boost construction activities across the countries such as India, South Korea, and Japan. Growing need of excavators for heavy lifting, landscaping, brush cutting, river dredging, etc. will positively influence the industrial machinery market size. Furthermore, upgrowing R&D in various segments such as automation of operations, steering systems, and data management is likely to positively impact the market.Food processing, semiconductor manufacturing, mining, agriculture, construction, packaging are the key application areas of the global industrial machinery market. Packaging application will surpass a revenue USD 65 billion by 2024, primarily driven by increasing demand for packaged food and beverages across the burgeoning middle-class population. Additionally, rising demand for multi-functional systems and emerging technologies such as vision sensors, EOAT (end-of-arm-tooling) design will boost industrial machinery industry size. Moreover, growing industrialization will drive construction and mining applications, with a growth rate of 4.5% over the period of 2016 to 2024.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @Furthermore, rapid urbanization, changing consumer lifestyle, and increasing disposable income will notably impact revenue generation in food processing application, which will exhibit lucrative annual growth rate of 7% over the coming seven years. Moreover, the liberalization of trades in food & agriculture, growing awareness about food brands will further drive industrial machinery market size in food processing application.Considering global industrial machinery market, APAC region contributed majorly towards worldwide revenue in 2015. China will lead the Asia Pacific industrial machinery industry growth. The attributing factors are increasing foreign investment for local production facilities and development across consumer durables & food processing sectors.Europe industrial machinery industry size is predicted to register a growth rate of 4.7% over the above-mentioned time, owing to the strict government regulations pertaining to emissions, noise free operations, and safety. Expanding construction equipment rental market will also positively influence the industrial machinery business share.Market players will enhance their sale by strategic partnerships with the key suppliers to attract more customers. Heavy investment in R&D to come up with better quality products will be a major growth strategy over the coming years. Komatsu Limited, Caterpillar Inc., Hitachi, Atlas Copco, Volvo, Terex, and Sandvik are some of the leading companies in the industrial machinery market.About 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.com
Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide Market by application, Scope, Analysis and Forecasts to 2025

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Global Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide Market: OverviewHydrogen peroxide is chiefly used in several industries due to its bleaching properties. Its day-to-day use is found in washing powders as well. Hydrogen peroxide is vastly brought into use to make sodium perborate and sodium percarbonate, which acts as bleaching agents in liquid and solid detergents.The global industrial hydrogen peroxide market can be classified on the basis of function into sterilizing/disinfecting, oxidizing, bleaching, and propulsion. Based on end-use industry, the market may be segmented into chemical synthesis, water and wastewater treatment, healthcare and personal care, pulp and paper, food processing, textile, and electronics and semiconductor.Request a Brochure of the Report @In the report, TMR Research provides a detailed analysis of drivers and restrictions in the global industrial hydrogen peroxide market. It also offers insight to the various segments and regions of the market.Global Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide Market: Key TrendsOn the basis of function, bleaching will hold a prominent share in the global industrial hydrogen peroxide market. This particular function is rising due to its excessive usage in the pulp and paper and textile industries. To achieve the desired brightness suitable for magazine papers, board and tissue products, bleaching of pulp and paper becomes more than necessary, thereby increasing the significance of the bleaching function of industrial hydrogen peroxide. Furthermore, industrial hydrogen peroxide is favored for bleaching of cotton fabrics to accomplish the preferred whiteness after the removal of the catalyst.The pulp and paper industry is a key contributor to the growth of the global industrial hydrogen peroxide market and is expected to grow at a higher rate during the said period. Industrial hydrogen peroxide is used for bleaching of mechanical pulp, chemical pulp, and recycled pulp (de-inking). With the help of industrial hydrogen peroxide in the pulp and paper industry, bleaching increases brightness stability, improves brightness levels, and reduces manufacturing cost, as it is the only chemical required. In addition, with the use of hydrogen peroxide, dangerous halogenated composites and effluents present in pulp are reduced and the color of the effluent is also lightened.Request for TOC of the Report @Industrial hydrogen peroxide achieves better results in oxidizing, bleaching, sterilizing/disinfecting, and etching applications than its alternatives present in the market and it is also environment friendly. However, there are numerous limitations of industrial hydrogen peroxide. If eyes are exposed to industrial hydrogen peroxide with a concentrations of 5% or more, it can result in permanent loss of vision. Moreover, skin exposure can cause burns, painful blisters, and skin whitening, restricting the growth of the global industrial hydrogen peroxide market.Global Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide Market: Regional OverviewGeographically, the global industrial hydrogen peroxide market can be segmented into North America, South America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa. Asia Pacific held a significant share in the market in 2015 and is projected to continue its positive streak through 2025. In the Asia Pacific region, China is presently an immensely strong player in the industrial hydrogen peroxide market. The key factors driving the growth include increasing demand from the pulp and paper, textile, and chemical industries and the rising need for environment-friendly and chlorine-free bleaches. India and Japan are two other promising markets for industrial hydrogen peroxide in Asia Pacific.Read Complete Report @Global Industrial Hydrogen Peroxide Market: Key PlayersThe report profiles key players in the global industrial hydrogen peroxide market based on various attributes such as company overview, business strategies, recent development, and financial overview. Some of the players in the market are BASF SE, The Dow Chemical Company, Ecolab Inc., Solvay SA, AkzoNobel N.V., Evonik Industries AG, Kemira Oyj, Arkema SA, Merck Group, and Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Inc.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting ser-vices to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Evaporative Condensing Unit Market : Deep Research Study with Forecast by 2025

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Global Evaporative Condensing Unit Market : SnapshotThe applications of evaporative condensers in commercial HVAC have been common over the past few decades. However the recent rate of advancement in this field has been enormous, thanks to the incorporation of newer and better materials, faster and cost-efficient manufacturing processes, and the increasing demand for the perfect HVAC system. The basis of evaporative condensers lies in the enhancement of heat rejection through the evaporation process. In this process, water is sprayed on a coil with air being blown simultaneously through the coil. This air comes from the natural heat of a room and causes the sprayed water to evaporate, thereby becoming cooler and aiding in the cooling of an environment. An evaporative condenser can be used at lower temperatures in order to minimize the load on a compressor, thereby allowing for a reduction in the total power drawn by the HVAC unit. Evaporative condensers can also be used reduce the overall downtime of an HVAC unit, while also making it less expensive in terms of repairs and maintenance, when compared to the air-cooled condensers. This is because evaporative condensers operate at a much smaller pressure difference than the latter. The benefits of using evaporative condensers further increase through the growing demand experienced by this market, coming from the rapidly evolving industrial sectors of all regions in the world, and especially the emerging economies. The relatively high use of high-performance evaporative condensers in refrigeration is also something to watch out for over the coming years, as the growing demand for refrigeration shelves, displays and containers in the food and beverages industry is likely to keep the players in the global evaporative condensing unit market on their toes.Global Evaporative Condensing Unit Market: OverviewEvaporative condensing units are installed for refrigeration needs across various industries such as chemical, power, and commercial industries among others due to their energy efficient features. The booming food and beverage industry displays an extensive demand for evaporative condensing units for several end-users such as cold stores, restaurants, warehouses, and food processing units. The developing food processing and storage facility industry in emerging economies is anticipated to fuel the growth of the refrigeration application segment of the overall market.Request a Brochure of the Report @The global evaporative condensing unit market can be segmented on the basis of design, end-use, application, and region. The most applications of evaporative condensing units are refrigeration and air conditioning; of the two, the refrigeration application segment is anticipated to lead the global evaporative condensing unit market.The key end users of evaporative condensing units include but are not limited to: Commercial, chemical, and power.The market study presents a thorough overview of the global evaporative condensing unit market, with insights into key growth drivers, restraints, and trends that will impact the markets future development. The report also delves into the latest trends and opportunities that companies in the global evaporative condensing unit market can leverage for growth.The report is prepared by gathering data from primary and secondary research sources and using standard research methodologies. The detailed assessment of the global evaporative condensing unit market presented in this study will assist managers, policy makers, and business analysts make informed business decisions.Global Evaporative Condensing Unit Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe development of advanced evaporative condensing units is primarily driving the growth of the global evaporative condensing unit market. Evaporative condensing units that are technologically advanced are being preferred owing to their extended shelf life and durability and they also facilitate improved performance of air-conditioning and refrigeration systems.Request for TOC of the Report @Furthermore, evaporative condensing units are used in large commercial industries, particularly the ones that require above 100 tons of refrigeration.Global Evaporative Condensing Unit Market: Regional OutlookThe global evaporative condensing unit market can be segmented into the regional segments of North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. Among these, the Middle East and Africa are expected to dominate the global evaporative condensing unit market in the coming years. Saudi Arabia is expected to contribute significantly to the growth of the Middle East and Africa evaporative condensing unit market due to the high economic growth in the country.In the coming years, the Middle East and Africa evaporative condensing unit market is expected to display a significant growth rate. This is due to the development of the chemical industry, which in turn displays substantial demand for evaporative condensing units in this region.The rising concerns about the high global warming potency of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) refrigerants have negatively impacted the growth of the evaporative condensing unit market in North America and Europe. In Europe, refrigerants need to meet EN 378 and ISO 5149 standards in order to be certified as non-toxic and non-flammable. Moreover, the European Environment Agency keeps a check on ammonia emissions from industrial units, commercial, domestic, and agricultural sectors and has laid out stringent regulations for the use of ammonia.Read Complete Report @In the U.S., the need to obtain EPA SNAP approval is compulsory before ammonia can be used in refrigerants.Major Companies Mentioned in ReportSome of the leading companies in the global evaporative condensing unit market are Baltimore Aircoil Company Inc., SPX Corporation, Evapco Inc., and Mammoth Inc. among others.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting ser-vices to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com
Burn Care Market Will Flourish by 2017 - 2025

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Global Burn Care Market: OverviewThe global burn care market is expected to witness healthy growth in the next few years, thanks to the growing awareness among consumers. The rising cases and the technological advancements in this field are estimated to accelerate the growth of the overall market in the near future. The research study further offers a comprehensive analysis of the global market and throws light on the key factors supplementing the markets growth. The key segmentation, latest trends, and the competitive scenario of the global burn care market have been discussed in the research report.Global Burn Care Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe rising number of cases of burn injuries across the globe is considered as one of the key reasons anticipated to fuel the growth of the global burn care market throughout the forecast period. In addition, the increasing awareness among patients regarding the effective medicines and products available for burn care and the rising healthcare expenditure are some of the other aspects expected to supplement the growth of the overall market in the next few years.Request a Brochure of the Report @On the flip side, the high cost of products and the increasing cost of burn care treatments are projected to restrict the growth of the global burn care market in the next few years. Nevertheless, the rising demand for skin grafts and substitutes and advancements in the burn acre products are estimated to accelerate the growth of the market in the near future. Moreover, the untapped opportunities in several developing markets are expected to offer growth prospects to key players operating in the global burn care market.Global Burn Care Market: Region-wise OutlookThe research study further offers a detailed analysis of the key regional segments of the global burn care market. Some of these segments are Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and the Rest of the World. The estimated growth rate and share of each segment have been included in the research study in order to offer a strong understanding to readers and market players. According to the research study, North America is likely to register a progressive growth rate throughout the forecast period and maintain its leading position. The high growth of this segment can be attributed to the increasing use of advanced dressings and the growing demand for biologics.Request for TOC of the Report @Furthermore, North America is expected to be followed by Europe and Asia Pacific in the next few years. The rising awareness regarding the availability of effective burn care products and treatments among consumers, especially in emerging economies is estimated to fuel the overall growth of the burn care market in the near future. Moreover, the rising contribution from India, China, and Japan is predicted to accelerate the growth of the Asia Pacific burn care market in the forecast period.Key Players Mentioned in the Research Report are:The research study offers a clear picture of the competitive landscape of the global burn care market. The leading players operating in the market have been listed, along with their profiles to guide the new entrants of the global burn care market. In addition, the product portfolio, business strategies, financial overview, SWOT analysis, and the recent developments have been highlighted in the scope of the research study.Read Complete Report @Some of the leading players mentioned in the research study are Deroyal Industries, Inc., Medtronic, Derma Sciences, Inc., Coloplast A/S, Convatec Healthcare B S.A.R.L., Molnlycke Health Care, Smith & Nephew PLC, Hollister, Inc., 3M, and Acelity L.P. Inc. These players are focusing on new product development in order to offer effective solutions to consumers. Technological developments in the healthcare field are further anticipated to encourage the growth of the global burn care market and attract the participation of new players across the globe.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
Field Programmable Gate Array Market to grow at CAGR of 8.4% from 2015 to 2022

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Overview:According to industry research report Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) Market Size By Application (Data Processing, Industrial, Automotive, Consumer Electronics, Telecom, Military & Aerospace), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook, Application Potential, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2015  2022, Global Field Programmable Gate Array(FPGA) Market share USD 9.98 billion by 2022. Rising demand for customizable integrated circuits as well as from application fields is predicted to fuel industry expansion during forecast timeframe.Technological breakthroughs are predicted to drive field programmable gate array(FPGA) market share expansion. Arrays can be reprogrammed and possess prebuilt logic gates. They can be configured to execute required hardware functions. Software is created for online computing tasks that can be compiled into configuration file. Hence, when another circuitry configuration is recompiled, resultant FPGA becomes totally reprogrammed for particular application field. Another key advantage of using these chips is application of customized circuits at lesser price. They can also operate as customized microprocessors with associated peripherals.Use of the FPGA products across many of the end use sectors is predicted to propel industry growth in future. These equipments have in-built RAM which functions as a system central processing unit(CPU) and performs digital signal processing operations like image intensification and signal processing in smart phones. They are utilized for many purposes in flat panel displays that includes panel controller, display panel applications, video processing, battery management, video board and operating mode.Request for a sample of this research report @FPGA programming technology is also used in healthcare segment for medical imaging device due to high performance computing requirement. General diagnostic imaging instruments comprise CT scanners, X-ray, nuclear medicine imaging, mammography device, MRI(magnetic resonance imaging) and ultra sound device. Benefits provided by the programming technique in digital signal processing as compared to other processors makes it a good alternative for most devices consisting volume imaging conducted in current generation PET(Polyethylene terephthalate) equipments.However, design complexity and ASIC which can be used as alternative are predicted to hamper industry expansion in future. Growing reputation of medical electronics and rising demand from APAC zone is predicted to provide numerous growth avenues to the industry participants during forecast timeframe.Application Trends:The industry is segmented into various applications like telecomm and automotive. Telecomm sector contributed greater than 33% of the total FPGA(field programmable gate array)market share for 2014 and is predicted to maintain its domination in future. Heavy demand of bandwidth for video applications and growing use in base stations for 3G network to LTE network up gradation are few of the factors credited for sector growth.Rising number of integrated circuits in vehicles is predicted to be a key aspect for automotive sector. Further, favorable government regulations for hybrid and electric vehicles to minimize green house emissions are predicted to positively affect sector growth. It contributed for more than 17% of total FPGA((field programmable gate array) industry share for 2014 and is predicted to expand at CAGR of greater than 8.5% during forecast timeframe.Regional Trends:APAC FPGA(field programmable gate array)industry size was evaluated at about $2.2 billion for 2014 and is predicted to surpass $4.3 billion by end of forecast timeframe. Countries like Taiwan, China, India, South Korea and Japan substantially contribute towards automotive sector and consumer electronics segment and this is the reason for industry growth in the region.U.S. FPGA(field programmable gate array)market contributed more than 25% of the total revenue share for 2014. Large scale investments in aerospace and defense applications along with growth of telecommunications sector is predicted to fuel regional industry expansion during forecast timeframe.Competitive Trends:Key industry players profiled in the report includes Microsemi Corporation, Aeroflex Incorporation, Lattice Semiconductor, Achronix, Cypress Semiconductor, Xilinx Incorporation, Achronix Semiconductor Corporation, Atmel Corporation, Tabula, Altera Corporation, Intel Corporation, Texas Instruments and QuickLogic and Xilinx.About 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 Network Function Virtualization Market Overview, Growth, Supply, Revenue and Forecast 2016-2022

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Market HighlightsIn this rapidly changing and technologically developing environment, digitization needs are ever increasing. The market trend towards the high adoption of internet of things is driving the Network function virtualization market. The study indicates that due to rapid increase in network traffic, most of the organizations are improving their focus on analyzing data effectively.The study indicates that network function virtualization have the ability to connect and manage the heterogeneous elements of IoT securely by the network function virtualization which results in the growth of network function virtualization market. The network function virtualization has few challenges to overcome. The challenges include the demand for process realignment so that traditional and virtual infrastructure can be managed simultaneously, requires managing IT in the abstract and dynamic environment. These challenges are the restraining factors in the growth of network function virtualization market.The Network function virtualization Market is growing rapidly over ~31% of CAGR and is expected to reach at USD ~19 billion by the end of forecast period.Request a Sample Copy @Key Players:The prominent players in the Network function virtualization market are Accenture PLC (Ireland), Juniper Networks (U.S.), Alcatel-Lucent S.A. (France), Cisco Systems, Inc. (U.S.), Huawei technologies Co. Ltd. (China), Nokia Corporation (Finland), Intel Corporation (U.S.), NEC Inc. (Japan), Amdocs Inc. (U.S.), Connectem Inc. (U.S.), Ericsson (Sweden), 6WIND (France), Oracle Corporation(U.S.), Open Wave Mobility Inc. (U.S.), Allot communications (U.S.) among othersNetwork function virtualization Market SegmentationThe Network function virtualization market has been segmented on the basis of application, deployment, infrastructure and end-user. Looking through the deployment segment its been observed cloud based deployment segment are expected to dominate the Network function virtualization market by the forecast period, due to increased adoption of cloud technologies by the organizations worldwide. The Network function virtualization market is dominated by communication service provider sector. The increase in the penetration of mobile devices and demand for quality network services has aggravated the need for efficient network traffic management by communication service providers.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 Network function virtualization Market Research Report- Forecast 2022Browse full report @It has been observed that interoperability standards have shown an indefinable challenge for the NFV industry and this challenge is overcome by Ciscos NSO based NFVO platform that showed 100% success for interoperability tests of network service on-boarding, instantiation and termination in an event named ETSIs first Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) Interoperability Plugtest. Recently, there has been a news that vCloud NFV 2.0 is developed by VMware which is developing Network function virtualization (NFV) packages for telcos.Market Research Analysis:Regional analysis for Network function virtualization market is studied in different geographic regions as Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of world. It has been observed that North America region would account for larger share in Network function virtualization market followed by Europe. It has been observed that North America region has high adoption of internet of things (IoT) and inclination towards digitization which has resulted in the growth of Network function virtualization market.Intended Audience Technology investors Key market innovators Venture capitalists Private equity groups Telecom service providers Internet service providers Cloud service providers Research/Consultancy firmsRelated ReportsGlobal Smart Lighting Market Information by lighting type (led, fluorescent lights, compact fluorescent lamps) by Application (commercial applications, residential applications) by components (sensors, relays timers) Sub Types - Forecast 2016-2021.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.Contact:Akash AnandMarket Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Superhard Material Market to Witness Comprehensive Growth by 2021

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A superhard material is a material with a hardness level exceeding 40 gigapascals. Superhard materials are highly incompressible solids with high electron density and high bond covalency.A sample of this report is available upon request @The various products of superhard material include cemented carbides, tool steels, ceramics and diamond. Cement carbide is generally used in industrial applications for machining tough materials such as carbon steel or stainless steel. The superhard material market is segmented in the following three categories: monocrystalline superhard, composite superhard materials and super-hard materials and tools. Monocrystalline superhard materials include diamond and cubic boron nitride.Composite superhard materials include clad sheet for oil and gas, clad sheet for cutting tools, clad sheet and wire drawing die blanks used for coal and mining. Super-hard materials and tools include polycrystalline diamond drawing dies, diamond saw blades, diamond drill bits, diamond discs and diamond cutting tools.Due to their incomparable hardness, superhard materials can scratch and shape any object, hence it used in a wide range of industrial operations related to turning, cutting, drilling, boring and grinding. Superhard materials are used in many industries including aerospace, alternative energy, automotive, chemical processing, infrastructure and construction, die & mold, electronic, general machining, mining, oil & gas, paper & pulp, power generation, railroads and shipbuilding. Application of superhard material in these industries includes abrasive, coating, cutting tool, general medical, precision part, refractory parts, sensors, semiconductor fabrication, subsystem components and wear parts polishing.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @In 2013, affected by the insufficient demand from downstream petroleum, construction and metal cutting machine tool and due to the sluggish economy, superhard material and products industrys growth was slowed down and many companies were facing high operating costs due to this reason. In view of this, SF Diamond Co., Ltd, BOSUN Tools Co., Ltd, Henan Huanghe Whirlwind Co., Ltd, and some other companies adopted number of measures to expand their existing production capacity and extend their industrial chain to enhance their operational capabilities.Asia-Pacific is the largest market for superhard material. China contributes the largest share of superhard material market in Asia-Pacific region generating about 90% of global output and become the top producer of manmade diamond. The superhard material market in China reached about USD 2 billion in 2013, accounting about 21.8% of global market share in superhard material. Market of superhard material in North America and Europe region is driven by improving economy, intensifying manufacturing activity and the ensuing rise in demand for machine tools that used for various industrial operations.Major companies operating in global superhard material market are Zhongnan Diamond Co.,Ltd, Zhengzhou Sino Crystal Diamond Co., Ltd, Henan Huanghe, SF Diamond Bosun Tools, KingDream Public, Advanced Technology & Materials Co., Ltd, Zhengzhou New Asia Superhard Material Composite Co., Ltd., Henan Yalong Diamond Tools Co., Ltd, Shenzhen Haimingrun Industrial Co., Ltd., Zhengzhou Research Institute for Abrasives & Grinding, Monte Bianco Diamond Applications Co., Ltd., King strong Material Engineering Ltd, CR Gems Diamond Co., Ltd, Anhui Hongjing New Material Co., Ltd, Funik Ultra hard Material Co., Ltd, Henan Yalong Superhard Materials Co.,Ltd, Zhengzhou Realy Superabrasives Co.,Ltd and BOSUN Tools Co., Ltd.Key geographies evaluated in this report are:North AmericaU.SCanadaEuropeFrance, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UKEastern EuropeCISAPACChinaIndiaJapanAustraliaOthersLatin AmericaArgentinaBrazilOthersKey features of this reportDrivers, restraints, and challenges shaping the Superhard Material market dynamicsLatest innovations and key events in the industryAnalysis of business strategies of the top playersSuperhard Material market estimates and forecasts(2015 -2021)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 And Beverage Air Filtration Market Analysis, Share, Trends and Forecast by 2024

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The global food & beverage air filtration market is expected to reach USD 1.75 billion by 2024, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc.The proliferation of demand for the improved food quality has led manufacturers to upgrade the technology during the food production process, which is anticipated to increase the installation of air filters over the forecast period.Browse the report:The air filters systems are used to remove various contaminants in the production stage. Few specialized filters, such as high-performance HEPA filters, help in removing germs and viruses, thereby producing sterile air. The food air filters minimize moisture and the resultant energy required for improving the efficiency of various processes, which is expected to drive the market growth extensively.Filter manufacturers are also inspired to design efficient filter systems with the growing requirements and increasing stringent legislations emphasizing on hygiene in the food industry. Furthermore, improving the air quality in the production process along with reducing the levels of microorganisms have also become few of the major concerns for food manufacturers, which will boost the food and beverage air filters industry over the forecast period.Request a sample of the report:The stringent government regulations for food safety and growing health concerns have mandated the food producers to implement enhanced filtration methods. The increasing need to reduce energy consumption across several industrial applications is anticipated to elevate the demand for an effective food & beverage air filtration system. The growing concerns regarding the environmental health coupled with the reducing raw material resources and natural depositories are primarily expected to fuel growth over the forecast period.Further key findings from the report suggest:The food & beverage market is expected to witness a steady growth over the forecast period owing to the increasing awareness regarding health concerns, which has encouraged food producers to improve the production process influencing the filtration industry.The HEPA filters market is expected to grow at highest CAGR, owing to the wide application of these filters in air filtration and air purification applications for controlling the airborne particulate level in the dairy and food & ingredients industries.The dairy industry is expected to witness a CAGR of over 6% over the forecast period. The increasing consumer interest in healthy eating has boosted the dairy product demand among the consumers. Furthermore, the introduction of yogurt drinks and yogurt has also helped in the expansion of health-focused food and drinks, leading to the improved manufacturing process and enhanced air filtration equipment market.The North American food & beverage industry is expected to remain the major revenue generating regionover the forecast period. The continuous increasing awareness for nutritious and organic food with the growing health concerns have influenced growth.The key players in the food & beverage market include Parker Domnick Hunter (U.S.), Donaldson Company, Inc. (U.S.), Pall Corporation (U.S.), and Camfil Group (Sweden).Companies are focusing on providing enhanced quality food products adhering to the government regulations for food safety.Major Points From Table Of Contents:Chapter One: Methodology and ScopeChapter Three: Market SnapshotChapter Four: Food & Beverage Air Filtration Industry OutlookChapter Five: Food & Beverage Air Filtration Product OutlookChapter Six: Food & Beverage Air Filtration Application OutlookChapter Seven: Food & Beverage Air Filtration Regional OutlookChapter Eight: Competitive LandscapeAbout 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 Information:Hector CostelloSenior Manager  Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas  75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +9164101019Email: sales@orbisresearch.com
Semiconductor Packaging Material Market 2017 to 2022 Market Share, Growth, Statistics, Competitor Landscape and Forecast

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Semiconductor Packaging Material Global Market Synopsis & ScenarioSemiconductor packaging material global market is growing with the up surged Sales of Smartphones and Smart Devices, however the growth may get restricted by the high Dependency on Performance of Semiconductor Equipment Industry Redistributed Chip Packaging is is very popular in the market; this has ultimately become a trend followed by almost every manufacturer of the global market of Semiconductor Packaging Material.Semiconductor Packaging Material Global Market Key PlayersSemiconductor packaging material manufacturers and subcontractors are experiencing a severe pricing pressure from their customers. Thus, manufacturers are pushing cost reduction at a faster pace to offset erosion in semiconductor average selling prices (ASP).Identified by MRFR Analysts, as the leading market players operating in the global semiconductor packaging material market primarily include Henkel AG Hitachi Chemical Sumitomo Chemical Kyocera Chemical Mitsui High-Tec Toray Industries Corporation Alent PLC LG ChemicalRequest a Sample Report @Semiconductor Packaging Material Global Market SegmentationSemiconductor packaging material global market has been segmented in to 2 key dynamics for an enhanced understanding and convenience of the report.By Types: Organic substrates, bonding wires, encapsulation resins, ceramic packages, solder balls, wafer level packaging dielectrics and others.By Technology: Grid Array, Small Outline Package, Dual Flat No-Leads, Quad Flat Package, Dual In-Line Package and others.The World of consumer electronics shapes (Changes) depending upon the changes taking place in semiconductor devices world ie the thickness of the semiconductor device, die (diodes) attached and bonding wire and encapsulated with materials playing a major role enabling the development of newer packaging technologies.Semiconductor Packaging Material Market Regional AnalysisGeographically, Asia-Pacific is one of the crucial markets due to the presence of vast electronic industry in China, Japan and South Korea. This factor has placed Asia-Pacific the leading market in near future followed by North America and Europe.Semiconductor Packaging Material Global Market  OverviewA semiconductor package refers to a metal, plastic, glass or ceramic casing containing one or more semiconductor electronic components. Individual discrete components are typically etched in silicon wafer before being cut and assembled in a package. The package provides protection against impact and corrosion holds the contact pins or leads which are used to connect from external circuits to the device, and dissipates heat produced in the device. Thousands of standard package types are made, with some made to industry-wide standards and some particular to an individual manufacturer.Semiconductor Packaging Material Market has witnessed a remarkable growth over the past few years, globally, owing to the rising demand for mobile phones, tablets and other communication devices and as per the MRFR estimation the market will keep on growing during the forecast year. The global semiconductor packaging material market had valued in billions in 2015, the market is expected to grow further surpassing its previous growth records by 2027 with a remarkable CAGR during the forecasted period (2017-2027), predicts the Market Research Future in the recent study report - Global Semiconductor Packaging Material Market.The semiconductor packaging materials is a major platform to the success of the semiconductor business across the globe and the changes in consumer electronics is driving the changes in packaging materials market. The major factor driving the global market of SPM is constantly growing mobile industry and technological advancements. The global market of semiconductor packaging material has augmented exceptionally well owing to the increased demand for mobile and other communication devices, enlightens us the MRFR Team Research Analyst while commenting upon this deep diving study report, presented through more than 100 market data tables and figures, widely spread over 115 pagesBrowse Report @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 Methodologies3.1 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 of Global Semiconductor Packaging Material Market5 Industry Overview of Global Semiconductor Packaging Material Market5.1 Introduction5.2 Growth Drivers5.3 Impact analysis5.4 Market Challenges5.5 Impact analysis6 Market Trends6.1 Introduction6.2 Growth Trends6.3 Impact analysisContinueRelated ReportGlobal Glass Packaging Market Information by Application (Alcoholic beverages, food & beverages, pharmaceuticals and others) and by Region - Forecast to 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
Report Shares Details About the Global Diabetes Care Devices Market Share by Manufacturers- Roche Diagnostic, LifeScanInc, Bayer HealthCare

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Diabetes Care Devices Market Research Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.This research report accounts for all the most recent and relevant dynamics of the Diabetes Care Devices to create an all-encompassing database for users of all types. An important part within the given dynamics of the market is the information surrounding the profiles of all leading players and the relative competitive landscape of the market, as it is very likely for these key players to have their fair share of influence over it. Additional dynamics of the Diabetes Care Devices as mentioned in the report include its key drivers, restraints, and opportunities that have already affected a majority of the players in it, along with the ones that are likely to continue impacting the market over the given forecast period.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @To fully elaborate the competitive landscape of the market, a SWOT analysis is penned out in a manner fit for players of all caliber. This allows for a clearer projection for the market for the foreseeable years. Other aspects analyzed in the report, in terms of the individual player profiles, are their financial profiles and their current planning and market strategies that have so far been visible.The Diabetes Care Devices is further analyzed on the basis of its supply and demand chains, which is a part of the passage that employs past analytics and current information pertaining to usage and production capacities. This section of the report additionally includes product descriptions and cost structures of the market. The report also presents a descriptive analysis of the market in order to calculate its characteristic traits in upstream and downstream demand cycles for raw materials, imports, and exports.Table of ContentsGlobal Diabetes Care Devices Market Research Report 20171 Diabetes Care Devices Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Diabetes Care Devices1.2 Diabetes Care Devices Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Diabetes Care Devices Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Diabetes Care Devices Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Self-Monitoring Blood Glucose Meter1.2.4 Continuous Glucose Monitor1.2.5 Testing Strip1.2.6 Lancet1.2.7 Insulin Pump1.2.8 Insulin Pen1.2.9 Insulin Syringe1.3 Global Diabetes Care Devices Segment by Application1.3.1 Diabetes Care Devices Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Medical Care1.3.3 Personal Care1.3.4 Clinic1.4 Global Diabetes Care Devices Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Diabetes Care Devices 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 Diabetes Care Devices (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Diabetes Care Devices Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Diabetes Care Devices Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)2 Global Diabetes Care Devices Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Diabetes Care Devices Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Diabetes Care Devices Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Diabetes Care Devices Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Diabetes Care Devices Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Diabetes Care Devices Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.4 Manufacturers Diabetes Care Devices Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Diabetes Care Devices Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Diabetes Care Devices Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Diabetes Care Devices Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Diabetes Care Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 Global Diabetes Care Devices Capacity and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.2 Global Diabetes Care Devices Production and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 Global Diabetes Care Devices Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.4 Global Diabetes Care Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.5 North America Diabetes Care Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.6 Europe Diabetes Care Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.7 China Diabetes Care Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.8 Japan Diabetes Care Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.9 Southeast Asia Diabetes Care Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.10 India Diabetes Care Devices Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)Browse Complete Report with TOC @4 Global Diabetes Care Devices Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)4.1 Global Diabetes Care Devices Consumption by Region (2012-2017)4.2 North America Diabetes Care Devices Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.3 Europe Diabetes Care Devices Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.4 China Diabetes Care Devices Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.5 Japan Diabetes Care Devices Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.6 Southeast Asia Diabetes Care Devices Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.7 India Diabetes Care Devices Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)5 Global Diabetes Care Devices Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Diabetes Care Devices Production and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2 Global Diabetes Care Devices Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.3 Global Diabetes Care Devices Price by Type (2012-2017)5.4 Global Diabetes Care Devices Production Growth by Type (2012-2017)6 Global Diabetes Care Devices Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Diabetes Care Devices Consumption and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)6.2 Global Diabetes Care Devices Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/CountriesAbout UsQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business 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Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact Us1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Sales Industry 2017 Market Status, Distributors & Traders - Neusoft, Bionix, Elekta

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Market Research Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.The research report analyzes the Radiation Therapy Immobilizer in a thorough style that includes elucidating the key aspects of the market, especially the ones that are marked as likely to have a sizeable influence on its developments in the coming years. The key proponents of growth for the market, the major factors out restrain this overall growth rate, and the trends that are influencing the market are all examined in great detail in this report. Additionally, it includes a qualitative and quantitative enquiry on the factors that are likely to impact the projected growth rate of the Radiation Therapy Immobilizer in the near future.The copious amounts of data gathered on the market over the years has made it a tough task to boil it down to the absolute necessary facts and statistics that are indigenous to the relevancy of the problems faced by the market. Many entities are also known to lack the dedicated properties and abilities for taking up an exhaustive market research based on historical data, a task whose results this report provides in their entirety.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report is a concentrated explanation of a broad spectrum of information on the Radiation Therapy Immobilizer. This includes factors that can influence its scope of growth in the immediate future as well as over the given forecast period. The report makes for a valuable read that can effectively empower companies and investors in tackling the core issues that are currently restraining the market and strategically reap the most benefits.The report also provides information on the recent developments in products and technologies as currently observed in the market, along with an analysis of the overall effect that these advancements may have on the markets future developments.Table of ContentsGlobal Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Market Research Report 20171 Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Radiation Therapy Immobilizer1.2 Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category) (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Whole body1.2.4 Head1.2.5 Lower Limb1.2.6 Breast1.3 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Segment by Application1.3.1 Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Adult1.3.3 Pediatric1.4 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer 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 Radiation Therapy Immobilizer (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)2 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.4 Manufacturers Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, ExpansionBrowse Complete Report with TOC @3 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Capacity and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.2 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Production and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.4 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.5 North America Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.6 Europe Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.7 China Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.8 Japan Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.9 Southeast Asia Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.10 India Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)4 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)4.1 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Consumption by Region (2012-2017)4.2 North America Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.3 Europe Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.4 China Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.5 Japan Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.6 Southeast Asia Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.7 India Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)5 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Production and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.3 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Price by Type (2012-2017)5.4 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Production Growth by Type (2012-2017)6 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Consumption and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)6.2 Global Radiation Therapy Immobilizer Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/CountriesAbout 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.About UsQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact Us1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Global Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) Market Gains from Competition against Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement

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"The Report Global Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) Market: Analysis By Type of Approach (Transfemoral and Transapical), By Region, By Country: Opportunities and Forecast (2017-2022) - By Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, RoW); By Country (U.S., Canada, Germany, France, U.K., China, India, Japan, Brazil, South Africa) provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"The global transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) market is prognosticated to invite a commendable growth while rising at a 18.30% CAGR between 2017 and 2022, according to a report included by MarketResearchReports.biz in its healthcare depository. The report bears the title Global Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) Market: Analysis By Type of Approach (Transfemoral And Transapical), By Region, By Country: Opportunities And Forecast (2017-2022) - By Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, RoW); By Country (U.S., Canada, Germany, France, U.K., China, India, Japan, Brazil, South Africa).The pioneering furtherance of the TAVR technique in the cardiovascular surgery and interventional cardiology medical domains is expected to augur well for the world TAVR market. Even though surgical aortic valve replacement has had an impact on the medical field as a standard treatment, a patient count of almost 30.0% is not regarded fit for conventional open heart surgeries. This could be due to the presence of sundry comorbidities and advanced age.However, TAVR has emerged as a better option promising improved outcomes and a minimally invasive type of treatment. Elevating healthcare expenses in less developed nations, approvals for novel devices, surging awareness about less invasive devices, and the ballooning size of geriatric population worldwide are some of the leading factors stimulating the growth of the international TAVR market.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @The U.S. is prophesied to experience a heightened adoption of TAVR treatments. Asia Pacific could hold on to a higher rate of advancement in the international TAVR market. The rise of the Asia Pacific TAVR market is envisaged to be driven by the consciousness about technologically sophisticated heart valve therapies, inflating penetration rate, and improvement in healthcare expenditure. Nevertheless, Europe could register a kings share in the international TAVR market during the course of the forecast period.The authors of this worldwide TAVR market research report have carefully analyzed the transapical and transfemoral types of approach. Besides this, the report buyers are provided access to a comprehensive geographical analysis across several regions and countries. Growth factors, market shares and size, market deterrents and opportunities, competitive landscape, and more aspects of the worldwide TAVR market are profoundly discussed in the report.One of the most productive portions of the publication incorporates strategic recommendations designed to help players enter or dominate the worldwide TAVR market. In this regard, the analysts have recommended players to focus on the commercialization and development of TAVR therapies.View Press Release @The company profiling section sheds light on the critical information about some of the superior organizations operating in the international TAVR market such as Meril Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd., JenaValve Technology Inc., St. Jude Medical Inc., Boston Scientific Corporation, Medtronic Plc, and Edwards Lifesciences Corporation. In addition to that, the report has stressed on company share and country pricing and volume analysis of the international TAVR market in the competitive landscape section.About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Plasticizers Market Driven by Flourishing Construction and Automotive Industry

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"The Report Global Plasticizers Market Research Report 2016 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"MarketResearchReport.biz has announced the availability of a new report at their portal, titled Global Plasticizers Market Research Report 2016. The report has been prepared to serve as a reliable business guide for the stakeholders in the global plasticizers market, providing deep insights into how the demand has developed since 2011 and where it stands in 2016. The report provides forecasts for the future of the market until 2021. Several leading companies have also been overviewed in the report in order to represent the competitive landscape and the opportunities available for new entrants.According to the report, plasticizers are polymer additives that improve softness, flexibility, volatility, and workability of plasticized materials. Available in various types including terephthalates, phthalates, aliphatics, and epoxies, the market for plasticizers is primarily driven by the increasing demand for flexible PVC in various applications, prosperity of the packaging industry, and growing adoption of high molecular phthalate plasticizers and non-phthalate for various purposes. Rapid growth of construction industry, owing to urbanization in several emerging economies, is expected to reflect positively on the global plasticizers market.On the other hand, factors such as toxicity of PVC and strict government regulations on phthalates are expected to challenge the market for plasticizers from attaining its full potential. The report also anticipates ongoing research on bio-based plasticizers and flourishing automotive industry to open new opportunities for the vendors operating in plasticizers market.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @Based on type, the report segments the plasticizers market into low phthalates, high phthalates, and non-phthalates. Application-wise, the market can be segmented into flooring and walls, wires and cables, film and sheet coverings, consumer goods, and coated fabrics. Geographically, the report studies the potential of the plasticizers market in the region of North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia as well as in country-wide markets of China, Japan, and India. For each of these country or regional markets, the report explores the prospects until 2021. Currently, Asia Pacific is the most lucrative region, with China and Japan serving the maximum demand, which was a reflection of flourishing manufacturing industry and budding PVC industry in the two countries.View Press Release @Some of the leading companies in the plasticizers market that have been profiled in the report are Aekyung Petrochemical Co. LTD, Exxonmobil Corporation, BASF SE, Shandong Hongxin Chemicals Co. LTD., Eastman Chemical Company, Evonik Industries Ag, Shandong Qilu Plasticizers Co. LTD., Upc Technology Corporation, Nan Ya Plastics Corporation, and Lg Chem LTD. For each of these companies, the report provides information on their manufacturing base, competitors, product portfolio, production capacity, and profits and revenue.The report provides cost analysis of plasticizers manufacturing process, including key raw material overview, cost structure, labor cost, and overall expense. It also contains dedicated chapters on industrial chain and marketing strategies of the leading companies.About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Android Projectors Market Analysis, Market Size, Regional Outlook, Competitive Strategies And Forecasts, 2017

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This report studies Android Projectors 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 2012 to 2016, and forecast to 2022.Ask for Sample copy @This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringSonyOptomaWhaleyLuxeonZTEPhilipsMEGOSansui...By types, the market can be split into1080P4KOtherBy Application, the market can be split intoCommercialResidentialBy Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaPre Order Enquiry:Table of ContentsGlobal Android Projectors Market Professional Survey Report 20171 Industry Overview of Android Projectors1.1 Definition and Specifications of Android Projectors1.1.1 Definition of Android Projectors1.1.2 Specifications of Android Projectors1.2 Classification of Android Projectors1.2.1 1080P1.2.2 4K1.2.3 Other1.3 Applications of Android Projectors1.3.1 Commercial1.3.2 Residential1.3.3 Application 31.4 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 Android Projectors2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Android Projectors2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Android Projectors2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Android Projectors3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Android Projectors3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Android Projectors Major Manufacturers in 20163.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Android Projectors Major Manufacturers in 20163.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Android Projectors Major Manufacturers in 20163.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Android Projectors Major Manufacturers in 2016Get Discount on this Report @4 Global Android Projectors Overall Market Overview4.1 2012-2017E Overall Market Analysis4.2 Capacity Analysis4.2.1 2012-2017E Global Android Projectors Capacity and Growth Rate Analysis4.2.2 2016 Android Projectors Capacity Analysis (Company Segment)4.3 Sales Analysis4.3.1 2012-2017E Global Android Projectors Sales and Growth Rate Analysis4.3.2 2016 Android Projectors Sales Analysis (Company Segment)4.4 Sales Price Analysis4.4.1 2012-2017E Global Android Projectors Sales Price4.4.2 2016 Android Projectors Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment)5 Android Projectors Regional Market Analysis5.1 North America Android Projectors Market Analysis5.1.1 North America Android Projectors Market Overview5.1.2 North America 2012-2017E Android Projectors Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.1.3 North America 2012-2017E Android Projectors Sales Price Analysis5.1.4 North America 2016 Android Projectors Market Share Analysis5.2 China Android Projectors Market Analysis5.2.1 China Android Projectors Market Overview5.2.2 China 2012-2017E Android Projectors Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.2.3 China 2012-2017E Android Projectors Sales Price Analysis5.2.4 China 2016 Android Projectors Market Share Analysis5.3 Europe Android Projectors Market Analysis5.3.1 Europe Android Projectors Market Overview5.3.2 Europe 2012-2017E Android Projectors Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.3.3 Europe 2012-2017E Android Projectors Sales Price Analysis5.3.4 Europe 2016 Android Projectors Market Share Analysis5.4 Southeast Asia Android Projectors Market Analysis5.4.1 Southeast Asia Android Projectors Market Overview5.4.2 Southeast Asia 2012-2017E Android Projectors Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.4.3 Southeast Asia 2012-2017E Android Projectors Sales Price Analysis5.4.4 Southeast Asia 2016 Android Projectors Market Share Analysis5.5 Japan Android Projectors Market Analysis5.5.1 Japan Android Projectors Market Overview5.5.2 Japan 2012-2017E Android Projectors Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.5.3 Japan 2012-2017E Android Projectors Sales Price Analysis5.5.4 Japan 2016 Android Projectors Market Share Analysis5.6 India Android Projectors Market Analysis5.6.1 India Android Projectors Market Overview5.6.2 India 2012-2017E Android Projectors Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.6.3 India 2012-2017E Android Projectors Sales Price Analysis5.6.4 India 2016 Android Projectors Market Share Analysis6 Global 2012-2017E Android Projectors Segment Market Analysis (by Type)6.1 Global 2012-2017E Android Projectors Sales by Type6.2 Different Types of Android Projectors Product Interview Price Analysis6.3 Different Types of Android Projectors Product Driving Factors Analysis6.3.1 1080P of Android Projectors Growth Driving Factor Analysis6.3.2 4K of Android Projectors Growth Driving Factor Analysis6.3.3 Other of Android Projectors Growth Driving Factor Analysis7 Global 2012-2017E Android Projectors Segment Market Analysis (by Application)7.1 Global 2012-2017E Android Projectors Consumption by Application7.2 Different Application of Android Projectors Product Interview Price Analysis7.3 Different Application of Android Projectors Product Driving Factors Analysis7.3.1 Commercial of Android Projectors Growth Driving Factor Analysis7.3.2 Residential of Android Projectors Growth Driving Factor AnalysisBuy Now:8 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Android Projectors8.1 Sony8.1.1 Company Profile8.1.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.1.2.1 Product A8.1.2.2 Product B8.1.3 Sony 2016 Android Projectors Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.1.4 Sony 2016 Android Projectors Business Region Distribution Analysis8.2 Optoma8.2.1 Company Profile8.2.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.2.2.1 Product A8.2.2.2 Product B8.2.3 Optoma 2016 Android Projectors Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.2.4 Optoma 2016 Android Projectors Business Region Distribution Analysis8.3 Whaley8.3.1 Company Profile8.3.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.3.2.1 Product A8.3.2.2 Product B8.3.3 Whaley 2016 Android Projectors Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.3.4 Whaley 2016 Android Projectors Business Region Distribution Analysis8.4 Luxeon8.4.1 Company Profile8.4.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.4.2.1 Product A8.4.2.2 Product B8.4.3 Luxeon 2016 Android Projectors Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.4.4 Luxeon 2016 Android Projectors Business Region Distribution Analysis8.5 ZTE8.5.1 Company Profile8.5.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.5.2.1 Product A8.5.2.2 Product B8.5.3 ZTE 2016 Android Projectors Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.5.4 ZTE 2016 Android Projectors Business Region Distribution Analysis8.6 Philips8.6.1 Company Profile8.6.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.6.2.1 Product A8.6.2.2 Product B8.6.3 Philips 2016 Android Projectors Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.6.4 Philips 2016 Android Projectors Business Region Distribution AnalysisRead More:About Us:QY Research Groups is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. QY Research Groups is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends.QY Research Groups is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results.Contact us:Email- sales@qyresearchgroups.comWeb-Follow Us:LinkedIn | Twitter| Facebook
Child's Behaviour....a challenge, a frustration or a delight?

One day I met a parent in the school who asked me how do you manage discipline and childrens behaviour in the class? Her question made me think - as an individual, am I disciplining children? or even my own little daughter who is less than 2 years Often I get upset with her behaviour. As I thought about my little one, I felt like I am sinking in the 
Global Compactors Market Overview, Top Manufacturers, Industry Growth Analysis and Forecast to 2022

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Market Highlights:The compactor is a machine that compacts the layers of various materials and reduces the thickness of the respective layer by reducing the air voids. Modern trash compactors are coated with antimicrobials to inhibit the growth of odor-producing bacteria, and reduce the risk of potential health hazards, which increase the popularity of these compactors.The high maintenance cost of Compactors Market may hamper the growth of the global compactors market. Global compactors market is expected to grow at CAGR of 3% by 2022.Major Key Players: Terra Compactor Wheel Corporation (U.S.) Caterpillar Inc., (U.S.) BOMAG GmbH (Germany) Marcel Equipment Limited (Canada) HJ Industries (U.S) Humdinger Equipment Ltd. (U.S) G.G. Compactors Limited. (U.K.) Hamm AG (Germany) Sakai America, (U.S.) MBW Incorporated (U.S)Request a Sample Report @Market Research Analysis:On the basis of region, global compactors market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and RoW. North America region accounts the largest market share of the global compactors market. Increasing cost of waste disposal is the primary driving factor of the market in North America region. The extensive usage of garbage collection services and the high adoption of the pay-as-you-throw program by waste management boards have increased the cost of waste disposal. Asia Pacific region is expected to grow at the fastest pace during the forecast period mainly due to the rapid growth in construction industry. Europe and RoW are expected to grow at a moderate pace during the forecast periodScope of the Report:This study provides an overview of the global compactors market, tracking two market segments across four geographic regions. The report studies key players, providing a five-year annual trend analysis that highlights market size, volume and share for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC) and Rest of the World (ROW). The report also provides a forecast, focusing on the market opportunities for the next five years for each region. The scope of the study segments the global compactors market by its type, end user and region.Access Report Details @Regional Analysis:North America region dominates the global compactors market. Recovery of the residential housing sector in this region is a significant factor that spurs the demand of the market in North America region. Asia Pacific region is expected to grow at fastest pace during the forecast period. Rapid growth in urbanization and industrialization in Asia-Pacific region, ultimately drive the demand of the market.Intended Audience: Manufacturing Industries Distributer & Supplier companies consultants and Investment bankers Government as well as Independent Regulatory AuthoritiesAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 524/528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Market Data Overviews: Global Emergency Spill Response Market Research Report 2017

Global Emergency Spill Response Market Research Report 2017

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This report studies the Emergency Spill Response 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 Emergency Spill Response market by product type and applications/end industries.The global Emergency Spill Response 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.The major players in global Emergency Spill Response market include Clean Harbors, Veolia Environnement, OSRL, Desmi A/S, US Ecology, Briggs Marine & Environmental Services, MWCC, Elastec, Adler and Allan, Vikoma InternationalAsk a complete & professional report sample, please send message to tinaning@qyresearch.com or visit atTable of contents:1 Emergency Spill Response Market Overview2 Global Emergency Spill Response Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global Emergency Spill Response Production by Regions (2012-2017)4 Global Emergency Spill Response Consumption (K Units) by Regions (2012-2017)5 Global Emergency Spill Response Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Types6 Global Emergency Spill Response Market Analysis by Applications7 Global Emergency Spill Response Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis8 Emergency Spill Response Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global Emergency Spill Response Market Forecast (2017-2022)13 Research Findings and Conclusion14 Methodology and Data SourceRelated Reports:Global Emergency Spill Response Market Research Report 2017Europe Emergency Spill Response Market Research Report 2017China Emergency Spill Response Market Research Report 2017India Emergency Spill Response Market Research Report 2017Korea Emergency Spill Response Market Research Report 2017Japan Emergency Spill Response Market Research Report 2017USA Emergency Spill Response Market Research Report 2017Contact Details:Company Name: QYResearch CO.,LIMITED | focus on Market Survey and ResearchContact Person: Tina Ning | Professional Market Research Report PublisherEmail: tinaning@qyresearch.com or qyresearcheurope@126.comTel: 0086-20-22093278(CN)Web:QYResearch established in 2007, focus on custom research, management consulting, IPO consulting, industry chain research, data base and seminar services. The company owned a large basic data base (such as National Bureau of statistics database, Customs import and export database, Industry Association Database etc), experts resources (included energy automotive chemical medical ICT consumer goods etc industries experts who own more than 10 years experiences on marketing or R&D), professional survey team (the team member with more than 3 years market survey experience and more than 2 years depth expert interview experience),Excellent data analysis team (SPSS statistics and PPT graphics process team); QYResearch has always pursuit product quality, adhere to the quality is the soul of business.Room 2311 VILI International Building No.167 Linhe West Road Tianhe District
Automotive Oil & Fuel Market: Global Industry Analysis and Forecast 2016 - 2026

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Global Automotive Oil & Fuel Market: OverviewAutomotive oil is a lubricant which is used in internal combustion engines that power motorcycles, cars, engine-generators, lawnmowers, and such kind of other machines. There are parts in the engines that moves against each other and this friction wastes useful power in the form of heat from kinetic energy conversion. Sometimes, the wear of those parts takes place that would lead to degradation and lower efficiency of engine. All these factors decreases power output of the engine, and increases the fuel consumption and can even lead to failure of the engine. To prevent this damages and losses lubricating motor oil is used that forms a thin film between the adjacent moving parts to avoid the direct contact between the parts. Thus the wear and the friction gets reduced and engine gets protected. An automobile fuel is used to power the engines and ultimately the vehicles, mostly the fuel used in the vehicles are gasoline or diesel. There are even other fuels available in the market these days and it includes biodiesel, ethanol, compressed natural gas (CNG), propane, hydrogen and charged batteries. The fuel in the vehicle ignited in the engine to provide energy, in case of a diesel engine the fuel ignites by compression and in case of gasoline engine it ignited by spark. The global automotive oil & fuel market is anticipated to have an healthy CAGR in the forecast period.A sample of this report is available upon request @Global Automotive Oil & Fuel Market: Drivers and RestrainsThe ever increasing automobile industry leads to the rise in the consumption of fuel required to run the vehicles is the major driving factor for the global automotive oil & fuel market. Also rising industrialization and urbanization is making the automobiles to run more than required and leads to the maintenance of its engines. Thus the need of the oil required for the maintenance of the automobiles is at its peak. All these factors leads to the growth of global automotive oil & fuel market.However, the surging cost of the fuels such as diesel and gasoline is leading to the unaffordability of the use of automobiles that can slowdown the growth of automotive oil & fuel market. Also the risk of explosion of vehicles, specially the vehicles running on gas is scaring people to opt for these kind of vehicles that can again hamper the automotive oil & fuel market.Global Automotive Oil & Fuel Market: SegmentationOn the basis of types of oils, the automotive oil & fuel market can be segmented as follows: Diesel engine oils, Two Wheeler Oils, Passenger car motor oils, Gear & transmission oils, Gas engine oil. On the basis of types of fuel, the automotive oil & fuel market can be segmented as follows: Gasoline, Diesel, Biodiesel, Auto gas, Ethanol blend, Hybrid. On the basis of vehicle type, the automotive oil & fuel market can be segmented as follows: Passenger cars, Light commercial vehicles, Heavy commercial vehicles, Domestic vehicles.Global Automotive Oil & Fuel Market: Region Wise OutlookThe global automotive oil & fuel market can be divided into seven regions, namely North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan and Middle East and Africa. Europe is the dominant region in the global automotive oil & fuel market owing to the ever increasing automobile market in this region. Asia Pacific is the second major contributor in the automotive oil & fuel market due to the automobile giants such as Maruti, Hero and other companies. The companies such as General Motors, Ford are having a significant contribution in the global automobile market making North America a considerable player in the global automotive oil & fuel market. Japan is technologically advanced country in terms of automotive markets and so the technology of automotive oil & fuel is very common in this country. Latin America and Middle East and Africa are at a nascent stage in the automotive oil & fuel market but is anticipated to have a modest CAGR in the forecasted period.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Global Automotive Oil & Fuel Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players in the global automotive oil & fuel market are as follows: TIDE WATER OIL CO. (INDIA) LTD., AMSOIL INC, Schaeffer Manufacturing Co, Bharat Lubricants, Saudi Arabian Oil Co., China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, PetroChina Company Limited, Exxon Mobil Corporation, BP p.l.c, Royal Dutch Shell plc, Reliance Industries Limited.The research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data, and statistically supported and industry-validated market data. It also contains projections using a suitable set of assumptions and methodologies. The research report provides analysis and information according to market segments such as geography, technology and applications.About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a third-platform research firm. Our research model is a unique collaboration of data analytics and market research methodology to help businesses achieve optimal performance.To support companies in overcoming complex business challenges, we follow a multi-disciplinary approach. At PMR, we unite various data streams from multi-dimensional sources. By deploying real-time data collection, big data, and customer experience analytics, we deliver business intelligence for organizations of all sizes.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Unified network management Market Foreseen to grow to the Precision and Reach US $13 Billion By 2022

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Market HighlightsIn this rapidly changing and technologically developing environment, security needs are ever increasing. The market trend towards the higher requirement analytical tools and analytics applications are driving the unified network management market. The study indicates that due to rapid increase in network traffic, most of the organizations are improving their focus on analyzing data effectively. The implementation of network traffic management solution of unified network management will boost the market in a positive way.The study indicates that unified network management market has increased due to the ability to provide better cyber security and advanced analytics. The cloud based unified network management is expected to grow due to the high adoption of cloud technologies. The high cost of unified network management solutions is the restraining factor in the growth of unified network management market.The Unified network management Market is growing rapidly over 17% of CAGR and is expected to reach at USD 13 billion by the end of forecast period.Request a Copy of Sample Report @Major Key Players: Accenture PLC (Ireland), Juniper Networks (U.S.), Alcatel-Lucent S.A. (France), IBM Corporation (U.S.), Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (U.S.), Cisco Systems, Inc. (U.S.), HP (U.S.), Bradford Networks, Inc. (U.S.), Ascom Holdings AG (Switzerland), Ericsson (Sweden), Allot Communication (U.S.), Sandvine Inc. (Canada), Tibco Software (U.S.)Commenting on the report, an analyst from Market Research Future (MRFR)s team said:The unified network management market is growing rapidly. Increased demand of security, higher requirement analytical tools and analytics applications are driving the unified network management market. The unified network management market is globally emerging across world. The study shows that many organizations have a focus on analyzing data effectively due to rapid increase in network traffic. The continuous developments in this technology and its solutions have motivated several industries to adopt unified networking solutions and services.The study indicates software-defined networking is also increasing the need for unified network management. The study indicates that unified network management has the ability to provide better cyber security and advanced analytics, which results in the increase of unified network management market. The adoption of cloud technologies make opportunities for cloud based unified network management. The study also reveals that high cost of unified network management solutions is the major restraining factor for unified network management market.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 30 market data tables and figures spread over 100 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Unified network management Market Research Report -Forecast to 2022.Access Report Details @Market SegmentationThe Unified network management market has been segmented on the basis of type, solution, services, deployment, organization size and end-user. Looking through the solution segment its been observed that network traffic management solutions are expected to dominate the Unified network management market by the forecast period, due to growing data traffic challenges faced by the organizations worldwide. Network traffic management includes controlling and monitoring network activities along with prioritizing, managing, and reducing the network traffic, congestion, latency, and packet loss. The unified network management market is dominated by consulting services. The study shows that high adoption of wireless hardware devices such as smartphones and other internet enabled devices are witnessed due to which wireless network type is growing significantly in the unified network management market.The study indicates that adoption of cloud based unified network management tools would enable companies to understand the real time network traffic and distribution bandwidth across the technology. The cloud based unified network management is expected to see a sudden hike in the unified network management market.Make an Enquiry @Brief TOC1 MARKET INTRODUCTION1.1 INTRODUCTION1.2 SCOPE OF STUDY1.2.1 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE1.2.2 ASSUMPTIONS1.2.3 LIMITATIONS1.3 MARKET STRUCTURE2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY2.1 RESEARCH NETWORK SOLUTION2.2 PRIMARY RESEARCH2.3 SECONDARY RESEARCH2.4 FORECAST MODEL2.4.1 MARKET DATA COLLECTION, ANALYSIS & FORECASTLIST OF TABLESTABLE 1 UNIFIED NETWORK MANAGEMENT MARKET, BY TYPETABLE 2 UNIFIED NETWORK MANAGEMENT MARKET, BY SERVICETABLE 3 UNIFIED NETWORK MANAGEMENT MARKET, BY DEPLOYMENT TYPETABLE 4 UNIFIED NETWORK MANAGEMENT MARKET, BY SOLUTIONTABLE 5 UNIFIED NETWORK MANAGEMENT MARKET, BY END-USERTABLE 6 UNIFIED NETWORK MANAGEMENT MARKET, BY ORGANIZATION SIZETABLE 7 UNIFIED NETWORK MANAGEMENT MARKET, BY REGIONSContinuedBrowse Related ReportGlobal Automated Passenger Counting System Market, By Technology (Infrared, Stereoscopic Vision, Time-of-Flight, IP cameras), By Application (Railways, Roadways, Airways), By End-users (Buses, Trains, Ferry Boats) - Forecast 2022About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Middle-East and Africa Critical Care Equipment (CCE) market is expected to reach US$ 1061.4 million by 2023

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Market HighlightsThe Middle-East and Africa critical care equipment (CCE) market has been evaluated to be growing moderately and is expected that it will continue to grow at the same pace in future as well. This market was US$ 681.2 million in 2016 and is expected to reach US$ 1061.4 million by 2023 growing at the CAGR of 5.7%.Critical care is very important medical procedure planned to cure critical medical conditions such as severe illness, injuries or both. Hospitals have their own critical care unit (CCU) or commonly known as intensive care unit (ICU) to monitor, diagnose and treat patients under controlled medical conditions with the help of critical care equipment. These are technologically advanced devices which monitor and collect accurate data about patients current medical condition. CCE also provides life support to patients so that patients can maintain organ functioning in life threatening medical conditions including severe injuries, illness or both.Middle East and Africa is one of the prominent and growing markets for the healthcare sector. Due to increase in per capita income, the expenditure on healthcare is also increasing in this region. Non-communicable diseases like stroke and heart diseases are rising rapidly and are major market driver for critical care equipment in these regions. The critical care equipment market in these regions is expected to grow at the CAGR of 10% annually and which boosts growth of the overall healthcare industry. Hospitals in these regions are spending about 20%-30% of their budget on critical care units. Medical equipment manufacturers are spending money on R&D to develop more advance and innovative products for the CCE market. Continuous innovation and growing adoption of new technology are leading the growth of this market.Request a Copy of Sample Report @Major Key Players Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc. (US), General Electric Company (US), Medtronic (Republic of Ireland), Siemens Healthcare Private Limited (Germany), Baxter (US) Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Netherlands)Segmentation:Middle East and Africa critical care equipment market has been segmented on the basis of type of equipment which includes patient monitor, medical ventilator, dialysis, IV pumps, infusion pump, suction apparatus and others. On the basis of end user of the market, the same has been is segmented into hospitals, research laboratories and others.Test the market data and market information presented through more than 40 market data tables and figures spread over 65 pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content (TOC) & market synopsis on Critical Care Equipment (CCE) Market Research Report Forecast till 2022Access Report Details @Commenting on the report, an analyst from Market Research Future (MRFR)s team said that the market of Middle-East and Africa critical care equipment (CCE) is growing moderately and expected to continue its growth similarly in future as well. Critical care equipment (CCE) also known as intensive care equipment provides life support to patients who are admitted for the cure of life threatening or medical illness. Critical care unit (CCU) is equipped with critical care equipment which is useful to monitor patients and maintain life support to maintain function of human organs. Due to technological advancement of CCE, medical professionals are able to diagnose and treat more efficiently than before. Increasing healthcare expenditure, developing healthcare infrastructure, top class medical facilities and skilled medical professionals are leading to the growth for CCE market in these regions. Healthcare is one of the high priorities of government in this region which is major boost for this sector over here. Middle-East and Africa critical care equipment market is growing at the CAGR of 5.7% which was around US$ 681.2 million in 2016 and expected to reach US$ 1061.5 million by 2023. However, there are several factors which are inhibiting this markets growth such as high cost, lack of advanced healthcare facilities particularly in African countries etc.Make an Enquiry @Brief TOC1. Report Prologue2. Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope of the Study2.2.1 Research Objective2.2.2 Assumptions2.2.3 Limitations2.3 Market Structure2.4. Market Segmentation3. Research Methodology3.1 Research Process3.2 Primary Research3.3 Secondary Research3.4 Market Size Estimation3.5 Forecast Model4. Market DynamicsContinued.Browse Related ReportMicroelectronic Medical Implants Market Information, by Product (Neurostimulators, Drug Infusion Pumps), by Application (Pacemakers, Defibrillators, Neurostimulators, Spinal Fusion Stimulators, Implantable Drug Pumps) - Forecast till 2022About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
2021 Global Internet of Things (IoT) Security Market Analysis and Forecasts New Research Report

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Global Internet of Things (IoT) Security Market Professional Survey Report 2017Purchase This Report by calling ResearchnReports.com at +1-888-631-6977.The report gives a thorough overview of the present growth dynamics of the Global Internet of Things (IoT) Security with the help of vast market data covering all important aspects and market segments. The report gives a birds eye view of the past and present trends as well the factors expected to drive or impede the market growth prospects of the Global Internet of Things (IoT) Security market in the near future.The study comprises a mix of data pertaining to the key restraints, drivers, competitive landscape, regulatory forces, key strategies implemented by the key players, and opportunities, expected to have a profound impact on the scope of growth of the market. A detailed analysis of these factors allows the report to present a reliable forecast regarding the future growth dynamics of the Global Internet of Things (IoT) Security MarketPlace a direct purchase order on this Global Internet of Things (IoT) Security Market report at:This report studies the Global Internet of Things (IoT) Security market, analyses and research the Global Internet of Things (IoT) Security development status and forecast in North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East & Africa and Latin AmericaThe report also implements primary and secondary research techniques for gathering the most crucial pieces of professional information, and applies a number of industry-best techniques upon the data for projecting the future state of the Global Internet of Things (IoT) Security market. Based on current market development, the report includes an analysis of how activities such as mergers and shapes the markets future.Get 30% Discount on This Report at:A section containing exceptional detailed data about all the influential players operating in the market has also been included in the report, giving readers and enterprises access to information such as challenges faced by the companies, the growth strategies implemented, the recent developments reported by them, and the financial and business overview of the company.Revenue shares, service offerings and contact information of each of the companies has also been stated with maximum details. With the help of these details, a to the point overview of the competitive landscape of the market is covered in the report, expected to give the readers a clear idea of strategies that are providing most promising returns to companies.Table of Contents:Global Internet of Things (IoT) Security Market Professional Survey Report 20171 Industry Overview of Internet of Things (IoT) Security1.1 Definition and Specifications of Internet of Things (IoT) Security1.1.1 Definition of Internet of Things (IoT) Security1.1.2 Specifications of Internet of Things (IoT) Security1.2 Classification of Internet of Things (IoT) Security1.2.1 Network Security1.2.2 Endpoint Security1.2.3 Application Security1.2.4 Cloud Security1.2.5 Others1.3 Applications of Internet of Things (IoT) Security1.3.1 Wearables1.3.2 Building and Home Automation1.3.3 Supply Chain Management1.3.4 Patient Information Management1.3.5 Energy and Utilities Management1.3.6 Customer Information Security1.3.7 Asset Optimization1.3.8 Manufacturing Process Management1.3.9 Communication Technology Management1.3.10 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 Internet of Things (IoT) Security2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Internet of Things (IoT) Security2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Internet of Things (IoT) Security2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Internet of Things (IoT) Security3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Internet of Things (IoT) Security3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Internet of Things (IoT) Security Major Manufacturers in 20153.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Internet of Things (IoT) Security Major Manufacturers in 20153.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Internet of Things (IoT) Security Major Manufacturers in 20153.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Internet of Things (IoT) Security Major Manufacturers in 20154 Global Internet of Things (IoT) Security Overall Market Overview4.1 2011-2016 Overall Market Analysis4.2 Capacity Analysis4.2.1 2011-2016 Global Internet of Things (IoT) Security Capacity and Growth Rate Analysis4.2.2 2015 Internet of Things (IoT) Security Capacity Analysis (Company Segment)4.3 Sales Analysis4.3.1 2011-2016 Global Internet of Things (IoT) Security Sales and Growth Rate Analysis4.3.2 2015 Internet of Things (IoT) Security Sales Analysis (Company Segment)4.4 Sales Price Analysis4.4.1 2011-2016 Global Internet of Things (IoT) Security Sales Price4.4.2 2015 Internet of Things (IoT) Security Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment)Complete Report Available At:About Research n Reports:Research N Reports is a new age market research firm where we focus on providing information that can be effectively applied. Today being a consumer driven market, companies require information to deal with the complex and dynamic world of choices. Where relying on a sound board firm for your decisions becomes crucial. Research N Reports specializes in industry analysis, market forecasts and as a result getting quality reports covering all verticals, whether be it gaining perspective on current market conditions or being ahead in the cut throat global competition. Since we excel at business research to help businesses grow, we also offer consulting as an extended arm to our services which only helps us gain more insight into current trends and problems. Consequently we keep evolving as an all-rounder provider of viable information under one roof.Contact us:Mr. Sunny DenisContact No. +1-888-631-6977sales@researchnreports.com(ResearchnReports)
Aesthetics Combination Therapy Market to Exceed US$ 3.69 Bn by 2024

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The global aesthetics combination therapy market was valued at US$ 1.97 Bn in 2016, and a new report from Persistence Market Research anticipates it to reach US$ 3.69 Bn by 2024. The market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.1% during the period 2016-2024.Persistence Market Research has analyzed that a combination of macro- and micro-economic factors will collectively influence the market during the period 2016-2024.To give readers a comprehensive analysis on the global aesthetics combination therapy market, Persistence Market Research has segmented the market by therapy, application, end-use, and region.By therapy type, the key segments include,BTx-A/Dermal filler, BTx-A/Laser, Laser/Topical Drug, Laser/Topical Drug, Laser/Radiofrequency, Dermal Filler/Topical Drug, OthersBTx-A/Dermal Filler Sought-After Therapy TypeCurrently, BTx-A/dermal filler is the sought-after therapy type, accounting for US$ 547.7 Mn in revenues in 2016. This segment is projected to grow at 10.9% CAGR through 2024. BTx-A/laser  the second largest segment in terms of revenues  is projected to grow at 6.6% CAGR.Scar Removal Largest Application SegmentScar removal remains the largest application segment for aesthetic combination therapy market. Accounting for 28.2% revenue share of the market in 2016, this segment is projected to remain dominant during the period 2016-2024. Skin resurfacing is the second-largest segment in terms of revenue. Demand for aesthetics combination therapy is expected to witness strong growth in hair removal procedure. Tattoo removal remains the other key application segment.Dermatology Clinics Most Lucrative End-use SegmentBy end-use, the global aesthetics combination therapy market has been segmented into hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, and dermatology clinics. Dermatology clinics currently have a slight lead over hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers in terms of revenue; however, during the period 2016-2024, this segment will extend its lead over ambulatory surgical centers and dermatology clinics. Dermatology clinics revenue is anticipated to grow at 10.7% CAGR.North America and Europe continue to be the largest markets for aesthetics combination therapy market. North America, the largest market by revenue, accounted for 37% value share in 2016; Persistence Market Research expects it to hold 41.3% revenue share by 2024. In terms of revenues, this will represent a US$ 1.52 billion opportunity. The U.S. will continue to dominate the North America aesthetics combination therapy market.The aesthetics combination therapy market in Europe is anticipated to reach US$ 505.7 million by the end of 2017. Italy will continue to be the largest market for aesthetic combination therapy, closely followed by France. It is projected that the market in France will witness the second-highest CAGR during the forecast period.A Sample of this Report is Available Upon Request @Persistence Market Research has profiled leading players in the global aesthetics combination therapy market. The key players include Alma Lasers Ltd., Lumenis Ltd., Cynosure Inc., Valeant Pharmaceutical International, Inc., Galderma S.A., Anika Therapeutics, Inc., Speciality European Pharma, Merz Pharma GmbH & Co. KGaA, Cutera Inc., Syneron Medical Ltd., and Allergan.Request to View Tables of Content @About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
Time-Temperature Indicator Labels Market Segments, Opportunity, Growth and Forecast By End-use Industry 2016-2026

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Time-temperature indicator label is a part of intelligent packaging that displays accumulated time-temperature history of the product. Interest towards this technology has been growing and it is considered as smart packaging. Time-temperature indicator label is used to monitor the shelf life of packaged perishable products. Depending on the response tool, the time-temperature indicator label indicates partial history or full history of the temperature. Time-temperature indicator is witnessing gradual adoption in the food products market.Time-Temperature Indicator Labels: Market DynamicsThe global time-temperature indicator labels market is driven by increasing adoption in the food industry, especially for sea food packaging, which in turn is expected to fuel growth of the market during the forecast period. Additionally, increasing growth of the food retailing industry is also expected to fuel sales of time-temperature indicator labels. Time-temperature indicator labels market is expected to witness significant increase in revenue growth owing to increasing application to deliver high quality and safety of packaged foods such as fresh food, vegetables, fish and meat. Export of products, changing lifestyles and hectic work schedules are factors expected to positively influence the growth of the global time-temperature indicator labels market during the forecast period. For food suppliers, time-temperature indicator labels play a crucial role, as it indicates the overall temperature abuse over packaged food. Also, sales of time-temperature indicator labels is expected to increase during the forecast period in the medicine and pharmaceutical markets, as these markets can utilize time-temperature indicator labels during transportation. However, varying regulations and norms in different countries can impact sales of time-temperature indicator labels.Request Report Sample@Time-Temperature Indicator Labels Market: SegmentationThe global time-temperature indicator labels market is segmented on the basis of label types:Blank LabelsPrinted LabelsThe global time-temperature indicator labels market is segmented on the basis of end use:Lab samplesVaccinesDiagnostic KitsFood & BeveragesRequest For TOC@Time-Temperature Indicator Labels Market: Regional OutlookIn terms of geography, the global time-temperature indicator labelsmarket is segmented into five key regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East & Africa. North America is expected to be dominant in the global time-temperature indicator labels market in terms of revenue contribution during the forecast period. Markets in Europe and Latin America are expected to register healthy revenue growth over the forecast period. Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing market during the forecast period, particularly developing countries such as China and India. However, markets in the Middle East & Africa is expected to witness relatively slow growth during the forecast period.Time-Temperature Indicator Labels Market: Key PlayersSome key players in the global time-temperature indicator labels market include 3M, BASF SE, Vitsab International AB, Timestrip, Avery Dennison Corporation, Temptime Corporation, Dry Pak Industries, Inc. and DeltaTrak.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Research Offers 10-Year Forecast on Red Wine Extract Market

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Red wineis a type of wine which is being extracted by crushing different varieties of black grapes and fermenting it. The color of red wine depends on the type of grape that are selected for crushing process, the color may range from intense violet color to brick red color.Due to antioxidant properties of Red wine, it has been known for its benefits regarding resveratrol. Resveratrol is phytoalexin which is found in various variety of plants. In case of grape resveratrol is found in the skin of grapes and stem and leaves of the plant. The natural antibiotic effects of resveratrol which is found in the red wine extract, acts as a defensive system for the body. Companies have been investing heavily on the research and development due to the discovery of health benefits associated with the red wine extract.Market Segmentation:Red wineextract is segment on the basis of application, form and region. On the basis of application market is segmented into food and beverages, pharmaceuticals and cosmetic & personal care products. Among all these segment food and beverages is expected to grow enormously in the coming future, followed by cosmetics and personal care segment. The demand for red wine extract is more due to the benefit it offers as well as easy availability of product to the consumer. On the basis of form the market is segmented intopowder, capsule and liquid.Red wine extract come in different forms but the most popular form is the capsule form. Red wine extract has special properties which provide various health benefits such as anti-inflammatory properties, antioxidant properties and has the ability to maintain platelet count.On the basis of region red vine extractmarket is segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, MEA and Japan.Request Report Sample@Market Regional Outlook:Regional segment for the market of Red wineextractis divided into seven different regions: North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, MEA and Japan. Among these segment North America is expected to have the major market share globally, as it is the largest producer and consumer of Red wineextract. In Asia Pacific region the countries like China and Australia are generating the major revenue. In terms of revenue Latin America is the second prominent contributor in theRed wineextract market.Market Drivers:The rise in demand for anti-ageing cream is expected to drive the growth of global red wineextractmarket. Red wine extractis not only a rich source of resveratrol but it also exhibits some special properties such as Stimulates eNOS activity, Prevent clotting of blood, prevents the oxidation of LDL cholesterol and reduces the risk of Alzheimers disease. It also helps in reducing obesity and slowing the rate of aging. These versatile properties of red wine extract is attracting attract pharmaceutical segment as well, which will defiantly drive the red wine extract market to a greater extent.Moreover, the market is also driven by the increasing awareness among the consumers about the health benefits associated with red wine extract. Although red wine extract has anti- cancer benefits, but research has found that it can promote breast cancer. Another worrying fact about red wine extract is that it acts as an anti-coagulant, if a person takes prescribed blood thinner along with the red wine extract he may lead to excessive bleeding. These property can actually be a restrain to the growing market of red wine extract.Request For TOC@Market Key Players:Some of the key players in red wine extract market areSEPPIC Inc., Hangzhou Greensky Biological Tech. Co., Ltd., Diana Naturals Inc., Xian Chinwon Biotech Inc., GRAP'SUD, Diana Naturals Inc, Ethical Naturals, Inc., and VDF/FutureCeuticals, Inc.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:
Orthopedic Devices Market is Expected to Exceed US $47.50 Billion by 2022

Orthopedic Devices Market

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New York, May 04: Market Research Engine has published a new report titled as Orthopedic Devices Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2016 - 2022Market Research Engine has published a new research report on Orthopedic Devices Market. Global Orthopedic Devices Market will grow at CAGR of approx 5% from 2016 to 2022 and is likely to reach at US$47.50 Billion by 2022.Browse the full report here:The emergence of small players with highly innovative products and their designs are also creating an opportunity in the global orthopedic device market to experience a high growth rate. Orthopedic devices are inserts used to restore skeletal structure and joint development after breaks, unusual development of bones, delicate tissue harm or different deformations. These gadgets can be surgically embedded or remotely appended through negligibly obtrusive strategies and henceforth can be named inward and outer obsession gadgets. Orthopedic gadgets have been utilized effectively as a part of restoring versatility, lessening torment and enhancing personal satisfaction of a great many individuals over the globe.The achievement of orthopedic gadgets can be effortlessly delineated by the strength of orthopedic gadgets. The development of this business sectors driven by variables, for example, expanded future and ascend in the quantity of osteoporosis patients. Different drivers constitute increment in patients with break hazard, for example, hip and spine crack.The orthopedic gadgets business sector has been widely broke down on the premise of components, for example, the innovation utilized, achievement rate, repayment scope and topographical compass.Orthopedic gadgets report thinks about the worldwide business sector for orthopedic gadgets from the viewpoint of different anatomical areas in the human body. An imperative variable for orthopedic gadgets makers' prosperity is their capacity to develop items with more up to date advances, for example, presentation of biodegradable items alongside making the items accessible requiring little to no effort, to capability energize market development.The worldwide orthopedic devices market is in this way extensively sectioned into hip, knee, shoulder, elbow, foot and lower leg, spine, cranio-maxillofacial and different limits. These anatomical areas are further ordered into joint inserts, interior obsession gadgets and outer obsession gadgets, in view of the accessibility of the orthopedic gadgets items in the business sector. Geologically, the orthopedic gadgets business sector is dissected for four noteworthy locales, to be specific North America, Europe, Asia and Rest of the World (RoW).Each of the fragments in the orthopedic gadgets business sector has been dissected on the premise of its present and future business sector size for the period 2013 to 2022, as far as income era in USD million, considering 2013 and 2014 as the base years. The aggravated yearly development rate (%CAGR) for every business sector fragment of orthopedic gadgets have been accommodated the figure period 2015 to 2022 alongside the estimations of business sector size. Orthopedic gadgets report likewise incorporates market review area which covers advantageous subjective data with respect to presentation of orthopedic gadgets, mechanical patterns and future advances, repayment situation.About MarketResearchEngine.comMarket Research Engine is a global market research and consulting organization. We provide market intelligence in emerging healthcare technologies, niche technologies and markets. Our market analysis powered by rigorous methodology and quality metrics provide information and forecasts across emerging markets, emerging technologies and emerging business models. Our deep focus on industry verticals and country reports help our clients to identify opportunities and develop business strategies.Media ContactCompany Name: Market Research EngineContact Person: John BayEmail: john@marketresearchengine.comPhone: +1-855-984-1862, +91-860-565-7204Website:Address: 3422 SW 15 Street, Suite #8942, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442, United States
Global Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Industry, Share, Status, Trends and Forecast to 2021 (MRH)

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Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe 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).Request For Free Sample @The report firstly introduced the Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe 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.Table of ContentsPart I Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Industry OverviewChapter One Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Industry Overview1.1 Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Definition1.2 Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Classification Analysis1.2.1 Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Main Classification Analysis1.2.2 Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Main Classification Share Analysis1.3 Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Application Analysis1.3.1 Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Main Application Analysis1.3.2 Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Main Application Share Analysis1.4 Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Industry Chain Structure Analysis1.5 Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Industry Development Overview1.5.1 Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Product History Development OverviewChapter Two Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe 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 AnalysisPart II Asia Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Industry (The Report Company Including the Below Listed But Not All)Chapter Three Asia Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Market Analysis3.1 Asia Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Product Development History3.2 Asia Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Competitive Landscape Analysis3.3 Asia Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Market Development TrendChapter Four 2012-2017 Asia Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Productions Supply Sales Demand Market Status and Forecast4.1 2012-2017 Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Capacity Production Overview4.2 2012-2017 Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Production Market Share Analysis4.3 2012-2017 Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Demand Overview4.4 2012-2017 Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Supply Demand and ShortageChapter Five Asia Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe 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 BContinue.The report includes six parts, dealing with:1.) basic information;2.) the Asia Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Market;3.) the North American Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Market;4.) the European Doppler Peripheral Vascular Probe Market;5.) market entry and investment feasibility;6.) the report conclusion.Browse Full Report With TOC @About Market Research Hub:Market Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Details:90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: press@marketresearchhub.comWebsite:Follow Us on:Twitter:LinkedIn:Facebook:
Agricultural Robots Market to Grow to $27.1 billion by 2023 Technical Revolutions, Shares, Strategies, And Forecasts

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The study addresses the efficiencies gained when robots can work 24 x 7 without getting tired from leveraging the fact that they do not make mistakes. The robots are able to perform repetitive tasks effectively, with cameras they can discern whether fruit is ripe or not and pick only the ripe fruit that can be sold. The robots can go back several times to pick fruit, while human pickers generally make one pass, two at the most. The robots can pick more fruit because they can get more ripe fruit from a tree.Agriculture is the second greatest source of employment worldwide, and the least automated of all industries. Agriculture is the largest remaining opportunity for automation. Agriculture has become more mechanized so that many crops are harvested using machinery worldwide. Agricultural continues its declining employment trend as robotics are adopted.Lely robotic cow milking systems target large dairy farms implement innovation in agriculture. Successful robotic milking on farms with more than 500 cows is supported. Agriculture faces enormous challenges over the coming decades. Agricultural entrepreneurs have to keep pace with rapid population growth and the need to deliver food at progressively more competitive prices.Get The Sample Copy Of This Report :Lely supports technical revolutions that help evolve automated process, ranging from forage harvesting machines to milking, feeding and barn equipment. Lely equipment allows successfully increasing the scale of operations.Safeguarding optimum animal welfare and return on investment is the aim. By partnering with Lely on the milking automation journey, creates benefit from a unique set of management instruments to monitor milk quality, feed/milk conversion ratio for the individual cow or the complete herd. Lely continues to develop knowledge and products for the future. A basic requirement for profitable robotic milking includes attention to feed/milk efficiency.Freedoms include permitting cows to achieve well-being by achieving more freedom, making it so that the farmers get the most out of their herd. Lely discovered that farmers who use free cow traffic are more successful with robotic milking.Using cow milking systems, ore milk per cow and more milk per robot is being achieved. Systems work with less difficulty and with the possibility of working more sociable hours. Many farmers who used to use forced systems have changed over to free cow traffic flow in order to benefit from the advantages of robotic milking.Robots are used for harvesting. High value crops are a target of agricultural robotic development. What could be tastier than a strawberry, perfectly formed, and perfectly ripened? New agricultural robots are able to improve the delivery of consistent quality food, and to implement efficiency in managing food production. Strawberries are a high profit crop.View More Details :A new generation of machines has just been born. Strawberry harvesters with the world's most advanced technology to give maximum performance to a farm. Harvesting robots can optimize the productivity of the farming business. Growers can get the best results in a berry farm using automated process. Automated picking collection systems improve labor productivity, give speed and agility to harvest operations.Employment opportunity will come from human implementation of digitation, building APIs that make digital connections and building algorithms that make sense of digital data collected. There is plenty of work for humans to figure out how to react to alerts generated by digital algorithms.The market for agricultural robots at $1.7 billion in 2016 is expected to grow to $27.1 billion by 2023. Agricultural Robots: users harness robots to plow, plant, spray, prune, milk, pick, shear, and harvest. As economies of scale are achieved, markets will grow rapidly.Companies ProfiledMarket LeadersLelyTetrelaval / DeLavalYaskawa / MotomanYamahaKukaMarket Participants8VillagesABB RoboticsAdigoAeroVironmentAgile PlanetAgRA: RAS Agricultural Robotics and Automation (AgRAAgribotixAgrobotAquaSpyAustralian Centre for Field RoboticsAutonomous Tractor Corp. (ATC)Avular B.VBlue River TechnologyBosch Deepfield RoboticsClearpath RoboticsRowbotCNH Industrial / Fiat / Case IHcRopsCyphy WorksDigital HarvestDJI InnovationsecoRobotixFanucFarmBotFrank Poulsen EngineeringGeorgia Tech Agricultural RobotsGoogleHarvard RobobeeHarvest AutomationHoneyCombIBMiRobotJaybridge RoboticsJohn DeereKinze ManufacturingKukaKumoTekKyoto UniversityLelyLemnaTec PhenomicsMillennial NetJapan: National Agriculture and Food Research OrganizationOssian Agro Automation / Nano GaneshParrot/senseFlyPrecise Path RoboticsRobotic HarvestingSAGA  Swarm Robotics for Agricultural ApplicationsSenteraSicily Tractor HarvestingShibuya SeikiSpreadSustainable HarvestTetrelavalDeLaval Sustainable Dairy FarmingTrimbleUniversidad Politecnica de MadridUniversity of California, DavisVision RoboticsWall-Ye V.I.N. RobotYamahaYaskawaMarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Run-Flat Tyres Market 2017 - Michelin , BMW, Bridgestone, Continental, Dunlop, Goodyear, Pirelli, Kumho, Yokohama.

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Apex Research, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "Run-Flat Tyres Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of "Run-Flat Tyres Market" from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global Run-Flat Tyres industry, and estimates the future trend of Run-Flat Tyres market on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares "Run-Flat Tyres Market" performance both in terms of volume and revenue.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This ReportMichelinBMWBridgestoneContinentalDunlopGoodyearPirelliKumhookohama.The market research report explores the Run-Flat Tyres market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of "Run-Flat Tyres Market". The research report studies the entire value chain from raw material to end user industries. The report also shares import/export statistics along with production and consumption for all major regions and countries. Moreover, the research study classifies the Run-Flat Tyres market based on major product types, application and end users industries of Run-Flat Tyres. Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for Run-Flat Tyres market. The report further provides production, capacity, price per region, gross margin, production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in report.The competitive landscape of the global market for Run-Flat Tyres is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, Run-Flat Tyres market's production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Run-Flat Tyres market globally.Enquire Before Buying @The worldwide Run-Flat Tyres market 2017 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Run-Flat Tyres production volume, data pertaining to demand and Run-Flat Tyres supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of Run-Flat Tyres along with detailed manufacturing sources. The report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis has been implemented in the research study to present a comprehensive, detailed study of the industry for Run-Flat Tyres across the world.About UsApexResearch 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 UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development Executive| sales@apexresearch.biz
Wearable Medical Devices Market 2017 - Fitbit Inc., Philips Healthcare , Garmin Ltd. , LifeWatch AG. , Omron Corporation ,Dragerwerk

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Apex Research, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "Wearable Medical Devices Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of "Wearable Medical Devices Market" from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global Wearable Medical Devices industry, and estimates the future trend of Wearable Medical Devices market on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares "Wearable Medical Devices Market" performance both in terms of volume and revenue.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This ReportFitbit Inc. (U.S.)Philips Healthcare (Netherlands)Garmin Ltd. (Switzerland)LifeWatch AG. (Switzerland)Omron Corporation (Japan)Dragerwerk (Germany)Withings SA.(France)Jawbone Inc. (U.S.)Polar Electro Oy (Finland)The market research report explores the Wearable Medical Devices market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of "Wearable Medical Devices Market". The research report studies the entire value chain from raw material to end user industries. The report also shares import/export statistics along with production and consumption for all major regions and countries. Moreover, the research study classifies the Wearable Medical Devices market based on major product types, application and end users industries of Wearable Medical Devices. Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for Wearable Medical Devices market. The report further provides production, capacity, price per region, gross margin, production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in report.The competitive landscape of the global market for Wearable Medical Devices is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, Wearable Medical Devices market's production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Wearable Medical Devices market globally.Enquire Before Buying @The worldwide Wearable Medical Devices market 2017 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Wearable Medical Devices production volume, data pertaining to demand and Wearable Medical Devices supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of Wearable Medical Devices along with detailed manufacturing sources. The report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis has been implemented in the research study to present a comprehensive, detailed study of the industry for Wearable Medical Devices across the world.About UsApexResearch 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 UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development Executive| sales@apexresearch.biz
Mission Critical Messaging And Open Source Streaming Market Size, expected to be worth $11.5 billion by 2023 Emerging Evolution, Shares, Strategies, And Forecasts, 2017

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Growth is based on implementation of streaming mobile smart phone network connectivity, tablet use for mobile computing, Internet apps, cloud computing, SOA, and business process management systems (BPM) that support collaboration. SOA process API components support enterprise innovation and change. Software forms the basis of change. Software API streaming message development tools drive innovation. Mission critical messaging is a key aspect of those aspects of web process making IT flexible and adaptable.Open source carves a place in mission critical messaging with flavors of MQ providing foundation for cloud and mobile. The move to accelerate replacements for once and only once automated delivery process for the line of business is being achieved, built into new types of cloud data centers. Streaming messaging is being used to implement stock ticker info, og management, web site management, and data management inside cloud systems that stretch the boundaries of the enterprise.Messaging is used to reach to all parts of the data center and to user endpoints. Marketing departments use messaging to target smartphones and tablets. Messaging is fundamental to the ability to launch APIs anywhere. Systems of engagement are dependent on implementing management decentralization and supporting user empowerment leveraging messaging. Mission critical messaging forms the base for SOA, the base for IoT, for business intelligence (BI), and for analytics systems.Get The Sample Copy Of This Report :Not much new has come along in the middleware messaging broker market since MQ Series made its debut at the Chicago Merc Exchange many years ago. Then the need to provide reliable messaging in a manner that worked was an industry breakthrough and IBM has ridden the wave ever since.Now, the new kid on the block is Kafka Streams API that is able to deal with scale in a manner that MQ cannot begin to approach. Scale is everything in the era of Clos architecture of the data center and optical transceivers for inside the data center. Data moves at the speed of light around the network inside the data center so scale is important.The charter of mission critical messaging has shifted from manually interconnected APIs using some software to install them to automated API process managed by orchestration. While much of the manual process is left in place, it is fast being replaced in more modern companies.This does not diminish the value of IBM WebSphere MQ, once and only once asynchronous processing is still a requirement for transaction processing, but these days there is a lot of data moving around the data center that is not transaction intensive. Tibco pioneered the Rendezvous publish subscribe messaging suite that has been so successful in providing stock ticker information in a stream.View Full Report :Publish subscribe messaging models are not dependent on once and only once message delivery. This stock data comes in a stream. If one stock price gets dropped for some reason, it is simply displayed the next time it comes up.A financial transaction is not that way. If it gets counted twice, or gets missed, this is not a good system, but much messaging can work in a publish subscribe mode where 100% accuracy is not an issue. Smart phones and tablets change the markets for IT systems implementation, increasing the need for mission critical decoupled messaging so that apps can interconnect automatically, bringing data to the desired compute node.The communication of data is a demanding task. There is trouble if a sent message does not get through or contra-wise if a message that is sent goes through twice. When there is a person on one or both sides of the message sending, human intelligence is able to deal with the problem if the message does not get sent, or if it gets sent twice, but for a machine to machine communication, the anticipation of difficulty has to be built into the system.The market for Middleware Messaging and Open Source Streaming sector at $8.2 billion in 2016 is expected to be worth $11.5 billion by 2023. Growth is based on implementation of streaming mobile smart phone network connectivity, tablet use for mobile computing, Internet apps, cloud computing, SOA, and business process management systems (BPM) that support collaboration. SOA process API components support enterprise innovation and change. Software forms the basis of change. Software API streaming message development tools drive innovation. Mission critical messaging is a key aspect of those aspects of web process making IT flexible and adaptable.Companies ProfiledMarket LeadersIBMMicrosoftTibcoOracleMicrofocus / HPE SoftwareRedHatFujitsuFioranoConfluentMulesoftSoftware AG / WebMethodsMarket Participants360 LogicaActiveMQAdobeAgilePointApache FlumeAppianAureaBigAgiBizFlowBonitaSoftCA TechnologiesCisco SystemsConfluentCrosscheck NetworksDell / VMWareElastic Stack Open SourceFabasoft GroupFioranoFujitsuHewlett Packard Enterprise HPEHostBridgeIBMInformaticaInformation Builders / iWay SoftwareIntalioKofaxManaged MethodsMegaMendixMicrofocusMicrosoft SOAMulesoftNastel TechnologiesNewgenOpenTextOraclePegaSystemsPerficientPivotalPNM SoftProgress SoftwareRed HatSAPSOALIBSoftware AGTibco SoftwareWSO2MarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Italy Telecommunications Market Analysis Highlights Expected Growth at a CAGR of 0.8% with Revenue Reaching USD 32.2 Billion by 2021

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According to the present European market situation, the Italy telecommunications market is booming due to the growth in the mobile data sector. Also, related sectors like mobile services, fixed services and pay-tv rely heavily on this industry for their own growth. Market Research Hub (MRH) has recently added a new study to address the sectors analysis for gaining deeper insight. This report is titled as Italy: Competition Set to Intensify Following Wind Tre Launch and Iliads Market Entry on Horizon, which explores the possibilities within the Italy telecommunications market, service providers and key opportunities using a simple format to help clients create profitable growth plans, for the promising forecast period from 2016 to 2021.Request Free Sample Report:According to this informative report, the global data in Italy telecommunication expects its revenue to reach a value of $33.2 billion, growing at a CAGR of 0.8% over the forecast period of 2016-2021.In 2016, Italy acquired the fourth largest place in the telecommunications sector of Western Europe, along with huge revenues. The report initially begins with the executive summary, along with the products application, classifications, and definitions. Future investors can hence learn about the growth of the market and the competitor overview analysis from this study. Later on, in this section, the economic, demographic and political context are also introspected for the readers benefit. The study also executes a careful evaluation of the regulatory environment of the sector.In the next section, the report focuses on the regional context of the business in detail. It also analyzes the overall competitive landscape to allow new entrepreneurs understand this business better. The assessment also evaluates the leading manufacturers in this industry, to help clients get accustomed to this sector. The research study later offers information related to the many product segments from this field. Some of the prime segments evaluated are mobile services, fixed services, and the pay-tv. Besides this, the report helps buyers identify the many opportunities in this market.Browse Full Report With TOC:Finally, this research study identifies the segments that will perform the best in this sector. The report also predicts that the mobile data sector will be making almost 38.9% of overall service revenue by 2021, which is higher than 33.4% noted in 2016. The report provides the market growth assessment and growth forecasts to help clients become up-to-date. The study also describes the key drivers and assumptions, along with ongoing and upcoming trends. These parameters are studied in terms of Italy's mobile communications, fixed telephony and broadband markets. The studys broad perspective along with comprehensive and instrumental details will help vendors succeed in this challenging sector.About Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: press@marketresearchhub.comFollow us on:Twitter: twitter.com/MktResearchHubLinkedIn:Facebook:
Soda Ash Market 2017 - Tata, Tronox, FMC, Solvay, OCI Wyoming LP, Bashkir Soda Company, Novacarb, Nirma, Shandong Haihua Group

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Apex Research, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "Soda Ash Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of "Soda Ash Market" from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global Soda Ash industry, and estimates the future trend of Soda Ash market on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares "Soda Ash Market" performance both in terms of volume and revenue.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This ReportTataTronoxFMCSolvayOCI Wyoming LPBashkir Soda CompanyNovacarbNirmaShandong Haihua GroupThe market research report explores the Soda Ash market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of "Soda Ash Market". The research report studies the entire value chain from raw material to end user industries. The report also shares import/export statistics along with production and consumption for all major regions and countries. Moreover, the research study classifies the Soda Ash market based on major product types, application and end users industries of Soda Ash. Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for Soda Ash market. The report further provides production, capacity, price per region, gross margin, production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in report.The competitive landscape of the global market for Soda Ash is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, Soda Ash market's production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Soda Ash market globally.Enquire Before Buying @The worldwide Soda Ash market 2017 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Soda Ash production volume, data pertaining to demand and Soda Ash supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of Soda Ash along with detailed manufacturing sources. The report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis has been implemented in the research study to present a comprehensive, detailed study of the industry for Soda Ash across the world.About UsApexResearch 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 UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development Executive| sales@apexresearch.biz
Market Driven At Steady CAGR with Rising Demand from Global MOBILE PAYMENT TRANSACTION SERVICES Industry.

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Mobile Payment Transaction Services - Global Market Outlook (2015-2022) Purchase This Report by calling ResearchnReports.com at +1-888-631-6977.The report, titled Mobile Payment Transaction Services presents an in-depth study of the Mobile Payment Transaction Services 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 Mobile Payment Transaction Services market.The report studies the different product segments and end-user applications segment of the Mobile Payment Transaction Services 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 Mobile Payment Transaction Services 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 Mobile Payment Transaction Services 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 Mobile Payment Transaction Services market. Key strategies of growth adopted by leading industry players are also analyzed in detail by the report.Get Discount on this report:The research report Global Mobile Payment Transaction Services Market is a market study examining and profiling the current state of the Mobile Payment Transaction Services industry in a professional manner. The report systematically categorizes the Mobile Payment Transaction Services market, explaining the definition of Mobile Payment Transaction Services before making clear the classification of the market by the various parameters employed by market experts. The multiple applications of Mobile Payment Transaction Services in the global industrial scenario are profiled along with an explanation of the industry supply and value chain developed around it. The regional segments of the global Mobile Payment Transaction Services market are also examined and data gained from this analysis presented. The development trends in and competitive landscape of the Mobile Payment Transaction Services market are also studied and data regarding the same is presented in the report.Other industry-related processes about the Mobile Payment Transaction Services market, such as a detailed explanation of the manufacturing structure, the financial background of the market, supply and demand dynamics, trade figures, and production value margins are also analyzed in the report. Prime development policies and plans concerning the Mobile Payment Transaction Services market are examined with regard to their impact on the market in the forecast period.The strong trends shaping the growth pattern of the Mobile Payment Transaction Services market are examined in the report in detail, in addition to the numerous marketing channels for the industry and their respective importance. In accordance with this information detailing the various aspects of the Mobile Payment Transaction Services market, the report examines the links between the Mobile Payment Transaction Services industry and the Mobile Payment Transaction Services market, including an upstream raw materials and downstream demand analysisFor More Enquiry on This Report:A detailed analysis of the international and Mobile Payment Transaction Services market is presented in the Mobile Payment Transaction Services Industry. The report analyses of the Mobile Payment Transaction Services market based on a variety of important industry verticals such as variety of products, key applications, developments, key market trends, key technologies in the marketplace, and the competitive landscape.The reports segment of industry overview covers basic information about Mobile Payment Transaction Services, including the core definition, classification, structure of demand and supply chain, analysis of regulatory policies in the marketplace, important news related to the Mobile Payment Transaction Services market, etc.Table of Content:-1 Executive Summary2 Preface2.1 Abstract2.2 Stake Holders2.3 Research Scope2.4 Research Methodology2.4.1 Data Mining2.4.2 Data Analysis2.4.3 Data Validation2.4.4 Research Approach2.5 Research Sources2.5.1 Primary Research Sources2.5.2 Secondary Research Sources2.5.3 Assumptions3 Market Trend Analysis3.1 Introduction3.2 Drivers3.3 Restraints3.4 Opportunities3.5 Threats3.6 Technology Analysis3.7 Emerging markets4 Porters Five Force Analysis4.1 Bargaining power of suppliers4.2 Bargaining power of buyers4.3 Threat of substitutes4.4 Threat of new entrants4.5 Competitive rivalry5 Global Mobile Payment Transaction Services Market, By Purpose5.1 Introduction5.2 Ticketing5.3 Money Transfer5.4 Merchandise Purchase5.5 Bill Payment5.6 Other Purposes6 Global Mobile Payment Transaction Services Market, By Technology6.1 Introduction6.2 WAP/ WEB6.3 USSD6.4 SMS Mobile Payment Transactions6.5 NFC7 Global Mobile Payment Transaction Services Market, By Geography7.1 North America7.1.1 US7.1.2 Canada7.1.3 Mexico7.2 Europe7.2.1 Germany7.2.2 France7.2.3 Italy7.2.4 UK7.2.5 Spain7.2.6 Rest of Europe7.3 Asia Pacific7.3.1 Japan7.3.2 China7.3.3 India7.3.4 Australia7.3.5 New Zealand7.3.6 Rest of Asia Pacific7.4 Rest of the World7.4.1 Middle East7.4.2 Brazil7.4.3 Argentina7.4.4 South Africa7.4.5 Egypt8 Key Developments8.1 Agreements, Partnerships, Collaborations and Joint Ventures8.2 Acquisitions & Mergers8.3 New Product Launch8.4 Expansions8.5 Other Key Strategies9 Company Profiling9.1 Braintree9.2 Clinkle9.3 Google Wallet9.4 MasterCard9.5 MoneyBookers9.6 Paypal9.7 SinglePoint9.8 Venmo9.9 Visa9.10 WorldPay9.11 LevelUpComplete Report available at: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)
Paint Additives Market Analysis - Rheology Modifiers And Biocides To Drive The Market

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GBI Researchs Paint Additives Market to 2016 - Rheology Modifiers and Biocides to Drive the Market provides in-depth analysis of the global paint additives market and presents forecasts of both volume and production up to 2016 for regions North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South and Central America, Middle East and Africa. Additionally, this research study provides volume forecasts for the five major product segments, namely rheology modifiers, biocides, surfactants, driers and foam control agents in the global paint additives market.In addition, it offers insights into two major end-user applications architectural and industrial by providing detailed analysis and volume forecasts up to 2016. The pricing analysis for the paint additives market has also been detailed for each of the key countries in the above mentioned regions. Overall, the report presents a comprehensive analysis of the global paint additives market covering all the major parameters. The report is built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research and in-house analysis by GBI Researchs team of industry experts.Get The Sample Copy of This Report :Global demand for paint additives has grown steadily over the last decade. Much of this increase in demand has come from the Asia-Pacific region and this trend is expected to continue in the near future, with Asia-Pacific expected to account for 43.2% of the global demand for paint additives in 2016. The global paint additives market was dominated by rheology modifiers in 2010 followed by biocides. The high need for biocides in Asia, due to a strong focus on architectural paints compared to other regions, has made biocides a significant segment in the global paint additives market.ScopeDrivers, restraints and challenges affecting the growth of the paint additives market for all the major regions Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, Middle East and Africa, and South and Central America.Demand and production volume, and revenue forecasts for the paint additives market for all the major countries US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Italy, China, Japan, South Korea, India, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina.Demand volume forecasts of the major end-user applications architectural and industrial with highlights on trend and volume share analysis for each of these applications in all the major countries in the world.Pricing forecasts and analysis for the major countries and regions has been done.In-depth analysis and forecasts of the major product segments Rheology modifiers, Biocides, Surfactants, Driers and Foam Control Agents.Market share analysis of the major companies participating all the major regions Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, Middle East and Africa, and South and Central America.View More Details :Reasons to buyThe report is useful to industry professionals and beginners to understand the dynamics of the paint additives market globally.To get a detailed understanding of the factors that will affect the growth of the paint additives market in different regions of the world.Identify the most attractive geographies, product segments and end-user applications to increase business.Develop custom strategies based on the current and forecast trends in the production and consumption of paint additives.Benefit from the advanced insight into each of the major markets through the detailed forecasts of demand, production and end use analysis of paint additives.Benchmark different geographies by the historic and forecast growth of demand, production and end use of paint additives.To gain knowledge on market share of each of the major producers in the paint additives market in different regions of the world.MarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Global Burner Management System (BMS) Market Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024

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Albany, New York, February 23, 2017: Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) has announced that its repository now features a report, titled Burner Management System (BMS) Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016-2024. According to the report published by Transparency Market Research (TMR), the market is poised to exhibit a CAGR of 5.5% from 2016 to 2024, reaching a valuation of US$7.39 bn by 2024 from US$4.58 bn in 2015.Request For Sample Report :North America Leads Owing to Strong Presence of BMS ManufacturersNorth America was the dominant regional market in 2015, representing more than one-third of the overall market value. The domicile of a large number of BMS manufacturers is providing an edge to this region over other regions. Asia Pacific is estimated to exhibit a CAGR of 6.1% over the forecast horizon. The rapidly growing population and rising industrialization in countries such as India, Japan, and China are leading to the higher demand for energy and therefore, the greater uptake of BMS.On the basis of fuel, oil-based burners dominated the market in 2015, commanding over 41.0% of the overall market value. Electricity-based burners are anticipated to register tremendous growth over the review period owing to the pressing need for safer and cleaner environment in industries.Stringent Government Regulations to Back Market GrowthThe rapid industrialization in emerging countries such as China, India, Taiwan, and Korea is creating a high demand for energy. As a result, there is an increase in the installation of power plants and a subsequent rise in the implementation of heating systems in industries and manufacturing plants. Hence, this is translating into the greater adoption of burner management systems for control and safety purposes. Moreover, the growing stringency of government regulations, along with rising litigations for accidents, are mandating the installation of BMS.High Reluctance in Shifting from Manual Safety Controls to BMS Hampers Growth ProspectsThere is a reluctance, especially among small and medium-scale plants, in shifting from manual safety controls to burner management systems, which is limiting their widespread implementation. There are several operating organizations that still depend on manual operators for handling plants or plant emergency shutdown (ESD) system as a standard practice for safety regulation. However, the general measures pertaining to the safety and control of heating systems used in industries are slowly evolving and this will result in a brighter future for the global BMS market.The global BMS market is highly fragmented in nature, with the top ten players accounting for nearly 45% of the overall market in 2015. The presence of a large number of international and local players in the marketplace is compelling companies to offer an affordable and diverse range of products. The majority of the players are focusing towards business development through product innovation. Some of the leading players in the global BMS market are Siemens AG, ABB Ltd., Honeywell International, and Alstom.Browse Full Report with TOC:Market Research Reports Search Engine(MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.State Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United StatesTelephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comGoogle+:Linked in:Twitter:
Global Interactive Tables Market To Grow At A CAGR Of 7.77% During The Period 2016-2020

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Interactive Tables Market 2016-2020" to its huge collection of research reports.Interactive tables are also known as multi-touch tables. They are used to deliver collaborative learning in the education sector. Since the emergence of BYOD policies and the advent of touch screen devices in the education market, the practice of direct group interaction with a given subject matter at the touch of a finger is becoming more rampant. The younger generation especially has become accustomed to the use of technology in their daily lives. Interactive tables support individual activity while allowing all participants in the activity to exchange resources.Technavios analysts forecast the global interactive tables market to grow at a CAGR of 7.77% during the period 2016-2020.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global interactive tables market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sales of interactive tables for education sector including, primary, secondary, and higher education sectors.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:APACEuropeNorth AmericaROWTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Technavio's report, Global Interactive Tables Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendorsKaplanPromethean WorldSmart TechnologiesU-TouchOther prominent vendorsArcstream AVBox LightDekart DigitalElementary TechnologyIdeumSmartMediaSteljesT1VisionMarket driverImplementation of multi-touch technology in educationFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeHigh cost of interactive tablesFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendCustomized technological innovationsFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @
Global Navigation Satellite System Market Highlights Growth Driven by Surging Demands, Forecast till 2022

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In the current business scenario, navigation satellite systems are required to a great extent due to the growing global demand for the navigation feature in vehicles. The fresh report created by the expert analysts has been added to the enormous database of Market Research Hub (MRH) titled as Global Navigation Satellite System Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022. It provides new investors with major data connected to market growth during the forecast period 2017-2022.Request Free Sample Report:In recent times, navigation satellite systems are a vital functionality in all transport related products and services, especially vehicles using air, water, land, and space. The report initially starts off with the industry overview of the market performance. Later, the study evaluates the profitable scope for the products in this sector. The buyers learn about the market status and outlook, in order to develop better business plans. Furthermore, the report assesses the navigation satellite system market by the different types. The main types introspected in this study are, the core satellite navigation systems, the regional satellite navigation systems; along with the satellite-based augmentation systems or the SBAS.In the next section, the report analyzes the navigation satellite system market by end users and application. The study then shifts the focus over the market size and analysis by regions. The main regions used for this market evaluation are the United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. The investigation of the application of this sector in location-based services or LBS, helps the clients identify the huge scope of this business. Accordingly, the report specifies the potential of the market in the aviation, road and rail travel. Moreover, maritime, agriculture, surveying and time and synchronization applications are also studied in this intelligent report.As the report proceeds, the reader can gain knowledge regarding the global navigation satellite system competition by players. Buyers can learn in-depth about the leading manufacturers assessed in the report such as Qualcomm, Trimble Navigation, Broadcom, CSR, Laird, Furuno Electric, Rockwell Collins and Texas Instruments. The clients can assess the company profile, main business, business overview, products, services, and solutions from this useful report. Using this highly functional data, the new investor can create improved business plans for their upcoming projects.Browse Full Report With TOC:Furthermore, the analysts have evaluated the market value in terms of the players, to give investors better advantage over this market. The analysis of the competitive status and trends, keep the buyers up-to-date. New investors can also take advantage of the analysis of the market concentration rate to create better business models. Thus, the report summarizes valuable data on recent developments, technology trends for future along with revenue value, which is quite beneficial for the buyers.About Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: press@marketresearchhub.comFollow us on:Twitter: twitter.com/MktResearchHubLinkedIn:Facebook:
IC-Substrate Market 2017 - Dow, Unimicron, TTM Technologies, Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik, TDK Corporation, Ibiden, Atotech, Fujitsu

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Apex Research, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "IC-Substrate Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of "IC-Substrate Market" from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global IC-Substrate industry, and estimates the future trend of IC-Substrate market on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares "IC-Substrate Market" performance both in terms of volume and revenue.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This ReportDowAustria Technologie & SystemtechnikUnimicronTTM TechnologiesTDK CorporationIbidenAtotechFujitsuLinxensZhen Ding TechThe market research report explores the IC-Substrate market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of "IC-Substrate Market". The research report studies the entire value chain from raw material to end user industries. The report also shares import/export statistics along with production and consumption for all major regions and countries. Moreover, the research study classifies the IC-Substrate market based on major product types, application and end users industries of IC-Substrate. Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for IC-Substrate market. The report further provides production, capacity, price per region, gross margin, production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in report.The competitive landscape of the global market for IC-Substrate is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, IC-Substrate market's production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the IC-Substrate market globally.Enquire Before Buying @The worldwide IC-Substrate market 2017 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, IC-Substrate production volume, data pertaining to demand and IC-Substrate supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of IC-Substrate along with detailed manufacturing sources. The report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis has been implemented in the research study to present a comprehensive, detailed study of the industry for IC-Substrate across the world.About UsApexResearch 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 UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development Executive| sales@apexresearch.biz
Morocco Ceramic and Porcelain Tiles Market Industry Analysis, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024

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Albany, New York, February 23, 2017: Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) has announced that its repository now features a report, titled Burner Management System (BMS) Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016-2024. According to the report published by Transparency Market Research (TMR), the market is poised to exhibit a CAGR of 5.5% from 2016 to 2024, reaching a valuation of US$7.39 bn by 2024 from US$4.58 bn in 2015.Request For Sample Report :North America Leads Owing to Strong Presence of BMS ManufacturersNorth America was the dominant regional market in 2015, representing more than one-third of the overall market value. The domicile of a large number of BMS manufacturers is providing an edge to this region over other regions. Asia Pacific is estimated to exhibit a CAGR of 6.1% over the forecast horizon. The rapidly growing population and rising industrialization in countries such as India, Japan, and China are leading to the higher demand for energy and therefore, the greater uptake of BMS.On the basis of fuel, oil-based burners dominated the market in 2015, commanding over 41.0% of the overall market value. Electricity-based burners are anticipated to register tremendous growth over the review period owing to the pressing need for safer and cleaner environment in industries.Stringent Government Regulations to Back Market GrowthThe rapid industrialization in emerging countries such as China, India, Taiwan, and Korea is creating a high demand for energy. As a result, there is an increase in the installation of power plants and a subsequent rise in the implementation of heating systems in industries and manufacturing plants. Hence, this is translating into the greater adoption of burner management systems for control and safety purposes. Moreover, the growing stringency of government regulations, along with rising litigations for accidents, are mandating the installation of BMS.High Reluctance in Shifting from Manual Safety Controls to BMS Hampers Growth ProspectsThere is a reluctance, especially among small and medium-scale plants, in shifting from manual safety controls to burner management systems, which is limiting their widespread implementation. There are several operating organizations that still depend on manual operators for handling plants or plant emergency shutdown (ESD) system as a standard practice for safety regulation. However, the general measures pertaining to the safety and control of heating systems used in industries are slowly evolving and this will result in a brighter future for the global BMS market.The global BMS market is highly fragmented in nature, with the top ten players accounting for nearly 45% of the overall market in 2015. The presence of a large number of international and local players in the marketplace is compelling companies to offer an affordable and diverse range of products. The majority of the players are focusing towards business development through product innovation. Some of the leading players in the global BMS market are Siemens AG, ABB Ltd., Honeywell International, and Alstom.Browse Full Report with TOC:About UsMarket Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.Market Research Reports Search Engine(MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.State Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United StatesTelephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comGoogle+:Linked in:Twitter:
Asia-Pacific Hearing Devices 3D Printing Market Key Trends, Size, Growth, Shares And Forecast Report 2017

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Asia-Pacific Hearing Devices 3D Printing Market Report 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.In this report, the Asia-Pacific Hearing Devices 3D Printing 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 Asia-Pacific into several key Regions, with sales (Units), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Hearing Devices 3D Printing for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), includingChinaJapanSouth KoreaTaiwanIndiaSoutheast AsiaAustraliaTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Asia-Pacific Hearing Devices 3D Printing market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Hearing Devices 3D Printing sales volume, price, revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players including3D Systems GMBHASIGAEnvisionTECRapidshape GMBHPhonaxMaterialise...On the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume (Units), revenue (Million USD), product price (K USD/Unit), market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoMilitary Hearing Devices 3D PrintingCommonly Used Hearing Devices 3D PrintingOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume (Units), market share and growth rate of Hearing Devices 3D Printing for each application, includinAutomobile IndustryAerospace and Defense IndustryRetail IndustryMedical IndustryOtherTable of ContentsAsia-Pacific Hearing Devices 3D Printing Market Report 20171 Hearing Devices 3D Printing Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Hearing Devices 3D Printing1.2 Classification of Hearing Devices 3D Printing by Product Category1.2.1 Asia-Pacific Hearing Devices 3D Printing Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Types (2012-2022)1.2.2 Asia-Pacific Hearing Devices 3D Printing Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Military Hearing Devices 3D Printing1.2.4 Commonly Used Hearing Devices 3D Printing1.3 Asia-Pacific Hearing Devices 3D Printing Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 Asia-Pacific Hearing Devices 3D Printing Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Applications (2012-2022)1.3.2 Automobile Industry1.3.3 Aerospace and Defense Industry1.3.4 Retail Industry1.3.5 Medical Industry1.3.6 Other1.4 Asia-Pacific Hearing Devices 3D Printing Market by Region1.4.1 Asia-Pacific Hearing Devices 3D Printing Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 South Korea Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Taiwan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.8 Australia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Asia-Pacific Market Size (Value and Volume) of Hearing Devices 3D Printing (2012-2022)1.5.1 Asia-Pacific Hearing Devices 3D Printing Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Asia-Pacific Hearing Devices 3D Printing Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 Asia-Pacific Hearing Devices 3D Printing Competition by Players/Suppliers, Region, Type and Application2.1 Asia-Pacific Hearing Devices 3D Printing Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1.1 Asia-Pacific Hearing Devices 3D Printing Sales Volume and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Asia-Pacific Hearing Devices 3D Printing Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.2 Asia-Pacific Hearing Devices 3D Printing (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Asia-Pacific Hearing Devices 3D Printing Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.2 Asia-Pacific Hearing Devices 3D Printing Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.3 Asia-Pacific Hearing Devices 3D Printing (Volume) by Application2.4 Asia-Pacific Hearing Devices 3D Printing (Volume and Value) by Region2.4.1 Asia-Pacific Hearing Devices 3D Printing Sales and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.4.2 Asia-Pacific Hearing Devices 3D Printing Revenue and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3 China Hearing Devices 3D Printing (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 China Hearing Devices 3D Printing Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.1.1 China Hearing Devices 3D Printing Sales Volume and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.2 China Hearing Devices 3D Printing Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.3 China Hearing Devices 3D Printing Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)3.2 China Hearing Devices 3D Printing Sales Volume and Market Share by Type3.3 China Hearing Devices 3D Printing Sales Volume and Market Share by Application4 Japan Hearing Devices 3D Printing (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 Japan Hearing Devices 3D Printing Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.1 Japan Hearing Devices 3D Printing Sales Volume and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.2 Japan Hearing Devices 3D Printing Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.3 Japan Hearing Devices 3D Printing Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)4.2 Japan Hearing Devices 3D Printing Sales Volume and Market Share by Type4.3 Japan Hearing Devices 3D Printing Sales Volume and Market Share by Application5 South Korea Hearing Devices 3D Printing (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5.1 South Korea Hearing Devices 3D Printing Sales and Value (2012-2017)5.1.1 South Korea Hearing Devices 3D Printing Sales Volume and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.2 South Korea Hearing Devices 3D Printing Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.3 South Korea Hearing Devices 3D Printing Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)5.2 South Korea Hearing Devices 3D Printing Sales Volume and Market Share by Type5.3 South Korea Hearing Devices 3D Printing Sales Volume and Market Share by Application6 Taiwan Hearing Devices 3D Printing (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6.1 Taiwan Hearing Devices 3D Printing Sales and Value (2012-2017)6.1.1 Taiwan Hearing Devices 3D Printing Sales Volume and Growth Rate (2012-2017)6.1.2 Taiwan Hearing Devices 3D Printing Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)6.1.3 Taiwan Hearing Devices 3D Printing Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)6.2 Taiwan Hearing Devices 3D Printing Sales Volume and Market Share by Type6.3 Taiwan Hearing Devices 3D Printing 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 @
Saudi Arabia Cards and Payments Industry Emerging Trends and Opportunities to 2019 | Researchmoz

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "The Cards and Payments Industry in Saudi Arabia: Emerging Trends and Opportunities to 2019" to its huge collection of research reports.Timetrics 'The Cards and Payments Industry in Saudi Arabia: Emerging Trends and Opportunities to 2019' report provides detailed analysis of market trends in Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry. It provides values and volumes for a number of key performance indicators in the industry, including check payments, credit transfers, direct debits, payment cards and cash transactions during the review period (20102014).The report also analyzes various payment cards market operating in the industry and provides detailed information on the number of cards in circulation, and transaction values and volumes during the review period and over the forecast period (20152019). It also offers information on the country's competitive landscape, including market shares of issuers and schemes.The report brings together Timetrics research, modeling, and analysis expertise to allow banks and card issuers to identify segment dynamics and competitive advantages. The report also covers detailed regulatory policies, recent changes in regulatory structure and profiles of card issuers operating in the country.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @SummaryTimetrics 'The Cards and Payments Industry in Saudi Arabia: Emerging Trends and Opportunities to 2019' report provides top-level market analysis, information and insights into Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry, including:- Current and forecast values for each market in Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry, including debit card, credit and charge cards. It also includes detailed analysis of the prepaid card market.- Detailed insights into payment instruments including credit transfers, cash transactions, checks, direct debits and payment cards. It also, includes an overview of the country's key alternative payment instruments.- E-commerce market analysis and online payment types.- Analysis of various market drivers and regulations governing Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry.- Detailed analysis of strategies adopted by banks and other institutions to market debit, credit and charge cards.- Comprehensive analysis of consumer attitudes and buying preferences for cards.- The competitive landscape of Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry.Scope- This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry.- It provides current values for Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry for 2014, and forecast figures to 2019.- It details the different demographic, economic, infrastructural and business drivers affecting Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry.- It outlines the current regulatory framework in the industry.- It details marketing strategies used by various banks and other institutions.- It profiles major banks in Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry.Reasons To Buy- Make strategic business decisions, using top-level historic and forecast market data, related to Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry and each market within it.- Understand the key market trends and growth opportunities in Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry.- Assess the competitive dynamics in Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry.- Gain insights into marketing strategies used for various card types in Saudi Arabia.- Gain insights into key regulations governing Saudi Arabia cards and payments industry.Key Highlights- To encourage the use of electronic payments, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) undertook a number of initiatives, including the establishment of its new electronic payment system mada, and mandatory wage payment into bank accounts. It launched its modified Saudi Payment Network (SPAN) as mada in September 2015. SPAN links all the ATMs and point-of-sale (POS) terminals to a central payment switch across the country. The regulator expects that the new system will increase the use of POS terminals. To encourage the use of the POS terminals, the daily purchase limit was increased from US$5,333.3 (SAR20,000) to US$16,000 (SAR60,000).- SAMA, in collaboration with the Ministry of Labor, launched the Wage Protection System (WPS) in June 2013. Under the law, employees salaries were paid directly into bank accounts, from which they can withdraw with debit cards. WPS was implemented in phases depending on the number of employees an organization had. Initially, it was mandatory for companies with an employee base of more than 3,000, which was further reduced in phases to companies with 100 or more employees from November 2015.- Technology adoption in the cards and payments industry achieved a new level in Saudi Arabia, when Riyad Bank issued the countrys first contactless debit card Riyad Bank Debit MasterCard in May 2015. The card provides enhanced security and convenience, and is accepted across 35 million merchants globally. The card can be used for small value transactions of less than US$20 (SAR75) without the need to enter a PIN. With payment cards gaining in popularity among consumers, the introduction of contactless cards is likely to encourage card based payments even for low value transactions.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 @
Genistein Market 2017 - DSM, Tokyo Chemical Industry, Pure Chemistry Scientific, MedChemexpress LLC, HBCChem, Inc., ALB Technology Limited

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Apex Research, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "Genistein Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of "Genistein Market" from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global Genistein industry, and estimates the future trend of Genistein market on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares "Genistein Market" performance both in terms of volume and revenue.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This ReportDSMTokyo Chemical IndustryPure Chemistry ScientificMedChemexpress LLCHBCChem, Inc.ALB Technology LimitedToronto Research ChemicalsAbblis ChemicalsShanghai Tauto BiotechThe market research report explores the Genistein market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of "Genistein Market". The research report studies the entire value chain from raw material to end user industries. The report also shares import/export statistics along with production and consumption for all major regions and countries. Moreover, the research study classifies the Genistein market based on major product types, application and end users industries of Genistein. Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for Genistein market. The report further provides production, capacity, price per region, gross margin, production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in report.The competitive landscape of the global market for Genistein is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, Genistein market's production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Genistein market globally.Enquire Before Buying @The worldwide Genistein market 2017 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Genistein production volume, data pertaining to demand and Genistein supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of Genistein along with detailed manufacturing sources. The report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis has been implemented in the research study to present a comprehensive, detailed study of the industry for Genistein across the world.About UsApexResearch 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 UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development Executive| sales@apexresearch.biz
New Study Reveals Germany Wealth Report 2016 | Researchmoz

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Germany Wealth Report 2016" to its huge collection of research reports.This report is the result of WealthInsights extensive research covering the high net worth individual (HNWI) population and wealth management market in Germany.SummaryThis report reviews the performance and asset allocations of HNWIs and ultra-HNWIs in Germany. It also includes an evaluation of the local wealth management market.ScopeIndependent market sizing of the German HNWIs for five wealth bandsHNWI volume, wealth and allocation trends from 2011 to 2015HNWI volume, wealth and allocation forecasts to 2020HNWI and UHNWI asset allocations across 13 asset classesGeographical breakdown of all foreign assetsAlternative breakdown of liquid vs investable assetsDetails of the development, challenges and opportunities related to the wealth management and private banking sector in GermanyThe size of German wealth management industryInformation on private banksDetailed wealth management and family office informationInsights into the drivers of HNWI wealthTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Reasons To BuyGermany Wealth Report 2016 is an unparalleled resource, and the leading resource of its kind. Compiled and curated by a team of expert research specialists, the report comprises a wide variety of data, created based on over 125,000 HNWIs from around the world in WealthInsight's database.With the wealth reports as the foundation for its research and analysis, WealthInsight is able to obtain an unsurpassed level of granularity, insight and authority on the HNWI and wealth management universe in each of the countries and regions it covers.The report reviews the performance and asset allocations of HNWIs and ultra-HNWIs. The report also includes projections of the volume, wealth and asset allocations of HNWIs to 2020, and a comprehensive background of the local economy.The report provides a thorough analysis of the private banking and wealth management sector.Key HighlightsThere were 1,338,051 HNWIs in Germany in 2015, who collectively held US$4.4 trillion in wealth.The German HNWI population decreased by 1.4% in 2015, following a 2.7% increase in 2014.The German HNWI population is forecast to grow by 14.6%, to reach 1,559,177 in 2020, while HNWI wealth is projected to grow by 35.9% to reach US$6.3 trillion.Table of Contents1 Introduction1.1 Details of this Report1.2 Definitions2 Executive Summary3 Germany Key Facts4 Distribution of Wealth in Germany4.1 HNWI Volume and Wealth Trends5 Findings from the WealthInsight HNWI Database5.1 Trends in HNWI Wealth to 20205.1.1 HNWI trend analysis5.1.2 Wealth band trends5.1.3 Demographic breakdown of HNWIs5.1.4 HNWIs job titles5.1.5 HNWIs industry breakdown5.1.6 HNWIs industry performance5.1.7 HNWIs breakdown by city5.1.8 HNWIs city performance5.1.9 HNWIs city population densities5.1.10 HNWIs city forecasts5.2 UHNWIs5.2.1 UHNWI volume trend analysis5.2.2 UHNWI wealth trend analysis5.2.3 Demographic breakdown of UHNWIs5.2.4 UHNWIs industry breakdown5.2.5 UHNWIs city breakdown and performance5.3 UHNWIs Billionaires5.3.1 Billionaire volume trend analysis5.3.2 Billionaire wealth trend analysis5.3.3 Billionaire per capita net worth trend analysis5.3.4 List of billionaires5.4 UHNWIs Centimillionaires5.4.1 Centimillionaire volume trend analysis5.4.2 Centimillionaire wealth trend analysis5.4.3 Centimillionaire per capita net worth trend analysis5.5 UHNWIs Affluent Millionaires5.5.1 Affluent millionaire volume trend analysis5.5.2 Affluent millionaire wealth trend analysis5.5.3 Affluent millionaire per capita net worth trend analysis5.6 Core HNWIs5.6.1 Core HNWI volume trend analysis5.7 Core HNWIs Mid-Tier Millionaires5.7.1 Mid-tier millionaire volume trend analysis5.7.2 Mid-tier millionaire wealth trend analysis5.7.3 Mid-tier millionaire per capita net worth trend analysis5.8 Core HNWIs Lower-Tier Millionaires5.8.1 Lower-tier millionaire volume trend analysis5.8.2 Lower-tier millionaire wealth trend analysis5.8.3 Lower-tier millionaire per capita net worth trend analysisMake 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 Desiccant Wheel Market Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024

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Albany, New York, May 4, 2017: Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) has announced the addition of a new report to its repository, titled Desiccant Wheel Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016-2024. The global desiccant wheel market, at present, is characterized by stiff competition because of a host of products and services. The prominent players in the market are trying to outdo each other by offering innovative products and various services. They are also resorting to strategic collaborations and partnerships to maintain as well as improve their foothold.A report by Transparency Market Research forecasts the market to rise at a CAGR of 5% from 2016 to 2024 to attain a value of US$463.0 mn by 2024.Request For Sample Report :Humidity Induced by Rising Global Temperature Catalyze GrowthAlarming increase in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, namely methane and nitrous oxide due to growing industrialization has upped the global temperature. This in turn has resulted in higher levels of atmospheric humidity, which has generated demand for dehumidification equipment in different industries such as chemicals, food and beverages, and pharmaceuticals. On account of higher levels of humidity, desiccant wheels absorb more moisture thereby wearing out fast. Because of this, more number of desiccant wheels are required in key end-use industries.Other factors slated to drive the market are the soaring demand for energy efficient heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) equipment. Consumers are taking to desiccant-wheel-based dehumidification systems to bring down the overall cost of HVAC systems with less energy consumption and better operational intelligenceEfficiency of desiccant wheels, however, is negatively impacted at higher temperatures and humidity levels. This necessitates their swift replacement with new equipment. This is one restraint slated to hamper the global market for desiccant wheel substantially in the years to come. Another factor working to their disadvantage is that pungent odors of cigarettes and building materials that get trapped in desiccant wheels along with the moisture becomes stronger when the desiccant is reheated to purge the adsorbed moisture during the regeneration process.Rapid Urbanization and Industrialization Paves way for Growth in Market in Asia PacificNorth America is primed to dominate the global market for desiccant wheels by 2014. This region has already been leading the market vis-a-vis demand on account of high uptake of desiccant wheels by the pharmaceutical industry. Asia Pacific, however, is slated to exhibit an impressive 6.2% CAGR between 2015 and 2024 on the back of the robust demand for heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning. The rapid pace of industrialization and urbanization in emerging economies of Asia Pacific spells massive opportunities for the manufacturers of desiccant wheels to come up with an array of products. The Asia Pacific market for desiccant wheels will receive further fillip with both global and regional players entering the fray to put a downward pressure on prices.Major participants in the global market for desiccant wheel are Munters, Greenheck Fan Corporation, Airxchange Inc., NovelAire Technologies, Rotor Source, Inc., Trane, Seibu Giken DST AB, and Flakt Woods Group.Browse Full Report with TOC:Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.State Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United StatesTelephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comGoogle+:Linked in:Twitter:
GCC Remote Patient Monitoring Products Market Report 2017 Market 2017 - Medtronic, Philips Healthcare, Boston Scientific Corporation

GCC Remote Patient Monitoring Products Market Report 2017

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Apex Research, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "GCC Remote Patient Monitoring Products Market Report 2017 Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of "GCC Remote Patient Monitoring Products Market Report 2017 Market" from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global GCC Remote Patient Monitoring Products Market Report 2017 industry, and estimates the future trend of GCC Remote Patient Monitoring Products Market Report 2017 market on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares "GCC Remote Patient Monitoring Products Market Report 2017 Market" performance both in terms of volume and revenue.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This ReportMedtronicPhilips HealthcareBoston Scientific CorporationSt. Jude MedicalGE HealthcareBiotronikNihon KohdenAbbottHoneywellSHL TelemedicineTeleMedCareThe market research report explores the GCC Remote Patient Monitoring Products Market Report 2017 market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of "GCC Remote Patient Monitoring Products Market Report 2017 Market". The research report studies the entire value chain from raw material to end user industries. The report also shares import/export statistics along with production and consumption for all major regions and countries. Moreover, the research study classifies the GCC Remote Patient Monitoring Products Market Report 2017 market based on major product types, application and end users industries of GCC Remote Patient Monitoring Products Market Report 2017. Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for GCC Remote Patient Monitoring Products Market Report 2017 market. The report further provides production, capacity, price per region, gross margin, production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in report.The competitive landscape of the global market for GCC Remote Patient Monitoring Products Market Report 2017 is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, GCC Remote Patient Monitoring Products Market Report 2017 market's production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the GCC Remote Patient Monitoring Products Market Report 2017 market globally.Enquire Before Buying @The worldwide GCC Remote Patient Monitoring Products Market Report 2017 market 2017 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, GCC Remote Patient Monitoring Products Market Report 2017 production volume, data pertaining to demand and GCC Remote Patient Monitoring Products Market Report 2017 supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of GCC Remote Patient Monitoring Products Market Report 2017 along with detailed manufacturing sources. The report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis has been implemented in the research study to present a comprehensive, detailed study of the industry for GCC Remote Patient Monitoring Products Market Report 2017 across the world.About UsApexResearch 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 UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development Executive| sales@apexresearch.biz
Residential Mortgages: Global Industry Guide | Now Available at Researchmoz.us

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Residential Mortgages: Global Industry Guide" to its huge collection of research reports.Global Residential Mortgages industry guide provides top-line qualitative and quantitative summary information including: market size (value and volume 2009-13, and forecast to 2018). The guide also contains descriptions of the leading companies including key financial metrics and analysis of competitive pressures within the market.Key FindingsSave time carrying out entry-level research by identifying the size, growth, major segments, and leading players in the global residential mortgagesUse the Five Forces analysis to determine the competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of the global residential mortgages marketLeading company profiles reveal details of key residential mortgages market players' global operations and financial performanceAdd weight to presentations and pitches by understanding the future growth prospects of the global residential mortgages market with forecastsCompares data from 14 countries globally, alongside individual chapters on each country.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Reasons To BuyWhat was the size of the global residential mortgages market by value in 2013?What will be the size of the global residential mortgages market in 2018?What factors are affecting the strength of competition in the global residential mortgages market?How has the market performed over the last five years?Table of ContentsTABLE OF CONTENTSEXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2Market value 2Market value forecast 2Geography segmentation 2Introduction 27What is this report about? 27Who is the target reader? 27How to use this report 27Definitions 27Global Residential Mortgages 28Market Overview 28Market Data 29Market Segmentation 30Market outlook 31Five forces analysis 32Leading companies 38Residential Mortgages in Asia-Pacific 51Market Overview 51Market Data 52Market Segmentation 53Market outlook 54Five forces analysis 55Leading companies 61Residential Mortgages in Europe 75Market Overview 75Market Data 76Market Segmentation 77Market outlook 78Five forces analysis 79Leading companies 85Residential Mortgages in France 99Market Overview 99Market Data 100Market Segmentation 101Market outlook 102Five forces analysis 103Leading companies 109Macroeconomic indicators 124Residential Mortgages in Germany 126Market Overview 126Market Data 127Market Segmentation 128Market outlook 129Five forces analysis 130Leading companies 136Macroeconomic indicators 149Residential Mortgages in Italy 151Market Overview 151Make 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 Diabetes and Obesity Drugs Market Key Trends, Size, Growth, Shares And Forecast Research Report 2022

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Diabetes and Obesity Drugs Market to 2022 - Insulins and GPCRs Retain Commercial Prominence, While High Unmet Need Remains in Weight Loss Treatment" to its huge collection of research reports.Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease characterized by hyperglycemia (high blood glucose levels) that results from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both. Chronic hyperglycemia in diabetic patients is associated with long-term damage, dysfunction and failure of multiple organs, including the eyes, kidneys, nerves, heart and blood vessels. The vast majority of diabetes mellitus patients can be classified as having either type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) or type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Obesity, meanwhile, is defined as abnormal or excessive body fat accumulation that presents a risk to health.A current global rise in T2DM prevalence is intrinsically linked with the current global rise in obesity. The rapidly increasing global obesity prevalence has resulted in it being considered a global epidemic, and there is a vast and growing global patient population potentially requiring pharmacotherapeutic treatment.Historically anti-obesity therapeutics have been out of favor due to safety concerns. Both diabetes and obesity products are commonly associated with cardiovascular adverse events, and this is further compounded by concerns relating to cancer development through long-term usage of anti-obesity products. This has resulted in an unmet need for products with favorable safety and efficacy profiles, particularly in the case of obesity.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The market size for the diabetes and obesity disease cluster is set to increase considerably, driven by the success of a number of T2DM pipeline products, and a rapidly expanding global patient population. However, obesity pipeline activity is set to remain markedly low, despite a patient population of epidemic proportions.Scope- What are the current treatment options for diabetes and obesity?- What are the common molecular targets of pipeline therapies, and how strongly do they overlap with the current market?- Will the pipeline address unmet needs such as a lack of safe treatment options for diabetes and obesity patients?- Which late-stage pipeline products are likely to impact the current market?- How are revenues of key companies, targets and molecule types anticipated to change over the forecast period?- Which companies are anticipated to be the most prominent players over the next seven years?- How do licensing and co-development deals compare between diabetes and obesity?Reasons To Buy- Understand the current clinical and commercial landscape by considering disease pathogenesis, diagnosis, prognosis, and the treatment options available at each stage of diagnosis, including a clinical comparison of marketed therapies.- Visualize the composition of the diabetes and obesity market in terms of the clinical and commercial standing of current dominant therapies. Unmet needs are highlighted to allow a competitive understanding of gaps in the current market.- Analyze the diabetes and obesity pipeline and stratify pipeline therapies by stage of development, molecule type and molecular target. There is a strong contrast in the amount of pipeline activity for diabetes and obesity.- Analyze how individual company, molecule type and molecular target revenues are anticipated to change over the forecast period, highlighting prominent companies and the most promising molecule types and targets.- Identify which companies are the current key players for the disease cluster, and how this pattern is anticipated to change over the forecast period.- Identify commercial opportunities in the diabetes and obesity deals landscape by analyzing trends in licensing and co-development deals by stage of development, molecule type and molecular target.Table of Contents1 Table of Contents 41.1 List of Tables 61.2 List of Figures 62 Introduction 92.1 Therapy Area Introduction 92.1.1 Diabetes 92.1.2 Obesity 102.2 Symptoms 112.2.1 Diabetes 112.2.2 Obesity 112.3 Etiology and Pathophysiology 112.3.1 Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus 112.3.2 Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus 122.3.3 Obesity 122.3.4 The Association between Obesity and T2DM 132.4 Comorbidities and Complications 132.5 Epidemiology Patterns and Forecasts across the 7MM 142.5.1 Diabetes 152.5.2 Obesity 162.6 Treatment 172.6.1 Diabetic Pharmacotherapeutics 172.6.2 Insulin Therapy 182.6.3 Amylin Analogs 192.6.4 Obesity Pharmacotherapeutics 203 Key Marketed Products 223.1 Overview 223.2 Diabetes  Top Eight Key Marketed Products 233.2.1 Lantus (insulin glargine)  Sanofi 233.2.2 Novolog (insulin aspart)  Novo Nordisk 243.2.3 Januvia (sitagliptin phosphate)  Merck & Co 253.2.4 Levemir (insulin detemir)  Novo Nordisk 263.2.5 Victoza (liraglutide)  Novo Nordisk 273.2.6 Humalog (insulin lispro)  Eli Lilly 283.2.7 Janumet (metformin hydrochloride plus sitagliptin phosphate)  Merck & Co 293.2.8 New Market Entrants 303.3 Obesity Overview 313.3.1 Saxenda (liraglutide) 323.3.2 Belviq (lorcaserin hydrochloride) 333.3.3 Xenical (orlistat) 343.3.4 Contrave (bupropion hydrochloride plus naltrexone) 343.4 Conclusion 354 Pipeline Landscape Assessment 364.1 Overview 364.2 Pipeline Development Landscape 374.3 Molecular Targets in the Pipeline 404.4 Clinical Trials 434.4.1 Failure Rate by Stage of Development, Indication, Molecule Type and Molecular Target 434.4.2 Clinical Trial Duration by Stage of Development, Indication, Molecule Type and Molecular Target 474.4.3 Clinical Trial Size by Stage of Development, Indication, Molecule Type and Molecular Target 504.4.4 Aggregate Clinical Program Size by Stage of Development, Indication, Molecule Type and Molecular Target 534.5 Late-Stage Drugs of the Developmental Pipeline 564.5.1 Saxagliptin plus dapagliflozin (dapagliflozin propanediol plus saxagliptin)  AstraZeneca 564.5.2 Semaglutide (OG-217SC and NN-9535  Oral and Subcutaneous)  Novo Nordisk 574.5.3 LixiLan (insulin glargine plus lixisenatide)  Sanofi 584.5.4 NN-1218 (insulin aspart)  Novo Nordisk 594.5.5 Ertugliflozin (PF-04971729)  Merck & Co/Pfizer 604.5.6 Sotagliflozin  Lexicon Pharmaceuticals 614.6 Conclusion 625 Multi Scenario Market Forecast to 2022 635.1 Overall Market Size 635.2 Generic Penetration 645.3 Revenue Forecast by Molecular Target 655.3.1 Insulin Receptor 655.3.2 GLP1R 665.3.3 DPP4 675.3.4 SGLT2 685.3.5 AMPK 695.3.6 ABCC8 705.4 Conclusion 71Make 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 @
US: Competition For Data Services To Intensify As Operators Continue To Invest In Next-Generation Technologies

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"US: Competition for Data Services to Intensify as Operators Continue to Invest in Next-Generation Technologies", a new Country Intelligence Report by GlobalData, provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in the US today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2021. Published annually, the report provides detailed analysis of the near-term opportunities, competitive dynamics and evolution of demand by service type and technology/platform across the fixed telephony, broadband, and mobile, as well as a review of key regulatory trends.The telecom services revenue in the US is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 1.2% during 2016-2021, driven by growth in fixed broadband and mobile data revenue. Mobile data will continue to remain the largest revenue-contributing segment through 2021 and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 4.0% during 2016-2021, majorily driven by operators' investments in 4G network expansions and attractive data packages to stimulate data adoption. Going forward, operators are focusing on leveraging new technologies such as NG-PON2, DOCSIS 3.1 to offer high-speed network access to their customers and boost broadband penetration. Operators are offering richer content and bundled plans to drive pay-TV adoption. Over the next five years, operators should seize opportunities from the growing demand for data services by focusing on promotional data plans and high-quality services including video offerings. Investments in LTE, fiber and next-generation technologies are expected to expand new revenue streams for operators including IoT, M2M and cloud services.Get The Sample Copy Of This Report :The Country Intelligence Report provides in-depth analysis of the following -- Regional context: telecom market size and trends in the US compared with other countries in the region.- Economic, demographic and political context in the US.- The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments pertaining to spectrum licensing, national broadband plans, number portability and more.- A demand profile: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice, and mobile data markets.- Service evolution: a look at changes in the breakdown of overall revenue between the fixed and mobile sectors and between voice, data and video from 2016 to 2021.- The competitive landscape: an examination of key trends in competition and in the performance, revenue market shares and expected moves of service providers over the next 18-24 months.- In-depth sector analysis of fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice, and mobile data services: a quantitative analysis of service adoption trends by network technology and by operator, as well as of average revenue per line/subscription and service revenue through the end of the forecast period.- Main opportunities: this section details the near-term opportunities for operators, vendors and investors in US telecommunications markets.View Full Report :Scope- The overall telecom service revenue in the US will grow at a CAGR of 1.2% during 2016-2021, mainly driven by growth in the mobile data segment.- Mobile revenue will account for 46.2% of total telecom revenue in 2021; mobile data will be the major contributing segment over 2016-2021.- 4G will be the most adopted mobile technology through 2021, as operators continue to focus on expanding their 4G/LTE, LTE-A network coverage and deployment of advanced technologies to deliver faster Internet speeds.- The top two operators, AT&T and Verizon, accounted for 47.2% share of overall service revenue in 2016.- Operators will continue to shift their focus toward connected devices and expanding their stand-alone service business into new business models, such as mobile video, to increase revenue and fuel growth. Moreover, operators are focusing on development and testing of advanced technologies to support 5G deployment in the near future.Reasons to buy- This Country Intelligence Report offers a thorough, forward-looking analysis of the US telecommunications market, service providers and key opportunities in a concise format to help executives build proactive and profitable growth strategies.- Accompanying GlobalDatas Forecast products, the report examines the assumptions and drivers behind ongoing and upcoming trends in the US mobile communications, fixed telephony and broadband markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares.- With more than 20 charts and tables, the report is designed for an executive-level audience, boasting presentation quality.- The report provides an easily digestible market assessment for decision-makers built around in-depth information gathered from local market players, which enables executives to quickly get up to speed with the current and emerging trends in the US telecommunications market.- The broad perspective of the report coupled with comprehensive, actionable detail will help operators, equipment vendors and other telecom industry players succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in the US.MarketResearchReports.biz supports your business intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz
Fixed Satellite Service Market Analysis- opportunities sales, revenue, Gross Margin, Outlook and Forecast To 2022

Fixed Satellite Service Market

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An FSS is a type of service that uses geosynchronous satellites to broadcast through TV and radio, telecommunications, and satellite communication that are used by governments, military organizations, small and large enterprises, and other end-users. It can provide information to intelligence and security organizations. FSS is classified into wholesale services and managed services. The satellites used for FSS have low-power output and require larger dish-style antennas than direct broadcasting satellites. FSS works with bands such as C-band, Ku-band, and Ka-band.Get Free Sample Copy of this Report @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Fixed Satellite Service 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:SES, Intelsat, Eutelsat Communications, Telesat, SKY Perfect JSAT, SingTel Optus, Star One, Arabsat, Hispasat, AsiaSat, Thaicom, Russia Satellite Communication, China Satellite CommunicationsMarket 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:Type 1Type 2Market Segment by Applications, can be divided into:VideoEnterpriseGovernmentBrowse full report with Table of Content @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Fixed Satellite Service market.Chapter 1, to describe Fixed Satellite Service Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Fixed Satellite Service, with sales, revenue, and price of Fixed Satellite Service, 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 Fixed Satellite Service, 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, Fixed Satellite Service market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Fixed Satellite Service sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.Check for Discount @Some points from TOC:-1 Market Overview1.1 Fixed Satellite Service Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 Type 11.2.2 Type 21.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.3.1 Video1.3.2 Enterprise1.3.3 Government1.4 Market Analysis by Regions1.4.1 North America (USA, Canada and Mexico)1.4.1.1 USA Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.1.2 Canada Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.1.3 Mexico Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2 Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)1.4.2.1 Germany Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.2 France Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.3 UK Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.4 Russia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.5 Italy Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3 Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)1.4.3.1 China Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.2 Japan Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.3 Korea Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.4 India Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.5 Southeast Asia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4 South America, Middle East and Africa1.4.4.1 Brazil Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.2 Egypt Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.3 Saudi Arabia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.4 South Africa Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.5 Nigeria Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5 Market Dynamics1.5.1 Market Opportunities1.5.2 Market Risk1.5.3 Market Driving ForceEnquiry before Buying @About Us:GIR Market Research is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. GIR Market Research is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the worlds most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends.Liberty Society,Koregaon Park, Pune- 411001,Maharashtra, India.
Drones Market Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2016 to 2022 | Now Available at Researchmoz.us

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Drones Market Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2016 to 2022" to its huge collection of research reports.The 2016 study has 1,114 pages, 492 tables and figures. Worldwide drone markets are poised to achieve significant growth with the use of cameras on stable flying platforms.Drones are miracles: flying cameras and flying weapons. Drones are being used for lifting cameras above the ground so every person who wants it can use a camera to rise above the earth to look down from above. Each person can choose thousands of vantage points, extending visualization beyond dreams. Drones are set to make every industry more productive with better, more flexible visualization. Drone uses provide the prospect of trillions of dollars in economic growth. Drones connect seamlessly and securely to the Internet and to each other.Drone aerial vehicle (UAV) technology has reached a level of maturity that has permitted DJI to garner $1 billion in revenue in 2015, doubling their revenue in one year. This achievement puts the drone systems at the forefront of aerospace manufacturing. Every industry and around the entire world vendors are adapting to drone availability. Use cases are evolving rapidly. Video, photos, specialized video, targeted video, and package delivery systems are offered.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Next generation commercial drones achieve a complete replacement of existing commercial airfreight delivery systems, they are used for 3D mapping, commercial pipeline observation, border patrol, package delivery, photography, and agriculture are more energy efficient, last longer and have a significantly lower cost of operation than manned aircraft.Drones markets promise to grow significantly because of the more economical visualization and navigation provided by systems. Visualization includes mapping from the air, inspection from the air, surveillance from the air, and package delivery from the air. The unmanned aircraft equipped with cameras are able to do things that cannot be done in any other way. This bodes well for market development.Unmanned aircraft systems promise to achieve a more significant aspect of commercial market presence. Army Unmanned Aircraft Systems flying of 3 million flight hours gives drones market credibility. Eighty eight percent of those hours were logged in combat situations in Iraq and Afghanistan, paving the way for commercial drone markets to develop.Table of ContentsDrone Markets Executive Summary 74Drone Market Driving Forces 74Drone Challenges 84Drone Fleet Systems 85Smart Drone Infrastructure Standards 86Drone Market Shares 87Drone Market Forecasts 891. Drones: Market Description and Market Dynamics 911.1 Smart Commercial Drones 911.1.1 Smart Drones: Commercial Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Description 911.2 Drone Enhanced Capability and Payloads 931.2.1 Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Enhanced Resilience 951.2.2 Small and Micro-UAS Drones 951.2.3 Drone Aerial Systems (UAS) Perimeter Surveillance 951.2.4 Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) Surveillance 961.3 Drone Use Cases 971.3.1 Drones on the Silver Screen 971.3.2 Follow Drones 981.3.3 Conducting a Solar Panel Inspection with eBee Drone 991.3.4 Quad-copter Drone Crosses the English Channel 991.3.5 Dutch Police Training Eagles to Take Down Drones 991.3.6 Next Star Wars Movie Used a Team of Drones to Protect Its Secrets 991.3.7 AT&T Plans to Use LTE to Control Drones Over Long Distances 1001.3.8 Traxxas Flight Link App 1001.4 Registering Drones 1001.5 Georeferenced Imagery 1001.5.1 Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Traffic Monitoring 1011.5.2 Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Agriculture Mapping 1031.5.3 Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Homeland Security 1041.5.4 Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for Scientific Research 1061.6 Globalization and Technology 1071.6.1 Proliferation of Conventional Military Technologies 1081.6.2 Drones General Roles 1081.7 Border Patrol: 1091.8 Development of Lighter Yet More Powerful Drone Power Sources 1102. Drone Market Shares and Forecasts 1112.1 Drone Market Driving Forces 1112.1.1 Drone Challenges 1212.1.2 Drone Fleet Systems 1222.1.3 Smart Drone Infrastructure Standards 1232.2 Drone Market Shares 1242.2.1 Chinas DJI Leads Drone Markets 1292.2.2 DJI Revenue Demonstrates Leadership Position 1312.2.1 DJI Phantom 1322.2.2 Parrot 1332.2.3 3D Robotics 1332.2.4 Parrot AR Drone $299, Flies Off a Roof 1352.2.5 Ascending Technologies AscTec Firefly 1362.2.6 Ascending Technologies Professional Line 1372.2.7 AscTec for Professional Drone Users: 1372.2.8 Hubsan 1382.2.9 Boeing A160 Hummingbird Helicopter 1382.2.10 Insitu 1392.2.11 Boeing Insitu 1402.2.12 Lockheed Martin 1402.2.13 BP and AeroVironment Launch FAA-Approved, Commercial Unmanned Aircraft Operations 1412.2.14 AeroVironment's Extensive Operational Track Record 1432.2.15 AeroVironment $11.2 Million Order for Raven Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Services 1432.2.16 Textron /AAI 1442.2.17 Textron Shadow 1472.2.18 Aurora Flight Sciences Odysseus Solar-Powered Aircraft 1482.2.19 Intel / Ascending Technologies 1482.2.20 Draganflyer X4 UAV 1482.2.21 DRS Unmanned Technologies Ground Control Stations 1492.2.22 Proxy Aviation Systems 1492.2.23 Northrop Grumman Bat 3 1502.2.24 General Atomics Predator UAS 1502.2.25 General Atomics Predator B UAS 1522.2.26 Yahama Agricultural Drone 1522.2.27 Wing Loong Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance (MALE) Drone 1532.2.28 Facebook 1532.2.29 Google 1532.2.30 Drone Unit Shipments by Company 1532.3 Drone Market Forecasts 1552.3.1 Smart Commercial Drone Aerial Systems (UAS), Market Total Forecasts 1642.3.2 Drone Unit Shipments 1642.3.3 Drone Industry Components 1682.4 Consumer Drones 1692.5 Smart Commercial Drone Market Sector Shares and Forecasts 1732.5.1 Smart Commercial Drone Aerial Systems Forecasts By Sector, Agriculture, Oil and Gas, Border Patrol, Law Enforcement, Homeland Security, Disaster Response, Package Delivery, Photography, Videography 1762.6 Border Patrol / Law Enforcement Drone Unmanned Aerial Systems 1782.6.1 Border Patrol / Law Enforcement Drone Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Market Shares 1782.6.2 Smart Commercial Drone Border Patrol / Homeland Security Aerial Systems Forecasts 1812.6.3 Law Enforcement Drones 1822.7 Package Delivery Smart Drone Aerial Systems 1822.7.1 Package Delivery Smart Commercial Drone Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Market Shares, 1832.7.2 Boeing ScanEagle UAV 1842.7.3 Google Package Delivery 1842.7.4 Package Delivery Smart Commercial Drone Aerial Systems Forecasts 1872.8 Utility, Pipeline, and Construction Inspection Drones 1882.8.1 Utility and Pipeline Inspection Smart Commercial Drone Aerial Systems (UAS) Market Shares 1882.8.2 Smart Commercial Drone Oil and Gas / Pipeline Inspection Aerial Systems Forecasts 1922.8.3 Middle East & Africa Oil & Gas Drones 1942.8.4 Solar Plant Inspection 1962.8.5 Construction 1972.9 Drone Agricultural Inspection and Planting Aerial Systems 1982.9.1 Agriculture Commercial Drone Market Vertical Growth: 2002.9.2 Agricultural Inspection and Planting Smart Commercial Drone Aerial Systems (UAS) Market Shares 2012.9.3 Yamaha RMAX 2032.9.4 DJI Agricultural Spraying Drone 2062.9.5 Prox Dynamics PD-100 Black Hornet 2072.9.6 Draganfly Draganflyer X4-P 2082.9.7 AscTec Firefly 2092.9.8 3D Robotics 2112.9.9 Agricultural Smart Commercial Drone Aerial Systems Forecasts 2122.9.10 Agriculture Surveying Via Drones 2132.9.11 Agricultural Surveying 2142.10 Photography and Videography Smart Commercial Drone Aerial Systems 2162.10.1 Photography and Videography Smart Commercial Drone Aerial Systems (UAS) Market Shares 2192.10.2 Smart Commercial Drone Film / Photo / Video 2212.10.3 LiDAR 2222.10.4 Smart Commercial Drone: Photography / Videography Systems Forecasts 2242.11 Commercial Drone Aerial Mapping 2252.11.1 GIS Professionals Are Willing to Pay for Drone Systems 2292.11.2 GIS Software 2302.11.3 UAS-Camera Integration 2312.11.4 Maps of Navigable Drone Highways in The Sky 2312.11.5 Aerial Mapping Smart Commercial Drone Systems Forecasts 2322.12 Real Estate Drones 2332.13 Improved Safety for Construction Sites 2352.14 Warehouse Security/Theft Prevention 2362.15 Drone Medical Markets 2372.16 Military Drones Market Share and Market Forecasts 2382.16.1 Military Drone Crashes 2412.16.2 Military Drone Crashes Database: 237 Drone Crashes 2412.16.3 Military Drone Market Shares 2452.16.4 Northrup Grumman 2482.16.5 Military Drone Market Forecasts 2522.16.6 Military Drone Market Segment Forecasts 2532.16.7 Turkey Domestically Produced Drone 2532.17 Nano Drones Applications 2542.17.1 Drone Miniaturization 2552.18 Follow Me Drones 2562.18.1 US FAA Commercial Drone Permits 2572.19 Unmanned Aerial Systems Payloads 2592.19.1 Composites Key to Utility 2592.20 Venture Investment in Drones 2602.20.1 Drones to Create 70,000 US Jobs 2632.20.2 Drone Crowd Funding 2642.21 Commercial Drone Prices 2662.21.1 Parrot AR Drone 2.0 Quadcopter Elite Edition 2672.21.2 Parrot BeBop Drone Quadcopter with 14 Megapixel Flight Camera (Blue) 2682.21.3 Parrot AR Drone 2.0 Quadcopter Elite Edition (Sand) 2692.21.4 Parrot BeBop Drone Quadcopter with Skycontroller Bundle (Red) 2702.21.5 Parrot BeBop Drone Quadcopter with 14 Megapixel Flight Camera (Red) 2702.21.6 Parrot BeBop Drone Quadcopter with Skycontroller Bundle (Blue) 2712.21.7 Parrot BeBop Drone Quadcopter with Skycontroller and Soft Case Bundle (Red) 2712.21.8 Parrot BeBop Drone Quadcopter with Backpack Bundle (Blue) 2722.21.9 Parrot BeBop Drone Quadcopter with Backpack Bundle (Red) 2722.21.10 Parrot BeBop Drone Quadcopter with Hard Case Bundle (Blue) 2732.21.11 Parrot BeBop Drone Quadcopter with Hard Case Bundle (Red) 2732.21.12 Parrot BeBop Drone Quadcopter with Wheeled Hard Case Bundle (Blue) 2742.21.13 Parrot BeBop Drone Quadcopter with Wheeled Hard Case Bundle (Red) 2752.21.14 Parrot AR Drone 2.0 1500 mAh High Density Battery 2752.21.15 Parrot LiPo Battery for AR.Drone 2.0 Quadcopter (11.1 V, 1000 mAh) 2752.21.16 Parrot Battery for BeBop Drone and Skycontroller 2762.21.17 Parrot Flight Recorder for AR. Drone 2.0 Quadcopter 2762.21.18 Parrot Camera for BeBop Drone 2762.21.19 Parrot Propellers for BeBop Drone (4-Pack, Red) 2772.21.20 Parrot Wall Charger for BeBop Drone and Skycontroller 2772.21.21 Parrot Skycontroller with Wi-Fi Range Extender for BeBop Drone (Red) 2772.21.22 Parrot Repair Kit for BeBop Drone (Pair) 2782.21.23 Parrot Feet Pack for BeBop Drone (4-Pack) 2782.22 Drone Regional Market Analysis 2812.22.1 Smart Drone Commercial (UAV) Industry Regional Summary 2842.22.2 U.S Accounts for 73 Percent of The Worldwide Research, Development, Test, And Evaluation (RDT&E) Spending On Smart Drone Technology 2852.22.3 U.S. State Department Drone Export Guidelines 2872.22.4 Canada 2872.22.5 Europe 2882.22.6 UK Trade in Drones 2892.22.7 Drones for the Netherlands 2892.22.8 Japan 2892.22.9 Sony Drone Services 2922.22.10 Japanese Drone Works Inside the Nuclear Power Plant 2942.22.11 China 2962.22.12 Chinese Smog-Fighting Drones That Spray Chemicals To Capture Air Pollution 2982.22.13 China Desires Exports, Steps Up Research In Military Drones 3002.22.14 Chinese Commercial Drones 3022.22.15 Singapore 3032.22.16 Africa 3042.22.17 Expansion of US Drone Base in Africa 3052.22.18 Ethiopia 3072.22.19 Brazil 3072.22.20 Morocco 3082.22.21 India 309Make 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 @
Worldwide Hip and Knee Orthopedic Surgical Implants Key Trends, Size, Growth, Shares And Forecast Research Report 2016 to 2022

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Hip and Knee Orthopedic Surgical Implants: Market Shares, Strategy, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2016 to 2022" to its huge collection of research reports.Worldwide hip and knee orthopedic surgical Implant markets are poised to achieve significant growth with the aging of the population.Old people have trouble making their joints last as long as they do. The patient stability and the relief from pain provided by the implant is compelling. The major suppliers are providing implants that are state of the art. Orthopedic reconstructive implants are used to replace joints that have deteriorated. Deterioration may come as a result of aging, disease, osteoarthritis, or injury.Total hip replacement surgery has evolved dramatically over the years as advances in technology have made it possible to improve surgical techniques. 325,000 people had total hip replacement surgery in 2015 in the United States. Computer-assisted total hip replacement surgery is one of the latest revolutions in total hip replacement.Zimmer is the market leader by far in the hip and knee orthopedic implant market. Zimmer M/L taper hip prosthesis has Kinectiv modular neck technology. This is better than traditional hip replacements that have had limited size and shape choices. Doctors typically adjusted the hip bone to fit the implant. Hip replacements with Zimmer Kinectiv Technology give surgeons a wide range of options to achieve a more accurate fit of the joint replacement to the hip.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Reconstructive joint surgery involves the modification of the affected area of the joint and the implantation of one or more manufactured components. It may involve the use of bone cement. The primary orthopedic reconstructive targets are joints. Hips and knees are the joints most commonly repaired with orthopedic implants.Orthopedic implant vendors produce associated instruments. Instruments are required by orthopedic surgeons to implant reconstructive products.Interdisciplinary dialog in medicine through its extensive continuing education offerings is a vital part of the hip and knee implant joint replacement market. System partnership means even more intensive exchange to continuously improve patient care. The company seeks to actively contribute extensive knowledge of procurement, logistics and application processes to the medical community.The aim is to increase efficiency of joint implant surgery in hospitals. Depending on the type of disorder, the activity level of the patient and the bone quality, the most suitable implant model is selected and fixated in the bone. A great number of implants for artificial hip replacement are available. The difference between individual models and manufacturers is small, all products are technologically sophisticated and good. Surgeon adoption of an implant product line provides competitive advantage.The surgeon selects an implant based on the devices for which he or she is trained. Surgeons tend to be proficient in a particular device and have the most success implanting that one. The surgeon decision for choice of implant depends on the diagnosis, his or her own experience with the implant products, and the suitability of the selected implant for the patient.Implant assisted medial knee arthroplasty: orthopedic surgical implants are poised to take knee and hip surgery quality far beyond what has previously been available. The quality of knee arthroplasty is improved with implant capability. All the advantages of surgical implants carry into the orthopedic reconstruction surgical products.. When the knee and hip surgical implants are used, patients have reduction of post-operative pain, fewer re-admissions to hospital and faster recovery. Implants support high-precision surgery.Knee and hip surgical implants need robots to provide consistent reproducible precision. Knee or hip replacement will demand attention to quality of life. Maintenance of lifestyle provided by an implant as a joint replacement is compelling. As next generation systems, hip and knee implants provide a way to improve traditional orthopedic hip and knee replacement surgery. Total hip replacement surgery has evolved dramatically as advances in technology have brought improved surgical techniques. Surgical implants are a significant part of that advance.Once, the penetration achieves this 35% level, all orthopedic surgeons will demand that hospitals offer implant orthopedic surgical capability because the outcomes are more predictable and better.Knee and hip surgical implant markets have been impacted by the reduction in insurance payments. Payment reductions have forced hospitals to act as businesses. The cost of delivering care has become as much a factor as providing quality care when making decisions about patient improvement in condition. Cost-cutting has been made in the supply chain. Suppliers were examined closely for quality and cost.The number of suppliers is reduced to put pressure on the ones that remain. Those remaining are pressured to improve prices and efficiencies. Hospitals, physicians, and care providers have been financially incentivized to create accountable care organizations (ACOs). Coordinated patient care plans and value-based purchasing were rewarded. The med device buyer shifted from physicians to the ACOs and smart buying groups.Use of the orthopedic implant represents a key milestone in reconstructive surgery. Implants have provided an opportunity to transform orthopedics. New materials and new designs are bringing that transformation forward. By furthering the growth of implant innovation, patients can get better treatment. By enhancing the surgeon and patient experience is is likely that the entire orthopedics implant market will grow more rapidly than it would otherwise.The aging US population has supported demand, since the occurrence of health issues that require medical devices is higher in the elderly population. Buoyed by strong demand and sales, industry profit margins have increased considerably during the past five years.The worldwide market for Hip and knee orthopedic surgical joint replacement products is $16.7 billion anticipated to reach $33 billon by 2022. The complete report provides a comprehensive analysis including procedure numbers, units sold, market value, forecasts, as well as a detailed competitive market shares and analysis of major players success, challenges, and strategies in each segment and sub-segment. The reports cover markets for knee and hip Implant orthopedic surgery medical specialties and sub-specialties.Companies ProfiledMarket Leaders- Johnson & Johnson / DePuy Synthes- Stryker- Smith & Nephew- Zimmer BiometMarket Participants- B Braun / Aesculap- ConforMIS- DJO- Exactech- Corin- Mathys- Medacta- MicroPort Scientific- Shenzhen Advanced Institute Spinal Surgical Robot- THINK Surgical- Waldemar LINK GmbH & Co.- Wright Medical TechnologyMake 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 @
Electric Vehicle Battery Pack Market 2017 BYD, Panasonic, CATL Are Key Industry Players

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Global Electric Vehicle Battery Pack Market 2017 report spread across 123 pages gives Market Segment Analysis by Key Manufacturers, Countries, Types and Applications. Electric vehicle battery pack is providing driving force by consuming the power and it is installed in the electric vehicle. Electric vehicle battery pack designed for Electric Vehicles (EVs) is complex and vary widely by manufacturers and specific application. However, they all incorporate a combination of several simple mechanical and electrical component systems which perform the basic required functions of the pack.Complete report is available atScope of the Report:This report focuses on the Global Electric Vehicle Battery Pack 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: BYD, Panasonic, CATL, OptimumNano, LG Chem, GuoXuan, Lishen, PEVE, AESC, Samsung, Lithium Energy Japan, Beijing Pride Power, BAK Battery, WanXiang, Hitachi, ACCUmotive, Boston PowerMarket 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: Lithium Ion Battery, NI-MH Battery, Other BatteryMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided into: PHEVs, BEVsRequest for discount atThere are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Electric Vehicle Battery Pack market.Chapter 1 to describe Electric Vehicle Battery Pack Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2 to analyze the top manufacturers of Electric Vehicle Battery Pack, with sales, revenue, and price of Electric Vehicle Battery Pack, 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 Electric Vehicle Battery Pack, 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;Order copy of report atChapter 12 Electric Vehicle Battery Pack market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15 to describe Electric Vehicle Battery Pack sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.ReportsnReports.com is your single source for all market research needs. Our database includes 500,000+ market research reports from over 95 leading global publishers & in-depth market research studies of over 5000 micro markets.Ritesh Tiwari,+ 1 888 391 5441sales@reportsandreports.com
What is the current market scenario of Global IT Outsourcing Market? Know what to expect from this Industry along with analysis and forecasts.

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IT Outsourcing - Global Market Outlook (2015-2022) Purchase This Report by calling ResearchnReports.com at +1-888-631-6977.The research report Global IT Outsourcing Market is a market study examining and profiling the current state of the IT Outsourcing industry in a professional manner. The report systematically categorizes the IT Outsourcing market, explaining the definition of IT Outsourcing before making clear the classification of the market by the various parameters employed by market experts. The multiple applications of IT Outsourcing in the global industrial scenario are profiled along with an explanation of the industry supply and value chain developed around it. The regional segments of the global IT Outsourcing market are also examined and data gained from this analysis presented. The development trends in and competitive landscape of the IT Outsourcing market are also studied and data regarding the same is presented in the report.Other industry-related processes about the IT Outsourcing market, such as a detailed explanation of the manufacturing structure, the financial background of the market, supply and demand dynamics, trade figures, and production value margins are also analyzed in the report. Prime development policies and plans concerning the IT Outsourcing market are examined with regard to their impact on the market in the forecast period.The strong trends shaping the growth pattern of the IT Outsourcing market are examined in the report in detail, in addition to the numerous marketing channels for the industry and their respective importance. In accordance with this information detailing the various aspects of the IT Outsourcing market, the report examines the links between the IT Outsourcing industry and the IT Outsourcing market, including an upstream raw materials and downstream demand analysisGet Discount on this report:The report analyzes the IT Outsourcing market and gives an intricate examination of its applications. The report includes a detailed cost evaluation analysis of products that are available in the worldwide IT Outsourcing market with regard to existing manufacturer profit margins. It helps figure out the primary driving forces of the IT Outsourcing market in significant end-use organizations around the world. It likewise constitutes a broad investigation of the restraints on the market, business sector structure, and the business pattern of the IT Outsourcing market. Meetings and interviews with the leading market participants have been used in order to present primary information regarding the market.The report is characterized into numerous parts dealing with diverse aspects of the IT Outsourcing market. This research report inspects the present situation and development prognosis of the IT Outsourcing market around the globe during the forecasting horizon. To determine the market size, the report analyzes revenue produced in the IT Outsourcing market worldwide alongside demonstrating the segmentation of the prime producers.Trusted current state analysis tools, such as Porters five forces analysis and SWOT analysis are employed in the report to assess the IT Outsourcing market data to deploy a complete overview of the market. Furthermore, this report gives a complete review of the magnitude and application scope of the IT Outsourcing market around the world. A detailed overview of the purchasing criteria and difficulties confronted in the IT Outsourcing business sector is also elaborated in this report.For More Enquiry On This Report:The market share evaluation of the primary players of the IT Outsourcing market given in the report offers a thorough evaluation of the market shares of the companies profiled in this report. The report fuses an analysis of the company profiles as well as the industry patterns for IT Outsourcing market used transversely over diverse end-use businesses.The report gives a SWOT analysis of the new projects in the international and IT Outsourcing market, investment feasibility, development trends, and investment return analysis of these projects. Study of the IT Outsourcing markets competitive landscape includes data facts and figures about leading countries and suppliers capacity, cost-structures, production values, profits, and gross margins of key businesses operating in the market over the reports review period. The report also provides details such as product picture and specification, and contact information of the companies profiled in the IT Outsourcing markets manufacturer analysis segment.Table of Content:-1 Executive Summary2 Preface2.1 Abstract2.2 Stake Holders2.3 Research Scope2.4 Research Methodology2.4.1 Data Mining2.4.2 Data Analysis2.4.3 Data Validation2.4.4 Research Approach2.5 Research Sources2.5.1 Primary Research Sources2.5.2 Secondary Research Sources2.5.3 Assumptions3 Market Trend Analysis3.1 Introduction3.2 Drivers3.3 Restraints3.4 Opportunities3.5 Threats3.6 Application Analysis3.7 End User Analysis3.8 Emerging markets4 Porters Five Force Analysis4.1 Bargaining power of suppliers4.2 Bargaining power of buyers4.3 Threat of substitutes4.4 Threat of new entrants4.5 Competitive rivalry5 Global IT Outsourcing Market, By Service Type5.1 Introduction5.2 Gain sharing5.3 Outtasking5.4 Co-Sourcing6 Global IT Outsourcing Market, By End User6.1 Introduction6.2 Small and Medium enterprises6.3 Large Enterprises7 Global IT Outsourcing Market, By Application7.1 Introduction7.2 Telecom and IT7.3 Retail7.4 Manufacturing7.5 Healthcare7.6 Government and Public Utilities7.7 Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI)7.8 Aerospace, Defense and Intelligence7.9 Others8 Global IT Outsourcing Market, By Geography8.1 North America8.1.1 US8.1.2 Canada8.1.3 Mexico8.2 Europe8.2.1 Germany8.2.2 France8.2.3 Italy8.2.4 UK8.2.5 Spain8.2.6 Rest of Europe8.3 Asia Pacific8.3.1 Japan8.3.2 China8.3.3 India8.3.4 Australia8.3.5 New Zealand8.3.6 Rest of Asia Pacific8.4 Rest of the World8.4.1 Middle East8.4.2 Brazil8.4.3 Argentina8.4.4 South Africa8.4.5 Egypt9 Key Developments9.1 Agreements, Partnerships, Collaborations and Joint Ventures9.2 Acquisitions & Mergers9.3 New Product Launch9.4 Expansions9.5 Other Key Strategies10 Company Profiling10.1 Infosys10.2 iGate10.3 HCL10.4 Cognizant10.5 CGI10.6 Capgemini10.7 Wipro10.8 Unisys10.9 TCS10.10 ITC InfotechComplete Report available at: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)
Power over Ethernet Technology Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis and Forecast,2016 - 2022

Power over Ethernet Technology

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A market study based on the "Power over Ethernet Technology" across the globe, recently added to the repository of Market Research, is titled Global Power over Ethernet Technology Market 2017'. The Research report by QY Research Group is a market-oriented, technical, and commercial research analysis of the Power over Ethernet Technology market. The analysis is completed using a wide range of secondary sources, databases and directories in order to identify and assemble market data. Primary sources included for the analysis include preferred suppliers, industry experts from core and associated industries, manufacturers, service providers, distributors, and organizations allied to the entire segments of the industry supply chain.CLICK HERE to Request Sample Report @Analyses of the global Power over Ethernet Technology market trends along with the projections of CAGRs (compound annual growth rates) are provided in the research report. To estimate the overall market size of Power over Ethernet Technology, its application, and regionsin terms of value and volumethe bottom-up approach is followed. On the other hand, to corroborate the overall Power over Ethernet Technology market sizeagain in terms of value and volumethe top-down approach is followed. Following the method of data triangulation and data validation via primaries, the precise values of the parent market and individual market in terms of size are calculated and established in the report.This market research report provides the client with comprehensive market analysis of the Power over Ethernet Technology market over the forecast period. In addition, it also furnishes a general idea of the challenges, drivers, and restraints that have direct or indirect impact on the industry. It further highlights the market, the industry, and latest technology trends currently existing in the Power over Ethernet Technology market. All this precise, accurate and comprehensive data will help the clients to make appropriate and practical decisions so as to gain maximum profit in the global market.The research report analyzes, tracks, and presents the global market size of the major players in every region around the world. Furthermore, the report provides data of the leading market players in the Power over Ethernet Technology market.Browse FULL Report @Overall, the report is a one-stop destination and a valuation report to grab all the necessary information regarding the global Power over Ethernet Technology market.About Us:QYResearch Group is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. QYResearch Group also carries the capability to assist you with your customized market research requirements including in-depth market surveys, primary interviews, competitive landscaping, and company profiles. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics. QYResearch Group is the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air.Contact US:Joel John3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442,United StatesTel: +1-386-310-3803GMT Tel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No. 1-855-465-4651
Safety Motion Control Market  Forecasts from 2017 to 2022

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Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence announces a new research study titled: Safety Motion Control Market  Forecasts from 2017 to 2022.This research report segments the Safety Motion Control market by Type (Open loop, Closed loop), Components (Sensors, AC&DC motors, Motion controllers), Application (Assembling, Material handling, Packaging), End-user Industry (Manufacturing, Automotive, Energy & Power and Electrical & Electronics )and Geography (North America, South America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific). The report provides an in depth and most accurately anticipated forecasts in a quantitative manner.Some of the major Safety Motion Control companies covered in this report are ABB, Mitsubishi Electric, Siemens, Schneider Electric, Rockwell Automation, Yaskawa Electric Corporation, Bosch Rexroth, among others.Sample request or complete report can be purchased through the link below:The report can be purchased through the link:This 75 pages report contains a wide range of figures and data tables for the forecasted period based on the segmentations listed above.Brief TOC is as below: Market Dynamics Segmentationo By type: Open loop Closed loopo By End-user Industry Manufacturing Automotive Aerospace and defense Energy and Power Electrical and Electronicso By Geography Americas North America South America Europe Middle East and Africa Europe Middle East and Africa Asia Pacific Competitive Intelligence Profiles of key companiesAbout Knowledge Sourcing IntelligenceKnowledge Sourcing Intelligence is a market research and consulting firm based out of India. Driven by industry experts, the company provides syndicated reports, custom research, and consulting services. Our proprietary data analytics model blended with quality primary and secondary research data assists in generating quality reports providing crucial insights to managers and decision makers. The services offered by us help companies to gain required competitive edge. Our expertise across 10 industries such as ICT, Chemicals, Semiconductors, Healthcare among others caters to diverse client needsKnowledge Sourcing IntelligenceAscent Business CenterH-38, Sector 63NOIDA, IndiaContact: +1-866-714-4587
Global Glucose Monitoring Market with Focus on CGM Industry Analysis & Outlook (2016-2020) | New Release

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Glucose Monitoring Market with Focus on CGM: Industry Analysis & Outlook (2016-2020)" to its huge collection of research reports.Glucose monitoring helps people suffering from diabetes in managing their health and avoiding its associated problems. Any individual can use the results of glucose monitoring to make decisions about food, physical activity, and medications which can help him stay healthy. The most common glucose monitoring solutions are blood glucose meters and continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems. In addition to it, the traditional way to check glucose levels involves pricking a fingertip with an automatic piercing device to obtain a blood sample and then using a glucose meter to measure the blood sample's glucose level.CGM is a way to measure glucose levels in real-time throughout the day and night. CGM systems use a tiny sensor inserted under the skin to check glucose levels in tissue fluid. The sensor stays in place for several days to a week and then must be replaced. It is connected to a transmitter that sends the information via wireless radio frequency to a monitoring and display device. The device can detect and notify you if glucose is reaching a high or low limit.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The key factors which are anticipated to drive glucose monitoring market include growing number of diabetic patients, increase in ageing population, rising obese population, growing urban population, increase in healthcare expenditure and desk bound lifestyle. Some of the significant developments of this industry include introduction of new innovative products in the market, approval of artificial pancreas, increasing awareness about health and glucose monitoring, growing investment in digital health solutions and increase in CGM recommendations. However, the challenge to be faced ahead is CGM reimbursement, extreme competition among companies and legal regulations.This report offers a comprehensive analysis of the Global Glucose Monitoring market with focus on CGM. Furthermore, market dynamics such as key trends and development; and challenges are analyzed in depth. On the contention front, the global market is reined by few major players namely Abbott Laboratories, Medtronic, and DexCom. The competitive landscape of the respective market, along with the company profiles of the leading players are also discussed in detail.Table of Content1. Glucose Monitoring: An Introduction1.1 Diabetes1.1.1 Types of Diabetes1.1.2 Symptoms of Diabetes1.1.3 Diabetes Risk Factors1.2 Blood Glucose Monitoring1.2.1 Blood Glucose Meter1.2.2 Types of Blood Glucose Meters1.3 Self-Monitoring Blood Glucose1.4 Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM)2. Market Analysis2.1 Global Diabetes Devices Market by Segment2.2 Global Glucose Monitoring Market by Value2.2.1 Traditional Glucose Monitoring Market2.2.2 Global Continuous Glucose Monitoring Market by Value3. The US CGM Market3.1 The US Diabetes Population3.2 The US Diagnosed Diabetes Population3.3 The US Type 1 Diabetes Population3.4 The US Type 2 Diabetes Population3.5 CGM Diabetes Type-1 Penetration in the US3.6 CGM Diabetes Type-1 Patient Volume in the US3.7 CGM Diabetes Type-1 Patient Volume in the US by Category3.8 CGM Diabetes Type-1 Growth in the US by Volume3.9 CGM Diabetes Type-1 Revenue Growth in the US4. Market Dynamics4.1 Growth Drivers4.1.1 Growing Number of Diabetic Patients4.1.2 Increase in Ageing Population4.1.3 Rising Obese Population4.1.4 Growing Urban Population4.1.5 Increase in Health Care Expenditure4.1.6 Desk Bound Lifestyle and Second hand Smoke4.2 Key Trends4.2.1 Introduction of New Innovative Products in the Market4.2.2 Approval of Artificial Pancreas4.2.3 Increasing Consciousness about Health and Glucose Monitoring4.2.4 Growing Investment in Digital Health Solutions4.2.5 Increase in CGM Recommendation4.3 Challenges4.3.1 CGM Reimbursement4.3.2 Extreme Competition among Companies4.3.3 Legal Regulations5. Competitive Landscape5.1 Global CGM Market Share by Company5.2 The US CGM Market Share by Company5.3 The US CGM Market Share by Patients Volume5.4 CGM Device Comparison by Company6. Company Profiles6.1 Abbot Laboratories6.1.1 Business Overview6.1.2 Financial Overview6.1.3 Business Strategies6.2 Medtronic Inc.6.2.1 Business Overview6.2.2 Financial Overview6.2.3 Business Strategies6.3 Dexcom6.3.1 Business Overview6.3.2 Financial Overview6.3.3 Business StrategiesMake 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 Electronic Health Records (EHR) Market - Drchrono, ADP AdvancedMD, Greenway & HealthFusion

Electronic Health Records (EHR)

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The Market Research Store report offers majority of the latest and newest industry data that covers the overall market situation along with future prospects for Electronic Health Records (EHR) market around the globe. The research study includes significant data and also forecasts of the global market which makes the research report a helpful resource for marketing people, analysts, industry executives, consultants, sales and product managers, and other people who are in need of major industry data in a ready-to-access format along with clear presentation of graphs and tables.The report comprises the current size of the Electronic Health Records (EHR) market. It also provides with different types of product segments of the global market. Furthermore, the Electronic Health Records (EHR) market research report gives an in-depth information about the overall market and various product segments and their growth trends. The future market forecasts about the global Electronic Health Records (EHR) market are also covered in the research report. In addition, the overall market potential is further described in the report along with different countries around the globe.Browse Complete Report with TOC @The latest and the newest trends of the Electronic Health Records (EHR) industry are also included in this report. Moreover, overall global market size, the market size by product segment, growth rates of the global market along with and different product segments of the market, and various product segments with their value and volumes evaluation are also included in the research report.The Market Research Store report offers the global market potential rates of the Electronic Health Records (EHR) market along with various product segments. The research report provides an overview of the current market situation, historic development, and future outlook of the Electronic Health Records (EHR) market. It also tracks the industry developments trends and identifies the global market opportunities. The report helps to plan and develop precise marketing, market expansion, market-entry, and other business strategies through identifying the major market prospects and opportunities.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The data in the report is clearly presented which can be easily integrated into presentations and internal reports.About Us:MarketResearchStore.com is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations.Joel JohnSuite #8138, 3422 SW 15 Street,Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803
ERP Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 Market 2017 - SAP, Oracle, Sage, Infor, Microsoft, Epicor, Kronos, Concur (SAP), IBM

ERP Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022

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Worldwide ERP Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 Market 2017 Analysis Report audits a Market Regions, Product Categories, with Sales, Business Revenue, Goods cost, ERP Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 piece of the overall industry and Growth patterns, concentrating on driving ERP Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 industry players, showcase size, request and supply examination, utilization volume, Forecast 2017 to 2022.The Global ERP Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 report gives a thorough situation of the present and gauge ERP Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 showcase procedures, improvement methodologies and development openings. Starting a discussion on the contemporary condition of ERP Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 showcase, the report extra dissects the market powerful moving each area begun in it.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here :Top Manufacturers Analysis Of This ReportSAPOracleSageInforMicrosoftEpicorKronosConcur (SAP)IBMTotvsUNIT4YonYouNetSuiteKingdeeWorkdayCornerstoneDigiwin.The report additionally concentrates the ERP Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 bits of knowledge of the organizations and suggestions that will help the perusers to have progressive learning of the ERP Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 showcase.A principal diagram of the ERP Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 market is introduced to the perusers with the assistance of market definition, order, different applications, and production network examination. The ERP Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 report covers the investigation of conventional and the developing markets. The report more expresses the ERP Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 showcase rivals, their business profiles, freshest news, their piece of the overall industry, developing arrangements and methodologies, client volume and creating strategies.Enquire Here :In next part, the ERP Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 Report assesses the gross edge examination of various locales i. e. (US, EU, China and Japan). Different areas can be included according to the prerequisite.All in all, it is an exhaustive research report which will help perusers to break down the possibility of interest in ERP Software Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 advertise.About UsApexResearch 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 UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development Executive| sales@apexresearch.biz
Global Hospital Furniture Industry - Johnson & Johnson, Bio Medical, Stryker and Medtronic

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Market ScenarioGlobally the market for Hospital Furniture is increasing rapidly the main reason for this is the growth is the increase Hospitals. The factors that influence the growth of Hospital Furniture market are the increasing development in technology and advancement, increasing number of medical infrastructure and many more.SegmentationBy Type - Hospital Bed, Hospital Chair, Hospital Table, Hospital Trolley and others.By End Users - Hospitals, Clinics, Ambulance, Path Labs and others.By Region  North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and RowRequest a Sample Report @Key Players Stryker (US) Bio Medical Solutions (India) KI (US) GPC Medical (India) Chang Gung Medical Technology (China) Hill-Rom (US) Narang Medical (India) Beaver Healthcare Equipment (UK) Renray Healthcare(UK) Bristol Maid Hospital Metal craft (UK) The Brewer Company (US).Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 85 market data tables and figures spread in 105 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Global Hospital Furniture Market Research Report - Forecast to 2027"Regional AnalysisNorth America dominated the Global Hospital Furniture market with the largest market share, accounting for $XX million and is expected to grow over $XX billion by 2027. The European market for Hospital Furniture is expected to grow at XX% GAGR (2016-2027). Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at CAGR of XX% from $ XX million in 2016 to $XX million by 2027.Americas North America US Canada Latin AmericaEurope Western Europe Germany France Italy Spain U.K Rest of Western Europe Eastern EuropeAsia Pacific Asia China India Japan South Korea Rest of AsiaAccess Full HF Market@Study Objectives of Hospital Furniture 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 Hospital Furniture market To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth To Analyze the Hospital Furniture 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 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, End Users and its sub-segments.About 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
Architecture Curtain Wall Market 2017 - Yuanda China, JiangHong Group, Permasteelisa, Schuco, Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope

Architecture Curtain Wall

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Worldwide Architecture Curtain Wall Market 2017 Analysis Report audits a Market Regions, Product Categories, with Sales, Business Revenue, Goods cost, Architecture Curtain Wall piece of the overall industry and Growth patterns, concentrating on driving Architecture Curtain Wall industry players, showcase size, request and supply examination, utilization volume, Forecast 2017 to 2022.The Global Architecture Curtain Wall report gives a thorough situation of the present and gauge Architecture Curtain Wall showcase procedures, improvement methodologies and development openings. Starting a discussion on the contemporary condition of Architecture Curtain Wall showcase, the report extra dissects the market powerful moving each area begun in it.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here :Top Manufacturers Analysis Of This ReportYuanda ChinaJiangHong GroupPermasteelisaSchucoOldcastle BuildingEnvelopeChina Aviation Sanxin CoThe report additionally concentrates the Architecture Curtain Wall bits of knowledge of the organizations and suggestions that will help the perusers to have progressive learning of the Architecture Curtain Wall showcase.A principal diagram of the Architecture Curtain Wall market is introduced to the perusers with the assistance of market definition, order, different applications, and production network examination. The Architecture Curtain Wall report covers the investigation of conventional and the developing markets. The report more expresses the Architecture Curtain Wall showcase rivals, their business profiles, freshest news, their piece of the overall industry, developing arrangements and methodologies, client volume and creating strategies.Enquire Here :In next part, the Architecture Curtain Wall Report assesses the gross edge examination of various locales i. e. (US, EU, China and Japan). Different areas can be included according to the prerequisite.All in all, it is an exhaustive research report which will help perusers to break down the possibility of interest in Architecture Curtain Wall advertise.About UsApexResearch 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 UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development Executive| sales@apexresearch.biz
Worldwide LED Flashlight Market by Region, Type, Application and Forecast To 2021

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Publisher's LED Flashlight 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 discuion of important industry trends, market size, market share estimates and profiles of the leading industry players.Global LED Flashlight Market: Product Segment AnalysisRechargeable LED FlashlightNon-rechargeable LED FlashlightGlobal LED Flashlight Market: Application Segment AnalysisGlobal LED Flashlight Market: Regional Segment AnalysisUSAEuropeJapanChinaIndiaSouth East AsiaFor More Information About This Report:The players mentioned in our reportSureFireLED LenserNovaTacMagliteEagle TacNite IzeDorcyFour SevensStreamlightPelicanLumapowerPrincetonSupfireFenixNitecoreOlightOcean's KingWolf EyesRequest Sample Copy At:Table of ContentChapter 1 About the LED Flashlight IndustryChapter 2 World Market Competition LandscapeChapter 3 World LED Flashlight 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 LED Flashlight 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
Metallocene Polyethylene Market 2017 - Global Industry Size, Analysis, Growth, Opportunity & Forecast Report

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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 Metallocene Polyethylene Market is confident in meeting their needs and expectations. The 2017 market research report on Global Metallocene Polyethylene 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 Metallocene Polyethylene Market report is a noteworthy.Request a sample of this report @The Global Metallocene Polyethylene 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 Metallocene Polyethylene 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 Metallocene Polyethylene Industry. Accurate forecasts and expert opinion from credible sources, and the recent R&D development in the industry is also a mainstay of the Metallocene Polyethylene 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.Finally, the Metallocene Polyethylene 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 Metallocene Polyethylene Industry is the holy grail of information which serious knowledge seekers can benefit from. The report which is the result of ultimate dedication of pedigree professionals has a wealth of information which can benefit anyone, irrespective of their commercial or academic interest.Browse the complete report @Major Points from Tables of Content:Chapter One: Metallocene Polyethylene Market OverviewChapter Two: Global Metallocene Polyethylene Market Competition by ManufacturersChapter Three: Global Metallocene Polyethylene Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)Chapter Four: Global Metallocene Polyethylene Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)Chapter Five: Global Metallocene Polyethylene Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by TypeChapter Six: Global Metallocene Polyethylene Market Analysis by ApplicationChapter Seven: Global Metallocene Polyethylene Manufacturers Profiles/AnalysisChapter Eight: Metallocene Polyethylene Manufacturing Cost AnalysisChapter Nine: Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream BuyersChapter Ten: Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/TradersChapter Eleven: Market Effect Factors AnalysisChapter Twelve: Global Metallocene Polyethylene Market Forecast (2017-2022)Chapter Thirteen: Research Findings and ConclusionChapter Fourteen: AppendixBuy a report @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.com
Global ATM Market 2017 Analysis, Opportunities and Forecasts to 2022

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ReportsWeb.com has announced the addition of the Global ATM Market Research Report 2017 The report focuses on global major leading players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD) , market share and growth rate of ATM in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast) , covering North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India. Global ATM market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players including NCR, Diebold, Wincor Nixdorf International, GRG Banking Equipment, Hitachi Payment Services, Synkey Group, Perto, Fujitsu, OKI, Nautilus Hyosung, SPL Group,Hantle, Royal Bank Technology, KingTeller and Eastcom.Request for free sample copy atOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into Cash Dispenser, Automated Deposit Terminal and Recycle Type.On 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 ATM for each application, including Banking, Retai and Others.For more information about this report atTable of Content1 ATM Market Overview2 Global ATM Market Competition by Manufacturers3 Global ATM Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)4 Global ATM Supply (Production) , Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)4.1 Global ATM Consumption by Region (2012-2017)4.2 North America ATM Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.3 Europe ATM Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.4 China ATM Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.5 Japan ATM Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.6 Southeast Asia ATM Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.7 India ATM Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)5 Global ATM Production, Revenue (Value) , Price Trend by Type5.1 Global ATM Production and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2 Global ATM Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.3 Global ATM Price by Type (2012-2017)5.4 Global ATM Production Growth by Type (2012-2017)6 Global ATM Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global ATM Consumption and Market Share by Application (2012-2017)6.2 Global ATM Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2012-2017)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/Countries7 Global ATM Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 NCR7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 ATM Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 NCR ATM Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 Diebold7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 ATM Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 Diebold ATM Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Wincor Nixdorf International7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 ATM Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Wincor Nixdorf International ATM Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview8 ATM Manufacturing Cost Analysis9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders11 Market Effect Factors Analysis12 Global ATM Market Forecast (2017-2022)13 Research Findings and ConclusionPurchase this report -and get,Discount on report purchase -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
Agricultural Robots Industry Analysis, Trend, Growth, Shares, Strategies and Forecasts, 2017 to 2023

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Agricultural Robots: Market Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts, 2017 to 2023" to its huge collection of research reports.The study addresses the efficiencies gained when robots can work 24 x 7 without getting tired from leveraging the fact that they do not make mistakes. The robots are able to perform repetitive tasks effectively, with cameras they can discern whether fruit is ripe or not and pick only the ripe fruit that can be sold. The robots can go back several times to pick fruit, while human pickers generally make one pass, two at the most. The robots can pick more fruit because they can get more ripe fruit from a tree.Agriculture is the second greatest source of employment worldwide, and the least automated of all industries. Agriculture is the largest remaining opportunity for automation. Agriculture has become more mechanized so that many crops are harvested using machinery worldwide. Agricultural continues its declining employment trend as robotics are adopted.Lely robotic cow milking systems target large dairy farms implement innovation in agriculture. Successful robotic milking on farms with more than 500 cows is supported. Agriculture faces enormous challenges over the coming decades. Agricultural entrepreneurs have to keep pace with rapid population growth and the need to deliver food at progressively more competitive prices.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Lely supports technical revolutions that help evolve automated process, ranging from forage harvesting machines to milking, feeding and barn equipment. Lely equipment allows successfully increasing the scale of operations.Safeguarding optimum animal welfare and return on investment is the aim. By partnering with Lely on the milking automation journey, creates benefit from a unique set of management instruments to monitor milk quality, feed/milk conversion ratio for the individual cow or the complete herd. Lely continues to develop knowledge and products for the future. A basic requirement for profitable robotic milking includes attention to feed/milk efficiency.Freedoms include permitting cows to achieve well-being by achieving more freedom, making it so that the farmers get the most out of their herd. Lely discovered that farmers who use free cow traffic are more successful with robotic milking.Using cow milking systems, ore milk per cow and more milk per robot is being achieved. Systems work with less difficulty and with the possibility of working more sociable hours. Many farmers who used to use forced systems have changed over to free cow traffic flow in order to benefit from the advantages of robotic milking.Robots are used for harvesting. High value crops are a target of agricultural robotic development. What could be tastier than a strawberry, perfectly formed, and perfectly ripened? New agricultural robots are able to improve the delivery of consistent quality food, and to implement efficiency in managing food production. Strawberries are a high profit crop.A new generation of machines has just been born. Strawberry harvesters with the world's most advanced technology to give maximum performance to a farm. Harvesting robots can optimize the productivity of the farming business. Growers can get the best results in a berry farm using automated process. Automated picking collection systems improve labor productivity, give speed and agility to harvest operations.Employment opportunity will come from human implementation of digitation, building APIs that make digital connections and building algorithms that make sense of digital data collected. There is plenty of work for humans to figure out how to react to alerts generated by digital algorithms.The market for agricultural robots at $1.7 billion in 2016 is expected to grow to $27.1 billion by 2023. Agricultural Robots: users harness robots to plow, plant, spray, prune, milk, pick, shear, and harvest. As economies of scale are achieved, markets will grow rapidly.Companies ProfiledMarket Leaders- Lely- Tetrelaval / DeLaval- Yaskawa / Motoman- Yamaha- KukaMarket Participants- 8Villages- ABB Robotics- Adigo- AeroVironment- Agile Planet- AgRA: RAS Agricultural Robotics and Automation (AgRA- Agribotix- Agrobot- AquaSpy- Australian Centre for Field Robotics- Autonomous Tractor Corp. (ATC)- Avular B.V- Blue River Technology- Bosch Deepfield Robotics- Clearpath Robotics- Rowbot- CNH Industrial / Fiat / Case IH- cRops- Cyphy Works- Digital Harvest- DJI Innovations- ecoRobotix- Fanuc- FarmBot- Frank Poulsen Engineering- Georgia Tech Agricultural Robots- Google- Harvard Robobee- Harvest Automation- HoneyComb- IBM- iRobot- Jaybridge Robotics- John Deere- Kinze Manufacturing- Kuka- KumoTek- Kyoto University- Lely- LemnaTec Phenomics- Millennial Net- Japan: National Agriculture and Food Research Organization- Ossian Agro Automation / Nano Ganesh- Parrot/senseFly- Precise Path Robotics- Robotic Harvesting- SAGA  Swarm Robotics for Agricultural Applications- Sentera- Sicily Tractor Harvesting- Shibuya Seiki- Spread- Sustainable Harvest- Tetrelaval- DeLaval Sustainable Dairy Farming- Trimble- Universidad Politecnica de Madrid- University of California, Davis- Vision Robotics- Wall-Ye V.I.N. Robot- Yamaha- YaskawaMake 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 Sorghum Seed Market 2017 Industry Research Report - Advanta Seeds, Dupont Pioneer, Nufarm

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The Global Sorghum Seed Market 2017 Industry Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Sorghum Seed market. Annual estimates and forecasts are provided for the period 2017 through 2023. Also, a six-year historic analysis is provided for these markets.The major players in global Sorghum Seed market includeAdvanta SeedsMonsantoKWSNufarmDupont PioneerChromatinDyna-Gro SeedProlineHeritage SeedsAllied SeedSustainable Seed CompanyBlue River HybridsSafal Seeds & BiotechSeed Co LimitedOn the basis of product, the Sorghum Seed market is primarily split intoForage Sorghum SeedGrain Sorghum SeedSweet Sorghum SeedOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report coversSorghum PlantingSorghum BreedingIn 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.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @QYresearchreports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations.QYresearchreports1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Substation Automation Market - Industry Analysis, Growth, Trend and Global Forecast to 2027

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Market Scenario:Increasing demand for smart or intelligent electronic devices and heavy investment in the smart grid technologies is going to result in significant growth in the Substation Automation market. Increased installation of substation utilities across the globe is another factor that is going to push up the demand in the substation automation market. The substation automation market is expected to register a healthy CAGR of almost 10%.Segments:The substation automation market is categorized on the basis of application as transmission and distribution. On the basis of types the market has been segmented as new and retrofit. On the basis of components the market has been segmented as hardware, software and services.Request a Sample Copy @Study Objectives of Substation Automation: 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 Substation Automation market. To provide insights about factors affecting the market growth. To Analyze the Substation Automation market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, Porters five force analysis. To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to six main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East & Africa. To provide country level analysis of the market with respect to the current market size and future prospective. To provide country level analysis of the market for segment by type, by components, by application , and by region as well as its 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, and new product developments in the global Substation Automation market.Access Report Details @Regional Analysis of Substation Automation Market:North America is one of the leading markets for the substation automation market. Increasing activities revolving around smart grid infrastructure is one of the major factors that is boosting the demand in the developed nations. Asia-pacific is another growing market mainly due to the infrastructural activities and major electrification projects in the near future.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 AnandMarket Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Denim Skirt Market 2017 - American Apparel, American Eagle Outfitters, Uniqlo, Calvin Klein, True Religion

Denim Skirt Market

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Apex Research, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "Denim Skirt Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of "Denim Skirt Market" from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global Denim Skirt industry, and estimates the future trend of Denim Skirt market on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares "Denim Skirt Market" performance both in terms of volume and revenue.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This Report1. PVH Corporation2. Inditex3. H&M4. Mango5. Frame6. Citizen of Humanity7. Denham8. TopShop9. VF Corp.10. American Apparel11. American Eagle OutfittersThe market research report explores the Denim Skirt market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of "Denim Skirt Market". The research report studies the entire value chain from raw material to end user industries. The report also shares import/export statistics along with production and consumption for all major regions and countries. Moreover, the research study classifies the Denim Skirt market based on major product types, application and end users industries of Denim Skirt. Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for Denim Skirt market. The report further provides production, capacity, price per region, gross margin, production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in report.The competitive landscape of the global market for Denim Skirt is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, Denim Skirt market's production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Denim Skirt market globally.Enquire Before Buying @The worldwide Denim Skirt market 2017 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Denim Skirt production volume, data pertaining to demand and Denim Skirt supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of Denim Skirt along with detailed manufacturing sources. The report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis has been implemented in the research study to present a comprehensive, detailed study of the industry for Denim Skirt across the world.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 -
Custom LASIK Market 2017 - LASIK MD, Novartis, Vision Service Plan, Texan Eye, Alcon Laboratories, Abbott Medical, Optics (AMO), Bausch & Lomb

Custom LASIK Market

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Apex Research, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "Custom LASIK Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of "Custom LASIK Market" from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global Custom LASIK industry, and estimates the future trend of Custom LASIK market on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares "Custom LASIK Market" performance both in terms of volume and revenue.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This Report1. Alcon Laboratories2. Abbott Medical Optics (AMO)3. Bausch & Lomb4. Georgia Center for Sight5. TLC6. University of Rochester Medical Center Rochester7. The LASIK Vision Institute8. Ophthalmology Associates9. Ophthalmology Physicians & SurgeonsThe market research report explores the Custom LASIK market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of "Custom LASIK Market". The research report studies the entire value chain from raw material to end user industries. The report also shares import/export statistics along with production and consumption for all major regions and countries. Moreover, the research study classifies the Custom LASIK market based on major product types, application and end users industries of Custom LASIK. Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for Custom LASIK market. The report further provides production, capacity, price per region, gross margin, production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in report.The competitive landscape of the global market for Custom LASIK is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, Custom LASIK market's production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Custom LASIK market globally.Enquire Before Buying @The worldwide Custom LASIK market 2017 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Custom LASIK production volume, data pertaining to demand and Custom LASIK supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of Custom LASIK along with detailed manufacturing sources. The report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis has been implemented in the research study to present a comprehensive, detailed study of the industry for Custom LASIK across the world.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 -
Custom Flavor and Fragrance Market 2017 - Synergy Flavor, Prova, Huabao, Yingyang, Zhonghua, Shanghai Apple, Wanxiang, International, Boton

Custom Flavor and Fragrance Market

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Apex Research, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "Custom Flavor and Fragrance Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of "Custom Flavor and Fragrance Market" from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global Custom Flavor and Fragrance industry, and estimates the future trend of Custom Flavor and Fragrance market on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares "Custom Flavor and Fragrance Market" performance both in terms of volume and revenue.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This Report1. Givaudan2. Firmenich3. IFF4. Symrise5. Takasago6. WILD Flavors7. Mane8. Frutarom9. Sensient10. Robertet SA11. T. Hasegawa12. Kerry13. McCormickThe market research report explores the Custom Flavor and Fragrance market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of "Custom Flavor and Fragrance Market". The research report studies the entire value chain from raw material to end user industries. The report also shares import/export statistics along with production and consumption for all major regions and countries. Moreover, the research study classifies the Custom Flavor and Fragrance market based on major product types, application and end users industries of Custom Flavor and Fragrance. Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for Custom Flavor and Fragrance market. The report further provides production, capacity, price per region, gross margin, production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in report.The competitive landscape of the global market for Custom Flavor and Fragrance is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, Custom Flavor and Fragrance market's production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Custom Flavor and Fragrance market globally.Enquire Before Buying @The worldwide Custom Flavor and Fragrance market 2017 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Custom Flavor and Fragrance production volume, data pertaining to demand and Custom Flavor and Fragrance supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of Custom Flavor and Fragrance along with detailed manufacturing sources. The report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis has been implemented in the research study to present a comprehensive, detailed study of the industry for Custom Flavor and Fragrance across the world.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 -
Global Brushless Motor Controllers Industry 2017 Annual Growth Value, Market Trends, Developments & Opportunities : Gloden Motor,Zikodrive,Adafruit,Aveox

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report Global Brushless Motor Controllers Market Research Report 2017 to its huge collection of research reports.The Brushless Motor Controllers has been expressively dissected in this statistical surveying that has been added to our frequently growing industry knowledge arrangement. The archive takes after an arrangement that gives a careful and scientific diagram of the Brushless Motor Controllers and moreover inspects the main sections, compelling components, and market components that administer the development rate of the market and its competitive and regional scenes.The report offers to its clients an all-encompassing 360-degree point of view of the Brushless Motor Controllers from the back to front, starting with the core values of the mechanical components, then proceeding onward to the examination of information on the different perspectives including as industry chain structure, groupings, industry diagram, arrangements, applications, and late advancements.For more info, get a Sample PDF with TOC:The data offered in the report has been accumulated through the assistance of various essential and auxiliary research strategies. Quantitative and subjective information appraisal for key market sections on the regional and the aggregate worldwide front have also been given in the report. The gigantic archives of information that have been sifted through by industry-best investigative techniques will give to the user the points of interest that matter the most.The report also gives a portrayal of the administrative situation of the Brushless Motor Controllers and gives points of interest relating to the more prominent arrangements, approaches, controls, and decides in that effect the numerous business related choices in the market. A point by point outline of the competitive scene of the Brushless Motor Controllers has additionally been given in the report, wherein itemized business profiles, SWOT examination, and numerous different insights about a portion of the real sellers in the market are incorporated.Table of ContentsGlobal Brushless Motor Controllers Market Research Report 20171 Brushless Motor Controllers Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Brushless Motor Controllers1.2 Brushless Motor Controllers Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Brushless Motor Controllers by Type in 20151.2.2 Type I1.2.3 Type II1.3 Brushless Motor Controllers Segment by Application1.3.1 Brushless Motor Controllers Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Application 11.3.3 Application 21.3.4 Application 31.4 Brushless Motor Controllers Market by Region1.4.1 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.2 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Korea Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Taiwan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Brushless Motor Controllers (2012-2022)Browse Complete Report with TOC @2 Global Brushless Motor Controllers Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Brushless Motor Controllers Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Global Brushless Motor Controllers Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 Global Brushless Motor Controllers Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers Brushless Motor Controllers Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Brushless Motor Controllers Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Brushless Motor Controllers Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Brushless Motor Controllers Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Brushless Motor Controllers Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 Global Brushless Motor Controllers Production by Region (2012-2017)3.2 Global Brushless Motor Controllers Production Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 Global Brushless Motor Controllers Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.4 Global Brushless Motor Controllers Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.5 North America Brushless Motor Controllers Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.6 Europe Brushless Motor Controllers Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.7 China Brushless Motor Controllers Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.8 Japan Brushless Motor Controllers Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.9 Korea Brushless Motor Controllers Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.10 Taiwan Brushless Motor Controllers Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)4 Global Brushless Motor Controllers Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2012-2017)4.1 Global Brushless Motor Controllers Consumption by Regions (2012-2017)4.2 North America Brushless Motor Controllers Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.3 Europe Brushless Motor Controllers Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.4 China Brushless Motor Controllers Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.5 Japan Brushless Motor Controllers Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.6 Korea Brushless Motor Controllers Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.7 Taiwan Brushless Motor Controllers Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)Read 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
Current Neurostimulation Market 2017 - Boston Scientific, Cerebomed, Cyberonics, Endostim, EnteroMedics, Magstim, Medtronic

Current Neurostimulation Market

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Apex Research, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "Current Neurostimulation Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of "Current Neurostimulation Market" from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global Current Neurostimulation industry, and estimates the future trend of Current Neurostimulation market on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares "Current Neurostimulation Market" performance both in terms of volume and revenue.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This Report1. ANM Adaptive Neuromodulation2. BioControl Medical3. Boston Scientific4. Cerebomed5. Cyberonics6. Endostim7. EnteroMedics8. Magstim9. Medtronic10. Neuronetics11. Neuropace12. Neurosigma13. NevroThe market research report explores the Current Neurostimulation market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of "Current Neurostimulation Market". The research report studies the entire value chain from raw material to end user industries. The report also shares import/export statistics along with production and consumption for all major regions and countries. Moreover, the research study classifies the Current Neurostimulation market based on major product types, application and end users industries of Current Neurostimulation. Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for Current Neurostimulation market. The report further provides production, capacity, price per region, gross margin, production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in report.The competitive landscape of the global market for Current Neurostimulation is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, Current Neurostimulation market's production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Current Neurostimulation market globally.Enquire Before Buying @The worldwide Current Neurostimulation market 2017 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Current Neurostimulation production volume, data pertaining to demand and Current Neurostimulation supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of Current Neurostimulation along with detailed manufacturing sources. The report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis has been implemented in the research study to present a comprehensive, detailed study of the industry for Current Neurostimulation across the world.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 -
United States Cigar Tubes Market 2016 Industry, Analysis, Research, Share, Growth, Sales, Trends, Supply, Forecast to 2021

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The United States Cigar Tubes Industry 2016 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Cigar Tubes industry.The report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Cigar Tubes 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.Click Here for Sample copy of Report: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 Cigar Tubes industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed. Finally the feasibility of new investment projects are assessed and overall research conclusions offered.With 149 tables and figures the report provides key statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Table of Contents1 Industry Overview1.1 Definition and Specifications of Cigar Tubes1.2 Classification of Cigar Tubes1.3 Applications of Cigar Tubes1.4 Industry Chain Structure of Cigar Tubes1.5 Industry Overview of Cigar Tubes1.6 Industry Policy Analysis of Cigar Tubes1.7 Industry News Analysis of Cigar TubesDownload Full report with TOC @2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Cigar Tubes2.1 Bill of Materials (BOM) of Cigar Tubes2.2 BOM Price Analysis of Cigar Tubes2.3 Labor Cost Analysis of Cigar Tubes2.4 Depreciation Cost Analysis of Cigar Tubes2.5 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Cigar Tubes2.6 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Cigar Tubes2.7 United States Price, Cost and Gross of Cigar Tubes 2011-20163 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of United States Key Manufacturers in 20153.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of United States Key Cigar Tubes Manufacturers in 20153.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of United States Cigar Tubes Key Manufacturers in 20153.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of United States Cigar Tubes Key Manufacturers in 20154 Production Analysis of Cigar Tubes by Regions, Type, and Applications4.1 United States Production of Cigar Tubes by Regions 2011-20164.2 United States Production of Cigar Tubes by Type 2011-20164.3 United States Sales of Cigar Tubes by Applications 2011-20164.4 Price Analysis of United States Cigar Tubes Key Manufacturers in 20154.5 United States Capacity, Production, Import, Export, Sales, Price, Cost and Revenue of Cigar Tubes 2011-20165 Consumption Volume and Consumption Value Analysis of Cigar Tubes by Regions5.1 United States Consumption Volume of Cigar Tubes by Regions 2011-20165.2 United States Consumption Value of Cigar Tubes by Regions 2011-20165.3 United States Consumption Price Analysis of Cigar Tubes by Regions 2011-20166 Analysis of Cigar Tubes Production, Supply, Sales and Market Status 2011-20166.1 Capacity, Production, Sales, and Revenue of Cigar Tubes 2011-20166.2 Production Market Share and Sales Market Share Analysis of Cigar Tubes 2014-20156.3 Sales Overview of Cigar Tubes 2011-20166.4 Supply, Consumption and Gap of Cigar Tubes 2011-20166.5 Import, Export and Consumption of Cigar Tubes 2011-20166.6 Cost, Price, Revenue and Gross Margin of Cigar Tubes 2011-20167 Analysis of Cigar Tubes Industry Key Manufacturers7.1 Phoenix Glass, LLC7.1.1 Company Profile7.1.2 Product Picture and Specification7.1.3 Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Gross, and Revenue7.1.4 Phoenix Glass, LLC SWOT AnalysisQYResearchReports.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.QYResearchReportsContact Us1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Global Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Sales Market Report 2017

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report Global Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Sales Market Report 2017 to its huge collection of research reports.The global Organic Dairy Food and Drinks 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 Organic Dairy Food and Drinks, 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 Organic Dairy Food and Drinks market to its reader.The market has been unearthed from a ground-up manner, where simple information and key, industry-particular meanings of the Organic Dairy Food and Drinks components are portrayed in the outline. The report then moves into the complete examination of Organic Dairy Food and Drinks, adhering to viewpoints, including arrangements, industry chain structure, applications, approaches, industry diagram, and recent market improvements.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @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 reports clients.The competitive and administrative scene of the Organic Dairy Food and Drinks 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.Table of ContentsGlobal Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Sales Market Report 20171 Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Organic Dairy Food and Drinks1.2 Classification of Organic Dairy Food and Drinks1.2.1 Organic Milk1.2.2 Yogurt1.2.3 Cheese1.2.4 Others1.3 Application of Organic Dairy Food and Drinks1.3.1 Home1.3.2 Personal1.3.3 Other1.4 Organic Dairy Food and Drinks 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 Organic Dairy Food and Drinks (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)Browse Complete Report with TOC @2 Global Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Competition by Manufacturers, Type and Application2.1 Global Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1.1 Global Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Organic Dairy Food and Drinks (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.2 Global Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.3 Global Organic Dairy Food and Drinks (Volume and Value) by Regions2.3.1 Global Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Sales and Market Share by Regions (2012-2017)2.3.2 Global Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Revenue and Market Share by Regions (2012-2017)2.4 Global Organic Dairy Food and Drinks (Volume) by Application3 United States Organic Dairy Food and Drinks (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 United States Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.1.1 United States Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.2 United States Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.3 United States Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)3.2 United States Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers3.3 United States Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Sales and Market Share by Type3.4 United States Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Sales and Market Share by Application4 China Organic Dairy Food and Drinks (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 China Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.1 China Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.2 China Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.3 China Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)4.2 China Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers4.3 China Organic Dairy Food and Drinks Sales and Market Share by Type4.4 China Organic Dairy Food and Drinks 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
Palm Kernel Oil and Coconut Oil Based Natural Fatty Acids Market Global Industry Analysis Forecast 2015 - 2023

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Palm kernel oil and coconut oil based natural fatty acids are medium-chain oleochemicals that exhibit excellent performance as surfactants. Natural fatty acids have potential industrial use as an environmentally sustainable material owing to their extraction from natural and renewable sources. Natural fatty acids are employed in numerous end-user industries such as detergents, personal care, plastics, rubber, and others. Asia Pacific dominated the natural fatty acids market in terms of demand, followed by Europe and North America in the past few years. Asia Pacific is expected to maintain its leading position in the market during the forecast period.Obtain Report Details @ :The report estimates and forecasts the palm kernel oil and coconut oil based natural fatty acids market on the global, regional, and country level. The study provides forecast from 2015 to 2023 based on volume (kilo tons) and revenue (US$ Mn). The report comprises an exhaustive value chain analysis, which provides a comprehensive view of the market. Value chain analysis also offers detailed information about value addition at each stage. The study includes drivers and restraints for the natural fatty acids market along with their impact on demand during the forecast period. The report analyzes opportunities in the natural fatty acids market on the global and regional level. Drivers, restraints, and opportunities mentioned in the report are justified through quantitative and qualitative data. These have been verified through primary and secondary resources.The report includes Porters Five Forces Model to determine the degree of competition in the natural fatty acids market. The report comprises a qualitative write-up on market attractiveness analysis, wherein end-users and countries have been analyzed based on attractiveness. Growth rate, market size, raw material availability, profit margin, impact strength, technology, competition, and other factors (such as environmental and legal) have been evaluated in order to derive the general attractiveness of the market. The report includes price trend analysis for raw materials (palm kernel oil and coconut oil) and natural fatty acids from 2014 to 2023.The study provides a comprehensive view of the natural fatty acids market by dividing it into end-user segments such as detergents, personal care, rubber, plastics, and others. End-user segments have been analyzed based on historic, present, and future trends, and the market has been estimated from 2015 to 2023 in terms of volume (kilo tons) and revenue (US$ Mn).Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @ :Regional segmentation includes the current and forecast demand for natural fatty acids in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa (MEA). Additionally, the report comprises country-level analysis in terms of volume and revenue for end-user segments. Key countries such as the U.S., Germany, Italy, the U.K., France, Spain, China, Brazil, and South Africa have been included in the study. Market segmentation includes demand for individual end-user in all regions and countries.The report covers detailed competitive outlook that includes market share and profiles of key players operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report include Emery Oleochemicals, Kao Corporation, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad, OLEON NV, and Wilmar International Ltd. Company profiles include attributes such as company overview, number of employees, brand overview, key competitors, business overview, business strategies, recent/key developments, acquisitions, and financial overview.Secondary research sources that were typically referred to include, but were not limited to company websites, financial reports, annual reports, investor presentations, broker reports, and SEC filings. Other sources such as internal and external proprietary databases, statistical databases and market reports, news articles, national government documents, and webcasts specific to companies operating in the market have also been referred for the report.In-depth interviews and discussions with a wide range of key opinion leaders and industry participants were conducted to compile this research report. Primary research represents the bulk of research efforts, supplemented by extensive secondary research. Key players product literature, annual reports, press releases, and relevant documents were reviewed for competitive analysis and market understanding. This helped in validating and strengthening secondary research findings. Primary research further helped in developing the analysis teams expertise and market understanding.This report segments the global natural fatty acids market as follows:Palm Kernel Oil and Coconut Oil Based Natural Fatty Acids Market  End-user AnalysisDetergentsPersonal carePlasticsRubberOthers (Including pharmaceutical, oil & gas, food, textile, etc.)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.90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207
Retail Tissue in Venezuela Market 2017

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SummaryOrbis Research Present's Retail Tissue in Venezuela enhances the decision making capabilities and helps to create an effective counter strategies to gain competitive advantage.DescriptionIn 2016 the performance of all categories in retail tissue was adversely impacted by shortages in the supply of packaging materials such as plastic, inks, adhesives and carton boxes, resulting from the limited and erratic allocation of foreign exchange. The fall in domestic production led to significant shortages in basic categories such as toilet paper. As a result, the government had to resort to imports by bringing imported brands into the market from countries such as China (Gladiolas) and t...Product coverage: Facial Tissues, Paper Tableware, Paper Towels, Toilet Paper.Data coverage: market sizes (historic and forecasts), company shares, brand shares and distribution data.Get a PDF Sample of Retail Tissue in Venezuela Report at:Why buy this report?Get a detailed picture of the Retail Tissue market;Pinpoint growth sectors and identify factors driving change;Understand the competitive environment, the markets major players and leading brands;Use five-year forecasts to assess how the market is predicted to develop.Major Points Cover in TOC:1. Headlines2. Trends3. Competitive Landscape4. Prospects5. Category Data6. Key Facts7. Competitive Positioning8. Market Indicators9. Market DataNo. of Report Pages: 26Got any Query? Feel free to ask us at:Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.Hector CostelloSenior Manager  Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas  75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +9164101019Follow Us on LinkedIn:
Food Grade Mineral Oil Market 2017 - Basf, Huntsman, Flowserve, Clariant, Solutia Inc, Dow Chemical, Petro Canada, Eastman Chemical

Food Grade Mineral Oil Market

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Apex Research, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "Food Grade Mineral Oil Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of "Food Grade Mineral Oil Market" from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global Food Grade Mineral Oil industry, and estimates the future trend of Food Grade Mineral Oil market on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares "Food Grade Mineral Oil Market" performance both in terms of volume and revenue.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This ReportDow ChemicalEastman ChemicalPetro CanadaBasfHuntsmanFlowserveRadco IndustriesClariantSolutia Inc.Applied Thermal ControlFlowserve CorporationHuntsman CorporationRadco IndustriesThe market research report explores the Food Grade Mineral Oil market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of "Food Grade Mineral Oil Market". The research report studies the entire value chain from raw material to end user industries. The report also shares import/export statistics along with production and consumption for all major regions and countries. Moreover, the research study classifies the Food Grade Mineral Oil market based on major product types, application and end users industries of Food Grade Mineral Oil. Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for Food Grade Mineral Oil market. The report further provides production, capacity, price per region, gross margin, production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in report.The competitive landscape of the global market for Food Grade Mineral Oil is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, Food Grade Mineral Oil market's production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Food Grade Mineral Oil market globally.Enquire Before Buying @The worldwide Food Grade Mineral Oil market 2017 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Food Grade Mineral Oil production volume, data pertaining to demand and Food Grade Mineral Oil supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of Food Grade Mineral Oil along with detailed manufacturing sources. The report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis has been implemented in the research study to present a comprehensive, detailed study of the industry for Food Grade Mineral Oil across the world.About UsApexResearch 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 UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development Executive| sales@apexresearch.biz
Fire Alarm Equipments Market 2017 - Halma, Honeywell, Siemens AG, Bosch Security Systems, Tyco International Limited, London Security PLC

Fire Alarm Equipments Market

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Apex Research, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "Fire Alarm Equipments Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of "Fire Alarm Equipments Market" from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global Fire Alarm Equipments industry, and estimates the future trend of Fire Alarm Equipments market on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares "Fire Alarm Equipments Market" performance both in terms of volume and revenue.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This ReportUnited Technologies Corporation(UTC)Siemens AGBosch Security SystemsTyco International LimitedLondon Security PLCJohnson Controls, Inc.HalmaHoneywellThe market research report explores the Fire Alarm Equipments market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of "Fire Alarm Equipments Market". The research report studies the entire value chain from raw material to end user industries. The report also shares import/export statistics along with production and consumption for all major regions and countries. Moreover, the research study classifies the Fire Alarm Equipments market based on major product types, application and end users industries of Fire Alarm Equipments. Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for Fire Alarm Equipments market. The report further provides production, capacity, price per region, gross margin, production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in report.The competitive landscape of the global market for Fire Alarm Equipments is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, Fire Alarm Equipments market's production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Fire Alarm Equipments market globally.Enquire Before Buying @The worldwide Fire Alarm Equipments market 2017 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Fire Alarm Equipments production volume, data pertaining to demand and Fire Alarm Equipments supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of Fire Alarm Equipments along with detailed manufacturing sources. The report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis has been implemented in the research study to present a comprehensive, detailed study of the industry for Fire Alarm Equipments across the world.About UsApexResearch 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 UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development Executive| sales@apexresearch.biz
Wheel Hub Market Report- Industry Growth, Trends and Forecast Upto 2023

Wheel Hub Market

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The new research report on Wheel Hub Market offered by DecisionDatabases.com provides Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016-2023.The report on global wheel hub 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 2016-2023. 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).Get FREE Sample Report Copy @The major market drivers is rising demand of automobiles across the globe. The market growth might be restricted due to accelerating the prices of automotive parts under the study period.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 2016-2023.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 also covers the complete competitive landscape of the worldwide market with company profiles of key players such as Accuride, Alcoa, Borbet, CMW, Dicastal, Enkei, Lioho, Lizhong, Maxion, Ronal, Superior, Uniwheel and Zenix. Geographically, this market has been segmented into regions such as North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific and the Middle East & Africa. The study details country-level aspects based on each segment and gives estimates in terms of market size.Table Of Contents - Overview1.Introduction2.Executive Summary3.Market Analysis4.Wheel Hub Market Analysis By End User5.Wheel Hub Market Analysis By Geography6.Competitive Landscape Of The Wheel Hub Companies7.Company Profiles Of The Wheel Hub IndustryPurchase Complete Global Wheel Hub 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.For more details:DecisionDatabases.comE-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.comPhone: +91 99 28 237112Web:About Company: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.About the company:3rd Floor,Fountain chambers,Nanabhai Lane,Fort, Mumbai - 1E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.comPhone: +91 99 28 237112Web:
Fiber Optics Gyroscope Market 2017 - Colibrys, iXBlue SAS, Fizoptika Corp, KVH Industries, EMCORE Corporation, Honeywell International

Fiber Optics Gyroscope Market

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Apex Research, recently published a detailed market research study focused on the "Fiber Optics Gyroscope Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report provides 360 analysis of "Fiber Optics Gyroscope Market" from view of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries. The research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global Fiber Optics Gyroscope industry, and estimates the future trend of Fiber Optics Gyroscope market on the basis of this detailed study. The study shares "Fiber Optics Gyroscope Market" performance both in terms of volume and revenue.Get Free Sample Copy of Report Here:Top Manufacturers Analysis of This ReportEMCORE Corporation (U.S.)Honeywell International (U.S.)iXBlue SAS (France)Fizoptika Corp. (Russia)KVH Industries (U.S.)Colibrys (Switzerland)The market research report explores the Fiber Optics Gyroscope market across the globe along with major regions and countries. The research report provides a detailed study on each and every aspect of "Fiber Optics Gyroscope Market". The research report studies the entire value chain from raw material to end user industries. The report also shares import/export statistics along with production and consumption for all major regions and countries. Moreover, the research study classifies the Fiber Optics Gyroscope market based on major product types, application and end users industries of Fiber Optics Gyroscope. Besides, the report also covers geographical segmentation for Fiber Optics Gyroscope market. The report further provides production, capacity, price per region, gross margin, production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in report.The competitive landscape of the global market for Fiber Optics Gyroscope is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, Fiber Optics Gyroscope market's production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the Fiber Optics Gyroscope market globally.Enquire Before Buying @The worldwide Fiber Optics Gyroscope market 2017 is further analyzed on the basis of product pricing, Fiber Optics Gyroscope production volume, data pertaining to demand and Fiber Optics Gyroscope supply, and the revenue garnered by the product. The report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of Fiber Optics Gyroscope along with detailed manufacturing sources. The report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report. Various methodical tools such as investment returns, feasibility, SWOT analysis and market attractiveness analysis has been implemented in the research study to present a comprehensive, detailed study of the industry for Fiber Optics Gyroscope across the world.About UsApexResearch 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 UsFrank ValadezBusiness Development Executive| sales@apexresearch.biz
Asia Pacific Pet Food Market is Expected to Reach USD 10,720.0 Million and in terms of volume is Expected to Reach 803.3 kg Million in 2020

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According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research Pet Food Market - Asia Pacific Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2020, the asia Pacific pet food market was valued at USD 9,100.0 million in 2013 which is expected to reach USD 10,720.0 million by 2020, growing at a CAGR of 2.3% from 2014 to 2020. In terms of volume the pet food market in Asia Pacific was valued at 688.6 kg million in 2013 and is expected to reach 803.3 kg million by 2020, growing at a CAGR of 2.1% from 2014 to 2020.Obtain Report Details @The pet food market in terms of pet type has been segmented into dog food, cat food and others. The dog food segment held the largest market share in the pet food market in Asia Pacific. Increasing disposable income and rising trend for nuclear family are some of the major factors fueling the demand for dog food in Asia Pacific. However, the others segment including fish food, reptile food, bird food and other small animals is one of the fastest growing segments in Asia Pacific.In addition, the pet food market can be further segmented in terms of food type into: dry food, wet food/canned food, nutritious food, snacks/treats and others. The dry food segment held the largest market share in Asia Pacific. Ease of handling and lower prices of dry food as compared to other food types is one of the major factors fueling the demand for dry food in Asia Pacific. However, the nutritious food segment is the fastest growing segment in Asia Pacific. Increasing awareness about pet health is one of the major factors fueling the demand for nutritious food.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @The Asia Pacific pet food market is further segmented by country into China, India, Japan, Australia, South Korea and rest of Asia Pacific. Japan is one of the major markets for pet food in Asia Pacific. Increasing trend for nuclear family and demand for small pets is one of the major factors fueling the demand for pet food in Japan. However, with smaller dwelling places the pet food market in Japan is expected to experience stable growth throughout the forecast period.However, India is the fastest growing market for pet food in Asia Pacific. Increasing demand for companionship and awareness about pet health are some of the major factors fueling the demand for pet food in India. In addition, China is having huge potential for pet food owing to increasing number of pets. China has largest population of dogs as pets globally. Owing to these factors, there is huge untapped potential in pet food market in China. The average selling price (ASP) of snacks/treats segment was the highest in Asia Pacific followed by nutritious food segment.The pet food market is dominated mostly by major manufacturers such as Nestle S.A., Mars Inc., Procter & Gamble Co. and Colgate-Palmolive Co. among others. However, the local players are still trying to enter these markets due to brand loyalty of the consumers.Asia Pacific Pet Food Market: By Pet TypeDog FoodCat FoodOthersAsia Pacific Pet Food Market: By Food TypeDry FoodWet Food/Canned FoodNutritious FoodSnacks/TreatsOthersAsia Pacific Pet Food Market: By CountryChinaIndiaJapanAustraliaSouth KoreaRest of Asia PacificAbout 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:
North America Microfluidic Chips Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022

microfluidic chip

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"A microfluidic chip is a set of micro-channels etched or molded into a material (glass, silicon or polymer such as PDMS, for PolyDimethylSiloxane).The micro-channels forming the microfluidic chip are connected together in order to achieve the desired features (mix, pump, sort, control bio-chemical environment)."Get Free Sample Copy of this Report @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Microfluidic Chips in North America market, especially in United States, Canada and Mexico. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, countries, type and application..Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers:Fluidigm CorporationMicralyne, IncBecton DickinsonDanaherPerkinElmerBio-Rad LaboratoriesDolomite908Market Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers:United StatesCanadaMexicoMarket Segment by Type, covers:PolymersCeramicsSemi-conductorsMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided into:PharmaceuticalDiagnosticDrug DeliverBrowse full report with Table of Content @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Microalgae market.Chapter 1, to describe Microfluidic Chips Introduction, product type and application, market overview, market analysis by countries, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the manufacturers of Microfluidic Chips, with profile, main business, news, sales, price, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with profile, main business, news, sales, price, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the North America market by countries, covering United States, Canada and Mexico, with sales, revenue and market share of Microfluidic Chips, for each country, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5 and 6, to show the market by type and application, with sales, price, revenue, market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the segment market in United States, Canada and Mexico, by manufacturers, type and application, with sales, price, revenue and market share by manufacturers, types and applications;Chapter 10, Microfluidic Chips market forecast, by countries, type and application, with sales, price and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 11, to analyze the manufacturing cost, key raw materials and manufacturing process etc.Chapter 12, to analyze the industrial chain, sourcing strategy and downstream end users (buyers);Chapter 13, to describe sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers etc.Chapter 14 and 15, to describe Microfluidic Chips Research Findings and Conclusion, Appendix, methodology and data sourceCheck for discount @Some points from TOC:-3 North America Microfluidic Chips Market Competition, by Manufacturer3.1 North America Microfluidic Chips Sales and Market Share by Manufacturer (2016-2017)3.2 North America Microfluidic Chips Revenue and Market Share by Manufacturer (2016-2017)3.3 North America Microfluidic Chips Price by Manufacturers (2016-2017)3.4 Market Concentration Rate3.4.1 Top 3 Microfluidic Chips Manufacturer Market Share3.4.2 Top 5 Microfluidic Chips Manufacturer Market Share3.5 Market Competition Trend4 North America Microfluidic Chips Market Analysis by Countries4.1 North America Microfluidic Chips Sales Market Share by Countries4.2 North America Microfluidic Chips Sales by Countries (2012-2017)4.3 North America Microfluidic Chips Revenue (Value) by Countries (2012-2017)5 North America Market Segmentation Microfluidic Chips by Type5.1 North America Microfluidic Chips Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.1.1 North America Microfluidic Chips Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.1.2 North America Microfluidic Chips Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2 Polymers Sales Growth and Price5.2.1 North America Polymers Sales Growth (2012-2017)5.2.2 North America Polymers Price (2012-2017)5.3 Ceramics Sales Growth and Price5.3.1 North America Ceramics Sales Growth (2012-2017)5.3.2 North America Ceramics Price (2012-2017)5.4 Semi-conductors Sales Growth and Price5.4.1 North America Semi-conductors Sales Growth (2012-2017)5.4.2 North America Semi-conductors Price (2012-2017)Enquiry Before Buying@About Us:GIR Market Research is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. GIR Market Research is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the worlds most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends.Contact us:+1-888-376-9998 (US)Email- sales@globalinforeports.comWeb-Connect with us: Twitter | Facebook"A microfluidic chip is a set of micro-channels etched or molded into a material (glass, silicon or polymer such as PDMS, for PolyDimethylSiloxane).The micro-channels forming the microfluidic chip are connected together in order to achieve the desired features (mix, pump, sort, control bio-chemical environment)."
North America Climate Test Chamber Market Analysis, Market Size, Application Analysis, Regional Outlook, Competitive Strategies And Forecasts, 2022

Climate Chambers

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Climate Chambers are environmental testing devices used for various types of testing such as prototype evaluation, research & development testing, production testing, accelerated stress testing, reliability testing, failure analysis, and any other application where environmental simulation is needed.Get Free Sample Copy of this Report @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Climate Test Chamber in North America market, especially in United States, Canada and Mexico. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, countries, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers:ESPECWeiss TechnikThermotronCSZAngelantoniBinderClimatsHitachiRussells Technical ProductsTPSCMEKambicHastest SolutionsShanghai JiayuChina CEPREIGuangzhou MingshengMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers:United StatesCanadaMexicoMarket Segment by Type, covers:Heated JacketsHeated PantsHeated AccessoriesOthersMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided into:Dynamic Climate ChamberConstant Climate ChamberSmall Benchtop ChambersWalk-in ChambersOtherBrowse full report with Table of Content @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Microalgae market.Chapter 1, to describe Climate Test Chamber Introduction, product type and application, market overview, market analysis by countries, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the manufacturers of Climate Test Chamber, with profile, main business, news, sales, price, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with profile, main business, news, sales, price, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the North America market by countries, covering United States, Canada and Mexico, with sales, revenue and market share of Climate Test Chamber, for each country, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5 and 6, to show the market by type and application, with sales, price, revenue, market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the segment market in United States, Canada and Mexico, by manufacturers, type and application, with sales, price, revenue and market share by manufacturers, types and applications;Chapter 10, Climate Test Chamber market forecast, by countries, type and application, with sales, price and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 11, to analyze the manufacturing cost, key raw materials and manufacturing process etc.Chapter 12, to analyze the industrial chain, sourcing strategy and downstream end users (buyers);Chapter 13, to describe sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers etc.Chapter 14 and 15, to describe Climate Test Chamber Research Findings and Conclusion, Appendix, methodology and data sourceCheck for discount @Some points from TOC:-3 North America Climate Test Chamber Market Competition, by Manufacturer3.1 North America Climate Test Chamber Sales and Market Share by Manufacturer (2016-2017)3.2 North America Climate Test Chamber Revenue and Market Share by Manufacturer (2016-2017)3.3 North America Climate Test Chamber Price by Manufacturers (2016-2017)3.4 Market Concentration Rate3.4.1 Top 3 Climate Test Chamber Manufacturer Market Share3.4.2 Top 5 Climate Test Chamber Manufacturer Market Share3.5 Market Competition Trend4 North America Climate Test Chamber Market Analysis by Countries4.1 North America Climate Test Chamber Sales Market Share by Countries4.2 North America Climate Test Chamber Sales by Countries (2012-2017)4.3 North America Climate Test Chamber Revenue (Value) by Countries (2012-2017)5 North America Market Segmentation Climate Test Chamber by Type5.1 North America Climate Test Chamber Sales, Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.1.1 North America Climate Test Chamber Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.1.2 North America Climate Test Chamber Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)5.2 Dynamic Climate Chamber Sales Growth and Price5.2.1 North America Dynamic Climate Chamber Sales Growth (2012-2017)5.2.2 North America Dynamic Climate Chamber Price (2012-2017)5.3 Constant Climate Chamber Sales Growth and Price5.3.1 North America Constant Climate Chamber Sales Growth (2012-2017)5.3.2 North America Constant Climate Chamber Price (2012-2017)5.4 Small Benchtop Chambers Sales Growth and Price5.4.1 North America Small Benchtop Chambers Sales Growth (2012-2017)5.4.2 North America Small Benchtop Chambers Price (2012-2017)5.5 Walk-in Chambers Sales Growth and Price5.5.1 North America Walk-in Chambers Sales Growth (2012-2017)5.5.2 North America Walk-in Chambers Price (2012-2017)5.6 Other Sales Growth and Price5.6.1 North America Other Sales Growth (2012-2017)5.6.2 North America Other Price (2012-2017)Enquiry Before Buying@About Us:GIR Market Research is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. GIR Market Research is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the worlds most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends.Contact us:+1-888-376-9998 (US)Email- sales@globalinforeports.comWeb-Connect with us: Twitter | FacebookClimate Chambers are environmental testing devices used for various types of testing such as prototype evaluation, research & development testing, production testing, accelerated stress testing, reliability testing, failure analysis, and any other application where environmental simulation is needed.
Underfill Material Market - Drivers & Restraints, Market Segmentation, Region-wise Outlook and Key Players 2024

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Global Underfill Material Market: SnapshotThe Underfill Material Market: Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 20162024, report provides forecast and analysis of the underfill material market on the global and regional level. The primary objective of the report is to identify opportunities in the market and present updates as well as insights pertaining to various segments of the global underfill material market. The study provides historic data of 2015 along with forecast from 2016 to 2024 based on volume (kg) and revenue (US$ Mn). It includes drivers, restraints and the ongoing trend of the underfill material market along with their impact on demand during the forecast period. The underfill material report also comprises the study of opportunities available in the market for underfill material on the global and regional level. It includes value chain analysis with list of underfill material suppliers and end users.Browse Market Research Report @In order to provide the users of this report with comprehensive view of underfill materail market, we have included detailed competitiveness analysis and company players of the industry. The competitive dashboard provides detailed comparison of underfill material producer on parameters such as companys revenue, employee strength, unique selling propositions and key strategic developments. The study of underfill material market encompasses market attractiveness analysis, by product type, application type and by geographic region.Global Underfill Material Market: ScopeMarket statistics have been estimated based on average consumption and weighted average pricing of product type in underfill material market and the revenue is derived through regional pricing trends. Market size and forecast for each segment have been provided in the context of global and regional markets. The underfill material 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 underfill material producers, suppliers, and distributors.Global Underfill Material Market: SegmentationAll 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 underfill material in different regions. Top-down approach has been used to estimate the underfill material market by regions. Market numbers for global product type and application segments have been derived using the bottom-up approach, which is cumulative of each regions demand. The market of underfill material has been forecast based on constant currency rates.Enter your information below to receive a sample copy of this report @A number of primary and secondary sources were consulted during the course of the study of underfill material market. Secondary sources include Factiva, World Bank, SEMI, The Semiconductor Industry Association, World Semiconductor Trade Statistics, Hoovers, and companys annual report and publications.The report begins with an overview of the global underfill material market, evaluating market performance in terms of revenue, key trends, drivers, and restraints witnessed in the global market. Impact analysis of the key growth drivers and restraints based on the weighted average model is also included in the report.Key Players Mentioned in this Report are:The report provides detailed competitive outlook including company profiles of key participants operating in the global market. Some of the key players in the global underfill material market are Henkel AG & Co. KgaA, H.B. Fuller, NAMICS Corporation, Epoxy Technology Inc, Yincae Advanced Material, LLC, Master Bond Inc, Zymet Inc, AIM Metals & Alloys LP, Won Chemicals Co. 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:
Forging Presses Market by Manufacturers - SMS, Komatsu, Sumitomo, TMP, Schuler, Ajax

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Forging Presses analysis is provided for the markets including development trends, competitive landscape analysis, and key regions development status.This report studies Forging Presses in Global market, especially in United States, Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Russia, China, Japan, India, Korea, Southeast Asia, Australia, Brazil, Middle East and Africa,focuses on the top 5 Forging Presses Players in each region, with sales, price, revenue and market share for top 5 manufacturer, coveringSMS, Komatsu, Sumitomo, TMP, Schuler, Ajax, Aida, Kurimoto, Fagor Arrasate, Mitsubishi, Lasco, Ficep, First Heavy, Stamtec, Erie, Beckwood, Erzhong, J&H, Mecolpress.Request A Sample Copy of Forging Presses Market Research Report @Market Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with sales, revenue, market share of top 5 players in these regions, from 2012 to 2017 (forecast), likeNorth America (United States, Canada and Mexico), Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Southeast Asia, India and Korea), Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy and Russia etc., South America (Brazil, Chile, Peru and Argentina), Middle East and Africa (Egypt, South Africa, Saudi Arabia)Split by Product Types, with sales, revenue, price, market share of each type, can be divided intoClosed Die Forging, Open Die Forging, Extrusion Presses, Other.Split by applications, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Forging Presses in each application, can be divided intoHardware Tools, Engineering Machinery, Others.Enquire about this report @Table of Contents2017 Top 5 Forging Presses Manufacturers/Players in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and AfricaForging Presses Market Overview, Global Forging Presses Sales, Revenue (value) and Market Share by Players, Global Forging Presses Sales, Revenue (Value) by Regions, Type and Application (2012-2017), North America Top 5 Players Forging Presses Sales, Revenue and Price, Europe Top 5 Players Forging Presses Sales, Revenue and Price, Asia-Pacific Top 5 Players Forging Presses Sales, Revenue and Price, South America Top 5 Players Forging Presses Sales, Revenue and Price, Middle East & Africa Top 5 Players Forging Presses Sales, Revenue and Price, Global Forging Presses Players Profiles/Analysis, Forging Presses Manufacturing Cost Analysis, Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers, Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders, Market Effect Factors Analysis, Global Forging Presses Market Forecast (2017-2022), Research Findings and Conclusion, Appendix.For More Information Please Visit @Related Reports of the Forging Presses Market Research Report : -2017 Top 5 Metal Bellows Manufacturers in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and AfricaThis report studies Metal Bellows in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa, focuses on the top 5 Metal Bellows Players in each region,...About Us:Centralize Market Research Purchases Across Your Entire Organization In One Place Marketsizeforecasters.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
Global Laboratory Gas Generator Sales Market Report 2017

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This report studies sales (consumption) of Laboratory Gas Generator 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, coveringVICI DBS S.p.A.Leman Instruments SASPeak Scientific InstrumentsLNI SwissgasParker BalstonAngstrom Advanced Inc.Independent Air Treatment TechnologyF-DGSiInertecTexolAsyntCINEL SrlBarkeyFill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @Market Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of Laboratory Gas Generator in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeUnited StatesChinaEuropeJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaSplit by product Types, with sales, revenue, price and gross margin, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoHydrogen makingNitrogen makingOtherSplit by applications, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Laboratory Gas Generator in each application, can be divided intoSchoolScientific research institutionsOtherObtain Report Details @Table of ContentsGlobal Laboratory Gas Generator Sales Market Report 20171 Laboratory Gas Generator Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Laboratory Gas Generator1.2 Classification of Laboratory Gas Generator1.2.1 Hydrogen making1.2.2 Nitrogen making1.2.3 Other1.3 Application of Laboratory Gas Generator1.3.1 School1.3.2 Scientific research institutions1.3.3 Other1.4 Laboratory Gas Generator Market by Regions1.4.1 United States Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 China Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.6 India Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Laboratory Gas Generator (2011-2021)1.5.1 Global Laboratory Gas Generator Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2021)1.5.2 Global Laboratory Gas Generator Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2021)2 Global Laboratory Gas Generator Competition by Manufacturers, Type and Application2.1 Global Laboratory Gas Generator Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1.1 Global Laboratory Gas Generator Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2011-2016)2.1.2 Global Laboratory Gas Generator Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2011-2016)2.2 Global Laboratory Gas Generator (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Laboratory Gas Generator Sales and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)2.2.2 Global Laboratory Gas Generator Revenue and Market Share by Type (2011-2016)2.3 Global Laboratory Gas Generator (Volume and Value) by Regions2.3.1 Global Laboratory Gas Generator Sales and Market Share by Regions (2011-2016)2.3.2 Global Laboratory Gas Generator Revenue and Market Share by Regions (2011-2016)2.4 Global Laboratory Gas Generator (Volume) by Application3 United States Laboratory Gas Generator (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 United States Laboratory Gas Generator Sales and Value (2011-2016)3.1.1 United States Laboratory Gas Generator Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)3.1.2 United States Laboratory Gas Generator Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)3.1.3 United States Laboratory Gas Generator Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)3.2 United States Laboratory Gas Generator Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers3.3 United States Laboratory Gas Generator Sales and Market Share by Type3.4 United States Laboratory Gas Generator Sales and Market Share by Application4 China Laboratory Gas Generator (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 China Laboratory Gas Generator Sales and Value (2011-2016)4.1.1 China Laboratory Gas Generator Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)4.1.2 China Laboratory Gas Generator Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)4.1.3 China Laboratory Gas Generator Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)4.2 China Laboratory Gas Generator Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers4.3 China Laboratory Gas Generator Sales and Market Share by Type4.4 China Laboratory Gas Generator Sales and Market Share by Application5 Europe Laboratory Gas Generator (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5.1 Europe Laboratory Gas Generator Sales and Value (2011-2016)5.1.1 Europe Laboratory Gas Generator Sales and Growth Rate (2011-2016)5.1.2 Europe Laboratory Gas Generator Revenue and Growth Rate (2011-2016)5.1.3 Europe Laboratory Gas Generator Sales Price Trend (2011-2016)5.2 Europe Laboratory Gas Generator Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers5.3 Europe Laboratory Gas Generator Sales and Market Share by Type5.4 Europe Laboratory Gas Generator Sales and Market Share by ApplicationAbout 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
Steel Tubes Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Analysis For 2017 - 2025

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Steel tubes are the niche segment application of iron and steel that is anti-corrosion and rust free. The global steel tubes market can be segmented into application, end-products, and geography.In terms of application, the steel tubes market can be segmented into building & construction, automotive, consumer durables, high voltage electrical equipment, platforms, stairs, handrails, pipe fittings, and engineering among others. In terms of end-products, the steel tubes market can be segmented into bolts, nuts, pipes and tubes, main frames, and cable support systems among others. Moreover, in terms of geography, the market can be segmented into Asia Pacific (APAC), Europe, North America, Middle East & Africa (MEA), and South America.Request a Sample of this Report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving Steel Tubes Market during 2017-2025@Rise in industrialization along with increase in population have led to the rise in sales of property, houses and construction expenditures. Governments of various developing nations are focusing on infrastructural developments, which, in turn, have led to the increase in demand for steel tubes. This is acting as a driver in the expansion of the steel tubes market. Properties and characteristics of steel tubes are major factors that are fuelling the expansion of the market. These characteristics include corrosion resistant, rust free and high reliability. Steel tubes are inexpensive, and hence, are preferred in various constructional purposes such as residential and commercial buildings. Cost effectiveness and increased usage of steel tubes in various industry-based applications in comparison to conventional pipes and tubes are further contributing to the expansion of the steel tubes market.This trend is persuading manufacturers to explore new business opportunities in the steel tubes market. This, in turn, is propelling the expansion of the market globally. Increasing awareness and popularity of steel tubes in the building & construction industry are key factors that are boosting the expansion of the market. Furthermore, reduced or low maintenance cost of steel tubes is an important factor playing a vital role in the expansion of the steel tubes market. . The engineering industry is a rapidly expanding end-user industry segment where steel tubes have found numerous applications. Increase in demand for steel tubes in the emerging markets of Asia Pacific along with various technological needs are acting as opportunities for the steel tubes market. Latest Steel Tubes in place of conventional pipes and tubes is also driving the expansion of the steel tubes market.These factors are playing a vital role and are simultaneously affecting and contributing to the expansion of the steel tubes market significantly. The steel tubes market is expanding significantly as there is considerable expansion in the construction and engineering sectors and large-scale industries globally. This, in turn, is increasing the demand for steel tubes in the market. Manufacturers are consistently focusing on product development in the emerging markets as there are opportunities to expand and increase their market share globally.Asia Pacific is a prominent market for steel tubes followed by North America. Europe is a rapidly expanding market for steel tubes. North America is the second largest market, and in terms of market share, the U.S.is the leading contributor in the region. China and Japan are among the leading contributors in Asia Pacific. The major reason behind this considerable expansion of the steel tubes market in the region is the significant investments in construction and infrastructural projects by governments of developing nations. This, in turn, has fuelled the demand for steel tubes in the market in the developing nations of Asia Pacific.Browse Report@The global steel tubes market is fragmented with many established players. Major players in the market are primarily from Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, China, U.S., and Europe. Key players in the market include Borusan Mannesmann Boru Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., JFE steel, Arcelor Mittal, Jindal SAW Ltd., Bao Pipes and Tubes, Gerdau, NSSMC, POSCO, and Nucor. Other prominent vendors in the market are American SpiralWeld Pipe Company, LLC , Liaoyang Steel Tube Co., Ltd. , Hebei Iron and steel, AK Pipes and Tubes, Ansteel, United States Steel(USSC), Shagang Group, and Tata Steel.About Us:-Transparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact Us:-Transparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com
Cap Applicators Market - Global Industry Analysis by 2024

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Global Cap Applicators Market: Scope and MethodologyThis report provides forecast and analysis of the cap applicators market on the global and regional level. The study provides historic data of 2015 along with forecast from 2016 to 2024 based on volume (units) and revenue (US$ Mn). It comprises overview of packaging machinery market along with their key drivers. Further, it also includes drivers, restraints and the ongoing trend of the cap applicators market along with their impact on demand during the forecast period. The report also comprises the study of opportunities available in the market for cap applicators on the global and regional level. It also includes the detailed regional pricing analysis and value chain analysis with list of components producers and packaging machinery manufacturers 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 with unique selling propositions. The competitive dashboard provides detailed comparison of cap applicators manufacturers on parameters such as companys revenue, unique selling propositions and key strategic developments. The study encompasses market attractiveness analysis, by machine type, cap type, end-use, and region.Global Cap Applicators Market: SegmentationThe report includes consumption of cap applicators and the revenue generated from sales of cap applicators in all regions and important countries in these regions. The machine segment comprises of present and forecast demand for automatic capping machines, semi-automatic capping machines and hand-held capping machines. The cap type segment comprises of demand for ROPP caps, screw caps, snap-on-caps, crown caps and corks. End-use industry segment comprises of demand for cap applicators in industries such as food & beverages, pharmaceutical, personal care, consumer products and others.Market statistics have been estimated based on average consumption and weighted average pricing of three types of machines namely automatic capping machines, semi-automatic capping machines and hand-held capping machines by machine segment. Market size and forecast for each segment have been provided in the context of global and regional markets. Market size and forecast for each product segment have been provided in the context of global and regional markets. Market dynamics prevalent in China, North America, and Europe have been taken into account for estimating the growth of the global market. Market estimates for this study have been based on volume, with revenue being derived through regional weighted average price trends. The cap applicators market growth has been analyzed based on expected demand over long term and short term coupled with macro-economic, demand side and supply side factors.For more information on this report, fill the form @Market data for each segment is based on demand volume and corresponding revenue. Prices considered for the calculation of revenue are average regional prices obtained through primary quotes from numerous regional suppliers, distributors, and direct selling regional producers based on manufacturers feedback and application requirement. All existing key end-users have been considered and potential in application areas have been arrived on the basis of secondary sources and feedback from primary respondents. Regional consumption patterns have been considered while estimating the market for various end-users of cap applicators or capping machines in different regions. Top-down approach has been used to estimate the cap applicators market by regions. Market numbers for global machine type, cap type, and end-use segments have been derived using the bottom-up approach, which is cumulative of each regions demand. Regional demand is the summation of sub-regions and countries within the target regions.A number of primary and secondary sources were consulted during the course of the study. Secondary sources include PMMI (The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies) Institute of Packaging Machinery Manufacturers of India, Factiva, Packaging Digest, Pack World, Hoovers, and company annual reports and publications among many others.Global Cap Applicators Market: Competitive LandscapeKey players in the global cap applicators market include Tetra Pak, Krones AG, Bosch Packaging Technology, Crowns Holdings Inc., Closure System International, Tecnocap Group, Federal Mfg. Co., E-PAK Machinery, Inc., Karmelle Liquid Filling & Capping Solutions Limited, Accutek Packaging Equipment Companies, Inc., IC FILLING SYSTEMS Ltd. Company profiles include attributes such as company overview, financial overview, business strategy, SWOT analysis, and recent developments.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:
Global PSA Test Market 2017 - Siemens Healthcare, DiaSorin, Roche, Beckman Coulter, PerkinElmer, Tosoh

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"Prostate-specific antigen (PSA), also known as gamma-seminoprotein or kallikrein-3 (KLK3), is a glycoprotein enzyme encoded in humans by the KLK3 gene.The PSA test measures the level of PSA in a mans blood. For this test, a blood sample is sent to a laboratory for analysis. The results are usually reported as nanograms of PSA per milliliter (ng/mL) of blood."Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the PSA Test 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 coversAbbottSiemens HealthcareDiaSorinRocheBeckman CoulterPerkinElmerTosohOrtho ClinicalFujirebioMediwatchBodiTechMarket 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, coversCLIAELISAOtherMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoScreeningPost-treatment MonitoringOtherAccess Full Report With TOC @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global PSA Test market.Chapter 1, to describe PSA Test Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of PSA Test, with sales, revenue, and price of PSA Test, 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 PSA Test, 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, PSA Test market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe PSA Test 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:
Steel Rebars Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Analysis For 2017 - 2025

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Reinforcing bars are referred to as rebars, and these are made of steel. These tensile device is used in the construction industry for reinforcing concrete. These type of tensioning devise have been used for holding the concrete in compressed state in different types of construction structure including masonry building..The construction industry is expanding due to the rise in global population. The real estate industry is expanding significantly in emerging economies such as China, India, and South Korea. Considerable expansion and development in the construction industry coupled with industrial development, has led to higher demand for steel rebars in the region. In India, rising population and impact of globalization enhances the growth prospect of urbanization in the near future. This, in turn, is triggering infrastructural development in the region. Rising number of industries and increasing infrastructure promote the market prospect of steel rebars in the region. Infrastructural bottlenecks has been a severe problem in Africa and Latin America. Economic development in these regions have led to industrial expansion which broadens the uses of steel rebars in these regions.Request a Sample of this Report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving Steel Rebars Market during 2017-2025@Moreover, climate change has been a global concern recently. Severe and sudden change in weather is a regular phenomenon and this leads to frequent occurrence of natural calamities. This drives the demand for steel rebars in the construction industry as these rebars offer high-tensile strength and are able to absorb energy during extreme weather condition, thus securing the lifetime of building construction. These factors are is expected to fuel the demand for steel rebars market during the forecast period.However, steel is an expensive metal, and this in turn increases the cost of steel rebars. Therefore, the higher cost of materials leads building contractors to switch their demand from steel rebars. Moreover, exposed steel can be damaged due to rusting, and this adversely impacts on the life and safety of any kind of construction. These disadvantages of steel rebars are restraining the expansion prospect of the market during the forecast period.There is rising demand for power generation from renewable energy sources such as wind, solar power, and tidal energy due to the gradual depletion of non-renewable energy sources. Demand for electricity is increasing in industries, household sector, and agriculture. Hence, there is a rising trend for production of energy from non-renewable energy sources. This, in turn, is driving the demand for installation of solar plants and windmills. These kind of infrastructures require steel rebars, and this is anticipated to increase the demand for steel rebars during the forecast period.In terms of product type, the steel rebar market can be segmented into wielded wire fabric, sheet-metal reinforcing bars, stainless steel rebars, expanded metal or wire mesh, and epoxy coated rebars. Wielded wire fabric are made from steel wires, and these are primarily employed in road pavements, small canals, and drainage systems. Sheet-metal reinforcing bars are majorly utilized as floor slabs, in roof construction, and stairs. Stainless steel rebars are particularly applicable to those cases where corrosion is a problem. Expanded metal or wire mesh can be utilized for concrete and epoxy coated rebars, which are extensively employed where probability of corrosion is high. However, epoxy coated rebars are quite expensive. Sheet metal reinforcing bars held significant market share, as they are employed in roof and floor construction. Demand for stainless steel rebars is rising due to their low price.Browse Report@In terms of geography, the steel rebars market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (MEA), and Latin America. Asia Pacific held significant share of the market, as the region consists of emerging economies such as China, India, and South Korea. These countries are experiencing expansion in infrastructural development and industrial growth, thus boosting the demand for steel rebars in the region.About Us:-Transparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact Us:-Transparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com
Global Compressed Air Treatment Equipment Market 2017 - ZEKS, Ingersoll Rand, MACAIR, Parker Hannifin Corp, Air/Tak Inc.

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Compressed Air Treatment Equipment 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 also lists the leading competitors and provides the insights strategic industry Analysis of the key factors influencing the market.The recent report on Compressed Air Treatment Equipment market offers insightful information about the present scenario of the market across the globe. The report, titled Compressed Air Treatment Equipment points out the key factors affecting the growth of the market. Latest market trends as well as the future growth opportunities have been mentioned in the report. The report takes into account the various micro- and macro-economic factors governing the overall growth of the Compressed Air Treatment Equipment market and assesses the valuation and size of the market in the coming years.The report talks about the distinct traits of the Compressed Air Treatment Equipment market and provides in-depth study of the various segments of the market. The report especially focusses on the development of the Compressed Air Treatment Equipment market in China owing to the increased demand from the region which has attracted the attention of the key manufacturers. Various regulations directly or indirectly affecting the Compressed Air Treatment Equipment market in the region have been discussed in the report. The report takes note of the present state of the global economy, which after witnessing double-digit growth for three decades, is slowing down. Governments efforts to push the economy is expected to positively affect the various sectors and increase demand from the market.The report discusses the competitive vendor landscape of the Compressed Air Treatment Equipment market in the globe. Some of the key players in the market have been profiled in the report and crucial information about them such as their business overview, revenue segmentation, and product segmentation have been mentioned in the report. The report takes note of the market share held by the key players and estimates their future growth through SWOT analysis. It serves as a useful guide for the new entrants in the Compressed Air Treatment Equipment market.Request For Sample Report @Several analytical tools such as market attractiveness analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis are employed to study the global Compressed Air Treatment Equipment market, whereas SWOT analysis and Porters five forces analysis are utilized to evaluate the major players in the Compressed Air Treatment Equipment market in this report.This report not only provides a complete picture of the overall condition of the Compressed Air Treatment Equipment market, but also assists the players in this market to create profitable market strategies in order to gain a competitive edge.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:
Optical Chopper Market to Register Substantial Expansion by 2021

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Optical choppers are the devices or equipment utilized to vary and interrupt light beams at regular or fixed time intervals. By deploying variations in the frequency of the optical chopper, the frequency of the light can be respectively varied. Invented in the mid-1800s, the optical chopper was used to measure the speed of light. The optical chopper contains a circular metal disc possessing holes and gaps at regular or irregular intervals which is attached to a rotating motor which rotates at a certain speed. The light beam passes through this optical chopper and in turn through these holes and thus the frequency of the light can be calculated using the frequency of the optical chopper. The optical chopper finds its main advantage in achieving a regular frequency of light beam. Optical choppers can be either operated by mechanical or electronic means. Predominantly used technologies for optical choppers are rotating disk, tuning fork and optical shutters.A sample of this report is available upon request @On the basis of geography the optical choppers market can be segmented as North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and Middle East and Africa. Application of optical choppers is extensively found in optical spectrometers, wheel speed sensors, ion neutron beam instruments, intensity modulation of optical signals and anti-lock braking systems. Optical choppers are available in various specifications and types as variable frequency rotating disc chopper, fixed frequency tuning fork and shutter.Rotating disc choppers are widely utilized in laboratories and research institutions where chopping frequency is fixed by operator or user and size of aperture is large when compared with other devices. Tuning fork optical choppers are designed to operate at fixed frequency, smaller aperture size and at high frequency. Optical shutters are preferred for low frequency chopping applications, these type of optical choppers allow the operator to follow varying or arbitrary patterns of chopping.Optical choppers are extensively used in electronics products such as television sets for controlling the color of pixels on screen, signaling lamps, camera, movie projectors, signal detection and recovery and other equipment. Depending upon the requirement and extent of accuracy required the optical choppers find their wide use in industries, scientific research, aerospace, healthcare and military applications.Widening application area of the optical choppers are amplifying the growth of global optical chopper market. Expanding demands for high tech cardio machines in the hospitals, anti-lock braking systems, movie projectors etc. are creating a big opportunity for the global optical choppers market. Moreover, technological advancements in machine vision and imaging coupled with increasing demand for advanced equipment in research institutions is likely to drive growth in optical chopper market globally during the forecast period.Some of the minor restraints identified in the optical chopper market are linked with technological limitations such as distortion in frequency measurements due to presence of moving parts and thus giving rise to machine vibration and mechanical wear and tear.To view TOC of this report is available upon request @Some of the major market participants involved in the manufacturing of optical choppers are Altechna, SRS, McPherson, Hinds Instruments, Scitec Instruments, Thor Labs, New Focus, Edmund Optics, Newport Corporation, Boston Electronics Corporation 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.Contact UsPersistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:
SINTERING MARKET - EUROPE INDUSTRY ANALYSIS, SIZE, SHARE, GROWTH, TRENDS, AND FORECAST 2016 - 2024

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Sintering is a manufacturing process in which metal alloys in powdered form are molded into unique and complex shapes by subjecting them to high temperatures just below the melting points of the metal alloys being used in the process. Sintering is an important stage in powder metallurgy and is followed by various stages in order to obtain an end product. Due to the superior qualities of sintered components such as abrasion and corrosion resistance and light weight, sintering is being preferred over other traditional methods for manufacturing components required for mechanical purposes.Request Free Sample Report@Since last few years, sintering is being used for manufacturing important automotive and aerospace components such as transmission gears, axles, etc. which require complex shapes. Technological developments are being made to improve the quality of these sintered components so that they can be used in defense as well. This offers a major opportunity for the manufacturers of sintered components as well the suppliers of raw materials in the coming days. Within Europe, Germany held a major share and is expected to witness growth at a constant pace during the forecast period as well.Sintering market in Europe is expected to grow at a steady pace in the future due to the wide range of applications in which sintered components are being used. Since the range of application is vast, the possibility of more players getting involved in sintering market is expected to be high. The market however may face obstruction in growth due to the imposition of various regulations by European countries to reduce the harmful effects caused to the environment due to the process of sintering.Europe Sintering Market: Key SegmentsThe study provides a comprehensive view of the sintering market by dividing it into materials and geography segments. The material segment includes some types of low grade alloy steel such as pure iron, Fe  Ni Alloys, Fe  Si Alloys, Fe  Co Alloys, 42CrMo4 Steel, and 100Cr6 Steel. These segments have been analyzed based on historic, present, and future trends.Country wise segmentation includes the current and forecast consumption of sintering in U.K., Germany, Italy, France, Spain, and Rest of Europe. Market segmentation includes demand for consumption in all the countries individually.Europe Sintering Market: Scope of the ReportThe report estimates and forecasts the Europe sintering market. The study provides forecast between 2016 and 2024 based on revenue (US$ Bn / US$ Mn) with 2015 as the base year. The report comprises an exhaustive value chain analysis for each of the segments. It provides a comprehensive view of the market. Value chain analysis also offers detailed information about value addition at each stage. The study includes drivers and restraints for the sintering market along with their impact on demand during the forecast period. The study also provides key market indicators affecting the growth of the market. The report analyzes opportunities in the sintering market in Europe. Drivers, restraints, and opportunities mentioned in the report are justified through quantitative and qualitative data. These have been verified through primary and secondary resources. Furthermore, the report analyzes substitute analysis of sintering and average price trend analysis of Europe.The report includes Porters Five Forces Model to determine the degree of competition in the sintering market. The report comprises a qualitative write-up on market attractiveness analysis, wherein end-users and countries have been analyzed based on attractiveness for each country. Growth rate, market size, raw material availability, profit margin, impact strength, technology, competition, and other factors (such as environmental and legal) have been evaluated in order to derive the general attractiveness of the market. The report comprises price trend analysis for sintered components between 2016 and 2024.Europe Sintering Market: Research MethodologySecondary research sources that were typically referred to include, but were not limited to, company websites, financial reports, annual reports, investor presentations, broker reports, and SEC filings. Other sources such as internal and external proprietary databases, statistical databases and market reports, news articles, national government documents, and webcasts specific to companies operating in the market have also been referred for the report.In-depth interviews and discussions with a wide range of key opinion leaders and industry participants were conducted to compile this research report. Primary research represents the bulk of research efforts, supplemented by extensive secondary research. Key players product literature, annual reports, press releases, and relevant documents were reviewed for competitive analysis and market understanding. This helped in validating and strengthening secondary research findings. Primary research further helped in developing the analysis teams expertise and market understanding.Companies Mentioned in the ReportThe report covers detailed competitive outlook that includes market share and profiles of key players operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report include GKN plc, Hitachi Ltd., Sumitomo Corporation, H.C.Starck GmbH, Metaldyne Performance Group, LLC. and Others. Company profiles include attributes such as company overview, number of employees, brand overview, key competitors, business overview, business strategies, recent/key developments, acquisitions, and financial overview (wherever applicable).The Europe Sintering market has been segmented as follows:Sintering Market  Material AnalysisLow Grade Alloy SteelPure IronFe  Ni AlloysFe  Si AlloysFe  Co Alloys42CrMo4 Steel100Cr6 SteelRead Full Report with TOC@Sintering Market  Country AnalysisU.K.GermanyItalyFranceSpainRest of EuropeAbout Market Research Hub:Market Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of Market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Details:90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: press@marketresearchhub.comWebsite:
Global Thermal Fuse Market Research Report 2016 - Emerson, Panasonic, Littelfuse, Schott, Betterfuse

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This report studies Thermal Fuse in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringSchottLittelfuseBelPanasonicEmersonUchihashiElmwoodITALWEBERAUPOBFBetterfuseA.R.ElectricD&M TechnologySET ElectronicsTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Market Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Thermal Fuse in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanKoreaTaiwanSplit by product type, with production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoOrganic Type Thermal FuseTemperature Ceramic Tube FuseRadial Thermal FuseSplit by application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Thermal Fuse in each application, can be divided intoHome ApplianceOffice Automation & CommunicationAutomotiveTable of Contents1 Thermal Fuse Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Thermal Fuse1.2 Thermal Fuse Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Thermal Fuse by Type in 20151.2.2 Organic Type Thermal Fuse1.2.3 Temperature Ceramic Tube Fuse1.2.4 Radial Thermal Fuse1.3 Thermal Fuse Segment by Application1.3.1 Thermal Fuse Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Home Appliance1.3.3 Office Automation & Communication1.3.4 Automotive1.4 Thermal Fuse Market by RegionQYresearchreports.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.QYresearchreports1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com
Sheet Molding Compound and Bulk Molding Compound Market to Undertake Strapping Growth 6.5 % CAGR Worldwide by 2021

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The global sheet molding compound and bulk molding compound market by classification statistical report published by Market Research future contains a brief overview of global sheet molding compound and bulk molding compound market by classification.Make an Enquiry @The market has been segmented on the basis of classification such as glass fiber and carbon fiber to provide a clear picture of the industry. The global market for SMC & BMC has witnessed continued demand during the last few years and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.5 % from 2016 to 2021. Growing Demand of from application segment and increasing need of SMC and BMC compound are likely to drive the global SMC & BMC market.On the basis of classification, Glass Fiber accounts for the largest market share of more than half of the global SMC & BMC market in 2015. This growth is attributed to the rising need for bio-based materials and growing demand for light weight and fuel efficient vehicles across the regions.Market Research Future predicts that over the past few years, the global sheet molding compound and bulk molding compound market has witnessed a remarkable growth and as per the analysis, the global growth remains continue. The over growth of the market is attributed towards the continuously increasing growth of the application industries such as transportation, electrical and construction. The growth of global transportation and electrical market has resulted in increasing production of sheet molding compound and bulk molding compound.Access Report Details @Market Research future through this report aims to provide understanding of the global sheet molding compound and bulk molding compound market on the basis of classification, and also assists identification of ongoing trends along with anticipated growth during the forecasted period. For this report, extensive primary research was conducted to gain a deeper insight of the market performance. Various industry experts and Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) were contacted and interviewed to get an idea of global color master batch market.ContinueWe are thankful for the support and assistance from Sheet Molding Compound and Bulk Molding Compound Market by Classification chain related technical experts and marketing experts during Research Team survey and interviews.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.Media Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com
Worldwide Chemicals - Global Antimicrobial Coatings forFood Sales - Details Information with Analysis Report 2017

Antimicrobial Coatings

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"Global Antimicrobial Coatings forFood Sales Market Report 2017" The Report covers current Industries Trends, Worldwide Analysis, Global Forecast, Review, Share, Size, Growth, Effect.Description--- In this report, the global Antimicrobial Coatings forFood 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 (MT), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Antimicrobial Coatings forFood for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesChinaEuropeJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGet Sample Report With TOC @-- Global Antimicrobial Coatings forFood market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Antimicrobial Coatings forFood sales volume, Price (USD/MT), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingMicrobanAKALI NANO TechnologyDunmoreSono-TekBASFSherwin-WilliamsAkzoNobelDow Microbial ControlDiamond VogelDuPontNippon PaintPPG IndustriesAK CoatingsMaydos-- On the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume (MT), revenue (Million USD), product price (USD/MT), market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoSilverCopperZinc OxideZirconiumTitanium DioxideZinc Omadine-- On 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 Antimicrobial Coatings forFood for each application, includingFood IndustryMedical IndustryPackaging IndustryOtherResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074
Aerial Imaging Market: Increasing Popularity of Aerial Imagery to Reflect Positively on Markets Growth

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The global aerial imaging market is highly fragmented in nature, finds a new report by Transparency Market Research (TMR). The top five companies, namely, Fugro N.V., NRC Group ASA, Nearmap Ltd., Google Inc., and EagleView Technologies Inc., held only 15.4% of the overall market in 2016. With a large pool of players, the market demonstrates a competitive landscape.The leading players are focusing especially on technological improvements and integrated and joint innovation to build a new ecosystem to strengthen their presence in this market. Over the coming years, they are likely to be more involved in mergers and acquisitions for the expansion of their businesses, states the research study.Browse Market Research Report @As per TMRs estimations, the opportunity in the global market for aerial imaging is likely to expand at a CAGR of 14.60% during the period from 2017 to 2025, rising from US$1.36 bn in 2016 to US$4.58 by the end of the forecast period. Geospatial technology has emerged as the key application area of aerial imaging and is expected to continue like this over the forthcoming years, states the research report.Government Sector to Continue as Key End User of Aerial Imaging TechniqueThe research report considers the commercial, civil engineering, military, forestry and agriculture, energy, insurance, and the government sectors as the key end users of aerial imaging across the world. The government sector has emerged as the leading consumer of aerial imaging technique and is expected to remain so over the forecast period. The increasing usage of aerial imagery in various applications, such as homeland security, improvement of town planning, energy sector exploration, and monitoring and management of environmental changes, is the key factor behind the dominance of this segment. The commercial and the forestry and agriculture sectors are also expected to witness a high-paced adoption of aerial imaging in the near future.Geographically, the report segments the worldwide aerial imaging into North America, the Middle East and Africa, Europe, Asia Pacific, and South America. North America led this market in 2016, with US$575.9 bn in revenues. Researchers expect this regional market to continue to lead over the next few years on the grounds of the rising adoption of aerial photography in the agriculture and forestry industry. The rising advancements in automated drone technology and the increasing number of merger and acquisitions among key player in this region are also projected to boost the North America market for aerial imaging in the years to come, reports the study.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report @Increasing Application of Aerial Imaging in Various Industries to Boost GrowthThe increasing adoption of aerial imagery in various end-use industries is the most prominent driving force behind the growth of the global aerial imaging market, says an analyst at TMR. Aerial imaging has found its applications in a number of industries, such as archeology, disaster risk estimation, cartography, defense and security, construction and development, journalism, tourism and intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), and its application range is likely to expand in the year so come, leading to a substantial rise of this market over the next years.About Us :Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact Us :Transparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Paints and Coatings Market Is Expected to Cross $153.0 Billion Globally by 2020

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Florida, May 04: Market Research Engine has published a new report titled as Paints & Coatings Market by Resin Type (Epoxy, Acrylic, Polyurethane, & Others), by Technology (Waterborne, High Solids, Powder, Solvent Borne, & Others), by Application (Architectural & Paints) - Global Forecasts to 2020The global paints and coatings market is expected to reach $125.0 billion by the end of 2015 and further increase to $153.6 billion by 2020, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.9% over the next five-year period of 2015 through 2020.Browse Full Report here:A coating is a covering that is applied to the surface of an object, usually referred to as the substrate. The purpose of applying the coating is protective, decorative, functional, or both. The coating itself may be an all-over coating, completely covering the substrate, and cover parts of the substrate.The paint and coating market segmented in High Solids/Radiation Cure, Powder Coatings, Waterborne Coatings, and Solvent Borne Technologies. Also for the automotive sector it segmented for Aviation, Medical & Healthcare, Residential, Commercial uses.This report provides: An overview of the global market for paints and coatings and related technologies. Analyses of global market trends, with data from 2013, estimates for 2014 and 2015, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2020. Identifications of new market opportunities and targeted promotional plans for paints and coatings. Discussion of research and development, and the demand for new products and new applications. Comprehensive company profiles of major players in the industry.REPORT SCOPE:The scope of the report includes a detailed study of global and regional markets for various types of coatings with the reasons given for variations in the growth of the industry in certain regions.The report covers detailed competitive outlook including the market share and company profiles of the key participants operating in the global market. Key players profiled in the report include AkzoNobel N.V., Asian Paints Ltd., Bergers Paints India Ltd., Deutsche Amphibolin-Werke Von Robert Murjahn Stiftung & Company, Diamond Vogel, Dow Corning, Helios Group, KCC Corporation, Masco Corporation, PPG Industries etc. company profile includes assign such as company summary, financial summary, business strategy and planning, SWOT analysis and current developments.The Top Companies Report is intended to provide our buyers with a snapshot of the industrys most influential players.The market has been segmented as below:Paints and Coatings Market: by Product Segment Analysis High solids/radiation cure Powder coating Waterborne coating Solvent-borne technologies Others (including specialty coatings, etc.)Paints and Coatings Market: by End-user Analysis Automotives & aviation Medical & healthcare Residential Commercial Others (including other industries, special purpose, etc.)Paints and Coatings Market: by Regional Analysis North America Europe Asia-Pacific Rest of the WorldReasons to Buy this Report Obtain the most up to date information available on all active and planned coating industry globally Identify growth segments and opportunities in the industry Facilitate decision making on the basis of strong historic and forecast of coating industry and unit capacity data Assess your competitors refining portfolio and its evolution.About MarketResearchEngine.comMarket Research Engine is a global market research and consulting organization. We provide market intelligence in emerging, niche technologies and markets. Our market analysis powered by rigorous methodology and quality metrics provide information and forecasts across emerging markets, emerging technologies and emerging business models. Our deep focus on industry verticals and country reports help our clients to identify opportunities and develop business strategies.Media ContactCompany Name: Market Research EngineContact Person: John BayEmail: john@marketresearchengine.comPhone: +1-855-984-1862, +91-860-565-7204Website:Address: 3422 SW 15 Street, Suite #8942, Deerfield Beach, FL 33442, United States
3D Machine Vision Market: Growth Catalysts, Market Trends And Key Players 2025

Global 3D Machine Vision Market Industry Analysis, 3D Machine Vision Market Size

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Machine vision or MV is a method or technology which is used to deliver imaging-based automatic analysis and inspection for applications such as process control, robot guidance, and automatic inspection. Machine vision is a term that includes a variety of technologies, hardware and software products, actions, and integrated systems. Machine vision can be considered different from computer vision. Machine visions are primarily of two types  2D (two dimensional) and 3D (three dimensional). The usage of 2D or 3D machine vision systems depends upon the application they are used in.In 2D machine vision, a 2D map (X, Y) of the reflected intensity is taken and then it is processed. The processing usually consists of comparing contrasts (variations in intensity). 2D machine visions are conventionally used for applications such as label orientation, barcode reading and printing verification. On the contrary, 3D machine vision systems deals with all the three axes (X, Y, and Z). 3D Machine Vision scanners gives a point cloud (three dimensional coordinates) output.It is a digitized model of location and shape of object(s) scanned. Additionally, 3D machine vision has the ability to combine various point clouds from several scanners. For instance, a large entities such as a truck frame are scanned with multiple scanners if the scanners are placed strategically. Constant change in consumer requirement may pose a threat to the growth of the market. However, the enhanced functionalities of 3D machine vision systems are likely to drive the overall 3D Machine Vision market.Obtain Report Details @The global Machine Vision market can be segmented on the basis of product type, offerings, application, and geography. By product type, the market can be divided into pc-based systems and smart camera-based systems. Camera based systems are likely to grow at a maximum rate in the coming years. Cameras are the eyes of machine vision systems; they constitute sensors that can transform light in the lens into electrical signals. With the advancement of digitalization, 3D machine vision cameras have additional features such as high storage capabilities, built-in processing units and high-quality imaging. The global demand for image processing, compactness, and high-quality images has been increasing at a steady rate, thereby encouraging the growth of the 3D Machine Vision market during the forecast period.By the type of offerings the global 3D Machine Vision market can be segregated into hardware and software. The hardware segment held a significant share of the global market in the coming years owing to technological advancements in the field of 3D cameras and image detection techniques. On the basis of application, the market can be classified into quality assurance & inspection, positioning & guidance, measurement, identification, and others. High instances of theft as well as increasing demand for global positioning systems will impact the positioning and guidance segment positively. This in turn will drive the global 3D Machine Vision market.Fill the form to Gain Deeper Insights on this Market @In terms of geography, the global 3D Machine Vision market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa. Asia Pacific held the maximum share of the global 3D Machine Vision market in 2016. The market in this region is anticipated to grow at a considerable rate between 2017 and 2025. Rising adoption of automation across all industry verticals, especially in automotive and consumer electronics, is one of the prime reasons for the growth of the market in this region. Moreover, existence of key manufacturing companies in countries such as Japan, China, and South Korea will boost the growth of the 3D Machine Vision market in the Asia Pacific region.The key players operating in the global 3D Machine Vision Market are Cognex Corporation (U.S.), National Instruments Corporation (U.S.), Keyence Corporation (Japan), Isra Vision AG (Germany), Sick AG (Germany), Basler AG (Germany), Mvtec Software GmbH (Germany), LMI Technologies (Canada), Stemmer Imaging (U.K.), and Tordivel As (Norway).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.Each TMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, 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, our syndicated reports thrive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
RESEARCH 2017 - The European Car Wash - History and New Update : - History and New Update Size, Major Competitors and Channel Shares

Car Wash

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"The European Car Wash Market 2017: Market Size, Major Competitors and Channel Shares" The Report covers current Industries Trends, Worldwide Analysis, Global Forecast, Review, Share, Size, Growth, Effect.Description-** SummaryAnalysis of the commercial car wash market across 19 European countries, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK,Netherlands, Sweden, Poland and Russia. Includes volume of car wash sites, number of wash occasions per year, value of the market and insight into strategic issues impacting the sector. Based on research with service station and standalone car wash operators, it provides an analysis of the car wash market across two commercial wash channels, and covers the four main types of car wash installation; jet, roll over ,tunnel and hand washes.Get Sample Report With TOC @Wash price has become increasingly important for motorists over the last few years as rising wash prices have forced them to either reduce commercial wash occasions or switch from luxury and medium wash types such as rollover and tunnel to low cost jet washes, in order to maintain wash costs.** Scope- The value of the European car wash market (made up of 19 countries in our analysis) rose by 60.9m in 2016 as wash operators increased wash prices. Rising wash prices across Europe is the primary cause of wash market value growth in 2016, as wash occasions declined over this period.- More than 1,500 car wash installations closed across Europe in 2016 as a drop in fuel volumes and disposable incomes caused wash operators to close their wash sites. The majority of wash site closures came from Germany and the UK, as wash occasions per installation declined, due to increased wash costs and home wash occasions in each market respectively, causing wash operators to close sites.- The total number of wash occasions in Europe declined by 0.9% in 2016 as motorists reduced their wash occasions as disposable income levels fell and operators increased wash prices across a number of European markets. 77.0% of wash occasions in Europe were undertaken at rollover and jet wash installations, as these wash types remained dominant in Europe in 2016.** Reasons to buy- Make informed investment decisions by understanding the size of the car wash retail market and the nature of the competition within it.- Understand motorists wash habits and plan effect strategies to maximise wash occasions- Formulate market share objectives for your company and assess performance using our value data segmented by channel and installation type.- Develop superior strategies to those of your competitors by accessing information on their site numbers and marketing activities.ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074
RESEARCH 2017 - Europe Pneumoperitoneum - History and New Update Report

Pneumoperitoneum

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"Europe Pneumoperitoneum Market Report 2017" The Report covers current Industries Trends, Worldwide Analysis, Global Forecast, Review, Share, Size, Growth, Effect.Description-** Notes:Sales, means the sales volume of PneumoperitoneumRevenue, means the sales value of Pneumoperitoneum-- This report studies sales (consumption) of Pneumoperitoneum in Europe market, especially in Germany, France, UK, Russia, Italy, Spain and Benelux, focuses on top players in these countries, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player in these Countries, coveringCompany 1 TO 20Get Sample Report With TOC @-- Market Segment by Countries, this report splits Europe into several key Countries, with sales (consumption), revenue, market share and growth rate of Pneumoperitoneum in these countries, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeGermanyFranceUKRussiaItalySpainBenelux-- Split by product type, with sales, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoType IType II-- Split by application, this report focuses on sales, market share and growth rate of Pneumoperitoneum in each application, can be divided intoApplication 1Application 2-- Table of ContentsEurope Pneumoperitoneum Market Report 20171 Pneumoperitoneum Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Pneumoperitoneum1.2 Classification of Pneumoperitoneum1.2.1 Type I1.2.2 Type II1.3 Application of Pneumoperitoneum1.3.1 Application 11.3.2 Application 21.4 Pneumoperitoneum Market by Countries1.4.1 Germany Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.2 France Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 UK Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Russia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Italy Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Spain Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 Benelux Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Europe Market Size (Value and Volume) of Pneumoperitoneum (2012-2022)1.5.1 Europe Pneumoperitoneum Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Europe Pneumoperitoneum Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 Europe Pneumoperitoneum by Manufacturers, Type and Application2.1 Europe Pneumoperitoneum Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1.1 Europe Pneumoperitoneum Sales and Market Share of Key Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.1.2 Europe Pneumoperitoneum Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Europe Pneumoperitoneum (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Europe Pneumoperitoneum Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.2 Europe Pneumoperitoneum Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.3 Europe Pneumoperitoneum (Volume and Value) by Countries2.3.1 Europe Pneumoperitoneum Sales and Market Share by Countries (2012-2017)2.3.2 Europe Pneumoperitoneum Revenue and Market Share by Countries (2012-2017)2.4 Europe Pneumoperitoneum (Volume) by Application3 Germany Pneumoperitoneum (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 Germany Pneumoperitoneum Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.1.1 Germany Pneumoperitoneum Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.2 Germany Pneumoperitoneum Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.3 Germany Pneumoperitoneum Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)3.2 Germany Pneumoperitoneum Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers3.3 Germany Pneumoperitoneum Sales and Market Share by Type3.4 Germany Pneumoperitoneum Sales and Market Share by Application4 France Pneumoperitoneum (Volume, Value and Sales Price)4.1 France Pneumoperitoneum Sales and Value (2012-2017)4.1.1 France Pneumoperitoneum Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.2 France Pneumoperitoneum Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)4.1.4 France Pneumoperitoneum Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)4.2 France Pneumoperitoneum Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers4.3 France Pneumoperitoneum Sales and Market Share by Type4.4 France Pneumoperitoneum Sales and Market Share by Application5 UK Pneumoperitoneum (Volume, Value and Sales Price)5.1 UK Pneumoperitoneum Sales and Value (2012-2017)5.1.1 UK Pneumoperitoneum Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.2 UK Pneumoperitoneum Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)5.1.5 UK Pneumoperitoneum Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)5.2 UK Pneumoperitoneum Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers5.3 UK Pneumoperitoneum Sales and Market Share by Type5.4 UK Pneumoperitoneum Sales and Market Share by Application6 Russia Pneumoperitoneum (Volume, Value and Sales Price)6.1 Russia Pneumoperitoneum Sales and Value (2012-2017)6.1.1 Russia Pneumoperitoneum Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)6.1.2 Russia Pneumoperitoneum Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)6.1.6 Russia Pneumoperitoneum Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)6.2 Russia Pneumoperitoneum Sales and Market Share by Manufacturers6.3 Russia Pneumoperitoneum Sales and Market Share by Type6.4 Russia Pneumoperitoneum Sales and Market Share by ApplicationResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074
2.5D IC Packaging Market: Key Players Focus on Evolving market Trends and Dynamics 2025

2.5D IC Packaging Market, 2.5D IC Packaging Market Size

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In the manufacturing process of electronics, integrated circuit (IC) packaging is one of the major stages of semiconductor device fabrication in which the small blocks of semiconducting material is encapsulated in a supporting case that prevents physical corrosion and damage. The market is segmented into by application which includes LED, sensors and MEMS, logic, optoelectronics and imaging, memory, among others. The market, by region is segmented into Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa and South America.Lower cost, low power consumption, high speed signal processing and small form factors are some of the prime reasons behind the growing application of 2.5D packaging in smartphone and memory chips. Additionally, high thermal performance is another major feature which is fueling the market for 2.5D integrated circuit packaging globally. In order to increase the efficiency and to cut down the power consumption up to 50%, the usage of 2.5D IC packaging technique is increasing in different processing units which include central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU).Moreover, application of 2.5D IC packaging technique also reduces latency of different networking equipment. Furthermore, it also helps in interconnection with low power consumption and higher bandwidth. Increasing proliferation of minimization of devices, heterogeneous integration and high I/O density are some the prime factors influencing the growth of 2.5D IC packaging market globallyObtain Report Details @It is cost effective technique and flexible to integrate in any semiconductor and networking devices. High end communication devices, RF wireless modules, LED packages, portable computers, power amplifiers, and other wearable gadgets among others are some of the key application areas of 2.5D IC packaging market. With the rising research and development activities of 2.5D packaging technologies has enabled different ways of producing advanced packages for the advanced devices. Increasing technological advancement in the field of semiconductor fabrication is one of the fueling factors for the market for 2.5D IC packaging. 2.5D IC packaging enable integration of multiple different chips into a system at lower cost. Furthermore, 2.5D IC packaging refers to stacking chips side by side horizontally on the silicon interposer. Design complexity, tool readiness, heat dissipation and potential yield loss may be considered as some of the restraining factor which may inhibit the growth of the 2.5D IC packaging market. However, increasing application of 2.5D IC packaging in high end research laboratory equipment, satellite communication devices and advanced medical devices are some of the opportunities for the market.In 2016, North America accounted for the largest market share in terms of revenue for the 2.5D IC (integrated circuit) packaging market, followed by Asia Pacific and Europe. The U.S. is leading the market for 2.5D IC packaging across North America. In Asia Pacific, China held the largest market share in terms of revenue across Asia Pacific, followed by Japan, South Korea. Germany, Italy, the U.K. and France among others are influencing the positive growth in the 2.5D IC packaging market. Brazil and Argentina are anticipated to contribute positive development over the forecast period from 2017 to 2025. In Middle East and Africa, there has been considerable advancement, miniaturization and development in the sector of electronics and other industries is stimulating the demand for 2.5D IC packaging market.Fill the form to Gain Deeper Insights on this Market @Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Limited (Taiwan), Palomar Technologies (The U.S.), Amkor Technology, Inc. (The U.S.), Texas Instruments Inc. (The U.S.), Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (South Korea), Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (The U.S.), Micron Technology, Inc. (The U.S.), Maxim Integrated (The U.S.), Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc. (Taiwan), API Technologies Corporation (The U.S.), Tektronix, Inc. (The U.S.), Toshiba Corporation (Japan) and Intel Corporation (The U.S.) are some of the key players operating in the 2.5D IC packaging market globally. Merger and acquisition and long term and short business alliances with raw material suppliers and component distributers are some of the major strategies abide by the companies in the 2.5D IC (Integrated Circuit) packaging market globally.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. 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.Each TMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, 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, our syndicated reports thrive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Real Time Locating System Market: Development Catalysts, Market Trends And Key Players 2025

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Real Time Locating Systems (RTLS) solutions are utilized for tracking the location of a target in real time basis. RTLS is different from Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) though they are mostly perceived to be the same solutions. RFID utilizes signal transmission between two or more devices, for locating the target. RTLS, on the other hand, automatically identifies the target and track its location on a real time basis.Additionally, RTLS can track the movement of the target, when it is supported by a computer application. The degree of accuracy is dependent on the type of software solution chosen for tracking the target, utilizing RTLS. In contrast, RFID technology can be either active or passive. Passive RFID provides point-in-time location, in presence of specialized RFID readers. Active RFID sends out signals to a specialized reader at constant time intervals which is then utilized by specialized software solutions to find the location of the tagged target.Hence real time tracking is not always possible by RFID technology. RTLS was created with the target of creating a technology which has the capability to identify the target automatically and also allows for real time viewing of the targets location, through a computer.Obtain Report Details @The market for real time locating system is primarily been driven by the growing demand of these systems in healthcare sector. RTLS allows for high accuracy real time monitoring, and hence is highly beneficial for tracking patients, equipments and hospital staffs among others.It is deemed to be extremely beneficial for emergency evacuation procedures, as it can aid in accounting for all the members present inside the building. Also, advanced RTLS systems can send alerts when certain parameters are not met, such as when any medical equipment is not returned to its original place within stipulated time, RTLS can activate a warning signal to alert the responsible person. Such applications have been positively impacting the growth of the market. Additionally, RTLS is finding increasing application in warehouses, correctional facilities, and retail stores, among others, where it aids in immediate location of the target and tracking of any misplaced items among others.This in turn has been further fuelling the growth of the market. However, several reports on privacy related concerns have been hampering the growth of the RTLS market. Additionally, RTLS systems can often provide erroneous data, owing to lack in signal strength or any other such issues. This again has been hampering the growth of the RTLS market. Considering the benefits offered by RTLS systems and their growing applications across different industry verticals, the global RTLS market can be expected to grow at a good pace during the forecast period.Fill the form to Gain Deeper Insights on this Market @On the basis of architecture, the market for RTLS has been segmented into hardware and software. Hardware includes RTLS tags and computer systems among others. The software segment is expected to maintain its fast growth pace, during the forecast period. On the basis of connective technology, the market is segmented into four segments. They are Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Wi-Fi, infrared and others. BLE is expected to be the fastest growing segment, during the forecast period. By end use industry, the market has been segmented into healthcare, retail, transportation & logistics, manufacturing and others. The global market for RF RTLS, by region, has been segmented into five major regions. They are North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), South America and Middle-East & Africa (MEA). North America had the largest market share in 2016, owing to growing applications of RTLS across different industry verticals.The major companies of the RTLS market globally are Kontact.io, Inc. (The U.S.), CenTrak, Inc. (The U.S.), and Versus Technology, Inc. (The U.S.) among various other companies.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.Each TMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, 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, our syndicated reports thrive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Hemophilia Therapeutics Pipeline Analysis, 2017 - Clinical Trials & Results, Patent, Collaboration, and Other Developments

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The hemophilia therapeutics pipeline is expected to grow in future due to rise in prevalence of genetic variation. Hemophilia which is symptomatized by excessive bleeding in brains, joints, nose and mouth. Some of the drivers for the growth of the hemophilia therapeutics pipeline include increasing incidence of hemophilia, less number of drugs present for treatment of hemophilia.Explore Report at:Most of the large pharma companies are spending in research and development for treatment of haemophilia, which are in clinical trials. Pfizer, Inc. is developing a gene therapy in collaboration with Spark Therapeutics, Inc., through SPK-FIX program for treatment of haemophilia, as a potential onetime therapy. SPK-9001 is a bio-engineered adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid expressing a codon-optimized, high-activity human factor IX variant, which was advanced using Spark's proprietary technology. Chugai Pharmaceutical is developing a compound in collaboration with F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Emicizumab, which is considered as a Breakthrough Therapy by the US Food and Drug Administration. LFB USA, Inc. is introducing a biological, wich is recombinant Coagulation FVIIa for the treatment of haemophilia. Coagulation FVIIa is currently in Phase III clinical development stage. Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. is developing a drug for the treatment of haemophilia, ALN-AT3SC, which lowers the level of plasma antithrombin. ALN-AT3SC drug led to restoration of homeostasis in people with haemophilia. OPKO Biologics Ltd. Is developing a drug MOD-5014, whih is a long-acting recombinant FVIIa for the treatment of hemophiia A or B. Octapharma AG is developing a compound fr the treatment of haemophilia, Wilate, which is stable, double virus inactivated, stable, highly purified concentrate of freeze-dried, active von Willebrand factor (VWF) and FVIII. Wilate is currently in Phase III clinical development. Novo Nordisk A/S is estimating a homeostatic effect of turoctocog alfa pegol, which is currently in Phase III. Bayer AG is developing a compound BAY1093884. BAY1093884 is an anti-TFPI antibody which is currently in Phase I. Shire Plc is developing a compound SHP656, which is currently in Phase I clinical development.Request for Table of Content at:Some of the key players having a pipeline of hemophilia therapeutics include Shire Plc, Biogen, Pfizer Inc., Novo Nordisk A/S, CSL Behring, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Bayer AG, Biotest AG, Kedrion Biopharma Inc., and Octapharma AG.Browse Other Related Report at:About P&S Market ResearchP&S Market Research is a market research company, which offers market research and consulting services for various geographies around the globe. We provide market research reports, industry forecasting reports, business intelligence, and research based consulting services across different industry/business verticals.As one of the top growing market research agency, were keen upon providing market landscape and accurate forecasting. Our analysts and consultants are proficient with business intelligence and market analysis, through their interaction with leading companies of the concerned domain. We help our clients with B2B market research and assist them in identifying various windows of opportunity, and framing informed and customized business expansion strategies in different regions.Contact:AbhishekExecutive  Client Partner347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016Toll-free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb:347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016
Myocardial Infarction Therapeutics Pipeline Analysis, 2017

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The myocardial infarction therapeutics pipeline is expected to increase in future due to rise in prevalence of myocardial infarction. Myocardial infarction is also commonly known as heart attack which is symptomatized by decrease in blood supply to the heart muscle due to coronary artery disease. According to American Heart Association, the mortality rate due to cardiovascular disease is higher than other disease. According to British Heart Foundation, in 2015, around 150,155 deaths, occurred due to cardiovascular disease in the U.K. Some of the drivers for the growth of the myocardial infarction therapeutics pipeline include increasing incidence of coronary artery disease, change in lifestyle, lack of exercise, increase in incidence of blood pressure and obesity. According to World Health Organization (WHO), there has been an increase in incidence of heart disease in smokers as compared to non-smokers.Explore Report at:The myocardial infarction is a state of blockage of flow of oxygen-rich blood to a section of heart muscle, leading to the death of muscle. Myocardial infarction most often occurs in case of coronary artery disease in which a waxy substance, known as plaque gets build up inside the coronary artery, decreasing the oxygen-rich blood supply to the heart. This condition is also known as atherosclerosis due to which area of plaque break open inside a coronary artery, leading to the formation of clot. This clot gets bigger with time and leads to the blockage of coronary artery. The heart failure is a condition in which heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the body need. In various cases, a discomfort occurs in the center or left side of the chest which can last for few minutes which goes away and comes back. The upper body discomfort and shortness of breath also occurs in case of cardiac disorders.Request for Table of Content at:Many institutes, associations and companies are collaborating for the development of therapeutic treatments for myocardial infarction. Eli Lilly and Company collaborated with Centocor, Inc. to conduct clinical trials for efficacy and safety of reteplease and abciximab combination therapy, with abciximab alone administered early or just prior to primary percutaneous coronary intervention.Browse Other Related Report at:Some of the key players having a pipeline of myocardial infarction therapeutics include Pfizer Inc., Novartis N.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Daiichi Sankyo Company Limited, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, AstraZeneca, Apotex Inc., Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Inc., Sandoz, Mylan N.V.About P&S Market ResearchP&S Market Research is a market research company, which offers market research and consulting services for various geographies around the globe. We provide market research reports, industry forecasting reports, business intelligence, and research based consulting services across different industry/business verticals.As one of the top growing market research agency, were keen upon providing market landscape and accurate forecasting. Our analysts and consultants are proficient with business intelligence and market analysis, through their interaction with leading companies of the concerned domain. We help our clients with B2B market research and assist them in identifying various windows of opportunity, and framing informed and customized business expansion strategies in different regions.Contact:AbhishekExecutive  Client Partner347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016Toll-free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb:347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016
Medical Computer Carts Market Share, Size, Growth & Forecast 2024

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Medical computer carts can be defined as medical carts used by medical staff for several day to day activities such as checking electronic medical records, distributing drugs, charting and EMR, medication dispensing, and nursing education. These are suitable for large hospitals, health clinics, pharmacies, and psychiatric hospitals.The global medical computer carts market has witnessed strong growth in the past few years driven by increased adoption of electronic medical record systems (EMR) in hospitals, research institutes, and diagnostic labs, etc. This high-tech system is used to collect, store, and display patients health statistics. Medical computer carts offer ergonomic features and workflow solutions to accommodate and reduce the laborious routine tasks associated with providing enhanced personal and patient care. The capability to move carts from room to room supplements caregivers highly mobile workflow. Mobile carts allow a single computer system to be used in many places in a hospital, lab, and clinic, thereby saving space and time especially in older structures whose setup does not easily accommodate costly new technology solutions.View Report @It can lower fatigue, frustration, and stress with a medical/nurse staffs every task at work. This enhancement of health information technology is anticipated to drive the medical computer carts market. Growing significance of fast and easy availability of critical medical equipment and supplies are the key factors that increase demand for medical computer carts in the health care sector. Lack of awareness among medical staff and high cost are the factors restraining the medical computer carts market.Medical Computer Carts Market SegmentationMedical computer carts are obtainable with or without on-board power systems. Hence, based on product type, the medical computer carts market is classified into powered cart and non-powered cart. Medical computer carts have extra features such as height setting for standing or sitting use. Non-powered carts dominated the market in the past few years. The powered cart segment is expected to gain significant share of the global market in the next few years led by upgraded battery management technology. In terms of application, the medical computer carts market has been segmented into doctors use, nurses use, and others. The doctors use and nurses use segments are expected to dominate the market. Usage of mobile carts in hospitals and private clinics is increasing, followed by nurse staff in labs and clinics.Medical Computer Carts Market: Region-wise OutlookGeographically, the market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America holds major share of the medical computer carts market, followed by Europe and Asia Pacific. However, Latin America and Asia Pacific hold significant growth potential in the medical computer carts market due to rise in geriatric population, rising prevalence of various disorders, growing medical tourism, increasing government initiatives for investments in health care, and growing demand for quality health care in this region. Most of the medical computer carts products and services in these regions are driven by developing countries such as Singapore, China, India, Mexico, Brazil, and South Korea.Medical Computer Carts Market: Key PlayersThe medical computer carts market is highly competitive due to the presence of a number of small and large scale players in the industry. Key players operating in the medical computer carts market include AFC Industries, Ergotron, Rubbermaid Medical Solutions, Altus, Anthro Corporation, Cura Carts, CompuCaddy, Lund Industries, Modern Solid Industrial, GCX Corporation, Enovate Medical, and Scott-Clark Medical.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the medical computer carts market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this 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:
Urethra Cystoscopes Market - Global Industry Analysis and Forecast 2024

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The urethra cystoscopes market has been segmented based on product type, application, disinfection type, end-user, and region. In terms of product type, the market has been segmented into flexible urethra cytoscopes, rigid urethra cytoscopes, and consumables. Based on application, the urethra cystoscopes market has been categorized into urinary tract infection (UTI) diagnosis, biopsy, and others. Other applications include removal of renal stones, lumps, or tumors. In terms of disinfection type, the urethra cystoscopes market has been classified into manual and automated. Based on end-user, the market has been segmented into hospitals, specialized clinical laboratories, and research institutions. In terms of region, the urethra cystoscopes market has been classified into Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East & Africa, North America, and Latin America.Cystoscopy is an invaluable tool for identifying lower urinary tract complications or disorders and is the most common procedure performed in urology. Cystoscopes are commonly used to investigate the inside of the urinary tract. Cystoscopes are classified as semi-critical devices, according to the Spaulding classification system, for medical devices and disinfection, proposed by Dr. E H Spaulding. Cystoscopy is generally used for diagnosis and monitoring progress of conditions or diseases. It also helps in ruling out certain symptoms, thereby enabling further medical interventions. For example, routine cystoscopy is carried out before and after the treatment of bladder cancer to check for reoccurrence of tumor to prevent its further spread.Urethra cystoscope is used to look inside of urethra, which is a part of urinary tract. It is a long and thin optical instrument. At one end, it has an eyepiece, a flexible or rigid tube at the center, and the other end of the tube has tiny lens and light.Cystoscopy is carried out by urologists in order to relate the cause of symptoms for urinary tract problems such as frequent episodes of urine or urinary tract infections, hematuria, urinary incontinence, pain, burning or any kind of discomfort at urinary site, abnormal cells in urine, etc. Cystoscopy is also carried out to detect and remove renal or urinary stones, abnormal tissues, polyps or tumors in urethra. These can assist in other purposes such as removal of stent and performing retrograde pyelography.View Report @The most important task in use of urethra cystoscopes is sterilizing or reprocessing in between patients, and very few are found to address the reprocessing as per the requirement. Hence, proper training is required for urologist to carry out urethra cystoscopy. Major risk associated with the use of urethra cystoscopes is acquisition of urinary tract infection as a urethra cystoscope is reused many times. Other risks include urethral bleeding or pain, as well as fever in some cases.Major drivers of the urethra cystoscopes market are rise in urethra related disorders or diseases such as bladder cancer and renal stones and applications in several medical procedures such as stent insertion and dye insertion. Other factors such as urethral cytoscope flexibility, minimal invasive technique, and increase in health awareness and improvement in health care facilities propel the urethra cystoscopies market. Major restraint of the urethra cystoscopes market is risk of transmission of infection, especially urinary tract infection. High maintenance and sterility required for use of urethra cytoscopes and emergence of new endoscopic techniques such as endoscopic capsules are likely to hamper the market. Manufacturers are developing advanced urethra cytoscopes to increase flexibility and enhance visibility during cystoscopy. This is likely to provide significant opportunity in the near future.Major players in the urethra cystoscopes market are Olympus Medical Systems Corporation, Medtronic plc, Boston Scientific, Stryker Corporation, Richard Wolf GmbH, Shenda Endoscope, Zhejiang Tiansong Medical Instrument Co., Ltd., Henke-Sass, Wolf GmbH, and Pentax Medical System, among others.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the urethra cystoscopes market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this 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:
Bio plastics and Biopolymers Market - Global Industry Analysis 2025 | Research Report

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Bio plastics and Biopolymers are defined as the type of plastics and polymers which are obtained from renewable biomass source such as vegetable oils and fats, starch corn, technology that has an intrinsic network, intelligent control system and home automation system as its basic components. This technology is equipped with home appliances, digital devices and other components that are interconnected and are accessed with the help of a smart gadget from a far off location. The Bio plastics and Biopolymers market has been segmented by product type, by end user industry and geography.Browse Market Research Report @In terms of product type the Bio plastics and Biopolymers market has been has been segmented into Bio-PET, Bio-PE, PLA, PHA, Starch Blends, Biodegradable polyster and Regenerated Cellulose among others. Moreover, in terms of end user industry, the Bio plastics and Biopolymers market has been segmented into packaging industry, bottling industry, agricultural industry, automotive industry and consumer products among others. Furthermore, in terms of geography, the Bio plastics and Biopolymers market has been segmented into five geographies namely North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and Latin America.Increased usage of Bio plastics and Biopolymers as consumer products and increase in investment on agricultural industry by the key vendors across the globe has contributed to the growth of Bio plastics and Biopolymers market. Moreover, the concept of smart cities and smart buildings and connected cities are also going to drive the demand in Bio plastics and Biopolymers market. Due to these concept there is an increase in demand of Bio plastics and Biopolymers for waste and water management and renewable energy management among others. Increased awareness and stringent laws across the globe, has increased the demand of Bio plastics and Biopolymers. Also frequent price fluctuation of petroleum is also contributing to the growth of the Bio plastics and Biopolymers market. Important factor is that this is recyclable, environment friendly and exhibits similar properties as petroleum based PET.Increase in demand of ecofriendly bio based polymer packaging is actually boosting up the growth of Bio plastics and Biopolymers market. Large and smooth distribution network along with strong distribution partner has led to the growth of increase in demand of Bio plastics and Biopolymers market. Rising concern for green environment and environmental safety has compelled the governments of various developed and developing nations to take safety measures which in turn has increased the usage and demand of Bio plastics and Biopolymers market significantly.By geography, Bio plastics and Biopolymers market has been segmented into five regions as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), South America and Middle East and Africa (MEA). Europe is the dominant segment in the global Bio plastics and Biopolymers market followed by Asia-Pacific and North America. In terms of revenue and market share, Europe leads the market globally. Russia is estimated to witness the highest CAGR in the European market. Expansion of the agriculture and packaging industry and rise of regional players has led to the expansion of the Bio plastics and Biopolymers market. South Korea, China, Japan are expanding consistently in the Bio plastics and Biopolymers market... The U.S. is among the leading contributors to the North America Bio plastics and Biopolymers market.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Bio plastics and Biopolymers Market market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market @The top players in the market include the key players, manufacturers, raw material suppliers and end users in the global Bio plastics and Biopolymers market such as BASF SE, Eastman Chemical Company, Solvay SA, Celanese Corporation, and many others. The manufacturers include various companies such as Braskem SA (Brazil), Corbion NV (Netherlands), BASF SE (Germany), Metabolix Holdings Group Inc. (U.S.), Nature Works LLC (U.S.) and others. The end users include industries such as packaging, agriculture, automotive, consumer products, and many 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:
Copper Busbar and Profiles Market - Global Industry Analysis and Forecast 2025

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Copper busbars and profiles are widely employed in high current control equipment and low voltage distribution systems. The application of copper busbars and profiles include bus-way systems, switchboards, low and medium voltage switchgear, and panel boards among others. A busbar, which is in the form of a metallic strip, is typically utilized in electric power distribution systems. Generally un-insulated, these busbars are housed inside switch gear panels, busway enclosures, and panel boards. Busbars connect low voltage equipment in battery banks and high voltage equipment in electrical switchyards. They allow for sufficient cooling of the conductors since they are un-insulated. The maximum amount of current that can be carried by a busbar depends on its cross-sectional size and material composition. Busbars generally have a cross-sectional area of about 10 square millimeters.Browse Market Research Report @Busbars are produced in a variety of shapes and sizes, such as solid bars, flat strips, or in the form of hollow tubes. Some of these shapes with high surface and cross-sectional area allow more heat to dissipate. Similarly, a hollow and flat-shaped busbar are prevalent in higher current applications since a hollow or a flat busbar has higher stiffness, and this allows for an enhanced capacity of carrying electricity. In contrast to this, profiles are costly and more difficult to manufacture than busbars due to some technical constraints such as complexity in design, delicate production process, complicated packaging, and the need of a much elaborate machine set-up. Copper busbar and profiles contain better resistance against corrosion and is a better conductor of electricity compared to other metals such as aluminum.Copper busbar and profiles have several advantages associated with them which make their usage beneficial in the power generation system industry. Copper busbar and profiles reduces the weight of an existing conductor and reduces the cost and improves the reliability of the system. Moreover, its improved capacitance, lower inductance, enhanced thermal characteristics, and variety of interconnection methods make it ideally suitable for usage in electrical power generation systems. Furthermore, conductivity properties of copper and expansion in the power generation and electrical equipment sector is estimated to further drive the expansion of the market. Requirement for electricity has increased due to increase in population and industrial activities. This has led to the setup of more power generation plants and transmission and distribution projects across the globe. Copper busbar and profiles are extensively utilized in power generation plants and electrical equipment industries for connecting generators to transformers and switchgears. Consequently, expansion in these industries is projected to lead to an increase in demand for copper busbar and profiles.Complexity in design of copper busbar and profiles and delicate production process are some disadvantages associated with this product, which is likely to create mild hindrances in the expansion of this market.The global copper busbar and profiles market can be segmented into application and geography. In terms of application, the market can be further segmented into power distribution solutions for the information technology sector, telecommunications sector, healthcare sector, automotive sector, transportation sector, and others.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Copper Busbar and Profiles Market market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market @In terms of geography, the market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. Asia Pacific is estimated to lead this market due to large electricity and power generation industries. The region has witnessed a surge in energy and electricity consumption due to increase in urbanization and industrialization. Furthermore, environmental concerns have led to the adoption of renewable sources of energy, which again, are anticipated to lead to the expansion of the electricity and power generation industry. Latin America and Middle East & Africa are also projected to show commendable performance due to an improvement in their economic scenario.Leading players operating in this market include Gindre (France), Sofia Med (Bulgaria), Aurubis (Germany), Luvata (Finland), Oriental Copper (Thailand), Maksal (South Africa), Copalcor (South Africa), Elektrosan (Istanbul), and Carlo Colombo (Italy).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:
Building Information Modelling Market Size, Share, Demand and Forecasts To 2024

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Australia, New Zealand and India Building Information Modeling (BIM) Market: Report ScopeThe Building Information Modeling (BIM) market report provides an in-depth analysis of the BIM market for the period 2014  2024, wherein 2015 is the base year and the years from 2016 to 2024 is the forecast period. Data for 2014 has been included as historical information. The report covers all the prevalent trends playing a major role in the growth of the BIM market over the forecast period. It also highlights various drivers, restraints, and opportunities expected to influence the markets growth during the forecast period. The study provides a holistic perspective on market growth in terms of revenue estimates (in US$ Mn), across the countries.The report provides analysis of the BIM market in terms of market estimates and projections for all the segments across country. The report also covers profiles of major players, their growth strategies, various recent developments, and includes market positioning analysis of key players operating in the BIM market.This 109-page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the Building Information Modelling market. Browse through 11 data tables and 27 figures to unlock the hidden opportunities in this market.Australia, New Zealand and India Building Information Modeling (BIM) Market: OverviewBuilding information modeling (BIM) is a three-dimensional (3D) graphical presentation of a technical diagram which includes the elevation, plan, and segment of a building. It is a type of digital building system in which the real model of the structure with precise value is digitally constructed. The BIM market is expected to experience high growth in the coming decade owing to factors such as rise in construction activities and government initiatives to lift BIM adoption rate in these countries.Australia, New Zealand and India Building Information Modeling (BIM) Market: SegmentationThis research study on the BIM market provides a detailed analysis of various solution types of building information modeling available in the market. Based on solutions, the market is further segmented into software, and professional & consultancy service. The software BIM market is further categorized into on-premise and cloud-based. Based on end-use industry, the BIM market is categorized into water and waste water, rail, transit and aviation, bridges, roads and highways, energy generation facilities, educational institutions and commercial spaces, houses and apartments, factories and warehouses, government buildings, health care infrastructure and dams and others. On the basis of end-users, the market is segmented into engineers, architects, contractors and developers.The report includes a comprehensive coverage of the underlying economic development factors under the key trend analysis section. To depict holistic view of the BIM market, value-chain analysis and ecosystem analysis is included in the report. The section describes current supply chain model and potential impact of forward  backward integration.The report aims to provide a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the BIM market across different countries, which is also provided based on solutions, end-use industries, and the end-users. The report also provides country level key trend analysis for different segmentations included.Australia, New Zealand and India Building Information Modeling (BIM) Market: Competitive DynamicsThe report highlights the competition matrix of the BIM market, positioning all the major players according to their geographic presence, historical roadmap, competitors, market position, key recent developments, and segment growth. The matrix has been designed to show comparative strength of players active in the BIM market. The important business strategies adopted by them, their market positioning, and recent developments have also been identified in the research report. Also, distinct representation of market competition in terms of market shares of global and regional/local players has also been included.Under the company profiles section, the report provides an overview of the players operating in the market, the strategies adopted by them to gain competitive advantage, the annual revenue generated by them in the past two or three years, and their relevant business segment revenue. The report also provide market share analysis of the BIM market. The key players profiled in this report include Autodesk Inc., AECOM, Dassault Systemes SA, Beck Technology Ltd., Synchro Software Ltd., Bentley Systems, Inc., Tekla Corporation, Pentagon Solutions Ltd., GRAITEC and Nemetschek AG.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Building Information Modelling market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.Market Segmentation:Building Information Modelling Market Analysis, by Solution Softwareo On-premiseo Cloud Professional & Consultancy ServiceBuilding Information Modelling Market Analysis, by End-use Industry Water and Waste Water Bridges, Roads and Highways Rail, Transit, and Aviation Energy Generation Facilities Houses and Apartments Factories and Warehouses Educational Institutions and Commercial Spaces Government Buildings Healthcare Infrastructures Dams and OthersBuilding Information Modelling Market Analysis, by End-user Engineers Architects Contractors DevelopersBuilding Information Modelling Market Analysis, by Country Australia New Zealand IndiaRequest for Discount of this report - @Transparency 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:
Airport Information System Market Size, Share, Demand and Forecasts To 2024

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Global Airport Information System Market: OverviewOver the past few years, there has been an enormous rise in global air traffic and an upsurge in air passengers. With soaring IT spending on airport infrastructure, the demand for airport information systems has grown steadily. Increasing investments by government and private players have led to an accelerated adoption of real-time information systems across domestic and international airports. These systems have helped fleet owners maximize operational efficiency and enhance the comfort of travelers, thereby transforming the overall travel experience.This 170 page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the Airport Information System market Browse through 24 data tables and 73 figures to unlock the hidden opportunities in this market.In future, more automation solutions will come in the ambit of airport information systems to meet a variety of operational and data management needs and will boost collaborations across all stakeholders. As travelers become more tech-savvy, a slew of advanced IT solutions will crop up, positively impacting the market in the coming years. As a result, airport systems will witness the adoption of innovative service models and platforms that will underpin a continually expanding market for airport information systems.The report provides comprehensive insights into the key drivers and restraints, major revenue generating segments, prominent trends, emerging technologies, market share and size of key segments, and competitive landscape. The research analysis tracks recent developments in IT solutions delivery models and highlights key investment trends in emerging and established markets. The study based on extensive rounds of primary and secondary researches takes a closer look at key underlying economic factors expected to impact the demand for information systems for managing various operations. The report evaluates the regulatory landscape in major countries that will have a bearing on the market positioning strategies of players.Global Airport Information System Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThe global airport information system market is primarily driven by the rising demand for more effective and reliable airport information systems to optimize aircraft processes and maximize passengers convenience. The increasing adoption of automated solutions for various operational processes has fuelled the market. The constant influx of modular and integrated software solutions by vendors is anticipated to create promising opportunities for several developers of airport information system.However, most information systems call for high-speed network connectivity, advanced electronics, and supporting hardware devices. This significantly increases the implementation cost of airport information solutions, thereby hindering the growth of the market to an extent. On the other hand, spiraling capital investments by several private players and governments of various countries toward the modernization of airports is expected to unlock exciting opportunities for market players in future.Global Airport Information System Market: Regional OutlookCurrently, North America dominates the airport information system market, contributing a substantial chunk of the global revenue. The regional market is expected to witness handsome growth along the forecast period. This is closely followed by the Europe market. Meanwhile, Asia Pacific will witness a surge of lucrative market avenues. The impressive growth of the regional market will be fuelled by a soaring number of air travelers and growing popularity of smartphones and mobile devices among travelers. The proliferation of smartphone-enabled solutions that are closely tied with airport information system is expected to provide a significant fillip to the growth of the regional market.Global Airport Information System Market: Competitive LandscapeThe airport information system market is fairly fragmented. The top four players are SITA, Amadeus IT Group SA, Rockwell Collins, Inc., and Siemens Postal, Parcel & Airport Logistics (SPPAL), which occupy a major share in the market. The leading players are actively focusing on research and development activities to consolidate their presence in major regions. Other key companies in this market include INFORM GmbH, Lockheed Martin Corporation, InterSystems Corporation, Resa, S.A.S., Lufthansa Systems, and VELATIA, S.L.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Airport Information System market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.The global airport information system market has been segmented as follows:Airport Information System Market, by Operation Airside Terminal SideAirport Information System Market, by Airport Category Commercial Service Airport Cargo Service Airport Releiver AirportAirport Information System Market, by Solution FIDS Resource Management Solutions A. System Baggage Processing Passenger Processing Airport Operations Airport Information AODB OthersAirport Information System Market, by Geography North Americao The U.S.o Canadao Rest of North America Europeo The U.K.o Germanyo Franceo Rest of Europe Asia Pacific (APAC)o Chinao Japano Indiao Australiao Rest of APAC Middle East & Africa (MEA)o United Arab Emirates (the UAE)o Saudi Arabiao Rest of MEA South Americao Brazilo Argentinao Rest of Latin AmericaThis report gives you access to decisive data such as: Market growth drivers Factors limiting market growth Current market trends Market structure Market projections for the coming yearsKey highlights of this report Overview of key market forces propelling and restraining market growth Up-to-date analyses of market trends and technological improvements Pin-point analyses of market competition dynamics to offer you a competitive edge An analysis of strategies of major competitors An array of graphics and SWOT analysis of major industry segments Detailed analyses of industry trends A well-defined technological growth map with an impact-analysis Offers a clear understanding of the competitive landscape and key product segmentsRequest for Discount of this report - @Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Bills release multiple artist renderings of new stadium The morning of Oct. 27 was a day Buffalo Bills fans have been patiently waiting for  a reveal of what the new stadium will potentially look like. The team...

County officials, law firm representatives host public hearing on new stadium SEQR Erie County officials, representatives from Phillips Lytle LLP, power players for a new stadium and interested Buffalo Bills fans packed into one of the community rooms of the Brush Mountain...
Wells Fargo

Former bank managers, personal bankers and tellers say they were forced to resort to questionable tactics to meet Wells Fargo's unrealistic sales quotas, documents show.

(Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg News)

On "Hit the Streets Thursday," Wells Fargo bankers and tellers, specifically those of Latino descent, scouted the streets and Social Security offices for potential clients. Their goal: Find undocumented immigrants, take them to a local branch and persuade them to open bank accounts.

Others hit construction sites and factories, according to court documents. Knowing that undocumented workers there needed a place to cash their checks, Wells Fargo employees urged them to open new accounts while promising to waive check-cashing fees. Some offered the immigrants money to open an account.

The more people signed up, whether it was for checking and savings accounts, credit and debit cards, online banking or overdraft protection, the better. If they signed up for all of the features, even better. Each new account was considered a sale, and the more sales employees rack up, the better their future was with the company.

That's according to former employees' sworn statements obtained last month by a law firm that has been handling a shareholder's lawsuit against Wells Fargo. Former bank managers, personal bankers and tellers say they were forced to resort to questionable tactics to meet the company's unrealistic sales quotas.

Mark Molumphy, an attorney for the firm, said the sales practices, which spanned 15 years, were not a secret to the bank's executives and should have also been known to its board members.

"The conduct we have come up with is scandalous," another attorney, Joseph Cotchett, told the San Francisco Chronicle. "It's outrageous to think that regulators let the bank get away with this."

The alarming statements are the latest in a massive scandal that continues to engulf the San Francisco-based banking giant.

In September, Wells Fargo was forced to pay $185 million in regulatory penalties following revelations that more than 2 million bank and credit card accounts were opened on behalf of customers without their knowledge. The fraudulent accounts netted more than $2 million in fees charged to customers for services they didn't sign up for.

Wells Fargo has strongly denied the allegations from former employees.

"These allegations are inconsistent with our policies, values and the relationships we work hard to build with all parts of our community. Wells Fargo has long been committed to providing bank services to immigrants in a manner that complies fully with the law, and we have controls in place to ensure we comply with requirements," spokesman Ancel Martinez said in a statement. "[T]hese assertions are offensive, because they run counter to the expectations of Wells Fargo, and would be in violation of policies we have in place to safeguard against abuses."

The statements reveal that personal bankers and bank managers turned to unethical and potentially illegal ways to reach their daily quotas, while those who dared to report the bad practices were fired. They also raise questions about whether the alleged tactics may have violated federal law, which requires financial institutions to verify the identity of their customers.

Some of the practices involved creating fake bank accounts with fictitious names, and opening multiple accounts for customers, including undocumented immigrants, without their authorization, according to court documents. Federal law says that banks must first obtain information such as customers' date of birth, address and identification number before opening accounts.

Ricky Hansen Jr., who worked for several years as a manager at Wells Fargo branches in Arizona, said in court documents he witnessed sales tactics "that started out okay but then evolved into massive fraud."

Hansen said he discovered that one employee was opening 40 to 50 bank accounts under fake names every week, and funding those accounts by transferring other customers' money. The employee later moved the funds back, after he'd received credit for the sales, hoping the customers didn't notice. Hansen added that customer signatures on bank records appear to have been written by the same person using the same pen.

Still, the employee was praised by upper management, Hansen said. When he reported to the bank manager what he knew, he was told the employees' sales were legitimate.

"You have to decide if you want a job here. You can either run with us or not," Hansen recalled his district manager telling him, according to court records. "Play ball or get out."

Hansen was later fired, while the employee he reported was promoted, he said.

Julia Miller, who worked at a Wells Fargo branch in Pennsylvania for eight years, said she received calls from her district manager every day, multiple times a day, to check whether daily quotas were being met.

"I was told by my supervisors to work our employees 'like dogs' to meet our sales goals," Miller said, according to court records. "I was not allowed to pay my employees overtime if their quotas were not met and had to stay late to meet their sales objectives. I was personally forced to stay late and cold-call customers until the sales goals established by upper management were met."

A branch in Wisconsin had what's called "Call Nights." Employees were asked to stay long after their shifts ended to call customers, said Angela Payden, a former personal banker who worked for Wells Fargo for three years. The wealthy ones are the target, and employees were urged to call them around 6 p.m., when they're most likely in the middle of family dinners and are more likely to agree to sign up just to get off the phone. Employees signed them up for new credit card accounts with limits of $25,000 or higher, Payden said.

The emphasis was on what's called the "Great Eight," according to the former employees. That's eight different products and services that employees are urged to have each customer sign up for to generate fees, Molumphy, the attorney, said.

The pressure of the job became so intense that it drove some employees to panic attacks and mental breakdowns.

Sarah Rush, who worked for United Healthcare, which contracted with Wells Fargo to provide mental health services to employees and their families, said about 90 percent of calls she received were from bank workers who were stressed out, anxious and depressed. At least one woman was suicidal, Rush said.

The practices at Wells Fargo first came to light in 2013, when the Los Angeles Times published a damning investigative report describing an aggressive sales culture that "has battered employee morale and led to unethical breaches, customer complaints and labor lawsuits."

John Stumpf, Wells Fargo's former chairman and chief executive, resigned in the wake of the scandal. Carrie Tolstedt, the executive in charge of Wells Fargo's community banking division, left the company last year - with more than $120 million in retirement package. More than 5,000 low-level employees have been fired.

In February, Wells Fargo fired four executives as the company's board of directors was completing an investigation into fake accounts believed to have been set up by low-level employees to meet sales quotas.

And in April, Wells Fargo ordered Stumpf and Tolstedt to pay a total of $75 million after the board's six-month investigation revealed that bad sales practices stretched as far back as 2002.

Martinez, the Wells Fargo spokesman, said the company has made several changes to ensure that customers receive only the products they want.

"We continue to make additional improvements in our Retail Bank operations and we have eliminated product sales goals and introduced new compensation plan focused on customer experience for branch team members," Martinez said.

A hearing on a motion to dismiss filed by Wells Fargo in the shareholder lawsuit is scheduled on Tuesday.

The Washington Post
merkleylng.jpg

Sen. Jeff Merkley in a video promoting his "Keep It In The Ground" campaign. Opponents of the Jordan Cove LNG terminal are frustrated that Merkley and Sen Ron Wyden aren't opposing the project on environmental grounds.

((Courtesy Merkley's office))

Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley sent a joint letter to President Donald Trump on Wednesday admonishing him not to put his finger on the regulatory scale when it comes to federal permitting of the controversial Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas export terminal proposed in Coos Bay.

was sent in response to comments by Trump's chief economic adviser, Gary Cohn, indicating that permitting Jordan Cove was a top priority for the administration.

"We strongly urge your administrations to avoid any step that could be interpreted as political interference in (the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's) deliberative process in Oregon and nationwide," the senators wrote.

"These decisions greatly affect local communities and should not be based casually on who occupies the presidency. America is a nation of laws and due process, and we respectfully insist FERC carry out its review of Jordan Cove's application without political interference from you or those in your administration."

The strongly worded letter also comes as landowners, environmentalists and local opponents of the project are growing increasingly frustrated with what they see as both senators' equivocation or tacit support of the project while claiming to be standing up for the environment and Oregonians' individual rights.

"It's a political statement on the part of our senators. They're trying to cover their butts," said Deb Evans, a landowner in Klamath County who would be affected by the project's 231-mile feeder pipeline. "They've tried to stay somewhat neutral in public, but I don't think they've actually been neutral. They've been supportive."

Representatives for both Wyden and Merkley said they were committed to having all voices heard in the regulatory process around the project.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last year denied an application by the Canadian energy company Veresen Inc. to build the terminal and pipeline. It said the backers hadn't demonstrated sufficient demand or public need for the project to overcome the impacts on landowners, many of whose properties would have to be taken under eminent domain to build the pipeline.

The agency subsequently denied Veresen's appeal of the decision. But it did so without prejudice, leaving the door open for the company to reapply. It started that process in January by filing a pre-application with the FERC, and said it was hoping to get a favorable decision under a new administration that has vowed to remove regulatory barriers to new energy infrastructure projects.

FERC is an independent agency with a history of bipartisanship, as the letter from Wyden and Merkley pointed out. But Trump will have the chance to reshape it, appointing four of the five commissioners (three positions are currently vacant), almost certainly with an eye toward fossil fuel development.

Don Althoff, the chief executive of Veresen, met with Cohn, the Trump adviser, in early March to garner support for the project. Althoff told Bloomberg News after the meeting that he got a commitment from the White House to provide oversight of federal permitting and make it as quick and efficient as possible.

"With a little help from the White House, we'll be able to get there," he said.

The Washington Post subsequently reported remarks Cohn made to the International Institute of Finance: "The first thing we're going to do is we're going to permit an LNG export facility in the Northwest."

Michael Hinrichs, a spokesman for Veresen, said that "to have the White House's support is obviously refreshing," but that people were extrapolating too much from Althoff's and Cohn's remarks.

"We're engaging this White House just like we did the Obama administration," he said. "All of us know we're still going to have to go through a rigorous process with 30 agencies and not cut any corners. There's no reason to think we're asking for any special consideration."

Both Wyden and Merkley have made supportive comments in the past about Jordan Cove, which would be the largest-ever construction project in the state and bring some well-paying jobs to Coos Bay. The town has struggled economically since the early '80s recession and collapse of the timber economy, but has regained some of its footing in the recent economic recovery.

Althoff recently claimed the project would cost $8 billion to $10 billion, create 4,000 construction jobs and 250 permanent jobs. All of those figures are higher than earlier estimates by the company, though the project has since been downsized.

Opponents of the project say they've grown frustrated with the senators and Gov. Kate Brown, all of whom claim to be representing Oregon's environmental agenda, yet have no public position on a project that could have major impacts on the environment in Oregon and contribute to climate change. They believe the politicians are pandering to labor unions, who want the jobs.

"Do they really have that strong a grip on the politicians in this state so they can say this is what we want and you have to deliver?" asked Ron Schaaf, Evans' husband.

Merkley in particular has fashioned himself as an environmentalist, filing legislation to keep fossil fuels in the ground on federal lands and convert to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050.

"These are impossible things to do when you're saying it's OK to export LNG," Evans said. "They're incompatible."

Evans said the environmental impact of exporting gas produced using hydraulic fracturing is a disaster for the atmosphere, because the pressurized water used to fracture rock formations eventually comes back to the surface full of methane, which leaks to the atmosphere. Much of the gas sent through Jordan Cove would be fracked gas, she said.

Sara Hottman, a spokeswoman for Merkley, said the senator had called on Jordan Cove to use renewable energy to power its facilities, to generously compensate landowners affected by the pipeline, and avoid eminent domain "at all costs."

"Senator Merkley believes the nation must move aggressively to transition away from polluting fuels that cause climate change," she said. "He also notes that many, many people support their families with good-paying jobs building pipelines and other fossil fuel projects, and says we owe them the full measure of our energies in creating real, viable alternatives."

Hank Stern, a spokesman for Wyden, said the senator was committed to making sure all voices were heard about the project, and that the letter was meant "to ensure Trump does not subvert a fair process for either opponents or proponents."

- Ted Sickinger

503-221-8505; @tedsickinger
If Cinco de Mayo is an "inauthentic" Mexican holiday, or -- at the very least, one celebrated more vigorously up north -- then what better place to celebrate than North Portland's new, self-styled "inauthentic Mexican" restaurant? Chalino, which has also described itself as "Mexico City-inspired," comes from Johnny Leach (Clyde Common, briefly) and Dave Haddow (Xico), who first met 10 years ago at a Mexican restaurant in Eugene. Leach went on to work at two restaurants owned by New York chef David Chang, Momofuku Ko and Ma Peche, and it's this experience, as well as, perhaps, the duo's time in Eugene, that seems to most influence the new restaurant's menu, with its fine-dining flourishes and global approach to its tostadas, ceviche and larger plates. (The last restaurant to drop "inauthentic," Smallwares, also featured a chef who spent time at Momofuku.) Sometimes it's unclear what's foundation and what's flourish, but with its crazy-good chips, salsa and guac, fun cocktails and soon-to-open patio, Chalino could be the place to be this summer.

The dish: If Chalino's often round, often edible-flower-strewn plates haven't already invaded your Instagram feed, prepare yourself. This is #foodfromabove of the first order, though the appeal goes beyond looks. The tortilla chips are fried crisp to order and come with fresh guac and a trio of salsas, right now a salsa roja, a peanut-ancho and our early favorite, a tomatillo with Thai basil. The ceviches include a flat, Christmas-y landscape of pristine halibut, bitter orange, watermelon radish and shiso strips in a shallow habanero pool. The tostadas are still figuring out their balance of bold flavors and textures, but the ideas behind them are fun, like the spread-to-the-edges beef tartare, smoked trout or fish-sauce-y strands of sweet-salty "carnitas Vietnamitas." Some dishes stretch the "Mexican" influences pretty thin: The red posole has a serious case of ramen envy, though if you're hunting for an umami-bomb, its seared pork belly and medium egg will satisfy. Other riffs better fit the theme, like the crisp, annatto-rubbed "fried chicken pibil" with house-made escabeche and a side ofchile de arbol salsa. But our favorite dish right now is a dessert -- the roast pineapple ice cream with mezcal dulce de leche and pepitas made in collaboration with moonlighting Le Pigeon pastry chef Helen Jo.

Scouting Report

First impressions of new (and new-to-us) restaurants in Portland and beyond.

The takeaway: It's early days for this sort-of Mexican restaurant in the still-new One North building, but the fresh-made chips and guac, the ceviches and a stand-out dessert could make Chalino the place to be this summer.

Sample menu: Chips, guac and a trio of house-made salsas ($16), carnitas Vietnamitas ($6), halibut ceviche ($18), red pozole ($15), fried chicken pibil ($22).

Drinks: House-made micheladas, mezcal, cocktails (including a very-good daiquiri), glass-bottle sodas, a small selection of Oregon, European and Mexican wine.

Go: Why not tonight?

Details: Dinner, Monday-Saturday; reservations (online); disabled access; 25 N. Fremont St., 503-206-6421, chalinopdx.com

-- Michael Russell
Donyall.JPG

Donyall Dickey, photographed in Atlanta, during a Portland school board scouting trip, won't become Portland's next superintendent after all.

(Phil Skinner / Special to The Oregonian/OregonLive)

The lone finalist to become superintendent of Oregon's largest school district, Atlanta's Donyall Dickey, will not assume the job, putting the district in the difficult position of potentially lacking a leader for next school year.

Portland Public Schools chairman Tom Koehler said Thursday that the search fell apart because the board and Dickey reached "a mutual understanding that our expectations for the job were not in complete alignment."

"Our job as a board is to make the right call for the kids and the district," Koehler said. "And this clearly is the right call."

Portland superintendent timeline

July 18, 2016: Superintendent Carole Smith resigns, effective immediately. Her announcement comes minutes after the school board releases a scathing report showing how Portland Public Schools dropped the ball on testing water for lead, fixing problems that were found and notifying the public of test results.

August 16: School board names Bob McKean, former superintendent of Centennial schools, interim superintendent.

December: Chicago-based Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, the firm assisting in the superintendent search, presents a report on morale issues and other challenges still bedeviling the district including poor management, strained relations with parents, years of neglected maintenance and a bickering board. Whoever becomes superintendent next year, the report says, will need to address a great deal of hurt and pain.

February 2017: The school board winnows candidate pool to three finalists as the search process draws complaints about secrecy.

March 3: The board announces Atlanta Public Schools chief academic and schools officer Donyall Dickey is the lone finalist for superintendent, but vetting continues.

March 16: School board members and PPS officials travel to Atlanta on a visit intended as the final check for flaws in their candidate.

April 25: Portland school board chair Tom Koehler, who is handling negotiations, says he expects to finalize a contract in mid- to late May and wont rush to meet an arbitrary deadline like the upcoming school board election and $790 million bond vote.

May 4: The district announces Dickey won't step into the job after coming to a mutual understanding that our expectations for the job were not in complete alignment.

The unsettling news came two months almost to the day after the school board proudly announced that Dickey, the chief of schools and academics for Atlanta Public Schools, was the board's choice for lone finalist.

The board clearly learned something that was a deal-breaker since then, with members saying Thursday that they were highly confident they had made the right choice not to hire him.

Koehler specifically cited a report the board received Monday. He would not disclose its contents but described it as the culmination of the vetting process.

Interim Superintendent Bob McKean said Thursday that he will not stay on after his contract runs out at the beginning of July. But he said he will be available to be consulted with.

Deputy chief executive officer Yousef Awwad will take charge after McKean leaves, Koehler said. The board has not decided whether it will try to hire another interim superintendent, he said.

As recently as April 21, Koehler said of Dickey's hire, "I am not concerned and fully expect Donyall to be our next superintendent."

At that point, the background check process was still ongoing, Koehler said, noting the district had been criticized in the past for not doing thorough enough vetting. Koehler refused to answer repeated questions from The Oregonian/OregonLive about whether or not anything had surfaced in the background check.

Dickey did not respond to questions from The Oregonian/OregonLive about the delay in his hiring in late April or again this week.

Questions about Dickey's fitness for the job first arose during a March 16 vetting trip to Atlanta by three Portland Public Schools leaders. The Oregonian/OregonLive reported that Dickey showed the Portland team a highly skewed version of his work in Atlanta.

His job application also shined significant light on his side work publishing curriculum guides and providing training to districts other than his employer.

In 12 days, Portland voters will be asked to weigh in on whether to trust the school district to oversee a $790 million school construction bond. During the superintendent search, Portland board members had hoped to find strong candidates with proven experience overseeing similar projects.

"The timing is not exactly as we would prefer it," Koehler said, "but the most important thing is to make the right decision."

"We now must turn our attention forward," Koehler said in a statement. "PPS has a remarkable team. We have an active parent community, an inspiring student body, a creative force of teachers and a dedicated administrative staff led by Interim Superintendent Bob McKean and deputy chief operating officer Yousef Awwad."

Thursday was a painful day for Portland Public Schools. Human resources director Sean Murray stepped down after many embarrassing personnel developments. And a Multnomah County jury awarded two employees a $1 million verdict in their racial harassment lawsuit against their employer.

In his statement about the failure of the superintendent search to produce a new leader, Koehler said, "We are very confident we will hire a permanent superintendent who will help lead our district in our next phase because of what we have to offer - a vibrant, caring city with a passion for public education."

The new Portland school board, three members of which will take office in July, will face a steep challenge if they try to quickly hire a permanent superintendent. Seeking and vetting candidates for such a high profile job takes months, and most strong candidates who are willing to apply for superintendent positions usually line up their departures with the end of the school year so as not to leave their current school district in the lurch.

In a letter sent to the school board Thursday, Dickey said he had "mixed feelings" about not stepping into the job.

"After deep reflection, I have decided to pursue other preK-12 opportunities and to continue my consulting work, supporting other school districts in their effort to implement reforms that improve achievement for all students," he wrote.

Koehler and board vice chair Amy Kohnstamm emphasized that, even without a superintendent, the district has strong and stable leadership, but does need to fill some vacancies.

With the resignation of the human resources director Thursday, the district now has or will have beginning in June vacancies that include its top lawyer, a permanent chief of staff, equity officer and assistant superintendent for teaching and learning.

-- Bethany Barnes

@betsbarnes

Got a tip about Portland Public Schools? Email Bethany.
_RH17774

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has publicly pledged support of Richard Whitman, her former adviser who was picked to lead the state's environmental agency. But records show she tried to keep him from being picked.

(Beth Nakamura/Staff)

To hear Gov. Kate Brown say it, Richard Whitman, her former policy adviser, is the right person to lead the Department of Environmental Quality. Since her Environmental Quality Commission hired him on Valentine's Day, the governor has repeatedly said she supports him.

But she also fired three commissioners shortly after Whitman's hiring, saying she was unhappy with the search that netted him. Her spokesman, Bryan Hockaday, amplified that sentiment Wednesday, saying "a competitive final candidate pool was not achieved."

The contradiction has cast a shadow over the new director at a time when he's supposed to be leading major change at the agency in charge of protecting Oregon's air and water.

Newly released records shed new light on how Brown worked to intervene in the selection process after it zeroed in on Whitman. The records also reveal that Whitman was aware of obstacles in his way.

Emails show that late in the search, one of Brown's advisers went so far as to suggest the governor would directly appoint the director herself.

That would have usurped the commission's authority. Though the governor selects its members, state law explicitly gives them the power to hire the department's director.

Jason Miner, Brown's natural resources adviser, told one commissioner the governor preferred to interview only a single finalist "recommended" by the commission's recruitment.

Richard Whitman, director of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

While Brown has said the commission wasn't collaborative with her office during the search, the new records show its search committee kept her staff in the loop throughout. Miner was frequently copied on emails from the recruitment firm and search committee.

The job opened up in early 2016 after longtime director Dick Pedersen resigned. He left in the midst of a community outcry over toxic air pollutants in Portland.

The process dragged on for a year after one state-run recruitment effort fizzled last August with no finalists named.

The state then hired a professional recruitment firm, EFL Associates, which found 40 applicants for the job.

Records show that in December, commissioners were ready to name three finalists: Whitman, Leanne Tippett Mosby, a Missouri environmental official, and Doug Nelson, a Missouri state administrator. But Nelson dropped out, citing health concerns.

The commission pulled them from a short list that also included: two people from the Washington Department of Ecology, one from Washington's Department of Natural Resources, one from the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, a Lewis & Clark Law School professor, a former White House Council on Environmental Quality official and one from the federal Agriculture Department's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Whitman, who was serving as the department's interim director, presented himself as a change agent.

He was blunt in his critique of the agency in his job application. Organizational changes within the department have "blurred lines of authority and responsibility, leading to internal and external confusion, unnecessary conflict, low morale and low productivity," he wrote.

The search firm knew Whitman had political enemies, saying so in a dossier. "Richard also acknowledges that there are those that would not endorse his selection for this role," it reads. "In his many years of service to the State, he admits he has his detractors."

One of his references, former state forester Doug Decker, said Whitman might be considered too green by the timber industry. "He pushed them hard, but he understands balancing competing interests," Decker told recruiters.

The recruiters also knew that if Whitman was picked, "some might protest that the entire search was a sham and that his hiring was a fait accompli"  a foregone conclusion.

The commission had already approved Whitman's hiring as the agency's interim director in October. He left his job in the governor's office to take the role.

After Whitman and Mosby were announced as finalists, Brown and an adviser met on Feb. 2 with the two commissioners leading the search.

According to a written account of the meeting by Melinda Eden, a commissioner who was later dismissed, the adviser suggested the governor might choose a director herself.

That sent Eden scrambling to ask a state Justice Department attorney about Brown's legal powers.

"One of her advisors said that the governor had authority to appoint a DEQ director to fill a vacancy. Under what circumstances and statutory authority, if any, might that authority lie with the governor?" Eden asked the attorney.

The lawyer's response, which came by phone, isn't clear, but state law explicitly gives the commission the power to choose the department's director. Eden didn't respond to The Oregonian/OregonLive's request for comment.

Brown's spokesman said the remarks at the Feb. 2 meeting concerned the possibility of reopening the recruitment process and temporarily filling the director job through the legislative session. "It was not seriously considered," Hockaday said.

But the concept had the backing of one influential lawmaker.

State Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, an influential lawmaker who opposed Richard Whitman's hiring at the Department of Environmental Quality.

Ed Armstrong, a commissioner leading the search, said state Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, called him late in the recruitment to say she'd be OK with Whitman staying through the legislative session as an interim leader, but not getting the permanent job.

Armstrong said Johnson told him she and Whitman had differences of opinions, without specifying what they were. Johnson didn't respond to calls seeking comment.

It remains unclear why the governor would object to Whitman's hiring. Whitman was a former staffer to Gov. John Kitzhaber whom Brown kept on for nearly two years after becoming governor in 2015.

The turmoil atop the state's environmental agency is significant. The commission oversees the Department of Environmental Quality, which enforces the state's clean air and clean water laws.

Whitman will oversee a dramatic tightening of Oregon's rules on toxic air pollution, an initiative Brown launched after the crisis. He's also promised to prioritize improvements in how Oregon enforces the Clean Water Act, which regulates water quality in streams and rivers across the state.

Colleen Johnson, one of the dismissed commissioners, said the board knew Whitman risked being viewed as an inside pick. But she said she and others thought he was the best choice. Now she worries whether the commission's turnover will undermine Whitman's efforts to remake the department.

The state Senate confirmed the hiring of three replacement commissioners on Tuesday. Colleen Johnson, the former appointee, said it will take time to familiarize themselves with the agency.

"I worry there's going to be six months to a year of treading water," she said. "Oregon doesn't have that luxury right now. The governor was wrong. She's hurt the agency."

Whitman, who did not respond to a call, appeared to take the governor's opposition to his hiring in stride at the time.

Less than two minutes after the environmental quality commission meeting in which he was picked, he sent a conciliatory email to Miner, the governor's natural resources adviser.

"I know this has been a tough day," he began. "I want to assure you and Governor Brown that I will continue to work hard to support her and her policy priorities."

Soon after, his hiring was announced to media outlets across the state.

A draft of the announcement contained a glowing quote from Brown: "The commissioners' commitment to our great state could not be clearer. They have demonstrated tremendous dedication throughout this extensive, robust process and I fully support their decision."

The final version, which was approved by Brown's office before being sent, didn't have a word from the governor.

 Rob Davis

rdavis@oregonian.com

503.294.7657; @robwdavis
Elliott State Forest meeting draws overflow crowd

Conservation groups and supporters rallied outside the Keizer Civic Center Dec. 13, 2016 to oppose the proposed sale of the Elliott State Forest to a coalition that includes a timber company and tribal interests.

(Andrew Theen/Staff)

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown disclosed details Thursday afternoon on how she intends to keep the Elliott State Forest in public hands.

The Democrat released a 25-page document outlining her proposal, which calls for issuing $100 million in state bonds to remove a section of the forest in Southwest Oregon from its obligation to provide timber revenue for state schools.

At the same time, the state would work with federal officials on a new Habitat Conservation plan on the remainder of the forest that will allow "sustainable timber harvest" while also protecting endangered and threatened species like the marbled murrelet, coastal coho salmon and Northern spotted owl.

The governor's plan comes ahead of next Tuesday's State Land Board, where the forest's future will once again dominate the agenda. Secretary of State Dennis Richardson and Treasurer Tobias Read are the other two members of the land board. A majority of the board must approve any agenda item.

"Preserving public lands and protecting our natural resources reflects our values as Oregonians," Brown said in a statement provided to The Oregonian/OregonLive.

"Keeping the Elliott State Forest in public hands benefits the Common School Fund, while also protecting the diverse habitats of the forest, and ensuring public access for future generations."

It's not clear how much of the 82,500-acre parcel would be protected from logging altogether under Brown's proposal, but the bonds would protect "high value habitat, including riparian areas, steep slopes, and old growth stands" from commercial logging.

The state's forestry department has been working on the proposal since a February meeting. If approved by state and federal agencies, the habitat conservation plan would be the first for the forest since 1995 and would ensure the state is abiding by the federal endangered species act. A past habitat effort derailed in 2011.

Brown's plan came with letters of support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Services, a boon to the conservation plan's chances of coming to fruition.

Three environmental groups issued a joint statement Thursday afternoon praising Brown for her "leadership and vision."

"The Elliott is an incredible stronghold for wild salmon, imperiled wildlife, clean water, and carbon storage," said Doug Moore, executive director of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters. "It is a place where recreational values can be realized, and it is symbolic of the larger battle at the federal level to privatize public places."

Revenue from the remainder of the forest not included in the $100 million bond would continue to go toward the Common School Fund.

Brown's plan comes less than a week after the Oregon School Boards Association threatened to sue the state if the land board doesn't find a way to generate $220.8 million for the state education endowment.

An independent property appraisal of the Elliott State Forest pegged the value at $220.8 million.

Brown's proposal would net $100 million in the short-term, with future revenues coming from timber harvest on the forest.

Richardson, a Republican, issued a statement earlier Thursday morning supporting the school board's position. "A plan must be consistent with the moral and constitutional requirements to prioritize Oregon schoolchildren by providing at least $220.8 million for smaller class sizes, more school days, expanding career training, and increasing graduation rates," Richardson said. "This fiduciary duty of the Land Board as Trustees to maximize yields is paramount."

Until earlier this spring, the state had appeared close to selling the forest off altogether. Lone Rock Timber, a Douglas County company, was the only bidder to respond to a statewide call for interested buyers. The company was joined by minority owners, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, which had pledged to keep portions of the forest open to the public despite the ownership transfer.

Brown's plan still leaves the door open to tribes owning the land.

Read, a Democrat, issued his own statement later in the day Thursday, calling the governor's proposal a "sound next step."

But Read, like Richardson, said the school fund should be compensated to the tune of $220.8 million.

He also introduced a new wrinkle: Have Oregon State University buy the remaining forest.

Read also shared a signed memorandum of understanding with the university that includes a commitment to explore the issue. "By working collaboratively and strategically over the next six years," Read said in a memo outlining the plan, "we will put OSU in a good position to come into possession of a unique asset that can serve as a foundation for their forest research and education, and solidify their ranking as a world-class forestry college."

OSU, as with other public universities, is in a budget crisis. Just yesterday, the Bend Bulletin reported President Ed Ray said the school faced $20 million in budget cuts this year.

The Corvallis-based school is also asking for millions from the state for capital construction projects. OSU is seeking $69 million in state bonds to pay for expansion efforts at its Bend campus this year.

Jim Green, executive director of the Oregon School Boards Association, issued a statement saying he was hopeful an agreement could be reached between the three board members and the schools, but there are many uncertainties.

"Our focus is on ensuring that the Elliott doesn't lose value as an asset of the Common School Fund," he said in a statement."

The land board meets in Salem on Tuesday.

-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen
Oregon graduates prepare for next phase of life

Oregon Institute of Technology President Nagi Naganathan argues that his college and others need state investments to better prepare students for jobs of the future.

(Andrew Theen/The Oregonian)

By Nagi Naganathan

Oregon's seven, diverse public universities have distinct campuses, from Portland State University's urban landscape to Eastern Oregon University's mountain panorama. The oldest of us, Western Oregon University, began in 1856, while the youngest, Oregon Institute of Technology (Oregon Tech), began in 1947. Each university is requesting state bonding authority to invest in campus facilities that will be the training ground for Oregon's next-generation workforce, and will bring new companies, solid careers and stable jobs to Oregon.

The universities' capital requests respond to the urgent need to modernize classrooms that are not built for 21st century learning. Add the large percentage of campus buildings aging out, and increasing enrollment over the last few decades, and Oregon remains behind in its ability to educate students to match state workforce demands.

Today's students are moving at a pace far exceeding anything ever experienced. At Oregon Tech, for example, our Cornett engineering building was constructed in 1964, a full 20 years before personal computers and 25 years before cell phones. It was a time when gas was 25 cents a gallon, and students' desks had holes in them that accommodated ink wells, not plug-ins for electronic devices. Oregon Tech's faculty and staff have been entrepreneurial, countering obsolescence for years now while continuing to create a valuable return on investment for our students. Unfortunately, this cannot persist.

Our economy calls for student entrepreneurs who learn in real-world laboratories and classrooms, creating an innovation eco-system that has a direct and positive return for all Oregonians. Students trained in these interdisciplinary spaces are helping revive Oregon's rural, urban and struggling economies by starting businesses and spurring advances in industries, old and new.

It does not take an industry long to determine if a city or state has invested in a skilled labor pool that will enable them to be successful. There are few places in Oregon that wouldn't embrace more well-paying jobs that strengthen local economies and enrich the tax base. Those taxes run our state infrastructure, supporting critical needs from ensuring senior care to keeping tuition affordable.

High-skill, in-demand degrees such as engineering, technology and healthcare are dynamic and have higher costs, as we experience at Oregon Tech. If Oregon doesn't have the ways and means to create modern laboratories and classrooms, it certainly won't get Oregon students to stay here for college, nor will the state gain the jobs that those graduates would draw here.

The universities' agreed-upon prioritization process produced a set of student-focused building investments, which was then exhaustively vetted by the Higher Education Coordinating Commission. Most of the priorities were included in the December 2016 Governor's Recommended Budget. This priority list is being appropriately vetted now by the Oregon Legislature, whose members are weighing state and student needs, including those in rural areas.

Share your opinion

Submit your essay of 500 words or less to commentary@oregonlive.com. Please include your email and phone number for verification.

We value the difficult task that our governor and legislators have in determining which facilities to approve. They rightly ask: what's in it for Oregon taxpayers?

In the case of Oregon Tech's requested Center for Excellence in Engineering and Technology, Oregon and the community of Klamath Falls would gain an immediate 300 construction-related jobs, a center that produces in-demand graduates at the highest levels of professional practice and earnings. And, more importantly, a 21st century learning ecosystem for students that encourages innovation and entrepreneurship, thus helping Oregon's communities accelerate their post-recession rebound. Let's bolster cities and towns across Oregon by approving these game-changing investments.

Dr. Nagi Naganathan is the president of the Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls.
1meadowlark.jpg

Western meadowlark

(Robin Loznak/Great Falls Tribune via AP)

While Sen. Fred Girod and his cronies fiddle with needlessly changing our environment-starved state bird, our education system implodes from lack of legislative action.

Here's a solution to tone-deaf lawmakers who refuse to listen to the citizens for whom they are supposed to be working: remove them from their environment in Salem.

Nancy Orr, Northwest Portland
Apple CEO Jobs Delivers Keynote At Worldwide Developers Conference

(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

By Leonid Bershidsky

The most interesting part of Apple's latest financial results is not what changed -- revenue from services up, iPhone unit sales down, cash pile now exceeding a quarter of a trillion dollars -- but what barely did: the effective tax rate or the scheme on which it is based.

Ever since the European Commission demanded that Apple repay $14.2 billion (13 billion euros) in back taxes to Ireland, I've been waiting for some kind of change. Sure, Apple's two Irish subsidiaries, accused of the commission of paying almost no tax, are appealing the decision with help from Ireland itself and from Luxembourg, famous for its own sweetheart tax deals with multinational companies. Still, one might have expected Apple to reconsider its tax arrangements in view of the legal risk -- and perhaps to pay more tax in Ireland and elsewhere outside the U.S. According to the company's latest report, Apple's effective tax rate in the quarter through the end of March was down to 24.9 percent from 25.6 percent the year before.

I've described before how Apple gets to that number. It makes provisions for U.S. taxes in case it repatriates some of the overseas profits -- something that may never happen -- and separate provisions for very low foreign tax payments. For example, in 2016 it booked a $2.1 billion foreign tax provision on $41.1 billion in foreign income -- at a rate of 5.2 percent, down from 6.1 percent in 2015. On these terms, it makes no sense for Apple to jump at President Donald Trump's proposed one-time tax of 10 percent on profits -- it's cheaper to pay the foreign tax and the 3 percent interest on the bonds it issues to move the money to the U.S.

Repatriation also appears to be unattractive for Google's parent, Alphabet, which isn't as specific about its tax reporting but which had an effective tax rate of 19.3 percent in 2016. It explains in its annual filing that the difference with the U.S. statutory rate of 35 percent comes from paying less in other jurisdictions. If indeed Alphabet paid 35 percent on its U.S. earnings, and if its foreign operations are roughly as profitable as its domestic ones, U.S. taxes would amount to about $4 billion last year, leaving about $600 million for the rest of the world -- on almost $11 billion of income, close to the rate Apple is paying.

Facebook, for its part, reported paying $195 million in foreign income taxes last year. If its foreign operations are as profitable as its domestic ones, that's less than a 3 percent effective rate.

It's remarkable that despite all the talk in Europe and elsewhere about the U.S. tech giants barely paying any taxes, nothing is changing. Late last year, the French Constitutional Council blocked a proposal for a "Google tax" on digital companies' local operations because it felt the legislation unfairly singled out tech firms. Alphabet, like Apple, continues to fight European tax assessments on a case by case basis. Most recently, it's been trying to settle a dispute with the Italian authorities involving up to 300 million euros in back taxes for 2009 through 2013. It's clearly less expensive to bargain out such settlements than to submit to European countries' normal tax regimes.

Some European countries are trying to get at the U.S. tech companies' profits indirectly. Austrian legislators believe they have figured out an ironclad way to make companies such as Alphabet and Facebook pay tax on the ads they show in Austria. They want to treat the companies' business as barter transactions -- services provided in exchange for users' personal data; that would expose the companies to the Austrian tax on advertising revenue and to the value-added tax. Obviously, these attempts, too, will be challenged by some of the world's most competent lawyers.

The world outside the U.S. continues to subsidize the Silicon Valley giants. Governments are either outwitted in the courts, shamed into believing that a harder line would mean stifling innovation, or persuaded to accept settlements that don't cover the lost tax revenue. Leveling the playing field would require more of a joint effort, for example, from the European Union or groups such as G-20. Luckily for the tech firms, that has proved elusive.

(c) 2017, Bloomberg View

Leonid Bershidsky is a Bloomberg View columnist. He was the founding editor of the Russian business daily Vedomosti and founded the opinion website Slon.ru.
kenmedenbach.jpg

Kenneth Medenbach, during the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Medenbach was acquitted of all criminal charges stemming from the refuge takeover. But he's on probation for a 2016 illegal camping conviction. He was arrested in Las Vegas last month on a probation violation warrant, accused of leaving the state without permission. (Thomas Boyd|The Oregonian)

Refuge occupation figure Kenneth Medenbach, taken into custody last month in Las Vegas where he had traveled to attend the Bunkerville trial, was released from custody Wednesday.

He'll be placed on house arrest with electronic monitoring upon his return to Oregon, pending a May 22 probation violation hearing in U.S. District Court in Eugene.

Medenbach ended up being held at the same jail in Nevada where the Bundy brothers are awaiting federal trial. He sent his attorney a photograph of Bundy supporters protesting outside the Nevada Southern Detention Center in Pahrump, Nevada, after he left the jail.

Medenbach was convicted in April 2016 of illegal camping and unlawfully occupying federal public land in Josephine County and was sentenced to five years of probation. As a condition of probation, he's required to seek permission before traveling out of state.

A federal jury acquitted him last fall of conspiracy and theft of government property charges in connection with the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County last year.

Despite the probation restriction, Medenbach traveled to Nevada. He also didn't disclose where he was when a probation officer contacted him. He admitted he was out of state but wouldn't say where, according to federal court documents. He told his probation officer he was at a meeting out of state where he had been invited to speak. On April 12, he was arrested on a warrant outside the federal courthouse in Las Vegas, according to prosecutors.

Medenbach's lawyer Matthew Schindler this week argued for Medenbach's release. He and Medenbach also plan to urge the court to lift the travel restriction.

"This is a misdemeanor camping case involving a man with no history of violence and who did nothing more than exercise his fundamental right to witness a criminal trial at a federal courthouse outside of this judicial district without government permission,'' Schindler wrote. "He should be freed immediately.''

Medenbach felt a moral duty to support others facing trial in Nevada, after he had received such support during his federal conspiracy trial in the refuge occupation, Schindler said.

"Because hundreds of people who had no connection to him supported him during his crucible in Portland, he felt a powerful responsibility to attend the trials in Nevada,'' Schindler wrote. "Beyond that, because of his personal and spiritual relationship with the Bundy family, he felt it was a moral imperative to be there providing support.''

Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas W. Fong had urged the court to keep Medenbach in custody pending a May 22 probation violation hearing in U.S. District Court in Eugene.

"Defendant's blatant and repeated disregard for the court's orders and his refusal to recognize the court's jurisdiction, his deceptive statements to his probation officer and his veiled threats to take up arms against the government demonstrate that there are no release conditions that will protect the public and assure his appearance in this case,'' Fong wrote in a court filing.

The trip to Vegas marked Medenbach's second violation of probation, Fong noted. His involvement in the takeover of the wildlife refuge while on probation in the illegal camping case was his first violation, as he had agreed not to occupy any federal lands, Fong wrote.

U.S. District Judge Michael McShane ordered Medenbach to remain under house arrest, with electronic monitoring until further notification from the court.

Medenbach, meanwhile, is appealing his illegal camping conviction. He was convicted of setting up an illegal cabin on U.S. Bureau of Land Management property at Peavine Road near Galice, Oregon.

The cabin that Kenneth Medenbach put up along U.S. Bureau of Land Management property in Josephine County. (Federal court exhibit)

He contends the federal court couldn't place him on probation and, at the same time, impose six months in custody as a sentence. He had already served the six months following his arrest in Burns by the time he was sentenced in the Josephine County camping case on Aug. 1, 2016.

He's also challenging the $2,506 he was ordered to pay in restitution, saying it can't be added as a penalty for a misdemeanor conviction since he also had to spend time in custody.

His probation officer, in a court filing, said he went to visit Medenbach's home in Crescent on April 10 after Medenbach had been seen driving through the parking lots of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service offices in Prineville. Medenbach also sent both agencies letters, ordering them to "cease and desist" activity of the Grant County Public Forest Commission, and if not, threatened "We the People'' would form and raise up a "well-regulated militia.''

Medenbach has a long history of challenging federal government control of public land, starting with his 1988 construction of some cabins and an outhouse on five acres of land he bought for $700 northeast of Crescent, without obtaining any permits from Klamath County.

The probation officer said Medenbach hasn't paid any of his restitution. When the probation officer didn't find Medenbach at home last month, he called him. That's when Medenbach admitted he was out of state, according to court documents.

"Defendant claims he's in ill health, but this did not prevent him from traveling to Las Vegas, spending his money in furtherance of his 'cause' rather than for his court ordered restitution,'' prosecutor Fong wrote in court filing Monday.

Medenbach's travel restriction is too broad and unwarranted, Schindler responded.

"If there is an explanation for why we are all safer when Mr. Medenbach does not travel south of Mt. Ashland without permission, it is difficult to see what that is,'' he wrote. " It is a question, one would think, that could be asked on behalf of many defendants in this district.''

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian
AngelsRest.jpg

Angeles Rest A view west from the top of Angel's Rest trail with downtown Portland off in the distance.

(Oregonian/OregonLive file photo)

Updated Thursday

A hiker suffered life-threatening injuries in a fall off a 150-foot cliff Wednesday in the Columbia River Gorge, an official said.

Samuel Cha, a 31 year old from Vancouver, became lightheaded after hiking about a mile on the popular Angel's Rest trail, went to sit down and fell backward off the cliff after his perch gave way, said Lt. Chad Gaidos, a Multnomah County Sheriff's Office spokesman.

Rescuers brought him to an ambulance, which rushed him to Rooster Rock State Park, Gaidos said in an email. He was then flown by helicopter to OHSU Hospital.

Cha was hiking with two family members, Gaidos said. Gaidos didn't specify what kind of object the hiker was trying to sit on, leading to the fall.

Gaidos did not know Cha's condition on Thursday afternoon.

The trail, which is in the Mt. Hood National Forest, rewards hikers with a spectacular view of the Columbia River. OregonHikers.org rates the 4.8-mile round-trip hike as moderate in terms of difficulty.

A hiker fell to his death on the trail near Corbett in August 2016.

An earlier version of this story misidentified Samuel Cha due to a source's error.

 The Oregonian/OregonLive
Thursday 4 May 2017 11:58am



Associate Professor Gillian Abel

Better understanding tensions between street-based sex workers and communities is part of a new study by a University of Otago, Christchurch, researcher into the impact of decriminalisation.

Associate Professor Gillian Abel is studying different aspects of street-based sex work since decriminalisation, including:

Tensions between street-based sex workers and the communities in which they work

Sex workers experiences of violence and exploitation on the streets

The relationship between underage street workers and their minders, pimps or boyfriends, and whether young workers are being coerced to work against their will

Local council perceptions of the regulation of street-based sex workers in their locality

The relationship between sex workers and police

The two-year study will include street-based sex workers in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch and is funded by the Lotteries Commission.

Abel is a world-recognised researcher of vulnerable population such as sex workers, and her work has been influential in informing policy both in New Zealand and internationally. She is head of the Christchurch campus Department of Population Health.

She says the research aims to contribute to a healthier and safer sex industry in New Zealand without increasing the vulnerability of street-based sex workers. It also aims to suggest mutually beneficial ways to ameliorate tensions between residents and sex workers in the areas where street-based sex work occurs.

Abel says tensions between Christchurch inner-city residents and sex workers have been well-publicised. There have been attempts by some councils in the past to address the perceived public nuisance effects of street-based sex workers to residents and shop owners while they wait for clients. These include calls to ban sex workers into less-populated areas but one impact of this could be to increase the vulnerability of street-based sex workers and the outreach workers who go to these areas to carry out their work.

Research is needed to look at how street-based sex workers see their relationship with those in the community in which they work and equally how the community (residents and/or business owners) view their relationship with sex workers. Addressing this issue has the potential to explore other avenues to addressing tension between them.

Abel says the issue of violence against sex workers needs to be better explored.

There has been debate about whether violence has reduced since decriminalisation especially in the light of four well-publicised murders of street-based sex workers in Christchurch since the law change. Research is needed to explore what sorts of violent incidents are reported or not reported to Police and if reporting of violent incidents is related to trust in Police.

Abel says research carried out before decriminalisation found 57 per cent of street-based workers surveyed said they started working before age 18. Just under 10 per cent of this group reported being forced to work, compared to 2 per cent of those over 18 years. Many young workers pay minders, boyfriends or pimps a portion of their money. The Lottery Commission-funded research will look at the relationship between sex workers and their minders, and whether coercion to work happens.

For more information, contact:

Kim Thomas

Communications Manager

University of Otago, Christchurch

Mob: 027 222 6016
Middle East Airlines (ME) and Turkish Airlines (TK) signed today a codeshare agreement. The agreement will be effective as of May 15th, covering routes between Turkey and Lebanon, and expanding the travel opportunities for the passengers of both airlines.

The signing ceremony took place at MEA Head Quarters in Beirut. Middle East Airlines Chairman and Director General, Mohamad A. El-Hout and Turkish Airlines Deputy Chairman and CEO, Bilal Eksi signed the agreement in the presence of senior officials from both sides.

This new codeshare agreement will broaden the commercial partnership between the two companies and their respective countries. At the same time, passengers of both airlines will be given more travel options between Lebanon and Turkey.

Under the terms of the agreement, Middle East Airlines and Turkish Airlines will place their codes on the flights of Middle East Airlines on Beirut  Istanbul v.v. and on the flights of Turkish Airlines on Istanbul  Beirut v.v. route. Turkish Airlines will operate three daily flights on Istanbul-Beirut-Istanbul route, while MEA will be operating 2 daily flights Beirut - Istanbul Beirut route.

MEA Chairman, Mohamad A. El-Hout expressed the importance of this agreement, as being a step in stimulating the economic cooperation between Lebanon and Turkey, and will enable both airlines to further accommodate the needs of their loyal passengers. It is worth highlighting that this agreement is signed between two members of two different airline alliances, which prove the ability of both airlines to expand their networks to the cities not served by their aircrafts.

Turkish Airlines Deputy Chairman and CEO, Bilal Eksi said that; We are pleased to sign this codeshare agreement with Middle East Airlines and aim to improve our partnership to maximize the travel opportunities offered to our passengers through our flight networks. Moreover, we believe that this partnership with Middle East Airlines will not only maximize the travel opportunities offered to our passengers through the networks of both airlines but also bring enormous benefit from a commercial perspective. Mr. Eksi also stressed that travelers of both airlines will experience a streamlined level of services covered by the agreement onboard two modern fleets of aircraft and he expressed his hope that this step will be the first on the way to further enhancing relations between two airlines in the future.
The vice president of a Michigan energy company will deliver the keynote address to graduates during commencement exercises at Saginaw Valley State University.

Shaun M. Johnson, an Edenville native and SVSU alumnus who is the deputy general counsel for CMS Energy and its principal subsidiary Consumers Energy, will speak at 7:30 p.m. Friday, and again at 11 a.m. Saturday in ONeill Arena.

Commencement exercises for graduates in the colleges of Business and Management and Health and Human Services will be held Friday evening. Students completing degrees in the colleges of Arts and Behavioral Sciences; Education; and Science, Engineering and Technology will take part in the ceremony scheduled for Saturday morning.

The graduating class consists of 1,146 students who are expected to complete degrees, including 1,022 individuals who have indicated they intend to don regalia and march in the ceremonies. The class includes 987 students who will receive bachelors degrees and 159 who will receive masters or education specialist degrees.

As is tradition, SVSU President Don Bachand will congratulate each graduate as he or she crosses the stage.

Johnsons path to his position with CMS Energy began at SVSU, where he served as president of SVSUs student government and was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity. Representing and advocating for his fellow students was an interest of Johnsons since his teenage years, when he was the president of the student government at Meridian High School for three years. With a goal of getting students more involved on SVSUs campus, Johnson was the campus events chair for Student Association, the student government, before ascending to president.

Johnson graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from SVSU in 2002 and then completed a law degree at Michigan State University, graduating with summa cum laude honors. Johnson served on the SVSU Alumni Association Board of Directors from 2005 to 2008.

Johnson formerly was a partner for the law firm Dykema Gossett PLLC, serving as the director of the firms energy industry group and specializing in public utilities, energy and taxation. In his director position, he served as an attorney and lobbyist for several public utility and energy clients throughout the United States, helping develop cost-effective business strategies and goals. Johnson also represented elected public officials, political action committees and constitutional ballot question committees.

In his position with CMS Energy, Johnson oversees all litigation, general practice and federal energy regulatory issues. He also provides legal oversight for business development activities, including mergers and acquisitions. A Dewitt resident, Johnson also serves as the chair of the Michigan Bar Associations Administrative Law Section.
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11-09 21:19
BLOOMINGTON  Fresh Thyme Market opened early Wednesday to a line of shoppers already stretched around the building.

The new grocery store at 403 N. Veterans Parkway occupies roughly half of the building formerly home to Cub Foods. The other half houses The Great Escape, a regional leisure and recreation chain.

Store director Eric Snow said nearly 300 shoppers lined up as early as 4:30 a.m. Wednesday to get a first look at the store. The first 250 shoppers received a free bag of groceries.

Everything is going wonderfully, said Snow. Were here to feed Bloomington-Normal healthy food. I think people will be surprised by our large selection of produce, vitamins and our low prices.

The 30,000-square-foot store offers organic fruit and vegetables, a deli, pizzeria, meat department, wine and beer selection, fresh-squeezed juice bar, olive bar and salad bar.

Snow said the store is working hard to purvey goods from local sellers. He said Fresh Thyme considers local to cover a large span, from anywhere across the Midwest.

Snow said the store will kick off its first week of business with food sampling events, giveaways and sales, including a beer tasting from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday.

Coupons and events can be viewed on the My Fresh Thyme mobile app.

The store was full mid morning on Wednesday, with some of the 122 full- and part-time staff helping shoppers navigate the aisles.

In the natural living department, Whitney and Phil Ray of Bloomington browsed the essential oil selection with their daughter Ryann, 3.

We came to check it out because its fun to try something new, said Whitney Ray. We were drawn by the health aspect. Its a smaller space which gives a quaint shopping experience.

Raymond and Linda Miller of Bloomington said they were curious about the new store, so they stopped by to pick up a few items.

Its interesting to see and the sales are decent, said Raymond Miller.

So far, so good, said Linda Miller.

Marcy Lemasters shopped with her children Lucas, 4, and Ellie, 1, and her mother Denise Schoolman, all of Heyworth.

Its just something new. So far, we love it, said Lemasters. All of the food samples are great and the kids are really entertained. Were really drawn to the organic and fresh things they offer.
Coming soon

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword : "Trainspotting 2" didn't do much to reignite Guy Ritchie's franchise this spring, so Ritchie is back with his summer blockbuster stab at the oft-visited Arthurian legend. This time Charlie ("Pacific Rim") Hunnam heads up Camelot's Round Table in what's promised as Ritchie's "iconoclastic take on the classic Excalibur myth," tracking Arthurs journey from "streets to throne." Jude Law is Vortigern, Arthurs uncle, who seizes the crown, forcing Arthur to come up "the hard way, in the back alleys of the city." Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Djimon Hounsou, Aidan Gillen and Eric Bana co-star.

Film Clips

Not in our town: The Normal Theater is devoting a portion of its May slate to its participation in the Seventh Art Stand, billed as a "nationwide act of solidarity against Islamophobia." More than 50 art and indie cinemas around the country are involved. At the Normal, five films will comprise the Seventh Art Stand series, with some to involve community discussions. They are Iraqi Odyssey (7 p.m. May 10 and 20), in which the filmmaker explores the history of his extended family scattered around the globe; The Salesman (7 p.m. May 11, 13, 19, 21), the recent Persian Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film; Queens of Syria (7 p.m. May 12 and 17), documentary about a group of Syrian refugee women staging their own updated, Arabic version of Euripides' Greek play about refugees; Jafar Panahi's Taxi (7 p.m. May 14 and 18), documentary about banned Iranian filmmaker Panahi posing as a cab driver asking passengers about social challenges in Iran; and Cairo Station (7 p.m. May 16), the classic 1958 Egyptian movie involving a deadly love triangle set entirely in the title transportation depot. Regular theater admission will be in effect.
The overarching theme emerging from Chinas ongoing Communist Party congress is one of continuity, not change. The weeklong meeting is expected to reappoint Xi Jinping as leader, reaffirm a commitment to his policies for the next five years and possibly elevate his status even further as one of the most powerful leaders in Chinas modern history. For many Chinese, weary of pandemic restrictions, the more immediate question is whether there will be any easing of zero-COVID after the party congress. The answer is probably not immediately, and when changes do come, they will most likely be gradual.
BLOOMINGTON  Through the power of 3-D knowledge, local high school students are helping Twin City businesses while gaining experience for future careers.

Rob Martin is the president of Open Source Classroom LLC in downtown Bloomington. Over the past year, he spearheaded a pilot program for 20 high school students to learn 3-D Literacy  a term Martin trademarked.

It covers knowledge of 3-D printing and 3-D computer-aided design and programming.

Martin organized the weekly 3-D Literacy workshop for students with help from fellow educator Tom Fraizer, director of the Bloomington Area Career Center.

We were imagining new ways to deliver awesome educational experiences to kids, said Martin.

From September to April, students learned how to use 3-D printers, digitally scan items and design final products at the Open Source Classroom at 200 W. Monroe St.

The experience was hands-on for students with access to 3-D printers, laser cutting machines and other electrical tools.

For the final project, students partnered with five local businesses or agencies. Midwest Molding, Bloomington Police Department, Millennium Pain Center, McLean County Museum of History and State Farm presented minor obstacles in their work that could be fixed with a 3-D printed item.

The museum wanted to digitize artifacts so items could be 3-D printed and sold in the gift shop, and Midwest Molding requested a more efficient way to cut foam and tabs from plastic parts. The Pain Center asked students to create a device that could attach to gurneys and hold wires and tubes during treatments.

The final 3-D printed projects were presented earlier this week.

Natalie Clark, Normal Community West High School junior, said she is interested in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and she wanted to give the program a try.

I learned a lot more than I thought I would, said Clark after completing the workshop.

She said she learned unique 3-D computer-aided design modeling programs and studied the workings behind 3-D printers and how to put together circuits and wiring in the printers.

This opened up a lot of different aspects of the STEM field I didnt know were there before. You can do so much with 3-D printers, she said.

Normal West senior Katie Scherman said she has a passion for computer science and was encouraged to join the program by her high school computer teacher.

Producing objects with 3-D printing "is a really cool technology that not a lot of people have access to yet," she said. "It will become more common in the future, so its good to gain this knowledge and get ahead in those STEM-related fields while I can.

She said the program was different from other computer-aided design classes in high school because it had a different focus.

Things I do at the high school are more coding oriented whereas this had more of an engineering aspect through the design and actual production of products, said Scherman.

Martin said he has watched the students really come a long way since day one.

A lot of it isnt even just an increase in technical knowledge, its an increase in overall confidence. Theyve gained the ability to approach a problem and come up with solutions, said Martin.

Martin plans to offer the program again for high school students after making some instructional adjustments.

Id like to see this continue and really become a melting pot of creativity and sharing, he said.

More information about future 3-D Literacy classes at Open Source Classroom can be found at www.3D-x.org.
Notorious former Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has called on his Taliban "brothers" to end their insurgency and offered to mediate talks between the militant group and with the government.

Hekmatyar's remarks on May 4 followed his return to the capital, Kabul, months after he signed a peace deal with the government.

"I call upon the Taliban to choose me as their brother," he told a ceremony that was held in his honor at the presidential palace. "I will fight for all your legitimate demands."

Hekmatyar, a former prime minister, urged the militants to join the peace process to "end all reasons for the presence of foreign troops" in Afghanistan.

Hekmatyar, known as the "Butcher of Kabul," is mainly remembered for his role in the bloody civil war of the 1990s, in which he stands accused of killing thousands of people in the capital.

Hekmatyar's Hezb-e Islami militant group signed a peace agreement with President Ashraf Ghani's government in September 2016.

Under the deal, Hezb-e Islami laid down all arms and ended its insurgency against the Afghan government throughout the country. In exchange, Hezb-e Islami prisoners will be released from Afghan jails, among other provisions of the agreement.

The controversial peace deal has been criticized by many Afghans and by Western rights groups, which accuse Hekmatyar's forces of gross human rights violations during Afghanistan's civil war in the 1990s.

The group is also known for deadly attacks on U.S. and Afghan forces since 2001, when U.S.-led forces invaded to drive the Taliban from power following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Ghani, speaking before Hekmatyar, said the country had taken "a big step" toward peace by signing the agreement with Hekmatyar.

"I call upon all armed opposition groups to follow in the footsteps of Hezb-e Islami and join the peace process," Ghani said.

He added: "Let me ask the Taliban. What agenda and goal do you have other than killing innocent people? What have you achieved?"

A heavily armed convoy of several hundred vehicles escorted Hekmatyar from eastern province of Nangarhar to Kabul.

Afghan security forces were deployed along the 160-kilometer route to ensure his safety.

Hekmatyar met Ghani for talks at the presidential palace before attending the ceremony.

He is expected to address the nation live on television from Kabul's Ghazi Stadium on May 5.

Last week, Hekmatyar, white-bearded and clad in his trademark black turban, called on the Taliban to lay down its weapons and join a "caravan of peace" as he spoke at a rally in the eastern Laghman Province.

Hekmatyar founded Hezb-e Islami in the mid-1970s. The group become one of the main mujahedin factions fighting against Soviet forces following their invasion in 1979, and then one of the most prominent groups in the bloody civil war for control of Kabul after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989.

Hekmatyar, a former prime minister under the mujahedin government, was one of the chief protagonists of the internecine 1992-96 war.

Rights groups accuse Hekmatyar of responsibility for the shelling of residential areas of Kabul in the 1990s as well as forced disappearances and covert jails where torture was commonplace.

He was designated as a terrorist by the U.S. State Department in 2003.
Disney World recently announced the banning of marijuana in its park grounds. The theme park operators of the "Happiest Place on Earth" also included the prohibition of medical marijuana even as this substance is legal in Florida, Disney World's home turf.

Disney updated its Park Rules page to reflect the marijuana ban. A park spokesperson, however, confirmed the rule included medical marijuana.

"Although some states have legalized marijuana for medicinal or recreational use, marijuana remains illegal under federal law," the spokesperson said, via Wesh 2 News. "We are revising our rules to clarify that marijuana is not permitted on our property."

Some people carrying legal marijuana, such as cannabis oil for treating medical conditions like epilepsy in children, might find the ruling excessive. After all, this particular marijuana medication requires placing a few drops of oil inside the mouth. There's no actual smoking with cannabis oil.

Matt Morgan, a lawyer who helped devise Amendment 2 or the Florida Medical Marijuana Legalization Initiative, said the revised Disney policy made sense for its business operations. "If someone has a vaporizing pen in their purse, what makes that different than a pill of OxyContin in their purse, and should people be treated differently?" he asked.

Morgan added Disney has a right to impose its own rules. He also said eventually, the rules could be re-revised once medical marijuana becomes more normalized in public.

Currently, Florida lawmakers in both the House and Senate are working to expand its legalized marijuana laws to cover non-smoking marijuana use, such as cannabis oil, for people with terminal illnesses. The amended provisions would allow for individuals to access marijuana as a cure without any dosage restrictions, as per Green Rush Daily. It would also lift restrictions in dispensaries as the rules are limiting as it is.

"We have a responsibility to see the amendment is implemented," Rep. Ray Rodrigues, one of the authors of Florida's marijuana law amendments said, as per Leafly. "But we have to do it in such a way that it complies with the guidance we've been given by the federal government."
Mom Jill Robbins from San Antonio, Texas does a Mother's Day tradition. Every year, she buys a card for her adopted sons' birth mothers where she writes updates about the kids. The birth moms, however, never get to read these cards even if Robbins wants them to.

Robbins, who's also behind the blog Ripped Jeans and Bifocals, reveals the Mother's Day cards she buys every year are kept in a shoebox that's in her closet. She's been writing letters since her sons came to her life at age 3-years-old and 2-years-old. Kyle and Zack are now 7-years-old and 6-years-old, respectively.

"I write little snippets of what they've done and accomplished every year, what their challenges and accomplishments have been," Robbins revealed on Facebook. "I re-read my words and then I seal the cards," she added.

Robbins never mails the Mother's Day cards because open adoption isn't popular in China, where her boys are originally from. "There are laws in China that prohibit a mother from making an adoption plan a.k.a. giving a baby up for adoption," she said.

She also has no way of knowing her kids' family, let alone their mailing address. According to Babble, Robbins' eldest adopted son was, in fact, abandoned as a newborn and he came from an orphanage in China.

In 2013, Robbins spotted her first Mother's Day card, bought it and started writing because she felt good about it, according to Huffington Post. She also started keeping mementos of the boys in the shoebox for the birth moms.

Robbins has a message for the public to be more understanding of all mothers on Mother's Day, including those who gave up children for adoption. "No matter how you slice it, mamas do hard things," the adoptive mom said.
The parents behind the YouTube channel DaddyOFive lost custody of two of their children following complaints of child abuse. Mike and Heather Martin from Maryland played pranks on their kids and posted these via videos, which prompted the public to report them to authorities for cruelty.

Emma, 12 and Cody, 9, are now in the temporary custody of their biological mom, Rose Hall, from North Carolina. Frederick County's Major Tim Clarke peacefully turned over the kids to her last Friday, April 28. Her video with her lawyer Tim Conlon surfaced on YouTube confirming this fact, BBC reported.

Hall said she was heartbroken to watch her kids abused in DaddyOFive's YouTube. She also told The Baltimore Sun she hasn't seen Cody since 2014 and Emma since 2015.

"[Cody] said some things that were disturbing, that he hated me and that Mike and Heather told him that I threw him away like he was garbage and I didn't love him," Hall said. She referred to Mike as her ex-boyfriend.

She reported DaddyOFive's pranks to local authorities in October 2016. They did, however, no action because the Martins lived in another state and were out of jurisdiction. Hall's lawyer assured the public the kids are now safe with their mother as the case against the Martins awaits proceedings in court.

Meanwhile, DaddyOFive's prank videos no longer exist on the YouTube channel. What remains is a video apology from the Martins posted on April 22.

They said the kids knew of the pranks most of the time before they filmed these. Some of their reactions were apparently "planned." The internet grew upset at the Martin couple when one of these prank videos featuring Cody went viral last April, Parent Herald reported.

The Martins have three other older kids from Heather's previous relationship. They remain in their custody.
A rare case of parasitic twins stunned doctors in an Indian hospital after the mother gave birth to an infant with an additional head attached to her stomach. The newborn underwent surgery to remove her twin who was "feeding off" her nutrients.

An unnamed 21-year-old mother gave birth in Ram Snehi Hospital last month to an infant with a parasitic twin dangling on her thorax. The twin had complete facial features like eyes and nose, and also had a hand, News.com.au said in a report.

Doctors in the hospital referred the parents to JK Lone Hospital in Jaipur to have the infant operated. Survival rate of the infant with a parasitic twin was dismal because she was deprived of vital nutrients, hence, immediate operation deemed needed.

The team of doctors at JK Lone Hospital struggled to free the infant from her parasitic twin because they both share common blood vessels in the heart and liver. Parasitic twins were rare, but the infant's case was even rarer because their blood supply came from the same blood vessels.

Baby girl born with her parasitic twins head attached to her tummy undergoes surgery to remove it https://t.co/a8cwB3PMFj pic.twitter.com/p24IUzAIAf  The Sun (@TheSun) May 2, 2017

After four hours of operation, the parasitic twin was removed from the infant. Parents of the infant, who work as farmers, paid no charges for their child's surgery.

Head of pediatric surgery at JK Lone Hospital Dr. Pravin Mathur said that the mother knew she had twins, but did not know one of them was parasitic. "They were shattered when they saw the baby," Mathur said. "We had to convince them to give us a nod for the surgery to save their daughter's life."

Parasitic twins occur in one out of a million births, per Daily Mail. Only 200 cases of parasitic twins are reported worldwide, according to America Now.

Parasitic twins differ from conjoined twins. The former, also called "fetus in fetu," commonly results from the delay of embryonic twins' separation during conception.

Among parasitic twins, one embryo maintains its dominance in development over the another. Conjoined twins, meanwhile, also failed to separate during conception entirely but both fetuses are viable.
A Singapore publication posted a photo of Apple's new store location last night showing the store is getting closer to opening. Dubbed 'Red Dot Heroes' by Apple, these Creative Pros are the liberal arts equivalent of Apple's technical Geniuses that specialize in troubleshooting and repairs of products.

The StraitTimes noted in their report that "Some of Apple's Creative Pros will conduct free hands-on sessions at the upcoming Apple Orchard Road Store. These sessions, collectively called 'Today at Apple,' will be launching progressively in all Apple Retail Stores across the world this month.

The Straits Times understands that the Apple Orchard Road store will be opening soon, but no specific date or time has been provided."

The StraitTimes reported back in November 2015 that Apple had gone all out to tackle climate change, turning to solar power to run its entire Singapore operations, including its upcoming Apple Store in Orchard Road. Apple will be the first company in Singapore to rely entirely on solar energy.

So Apple's first store in Singapore is definitely a unique store and the first of its kind in Singapore.

About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus.
Patna: A day after he filed a case of defamation against RJD leaders Manoj Jha and Chittaranjan Gagan for tarnishing his name by falsely accusing him of corruption, BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Wednesday demanded to know how a 20-year old Tejaswi Yadav with no education or business experience managed to amass land and properties in posh localities in Patna, Delhi, and elsewhere valued more than in excess of Rs. 115 crore.

"Tejaswi Yadav, the son of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, became the proud owner of land, buildings, and businesses at the age of 20. Can he explain what kind of business does he do that allowed him to amass properties worth several billion rupees in Patna, Delhi and other places without ever raising a red flag in the income tax department?" the former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar asked.

He further said that Tejaswi Yadav and his surrogates need to explain what is so special about him, besides being the son of Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi, that people like Raghunath Jha, Kanti Singh, Premchand Gupta, Ashok Kumar Banthia, O P Katyal and many others gifted him properties to the tune of several crore rupees without any string attached.

"It looks like everyone was too eager to gift land, properties and business ownership to Mr. Yadav who has no education or prior business experience to earn this kind of wealth," the BJP leader said.

Continuing to question the legality of Tejaswi Yadav's ownership and stake in many businesses, Modi demanded to know if it was not true that the Deputy Chief Minister had 98% of shares of the A B Export Company.

"Isn't it true that Tejaswi Yadav holds 98% of the shares in the A B Export Company? Why did the gold and diamond traders of Mumbai gave a loan of Rs. 5 crore him without any interest? Why would a company, that does not have even one employee and there is no turnover and is not involved in any kind of trade, buy an 800 square foot of land in a posh Delhi locality for a price of Rs. 5 crore? Why did Ashok Banthia, the owner of A B Export Company, handed over properties worth Rs. 115 crore to Tejaswi Yadav? Furthermore, where did Tejaswi Yadav get Rs. 60 crore to build a luxurious house in a very expensive locality in New Delhi?" he asked.

"Instead of letting his surrogates answer for him, Tejaswi Yadav should answer these questions himself," Modi said.
The week after a U.K. court favored SAP in a US$70 million licensing dispute, the software developer took another brewery to arbitration in the U.S., this time seeking damages of over $600 million.

The disputes  both are ongoing  bode ill for companies using platforms such as Salesforce.com to indirectly access data held in SAP systems subject to named-user licensing.

SAP investors may welcome this litigation, but its yet one more reason why new customers are fleeing to the hills, choosing Amazon Web Services or Google, where they can, for their future software needs, Robin Fry, legal director at software licensing consultancy Cerno Professional Services, said Thursday. Why choose SAP if, despite being a loyal customer and careful attempts at compliance, theres a real risk that they might bring a gun at your head, or force you to restate your earnings, down the line?

The target in the first case was Diageo, a British company that brews beer and distills whisky around the world. SAP accused it of allowing staff to use a Salesforce.com system to indirectly access data in an SAP database without the requisite named-user licenses. The judge accepted SAPs argument that even indirect access to its software required a license, but has not yet ruled on the amount due. SAP wants an additional 54,503,578  around $70 million, or about as much as Diageo already paid for the 12 years for which license fees are in dispute.

The stakes are far higher in the second case, involving Anheuser-Busch Inbev, the brewer of Budweiser and Hoegaarden.

SAP is seeking damages potentially in excess of $600 million for breaches of its software license agreement, according to a note in AB Inbevs 2016 annual report, published March 22.

Thats a hefty sum, considering that AB Inbevs total spending on software in 2016 was around $140 million. The amount has remained stable over the last three years, previous reports show.

AB Inbev said SAP started arbitration in New York on Feb 21. The statement of claim asserts multiple breaches of a 30 September 2010 Software License Agreement  based on allegations that company employees used SAP systems and data  directly and indirectly  without appropriate licenses, and that the company underpaid fees due under the SLA, the note said.

Neither party would say whether the indirect access in dispute was via Salesforce  although AB Inbev is a Salesforce customer and an AB Inbev representative has presented the companys project to access data in its SAP system through Salesforce.

Executives took no questions about software licensing in a conference call to discuss the companys first-quarter results on Thursday.

However, AB Inbev spokeswoman Kathleen Van Boxelaer said, We intend to defend against SAPs asserted claims vigorously. It would be inappropriate for us to further comment as the litigation is ongoing.

That reticence is understandable. Software under-licensing  with its undertones of software theft  is incredibly sensitive for public companies, said Cernos Fry.

Though AB Inbev likely is not happy with SAPs claims, its likely that it prefers the confidentiality of arbitration, Fry noted.

A decision to go to arbitration means that, unlike proceedings in open court, the award  and all supporting documents  can be kept confidential. AB Inbev will definitely want this, he said.

Fry has a theory about why the damages SAP is seeking are so high.

SAPs massive claim almost certainly rests on being able to show that AB Inbev infringed copyright by it being under-licensed as opposed to simply having to pay under an existing license agreement, he said. U.S. law allows for statutory damages in cases of intellectual property infringement, but not for simple contract breaches, he said, allowing higher penalties to be imposed at arbitration.

SAPs policy is not to comment on pending matters such as this, a spokesman said.
Qualcomm, in a smartphone chip licensing spat with Apple, will reportedly ask a U.S. government agency to ban the import of iPhones into the country.

Qualcomm plans to ask the U.S. International Trade Commission to ban imports of iPhones, which are built in Asia, according to a Bloomberg Technology report. The news report cited an unnamed person familiar with Qualcomms strategy.

A Qualcomm spokesman didnt immediately respond to a request for comment on the news report.

The USITC has the power to ban imports into the U.S. for patent infringement, and the agency is frequently used by patent holders as an alternative or addition to slow-moving patent infringement lawsuits in U.S. courts.

Qualcomms request for an import ban could come before Apple plans to release its iPhone 8 later this year.

Last month, Qualcomm claimed Apple is using its market power to avoid paying full licensing fees. Qualcomms claims were in response to an Apple lawsuit filed against the chipmaker in January that claims Qualcomm has charged exorbitant licensing fees for its cellular technology.

Apple cut off some licensing payments to Qualcomm last month, and the chipmaker revised its revenue projections based on lower payments from Apple.
The Founder and Leader of the Gospel Revival Church of Christ in Kumasi, Rev. Bishop J.N.K. Boateng, has added his voice to the crusade against galamsey, with a call on the government to ban all licensed small scale mining in Ghana.



The church leader explained that eh banning order was necessary, because small scale miners do not cover up their pits after mining, thus endangering the environment.



"This defiant attitude must be stopped with a total ban on small scale mining," the Kumasi-based man of God suggested.



Bishop Boateng observed on Easter Sunday during the 40th Anniversary of the Gospel Revival Church of Christ in Kumasi, that illegal miners are selfish and mischievous, and always want to be rich at the expense of the masses, which, he said, is evil.



The Bishop stressed that galamsey is 'wrecking' Ghana apart, hence the illegal miners must be stopped in their tracks.



Quoting Romans 13:1, he reminded President Akufo-Addo that there was no good in evil deeds, and as a leader of this Republic, Ghanaian are looking up to him to steer the affairs of the nation int eh right direction.



Recounting how he was manhandled by the police in 1986, when he kicked against illegal mining in the Amansie West district, Rev. Boateng charged: "Do whatever you can to stop galamsey, because it is destroying Ghana, regardless of what it takes. It is evil, and should not be entertained. It is evil, and should not be entertained. It is criminal."



Responding to a question that thousands of people will be unemployed should galamsey be stopped in Ghana, Bishop Boateng asked: "Is mining the only employment in the world?"



On pollution and drying up of water bodies, the Clergyman noted that the Bonte stream in the Amansie West district that served as a tributary to Offin and Detwe is dead, owing to illegal mining activities, without any benefits to the surrounding communities and Ghanaians.



"What is the gold that was extracted from the rivers, and what did they use it for? he quarried.







Source: The Chronicle









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Managing Editor of the New Crusading Guide has vowed to work tirelessly to keep the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in opposition.



According to Abdul Malik Kweku Baako Jnr. the political party which performed shambolically in the 2016 general elections needs to stay in opposition to restructure the NDC.



NDC must stay in opposition for 16 years; its therapy and they need it he stated on Peace FMs morning show Kokrokoo Wednesday.



Kweku Baako made the comment while discussing the rush for the flagbearership slot by some leading members of the NDC even before former President John Mahama declares his intention to contest.



Former Majority leader and current 2nd deputy Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, retired Rector of the University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA), Joshua Alabi, former Minister of Trade and Industry, Ekwow Spio-Garbrah; former Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho and former National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) CEO, Sylvester Mensah and Minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu are said to be busily setting up offices and criss-crossing the country to shore up their support bases ahead of the crucial NDC congress, likely coming off next year.















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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Nii Noi Nortey may find it difficult to regain the trust of the New Patriotic Party (NNP) in the event that his apology and plea for reconciliation is accepted by the party, thats according to NPPs Greater Accra Regional Chairman, Ishmael Ashitey.



Speaking on Eyewitness News, Ishmael Ashitey, said Mr. Nortey may struggle to reach the heights he did before his fall out with the party. When you do such a thing, you lose trust and now for the party to trust you to give you a sensitive position, it is going to be very difficult for people to agree that he will hold an executive position, I think that will be a very difficult thing to do.



Mr. Nortey, a former Klottey Korle constituency chairman, contested and lost the Klottey Korle seat as an independent candidate in the 2016 polls after losing a contentious primary to Philip Addison.



After his loss in the primary, his supporters, incensed with the circumstances leading to the defeat, impressed on him to contest as an independent candidate, even though the national leadership pledged to calm tensions there and present a united front for the 20176 parliamentary elections.



Mr. Nortey, in his attempt to the bury the hatchet, has revealed that NPP stalwarts like the former President John Kufour, now-President Nana Akufo-Addo and now-vice President Mahamadu Bawumia spoke to him personally to back down but he refused.



But now that Mr. Nortey wants a return to the party after an apology in the media to President Akufo-Addo, among others, Mr. Ashitey said, if really he wants to come back, he would have to write to the party and then we will forward it to the disciplinary committee which will look at it and then advise the steering committee to take a decision.



What that means is that, you have sacked yourselves from the party. You are no longer a member and for that matter, he would have to write and apply to become a member. He would have to go through a very long process.



Mr. Ashitey did not present Mr. Norteys situation as hopeless, noting that, It is serious; but it does not mean that there is nothing that can be done about it. Maybe something can be done he noted.





Source: citifmonline.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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Ghana and Togo have resolved to deepen co-operation, as well as strengthen the ties of friendship that exist between them in the sectors of security, immigration, agriculture and water, health, trade, digital economy, environment, energy, transport and the issue of maritime borders.



A communique issued at the end of the official visit of the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to the Republic of Togo noted that, together with President Faure Gnassingbe, both leaders have indicated their willingness to activate the High level permanent joint Commission of cooperation between the two countries.



On Wednesday, May 3, 2017, the two leaders visited the Joint Border Post at Noepe and Akanu. Despite the commissioning of the post some 3 years ago, it is yet to function. To this end, the two Presidents instructed their respective Ministers to speed up the interconnection of Customs IT systems so as to operationalize the post, and aid in the free movement of goods and persons across the Ghana/Togo border.



With reference to agriculture, the single largest occupation of the populace of both countries, the two leaders called for the intensification of technical cooperation, and the exchange of experience between the two countries, particularly in aquaculture, and the development of coffee, cocoa and cashew nuts.



On the Sogakope-Lome drinking water supply project, the two Heads of State stressed the need to speed up the implementation of the project, as the ripple effects of this project will be of immense benefit to the two countries.



President Akufo-Addo and President Gnassingbe also expressed their determination to strengthen actions to combat illegal timber trade, and tasked their respective ministers to put in place the appropriate mechanisms to this end.

Touching on the continuation of the programme of electrification of the localities along the borders of their respective countries, the two countries renewed their commitment to ensuring the completion of the joint hydroelectric dam project in Juale.



In the area of road infrastructure, the two Presidents instructed their respective Ministers to seek funding in the ECOWAS framework for the construction and rehabilitation of the roads linking Kemerida-Kara-Nachamba, in Togo, and Tatale-Yendi, in Ghana.



Addressing the issue of common borders between the two countries, President Gnassingbe and President Akufo-Addo agreed to give priority to high level dialogue, instead of resorting to the courts to answer the delimitation of their maritime boundaries, on the basic of the principle of equity and the right of each country to have a sea front.



At the end of his visit, President Akufo-Addo expressed his deepest gratitude to President Faure Gnassingbe for the warm and fraternal welcome extended to him and his delegation. He extended an invitation to his Togolese counterpart to pay a reciprocal visit to Ghana, an invitation which was accepted by President Gnassingbe.





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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Deputy Minister for Regional Re-organization, Hon. Martin Adjei Mensah-Korsah has described as scary the behaviour of public sector workers during working hours.



According to him, his assessment of the public sector workers between the hours of 10 to 11 am has shown that this prime time is used to interact with friends and loved ones on the various social media platforms.



Speaking on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show, the Director of Elections for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) bemoaned the lackadaisical way some workers at the public sector are carrying out their duties for which they are being paid monthly.



The work we are supposed to do for our salaries, we are doing it anyhow. Whatever President Akufo-Addo said was true. For example, common documentation which can take few hours can last for months before they are attended to; those who cannot wait for those months are forced to pay bribes to get their papers worked on, he asserted.



He stressed that it is frustrating to see how the public sector workers subject their clients to undeserving treatment; thus their behaviour depict as though they are doing the nation a favour with the service they render.



It looks as if those working at the public sector are doing the nation a favour. This government is doing everything possible to correct the behaviour of public sector workers and Ghanaians in general towards work, he said.



He lamented that the work output at the public sector is going down and this incurs debt for the government and eventually retards the progress of the country; it slows down the intent of well meaning Ghanaians in the country.



We want to change this behaviour as the President said; thus, as there is change of government, there must be a change in attitude towards work so that the nation can develop. We cannot entertain the behaviour of Directors who are supposed to carry out their duties at once but wait for them to pile up on their desk in order to induce clients to pay money, he averred.

Source: Daniel Adu Darko/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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Well, heres a new one.

Independent Northern Territory pollie Gerry Wood has used a speech in parliament to make a somewhat questionable claim: population growth decline and therefore reduced GST income in the Territory can be linked to abortion.

Gerry Wood, the Member for Nelson, was replying to the revelations in March that the Territorys GST share would be reduced by around $269 million for the 2017/18 financial year. This became heated in a discussion around the Territorys budget. Around $77 million of the reduction was related to the reduction in NTs share of Australias population growth.

We lose 600 to 1,000 people [each year] through abortion, Wood told fellow MPs.

And people will laugh at me, Ive raised it before: why dont we help promote people go through with pregnancy? Why dont we look at adoption? Regardless of your opinion, you do reduce one quarter of your population, and yet weve got a declining population. And if you looked at alternatives to helping people, we may have some of those increases in population growth.

Of course, its a bizarre tack to take  there are probably far more immediate issues at hand when it comes to population growth not related to allowing women the right to choose whether to terminate a pregnancy. Attorney-General Natasha Fyles, who helped with the push to decriminalise abortion in the NT back in March, agrees.

Speaking to the ABC, Fyles rebuked Woods remarks.

I think it would be very important as parliamentarians that we dont allow emotive issues like this to come into play when talking about issues such as GST cuts. We need to clearly separate, we need to make sure in the Northern Territory as a Government, and we have done so in delivering contemporary termination of pregnancy legislation for women, for Territorians, if they are to make choices about their bodies.

Source: ABC.

Photo: NT Parliament.
Luke Lazarus, the 25-year-old man convicted of raping a woman outside his fathers Kings Cross nightclub in 2013, has had his conviction cleared completely.

Lazarus appealed the ruling, and in 2016 New South Wales highest court found that the judge misdirected the jury during the original trial in 2015. He was released from jail after serving 11 months of his three-year sentence.

Now, a judge-only retrial has found Lazarus not guilty of his original conviction, sexual intercourse without consent. Judge Robyn Tupman told the court that she had found Lazarus to have had a reasonable belief that the alleged victim consented to sex:

I accept that the accused had a genuine and honest belief that the complainant was consenting to intercourse.

According to 7 News, the alleged victim fled the courtroom in tears.

Source: 7 News.

Image: Getty / Luke Reynolds.

Violence against women is never acceptable. If you or someone you know is experiencing physical or sexual abuse, please get in touch with 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).
Shannon Noll has at last given his frankly insane side of the yarn in which he was arrested outside a strip club. And its a goodn. You ready for this?

Nollsy, bless him, explained in an interview to the Daily Telegraph that he was simply walking down Hindley St in Adelaide with his band mates when drunk supporters mobbed him. To escape the attention, they decided to exit stage left and into a strip club, the Crazy Horse.

Those places can be a bit of a sanctuary for bands. You get left alone, he said.

According to the Daily Teles report, the band spent a few hours in the strip club before calling it a night, but Nollsy had put money on his card to spend at the club, and wanted it back. The manager, however, was reluctant to give it.

I wasnt kicked out. The manager wanted to talk to me out the front, no worries, he said. We were talking. I got exasperated because I was dirty as we had spent enough money at that point. I put some on the card and asked for it back and probably had no right to do that. I didnt assault anyone, I didnt punch anyone, I didnt push anyone. I did get up in their grill. I cant say the same thing for what happened to me though. The police took me straight to hospital. An allegation was made that I assaulted someone so they come and arrest me and thats it. I recovered pretty quick, they were mostly abrasions and an egg on my temple but I had a fair bit of blood running out of me. I got a fingernail through my tattoo on my arm, took colour out of it, they went through three layers of skin.

Charges against Nollsy were withdrawn by South Australian police in early April, which he gleefully informed followers of with a double thumbs up on Facebook.

But, he says this experienced has changed the way he parties after shows.

After a gig, you might feel like going out and having a beer but the rule of thumb now will be if Im going to have a couple of beers, Ill have them in the hotel room, he said. Its a bit of a lonely existence in that way but its being professional and thats the approach I will take. No more celebrating a good gig.

Robbed.

Photo: Shannon Noll / Facebook.
New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has formally apologised to the victims of the 1977 Granville train disaster, which killed 83 people and left 213 injured, and is often described as the worst rail disaster in Australias history.

Today is about making amends with an apology that should have happened 40 years ago, Berejiklian said, acknowledging that many survivors, family of victims and rail employees did not receive the support they believed they needed in the wake of the disaster.

On January 19, 1977, a packed train derailed and the overhead railway bridge collapsed, crushing the carriages beneath.

We very rarely see them coming but the way we choose to respond to them have a profound and lasting effect on victims that have loved ones and the community more broadly, Berejiklian said. 18th January 1977 was such a day.

.@GladysB: I want to apologise on behalf of the government for all those who still suffer. More: https://t.co/r5vARLm6vT #Granville pic.twitter.com/4SmuuqIdmk  Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 4, 2017

Berejiklians apology was attended by a number of survivors and family.

The Granville Train Disaster Association told the ABC they planned to issue a statement acknowledging the apology and thanking Ms Berejiklian, but made clear that the the legacy of the errors which had been made in the past still lingered:

However, they will also point out that the grievous decisions and actions of the governments of the 1970s which led to Australias worst preventable rail disaster, and the resulting injustices perpetrated on those directly impacted, can never be erased.

.@GladysB says the government acknowledges that the apology for the #Granville disaster has come 40 years too late https://t.co/r5vARLm6vT pic.twitter.com/OmRfkvtL2M  Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 4, 2017

Source: ABC.

Photo: NSW Government.
Well, that was anticlimactic. That 3am emergency meeting called all of a sudden at Buckingham Palace, sending the British (and global) press into a frenzied lather trying to be the first to pick which of the many frail and elderly monarchs and monarch-adjacents had shuffled off this mortal coil was

actually just to let everyone know that Prince Philip is going to be staying in quite a bit more, thanks.

An announcement regarding The Duke of Edinburgh. https://t.co/SF1bgo68Un pic.twitter.com/TO9mR70xTk  The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 4, 2017

His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh has decided that he will no longer carry out public engagements from the autumn of this year. In taking this decision, The Duke has the full support of The Queen. Prince Philip will attend previously scheduled engagements between now and August, both individually and accompanying The Queen. Thereafter, The Duke will not be accepting new invitations for visits and engagements, although he may still choose to attend certain public events from time to time. The Duke of Edinburgh is Patron, President or a member of over 780 organisations, with which he will continue to be associated, although he will no longer play an active role by attending engagements. Her Majesty will continue to carry out a full programme of official engagements with the support of members of the Royal Family.

This announcement heralds what the British press are referring to as a retirement from public life, i.e. Prince Philip is about a billion years old (96), has had a recent spate of health scares (very bad colds), and is probably well and truly sick of rubbing shoulders with the peasantry.

The Queen and Prince have been slowly sidling away from their public duties for some time now, with Queen Liz handing over a bunch of her responsibilities to younger royals last year. Nevertheless, this is their biggest step back from public life so far.

The Duke of Edinburgh is Patron, President or a member of over 780 organisations, with which he will continue to be associated. pic.twitter.com/lH2zsYKXsp  The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 4, 2017

We wish Phil all the best in his retired life, which will start later this year, and which we can only hope is full of sprightly smart-casual dressing, genially misplaced reading glasses, and teaching the Queens corgis to fart on command.

go, my gassy minions! go!

Source: Daily Telegraph.

Image: Getty / Jeff Spicer.
On Tuesday night, The Project team proved that stigmatisation of sex workers is alive and well in Australia during their interview with the Sydney Uber driver who mistakenly picked up sex worker instead of his next passenger.

ICYMI, Uber driver Daniel Moores dash cam video  which doesnt show the passengers face  went viral earlier this week. He thought he was picking up Chelsea from a Darlinghurst address, but accidentally picked up a sex worker who wasnt his passenger. It eventually transpired that the sex worker believed Moore to be a customer, and when she realised he wasnt, asked to be dropped off; it was only when she got out of the car that Chelsea called Moore, asking where he was, and the mix-up revealed itself.

To Moores credit, he handled an awkward situation with grace and humour. But his appearance on The Project proved that while socially aware Australia might have the lingo down pat, harmful stereotypes about sex workers still dominate our national conversation.

Panellists Waleed Aly, Carrie Bickmore, Peter Helliar and guest host Rachel Corbett could not contain themselves in the humour of the situation.

How often do you mix up a customer for a sex worker? asked an amused Aly.

I can see how you would get them confused, commiserated Bickmore. I would never have thought that was a sex worker.

Given the fact that the original video never showed what the sex worker in question actually looked like, Bickmores comment is at best superfluous and at worst an propagation of the stereotype that sex workers look like Julia Roberts in the first half hour of Pretty Woman.

Corbett applauded Moores handling of the situation, while cracking wise at the somehow outrageous concept of treating a sex worker like any other Uber passenger.

Dan, this is surely the mark of a true profession, she said. As an Uber driver you havent asked her to leave, youve just continued the really polite and delightful conversation, asking her how long shes been a sex worker for, whether the day was good. Wasnt there a bit of you that was thinking, Uhhhh, gotta get out of here!?

The uber driver who accidentally picked up a sex worker. #TheProjectTV pic.twitter.com/eQa3SYcueN  #TheProjectTV (@theprojecttv) May 2, 2017

[Editors note: it looks like The Project has deleted the tweet, but you can catch the segment HERE.]

Its not that a mixed-up passenger situation isnt funny. It is, and its probably a lot more common situation than any of us realise given that Ubers in Australia are indistinguishable from regular cars.

The issue here is the fact that the wrong passengers occupation as a sex worker  an already stigmatised occupation thats still fighting for decriminalisation in every state and territory bar NSW  was the butt of every piss-poor joke.

For example, the very concept of someone finding themselves in a professional encounter with a sex worker and being paid for it almost broke Helliar.



How weird was it to be charging a sex worker for YOUR time? he asked, possibly forgetting that sex workers pay for goods and services like the rest of us literally all the goddamn time, including Ubers and taxis.

Aly wasnt any better, chiming in when Corbett explained that hed started Uber trip (thinking hed picked up his actual passenger, Chelsea), with, Hang on, so CHELSEA paid for your encounter with a sex worker? Yes. Shockingly enough, thats how Uber works.

The segment is being called out on social media, including by members of the sex worker community.

@theprojecttv Oh FFS. You know escorts use Uber all the time right? We just look like regular people, its a job, get over it guys.  ?? Georgie Wolf ?? (@GeorgieWolf) May 3, 2017

@theprojecttv Just when we think you are ready to hear us, to accept us as the extremely normal slice of society we are this. We are hilarious just by  Marci Romaine (@RomaineMarcella) May 3, 2017

@theprojecttv existing. Thanks for dehumanising us via public platform once more. Disheartening and discouraging. Thanks a lot.  Marci Romaine (@RomaineMarcella) May 3, 2017

@theprojecttv Sex work is work, this segment is gross and stigmatizing.  kym (@kymtje) May 3, 2017

@theprojecttv Well done encouraging people to laugh at, disrespect and dehumanise already highly stigmatised people and their work for literally no reason  Millie Baylis (@MillieBaylis) May 3, 2017

Honestly, this entire segment is reminiscent of Karl Stefanovics transphobic comments last year about a mugging incident in Rio, Brazil, whereby the transgender status of the people allegedly involved became the butt of the joke. (Props to Karl, he offered a solid apology for his comments the next day.)

And look  it was barely two years ago that The Project was in hot water for calling sex workers by the slur pr*stitutes.

This latest interview proves that while mainstream Australia may be adopting the language of the socially progressive, it still has a long way to go in terms of its attitude.

PEDESTRIAN.TV has reached out to The Project for comment.

Correction: an earlier version of this article incorrectly identified guest host Rachel Corbett as Ella Hooper, and said that the segment aired on Wednesday night, not Tuesday night. This has since been amended.

Photo: Channel 10.
Fair warning, this is confronting and hard to look at.

Four years ago, Hilda Clayton was serving as a photographer in the US Army, on assignment in Afghanistan. As part of her regular duties, she was sent to document a live-fire exercise that members of the Afghan National Army were conducting. Without warning, a mortar accidentally exploded directly in front of the group, killing Clayton, an Afghan military photographer she was training, and three Afghan Army soldiers. Eleven other people were injured in the blast.

What makes this story more notable than others is that Clayton was shooting photos when the blast occurred, and managed to capture an image of the exact final moment of her life. So did her trainee.

The US Army, with the approval of both her family and her unit, released Claytons harrowing images earlier this week.

Published in their latest issue of Military Review, the army noted that Clayton was the first combat documentarian and production specialist to be killed in Afghanistan, and were published as the journal turns its attention to issues of gender in the army:

This edition of the Military Review is focused on promoting the concepts of gender equality and these photographs illustrate the dangers our military men and women face both in training and in combat.

Clayton was from the town of Augusta, Georgia, and had been deployed overseas for less than a year when she was tragically killed in action.

Source: The Washington Post.

Photos: US Army/Hilda Clayton.
As much as we all bloody love food delivery apps  and boy howdy, do we ever pay homage to the life-saving genius who brought them into our lives  theres times where you want nothing more than a good, old fashioned sanga. Just a coupla slices of bread, a few veggies, and maybe a little cheese or protein thrown in there. Molto benne.

Luckily for residents of Melbourne, all that is about to change thanks to the kind folk at Subway.

The sanga fangers have partnered up with Foodora to sling precious, glorious home delivered subs to your door throughout the metropolitan area.

27 Subway restaurants throughout the inner-Melbourne area are, as of today, listed on the Foodora app and website, meaning punters are able to get wrapped around a footlong without having to leave the house.

Better still, the restaurants full menu is available through the app, including the ability to build your own sandwich, just as you would inside a physical store.

George Katsikis, Operations Manager for Subway Australia, extolled the virtues of sandwiches to-your-door in a statement issued to media earlier today.

We are excited to commence the partnership with Foodora to allow us to deliver Subway Subs around Melbourne for the first time! You can now be your own sandwich artist from home. Create your own Sub anyway you like it! Fresh or toasted, your call. It is the next level in convenience and flexibility for our customers.

The sandwich giant is observing this clearly glorious day by giving away a whole mess of free subs next Thursday, May 11th. On that day all youve gotta do is log on between 9am and 10am, hit up the free Subway giveaway option and put your order in. A nice delivery person will bring it directly to you at around 12:30pm that day, totally free of charge (were talking no delivery fee and everything). The offer is limited to a mere 100 subs, mind you. So if youre keen for a free feed we suggest not waiting around until 9:01.

Theres no word just yet on whether Subway plans to expand Foodora delivery services outside of Melbourne just yet.

But for those of you lucky enough to live inside the Melbourne delivery zone, the world is now officially your delicious sandwich.

Photo: Foodora.
Every Star Wars fan can agree that the prequels represented a thrilling high-point of the series, with a great deal of that cinematic success being attributed to George Lucas in-depth analysis of the Galactic Senate. Truly, The Phanton Menace was a masterclass of Sorkin-esque political intrigue, and A New Hope through The Force Awakens somehow lack that special spark.

Fortunately, on this auspicious May the Fourth, our terrestrial representatives have taken a moment to honour Lucas vision by engaging in a full-on Twitter lovefest. None other than the Australian House of Representatives account started proceedings by pining for an equal to the Galactic Senate, and holy midichlorians, it got nerdy from there.

Its a shame there isnt a Galactic House of Representatives @AboutTheHouse _(?)_/ #StarWarsDay  Australian Senate (@AuSenate) May 3, 2017

@AboutTheHouse The Galactic Senate actually contained senators and representatives. Jar Jar Binks was a representative   Australian Senate (@AuSenate) May 4, 2017

@AboutTheHouse Its implied that a Senator represents a system (or sector of planets) with reps (like Jar Jar) representing planets #starwarsnerd   Australian Senate (@AuSenate) May 4, 2017

@AboutTheHouse You may recall Senator Amidala referring to Jar Jar as Representative Binks #nerdwars  Australian Senate (@AuSenate) May 4, 2017

Then, it happened: a totally forthright and not-at-all sarcastic admission that the Star Wars universes political system deserves another look.

@AboutTheHouse It would be nice to know which standing order Queen Amidala used to move a no-confidence motion in Chancellor Valorum  Australian Senate (@AuSenate) May 4, 2017

Actual props to the House of Reps for coming out with this brave opinion.

@AuSenate Perhaps Episode 1 removed the SSO motion for brevity.  Aus House of Reps (@AboutTheHouse) May 4, 2017

Now, if youll excuse us, well be here carrying out our own Order 66 on anybody who prefers Ewoks, lightsabers and Harrison Ford to intergalactic lawmaking.



Source: Australian Senate / Twitter.

Photo: Star Wars / Lucasfilm.
Some complete assholes have unleashed hell in the form a fairly sophisticated and convincing email phishing scam, and it looks like theyre targeting the media.

A whole lot of email users have reported receiving the emails, including journos from Vice, BuzzFee and New York Magazine. According to these reports, the invitation to view a seemingly innocuous Google Docs file looks scarily legit, but is actually fake as heck.

According to the EFF, the attack is not intended to dish out malware, but rather to hijack the credentials of the target.

When the link is clicked, recipients are sent to a website that looks almost identical to the actual Google Docs screen, right down to the companys recent design changes. It even asks which account youd like to login with.

The URL even looks like something Google would spit out. You can check out how it all looks in the tweet below.

Luckily, theres a few ways you can tell if the email you got is the bung one. First of all, itll be addressed to hhhhhhhhhh and Id hazard a guess that you know absolutely no one with that name, so keep an eye on that. The email itself looks a little bit off, too. Slightly different to what Google usually sends.

The fact Twitter is crawling with similar accounts of the same email is a dead giveaway too, so if you see anything similar in your own inbox, delete that shit, pronto.

Who exactly is behind the attack is still unclear at this stage, but I think we can all agree that they can go straight to hell.

Stay safe on-the-line, folks.

Source: Gizmodo.

Photo: The Simpsons.
PEDESTRIAN.TVs partnered with AirAsia to help you dodge the chillier months by heading O/S. Get around their Winter Escape deals (e.g. flights to Kuala Lumpur starting from $129*) HERE + stay updated with AirAsias offers HERE.

Given that us Aussies are treated to arguably the best weather in the world, its no small wonder why we get so off it when the colder months come to literally rain on our parade.

You, good person of the internet, shouldnt have to suffer under such ridiculous conditions. Youre deserving of better, and thankfully better is only a small hop, skip, jump and plane ride away.

Behold, several affordable places in Asia that are perfect for dodging winter (at least, as much of it as your annual leave will allow).

PULAU PERHENTIAN ISLANDS, MALAYSIA

Photo: Tourism Malaysia.

Roughly translating to stopover island, Pulau Perhentian is where its goddamn at. This spot is made up of two islands, Pulau Perhentian Besar and Pulau Perhentian Kecil. Both of em offer untouched jungles, bluer-than-blue water and beaches so white youll need to don sunglasses to traverse them. Given its proximity to Pulau Redang Marine Park, Perhentian is a must for anyone interested in snorkelling or scuba diving.

Photo: Jochen Schlenker / Getty.

If youre chasing something more on the cheaper side, then park yourself on Pulau Perhentian Kecil. Its been developed with backpackers and budget travellers in mind, rather than those keen on dropping thousands.

If youre heading from KL, the cheapest way to get yourself there is the overnight bus to Kuala Terengganu Bus Terminal. Itll take around 8 hours, so if youre able to sleep, youll wake up the next morning ready to board a boat to paradise.

PHUKET, THAILAND

Photo: Prasit photo / Getty.

Look, we wont bang on about Phuket  we imagine youre up to speed with this offensively beautiful island. But if youre looking for a bit of a push to get you to get your damn-fine self over there (that is, if you havent already) be sure to keep in mind that beaches dont get much better than they are in Phuket.

Photo: Prasit photo / Getty.

Like, so good that youll forget what the concept of winter even is.

TIOMAN ISLAND, MALAYSIA

Photo: Thant Zaw Wai / Getty.

Timoman Island, located off the coast of Pahang, offers something for those game on chilling as well as those more activity-driven. For the latter, make use of the islands granite formations and head out for some rock climbing. For the former, lie on the beach all day.

Photo: Westend61 / Getty.

Regardless of your attitude toward exercise, a leisurely walk through the island will be enjoyable for your whole gang. In doing so, youll be able to suss all the A+ flora and fauna of the spot  a lot of which has been featured in several National Geographic documentaries.

To get yourself to Tioman Island from KL, youll need to catch a 6-7 hour bus to Mersing Ferry Terminal. Sure, its a bit of a headache, but 110% worth the hassle.

BANGKOK, THAILAND

Photo: Weerakarn Satitniramai / Getty.

Hey, just because youre escaping to warmer weather doesnt mean you have to spend an entire trip on the beach, right? Enter Bangkok, Thailands capital city that offers cultural experiences in spades (as well as non-bank-busting means to relax).

Photo: Prasit photo / Getty.

Given that this citys reputation proceeds itself, were just gonna encourage you to get there ASAP folks.

Guessing the above places are looking pretty damn good, arent they? Well you might then be glad to hear that AirAsias Winter Escape deal can get you to all of them, and best of all, without a massive price-tag. Available May 4, 2017 and August 31, 2017, they have flights departing from Gold Coast, Perth, Sydney and Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur starting from $129*  with the option to keep going to Phuket and Bangkok for as lil as $199*.

Head HERE to book your flights and escape the bitter embrace of winter, fam.

Photo: Thant Zaw Wai / Getty.

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The Petersburg Borough Assembly budget calls for Community Service grants to Petersburg Chamber of Commerce, KFSK Public Radio and Clausen Memorial Museum. KFSK may receive a 46% increase over last year's grant of $19,000 for a total of $35,000.

This year KFSK general manager Tom Abbott itemized the station's broadcast services with a tally of $36,404 for 958 hours of personnel and air-time. Borough meeting broadcasts for two employees totaled $3,648 (96 hrs. @ $38/hr.); borough call-in programs (12 hrs. for two employees @ $38/hr.) totaled $456; borough related public service announcement...
Former Lula chief of staff with graft charges by Brazil's prosecutors





RIO DE JANEIRO

Petroleumworld 05 03 2017

Brazilian prosecutors said on Tuesday they had laid new corruption charges against a one-time chief of staff for former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is already serving long jail sentences on other graft convictions.

Prosecutors accused Jose Dirceu, who was released from jail pending an appeal, of taking 2.4 million reais ($755,880) in bribes from two engineering firms - UTC Engenharia SA and Engevix Engenharia SA.

The money was allegedly used for public relations efforts to improve Dirceu's image before, during and after a 2012 trial, in which he was convicted in a widespread scheme of making monthly payments to congressmen to win support for legislation.

Over the past year, courts have sentenced Dirceu in two separate trials to a collective 32 years in jail on corruption, money-laundering and conspiracy charges. They stemmed from a wide-ranging probe of graft at state-owned oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, known as Petrobras.

Despite the earlier convictions and the new charges, Brazil's Supreme Court accepted a habeas corpus plea on Tuesday filed by Dirceu's defense and ordered his release from jail.

A five-member chamber of the top court ruled by 3 votes to 2 that he should be freed pending an appeal. Under Brazilian law, prison sentences are served after the loss of a first appeal.

Engevix did not respond to a request for comment on the new bribery charges, and a lawyer for Dirceu was not immediately available for reaction.

A UTC Engenharia spokesman said the company would have nothing to say on the matter. ($1 = 3.1751 reais)






Is Russia the wild card in the U.S. and China common ground on N.Korea ?





SEOUL/VLADIVOSTOK

Petroleumworld 05 03 2017

When North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sent Lunar New Year greetings this year, the first card went to Russian President Vladimir Putin, ahead of leaders from China and other allies of the isolated country, according to its official news agency.

Some academics who study North Korea argue Kim could be looking for Russia to ease any pain if China, which accounts for about 90 percent of North Korea's trade, steps up sanctions against the isolated country as part of moves to deter its nuclear and missile programmes.

U.S. President Donald Trump lavished praise on Chinese President Xi Jinping last week for Beijing's assistance in trying to rein in Pyongyang. A day later, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson pressed the United Nations Security Council to impose more sanctions to further isolate Pyongyang.

There is no sign of any sustainable increase in trade between Russia and North Korea, but business and transport links between the two are getting busier.

A new ferry service starting next week will move up to 200 passengers and 1,000 tonnes of cargo six times a month between North Korea and the Russian port of Vladivostok.

Shipping data on Thomson Reuters Eikon shows there has been a recent steady flow of oil tanker traffic from Vladivostok into North Korean east coast ports.

Last Thursday, five North Korean-flagged oil tankers had loaded up at Vladivostok-area ports and identified North Korean ports as their destination. It was not known what products they were carrying.

Earlier this year, Russian government officials visited Pyongyang to discuss more cooperation in rail transport, according to media reports. A Russian-built railway link between the Russian eastern border town of Khasan and the North Korean port of Rajin has been used to carry some coal, metals and various oil products.

"North Korea does not care about China's pressure or sanctions because there is Russia next door," said Leonid Petrov, a North Korea expert at Australia National University.

"Pyongyang has been playing off Beijing and Moscow for half a century, letting them compete for the right to aid and influence North Korea."

Russia, especially Vladivostok, is also home to one of the largest overseas communities of North Koreans in the world, and they send home tens of thousands of dollars in much-needed hard currency each month.

Speaking at the United Nations last week, Tillerson called on states to sever diplomatic and financial ties with Pyongyang and suspend the flow of North Korean guest workers. The Security Council has not yet agreed on any course of action.

While Russia has not indicated it will oppose U.N. sanctions or seek to dilute them, its ties with the United States are fraught, which could complicate its joining any U.S.-led initiative on North Korea.

Trump and Putin spoke in a telephone call on Tuesday and discussed North Korea, among other issues, both sides said. There was no word of any agreement.

"LOYAL PARTNER"

Samuel Ramani, a Russia expert at Oxford University, said support for the Pyongyang regime could bring economic benefits for Moscow. It would demonstrate Russia was "a loyal partner to anti-Western regimes facing international isolation and sanctions", he said.

"As Russia has close economic links with other countries at odds with the West, like Iran, Venezuela and Syria, this symbolic dimension of the Russia-North Korea relationship has strategic significance."

The United States is calling for an embargo in oil sales to North Korea, which imports all its fuel needs. China, North Korea's main supplier, is unlikely to agree because that would be potentially destabilising for the Pyongyang regime, but it may impose curbs on the trade, experts say.

China exports about 500,000 tonnes of crude and 270,000 tonnes of products each year, oil industry sources in China say. Russia, the other major supplier of oil to North Korea, exported about 36,000 tonnes of oil products in 2015, the latest year for which figures are available, according to U.N. data.

Russia has already taken over the supply of jet fuel to North Korea after China halted exports two years ago, according to the industry sources in China.

Russia is also the source of foreign exchange for North Korea, mostly from Vladivostok.

The city of 600,000 people, just about 100 km (60 miles) from the border with North Korea, is home to thousands of North Koreans who mainly work on construction or do home renovations. A city web site advertises "Korean Professional Contractors" and says they work "Cheaply and Fast".

One North Korean man, who works as a handyman, told Reuters

he was obliged to hand over a portion of his income - $500  to the North Korean state each month. Thin and in his 30s, he did not disclose his monthly income, but said he charged 4,000 roubles (about $70) for a day's labour.

The man said he had worked in Russia for 11 years, leaving his wife and daughter back home whom he only saw on rare visits.

Like all North Koreans, he wore a badge on his lapel bearing the portrait of late North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung.

"It's better here than in North Korea," said the man, who did not want to be named. "It's a very difficult life there. Here you can make money."

But the most symbolic upturn in ties between Russia and North Korea is the start of regular trips of the Mangyongbong ferry from Monday between Vladivostok and the North Korean town of Rajin.

Vladimir Baranov, the head of Vladivostok-based Investstroitrest company, told Reuters his company had chartered the Mangyongbong and would be the general agent for the ferry route. The ageing boat used to ferry tourists between Japan and North Korea, but Tokyo banned its visits in 2006 as part of sanctions against Pyongyang.

An editorial in Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper described the ferry service to Russia as "a move that puts a damper on international efforts to strengthen the encirclement of North Korea aimed at halting its nuclear and missile development."

Still, despite the differences with the United States and the existing links with North Korea, experts say Russia is unlikely to sharp increase trade with Pyongyang because of its low foreign exchange reserves and general unreliability.

"All trade with North Korea has to be subsidised," said Andrei Lankov, a Russian North Korea expert at Seoul's Kookmin University. "I do not see the Russian government spending its dwindling currency reserves to support the regime they despise and see as incurably ungrateful, and also prone to risky adventurism".






Russia's oil cut exceeds level demanded in OPEC- oil cut pact





MOSCOW

Petroleumworld 05 03 2017

Russia's oil production on May 1 was 300,790 barrels per day (bpd) below the level in October, meaning it has cut output by more than was demanded under a pact between OPEC and other producers, Russia's Energy Ministry said on Wednesday.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, along with Russia and other non-OPEC producers, pledged to cut output by 1.8 million bpd in the first half of 2017.

Under the deal, Russia pledged to reduce its average daily production gradually by 300,000 barrels to 10.947 million bpd from the October level of 11.247 million bpd.

With global crude inventories still bulging, investors are now focussed on whether OPEC and others will agree to extend the cuts to the second half of the year. The issue will be discussed by the group of producers at an OPEC meeting on May 25.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak has said he would meet managers of key Russian oil producer before the OPEC event to discuss extending the cuts. Industry sources say such a meeting has yet to take place.

Novak declined say on Friday on whether Russia would support an extension to the pact. Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich also declined to comment when asked on Wednesday.






Mexico's president and ENI 's CEO meet to discuss early production in Amoca oil field





MEXICO CITY

Petroleumworld 05 03 2017

The President of Mexico Enrique Pena Nieto and Eni's Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi met in Mexico City. During the working meeting, also attended by the Secretary of Energy Pedro Joaquin Coldwell, Mr Descalzi outlined Eni's oil & gas activities and plans in the country, with particular reference to Area 1 (Eni 100%) where Eni has successfully drilled the Amoca-2 well, in the shallow waters of the Campeche Bay , finding oil on several levels with a meaningful upside to original estimates. The well is the first to be drilled by an international oil major in Mexico since the 2013 energy reform.

The central item discussed was the development of the Amoca field, where Eni is studying the possibility of an early production phase, to anticipate the start-up of the field. A new well, Amoca-3, is currently being drilled in an unexplored part of the field that, in case of positive results, might add further reserves.

I consider Mexico a country of great interest for Eni, with a huge potential, Mr Descalzi said. Our engagement in Area 1 is the first step of Eni's growth in Mexico, as we plan to expand our presence in the country in the future. Area 1 is the ideal project to leverage our strong expertise in bringing similar developments on stream, optimizing time to market and costs.

Eni has been present in Mexico since 2006 with a representative office, and created its wholly owned subsidiary Eni Mexico in late 2015.






This piece, titled, The New Plague, depicts life in Philadelphia in the age of COVID. Artist and educator Raphael Tiberino began painting at the age of four and has been in the spotlight as a professional creative for over 25 years.
House Republicans are set to pass a controversial plan to revise key parts of the Affordable Care Act on Thursday, capping weeks of fits and starts to fulfill a signature campaign promise.

"We'll have the votes. This will pass," House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) vowed on Thursday morning.

Final passage of the bill that would dramatically reshape the nation's health-care system is expected by early afternoon. Attention will then shift to the more closely divided U.S. Senate, where formal debate isn't expected to begin until June.

Several White House aides began Thursday morning by texting each other and reporters with two words: "game day." Passage of the bill would be an achievement for President Trump, who has pledged to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, but has struggled to secure legislative wins early in his presidency. And Thursday's vote would be a relief for House Republican leaders, especially Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.), who have failed over several years to unite their ideologically disparate caucus.

The vote caps a haphazard debate that included few public hearings and the hasty revision of key sections of the bill during closed-door meetings at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue designed to secure votes from skeptical conservatives and moderates initially unwilling to support the legislation.

Despite more than six years of campaign pledges to undo the ACA and the recent changes to the legislation, several Republican lawmakers admitted Thursday that they have not read the bill or ignored questions about their understanding of the bill that were shouted by reporters. Republicans have accused Democrats in the past of ramming their health-care bill through without giving members a chance to absorb it  but on Thursday they insisted that they are not doing the same thing.

They argued that their health-care bill is only several hundred pages long, compared with the size of the Affordable Care Act, which ran several thousand pages.

Democrats "put a 2,000 page bill on the table they knew no one had time to read, and we're not doing that," Rep. Morgan Griffith (R., Va.) said.

"This is a rough and tumble exercise that the Founding Fathers anticipated," he added.

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R., N.C.) said he was willing to abandon his previous demands that leaders allow hearings and discussion of the legislation because members had opportunities to weigh in on amendments over the past several days. The decision marks a significant shift for hard-line Freedom Caucus members who have insisted that leaders give them ample time to read legislation and weigh in before a bill comes up for a vote.

"We've had members working with members to come up with real amendments that are getting adopted today," Meadows said. "I can tell you that I have read the bill no less than six times. If they haven't read the bill it is because they haven't spent the time to do that."

Much of the recent contention among Republicans resolved around how to protect patients with expensive, preexisting conditions, prompting several amendments to the bill. Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden presented those changes as improvements to the bill, in a slide presentation Thursday morning to his colleagues.

According to the slides, insurers could charge such patients more only if a number of conditions were met. States would have to get a waiver from the federal government and the individual would have to be uninsured and buying their coverage on the individual market.

Republicans also disregarded the absence of a final cost estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office  Congress's official scorekeeper - on how much the bill would cost and how many people would receive health-care coverage. Several said that last-minute changes to the legislation won't significantly change the final estimates.

"We're still comfortable we're saving billions and billions of dollars," Rep. Chris Collins (R., N.Y.) said.

If the bill passes, it will face a steeper climb in the Senate, where widespread disagreement remains among Republicans about how to proceed on health care. First, the Senate's parliamentarian  or rules-keeper  cannot review the legislation and determine the rules of debate until the CBO submits its official estimate, which could take several more weeks to complete, according to congressional aides. That would mean that official Senate debate on the bill could not begin until June.

Even then, the issue of health care reform is expected to be treated much more skeptically by Republican senators.

"A bill  finalized yesterday, has not been scored, amendments not allowed, and three hours final debate  should be viewed with caution," Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R., S.C.) tweeted on Thursday ahead of the House vote.

Among many other concerns, GOP senators from states that have expanded Medicaid under the ACA have voiced concerns about rollbacks to that program included in the House bill. A trio of conservative senators  Ted Cruz (R., Texas), Mike Lee (R., Utah) and Rand Paul (R., Ky.)  who often buck GOP leaders are another wild card. With just a 52-48 advantage over Democrats, Senate Republicans have a smaller margin for error than their House counterparts.

The House measure may run into other procedural roadblocks in the Senate. The original proposal initially left many of the ACA's insurance regulations alone  with the goal of ensuring it would pass muster with the Senate parliamentarian  but not all of them. The version of the bill the House plans to vote on Thursday would undercut the ACA's insurance regulations even more. That might make it difficult for Republican senators to pass the measure under a procedural maneuver known as "reconciliation," which is usually reserved for budget legislation.

The House bill would also allow insurers to charge older Americans five times what they charge younger people, as opposed to three times as much under current law. And it would enable insurers to hike premiums by 30 percent for people who don't remain continuously covered. Health policy experts, including conservative ones, have noted that the parliamentarian may decide those provisions need to be stripped out to pass it under reconciliation.

No matter when and how Senate debate begins, House Republicans exhibited a palpable sense of relief Thursday that the issue is off their plates  at least for now.

"It wasn't fun," Rep. Lou Barletta (R., Pa.) said.

Meadows, who struggled for weeks to rally his caucus around the measure, said the Senate will make changes he might not necessarily back.

Collins added that "only time will tell" whether the bill will have a chance in the House once the Senate changes it.



David Weigel, Kelsey Snell, Robert Costa and Paul Kane contributed to this report.

Everything is happening so fast  or at least that's how it feels trying to follow politics these days. You've seen the headlines about President Trump and his policies  but what do they mean for Philadelphia? What does that mean for you? We're launching a newsletter to explore just that. Sign up here.
A four-vote victory in the House does not bode well for the future of ill-conceived, Republican-crafted legislation designed to kill "Obamacare" when it reaches the Senate. But that doesn't seem to matter to its proponents, who apparently care more about adding a check mark to President Trump's skimpy list of accomplishments so far than helping sick people.

Among its flaws is the Republican bill's proposal to cut Medicaid funding by $880 billion over 10 years, which is about half the increase that President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act provides to expand Medicaid coverage. Someone should remind Trump he promised not to cut Medicaid when he ran for president. Cutting Medicaid could lead to up to 24 million fewer Americans having health coverage than if the Affordable Care Act is left in place.

But the pain doesn't stop there. The so-called Affordable Health Care Act cobbled together by Republicans includes an amendment offered by Rep. Tom McArthur (R., N.J.) that would essentially invalidate the Obamacare guarantee of insurance coverage for people with preexisting conditions. Insurance companies would still have to offer coverage, but could charge much higher rates than they do to other policyholders.

The likelihood of insurance companies collecting excessive premiums is addressed in the GOP bill, but inadequately. The bill would create high-risk insurance pools for people with major medical expenses, but it doesn't put enough money into the program to cover the expected need.

Just how bad the Republican bill is isn't known because the rush to get it passed didn't allow time for the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to complete an analysis of the latest version. A CBO analysis of the bill in March concluded that 14 million more people would lack insurance by next year, including up to six million who, without a mandate that includes a tax penalty, would simply choose not to buy health insurance.

The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center estimates that under the House-passed bill up to 1.3 million Pennsylvanians will lose their coverage, more than 3,200 people will die because they lack coverage, and the health of five million people with preexisting conditions will be placed in jeopardy. "This legislation was never about improving health care. It was about giving $500 billion in tax breaks to the very wealthy and to big insurance companies and drug companies," said Policy Center director Marc Stier.

Passing a bill that does more harm than good proves that the ongoing effort to scuttle the Affordable Care Act isn't really about improving the health of Americans. It's about fulfilling a seven-year pledge by Republicans in Congress to deprive Obama of what  despite their efforts  is likely to be his most enduring legacy.

Even if Republicans erode the progress made so far, they won't be able to erase the fact that, were it not for Obama's perseverance, millions of Americans wouldn't have health coverage today.

Trump said after Thursday's close 217-213 vote that he was confident the Republican-controlled Senate would follow the House's lead. He shouldn't be so sure of that. The public's reaction to Congress' continued and blatant politicization of how Americans afford health coverage may have something to do with that.
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Alaska: Greg Boswell and Will Sim climb two big new climbs routes above Buckskin Glacier

04.05.2017 by by Planetmountain

In April 2017 Greg Boswell and Will Sim made the first ascent of two big new alpine climbs in the Central Alaskan Range: Beastiality up Bear's Tooth and Shark Fishing on a mountain on the opposite side of the Buckskin Glacier.

Last month the expert British alpinists Greg Boswell (26) and Will Sim (27) travelled to the upper reaches of the Buckskin Glacier in the Central Alaskan Range where, during an exceptional spell of good weather, they made the first ascents of two big routes. The first is called Beastiality and takes a breathtaking and line up the South East face of the Bears Tooth , while the second is called Shark Fishing and is potentially the first route up the mountain opposite Bears Tooth. With Beastiality being described as "world-class" and Shark Fishing we decide to check in to find out more.



Greg, how did this Alaska trip come about?

To be honest, I have been wanting to go to Alaska for a few years now, I nearly sorted a trip back in 2014 but it fell through. I went this year literally because I got an out of the blue Facebook message from Will earlier this winter asking what I was up to in the spring, and if I wanted to go to Alaska? I said I was keen and we booked flights. It was that simple.

What did you expect?

I was expecting big scary mountains and very cold temperatures! I had prepared myself to suffer a fair bit whilst on the glacier but the thought of climbing on such immaculate granite faces made it all worthwhile. We were going out with very open minds as to what we would climb. We had one real objective, but we wouldve been happy to just get a load of climbing done regardless of routes or locations.

This was your first time there. What didn't you expect?

I wasnt expecting to get the unbelievable weather that we encountered whilst on the glacier. We were super lucky to get wall-to-wall sunshine for the 15 days that we were on the Buckskin. The temps were cold but never so cold that you wished you werent there! The bivouacs high on the routes were so peaceful, out of the glacial wind that came every night whilst at basecamp.

So tell us about the new routes

Our main objective for the trip, despite having very few thoughts of success, was a breathtaking line up the South East face of the Bears Tooth above the Buckskin Glacier. Will had some info from a friend who'd attempted a line to the left of our intended route back in 2006, but in reality we knew very little about our objective. We followed in most part the huge couloir system that cut up through the steep face, but we were forced right onto the granite wall twice due to poor and dangerous rock in the lower chimneys. We eventually regained the steep icy runnels and followed these to the summit ridge, which we ascended for another 300m to the summit of the Bears Tooth. We called the 1400m, 30 pitch extravaganza Beastiality and believe it was home to some of the best pitches of granite mixed climbing that either of us have done. World-class!

This was then followed up with another climb

Yes, our second route of the trip was a line we had spotted whilst climbing on the Bears Tooth. It was an obvious line straight up the smaller face on the opposite side of the glacier. Despite being a shorter line, the route was very sustained with hard climbing all the way. It was a mix of steep and bold snow/ice runnels and perfect mixed chimneys in its upper half. We climbed until 11:30pm on the first night and had a cold bivi on a steep snow patch below a cool shark shaped boulder. The second day was short lived with only a couple more mixed pitches before reaching the immaculate alpine ridge that led to the summit. We called the route Shark Fishing due to the fact that when we were hauling the leaders pack, the second had to assist by pulling on the haul line to free the bag from the overlaps and chimneys. We laughed and joked that it was like trying to reel in a huge struggling shark, plus as the bivi was under the shark shaped boulder, it felt like a fitting name.

How independent are they?

Both routes are fully independent with Beastiality taking the huge right-hand couloir system beside the route (attempted line) of House of the Rising Sun. But we took a very different approach to reach the main wall as we didnt want to climb the dangerous icefield below. We climbed the mixed couloir to the left of the seracs. Shark Fishing is potentially the first route up that mountain (still waiting to get conformation), so you dont get much more independent than that.

What about about the style of ascent and their overall grades or difficulties?

We freed both lines, climbing and working out all our wrong turns and problems as we came to them, it was an awesome adventure! We rapped the lines to descend, mostly V-threads where we could or trad pieces. No bolts. As to the grades: we didn't give the routes overall grades, all we did was state: Dry, Mixed and Ice at the highest level! We felt that anyone looking to climb either route in such a location should get the full adventure of finding out what the climbing is like as they move through the route, as we did. Also the routes may change so much that a specific grade might not be relevant in icy years or dryer seasons. At least people now know the lines are doable and where to go rather than finding dead ends like we did on a couple of occasions.

How much gear did you take with you?

We took basically just enough so that we didnt have to start rationing our food during the ascent. Two bagels a day each, one for breakfast and one for during the day, and a freeze dried meal for the bivis. Then just the usual, half a mat for sitting on and a sleeping bag, stove and two small gas cans. Plus, climbing gear and down jackets. We were hauling one bag due to the nature of the technical climbing, so it felt OK having full bags.

4 days were spent on Beastiality - that's quite a push out in the mountains! Is there anything you wouldn't do again?

Yeah 4 days it was nice to spend the time and nice weather days on the mountain. The style we climbed that route in worked out fine so we adopted the same tactics for our second climb. So no, Id probably say theres nothing we would change. It all worked well.
To listen to excerpts of emergency communications during response to the shooting of two Chicago police officers Tuesday night, go to the Chicago Tribune.

Two plainclothes Chicago police officers wounded in the Back of the Yards neighborhood Tuesday night were shot with a high-powered rifle in an area where street gangs have been increasingly using AR- and AK-style long guns, police report.

Investigators have seized a rifle believed to have been used in the attack, along with a handgun. They also arrested three people and were searching for others, according to police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.

One officer was hit in the arm and hip, the other in the back. Both were recovering at home Wednesday after spending the night in Stroger Hospital, Guglielmi told the Chicago Tribune.

In a statement, the CPD said the shooting took place about 9:10 p.m. Tuesday when two vehicles pulled up and the occupants began firing shots indiscriminately in the direction of the officers.

The officers returned fire, but they apparently didn't hit anyone, the department said.

The two officers had been following up on an earlier investigation, police said. According to sources, the two had been investigating a gang-related shooting that left a 15-year-old boy wounded in the left leg about 6:35 p.m. Tuesday. That shooting took place about 3 miles from where the officers were shot.
David Watson, who was convicting of attempting to murder a Delaware police officer, escaped last Friday and was captured Wednesday by Maryland officers. (Photo: Howard County PD)

An escaped inmate convicted of the attempted murder of a Delaware police officer was captured on Wednesday, ending a five-day manhunt that involved the U.S. Marshals Service and at least six other law enforcement teams, police said.

Police found David Watson, 28, hiding in a small drainage pipe in a wooded area of Jessup, Maryland, near the hospital he was being transported to when he escaped from custody last Friday, according to the Howard County Police Department.

"Although the pipe had been confirmed empty earlier in the day, officers with night vision equipment rechecked the area after dark," the department said late Wednesday. "They found Watson laying inside, attempting to hide."

Watson surrendered and was taken into custody at around 10 p.m., police told ABC News.

Watson escaped last week while being transported in a van from the Wicomico County Corrections Center to the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center in Jessup to undergo a regular six-month psychiatric evaluation, the Howard County Police Department said.

Watson was sentenced to more than 100 years in Delaware for attempted murder. He reportedly shot at a Delaware police officer's house in 2012. He is also facing charges in Wicomico County, Maryland, for multiple counts of attempted murder.
Louisiana's attorney general said Wednesday the state will launch its own investigation into the shooting death of Alton Sterling by Baton Rouge Police last year.

Attorney General Jeff Landry, a Republican, made the announcement shortly after the Justice Department confirmed it would not pursue federal criminal charges against Baton Rouge officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II, who were recorded on video in an altercation with Alton Sterling.

Landry said Louisiana State Police would conduct the investigation for possible state criminal violations, US News & World Report says.

The officers said Sterling, during the incident, reached for a gun that was found in his pocket.
Officer Coleman Martin was the subject of a statewide manhunt after authorities found a suicide note in his abandoned car. It is believed he staged his own death and fled to Mexico in order to be with a woman who was not his wife. (Photo: Dallas PD)

An Austin police officer who is accused of staging his own suicide and fleeing to the interior of Mexico has been arrested in Dallas.

APD Chief of Police Brian Manley says Officer Coleman Martin was taken into custody at the airport without incident on a warrant for a false alarm or report, a Class A misdemeanor.

Martin was released from jail on Thursday and will be placed on restricted duty, KXAN TV reports.

A suicide note found in Martins abandoned vehicle triggered a massive search operation, using air assets, boats, dive teams and other ground efforts, using local, state and federal resources, police say.

The Austin Police Association has apologized to a half dozen agencies for wasting resources on a false alarm.
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After a drawn-out fight among two factions of the Republican Party, the House GOP is set to hold a vote on unpopular Trumpcare on Thursday in hopes of advancing the legislation to the Senate, and ultimately Donald Trumps desk.

According to Politico, the vote will take place on Thursday and will likely come down to the wire, with very little room for error.

More from Politico:

Republican leaders have called a vote on a plan to replace the health care law, signaling surging confidence that theyre on the cusp of earning enough support to pass it. Though its still unclear if House Speaker Ryan and his team have commitments from the 216 members necessary to pass the bill, scheduling a vote suggests they believe theyre closer than ever. The moment still promises to be heart-pounding. About 18 Republican lawmakers are publicly opposed to the GOP plan, leaving leaders room for only a handful of additional defections. And at least two-dozen members still publicly undecided. House vote-counters crisscrossed the chamber late Wednesday, pigeonholing reluctant colleagues in a last-ditch bid to put the measure over the top.

Just this hour, GOP Congressman Kevin McCarthy told NBC News that Republicans do, in fact, have the votes to advance the legislation after struggling for weeks to gain enough support among members of their own party.

The obvious downside is that this measure would, if signed into law by Trump, result in tens of millions of Americans losing their insurance, eliminate essential health benefits that save lives, and roll back protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions.

The small sliver of good news is that the legislation must get through the Senate before it hits the presidents desk  and thats where it will likely die.

According to The Hill, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that the latest version of the GOP health care legislation has virtually no chance of becoming law.

The reality is Trumpcare cannot pass the Senate, he added.

If that holds, it will be welcome news for millions of Americans worried tonight about losing coverage that helps them survive  all so Donald Trump and Republicans can score an empty political victory.
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Republicans, whose economic agenda is basically written by and for Wall Street, are now threatening to go after former President Obamas pension after it was revealed that the former president will accept money for a speech hes delivering to  Wall Street.

According to USA TODAY, GOP Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah  in response to Obamas planned $400,000 speech to Wall Street  will reintroduce legislation to curb pensions of former presidents.

More from USA TODAY:

Last year, then-president Barack Obama vetoed a bill that would have curbed the pensions of former presidents if they took outside income of $400,000 or more. So now that former president Barack Obama has decided to accept $400,000 for an upcoming Wall Street speech, the sponsors of that bill say theyll reintroduce that bill in hopes that President Trump will sign it. The Obama hypocrisy on this issue is revealing, said Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and sponsor of the 2016 bill. His veto was very self-serving. Chaffetz and Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, the sponsor of the companion Senate bill, say they will re-introduce the Presidential Allowance Modernization Act this month.

Like just about every other president in modern history, Obama plans to give paid speeches after hes out of office. His upcoming speech to Wall Street likely wont be the last in what will probably be a long list of post-presidency speeches to various organizations.

Why do Republicans suddenly feel that presidents should now be punished for delivering paid speeches just because its Obama whos doing it?

Ill leave that to others to speculate on.

Ultimately, one thing is clear: Even when Barack Obama isnt in the White House, Republicans in Congress are trying to bring him down.

Once again, theyll likely fail.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) wasted no time in immediately mobilizing the opposition that will be needed to kill Trumpcare in the US Senate.

In a statement provided to PoliticusUSA, Sen. Sanders said, The bill that Republicans passed today is an absolute disaster. It really has nothing to do with health care. It has everything to do with an enormous shift of wealth from working people to the richest Americans. This bill would throw 24 million people off of health insurance  including thousands of Vermonters  cut Medicaid by $880 billion, defund Planned Parenthood and substantially increase premiums on older Americans. Meanwhile, it would provide a $300 billion tax break to the top 2 percent and hundreds of billions more to the big drug and insurance companies that are ripping off the American people. Our job now is to rally millions of Americans against this cruel bill to make sure that it does not pass the Senate. Instead of throwing tens of millions of people off of health insurance, we must guarantee health care as a right to all.

Senate Republicans are already pronouncing the House version of the bill dead on arrival. The Senate version of the legislation will have to be more moderate, but once the Senate changes the House bill, it will require 60 votes to pass.

Whatever more moderate bill the Senate passes is likely to fail when it goes back to the House.

Sen. Sanders accurately described the legislation that the House passed. It is highly unlikely that the current bill could attract the support of a majority in the Senate. As a member of Senate leadership, Sen. Sanders is in charge of outreach for Senate Democrats. His statement was the first in a series of outreach efforts that are designed to get the base mobilized and fired up to stop Trumpcare.

Bernie Sanders isnt taking any chances. The Senator from Vermont is building an army for the Senate Democrats, and their mission is the defeat and destruction of Trumpcare.
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The group Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good (CACG) is calling on US Senators to stand up and stop the House Republican health care bill, which they described as unwanted and immoral.

CAGC Executive Director Christopher Hale said in a statement:

We watched today from the gallery as Members of Congress pumped themselves up to Rocky entering the chambers. They cheered and high fived. They had carts of booze and liquor rolled in.

And then they walked on the floor of the United States Congress and voted for the AHCAa bill that will take away health care from 24 million Americans and allow insurance companies to discriminate against those who are fighting cancer, leukemia, and diabetes.

The American people didnt want this. The American people deserve better.

We call on the Senate to stop this immoral bill and to heed the words of Pope Francis: health care is a rightnot a privilege.

House Republicans were celebrating voting for a bill that would harm hundreds of millions (at least 154 million) Americans who would either lose their health care or face the potential loss of their coverage due to having a pre-existing condition.

The behavior of House Republicans was almost as despicable as their vote for a bill that was as close to a legislative act of evil as America has ever seen. The pressure is now on the Senate to right this moral wrong and kill the health care bill.

No one outside of the wealthy and Republican ideologues wants this bill to become law. The countrys moral conscience is calling out for the Senate to do the right thing, and if they dont, Americans will have to elect a new group of Senators who will.
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If you thought you were safe from the perils of Trumpcare because you dont have a preexisting condition and get your insurance from your employer, take a deep breath. Trumpcare offers a backdoor way to gut employer plans.

Many people think they are safe from Trumpcare because they have an employer-sponsored plan. This is not accurate. Half of all Americans are at risk due to Trumpcare, which House Republicans will be voting on shortly.

The Wall Street Journal noted, Many people who obtain health insurance through their employersabout half of the countrycould be at risk of losing protections that limit out-of-pocket costs for catastrophic illnesses, due to a little-noticed provision of the House Republican health-care bill to be considered Thursday, health-policy experts say.

This is no small thing.

Its huge, Andy Slavitt, who ran Medicare, Medicaid & the ACA for President Obama, told the Wall Street Journal. Theyre creating a backdoor way to gut employer plans, too.

And More than 100 million people get insurance through their employer, Think Progress Tara Culp-Ressler explained.

Its not just the loss of the essential health benefit standards we got courtesy of President Obamas Obamacare regulations (before that, if you dont remember, the insurance companies could deny basic coverage).

Brookings broke it down, Suppose that even one state secured a waiver that allowed it to drop maternity services, mental health services, or prescription drugs from the definition of essential health benefitsa plausible scenario since these services were commonly not covered in individual market plans prior to the ACA and since waivers would be easy to obtain. In this case, a large employer plan that wanted to impose an annual or lifetime on limit on these services could simply adopt that states definition of essential health benefits In a more extreme, but still plausible, scenario in which even one state elected to completely eliminate its essential health benefit standards, the requirement to provide these protections would effectively disappear entirely for large employer plans nationwide.

Citizens should be aware that preexisting condition will change as well. Under Trumpcare, being raped or abused is a preexisting condition and if you need treatment for that, well. Thats your problem. So is having a C-section or PPD. Thats just fine, Im sure, for all of the conservatives who hate Obamacare and dont realize that before Obamacare, rape was a preexisting condition.

For all of the people who hated Obamacare, they are about to find out what it really is and how they are actually using it and benefiting from it.

Donald Trump pushed Republicans to vote on his bill even though it hasnt been scored by the CBO, there have been zero town halls on it, and there will be supposedly one hour of debate  compared to over a year of debate for Obamacare.

Not to worry, though, as Republicans are safe from their decisions for your healthcare. Yes, theres a handy provision in Trumpcare that the new law wont apply to Representatives and Senators. Which is perfect, because Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) arrived to Congress on a scooter after surgery on his way to vote for a bill that will deny you the same coverage he just used.

But once busted by Vox on this provision, Republicans claim that later, after they pass the version of Trumpcare that gives them Obamacare but gives the general public Trumpcare, they will be sure to fix this loophole. in a later piece of legislation.

Also, perhaps a nice piece of land to sell you in Florida.

So Republicans are keeping Obamacare for themselves, but you all get Trumpcare. Which one do you think they think is better?

The only people who are sure to be safe from Trumpcare are the Republicans whose bill it is. Ironic, and predictable at this point.
GREENVILLE  South Carolina suffers from a brain drain. Addressing this brain drain is the biggest challenge and the biggest opportunity for South Carolina to improve our economy. Read moreCommentary: SC loses too many of its college graduates. Here's how to keep more of them.
Nygare Gilo was a busy man.

The Austin pastor-in-training, rose before 6 a.m. every morning, running his wife to work before returning home to get his seven children ready for school. After dropping the kids off at school, he'd head to Our Saviors Lutheran Church in Austin, where he was a lay pastor.

He'd spend his evenings doing hospital visits, pick his wife up from work and plan and hold Bible studies.

Gilo, an Anyuak immigrant, a father, a hard worker, settled in Austin to be near the growing number of his people, without a pastor. After a six-year process, Gilo was just weeks away from becoming an ordained pastor when he died. He was 43.

"He was the hub of an entire community," said Senior Pastor Chad Johnson of Our Saviors Lutheran Church.

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While his death shocked his family, the community is remembering him as a dedicated friend who was quick to offer rides to those without transportation, and someone who'd act as a translator for those in his community when they had a job interview.

"He told me everyday, all I want to do is love and serve my people," Johnson said. "He'd always do it with a smile on his face."

Gilo made his way to the U.S. in 1994, by way of a refugee camp in Kenya. Born in South Sudan, he grew up in a village called Gog Jangjor, in the Gambela region of Ethiopia, said his childhood friend Abuola Cham.

At an early age he was very outgoing and friendly, Cham said. "He stood out as a leader from am early age ... and was always wearing a big smile."

Kwot and Nygare were inseparable growing up, made the journey to the U.S. together and even look alike. Kwot said there's been many occasions when people will give him a double take.

"We look exactly the same, you cannot tell the difference between us," he said.

Life in a new country was difficult for Gilo after he and his brother made the trip to the U.S. That's when he found a strong relationship with God, and realized he wanted to devote his life to helping others.

"At that time, he didn't have an idea that he would be a pastor, or a leader in the church, he just wanted to be a good Christian and take care of his family," Cham said.

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"He started from scratch, started from the bottom," Johnson said. "It took him time to get his feet on the ground, but once he got here in Austin and connected with churches, he really developed the ministry."

He began taking religious courses in 2010 through the TEEM Program at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California, and ended up in Austin, where there were many Anyuak people in need of a pastor, said his brother Kwot Gilo. The church now has more than 120 Anyuak immigrants that attend, Johnson said, for whom Gilo is the primary preacher and teacher.

Nygare, training with the Lutheran synod, believed all were welcome at church. He would help anyone, regardless of their life story, said his brother. He'd keep people abreast of changes in immigration policy and employment form updates.

He was deeply committed to his Anyuak people, who reside between the border of Ethiopia and South Sudan. He's made numerous trips back to Gambela to build a church, and had a return trip planned to build a larger building and to spend some time post-ordination investing in the community leaders there.

He was also a spokesperson for South Sudan Ministries in the SE Minnesota Synod to build a Lutheran center in South Sudan's capitol city, Juba, with the hope of offering medical care and education.

But with everything he was involved with, he really was the ultimate family person, Johnson said.

"He lived life to the full, he didn't hold anything back," he said.
1. What are we celebrating?

It is the 155th anniversary of the Mexican army's victory over France at the Battle of Puebla. It's not, as is commonly believed, Mexico's independence day  that's Sept. 16. Cinco de Mayo is a relatively minor holiday in Mexico, but in the U.S., the holiday has evolved into a general celebration of Mexican culture and heritage.

2. Are there many Mexicans in Rochester?

Actually, yes! Mexicans are, by far, the city's largest Hispanic or Latino group, with 4,588 residents in 2015, the U.S. Census Bureau's most recent estimate.

3. Eat your fill.

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Rochester Magazine's Best Mexican Dish two years running? The enchiladas at La Poblana. General Manager Tio Ramirez says the restaurant's two locations (Barlow Plaza, 37th Street) will have those, plus a few new dishes specially whipped up for Cinco. A mariachi band may even be in the works. Other spots with food and drink specials include Fiesta Cafe and Hefe Rojo, which plans a full fiesta including DJ, door prizes, games and dancing.

4. Quench your thirst.

Two Rochester craft breweries are offering special beers for the holiday. LTS Brewing debuts Dia Festivo, its take on a Vienna lager, along with a fajita bar from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. And Kinney Creek Brewery brings back Controlled Burn, a special Cinco brew made with peppers, chocolate, honey and molasses.

5. Up for a challenge?

Fill that hollow leg at Carlos O'Kelly's. Eat five enchiladas and a taco in under 10 minutes and you have completed the El Guapo Challenge. Befitting its name ("el guapo" means "the handsome one"), you'll be handsomely rewarded with a T-shirt and perhaps a mention in Carlos O'Kelly's social media, not to mention your food is free. (This challenge used to be more challenging  a 4-pound burrito  but things got a little too messy, says General Manager Corey Schaefer. Still, the current challenge is "a pretty fair amount of food.")

6. The great outdoors.

La Poblana debuts its patio seating at both locations Friday. And the outdoors gets even greater at the Tap House's Beer Street Social, Cinco de Mayo edition, with food, brews, live music, and a drawing for six trips to Cancun. It runs from 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Historic Third Street.
ST. PAUL  A Rochester lawmaker on Wednesday urged colleagues to support adding $21 million to a public works bill for needed renovation work at Rochester Community and Technical College .

"They have parts of this building where it snows indoors. They have parts of this building where it rains regularly indoors and they have bucket brigades," said Rep. Duane Sauke, DFL-Rochester.

The RCTC project calls for demolishing Plaza and Memorial halls to get rid of outdated classroom space that is in poor condition. The project also involves renovating existing classrooms and taking care of more than $4 million in deferred maintenance. But so far, the proposal has struggled to gain traction in St. Paul.

Last year, it failed to make it into a $1 billion construction package even though it was ranked seventh on Minnesota State's priority list. Other lower-ranked projects leap-frogged RCTC's request. The $1 billion bonding bill advancing in the Senate is nearly identical to last year's failed proposal and does not include funding for RCTC. The project is in DFL Gov. Mark Dayton's $1.5 billion public works proposal .

Sauke told members of the House Capital Investment Committee that the project is sorely needed. He offered an amendment to add funding for the project to the House bill.

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"Most of us would not even think about living in a structure like this. Most of us would not leave our business in a structure like this. We would have moved to another place," he said.

But Sauke withdrew his amendment request after House Capital Investment Committee Chairman Dean Urdahl made clear he would not support efforts to add any projects to the $600 million bill. He told members the bill is a starting point and he expects it to grow as budget negotiations continue.

"This will be changed. I am certain it will be bigger than it is today," said Urdahl, R-Grove City.

Even so, Democrats and several testifiers voiced frustration with the bill's size. More than 60 people spoke before the committee to implore additional projects be added to the bill.

Brian Yolitz, Minnesota State's associate vice chancellor for facilities, said the bill does not provide enough funding for critical upgrades at state-run colleges and universities. The measure provides a total of $36 million for Minnesota State.

"We respectfully submit that this is not enough investment to take care of our buildings and infrastructure required at our 54 campuses," Yolitz said.

Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Myron Frans told committee members the state received more than $3.7 billion in construction funding requests last year. The House bill funds 16 percent of those requests.

"We have the resources to make these investments," Frans said.

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But Urdahl defended the Republicans' $600 million plan. He told the audience that the measure prioritizes critical investments in roads, bridges and wastewater.

"The goal is to do a bonding bill that will serve the interests of the people of Minnesota as best we can with certain constraints we face," Urdahl said.

A number of local projects are included in the House proposal. They include $15 million for a rail grade separation at the Prairie Island Indian Community , $3.6 million to fix the crumbling Lanesboro Dam and $1.5 million to expand the Dyslexia Institute of Minnesota in Rochester.

Projects that failed to make it into last year's bonding proposal appear to face an uphill climb getting added to this year's House bill. Urdahl said the focus this year is to pass some of the project that should have been approved last time. That's not good news for RCTC since it wasn't in last year's bill.

In response to Sauke's pitch in support of RCTC, Urdahl said, "I look forward to next year working with you on this. I recognize there is a need."

Sauke also offered three other amendments to fund basic building repairs at RCTC that totaled nearly $2.5 million. He withdrew those after making his case that more funding is needed for the state's college systems.

Rep. Jeanne Poppe, DFL-Austin, also urged lawmakers to fund Winona State University's $25 million Education Village project . The money would create state-of-the-art classroom space for the college's teaching program. She said Riverland College partners closely with WSU when it comes to teacher training and getting the project completed will benefit the entire region. Similar to Sauke, she offered and then withdrew an amendment to fund the project.

Poppe added, "I'm just asking for consideration, so I'd like this to be included in a bonding bill as hopefully it does grow and include additional things."

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The committee approved the bonding bill on a voice vote and sent it to the House Ways and Means Committee.
Jennifer Shumaker said she wasn't called "private" during the first of her 26 years in the Army National Guard. She was "Jennifer" until she became "sergeant."

It wasn't the same for her male counterparts, who were routinely beckoned and addressed by their ranks.

For Shumaker, who is now a veterans service officer for Olmsted County, it's just one of the many ways women were treated differently in the military, even as they took on the same roles as their male counterparts. Having served two active-duty tours  one in Afghanistan and one as support in the United States  she said she's seen women serve their country with distinction.

During one tour, the former motor transport operator noted her unit's first encounter with an improvised bomb was in a vehicle driven and occupied by two women in their first years of service. Both survived and continued on their mission, perhaps shaken but ready to fulfill their duties.

"They reacted like soldiers," Shumaker said. "It didn't matter that they were women."

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Still, she said female veterans are too often overlooked. She said they can be passed over by some service organizations and too often people don't understand they've been in war zones for decades.

Additionally, Ashley Laganiere noted female veterans sometimes sell themselves short. She said they too often view themselves as caretakers, putting their male counterparts ahead of themselves.

"A lot of women don't self-identify as veterans," said Laganiere, who served four years in the Army National Guard before a training-related injury ended what she had hoped would be a full-time career.

Now a woman veterans coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs, Laganiere works to make sure women are getting equitable benefits for their service.

Knowing many women aren't making connections with their fellow veterans, Shumaker and Laganiere said they jumped at the chance to help organize what will be the first-ever Women Veterans Gala in Olmsted County .

The idea for the May 18 event started with Rich Daly, former commander of the local Disabled American Veterans organization. A member of several other local veterans groups, he said it dawned on him that many have male-oriented legacies.

He's hoping the event will help change some of that.

"It just crossed my mind that this event could inform and recognize women veterans in southeast Minnesota in a way that hasn't been done before," he said.

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Hosted by the DAV and Olmsted County Veteran Services, the free event has already signed up more than 100 veterans from those who served during World War II to those who still don the uniform on a regular basis. Registration remains open through Friday.

Shumaker said she expects the event will help veteran connect in new ways. She said even as a veterans service officer she has been surprised to discover a co-worker had served, which led to a new connection for both of them as women veterans.

Laganiere said those connections are important. As a Elgin-Millville High School junior, she joined the National Guard, delaying basic training until after graduation but still participating in weekend drills. Then, during basic training, she was injured, which upended plans and eventually brought her back to southeast Minnesota, where she slipped into the role of college student.

Yet, as a 19-year-old disabled veteran, she felt disconnected.

"I didn't have that connection with other women who served," she said, noting she hopes the gala can help forge connections.

"I think a lot of people will meet each other and have a lot of meaningful conversations," she said.
ST. PAUL  Republicans are moving to erase Minnesota's public campaign subsidies, which could reshape the fundraising fight in next year's gubernatorial election and unleash more money into statewide and local elections.

Passed in 1974 as part of an anti-corruption wave triggered by President Richard Nixon's Watergate scandal, Minnesota's subsidy has become ingrained in state elections. With all 201 legislative seats up for grabs last year, nearly nine of every 10 candidates agreed to limit their total campaign spending. In return, they shared in $2.2 million in public funding.

In 2014, when both Gov. Mark Dayton and Republican challenger Jeff Johnson accepted subsidies, that public money accounted for more than 20 percent of the $4.5 million spent on the race.

But Republicans say the program is little more than welfare for politicians  and typically helps Democrats more. Democrats argue ending the subsidy will hurt less affluent candidates, and increase the influence of outside groups.

"There has been lots of pressure to try to weaken those laws," said Democratic Sen. John Marty, a longtime advocate for campaign finance reform. "They have had great success assaulting the laws here and other states, largely through the courts."

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Minnesota is one of 13 states with a publicly funded campaign subsidy program. States like Maine, New Mexico, Connecticut and Arizona fully fund campaigns with state money, while others, like Florida, Hawaii and Minnesota, have hybrid systems that are a mix of public and private money.

Nick Nyhart, president of Every Voice Center, an advocacy group for publicly funded elections, said the subsidies make it possible for candidates to get elected without having to cozy up to lobbyists, special interest groups and wealthy donors.

"Politicians who want to decrease the voice of everyday voters ... are completely out of step with American voters," he said. "I think there are always incumbent politicians and special interest lobbyists who would prefer to see greater power in fewer hands."

In Minnesota, residents can check a box on their tax forms indicating whether they want money to go to the subsidy and which party should get it. More money generally flows to Democrats since the state has traditionally leaned that direction.

Candidates have to raise a certain amount of money to qualify for subsidies; in return for the money, they agree to spending limits. Gubernatorial candidates can spend about $5.2 million; legislative candidates only about $63,000.

Rep. Matt Dean, a Republican running for governor in 2018, favors ending the subsidy, even though he won't rule out using it if it's still around next year. He said what's needed is more transparency in where campaign money is coming from, and the subsidy doesn't help with that.

"I think the biggest change over time since I have been here is the explosion of outside money and groups that have gone into races," said Dean, of Dellwood. "With or without (spending limits), that is going to be the case."

Republican Rep. Sarah Anderson, a lead advocate for ending the subsidy, put forward another argument. She said incumbents who get the subsidy but don't need it often send it to their political parties, where it can be used in more competitive races.

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Dayton didn't take the subsidy in 2010, tapping his personal fortune to outspend Republican Tom Emmer $4.7 million to $2.8 million as he won his first term. Four years later, he chose to take it, receiving more than $540,000 to Johnson's less than $400,000.

Dayton said he's against eliminating the subsidy, calling it "one of the last remaining incentives for candidates to limit their campaign spending."

St. Paul Rep. Erin Murphy, a Democratic candidate for governor, also supports keeping the subsidy. She said it allows candidates to spend more time with constituents and less time courting high-profile donors.

"It puts the brakes on some of the egregious spending that we have seen in other parts of the country," she said.

The public money is critical to third-party candidates and their smaller campaigns, Independence Party chairman Phil Fuhrer said. He said his party's candidate for governor in 2014 was doomed before he started because he couldn't raise enough money to qualify for the subsidy. The IP lost its major party status in Minnesota that year because none of its statewide candidates for governor and other constitutional offices got the required 5 percent.
Two key moderate Republicans say they will support a Republican plan to replace Obamacare. I put the word replace in quotation marks because I think the word improve better describes what the proposal does.

The two Republicans are Reps. Fred Upton (Michigan) and Billy Long (Missouri). They were won over after a visit to the White House by the addition to the existing proposal of $8 billion in funds over five years to supplement the insurance of people with pre-existing health problems.

Upton predicted that the bill now would likely pass. Hes an old Washington hand  a true insider  so I take his prediction seriously. But Upton hedges his prediction by saying likely, so I gather that the votes arent quite there yet.

The vote could come tomorrow. The House is scheduled to adjourn on Friday until May 16.

Democrats argue that the $8 billion to supplement insurance for people with pre-existing conditions isnt enough. Robert Pear and Thomas Kaplan of the New York Times discuss that debate here.

Peter Nelson of the Center of the American Experiment argues here that, even without the $8 billion, the proposed Obamacare improvement legislation would strengthen pre-existing condition protection.

UPDATE: Ive been informed that the Whips office has notified Republican members that the vote will, indeed, occur tomorrow.
I am sad to report that Leo Thorsness has died at the age of 85. Meeting him was perhaps the most awesome experience I owe to writing for Power Line. I had the great good fortune of meeting Colonel Thorsness in the summer of 2008 through the offices of McCain campaign midwest spokesman Tom Steward (now with Center of the American Experiment).

When Tom invited me to meet with Leo (as I came to know him) in St. Paul as he toured on behalf of Senator McCain, I vaguely recalled him as a Vietnam veteran who had narrowly lost a 1974 Senate race to George McGovern in the toxic afermath of Watergate. That recollection proved accurate, but his record contained a few other items of interest.

Leo was a native Minnesotan, having been born into a farm family near Walnut Grove, Minnesota, and graduated from Walnut Grove High School in 1950. He attended South Dakota State College, where he met his wife in the freshman registration line. In January 1951 he enlisted in the Air Force and graduated from pilot school in 1954. He was a career fighter pilot, reaching the rank of colonel and accumulating 5,000 hours of flying time.

Colonel Thorsness flew 92-and-a-half Wild Weasel missions over North Vietnam. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on a Wild Weasel mission on April 19, 1967, 11 days before being shot down. His Medal of Honor citation provides the outline of the heroics for which he was recognized.

I found it almost unbelievable that the heroics he displayed on his Medal of Honor mission were followed by further displays of heroism approximating the valor he displayed on the mission. When he was shot down by an air to air missile in late April 1967, he ejected from his exploding fighter doing 690 miles per hour, injuring both knees and sustaining multiple fractures of his back. Like John McCain, he was tied up for the next six years. He was captured and held as a prisoner of war in the Hanoi Hilton and several other North Vietnamese hellholes, including the one known as Camp Punishment, reserved for especially difficult cases.

His Medal of Honor was kept a secret so that the North Vietnamese would not use the citation against him and aggravate the conditions of his captivity. As it was, he was tortured unmercifully for the first three years.

Upon his capture, he was tortured in interrogation for 19 days and 18 nights, without sleep. It took them 18 days to break me, he told me when I first met him in the summer of 2008. Eighteen days! As I sat listening to him, I thought someone has to write up this story.

Fortunately, someone did. Colonel Thorsness himself did so. His memoir Surviving Hell: A POWs Journey was published in late 2008 by Encounter Books. After I raved about it on Power Line, Encounter Books publisher Roger Kimball invited me to write the introduction for the paperback edition.

At 127 pages, the book is brief and understated. In its own modest way, though, it is a great book. For the past 35 years, Thorsness wrote, my mind has worked to process what happened. Through the book he meant to make his experience of use to others: With the benefit of perspective, I wanted to write a book that would be helpful to people going through tough times.

Regarding the torture he endured upon his capture, Leo wrote: I would say that my 18 days and nights of interrogations were unendurable if I hadnt endured. He observed that [t]here was nothing particularly imaginative about the North Vietnamese techniques. They hadnt improved much on the devices of the Spanish Inquisition.

He was distraught when he was broken on day 19 of his initial captivity. I tried to cry. But I was past tears. Upon his return to his cell, however, he was assured that everyone who is subject to such an interrogation has one of two things happen: either they broke or died  some did both.

When he reached Camp Punishment, Leo wrote, his interrogator told him several times: You must learn to suffer. He drily records: This I had already done.

Leo offered the resources to survive hell in the three fs around which he oriented his life: faith, family and friends. (He gave up a fourth f  flying  as a result of his injuries.) He admonished readers in his prefatory authors note: Time heals most things, and we are stronger than we think.

Without expressly highlighting the role of gratitude in helping us come to terms with our personal tough times, Leo nevertheless heightened our awareness of it. He reflected, for example:

In my nearly six years in prison, not a day went by when I didnt think about and hope for freedom. I daydreamed about it, and I night-dreamed about it. I dreamed about it in the indistinct moments that separate sleep and waking. I dreamed about the physical sensation of freedom: how it felt on the body. I dreamed about how freedom might happen: by a daring rescue, by the military defeat of North Vietnam, by a POW exchange.

One could not leave the company of Leo  either on the page or in person  without renewed gratitude for our freedom, but also especially for the bravery and magnanimity of men such as he. Their sacrifices, it cannot be recalled often enough, make us the land of the free because were also the home of the brave.

Leo told me that he appreciated the introduction I contributed to the paperback edition of his book. I responded with an expression of my gratitude for the opportunity, adding that I was not proud of the interests I had pursued as a high school and college student while he was tied up for the six years of his captivity. Oh, youre like Peter, he said gently, referring to Peter Collier, the radical antiwar colleague of David Horowitz whose second thoughts led him to Ronald Reagan and the conservative movement in the 1980s.

With the comparison to Peter, Leo was granting me absolution. Peter contributed the individual profiles of the living Medal of Honor recipients whose stories are told in Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Above and Beyond the Call of Duty. (The book was a project of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation, with which Leo was active.)

You were exercising your rights, Leo told me, which is not the way I would put it. As I said, he was a magnanimous man.

I was surprised to learn when I met him that Leo was a native Minnesotan. How can it be that the local press has taken so little interest in his story, his book, his appearances in Minnesota? I felt a bond with him as a Minnesota native when I met him and know his story would be of interest to many Minnesotans.

In the book, as a matter of fact, he writes briefly about his family and his childhood in the hard old Minnesota. He grew up on a farm where his family subsisted on what they grew. Later on, he noted, I would discover that we were poor.

When Leo was released from captivity in 1973 he returned to his family in South Dakota. John Hinderaker had also been engaged in other pursuits in college while Leo was in captivity, but Johns family had a great idea. They offered their cabin on Lake Kampeska, just outside Watertown, for Leo to spend time alone with his wife after their six years apart. Leo and his wife took the Hinderakers up on their offer.

Leo concluded his book on a grace note. When he left for combat, his brother John had been running a garage in Storden, Minnesota. While Leo was in captivity John had decided to become a minister, finishing four years of college and Lutheran seminary. When he met up with his brother at the Scott Air Force Base hospital upon his return to the United States, Leo asked John to give him communion. As I took the wafer into my mouth, Leo wrote, I thanked God once again for having brought me home to this country, these people, and this life. RIP.

UPDATE: The New York Times has posted an excellent obituary. Please check it out.
One of my favorite Milton Friedman stories concerns the time he was driving along in postwar West Germany in the late 1940s, on his way I think to the first Mont Pelerin Society meeting, when he spotted a large number of workers shoveling out a building site. Milton asked his German host, Why dont you get a tractor and some mechanized equipment for that?

Ah, but Prof. Friedman, you dont understandthis provides jobs!

Milton, quick as always, responded: Well in that case why dont you give them spoons.

This came to mind when I saw the April 25 New York Times story, Todays Energy Jobs Are in Solar, Not Coal. You could guess from the headline that were headed into why-dont-you-give-them-spoons economic illiteracy, and you wouldnt be disappointed. The fact that there are more people working in solar power than coal is a measure of the gross inefficiency of solar power. This is like saying that because McDonalds provides more jobs per calorie consumed than a high end restaurant we should want more McDonalds built.

I have Mark Perry of AEI to thank for running the numbers as I havent had the time. This chart tells the story succinctly:

Marks conclusion:
The Nigerian government, Wednesday, said it has witnessed no pipeline vandalism arising from militant activities in the Niger Delta in the past three months.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, made this known at the ongoing Oil Technology Conference 2017 holding in Houston, Texas, United States.

A statement by the Director of Press in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Idang Alibi, stated that the near zero rupturing of pipelines in the oil rich region was mainly due to the consultations and ongoing discussions with Niger Delta stakeholders.

According to the statement, pursuing peace, security and stability in the Niger Delta was an integral aspect of the implementation of the ministrys target for the year.

Mr. Kachikwu had announced in 2016 that the government was working hard to record no vandalism of oil pipelines in 2017.

He also explained that there were efforts to substantially reduce youth restiveness in the Niger Delta.

Nigeria relies on oil proceeds as it main source of revenue.

But the agitations by militants in the oil rich Niger Delta region had severely stifled the nations oil production capacity target of over 2.2 million barrels of oil per day.

The development triggered the exception granted the nation by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, when it agreed on production cut deal in November 2016.

Nigerias oil production has since increased to two million barrels a day, according to official figures.

Meanwhile, according to the statement, the minister attributed the latest development to sustained engagement with the host communities to ensure the security and protection of infrastructure, as well as with international oil companies to take more for securing assets in the region.

Mr. Kachikwu, the spokesperson said, also explained that delegates from the area met with President Muhammadu Buhari in 2016, which was followed up by the visits of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to virtually all oil the producing states across the country.

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The Managing Director of Nigerian Breweries, Nicholaas Vervelde, has resigned.

According to a notice posted to the Nigerian Stock Exchange by the company, Thursday afternoon, Mr. Vervelde resigned to take up a new role within the Heineken group outside Nigeria.

In anticipation of that and preparation to take up a new appointment, Mr. Vervelde submitted a letter of resignation, from the Board and the company, to the Board of Directors (the board) at the Board Meeting held yesterday, the 3rd of May, 2017, said Uaboi Agbebaku, the legal adviser to Nigerian Breweries largely owned by the Dutch beer maker, Heineken.

Mr. Ververlde joined the company in August 2010 as Managing Director, and until his resignation on Wednesday, served as the companys Chief Executive Officer.

According to Mr. Agbebaku, the company recorded several milestones when Mr. Ververlde led its operations, leading to acquisition of additional breweries.

The Board has immediately commenced the process of identifying a replacement for Mr. Vervelde and will make an announcement in that regard in due course, Mr. Agbebaku said.

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BUFFALO CENTER | A man accused of firing a gun outside a Buffalo Center bar last month faces criminal charges.

Cody Adams, 24, was arrested late last week on warrants for felony intimidation with a dangerous weapon and two counts of misdemeanor carrying weapons.

Police were dispatched about 2:15 a.m. April 5 to a report of a suicidal man firing a gun outside Oranges Bar, 309 Fifth Ave. S.W.

Adams allegedly told Buffalo Center police he fired a shot into the air from a handgun loaded with self-defense ammunition.

A .40-caliber Smith and Wesson was found in his truck, according to court documents.

Adams also was accused of threatening patrons with other weapons in the bar parking lot.

A victim told police "the defendant was swinging a knife at him in one of his hands and had a pair of brass knuckles on the other hand," court documents said.

The victim had two small cuts on his hand.

Adams posted bond at 7:30 p.m. Friday, about two hours after he arrived at the Winnebago County Jail.

His next court appearance has not been scheduled.
Benefiting farmers under the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBNs Anchor Borrowers Programme have paid back over N7 billion from the loans they got under the programme, the apex bank said on Wednesday.

The bank said this was contrary to insinuations in some quarters that the farmers were unwilling to pay back their loans.

The CBN spokesperson, Isaac Okorafor said details of the loan disbursement and repayment as at March 31 was that the farmers have so far repaid about N7.119 billion out of a total of N33.34 billion released to them.

The loans were disbursed through the 12 participating financial institutions to 146,557 farmers across 21 states cultivating over 180,018 hectares of land.

Mr. Okorafor said of the total amount released to date, about N15.137 billion disbursed to 73,941 farmers in Kebbi State was due for repayment. It is some of the benefitting Kebbi farmers that repaid about N7.119 billion.

A PREMIUM TIMES investigation had showed how thousands of Kebbi farmers benefitted from the Anchor Borrowers Programme as well as its successes and challenges.

The repaid amount, which had since been returned to the CBN by the participating banks, represents about 47 per cent of the total amount to be repaid by the Kebbi farmers.

The Central Bank said the balance of N18.203 billion of the 12 months tenured loans released to farmers in the other 20 states for two cropping (wet and dry) seasons was not yet due for repayment.

However, Mr. Okorafor said, farmers in other benefiting states have also commenced the repayment to the tune of N1.238 billion, which is already being transferred to the CBN.

Efforts are currently being made by the participating state governments to ensure that all outstanding loans are repaid by the farmers as soon as they are due before commencement of the next dry season cultivation.

This is to enable the CBN extend similar gestures to farmers in other states, which have indicated interest in participating in the Anchor Borrowers Programme, Mr. Okorafor said.

Under the programme, six commodities, namely, rice, wheat, maize, soya beans, cotton and fish were cultivated by the farmers with appreciable yields achieved.

Kebbi State alone accounts for about two million metric tonnes of rice, out of estimated four million metric tonnes so far realized under the programme nationwide.

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Keystone Bank on Thursday said the Central bank of Nigeria had readmitted it into the spot and wholesale forwards segment of the foreign exchange market.

The bank said in a statement issued in Lagos that the CBN readmitted it sequel to the provision of evidence of sales of foreign exchange to Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs).

It also said the re-admission was because the bank had been selling to the SMEs since the introduction of the special window to such businesses.

The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that the CBN banned 14 banks from the weekly wholesale spot and forwards market leaving only eight banks.

According to the CBN, the banks were sanctioned for failure to adhere to the foreign exchange supply policy to SMEs thereby frustrating the efforts of small businesses that needed foreign exchange.

The eight banks that were not suspended include; Access Bank Plc, Diamond Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, Heritage Bank Plc, Jaiz Bank, Sterling Bank Plc, Unity Bank Plc and Zenith Bank

Hafiz Bakare, the Acting Managing Director of Keystone Bank, said: SMEs are an integral part of the economy of Nigeria and as such we at Keystone Bank are committed to supporting this sector.

We are pleased to have clarified the banks position with the CBN as we have always shown support for SMEs through our work with farmers, manufacturers, schools and other business owners.

Mr. Bakare said that Keystone Bank would always support CBN in ensuring the growth and development of the economy.

(NAN)

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The Senate on Thursday expanded its panel currently investigating alleged N30 trillion revenue leakage in the Nigeria Customs Service following revelations of more leakages.

This followed a Point of Order raised by the Chairman, Committee on Customs Excise and Tariff, Hope Uzodinma, at plenary.

The chamber also mandated the Committee on Marine Transport to collaborate with the Committee on Customs, in the probe in view of more revelations emanating from the exercise.

Mr. Uzodinma, who was made chairman of the joint committee, cited Order 42 and Order 52, and said that the committee discovered more startling discoveries beyond the N30 trillion currently being investigated.

According to him, the committee requires more hands in the investigation as it discovered that beyond foreign exchange fraud, more trillions of Naira was lost to shady deals by some Asian companies.

The recent one which is mind-blowing is that shipping companies will load full cargoes worth billions of Naira, come into the country and go to bonded terminals, offload and Nigeria Government will not collect one kobo.

All they do is informal negotiation with the terminal operators, the regulators and then they will offload. This is an international crime.

We have identified over 228 vessels with their registration numbers, the terminals where they offloaded and we are going through Customs database tracking every shipment and vessel that came and offloaded.

There is another fraud we discovered, which is, all the Asian companies moving all their goods to Cotonou in Benin Republic and these goods are meant for Nigerian market.

From our investigation, the companies change their documents by mid night as if the shipment is either done from Cote d Ivoire or Cotonou and they move into Nigeria, he said.

While lamenting the level of decay in the system, Mr. Uzodinma added that the fraudulent activities were carried out through various infractions, including incorrect classification, undervaluation, under-declaration and incorrect origin.

He stressed that the money being lost through the infractions was more than what the country was getting from crude oil, lamenting that nothing serious was being done about it.

The lawmaker, who said the investigation panel would explore all available data on the matter, added that it would bring it to a logical conclusion to save the country from losing money that should have been used for development.

On Tuesday November 15, 2016, we debated the motion on the need to examine the operations of the Nigeria Customs Service revenue drive.

We resolved to mandate the committee on customs to carry out a holistic investigation into the activities of the service.

This was with a view to identifying the leakages and irregularities in the import and export circle as well as causes of the reducing revenue profile of the service, and come up with recommendations.

We have gone into this assignment and honestly speaking, we have identified between 2006 and 2017, over N30 trillion worth of foreign exchange in form of approved Form M and there is no evidence that the goods came into the country.

The commercial banks apply for this foreign exchange and the Central Bank of Nigeria allocates it to them and these monies are transferred to foreign banks and there is no evidence to show that the goods came into the country.

So, they have been round-tripping with the limited foreign exchange we have in Nigeria, he said.

In his remarks, the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided at the plenary, said the senate ought to be commended for blowing whistle into the fraud in the Customs Service.

He expressed concern that while Nigeria was seeking loans from foreign organisations, it was losing trillions of Naira that would have been used for developmental purposes.

The committee on marine transport will join the committee on customs to have a holistic investigation into this matter.

I think this is one area the law enforcement agencies must move in quickly to ensure that these monies are recovered.

We cannot be going to China and all over the world trying to borrow money when we can recover easily all the monies that were lost through some corrupt practices.

This is one area the senate must be praised for blowing a whistle. This is the real whistle, Mr. Ekweremadu said.

He commended the committee for a job well-done and urged it to expedite action on the investigation, adding that recovering such money would enable the country to implement the 2017 budget effectively.

(NAN)

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A prominent human rights lawyer faces a prison term of 150 years if convicted on 10 counts of royal defamation under Thailands harsh royal insult law, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said on Thursday.

Prawet Prapanukul, 57, provided legal assistance to members of a political opposition group, the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, and served as legal counsel in a high-profile royal insult case.

He was detained in a raid on his home by police and troops last weekend.

Prawet, who appeared in a Bangkok court, was charged with 10 counts of royal insult and three counts of breaking Section 116 of Thailands criminal code, the equivalent of sedition.

Prawet faces 10 counts of breaking Article 112, so that works out to up to 150 years in prison if he is found guilty.

He is also facing three separate charges of breaking Article 116 which carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison for each offence, Anon Nampha of Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said.

It was not immediately clear what Prawet had written or said that led to his arrest and charges.

A spokesman for the military government said he was unable to comment on the case.

Thailands military seized power from an elected civilian government in a May 2014 coup.

Since then, the junta has detained hundreds of politicians, activists, journalists and others accused of being involved in anti-junta protests and activities.

Some have been held incommunicado in unofficial places of detention, such as military camps.

It has also taken a hardline stance against suspected transgressors of Article 112 of the criminal code which makes anyone found guilty of insulting the monarchy liable to imprisonment for up to 15 years.

The lawyers group said Prawet was charged along with five others, who also faced charges under the royal insult law.

Prawet is in pre-trial detention at a Bangkok remand prison after being held incommunicado at the 11th Army Circle base in Bangkok, a facility the military uses as a temporary prison.

The group Human Rights Watch urged the military to observe due process.

Even though lese majeste is a serious criminal offense in Thailand, authorities have no justification to breach due process and fair trial standards.

The military regime has aggressively used lese majeste charges to clamp down on any speech and opinion they find objectionable, Sunai Phasuk, Thailand researcher at Human Rights Watch said.

Lese majeste laws have an impact on what any news organisation, including Reuters, can report about issues relating to Thailands monarchy.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn, 64, ascended the throne in December following the death of his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, in October 2016.

Thailand is observing a year of mourning for King Bhumibol who was seen as semi-divine by many people.

His cremation will be held in October.

Political activity has largely ceased to mark the period of mourning.

The government has said that an election to restore democracy will be held in 2018, although a date has not been fix.

(Reuters/NAN)

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The death toll in a coal mine explosion in northern Iran rose to 35 on Thursday, the countrys labour minister said, as hopes of finding further survivors dwindled.

The disaster at the Zemestanyurt mine in Golestan province ocurred on Wednesday, reportedly trapping up to 80 miners underground at a depth of about 1,800 metres.

The Labour Minister, Ali Rabii, said that among those killed were workers who rushed to the aid of their colleagues but perished when a tunnel collapsed, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Authorities said the explosion occurred after a build-up of methane gas.

News report stated that more than a dozen injured people were transferred to hospital after the blast which occurred at 12:45 p.m. local time in the Zemestanyurt coal mine in Golestan province.

Iran extracted 1.68 million tons of coal in 2016, an increase on previous years, thanks to easing of international sanctions.

The country exports only a fraction of the coal and uses most of it in domestic steel production.

(dpa/NAN)

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A Borno State High Court, sitting in Maiduguri, on Thursday sentenced two men to two years in prison for stealing rice donated by foreign donors to internally displaced persons.

The two convicts are Umar Ibrahim, a supervisory councilor in Mafa local government area, and Ali Zangebe, a local politician from the same local government area.

They were charged alongside Shettima Maina, a former council chairman of Mafa Local government.

But Mr. Maina, who was the first defendant, was declared at large throughout the hearing of the case, as was in the custody of the military for allegedly hiding a wanted Boko Haram kingpin in his house.

The judge, Fadawu Umar, found the other two persons guilty of the three-count charges brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

In addition to their jail terms, they also fined N2 million each.

They were charged for converting N1.4 million being the proceeds from the sale of the 180 bags of rice stolen from the IDP camp.

They were also accused of converting N585, 000 from the sale of yet another 65 bags of rice stolen from the same IDP camp.

Prosecuting witnesses told the court that the bags of rice were those donated to the IDPs by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and were marked not for sale.

Delivering his judgment, Justice Fadawu said the accused persons were found guilty of all the counts brought against them.

He said the second and third defendants had all through their defense contradicted themselves.

The two defendants had told the court that they had to sell off the rice because they were about to expire.

They later informed the court that the former council chairman ordered them to sell off the rice because the IDPs had complained that they were tired of eating rice every day.

In another breath, the convicted persons further contradicted themselves by saying that the rice belonged to soldiers of the Nigerian military who wanted to sell them off in order to travel for Christmas.

The judge said the defendants had also lied to the court that the money realised from the sale of the rice was used to buy maize grains for the IDPs.

They claimed that the grains were kept in a store where the local government kept its food for the IDPs.

But when the court went to verify the claims, it was found that the 200 bags of maize had been in the store long before the theft and sale of the DRC donated rice.

The judge said the defendants were guilty of the crime.

For the first count, the accused persons have committed a crime punishable under Sections 96 and 97 of the Penal Code Cap 345 of Northern states of Nigeria and thereby sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of N1 million, said Justice Umar.

For the Second charge, the defendants have committed a crime punishable under sections 308 and 309 of Penal Code Law Cap 345, Laws of Northern States of Nigeria, and are thereby sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of N1 million.

The judge said the convicts were to serve their sentences concurrently.

The case is the first conviction by the Maiduguri office of the EFCC.

The EFCCs prosecuting lawyer, Khalid Sanusi, said the judgment was a welcomed development as it brings justice for the people.

We in the EFCC are not persecuting but prosecuting persons involved in this kind of crime, so that our society can be a better place, he said.

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The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, on Wednesday said he had uncovered a plot by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and cabal in the presidency to plant incriminating items in his residence in Enugu State, a claim the anti-graft agency denied.

Raising the allegation on the floor of the Senate, Mr. Ekweremadu said the said cabal and the EFCC were working in cahoot to raid his Enugu house, after planting huge amount of money with different currencies such as British Pound Sterling, United States dollars, Indian rupee, South Africa rand and Malaysian Ringgit and other cooked documents in it.

The alleged plot, Mr. Ekweremadu said, was to frustrate his political career by framing, indicting and removing him from office.

He read a letter which he claimed was written to him by an EFCC insider, titled Please Treat This With Utmost Secrecy by Protecting the Identity of the Source.

Read the letter: To the Deputy Senate President: I am a trained investigative journalist working under the EFCC covert intelligence spy police.

Distinguished senator, there is a grand plan from the cabal in the Presidency, using EFCC as an anti-graft agency, to indict and remove you from office. This cabal in the Presidency has mandated the EFCC chairman to carry out this evil operation within two weeks.

The plan and the trap goes like this: On the 6th of May 2017  Saturday night stroke Sunday morning  the EFCC, alongside local and international media, both print and TV and radio, will raid an apartment under the guise of whistle blowing policy of the Federal Government with a search warrant already obtained in the magistrates court to search an apartment alleging to be one of your guest houses in Enugu State capital or any suitable available apartment in your senatorial district that will serve this evil purpose.

EFCC (will be) claiming to have received a tip-off from a whistle-blower in your state alerting the agency of a large huge amount of money of different currencies in the said apartment belonging to you, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, the Deputy Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a proceed of which is likely to be (considered as) illegally obtained and acquired, which constitute abuse of office and corruption.

The things to be discover in said apartment are a huge amount of money with different currencies such as British Pound Sterling, United States dollars, Indian rupee, South Africa rand and Malaysian Ringgit; documents alleging to be yours such as 2015 campaign memo and logistics, a list of names chairman local wards of party men and women that benefited from your empowerment program; and other cooked documents bearing your signature.

After the plenary, the PDP caucus in the Senate told Journalists federal government planned to arrest Mr. Ekweremadu and former governors belonging to the party on trump up charges.

But in its reaction, the EFCC through its spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, denied the senators claim and warned it would not succumb to blackmail.

It must be emphatically stated for the benefit of Senator Ekweremadu and others who share similar misconception and jaundiced views of the EFCC, that the commission does not need any grand plot to arrest and prosecute him if he is found to have violated any law that EFCC enforces. the commission said.

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The Italian Ambassador to Nigeria, Fulvio Rustico, says his country is ready to partner with Nigeria to combat the menace of human trafficking.

Mr. Rustico disclosed this when he visited the Director-General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, Julie Okah-Donli, in Abuja on Thursday.

He said the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies in Italy, Laura Bodrini, will soon visit Nigeria to get first-hand information to address the problem.

The envoy said that the speaker would visit Benin City, Edo, reported to have the highest number of human traffickers in the country.

Mr. Rustico said that he was in NAPTIP office to intimate Mrs. Okah-Donli of the planned visit of the lawmaker with a view to making an informed decision on how to partner with NAPTIP to combat the menace of trafficking.

It is necessary to share experience with NAPTIP on human trafficking management and have an overview of the phenomenon as well as nature of human trafficking from the state.

The Italian legislator will be in Nigeria to have a direct knowledge of the phenomenon in order to be proactive in response to the problem, he said.

The envoy assured of his countrys support to NAPTIP, saying that the fight against human trafficking is a technical process that requires support and assistance of all stakeholders.

Responding, Mrs. Okah-Donli explained that for the fight against human trafficking to be won, international partners and stakeholders like Italy must key in into collaboration with Nigeria to record success.

She called for the collaboration of Italian government in the fight against human trafficking in the country.

According to her, human trafficking is an evolving phenomenon that requires the active collaboration of all partners through accelerated justice delivery system and surveillance.

The NAPTIP boss said that aggressive massive sensitisation of Nigerians, especially those in the endemic communities on the danger of human trafficking have commenced.

She stated that her concern was also on rehabilitation of victims of human trafficking and the need to ensure accelerated justice for human traffickers.

The director-general thanked the Italian Government for the assistance rendered to the agency in the past and solicited for more support in the area of capacity building.

She also solicited for assistance in the areas of technical and logistic support as well as empowerment of rescued victims of human trafficking.

(NAN)

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A communications scholar, Ralph Akinfeleye, on Wednesday lambasted the fairly armophous category of purveyors of news, who are neither trained in the rigorous fact-checking tradition of journalism nor are accountable to standards of truth defining the profession, describing then as mere information traffickers. These are people, he said, who have now constituted a global phenomenon  largely for worse  running all manners of news pages and websites, and hiding behind the category of being citizen journalists, etc. to peddle information that are mainly concocted, unverified or outrightly fake.

Mr. Akinfeleye, a professor at the Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos, said it was an aberration to describe people who circulate such information, especially on the internet, as journalists. To him, what they engage in could be simply considered as journalesse, in the absence of proper training, appeal to standards and in functioning outside the ethics and traditions of journalism.

The university don spoke at the 2017 edition of the World Press Freedom Day, organised by the United States Consul, which was held at the premises of the Lagos Television, LTV, Agidingbi, Ikeja.

The communication scholar noted that it was imperative for gatekeepers of news in Nigerian media houses to ensure that their editorial decisions were based on sound ethics and professionalism.

He made reference to the role of the media in the run up to the 2015 general elections, adding that some gatekeepers and editors violated professional ethics.

In 2015, he said, some (media houses) were fined by the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, NBC; they paid and still continued to violate (professional ethos).

Commenting further, Mr. Akinfeleye urged the Nigerian Guild of Editors, NGE, to ensure that the appropriate sanction was handed to erring members.

He also advised journalists to refrain from unprofessional conducts.

You must try to unchain yourselves from hate messages; corrupt practices, the university don said.

On his part, David Ajikobi, the Nigerian editor at Africa Check, a fact-checking media platform, noted that journalists should understand how to avoid misinformation and disinformation.

Mr. Ajikobi explained that often, claims put in the media by politicians and other media users are false and could be clarified through simple fact-checking exercises.

He, however, enjoined journalists to embrace fact-checking and ensure issues are put in proper contexts for the benefit of their audiences.

For Tomi Oluyomi-Lords, a lecturer at the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, NIJ, the press should be given a section of its own in the Nigerian constitution.

Speaking on the topic, Media Law and Ethics in a Digital Age, Mr. Oluyomi-Lords explained that the media cannot perform beyond what the law stipulates.

He, therefore, called for a review of the Nigerian constitution, especially the part that addresses the media and its societal function.

Similarly, publisher of TheCable online newspaper, Simon Kolawole, explained that the digital media broadened the participatory plartform of the Nigerian masses.

Citing examples of issues that were heavily influenced by the activities of Nigerians on social media, the former editor of Thisday newspaper said the new media had impacted the publics participation in policy formulation, which was hitherto impossible.

We are bypassing the roadblocks to participatory democracy, Mr. Kolawole said, adding that the potentials of the digital media must be fully harnessed to boost participatory governance.

In his own contribution, Dapo Olorunyomi, publisher of PREMIUM TIMES said Nigerian journalists were doing a lot to hold power accountable.

Mr. Olorunyomi noted that journalists must, however, strive to ensure that the three elements of accuracy, loyalty to citizens and verification are contained in their reports.

The PREMIUM TIMES boss noted that the media industry has witnessed a change in terms of news gathering, editing and gate keeping process, due to the advent of the internet.

He, however, enjoined more collaborations across newsrooms, adding that, the perspective that holds the media is the perspective of network.



Speaking earlier, the newly re-elected president of the NGE, Funke Egbemode, disclosed that journalists were being harassed and molested across the country.

Ms. Egbemode also lamented how publishers and media proprietors face economic challenges through systemic onslaught launched against them by the people in the establishment.

The highlight of the event was the presentation of gifts to students who participated in a debate competition held among representatives of four higher institutions of learning in Lagos state: The University of Lagos, UNILAG; Lagos State University, LASU; Yaba College of Technology, YABATECH; and the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, NIJ, Lagos.

The event saw students of LASU, who won the debate, awarded gifts by officials of the US consul.

Earlier, the US Consul General, John Bray, in his opening address, had enjoined journalists to cross-check and double-check their fact before publishing same, adding that it would increase the reporters credibility and the reliability of the news platform.

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The Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar, has urged Nigerian leaders to learn from the mistakes of the past to move the nation forward.

The monarch said the leaders must ensure Nigeria does not experience another civil war.

As a nation, we have gone through and surmounted the worst of all, a civil war. I think we have lessons to learn from that because very few nations could survive civil war.

About three million Nigerians are believed to have died in the civil war between 1967 and 1970 that pitched federal soldiers against those of Biafra (currently Nigerias south-east and south-south states).

We must check the lessons and guard against repeating such mistakes and move forward, the monarch said.

Mr. Abubakar said that successful societal and economic transformation would succeed when they are supported and energised by value system.

He stated this at the Traditional Rulers Day, as part of activities marking the 50th Anniversary of Rivers in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.

The Sultan, who delivered a lecture entitled: Traditional Institution In Nigeria And The Challenge Of Re-Engineering Viable Local Economies, said that no society could develop without its value system.

He said that the institution as custodians of societal values and norms were therefore critical component of any serious and sustainable transformation of the society.

This is particularly so with the economic transformation and the fight against corruption, he said.

Mr. Abubakar identified poverty and unemployment as a challenge with multi links and consequences that could be associated to issues of national security or insecurity.

He said that while government at all levels have the responsibility within the constraints of its budget to address the issues, the traditional institution also has an important role to play.

According to him, the traditional institution by proximity to the poor, have a deeper understanding and appreciation of the levels of poverty.

By their presence and grasp of the local environment, they are better positioned to drive any genuine transformation of the local economy.

Being the direct leaders of the poor, they are part of the major stakeholders in the alleviation of poverty, they daily bear the brunt of the consequence of poverty, he said.

Mr. Abubakar advocated the urbanising and building of industries in the local areas to achieve a sustainable economic policy.

He said that economic industries where craftsmen and other professionals would be trained to meet the daily needs of the societal was indispensable.

Such society will have value of dignity of labour in order to inculcate hard work and discourage laziness and begging, he said.

He said that the traditional institution had quality and educated people with the best of professions.

The institution is fountain of knowledge for political leaders to tap from free of charge as we progress further in nation building, he said.

(NAN)

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Three suicide bombers who attempted to attack a military outpost in Maiduguri, Borno State, were killed on Wednesday night, an official has said.

The three female teenage suicide bombers attempted to attack a military outpost popularly known as Gontanamo along muna garage at about 10:05 p.m.

After being sighted by the troops in their attempt to gain access to the premises, the bombers were shot leading to the explosion of their concealed IED.

The spokesperson of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, in the North-East, Ibrahim Abdulkadir, confirmed that the corpses of suicide bombers were evacuated by emergency officials.

We have evacuated the corpses of female teenagers. One security personnel who was injured is being treated, he said.

Suicide bombings, especially by teenage girls, is one of the strategies the Boko Haram uses to attack military and civilian targets. The Boko Haram insurgency has caused the death of about 100,000 people since 2009, according to official figures.

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The Senate has passed the bill for the establishment of Nigerian Maritime University in Delta State, thereby bringing the proposed school close to gaining statutory status, three years after its foundation was laid.

The groundbreaking of the proposed school at Okerenkoko in Warri south-West local government area was done by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014 and, according to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, physical assets were on site.

However, there was no law backing the establishment of the university.

The bill for its establishment was passed by the Senate on Thursday, following the report of the committee on tertiary education and TETFUND chaired by Barau Jibrin, APC-Kano.

The bill was sponsored by James Manager, PDP-Delta.

The passage came well over one year after the Minister for Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, hinted at the scrapping of the school whose founding he described as a misplacement of priority and waste of resources.

Mr. Amaechi also cited insecurity as basis for his argument against the school.

Mr. Amaechi also expressed concerns with the payment of a huge N13 billion for the procurement of land for the school, allegedly, to wanted militant leader, Tompolo.

My argument about Okerenkoko is that land alone is 13 billion (naira). If you give me 13 billion, I will buy the half of Lagos. That 13 billion has built the university already, said Mr. Amaechi during a town hall meeting in Uyo on June 14, 2016.

But the Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu disagreed with Mr. Amaechi, saying he was in support of the project, drawing a loud applause from the audience, at the meeting moderated by Information Minister, Lai Mohammed.

Any facility that is located in the South-South we should work close to developing it, said Mr. Kachikwu. I dont care the circumstances under which you are placed.

So much physical of assets are being developed. We are not going to throw away the baby with bath water. We deal with the issues but the university will be developed. If he (Amaechi) does not want it in Maritime, I will take it in petroleum.

The Senate referred the bill for consideration of the education committee in November 2016, when it scaled second reading.

Mr. Manager, the sponsor, argued that the maritime sector had huge potentials and that Nigeria should have a university for the purpose of producing capable manpower for the sector which, as he said, is currently dominated by foreign interests.

On suitability of Okerenkoko for the project, he said the area was close to the sea and surrounded by oil wells.

The bill will now be transmitted to the House of Representatives for concurrence and the later for President Muhammadu Buharis assent, before it becomes law, which woul allow the school access to funding from the annual budget.

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It has now emerged Nigerias 2017 budget proposal will be passed at least days after the expiration of the current 2016 budget, after the National Assembly failed to pass the 2017 appropriations bill today, Thursday, which is the last day the lawmakers have for business in the week.

By provision of the 2016 Appropriations Act, the 2016 budget expires on May 5, 2017, having been assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari on May 6, 2016.

The chairman of the Senate committee on appropriations, Danjuma Goje, had in March promised that the 2017 budget would be laid and passed before the expiration of the current budget.

As far as the Bill that was signed into law by Mr. President is concerned, there will be no mop up on 31st March 2017 since the validity period for the 2016 budget ends midnight May 5th, 2017, said Mr. Goje.

If that is done, it will be a violation of the Act. We carefully created the clause that made provision for May 5, 2017. The Act says that the 2016 budget will run for 12 months starting from the date the bill was assented to and it was assented to on May 6th 2016.

I believe before that date the 2017 budget must have been passed. We dont have to do any extension because we have taken care of that. Therefore, no anxiety, no mopping up of funds before 12 months period, the senator said in March.

Although presentation of the report on 2017 budget was included on the Senates Order Paper for Thursday, it was stepped down.

The Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, told the Senate the order could not be taken because members of the appropriations committee were meeting with their counterparts in the House of Representatives to to cross the ts and dot the is of the 2017 budgeting.

He added that he been informed that by the grace of God the 2017 budget would be ready for passage next week Tuesday.

Having said this, distinguished colleagues, I therefore move that we step down, we stand down the presentation of this report to Tuesday, the next legislative day, Mr. Lawan moved.

The Senate spokesperson, Aliyu Abdullahi, told the Nigerian Television Authority, during an interview session monitored by PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday that the police raid on the residence of Mr. Goje could have implication for the readiness of the budget this week.

Mr. Goje had alleged the police carted away laptop and documents containing his committees work on the 2017 budget from his residence during the raid. The presidential adviser on the Senate, Ita Enang, later said all items taken from the senators residence had been returned by the police.

The 2017 budget proposal was presented before a joint session of the National Assembly last December.

Despite the non-passage of the budget on Thurday, it will not lead to a government shutdown when the 2016 budget ends on Friday. This is because Section 82 of the constitution allows the president to authorise withdrawal from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the purpose of meeting expenditure necessary to carry on services of the government until the coming into operation of the new budget.

Speaking on this Eze Onyekpere, a fiscal policy expert and Lead Director of the Centre for Social Justice said the government is empowered by law to continue to spend after expiration of the current budget, until a new budget is approved.

The Director of Information at the Ministry of Finance, Salisu Danbatta, also expressed a similar view

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The Supreme Court on Thursday fixed May 25 to hear application for the withdrawal of appeal filed against the National Chairman of the PDP, Ali Sheriff.

Ahmed Makarfi, Chairman of the National Caretaker Committee of PDP, had approached the apex court to challenge the affirmation of Mr. Sheriff as National Chairman of the party.

Justice Dattijo Mohammed fixed the date after counsel to parties regularised their various court processes.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the two factions have laid claims to the national leadership of the party.

The tussle later took parties to the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt Division where Mr. Sheriff was affirmed as the authentic national chairman of the party.

Dissatisfied with the appellate courts decision, the Makarfi-led faction approached the apex court seeking the upturning of the decision of the lower court.

However, Lateef Fagbemi, counsel to the first respondent (PDP) had challenged the ground upon which the Makarfi-faction appealed against the decision of the lower court.

His ground was that by virtue of the judgment of the Appeal Court, Mr. Makarfi no longer had any right to enter an appeal in the name of the party without Mr. Sheriffs consent.

The issue is simple; the party is not interested in appealing against the national chairman of the party, so, we shall be withdrawing the pending appeal.

So far, the judgment has not been set aside and no order for stay of execution has been obtained by Makarfi-led group.

There is a judgment at the Court of Appeal that recognised Sheriff as the authentic chairman of the party, he said.

Supporting the argument canvassed by Mr. Fagbemi, counsel to Mr. Sherriff, Akin Olujimi, said the court should decide the motion for withdrawal filed by PDP before entertaining any other appeals.

On his part, Wole Olanipekun, counsel to Mr. Makarfi submitted that the court reserved the right to approach the case from any direction.

According to him, the stage is now set for the case to kick-off as all the processes have been turned in.

He also said counsel to parties must reserve their energies by not making attempts to enter into the substantive matter.

(NAN)

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A former Minister of Information, Edwin Clark, on Wednesday accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of deliberately inciting Nigerians against former President Goodluck Jonathan and other Ijaw leaders.

Mr. Clark stated this in an open letter addressed to Mr. Obasanjo over his remarks in the newly published book,  Against the Run of Play, written by Olusegun Adeniyi.

The former minister said Mr. Obasanjos claims in the new book were false and despicable.

For instance, The Ijaw leader said, some of the statements you made against me in your book Under My Watch were the same statements you repeated in Olusegun Adeniyis book which is an arrangement between the two of you to condemn the Ijaw and to incite other Nigerian leaders to disparage the Ijaw leaders particularly myself and the younger ones like Asari Dokubo whom you kept in prison for two years without trial until we begged you to release him.

Mr. Clark asked what the former president really wanted from Mr. Jonathan and the Ijaw people, saying the issues raised in the new book were a rehash of what Mr. Obasanjo failed to do when he held sway as Nigerian president.

What do you really want from Jonathan and the Ijaw people? he said.

Most of the various issues you raised in collaboration with Olusegun Adeniyis book  Against the Run of Play are mere re-visitation of the many things you did and failed to do in your eight years of mis-governance.

He denied Mr. Obasanjos claim that Mr. Jonathan was clannish and tat he surrounded himself with his Ijaw kinsmen.

Mr. Clark, who is also the leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, also accused Mr. Obasanjo of being the architect of the travails Nigeria is currently going through.

Another criticism you made against Jonathan was Jonathans way of handling Boko Haram and that Jonathan was not interested in accountability and that if Jonathan was therefore allowed to continue in 2015 it would no doubt damage the whole country, the Ijaw leader wrote.

He said Mr. Obasanjos claim that Mr. Jonathan and his people turned the Boko Haram insurgency into an industry for making money was false and uncharitable.

You should name how Jonathan and his people turned Boko Haram into a money-making industry and who are his people that benefited from that industry, the former minister said.

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The Osun State Government has disagreed with the claims by the Nigeria Medical Association in the state, that it has been insensitive to the welfare of its doctors.

A statement by the Director of the Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Semiu Okanlawon, stated that the claims by the NMA were far from the truth.

The medical association had on Thursday accused the Osun State government of not paying adequate attention to the welfare of its members.

The association also said the government was not paying salaries of doctors and that the health sector in the state was not well-funded.

This government has engaged the doctors, perhaps, more than any other category of workers in the state, on the need to equally be sensitive to the hardship foisted on the finances of the state especially since Nigeria as a whole entered into its trying period of economic recession, the statement said.

The Osun government has developed perhaps the most ingenious formula for satisfying the needs of its workforce within the limit of the available resources.

This was what necessitated the setting up of a revenue apportionment committee led by no less personality than a former number (one) labour leader in Nigeria and veteran labour activists on the continent of Africa, Comrade Hassan Sunmonu.

On the state of the health facilities, the government noted that the doctors should be fair enough to admit that the health sector of Osun had witnessed a huge improvement since the coming of the present administration.

Apart from the huge investment of about N1.8 billion for the upgrading of the state General Hospitals, this administration has ensured that health care safety and emergency measures are improved as with the provision of the state-of-the-art ambulances across the length and breadth of this state, the spokesperson said.

As a professional body whose duty it is to save lives, we expect and continue to implore the doctors to see themselves as partners with the government in the overall task of ensuring the sanctity of lives which the doctors also swore an oath to protect.

We hereby wish to reiterate for the umpteenth time, that the Rauf Aregbesola administration remains a labour-friendly one and we have always called on all groups, including the NMA to be sensitive to the prevailing economic situation across the land while the government continues its relentless efforts to make the best of the situation we have found ourselves as a country.

Thursdays complaints by the association is one of the many times it was taking a swipe at the government for poor handling of the welfare of doctors in the employ of the state government.

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AVALON  Eustace Mita beamed with pride when discussing his plans for the iconic Golden Inn near the boroughs border with Stone Harbor.

The hotel, renamed the Icona Golden Inn, is one of three luxury Icona resorts owned by Mita in Cape May County, including locations in Diamond Beach and Cape May. On Tuesday, three guests sat in the lobby eating lunch while Mita interviewed potential employees for the summer.

But not all the employees will be seasonal, because there is no off season for the Icona hotels, Mita said. Instead, the owner prefers to call the non-summer months the cozy season, when guests can still stay at the hotels and enjoy many of the same amenities offered in the summer. The attempt to create a year-round bond with guests is part of a larger effort to rehab hotels and create a destination in the county.

South Jersey, meet your newest area code For Drew Blandas clients, the 609 area code represents so much of their identity they have 

We are trying to do something that hasnt been done yet in Cape May County, Mita said. Thats make it a cozy season or a winter destination.

Mita, who is the CEO of Achristavest and of Icona Investment Group, both of Chester, Pennsylvania, has spent over a quarter billion dollars in Cape May County rehabbing The Grand at Diamond Beach and opening Icona hotels.

Icona Resorts bought the Golden Inn in December 2015 and completed most of the $15 million renovations in seven months. Mita said the building was stripped and completely redone. The studs were even taken out because they were rusty.

The construction workers toiled day and night and were allowed to sleep in the rooms so the construction could be completed faster, he said.

The mayor called this the miracle on 79th Street because we got this done so fast, Mita said.

Now, employees are being hired and given culture training, which they call Aloha Training, on how to act and treat the guests.

I tell them that they can miss a meal, but dont miss Aloha training, Mita said.

Overall, Mita employees about 500 people at the hotels during the summer and 150 people during the cozy season.

Mita said the experience at the Icona hotels is unique because popular hospitality brands, such as Marriot and Hilton, dont want to operate full-service hotels in seasonal areas such as Avalon and Diamond Beach.

Were going to create our own brand, he said. Our hotels are sacred places where we want our guests to have a heavenly experience.
HAMMONTON  They came to the United States from India, Vietnam, Egypt, Kenya, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic.

But the 22 South Jersey residents from 16 countries who gathered at City Hall on Wednesday all had one thing in common. They are all now American citizens.

Im the last one in my family to get it, said Gris Liriano German, 22, of Galloway Township a native of the Dominican Republic whose parents and sisters also became citizens over the last year.

The Naturalization Ceremony, the first of two scheduled this week in Atlantic County was both a celebratory and solemn affair, with welcoming music by the Hammonton High School Jazz Band, an Honor Guard form the Atlantic County Sheriffs Department and the national anthem sung by the Hammonton High School Select Choir.

The new citizens were told their new status comes with both rights and responsibilities.

You can get at U.S. passport, and you have the right to vote, Ya-Mei Chen, director of the Mount Laurel field office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a division of the Department of Homeland Security. You can also be called for jury duty and pay income taxes.

Superior Court Judge Julio Mendez, who came from Cuba as a teenager, presided over the event, telling the new citizens the U.S. welcomes them with open arms.

I challenge you to love and protect this country, he said. The American Dream is more than a house or a car. It is waking up knowing you can have different views and express yourself.

Superior Court Judges Michael Donio and Nelson Johnson administered the Naturalization Oath to the candidates. Johnson said Hammonton was an appropriate place for the ceremony since the town was populated and made successsful by immigrants, first Italians and later Hispanics.

Donio said there are many ways to be patriotic, from voting, to remembering national holidays, to participating in community service events like beach cleanups.

The ceremony ended with the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance.
ATLANTIC CITY  Police seized 6,325 bags of heroin, an ounce of raw heroin and more than $8,000 in cash following an investigation that started when an officer observed a single bag of heroin being sold, authorities said.

At 2:59 p.m. Wednesday, Sgt. Richard Andrews was conducting a drug investigation when he saw a transaction between two men at South Carolina Avenue and Bacharach Boulevard.

Andrews arrested Quran Stokelin, 23, of Atlantic City, and found him in possession of a single heroin bag, police said.

Officers began looking for the man who sold Stokelin the heroin, police said.

Sgt. Andrew Leonard, Detective Lonell Jones and Officers Nicholas Berardis and Chris Smith found Darryl Tyler, 49, of Atlantic City, at North Carolina and Atlantic avenues, police said.

Authorities said Tyler tried to flee but was quickly apprehended and found in possession of 34 heroin bags.

Police also arrested Clarice Dallas, 33, of Atlantic City, who was with Tyler and was found in possession of marijuana, according to police reports.

Further investigation by Andrews and Special Investigations Section detectives led to a search of Tylers home in the 1500 block of Magellan Avenue, where authorities found more than 6,000 heroin bags and cash believed to be from drug sales, police said.

Tyler was charged with drug possession, possession with intent to distribute and possession with intent to distribute within 500 feet of a public zone. He also was charged with resisting arrest and was lodged in the Atlantic County jail, police said.

Stokelin was charged with heroin possession, and Dallas was charged with marijuana possession, police said.

Both were released on summonses.
MIDDLE TOWNSHIP  Tourism revenue continued to grow last year in Cape May County as officials expanded their marketing efforts and tourism season into the spring and fall.

Slow and easy wins the race, and thats pretty much what weve done in Cape May County, said Cape May County Director of Tourism Diane Wieland.

In 2016, Cape May County generated $6.3 billion in tourism expenditures, according to data presented at the 2017 Cape May County Tourism Conference on Wednesday at the county administration building.

Wieland said the county saw increases in every sector last year, including a 9 percent increase in lodging revenues, up $193 million.

The county, she said, generates $547 million in sales-tax revenue for the state per year, equal to $1.49 million a day. Tourism-related jobs make up 60 percent of the countys workforce, she said.

While beaches and boardwalks continued to be a top attraction in the county for 90 percent of respondents in a recent county-conducted survey, the countys agritourism industry is growing.

According to the survey, 42 percent of respondents visited wineries, 23 percent visited breweries and 3 percent visited a distillery. More than 50 percent visited a farm or farm market and 50 percent patronized a restaurant that offers locally grown products.

Richard Perniciaro, director of the Center for Regional and Business Research at Atlantic Cape Community College, said agritourism is the next wave for tourism in the county, including farm-to-table dining.

It is a worldwide trend. Its not just here, Perniciaro said.

Currently, he and his team are working to determine the economic impact from agritourism in the area.

John Siciliano, executive director of the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement Development Authority, said that, thanks to the convention center, Wildwood has been able to expand its season dramatically.

There is no denying we are bringing people to this area almost 11 months out of the year, he said.

Siciliano said that last year, events at the Wildwoods Convention Center attracted 60,089 attendees and generated 27,360 overnight stays.

We all know a visitor to Wildwood is a visitor to Cape May (County) is a visitor to New Jersey, he said.

Siciliano said that GWTIDA continues to try to expand, and is looking into ways to attract midweek business by improving the areas housing infrastructure.
Atlantic County and City need long-term budgets

Regarding the April 21 story, Christie doubles down in PILOT fight as suit nears:

Gov. Chris Christie said that Atlantic County doesnt deserve the 13.5 percent share of the PILOT that he promised it last year. Furthermore, he added that County Executive Dennis Levinson did not step up to the plate when it came time to help the city.

I find his statements unfair and disingenuous. The county executive has from day one always supported and worked for the 13.5 percent PILOT plan. If Christie felt that the county executive was not doing enough, then why did he not offer to further work with him and make the 13.5 percent a reality as he had promised? It appears that the county executive is being made a political scapegoat for a failed plan.

I would hope that all legislators involved can come together to formulate an immediate and long-term plan that will address both Atlantic City and the Atlantic County government budget needs. If not, all Atlantic County taxpayers will be continuing to pay for Atlantic City and Atlantic County government deficits caused by a failed PILOT program.

Erland Chau

Northfield

A.C. buyouts unaffordable

Regarding the April 19 story, (Sen. Jim) Whelan backs Atlantic City police, fire buyouts:

Only New Jersey would have a buyout of $47 million that would benefit only 80 people. These astronomical buyouts and retirement packages for public employees are a recurring theme in New Jersey and one of the many reasons taxes here are among the highest in the country.

We simply cannot afford to continue this ridiculous practice of supporting so many in their retirement years. These retirement years in many cases match or exceed the number of years they have actually worked. A half-million dollars per person? Only in New Jersey.

Kathy Bates

Galloway Township

Dangerous activities continue in A.C. alley

In two years the problems of the alley/breezeway between South Ocean and Tennessee avenues in Atlantic City have not been resolved.

The area sees drug, prostitution and bathroom activities day and night. Its dangerous to travel through during the day and worse at night. The community is at risk from nefarious activities and residential break-ins as well.

I and several other residents have spoken and written to the state monitor, Councilman Marty Small, public works, CRDA and code enforcement.

No one seems able or willing to clean up the alley, provide lighting and much-needed fencing to make the community safe. Residents need those matters attended to now.

We need the areas between 106 and 110 S. Ocean Ave. and behind 132 S. Ocean fenced off immediately to stop the alleys dangerous activities.

If the city cant take care of this, how can residents believe city leadership is interested in serving the communitys best interest to be and stay safe?

Victor Jenkins

Atlantic City
Risk is an infuriating film on many levels. A startlingly intimate portrait of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange that spans seven years  during which he goes from house arrest in rural England to claiming asylum at the Ecuadoran Embassy in London to releasing a damaging cache of hacked emails at a pivotal point during last years presidential election  the film is guaranteed to stir up strong feelings among Assange supporters and skeptics alike.

On another, more meta plane, Risk raises some disquieting questions about the process of documentary filmmaking itself, as director Laura Poitras places herself squarely in the middle of ethical issues that throw the entire enterprise into question.

Poitras, who won an Oscar in 2015 for Citizenfour, a riveting portrait of National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, takes a similarly up-close-and-personal approach to her subject in Risk, which begins in 2010, when Assange is living in Norfolk, England, trying to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning regarding accusations of sexual assault.

As the movie opens, he and WikiLeaks section editor Sarah Harrison are working the phones, trying to warn the U.S. State Department about the impending release of unredacted diplomatic cables. With a combination of naivete and hubris that will become gratingly familiar over the course of the film, Assange and Harrison try to get then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the phone, with Assange at one point telling a low-level State Department employee that I dont have a problem, you have a problem.

Of course, they get nowhere. But the foreshadowing has been put in place in a narrative that marches toward its election-year climax with almost novelistic inevitability. Like Citizenfour, Risk unfolds in verite-style encounters, while Assange consults with his mostly female team of attorneys, holds spin meetings with the WikiLeaks staff, plots legal and publicity strategies and, at one point, has his hair cut while watching a K-pop video as his adoring minions look on with awed smiles.

What emerges from these sessions isnt terribly different from the depiction Alex Gibney provided in his jaundiced 2013 WikiLeaks documentary We Steal Secrets. As in that film, Assange is shown here to be a self-dramatizing, purposefully enigmatic figure who, regardless of vaunted rhetoric about principles and praxis, often seems compromised by the same moral arrogance and unaccountability he decries in his opponents. At the films most surreal moment, by which time Assange has claimed asylum in London, Lady Gaga pays her respects and films an inane interview, peppered with questions about his favorite food and whos after him.

Assange replies with a long list, mostly comprising U.S. government agencies, as well as Swedish authorities, who will probably allow him to be extradited to America should he return to that country. Risk devotes a lot of time to that quandary, capturing Assange at his most misogynistic during a strategy session with one of his attorneys. Poitras, who presented a far more pro-Assange version of the film at Cannes last year, admits at one point that the lines have become blurred, adding, I thought I could ignore the contradictions. ... I was so wrong. They are becoming the story.

Risk is heavy on the psychodrama between the filmmaker and her subject  Poitras regularly regales viewers with the dreams she has about Assange  reaching its dramatic climax when Assange decides to release damaging DNC emails last July. As he weighs which candidate is more deserving of being harmed, its as if Charlie Chaplins Great Dictator is dandling an inflatable globe on his knee. On the one hand, he observes, Trump might have some unsavory business dealings in his past. On the other, Clinton clearly has got it in for me. And here we are.

These scenes offer chilling evidence of Poitras change of heart regarding Assange, who might have started out as an admirable warrior for pure transparency but who evolves in the course of the film into a smug, self-righteous megalomaniac. Even more sobering, though, is Poitras disclosure late in the film that she committed a serious boundary violation in the course of filming, an illadvised relationship that casts serious doubt on her judgment and credibility. Her admission is too little, too late, and raises far more questions than it answers, suggesting that Poitras is either unwilling or unable to contend with the contradictions she so elegantly invoked moments earlier.

Risk raises deep misgivings about its subject and its maker. But its still queasily, compulsively watchable  and probably necessary, if only as a cautionary example of how ethics, objectivity and agendas come into play in nonfiction filmmaking.

One of the chief goals of documentarians is to invest the audience emotionally with otherwise dry subject matter. Theres no denying that Risk achieves that aim, even if the cardinal feelings viewers walk away with are confusion, betrayal and an unshakable sense of unease. Here we are, indeed.
MASON CITY | A friend of Revell Toneys testified during his attempted murder trial Thursday that it was a total surprise when she saw him pull out a gun on the plaza of Southbridge Mall on Oct. 23.

I had never seen him with a gun, said Julisa Sanchez, 19, of Mason City.

Mason City attempted murder trial: Fight preceded 3 gunshots MASON CITY | Revell Toney shot an unarmed man three times on Oct 23 outside Southbridge Mall

She said she was standing right beside Toney at the time.

Sanchez said she heard him tell Stephen Williams, This is what Im going to do about it, b----, before firing the gun three times.

"He didn't really aim it," Sanchez said. "He just pulled the trigger."

The state rested its case early Thursday afternoon. Defense witnesses were not available at that time, but will begin testifying when the trial resumes at 9 a.m. Friday.

The trial began Tuesday in Cerro Gordo County District Court.

Check back later for updates on this story.

Our earlier story:

Mason City shooting trial witness: 'I watched my best friend drop to the ground'

MASON CITY | A witness in Revell Toney's attempted murder trial became emotional on the stand Thursday morning as he talked about seeing the victim being shot.

"I watched my best friend drop to the ground," said Sacoya Jenkins, 18, of Mason City.

Jenkins was one of a number of witnesses at the scene of the Oct. 23 shooting of 25-year-old Stephen Williams on the plaza of Southbridge Mall in Mason City. Several other people who saw the shooting also testified Thursday.

Doctor says Mason City shooting victim narrowly escaped death MASON CITY | A urologist testified Wednesday afternoon that the victim in a shooting near So

Jenkins said he remembers Toney saying, "I'm going to take care of you, b----," just before shooting three times.

Defense attorney Letitia Turner gave Jenkins a statement he gave on Nov. 18 about the shooting and asked him if he made reference to Toney's comment at that time. Jenkins said he did not.

Jenkins said he also knew Toney, 19, prior to the shooting, noting they attended Charles City High School together before they both moved to Mason City. He said the two of them used to hang out together outside of school.

The final two witnesses for the state are expected to testify when the trial resumes at 1 p.m.

Check back later for updates on this story.
MASON CITY | A urologist testified Wednesday afternoon that the victim in a shooting near Southbridge Mall in October narrowly escaped death.

A fragment from a bullet that entered Stephen Williams left buttock came extremely close to his ureter, said Dr. Christopher Adams from the Mason City Clinic.

If the fragment had hit the ureter, it would have caused urine to get into Williams abdomen, according to Adams. He said that could lead to fatal blood poisoning.

Adams was one of the witnesses testifying for the state Wednesday in the attempted murder trial of Revell Toney, 19, Mason City.

Toney shot Williams, 25, also of Mason City, shortly after 2 a.m. Oct. 23 on the plaza at the north entrance to Southbridge Mall.

The defense is expected to begin presenting evidence on Thursday.

Check back at globegazette.com for updates on this developing story.

Our earlier story:

Mason City shooting trial: "I thought the fight was over," victim testifies

MASON CITY | Stephen Williams wiped his eyes with a tissue Wednesday morning as he testified about being shot near Southbridge Mall in October.

The 25-year-old Mason City resident said when Revell Toney, 19, raised his hand, he saw he had a gun. He said he then saw Toney fire it at him.

"I just threw up my hands," he said.

Mason City attempted murder trial: Fight preceded 3 gunshots MASON CITY | Revell Toney shot an unarmed man three times on Oct 23 outside Southbridge Mall

Williams said Toney shot him three times, and the final shot, which entered his left buttock, was fired while he was turning away and had his back to Toney.

Williams said the two of them had exchanged punches just before the shooting, but "I thought the fight was over ... I thought it was just a fistfight and we would leave it alone."

Toney, of Mason City, is on trial this week in Cerro Gordo County District Court on charges of attempted murder and possession of a firearm as a felon.

The trial began Monday.

The shooting took place shortly after 2 a.m. Oct. 23 outside Lorados, a Mason City restaurant and bar just outside the entrance to the Southbridge Mall.

During opening statements on Tuesday, defense attorney Letitia Turner said Toney shot the gun but did not intend to kill Williams.

When cross-examining Williams on Wednesday, Turner asked if he was following Toney after the fistfight.

Williams said he walked toward Toney and asked if the fight was over.

"I didn't want to get sucker-punched again," he said.

Williams said he yelled, "Are we done now?" and called Toney a derogatory name.

Williams said he knew who Toney was before they encountered each other at Lorados the night of the shooting, but did not have an issue with him.

As people were leaving the bar at closing time, Williams said he told Toney something related to a disagreement between Toney's family and Williams' friend.

Toney "took what I said the wrong way" and punched him in the face, Williams said.

"I defended myself," he said.

They both backed up when the fistfight was over, according to Williams.

The trial recessed for lunch at 11:15 a.m. Wednesday. Testimony was slated to continue 1 p.m.

Check back at globegazette.com for updates on this developing story.
Davenport-based publisher Lee Enterprises Inc. reported lower second quarter earnings Thursday as total revenue decreased and print advertising remains a challenge  particularly among big box retailers, company leaders said.

Lee reported earnings of $6.4 million, or 11 cents per diluted common share, for the second fiscal quarter ended March 26. That compares to earnings of $19.5 million, or 36 cents per share, a year ago. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, for the 2017 second quarter was $28.8 million.

For the first 26 weeks, Lee reported income of $18.3 million, compared to income of $30.5 million a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA year-to-date was $72.1 million.

Lee is the parent company of the Globe Gazette, Mitchell County Press-News, Forest City Summit and Britt News Tribune and publications in a total of 49 markets.

In a conference call Thursday with analysts, Lee Executive Chairman Mary Junck said, "While the overall revenue trend didn't improve from the first quarter, we saw gains in some key categories." Among them was classified advertising, which she said saw its best quarter in more than a year.

"Total digital revenue growth was 10 percent and digital advertising grew 11.3 percent, including growth of 14.1 percent in digital retail advertising," Lee President and CEO Kevin Mowbray said. Digital advertising revenue represented 28.7 percent of the total advertising revenue in the quarter, he added.

In an earnings news release, Mowbray said cash costs declined 8.2 percent from prior year. "We expect the cost reductions we made in the March quarter to have a significant impact on the second half of the year and into 2018."

Total revenue was down 7.9 percent in the quarter. "We continue to see headwinds in print advertising, and the challenges with big box retailers continue,'' he told analysts. "Softer print advertising was the largest contributor to the decline."

The improving trends in classifieds was driven by new initiatives, including a redesign of the company's obituary sections, he said.

Lee also increased it guidance for cash costs, now forecasting they will be down 6 to 6.5 percent for fiscal 2017.

In the release, Mowbray also noted these quarterly highlights:

Total digital revenue totaled $25.7 million. Unique visitors to Lee mobile, tablet, desktop and app sites averaged 26.7 million, an increase of 6.2 percent over the prior year quarter.

Total advertising and marketing services revenue decreased 11.1 percent in the quarter; subscription revenue decreased 2.5 percent.

Ron Mayo, Lee's chief financial officer and treasurer, told analysts that Lee continues to aggressively reduce the company's debt. As of March 26, the principal amount of debt was $584.9 million.

He said debt was reduced $14.5 million for the quarter, $32.2 million fiscal year-to-date and $71.6 million over the past twelve months. The reduction also lowered interest expense by $8.2 million, or 12.0 percent, in the past 12 months.

Mayo said cash costs decreased 8.2 percent and operating expenses decreased 9.2 percent. Compensation was down 9.9 percent, primarily as a result of lower self-insured medical costs and staffing reductions mainly associated with the business transformation and outsourcing, he added.

Year-to-date, Lee said operating revenues totaled $287.4 million, which was down 8.8 percent from a year ago. Advertising and marketing services revenue combined was down 10.7 percent to $170.6 million. Total digital revenue was $52.1 million, up 8.2 percent. Subscription revenue decreased 2.2 percent in the 26 weeks.

"Our steady cash flow has kept, and will continue to keep us, ahead of schedule in retiring debt, which we believe increases our shareholder value," Junck told analysts. She added that Lee is "among industry leaders in margins and other key performance measures..."
MANCHESTER, England, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Purple, the intelligent spaces firm, has enabled SunSol Hotels, located across the Americas, to collect 500% more TripAdvisor reviews since the installation of its WiFi and analytics solution by Vadel Oil Company.

By using Purple's solution, venues and businesses that want to engage with visitors and understand the use of their physical spaces can deliver a guest WiFi solution that generates real-time analytics and marketing. The solution is also integrated with TripAdvisor, which enables timely prompts to be sent to customers for reviews.

Vadel Oil Company, specialists in security services and IT networks, first approached the hotel chain in late 2016 to discuss their IT and wireless requirements. The three-year contract applies to all of the hotels owned and operated by the company, with three properties located in the Caribbean on Margarita Island and Coche Island in Venezuela, plus their newest opening in Orlando, Florida.

The first phase of deployment has seen Ubiquiti wireless hardware, Purple and the TripAdvisor connector go live in all public areas of the Sunsol Isla Caribe hotel on Margarita Island, which was awarded a TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice award in 2017. In just two weeks of installing the connector, the hotel received 500% more reviews than they used to in a whole month and collected more reviews in April than it had in the last year.

Fedor Sawoloka, the Digital Platform Manager for SunSol Hotels, said: "Purple's marketing and analytics platform has opened up a wide range of opportunities for us. We can now collect detailed profiles about our guests and have a much clearer vision of potential clients. In addition, through using Purple we can offer a better overall service to our guests throughout their stay."

Daniel Rojas, Technology Manager for SunSol Hotels, adds: "It is truly amazing how Purple allows us to deliver a totally personalized experience based on customer statistics including frequency of WiFi usage, gender and age."

Gavin Wheeldon, CEO of Purple, comments: "It's great to see that Purple's WiFi and analytics solution is being deployed in some of the most exotic places in the world. In such a short space of time the hotel chain has seen some fantastic results. Vadel Oil Company took a great approach with Sunsol Hotels to ensure they fully recognised the value of Purple's solution and I'm excited to see more customer wins in the region."

Lloyd Gofton - lloyd@liberatemedia.com - +44 (0)7919 353 484

SOURCE Purple
WASHINGTON, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than 100 groundbreaking thinkers and leaders will gather at the fourth annual Spotlight Health to discuss the cutting-edge health issues of our time. Spotlight Health is the opening segment of the annual Aspen Ideas Festival and will take place from June 22-25, 2017, in Aspen, CO. The Atlantic is the official media partner of Spotlight Health.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A limited number of press passes remain available. To apply, please fill out the form here: http://www.aspenideas.org/festival/press.



Featured speakers include: Deborah DiSanzo, General Manager, Watson Health, IBM; Jon Batiste, Bandleader, "The Late Show"; Judy Woodruff, Anchor and Managing Editor, PBS NewsHour; Sheila Marcelo, Founder, CEO & Chair, Care.com; Raj Panjabi, Founder and CEO of Last Mile Health; Victor Dzau, President, National Academy of Medicine; Kevin Washington, President & CEO, YMCA - USA; Anthony Fauci, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Pat Mitchell, President & CEO, The Paley Center for Media; Rose Marcario, President and CEO, Patagonia; Richard Besser, President and CEO, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Festival Underwriter); Anita Goel, Chairman, CEO, and Scientific Director, Nanobiosym; Sue Siegel, CEO, Ventures, GE; Peter J. Pronovost, MacArthur Fellow, Director, Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, Johns Hopkins Medicine; Paula Johnson, President, Wellesley College; and top journalists from The Atlantic and dozens of other leading news organizations.

The public convocation, which will feature one-on-one interviews, panel conversations, film screenings, and more, is a three-day deep dive into global and domestic health. Spotlight Health 2017 will explore four main thematic areas: caregiving, moonshots, the brain, and intersections. More about this year's program can be found at aspenideas.org/spotlighthealth. Limited passes remain; to register and purchase your pass, please visit aspenideas.org/festival/register.

Over the course of Spotlight Health, a robust and diverse audience is expected in Aspen, CO, and many more will be able to join the conversation online. The Atlantic will report on Spotlight Health in a special report at TheAtlantic.com. All video and audio clips of on-stage conversations will be on aspenideas.org and TheAtlantic.com/live, and on the Aspen Institute's YouTube channel. Regular updates from the Festival in the run-up and during the event will be on Facebook.com/aspenideas and on Twitter at @AspenIdeas, @AtlanticLIVE, and with #SpotlightHealth. Additionally, discussions can be followed all year on the Aspen Ideas Festival blog.

Presenting underwriters for the 2017 Aspen Ideas Festival Spotlight Health are America's Biopharmaceutical Companies, Care.com, Merck, Mount Sinai Health System, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and The SCAN Foundation. Supporting underwriters are Brigham and Women's Hospital, City of Hope National Medical Center, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, The Commonwealth Fund, and The Rockefeller Foundation. AARP, Annenberg Foundation, Caring Across Generations, Dignity Health, Infor, RTI International, and Welltower are contributing underwriters.

About the Aspen Institute

The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen, Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland's Eastern Shore. It also has offices in New York City and an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.



About The Atlantic

Founded in 1857 and today one of the fastest growing media platforms in the industry, The Atlantic has throughout its history championed the power of big ideas and continues to shape global debate across print, digital, events, and video platforms. With its award-winning digital presence TheAtlantic.com and CityLab.com on cities around the world, The Atlantic is a multimedia forum on the most critical issues of our timesfrom politics, business, urban affairs, and the economy, to technology, arts, and culture.

SOURCE The Aspen Institute

Related Links

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On the opening ceremony, Mr. Zhou Guofu, president of China International Tea Culture Institute, pointed out that Guizhou is one of the birthplaces of tea and tea culture in China. In recent years, the tea industry and tea culture have developed rapidly. Chinese tea plantations should consciously practice the new development concepts. Guided by the market, we shall strengthen the tea industry, enrich the cultural chain. expand the technology chain, extend the chain of the industry and enhance the value chain to promote the cultural value, social value, ecological value and economic value of the tea industry. We shall make more contributions to the renaissance of China's tea culture, to bolster China's tea industry and make China a great power of tea once again by developing the industries, enriching the people, promoting the culture, keeping healthy and knowing each other through the tea.

Mr. Chen Zongmao, an academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that Guizhou tea is fragrant, fresh and mellow, so he will spare no effort to introduce and promote the tea culture and the tea industry of Guizhou.

Mr. Abdullah Maier Allawi, the Minister Plenipotentiary to the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs and the Cooperation of the Kingdom of Morocco, said that he would like to introduce Guizhou to more people in Morocco, so that more people in Morocco can drink clean and mellow Guizhou tea.

On the opening ceremony, Guizhou green tea was granted Agro-product Geographical Indications by China's Ministry of Agriculture. Chinese Calligraphers Association presented a calligraphy work of the character of TEA written in 100 different ways as a gift to Meitan County. And Mr. Wang Qing, the executive vice president of China Tea Marketing Association, awarded the prizes for the Outstanding winners of 2017 National Tea Processing Vocational Skills Competition.

Image Attachments Links:

http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=288716

http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=288717

SOURCE 2017 China Guizhou Global Tea Culture Festival and Tea Expo
NEW ORLEANS, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- 365 Connect, a leading provider of award-winning marketing, leasing, and resident technology platforms for the multifamily housing industry, announced today that the company will participate in the Apartment Internet Marketing Conference. 365 Connect is also a key sponsor of the event. The conference will occur May 8-10, 2017 in Huntington Beach, California.

Delivering technology solutions to multifamily housing communities across the nation, 365 Connect will exhibit and demonstrate its revolutionary resident lifecycle platform throughout the conference. The 365 Connect Platform resolves issues every multifamily community faces: marketing, leasing, and delivering services to residents. Enhancing living experiences by opening lines of communication, the platform follows the entire resident lifecycle, providing a nexus of information, resources, and services.

365 Connect Founder and CEO Kerry W. Kirby stated, "The Apartment Internet Marketing Conference hosts one of the most concentrated gatherings of technology professionals in the multifamily housing industry. With our focus on connecting both future and existing residents with where they live, this event is by far one of the most important conferences for us to attend each year as we engage, learn, and evolve our platform by interacting with our industry peers."

The Apartment Internet Marketing Conference will feature an array of speakers, panelists, and apartment industry executives, and will present an intimate look at the state of marketing from the perspective of multifamily management and ownership leaders. The conference has pioneered the exploration of topics like ratings and reviews, accountable marketing, revenue management as well as the explosion of video marketing. This year's event will focus on user experience, predictive lead generation, and utilizing virtual reality in order to attract prospective renters.

With 46 technology awards and counting, 365 Connect continues to revolutionize the multifamily housing industry with a results-driven platform that eliminates redundant marketing, simplifies transactions, and serves residents after the lease is signed. The platform is proven to reduce operating expenses, increase prospect traffic, and retain residents for multifamily housing operators.

"365 Connect is always proud to participate in the Apartment Internet Marketing Conference. This event amplifies our message that considerable achievements in technology come from commitment, creativity, and dedication. When our team attends the conference each year, we observe industry leaders and entrepreneurs enthusiastically gathering to discuss the latest trends, incubate new ideas, and collaborate on strategic action. In keeping step with these passionate innovators, we encourage attendees to stop by our business lounge, meet our amazing team members, and learn why multifamily communities all over the country are leveraging the power of our platform," Kirby added.

About The Apartment Internet Marketing Conference: The Apartment Internet Marketing Conference is the apartment industry's only event dedicated solely to marketing, pricing, and encompasses all of the technological efforts surrounding the customer experience of the prospective renter. It is the most detailed and informative event in the industry and is sure to attract the industry's leading buyers of online and transactional services. Joshua Tree Conference Group has produced the AIM Conference since 2008. For more information visit: www.AIMconf.com

About 365 Connect, LLC: 365 Connect is a leading provider of award-winning marketing, leasing, and resident technology platforms for the multifamily housing industry. Delivering a fully-integrated solution that eliminates redundant marketing efforts, simplifies transactions, and provides services after the lease is signed, the 365 Connect Platform interfaces with a variety of third-party applications to streamline operations and enhance user experiences. Powering the resident lifecycle since 2003, 365 Connect delivers game-changing results for its clients and the residents they serve by remaining laser-focused on connecting people with where they live. Explore: www.365connect.com

Media Inquires

365 Connect

[email protected]

504.299.3444

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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 365 Connect

Related Links

https://www.365connect.com


HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- AccountantsWorld, a leader in cloud-based solutions for accountants, today announces its partnership with the Maryland Association of CPAs (MACPA). AccountantsWorld is the newest member of preferred providers of accounting practice management and software for the MACPA.

Founded in 1901, MACPA played a major role in shaping the accounting profession. The organization helps CPAs adapt to an ever-changing business climate by making them ready for the future.

"Our members rely on us to keep them updated on the latest technological improvements and issues facing the accounting industry," said Tom Hood, CEO and executive director of MACPA. "AccountantsWorld is a client accounting platform that should be on their radar. With this partnership, we hope to advance and educate more than 9,000 CPAs across the state about this new solution."

For more than 17 years, AccountantsWorld has transformed the accounting profession with its cloud-based solutions designed exclusively for CPAs and accountants. The company's complete suite of fully integrated products helps CPAs foster greater collaboration with their clients. AccountantsWorld puts professional accountants first by never selling its products or services directly to their clients.

"Our mission is to help them take back control of client accounting," said Chandra Bhansali, co-founder and CEO of AccountantsWorld. "We're excited to serve members of MACPA as a preferred provider and trusted advisor for their accounting software needs."

AccountantsWorld continues to provide top-level products to its customer base. They most recently partnered with TAG Resources and Transamerica Retirement Solutions to add retirement capabilities to their signature product, Payroll Relief. Additionally, AccountantsWorld's full-service client accounting solution, Accounting Power, has consistently received five-star ratings by CPA Practice Advisor.

About AccountantsWorld

With more than 30 years' experience, AccountantsWorld is the leading provider of cloud-based solutions for accountants. AccountantsWorld offers a complete, integrated suite of innovative accounting, payroll, and practice management solutions that help accountants work collaboratively with clients to foster greater client loyalty and improve practice bottom lines. AccountantsWorld is also the only leading cloud solutions provider that puts Accountants First by never competing with accountants or selling services directly to their clients. For more information about any of the AccountantsWorld cloud-based solutions, please visit www.accountantsworld.com or call 1-888-999-1366.

About the Maryland Association of CPAs

The Maryland Association of CPAs exists to help CPAs connect with each other in strategic ways, to protect our members' interests, and to help them achieve greater success. We provide the resources and services that CPAs need to excel in their profession. Since 1901, the MACPA has been a national leader in the CPA profession. We are honored that the Baltimore Business Journal and Washington Business Journal have named the MACPA among the largest networking organizations in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., for each of the past five years. For details, visit http://www.MACPA.org

SOURCE AccountantsWorld

Related Links

http://www.accountantsworld.com


NEW YORK, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- This year's silver and bronze, Northeast regional Azbee Awards of Excellence were presented to Ryan Joe and Kelly Liyakasa of AdExchanger, an online publication devoted to the data-driven, digital marketing and advertising space. The Azbee Awards celebrate the highest quality writing and design in business-to-business, trade, association and professional publications.

"As a publication, we are thrilled for our staff members to be awarded these top honors," said John Ebbert, Publisher and CEO of AdExchanger. "I congratulate Ryan and Kelly on their achievement, and value their tenacity for reporting on stories that reflect the true nature of the marketing technology and media space."

AdExchanger's Managing Editor Ryan Joe received the silver award for his work separating fact from fiction when it comes to artificial intelligence, while Ms. Liyakasa, senior editor of AdExchanger, was bestowed the bronze award for her work articulating the motives and implications of server-side ad insertion (SSAI). As more TV content is being consumed across platforms, SSAI is emerging as a key method for video publishers to mitigate ad blocking and boost video playback across devices.

AdExchanger readers include marketers, advertising agencies, publishers, data providers and technology companies. The company helps its audience understand the increasingly complicated marketing ecosystem through unrivaled news reporting and illuminating thought leadership from industry experts. It also brings readers and major players together at several conferences throughout the year across the United States.

"I am delighted that Ryan and Kelly have received this recognition for their great reporting work from the American Society for Business Publication Editors (ASBPE)," said Zach Rodgers, Executive Editor of AdExchanger. "They are both top notch, dedicated editors with detailed technical knowledge of their beats."

The ASBPE announced the winners at the Northeast Regional Azbee Awards Banquet last night in New York City. The awards honor all types of publications including magazines, newspapers, newsletters, websites and digital media. National winners will be announced on May 18 in St. Petersburg, Fla.

About AdExchanger

Founded in 2008, AdExchanger is an award-winning integrated media company  which includes publishing and three large industry events devoted to the data-driven, digital marketing space. The company produces Industry Preview, which provides an exclusive look at the year ahead in digital marketing technology, as well as two bi-coastal, leading conferences in programmatic media, known as PROGRAMMATIC I/O. For more information, visit www.adexchanger.com.

SOURCE AdExchanger
LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Air Products (NYSE: APD), a world-leading industrial gases company, makes its debut today at IE Expo China 2017, Asia's largest environmental trade fair. Demonstrating its strong commitment to helping China's manufacturing industry achieve energy savings, emission reductions and sustainable development, the company is showcasing its gas application solutions for environmental protection and monitoring at the tradeshow.

Guided by the Chinese government's green growth roadmap in the country's 13th Five-Year Plan, China's manufacturing industry has been moving towards more environment-friendly operating models. To accelerate the industrial green transformation and upgrading, many manufacturers are relying on advanced technologies and solutions to achieve their environmental targets.

At this year's IE Expo China, cutting-edge technologies and latest solutions for environmental protection and pollution control are presented at eight pavilions under four key themeswater, waste, air and soil. At booth W3770 in the water pavilion, visitors will find Air Products showcasing its range of Halia gas application technologies for water and wastewater treatment. Already widely used in industrial and municipal water treatment projects around the world, the robust modular Halia solutions enable higher flexibility and efficiency at a lower cost by combining the benefits of pure oxygen aeration, and ozone and advanced oxidation, with high mass transfer technology.

Air Products' total solutions for emissions control and environmental monitoring for a variety of industries are also featured at the booth, including:

Oxy-fuel/oxy-enrich solutions : As an industry leader in oxy-fuel combustion, Air Products helps industries such as glass, non-ferrous and cement/lime manufacturing effectively reduce emissions, among which nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions can be lowered by more than 80% for glass manufacturing.

As an industry leader in oxy-fuel combustion, Air Products helps industries such as glass, non-ferrous and cement/lime manufacturing effectively reduce emissions, among which nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions can be lowered by more than 80% for glass manufacturing. Cryo-Condap  technology : This process helps refrigerator recycling, coating lines, chemical and pharmaceutical industries achieve effective VOC (volatile organic compound) recovery.

This process helps refrigerator recycling, coating lines, chemical and pharmaceutical industries achieve effective VOC (volatile organic compound) recovery. BIP built-in gas purification technology: This innovative technology provides accurate and reliable analysis results for environmental monitoring together with Air Products' high purity/ultra-high purity gases and standard gas mixtures.

"Air Products is committed to the highest safety, health and environmental standards. Almost half of our company's R&D budget is invested in innovations related to the environment and energy, including NOx and greenhouse gases emissions control, VOC recovery, water and wastewater treatment and more," commented Brandon Fu, vice president, Asia Strategy, Marketing and Technology at Air Products. "Backed by over 75 years of deep expertise in the industrial gases industry and our global innovation capabilities, our advanced technologies have helped many companies meet their environmental goals.

"By participating in IE Expo China, we are able to let more industrial players witness how our innovative technologies and solutions can help China's manufacturing industry achieve energy savings and reduce emissions for a sustainable future."

Air Products is also widely recognized for its commitment to sustainability and is listed on several prestigious sustainability indices.

The company has been serving the China market for 30 years with its leading-edge technologies and solutions to help customers become more productive, energy efficient and sustainable. It has supported a number of China's landmark green projects. For example, Air Products' hydrogen fueling technology powered the official shuttle buses for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, 2010 Asian Games and 2011 Shenzhen Universiade to drive the use of clean energy; in the Fujian Province, the company brought onstream China's first large air separation unit that uses liquefied natural gas cold energy, which has tremendous environmental and energy efficiency benefits; its oxy-fuel carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) purification technology was used for the power generation project with Shanxi International Energy Group; and its oxy-fuel combustion technologies enable glass and steel manufacturers to improve product quality and enhance productivity while reducing emissions.

About Air Products

Air Products (NYSE:APD) is a world-leading Industrial Gases company in operation for over 75 years. The Company's core industrial gases business provides atmospheric and process gases and related equipment to manufacturing markets, including refining and petrochemical, metals, electronics, and food and beverage. Air Products is also the world's leading supplier of liquefied natural gas process technology and equipment.

The Company had fiscal 2016 sales of $7.5 billion from continuing operations in 50 countries and has a current market capitalization of approximately $30 billion. Approximately 16,000 employees are making Air Products the world's safest and best performing industrial gases company, providing sustainable offerings and excellent service to all customers. For more information, visit www.airproducts.com.

NOTE: This release may contain forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management's reasonable expectations and assumptions as of the date of this release regarding important risk factors. Actual performance and financial results may differ materially from projections and estimates expressed in the forward-looking statements because of many factors not anticipated by management, including risk factors described in the Company's Form 10K for its fiscal year ended September 30, 2016.

SOURCE Air Products

Related Links

http://www.airproducts.com


"Albertsons Companies takes our commitment to socially and environmentally responsible seafood seriously," said Buster Houston, Group Director of Seafood at Albertsons Companies. "By providing Fair Trade Certified seafood, we are able to support the domestic industry, provide our customers with the highest quality product, and support the health of ocean ecosystems and communities that depend upon them."

The new product, Santa Monica Seafood Signature Sea Scallops, is sourced from the Port of New Bedford, Massachusetts, an iconic fishing village with a rich history of American seafood production. These large scallops are not only responsibly sourced, but are also recognized worldwide as having unparalleled texture and flavor. Santa Monica Seafood Signature Sea Scallops are available at Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions stores in Southern California and will be available at Safeway stores in Northern California this summer.

Like all Fair Trade Certified products, producers of Santa Monica Seafood's scallops receive a Community Development Premium  10 percent of the dockside price  which they can collectively invest in much-needed community projects. According to David Ferreira, the Secretary of The Northwest Atlantic Sea Scallop Fisheries (NWASSF), "The premium received by NWASSF will augment the scallop fisheries advocacy group Fisherman Survival Fund and promote industry research partners UMass Dartmouth's School for Marine Science & Technology and Coonamessett Farm."

This new product continues Albertsons Companies' tradition of leadership in sourcing socially and environmentally responsible seafood. In 2015, Albertsons Companies became the world's first retailer to sell Fair Trade Certified seafood, with the introduction of Fair Trade yellowfin tuna from Indonesia. In addition to meeting rigorous social standards, the Fair Trade Certified seafood products in Albertsons Companies stores also meet the high environmental bar set by its Responsible Seafood Policy in partnership with FishWise. Albertsons Companies pioneered the Responsible Choice program whereby seafood products marked "Responsible Choice" are favorably rated by the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program, or are sourced from fisheries or farms making measurable and time-bound improvements.

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.

About FishWise

FishWise is a non-profit sustainable seafood consultancy based in Santa Cruz, CA. Uniquely positioned between the seafood industry and marine conservation organizations, FishWise offers a range of services that create trust between seafood vendors and their customers, enabling businesses to sell more sustainable seafood, more profitably. For more information, please visit http://www.fishwise.org.

Media Contacts

Albertsons Companies:

Teena Massingill, Director of Corporate Public Affairs

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (925) 226-5820

FishWise:

Chase Martin, Communications Project Manager

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (831) 427-1707 ext. 132

SOURCE Albertsons Companies
DUBLIN, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN), a leading global pharmaceutical company in women's healthcare, will present new data from its women's healthcare portfolio, at the annual American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Annual Clinical and Scientific Meeting in San Diego, May 6-9.

The scheduled times (noted in local Pacific Time) of the presentations and room locations at the San Diego Convention Center are as follows:

"Ulipristal Acetate Treatment of Uterine Fibroids in Black and Obese Women: VENUS I Subgroup Analyses"

Authors: Simon JA, Catherino W, Blakesley R, Chan A, Sniukiene V, Al-Hendy A



Presentation #: 28G (ePoster presentation)



Sunday, May 7, 2017 , 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM

"Disease Burden Among Canadian Women With Symptomatic Uterine Fibroids: Interim Results of CAPTURE"

Authors: Laberge P, Singh S, Lamontagne A, Vilos G



Presentation # 1H (ePoster presentation)



Sunday, May 7, 2017 , 1:00 PM  2:00 PM

"Four-year efficacy and safety of the levonorgestrel intrauterine system"

Authors: Thomas M, Chen B, Kede L, Kimble T, Jensen J, Creinin M



Presentation Number: 11A (ePoster Session A)



Saturday, May 6 th, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM

ABOUT ALLERGAN WOMEN'S HEALTHCARE

Allergan is a leader in women's health care that is dedicated to developing and commercializing best-in-class pharmaceuticals to improve the health and wellness of women. Allergan takes a holistic and a best-in-class approach to women's healthcare as it prioritizes educational partnerships with OB/GYNs. The mission of Allergan Women's HealthCare extends beyond its pharmaceutical products to ensure that all women can make informed decisions about their health and have access to high-quality medications. Allergan is committed to investing in programs that support the education and well-being of all women.

ABOUT ALLERGAN

Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN), headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a bold, global pharmaceutical company and a leader in a new industry model  Growth Pharma. Allergan is focused on developing, manufacturing and commercializing branded pharmaceuticals, devices and biologic products for patients around the world.

Allergan markets a portfolio of leading brands and best-in-class products for the central nervous system, eye care, medical aesthetics and dermatology, gastroenterology, women's health, urology and anti-infective therapeutic categories.

Allergan is an industry leader in Open Science, the Company's R&D model, which defines our approach to identifying and developing game-changing ideas and innovation for better patient care. This approach has led to Allergan building one of the broadest development pipelines in the pharmaceutical industry with 70+ mid-to-late stage pipeline programs in development. Our Company's success is powered by our more than 16,000 global colleagues' commitment to being Bold for Life. Together, we build bridges, power ideas, act fast and drive results for our customers and patients around the world by always doing what is right.

With commercial operations in approximately 100 countries, Allergan is committed to working with physicians, healthcare providers and patients to deliver innovative and meaningful treatments that help people around the world live longer, healthier lives every day.

For more information, visit Allergan's website at www.Allergan.com.

Forward-Looking Statement

Statements contained in this press release that refer to future events or other non-historical facts are forward-looking statements that reflect Allergan's current perspective of existing trends and information as of the date of this release. Except as expressly required by law, Allergan disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from Allergan's current expectations depending upon a number of factors affecting Allergan's business. These factors include, among others, the difficulty of predicting the timing or outcome of FDA approvals or actions, if any; the impact of competitive products and pricing; market acceptance of and continued demand for Allergan's products; difficulties or delays in manufacturing; and other risks and uncertainties detailed in Allergan's periodic public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to Allergan's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016. Except as expressly required by law, Allergan disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

CONTACTS:

Investors:

Karina Calzadilla

(862) 261-7328

Media:

Mark Marmur

(862) 261-7558

Lisa Kim

(714) 246-3843

SOURCE Allergan plc

Related Links

http://www.allergan.com


ST. LOUIS, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ameren Missouri has contributed $25,000 to the American Red Cross of Eastern Missouri to assist with relief efforts following record flooding in Missouri.

"Thanks to the generosity of philanthropic companies such as Ameren, the Red Cross is able to assist members of our community who have been impacted by the rising waters," said Cindy Erickson, chief executive officer of the American Red Cross of Eastern Missouri. "Ameren continues to be a generous partner of the Red Cross and to the communities they serve. We are grateful for their continued support of our mission."

The contribution is part of the Ameren Cares initiative, which connects Ameren with the communities it serves through charitable giving and volunteering. A key focus of Ameren Cares is partnering with nonprofit organizations to improve the quality of life in Ameren's service territories.

"Our hearts go out to those affected by this latest flood," said Michael Moehn, president, Ameren Missouri. "Our crews have been working around the clock to safely assist customers affected by torrential rains, and we hope this donation will provide additional assistance."

Since 2015, Ameren Missouri has enhanced its system to improve reliability for customers during flooding events. The company also has developed detailed plans to ensure Ameren Missouri co-workers can safely get to and from energy centers experiencing road closures to ensure Ameren Missouri continues to generate the power necessary to meet customer needs.

"The recent floods have impacted and displaced many Ameren customers and employees," said Moehn. "We are fortunate to have the American Red Cross supply and coordinate outstanding relief efforts, and we are pleased to support them as they assist members of our community during this time of need."

FLOOD SAFETY TIPS

In the event of flooding in or around your home or business, call Ameren to have service turned off when the flood waters are likely to reach service equipment. Your service may also be turned off at the request of local authorities when flood waters threaten a community.

Safety Tips for Electric Equipment

Never enter a flooded basement or other flooded areas where water may be in contact with electrical wiring, appliances or other electrical devices.

Never operate electrical appliances or devices or touch electrical switches, outlets or cords if you are standing in water or are on a wet surface, or if you are wet.

Under no circumstances should you attempt to turn off power at the main electrical panel box if you must stand in water or on a wet floor to do so.

About Ameren Missouri

Ameren Missouri has been providing electric and gas service for more than 100 years, and the company's electric rates are among the lowest in the nation. Ameren Missouri's mission is to power the quality of life for its 1.2 million electric and 127,000 natural gas customers in central and eastern Missouri. The company's service area covers 64 counties and more than 500 communities, including the greater St. Louis area. For more information, visit Ameren.com/Missouri, or follow us at @AmerenMissouri or Facebook.com/AmerenMissouri.

About the American Red Cross of Eastern Missouri

Celebrating 100 years of dedicated service in the region, the American Red Cross prevents and alleviates human suffering in the face of emergencies. Thousands of volunteers and generous donors provide community support services including disaster relief, preparedness efforts, training in lifesaving skills, service to military families and blood services. The Red Cross of Eastern Missouri includes St. Louis city and 54 surrounding counties in Missouri and Illinois. All disaster relief services are free. To learn more about the Red Cross and how you can help, contact your local Red Cross by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS (733-2767) or visit redcross.org.

SOURCE Ameren Missouri

Related Links

http://www.ameren.com


AGOURA HILLS, Calif., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH) (the "Company"), a leading provider of high quality single-family homes for rent, today announced that, on May 4, 2017, the Board of Trustees declared a dividend of $0.05 per share on the Company's common shares for the second quarter of 2017. The distribution will be payable in cash on June 30, 2017 to shareholders of record on June 15, 2017.

The Board of Trustees also declared a per share quarterly distribution on the Company's participating preferred shares of $0.3125 on the 5.0% Series A shares, $0.3125 on the 5.0% Series B shares and $0.34375 on the 5.5% Series C shares payable on June 30, 2017 to shareholders of record on June 15, 2017.

Additionally, the Board of Trustees declared a per share quarterly distribution on the Company's cumulative redeemable perpetual preferred shares of $0.40625 per share on the 6.5% Series D shares, $0.39688 per share on the 6.35% Series E shares and $0.27335 per share on the 5.875% Series F shares payable on June 30, 2017 to shareholders of record on June 15, 2017.

About American Homes 4 Rent

American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH) is a leader in the single-family home rental industry and "American Homes 4 Rent" is fast becoming a nationally recognized brand for rental homes, known for high quality, good value and tenant satisfaction. We are an internally managed Maryland real estate investment trust, or REIT, focused on acquiring, renovating, leasing, and operating attractive, single-family homes as rental properties. As of March 31, 2017, we owned 48,336 single-family properties in selected submarkets in 22 states.

Additional information about American Homes 4 Rent is available on our website at www.americanhomes4rent.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that relate to beliefs, expectations or intentions and similar statements concerning matters that are not of historical fact and are generally accompanied by words such as "believe," "expect," "will," "intend," "anticipate" or other words that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes. These forward-looking statements include the payment and anticipated timing of the payment of distributions of the Company's common and preferred shares. The Company has based these forward-looking statements on its current expectations and assumptions about future events. While the Company's management considers these expectations to be reasonable, they are inherently subject to risks, contingencies and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company's control and could adversely affect our cash flows and ability to pay distributions. Additional information about these and other important factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from anticipated results expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements is available in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to conform to actual results or changes in expectations, except as required by applicable law.

Contact:

American Homes 4 Rent

Investor Relations

Phone: (855) 794-2447

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE American Homes 4 Rent

Related Links

https://www.americanhomes4rent.com


BOSTON, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- American Well announced today that its clinical partner, Online Care Group, has added online breastfeeding support to its growing list of clinical services. Health systems, health plans and employers using American Well technology can now offer customers' access to International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) for on-demand and scheduled video visits. This unique service gives new mothers access to professional experts who can answer questions, address concerns and offer advice concerning breastfeeding and related challenges that may arise with feeding a newborn.

American Well is the only company to offer breastfeeding support services through its clinical partner.

"As every mother knows, breastfeeding a newborn, whether it's your first or fourth child, can be difficult and presents challenges for both baby and mother," said Dr. Sylvia Romm, medical director, American Well and pediatrician, Online Care Group. "Access to breastfeeding support at the hospital where the baby is born may be limited or non-existent, and this creates undue stress on baby and mother. We are so happy to offer this helpful and necessary clinical service to our partners, and to help new moms and their babies feel safe, secure and happy at home."

The benefits of Online Care Group's breastfeeding support services for consumers via American Well's platform include: timely help with common breastfeeding issues such as pumping, latching, weaning, and breastfeeding at work; the unmatched convenience of seeing a consultant over video within 24 hours of requesting an appointment; nationwide access to IBCLCs; the option to self-schedule appointments; and competitive pricing, making virtual visits less costly than in-person visits.

Online Care Group's breastfeeding support service is one of several clinical service lines available. Other services include primary care, pediatrics, psychiatry, therapy, and nutrition. Later this year, American Well will continue to improve patient access to specialty care services as it looks to expand its national telehealth Exchange with the addition of individual practitioners and group practices.

American Well currently partners with more than 250 healthcare organizations nationwide from a wide array of industries, including health plans, employers, retail outlets, pharmacy and pharmaceutical companies, and 70 health systems comprised of more than 700 hospitals. For more information on American Well's telehealth services, visit www.americanwell.com.

About American Well

American Well uses telehealth to improve people's access to quality care. Through our partnerships with the nation's largest health systems, insurers, employers, and retailers, our award-winning telehealth Exchange and our direct-to-consumer service, Amwell, we connect millions of Americans to the doctors they trust for live video visits. Through the power of telehealth, we help patients get the care they need in a timely fashion, and help doctors be there for their patients. We build technologies to make healthcare go where people need it most. For more on how we are changing healthcare delivery through telehealth, visit AmericanWell.com.

American Well and Amwell are registered trademarks or trademarks of American Well Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.

Media Contact:

Amanda Guisbond

617-204-3500 x3697

[email protected]

SOURCE American Well

Related Links

http://www.americanwell.com


SAN MATEO, Calif., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Apttus, the category-defining Quote-to-Cash solution provider, today announced the general availability of Apttus Snap Performance at its fifth annual user conference, Apttus Accelerate 2017. Apttus Snap Performance is a new evolution of software and cloud platform improvements that increase the speed of Configure Price Quote operations by up to 90 percent. Operations that previously may have taken several seconds now take less than 300 milliseconds. This increase cements Apttus CPQ among the fastest and most effective enterprise offerings in the world.

Apttus Snap Performance provides Enterprise-level revenue operations lightning-speed application actions, no longer constrained by platform performance limitations, allowing users to create fast, accurate quoting. These new capabilities empower users of the Apttus Intelligent Cloud to gain a substantially better user experience.

Apttus Snap Performance leverages many forward-thinking innovations, resulting in application performance leadership. Apttus utilizes AngularJS to enable greater customer responsiveness and UI flexibility. This has now led to numerous functional improvements. For example, cart performance through Angular Grid UI now enables fast scrolling through enterprise-size carts, quick searching and pricing.

Apttus Snap Performance massively boosts performance of compute-intensive processing loads by intelligently distributing processing away from the CRM platform to deliver a 90% faster response. In addition, a host of Apttus microservices enable capabilities ranging from rapid type-forward search to actionable business intelligence powered by machine learning.

These capabilities will be on full display at Accelerate 2017, where attendees can see first-hand the value created by the fastest CPQ and Quote-to-Cash operations in the world.

"Apttus Snap Performance was built from the ground up to create a smooth experience and immediate results for all of our customers. We're working with the largest enterprises in the world to ensure their quoting, configuration, and pricing operations perform at the highest possible level," said Kirk Krappe, Apttus CEO. "As the first and best name in Quote-to-Cash, it is our responsibility to drive the industry forward and this is the next step. Apttus Snap Performance will deliver unprecedented success to our customers."

Apttus Accelerate 2017 , the most comprehensive Quote-to-Cash and revenue cycle forum ever held, is taking place now, at San Francisco's Pier 48 from May 2-4. Featuring tracks designed specifically for legal, IT, finance, CRM administration, and sales operation professionals, Accelerate 2017 attendance is essential for anyone with an interest in improving their organization's mission-critical business processes. To follow along in the conversation, use the hashtag #AccelerateQTC. Additional details on recent product updates and much more can be found at Apttus.com.

About Apttus

Apttus, the category-defining Quote-to-Cash and Contract Life cycle Management technology company, drives the vital business process between a buyer's interest and the realization of revenue. Utilizing a patented combination of SaaS-based applications, the Apttus Intelligent Cloud maximizes revenue and business outcomes for companies of all sizes, including 100 of the Fortune 500. Enhanced by Machine Learning and Max, an Intelligent Agent, Apttus applications include Configure Price Quote (CPQ), E-Commerce, Contract Management, Incentives Management, Renewals, Billing and Order Management. The Apttus Intelligent Cloud is powered by the world's most trusted cloud platforms, including Salesforce and Microsoft Azure. Apttus is based in San Mateo, California, with additional offices located across the globe. For more information visit: apttus.com.

Trademark footnote: All corporate names and trademarks are the property of their respective companies.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the Company's expectations with regard to future events. Actual events could differ from those anticipated in this document.

Press Contact: Alex Cohen

[email protected]

SOURCE Apttus

Related Links

http://apttus.com


FREMONT, Calif., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NYSE MKT: AST), a biotechnology company focused on the emerging field of regenerative medicine, today announced that it will release first quarter 2017 financial and operational results on Thursday, May 11, 2017 after the close of the U.S. financial markets.

The Company will host a conference call and webcast on May 11, 2017 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern / 1:30 p.m. For both "listen-only" participants and those participants who wish to take part in the question-and-answer session, the call can be accessed by dialing 800-533-7619 (U.S./Canada) or 785-830-1923 (international) five minutes prior to the start of the call and providing the Conference ID 7610291. To access the live webcast, go to http://asteriasbiotherapeutics.com/inv_events_presentations.php.

A replay of the conference call will be available for seven business days beginning about two hours after the conclusion of the live call, by dialing 888-203-1112 (U.S./Canada) or 719-457-0820 (international) and providing the Conference ID 7610291. Additionally, the archived webcast will be available at http://asteriasbiotherapeutics.com/inv_events_presentations.php.

About Asterias Biotherapeutics



Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc. is a biotechnology company pioneering the field of regenerative medicine. The company's proprietary cell therapy programs are based on its pluripotent stem cell and immunotherapy platform technologies. Asterias is presently focused on advancing three clinical-stage programs which have the potential to address areas of very high unmet medical need in the fields of neurology and oncology. AST-OPC1 (oligodendrocyte progenitor cells) is currently in a Phase 1/2a dose escalation clinical trial in spinal cord injury. AST-VAC1 (antigen-presenting autologous dendritic cells) is undergoing continuing development by Asterias based on promising efficacy and safety data from a Phase 2 study in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), with current efforts focused on streamlining and modernizing the manufacturing process. AST-VAC2 (antigen-presenting allogeneic dendritic cells) represents a second generation, allogeneic cancer immunotherapy. The company's research partner, Cancer Research UK, plans to begin a Phase 1/2a clinical trial of AST-VAC2 in non-small cell lung cancer in 2017. Additional information about Asterias can be found at www.asteriasbiotherapeutics.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Statements pertaining to future financial and/or operating and/or clinical research results, future growth in research, technology, clinical development, and potential opportunities for Asterias, along with other statements about the future expectations, beliefs, goals, plans, or prospects expressed by management constitute forward-looking statements. Any statements that are not historical fact (including, but not limited to statements that contain words such as "will," "believes," "plans," "anticipates," "expects," "estimates") should also be considered to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks inherent in the development and/or commercialization of potential products, uncertainty in the results of clinical trials or regulatory approvals, need and ability to obtain future capital, and maintenance of intellectual property rights. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements and as such should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect the businesses of Asterias, particularly those mentioned in the cautionary statements found in Asterias' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Asterias disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.asteriasbiotherapeutics.com


DALLAS, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- BARBRI Law Preview, part of leading legal education provider The BARBRI Group, along with leading law schools, law firms, companies and bar associations, will award multiple Law Preview scholarships to students preparing to enter select law schools. Law Preview is an innovative, comprehensive law school prep course that has proven to enhance early law school academic success.

Sponsoring organizations will fund full scholarships for incoming law students of participating schools to attend one of BARBRI Law Preview summer sessions where they learn from the nation's leading law school professors and attorney lecturers on what to expect and how to succeed in law school. Some sponsors will also make further investments by mentoring scholarship recipients throughout their 1L year.

"This partnership with schools, law firms and other organizations helps us prepare students more fully for the rigors of law school," says BARBRI Law Preview President Don Macaulay. "We're pleased to be a part of helping tomorrow's lawyers succeed in their all-important 1L year."

Since 1998, thousands of incoming law students have taken the week-long intensive study course prior to entering law school. BARBRI's Law Preview, offered as law professor-led sessions in 21 locations around the country, teaches students how to brief cases, write outlines, study effectively, take tests and manage their time  all critical skills for success in law school. In addition to the skills portion, the classroom course also provides an overview of the six core law school subjects that are required for most students in their first year.

Law Preview has demonstrated success in enabling stronger early academic performance in law school and beyond. An independent study reported that of students who had completed Law Preview, 19 percent finished in the top five percent of their 1L classes and nearly 40 percent finished in the top 10 percent. From a post-school perspective, 88 percent of those who had completed Law Preview passed the bar exam on the first try and 84 percent reported being employed in the legal services industry, or as a judicial clerk, within nine months of graduation.

About The BARBRI Group

The BARBRI Group companies meet the legal education needs of law students and attorneys throughout their careers. At the core of The BARBRI Group Companies is BARBRI Bar Review, which has helped more than 1.3 million U.S. lawyers pass the exam. The company also provides specialized ongoing skills training and certifications in areas such as financial crime, eDiscovery and cyber awareness, security and protection. The BARBRI Group affiliated companies work to improve legal and professional learning in the United States and around the world by providing superior opportunities for law schools and law firms as well as law- and finance-related businesses to prosper. Founded in 1967, The BARBRI Group is headquartered in Dallas with offices throughout the United States and around the world.

Contact: Cindy Parks

913-526-6912

[email protected]

SOURCE BARBRI Law Preview
SAN FRANCISCO, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T welcomes 8 innovative ed-tech startups, including 4 organizations from the San Francisco Bay Area, to the AT&T Aspire Accelerator 2017 class. The program is in its third year and is part of AT&T's $400 million commitment since 2008 to help students succeed. The Accelerator supports for- and non-profit organizations driving student success and career readiness.

The Bay Area organizations selected for this year's program include:

Booknook ( Oakland, CA )  A cloud-based platform that reinvents small group learning through personalized curriculum and texts.

( )  A cloud-based platform that reinvents small group learning through personalized curriculum and texts. CareerVillage.org ( Palo Alto, CA )  A website where students can crowdsource career advice by asking questions that are answered by an online volunteer corps of working professionals.

( )  A website where students can crowdsource career advice by asking questions that are answered by an online volunteer corps of working professionals. LiftEd ( Berkeley, CA )  An app that enables special education teachers to measure individualized student performance, analyze learning trends in real-time and share progress on demand with districts and parents.

( )  An app that enables special education teachers to measure individualized student performance, analyze learning trends in real-time and share progress on demand with districts and parents. LitLab ( Oakland, CA )  An app that gathers mobile usage data and converts it into actionable intelligence for parents, providing focused reading support.

Members of the AT&T Aspire Accelerator will receive a $100,000 investment1 from AT&T and another $25,000 to cover the costs of attending and participating in the program.

They'll also have access to resources and mentors from AT&T and across the education and technology industry. The organizations will become part of the broader AT&T Aspire initiative, which is committed to driving innovation in education.

"When you combine education with technology you can really make a difference," said Ken McNeely, President, AT&T California. "AT&T welcomes this year's Aspire Accelerator class and is proud to support these game-changing solutions for students and teachers in the Bay Area and across the state and nation."

Aspire Accelerator members will also get to work with powerful industry minds. The AT&T Aspire Accelerator's board of advisors includes leading education and technology innovators such as Charles Best, founder and CEO of DonorsChoose.org, and Sebastian Thrun, founder and president of Udacity.

"I've loved the opportunity to work with the Aspire Accelerator startups and serve as a mentor for the founders as they continue to grow their organizations and bring new initiatives and products into the ed-tech space," said Kimberly Bryant, founder of Black Girls CODE. "I know this year's class will bring more innovative ideas to the table and I look forward to continuing to collaborate with AT&T to help the ventures succeed."

Aspire Accelerator members remain in their home cities during the length of the program. They will meet with AT&T and their class members several times at key industry events, such as ISTE. The program will kick off this weekend in conjunction with the ASU GSV Education Technology Summit in Salt Lake City.

In addition to the 4 Bay Area organizations selected for the program, other members of the 2017 Aspire Accelerator class come from across the country, represent diverse backgrounds and leadership, and include:

Earshot ( Seattle, WA )  an app that uses voice analysis and machine learning to provide teachers with personalized data about their instruction to help them improve it.

( )  an app that uses voice analysis and machine learning to provide teachers with personalized data about their instruction to help them improve it. Learn Fresh ( Denver, CO )  creators of NBA Math Hoops, a board game, mobile app and community program that builds fundamental math skills through engagement with NBA and WNBA player statistics.

( )  creators of NBA Math Hoops, a board game, mobile app and community program that builds fundamental math skills through engagement with NBA and WNBA player statistics. ListenWise ( Brookline, MA )  a platform that curates engaging audio stories from public radio and wraps teaching supports around them, allowing teachers to assess students' listening skills.

( )  a platform that curates engaging audio stories from public radio and wraps teaching supports around them, allowing teachers to assess students' listening skills. Zulama ( Pittsburgh, PA )  a cloud-based platform that engages teenagers in programming and STEM subjects through game design.

About Philanthropy & Social Innovation at AT&T

AT&T (NYSE: T) is committed to advancing education, strengthening communities and improving lives. Through its community initiatives, AT&T has a long history of investing in projects that create learning opportunities; promote academic and economic achievement; or address community needs. The company's signature philanthropic initiative, AT&T Aspire, drives innovation in education to promote student success in school and beyond. With a financial commitment of $400 million since 2008, AT&T is leveraging technology, relationships and social innovation to help all students make their biggest dreams a reality.

1 The $100,000 investment for non-profit organizations will be in the form of a general contribution in exchange for meeting certain stated requirements, while the $100,000 investment in for-profit companies will be in return for up to a 5% equity stake.

SOURCE AT&T Inc.

Related Links

http://www.att.com


DALLAS, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Tri Global Energy, a leading U.S. originator and developer of utility-scale wind energy projects, today announced the initial phase of 197.6 megawatts (MW) of the Bearkat Wind Energy Project (Bearkat) has reached financial close and begun construction.

"We are very pleased to collaborate with CIP on this project and support them in achieving this important milestone," said John Billingsley, Chairman and CEO of Tri Global Energy. "We look forward to supporting CIP on subsequent phases of the Bearkat Wind Project and expanding our relationship with them on several other community-sponsored utility-scale renewable energy project developments."

Comprised of 30,000 leased acres of privately owned farm and ranch land in Glasscock County, Texas, Bearkat is now owned by a fund managed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), based in Denmark. Tri Global Energy developed Bearkat using its proprietary business model, the Wind Force Plan, which allows local landowners and community investors the opportunity to partner with and have a substantial ownership in the wind project development that leased their land.

"Community-focused development, coupled with Texas' significant investments in infrastructure, abundant wind, solar and fossil resources, and supportive business environment contribute to our national leadership in all forms of energy generation," said Congressman Mike Conaway (R-Texas), who represents Glasscock County. "Wind energy projects like these positively impact local economies through job creation and increased tax revenues."

Since founding the Bearkat community-sponsored wind energy project in September 2012, Tri Global Energy has been a manager, member and the exclusive project developer. In July 2016, CIP purchased Bearkat and another Tri Global Energy wind development, Blue Cloud Wind Energy. Since then, Tri Global Energy's project development team has worked closely with CIP to achieve financial closing and funding to start of construction.

About Tri Global Energy

Tri Global Energy (TGE) is a leading developer of wind energy in the U.S. The company is based in Dallas. Founded in 2009, TGE's goal is to develop clean energy at an affordable cost through the development of community-sponsored, utility-scale renewable energy projects. Since 2014, TGE concluded over 3,000 MW of transactions with sponsor equity partners and the represented projects are now either in operation, construction or project financing. For more information, visit http://www.triglobalenergy.com.

SOURCE Tri Global Energy

Related Links

http://www.Triglobalenergy.com


BOSTON, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In response to the House passage of the American Health Care Act, Blue Cross Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts has issued the following public statement:

Massachusetts has made historic progress in extending the security of health insurance coverage to hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens. With a collective commitment and a spirit of shared responsibility, our state has achieved the highest insured rate in the nation, even as we strive to make care better and more affordable.

As the state's leading private health plan, we've been strong advocates for making quality health care accessible and affordable for our members, employer customers, and for those who need it the most in our community. To be clear, there can be no turning back from the coverage gains our state has made over the past decade.

We're deeply concerned that the AHCA will result in the loss of public and private coverage for millions of our fellow citizens and reduce critical federal funding to Massachusetts. As Governor Baker noted, the AHCA would "strain the fiscal resources necessary to support the Commonwealth's continued commitment to universal health care coverage." The current proposal will create increased instability in the market and undermine the ability to provide affordable and quality coverage and care to everyone regardless of condition.

We look forward to working with the governor, state legislature, our congressional delegation, other elected officials and health care and business leaders and remain hopeful that meaningful and sustainable policy solutions can be forged on a bipartisan basis to promote a high-quality, stable and affordable health care system for the people and employers of Massachusetts.

About Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (bluecrossma.com) is a community-focused, tax-paying, notforprofit health plan headquartered in Boston. We're the trusted health plan for more than 25,000 Massachusetts employers and are committed to working with others in a spirit of shared responsibility to make quality health care affordable. Consistent with our corporate promise to always put our 2.8 million members first, we're rated among the nation's best health plans for member satisfaction and quality. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

SOURCE Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts

Related Links

http://www.bluecrossma.com/


Alaska's world renowned event, hosted by the Alaska Airmen Association at Anchorage's FedEx Hangar on Ted Stevens Airport, boasts nearly 300 exhibitors featuring the latest technology, state-of-the-art products, innovations, comprehensive safety features, and new aviation programs. Blue Sky Network will be exhibiting in booth # 157.

"It's always fun to talk with knowledgeable pilots about the safety, reliability and efficiency of satellite based communications and tracking  and Alaskan airmen and women, who cover thousands of miles of the most remote terrain on earth, enjoy keeping up with the latest industry trends," said Lee.

"Not only does Blue Sky Network provide real time tracking solutions for aviation customers, unlike most of our competitors we offer a mixture of affordable handheld, installed and portable tracking devices like the Hawkeye PT Plus for all Alaskan lifestyles -- including all terrain vehicles, snow mobiles, hikers, hunters, fishermen and boaters," added Aghili.

Additionally, Blue Sky Network announced that South American Business Development Representative Juan Vidal will be attending the 7th International Exhibition of Technology in Defense and Prevention of Natural Disasters (SITDEF 2017) in Lima, Peru from May 18th to May 20th. The company which maintains a strong Latin American client base will be in booths # 56 and 57.

About Blue Sky Network

Blue Sky Network is an industry-leading provider of mission-critical fleet management, tracking and operational analytics solutions serving private, commercial, and government customers worldwide. Blue Sky Network deploys innovative satellite-based communication solutions that help aviation, marine, and land/mobile customers track and manage their assets in real-time in over 50 countries, resulting in improved safety, security, operational efficiency, and profitability. Blue Sky Network's interactive web portal, SkyRouter, offers extensive tracking, reporting, communication and asset management functionality using its unique and easy to use graphical interface. Blue Sky Network is headquartered in San Diego, California, USA. For more information about Blue Sky Network products and services, visit www.blueskynetwork.com.

SOURCE Blue Sky Network

Related Links

https://blueskynetwork.com


BOSTON, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- On June 15, 2017, City Hall Plaza will again host the fifth annual Boston TechJam, a celebration of the technology ecosystem and culture of New England- and Boston-area entrepreneurs, startups, established tech companies, venture capitalists, non-profit organizations and higher learning institutions. The event is part block party, part tech showcase that connects the community, experiential content and a celebration of the local innovation economy.

"Boston TechJam provides companies, individuals and ideas a platform to take hold and scale, as well as a single day that celebrates all that is great about the Boston tech community. In 2017 we are focused on expanding this platform," states Christine Nolan, co-founder of Boston TechJam and Sr. Director of Communities at MassTLC. "We are thrilled to be partnering this year with organizations such as BostInno, CIC, Resilient Coders, and TechGen who will be showcasing important elements of the tech community  from students, to startups, to the role of diversity and hot tech trends - that all play an important role in our vibrant ecosystem."

The event is made possible by the thought leadership and financial support of underwriting sponsors Autodesk, Cengage, Chewy.com, Cybereason, EBSCO, Kronos, Monster, Optum and PTC. Additional sponsorship and exhibiting opportunities are still available.

For the past two years, a content program has been absent from the event. But this year, content is back! Boston Tech Jam, BostInno and CIC are teaming up to bring interesting founders, companies and their stories to the audience. More details will be released soon.

Boston TechJam will also feature performances from live bands, appearances from entrepreneurial tech leaders  both past and present, local craft beer, food truck fare and "street-festival"-type games from 4:00  9:00 p.m.

"We are on the brink of an inflection point in the battle for equitable access to the tech economy," said David Delmar, executive director, Resilient Coders who will be releasing information from a study it conducted around how diversity in the workplace makes businesses stronger. "With the boom in tech over the past decade, continued success will be driven by the industry's desire to embrace all members of the community. We are thrilled to be partnering with Boston TechJam where we all come together for the day to embrace Boston as a great place to launch and scale innovative ideas and businesses."

The event is being led by co-founder Mark Lorion of Apperian and co-founder Christine Nolan of MassTLC along with founding team members Dave Polcaro from East Coast Catalyst, Ben Maitland-Lewis from Pretty Instant, Dave Cutler from Influence Central and Joel Richman from SHIFT Communications. Other leading collaborators include BostInno, the City of Boston, CIC, Resilient Coders, and TechGen.

How to Get Involved

To register to attend and get the most up-to-date information on the schedule of events, visit www.bostontechjam.org and follow @bostontechjam (#btj2017).

and get the most up-to-date information on the schedule of events, visit www.bostontechjam.org and follow @bostontechjam (#btj2017). To exhibit or sponsor, contact [email protected] .

contact . To attend as a member of the press, contact [email protected] .

About Boston TechJam

Boston TechJam is a showcase and accelerator for new ideas and world-class innovations coming out of the Boston region. The event brings together early stage companies, entrepreneurs, students, established enterprises, venture capitalists and artists to celebrate the region's technology, entrepreneurship and culture. Equal parts idea exchange and celebration, Boston TechJam is an unconventional meeting ground for local innovators, visionaries and up-and-comers. The 18+ event will take place June 15, 2017 on Boston City Hall Plaza.

Media Contact:

SHIFT Communications

[email protected]

SOURCE Boston TechJam

Related Links

http://www.bostontechjam.org


Building Energy SpA , multinational company operating as a global integrated IPP in the Renewable Energy Industry, through its subsidiary Building Energy Wind Iowa LLC, announces the inauguration of its first wind farm in Iowa , which adds up to 30 MW of wind distribution generation capacity. The project, located north of Des Moines, in Story, Boone, Hardin and Poweshiek counties, will generate approximately 110 GWh per year. The beginning of operations has been celebrated on the occasion of the Wind of Life event in Ames, Iowa, in the presence of Andrea Braccialarghe, MD America of Building Energy, Alessandro Bragantini, Chief Operating Officer of Building Energy and Giuseppe Finocchiaro, Italian Consul General.

The overall investment in the construction of the Iowa distribution generation wind farms amounted to $58 million and it sells its energy and related renewable credits under a bundled, long-term power purchase agreement with a local utility.

The wind facility, developed, financed, owned and operated by Building Energy, consists of ten 3.0 MW geared onshore wind turbines, each with a rotor diameter of 125 meters mounted on an 87.5 meter steel tower. The energy generated will satisfy the energy needs of 11,000 U.S. households every year while avoiding the emission of about 70,000 tons of CO2 emissions every year, according to US Environmental Protection Agency methodology, which is equivalent to taking 15,000 cars off the road each year.

Besides the environmental benefits, the wind farm also has advantages for the local community, providing it with clean energy and creating jobs for local Iowans. The project involved more than a hundred of local skilled workers during the construction phase. Some of those jobs will be also permanent as necessary for the operation and maintenance activities as well as for additional services such as delivery, transportation, spare parts management, landscape mitigation, and further environmental monitoring studies.

The Company is present in many US states since 2013 with more than 500 MW of projects under development, spread across different renewable energy technologies.

SOURCE Building Energy SpA
Featuring high-level thought leaders from widely recognized companies, the Business Outlook Conference will be a two-day event taking place July 26-27 each morning prior to the opening of NACE Automechanika at McCormick Place West in Chicago, IL.

Dan Ricci, global automotive leader with IBM Cognitive Solutions, will headline the event with a discussion on big data and analytics impacting the automotive sector. Additionally, Dan Hearsch, director with financial firm AlixPartners, will speak to economic trends impacting the automotive aftermarket. The two-day conference also will feature:

a panel discussion focused on telematics and in-vehicle connectivity moderated by Greg Potter , executive manager and COO with the Equipment and Tool Institute;

, executive manager and COO with the Equipment and Tool Institute; a peak at key legislative issues, "How Capitol Hill is impacting your business?" from Bob Redding , Washington D.C. representative with the Automotive Service Association (ASA);

, representative with the Automotive Service Association (ASA); a regulatory session, "Staying Compliant: Helping Shops and Distributors Avoid Costly Violations," presented by Charles Ayers , president of the Coordinating Committee for Automotive Repair.

"The Business Outlook Conference was developed to help attendees better understand the future of automotive. We hear a lot about connected vehicles, new fleet technology and crash avoidance systems," said Michael Willins, UBM Automotive Group content director and conference coordinator. "The technological revolution we are witnessing will change how parts are delivered, what parts are needed for vehicle repairs, the repair services that shops offer and the overall repair process. Rather than being fearful of what's coming, we think this creates a lot of opportunities for forward thinkers, and that's the goal of the Business Outlook Conference  to get them thinking about what's possible."

The conference will also showcase a special presentation from Mike Jones, president of Discover Leadership, who will help attendees "Win the Moment" personally and professionally. Mike will show attendees the value of being outcome focused in life and business.

The Business Outlook Conference will be a must-attend event for all distributors, suppliers and shop leaders. Register for only $99 and hear all six speakers across both days. Click here for a look at the complete agenda, including speaker details and session times.

The conference is one of many events taking place at NACE Automechanika designed to benefit automotive parts distributors and suppliers interested in working more closely with shop customers. The event provides matchmaking and concierge-serviced meeting times and spaces during the show in an effort to help attendees build business relationships. Rather than scheduling multiple trips for a sales force, distributors simply can complete a matchmaking profile and watch their schedule grow with valuable customer meetings. The service opens in May, and anyone registering for NACE Automechanika can indicate their interest in participating.

NACE Automechanika features more than 140 training courses covering a variety of mechanical management and technical topics at no cost. Free training continues on the show floor inside the OE Coliseum Training Theatre, through demonstrations on the I-CAR stage and at the Automechanika TRAIN Station. Not to be missed, more than 40 collision-focused courses are also available throughout the week.

There are several other co-located events taking place during NACE Automechanika including the annual MSO Symposium and the Advanced Technology & Diagnostic Repair Forum, as well as the Collision Industry Conference.

You can view a full list of co-located events register for courses and receive a free expo pass at http://www.naceautomechanika.com/register. Additional courses and educational opportunities will be added to the July event in the weeks leading up to the show.

About Automotive Service Association

The Automotive Service Association is the largest not-for-profit trade association of its kind dedicated to and governed by independent automotive service and repair professionals. Headquartered in North Richland Hills, TX, ASA serves an international membership base that includes numerous affiliate, state and chapter groups from both the mechanical and collision repair segments of the automotive service industry. ASA advances professionalism and excellence in the automotive repair industry through education, representation and member services. http://asashop.org/

About UBM Americas

UBM Americas, a part of UBM plc, is the largest business-to-business events and trade show organizer in the U.S. Through a range of aligned interactive physical and digital environments, UBM Americas increases business effectiveness for both customers and audiences by cultivating meaningful experiences, knowledge and connections. UBM Americas has offices spanning North and South America, and serves a variety of specialist industries with dedicated events and marketing services covering everything from fashion, tech and life sciences to advanced manufacturing, cruise shipping, specialty chemicals, powersports and automotive, concrete, hospitality, cargo transportation and more. For more information, visit: www.ubmamericas.com.

About Messe Frankfurt

Messe Frankfurt is one of the world's leading trade fair organizers, generating around 648 million in sales and employing 2,244 people. The Messe Frankfurt Group has a global network of 30 subsidiaries and 55 international Sales Partners, allowing it to serve its customers on location in 175 countries. Messe Frankfurt events take place at approx. 50 locations around the globe. In 2015, Messe Frankfurt organized a total of 133 trade fairs, of which more than half took place outside Germany.

Comprising an area of 592,127 square metres, Messe Frankfurt's exhibition grounds are home to ten exhibition halls. The company also operates two congress centres. The historic Festhalle, one of the most popular venues in Germany, plays host to events of all kinds. Messe Frankfurt is publicly owned, with the City of Frankfurt holding 60 percent and the State of Hesse 40 percent. For more information, please visit our website at: www.messefrankfurt.com

The North American headquarters in Atlanta is currently producing eleven trade shows in the USA, Canada and Mexico across various industries. For more information about Messe Frankfurt, please visit our web site at www.MesseFrankfurt.us.

SOURCE UBM

Related Links

http://www.ubmamericas.com


ARLINGTON, Va., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CalAtlantic Homes, one of the nation's largest homebuilders, today announced plans to commence homebuilding operations in Salt Lake City, Utah, the 18th largest housing market in the United States. The new division will be established in summer 2017 under the leadership of industry and CalAtlantic veteran, Dave Prolo.

"Utah's strong job growth and expanding population presents a tremendous opportunity for CalAtlantic Homes," said Larry Nicholson, President and Chief Executive Officer of CalAtlantic Group, Inc. "We are excited to introduce CalAtlantic's thoughtful approach to community and home design to Utah home shoppers."

As Utah Division President, Mr. Prolo will lead the strategic positioning of the division and have day-to-day oversight of land acquisition and development, product design, sales and marketing, purchasing, homebuilding operations and customer service.

"We are confident in Dave's leadership skills and look forward to leveraging his deep experience with the Utah housing market," said Nicholson. "Dave has spent over 24 years developing communities and building homes in the western United States, managing successful homebuilding and development operations in Arizona, California, and Utah."

Most recently, Mr. Prolo served as Vice President of Operations for CalAtlantic's Southern California Coastal and San Diego divisions. Prior to joining CalAtlantic, he held the positions of Regional President, Division President, Senior Vice President of Operations and Vice President of Project Management for several other national builders, including serving as Division President for John Laing's Utah Division from 1999 to 2002 and Richmond American's Utah Division from 2002 to 2003. He obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Construction Management from Brigham Young University and is a member of Sigma Lambda Chi's National Construction Honor Society.

About CalAtlantic Group, Inc.

CalAtlantic Group, Inc. (NYSE: CAA), one of the nation's largest and most respected homebuilders, offers well-crafted homes in thoughtfully designed communities that meet the desires of customers across the homebuilding spectrum, from entry level to luxury, in 41 Metropolitan Statistical Areas spanning 17 states. With a trusted reputation for quality craftsmanship, an outstanding customer experience and exceptional architectural design earned over its 50-year history, CalAtlantic Group, Inc. utilizes its over five decades of land acquisition, development and homebuilding expertise to acquire and build desirable communities in locations that meet the high expectations of the company's homebuyers. We invite you to learn more about us by visiting www.calatlantichomes.com.

Contact: Danielle Tocco

National Vice President, Communications

CalAtlantic Group, Inc.

[email protected]

Direct Line: 949.789.1633

SOURCE CalAtlantic Group, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.calatlantichomes.com


MELVILLE, N.Y., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Canon Solutions America, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Canon U.S.A., Inc. today hosted an exclusive celebratory luncheon at the Burlington, New Jersey facility to honor its Solutions Support Centers in Burlington, NJ and Itasca, IL for successfully passing a renewal audit for the prestigious HDI Support Center Certification. HDI is a part of UBM PLC, and is the global professional association for technical service and support professionals and the premier certification body for the industry. This certification, valid for two years, was first achieved by the Solutions Support Centers in 2015.



To verify the Solutions Support Centers' compliance with the HDI Support Center Certification Standard, Canon Solutions America successfully underwent a thorough on-site renewal audit. Driven by a core belief in continuous improvement, every support agent, supervisor, and manager in the Solutions Support Centers strived to not only maintain the standards of the HDI Certification, but to exceed the results that merited the 2015 accreditation. Notably, the recent audit did in fact indicate significant improvement in the areas of Customer Satisfaction, Process and Procedures, and Performance  an impressive 12.8% overall score increase from the previous audit.



"We are thrilled to once again present Canon Solutions America with the prestigious HDI Support Center Certification," said Todd Piccuillo, Group Services Sales Director, HDI and ICMI. "The recertification demonstrates Canon Solutions America's sincere commitment to excellence, efficiency, and service quality conveyed by the HDI Certification Standards."

During the celebratory luncheon, certification recipients shared insight on the influence the 2015 certification had on the Support Center's service practices that led to this year's extraordinary audit results. In addition, a tour of the Solutions Support Center was offered to lend an inside peek into the customer support facility and team.

"HDI Certification is a noteworthy component of Canon Solutions America's continuing commitment to our customers," said James Sharp, executive vice president, Professional Services, Canon Solutions America. "This recognition of our Solutions Support Centers is a natural complement to our technical delivery services and proves our dedication to providing best-in-class, comprehensive support to our customers."

For more information about the HDI Support Center Certification program, contact HDI at 800.248.5667, or visit www.ThinkHDI.com.

About HDI

Founded in 1989, HDI is the first membership association and certification body created for the technical support industry. Since then, HDI has remained the source for professional development by offering the resources needed to promote organization-wide success through exceptional customer service. In other words, we help professionals in service management better serve customers. We do this by facilitating collaboration and networking, hosting acclaimed conferences and events, producing renowned publications and research, certifying and training thousands of professionals each year, and connecting solution providers with practitioners. Learn more at www.ThinkHDI.com. HDI is organized by UBM plc. UBM is the largest pure-play B2B Events organizer in the world. Our 3,750+ people, based in more than 20 countries, serve more than 50 different sectors. Our deep knowledge and passion for these sectors allow us to create valuable experiences which enable our customers to succeed. Please visit www.ubm.com for the latest news and information about UBM.

About Canon Solutions America, Inc.

Canon Solutions America provides industry leading enterprise, production, and large format printing solutions, supported by exceptional professional service offerings. With the technology offerings of the Canon and Oce brands, Canon Solutions America helps companies of all sizes improve sustainability, increase efficiency, and control costs through high volume, continuous feed, digital and traditional printing, and document management solutions. A wholly owned subsidiary of Canon U.S.A., Inc., Canon Solutions America is headquartered in Melville, N.Y. and has sales and service locations across the U.S. For more information on Canon Solutions America, please visit csa.canon.com.

Canon is a registered trademark of Canon Inc. in the United States and elsewhere. Oce is a registered trademark of Oce-Technologies B.V. in the United States and elsewhere. All other referenced product names and marks are trademarks of their respective owners and are hereby acknowledged.



 2017 Canon Solutions America, Inc. All rights reserved.

Canon Solutions America, Inc. Website:

http://csa.canon.com

For sales info/customer support:

1-844-443-INFO (4636)

Editorial Contact:

Stephanie Caro

631-330-4432

[email protected]



SOURCE Canon Solutions America, Inc.

Related Links

https://csa.canon.com


Sydney, Australia, May 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Heron Resources Limited (ASX:HRR TSX:HER, Heron or the Company) is pleased to advise that it has awarded an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for its wholly-owned Woodlawn Project to Sedgman, a member of the CIMIC Group (Sedgman).

Heron executes a A$107M guaranteed maximum price EPC contract with Sedgman for a 1.5 million tonne per annum mineral processing plant and associated infrastructure at Woodlawn

This major milestone positions Heron to commence construction and development immediately following completion of project financing

The EPC contract follows a front-end engineering design (FEED) program that commenced in October 2016 after the completion of the Woodlawn Project Feasibility Study. The scope of the EPC contract is for a 1.5 million tonne per annum mineral processing plant to enable the processing of both underground and tailings ore to produce zinc, copper and lead concentrates. The design also includes a paste backfill plant and supporting infrastructure at the project site, located near Tarago, 250km southwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

The EPC contract is in the form of a guaranteed maximum price (GMP) of A$107 million with cost under-run and performance incentives to support an early completion and under budget result.

Heron Resources Managing Director and CEO, Mr Wayne Taylor, said:

This contract award follows the successful undertaking of a FEED program that included a value engineering approach incorporating significant improvements on the earlier feasibility study work. The nature of the contract, which includes guaranteed maximum price and performance incentives, aligning Sedgman and Heron in delivering an under-budget and early result. We are very pleased to be working with Sedgman as they have demonstrated their ability to provide a superior solution with technical and commercial advantages, having already delivered a reduction in projected capital expenditure. The execution of this contract represents another important milestone in Herons progress to become an important Australian zinc producer.

Figure 1: 3D view of the Woodlawn process plant

Full project engineering is approximately 20% complete (to March) and onsite work is scheduled to commence immediately following the completion of project financing. More than 250 personnel will be employed on the construction project at its peak, with acceptance testing (production) scheduled for late 2018.

Work by Sedgman in the lead-up to entering this contract has enabled the Company to reduce the estimated plant and infrastructure capital cost at Woodlawn by A$8.7 million. Further project refinement by Heron has resulted in bringing forward the timing of the initial underground development thereby improving project economics and reviewing contingencies that are in addition to those provided for and capped in the EPC contract. This brings the revised initial capital estimate to A$151.6 million, which includes A$105.8 million of plant and infrastructure, A$13.2 million of underground mine establishment costs, A$20.2 million of engineering and owners costs and A$12.4 million of contingency.

Sedgman is a wholly owned subsidiary of CIMIC Group Limited and is based in Brisbane with design offices in Perth and Vancouver. Sedgman has completed numerous EPC and GMP projects and first worked on the Woodlawn Project in 2007 through the completion of an earlier detailed project study.

The process treatment facility will be delivered in stages that aligns with mine development. The facility will commence with the tailings reprocessing and will switch over to underground processing when ore is available. Infrastructure to support the project includes an administration complex with offices, change rooms, car parking, workshops, laboratory, water treatment, infrastructure and power supply.

The Woodlawn Project Feasibility Study delivered ore reserves of 2.8 million tonnes at 14% ZnEq[1] (5.5% Zn, 1.6% Cu, 1.9% Pb, 0.45g/t Au and 42 g/t Ag) from underground and 9.5 million tonnes at 6% ZnEq (2.2% Zn, 0.5% Cu, 1.3% Pb, 0.31g/t Au and 31 g/t Ag) from reclaim tailings ore. The Company is continuing to progress the project including the recently announced program targeting the resource expansion at the shallow G2 Lens position along with confirmatory drilling of the initial decline route, and shallow mine excavation drilling to assist with backfilling.

The Company has also continued to advance project financing negotiations and documentation with debt and equity providers. These discussions are now well advanced and the Company expects that the financing process will be completed in the current quarter. Whilst the EPC is still subject to project financing, the execution of the contract represents one of the key pre-financing activities. Heron looks forward to working with Sedgman to bring Woodlawn into production.

About Heron Resources Limited:

Herons primary focus is the development of its 100% owned, high grade Woodlawn Zinc-Copper Project located 250km southwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

[1] ZnEq % used in this release refers to the calculated Zn equivalent grade based on the Zn, Cu, Pb, Au and Ag grades. The zinc equivalent ZnEq calculation takes into account, mining costs, milling costs, recoveries, payability (including transport and refining charges) and metal prices in generating a Zinc equivalent value for Au, Ag, Cu, Pb and Zn. ZnEq = Zn%+Cu%*3.12+Pb%*0.81+*Au g/t*0.86+Ag g/t*0.03.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This report contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws, which are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the date of this report. This forward-looking information includes, or may be based upon, without limitation, estimates, forecasts and statements as to managements expectations with respect to, among other things, the timing and amount of funding required to execute the Companys exploration, development and business plans, capital and exploration expenditures, the effect on the Company of any changes to existing legislation or policy, government regulation of mining operations, the length of time required to obtain permits, certifications and approvals, the success of exploration, development and mining activities, the geology of the Companys properties, environmental risks, the availability of labour, the focus of the Company in the future, demand and market outlook for precious metals and the prices thereof, progress in development of mineral properties, the Companys ability to raise funding privately or on a public market in the future, the Companys future growth, results of operations, performance, and business prospects and opportunities. Wherever possible, words such as anticipate, believe, expect, intend, may and similar expressions have been used to identify such forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is given, and on information available to management at such time. Forward-looking information involves significant risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results discussed or implied in the forward-looking information. These factors, including, but not limited to, fluctuations in currency markets, fluctuations in commodity prices, the ability of the Company to access sufficient capital on favourable terms or at all, changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls, regulations, political or economic developments in Canada, Australia or other countries in which the Company does business or may carry on business in the future, operational or technical difficulties in connection with exploration or development activities, employee relations, the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, obtaining necessary licenses and permits, diminishing quantities and grades of mineral reserves, contests over title to properties, especially title to undeveloped properties, the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drill results and other geological data, environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins and flooding, limitations of insurance coverage and the possibility of project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, and should be considered carefully. Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can affect the Companys actual results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, the Company. Prospective investors should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Although the forward-looking information contained in this report is based upon what management believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure prospective purchasers that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking information, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, and neither the Company nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any such forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake, and assumes no obligation, to update or revise any such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information contained herein to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required by law. No stock exchange, regulation services provider, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained in this report.
DOVER, Del., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE: CPK) (Chesapeake Utilities) announced today that the Company has entered into an agreement with Pensacola Energy to transport natural gas to the City of Pensacola and other industrial users in the surrounding area in Escambia County. This project will increase Chesapeake Utilities' footprint in Northwest Florida while complementing its natural gas, propane and electric services throughout the state. The expansion in the Company's Florida service territory means residents and businesses of the City of Pensacola and the surrounding area will have greater access to this clean energy option.

"As our Company grows throughout the state of Florida and beyond, our employees are working continuously to identify opportunities that meet the needs of customers while furthering our strategic direction," said Michael P. McMasters, President and Chief Executive Officer of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation. "This project is another example of our commitment, and we're excited to expand our service in Northwest Florida to make the efficient, safe and economic option of natural gas available to more residential, commercial and industrial customers."

"Increased access to natural gas in our community will generate significant local investment, help businesses grow and create jobs, and it will improve the quality of life for all residents," said Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward. "This announcement is going to allow more families and businesses across Northwest Florida to have more options on how to heat their homes and workplaces."

Chesapeake Utilities has a long-standing history in Florida, beginning with the acquisition of Central Florida Gas Company in 1985, followed by the acquisition of Florida Public Utilities in 2009. Currently, the Company operates in Florida through its subsidiary, Florida Public Utilities Company (FPU), which services approximately 74,000 residential and commercial natural gas customers, 31,000 electric customers and 16,000 propane customers throughout Florida.

"Our team at FPU is committed to servicing our customers safely and reliably," said Jeffry M. Householder, FPU President. "With this project, we're able to increase the access Escambia County residents have to natural gas and we'll do so while maintaining our high standards of service."

Chesapeake Utilities will construct an interconnection between Pensacola Energy and Florida Gas Transmission Company's interstate facilities. The project is a $36M investment and is part of the Company's strategic plan to provide additional transportation and delivery services to residential, commercial and industrial customers throughout Florida and the entire Chesapeake Utilities' service territory. The project was reviewed and approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in February, 2017, and the Company will seek the required permits from local agencies before beginning construction in June, 2017. The project is expected to be placed into service in Q1 2018 and is projected to generate annualized margin of $5.1M. The Company is currently meeting with other third parties that have expressed an interest in natural gas service as a result of this expansion.

About Chesapeake Utilities Corporation

Chesapeake Utilities Corporation is a diversified energy company engaged in natural gas distribution, transmission, gathering and processing, and marketing; electricity generation and distribution; propane gas distribution; and other businesses. Information about Chesapeake Utilities Corporation's businesses is available at www.chpk.com.

About Florida Public Utilities Company

Florida Public Utilities Company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation. Headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida, FPU distributes natural gas and propane and provides electric services to approximately 121,000 customers in markets throughout Florida. For more information, visit www.fpuc.com.

Please note that Chesapeake Utilities Corporation is not affiliated with Chesapeake Energy, an oil and natural gas exploration company headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Statements in this release that are not historical are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "expect," "likely," "outlook," "forecast," "would," "could," "should," "can," "will," "project," "intend," "plan," "goal," "target," "continue," "sustain," "believe," "seek," "estimate," "anticipate," "may," "possible," "assume," variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to vary materially from those indicated, including the factors described in Item 1A (Risk Factors) of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, each of which is incorporated herein by reference, and in other documents that we file or furnish with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those indicated or anticipated by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. Except to the extent required by law, the Company does not undertake, and expressly disclaims, any duty or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement after the date of this release, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise.

For more information, contact:



Mike Stock

Sr. Director, Corporate Communications

Chesapeake Utilities Corporation

302.736.7808

[email protected]

SOURCE Chesapeake Utilities Corporation

Related Links

http://www.chpk.com


Clayton, which has over 60 years' experience in the housing industry, was named Manufacturer of the Year at MHI's 2017 National Congress and Expo for Manufactured and Modular Housing on May 3 in Las Vegas. MHI is the national trade organization for the factory-built housing industry. Its membership includes builders, home retailers, community owners, suppliers and 50 affiliated state organizations.

"It is a great achievement for us to receive this world-class recognition from our valued peers," said Clayton President of Manufacturing Keith Holdbrooks. "We're proud of every team member who helps us deliver the dream of affordable homeownership for tens of thousands of families each year."

2016 was a banner year for Clayton, with the company making several notable accomplishments. The company started a new home transport operation, Clayton Connect, and began upgrading its home building facilities with new advanced equipment and technology to make the building process even more efficient.

"Last year was a big year for us. We delivered over 42,000 homes that accounted for five percent of American housing," Holdbrooks said. "Our homes are an essential part of solving affordable housing across the country, where the average new home sold with land is currently over $380,000*."

Clayton home building group operates 39 home building facilities nationwide and employs more than 10,000 team members. Currently, 37 of its home building facilities have achieved the ISO 14001 registration, a display of the company's commitment to environmentally conscious building processes. As the company grows, each new home building facility will also go through the registration process.

To learn more about Clayton, visit ClaytonHomes.com.

*https://www.census.gov/construction/nrs/pdf/uspricemon.pdf, Census.gov, Median and Average Sales Prices of New Homes Sold in the United States as of Apr. 25, 2017.

About Clayton

Founded in 1956, Clayton is proud of its history of providing affordable, quality homes. The company is committed to opening doors to a better life and helping to build happiness through homeownership. As a diverse builder committed to quality and durability, Clayton offers traditional site-built homes, modular homes, manufactured housing, tiny homes, park model recreational vehicles, college dormitories, military barracks and apartments. In 2016, Clayton delivered more than 42,000 homes. Clayton is a Berkshire Hathaway company. For more information, visit claytonhomes.com.

SOURCE Clayton
WASHINGTON, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Clutch published the results of their annual research highlighting the top San Francisco web design, mobile app development, and custom software development companies. The research evaluates each company's depth of focus in their area of expertise, as well as the company's proven ability to deliver the results for their clients.

The top San Francisco web design companies are recognized for their ability to create high-end and creative websites that enhance their clients' online presence. The leading companies are:

EIGHT25MEDIA, Razorfrog Web Design, Traction, HyperArts, FINE, State Creative, Beyond, Revolution Media Group, UENO., Evviva Brands, Greater Than One, BayCreative, and LION Interactive.

The top San Francisco mobile app development companies are recognized for their technical expertise and ability to create mobile apps with an emphasis on user experience design. The top companies are:

Y Media Labs, Intellectsoft, Appster, ArcTouch, Impekable, Raizlabs, Reinvently, Prolific Interactive, Tivix, Exadel, Dogtown Media, Sourcebits, Citrusbits, Toptal, and Stanfy.

The top San Francisco custom software development companies are recognized for their ability to understand their client's individual goals, offer specialized suggestions and ideas, and then create unique and custom-made solutions. The top companies are:

Intellectsoft, Exadel, Appster, Menlo Technologies, Toptal, Matellio, LION Interactive, Citrusbits, Sourcebits, Daxima, thoughtbot, Mokriya, Go Nimbly, ForceBrain.com, and SwingDev.

"Leading San Francisco design and development companies are setting a high standard for quality," said Amber Dewey, Analyst at Clutch. "The leading companies in our research have proven their ability to create digital solutions that impress their clients and market users."

Clutch analysts evaluated dozens of San Francisco-based web design, mobile app development, and custom software development companies prior to publishing this report. Companies were examined based on a variety of factors, including each company's specific service lines, previous experience, industry awards and recognition, market presence, and in-depth client feedback interviews.

"EIGHT25MEDIA is honored to be rated as a top web design company in Silicon Valley by Clutch," said Rehan Fernando, CEO at EIGHT25MEDIA. "Clutch has established itself as the leader in researching B2B technology providers worldwide, with their in-depth procedures and dedication to providing clients a comprehensive look into companies. EIGHT25MEDIA has worked hard over the past 6 years to establish ourselves as a premier company, and this year to be ranked as the top firm is a reflection of our dedication to providing our clients the best experience and solutions that get real business results."

Clutch's research on leading web design, mobile app development, and custom software development companies remains ongoing. The firm encourages all companies with services in these areas to apply to participate in Clutch's coverage. Upcoming publications will highlight leading firms in Boston, Philadelphia, and Atlanta.

The full research can be found at:

https://clutch.co/web-designers/san-francisco/leaders-matrix

https://clutch.co/app-developers/san-francisco/leaders-matrix

https://clutch.co/developers/san-francisco/leaders-matrix

About Clutch:

A B2B research firm in the heart of Washington, DC, Clutch connects you with the agencies and software solutions that can help you enhance your business and meet your goals. Our methodology maps agencies and software solutions based on consumer reviews, the type of services offered, and quality of work.

Contact:

Amber Dewey

202-830-0138

[email protected]

SOURCE Clutch
WASHINGTON, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- USAID's Center for International Disaster Information (USAID CIDI) is pleased to announce the winners of the 12th annual Public Service Announcements for International Disasters contest (PSAid).

The winning entries were chosen from a pool of submissions from nearly 140 college students across the United States in the categories of broadcast, print and  for the first time  infographic PSAs.

The selected PSAs, which will be distributed through broadcast and print outlets nationwide, convey the importance of practicing "Smart Compassion" and emphasize why monetary donations to relief organizations are the most effective way to help people after disasters.

The 2017 PSAid winners are:

Broadcast





"Be the Change, Donate Cash" by Rachel Addington , Arizona State University "Cash Fits All" by Bradley Parks , Shannon Sweatt , Megan Perkins and Raine Yip , The University of Alabama "Donate Effectively" by Emma DeVane and Emily Pina , Arizona State University

Print

"Cash Rebuilds" by Kaitlyn Olivier , Maria Castillo , Ludi Wang , Min Chen and Anna Kate Grosse , Boston University "Cash is Convertible" by Ana Hernandez , Arizona State University "Cash Keeps Your Donations Fresh" by Jordan Fonseca , Emily Hadfield , Nick Albanese and Daniel Arruda , The University of Rhode Island

Honorable Mentions: "Hope for Change" by Anne Miller, Loyola University Chicago, and "Cash is Best" by Sydni Alaniz, Arizona State University

Infographic

"Make an Impact" by Lauren Schaecher , Arizona State University "Donations are Nice, but Cash is Best" by Sacha Rady , Caroline Largey , Courtney Scarboro and Megan Purcell , The University of Alabama "Cash is Key" by Haley-Ann Simpson , Ashley Stults , Cameron Craig and Emily Baker , The University of Alabama

Contest entries were judged by a panel of experts from the humanitarian and communications fields. This year's judges were Jonathan Adashek, Nissan Motor Corporation; Kevin Conroy, Global Giving; Nick Sugai, the Ad Council; Gary Goldhammer, Group SJR; Deborah Willig, InterAction; Marcia Wong, the International Committee of the Red Cross; and Keith Hempel, TV Access.

"For the past 12 years, the PSAid Contest has helped spread the message that monetary donations through relief organizations provide the greatest help to disaster survivors," said Barlin Ali, USAID CIDI Diaspora and Donations Expert. "The winners of this year's competition have done a masterful job of creatively illustrating why 'Cash is Best.'"

Current and past PSAid winners may be viewed on the competition website at www.PSAid.org.

About USAID CIDI

USAID CIDI was created in 1988 by the United States Agency for International Development Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance to educate Americans about the best ways to help people affected by disasters overseas. USAID CIDI provides individuals, groups, embassies, businesses and corporations with information and guidance in support of maximally beneficial public support of international disaster relief efforts. The organization works with other donations management stakeholders, and promotes activities and donations to channel the public's energy and generosity in ways most helpful to beneficiaries. For more information about USAID CIDI and helping international disaster survivors, please visit USAID CIDI at www.cidi.org.

SOURCE USAID CIDI

Related Links

https://www.cidi.org/


FLORHAM PARK, N.J., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Industry research firm Gartner, Inc. placed Conduent Incorporated (NYSE: CNDT), in the Leaders Quadrant of its March 2017 Magic Quadrant for Customer Management Contact Center BPO (Business Process Outsourcing), Worldwide.

The Magic Quadrant is a proprietary research tool developed by Gartner that evaluates companies on completeness of vision and ability to execute.

"Companies today are struggling to meet the demands of a personalized, on-demand, multichannel customer experience," said Christine Landry, general manager, Commercial Sector, Conduent. "Our automation and analytics-driven solutions allow us to understand, predict and address customer needs, which sets us apart from other vendors on the market."

Conduent has more than 25 years of supporting the customer experience around the globe in more than 30 languages. Customers include the users of four out of five of the world's top mobile phone manufacturers, assisting 20 million smartphone users each month with remote email configuration.

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Gartner Disclaimer

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Conduent

Conduent is the world's largest provider of diversified business process services with leading capabilities in transaction processing, automation and analytics. The company's global workforce is dedicated to helping its large and diverse client base deliver quality services to the people they serve. These clients include 76 of the Fortune 100 companies and over 500 government entities.

Conduent's differentiated offerings touch millions of lives every day, including two-thirds of all insured patients in the U.S. and nearly nine million people who travel through toll systems daily. Whether it's digital payments, claims processing, benefit administration, automated tolling, customer care or distributed learning  Conduent manages and modernizes these interactions to create value for both its clients and their constituents. Learn more at www.conduent.com .

Note: To receive RSS news feeds, visit www.news.conduent.com. For open commentary, industry perspectives and views, visit http://twitter.com/Conduent, http://www.linkedin.com/company/conduent or http://www.facebook.com/Conduent.

Conduent is a trademark of Conduent Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.

SOURCE Conduent Incorporated

Related Links

https://www.conduent.com


HOUSTON, May 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Sterling Group, a Houston-based middle market private equity firm, announced the acquisition of five distribution branches from Gerdau Construction Products. The branches will become a part of Sterling's portfolio company, Construction Supply Group.

Construction Supply Group is a leader in the distribution of construction materials, accessories and tools, primarily for professional concrete and masonry contractors in the United States and Canada. The combined company has 53 branches with 850 employees and offers over 70,000 SKUs to nearly 25,000 customers.

In late 2016, Sterling acquired Brock White Company, LLC, Border Construction Specialties, LLC and Stetson Building Products to form Construction Supply Group. Brock White, Border and Stetson each have strong branch footprints in Western Canada, the Upper Midwest and the Southwest. The acquisition of the five Gerdau branches in Appleton, Wisconsin; Madison, Wisconsin; Decatur, Illinois; Urbana, Illinois and Eldridge, Iowa will allow Construction Supply Group to further serve customers in those territories.

"The Gerdau branch additions will further strengthen our footprint and ability to provide exceptional service to customers. We look forward to partnering with the Gerdau employees as we continue to build the platform," said Mitch Williams, CEO of Construction Supply Group.

About The Sterling Group

Founded in 1982, The Sterling Group is a private equity investment firm that targets controlling interests in basic manufacturing, distribution and industrial services companies. Typical enterprise values of these companies range from $100 million to $750 million. Sterling has sponsored the buyout of 51 platform companies and numerous add-on acquisitions for a total transaction value of over $10.0 billion. Currently, Sterling has over $2.2 billion of assets under management. For further information, please visit www.sterling-group.com.

SOURCE The Sterling Group, L.P.

Related Links

http://sterling-group.com


BOSTON, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Starting today, Credit Unions can now have their own Internet brand: .CREDITUNION, to compete with the highly successful .BANK extension. As the leading .BANK Registrar, EnCirca is pleased to announce pre-screening services for all U.S.-based Credit Unions. Credit unions are invited to apply today for a pre-verification and to see if they are eligible for a priority application during the Sunrise Period reserved for trademark owners. Learn more at: www.encirca.com/creditunion.

The first-come, first-served Land Rush for .CREDITUNION will begin on June 6 at 8:00 AM Eastern Time. Eligibility for .CREDITUNION is limited to bona fide Credit Unions with a primary office based in the United States.

The .CREDITUNION Registry is operated by the Credit Union National Association (CUNA). Credit Unions are required to utilize only ICANN Registrars accredited by CUNA, such as EnCirca, for the .CREDITUNION top-level-domain.

.CREDITUNION domain names must match or be derived from the Credit Union's legal name, or any trademarks owned by the Credit Union.

START-UP PLAN:

The .CREDITUNION launch plan will consist of two phases:

Sunrise Period for Trademark Owners  May 4 th  June 3 rd

The Sunrise Period is an early registration phase reserved for U.S. Credit Unions with registered trademarks. A special trademark verification process is required for the Sunrise Period. Contact EnCirca to check to see if your Credit Union is eligible and to learn more about the steps required. Act quickly as this process could take up to 2-3 weeks.



Land Rush for all U.S. Credit Unions  June 6 th at 8:00 AM EST

Registrations on a first-come, first-served basis will start being accepted on June 6 at 8:00 am EST . The timing of the registration is especially important if a Credit Union has a name or acronym shared with other Credit Unions.

EnCirca is offering Credit Unions a risk-free pre-screening service that will ensure their registration is pre-verified and submitted as soon as the Land Rush begins for .CREDITUNION. Full refunds will be provided if a pre-registration is not successful.

Unlike .BANK websites, the use of security measures to activate and use a .CREDITUNION website are optional. However, EnCirca is prepared to provide the same security services used by banks to credit unions interested in securely activating their new .CREDITUNION domains.

To learn more, please visit www.encirca.com/creditunion

About EnCirca

EnCirca was formed in 2001 in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the leading ICANN Registrar for domain extensions intended for regulated industries, including: .BANK, .PHARMACY, .REALTOR, .TRAVEL, and .COOP. EnCirca is one of the few ICANN Registrars that have been SOC-2 certified for best practices for cyber-security.

Media Contact:

Thomas Barrett

781-942-9975

[email protected]

SOURCE EnCirca, Inc.
HIAWATHA, Iowa., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Crystal Group, a leading designer/manufacturer of rugged computer hardware, will highlight its rugged computer for autonomous driving systems and IoT applications at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International's XPONENTIAL, May 9-11, 2017, in booth #1516 at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center in Dallas, Texas.

As an Intel Technology Platinum Provider, Crystal Group adheres closely to the Intel Roadmap to bring the very latest innovations to aerospace and defense, automotive, commercial, industrial, and other discerning customers quickly and efficiently. Crystal Group and its broad portfolio of ruggedized, field-tested products put powerful IoT and unmanned technologies within reach of applications used in harsh environments  whether land, sea, air, or space  where traditional computer hardware would be destroyed.

Crystal Group's RS363S15F Rugged 3U Server is powered by Intel processors, and is just one example of an agile and rugged system with applications for the autonomous vehicle market. The unprecedented reliability of this ruggedized server is critical to autonomous vehicle and passenger safety. Already leaders in technology of unmanned systems for the military, Crystal Group and Intel are working with additional major technology partners and leading automotive OEMs as part of the Intel Internet of Things Solutions Alliance to build systems supporting the robust sensory compute needs of the driverless vehicle ecosystem.

The RS363S15F Rugged 3U Server from Crystal Group provides high-performance computing and highcapacity data storage in a small size, weight, and power (SWaP) package with a depth under 15 inches (38.1 cm) to fit virtually any space. Several major automotive manufacturers have already selected and customized this rugged, safe, and reliable server for use in autonomous vehicles.

About Crystal Group Inc.

Crystal Group Inc., an employee-owned small business located in Hiawatha, Iowa, USA, is a technology innovation leader specializing in both custom and COTS products for defense, government and industrial markets since 1987. Crystal Group designs and manufactures installation-ready rugged servers, displays, networking devices, embedded systems, power supplies and storage devices that fit critical applications in demanding environmental conditions.

The company is certified to quality management standards AS9100C:2009 and ISO 9001:2008. Crystal Group products meet and exceed MIL-STDs 810, 167-1, 461, MIL-S-901, IEEE and IEC industrial standards. Additionally, the company offers integration services, configuration management, product lifecycle planning and 5+ year warranties.

crystalrugged.com

 2017 Crystal Group Inc. All rights reserved. All marks are property of their respective owners. Design and specifications are subject to change.

SOURCE Crystal Group Inc.

Related Links

http://www.crystalrugged.com


Isolation and perimeter fencing are a recommended solution for pool and spa protectionthis information is being spread around the country each day by the National Drowning Prevention Alliance (NDPA) as well as Pool Safely, part of the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC).

D&D Technologies is a founding member, an active sponsor of the NDPA, and a Community Safety Leader with the Pool Safely campaign.

"We are on a mission to save lives," said Jim Paterson, Senior VP of Sales and Marketing, North & South America, D&D Technologies. "Drowning is the number one cause of unintentional death for children 1-4, and the second leading cause for those 14 and under. All the innovation, technology and passion that we put into manufacturing safety gate products is done with one intention in mind: protect children, protect our loved ones."

D&D revolutionized pool safety with the invention of the world's first magnetic gate latch. David Doyle, founding father of D&D Technologies discovered neodymium magnets never lose power. He engineered and patented MagnaLatch, the world's first magnetic safety latch. Since then, MagnaLatch has become the number one child and pet safety pool gate latch in the world. Combined with TruClose self-closing hinges, made out of engineering polymer, D&D offers the most reliable solutions for pool and spa safety gates.

"Remember, drowning is preventable," said Jackie Barrera, Director of Marketing, North and South America. "Take time to get involved during May National Water Safety Month. Join the movement. Take the Pledge."

The Pledge is a simple call to action for people to commit to safety steps around the water. Kids will pledge to never go in the water without an adult nearby. Adults will pledge to always watch kids in the water, to learn CPR, and ensure their pools have proper fencing and gates. Take the Pool Safely Pledge by visiting https://www.poolsafely.gov/pledge.

About D&D:

D&D Technologies is the recognized leader in safety and premium grade gate hardware manufacturing, including MagnaLatch magnetic pool and safety gate latches, TruClose adjustable, self-closing gate hinges, SureClose* commercial grade closer & hinge, LokkLatch gate latches, BadAss hinges and HardCore wheels. D&D's diversity of products continually set new standards in design, performance, craftsmanship and innovationtied together by a singular level of quality. D&D products consistently exceed all relevant safety barrier codes.

D&D Technologies is a founding father and proud member of the NDPA (National Drowning Prevention Alliance).

About Pool Safely

Pool Safely, a national public education campaign supporting the requirements of Section 1407 of the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, works with partners around the country to reduce fatal child drownings, non-fatal drownings and entrapment incidents in swimming pools and spas. Parents, caregivers and the media are encouraged to visit: PoolSafely.gov or @PoolSafely on Twitter for vital safety information regarding the prevention of child drownings in and around pools and spas.

About the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of thousands of types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products  such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters and household chemicals  contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products in the past 40 years.

Media Contact:

Jackie Barrera, D&D Technologies, 714-500-5602, [email protected]

SOURCE D&D Technologies

Related Links

http://www.ddtechglobal.com


FORM 8.3

PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY

A PERSON WITH INTERESTS IN RELEVANT SECURITIES REPRESENTING 1% OR MORE

Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code (the "Code")

1. KEY INFORMATION

(a) Full name of discloser: MMCAP International Inc. SPC (b) Owner or controller of interests and short positions disclosed, if different from 1(a):

The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient. For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries must be named. (c) Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates:

Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree Mariana Resources Limited (d) If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree, state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree: (e) Date position held/dealing undertaken:

For an opening position disclosure, state the latest practicable date prior to the disclosure 27 April 2017 (f) In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the discloser making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer?

If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state "N/A" NO





2. POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security.

(a) Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any)

Class of relevant security:



ORD GBP.01



Interests Short positions Number % Number % (1) Relevant securities owned and/or controlled:



3,487,100



2.69% (2) Cash-settled derivatives:



(3) Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell:



TOTAL:



3,487,100



2.69%

All interests and all short positions should be disclosed.

Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should be given on a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions).

(b) Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors' and other employee options)

Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription right exists: Details, including nature of the rights concerned and relevant percentages:

3. DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 3(a), (b), (c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security dealt in.

The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated.

(a) Purchases and sales

Class of relevant security Purchase/sale



Number of securities Price per unit



ORD GBP.01



Purchase



465,400



1.6387 CAD



ORD GBP.01



Purchase



123,000



1.6353 CAD

(b) Cash-settled derivative transactions

Class of relevant security Product description

e.g. CFD Nature of dealing

e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing a long/short position Number of reference securities Price per unit





(c) Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options)

(i) Writing, selling, purchasing or varying

Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Writing, purchasing, selling, varying etc. Number of securities to which option relates Exercise price per unit Type

e.g. American, European etc. Expiry date Option money paid/ received per unit

(ii) Exercise

Class of relevant security Product description

e.g. call option Exercising/ exercised against Number of securities Exercise price per unit





(d) Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities)

Class of relevant security Nature of dealing

e.g. subscription, conversion Details Price per unit (if applicable)





4. OTHER INFORMATION

(a) Indemnity and other dealing arrangements

Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or any agreement or understanding, formal or informal, relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the person making the disclosure and any party to the offer or any person acting in concert with a party to the offer:

Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should not be included. If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none"









(b) Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to options or derivatives

Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding, formal or informal, between the person making the disclosure and any other person relating to:

(i) the voting rights of any relevant securities under any option; or

(ii) the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal of any relevant securities to which any derivative is referenced:

If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none"









(c) Attachments

Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? NO





Date of disclosure: 03 MAY 2017 Contact name: ULLA VESTERGAARD Telephone number: 001 416 408 0994

Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory Information Service and must also be emailed to the Takeover Panel at monitoring@disclosure.org.uk. The Panel's Market Surveillance Unit is available for consultation in relation to the Code's disclosure requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129.

The Code can be viewed on the Panel's website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk.
RESTON, Va., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) awarded Leidos (NYSE: LDOS), a global science and technology company, a prime contract to support the operation and maintenance of DTRA's Meteorological Data Servers (MDS) and Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) service. The single-award cost-plus fixed-fee delivery order has a one-year base period of performance, four one-year options and a total contract value of approximately $13 million if all options are exercised. DTRA awarded the delivery order under its Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) contract vehicle. Under this contract, Leidos will primarily perform work in San Diego, CA and Ft. Belvoir, VA.

DTRA provides a central distribution center for delivery of weather products that support product data applications to perform consequence assessments of accidental and intentional releases from chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives (CBRNE) incidents.

Under the delivery order, Leidos will support the operation and maintenance of DTRA's MDS and NWP. This includes providing targeted research and development to identify and implement state-of-the-art techniques for improving environmental data used in DTRA's atmospheric transport and dispersion models for weapons of mass destruction and CBRNE accidental release predictions. Leidos will also provide improvements to the weather data collection and dissemination of weather products to DTRA's customers.

"The Leidos team brings expertise in meteorology, developmental research, software engineering and system development to modernize and maintain DTRA's operational systems and weather product applications," said Leidos Group President, Mike Chagnon. "We are proud to support DTRA's critical CBRNE mission."

About Leidos

Leidos is a global science and technology solutions and services leader working to solve the world's toughest challenges in the defense, intelligence, homeland security, civil, and health markets. The company's 32,000 employees support vital missions for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $7.04 billion for the fiscal year ended December 30, 2016. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com.

Statements in this announcement, other than historical data and information, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause our actual results, performance, achievements, or industry results to be very different from the results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Some of these factors include, but are not limited to, the risk factors set forth in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 30, 2016, and other such filings that Leidos makes with the SEC from time to time. Due to such uncertainties and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.

SOURCE Leidos

Related Links

http://www.leidos.com


DOVER, Del., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware confirms that Delaware residents are concerned about the negative impact of the forced sale of a privately-held company. This week, the organization dropped mailers to the Elections and Government Affairs Committee's districts depicting the sale of TransPerfect by Delaware's Court of Chancery. Residents responded with daily emails and calls to their respective senators with a message of concern over the court's unprecedented decision.

CPBD is asking the Elections and Government Affairs Committee to bring the TransPerfect bill, SB53, to a full senate vote. The mail piece is a part of a larger campaign that included TV, digital, print and radio ads.

"We know that residents are worried about people losing their jobs, the impact that has on Delaware's economy, and the message this case sends to prospective businesses," said Chris Coffey, Campaign Manager for CPBD. "We have provided residents the opportunity to make their voices heard, and they have responded with tremendous support for SB53."

The campaign continues its aggressive educational efforts leading up to the Elections and Government Affairs Committee hearing on May 10th, where the organization is hopeful that senators of the committee will address the concerns of residents and pass the bill through to the senate floor.

"SB53 is an important bill for Delaware's economy," said Senator Colin Bonini, sponsor of Senate Bill 53. "As lawmakers, we should be creating a stable environment for businesses to prosper and bring jobs to hard-working Delaware residents."

Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware is a group made up of more than 2,200 members including employees of the global translation services company TransPerfect, as well as concerned Delaware residents, business executives and others. They formed in April of 2016 to focus on raising awareness with Delaware residents, elected officials, and other stakeholders about the issue.

For more information on Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware visit DelawareForBusiness.org.

Contact: Mary Urban, [email protected]

Julijana Englander, [email protected]

SOURCE Citizens for a Pro-Business Delaware

Related Links

http://DelawareForBusiness.org


NEW YORK, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Deloitte today announced that it has received a 2017 SAP Pinnacle Award as the SAP S/4HANA Partner of the Year  Large Enterprise Companies, which recognizes its outstanding contributions working with SAP. SAP presents these awards annually to the top organizations that have excelled in developing and growing their relationship with SAP and helping customers run better. Winners and finalists in 19 categories were chosen based on recommendations from the SAP field, customer feedback and performance indicators, including a Customers' Choice award, which recognizes a customer-nominated SAP partner.

"Large enterprises are doing big things to get big value with SAP S/4HANA, the next-generation ERP business suite. We're excited to be recognized for our work helping those organizations develop game-changing digital capabilities to meet tomorrow's challenges," said Jan Waals, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP and global SAP practice lead. "In collaborating with SAP to deliver SAP S/4HANA-driven capabilities, we're helping some of the world's leading companies take customer engagement to the next level, transform the supply chain, execute results-driven Internet of Things strategies, and more."

SAP and Deloitte have a relationship that dates back decades, with the two organizations collaborating extensively to bring forward innovative solutions that can help businesses run simple. Deloitte also counts itself among SAP's client base having recently deployed the latest version of SAP S/4HANA, release 1610, to support its own operations.

"As a large organization ourselves, we have put our money where our mouth is when it comes to SAP S/4HANA  to help large enterprise clients better understand its potential and to get the kind of value our own organization requires to compete in the evolving digital economy," added Waals. "With SAP S/4HANA 1610, we're already realizing new efficiencies, new insights and new opportunities for growth."

Deloitte's 2017 SAP Pinnacle Award as the SAP S/4HANA Partner of the Year  Large Enterprise Companies represents the second year in a row that the organization has earned an SAP Pinnacle Award for its strength in SAP S/4HANA. Deloitte also received a 2016 SAP Pinnacle Award as SAP S/4HANA Adoption Partner of the Year.

"SAP is proudly committed to our ever-open, expanding partner ecosystem," said Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP. "No company can or should go it alone in this digital economy. SAP's partners bring domain expertise, global scale and a shared commitment to our customers. The SAP Pinnacle Awards give us the chance to salute the best of the best."

SAP Pinnacle Awards shine a spotlight on SAP's partners' remarkable contributions, acknowledging their dedication to teamwork, innovative approach and capacity to challenge what is possible to help customers achieve their goals. Award winners will be formally recognized at the SAP Global Partner Summit in Orlando, Florida, May 15. The SAP Global Partner Summit is held in conjunction with SAPPHIRE NOW and ASUG Annual Conference, the largest global business technology event, hosted by SAP and ASUG May 1618.

Deloitte has received multiple awards from SAP. With more than 16,000 practitioners dedicated to SAP solutions in its global network, Deloitte has served more than 3,500 clients, assisting them in their efforts not only to efficiently implement SAP solutions, but equally important, to realize business value from those investments

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 Deloitte

Related Links

http://www.deloitte.com/us


PHILADELPHIA, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Pennsylvania Department of Aging Secretary Teresa Osborne participated in the Northeast Philadelphia Centenarian Luncheon hosted by Kleinlife, Northeast Philadelphia, to honor centenarians.

During the event, 18 centenarians were joined by friends, family, and community leaders in recognition of their incredible gift of longevity in reaching 100 years of age or older.

"On behalf of Governor Wolf, and the Pennsylvania Department of Aging, it is humbling to pause during Older Americans Month to recognize centenarians living in Pennsylvania," Secretary Osborne said. "These incredible women and men are role models for how to live long and age well in Northeast Philadelphia and anywhere in the state."

Each May, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Community Living (ACL) leads the nation's celebration of Older Americans Month. ACL designed the 2017 OAM theme, Age Out Loud, to give aging a new voiceone that reflects what today's older adults have to say.

"Throughout Pennsylvania, we are blessed to have these remarkable treasures  older Pennsylvanians who have lived 100 or more years," said Secretary Osborne. "Their lifelong achievements are a true representation of aging out loud, and the Wolf Administration is committed to continue providing opportunities for our seniors to age in place with the dignity and respect they deserve."

For more information on the Pennsylvania Department of Aging, visit www.aging.pa.gov.

Media contact: Drew Wilburne 717-705-3702

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Aging

Related Links

http://www.state.pa.us


DETROIT, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Pope Francis announced today that Father Solanus Casey, a member of the Capuchin Franciscan Order of St. Joseph in Detroit and one of the co-founders of the city's Capuchin Soup Kitchen, has passed the rigorous test assigned to the process of Sainthood, by being elevated from Venerable to Blessed by the Roman Catholic Church. At 10:30 this morning in Rome, the Holy Father Pope Francis received in audience His Eminence Cardinal Angelo Amato, S.D.B., prefect for the Congregation of the Causes of Saints. During this audience, the Holy Father authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the following decree regarding a miracle, attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Solanus Casey, born November 25, 1870 and died July 31, 1957. A photograph of Father Solanus Casey is available here.

Because of Fr. Solanus Casey's holiness, Pope John Paul II declared him Venerable in 1995. Details on the Fr. Solanus Casey Beatification Ceremony will be released in the coming months.

"The beatification of Father Solanus Casey is an incomparable grace for the Church in the Archdiocese of Detroit and for the whole community of Southeast Michigan," stated Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, Archdiocese of Detroit. "He is an inspiration to all us Catholics  and to all  of the power of grace to transform one's life."

Throughout his ministry, beginning in New York for 20 years, serving at three different parishes, Fr. Solanus was a beloved Capuchin Friar credited with miraculous cures and valued for his wise and compassionate counsel. He served at St. Bonaventure Monastery on Mt. Elliott Street in Detroit, where he worked for 21 years as a porter and spent his life in the service of people, endearing himself to thousands who would seek his counsel. He earned the recognition as 'the Doorkeeper'  a Brother who would provide soup for the hungry, kind words for the troubled, and a healing touch for the ill.

"Long before we knew and loved Pope Francis, we had the example of Fr. Solanus who lived the Gospel of Mercy," said Fr. Michael Sullivan, OFM Cap. and Provincial Minister of the Capuchin Franciscan Province of St. Joseph. "Known for his compassion and simplicity, he drew many thousands to God. Rather than call attention to himself, he taught people to thank God for His blessings. We are overjoyed at the news that Fr. Solanus' holiness is recognized by the Holy Father."

Vice Postulators and Capuchin Friars Larry Webber and Richard Merling continue to gather documentation of healings attributed to Solanus Casey's intercession. This documentation is then studied in Rome. Another approved miracle will advance the Cause to sainthood.

"Over the years the fame of Fr. Solanus has extended around the world, and now has devotees in 27 countries," said Capuchin Fr. Larry Webber. "Thousands of favors attributed to the intercession of Venerable Solanus have been reported to the Office of the Cause for Sainthood of Father Solanus."

"This declaration means that the local Church, here in Detroit and in Capuchin Franciscan Fraternities around the world, may offer prayers and Masses invoking the intercession of Fr. Solanus," said Capuchin Brother Richard Merling.

Fr. Solanus was born Bernard Francis Casey on November 25, 1870 on a farm near Oak Grove, Wisconsin. He was the sixth child in a family of sixteen, born to Irish immigrant parents who left Ireland after the famine years. At the age of 21 Bernard entered St. Francis High School Seminary in Milwaukee to study for the diocesan priesthood. In 1897, he joined the Capuchin Order at Detroit and received the religious name of Solanus. In 1924, he was assigned to St. Bonaventure Monastery in Detroit. During his final illness, he remarked, "I'm offering my suffering that all might be one." He died at the age of 86 on July 31, 1957 at the same day and hour of his First Holy Mass 53 years earlier.

The Detroit Capuchins continue their ministry to the poor and the sick and those in need. They operate the Solanus Casey Center, which attracts 250,000 visitors a year. Fr. David Preuss, Solanus Casey Center Director stated, "We pray that Fr. Solanus' message of thankful prayer and service to the poor be continued in our midst. We look forward to his message becoming better known as he receives the honor of beatification."

Archbishop Vigneron added, "We are so grateful that because of this beatification, the Gospel of Jesus Christ  and the freedom He alone offers  will be proclaimed all the louder through Father Solanus. Let us, like Father Solanus, thank God ahead of time for all of these graces!"

Fr. Solanus co-founded the Capuchin Soup Kitchen in 1929 and today it serves Metro Detroit by providing food, clothing and human development programs to the people of the community. In addition to preparing and serving up to 2,000 meals a day, they have an emergency food pantry, service center and a tutoring program for children. Its Earthworks Urban Farm harvests six tons of produce from a two and a half acre organic farm. The Soup Kitchen's On the Rise Bakery assists individuals re-entering society after bouts of incarceration or substance abuse. In addition, the Capuchin Soup Kitchen's Jefferson House  a twelve-bed residential treatment facility  assists indigent males seeking to reclaim their lives from addiction.

The work of the Capuchin Friars is funded primarily by donations, receiving no government assistance.

ABOUT THE FATHER SOLANUS GUILD

ABOUT THE SOLANUS CASEY CENTER

ABOUT THE CAPUCHINS

ABOUT THE ARCHDIOCESE OF DETROIT

SOURCE Capuchin Franciscan Province of St. Joseph
HOUSTON, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Centrica plc, parent company of Direct Energy, one of North America's largest retail providers of electricity, natural gas, and home and business energy-related services, today announced the acquisition of the assets of Rokitt Inc. and their proprietary Rokitt Astra Technology. Rokitt is a technology company based in New Jersey.

Specifically, Centrica's acquisition, through a subsidiary of its Centrica Innovations unit, Io-Tahoe LLC, includes the assets of Rokitt and their proprietary Rokitt Astra technology that enables companies to discover meaningful information from their data and data relationships through a unique set of machine learning algorithms.

This technology supports an important area of strategic focus and offers a leading data management solution when combined with the Io-Tahoe1 suite of smart solutions. The Rokitt Astra technology, recently recognized by leading Gartner2 analysts as a smart data discovery and modern stewardship solution, complements Centrica's existing data management capabilities, which include Data Tap, Fingerprinting and Concierge. Rokitt Astra also enables Centrica Innovations to build, and Direct Energy customers to benefit from, a broader, more comprehensive digital technology portfolio, innovation technology pipeline and expertise in data science and analytics.

"Direct Energy customers across North America will benefit from the combined resources and capabilities of Rokitt Astra and Io-Tahoe as part of our on-going commitment to delivering a smarter energy future helping residential and business customers take control of their energy and save money," said Christophe Defert, Centrica Innovations Director - Ventures, based in Houston, Texas.

This represents Centrica Innovations' first portfolio investment, following its commitment to invest 100 million over the next five years in start-ups, incubation and acceleration programs. It is directly aligned with the company's customer-focused strategy to identify and invest in physical and digital technologies and innovative ideas that can deliver new products, offers and services to both residential and business customers.

"Digital technology, particularly big data and the actionable insights provided by data analytics are influencing and accelerating change in many markets, including the energy market. Data science and analytics are core components of our long-term technology strategy," said Mike Young, Centrica's Group Chief Information Officer. "The acquisition of Rokitt Astra is an exciting and value-creating addition to our digital technological capability."

Centrica's innovation unit is already supporting the growth and commercialization of its proprietary data management solution through the formation of Io-Tahoe LLC, the big data management solution company with expertise in data science, analytics and systems architecture. Io-Tahoe LLC will leverage Centrica's in-house data management capability to external customers.

Upon completion, the members of the Rokitt Astra team will become employees of Io-Tahoe LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Centrica plc.

"Centrica Innovations will benefit from the substantial expertise in the area of data discovery offered by Rokitt's employees across the U.S., India and the Ukraine, where operations will continue," said Charles Cameron, Group Director of Technology, Engineering and Centrica Innovations. "We welcome the Rokitt Astra team to Io-Tahoe."

"We are truly excited about the opportunity we have to continue to grow our business and the new achievements on the horizon through the combination of Rokitt Astra and Io-Tahoe," said Oksana Sokolovsky and Rohit Mahajan, Rokitt Co-Founders.

For more information, please visit: www.centrica.com/innovation.

About Direct Energy

Direct Energy is one of North America's largest retail providers of electricity, natural gas, and home and business energy-related services with nearly five million customers. Direct Energy gives customers choice, simplicity, and innovation where energy, data, and technology meet. A subsidiary of Centrica plc (LSE: CNA), one of the world's leading integrated energy companies, Direct Energy operates in 50 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia and 4 provinces in Canada. To learn more about Direct Energy, please visit www.directenergy.com.

About Centrica plc

Centrica plc is an international energy and services company. Everything we do is focused on satisfying the changing needs of our customers. We supply energy and energy-related services to around 28 million customer accounts in the UK, Ireland and North America, through strong brands such as British Gas, Direct Energy and Bord Gais Energy supported by around 12,000 engineers and technicians.

We are also developing new and innovative products and services for customers globally. Our Connected Home business has developed products such as the Hive smart thermostat and through our Distributed Energy & Power business we offer integrated energy solutions for commercial and industrial customers, including flexible generation, energy management systems, and battery storage.

We also have an Energy Marketing & Trading business which manages commodity risk and provides wholesale market access for the Group, as well as offering route to market services for third parties and undertaking optimisation and trading activity.

Centrica continues to be active in gas and oil Exploration & Production, focusing on the UK, Netherlands and Norway and targeting production of between 40-50mmboe per annum. In Central Power Generation, we own five gas-fired power stations in the UK and a 20% interest in EDF Energy's UK nuclear fleet. We also own the UK's largest gas storage facility, Rough. For more information visit: www.centrica.com.

About Io-Tahoe

Io-Tahoe LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Centrica plc. Io-Tahoe is a big data management solution company with expertise in data science, analytics and systems architecture. The technology comprises four smart tools: Astra, Data tap, Fingerprinting and Concierge. For more information visit: www.io-tahoe.com.

About Rokitt Astra

Rokitt is a technology company focused on solving the challenges of 'DATA' with the product Rokitt Astraautomatically discovers & self-learns data relationships up to 90%+ accuracy through complex algorithms developed and embedded in it. For more information, visit: www.rokittastra.com.

1 Io-Tahoe is a registered trademark of Centrica plc. Rokitt Astra is a trademark of Centrica plc.

2 Gartner, Inc. is the world's leading information technology research and advisory company.

SOURCE Direct Energy

Related Links

http://www.directenergy.com


BROOKFIELD, Wis., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Nurses lend emotional support to patients and families on a daily basis. But focusing on empathy for others can lead nurses to struggle with their own emotions.

In honor of National Nurses Week 2017, Nurse.com by OnCourse Learning will offer a free webinar, "Empathy 101: How to Care for Yourself While Emotionally Supporting Others," at 1 p.m. ET May 10. The webinar features nationally recognized nurse, author and speaker, Kati Kleber, BSN, RN, CCRN.

Kati Kleber, RN

The webinar, worth 1.0 contact hour, is among a number of free resources available during National Nurses Week from Nurse.com by OnCourse Learning.

"Research shows that nurses who effectively empathize with their patients have higher rates of compassion fatigue," Kleber said. "I've experienced this myself and found some great tips and resources to help bedside nurses be more effective at empathy, but also practice protective measures for compassion fatigue."

Kleber is a national certified critical care nurse who lives in Illinois. She is the author of the books "Admit One" and "What's Next?" published by the American Nurses Association. She also self-published her first book, "Becoming Nursey," and is a blogger and podcaster on top nursing trends and topics.

"Kati is insightful and provides great information for all nurses," said Jennifer Mensik, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, OnCourse Learning's vice president of CE programming. "Her passion for nursing is palpable."

Along with the free live webinar, other offerings for nurses include a second free CE opportunity and exclusive content in the National Nurses Week 2017 digital resource guide.

The resource guide, which is available via mobile, desktop and tablet devices, includes the following content:

To view all of this year's Nurse.com digital resource guides, visit the home page.

Nurses are invited to register on the Nurse.com website to search thousands of jobs, browse hundreds of continuing education courses and read the nursing blog.

To sign up for the webinar featuring Kleber, nurses can visit the event registration page online.

They also can join in the conversation on the latest topics and trends in the profession by following Nurse.com on Facebook and Twitter.

Nurse.com is the largest digital magazine dedicated to registered nurses, providing news, employment opportunities, and continuing education programming through the publication and its complementary digital products including website, blogs, e-books and social media outlets. To learn more, visit Nurse.com or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

For media inquiries, contact:

Barry Bottino, Communications Director

847-908-8007

[email protected]

About OnCourse Learning

OnCourse Learning delivers licensure, regulatory and compliance education solutions throughout the nation's leading industries including financial services, healthcare and real estate. Through trusted industry expertise, compliance management and technology solutions, OnCourse Learning focuses on advancing the e-learning environment for individuals and businesses to help to build new careers, empower employees through knowledge and identify efficiencies in corporate training management. OnCourse Learning offers a full suite of educational products including state and federally approved prelicensing and continuing education programs, accredited course content, exam prep tools, publications, e-books, events and a sophisticated and customizable learning management system and course-authoring tool. To learn more, visit OnCourseLearning.com.

SOURCE OnCourse Learning

Related Links

http://www.OnCourseLearning.com


WASHINGTON, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins was at the White House for the signing ceremony of an executive order protecting religious liberty. The President's new order ensures the freedom of all Americans to believe and act in accordance with their beliefs. The executive order makes clear that the administration will pursue policies that "protect and vigorously promote religious liberty."

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins released the following statement:

"The President's executive order is a clear reflection of his campaign promise to protect the religious freedoms of Americans. President Trump is taking a significant first step to defending religious liberty. In working with the Trump administration, it is clear that they both recognize and understand the dangers of the anti-faith policies of the previous administration and are therefore committed to undoing those policies and restoring true religious freedom. The freedom to live out faith in all areas of society without government punishment or intimidation is what has made America great.

"Finally, the federal government realizes the immoral and insane mandate that forces organizations like the Little Sister of the Poor to include contraception and abortifacients in their healthcare plans. No longer will the IRS muzzle the speech of pastors and non-profit organizations and the Department of Justice will address the host of other anti-religious policies and actions launched by the previous administration by issuing guidelines for all federal agencies. The guidelines will ensure religious beliefs and actions are respected and protected.

"This step today starts the process of reversing the devastating trend set by the last administration to punish charities, pastors, family owned businesses and honest, hard-working people simply for living according to their faith. This trend is in part why 60 percent of Trump voters in the last election said they were more likely to vote for him because the GOP platform is very clear on religious liberty and unborn life.

"The open season on Christians and other people of faith is coming to a close in America and we look forward to assisting the Trump administration in fully restoring America's First Freedom," concluded Perkins.

SOURCE Family Research Council

Related Links

http://www.frc.org


SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Fastdata.io, the true real-time stream processing company, today announced it has raised a total of $1.5 million from NVIDIA and other investors. The company is introducing the world's fastest and most efficient stream processing software engine to meet the critical and growing need for efficient, real-time big data processing. Fastdata.io will use the financing to invest in developing its product, marketing and talent acquisition.

Fastdata.io is led by CEO and founder Alen Capalik, an industry veteran who has significant expertise with low-level kernel development for high-frequency trading financial systems and advanced cybersecurity technology. Fastdata.io has developed high-performance computing (HPC) software, its FDIO Engine, which exploits the massively parallel processing capability of NVIDIA GPUs to provide economical true real-time processing of big data in motion.

Processing complex algorithms against terabytes of live streaming data, the FDIO Engine will:

Accelerate three orders of magnitude faster than competing stream processing engines, with scaling potential up to five orders of magnitude on certain workloads. This paradigm shift in speed will open exciting new possibilities for application development in industries that require real-time processing like finance, fraud, security, artificial intelligence, machine learning, virtual and augmented reality, Internet of Things and autonomous vehicles.

Reduce power requirements by more than 90% in the data center whether running in the public cloud or on private servers. This new level of efficiency will save billions of dollars in power costs while at the same time dramatically reducing carbon emissions.

"Our FDIO Engine is unique in the industry, built from the ground up for both speed and efficiency. It can process large amounts of streaming data while natively accelerating any existing algorithms out of the box. This was made possible by low-level programming and harnessing the sheer power of NVIDIA's efficient GPU technology," said Alen Capalik, CEO and founder of fastdata.io. "The FDIO Engine will exploit NVIDIA's latest GPUs and its CUDA API to make stream processing so much more efficient that it will usher in a new era, opening endless innovative opportunities for businesses and new applications."

"Fastdata.io is one of the most innovative AI startups that we have seen using NVIDIA's GPU-based platform to provide truly real-time stream processing," said Jeff Herbst, vice president of business development at NVIDIA. "By leveraging CUDA and our most advanced GPU technology, the FDIO Engine promises to offer unmatched efficiency and power savings to drive new technologies forward."

Fastdata.io will exhibit at the GPU Technology Conference on May 8-11, 2017, in San Jose, California and participate in the exclusive NVIDIA AI Day for Select VCs on May 10 at the conference. Come visit fastdata.io at booth #1023.

To learn more about this new era of accelerated data processing watch "Welcome to Age of Fast Data" created by Jason Silva at http://tinyurl.com/fastdata-yt. Silva is the host of National Geographic's Origins (& Brain Games in 2013) and the creator of "Shots of Awe", a YouTube channel on the Discovery Digital Networks TestTube, which presents weekly "micro-documentaries" on creativity, innovation, exponential technology, futurism, metaphysics, existentialism and the human condition.

About fastdata.io

Fastdata.io is introducing the world's fastest and most efficient stream processing software engine. Leveraging general-purpose computing on GPUs, fastdata.io has developed its FDIO Engine, a high-performance computing software engine, to exploit the massively parallel processing capability of NVIDIA's GPU platform. The FDIO Engine accelerates stream processing up to three orders of magnitude faster, while simultaneously cutting power and space requirements in the data center by more than 90%. The company was founded in 2016 by Alen Capalik. Fastdata.io is headquartered in Santa Monica, California with offices in Seattle, Washington. For more information, visit http://fastdata.io/

SOURCE Fastdata.io

Related Links

http://fastdata.io


Patrick Koller, CEO of Faurecia : "This partnership will mark another important step for Faurecia in the development of an innovation ecosystem for technology solutions for the Cockpit of the Future. Our strong combined customer intimacy and our common vision will enable us to provide a unique technology offer ensuring the safety of the vehicle occupants in various autonomous driving use cases."

Dr. Stefan Sommer, CEO of ZF: "Together we will be stronger. Vehicle electrification and autonomous driving need innovative active and passive safety technologies to become a success. As one of the global leaders in safety, ZF is committed to delivering integrated safety concepts together with our partner Faurecia."

The collaboration will be based on shared expertise and competencies and will involve no capital exchange. "Networked ecosystems are not only at home in Silicon Valley," said Dr. Sommer, "ZF and Faurecia believe that the ecosystem philosophy also works between Paris and Friedrichshafen to provide a unique offer to our customers everywhere in the world."

Patrick Koller added: "Our customers will benefit greatly from this partnership. Together, we can offer complete interior safety features to meet the future challenges which will allow the interior of the future to be safe, connected, versatile and predictive." Depending on customer preferences both companies will also continue to work independently on current and upcoming projects.

Highly flexible and comfortable interiors which still offer the highest active and passive safety will be the key drivers for the adoption of different interior configurations. In particular, the seats will integrate a significant part of the safety devices enabling them to swivel and recline or allowing an efficient return to driving mode.

About ZF

ZF is a global leader in driveline and chassis technology as well as active and passive safety technology. The company has a global workforce of around 137,000 with approximately 230 locations in some 40 countries. In 2016, ZF achieved sales of 35.2 billion. ZF annually invests about six percent of its sales in research & development  ensuring continued success through the design and engineering of innovative technologies. ZF is one of the largest automotive suppliers worldwide. ZF allows vehicles to see, think and act. With its technologies, the company is striving for Vision Zero  a world of mobility without accidents and emissions. With its broad portfolio, ZF is advancing mobility and services in the automobile, truck and industrial technology sectors. For more information visit www.zf.com

About Faurecia

Faurecia is one of the world's largest automotive equipment suppliers, with three key Business Groups: Seating, Clean Mobility and Interiors Systems. In 2016, the Group posted total sales of 18.7 billion. At December 31, 2016, Faurecia employed 100 000 people in 34 countries at 300 sites and 30 R&D centers. Faurecia is listed on the NYSE Euronext Paris stock exchange and trades in the U.S. over-the-counter (OTC) market. For more information, visit www.faurecia.com

SOURCE Faurecia

Related Links

http://www.faurecia.com


Travel smarter

Automated ticketing and mobility surveys by capturing multi-modal travel behaviour



How to make public transport even more comfortable for passengers?

Can ticketing be simplified?

How to capture the actual mobility behavior?

Public transport needs to be as efficient and comfortable as possible in order to be attractive for passengers and cost-effective for public transport operators. AIT addresses these challenges with its technology Travel Mode Identification (TMI), which is an innovative software solution automatically identifying travel modes of people carrying a smartphone.

The technology can easily be integrated in existing smartphone-apps and automatically classifies eight different travel modes, no user intervention is required. Possible applications are e.g. simple and reliable mobility surveys and novel solutions for automated ticketing.

Mobility Surveys

Mobility surveys use to be a tremendous effort regarding both, cost and time. So far reams of questionnaires either in writing or by telephone had to be answered and analyzed.

Not with TMI: The technology allows collecting data simply via smartphone at lower cost, in less time and higher quality. For this specific application AIT has launched the service "AIT Smart Survey" that has already been applied in several surveys e.g. in Vienna.

Automated Ticketing

TMI can also be used for integrated mobile ticketing apps for public transport: The technology detects whenever a smartphone user travels on public transport; detailed route information and fees can be calculated accordingly. This offers a maximum level of comfort to the passenger, who does not need to buy any ticket or press any button - it just works automatically. The public transport operator benefits from the fact, that no additional infrastructure - e.g. Bluetooth or Wifi networks - is required, which saves a lot of cost.

Next show up

UITP Global Public Transport Summit in Montreal/Canada

15 - 17 May 2017

AIT booth: # 2D100

https://uitpsummit.org/exhibitors/ait-austrian-institute-of-technology-gmbh/

About AIT

The AIT Austrian Institute of Technology is Austria's largest non-university research institute. With its eight Centers, AIT regards itself as a highly specialised research and development partner for industry. Its researchers focus on the key infrastructure issues of the future: Energy, Health & Bioresources, Digital Safety & Security, Vision, Automation & Control, Mobility Systems, Low-Emission Transport, Technology Experience and Innovation Systems & Policy. Throughout the whole of Austria - in particular at the main locations Wien Tech Gate, Wien TECHbase, Wien Muthgasse, Seibersdorf, Wiener Neustadt, Ranshofen and Leoben - around 1,300 employees carry out research on the development of those tools, technologies and solutions that will keep Austria's economy fit for the future in line with our motto "Tomorrow Today".

Contact:

Juliane Tho

Marketing and Communications

AIT Austrian Institute of Technology

Center for Low-Emission Transport

Center for Mobility Systems

T +43 (0)50550-6322

juliane.thoss@ait.ac.at | www.ait.ac.at

Daniel Pepl, MAS

Corporate and Marketing Communications

AIT Austrian Institute of Technology

T +43 (0)50550-4040

daniel.pepl@ait.ac.at | www.ait.ac.at
AMSTERDAM, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Allworld exhibitions joined UBM in December 2016. As a result of this acquisition, both parties have decided to join forces and create a one-stop purchasing platform for the Chinese food and beverage industry. This will be achieved by co-locating food ingredients Asia-China alongside ProPak China at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC) in July 2018. Combined, the exhibitions will bring together food ingredients as well as food processing and packaging solutions, to serve the ever-growing food and beverage industry in China.

(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/469712/UBM_India_Logo.jpg )



The combined event will cover over 75,000 sqm across 6 halls at SNIEC, and is expected to attract more than 27,000 professional visitors from China and abroad. Visitors will find special zones onsite for dairy products, beverages, starch and other ingredients. At the event there will be a variety of educational programmes and other innovative features, which will provide visitors with new ideas for business development.

The Chinese food market will be valued at RMB 11.35 trillion in 2018. Given the huge demand from a population of 1.4 billion, coupled with growing desire for quicker and safer food, China's food industry will continue to grow in the future. The combined platform of FiAC and ProPak will be the only event of this scale in China that brings together the entire industry value chain in one place.

Health ingredients China (HiC): 26-28 June 2018

Health ingredients China will continue to take place in June alongside Healthplex & Nutraceutical Products China and NEX. Combined, the events form the leading health exhibition in China and offer visitors the opportunity to source health ingredients, natural extracts, nutraceuticals and finished health products and supplements.

The combined events will cover 6 halls at SNIEC and welcome over 22,000 visitors looking to source health ingredients and finished health products. The event will also continue to be held alongside CPhI China, China's leading pharmaceuticals event, attracting over 50,000 visitors.

China's health and nutrition market has grown vigorously in recent years, as the focus of the industry has shifted from treatment to prevention. The health food and supplements market is valued at a staggering 28.5 billion USD and in recent years has become a top destination for companies seeking solutions to make their food and beverage products healthier.

"We are very excited about these new developments to our Fi Global portfolio," said John van der Valk, Managing Director of UBM EMEA "and we see great growth potential for this new collaboration in the coming years. With the two events clearly positioned, FiAC-ProPak focused on food manufacturing, and HiC on health ingredients and finished health products, we aim to optimally serve the ever growing food and health industries in China."

To find out more about ProPak please visit http://www.ProPakchina.com and for Hi China, please visit http://www.figlobal.com/asia-china/.

We look forward to sharing with you more information about this exciting new move in the coming months.

About Food ingredients Global - the trusted route to market since 1986

Food ingredients was launched in Utrecht, The Netherlands, in 1986. Its portfolio of live events, extensive data, digital solutions and high-level conferences, are now established throughout the world and provide regional and global platforms for all stakeholders, in the food ingredients industry. Over 500,000 people have attended our shows over the years with billions of Euros worth of business created, as a result. With over 25 years of excellence, our events, digital solutions and supporting products, deliver a proven route to market, with a truly global audience. For more information about the Food ingredients Portfolio please visit http://www.figlobal.com.

About UBM EMEA

UBM EMEA connects people and creates opportunities for companies across five continents to develop new business, meet customers, launch new products, promote their brands and expand their markets. Through premier brands such as Routes, CPhI, IFSEC, Ecobuild, Seatrade, and many others, UBM EMEA exhibitions, conferences, awards programs, publications, websites and training and certification programs are an integral part of the marketing plans of companies across seven industry sectors.

For further information or imagery, please contact:

Maebh Flanagan

Senior Marketing Executive

T: +31-20-708-1642

E: [email protected]



SOURCE UBM EMEA
In addition to serving as managing principal, Morrison maintains an active patent and intellectual property litigation practice with extensive experience in Hatch-Waxman and life sciences litigation, representing branded pharmaceutical clients on technologies ranging from medications for treating glaucoma to a blockbuster treatment for Hepatitis C. She also has significant experience in medical device litigation.

In the community, Morrison serves on the Board of Directors for Westside Family Healthcare, a nonprofit community health center that provides healthcare to more than 25,000 patients in Northern Delaware and the surrounding area. She is also actively involved in the Federal Bar Association for the District of Delaware.

"Susan is one of a number of talented women at Fish who, at a relatively early time in their careers, have been entrusted with leadership positions on top of their client commitments," said Peter Devlin, President and CEO of Fish & Richardson. "She is a highly accomplished patent trial lawyer and litigator with strong leadership skills who is also giving back to her community. She is truly deserving of this recognition."

Morrison received her J.D., summa cum laude, from Temple University Beasley School of Law in 2005, and her B.S., high honors, in cell biology from Haverford College in 2001.

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. Our success is rooted in our creative and inclusive culture, which values the diversity of people, experiences, and perspectives. Fish is the #1 U.S. patent litigation firm, handling nearly three times as many cases than its nearest competitor; a powerhouse patent prosecution firm; a top-tier trademark and copyright firm; and the #1 firm at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, with more cases than any other firm. Since 1878, Fish attorneys have been winning cases worth billions in controversy  often by making new law  for the world's most innovative and influential technology leaders. For more information, visit https://www.fr.com or follow us at @FishRichardson.

Contact: Amy Blumenthal or Kelly Largey

Blumenthal & Associates

Fish & Richardson

617-879-1511

800-818-5070

[email protected]

[email protected]

SOURCE Fish & Richardson

Related Links

https://www.fr.com


HYDERABAD, India & SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Solix Technologies, Inc., a leading big data application provider, today concluded Solix EMPOWER Bangalore 2017, India's largest big data conference. A record-breaking number of attendees joined together to experience sessions from 50+ big data thought leaders across many industries, including finance, healthcare, manufacturing and retail.

Solix EMPOWER Logo

Several of the sessions featured executives from Fortune 500 companies, including General Electric (GE), Honeywell International, Wells Fargo, IBM and Citigroup. The welcoming keynote for Solix EMPOWER Bangalore 2017 was presented by Sai Gundavelli, Founder/CEO at Solix Technologies. John Ottman, Executive Chairman at Solix Technologies presented the opening keynote on Empowering the Data-Driven Enterprise.

Key takeaways from Solix EMPOWER Bangalore 2017 sessions included:

"Solix EMPOWER Bangalore 2017 was a great event, bringing together many experts in big data to discuss the latest developments and industry innovations," said Kamal Brar, Vice President & GM APAC at Hortonworks. "I look forward to working with Solix to further our shared vision of a common data platform for the enterprise."

"If your model is not well-tuned, and the data set is not fitting the problem you are trying to solve, very soon your big data model will break down," said Joydeep Das, Chief Operating Officer, KloudData.

"When we start looking at big data not just as a technology, but as a technology enabler, what is always working behind the scenes is bettering everyone's lives," said Suresh Karanam, Asst. Vice President,Tech Mahindra.

"The journey of data governance goes hand in hand with the business team and the IT team," said Chakrapani Koppula, Big Data Enterprise Architect, Wipro.

According to the July 2016 Forrester report, The Insights-Driven Business, "An insights driven business harnesses and applies data and analytics at every opportunity to differentiate its products and customer experiences."

"Solix EMPOWER Bangalore 2017 far exceeded our expectations, thanks to the many speakers, sponsors and exhibitors that helped make the event possible," said Sai Gundavelli, Founder/CEO, Solix Technologies. "With the momentum of our Bangalore and San Jose events, we look forward to expanding Solix EMPOWER across the globe, to help enterprises become more data-driven."

Solix will be bringing Solix EMPOWER back to San Jose, California for its second inaugural conference later this year. Additionally, Solix plans to bring Solix EMPOWER to Europe early next year.

To see video highlights and photos from Solix EMPOWER Bangalore 2017 and learn more about Solix EMPOWER San Jose, visit http://empower.solix.com

About Solix Technologies, Inc.

Solix Technologies, Inc. is a leading big data application provider that empowers data-driven enterprises with optimized infrastructure, data security and advanced analytics by achieving Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) goals. Solix Big Data Suite offers an ILM framework for Enterprise Archiving and Enterprise Data Lake applications with Apache Hadoop as an enterprise data repository. The Solix Enterprise Data Management Suite (Solix EDMS) enables organizations to implement Database Archiving, Test Data Management (Data Subsetting), Data Masking and Application Retirement across all enterprise data. Solix Technologies, Inc. is headquartered in Santa Clara, California and operates worldwide through an established network of value added resellers (VARs) and systems integrators. To learn more, please visit http://www.solix.com

Connect with Solix

Visit our website: http://www.solix.com

Follow us on Twitter: @solixbigdata

Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/solixtechnologies

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/9661

Press Contact

Zach Taiji

PulpPR for Solix

[email protected]

3604773194

SOURCE Solix Technologies, Inc.

Related Links

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VAN NUYS, Calif., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading toymaker, Funrise, announced today a branded integration partnership with the #1 Children's Fitness Franchise My Gyms, to feature Funrise's premium brand of Gazillion Bubbles solution and bubble machines in My Gyms' nationwide chain of facilities.

The program kicked off in March and includes branded class integration with Gazillion Bubbles incorporated in My Gym classes and birthday parties, product sampling, on-location TV spot, branded signage, and inclusion in My Gym social media campaigns and e-newsletter.

"The partnership with My Gym is a perfect fit for the Gazillion brand. Gazillion Bubbles continues to be the top choice of premium bubbles for parents. The integration of Gazillion Bubbles into My Gym classes provides a new way for parents and kids to extend family time together," said Randy Shoemaker, Vice President of Global Brand Marketing, Funrise.

A high-quality bubble brand for over a dozen years, Gazillion's uniquely formulated bubble solution makes larger, longer lasting bubbles. The partnership with My Gyms is a key part of Funrise's strategy to reach millennial moms as a brand that creates a magical experience and lifelong memories for the whole family. Using #GazillionMagic and the tag line, "the Magic of Gazillion", Funrise is also encouraging consumers to share their special moments with Gazillion Bubbles on social media.

"Bubbles are a huge part of our My Gym Curriculum, not only to create excitement and fun for the kids but also as a unique way to work on children's hand-eye coordination, dexterity, and balance. We could not be more thrilled to be partners with the best in the business for such an important element of the My Gym experience," said Matt Hendison, Executive V.P. Sponsor and Strategic Partnerships, My Gym Enterprises.

About Funrise :

Founded in 1987, Funrise is an innovator and an industry leader in the manufacturing and distribution of the most popular children's toys. Simply putwe create fun! Funrise is the manufacturer of leading power brands such as TONKA, Gazillion Bubbles, Luna Petunia, Positively Perfect and Sing-a-ma-Lings, making their product offerings diverse and full of fun for kids of all ages! Funrise Toy Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Matrix Holdings Limited. Funrise U.S. headquarters are located in Van Nuys, CA, with an office in Hong Kong, and additional showrooms in Minneapolis, Bentonville, United Kingdom and Australia. For more information, visit www.Funrise.com.

About My Gym Enterprises:

Established in 1983 and named #1 Children's Fitness Franchise by Entrepreneur Magazine in 2014, My Gym is a leading fitness center destination for children with over 450 locations worldwide, including international locations in China, France, Canada, and Brazil, among others. More than 30 additional locations are planned to open worldwide in the next 12 months. My Gym combines innovative, early physical education/pre-gymnastics classes with state-of-the-art facilities to empower children ages 6 weeks through 10 years by helping them acquire the skills, confidence, and positive self-image needed to become healthy young adults. My Gym's award-winning, structured, noncompetitive and age-appropriate classes and birthday parties enhance children's overall development through games, music, exercise, sports, gymnastics, puppets, unique rides, and fun. The children gain strength, balance, coordination, fine and gross motor proficiency, agility, flexibility, and social skills.

For more information about My Gym and the location nearest you, please visit www.MyGym.com.

SOURCE Funrise Toy Corp.

Related Links

http://www.funrise.com


SAN DIEGO, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- GenomeDx Biosciences today announced that seven abstracts featuring the company's Decipher Genomics Resource Information Database (Decipher GRID), Decipher Prostate Cancer Classifier and Decipher Bladder Cancer Classifier will be presented at the American Urological Association (AUA) 2017 Annual Meeting held May 12-16 in Boston, MA. The AUA meeting is the largest gathering of urologists in the world, showcasing the latest advances in urologic medicine and offering unparalleled access to groundbreaking research.

The abstract titled "The Diverse Genomic Landscape of Low-risk Prostate Cancer" was chosen as a Best Abstract, and will be presented as detailed below.

Oral Presentations

Title: Prospective study of biopsy Decipher scores in potential candidates for active surveillance

Date: Saturday, May 13 (2:40 p.m. to 2:50 p.m. EST)

Presentation Number: PD28-11

Room: BCEC - Room 205BC

Presenter: Stacy Loeb, M.D., MSc, New York University

Title: The Diverse Genomic Landscape of Low-risk Prostate Cancer

Date: Monday, May 15 (10:15 a.m. to 10:20 a.m. EST)

Presentation Number: PNFBA-09

Room: BCEC - Ballroom East

Presenter: Matthew Cooperberg, M.D., M.P.H., University of California, San Francisco

Title: Decipher Test Impacts Decision-Making among Patients Considering Adjuvant and Salvage Treatment following Radical Prostatectomy: Interim Results from the Multicenter Prospective PRO-IMPACT Study

Date: Tuesday, May 16 (9:30 a.m. to 9:40 a.m. EST)

Presentation Number: PD71-01

Room: BCEC - Room 162

Presenter: John L. Gore, M.D., M.S., University of Washington School of Medicine

Title: Genomic Classifier augments the role of pathological features in identifying optimal candidates for adjuvant radiation in patients with prostate cancer: Development and internal validation of a multivariable prognostic model

Date: Tuesday, May 16 (9:40 a.m. to 9:50 a.m. EST)

Presentation Number: PD72-02

Room: BCEC - Room 205BC

Presenter: Deepansh Dalela M.D., Henry Ford Health System

Poster Presentations

Title: Molecular subtypes of muscle invasive bladder cancer are related to benefit from neoadjuvant chemotherapy: Development of a single sample patient assay

Date: Saturday, May 13 (9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EST)

Presentation Number: MP34-01

Room: BCEC - Room 253AB

Presenter: Roland Seiler, M.D., University of British Columbia - Vancouver

Title: Development and validation of novel genomic classifiers for prediction of adverse pathology after prostatectomy

Date: Sunday, May 14 (1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EST)

Presentation Number: MP57-18

Room: BCEC - Room 153

Presenter: Firas Abdollah, M.D., Henry Ford Health System

Title: Assessing Decipher for predicting lymph node positive disease among men diagnosed with intermediate risk disease treated with prostatectomy and ePLND

Date: Sunday, May 14 (3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. EST)

Presentation Number: MP64-12

Room: BCEC - Room 156

Presenter: John Davis, M.D., MD Anderson Cancer Center

About Decipher GRID and 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 bladder removal surgery. 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 urologic 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://genomedx.com


SAN JOSE, Calif., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- getTalentTM, the leading SaaS talent sourcing management and engagement solution for HR organizations, was named the winner of six distinct Stevie Awards in the 15th Annual American Business Awards:

Gold

New Product or Service of the Year - Software - Relationship Management Solution

Silver

Business-to-Business Products

New Product of Service of the Year - Software - Human Capital Management Solution

Mobile app for Business/Government

Bronze

Technical Innovation of the Year - At Organizations With Up to 100 Employees

New Product or Service of the Year - Software - Other

The American Business Awards are the nation's premier business awards program. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations  public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small.

More than 3,600 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year for consideration in a wide range of categories, including Startup of the Year, Executive of the Year, Best New Product or Service of the Year, Marketing Campaign of the Year, Live Event of the Year, and App of the Year, among others.

"We are so honored that getTalent was recognized by the Stevie's with a gold award for Best New Product of the Year  Relationship Management Solution," said Natalie Severino, vice president of Marketing at getTalent. "We're proud to offer HR organizations effective tools designed to easily pipeline candidate leads. This year's nominees were an impressive group, and this award means a great deal to our team. The whole getTalent organization has worked together relentlessly to provide our customers with an innovative and advanced solution to help with their strategic sourcing and hiring initiatives. We look forward to continuing to deliver the most effective and innovative product for years to come."

getTalent was recognized by the judges for its impressive accomplishments in its first year. As one judge said, "As someone who spends a lot of time in this space, this software checks a lot of boxes needed to create an advanced sourcing strategy. Well thought out and seems to be configurable, and it integrates with the key HR systems in the market. Nicely done."

getTalent was also applauded for innovation, "Combining the Talent Acquisition software with Marketing capabilities is a very innovative idea in a much needed area of challenge for most companies." Another judge praised the freshmen year accomplishments, "The company is off to an impressive first year with highly regarded achievements."

More than 190 professionals worldwide participated in the judging process to select this year's Stevie Award winners.

"Each year the judges find the quality and variety of the nominations to be greater than the year before. The 2017 competition was intense and every organization that has won should be proud," said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards.

The awards will be presented to winners at a gala ceremony at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York on Tuesday, June 20.

Details about The American Business Awards and the list of 2017 Stevie winners are available at www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

About getTalent

getTalent is the most advanced sourcing management solution that helps HR teams build and manage a strategic, future-ready talent pipeline, and engage and hire the right candidates faster. getTalent is a product of DHI Group, Inc. (NYSE: DHX). For more information, visit www.getTalent.com.

About DHI Group, Inc.

DHI Group, Inc. (NYSE: DHX) is a leading provider of data, insights and connections through our specialized services for professional communities including technology and security clearance, financial services, energy, healthcare and hospitality. Our mission is to empower professionals and organizations to compete and win through expert insights and relevant employment connections. Employers and recruiters use our websites and services to source and hire the most qualified professionals in select and highly-skilled occupations, while professionals use our websites and services to find the best employment opportunities in and the most timely news and information about their respective areas of expertise. For over 25 years, we have built our company on providing employers and recruiters with efficient access to high-quality, unique professional communities, and offering the professionals in those communities access to highly-relevant career opportunities, news, tools and information. Today, we serve multiple markets located throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific region.

About the Stevie Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in seven programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 10,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 60 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com.

Contact:

Rachel Ceccarelli

Director, Corporate Communications

P: (212)-448-8269

E:[email protected]

SOURCE getTalent
Boland has spent her professional career in political communications. Prior to joining the Global Automakers, Boland served as communications director for two members of Congress and worked on issues including national defense, transportation, healthcare, trade and the budget. During her time on Capitol Hill, she gained experience on multiple successful congressional campaigns as the communications director in races throughout the state of Ohio.

"With a new Administration, a new Congress, and an evolving automotive industry, we are excited to have someone as talented as Lauren join our team," said Annemarie Pender, director of communications for Global Automakers. "Her political communications background will be a major asset as we work to meet our strategic priorities."

Lauren is a graduate of Miami University with a degree in communications and marketing.

The Association of Global Automakers represents the U.S. operations of international motor vehicle manufacturers, original equipment suppliers, and other automotive-related trade associations. We work with industry leaders, legislators, and regulators to create the kind of public policy that improves vehicle safety, encourages technological innovation, and protects our planet. Our goal is to foster a competitive environment in which more vehicles are designed and built to enhance Americans' quality of life. For more information, visit www.globalautomakers.org.

Contact: Annemarie Pender

202.650.5548 | [email protected]

SOURCE Global Automakers

Related Links

http://www.globalautomakers.org


DETROIT, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Stratview Research announces the launch of a new research report on Global Cold Plasma Market by Regime Type (Low-Pressure and Atmospheric Pressure), by Application Type (Cleaning & Activation, Coating, Decontamination, Wound Healing, Adhesion, Finishing, Sterilization, and Others), by End-Use Industry (Electrical & Electronic, Food, Medical, Textile, Polymers & Plastics, and Others), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World), Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity: 2017 - 2022.

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This 225 pages market report, from Stratview Research, studies the global cold plasma market 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.

Global Cold Plasma Market: Highlights

As per Stratview Research, the global cold plasma market offers an impressive CAGR of 12.2% during the forecast period of 2017 to 2022 and reach US$ 2,536 million in 2022, which offers an opportunity to the industry players to align themselves with the market growth.

There are several factors bolstering the growth of global cold plasma market. The author of the report cited continuous innovations in cold plasma technology, rising demand for eco-friendly products, increasing use of cold plasma in food packaging industry, introduction of stringent safety standards in various industries including food safety, and growing needs for frozen food as some of the growth drivers of the cold plasma market.

Electrical & electronic industry is forecasted to remain the largest segment of cold plasma over the next five years, driven by its increasing preference in semiconductors. The food industry is projected to witness the highest growth during the same period, driven by increased safety standards with higher demand for non-hazardous plasmas.

Register Here for a Free Sample of the 225 Pages Report

In terms of application type, cleaning & activation is projected to remain the largest application of cold plasma during the forecast period, propelled by an increasing penetration in the electrical & electronic and polymer & plastics industries. Decontamination currently holds a diminutive share in the global cold plasma market but is expected to witness the highest growth during the forecast period, driven by the food industry.

As per the study, both low and atmospheric pressure cold plasmas are projected to grow at impressive rates over the next five years.

In terms of region, Europe is projected to remain the largest market for cold plasma during the forecast period, driven by the presence of several cold plasma suppliers and high research & development activities in the major European markets. However, Asia-Pacific is projected to witness the highest growth during the same period driven by the continuous shift of electronic manufacturing to Asia countries, increasing demand for decontaminated frozen food, growing manufacturing facilities of textiles, and increasing production of polymers.

Global cold plasma market is highly fragmented with the presence of few global players and several small regional players. ADTEC Plasma Technology Co. Ltd., Enercon Industries Corporation, Europlasma NV, Henniker Plasma, Neoplas Tools GmbH, Nordson Corporation, P2i Limited, Plasmatreat GmbH, Tantec A/S, and Vetaphone A/S are major players in the global cold plasma market. Development of new applications, innovations in new technology, and collaboration with customers are some of the key strategies adopted by major companies to gain a competitive edge over the others.

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 global cold plasma market 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:

The global cold plasma market is segmented into the following categories:

Global Cold Plasma Market by Regime Type:

Low-Pressure (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Atmospheric Pressure (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Global Cold Plasma Market by End-Use Industry Type:

Electrical & Electronic (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Food (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Medical (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Textiles (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Polymers & Plastics (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Others (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Global Cold Plasma Market by Application Type:

Cleaning & Activation (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Coating (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Decontamination (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Wound healing (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Adhesion (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Finishing (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Sterilization (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Others (Regional Analysis: NA, Europe , APAC, and RoW)

Global Cold Plasma Market by Region:

North America (Country Analysis: the USA , Canada , and Mexico )

Europe (Country Analysis: Germany , the UK, Russia , and Rest of the Europe )

Asia-Pacific (Country Analysis: China , Japan , India , and Rest of the Asia-Pacific )

Rest of the world (Country Analysis: Latin America , Middle East , and Others)

Stratview Research has several high value market reports in the chemicals and materials industry. Please refer to the following link to browse through our reports:

Click Here for Other Reports from Stratview Research in the Chemicals & Materials Industry

Related premium market reports in the advanced materials industry are:

Global High Performance Glass Fiber Market by End Use Industry, by Usage, and by Region, Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity: 2016 - 2021

Global Composite Preforms Market by Application Segment, by Fiber Type, by Product Type, by Structure Type, and by Region, Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity: 2016 - 2021

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

E-mail: [email protected]

Direct: 1-313-307-4176



Please feel free to drop an enquiry with us or ask for a free sample in the below page and our team will get back to you very soon:

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SOURCE Stratview Research
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Browse 81 market data Tables and 61 Figures spread through 150 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Global Trade Management Market"

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/trade-management-market-70680100.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.

Increasing complexities in managing global trade, complying with government rules and regulations, increasing cross-border sales, and rising investments in global logistics infrastructure have led to the adoption of global trade management. With the expected increase in the global trade management adoption rate among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), the Global Trade Management Market is likely to gain traction during the forecast period.

"Transportation and logistics industry segment is expected to contribute the largest market share during the forecast period."

Increasing globalization has significantly benefitted the transportation and logistics industry. The transportation and logistics industry is witnessing digital transformation as new technologies are being adopted across the industry to optimize the core operations. With an increase in the volume of global trade, the transportation and logistics industry is facing pressure to optimize its operating cost and streamline trade processes. This has largely favored the adoption of global trade management solutions and services in the transportation and logistics industry.

"The SMEs segment for global trade management is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period."

The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR in the Global Trade Management Market during the forecast period. Traditionally, SMEs have been majorly dependent on manual records and spread sheets to maintain their trade processes, which was majorly due to the lack of awareness and budget constraints. However, considering the cost benefits offered by cloud deployment models, global trade management solutions and services are likely to find opportunities to tap the SMEs segment.

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"Rapid adoption of global trade management due to a strong and well established economy makes North America the largest market in terms of global share."

The North America region has established strong infrastructure to encourage global trade. Furthermore, the US government has been emphasizing on free trade partnerships and agreements to promote trade across the world. This has been a major factor aiding the growth of global trade management solutions and services in the region. Moreover, presence of major global trade management players such as Amber Road, Descartes, QuestaWeb, Integration Point, and Oracle in the region aid the widespread adoption of global trade management solutions and services in the US and Canada.

The major vendors that offer global trade management solutions and services across the globe are Amber Road, Inc. (US), Aptean (US), Descartes (Canada), SAP SE (Germany), Integration Point Inc. (US), Oracle (US), Precision Software (US), QuestaWeb, Inc. (US), Livingston International (Canada), MIQ Logistics (US), Thomson Reuters (US), and MIC Customs Solutions (Austria).

Speak to Analyst @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalyst.asp?id=70680100

Browse Related Reports :

Cloud Supply Chain Management Market by Solution (Transportation Management, Procurement & Sourcing, Sales & Operation Planning, Inventory & Warehouse Management), Service, Deployment, Organization Size, Vertical, and Region - Global Forecast to 2021

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/cloud-supply-chain-management-market-39285453.html

Supply Chain Analytics Market by Solution (Supply Chain Planning and Procurement, Sales & Operations Planning, Manufacturing Analytics, Transportation and Logistics, Visualization and Reporting Tools) - Worldwide Forecast and Analysis to 2019

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/supply-chain-analytic-market-139106911.html

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Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.

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SOURCE MarketsandMarkets
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE: GDDY), the world's largest cloud platform dedicated to small, independent ventures, today unveiled user data from its new GoCentral website and e-commerce platform that points to mobile becoming "the new normal" for website building, commerce and web browsing.

Launched in February, GoCentral is a new service that combines a mobile-optimized website builder with an integrated set of marketing and e-commerce tools. It enables anyone, including technology novices, to easily design a website in under an hour, even on a mobile phone. All websites created via GoCentral are fully mobile responsive, to ensure a professional look and easy browsing on a phone or tablet.

GoCentral's latest mobile usage data shows a significant shift in the way both small businesses and consumers build and use small business websites:

GoCentral Mobile Usage:

20 percent of active GoCentral websites were started, edited or published on a mobile device. This is more than double the rate from GoDaddy's previous website building tool.

65 percent of e-commerce purchases, which include Apple Pay, PayPal and credit card payments on online stores, are being made by customers on a mobile phone.

53 percent of all visitor traffic to GoCentral websites is from phones and tablets.

80 percent of sites built on mobile phones with GoCentral are published within the first day.

Erin Donahue, owner of Brooklyn-based E-Walks Dog Walking and Pet Sitting, recently built a new version of www.ewalksdogs.com using GoCentral. "I built it on my iPhone and iPad in about 45 minutes," Donahue said. "It used to be a pain to go on the desktop to do it. I'm so glad you can publish from a mobile device."

"The explosion of mobile usage fundamentally changes what is required to be successful online," said GoDaddy Senior Vice President, Presence and Commerce Lauren Antonoff. "We built GoCentral to empower anyone to create fully functional sites from their phones, and to ensure that every GoCentral site works great on mobile, regardless of what device it was built on. Our real-world results demonstrate that delivering on this promise enables people to get online fast, even those who think they don't have the time or technical skills. We're not just shifting how people are creating websites, we're helping people who wouldn't have made their own site get it off their to-do list and into the world."

New GoCentral features

Key to GoCentral's success is constant product iteration that delivers new features every week aimed at reducing friction and increasing sales for small businesses.

"GoCentral customers are experts in their businesses, but they don't necessarily know what makes an online presence work," Antonoff continued. "We're committed to our customers' success, so we focus on how their potential buyers behave and introduce capabilities like Apple Pay and abandoned cart recovery to make sure they using the best practices traditionally reserved for only the biggest businesses."

Today, GoDaddy announced the following new mobile-focused features:

SMS messaging for ecommerce: GoCentral customers can now receive notifications for new orders via text message with a link to manage fulfillment on-the-go.

PayPal One Touch: provides a quick way to pay without having to enter card details on a mobile keypad.

This week, GoCentral is launching Tap to Buy with Apple Pay directly from a product description: enables purchasing without any online cart checkout process. It increases conversion for single item orders which are common for small business.

Along with these mobile updates, a new blog feature has been added to GoCentral, enabling users to import a blog feed from another website. This complements the GoCentral's integrated marketing features including SEO tools, Facebook Page syndication and email marketing.

To find out more about GoDaddy GoCentral, visit https://www.godaddy.com/gocentral.

For more detailed data on this topic, please refer to this article on the GoDaddy blog: [

https://www.godaddy.com/garage/smallbusiness/launch/what-the-mobile-technology-explosion-means-for-small-business-websites-infographic.

*Pew Research Center reports that 77% of Americans own a smartphone, up from 35% in 2011

About GoDaddy

GoDaddy powers the world's largest cloud platform dedicated to small, independent ventures. With nearly 17 million customers worldwide and over 71 million domain names under management, GoDaddy is the place people come to name their idea, build a professional website, attract customers and manage their work. Our mission is to give our customers the tools, insights and the people to transform their ideas and personal initiative into success. To learn more about the company visit www.GoDaddy.com.

 2017 GoDaddy Inc. All Rights Reserved.

SOURCE GoDaddy Inc.

Related Links

http://www.godaddy.com


Dublin, May 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Global Automotive Adhesives Market - By Resin Type, Application, Vehicle Type, Region - Market Size, Demand Forecasts, Industry Trends and Updates (2016-2022)" report to their offering.



The global automotive adhesive market was valued at USD 4.03 billion in 2016, and is expected to reach USD 6.53 billion by 2020 at a CAGR of 8.41%. The current usage of automotive adhesives range from 30 pounds to 40 pounds per vehicle (13.6 kg to 18.0 kg).



Automotive adhesives are the products which help the automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) bond different substrate of metal, hence eliminating the need for welding and mechanical rivets. These are making strong inroads in the industry due to their associated benefits and related cost savings.



Asia-Pacific held the largest share in the global automotive adhesive market in 2016. It is expected to remain the largest market due to increase in production of cars and light commercial vehicles in China and India. Europe is also expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period due to rise in automotive production.



The major drivers for this market are increasing use of lightweight materials in vehicle manufacturing and replacement of mechanical fasteners, such as screws, nuts, bolts and welds, with adhesives to make vehicles lighter and to meet higher fuel economy requirements. Use of adhesives provides superior bonding without compromising the structural disruption of automotive components leading to the integrity of the bonnet. Some constraints of using adhesive are the curing time, environmental issues with using adhesives which may affect its market.



The key companies operating in the global automotive adhesive market include Dow Chemical Co., Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, 3M Company, Kommerling, PPG Industries, Inc., Permatex, Krayden, Inc., and Sika AG.BMW and Volkswagen are incorporating different substrates into their vehicles, hence, requiring more adhesives and sealants volume.



Key Topics Covered:



1. Research Methodology



2. Market Overview



3. Market Dynamics



4. Global Automotive Adhesives market Segmentation, Forecasts and Trends - by Revenue



5. By Resin type



Polyurethane

Epoxy

Acrylic

Silicone

SMP

Polyamide

6. By Application



Body-in-White

Paint Shop

Powertrain

Assembly

7. By Vehicle type



Buses

Trucks

LCVs

8. By Region



9. Vendor Market Share Analysis



10. Company Profiles



3M Company

Dow Chemical Co.

Henkel AG & Co. KGaA

Kommerling

Krayden, Inc.

PPG Industries Inc.

Solvay S.A

Illinois Tool Works Corporation

Jowat AG

Permatex

Bostik S.A.

Sika AG

H.B. Fuller

11. Industry Structure



Industry M&As, Consolidations

Investment Opportunities

Global Automotive Adhesives Market-Road Ahead

For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/7bbvm2/global_automotive




ATLANTA, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Gray Television, Inc. ("Gray," "we," "us" or "our") (NYSE: GTN and GTN.A) announced today that it has reached an agreement with Mt. Mansfield Television, Inc. ("Mt. Mansfield") to acquire WCAX-TV, the CBS affiliated television station in the Burlington, Vermont-Plattsburgh, New York, market (DMA 97) for $29.0 million.

"Gray is thrilled that the Martin family selected us as the new steward of Vermont's very first television station," said Kevin Latek, Gray's Executive Vice President. "We will proudly build upon WCAX's strong foundation and six decades of success as we expand into Vermont, northern New York and northern New Hampshire with another great leading local media institution."

Peter Martin, the President of Mt. Mansfield, explained, "WCAX is an integral part of the dynamic communities in which our family has lived, worked, and grown for decades. We welcome Gray to Vermont with the knowledge that its values, resources, and portfolio of similar stations will ensure that WCAX continues providing strong journalism, community leadership, and workplace excellence for many more decades to come."

The transaction advances Gray's transformative growth strategy as we continue to expand through select acquisitions of market-leading stations that share the culture and values of our existing television stations. Moreover, through this acquisition, Gray will enter another strong market that includes both the state capital of Montpelier as well as numerous colleges and universities such as the University of Vermont, SUNY-Plattsburg, and Dartmouth.

Including expected synergies, the transaction represents an attractive purchase price multiple of less than 6.0 times expected blended 2016-2017 pro forma broadcast cash flow. We anticipate that the transaction will be leverage neutral, immediately free cash flow accretive, and funded primarily through the use of cash on hand at closing and, if necessary, borrowings under our existing senior credit facility. Subject to receipt of regulatory and other approvals, we expect to close the transaction in the third quarter of 2017.

About Gray:

Gray owns and/or operates over 100 television stations across 56 television markets that collectively broadcast more than 200 program streams including 103 channels affiliated with the CBS Network, the NBC Network, the ABC Network and the FOX Network. Our portfolio, including pending acquisitions, includes the number-one and/or number-two ranked television station operations in essentially all of our markets, which collectively cover approximately 10.6 percent of total United States television households.

SOURCE Gray Television, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.gray.tv


NEW YORK, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The inaugural Women's Health Empowerment Summit, hosted by the Coalition for Women's Health Equity, is scheduled for May 17 in Washington DC, announced Ellen Hershkin, national president of Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, Inc. (HWZOA), the convener of the Coalition.

The 2017 Summit takes place during National Women's Health Week (May 14-20) of which Hadassah is a National Supporter. The half-day event will bring together women's health policymakers, advocates and thought leaders to identify legislative opportunities and align mobilization efforts to advance women's health equity. Rear Admiral Susan J. Blumenthal, MD, who served as the country's first Deputy Assistant Secretary for Women's Health and US Assistant Surgeon General, will serve as keynote speaker. Dr. Blumenthal's pioneering work helped expose inequities in women's health. She developed a broad range of initiatives and public/private sector partnerships to address critical women's health issues and the study of sex differences across the life cycle.

The 2017 Women's Health Empowerment Summit will take place on May 17 from 10 am  2 pm at the Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC. For more information, visit: www.hadassah.org/Summit .

The Women's Health Empowerment Summit's bipartisan Honorary Host Committee includes: Sen. Susan Collins (ME); Sen. Dianne Feinstein (CA); Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (NY); Sen. Patty Murray (WA); Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA); Rep. Joyce Beatty (OH-03); Rep. Brenda Lawrence (MI-14); Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM-01); Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY-12); Rep. Linda Sanchez (CA-38); Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL-09); Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-23); Rep. Maxine Waters (CA-43).

The 2017 Women's Health Empowerment Summit will feature policy briefings on women's health issues, testimonials from patients and medical professionals and opportunities to network and align mobilization efforts. With a rapidly changing legislative landscape, the 2017 Summit will focus on action strategies to further women's health equity -- from prevention and diagnosis, to treatment and cure. The 2017 Summit will also highlight how key advances in women's health equity have been achieved and identify the next frontiers -- including the emerging scientific, economic and advocacy solutions to improve women's health.

Rear Admiral Susan J. Blumenthal, MD, states, "In the past, lack of attention to the health of 51% of the US population -- women -- has resulted in striking gaps in scientific studies and inequities in their health care. While significant progress had been made over the past two decades, women's health issues are being threatened in the current political environment and much more work needs to be done. A new national prescription is needed that increases investments in women's health, ensures that sex differences in research are evaluated and reported, expands access to quality health care, educates the public and providers about gender differences, and makes the prevention of disease a top priority. The results should be a healthier future for women -- and men -- in America."

Hershkin, who will open the 2017 Summit, states, "Women's health impacts all aspects of our lives and society -- from the classroom and workplace, to our communities, family life and more. Eliminating disparities and discrimination in women's health is the top priority for the Coalition for Women's Health Equity. The inaugural Women's Health Empowerment Summit will mobilize the resources of Hadassah, our Coalition partners and other key stakeholders in the fight for positive policy change."

The 23-member Coalition for Women's Health Equity, which has nearly doubled in size since its 2016 launch, was convened by Hadassah to address inequities in quality of care, funding, support and gaps in women's health awareness. The Summit helps further the Coalition's mission to publicly promote policies in support of gender equity in medical prevention, research, access and treatment, and will raise awareness about how that lack of equity adversely affects women and families throughout the United States.

Hadassah CEO and Executive Director Janice Weinman, who will close the 2017 Summit, adds, "Women of all ages understand that there is no sidestepping the importance of quality, equitable health care. We see the enthusiasm and momentum from women across the country  young and old, experienced advocates and novices alike. We call upon women nationwide to unite with us on the front line of advocating for women's health at every stage of our lifespan."

Coalition for Women's Health Equity Member Organizations:

Alliance for Aging Research; Alzheimer's Foundation of America; American Association of University Women; American Heart Association; Black Women's Health Imperative; Breast Cancer Prevention Partners; Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, Inc. (HWZOA) (convener); HealthyWomen; Institute for Women's Health and Leadership of Drexel University College of Medicine; Jewish Women International; National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health; National Council of Jewish Women; National Organization for Women; National Partnership for Women & Families; National Women's Law Center; National Women's Political Caucus; Planned Parenthood Federation of America; Preeclampsia Foundation; Society for Women's Health Research; Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD) Alliance; Vision 2020; WomenAgainstAlzheimer's and WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease. For more information, visit: www.hadassah.org/womenshealthequity

Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, Inc. (HWZOA) is the largest Jewish women's organization in the United States. With 330,000 members, Associates and supporters Hadassah brings Jewish women together to effect change and advocate on critical issues such as medical care and research, and women's empowerment. Through the Hadassah Medical Organization's (HMO) two hospitals, the world-renowned trauma center and the leading research facility in Jerusalem, Hadassah supports the delivery of exemplary patient care to over a million people every year. HMO serves without regard to race, religion or nationality and earned a Nobel Peace Prize Nomination in 2005 for building "bridges to peace" through equality in medical treatment. For more information, visit www.hadassah.org.

SOURCE Hadassah, The Womens Zionist Organization of America, Inc. (HWZOA)

Related Links

http://www.hadassah.org


CINCINNATI, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --The Hillman Companies, Inc. (NYSE-AMEX: HLM.PR), The Hillman Group, Inc., and The Hillman Group Canada ULC (collectively, the "Company" or "Hillman") today announced that the President of The Hillman Group Canada ULC, Richard Paulin, will retire effective July 1st, 2017.

Mr. Paulin joined H. Paulin & Co., Limited in 1977 and started his career as a financial analyst. Harry Paulin, Richard's grandfather, started H. Paulin in 1920. The company was family owned and operated until 1972 when it went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Hillman acquired H. Paulin in 2013. Richard took on the role of President of Hillman Canada at that time. In addition, he has been President of the Canadian Fastener Institute; a member of the Government Relations committee of the Automotive Industries Association; and recently was named to the Canadian Retail Hardware Hall of Fame. Paulin is a lifelong native of Toronto, Canada and earned his Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto and his MBA from York University.

Under Mr. Paulin's leadership, H. Paulin and Hillman Canada's sales grew from $15 million to $175 million with over 700 employees last year. The company's strategy of diversification into many markets has proven to be a great formula for growth in good times and helped weather the storm in bad times.

Scott Ride transitioned to being Hillman Canada's President effective May 1, 2017. Mr. Ride has been with Hillman Canada for two years as Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Paulin noted, "Scott has demonstrated over the last two years his excellent ability at implementing both a well-designed strategic plan and the infrastructure needed to support our next stages of growth. I believe that the company is in great hands and will continue to prosper for many decades to come."

"I am very proud of what this organization achieved in my 40 years of service with the company," said Paulin. "Our focus on putting the customer first, built long lasting business relationships that have stood the test of time. It has been a wonderful journey at this company that I will always cherish."

About Hillman

Founded in 1964 and headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Hillman is a leading North American provider of complete hardware solutions, delivered with industry best customer service to over 26,000 customers. Hillman designs innovative product and merchandising solutions for complex categories that deliver an outstanding customer experience to home improvement centers, mass merchants, national and regional hardware stores, pet supply stores, and OEM & Industrial customers. Leveraging a world-class distribution and sales network, Hillman delivers a "small business" experience with "big business" efficiency.

For more information on the Company, please visit our website at http://www.hillmangroup.com or call Investor Relations at (513) 851-4900, ext. 60292.

SOURCE The Hillman Companies, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.hillmangroup.com


SHREWSBURY, N.J., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- HireGate, a new software solution that completes the recruiting cycle, was announced as a TekTonic Award winner for Analytics this week presented by the HRO Today Forum in Chicago.

The TekTonic Awards recognize innovation and disruption in the world of HR Technology.

Designed to extend the life of existing enterprise applicant tracking systems (ATS), HireGate solves the biggest problem in the recruiting technology continuum: the comprehensive front-end management of candidates.

"Despite an increase in hiring and the lowest unemployment rate in years, recruiting technology hasn't been able to keep up in this strong job market," said Christine Nichlos, founder and CEO of People Science. "Recognizing the opportunity to fill this gap, we developed HireGate, which enables recruiters to track recruiting activities, better manage candidates throughout the recruiting process, collaborate with hiring managers and produce detailed reports to communicate recruiting effectiveness. The result is an easy-to-use, cloud-based and fully mobile solution helping companies of all sizes to optimize the entire recruitment cycle."

Historically, recruiting technologies have focused on the back-end processes and the career site, or consisted of ad hoc tools for sourcing and reporting. This approach tends to add layers of complexity, generate errors and create compliance risks, instead of resolving recruiting problems. HireGate provides a timely solution that brings much-needed innovation to the recruitment industry while solving the challenges often neglected by legacy talent acquisition technologies.

Developed by the recruiting experts at People Science, HireGate is a mobile-native solution accessible on any device that can interface with all existing systems. HireGate enables users to simplify the numerous front-end, pre-application candidate tasks, managing all sourcing tools and recruiter activity reporting from a single solution. HireGate also delivers extensive reporting on key metrics such as time to fill, candidate sources, time from interview to offer and time from offer to acceptance, providing recruiters with the data, analytics and insights to continually improve the recruiting process.

Elaine Orler, CEO and founder of Talent Function and noted industry analyst, commented: "Today's businesses understand the need for a more holistic approach to recruiting. Without clear insight into factors like recruiter production and an accurate view of the talent market, the talent acquisition process becomes one based largely on speculation. Technology that can complete the entire recruitment cycle, especially those front-end processes like planning, execution and candidate relationship management, is crucial to providing the intelligence to not only fill current talent gaps, but also model future needs more accurately."

Additional information about HireGate and how it transforms the recruitment process can be found at www.hire-gate.co

About People Science

A leader in recruitment process outsourcing and talent acquisition consulting for nearly 20 years, People Science helps businesses solve their most complicated recruiting challenges and win the war for talent. People Science delivers the cutting-edge solutions and innovative methodologies that enable employers to acquire the talent they need today and tomorrow. Through this approach, People Science serves as its clients' full-cycle recruiting department, whether for a segment of the employee population or a company's entire effort. To learn more, visit www.people-science.com.

Media Contact:

Jessica Oberto

Phone: 888.924.1004

Email: [email protected]

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Related Links

HireGate website

People Science website

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE HireGate by People Science

Related Links

http://www.hire-gate.co


MEXICO CITY, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hoteles City Express, S.A.B. de C.V. ("Hoteles City Express" or "the Company") (BMV: HCITY) announced today that Jaguar Growth Partners ("Jaguar") - a privately-held investment management firm focused on global growth markets - has made an investment for approximately 9.7% of the total Shareholders Equity of the Company to establish a strategic partnership between the two firms.

The investment was made through Jaguar's real estate private equity strategy, which focuses on investing opportunistically in real estate related operating platforms and companies in key Latin American markets.

"We are excited to have Jaguar as our shareholder and to be able to count on their strategic support. Together with our team's expertise in the Latin American hospitality marketplace and focus on operational excellence, we are confident that Jaguar's real estate and capital market expertise will contribute positively to our strategy for profitable growth," noted Mr. Luis Barrios, CEO of Hoteles City Express.

"As the largest hotel company in its targeted segments, Hoteles City Express is well-positioned to continue to grow and benefit from the solid fundamentals of Mexico's economy and its presence in diverse regions across the country. We look forward to working with HCITY's outstanding management team to increase shareholder value by optimizing its real estate assets and expanding its franchise and management operations," said Thomas McDonald, Jaguar Managing Partner.

Support from long-term investors with real estate optimization expertise such as Jaguar helps advance Hoteles City Express' commitment to its shareholders' to continue being the best investment option for value creation.

Jaguar has previously completed investments in several other operating platforms and real estate companies in Latin America with significant success.

About Jaguar Growth Partners:

Headquartered in New York with an office in Sao Paulo, Jaguar is a privately-held investment management firm specializing in real estate private equity in growth markets globally. Founded in 2013 by Gary Garrabrant and Thomas McDonald, Jaguar invests in and develops scalable real estate-related operating platforms and companies poised to grow in markets characterized by an emerging middle class, aspirational youth, urbanization and other secular trends found in emerging global economies. Commencing their investment activities in the 1990's, Jaguar's founders are regarded as leaders in real estate investing and company-building in emerging markets through growth capital investments and working in active collaboration with local operating partners. Jaguar is distinguished by its global insights, partner orientation and proven approach to optimizing value and liquidity. Jaguar is a member of the Pension Real Estate Association, Latin American Private Equity & Venture Capital Association, the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association and the Institutional Limited Partners Association.

About Hoteles City Express:

Hoteles City Express is the leading and fastest-growing limited-service hotel chain in Mexico in terms of number of hotels, number of rooms, geographic presence, market share and revenues. Founded in 2002, Hoteles City Express specializes in offering high-quality, comfortable and safe lodging at affordable prices via a limited-service hotel chain geared mainly towards domestic business travelers. With 124 hotels in operation located throughout Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia and Chile, Hoteles City Express operates five distinct brands: City Express, City Express Plus, City Express Suites, City Express Junior and City Centro to serve different segments of its target market. In June 2013, Hoteles City Express completed its IPO and began trading on the Mexican Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "HCITY"; furthermore, on October 8, 2014, Hoteles City Express completed a follow on with the aim of accelerating its growth in new hotels in coming years.

HCITY is covered by the following financial institutions and analysts: Actinver (Pablo Duarte), Bank of America Merrill Lynch (Carlos Peyrelongue), Citigroup (Alejandro Lavin), GBM (Hector Vazquez), ITAU BBA (Enrico Trotta), J.P. Morgan (Adrian Huerta), Morgan Stanley (NIkolaj Lippmann), Santander (Cecilia Jimenez), Signum Research (Armando Rodriguez), UBS (Marimar Torreblanca).

For further information, please visit our website: https://cityexpress.com/en/investors/

SOURCE Hoteles City Express, S.A.B. de C.V.
NEW YORK, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Myositis can be a frustrating and mysterious disease, but connecting with others who understand the challenges can offer a shared mutual support to cope better and feel more in control. The HSS Myositis Support Group, the only New York City support group for those living with myositis, has been providing a welcoming environment for 20 years  celebrating this milestone during National Myositis Awareness Month encourages more people to know the signs and understand the importance of early diagnosis and treatment.

"Myositis is an autoimmune condition which occurs when a person's immune system attacks its own muscles and causes inflammation," said HSS rheumatologist David R. Fernandez, MD. "The condition can affect each person differently, with symptoms ranging from fatigue and muscle deformity to rashes and overall weakness."

Founded in 1997, the HSS Myositis Support Group is where patients can meet and discuss the effects of myositis in their lives. During monthly meetings, patients share coping mechanisms for symptoms to improve their daily activities. The group features a variety of guest speakers on topics ranging from new medical research and associated conditions to physical therapy options and alternative treatments.

"I'm proud to say that for the past two decades, HSS has been a resource for patients to share their stories and truly relate to one another. It makes a big difference to have their trials understood and validated," said Suzan Fischbein, LMSW, social worker at HSS and coordinator of the Myositis Support Program. "Our 20th anniversary is a testament to how much HSS values providing that reprieve for our patients, their families, and friends."

"The group provides a sense of relief for me, as I know others are going through the same thing as me," said Linda Iferika, a New Jersey resident who has been attending the support group for six years. "We support each other, we learn from each other, we uplift each other, and I'm so grateful for this group."

"Even though we have the same condition, we all have different experiences, and Suzan has a way of making everyone feel special by being supportive and sensitive to everyone's individual stories," added Iferika.

The support group will meet today at the Richard L. Menschel Education Center from 4 to 7 p.m. for a special celebratory meeting. Dr. Fernandez is the guest speaker and will discuss current myositis research and treatment. The celebration will include informal discussion and a presentation by a group member's family sharing their journey with myositis. Another group member will share her experience as a long term partner of someone who was diagnosed with myositis six years ago and her views on being a "care partner."

To learn about the HSS Myositis Support Group, please visit https://www.hss.edu/myositis-support-education-program.asp.

About Hospital for Special Surgery

Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) is the world's leading academic medical center focused on musculoskeletal health. HSS is nationally ranked No. 1 in orthopedics and No. 2 in rheumatology by U.S. News & World Report (2016-2017), and is the first hospital in New York State to receive Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Service from the American Nurses Credentialing Center four consecutive times. HSS has one of the lowest infection rates in the country. HSS is an affiliate of Weill Cornell Medical College and as such all Hospital for Special Surgery medical staff are faculty of Weill Cornell. The hospital's research division is internationally recognized as a leader in the investigation of musculoskeletal and autoimmune diseases. Hospital for Special Surgery is located in New York City and online at www.hss.edu.

SOURCE Hospital for Special Surgery

Related Links

http://www.hss.edu


BURLINGTON, Ontario, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The internationally renowned Voortman Bakery introduced today the total reimaging of their brand with a new name, all-new recipes and updated flavors, using only real ingredients. The brand's new logo and packaging was updated to increase their presence on-shelf and excite consumers' taste buds across their entire cookie portfolio. Voortman Bakery, sold in over 70 countries, is now offering an array of recipes and flavors that echo's consumers' desire for real snacks. Voortman Bakery aims to connect with new consumers and disrupt the dynamics of the category by replacing artificial colors and flavors, as well as high-fructose corn syrup s , with only real ingredients.

Voortman Bakery is dedicated to baking the very best quality cookies, using the finest, hand-selected ingredients such as real whole grain oats, almonds, coconut, blueberries, strawberries and other varieties of real fruits. The brand's commitment to real ingredients, real bakers and really delicious cookies lead them to update their recipes and portfolio which are rolling out in supermarkets around the world in 2017. Consumers can expect an extraordinary assortment of cookies on their local supermarket shelves, including Coconut, Oatmeal Raisin, Iced Almonette and new flavours like Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, Lemon Coconut and Fudge Striped Almonette as well as signature wafer flavors such as vanilla, strawberry, chocolate and peanut butter.

The wafer category is a point of pride and differentiation for the brand. In an attempt to own and elevate the wafer cookie in the U.S.A., Voortman Bakery is introducing an array of innovative and mouth-watering new flavors, such as blueberry, cinnamon and strawberry-banana. An international favorite, Voortman Bakery is aiming to elevate the wafer category in North America.

Voortman Bakery has updated its packaging and brand logo to modernize and unify the product portfolio. The company aims to highlight the deliciousness of their cookie recipes and put real ingredients front-and-center. The original Voortman brand packaging was in need of an upgrade in order to resonate in today's cluttered cookie aisle. Consumers can still find the "Dutch girl" on the logo, but like the rest of the brand, updated with a twist. The brand is focused on being an innovator in the cookie category.

"We are excited to introduce the world to the new Voortman Bakery, using only real ingredients made by real bakers, that taste really delicious," said Douglas MacFarlane, CEO of Voortman Bakery. "It is important to us as a brand to establish Voortman Bakery as an innovator with a cohesive brand look that captivates today's modern shopper and we're confident that the new packaging, new recipes and products will do just that."

ABOUT VOORTMAN BAKERY

Voortman Bakery was founded in 1951 by brothers William and Harry Voortman, who emigrated to Canada from their hometown of Hellendoorn, the Netherlands, in 1948 with their father, who had operated a bread bakery there. Since its inception, the brand has been dedicated to making the very best quality cookies, using the finest, hand-selected ingredients. In 2004, Voortman Bakery was the first North American food brand to announce the removal of trans fats from its retail food products. Most recently, Voortman announced its new packaging, new logo and new recipes featuring real ingredients. In 2017, Voortman Bakery was awarded the Women's Choice Award based on extraordinary recommendations from their female customers in a customer satisfaction survey conducted by WomenCertified Inc. using the company's customer database. For more information about Voortman Bakery, go to: https://voortman.com/.

SOURCE Voortman Bakery

Related Links

https://voortman.com


CALI, Colombia, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Inca Worldwide (QEDN) announces it has signed an agreement with Armonica SAS, a company that has been approved to work with USAID and has already done work for USAID. Armonica will work with both companies Inca Worldwide (QEDN), its subsidiary Green Mine Solutions SAS in Colombia and with Cacique Mining (GEGI) to do all the implementation of our project not only helping our farmers to grow Inca Seeds (Sacha Inchi) but also in our mining projects in Choco, Antioquia and Narino very important states in Colombia for our project. Kate Bahnsen CEO states: "This agreement is essential for our project and is a key element to get funding from USAID and to obtain a guarantee from USAID. It solidifies our relationship with the community and puts us in the heart of this national project."

To read more about http://www.armonica.com.co/

For more information email [email protected] or visit the company website.

About Inca Worldwide

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.

CONTACT: [email protected]

SOURCE Inca Worldwide

Related Links

http://www.incaworldwide.com


BOSTON, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Not only has the number of people struggling with hunger in Eastern Massachusetts not significantly improved, it has become even less affordable for them to feed themselves and their families, according to data released today by The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB), the largest hunger-relief organization in New England.

"Map the Meal Gap 2017," the latest report by Feeding America on food insecurity and the cost of food in the U.S. at both the county and congressional district level, finds food-insecure individuals in Eastern Massachusetts now face an average weekly food budget shortfall of $19.97 per person, up 3.8 percent from $19.23 reported in last year's report and 15 percent higher than the nationwide average.

Statewide, the weekly food budget shortfall is $19.21 per food-insecure person, up 4.1 percent from $18.45. In contrast, the weekly food budget shortfall for food-insecure individuals in the U.S. is $17.38, up 3.2 percent. Massachusetts ranks fifth highest in the country for weekly food budget shortfall and average meal cost, after the District of Columbia, Alaska, Vermont and Maine.

In addition, the study, which analyzed data from 2015, reveals that food insecurity exists in every county in GBFB's service area, which includes Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Essex, Middlesex, Nantucket, Norfolk, Plymouth and Suffolk. Overall, food insecurity rates range from 8.1 percent in Essex County to 14.9 percent in Suffolk County. The average across Eastern Massachusetts is 9.9 percentabout 500,000 peopledown from 10.4 percent since last year's report. Statewide, the food insecurity rate is 10.3 percentestimated at 700,000 people and down from 11.1 percent. In the U.S., 13.4 percent, or about 1 in 8 people, is food insecure, totaling about 42 million.

Food insecurity is a measure defined by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members.

"One in ten Massachusetts residents not only don't know where their next meal is coming from, but can't even afford to buy as much food as they could last year," said Catherine D'Amato, president and CEO of The Greater Boston Food Bank. "The situation has gotten worse, not better for them in the Commonwealth. A family of four is short about eighty dollars a week. That's an unsurmountable amount for many hard-working, low-income people scrambling to also meet the high cost of housing, health care, utilities, transportation and other basic needs in our state."

In Eastern Massachusetts, an estimated 34 percent of individuals who live in food-insecure households may earn too much to qualify for most federal nutrition assistance programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) and free and reduced school breakfast and lunch programs, according to the study. Statewide, the figure is slightly lower at 33 percent. Nationally, 26 percent are likely ineligible.

"In Massachusetts, one third of folks struggling with hunger are ineligible for government programs, as compared to a quarter nationwide," D'Amato said. "And even those who do receive government assistance regularly run out of benefits before the end of the month. In both situations, the emergency food-relief assistance becomes the only alternative for these families."

Children remain at higher risk of food insecurity than the overall population. In Eastern Massachusetts,1 in 8 children is food insecure; in Massachusetts 1 in 7; and nationally, 1 in 6.

Other key local findings:

The average cost per meal in Eastern Massachusetts is $3.38 (up from $3.30 ); in Massachusetts , $3.25 (up from $3.17 ); nationally, $2.94 (up from $2.89 ).

is (up from ); in , (up from ); nationally, (up from ). The Meal Gap (the annual household budget shortfall converted into meals) is 90,333,000 in Eastern Massachusetts ; in Massachusetts , 125,814,500; and in the U.S. 7.6 billion.

Eastern Massachusetts County by County findings:

Country Food Insecurity Rate Weekly Budget Shortfall Average cost per meal Meal Gap Barnstable 9.4% $22.65 $3.83 3,600,700 Bristol 11.5% $18.77 $3.18 11,401,000 Dukes 10.7% $20.35 $3.44 326,400 Essex 8.1% $19.77 $3.34 11,098,000 Middlesex 8.7% $20.66 $3.49 24,383,600 Nantucket 9.9% $20.01 $3.38 186,500 Norfolk 8.6% $19.91 $3.37 10,577,900 Plymouth 9.4% $21.04 $3.56 8,456,600 Suffolk 14.9% $21.07 $3.56 20,302,300 Eastern MA 9.9% $19.97 $3.38 90,333,00

The Greater Boston Food bank (GBFB) is one of 200 food banks in the Feeding America network. GBFB distributes more than 48 million meals annually through its 530 member agenciesfood pantries, meal programs, and sheltersacross Eastern Massachusetts, serving more than 140,000 people a month.

"Map the Meal Gap 2017" uses data from the USDA, U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and food price data and analysis provided by Nielsen (NYSE: NLSN), a global provider of information and insights. The study is supported by founding sponsor The Howard G. Buffett Foundation, Conagra Brands Foundation and Nielsen.

Dr. Craig Gundersen, professor of agricultural and consumer economics at the University of Illinois, executive director of the National Soybean Research Laboratory and a member of Feeding America's Technical Advisory Group is the lead researcher of "Map the Meal Gap 2017."

A summary of the findings, an interactive map of the United States, and the full report are available at map.feedingamerica.org.

Join the conversation about "Map the Meal Gap 2017" on Twitter using #MealGap.

About The Greater Boston Food Bank

The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) is the largest hunger-relief organization in New England and among the largest food banks in the country. GBFB provides the equivalent of more than 48 million healthy meals annually distributed through its network of 530 member agencies in the 190 cities and towns across Eastern Massachusetts. GBFB operates four direct service programs at nearly 70 sites throughout the area. A member of Feeding America, the nation's food bank network, GBFB serves more than 140,000 people every month in its mission to create a hunger-free Eastern Massachusetts. For more information, visit us at GBFB.org, become a fan on Facebook, follow us on Twitter (@gr8bosfoodbank), or call us at 617.427.5200.

About Feeding America

Feeding America is a nationwide network of 200 food banks that leads the fight against hunger in the United States. Together, we provide food to more than 46 million people through food pantries and meal programs in communities throughout America. Feeding America also supports programs that improve food security among the people we serve; educates the public about the problem of hunger; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Individuals, charities, businesses and government all have a role in ending hunger. Donate. Volunteer. Advocate. Educate. Together we can solve hunger. Visit http://www.feedingamerica.org/. Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FeedingAmerica or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/FeedingAmerica.

SOURCE The Greater Boston Food Bank

Related Links

http://gbfb.org/


Last summer, Index launched the first and fastest implementation of Quick Chip and M/Chip Fast . Now, Index is rolling out 1-Second EMV to speed up and simplify chip card transactions even further so retailers can improve the customer experience, capture sales and reduce costs.

"We know that our customers have busy lives. Our priority is to make sure they get the best food, then get through the checkout process as fast as possible," said Deana Moore, Vice President of Marketing at Fairway Market. "We are thrilled to be the first in the country to offer 1-Second EMV and get our customers through the line in a New York minute."

Index's new EMV solution dramatically speeds up checkout through a combination of technical advancements 

Index EMV Kernel  Index's proprietary EMV kernel received Level 2 Certification from EMVCo and offers significant performance optimizations when a card is inserted.

 Index's proprietary EMV kernel received Level 2 Certification from EMVCo and offers significant performance optimizations when a card is inserted. Optimizations for the US Market  Index eliminates legacy components of EMV that aren't necessary for the online-only US market.

 Index eliminates legacy components of EMV that aren't necessary for the online-only US market. Quick Chip and M/ Chip Fast  Index uses specifications created by Visa, MasterCard, Amex and Discover, which enable cards to be removed before total / authorization.

"The Index 1-Second EMV solution is an exciting implementation of Quick Chip that brings faster checkouts to consumers and merchants," said Stephanie Ericksen, Vice President, Risk and Authentication Products, Visa. "Index has set a new bar for secure and seamless chip card transactions that mirror the convenience of swiping a magnetic stripe card that consumers have long enjoyed."

In addition to speed improvements, Index 1-Second EMV simplifies the customer experience through product optimizations 

Quick Dip  Index lets customers pay in one fluid motion  the dip is so fast their hand never leaves the card.

 Index lets customers pay in one fluid motion  the dip is so fast their hand never leaves the card. Dip Anytime  Index eliminates confusion and saves time by enabling customers to pay anytime, even before total. With Index, over 50% of customers choose to dip before total.

 Index eliminates confusion and saves time by enabling customers to pay anytime, even before total. With Index, over 50% of customers choose to dip before total. Streamlined Flow  Index eliminates unnecessary steps and uses 25% of the PIN pad screen to clearly guide customers through the transaction.

"We know from our retail partners that slow transactions and a confusing checkout experience create longer lines, and longer lines jeopardize sales because customers don't want to wait. With Index 1-Second EMV, we've solved that  it's as fast as a swipe with all the security benefits of EMV," said Marc Freed-Finnegan, co-founder and CEO, Index.

Looking ahead, Index is already working to make transaction times even faster. "To further reduce EMV times, we've identified a significant opportunity to update terminal transmission parameters (bus speed) for next generation EMV cards," said Jonathan Wall, co-founder and CTO, Index. "We're now working with networks and issuers to bring cards to market that will enable customers to dip in a few hundred milliseconds."

Index's core payment solution, built upon a semi-integrated architecture and hosted gateway, provides retailers with industry-leading security, flexibility and reliability  at a lower overall cost. Index's plug-and-play software for Toshiba ACE, LOC SMS, RORC, Microsoft AX and other point-of-sale (POS) platforms includes 1-Second EMV, point-to-point encryption (P2PE) with no fees, and remote device management. Index supports Verifone and Ingenico PIN pads and is certified to major payment processors including First Data, Vantiv, Chase Paymentech and Worldpay.

To learn more about Index, visit www.index.com.

About Index

Index, based in San Francisco, is a leading retail software company that helps retailers transform their in-store payments and build their customer contact database. Index provides a semi-integrated payment solution and hosted gateway for 1-Second EMV, point-to-point encryption (P2PE) and remote device management. Its unique point-of-sale (POS) integration enables retailers to build an account for every shopper, capture customer contact data, drive opt-in to deliver personalized marketing, and optimize every campaign.

Media Contacts

Index

Elizabeth Fontaine

[email protected]

SOURCE Index

Related Links

http://www.index.com


TEL AVIV, Israel, May 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Taranis, a precision agriculture intelligence platform, today announced it has closed a $7.5 million Series A round of financing led by Finistere Ventures, an AgTech venture pioneer, and Vertex Ventures. Existing investors, Eshbol Investments, Mindset Ventures, OurCrowd, and angel investor Eyal Gura, also joined the round. With $9.5 million in total funding to date, Taranis aims to lead the digital farming revolution by giving farmers around the globe the ability to predict and prevent detrimental threats to their cropsand bottom line.



Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bf46369f-da21-42f7-bea1-2582c7725ac2

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1f750572-a9c2-4619-b12d-533cd4562851

Today, the Ag industry loses more than $300 billion each year due to crop diseases and pests. Pests and diseases can destroy crops and devastate farmers agricultural yield, but chemical overuse comes with its own set of challenges, including pesticide-resistant disease strains. Meanwhile, rising temperatures and increasing levels of carbon dioxide create more challenges for farmers as crop pests and disease thrive in hot, CO2-rich environments, and farmers around the globe also need to prepare for the surge of erratic weather patterns and damaging extreme weather that can lead to crop losses exceeding 90 percent. Taranis is pushing farmers to rethink how they approach crop disease and pest control, as well as how they prepare for and address weather concerns and helping them increase profits by more than 15 percent in the process.

The way farmers farm may be slowly changing, but the surge in farm technology does not always equate to better, or easier, farming practices. Farmers of all sizes need better access to weather and field data, and Taranis offers an encouraging field monitoring platform, that is also affordable, noted Brent Smith, vice president of proprietary technology and innovation at Agrium. Taranis platform uses all existing data sources and precise, sub-millimeter imagery to accurately predict and alert farmers to upcoming crop threats. Taranis can also scale to include more proprietary prediction models as threats evolve, so farmers can make proactive in-season decisions to affect their crops before they suffer potential adverse effects.

Growing its acreage by 2,000 percent in one year and now managing millions of acres of farmland in the Argentina, Brazil, Israel, Russia and the United States, Taranis offers the first scalable, predictive analytics solution to predict crop threats and prevent them in any climate zone. Presenting precise information about fields, daily tasks, crop disease/pest and weather alerts based on its advanced forecasting and now-casting technologies, the proprietary Taranis deep learning platform helps large commercial farmers around the globe reduce costs, increase yield and speed farming decisions. With Taranis, farmers can minimize chemical and pesticide usage by pinpointing where and when they are needed  saving farmers money, while creating a more sustainable farming ecosystem. The Taranis platform currently monitors fields for critical crops such as soybeans, corn, wheat, cotton, sugar cane and potatoes.

"Farmers are currently faced with poor commodity prices and want to manage their costs  from crop protection to fertilizer  more effectively. We believe higher resolution, real-time data is requirement for the digital farming revolution, but new solutions have to pay for themselves rapidly, said Arama Kukutai, co-founder and partner, Finistere Ventures. Taranis is taking the next generation of technology for farmers well beyond simply being able to look at a field. Taranis can capture imagery of a specific mite on a leaf going 70 mph from 200 feet above ground.

Taranis will use the latest investment to further mature its scalable pest and disease prediction platform and substantially grow its global reach, with a focus on building U.S. momentum where farms contribute $136.7 billion to the gross domestic product (GDP). In fact, the NEEF notes that while the U.S. agriculture sector produces approximately $300 billion per year in commodities, weeds, insects and disease cause costly crop production losses.

We invest in innovators with the ability to transform an industry and were drawn to Taranis exceptional leadership team, machine learning expertise, proven analytics platform and early on-farm successes, noted Yanai Oron, general partner, Vertex. Taranis offers a comprehensive and affordable crop management solution, and the pest and disease prediction algorithms it developed set the company apart from its competitors.

Using deep learning to continually improve accuracy, the Taranis platform integrates with a variety of sensors for additional data and takes scouting and task management into account. Its patented aerial imagery technology can cover expansive areas from high-speed UAVs and crop dusters at an unprecedented resolution, 0.5mm per pixel, which is more than 500x more detailed than existing monitoring platforms. Taranis also runs its own weather prediction model that can accurately forecast field-level weather patterns at 4km per pixel, an enormous improvement over current global models delivering forecasts at 26km per pixel.

Led by an expert team with decades of experience in farming, technology innovation, machine learning, advanced anomaly detection and meteorological systems, Taranis will also use the funding to expand its plant pathology, data science and software engineering teams. Headquartered in Israel with subsidiaries in Argentina and Brazil, Taranis is currently establishing a U.S. office and expanding into India and Russia.

Our predictive analytics platform monitors all aspects of field conditions in real time and sends early warnings to farmers to help them protect their crops, said Taranis CEO Ofir Schlam. We want to make it easier for farmers anywhere, in any climate, to predict and overcome potential crop threats. This investment will help us build the right distribution channels and find the best talent to ensure we fulfill our precision Ag vision.

To support its rapid growth plans, Arama Kukutai, Finistere Ventures, and Yanai Oron, Vertex Ventures, will join the Taranis Board.

About Taranis

Taranis is a precision agriculture intelligence platform that helps farmers increase their yields and cut costs by giving them a way to effectively monitor their fields, make informed decisions and then act on them. Taranis uses deep learning on proprietary data sets that includes sub-mm aerial imagery, field sensors, satellite imagery, weather forecast and data from its field scouting app to predict and prevent losses from crop disease and pests. Learn more at www.taranis.ag.



About Finistere Ventures

Finistere Ventures is a leading California-based agricultural technology and life sciences venture capital investor, with offices in Palo Alto and San Diego. Its team has developed and invested in some of the most successful AgTech companies of the last 20 years. Visit Finistere.com.

About Vertex Ventures Israel

Vertex Ventures is a leading global venture capital group supporting entrepreneurs to transform their innovative ideas into world-class businesses. With cumulative committed capital in excess of $2.5 billion, Vertex invests in early-stage IT and healthcare opportunities in China, Silicon Valley, India, Israel, and South East Asia. Since 1988, Vertex is honored to have partnered with the founders of global leaders such as Waze, 91, Grab, IGG, CyberArk, Reebonz, SolarEdge, Force10, FirstCry, Yatra and Changba. Vertex Ventures Israel is one of the pillars of the Vertex Group's network of Funds focusing on early stage opportunities in the Information Technology sector in Israel. Learn more at www.vertexventures.com/israel.
BOCA RATON, Fla., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Integrated Dermatology Group (IDG), a leading national dermatology practice, has expanded its presence in Virginia by acquiring the practice of Dr. William Shields and partnering with Dr. Jonathan Schreiber, who will serve as Medical Director of the practice known as Integrated Dermatology of Newport News, LLC.

Dr. Jonathan Schreiber named Medical Director of Integrated Dermatology of Newport News, LLC.

Dr. Schreiber first partnered with Integrated Dermatology Group in 2014 with the opening of Integrated Dermatology of Tidewater, LLC in Norfolk, Virginia. He now serves as Medical Director of both practices. After graduating with honors from Stanford University, Dr. Schreiber attended Duke University, where he earned both a medical degree and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology. He then completed his internship at Boston Medical Center and his Dermatology residency at Tufts New England Medical Center and Boston Medical Center's combined program. Dr. Schreiber is a fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology and a member and past President of the Tidewater Dermatology Society.

"By partnering with or selling to IDG, the dermatologist can focus on providing high-quality patient care while IDG manages the practice infrastructure and back-office operations, ensuring best clinical practices and patient outcomes," said Jeff Queen, co-CEO of Integrated Dermatology Group.

"For dermatologists who want to monetize all their practice's value, IDG has a program giving them the opportunity to do so. These dermatologists continue to practice dermatology and accrue additional income from the practice," said Andrew Queen, co-CEO of Integrated Dermatology Group.

IDG is continuing its systematic national expansion. The Newport News announcement comes on the heels of recent announcements of partnerships in both White Plains (Integrated Dermatology of White Plains, LLC) and Chevy Chase (Integrated Dermatology of Chevy Chase, LLC), Maryland.

For more information about one of the nation's largest and fastest-growing dermatology groups, with practices located across the country, please contact Integrated Dermatology Group at www.mydermgroup.com, or call Jeff Queen at 561-314-2000, extension 1038.

About Integrated Dermatology Group

Headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, Integrated Dermatology Group is one of the country's largest providers of dermatology care. The company has expanded its presence nationally by acquiring and partnering with dermatology practices across the United States. This exclusive model enables selling dermatologists to realize all or part of the value of their practices and gives them the choice of either retiring or remaining at the practice indefinitely, maintaining autonomy and control over the practice of medicine. Simultaneously, IDG presents dermatologists with the unique opportunity to immediately join an established private practice as a partner, not an employee, with the infrastructure, support, and resources the larger group provides.

IDG's mission is to improve the quality of practice life for its dermatologists while adding to their financial success. As members of IDG, dermatologists focus on providing high-quality patient care as IDG removes the stress of day-to-day management by implementing best practices in the areas of compliance, financial services, human resources, payers, and more. For additional information, visit www.mydermgroup.com.

Related Links

Integrated Dermatology Group

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE Integrated Dermatology Group

Related Links

http://www.mydermgroup.com


LONDON, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- International Game Technology PLC ("IGT") (NYSE:IGT) will report first quarter 2017 results for the period ended March 31, 2017 on Thursday, May 25, 2017.

The Company will host a conference call and live webcast to discuss the results.

Conference call:

Thursday, May 25, 2017

8:00 a.m. EDT / 1:00 p.m. BST / 2:00 p.m. CEST

United Kingdom: +44 (0) 20 3427 1914

Outside the United Kingdom: +1 877 280 2342

Conference ID/Confirmation Code: 9529556

Webcast:

A live webcast may be accessed along with accompanying slides under "News, Events & Presentations" in the Investor Relations section of IGT's website at www.IGT.com. A replay of the webcast will be available on the website following the live event.

Telephone replay:

A telephone replay of the call will be available for one week:

United Kingdom: +44 (0) 20 3427 0598

Outside the United Kingdom: +1 347 366 9565

Conference ID/Confirmation Code: 9529556

About IGT

IGT (NYSE:IGT) is the global leader in gaming. We enable players to experience their favorite games across all channels and regulated segments, from Gaming Machines and Lotteries to Interactive and Social Gaming. Leveraging a wealth of premium content, substantial investment in innovation, in-depth customer intelligence, operational expertise and leading-edge technology, our gaming solutions anticipate the demands of consumers wherever they decide to play. We have a well-established local presence and relationships with governments and regulators in more than 100 countries around the world, and create value by adhering to the highest standards of service, integrity, and responsibility. IGT has over 12,000 employees. For more information, please visit www.igt.com.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements (including within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) concerning International Game Technology PLC and its consolidated subsidiaries (the "Company") and other matters. These statements may discuss goals, intentions, and expectations as to future plans, trends, events, dividends, results of operations, or financial condition, or otherwise, based on current beliefs of the management of the Company as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, such management. Forward-looking statements may be accompanied by words such as "aim," "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "could," "would," "should," "shall", "continue," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "future," "guidance," "intend," "may," "will," "possible," "potential," "predict," "project" or the negative or other variations of them. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which such statements are made and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside the Company's control. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may differ materially from those predicted in the forward-looking statements and from past results, performance, or achievements. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include (but are not limited to) the possibility that the sale of Double Down Interactive LLC, as described in the Company's news release dated April 17, 2017 furnished to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on April 18, 2017 (File No. 17765611) (the "DDI Transaction"), may not be consummated in a timely manner or at all, including as a result of a failure to satisfy a condition to closing (including regulatory approvals); the possibility that there may be an adverse effect or disruption from the DDI Transaction that negatively impacts the Company's remaining businesses; the possibility that the anticipated benefits of the DDI Transaction or the strategic partnership with DoubleU Games may not be realized as presently contemplated or at all; the costs and charges related to the DDI Transaction being greater than anticipated; the possibility that International Game Technology PLC will be unable to pay future dividends to shareholders or that the amount of such dividends may be less than anticipated; the possibility that International Game Technology PLC may not obtain its anticipated financial results in one or more future periods; reductions in customer spending; a slowdown in customer payments and changes in customer demand for products and services as a result of changing economic conditions or otherwise; unanticipated changes relating to competitive factors in the industries in which the Company operates; the Company's ability to hire and retain key personnel; the Company's ability to attract new customers and retain existing customers in the manner anticipated; reliance on and integration of information technology systems; changes in legislation or governmental regulations affecting the Company; international, national, or local economic, social or political conditions that could adversely affect the Company or its customers; conditions in the credit markets; risks associated with assumptions the Company makes in connection with its critical accounting estimates; the resolution of pending and potential future legal, regulatory or tax proceedings and investigations; and the Company's international operations, which are subject to the risks of currency fluctuations and foreign exchange controls. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties that affect the Company's business, including those described in the Company's annual report on Form 20-F for the financial year ended December 31, 2016 and other documents filed from time to time with the SEC, which are available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov and on the investor relations section of the Company's website at www.IGT.com. Except as required under applicable law, the Company does not assume any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Nothing in this news release is intended, or is to be construed, as a profit forecast or to be interpreted to mean that earnings per share of International Game Technology PLC for the current or any future financial years will necessarily match or exceed the historical published earnings per share of International Game Technology PLC, as applicable. All forward-looking statements contained in this news release are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. All subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to International Game Technology PLC, or persons acting on its behalf, are expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement.

Contact:

Robert K. Vincent, Corporate Communications, toll free in U.S./Canada +1 (844) IGT-7452; outside U.S./Canada +1 (401) 392-7452

James Hurley, Investor Relations, +1 (401) 392-7190

Simone Cantagallo, +39 06 51899030; for Italian media inquiries

SOURCE International Game Technology PLC

Related Links

http://www.IGT.com


TEL AVIV, Israel, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Invertex, a leading provider of scan-to-fit guided shopping experience for footwear, announced today the immediate availability of its new FeetID Ecosystem, the world's first integrated cognitive solution to seamlessly combine the in-store and online shopping experience.

Invertex Delivers Its New FeetID Ecosystem

Invertex's FeetID includes the new Launch-Pad, an in-store autonomous unit that can 3D scan a precise measure of a shopper's feet and send it directly to their mobile phone within seconds. Instantly the Invertex's cognitive match engine, guides the shopper to all the shoes in the store, armed with personalized information and reviews to enrich their shopping experience.

"Giving the power of informed choice to customers to make the best decision when they are at a store creates great value" said David Bleicher, Invertex's Founder and CEO. "But really, even greater customer value accrues the moment that a customer owns their virtual FeetID model and can always shop with confidence while being recognized and rewarded for their loyalty by their retailers online and in the store."

While in many product categories, online shopping has become the standard, still only 8% of shoes are sold online in the US today. Combine this with the extremely low conversion rates on the ecommerce sites and the return rates reaching 40% in many cases, all sponsored by the retailers, it becomes obvious why inaccurate fit and lack of confidence remain two of the most burning pain points throughout the footwear industry.

By providing a holistic end-to-end solution, including in-store, online and mobile app components, the Invertex eco-system tackles these two problems simultaneously. The immediate results of implementing the solution are three: in-store customers adding an online component to their consuming habits. Improved shopper confidence online which immediately translates into higher conversion rates, and at last, a dramatic reduction of costly returns.

Availability

Invertex has been developing this proprietary solution over the past years hand in hand with industry leaders in order to make sure that it provides a full comprehensive solution to the problem, and creates a new reality in the way people will buy shoes in the near future.

The Invertex system has been successfully piloted in multiple tests in various locations in Europe and USA, to validate the system's accuracy and ease of use. Invertex is currently offering limited pilot and testing plans at significant discounts to allow companies to test and evaluate the technology in their own stores, and learn how the system affects their bottom-line business performance first hand.

Notes to Editor:

About Invertex: Invertex is a leading provider of scan-to-fit guided shopping experiences that perfectly match people and products. Invertex's combination of powerful AI and 3D technology makes it possible for consumers to trust and enjoy guided and tailored shopping experiences from anywhere. Its proprietary platform is the only end-to-end solution available for footwear brands and retailers providing a trifecta of in-store, online and mobile phone guided, scan-to-fit experience. For more information: www.invertex3d.com or [email protected]

Invertex is an OurCrowd First funded company. OurCrowd First is Israel's premier and most active leading early-stage venture capital fund, and seed-stage fund at OurCrowd, the leading global equity crowdfunding platform for accredited investors. Invertex recently announced the closing of its $2 million seed funding round, led by OurCrowd through its OurCrowd First early stage fund.

About OurCrowd First: Headquartered in Israel, the OurCrowd First fund is seeding and scaling a carefully curated portfolio of early-stage ventures that are computing and actuating the connected world by leveraging the exponential technology convergence of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, the Internet of Things, 3D Printing, digitally enabled Precision Agriculture, Autonomous Robotics, Digital Health, Blockchain technology, and AR/VR.

OurCrowd First is managed by General Partners Eduardo Shoval, Yori Nelken and Avi Reichental, three seasoned parallel entrepreneurs who bring to the fund's portfolio decades of executive management and corporate leadership experience in growing early-stage startups to convincing scale with successful outcomes. Since its inception, OurCrowd First has been recognized as 'Israel's most active early-stage VC'. Through its funds, OurCrowd First has already invested in some 19 early-stage ventures, guiding some of the most promising Israeli and global exponential-tech startups. For more information: http://www.ourcrowdfirst.com/

For images, click here

Press Contact: Oliver Sonenfield

dl: +44 (0) 20 7284 6948

e: [email protected]

SOURCE Invertex Ltd.

Related Links

http://www.invertex3d.com


(Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/507545/BWM_Massimiliano_Rocchi_CEO_Accord.jpg )



The man at the helm of Accord Healthcare Italia, Rocchi is the winner of Business Worldwide Magazine's Most Innovative CEO of the Year and Growth Strategy CEO of the Year, Italy. It is remarkable achievement for him and the Company, considering the pharma market in Italy is placed fifth internationally and has seen the country's highest growth in export sales for the past five years.

Rocchi's acute business sense and enthusiasm has seen Accord Healthcare Italy rise to sixth place in the country's hospital generics market, in just eight years.

In response to the news that Rocchi had received two Business Worldwide Magazine awards, he expressed his delight, both for himself and for the Company.

He also added: "The key for staying at the top of your game in business is to never take your eyes off the ball. I realised that with the onset of the web, logistics was always going to be a key driver in whether or not a company choses you over your competitor."

The spokesman for BWM congratulated Rocchi on his awards saying: "Accord's rise within an already tough market has been pretty phenomenal and doesn't look like stopping any time soon. Quite the opposite, in fact."

"We wish Massimiliano well for the company's future conquests."

The company deals almost exclusively with hospitals in Italy. It has three European manufacturing plants in Europe and a distribution centre around an hour's train journey outside London, allowing Accord to become incredibly efficient when it comes to distribution. This extraordinary feature not only allows the Company to get a product from point A to point B very fast, but the money saving aspect means this is a less expensive product than current pharmaceutical companies are able to offer. This fits in perfectly with hospital procurement protocols where management is encouraged to purchase the most 'economically advantageous product'.

But it's not only in terms of distribution and the company's vertical integration model that Accord's strategy excels in; Rocchi always insists that it is crucial that there is never a delay in launching new products in order to prevent the company missing out on crucial market share. The next step will be for Accord to hit the until-now very unimpressive generics pharmaceutical market in Italy.

The long-term future of this fast-growing company will focus on logistics. In the meantime, they are also considering a more dedicated tendering role.

More information on this ambitious CEO and Accord itself can be found at www.accord-healthcare.it

An article on the company can also be found on BWM website

http://www.bwmonline.com/2017/05/02/competitive-advantage-through-logistics-in-italian-healthcare/

About Business Worldwide Magazine

Business Worldwide Magazine is the leading source of business and dealmaker intelligence throughout the world. Our quarterly magazine and online news portal enables an established audience of corporate dealmakers to track the latest news, stories and developments affecting the international markets, corporate finance, business strategy and changes in legislation. This readership includes of CEO/CFO - Banks, Corporate Lawyers and Venture Capital/Private Equity Companies to name a few.

http://www.bwmonline.com

Contact

David Jones

Awards Department

E: [email protected]

W: http://www.bwmonline.com



SOURCE Business Worldwide Magazine
NEW YORK, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Jaguar Growth Partners (Jaguar), a privately-held investment management firm focused on global growth markets, today announced that it has acquired an approximate 9.7% position in Hoteles City Express ("HCITY"). With this position, Jaguar becomes one of HCITY's largest shareholders, establishing a strategic partnership between the two firms.

The acquisition was made through Jaguar's real estate private equity strategy, which focuses on investing opportunistically in real estate-related operating platforms and companies in key Latin American markets.

"As the largest hotel company in its targeted segments, Hoteles City Express is well-positioned to continue to grow and benefit from the solid fundamentals of Mexico's economy and its presence in diverse regions across the country. We look forward to working with HCITY's outstanding management team to increase shareholder value by optimizing its real estate assets and expanding its franchise and management operations," said Thomas McDonald, Jaguar Managing Partner.

"We are excited to have Jaguar as our shareholder and to be able to count on their strategic support. Together with our team's expertise in the Latin American hospitality marketplace and focus on operational excellence, we are confident that Jaguar's real estate and capital market expertise will contribute positively to our strategy for profitable growth," noted Mr. Luis Barrios, CEO of Hoteles City Express.

Jaguar has previously completed investments in several other operating platforms and companies including LatAm Logistic Properties and Brazilian shopping mall company Aliansce.

About Jaguar Growth Partners:

Headquartered in New York with an office in Sao Paulo, Jaguar is a privately-held investment management firm specializing in real estate private equity in growth markets globally. Founded in 2013 by Gary Garrabrant and Thomas McDonald, Jaguar invests in and develops scalable real estate-related operating platforms and companies poised to grow in markets characterized by an emerging middle class, aspirational youth, urbanization and other secular trends found in emerging global economies.

Commencing their investment activities in the 1990's, Jaguar's founders are regarded as leaders in real estate investing and company-building in emerging markets through growth capital investments and working in active collaboration with local operating partners. Jaguar is distinguished by its global insights, partner orientation and proven approach to optimizing value and liquidity. Jaguar is a member of the Pension Real Estate Association, Latin American Private Equity & Venture Capital Association, the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association and the Institutional Limited Partners Association. Please see www.jaguargrowth.com or @JaguarGrowth for additional information.

About Hoteles City Express:

Hoteles City Express is the leading and fastest-growing limited-service hotel chain in Mexico in terms of number of hotels, number of rooms, geographic presence, market share and revenues. Founded in 2002, Hoteles City Express specializes in offering high-quality, comfortable and safe lodging at affordable prices via a limited-service hotel chain geared mainly towards domestic business travelers. With 124 hotels in operation located throughout Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia and Chile, Hoteles City Express operates five distinct brands: City Express, City Express Plus, City Express Suites, City Express Junior and City Centro to serve different segments of its target market. In June 2013, Hoteles City Express completed its IPO and began trading on the Mexican Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "HCITY"; furthermore, on October 8, 2014, Hoteles City Express completed a follow on with the aim of accelerating its growth in new hotels in coming years.

HCITY is covered by the following financial institutions and analysts: Actinver (Pablo Duarte), Bank of America Merrill Lynch (Carlos Peyrelongue), Citigroup (Alejandro Lavin), GBM (Hector Vazquez), ITAU BBA (Enrico Trotta), J.P. Morgan (Adrian Huerta), Morgan Stanley (NIkolaj Lippmann), Santander (Cecilia Jimenez), Signum Research (Armando Rodriguez), UBS (Marimar Torreblanca).

For further information, please visit: https://cityexpress.com/en/investors/

Media Contacts:

Dukas Linden Public Relations

Zach Kouwe

+1.646.808.3665

[email protected]

Shree Dhond

+1.646.722.6531

[email protected]

SOURCE Jaguar Growth Partners

Related Links

http://www.jaguargrowth.com


LOS ANGELES, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Law Rocks, the nonprofit organization that hosts a global series of fundraising concerts starring bands of legal professionals, is presenting the Fifth Annual Law Rocks San Francisco this Saturday, May 6. Five bands of musically talented legal professionals from ten law firms will rock out for local charities such as Blue Bear School of Music, St. Anthony's and Legal Services for Children. The concert will include a special headline performance by Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads and The Modern Lovers, with an all-star band featuring members of Hole/Courtney Love, Bo Diddley, and Creeper Lagoon. Special guest Matt Pinfield from KFOG, also known from MTV, will emcee the event.

SOURCE Law Rocks
NEW YORK, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Businessman, Entrepreneur and environmental advocate Ken Fields (www.kenfields.net) voices his support for the recent bill, nicknamed the "100 By 50 Act," that was introduced by Senators Bernie Sanders and Jeff Merkley, which provides a roadmap for the United States transition to 100 Percent Renewable energy by 2050.

Ken Fields

"The current administration in the white house and the Republican majorities in both houses of congress have willfully ignored or are simply not interested in addressing the very real environmental catastrophe that our reliance on burning fossil fuels is causing to the planet." Fields continued, "Given the current politics in Washington it seems that the Merkley Sanders bill isn't likely to go very far, but it's a bold first step and everyone who wants clean water to drink, fresh air to breathe and a habitable planet for future generations needs to lend their support and encouragement to Sanders and Merkley's efforts. We need to call our local representatives, write letters, continue to march in the streets, protest and otherwise do everything we can to really drive this issue home. It feels cliched to say it, but there is no Planet B."

The 100 By 50 Act was announced by Jeff Merkley and Bernie Sanders just prior to this past weekend's Climate March.

Ken Fields is a real estate developer and entrepreneur, having owned and invested in a number of small business ventures over the years, with a portfolio that has included hotels, multi family residential, a cattle ranch in Uruguay and fast casual chain of restaurants. Fields registered as an independent Presidential candidate in 2016, with the slogan "Greatness Must Be Earned."

He and his wife Nikki Noya Fields maintain a group of charitable funds (www.noyafieldsfamily.org) that support the environment, civil liberties, women's rights and various arts organizations by creating and building partnership opportunities and through direct grants.

Media Contact

Eric Williams

WheePR Media

www.wheepr.com

917 975 3345

SOURCE Ken Fields

Related Links

http://www.kenfields.net


LONG BRANCH, N.J., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kiely Family of Companies Chief Executive Officer John F. Kiely Jr., and President John M. Kiely are the 2017 recipients of the Greater Long Branch Chamber of Commerce Louis G. Libutti Community Service Award. Recipients of this prestigious award display exemplary leadership, outstanding professional achievement and dedicated community service.

The Kiely Family of Companies Chief Executive Officer John F. Kiely Jr., and President John M. Kiely are the 2017 recipients of the Greater Long Branch Chamber of Commerce Louis G. Libutti Community Service Award.

"To receive this award and to be recognized by the Greater Long Branch Chamber of Commerce is an honor in itself, and to be a co-recipient with my father makes this award very special to me, said John M. Kiely. Reinvesting in the communities our companies serve is a core value and family tradition, Kiely continued.

About the Louis G. Libutti Service Award:

The Greater Long Branch Chamber of Commerce Louis G. Libutti Community Service Award was established in 1970 in honor of Louis G. Libutti who was a former president of the Long Branch Chamber of Commerce. Exemplary leadership, outstanding professional achievement and community service are the criteria for this award. Also, receiving the prestigious Libutti Award this year is Patricia Booth O'Neill, owner of The Link News.

About the Kiely Family of Companies:

The Kiely Family of Companies established in 1952 specializes in design  build. Its three business units civil, development and equipment serve the engineering, construction, real estate and manufacturing industries. Heavily concentrated in the Northeast, the Kiely Family of Companies employs more than 800 team members in the United States and abroad.

For more information about the services provided by the Kiely Family of Companies please visit www.kielybuilds.com or contact James M. Pagano at (732) 222-4400.

Contact:

James M. Pagano

Sr. Vice President of Business Development

Kiely Family of Companies

Tel 732-222-4400 ext. 231

SOURCE Kiely Family of Companies
LOS GATOS, Calif., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kyvos Insights, a big data analytics company, today announced that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has named Kyvos Insights to its 2017 Big Data 100 list. The annual list recognizes the ingenuity of tech suppliers bringing to market innovative offerings for harnessing the increasingly huge amounts of data generated in today's digital world, raising the bar for data management and challenging established IT practices. Kyvos Insights was named to the 2016 Big Data 100 list following its launch in June 2015.

Many organizations struggle with the volume, speed and variety of information they produce and utilize every day to remain competitive. As a result, the need for innovative tools, technologies and services that tame big data into meaningful, usable statistics is outstanding.

In response to this need, the CRN editorial team has identified the IT vendors at the forefront of data management, business analytics and infrastructure technologies and services. The resulting list is a valuable guide for solution providers seeking out key big data technology suppliers.

"Businesses everywhere are faced with managing information streams of unprecedented volume and complexity, requiring more powerful and efficient tools than ever before for capturing, storing, organizing, securing and analyzing data," said Robert Faletra, CEO of The Channel Company. "CRN is pleased to present the 2017 Big Data 100, a list of vendors whose ingenuity and creative problem-solving have introduced remarkable new ways to help solution providers tackle this mammoth task. Congratulations to these big data aces, who have not only kept pace with the rapidly evolving demands of the data management field, but also innovated and challenged the status quo."

Kyvos is a massively scalable, self-service BI on Hadoop analytics solution designed to make big data lakes ready for BI analysts. The patent-pending OLAP on Hadoop solution includes enterprise-grade functionality to improve analysts' access to the data lake, advanced security support, improved performance and scalability, and integration with additional BI tools. Kyvos allows companies to build a BI Consumption Layer directly on Hadoop, which enables analysts to transform their existing BI tools. The BI Consumption Layer also gives analysts instant, interactive access to multi-dimensional analytics at big data scale across the enterprise, with no learning curve or programming required.

"We are honored to be selected for the CRN Big Data 100 list for the second year in a row. The recognition underscores the significance of our unique solution in the big data analytics market, as enterprises increasingly recognize the challenges of extracting value from their data lakes since existing tools and methods don't scale and are too slow," said Ajay Anand, vice president of products at Kyvos Insights. "With Kyvos, customers can find solutions to problems that were previously unsolvable. The solution gives them instant access to the important insights they need directly on Hadoop for more meaningful customer understanding, targeted marketing, efficient operations and increased profitability."

The 2017 Big Data 100 list is available online at www.crn.com/bigdata100.

About The Channel Company

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequaled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelco.com

About Kyvos Insights

Kyvos Insights is committed to unlocking the power of big data analytics with its unique "OLAP on Hadoop" technology. Backed by years of analytics expertise and a passion for big data, the company aims to revolutionize big data analytics by providing business users with the ability to visualize, explore and analyze big data interactively, working directly on Hadoop. Headquartered in Los Gatos, California, Kyvos Insights was formed by a team of veterans from Yahoo!, Impetus and Intellicus Technologies. The company has partnered with companies including Cloudera, Hortonworks, MapR and Tableau. For more information, visit www.kyvosinsights.com or connect with us on Twitter @kyvosinsights and LinkedIn at: http://linkd.in/1Fg3lNr.

2017. The Channel Company, LLC. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Media Contact:

Meghan Locke

LEWIS

781-418-2434

[email protected]

The Channel Company Contact:

Melanie Turpin

The Channel Company

508-416-1195

[email protected]

SOURCE Kyvos Insights

Related Links

http://www.kyvosinsights.com


ST. PAUL, Minn., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sen. Carla Nelson (R-Rochester) announced new legislation today  SF 2370  that would decrease youth smoking by raising the sales age for tobacco products to 21.

"Raising the tobacco age will prevent young people from smoking and save money, as those young people grow up to live healthier lives," said Sen. Nelson, a longtime supporter of tobacco prevention measures. "Smoking costs Minnesota about $7 billion annually in excess health care costs and lost productivity from smoking. Tobacco 21 will address this problem where it starts."

According to Molly Moilanen, co-chair of Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation, a coalition of more than 50 health organizations, "Almost 95 percent of adult smokers started by 21. That means to prevent addiction, we must keep people from starting before then. Raising the tobacco age will help do that."

A national consensus is growing to prevent addictions and future health problems by raising the sales age for tobacco products to 21. Two states and more than 220 cities and counties throughout the United States have raised the tobacco age. Edina was the first city in Minnesota to raise the smoking age earlier this week.

Research shows that increasing the tobacco age in Minnesota would prevent 30,000 kids from becoming smokers over the next 15 years.

would prevent 30,000 kids from becoming smokers over the next 15 years. The tobacco industry heavily targets 18-to-21-year-olds with candy flavoring, magazine advertisements and event sponsorships.

75 percent of adult Americans favor increasing the minimum purchase age for tobacco to 21.

Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation is a coalition of Minnesota organizations that share a common goal of saving Minnesota youth from a lifetime of addiction to tobacco. Each year in Minnesota tobacco use is responsible for more than 6,300 deaths and more than $3 billion in preventable health care costs. 95 percent of adult smokers started before the age of 21. The coalition supports policies that prevent initiation and reduce youth smoking, including keeping tobacco prices high, raising the tobacco sale age to 21, limiting access to candy-, fruit- and menthol-flavored tobacco and funding future tobacco prevention programs.

Partners include: A Healthier Southwest, African American Leadership Forum, Allina Health, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association in Minnesota, Apple Tree Dental, Association for Nonsmokers  Minnesota, Becker County Energize, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, CentraCare Health, Children's Defense Fund  Minnesota, Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, ClearWay MinnesotaSM, Comunidades Latinos Unidas En Servicio  CLUES, Essentia Health, Four Corners Partnership, Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare, HealthEast, HealthPartners, Hennepin County Medical Center, Hope Dental Clinic, Indigenous Peoples Task Force, ISAIAH, LAAMPP Institute, Lake Region Healthcare, Lincoln Park Children and Families Collaborative, Local Public Health Association of Minnesota, March of Dimes, Mayo Clinic, Medica, Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians, Minnesota Association of Community Health Centers, Minnesota Cancer Alliance, Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Minnesota Council of Health Plans, Minnesota Hospital Association, Minnesota Medical Association, Minnesota Oral Health Coalition, Minnesota Public Health Association, Model Cities of St. Paul, Inc., NAMI Minnesota, North Memorial Health Care, NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center, PartnerSHIP 4 Health, Perham Health, Rainbow Health Initiative, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, St. Paul Chamber of Commerce, Tobacco Free Alliance, Twin Cities Medical Society, UCare and WellShare International. Find out more at: smokefreegenmn.org.

SOURCE Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation

Related Links

http://www.smokefreegenmn.org


CHATSWORTH, Calif., May 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Provision Interactive Technologies, Inc. ("Provision"), a subsidiary of Provision Holding, Inc. (OTCQB:PVHO), announced today that the Grisi Brand has begun a national advertising promotional campaign on Provisions 3D Savings Center kiosks for its Ricitos de Oro baby products brand.



We are excited to be working with Grisi and the Ricitos de Oro Brand, as weve seen tremendous response from the consumer, said Provisions CEO, Curt Thornton. Grisis ongoing commitment demonstrates its confidence in Provisions 3D in-store digital media platform to generate awareness and incremental sales of Grisis products at the point-of-sale.

Provisions award-winning, 3D Savings Center Kiosks generate extraordinary, 3D holographic videos and has proven to generate a great deal of attention from retail customers. The 3D holographic display projects videos in front of the screen without the need for any special glasses and without any discomforting eye stress.

Each kiosk also has a 2D interactive touch screen that provides consumers access to promotions, rewards, and coupons. The kiosks are also able to print coupon offers, allowing the retailer and other advertisers to offer customers highly effective sales influencers at the point of purchase.

About Grisi

100% Mexican chemical and pharmaceutical company dedicated to the elaboration and commercialization of leading products of natural origin for health, beauty, hygiene and nutrition.

The tradition has been maintained, following the same philosophy implanted since its foundation in 1863, a philosophy that implies responsibility towards the Grisi brand, always keeping in mind the quality of its products, people and facilities.

The desire to remain at the forefront of competition and interest in the consumer is the direct result of human well-being and bodily beauty with nature. That is why Grisi Laboratories maintains high ethical values in the manufacture of their products.

About Provision Interactive Technologies, Inc.

Provision Interactive Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of the publicly traded company Provision Holding, Inc. (OTCQB:PVHO), is the leading purveyor of intelligent interactive 3D holographic display technologies, software, and integrated solutions for both commercial and consumer focused applications.

Provision's 3D holographic display systems represent a revolutionary technology that provides the projection of full color, high-resolution videos into space detached from the screen, without any special glasses. Provision is currently the market leader in true 3D consumer advertising display products being implemented by innovative, consumer-focused companies.

Provision Holding, Inc. (OTCQB:PVHO) trades on the OTCQB venture stage marketplace for early stage and developing U.S. and international companies. Companies are current in their reporting and undergo an annual verification and management certification process. Investors can find Real-Time quotes and market information for the company on www.otcmarkets.com.

For more information, visit www.provision.tv.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains projections of future results and other forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Important factors that may cause actual results and outcomes to differ materially from those contained in the projections and forward-looking statements included in this press release are described in our publicly filed reports. Factors that could cause these differences include, but are not limited to, the acceptance of our products, lack of revenue growth, failure to realize profitability, inability to raise capital and market conditions that negatively affect the market price of our common stock. The Company disclaims any responsibility to update any forward-looking statements unless legally required.




LONDON, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

LetterOne (L1), the international investment business, headquartered in Luxembourg, today announced Karl-Heinz Holland has been appointed to the L1 Retail Advisory Board with immediate effect.

L1 Retail, L1's new retail investment business based in the UK, was launched in December last year. It aims to invest up to $3 billion in a small number of long term equity investments in retailers that have the potential to become leaders in their segments and markets, initially in Europe and emerging markets.

Karl-Heinz served for six years as CEO of Lidl Group, the pioneering German food retailer. He drove the expansion of Lidl across Europe and established it as one of the continent's leading food retailers. In a 23-year career with Lidl, Karl-Heinz was responsible for purchasing, marketing and international logistics prior to his appointment as CEO in 2008.

Karl-Heinz has extensive expertise and leadership experience in the international retail arena. He is currently Chairman of the Board of the DSD - Duales System Holding GmbH & Co. KG as well as Member of the Supervisory Board of Zooplus AG.

L1 Retail has appointed an Advisory Board of internationally renowned retail leaders and specialists, who are deeply involved in supporting its investment team and bring an array of world class skills.

Karl-Heinz joins Clive Humby, one of the founders of dunnhumby (today part of Tesco) and John Walden, the former CEO of Home Retail Group, on the L1 Retail Advisory Board. Clive was a pioneer of the use of data in retail organisations long before the existence of "big data". John has been at the forefront of multi-channel, consumer-driven retailing for more than 20 years.

Commenting on Karl-Heinz's appointment, Stephan DuCharme, Managing Partner L1 Retail said:

"We are delighted to welcome Karl Heinz to our L1 Retail Advisory Board and are already working closely with him. We are leveraging our collective strong track record in retail to invest in, and help build, the next generation of retailers internationally."

Commenting on his appointment Karl- Heinz said:

"I am excited by the opportunity to work with and support investment and management teams. It's great to be back working with other retailers. I fully subscribe to this long-term approach to building successful and sustainable retail concepts and companies. I'm looking forward to be part of a group that creates the next 21st century retail stars".

L1 Retail is also delighted to announce that Michael Casey has joined its team as Senior Investment Partner.

Michael Casey will have overall responsibility for leading deal execution under Managing Partner Stephan DuCharme, including shaping and executing the L1 Retail investment strategy across the offline and online retail spectrum.

Prior to joining L1 Retail, Michael was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, where he was responsible for the retail industry within the EMEA region. During his time at Goldman Sachs, Michael led numerous M&A and capital markets transactions in the retail sector. Michael previously served as a Managing Director in the UK Advisory Group at Goldman Sachs and as a Strategy Manager at Accenture.

L1 Retail is considering investments across various retail segments, including food retailing, health and beauty, as well as speciality retailing concepts that can be rolled out internationally based on data analytics and global supply chains.

SOURCE LetterOne
Still Waters: Services for Families in Transition was incorporated one year ago by a member of the Tukwila community who wanted to provide relief for the abundant need there is of everyday food among students in Tukwila School District.

"I started Tukwila Weekend SnackPack in 2015, a volunteer organization which specifically targets McKinney-Vento students in the Tukwila School District," said Still Waters founder Jenny McCoy. "The students here have a great need for weekend meals, everyday clothing, school supplies, a warm place to stay at night and so much more. I thought 'there has to be something I can do to help' and so I started Still Waters."

Still Waters main focus continues to be the Tukwila Weekend SnackPack Program, which provides students in the Tukwila School District with seven weekend meals that they might otherwise go without.

"The students are wonderful kids, they work hard and enjoy life even with the struggles they face," said McCoy. "Each Friday when we come to the schools to deliver these meals, we are greeted by excited, friendly faces which confirms that what we are doing is truly important."

The auction raised over $33,000 to support the Tukwila Weekend SnackPack Program.

"We are overwhelmed by the wonderful support, and now we have enough donations to get us off to a great start for the next school year," said McCoy.

Students in the Tukwila School District come from a variety of backgrounds. In 2014, Tukwila School District was named the most diverse school district in the nation.

"We have a great amount of support from our community, and we are so grateful that there are organizations like Still Waters and Inspirus Credit Union, that care about our students futures and who want them to succeed," said District Superintendent Nancy Coogan.

Inspirus Credit Union supports the district through its various partnerships, such as providing students with weekend meals, donating clothing and school supplies and volunteering in the schools to support students' educational growth and fun both inside and outside of the classroom.

Inspirus Credit Union is a public donation site where community members can drop off food donations to support the students in the Tukwila School District. Donations to be dropped off at Inspirus, located at 5200 Southcenter Blvd., Seattle.

About Inspirus Credit Union

Founded in 1936 by a Seattle math and journalism teacher, Inspirus serves 80,000 members across Washington who share a passion for education. With $1.1 billion in assets, Inspirus operates branches in Seattle, Spokane, and Lynnwood. Its philanthropy model includes education-giveback programs that allow members to direct charitable contributions to schools in their communities. Inspirus employees donate upwards of 1,000 volunteer hours each year in support of education. Inspirus Credit Union is a 2017 award winner of Puget Sound Business Journal's Corporate Champion Awards, honoring their contributions to education. For more information, visit inspirusCU.org.

SOURCE Inspirus Credit Union

Related Links

https://www.inspiruscu.org


For the balance of 2017, expirations in the Company's Core, Waterfront, and Flex portfolio total 1.4 million square feet or 7.6 percent of the portfolio. These expirations are heavily weighted towards the end of the year. On the Hudson River Waterfront, where the Company feels the market is the healthiest, the Company expects a substantial rollup in rent at today's market levels versus expiring rent.

Rents on the first quarter transactions rolled up 11.4 percent on a GAAP basis in Mack-Cali's Core, Waterfront, and Flex portfolio and 1.2 percent on a cash basis.

In April, the Company signed a lease with 24 Hour Fitness for a state of the art fitness facility to be built in the Mack-Cali Business Campus in Parsippany, New Jersey. The project further enhances the amenities in the campus and will be located adjacent to the Wegman's shopping center scheduled to open this July. The 24 Hour Fitness lease is subject to standard contingencies and is expected to open in approximately 24 months.

"The first quarter was a workmanlike quarter where we continued to execute on our plan of leasing our key markets and locations. The market remained steady from a demand perspective with ongoing showings and interest throughout the portfolio, with growing interest in our waterfront properties. Specifically, tours have picked up significantly and a number of tenants are applying for the incentive packages offered by the state of New Jersey prior to choosing a location," said Michael J. DeMarco, chief executive officer.

About Mack-Cali Realty Corporation

Mack-Cali Realty Corporation is a fully integrated, self-administered, self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) providing management, leasing, development, and other tenant-related services for its two-platform operations of waterfront and transit-based office and luxury multi-family assets. Mack-Cali provides its tenants and residents with the most innovative communities that empower them to re-imagine the way they work and live.

Additional information on Mack-Cali Realty Corporation and the commercial real estate properties and multi-family residential communities available for lease can be found on the Company's website at www.mack-cali.com.

Statements made in this press release may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may," "will," "plan," "potential," "projected," "should," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "target," "continue," or comparable terminology. Such forward-looking statements are inherently subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties, many of which the Company cannot predict with accuracy and some of which the Company might not even anticipate, and involve factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or suggested. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and are advised to consider the factors listed above together with the additional factors under the heading "Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Reports on Form 10-K, as may be supplemented or amended by the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, which are incorporated herein by reference. The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events, new information or otherwise.

Contacts: Michael DeMarco Mack-Cali Realty Corporation Chief Executive Officer (732) 590-1589 [email protected] Anthony Krug Mack-Cali Realty Corporation Chief Financial Officer (732) 590-1030 [email protected] Deidre Crockett Mack-Cali Realty Corporation Director of Investor Relations (732) 590-1025 [email protected]



SOURCE Mack-Cali Realty Corporation

Related Links

http://www.mack-cali.com


MEXICO CITY, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Maxcom Telecomunicaciones, S.A.B. de C.V. (OTCQX: MXMTY, BMV: MAXCOM A) ("Maxcom" or the "Company") today announced that it has amended its tender offer (the "Tender Offer") to purchase up to U.S.$25,000,000 (the "Maximum Tender Amount") of the outstanding Step-Up Senior Notes due 2020 issued by Maxcom (CUSIP No. 57773AAL6; ISIN US57773AAL61) (the "Notes"), as described in Maxcom's Offer to Purchase dated April 25, 2017 (the "Offer to Purchase").

The Company has amended the terms of the Offer to Purchase to allow Notes to be tendered in principal amounts less than the minimum denomination of U.S.$150,000, and will accept for purchase validly tendered notes in principal amounts equal to or greater than $1.00. In such case, the holder (the "Holder") should tender its entire holding. Any Holder that, following purchase of the Notes on the settlement date (including as a result of any pro-ration, if applicable), continues to hold in its account with the relevant Clearing System further Notes in an aggregate principal amount outstanding of less than U.S.$150,000, would need to purchase a principal amount of Notes such that its holding amount increases to at least the U.S.$150,000 of Notes before (1) the Notes it continues to hold may be traded in the relevant Clearing System or (2) it may receive a definitive Note in respect of such holding (should definitive Notes be printed). If proration of the tendered Notes is required, validly tendered Notes in principal amounts less than U.S.$150,000 will be accepted in full or rejected in full at the Company's discretion.

All other terms and conditions of the Offer to Purchase remain unchanged.

The Offer to Purchase, as well as other relevant notices and documents, will be available at the Offer Website: https://sites.dfkingltd.com/maxcom, which is operated by D.F. King Ltd., the Information Agent for the purpose of the Tender Offer. Access to the Offer Website is subject to the offer and distribution restrictions. The Information Agent's U.S. office can be reached at +1 (800) 967-5051 (toll-free) or +1 (212) 269-5550 (collect for bank and brokers); its London office can be reached at +44 20 7920 9700; and its Hong Kong office can be reached at +852 3953 7320. D.F. King will also act as the Tender Agent for the Tender Offer.

This release is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell or buy securities in any transaction. The Tender Offer is being made pursuant to the Offer to Purchase, copies of which will be delivered to holders of the Notes, and which set forth the complete terms and conditions of the Tender Offer. Holders are urged to read the Offer to Purchase carefully before making any decision with respect to the Tender Offer. The Tender Offer is not being made to, nor will Maxcom accept tenders of the Notes from, holders in any jurisdiction in which the Tender Offer would not be in compliance with the securities or blue sky laws of such jurisdiction. None of Maxcom, the Dealer Manager, the tender agent, the information agent or the trustee, or any of their respective affiliates, makes any recommendation in connection with the Tender Offer.

Neither the Offer to Purchase nor any related documents have been filed with, approved or disapproved by the Comision Nacional Bancaria y de Valores ("CNBV") of Mexico or the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") or any other securities commission or regulator, nor has the CNBV, the SEC or any other securities commission or regulator passed upon the fairness or merits of the Tender Offer or upon the accuracy or adequacy of the Offer to Purchase or any related documents. Any representation to the contrary is unlawful and may be a criminal offense.

About Maxcom

Maxcom Telecomunicaciones, S.A.B. de C.V., headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico is an integrated telecommunication services operator providing widespread voice and data services to residential and business customers in four metropolitan markets in Mexico and selected services in other markets.

Maxcom provides a wide range of services including local and long-distance voice, data, high speed, dedicated and dial-up Internet access, Voice over Internet Protocol telephony and paid TV. It also offers mobile voice service through resale and capacity leasing agreements with third parties.

In 2016, Maxcom's board resolved to change the Company's strategic direction, de-emphasizing the retail business and focusing on the enterprise business. Under this new strategy, the Company's management is continuously exploring alternatives to monetize or divest assets or businesses that are no longer in line with its strategic direction.

The trading of these securities by an investor will be made under such investor's own responsibility.

This release contains forward-looking statements. Statements that are not statements of historical facts, including statements about our beliefs and expectations are forward-looking statements. The words "believes," "expects," "intends," "will," "could," "may," "should" and similar words are intended to identify these statements. These statements reflect the current expectations of Maxcom's management and are subject to risks and uncertainties, which necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, Maxcom's actual results of operations may be different from our current expectations and the reader should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available. These assumptions also involve risks and uncertainties which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the risks related to the acceptance of any tendered Notes, the expiration and settlement of the Tender Offer, the satisfaction of conditions to the Tender Offer, whether the Tender Offers will be consummated in accordance with the terms set forth in the Offer to Purchase or at all and the timing of any of the foregoing, as well as other risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Maxcom does not undertake any obligation to update them in light of new information or future developments, except as may be required by law.

SOURCE Maxcom Telecomunicaciones
CLIFTON, N.J., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Comodo, a global innovator and developer of cybersecurity solutions, today announced that it will team with Chris Sherman, senior security analyst with Forrester Research, for a webinar focused on endpoint security.

Sherman will join Comodo Senior Research Scientist and NATO Cyber Center Ambassador Kenneth Geers as they explore the evolving cyberthreat landscape. To combat these modern cyber risks, they will discuss how rethinking endpoint security can improve security posture and usability while reducing complexity and costs.

Information security professionals are struggling with endpoint security "expense-in-depth," while cyberthreats and vulnerabilities persist. Traditional endpoint security solutions are no match for the current dynamic threat environment. Current endpoint security deployments can be overly complex with multiple point products to manage, sometimes introducing gaps in security.

In contrast, Comodo Advanced Endpoint Protection (AEP) provides a complete solution, including the industry's only default deny posture. Default deny can prevent infection, ending the malware problem once and for all.

Comodo is the only security vendor with a default deny platform that allows full usability of unknown files while they run in Secure Auto Containment until automatic and expert human analyses deliver a trust verdict of good or bad. Comodo AEP allows the good, blocks the bad and prevents the damage from unknown malware. Only good files run unfettered on endpoints.

Participants in the webinar can view a live demonstration of Comodo AEP followed by a Q&A session.

Who:

Chris Sherman , senior security analyst, Forrester Research

, senior security analyst, Forrester Research Kenneth Geers , senior research scientist, Comodo

What: "How to Reduce Complexity and User Friction by Improving Your Endpoint Security Posture"

When: Tuesday, May 23, 2017, 10 a.m. PT

Highlights:

Tradeoffs in single vendor vs. multivendor approaches (Forrester Research)

The changing cyberthreat landscape (Comodo)

How the Comodo AEP platform can help improve security and usability with Secure Auto Containment

Link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6545884584094040321

About Comodo

The Comodo organization is a global innovator of cybersecurity solutions, protecting critical information across the digital landscape. Building on its unique position as the world's largest certificate authority, Comodo authenticates, validates and secures networks and infrastructures from individuals to mid-sized companies to the world's largest enterprises. Comodo provides complete end-to-end security solutions across the boundary, internal network and endpoint with innovative technologies solving the most advanced malware threats, both known and unknown. With global headquarters in Clifton, New Jersey, and branch offices in Silicon Valley, Comodo has international offices in China, India, the Philippines, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit comodo.com.

Comodo and the Comodo brand are trademarks of the Comodo Group Inc. or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. The current list of Comodo trademarks and patents is available at comodo.com/repository.

Keep up to date with the latest Comodo News from the Comodo blog at https://blog.comodo.com/ and on Twitter @ComodoNews.

Connect with Comodo on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/comodo.

Media Contact:

Deb Montner

Montner Tech PR

[email protected]

203-226-9290

SOURCE Comodo

Related Links

https://www.comodo.com


SAN DIEGO, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Medical Marijuana, Inc. (OTC-PINK: MJNA), the first publicly traded cannabis company in the United States, is pleased to announce to shareholders and the public that the Company and its progress in both Mexico and the U.S. has been featured in a new article in Entrepreneur Magazine.

The May 3, 2017, Entrepreneur article titled "Researchers Amazed by Cases of Cannabis Helping Children Failed by Conventional Medicine" also included interviews with three families who were in attendance at the April 21-22 World Medical Cannabis Conference and Expo (WMCCE) in Pittsburgh, Pa. Each family used some sort of cannabidiol (CBD) hemp oil product with their children.

"We are excited to have Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s unique innovations in hemp-based CBD products covered by Entrepreneur Magazine, one of the top business publications in the world," said Dr. Stuart Titus, CEO of Medical Marijuana, Inc. "Our organization looks forward to initiating further research to demonstrate the potential benefits of CBD products to the medical and scientific community  we really have only scratched the surface."

The article's author Andre Bourque attended the WMCCE in Pittsburgh, which he describes as a "conference that delivered a refreshing perspective of the cannabis plant," with a central theme that "cannabis heals." Bourque writes in the article that "every triumph over disease is universally glorious but is even more powerfully affecting when those children and their families are sitting right in front of you. On stage at the WMCCE were three real-life, unique and compelling cases of miraculous results through cannabis CBD treatment."

Bourque goes on to describe the stories of Lillyann Baker, Harper Howard, and Grace Elizalde, three children who had their families and lives transformed after using a cannabis CBD treatment.

The article also discusses the role Mexican medical cannabis activist Raul Elizalde, the father of Grace Elizalde, has played in unifying the voices of families and patients in need of medical cannabis in Mexico.

"It is immoral not to give something to a patient that can help them heal," Elizalde was quoted as saying in the article. "Indeed, it's a disservice to the advancement of science, as well, and the World Medical Cannabis Conference and Expo did a fine job of reinforcing that point."

Raul Elizalde and his family were the first in Mexico to sue the federal government and win the right to import CBD hemp oil to treat their daughter Grace's sever form of epilepsy known as Lennox-Gastaux Syndrome. Raul's victory for his daughter created the legal precedent for other families in Mexico to gain access to CBD, including the Maldonados, who were granted the first-ever federal import permit from the Mexican government for Real Scientific Hemp Oil-X (RSHO-X) for their 11-year-old daughter Alina.

About Medical Marijuana, Inc.

Our mission is to be the premier cannabis and hemp industry innovators, leveraging our team of professionals to source, evaluate and purchase value-added companies and products, while allowing them to keep their integrity and entrepreneurial spirit. We strive to create awareness within our industry, develop environmentally-friendly, economically sustainable businesses, while increasing shareholder value. For details on Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s portfolio and investment companies, visit www.medicalmarijuanainc.com .

To see Medical Marijuana, Inc.'s video statement, click here. Shareholders are also encouraged to visit the Medical Marijuana, Inc. Shop for discounted products.

FORWARD-LOOKING DISCLAIMER AND DISCLOSURES

This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements and information, as defined within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the Safe Harbor created by those sections. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties. The statements in this press release have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. The Company does not sell or distribute any products that are in violation of the United States Controlled Substances Act. The Company does sell and distribute hemp-based products.

CONTACT:

Public Relations Contact:

Andrew Hard

Chief Executive Officer

CMW Media

P: 888-829- 0070

[email protected]

www.cmwmedia.com

SOURCE Medical Marijuana, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.medicalmarijuanainc.com


COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE: MTD) today announced first quarter results for 2017. Provided below are the highlights:

Sales in local currency increased 12% in the quarter compared with the prior year. Reported sales increased 10% as currency reduced sales growth by 2% in the quarter.

Net earnings per diluted share as reported (EPS) were $3.48 , compared with $2.40 in the prior-year period. Adjusted EPS was $3.34 , an increase of 36% over the prior-year amount of $2.46 . Adjusted EPS is a non-GAAP measure and we have included a reconciliation to EPS on the last page of the attached schedules.

First Quarter Results

Olivier Filliol, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "Sales growth in the quarter was excellent with broad-based strength across all regions. Our productivity and margin initiatives continue to yield tangible results driving strong margin expansion and very good growth in EPS. Finally, cash flow generation in the quarter was quite strong."

EPS in the quarter was $3.48, compared with the prior-year amount of $2.40. Adjusted EPS was $3.34, an increase of 36% over the prior-year amount of $2.46.

Sales were $594.6 million, a 12% increase in local currency sales, compared with $539.7 million in the prior-year quarter. Reported sales increased 10% as currency reduced sales growth by 2% in the quarter. As compared to the prior year, local currency sales increased 14% in the Americas, 13% in Europe and 9% in Asia / Rest of World. Adjusted operating income amounted to $127.3 million, a 25% increase from the prior-year amount of $102.0 million. Adjusted operating income is a non-GAAP measure, and a reconciliation to earnings before taxes is provided in the attached schedules.

Outlook

The Company said that based on its assessment of market conditions today, management anticipates local currency sales growth in 2017 will be approximately 7%. This sales growth is expected to result in Adjusted EPS in the range of $16.95 to $17.15, an increase of 15% to 16%. This compares to previous guidance of Adjusted EPS in the range of $16.55 to $16.75.

For the second quarter 2017, local currency sales growth is expected to be in the range of 8% to 9% and Adjusted EPS in the range of $3.85 to $3.90, an increase of 20% to 21%.

While the Company has provided an outlook for Adjusted EPS, it has not provided an outlook for EPS as it would require an estimate of non-recurring items, which are not yet known. The Company noted in making its outlook that economic uncertainty remains in certain regions of the world and market conditions are subject to change.

Conclusion

Filliol concluded, "We have a strong start to the year as we capitalize on favorable market conditions and continue to execute well. Our growth initiatives have good momentum and include our Field Turbo investments, Spinnaker sales and marketing initiatives and new product launches. We also continue to make good progress with our margin and productivity initiatives. While current market conditions are positive, we will face more challenging comparisons as the year progresses. With the promising start to the year, we are optimistic that we will deliver a strong performance in 2017."

Other Matters

The Company will host a conference call to discuss its quarterly results today (Thursday, May 4) at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. To hear a live webcast or replay of the call, visit the investor relations page on the Company's website at www.mt.com/investors. The presentation referenced in the conference call will be located on the website prior to the call.

METTLER TOLEDO (NYSE: MTD) is a leading global supplier of precision instruments and services. We have strong leadership positions in all of our businesses and believe we hold global number-one market positions in most of them. We are recognized as an innovation leader and our solutions are critical in key R&D, quality control, and manufacturing processes for customers in a wide range of industries including life sciences, food, and chemicals. Our sales and service network is one of the most extensive in the industry. Our products are sold in more than 140 countries and we have a direct presence in approximately 40 countries. With proven growth strategies and a focus on execution, we have achieved a long-term track record of strong financial performance. For more information, please visit www.mt.com.

Statements in this press release which are not historical facts constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our businesses' actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "intend," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or "continue" or the negative of those terms or other comparable terminology. For a discussion of these risks and uncertainties, please see the discussion on forward-looking statements in our current report on Form 8-K to which this release has been furnished as an exhibit. All of the forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the factors discussed under the captions "Factors affecting our future operating results" and in the "Business" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" sections of our annual report on Form 10-K for the most recently completed fiscal year, which describe risks and factors that could cause results to differ materially from those projected in those forward-looking statements.

METTLER-TOLEDO INTERNATIONAL INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (amounts in thousands except share data) (unaudited)















































Three months ended















Three months ended

















March 31, 2017

% of sales



March 31, 2016

% of sales









































Net sales



$594,567

(a)

100.0







$539,674





100.0



Cost of sales



251,667





42.3







239,767





44.4



Gross profit



342,900





57.7







299,907





55.6











































Research and development



31,392





5.3







28,973





5.4



Selling, general and administrative



184,172





31.0







168,921





31.3



Amortization



10,045





1.7







8,424





1.6



Interest expense



7,741





1.3







6,580





1.2



Restructuring charges



1,432





0.2







880





0.2



Other charges (income), net



(5,730)

(b)

(0.9)







(284)





(0.1)



Earnings before taxes



113,848





19.1







86,413





16.0











































Provision for taxes



21,382





3.5







20,739





3.8



Net earnings



$92,466





15.6







$65,674





12.2











































Basic earnings per common share:



































Net earnings



$3.57















$2.44











Weighted average number of common shares



25,932,112















26,931,293



















































Diluted earnings per common share:



































Net earnings



$3.48















$2.40











Weighted average number of common



26,586,061















27,421,019











and common equivalent shares











































































Note:



































(a) Local currency sales increased 12% as compared to the same period in 2016.



















































RECONCILIATION OF EARNINGS BEFORE TAXES TO ADJUSTED OPERATING INCOME















































Three months ended















Three months ended

















March 31, 2017

% of sales



March 31, 2016

% of sales









































Earnings before taxes



$113,848















$86,413











Amortization



10,045















8,424











Interest expense



7,741















6,580











Restructuring charges



1,432















880











Other charges (income), net



(5,730)

(b)











(284)











Adjusted operating income



$127,336

(c)

21.4







$102,013





18.9











































Note:



































(b) Other charges (income), net includes a one-time gain of $3.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017 relating to the sale of a facility in Switzerland in connection with our initiative to consolidate certain Swiss operations into a new facility.

(c) Adjusted operating income increased 25% as compared to the same period in 2016.











METTLER-TOLEDO INTERNATIONAL INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (amounts in thousands) (unaudited)











































March 31, 2017



December 31, 2016



















Cash and cash equivalents



$164,893







$158,674

Accounts receivable, net



439,413







454,988

Inventories



242,375







222,047

Other current assets and prepaid expenses



66,184







61,075

Total current assets



912,865







896,784





















Property, plant and equipment, net



572,058







563,707

Goodwill and other intangibles assets, net



644,128







643,433

Other non-current assets



74,713







62,853

Total assets



$2,203,764







$2,166,777





















Short-term borrowings and maturities of long-term debt



$19,476







$18,974

Trade accounts payable



137,827







146,593

Accrued and other current liabilities



403,859







421,948

Total current liabilities



561,162







587,515





















Long-term debt



944,211







875,056

Other non-current liabilities



258,539







269,263

Total liabilities



1,763,912







1,731,834





















Shareholders' equity



439,852







434,943

Total liabilities and shareholders' equity



$2,203,764







$2,166,777























METTLER-TOLEDO INTERNATIONAL INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (amounts in thousands) (unaudited)























Three months ended









March 31,









2017

2016

















Cash flow from operating activities:











Net earnings



$92,466

$65,674

Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to

net cash provided by operating activities:























Depreciation



7,966

8,122

Amortization



10,045

8,424

Deferred tax benefit



(1,470)

(3,304)

Gain on facility sale



(3,394)

-

Other



3,812

3,579

Decrease in cash resulting from changes in











operating assets and liabilities



(41,826)

(40,990)

Net cash provided by operating activities



67,599

41,505

















Cash flows from investing activities:











Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment(a)



10,003

135

Purchase of property, plant and equipment



(21,015)

(14,348)

Acquisitions



-

(4,329)

Net hedging settlements on intercompany loans



312

2,128

Net cash used in investing activities



(10,700)

(16,414)

















Cash flows from financing activities:











Proceeds from borrowings



472,732

229,413

Repayments of borrowings



(409,881)

(124,467)

Proceeds from exercise of stock options



8,201

5,909

Repurchases of common stock



(124,997)

(125,000)

Other financing activities



-

(125)

Net cash used in financing activities



(53,945)

(14,270)

















Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents



3,265

887

















Net increase in cash and cash equivalents



6,219

11,708

















Cash and cash equivalents:











Beginning of period



$158,674

98,887

End of period



$164,893

$110,595

































RECONCILIATION OF NET CASH PROVIDED BY OPERATING ACTIVITIES TO FREE CASH FLOW















Net cash provided by operating activities



$67,599

$35,700

Payments in respect of restructuring activities



2,578

1,841

Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment



10,003

135

Purchase of property, plant and equipment



(21,015)

(14,348)

Free cash flow



$59,165

$23,328

















(a) Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment includes $9.9 million relating to the sale of a facility in Switzerland in connection with our initiative to consolidate certain Swiss operations into a new facility.



METTLER-TOLEDO INTERNATIONAL INC. OTHER OPERATING STATISTICS























































SALES GROWTH BY DESTINATION (unaudited)



































Europe

Americas

Asia/RoW

Total































U.S. Dollar Sales Growth

























Three Months Ended March 31, 2017



9%

14% 7%

10%





























Local Currency Sales Growth

























Three Months Ended March 31, 2017



13%

14% 9%

12%





















































































RECONCILIATION OF DILUTED EPS AS REPORTED TO ADJUSTED DILUTED EPS (unaudited)







































Three months ended













March 31,













2017



2016

% Growth





























EPS as reported, diluted







$3.48



$2.40

45%





























Restructuring charges, net of tax







0.04 (a)

0.02 (a)





Purchased intangible amortization, net of tax







0.06 (b)

0.04 (b)





Income tax expense







(0.14) (c)

-







Gain on facility sale







(0.10) (d)

-



































Adjusted EPS, diluted







$3.34



$2.46

36%





























Notes:























(a) Represents the EPS impact of restructuring charges of $1.4 million ($1.1 million after tax) and $0.9 million ($0.7 million after tax) for both the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, which primarily include employee related costs. (b) Represents the EPS impact of purchased intangibles amortization, net of tax, of $1.5 million and $1.1 million for the three month periods ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. (c) Represents the EPS impact of the difference between our reported tax rate of 19% during the three months ending March 31, 2017 and our estimated annual income tax rate of 22% pertaining to excess tax benefits associated with stock option exercises. (d) Represents the EPS impact of a one-time gain of $3.4 million ($2.7 million after tax) for the three months ended March 31, 2017 relating to the sale of a facility in Switzerland in connection with our initiative to consolidate certain Swiss operations into a new facility.





SOURCE Mettler-Toledo International Inc.

Related Links

http://www.mt.com


TAMPA, Fla., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Save the date for Summit Nashville, October 10-13 at the stunning, iconic Gaylord Opryland Hotel.

Why Microsoft Dynamics GP users should attend

As a Microsoft Dynamics GP user you rely on your user group peers to keep your business moving with frequent exchanges that boost your knowledge. This fall, step away from the world of net-centered chat and power real-life growth alongside your peers in a lively, engaged environment. The value of Summit is endless but here are a few reasons why we think you'll benefit from attending:

Tackle analytics: GP reporting might be complex, but it doesn't have to be painful. Learn from fellow GP users how they tackle the analytics that lead to better decisions within their organizations.

GP reporting might be complex, but it doesn't have to be painful. Learn from fellow GP users how they tackle the analytics that lead to better decisions within their organizations. Gather security recommendations: When your organization's GP security is on the line, making mistakes isn't an option. Your GP user group peers know that, and they come equipped with advice for implementing and strengthening security protocol.

When your organization's GP security is on the line, making mistakes isn't an option. Your GP user group peers know that, and they come equipped with advice for implementing and strengthening security protocol. Increase your expertise: Get prepped to approach, analyze, synthesize, and report at a higher level using Dynamics GP, with hands-on training that will make you feel able to accomplish everyday tasks and explain the results to team members of all skill levels.

Get prepped to approach, analyze, synthesize, and report at a higher level using Dynamics GP, with hands-on training that will make you feel able to accomplish everyday tasks and explain the results to team members of all skill levels. Meet & network with your user group buddies: Nowhere else will you find the collective Dynamics GP brainpower than at Summit North America.

Artwork commissioned for attendees

We chose Nashville for this year's Summit because we were drawn to the vibrancy of the city. Known for being an incubator for new ideas, as well as the setting where legends return to perform, Nashville has a lot in common with Summit. To celebrate the place and people who represent this year's conference, and to encompass collaboration and energy, we've joined forces with a sought-after artist to create an original piece of art just for our attendees. Over the next few months, we'll reveal parts of his artwork until the complete artwork will be unveiled at Summit. Enjoy the vibrancy of Nashville in art form, right in your inbox and don't miss out on the reveal at Summit!

Early bird pricing

If you are a member save up to $400 when you register before the Summit Nashville Early Bird pricing deadline. Not yet a member? You can also save and gain year-long value when you bundle your registration to become a member of the user group. Learn more now.

Register

Meeting your user group in person is key to pushing the Microsoft Dynamics GP community forward and Summit is a powerhouse of knowledge and energy  so register now, grab your boots & join us in Nashville!

SOURCE Dynamic Communities

Related Links

http://www.dynamiccommunities.com


Regardless of where you're going, with only a few weeks left, now is the perfect time to book the ultimate weekend getaway for Memorial Day 2017. Here are the top five most popular destinations* for people traveling this Memorial Day weekend.

Florida : What's happening in Florida ? Florida is the most searched travel destination, even among people who already live in the state. Book a three and a half star room in Miami , starting from $72 /night.

What's happening in ? is the searched travel destination, even among people who already live in the state. Book a three and a half star room in , starting from /night. California : Besides in-state travelers, California will likely welcome more people from Nevada and Arizona than any other state. Los Angeles is super affordable, and you can grab a four-star hotel room from as low as $70 /night.

Besides in-state travelers, will likely welcome more people from and than any other state. is super affordable, and you can grab a four-star hotel room from as low as /night. New York : Whether people are flocking to New York City or The Hamptons, New York state is the third most popular travel destination this Memorial Day weekend. Stay in a 3.5-star hotel near the Empire State building starting at $78 and up a night.

Whether people are flocking to or The Hamptons, is the third most popular travel destination this weekend. Stay in a 3.5-star hotel near the Empire State building starting at and up a night. Nevada : Apparently it's the place to be this Memorial Day , seeing a more than 980% increase in people entering the state vs. leaving. Stay in a 3.5-star hotel in Sin City from just $56 a night.

Apparently it's the place to be this , seeing a more than 980% increase in people entering the state vs. leaving. Stay in a 3.5-star hotel in Sin City from just a night. Texas : Why not celebrate Memorial Day in the largest state in the southern US? Not sure if it's the BBQ or the sunshine, but Texas is the fifth most popular state for travel this holiday weekend. You can stay in a 3.5-star hotel starting at $84 a night.

But, where are all these travelers coming from? The highest percentage of travelers is leaving these five less sunshine-y states for, well, obvious reasons.

Nebraska

Oregon

Georgia

Washington

Ohio

*Prices based on search on May 3 for three and a half star and above Hot Rate Hotels during May 26 through May 30, 2017.

About Hotwire

Hotwire.com inspires spontaneous travel through Hot Rate deals. Launched in 2000, Hotwire, Inc. obtains deep discounts from its travel suppliers to help travelers book unsold airline seats, hotel rooms and rental cars. Hotwire.com is an award winning website and Hotwire, Inc. is an operating company within Expedia, Inc. For more information, visit http://www.hotwire.com.

2017 Hotwire, Inc. All rights reserved. Hotwire, Hotwire.com and the Hotwire logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Hotwire, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. CST # 2053390-40.

Contact:

Anita Lavine, Porter Novelli for Hotwire

[email protected]

206-770-7075

SOURCE Hotwire.com

Related Links

http://www.hotwire.com


TEL AVIV, Israel, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The new antenna MT009D09RH has again of 8 dBic and covers 865 - 965MHz frequency range and 1ft size.

The antenna complies with ATEX 95, Directive 94/9EC (Group I, M1, ia) and suitable for deployment at all the Atex zones.

MTI developed the core technology and created this first ATEX antenna as a model which can easily be adopted in the future to other needs. The technology allows us to create different Atex antennas, in various gains, polarizations and frequencies, fast and cost effective.

This antenna adds one more RFID category to our portfolio and joined the MTI antenna offering for RFID applications such as: Asset Tracking, Work-In-Process, Asset Management, Retail, Oil and Gas, Toll & Transportation, Waste management and more.

"MTI continues to address customer's high performance RFID system's needs," said Dov Feiner CEO & President, MTI Wireless Edge Ltd. "MTI is committed to support its leadership position in the RFID antenna Market."

About MTI Wireless Edge Ltd.

MTI Wireless Edge Limited is engaged in the development, production and marketing of High Quality, Cost Effective, Flat Panel Antennas for Commercial and Military applications. Commercial applications include: 4G, LTE, WiMAX, Wi-Fi, Point-to-Multipoint (PtMP), Point-to-Point (PtP), and Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) applications as well as for Public Safety, Utilities and general Wireless Networking. With over 40 years' experience, supplying antennas up to 90GHz including directional antennas for base stations, subscribers and omni directional antennas for outdoor and indoor deployments as well as Smart Antennas. For the RFID market, MTI offers antennas for RFID readers and terminals. Military applications include a wide range of broadband, tactical and specialized communications antennas, antenna systems and DF arrays installed on numerous ground, airborne, naval and submarine platforms worldwide.

For more details contact:

Reuven Drori - RFID Sales & Marketing Director

Tel: +972-3-9008900 Ext: 331 Fax: +972-3-9008901

Email: [email protected] http://www.mtiwe.com



SOURCE MTI Wireless Edge
Ship Finance International Limited (NYSE: SFL) ("Ship Finance" or the "Company") today announced that it has agreed to bareboat charter out the 2007-built drilling rig Soehanah to be employed under a drilling contract with a national oil company in Asia for a period of 12 months, with an option to extend the charter by an additional 12 months. The rig was redelivered to us in April, following a full 10-year special survey paid for by the previous charterer, and with certificates valid until 2022. The net EBITDA is expected to be approximately $4m during the fixed period of the charter, and the rig is now being mobilized with expected startup of the drilling operations in the second quarter of 2017.

May 4, 2017

The Board of Directors

Ship Finance International Limited

Hamilton, Bermuda

Questions can be directed to Ship Finance Management AS:

Investor and Analyst Contacts:

Harald Gurvin, Chief Financial Officer, Ship Finance Management AS

+47 23 11 40 09

Andre Reppen, Senior Vice President, Ship Finance Management AS

+47 23 11 40 55



Media Contact:

Ole B. Hjertaker, Chief Executive Officer, Ship Finance Management AS

+47 23 11 40 11

About Ship Finance

Ship Finance International Limited (NYSE: SFL) has an unprecedented track record in the maritime industry, being consistently profitable and paying dividends every quarter since 2004. The Company's fleet of more than 70 vessels is split between tankers, bulkers, container vessels and offshore assets, and Ship Finance's long term distribution capacity is supported by a portfolio of long term charters and significant growth in the asset base over time. More information can be found on the Company's website: www.shipfinance.bm

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward looking statements. These statements are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including Ship Finance management's examination of historical operating trends. Although Ship Finance believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond its control, Ship Finance cannot give assurance that it will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or intentions. Important factors that, in the Company's view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in this presentation include the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions including fluctuations in charter hire rates and vessel values, changes in demand in the tanker market as a result of changes in OPEC's petroleum production levels and worldwide oil consumption and storage, changes in the Company's operating expenses including bunker prices, dry-docking and insurance costs, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, and other important factors described from time to time in the reports filed by the Company with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
"The world wasn't ready to say goodbye to Naked Chicken, and neither were we," said Marisa Thalberg, Chief Marketing Officer at Taco Bell Corp. "Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, we went and added our famous Nacho Cheese to expose the traditional chips and cheese combo like only Taco Bell can."

The chips are made of marinated, all-white-meat chicken kicked up with bold Mexican spices and seasoning. Paired with Taco Bell's beloved Nacho Cheese sauce, the marriage of flavors takes a left turn from how fans have traditionally eaten both chicken and chips, making the Naked Chicken Chips the hottest new couple nationwide.

Naked Chicken Chips saw buzzworthy tests in select markets last summer. In addition to flying solo in either a 6-piece for $1.99 or as a 12-piece for $3.99, the chips will be available in a $5 Box including a Burrito Supreme, Crunchy Taco and Medium Drink, all for a limited time.

Naked Chicken isn't the only thing that's back. The Council For Eating Fried Chicken The Same Way You Always Have, a group dedicated to the preservation of traditional chicken values that first surfaced during the launch of the Naked Chicken Chalupa have already begun their marketing campaign against Naked Chicken Chips  which they deem equally as bold and dangerously delicious.

Fans are encouraged to follow along as the menu item's release approaches using the hashtag #NakedChickenChips for the chance to be among the first to try the Naked Chicken Chips in select cities nationwide.

About Taco Bell Corp.

Taco Bell Corp., a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM), is the nation's leading Mexican-inspired quick service restaurant (QSR) brand. From breakfast to late night, Taco Bell serves made-to-order and customizable tacos and burritos, among other craveable choices, and is the first QSR restaurant to offer American Vegetarian Association (AVA)-certified menu items. Taco Bell and its more than 350 franchise organizations proudly serve over 42 million customers each week through 7,000 restaurants across the nation, as well as through its mobile, desktop and delivery ordering services. Overseas, Taco Bell has over 250 restaurants, with plans to add 2,000 more restaurants internationally within the next decade. The brand encourages its fans to "Live Mas" and connects with them through sports, gaming and new music via its Feed The Beat music program. Taco Bell also provides education opportunities and serves the community through its nonprofit organization, the Taco Bell Foundation, and connects fans with their passions through programs such as the Live Mas Scholarship program. In 2016, Taco Bell was named as one of Fast Company's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in the World.

Like: Facebook.com/tacobell -- Follow: @TacoBell (Twitter), tacobell (Instagram) and tacobell (Snapchat) -- Subscribe: YouTube.com/tacobell  Explore: ta.co

SOURCE Taco Bell Corp.

Related Links

http://www.tacobell.com


WASHINGTON, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Media accreditation now is open for launch of the next SpaceX commercial cargo resupply services mission to the International Space Station, currently targeted for Thursday, June 1.

The uncrewed Dragon cargo spacecraft will launch on a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Media prelaunch and launch activities will take place at Kennedy. Credentialing deadlines are as follows:

International media without U.S. citizenship must apply by 4:30 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, May 16 .

on . U.S. media must apply by 4:30 p.m. Sunday, May 21 .

All media accreditation requests should be submitted online.

International media are required to upload a scanned copy of their media visa and passport or green card with their accreditation requests. Media must present two forms of unexpired, government identification to enter Kennedy. One form must include a photo, such as a passport or driver's license.

Questions about accreditation may be addressed to Jennifer Horner at 321-867-6598 or [email protected]. For other questions, or additional information, contact Kennedy's newsroom at 321-867-2468.

This is the eleventh mission by SpaceX under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract. In addition to supplies and equipment, Dragon will deliver several science investigations to the space station, including:

the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) instrument will measure neutron stars and test, for the first time in space, technology that uses pulsars as navigation beacons;

the Roll-Out Solar Array, or ROSA, will test deployment and retraction of a new type of solar panel that rolls open in space like a party favor and is more compact than current rigid panel designs; and

an Earth-viewing imaging platform created by Teledyne Brown called MUSES, which stands for Multiple User System for Earth Sensing, that will house high-resolution digital cameras and hyperspectral imagers.

The International Space Station is a convergence of science, technology and human innovation that demonstrates new technologies and makes research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The space station has been occupied continuously since November 2000. In that time, more than 200 people and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft have visited the orbiting laboratory. The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next great leap in exploration, including future missions to Mars.

For NASA TV schedule and video streaming information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

For launch countdown coverage, NASA's launch blog, and more information about the mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/spacex

SOURCE NASA

Related Links

http://www.nasa.gov


ST. LOUIS, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- National Asset Services, (NAS) one of the Nation's leading commercial real estate companies, has expanded their nationwide management portfolio with the addition of two, newly built, medical office properties in the St. Louis area.

The addition of the St. Louis locations further expands a nationwide commercial property management portfolio of over 60 properties in 23 states, including 27 medical office properties.

Fresenius Medical Care occupies a St. Louis medical office property managed by National Asset Services

NAS has been selected as the property management company and asset manager of both locations on behalf KB Exchange Trust, a commercial real estate investment firm headquartered in Las Vegas, NV.

One medical building is located in northern St. Louis County and situated near Interstate 270 and the New Halls Ferry Road exit. Fresenius Medical Care, one of the World's largest integrated provider of products and services for individuals undergoing dialysis due to chronic kidney failure, is the sole occupant of the 7,700 square foot building.

The other medical facility is located in the northern suburban village of Bel-Ridge, less than a half-mile from the villages of Bel-Nor and Bellerive, on Natural Bridge Road. DaVita HealthCare Partners is the lone tenant in the newly constructed 8,052 square-foot medical office building. DaVita HealthCare is a leading provider of kidney care in the United States and delivers dialysis services to patients with chronic kidney failure and end-stage renal disease.

"We look forward to delivering a superior level of management services to the investors in these two St. Louis properties," commented Karen E. Kennedy, President and Founder of National Asset Services. "They are a perfect fit with our team's skillset and medical office property management experience."

Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, NAS operates regional offices in Chicago, Illinois, and Austin, Texas. To see all NAS managed property locations, visit https://www.nasassets.com/property-locations.

About National Asset Services (NAS)

NAS is a commercial real estate management company that works with over 90 investment groups in properties of a nationwide portfolio valued at over $2 billion.

The company manages a wide range of diverse commercial real estate: Office, medical office, multifamily, retail, student housing, assisted living and industrial flex properties. The company manages solely owned and multi-owner properties. NAS offers a wide-range of asset management capabilities. They include: Real estate strategy analysis; long-range business objectives; monitoring changing market conditions; investor relations; real estate and investor accounting; loan modification and workout solutions; exit and hold strategies; leasing & marketing; tenant retention plans; research studies; site selections; feasibility studies; insurance risk management; capital improvement planning and tracking; property tax appeal services and cost segregation services.

For more information about NAS, visit www.nasassets.com.

JW Robison

310-795-8985

[email protected]

SOURCE National Asset Services

Related Links

http://www.nasassets.com


WASHINGTON, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) today issued a brief statement in advance of the House of Representatives' expected vote on the American Health Care Act (AHCA), urging Members to vote against the bill. ACEP's president, Dr. Rebecca Parker, said in a statement:

"Members of Congress should vote 'no' on the AHCA. We are very disappointed that the most recent version of the legislation does not guarantee insurance coverage for emergency medical care. Access to emergency medical care is critical to all Americans, as is insurance coverage for that care. This latest version of the new health care legislation does little to improve the health of the nation and will lead to more Americans not having any form of health care coverage.

In a recent poll, Americans overwhelmingly  95 percent wanted health insurance companies to cover emergency medical care, and we agree with them. The Affordable Care Act included emergency services as an essential health benefit and any replacement legislation must do the same. Patients can't choose where and when they will need emergency care and they shouldn't be punished financially for having emergencies. Federal legislation must ensure that patients having emergencies can seek emergency care knowing their insurer will provide coverage. Fortunately, the bill will go before the United States Senate, where we will work with others to make improvements."

The current version of the legislation would allow states to apply for waivers to opt out of providing insurance coverage for essential benefits, including emergency care.

ACEP is the national medical specialty society representing emergency physicians and the millions of patients they serve. ACEP is committed to advancing emergency care through continuing education, research and public education. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, ACEP has 53 chapters representing each state, as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. A Government Services Chapter represents emergency physicians employed by military branches and other government agencies.

www.faircoverage.org

Twitter @emergencydocs

SOURCE American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP)

Related Links

http://www.acep.org


PHILADELPHIA, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- NetDiligence, a leading cyber risk assessment and data breach services company, announced today that Vinny Sakore will be joining the company's management team in May.

Prior to joining NetDiligence, Mr. Sakore served as Verizon's HIPAA Security Officer and a member of Verizon's Cyber Security Strategy and Risk team.

Vinny Sakore Joins NetDiligence

The addition of Sakore bolsters and expands NetDiligence's award-winning consultative services and web-based solutions for cyber risk management, compliance and loss control.

"Vinny is a great addition to our team. We have known each other for many years," commented Mark Greisiger, president of NetDiligence. "He's a recognized industry thought leader who can instantly help NetDiligence's cyber liability insurance carrier partners better prepare their policyholders for emerging threats and nuanced regulatory exposures impacting the cyber risk management landscape. Insurers covering the healthcare sector will also benefit from Vinny's extensive HIPAA security compliance expertise."

"I'm delighted to be joining an industry leader like NetDiligence," said Sakore. "I look forward to adding value to the innovative cyber risk management solutions NetDiligence has introduced and to working directly with NetDiligence cyber liability insurance carrier partners to help them expand and enhance actionable risk management services for their policyholders."

Media Contact :

Mark Greisiger

President, NetDiligence

610.525.6383

[email protected]

About NetDiligence

NetDiligence is a privately-held cyber risk assessment and data breach services company. Since 2001, NetDiligence has conducted thousands of enterprise-level cyber risk assessments for a broad variety of organizations, including public entities, financial services, retailers, software developers, medical providers and universities. NetDiligence services are used by leading cyber liability insurers in the U.S. and U.K. to support both loss-control and education objectives. The NetDiligence eRiskHub (https://eriskhub.com) is licensed by a majority of cyber liability insurers to provide educational and loss-control services to their policyholders. NetDiligence also publishes an annual Cyber Claims Study and hosts annual Cyber Risk Conferences in Philadelphia, Santa Monica, Toronto and London. For more information, visit https://netdiligence.com.

SOURCE NetDiligence(R)
VANCOUVER, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Nevsun Resources Ltd. (TSX: NSU) (NYSE MKT: NSU) (Nevsun or the Company) is pleased to announce the release of its 2016 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report titled "Core Growth". All dollar values are in US dollars.

2016 CSR Highlights

Safety record: Zero Lost Time Injuries

Timok Project: Ongoing implementation of Nevsun CSR policies and ethical standards into growing Timok development team and commenced environmental and social impact assessment baseline study work

Economic: Distributed $269 million in economic value in Eritrea ( $78 million to local suppliers, $53 million in taxes and royalties and $16 million in dividends)

in economic value in ( to local suppliers, in taxes and royalties and in dividends) Employees: Increased training for Eritreans by 19% over the prior year

Environment: Spent $1.1 million on community and environmental management programs at Bisha

on community and environmental management programs at Bisha Human Rights: Continued progress on key human rights actions that reflect evolving international best practices

Community: Completed three community infrastructure projects near the Bisha Mine to enhance local water supply

"CSR is a cornerstone of how we run our business. We applied our corporate values in Eritrea at the Bisha Mine and nearby communities. In 2016, the Timok Project implemented a Stakeholder Engagement Plan (including a formal external grievance mechanism), a Community Investment Policy, and is investing heavily in our Social and Environmental Impact Assessment of the Timok project. We have made sustained progress across the CSR spectrum in 2016. These activities not only support our commitment to our core values, but help maintain our social license to operate," stated Cliff Davis, CEO of Nevsun.

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Guidelines continue as the basis of this Report, which is in accordance with the 'Core' criteria option of the fourth generation (G4) Framework.

To view the report, please visit http://www.nevsun.com/responsibility/reporting/.

About Nevsun Resources Ltd.

Nevsun Resources Ltd. is the 100% owner of the high-grade copper-gold Timok Upper Zone in Serbia and 60% owner of the high-grade copper-zinc Bisha Mine in Eritrea. Nevsun is well positioned with a strong debt-free balance sheet to grow shareholder value through advancing the Timok project to production.

NEVSUN RESOURCES LTD.

"Cliff T. Davis"

Cliff T. Davis

President & Chief Executive Officer

SOURCE Nevsun Resources Ltd.
PHILADELPHIA, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new $21 million gift to the Basser Center for BRCA at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania from alumni Mindy and Jon Gray will cement and propel Penn's preeminence as a leader in research to improve treatment and prevention strategies for hereditary cancers. The gift brings the Gray's total commitment to $55 million, following their initial $25 million gift that established the Basser Center in 2012, and subsequent gifts to support the Center, which advances BRCA gene mutation-related science around the world.

"Mindy and Jon have directed their visionary philanthropy to a most critical area in medicine," said University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann. "They have enabled Penn to create a unique model of cancer care that thrives on collaboration and personal engagement. Their support is already saving the lives of patients with - and at risk for - BRCA mutations. The possibility of eliminating genetic diseases increases exponentially because of their generosity and personal commitment. They are an exceptional example of Penn alumni who are making a positive difference in the world."



Since its establishment as the world's first center devoted to the study of BRCA-related cancers, the Basser Center has propelled improvements in prevention, screening, and treatment for men and women with BRCA gene mutations.

"The advancements we've made in understanding, treating and preventing BRCA-related cancers in the past five years are astounding and would not have been possible without the generosity of Mindy and Jon Gray," said Susan M. Domchek, MD, executive director of the Basser Center for BRCA. "Their support has fostered unparalleled collaborations that extend far beyond Penn, empowering the brightest minds around the world to take new, multi-disciplinary approaches toward achieving our shared goals of preventing and curing BRCA-related cancers."

Key accomplishments during the Basser Center's first five years include:

Design and execution of innovative clinical trials that paved the way to FDA approval of the PARP inhibitors olaparib and rucaparib for BRCA-associated ovarian cancer. These drugs have been shown to halt disease progression, dramatically shrink tumors, and improve the quality of life for BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation carriers whose breast, ovarian, pancreatic and prostate cancers have stopped responding to available therapies.

Illumination of the DNA repair mechanisms that drive ovarian cancer's resistance to chemotherapy through basic science advances in the laboratory. This work includes the development of the first method to visualize BRCA independent DNA repair mechanisms that contribute to resistance to targeted agents.

Determination of the dynamic interplay between genetics and immunology, including an ongoing clinical trial testing a vaccine to prevent cancer recurrence among patients with BRCA-associated cancer, with plans to test the vaccine as a preventive cancer therapy for people who are at-risk of developing the disease. In the laboratory, the vaccine improves survival in a genetic model of pancreatic cancer.

Creation of educational and outreach partnerships to at-risk groups, including a nationwide Jewish outreach campaign which brought BRCA education to more than 1,500 synagogues across the U.S. to encourage action against risk of inherited cancers, which disproportionately impact the Ashkenazi Jewish community.

Development of a genetic counseling model that extends genetic testing and vital counseling services to communities with limited or no access to this specialized type of care through the use of "telegenetics" via telephone or videoconferencing technologies.



Since 2012, the Basser Center has awarded transformative grants to 26 investigators and researchers at Penn and 12 at institutions around the world, including projects working to prevent the molecular changes in cells that lead to cancer, extend educational resources to at-risk populations, and understand racial disparities in BRCA mutations and associated cancers.

"With their generous gifts and exceptional innovation, Mindy and Jon have created a pioneering approach to accelerating medical research and care," said J. Larry Jameson, MD, PhD, dean of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and executive vice president of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System. "In today's climate, where the competition for limited federal funding is on the rise, philanthropy is a critical part of advancing our knowledge in the fight against cancer."

"We have been awed by the advancements made possible through the research and collaborations at the Basser Center over the last five years, and are more hopeful than ever that our support will lead to the cures for, and ultimately, the prevention of, BRCA-related cancers," said Mindy and Jon Gray.

Through the Gray's continued support, the Basser Center's vision will:

Uncover biomarkers for early detection of ovarian cancer. Recent research from Penn investigators has demonstrated that many ovarian cancers actually start in the fallopian tubes, not necessarily the ovaries - a finding which has refocused efforts on novel detection and study of precursor lesions in the fallopian tubes, and may bring a new option for removal of the fallopian tubes as a first-step prevention strategy for pre-menopausal women with BRCA mutations.

Test strategies that use personalized cellular therapies such as chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) T cell therapy or tumor vaccines to re-program the immune system to recognize and attack or, in the case of vaccines, prevent BRCA1/2 associated cancers of all types.

Study PARP inhibitors in combination with other drugs, including immune checkpoint inhibitors or targeted therapies, for the treatment of BRCA1/2-associated cancer while carefully analyzing predictors of response and resistance.

Extend the reach of preventive care and educational programs through new avenues for testing and telegenetics. This year, experts from leading institutions and organizations across the country will join forces to launch a pilot study of patients with an increased risk for BRCA mutations, aimed at making the testing process more accessible to the public, and expanding the number of individuals who can be tested.



Mindy and Jon Gray graduated from Penn in 1992. The couple has supported the University throughout their 25 years since graduation. The Basser Center was established in honor of Mindy's sister, Faith Basser, who passed away at the age of 44 of BRCA-related ovarian cancer. The Grays are also the founders of the Gray Foundation, a private foundation committed to maximizing access to education, healthcare and opportunity for low-income children in New York. The Gray Foundation is focused on funding initiatives to advance the care of individuals living with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations.



Jon Gray is the global head of real estate at Blackstone, and the chairman of the board of Hilton Hotels. Mindy Gray is the board chair of the Basser Leadership Council and sits on the Leadership Council of Peer Health Exchange, an organization dedicated to giving teens a comprehensive health education.



Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $6.7 billion enterprise.

The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 20 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $392 million awarded in the 2016 fiscal year.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center -- which are recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report -- Chester County Hospital; Lancaster General Health; Penn Wissahickon Hospice; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional affiliated inpatient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, a partnership between Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network and Penn Medicine.

Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2016, Penn Medicine provided $393 million to benefit our community.

Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania

The Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) of the University of Pennsylvania is a world leader in cancer research, patient care, and education. Its preeminent position is reflected in its continuous designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) since 1973, one of 45 such Centers in the United States, and its longstanding "exceptional" rating by the NCI. The ACC's clinical program is comprised of a dedicated, multi-disciplinary team of physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers, physical therapists, nutritionists, and patient care coordinators. Each year, the Center has more than 90,000 outpatient visits, over 11,800 inpatient discharges, and provides 37,000 chemotherapy treatments and more than 66,000 radiation treatments to its patients. In addition, the ACC is home to more than 400 basic, translational, and clinical scientists who work in tandem to advance new treatments and cures for cancers of all kinds.

CONTACT: Katie Delach, 215-349-5964, [email protected]

This news release was issued on behalf of Newswise(TM). For more information, visit http://www.newswise.com.

SOURCE Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
"Bats help control insect populations, pollinate flowers, disperse seeds, and are increasingly threatened," said Sherwood Snyder, director of product management at Wildlife Acoustics. "Our new modules provide a fun and educational tool to become engaged with bats and their plight."

Echo Meter Touch 2 ($179) is designed for budget-minded nature enthusiasts and batting hobbyists, while the Echo Meter Touch 2 Pro ($349) is designed for bat professionals. The updated Echo Meter Touch companion app is also available for free on the App Store and is also compatible with the original Echo Meter Touch module.

Wildlife Acoustics, the leading provider of bioacoustics monitoring and analysis systems, completely redesigned its ultrasonic module including a new patent pending horn that improves listening. The Pro version has additional advanced features including an adjustable mic gain to better detect distant or quiet bats and a selectable sample rate to record bats with very high frequency calls.

The modules, which connect via the Apple Lightening connector, listen for and record bat ultrasonic calls and displays them on a highly configurable, full-color spectrogram in real-time. The app automatically reveals the most likely bat species for each recording and tags the file with the recording location. Recordings can be easily shared with other bat enthusiasts or transferred to any computer for additional analysis.

Along with the new modules, Wildlife Acoustics has updated the Echo Meter Touch iOS app. The new app has the same spectrogram and likely species identification features as the original, but now includes beautiful bat images by esteemed bat expert and photographer Merlin Tuttle, author of The Secret Lives of Bats, My Adventures with the World's Most Misunderstood Mammals, who founded Bat Conservation International and currently leads Merlin Tuttle's Bat Conservation.

"Tuttle's images give bats a dignified face," added Snyder. "Seeing those portraits on the screen while a bat flies overhead really makes you feel connected to these magnificent creatures."

Bats have long been misunderstood and demonized all the while playing a crucial role in our ecosystems by controlling insect populations and pollinating flowers. A 2011 study estimated that bats have an economic impact of about $3.7 billion a year in reduced crop damage and pesticide use in the United States.

Over the past decade, the populations of several species of bats have been decimated by white-nose syndrome (WNS). The syndrome is named for the white fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, that infects the skin of the muzzle, ears, and wings of hibernating bats. Since the winter of 2008 it has killed untold millions of bats. WNS has been confirmed in 31 states and five Canadian provinces from Rhode Island to Washington state.

"We've seen bat numbers decline by almost 80 percent in the Northeast due to WNS, so every time I hear an affected species on my Echo Meter Touch, I'm encouraged that the bats that managed to survive are beginning to rebuild their populations," added Snyder.

Echo Meter Touch 2 follows Wildlife Acoustics' recent release of Song Sleuth, a simple to use and powerful application that enables anyone with an iOS device to record, recognize and positively identify the songs of nearly 200 North American birds. Song Sleuth also includes exclusive artwork, maps, information, and charts by renowned birding expert David Sibley.

ABOUT WILDLIFE ACOUSTICS

Wildlife Acoustics, Inc., (www.wildlifeacoustics.com) creates groundbreaking and affordable hardware and software tools for scientists, researchers, and government agencies worldwide who monitor birds, frogs, bats, insects fish, whales, elephants, rhinos and more. Wildlife Acoustics is the leading provider of monitoring systems that use bioacoustics, an emerging field of research that combines biology and acoustic data to gain insights into the natural world.

SOURCE Wildlife Acoustics

Related Links

http://www.wildlifeacoustics.com


WALNUT, Calif., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- VIASPACE Inc. (OTC: VSPC) announced a major revision of its corporate website www.VIASPACE.com to provide new information on Giant King Grass agriculture and applications for bioenergy and animal feed.

VIASPACE CEO Haris Basit stated, "VIASPACE is committed to communication with our customers and investors, and the new website is a key part of our efforts. The new website contains significantly expanded information on Giant King Grass, bioelectricity, biogas biofuels and animal feed. There are new data, information, pictures and videos."

Dr. Carl Kukkonen, VIASPACE Chief Technology Officer, said, "We receive a regular stream of inquiries about Giant King Grass, and we decided to put the information most requested on the website in order to educate potential customers, and enable them to refine their follow-up questions. We have included Giant King Grass as an excellent animal feed for the first time on the website."

Kukkonen continued, "VIASPACE not only supplies Giant King Grass as the crucial feedstock, we provide other services for customers such as business plans, financial models, prefeasibility and feasibility studies and engineering of biogas facilities and power plants. Our partners can build commission and operate power plants for customers. With these capabilities, VIASPACE can offer a complete solution of a Giant King Grass plantation and a power plant or biogas facility. I would welcome comments on the new website, and any follow-up questions."

The VIASPACE website covers the advantages of Giant King Grass for renewable energy, and compares Giant King Grass to fossil fuels, solar and wind in terms of cost and carbon dioxide emissions. Direct combustion and biogas power plants are described as well as the ability to upgrade biogas to high-quality for injection into the natural gas pipeline. Giant King Grass can be made into energy pellets and biocoal to be used as a low carbon fuel in existing coal power plants.

Giant King Grass when cut every 40 to 60 days is excellent animal feed with high protein content and palatability for cattle, dairy cows, sheep, goats, camels and other animals.

The extremely high yield of Giant King Grass makes it the lowest cost feedstock and therefore produces the lowest cost renewable base electricity, biofuels, biochemicals and animal feed.

About VIASPACE Inc.

VIASPACE grows renewable Giant King Grass as a low-carbon fuel for clean electricity generation; for environmentally friendly energy pellets; and as a feedstock for bio-methane production and for green cellulosic biofuels, biochemicals and biomaterials. Giant King Grass is a proprietary, high yield, dedicated biomass energy crop. Giant King Grass when it is cut frequently at 4 to 5 feet tall is also excellent animal feed. The USDA granted approval for planting Giant King Grass throughout the US and cooperates in exporting by performing the required inspections and issuing the phytosanitary certificate needed for import into foreign countries. Giant King Grass is being grown in the US including Hawaii, and many foreign countries. For more information, please go to www.VIASPACE.com or contact Dr. Jan Vandersande, Director of Communications, at 800-517-8050 or [email protected]

Safe Harbor Statement

Information in this news release includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Such factors include, without limitation, risks outlined in our periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, and other factors over which VIASPACE has little or no control.

SOURCE VIASPACE Inc.

Related Links

http://www.viaspace.com


Nintex earned this honour because it has demonstrated a highly trusted and engaged workplace culture. Nintex ranked in the UK's Best Workplaces' Small Category, designed for organisations with 20-49 employees. Nintex currently employees 49 people in London and more than 400 globally. The methodology behind the Great Places to Work rankings is one of the most rigorous in the industry and includes an employee survey and an audit into the organisation's management and HR practices.

"Nintex employees work very well together and are relentlessly focused on the success of our customers and partners," says Perry Gale, VP of Sales for EMEA at Nintex. "Our London office is comprised of exceptional individuals, representing 25 different nationalities and speaking nearly 30 languages. Together, we work hard to maintain a culture that attracts the best talent and makes Nintex an employer of choice in the UK as well as globally."

Nintex offers competitive salaries, flexible working environments, and generous employee benefits. For career opportunities, visit https://careers.nintex.com/ to see current open positions at Nintex based in London, Melbourne, the United States (Bellevue, Wash. and Irvine, Calif.), Kuala Lumpur, and Tokyo.

Great Place to Work CEO Tom O'Byrne adds, "We are delighted to see Nintex on our Best Workplaces list this year. It is a validation of the strength of their leadership and commitment to creating the kind of culture which attracts and retains the best talent and where people have pride in what they do and want to do their best. The hallmark of a great workplace like Nintex is that their policies and practices are designed around the employee; this employee focus helps attract and retain the talent essential for driving and sustaining competitive performance. It is no coincidence that high trust organisations like Nintex also tend to perform better than their peers."

Media Contact

Kristin Treat

Nintex Public Relations

[email protected]

cell: (215) 317-9091

About Nintex

Nintex, with its industry-leading workflow and content automation (WCA) technology, empowers the line of business and IT departments to quickly automate hundreds of manual processes to progress on the journey to digital transformation. Nintex Workflow Cloud, the company's cloud platform, connects with all content repositories, systems of record, and people to consistently fuel successful business outcomes. The leader in the industry, Nintex has over 7,000 enterprise clients in 90 countries who have built and published millions of workflow applications. Visit www.nintex.com to learn more.

About Great Place to Work

Great Place to Work UK is a consultancy specialising in workplace culture, helping organisations to create exceptional, high performing workplaces where employees feel trusted and valued. We help employers improve recruitment, retention and productivity by putting employees at the heart of the organisation, analysing what they think and feel and identifying the real issues that need to be addressed. Part of a global organisation, we apply data and insights from over 7,000 organisations across the world to benchmark individual performance and advise employers on how to continuously improve employee engagement and wellbeing and so help build and sustain business performance. We run the Best Workplaces awards to enable the organisations we work with celebrate their achievements, build their employer brand and inspire others to take action.

We share our learnings through our research and publications at national, regional and global level, as well as through conferences and events.

To see the 2017 Best Workplaces list and to learn more about how to build a high-trust, high-performing workplace culture, visit www.greatplacetowork.co.uk

Follow Great Place to Work online at www.greatplacetowork.co.uk and on Twitter at @GPTW_UK. For information about global operations at Great Place to Work, visit www.greatplacetowork.net.

Product or service names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Nintex

Related Links

http://www.nintex.com


DALLAS, May 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rocky Mountain High Brands, Inc. (OTCQB:RMHB), a fully reporting consumer goods company specializing in hemp-infused food and beverage products and a naturally high alkaline water, announced today that the Companys subsidiary, Rocky Mountain High Water Company, LLC was approved by the Intertribal Agriculture Council (IAC) to place the Made/Produced by American Indians trademark on its bottles and box packaging for Eagle Spirit Spring Water.



Rocky Mountain High Water Company, LLC, is a majority-owned Native American enterprise.

The Made/Produced by American Indians trademark has been officially converted to a certification mark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This was done to clarify the actual purpose of the mark. The IAC is proud to offer this certification to American Indian producers and artisans to certify that their products are indeed authentic Native American made. The certification has also been filed in foreign countries: Canada and Hong Kong.

The Made/Produced by American Indians certification mark was initially approved as a trademark by the U.S. patent office in Washington, D.C. in September 1994. It was developed specifically to denote authenticity and protect Native American producers and consumers from buying and using fake imitations. The American Indian Foods program will continue to use this emblem for consumers to easily identify authentic American Indian produced goods. It is a unique symbol of Native American culture, tradition and pride that is found in Indian Country and allows Native Americans to proudly display and provide authenticity of American Indian made products.

Michael Welch, President and Chief Executive Officer of Rocky Mountain High Brands, said, We are very proud to have secured this trademark for our Eagle Spirit Spring Water. Not only does it pay honor to the waters Native American heritage, it provides us a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Once we export Eagle Spirit Spring Water, we will be able to submit proportionate marketing expenditures for reimbursement from a program funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Lily Li, Managing Member of LSW Holdings, LLC, the entity that recently acquired controlling interest in Rocky Mountain High Brands, stated, We are very pleased to have a premium water that has the Made/Produced by American Indians trademark associated with it. We believe that this water will be in demand worldwide.

About Rocky Mountain High Brands:

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH BRANDS, INC., is a consumer goods company specializing in brand development of health conscious, hemp-infused food and beverage products. The Company currently markets a lineup of four naturally flavored hemp-infused beverages (Citrus Energy, Black Tea, Mango Energy and Lemonade) and a low calorie Coconut Lime Energy drink. Rocky Mountain High Brands also offers hemp-infused 2oz. Mango Energy Shots and Mixed Berry Energy Shots. The Company recently launched a naturally high alkaline spring water, Eagle Spirit Spring Water.

For interested investors, our stock symbol is RMHB.

For ordering information please visit: LiveRockyMountainHigh.com

For corporate information please visit: RockyMountainHighBrands.com

For information on our high alkaline water visit: EagleSpiritWater.com

For Rocky Mountain High Distribution Contact:

Chuck Smith (972) 955-0964

chuck@rockymountainhighbrands.com

Visit us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rockymountainhighbrands?fref=nf

Visit us on Twitter:

#GetYourHempOn

Visit us at Investors Hangout: http://investorshangout.com/Rocky-Mountain-High-Brands-Inc-RMHB-69150/

Investors Hangout is the only authorized Investors blog page for Rocky Mountain High Brands, Inc.

Safe Harbor Act: This release includes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involves risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the impact of competitive products, the ability to meet customer demand, the ability to manage growth, acquisitions of technology, equipment, or human resources, the effect of economic business conditions and the ability to attract and retain skilled personnel. The Company is not obligated to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this release.
SEATTLE, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Seattle-based Nordstrom, Inc. announced today that Anne Bramman is joining the company as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective June 2, 2017.

"After a thorough search for a CFO, we're excited to have Anne join our team," said Blake Nordstrom, co-president of Nordstrom, Inc. "Anne's breadth of financial expertise and background as a strong business leader will serve us well as we continue to invest in our growth strategy."

Ms. Bramman comes to Nordstrom from Avery Dennison Corporation where she has served as Senior Vice President and CFO since 2015. Ms. Bramman has an extensive financial leadership background in a variety of industries, including retail. She previously held the CFO position at Carnival Cruise Line and was CFO of Henri Bendel, a subsidiary of L Brands Inc. In her new role, Ms. Bramman will focus on driving productivity and supporting Nordstrom's continued growth.

"I've always admired Nordstrom and am excited to join the company during a time of transformative change in the industry," said Ms. Bramman. "Nordstrom has been an industry leader in strategically investing for the future and I look forward to supporting their commitment to operating excellence."

Mike Koppel retired as the company's CFO May 1, 2017 after 16 years and will continue to support Nordstrom in a consulting and advisory role through the end of the year.

About Nordstrom

Nordstrom, Inc. is a leading fashion specialty retailer based in the U.S. Founded in 1901 as a shoe store in Seattle, today Nordstrom operates 353 stores in 40 states, including 122 full-line stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico; 220 Nordstrom Rack stores; two Jeffrey boutiques; and two clearance stores. Additionally, customers are served online through Nordstrom.com, Nordstromrack.com and HauteLook. The company also owns Trunk Club, a personalized clothing service serving customers online at TrunkClub.com and its seven clubhouses. Nordstrom, Inc.'s common stock is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol JWN.

INVESTOR CONTACT:

Trina Schurman Nordstrom, Inc.

(206) 303-6503

[email protected]

MEDIA CONTACT:

Gigi Ganatra Duff

Nordstrom, Inc.

(206) 303-3030

[email protected]

SOURCE Nordstrom, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.nordstrom.com


ALBANY, N.Y., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Local 291 Council Representative Peter McAnearney of The Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters (NRCC) will be honored as the Albany County Executive's Citizen of the Month on May 5, presented by Albany County Executive, Daniel P. McCoy.

The award ceremony, held at 10:30 a.m. in Local 291's Council Office (1284 Central Avenue, Albany, NY 12205), will honor McAnearney for his hard-work and dedication to the community because of his years of service to the Albany area. Aside from being a Council Representative, he is heavily involved with a number of non-profit organizations including charitable work with the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, the Ronald McDonald House and helping to rebuild the camps at Lawson Lake.

Christopher Dugan, Team Leader of Local 291, nominated McAnearney because of his continued devotion and volunteerism to Albany County.

"If anyone deserves this award, it's Peter," said Dugan. "I recognize him as one of the most active guys in our Local and our community, and I am thrilled to have nominated him."

McAnearney, who is a Union Carpenter of 15 years and a NRCC Council Representative for three, feels that he is not only accepting the award on behalf of himself, but also his fellow Union members.

"I use my position with the NRCC to help get other members involved with charity work in the area," said McAnearney. "I like to do this work, and I will dedicate my award to my Brothers and Sisters who are in my Union."

The Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters (NRCC) represents nearly 40,000 hardworking men and women in Delaware and New Jersey and portions of Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania. NRCC is one of the largest trade unions on the East Coast. The NRCC equips professional men and women carpenters with the skills, training and quality workmanship that are demanded in today's construction industry. For more information on NRCC, please visit our website: www.northeastcarpenters.org; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NortheastRegionalCouncilofCarpenters; or Twitter: @NRCCarpenters.

SOURCE Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters (NRCC)

Related Links

http://www.northeastcarpenters.org


TEL AVIV, Israel, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Nutraid, an innovative provider of nutritional analysis and food labelling solutions, today announced that the company will be launching its Nutraid SaaS solution at the upcoming Seeds & Chips Global Innovation Summit in Milano, Italy.

The Nutraid SaaS solution is designed for food manufacturers, caterers and restaurants to calculate the nutritional values of their recipes and create compliant food labels in minutes. With the Nutraid SaaS solution, users simply enter their recipe ingredients and customized label information and then select their label format and language. The labels can be downloaded for further editing or can be exported directly to label printing software.

The Nutraid SaaS solution addresses the growing need for regulation compliant food labels. For instance, EU Regulation 1169 requires that all food manufacturers in the European Union clearly and accurately provide customers with information on nutritional value, allergens and ingredients declaration for the foods they package, while the FDA in the United States maintains strict standards for food labels. The Nutraid SaaS solution easily supports these and other regional and international food labelling regulatory requirements.

The Nutraid SaaS solution is currently available in several European languages, including English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch, while additional languages can be easily added. The Nutraid SaaS solution can automatically translate labels to any of the available languages and includes options for preparing multilingual labels.

The Nutraid SaaS solution also incorporates several international ingredient databases, including McCance & Widdowson, USDA, INRAN and Ciqual.

The Nutraid SaaS solution runs from the Cloud and is accessible from any device.

"We are growing rapidly across Europe and our ability to easily facilitate compliance with food labelling regulations is driving the demand for our solution among small to medium sized food manufacturers," explained Roni Avital, General Manager at Nutraid. "Also, for our sales channel partners, we offer a great opportunity to extend their offering and create new possibilities to better serve their customers and generate new revenue sources."

Nutraid reports that the company successfully launched last year in France and currently holds a 20% market share in Israel.

Nutraid is currently expanding its global sales channel partner network and is looking for new strategic partners, such as technology vendors and solution providers, supporting SMEs in the Food & Beverage sector.

Nutraid will be demonstrating its nutritional analysis and food labelling solution at the Seeds & Chips Global Innovation Summit in Milano, Italy on May 8-11 at the Israel Pavilion at Booth B19 in Hall 12 and is offering a 50% discount on an annual subscription to all event attendees.

Nutraid's General Manager, Roni Avital, will be presenting at the event's conference during the session on Smart Labelling and Packaging at 2:30pm on May 11.

About Nutraid

Nutraid Europe Ltd. is a leading software vendor for the global Food & Beverage industry, combining food technology with dynamic software development expertise. Nutraid SaaS is a cloud-based solution that helps food manufacturers, caterers and restaurants to easily calculate the nutritional values of their recipes and create multilingual, compliant food labels in minutes. The software is compliant with the latest EU 1169/2011 and FDA food labelling regulations. Nutraid SaaS supports automatic label translation to major European languages with no installation, minimal training and online availability from any device.

For more information, please visit http://www.nutraid.com.



Press Contact

Tony Miller

+1-617-418-3024

[email protected]

SOURCE Nutraid
"Investing in our franchise brands obviously has great benefits. Our growth trajectory for both One Hour and Mister Sparky reflects what we see in the Best of the Best Franchises list, and we aim to continue significant growth in the future," said Mark Baker, President of Franchise, Direct Energy. "As an industry leader, it is very fulfilling to have this external validation about the value of our brands."

"Prospective franchisees often already know what type of franchise they want to own," says Jason Feifer, editor in chief of Entrepreneur. "So by distilling our Franchise 500 list down to the No. 1 company in each category, we help them decide exactly where to start their search."

Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 rankings are based on a comprehensive evaluation of more than 150 data points in the areas of costs and fees, size and growth, franchisee support, brand strength, and financial strength and stability. One Hour and Mister Sparky's position at the top of their categories proves that they are leaders leader within their industry. One Hour was ranked #30 overall on the Franchise 500 list.

To view One Hour and Mister Sparky in the full listing, visit www.entrepreneur.com/article/292717. The list can also be seen in the May issue of Entrepreneur, available now on newsstands.

About One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning

One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning is currently ranked as the #1 HVAC franchise in Entrepreneur magazine's annual Franchise 500 (January 2017). One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning puts an emphasis on trust, customer service and courtesy. Our work is completed in a prompt, accurate, and efficient manner. One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning is part of the Direct Energy family of brands. 2017 Clockwork IP, LLC

About Mister Sparky

Mister Sparky electric is currently ranked by Entrepreneur magazine as one of the top 500 franchise companies (#175) and ranked #1 franchise in the Electrical Services category since 2014. The brand has an impeccable record for delivering fast, on-time service, accurate upfront pricing, and an overall pleasant experience for customers. Mister Sparky is part of the Direct Energy family of brands.  2017 Clockwork IP, LLC

About Direct Energy

Direct Energy is one of North America's largest energy and energy-related services providers with nearly five million residential and commercial customers. Direct Energy provides customers with choice and support in managing their energy costs through a portfolio of innovative products and services. A subsidiary of Centrica plc (LSE: CNA), one of the world's leading integrated energy companies, Direct Energy operates in 50 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia and 4 provinces in Canada.

SOURCE Direct Energy

Related Links

http://www.directenergy.com


CHICAGO, May 3, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama announced a $1 million donation to support One Summer Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's youth employment program to keep kids safe, engaged, and learning new skills during the summer months.

Under the Mayor Emanuel's leadership, Chicago has steadily increased its investment every year in mentoring and other youth programs to address some of the most urgent needs facing the city: keeping youth safe, improving school outcomes and reducing crime. In the past six years alone, One Summer Chicago has more than doubled to meet the overwhelming demand for these programs, serving more than 130,000 youth to date with valuable job training and work experiences.

"The Obamas' contributions to the city of Chicago are already immeasurable and their legacy here is just beginning," said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. "Their generous gift to One Summer Chicago will change countless lives and help more young men and women connect to a successful future. Chicagoans could not be more proud of the example the Obamas' have set, are inspired by this big-hearted gift, and look forward their continued and enduring impact on their hometown."

One Summer Chicago 2017, a McCormick Foundation Fund, is the charitable fundraising arm in partnership between the City of Chicago and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. Mayor Rahm Emmanuel's One Summer Chicago brings together government institutions, community-based organizations and companies to offer over 31,000 employment, internship and other opportunities to young adults ages 14-24. The program aims to build stronger, safer communities, keeping some of the city's most at-risk youth engaged and active, learning new skills during the summer months.

"We are so honored that the Obamas stepped forward with a substantial gift to help One Summer Chicago bring summer opportunities to Chicago's young people, keeping them on a pathway to high school graduation and career success," said David Hiller, President and CEO of the McCormick Foundation. "We hope their gift inspires thousands of other to support this effort."

To donate, visit www.onesummerchicago.org/donate or send a check/money order to "One Summer Chicago 2017," 23912 Network Place, Chicago, Illinois 60673-1245.

Youth interested in summer opportunities with One Summer Chicago can visit www.onesummerchicago.org.

About the Robert R. McCormick Foundation

The Robert R. McCormick Foundation's mission is fostering communities of educated, informed, and engaged citizens. Through philanthropic grant-making and Cantigny Park, the Foundation works to make life better in Chicagoland. The McCormick Foundation, among the nation's largest foundations with more than $1.5 billion in assets, was established in 1955 upon the death of Col. Robert R. McCormick, the longtime editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune. Find out more at www.mccormickfoundation.org.

SOURCE McCormick Foundation

Related Links

http://www.onesummerchicago.org


May 11, 2017 Agenda (U.S. Eastern time):

Eastern Time (ET) Company Name Ticker(s) 9:00 AM Akbank Turk Anonim Sirketi (OTCQX: AKBTY; Istanbul Stock Exchange: AKBNK) 9:30 AM Turkiye Garanti Bank A.S (OTCQX TKGBY; OTCQX: TKGBF; Istanbul Stock Exchange: GARAN) 10:00 AM Balfour Beatty plc (OTCQX: BAFYY; LSE: BBY) 10:30 AM Grupo Financiero Banorte, S.A.B. De C.V. (OTCQX: GBOOY; Latibex: XNOR; BMV: GFNORTEO) 11:00 AM Interconexion Electrica S.A. E.S.P. (OTCQX: IESFY; Bolsa de Valores de Colombia: ISA) 11:30 AM GreenPower Motor Company Inc. (OTCQX: GPVRF; TSX-V: GPV) 12:00 PM Implanet S.A. (OTCQX: IMPZY; EPA: IMPL) 12:30 PM Profound Medical Corp. (OTCQX PRFMF; TSX-V: PRN) 1:00 PM Mason Graphite Inc. (OTCQX MGPHF; TSX-V: LLG) 1:30 PM Opsens Inc. (OTCQX: OPSSF; TSX: OPS) 2:00 PM Lion One Metals Limited (OTCQX: LOMLF; TSX-V: LIO) 2:30 PM The Trendlines Group Ltd. (OTCQX TRNLY; SGX: 42T) 3:00 PM Excelsior Mining Corp. (OTCQX: EXMGF; TSE: MIN) 3:30 PM Poydras Gaming Finance Corp. (OTCQX: PYDGF; TSX-V: PYD)

The event will feature live webcast presentations by senior executives from OTCQX-traded international companies as they discuss their businesses and investment stories and answer questions from investors. Investors will be able to interact directly with the presenters and other participants, as well as watch pre-recorded materials, download annual reports, investor kits, surveys and other information from a virtual "exhibit hall."

"Our OTCQX Virtual Investor Conferences provide a convenient way for investors to 'virtually' meet, hear and ask questions of executives of investor-focused U.S. and international OTCQX companies," said Jason Paltrowitz, Executive Vice President of OTC Markets Group. "We are pleased to offer these virtual investor conferences as part of our value-added visibility program for OTCQX companies."

The OTCQX International Virtual Investor Conference is made possible by a partnership between OTC Markets Group and VirtualInvestorConferences.com, a cooperative venture of PR Newswire and Better Investing.

About OTC Markets Group Inc.

OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM) operates the OTCQX Best Market, the OTCQB Venture Market, and the Pink Open Market for 10,000 U.S. and global securities. Through OTC Link ATS, we connect a diverse network of broker-dealers that provide liquidity and execution services. We enable investors to easily trade through the broker of their choice and empower companies to improve the quality of information available for investors.

To learn more about how we create better informed and more efficient markets, visit www.otcmarkets.com.

OTC Link ATS is operated by OTC Link LLC, member FINRA/SIPC and SEC regulated ATS.

Subscribe to the OTC Markets RSS Feed

SOURCE OTC Markets & VirtualInvestorConferences.com

Related Links

http://www.otcmarkets.com


PORTLAND, Ore., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Otoharmonics has announced that Dr. Donna Grant has joined their team as Director of Business Development. This hire solidifies Otoharmonics' commitment to understanding and helping hearing healthcare providers grow their business in an ever-changing industry landscape.

Dr. Donna Grant joins the Levo tinnitus system team

"The Director of Business Development is responsible for helping providers expand their business using the Levo System," said Michael Baker, President and CEO of Otoharmonics. "Dr. Grant's combination of business acumen matched with her years of experience in the hearing healthcare community makes her a perfect fit for this position."

In her capacity with Otoharmonics, Dr. Grant is responsible for providing business development support to Levo providers throughout the nation. Prior to her time at Otoharmonics, Dr. Donna Grant served as Program Manager for Sivantos, Inc. She received her Doctorate in Audiology from Towson University and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Audiology and a member of the American Speech Language and Hearing Association.

"I'm very excited about this opportunity to help providers develop their tinnitus programs using the Levo System," added Dr. Donna Grant, Director of Business Development. "This kind of innovation is just what hearing healthcare providers need to stand out in an increasingly competitive landscape."

Utilizing an FDA-cleared evidence-based approach, the Levo System offers a patented method to provide personalized sound therapy while sleeping. A recently released randomized study by the National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research led by James Henry, PhD. at the VA Portland Health Care System demonstrated improved clinical outcomes for tinnitus patients using the Levo System.

To learn more about the Levo System visit http://otoharmonics.com.

About Otoharmonics Corporation

Otoharmonics Corporation is a privately held company with headquarters in Portland, Oregon USA. An international team of worldclass neuroscientists, clinicians, business professionals and patients, Otoharmonics has developed the patented Levo System for the management of tinnitus symptoms. With a personal approach and a deep understanding of the impact tinnitus can have, Levo is designed to be user-friendly and capable of delivering custom sound therapy based on the specific needs of the individual.

Otoharmonics and Levo are registered trademarks of Otoharmonics Corporation.

Contact:

Brenda Edin

Otoharmonic Corporation

Portland, OR

[email protected]

503-336-9906

SOURCE Otoharmonics Corporation

Related Links

http://otoharmonics.com


AUSTIN, Texas, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Parsley Energy, Inc. (NYSE: PE) ("Parsley," "Parsley Energy," or the "Company") today announced financial and operating results for the quarter ended March 31, 2017. The Company has posted to its website a presentation that supplements the information in this release.

First Quarter 2017 Highlights

Net production averaged 54.8 MBoe per day, up 21% versus 4Q16 and 88% year-over-year. Daily net oil production increased 23% versus 4Q16 and 98% year-over-year, with oil volumes representing 69% of total production in 1Q17.

The Company is increasing full-year 2017 net production guidance from 62-68 MBoe per day to 65-71 MBoe per day and also increasing estimated average 4Q17 net production from 75-85 MBoe per day to 78-88 MBoe per day. At the midpoints, the updated ranges translate to estimated production growth of 78% in 2017 versus 2016 and 84% in 4Q17 versus 4Q16. Parsley reiterates estimated full-year 2017 capital expenditures of $1.0-$1.15 billion .

. Lease operating expense ("LOE") per Boe held steady at $3.57 compared to $3.56 in 4Q16.

compared to in 4Q16. The Company is lowering full-year 2017 LOE per Boe guidance from $4.00-$4.75 to $3.50-$4.50 .

to . Parsley reduced general and administrative expense ("G&A") per Boe by 13% versus 4Q16 to $4.88 in 1Q17 and reduced cash G&A per Boe, which excludes stock-based compensation expense, by 16% to $4.02 over the same period.

in 1Q17 and reduced cash G&A per Boe, which excludes stock-based compensation expense, by 16% to over the same period. The Company is lowering full-year 2017 cash G&A per Boe guidance from $4.50-$5.25 to $4.00-$5.00 .

to . Subsequent to the end of 1Q17, Parsley closed the previously announced acquisition (the "Double Eagle Acquisition") of approximately 71,000 net acres in the core of the Midland Basin from Double Eagle Energy Permian, LLC and certain of its affiliates ("Double Eagle"), increasing Parsley's total leasehold to approximately 230,000 net acres in the Permian Basin.

Basin from Double Eagle Energy Permian, LLC and certain of its affiliates ("Double Eagle"), increasing Parsley's total leasehold to approximately 230,000 net acres in the Permian Basin. Also subsequent to the end of 1Q17, Parsley executed acreage trades that blocked up acreage acquired from Double Eagle and delivered to the Company approximately 155 net horizontal drilling locations with an average lateral length of approximately 7,000 feet. The trades also extended approximately 70 net horizontal drilling locations by an average of approximately 4,000 feet. Net of assets traded away, these trades added more than 900,000 net lateral feet to Parsley's horizontal drilling inventory.

Initial well results on acreage acquired from Double Eagle in southeast Martin County confirmed the presence of at least three productive target formations in the area. Three wells with 1.5-mile laterals targeting the Lower Spraberry, Wolfcamp A, and Wolfcamp B formations, respectively, completed in tandem with a stack/stagger configuration on the Strain Ranch lease, are each producing at least 1,300 Boe per day after more than 30 days of production.

confirmed the presence of at least three productive target formations in the area. Three wells with 1.5-mile laterals targeting the Lower Spraberry, Wolfcamp A, and Wolfcamp B formations, respectively, completed in tandem with a stack/stagger configuration on the Strain Ranch lease, are each producing at least 1,300 Boe per day after more than 30 days of production. Parsley's first well targeting the Wolfcamp C formation, the Taylor 45-33-4601H, completed with a 2-mile lateral in Reagan County , registered a peak 30-day rate of 3,135 Boe per day, representing one of the strongest peak 30-day rates ever recorded in the Midland Basin.

, registered a peak 30-day rate of 3,135 Boe per day, representing one of the strongest peak 30-day rates ever recorded in the Basin. On April 28 , Parsley amended its revolving credit agreement, thereby increasing its borrowing base by 60% to $1.4 billion , with a Company-elected commitment amount of $1.0 billion . As of the end of 1Q17, pro-forma for the closing of the Double Eagle Acquisition and for the newly elected commitment amount, liquidity stands at $1.6 billion , consisting of $616 million of cash on hand and $997 million of undrawn borrowing capacity on the revolving credit facility.(1)

"Never has Parsley Energy's focus on execution and operational excellence been more apparent than during the first quarter of 2017, in which we added close to 10,000 net Boe per day on average even as we carried out transformative acquisitions totaling approximately 94,000 net acres," said Bryan Sheffield, Parsley's Chairman and CEO. "Increasing our production guidance for the year while holding capex expectations steady and lowering unit cost estimates sets the stage for a year of superior value creation."

Operational Highlights

During the first quarter, Parsley spud 26 and completed 22 gross operated horizontal wells with an average working interest of almost 100% and an average completed lateral length of approximately 7,700 feet. Drilling and completion activity was concentrated in the Midland Basin, where the Company spud 20 and completed 19 gross operated horizontal wells; the balance were spud and completed in the Southern Delaware Basin. Parsley expects to complete 25-35 gross operated horizontal wells in 2Q17, followed by 35-45 such completions in 3Q17 and 40-50 such completions in 4Q17, generating substantial production momentum through the end of the year and beyond.

The 18 Midland Basin wells that achieved 30-day peak production periods since the Company's last quarterly update generated a strong average 30-day initial production rate of 1,429 Boe per day with an average stimulated lateral length of 8,213' and an average three-stream oil cut of 71%. Parsley's initial production rates on Midland Basin wells continue to strengthen not just on an absolute basis, but on a lateral length normalized basis, as well, even as the Company has increased the average lateral length of its completed wells.

On acreage acquired from Double Eagle in southeast Martin County, three wells with 1.5-mile laterals targeting the Lower Spraberry, Wolfcamp A, and Wolfcamp B formations, respectively, completed in tandem with a stack/stagger configuration on the Strain Ranch lease, are each producing at least 1,300 Boe per day after more than 30 days of production. Over the remainder of 2017, the Company intends to drill approximately 30 wells on acreage acquired from Double Eagle, with pads located in Midland, Martin, Howard, and Glasscock Counties.

Parsley's first well targeting the Wolfcamp C formation, the Taylor 45-33-4601H, completed with a 2-mile lateral in Reagan County, registered a peak 30-day rate of 3,135 Boe per day, representing one of the strongest peak 30-day rates ever recorded in the Midland Basin. Through 60 days, the well has produced more than 100,000 barrels of oil. In light of this result, the Company has added several Wolfcamp C wells to its 2017 drilling schedule. Following recent acquisitions, Parsley has more than 900 Wolfcamp C drilling locations in what the Company has identified as the fairway of the Wolfcamp C play, encompassing portions of Reagan, Glasscock, Midland, and Upton Counties.

Horizontal wells on Parsley's Southern Delaware Basin acreage continue to register prolific production trends. The Company's second drilled (third completed) well on its Reeves County acreage, the Kauffman State C4-6-4307H, recently achieved a peak 30-day rate of 1,686 Boe per day (or 265 Boe per day per thousand stimulated feet). In Pecos County, Parsley's long-lateral wells are keeping pace with the Company's shorter lateral wells on a length-normalized basis, bolstering the capital efficiency of Parsley's Southern Delaware development program. All four of Parsley's Pecos County wells that have reached 180 days of production rank among the Company's 20 most productive wells, with oil cuts north of 80% over that timeframe.

Financial Highlights

During 1Q17, the Company recorded net income attributable to its stockholders of $29.4 million, or $0.13 per weighted average share, compared to a net loss of $30.7 million, or $0.17 per weighted average share, during 4Q16. Excluding, on a tax-adjusted basis, certain items that the Company does not view as indicative of its ongoing financial performance, and adding back the non-controlling interest allocated to Class B stockholders, adjusted net income for 1Q17 was $34.2 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, compared to $11.8 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, in 4Q16.(2)

Adjusted earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, depletion, amortization, and exploration expense ("Adjusted EBITDAX") for 1Q17 was $145.7 million, up 24% compared to 4Q16.(2)

Parsley continues to register favorable quarter-over-quarter trends in unit costs. The Company recorded LOE per Boe of $3.57 in 1Q17, in line with the $3.56 Parsley recorded in 4Q16. The Company is lowering full-year 2017 LOE per Boe guidance from $4.00-$4.75 to $3.50-$4.50. G&A per Boe decreased from $5.61 in 4Q16 to $4.88 in 1Q17, while cash G&A per Boe, which excludes stock-based compensation expense, decreased from $4.79 in 4Q16 to $4.02 in 1Q17. The Company is lowering full-year 2017 cash G&A per Boe guidance from $4.50-$5.25 to $4.00-$5.00. Depreciation, depletion, and amortization expense per Boe decreased from $15.10 in 4Q16 to $13.99 in 1Q17.

Reported capital expenditures of $188 million during the quarter include costs associated with the horizontal drilling activity noted above, as well as one vertical well and two saltwater disposal wells. During the first quarter of 2017, Parsley spent $160 million on drilling and completion and $28 million on facilities and infrastructure. The Company maintains estimated full-year 2017 capital expenditures at a range of $1.0-$1.15 billion, with 60-70% of planned spending directed to the Midland Basin and 30-40% allocated to development in the Southern Delaware Basin.

Liquidity Update

Parsley continues to maintain a strong balance sheet. As of March 31, 2017, the Company had approximately $2.5 billion of liquidity, consisting of $1.9 billion of cash on hand and an undrawn amount of $598 million on the Company's revolver. Pro-forma for the closing of the Double Eagle Acquisition and for the Company's newly elected commitment amount, Parsley had approximately $1.6 billion of liquidity, consisting of $616 million of cash on hand and an undrawn borrowing capacity of $997 million on the Company's revolving credit facility.(3)

Hedging Update

In view of anticipated production growth associated with increasing drilling and completion activity on an expanded asset base, Parsley has added to its oil hedge portfolio, thereby reducing the variability of its anticipated cash flows and enhancing the Company's ability to execute its development and value creation objectives. For details on Parsley's hedging position, please see the tables below under Supplemental Information and/or the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, upon availability, for the three months ended March 31, 2017.

Full-year 2017 Guidance Update

Parsley is increasing guidance for full-year 2017 production and lowering guidance for full-year 2017 unit costs, as detailed in the table below. All other guidance remains unchanged.



2017

2017

Previous

Updated Production





Annual net production (MBoe/d) 62.0-68.0

65.0-71.0 % Oil 68%-73%

68%-73%







Capital Program





Drilling and completion ($MM) $840-$960

$840-$960 Infrastructure and other ($MM) $160-$190

$160-$190 Total development expenditures ($MM) $1,000-$1,150

$1,000-$1,150 % Non-operated



3%-5%







Activity





Gross operated horizontal completions 130-150

130-150 Midland Basin 95-105

95-105 Delaware Basin 35-45

35-45 Average lateral length ~8,000'

~8,000' Gross operated vertical completions 5-10

5-10 Average working interest 85%-95%

85%-95%







Unit Costs





Lease operating expenses ($/Boe) $4.00-$4.75

$3.50-$4.50 Cash general and administrative expenses ($/Boe) $4.50-$5.25

$4.00-$5.00 Production and ad valorem taxes (% of revenue) 6.5%-7.5%

6.0%-7.0%

Conference Call Information

Parsley Energy will host a conference call and webcast to discuss its results for the first quarter of 2017 on Friday, May 5 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time (8:00 a.m. Central Time). Participants should call 877-407-0672 (United States/Canada) or 412-902-0003 (International) 10 minutes before the scheduled time and request the Parsley Energy conference call. A telephone replay will be available shortly after the call through May 12 by dialing 877-660-6853 (United States/Canada) or 201-612-7415 (International). Conference ID: 13660106. A live broadcast will also be available on the internet at www.parsleyenergy.com under the "Events & Presentations" section of the website. The Company has also posted to its website a presentation that supplements the information in this release.

About Parsley Energy, Inc.

Parsley Energy, Inc. is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the acquisition and development of unconventional oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin in West Texas. For more information, visit the Company's website at www.parsleyenergy.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements represent Parsley Energy's expectations or beliefs concerning future events, and it is possible that the results described in this news release will not be achieved. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of Parsley Energy's control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and, except as required by law, Parsley Energy does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for Parsley Energy to predict all such factors. When considering these forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the risk factors and other cautionary statements found in the Company's filings with the SEC, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K. The risk factors and other factors noted in the Company's SEC filings could cause its actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement.























(1) Revolver balances are net of letters of credit which do not change the status of the Company's fully undrawn commitment amount under its revolving credit facility.



(2) "Adjusted EBITDAX" and "adjusted net income" are not presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP"). Please see the supplemental financial information at the end of this news release for a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures of adjusted EBITDAX and adjusted net income to GAAP financial measures.



(3) Revolver balances are net of letters of credit which do not change the status of the Company's fully undrawn commitment amount under its revolving credit facility.

- Tables to Follow -

Parsley Energy, Inc. and Subsidiaries Selected Operating Data (Unaudited)



Three Months Ended

March 31, 2017

December 31, 2016

March 31, 2016 Net production volumes:









Oil (MBbls) 3,394



2,811



1,731

Natural gas (MMcf) 4,419



3,812



2,944

Natural gas liquids (MBbls) 800



704



425

Total (MBoe) 4,931



4,150



2,647

Average net daily production (Boe/d) 54,789



45,109



29,088

Average sales prices (1) :









Oil, without realized derivatives (per Bbl) $ 50.01



$ 46.76



$ 30.06

Oil, with realized derivatives (per Bbl) $ 48.52



$ 49.41



$ 46.73

Natural gas, without realized derivatives (per Mcf) $ 2.82



$ 2.91



$ 1.88

Natural gas, with realized derivatives (per Mcf) $ 2.80



$ 2.91



$ 1.88

NGLs (per Bbl) $ 21.77



$ 19.12



$ 11.04

Total, without realized derivatives (per Boe) $ 40.48



$ 37.59



$ 23.52

Total, with realized derivatives (per Boe) $ 39.44



$ 39.39



$ 34.42

Average costs (per Boe):









Lease operating expenses $ 3.57



$ 3.56



$ 5.25

Production and ad valorem taxes $ 2.26



$ 2.15



$ 1.58

Depreciation, depletion and amortization $ 13.99



$ 15.10



$ 18.66

General and administrative expenses (including stock-based compensation) $ 4.88



$ 5.61



$ 7.29

General and administrative expenses (cash based) $ 4.02



$ 4.79



$ 6.25





(1) Average prices shown in the table include transportation and gathering costs and reflect prices both before and after the effects of the Company's realized commodity hedging transactions. The Company's calculation of such effects includes both realized gains and losses on cash settlements for commodity derivative transactions and premiums paid or received on options that settled during the period.

Parsley Energy, Inc. and Subsidiaries Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited, in thousands, except for per share data)



Three Months Ended

March 31,

2017

2016 REVENUES





Oil sales $ 169,745



$ 52,031

Natural gas sales 12,467



5,543

Natural gas liquids sales 17,413



4,694

Other 1,233



221

Total revenues 200,858



62,489

OPERATING EXPENSES





Lease operating expenses 17,627



13,898

Production and ad valorem taxes 11,162



4,195

Depreciation, depletion and amortization 68,970



49,384

General and administrative expenses (including stock-based compensation) 24,042



19,299

Exploration costs 2,763



688

Acquisition costs 1,344





Accretion of asset retirement obligations 136



170

Other operating expenses 2,283



896

Total operating expenses 128,327



88,530

OPERATING INCOME (LOSS) 72,531



(26,041)

OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE)





Interest expense, net (16,965)



(11,194)

Gain on sale of property 



350

Loss on early extinguishment of debt (3,891)





Gain on derivatives 24,616



2,088

Change in TRA liability (20,549)





Other income (expense) 950



(462)

Total other expense, net (15,839)



(9,218)

INCOME (LOSS) BEFORE INCOME TAXES 56,692



(35,259)

INCOME TAX (EXPENSE) BENEFIT (18,402)



9,568

NET INCOME (LOSS) 38,290



(25,691)

LESS: NET (INCOME) LOSS ATTRIBUTABLE TO

NONCONTROLLING INTERESTS (8,848)



6,337

NET INCOME (LOSS) ATTRIBUTABLE TO

PARSLEY ENERGY, INC. STOCKHOLDERS $ 29,442



$ (19,354)









Net income (loss) per common share:





Basic $ 0.13



$ (0.14)

Diluted $ 0.13



$ (0.14)

Weighted average common shares outstanding:





Basic 220,674



135,963

Diluted 221,697



135,963





* Certain reclassifications and adjustments to prior period amounts have been made to conform with current presentation.

Parsley Energy, Inc. and Subsidiaries Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited, in thousands)



March 31, 2017

December 31, 2016

(In thousands) ASSETS





CURRENT ASSETS





Cash and cash equivalents $ 1,916,514



$ 133,379

Restricted cash 3,529



3,290

Accounts receivable:





Joint interest owners and other 8,257



12,698

Oil, natural gas and NGLs 70,640



59,174

Related parties 187



290

Short-term derivative instruments, net 67,036



39,708

Other current assets 143,013



50,949

Total current assets 2,209,176



299,488

PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT





Oil and natural gas properties, successful efforts method 4,844,671



4,063,417

Accumulated depreciation, depletion and impairment (573,099)



(506,175)

Total oil and natural gas properties, net 4,271,572



3,557,242

Other property, plant and equipment, net 68,553



59,318

Total property, plant and equipment, net 4,340,125



3,616,560

NONCURRENT ASSETS





Long-term derivative instruments, net 107,802



16,416

Other noncurrent assets 7,026



6,318

Total noncurrent assets 114,828



22,734

TOTAL ASSETS $ 6,664,129



$ 3,938,782









LIABILITIES AND EQUITY





CURRENT LIABILITIES





Accounts payable and accrued expenses $ 207,456



$ 162,317

Revenue and severance taxes payable 78,815



69,452

Current portion of long-term debt 2,638



67,214

Short-term derivative instruments, net 52,434



44,153

Current portion of asset retirement obligations 3,225



1,818

Total current liabilities 344,568



344,954

NONCURRENT LIABILITIES





Long-term debt 1,490,022



1,041,324

Asset retirement obligations 11,695



9,574

Deferred tax liability 36,975



5,483

Payable pursuant to TRA liability 114,876



94,326

Long-term derivative instruments, net 82,905



12,815

Total noncurrent liabilities 1,736,473



1,163,522

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES





STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY





Preferred stock, $0.01 par value, 50,000,000 shares authorized, none issued and outstanding 





Common stock





Class A, $0.01 par value, 600,000,000 shares authorized, 246,629,780 shares issued and 246,486,859 shares outstanding at March 31, 2017 and 179,730,033 shares issued and 179,590,617 shares outstanding at December 31, 2016 2,466



1,797

Class B, $0.01 par value, 125,000,000 shares authorized, 28,008,573 shares issued and outstanding

at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 280



280

Additional paid in capital 4,129,924



2,151,197

Accumulated deficit (33,813)



(63,255)

Treasury stock, at cost, 142,921 shares and 139,416 shares at March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 (493)



(381)

Total stockholders' equity 4,098,364



2,089,638

Noncontrolling interest 484,724



340,668

Total equity 4,583,088



2,430,306

TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY $ 6,664,129



$ 3,938,782



Parsley Energy, Inc. and Subsidiaries Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited, in thousands)



Three Months Ended March 31,

2017

2016

(In thousands) CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:





Net income (loss) $ 38,290



$ (25,691)

Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities:





Depreciation, depletion and amortization 68,970



49,384

Accretion of asset retirement obligations 136



170

Gain on sale of property 



(350)

Loss on early extinguishment of debt 3,891





Amortization and write off of deferred loan origination costs 783



588

Amortization of bond premium (129)



(191)

Stock-based compensation 4,209



2,759

Deferred income tax expense (benefit) 18,402



(9,568)

Change in TRA liability 20,549





Gain on derivatives (24,616)



(2,088)

Net cash (paid) received for derivative settlements (1,188)



21,988

Net cash paid for option premiums (16,291)



(488)

Net premiums received on options that settled during the period 4,854



10,414

Other 118



82

Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions:





Restricted cash (239)



(468)

Accounts receivable (7,025)



(14,383)

Accounts receivablerelated parties 103



(857)

Other current assets (95,168)



(14,108)

Other noncurrent assets (902)



347

Accounts payable and accrued expenses 17,676



3,889

Revenue and severance taxes payable 9,363



(1,524)

Net cash provided by operating activities 41,786



19,905

CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES:





Development of oil and natural gas properties (161,003)



(122,623)

Acquisitions of oil and natural gas properties (589,286)



(208,832)

Additions to other property and equipment (10,628)



(3,004)

Net cash used in investing activities (760,917)



(334,459)

CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:





Borrowings under long-term debt 451,500





Payments on long-term debt (66,328)



(236)

Debt issuance costs (6,280)



(1)

Proceeds from issuance of common stock, net 2,123,486



36

Repurchase of common stock (112)



(19)

Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities 2,502,266



(220)

Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 1,783,135



(314,774)

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 133,379



343,084

Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 1,916,514



$ 28,310

SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURE OF CASH FLOW INFORMATION:





Cash paid for interest $ 2,463



$ 21,211

Cash paid for income taxes $ 200



$ 315

SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURE OF NON-CASH ACTIVITIES:





Asset retirement obligations incurred, including changes in estimate $ 3,501



$ 675

Additions (reductions) to oil and natural gas properties - change in capital accruals $ 27,463



$ (12,254)

Additions to other property and equipment funded by capital lease borrowings $ 881



$ 84



Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Adjusted EBITDAX

Adjusted EBITDAX is not a measure of net income as determined by GAAP. Adjusted EBITDAX is a supplemental non-GAAP financial measure that is used by management and external users of the Company's consolidated financial statements, such as industry analysts, investors, lenders and rating agencies. The Company defines Adjusted EBITDAX as net income (loss) before depreciation, depletion and amortization, exploration costs, net interest expense, income tax expense (benefit), change in Tax Receivable Agreement ("TRA") liability, stock-based compensation, acquisition costs, (gain) loss on sale of property, asset retirement obligation accretion expense, loss on early extinguishment of debt, (gain) loss on derivatives, net settlements on derivative instruments, and net premium realizations on options that settled during the period.

Management believes Adjusted EBITDAX is useful because it allows the Company to more effectively evaluate its operating performance and compare the results of its operations from period to period without regard to its financing methods or capital structure. The Company excludes the items listed above from net income in arriving at Adjusted EBITDAX because these amounts can vary substantially from company to company within its industry depending upon accounting methods and book values of assets, capital structures and the method by which the assets were acquired. Adjusted EBITDAX should not be considered as an alternative to, or more meaningful than, net income as determined in accordance with GAAP or as an indicator of the Company's operating performance. Certain items excluded from Adjusted EBITDAX are significant components in understanding and assessing a company's financial performance, such as a company's cost of capital and tax structure, as well as the historic costs of depreciable assets, none of which are components of Adjusted EBITDAX. The Company's computations of Adjusted EBITDAX may not be comparable to other similarly titled measure of other companies. The Company believes that Adjusted EBITDAX is a widely followed measure of operating performance.

The following table presents a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDAX to the GAAP financial measure of net income (loss) for each of the periods indicated.

Parsley Energy, Inc. and Subsidiaries Adjusted EBITDAX (Unaudited, in thousands)



Three Months Ended March 31,

2017

2016 Adjusted EBITDAX reconciliation to net income (loss):





Net income (loss) attributable to Parsley Energy, Inc. stockholders $ 29,442



$ (19,354)

Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests 8,848



(6,337)

Depreciation, depletion and amortization 68,970



49,384

Exploration costs 2,763



688

Interest expense, net 16,965



11,194

Income tax expense (benefit) 18,402



(9,568)

EBITDAX 145,390



26,007

Change in TRA liability 20,549





Stock-based compensation 4,209



2,759

Acquisition costs 1,344





Gain on sale of property 



(350)

Accretion of asset retirement obligations 136



170

Loss on early extinguishment of debt 3,891





Gain on derivatives (24,616)



(2,088)

Net settlements on derivative instruments (301)



18,440

Net premium realization on options that settled during the period (4,854)



10,414

Adjusted EBITDAX $ 145,748



$ 55,352





* Certain reclassifications to prior period amounts have been made to conform with current presentation.

Adjusted Net Income

Adjusted net income is a performance measure used by management to evaluate financial performance, prior to non-cash gains or losses on derivatives, net cash received for derivative settlements, net premiums received on options that settled during the period, (gain) loss on sale of property, exploration costs, acquisition costs, loss on early extinguishment of debt, and change in TRA liability, while adjusting for noncontrolling interest and the associated changes in estimated income tax. Management believes adjusted net income is useful because it may enhance investors' ability to assess Parsley's historical and future financial performance. Adjusted net income should not be considered an alternative to consolidated net income, operating income, or any other measure of financial performance presented in accordance with GAAP. The following table presents a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measure of adjusted net income to the GAAP financial measure of net income (loss).

Parsley Energy, Inc. and Subsidiaries Adjusted Net Income (Loss) and Net Income (Loss) Per Share (Unaudited, in thousands, except per share data)



Three Months Ended March 31,

2017

2016 Net income (loss) attributable to Parsley Energy, Inc. stockholders $ 29,442



$ (19,354)

Gain on derivatives (24,616)



(2,088)

Net settlements on derivative instruments (301)



18,440

Net premium realization on options that settled during the period (4,854)



10,414

Gain on sale of property 



(350)

Exploration costs 2,763



688

Acquisition costs 1,344





Loss on early extinguishment of debt 3,891





Change in TRA liability 20,549





Noncontrolling interest 



(6,196)

Change in estimated income tax 5,950



(6,852)

Adjusted net income (loss) $ 34,168



$ (5,298)

Weighted average diluted shares outstanding 221,697



169,006

Adjusted net income (loss) per diluted share $ 0.15



$ (0.03)



Supplemental Information

Parsley Energy, Inc. and Subsidiaries Open Crude Oil Derivatives Positions (1)



2Q17

3Q17

4Q17

1Q18

2Q18

3Q18

4Q18

1Q19

2Q19

3Q19

4Q19 Put Spreads (MBbls/d) (2) 10.4



35.7



45.5



26.7



26.4



26.1



26.1

















Put Price ($/Bbl) $ 53.10



$ 52.66



$ 52.80



$ 52.81



$ 51.88



$ 50.00



$ 50.00

















Short Put Price ($/Bbl) $ 38.10



$ 41.80



$ 41.95



$ 41.88



$ 41.88



$ 40.00



$ 40.00

















Three Way Collars (MBbls/d) (3)











13.3



19.8



31.0



31.0



8.3



8.2



8.2



8.2

Call Price ($/Bbl)











$ 74.38



$ 75.28



$ 75.65



$ 75.65



$ 80.40



$ 80.40



$ 80.40



$ 80.40

Put Price ($/Bbl)











$ 50.00



$ 50.00



$ 50.00



$ 50.00



$ 50.00



$ 50.00



$ 50.00



$ 50.00

Short Put Price ($/Bbl)











$ 40.00



$ 40.00



$ 40.00



$ 40.00



$ 40.00



$ 40.00



$ 40.00



$ 40.00

Premium Realization ($ MM) (4) $ (4.8)



$ (14.2)



$ (17.8)



$ (13.0)



$ (11.5)



$ (10.8)



$ (10.8)



$ (1.5)



$ (1.5)



$ (1.5)



$ (1.5)

Collars (MBbls/d) (5) 1.5



4.0



4.0



3.0



3.0



3.0



3.0

















Short Call Price ($/Bbl) $56.15



$59.73



$59.98



$60.41



$60.41



$60.41



$60.41

















Put Price ($/Bbl) $ 47.00



$ 46.75



$ 46.75



$ 45.67



$ 45.67



$ 45.67



$ 45.67

















Swaps (MBbls/d) 1.0



0.5



0.5



0.5



0.5



0.5



0.5

















Strike Price ($$/Bbl) $53.42



$55.00



$55.00



$55.00



$55.00



$55.00



$55.00

















Total MBbls/d Hedged 12.9



40.2



50.0



43.5



49.7



60.6



60.3



8.3



8.2



8.2



8.2













































Mid-Cush Basis Swaps (MBbls/d) 11.3



16.7



16.7



4.5



4.5



4.5



4.5

















Swap Price ($/Bbl) $ (1.00)



$ (1.00)



$ (1.00)



$ (0.91)



$ (0.91)



$ (0.91)



$ (0.91)



















Parsley Energy, Inc. and Subsidiaries Open Natural Gas Derivatives Positions (1)



2Q17

3Q17

4Q17

1Q18 Three Way Collars (MMBtu/d) (3) 15.7



15.5



15.5



26.7

Call Price ($/MMBtu) $ 4.02



$ 4.02



$ 4.02



$ 4.70

Put Price ($/MMBtu) $ 2.75



$ 2.75



$ 2.75



$ 3.25

Short Put Price ($/MMBtu) $ 2.36



$ 2.36



$ 2.36



$ 2.60

Swaps (MMBtu/d) 5.0



5.0



5.0



5.0

Strike Price ($/MMBtu) $ 3.39



$ 3.39



$ 3.46



$ 3.50

Total MMBtu/d Hedged 20.7



20.5



20.5



31.7

























(1) As of 5/4/2017 (2) When the NYMEX price is above the put price, Parsley receives the NYMEX price. When the NYMEX price is between the put price and the short put price, Parsley receives the put price. When the NYMEX price is below the short put price, Parsley receives the NYMEX price plus the difference between the short put price and the put price. (3) Functions similarly to put spreads except that when the index price is at or above the call price, Parsley receives the call price. (4) Premium realizations represent net premiums paid (including deferred premiums), which are recognized as income or loss in the period of settlement. (5) When the NYMEX price is above the call price, Parsley receives the call price. When the NYMEX price is below the put price, Parsley receives the put price. When the NYMEX price is between the call and put prices, Parsley receives the NYMEX price.

SOURCE Parsley Energy, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.parsleyenergy.com


PARSIPPANY, N.J., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- PBF Logistics LP (NYSE:PBFX, the "Partnership") announced today first quarter 2017 net income attributable to the partnership of $24.6 million, or $0.55 per common unit. During the quarter, the Partnership generated cash from operations of approximately $53.8 million, earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, and amortization ("EBITDA") of $36.5 million and distributable cash flow of $28.6 million.

"Our financial performance in the first quarter reflects another solid operational quarter from our expanding asset base. On April 17, the Partnership announced the continued growth of our portfolio with the acquisition of the Toledo Terminal. This transaction is PBFX's second third-party acquisition and represents the third completed deal of 2017. In conjunction with the ongoing Paulsboro natural gas pipeline and Chalmette storage projects, the combined transactions represent a $15 million increase to the Partnership's forecasted annualized EBITDA once in service," said PBF Logistics GP LLC Chief Executive Officer, Tom Nimbley. "In light of our continued growth, we are pleased that the board of directors approved our tenth consecutive quarterly distribution increase to $0.46 per common unit."

As of March 31, 2017, the Partnership had approximately $248.1 million of liquidity, including approximately $80.9 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, and access to approximately $167.2 million under its existing revolving credit facility. The Partnership intends to use its financial resources to fund organic growth projects, third-party acquisitions and future drop-downs.

Acquisition of the Toledo refined products terminal

On April 17, 2017, the Partnership announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary acquired the Toledo, Ohio, refined products terminal assets of Sunoco Logistics LP for $10.0 million in cash. Located adjacent to PBF Energy's Toledo refinery, the Toledo Terminal is comprised of a 10-bay truck rack and over 110,000 barrels of chemicals, clean product and additive storage capacity.

PBF Logistics Announces Increased Quarterly Distribution

The board of directors of PBF Logistics GP LLC, the Partnership's general partner, declared a regular quarterly cash distribution of $0.46 per common unit. The distribution is payable on May 31, 2017, to unitholders of record at the close of business on May 16, 2017.

This release is intended to be a qualified notice to nominees under Treasury Regulations Section 1.1446-4(b). All of the Partnership's distributions to foreign investors are attributable to income that is effectively connected with a United States trade or business. Accordingly, the Partnership's distributions to foreign investors are subject to federal income tax withholding at the highest effective tax rate.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

PBF Logistics LP reconciliation of amounts under U.S. GAAP to forecasted annualized EBITDA (unaudited, in millions)

Reconciliation of combined Toledo Terminal and previously announced organic projects estimated annualized net income to forecasted annualized EBITDA:

Estimated net income $9.3 Add: Depreciation and amortization expense 4.7 Add: Interest expense, net and other financing costs 1.0 Forecasted annualized EBITDA $15.0

The Partnership defines EBITDA as net income (loss) before net interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization expense. EBITDA is a non-GAAP supplemental financial measure that management and external users of our consolidated financial statements, such as industry analysts, investors, lenders and rating agencies, may use to assess:

our operating performance as compared to other publicly traded partnerships in the midstream energy industry, without regard to historical cost basis or financing methods;

the ability of our assets to generate sufficient cash flow to make distributions to our unit holders;

our ability to incur and service debt and fund capital expenditures; and

the viability of acquisitions and other capital expenditure projects and the returns on investment of various investment opportunities.

The Partnership's management believes that the presentation of EBITDA provides useful information to investors in assessing our financial condition and results of operations. EBITDA should not be considered an alternative to net income, income from operations, cash from operations or any other measure of financial performance or liquidity presented in accordance with GAAP. EBITDA has important limitations as an analytical tool because it excludes some but not all items that affect net income. Additionally, because EBITDA may be defined differently by other companies in our industry, our definition of EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies, thereby diminishing its utility. Due to the forward-looking nature of forecasted EBITDA, information to reconcile forecasted EBITDA to forecasted cash flow from operating activities is not available as management is unable to project working capital changes for future periods at this time.

Conference Call Information

The Partnership's senior management will host a conference call and webcast regarding quarterly results and other business matters on Thursday, May 4, 2017, at 11:00 a.m. ET. The webcast is available through the Partnership's website, www.pbflogistics.com, and the call is accessible by dialing (888) 632-3384 or (785) 424-1675, conference ID: PBFXQ117. The audio replay will be available two hours after the end of the call through May 22, 2017, by dialing (800) 757-4761 or (402) 220-7215.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements (as that term is defined under the federal securities laws) made by the Partnership and its management. Such statements are based on current expectations, forecasts and projections, including, but not limited to, anticipated financial and operating results, plans, objectives, expectations and intentions that are not historical in nature. Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, and may not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by which, such performance or results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time, and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including risks relating to the securities markets generally, the impact of adverse market conditions impacting PBFX's logistics and other assets and other risks inherent in PBFX's business. For more information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed or forecasted, see PBFX's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including the Annual Report on Form 10-K. Forward-looking statements reflect information, facts and circumstances only as of the date they are made. The Partnership assumes no responsibility or obligation to update forward-looking statements except as may be required by law.

PBF Logistics LP

PBF Logistics LP, headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, is a fee-based, growth-oriented master limited partnership formed by PBF Energy Inc. to own or lease, operate, develop and acquire crude oil and refined petroleum products terminals, pipelines, storage facilities and similar logistics assets.

Results of Operations (Unaudited)

Factors Affecting Comparability

The following tables present our results of operations, related operational information, and reconciliations of net income and net cash provided by operating activity to EBITDA and distributable cash flow (both as defined below) of PBFX for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016. The financial information presented contains the financial results of PBFX and Paulsboro Natural Gas Pipeline (as defined below) prior to our acquisition on February 28, 2017.

On February 28, 2017, our wholly-owned subsidiary, PBFX Operating Company LP ("PBFX Op Co"), acquired from PBF Energy Company LLC ("PBF LLC") all of the issued and outstanding limited liability company interests of Paulsboro Natural Gas Pipeline Company LLC ("PNGPC") (the "PNGPC Acquisition"). PNGPC owns and operates an existing interstate natural gas pipeline which serves PBF Holding Company LLC's ("PBF Holding") Paulsboro Refinery ("Paulsboro Natural Gas Pipeline") and is subject to regulation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC"). PNGPC has FERC approval for, and is in the process of constructing, a new 24" pipeline to replace the existing pipeline.

The PNGPC Acquisition was a transfer between entities under common control. Accordingly, the financial information contained herein of PBFX has been retrospectively adjusted to include the historical results of PNGPC for all periods presented. The results of PNGPC are included in the Transportation and Terminaling segment.

On August 31, 2016, PBFX Op Co acquired from PBF LLC a 50% equity interest in Torrance Valley Pipeline Company LLC ("TVPC"), with the other 50% equity interest continuing to be held by a subsidiary of PBF LLC, TVP Holding Company LLC ("TVP Holding") (the "TVPC Acquisition"). TVPC owns the 189-mile San Joaquin Valley pipeline system with capacity of approximately 110,000 barrels per day ("bpd") (the "Torrance Valley Pipeline"), which supports PBF Holding's Torrance Refinery. The Torrance Valley Pipeline consists of the M55, M1 and M70 pipeline systems, including 11 pipeline stations with storage capacity and truck unloading capability at two of the stations. We consolidate the financial results of TVPC, and record a noncontrolling interest for the 50% economic interest in TVPC held by TVP Holding.

On April 29, 2016, our wholly-owned subsidiary, PBF Logistics Products Terminals LLC ("PLPT"), purchased four refined product terminals (the "East Coast Terminals") from an affiliate of Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (the "Plains Asset Purchase"). The East Coast Terminals have subsequently generated third-party revenues. Prior to the Plains Asset Purchase, we did not record third-party revenue, except for third-party revenue generated by the Delaware City Products Pipeline prior to August 2013. Additionally, our results may not be comparable to prior periods due to additional revenue, operating and maintenance expense and general and administrative expense associated with the East Coast Terminals.

As a result of the factors above, the information included in the following tables is not necessarily comparable on a year-over-year basis.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We define EBITDA as net income (loss) before interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization expense. We define EBITDA attributable to PBFX as net income (loss) attributable to PBFX before net interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization expense attributable to PBFX, which excludes the results of acquisitions from PBF prior to the effective dates of such transactions. We define distributable cash flow as EBITDA attributable to PBFX plus non-cash unit-based compensation expense, less net cash paid for interest, maintenance capital expenditures and income taxes. Distributable cash flow will not reflect changes in working capital balances. We use distributable cash flow to calculate a measure we refer to as our coverage ratio. Our coverage ratio is distributable cash flow divided by total distribution declared. EBITDA, EBITDA attributable to PBFX and distributable cash flow are not financial measures prescribed by U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP").

While EBITDA, EBITDA attributable to PBFX and distributable cash flow are not financial measures prescribed by U.S. GAAP ("non-GAAP"), they are supplemental financial measures that management and external users of our consolidated financial statements, such as industry analysts, investors, lenders and rating agencies, may use to assess:

our operating performance as compared to other publicly traded partnerships in the midstream energy industry, without regard to historical cost basis or, in the case of EBITDA, financing methods;

the ability of our assets to generate sufficient cash flow to make distributions to our unitholders;

our ability to incur and service debt and fund capital expenditures; and

the viability of acquisitions and other capital expenditure projects and the returns on investment of various investment opportunities.

We believe that the presentation of EBITDA and EBITDA attributable to PBFX provides useful information to investors in assessing our financial condition and results of operations. We believe that the presentation of distributable cash flow provides useful information to investors as it is a widely accepted financial indicator used by investors to compare partnership performance, as it provides investors with an enhanced perspective of the operating performance of our assets and the cash our business is generating. However, EBITDA, EBITDA attributable to PBFX and distributable cash flow should not be considered alternatives to net income, operating income, cash from operations or any other measure of financial performance or liquidity presented in accordance with GAAP.

EBITDA, EBITDA attributable to PBFX and distributable cash flow have important limitations as analytical tools because they exclude some but not all items that affect net income and net cash provided by operating activities. EBITDA, EBITDA attributable to PBFX and distributable cash flow are reconciled to their most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP in the Earnings Release Tables included herein.

These non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Our definitions of these non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other partnerships, because they may be defined differently by other partnerships in our industry, thereby limiting their utility.





PBF LOGISTICS LP EARNINGS RELEASE TABLES CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited, in thousands, except unit and per unit data)



Three Months Ended March 31, 2017

2016* Revenue (a):







Affiliate $ 56,202



$ 36,549



Third-Party 4,275





Total revenue 60,477



36,549









Costs and expenses:







Operating and maintenance expenses (a) 15,769



6,092



General and administrative expenses 3,315



2,566



Depreciation and amortization 5,352



1,847

Total costs and expenses 24,436



10,505









Income from operations 36,041



26,044









Other expense:







Interest expense, net (7,568)



(6,806)



Amortization of loan fees (416)



(423)

Net income 28,057



18,815



Less: Net loss attributable to Predecessor (150)



(279)



Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest (g) 3,599





Net income attributable to PBF Logistics LP unitholders $ 24,608



$ 19,094









Net income per limited partner unit:







Common units - basic $ 0.55



$ 0.53



Common units - diluted 0.55



0.53



Subordinated units - basic and diluted 0.55



0.53









Weighted-average limited partner units outstanding:







Common units - basic 26,042,248



18,497,620



Common units - diluted 26,127,441



18,497,997



Subordinated units - basic and diluted 15,886,553



15,886,553











Cash distributions declared per unit (e) $ 0.46



$ 0.42









See Footnotes to Earnings Release Tables

____________ * Prior-period financial information has been retrospectively adjusted for the acquisition of PNGPC on February 28,

2017.

PBF LOGISTICS LP EARNINGS RELEASE TABLES CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited, in thousands)









Three Months Ended March 31, 2017



PBF Logistics LP

PNGPC*

Consolidated Results Revenue:











Affiliate

$ 56,202



$ 



$ 56,202

Third-party

4,275







4,275

Total revenue

60,477







60,477















Costs and expenses:











Operating and maintenance expenses

15,729



40



15,769

General and administrative expenses

3,315







3,315

Depreciation and amortization

5,242



110



5,352

Total costs and expenses

24,286



150



24,436















Income (loss) from operations

36,191



(150)



36,041















Other expense:











Interest expense, net

(7,568)







(7,568)

Amortization of loan fees

(416)







(416)

Net income (loss)

28,207



(150)



28,057

Less: Net loss attributable to Predecessor





(150)



(150)

Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest (g)

3,599







3,599

Net income attributable to PBF Logistics LP unitholders

$ 24,608



$ 



$ 24,608















See Footnotes to Earnings Release Tables

____________ * Reflects the results of PNGPC prior to our acquisition on February 28, 2017.

PBF LOGISTICS LP EARNINGS RELEASE TABLES CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (Unaudited, in thousands)









Three Months Ended March 31, 2016



PBF Logistics LP

PNGPC*

Consolidated Results Revenue:











Affiliate

$ 36,549



$ 



$ 36,549

Total revenue

36,549







36,549















Costs and expenses:











Operating and maintenance expenses

6,021



71



6,092

General and administrative expenses

2,565



1



2,566

Depreciation and amortization

1,640



207



1,847

Total costs and expenses

10,226



279



10,505















Income (loss) from operations

26,323



(279)



26,044















Other expense:











Interest expense, net

(6,806)







(6,806)

Amortization of loan fees

(423)







(423)

Net income (loss)

19,094



(279)



18,815

Less: Net loss attributable to Predecessor





(279)



(279)

Net income attributable to PBF Logistics LP unitholders

$ 19,094



$ 



$ 19,094



____________ * Reflects the results of PNGPC prior to our acquisition on February 28, 2017.

PBF LOGISTICS LP EARNINGS RELEASE TABLES KEY OPERATING AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION (Unaudited, amounts in thousands except as indicated)















Three Months Ended March 31,



2017

2016* Transportation and Terminaling Segment









Terminals









Total throughput (bpd) (b)(d)



178,715

92,437 Lease tank capacity (average lease capacity barrels per month)



2,126,209

N/A Pipelines









Total throughput (bpd) (b)(d)



146,302

36,046 Lease tank capacity (average lease capacity barrels per month)



1,371,862

N/A











Storage Segment









Storage capacity reserved (average shell capacity barrels per month)



3,691,939

3,654,581







Cash Flow Information:





Net cash provided by (used in):





Operating activities $ 53,797

$ 25,772 Investing activities (19,497)

(1,266) Financing activities (57,691)

(13,920) Net change in cash



$ (23,391)

$ 10,586







Other Financial Information:







EBITDA attributable to PBFX (c) $ 36,469

$ 27,963

Distributable cash flow (c) $ 28,574

$ 21,447

Quarterly distribution declared per unit (e) $ 0.46

$ 0.42

Distribution (e):









Common units - public $ 10,956

$ 8,065



Common units - PBF LLC 1,184

1,081



Subordinated units - PBF LLC 7,308

6,672



IDR holder - PBF LLC 1,687

757





Total distribution $ 21,135

$ 16,575





Coverage ratio (c)



1.35x

1.29x

Capital expenditures $ 19,467

$ 1,126











See Footnotes to Earnings Release Tables

____________ * Prior-period financial information has been retrospectively adjusted for the acquisition of PNGPC on February 28,

2017.

PBF LOGISTICS LP EARNINGS RELEASE TABLES KEY OPERATING AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION (Unaudited, in thousands)



March 31,

December 31, Balance Sheet Information: 2017

2016* Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities (f) $ 80,884



$ 104,245

Property, plant and equipment, net 635,003



608,802

Total assets 749,696



756,861

Total debt (f) 544,027



571,675

Total liabilities 598,249



604,290

Partners' equity (28,609)



(27,311)

Noncontrolling interest (g) 180,056



179,882

Total liabilities and equity 749,696



756,861









See Footnotes to Earnings Release Tables

____________ * Prior-period financial information has been retrospectively adjusted for the acquisition of PNGPC on February 28,

2017.

PBF LOGISTICS LP EARNINGS RELEASE TABLES RECONCILIATION OF AMOUNTS REPORTED UNDER U.S. GAAP TO EBITDA AND DISTRIBUTABLE CASH FLOW (Unaudited, in thousands)







Three Months Ended March 31, 2017

2016* Reconciliation of net income to EBITDA and distributable cash flow (c):







Net income $ 28,057



$ 18,815





Interest expense, net 7,568



6,806





Amortization of loan fees 416



423





Depreciation and amortization 5,352



1,847



EBITDA 41,393



27,891





Less: Predecessor EBITDA (40)



(72)





Less: Noncontrolling interest EBITDA (g) 4,964







EBITDA attributable to PBFX 36,469



27,963





Non-cash unit-based compensation expense 680



729





Cash interest (7,750)



(6,806)





Maintenance capital expenditures (825)



(439)



Distributable cash flow $ 28,574



$ 21,447









Reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities to EBITDA and distributable cash flow (c):







Net cash provided by operating activities $ 53,797



$ 25,772



Change in operating assets and liabilities (19,292)



(3,958)





Interest expense, net 7,568



6,806





Non-cash unit-based compensation expense (680)



(729)



EBITDA 41,393



27,891





Less: Predecessor EBITDA (40)



(72)





Less: Noncontrolling interest EBITDA (g) 4,964







EBITDA attributable to PBFX 36,469



27,963





Non-cash unit-based compensation expense 680



729





Cash interest



(7,750)



(6,806)





Maintenance capital expenditures (825)



(439)



Distributable cash flow $ 28,574



$ 21,447









See Footnotes to Earnings Release Tables

____________ * Prior-period financial information has been retrospectively adjusted for the acquisition of PNGPC on February 28,

2017.





PBF LOGISTICS LP EARNINGS RELEASE TABLES SEGMENT FINANCIAL INFORMATION (Unaudited, in thousands)





















Three Months Ended March 31, 2017



Transportation

and Terminaling

Storage

Corporate

Consolidated Total Total revenue (a)

$ 54,939



$ 5,538



$ 



$ 60,477

Depreciation and amortization expense

4,751



601







5,352

Income (loss) from operations

36,106



3,250



(3,315)



36,041

Interest expense, net and amortization of

loan fees









7,984



7,984

Capital expenditures

15,293



4,174







19,467























Three Months Ended March 31, 2016*



Transportation

and Terminaling

Storage

Corporate

Consolidated Total Total revenue (a)

$ 31,067



$ 5,482



$ 



$ 36,549

Depreciation and amortization expense

1,198



649







1,847

Income (loss) from operations

25,669



2,941



(2,566)



26,044

Interest expense, net and amortization of

loan fees









7,229



7,229

Capital expenditures

687



439







1,126























Balance at March 31, 2017



Transportation

and Terminaling

Storage

Corporate

Consolidated Total Total assets

$ 629,800



$ 61,018



$ 58,878



$ 749,696























Balance at December 31, 2016*



Transportation

and Terminaling

Storage

Corporate

Consolidated Total Total assets

$ 606,898



$ 57,375



$ 92,588



$ 756,861



















See Footnotes to Earnings Release Tables

____________ * Prior-period financial information has been retrospectively adjusted for the acquisition of PNGPC on February 28,

2017.





PBF LOGISTICS LP EARNINGS RELEASE TABLES FOOTNOTES TO EARNINGS RELEASE TABLES (Unaudited, in thousands, except per unit data)















































(a)

See discussion of the factors affecting comparability noted on page 4. Our results of operations may not be comparable to the historical results of operations for the reasons described below: .



Revenues - The Torrance Valley Pipeline was acquired by PBF Energy on July 1, 2016 in connection with the acquisition of the Torrance Refinery and related logistical assets and was not operated by PBF Energy prior to its acquisition. Commercial agreements with PBF Energy for the Torrance Valley Pipeline commenced subsequent to our acquisition on August 31, 2016. As a result, our revenues are not comparative to prior periods. .



On April 29, 2016, our wholly-owned subsidiary, PLPT, purchased the East Coast Terminals, which has subsequently generated third party revenues. Prior to the Plains Asset Purchase, we did not record third-party revenue, except for third-party revenue generated by Delaware City Products Pipeline prior to August 2013. Additionally, our results may not be comparable due to additional revenue associated with the East Coast Terminals subsequent to the close of the acquisition.



Operating and maintenance expenses - As a result of the Plains Asset Purchase, the TVPC Acquisition and the PNGPC Acquisition, our operating expenses are not comparative to prior periods due to expenses associated with these acquisitions.























(b)

Calculated as the sum of the average throughput per day for each Terminal and Pipeline asset for the periods presented.























(c)

See "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" on page 4 for definitions of EBITDA, EBITDA attributable to PBFX, distributable cash flow and coverage ratio.























(d)

Operating information pertains to assets which are included in the Transportation and Terminaling segment. Throughput information reflects activity subsequent to execution of the commercial agreements in connection with the acquisitions of the Paulsboro Natural Gas Pipeline and the Torrance Valley Pipeline from PBF LLC and activity subsequent to the Plains Asset Purchase.





(e)

On May 4, 2017, we announced a quarterly cash distribution of $0.46 per limited partner unit based on the results of the first quarter of 2017. The distribution is payable on May 31, 2017 to PBFX unitholders of record at the close of business on May 16, 2017.























(f)

Management also utilizes net debt as a metric in assessing our leverage. Net debt is a non-GAAP measure calculated by subtracting cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities from total debt, including our affiliate note payable. We believe this measurement is also useful to investors since our marketable securities fully collateralize our Term Loan and we have the ability to and may decide to use a portion of our cash and cash equivalents to retire or pay down our debt. This non-GAAP financial measure should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our debt levels as reported under U.S. GAAP. Our definition of net debt may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other partnerships, because it may be defined differently by other partnerships in our industry, thereby limiting its utility. Our net debt as of March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 was $463,143 and $467,430, respectively.























(g)

Our subsidiary, PBFX Op Co, holds a 50% controlling interest in TVPC, with the other 50% interest in TVPC owned by TVP Holding, an indirect subsidiary of PBF Holding. PBFX Op Co is also the sole managing member of TVPC. We, through our ownership of PBFX Op Co, consolidate the financial results of TVPC, and record a noncontrolling interest for the economic interest in TVPC held by TVP Holding. Noncontrolling interest on the condensed consolidated statements of operations includes the portion of net income or loss attributable to the economic interest in TVPC held by TVP Holding. Noncontrolling interest on the condensed consolidated balance sheets includes the portion of net assets of TVPC attributable to TVP Holding.

SOURCE PBF Logistics LP

Related Links

http://www.pbflogistics.com


LEES SUMMIT, Mo., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Pendo, a nationwide appraisal management company (AMC), has launched an automated USPAP (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice) Standard 3 compliance tool to add to their list of proprietary technology solutions for appraisal management. The company has also developed an appraiser recruiting tool that helps its dedicated client success team find, track and engage appraisers for traditionally difficult assignments involving unique properties, or properties in high demand or sparsely populated areas.

USPAP Standard 3 "establishes requirements for development and reporting of an appraisal review assignment involving a real property or personal property appraisal," according to the Appraisal Institute. Pendo's proprietary USPAP Standard 3 review tool manages the appraisal review requirements set by each state. It allows the appraiser to look at the original appraisal, along with the review form and supporting market data, all in one view. The tool also tracks the number of appraisals Pendo has completed in each state and notifies Pendo when it is time to complete more reviews to meet the state AMC requirements. Housing the reviews and having access to necessary reporting within the tool satisfies the requirements for each state while automating the process and ensuring each appraisal is compliant.

Pendo's quality and compliance efforts center on a configurable proprietary technology that allows each client to customize its quality control process according to its own unique requirements. "If lenders want to achieve the highest quality and compliance, they need to have performance-based metrics to review, analyze and make adjustments as needed," said Jeff Sandman, co-founder of Pendo. "We give our clients the metrics to make informed decisions, and we'll be doing a lot more in the future."

To lead its quality and compliance efforts, the company recently hired Molly Hoskins, certified appraiser, as vice president of quality and compliance. This position and a continued focus on technology are part of the company's disruption-based growth plan, which includes using advanced technology and other dedicated resources to elevate quality, compliance and service levels far above current industry standards.

The newly hired Ms. Hoskins will lead the company's quality and compliance program, which includes growing Pendo's use of proprietary technologies and metrics that not only assure appraisal quality and compliance, but also elevate client engagement.

About Pendo

Pendo is a nationwide appraisal management company based in Lee's Summit, Missouri. The company was co-founded by two successful technology professionals, Jeff Sandman and Mike Peck, specifically to disrupt the appraisal management segment using advanced technology and 'white glove' client service standards. The company's proprietary QC technology boasts numerous unique features that assure the highest levels of quality and compliance, while also reducing wait times, elevating service levels, boosting client engagement, and minimizing redundant activities. Pendo was founded in 2009 and is licensed to conduct business in all 50 states. For more information, visit www.pendomanagement.com, email [email protected] or call 816.332.6627.

PRESS CONTACT

Jeri Yoshida

Yosh Communications

[email protected]

310.651.0057

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Pendo Blog

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE Pendo

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WASHINGTON, May 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), the advocate for the profession of directorship, and the Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA), the first national membership association of Latinos serving on public or private company boards, today announced a partnership that will serve as a catalyst to increase the number of diverse directors in todays boardrooms.



In response to NACD clients increasing demand for diverse director candidates, NACD Board Recruitment Services will work with LCDA to identify highly qualified board candidates for companies that have engaged NACDs search practice.

"In light of heightened global trends and business imperatives, the need for diversity of experience and perspectives in the boardroom has become an unmistakable mandate," said NACD president and CEO Peter Gleason. Our partnership with LCDA will allow us to expand our board search teams reach and offer more directorship opportunities to Latino corporate leaders.

LCDA was established to promote a culture of inclusion for Latinos in Americas corporate boardrooms. By collaborating with U.S. companies, LCDAs mission is to increase Hispanic participation in boardrooms across the United States. Despite a robust talent pool and representing nearly 18 percent of the U.S. population, Latinos hold only about two percent of F1000 board seats.

Studies demonstrate that companies gain a competitive advantage when decision making comes from diverse perspectives that align the companies strategy with their changing consumer bases. With Latino purchasing power at $1.7 trillion and on pace to continue to grow $80 to $90 billion a year, Latino consumers are driving consumption growth in America. said Esther Aguilera, LCDA president and CEO, We applaud the efforts of NACDs Board Recruitment Services to advance the contributions that Latino leaders can make at the highest levels of corporate leadership.

Sixty-seven percent of respondents to NACDs most recent public company governance survey indicated their boards added at least one director in the past year. NACD and LCDA will work together to ensure that LCDAs members are well positioned to be considered for future board openings.

NACD has been championing boardroom diversity for four decades. For more on NACDs guidance on building diverse boards, including the NACD Diversity Discussion Guide for Directors, please visit the NACD Board Diversity Resource Center.

About NACD

The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) empowers more than 17,000 directors to lead with confidence in the boardroom. As the recognized authority on leading boardroom practices, NACD helps boards strengthen investor trust and public confidence by ensuring that todays directors are well prepared for tomorrows challenges. World-class boards join NACD to elevate performance, gain foresight, and instill confidence. Fostering collaboration among directors, investors, and corporate governance stakeholders, NACD has been setting the standard for responsible board leadership for 40 years. To learn more about NACD, visit www.NACDonline.org. To become an NACD member, please contact us at Join@NACDonline.org or 202-572-2089. If you are already a member, contact your NACD Membership Advisor at MembershipAdvisor@NACDonline.org to ensure that you are receiving the best value from your membership.

About LCDA

The Latino Corporate Directors Association (LCDA) is the first association of U.S. Latino corporate board members serving on public or private company boards. LCDA is focused on increasing the number and influence of U.S. Latinos on corporate boards by growing the pool of high-caliber, board-ready candidates; providing quality corporate-governance programming for experienced and aspiring directors; and serving as a trusted partner to search firms, corporations and other allies to promote board diversity. Despite a robust talent pool, U.S. Latinos are underrepresented on U.S. corporate boards. Presently, about 3% of Fortune 500 and 2% of Fortune 1000 company board seats are held by Latinos; yet this growing demographic represents 18% of the U.S. population and $1.7 trillion in purchasing power. LCDA was formed to serve as a resource and trusted partner to reverse this trend. More information is available at www.latinocorporatedirectors.org.
CHICAGO, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Penserra Securities LLC, a U.S. based financial services firm that specializes in global institutional trading and related brokerage services announced today that it is expanding its capital markets presence and capabilities with the addition of senior investment professional John Pascente.

"We see significant opportunities with corporate clients across capital markets related services. John adds a significant leadership presence and capital markets experience to a seasoned team that is already experiencing strong momentum," said George Madrigal, the Chief Executive Officer.

John Pascente, joins Penserra as the Managing Director of Capital Markets. John will be managing debt and equity capital markets activities, deal origination, and corporate buyback transactions. John comes to Penserra with over 19 years of industry experience in Capital Markets including Investment Banking Coverage, Sales, and Investment Management.

"I am extremely pleased to be a part of this dynamic and growing firm that is laser focused on integrity and client satisfaction," said Pascente. "Joining Penserra, which is known for delivering exceptional execution results, provides an opportunity to leverage the firm's existing platform and resources to broaden capabilities in capital markets and provide clients with consistent, value-added solutions."

John joins two existing senior investment professionals, Jose Reyes, who is based in New York City, and Francisco de Bocos, who is based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Capital Markets division will improve and expand coverage of domestic issuers focusing on debt and equity markets, while increasing distribution to a wide range of investors. In addition, Penserra will leverage its experienced traders and advanced technology to execute open market share repurchases for corporate clients.

About Penserra

Penserra Securities provides global equity and fixed income execution services, equity research, and investment banking. Since 2009, Penserra has leveraged technology, data, and intellectual capital to provide precise and innovative services to some of the largest and most sophisticated institutions around the world. Its affiliates, Penserra Capital Management and Penserra Transition Management, provide advisory and fiduciary services to institutional investors. Core services include transition management, ETF sub-advising, index funds and custom beta solutions.

In December, Penserra announced its merger with Cheevers and Company, a Chicago based institutional broker-dealer. The combination of Cheevers, which has built an exceptional reputation over the past 34 years, and Penserra, which has grown significantly over the past 7 years, will form a strong combination of global trading expertise and a wide breadth of broker-dealer services. After the merger is complete, Cheevers will be a division of Penserra. For more information about Penserra and its services please visit www.penserra.com.

Contact:

George Madrigal

Penserra Securities

925.594.5001

SOURCE Penserra Securities LLC

Related Links

http://www.penserra.com


MAKATI CITY, Philippines, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its global strategy, international call center Open Access BPO is launching its newest site in Xiamen City, China on June 3. The multilingual customer support firm currently has three operation hubs in Makati City and Davao City (Philippines) and Taipei (Taiwan).

The Xiamen City office can house up to 400 employees working in three different shifts to allow for 24/7 operations.

Through its new location, Open Access BPO will deploy customer support solutions in Chinese languages, including Mandarin and Cantonese. It also plans to provide IT services such as software engineering and web development by tapping into the talent pool of IT specialists in China.

Matthew Narciso, the company's marketing director, said the opportunity for expansion presented itself when China implemented a policy requiring foreign-owned companies in certain industries to establish workforce operations in the country before conducting transactions.

"Expansion-minded companies have been looking for a way to get into China for years, as it's one of the biggest markets in the world. China is the world's second largest economy and consumer market. By 2018, it's predicted that China's economy may surpass that of the US. Moreover, a 1% market penetration in China means you get to market to around 13 million people. That offers tremendous opportunities for investors and tech companies all over the world," he said.

By partnering with Open Access BPO, businesses can gain access to a globally competitive marketplace without moving their operations to or establishing a physical site in China. Furthermore, they will gain the capacity to employ skilled Chinese professionals with a firsthand knowledge about the Chinese culture, letting them forge strong customer relationships.

Open Access BPO will start onboarding its new employees in its China office by sending over training specialists from its sites in the Philippines and Taiwan.

About Open Access BPO

Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, Open Access BPO started in 2006 as a telemarketing services provider. Since then, it has evolved into an all-encompassing offshoring solutions firm that offers multilingual customer support and content moderation services in 35 languages. It caters mainly to technology-powered companies in various industries including travel, food, and transportation.

Contact:

Matthew Narciso

+1 888 888 1519

[email protected]

SOURCE Open Access BPO
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )



Browse 139 market data Tables and 49 Figures spread through 183 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Pipe Coatings Market"

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Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.

This growth is fueled by the high demand for pipelines in various end-use industries such as oil & gas, water & wastewater treatment, and chemical processing and increasing demand for pipe coatings in the Asia-Pacific, North America, South America, and Middle East & Africa.

Request for Sample PDF of Report @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=98303023

Thermoplastic Polymer: The most-widely used type of pipe coatings

Thermoplastic polymer is the largest type of pipe coating used in different end-use industries. The market for thermoplastic polymer coatings is large because these polymers offer various advantages such as resistance to chemicals and physical stress, high flexibility, and easy applicability. Polyethylene (PE) coatings are the largest type of thermoplastic polymer coatings. Other types of thermoplastic polymer coatings are Polypropylene (PP) and Polyurethane (PU) coatings.

Oil & Gas: The largest end-use industry of pipe coatings

Oil & gas is the largest end-use industry of pipe coatings due to the high demand for oil & gas across the world. Pipe coatings are used for protecting pipelines from corrosion and hence pipe coatings are used on a large scale in the oil & gas industry. Further, the market of oil & gas currently is witnessing growth in upstream, midstream and downstream activities, which is driving the market for pipe coatings.

North America: The largest pipe coatings market

North America was the leading region in the pipe coatings market, in terms of value and volume, in 2015. Countries in this region such as the U.S., Canada and Mexico are witnessing significant increase in the use of pipe coatings by different end-use industries. The increased demand for pipelines in end-use industries such as oil & gas, water & wastewater treatment, chemical processing, and others is driving the pipe coatings market. The U.S. is projected to be the fastest-growing market in this region till 2021. This growth is mainly due to increased demand for pipelines and rehabilitation activities in the country.

Make an Inquiry @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=98303023

There are few global players competing for the Pipe Coatings Market share. These companies are actively investing in various strategies such as expansions, new product developments, mergers & acquisitions, and joint venture projects globally to increase their market shares. Major players such as PPG Industries, Inc. (U.S.), Akzo Nobel N. V. (The Netherlands), The Sherwin-Williams Company (U.S.), The Valspar Corporation (U.S.), Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (U.S.), Wasco Energy Ltd. (Malaysia), Arkema S.A. (France), Shawcor Ltd. (Canada), 3M Company (U.S.), and Specialty Polymer Coatings, Inc. (Canada) have adopted various organic and inorganic growth strategies.

Browse Related Reports:

Protective Coating Resins Market by type (Epoxy, Alkyd, Acrylic, Polyurethane), Formulation (Solvent-borne, Water-borne, and Powder), End-use industry (Industrial, Oil & gas, Marine, Automotive, Mining) and Region - Global Forecast to 2021

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/protective-coatings-market-125206748.html

Anti-Corrosion Coating Market by Type (Epoxy, Polyurethanes, Acrylic, Alkyd), Technology (Solvent, Water, Powder) and End-use Industry (Marine, Oil & Gas, Industrial, Infrastructure, and Power Generation) - Global Trends & Forecasts to 2021

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/anti-corrosion-coating-market-155215822.html

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SOURCE MarketsandMarkets
SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Public interest advocacy groups Consumer Watchdog, Food & Water Watch, Rootskeeper, Save Porter Ranch, and public interest attorneys Aguirre & Severson LLP, have urged the Senate Rules Committee not to confirm former aide to Governor Jerry Brown, Cliff Rechtschaffen, to the California Public Utilities Commission. Rechtschaffen has record of ignoring federal laws and state regulations to aid the oil and gas industry while jeopardizing the environment and public health.

"Rechtschaffen's record shows that he will pander to the largest energy companies in the state at great expense to the public, to the proper role of government, and to fair play," the groups wrote to the Senate Rules Committee.

"Rechtschaffen's dismissal of tough oil and gas regulators in the state on behalf of one of its largest oil companies is one of the saddest chapters in this state's unapologetic obeisance to Big Oil," the letter said. "It should not go without full and complete public disclosure in the confirmation process and thorough questioning of Mr. Rechtschaffen about details yet to be in the public record."

To read the letter, see:

http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/cliffrechtschaffenopposeltrfinal5-3-17.pdf

Cliff Rechtschaffen fired two top oil and gas regulators in 2011, after Occidental Petroleum and its attorney, former Governor Gray Davis, pressured Governor Jerry Brown to speed up the granting of oil industry permits without proper environmental review. His actions, and subsequent restructuring of the Department of Conservation's Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR), eventually led to the drilling of more than 2,400 oilfield wastewater disposal wells into federally protected aquifers. In the wake of the firings, and granting of a Kern County fracking permit, Occidental contributed a total of $500,000 to Proposition 103, Brown's initiative to raise taxes.

Rechtschaffen's actions deep-sixed emergency regulations that the fired regulators were drafting to improve the safety of cyclic steaming, a common method of hydraulic fracturing. Cyclic steaming in wells with damaged casings can affect nearby wells and open up sinkholes like one in which a Chevron worker had died earlier in 2011. "Without the regulations in place, oil companies carried on the dangerous practice of cyclic steaming without having to report everything from well pressures and conditions to proper posting of when and where cyclic steaming was taking place," the letter said. "By undermining well rules as the Governor's point person on oil and gas issues, Rechtschaffen put public health and safety at risk."

In reviewing Rechtschaffen's record, the letter also raised questions about:

Rechtschaffen's role in the largest methane well blowout in US history at Aliso Canyon, the natural gas reserve owned by Southern California Edison and parent, Sempra. "Rechtschaffen's ignoring of DOGGR standards may have directly led to the failure of injection well SS 25 in Aliso Canyon," the letter said.

The letter also questioned his role in Governor Jerry Brown's emergency proclamation on Aliso Canyon in 2016. "That proclamation swept aside any public investigation into the causes of the blowout that only the PUC has the authority to open, and gave SoCalGas direct cover to hire and direct consultants to determine the cause of the debacle, and to control when and what the public learns about it. As Brown's trusted energy advisor, Rechtschaffen would have had to be a party to the proclamation's nuances."

Rechtschaffen's role in rolling California into a larger Western regional electric grid, which he has championed. "The push to fold California into a Western grid risks opening it up to imports of dirty coal power from Warren Buffett's PacifiCorp, which owns more coal-fired power plants than any other US company, and also subjects California to the same possible swindle of consumers and the environment as we had during the California electricity crisis caused by a thoroughly discredited experiment in deregulation at the turn of the century," the letter said. "A regional grid puts the system into the regulatory hands of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, taking away the state's ability to control its own energy destiny."

The letter concluded: "It is vital that any commissioner appointed to the PUC bring a strong record of acting in the public interest, and not of acting on behalf of industry, be it oil and gas producers, or investor-owned utilities pushing fossil fuels at the expense of ratepayers and the public health. Cliff Rechtschaffen has no such demonstrated record. For all the above-explained reasons, we urge you not to confirm Rechtschaffen to the PUC."

SOURCE Consumer Watchdog

Related Links

http://www.consumerwatchdog.org


CHICAGO, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- When it's time to sell their home, most Americans have their eye on the bottom line. RE/MAX brokers say sellers want to know, first and foremost, what their home is worth, what commission the broker will charge and how much they might have to spend to get the home ready to sell.

"Those are vital questions, but they aren't the only ones," said Jack Kreider, executive vice president and regional director of RE/MAX Northern Illinois.

Choosing a broker can be confusing because most of us sell a home only every 10 to 15 years, and the real estate business has seen dramatic changes over the last decade thanks to the internet.

According to Kreider, the secret to success lies in choosing a broker whose approach to selling homes meshes with a seller's goals and preferences. To make that happen, sellers must ask the right questions.

Based on interviews with RE/MAX brokers, here are five questions sellers should ask when selecting a broker.

1. What is an appropriate listing price?

Whatever the ultimate sales price, the listing price is a vital starting point, noted Mary Reuter Kenney of RE/MAX Excels in Geneva, Ill.

"Some sellers and brokers may want to start with an elevated list price hoping for an eager buyer, but if the price is too high, it can keep buyers away. The longer a home sits on the market, the lower its eventual selling price is likely to be, so a realistic list price is essential. Sellers should ask a broker to present a list price recommendation based on the recent sales prices of comparable homes in the area, while also keeping the impact of current competition in mind."

2. What are the expenses, besides commission, that sellers will face?

"Many sellers aren't aware there are selling expenses beyond the broker's commission," said Kyra Pych of RE/MAX in the Village, Realtors, Oak Park, Ill.

"Those fees vary depending on local custom, so I go through all that with them: costs for title search and lot survey, for attorney fees, transfer taxes and other things. Sometimes, those fees determine whether a seller must bring money to the closing table, so they need the full picture," she said.

3. How will you market my home, especially online?

Because more than 90 percent of buyers use the internet as part of their home search, effective online marketing is vital these days.

"Sellers must understand how a broker approaches internet marketing," said Karen Danenberg of RE/MAX Suburban in Buffalo Grove, Ill. "If done right, it lets buyers get to know a house before they walk in, but to do that you need good pictures and good verbiage. If I were a seller, I'd ask to see how a broker had marketed comparable properties, and not just the photos and text on the MLS, but also what they did on social media, which is becoming a huge factor."

4. How will the seller and broker work together?

It's a key issue and one with many dimensions, noted Damian Ciszek of RE/MAX 10, Chicago, and there can be marked differences among brokers.

"I work on my own," Ciszek explained, "so I handle everything, but other brokers may be part of team of brokers or may have unlicensed assistants who deal with portions of the process. Sellers should understand what information they will be getting and how frequently and just what is expected of them."

5. What is the broker's approach to preparing a home for sale?

Some brokers focus on maximizing value. That can mean a fair amount of pre-listing preparation for the seller but also a higher sales price. Other brokers are more willing to price a home to reflect its current condition if the buyer lacks the time or resources to make cosmetic improvements.

Jennie McLaughlin of RE/MAX Hub City in Rochelle, Ill., is among those who emphasize making homes she lists more salable, both in terms of exterior curb appeal and interior appearance.

"Curb appeal is extremely important. It defines the first impression buyers have of the property. Inside the home, it isn't always necessary to invest a lot of money, but getting the home clean and decluttered pays huge dividends, not only in a better sales price but also a faster sale," she said.

The RE/MAX Northern Illinois network, with headquarters in Elgin, Ill., consists of more than 2,250 sales associates and 103 independently owned and operated RE/MAX offices that provide a full range of residential and commercial brokerage services. The northern Illinois network is part of RE/MAX, a global real estate organization with 110,000+ sales associates in 100+ nations.

Contact:

Chris Calomino

RE/MAX Northern Illinois

847-428-4200

SOURCE RE/MAX Northern Illinois

Related Links

http://www.illinoisproperty.com


Dr. Grines, who helped pioneer percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for heart attack, will perform interventions and cardiac catheterizations at the Sandra Atlas Bass Heart Hospital at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset. At the Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, she will develop and foster world-class cardiology research and education programs and implement it across the Northwell Health system.

Previously, Dr. Grines was vice president of academic and clinical affairs at Detroit Medical Center's Heart Hospital. Before joining the Detroit hospital in 2011, Dr. Grines was vice chief of cardiovascular medicine at the Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI, where she spent two decades. Dr. Grines led numerous multicenter clinical trials, including the PAMI trial that demonstrated primary PCI was superior to clot busting drugs and the Stent PAMI study, which confirmed the benefits of stents versus angioplasty for treating heart attacks. Research led by Dr. Grines revolutionized the management of heart attack patients across the world.

"We are pleased to welcome Dr. Grines, one of the most esteemed interventional cardiologists in the country, as the chair of cardiology at the medical school," said Lawrence Smith, MD, Northwell Health's physician-in-chief and dean of the Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine. "With exceptional clinical, teaching and research skills, Dr. Grines will develop a premiere cardiac research program as well as developing clinical trials that will give patients earlier access to the latest in diagnostics and therapeutics."

Dr. Grines has had a significant impact on a number of areas of cardiology and interventional cardiology, but in particular with myocardial infarction, or heart attack. She has a long history of research, publications and designing clinical trials.

She has published more than 400 publications, numerous book chapters and hundreds of medical journal articles regarding cardiac catheterization, PCI, acute myocardial infarction, gene therapy and heart disease in women. She is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Interventional Cardiology.

Dr. Grines has been recognized as one of the "Best Doctors in America" and has received many regional and national awards. In March, she received the American College of Cardiology's (ACC) Distinguished Mentor Award. The Michigan ACC awarded Dr. Grines its Legacy Award, only the second person to receive the honor. In 2016, she was presented with the Alumni Achievement Award for the Ohio State University College of Medicine, and received the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI)  Luminary in Interventional Cardiology award.

Dr. Grines received her medical degree from Ohio State University in Columbus, OH and completed her internship and residency at the same university. She completed her fellowship in cardiology from the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor, MI. She is a member of numerous professional societies and is on the executive committee of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, the scientific session program committee for the American College of Cardiology and is the chairperson for Women in Innovations.

About Northwell Health

Northwell Health is New York State's largest health care provider and private employer, with 21 hospitals and over 550 outpatient practices. We care for more than two million people annually in the metro New York area and beyond, thanks to philanthropic support from our communities. Our 61,000 employees  15,000+ nurses and nearly 3,400 physicians, including nearly 2,700 members of Northwell Health Physician Partners -- are working to change health care for the better. We're making breakthroughs in medicine at the Feinstein Institute. We're training the next generation of medical professionals at the visionary Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine and the School of Graduate Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. And we offer health insurance through CareConnect. For information on our more than 100 medical specialties, visit Northwell.edu.

SOURCE Northwell Health

Related Links

https://www.northwell.edu


STOCKHOLM, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Haldex held its annual general meeting (AGM) for 2017 on May 4 in Landskrona, Sweden.

CEO presentation

Haldex' acting President and CEO, Ake Bengtsson, summed up 2016 as an eventful year with, among other things, bids from three different companies. One of the trends that caused the interest in the company is the development of autonomous driven trucks. Ake Bengtsson explained how Haldex' technology can play a prominent role in such a development. The CEO presentation (in Swedish) is available at http://corporate.haldex.com/en/investors/corporate-governance/annual-general-meeting/2017

Board of directors

The AGM re-eleced the directors Goran Carlson, Magnus Johansson and Annika Sten Parson and elected Ulf Ahlen, Jorgen Durban and Johan Gileus as new directors.

The AGM appointed Jorgen Durban as new chairman of the board. Jorgen Durban is lawyer and chairman of Anoto Group. Jorgen has previously been managing partner at Linklaters, Sweden.

"Haldex is in a very interesting situation, where I believe I can contribute with my long experience in corporate law and acquisitions, " says Jorgen Durban, the newly appointed chairman of Haldex. "The company has managed to keep focus on existing business, which is impressive considering how long Haldex has found itself in an uncertain ownership situation. The former board of directors predicted that the process would be complex and lengthy, which is a view I share. It is however gratifying to see how well the cooperation with Knorr-Bremse works. "

Auditors

The AGM re-elected Ohrlings PricewaterhouseCoopers AB as the company's auditors. The auditor-in-charge is Bror Frid.

Fees to the board of directors

It was resolved that the fees to the board of directors shall be SEK 831,000 to the chairman and SEK 330,000 to each of the other directors not employed by the company, SEK 100,000 to the chairman of the audit committee, SEK 50,000 to each member of the audit committee, SEK 50,000 to the chairman of the compensation committee and SEK 25,000 to each member of the compensation committee.

The above fees shall, according to the AGM resolution, be paid immediately and paid in full, even if the directors would not be re-elected at any extraordinary general meeting before the next AGM.

In addition, the AGM resolved that a retroactive additional fee of SEK 500,000 be paid to Magnus Johansson for his extensive extra efforts in 2016/2017 as acting chairman in connection with Knorr-Bremse's public offer to the shareholders in Haldex.

Guidelines for remuneration to senior executives

The AGM resolved to adopt the guidelines for remuneration to senior executives as proposed by the board of directors.

Further information:

Full details of each proposal can be downloaded from http://corporate.haldex.com

For further information visit http://corporate.haldex.com or contact:



Catharina Paulcen, SVP Corporate Communications, [email protected] or +46-418-476157

The information was submitted for publication by the Haldex media contact stated in the release on May 4, 2017 at 17.15 CEST.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

http://news.cision.com/haldex/r/report-from-annual-general-meeting-in-haldex,c2257518

The following files are available for download:

http://mb.cision.com/Main/1432/2257518/669484.pdf Press release as pdf

SOURCE Haldex

Related Links

http://corporate.haldex.com


WASHINGTON, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Rev. Dr. Samuel Rodriguez, who participated in today's National Day of Prayer service and will deliver tonight's benediction at the Capitol, applauds President Trump's executive order aimed at increasing religious freedoms and rolling back the Johnson Amendment.

"I was honored today to stand next to our president, vice president and many of our nation's faith leaders as we gathered for the National Day of Prayer. This administration has gone to great lengths to signal their commitment to listening to and befriending America's faith community. I can tell you every Christian leader who was at the White House today feels welcomed, heard and valued. There is a new tone in Washington, and it's yet another reason I am so honored to be delivering tonight's National Day of Prayer benediction at the Capitol.

"This new executive order not only signals President Trump and Vice President Pence's commitment to fighting for and representing the Evangelical community, but also the larger struggle for religious liberty. For years now, people of faithespecially Christianshave been essentially told that their faith has no place beyond their front door. A subversive oppression has taken a hold of our nation and sincerely held beliefs are subject to not only social ridicule but also legal retribution. I strongly support the president's position and urge Congress to throw their support behind a full repeal. Our job is not yet done.

"I believe the freedom of religionfor all religions and even no religion at allis the cornerstone of our republic. The right to believe and to act on belief is at the very heart of human freedom. By signing this executive order today, the president has stood not only for religious liberty, but for a freedom upon which so many other rights rest."

Rev. Samuel Rodriguez is president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. He serves on President Donald J. Trump's Faith Advisory Committee and took part in the president's inaugural swearing in service. He has been named by CNN and Fox News as "the leader of the Hispanic Evangelical movement" and was included in the 2013 TIME 100 Magazine poll.

The NHCLC serves as a representative voice for the more than 100 million Hispanic Evangelicals assembled in over 40,000 U.S. churches and hundreds of thousands of additional congregations spread worldwide throughout the Spanish-speaking diaspora. Seeking to reconcile evangelist Billy Graham's message of salvation with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s march of prophetic activism, the NHCLC emphasizes "7 Directives" of Life, Family, Compassionate Evangelism, Stewardship, Justice, Education and Youth. For additional information, visit http://www.nhclc.org.

SOURCE National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference

Related Links

http://www.nhclc.org


BOSTON, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Rhythm, a biopharmaceutical company developing peptide therapeutics for rare genetic deficiencies that result in life-threatening metabolic disorders, today announced the initiation of a Phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of setmelanotide, the company's first-in-class melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) agonist, for the treatment of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) deficiency obesity, an ultra-rare genetic disorder associated with severe, early-onset obesity and unrelenting, abnormally increased appetite (hyperphagia).

Rhythm is developing setmelanotide for the treatment of obesity caused by genetic deficiencies in the MC4 pathway, a key biological pathway in humans that regulates weight by increasing energy expenditure and reducing appetite.

This Phase 3 registration trial is an open-label, single-arm, multinational trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of setmelanotide in patients with POMC deficiency obesity, with setmelanotide administered once daily by subcutaneous injection for 12 months.

"In POMC deficiency obesity, setmelanotide has the potential to restore lost function in the MC4 pathway to treat the life-threatening obesity and unrelenting hunger that afflicts people with this genetic disorder," said Keith Gottesdiener, CEO of Rhythm. "We are working closely with the FDA under the Breakthrough Therapy designation and with investigators to advance setmelanotide clinical development with urgency."

About POMC Deficiency Obesity

POMC deficiency obesity is a life-threatening orphan disease for which we estimate the prevalence to be between 100 and 500 patients in the U.S. Patients with POMC deficiency have unrelenting hyperphagia that begins in infancy, and they develop severe, early-onset obesity. POMC deficiency obesity results from two different homozygous genetic defects, both upstream of the MC4 receptor. Currently, there is no approved treatment for the obesity and hyperphagia associated with POMC deficiency obesity.

About Setmelanotide

Setmelanotide is a potent, first-in-class MC4R agonist in development for the treatment of obesity caused by genetic deficiencies in the MC4 pathway, a key biological pathway in humans that regulates weight by increasing energy expenditure and reducing appetite. The critical role of the MC4 pathway in weight regulation was validated with the discovery that single genetic defects along this pathway result in early-onset and severe obesity. In 2016, The New England Journal of Medicine reported results from a setmelanotide Phase 2 trial in POMC deficiency obesity that demonstrated substantial weight loss in two adult patients. At ObesityWeek 2016, investigators presented initial data for the first patient enrolled in a Phase 2, open-label clinical trial of setmelanotide for the treatment of leptin receptor (LepR) deficiency obesity. Both POMC and LepR deficiency obesity are rare genetic disorders associated with severe, early-onset obesity and unrelenting hyperphagia. The initial efficacy data with setmelanotide in these disorders demonstrate that setmelanotide has the potential to provide meaningful efficacy in genetic forms of obesity due to MC4 pathway deficiency by restoring absent LepR-POMC signaling. The company is currently evaluating setmelanotide for the treatment of the following genetic disorders of obesity: POMC deficiency obesity, LepR deficiency obesity, Prader-Willi syndrome, Bardet-Biedl syndrome, Alstrom syndrome, POMC heterozygous deficiency obesity, and POMC epigenetic disorders.

About Rhythm (www.rhythmtx.com)

Rhythm is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing peptide therapeutics for the treatment of rare genetic deficiencies that result in life-threatening metabolic disorders. Rhythm's lead peptide product candidate is setmelanotide, a first-in-class melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) agonist for the treatment of rare genetic disorders of obesity. Rhythm supports The Genetic Obesity Project (www.GeneticObesity.com), which is dedicated to improving the understanding of severe obesity that is caused by specific genetic defects. The company is based in Boston, Massachusetts.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Adam Daley Bart Henderson Berry & Company Public Relations Rhythm, President & Founder 212-253-8881 857-264-4281 [email protected] [email protected]

SOURCE Rhythm

Related Links

http://www.rhythmtx.com


TSX NYSE: RIC

TORONTO, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Richmont Mines Inc. (TSX: RIC) (NYSE: RIC) ("Richmont" or the "Corporation") announces operating and financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2017, driven by solid results from the Island Gold Mine. The Corporation will host a conference call and webcast on Thursday, May 4, 2017, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time (details below.) (All amounts are in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise indicated.)

First Quarter Highlights

Company-wide production of 29,401 ounces of gold (28,528 ounces sold), primarily driven by solid production from the Island Gold Mine of 23,772 ounces of gold (22,649 ounces sold).

Company-wide cash costs 1 of $791 (US$598) per ounce, positively impacted by low cash costs of $668 (US$504) per ounce from the Island Gold Mine.

of per ounce, positively impacted by low cash costs of per ounce from the Island Gold Mine. Company-wide All-In-Sustaining-Costs 1 ("AISC") of $1,124 (US$849) per ounce, positively impacted by low AISC of $848 (US$640) per ounce from the Island Gold Mine.

("AISC") of per ounce, positively impacted by low AISC of per ounce from the Island Gold Mine. Richmont reported first quarter revenues of $46.5 (US$35.1) million .

. Earnings of $5.5 (US$4.1) million , or $0.09 (US$0.07) per share.

, or per share. Operating cash flow 1 (before non-cash changes in working capital) was $16.4 (US$12.4) million , or $0.26 (US$0.20) per share.

(before non-cash changes in working capital) was , or per share. Richmont maintained a strong cash balance of $75.2 (US$56.5) million , in line with the prior quarter; working capital increased to $66.3 (US$49.7) million .

, in line with the prior quarter; working capital increased to . Effective March 15, 2017 , Richmont appointed Mr. Robert J. Chausse as Chief Financial Officer, further strengthening the senior management team.

"We started the year with a solid quarter reported from both assets, particularly at our cornerstone Island Gold Mine. The ongoing transformation of the Island Gold Mine continues to advance and we remain on schedule to release our Expansion Case Preliminary Economic Assessment ("Expansion Case PEA") in the second quarter, which will support our overall objective of positioning the Island Gold Mine as one of the lowest cost underground gold producers in the Americas," stated Renaud Adams, CEO. He continued, "Our focus remains on creating sustainable shareholder value through enhancing operational and cost efficiencies throughout the organization while maintaining our disciplined approach to capital allocation. Over the balance of the year, we will continue to focus on positioning the Island Gold Mine for long-term success that drives shareholder value creation, which is supported by a solid balance sheet and a disciplined management team."



1 Non-IFRS performance measure. Refer to the Non-IFRS Performance Measures section contained in the Q1 2017 Management's Discussion and Analysis.

Financial Highlights







(in thousands of $, except per share amounts) Quarter ended March 31, 2017 Quarter ended March 31, 2016 Revenue from mining operations 46,462 52,634 Net earnings per share, basic 0.09 0.15 Operating cash flow, per share(1) 0.20 0.30 Operating cash flow (before non-cash changes in working capital), per share(1) 0.26 0.36 Net free cash flow, per share(1) 0.01 0.02 Revenue from mining operations (US$) 35,097 38,329 Net earnings per share, basic (US$) 0.07 0.11 Operating cash flow, per share(1) (US$) 0.15 0.22 Operating cash flow (before non-cash changes in working capital), per share(1) (US$) 0.20 0.26 Net free cash flow, per share(1) (US$) 0.01 0.01



(1) Non-IFRS performance measure. Refer to the Non-IFRS performance measures section contained in the Q1 2017 Management's Discussion and Analysis.

Operational Highlights









Quarter ended March 31, 2017 Quarter ended March 31, 2016 Gold produced (oz) 29,401 32,369 Gold sold (oz) 28,528 32,239 Average cash costs per ounce ($)(1) 791 800 Average AISC per ounce ($)(1) 1,124 1,094 Average realized gold price per ounce ($) 1,624 1,629 Average cash costs per ounce (US$)(1) 598 583 Average AISC per ounce (US$)(1) 849 797 Average realized gold price per ounce (US$) 1,227 1,186



(1) Non-IFRS performance measure. Refer to the Non-IFRS performance measures section contained in the Q1 2017 Management's Discussion and Analysis.

Island Gold Mine Highlights







Island Gold MINE Quarter ended March 31, 2017 Quarter ended March 31, 2016 Gold produced (oz) 23,772 26,589 Gold sold (oz) 22,649 26,031 Cash costs per ounce ($)(1) 668 667 AISC per ounce ($)(1) 848 848 Realized gold price per ounce ($) 1,624 1,628 Cash costs per ounce (US$)(1) 504 486 AISC per ounce (US$)(1) 640 618 Realized gold price per ounce (US$) 1,227 1,186 Underground tpd 1,019 853 Mill tonnes 83,365 75,906 Mill tpd 926 834 Head grade (g/t gold) 9.18 11.31 Recoveries (%) 96.7 96.3 Sustaining costs ($000's) 4,072 4,713 Project costs ($000's) 5,929 6,987 Non-sustaining exploration ($000's) 3,762 3,770 Sustaining costs (US$000's) 3,076 3,432 Project costs (US$000's) 4,479 5,088 Non-sustaining exploration (US$000's) 2,842 2,745



(1) Non-IFRS performance measure. Refer to the Non-IFRS performance measures section contained in the Q1 2017 Management's Discussion and Analysis.

Island Gold Mine Highlights

Production for the quarter was 23,772 ounces of gold (22,649 ounces sold). The mine is now well positioned to achieve the high-end of production guidance for the year of 87,000-93,000 ounces.

Cash costs for the quarter were $668 (US$504) per ounce, below guidance for the year. The operating unit costs for the quarter were $181 (US$137) per tonne milled, in line with the 2017 mine plan.

per ounce, below guidance for the year. The operating unit costs for the quarter were per tonne milled, in line with the 2017 mine plan. AISC for the quarter were $848 (US$640) per ounce, below guidance for the year.

per ounce, below guidance for the year. For the quarter, expansion capital was $5.9 (US$4.5) million and exploration expense was $3.8 (US$2.8) million .

and exploration expense was . Mill head grade for the quarter was 9.18 g/t gold, representing an in line grade reconciliation (mined vs. December 31, 2016 Mineral Reserves) for the quarter. The 2017 mine plan continues to forecast an average mill head grade for the year of approximately 8.90 g/t gold.

Mineral Reserves) for the quarter. The 2017 mine plan continues to forecast an average mill head grade for the year of approximately 8.90 g/t gold. Underground mining and milling productivities for the quarter, averaged a record 1,019 and 926 tonnes per day, respectively, with lower-grade underground ore stockpiled for future processing, resulting in an improved overall mill head grade for the quarter.

During the quarter, long-hole stope mining continued in the first and second mining horizons and development in ore was advanced as planned in the higher-grade third mining horizon. Stoping in the third mining horizon is expected to begin in the fourth quarter.

The development of the main ramp reached a vertical depth of 860 metres at the end of the quarter, which is in line with the 2017 development plan and as contemplated in the upcoming Expansion Case PEA.

Mineral Reserves (as at December 31, 2016 ) at the Island Gold Mine increased by 34% (net of depletion) to 752,200 ounces of gold, at an increased grade of 9.17 g/t gold. Inferred Resources increased by 30% to 995,700 ounces of gold at an increased grade of 10.18 g/t, and at an average discovery cost of less than $35 (US$26) per ounce. ( see press release dated January 31, 2017 and the technical report titled "Technical Report on the Mineral Reserve and Resource Estimate as of December 31, 2016 for the Island Gold Mine" dated March 17, 2017 ).

) at the Island Gold Mine increased by 34% (net of depletion) to 752,200 ounces of gold, at an increased grade of 9.17 g/t gold. Inferred Resources increased by 30% to 995,700 ounces of gold at an increased grade of 10.18 g/t, and at an average discovery cost of less than per ounce. ( ). New high-grade mineralization located, approximately 800 metres east of the main Island Gold deposit, was identified by recent exploration drilling. Hole GD-640-05 intersected 20.6 g/t gold over 11.3 metres (core length), demonstrating significant potential for near-term and continued resource growth. Additionally, early results from delineation drilling completed within the Expansion Case PEA area, indicates the significant potential to further expand our reserves at higher than current average grades. ( see press release dated March 30, 2017 ).

). Expansion Case PEA : The Corporation is well advanced to release the results of the Expansion Case PEA during the second quarter, as previously disclosed. The study considers the most cost and capital effective strategy to mine the portion of the mineral resources that is located within the main area of interest over four mining horizons, to a maximum depth of 1,000 metres below surface, using the current mine infrastructure. The Corporation remains focused on transforming the high-grade Island Gold Mine into one of the lowest cost underground gold producers in the Americas. Recent achievements include:

The Corporation is well advanced to release the results of the Expansion Case PEA during the second quarter, as previously disclosed. The study considers the most cost and capital effective strategy to mine the portion of the mineral resources that is located within the main area of interest over four mining horizons, to a maximum depth of 1,000 metres below surface, using the current mine infrastructure. The Corporation remains focused on transforming the high-grade Island Gold Mine into one of the lowest cost underground gold producers in the Americas. Recent achievements include: The integration of the December 31, 2016 Mineral Reserves and Resources into the 1,100 tonnes per day mine plan has been completed.

Mineral Reserves and Resources into the 1,100 tonnes per day mine plan has been completed.

The required permit amendments that allow for an ore mining and processing increase to 1,100 tonnes per day were received in December.



Accelerated development of the underground ramp system has advanced as planned.



Engineering and identification of the main equipment required for the mill expansion is well underway and expected capital requirements for the expanded milling capacity remains below the $15.0 million , as previously disclosed.

, as previously disclosed.

The 2017 mine plan and the Expansion Case PEA are focused on optimizing cash flow generation that would fully fund current and future production as well as all strategic exploration programs.

Beaufor Mine Highlights







Beaufor MINE Quarter ended March 31, 2017 Quarter ended March 31, 2016 Gold produced (oz) 5,629 4,615 Gold sold (oz) 5,879 5,037 Cash costs per ounce ($)(1) 1,265 1,396 AISC per ounce ($)(1) 1,580 1,728 Realized gold price per ounce ($) 1,625 1,648 Cash costs per ounce (US$)(1) 956 1,017 AISC per ounce (US$)(1) 1,194 1,259 Realized gold price per ounce (US$) 1,228 1,200 Underground tpd 354 323 Mill tonnes 30,009 29,318 Head grade (g/t gold) 6.00 4.96 Recoveries (%) 97.2 98.7 Sustaining costs ($000's) 1,854 1,674 Non-sustaining exploration costs ($000's) 140 - Sustaining costs (US$000's) 1,401 1,219 Non-sustaining exploration costs (US$000's) 106 -



(1) Non-IFRS performance measure. Refer to the Non-IFRS performance measures section contained in the Q1 2017 Management's Discussion and Analysis.

Beaufor Mine Highlights

Production for the quarter was 5,629 ounces of gold (5,879 ounces sold), in line with previously disclosed plans to ramp-up production and achieve increased production in the second half of the year.

Cash costs of $1,265 (US$956) per ounce achieved during the quarter, in line with 2017 plans to return the mine to free cash flow generation status in the first half of the year.

per ounce achieved during the quarter, in line with 2017 plans to return the mine to free cash flow generation status in the first half of the year. AISC for the quarter were $1,580 (US$1,194) per ounce.

per ounce. Exploration expense was $0.3 (US$0.2) million for the quarter.

for the quarter. Underground productivity increased to 354 tonnes per day (403 tonnes per day in March). During the quarter, the majority of the mining activities were transitioned into the new Q Zone and additional haulage and mucking mobile equipment were commissioned. Underground productivity and operating costs are expected to continue to improve over the balance of the year.

The Corporation is also considering other strategic alternatives regarding the Beaufor Mine and Camflo Mill.



Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders

Richmont's annual and special meeting of shareholders will be held on Thursday, May 4, 2017 at 10:30 a.m. E.T. at the St. Andrew's Club & Conference Centre (27th Floor, Caledonia Room) at 150 King Street West in Toronto.

Upcoming News

Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders ( May 4 )

) Expansion Case PEA Results (Q2 2017)

Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis

The financial statements and related Management's Discussion and Analysis can be found on the Corporation's website at www.richmont-mines.com or under the Corporation's profile on www.sedar.com and with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.

2017 First Quarter Results Webcast and Conference Call

Senior management will discuss the first quarter financial results in a webcast and conference call to be held on Thursday, May 4, 2017 starting at 8:30 a.m. E.T.

Webcast access:

http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=1405031&s=1&k=2945B7DDFBDA291E4DB85CDEFA27826D

Telephone access:

Toll free ( Canada & U.S.): 1-888-390-0546

& U.S.): 1-888-390-0546 Toronto local & International: 1-416-764-8688

A replay will be available until May 18, 2017 by dialing 1-416-764-8677 (Toronto local and international) or 1-888-390-0541 (toll free in Canada and U.S.), using pass code 134044#. The webcast and presentation slides will be archived on the Corporation's website at www.richmont-mines.com.

About Richmont Mines Inc.

Richmont Mines currently produces gold from the Island Gold Mine in Ontario, and the Beaufor Mine in Quebec. The Corporation is also advancing development of the significant high-grade resource extension at depth of the Island Gold Mine in Ontario. With 35 years of experience in gold production, exploration and development, and prudent financial management, the Corporation is well-positioned to cost-effectively build its Canadian reserve base and to successfully enter its next phase of growth.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements that include risks and uncertainties. When used in this news release, the words "estimate", "project", "anticipate", "expect", "intend", "believe", "hope", "may", "objective" and similar expressions, as well as "will", "shall" and other indications of future tense, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and apply only as of the date on which they were made. Except as may be required by law or regulation, the Corporation undertakes no obligation and disclaims any responsibility to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

The factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements include changes in the prevailing price of gold, the Canadian-United States exchange rate, grade of ore mined and unforeseen difficulties in mining operations that could affect revenue and production costs. Other factors such as uncertainties regarding government regulations could also affect the results. Other risks may be set out in Richmont Mines' Annual Information Form, Annual Reports and periodic reports. The forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date of this news release.



Cautionary note to US investors concerning resource estimates

Information in this press release is intended to comply with the requirements of the Toronto Stock Exchange and applicable Canadian securities legislation, which differ in certain respects with the rules and regulations promulgated under the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended ("Exchange Act"), as promulgated by the SEC. The requirements of National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") adopted by the Canadian Securities Administrators differ significantly from the requirements of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC").

U.S. Investors are urged to consider the disclosure in our annual report on Form 40-F, File No. 001-14598, as filed with the SEC under the Exchange Act, which may be obtained from us (without cost) or from the SEC's web site: http://sec.gov/edgar.shtml.

National Instrument 43-101

The scientific or technical information in this news release has been reviewed by Mr. Daniel Adam, Geo., Ph.D., Vice-President, Exploration, an employee of Richmont Mines Inc., and a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101.

SOURCE Richmont Mines

Related Links

http://www.richmont-mines.com


CLEARWATER, Fla., May 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On May 27th the Church of Scientology Volunteer Ministers of Tampa Bay will host an event in honor of Memorial Day encouraging all faiths to rededicate themselves to peace and understanding for our Country, while remembering those who fought and died to protect these basic rights. Religious leaders and members of all faiths are invited to attend. The event will be held in the Historic Fort Harrison Crystal ballroom at 11am.



A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4a2f90ee-81ba-4674-9a53-91327070bc64

This event will be the 3rd interfaith event held this year. The others, held in January and February 2017, brought together some 150 religious leaders and their congregants to address the common crises faced in the communities and created resolutions to solve these issues. This event will include prayers from several major faiths, a performance by the Church of Scientology Choir, and a five star brunch provided by the Fort Harrison chefs.

Memorial Day honors Americans who have died in service to their country, and this patriotic tradition can be traced back to Waterloo, NY in 1866. The U.S Constitution protects freedom of religion, freedom of speech and expression. When a threat of these freedoms has arisen, men and women have selflessly risked and sacrificed their lives to defend it. This event will honor those who have fallen while serving the country.

With concerns of religious discrimination today, we feel the protection of these rights and beliefs are even more important than even before. As Mr. Hubbard wrote in the Creed of the Church of Scientology, We of the Church believe: That all men have inalienable rights to their own religious practices and their performance; That all men have inalienable rights to their own defense; And that no agency less than God has the power to suspend or set aside these rights overtly or covertly, said Ms. Glendy Goodsell, Executive Director of the Volunteer Ministers of Tampa Bay.

He also said separately, On the day we can fully trust each other, there will be peace on earth. I believe with the simple steps of coming together for a common purpose, we are taking the appropriate steps to make that a reality.

For more information or to RSVP contact, Ms. Glendy Goodsell, at 727-467-6965 or e-mail her at glendy@volunteerministers.org.

About the Church of Scientology:

The Scientology religion was founded by humanitarian and philosopher, L. Ron Hubbard. The first Church of Scientology was formed in the United States in 1954 and has expanded to more than 11,000 churches, missions and affiliated groups, with millions of members in 167 nations. Scientologists are optimistic about life and believe there is hope for a saner world and better civilization, and actively do all they can to help achieve this. Based on L. Ron Hubbards words, A community that pulls together can make a better society for all. The Church of Scientology regularly engages in many humanitarian programs and community.
RESTON, Va., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ScientiaMobile released their Mobile Overview Report (MOVR) for Q1 2017 today, which determined that the Samsung Galaxy S7 generates more mobile browsing than any other Samsung device in the world. Previously, the Samsung Galaxy S5 was found to be the most used Samsung device in the world, as well as the United States, as of March 2017, just a month earlier.

Samsung Galaxy launch history indicates that the Samsung Galaxy S7 is the most used Samsung smartphone.

According to the Q1 2017 MOVR, the Samsung Galaxy S5 peaked in popularity November 2015 at 5.5%, 579 days after launch. In comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S6 peaked in June 2016 at 3.1%, 428 days after launch, and remained well below its predecessor until March 2017. The Samsung Galaxy S7 is still growing in popularity and eclipsed both S5 and S6 in April 2017 after only 400 days. Meanwhile, ScientiaMobile will continue to monitor the Samsung Galaxy S8, which launched in April 2017. Given the age and size of S5 and S6 user-base, the upgrade potential for the S8 is significant if Samsung can retain customers.

This launch trend history is helpful to e-commerce and advertising websites, who rely on mobile optimization to display their products and services accurately, within seconds to customers across all devices. ScientiaMobile offers mobile optimization, image optimization, and device analytics solutions for 99% accurate device detection for companies like Facebook and Google.

In addition to the Samsung device trends, this quarter's MOVR looks at:

ScientiaMobile also offers premium mobile reporting for investment, consulting, telecommunications, and other industries interested in in-depth analysis for their client or research needs. For a customized MOVR report please contact sales.

Press Contact:

Bethany Libus

[email protected]

Direct: 703-310-6650 Ext. 118

ScientiaMobile HQ

11180 Sunrise Valley Drive

Suite 220

Reston, VA 20191

SOURCE ScientiaMobile

Related Links

http://www.scientiamobile.com


WASHINGTON, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from Gotham Government Relations on behalf of 11 Turkish citizens in exile mentioned below:

Saudi Arabia  a country already under serious scrutiny from a diverse group of international human rights organizations  is preparing to send eleven innocent Turkish citizens back to Turkey where they could be tortured or killed by the forces of Turkish president Erdogan  the political leader who orchestrated Turkey's transformation into a one party dictatorship.

The Turkish community in exile  targeted by Erdogan because of their interest in preserving democracy in their country  is planning a series of demonstrations; and the first one will likely take place in front of the Saudi embassy. These events will place a harsh focus on Saudi Arabia's own well-documented human rights abuses right before President Trump's visit to that country on May 25th.

The Turkish nationals, whose crime is that they might be members of an opposition political party, some who have been legally living in Saudi Arabia for the past 40 years, are being deported from Saudi Arabia back to Turkey where they fear they will undergo barbaric methods of torture under Erdogan's order.

The barbarity of their detention is underscored by the fact that entire families  including children  are also subjected to deportation. These supposed criminals are professionals  doctors, lawyers, and teachers that have demonstrated their civility and humanity while working in Saudi Arabia. They were taken into custody on March 15th, 2017, treated like terrorists by the Saudi police, and are being held without any legal rationale. In essence, they have become stateless by the Saudi's own lack of concern for basic human rights

Terrified for their loved ones' lives, the family members of the 11 individuals have hired Gotham Government Relations to resolve this matter. Whatever their political leanings, these 11 should not be unlawfully detained because an increasingly dictatorial and paranoid government wants them returned so they can be persecuted; just as thousands of Turkish citizens currently living in the country under Erdogan's reign of terror are experiencing as the whole world watches.

The Saudi Arabian government, acting as Erdogan's lapdog, has blocked any of Gotham's attempts to save these 11 innocent individuals lives. Saudi Arabia has rejected any meeting request to discuss this urgent situation which leaves the rest of the world wondering if Saudi Arabia is simply serving as a proxy for the human rights abusing Erdogan.

SOURCE Gotham Government Relations
BETHESDA, Md., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Saul Centers, Inc. (NYSE: BFS), an equity real estate investment trust ("REIT"), announced its operating results for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 ("2017 Quarter"). Total revenue for the 2017 Quarter increased to $58.5 million from $56.9 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 ("2016 Quarter"). Operating income, which is net income before the impact of change in fair value of derivatives, loss on early extinguishment of debt and gains on sales of property and casualty settlements, if any, increased to $17.4 million for the 2017 Quarter from $16.4 million for the 2016 Quarter.

The Park Van Ness mixed-use development opened in May 2016 and, as of May 1, 2017, 251 apartment leases have been executed (92.6%) and 230 apartments were occupied. Concurrent with the opening in May, interest, real estate taxes and all other costs associated with the property, including depreciation, began to be charged to expense, while revenue continues to grow as occupancy increases. As a result, net income for the 2017 Quarter was adversely impacted by $0.7 million.

Net income attributable to common stockholders increased to $10.6 million ($0.49 per diluted share) for the 2017 Quarter compared to $9.9 million ($0.46 per diluted share) for the 2016 Quarter.

Same property revenue decreased $0.7 million (1.2%) and same property operating income increased $0.8 million (1.9%) for the 2017 Quarter compared to the 2016 Quarter. We define same property revenue as total revenue minus the sum of interest income and revenue of properties not in operation for the entirety of the comparable reporting periods, and we define same property operating income as net income plus the sum of interest expense and amortization of deferred debt costs, depreciation and amortization, general and administrative expense, loss on the early extinguishment of debt (if any), predevelopment expense and acquisition related costs, minus the sum of interest income, the change in the fair value of derivatives, gains on property dispositions (if any) and the results of properties which were not in operation for the entirety of the comparable periods. Shopping center same property operating income for the 2017 Quarter totaled $33.9 million, a $0.8 million increase from the 2016 Quarter. Mixed-use same property operating income totaled $9.2 million, unchanged from the prior year.

As of March 31, 2017, 95.6% of the commercial portfolio was leased (not including the apartments at Clarendon Center and Park Van Ness), compared to 95.2% at March 31, 2016. On a same property basis, 95.5% of the commercial portfolio was leased as of March 31, 2017, unchanged from March 31, 2016. The apartments at Clarendon Center were 97.1% leased as of March 31, 2017 compared to 99.2% as of March 31, 2016. The apartments at Park Van Ness were 87.1% leased as of March 31, 2017.

Funds from operations ("FFO") available to common stockholders and noncontrolling interests (after deducting preferred stock dividends) was $25.6 million ($0.87 per diluted share) in the 2017 Quarter compared to $24.3 million ($0.85 per diluted share) in the 2016 Quarter. FFO for the 2017 Quarter was favorably impacted by $0.1 million as a result of the initial operations of Park Van Ness. FFO, a widely accepted non-GAAP financial measure of operating performance for REITs, is defined as net income plus real estate depreciation and amortization, and excluding gains and losses from property dispositions, impairment charges on depreciable real estate assets and extraordinary items.

Saul Centers is a self-managed, self-administered equity REIT headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, which currently operates and manages a real estate portfolio of 59 properties which includes (a) 50 community and neighborhood shopping centers and six mixed-use properties with approximately 9.5 million square feet of leasable area and (b) three land and development properties. Approximately 85% of the Saul Centers' property operating income is generated by properties in the metropolitan Washington, DC/Baltimore area.



Saul Centers, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (In thousands)









March 31,

2017

December 31,

2016

(Unaudited)



Assets





Real estate investments





Land $ 454,006



$ 422,546

Buildings and equipment 1,263,107



1,214,697

Construction in progress 66,008



63,570



1,783,121



1,700,813

Accumulated depreciation (467,564)



(458,279)



1,315,557



1,242,534

Cash and cash equivalents 9,671



8,322

Accounts receivable and accrued income, net 52,021



53,033

Deferred leasing costs, net 27,761



25,983

Prepaid expenses, net 3,642



5,057

Other assets 11,130



8,096

Total assets $ 1,419,782



$ 1,343,025









Liabilities





Notes payable $ 816,738



$ 783,400

Revolving credit facility payable 83,347



48,217

Construction loan payable 69,553



68,672

Dividends and distributions payable 18,005



17,953

Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities 20,779



20,838

Deferred income 32,049



30,696

Total liabilities 1,040,471



969,776









Stockholders' equity





Preferred stock 180,000



180,000

Common stock 218



217

Additional paid-in capital 332,158



328,171

Accumulated deficit and other comprehensive loss (190,171)



(189,883)

Total Saul Centers, Inc. stockholders' equity 322,205



318,505

Noncontrolling interests 57,106



54,744

Total stockholders' equity 379,311



373,249

Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 1,419,782



$ 1,343,025



Saul Centers, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (In thousands, except per share amounts)





Three Months Ended March 31,

2017

2016 Revenue (unaudited) Base rent $ 44,476



$ 42,607

Expense recoveries 8,594



9,558

Percentage rent 382



363

Other 5,014



4,398

Total revenue 58,466



56,926

Operating expenses





Property operating expenses 6,652



7,995

Provision for credit losses 343



432

Real estate taxes 6,590



5,934

Interest expense and amortization of deferred debt costs 11,864



11,089

Depreciation and amortization of deferred leasing costs 11,342



11,035

General and administrative 4,301



4,060

Total operating expenses 41,092



40,545

Operating income 17,374



16,381

Change in fair value of derivatives 



(7)

Net income 17,374



16,374

Income attributable to noncontrolling interests (3,670)



(3,426)

Net income attributable to Saul Centers, Inc. 13,704



12,948

Preferred stock dividends (3,094)



(3,094)

Net income attributable to common stockholders $ 10,610



$ 9,854

Per share net income attributable to common stockholders





Basic and diluted $ 0.49



$ 0.46









Weighted Average Common Stock:





Common stock 21,745



21,306

Effect of dilutive options 147



31

Diluted weighted average common stock 21,892



21,337















Reconciliation of net income to FFO attributable to common stockholders and noncontrolling interests (1)



Three Months Ended March 31,

(In thousands, except per share amounts) 2017

2016



(unaudited)

Net income $ 17,374



$ 16,374



Add:







Real estate depreciation and amortization 11,342



11,035



FFO 28,716



27,409



Subtract:







Preferred stock dividends (3,094)



(3,094)



FFO available to common stockholders and

noncontrolling interests $ 25,622



$ 24,315



Weighted average shares:







Diluted weighted average common stock 21,892



21,337



Convertible limited partnership units 7,457



7,327



Average shares and units used to compute FFO per share 29,349



28,664



FFO per share available to common stockholders and

noncontrolling interests $ 0.87



$ 0.85









(1) The National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT) developed FFO as a relative non-GAAP financial measure of performance

of an equity REIT in order to recognize that income-producing real estate historically has not depreciated on the basis determined under GAAP.

FFO is defined by NAREIT as net income, computed in accordance with GAAP, plus real estate depreciation and amortization, and excluding

extraordinary items, impairment charges on depreciable real estate assets and gains or losses from property dispositions. FFO does not represent

cash generated from operating activities in accordance with GAAP and is not necessarily indicative of cash available to fund cash needs,

which is disclosed in the Company's Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the applicable periods. There are no material legal or functional

restrictions on the use of FFO. FFO should not be considered as an alternative to net income, its most directly comparable GAAP measure, as an

indicator of the Company's operating performance, or as an alternative to cash flows as a measure of liquidity. Management considers FFO a

meaningful supplemental measure of operating performance because it primarily excludes the assumption that the value of the real estate assets

diminishes predictably over time (i.e. depreciation), which is contrary to what the Company believes occurs with its assets, and because industry

analysts have accepted it as a performance measure. FFO may not be comparable to similarly titled measures employed by other REITs.





Reconciliation of revenue to same property revenue (in thousands)

Three months ended March 31,



2017

2016 Total revenue

$ 58,466



$ 56,926

Less: Interest income

(13)



(13)

Less: Acquisitions, dispositions and development properties

(2,702)



(483)

Total same property revenue

$ 55,751



$ 56,430

Shopping centers

$ 42,479



$ 43,194

Mixed-Use properties

13,272



13,236

Total same property revenue

$ 55,751



$ 56,430



Reconciliation of net income to same property operating income

Three Months Ended March 31,

(In thousands) 2017

2016



(unaudited)

Net income $ 17,374



$ 16,374



Add: Interest expense and amortization of deferred debt costs 11,864



11,089



Add: Depreciation and amortization of deferred leasing costs 11,342



11,035



Add: General and administrative 4,301



4,060



Add: Change in fair value of derivatives 



7



Less: Interest income (13)



(13)



Property operating income 44,868



42,552



Less: Acquisitions, dispositions and development property 1,796



294



Total same property operating income $ 43,072



$ 42,258













Shopping centers $ 33,904



$ 33,075



Mixed-Use properties 9,168



9,183



Total same property operating income $ 43,072



$ 42,258



SOURCE Saul Centers, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.saulcenters.com


"Savoy is streamlining essential job functions in the areas of employer services and compliance that overlap with many aspects of insurance and non-insurance related products and services. The new department will provide better access and support to brokers and their clients as we strive to meet growing demands and prepare for market expansions," said Lardiere.

The Employer Services and Compliance Team will include specialists cross-trained in the areas of ERISA, Process and Regulation, Product Implementation, PEO and Technology to facilitate the delivery of products and services. Savoy's specialists will provide a wide range of educational resources to brokers and their clients including one-on-one meetings, training and webinars.

The new team will be cross-trained by Patterson, who in recent years has developed and facilitated Savoy's broker and client training programs addressing the practical implications of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Sections 6055 and 6056 under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Recent training programs have also covered healthcare compliance including the required employer reporting requirements for Applicable Large Employers (ALEs) and subsequent tweaks to healthcare legislation.

Patterson holds an M.B.A. in Business Administration, Organizational Leadership from Eastern University. With over 20 years' experience in the employee benefits administration industry, Patterson has held leadership roles focused on the design and delivery of customized, integrated solutions for streamlining employee benefits, payroll services and human resource management technology.

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


SAN FRANCISCO, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- SiFive, the company founded by the inventors of the free and open RISC-V instruction set architecture (ISA), today announced the immediate availability of its Coreplex IP, the fastest and easiest way to license RISC-V cores. With the rapid growth in the RISC-V ecosystem, SiFive Coreplex IP designs have become the de facto leader for RISC-V cores, with more public customers, silicon and development boards than any other RISC-V vendor. SiFive's hassle-free "study-evaluate-buy" purchase process means that designers can get their hands on Coreplex IP RTL in a matter of minutes.

"As an engineer, trying to get information from your average IP vendor is an exercise in futility," said Yunsup Lee, CTO and co-founder, SiFive. "The countless number of NDAs, partial answers and sales meetings you must agree to just to get basic evaluation material makes it feel like they don't want your business. It's unbelievable how far behind the industry is compared to the ease in which SaaS companies provide their products. When we founded SiFive, we wanted to change that. Through our 'study-evaluate-buy' model, we've made Coreplex IP licensing as easy as buying a subscription to any modern software service."

SiFive's website has all the information a designer needs to study the IP, including full datasheets, specifications and app notes, all available without an NDA. With one click, the designer can get instant access to full FPGA bitstream models to test software, SDK and tools. Fully functional, synthesizable evaluation RTL is also available instantly, allowing the designer to synthesize and simulate in their own design environment and process nodes. Finally, a simple seven-page contract with transparent pricing makes it straightforward and easy to license the IP for commercial use.

RISC-V Ecosystem

RISC-V has developed a strong ecosystem comprising over 60 companies including Google, HPE, Microsoft, IBM, Qualcomm, NVIDIA, Samsung and Microsemi to name a few. Member companies as well as third-party open-source contributors are actively contributing to a maturing stable of software and toolchains, including GCC and binutils, both of which have been upstreamed. SiFive maintains an easy to install toolchain, SDK and BSPs with binaries of the latest open source tools, including OpenOCD, GNU Debugger, Arduino IDE, and the Eclipse integrated development environment. More updates are expected at the 6th RISC-V Workshop, May 8-11 in Shanghai.

SiFive Coreplex IP

SiFive Coreplex IP is silicon proven and developed by the inventors of the RISC-V ISA. Built on years of research and continuous refinement throughout multiple tapeouts, SiFive's Coreplex IP has demonstrated significantly better power efficiency compared to other, competing ISAs. Two initial Coreplex design configurations are available at launch:

E31 Coreplex  The most deployed RISC-V core in the world, the E31 Coreplex is designed for low power, high performance, 32-bit embedded applications such as Edge Computing, Smart IoT or Wearables.

E51 Coreplex: A 64-bit embedded core, the E51 Coreplex is the ideal solution to act as a system or host control core inside larger 64-bit SoCs, as its small size and performance efficiency set it apart from the typical, bloated and large 64-bit processors while still maintaining full software compatibility with mainstream toolchains.

Coreplex Ecosystem

SiFive has partnered with multiple companies that are making the Coreplex IP available to their downstream customers. This development of this expanded distribution network has come as a result of the expanding popularity and demand for RISC-V hardware.

"We've collaborated with SiFive to bring its Coreplex IP technology to our IGLOO2 and RTG4 FPGA platform," said Bruce Weyer, vice president and business unit manager for the SoC Products Group at Microsemi. "Led by the inventors of RISC-V, SiFive brings a huge amount of credibility to the quality of their RISC-V cores when we worked with our downstream customers."

"SiFive has significantly streamlined the licensing process for RISC-V cores," said Vicson Liu, executive vice president of United Design Service. "Through Coreplex IP, our customers can now easily evaluate and buy 32-bit and 64-bit RISC-V IP to enable their high-performance chip designs."

"We have been excited by the growth and demand for RISC-V cores from our customers," said Flash Lin, Chief Operation Officer at Faraday. "By partnering with SiFive to deliver high performance and proven IP, we can quickly service our customer requirements in this rapidly growing ecosystem."

To learn more about the Coreplex IP partners, please visit https://www.sifive.com/community/

For more information about the "study-evaluate-buy" path to SiFive's Coreplex IP, please visit: https://www.sifive.com/products/coreplex-risc-v-ip/

About SiFive

SiFive is the first fabless semiconductor company to build customized silicon based on the open-source RISC-V instruction set architecture. Founded by RISC-V inventors Yunsup Lee, Andrew Waterman and Krste Asanovic, SiFive is democratizing access to custom silicon and drastically reducing the ease at which system designers and makers alike can get access to licensable IP. SiFive is located in San Francisco and has venture backing from Sutter Hill Ventures. For more information visit www.sifive.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS

Jack Kang

SiFive

(510) 673-1309

[email protected]

Alex Trulio

SHIFT Communications for SiFive

(415) 591-8452

[email protected]

SOURCE SiFive
NEW YORK, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sing for Hope is bringing its renowned Sing for Hope Pianos back to the streets of New York City this summer. From June 5-25, as a celebration of the work Sing for Hope does in communities year-round, 60 Sing for Hope Pianos will be placed in parks and public spaces in high traffic locations across all five boroughs in New York for anyone and everyone to play.

The 2017 Sing for Hope Pianos have been designed by artists including Kate McKinnon, Roberta Flack, Billy the Artist, the Broadway casts of Aladdin, Beautiful, Cats, Chicago, Lion King, Phantom of the Opera, School of Rock, Waitress, and Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812  and many more. This summer will mark the sixth anniversary of the Sing for Hope Pianos with the placement of the 400th artist-designed piano to date, making NYC host to more street pianos than any other city in the world.

A special public unveiling of all pianos will take place on June 5th at 28 Liberty Plaza with special pop-up performances from Sing for Hope artists throughout the day-long event.

Fosun Group has donated a full 34,000-square-foot floor in 28 Liberty, a landmarked, iconic office tower in Lower Manhattan, to serve as a communal studio for the artists designing the pianos. To commemorate Sing for Hope's 10th anniversary and as a special thank you to Fosun Group, ten pianos will remain at 28 Liberty Plaza during the 3-week installation, while the other pianos will be available in other public spaces throughout the five boroughs.

"We started Sing for Hope with the core belief that the arts should be accessible to all. Now, more than ever, we believe that the arts can truly transform and uplift not only individuals but entire communities," said Sing for Hope Co-Founders Monica Yunus and Camille Zamora. "We can't wait to not only bring these playable masterpieces to all five boroughs for three weeks this June, but to also bring our mission full circle by delivering each piano to a New York City public school, giving the next generation of artists the opportunity to bloom."

"It is an honor to support Sing for Hope for a second year, as it fulfills its mission to provide arts resources and programming to underserved neighborhoods in New York City," said Bo Wei, chief executive representative of Fosun Group in the U.S. and Vice President of Fosun Property Holdings. "We are thrilled to be able to provide the space that enables these pianos to come to life and our collaboration with Sing for Hope ensures that 28 Liberty will continue to play a vital role in the culture of Lower Manhattan."

After the public installation concludes on June 25, 50 of the 2017 Sing for Hope Pianos will be placed in permanent homes in New York City Schools. This partnership with the New York City Department of Education benefits an estimated 15,000 school children. In the fall of 2016, 50 of the 2016 Sing for Hope Pianos were placed in schools throughout the five boroughs. Each piano is delivered to its school with great fanfare, complete with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and celebratory concerts from Sing for Hope Artist Partners and students within the schools. Schools interested in applying to receive a Sing for Hope Piano may do so by June 1, 2017 at https://SingforHope.formstack.com/forms/rfp_2017 .

The 2017 Sing for Hope Pianos are made possible by the support of Fosun Group, 28 Liberty, and the Sing for Hope's Founders' Circle, including The Arnhold Foundation in loving memory of Sissy Arnhold, The Thea Petschek Iervolino Foundation, The Anna-Maria & Stephen Kellen Foundation, and Ann Ziff.

To download hi-res images, please visit www.SingforHope.org/2017media.

About Sing for Hope

Sing for Hope transforms lives by mobilizing artists in service to bring the power of the arts to those who need it most. Through the volunteer service of dedicated artists, Sing for Hope provides creative programming to under-resourced communities across NYC and beyond. Sing for Hope's programs include collaborative concerts for hospital patients, after-school arts classes for at-risk youth, and its flagship public art initiative: The Sing for Hope Pianos. Sing for Hope is defined by the volunteerism of artists, the needs of the community, and the belief in the transformative power of the arts. Founded in 2006, Sing for Hope is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. More information can be found at www.SingforHope.org.

About Fosun

Fosun was founded in 1992. Fosun International (00656.HK) was listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on July 16, 2007. Fosun is now a leading investment group taking roots in China with a global foothold.

Fosun has been persistently investing in China's growth momentum and focusing on investments in industries related to health, happiness and wealth. It endeavors to build a C2M (Customer to Maker) ecosystem and continues to refine its products. It has been actively implementing its investment model of "Combining China's Growth Momentum with Global Resources" and always adhering to the value-investing discipline, aspiring to becoming a world-class investment group. Fosun's mission is: "Creating a happiness ecosystem for success, bringing a healthy, happy, and wealthy life to families around the world".

SOURCE Sing for Hope

Related Links

http://www.SingforHope.org


"The hope we noted in the fall survey, has for many, turned into enthusiasm and is consistent with other indicators of improved confidence," said Gus Faucher, chief economist of The PNC Financial Services Group. "It remains to be seen, however, if this increase in optimism will convert into improvement in real economic activity."

Economic Optimism Translates to Personal Positivity

Among survey participants, expectations for the performance of their own company also markedly have improved. Ninety-four percent are optimistic about their own company's outlook for the next six months, compared to 85 percent in the fall and last spring.

Further, 62 percent of the business owners surveyed anticipate sales increases in the next six months, the highest since spring 2007; 57 percent anticipate an increase in profits, the highest since spring 2005 and 28 percent expect increased full-time hiring, the highest proportion of businesses since spring 2012.

"Though economic fundamentals have not changed appreciably since the fall, it is encouraging that business owners are anticipating greater sales and profits," Faucher said. "These are key indicators we look for when predicting broader economic growth."

Businesses Casting Hopeful Eye Toward Washington

The survey also examined business owners' thoughts on the new Congress and Administration in Washington, and their view is somewhat mixed. Overall, four in 10 (42 percent) say they expect the policies of the new administration and Congress, in general, to have a positive impact on their business this year. One-third (32 percent) say it's too early to predict and 17 percent say it will have no impact. Only nine percent anticipate a negative effect.

"Business owners are hopeful about the pro-business stance they are seeing from Washington, and are eager to see what regulation and policy changes may be ahead," Faucher said. "But they seem to be taking a wait-and-see attitude, as it takes time for these kinds of changes to generate longer-term impacts."

In fact, only 44 percent of business owners surveyed say they would anticipate a bump in profits if regulations were eased or eliminated. When it comes to hiring, one-third (32 percent) say reductions in regulations would have a positive impact.

Corporate Tax Reform Tops Business Owners' Agenda

When asked specifically about potential policy reform, survey respondents cited corporate tax reform as the single most anticipated change, viewed favorably by nearly seven in 10 business leaders.

But business owners are more evenly divided when it comes to the impact of potential trade restrictions or tariffs: 33 percent are in support, 32 percent oppose and 31 percent are unsure.

A digital package containing national and regional survey results is available on PNC's website at http://pnc.mediaroom.com/digital-packages.

The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) is one of the largest diversified financial services institutions in the United States, organized around its customers and communities for strong relationships and local delivery of retail and business banking including a full range of lending products; specialized services for corporations and government entities, including corporate banking, real estate finance and asset-based lending; wealth management and asset management. For information about PNC, visit www.pnc.com.

Methodology

The PNC Economic Outlook survey was conducted between February 9 to March 31, 2017, by telephone within the United States among 1,843 owners or senior decision-makers of small and mid-sized businesses with annual revenues of $100,000 to $250 million. The results given in this release are based on interviews with 500 businesses nationally, while the remaining interviews were conducted among businesses within the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania plus Washington, D.C. Sampling error for the national results is +/- 4.4 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. The survey was conducted by Artemis Strategy Group (www.ArtemisSG.com), a communications strategy research firm specializing in brand positioning and policy issues. The firm, headquartered in Washington D.C., provides communications research and consulting to a range of public and private sector clients.

This report has been prepared for general informational purposes only and is not intended as specific advice or recommendations. Information has been gathered from third party sources and has not been independently verified or accepted by The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. PNC makes no representations or warranties as to the accuracy or completeness of the information, assumptions, analyses or conclusions presented in the report. PNC cannot be held responsible for any errors or misrepresentations contained in the report or in the information gathered from third party sources. Any reliance upon the information provided in the report is solely and exclusively at your own risk.

CONTACT:

Alan Aldinger

(412) 768-3711

[email protected]

SOURCE PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.pnc.com


AUSTIN, TX, May 4, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - SmartCard Marketing Systems Inc (OTC:SMKG) & SmallCapVoice.com announced today that they have developed a Fintech Accelerator format to showcase ISV Partners, Schedule101.com, Sirved.com, TouckPeak Software & Veritaspay.com. All of the interviews and information will be housed here http://smallcapvoice.com/blog/smallcapvoice-com-interviews-with-smkg-partner-companies/.

Schedule101.com CEO, Martin Kossman, called in to discuss how his Company's user-friendly, functional restaurant workforce management system is an invaluable management tool for any restaurant. Designed by a group of seasoned hospitality professionals with a combined 56 years of experience, the system leverages this knowledge and insight to help make a business more efficient, profitable and enjoyable to work at. http://smallcapvoice.com/blog/5-3-17-smallcapvoice-interview-with-schedule101-com/.

Jonathan Leslie, Co-founder & President of Sirved Mobile Solutions Inc. described the app his Company has created in great detail. Already deployed in Canada the Company has an aggressive roll out plan that will reach all of North America very soon. Sirved is the menu-based search engine that lets you see every menu from every restaurant, filtered by dish or craving. Visit http://www.sirved.com/ download the app and take control of your next food adventure - from undiscovered dives to legendary local hangouts. http://smallcapvoice.com/blog/5-3-17-smallcapvoice-interview-with-sirved-mobile-solutions-inc/.

CEO Massimo Barone stated "We are creating a powerful suite of technology offerings with our ISV partners. These interviews highlight these amazing partners, their new technologies and the markets they will disrupt. We want all of our investors to know more about what we are doing and who we are working with. These interviews provide the perfect platform to introduce these hot young companies."

About SmallCapVoice.com

SmallCapVoice.com is a recognized corporate investor relations firm, with clients nationwide, known for its ability to help emerging growth companies build a following among retail and institutional investors. SmallCapVoice.com utilizes its stock newsletter to feature its daily stock picks, audio interviews, as well as its clients' financial news releases. SmallCapVoice.com also offers individual investors all the tools they need to make informed decisions about the stocks they are interested in. Tools like stock charts, stock alerts, and Company Information Sheets can assist with investing in stocks that are traded on the OTC BB and Pink Sheets. To learn more about SmallCapVoice.com and their services, please visit http://smallcapvoice.com/blog/the-small-cap-daily-small-cap-newsletter/.

About SmartCard Marketing Systems, Inc.

SmartCard Marketing Systems Inc. (SMKG:OTC) is a Fintech advisory Co & solutions provider to the payments industry, delivering cloud-based EMV Host Acquiring & Issuing solutions to banks, telecoms and enterprise customers. In addition, the company's in-house lab offers customers proprietary software solutions including Genorocity.com, a coupon and incentive platform for the Retail & Events industry, Check21SAAS.com a Remote Deposit Check solution for X9 clearing and VelocityMWallet.com, a transaction payment ecosystem for alternative payment solutions & processing. For more information, go to www.smartcardmarketingsystems.com.

Forward-Looking Statements & Disclaimers:

The information in this Press Release includes certain "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbor provisions of Federal Securities Laws, as that term is 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. Statements in this document, which are not purely historical, are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Investors are cautioned that such statements are based upon assumptions that in the future may prove not to have been accurate and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including the future financial performance of the Company. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations or any of its forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date of this release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events, or circumstances after the date of this release except as required by law.

Sign up for investor updates on our website and on the investor relations page.

SOURCE SmartCard Marketing Systems Inc (SMKG)

Related Links

www.smartcardmarketingsystems.com


This conference is a gathering of entrepreneurs, patients, job seekers, advocates, scientists, doctors, others working in field and just curious citizens who just want to know more as Florida races toward a more advanced marijuana policy.

Admission begins at $50 per day. For information or tickets, visit seccexpo.com.

"This year's conference is particularly important as Florida is on the cutting edge of medical marijuana policy reform," said conference Co-Chair Demitri Downing, an ex-prosecutor who helped design the emerging market expo.

"Advances in basic policy are creating economic and health care opportunities as rapidly as the States can understand and implement them. The practical applications are subject to the citizen's imagination! This is a rare time in human history and this conference provides a setting to be inspired! In addition to the growth in basic medical rights, we are also seeing increased interest from the business and venture capital sectors seeking to turn the results of the policy changes into real-world uses, its quite exciting," Downing said.

Over the next decade, marijuana policy is expected to undergo a profound change not just in Florida but nationwide. Huge questions are being formulated analyzed and answered by those on the ground. Advances in marijuana policy may or may not even proceed to adult use one day, the future is wide open because the public is getting educated by conferences like these about what marijuana really is. As of 2016 the United States now has 29 medical marijuana States and nine with adult use.

The conference will cover a broad set of topics relevant to the pursuit of better decisions involving medical marijuana use, business, and policy. Drawing on experts from numerous disciplines, doctors, politicians, celebrities, businessmen, investment advisors, advocates, out of state practitioners, this will be a weekend filled with information.

Downing encourages the public, policy makers and community influencers to attend. "The only equivalent I can compare it too is too imagine if someone allowed you as a high school senior to spend a week auditing any and all classes at the local University. What would you learn? This is more knowledge than you will know what to do with and the ability to discuss in an open setting helps vet the good from the bad information," Downing said.

This year's keynote speaker will be Montel Williams, the original celebrity advocate for medical marijuana, himself a 17 year patient winning the battle against MS. Other major names to be announced in coming weeks as more and more people watch the changes in Tallahassee.

This year's conference will also be the first held since the finalizing of Florida's new medical marijuana law and this will be the focus of the discussion with experts provided by the local leaders on the topic the Florida Cannabis Coalition.

Numerous athletes will also participate in a special session during the conference and speak on the topic of "Pro-Athletes and Cannabis."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJjvxgb0XGw

SOURCE Southwest Cannabis Conference & Expo

Related Links

http://www.seccexpo.com


"We're thrilled to add GV to Soylent's community of investors, customers, and team members who see the importance of developing healthy, functional foods," said Rob Rhinehart, Soylent Founder and CEO. "This funding will enable us to expand our current product offerings, support our expansion efforts into traditional retail and international territories, and further our goal of bringing Soylent products to people around the world."

"Soylent is addressing one of the biggest issues we face today: access to complete, affordable nutrition," said GV General Partner, Andy Wheeler. "As one of the pioneers in this space, Soylent is tackling this problem head on with progressive thinking and a clear strategy that has led to outstanding growth."

Soylent launched in 2013 with more than $3 million from the largest crowdfunded food project in history. The Company has maintained consistent, strong sales growth. In the first quarter of 2017, net revenue nearly doubled over the same quarter in the prior year. Soylent's suite of products has grown beyond its original Powder (now on version 1.8), to ready-to-drink meals in 2015, flavor expansions, and its debut on Amazon Launchpad last year. For specific inquiries regarding Soylent's suite of products, in addition to comprehensive FAQ pages, please visit www.soylent.com.

About Soylent

Soylent is a producer of healthy, functional foods. CEO/Founder Rob Rhinehart and team developed Soylent after recognizing the need to expand access to quality nutrition by improving the food system through innovation. Soylent's products are produced with affordability and efficiency in mind to create food focused on our health and environment. The Company is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA. For more information, visit www.soylent.com.

About GV

https://www.gv.com/

SOURCE Soylent

Related Links

http://www.soylent.com


CLEARWATER, Fla., May 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In response to the Miami Heraldi story of 14-year-old Naika Venant committing suicide and broadcasting it on Facebook Live, the Florida chapter of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), a watchdog group established by the Church of Scientology and Dr. Thomas Szasz in 1969, is calling for an investigation into the psychiatric drugging of children in the foster care system.

As reported by the Miami Herald, just 45 days before her suicide Naikas dose of the antidepressant Zoloft had been doubled despite the fact that in 2004 the FDA had issued a warning against prescribing antidepressants to children because these drugs are linked to suicidal thoughts and suicides.

The drugging of Floridas foster children has been a recognized problem for years and resulted in policy changes following the tragic suicide of 7-year-old Gabriel Meyers, who was taking Lexapro, Zyprexa and Symbyax at the time of his death. Yet according to the Florida Institute on Child Welfare at Florida State University, 11 percent of children in state foster care had active prescriptions for at least one psychotropic drug as of July 2015.ii

A two-year investigation of foster children in Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon and Texas found that these kids were prescribed psychotropic drugs at rates 2.7 to 4.5 times higher than other children,iii stated Diane Stein, President CCHR Florida. While efforts have been made to stop this abuse they are not enough and so we are asking that this situation be thoroughly investigated and real measures put in place to protect these children.

CCHR is asking for anyone who has knowledge of the abusive use of psychiatric drugs in the foster care system to report this abuse with full particulars and any documentary evidence by calling 727-442-8820 or online at www.cchrflorida.org.

About Citizens Commission On Human Rights:

Initially established by the Church of Scientology and renowned psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz in 1969, CCHRs mission is to eradicate abuses committed under the guise of mental health and enact patient and consumer protections.



It was L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, who brought the terror of psychiatric imprisonment to the notice of the world. In March 1969, he said, Thousands and thousands are seized without process of law, every week, over the free world tortured, castrated, killed. All in the name of mental health. For more information visit, www.cchrflorida.org

i Girl in Facebook Live hanging was prescribed drug with suicide warning

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article140244853.html

ii Report finds Florida foster kids put on psychotropic drugs without following proper procedures

http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/09/22/report-finds-florida-foster-kids-put-on-psychotropic-drugs-without-following-proper-procedures

iii Foster Kids Given Psychiatric Drugs At Higher Rates

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2011/12/01/143017520/foster-kids-even-infants-more-likely-to-be-given-psychotropic-drugs
"We can't think of a better way to celebrate our 65 th anniversary than to present LevelUP, an interactive journey showcasing the future of food and our industry," said Phil Kafarakis, SFA president. "We know through our research that SFA members are looking to us for an enhanced show experience  a chance to take it a LevelUP! The LevelUP show concept represents a new way of viewing what's ahead for specialty food. It's an innovative and immersive addition to our Fancy Food Show format and one that will inform, entertain, and engage our attendees."

The LevelUP experience will include:

Shaping the Future of Food for 65 Years  Follow the history of the specialty food industry and the SFA

Consumer & Category Forecasts presented by Hartman and Mintel  Learn how specialty foods will fare over the next five years

The Future Market presented by Future Market - Discover factors that will drive food commerce tomorrow and shop the store of the future

Taste Tomorrow  Sample leading-edge products, from seaweed pastrami to cellular milk

World Food Trends in partnership with SIAL Paris  Share in global innovations and trends new to the U.S. market

Product Picks  Preview a curated selection of on-trend products from onsite Fancy Food Show exhibitors

What's New, What's Best: 2017 sofi Award Winners  Celebrate this year's Gold and New Product winners

Tomorrow's Products Today: Exhibitor Locator  Create a map to find the hottest products at the show

A full lineup of speakers and programming will also run over the three days of the show. Three "Super Sessions" are planned, to be led by national-level industry thought-leaders. Shorter insight-provoking "Excite" talks will also run throughout the show. The speaker line-up will be announced soon.

"Specialty food is now a $127 billion industry. The industry's unprecedented growth will continue as we remain committed to meeting consumers' drive for integrating high-quality innovative foods into their daily lives," said Kafarakis. "The SFA is leveraging our 65 years of experience with an understanding of trends to promote phenomenal member products and growth that extends beyond traditional retail channels. You'll see that in action at LevelUP. We expect people will leave the Summer Show and LevelUP experience inspired and excited about our dynamic industry  and ready to play their part in the innovations of the future."

Additional information including how to register for the SFA's Summer Fancy Food Show can be found at specialtyfood.com. Advanced pricing options are available through May 12, 2017.

The SFA Summer Fancy Food Show is a trade-only event. For qualifications and to register, please visit specialtyfood.com.

About the Specialty Food Association

The Specialty Food Association is a thriving community of food artisans, importers and entrepreneurs. Established in 1952 in New York, the not-for-profit trade association provides its 3,400 members in the U.S. and abroad with resources, knowledge and connections to champion and nurture their companies in an always-evolving marketplace. The Association owns and produces the Winter and Summer Fancy Food Shows, and presents the sofi Awards honoring excellence in specialty food. Learn more at specialtyfood.com.

SOURCE Specialty Food Association

Related Links

http://www.specialtyfood.com


NEW BRITAIN, Conn., May 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK) invites investors and the general public to listen to a webcast of a presentation by Don Allan, Executive Vice President and CFO, at the 2017 Wells Fargo Industrials Conference in New York, NY on Tuesday, May 09, 2017 at 10:35 AM ET. The live webcast will be available in the "Investors" section of the company's website at www.stanleyblackanddecker.com. A replay of the webcast will be provided on the website and will be available for 90 days.

Stanley Black & Decker, an S&P 500 company, is a diversified global provider of hand tools, power tools and related accessories, electronic security solutions, healthcare solutions, engineered fastening systems, and more. Learn more at www.stanleyblackanddecker.com.

Stanley Black & Decker

Greg Waybright

Vice President, Investor Relations

(860) 827-3833

[email protected]

Michelle Hards

Director, Investor Relations

(860) 827-3913

[email protected]

SOURCE Stanley Black & Decker

Related Links

http://www.stanleyblackanddecker.com


WASHINGTON, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The March of Dimes released the following statement from President Stacey D. Stewart following House passage of the American Health Care Act (AHCA):

"The March of Dimes is profoundly disappointed in today's House passage of the American Health Care Act, a bill expected to eliminate health insurance coverage for 24 million Americans, including millions of women, children and families.

"The American Health Care Act fails to serve the needs of pregnant women, mothers, and babies across our nation. The March of Dimes estimates 6.5 million low-income women of childbearing age will lose coverage, denying them the ability to get healthy before they get pregnant. Classifying pregnancy as a pre-existing condition  and charging exorbitant rates for maternity benefits -- would effectively put medical care out of reach for millions of women at a time when they need it most. Many Americans could find that their health plans are specifically written to exclude the care they are most likely to need. This is not the solution to our health system's challenges that women and families are asking for.

"The American Health Care Act fails to protect too many Americans: pregnant women, couples considering starting a family, and infants born preterm or with birth defects, among many others. With House passage of this bill, the responsibility now falls to the Senate to take a more measured, evidence-informed approach. Senators should solicit the meaningful input of stakeholders across the entire health care system and use that expertise to develop a plan with targeted solutions to the specific problems identified. The March of Dimes looks forward to working with Senators on both sides of the aisle to develop a proposal that will ensure quality, affordable health coverage for all Americans."

About March of Dimes

The March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health. For more than 75 years, moms and babies have benefited from March of Dimes research, education, vaccines, and breakthroughs.

For the latest resources and health information, visit our websites marchofdimes.org and nacersano.org. To participate in our annual signature fundraising event, visit marchforbabies.org. If you have been affected by prematurity or birth defects, visit our shareyourstory.org community to find comfort and support. For detailed national, state and local perinatal statistics, visit persistats.org. You can also find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

SOURCE March of Dimes

Related Links

http://www.marchofdimes.org


DOVER, Del., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- StorageSeeker.com, the nation's leading online self storage reservation network, is pleased to announce the results of its sixth month of tracking self storage unit prices throughout the United States. In April 2017, self storage rental rates increased by 0.6% on average across the U.S. This month's increase follows a 0.7% rise in prices that the Self Storage Rent Index tracked in March 2017, which reversed a four-month trend of declining prices.

Find, compare and reserve self storage near you.

At the local level, there were some cities with larger rent changes during the same period, with prices both rising and declining. Below are the Top 10 major cities that saw self storage rent decreases or increases across the U.S. in April 2017.

Top 10 Average Self Storage Price Decreases in Major Markets

Baltimore, MD -3.0%

Monroe, NY -2.6%

Nashville, TN -2.6%

Memphis, TN -2.5%

Raleigh, NC -2.1%

San Antonio, TX -2.0%

Portland, OR -1.8%

Austin, TX -1.6%

Detroit, MI -1.5%

Jacksonville, FL -1.4%

Source: StorageSeeker.com and Sparefoot.com

Top 10 Average Self Storage Price Increases in Major Markets

San Francisco, CA 27.9%

Long Beach, CA 17.0%

Las Vegas, NV 12.9%

New York, NY 10.4%

San Diego, CA 4.9%

Plymouth, MA 4.4%

Fairfax, VA 4.4%

Jamaica, NY 3.8%

Omaha, NE 3.7%

Mesa, AZ 3.3%

Source: StorageSeeker.com and Sparefoot.com

About StorageSeeker.com's Self Storage Rent Index

StorageSeeker.com's Self Storage Rent Index looks at rent changes for same-store units in approximately 3,000 cities around the country to monitor the overall health of the self storage rental industry on both a national and local level. For an expanded view of additional major market self storage unit price changes, please see these Top 50 Self Storage Price Changes in April 2017, and for further information about individual cities' market rent changes, please contact us using the below information.

About StorageSeeker.com

StorageSeeker.com is the nation's leading online self storage reservation website with hundreds of thousands of self storage units available to reserve for rent from thousands of self storage facilities across the United States. StorageSeeker.com gives consumers the ability to compare storage prices for different unit sizes and locations while also typically providing discounted rental rates or a move-in special when a unit is reserved online. StorageSeeker.com is based in Dover, Delaware.

To learn more about rent changes in different cities, please visit our self storage blog.

Media Contact

Public Relations Department

Phone: 302.526.0801

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 StorageSeeker.com

Related Links

http://StorageSeeker.com


LONDON, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ABI Research forecasts enterprise smartwatch shipments will reach nearly 14 million in 2022, increasing from just more than two million in 2017. Yet, for these devices to infiltrate the workplace, vendors must address security device management and compliance at the design level.

"Today, very few wearable devices, including smartwatches, have enterprise-grade authentication integrated out of the box, which makes them incredibly susceptible to security breaches," says Stephanie Lawrence, Research Analyst at ABI Research. "This puts sensitive information, such as an individual's healthcare records or financial information, at risk."

ABI Research identifies several security solutions available to smartwatches, but with many enterprises touting bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies and the mix of devices entering the workplace on the rise, potential breaches are harder to avoid. Addressable solutions include Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM), Mobile App Management (MAM), and Mobile Device Management (MDM). These solutions enable enterprises to automate the connectivity and management of devices on the corporate network.

"Enterprises interested in adopting smartwatches for use in the workforce must be aware of potential security issues to effectively mitigate them," continues Lawrence. "The strategic implementation of security platforms will allow employers to maximize the benefit of an enterprise smartwatch procurement without the worry of sensitive data reaching the wrong hands."

Companies such as Apple, IBM, Kony, Samsung, and SAP frequently provide such solutions to interested organizations. Samsung recently worked with communications platform Total Communicator Solutions to provide an EMM solution for smartwatches in the San Diego Airport with the intent to improve employee communication.

"The introduction and availability of Android Wear 2.0 activates the potential of eSIM, supports the development of hybrid watch designs, and taps into the promise of standalone, wearable devices," concludes Ryan Martin, Principal Analyst at ABI Research. "In a recent survey conducted by ABI Research, 55% of respondents stated that wearables, such as head-worn and wrist-worn devices, are part of their companies' innovation strategies."

The findings are from ABI Research's Enterprise Wearable Device Market Overview: Watches (https://www.abiresearch.com/market-research/product/1027043-enterprise-wearable-device-market-overview/) report.

About ABI Research

ABI Research stands at the forefront of technology market research, providing business leaders with comprehensive research and consulting services to help them implement informed, transformative technology decisions. Founded more than 25 years ago, the company's global team of senior and long-tenured analysts delivers deep market data forecasts, analyses, and teardown services. ABI Research is an industry pioneer, proactively uncovering ground-breaking business cycles and publishing research 18 to 36 months in advance of other organizations. For more information, visit www.abiresearch.com.

Contact Info:





Americas EMEA/APAC Mackenzie Gavel Denise Duffy Tel: +1.516.624.2542 Tel: +44.203.326.0142 [email protected] [email protected]

SOURCE ABI Research

Related Links

http://www.abiresearch.com


NOVI, Mich., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Tax Credits Group (TCG) is pleased to announce the expansion of its Research & Development Tax Credit practice to include a new location in Novi, Michigan. The new office, located 30 miles northwest of Detroit, will serve as an ideal location to better serve new and existing clientele in Michigan.

The decision to expand operations outside Ohio comes on the heels of recent changes to the R&D Tax Credit - an incentive designed to spur U.S. innovation and aid in global competition- which has significantly broadened its applicability and generated a wealth of new interest from businesses that had previously been locked out of the opportunity.

"We have always been focused on helping small and mid-size businesses in our own back yard," said Michael Krajcer, TCG President. "And with the recent favorable changes to the credit, many more Michigan-based manufacturers, software developers and financial institutions will now be able to utilize the credit to offset income and even payroll taxes."

In support of TCGs expansion into Michigan, the firm will also be presenting at this year's June 28-29 Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA) Management Information & Business Show. CPAs registered to attend the conference can learn more about the R&D Tax Credit by attending TCG's June 29 spotlight session presentation, or by meeting with TCG associates at Booth #50.

To make an appointment with TCG, contact us today at (248) 505-8866.

About Tax Credits Group

TCG is a specialty tax consulting firm working to help innovative U.S. businesses of all sizes and industry sectors stay globally competitive. With locations in Cleveland, Ohio and Novi, Michigan, TCG specializes in federal and state research credit studies and tax controversy support for small to mid-size manufacturers, software developers, financial institutions and architectural and engineering firms. TCG also specializes in business compliance acquisition work for mid to large-size businesses. Learn more about TCG at www.taxcreditsgroup.com.

CONTACT:

Bethany Jones-Worner

1-216-408-2481

[email protected]

SOURCE Tax Credits Group

Related Links

http://www.taxcreditsgroup.com


AUSTIN, Texas, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Earlier today, representatives of the Texas motion picture industry met with state legislators in the Texas State Capitol building to discuss the economic importance of a well-funded Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program (TMIIIP).

According to the website, TMIIIP is designed to build the economy through the moving image industry and create jobs in Texas. It provides qualifying film, television, commercial, visual effects and video game productions the opportunity to receive a cash grant based on a percentage of a project's eligible Texas expenditures, including eligible wages paid to Texas residents.

"We appreciate the lawmakers for taking the time to meet with us and learn about this critically-important rebate," said Mindy Raymond, Executive Director for TXMPA. "Our industry's projects that are produced and created here are exported globally, increasing our visibility as a state and serves as an awesome advertisement for tourism and what Texas has to offer."

The Texas moving image industry is a vital part of Texas' economy, bringing in more than $1.25B into the state in the last 10 years. With a $5.55 ROI, the TMIIIP is worth funding to bring in more productions and projects and keep jobs in our State.

"Our rich heritage of cinema dates back to 1910," said John Schrimpf, President of TXMPA. "The TMIIIP is not a handout to Hollywood, but really a rebate on what has already been spent in Texas. The uninterrupted funding of this program encourages industry producers to consider the Lone Star State for their next project."

The program is for Texans by Texans and only rebates Texas expenditures.

For any questions or media inquiries, please email [email protected].

About the Texas Motion Picture Alliance

Founded in 2006, The Texas Motion Picture Alliance (TXMPA) is a not-for-profit 501(c)(6) organization that serves the film, video, interactive and digital media production industry. They advocate before legislative, regulatory and judicial bodies, representing a robust community of professionals seeking economic and creative incentives for media work in Texas. Through its programs and activities, TXMPA educates its members, legislators and the general public on all forms of media production and the tremendous economic impact that production generate within the state. Visit https://www.txmpa.org/ for more information.

SOURCE Texas Motion Picture Alliance

Related Links

https://www.txmpa.org


SAN FRANCISCO, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S solar industry has seen exponential growth over the past decade. Since 2007, photovoltaic (PV) solar installations have skyrocketed from 1,063 megawatts in 2007 to 14,762 megawatts in 2016. Intersolar North America has been there every step of the way and experienced a similar boom. More than 550 exhibitors and more than 18,000 visitors participated in Intersolar and ees North America in 2016, with an even larger crowd expected to attend in 2017.

Alongside the growth of Intersolar North America, a key driver of industry growth has been the declining cost of hardware. According to GTM Research, the cost of solar has fallen over 70 percent over the past decade, dropping from over $7 per watt to just over $1.5 per watt.

As the solar industry has evolved, discussions at Intersolar North America have also shifted. Attendees used to delve deeply into photovoltaic hardware costs, reduction and manufacturing efficiencies each July, but now conversations are shifting to soft costs, benefit analyses of competing battery technologies, the performance of emerging analytics platforms and other software-based solutions. Hardware is still a vital component to the event, and there is growth in many other sectors that answer the call to lower costs and become more competitive with fossil fuels.

To embrace the rise of energy storage and related technologies in the industry, Intersolar North America launched Electrical Energy Storage (ees) North America in 2015, a conference and exhibition dedicated to this emerging sector. ees North America is co-located with Intersolar North America and features additional exhibition space for smart renewable energy technologies and software solutions.

"Intersolar North America has been the established meeting place for solar professionals since the industry was just starting out," said Florian Wessendorf, managing director of Intersolar. "The U.S. solar industry has shifted focus from strictly photovoltaic technologies to include technologies like electric vehicle transportation and big data software. We're excited to see what lies ahead for both solar and Intersolar North America in the years to come."

Beyond technological innovation, the solar policy landscape has also changed significantly over the past decade. Ten years ago, the federal investment tax credit (ITC) was set to expire, removing all federal subsidies for solar. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 extended the subsidy for eight years and in 2015, there was a bipartisan push to extend the ITC until 2020. Since then, attention has shifted to the states, where net metering regulations are the center of the conversation.

Throughout the years, Intersolar North America has featured prominent political leaders to discuss the impact of regulation on the solar industry, from California Governor Jerry Brown to White House energy advisors. This year, Richard Kauffman, chairman of Energy and Finance for New York, will take the stage to discuss how New York is taking a leading role in developing the utility model of the future.

The evolution of the solar industry is also reflected in the growth of one of Intersolar North America's signature events, Solar Summerfest. Solar Summerfest started in 2010 to raise funds for event partner California Solar Energy Industries Association (CALSEIA). The event has taken place at the Metreon each year to date. This year, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Intersolar North America and the 40th anniversary of CALSEIA, industry partners Intersolar and ees North America as well as SEMICON West will co-host California's largest-ever solar networking event, Solar Summerfest, at AT&T Park in San Francisco. Proceeds from the event will be donated to CALSEIA to support the organization's efforts advocating for solar adoption across the Golden State.

Over the next few years, hard and soft costs are expected to continue to drop, making solar increasingly cost-competitive as compared to conventional energy resources. Intersolar North America will continue to transform alongside the industry and bring attendees the latest information and ideas from the forefront of the solar industry.

This year's exhibition and conference will take place on July 10 through July 13 in the heart of San Francisco. Interested parties can register online now.

SOURCE Intersolar North America
NEW YORK, May 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Weber Shandwick, one of the world's leading global communications and engagement firms, was named Agency of the Year at the 2017 North America SABRE Awards. This marks the third time in four years that The Holmes Report has recognized Weber Shandwick as North America Large Agency of the Year, and the second time it has earned the overall Agency of the Year distinction. The firm also earned Gold SABRE awards for its work with client partners Lockheed Martin and Mattel/Barbie. During the event, Weber Shandwick President Gail Heimann was presented with The Holmes Report's Individual Achievement Award, celebrating her creative vision, leadership and commitment to enhancing diversity and inclusion within the PR industry.

"These honors speak to the passion and expertise our teams bring to bear every day on behalf of our client partners," said Andy Polansky, Chief Executive Officer, Weber Shandwick. "Across our agency, we're laser focused on creating value for our clients and our people, working together to solve client problems and deliver outstanding work. Thank you to The Holmes Report for honoring our success, and to our teams and partners for their incredible contributions."

The North America SABRE Awards, selected from more than 2,000 entries, recognize superior achievement in branding, reputation and engagement. Agency of the Year recipients are determined after an extensive research process involving more than 150 submissions across the United States and Canada. The Holmes Report pointed to several driving factors in awarding Weber Shandwick the Large Agency of the Year distinction, including the firm's "impressive restlessness," competitive growth, collaborative culture and breakthrough client work. The Holmes Report Founder & Chair Paul Holmes noted, "Weber Shandwick now works for almost half of the Fortune 100, and has been working overtime to deliver a customer experience that ensures client longevity."

Heimann, recognized with an Individual Achievement award, has played an instrumental role in accelerating innovation across the firm's global practice areas, weaving strategy and creativity into the heart of the agency. For over two decades, she's worked to build brands and strengthen reputations for some of the world's largest companies across a wide range of industry sectors, including consumer, food and beverage, beauty, healthcare, finance and technology. Her keen insights and unmatched creative talents have been a catalyst for Weber Shandwick's most forward-thinking work with clients across the globe.

"For as long as I've known Gail, she's pushed the limits of public relations and marketing services  executing ideas that defy convention and break boundaries," Polansky said. "It's been an honor to work alongside Gail for the past 20 years, and I couldn't be prouder to celebrate her and the tremendous impact she's made on our firm and our industry."

Weber Shandwick and its client partners were also recognized for outstanding campaigns across categories, including work with Lockheed Martin for "Generation Beyond," which won a Gold SABRE in the Corporate Media Relations category, and with Mattel for "Barbie: Evolve the Doll," which earned a Gold SABRE in Issues Management.

The North America SABRE Award recognitions are among several honors earned by Weber Shandwick in 2017, including being designated an Advertising Age Agency A-List Standout and being named PRWeek's U.S. Agency of the Year and Large Agency of the Year for three consecutive years. The firm was also named 2016 Global Digital Agency of the Year by The Holmes Report, 2016 Global Agency of the Year by PRWeek and was the most awarded PR firm at the 2016 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

About Weber Shandwick

Weber Shandwick is a leading global communications and engagement firm in 79 cities across 34 countries, with a network extending to 127 cities in 81 countries. The firm's diverse team of strategists, analysts, producers, designers, developers and campaign activators has won the most prestigious awards in the world for innovative, creative approaches and impactful work. Weber Shandwick was the only public relations agency included on the Ad Age Agency A-list in 2014 and 2015 and the only PR firm designated an A-List Agency Standout in 2017. Weber Shandwick was honored as PRWeek's Global Agency of the Year in 2015 and 2016, The Holmes Report's Global Agency of the Year in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2015 and The Holmes Report's Global Digital Agency of the Year in 2016. The firm deploys deep expertise across sectors and specialty areas, including consumer marketing, corporate reputation, healthcare, technology, public affairs, financial services, corporate social responsibility, financial communications and crisis management, using proprietary social, digital and analytics methodologies. Weber Shandwick is part of the Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG). For more information, visit http://www.webershandwick.com.

Contact: Kimberly Dixon, 212-546-7876

SOURCE Weber Shandwick

Related Links

http://webershandwick.com


CANTON, Mass., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Joy in Childhood FoundationSM recently awarded a $7,500 grant to support the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank.

On March 30, local Dunkin' Donuts franchisees presented a $7,500 donation to the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, which will directly support the organization's MilitaryShare program, which aims to provide fresh, nutritious foods for families with at least one member who served in the armed forces. The donation is part of more than $580,000 in grants recently awarded to nonprofits throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.

"The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank is so grateful for the Joy in Childhood Foundation's commitment to a community free of hunger," said Joe Arthur, executive director of the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank. "More than 13 million children face hunder in the United States. Thanks to the generosity of the Joy in Childhood Foundation, we will be able to provide 45,000 meals to those in need."

"Through the generosity of our franchisees, employees, vendors and guests, the Joy in Childhood Foundation raises funds to support partnerships with children's hospitals, food banks, and nonprofit organizations directly committed to serving sick and hungry kids," said Alex Smigelski, local Dunkin' Donuts franchisee and co-chair of The Joy in Childhood Foundation. "We are thrilled to be able to support to these worthy organizations that serve the basic needs of our local communities and make a significant impact in the Central Pennsylvania region."

To learn more about the Joy in Childhood Foundation, please visit www.dunkinbrands.com/foundation or follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/JoyInChildhoodFoundation/.

About the Joy in Childhood Foundation

The Joy in Childhood Foundation provides the simple joys of childhood to sick and hungry kids. The Foundation brings together a wide range of stakeholdersincluding franchisees, crew members, employees, partners and guests and partners with food banks, children's hospitals, and nonprofit organizations directly committed to serving sick and hungry kids to fund joyful environments, joyful experiences and joyful expressions to ensure that children whose lives are compromised by hunger or sickness have the support and essential services to find joy in their daily lives. Since launching in 2006, the Joy in Childhood Foundation (formerly The Dunkin' Donuts & Baskin-Robbins Community Foundation), has granted more than $14 million to hundreds of national and local charities across the country.

About Central Pennsylvania Food Bank

The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to reduce hunger in 27 counties across Pennsylvania. By working with more than 900 local agencies, the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank provides nearly 650,000 nutritious meals to people in need every week. For more information on the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and its mission to reduce hunger in Pennsylvania, visit centralpafoodbank.org or call 717.564.1700. Connect with us on Facebook at facebook.com/centralpafoodbank and follow us on Twitter and Instagram @centralpafb.

SOURCE Joy in Childhood Foundation

Related Links

http://www.dunkinbrands.com/foundation


Northfield, Vt., May 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Norwich University has been named a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CDE) by the National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security through 2022. Also, the Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center (DC3) recently certified Norwich as a National Center for Digital Forensic Academic Excellence (CDFAE).

Both federal certifications designate Norwichs cybersecurity programs as fulfilling the needs of the federal government as well as addressing major concerns of private industry that runs much of the nations critical infrastructure, from banking to healthcare. Upon successful graduation from a CDFAE designated school, students will receive a certificate of completion.

These federal programs recognize Norwich University as a national leader in cybersecurity education, which includes statewide leadership as well as outreach to local businesses and area schools to share our knowledge and expertise to help protect Vermont and the nation, President Richard Schneider said.

The two certifications:

The NSAs CAE-CDE program is designed: to reduce vulnerability in our national information infrastructure by promoting higher education and research in cyber defense and producing professionals with cyber defense expertise for the Nation.

Norwich has met stringent CAE criteria including mapping its cyber-curricula to a core set of knowledge units, identifying cyber defense faculty expertise, research output and outreach beyond the University.

The second designation relates to Norwichs digital forensics curriculum.

The CDFAE program is governed by the DC3 Academic Cyber Curriculum Alliance (DACCA) board comprised of organizations from DoD, academic and professional sectors, with the DoD Cyber Crime Center (DC3) acting as host. For an academic institution to have its digital forensics and cyber investigation programs accredited, they must meet rigid criteria giving structure to what students are learning and how it is being applied.

The programs rigor is validated based upon common core theories, practice, and applicability to the National Initiative for Cyber Security Education (NICE) Investigate, Protect and Defend areas of expertise. CDFAE provides individuals the opportunity to validate their skills and knowledge and delivers employment-ready individuals to the workforce.

DC3 explains: The United States is in a cybersecurity workforce deficit. More than ever, organizations need to plan for the future as significant shifts in cyber operations accelerate globally. Digital forensics skill sets provide crosscutting application to multiple fields. In its strictest connotation, digital forensics is the application of computer science and investigative procedures involving the examination of digital evidence, including proper search authority, chain of custody, validation with mathematics, use of validated tools, repeatability, reporting, and expert testimony. Beyond traditional legal purposes, the same techniques, scientific rigor, and procedural precision now support the range of military operations and course of action (examples: computer network operations and counterintelligence objectives).

CDFAE serves as a prime avenue for cultivating leaders to meet evolving objectives across the digital forensics and cyber communities, as it is vital to protect, investigate, and serve public, private, and national goals.

As part of the new CDFAE designation, Norwich University has signed an articulation agreement with DC3s Defense Cyber Investigations Training Academy (DCITA) to better serve students pursuing cybersecurity careers within the DoD and those within the DoD seeking formal university degrees.

NU students have the opportunity to apply for two prestigious CDFAE certification: the Digital Media Collector and the Digital Forensic Examiner. Norwich students meeting the requirements for these can apply for certificates that can be exchanged for DoD training course credit allowing them to start working as digital forensic practitioners immediately.

Ranked #2 by the Ponemon Institute for cyber security in the U.S., Norwich University programs are consistently ranked among the best in the nation for cyber security education. Norwich University is recognized as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and has received designation as a Center of Digital Forensics Academic Excellence (CDFAE) by the Defense Cyber Crime Center (DC3). Beginning in 2002, Norwich University became a member of what is now called National Science Foundations Cyber Corps: Scholarship for Service program. Norwich is partnered with the United States Army Reserves (USAR) to develop cyber-education curricula that align with federal standards and cybersecurity needs. Most recently Norwichs online graduate program was named one of the top ten best cybersecurity graduate programs in the country by Universities.com.

Norwich is also home to GenCyber@NU, a National Security Agency and National Science Foundation-funded cybersecurity camp for high school students.

About Norwich University

Norwich University is a diversified academic institution that educates traditional-age students and adults in a Corps of Cadets and as civilians. Norwich offers a broad selection of traditional and distance-learning programs culminating in Baccalaureate and Graduate Degrees. Norwich University was founded in 1819 by Captain Alden Partridge of the U.S. Army and is the oldest private military college in the United States of America. Norwich is one of our nation's six senior military colleges and the birthplace of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC). www.norwich.edu

In fulfillment of Norwichs mission to train and educate todays students to be tomorrows global leaders and captains of industry, the Forging the Future campaign is committed to creating the best possible learning environment through state-of-the-art academics and world-class facilities. Norwich University will celebrate its bicentennial in 2019. Learn more about the campaign and how to participate in the Year of Leadership here: bicentennial.norwich.edu.

Norwich Universitys College of Graduate and Continuing Studies (CGCS) builds upon the institutions 198 year academic heritage with innovative online programs. CGCS offers masters degrees in a variety of areas; bachelors degree completion programs; a certificate in teaching and learning and continuing education opportunities. The programs are recognized throughout the industry for their rigor, small class size, high student satisfaction and retention. online.norwich.edu

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/49effa8b-eedd-435e-bbc7-ebb6c9390066
For more information on the study, visit The Dashlane Blog.

"You can't control the security of the digital services you use every day, but you can take measures to ensure you have optimal password hygiene," says Emmanuel Schalit, CEO, Dashlane. "It's great to work with a company like Intel for World Password Day to raise awareness of basic security practices that can improve everyone's digital lives."

Rick Echevarria, vice president, Software and Services Group and generalmanager, Platform Security Division at Intel Corporation states, "The goal of Intel's creation of World Password Day with other global technology leadersand this annual celebrationis to elevate awareness of best password security practices for consumers to ensure more proactive protection of identity and data.In addition to advocating consumer use of a password manager, this year's theme is to urge the use of second factor authentication for online accounts such as email, social and financial."

Dashlane encourages everyone to take three simple steps that will secure their accounts:

Strong Passwords. The ideal password is at least ten characters long and contains random string of letters, numbers, and symbols. A long and complicated password ensures that hackers won't have an easy time cracking your account.



Different Password for Every Account. This ensures that if one account is breached your other accounts remain secure. This is where password managers, such as Dashlane, are critical. It's nearly impossible for an average user to remember 150 unique passwords, but password managers do so easily. They securely store the passwords and then automatically log you into your accounts, thus removing the need to remember.



Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). 2FA, such as your phone's fingerprint reader combined with verification codes you receive via text message, adds a second layer of security to your accounts. This simple step significantly decreases the risk of someone maliciously accessing your accounts. Almost every major website and app provides 2FA.

Additional World Password Day resources and information:

Intel's World Password Day site offers people simple ways to improve password habits to secure their digital lives.





Full checklist of ways to create stronger passwords and protect your accounts.





Dashlane's 2016 Harris Poll findings on the extremes people will go to for online protection.





Inaugural ranking of the top celebrity [email protected] and tips to ensure you don't make the next list!

About Dashlane

Dashlane makes identity and checkouts simple with its password manager and secure digital wallet app. Dashlane allows its users to securely manage passwords, credit cards, IDs, and other important information via advanced encryption and local storage.

Dashlane has helped over 7 million users in 150 countries manage and secure their digital identity. Dashlane Business is trusted by 6,000+ companies to create, enforce, and track effective access management, and features the only patented security architecture in the industry.

The app is available on PC, Mac, Android, and iOS, and has won critical acclaim from top publications, including: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today.

Dashlane was founded by Bernard Liautaud and co-founders Alexis Fogel, Guillaume Maron, and Jean Guillou. The company has offices in New York City and Paris and has received $52.5 million in funding from Rho Ventures, FirstMark Capital, and Bessemer Venture Partners. Learn more at Dashlane.com

SOURCE Dashlane

Related Links

https://www.dashlane.com


HAMILTON, Bermuda, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Third Point Reinsurance Ltd. ("Third Point Re" or the "Company") (NYSE:TPRE) today announced results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2017.

Third Point Re reported net income of $104.2 million, or $0.98 per diluted common share, for the first quarter of 2017, compared to a net loss of $51.1 million, or $(0.49) per diluted common share, for the first quarter of 2016.

For the three months ended March 31, 2017, diluted book value per share increased by $0.88 per share, or 6.7%, to $14.04 per share as of March 31, 2017, from $13.16 per share as of December 31, 2016.

"We are very pleased with our first quarter performance, which resulted in a return on beginning shareholders' equity of 7.4% for the quarter. This was primarily driven by strong investment returns of 5.8% in the period," commented Rob Bredahl, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Reinsurance underwriting conditions remain challenging, and we have continued to maintain our underwriting discipline. As a result, our gross premiums written were $146.4 million in the first quarter, which represented a 25.8% decrease compared to the prior year's first quarter. Our combined ratio for the quarter was 106.3%, which was in line with expectations given current market conditions and the lines of business on which we focus. We finished the quarter with an asset leverage ratio of 1.52, which is within our target range and allows us to remain selective in our underwriting without diminishing our potential for solid book value growth with continued investment performance."

"Our first quarter performance demonstrates the strength of our total return model. Although reinsurance market conditions remain very difficult, we generated strong results due to solid performance from Third Point LLC, our investment manager. The management transitions we announced during the quarter have gone smoothly and Rob and I look forward to continuing to work closely together with the team to ensure the ongoing success of Third Point Re," commented John Berger, Chairman of the Board of Directors.

The following table shows certain key financial metrics for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016:



2017

2016

($ in millions, except for per share data and ratios) Gross premiums written $ 146.4

$ 197.2 Net premiums earned $ 138.0

$ 136.8 Net underwriting loss (1) $ (8.7)

$ (6.6) Combined ratio (1) 106.3%

104.9% Net investment return on investments managed by Third Point LLC 5.8%

(2.0)% Net investment income (loss) $ 128.5

$ (40.1) Net investment income (loss) on float (2) $ 36.1

$ (8.3) Net income (loss) $ 104.2

$ (51.1) Diluted earnings (loss) per common share $ 0.98

$ (0.49) Change in diluted book value per share (2) 6.7%

(3.7)% Return on beginning shareholders' equity (2) 7.4%

(3.7)% Net investments managed by Third Point LLC (3) $ 2,279.6

$ 2,191.6

















(1) See the accompanying Segment Reporting for a calculation of net underwriting loss and combined ratio. (2) Net investment income on float, change in diluted book value per share and return on beginning shareholders' equity are non-GAAP financial measures. There are no comparable GAAP measures. See the accompanying Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures and Key Performance Indicators for an explanation and calculation of net investment income (loss) on float, diluted book value per share and return on beginning shareholders' equity. (3) Prior year comparatives represent amounts as of December 31, 2016.

Segment Highlights

Property and Casualty Reinsurance Segment

Gross premiums written decreased by $50.8 million, or 25.8%, to $146.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2017 from $197.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2016.

The decrease in the three months ended March 31, 2017 compared to the prior year period was primarily due to one contract that did not renew as a result of underlying terms and conditions, partially offset by contracts renewed in the quarter that did not have comparable premiums in the prior year period and new contracts bound in the quarter.

Net premiums earned for the three months ended March 31, 2017 were consistent with the three months ended March 31, 2016.

For the three months ended March 31, 2017, we incurred $1.6 million, or 1.1 percentage points, of net favorable prior years' reserve development. The $1.6 million of net favorable prior years' reserve development for the three months ended March 31, 2017 was accompanied by net increases of $1.6 million in acquisition costs, resulting in minimal impact in net underwriting loss.

For the three months ended March 31, 2016, we incurred $0.1 million, or 0.1 percentage points, of net favorable prior years' reserve development. The net $0.1 million of net favorable prior years' reserve development was accompanied by net decreases of $0.1 million in acquisition costs, resulting in a net decrease of $0.2 million in net underwriting loss, or 0.2 percentage points.

Investments

The return on investments managed by Third Point LLC by asset class for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016 was as follows:



2017

2016 Long/short equities 5.2%

(1.1)% Credit 0.2%

% Other 0.4%

(0.9)%

5.8%

(2.0)%

For the three months ended March 31, 2017, each investment strategy contributed to returns. Within equities, gains were led by investments in the healthcare and industrials portfolios and each sector generated positive results. The gains in our long equity portfolio were partially offset by losses in our short equity positions, which included market hedges. Performance in the credit strategy was driven by modest returns in our corporate credit portfolio. The other strategy was also positive as returns from currency and arbitrage investments more than offset losses from macroeconomic hedges.

Share Repurchase Program

During the three months ended March 31, 2017, we repurchased 1,532,871 of our common shares in the open market for an aggregate cost of $18.9 million at a weighted average cost, including commissions, of $12.32 per share. Common shares repurchased by the Company were not canceled and are classified as treasury shares.

As of March 31, 2017, the Company may repurchase up to an aggregate of $73.7 million of additional common shares under its share repurchase program.

Conference Call Details

The Company will hold a conference call to discuss its first quarter 2017 results at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time on May 5, 2017. The call will be webcast live over the Internet from the Company's website at www.thirdpointre.bm under "Investors". Participants should follow the instructions provided on the website to download and install any necessary audio applications. The conference call is also available by dialing 1-877-407-0789 (domestic) or 1-201-689-8562 (international). Participants should ask for the Third Point Reinsurance Ltd. first quarter earnings conference call.

A replay of the live conference call will be available approximately three hours after the call. The replay will be available on the Company's website or by dialing 1-844-512-2921 (domestic) or 1-412-317-6671 (international) and entering the replay passcode 13660643. The telephonic replay will be available until 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time) on May 12, 2017.

Safe Harbor Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which may be beyond the Company's control. The Company cautions you that the forward-looking information presented in this press release is not a guarantee of future events, and that actual events may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking information contained in this press release. In addition, forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "plan," "seek," "comfortable with," "will," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe" or "continue" or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology. Actual events, results and outcomes may differ materially from the Company's expectations due to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Although it is not possible to identify all of these risks and factors, they include, among others, the following: (i) fluctuation in results of operations; (ii) more established competitors; (iii) losses exceeding reserves; (iv) downgrades or withdrawal of ratings by rating agencies; (v) dependence on key executives; (vi) dependence on letter of credit facilities that may not be available on commercially acceptable terms; (vii) dependence on financing available through our investment accounts to secure letters of credit and collateral for reinsurance contracts; (viii) potential inability to pay dividends; (ix) inability to service our indebtedness; (x) limited cash flow and liquidity due to our indebtedness; (xi) unavailability of capital in the future; (xii) fluctuations in market price of our common shares; (xiii) dependence on clients' evaluations of risks associated with such clients' insurance underwriting; (xiv) suspension or revocation of our reinsurance licenses; (xv) potentially being deemed an investment company under U.S. federal securities law; (xvi) potential characterization of Third Point Reinsurance Ltd. and/or Third Point Re as a passive foreign investment company; (xvii) future strategic transactions such as acquisitions, dispositions, merger or joint ventures; (xviii) dependence on Third Point LLC to implement our investment strategy; (xix) termination by Third Point LLC of our investment management agreements; (xx) risks associated with our investment strategy being greater than those faced by competitors; (xxi) increased regulation or scrutiny of alternative investment advisers affecting our reputation; (xxii) Third Point Reinsurance Ltd. and/or Third Point Re potentially becoming subject to U.S. federal income taxation; (xxiii) potentially becoming subject to U.S. withholding and information reporting requirements under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act; (xxiv) changes in Bermuda or other law and regulation that may have an adverse impact on our operations; and (xxv) other risks and factors listed under "Risk Factors" in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other periodic and current disclosures filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Other Financial Metrics

In presenting Third Point Re's results, management has included financial measures that are not calculated under standards or rules that comprise accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (GAAP). Such measures, including net investment income on float, book value per share, diluted book value per share and return on beginning shareholders' equity, are referred to as non-GAAP measures. These non-GAAP measures may be defined or calculated differently by other companies. Management believes these measures allow for a more complete understanding of the underlying business. These measures are used to monitor our results and should not be viewed as a substitute for those determined in accordance with GAAP. Reconciliations of such measures to the most comparable GAAP figures are included in the attached financial information in accordance with Regulation G.

About the Company

The Company is a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange which, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries Third Point Reinsurance Company Ltd. and Third Point Reinsurance (USA) Ltd., writes property and casualty reinsurance business. Third Point Reinsurance Company Ltd. and Third Point Reinsurance (USA) Ltd. each have an "A-" (Excellent) financial strength rating from A.M. Best Company, Inc.

Contact

Third Point Reinsurance Ltd.

Manoj Gupta - Head of Investor Relations and Business Development

[email protected]

+1 441-542-3333

THIRD POINT REINSURANCE LTD.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (UNAUDITED)

As of March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016

(expressed in thousands of U.S. dollars, except per share and share amounts)









March 31,

2017



December 31,

2016 Assets









Equity securities, trading, at fair value (cost - $1,264,750; 2016 - $1,385,866)

$ 1,484,378

$

1,506,854 Debt securities, trading, at fair value (cost - $919,246; 2016 - $1,036,716)

921,221



1,057,957 Other investments, at fair value

72,020



82,701 Total investments in securities

2,477,619



2,647,512 Cash and cash equivalents

11,829



9,951 Restricted cash and cash equivalents

334,813



298,940 Due from brokers

387,102



284,591 Derivative assets, at fair value

34,122



27,432 Interest and dividends receivable

8,003



6,505 Reinsurance balances receivable

421,034



381,951 Deferred acquisition costs, net

220,754



221,618 Other assets

14,079



17,144 Total assets

$ 3,909,355

$

3,895,644 Liabilities and shareholders' equity













Liabilities













Accounts payable and accrued expenses

$ 11,509

$

10,321 Reinsurance balances payable

51,173



43,171 Deposit liabilities

105,778



104,905 Unearned premium reserves

565,243



557,076 Loss and loss adjustment expense reserves

625,786



605,129 Securities sold, not yet purchased, at fair value

217,836



92,668 Securities sold under an agreement to repurchase

16,524



 Due to brokers

639,320



899,601 Derivative liabilities, at fair value

10,839



16,050 Performance fee payable to related party

30,857



 Interest and dividends payable

2,361



3,443 Senior notes payable, net of deferred costs

113,599



113,555 Total liabilities

2,390,825



2,445,919 Commitments and contingent liabilities













Shareholders' equity













Preference shares (par value $0.10; authorized, 30,000,000;

none issued)





 Common shares (par value $0.10; authorized, 300,000,000;

issued and outstanding, 107,182,083 (2016 - 106,501,299))

10,718



10,650 Treasury shares (2,177,639 shares (2016 - 644,768 shares))

(26,273)



(7,389) Additional paid-in capital

1,096,828



1,094,568 Retained earnings

420,408



316,222 Shareholders' equity attributable to shareholders

1,501,681



1,414,051 Non-controlling interests

16,849



35,674 Total shareholders' equity

1,518,530



1,449,725 Total liabilities and shareholders' equity

$ 3,909,355

$

3,895,644























THIRD POINT REINSURANCE LTD.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (LOSS) (UNAUDITED)

For the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016

(expressed in thousands of U.S. dollars, except per share and share amounts)









2017



2016 Revenues









Gross premiums written

$ 146,354

$

197,156 Gross premiums ceded

(1,125)



 Net premiums written

145,229



197,156 Change in net unearned premium reserves

(7,220)



(60,354) Net premiums earned

138,009



136,802 Net investment income (loss)

128,510



(40,110) Total revenues

266,519



96,692 Expenses













Loss and loss adjustment expenses incurred, net

85,895



84,676 Acquisition costs, net

54,452



51,687 General and administrative expenses

10,572



11,288 Other expenses

2,901



2,706 Interest expense

2,026



2,048 Foreign exchange (gains) losses

15



(2,386) Total expenses

155,861



150,019 Income (loss) before income tax (expense) benefit

110,658



(53,327) Income tax (expense) benefit

(5,298)



1,929 Income (loss) including non-controlling interests

105,360



(51,398) (Income) loss attributable to non-controlling interests

(1,174)



269 Net income (loss)

$ 104,186

$

(51,129) Earnings (loss) per share













Basic

$ 1.00

$

(0.49) Diluted

$ 0.98

$

(0.49) Weighted average number of ordinary shares used in the

determination of earnings (loss) per share













Basic

104,013,871



104,257,874 Diluted

105,701,599



104,257,874

THIRD POINT REINSURANCE LTD. SEGMENT REPORTING



Three months ended March 31, 2017

Property and

Casualty

Reinsurance

Corporate

Total Revenues ($ in thousands) Gross premiums written $ 146,354

$ 

$ 146,354 Gross premiums ceded (1,125)



(1,125) Net premiums written 145,229



145,229 Change in net unearned premium reserves (7,220)



(7,220) Net premiums earned 138,009



138,009 Expenses















Loss and loss adjustment expenses incurred, net 85,895



85,895 Acquisition costs, net 54,452



54,452 General and administrative expenses 6,312

4,260

10,572 Total expenses 146,659

4,260

150,919 Net underwriting loss (8,650)

n/a

n/a Net investment income 36,120

92,390

128,510 Other expenses (2,901)



(2,901) Interest expense 

(2,026)

(2,026) Foreign exchange losses 

(15)

(15) Income tax expense 

(5,298)

(5,298) Segment income including non-controlling interests 24,569

80,791

105,360 Segment income attributable to non-controlling interests 

(1,174)

(1,174) Segment income $ 24,569

$ 79,617

$ 104,186 Property and Casualty Reinsurance -Underwriting Ratios (1):













Loss ratio 62.2%







Acquisition cost ratio 39.5%







Composite ratio 101.7%







General and administrative expense ratio 4.6%







Combined ratio 106.3%





















Three months ended March 31, 2016

Property and

Casualty

Reinsurance

Corporate

Total Revenues ($ in thousands) Gross premiums written $ 197,156

$ 

$ 197,156 Gross premiums ceded 



 Net premiums written 197,156



197,156 Change in net unearned premium reserves (60,354)



(60,354) Net premiums earned 136,802



136,802 Expenses













Loss and loss adjustment expenses incurred, net 84,676



84,676 Acquisition costs, net 51,687



51,687 General and administrative expenses 7,062

4,226

11,288 Total expenses 143,425

4,226

147,651 Net underwriting loss (6,623)

n/a

n/a Net investment loss (8,261)

(31,849)

(40,110) Other expenses (2,706)



(2,706) Interest expense 

(2,048)

(2,048) Foreign exchange gains 

2,386

2,386 Income tax benefit 

1,929

1,929 Segment income (loss) including non-controlling interests (17,590)

(33,808)

(51,398) Segment (income) loss attributable to non-controlling interests 

269

269 Segment income (loss) $ (17,590)

$ (33,539)

$ (51,129) Property and Casualty Reinsurance -Underwriting Ratios (1):













Loss ratio 61.9%







Acquisition cost ratio 37.8%







Composite ratio 99.7%







General and administrative expense ratio 5.2%







Combined ratio 104.9%









(1) Underwriting ratios are calculated by dividing the related expense by net premiums earned.

THIRD POINT REINSURANCE LTD. RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP MEASURES AND KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS



March 31,

2017

December 31,

2016 Basic and diluted book value per share numerator: ($ in thousands, except share and per share amounts) Total shareholders' equity $ 1,518,530

$ 1,449,725 Less: non-controlling interests (16,849)

(35,674) Shareholders' equity attributable to shareholders 1,501,681

1,414,051 Effect of dilutive warrants issued to founders and an advisor 46,512

46,512 Effect of dilutive stock options issued to directors and employees 52,430

52,930 Diluted book value per share numerator $ 1,600,623

$ 1,513,493 Basic and diluted book value per share denominator:





Issued and outstanding shares, net of treasury shares 103,050,620

104,173,748 Effect of dilutive warrants issued to founders and an advisor 4,651,163

4,651,163 Effect of dilutive stock options issued to directors and employees 5,224,333

5,274,333 Effect of dilutive restricted shares issued to employees 1,103,140

878,529 Diluted book value per share denominator 114,029,256

114,977,773









Basic book value per share $ 14.57

$ 13.57 Diluted book value per share $ 14.04

$ 13.16









2017

2016

($ in thousands) Net investment income (loss) on float $ 36,120

$ (8,261) Net investment income (loss) on capital 92,123

(32,096) Net investment income (loss) on investments managed

by Third Point LLC 128,243

(40,357) Net gain on investment in Kiskadee Fund 267

247

$ 128,510

$ (40,110)









2017

2016

($ in thousands) Net income (loss) $ 104,186

$ (51,129) Shareholders' equity attributable to shareholders -

beginning of period 1,414,051

1,379,726 Impact of weighting related to shareholders' equity

from shares repurchased (5,038)

 Adjusted shareholders' equity attributable to shareholders -

beginning of period $ 1,409,013

$ 1,379,726 Return on beginning shareholders' equity 7.4%

(3.7)%

Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Key Performance Indicators

Book Value per Share and Diluted Book Value per Share

Book value per share and diluted book value per share are non-GAAP financial measures and there are no comparable GAAP measures. Book value per share is calculated by dividing shareholders' equity attributable to shareholders by the number of issued and outstanding shares at period end, net of treasury shares. Diluted book value per share represents book value per share combined with the impact from dilution of all in-the-money share options issued, warrants and unvested restricted shares outstanding as of any period end. For unvested restricted shares with a performance condition, we include the unvested restricted shares for which we consider vesting to be probable. Change in book value per share is calculated by taking the change in book value per share divided by the beginning of period book value per share. Change in diluted book value per share is calculated by taking the change in diluted book value per share divided by the beginning of period diluted book value per share. We believe that long-term growth in diluted book value per share is the most important measure of our financial performance because it allows our management and investors to track over time the value created by the retention of earnings. In addition, we believe this metric is used by investors because it provides a basis for comparison with other companies in our industry that also report a similar measure.

Net Investment Income on Float

Net investment income on float is an important aspect of our property and casualty reinsurance operation. In an insurance or reinsurance operation, float arises because premiums and proceeds from deposit accounted contracts are collected before losses are paid. In some instances, the interval between receipts and payments can extend over many years. During this time interval, insurance and reinsurance companies invest the premiums received and generate investment returns. Float is not a concept defined by U.S. GAAP and therefore, there are no comparable U.S. GAAP measures. Float, as a result, is considered to be a non-GAAP financial measure. We believe that net investment income generated on float is an important consideration in evaluating the overall contribution of our property and casualty reinsurance operation to our consolidated results. It is also explicitly considered as part of the evaluation of management's performance for purposes of long-term incentive compensation.

Net Investment Return on Investments Managed by Third Point LLC

Net investment return represents the return on our investments managed by Third Point LLC, net of fees. The net investment return on investments managed by Third Point LLC is the percentage change in value of a dollar invested over the reporting period on our investment assets managed by Third Point LLC, net of non-controlling interest. The stated return is net of withholding taxes, which are presented as a component of income tax expense in our condensed consolidated statements of income (loss). Net investment return is the key indicator by which we measure the performance of Third Point LLC, our investment manager.

Return on Beginning Shareholders' Equity

Return on beginning shareholders' equity as presented is a non-GAAP financial measure. Return on beginning shareholders' equity is calculated by dividing net income (loss) by the beginning shareholders' equity attributable to shareholders. We believe that return on beginning shareholders' equity is an important measure because it assists our management and investors in evaluating the Company's profitability. For the three months ended March 31, 2017, we have also adjusted the beginning shareholders' equity for the impact of the shares repurchased on a weighted average basis. This adjustment increased the stated returns on beginning shareholders' equity.

Asset Leverage

Asset leverage represents net investments managed by Third Point LLC as a percentage of shareholders' equity attributable to shareholders.

SOURCE Third Point Reinsurance Ltd.

Related Links

http://www.thirdpointre.bm


NEW YORK, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Toast, a lifestyle Cannabis brand that provides a sophisticated consumer experience, announced today that it has been honored with three awards of excellence for design. Toast was awarded Gold in two categories, Web Design: Professional Website Consumer and New Media: Professional Infographic in the 47th Creativity International Awards and Gold for Website Design from Muse Creative Awards.

In designing the Toast website, Creative Director Gabrielle Rein took inspiration from the golden age of the 1920s. Toast is Cannabis re-imagined, it is all about luxury and indulgence. The Toast "social butterfly"  meant to symbolize the gentle, ethereal 'touch' of the product  is used throughout the site; bright, glittering, paper-like butterflies are seen clustered around images of the packaging and large, painterly butterflies in burnished gold float gently in the background.

The "Toast Responsibly" infographic was an inventive way for the brand to introduce the proper use of Toast and educate consumers in a non-intrusive, yet fully transparent way. Using a high-contrast, white-on-black design, the result is both visually compelling and unambiguous, employing a mix of bold font and playful, 'sketched' graphics. The design captures important information while remaining approachable and easily digestible.

"We look forward to many more wins as we take the industry by storm and change the public's perception on cannabis!" said Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, Gabrielle Rein, who leads the Toast brand's creative direction and projects.

Creativity International celebrates the best and brightest in global advertising and design. As one of the longest running, independent advertising and graphic design competitions, this year it drew hundreds of entrants from twenty-six countries; only 45% of this year's entries won an award reflecting the excellent and competitive designs submitted.

Muse Creative Awards is an international competition for creative professionals who possess the unique ability to inspire with a concept, idea or design - whether through traditional materials or electronic media.

For more information on the Toast, please visit, WeToast.com

About Toast 

Toast is a lifestyle Cannabis brand that provides a sophisticated consumer experience. The Toast experience will activate the mind and relax the body while keeping the consumer in control - the ideal state of mind for making social connections. Toast achieves this by offering the first professionally manufactured Cannabis cigarette called a Slice. The Slice contains a proprietary natural, 100% Cannabis blend composed of curated strains that are low in THC (psychoactive) and high in CBD (non-psychoactive) which enables the consumer to be social and mindful. A Slice is consumed in its entirety by one person; whereas a pack of Slices is shared with friends and family. The Slice establishes a new but familiar currency where one puff of a Slice is like a sip of a cocktail and an entire Slice is the equivalent of a full drink. This new currency enables consumers to regulate their intake and consume responsibly.

SOURCE Toast
MIAMI, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- TradePMR today announced at the 2017 Synergy Conference, an annual gathering for independent registered investment advisors (RIAs), its plan to integrate two FinMason products into its cutting-edge advisor desktop workstation, Fusion, and their new mobile-friendly platform, EarnWise. Advisors using Fusion and EarnWise will be able to access FinScore Pro, a visual risk tolerance assessment platform that allows a client or prospect to identify their ideal level of risk versus reward, even if they have little or no financial background. Advisors will then be able to introduce their recommended portfolio solution directly into the visual risk tolerance framework, showing clients the value of their advice in an intuitive way that does not rely on obscure labels and blind trust.

TradePMR will also become one of the industry's first custodial services platform to integrate with FinMason's FinRiver, a suite of lightning-fast APIs that give Fusion and EarnWise clients access to institutional-grade investment analytics on virtually every publicly traded investment available.

"Staying on the cutting edge of custodial services means bringing the best solutions to our clients," said Robb Baldwin, founder and CEO of TradePMR. "FinMason not only has what we believe to be best-in-breed products, they are easy to integrate into our process so we can provide a seamless and intuitive workflow for our clients."

EARNWISE TAKES CENTER STAGE

In 2016, TradePMR introduced its next-generation workstation, EarnWise, which incorporates robo-functionality for advisors seeking to serve digital and traditional clients. EarnWise allows advisors to put account opening and electronic portfolio selection at the client's fingertips without compromising any of the trust built on the strong foundation of Fusion, TradePMR's award-winning1 advisor workstation.

"For the past 20 years, advisors on the TradePMR have learned that TradePMR is willing to go above and beyond to provide technology tools and custodial support that gives advisors an edge in delivering best-of-class service," said Kendrick Wakeman, CFA, CEO and founder of FinMason. "We are thrilled to be collaborating with TradePMR as they continue innovating and evolving their impressive and robust advisor workstation."

"As the advisor landscape changes, we are committed to helping our clients adapt by bringing them the technology and service it takes to win. And, these days, winning means increasing a client's understanding of the value of advice instead of having to just rely on the 'trust me' approach," Baldwin said.

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.

ABOUT FINMASON, INC.

FinMason is a Boston-based financial technology and investment analytics firm dedicated to providing tools that help financial advisors and their clients move forward with confidence. FinMason's cutting-edge platform analyzes millions of global investments and delivers institutional-grade analytics at scale via three core products: FinRiverTM provides financial technology platforms with robust analytics and proprietary data sets via lightning-fast APIs; FinScore ProTM provides financial advisors with a quick, intuitive and uncomplicated risk assessment tool that systematically develops a mutually understandable, bright-line agreement on risk from each client and prospect; and FinScopeTM provides compliance teams with a way to screen through each client portfolio every night with robust analytics to detect problems before they become problems. For more information, visit www.finmason.com or follow @finmasoninc on Twitter.

TradePMR and FinMason, Inc. are separate and not affiliated. Securities are offered through TradePMR.

1 "Innovation of the Year" by Bill Winterberg, Morningstar December 2013.

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
PHOENIX, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- TriWest Healthcare Alliance announced today it earned full URAC accreditations for its Health Utilization Management and Case Management programs, and full reaccreditation for its Health Network.

URAC is a Washington, D.C.-based health care accrediting organization, whose mission is to promote continuous improvement in the quality and efficiency of healthcare management through processes of accreditation, certification, education, and measurement.

Accreditation serves as a symbol of excellence. The accreditation standards establish key quality benchmarks for core business practices and managed care programs including network management, provider credentialing, utilization management, quality management and improvement, consumer protection and confidentiality.

"It is our honor and privilege to work at the side of the Department of Veterans Affairs in meeting the health care needs of Veterans in 28 states and the Pacific. We are grateful to the URAC representatives who took the time to examine our business practices and for validating that our health care network, utilization management and case management programs meet their rigorous standard of quality," said TriWest President and CEO David J. McIntyre, Jr. "By achieving these accreditations, the Veterans we are privileged to serve have further confirmation they are receiving the highest level of care and service in support of VA's noble mission of caring for those who have borne the price of the battle."

"To meet the growing demand to provide quality healthcare services at a reasonable cost, TriWest Healthcare Alliance distinguishes itself in the marketplace by having earned Health Network Accreditation from URAC," said URAC President and CEO Kylanne Green. "With rigorous standards created by a broad array of stakeholders, TriWest's independent accreditation from URAC demonstrates its commitment to bringing together qualified, credentialed, and well-managed providers for their patients."

TriWest's accreditations in utilization management and case management are effective June 1, 2017 to June 1, 2020. The effective period for the health network accreditation is now extended to August 1, 2020. This is TriWest's fifth consecutive accreditation for its health care network.

About TriWest Healthcare Alliance:

TriWest Healthcare Alliance serves our nation's heroes as the partner of the Department of Veterans Affairs in administering the Patient-Centered Community Care and Veterans Choice Programs. TriWest has been On a Mission to Serve America's military families and Veterans since 1996 delivering award-winning customer service and providing access to high-quality health care. Information: https://www.triwest.com/.

About URAC:

Founded in 1990, URAC is the independent leader in promoting healthcare quality through accreditation, certification and measurement. URAC is a nonprofit organization developing evidence-based measures and standards through inclusive engagement with a range of stakeholders committed to improving the quality of healthcare. Our portfolio of accreditation and certification programs span the healthcare industry, addressing healthcare management, healthcare operations, health plans, pharmacies, telehealth providers, physician practices, and more. URAC accreditation is a symbol of excellence for organizations to showcase their validated commitment to quality and accountability.

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This release was issued through Send2Press, a unit of Neotrope. For more information, visit Send2Press Newswire at https://www.Send2Press.com

SOURCE TriWest Healthcare Alliance

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CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Charlotte-headquartered Truly Good Foods  snack food manufacturer and distributor  recently revealed their retail line Snack Treasures.

Snack Treasures is a collection of hand-blended snack mixes, nuts and sweets designed to satisfy your cravings. They were created to provide a culinary escape in the palm of your hand and are a perfect fit for specialty retail or amenity gifts.

"Snack Treasures is our answer to customers looking for flavorful snack gift options," said Chad Hartman, director of marketing for Truly Good Foods. "We've carefully selected the flavors for the line and we think there is a perfect fit for every buyer."

Flavors in the Snack Treasures line include:

Berry Good  Snack mix with the sweetness of dried fruit and the crunch of almonds and walnuts.

 Snack mix with the sweetness of dried fruit and the crunch of almonds and walnuts. Cashews  These nuts are perfectly roasted and lightly salted for the classic snack.

Deluxe Mixed Nuts  Top-of-the-line mix made up of cashews, almonds, pecans, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts and walnuts.

nuts, hazelnuts and walnuts. Key Lime Cookies  The classic Southern dessert in cookie form, bursting with the sweet and tangy flavor of key lime.

Pistachios  The creamiest and meatiest in-shell pistachios that are a delicious treat.

Poppin' Nut Crunch  A fun sweet and savory combination with drizzled caramel corn, nuts and chocolate.

Tahitian Gold  A tropical snack mix full of dried fruit and nuts.

About Truly Good Foods

Truly Good Foods specializes in premium snack mixes, freshly roasted nuts and seeds, dried fruit, and hundreds of bulk and packaged candies, spices, grains and specialty foods. Truly Good Foods has an extensive line of retail branded products, including Grabeez, Buffalo Nuts, Dip & Devour and trEAT4u. The company was founded in 1977 with an original product line of 100 items, which has grown to include more than 3,000 today. Second-generation, women-owned TGF is headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., with additional operating centers in Orlando, Atlanta, Memphis, Washington, D.C., Dallas, and Reno.

Contact:

Chad Hartman

Truly Good Foods

[email protected]

704-602-0631

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. For more info visit: http://www.newswire.com

SOURCE Truly Good Foods

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http://www.trulygoodfoods.com


NEW YORK, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- United Spinal Association's 6th Annual Roll on Capitol Hill, June 11-14 in Washington, D.C., will host Andrea Dalzell, Ms. Wheelchair New York 2015, along with other prominent disability advocates to speak directly with legislators on issues that affect the independence and quality of life for people with spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCI/D) and other pre-existing conditions.

Dalzell, 29, will be attending Roll on Capitol Hill to urge her state representatives to provide people living with spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCI/D) in New York greater access to complex rehab technology.

"Complex rehab technology is extremely important to me. Twenty-five years in a wheelchair means that I have wear and tear on my shoulders and my body," said Dalzell, who was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis at the age of 5, a neurological condition that causes inflammation of the spinal cord.

"People like me need customized wheelchair design to prevent injury, prevent wounds, and to keep us living independently," she added.

Complex rehab technology, or medically necessary individually-configured manual and power wheelchair systems and other essential components, are used by individuals with significant disabilities.

ALS, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury, depend on complex rehab technology to maintain their independence, well-being and ability to participate in society.

Complex rehab technology does not refer to mere cup-holders or convenience items, but includes seating and positioning features such as body positioning components and specialty wheelchair controls.

Medicare's current regulations result in these vital components being very difficult for wheelchair users to acquire.

Beyond the need for appropriate equipment, Dalzell's other concern involves the potential repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

"The reason why I am alive today is because of the ACA. In 2010 I had a stage 4 wound that would not heal. I was on basic Medicaid seeing regular doctors instead of specialists," said Dalzell.

Dalzell's mom was able to add her to her ACA healthcare plan.

"Even with a pre-existing condition I was not denied. It was only then I was able to see the specialist who performed my surgery and healed me," added Dalzell.

Roll on Capitol Hill, now entering its 6th year, has become a valuable platform for United Spinal member advocates like Dalzell and representatives from the organization's national chapter network, to speak directly with their congressional representatives about these issues.

Dalzell, who has a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Neuroscience from the College of Staten Island and is currently in Nursing School, is excited to be returning to Roll on Capitol Hill this year to represent many individuals within the disability community who struggle to maintain their independence.

Dalzell said that the event has given her the opportunity to find women mentors from across the country who have enabled her as a wheelchair user to gain new confidence.

The Roll has also given her the skills to go to any state and sit with an official, not only to share her perspectives, but build a solution through positive dialogue. Part of that process is to make sure they understand the core issues impacting wheelchair users.

"It is well known that the disability unemployment rate is almost triple that of the non-disabled population, and I believe that has a lot to do with the ability to access the equipment needed to even get to college and pursue a higher education and professional career," said Dalzell.

"There's a great need to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities across society. In 2017, from education to the workplace to health care, we still haven't figured out how to be inclusive and provide access to basic needs for all our citizens," she added.

About United Spinal Association

United Spinal is a national 501(c) (3) nonprofit membership organization formed in 1946 by paralyzed veterans and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for all Americans with spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCI/D), including multiple sclerosis, spina bifida, ALS and post-polio. It played a significant role in writing the Americans with Disabilities Act, and made important contributions to the Fair Housing Amendments Act and the Air Carrier Access Act. Membership is free and is open to all individuals with SCI/D. United Spinal was instrumental in getting New York City to create sidewalk curb ramps and accessible public transportation that has been used as a model for many United States cities.

ProfNet Expert Available:

Alexandra Bennewith, MPA

https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=111409

SOURCE United Spinal Association

Related Links

http://www.unitedspinal.org


This award goes annually to an innovative project designed to deliver tangible patient improvements, both in the long and short term. Demonstrating real understanding for patient requirements prior to implementation, the winning project will have been managed to an outstanding level and will have made an exceptionally positive impact on its intended customer.

About the Universal Patient Language

The Universal Patient Language (UPL) is an organizational capability and set of practical resources that help communicate complex topics to patients. It was developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS)  with support from Bridgeable  to help patients facing serious disease better understand treatment options. The story of UPL presents a unique approach to patient experience. It was designed specifically to help present information to patients in a way that is fair, accurate, understandable, and which addresses patients' needs.

The UPL has been applied to Bristol-Myers Squibb patient communications for every product the company has in market. The redesigned UPL deliverables include drug safety information, branded messaging, disease state education, clinical trial recruitment, and even call centre interactions. In developing these outputs, Bristol-Myers Squibb has engaged with numerous patients and caregivers, and over 100 healthcare providers, patient advocacy group representatives, communication experts, and other external stakeholders.

In 2016 Bridgeable supported Bristol-Myers Squibb in launching an open-source UPL capability, sharing it with any individual, company, or institution interested in improved patient communications. The first UPL resources and case studies are already publicly available on upl.org. In early May, a new and improved version will be launched with a new emphasis on helping practitioners apply the UPL to their own work. The hope is that if all industry players  from hospital systems to advocacy groups to clinicians to pharma  adopt a set of universal standards in patient communications, patients' overall healthcare experiences will be improved.

About the eyeforpharma awards

The eyeforpharma awards recognize positive progress towards value for patients and customers, and recognize those in the pharmaceutical industry who are driving pharma forward.

The awards celebrate those who aren't just chasing higher short-term profits, but who are investing in better customer innovation, value and outcomes leading to longer-term success.

The program is part of eyeforpharma's mission to make the pharmaceutical industry more open and valued. The London-based organization views its responsibility as shining a light on where pharma does well, to inspire others into similar or better action.

www.eyeforpharma.com/awards

About Bridgeable

Bridgeable is a leading service design company dedicated to transforming healthcare experiences so they provide greater value to healthcare systems, and the patients they serve. Its solutions are rooted in a deep understanding of clinical interactions and an intimate knowledge of both healthcare and pharmaceutical industries.

By delivering exceptional service design, Bridgeable helps deliver holistic experiences for users by ensuring that multiple touch points work in harmony over time. Bridgeable has worked with some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, including Bristol-Myers Squibb, as well as Fortune 500 companies and innovative start-ups.

www.bridgeable.com

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.

SOURCE Bridgeable

Related Links

bridgeable.com


KANSAS CITY, Kan. and NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Kansas Health System and Ardent Health Services ("Ardent") today announced plans to form a joint venture company to purchase St. Francis Health in Topeka, Kansas. The announcement follows SCL Health's selection of the joint venture to acquire the 378-bed facility.

The partnership will allow St. Francis Health to remain open and continue serving the community. It will also preserve jobs for substantially all of St. Francis Health's 1,600 employees, including employed physicians, and provide the hospital with a $50 million infusion of capital during the first year.

"We are grateful our proposal was seen as the most positive path forward for St. Francis," said Bob Page, president and CEO of The University of Kansas Health System. "We are proud to tell the people of Topeka St. Francis Health's doors will remain open. We understand the critical role hospitals like St. Francis play for patients, physicians, employees and the communities they serve. By marrying our resources as an academic medical center and Ardent's operational expertise, we secure the long-term sustainability of St. Francis Health."

The University of Kansas Health System and Ardent Health Services will share governance with equal representation on the joint venture board of directors, and will establish a local board of trustees for the hospital. St. Francis Health will continue to be led by a local management.

As the state's only academic medical center, The University of Kansas Health System offers more options for patients with serious conditions because of its expertise and leadership in medical research and education. Its physicians are researchers and educators expanding the boundaries of medical knowledge. Its major breakthroughs lead to the life changing treatments of the future. Working with The University of Kansas Health System and Ardent Health Services will provide St. Francis Health with the clinical, financial and operational resources needed to take patient care and quality to a new level. Patients will have access to a health system that brings together nationally recognized physicians and healthcare leaders.

In addition, The University of Kansas Health System has a successful record of working with other healthcare institutions in a variety of partnership models, including with Hays Medical Center and others.

Ardent currently operates 20 hospitals in six states with more than 500 employed physicians and 18,000 employees. The company maintains six joint venture partnerships with leading not-for-profit health systems including institutions such as Seton Healthcare, Hackensack Meridian Health Network, and Sacred Heart Health System, as well as two other hospital joint ventures.

"We are honored to partner with the University of Kansas Health System to support the excellent work of St. Francis Health's dedicated physicians, nurses and employees," said David T. Vandewater, president and CEO of Ardent Health Services. "Our successful joint venture model will preserve local leadership while providing St. Francis with the resources, support and investment needed to maintain and grow the hospital."

Leaders will begin work with the SCL Health and St. Francis Health teams to complete the transaction, including finalizing agreements and obtaining regulatory approval, with the goal of completing the work within 60 days of signing the letter of intent to acquire the hospital.

About The University of Kansas Health System

The University of Kansas Health System is the region's premier academic medical center, providing a full range of care. The hospital is affiliated with the University of Kansas Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Health Professions, and their various leading-edge research projects. The constantly growing facility contains 747 staffed beds (plus 24 bassinets) and serves more than 37,500 inpatients annually. Eleven of its medical and surgical specialty areas are ranked nationally by the U.S. News & World Report "Best Hospital" lists, including Cancer (#25), Cardiology & Heart Surgery (#38 tie), Diabetes & Endocrinology (#33), Ear, Nose & Throat (#31), Gastroenterology and GI Surgery (#35), Geriatrics (#13), Gynecology (#38), Neurology & Neurosurgery (#22), Orthopedics (#35), Pulmonology (#28) and Urology (#17). The cancer program is part of The University of Kansas Cancer Center, one of 69 National Cancer Institute-designated programs in the U.S. The hospital has received Magnet nursing designation three times in a row, reflecting the quality of care throughout the hospital, an honor awarded three consecutive times to only 3.7 percent of the hospitals nationwide. The hospital also houses the region's only accredited burn center, the area's only nationally accredited Level I Trauma Center and a leading quality transplant program in liver, pancreas, kidney, heart and bone marrow. For more information, visit KansasHealthSystem.com. The University of Kansas Hospital receives no state appropriations and is financed through operating revenue, bonding authority and philanthropy.

About Ardent Health Services

Ardent Health Services invests in people, technology, facilities and communities, producing high-quality care and extraordinary results. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Ardent's subsidiaries own and operate 20 hospitals in six states with 18,000 employees including 500 employed physicians. Ardent facilities exceed national averages in Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating as ranked by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; 87 percent of its hospitals received a three-star rating or above in comparison with 78 percent of all hospitals ranked. Five of the company's hospitals were recognized by Modern Healthcare as "Best Places to Work" in 2016  more than any other system in the country.

Ardent operations are owned by an affiliate of Equity Group Investments (EGI), a Chicago-based private investment firm; Ventas, Inc., a leading real estate investment trust; and members of Ardent's executive management team. For more information, visit www.ardenthealth.com.

Contact:

Tyra Palmer Media Line Ardent Health Services University of Kansas Health System (615) 296-3146 (816) 489-2458 [email protected]



SOURCE Ardent Health Services

Related Links

http://www.ardenthealth.com


"The Center for Innovative Clinical Practice on our San Marcos campus positions the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences as an innovator in rehabilitation education and a leader in clinical practice," said Dr. Susan Saxton, senior vice president of innovation and emerging strategies for USAHS. "Many institutions of higher education have medical simulation facilities, but USAHS is one of the first to have a dedicated simulation training center and state-of-the-art equipment specific to the practices of physical and occupational therapy. Looking forward, our students will transform the rehabilitative space, where they will be more than a clinician, but a clinical leader. We are proud to be blazing a new trail in using simulation in rehabilitative education."

The ICP teaching laboratory spans nearly 7,000 square feet and allows for a broad range of physical therapy and occupational therapy classes in a hands-on learning environment. The Center provides various real-world settings for hands-on learning, including a 16-bed patient ward, a dedicated area for Occupational Therapy education, two patient assessment rooms which provide acute care and clinical scenarios, a complex simulation room, a 25 seat observation and debriefing room, and an activities of daily living lab with a kitchen, bedroom, dining, closet, bathroom and living area. The ICP has flexibility to adapt the spaces to meet simulation activity needs and includes state-of-the-art medical tools and resources that enable USAHS to educate the next generation of health care professionals.

Simulation education's hands-on approach is a proven curriculum technique, laying the foundation for success. The features of simulation which best facilitate learning include the ability to provide feedback, curriculum integration, repetitive practice and the ability to range the difficulty levels. Importantly, simulated, hands-on education is proven to improve professional confidence, patient safety, communication and interpersonal skills, and allows students to quickly build trust with patients and their families.

For more information on the San Marcos Center for Clinical Practice or USAHS, please visit usa.edu.

About University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS)

The University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) is a graduate institution that offers degree programs in physical therapy, occupational therapy, nursing, education and health science, as well as continuing education programs. Founded in 1979, USAHS has locations in San Marcos, California; St. Augustine, Florida; Austin, Texas; and Miami, Florida. USAHS is regionally accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission. USAHS is one of more than 70 institutions in 25 countries that comprise the Laureate International Universities network. For more information about USAHS visit www.usa.edu.

SOURCE University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences

Related Links

http://www.usa.edu


WASHINGTON, May 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Jack Barrett, President and CEO of First Citrus Bank, Tampa, Florida joined more than 100 community bankers and the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) this week for a meeting with President Donald Trump and other top administration officials at the White House as part of the 2017 ICBA Capital Summit. In the meeting with President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, NEC Director Gary Cohn and Small Business Administration chief Linda McMahon, Trump said the administration is focused on addressing regulatory burdens to help community banks lend to small businesses.



First Citrus Bank was deeply honored to be invited to attend todays historic meeting, where the president reiterated his support for community banking, said Jack Barrett. First Citrus Bank is proud to be in Washington this week to advocate on behalf of our industry so we can continue to serve our community and be a powerful job creator and economic engine right here in Tampa Bay.

During the meeting community bankers presented President Trump with a red Make Community Banking Great Again cap. In attendance at the meeting were community bankers from ICBAs Executive Committee, board of directors, Federal Delegate Board, and policy committees.

More than 1,000 community bankers are in Washington this week for ICBAs Capital Summit to discuss critical issues facing community banks and their communities, such as excessive regulatory burdens that affect their ability to serve their customers, make loans and create jobs. The industrys solution to the regulatory burden problemICBAs Plan for Prosperityis a pro-growth platform to eliminate onerous and unnecessary regulatory burdens that inhibit lending and innovation.

The summit features meetings this week with policymakers, remarks from speakers such as Secretary Mnuchin and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), and the first-ever ICBA Future of Banking Symposium, which offers insights into the future of the rapidly changing community banking industry.

The nations community banks are dedicated to fostering local economic and job growth by serving the consumers and small businesses in their communities, said ICBA Chairman Scott Heitkamp, president and CEO of ValueBank Texas in Corpus Christi, Texas. Unfortunately, one-size-fits-all regulations are preventing community banks from lending and promoting prosperity at the local level. ICBA looks forward to continuing to work with President Trump, his administration and Congress to advance common-sense reforms that will help unleash the economic power of community banks.

More information about ICBAs Capital Summit, Future of Banking Symposium, and Plan for Prosperity is available on the ICBA website.



About ICBA

The Independent Community Bankers of America, the nations voice for more than 5,800 community banks of all sizes and charter types, is dedicated exclusively to representing the interests of the community banking industry and its membership through effective advocacy, best-in-class education and high-quality products and services. For more information, visit ICBAs website at www.icba.org.

About First Citrus Bank (OTCPink:FCIT)

First Citrus Bank, a $321 million commercial bank, was established in 1999 and headquartered in Tampa. Ranked as one of the Top 25 Commercial Loan Producers in the Nation by IB Independent Banker Magazine, it serves businesses and individuals through a range of tailored financial solutions designed to fit their needs. Specializing in retail and commercial banking services, the Bank has five locations throughout Tampa Bay.

First Citrus Bank creates a more vibrant Tampa Bay through financing economic growth at the local level. For additional information, please visit http://www.firstcitrus.com.
VANCOUVER, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - UrtheCast Corp. (TSX:UR) ("UrtheCast" or the "Company") today announces financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2017.

Higher Revenues and Lower Operating Costs in the First Quarter of 2017

(in millions of Canadian dollars) Q1 2017 Q1 2016 Revenue excluding non-cash revenue (1) 9.4 6.8 Revenue $ 9.4 $ 12.2 Operating costs 15.6 24.0 Net loss (5.1) (11.1) Adjusted EBITDA(1) (1.3) (6.0)

1 Non-IFRS earnings measure. See reconciliation to Revenue and Net Loss later in this press release

Excluding the non-cash revenue related to the ISS cameras of $5.3 million recorded in the first quarter of 2016, revenues increased by $2.6 million, or 38%, from higher Earth Observation (EO) imagery sales and higher engineering services revenues.

The net loss of $5.1 million in the first quarter of 2017 (2016 - $11.1 million) improved by $6.0 million, or 54%, over the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA of $(1.3) million also improved by $4.7 million, or 78%, over the prior year, primarily due to an overall decrease in UrtheCast's operating costs resulting from its continued focus on cost-savings initiatives, including consolidating certain software development and operations activities and reducing cloud storage costs.

Business Highlights

EO Update

During UrtheCast's seasonally slowest quarter, EO revenues grew by 20% to $1.6 million , compared to $1.3 million in the same period in 2016.

UrtheDaily Update

As previously announced, in the first quarter of 2017 the Company entered into a long-term agreement with GEOSYS, a subsidiary of Land O' Lakes, Inc., to deliver geospatial data from the planned UrtheDaily Constellation. Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, GEOSYS will become an anchor customer for the UrtheDaily Constellation. The agreement, for an undisclosed purchase price and term, represents the Company's largest data-buy contract to date. This agreement will provide Geosys with sufficient capacity to receive imagery of the Earth's entire landmass (excluding Antarctica ) throughout the contract term and payments will begin when UrtheCast begins delivering UrtheDaily Constellation data to GEOSYS. The agreement is subject to the Company arranging for the financing for the build and launch of the first portion of the satellites in the UrtheDaily Constellation and other customary covenants for agreements of this nature.

OptiSAR Progress

As previously announced, the Company entered into a binding agreement in the first quarter of 2017 with a confidential government customer for the sale and shared operation of the first two satellites in the Company's planned OptiSAR Constellation for a purchase price of approximately US$180 million . This agreement represents the first successful conversion of the three previously announced Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) for the purchase of the OptiSAR Constellation satellites into binding contracts. The agreement is subject to a number of closing conditions, including UrtheCast obtaining the necessary customer commitments to allow for the build, launch and financing of the first eight satellites in the OptiSAR Constellation, the customer obtaining funding on or before December 31, 2017 , the parties reaching mutual agreement on the detailed procedures for the shared operation and tasking of the two satellites, and other customary covenants and regulatory approvals for agreements of this nature. Provided these closing conditions are satisfied or waived, the purchase price is expected to be paid upon achievement of certain build-phase milestones, concurrent with the start of the build-phase for the first eight satellites.

Government Funding

As previously announced, during the first quarter of 2017 the Company was awarded approximately $17.6 million in funding from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's Industrial Technologies Office as part of its Strategic Aerospace & Defense Initiative program to support the development of the OptiSAR Constellation. The agreement is structured as a repayable contribution that management anticipates will be disbursed in quarterly installments, on a cost-reimbursement basis, over the next four years and repaid by the Company in annual installments over 15 years, beginning in 2023.





in funding from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's Industrial Technologies Office as part of its Strategic Aerospace & Defense Initiative program to support the development of the OptiSAR Constellation. The agreement is structured as a repayable contribution that management anticipates will be disbursed in quarterly installments, on a cost-reimbursement basis, over the next four years and repaid by the Company in annual installments over 15 years, beginning in 2023. During the first quarter of 2017, the Company was also awarded three non-repayable grants from the Government of Canada's Defense Innovation Research Program to reimburse up to approximately $2.2 million of eligible OptiSAR development costs.

Financing and Liquidity

As previously announced, the Company completed a public offering of 13,033,341 common shares on March 6, 2017 at a price of C$1.50 per common share, for aggregate net proceeds of approximately C$18.2 million .





at a price of per common share, for aggregate net proceeds of approximately . During the first quarter of 2017, the Company obtained a new $10 million revolving demand credit facility from the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). Borrowings under this facility will primarily be used to finance up to 90% of the accounts receivable under the Company's US $65 million engineering services contract and may also be used to finance other contracts. The interest rate on this facility, if drawn upon, is RBC's prime rate plus 2% and borrowings are repayable when the related accounts receivable are collected from the customer, or on demand.





revolving demand credit facility from the Royal Bank of (RBC). Borrowings under this facility will primarily be used to finance up to 90% of the accounts receivable under the Company's US engineering services contract and may also be used to finance other contracts. The interest rate on this facility, if drawn upon, is RBC's prime rate plus 2% and borrowings are repayable when the related accounts receivable are collected from the customer, or on demand. In April 2017 , the Company obtained an additional credit facility to finance up to 1 million Euros of trade receivables.

Guidance

For fiscal 2017, the Company expects to achieve revenue of between $52 and $60 million and adjusted EBITDA of between $7 and $12 million.

"The Company is continuing to execute on our current business, which is growing and from which we've removed a lot of operating costs," said Wade Larson, UrtheCast's President and CEO. "At the same time, we're very pleased with the momentum on our big initiatives of UrtheDaily and OptiSAR. We expect to make announcements on both fronts soon."

SELECTED FINANCIAL INFORMATION

The following table provides selected financial information of the Company, which was derived from, and should be read in conjunction with, the unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2017.

(in thousands of Canadian dollars) Three Months Ended March 31,



2017

2016 Revenue $ 9,396

12,152 Other operating income

50

-



9,446

12,152 Operating costs







Direct costs, selling, general and administrative expenses

10,509

15,127 Research expenditures

276

1,736 Depreciation and amortization

4,474

6,564 Share-based payments

333

558



15,592

23,985 Operating loss

(6,146)

(11,833) Net finance costs

(442)

(521) Loss on derivative financial instruments

242

- Foreign exchange (loss) gain

(219)

(192) Loss before income taxes

(6,565)

(12,546) Income tax recovery (expense)

1,486

1,446 Net loss

(5,079)

(11,100) Other comprehensive income (loss)

542

(1,959) Comprehensive loss $ (4,537)

(13,059) Net loss per share  basic and diluted $ (0.05)

(0.11)

NON-IFRS EARNINGS MEASURES

(in thousands of Canadian dollars) Three Months Ended March 31,



2017

2016 NON-IFRS REVENUE:







Revenue per income statement $ 9,396 $ 12,152 Non-cash revenue

-

(5,334) NON-IFRS REVENUE $ 9,396 $ 6,818









ADJUSTED EBITDA:







Net loss $ (5,079) $ (11,100) Add back (subtract):







Depreciation and amortization

4,474

6,564 Net finance costs

442

521 Income tax recovery

(1,486)

(1,446) EBITDA

(1,649)

(5,461) Non-cash revenue

-

(5,334) Non-cash operating costs

-

4,066 Share-based payments expense

333

558 Loss on derivative financial instruments

(242)

- Foreign exchange losses (gains)

219

192 ADJUSTED EBITDA $ (1,339) $ (5,979)

As previously announced, UrtheCast will host a conference call regarding its first quarter 2017 financial results at 5:00 p.m. ET (2:00 p.m. PT) on May 4, 2017. The live conference call will be available by calling toll-free at 1-800-806-5484 , or by toll call at +1-416-340-2217 . The participant pass code is 1998003#.

An archived version of the conference call will be made available on the Company's investor website (investors.urthecast.com) following the live conference call.

ABOUT URTHECAST CORP.

UrtheCast Corp. is a Vancouver-based technology company that serves the rapidly evolving geospatial and geoanalytics markets with a wide range of information-rich products and services. The Company operates Earth Observation (EO) sensors in space, including two satellites, Deimos-1 and Deimos-2, to produce imagery data that is displayed on UrtheCast's cloud-based web platform and sold to partners and customers. Through its subsidiary Deimos Imaging, UrtheCast processes and distributes imagery data and value-added products on behalf of the PanGeo Alliance, a network of eight satellite operators with a combined 15 medium- and high-resolution EO sensors. UrtheCast is also developing and expects to launch two EO satellite constellations: the world's first fully-integrated constellation of sixteen multispectral optical and SAR satellites, called OptiSAR, and an eight-satellite constellation designed to capture high-quality, medium-resolution optical imagery of the Earth's entire landmass (excluding Antarctica) every day, called UrtheDaily. Together, the Company believes these constellations will revolutionize monitoring of our planet with medium- and high-resolution, high-coverage and high-revisit imagery in all weather conditions. Common shares of UrtheCast trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange as ticker 'UR'.

For more information, visit UrtheCast's website at www.urthecast.com.

Non-IFRS Financial Measures

The Company prepares its financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"), as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. This release includes certain non-IFRS financial measures, such as non-IFRS revenues, EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA. The Company uses these non-IFRS financial measures as supplemental indicators of its operating performance and financial position. These measures do not have any standardized meanings prescribed by IFRS and therefore are unlikely to be comparable to the calculation of similar measures used by other companies, and should not be viewed as alternatives to measures of financial performance calculated in accordance with IFRS or considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. These non-IFRS financial measures should be read in conjunction with the Company's financial statements and accompanying MD&A.

Forward Looking Information

This release contains certain information which, as presented, constitutes "forward-looking information" or "forward-oriented financial information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information involves statements that relate to future events and often addresses expected future business and financial performance, containing words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect" and "guidance", statements that an action or event "may", "might", "could" or "will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions and includes, but is not limited to, statements relating to: UrtheCast's expectations with respect its current sensors and proposed OptiSAR and UrtheDailyTM constellations; the satisfaction of the financing and other conditions set out in the binding agreement for the purchase of two OptiSAR satellites in order to trigger payment obligations thereunder; its plans for and timing of expansion of its product offering and value-added services; its future growth and operations plans; expectations regarding government contributions and reimbursement grants; expectations regarding revenue and EBITDA in fiscal 2017; and anticipated trends and challenges in its business and the markets in which the Company operates. Such statements reflect UrtheCast's current views with respect to future events. Such statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by UrtheCast, are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors could cause UrtheCast's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, among others: any delays or failures in the design, development, construction, launch and operational commissioning of the proposed OptiSAR or UrtheDailyTM constellations; the Company being unable to adequately finance the development, building, launch and commissioning of the UrtheDaily Constellation or to convert the remaining MOUs and other customer discussions in respect of the OptiSAR constellation into binding, definitive agreements; the inability of the confidential OptiSAR customer described in this press release to obtain budgetary approval from government or to otherwise comply with its obligations under the binding agreement for the purchase and operation of two satellites; any failure by Geosys, the Government of Canada or one of UrtheCast's third-party lenders to comply with the terms of their respective contracts with UrtheCast, and UrtheCast's ability to comply with any of its covenants thereunder; the decline of key relationships in, or termination of, the PanGeo Alliance of EO satellite operators; loss of key EO imagery sales contracts or customers; failures aboard the ISS or the Deimos-1 or Deimos-2 satellites; failure to obtain, or loss of, regulatory approvals; as well as those factors and assumptions discussed in UrtheCast's annual information form dated March 28, 2017, (the "AIF"), which is available under UrtheCast's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. UrtheCast undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements except as required by Canadian securities laws. Readers are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.

SOURCE UrtheCast Corp.

Related Links

www.urthecast.com


SALT LAKE CITY, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Utah's defense industry directly and indirectly supported over 109,000 jobs and $9.2 billion in economic activity in the state during 2015, according to new research released by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. That year, federal defense spending was responsible for 5.8 percent of Utah's jobs, 7.1 percent of its earnings and 6.2 percent of its GDP.

The Utah Defense Alliance and the Utah Department of Veterans and Military Affairs commissioned the Gardner Policy Institute to assess the economic impacts of Utah's defense industry. The Gardner Policy Institute analyzed the impacts of current operations of Hill Air Force Base, Dugway Proving Ground, Tooele Army Depot, the Utah National Guard, reserves, recruiting, ROTC and expenditures on behalf of veterans. It also examined Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs grants and contract expenditures that were not associated with one of the aforementioned installations.

"Utah's defense industry continues to be an important contributor to the state economy with an impact in every county of the state," said Juliette Tennert, director of economic and public policy research at the Gardner Policy Institute. "With the Trump Administration's recent proposals to increase defense spending, this could mean additional money and jobs for Utahns."

In addition, the Gardner Policy Institute modeled the long-run economic and demographic impacts on the state and local economies in the event of the closure of Hill Air Force Base, for which there are currently no known plans. The base accounts for 43 to 50 percent of the total defense industry economic impact in the state, supporting over 47,000 jobs and $4.5 billion in GDP. A hypothetical closure of Hill Air Force Base by 2022 would cost the state an estimated 35,184 jobs, $2.9 billion in earnings and $3.8 billion in GDP.

Veterans in Utah also generated significant economic impact, supporting over 24,000 jobs and $1.9 billion in GDP for Utah in 2015. Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense spending for Utah veterans was $1.8 billion in 2015.

The full report is available here. The reference year of 2015 is the most recent year for all of the available data.

About the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute

The Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah enhances Utah's economy by placing data-driven research into the hands of decision makers. Housed within the David Eccles School of Business, its mission is to develop and share economic, demographic and public policy data and research that help community leaders make informed decisions. Located at the newly restored Thomas S. Monson Center on South Temple Street, the Gardner Policy Institute serves as a vital gathering place and center for independent economic, demographic and public policy thought leadership. Learn more at gardner.utah.edu or by calling 801-587-3717.

About the David Eccles School of Business

Founded in 1917 and educating more than 4,500 students annually, the David Eccles School of Business offers eight undergraduate majors, four MBAs, five other graduate programs, a Ph.D. program and executive education curricula. The Eccles School is also home to eight institutes and centers, including the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, which deliver academic research and support an ecosystem of entrepreneurship and innovation. It is consistently one of the top schools in the nation for startup businesses based on university research. Experiential learning is central to the Eccles experience. For more information, visit Eccles.Utah.edu or call 801-581-7676.

Contacts: Nick Thiriot, Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, 801-587-3717, [email protected]

SOURCE David Eccles School of Business

Related Links

http://www.Eccles.Utah.edu


PHOENIX, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- VEREIT, Inc. (NYSE: VER) ("VEREIT" or the "Company") announced today its operating results for the three months ending March 31, 2017.

First Quarter 2017 Highlights

Net Income of $14.8 million and Net Loss per diluted share of $(0.00)

and Net Loss per diluted share of Achieved $0.19 AFFO per diluted share including $0.01 from Cole Capital

AFFO per diluted share including from Cole Capital Completed $101.5 million of acquisitions and $199.2 million of dispositions

of acquisitions and of dispositions Decreased Debt from $6.4 billion to $6.3 billion and Net Debt from $6.1 billion to $6.0 billion

and Net Debt from Reduced Net Debt to Normalized EBITDA from 5.7x to 5.5x

Cole Capital raised $66.7 million of new equity capital

Credit Rating Updates

Moody's upgraded the credit rating of VEREIT from 'Ba1' to an investment grade rating of 'Baa3'

S&P raised its corporate credit rating of VEREIT from 'BB+' to an investment grade rating of 'BBB-', matching the bond rating

Fitch continues with an investment grade rating of 'BBB-'

First Quarter 2017 Consolidated Financial Results

Revenue

Consolidated revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 decreased $21.0 million to $348.0 million as compared to revenue of $369.0 million for the same quarter in 2016, primarily due to 2016 dispositions.

Net Income (Loss) and Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Common Stockholders per Diluted Share

Consolidated net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 increased $130.9 million to net income of $14.8 million as compared to a net loss of $(116.1) million for the same quarter in 2016 and net loss per diluted share decreased $0.15 to $(0.00) for the quarter ended March 31, 2017, as compared to a net loss per diluted share of $(0.15) for the same quarter in 2016. The differences were primarily due to lower depreciation and amortization, interest expense, and impairment charges, offset by lower revenue, higher litigation and tax expenses and a smaller total gain on disposition of real estate and unconsolidated entities in the first quarter of 2017.

Normalized EBITDA

Consolidated Normalized EBITDA for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 decreased $15.3 million to $273.3 million as compared to Normalized EBITDA of $288.6 million for the same quarter in 2016, primarily due to 2016 dispositions.

Funds From Operations Attributable to Common Stockholders and Limited Partners ("FFO") and FFO per Diluted Share

FFO for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 decreased $26.1 million to $170.1 million, as compared to $196.2 million for the same quarter in 2016 and FFO per diluted share decreased $0.04 to $0.17 for the quarter ended March 31, 2017, as compared to $0.21 for the same quarter in 2016.

Adjusted FFO Attributable to Common Stockholders and Limited Partners ("AFFO") and AFFO per Diluted Share

AFFO for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 decreased $5.4 million to $187.3 million, as compared to $192.7 million for the same quarter in 2016, and AFFO per diluted share decreased $0.02 to $0.19 for the quarter ended March 31, 2017, as compared to $0.21 for the same quarter in 2016.

Common Stock Dividend Information

On May 3, 2017, the Company's Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.1375 per share for the second quarter of 2017, representing an annual distribution rate of $0.55 per share. The dividend will be paid on July 17, 2017 to common stockholders of record as of June 30, 2017.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

As of March 31, 2017, there was no balance outstanding on the Company's revolving line of credit. The Company's $2.8 billion unsecured credit facility is made up of a $500 million term loan and a revolving line of credit with $2.3 billion of capacity available. During the quarter, secured debt was reduced by $81.7 million.

Consolidated Financial Statistics

Consolidated Financial Statistics as of the quarter ended March 31, 2017 are as follows: Net Debt to Normalized EBITDA of 5.5x, Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio of 2.9x, Unencumbered Gross Real Estate Assets to Total Gross Assets ratio of 67.2%, Net Debt to Gross Real Estate Assets of 39.0% and Weighted Average Debt Term of 4.2 years.

Management Commentary

Glenn J. Rufrano, Chief Executive Officer, stated, "First quarter results were in-line with our expectations and provide a solid foundation for 2017. We successfully executed on acquisitions and dispositions - which reduced Red Lobster exposure to 7.4% - as well as maintained a strong and liquid balance sheet. Our ongoing accomplishments resulted in Moody's and S&P both upgrading the Company, and we are now investment grade with all three major ratings agencies. The size and diversity of our portfolio, combined with a single-tenant focus, have us well-positioned for today's evolving business environment."

Real Estate Investment ("REI") Segment Update

Real Estate Portfolio

As of March 31, 2017, the Company's portfolio consisted of 4,105 properties with total portfolio occupancy of 98.4%, investment grade tenancy of 41.6% and a weighted-average remaining lease term of 9.6 years. During the quarter ended March 31, 2017, same-store rents (4,071 properties) decreased (0.3)% as compared to the same quarter in 2016. Excluding the effects of the Ovation bankruptcy and last year's early renewal efforts, same store rents would have increased 0.3%.

Property Acquisitions

During the first quarter of 2017, the Company acquired 16 properties for approximately $81.1 million at an average cash cap rate of 7.1%. Additionally, we purchased the fee interest in three properties in which we held the leasehold interest for $20.4 million at an average cash cap rate of 5.5%.

Property Dispositions

During the quarter ended March 31, 2017, the Company sold 50 properties for approximately $199.2 million at an average cash cap rate of 7.3%, including $119.3 million in net sales of Red Lobster restaurants. The gain on first quarter sales was approximately $12.5 million.



Cole Capital  Segment Update

Investment Management Capital Raise

During the quarter, Cole Capital raised $102.7 million of capital on behalf of its sponsored non-listed REITs (the "Cole REITs"), including $36.0 million through the Cole REITs' distribution reinvestment plans ("DRIP"), compared to $179.0 million, including $34.4 million of DRIP proceeds, in the first quarter of 2016.

Investment Management Acquisitions

Cole Capital invested $216.2 million in 21 properties on behalf of the Cole REITs in the first quarter of 2017, compared to $102.1 million in 13 properties in the first quarter of 2016.



Subsequent Events - Consolidated

Property Acquisitions

From April 1, 2017 through April 28, 2017, the Company acquired two properties for $14.6 million at an average cash cap rate of 6.7%. Acquisitions year-to-date through April 28, 2017, totaled $116.1 million. The average cash cap rate excluding the fee interest purchases was 7.0%.

Property Dispositions

From April 1, 2017 through April 28, 2017, the Company disposed of five properties for an aggregate sales price of $14.7 million at an average cash cap rate of 7.1%. Dispositions year-to-date through April 28, 2017, totaled $213.9 million at an average cash cap rate of 7.3%.

Cole Capital Equity Raise

In April 2017, Cole Capital raised $36.6 million of capital on behalf of the Cole REITs, including $11.9 million through DRIP.

Audio Webcast Details

The live audio webcast, beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 4, 2017, is available by accessing this link:

http://ir.vereit.com/ . Participants should log in 10-15 minutes early.

Following the call, a replay of the webcast will be available at the link above and archived for up to 12 months following the call.

About the Company

VEREIT is a leading, full-service real estate operating company with investment management capability. VEREIT owns and actively manages a diversified portfolio of retail, restaurant, office and industrial real estate assets with a total asset book value of $15.4 billion including approximately 4,100 properties and 93.0 million square feet, located in 49 states, as well as Puerto Rico and Canada. Additionally, VEREIT manages $7.5 billion of gross real estate investments on behalf of the Cole Capital non-listed REITs. VEREIT is a publicly traded Maryland corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Additional information about VEREIT can be found on its website at www.VEREIT.com and through social media platforms such as Twitter and LinkedIn.

Definitions

Descriptions of FFO and AFFO, EBITDA and Normalized EBITDA, Debt Outstanding and Adjusted Debt Outstanding, Net Debt, Interest Expense, Excluding Non-Cash Amortization, Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio, Net Debt to Normalized EBITDA Annualized Ratio, Net Debt Leverage Ratio, and Unencumbered Asset Ratio are provided below. Refer to pages 7 through 12 for reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure and the calculations of these financial ratios.

Effective January 1, 2017, the Company determined certain non-GAAP measures and operating metrics, which include portfolio metrics, should exclude the impact of properties owned by the Company for which as of the reporting date, (i) the related mortgage loan is in default, and (ii) management has made a decision to transfer the properties to the lender in connection with settling the mortgage note obligation ("Excluded Properties") to better reflect the ongoing operations of the Company. Excluded Properties at March 31, 2017, included one vacant office property and one vacant industrial property, comprising an aggregate of 578,000 square feet, which each secured a mortgage note payable, with aggregate Debt Outstanding of $41.8 million. The Company did not update data presented for prior periods as the impact on prior period non-GAAP measures, including AFFO and Normalized EBITDA, and operating metrics was immaterial.

Funds from Operations ("FFO") and Adjusted Funds from Operations ("AFFO")

Due to certain unique operating characteristics of real estate companies, as discussed below, the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, Inc. ("NAREIT"), an industry trade group, has promulgated a supplemental performance measure known as FFO, which we believe to be an appropriate supplemental performance measure to reflect the operating performance of a REIT. FFO is not equivalent to our net income or loss as determined under GAAP.

NAREIT defines FFO as net income or loss computed in accordance with GAAP, excluding gains or losses from disposition of property, depreciation and amortization of real estate assets and impairment write-downs on real estate including the pro rata share of adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures. We calculated FFO in accordance with NAREIT's definition described above.

In addition to FFO, we use AFFO as a non-GAAP supplemental financial performance measure to evaluate the operating performance of the Company. AFFO, as defined by the Company, excludes from FFO non-routine items such as acquisition-related expenses, litigation and other non-routine costs, gains or losses on sale of investment securities or mortgage notes receivable and legal settlements and insurance recoveries not in the ordinary course of business. We also exclude certain non-cash items such as impairments of goodwill and intangible assets, straight-line rental revenue, unrealized gains or losses on derivatives, reserves for loan loss, gains or losses on the extinguishment or forgiveness of debt, non-current portion of the tax benefit or expense, equity-based compensation and amortization of intangible assets, deferred financing costs, above-market lease assets and below-market lease liabilities. Effective January 1, 2017, we determined to omit the impact of the Excluded Properties and related non-recourse mortgage notes from AFFO. Management believes that excluding these costs from FFO provides investors with supplemental performance information that is consistent with the performance models and analysis used by management, and provides investors a view of the performance of our portfolio over time. AFFO allows for a comparison of the performance of our operations with other publicly-traded REITs, as AFFO, or an equivalent measure, is routinely reported by publicly-traded REITs, and we believe often used by analysts and investors for comparison purposes.

For all of these reasons, we believe FFO and AFFO, in addition to net income (loss), as defined by GAAP, are helpful supplemental performance measures and useful in understanding the various ways in which our management evaluates the performance of the Company over time. However, not all REITs calculate FFO and AFFO the same way, so comparisons with other REITs may not be meaningful. FFO and AFFO should not be considered as alternatives to net income (loss) and are not intended to be used as a liquidity measure indicative of cash flow available to fund our cash needs. Neither the SEC, NAREIT, nor any other regulatory body has evaluated the acceptability of the exclusions used to adjust FFO in order to calculate AFFO and its use as a non-GAAP financial performance measure.

Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization ("EBITDA") and Normalized EBITDA

Normalized EBITDA as disclosed represents EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, modified to exclude non-routine items such as acquisition-related expenses, merger and other non-routine transactions costs, gains or losses on sale of investments, legal settlements and insurance recoveries not in the ordinary course of business and extinguishment of debt cost. We also exclude certain non-cash items such as impairments of intangible assets, straight-line rental revenue, unrealized gains or losses on derivatives, write-off of program development costs, and amortization of intangibles, deferred financing costs, above-market lease assets and below-market lease liabilities. Beginning in 2017, Normalized EBITDA omits the Normalized EBITDA impact of Excluded Properties. Management believes that excluding these costs from EBITDA provides investors with supplemental performance information that is consistent with the performance models and analysis used by management, and provides investors a view of the performance of our portfolio over time. The Company believes that Normalized EBITDA is a useful non-GAAP supplemental measure to investors and analysts for assessing the performance of the Company's business segments. Therefore, Normalized EBITDA should not be considered as an alternative to net income, as computed in accordance with GAAP, or as an indicator of the Company's financial performance. The Company uses Normalized EBITDA as one measure of its operating performance when formulating corporate goals and evaluating the effectiveness of the Company's strategies. Normalized EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.

Debt Outstanding and Adjusted Debt Outstanding

Debt Outstanding and Adjusted Debt Outstanding are non-GAAP measures that represent the Company's outstanding principal debt balance, excluding certain GAAP adjustments, such as premiums and discounts, financing and issuance costs, and related accumulated amortization. Beginning in 2017, Adjusted Debt Outstanding omits the outstanding principal balance of mortgage notes secured by Excluded Properties. We believe that the presentation of Debt Outstanding and Adjusted Debt Outstanding, which show our contractual debt obligations, provides useful information to investors to assess our overall liquidity, financial flexibility, capital structure and leverage. Debt Outstanding and Adjusted Debt Outstanding should not be considered as alternatives to the Company's consolidated debt balance as determined in accordance with GAAP or any other GAAP financial measures and should only be considered together with, and as a supplement to, the Company's financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP.

Net Debt

Net Debt is a non-GAAP measure used to show the Company's Adjusted Debt Outstanding, less all cash and cash equivalents. We believe that the presentation of Net Debt provides useful information to investors because our management reviews Net Debt as part of its management of our overall liquidity, financial flexibility, capital structure and leverage.

Interest Expense, Excluding Non-Cash Amortization

Interest Expense, Excluding Non-Cash Amortization is a non-GAAP measure that represents interest expense incurred on the outstanding principal balance of our debt. This measure excludes (i) the amortization of deferred financing costs, premiums and discounts, which is included in interest expense in accordance with GAAP, and (ii) the impact of Excluded Properties and related non-recourse mortgage notes. We believe that the presentation of Interest Expense, Excluding Non-Cash Amortization, which shows the interest expense on our contractual debt obligations, provides useful information to investors to assess our overall solvency and financial flexibility. Interest Expense, Excluding Non-Cash Amortization should not be considered as an alternative to the Company's interest expense as determined in accordance with GAAP or any other GAAP financial measures and should only be considered together with and as a supplement to the Company's financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP.

Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio

Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio is the sum of (i) Interest Expense, Excluding Non-Cash Amortization, (ii) secured debt principal amortization and (iii) dividends attributable to preferred shares, divided by Normalized EBITDA. Management believes that Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio is a useful supplemental measure of our ability to satisfy fixed financing obligations.

Net Debt to Normalized EBITDA Annualized Ratio

Net Debt to Normalized EBITDA Annualized equals Net Debt divided by the current quarter Normalized EBITDA multiplied by four. We believe that the presentation of Net Debt to Normalized EBITDA Annualized provides useful information to investors because our management reviews Net Debt to Normalized EBITDA Annualized as part of its management of our overall liquidity, financial flexibility, capital structure and leverage.

Net Debt Leverage Ratio

Net Debt Leverage Ratio equals Net Debt divided by Gross Real Estate Investments. We believe that the presentation of Net Debt Leverage Ratio provides useful information to investors because our management reviews Net Debt Leverage Ratio as part of its management of our overall liquidity, financial flexibility, capital structure and leverage.

Unencumbered Asset Ratio

Unencumbered Asset Ratio equals unencumbered Gross Real Estate Investments divided by Gross Real Estate Investments. Management believes that Unencumbered Asset Ratio is a useful supplemental measure of our overall liquidity and leverage.

Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth herein (including information included or incorporated by reference herein) 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), which reflect VEREIT's expectations regarding future events and VEREIT's future financial condition, results of operations and business, including its positioning and diversified portfolio. The forward-looking statements involve a number of assumptions, risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Generally, the words "expects," "anticipates," "assumes," "targets," "goals," "projects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," variations of such words and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond VEREIT's control. If a change occurs, VEREIT's business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations may vary materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements.

The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements: VEREIT's plans, market and other expectations, objectives, intentions and other statements that are not historical facts; the developments disclosed herein; VEREIT's ability to execute on and realize success from its business plan; VEREIT's ability to meet its 2017 guidance; the unpredictability of the business plans and financial condition of VEREIT's tenants; the impact of impairment charges in respect of certain of VEREIT's properties or other assets; risks associated with pending government investigations and litigations related to VEREIT's previously disclosed audit committee investigation; the inability of Cole Capital to regain its prior level of capital raise; the ability to retain or hire key personnel; and continuation or deterioration of current market conditions. Additional factors that may affect future results are contained in VEREIT's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which are available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. VEREIT disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of changes in underlying assumptions or factors, new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

VEREIT, INC. CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (In thousands, except for share and per share data) (Unaudited)





March 31,

2017

December 31,

2016 ASSETS







Real estate investments, at cost:







Land

$ 2,868,447



$ 2,895,625

Buildings, fixtures and improvements

10,630,598



10,644,296

Intangible lease assets

2,017,739



2,044,521

Total real estate investments, at cost

15,516,784



15,584,442

Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization

2,494,811



2,331,643

Total real estate investments, net

13,021,973



13,252,799

Investment in unconsolidated entities

45,145



46,077

Investment in direct financing leases, net

34,909



39,455

Investment securities, at fair value

42,630



47,215

Mortgage notes receivable, net

22,545



22,764

Cash and cash equivalents

285,586



256,452

Restricted cash

46,712



45,018

Intangible assets, net

20,464



24,609

Rent and tenant receivables and other assets, net

346,898



330,705

Goodwill

1,462,585



1,462,203

Due from affiliates

15,007



21,349

Real estate assets held for sale, net

12,081



38,928

Total assets

$ 15,356,535



$ 15,587,574











LIABILITIES AND EQUITY







Mortgage notes payable and other debt, net

$ 2,586,917



$ 2,671,106

Corporate bonds, net

2,227,307



2,226,224

Convertible debt, net

976,031



973,340

Credit facility, net

497,148



496,578

Below-market lease liabilities, net

217,721



224,023

Accounts payable and accrued expenses

135,817



146,137

Deferred rent, derivative and other liabilities

68,196



68,039

Distributions payable

165,765



162,578

Due to affiliates

7



16

Total liabilities

6,874,909



6,968,041

Commitments and contingencies







Preferred stock, $0.01 par value, 100,000,000 shares authorized and 42,834,138 issued and outstanding as of each of March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016

428



428

Common stock, $0.01 par value, 1,500,000,000 shares authorized and 974,238,458 and 974,146,650 issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively

9,742



9,741

Additional paid-in-capital

12,642,099



12,640,171

Accumulated other comprehensive loss

(1,795)



(2,556)

Accumulated deficit

(4,338,029)



(4,200,423)

Total stockholders' equity

8,312,445



8,447,361

Non-controlling interests

169,181



172,172

Total equity

8,481,626



8,619,533

Total liabilities and equity

$ 15,356,535



$ 15,587,574



VEREIT, INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (In thousands, except for per share data) (Unaudited)





Three Months Ended March 31,



2017

2016 Revenues:







Rental income

$ 293,739

$ 313,971 Direct financing lease income

433

569 Operating expense reimbursements

26,726

23,247 Cole Capital revenue

27,131

31,233 Total revenues

348,029

369,020 Operating expenses:







Cole Capital reallowed fees and commissions

2,660

8,068 Acquisition-related

617

242 Litigation and other non-routine costs, net of insurance recoveries

12,875

(5,175) Property operating

34,016

34,813 General and administrative

29,148

29,400 Depreciation and amortization

183,152

204,308 Impairments

6,725

160,517 Total operating expenses

269,193

432,173 Operating income (loss)

78,836

(63,153) Other (expense) income:







Interest expense

(73,743)

(80,426) Loss on extinguishment and forgiveness of debt, net

(70)

 Other income, net

798

1,062 Equity in (loss) income and gain on disposition of unconsolidated entities

(82)

10,404 Gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net

824

(1,086) Total other expenses, net

(72,273)

(70,046) Income (loss) before taxes and real estate dispositions

6,563

(133,199) Gain on disposition of real estate and held for sale assets, net

12,481

17,175 Income (loss) before taxes

19,044

(116,024) Provision for income taxes

(4,254)

(56) Net income (loss)

14,790

(116,080) Net (income) loss attributable to non-controlling interests

(352)

2,994 Net income (loss) attributable to the General Partner

$ 14,438

$ (113,086)













Basic and diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders

$ (0.00)

$ (0.15) Distributions declared per common share

$ 0.14

$ 0.14















VEREIT, INC. CONSOLIDATED EBITDA AND NORMALIZED EBITDA (In thousands) (Unaudited)





Three Months Ended March 31,



2017

2016 Net income (loss)

$ 14,790

$ (116,080) Adjustments:







Interest expense

73,743

80,426 Depreciation and amortization

183,152

204,308 Provision for income taxes

4,254

56 Proportionate share of adjustments for unconsolidated entities

1,246

1,822 EBITDA

$ 277,185

$ 170,532 Gain on disposition of real estate assets, including joint ventures, net

(12,481)

(27,373) Impairments

6,725

160,517 Acquisition-related expenses

617

242 Litigation and other non-routine costs, net of insurance recoveries

12,875

(5,175) (Gain) loss on derivative instruments, net

(824)

1,086 Amortization of above-market lease assets and deferred lease incentives, net of amortization of below-market lease liabilities

1,305

1,296 Loss on extinguishment and forgiveness of debt, net

70

 Net direct financing lease adjustments

621

559 Straight-line rent, net of bad debt expense related to straight-line rent

(12,797)

(13,045) Other amortization and non-cash charges

861

(126) Proportionate share of adjustments for unconsolidated entities

(48)

94 Adjustment for Excluded Properties

(764)

 Normalized EBITDA

$ 273,345

$ 288,607







VEREIT, INC. CONSOLIDATED FUNDS FROM OPERATIONS AND ADJUSTED FUNDS FROM OPERATIONS (In thousands, except for share and per share data) (Unaudited)





Three Months Ended March 31,



2017

2016 Net income (loss)

$ 14,790

$ (116,080) Dividends on non-convertible preferred stock

(17,973)

(17,973) Gain on real estate assets and interest in joint venture, net

(12,481)

(27,373) Depreciation and amortization of real estate assets

178,295

195,991 Impairment of real estate

6,725

160,517 Proportionate share of adjustments for unconsolidated entities

709

1,147 FFO attributable to common stockholders and limited partners

$ 170,065

$ 196,229









Acquisition-related expenses

617

242 Litigation and other non-routine costs, net of insurance recoveries

12,875

(5,175) (Gain) loss on derivative instruments, net

(824)

1,086 Amortization of premiums and discounts on debt and investments, net

(847)

(4,426) Amortization of above-market lease assets and deferred lease incentives, net of amortization of below-market lease liabilities

1,305

1,296 Net direct financing lease adjustments

621

559 Amortization and write-off of deferred financing costs

6,347

7,307 Amortization of management contracts

4,146

7,451 Deferred tax expense (benefit)

1,649

(1,457) Loss on extinguishment and forgiveness of debt, net

70

 Straight-line rent, net of bad debt expense related to straight-line rent

(12,797)

(13,045) Equity-based compensation expense

3,111

1,730 Other amortization and non-cash charges

634

743 Proportionate share of adjustments for unconsolidated entities

55

135 Adjustment for Excluded Properties

294

 AFFO attributable to common stockholders and limited partners

$ 187,321

$ 192,675









Weighted-average shares outstanding - basic

973,849,610

903,825,726 Limited Partner OP Units and effect of dilutive securities

24,402,139

26,354,148 Weighted-average shares outstanding - diluted

998,251,749

930,179,874









FFO attributable to common stockholders and limited partners per diluted share

$ 0.17

$ 0.21 AFFO attributable to common stockholders and limited partners per diluted share

$ 0.19

$ 0.21















VEREIT, INC. FINANCIAL AND OPERATIONS STATISTICS AND RATIOS (Dollars in thousands) (Unaudited)





Three Months Ended



March 31,

2017 Interest expense, Excluding Non-Cash Amortization

$ 68,123 Secured debt principal amortization

8,993 Dividends attributable to preferred shares

17,973 Total fixed charges

95,089 Normalized EBITDA

273,345 Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio

2.87x









March 31,

2017





Adjusted Debt Outstanding

$ 6,277,388 Less: cash and cash equivalents

285,586 Net Debt

5,991,802 Normalized EBITDA annualized

1,093,380 Net Debt to Normalized EBITDA Annualized Ratio

5.48x





Net Debt

$ 5,991,802 Gross Real Estate Investments

15,367,137 Net Debt Leverage Ratio

39.0%







Unencumbered Gross Real Estate Investments

$ 10,319,871 Gross Real Estate Investments

15,367,137 Unencumbered asset ratio

67.2%









March 31,

2017 Mortgage notes payable and other debt, net

$ 2,586,917 Corporate bonds, net

2,227,307 Convertible debt, net

976,031 Credit facility, net

497,148 Total debt - as reported

6,287,403 Adjustments:



Deferred financing costs, net

51,936 Net premiums

(20,131) Debt Outstanding

$ 6,319,208 Debt Outstanding - Excluded Properties

(41,820) Adjusted Debt Outstanding

6,277,388









Three Months Ended



March 31,

2017 Interest expense - as reported

$ (73,743) Less Adjustments:



Amortization of deferred financing and issuance costs

(6,443) Amortization of net premiums

1,881 Interest Expense, Excluding Non-Cash Amortization - Excluded Properties

(1,058) Interest Expense, Excluding Non-Cash Amortization

$ (68,123)

VEREIT, INC. SEGMENT REPORTING - FUNDS FROM OPERATIONS AND ADJUSTED FUNDS FROM OPERATIONS (Cole Capital Segment) (In thousands, except for share and per share data) (Unaudited)





Three Months Ended March 31,



2017

2016 Net income (loss)

$ 2,010

$ (546) FFO attributable to common stockholders and limited partners

2,010

(546)









Acquisition-related expenses



25 Amortization of management contracts

4,146

7,451 Deferred tax expense (benefit)

1,649

(1,457) Equity-based compensation expense

1,447

931 Other amortization and non-cash charges

632

743 AFFO attributable to common stockholders and limited partners

$ 9,884

$ 7,147







Weighted-average shares outstanding - basic

973,849,610

903,825,726 Limited Partner OP Units and effect of dilutive securities

24,402,139

26,354,148 Weighted-average shares outstanding - diluted

998,251,749

930,179,874







FFO attributable to common stockholders and limited partners per diluted share

$ 0.002

$ (0.001) AFFO attributable to common stockholders and limited partners per diluted share

$ 0.010

$ 0.008



SOURCE VEREIT, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.vereit.com


PARIS, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

Vivet Therapeutics ('Vivet'), an emerging biotechnology company developing novel gene therapies for rare, inherited metabolic diseases, announced it has raised 37.5 million in a Series A financing round. The round involved a syndicate of leading international life sciences investors led by Novartis Venture Fund and Columbus Venture Partners, and including Roche Venture Fund, HealthCap, Kurma Partners and Ysios Capital.

The funds will be used by Vivet to advance a diversified pipeline of gene therapy programs targeting rare, inherited metabolic diseases, including Wilson Disease, progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis type 2 (PFIC2), progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis type 3 (PFIC3) and citrullinemia type I.

Vivet is building its pipeline based on novel technology developed through its partnerships with, and exclusive licenses from, the Fundacion para la Investigacion Medica Aplicada (FIMA), a not-for-profit foundation at the Centro de Investigacion Medica Aplicada (CIMA), University of Navarra based in Pamplona, Spain; and Massachusetts Eye and Ear (MEE), Boston, USA. The licenses cover exclusive use of novel proprietary AAV vector gene therapy technology to treat metabolic diseases and certain MEE patent-protected Anc80 AAV gene therapy vectors. Anc80 is a next-generation gene therapy technology designed to increase gene expression levels in the liver, while reducing the risk of undesired immunogenicity.

Vivet's lead program, VTX801, is a novel investigational gene therapy targeting Wilson Disease. This rare genetic disorder is caused by a defective gene in liver cells encoding the ATP7B protein, which reduces the liver's ability to regulate copper levels in the liver and other tissues causing severe hepatic and neurologic symptoms, leading to liver transplantation and potentially death. The disease affects approximately one in 30,000 people worldwide, corresponding to a prevalence of approximately 10,000 patients in the US and 15,000 patients in the EU.

VTX801 uses a novel modified AAV vector to transport a truncated functional version of the ATP7B gene into the liver cells carrying the defective gene to treat the underlying cause of the disease; to restore copper metabolism, reduce liver damage and improve liver function. Vivet expects to initiate first in human trials with VTX801 in Wilson disease by the end of 2018.

Vivet Therapeutics was created in Paris, France, with a wholly-owned subsidiary in Spain, in 2016 by Jens Kurth (ex Anokion, Novartis), Gloria Gonzalez Aseguinolaza (CIMA, University of Navarra) and Jean Philippe Combal (ex Gensight Biologics, Sanofi), bringing together significant experience and expertise in gene therapy, liver diseases and global drug discovery and development for rare diseases.

Florent Gros, Managing Director at Novartis Venture Fund, commented: "We have searched extensively for next generation AAV technologies and clinical applications. We are very excited by Vivet Therapeutics' clinical and commercial prospects; the company has outstanding management, assets and capabilities."

Jean-Philippe Combal, Vivet's Co-founder & CEO, said: "Vivet is delighted to have attracted such a substantial investment from these high profile life sciences investors. This fundraising reflects our shared excitement about the potential of our lead candidate VTX801 and our technology for generating further novel gene therapies targeting rare inherited metabolic diseases. Early results from preclinical studies with VTX801 are very promising, and we are now well funded to advance this candidate into the clinic, while developing our portfolio and technologies."

Gloria Gonzalez Aseguinolaza, Vivet's Co-founder & CSO, added: "Technologies for the development of gene therapies have advanced significantly in recent years which, along with an improved understanding of genetic diseases, offer new opportunities for patients with suboptimal therapeutic options. By collaborating with leading institutions such as CIMA in Spain and MEE in the United States, Vivet has secured superior and novel gene therapy technologies and liver disease expertise. We believe these capabilities, combined with the international development expertise of the management team, creates a company with very exciting prospects."

About Vivet Therapeutics

Vivet Therapeutics is an emerging biotechnology company developing novel gene therapy treatments for rare, inherited metabolic diseases.

Vivet is building a diversified gene therapy pipeline based on novel Adeno Associated Virus (AAV) technologies developed through its partnerships with, and exclusive licenses from, the Fundacion para la Investigacion Medica Aplicada (FIMA), a not-for-profit foundation at the Centro de Investigacion Medica Aplicada (CIMA), University of Navarra based in Pamplona, Spain; and the Massachusetts Eye and Ear (MEE) of Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.

Vivet's lead program, VTX801, is a novel investigational gene therapy for Wilson disease. This rare genetic disorder is caused by a defective gene in liver cells encoding the ATP7B protein, which reduces the liver's ability to regulate copper levels in the liver and other tissues causing severe hepatic damage, neurologic symptoms and potentially death.

Vivet is supported by international life science investors including Novartis Venture Fund, Roche Venture Fund, HealthCap, Columbus Venture Partners, Kurma Partners and Ysios Capital.

www.vivet-therapeutics.com

About Novartis Venture Fund

The Novartis Venture Fund (NVF) manages over $700 million in committed capital. NVF invests in companies that have the potential to change a core therapeutic field or explore new business areas that will be critical to patient care. NVF's primary interest is in the development of novel therapeutics and platforms as well as medical devices, diagnostics, and delivery systems. The Funds invest for financial objectives at all stages, but prefers to invest in the early-stages of company development. With investment professionals located in Basel, Switzerland, San Francisco (CA) and Cambridge (MA), the team has extensive experience in pharmaceutical R&D and venture capital. nvfund.com

About Columbus Venture Partners

Columbus Venture Partner (CVP) is an independent venture capital that brings a unique approach for investing in outstanding early-stage and high growth opportunities in the life science industry in Spain. CVP portfolio is mainly invested in the Spanish market through its fund Columbus INNVIERTE Life Sciences FCR, in which the Spanish government participates through CDTI. CVP has been instrumental in co-leading the Series A financing of Vivet Therapeutics. For more information, please visit www.columbusvp.com

About Roche Venture Fund

The Roche Venture Fund invests in innovative biotech and diagnostics companies to develop commercially successful life science companies. Based in Basel with an office in South San Francisco, RVF is the corporate venture fund of the healthcare company Roche. RVF invests globally with a portfolio of over 30 companies in 10 countries. For more information, please visit www.venturefund.roche.com

About HealthCap

HealthCap is a family of venture capital funds investing globally in life sciences. With more than EUR 1 billion raised since the start in 1996, HealthCap is one of the largest specialized providers of venture capital within life sciences in Europe. The investment in Vivet is made from HealthCap VII LP. www.healthcap.eu

About Kurma Partners

Kurma Partners is a key European player in the financing of Innovation in Healthcare and Biotechnology, from pre-seed to growth capital, notably through Kurma Biofund I and II, and strategic partnerships with prestigious European research and medical institutions. Kurma Biofund II has a specific focus on rare diseases. For more information, please visit www.kurmapartners.com

About Ysios Capital

Ysios Capital is a leading Spanish venture capital firm that provides private equity financing to early- and mid-stage human healthcare and life science companies with a special focus on pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and medical devices. Founded in 2008, Ysios Capital currently has close to 200M ($220M) in assets under management. Ysios BioFund II Innvierte was closed in September 2016 at 126.4M. For more information: www.ysioscapital.com

About Fundacion para la Investigacion Medica Aplicada (FIMA)

A not-for-profit foundation based in Pamplona, Spain. Its main research site is Centro de Investigacion Medica Aplicada (CIMA), the University of Navarra's biomedical research institute. Its mission is to carry out translational research to a high standard of excellence, based on novel biological knowledge and aimed at finding therapeutic solutions to patients' needs. CIMA is a leading institution in the field of gene therapy and liver diseases. http://cima.unav.edu ; http://www.unav.edu/en/home

About Massachusetts Eye and Ear

Mass. Eye and Ear clinicians and scientists are driven by a mission to find cures for blindness, deafness and diseases of the head and neck. Now united with Schepens Eye Research Institute, Mass. Eye and Ear is the world's largest vision and hearing research center, developing new treatments and cures through discovery and innovation. Mass. Eye and Ear is a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital and trains future medical leaders in ophthalmology and otolaryngology, through residency as well as clinical and research fellowships. Internationally acclaimed since its founding in 1824, Mass. Eye and Ear employs full-time, board-certified physicians who offer high-quality and affordable specialty care that ranges from the routine to the very complex. In the 2016-2017 "Best Hospitals Survey," U.S. News & World Report ranked Mass. Eye and Ear #1 in the nation for ear, nose and throat care and #1 in New England for eye care. For more information about life-changing care and research, or to learn how you can help, please visit MassEyeAndEar.org

For more information, please contact:

Jean-Philippe Combal, CEO of Vivet Therapeutics

Tel: +33-684-755-087

Email: [email protected]

Media relations

Mark Swallow/Marine Perrier, Citigate Dewe Rogerson

Tel: +44-20-7638-9571

Email: [email protected]



SOURCE Vivet Therapeutics
ALBANY, New York, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The global market for antimicrobial packaging was led by BASF SE, Takex Labo Co. Ltd., The Dow Chemical Company, and Sciessent LLC during 2015, finds Transparency Market Research (TMR) in a new study. The competitive landscape of the global market for anti-microbial packaging market is strewn with innumerable small, large, and medium sized market players.

The leading market players are offering innovative anti-microbial packaging solutions to maintain their status in the global market. For instance, in January 2017, NanoPack, a material science company, received funds worth 7.7 million from the European Union (EU) to develop an antimicrobial packaging solution that will boost the shelf-life of packaged food. A number of market players are looking forward to capitalize on the untapped potential of Asia Pacific and other emerging markets such as Africa and Latin America.

The global market for anti-microbial packaging was pegged at US$10.28bn in 2016, according to the TMR report. Expanding at a CAGR of 5.1% between 2016 and 2024, the global market for anti-microbial packaging is expected to reach US$15.31bn by the end of 2024.

Increasing Demand for Convenience Food Places Asia Pacific at Fore

Asia Pacific held the dominant share of 33.3% in the global market for anti-microbial packaging in 2015. The growing demand for plastic packaging, high rate of urbanization, and towering popularity of convenience food are some of the primary growth drivers of the anti-microbial packaging market in this region. North America and Europe might grow at a moderate pace, owing to high awareness about safety of packaged food products among consumers and high disposable incomes of people.

Get PDF Sample for this Research Report @ http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=18434

By material, the plastics segment is expected to emerge at the fore thanks to the lower costs and highly advantageous properties of this material. These include high flexibility enabling multiple layered packaging, superior elasticity, and easy availability. Some types of plastics have been developed to possess inertness to bacteria as well.

Efforts of Manufacturers to Boost Shelf-life of Packaged Food Encourages Growth

The rising incidence of food-borne and water-borne diseases, price fluctuation in the food and beverage industry, and the alarming increase in global scarcity of food have spurred the demand for anti-microbial packaging. A number of households and stores have been hoarding condiments, mixes, pickles, beverages, and certain food products with longer shelf life. As a result, the improving of shelf life has become a key area of concern for numerous manufacturers as well as consumers. These factors are fuelling the demand for anti-microbial packaging, thereby accelerating the market's rate of growth.

Notwithstanding the firm growth of the market, it might face certain hindrances from the strict regulations applicable to antimicrobial agents added to food wrappings, packages, and food itself. The necessity to use only certain types of chemicals in anti-microbial packaging is a key challenge that needs to be worked out by manufacturers. However, the changing food preferences in emerging economies will ensure that the packaged food industry will flourish in the coming years. China, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, India, and Japan are likely to contribute significant amount of revenue to the global anti-microbial packaging market. This will in turn give impetus to the global market for anti-microbial packaging.

Get more information from Research Report Press Release: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/antimicrobial-packaging-market.htm

The information presented in this review is based on a Transparency Market Research report, titled, "Antimicrobial Packaging Market (Material - Plastic (PE, PET, PVC, LDPE, HDPE), Biopolymer, Paperboard, Glass, and Tin; Technology - Controlled Release Packaging and Active Packaging; Antimicrobial Agent - Organic Acid, Bacteriocins, Essential Oils, Enzymes, and Metal Ions and Oxidizers; Package - Pouches, Bottles & Cans, Carton Packages, Trays, Bags, and Cups and Lids; Application - Food and Beverage, Personal Care, and Healthcare) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024".

Key segments of the Global Antimicrobial Packaging Market

Global Antimicrobial Packaging Market, by Material

Plastic

Polyethylene (PE)

Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)

Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)

Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE)

High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE)

Biopolymer

Paperboard

Glass

Tin

Others

Global Antimicrobial Packaging Market, by Technology

Controlled Release Packaging

Active Packaging

Global Antimicrobial Packaging Market, by Antimicrobial Agents

Organic Acid

Bacteriocins

Essential Oils

Enzymes

Metal Ion & Oxidizers

Others

Global Antimicrobial Packaging Market, by Package Type

Pouches

Bottles & Cans

Carton Packages

Trays

Bags

Cups & Lids

Others

Global Antimicrobial Packaging Market, by Application

Food & Beverage

Personal Care

Healthcare

Others

Global Antimicrobial Packaging Market, by Geography

> North America

U.S.

Rest of North America

> Europe

U.K

Germany

France

Italy

Rest of Europe

> Asia Pacific

China

India

Japan

Rest of APAC

> Middle East and Africa

UAE

South Africa

Rest of Middle East & Africa

> Latin America

Brazil

Rest of Latin America

Top Most Research Reports by TMR:

Blow Fill Seal (BFS) Technology Market: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/latin-america-blow-fill-seal-technology-market.html

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/latin-america-blow-fill-seal-technology-market.html Pharmaceutical Bottles Market: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/spain-pharmaceutical-bottles-market.html

About Us:

Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The company's exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.

TMR's 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.

US Office Contact:

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Google+: https://plus.google.com/+Transparencymarketresearch

SOURCE Transparency Market Research
BELLEVUE, Wash., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Xevo announced today that it is moving its headquarters to downtown Bellevue, Washington, to accommodate the company's rapid growth. Xevo has actively expanded its workforce over the last year, and the new location offers a wide range of benefits and amenities to Xevo employees, which will help create a productive and pleasant working environment.

Xevo is a trusted global leader in software and application platforms for the automotive and cruise industries. With offices in Bellevue and Tokyo and over 250 employees, the Xevo team is committed to driving innovation that meets customers' highest quality requirements. The Xevo team is comprised of application and IoT engineers, system architects, computer scientists, AI and machine learning experts, data scientists, and UX designers. As a Tier-1 software supplier to customers ranging from Toyota to Carnival Cruise Line, Xevo understands what it means to develop world-class products and solutions, and deliver them in a timely manner.

Xevo views data as a vital part of user experiences. Its vision and solutionwhich combines data, the cloud, mobile technology, and machine learning to improve performance, safety, and user experienceis resonating strongly with automotive OEMs, who understand that seamless car/cloud/mobile integration is key to long-term competitive advantage. Xevo's fast growth and success has spurred the recruitment of top talent to continue innovating and advancing products that are used by millions of consumers every day. The new office will provide a home base for Xevo's expanding workforce.

The new headquarters are located at the corner of NE 8th Street and 110th Avenue NE in downtown Bellevue, within walking distance of restaurants and shops. The sleek high-rise offers light-filled office space with beautiful views of the Bellevue skyline. The office is also convenient to I-405, SR 520, and I-90, and one block away from the Bellevue Transit Center, making it easily accessible for employees taking public transportation. Xevo's office includes a large break room with a fun layout and kitchen, as well as spacious meeting and conference rooms to satisfy every employee and team's needs. The building's in-place fiber optic network ensures the fastest connectivity, so every employee has the tools and space they need to perform at their best.

"Xevo is growing rapidly and we needed a new office space to accommodate our growing ranks and give our employees all the benefits they need to be happy and productive," said Dan Gittleman, CEO of Xevo. "As we continue to hire, we looked for a location that would help us recruit top talent. The Plaza Center checks all of those boxes, and we can't wait to move in."

The new space will also provide a host of amenities for Xevo employees, including a fully-stocked break room, a cafe and a workout room. The building offers 24/7 security, bike storage, a parking garage and an on-site bank with an ATM, as well as on-site dry cleaners and storage. To ensure this move is convenient for its current staff, Xevo will be offering all employees complimentary parking or a mass transit pass, as well as a stipend for toll expenses. The Plaza Center offices will make an ideal new home as Xevo enters the next phase of its growth.

About Xevo

Xevo is a global leader in data-driven user experiences with the world's largest IoT deployment in the automotive and cruise industries. Xevo's powerful connected car solutions leverage big data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to deliver continuous business analytics and dramatically improved driver experiences. Our complete suite of automotive products seamlessly connects drivers and their vehicles to mobile applications, content, and services. Xevo technology is licensed in vehicle systems worldwide, and supplies the some of the world's largest automotive manufacturers. For more information, visit www.xevo.com.

Copyright  2017 Xevo Inc. All rights reserved.

Under no circumstance is this communication to be used or considered as an offer to sell or an offer to buy any security in any state in which such offer to sell or buy would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state. This communication may contain certain "forward-looking statements" about Xevo Inc.'s future expectations or other statements concerning other than historical facts. Xevo Inc. intends that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created under applicable security laws. Since these statements involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time, actual results could differ materially from expected results.

The XEVO mark is owned by Xevo Inc. and may be registered. All other trade brands, names, logos, and marks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Xevo

Related Links

http://www.xevo.com


Bhubaneswar, April 28 : Sajan Jindal-led JSW, which has expressed interest in investing Rs 50,000 crore to set up a 10 million tonne a year steel plant in Odisha, may set up the plant in the location earlier earmarked for the Posco plant.

"Posco site is one of the possibilities. We are examining locations in different places including one near Paradip. But decision over identifying land is yet to be taken," said Jindal after holding a meeting with Chief Secretary A.P. Padhi.

He, however, said that it would not be easy for his company to set up the project in Jagatsinghpur, where the South Korean company faced several difficulties.

Earlier last year, Jindal, after a meeting Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at a business meet in Bengaluru, had expressed his desire to set up a mega steel plant in Odisha.

Posco India has decided not to go ahead with the Rs 52,000 crore project and requested the Odisha government to take back its 2,700 acres of land provided to it near Paradip for setting up a 12 mtpa steel plant.
Thiruvananthapuram, May 1 : The Kerala Congress (Mani), which sits as an independent block in the Kerala Assembly after it quit the Congress-led UDF last year, is being actively wooed by all three political fronts in the state.

It is led by its supreme leader K.M. Mani, who has completed 50 years as a legislator by winning every election since 1967 from Pala assembly constituency in Kottayam district. Last year, he decided to end the over three decade relation with the United Democratic Front, and walked out of it.

Now, the six party legislators sit as an independent block.

The CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front, the latest to woo the front, has entrusted the job to its ally and chairman of the Kerala Congress, led by Skariah Thomas.

A close aide of Thomas told IANS that last month the first meeting for testing the waters for wooing Mani was held at Kottayam.

"What took place at Kottayam was a calculated move, which has the blessings of a powerful Catholic bishop. Those who got together included a famers movement, leaders including Mani, Johnny Nelloore who represents Kerala Congress (Jacob), an ally of the UDF and others. What has been propagated was it was a meeting by leaders who got together to discuss the plight of the farmers," said the close aide who did not wish to be identified.

Stephen George, a former legislator and a Kerala Congress (Mani) member who took part in the Kottayam meeting, told the media on Monday that the discussion at the meeting centered around on what best could be done for the farmers.

While Kerala Congress (Jacob) lone legislator and former State Minister Anoop Jacob expressed ignorance about the Kottayam meeting, Nelloore told reporters on Monday that nothing beyond the interest of farmers was discussed and there was no need to give any political colour to it.

Last month, in a sudden move, State Congress president M.M. Hassan extended an olive branch to Mani by asking him to return to the UDF fold. But after a section of Congress leaders expressed their displeasure at Hassan's move, the Congress leader beat a hasty retreat and was made to eat his own words.

The BJP has been trying to strengthen the NDA by inviting new parties and the name of Mani has always been a point of speculation. New BJP state president Kummanem Rajasekheran, whenever asked about Mani has given the stock answer of "We are always open for new parties to join the NDA."

One reason why Mani is being wooed by all is because his is a party with significant strength in the Central districts of the state and has a sizeable following in two districts in north Kerala.

In the 2016 assembly polls his party as part of the UDF won six seats, out of the 15 they contested.

His party secured four per cent votes, making it the sixth largest party in terms of vote share in the state.

Currently his party has one member each in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Mani has for long been hoping for his son Jose K. Mani be made a minister. One of the reasons for his quitting the Congress-led UDF is that the second Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre failed to give his son a berth. According to those who know Mani well, the moment he gets a call from the BJP inviting his son to be a member of the Union Cabinet, his party will join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

Following the bar scam case which surfaced in 2014 over allegations that Mani took bribes from bar owners, Mani had to quit as minister in 2015. The moment Mani gets a clean chit in the bar scam case, the CPI-M will be happy to open its doors to Mani, said the sources.

With all the three fronts warming up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Mani is a political force none of the three rival fronts can ignore.
Colombo, May 1 : Sri Lankan authorities on Monday arrested five Indian fishermen for poaching in the country's territorial waters.

The authorities also seized one trawler used by the fishermen in the seas of Mannar in the island's north, Xinhua news agency reported.

Fisheries Minister Mahinda Amaraweera had said that Indian fishermen will continue to be arrested if they poach in Sri Lankan waters.

Amaraweera said the government was also looking at resolving the dispute in a diplomatic manner.
Ottawa, May 2 : Canadas opposition has launched an all-out attack on Indian-origin Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan calling upon him to resign or be fired for exaggerating his military record in Afghanistan, though Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was standing by his minister.

In speech in New Delhi last month, Sajjan told the Indian think tank Observer Research Foundation that he had been the "architect" of Operation Medusa against Taliban -- a statement which the minister has since retracted.

Operation Medusa was Canada's largest military operation since the 1950s, one of the bloodiest and most pivotal battles of the Afghan war. Hundreds of Taliban fighters were killed or captured over a two-week period during the 2006 offensive.

Twelve Canadians were also killed in the fighting.

Sajjan was a Major with the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan during Operation Medusa, and received a special commendation.

"On my first deployment to Kandahar in 2006, I was kind of thrown in an unforeseen situation and became the architect of an operation... where we removed about 1,500 Taliban fighters," Sajjan had said in a speech.

Trudeau and Sajjan endured a withering question-period offensive on Monday as opposition MPs accused the Defence Minister of "stolen valour" for overstating his role in planning Operation Medusa in Afghanistan, the Toronto Star reported.

Opposition parties trained their sights squarely on Sajjan, who apologised again in the House of Commons. He had also apologised on the social media two days earlier for the claim.

Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose called it a "cardinal sin" in the military circles for stealing valour of others.

"How much more does the Prime Minister need to hear before he understands why our men and women in uniform have lost confidence in the Minister," Ambrose said.

Trudeau, however, would not be moved from his talking points.

"The minister made a mistake," the Prime Minister said repeatedly.

"He acknowledged his responsibility and apologised for it; that's what Canadians expect when one makes a mistake," the Toronto Sun reported the Prime Minister as having said.

As a minister, Trudeau added, "He has my full confidence."

Sajjan, for his part, later rose and repeated his apology.

What Sajjan didn't do is explain his "mistake" which Ambrose noted he'd made twice -- once in 2015 and again two weeks ago during his India visit.

As such, his apology did little to assuage the opposition, with both the Conservatives and the Democratics calling on Trudeau to sack him.

National Democratic Party (NDP) Leader Thomas Mulcair joined the calls for Sajjan's resignation or firing. Mulcair slammed Sajjan for not making a "mistake" but for telling "a whopper".

"A whopper is not something you apologise for, it's something you step down for."

Sajjan was repeatedly heckled.

The minister was born in Bombeli village in Punjab's Hoshiarpur district and had migrated to Canada in 1976 with his family. He is the first Sikh to serve as the Defence Minister of any other nation.
Kabul, May 3 : Pakistans spy chief has quietly visited Afghanistan as part of efforts by the two neighbours to reset their ties, a media report said on Wednesday.

Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar flew into Kabul on Tuesday, Tolo news service reported.

The visit comes at a time when relations between Islamabad and Kabul are at their lowest.

The news of the ISI chief's likely visit to Kabul was first given by Pakistan National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, who led a parliamentary delegation to Afghanistan over the weekend.

There was no official confirmation from either side about the spy chief's visit or his engagements in Kabul.

Tolo news said the ISI chief was in Kabul to improve bilateral military and intelligence cooperation.
Kolkata, May 3 : Calcutta High Court Justice C.S. Karnan, whom the Supreme Court ordered to undergo a medical examination, is scheduled to visit a state-run hospital here on Thursday, a source said on Wednesday.

Karnan would visit the Calcutta Pavlov Hospital and would be checked whether he was mentally fit to defend himself, the hospital source said.

"We have received the Supreme Court order for Justice Karnan's medical check-up. He is supposed to come to our hospital tomorrow (Thursday)," he added.

The medical board for Karnan's check-up would be set up by the state secretariat Nabanna and the details would be sent to them by Wednesday evening, the hospital authority said.

The apex court passed the order to the Director of Health Services, from where it was on passed to the state secretariat. "We are not taking any decision internally for the check-up," the source said.

"The responsibility of escorting the judge has been given to the Kolkata Police Commissioner's office," he added.

A seven-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar on Monday directed the constitution of a medical board to examine Karnan on May 4 and submit the evaluation report on May 8.

Karnan has been engaged in a over three-month long standoff with the apex court. He has termed the medical examination order as "ridiculous".

Karnan is facing contempt charges for degrading the judiciary and making allegations of corruption against several Supreme Court judges.
Chicago, May 4 : Former US President Barack Obama with his wife Michelle returned to Chicago to unveiled a 3-D model of his presidential center, media reports said.

Obama and his wife Michelle Obama on Wednesday, made their first public appearance on plans for the presidential library at the South Shore Cultural Center of south Chicago. Hundreds of people attended the invite-only event where newly released renderings were on display for viewing, Xinhua news agency reported.

The renderings shown propose a large stone structure half-sunken into Jackson Park. Obama said the center, which includes three buildings, will take four years to build and will bring thousands of jobs both in construction of the center and at the library. It should attract about 700,000 visitors a year.

The design includes three buildings, a museum, a forum and the library itself, along with a sprawling public plaza. This area will be open to the public and the center will include indoor and outdoor spaces.

"It's going to be a transformational opportunity for this community," Obama said. "It's not just a building, it's not just a park but hopefully this ends up being a hub that all of us can see a brighter future for the South Side."

The design was crafted by Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, the husband-wife New York architects who were also in attendance.

According to Obama Foundation, the three buildings could encompass 200,000 to 225,000 square feet. That would be roughly the same size, or slightly larger, than the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas.

Construction is estimated to be at least $500 million. The former President will fundraise to cover that cost. If all goes according to plan, the center would open in 2021.
Damascus, May 4 : The Syrian government accepted the Russian proposal of creating "de-escalated zones" in Syria, media reports said.

The Foreign Ministry said the Syrian government's approval comes out of its concern for the lives of the Syrians, stressing its resolve to keep on fighting terrorist groups wherever across Syria, Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier in the day, a new round of intra-Syrian talks kicked off in the Kazakh capital of Astana, where a fresh Russian proposal for creating four or more "de-escalation zones" in Syria was being under discussion.

According to Russian media outlets, the four zones will be flanked with safety lines along with checkpoints and monitoring centres, as Russia, Turkey and Iran could be sending armed factions for monitoring the cease-fire.

The safety lines and checkpoints should allow the entry of unarmed civilians, and facilitate the humanitarian delivery as well as monitoring the cease-fire as these areas will be created to avert confrontation between warring parties in Syria.

According to Russian reports, those areas will be created in the northwestern province of Idlib, the central city of Homs, and the eastern Ghouta countryside east of Damascus.

The document emphasizes the necessity to create conditions to drive out the Islamic State and the Nusra Front from de-escalation zones with the help of the Syrian opposition.

According to the leaked document, the guarantor states would have to create conditions in de-escalation zones, in which the warring sides would allow a safe return of refugees and internally displaced persons.
L Os Angeles, May 4 : Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that he will be hiring 3,000 additional employees over the next year to monitor content and remove violent videos, the media reported.

"Over the last few weeks, we've seen people hurting themselves and others on Facebook -- either live or in video posted later. It's heartbreaking, and I've been reflecting on how we can do better for our community," Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

"If we're going to build a safe community, we need to respond quickly. We're working to make these videos easier to report so we can take the right action sooner -- whether that's responding quickly when someone needs help or taking a post down," ABC News quoted Zuckerberg's post as saying.

The new hires will join Facebook's community operations team. They will review the "millions of reports" Facebook receives each week regarding posts that may violate its terms of service, in addition to the 4,500 employees who already review posts. The move will hopefully "improve the process for doing it quickly," Zuckerberg said.

"These reviewers will also help us get better at removing things we don't allow on Facebook like hate speech and child exploitation. And we'll keep working with local community groups and law enforcement who are in the best position to help someone if they need it -- either because they're about to harm themselves, or because they're in danger from someone else," he said in the Facebook post.

In addition to hiring more reviewers, Zuckerberg said Facebook will also be "building better tools to keep our community safe."

"We're going to make it simpler to report problems to us, faster for our reviewers to determine which posts violate our standards and easier for them to contact law enforcement if someone needs help," he said.

"No one should be in this situation in the first place, but if they are, then we should build a safe community that gets them the help they need."

The social media giant has been criticised for not doing enough to prevent videos showing violent incidents, including a murder in Cleveland, Ohio, and a killing of a baby in Thailand, from spreading on the social network, reports ABC News.

The company does not allow videos and posts that glorify violence, but this content is often only reviewed and possibly removed if users report it.
New Delhi, May 4 : Indore topped a list of the 10 cleanest cities of the country, Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu announced on Thursday.

Bhopal came second, while Vishakhapatnam was placed third position in the list, Naidu told reporters at the National Media Centre here.

The fourth position was held by Gujarat's Surat while Mysore, which was first in the previous list of clean cities, was pushed down to the fifth place.

Tiruchurapalli was placed at sixth followed by the New Delhi Municipal Council area at seven, Navi Mumbai at eight, Tirupati at nine and Vadodara at 10.
New Delhi, May 4 : A court here on Thursday gave interim bail to five persons in a coal block allocation case against former Congress MP Naveen Jindal and others.

The five accused are: Jindal Steel advisor Anand Goel, former Deputy Manager (Finance) Siddharth Madra, Deputy General Manager Rajeev Aggarwal, Director (Finance) Sushil Kumar Maroo and Nihar Stocks Ltd Director B.S.N. Suryanarayan.

Special Judge Bharat Parashar extended the interim bail till May 25 after defence counsels sought more time to prepare arguments.

The counsels told the court that they do not have complete sets of chargesheet and documents related to the case.

The court then directed a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official to remain present till the copies of chargesheet are provided.

On March 24, after considering the chargesheet, the court issued summons to the accused. The CBI has opposed the bail plea of accused persons.

The court has asked the accused to furnish a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh each.

It has taken cognizance of the offences of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and cheating under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as criminal misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The CBI has alleged that the five persons were actively involved in the transfer of Rs 2 crore from Jindal Realty, New Delhi Exim, to Sowbhagya Media Ltd (SML).

The CBI also said the money was transferred to Sowbhagya Media, a company controlled by former Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayana Rao, to show favour in the allotment of Jharkhand's Amarkonda Murgadangal coal block to Jindal Steel and Gagan Sponge.

The accused have denied the charges.
Mumbai, May 4 : The Bombay High Court on Thursday rejected a CBI plea seeking the death sentence for at least three of the 11 convicts in the March 2002 Bilkis Bano gang-rape case in Gujarat.

In its plea before the court in 2016, the CBI had said that this fell under the category of 'rarest of rare' cases and the life term awarded by a lower court to three of the prime accused -- Govind Nai, Sailesh Bhat and Jaswant Nai -- should be enhanced to death penalty.

The court also set aside the acquittal of five policemen in the same case by a trial court and directed the Central Bureau of Investigation agency to probe them.

The probe agency said that according to the evidence, the three prime accused had gang-raped the (then) 19-year old five-month pregnant Bilkis Bano, her mother and her sister.

Bhat had also snatched Bilkis Bano's three-year-old daughter, and pounded her head with a stone, resulting in instant death, the CBI said, seeking death penalties for all three to "send out a stern message" to the society.

The horrifying incidents occurred in Devgad-Baria village near Dahod on March 3, 2002, at the height of the Gujarat riots following the Godhra train burning, when Bilkis Bano and around a dozen of her family members were attacked by a riotous mob, killing many of them.

Bilkis Bano and two others managed to survive and escape the mob fury.
Panaji, May 4 : The removal of senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh as general secretary in-charge of Goa may not really spark a resurrection in the state unit just yet.

Mauled of its dignity after it failed to form a government in the coastal state, despite emerging as the single-largest party in the February 4 polls, the Congress leadership here continues to be divided over several issues. Sorting out the differences and providing a united opposition against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliance government will be the key task ahead for Chella Kumar, once Singh's understudy, who has now been tasked with overseeing state party affairs.

Singh's ouster has come as a relief for state president Luizinho Faleiro, who was engaged in a running feud with the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister.

Singh backed a pre-poll alliance with a regional party, Goa Forward, while Faleiro was keen on going solo. This difference in approach was one of the key reasons for the Faleiro-Digvijaya spat on election eve.

This also delayed and eventually derailed the alliance talks with Goa Forward, which had won three seats in the polls, while the Congress had won 17 in the 40-member Goa assembly.

Two weeks before the polls, just after a press conference addressed by Singh, the veteran leader's effigy was burnt below the Congress headquarters in Panaji, in "protest" against his preference for an alliance with Goa Forward.

While Singh was seen as a confidant of Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, Faleiro, a two-time Chief Minister, is known for his proximity to Congress President Sonia Gandhi and has been a part of the Congress Working Committee and in-charge of overseeing the party's affairs in the northeastern states for several years before he was sent back to state politics in 2014.

Singh's exit is a shot in the arm for Faleiro, under whose leadership the Congress has already lost one sitting legislator, Vishwajit Rane, who has been inducted into the BJP as a cabinet minister for health.

The Congress, however, is unwilling to concede that rifts within the state unit had anything to do with Singh's controversial ouster.

"Appointments of All India Congress Committee general secretaries for states is the prerogative of the Congress President. The state's unit has no role in it," state Congress chief spokesperson Sunil Kawthankar told IANS.

Singh has played down his sacking as AICC general secretary for Goa and poll-bound Karnataka.

"I am loyal to the party and the Nehru-Gandhi family and owe my position to the party and to them. I am happy finally a new team is being picked up by Rahul Gandhi-ji," Singh said in a tweet soon after his ouster on April 29.

(Mayabhushan Nagvenkar can be contacted at mayabhushan@gmail.com)
Patna, May 4 : Two office-bearers of the Bihar Police Men's Association (BPMA) have been arrested for violating theban on liquor in the state, police said on Thursday.

Police arrested BPMA President Nirmal Singh and its Secretary Shamsher Khan from the former's house in the New Police Lines here following Patna Senior Superintendent of Pollice Manu Maharaj's orders.

"The SSP reached the spot after getting to know that the two were creating ruckus and publicly consuming liquor, and found both of them heavily drunk," a district police official said.

Singh and Khan were sent to jail by a local court.

According to police officials, Nirmal Singh resisted arrest and alleged that Maharaj had acted against him for raising voice on behalf of the association members.

Bihar Police Association President Mitunjay Singh welcomed the police action.

Over 45,000 persons have been arrested for violating liquor ban imposed by the Nitish Kumar government on April 5 last year.

Excise and Prohibition Minister Abdul Jalil Mastan said that state agencies have been directed to act tough against the violators.

The state police had raided 2,18,722 locations and seized liquor valued at Rs 50 crore in the last one year, an Excise and Prohibition Department official said.

According to a police report, 40,413 cases have been registered for violations of the liquor ban.
Mumbai, May 4 : Gang-rape victim Bilkis Bano on Thursday hailed a Bombay High Court verdict that upheld the life terms given to 11 convicts in the 2002 incident and quashed the acquittal of five Gujarat policemen.

"I am very grateful that this verdict has, yet again, vindicated me, and upheld my faith in the judiciary," Bilkis Bano alias Bilkis Yakub Rasool said in a statement issued through her lawyer.

"My rights, as a human being, as a citizen, woman, and mother, were violated in the most brutal manner. But I have trust in the democratic institutions of our country. Now, my family and I feel we can begin to lead our (normal) lives again, free of fear," she added.

The Bombay High Court on Thursday rejected a CBI plea for death sentence to at least three of the 11 convicts -- Govind Nai, Sailesh Bhat and Jaswant Nai -- who were earlier sentenced to life terms by a lower court.

Bilkis was gang-raped in Devgad-Baria village near Dahod on March 3, 2002 during the Gujarat riots.

Bilkis and around a dozen of her family members were attacked by a mob, leading to killing of around a dozen of her family members.

She said she was happy that Gujarat and its officials now stand charged with tampering of evidence.

"For state officers, whose sworn duty it is to protect the citizens and ensure justice, this should be their great moral shame, to bear forever," Bilkis said, in reference to the quashing of acquittal of five policemen.

She urged Indians to help people under attack and thus reaffirm their faith in the country's secular values.

"This verdict does not mean the end of hatred, but it means that somewhere, somehow, justice can prevail. This has been a long, seemingly never-ending struggle for me, but when you are on the side of truth, you will be heard; and justice will be yours in the end," Bilkis said.

She expressed gratitude to her husband Yakub, family members, close friends, her lawyer and Central Bureau of Investigation officials for their unstinted support throughout her long battle.
Shivamogga (Karnataka), May 4 : Seven men travelling to attend a friend's wedding died in a road accident in central Karnataka when the car they were in crashed into the rear of a truck, police said on Thursday.

The mishap occurred around Wednesday midnight when the speeding multi-utility vehicle rammed into the rear side of a truck carrying timber near Muddinakoppa, in this district, on the state highway, Shivamogga district Additional Superintendent of Police M. Muthuraj told IANS.

The victims, aged between 25-45 years, were travelling from Bengaluru to Sagara town in Malnad region to attend their friend's wedding on Thursday.

The accident spot is about 100km from Shivamogga and 405km from Bengaluru.

The victims were identified as Madhu, car driver, Praveen, a make-up artist, Mallesh, Sridhar, Rajesekhar, Raghavendra and Manjunath.

Police had a tough time extricating the victims' bodies from the mangled vehicle, which got stuck to the truck's rear side on impact.

The accident also led to blocked vehicular traffic on the busy highway for over three hours post-midnight.

"The unidentified truck driver escaped in the dark. A search is on to nab him. He seems to have suddenly applied the brake, resulting in the collision from behind," said Muthuraj.
Paris, May 4 : Independent centrist Emmanuel Macron triumphed against far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen in their final TV debate that saw both trading insults, ahead of the French presidential runoff on Sunday, the media reported.

Just after Le Pen left the TV studios on Wednesday night, accusing Macron, 39, of "lies and aggression", snap polling by Elabe for the local BFMTV found that a clear majority of French people felt the centrist candidate had been the most convincing with 63 per cent against Le Pen, The Guardian reported.

Polls this week conducted before the TV debate showed Macron leading by 60 per cent to 40 per cent before the final-round vote.

In the prolonged two-and-a-half-hour "slanging" match that featured more invectives than any other debate in French presidential history, Macron branded Le Pen ill-informed, corrupt, dangerously nationalistic and a "hate-filled" liar who "fed off France's misery" and would bring "civil war" to France.

She in turn called the former Economy Minister an arrogant, spoilt, cold-eyed, "smirking banker" who was colluding with Islamists, complacent on terrorism and intent on "butchering France" in favour of "big economic interests".

The candidates sat across from each other during the debate -- often speaking over each other as moderators tried unsuccessfully to interrupt them, reports CNN.

At one point, Le Pen chastised her younger opponent.

"Don't play with me," she said. "Don't play teacher and pupil. It's not my thing."

The candidates also traded barbs on the highly charged issue of terrorism.

Le Pen vowed to immediately expel all foreigners identified on a terror watch list and to strip people suspected of Islamic extremism of their French nationality.

"We have to make sure the territory is protected," CNN quoted Le Pen as saying. "That is something I would do."

In response, Macron vowed that the fight against terrorism would be his first priority and said: "Putting everyone in prison or sending them abroad does not make any sense to me".

The two candidates also voiced divergent views on diplomatic relations with Russia and the US.

Le Pen called Russia a "great nation", while Macron expressed his willingness to work with both the countries.

They also clashed on the future of the European Union (EU).

Le Pen said Macron as President would allow France to be crushed by its economically powerful neighbour Germany, while he attacked her over her muddled stance on the euro, reports The Guardian.

The debate marked the first time a French presidential runoff candidate has accepted an invitation to debate a far-right opponent.

If Macron comes to power, he will be the youngest French leader since Napoleon while Le Pen would be the first female head.

Just two days of campaigning remain before reporting restrictions come into force late on Friday evening - and remain in place until polls close on Sunday.
New Delhi, May 4 : Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Thursday indicated Indian forces will retaliate following the mutilation of the bodies of two soldiers by Pakistan but declined to specify details.

"You are asking for a future plan. The Army never gives out future plan. It is said only after it is executed," he told reporters on the sidelines of an Army function here.

He was asked what the Army planned to do after the Pakistan Army mutilated the bodies of Naib Subedar Paramjeet Singh and BSF Head Constable Prem Sagar on Monday along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

"Such responses keep happening. We also take retaliatory action. There is nothing new in it," Gen Rawat said.

He said the Army was taking steps to check cross-border infiltration of militants from Pakistan as summer had begun and snow had started melting.

"Terrorists are going to attempt infiltration. Summer months have started and snow is melting. Infiltration will commence. We are taking measures. We have beefed up our counter infiltration (steps) to take care of the situation."
Singapore, May 4 : Singapore police on Thursday said the Thai heir to the Red Bull empire Vorayuth Yoovidhaya, who is wanted in Thailand, is not in the city-state.

A spokeswoman for the Singapore police confirmed to the BBC that he was not in Singapore after Thai police said he had travelled from Bangkok last week, days before they issued an arrest warrant.

She added that they would "provide the necessary assistance and support to the Thai authorities in accordance with our laws".

His private plane was reportedly still in Singapore as of Tuesday.

Vorayuth is at the centre of a criminal case where he is being accused of knocking down and killing a police officer in 2012.

Vorayuth's representatives have said each time that he was either away for business or too ill to meet police.

Thai investigators are now seeking to cancel his passport.
Baghdad, May 4 : Iraqi security forces on Thursday announced that they have opened a new front in the operation against the Islamic State (IS) militants to seize the war-torn Mosul city, the media reported.

Troops from the army's 9th Division and the police's Rapid Response Force were now advancing on the Musharifa, Kanisa and Haramat districts from the north, the BBC reported.

They will join troops who were pushing into the Old City from the south.

On Sunday, Army Chief of Staff Lt Gen Othman al-Ghanmi told an Iraqi daily that he expected the battle in the west to be completed "in a maximum of three weeks" despite fierce resistance from militants in the Old City.

The troops launched a major offensive to recapture Mosul, the last major IS stronghold in Iraq, in October.

Supported by the US-led coalition air strikes and military advisers, they managed to take full control of the eastern half of Mosul in January and started an assault on the west in February.

More than 580,000 civilians have been displaced since the operation to recapture it began, among them 419,000 from western Mosul, according to Iraqi authorities.
Srinagar, May 4 : Although bank robberies by gunmen started in Kashmir in the early 1990s with the outbreak of the armed separatist struggle, their unprecedented spurt in recent months has rattled everybody -- to the extent that the army and the police launched a huge crackdown on Thursday, searching at least 20 villages in the Valley's Shopian district.

The first bank robbery took place in the mid-1990s in Maharaj Gunj area of Srinagar's old city when gunmen looted Rs 40,000 from a J&K Bank branch.

Another daylight robbery took place in Anantnag town, again in the mid-1990s in which gunmen looted over Rs 1 crore from a J&K Bank branch.

"The insecurity haunting bank staff and customers forced the managements of all banks operating in the Valley to shut branches in inaccessible, largely unsecured areas during mid-1990s," said a senior officer of a public sector bank here.

"These remote branches were clustered together to operate from safer places in towns and cities. As the security situation improved, the clustered branches were re-located to their original places in villages and other far-flung areas," he added.

This was the period when all the bank staff belonging to Kashmiri Pandit community had migrated out of the Valley.

A special recruitment drive was started by the State Bank of India during the mid-1990s to augment its workforce by recruiting local youth.

As things started improving towards late 1990s and early 2000s, bank robberies had stopped in the Valley.

The recent spurt in robberies dates back to the last six to eight months and the audacity with which they have taken place has shocked everybody.

The Valley's largest regional rural bank, the Ellaquai Dehati Bank has most of its over 50 branches located in villages and remote areas of Srinagar, Ganderbal, Badgam, Pulwama, Anantnag and Kulgam districts.

"Our branches both in cities and villages are operating without any security," said a senior officer of the Ellaquai Dehati Bank.

"Since the objective of a rural bank is to provide banking facilities to the middle and less privileged sections of society, our bank plays a major role in the rural credit delivery system.

"During the last eight months, there have been three unsuccessful nocturnal theft incidents at our branches in which the thieves attempted to unsuccessfully break open the cash chests.

"During the last one week, two daylight robberies have taken place -- one in Kulgam district on Tuesday in which Rs 65,000 was looted at gunpoint and the other in Pulwama district where Rs 4.92 lakh were looted on Wednesday," he added.

The most serious threat because of the daylight robberies is faced by the J&K Bank that has the largest presence in the Valley's cities, towns and villages.

"We have over 200 branches in rural and far-flung areas of the Valley. Our cash dispensing vans, secured by armed guards belonging both to the bank and the state police, move on an almost daily basis dispensing cash to branches in the Valley," said a top official of the J&K Bank.

"Given our presence and reach, we are the most vulnerable in a situation like the present one," he added.

The official sounded cynical when asked whether demonetisation had a bearing on the spurt in bank robberies.

"I don't see any link between demonetisation and the spurt in bank robberies. It is essentially a security issue. When a free-for-all situation occurs like the one we see in south Kashmir areas, the rule of law is naturally the first casualty," he said.

On Monday in an audacious attack, gunmen killed five policemen and two guards of the J&K Bank in Kulgam district. On Wednesday gunmen robbed Rs 1.30 lakh from a branch of the same bank in Pulwama district.

"It is the people's money and trust that is being looted. I appeal to the youth to help restore normalcy in the Valley so that peace returns," Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said on Wednesday when she visited the family of a bank guard killed by militants on Monday.

"Securing each bank in the remote areas by providing guards to every branch in these areas needs manpower which is difficult to arrange at present," said a top officer of the state police.

"But we have started area domination in vulnerable areas so that an overall sense of security returns to these areas," the officer added.

More than 3,000 security personnel drawn from the army, police and the paramilitary forces started a massive search operation in Shopian district on Thursday involving over 20 villages.

Militants have been known to move about freely in these areas during recent months.

Security force officials said the Shopian operation was the largest such by the security forces since last year's unrest, which started in the Valley in July.

It is, however, a moot point whether such operations are able to instil confidence among the banking staff to carry on daily operations and at the same time send out a message to the militants that the Valley's banks are not up for grabs.

(Sheikh Qayoom can be contacted at sheikh.abdul@ians.in)
New Delhi, May 4 : Yoga guru Baba Ramdev on Thursday said India should "not shy away from beheading 100, if they cut off the head of even one of our soldiers" - on the killing and mutilation of two Indian soldiers on the Line of Control.

Addressing an annual press conference of his Patanjali brand of consumer goods, Ramdev told the media that India should "follow Israel's cue and behead 100, if they decapitate even one or two of our soldiers".

"I have seen the relatives of those soldiers crying and asking why my child's body was mutilated," he said. India has accused the Pakistani army of Monday's killing and mutilation of two Indian soldiers on the Line of Control.

Continuing in the same vein, he referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said "patriotism is in his blood and he won't flinch from following his duty".

On his brand Patanjali, Ramdev said by next year the homegrown label will have a production capacity of Rs 60,000 crore. Presently, he said, it is Rs 30,000 crore.

He said that Chinese products "must be boycotted", and cited the boycotting of foreign goods called for by Mahatma Gandhi and Chandrashekhar Azad during British rule.

"Even if one is supposed to shell out a few paise more for 'swadeshi' products, he must do so. We require a general will power for the boycotting of Chinese goods.. Foreign companies have always looted India," Ramdev said, and gave the example of the East India Company run by the British during the colonial period as one of 'plunderers'.

He also accused multinational brands like Colgate, Unilever, Proctor and Gamble, of "hoarding capital worth over Rs 50 lakh crore in India".
Kolkata, May 4 : India is scientifically validating the benefits of Panchgavya (concoction of cow dung, cow urine, milk, curd and ghee) to better explore and exploit it as a material resource, Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan has said.

"The power of Panchgavya is known but there is need for scientific validation through modern technology so that the world can recognise it. The world accepts the power of Ayurveda and Yoga but if we don't validate it scientifically, it won't get the deserved recognition," Vardhan told IANS here at the conclusion of a two-day Department of Science and Technology conclave.

"The work that is being done across India on Panchgavya, we are validating it scientifically. By only saying that cow urine is good, it is not done. Our scientists are examining the aspects scientifically," he said.

In December 2016, IIT-Delhi had organised a national brainstorming-cum-consultative workshop on "Scientific Validation and Research on Panchgavya" (Svarop). It was supported by DST, DBT and CSIR under the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, said a consortium of ministries would be involved in establishing the scientific basis of different aspects of Panchgavya's usage.

Sharma also clarified the validation had nothing to do with the belief of the "sacred cow".

"The material is same but its usage is different. There is nothing to do with sacred cow. Its a material resource, whether you look at it as a construction material, or a fuel.

"You use it as a fuel (cow dung is used in villages) but how do we get better fuel out of it, how we do we get cleaner fuel out of it?

"Because of the way we burn it, it causes pollution, so you can not get away from the reality of pollution or the reality of the use of that material," Sharma added.
New Delhi, May 4 : Secretaries from several ministries, including Road Transport and Highways & Shipping and Railways, called for changes in government policies to reduce logistics costs, calling it the biggest hurdle which was preventing the country from matching the trade success of other countries like China and the US.

Participating in the first session of the India Integrated Transport and Logistics Summit, the secretaries called for increasing the use of waterways and railways to bring down logistics costs, which stands at 4 per cent of the country's GDP.

Talking about the ongoing Sagarmala project, the secretaries said it will help to a great extent in promoting shipping for carrying freight, instead of relying on road and railways which costs more.

"On the logistics side the major component is port-led development to bring down the logistics cost. Under the Sagarmala project we gave projects worth Rs 1 lakh crore, hoping that 3,000 tonnes of capacity of ports will be achieved," said Rajive Kumar, Shipping Secretary.

The three-day summit which ends on May 5, will see different agencies, both public and private, pushing for multimodal infrastructure in the country through close coordination between different agencies involved in planning and developing transport infrastructure.

According to the government, India spends 13 per cent of its trade cost in logistics while foreign countries spend only 6-8 per cent.

A.K. Mittal, Chairman of Railway Board, said if India does not take initiatives to bring down logistics cost then by 2020 the costs would mount to 5 per cent of the GDP.

"We need to look into the various reasons why India is lagging behind. Currently due to our poor planning we have 60 per cent railways freight traffic in 16 per cent of the areas," said Mittal.

Rita Teotia, Secretary Department of Commerce, called for change in regulation of logistics policies.

"Other countries have adopted friendly methods. In China the logistics is handled by the trade and commerce ministry while in Singapore, it is handled by private industries with support of the government," said Teotia.

Stating that there is urgent need to improve logistics costs in India, the Ministry in a statement said that currently India has very poor Logistics Performance Index due to unfavourable modal mix of transport and a lack of seamless inter-modal connectivity .

The IITLS is envisaged as a platform for all stakeholders in transport and logistics sectors to come together and initiate collaborative partnerships to realize the various greenfield and brownfield opportunities in logistic parks, freight corridors and IT solutions.
Mumbai, May 4 : Indian equity markets cheered the overnight decisions of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs with the NSE Nifty closing on Thursday at a record high level. The BSE Sensex, too, closed above the 30,000-mark.

The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) rose by 47.95 points or 0.51 per cent to provisionally close at 9,359.90 points -- a new record.

The barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 30,069.72 points, provisionally closed at 30,126.21 points (at 3.30 p.m.) -- up 231.41 points or 0.77 per cent from its previous close at 29,894.80 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 30,169.95 points and a low of 30,007.40 points during the intra-day trade.

The BSE market breadth was marginally in favour of the bulls -- with 1,444 advances and 1,413 declines.

Banking stocks witnessed healthy buying and surged by 603.73 points or 2.39 per cent during intra-day trade, after the cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday night, approved an ordinance to amend the Banking Regulation Act to tackle the mounting non-performing assets (NPAs) of public sector banks.

On Wednesday, the benchmark indices closed on a flat-to-negative note on the back of negative global cues and outflow of foreign funds.

The NSE Nifty inched down by 1.85 points or 0.02 per cent to close at 9,311.95 points, while the BSE Sensex closed at 29,894.80 points -- down 26.38 points or 0.09 per cent.
Mumbai, May 4 : In a much-anticipated verdict, the Bombay High Court on Thursday rejected a CBI plea seeking the death sentence for three of the 11 convicts in the 15-year-old gang rape case of Bilkis Bano, who was 19-years-old and pregnant at the time of the crime.

In its plea before the court in 2016, the CBI had said that this fell under the category of 'rarest of rare' cases and the life term awarded by a lower court to three of the prime accused -- Govind Nai, Sailesh Bhat and Jaswant Nai -- should be enhanced to death penalty.

A division bench comprising of Justice Vijaya Tahilramani and Justice Mridula Bhatkar, also set aside the acquittal of five policemen in the same case by a trial court, pertaining to the Gujarat carnage after the Godhra train burning incident of February 27, 2002.

Accepting the Central Bureau of Investigation plea, it further directed the agency to launch a fresh probe against the cops who were acquitted earlier.

The CBI said that according to the evidence, the three prime accused had gang raped the (then) five-month pregnant Bilkis Yakub Rasool, her mother and her sister.

Bhat had also snatched Bilkis Bano's three-year-old daughter, and pounded her head with a stone, resulting in instant death, the CBI said, seeking death penalties for all three to "send out a stern message" to the society.

Bano and her husband Yakub on Thursday hailed the verdict and expressed satisfaction saying that justice has been finally done to them.

The horrifying incidents occurred in Randhikpur village near Dahod on March 3, 2002, at the height of the Gujarat riots following the Godhra train burning, when Bilkis Bano and around a dozen of her family members were attacked by a riotous mob, mostly comprising the local villagers. Many of those attacked were killed.

Only Bilkis Bano and two other relatives, Saddam and Husain, managed to survive the attacks and escape the mob fury, while her mother, sister, minor daughter and other close relatives were killed.

With this verdict, Justice Tahilramani and Justice Bhatkar have upheld the life sentence awarded to all the 12 convicts (one of whom is now dead).

The court also accepted the CBI plea to quash the acquittal of five Gujarat policemen and two medicos accused in the case.

The policemen - charged with tampering of evidences by fudging documents and compromising the inquest panchnama (diary) in the case - had been acquitted by a trial court earlier in January 2008.

The same trial court had also found guilty and convicted a total of 12 other accused sentencing them to life imprisonment, which has now been upheld by the Bombay High Court.

The 12 convicts, including one who passed away sometime ago, had appealed against the life sentence, while the CBI had appealed for enhancing the lifers for three accused to death sentence.

The trial court in Mumbai had slapped life imprisonment on Govind Nai, Sailesh Bhat, Jaswant Nai, Bakabhai Vohania, Radheshyam Shah, Bipinchandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania and Pradeep Mordhiya.

Following Bano's appeal in the Supreme Court, the case was transferred from Gujarat to Maharashtra amidst apprehensions that key witnesses may be intimidated or influenced.

"I am very grateful that this verdict delivered by the honourable judges, has yet again, vindicated my truth, and upheld my faith in the judiciary," Bano said in a statement issued through her lawyer, welcoming the verdict.

"My rights, as a human being, as a citizen, woman, and mother were violated in the most brutal manner, but I have trusted the democratic institutions of our country. Now, my family and I feel we can begin to lead our lives again, free of fear," she added.

Commenting on the quashing of the acquittal of the five policemen, Bano expressed happiness that the state and its officials, who emboldened, encouraged and protected the criminals, who destroyed the life of an entire community, "are no longer unblemished, but now stand charged with tampering of evidences".
Kabul, May 4 : Former warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar returned to the Afghan capital on Thursday after signing a peace agreement with the government in September last year.

Hekmatyar, the leader of Hizb-e-Islami, is due to meet President Ashraf Ghani and hold a mass gathering, Tolo news reported.

His convoy to the capital, comprising of several hundred vehicles, mainly pick-up trucks equipped with machine guns, was greeted by hundreds of onlookers.

Hekmatyar is believed to be responsible for killing tens of thousands of civilians in Kabul during the 1990s civil war and was nicknamed the "Butcher of Kabul".

In his first public appearance after 20 years, Hekmatyar last week addressed supporters in the eastern province of Laghman and called on all insurgent groups to join the peace process.

The Prime Minister from 1992 to 1996, Hekmatyar's peace deal was welcomed by the US and the UN.

But the deal met heavy criticism in certain sections of Afghan society due to Hekmatyar's notorious past and the proposed amnesty for his insurgent group's activities of the past 14 years.

The agreement also provided for "sustainable and dignified repatriation" of families of Hizb-e-Islami members and the release of rebels who are in prison but have been not charged with any crime.

In return, the Hizb-e-Islami signed the National Constitution of Afghanistan, agreed to disband all its armed formations and pledged to cut ties with all terrorist and extremist groups.

Hekmatyar arrived here after dozens of Hizb-e-Islami prisoners were released from Pul-e-Charkhi prison in Kabul. Officials said more prisoners will be released in the coming days.
Thiruvananthapuram, May 4 : Kerala Congress (Mani) leader K.M. Mani's ploy to seek CPI-M support in election to the post of President of the Kottayam district panchayat has not gone down well with five of the party's six legislators as well as former ally Congress.

Former minister Mani is one of the legislators of the party which was part of the Congress-led United Democratic Front since the 1980s.

After Mani walked out of the UDF last year citing ill-treatment by the Congress, the six legislators, including Mani, now sit as a separate bloc in the 140-member Kerala assembly.

Kerala Congress-Mani candidate Zacharias Kuthiraveli won the post of Kottayam district panchayat President on Wednesday after Mani accepted Communist Party of India-Marxist support. As a result, Congress candidate Sunny Pambady lost.

"It is political treachery by Mani and the Congress will not forgive the treatment he meted out to us," said state Congress President M.M. Hassan.

Mani's party includes the erstwhile Kerala Congress-Joseph faction, which merged with Kerala Congress (Mani) ahead of the 2011 assembly polls. Its two legislators -- P.J. Joseph and Mons Joseph -- said the political move was not discussed within the party.

"Barring Mani, the remaining five MLAs are deeply hurt with Wednesday's development. Though they have not expressed displeasure in the open, we feel they will open up soon," a senior Congress leader told IANS.

Mani told reporters here on Thursday that the Kottayam development was a local arrangement.

"I don't understand why so much noise is being made because we sought CPI-M support. Don't forget that even (Congress leader) A.K. Antony (in the 1980s) joined hands with the CPI-M. No one can say that the CPI-M is untouchable... we have not moved an application for entry to any political front," the former minister said.

Senior Congress leaders Oommen Chandy, Ramesh Chennithala and K.C. Joseph flayed what they called the "treachery" by Mani's party and said he could forget about returning to the UDF fold.
Astana, May 4 : Delegates representing the armed Syrian opposition returned to the table to take part in negotiations here on Thursday aimed at curbing the conflict, Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry said.

"The opposition is at the plenary meeting of all delegations now," a ministry spokesperson told Efe news.

Representatives of the Syrian government, the armed opposition and the guarantor nations Russia, Iran and Turkey are meeting for the fourth round of the so-called Astana Process in a bid to prop up a shaky ceasefire and agree on the creation of four "security zones" to provide shelter to those displaced by the fighting.

Shortly before the plenary meeting, opposition representative Yahia al-Aridi reiterated his demand that the talks could not advance unless there was first an end to the Syrian government's bombing of areas under the opposition's control.

The UN Special Representative for Syria, Steffan de Mistura, is taking part in the talks to support efforts aimed at consolidating the ceasefire.

The UN Security Council countries have recently reiterated that Geneva remains the centre of political negotiations to end the Syrian conflict, while in Astana military issues are discussed.
New Delhi/Yokohama, May 4 : It will still be a few months before the total amount of old currency notes deposited with banks post-demonetisation is known since the RBI is doing a thorough physical verfication, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said on Thursday.

"I expect the process of counting to get completed in the next few months. Counting capacity with the Reserve Bank of India is to take care of a normal situation when business is as usual. But here, suddenly 86 per cent of the currency in circulation got demonetised (on November 8 last)," Das told NDTV in an interview.

"Counting capacity has limitations, that's why it's taking time. I will not be able to spell out the deadline. Let's wait for the RBI to complete the process," he added.

Das is in Japan to attend the Asian Development Bank's 50th annual meeting.

He said the Finance Ministry, in discussion with the RBI, identified areas where double counting of notes might be happening because currency was moving from bank branches to their regional offices and then to the currency chests and the RBI.

"A decision was taken that it will be desirable to count the notes physically, to do a thorough physical verification of the notes received," he said.

Das said the task of counting of notes was enormous.

"The RBI has put all its counting machines to use. They are currently working overtime. The RBI is exploring possibility of getting additional counting facilities to speed up the process," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 last year announced demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. The last date for depositing the scrapped currency notes in banks was December 30, 2016, though the window is still open till June 30 for Non-Resident Indians.
Kabul, May 4 : Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has declined invitations by top Pakistani civil and military officials to visit Islamabad, a media report said on Thursday.

Quoting the President's Deputy Spokesman Dawa Khan Minapal, BBC Urdu reported that Ghani, who met Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar and National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq over the past week, rejected their invitations, saying he would not visit Pakistan until Islamabad hands over the perpetrators of terror attacks in Afghanistan.

"I will not go to Pakistan till the perpetrators behind the attacks in Mazar-i-Sharif, the American University (in Kabul) and the Kandahar attacks are handed over to Afghan authorities and until Islamabad takes concrete action against Afghan Taliban on Pakistani soil," Minapal quoted Ghani as saying.

Afghan authorities claimed that the Afghan President, during his meeting with the ISI chief, presented documents relating to investigations into recent attacks in Afghanistan and urged Pakistan to hand over the perpetrators, BBC Urdu reported.

Kabul has long complained about terrorists using sanctuaries on Pakistani soil for launching strikes in Afghanistan - claims that Pakistan has denied.

In the past week, three delegations from Pakistan have visited Kabul to hold talks with the Afghan leadership.

There has been no response from the Foreign Office or military leadership in Pakistan regarding the Afghan President's refusal to visit Pakistan.
New Delhi, May 4 : Indore topped the list of 10 cleanest cities of the country, while Uttar Pradesh's Gonda ranked as the dirtiest one, Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu announced here on Thursday.

The outcome is based on a cleanliness survey -- Swachh Survekshan-2017 -- undertaken in 434 cities by the Urban Development Ministry as part of the Narendra Modi government's "Swachh Bharat Abhiyan".

Bhopal came second, while Vishakhapatnam was placed third among the top clean cities and towns, the Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation told reporters at the local National Media Centre.

The fourth slot has been claimed by Gujarat's Surat, while Mysore, which would be first in the previous lists of clean cities, slips to the fifth place.

Tiruchirapally is placed at sixth position, followed by the New Delhi Municipal Council area at seven, Navi Mumbai at eight, Tirupati at nine and Vadodara at 10.

The survey revealed that six of the top 10 clean cities have improved their sanitation rankings in 2017 in comparison to the 2016 and 2014 rankings.

Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh account for 31 of the top 50 clean cities, with 12 in Gujarat, 11 in MP and eight in AP. Telangana and Tamil Nadu account for four cities each in top 50, followed by Maharashtra with three.

Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Sikkim and Uttar Pradesh have one city each in top 50 clean cities of the country.

While 14 cities from states/UTs find a place among the top 50 clean cities, competition is not so much for a place in bottom 50, with Uttar Pradesh alone accounting for 25 of the bottom 50 towns.

Five of the Uttar Pradesh cities have been ranked among the 10 dirtiest in India, with Gonda topping the list.

Bhusawal in Maharashtra has been ranked as the second dirtiest city, while Bihar's Bagaha stands third and Uttar Pradesh's Hardoi fourth.

The other Uttar Pradesh places that feature in the list of unclean towns and cities of India are Bahraich (sixth), Shahjahanpur (ninth) and Khurja (10th).

Bihar's Katihar is the fifth unclean city. Two places in Punjab, Muktsar (seventh) and Abohar (eighth), are also in the 10 most unclean cities.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home constituency of Varanasi, in Uttar Pradesh, jumped from 418th ranking in 2014 to 32nd in 2017.

"We are heading towards fulfilling the dream of making cleanliness a movement," Naidu said.

Rajasthan and Punjab have five towns each in the bottom 50, followed by Maharashtra-two and one each from Haryana, Karnataka and Lakshadweep.

Out of the 62 cities and towns surveyed in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, 41 of them figure among the bottom 100 cities or towns.

Jharkhand and Chattisgarh have emerged as the major success stories in the Swachh Survekshan-2017.

While all the nine cities or towns of Jharkhand surveyed in 2017 have substantially improved their rankings over that of 2014 and 2016, seven of eight in Chhattisgarh have achieved this feat.

Bihar's 19 of 27 cities or towns surveyed in 2017 were ranked beyond 300, with best rank in the state being 147 for Biharsharif. Fifteen of these 27 cities are among the bottom 100.

Rajasthan's 18 of 29 cities or towns surveyed in 2017 are ranked beyond 300 and 13 are among the bottom 100.

Naidu expressed concern over the cleanliness status of cities and towns of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

"I will be vising Uttar Pradesh and Bihar with the officials and hold meeting with the stakeholders concerned of the states to review the cleanliness status," Naidu said.

The minister stressed that the rankings were not announced to point finger at anyone.

"Our objective is to show that where do they stand in cleanliness and what do they need to learn from others," he said.
Bhubaneswar, May 4 : BJD President and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday said his party was strong enough to counter the BJP in the state.

Also hinting at a ministry reshuffle, he said many ministers had approached him with a wish that they would like to work for the party at the organisational level.

"I can assure you that we will counter it (BJP) very well. We are a very strong party. A number of ministers and others have told me they are ready to go and work in the field level," Patnaik told reporters here.

The statement came ahead of BJP President Amit Shah's visit to Odisha in June as part of his 95-days programme to connect with party workers at the booth level across the country.

During his tour, Shah would interact with party workers in Ganjam, the home district of the Chief Minister.

With the BJP targeting to oust the BJD, which has been in power for 17 years in the state, the BJD has planned a massive overhaul in the organisational structure.

It has already effected changes in its youth wing and formed a new trade union to woo the unorganised labourers.

Asked about a ministry reshuffle, Patnaik said: "No, I am not ruling out a possible reshuffle."

It was a clear indication that some ministers will be assigned the task of strengthening the party at the grassroot level to counter the BJP, which is strengthening its base in the state.

The BJD has also planned to re-induct leaders expelled or suspended in the past. "The party will decide who can be taken back."

This has raised hopes among many former BJD leaders including former Finance Ministers Prafulla Ghadai and Panchanan Kanungo and veterans Bijoy Mohapatra and Dilip Ray. Mohapatra and Ray are now in the BJP.
Malda (West Bengal), May 4 : In a fierce attack on the BJP, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused the party of "maligning" her state and using obscene language against her.

She said if even one of her party workers is sent to jail, a lakh of BJP workers will be put behind bars in the state.

"I want to know one thing from the BJP. I want a clarification. I am a citizen of this country and I have every right to know. A BJP leader from Indore for the last two days has been saying that on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's instructions, (Trinamool MPs) Tapas Pal and Sudip Bandyopadhyay were arrested and others will be arrested. Is he God or Allah? Is he CBI chief or director? Or has the PM whispered these things in his ears," Banerjee said here in an apparent reference to BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya.

"I dare them... if you send anyone from Trinamool Congress to jail, then the people will send one lakh of your workers to jail," she said at a public meeting here.

The Trinamool Congress supremo lashed out at the BJP, which claimed on Wednesday that tribal couple Raju and Geeta Mahali were abducted and forcibly made to join the Trinamool.

"Yesterday (Wednesday), the party went on abusing us all day. Even their ministers are abusing us. They are saying there is 'reckless violence'. What words? I told (Trinamool spokesperson and Rajya Sabha leader) Derek O'Brien 'what is this?' In Bengal, people are at peace and are happiest; there is no injustice, no trouble; They (BJP) have no work and are slandering the state. I am telling the Delhi leaders, if anyone maligns the state then there will be no bigger enemy than me," Banerjee said.

"The tragedy is that for many years West Bengal is a victim of fear and violence under the Left parties. Now, it is a victim of fear and reckless violence of the TMC," Union Law Minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad had said in New Delhi.

Banerjee also flayed a BJP leader who compared her to an "eunuch."

"I saw on TV. I am ashamed to say that he was saying 'Is Mamata Banerjee a woman, or a man, or a eunuch?'. Just imagine. This is the language they are using. I am ashamed that I was born here. So much audacity and arrogance they have. How dare they question my birth, my mother, my father, my religion? How arrogant of them. Don't listen to a word they say... humble them," Banerjee said.

Addressing a street corner protest, Bharatiya Janata Party's observer for West Midnapore district Shaymapada Mondal said on Sunday: "Today, you cannot understand whether Mamata Banerjee is a female or a male. Those who have been eunuchs in trains and buses, I will say our Didi (as Banerjee is called) has become an eunuch."
Mogadishu, May 4 : Somalia's security forces on Thursday shot dead the country's 31-year-old minister after mistaking him for a militant, officials said.

Abbas Abdullahi Siraji was the youngest minister of the new Somali cabinet formed after the historic presidential elections on February 8, BBC reported.

Siraji, Minister of Public Works and Reconstruction, died on Wednesday after guards opened fire on the vehicle he was in near the presidential palace, mistaking it as a "suspicious car".

Somali President Abdullahi Mohamed "Farmajo" cut short his visit to Ethiopia following Siraji's killing and announced he would be attending the slain minister's funeral in the capital on Thursday, the state radio reported.

Additionally, the President ordered the arrest of those responsible for the death and four guards have already been detained, according to the local media.

Siraji was part of a new government composed of 25 members, including six women, whose main challenge was to rebuild a country devastated by war, terrorism and famine.
New York, May 4 : For the first time, more than half of the homes in the US no longer have landline phones, but a wireless phone or a smartphone.

The second half of 2016 was the first time that a majority of the US homes had only wireless telephones, a US-based news website 247wallst.com reported on Thursday.

According to a study from the National Center for Health Statistics division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), preliminary results from the July-December 2016 survey indicate that 50.8 per cent of US homes did not have a landline telephone but did have at least one wireless telephone -- an increase of 2.5 per cent since the second six months of 2015.

"The number rises sharply among households that have children. In these cases, 'wireless-only' homes make up 60.7 per cent of households. At the other end of the spectrum, only 23.5 per cent of households with people over 65 are wireless only," the report noted.

It was observed that the younger the people in the household, the more likely it is to be wireless only.

"Around 73 per cent adults aged 25-29 and 71 per cent aged 30-34 lived in households with only wireless telephones. These rates are greater than the rate for those 18-24," the report stated.

There has been a rise in the subscribers of wireless in the US, with 378 million wireless subscribers registered at the end of 2015.
New Delhi, May 4 : Ashoka University on Thursday named Pratap Bhanu Mehta as its Vice Chancellor (VC), in a move that the varsity made "after conducting an extensive global search".

Mehta, a known public intellectual and head of Centre for Policy Research, a Delhi-based think-tank, will take charge from July 1 at the Sonepat, Haryana-based university.

"...Mehta's intellectual concerns are profoundly interdisciplinary and he is deeply committed to the idea of a wide-ranging liberal education. He is an outstanding teacher and scholar," the university said in a statement.

"After conducting an extensive global search, the selection committee were of the unanimous opinion that... Mehta is best suited to carry forward and enrich the vision that is already embodied in Ashoka University," it added.

Mukherjee is due to replace sociologist Andre Beteille, who is near completion of his three-year term.
Islamabad, May 4 : China has termed the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as among the "fastest and most effective" of bilateral projects that are helping promote Beijing's 'Belt and Road initiative.

"China and Pakistan can play a major role in promoting the Belt and Road initiative as all-weather strategic cooperative partners. Among the countries along the Belt and Road initiative, CPEC is one of the earliest, fastest and most effective projects," China's Ambassador Sun Weidong said during a lecture on the 'Belt and Road' initiative jointly organised by the Chinese embassy and the Pakistan-China Institute.

The lecture was held in connection with the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation being held in China from May 14-15. Top leaders from 28 countries, including Pakistan, and representatives from 110 countries and 61 international organisations will take part in the forum. UN Secretary General AntAnio Guterres would also attend the forum, the Dawn reported.

The ambassador said the One Belt, One Road concept was based on traditional Chinese culture whose core values were peace, development and harmony.

He expressed satisfaction over the pace of projects under construction under the CPEC, noting that 19 early-harvest projects were under smooth construction with a total contract amount of $18.5 billion.

He said China would not pursue unilateral trade surplus with Pakistan and would welcome export of Pakistani products to China and provide facilitation in this regard.

The chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on the CPEC, Senator Mushahid Hussain, said Pakistan-China ties had seen significant development.
New Delhi, May 4 : PTC India Limited, a power trading company, on Thursday signed Memorandums of Agreement (MoAs) with discoms of six states for the sale of 1,000 megawatt wind power under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energys (MNRE) first wind auction scheme.

The agreements with discoms of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Delhi, Odisha and Assam were signed during a two-day conference of ministers of power, new and renewable energy and mines of different states and union territories.

"As per the MoAs, discoms of UP will buy 449.9 MW, Bihar 200 MW, Jharkhand 200 MW, Delhi 100 MW, Assam 50 MW and Odisha 50 MW of wind power for meeting their non-solar renewable purchase obligation (RPO)," a government statement said.

The Letter of Award (LoA) to the successful wind power developers under the first wind auction scheme have been issued by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) on April 5 and the projects are to be commissioned within 18 months from the date of issue of LoA.

This was the first time an auction was done in the country for wind power through e-reverse auction and a record low tariffs of Rs 3.46 per kWh was obtained.

On Thursday, MNRE also launched a scheme for next round of wind auction for 1,000-MW capacity wind power projects which will be open to any entities with non-solar RPO.

On June 14, with the objective to encourage competitiveness through scaling up of project sizes, the MNRE had sanctioned a scheme to set up 1,000-MW inter-state transmission system connected wind power project.

Under this scheme, PTC India Ltd. was selected by the SECI to sign the power purchase agreements with wind projects and power sales agreements with buying entities. The term of PPA and PSA will be 25 years.
New Delhi, May 4 : With the Haryana assembly passing the State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) Act on Thursday, the number of states that have passed the law within a month of Parliament's nod to the GST bills has gone up to eight.

"The quick passage of the State GST Act by different assemblies in a time-bound manner shows the state governments' keenness to ensure there is no further delay in GST implementation in letter and spirit from July 1," a Finance Ministry statement said here on Thursday.

"The remaining states/UTs (having legislative assembly) are likely to pass the State GST Bills in their respective assemblies before the end of May, except one or two states which may pass the same early next month," the statement said.

The Haryana assembly passed the Goods and Services Tax Bill at a special session.

Telangana passed the SGST Act on April 9, Bihar on April 24, Rajasthan on April 26, Jharkhand on April 27, Chhattisgarh on April 28, Uttarakhand on May 2, and Madhya Pradesh on May 3.

Earlier, the GST Council had approved the model State GST (SGST) Bill at its 12th meeting held on March 16. The next GST Council meeting will be held in Srinagar on May 18-19.

The officers of the Department of Revenue and officials concerned of state governments have already started an outreach programme to create general awareness among the people at large and stakeholders in particular.
New Delhi, May 4 : Stressing the importance of open trade, a US embassy official in India on Thursday called for enhanced India-America commercial engagements in sectors like civil aviation, defence and education.

"We are positive about the transformative potential of our commercial relationship with India. As India seeks to promote domestic manufacturing, create jobs and attract investment, it is important to recognise the crucial role that open trade plays in this process," said MaryKay Carlson, ChargA D'affaires at the US embassy here.

For this reason, she felt, "we must work with our counterparts in the Indian government" to identify policies and practices that could further improve ease of doing business in India and incentivise trade.

"This includes addressing issues such as enhancing the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights, rationalising taxes and tariffs, and harmonising standards with international best practices.

"We will continue to engage in dialogue with the government of India on each of these issues," she said addressing an event organised here by the American Chamber of Commerce in India.

On bilateral trade, Carlson identified civil aviation, defence, education and tourism as promising sectors for growth and synergy.

"We want to work in areas where US companies are especially competitive, including airport development and planning, ICT, and air safety and security," she said, adding that the US was looking for enhanced defence ties with India.

"We are also eager to expand commercial opportunities in education. Over the last decade, Indian students brought 31 billion dollars of economic activity to the United States," she said.

"We also see market potential for environmental technologies. Based on decades of addressing environmental challenges in the United States, the US companies are well-positioned to be valuable partners in providing solutions ranging from air pollution monitoring to wastewater management," she added.
Astana, May 4 : Russia, Turkey and Iran on Thursday agreed to create safe areas in Syria following ceasefire talks in Astana with representatives from the Damascus regime and delegates representing the armed Syrian opposition.

"As a result (of the Astana Process negotiations), the guarantor countries have agreed to sign the memorandum to create de-escalation zones in Syria," Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said.

Two members of the opposition delegation left the plenary meeting in protest of Iran's presence as a guarantor, while most of the other opposition delegates attended the signing ceremony, Efe news reported.

"Iran has no right to sign this document because it is an aggressor country," one of the member shouted, interrupting Abdrakhmanov in mid sentence.

After the signing ceremony, the head of the Syrian government delegation in Astana, Bashar al-Ja'afari, shrugged off the outburst as "not important," telling EFE that their accusation against Iran was "just talk".

The head of the Russian delegation, Alexander Lavrentiev, called it a lack of diplomacy.

"These are the personal emotions of the representative of the opposition and the incident indicates a weak diplomatic undertaking," Lavrentiev said, adding that, "representatives of the Syrian government also have emotions".

Abdrakhmanov announced that the fifth round of talks in Astana would be held in mid-July, while consultations prior to that meeting would take place in Ankara.

The UN special representative for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, is taking part in the talks to support efforts aimed at consolidating the ceasefire.
Bhubaneswar, May 4 : CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Thursday met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here and held discussions on fielding a common candidate by all secular opposition parties for the President's post.

The election to the country's highest constitutional office will be held in July when the term of President Pranab Mukhrjee ends.

"I met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and held discussions on selecting the next President of India. The candidate with impeccable secular credentials should be nominated to the post," said Yechury.

"The Chief Minister agreed with me on this count", the Communist Party of India-Marxist leader added.

He, however, said no name of a likely candidate cropped up during the discussion.

Support from the Biju Janata Dal, which has more than 32,500 votes in the presidential election, will give the opposition a fighting chance against the ruling National Democratic Alliance.

Earlier, Patnaik said his BJD will reveal its cards only after the NDA nominates its candidate.
New Delhi, May 4 : The Delhi government on Thursday announced compensation of Rs one crore to the family of Delhi Police officer Vijay Kumar, who was shot dead in an apparent gang shootout.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has approved the compensation, a Delhi government official said.

Assistant Sub-Inspector Vijay Kumar was shot dead on April 30 in West Delhi's Mianwali Nagar area along with Bhupendra Sherawat alias Monu Dariyapur and Arun in an apparent case of gang shootout.

A constable named Kuldeep was also injured in the shootout.

Both Vijay and Kuldeep were provided as escort to Sherawat, who is believed to be involved in many cases.
Kolkata, May 4 : Bad health of public sector banks (PSBs) is due to accumulation of bad loans that resulted from an "unholy nexus between corrupt politicians, corporate houses and a section of top bank executives", leaders of a bank staff union said on Thursday.

Privatisation and merger are not the solutions, they said.

Protesting the comments of Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel and a Deputy Governor who advocated privatisation and merger of public sector banks, Bank Employees' Federation of India (BEFI) West Bengal unit submitted a representation to the apex bank's Regional Director here on Thursday.

"... they are preoccupied with the idea that privatisation and merger is the panacea for all problems of PSBs. They want to ignore that the main reason is huge accumulation of bad loans, a result of an unholy nexus between corrupt politicians, corporate houses, and a section of top executives of PSBs," BEFI Secretary Joydeb Dasgupta said.

It also reminds us of the role of present RBI Governor, unbecoming of the head of an autonomous institution, during the November 8 demonetisation, Dasgupta added.

The union demanded revealation on the names of top corporates who are willful defaulters.

Federation General Secretary Pradip Biswas said: "The union will be free not to sign a final revival plan if it contains any provision for closure of branches, dilution of government holding and curtail of any of the existing rights and privileges of the employees."
New Delhi, May 4 : The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce its verdict on Friday on the appeals by four accused in the December 16, 2012, Delhi gang-rape case challenging the Delhi High Court verdict upholding their death sentence.
Hyderabad, May 4 : Tata Motors on Thursday delivered 50 new Non-AC mini buses to state-owned Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC).

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and Transport Minister P. Mahender Reddy along with officials from TSRTC and Tata Motors were present at the handing over ceremony.

The bus is based on the Tata Ultra LPO mini bus design, with the passenger door ahead of the front axle.

The buses are powered by Tata Motors new three liter, BS four engine, delivering a superior 140 horse power and will provide last mile connectivity for commuters living in the interiors, to the main district, with a capacity to accommodate about 40 passengers, said a statement by Tata Motors.

The mini buses will provide transportation service to the people near their doorstep.

These buses will ply in the rural areas where big buses cannot reach.

On this occasion, the Chief Minister also flagged off 60 "Vajra mini A/C buses" which will pick up and drop passengers at their chosen location.

The Chief Minister said this was an innovative service in the country.

The buses will ply from Hyderabad to Nizamabad and Warangal. These Vajra A/C buses will have 21 seats.

The buses flagged off on Thursday were part of 1,393 buses planned to be procured by TSRTC with a government guarantee loan of Rs.350 crore.
Mumbai, May 4 : The Bombay High Court on Thursday rejected a CBI plea seeking the death sentence for three of the 11 convicts for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano but set aside the acquittal of five policemen.

Bano was 19 years old and pregnant when she was subjected to the horror during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

In its plea in 2016, the CBI had said the case fell under the category of 'rarest of rare' cases and the life term awarded by a lower court to three -- Govind Nai, Sailesh Bhat and Jaswant Nai -- should be enhanced to death penalty.

Justice Vijaya Tahilramani and Justice Mridula Bhatkar did not agree but set aside the acquittal of five policemen by a trial court.

Accepting the Central Bureau of Investigation plea, the court directed the agency to launch a fresh probe against the policemen.

The CBI said the three prime accused gang raped the then five-month pregnant Bilkis Yakub Rasool, her mother and her sister.

Bhat also snatched Bilkis Bano's three-year-old daughter and pounded her head with a stone, resulting in instant death, the CBI said, seeking death penalties for all three to "send out a stern message" to the society.

Bano and her husband Yakub on Thursday hailed the verdict and expressed satisfaction saying that justice had been finally done to them.

The horrifying incidents occurred in Randhikpur village near Dahod on March 3, 2002 when Bilkis Bano and around a dozen of her family members were attacked by a mob. Many of those attacked were killed.

Only Bilkis Bano and two relatives, Saddam and Husain, survived the savagery. Her mother, sister, minor daughter and other relatives were killed.

With this verdict, Justice Tahilramani and Justice Bhatkar have upheld the life sentence awarded to all the 12 convicts (one of whom is now dead).

The court also accepted the CBI plea to quash the acquittal of five Gujarat policemen and two medicos accused in the case.

The policemen - charged with tampering of evidence by fudging documents and compromising the inquest panchnama (diary) - had been acquitted by a trial court in January 2008.

The trial court had also found guilty and convicted a total of 12 other accused sentencing them to life imprisonment, which has now been upheld by the Bombay High Court.

The 12, including one who passed away, had appealed against the life sentence. The CBI wanted three of them to be given the death sentence.

The trial court in Mumbai had slapped life imprisonment on Govind Nai, Sailesh Bhat, Jaswant Nai, Bakabhai Vohania, Radheshyam Shah, Bipinchandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania and Pradeep Mordhiya.

Following Bano's appeal in the Supreme Court, the case was transferred from Gujarat to Maharashtra amidst apprehensions that key witnesses may be intimidated or influenced.

"I am very grateful that this verdict delivered by the honourable judges, has yet again, vindicated my truth, and upheld my faith in the judiciary," Bano said in a statement issued through her lawyer, welcoming the verdict.

"My rights, as a human being, as a citizen, woman, and mother were violated in the most brutal manner, but I have trusted the democratic institutions of our country. Now, my family and I feel we can begin to lead our lives again, free of fear," she added.

Commenting on the quashing of the acquittal of the five policemen, Bano expressed happiness that the state and its officials, who emboldened, encouraged and protected the criminals, who destroyed the life of an entire community, "are no longer unblemished, but now stand charged with tampering of evidences".
Vatican City, May 4 : The Vatican said on Thursday it will establish diplomatic relations with Myanmar as Pope Francis met the country's effective leader, Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The decision to establish diplomatic ties "would promote bonds of friendship" between the two states, the Vatican said in a statement.

Aung San Suu Kyi's visit to Italy and the Vatican came as Myanmar's government faced international criticism for the army's treatment of the country's minority Rohingya Muslims in the state of Rakhine.

The Pope has appealed for prayers for the Rohingya in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.
New Delhi, May 4 : The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce its verdict on Friday on the appeals by four accused in the December 16, 2012, Delhi gang-rape case challenging the Delhi High Court verdict upholding their death sentence.

The Delhi High Court had upheld the conviction and death sentence of Mukesh, Pawan, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur who were accused of brutal gang-rape and assault on a 23-year-old paramedical student inside a private bus -- that led to her eventual death. The incident shocked the nation and grabbed headlines.

The bench of Justice Dipak Misra, Justice R. Banumathi and Justice Ashok Bhushan will pronounce the verdict, on which orders were reserved on March 27 this year.

Hearing on the appeals by the four accused was spread over for almost a year.

The hearings had commenced on April 4, 2016.

Mukesh, Pawan, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur had moved the top court challenging the March 13, 2014, Delhi High Court verdict upholding the death sentence of all the four.

In the case of Mukesh and Pawan, the Supreme Court had stayed their death sentence on March 15, 2014 and that of Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur was stayed on June 3, 2014.

Mukesh, Pawan, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur and late Ram Singh along with a juvenile were accused of gang-rape and assault on a 23-year-old paramedical student inside a private bus.

The juvenile accused has since been released after completing mandatory probation period in a remand home.

The victim and her friend were thrown out of the bus after the crime.

Ram Singh allegedly committed suicide while in incarceration.

The victim died of grave intestinal injuries December 29, 2012 at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital.

While upholding the conviction and death sentence of the four, the High Court had said, "Society's abhorrence to atrocious crimes perpetrated upon innocent and helpless victims has resulted in the death penalty being retained on the statute book to remind such criminals that human life is very precious and one who dares to take the life of others must lose his own life."
Malda (West Bengal), May 4 : In a fierce attack on the BJP, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused the party of "maligning" her state and using obscene language against her.

She said if even one of her party workers is sent to jail, in reaction a lakh of BJP workers will be put behind bars in the state.

"I want to know one thing from the BJP. I want a clarification. I am a citizen of this country and I have every right to know. A BJP leader from Indore for the last two days has been saying that on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's instructions, (Trinamool MPs) Tapas Pal and Sudip Bandyopadhyay were arrested and others will be arrested. Is he God or Allah? Is he CBI chief or director? Or has the PM whispered these things in his ears," Banerjee said here in an apparent reference to BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya.

"I dare them... if you send anyone from Trinamool Congress to jail, then the people will send one lakh of your workers to jail. We also have several cases ready against them but we do not indulge in vendetta politics," she said at a public meeting here.

Her statement comes in the wake of Vijayvargiya's comments that Trinamool leaders involved in the Narada sting operation case and Saradha chit fund scam will have to go to jail "very soon".

The Trinamool Congress supremo also lashed out at the BJP, which claimed on Wednesday that tribal couple Raju and Geeta Mahali who joined the Trinamool had been abducted and forcibly made to join the party.

"Yesterday (Wednesday), the party went on abusing us all day. Even their ministers are abusing us. They are saying there is 'reckless violence'. What words? I told (Trinamool spokesperson and Rajya Sabha leader) Derek O'Brien 'what is this?' In Bengal, people are at peace and are happiest; there is no injustice, no trouble; They (BJP) have no work and are slandering the state. I am telling the Delhi leaders, if anyone maligns the state then there will be no bigger enemy than me," Banerjee said.

She was reacting to Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who had said that for many years West Bengal had been a victim of fear and violence under the Left parties and "now, it is a victim of fear and reckless violence of the TMC".

Banerjee also flayed a BJP leader who compared her to an "eunuch."

"I saw on TV. I am ashamed to say that he was saying 'Is Mamata Banerjee a woman, or a man, or a eunuch?'. Just imagine. This is the language they are using. I am ashamed that I was born here. So much audacity and arrogance they have. How dare they question my birth, my mother, my father, my religion? How arrogant of them. Don't listen to a word they say... humble them. You (BJP) will not be here after 2019 Lok Sabha polls," Banerjee said.

Addressing a street corner protest, Bharatiya Janata Party's observer for West Midnapore district Shaymapada Mondal said on Sunday: "Today, you cannot understand whether Mamata Banerjee is a female or a male. Those who have been eunuchs in trains and buses, I will say our Didi (as Banerjee is called) has become an eunuch."

Banerjee defended her party leaders, Firhad Hakim, Subhendu Adhikari and Mukul Roy, whose names figured in the Narada sting video footage saying they hail from well-to-do families.

"They do not need a lakh from Narada," she said.

The BJP ramped up its attack on the Trinamool.

"The public in Bengal has become wiser. They understand everything..

"BJP is a democratic party, the Trinamool is not. They have sucked the blood of the poor through corruption," Vijayvargiya responded, adding he is not scared of all the blustering about Trinamool having cases ready against them.
New Delhi, May 4 : Pankaj Kumar Mishra, a CRPF paratrooper who posted a video on social media ranting against Home Minister Rajnath Singh after a relative died in the Sukma Maoist attack, on Thursday moved the Delhi High Court saying he wanted to surrender and sought protection to his life.

Kumar, who claimed to have been detained by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), said he ran away from the battalion after fearing threat to his life.

Kumar approached the court saying he wanted to surrender and his life be protected after his surrender.

Justice Ashutosh Kumar asked the Director General CRPF to accept Kumar's surrender and deal with the case as per law.

The court asked Kumar to report to DG CRPF on Saturday and also directed the department not to assault him.

Mishra, of the CRPF 221 battalion stationed at Durgapur in West Bengal, had posted a video on Facebook after his relative Abhay Kumar was killed in the Maoist attack in Sukma, Chhattisgarh, in which 25 CRPF personnel lost their lives.

In his video, Kumar had said: "They should not forget that these CRPF jawans provide security to leaders like Amit Shah. We voted for Modiji and not BJP, and leaders like Rajnath Singh are misleading the Prime Minister." He requested Singh to meet the family members of slain CRPF personnel.
Islamabad, May 4 : A 13-year-old boy died in aerial firing by police on Thursday after an angry mob in Pakistan's Balochistan demanded they hand over a Hindu man arrested on blasphemy charges.

Prakash Kumar, 35, was arrested from Hub on Wednesday after locals complained he allegedly sent blasphemous content via WhatsApp, police was quoted as saying by local media.

Police said they had lodged a case against the accused while a cellphone, from which the suspect allegedly shared blasphemous content, has been seized. A local court has sent the suspect to jail for further interrogation in the case.

A mob soon gathered outside the Hub city police station demanding that Kumar be handed over to them so they could "punish" him. When law enforcement refused, the crowd turned violent.

The police managed to disperse the crowd using tear gas shelling and aerial firing, and also took scores of protesters into custody.

According to police, a teenager died in the violence. The boy was a resident of Pathan Colony and became a victim of aerial firing during the clash which took place near Gaddani bus stop in Hub.

Blasphemy, which carries the death penalty, is a sensitive issue in Pakistan, with allegations often prompting mob violence.

Vigilantes have murdered 65 people over blasphemy allegations since 1990, according to research compiled by the Centre for Research and Security Studies think-tank.
New Delhi, May 4 : The Congress on Thursday, citing a news report on allegations of land-grabbing by Union Minister Smriti Irani's husband in Madhya Pradesh, said if true then the state government should probe it.

"A news report has come that there are allegations of land grabbing by Smriti Irani's husband (Zubin Irani) with the support of state government," said Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.

"If the report is true then it is very unfortunate and Madhya Pradesh government should probe it and should go deep into the matter," he added.

Surjewala said: "If her husband has captured a government land and then to get it released there should be an appropriate probe into it under criminal law."
New Delhi, May 4 : The H1-B visa reforms pose a challenge to Indian companies but it will help the country's economy in a direct way, according to Meera Shankar, former Indian ambassador to the US.

During a panel discussion on '100 days of Trump's Presidency and India- US relations', Shankar said on Wednesday that there was no new policy in relation with H1-B visa and the US intended to enforce it in "stricter" way to ensure it is used for "specialty occupations and not low-end occupations".

"We do not know what that policy is going to be. It could involve enhancing threshold of wages. It could involve doing away with system of lottery. But clearly there will be process of disruption and creative engineering of process for Indian companies, which would be a challenge," Shankar said.

"I do know that they (US) use it to move up the value scale and do more work offshore in India. So benefits of that to go to our economy in more direct way."

Global software major Infosys on Tuesday said it would hire 10,000 American workers in the next two years, a move seen as a fallout of US President Donald Trump's executive order on H1-B visas a fortnight ago.

Another panelist Gurcharan Das, author and public intellectual, said the development will lead Indian talent in the US to come back to the homeland and set up business here.

"May be Trump is doing a favour to us. It is a boon for Indian companies. Now, many will come back and found start-ups," Das said.

During the discussion, Hardeep Singh Puri, who was Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, said he did not find similarities between Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"The Prime Minister of India has been a Chief Minister of a large state for 12 years and he has hands-on governance per se. He actually demonstrated basic trans-formative changes in (last) three years...Trump comes to governance from the perspective of businessmen," Puri said.

Shankar said there should not be any ideological differences between the two leaders as they come from the right wing politics.

"Both personalities have positioned themselves as strong political leaders. Trump praised Modi for his victory in Uttar Pradesh, personally congratulated him. This is a trend of the right-wing leaders coming to power across the globe. There should not be any ideological differences between the two. And what India is trying to do in democratic framework is of interest to the United States," Shankar said.

Puri said the US "worked against" India's plan to get permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council but said the current BJP government was "handling the issue well".

"(At least) 130 countries are ready to support us. They (US) worked against it. They like the current arrangement. It was wrong on our part to expect the Obama administration to do heavy-lifting in its last two months," Puri said.

"(Now) We are sending our messages across in very calibrated and nuanced manner. And by the time, the Prime Minister is ready to go to Washington, we will have in place an entire canvass of issues, on which we can do some give and take," Puri added.
New Delhi, May 4 : The Election Commission (EC) has convened an all-party meeting on May 12 to discuss issues related to Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in the backdrop of alleged charges of EVM tampering in the recent polls.

As per a release, the commission has sent status paper on EVMs and VVPAT to all seven national and 48 state political parties.

"The agenda will also cover making bribery in elections a Cognisable offence, disqualification on framing of charges for the offences of bribery in elections and suggestions in VVPAT recount Rules," reads the release.

It has sought written response from all the parties by May 7.

The EC's meeting with all the parties comes in order to convince and assure them that the EVMs cannot be hacked.

After the latest assembly elections in five states and municipal elections in Delhi, many opposition parties raised questions over the reliability of EVMs.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had urged the State Election Commission to hold the Delhi civic polls with ballot paper trail.

The Congress on Thursday said the onus lies on the commission to remove these doubts in order to uphold the sanctity of the electoral process.

"Election Commission is not hostile to a political party or group. The sole responsibility and onus on the EC is to uphold the majesty, transparency and accountability of the democratic process," Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala told reporters.

The EC is also planning to throw an open challenge to all stakeholders to try and hack its EVMs to remove all doubts about the voting machines.

Last week, a senior EC official had said that the challenge would show the EVMs are non-tamperable and secure as per our administrative and technical safeguard system.

At least 16 opposition parties, alleging tampering, had urged the EC to stop use of EVMs and revert to the paper ballot system in elections.

The parties, including Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Aam Aadmi Party and others, levelled tampering allegations after the BJP swept assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Kolkata, May 4 : The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of West Bengal Police has arrested two allegedly fake doctors, who were employed in government-run hospitals in the state.

CID sources said one of the "doctors" arrested on Thursday was employed with the Madarihat block Primary Health Centre in Alipurduar district.

The other man, who was arrested on Wednesday, had been employed since 2011 with the Primary Health Centre in Chopra block of North Dinajpur district.

Both had got the jobs by producing forged documents.

CID sources said they were looking for some more fake doctors attached to government establishments in the state.

Cases have been lodged against the two accused under sections 419 (punishment for cheating by impersonation), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will etc.), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
Panaji, May 5 : The North Goa district police on Thursday, arrested six persons, for drinking and creating a nuisance in public in the popular beach village of Calangute.

The arrest follows instructions from Superintendent of Police (North Goa) Kartik Kashyap, who on Wednesday, had ordered a crackdown on drinking alcohol in open areas.

Four of the six tourists, who were arrested for drinking in open areas in the Calangute beach village, located 15 km from Panaji, hail from Karnataka, while the remaining two hail from Maharashtra and Delhi.

The accused have been booked under section 34(iv) of the Indian Police Act.

"All the arrested person were produced before Judicial Magistrate First Class in Mapusa after medical examination. Their bail will be posted after an appearance before the magistrate again on Friday morning," a police spokesperson said.

The police crackdown on drinking in the open in North Goa's coastal areas, follows complaints by tourist as well as locals, about broken alcohol glass bottles being strewn along the beaches by drunken revellers.
Each of these positions have provided wonderful learning and service opportunities for all facets of the NAWIC organization as well as hands-on learning for skills I use on a daily basis with my position at Rand Group.

Rand Group, a multi-platform systems integrator based in Houston, Texas, is proud to announce the appointment of one of the companys Senior Managers as the 2017-2019 National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) South Central Regional (SCR) Director. Laurie Jimenez was recognized by the membership for her hard work and dedication to NAWIC at the 2017 SCR Forum on April 8th, where she was elected Director for the next two years.

NAWIC is a national organization created to empower women in the construction industry. Members of NAWIC are business owners and executives, subcontractors, managers, accountants, estimators and tradeswomen that are employed in the construction trades. Since joining the Houston Chapter of NAWIC in 2003, Laurie has served on both the regional and national level as PR/Marketing Chair and at the local level as Treasurer, Secretary, and President. Im thankful that, over the years, our National and Regional leaders have provided me with opportunities to serve our organization on so many levels, said Laurie. Each of these positions have provided wonderful learning and service opportunities for all facets of the NAWIC organization as well as hands-on learning for skills I use on a daily basis with my position at Rand Group.

With over 25 years working in the construction industry, Laurie has demonstrated proven leadership skills in the construction field. As Senior Manager, Manufacturing at Rand Group, Lauries expertise has been pivotal in the companys expansion into construction services. Working with developers, general contractors, home builders, and property management organizations, Laurie specializes in project management, process improvement, and end user development to meet these specific industry needs.

ABOUT RAND GROUP

Rand Group (http://www.randgroup.com) is a professional services firm that helps clients use technology for business success. As a multi-platform systems integrator, Rand Groups experienced, certified consultants build, manage, and support business solutions from back office to front office through a single point of contact. Fast growing, highly accredited, and motivated by the success of our clients, Rand Group offers the right combination of ingenuity, dedication and professionalism to help drive real business results. Headquartered in Texas, with two offices in Houston, and another in Vancouver, Rand Group has repeatedly appeared in Accounting Todays Top 100 VAR listing, and holds 6 Microsoft Business Competencies.
San Francisco's great influence in creativity and innovation plays an important part in the Bay Areas success and prosperity. The community of design talent underscores San Franciscos distinguished position as an international design destination

PRESS KIT

SF Design Week 10th Anniversary Celebration: Question Everything

June 14 - 22, 2017

San Francisco Design Week returns to Pier 27 this year, celebrating its 10th anniversary with the theme, Question Everything, attaining a reputation as one of the world's most innovative design events. This year, Design Week, produced by AIGA SF, The Professional Association for Design, will again celebrate and promote San Francisco as the countrys most influential design center, creating a platform for inspirational design initiatives. Over 200 events across the San Francisco Bay Area will be offered from Silicon Valley to San Francisco, promoting ideas from more than 60 partners, representing the heart of San Franciscos design community.

San Francisco's great influence in creativity and innovation plays an important part in the Bay Areas success and prosperity. The community of design talent underscores San Franciscos distinguished position as an international design destination, says Dawn Zidonis, executive director, AIGA SF.

This years program reflects the diversity of design disciplines practiced across the Bay Area, with a series of events, talks, workshops, and exhibitions to bring these interests to life. A major part of Design Week is the Hub, a central location which houses a broad range of activities including talks, installations, and exhibitions, followed by a week-long series of events hosted across the city at design studios and other local venues in the design community.

OPENING NIGHT RECEPTION

Opening Night Party kicks off SF Design Week with a musical performance by beatbox virtuoso Butterscotch, Design Hub exhibits and installations, Off the Grid food & drinks.

June 14, 6:30pm - 9:30pm, at Pier 27, Embarcadero, San Francisco, Calif.

Event Tickets $25 - $150; All proceeds benefit and support San Francisco Design Week non-profit produced 501(c)3

THE HUB

San Francisco Design Week, The Hub at Pier 27, Embarcadero.

The Hub is the center of SF Design Weeks opening suite of events, including the Opening Night Reception, and an exhibition showcase.

June 14 & 15, 2017, Pier 27, Embarcadero, San Francisco Calif.

Join the Hub on Thursday, June 15th from 9:00am  4:00pm for forward-thinking presentations, unique workshops, exhibitions, and design installations. The exhibition space will be free and open to the public throughout the day on Thursday.

The 5,000 sq. ft. exhibition showcase reaches thousands of designers across multiple disciplines. From interior to industrial, VR to product, AI to graphic and more.

Select events at The Hub:

Workshop: Designing Rituals to Nudge A Culture Of Creativity

Suzanne Gibbs Howard, Dean of IDEO U

The Hub at Pier 27 - June 15, 2017

When designing a ritual: dont overthink it, just build the first thing you can, then move to more sophisticated versions later.

Tim Brown, CEO and president of IDEO

Join this workshop to identify beliefs and behaviors that foster and stifle creativity in organizations, and design a ritual to amplify collaboration with others. Link here to an article from the IDEO U Blog about Tim Brown and nudging culture. For more about workshop leader, Suzanne Gibbs Howard: Suzanne at Ideo U.

Casa Castiglioni

An international exhibit at The Hub, from Milan, Italy.

Brought to SF Design Week by The Istituto Italiano di Cultura of San Francisco and the Italian Consulate General San Francisco.

The Hub at Pier 27 - June 14 & 15, 2017.

Casa Castiglioni explores the work of Achille Castiglioni through the use of objects he designed over the course of 50 years.

Conceived by the Castiglioni Foundation for the Abitami exhibition in Milan in 2011, and subsequently restaged in Rome, the show travels for the first time to the US. In addition to the exhibition, a performance by Giovanna Castiglioni (Achilles daughter and president of the Castiglioni Foundation), will highlight scenes of daily life, interacting with objects and visitors and creating a narrative of how industrial objects made design history.

LOCZIdesign and Heavy Projects

An augmented reality exhibit

The Hub at Pier 27 - June 14 & 15, 2017

LOCZIdesign and Heavy Projects have partnered to bring visitors a truly unique augmented reality exhibit: exploring the changing nature of a city that questions everything. Through LOCZIdesign's award-winning interior design expertise and Heavy Project's award-winning, mixed reality projects, visitors will experience a true homage to a changing landscape that cultivates innovation and creativity.

Airbnb Experience

A spatial engagement

The Hub at Pier 27 - June 14 & 15, 2017.

"Heres the simple truth: you cant innovate on products without first innovating the way you build them."

--Alex Schleifer, Airbnb VP of Design

Airbnb is creating a custom installation aligned with this year's theme "Question Everything". Airbnb is a global brand based in San Francisco, California.

Mark Andrews: Storyboard Talk

A lecture by Mark Andrews, Director, Pixar Animation Studios

The Hub at Pier 27, June 15, 2017, 1:00pm

"This art form of visually telling the story is harder than it seems. To be able to convey the ideas, character, mood, motives, actions, required to tell a good story through using visual images can be like alchemy; its a very subjective medium that only works after youve tried it. In most cases the only way to succeed is to fail." - Mark Andrews, Director, Pixar Animation Studios

Mark will show examples of story boards from films he has worked on throughout his career; moments that have not made it into the final films but were instrumental in finding those memorable moments. His talk will highlight the image selection process to help build a visual narrative. Mark Andrews joined Pixar Animation Studios in December 2000 and in his time at the studio, he has worked on four of the studio's feature films. Andrews is currently working on an upcoming Pixar project.

RSVP by Eventbrite: Mark Andrews

REST OF THE WEEK: TALKS, WORKSHOPS, SEMINARS, PROGRAMS

Visitors will be able to experience a packed program of events across the Bay Area, featuring an array of activities which reflect the Bay Area as a vibrant think tank, presenting some of the most thought-provoking ideas in the design industry. Visitors will be able to hear from some of the industrys most esteemed designers working at the forefront of their professions.

Here is a sampling:

Eight, Inc: Question This!

Fri, June 16th, 5:30pm-8:30pm

675 California Street, San Francisco

Eight, Inc. will be posting a series of questions here where visitors can share thoughts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn with tag #8sfdw. On the evening of Friday, June 16, Eight, Inc. will be hosting mini workshops exploring each question and responses. Refreshments will be provided.

Eight Inc. designs meaningful human experiences that change the way people think, feel and do.

RSVP by Eventbrite Question This!

Inside the Studio: Snhetta

Thursday June 15, 2017 6:30pm - 8:30pm

Snhetta Studio, 236 8th St #100, San Francisco, Calif. 94103

Snhetta, architects of the recent SFMOMA building, welcomes San Francisco Design Week into their design studio to enjoy a design chat about the firm's background and current projects. Attendance is limited, RSVP by Eventbrite Inside the Studio: Snhetta

Autodesk: Design & Make Experience | Gallery Tour

Wed, June 14th, 10:00am Tour, 11:00am Design & Make

Autodesk Gallery, One Market St, 2nd Flr, San Francisco

Autodesk makes software for people who make things. Experience what its like to take an idea from design through fabrication at the Autodesk Gallery Design & Make Studio. Designers and makers of all agesincluding students and educatorscan get their hands on the latest design and 3D printing tools and equipment.

RSVP by Eventbrite Design & Make or Gallery Tour

Connected Home Design: Ammunition's Robert Brunner + Sunset Magazine

Thu, June 15th, 6:00pm-8:00pm

Room & Board

685 7th St. San Francisco

Connected Home Design: whats next? Join Room & Board and explore new design ideas for the modern, connected home. Ammunition Founder Robert Brunner will discuss the opportunities to design products that bring intelligence and connectivity to the home in meaningful ways. Sunset Home Editor Chantal Lamers will tell the story behind their Smart Cottage, which shows that function, technology and style can make a high-tech home both attainable and beautiful.

Grilled cheese and micro-brewed beer will be provided during the evening.

RSVP by Eventbrite: Smart Home Design

Design for Social Impact

Mon, June 19th, 5:00pm-7:00pm

Code For America

155 9th St, San Francisco

Code for America's mission is to ensure that government works for the people who need it most, using digital tools and practices. Learn about how designers have transitioned from for-profit to nonprofit and government.

As President Barack Obama said, change only happens when ordinary people get involved. Take the first step to be the change.

RSVP by Eventbrite Code for America

Get Baked with Open Table, Tartine Manufactory

Mon, June 19th, 6:00pm-9:00pm

595 Alabama Street, San Francisco

Join the Open Table Design Team for an evening of sweet treats and sweet conversations. Gather at Tartine Manufactory, one of San Francisco's newest artisanal dining spaces, for delectable delights, as well as limited edition enamel pins made by the design team. Located "around the corner" from Heath Ceramics. RSVP by Eventbrite Get Baked

Architectural Pavilions: Experiments and Artifacts, Panel Discussion, Museum of Craft and Design

Saturday June 24, 2017 1:00pm - 2:30pm

2569 Third Street, San Francisco

"Architectural Pavilions: Experiments and Artifacts" presents digital and handmade architectural pavilions by Bay Area and international architects. The work included in the exhibition transforms the Museum of Craft and Design into an immersive architectural environment, demonstrating a range of projects from small-scale models to full-scale installations.

Attend a panel discussion with curator Mariah Neilson, and participating studios: Carmody Groarke, London; IwamotoScott, San Francisco; Jay Nelson, San Francisco; M&A, Los Angeles; and SITU Studio, New York.

Museum admission, drinks and snacks are included in the ticket price. Event & Ticket Info

Better Together: Exhibition AIGA SF & IDSA SF

Open May 4 - June 30, 2017

Center for Architecture + Design, 130 Sutter St, Ste 600

San Francisco CA 94104

Design has the power to inspire, and reassure - "Better Together" aims to celebrate those that utilize design to connect us. "Better Together" will celebrate the diversity and excellence of the design practice within the Bay Area, and aims to recognize Bay Area designers/companies of all disciplines. One individual/company will be awarded People's Choice Award on June 30, 2017. Better Together is jointly hosted by the IDSA SF and AIGA SF in the exhibit space of the AIGA SF offices, Center for Architecture + Design.

Here is a link to more information: Event info

SF DESIGN WEEK ADVISORS

The SF Design Week program is advised by an acclaimed selection of design leaders, including:

John Maeda, Automattic Global Head, Computational Design + Inclusion

Alex Schleifer, Airbnb VP of Design

Nancy Evars & Dimitra Anderson, Evars+Anderson, Co-Founders

Sade Borghei, Snhetta Senior Architect

Ti Chang, Crave Co-Founder and VP of Design

Ana Arriola, Samsung VP of UX & Design; Champion of LGBTQ community

Trevor Hubbard, Butchershop Founder

Dawn Zidonis, AIGA SF Executive Director; World Design Week Vice President

For more about SFDW Design Advisors

SF DESIGN WEEK 2017 SPONSORS INCLUDE:

Adobe

Autodesk

Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

Butchershop

Capital One

Character

CitiVentures

Dropbox

Elephant

Essen International

Green Copy

Heavy Projects

IFDM

InVision

Italian Consulate General San Francisco

Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco

LOCZIdesign

Manual

Modern Luxury

Modem Online

Mohawk Paper

Salesforce

StubHub

Todd Tankersley Photography

TID

Umpqua Bank

VitaminT

YBCA

Yelp

Zendesk

For more about SFDW 2017 Sponsorships

SF DESIGN WEEK 2017 PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDE:

AIGA SF

AIA San Francisco

California Academy of Sciences

Center for Architecture & Design

Contemporary Jewish Museum

Istituto Italiano di Cultura of San Francisco

Italian Consulate General San Francisco

IxDA

SEGD

SFFAMA

ASID

The Book Club of California

For more about SFDW 2017 Partnering Organizations

ABOUT San Francisco Design Week:

Design Week is about exploring what makes design in the Bay Area so unique. From tech inventions to culture-changing products, human-centered design, emerging fashion and international architecture, San Francisco Design Week is the opportunity to experience the regions' unique design talents, impact and innovations.

San Francisco is a hub of innovation like no other. At the Design Week Hub, everyone comes together to discuss, debate, explore, celebrate and showcase San Franciscos broad influence on the design world and beyond.

SF Design Week spans the entire Bay Area from Silicon Valley to the city of San Francisco, featuring world-renowned designers, entrepreneurs and innovative thought leaders with more than 60 studio tours and 200 events throughout the week.

SF Design Week is a community event led by a team of advisors and a core committee which represents the diversity of design disciplines in the Bay Area. The event is produced by AIGA SF, the professional association for design, a 501(3)c and the oldest and largest membership association for professionals engaged in the discipline, practice and culture of designing.

For further information, visit SF Design Week or the SF Design Week Blog

PHOTOS

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San Francisco Design Week is a registered trademark of AIGA|SF.  2017 AIGA|SF. All rights reserved.
QSAN, enterprise data storage manufacturer, today announced the launch of the XCubeDAS 5300 series, the product range that meets SMB and Enterprise needs. The XD5300 series is the most advanced QSAN product to date, offering a cost-effective DAS for server expansion. It is also a RAID expansion enclosure for QSAN XCubeSAN series (Storage Area Network).

The XCubeDAS 5300 series features a wide range of form factors and host connectivity options and all fully modular. The XD5300 range of DASs includes the worlds first 2U 26 bay, small form factor XD5326 in both dual active/active and single controller (upgradeable). This allows more deployment flexibility to meet users budgets and rack density limitations.

The XcubeDAS XD5300 systems offer fully redundant components for all major functions, including dual controllers, power supplies, fan, modules, host ports, and expansion ports, and can be perfectly used with XcubeSAN XS3200/XS5200 series. Besides hot swappable components, the XD5300 firmware is able to update without any system down time balancing I/O loading through multiple paths and dual controllers.

QSANs XD5300 comes with several key features:



High Performance & High Throughput  the XCubeDAS 5300 series set a new storage standard for direct-attached storage. The series provides a smart and elastic runtime configuration of the 10 x 12Gb/s SAS wide ports support, and allows IT managers fully utilizing the 480Gb/s data bandwidth per system for various applications. The XD5300 Series can be connected in series of 10 XD5300 to achieve the maximum storage capacity.

Flexible disk managementThe LFF chassis of XD5324/5316/5312 models support mix and match 3.5/2.5 SAS, NL-SAS HDD, and 2.5 SAS, SATA SSD. For SFF chassis of XD5326 models, it supports 2.5 SAS, NL-SAS HDD, and 2.5 SAS, SATA SSD.

Versatile Topologies & Flexible Configurations  The XD5300 Series feature all 12Gb/s SAS topologies and permutations of all host and expansion port configurations. It supports all 12Gb/s SAS topologies, including Cascade, Reverse, and Tree and can be deployed freely to fit various connections to the host servers. With up to 10 x 12 Gb/s SAS ports support per system, this feature is crucial for users to plan a well-defined resource arrangement to achieve highly utilized performance and capacity of the XD5300 system.

QSAN CubeView Central Management Software  Our self-developed software, the CubeView CMS (Central Management Software) can monitor and manage system log, disk drive status, enclosure, zoning function, firmware update, and, history record of system temperature, voltage, and fan speed. The systems also support command line and S.E.S. that allows IT managers completely control of the storage systems and agile configuration of powerful management.

Wide Compatibility QSANs has invested extensive testing resources to verify compatibility with peripherals including HBAs, RAID controller cards, SAS HDDs, and SSDs to make sure there is maximum interoperability with the XD5300 series.

Green Technology  To safeguard the earth and environment, the XD5300 product range uses various green technologies for energy savings and minimization of the carbon footprint such as Wake-On-SAS technology.

Built with interoperability for the most popular operating systems, the XD5300 can be used for expansion of datacenter storage, archiving, cold storage, backup, large-scale surveillance, video streaming and editing. Compared to its Tier1 competitors, the XCubeDAS solution can be a more affordable alternative for all primary and secondary storage. Moreover, the XCubeDAS series can provide more than a 50% increase in performance, thanks to QSANs revolutionary technology and the 24/7 free technical support. Click here for more information on XD5300.

About QSAN

QSAN Technology, leading storage technology designer and manufacturer, was founded in July 2004. Building on our vast experience in the industry, QSAN strives to build enterprise class storage systems that pride ourselves with outstanding performance, secure data protection and comprehensive data management. QSAN endeavors to provide the industry with high quality data storage systems that are simple, secure, scalable and reliable. For more information, please visit http://www.QSAN.com
We put our best efforts in healthcare process improvement and keep in touch with the experts from the USA and Europe

At the end of April, the company representatives will be attending ConhIT, Europes leading industry event for Health IT held for the tenth year in a row.

ConhIT is a unique event that combines all available forms of information exchange between software developers, analytics, and medical experts. The forum is both a platform for speeches and presentations of scientists, software engineers, and healthcare practitioners as well as an academy and exhibition of the latest advances in the field of medical information technologies. The events taking place within the forum allow promoting interaction between national and international medical institutes, opening up opportunities for cooperation, and solving current industry problems with the help of technological solutions.

The visit to ConhIT offers Artezio a great opportunity to meet the leading experts in the medical field and focus on issues concerning the enhancement of the public healthcare.

We put our best efforts in healthcare process improvement and keep in touch with the experts from the USA and Europe. It is very important to realize which technologies and solutions will be in high demand in healthcare in the future, which of them require closer attention today, and which technologies should be opted out. When selecting a definite approach, we normally focus on opinions of representatives of the healthcare community, in particular those experts who are involved in a constant process of monitoring new technologies and innovations in the branch. Besides, we understand the peculiarities of the European market where a company should possess a high credit of trust and an expert portfolio to interact successfully with clients in this field. Moreover, it is necessary to constantly collaborate with industry representatives, understand their requirements and current needs, comments Anastasia Panshyna, Marketing Director at Artezio.

At ConhIT, Artezio will hold a series of meetings with top management of large medical technological companies and share its extensive development expertise.

This year, ConhIT celebrates its tenth anniversary and as usual highlights the leading European developers and experts in the healthcare industry. The program features over 150 events that will take place on a display area of 20,000 square meters in Messe Berlin. Around 10,000 trade visitors are expected to attend ConhIT this year.
The Brewer-Garrett Company Headquarters We are steadfast in our commitment to improve infrastructure, create jobs, and impact our world through energy conservation and greenhouse gas emissions reduction. - Louis Joseph

On Thursday, April 27, 2017, The Brewer-Garrett Company was awarded a Department of Energy (DOE) Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC). These uniquely structured contracts allow Energy Services Companies (ESCOs) to carry out privately financed energy and water infrastructure improvements to government facilities without requiring additional federal tax dollars.

Brewer-Garrett, an Ohio-based company, is one of only 21 ESCOs that can implement these infrastructure upgrades under federal government task orders for a period of five years with an optional 18-month extension. Task orders under this contract allow Brewer-Garrett to perform energy conservation measures (ECMs) such as lighting, water, heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC), controls, renewables, as well as microgrids across the United States.

I am extremely proud of this accomplishment and of all the hard work that led to this landmark event in our companys 58-year history, said Louis Joseph, President and CEO of Brewer-Garrett. Once again, we are poised for unprecedented growth by now extending our vision to deliver the highest quality services to the federal market. We are steadfast in our commitment to improve infrastructure, create jobs, and impact our world through energy conservation and greenhouse gas emissions reduction.

According to the Federal Energy Management Programs (FEMP) website, US Government agencies have been awarding ESPCs at an investment pace of about $2 billion every three years. One factor for the increased use of these contracts is that private sector partners like Brewer-Garrett must guarantee that the infrastructure improvements will generate sufficient annual energy savings to pay for the upgrades over the life of the project.

About the Brewer-Garrett Company

Brewer-Garrett is one of the largest mechanical contractors in the State of Ohio. Located in Middleburg Heights, Brewer-Garrett has over 130 professionals with the knowledge and technical expertise to develop, design, and deploy energy conservation projects. Its technical staff consists of Design Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, Electrical Engineers, Lighting Designers, Energy Engineers, Automation Engineers, and Construction Professionals. For over half a century, Brewer-Garrett has been implementing award-winning turnkey projects for commercial, industrial, governmental, and educational customers. Their success is driven from a passion for using advanced technologies and a commitment to providing long-lasting, reliable solutions.
corecubed is excited to announce that Amy Selle, Managing Director, has been invited for the third year in a row to serve as a judge in the 26th annual National Mature Media Awards on Friday, May 5, 2017. The National Mature Media Awards is the largest awards program in the U.S. that honors the best of the best in marketing, communications, and educational materials targeted to the 50+ age demographic. It is recognized by those in the industry as the most prestigious awards program of its kind.

"The way care companies communicate is evolving, and so is their perception of aging, says Selle. It is exciting to be part of an effort to reward companies for communicating effectively with their constituents in creative, powerful, and compelling ways that honor aging."

Selles wealth of experience in aging care marketing makes her uniquely qualified to serve as a National Mature Media Awards judge. Prior to becoming Managing Director of corecubed, Selle served as Director of Marketing for Cantata, a family of organizations focused on leading innovations that will enable Americans to live their best lives as they age. She has also received a Public Relations Society of America Chicago Chapter Skyline Award for marketing healthcare services, and a Publicity Club of Chicago Silver Trumpet Award for consumer marketing campaigns.

About the National Mature Media Awards

The Mature Market Resource Center (MMRC), organizer of the National Mature Media Awards, is a national clearinghouse for professionals who work with older adults. Other well-known MMRC programs include the New Product & Technology Awards, National Senior Health & Fitness Day, and the Mature Fitness AwardsUSASM. For more information about the National Mature Media Awards, visit their website at http://www.seniorawards.com.

About corecubed

corecubed is a full-service home care marketing firm specializing in helping in-home care agencies grow with innovative, industry-specific, integrated marketing strategies and solutions. Our team members are located around the United States and have extensive experience and expertise working in home care sales and marketing. Further information can be found at http://www.corecubed.com, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/corecubed, Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/corecubed, or by calling 800-370-6580.
Bonner C. Barnes "Opportunity is found not in the consensus but in the contrarian."

Houston-based CORDA Investment Management, LLC, was recently recognized by both Barrons and Forbes as one of the Top Advisors in the United States. These prestigious awards are given only to the best in the nationthere are 1200 total on Barrons list and only 200 total on the Forbes roster.

Since 1999, CORDA has earned the trust of more than 1000 families nationwide with its strong contrarian approach to investment. Pioneered by Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffett, among others, the contrarian approach focuses on investing in companies that have temporarily fallen out of favor with Wall Street. These are solid businesses with excellent long-term prospects that are currently trading at a discount.

CORDA consists of advisors, not brokers, who pride themselves on honoring their fiduciary responsibility to their clients. As a fee-only investment firm, they customize each clients portfolio according to that clients needs and desires, from retirement income to philanthropy.

Those who are interested in beginning a long-term professional relationship with a contrarian investment firm that they can trust for a lifetime are invited to contact the nearest office directly:

Corda Investment Management (headquarters)

8955 Katy Freeway, Suite 200

Houston, Texas 77024

(855) 439-0665

Corda Investment Management - Dallas

15660 N. Dallas Parkway, Suite 1425

Dallas, TX 78746

(469) 453-6498

Corda Investment Management - Austin

1101 S Capital of Texas Highway, Building G, Suite 150

Austin, TX 78746

(512) 518-6849

About Corda Management

CORDA Investment Management, LLC is an investment advisory firm that provides wealth management services for clients nationwide. CORDAs headquarters is in Houston, and the firm also has offices in Austin and Dallas. To learn more, visit http://cordamanagement.com or call (855) 439-0665.
"The addition of Summit Group further expands our market share in Oklahoma and across the United States. while adding an experienced client services team that understands the complex TPA retirement business."

Retirement LLC with offices in Oklahoma City, OK, and Sioux Falls, SD today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase the third party administrator (TPA) division of Summit Group, Inc. of Oklahoma City. The transaction closed on April 1, 2017.

For over 35 years Summit Group has been providing plan design consulting, recordkeeping, administration and compliance services for business retirement plans of all sizes. Summit Group has been providing these full-service employer sponsored retirement plan services since 1981. They have always been committed to providing these services to their clients in a timely, accurate and cost-effective manner.

"The addition of Summit Group further expands our market share in Oklahoma and across the United States while adding an experienced client services team that understands the complex TPA retirement business. This acquisition adds significant strategic value to the future growth of our organization said Dana Hagen, President/CEO of Retirement LLC. The Summit Group has built a great business and has a terrific client services organization. This acquisition gives us more client-facing strength as we continue fulfill our goal of becoming the nations leading national TPA organization. Mrs. Williams will continue her tenure with Retirement LLC for the foreseeable future. This is our fourth acquisition in the past four years. We will continue to grow Retirement LLC organically and through mergers and acquisitions as we look ahead to 2017 and beyond, added Hagen.

The vision and quality of service delivery was the main reason we decided to merge with Retirement LLC, said Gay Williams, Summit Group Vice-President. We have a commitment to our clients to provide extremely high service levels that meet all of their needs. We will continue to grow - and now have a national platform to add more business without compromising the quality of the service for our clients, Williams added. This merger was the right opportunity at the right time for Summit Group said Bill Daniel, Summit Group President. We look forward to continuing to serve our existing clients with the same service they have come to expect from us while expanding our market share. This was an excellent decision to become part of Retirement LLC.

About Retirement, LLC

Retirement LLC is an independent third party administration firm and record-keeper for tax-qualified retirement plans. The firm operates from offices in Oklahoma City, OK and Sioux Falls, SD. Retirement LLC provides consulting, record-keeping, actuarial services and plan administration services to clients throughout the United States. Plans include defined benefit, cash balance, defined contribution, profit sharing, 401(k), ESOP, 457, and 403(b) plans.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Wallingford Partners acted as an advisor for this transaction.
Stefan Savic (http://www.shipkevich.com/) has joined Shipkevich PLLCs New York office as a partner in the firms commercial litigation practice group. Mr. Savic joins from Balestriere Fariello in New York.

"Mr. Savic is a highly esteemed commercial litigator with extensive experience in the New York area. He displays the type of client-focused, practical approach to commercial litigation that is valued by Shipkevich PLLC," said Felix Shipkevich, founder of Shipkevich PLLC.

Irene Costello, Shipkevich PLLCs New York managing partner added, "Were delighted to welcome Mr. Savic to our team. His entrepreneurial spirit and impressive track record makes him a perfect fit to our rapidly expanding New York practice.

Although Mr. Savic focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation for various industries, his ultimate goal is to avoid costly litigation for his clients. He advises companies on employment, shareholders, licensing, formation and licensing agreements. As a trial lawyer, Mr. Savic provides premier legal counsel to clients in trials, appeals, transactions and mediations.

Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Savic garnered substantial experience at the United Nations Development Programme, United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, a prominent law firm in Connecticut and at a Fortune 500 company. Mr. Savic stated I am excited to join the team and to be a part of the firms growing success.

Mr. Savic is a native of Belgrade, Serbia. He graduated from Columbia University with a degree in political science and received his J.D. from Quinnipiac University School of Law.

Shipkevich PLLC is a hyper-growth, forward thinking law practice with a team of world-class, diverse professionals relentlessly surpassing the outdated model of a traditional law firm. For more information, please visit http://www.shipkevich.com/ or https://www.zoclaw.com/
Edgar Barraza, Associate Attorney at Rollin Braswell Fisher LLC Its a very exciting time at RBF Law, says Edgar Barraza. I look forward to flourishing with the firm and hope to become a litigator as exceptional as my new colleagues while maintaining a strong sense of social responsibility.

Edgar Barraza, the first DREAMer to be admitted as a lawyer to the Colorado State Bar, has joined Rollin Braswell Fisher LLC (RBF Law). Barraza is a unique hire for the Colorado based litigation firm as he is one of a small handful of attorneys in the United States to overcome the struggle of an undocumented immigration status and become a practicing attorney.

RBF Law partner Michael Rollin comments, Edgar is extremely bright and a great addition to our commercial litigation and appellate practice. His life story is inspiring and he reminds us of the struggles and successes of our own dauntless immigrant families.

Barrazas practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, product liability, and financial services at RBF Law. Its a very exciting time at RBF Law, says Barraza. I look forward to flourishing with the firm and hope to become a litigator as exceptional as my new colleagues while maintaining a strong sense of social responsibility.

Rollin notes, RBF Law lives its commitment to diversity and inclusiveness, not only because its the right thing to do, but because our firm and our work are better for it.

Prior to joining RBF Law, Barraza served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Andrew P.

McCallin of the Denver District Court. Through his clerkship, he acquired an understanding of effective litigation techniques and proven decision-making skills necessary for the rigorous demands of his civil and commercial litigation practice.

Barrazas journey to becoming the first DREAMer lawyer in Colorado started at a young age. He came to the United States as an 11-year-old from Mexico and overcame the language barrier while enrolled as a student in Denver Public Schools (DPS). As a teen, he worked full time at a fast food chain while attending Denvers West High School. Determined to support his family, he also worked hard in school to get the education he knew would help him succeed and advance. Balancing work and school, he graduated sixth in a class of more than 250 students.

Aware that obtaining a college education would be a challenge given his former undocumented status, Barraza participated in the University of Denvers Volunteers in Partnership (VIP) program before applying. Upon acceptance to DU, he was awarded a full-ride Nagel International Scholarship and majored in International Studies and Political Science at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies. Throughout college, he worked nights and weekends at the same fast food chain restaurant he worked at as a teen. He earned his law degree at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.

While attending law school, Barraza benefited from President Barack Obamas 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals executive action. This allowed him to work and live in the United States without fear of deportation and, subsequently, formally apply for admission to the Colorado State Bar.

In addition to his complex civil and commercial litigation law practice, Barraza is committed to community service. He is a committee member and co-founder of Law School  Yes We Can, a program that helps students from underrepresented backgrounds gain access to a law school education through mentoring and educational workshops. He is a member of the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association and a volunteer for Denver Legal Nights at Mi Casa Resource Center and Centro San Juan Diego.

Maritza Dominguez Braswell, managing partner at RBF Law emphasizes, As the daughter of Mexican immigrants myself, Ive seen first-hand how hard work fuels the dreams of this community. Edgar embodies that and more. Hes a shining star.
Mahmoud Ghannoum, PHD, MBA, FIDSA, FAAM Professor and Director; Shuiquan Tang, PhD Scientist, Zymo Research Corp.

Crohn's disease (CD) results from a complex interplay between host genetic factors and endogenous microbial communities. In the current study, the Ghannoum lab used Ion Torrent sequencing to characterize the gut bacterial microbiota (bacteriome) and fungal community (mycobiome) in patients with CD and their non-diseased first degree relatives (NCDR) in 9 familial clusters living in Northern France/Belgium, and in healthy individuals from 4 families living in the same area (non-CD unrelated, NCDU).

Significant microbial interactions were identified and validated using single- and mixed-species biofilms. CD and non-diseased first degree relatives groups clustered together in the mycobiome, but not in bacteriome. Recent research is showing that this fungal-bacterial interaction is detrimental to the host, novel prevention and treatment approaches are needed to interfere with this cooperation and restore the microbiome balance.

In this webinar, attendees will learn about the mycobiome contribute to digestive tract health and Crohns disease. They will also learn how individual steps in their microbiomics workflow can be standardized to greatly improve the quality and reproducibility of the data generated.

Dr. Mahmoud Ghannoum, professor and director at the Center for Medical Mycology, Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, will be a speaker for this event along with Dr. Shuiquan Tang, scientist at Zymo Research Corp.

Ghannoum received a Master of Science in medicinal chemistry and doctorate in microbial physiology from University of Technology in England, and an MBA from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case. Presently he is a tenured Professor and Director of the Center for Medical Mycology, Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Case Medical Center (UH). He is also a fellow of the Infectious Disease Society of America and past President of the Medical Mycological Society of the Americas (MMSA).

Tang received a doctorate of chemical engineering and applied chemistry from the University of Toronto. He joined Zymo Research in 2014, and has since been instrumental in the research and development of Zymo's microbiomics and metagenomics programs. His past experiences include work in the fields of environmental microbiology and biological process engineering, with an emphasis on bioinformatics, metagenomics and anaerobic cultivation.

LabRoots will host the webinar May 22, 2017, beginning at 8:00 a.m. PDT, 11:00 a.m. ET. To read more about this event, discover the continuing education credits offered, or to register for free, click here.

About Zymo Research Corp.

Zymo Research Corp. is a privately held nucleic acid purification company based in Irvine, California, USA. Since its inception in 1994 it has been serving the academic and biopharmaceutical scientific communities by providing DNA and RNA purification products. In early 2016 Zymo Research developed ZymoBIOMICS, a comprehensive line of microbiomics related products including two microbial standards, to assist researchers in accurate microbial profiling. In addition its microbiomic, epigenetic, and nucleic acid purification products, Zymo Research also provides genetic, epigenetic and transcriptome analysis services. Follow Zymo Research Corporation on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

About LabRoots

LabRoots is the leading scientific social networking website and producer of educational virtual events and webinars. Contributing to the advancement of science through content sharing capabilities, LabRoots is a powerful advocate in amplifying global networks and communities. Founded in 2008, LabRoots emphasizes digital innovation in scientific collaboration and learning, and is a primary source for current scientific news, webinars, virtual conferences, and more. LabRoots has grown into the worlds largest series of virtual events within the Life Sciences and Clinical Diagnostics community.
Hensel provides the exact type of lighting products we want to supply our customers due to their exceptional quality and performance, said Unique Photo President, Alexander Sweetwood. We are looking forward to many years of successful collaboration.

Unique Photo, New Jerseys largest camera and video superstore, has been named the exclusive U.S. distributor of Hensel lighting products and equipment.

The new partnership with Hensel, headquartered in Germany, will add hundreds of new high-quality, professional lighting products to Unique Photos vast inventory of in-store and online photography equipment and accessories. Unique Photo has established a dedicated sales team for Hensel products that will work alongside skilled sales representatives to support professional photographers and retailers across the United States.

Founded in 1947, Unique Photo is one of the largest privately owned distributors of photo equipment and accessories worldwide with over 20,000 items available in-store and online through its 50,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility and warehouse on Route 46. The flagship store provides multi-media classrooms for educational workshops, a digital learning lab, professional photo lab, rental department, meeting space, gourmet coffee bar and WiFi lounge.

Hensel was founded in 1963 and is based in Wuerzburg, Bavaria. The company develops, manufactures and distributes professional lighting systems and accessories for photographers and industrial users under the name Hensel-Visit GmbH & Co. KG. Among its best known products are the Cito 500, the fastest compact flash unit in the world, and the Hensel Porty, the first professional battery flash generator introduced in 1995. Today, Hensel is the largest German manufacturer of photographic lighting and develops and produces all flash units and continuous light sources in Germany.

Hensel provides the exact type of lighting products we want to supply our customers due to their exceptional quality and performance, said Unique Photo President, Alexander Sweetwood. We are looking forward to many years of successful collaboration.

With Unique Photo taking over Hensels U.S. distribution, a renowned and very active company will be serving existing customers with optimum support, said Brian Roy, Hensels vice president of sales. More innovative products by Hensel are currently in development and will be introduced during 2017.

Unique Photo is a third generation, family-owned business that will be celebrating its 70th anniversary this year with exciting photography events, contests and excursions beginning this spring.

Unique Photo is also home to the Unique Photo Expo, New Jerseys largest photography public trade show, coming on June 2-4 to the Unique Photo Superstore in Fairfield, NJ. Consumers can demo and purchase the latest products from leading manufacturers and take advantage of great 70th anniversary sales and over 40 free photography workshops.

ABOUT UNIQUE PHOTO

Unique Photo is New Jersey's largest camera and video superstore offering the latest in photographic products and imaging technology. Its 50,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility in Fairfield, N.J. features a spacious photography retail store, multi-media learning center, professional photo lab, meeting space, gourmet coffee bar and WiFi lounge. Unique Photo recently expanded to Hoboken with a second store providing a full line of services for its customers. Additionally, Unique Photo is the top destination for photography education in New Jersey, hosting more than 1,000 amateur and professional photographers monthly for its classes. Unique University instructors include world famous photographers, industry guest lecturers and Unique Photos professional staff. For more information, visit http://www.uniquephoto.com or call 973-377-2007.
Creatively Connected Online Film Festival Poster Storytelling for me is more than a business. I have seen just how powerful the sharing of stories about the human condition can be in the process of healing and connecting people. - Mike Paseornek, President of Production, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group

Loneliness and social isolation represent a new national epidemic; studies show unprecedented numbers of Americans characterize themselves as lonely and the experience is now associated with an increased risk for depression, substance abuse and suicide. In addition, emerging research suggests a risk of early death equivalent to smoking 18 cigarettes a day.

In an effort to address these issues, the Foundation for Art & Healing (FAH) is launching the Creatively Connected Online Film Festival with loneliness and isolation as its inaugural theme. Viewers at the Festivals virtual theaters will find a diverse range of engaging and inspiring short films, using the power of this medium to explore the difficult topic.

The Festival launches May 9 in New York City at New York University. The launch begins with an afternoon conference  free and open to the public  featuring expert panel presentations. The conference brings nationally-recognized experts from organizations and institutions including AARP, the Veterans Administration, the City of New York, Newscorp, Prudential, and UCSF Medical Center to the conversation.

Panels will explore loneliness and isolation in several particularly vulnerable populations  older adults and caregivers, veterans and their families and employees in the modern workplace and share current research findings.

An evening celebration follows that spotlights the award-winning films and filmmakers, along with arts and public policy luminaries. Steve Safyer, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Montefiore Medicine, and Mike Paseornek, President of Production, the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group anchor the evening as co-hosts.

FAH Founder and President Jeremy Nobel, MD, describing the initiative, said More and more stakeholders are recognizing the need to better understand and tackle loneliness and isolation. Sharing stories through expressive, creative engagement offers an effective and enriching approach."

Mike Paseornek explains his commitment to this initiative: Storytelling for me is more than a business. I have seen just how powerful the sharing of stories about the human condition can be in the process of healing and connecting people."

About the Foundation:

The mission of the Foundation for Art & Healing is to use its position as a bridge to create and expand general awareness about art and healing, to bring forward through research and related explorations critical knowledge about art and healing and the relationship between them, and to help make this knowledge available at the individual and community level. Click to learn more about Foundation's signature initiative, the UnLoneliness Project, and the Creatively Connected Online Film Festival.

*Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Timothy B. Smith, Mark Baker, Tyler Harris, and David Stephenson, Loneliness and Social Isolation as Risk Factors for Mortality: A Meta-Analytic Review, Perspectives on Psychological Science 2015, Vol. 10(2) 227237.
Some of the model home furnishings donated by McCaffrey Homes of Fresno, CA to Catholic Charities of Fresno. With over 60 years of homebuilding in the Central Valley, we understand the importance of giving back to the local community  Brent McCaffrey.

McCaffrey Homes, a local third-generation family homebuilder, is donating furniture and decor from their stunning model homes to Catholic Charities of Fresno. The furnishings come from their three model homes at the Gallery in Clovis, a sold-out community that will soon have its model homes for sale.

A vast array of beautiful furnishings will be donated for Catholic Charities to sell  including sofas, coffee tables, bedroom furniture, dining room tables and chairs, occasional chairs, lamps, bedding, accessories, artwork and more. The good-as-new items can be enjoyed by new owners for years to come.

With over 60 years of homebuilding in the Central Valley, we understand the importance of giving back to the local community, said Brent McCaffrey, president of McCaffrey Homes. Thats why were pleased to donate this furniture to Catholic Charities to support the great work they do within our area. Catholic Charities is a safe harbor for those in need, providing our neighbors with food and clothing plus other valuable services.

McCaffrey Homes has a legacy of giving back to the community and we are grateful for this very generous donation, said Kelly Lilles, executive director of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Fresno. This is the third time McCaffrey has donated model home furniture, and we realize the value of this donation. We know the proceeds from the sale of these furnishings will have a big impact to help us support the vital programs and services that we deliver in the Fresno area.

In addition to providing food and clothing to families in need, Catholic Charities has programs that assist families with everything from energy bills to career and job placement support. Catholic Charities has 140,000 clients and doesnt turn anyone away, regardless of religion.

McCaffrey Homes previously donated model home furniture from its Liberty Square neighborhood in northwest Fresno and its Heights at Loma Vista neighborhood in Clovis to Catholic Charities. For more information on Catholic Charities, Diocese of Fresno, please visit: http://www.ccdof.org/fresno-county/.

About McCaffrey Homes

McCaffrey Homes is dedicated to building homes that last a lifetime while meeting the needs of homebuyers at every stage of life. With three generations of experience, the McCaffrey team has built more than 9,000 homes and been honored nationally and locally for the quality of its construction and service.

Currently, McCaffrey Homes is building the Santerra and Ivy neighborhoods at Riverstone, a new master-planned community in Madera, and closing out the Gallery in Clovis neighborhood. McCaffrey will also break ground this year on Tesoro Viejo, their own 1,600-acre master-planned community in Madera, which won the 2016 Outstanding Planning Award in Innovation in Green Community Planning. For more information, visit http://www.mccaffreyhomes.com.

About Catholic Charities, Diocese of Fresno

Catholic Charities, Diocese of Fresno is a Community Benefit Organization serving the needs of those in crisis. They are the first responders in helping our neighbors with food, clothing, and other basic necessities. They serve more than 50,000 families and 140,000 clients in the Central Valley and have distributed more than two million pounds of food. For more information, visit http://www.ccdof.org.
Making email communication available in your central CRM database contributes hugely to achieving the full overview of customer relationships.

SuperOffice, Europes leading Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software provider today announced its launch of the Gmail Link app. The Gmail Link is a browser extension that allows SuperOffice users to connect their Gmail account to their SuperOffice CRM solution. The Gmail Link works perfectly for companies using Gmail in combination with SuperOffice on a Windows PC or Mac or in combination with G-Suite from Google.

Markets and preferences change, including which email service individuals and businesses prefer to use. Where Microsoft Exchange with Outlook and Lotus Notes were the de-facto email systems for companies in the past, Gmail has increasingly become a contender in the business market.

Today, Gmail has over 1 billion active users* and as many as 5 million businesses on the service.

Offering flexibility and making your working day simpler and more productive has always been the cornerstone of our business,  Gisle Jentoft, CEO of SuperOffice says, so letting our customers use their preferred email client instead of forcing them to choose is important to us. he continues.

The Gmail Link app from SuperOffice allows users to easily store their emails directly into their central CRM database so that all customer information and conversations are kept in one place. Previous to this app, there was no way to link the two systems together.

Guttorm Nielsen, CPO, explains We know that a big part of the customer dialogue is via email, particularly in the business to business market. Making email communication available in your central CRM database contributes hugely to achieving the full overview of customer relationships. Our aim is to make it easy for each and every person to store important customer mail so that it is available for everyone in the company who needs it.

Similar to the existing mail-links for Outlook and Lotus Notes from SuperOffice, the Gmail Link allows a user to archive an incoming email or an attachment straight into the central SuperOffice CRM database.

Users can store incoming and outgoing emails, store attachments as documents, turn an email into a follow-up in their calendar or create a support ticket in SuperOffice Service. These features help the user manage their inbox as well as improve their daily work flow.

In addition, new email addresses can easily be added from Gmail into the SuperOffice customer database, which makes it easy to build CRM data and improve its quality.

Currently the Gmail Link works with Chrome and Firefox in SuperOffices cloud solution; SuperOffice CRM Online. Later this year, Gmail link will also work with Microsoft Edge and SuperOffice CRM onsite.

Gmail Link is available now as a download from the SuperOffice App Store and the Chrome Web Store.

About SuperOffice AS

Driven by a passion for Customer Relationship Management (CRM), SuperOffice makes award winning CRM software for sales, marketing and customer service. As the leading European CRM provider, SuperOffice is trusted and used by more than 11,000 companies.
We have never had a more senior line-up or a more exciting exhibition, a testament to the exciting developments in the automotive industry and the importance of the effect these technologies will have on society

Now in its 17th year, the event unites 3000 executives from across automotive technology, specifically those working on connected and autonomous technologies.

The conference features high level speakers from Ford Smart Mobility, General Motors, Porsche Digital, Volkswagen and more, addressing key questions shaping the future of mobility such as autonomous cars, smart cities and the IoT. See the full program & line-up here: http://www.tu-auto.com/detroit/conference-agenda-full.php

The exhibition includes live demos and autonomous test drives from companies including Bosch, Panasonic, Perrone Robotics, TomTom, and RideCell, enabling attendees to test new technologies. See the list of exhibitors here: http://www.tu-auto.com/detroit/exhibit-list.php

Annie Reddaway, senior project director for TU-Automotive Detroit, stated: We have never had a more senior line-up or a more exciting exhibition, a testament to the exciting developments in the automotive industry and the importance of the effect these technologies will have on society.

Press passes include:



Full 2-day access to the conference, including the exhibition and networking parties

Access to the press room and speaker Q&A hub

Access to the VIP lunch with speakers

Press can register here: http://www.tu-auto.com/detroit/press-registration.php

NB: TU-Automotive will verify press credentials. Analysts and consultants do not qualify for a press pass.

Follow the conversation at #TUDetroit or get involved via detroit(at)tu-auto(dot)com or + 44 (0) 207 375 7585 / 1 800 814 3459 ext. 7585

About TU-Automotive:

TU-Automotive is a world leader in providing events and business intelligence to the automotive technology community, covering telematics, mobility, autonomous vehicles and legal & insurance. You can sign up to receive free weekly updates, including exclusive industry analysis, interviews and insights at: http://www.tu-auto.com

Contact:

Annie Reddaway

Senior Project Director | TU-Automotive

E: annie(at)tu-auto(dot)com

T: +44 (0)207 55 19827
iHire has been acknowledged for their exceptional workplace practices in the form of two AWE Awards: Workplace Excellence Seal of Approval Award and Health and Wellness Seal of Approval Award. This is the fifth consecutive year iHire has been recognized by the AWE.

The Workplace Excellence Seal of Approval Award recognizes companies who show an outstanding commitment to overall workplace quality. They are evaluated on programs in communication, diversity, employee growth, work-life balance, and more. iHire is a Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE), evaluating employees on their performance (rather than their presence) and focusing on results, self-management, and flexibility.

The Health and Wellness Seal of Approval Award is given to organizations that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to employee health and wellnessand have led the way by developing innovative programs. Educational sessions, newsletters, wellness challenges, healthy food options, onsite biometric screenings, and gym discounts are among iHires various wellness offerings.

All award recipients undergo a rigorous assessment process led by an independent review panel of business professionals and masters and Ph.D.-level students in the fields of business, industrial and organizational psychology, human resources, environmental science, public health, and diversity and inclusion.

iHire strives to create an environment where our employees can thrive and maintain a work-life balance, said Vickie Krolak, iHires Administrative Manager. Were honored to receive these awards again this year and look forward to continually improving our workplace quality and employee wellness initiatives.

The AWE will host their Annual Awards Luncheon on June 9, 2017. This year marks the 18th year that AWE will recognize excellence in the workplace. The 54 award-winning companies represent organizations of all sizes and in all industry types from across the United States.

About iHire, LLC

iHire offers a network of industry job boards dedicated to specific professions, enabling job seekers and employers to reach their employment goals by focusing their searches. iHire provides job seekers a single place to find jobs that are posted all over the internet, including places like small and large business websites, government databases, and industry associations in addition to other services such as resume writing/formatting. For employers, iHire provides straightforward hiring tools to help fill open positions quickly and cost effectively. iHire understands that successful recruiting isnt about a lot of resumes; its about the right resumes. Thats why iHire offers an industry focus with network reach, enabling employers a fast, affordable way to reach the right candidates. Visit http://www.ihire.com for more information.

About AWE

The Alliance for Workplace Excellence (AWE) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 1999 by Montgomery County, MD and Discovery Communications. Over the past 17 years, AWE has been dedicated to empowering employers to build excellence in the workplace as a means of supporting the quality of life for employees, their families, and the community at-large. AWE is dedicated to increasing the number of excellent workplaces within the business community through education and recognition, as a means to enhance the quality of life of its citizens and empower economic growth.

For more information, please visit http://www.excellentworkplace.org/.
Northern Westchester Hospital

Northern Westchester Hospital (NWH) will hold its Annual Benefit themed Leading The Way, Together on Saturday, November 18, 2017 at the Saw Mill Club, 77 Kensico Drive, Mt. Kisco, New York. The Hospital will pay tribute to physician honoree, David William Miller, MD, Chief of Anesthesiology and community honoree, Nancy Karch, Chair of Northern Westchester Hospital Board of Trustees. The benefit co-chairs are Albert and Doris Chance and Steven and Harriett Libov.

Dr. Miller and Nancy Karch exemplify the long-standing tradition of community engagement and steadfast leadership that have been constants since the founding of Northern Westchester Hospital over 100 years ago. They have been unstinting with their time, energy and expertise. Their generous intellectual contributions and financial support have helped position Northern Westchester Hospital as a leading regional provider, an innovator in the delivery of healthcare, and an unfaltering community resource, says Joel Seligman, President & CEO, Northern Westchester Hospital. Their dedication to the health and well-being of our community is commendable and an inspiration for many. It is with great pride that we honor them at our annual benefit.

Dr. Miller, a resident of Armonk, New York, and a MEDNAX-affiliated anesthesiologist, has served as Chief of Anesthesia at NWH since 2003. He is a member of the Northern Westchester Hospital Medical Board, Board of Trustees and Foundation Board. During his tenure, Dr. Miller has recruited and mentored some of the most talented clinicians in the field. His commitment to excellence, high standards, state-of-the art technology and patient-centered care has helped create one of the regions most outstanding surgical programs, said Marla Koroly, MD, FACP, MBA, Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs, Northern Westchester Hospital.

In addition, he and his wife Lauri are active philanthropists and benefactors of Northern Westchester Hospital, contributing to the Laurie Bass Sklaver Infusion Center and the Capital Campaign for the first phase of the Hospitals Surgical Services Modernization, and donating to the Leukemia Society and the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.

I am thrilled and grateful to be honored at this years benefit, said Dr. Miller. As both a member of the community and the clinical leadership team, I have immense pride in this institution. Im humbled by the recognition, and thankful that Im afforded the opportunity to contribute to the success of such a worthwhile organization.

Ms. Karch, a resident of Katonah, is a former Senior Partner of the international consulting firm McKinsey & Company where she spent 26 years; she joined the Northern Westchester Board of Trustees in 2006. Since then, she has been involved in some of the most consequential decisions in the Hospitals history. She played a key role in the development of Northern Westchester Hospitals strategic plan, as well as a new master plan for its campus which, last spring, resulted in the opening of six, new fully-integrated operating rooms and a new pre- and post-operative suite with 14 private bays.

Under the leadership of immediate past Board Chair The Honorable Robert Spolzino, Ms. Karch chaired the committee that led the search for a new parent, culminating in January 2015, when Northern Westchester Hospital became part of Northwell Health, New York States largest healthcare system. When she became Chair of the Board in 2015, Ms. Karch led the transition, ensuring that Northern Westchester Hospital received effective representation within Northwell at the system level. In 2015, she was appointed to serve on Northwell Healths Board of Trustees.

We are honoring Nancy Karch for her extraordinary leadership of and commitment to Northern Westchester Hospital. Nancy has given generously of her time and expertise to ensure this Hospital is well-positioned to meet the needs of our community for decades to come. As a well-respected leader in business and the nonprofit community, her philanthropic support is an endorsement and a testament to her commitment to the Hospitals success: A commitment shes shown for over 10 years, said Mr. Seligman. Most recently, Ms. Karch has been leading the way as Northern Westchester Hospital redefines its role as a leader in community health and wellness and the impact the Hospital has outside its four walls.

Northern Westchester Hospital is exceptional. I am honored to be recognized by such an esteemed organization, and Im even more grateful for the opportunity to contribute to its ever expanding excellence and positive impact on our community, stated Ms. Karch. The impact of high-quality care, the significance of engaged patients and families, the importance of supporting the caregiver, and the value of community wellness and education are understood and embraced by every staff member, enabling the hospital to serve its mission, and thrive. It is a privilege to be one of the many supporters of Northern Westchester Hospital and the Northwell Health System.

The Leading The Way, Together benefit will take place at the Saw Mill Club and the menu will be provided by Abigail Kirsch. Cocktails begin at 6:30 p.m. with dinner at 8 p.m. For additional information, please contact Gaby Golod Greenwald at 914.242.8392 or ggreenwald(at)northwell(dot)edu.

About Northern Westchester Hospital

Northern Westchester Hospital (NWH), a member of the Northwell Health, provides quality, patient-centered care that is close to home through a unique combination of medical expertise, leading-edge technology, and a commitment to humanity. Over 650 highly-skilled physicians, state-of-the-art technology and professional staff of caregivers are all in place to ensure that you and your family receive treatment in a caring, respectful and nurturing environment. NWH has established extensive internal quality measurements that surpass the standards defined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA) National Hospital Quality Measures. Our high-quality standards help to ensure that the treatment you receive at NWH is among the best in the nation. For more information, please visit http://www.nwhc.net and connect with us on Facebook.

About Northwell Health

Northwell Health is New York States largest health care provider and private employer, with 21 hospitals and over 550 outpatient facilities. We care for more than two million people annually in the metro New York area and beyond, thanks to philanthropic support from our communities. Our 61,000 employees  15,000+ nurses and nearly 3,400 physicians, including nearly 2,700 members of Northwell Health Physician Partners -- are working to change health care for the better. Were making breakthroughs in medicine at the Feinstein Institute. We're training the next generation of medical professionals at the visionary Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine and the School of Graduate Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies. And we offer health insurance through CareConnect. For information on our more than 100 medical specialties, visit Northwell.edu.
The Stand Up & Be Counted Gala will be held at Gotham Hall on Thursday, May 18, to celebrate its 10-year anniversary. The Gala benefits the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV), a residential community designed to nurture the countrys orphans in the wake of the Rwandan Genocide.

Agahozo-Shalom is a 144-acre residential community in Rwanda committed to healing and nurturing vulnerable youths impacted by the Rwandan 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. It seeks to transform lives and grow its residents into self-sufficient and engaged global change makers.

We are so grateful for all those who make Agahozo-Shalom possible, said executive director Jean-Claude Nkulikiyimfura. They give hope, joy and progress to children who faced poverty, neglect and abuse. Students graduate as balanced adults who are not only able to care for themselves and their families, but who are committed to making their community, their country, and their world a better place.

Conceived by the late Anne Heyman, a well-known philanthropist and native of South Africa, ASYV was modeled after the way Israel cared for orphans after the Holocaust. It provides a safe and loving community as a backdrop for educational, healthcare and enrichment programs  all designed to help residents grow emotionally and intellectually.

The ASYV is a place where "tears are dried" (signified by the Kinyarwanda word "agahozo") and students can live in peace (from the Hebrew "shalom"). In addition to healing oneself, Agahozo-Shalom teaches the principle and practice of healing one's community, and encourages students to mend the world around them.

Today ASYV is operating at a capacity of 525 students, distributed over four grades and has alumni spread throughout the world, including in the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, and many others.

To purchase Gala tickets and to learn more about ASYV, click here.
Qualis Health, one of the nation's leading population health management organizations, has released proceedings for the symposium, Primary Care in the United States: Lessons Learned to Inform Global Efforts to Improve Primary Care. The symposium was convened with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The symposium showcased key concepts and approaches from American primary care to inform efforts to strengthen health systems in low- and middle-income countries.

Sixteen experts from across the U.S. shared examples of healthcare delivery that illustrate high-functioning primary care, and described system innovations for improved care, better population health, and effective healthcare spending. Presenters introduced several emerging U.S. models of primary care delivery system design and recent innovations serving diverse populations. A distinguished reactor panel reflected on aspects of these American examples of interest to those working on primary healthcare system improvements globally.

Although we currently have a disconnected patchwork of primary care delivery models in the U.S., some of the systems operate very effectively, observes Jonathan Sugarman, MD, MPH, Qualis Health President & CEO. So while other countries may not seek to emulate U.S. healthcare as a whole, exemplary U.S. primary care systems can serve as a source of ideas and inspiration for those seeking to improve primary care throughout the world.

For those of us working on global integrated healthcare delivery, the body of work presented at the symposium represents a wealth of knowledge with high potential value in primary healthcare system improvement efforts happening globally, says Jack Langenbrunner, Senior Program Officer, Comparative Health Systems, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

View the symposium proceedings.

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About Qualis Health

Qualis Health is one of the nations leading population health management organizations, and a leader in improving care delivery and patient outcomes, working with clients throughout the public and private sector to advance the quality, efficiency and value of healthcare for millions of Americans every day. We deliver solutions to ensure that our partners transform the care they provide, with a focus on process improvement, care management and effective use of health information technology. For more information, visit http://www.QualisHealth.org.
Our clients have been amazed at the depth of intelligence and level of detail the new features give them. Were keeping them two steps ahead of their competition.

JETNET LLC, the world leader in aviation market intelligence, will demonstrate a series of new releases and features in their aircraft research service lineup at EBACE2017 at the Geneva Palexpo in Geneva, Switzerland. Highlights this year include: Aerodex Elite, a new product that combines owner/operator data with the FAAs Traffic Flow Management System in near real time; a mobile implementation of JETNET Aerodex; a new, in-depth intelligence feature dubbed INTEL, including a new Utilization option; JETNET Values, with Reported Sold Prices Program, previewed last year and now is setting new standards for aircraft resale reporting; their YachtSpot product line; and JETNETs admission into the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA). JETNETs full suite of services will be available for review at the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition, May 22nd-24th, at booth # X129.

This year, weve put our resources behind developing new services, while enhancing our existing products, said Tony Esposito, JETNET Vice President. Our clients have been amazed at the depth of intelligence and level of detail the new features give them. Were keeping them two steps ahead of their competition.

Aerodex Elite

Aerodex Elite is a new JETNET product that combines a strong owner/operator database with a new application to manage the FAAs Traffic Flow Management System (TFMS) in near real time. The product includes live access to current and historical utilization reports at the aircraft serial number level, for customers and prospects on the ground and in the air. Subscribers can investigate and understand the activities of aircraft within the FAA airspace, and the airports and companies that charter, manage, operate, refuel, and service these assets. Clients also receive detailed current and historical analysis and summaries by individual aircraft, or fleets across operator(s), airport(s), and management companies, with fuel uplift details and more.

Aerodex Mobile

JETNETs popular Aerodex service has now been implemented as a mobile platform and made available to subscribers of Aerodex Elite and standard Aerodex. This mobile platform version makes vital data available on a handheld device. The service is a version of Aerodex and Aerodex Elite tailored specifically for FBOs, MROs, and other service providers who need accurate and timely information on aircraft owners and operators worldwide. Clients now have access to the full capability through any mobile device.

JETNET INTEL

INTEL (Intelligence) is JETNETs new shortcut tool, providing one-click access to comprehensive single-page summaries about utilization, and extensive portfolio data on each aircraft, company, operator, airport, and more. Available to all Evolution Marketplace and Aerodex Elite customers, INTEL maximizes search effectiveness, especially for LIVE subscribers. INTEL pulls together and presents data accurately, easily, and with customized exporting capabilities.

When a company details page is displayed, an additional INTEL menu will appear for companies that have additional intelligence to be displayed. When an aircraft details page is displayed, an additional INTEL menu may appear for aircraft that have additional intelligence to be displayed. A Utilization option on the INTEL menu will summarize utilization for an airport, aircraft, company, or operator. Intel is already allowing customers to see how Utilization views can better inform their understanding of aircraft workloads by individual airframe, or by fleet.

JETNET Values

Subscriptions to JETNET Values, announced just last year, have grown rapidly, with wide acceptance of the program across the aviation industry. A single-source solution designed by JETNET, Values provides reported sold prices, combined with data assessment tools that aviation professionals can use to make informed decisions relating to finance, insurance, valuation, appraisals, and more.

Values is offered as an optional add-on component to the JETNET Marketplace program, and includes a database of reported aircraft sales prices with tools to predict and summarize trends. New sales prices are voluntarily provided to JETNET daily by reputable sources from among its network of subscribers. JETNET reports that Values is now populated with more than 2,600 sales prices for more than 225 different aircraft modelsmost of which pertain to transactions having occurred within the last 18 monthsfrom more than 275 independent sources. The firm has also built a host of tools in its Marketplace Manager customer relationship manager (CRM) for those users to maintain their own proprietary database of sales prices alongside those gathered by JETNET. They have also announced a new incentive program through which new subscribers to JETNET Values in 2017 will receive complimentary 12-month use of Marketplace Manager at no additional charge.

Values was launched in response to what we detected as desperation of our customers to better understand the current and unprecedented trend in aircraft residual values, said Paul Cardarelli, JETNET Vice President of Sales. We know this is a sensitive areathat the resale markets generally hold such intelligence in a very guarded mannerand we respect that. But reliable information is what we are tasked to provide our customers, and we believe that ultimately it makes for a market that performs in optimal fashion. One year after the launch of Values, we are gratified to have received a high level of interest and cooperation for this initiative.

YachtSpot

The YachtSpot database continues to penetrate the worldwide luxury fleet, expanding to nearly 7,000 vessels at or greater than 24 meters. Of increasing importance to both the yacht and aircraft industries, YachtSpot is the only database providing detailed information about those individuals and businesses with relationships to both on a worldwide basis. Within one platform, OEMs, dealers and brokers, and shipyards can examine the YachtSpot ranking of top performers in yacht and aircraft resale and charter. Rapidly becoming the most in-depth collection of fleet information by hundreds of metrics, YachtSpot brings clarity to the assets with key contacts about resale or charter opportunities, classification, flagged countries, amenities, pedigree, and more. YachtSpot is the only database designed to introduce professionals from aviation and yacht industries to each other, and to opportunities for collaboration in resale, charter, referrals, insurance, finance, and more.

EBAA Membership

In February JETNET was admitted as a member of the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA). They were also selected to participate as a member of EBAAs Associate Member Council (AMAC), specifically, the subcommittee for Aircraft Sales and Acquisitions.

We are delighted to join EBAA and to have the opportunity it affords us to shape the future of business aviation in Europe, said Karim Derbala, JETNET Managing Director of Global Sales. JETNET has long regarded Europe as a major player in our industry. Today the continent represents 10% of the fixed wingand 22% of the rotary wingglobal fleet, generating nearly E$20B in annual revenue, and employing some 164,000 people. Business aviation is a true economic powerhouse here, and EBAA is its true advocate.

JETNET Reach

Among JETNETs clientele are leading manufacturers, suppliers, and government and advocacy groups for business and commercial aviation worldwide. JETNETs database of in-operation aircraft exceeds 100,000 airframes, which includes business jets, business turboprops, commercial airliners (both jets and turboprops), and helicopters (both turbine and piston).

2017 marks JETNET's sixteenth consecutive appearance at EBACE, added Tony Esposito. This has always been an excellent venue for us, one where we have learned much about the highly important European component of the global business aviation market. And while the last eight years have been a challenge for us all, today there is an undeniable optimism for the future. Its evident in North Americaand even more so throughout Europeso we are delighted to return to Geneva with so many wonderful new tools to better serve this great industry.

The JETNET database includes comprehensive details on aircraft airframes, engines, avionics, and cabin amenities, as well as aircraft owners and operators, lessors and lessees, fractional owners, and a host of other entities associated with aircraft. Also included are transaction histories on aircraft dating back more than 25 years, monthly aircraft market summary reports, and a variety of other tools for assessing the global fleet and aircraft marketplace.

JETNET invites attendees to see all of their new product and service offerings at this years EBACE, May 22nd-24th, at booth # X129. Additionally, on Monday, May 22nd at 11am in Salle R, they will conduct their annual JETNET iQ European State of the Business Jet Market briefing. All business aviation professionals and press are invited to attend.

Since 1988, JETNET has delivered the most comprehensive and reliable business aircraft research to its exclusive clientele of aviation professionals worldwide. JETNET is the ultimate source for information and intelligence on the worldwide business, commercial, and helicopter aircraft fleet and marketplace, comprised of some 100,000 airframes. Headquartered in its state-of-the-art facility in Utica, NY, JETNET offers comprehensive user-friendly aircraft data via real-time internet access or regular updates.
Dow-Key Microwave We are excited to showcase our newest generation of switch matrix product line, the Miniature MS-series (MMS)

Dow-Key Microwave, part of the Microwave Products Group (MPG) - a subsidiary of Dover Corporation, to exhibit solutions up to 40 GHz at AUVSI Xponential: Microwave Products Group Booth 420.

On May 8, 2017, the largest global community of leaders in drones, intelligent robotics and unmanned systems will come together to shape the future of our industry. AUVSI Xponential 2017 will equip you with insights, solutions and opportunities for the industrys newest developments and challenges.

This year, AUVSI Xponential will be held in Dallas, Texas, on May 8-11 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center with Dow-Key Microwave - the oldest continuously operating switch manufacturer in the United States, showcasing a broad array of high quality and reliable 40 GHz electro-mechanical switches, in addition to, switch solutions such as the Reliant Switch and Miniature MS-Series Matrix used for Automated Test applications.

Dow-Key Microwave is committed to providing a wide selection of coaxial switch options operating up to 40 GHz, which can be configured for a variety of ATE and military applications.

Our 40 GHz switching solutions are legacy products proven over and over again, which supports high speed testing and application that operates from 28 GHz and up to 40 GHz such as millimeter wave drones and devices designed for the 5G network, said Sara Nazemzadeh, Dow-Key Microwaves Matrix Product Sales Manager. This product line is also offered both with terminated or non-terminated RF ports, catering to applications that may need the transition line to be terminated.

For applications, on the lower end of the 5G spectrum, We are excited to showcase our newest generation of switch matrix product line, the Miniature MS-series (MMS). It is an ideal solution for routing RF signals in test and measurement applications up to 26.5 GHz or to use as a VNA port extender. The MMS-Series comes equipped with the users choice of high performance Reliant Switches in a compact enclosure, taking minimal real estate space in a test lab said Sara Nazemzadeh. Furthermore, the Reliant Switch design features a guaranteed insertion loss repeat-ability of 0.03 dB across the entire frequency band of DC to 26.5 GHz, and it comes with an extended life of a minimum of 10 Million Life Cycles for SPDTs and 5 Million Life Cycles for SP6Ts, which is perfect for high density and high repeat-ability RF test applications.

For more information please visit Dow-Key Microwave at Microwave Products Group Booth 420.

About Dow-Key Microwave Corporation

As the worlds largest manufacturer of electromechanical switches, Dow-Key Microwave Corporation is committed to providing unparalleled customer service, competitive pricing, on-time delivery and products that are distinguished by quality and reliability. Founded in 1945, Dow-Key is the oldest continuously operating switch manufacturer in the United States. Today, the company is part of the Microwave Products Group, a subsidiary of Dover Corporation. Dover is a multi-billion dollar, diversified manufacturer of a wide range of proprietary electronic components and systems

Dow-Key Facebook Page
The Queensbridge Connected, Community-Wide Wi-Fi network model, implemented at Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City, NY, received the Digital Inclusion Award this Tuesday at the Broadband Communities Summit. In attendance at the Broadband Summit were Joshua Breitbart, Senior Advisor for Broadband at Office of the Mayor New York City, Alfonso Jenkins, Deputy Commissioner for Telecommunications Planning at New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications and Dick Sherwin, President and CEO of Spot On Networks. Breitbart and Jenkins accepted the award which was awarded by Next Century Cities in partnership with Google Fiber.

The Queensbridge Connected model is the first collaboration between the City of New Yorks Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DOITT) and the Citys public housing authority (NYCHA). Queensbridge Connected is a part of the OneNYC Broadband Initiatives promise to invest in networks providing high-speed residential access either free or at low-cost for low-income communities.

Spot On Networks was awarded the Queensbridge Houses contract by the City of New York to design, build, implement and support the Queensbridge Connected community-wide Wi-Fi network in 2016. The Network provides free high speed Wi-Fi internet and Wi-Fi calling access with speeds up to 25 Mbps and seamless connectivity throughout the community. Furthering the mission to Bridge the Digital Divide, Spot On has hired and trained residents within Queensbridge Houses to assist in building, supporting and promoting the Queensbridge Connected network. The model of employing residents to make Queensbridge Connected a reality has proven essential to the success of the project.

We are proud to have been chosen as the Wi-Fi service provider for Queensbridge Houses, stated Dick Sherwin, President & CEO of Spot On Networks, and we stand firmly with New York City on the importance of Broadband for All and Bridging the Digital Divide. The City of New York is clearly the leader on community-wide Digital Inclusion. We at Spot On Networks believe that the Queensbridge Connected Wi-Fi network is the ideal model for future community-wide broadband networks in the affordable housing sector.

About the Digital Inclusion Leadership Award

The Digital Inclusion Leadership Awards program is given by Next Century Cities in partnership with Google Fiber. According to a press release on the Next Century Cities website, These awards celebrate city and county governments that are leading programs or empowering community-based organizations to tackle barriers to Internet adoption. The awards are an opportunity to celebrate the cities that are leading community changing programs and encourage public leaders to get involved in digital inclusion by sharing best practices.

About Spot On Networks

Spot On Networks (SON) is a wireless internet service provider and wireless consulting company representing tens of thousands of residential and commercial tenants, nationwide. SON designs, deploys and manages carrier grade Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Calling and CellBoost networks to multifamily, senior living, hospitality, retail and commercial buildings. Spot Ons wireless networks are backed by patented network architecture and UserSafe technology.

SON is the leading provider of managed Wi-Fi networks and in-building voice solutions to the U.S. multitenant housing market and is a trusted leader in wireless since 2004. SON develops wireless solutions to solve the most pressing problems facing todays buildin
General (Ret) David H. Petraeus General Petraeus is one of the most successful and decorated military leaders of our generation. We are confident that his presence will attract great enthusiasm in support of the Navy SEAL Foundation. -Bill Strong

The Navy SEAL Foundation announced today that respected four-star General (Ret) David H. Petraeus will serve as the keynote speaker for the 6th Annual Navy SEAL Foundation Chicago Evening of Tribute event chaired by Sandi and Bill Strong on the evening of Wednesday, September 27th.

Sandi and I are honored to chair this special event for an exceptional organization. General Petraeus is one of the most successful and decorated military leaders of our generation. We are confident that his presence will attract great enthusiasm in support of the Navy SEAL Foundation.

Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, there has been an unprecedented demand for our Special Operations Forces. Never before has so much been asked of so few, from so many, for so long. The Navy SEAL Foundation Chicago Tribute event is a superb way for each of us to say thank you to the Naval Special Warfare community and their families for their service to our Nation, stated Bill Strong.

The Navy SEAL Foundation's mission is to provide immediate and ongoing support and assistance to the Naval Special Warfare (NSW) community and its families.

U.S. Navy SEALs have been in sustained combat for over 16 years, performing hazardous work in unforgiving environments at an unrelenting pace. SEALs are currently deployed in over 30+ countries across the globe and spend up to 270 days each year in harm's way. The Navy SEAL Foundation stands behind these warriors and their families by providing a comprehensive set of programs specifically designed to improve health and welfare, build and enhance resiliency, empower and educate families and provide critical support during times of illness, injury or loss.

Like the community it serves, the Foundation is a solid, high performing organization committed to excellence. 93 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to current or future programs. This year, the Navy SEAL Foundation received its 5th consecutive 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, a top charity watchdog, for sound fiscal management and commitment to accountability and transparency (top .6% of all rated charities).

To learn more about the Navy SEAL Foundation and the Chicago Evening of Tribute, please visit http://bit.ly/ChicagoEOT2017 or call Jessica Barr or Lisa Wagner at 630-472-9661.

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We are excited to welcome the HIT faculty and staff into the SAE Institute family and look forward building on the strong foundation in audio engineering and music production programs that they have delivered to the students of Vancouver. Past News Releases RSS

SAE Institute has announced the acquisition of Canadian audio engineering school, Harbourside Institute of Technology (HIT). The acquisition was finalized and made effective on May 1, 2017.

Located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Harbourside Institute of Technology is a boutique school with programs in Audio Engineering and Music Production, as well as highly specialized courses in Avid Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Songwriting, Live Sound, and more. The institute is an Avid Learning Partner, and one of only a few Ableton certified Audio Engineering and Music Production schools in Canada.

In addition to its industry partnerships and certifications, Harbourside Institute of Technology holds both the Education Quality Assurance (EQA) and Private Training Institutions Branch (PTIB) designations.

The acquisition of Harbourside Institute of Technology is a fantastic opportunity for SAE Institute to further expand its global footprint with entry into the Canadian education market, says, Michael Bottrill, President & General Manager of SAE Institute North America. We are excited to welcome the HIT faculty and staff into the SAE Institute family and look forward building on the strong foundation in audio engineering and music production programs that they have delivered to the students of Vancouver.

Harbourside Institute of Technology will integrate into the SAE Institute USA system, and the region will transition under the umbrella of SAE Institute North America.

For more information about its location, programs, and start dates, visit http://www.harboursideit.com.

About SAE Institute

SAE Institute provides aspiring creative media professionals with a foundation of practical theory and valuable hands-on training in their chosen areas of concentration. Under the guidance of industry-experienced faculty, students gain the essential experience they need for entry-level jobs in the creative media industry. Students are supported in their job searches by SAE Institutes international network of alumni, many of who are leaders in the music, film, game arts, and live performance arenas. SAE Institute offers accredited programs in Audio, Animation, Film, Games, and Music Business focused on preparing students for employment in the creative media industry upon graduation. SAE Institute Group, Inc. is a part of Navitas LTD. Learn more at usa.sae.edu.

About Navitas

Navitas is an Australian global education leader, providing pre-university and university programs, English language courses, migrant education and settlement services, creative media education, student recruitment, professional development, and corporate training services to more than 80,000 students across a network of over 120 colleges and campuses in 31 countries. Learn more at Navitas.com
Morrison & Foerster, a leading global law firm, is pleased to announce that Serena Tan has joined the firms Hong Kong office as partner in its Corporate Group. A native Mandarin speaker, Ms. Tan comes to the firm from Debevoise & Plimpton bringing strong expertise in fund formation and fund management. Her joining Morrison & Foerster also further builds on the firms recent expansion in Hong Kong.

Ms. Tan represents a wide range of sponsors and investors in the formation, structuring and related activities of buyout funds, growth capital funds, venture capital funds, co-investment vehicles, and other alternative investment funds. She also advises fund sponsors on carried interest plans, joint venture arrangements, and related internal governance matters. Ms. Tan has nearly 10 years experience advising on fund and corporate matters in New York, Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai. She is admitted to the New York Bar and passed the PRC Bar Exam in 2005.

I am delighted that Serena is the second funds partner in the last 18 months to join us in Hong Kong following in the footsteps of Jason Nelms, said Marcia Ellis, Co-Head of Asia Private Equity and a corporate partner in Morrison & Foersters Hong Kong office. Serenas arrival strengthens our already strong global private investment funds practice. I am confident that her addition will be central to enhancing the firms ability to advise sponsors and investors in Asia.

Venantius Tan, managing partner of Morrison & Foersters Hong Kong office, added: Serenas arrival further underscores our momentum in Hong Kong. She is the third lateral corporate partner to join the office in less than a year as we have also recently welcomed Chuan Sun and Vivian Yiu. As a native Mandarin speaker and having passed the PRC Bar Exam, Serena is also a great addition to the mix of our more than 40 U.S., Hong Kong, PRC, and English-qualified attorneys, the majority of whom are fully bilingual. Her addition is also hot off the heels of the recent promotions of Hong Kong-based Amit Kataria and Matthew Lau to partnership, in corporate and tax respectively.

Ms. Tans recent notable transactions include representing a China-focused private equity firm in its formation of a China buyout fund in excess of US$2 billion, a U.S. private equity firm in its formation of a RMB-denominated buyout and growth capital fund in excess of RMB2 billion, a China-focused private equity firm in its formation of a China buyout and growth capital fund in excess of US$2 billion, one of the largest Chinese insurance companies in its investments in multiple private equity funds, and one of the largest U.S.-listed companies in its investment in multiple private equity funds.

Morrison & Foersters market-leading fund formation practice, combined with its commitment to Hong Kong and the wider Asia market, made it a very attractive proposition for me to join the firm, Ms. Tan said. I look forward to working closely with Jason Nelms in the Hong Kong office and other members of Morrison & Foersters global private investment funds practice to contribute to the success of the practice, and help grow the firms strong reputation in Asia.

Ms. Tan holds an LL.B and an LL.M from Fudan University School of Law, Shanghai, and an LL.M from Harvard Law School.

ABOUT MOFO

We are Morrison & Foerster  a global firm of exceptional credentials. Our clients include some of the largest financial institutions, investment banks, Fortune 100, and technology and life sciences companies. The Financial Times has included the firm in its lists of most innovative law firms in North America and Asia every year that it has published its Innovative Lawyers Reports in those regions. In the past few years, Chambers USA has honored MoFos Bankruptcy and IP teams with Firm of the Year awards, the Corporate/M&A team with a client service award, and the firm as a whole as Global USA Firm of the Year. Our lawyers are committed to achieving innovative and business-minded results for our clients, while preserving the differences that make us stronger.
Today, YouEarnedIt, a leading HR SaaS company that improves bottom-line performance metrics by enhancing the employee experience, announced the company is a Silver Sponsor of the 2017 WorldatWork Total Rewards Conference in Washington, DC. YouEarnedIt will showcase its employee experience platform at Booth #206.

The WorldatWork conference is on Sunday, May 7 - Wednesday, May 10, 2017 at the Marriott Marquis Washington, D.C. The event brings together more than 1,200 HR professionals in total rewards, compensation, benefits and work-life effectiveness.

Were excited to be a part of the WorldatWork Conference for the first time, said Autumn Manning, co-founder and CEO of YouEarnedIt. As one of the top conferences for the HR industry, we look forward to meeting fellow industry leaders to share how YouEarnedIt helps companies improve their bottom-line by enhancing the employee experience.

The YouEarnedIt booth will showcase the four pillars of the employee experience. As the foundation of the YouEarnedIt platform, the four pillars are inspired by the science of motivation and the mission of improving the lives of people and their companies.



Appreciation: Real-time recognition tied to your core values

Impact: Engagement insights for employees and leadership

Meaning: Employee behavior rewards and incentives tailored to you

Connection: Social recognition feed accessible anywhere, on desktop and mobile

To learn more about YouEarnedIt and the companys participation at the 2017 WorldatWork Total Rewards Conference, visit http://www.youearnedit.com/totalrewards17.

About YouEarnedIt

YouEarnedIt is the employee experience platform powered by the science of motivation and the mission of improving employees' lives one company at a time. Founded in 2013, YouEarnedIt grows company culture and improves bottom-line performance metrics through its robust engagement platform. The Austin-based SaaS company and its technology platform center around the four pillars of employee experience: appreciation, impact, meaning, and connection. To request a demo, visit http://www.youearnedit.com/demo.
The GreenZone Hero Movement Veterans and their families need our support and so do the businesses who honor them as well. Enlisting your business as a GreenZone Hero is the right thing to do.  Mark Stough, BNI SW Florida Executive Director.

The worlds leading referral organization, BNI, has joined forces with GreenZone Hero to honor veterans and veteran-friendly businesses. BNI SW Florida, a veteran-friendly business is working with GreenZone Hero to create a collaboration and outreach to recognize businesses that honor our Veterans and help those businesses succeed.

The total population of Veterans in Central and Southwest Florida is 525,000. And, the total population of Veterans in Florida is 1,640,900. This is the third largest population of Veterans in the nation.

GreenZone Hero recognizes businesses that honor Veterans in the following ways: if a business is owned or managed by a Veteran, offers special Veteran discounts, a business that hires Veterans or disabled Veterans, and if a business makes donations of time, money, or other resources to organizations that serve Veterans.

BNI Southwest Florida is proud to partner with GreenZone Hero. I feel so indebted to our Veterans who've put their lives on the line to secure our American freedoms. The Veterans and their families need our support and so do the businesses who honor them as well. Enlisting your business as a GreenZone Hero is the right thing to do," said Mark Stough, BNI SW Florida Executive Director.

The collaboration supports the philosophy of BNI built upon the idea of Givers Gain. For BNI members who join GreenZone Hero, a set dollar amount of membership will help fund one of the non-profit GreenZone Hero Ambassadors, the Lone Survivor Foundation, established by Marcus Luttrell.

GreenZone Hero recently launched a "Best Practices" Operational Manual for all joining members. This value-added service includes statistics, tips, and action plans for businesses to represent themselves as Veteran-Friendly. In addition, the GreenZone Hero platform utilizes cutting-edge SEO performance tools and recently launched a Community Outreach Program providing access to Heroes of Valor films from Strong Eagle Media for movie screenings.

John Krotec, a veteran himself, said, My wife Ann and I were small business owners for twenty-three years so partnering with BNI of Southwest Florida is one of the greatest feelings in the world. BNI represents the backbone of America-the small business owners that employ over 80% of the workers in the U.S. Without them, the American economy doesn't exist."

For more information visit http://www.greenzonehero.com , http://www.bniswfl.com and http://www.lonesurvivorfoundation.org

About GreenZone Hero: The GreenZone Hero mission is to increase awareness of businesses that offer benefits to veterans and to help Member businesses grow commerce and prosper. GreenZone Hero also works to raise the profile of veteran-focused nonprofit foundations and to help raise donations and support for our Ambassador organizations.
"We are happy to showcase VisitorsCoverage's technology and capabilities to the right audience at TiEcon. It will be interesting to be in front of people who are focusing on hottest areas of innovation in the tech world. - Rajeev Shrivastava, CEO

VisitorsCoverage Inc. is proud to be the "Travel Insurance Partner" for TiEcon 2017, the worlds largest entrepreneurship conference. TiEcon 2017 will be held on May 5-6, 2017 at the Santa Clara Convention Center, in California, and will focus on the hottest topics on innovation and modern technology. As over 50,000 entrepreneurs and professionals globally are brought together, the association of VisitorsCoverage provides TiEcon attendees with a platform to benefit from various travel insurance products for their international travels.

"We are happy to showcase VisitorsCoverage's technology and capabilities to the right audience at TiEcon. It will be interesting to be in front of people who are focusing on hottest areas of innovation in the tech world. The insurance industry was always placed as underdog when it comes to technology and innovation. Let people see how VisitorsCoverage is changing the way the insurance industry is perceived," says Rajeev Shrivastava, CEO, VisitorsCoverage Inc.

VisitorsCoverage is a technology company providing the most innovative platform for consumers to procure a travel insurance policy instantly through any smart device anywhere in the world.

VisitorsCoverage is no stranger to innovation and developments in the tech world. With years of experience, VisitorsCoverage focuses on technology-driven travel insurance solutions by providing patented tools to ease the decision-making process. At TiEcon, VisitorsCoverage will be able to demonstrate its strength in the travel insurance industry with an array of services it provides such as business travel insurance, international travel insurance, global medical insurance, trip insurance and insurance for every need.

About VisitorsCoverage:

VisitorsCoverage Inc. is an innovative and online travel insurance solutions company, specializing in international travel and travel medical insurance. The products and services are focused on serving individuals and business travelers, global employees, international tourists and global citizens. VisitorsCoverage provides unbiased advice to acquire comprehensive travel medical insurance coverage with online buying convenience. VisitorsCoverage is privately held and headquartered in Santa Clara, in the heart of Silicon Valley.

For more information about VisitorsCoverage, visit http://www.VisitorsCoverage.com

About TiEcon 2017:

TiEcon is known as the worlds largest technology anchored conference, fit for entrepreneurs and professionals who consistently stay updated with the constant innovations in todays technology. TiEcon 2017 will focus on current trending topics and visions including machine learning, IoT, FinTech and more, about latest technological advances from a number of subject experts.
We are pleased to provide our global solution to Insurers in Asia Pacific and the Australia New Zealand region that will help them improve Customer Satisfaction, Customer Retention and Increase Policy Production per agent. - Sandeep Walia

Hitachi Solutions Asia Pacific, the leading provider of Microsoft-based ERP and CRM solutions, will be holding Lunch-and-Learn Events in Singapore, Philippines, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Australia. These events will focus on how Hitachi Solutions and Microsoft Dynamics 365 can address the challenges that Insurance companies face today.

The CRM for Insurance Lunch and Learn Events and Webinars will showcase Hitachis Solution for Insurance built on Microsoft Dynamics. The solution helps:



Manage and track new policy pipeline and improve production

Automate policy renewals

Streamline claims processing

Market more effectively

Achieve a single view of customers

Manage complaints and incidents

Improve Customer Service for Policy Holders

Hitachi Solutions Asia Pacific will also discuss how insurers can further improve their relationship with their clients and business partners by providing a customer-centric approach in doing business. With this solution, insurers are able to easily create and maintain a clear view of their customers from first contact through post-sales, improving agent productivity and thus expanding business growth.

The Digital Insurer  Becoming a Customer-centric Insurer in the Digital Age Webinar (Hong Kong)

Date: Wednesday, May 10th, 2017

Time: 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM HKT

Register Here: http://bit.ly/2q0Xq20

CRM for Insurance Lunch and Learn Event (Philippines)

Date: Thursday, May 11th, 2017

Time: 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM PHT

Register Here: http://bit.ly/2oQI8fQ

CRM for Insurance Lunch and Learn Event (Singapore)

Date: Wednesday, June 28th, 2017

Time: 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM SGT

Register Here: http://bit.ly/2pgxyy9

CRM for Insurance Lunch and Learn Event (Australia)

Date: Wednesday, August 2nd, 2017

Time: 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM AEST

Register Here: http://bit.ly/2ouNz4m

CRM for Insurance Lunch and Learn Event (Kuala Lumpur)

Date: Tuesday, September 12th, 2017

Time: 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM MYT

Register Here: http://bit.ly/2qqYBaU

We understand the business of Insurance and its IT needs. We are pleased to provide our global solution to Insurers in Asia Pacific and the Australia New Zealand region that will help them improve Customer Satisfaction, Customer Retention and Increase Policy Production per agent. said Sandeep Walia, President, Hitachi Solutions Asia Pacific.

For more information on the CRM for Insurance Webinar and Lunch and Learn events, please email apacmarketing(at)hitachisolutions(dot)com.

About Hitachi Solutions Asia Pacific

Hitachi Solutions Asia Pacific helps its customers to successfully compete with the largest global enterprises using powerful, easy-to-use, and affordable industry solutions built on Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics CRM enhanced with world class Business Analytics, and Portals and Collaboration. Recognized as the Microsoft ERP Partner of year in 2015 and 2015 and Microsoft Partner of the Year in Asia Pacific in 2015, Microsoft CRM Global Partner of the Year in 2014 and the 2014 Dynamics Global Outstanding Reseller of the Year. Hitachi Solutions Group provides global capabilities with regional offices and team members in the Asia Pacific region including Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. For more information visit: http://apac.hitachi-solutions.com/.

About Hitachi Solutions, Ltd.

Hitachi Solutions, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the core IT Companies of Hitachi Group and a recognized leader in delivering proven business and IT strategies and solutions to companies across many industries. The company provides value-driven services throughout the IT life cycle from systems planning to systems integration, operation and maintenance. Hitachi Solutions delivers products and services of superior value to customers worldwide through key subsidiaries in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, India, China, and Asia Pacific. For more information on Hitachi Solutions, please visit: http://www.hitachi-solutions.com.

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, delivers innovations that answer societys challenges with our talented team and proven experience in global markets. The companys consolidated revenues for fiscal 2015 (ended March 31, 2016) totaled 10,034 billion yen ($88.8 billion). Hitachi is focusing more than ever on the Social Innovation Business, which includes power & infrastructure systems, information & telecommunication systems, construction machinery, high functional materials & components, automotive systems, healthcare and others. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the companys website at http://www.hitachi.com.
Actress Kerry Cahill on the red carpet for Free State of Jones Help Heal Veterans CEO, Joe McClain said, We have had such a tremendous outpouring of veterans requesting one of these wristbands. This particular kit hits home with our veterans."

Help Heal Veterans (Heal Vets), is getting ready to launch one of its newest craft kits in partnership with The Walking Dead actress Kerry Cahill. In preparation for the launch, Heal Vets is donating 750 wristbands to The Event Industry Gives Back, a program on the agenda of the Experiential Marketing Summit in Chicago where marketers from Fortune 1000 brands and agencies from around the world will assemble therapy kits for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. This program is produced by leading experiential agency Sparks and executed in collaboration with Headstrong Project, the nations leading mental heath care service for veterans. Help Heal Veterans CEO, Joe McClain said, We have had such a tremendous outpouring of veterans requesting one of these wristbands. This particular kit hits home with our veterans, and it not only helps them heal but also gives them a sense of pride because of who Michael Cahill is to them. He is a hero.

This wristband was created to replicate the wristband Cahills father wore almost daily. Cahills dad was killed in the terrorist attack on Fort Hood while he was trying to charge the shooter and save fellow veterans. The goal for both Heal Vets and Cahill was to create something that veterans who suffered from PTSD could benefit from both physically and by honoring a fellow fallen veteran. Actress Kerry Cahill said, I am overwhelmed by the thought of all the people that will be helped by the Cahill craft kit. Helping others is just what my father did his entire life and what he was doing when he died. Now fellow veterans will be continually rehabilitated from my dads kit. It is very appropriate, and I couldnt be more thankful for Heal Veterans for highlighting my fathers legacy.

Arts and crafts provide therapeutic and rehabilitative benefits to patients recuperating from injuries such as amputations, shrapnel wounds, paralysis or traumatic brain injuries. Heal Vets arts and crafts also provide therapy for veterans suffering from memory loss, stroke or extremity weakness. As projects are completed, they instill a sense of accomplishment, improve self-esteem, and sometimes even demonstrate unrecognized artistic talents.

About Help Heal Veterans: Help Heal Veterans, a nonprofit organization, founded during the Vietnam War, supplies free arts-and-crafts kits to injured servicemen and women and U.S. veterans. The kits often become a part of the patients treatment plan, providing a creative outlet for stress and boredom and a way to rebuild confidence and self-esteem. Help Heal Veterans has distributed more than 29 million kits since 1971 from hundreds of craft categories.

About Actress Kerry Cahill

Born in Helena, Montana, Kerry Cahill grew up an army brat in small rural towns of Montana, Oregon, and Texas. Cahill studied Drama at Loyola University New Orleans; the British American Drama Academy Oxford; and Queens University Belfast, later moving to Chicago to study with Second City, the Profiles Theater, and Rick Snyder. Cahills film break came under the direction of Werner Herzog in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. Her film career has continued to gain momentum as she has worked alongside Reese Witherspoon, Paul Walker, Uzo Aduba, and Woody Harrelson. She appeared alongside Jason Clark in Terminator Genisys and had a significant role in the recent Free State of Jones with director Gary Ross and actor Matthew McConaughey. Having filmed projects such as By Way of Helena, Showing Roots, Free State of Jones, and now as a regular on The Walking Dead, Cahill continues her upward climb to A-list status. Recognized as an award-winning actress that plays strong characters, she is striving to become one of the biggest names in Hollywood.
Today marks the start of the fifth-annual Global Moms Relay, an annual campaign co-created by Johnson & Johnson and the United Nations Foundation to improve the health and wellbeing of families worldwide. The campaign is designed to raise awareness of critical issues facing families, children and infants, while providing an opportunity to make a difference just by sharing content.

Global Moms Relay asks 25 community leaders, experts and everyday parents to answer one question: What do you wish were true for every family, everywhere? The responses will be featured on GlobalMomsRelay.org starting today and ending on June 16. Each time the response is shared on social media, Johnson & Johnson will donate $1, up to $500,000, to its philanthropic partners dedicated to solving challenges facing moms worldwide, including Girl Up, the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, the United Nations Population Fund, Shot@Life and Nothing But Nets.

The Global Moms Relay kicks off today with a one-day summit called Moms + SocialGood at the AXA Event and Production Center in New York City. This yearly event unites advocates and everyday moms and dads to discuss the challenges facing families, ways to create change and the role social media plays in improving the quality of life for children across the globe. Moms + SocialGood can be viewed via livestream at https://livestream.com/plussocialgood/moms2017.

Conversations featuring experts and influential speakers such as Zoe Saldana, Rachel Zoe, Laura Dern, Juju Chang, Elizabeth Cousens, Anthony Lake, Carolyn Miles, Kimberly Chandler, Dr. Alaa Murabit and many more, will provide insight and guidance on how everyone can turn small actions into successful solutions for creating a better world and a brighter future.

Over the last five years, the Global Moms Relay has raised funds for hundreds of thousands of vaccines; ensured access to education for thousands of girls around the world; provided thousands of mothers and families with pre-pregnancy and early childhood health information directly through mobile phones; reduced household air pollution in hundreds of homes by supplying access to clean cookstoves; provided thousands of bed nets to protect families against malaria; and helped save thousands of premature babies. In this fifth year, the Relay will also provide training to health workers, along with supplies and support to reach thousands of the world's most vulnerable women during pregnancy and early motherhood.

This builds on the longstanding relationship between Johnson & Johnson and the United Nations Foundation who have worked together to create change across the globe since 2004. Global Moms Relay and Moms + SocialGood are among the most powerful initiatives developed through the partnership, and are being supported this year by BabyCenter, Global Citizen, Fatherly and Charity Miles.

Everyone is encouraged to participate through social media sharing and buzz generation using the hashtag #GlobalMomsRelay and #JNJ. Sharing and engagements directly result in charitable donations, giving everyone the opportunity to change lives and support families lives one social media post at a time.

###

Press contacts:

UN Foundation: Raki Wane, rwane(at)unfoundation(dot)org

Johnson & Johnson: Nadia Mostafa, Nmostafa(at)ITS.JNJ.com

About the Global Moms Relay

The United Nations Foundation and Johnson & Johnson, with support from BabyCenter, Global Citizen, Fatherly and Charity Miles, bring you the Global Moms Relay, showing that small actions can lead to big changes in tackling the worlds most critical challenges for kids. From May 3 to June 16, 2017 (just before Mothers Day through Fathers Day), 25 celebrities, community leaders, and everyday moms and dads, will share a personal story on what they wish were true for every family, everywhere, and then pass the baton to the next contributor. Each time you share one of these posts via social media, Johnson & Johnson will donate $1 (per action up to $500,00) to help improve the health and wellbeing of families worldwide through Nothing But Nets, Shot@Life, Girl Up, UNFPA and UNICEF USA. For more information, visit http://www.GlobalMomsRelay.org. Through the Donate a Photo mobile app*, Johnson & Johnson will also donate $1 per photo up to a total of another $200,000 to Nothing But Nets, Girl Up, Shot@Life, UNFPA and UNICEF USA.

About Moms +SocialGood

Moms +SocialGood is a one-day event dedicated to the power of moms and families to create a better future for their communities, and the role of social media and philanthropy to boost health and happiness for moms and babies everywhere. Hundreds of the brightest and most passionate people will gather on May 4, 2017 at the AXA Event and Production Center in Manhattan to share ideas and inspire action for improving the health and wellbeing of women and children. Hosted by the United Nations Foundation and Johnson & Johnson, this unique gathering will focus the world's attention on ways to address some of the greatest health challenges affecting women and children today. Anyone, from anywhere, will be able to participate in the dialogue by tuning into the discussion via live stream and social media. http://www.MomsPlusSocialGood.org


After the ambiguity of Brexit, Small businesses are more than equipped to weather the storm of a general election.

The snap election taking place on the 8th of June is for many, just the latest in a continuous string of political disruptions. While all eyes turn to the polls in the run-up to June, Credico UK has been examining what this snap election will mean to the UKs Small business community. A community which has faced a deluge of political uncertainty over the last three years as a result of Brexit and the looming possibility of Scottish independence.

About Credico UK: http://credico.uk.com/

Credico UK has found that many small businesses have concerns that an early election could stunt their growth potential. In a survey of 200 small to mid-sized businesses by Wax Digital, political disruption was found to be the second biggest factor standing in the way of growth ambitions with 37 percent citing concerns, second only to worries about skill shortages. Furthermore, 4 out of 5 businesses surveyed claimed that political uncertainty over the last 12 months has already inhibited their growth.

One of the primary sources of uncertainty for small businesses is the lack of clarity surrounding pending legislation. In the run up to June 8th, Governments are prohibited from signing off on new legislation or making significant announcements as this could influence the public opinion of particular parties. Due to the speed of this years snap election, this means that draft legislation is now being deferred till after June the 8th, however, how much of this legislation will actually be revisited after the election, or scrapped instead is unknown. There is one small blessing to come as a result of this halt on Parliament however, the planned change in the tax on dividends has currently been shelved, which would have seen the current rate of tax-free dividends drop from 5,000 to 2,000.

Credico UK has concluded that while the General Election could be set to disrupt small businesses to some degree, they are confident that recent string of major political developments has done well to prepare businesses for future upheaval. After the ambiguity of Brexit, Small businesses are more than equipped to weather the storm of a general election stated a spokesperson for the field marketing agency. While there is potential for disruption, some benefits have risen from recent political events too, for example, the weakness of the pound has had an unexpectedly positive impact on export conditions. Small business owners and entrepreneurs are by nature great at seeking out opportunities like this; its what makes the UKs business community so strong.

Follow @CredicoGlobal on Twitter or like their Facebook page for more information on Credico UK

Sources: http://smallbusiness.co.uk/disruptive-general-election-woes-2538211/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39631768
SunDoc Filings (http://www.sundocumentfilings.com), a business filings company that has helped thousands of entrepreneurs form corporations and limited liability companies, has announced a 2017-2018 private scholarship essay contest. The company will award scholarships of $2,000 and $1,000 value to two deserving students based on an essay Why America is the Best Place to Start a Business.

We want to support the next generation of entrepreneurs, says Stan Huser, President of SunDoc Filings. "A good education is critical to success in business, and a scholarship program is a great way to help students get that education.

To qualify for the scholarship essay contest, students must write an 800-1,000 word essay titled Why America is the Best Place to Start a Business. The essay must be submitted in Microsoft Word or PDF format and emailed to scholarship(at)sundocfilings.com.

Essays must be received by July 1, 2017, and winners will be announced on the companys Facebook and Twitter pages on July 31, 2017.

The essay contest is open only to U.S. citizens, and only one entry per student is allowed.

Huser says he hopes the scholarship essay contest will inspire students to dream big. It takes courage and vision to start a business, says Huser, You have to aim high and be willing to take a chance.

To learn more about SunDoc Filings scholarship program, visit https://www.sundocumentfilings.com/general/scholarship-program

About SunDoc Filings

SunDoc Filings is a nationwide provider of business filing services, including incorporation, LLC formation and other essential business filing services. Located in Sacramento, the company specializes in expedited services. The company has been in business since 1999 and holds an A+ rating from the BBB.

Learn more about SunDoc Filings at SuperbCrew.com, or follow SunDoc Filings on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SunDocFilings.


(Courtesy of the Jane Roe Players)

Here in New York, which voted overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton in the last election, it's still somewhat easy to ignore that most states in America remain deep red, and battles over issues like abortion rights are raging. But blue state New Yorkers who want to make an impact elsewhere can do so now while also taking in some culture, thanks to The Jane Roe Players, a new theater group with plans to put on shows to fund abortion access nationwide.

The Jane Roe Players will debut tonight at The Cobra Club in Bushwick, with a series of play readings at the bar. And unlike most theater readings which only go to fatten the wallets of well-off playwrights, the money from this event will go towards the West Fund, which funds access to abortions for people who need it.

Ben Firke, the founder of the group, explained that the impetus for the Jane Roe Players was the anger and helplessness that came out of the election, especially what would happen to women's access to abortion. "I wanted to channel that frustration into something productive, that would could directly and materially impact people's lives," he told Gothamist.

Firke said he was also inspired to give to the West Fund after learning about it during the campaign to raise money for the group through the sale of "Ted Cruz Is The Zodiac Killer" t-shirts. "There are a lot of financial obstacles to getting an abortion," Firke told us, "and so there's an emerging consciousness to the role of local abortion fundraising."

The West Fund itself doesn't provide abortions, but instead helps to arrange travel and other expenses for women in Texas, who often have to travel hundreds of miles just to get to an abortion clinic after the passage of the anti-abortion HB2 legislation in the state. "I think it's ridiculous that there are so many obstacles to get a legal medical procedure," Firke said.

Firke also told us the group's mission in part is a rejection of the attitude that has popped up around the internet that suggests people in red states should just be left behind. "The attitude that if you live in a red state you should somehow be denied social services or you're worth less to society, it's a really elitist attitude I don't like. Beyond politics, you've got the same rights to essential health services no matter where you live," Firke told us. "As a socialist myself, it's very un-socialist to say we want a universal basic income but only for leftists."

Still, Firke was quick to say he doesn't see this as "a blue state bailout of red states." Instead, he said he envisions The Jane Roe Players growing into an amorphous nationwide movement with local cells that raise money for abortion access close to home and in states that could use the help. "If people want to do a Jane Roe Players but it's a film festival or basement punk show, great. Hopefully this will get the ball rolling and inspire people to take some initiative to do it on their own. As long as lots of money is being raised for these charities, great."
News

From Bulgaria

New Bulgarian Energy Minister Said 'Meaningful' Realisation of Belene NPP to Be a Priority

Minister Petkova said it is important to have an outcome on the terminated Belene NPP project, which saw Bulgarias National Electricity Company (NEK) pay Russias Atomstroyexport EUR 601.617 million for equipment which had been underway to production at the time of the cancellation of the project in March 2012

AUTHOR: publics.bg

Minister Petkova with interim energy minister Nikolay Pavlov

 Bulgarian Ministry of Energy



The Belene nuclear power plant project and the full power market liberalization are among the top priorities of Bulgarias newly inaugurated energy minister Temenuzhka Petkova. Ms Petkova started on Thursday her second term at the helm of the Bulgarian Ministry of Energy, as part of the third government of PM Boyko Borisov.

The first and most serious challenge is to bring to an end the full liberalization of the power market, and follow up in the same direction with the natural gas market, Petkova said during a press conference, adding that the energy ministry will also work hard on finishing what had been started during her previous term, namely  Belene NPP project.

Minister Petkova said it is important to have an outcome on the terminated Belene NPP project, which saw Bulgarias National Electricity Company (NEK) pay Russias Atomstroyexport EUR 601.617 million for equipment which had been underway to production at the time of the cancellation of the project in March 2012.

When BGN 3 billion (about EUR 1.5 billion) have been spent, this resource should be materialized in a meaningful project, guided by market principles, Petkova said.

Petkovas deputies are yet to be named.
About a decade ago on a wintry day at a former convent in New Jersey, Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass took a fateful walk. Both women were attending an annual poetry retreat organized by the writer Susan Campbell Bartoletti. They had met once before but this time they bonded. We had a mutual admiration thing going, Mass says. It gets harder as an adult to make new friends but we clicked in an easy way.

Wouldnt it be nice, they agreed, to write a book together, in between their other projects and not on deadline? We thought it would be a joyful counterpoint to the long lonely slog of writing a novel alone, Stead recalled.

So sometime laterthe authors admit it might have been more than a yearStead got started. On a flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles, she wrote a scene about 10-year-old Livy, who was returning to Australia, where her grandmother lived, after a five-year absence. As Livy gets closer, she develops a niggling sensation that she had left something there. The chapter ends with Livy opening a closet door and realizing she was right. She did leave something very important behind. Stead emailed the chapter to Mass. See what you think, she wrote.

Rebecca lobbed me a zombie, Mass recalled. Or an alien. I wasnt sure what Bob was. But I decided, Im going to run with this zombie. I had to imagine what he was doing in the closet for five years.

I got to have the funny moment, Stead admits, and now, over to Wendy!

Whatever Bob is, he is soon to be published. In February, Jean Feiwel at Feiwel and Friends won an eight-house auction for the North American rights to the first middle-grade collaboration between Newbery Medalist Stead and Mass, who has more than 20 novels under her belt, including the bestselling Candymakers series. Publication is scheduled for May 2018. Stead was represented by Faye Bender of The Book Group; Mass by Ginger Knowlton of Curtis Brown Ltd. For a long time, only their agents knew what they were up to.

Well, I did tell my kids, Stead said, because they are fans of Wendys books so it was a little feather in my cap to say, Guess who Im writing a book with?  But thats all she told them, and neither writer will say much more about Bob, a short, greenish creature dressed in a chicken suit.

It was important that we didnt really know what he was, whether it was a zombie or an alien or what, Mass said. A big part of the story is figuring out who he is and what he means to Livy, because, five years earlier, Livy had promised Bob she would help him find his way back home.

Though Bobs existence in the closet has been static, Livy has changed. A lot. Bob has met two Livys, one young and extremely powerful, and now the older Livy who is more skeptical, Stead said. What we were most interested in was exploring that growth, what happens to a child between age five and 10.

Though Stead wrote Livys chapters and Mass wrote Bobs, there is a lot of overlap. Stead asked for advice from a friend, Scholastics David Levithan, who has co-written books with John Green and Rachel Cohn. Both of our characters were in almost every chapter. How do you deal with ownership of characterization? she asked him. Treat it like they do in improv, he suggested. Whatever youre given, you accept it by saying Yes, and That was a fun way to look at it. Learning to value someone elses imagination was revelatory and so entirely different from writing alone.

The two writers admit their processes are completely different. Mass says she puts a lot of energy into plotting before she starts. Stead calls herself a wallower. I create a lot of material, scenes, or things about a character. When I have a bunch of scenes, I roll around in it. This is why I have written four books in the time that Wendy has written 22.

Mass had to learn to write with a little more open-endedness than she was used to. I operate on deadlines, Mass said. I was always trying to plot things forward.

Whereas I was the obstacle to plotting, Stead confessed. I had to force myself to move the story along. It cant be just two people talking about Saturn. That was my challenge. Every time I sent a chapter back to Wendy, in those six to 10 pages, something had to happen. It freed an entire new part of my writing brain.

Ultimately, despite the differences in how they write, the result was a manuscript whose seams even Mass can no longer see. Since so much time would pass between when I would work on it, I would always start by reading the book from the beginning, she said. It definitely got to the point where I couldnt remember who wrote what.

Bob by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass. Feiwel and Friends, $16.99, May 2018 ISBN 9781250166623
A group of four middle-grade authors has organized an annual book festival for middle-grade readers; the first OMG (Oh Middle Grade) BookFest will be held in Columbus, Ohio on May 16 and 17. Billed as a traveling circus of books, the festival is intended to move around the country each year, with the ultimate goal of it being held in a different city every six months.

Author Michael Buckley, who along with Julia DeVillers, Adele Griffin, and Sarah Mlynowski, conceived of OMG, explains that the four were talking this past New Years Day about the lack of book festivals targeting middle grade and reluctant readers, despite the 712 age range being a precarious time for children, because they are deciding whether they want to be readers or not. We lose a lot of readers [at the middle grade level]. Griffin added that while the festivals core mission is to bolster literacy, the organizers also want readers to consider that reading is not just a solitary pastime; it can also be a shared social activity.

Rather than offering the conventional slate of speakers and panels, OMG will kick off on May 16 with interactive events featuring the organizers and eight other authors: Stuart Gibbs, Leslie Margolis, Varian Johnson, Elizabeth Eulberg, C. Alexander London, Benny Zelkowicz, Christina Soontornvat, and Ronald L. Smith. The day will include writing workshops, a magical creatures room, and scavenger hunts. Gramercy Books, a new indie bookstore in Columbus, and the official bookstore sponsor of OMG, will host a public reading with the authors at the end of the day. Theres even an event just for adults: the Columbus Public Library will host a cocktail reception that evening in honor of the visiting authors.

We planned on having some fun with the authorslike having the cocktail receptionbecause were authors hosting authors and we want to give them the care that we ourselves would want, Griffin said.

Were trying to show people that authors are not these shut-ins, or all introverts, Buckley said. People who write books are fun and dynamic. The organizers also cited Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallons practice of playing games with his guests instead of simply conducting traditional interviews as inspiring them to include activities and games in the schedule of events to better engage participants.

On May 17, events will be held in partnership with the six Columbus Performance Academy schools in an underserved part of the city. The school visit is open only to the academys 900 students. Thanks to a $5,000 donation from an anonymous donor, every child will receive a book that day; the authors will be on hand to sign them.

Sourcebooks is one of several publishers sending authors to OMG this year. Publicity manager Heather Moore noted that because there are very few book festivals that exclusively target middle-grade readers, we thought it was important to support this event, which is creating an exciting experience for young readers and childrens book authors.

While the second OMG BookFest is still in the planning stages, the organizers reported that they are already in discussions with an indie bookstore and with authors in a city that will most likely host the next OMG. I think this thing will be sweeping the country in no time, Buckley said.
ABA elects new president; new N.C. indie breaks ground; inside Paris's most cinematic bookstore; and more.

American Booksellers Association Elects New President: Robert Sindelar of Third Place Books, with three locations in Washington state, will serve a two-year term as ABA president. The ABA also named a new v-p/secretary.

Second New Store for Winston-Salem: Bookmarks, a non-profit literacy organization in Winston-Salem, N.C., broke ground on a new bookstore scheduled to open in July.

Wisconsins Indie to Open Second Location: Tribeca Gallery Cafe & Books will open a second location in Milwaukee's Freshwater Development.

Why Touching Booksellers is Not Cool: Emily Ballaine, a manager at Green Apple Books in San Francisco, writes in LitHub of her discomfort with having her arm grabbed while serving male customers.

Maine Bookstore to Close: Citing slumping sales, Lambs Book and Bible, a Christian store in Bangor, will close after 25 years in business.

Book Depository Successfully Sources from Australia: The U.K.-based wholly-owned subsidiary of Amazon has added some 36,000 Australian titles to its catalog in the past year.

Visiting Paris's Most Cinematic Bookstore: Marc Benda, manager of the Librairie du Cinema du Pantheon, discusses the role of the 25-year-old bookstore in fostering an appreciation of film.

The Door-to-Door Bookselling Biz Thriving in India: Tarun Kumar Shaw carries on the business of selling books from his apartment and delivering them by scooter, in a business started by his father three decades ago.
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.
The Rock Island County Zoning Board of Appeals on Wednesday voted to table a special use permit application to put a 24-bed, high-end substance abuse treatment center in rural Milan after about 20 nearby residents questioned and spoke in opposition to the project.

The board will take the matter up at its June 7 meeting but will not hold another public hearing on the application. Individual board members would be encouraged to separately view the property proposed for the treatment center, according to the motion from board member James Coyne.

Top of the World Ranch Milan LLC is seeking a special-use permit to operate an all-male residential treatment center. The treatment center would be run as a joint venture between the Robert Young Center in Rock Island and the Top of the World Ranch in Fort Steele, British Columbia. The executive director and owner of the of the Canadian facility is Mark Sadler, a native of Moline.

The 312-acre property is at 3333 155th Ave., Milan, in Rural Township between Coyne Center and Sherrard. The property has a 12,900-square-foot residence fronting a 3-acre lake that would be used for treatment programming, officials with the Robert Young Center and UnityPoint said. A 24-bed "bunk house" for patients would be added.

Dennis Duke, president of the Robert Young Center, said that the private-pay facility would cost about $30,000 for a 40-day stay for treatment. There would be no Medicare or Medicaid patients.

More than 70 nearby residents crowded into the county board chambers in the Rock Island County Office Building for what turned out to be a two-and-a-half hour public hearing. Residents raised several concerns, including security, the condition of 115th Avenue for heavier use, a lack of information on the proposed project beforehand, and the extra strain on water wells.

Greg Thorpe, director of the Rock Island County Zoning And Building Safety Department, said that "proper public noticing was followed" to adjoining property owners prior to the Wednesday's public hearing. A few residents in attendance who said they owned adjoining property said they did not receive the notices, and other nearby residents said they learned of the hearing -- and the proposal -- only a few days before and would have liked to have had more time to learn about the details.

Only one resident, Ronald Schorg, fulfilled the five-day notice requirement to be able to directly cross-examine representatives of UnityPoint and Robert Young. Others asking questions and raising concerns about the project could address the Zoning Board of Appeals only.

In an answer to a question asked several times, project proponents said the facility would be a tax-paying entity and not a nonprofit. The question was asked in the context of whether the facility would be costly the township in improving 155th Avenue, which was described as more of a gravel "lane" and not suitable for heavy traffic.

Mr. Duke said the 24 rooms at the proposed facility would have a private bath, and the expansive, wooded grounds would provide a serene setting for addiction recovery.

The staff would number between 20 and 30, and there would be at least two on-duty staff during the night. Several residents said they felt that was inadequate. Questions were also raised on the screening of patients.

"Just because you have money doesn't mean you're not a creep," said Rural Township Supervisor Vance Edmonson.

Several of those questioning the project said they were supportive of substance abuse facilities but said they felt the project was being "rushed," without enough public input.

The facility could "replicate" the treatment offered at Mr. Sadler's Top of the World Ranch in the Canadian Rockies, where Mr. Duke said security has not been an issue in more than a decade of operation.

The board voted 4-1 to table the matter, with member Dennis VanDaele casting the no vote. Mr. Coyne, Board chairman Phil Fuhr and members Don DeLoose and Bob Brown voted in favor.

The board members also encouraged Robert Young Center officials to set up a town hall meeting with nearby residents to further address concerns.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP)  The University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine says one of its faculty members has died in a traffic accident in the Czech Republic.

The school released a statement Wednesday saying Dr. Robert Morrison, his wife and several companions were in the accident north of Prague. The school says they were traveling before attending a swine health management conference.

Czech police say three Americans died in the collision with a truck Tuesday near Melnik, north of Prague.

The college's statement doesn't identify other victims of the crash, and police haven't released any names. But the brother-in-law of Morrison's wife says she is in critical condition.

Police say six Americans were traveling in a rented SUV, and two men escaped unharmed.
In normal times, a 40-minute, late-April meeting to talk about the budget between a governor and the House Speaker would be so routine that it would likely go unnoticed by pretty much everyone under the Statehouse dome.

But these ain't normal times.

A funded, full-year state budget has not passed during a spring legislative session since 2013, almost exactly four years ago. We've had partial-year or stopgap budgets ever since.

And House Speaker Michael Madigan hasnt formally met with the governor since December 6 of last year, about five months ago. Gov. Bruce Rauner announced at the time there would be no more such meetings until the Democrats were prepared to offer up a balanced budget with specific reforms -- something that the governor hasn't done since, either.

So, it was definitely news when Speaker Madigan requested a private, one-on-one sit-down with Gov. Rauner last week and then the two actually met.

Speaker Madigan issued a statement saying that he had urged the governor "to turn his focus to the budget." Gov. Rauner's office then claimed that Madigan "hinted that he may be willing to enact a truly balanced budget with changes that will help create jobs, properly fund our schools and lower property taxes."

Did they really make progress?

Well, we all know that the governor is prone to exaggeration. He said repeatedly during the two-week spring break that the grand bargain negotiations were close to being wrapped up. He even claimed at one whistle stop that negotiations were going on between the two caucuses as he spoke, with another scheduled for the following day. None of that was true.

The House Speaker has his own issues. He doesn't say much except to repeat what he's been saying over and over for two years: The governor should focus on passing a budget. Madigan himself, meanwhile, has been completely focused on denying the governor any wins on Rauner's terms. All wins must instead be on Madigan's terms.

Madigan's spokesman reacted to the governor's statement by pointing to a bill the House passed last week to make workers' compensation insurance "more affordable." That bill (HB 2622), however, sets up a state-run workers' comp insurance company to compete with existing private insurers. Trial lawyers and unions insist that the hundreds of workers' comp insurers in Illinois are colluding to keep prices high. Hey, maybe such a thing could work. But creating a government insurance company is not exactly the sort of reform that our Milton Friedman-worshipping governor will ever accept as a "win."

Even so, I choose, for the millionth time, to look at the bright side. At least they met. At least there was apparently a mention (no matter how brief) of non-budgetary reforms. At least they didn't full-on whack each other after their meeting ended.

You gotta crawl before you can walk, so I'll take it, no matter how pathetically tiny or how temporary that microscopic bit of progress may have been.

Its been Madigans habit over the years to send the Senate a budget and then announce that the House has completed its work. He did it again last year and was ultimately stymied when the Senate refused to pass it.

But Madigan likely can't even pass another budget bill out of his own chamber this year, mainly because a group of ten or so independent Democratic women in his caucus are sick and tired of these impasse games. They have enough votes to block him if they stick together.

And if the Senate ever does send Madigan its grand bargain, those ten House members and several more will demand that he take some action. This impasse is killing them back in their districts, along with the blame that the governor has so successfully pinned on Madigan with tens of millions of dollars. A deal would take an enormous amount of heat off Madigan's members, and, by extension, him.

Rauner, for his part, is dangerously close to being permanently labeled as a failed governor. Everything he's tried has failed. Sure, he can point to minor administrative successes, but he wasn't elected to save a few bucks on data processing. And constantly awarding himself an "A" grade by pointing to these little administrative successes comes close to making him look dangerously separated from the reality that his state is rapidly going down the drain.

Both men have good reasons to find a way out of this mess. But theyre also the most stubborn men on the planet. Lets hope they keep talking.
G'day! It's Murray here. I've put together a little quiz to test your musical knowledge. Think you can score top marks in Murray's Magic Music Quiz? Give it a go now!
Russian eccentric artist Pavlensky receives political asylum in France

MOSCOW, May 4 (RAPSI) - Russian eccentric performance artist Pyotr Pavlensky has been granted political asylum in France, his lawyer Dominique Beyreuther Minkov wrote on her Facebook page on Thursday.

As previously reported, Pavlensky along with his partner Oksana Shalygina and two children left Russia in January after the couple had been accused of sexual assault.

As Pavlensky said in an interview with the Ukrainian TV, the woman, who wrote a statement for the law enforcement agencies, was an initiator of meeting and communication with him and Shalygina. He denied the fact of sexual assault.

Pavlensky is known for a number of controversial performances.

In July 2012, he sewed up his mouth and stood at the Kazan Cathedral with a poster in support of Pussy Riot.

In May 2013, Pavlensky lay down on the ground in front of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly naked with barbed wire around his body.

In November 2013, also naked, Pavlensky nailed his scrotum to the Red Square pavement near the Lenin Mausoleum.

In October 2014, the man staged an eccentric stunt on the roof of the Serbsky Mental Institution in Moscow by cutting off one of his earlobes.

In February 2015, Pavlensky and his accomplices burned car tyres, waved Ukrainian flags and banged sheet metal with sticks in a show of solidarity with the anti-government protesters in Ukraine. The performance was held near the Church of the Savior on Blood in St. Petersburg.

In May 2016, Pavlensky was sentenced to 1 year and 4 months of restriction of freedom for setting tyres on fire on Maly Konyushenny Bridge in St Petersburg. However, the artist was released from punishment because of expiry of the period of limitation for bringing to criminal responsibility.

In June 2016, Pavlensky was found guilty of setting fire to the Moscow headquarters of the Federal Security Service (FSB). The Meshchansky District Court of Moscow imposed a 500,000 ruble ($7,900) fine on Pavlensky and ruled in favor of FSB, which demanded 481,000 rubles ($7,700) from the artist in a civil lawsuit.
About This Site

This website is an exploration into the rationalist approach to Judaism that was most famously presented by Maimonides. It also explores contemporary rationalist approaches, as well as being a forum for various other notes. Well-written comments in the spirit of this enterprise will be posted; please include a name (even a pseudonym).
This is the first of a two-part series on religious freedom by Rep. Francis Rooney. For part 2, see "Religious Freedom and Islamic Society."

Throughout history religion has played a stabilizing role in society. When practiced freely, religion establishes a moral compass for people to follow, which in turn leads to tolerance of differing views and comity in civil society. Free expression of religion allows pluralistic religious organizations to exist within modern secular states, and can ease ideological conflicts by transforming volatile societies into models of peaceful coexistence.

St. Augustine realized that free expression of religion leads to a stable and just society when he wrote in The City of God that without the justice and morality induced by religion, people would become no more than a band of robbers. Centuries later, Pope Benedict XVI referred to this metaphor and told the German Bundestag that religion in civic life is an essential precondition for peace and justice, because the conviction that there is a God gives rise to the idea of human rights, equality before the law, recognition of the inviolability of human dignity in every single person and the awareness of peoples responsibility for their actions, i.e. conscience.

The free expression of religion is a precondition for a functional role of religion in society. The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom of 1786, written by Thomas Jefferson and supported by James Madison, was the first ever law protecting religious freedom. The Statute provided the blueprint for the establishment clause in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which has allowed a pluralistic religious society to develop in the United States which coexists with the modern secular state. A modern-day study of religion in the United States, American Grace, by Robert Putnam and David Campbell, argues strongly that religious beliefs and practice correlate positively with numerous forms of good and productive behaviors, like increased volunteerism, charitable giving and civic activism in American society.

American leaders from George Washington to George W. Bush have promoted religious freedom as a stabilizing influence on individuals behavior. In 1790, President Washington wrote a letter to a Jewish congregation, stating that religious beliefs are an inherent natural right and the United States gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance. In his Farewell Address, President Washington further warned that national morality cannot exist in exclusion of religious principle. Two centuries later, it was President George W. Bush who said freedom of religion is not something to be fearedfaith gives us a moral core.

The United States experience with religious freedom has spread around the world. During a 2014 visit to Albania, Pope Francis recognized the peaceful coexistence and collaboration of Catholics, Muslims and Orthodox Christians in the former communist, majority Muslim state. Lebanon, the most religiously diverse country in the Middle East, with significant populations of Sunni and Shia Muslims, Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Druze, has a government structure designed to protect the different religions from persecution and to promote inter-religious cooperation. Free expression of religion allows religions in Albania and Lebanon to peacefully coexist without fear of persecution.

Due to its stabilizing role in society, religious freedom can be used as a soft power weapon to deter extremist ideologies, as evidenced by Holy See diplomacy. In the 1950s, the Catholic Church was the only religious group President Truman could engage to openly attack communism. While other religious leaders refused to speak up, the Catholic Church directly and publicly attacked communism as an existential threat to religion and freedom. Decades later, Pope John Paul IIs inspiration and leadership hastened the end of communism in Eastern Europe. In Poland, his home country, the Popes visit to the Gdansk Shipyard in 1979 forcefully inspired the Solidarity movement, whose actions eventually toppled the communist regime.

The Holy See has used inter-religious dialogue as a platform to nurture an exchange of ideas oriented toward finding an Islamic rationale to combat extremist ideology. During a visit to Turkey, Pope Francis met with Patriarch Bartholomew of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The two Christian leaders jointly condemned Christian persecution in the Middle East and called for further inter-religious dialogue between Christians and Muslims. Pope Francis recent visit to Egypt, in which he publicly appeared with Ahmad al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, similarly called for more inter-faith dialogue in a nation currently plagued by religiously inspired attacks on Christians. This dialogue serves as another example of the importance of pursuing freedom of expression of all religions as a soft power tool.

In summary, it is clear that religion plays a stabilizing role in society and that freedom to practice religion, of all beliefs, is critical to assuring that society is tolerant and civil. Building on past examples, hopefully religious freedom can provide an effective soft power weapon in the war against radical Islam, which will be discussed in part two of this series.

Francis Rooney is the U.S. Representative for Florida's 19th congressional district. He serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and previously served as U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See under President George W. Bush from 2005 to 2008.
Nicola Casarini is Director of Asia Research at the Istituto Affari Internazionali in Rome and Visiting Professor at the Graduate Institute in Geneva. This piece is part of a special RCW series on the U.S.-China geopolitical relationship. The views expressed here are the authors own.

China is on a charm offensive in Europe, a move facilitated by U.S. President Donald Trumps policies and his declarations since taking office.

Beijing is eager to find allies willing to stand up for open trade amid fears Trump could undermine it with his protectionist, so-called America First measures. Sensing a low tide in Transatlantic relations, Chinese leaders are reaching out to the European Union -- Chinas leading trading partner and an important source of investment and technology. Beijing seems willing to set aside differences over bilateral trade and investment in order to draw the Europeans to its side.

Trade Matters

In recent months, Beijing has toned down its public campaign to obtain EU recognition of market economy status for China. The case is now being dealt with at the World Trade Organization in Geneva, a move that allows the European Union and China to avoid giving the question too much publicity.

If China obtains its coveted prize, it will be more difficult to adopt anti-dumping measures against Chinese companies. Neither the European Union nor the United States has yet recognized China as a market economy, and Western unity on this issue has so far prevailed.

The issue of market economy status marred Sino-European relations throughout 2016 and could have tainted relations this year too, had the election of Trump not changed priorities for Brussels and Beijing. Both stand united against protectionism, and on March 10, the European Council issued a conclusion document underlining that trade relations with China should be strengthened.

EU policymakers have accepted Beijings request to bump up the annual China-EU summit from its usual July date to June. This is intended to send a unified message President Trump. Brussels and Beijing want to press ahead with economic globalization and free and fair trade in order to better tackle domestic problems. China is rebalancing its economy from one based on exports to one focused on domestic consumption, while the European Union is trying to recover from a long recession. However, it is not only the economic dimension that is bringing China and the European Union closer, but also their support for multilateralism and international organizations -- in contrast with Trumps preference for power-based bilateral relations.

Promoting Multilateralism

During the seventh China-EU Strategic Dialogue held in Beijing on April 19 and co-chaired by Yang Jiechi, Chinese State Councilor, and Federica Mogherini, the European Unions foreign policy chief, the two sides agreed on a common vision of international affairs and global governance, advocating a peaceful international environment and cooperative relations among countries with the United Nations at the center.

China and the European Union worry that the United States will take a unilateral attitude toward global issues and depart from the multilateral approach undertaken by the administration of former President Barack Obama. They see Trumps decision to fire a missile against the Syrian regime and to step up belligerent rhetoric against North Korea as demonstrations of a new and troubling approach.

Europe is also reconnecting with China on the question of its own future, and the European Unions role in the world. Here again, the American presidents stance toward the old Continent is bringing Brussels and Beijing closer.

Support for European Unity

Trumps backing of Brexit has disheartened EU policymakers. Likewise, the declarations against the euro made by the candidate for the post of U.S. ambassador to the European Union have prompted unusual reactions from the European Parliament. President Trumps attacks on Germany, Europes largest economy, and his refusal to shake hands with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during their press conference at the White House, have made an unfavorable impression on European public opinion. How could it possibly be, Europeans wonder, that our closest ally is so insensitive toward us?

It should come as little surprise that under these circumstances Europe is eyeing China. Beijing has traditionally supported the process of European integration in an attempt to drive a wedge among the Western allies and lessen the dominant position of the United States. Think for instance of Chinese support for Europes space ambitions in 2003. That support coincided with one of the worst crises in Transatlantic relations, mainly due to disagreements over the U.S.-led war in Iraq and the foreign policy positions of the first George W. Bush administration.

When Galileo, the EU-led global navigation satellite system alternative to the American GPS, was launched, the United States firmly opposed it, fearing a challenge to its space primacy and leadership in key strategic and high-tech industrial sectors. China worked to prop up the European project, committing millions of euros and becoming Galileos most important non-EU partner.

Most of the EU countries involved in the Galileo project are also members of the eurozone. When the euro crisis broke out in 2009 and the European common currency became the target of speculative attacks mainly stemming from Wall Street-based banks and hedge funds, it was again to China that EU policymakers turned. Merkel and Italys former Prime Minister Mario Monti, among others, traveled to Beijing to seek the support of Chinese leaders who eventually intervened on various occasions to reassure the financial markets and buy eurozone bonds.

True, Beijing has primarily supported Europe for reasons pertaining to its own national interest. By keeping up the value of the currency of its primary trade destination, China has benefited from the competitiveness of its products, further augmenting the European Unions trade deficit with China. Moreover, Chinese policymakers have not hesitated to set EU member states against each other when this was in Beijings interest.

Yet when support for European integration was needed, Chinese leaders have given it. Li Keqiang, the Chinese premier, stressed this point when he declared on April 19 that China supports European integration and expects the EU to remain united, stable and prosperous.

At a time when European unity is under threat from populist movements, it is this kind of declaration that EU policymakers expect from the United States. But with the Trump administration, this is not happening -- and that absence could have serious implications for the Transatlantic alliance. On March 25, on the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, European Commission President Jean-Claude warned of strains in Transatlantic relations.

Transatlantic Contrast

China stands to gain from divisions among Western allies -- even at a moment such as this, when there are a number of frictions in Sino-European relations, including the question of growing Chinese investments in the old Continent.

A report by the Rhodium Group, a research firm, and the Mercator Institute for China Studies, a think tank in Berlin, found that Chinese direct investment in the European Union surged 76 percent to around 35 billion in 2016.

Chinese purchases are growing rapidly in sectors that remain restricted to foreign investors in China, and this inflames debate about growing imbalances between the two sides. Those imbalances draw particular concern from Germany, where Chinese acquisitions soared to 11 billion euros in 2016, surpassing for the first time German mergers and acquisitions in China.

In February, France, Germany, and Italy asked the European Commission to rethink rules on foreign investment in the European Union. This was a message to Beijing to enforce reciprocity in market access, and at a time when the two sides are negotiating a bilateral investment treaty. It is unlikely, however, that a pan-European screening mechanism similar to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States will see light in the near future. Europe is now the top destination of Chinese investments abroad, surpassing the United States. According to the China Global Investment Tracker, a joint project of the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation, between 2005 and 2016 China invested nearly $164 billion in Europe. During that same period, it invested $103 billion in the United States.

With negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership in limbo, and the Trump administrations focus on America First, Europeans feel they have been left alone to deal with an increasingly powerful China. The latter is luring EU members with the prospect of increased investments in their countries.

Should President Trump not change course, the European Union and China are bound to get closer, despite their differences.
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Making the Dream a Reality

If youve ever legally bought or built a suppressor, youve shared the pain of more than a million Americans whove endured and complied with the federal governments bureaucratic paper shuffle before enjoying the fruits of your labor.

You prepared and submitted special forms, a photograph, and a set of fingerprints. Before July 13, 2016, you either waited for the approval of your local chief law enforcement officer (CLEO) or spent time and money to prepare a special trust. You also paid a $200 tax. And then you waited. Six to 12 months went by while the ATF hand-processed this personal and revealing pile of paperwork.

And finally, if your forms were two-sided, your signatures original on duplicate copies, your supporting documents in order, and, of course, a background check revealed youre not prohibited from possessing firearms, the special tax stamp was affixed. Your new suppressor was officially tied to you in the National Firearm Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR), and permission was finally yours to enjoy the pleasure of shooting without earplugs.

Currently in America, the land of the free and the home of as many as 80 million gun owners, American taxpayers dole out millions of dollars annually to enforce an inefficient, expensive, and unnecessary process. These dollars are spent in the name of overseeing and taxing gun owners who, in part, wish to acquire the mufflers once sold at hardware stores for around $5. These same, heavily regulated firearms are required hunting tools in some European countries.

The American Suppressor Association (ASA), backed by gun owners, dealers, and manufacturers across the country, is lobbying for what its supporters view as a necessary update to the law.

When the Hearing Protection Act was first proposed in 2015, Congress.gov indicated it had only a 3 percent chance of becoming law. After almost a decade of the Obama Administrations push for more gun control, it seemed very unlikely that Americans would pass any laws in favor of gun rights.

One year and a presidential election later, the dream is moving toward reality. For Second Amendment advocates, a light has begun to shine through the murk of Americas gun-control system. This light is, in part, produced by the ASA, which refers to itself as the unified voice of the suppressor industry.

Before delving into how the ASA is lobbying to fix what they see as a broken system, a brief history lesson is in order.

The National Firearms Act

In an attempt to control prohibition-inspired crime in the early 1930s, Congress formulated a plan to restrict certain firearms by reducing the average Americans ability to afford them. Congress enacted the National Firearms Act (NFA) to tax certain firearms, including short-barreled rifles and shotguns (SBRs and SBSs), fully automatic firearms, suppressors, and the ill-defined category of any other weapons. The NFA taxed these firearms into oblivion, making them unaffordable to the average American gun owner. The ATFs website still portrays this bit of history:

[The NFAs] underlying purpose was to curtail, if not prohibit, transactions in NFA firearms. Congress found these firearms to pose a significant crime problem because of their frequent use in crime, particularly the gangland crimes of that era such as the St. Valentines Day Massacre. The $200 making and transfer taxes on most NFA firearms were considered quite severe and adequate to carry out Congress purpose to discourage or eliminate transactions in these firearms.

At 40 times the cost of a suppressor, the average citizen could no longer afford the $5 muffler after this tax was added to the purchase price. Interestingly, there was a complete lack of data or even mention in the legislative record that suppressors were ever used in crimes.

The Door Opened to More Gun Control Laws

In 1934, when the NFA became law, America had no computerized background check system. In fact, there were no federally required background checks for gun purchases at all. There were no federal laws preventing felons or the mentally ill from possessing firearms. Congress expected that the would-be gun buyers local law enforcement officers would know who the bad guys in town were, and these officers would simply refuse to sign the required paperwork to prevent known criminals from legally acquiring NFA regulated firearms.

Since then, Congress has passed several comprehensive gun-control laws, including the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA) and the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986 (FOPA). The GCA requires federal licensing for dealers, manufacturers, and importers, requires them to keep records and conduct background checks on would-be purchasers, and prohibits certain people (felons, the mentally ill, and illegal drug users, to name a few) from legally possessing firearms.

Despite its title, the FOPA further restricted gun owners by expanding the definitions of silencers and machine guns to include their mere parts. The FOPA also expanded the list of prohibited persons who cannot legally possess firearms, and it denies gun owners the ability to purchase machine guns manufactured after 1986, which caused their cost to skyrocket.

This line of federal gun-control laws created a system that restricts purchases and requires so-called instant computerized background checks  all in the name of ensuring that the bad guy doesnt get the gun. As many gun owners have experienced, state governments can, and have, passed even more laws further restricting our ability to buy and possess firearms and ammunition.

If the aim of the NFA was to protect citizens by keeping firearms out of the hands of criminals, it has been substantially replaced by the later federal and state laws that restrict transfers and require efficient, computerized background checks. Gun owners argue the extra paperwork required by the NFA does nothing to deter crime, and only places a burden on Americans who follow the rules.

Some Americans created gun trusts to avoid some of the NFA-required paperwork. But in January of 2016, Attorney General Loretta Lynch signed Rule 41F into law. Rule 41F is a 250-page death warrant for one gun trust benefit, which was to avoid some of the NFA paperwork and process.

While many gun owners believe the solution to the paperwork and wait times is to completely abolish the NFA, that solution will not happen overnight. The first step, according to the ASA, is to address silencers and their current definition as firearms under the National Firearms Act.

In the following interview with Owen Miller, Director of Outreach for the American Suppressor Association, he further explains the HPA and the likelihood that itll be enacted so that suppressors will no longer be controlled by the archaic rules of the National Firearms Act.

RECOIL: How has the American Suppressor Association helped pass pro-suppressor legislation.

Owen Miller: For the past five-and-a-half years, we have been at the forefront of the fight to pass pro-suppressor reform across the country. Since we formed the ASA in 2011, three states have legalized private ownership of suppressors: Vermont, Minnesota, and Iowa. Eighteen states have legalized hunting with suppressors. That list is too long for this article, but suffice it to say weve been incredibly active on the legislative front.

In total, 42 states now allow private ownership of suppressors, and 40 states allow hunting with suppressors. Those figures mean that 80 percent of our states recognize a right to protect our hearing with a suppressor while hunting. There are still eight states that do not allow private ownership of suppressors. Those states are California, New York, New Jersey, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Delaware, and Rhode Island. Connecticut and Vermont are the only two states where you can own, but not hunt, with a suppressor.

RECOIL: Since the NFA became law in 1934, Congress passed the GCA in 1968 with all kinds of prohibitions on firearms possession, as well as licensing requirements for dealers and manufacturers, and a background check system. Why do we need the NFA?

OM: Well, you bring up a good point. The laws have changed dramatically since the NFA was passed in 1934. Eighty-two years ago, there were no televisions, cell phones, and computers. One component of the NFA, the required CLEO signature, was a primitive background check for people applying to register NFA firearms. By asking the applicants CLEO if the applicant was the town bad guy, the NFA allowed the CLEO to refuse to sign the applicants paperwork. The computerized instant background check system that we have today provides a far better level of safety and security that we can utilize for suppressor transfers. The modern system does not require all the extra paperwork or a six- to 12-month process. And lets not forget, criminals are not submitting the paperwork anyway.

RECOIL: Whose brainchild was the Hearing Protection Act?

OM: Since the start of the ASA, removing suppressors from the NFA has been a primary objective of the Association. We want to see suppressors treated like other firearms, like a long-gun. We want the process for buying a suppressor to be the same as the process for buying any other firearm. Law-abiding Americans should be able to go to a dealer, fill out Form 4473, undergo a NICS background check, and leave with the suppressor.

The HPA was the brainchild of our staff, the NRA, and Representative Matt Salmon of Arizona. We worked closely with his office and House Legislative Counsel to draft the language, ultimately going back and forth for months, ending up with multiple revisions. This process ensured that we had a solid bill to introduce to Congress. It wasnt perfect, but it was a good starting point, which is why we have since drafted a package of technical amendments to address things like the suppressor parts classification issue.

We knew this would be a long road, likely a several-year process, focusing on the education of members of Congress once the bill was introduced. We need to help the members of Congress understand the same things you and I understand about suppressors: the benefits and the safety factor of suppressor use is a great thing for the American sportsman. Now, with what weve accomplished in the most recent election, we have a great chance of getting this bill passed.

RECOIL: How many sponsors does the HPA have?

OM: This year, following Rep. Salmons retirement, Rep. Jeff Duncan and Rep. John Judge Carter have taken over as the primary sponsors. There are currently 125 sponsors in the House, including two Democrats, so this is a bipartisan supported bill. Thats up from 82 cosponsors last year. On the Senate side, its being carried again by Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho. That bill has 11 cosponsors.

RECOIL: People keep asking if Trump can just fix this, but we know the fix means an act of Congress:

OM: Yes. The NFA was an exercise of Congresss power to tax, and it will require an act of Congress to change it.

RECOIL: The burden to the gun owners is the paperwork and the wait for the paperwork to be processed, but the burden to all Americans is the inefficiency of the system, which costs taxpayers millions of dollars each year. Whether youre a gun owner or not, youre still paying for this law to be in effect, arent you?

OM: Absolutely. Since ATF 41F was signed, the ATF has had to bring in a number of contractors. They pay quite a bit for human beings to run this manual, paper-based process. Attempts to modernize the process through e-forms have failed, costing tax-payers millions of dollars for a system that was essentially broken from the start. So, we are back to individuals shuffling paper. The government has attempted to limp the e-forms system along, but it would be a major undertaking and cost many millions more to have a functioning, efficient system that would save taxpayers money.

We believe, and so does the ATF, that the real solution is to take suppressors out of the NFA. Suppressor applications make up approximately 80 percent of the transfers that the NFA branch processes. So, removing suppressors from the NFA and from their workload would ultimately save the taxpayers a lot of money.

RECOIL: How can people support the HPA and the ASA?

OM: They can go to HearingProtectionAct.com and send an email directly to their legislators to let them know they support this legislation. It takes about 30 seconds. They can also join the ASA on our website AmericanSuppressorAssociation.com.

RECOIL: If you are successful, how soon could we see a change?

OM: We are working around the clock to move the HPA as quickly as possible, but these things take time. We included a provision in the bill for a tax credit for anyone purchasing a suppressor after the legislation was introduced. There is no downside to buying a suppressor now and starting your paperwork. Those purchases of suppressors today will help fund the industrys efforts to pass the HPA as quickly as possible.

About the Author

Alex Kincaid is a former elected district attorney and current firearms law attorney with over 19 years experience. She is an active proponent of the Second Amendment, a legal analyst, and author. Alex hosts an online show highlighting current firearms law-related news called The AK Show.

www.alexkincaid.com
After years of debate, protests, edits and the 2016 veto, HB 280, also known as the Campus Carry legislation, starts in the state of Georgia on July 1.
Enabling labour to become more globally mobile can produce higher remittances with powerful 'brain gain' dividends, say Rajat Gupta and Anu Madgavkar.

IMAGE: Utkarsh Sanghi, a security engineer at Google, at a hacker's conference in Las Vegas . As population growth in the advanced economies slows in coming decades, the need for migrant labour will rise. Photograph: Steve Marcus/Reuters .

The term "brain drain" is a misnomer in India.

Indians who seek their fortunes outside their home country are an economic force to be reckoned with, and a substantial future opportunity. There are around 16 million of them, making India the world's leading country of origin. The McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) estimates that Indian migrants generate a staggering $430-$490 billion of GDP in the countries in which they live and work.

They also send more remittances home than any other country's migrants. At $65 billion in 2016, remittances are 3 per cent of the national GDP -- more than the value of all the oil that India imports.

In the coming decade, India can build on the success of its Diaspora and set itself the goal of doubling remittance flows to reach some $130 billion by 2026.

India is not just the world's largest recipient of migrant remittances today, but also historically among the fastest growing.

Since 1991, remittances to India have risen 20 fold, while global remittances increased at less than half that pace.

Even over the past decade, India's remittances grew 2.3 times, outpacing world growth of 1.8 times.

In the past five years, however, remittances have stagnated in India and around the world due to sluggish global growth, greater scrutiny of cross-border financial flows, and rising nationalism. Despite these headwinds, the fact is that the developed world has deep reliance on migrant labour.

From 2000 to 2014, immigrants contributed between 40 per cent and 80 per cent of growth in the labour forces of major destination countries in North America, Western Europe, Oceania and the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Migrants from India have more than doubled in number over the last 25 years, and those in the GCC and North America (home to 70 per cent of all migrants from India) have quadrupled over this period.

All the evidence suggests that cross-border mobility of people has boosted global productivity. MGI estimates that migrants contributed around $6.7 trillion, or 9.4 per cent of the global GDP, in 2015 -- that's $3 trillion more than had they remained in their birth countries (According to People on the move: Global migration's impact and opportunity, McKinsey Global Institute, December 2016.)

Destination countries also benefit from the innovation, entrepreneurship, and cultural contributions that migrants bring.

Yet migrants from different countries struggle to integrate fully into their host economies, earning on average 20 to 30 per cent lower wages than those of comparable native-born workers. They also tend to face higher rates of unemployment.

The good news is that Indian migrants have generally fared better. In Western Europe and the United States, migrants from India experience 1 to 2 percentage points lower unemployment than native-born workers, while migrants from many other developing countries face up to 10 percentage points higher unemployment.

As population growth in the advanced economies slows in coming decades, the need for migrant labour will rise. Sheer economic logic ought to compel countries such as China, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States to favour skill-based migration as Australia and Canada have done for years, even in the face of rising pro-nationalist sentiments.

In such a scenario, India should invest in building skills in order to boost demand for Indian talent in the face of potentially less open borders and competition from other countries.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the launch of Pravasi Kaushal Vikas Yojana, a programme designed to raise the skills of young Indians seeking overseas employment. To complement this effort, the programme will map the jobs in demand in different economies so that India's education and training system can match those needs, provide trainees with the certification they need to work in different markets, and forge partnerships with global institutes.

The Philippines has pursued this kind of strategy by recognising and filling nursing shortages around the world. Notably, remittances to the Philippines at some $29 billion in 2016 have remained buoyant even in the midst of the global slowdown.

The combination of targeted training at home and more effective integration in their destination countries would give migrants more earning power and the ability to repatriate more.

It could also produce broader "social remittances". After working overseas, skilled migrants return with more knowledge of good business practices, and a network of global contacts they can tap for funding and collaboration. The clearest example of this is the way returning migrants applied the experience they gained in Silicon Valley to developing Bengaluru's IT industry.

India's new strategy of "diplomacy for development" is strengthening its image as an attractive destination for foreign investment, and non-resident Indians (NRIs) are a key target audience.

Modi has made an explicit appeal to Indians working abroad, asking them to contribute to economic development at home by taking part in programmes such as Swachh Bharat Mission and to invest in domestic businesses.

The Department of Science and Technology is launching a visiting joint research facility scheme that enables NRI scientists and technocrats to engage in research and development in India.

To meet the goal of doubling remittances over the next 10 years, India would require a concerted, top-down strategy with government and businesses working in concert with receiving economies, and much expanded skills training and education at home.

Enabling India's labour to become more globally mobile and valued can produce higher remittances in the short term -- and build human capital and global connections with powerful "brain gain" dividends over the longer term.

Rajat Gupta is a senior partner of McKinsey & Company and Anu Madgavkar is a partner at the McKinsey Global Institute. They are based in McKinsey's Mumbai office.
In 2015, the auto major had announced that it would cease production at the plant, a move that affected around 1,100 employees.

General Motors India on Thursday said it will accept fresh applications for voluntary retirement scheme from workers of its Halol manufacturing facility, where it has stopped production.

GM India president and managing director Kaher Kazem said the step has been taken after a number of employees at the unit had individually approached the management seeking reopening of a separation scheme offered earlier.

"As we continue to consolidate GM India manufacturing at our Talegaon plant, we are listening to our employees and supporting them through the transition," Kazem said in a statement.

He further said the company will consider fresh applications for the separation packages, which remains unchanged, but for only a short period of time.

"We are mindful of the impact on our workforce of ceasing GM production at Halol, but we need to ensure our manufacturing consolidation remains on track. Halol employees have the option of a generous separation payment or continuity of employment at our Talegaon facility," he added.

The company's employees who have so far not signed on for the separation package have received communication about transfer to Talegaon.

The transfer process, including pre-transfer visits, begins early May, the company said.

On April 28, US auto major General Motors stopped production at its first Indian plant in Halol, Gujarat, as part of consolidation of manufacturing operations in the country.

The company's arm, General Motors India will now operate all its manufacturing operations from its second plant at Talegaon in Maharashtra.

In 2015, the auto major had announced that it would cease production at the plant, a move that affected around 1,100 employees.

The Halol unit, which had a total annual manufacturing capacity of 110,000 units annually, was originally planned to be shut by mid-2016.

Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters
India on Thursday asked the United Kingdom to ensure the early extradition of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya who is facing cases of bank loan default to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore by his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi raised the issue of early completion of the extradition process of Mallya, during his talks in New Delhi with his UK counterpart Patsy Wilkinson, the second permanent secretary in the British home office.

The presence of some Sikh militant elements in the UK, sharing of intelligence inputs on a real-time basis, particularly with regard to the ISIS -- both from ISIS-held territories, and modules being busted in the UK and Europe  were among the issues that were discussed at the two-hour-long meeting, official sources said.

Counter-terror cooperation between India and Britain, besides a host of other issues, also figured in the parleys.

Matters relating to the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, strengthening of the intelligence-sharing mechanism and visa-related issues were also deliberated upon, the sources said.

The 61-year-old Mallya, who has been living in Britain since last year, was arrested by Scotland Yard last month on India's extradition request.

Within hours of arrest, Mallya, who is accused of cheating and fraud, was released on bail by a London court.

The UK's crown prosecution service will argue the case on behalf of India when it comes before the court.

Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016.

India and the UK have an extradition treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement -- that of Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was sent back to India last October to face trial for his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.

However, unlike Mallya, Patel had submitted to the extradition order without a legal challenge. India had given a formal extradition request for Mallya as per the extradition treaty between India and the UK through a note verbale, a diplomatic communication, on February 8.

The Union home secretary lauded the UK's effort to extradite Mallya and conveyed that New Delhi will help London to pursue the case in the UK court.

The sources said India told the UK delegation that if one-on-one contact can be established between the prosecuting agency in India and the crown prosecution or department of prosecution, then it would be faster and easier to put up evidence before the judge concerned.

India will inform the UK about the proceedings or hearings happening in the cases of wanted criminals by the UK in India and wants the UK to reciprocate in similar cases.

Both sides agreed that India and the UK will sign an MoU in July on reworking the agreement on security cooperation.

India also offered to drop cases registered against one Bangladeshi national, who is lodged in Assam, so that he can be extradited to the UK.

In return, sources said, India expects reciprocity that if people wanted by New Delhi are mired in any British case, those should be dropped and extradition facilitated.

Image: Vijay Mallya. Photograph: Reuters.
'The Pakistan army feels it can inflict a similar defeat on India in Kashmir and make it "India's Bangladesh".'

'But comparing Bangladesh of 1971 with the Kashmir valley of 2017 is like equating chalk and cheese!' warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).

On May 3, during a border skirmish, Pakistani troops and jihadi elements killed two Indian soldiers in the Nangi tekdi area of Krishna ghati near Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir.

As has happened earlier as well, the Pakistanis then carried out a ritual beheading of the soldiers and mutilated their dead bodies.

As expected it has sent shock waves through the nation and calls for suitable revenge.

What is the logic behind these incidents?

What does Pakistan hope to achieve through these un-soldierly acts?

It is time citizens understand the mindset and strategy that lies at the root of this savagery.

The Nangi Tekdi areas, where the clash took place, was captured from Pakistan in the 1971 war. The area is thickly wooded and consists of undulating hillocks, making it difficult to patrol.

After the 1971 war and cease fire, a narrow strip of land with the Poonch river behind is controlled by Pakistan.

Most posts here are small strength and non-tactically located. These are vulnerable to Indian retaliation.

Could this have been a 'local' initiative? Possible, given the geography of the area. After all, how many times has one seen this kind of churlish behaviour from Pakistan?

Does one remember the many times Pakistani authorities 'accidentally' put the Indian flag upside down on vehicles for Indian dignitaries?!

For the un-initiated, an upside down flag is a symbol of a defeated nation. Countless Indian army messes have captured Pakistani flags upside down on display.

Forty-six years have passed since the Pakistan army's defeat, yet it appears that the flame of revenge burns bright. It is reported that Pakistani army officers take an oath to avenge the 1971 humiliation when they are commissioned into the military.

The Pakistan army feels it can inflict a similar defeat on India in Kashmir and make it 'India's Bangladesh.'

Raids on the border, support for Kashmiris fighting India, training jihadis like the LeT (Lashkar-e-Tayiba) or Jaish-e-Mohamad and infiltrating terrorists into India is the methodology of this proxy war.

The justification is that like India trained the Mukti Bahini irregulars in then East Pakistan in 1971, so Pakistan is supporting the uprising in the Kashmir valley. It has to be accepted that at least four to five districts in the Kashmir valley have indeed seen an uprising against India.

But comparing Bangladesh of 1971 with the Kashmir valley of 2017 is like equating chalk and cheese!

For starters, the Kashmir valley forms a minuscule part of Jammu and Kashmir, leave alone a continent size nation like India.

The erstwhile East Pakistan was half the country and more than 50% of the population had revolted.

Strategically, Bangladesh was isolated from West Pakistan and surrounded by India from three sides and blockaded by the ocean on the fourth! The Kashmir vale is neither isolated nor surrounded by Pakistan.

In the early stages of the 1971 war, India destroyed the Pakistan air force in the east and had complete air supremacy. India also had superiority on the ground.

Even if one is to accept the possibility that the Chinese will take an active part (a very doubtful preposition), the Indian armed strength can more than match the deployable Chinese/Pakistan combined strength.

This strategic calculus is necessary as in the case of Bangladesh's liberation, while the Mukti Bahini and popular support did play a major role, the coup de grace was delivered by the Indian armed forces.

Does the 'professional' Pakistan army think it has the kind of superiority needed for this?

The Indian campaign to liberate Bangladesh evoked international support. Kashmiri separatism in the valley, with Islamic State flags on display and the possibility of the emergence of another terrorist haven, has elicited lukewarm world opinion.

In 1990, when the situation in the Kashmir valley was on the boil, Robert Gates, then the CIA director visited India and Pakistan to defuse the crisis. Gates is reported to have told Pakistan's generals that the Americans had war-gamed India-Pakistan wars several times and in every possible scenario, it ended in defeat for Pakistan.

Finally, there is the nuclear dimension.

No country in the world, including Pakistan's all-weather friend China, wants to see the use of nuclear weapons in a conflict. The basic lesson of nuclear deterrence is that it can deter an attack, but not grant any advantage in an offensive.

To understand the Pakistan army's behaviour and its rationale in keeping the borders alive, we have to look elsewhere, to the internal dimension of Pakistan.

Support for jihadi organisations is dictated by the widespread public support for the Kashmir cause in Pakistan.

In addition, given its galloping population, unemployment and dire economic conditions, jihad and keeping the India-Pakistan pot boiling is the only viable option to keep the young restive population engaged.

Jihad against India is an employment opportunity for Pakistan's restive youth.

Though fully aware that it cannot achieve military success against India, border incidents and killings keep the fires of India hate burning in Pakistan.

This then conjures up an India threat and ensures the Pakistan army's primacy in politics and economics of that country.

One possible Pakistani calculation in mutilating Indian soldiers' bodies is to be found in the logic that this will weaken support for the Modi government's Kashmir policy.

Pakistanis ought to have noted that every single victim's family (with one exception) have felt proud of their sacrifice and wants a lesson to be taught to Pakistan.

Instead of weakening the resolve, these acts have given rise to anger and the resolve to avenge!

IMAGE: An army officer pays tribute to soldiers killed by the Pakistani army in Poonch. Photograph: Umar Ganie

DO READ the features in the RELATED LINKS BELOW...
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has five key aspects to his style of leading -- total command over bureaucracy, direct approval on every decision, flexible approach to issues, importance of communication and adept at repackaging schemes, says A K Bhattacharya.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com.

This month, Narendra Modi completes three years as Indias prime minister. It is a long enough period for anyone to get a sense of his leadership style. What is clear by now is that Mr Modi is completely different from his predecessor, Manmohan Singh, and indeed almost all his predecessors.

Indira Gandhi, who served as prime minister for almost 15 years in two different stints, is perhaps the only one whose operational style is a little closer to that of Mr Modi. Both were strong leaders. Both had a connect with the ordinary people of India. And both understood power and authority -- and knew how to use them.



Mr Modi, however, is different in many ways. Here are five key aspects of Mr Modis leadership style. Some of these may be similar to those of Indira Gandhi, but they acquire a new dimension and colour under Mr Modi.

One, Mr Modis command over the bureaucracy is total. He entered the Prime Ministers Office as a complete outsider, but took very little time to understand how he needs to take charge of the bureaucracy. Disintermediation was his primary instrument to keep civil servants under control. In sharp contrast to his immediate predecessor, Mr Modi made sure that he had a role and the final say in deciding on the appointment of senior civil servants in all important ministries. Thus, many central ministers realised that their top bureaucrats also had a direct connect with the prime minister and the PMO.

What is clear by now is that Mr Modi is completely different from his predecessor, Manmohan Singh, and indeed almost all his predecessors.



In line with this strategy, Modi developed a relationship of accountability with top civil servants across the central ministries. Periodic meetings were held with top secretaries in different ministries where the prime minister would be directly briefed on the progress of policy actions decided upon by the government. Yes, the ministers concerned would often be there in such meetings, but every bureaucrat present there would know who the boss was and whose writ ran at the end of the day.



Even when the issues to be decided pertained to the Budget, the architecture of the goods and services tax or demonetisation, the prime minister made sure that he had a direct involvement with the bureaucrats concerned and played a role in the formulation of policies or their execution. This was again completely different from the way Manmohan Singh ran the government for 10 years, when he would operate through the PMO officials, through the central ministers or through file notes.





The second distinct style of Modi is reflected in the way he runs the government and takes decisions. The joke doing the rounds during the P V Narasimha Rao governments tenure was that it had only one-and-a-half reformers, suggesting that very few ministers were reform-minded in their approach then. Under Modi, it cannot be said that there are only one-and-a-half reformers in his government. But certainly it can be stated that every decision of the Modi government flows from Mr Modi and has his direct or indirect approval.



Thus, the decision on the broad contours of the coal auction system would be taken at a meeting with Mr Modi taking the lead. Even a decision on whether an experts committees report should be made public or not is taken by the prime minister or his office. Cabinet meetings also reflect the predominance of Mr Modi as the central leader, who runs the government with an iron hand, brooking little opposition or dissent from any of his ministerial colleagues. For instance, there was reportedly little discussion at the Cabinet meeting where Mr Modi announced the governments plan on demonetisation. Even the decision on amending the motor vehicle rules to abolish the use of red beacons on cars used by VIPs was first taken by the prime minister and then shared at the Cabinet meeting for its endorsement.

Three, Mr Modis leadership style distinguishes itself for its flexible approach to issues. He had launched his government in May 2014 with the focus on promoting development, creating jobs and eliminating black money. In the first two years, he had sensed that the development agenda would be a long-term goal, job creation would be extremely difficult in the current economic scenario and the black money challenge would have to be met with some quick high-profile action.



Not surprisingly, Mr Modis speeches no longer talk about jobs, the policy focus is on creating infrastructure with the target of many development goals being set at 2022, much after the next general elections, and a big-bang decision on demonetising 86 per cent of the currency in the system was taken in the name of attacking black money. And when there were some internal doubts if demonetisation would indeed be able to tackle black money, a new objective of a move towards digitised payments was set. This is quick thinking to change course if there are early signs of failure.

Four, the prime minister has understood the importance of communication unlike most of his predecessors. But what he prefers is not a two-way exchange of views but a one-way communication. Thus, there are no press conferences by Modi where he could be asked questions. Instead, he prefers the social media platforms to bombard the media with all that he wants to say or what the government may have achieved. This presumably suits him as dissent is something that he or his government is not particularly fond of.



Finally, Modi has become adept at repackaging existing schemes and putting all his might behind promoting them so aggressively that he kills two birds with one stone. One, he ensures that the repackaged schemes and projects are implemented as efficiently and effectively as possible.

And two, he is seen to be owning these schemes as their key proponent so much so that it is closely identified with him and most people do not always remember that those schemes were actually mooted and started by his predecessor government. There are at least four such schemes -- a scheme for promoting energy-efficient light emitting diode bulbs, he rural job guarantee programme, the biometric-based Aadhaar identity scheme and a scheme for low-cost bank accounts for the poor.

These then constitute Modis Panchatantra or the five principles that influence his leadership style. It can be argued that his leadership style is subject to influence of many other principles. But these five principles could well be the starting point of assessing Modis leadership style.

Read all our Narendra Modi specials in the links below...
'Sasikala went to jail in a 19-year-old case.'

'Dinakaran went to jail in a case of attempting to bribe the Election Commission.'

'How can you link the BJP to these two cases?'

IMAGE: O Panneerselvam, then Tamil Nadu chief minister, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, December 19, 2016.

As you turn into the road leading to the Bharatiya Janata Party's office in Chennai, two policemen come into view. One of them notes down the registration number of every car that enters the road. Further down, are six more policemen.

Inside the office compound is a cabin with two more policemen in it. That is, 10 policemen posted to guard a party that does not have a single member in the state assembly.

As you wait in Kamalalayam, or 'House of lotus' in Tamil, for state BJP secretary Karu Nagarajan, a few details about the office catch your eye.

The main hall looks like a temple, with idols of goddess Saraswati, Bharat Mata and the Tamil poet-saint Thiruvalluvar.

To the right are photographs of past and present BJP leaders, starting with Atal Bihari Vajpayee and ending with current BJP President Amit Shah.

It is customary for cadres of Dravidian political parties to carry their leaders' photograph in their shirt pockets, a habit, one notes, that has percolated down to the younger generation of BJP cadres, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photograph visible through the shirt linen.

Like elsewhere in the Indian Union, the BJP hopes to ride on Modi's popularity in the panchayat elections whenever they are held.

"The people of Tamil Nadu want change and they will vote for the BJP," Nagarajan, left, insists to Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar on reaching the office after an hour's delay, which he blames on Chennai's traffic.

Does the BJP have a future in Tamil Nadu?

The future of the BJP in Tamil Nadu is very bright.

The people are sick and tired of the Dravidian parties. They are corrupt and inept. They are involved in kangaroo courts, land-grabbing and infighting.

Farmers are committing suicide. The water level has dropped to an alarming level, it is the cause of the drought in the state.

In every department only those schemes are taken up that are profitable to both bureaucrats and politicians.

You cannot get any work done without a bribe.

There is no plan to improve the lot of the people.

Seeing all this and wanting change, the people of Tamil Nadu will vote for the BJP.

Former chief minister O Panneerselvam has said if the two factions of the AIADMK (All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) do not unite, he will form a grand alliance with like-minded parties. Will the BJP be part of that alliance?

That must be the plan of the OPS faction of that party. I welcome it.

We are the party ruling at the Centre. We will form an alliance which we head.

Alliances will be decided by party leaders only at the time of elections.

Is the BJP tacitly supporting the OPS faction in the AIADMK power struggle?

This is a total lie. It is fabricated, and it is a propaganda led by parties like the DMK who are saying this everywhere. It is not true.

The belief that you are supporting OPS stems from the fact that whosoever opposes him goes to jail.

Sasikala went to jail in a 19-year-old case.

Dinakaran went to jail in a case of attempting to bribe the Election Commission.

How can you link the BJP to these two cases? We have nothing to do with them.

How can you even make such accusations?

Is it true that OPS has a direct line to Prime Minister Modi?

As far as I know it was EPS (Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswami) who went to Delhi to meet the PM recently.

Likewise, AIADMK MPs too meet him (Modi) regularly.

Even OPS met him when he was CM. All of them meet him for the betterment of the people of Tamil Nadu and the PM helps them.

How can you say he (Modi) has a direct line only with OPS? He meets everyone.

In spite of the Tamil Nadu government opposing the hydrocarbon project at Neduvasal, the central government gave the go-ahead.

Is it because the project was given to a BJP MP?

Ganesh Nadar is not aware of the current situation. The MP you are talking about (G Mallikarjuna) is long dead.

Moreover, the project was given in 31 places across the country. Why are you singling out this one project?

The projects have been taken up by private companies, public sector companies. One has been taken up by a multinational company in partnership with an NRI. This (Neduvasal) is just one of them.

It is the Congress party that gives projects to its friends, and that is why the 2G case is on.

The BJP does everything online and it is totally transparent, like the coal auction.

Everyone can participate, his party affiliation is irrelevant.

If what you say is true, why didn't the BJP give all 31 projects to its own people? Why only this one?

The Neduvasal project was given to a BJP MP who subsequently died. Now it is run by his son G M Siddheswara, who is also a BJP MP. Are you denying it?

Among the 31 projects, why are you stuck on this one?

In Tamil Nadu TASMAC (the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation, which alone can sell alcohol in the state) buys all its stuff from AIADMK and DMK men.

The Neduvasal discovery was made when the DMK was in power in Tamil Nadu and the Congress in power at the Centre.

At that time the MLA (S P Muthukumaran) was from the CPI (Communist Party of India). But nobody objected.

This project was not started to benefit a BJP MP, please understand that.

Are you going to support the people who oppose the project, or are you going to support your MP in this case?

The people of Tamil Nadu are our life force. We support the people always.

So will you oppose your MP?

There is no BJP MP involved. He is dead.

But his son is alive and has the contract.

No!

Yes!

No!
Egyptian national Eman Ahmed, who was until recently believed to be the world's heaviest woman, on Thursday got discharged from Mumbai's Saifee hospital where she underwent treatment for severe obesity.

The 37-year-old was discharged from the hospital around 12.40 pm for further treatment in the UAE, bariatric surgeon Muffazal Lakdawala said.

A green corridor has been created for transporting Eman from Saifee Hospital to Gate No. 5 of Terminal 2 at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International airport. Her flight to UAE will take off around 6 pm on Thursday, he said.

According to Lakdawala, Eman's weight has now come down to 170 kgs (as on Wednesday evening).

She weighed a whopping 498 kgs on her arrival in India in February this year.

On Wednesday, Lakdawala had said that Huzefa Shehabi, COO Saifee Hospital, had received an e-mail communication from VPS Burjeel Hospital (in Abu Dhabi, UAE) saying that Eman is "stable, in good health and fit to fly" paving way for her discharge this afternoon.

Eman's sister Shaimaa in an online video last month had alleged that she was not receiving proper treatment at the privately-owned hospital in South Mumbai.

She had alleged that the doctors at Saifee, made "false claims" about Eman's complete recovery and weight loss of 262 kg.

Refuting the allegations, Aparna Bhaskar, section chief of bariatric surgery at Saifee Hospital, had said that Shaimaa may be criticising the doctors to extend her sister's stay at the hospital.

Lakdawala too had denied the charge.

Eman, a resident of Alexandria in Egypt, had not stepped out of her house for more than two decades due to her obese condition followed by a stroke that left her paralysed on one side a year ago.

It was Shaimaa, who learnt about Lakdawala and his expertise in bariatric surgeries and approached him for help early this year.

"It took almost a month for me to form a team of doctors, chalk out a detailed plan for her treatment and then we decided to get her here. Every treatment plan, method was debated with great detail. Hence, we could reduce her weight from 498 kgs to 170 kgs," Dr Lakdawala said.

In a blog, Lakdawala said that Eman's sister has been promised by Burjeel Hospital officials that "Eman will be able to stand and walk".

The doctor said that Shaimaa insisted she had wanted the hospital (Saifee) to keep Eman till she could walk and the management said that was not possible because of the advice we have received from one the foremost orthopaedic surgeons in the country.

"Shaimaa then said she has been promised by Burjeel Hospital officials that Eman will be able to stand and walk soon. We told her we would not over-promise and we would not put the patient at risk. This is the crux of her issue with the Indian doctors and hospital," he said in the blog.

Eman underwent bariatric surgery in March in which doctors reduced the size of her stomach by two-thirds, so as to reduce her food intake. Her genetic tests had showed that she has a rare gene mutation that cannot be cured through surgery.

She was treated by Lakdawala and a team of around 15 doctors from various disciplines since she was brought here from Alexandria on February 11 this year.

Photograph: Sahil Salvi
Haryana's Muslim-dominated Mewat district has the lowest immunisation rate among children under the age of six years, which is a matter of concern for the authorities who are now trying to rope in clerics to address the situation.

The immunisation rate here is 13 per cent, much lower than the state average of 62.2 per cent, according to the National Family Health Survey.

Officials say the rate of immunisation in Mewat is low mainly because of rumours which started spreading more than three months back that the vaccines being administered under the Central government's Indradhanush programme would have a sterilising effect on the children.

With an aim of addressing the situation, top officials of the district and National Health Mission on Wednesday held an interaction with the Accredited Social Health Activists and the clerics, who agreed to render their help by negating the rumours.

Maulana Yahya Kareemi, president of Al-aman Islamic Centre, Mewat, said he would speak about the "misinformation" related to the immunisation during the prayers at the mosque, including on Fridays when the number of devotees swell.

"We have 400-500 youth coming to our institute every day and the number rises to over a thousand on Fridays. If the administration wants, we can spread the word quelling misinformation related to immunisation," he said.

The Indradanush programme is aimed at guarding children against diseases like polio, BCG, pentavalent (diptheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis b, haemophilus, influenza type-B) rubella-measles.

Officials said the immunisation rate had risen to 30 per cent but it started sliding post-February after a video went viral on social media, claiming that the injections being administered would make the children sterile and check the population of the minority community.

"As of now, no such injection or tablet has been invented which could render children sterile," asserted Mewat Deputy Commissioner Mani Ram Sharma, while rubbishing the rumours.

He told the gathering, which included several clerics, that the region has several people affected by polio as the Meo community had skipped the polio vaccination drive 15 years back, again due to unfound apprehensions.

"I see 15-20 physically disabled youngsters coming to see me at my office every day to seek assistance in the form of employment or finances," the IAS officer said.

"We can tell only you (the ASHAs and religious leaders), but it is for you to spread the word among the stakeholders and raise awareness at grassroots level," Sharma said.

Director of the National Health Mission in Haryana Amaneet P Kumar also rejected the rumours and said, "They are wrong. We should have faith in science."

On their part, the ASHA workers highlighted the reasons, like vehement denial by some people, for the low immunisation rate.

"People hurl strong words at us, they shut their doors at us but we still make an effort to go back to such houses to ensure that no child is left out," said 48-year-old Rehmani, ASHA at Karedi village in Nagina block.

Raziya, ASHA coordinator at Mewat, highlighted the insufficient number of ASHAs and Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery (village level health workers) in the district.

"At present there are 874 ASHAs in Mewat as against a stipulated requirement of over 1400," said Raziya.

As per the guidelines, she said, one ASHA is required for every thousand people.

Also one Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery is needed for every 5,000 people but in the district it is an ANM per 15- 17,000 people.

Another Islamic scholar, Hakim uddin, told the gathering of Muslim clerics and government officials besides Haryana Waqf Board CEO Hanif Qureishi, that any rumour must be checked.

He also asked the community members to shun any "negative mindset" about government measures and instead verify reports/rumours.

Qureishi, who is also the Commissioner of Police, Faridabad, said it was sad that health indicators in Mewat were the "lowest".

"Its ramifications would not appear now but after 15-20 years," he remarked.

Appealing to the community members for support in the immunisation drive, Qureishi underlined that in a democracy, the government has a social responsibility to look after the welfare of the people.

"But the people have a freedom of choice, no decision can be imposed on them," he said.

"This is your (religious leaders') responsibility to spread the message for welfare of the children, both for their safety as well as education," he added.

Image used for representational purposes only
The military is not getting its due share, and spending on defence is considered a burden by many in the country, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said on Thursday.

Citing Chinas example, he said a powerful military will enhance Indias strategic clout.

Dwelling on evolving security challenges for India, the army chief also said that a national military strategy and a security framework will be finalised very soon to effectively deal with various threats.

The two documents are being finalised at a time when the armed forces are dealing with increasing cross border terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir. Last month, a tri-services military doctrine was unveiled listing various response mechanism including carrying out surgical strikes to deal with terrorist attacks.

Pitching for investing more on Indias armed forces, Rawat, addressing a defence think tank, spoke of China to drive home the point that Indias true potential will be realised only when both economic growth and might of the military go hand-in-hand.

While we are developing our economy, the military is not getting its due share. I think here we need to draw a lesson from China, he said, adding military and economic growth should be co-joint as they are two tenets of national power.

He said the country must look for new friends and allies to deal with neighbours along Indias western and northern borders, an apparent reference to Pakistan and China.

Indias defence budget for 2017-18 was Rs 2.74 lakh crore which is 1.63 per cent of gross domestic product. Chinas military spending for 2017 has been pegged at $152 billion (Rs 9.88 lakh crore), which is close to around three per cent of the countrys GDP and three times higher than that of Indias defence budget.

There has been a feeling among security experts and the defence establishment that the modernisation of armed forces is taking place at a very slow pace and that government has not been allocating adequate funds for it.

Referring to Indias security challenges, Gen Rawat said the drafts of national military strategy and national security strategy were ready to deal with pressing issues coherently.

We should be able to identify our own national military strategy. We do not have a national military strategy as of now. Directorate General of Perspective Planning has been tasked to come out with it.

We are also coming out with the national security strategy which will be given to the government. Both the draft documents are ready and hopefully we will be releasing them very soon, he said after unveiling Strategic Yearbook 2017 at the United Service Institution, a national security and defence think tank.

Holding that a strong military is essential for Indias forward march, he said the general thinking among people is that expenditure on defence is a burden on the economy.

He said a very strong military is a key for the economy to develop. The army chief also identified ensuring energy security as another important requirement for India to become a major power.

Talking about the evolving security situation in the region, Gen Rawat said India must have close ties with countries like Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan considering the security matrix. He said such a policy will recreate the outreach India had before partition.

The army chief said such a strategy will create two pronged dilemma for Indias western neighbour, Pakistan, but also help in tackling issues with Indias northern neighbour, China.

We have to start looking at how do we carry out counter-encirclement for our future adversaries. Developing alliances, developing friends to overcome the (current) deficiency is important. That must be part of our strategic thought process, he said.

The army chief said that time has come for India to have a say in all major issues at the United Nations and the country must work hard to attain the membership of the UN Security Council.

We must create alliances and friends also so that we find a rightful place at the UNSC. Time has come for India to have a say in all that happens in UN, he said.

On energy security, he said India has a huge potential to generate solar and wind energy and it must focus on these energy sources.

IMAGE: Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat speaks at the release of USI Strategic Yearbook 2017 at a function in New Delhi on Thursday. Photograph: PTI Photo
Russia presents greatest threat to American national security, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey has told lawmakers.

"Certainly in my view, (Russia presents) the greatest threat of any nation on earth, given their intention and their capability," Comey said in response to a question during his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where lawmakers expressed concern over Russian activities in the cyberspace.

Comey said "yes" when Senator Lindsey Graham asked when it comes to Russia, is it fair to say that Russia actively provides safe haven to cyber criminals.

He said "it is a fair statement," when Senator Lindsey Graham asked if he agreed with him the only way the Russians are going to stop this for them to pay a price for interfering in the US political process.

Comey said that Russians are doing this all over the world.

The FBI chief said that in the last presidential elections, the Russians were not able to change the actual vote tally, but one day they might.

"We found no indication of any change in vote tallies. There was efforts aimed at voter registration systems, but I suppose in theory, part of the US. The beauty of our system is it's a bit of a hairball. All different kinds of systems," he said.

"My understanding is they have attempted it in other countries," Comey said in response to another question from Graham.

In his remarks, Senator Chuck Grassley, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Ranking Member Senator Diana Feinstein expressed concern over Russian cyber activities.

Comey said the FBI has been working against Russian hackers.

"Last month, the FBI working with our partners with the Spanish national police took down a botnet called the Kelihos botnet and locked up the Russian hacker behind that botnet, who made a mistake that Russian criminals sometimes make of leaving Russia and visiting the beautiful city of Barcelona," he said.

"He is now in jail in Spain and the good people's computers who had been lashed to that zombie army have now been freed from it and are no longer part of a huge criminal enterprise," he added.

Comey said the intelligence community with high confidence concluded it was Russia that hacked into the Democratic party servers.

"In many circumstances, it's hard to do attribution of a hack, but sometimes the intelligence is there. We have high confidence that the North Koreans hacked Sony, we have high confidence that the Russians did the hacking of the DNC and the other organisations," he said.

Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
The start of Indian-American lobbying in the US can be directly traced back to Pakistan's anti-India lobbying.

Policy wonk Ashok Sharma documents the journey of Indian lobbying and its role in transforming the US-India relationship in his new book.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

Not long ago, the Pakistan lobbying was accustomed to steamrolling over the weak Indian lobby in Washington. But since 9/11 terrorists attacks, Capitol Hill has hardly a good word to say about Pakistan.

The steady deterioration of Pakistan's internal security situation and the American realisation that both the Taliban and Al Qaeda -- the two much-feared enemies of the Americans -- enjoyed the patronage of many, including the most powerful, in Pakistan for many years.

Not to be underestimated is the fear of Islamic terrorism drummed into American minds since September 11, 2001.

But in the case of India, some events in India, which would have angered US Congressmen in bygone days and would have led them to issue strong verbal denunciations, if not demand the imposition of sanctions, go virtually unnoticed.

This drastic transformation was neither automatic nor magical. It was the Indian lobbying strategy that played a major role in bringing about this change.

In 1990s, when the Pakistani propaganda about Kashmir was at peak, the Friends of India Forum was formed in England to counter Pakistani propaganda.

So too was the Indo-American Kashmir Forum by immigrant Kashmiri Pandits and backed by some Congressmen in the United States, to garner support for the community, lobby for India's stand on Kashmir and to check the Pakistani lobby.

The forum worked for bringing the plight of Pandits in Kashmir brought to the notice of the Congress that because of militancy more than 250,000 Pandits were driven out of Kashmir.

The forum in its meeting in 1994 moved a resolution and urged President Clinton to take action against Pakistan and declare it a terrorist State.

Vinay Sazawal, president of the Indo-American Kashmir Forum, asked the State Department to declare Pakistan a terrorist State for sponsoring terrorism in India.

While welcoming the US decision to designate the Pakistan-based militant group Harkat Ul-Ansar as a 'terrorist organisation,' the Sazawal-led delegation wanted the action on the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front and the Hizbul Mujahideen.

The members of the forum also met Karl Inderfurth, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, to lobby for Kashmiri Pandits and also requested from him US humanitarian aid for Kashmiri Pandits living in refugee camps.

During the nuclear tests, Indian Americans mobilised themselves in a much better way than Pakistanis, partly because Indians were economically more affluent and greater in number than Pakistanis and also because Washington had become increasingly interested in India's economic and strategic potential.

Furthermore, India's democracy appeared stable, while Pakistan was increasingly becoming a locus of instability and insecurity...

Did you know?

Photograph: Rediff.com

The origin of Indian-American lobbying can be traced back to the 1950s when Dalip Singh Saund, the first Indian-American Congressman, moved a resolution in the US Congress, warning that military aid to Pakistan might damage America's image as a champion of democracy.

Now, Indian supporters are not only able to defend Indian lobbying interests, but also counter the anti-Indian moves made by adversaries...

In a historic vote on June 9, 2005, the HIRC passed the State Department Authorization Bill in which a provision in the bill added by Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA) acknowledged the dangers of the ongoing close military partnership between China and Pakistan, and also noted the fact that the technology peddled by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qader Khan to rogue countries had originated in China.

A second provision, added by Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA) and Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), conditioned military sales to Pakistan on that country's full compliance on terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction...

After the 1999 Kargil incident, India and Pakistan took their rivalry for the favour of the United States to Washington's Capitol Hill to the next level.

The Pakistani lobbying attempted to appoint a special envoy for Kashmir, but was foiled by Indian lobbying when Benjamin Gilman, chairman of the HIRC, and his Democratic counterpart, Sam Gejdenson, sent a letter to the US President urging him to spurn any call for the US to appoint a special envoy for Kashmir.

They demanded, 'Instead of appointing a special envoy we should be urging Pakistan to stop sending infiltrators across the LOC into India.'

As a consequence, the Indian efforts prevailed and there was no direct US intervention in the Kashmir conflict.

Similarly, the master stroke foreign policy acts of Obama's first week in office in 2009 was announcement of Richard Holbrooke as the formidable new US envoy to South Asia -- 'a special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.'

India was conspicuous by its absence. But the omission of India from Holbrooke's title was not a mistake.

In fact, when they came to know about Holbrooke was going to deal with India-Pakistan, the Indian lobbying got alerted and vigorously -- and successfully -- lobbied the Obama transition team to make sure that neither India nor Kashmir was included in Holbrooke's official brief.

While the Pakistani lobby and the Indian lobby are active players, there is a popular misperception that Pakistan does better at lobbying than India.

In fact, Pakistani lobbying activities seem to be less effective and its achievements rather dismal, compared to similar activities by the Indian lobbying in the post-Cold War period.

For instance, Pakistanis contended that two pro-Indian-American politicians were defeated, respectively, in 1992 and 1995, thanks to their mobilising efforts: Stephen Solarz, a staunch supporter of India, and Larry Pressler of the Pressler Amendment.

But in reality, Stephen Solarz lost the election at best due to an effective alliance between Pakistanis and Hispanics, but more probably because of redrawing of constituency boundaries.

There were also some financial irregularities when his wife had issued some checks, which bounced. His rival was a Hispanic candidate who massively attracted the votes of South American electors.

In the same vein, Larry Pressler lost his election primarily because he was perceived as being out of touch of his constituency.

His opponent Tim Johnson, who was financially supported by Pakistani Americans, was considered to be a grassroots politician, and this factor more than financial backing apparently is what played the decisive role in his victory.

Pakistan's claim of victory over the Brown Amendment passed in 1995, which allowed the United States to sell to Pakistan weapons that were until then embargoed under the provision of Pressler Amendment, is also contested.

Moreover, after the signing of a 10-year Defence Agreement in June 2005 and extended further for 10 years in 2015 and conclusion of nuclear deal this victory of the Pakistani lobby became irrelevant, as these two agreements ultimately have opened gateway for a much enhanced and comprehensive US-India defence collaboration, which includes co-production of all sorts of high-end defence products.

As far as Clinton's visit to Pakistan is concerned, for which Pakistani Americans had lobbied for, Pakistani Americans raised $50,000 for the Senate campaign of his wife Hillary Clinton.

Clinton's five-hour visit was more of a lecture to Pakistan, to stop terrorism, and to express concerns that Pakistan was becoming a rogue State. In this sense, the visit was more of a negative than a positive.

However, there have been limits to the power of Indian-American lobby.

It became apparent when they tried to put its riders in the US Aid Bill for Pakistan and the executive branch opposed it.

Another agenda that Indian-American lobbying has not been able to achieve is to declare Pakistan as a terrorist State. Pakistani lobbying have so far successfully lobbied for Pakistan not to be declared a terrorist State by the United States.

But this too can be attributed to the fact that United States needed Pakistan in its counter-terrorism agenda, and strategically, the United States did not want to antagonize Pakistan and push it further in China's lap.

Excerpted from Ashok Sharma's Indian Lobbying and its Influence in US Decision Making with permission from Sage Publications.

Ashok Sharma is a Fellow of the Australia-India Institute at University of Melbourne and Deputy Chair of New Zealand Institute of International Affairs.
Given Modi's penchant for springing a surprise, the BJP nominee for President could be anyone.

The only thing certain is that it will be an RSS person, reports R Rajagopalan.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Photograph: Shahbaz Khan/PTI Photo

That Congress President Sonia Gandhi has gone into overdrive for the Presidential election is well known.

What is not known is the strategy being charted by Gandhi to ensure a President and vice- president 'acceptable to the nation.'

Who will it be is the question that is being debated furiously in New Delhi's corridors of power.

According to Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, who has already met Sonia to discuss the Presidential election, her game plan can be summed up thus: "Let the BJP first declare its Presidential candidate, and accordingly the common candidate of the entire Opposition will be announced."

In other words, let the BJP make the first move.

In the meantime, it will also give the Opposition, which is currently divided as always, time to paper over its cracks and forge unity.

The present divisions in its ranks are too well kwown.

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress President Mamata Banerjee, upset at being sidelined by the Congress, is trying to bring together leaders like Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of the Biju Janata Dal and other smaller parties.

Mamata's differences with the Communists are too well known to bear repetition. So will it mean the Opposition may end up putting up two candidates?

The Election Commission has internally readied a calendar of events following a tentative suggestion from the secretaries general of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha that the Presidential election will be announced in the middle of June.

Accordingly, Chief Election Commissioner Dr Nasim Zaidi is expected to announce on June 16 that the Presidential election will take place on July 19.

As Dr Zaidi is set to retire in July, the name of the next President will in all likelihood be announced by his successor.

This schedule suits the BJP just fine, as it does not want to show its cards too soon.

The BJP parliamentary board will take a call on the election around June 10, party President Amit Shah told mediapersons recently.

"Let us open up the names by the first week of June," he is believed to have told a select group of journalists.

By itself, the BJP does not have the required numbers to see its nominee ensconced in Rashtrapati Bhavan, and has to depend on allies and friendly parties.

It has informally initiated coordination with three regional parties -- the two factions of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and Patnaik's BJD.

TRS chief and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao has assured the BJP of the party's 1.25% of vote share, courtesy its 17 MPs and 62 MLAs.

Similarly, the two AIADMK factions have let it be known to a BJP intermediary that they are ready to go along with the BJP.

While the ruling faction's V K Sasikala and T T V Dinakaran are yet to commit their support, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami told his cabinet recently that they will have to work with the Centre given the drought and the many CBI, ED and income-tax cases being faced by them.

Similarly, BJP intermediaries are confident that the O Pannerselvam faction, with its 10 MPs and eight MLAs, will vote for its candidate.

As for the BJD, the BJP has been in touch with Naveen Patnaik and hopes he will realise that an alliance with Mamata will only go against his party's interests.

Once these three parties firm up their support, the BJP is expected open up on its candidates.

While senior BJP leaders are convinced that for the first time a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh personality will be elected President of India, all Amit Shah would say is that it could be a 'he' or a 'she'.

As for the candidates themselves, Vice-President Hamid Ansari has categorically communicated to various political parties that he is not in the race.

Having served for ten years as vice-president, he does not want to be defeated by the BJP nominee.

The Congress has three names in mind, including former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.

Sonia Gandhi, it is said, is keen on seeing Nobel Laureate Dr Amartya Sen, a non-political person, in Rashtrapati Bhavan.

While the Opposition leaders she has spoken to are agreed upon Professor Sen, others feel he is not enough of a draw for undecided parties and will hence lose to the BJP.

"His name will not attract votes, but distract," summed up a senior Congress leader.

Meanwhile, the Janata Dal-United wants its chief Sharad Yadav as the common candidate, but the chances of all 14 political parties agreeing to him are bleak.

Another Sharad -- Pawar -- was said to be acceptable to the Opposition, but the Maratha leader has already withdrawn himself from the race.

What seems certain from the Opposition camp for now is that the Congress may not put up its own candidate, for only the second time since 1947.

It broke ranks with the Opposition in 2002 to back the NDA candidate, A P J Abdul Kalam.

From the BJP's side, while it is well known that the final decision will be taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, the three names floating about in New Delhi circles are Union Minister Tanwar Chand Gehlot, Jharkhand Governor Draupadi Murmu and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.

Given Modi's penchant for springing a surprise -- he did it in Haryana with M L Khattar, and then in Uttar Pradesh with Yogi Adityanath -- one can be certain that the final choice will be none of these three names.

The only thing certain is that the BJP nominee will be from the RSS.

Modi believes the 2014 mandate was not just for him, but for the election of a staunch Hindutva personality as the next President of India.

He agreed as much when this correspondent asked him recently about the 2014 Lok Sabha election results and its impact on the Presidential election.

Senior journalist R Rajagopalan has reported on five Presidential elections from New Delhi.
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.
Russia: kidnappings, torture and killings of men suspected of homosexuality are actually happening in Chechnya

Publisher International Federation for Human Rights Publication Date 7 April 2017 Cite as International Federation for Human Rights, Russia: kidnappings, torture and killings of men suspected of homosexuality are actually happening in Chechnya, 7 April 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/590b1a974.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.

FIDH and its member organisation Anti-Discrimination Centre Memorial (ADC Memorial) express their full confidence in reliability of information provided by their long-term partner Russian LGBT Network who confirmed the facts of kidnapping, unlawful detentions, torture and killings of men suspected of homosexual relations in Chechnya. We hereby confirm that news of massive attacks on men suspected of homosexuality appeared in the media following reports received by human rights organisations, including those working on LGBT rights.

Starting on 1 April 2017, media reports published information about a wave of appalling crimes in Chechnya against men suspected of carrying out homosexual relations. It was reported that starting from the beginning of March 2017, at least 160 men were kidnapped, unlawfully detained and tortured, leading to the deaths of at least three persons. The information was later refuted by various actors, including local authorities and others who denied receiving such information. As a response, the initial media source published an additional in-depth media report.

FIDH and ADC Memorial hereby call on the Council of Europe and the United Nations, notably the UN Working groups on Arbitrary Detention and on Enforced disappearances, the UN Expert on sexual orientation and gender identity to take all measures at their disposal for the release of all persons unlawfully detained in Chechnya on the suspicion of homosexuality. We call on the Russian authorities to guarantee security and integrity of all persons and ensure an impartial investigation of massive crimes reported and confirmed by human rights organisations.
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Officer reveals police link to extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances

Publisher International Federation for Human Rights Publication Date 10 April 2017 Cite as International Federation for Human Rights, Officer reveals police link to extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, 10 April 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/590b1b5a4.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.

New revelations concerning a Bangladeshi police unit's direct involvement in the commission of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances require a thorough, impartial, and independent investigation, FIDH said today.

In a report published by Swedish Radio on 4 April 2017, a high-ranking officer with the Bangladeshi police Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) unit provided a detailed account of how the RAB has been responsible for scores of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. The officer, who claimed to be involved in dozens of killings, spoke to the radio journalist without knowing his conversation was being recorded.

The officer described the RAB modus operandi, which often involved the abduction of the victim on the pretext of protecting him or her. According to the officer, extra-judicial killings were often staged with the planting of weapons on the victims to make it appear the killing was an act of self-defense. The officer recounted the meticulous process to avoid leaving traces and evidence of RAB officers' actions: "We have to make sure no clue is left behind. No ID cards that slip-off. We have to wear gloves; we cant leave footprints behind and have to wear covers on our shoes to prevent that. We cant smoke during these operations," the RAB officer explained.

The RAB officer claimed that decisions on the fate of those abducted by the RAB were made high up, and that enforced disappearances can be used to eliminate political opponents. In the recording, the officer also gave detailed examples of how individuals were tortured.

FIDH documented 53 cases of alleged extrajudicial killings from January to March 2017. At least six of the victims were killed by the RAB.

Extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances committed by police officers, soldiers, and RAB force members were among the key issues of concern that the UN Human Rights Committee (CCPR) highlighted during the consideration of Bangladesh's initial periodic report under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on 6-7 March in Geneva, Switzerland. The CCPR monitors state parties' compliance with their legal obligations under the ICCPR.

In its Concluding Observations adopted on 22 March 2017, the CCPR expressed its concern over extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in Bangladesh. The Committee underscored the lack of investigations and accountability for perpetrators of such crimes and that the Bangladeshi government did not accept the occurrence of enforced disappearances in the country. In addition, the CCPR criticized Bangladeshi law for its failure to "effectively criminalize" enforced disappearances.

The CCPR recommended Bangladesh to: criminalize enforced disappearance; investigate all cases of arbitrary killings, enforced disappearances, and the excessive use of force; prosecute the perpetrators; and provide full reparation to the victims. The CCPR also asked the Bangladeshi government to provide information on the implementation of the recommendations it made concerning extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances within one year of the adoption of the Concluding Observations.

According to the 2016 report of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UNWGEID), as of 18 May 2016, there were 34 unresolved cases of enforced disappearances in Bangladesh. On 24 February 2017, the UNWGEID and four UN Special Rapporteurs called on Bangladesh to halt the increasing number of enforced disappearances in the country. The UNWGEID also called on the government of Bangladesh to immediately reveal the whereabouts of all victims of enforced disappearances. The UNWGEID said that in a few years the number of cases had risen from "a few isolated cases" to more than 40, and that the number was continuing to grow. [1] However, FIDH estimates the number of unresolved cases of enforced disappearances is significantly higher. FIDH documented 28 new cases of enforced disappearances that occurred from January to March 2017.

The Bangladeshi government has failed to respond to the repeated requests for a country visit that the UNWGEID has made since March 2013.
Human rights groups call for the opening of an ICC investigation into the situation in Afghanistan

Publisher International Federation for Human Rights Publication Date 13 April 2017 Cite as International Federation for Human Rights, Human rights groups call for the opening of an ICC investigation into the situation in Afghanistan, 13 April 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/590b1c254.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.

Ten years after the opening of a preliminary examination on Afghanistan by the International Criminal Court (ICC) Office of the Prosecutor into the international crimes committed since May 2003, FIDH and its member organisations OPEN ASIA / Armanshahr and Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), as well as the Afghanistan Transitional Justice Coordination Group (TJCG) call upon the ICC Prosecutor to request the opening of a full investigation into the situation in Afghanistan. This call follows an FIDH delegation of Afghan civil society and US human rights defender having travelled to The Hague from 3 to 7 April 2017 and met with representatives of the ICC to call for accountability for the ongoing international crimes committed by all parties on the territory of Afghanistan, including in the context of the ongoing conflict.

"We have witnessed the adoption of six peace agreements in the last 40 years, each accompanied by blanket amnesties for perpetrators of the most heinous crimes in the name of peace. Today we have neither peace nor justice for the thousands of victims still suffering from the waves of repression and violence in Afghanistan. It is time for accountability for these crimes."

In her latest report on the state of its ongoing preliminary examination, issued in November 2016, ICC Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, indicated her office would make a decision "imminently" on whether to seek authorisation from Pre-Trial Chamber to open an investigation into the crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed by the Taliban and affiliated armed groups, the Afghan authorities and members of the US military forces and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), since May 2003 - the starting date of the ICC jurisdiction on Afghanistan.

"In the face of the lack of adequate applicable legislation, judicial redress, and political will of the Afghan authorities to genuinely investigate and prosecute those responsible for international crimes committed and the resulting blatant culture of impunity in the country, the ICC must step up and support the victims in their long-lasting quest for justice."

A law on the cooperation of Afghan authorities with the ICC was drafted in October 2016 by the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, and Rome Statute crimes (Article 6: genocide, 7: crime against humanity, and 8: war crimes) are incorporated into the draft law amending the Afghan Penal Code by the Ministry of Justice. Even if these laws were to be adopted, they will have no retroactive effect, and will be inapplicable to past crimes, all the more in light of the 2007 National Reconciliation, General Amnesty and Stability Law which grants (in Article 3) blanket amnesty and immunity to all parties for international crimes and without any temporal limit. This law deprives victims of any domestic judicial redress for international crimes.

Our organisations underline that an ICC investigation into the Afghanistan situation should look into international crimes committed since May 2003, including into allegations of ongoing crimes, such as systematic enforced disappearances, systematic enforced displacements, deliberate targeting of civilians including ethnic and religious minorities, civilian objects and sexual and gender-based crimes, victimising especially women and girls. The ICC should also need to allocate adequate resources for effective victims' participation and representation of their views and concerns in ICC proceedings, as well as for ICC outreach activities in Afghanistan.
Cambodia: #FreeThe5KH, arbitrarily detained for one year

Publisher International Federation for Human Rights Publication Date 28 April 2017 Cite as International Federation for Human Rights, Cambodia: #FreeThe5KH, arbitrarily detained for one year , 28 April 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/590b235c4.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.

The one-year anniversary of the arbitrary pre-trial detention of five human rights defenders marks a new low for the Cambodian Government, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (an FIDH-OMCT partnership) said today.

Today marks one year since four staff members of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC), Messrs. Ny Sokha, Yi Soksan, Nay Vanda, and Ms. Lim Mony, and former ADHOC senior staff member Mr. Ny Chakrya were detained on trumped-up charges. The Observatory reiterates its call for their immediate and unconditional release.

On April 27, 2017, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court's Investigating Judge Theam Chanpiseth extended the detention of Messrs. Ny Sokha, Yi Soksan, Nay Vanda, Ny Chakrya, and Ms. Lim Mony for another six-month period. The Observatory condemns the court's decision as the latest act of judicial harassment against the five. Article 208 of Cambodia's Criminal Procedure Code allows for up to 18 months in pre-trial detention.

On April 26, 2017, #FreeThe5KH were named finalists for the 2017 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders as a recognition of their human rights work and reprisals they face because of their legitimate activities.

The Observatory recalls that their ongoing arbitrary detention is a blatant breach of Cambodia's international human rights obligations.

On November 21, 2016, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) declared that the detention of Messrs. Ny Sokha, Yi Soksan, Nay Vanda, Ny Chakrya, and Ms. Lim Mony was arbitrary. The WGAD said their deprivation of liberty was in contravention of Articles 7, 9, 10, 11, and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and Articles 9, 10, 14, 22, and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Cambodia is a State party. The WGAD called on the Cambodian authorities to immediately release the five human rights defenders and award them appropriate compensation.

Background information:

On April 27 and 28, 2016, Messrs. Ny Sokha, Yi Soksan, Nay Vanda, Try Chhuon, Ny Chakrya and Ms. Lim Mony were brought in for questioning by the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU). Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) official Mr. Soen Sally, who was also summoned, did not appear before the ACU due to his immunity as a UN staff member.

On May 2, 2016, Messrs. Ny Sokha, Yi Soksan, Nay Vanda, and Ms. Lim Mony were charged with "bribery of a witness" under Article 548 of the Criminal Code and detained. In addition, Messrs. Ny Chakrya and Soen Sally were charged with being "accomplices to bribery of a witness" (Articles 29 and 548 of the Criminal Code). Mr. Ny Chakrya was also detained.

In March 2016, Ms. Khom Chandaraty (aka Srey Mom) had requested the assistance of ADHOC, one of Cambodia's leading human rights NGOs and FIDH member organisation, in connection with her interrogation by anti-terrorism police and a prosecutor about an alleged affair with deputy opposition leader Mr. Khem Sokha. ADHOC responded to Ms. Srey Mom's request for legal and material assistance and provided a US$204 allowance to cover her food and transportation costs. This legitimate support, aimed at covering the basic expenses of a client, was subsequently construed by the ACU as bribery and corruption.

On June 13 and September 28, 2016 respectively, the Court of Appeal in Phnom Penh and then the Phnom Penh Municipal Court denied bail to the five defenders.

On October 27, 2016, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court extended the detention of the five for up to another six months under the pretext that the defendants needed to remain available for any further interrogation and court procedures.

On November 11, 2016, the five defenders were denied bail for the second time by the Court of Appeal.

On November 28, 2016, the Court of Appeal upheld the extension of the pre-trial detention for another six months and refused to close the investigation. It argued that the issues of the extension of the detention and the continuation of the investigation were up to the discretion of the Investigating Judge of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court.

On November 30, 2016, the Supreme Court upheld the June 13, 2016 decision by the Court of Appeal to refuse to release the five on bail. The Court based its decision on Article 205 of the Criminal Procedure Code, therefore upholding the continued applicability of both detention grounds, i.e. to maintain public order and to prevent collusion with accomplices, victims, and witnesses.

On February 27, 2017, the Supreme Court decided to sever the appeal of Mr. Ny Chakrya from that of the other four defenders. On March 13 and March 31, 2017 respectively, the Supreme Court upheld the November 28, 2016 decision by the Court of Appeal to extend the pre-trial detention of Messrs. Ny Sokha, Yi Soksan, Nay Vanda, and Ms. Lim Mony on the one hand and of Mr. Ny Chakrya on the other hand for up to another six months.

Messrs. Ny Sokha, Yi Soksan, and Nay Vanda remain in detention in Prey Sar's Correctional Centre 1 ('CC1'), while Ms. Lim Mony is detained in Prey Sar's Correctional Centre 2 ('CC2'). Mr. Ny Chakrya is detained in Police Judiciaire (PJ) prison. All three jails are located in Phnom Penh. All of the detainees are being held alongside convicted criminals, contrary to Article 10(2)(a) of the ICCPR and Article 26 of Cambodia's Law on Prisons.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of this programme is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rights defenders. OMCT and FIDH are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.
Azerbaijan: Free Azerbaijani Journalist Mehman Huseynov

Publisher International Federation for Human Rights Publication Date 2 May 2017 Cite as International Federation for Human Rights, Azerbaijan: Free Azerbaijani Journalist Mehman Huseynov , 2 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/590b23c14.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.

As World Press Freedom Day is celebrated across the globe on May 3, we, the undersigned organizations, cannot forget the untenable price journalists pay for government criticism in Azerbaijan. The case of Mehman Huseynov is emblematic. Huseynov is a popular journalist and blogger in Azerbaijan who is known for his hard-hitting exposes of alleged corruption by senior Azerbaijani officials. In March 2017, a Baku court sentenced him to two years in prison on charges of defaming an entire police station, after he gave a statement in front of the courthouse in which he described the abuses he had suffered at that police station.

On January 9, a group of plain-clothes officers attacked Mehman Huseynov, blindfolded and gagged him with towels, forced a bag over his head and took him to the Nasimi district police station, where police used an electroshock weapon on his groin, and punched him, bloodying his nose. The next day, officers took him before a court that found him guilty of disobeying police orders and fined him 200 manat (US$120).

Mehman Huseynov remained defiant, went public about the abuses he suffered at the station, and filed a complaint with the prosecutor's office. The authorities formally opened an inquiry into Huseynov's allegations, but swiftly closed the inquiry claiming the allegations were groundless. On April 27, an appeal court upheld the prosecutor's decision to shut down the investigation.

While authorities refused to conduct a credible investigation into Huseynov's torture allegations, the Nasimi police chief brought a criminal lawsuit against him for defamation. After just two hearings, a court found Huseynov guilty and sentenced him to two years in prison.

Mehman Huseynov has been targeted by the government for years, since the authorities brought bogus criminal charges against the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS), founded by his brother, Emin Huseynov, who was forced to flee the country for his own safety. Since 2012, Mehman Huseynov has been under a travel ban and has been repeatedly harassed and intimidated by the police.

The imprisonment of Mehman Huseynov is another step by the Azerbaijani authorities to retaliate against him for his critical journalism and defiance, but also to deter others from seeking justice for police abuse, a persistent and well-documented problem in Azerbaijan. At least 5 other journalists and bloggers are currently in prison on politically motivated charges in Azerbaijan.

On a day when the world commemorates the fundamental importance of press freedom, we call on the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mehman Huseynov and hold to account those responsible for the torture and other ill-treatment he was subjected to. This would mark an important step towards ensuring press freedoms and guaranteeing the right to freedom of expression in Azerbaijan.
As Hunger Strike Persists, basic Rights of Participants must be Upheld

Publisher International Federation for Human Rights Publication Date 3 May 2017 Cite as International Federation for Human Rights, As Hunger Strike Persists, basic Rights of Participants must be Upheld, 3 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/590b24414.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.

As the Palestinian prisoner and detainee hunger strike enters its third week, Al-Haq, Al Mezan, PCHR and FIDH call upon the international community to take action to ensure that the legitimate demands of all Palestinians held in Israeli detention are met. Our organizations express concern over the safety of the prisoners and hold Israel, the Occupying Power, accountable for any possible harm to their lives.

"Hunger striking is the most peaceful form of resistance available. It inflicts pain solely on those who participate and on their loved ones, in the hopes that their empty stomachs and their sacrifice will help the message resonate beyond the confines of their dark cells", Marwan Barghouthi, imprisoned parliamentarian on hunger strike, in an oped in the New York Times

As the Palestinian prisoner and detainee hunger strike enters its third week, Al-Haq, Al Mezan, PCHR and FIDH call upon the international community to take action to ensure that the legitimate demands of all Palestinians held in Israeli detention are met. Our organizations express concern over the safety of the prisoners and hold Israel, the Occupying Power, accountable for any possible harm to their lives.

About 1,500 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, launched a hunger strike on 17 April 2017, coinciding with Palestinian Prisoner's Day, after months of unsuccessful discussions with the Israel Prison Service, to ensure respect for their rights and call attention to their plight.

Al-Haq, Al Mezan, PCHR and FIDH stress that the right of prisoners and detainees to participate in non-violent peaceful protests, including hunger strikes, is a fundamental human right. [1]] In this regard, Israel's punitive measures against the hunger strikers, including the use of solitary confinement [2]], prevention of meeting lawyers [3]], raids, the confiscation of personal belongings, and the transfer of prisoners and detainees to other prisons, are aimed at breaking the hunger strike by force, are unlawful and must be stopped.

Israel must also immediately end its incitement against Palestinian prisoners. Israeli Minister of Defense Avigdor Lieberman recently stated that he wanted to take the non-negotiation approach of Margaret Thatcher during hunger strikes by the Irish prisoners in 1981, which ultimately led to the death of 10 individuals [4]]. Lieberman's stance echoes an Israeli policy in dealing with hunger strikes. This policy is evident in previous statements by Israeli officials including Tzachi Hanegbi who in 2004 said that Palestinian prisoners "can strike for a day, a month, even starve to death" [5]] As reaffirmed by the UN Special Rapporteurs on torture and on the right to health, "the way of ending a hunger strike is [...] to address the underlying human rights violations against which they are protesting." [6]]

The demands of the hunger strikers are grounded in international law. They include ending administrative detention, ending punitive measures and torture and ill treatment, including solitary confinement, ending the policy of deliberate medical neglect, respecting their right to receive visits from their families, installing public phones that can be used to contact families, and restoring education rights.

Israel's policies of mass arbitrary arrest, extensive use of administrative detention, use of torture, inhumane and degrading treatment, especially during interrogation, referring prisoners to Israeli military courts which have been established and operate in breach of international law, transferring prisoners outside of the occupied territory, and other violations of their rights, require the attention and intervention of the international community. The unlawful transfer of prisoners outside of the occupied territory is used to justify unwarranted restrictions on visitation rights, and imposes hardships on the prisoners and their families. Moving prisoners out of their country is a breach of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners [7]].

Furthermore, international humanitarian law provides specific protection to those who do not take part or have stopped taking part in hostilities, and prisoners fall under these two categories. Prisoners are afforded explicit protection under the Geneva Conventions. The High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions have thus a legal obligation to ensure respect for these rights and help avail this protection.

We therefore call upon the international community to urgently intervene to ensure Israel's respect for the rights of Palestinian prisoners and detainees. The prisoners are entitled to these rights, and are currently risking their lives to achieve them.

Given that Israel's widespread and systematic use of arrest and detention of Palestinians is part and parcel of its policies to control the Palestinian population and suppress their rights [8]], we further call on third parties to uphold their legal obligation in ending Israel's prolonged military and colonial occupation of the OPT.

Footnotes

[1] ["Hunger strikes are a non-violent form of protest used by individuals who have exhausted other forms of protest to highlight the seriousness of their situations. The right to peaceful protest is a fundamental human right." UN Joint Statement on new Israeli law on force-feeding of detainees, Press Release, 8 August 2015, https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/0/B41EA3D4F402E0E485257E9D004C41EE
Tunisia: 25 NGOs raise alarm as government backslides on freedom of expression and information

Publisher Article 19 Publication Date 2 May 2017 Cite as Article 19, Tunisia: 25 NGOs raise alarm as government backslides on freedom of expression and information, 2 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/590b27e84.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.

On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May and following the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on the human rights situation in Tunisia on 2 May at the UN Human Rights Council, twenty-five national and international non-governmental organisations warn that freedom of expression in Tunisia is under threat in light of repeated attempts to restrict the press, the disruption of the implementation of the access to information law, and the preparation of a government draft law which significantly reduces the powers and independence of the audiovisual media regulation body.

The undersigning NGOs warn that Tunisia continues to prosecute journalists on the basis of the Military Justice Act, the Criminal Code and other laws, rather than relying on Decree Law No. 115 of 2011 on Freedom of Press, Printing and Publishing, which provides the legal framework for resolving disputes related to press violations.

At the beginning of this year, the Government tried to circumvent the right of the press to access official data, when it issued "Circular No. 4" on January 16, 2017 and later announced its suspension on February 27, 2017 after receiving immense pressure from journalists, media and national and international organizations.

In violation of Tunisia's Constitution, laws and international commitments, Circular No.4 prevented information and communication officers in ministries and public institutions from "making statements and announcements" or "publishing or disclosing official information or documents through media or others" without the "prior and explicit authorization" of the authorities.

During the period when Circular No. 4 was in force, some ministries, such as the Ministry of Higher Education, issued internal circulars blacklisting three media institutions, reflecting the absence of a genuine will to implement the right to access information on the ground.

On April 6, 2017, the Ministry of Interior banned the publication of a weekly newspaper, on the basis of the Emergency Law and without a judicial decision; this was the first time a paper had been censored since the fall of dictatorship on January 14, 2011.

Disruption of the implementation of the Access to Information Law

Although more than a year has elapsed since the publication of the Law on "Access to Information" in the Official Gazette (Law n.22/2016 dated 24 March 2016), it has still not been implemented. Furthermore, the "Information Access Committee" which was supposed to start operating within a maximum of one year after the issuing of the law in the Official Gazette has still not been set up.

While the Law granted public institutions six months (from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette) to create official websites, with the requirement of including guides on accessing information, many structures, such as the Presidency and the 'Ministry in charge of relations with constitutional bodies, civil society and human rights', still have no official websites providing access to their information as required by the Law.

The undersigning organizations express their incredulity at the sudden interruption of the election process of the "Information Access Committee" by the Assembly of People's Representatives despite the fact that the candidates' files had been screened last February.

The organizations fear that this disruption is deliberate, as political parties are not happy with some of the candidates and want the members of the independent committee to be selected according to political party quotas.

The NGOs call on the Assembly of People's Representatives to take responsibility and expedite the creation of the "Information Access Committee". They also ask the Government to issue the other implementation texts as set out in the Access to Information Law, particularly the statutes and organization chart of the Committee.

Withdrawal of the powers of the audiovisual media regulation authority

Furthermore, the organizations would like to express their concern at the Government's proposed draft law establishing the audiovisual media regulation authority, which was prepared after a hasty consultation that did not involve experts and relevant civil society organizations, significantly reduces the powers and independence of this constitutionally-mandated body.

The organizations also express its concern that the decision to separate this law from the law on the freedom of audiovisual media, may be aimed at weakening legal protections.

The Government's draft law removes the mandate of the audiovisual media regulation body to impose financial sanctions on audio-visual media which violate laws, and to issue opinions on nominations made by the Government in the audiovisual domain, opening the way for appointments based on political allegiance and direction of public media according to the whims of influential political parties. This is particularly worrying in light of the direct appointment by the government of Directors at two public radio stations in April, in contravention of Decree No. 116 of 2011 on freedom of audiovisual communication and the creation of HAICA.

The submission of the Government's draft law coincided with a campaign of distortion and misinformation recently targeting HAICA, fueled by some media outlets and political parties, raising fears about the intention to replace the current regulation authority before the next elections scheduled in December with a new one that will not be capable of effectively monitoring media coverage of the next electoral campaign, due to its newness and its significantly weakened powers.

Tunisia was downgraded one place to 97 out of 180 countries on the recently published Reporters without Borders' 2017 Press Freedom Index, indicating the failure of the Tunisian authorities to guarantee of freedom of expression, in clear contrast to the ideal image Tunisia promotes for itself in international and human rights forums.

SIGNATORIES:

ARTICLE 19

Amnesty International Tunisia

Beity Association

Committee for the Respect of Liberties and Human Rights in Tunisia

DAAM

Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN)

Lam Echaml

MOURAKIBOUN

National anti-corruption network

OpenGovTn Network

Reporters Without Borders

The Democratic Lab

The National Union of Tunisian Journalists

The Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights

Tunisia Press Freedom Centre

Tunisia Tomorrow For Development

Tunisian Association for Governance and Social Accountability

Tunisian Association for the Fight Against Corruption (ATLUC)

Tunisian Association of Public Controllers

Tunisian Association to Defend Academic Values

Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES)

Tunisian Observatory for the Independence of the Magistracy

Tunisian Organization Against Torture

Tunisian Women Research and Development Association

Yaqadha (Vigilance) Association for Democracy and the Civic State

Copyright notice: Copyright ARTICLE 19
Turkey: Council of Europe to increase monitoring

Publisher Article 19 Publication Date 26 April 2017 Cite as Article 19, Turkey: Council of Europe to increase monitoring, 26 April 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/590b292a4.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.

ARTICLE 19 welcomes the decision of PACE to increase its scrutiny over Turkey's record on human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

On 25 April, members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), composed of elected national MPs from Council of Europe member states, voted 113 to 45 (with 12 abstentions) to resume full monitoring of Turkey's compliance with its obligations as a signatory of the European Convention for Human Rights and other Council of Europe statutes.

The decision creates an opportunity for increased international dialogue with the Turkish authorities on the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in the country. Full monitoring involves regular visits to Turkey by PACE members and more frequent plenary debates on human rights in the country, to generate an open discussion on progress and problems and to promote improvements with regard to human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

The decision to return to full monitoring was prompted by a report produced by PACE rapporteurs on Turkey, Ingebjrg Godsksen and Marianne Mikko, documenting the ongoing crackdown on dissenting voices within the country. The report raised major concerns about the implementation of the state of emergency, invoked in response to the failed coup attempt in July 2016, which has enabled widespread abuses of human rights, including violations of the right to freedom of expression and the right to a fair trial.

The report focuses on the large-scale and disproportionate effect of emergency decree laws, which have been used to dismiss over 100,000 civil servants without due process; detain over 47,000 people, including judges, prosecutors and academics; and close over 160 media outlets. The decrees allow for very limited access to judicial remedies, and have also affected due process rights by increasing the time a detainee may be held without charge and restricting access to lawyers.

The report also raised major concerns about the detention of parliamentarians and journalists - there are now more than 150 journalists in jail - and about the dire situation for freedom of expression in south-east Turkey. Moreover the report notes that the independence of the judiciary has been severely weakened, suggesting limited prospects for the right to a fair trial.

Turkey was last under full monitoring in 2004. It will remain under monitoring, until PACE members are satisfied that Turkey has addressed the concerns raised in the report.

The decision comes at a critical point for Turkey, following a referendum on the Turkish Constitution on 16 April. President Erdogan has declared victory in the referendum, which grants him significantly increased presidential powers. Prior to the referendum, the Venice Commission, another Council of Europe body comprised of independent legal experts, warned that the constitutional changes would "lead to an excessive concentration of executive power in the hands of the president and the weakening of parliamentary control of that power", creating a system which "lacks the necessary checks and balances required to safeguard against becoming an authoritarian [regime]." The referendum took place under a state of emergency, and was marred by widespread violations of the right to freedom of expression and other human rights.

Given this station, the Assembly had little choice but to vote to return to full monitoring. In addition to creating opportunities for dialogue, PACE's decision sends a strong message to Turkey, demonstrating the Assembly's firm commitment to holding the authorities accountable for their repeated failure to respect Turkey's obligations as a member of the Council of Europe.

Turkey has responded angrily to PACE's decision, stating that it was motivated by 'xenophobia and Islamophobia'; however, the full monitoring procedure must now be used to press for real reform in Turkey. PACE, along with Turkey's other international partners, must use this opportunity to push for an end to the state of emergency and the reinstatement of rights and freedoms curtailed by the emergency decrees; the immediate and unconditional release of all writers, journalists and media workers detained for exercising their right to freedom of expression; and guarantees for the independence of the judiciary.

Copyright notice: Copyright ARTICLE 19
Malaysia: Free Speech Is Far From "Thriving"

Publisher Article 19 Publication Date 26 April 2017 Cite as Article 19, Malaysia: Free Speech Is Far From "Thriving", 26 April 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/590b29684.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.

ARTICLE 19 is astonished by a recent speech made by Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak, where he stated that free speech is thriving in Malaysia. His statement is in stark contrast with the repressive laws and policies facing Malaysians who wish to exercise their rights to freedom of speech, opinion or expression, particularly on issues deemed sensitive to the ruling government, with hundreds arrested and charged during his term. ARTICLE 19 calls on the Malaysian Government to acknowledge and address the diminishing space for freedom of expression in the country and to ensure that freedom of expression is adequately safeguarded, as guaranteed under Article 10(a) of the Federal Constitution, by reversing repressive legislation and policies.

ARTICLE 19 is concerned that in his speech, the Prime Minister appeared to lay the blame on foreign activists for creating the perception of crackdowns on free speech in Malaysia. Criticism of Malaysia's violations of freedom of speech and expression are justified not just by foreign activists but by the many vocal civil society organisations (CSOs), independent journalists and members of the public in Malaysia. The speech was delivered at the WAN-IFRA 16th Asian Media Awards held in Kuala Lumpur on 19 April.

Of particular concern is the use of the Sedition Act 1948 and the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) 1998 as a mean to stifle the right to freedom of expression both on- and off-line in Malaysia. Moreover, regressive legislation such as the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) 1948, the Film Censorship Act (FCA) 2002 and the Official Secrets Act (OSA) 1972 were further used to restrict the right to expression and information in the country.

Throughout Najib Tun Razak's second term (2013 to date), the right to freedom of expression has dramatically diminished and the space to voice opinion has been increasingly closed. The use of the Sedition Act has been particularly prevalent, with hundreds of individuals including artists, human rights defenders, lawyers, media personnel, opposition politicians, students and the general public having been arrested, investigated or charged for merely expressing an opinion.

One example is Malaysian cartoonist, Zulkifli Anwar Haque (popularly known as 'Zunar'), who is currently facing 43 years in prison and a record-breaking nine charges under the Sedition Act for a tweet posted in February 2015, which implied that Federal Court judges had bowed to pressure from the Executive in sentencing former leader of the opposition, Anwar Ibrahim, to five years in prison.

The right to freedom of expression and access to information online are also increasingly curtailed in Malaysia. Under the CMA, websites remain blocked for their coverage of the 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) corruption scandal and social media users are frequently arrested, investigated and charged for their comments online. Student activist Khalid Ismath is currently facing 11 counts under the CMA for allegedly posting comments on social media deemed offensive to Sultan Ibrahim Ismail Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar Al-Haj of Johor. Graphic artist Fahmi Reza is facing two charges under the CMA for posting an image of Najib Tun Razak in clown make-up on social media.

Recent arrests, investigations and charges under the CMA however suggest that the law is no longer just a tool to crackdown on high profile figures, but is now being used to target ordinary social media users in what appears to be an exercise in clamping down on criticism of national leaders. ARTICLE 19 is concerned of the chilling effect that this could have and the subsequent forced self-censorship of social media users in Malaysia.

In February 2017, ARTICLE 19 undertook a legal analysis of the CMA and concluded that the regularly used Section 233(1)(a) should be thoroughly revised to more narrowly and precisely define what constitutes improper use of network facilities or services. ARTICLE 19 also concluded that the CMA creates a number of overly broad content-related offences and in addition, the licensing scheme for network and applications services lacks adequate safeguards against censorship.

ARTICLE 19 also note the recent sentencing of human rights defender and former Pusat KOMAS coordinator Lena Hendry under the FCA for screening the award-winning human rights documentary No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka in 2013. The judgement has set a dangerous precedent for freedom of expression in Malaysia, where screening a film without permission can now be considered a crime.

The vague and over-broad language of the FCA leaves it open to selective and arbitrary enforcement. Section 6(1)(b) criminalises the circulation, distribution, display, production, sale or hire of any non-approved film and Section 6(1)(a) extends the prohibition to the mere possession of such material. These provisions are inconsistent with international standards governing freedom of speech and expression, and are contrary to Malaysias obligations under international law.

The OSA has likewise been used to limit the right to freedom of information in Malaysia, particularly related to the government-linked 1MDB saga which has now become a matter of public interest. In November 2016, the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court found Opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Vice-President and Pandan MP, Rafizi Ramli, guilty of two charges under Section 8(1)(c)(iii)[i] and Section 8(1)(c)(iv)[ii] the OSA, which deals with Wrongful communication, etc., of official secret and a sentence of 36 months' imprisonment for possession of page 98 of the Auditor General's Report on 1MDB. Rafizi is currently appealing the sentence but faces disqualification as an MP unless the judgement is overturned at the Court of Appeal.

In his speech, Najib Tun Razak also pointed out that a free press is a guarantor of accountability and transparency. Malaysia's media environment is notoriously controlled and heavily curtailed by legislation such as the PPPA, which has resulted in many independent journalists and news outlets having to publish news content online. Independent voices are regularly at risk of being investigated, charged or barred from reporting in Malaysia.

In March 2016, independent news portal The Malaysian Insider was forced to shut down after it was blocked by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) under Section 233 of the MCA over its coverage of the 1MDB corruption case and the subsequent impact the block had on the portal's financial standing. Eight months later, in November 2016, police investigated independent online news portal Malaysiakini under Section 124C of the Penal Code, which deals with attempt to commit activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy for receiving funding from Open Society Foundations (OSF). ARTICLE 19 is concerned by the recent ban on journalists from reporting from the lobby of Parliament by Dewan Rakyat Speaker, Pandikar Amin Mulia, for example, which violates the right to information.

Finally, ARTICLE 19 echo concerns from local and international CSOs who fear that the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012, which was tabled to deal with terrorism-related offences, may be further used to limit the right to freedom of expression and information in Malaysia. The arbitrary detention of former UMNO Batu Kawan division Deputy Chief, Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan and his lawyer Matthias Chang in 2015 and the detention and credible allegations of torture of human rights defender and BERSIH 2.0 Chairperson, Maria Chin Abdullah in 2016 are particularly worrying.

With these cases in mind, ARTICLE 19 maintain that free speech is far from thriving in Malaysia and calls on the Malaysian Government to acknowledge the aforementioned violations and to reversing repressive legislation and policies, and ensure all existing legislation, policies and practices that limits the right to freedom of speech, opinion and expression are in conformity with international human rights standards and to ensure that these rights are adequately upheld and promoted.and protected.

[i] Section 8(1)(c)(iii) of the OSA criminalises any person having in his possession or control of any official secret or any secret official code word, countersign or password which has been made or obtained in contravention of this Act retains in his possession or control any such as thing as aforesaid when he has no right to retain it, or when it is contrary to his duty to retain it, or fails to comply with all lawful directions issued by lawful authority with regard to the return or disposal thereof

[ii] Section 8(1)(c)(iv) of the OSA criminalises any person having in his possession or control of any official secret or any secret official code word, countersign or password which has been made or obtained in contravention of this Act fails to take reasonable care of, or so conducts himself as to endanger the safety or secrecy of, any such official secret or thing

Copyright notice: Copyright ARTICLE 19
UAE: Free prominent rights defender Ahmed Mansoor, held on speech-related charges

Publisher Article 19 Publication Date 20 April 2017 Cite as Article 19, UAE: Free prominent rights defender Ahmed Mansoor, held on speech-related charges, 20 April 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/590b29e54.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.

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates should immediately release Ahmed Mansoor, an award-winning human rights defender who is facing charges that violate his right to freedom of expression, dozens of human rights organisations said today, one month after his arrest.

Mansoor, who received the prestigious Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in 2015, has been in detention since 20 March 2017 facing speech-related charges that include using social media websites to publish false information that harms national unity. On 28 March, a group of United Nations (UN) human rights experts called on the UAE government to release him immediately, describing his arrest as a direct attack on the legitimate work of human rights defenders in the UAE.

Informed sources have told rights groups that about a dozen security officers arrested Mansoor at his home in Ajman in the pre-dawn hours of 20 March. They conducted an extensive search and took away all of the familys mobile phones and laptops, including those belonging to his young children. His family had no information on his whereabouts until authorities issued an official statement on 29 March, saying he was in detention in the Central Prison in Abu Dhabi.

The signatories understand that Mansoors family have been allowed only one short supervised visit with him which took place two weeks after his arrest on 03 April, when authorities moved him from where he was being held, believed to be a detention facility adjacent to Al-Wathba Prison, to a prosecutors office in Abu Dhabi. Informed sources told rights groups that Mansoor is being held in solitary confinement and has not spoken to a lawyer.

The UAEs official news agency, WAM, said on 20 March that Mansoor had been arrested on the orders of the Public Prosecution for Cybercrimes and detained pending further investigation. It said that he is accused of using social media websites to: publish false information and rumors; promote [a] sectarian and hate-incited agenda; and publish false and misleading information that harm national unity and social harmony and damage the countrys reputation. The statement classified these as cybercrimes, indicating that the charges against him may be based on alleged violations of the UAEs repressive 2012 cybercrime law, which authorities have used to imprison numerous activists and which provides for long prison sentences and severe financial penalties.

In the weeks leading up to his arrest, Mansoor had called for the release of Osama Al-Najjar, who remains in prison, despite having completed a three-year prison sentence on charges related to his peaceful activities on Twitter. Mansoor had also criticised the prosecution of Dr. Nasser Bin Ghaith, a prominent academic and economist, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison on 29 March, for charges that included speech-related offenses, including peaceful criticism of the UAE and Egyptian authorities.

Mansoor had also used his Twitter account to draw attention to human rights violations across the region, including in Egypt and those committed by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. He had also signed a joint letter with other activists in the region calling on leaders at the Arab Summit in Jordan at the end of March to release political prisoners in their countries.

The UN special rapporteurs on human rights defenders, on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of expression and opinion, and on freedom of peaceful assembly and association, along with the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, said in their 28 March statement that Mansoors outstanding work in the protection of human rights and the advancement of democracy, as well as his transparent collaboration with UN mechanisms, is of great value not only for the UAE but for the whole region.

The UN experts said they feared that his arrest may constitute an act of reprisal for his engagement with UN human rights mechanisms, for the views he expressed on social media, including Twitter, as well as for being an active member of organisations such as the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), and an active supporter of others, including Human Rights Watch.

Mansoor is a member of GCHR's Advisory Board and Human Rights Watchs Middle East and North Africa Advisory Committee.

On 29 March, the UAE authorities responded directly to the UN experts statement, disputing the allegation that Mansoors detention was arbitrary, and stating that Mansoor has the freedom to hire a lawyer and that his family has full access to the place of confinement and is allowed to visit him. In 2015, the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, who visited the UAE in 2014, expressed concern that lawyers who take up cases related to state security have been harassed, threatened and had pressure exerted on them, and that impunity surrounding such breaches of the independence of the legal profession has had a chilling effect on lawyers, making it difficult for defendants in the UAE to secure a lawyer of their choice.

UAE authorities have harassed and persecuted Mansoor for more than six years. In November 2011, the Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi sentenced Mansoor to three years in prison for insulting the countrys top officials in a trial marred by serious legal and procedural flaws. The UAE president, Sheikh Khalifa Nin Zayed Al-Nahyan, pardoned Mansoor on 28 November, 2011, but authorities never returned his passport, imposing a de facto travel ban. He has also experienced physical assaults, death threats, government surveillance, and a sophisticated spyware attack.

People in the UAE who speak about human rights abuses are at serious risk of arbitrary detention, imprisonment, and torture, and many are serving long prison terms or have felt compelled to leave the country. To the knowledge of the signatories, Mansoor was the last remaining human rights defender in the UAE who had been able to criticise the authorities publicly.

The authorities should release Mansoor immediately, since the charges against him relate to his human rights work and his criticism of the authorities, the signatories said. They should give him immediate and regular access to his family and a lawyer of his choosing, and end the harassment of rights defenders and critics of the authorities.

SIGNATORIES

ARTICLE 19

Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT), Germany

Adil Soz - International Foundation for Protection of Freedom of Speech, Kazakhstan

Al Marsad, Arab Human RIghts Center in Golan Heights

Alternative ASEN Network on Burma (ALTSEAN-Burma)

Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain

Arabic Network for Human Rights Information

Asociacion Pro Derechos Humanos de Espana

Association for Reconstruction, Development & Aid to Qunaytira- ARDAQ, Syria

Association Marocaine des Droits Humains (AMDH)

Association Tunisienne des Femmes Democrates (ATFD)

Bahrain Center for Human Rights

Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Manha (MASUM), India

Brazilian Association for Investigative Journalism

Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC)

Cambodian League for the Promotion & Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO)

Canadian Journalists for Free Expression

Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, Philippines

Center for Prisoners' Rights, Japan

Center for Respect for Liberties and Human Rights in Tunisia (CRLDHT)

Centre Action Sociale Rehabilitation et Readaptation pour les Victimes de la Torture et de la violence (SOHRAM-CASRA)

CIVICUS

Commission for The Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), Indonesia

Day of The Endangered Lawyer Foundation

Dutch League for Human Rights, The Netherlands

Electronic Frontier Foundation

European-Bahraini Organisation for Human Rights (EBOHR)

FIDH, under the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

Finnish League for Human Rights

Foro de Periodismo Argentino, Argentina

Freedom Forum, Nepal

Front Line Defenders

Globe International Center, Mongolia

Greek Helsinki Monitor, Greece

Gulf Centre for Human Rights

Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan

Human Rights First

Human Rights Information and Documentation Systems (HURIDOCS)

Human Rights Sentinel

I'lam Arab Center for Media Freedom Development and Research

Index on Censorship

Instituto Prensa y Sociedad, Peru

International Association of People's Lawyers Monitoring Committee on Attacks on Lawyers

International Centre for Justice and Human Rights (ICJHR), Geneva

International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)

International Press Institute

International Service for Human Rights

Internet Law Reform Dialogue (iLaw)

Iraqi Al-Amal Association

Khiam rehabilitation center for victims of torture, Lebanon

Kuwait Watch

Lam Echaml, Tunisia

Lao Movement for Human Rights (LMHR)

Lawyer's Rights Watch Canada

Ligue Algerienne de defense des droits de l'homme (LADDD)

Ligue de la Zone Afrique pour la Defense des Droits des Enfants et Eleves, Democratic Republic of Congo

Maharat Foundation, Lebanon

Martin Ennals Foundation

Media Institute of Southern Africa

Media Watch, Bangladesh

Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez Human Rights Center (Center Prodh), Mexico

Mouvement Anfass Democratique - Maroc

National Union of Somali Journalists

Odhikar, Bangladesh

Organisation Marocaine des Droits Humains (OMDH)

Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA)

PEN American Center

PEN Canada

PEN International

Peoples Watch, India

Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA), Philippines

Privacy International

Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity (PACTI), India

Reporters without borders (RSF)

Samir Kassir Foundation

Scholars at Risk

Sisters Arab forum for Human Rights (SAF -Yemen)

Social Media Exchange  SMEX

Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM)

Syrian Center for Legal Studies and researches

Syrians for Truth and Justice

Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR)

Tunis Center for Press Freedom, Tunisia

Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES)

Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR)

Vigilance for Democracy and the Civic State, Tunisia

World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters - AMARC

World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), under the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
Uganda: Government must safeguard freedom of expression after arrest and attack

Publisher Article 19 Publication Date 4 May 2017 Cite as Article 19, Uganda: Government must safeguard freedom of expression after arrest and attack, 4 May 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/590b2a6b4.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.

ARTICLE 19 is concerned by the recent abduction, torture, arrest, and prosecution of a journalist and academic exercising their right to freedom of expression.

On 7 April 2017 Dr Stella Nyazi, an academic, poet and social media user, was arrested and prosecuted under Sections 24 and 25 of the Computer Misuse Act 2011, allegedly for harassing and using indecent language against the president and the first family online.

Nyanzi has recently led a public campaign to collect and distribute sanitary pads to school girls, and alleged that the First Lady and Minister of Education, Janet Museveni, had failed to keep the promise to improve access to sanitary products over the last 31 years of National Resistance Movement (NRM) leadership.

A day later, Nation Television (NTV) Uganda journalist, Gertrude Uwitware, was abducted and tortured after publishing a blog post defending Nyanzi.

"The use of this law against the academic threatens to limit artistic freedom and public debate on an important issue like women and girls' reproductive health and access to education", said Henry Maina, Director of ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa.

"The Ugandan government must respect the Constitution, which guarantees the right to freedom of expression under Article 29. The arrest and attack also show a failure to uphold promises made by the government to safeguard freedom of expression during the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process," said Maina.

The broadly phrased and vague Computer Misuse Act criminalises obscenity and indecency without defining these concepts. This is in contradiction to the Ugandan government's freedom of expression obligations, as obscenity is not a form of expression that may be restricted under international law. Any restrictions on freedom of expression for the protection of public morals must be based on a narrow understanding of what 'public morals' means.

Additionally, the law uses three terms, 'disturb the quiet', 'with no purpose of legitimate communication' and 'offensive communications', which are too broad and vague to satisfy the three-part test on what constitutes an acceptable limit on free expression under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Uganda is a signatory.

We urge the Ugandan Government to ensure that it fulfils its obligations to meet international freedom of expression standards, as well as to protect journalists from torture, attacks and intimidation and investigate the attack on Gertrude Uwitware, in line with its obligations under the UN Convention against Torture.

We also urge the amendment of Sections 24 and 25 of the Computer Misuse Act 2011 in order to bring it into line with international standards on the protection of free expression.

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Turkey: Concerns for freedom of expression deepen after referendum

Publisher Article 19 Publication Date 18 April 2017 Cite as Article 19, Turkey: Concerns for freedom of expression deepen after referendum, 18 April 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/590b2a9d4.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.

On 16 April 2017, President Erdogan declared victory in a constitutional referendum, granting him significantly increased presidential powers and enabling the Turkish authorities to further dismantle the current system of democratic checks and balances. The referendum took place under a state of emergency, and was marred by widespread violations of the right to freedom of expression and other human rights. The outcome of the referendum is likely to jeopardise guarantees for human rights in Turkey, already under sustained attack.

The Yes result enables the incorporation into law of many of the temporary emergency powers that Erdogan invoked in the wake of the failed coup attempt in July 2016, which have been systematically used to stifle dissent over the past months, said Katie Morris, Head of the Europe and Central Asia Programme at ARTICLE 19.

By removing guarantees of political and judicial oversight over the executive, the constitutional amendments mean there will be little to stop President Erdogan from completely immobilising remaining independent media and political opposition, she added.

ARTICLE 19 calls on the government of Turkey to ensure the full protection of the right to freedom of expression and other human rights following the referendum outcome. Other States, including through European and International intergovernmental bodies, must redouble their efforts to ensure the Turkish government upholds human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

An assault on constitutional guarantees of democracy and protections for human rights

According to the State-run Andalou news agency the Turkish population voted 51.18 percent to 48.82 percent in favour of 18 proposed amendments to the Turkish Constitution. The opposition is calling for an annulment of the results, alleging multiple violations of electoral law. After the referendum results were declared, President Erdogan again raised the prospect of re-introducing the death penalty, which could result in Turkey leaving the Council of Europe and could potentially be applied to those facing serious criminal charges on the basis of their expression. Following the referendum, the state of emergency was also immediately renewed by the cabinet for a further three months allowing the continuation of extraordinary measures which have weakened the rule of law in Turkey and enabled an unprecedented crackdown on the media. The constitutional amendments fundamentally alter Turkeys democratic path and will grant the president powers to rule by decree  ensuring that a power he has enjoyed under the state of emergency becomes a permanent state of affairs.

The constitutional amendments threaten guarantees for democracy and further endanger human rights protections in Turkey. Prior to the referendum, the Venice Commission, an independent commission of legal experts affiliated with the Council of Europe, warned that the constitutional changes would lead to an excessive concentration of executive power in the hands of the president and the weakening of parliamentary control of that power, creating a system which lacks the necessary checks and balances required to safeguard against becoming an authoritarian [regime].

The Venice Commission also raised concerns that the amendments allow the President to control judicial appointments, severely jeopardising the independence of the judiciary. Judicial independence had already been seriously undermined through legal changes in 2014 allowing the Justice Minister more control over the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors. While most of the constitutional amendments brought about through this referendum will come into effect in 2019, the changes will immediately give President Erdogan increased authority over the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors, further cementing the domination of the executive over the judiciary. Since the coup attempt in July 2016 and the declaration of the state of emergency, judges have been subject to criminal prosecutions, and have been removed from their positions without ensuring due protections for the independence of the judiciary. ARTICLE 19 has also observed trials of journalists, which were visibly politically motivated.

Restrictions on freedom of expression during campaigning period

The referendum took place in an environment that was far from free and fair, with people denied access to adequate and equitable information on campaigns. There were very limited opportunities for opposition and independent media to argue in favour of a no vote to the proposed amendments, against a backdrop of a severe crackdown on freedom of expression.

Preliminary conclusions issued by OSCE-ODIHR and Council of Europe election observers have criticised the referendum, arguing that it was contested on an unlevel playing field, and the two sides in the campaign did not have equal opportunities, to make their case to the voters. They also raised concerns that under the state of emergency fundamental freedoms essential to a genuinely democratic process were curtailed.

Since the failed coup attempt and in the run-up to the referendum, several members of opposition political parties have been arrested on terrorism-related charges, thousands of public employees, including academics and opponents to the constitutional reforms, were dismissed in February, and some of the most outspoken No campaigners were arrested. In an interim monitoring report, OSCE election observers noted that the No campaigners had been subject to bans, police interventions, and violent scuffles at their events, while the Yes campaign had dominated television coverage of the referendum.

Moreover, election monitors reported that the ongoing restrictions on freedom of expression, including the closure of media outlets and arrests of journalists, further undermined the referendum.

Recommendations

Turkey is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and of the European Convention of Human Rights, and is therefore obliged to protect human rights, including the rights freedom of expression and the right to a fair trial.

Electoral violations during the referendum campaign, and the proposed amendments clearly contravene OSCE commitments, Council of Europe standards and other international obligations regarding freedom and equality in the campaign. Turkeys international partners and the guardians of these bodies must respond strongly to the constitutional amendments, making clear that Turkey must guarantee the independence of the judiciary. They must use all their leverage to work with Turkey to promote observance of its international commitments.

ARTICLE 19 calls on Turkey to:

End the state of emergency and reinstate rights and freedoms curtailed by the emergency decrees;

Immediately and unconditionally release all writers, journalists and media workers detained for exercising their right to freedom of expression;

Guarantee the independence of the judiciary;

Ensure forthcoming OSCE-ODIHR recommendations are fully implemented, in particular those related to freedom of expression and freedom of the media;

Ensure that the death penalty is not reintroduced.

ARTICLE 19 recommends to the international community:

For Member States of the UN Human Rights Council to raise the deteriorating situation for freedom of expression in Turkey during its 35 th Session in June 2017.

Session in June 2017. Make clear that any attempt to reinstate the death penalty is unacceptable.

Specifically, the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe should reinstate full monitoring of Turkey.

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Ethiopia: Free expression and online anonymity must be respected

Publisher Article 19 Publication Date 13 April 2017 Cite as Article 19, Ethiopia: Free expression and online anonymity must be respected, 13 April 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/590b2b0b4.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.

ARTICLE 19 welcomes the 6 April decision of the Ethiopian Supreme Court to uphold the acquittal of Soleyana S Gebremichael and Abel Wabella on terrorism charges under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation and Criminal Code. The Zone 9 bloggers are a collective of Ethiopian writers whose website produces social and political commentary often critical of the government. Gebremichael and Wabella are two of the four Zone 9 bloggers who had earlier been acquitted in October 2015.

However, ARTICLE 19 is seriously concerned by the decision of the court to charge the other two Zone 9 bloggers, Atnaf Berhane and Natnail Feleke, on new charges of incitement to violence under Article 257 of the Criminal Code. This was as a result of the bloggers' possession of digital security manuals such as tutorials on communication encryption, which were alleged to be evidence of involvement in terrorism activities.

The Supreme Courts decision to uphold the acquittal of Soleyana S Gebremichael and Abel Wabella is an encouraging step in the right direction. However, the introduction of new charges of inciting violence for Atnaf Berhane and Natnail Feleke indicates renewed state pursuit of free speech activists, noted Henry Maina, ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa Regional Director.

Freedom of expression, assembly and civic space in Ethiopia has further diminished over the past year following the state of emergency that was ordered by the state as a response to widespread protests in the Oromia region.

In order for people to meaningfully exercise their right to freedom of expression, there needs to be strong privacy protections. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression has reiterated that encryption and digital security are vital to freedom of expression. We urge the Ethiopian government to drop these new charges, as they create a chilling effect on freedom of expression in the country, added Maina.

ARTICLE 19 calls upon the prosecutor to drop the new charges against Atnaf Berhane and Natnail Feleke and to begin a process where other journalists, bloggers and citizens who have been arrested in violation of their right to free expression are freed.

For more information, contact Henry Maina Regional Director  ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa [email protected] +254 727862230

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Malaysia: Cease Arrests and Investigations of Critics and Protect the Right to Freedom of Expression

Publisher Article 19 Publication Date 13 April 2017 Cite as Article 19, Malaysia: Cease Arrests and Investigations of Critics and Protect the Right to Freedom of Expression, 13 April 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/590b2b554.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.

ARTICLE 19 is concerned about the arrest and remand of two unnamed social media users and the ongoing police search for a further two social media users in the space of just two days for comments made on Facebook. We call upon the Malaysian Government to immediately release both individuals who are currently held in police custody and who have been further remanded[i] for investigation under the Section 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), and to cease all other arrests and investigations of individuals targeted for expressing their opinions. This is part of a broader trend that must end.

The individual was arrested on 10 April 2017 and charged under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) 1998 for a Facebook post deemed to have the purpose of maligning the government

According to Dang Wangi District Police Chief, Mohd Sukri Kaman, the man in question was arrested in the early hours of the morning in Klang, Selangor yesterday. The investigation is believed to be over a photograph showing him carrying a placard while wearing a yellow BERSIH T-shirt. The arrest took place after another individual lodged complaint with police about the photograph on 5 April. According to Mohd Sukri Kaman, the individual will be remanded for four days for further investigation. The police have seized the individual's mobile phone, SIM card and other unnamed items.

The arrest and confiscations represent a violation of the individuals right to privacy and freedom of expression, as it targets him for expressing his opinion on Government corruption. This is not the first time that the Government has targeted individuals for expressing their legitimate concerns over Government-linked corruption and policies, as illustrated by the charges against graphic artist Fahmi Reza, Malaysian cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Haque ('Zunar'), the recent detention without trial of human rights defender and BERSIH Chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah under the Security Offences Special Measures Act (SOSMA) and many others.

On 11 April 2017, a second unnamed social media user was arrested and detained for a statement on Facebook allegedly deemed offensive to the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Almarhum Sultan Iskandar and the Johor Royal Institution. According to Johor Police Chief, Wan Ahmad Naimuddin Mohd, the woman was detained in the late evening in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur and will be held in police custody until 14 April to assist in an investigation under Section 233 of the CMA. The arrest followed a complaint made to police by a member of the public on 9 April 2017.

We also note that the Terengganu police are working with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to track down a further two unnamed social media users for comments about the Sultan of Terengganu, Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin on Facebook. According to Terengganu Police Chief Datuk Rosli Ab Rahman, preliminary investigations found that one of the Facebook accounts belonged to a student of a University in Syria, while the other was a teenager from Dungun, Terengganu.

Section 505(b) of the Penal Code makes it a criminal offence for whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement, rumour or report with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or against the public tranquility. Section 233(1)(a) of the CMA makes the improper use of network facilities or network services a criminal offence.

In February 2017, ARTICLE 19 undertook a legal analysis of the CMA and concluded that Section 233(1)(a) should be thoroughly revised to more narrowly and precisely define what constitutes improper use of network facilities or services. ARTICLE 19 also concluded that the CMA creates a number of overly broad content-related offences and in addition, the licensing scheme for network and applications services lacks adequate safeguards against censorship.

ARTICLE 19 reiterates our concerns over the arrest and detention of the aforementioned individuals and calls for all investigations to be dropped and for the immediate release of both individuals.

ARTICLE 19 also calls on the Government to protect the right to freedom of expression, which is guaranteed under Article 10(a) of the Federal Constitution, and to ensure that all existing laws that limit the right to freedom of expression are repealed or amended to fully comply with international standards. This requires the repeal of Section 505(b) of the Penal Code, and the reform of relevant provisions of the CMA, including Section 233(1)(a).

Sources for this statement:

Malaysiakini  'Man Arrested Over Placard at Bersih Rally' http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/378677

Malaysiakini  'Cops Detain Woman For 'Insulting' Johor Sultan https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/378868

Malay Mail Online  'Cops Tracking Down Duo Who Insulted Terengganu Sultan on Facebook http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/cops-tracking-down-duo-who-insulted-terengganu-sultan-on-facebook

[i] Section 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code is the mechanism which allows the detention of a suspect for more than 24 hours to enable the police to complete their investigation. Under the new Section 117(2), where investigations cannot be completed within 24 hours from the time of the persons arrest, the arrested person shall be produced before a Magistrates who shall then authorize the person to be remanded for a period not exceeding 7 days if the offence investigated is punishable with imprisonment with less than 14 years and not exceeding 14 days if the offence investigated is punishable with death or imprisonment of 14 years or more.

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Montana Gov. Steve Bullock faces 260 legislative bills that he must soon decide to veto or sign. That's because state legislative leaders held off delivering them until the last minute as political payback for Bullock's decision to use his bill amendment powers to change voting legislation sent to him earlier this year, officials said Wednesday.

The number of bills that Bullock, a Democrat, must consider is the highest ever recorded for a Montana governor after the Legislature has adjourned, according to data compiled by the state legislative division following a request from The Associated Press.

The legislature is dominated by Republicans, and House Speaker Austin Knudsen said he delayed sending the bills to Bullock because of lawmaker anger over Bullock's decision to send the bill back to legislators in April with new language authorizing election clerks across the state to conduct the May 25 special congressional election by mail.

Bullock employed his "amendatory veto" power to change the legislation. Legislative leaders in April started holding off sending bills to him and did so until the session ended because Montana governors can only exercise the power while the Legislature is in session.

The bills delivered to him after the session ended can only be approved or vetoed. If Bullock does nothing with some of them, they automatically become law 10 days after delivery to the governor's office.

"Just to be safe, I held them all," said Knudsen, a Republican from Culbertson. "It came to the point that I wasn't going to send him any more bills until we were out of here."

Ronja Abel, Bullock's spokeswoman, accused Knudsen and other Republicans of intentionally "preventing the governor from improving some pieces of legislation in the best interest of Montanans."

Bullock was in California Wednesday at a conference but was expected to resume reviewing the bills, most already analyzed by his staff, after returning later in the day.

The bills that have stacked up have varying deadlines of when Bullock must take action because they were not all delivered on the same day. About 150 were provided to his office earlier this week, but 100 bills had not arrived yet.

The backlog of legislation for his consideration is more than double what Bullock faced at the end of Montana's 2015 legislative session. About 180 bills awaited gubernatorial consideration at the end of the 2013 session and there were fewer than 150 at the end of the 2011 session.

Montana holds its state legislative sessions every other year.
Chinese authorities have launched a nationwide crackdown on supporters of jailed rights lawyer Xie Yang after they gathered outside a court in the central province of Hunan in the hope of attending his trial last month.



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 April 25, facing charges of "incitement to subvert state power" and "disrupting court order."



But the proceedings were postponed after dozens of supporters, foreign journalists and diplomats flocked to the court in the hope of witnessing the trial from the public gallery.



Now, China's state security police is targeting some of those supporters in their hometowns.



"It's now payback time, the aim of which is to sow more fear [among rights activists]," Xu Qin of the China Rights Observer group told RFA on Thursday.



"They want this group of people to feel scared, so that they don't ever dare to go anywhere to show support ever again," she said.



Ou Biaofeng, a rights activist from Hunan's Zhuzhou city, said he was summoned by his local police station and questioned for an hour over his trip to Changsha.



"Maybe the whole thing was a decoy, so that they would get an idea of who would show up, and they could get their details," Ou said. "There really wasn't much police presence on the day, nor was there any kind of obstruction or tight security like roadblocks."



"It's likely that the authorities have paid visits to people who came from all over the country [that day], including me," he said. "In Zhuzhou alone, five people were summoned for questioning."



In the southwestern region of Guangxi, activist and Xie supporter Tan Aijun said he had also been called up several times by state security police from his hometown, asking him when he would be coming home.



"They didn't mention the Xie Yang case," Tan said. "They just asked me where I was, what I was doing, and when I was coming home to Yulin."



"I'm guessing that this is some kind of retaliation for attending the Xie Yang trial."



Sacked for activism



Last week, a resident of southern China's Guangdong province said he has been fired from his job after he traveled to Changsha on April 25.



Bu Yongzhu said he was sacked without notice from the company where he has worked for seven years, although his company 'wouldn't admit' it was linked to the Xie Yang case.



He told RFA on Thursday that he had been summoned by state security police for questioning on Wednesday and warned off further rights activism.



"They told me that I shouldn't attend any more events linked to the Xie Yang case, and to stop engaging in activism," Bu said, but added that he wouldn't follow orders.



"The state security police are so behind the times," he said. "I will definitely be taking part in rights activism in future, as long as I have time."



Xie was among dozens of rights lawyers, activists and law firm staff detained during a nationwide crackdown on the legal profession beginning in July 2015.



An international group of lawyers and judges on Tuesday called on Beijing to release Xie immediately, saying that he was arrested and charged for "performing legitimate professional functions" as a human rights lawyer.



The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said Xie has been unable to communicate with his lawyers since he gave them his account of his torture at the hands of police, and is now represented by a government-appointed lawyer.



In the absence of evidence that he has committed a recognizable crime compatible with international human rights law, Xie should be immediately released, it said.



The group called on the government to bring to justice "any persons found to be responsible for the torture of Xie Yang."



Reported by Ding Wenqi for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Wong Lok-to for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Hu Jia, photographed in 2007 while under house arrest in Beijing.

China's state security police on Thursday were closely watching a Beijing hospital where veteran dissident Hu Jia is being treated for an acute illness linked to long-running health problems, activists told RFA.

Hu Jia, 43, a former winner of the European Union's Sakharov human rights prize was taken to Beijing's You'an Hospital on Saturday with acute pancreatitis, and is being evaluated for surgery, Hu's supporters said.

His ex-wife Zeng Jinyan said Hu is off the critical list "for the time being," and that his condition has slightly improved, to the point where he has been able to eat something.

"However, he is still very weak and has lost a lot of weight," she said, adding that Hu is now being evaluated for gallbladder and liver surgery.

Meanwhile, Beijing activist Zhao Changqing traveled to the hospital, bringing his state security police detail along with him, after he refused to stay at home under surveillance, an unnamed supporter told RFA.

"A couple of plainclothes state security police from [Hu's home district of] Tongzhou also came to enquire after his health," the source said. "The plainclothes police are now downstairs and in the vicinity [of the building]."

Calls to Zhao's cell phone rang unanswered on Thursday.

A second source who visited Hu on Thursday said doctors are concerned that Hu has been weakened by severe diarrhea, and needs further procedures before surgery can be attempted.

"But the acute pancreatitis has been confirmed, on top of which he has cirrhosis of the liver, so the picture is very complicated," the second source said.

"He has very high potassium levels, and they will operate on his liver and gallbladder if they can't get them down."

Hu, who has hepatitis B, has limited treatment options in Beijing, owing to restrictions on which hospitals can handle infectious diseases.

"There is a huge risk attached to surgery, however," the second source said.

Jail sentence

Hu was handed a three-and-a-half year jail term in 2008 for incitement to subversion after he wrote online articles critical of Chinas hosting of the Olympics.

A campaigner for human rights and AIDS victims, and a vocal critic of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, Hu was awarded the Sakharov Prize, a major human rights award, by the European Union in 2008.

Zeng had warned repeatedly that his health was deteriorating badly in prison, but five applications for medical parole were turned down by the authorities.

Beijing rights lawyer Sui Muqing said there is likely a direct connection between Hu's current health problems and his time in jail.

"His cirrhosis of the liver and now this acute pancreatitis are related to his time in jail," Sui said. "He was never in particularly good health, and wasn't well enough to do jail time and people thought [something like this might happen]."

"This is very worrying, because he is in such poor health," Sui said.

Reported by Xin Lin for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Lao farmers confront an employee of Chinese-owned King Romans Group, which runs a casino in northern Laos' Bokeo province, while an armed police officer looks on, in a screen grab from an RFA video, April 3, 2014.

Unlawful land concessions in Laos are increasingly forcing villagers to abandon their livelihoods and move far away from their homes to find alternative employment,a sign that government officials are not enforcing regulations meant to mitigate the adverse impact of involuntary land acquisitions, a legal expert on land issues and a villager said.

The legal advisor on land issues said the main reason villagers bear the brunt of illegal land appropriation is lack of enforcement of existing laws.



There are no problems in the laws and legislation because their contents are comprehensive, he told RFA, but declined to give his name. There is a pretty clear process of leases and concessions, but the problem is that the law enforcement is not implemented equally throughout the country.

The legal advisor, who provides legal training in the countrys provinces, said another problem he discovered while working in some areas is that local authorities had not publicly disseminated the contents of government decrees on compensation and resettlement of residents displaced by land appropriations out of fear that villagers will use it against them.

Prime ministerial decree 192 was signed in July 2005 to mitigate the adverse social impacts of involuntary land acquisitions or repossessions and compensate those affected to ensure they can maintain or improve their incomes and living standards. It was revised and replaced by another prime ministerial decree in April 2016.

There should be a model for the resolution of land conflicts included in pilot projects to ensure those affected can have access to legal services and decisions justified on the basis of rule of law, the legal advisor said.

The Lao government has given more than 1 million hectares (2.5 million acres) of land to foreign investors in the form of concessions, according to the first and only survey on land concessions completed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment in 2010.

The figure does not include land granted for the building of hydropower dams, mining operations, special economic zones, and the Lao-China railway.

Living conditions getting worse

Land disputes continue to be a contentious issue in Laos, with villagers often dissatisfied because they believe they havent received appropriate compensation for land lost to development projects.

Our living conditions are getting worsevillagers go out earning from hand to mouth, a villager from Thataeng district in southern Laos Sekong province whose land was appropriated by Vietnamese rubber plantations told RFAs Laos Service.

We rent land in another village to produce crops for survival, he said.

About 300 residents from his village now lack their own plots of land to make living, said the man who also declined to give his name.

The lack of land has forced young people to go to work on coffee plantations, where they receive daily wages of 20,000-50,000 kip (U.S. $3.60-$6), he said.

It would be better for local residents if developers carried out the land acquisitions so that all stakeholdersnot just companies and officialswill benefit, he said.

Speaking at the National Assembly on April 28, Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith conceded that many companies that receive land concessions are not following the law.

Now many companies are receiving approval for [land] concessions, but they are not complying with the rule of law, he said.

Land-clearing is unlawfully taking over villagers land without their permission, and the concession areas are not being developed in accordance with the terms of lease contracts, which I have to admit has been occurring for years, he said

Provincial authorities are authorized to approve 100 hectares (250 acres) of land for development purposes, the prime minister said.

Very large tracts of land about 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) in size must be divided into 10 projects of 100 hectares each, he said.

The impact [on residents] cannot be avoided if we need the development, he said. We as people, officials, and developers have to make contributions, but without damaging the interests of people or those affected.

Reported by RFAs Lao Service. Translated by Ounkeo Souksavanh. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Members of the Magway regional government hold a press conference to discuss the alleged embezzlement of funds in the town of Magway in central Myanmar's Magway region, April 25, 2017.

The former chief minister of central Myanmars Magway region on Thursday returned 3 billion (U.S. $2.2 million) kyats in missing funds to the regional government and said he will transfer nearly 5 billion (U.S. $3.6 million) more this week, a regional government official said.

Three billion kyats was transferred from the account of Kyi Soe, who is the representative of former Chief Minister Phone Maw Shwe, said Nay Myo Kyaw, Magways immigration minister. They will transfer about 5 billion kyats tomorrow.

This means they will return all they have, although they promised to return only 5 billion kyats during the first week of May, he said.

Questions about the money arose a year ago when a lawmaker from Magways Pwintbyu township asked parliament about the alleged embezzlement of regional development funds collected as taxation from small-scale oil producers in Magway region by the previous regional government.

The Bureau of Special Investigations under the Ministry of Home Affairs began probing the matter and found that 7.5 billion kyats (U.S. $5.5 million) was missing, more than 3 billion of which had been spent on the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which was then in power.

Nay Myo Kyaw, minister of labor and migration for Magway region, said on a debate program broadcast on April 1 that he was starting an investigation of the missing funds, the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) reported.

The current ruling government under the National League of Democracy (NLD) party sent letters dated April 18 to Phone Maw Shwe and Nyi Tun asking them to provide an explanation for the missing funds and return the money along with four motor vehicles, a backhoe, and two speedboats that had been donated to the USDP through the Magway Division Development Foundation.

Phone Maw Shwe, who served as chairman of the USDPs Magway region chapter while he was chief minister, and Kyi Tun, chairman of Shwe Thukha Microcredit Association and chairman of the Magway Division Development Foundation, sent a letter to current Magway Chief Minister Aung Moe Nyo on April 27 indicating that they would transfer part of the funds to the regional government during the first week of May.

Reported by Myint Zaw Oo for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Win Htein, spokesman of Myanmar's National League for Democracy party, talks to a reporter in Naypyidaw, May 4, 2017.

Myanmars ruling National League for Democracy party may take legal action against individuals or the group responsible for posting online rumors that the countrys figurehead president is resigning, the partys spokesman said Thursday, in the latest indication of a clampdown on free speech in the Southeast Asian nation.

Recent posts on Facebook indicated that President Htin Kyaw would step down due to poor health and be replaced by Shwe Mann, the former speaker of the lower house of parliament who is close to State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi  the countrys de facto leader.

NLD spokesman Win Htein said action will be taken against those who are spreading rumors that the countrys President Htin Kyaw is being replaced.

As far as Im concerned, this was done by people who are trying to politically destabilize the country while Daw [honorific] Aung San Suu Kyi is away, he said, referring to the state counselors current official visit to Europe, where she was in Italy on Thursday.

I called Home Affairs Minister Lieutenant General Kyaw Swe yesterday to tell him to find the person responsible for the original post and take legal action against him, Win Htein said. We will find out whether it is an individual or an organized group, and I might file a lawsuit against them, or I will ask someone else to do that.

The NLDs central executive committee will discuss whether or not to file a lawsuit against those responsible for the post at the bodys next meeting, he said.

In the meantime, the State Counselors Office urged the public to disregard the rumor.

Htin Kyaw is serving as a proxy for Aung San Suu Kyi, who is constitutionally barred from the presidency because her sons are foreign-born as was her late husband.

Leaking state secrets

In a related development, Myanmars Ministry of Industry said on Thursday it will sue a U.S.-based Facebook blogger for posting what it called a rumor.

Aung N Htwe wrote that former Major Ko Ko Aung asked Khin Maung Cho, the current industry minister, to transfer about 20 officials in positions above that of Ko Ko Aung, and that the minister agreed.

Aung N Htwe included photos of the minister and his wife along with his Facebook post.

In response, the ministry issued a statement that it will investigate those involved and take action against them for leaking state secrets.

We transferred 22 staff due to job needs, said Ko Ko Lwin, the ministrys permanent secretary. There is no other reason for it. People can accuse us of what they want to online, [but] we need to check these rumors and respond as needed according to law.

Revision of Section 66(d)

Also on Thursday, Nu Nu Yin, permanent secretary of the countrys Attorney Generals Office, said during a press conference reviewing the NLD governments accomplishments during its first year in office that controversial Section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law will be revised.

The statute prohibits use of the telecom network to extort, threaten, obstruct, defame, disturb, inappropriately influence or intimidate people and carries a jail sentence of up to three years and a fine for those who violate it.

We were advised that we should consider bailing out people charged under Section 66 (d), Nu Nu Yin said, responding to a question about a request her agency received from the Ministry of Communication to amend the article.

Some rights groups have criticized Aung San Suu Kyi, widely touted as a democracy icon in the West, for failing to live up to expectations for increased freedom of the press under the NLD administration.

The number of defamation suits filed under Section 66(d) have soared under Aung San Suu Kyis administration, with 56 people charged for social media posts deemed inappropriate  12 of whom were journalists.

During the previous military-backed government of former president Thein Sein, only seven people were charged under Section 66(d), five of whom received prison sentences.

Reported by Win Ko Ko Latt, Thet Su Aung and Win Naung Toe for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
The man who posted video footage to social media of an attack on an environmental activist in Vietnams commercial capital Ho Chi Minh City admitted Thursday to having filmed the beating, but said he did not take part in it, according to state media.



Shocking video of the May 2 attack on Hanoi-based activist Le My Hanh and two others at her friend Huongs home in Ho Chi Minh City surfaced later that day on the Facebook page of a man named Phan Hung, and shows thugs believed hired by local police punching and kicking the women, while calling them reactionaries.



On Thursday, the official Laborer newspaper reported, police from the citys District 2 summoned Hung for questioning related to the assault and the video, which garnered some 1.8 million views within 24 hours of being posted on Hungs page.



The report said Hung admitted to police that he and several other people had forcefully entered Huongs home on Tran Nao Street in Ho Chi Minh Citys Binh An ward and that he filmed the attack on the three women, but maintained he did not take part in the beating.



The Laborer also quoted Ho Chi Minh City police chief Le Dong Phong as saying that Hung was not working for police.



Police are still trying to identify the attackers and determine their motive, the report said.



On his Facebook page, Hung had called the beating a welcome act for Le My Hanh to Saigon [the former name of Ho Chi Minh City] and threatened whoever supports the three stripes [a reference to the flag of the former Republic of Vietnam] and wants to distort and defame leaders, or incite violence and subversion [to] please speak up!



Hung is believed to have planned the attack on Hanh, who has slammed the government for not taking a harder stance against Taiwan-owned Formosa Plastics Group after its steel plant in Ha Tinh province caused a toxic waste spill last year that killed an estimated 115 tons of fish and left fishermen jobless in four coastal provinces.



The company pledged U.S. $500 million to clean up and compensate people affected by the spill, but the government has faced protests over the amount of the settlement and the slow pace of payouts.



Attempts by RFAs Vietnamese Service to contact Hung about his decision to post the attack on Facebook have gone unanswered.



Hanh recently told RFA that around five peopleincluding one womanbarged into Huongs house on May 2 spraying pepper spray before beating her and her friends for several minutes, retreating, and then returning to attack them even more brutally.



During the second assault, Hanh lost consciousness and woke up to find her assailants gone. The activist was left with injuries to her face, including several bruises.



A screen grab from a video shows unidentified assailants attacking Le My Hanh and her friends at a home in Ho Chi Minh City on May 2, 2017. Video courtesy of Phan Hung's Facebook page Political motive



Thursdays report came a day after the 88 Project, an online group that supports and encourages freedom of expression in Vietnam, called the motive behind the attack clearly political in nature, referring to the messages Hung posted on his Facebook page.



Hanh and her friends were targeted because of their pro-human rights, pro-democracy political opinions, the group said in a statement on its website.



The 88 Project said that police from District 2 had tried to persuade Hanhs friend to drop a complaint the three women had filed against the attackers at the local station because their injuries were not serious, citing rights lawyer Le Cong Dinh.



This raises the question of the connection between the attackers and the police themselves: why would the local police not want to investigate this serious case of infringement upon a citizens private residence and intentional infliction of injury on other persons, the group asked.



The 88 Project also noted that the assault marked the second time in one month Hanh had been targeted for her activism, following an April 5 incident in which a masked assailant attacked her and a friend as she streamed a video of themselves joining a march near Hanois West Lake to protest Formosa.



In that video, Hanh and her friend walk past a man wearing a red bandana across his face as he dismounts from a two-wheeled vehicle, approaches her from behind and begins to hit her about the head before the camera falls to the ground.



Violence against human rights and pro-democracy activists has been rising in the last few years, the group said.



It is widely believed that the attackers are either plainclothes police or thugs who work for and/or are tacitly condoned by the government, as it is unclear how or if the authorities have investigated into the attacks against dissidents at all.



Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Viet Ha. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Authorities in Vietnams Vinh Long province on Thursday announced that a Hoa Hao Buddhist follower had committed suicide in police custody, but the mans family has questioned their account, saying the evidence that proves he killed himself is inconclusive.



Vinh Long provincial vice director Pham Van Ngan told reporters that a police investigative unit arrested Nguyen Huu Tan, 38, in Binh Minh townships Thanh Phuoc commune after searching his home on May 2 for disseminating anti-state documents, according to a report by the official Thanh Nien news.



On the morning of May 3, when an investigator went to talk with Tan [at the Vinh Long detention center] with a monitoring camera in the room, Tan asked for a cigarette and a bottle of water, the report quoted Ngan as saying.



As soon as the investigator left the room, Tan went into the investigators briefcase, took out a letter opener, and cut his own throat. Within three minutes, the investigator returned to the room, but Tan was in shock due to blood loss and he died shortly after, he said.



Ngan told reporters that the Vinh Long police allowed Tans family to view the CCTV footage of the incident right after it occurred and to witness the autopsy on his body, the report said.



The family understands the cause of Tans death to be suicide and that there are no other factors involved, Ngan said.



Nguyen Hoang Hoc, a spokesman for the Vinh Long Peoples Committee, told the same briefing that after news of Tans death broke, many websites ran incorrect reports about the incident, according to Thanh Nien.



The authorities have also identified some websites located in foreign countries that called Tans family and wrote incorrect details about the case in order to incite the people, Hoc said.



The report provided no details on what specific documents Tan had been accused of disseminating, or whether anything had been found during the search of his home.



Vietnams government officially recognizes the Hoa Hao religion, which has some two million followers across the country, but imposes harsh controls on dissenting Hoa Hao groups that do not follow the state-sanctioned branch.



Rights groups say that authorities routinely harass followers of the unapproved groups, prohibiting public readings of the Hoa Hao founders writings and discouraging worshipers from visiting Hoa Hao pagodas.



Account questioned



Tans father, a Hoa Hao monk known as Thich Phap Quan, whose secular name is Nguyen Huu Quan, told RFAs Vietnamese Service that the family does not believe he killed himself because of the extent of the injuries he sustained.



They told me that he cut his own throat and committed suicide, but why was his head injured and how was he able to cut through nearly the entirety of his own neck, leaving only a little bit of flesh connected, he asked.



[When we went in to see him] he was on the floor with blood sprayed everywhere. I almost fainted when I saw it. I want to ask the government to investigate this case.



Quan also told RFA that CCTV video showing the incident, which police have not released to the public, is inconclusive because the picture is unclear, and questioned whether the subject of the footage is actually his son.



I could not see the face of the person in the video, but he was wearing a prison uniform and my son was never convicted, so he shouldnt have been wearing that uniform, Quan said.



I saw the blurred figure of a policeman sitting near him  He went out to get water and the person in the room grabbed a knife on the table. It looked like a letter opener. He started hacking, about three times, he said.



I could not see the face, but they said that my son committed suicide. I saw the person fall down, but I never saw the face.



Deaths in custody



Tans death is the latest of several in Vietnam that have occurred under suspicious circumstances while in the custody of the authorities.



In October 2016, 45-year-old Nguyen Cao Tuan died from what was believed to be internal injuries a day after he was questioned by police in Vinh Phuc province over his alleged theft of a mobile phone.



Tuan had returned home with visible injuries to his legs and ankles, and told relatives he had been beaten by the police.



In January the same year, 46-year-old Dang Quang Vinh died at a hospital in Nghe An province after being held for nearly two weeks by police who suspected him of stealing two boxes of bricks.



Vinh was in good health ahead of his detention, according to his family, but an officer who saw him the night before he died described him as being in weak condition and experiencing trouble breathing.



New York-based Human Rights Watch has said that police throughout Vietnam abuse people in their custody, in some cases leading to death, and has urged the countrys government to take action to end the problem.



Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Viet Ha. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
Notorious Afghan militant leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has called on his Taliban "brothers" to end their insurgency and offered to mediate talks with the government.

Hekmatyar's remarks on May 4 followed his return to the capital, Kabul, months after he signed a peace deal with Afghanistan's government.

"I call upon the Taliban to choose me as their brother," he told a ceremony that was held in his honor at the presidential palace. "I will fight for all your legitimate demands."

Hekmatyar, a former prime minister, urged the militants to join the peace process to "end all reasons for the presence of foreign troops" in Afghanistan.

"The most important issue for me is to end this war and rescue the country from crisis," said Hekmatyar, who called on neighboring countries like Pakistan and Iran not to interfere in Afghanistan.

Hekmatyar, known as the "Butcher of Kabul," is mainly remembered for his role in the bloody civil war of the 1990s, in which he stands accused of killing thousands of people in the capital.

Hekmatyar's Hezb-e Islami militant group signed a peace agreement with President Ashraf Ghani's government in September 2016.

Under the deal, Hezb-e Islami laid down all arms and ended its insurgency against the Afghan government throughout the country. In exchange, Hezb-e Islami prisoners will be released from Afghan jails, among other provisions of the agreement.

The controversial peace deal has been criticized by many Afghans and by Western rights groups, which accuse Hekmatyar's forces of gross human rights violations during Afghanistan's civil war in the 1990s.

The group is also known for deadly attacks on U.S. and Afghan forces since 2001, when U.S.-led forces invaded to drive the Taliban from power following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Ghani, speaking before Hekmatyar, said the country had taken "a big step" toward peace by signing the agreement with Hekmatyar.

"I call upon all armed opposition groups to follow in the footsteps of Hezb-e Islami and join the peace process," Ghani said.

He added: "Let me ask the Taliban. What agenda and goal do you have other than killing innocent people? What have you achieved?"

Hekmatyar said the national unity government led by Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, brokered by Washington after the disputed election of 2014, was "not working."

He said either Ghani or Abdullah should resign.

Abdullah responded by defending the unity government, saying it was created under "special circumstances."

Abdullah also aimed criticism at Hekmatyar, saying he was not convinced the members of the Taliban are his brothers.

"Let's call them Hekmatyars brothers for now," he said.

A heavily armed convoy of several hundred vehicles escorted Hekmatyar from eastern province of Nangarhar to Kabul.

Afghan security forces were deployed along the 160-kilometer route to ensure his safety.

Hekmatyar met Ghani for talks at the presidential palace before attending the ceremony.

He is expected to address the nation live on television from Kabul's Ghazi Stadium on May 5.

Last week, Hekmatyar, white-bearded and clad in his trademark black turban, called on the Taliban to lay down its weapons and join a "caravan of peace" as he spoke at a rally in the eastern Laghman Province.

Hekmatyar founded Hezb-e Islami in the mid-1970s. The group become one of the main mujahedin factions fighting against Soviet forces following their invasion in 1979, and then one of the most prominent groups in the bloody civil war for control of Kabul after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989.

Hekmatyar, a former prime minister under the mujahedin government, was one of the chief protagonists of the internecine 1992-96 war.

Rights groups accuse Hekmatyar of responsibility for the shelling of residential areas of Kabul in the 1990s as well as forced disappearances and covert jails where torture was commonplace.

He was designated as a terrorist by the U.S. State Department in 2003.
The United States is urging authorities in Azerbaijan to conduct a transparent investigation into the death of an Azerbaijani blogger following his arrest on drug-trafficking charges that rights activists contend were fabricated.

"The United States notes with deep concern the death of Azerbaijani blogger and activist Mehman Qalandarov on April 28 while in the custody of Azerbaijani authorities," the State Department said in a statement on May 3.

"We urge the government of Azerbaijan to conduct a full, transparent, and independent investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Qalandarov's death and to release all activists in Azerbaijan incarcerated for exercising their fundamental freedoms," it said.

The Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS), an Azerbaijani NGO, reported on April 29 that Qalandarov "appears to have hanged himself" at the Baku detention center where he was being held. But it quoted human rights defender Oqtay Gulaliyev as saying that that the circumstances of his death were murky.

The IRFS quoted Gulaliyev as saying that Qalandarov was a government critic and had repeatedly called for the release of imprisoned opposition activists Bayram Mammadov and Qiyas Ibrahimov.

Mammadov and Ibrahimov were arrested in May 2016, after painting "Happy Slaves' Day" on a monument to late President Heidar Aliyev in Baku on May 9 -- celebrated in several former Soviet republics as the anniversary of victory in World War II -- and were both sentenced to 10 years in prison on drug charges.

Both men said they were innocent, and Mammadov said he was tortured into confessing.

Qalandarov worked as a teacher at the College of Philosophy, Sociology, and Political Science in Baku for over a decade, according to the IRFS.

Heidar Aliyev's son, Ilham Aliyev, has ruled the oil-producing Caspian Sea state since he was elected shortly before his father's death in 2003.

He has shrugged off frequent criticism from rights groups and Western governments that say he has jailed critics on false pretenses and abused power to crush dissent.
So have you heard? NATO is recruiting Russian speakers in Latvia to use as guinea pigs for psychological and biological experiments.

German soldiers are assaulting women in Lithuania. And troops from the Western alliance are apparently taking LSD to prepare for an invasion of Russia.

What? You haven't heard these things?

Well you would have learned all about them had you been reading the Russian-language media in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Welcome to the weird, weird world of the Kremlin's active measures and disinformation in the Baltics.

As thousands of American, British, Canadian, and German troops deploy on NATO's eastern frontier in an effort to bolster the security of Poland and the Baltic states, the Kremlin is turning the volume on its propaganda machine all the way up to 11.

According to Martins Kaprans of the Center for European Policy Analysis, Moscow is using a "digital archipelago" of pro-Kremlin websites to attack NATO on a daily basis.

And sure, the claims are implausible, over the top, and quite frankly pretty ridiculous.

And no, they are not going to convince most people, or even most Russian-speakers.

But here's the thing. They don't need to convince most people.

They just need to get enough people fearful and riled-up enough to spark an incident and provoke a crisis down the road, whenever it suits the Kremlin's purposes.

So yeah, the Kremlin's anti-NATO propaganda effort in the Baltics is indeed absurd.

But as we learned from Russia's disinformation campaign in Ukraine, absurdity can also be deadly.

Keep telling me what you think on The Power Vertical's Twitter feed and on our Facebook page.
Former President Barack Obama's national security adviser has declined to testify at a Senate hearing on May 8 on Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 election.

Susan Rice's lawyer notified leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee of her decision on May 3. Two other former Obama officials are scheduled to testify -- former acting Attorney General Sally Yates and former National Intelligence Director James Clapper.

Rice became a central part of the committee's investigation when President Donald Trump said she may have committed a crime when she asked intelligence analysts to disclose the name of a Trump associate mentioned in an intelligence report.

Rice has said she did nothing improper.

But although she was a top Obama official involved in last year's investigation of Russian meddling by U.S. intelligence agencies, Democrats on the committee declined to join Republicans in inviting Rice to testify.

Rice's attorney, Kathryn Ruemmler, said Rice was supportive of the committee's investigation, but it is rare for Congress to ask for testimony from a former president's national security adviser.

Based on reporting by AP and CNN
Germany's domestic intelligence agency has said it expects more cyberattacks directed against German politicians and officials ahead of a general election in September.

"We expect further attacks, and we are keeping a very close watch on the threats," BfV agency chief Hans-Georg Maassen told a conference in Potsdam near Berlin on May 4.

Maassen said that the agency had detected and managed to thwart repeated e-mail phishing attacks directed at Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Maassen said German officials were on high alert for cyberattacks after reports by U.S. intelligence officials that sensitive materials had been taken from the U.S. Democratic National Committee to influence the U.S. election in 2016.



Maassen added that "large amounts of data" was seized during the May 2015 cyberattack on the Bundestag, or lower house of parliament, which has been blamed on a Russian hacking group known as APT28, Sofacy, or Fancy Bear.

There had been subsequent attacks directed at lawmakers, Merkel's CDU, and other party-affiliated institutions, but it was unclear if they had resulted in the loss of data, Maassen said.

He suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his allies could decide to use data gathered from such cyberattacks to try to influence the September 24 national election.

"Our counterpart is trying to generate information that can be used for disinformation or for influence operations," Maassen told the conference. "Whether they do it or not is a political decision ... that I assume will be made in the Kremlin."

Merkel, an influential supporter of the sanctions the European Union has imposed on Russia over its interference in Ukraine, is seeking to retain power in the elections.

The group known as Sofacy and by other names is believed to have been formed in 2004 and has been blamed for a wide range of attacks on both governments and financial institutions. Some experts believe the group has close links with Russia's government.

With reporting by Reuters, BBC, and fireeye.com
Russian protest performance artist Pyotr Pavlensky has received political asylum in France.

Pavlensky's lawyer, Dominique Beyreuther Minkov, told AFP news agency on May 4 that Pavlensky and his partner, Oksana Shalygina, received the status of political refugees. Shalygina confirmed that to Russia's Dozhd TV (TV Rain).

Pavlensky and Shalygina left Russia for France with their children in January, after they were questioned by investigators upon arrival from Warsaw on December 14.

They said then that a Moscow actress had filed a legal claim against the couple, accusing them of raping her.

Pavlensky denied the allegation and described it as blackmail aimed at preventing him from carrying out political activities in Russia.

Pavlensky, who is known for startling protests that sometimes involve self-mutilation, says his performances draw attention to the indifference of many Russians to what he says is widespread Federal Security Service (FSB) control over society.

He spent 18 months in pretrial detention after he doused a large wooden door at the Moscow headquarters of the Federal Security Service (FSB) with gasoline and set it on fire in November 2015.

He was released in June 2016 and ordered to pay a hefty fine, which he refused to do.

Pavlensky has also nailed his scrotum to Red Square, sewn his lips together, wrapped himself in barbed wire, and chopped off part of his ear.

Based on reporting by tvrain.ru and AFP
A new opinion poll indicates that 48 percent of voters would cast their ballots for incumbent President Vladimir Putin if Russia's presidential election were held in the near future.

The figure in the April 21-24 poll by the independent Levada-Center was down from 62 percent in a similar poll in April 2015 and 53 percent in January 2016.

Putin, in power as president or prime minister since 1999, is widely expected to seek a new six-year presidential term in a March 2018 election. He has not announced his candidacy.

Levada polled 1,600 adults nationwide, asking them whether they would vote -- and for whom -- if the election were held "next Sunday." The pollsters did not name any candidates, leaving it up to the respondents to do so.

Flamboyant ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov received 3 percent piece, while opposition politician Aleksei Navalny was one of four people who were each named by about 1 percent of respondents.

Staunch Putin critic Navalny is campaigning for the presidency, but it is unclear whether the authorities will put him on the ballot.

Putin was named by 49 percent of respondents to a similar Levada poll in April 2014, and by 29 percent in April 2013.

In Russian presidential elections, a candidate must win more than 50 percent of the votes cast to avoid a runoff.

According to official results, Putin won about 64 percent in 2012, about 72 percent in 2004, and about 53 percent in 2000.

In a March 31-April 3 Levada poll, 64 percent of the respondents said they would like Putin to win another term in 2018, while 22 percent said they would like to see another person as president, and 14 percent were unable to answer the question.
A Russian city administration has backed its official newspaper in an escalating dispute over a homophobic slur and accused hackers of breaching its website to publish a fake apology.

The scandal in the Artic city of Murmansk erupted in late March when the city government's official print publication, Vecherny Murmansk, published an opinion piece calling local opposition activists "militant faggots."

It comes amid what activists and Western governments call Russia's deteriorating LGBT-rights situation in recent years, including a 2013 law banning the spread of gay "propaganda" among minors that critics say promotes discrimination.

The article, titled "Terribly Tired Of Being Civil," was published on March 28 on the website of Vecherny Murmansk. It drew outrage from LGBT activists and the attention of Russia's state media watchdog, though the newspaper was not issued with an official warning.

Then, on May 4, a one-paragraph announcement appeared on the city administration's website apologizing for the "abusive language" used by the author, Dmitry Malyshev.

That apparent act of contrition was short-lived, however. The announcement was subsequently deleted (a cached version is available here), and the city issued a statement saying its website had been hacked and that there was no reason to apologize for the article.

Editorial Decisions

The statement noted that Russian law bans officials from dictating how media outlets cover events or censoring their content.

Natalya Rikhter, a spokeswoman for the city government, told RFE/RL in a telephone interview that, as the founder of the newspaper, the Murmansk administration does not have a right to interfere in editorial decisions.

Asked whether the city supported the use of the homophobic phrase published by Vecherny Murmansk, Rikhter said that the administration couldn't "support it or not support it."

"Any interference is censorship," she said, adding that law-enforcement authorities were investigating the alleged hack.

Vecherny Murmansk also said on May 4 that hackers had breached its website and posted a fake apology from the author of the article that was quickly deleted. A woman who answered the phone there said no one was available to comment, and the paper did not respond immediately to an e-mailed inquiry.

'Providing Cover'

Editor in Chief Viktor Khabarov, however, was quoted by his newspaper as saying the site may have been hacked by opposition protesters or LGBT-rights activists "upset with publications by Vecherny Murmansk."

Violetta Grudnina, an opposition and LGBT-rights activist mentioned in the article, said she believes the city administration is "providing cover" for Vecherny Murmansk to attack government critics in print.

"It's a message from local authorities that anyone who is against the positions of the government is a faggot," she told RFE/RL in a telephone interview.

She said she believes she and her colleagues are being targeted for their support of opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, who is seeking to run for president next year in an election widely expected to hand President Vladimir Putin another six-year term.

'Not A Bad Thing'

Asked about the article, which was published two days after nationwide anticorruption protests spearheaded by Navalny led to hundreds of arrests, Murmansk Mayor Dmitry Filippov said last month that he did not know the protesters and "couldn't gauge their [sexual] orientation."

He added that the government takes the battle against corruption seriously, and that "it's not a bad thing" that the issue of graft is drawing public attention.

Russian authorities in recent years have stepped up prosecutions of individuals accused of online hate speech, and Grudina in late March filed a complaint with prosecutors asking them to investigate whether the Vecherny Murmansk article violated Russian laws on extremism.

Local prosecutors found, however, that the article with the phrase "militant faggots" did not contain elements of hate speech, according to a copy of an official response Grudina received on May 3, a copy of which she provided to RFE/RL.

Throughout the day on May 4, a banner headline on the newspaper's website read: "URGENT! Militant Fag**ts Attack Vecherny Murmansk's Website."


If history is any indication, the creation of a series of safe zones in Syria, currently being discussed by the United States, Russia, Turkey, and the war-torn country, is likely to provide little relief for hundreds of thousands of civilians on the ground.

Moscow, Ankara, and Tehran on May 4 signed a memorandum backing a Russian proposal that calls for such zones to be created in rebel-held territory in northwestern Syria. The United States said it supported any effort to de-escalate the violence in Syria, though it had "concerns" about the agreement.

But for years, policymakers around the world have looked to safe zones as a way to protect civilians, unlock humanitarian access, and help move a conflict toward a political solution.

That sounds good in theory. But the practical results aren't very encouraging.

From Bosnia, to South Sudan, to Rwanda, to Iraq, areas set up to keep noncombatants safe in a war zone have often ended up failing to provide the protection they were intended to afford.

Perhaps nowhere was that more apparent than in Bosnia-Herzegovina, when the United Nations created six safe zones in 1993 amid the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia.

The zones came to be seen by critics as little more than prison camps for refugees, where overcrowding and a lack of military backup made those inside the areas little more than sitting ducks. All six were attacked and two, Srebrenica and Zepa, were overrun.

In July 1995, the Bosnian situation hit a low point when 400 lightly armed Dutch troops in Srebrenica under a UN mandate failed to stop the murder of some 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys. Women and girls were raped. Inside a week, a safe zone had become the scene of the deadliest atrocity in Europe since World War II.

While many safe zones before and after Srebrenica have had varying results, few have been deemed outright successes and the complex situation on the ground, analysts say, makes it unlikely at best that Syria would be the exception and not the rule.

"These safe zones have a very bad history," says Louis Charbonneau, United Nations director at Human Rights Watch (HRW). "You have all sorts of risks once you concentrate people in one place like that.... They are targets."

What Is Being Proposed?

The Russian proposal urges the creation of safe zones in rebel-controlled territory in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib, in parts of Homs Province in the center, in the south, and in the opposition enclave of Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, according to the AFP news agency, which cited a copy of the plan.

WATCH: Syrian Opposition Protests As Deal On Safe Zones Signed (natural sound)

While those safe zones would seek to stop conflict inside the area and allow refugees to return, another key aspect would be to allow for the delivery of aid to people who have suffered through years of an ongoing civil war.

The zones would be guarded and have checkpoints manned by rebels and government troops. Foreign troops could also be deployed in observer roles, according to the document, AFP said.

Details of the plan, such as who would pay the huge budget needed to maintain the zones and how they would be controlled, must still be worked out, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on May 3, after talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

"One of the ways in which the cease-fire can be made to last is through creating safe zones or de-escalation zones," Putin said, adding that aircraft "would not work" in the de-escalation zones "provided there is no military activity in these zones."

Earlier reports said Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed the establishment of safe zones in a May 2 phone call but suggested the sides had differing views on the topic.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in March said the United States hoped to set up "interim zones of stability" to help refugees return as the battle continued to defeat destabilizing militant groups like Islamic State and Al-Qaeda.

Creating Safe Zones

Safe zones aren't actually an official term under international law.

But international humanitarian law (IHL) does allow for a number of zones, such as neutralized areas for noncombatants and wounded combatants, "non-defended localities," and demilitarized zones within conflict situations, located in or outside combat areas, according to Trevor Keck, deputy head of communications for the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation to the United States and Canada.

Such zones are established with agreement or recognition by all parties to a conflict. Some have also been created by UN Security Council resolutions. Safe zones are protected by IHL because they are demilitarized.

But if they are defended by military means, the presence of combatants amid or around the protected populations entails a number of risks. In Syria, for example, talks on safe zones do not foresee an agreement by all parties involved in the conflict.

Failing to sufficiently defend a safe zone can make it a deadly trap, as witnessed in Srebrenica.

"History has shown that safe zones and no-fly zones are fraught with risks. At best, these types of interventions may bring short-term protection and relief to civilians at grave risk -- which is obviously laudable," Keck says.

"At worst, declaring an area safe without clear guarantees from all parties to a conflict, or without the requisite military force, can lead to devastating humanitarian consequences."

Rules Of Engagement

Given the risks surrounding safe zones, and the fact that they are often proposed when the parties to a respective armed conflict fail to respect the basic tenets of IHL, a clear set of rules of engagement by those defending it are a must, analysts say.

Without such rules, peacekeepers guarding safe havens become little more than observers to atrocities, as was the case in Srebrenica.

Given the lack of adherence so far to the rules of war in Syria, where chemical-weapon attacks and assaults on emergency aid crews, rescue workers, and journalists have been commonplace, the need for a strong and clear mandate for forces to engage is necessary if the safe zones will have a chance at being successful, according to Lieutenant Colonel John R. Barnett and Michael Eisenstadt of the Washington Institute.

The setup of safe zones must include a "robust, balanced air-ground team" in Syria where a complex web of rebel and extremist factions are engaged on the ground and external powers are directly assisting the regime's military operations.

"The language authorizing the operation should be unequivocally clear...the mandate should not place unnecessary restrictions on the use of forces deployed to secure the safe zone," they wrote in a paper for the institute on safe zones in Syria.

"Any safe-zone operation in Syria that ignores the lessons of the past and omits these key elements would risk a greater chance of failure, increased suffering for civilians, and potential mission creep that could lead to even more widespread conflict."

Other Risks

Establishing safe zones in Syria could mark an escalation in America's military involvement in the conflict, while they could become targets for jihadist groups if they are not adequately defended.

More than six years of war in Syria has killed an estimated 400,000 people and sent millions fleeing their homes, adding to an influx of refugees into countries in the Middle East, Europe, and elsewhere.

That influx has sparked a backlash in many countries, and some human rights analysts fear the establishment of safe zones is aimed more at stopping the flow of refugees than providing sanctuary for them.

Human Rights Watch's Charbonneau says there's a real concern that the plan hasn't fully worked through such questions as how entry to and from the zone would be regulated so that it "doesn't become a concentration camp."

"We can't rule out that it is doable.... When we look at Syria, and it's not clear that the U.S. has thought through what it will really involve," he says.

"You can't help suspecting that the real motive here is not to protect people but to keep them from going into other countries and that is a problem."


This video shows the moment a vehicle carrying OSCE monitors hit a roadside bomb in an area of Luhansk Province, eastern Ukraine, controlled by Russia-backed separatists. An American paramedic, Joseph Stone, was killed in the April 23 blast -- the first member of the OSCE mission to die in the 3-year-old conflict. RFE/RL obtained the video from an official Ukrainian source.
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Ukraine began the trial of former President Viktor Yanukovych on charges of high treason. Yanukovych is not at the trial, but will give evidence via video link from Russia. (RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service)
Historical accounts of Robert Lumpkins slave jail in Shockoe Bottom describe brutal and cruel conditions: confining shackles, fetid air, meager meals.

So why, wondered Richmond City Councilman Parker Agelasto during a budget hearing this week, does the citys effort to create a slavery memorial at the site seem to also memorialize Lumpkin by using his surname in the projects title?

Agelasto proposed an amendment that would add references in city documents to the name black residents used at the time to refer to the place: The Devils Half Acre.

Calling this Lumpkins Jail seems to give primary credit to someone we should not be celebrating, he said, noting a name for the site can be decided as plans are finalized, but that in the interim discussions within City Hall should reflect feedback received so far.

Agelastos proposal sparked an hourlong debate during the councils final budget meeting Wednesday. Members eventually agreed to approve the amendment in a modified form, voting to add Devils Half Acre in parentheses next to the current title in the citys budget documents, Heritage Center & Lumpkins Jail Project.

The amendment also adds language that reflects another persistent response city officials have heard from community members: That the focus of the citys effort to memorialize the slave trade in Shockoe Bottom should be larger than the relatively small archaeological site.

According to Encyclopedia Virginia, Lumpkin, a slave trader, purchased the jail in 1844 to provide accommodation to other traders at what was then the second-largest hub of slave dealing in the country. They would pay Lumpkin a daily fee to hold slaves while, for instance, they were waiting to be sold.

The slave jail was uncovered during a 2005 archaeological investigation of the site about 15 feet below the current ground level. The investigation continued again in 2008 before it was once again covered with earth until a plan to preserve or memorialize the site could be developed.

The project has been in the works for years and is going through a second round of public meetings. The last took place in March, when multiple residents raised concerns about the name.

He was a notorious slave trader, and were going to make him famous again? Allah Light said during the meeting.

Since then, SmithGroupJJR, the consulting and design firm the city has hired to plan the project, has added a survey to the website it created, lumpkinsjail.org, asking for feedback on what the site should be called. It floats a number of possible options, among them: Devils Half Acre to Gods Half Acre, Shame, Courage, and Memory: The Lumpkins Slave Jail Project, Center for History of Enslaved Africans in Shockoe Bottom, and Devils Half Acre.

Opposition to Agelastos proposal on Wednesday focused on two concerns.

The first, voiced by Councilwoman Cynthia Newbille, was that while she personally preferred calling the site the Devils Half Acre, the council should not interfere with the ongoing community engagement process.

We have an opportunity to get this right, she said.

The second, voiced by Councilwoman Ellen Robertson, was that she didnt like the name, which she said would continue to inflict damage on black residents with its negative connotation.

Its a very sensitive subject matter, and it needs to be done with care, she said.

Councilwoman Kim Gray, meanwhile, threw her full support behind the proposal.
Business News 5 67883 Application To Register A Business To Be Conducted Under Trade Name Partnership Or Others State Of Georgia County Of Carroll | RobinsPost News & Noticias

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Politics News Fbi S Comey Says Russia Not Done Hacking Us Politics | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Russia's defense minister accused Ukrainians of planning to use a so-called dirty bomb -- a claim that was strongly refuted by US officials on Sunday as a Russian false flag operation. Read More The Biden administration has no information that Russia is preparing to 'imminently' use nuclear weapons in its war against Ukraine, a spokeswoman says. Read More PERSONAL FINANCE DAILY Hi, MarketWatchers. Dont miss these top stories.How Russias war in Ukraine helped the FBI crack one of the biggest cybercrime cases in years Investigators nabbed a ... Read More Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed he had no plans to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, despite previous threats to do so. His comments came as the U.S. Department of Defense released a set of ... Read More A graphic shared by Russia's Ministry of Defence alleges the development of a Ukrainian "dirty bomb," aiding a baseless narrative being pushed by the Kremlin. Read More
Politics News Russia Still Involved In Us Politics Fbi | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Vladimir Solovyov started his show Full Contact with the words, "Happy interference in the U.S. elections day." ... Read More "He's still working on his legacy, and he pretty much knows that if he explodes a nuke  he's toast," Jack Barsky, an ex-KGB agent, said of Putin. Read More Follow the days news live. 02:51 Daniel Hurst Three Coalition politicians have met with a senior Iranian diplomat in Canberra to directly call for an end to violence, human rights ... Read More UNITED NATIONS >> The U.N. General Assembly scheduled a vote for Monday on a resolution that would call for Russia to be held accountable for violating international law by invading Ukraine, including ... Read More Attorney General Merrick Garland has long said that the Justice Department is up to the task of investigating former President Donald Trump, whose final weeks in office included his supporters ... Read More Reducing news to hard lines and side-taking leaves a lot of the story untold. Progress comes from challenging what we hear and considering different views. Read More
Potus News The United States Department Of Immigration Has Deported The Hispanic Donald Trump Supporter | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Nicholas Simoes Machado thinks its time for the Maryland Democratic Party to step up its game when it comes to Latino voters. Machado, 26, is the campaign manager for Ivan Bates, who is poised to ... Read More The United States recently began expelling Venezuelans who cross the border without permission using a policy created under the Trump administration known as Title 42 ... Read More
Potus News Trump To Visit Israel Vatican And Saudi Arabia In First Foreign Trip As President | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Human rights groups have urged Francis to use his visit, which begins Thursday, to call for an end to death penalty, political repression in Bahrain. Read More Pope Francis leaves on Thursday for Bahrain, a trip aimed at improving ties with the Islamic world but which could thrust him into a human rights conflict between the Sunni-led monarchy and its ... Read More
Product Reviews Iphones Impede Mutual Understanding Says Patriots Owner | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The documentation lists three examples of the kinds of product review publishers. The addition to the page does not say that this is a limitation on who the best practices are limited to. Read More Had this iPhone 14 Plus shipped day and date with the iPhone 14, we'd have combined the reviews, they are so similar. The only differentiations are slightly longer battery life, and a larger ... Read More Bugs typically don't impede work on a feature, and may actually prioritize that work. The Scrum Guide further states that a development team is capped at 10 participants. This limits a product owner's ... Read More That's because instead of continuing to make a mini version of the basic iPhone ... says peak brightness can go as high as 1,200 nits. Meanwhile, using a light meter, I found that our review ... Read More Apple is reportedly bringing back the iPhone XRs design for the next iPhone SE. The report comes from noted analyst Ross Young at Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSSC) via MacRumors. Read More The LOreal Paris Glycolic Skin Brightening Serum was the other product I tried. The formulations is non-sticky and light. One of its main ingredients is niacinamide, a form of Vitamin B3. Read More Read our Ethics Policy to learn more. Trying to figure out what you need in terms of equipment for unboxing videos and product reviews on YouTube? Weve got you covered. As other YouTube trends ... Read More Apple will change the way we charge the batteries for our iPhones, to comply with new European ... a Mac computer with a touchscreen. "Who's to say?" Federighi replied. He did speak more ... Read More The iPhone 14 Pro marks the second time Apples flagship smartphone has gone through a major redesign in the past two years. Although it might have a very similar silhouette, a lot has changed ... Read More None of this is to say the HDR ... While we didnt test it on our review phone, Apple did show us how it worked shortly after the iPhone 14 line launched, in September. They took us up a ... Read More
Product Reviews Fbi S Comey Says Russia Not Done Hacking Us Politics | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Investigators nabbed a key figure behind malware program Raccoon Infostealer in the Netherlands as he fled fighting in Ukraine. Read More A team of international monitors has found no evidence to support Russias dirty bomb allegations against Ukraine, the United Nations's nuclear watchdog announced following inspections at three ... Read More National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. will "hold Russia accountable" if Russians attack any commercial satellites in Ukraine. Read More PERSONAL FINANCE DAILY Hi, MarketWatchers. Dont miss these top stories.How Russias war in Ukraine helped the FBI crack one of the biggest cybercrime cases in years Investigators nabbed a ... Read More
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A former science teacher ... New Mexico, pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking methamphetamine by manufacturing and one count each of possession of a controlled substance and possession of ... Read More IRONTON  A homeless woman pleaded guilty Wednesday in ... of aggravated trafficking in meth. Kristina Franc, 36, faces up to six years in prison in the drug case. As part of a plea deal ... Read More BUTLER COUNTY, OHIO (WXIX) - A former New Miami softball coach ... In addition, the sheriffs office said she was a teachers aide at New Miami. Ashley Ra-Nae Rison is no longer employed ... Read More Myron Mahaney was a passenger in a vehicle that led troopers on a chase through Cole County and ended in a multi-vehicle crash in March. Read More ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - A former teachers aide pleaded guilty to sex crimes against a child. According to the St. Louis County courts, Joseph Guyre molested and sodomized a child younger than ... Read More MILLER COUNTY  A former Miller County R-III School District teacher and girls' basketball coach pleaded guilty Tuesday to ... according to prior KOMU 8 News reporting. Allen was initially ... Read More CHESTER  On the day Chester Countys former sheriff ... to plead guilty at a hearing in October 2021, but he backed out at the last minute and hired a new attorney. His case progressed ... Read More A former Ohio softball coach had sex with a 17-year-old student in the back of her car, authorities said. A former high school softball coach and teacher's aide has pleaded guilty to having sexual ... Read More Former Chester County Manager has just entered a guilty plea on four charges including trafficking meth and misconduct ... suspects associated with the case are convicted before sentencing Stuart ... Read More A 31-year-old Bismarck man has pleaded not guilty to drug conspiracy and possession charges filed after police said they intercepted a drug-filled package that was delivered to his apartment. Read More On Tuesday in Butler County Common Pleas Court, Rison pleaded guilty to sexual ... Rison is a former head softball coach and teachers aide for New Miami High School, and the charges stem ... Read More
Science News Science Nerd Hopes To Unseat Congress Most Detested Science Denier | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The first thing I want to share is my gratitude to you, as members of the Society and Science ... Im sure most of you know how difficult it is to maintain a high-quality news operation these ... Read More 2 takeaways from our meeting: We like health care and staples, Club stock news Got a confidential news tip? We want to hear from you. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to ... Read More The specifics of spending and reimbursement would almost certainly present sticking points in a divided Congress. With that possibility in mind, some industry stakeholders and trade groups hope ... Read More That was a prevailing idea in 2019, when I started as the social sciences reporter at Science News. But when I began ... to a shift in perspective. While most researchers use income as a proxy ... Read More computer science, sociology, and genetics, De Houwer explained in an interview. "Most people think of learning as some kind of mechanism for the storage of new information, but this makes it very ... Read More Here, we celebrate 10 of the most influential women in science, from the 'human computer' Katherine Johnson, to Jocelyn Bell Burnell who discovered Pulsar, these incredible women paved the way ... Read More Diffusion and bulk flow of amino acids mediate calcium waves in plants appears in Science Advances. John Innes Centre. (2022, October 21). The science of how plants register trauma catches a new wave. Read More You can unsubscribe at any time. More info The relationship between science and science fiction is being explored at a groundbreaking new interactive exhibition at the Science Museum. Read More Two UC Santa Cruz alumniJessica Kendall-Bar, who earned her Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology in 2022, and Rodrigo Perez Ortega, who earned his M.S. in science communication ... communication ... Read More Stay up to date on Integral Ad Science analyst ratings. If you are interested in following small-cap stock news and performance you can start by tracking it here. Analysts work in banking and ... Read More If you're a parent or a teacher, you've probably heard this countless times. To most young children, "fair" simply means treating everyone equally. Kids are quick to say they shouldn't have to go ... Read More
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The Malta Tourism Authority was once again named Best Destination  Mediterranean (bronze) at the 2022 Travvy Awards. Read More By Ryan Mac Peter Thiel, the Los Angeles-based technology investor, is pursuing Maltese citizenship through Maltas golden ... Well be sharing more travel tips in upcoming editions of ... Read More If you are ready to travel at the end of the month, seven-night, self-catering packages, including flights from airports including Liverpool, start at 187pp (thomascook.com). Malta offers an ... Read More Gifted with its warm and sunny climate all year round, its unique mediterranean landscapes and crystal-clear waters, combined with numerous cultural and historical sites, Malta has long earned ... of ... Read More If you're planning a trip abroad, then it's time to start viewing ... care while traveling," the CDC writes on its website. CBS News travel editor Peter Greenberg agreed that Medical Evacuation ... Read More Two brothers were sentenced to 40 years in prison each by a judge in Malta after they pleaded guilty ... the brothers that they were hired by a top Maltese businessman with government ties. Read More These new features will be created based on live feedback and input from customers and what theyd like to see to improve their digital travel experience. This app also allows Air New Zealand to ... Read More Editor's Note  Sign up for Unlocking the World, CNN Travel's weekly newsletter. Get news about destinations ... improve your eating experience in the air. Read More A lot more. Prices in premium cabins are up 36%, according to Skytra, an Airbus subsidiary that compiles daily air travel price indices. Premium cabin passenger traffic was up 28%, while economy ... Read More The State Department also explains the different types of insurance options available and how to prepare to travel abroad. Have more questions? Speak to a travel insurance professional now who can ... Read More The murder shocked Europe and triggered angry protests in Malta. A 2021 public inquiry report found that the Maltese state has to bear responsibility for the murder because of the culture of ... Read More Editor's Note  Sign up for Unlocking the World, CNN Travel's weekly newsletter. Get news about destinations opening, inspiration for future adventures, plus the latest in aviation, food and ... Read More
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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the largest Arab country in the Middle East, bordered by Jordan on the northwest ... Its a destination best visited with competent professional guidance. Tour operators ... Read More Taking place at the magnificent King Abdul Aziz International Conference Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from Nov. 28 to Dec. 1, the global tourism bodys highly anticipated 22nd Global Summit ... Read More Authorities in Saudi Arabia have released Mohammad al-Khudary ... said in a statement that al-Khudary was on board a plane heading to Jordan. I spoke to him and he is in good spirits. Read More Here are 10 experiences that visitors to Saudi Arabia simply shouldn't miss. Take an Authentic Arabian Food Tour Foodies will fall in love with Saudi Arabia as there's something to look forward ... Read More This contribution from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will enable UNRWA to continue delivering education and health programmes, reaching the most vulnerable Palestine refugees in the West Bank, including ... Read More Clients are always looking for the next destinations to explore and travel advisors have the answer with Saudi Arabia. The "Journey Through Arabia" webinar, which took place on September 27 ... Read More The PGA Tour has filed a lawsuit against Saudi Arabias Public Investment Fund and its governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, in the latest turn in its legal battle with LIV Golf. The tours lawsuit was ... Read More The PGA Tour has filed a lawsuit against the governor of LIV Golf's finances. The suit against Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and Yasir Othman Al-Rumayyan was filed Thursday in the U.S ... Read More Travel expenses can be pricey, depending on where you're going and when. So, you may be inclined to deny or refuse travel insurance as a way to cut costs. But sometimes that decision can end up ... Read More Saad Ibrahim Almadi's son speaks with ABC News' Linsey Davis about his fight to free his father, who has been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia because of tweets he published. The Biden White House and ... Read More
Travel News Cuba Travel Interest Down One Year After Us Lifts Restrictions | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Since President Barack Obama announced that the U.S. would ease diplomatic relations with Cuba, the number of people looking to travel to ... even before the news, American interest in traveling ... Read More The vast majority of UK visitors to America enter through the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation  Esta. This is the swift, cheap and easy online permit. But the US government insists ... Read More Interest in the trade continues to increase, the Travel Institute has found: Attendance at its introductory webinars is up 78% this year compared with the same period in 2019. Enrollment in ... Read More Rates on 5-year fixed-rate loans averaged 15.52%, down ... interest rates. Steps that can help you improve your credit score over time include: Personal loan repayment terms can vary from one ... Read More Editor's Note  Sign up for Unlocking the World, CNN Travel's weekly newsletter. Get news about ... visitors back after two-plus-year closures. However, there's still one major player in the ... Read More The price of plane tickets is expected to spike to a 5-year high ... 14 to 21 days after your initial booking date. Are you interested in purchasing one of the above travel insurance plans? Read More Photo Credit: Princess Juliana International Airport St. Maarten will lift all Covid-related travel restrictions on Nov. 1, ending its ... tourism potential "after several years of low and slow ... Read More The Japanese government lifted its travel restrictions for foreign nationals on October 11th. This is excellent news for those wanting ... hours. Like us on Facebook to see similar stories Please ... Read More
Travel News Prescott Arizona Supports National Travel And Tourism Week With Local Tourism Awareness Plan | RobinsPost News & Noticias

This out-and-back lollipop loop hike uses part of the Peavine National Recreation Trail to ... Storm Trails maze of little loops northeast of Prescotts Watson Lake. For a short, moderate ... Read More PHOENIX  Prescott National Forest managers plan to burn 1,275 acres with prescribed ... minimize smoke impacts on nearby communities. The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality needs ... Read More Participating restaurants offer specials during the special week. "We saw a need at this time of year to support local restaurants," said Roxie Deer, the chamber's director of membership and ... Read More That means it is time to get serious about booking your holiday travel. In fact ... The average price for a ticket this week is around $290. Hopper said that price will increase by $10 per ... Read More This week in travel ... about reopening to tourism. These Covid-related restrictions are one of the reasons that Asia-Pacific is losing its title as the worlds biggest travel market. Read More The trend towards local tourism can be attributed to millennials, who travel more than any other generation and value authenticity and soul-stirring experiences. Additionally, they firmly support ... Read More Akwasi Agyeman The Ghana Tourism Authority is set to organise the 17th edition of the National Tourism Awards on Thursday, November 3, 2022, at the Avenue, East Airport, Accra. The awardsRead ... 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 Tourism leaders from across Africa ... including low-cost air travel within Africa, as well as the pressing need to support small businesses (SMEs) in gaining the digital tools and knowledge ... Read More Get news about destinations opening, inspiration for future adventures, plus the latest in aviation, food and drink, where to stay and other travel developments. (CNN)  This week in travel ... Read More This week in travel: some of the destinations in Asia with the most strict Covid policies are finally reopening, an annual ranking of the world's coolest neighborhoods provides inspiration for ... Read More
Travel News Washington State Travel Alerts | RobinsPost News & Noticias

KING 5 has activated First Alert for this weather event, which could affect lives, property or travel in the Pacific Northwest region. Read More A serious injury is involved, the State Road 80 westbound lanes are blocked and traffic is heavily congested in the area. Please avoid if possible or approach with caution. 7:38 A.M. Traffic ... Read More WSP said the cause of the crash was speed and the Poulsbo man driving into oncoming traffic. Local journalism is essential ... Subscribe now to get breaking news alerts in your email inbox Get ... Read More Heading into the general election Tuesday, Lincoln and Ferry counties have indicated no interest in reinstalling the device. Read More Oregon State Police found 83 pounds of suspected cocaine and a firearm during a traffic stop on I-5 after being alerted by a drug detection K9. Read More "Don't wait until the last minute: Travel insurance is intended to protect travelers against sudden and unforeseen events," the Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking in Washington ... Read More Oregon State Police found 83 pounds of suspected cocaine and a firearm during a traffic stop on I-5 after being alerted by a drug detection K9. Read More backing up traffic for commuters in the Tacoma area. Washington State Department of Transportation Peter Talbot covers crime and breaking news in Pierce County. He started with The News Tribune in ... Read More Through this deal, you can fly from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood ... How to book: Directly through Plays website. Travel dates: Oct. 1 through Dec. 10; dates vary by destination. Read More The instant traffic ... news" in the lock screen summary, although some publishers share breaking news without explicitly using the term in the alert. Publishers such as Metro, Washington Post ... Read More
Us News Us Dropping Bombs Quicker Than They Can Be Replaced | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Many of these windowless shelters housed little more than rats ... investments can feel reassuring, but they arent nearly enough on their own. Although ASPR maintains the USs strategic ... Read More On Monday, the NATO military alliance will hold a training exercise, known as Steadfast Noon, in which US B-52 bombers and F-16 fighters will simulate dropping atomic bombs over Europe amid a ... Read More Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called the "dirty bomb" claim "as absurd as they are ... breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Story tips and ideas can be sent ... Read More Police are investigating a bomb threat against a polling station at a high school in a New Orleans suburb, The Washington Post reports. In a news release, the Louisiana secretary of state said early ... Read More President Vladimir Putin has hinted that he could deploy nuclear weapons in dire circumstances and the US has ... since they were used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. In the unlikely event of a ... Read More This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe ... atomic bomb? No. The comparatively crude device is different from the explosives dropped ... Read More A dirty bomb is an explosive ... them, not us," John Kirby, the National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications told reporters on Monday. "They're the ones that made a public ... Read More "During the conversation... the situation related to the possible use of a 'dirty bomb' by Ukraine was continued," the ministry said in a statement. The US military also confirmed the call ... Read More Millions across the country vote while Florida state department tells DoJ that federal election monitors wont be permitted  follow all the latest news ... Read More As tensions over the nine-month war worsen, NBC News looks at what a dirty bomb actually is, the damage it can cause and whether ... area is likely to be no more than a few hundred yards in ... Read More A Kharkiv Bomb Shelter: the Only Home Baby Zhenia Has ... 17 and Andriy, 16. When they reached Ukraine's second city she rejoined her husband Evgen and, offered a refuge in the shelter underneath ... Read More For instance, the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945 obliterated 2.6 square miles (6.2 square kilometers) of the city, according to ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. Read More
Us News Is Attack On Us Convoy Kills 8 Afghans Wounds 3 Us Soldiers | RobinsPost News & Noticias

An advocacy and research group says Britain paid compensation to the families of at least 64 children killed by U.K. military action in Afghanistan ... Read More Air attacks have struck eastern Syria along the Iraqi border, hitting Iran-backed fighters and inflicting casualties, a Syrian war monitor, Iranian state television and Iraqi paramilitary officers ... Read More A Marine who helped an Afghan couple bring a young girl to America for medical care during last years withdrawal of US troops has been accused of abducting the child. In a lawsuit filed last ... Read More An Afghan couple ... the chaotic withdrawal of US troops last year. The baby girl had been rescued two years earlier from the rubble of a US Special Forces raid that killed her parents and five ... Read More Late-night airstrikes in eastern Syria along the border with Iraq targeted Iran-backed militiamen, inflicting casualties, Syrian opposition activists said Wednesday. According to two paramilitary ... Read More The strike occurred about 218 kilometers north-northwest of Mogadishu and the initial assessment is that it killed two attacking al-Shabaab terrorists, US Africa Command said in a news ... Read More Photograph: Steven Senne/AP Two dogs were fatally shot by police after an Amazon driver was found dead near them on Monday night with what appeared to be wounds from an animal attack. Police in ... Read More A U.S.-led coalition drone strike in northeastern Syria has killed an Islamic State group ... not immediately issue a statement on the drone attack, and did not immediately respond to an ... Read More The US military conducted an airstrike over the weekend against the al-Shabaab terror group in Somalia, which was attacking Somali National Army forces near ... Read More
Us News Us Company Turned Blind Eye To Wild Behavior On Iraq Base | RobinsPost News & Noticias

US soldiers assigned to the 3rd Cavalry Regiment fire artillery at known Islamic State of Iraq and Syria locations ... with a barrage of missiles the US base in the Al-Omar Field in Syria ... Read More A woman is claiming she has been left blind in one ... New Mexico, US, said: "I had put my contacts in to go to work and felt a bursting sensation in my left eye but didn't think too much of ... Read More The Justice Department accused the company of turning a blind eye to the conduct of the Islamic ... when it learned of the allegations from the news media in 2016, it voluntarily conducted an ... Read More A 33-year-old man from the US has created an eye-catching innovation. Brian Stanley, who lost an eye to cancer created his own prosthetic eye. The engineer transformed his prosthetic eyeball into ... Read More This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info A blind woman is flying a plane 2,000 miles across the US, starting in the ... Read More Kids and Car Safety has tracked its own data for years on blind zone deaths, known as frontovers and backovers, gathered from news stories ... its front camera, turned off. Read More Love Is Blind fans watched in disbelief when Andrew Y. Liu appeared to fake his tears for filming after being dumped by Nancy Rodriguez. While filming a piece to camera, Andrew, 30, put eye ... Read More Some of the nation's largest airports have been targeted for cyberattacks Monday by an attacker within the Russian Federation, a senior official briefed on the situation confirmed to ABC News. Read More "This one is certainly different." "Unfortunately, what we've done probably hasn't been enough to protect us from this high load of virus in the wild bird population," Sifford added. The subtype ... Read More Joe Biden has called on oil companies to pass on their massive profits to consumers as he announced the release of 15m barrels of oil from the US strategic ... is Trump in the news? Read More the wildlife photographer, 30, said during the fourth episode of Love Is Blind season 3, which dropped on Wednesday, October 19. Oh, hang on. Mind if I [put in eye drops]? After Andrew ... Read More US president announces release of 15m barrels of oil from strategic reserve as he fights to keep gas prices in check before midterms Joe Biden has called on oil companies to pass on their massive ... Read More
Us News Us Starts Antidumping Probe Into Tool Chests From Vietnam China | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Well send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest US Department of Justice news every morning ... information on the prosecution and probe against a big Chinese telecoms company. Read More HANOI (Vietnam News ... US Department of Commerce (DOC) has once again announced an extension of the deadline on its final conclusion on an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tax evasion investigation ... Read More China doesn't have vaccine mandates but wants ... health center sticking the short nozzle of a translucent white cup into their mouths. Accompanying text said that after slowly inhaling, one ... Read More At that time, the US, like many countries, exported millions of tons of plastic waste to China and counted it as recycled even though much of it was burned or dumped. After China stopped accepting ... Read More including China. In a separate notification, the DGTR has stated that it has also started a probe into whether there is a need for continued imposition of anti-dumping duties in force on 'High ... Read More This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties ... Taiwan demands China to halt drones in fresh threat It was not immediately clear which Taiwan provisions would make it into the final version ... Read More This may include adverts from us and 3rd ... ships move into air defence identification zones (ADIZ). At the start of October, Taiwanese defence minister Chiu Kuo-cheng warned China any intrusion ... Read More The US Justice Department on Monday charged two men it said were Chinese intelligence agents with trying to obstruct a criminal investigation into a China-based ... at the news briefing on Monday ... Read More Mao, speaking at a regular news briefing ... of trade as a tool of geopolitical coercion, and we must mitigate similar vulnerabilities to countries like China, Yellen said in Washington. Read More Four months into a sweeping ban on imports from China ... good start, Chris Magnus, the commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection, said in an interview at the Bloomberg News Washington ... Read More Vietnam Party Chief to Visit China's Xi Next Week BEIJING (Reuters) - The chief of Vietnam's ruling Communist Party Nguyen Phu Trong will visit China next week on the invitation of President Xi ... Read More
Us News Us Photographer Captured Moment Of Her Death In Afghanistan | RobinsPost News & Noticias

Fox News's Pierre Zakrzewski and Oleksandra Kuvshynova died and Benjamin Hall was severely injured. Michelle Ross-Stanton tried to reconstruct what happened. Read More In 1934, when American-born photographer Richard J ... Dan had no idea they even existed until that moment and when he suggested they might try having them developed, Scheuer was not interested. Read More A California photographer captured a Sharknado moment as a great white was seen leaping out of the Pacific behind a surfer. Jordan Anast was taking pictures of a surf competition at San ... Read More The bee-level close-up was captured by US photographer Karine Aigner and makes her the fifth woman in the competition's 58-year history to claim the grand title award. The other main title of ... Read More A U.K.-based nonprofit says the Taliban captured, bound, and shot 27 men to death in Afghanistan's Panjshir province last month as part of their operations against resistance forces in the area ... Read More An army specialist stationed in Germany has claimed in a viral TikTok that she feared for her life after the death of a fellow ... master box on the barracks. A US army specialist named Sgt ... Read More We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can ... Read More On Tuesday, American Photographer ... captured a behavior that's rarely seen in photos. Cactus bees normally live lives of solitude but then amass in huge numbers in mating events. Her image ... Read More An Afghan couple who arrived in the United States as refugees are suing a marine and his wife for allegedly abducting their baby. The newly-wed couple were saved from Kabul and taken to Washington ... Read More Because of this, disaster preparedness officials look for teachable moments like big news events to get their ... important offices overseeing the USs nuclear preparedness efforts ... Read More Photographer Brent Stirton memorialized the death of an endearing mountain gorilla named Ndakasi in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The animal lay dying in the arms of her rescuer and keeper for ... Read More
Us News Al Qaeda Fighting Alongside Us Troops In Yemen | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The US military says eight al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operatives were killed in a pair of airstrikes in Yemen over the past two weeks. The military said the strikes were conducted to deny al ... Read More US troops at al-Tanf in Syria have been fighting ISIS since 2016, but the base has become a focal point for a bigger, quieter conflict in the region. Read More NAIROBI, Kenya - After exposing a number of Al-Shabaab financiers, the US Department of Treasury has revealed tactics used by the Al-Qaeda-linked group to traffic ... and weapons trafficking network ... Read More For the next fiscal year, the U.S. will still provide select funding to Somalia, Yemen ... Saudi-led coalition fighting for the exiled Yemeni government, U.S. troops at Al Dhafra Air Base in ... Read More While the Emiratis remain a close partner, their newfound military muscle has emboldened them to send troops into Yemen ... United States. (Eissa Al Hammadi/Ministry of Presidential Affairs ... Read More Gunmen shot and killed a U.S. citizen on Monday who was working as an aid worker for an international organization in Baghdad, Iraq, officials said. Read More The airstrike comes about three weeks after the U.S. military launched ... the "most kinetically active al-Qaeda network in the world." "U.S. Africa Command, alongside its partners, continues ... Read More By the time they arrived in Arizona, they already had spent four months living at a military base in the United States after ... that worked alongside the U.S. military to fight the Taliban. Read More The US military ... al-Shabaab terrorists, US Africa Command said in a news release, adding that no civilians were hurt in the strike. Sundays strike is the latest US military operation ... Read More The Russian military, for its part, has backed the government of President Bashar al-Assad since 2015, but did not deploy forces in the northeast until 2019, following a Turkish invasion against ... Read More Emirati armed forces have fought alongside U.S. troops ... the United States, Yousef Al Otaiba, the UAEs ambassador to the United States, said in an email. We have tapped into US ... Read More
Us News Us Intercepts Russian Bombers And Fighters Near Alaska | RobinsPost News & Noticias

U.S. F-16 warplanes intercepted two Russian bombers in international airspace near Alaska on Tuesday ... and positively identifies foreign military aircraft that enter the ADIZ," and "routinely ... Read More 19 (UPI) --The United States sent two fighter jets to intercept two Russian bombers flying in international airspace off the coast of Alaska ... Read More Like us on Facebook to see similar ... Read More US F-16 warplanes intercepted two Russian bombers in international airspace near the state of Alaska, the North American ... identifies foreign military aircraft that enter the ADIZ," and ... Read More US Air Force F-16 fighter jets intercepted two Russian Tu-95 Bear-H bombers that entered the Alaskan ... two Russian nationals landed at a beach on Alaska's St. Lawrence Island in the Bering ... Read More US F-16 warplanes intercepted two Russian bombers in international airspace near the state of Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said Tuesday. The Tu-95 bombers were ... Read More ALASKA, USA  U.S. F-16 warplanes intercepted two Russian bombers in international airspace near Alaska on Tuesday ... identifies foreign military aircraft that enter the ADIZ," and "routinely ... Read More Two US F-16 fighter jets were dispatched to intercept a pair of Russian bombers that flew close to Alaska, the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) has said. The Tu-95 Bear-H bombers ... Read More U.S. F-16 warplanes intercepted two Russian bombers in international airspace near Alaska on Tuesday, the North American Aerospace Defense Command said. The Tu-95 bombers were intercepted after ... Read More
Us News Us South Korea Drills Reckless Saber Rattling Analyst | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The U.S. and South Korea announced they will extend joint military drills in the wake of North Koreas saber-rattling. Read More South Korea and the United States will publicly stage large-scale aerial drills ... US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday assessed that North Koreas recent saber-rattling would ... 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 ... name in news delivered first ... Read More South Korea Kicks off Military Drills Amid Talk of North Korean Nuclear Test By Hyonhee Shin SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's troops kicked off their annual Hoguk defence drills on Monday ... Read More Well send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest North Korea nuclear tensions news every morning ... and the joint US-South Korea military drills and to remind the world just ... Read More Pyongyang has emphasized that its test launches are being carried out in response to the refusal of the US and South Korea to stop joint military drills, which Pyongyang believes threaten regional ... Read More South Korea and the US are preparing to start large-scale air drills by the end of this month ... from an American base in Japan, Yonhap News Agency quoted unnamed South Korean officials as ... Read More South Korea's troops kicked off their annual Hoguk defence drills yesterday ... and the Nov. 7 US midterm elections. But some analysts do not expect any tests before the Chinese congress ends. Read More Kim probably wants to tell the US and South Korea that any demonstrations of alliance solidarity and readiness will be in vain, Rand Corporation analyst Soo Kim told the AFP news agency. Read More All eyes on US-South Korea joint military drills amid growing tensions Seoul condemned Pyongyang and imposed its first unilateral sanctions in nearly five years, describing the moves as a ... Read More
Us News Us Moves 100 Troops From Germany To Poland | RobinsPost News & Noticias

They included basing long-range American bombers in Britain to attack German targets. Many Oregonians were involved in the missions over the next few years  including some who never came back and ... Read More In an effort to burn less coal and gain greater energy independence, Poland has chosen to build a nuclear plant in the US, the first of its kind in the country ... Read More Germany could create a consortium of all the countries that own German tanksamong them Poland, the Netherlands, Finland, Spain, Greece and deliver them jointly, a move that would help solve ... Read More which was apparently caused by Germanys worries over Polands role in the project, according to the euractiv.com news service. EU to start work on military assistance mission for Ukraine ... Read More Moscow commanders fleeing Kherson, leaving troops under attack - Western experts say Russians running short of munitions, even buying supplies from North Korea ... Read More EU ambassadors today agreed to set up an EU Military Assistance Mission for #Ukraine with HQs in Germany and Poland ... which feared such a move would escalate tensions between the bloc and ... Read More The battle for the southern region of Kherson is intensifying as Ukrainian forces press forward and Russia increases pressure on residents to leave their homes. Follow live updates here. Read More US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin directed the military Thursday to make it easier ... wd/to The Barron's news department was not involved in the creation of the content above. Read More It branches to reach Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Austria and Germany. The leak follows attacks ... 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events ... Read More The inspection was prompted by Kyiv inviting IAEA officials to its facilities, and was welcome news after Moscow accused Ukraine of building a "dirty bomb". Read More Poland has unveiled plans to build a fence at its border with Kaliningrad to prevent Moscow from using the Russian exclave as a stopover for migrants to try to enter the EU illegally. Our job is to ... Read More The US trained ... decided to move in some trainers and some technical support to help the Russians use them with better lethality. However, it did not appear that Iranian troops were ... Read More
World News Zambian President Leaves For World Economic Forum On Africa | RobinsPost News & Noticias

The president of the World Bank has urged other creditors to help reduce Zambia's debt. Kennedy Gondwe BBC News, Lusaka The Zambian ... target to win their first Africa Rally Championship. Read More Traders protest economic ... France, Zambia's top creditors, reluctantly agreed to restructure its debt after pressure from the IMF and the World Bank. Economist Nkosi suggests that President ... Read More Western countries this week ratcheted up their criticism of China, the ... investors forum in the middle of 2023. "We are making preparations for investors not just in Zambia, but from outside ... Read More In remarks delivered during the Zambia-Namibia Business Forum held ... the Zambian president expressed gratitude over private sector initiatives that foster strong economic and bilateral ties. Read More More than 65% of Africas land is considered degraded, and the risk of further desertification grows by the day. Crops now wither in the once fertile fields of northern Ghana, as prolonged droughts ... Read More His Majesty King Mohammed VI has sent a message of congratulations to the President of the Republic of Zambia, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, on the occasion of the Independence Day of his country. In this ... Read More told BBC Sport Africa. "He had a bright future. It is not good news, as a friend and as a football-loving Zambian. "I wish him and his family all the strength in the world at this most difficult time. Read More Nigeria and Zambia have all learned their fate in the latest rankings released on Thursday. Nigeria & Cameroon move up South Africa & Morocco unmoved Rankings decide World Cup seedings WHAT HAPPENED? Read More World Food Day will be celebrated on October ... a lab or a controlled environment using mainly sprouts or tissue-like leaves, which are grown in a medium with nutrients and disease-killing ... Read More (MENAFN- Saudi Press Agency) Jeddah, October 16, 2022, SPA -- President Cyril Ramaphosa of the Republic of South Africa left Jeddah today. At King Abdulaziz International Airport, the President ... Read More The two leaders addressed the topics during a news conference on the global economic outlook in Washington ... Director Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank President David Malpass both warned ... Read More
World News World Bank Calls On Botswana To Make Large Mining Contracts Public | RobinsPost News & Noticias

THE World Bank says government ... Corrupt public procurement and abuse of State subsidies have undermined Command Agriculture programmes ostensible efforts to make Zimbabwes agriculture ... Read More Qatar is a devoutly apolitical place, with speech and assembly heavily restricted and a large population ... Gulf Arab nation for the World Cup. Authorities may face calls for labor rights ... Read More French Development Minister Backs World Bank Reforms, Calls for U.S. SDR Loans By David ... "We have to deliver." Yellen told a news conference on Friday that the Biden administration is seeking ... Read More The World Bank did not identify a projected size for the new fund. The world's biggest multilateral development lender in fiscal 2022, ending on June 30, delivered over US$30 billion (S$43 billion ... Read More the World Bank said in a report on Wednesday. With the Solomon Islands implementing a large public investment programme and facing declining logging revenue, fiscal reform will be vital to ... Read More Many of the people most impacted by the climate crisis reside in countries served by the World Bank. In the public furor that erupted in the weeks since, Malpass walked the comment back ... Read More The group's president, a Trump appointee, has faced calls to step down ... development banks -- of which the World Bank is among the largest -- should evolve to better address global ... Read More These public calls for an ... of the World Bank and its sister institutions, to tackle the climate emergency. She met the US vice-president, Kamala Harris, to make her case, and has gathered ... Read More Haiti Calls for Help at the UN as World Mulls Assistance By EDITH M ... and detailed negotiations" are required, he said, to make sure that the measures are aimed at restoring government ... Read More The bank has to make it more attractive for developing countries to use World Bank loans for climate action and biodiversity conservation, said the minister, who will be in Washington for the annual ... Read More WASHINGTON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - France's development minister is backing U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's call for the World Bank and similar ... Yellen told a news conference on Friday ... Read More
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CARERS, sufferers and relatives of someone with dementia can learn more about the condition at a Dearne Valley event.

The Community Dementia Roadshow, hosted by Alzheimers Society, will visit Goldthorpe on Thursday, May 18.

Between 10am and 4pm, staff will offer support and information on the charitys services at the Horse and Groom pub, Barnsley Road.

The Dementia Community Roadshow has been touring the UK since June 2011 and has reached over 184,000 people so far.

For more information, visit www.alzheimers.org.uk/roadshow.
Zimbabwe starts enforcing new mining royalty policy Zimbabwe has started enforcing a new regulation that allows the state to collect mining royalties in both cash and minerals as it seeks to grow its reserves of precious metals. "Royalties remitted to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority in respect of...

Tertiary identifies several copper soil anomalies at Zambia project AIM-traded mineral exploration and development company, Tertiary Minerals says provisional results from its detailed soil sampling programme at the Jacks copper project in Zambia show defined multiple copper soil anomalies in different areas of the exploration...

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.
By Paul Zimnisky

(paulzimnisky.com) - Mined diamond production in 2017 is estimated to be 142.3 million carats worth $15.6B (see appendix below), which would be an 11.5% increase in carat volume produced over 2016 and an 9.9% increase in total value produced.

The top 10 largest mines in the world by value produced are estimated to represent 58% of global production. De Beers' Jwaneng mine in Botswana is ranked number one, and is estimated to independently produce 15% of the worlds diamonds in value.





The International mine in Russia. Source: ALROSA

Russia is estimated to be the largest producing nation by value at 35%, followed by Botswana at 22%, Canada at 14%, Angola at 8%, South Africa at 7%, Namibia at 5%, and Australia at 3%.

Russia

Russian diamond production is dominated by ALROSA (RTS: ALRS) which is 58% owned by Russian national and regional governments. The companys prized Jubilee mine is estimated to produce 9.2M carats worth $1.4B in 2017, which by itself represents 9% of global diamond output by value. Company-wide, ALROSAs portfolio includes 11 mines and 5 alluvial operations, producing 27% of global diamond production by volume and 33% by value (see Figure 1 for complete company-wide production figures of major producers).

Figure 1 - Big 5 diamond miner production and sales data 2015-2017E



ALROSA also owns two of only three new diamond mines in development globally with expected capacity to produce in excess of 1M carats annually (see Figure2).

Outside of ALROSA the only other notable commercial diamond mine in Russia is the Grib mine. In the early 2000s Russian integrated oil company LUKoil (RTS: LKOH) acquired the rights to the Grib resource for an estimated $15M, an offer the company viewed as too good to refuse even though diamonds were outside the scope the energy companys core business. A decade later LUKoil made a capital commitment of over $850M to build the mine and Grib production commenced in 2014. For years LUKoil has been transparent in its interest in selling the non-core asset, and finally came to terms with Russian financial conglomerate Otkritie Holding Group (private) in late 2016 which agreed to buy the mine for $1.45B. In 2017 Grib is estimated to produce over 4M carats worth over $350M.

Botswana

In 2013 De Beers moved its sorting and sales operations from London to Gaborone making Botswana the core location of its business. The government of Botswana owns 15% of De Beers group outright and 50% of Debswana, the De Beers/Botswana joint venture.

De Beers' two primary mines in Botswana, Jwaneng and Orapa, represent 92% of the nation's diamond output by value. Jwaneng is arguably the most valuable diamond mine in the world, and De Beers just recently began accessing ore from the new Cut-8 expansion portion of the mine's ore body. The $2.2M, 7-year expansion project will extend the mine's life to beyond 2040. Jwanengs diamonds are worth on average ~$200/ct, which compares to an average price of ~$150/ct for diamonds from Jubilee, ALROSAs most prolific mine, and a global-mine average of $110/ct (see appendix).





The Karowe mine in Botswana: Source: Lucara Diamond

Lucaras (TSX: LUC) Karowe mine ranks as the third largest diamond mine in Botswana by value produced. The mine is only estimated to produce 300,000 carats this year, but at an average price-per-carat of almost $700/ct making Karowe's diamonds the second most valuable in the world on an average price-per-carat basis not including alluvial mines. Gem Diamonds' (LSE: GEMD) Letseng mine in Lesotho is estimated to produce just over 100,000 carats at $1,800/ct, and Lucapa Diamonds' Lulo alluvial mine in Angola is estimated to produce diamonds with an average price-per-carat of $2,400/ct in 2017.

This year Lucara will continue to mine the South Lobe portion of the Karowe ore body which produced the Lesedi La Rona in 2015, which is second-largest rough gem-diamond ever produced is expected to sell for $70-85M this year.

Canada

Canada is arguably the most active nation in the global diamond mining scene. The country hosts five large-scale diamond mines with state-of-the-art infrastructure, two of which are the newest world-class diamond mines in the world, Gahcho Kue and Renard. Three of the five largest players in the industry, De Beers, Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO), and Dominion Diamond (TSX: DDC) own assets in Canada, and the nation also has the most robust diamond development project pipeline in the world (see Figure 2).





Sampling of diamonds from the Renard mine in Quebec Canada. Source: Stornoway Diamonds

Gahcho Kue and Renard are estimated to bring to market 4.5M carats of incremental supply this year worth $500M, with the two mines contributing about a third of the estimated 14.7M carat increase is global diamond output in 2017 over 2016. Most of the balance of additional supply in 2017 is likely to come from De Beers, ALROSA and Rio Tinto increasing production relative to capacity. For example, De Beers currently has approximately 35M carats of production capacity and is estimated to produce 32M carats or 91% of capacity this year, whereas the company only produced 83% of capacity in 2016.

On the exploration/development front, multiple Canadian firms are advancing what have the potential to be world-class mines. Peregrine Diamonds (TSX: PGD), which is currently expanding the resource at it's Chidliak project in Nunavut, has the potential to eventually produce over a million carats a year worth in excess of $200/carat. Shore Gold (TSX: SGF) is updating the feasibility study on it's Star-Orion project in Saskatchewan after working to optimize overburden removal and recovery options. If put into production Star-Orion has the potential to produce well over a million carats annually at a mine life that could exceed 50 years. Just this week (the first week of May 2017), Kennady Diamonds (TSX: KDI) and North Arrow Minerals (TSX: NAR) announced a raise of C$10M and C$5M to advance their Kennady North and Naujaat projects in the North West Territories and Nunavut, respectively.

Figure 2 - Diamond development projects and inactive mines





Angola

Angola is the fourth largest diamond producer in the world by value with approximately 75% of the nations production coming from one mine, Catoca. Catoca is owned by four entities, primarily Endiama, the Angolan-state diamond miner, and ALROSA, and is estimated to produce 6.5M carats this year worth over $600M.

Endiama and ALROSA are also partners in what could be the most significant new diamond discovery in decades, the Luaxe project. Luaxe could be as large as 350M carats with the potential to produce over 10M carats annually. Production could commence by the end of the decade, although neither Endiama or ALROSA have released any official figures.

Small Angolan alluvial miner Lucapa Diamonds (ASX: LOM) has made headlines in recent months with multiple exceptional diamond discoveries including a 404-carat Type-IIa colorless diamond, the largest gem-diamond ever found in Angola, which sold for $16M last year. Lucapas Lulo mine is estimated to produce the highest average-price-per carat diamonds in the world in 2017 at $2,400/ct.

South Africa

The majority of South African diamond production in 2017, over 60%, is estimated to come from De Beers Venetia mine and Petra Diamonds (LSE: PDL) Finsch mine.





Cullinan mine in South Africa. Source: Petra Diamonds

Venetia, South Africas largest mine, is currently being converted to an underground mine which will extend the life of mine beyond 2023 which is when the open-pit operation will be phased out. The $2B project is progressing on schedule.

Petra diamonds holds a portfolio of four ex-De Beers South African mines. Petra (the company also owns a mine in Tanzania) is forecasted to grow company-wide production by over 40% to 5.3M carats by 2019 with growth primarily coming from underground expansion projects at Finsch and Cullinan which will result in higher production as higher concentrated ore is accessed.

The Cullinan mine has been in production for over 100 years and is known for producing the largest gem-quality diamond in history, the 3,106 carat Cullinan Diamond. Upon completion of the current expansion project the mine is estimated to operate for at least another 25 years.

Namibia

Namibia is the fifth largest diamond producing nation in the world and all of the countrys production is alluvially mined.

De Beers offshore mining operation, Debmarine, produces over half of Namibias diamonds by volume and value. Debmarine is currently the only large-scale marine mining operation in the world, however, Canadian-based Nautilus Minerals (TSX: NUS) is developing a seafloor production technology targeting not diamonds but seafloor massive sulfides off of Papua New Guinea which are rich in gold, copper, silver and zinc. In April the company began testing its recently delivered custom seafloor production tools.





One of Nautilus Mineral's seafloor production tools for mining precious and base metals. Source: Nautilus Minerals

Australia

Over 99% of Australian diamond production comes from one mine, Rio Tintos Argyle mine. In 2017, Argyle is estimated to produce 17M carats which would be a 21% increase year-over-year making it the largest volume producer in the world, however the mine is reaching exhaustion.

Current plans are to keep Argyle open until 2021, however if Rio does not proceed with the second stage of the underground block cave (which could be the company's implication according to recent management dialoged), the mine would close even earlier. Last year Rio took a $241M impairment charge on Argyle due to lower production volumes compared with forecast and lower prices achieved for bulk diamonds. The large majority Argyle diamonds are small and low in quality and color, but highly valuable Argyle pink and red diamonds have made the mine economic.



--

De Beers is 85% owned by Anglo American plc (LSE: AAL) and 15% owned by the Government of the Republic of Botswana.

At the time of writing Paul Zimnisky held a long covered-call position in Dominion Diamond Corp.

Paul Zimnisky is an independent diamond industry analyst and publisher of the Zimnisky Global Rough Diamond Price Index. Paul can be contacted at paul@paulzimnisky.com and followed on Twitter @paulzimnisky.



--

Appendix - 2017E Global Diamond Production by Mine


Diamond trading slowed in April, marking the start of the traditionally quieter second quarter. Sentiment was positive despite lower trading volumes, due to improving retail expectations in China, where the jewelry market is showing signs of recovery.

The trades focus shifted to the US ahead of the Las Vegas shows as the hype surrounding the March Hong Kong fair subsided. Dealers held off from closing deals, hoping Las Vegas would boost activity.

The RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI) for 1-carat polished diamonds slid 0.3% in April and was down 1.4% since the beginning of the year.

Amid sluggish polished markets, rough trading remained strong. Manufacturing returned to near-full capacity as the large Indian factories ramped up operations following the November Diwali break. Polished inventory is rising, with the number of stones listed on RapNet having increased 3.5% in April and 7.5% since January 1.

Strong rough markets enabled the major mining companies  Alrosa and De Beers  to reduce inventory as their combined first-quarter sales volume exceeded production by 11.9 million carats. Global diamond production is expected to rise an estimated 12% in 2017, as miners have committed to produce according to rough demand.

The Rapaport Monthly Report  May 2017 notes the buoyant rough market is not supported by current levels of polished demand. Rough prices firmed 2% to 3% since the beginning of the year, while polished prices softened. Indias rough imports by volume soared in the first quarter, while polished trading volumes in India and Belgium declined.

A continuation of these trends will put stress on the manufacturing sector, as liquidity and profitability may be eroded. After a period of improved profit margins and responsible trading in 2016, manufacturers must tread with caution, as the polished market tends to slow in the second quarter.




Registration for the 2017 congress of CIBJO, the World Jewelry Confederation, is now open.The 2017 CIBJO Congress will take place in Bangkok, Thailand, November 5-7, 2017, with pre-congress meetings beginning on November 2. The World Ruby Forum, which is being organised in conjunction with the congress, will take place November 4. The main venue for the CIBJO Congress and the official congress hotel will be the Shangri-La Bangkok.The congress is being be hosted by the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) and the Gem and Jewellery Institute of Thailand (GIT), both of which fall under the jurisdiction of the Thai Ministry of Commerce.The CIBJO Congress will gather in Bangkok the members of national jewellery and gemstone associations from more than 40 countries and representatives of many of the industry's most important commercial bodies. The congress serves as a forum for CIBJO's professional commissions, and is the venue at which its Diamond, Coloured Stones, Pearl, Coral, Precious Metals and Gemmological Blue Books are discussed and updated.CIBJO is the international jewellery confederation of national trade organisations. CIBJO's purpose is to encourage harmonisation, promote international cooperation in the jewellery industry and to consider issues which concern the trade worldwide. CIBJO's chief mission is to protect consumer confidence in the industry.Delegates and other participants may register for the congress, as well as book hotel rooms, via a dedicated congress website located at: http://www.cibjo.org/congress2017
World Diamond Council (WDC) members representing every sector of the diamond industry, joined together on May 1-4 at the 2017 Kimberley Process Intersessional Meeting in Perth. The focus of this years meeting was the start of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) review cycle in order to strengthen the Kimberley Process.

For the second year in a row the WDC held an Observers Forum alongside the KP meeting, where WDC members, African Diamond Producers Association and civil society partners (CSC, DDI) met to discuss their common goals and joint efforts to promote further evolution of the KPCS and improve its efficiency.

In light of the KP Reform, the Observes Forum achieved a common understanding on the following issues: Strengthening KP internal controls, Policy on Conflict of Interest and Establishment of a KP permanent secretariat.

The WDC continues its efforts to improve the System of Warranties, designed to extend the confirmation of non-conflict origin down through the diamond pipeline, said Andrey Polyakov, president of the WDC and vice president of ALROSA. We understand that the existing System of Warranties is far from being perfect, but we hope that by the end of this year we shall be able to present an updated System of Warranty. The creation of an effective system will be a significant industry contribution to strengthen consumers confidence and grow the excellent reputation of our product.

We launched the first Observers Forum alongside the 2016 KP Plenary in Dubai and it was a great success, Polyakov continued. Yesterday we hosted it again and had a fruitful discussion on the minimum requirements for reform and the issues surrounding origin guaranties. The main challenge of this work is the regulation and accounting of small-scale artisanal mining. The DDI and development agencies have so far initiated remarkable progress but we will request the support of other major organizations as well, in particular African Institutional Stakeholders, to jointly study and address this issue. African countries need to get maximum benefit from artisanal mining to develop the economies and improve the living conditions of their people. But they will not be able to achieve this without complying with all business and social responsibility standards.






'Disgusting' and 'extraordinary' scenes as Chinese delegation shouts down welcome ceremony

04 may 2017 News

(brisbanetimes.com.au) - Participants at an intergovernmental meeting hosted by Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop in Perth have described "disgusting" and "extraordinary" scenes as the Chinese government delegation shouted over the welcome to country ceremony and forced the suspension of proceedings.

A Taiwanese delegation was later ejected from the Kimberley Process meeting at the behest of the Chinese delegates who objected to their attendance.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it had raised concerns over the incident with the Chinese ambassador.

Participants at the Kimberley Process intersessional meeting have described extraordinary scenes as the Chinese delegation noisily disrupted the official Indigenous welcome ceremony and forced the suspension of at least one other session on Monday.

Members from the delegation used the microphone at their table to speak over the chairman of the meeting, senior Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade official Robert Owen-Jones, as he tried to introduce the foreign minister Julie Bishop and the Indigenous welcome ceremony, attendees said.

The Chinese delegation said they had a point of order and demanded to know if everyone in the room had been "formally invited".

The interruptions continued until the agenda was changed to address the so-called "point of order" as the first item. Only then was the welcome to country permitted to go ahead, followed by Ms Bishop's speech.

"It was disgusting," said one high-level Australian attendee who asked that their name not be used. "It was extraordinary, so uncalled for and so inappropriate, and so disrespectful."

Fairfax Media understands that another session later in the morning involving a panel discussion with executives from mining companies was abandoned altogether because of continual interruptions by various African delegations in support of the Chinese position.

Backroom negotiations between the Chinese and the Australian parties ensued, then the Taiwanese delegation was asked to leave. The conference program resumed.




European stocks rose on Thursday as investors digested a slew of strong earnings reports and looked ahead to Sunday's vote in the French presidential election.

Surveys indicate that independent candidate Emmanuel Macron is leading the race, with up to 60 percent of the votes against 40 percent for extreme-right populist leader Marine Le Pen.

Market participants also looked ahead to Friday's U.S. jobs report after a hawkish Fed policy statement coupled with solid data on U.S. private sector employment and service sector activity reinforced expectations for a June rate hike.

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.4 percent at 390.76 in late opening deals after closing marginally lower the previous day.

The German DAX was rallying 0.8 percent and France's CAC 40 index was climbing 0.9 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was moving up 0.4 percent.

Swiss Re advanced 1.5 percent even as its quarterly profit nearly halved due to insurance payments related to Cyclone Debbie in Australia.

Statoil shares rallied almost 3 percent. The Norwegian firm posted significantly better-than-expected results for the first quarter, thanks largely to higher crude prices and increased production.

HSBC Holdings rallied 4 percent as the British bank reported a surprise increase in first-quarter revenue, driven by loan growth in Asia and a jump in trading income.

Royal Dutch Shell rose 2 percent after its first-quarter net profit more than doubled, helped by rising oil prices.

German sportswear firm Adidas also gained 2 percent on reporting a bigger-than-expected increase in first-quarter sales and profits.

In economic releases, the euro zone private sector expanded at the fastest pace in six years in April, survey data from IHS Markit showed. The final composite output index rose to 56.8 from 56.4 in March. This was slightly higher than the flash estimate of 56.7.

Separately, figures from Eurostat showed that Eurozone retail sales grew at a slower pace in March on weak clothing sales. Retail sales rose 0.3 percent sequentially, slower than the 0.5 percent increase seen in February. Economists expected sales to remain flat in March.

Survey data from IHS Markit and Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply showed that the U.K. service sector activity growth accelerated unexpectedly in April. The headline PMI rose to 55.8 from 55.0 in March.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Market Analysis
Shares of Viacom (VIAB) are seeing notable weakness in afternoon trading on Thursday, slumping by 5.8 percent. Earlier in the session, Viacom hit a four-month intraday low.

The drop by Viacom comes even though the media company reported better than expected fiscal second quarter results.

News that Charter Communications (CHTR) has moved some of Viacom's most popular channels to a higher-priced tier of service has weighed on the company's stock.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Voters of Sante Fe, New Mexico's capital city, have rejected a proposed 2-cents-per-ounce tax on soda.

A record 37.6 percent of registered voters turned out for the election and 58 percent voted "no." The final tally was 11,533 against the soda tax and 8,382 in favor.

The result was also a blow to Mayor Javier Gonzales, who proposed to tax soda in order to use the taxes to support child education and at the same time discourage unhealthy consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages.

"If one thing was clear in this debate, it is that there is overwhelming support for finding a way to make sure every child in Santa Fe and in New Mexico can go as far as their dreams will take them," the mayor said in a statement Tuesday night. "We may not all agree on how to we get there, but that's okay, that's how it's supposed to work. Now we get back to work, knowing that we have far more in common than the things that have long divided us."

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
After suffering a major setback earlier this year, House Republicans voted Thursday to approve legislation to repeal and replace the controversial healthcare reform law known as Obamacare.

The House voted 217 to 213 in favor of the Republican bill known as the American Health Care Act, narrowly clearing the hurdle of the 216 votes needed.

Twenty Republicans joined with all of the Democrats in the chamber in voting against the bill, while Congressman Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., did not vote.

The vote to approve the bill is seen as a victory for House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and President Donald Trump after House leaders were forced to withdraw the original version of the plan in March.

Republicans regrouped and made certain changes to the legislation in order to win over some more conservative lawmakers.

The revised bill allows states to apply for waivers from Obamacare regulations, including the requirement that insurers cover "essential benefits" such as hospital stays, mental services and maternity care.

As in the original legislation, the bill eliminates the Obamacare mandates that individuals obtain health insurance and that employers with at least 50 employees provide health insurance to their workers.

The bill also replaces Obamacare subsidies with refundable tax credits based on age rather than income and eliminate taxes on wealthy Americans, insurers, and drug makers.

Trump and Congressional Republicans campaigned on a pledge to repeal and replace Obamacare, which the president has repeatedly claimed is collapsing.

The House vote provides a victory for Trump, although it remains to be seen how the bill will be received in the Senate.

Even Republicans acknowledge the bill would not be approved in the Senate in its current form, and any changes could threaten the narrow majority that supported the legislation in the House.

Democrats are likely to maintain their fierce opposition to the Republican plan, which they believe will cause millions of Americans to lose their insurance.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
The Doha Diamond League meeting is in the midst of changes. Among those changes was a shake up in how to do the main press event, which had become stuffier and stuffier with each growing year. This year, only one speech was made by Qatar Federation and one speech by IAAF (Olivier Gers).

Christian Taylor, Michelle Carter, and company leaving the stage, post event

This year, Christian Taylor and Michelle Carter, both Olympic gold medalists, were given the emcee jobs, which they did quite well. Mutaz Barshim, Elaine Thompson, Dafne Schippers and Thomas Rohler were the athletes who were asked questions by Taylor, Carter and the assembled media. The turnout of media and just plan curious was excellent.

Here is the video from the presser, and I hope you enjoy it. I asked all a question, What if the IAAF said, you have to change events in Doha, what event would you do?
By SA Commercial Prop News

Vukile chief executive Laurence Rapp said the acquisition is in line with Vukile's new strategy of growing a quality portfolio of properties with strong contractual cash flows in order to achieve meaningful capital appreciation and sustainable growth



Property loan stock company Vukile Property Fund (VKE) is to acquire a portfolio of 20 properties, worth nearly R1.5 billion, from Sanlam Life Insurance.

The acquisition is expected to be effective in June next year, once a number of conditions precedent have been fulfilled, and will be funded through a combination of debt and the issue of new linked units. It said on Monday.

Vukile chief executive Laurence Rapp said the acquisition is in line with Vukile's new strategy of growing a quality portfolio of properties with strong contractual cash flows in order to achieve meaningful capital appreciation and sustainable growth in distributions.

"It will enhance the quality of our current property portfolio and will strengthen our presence in the Western Cape."

Rapp said Vukile has been managing this portfolio on behalf of Sanlam for some time and, therefore, has an in-depth understanding of the properties being acquired, making this a low risk acquisition opportunity for the company.

"The buildings being acquired are well located with good quality specifications," he said.

At the same time, the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has reached an agreement with Sanlam, in terms of which it will acquire 70.2 million Vukile linked units from Sanlam.

Following the transaction between Sanlam and the PIC, Sanlam's holding in Vukile would decrease to 13.6%, of which 7.6% would be held by Sanlam policy holder funds and, as such, constitutes an institutional holding. The PIC's stake in Vukile will be around 20%, it said.

The introduction of the PIC as an investor is a positive development for Vukile as it will broaden its shareholder base and should lead to an increased JSE free float, it said.

"The PIC is one of the largest property investors in South Africa and the introduction of such an esteemed property investor is an affirmation of Vukile's new strategy," said Rapp.

The properties being acquired are: Bassonia Office Park, Bellville Barons, Bellville Santyger, Bellville Tijger Park 1, Bellville Tijger Park 2, Bellville Tijger Park 3, Bellville Tijger Park 4, Bellville Tijger Park 5, Bloemfontein Trador Cash & Carry, Durban Westville Surrey Park, Durban Workshop, Johannesburg Empire Road Offices, Johannesburg Houghton, Pretoria Sanlynn, Midrand IBG, Pretoria Rosslyn Joshua Doore Warehouse, Pretoria Sancardia, Sandton Ascot Offices, Sandton Rivonia Tuscany and Sandton Sunninghill Park.
Three Assam Civil Service (ACS) officers have been arrested in connection with the cash for jobs scam of the Assam Public Service Commission while investigations were on to unearth more such incidents, police said on Wednesday.

Police said that the three arrested on Tuesday night were identified as Bhaskar Jyoti Devasarma, Bhaskar Dutta and Amit Sarma, who had been working as Circle Officers in different districts. Police said that the three candidates has made it to the selection list by paying bribes to APSC Chairman Rakesh Paul.



"We have arrested the three officers after conducting forensic tests on their answer scripts. Two sets of answer sheets of these three officers were recovered from the Paul's office and residence in November last year," police said.



Assam Police had already arrested Paul and eight others, including two members of the Commission and an assistant controller of examinations for their involvement in the scam.



Police said that while these three candidates are arrested on Tuesday night, investigation is still on to bring to the fore more such faces who had indulged in the corruption.



Different organizations, particularly peasants body Krishak Mukti Sangram Samitee, who have been agitating since last several years against the rampant corruption in APSC under Paul, claimed that the arrests made so far were tip of the iceberg.



They further alleged that there were many others who had secured jobs with the help of influential people, including politicians, they demanded a through investigation into the scam to nail all the wrongdoers.







Last year, the Dibrugarh police had arrested assistant engineer, Nabakanta Patir, after he was caught red-handed accepting bribes of Rs 10 lakh from a woman dentist. He had approached her promising a government job through the APSC and demanded the money. But she instead tipped off police leading to his arrest.



Based on his confession, a PSO of an APSC member was subsequently arrested. During interrogation of the duo, it emerged that they were working as conduits in the sale of the plum jobs through APSC.
Security forces on Thursday launched a massive anti-militancy crackdown and cordoned off at least 20 villages in south Kashmir's Shopian district in search of militants involved in recent terror attacks and bank robberies, a police officer said.

The officer said scores of security forces were deployed for the massive operation, some 50 km from here.



They were looking for militants responsible for killings of political activists and security personnel and were also involved in weapon snatching and bank robberies, the officer said.





Police have also announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for anyone giving information leading to the arrest of Umar Majeed, a militant operating in south Kashmir.



Majeed has allegedly masterminded the killing of seven people, including five policemen and two bank guards, in Kulgam on Monday.
Lusine Hovhannisyan

The black dog didnt look like tame. He was restless, with sick eyes. He sniffed and, surprisingly, let us inside the house. The house wasnt tame, either. It looked like a creature fighting with life in an unequal battle. There were two sofas facing one another.

On one of them, a very handsome man in his forties lay. On the other, an eighty-year-old woman with the most striking kind eyes I have ever seen was resting. This is the family of the Yezidi Qalashyans. We were paying a visit to find out about their sons condition, who had been wounded while in the army.

Hasan Tamoyan wasnt at home. He's been recuperating at a Red Cross clinic for the past two weeks. The other brother serves in the army.

It was their neighbor, Burastan Tonoyan, who introduced us to the family. Shes the senior operator of the post office in Houshakert village, delivering pensions, letters, and money.

Are there people who still write letters? I ask. No, the letters are either from the court, or from tax services, regarding unpaid taxes, or from the police, she replies.

So, the only letters received in Houshakert, located on the grounds of the heroic battle of Sardarapat in Armenia, are of an official nature.

Phone Gyozal, shes out working in the fields. Tell her to come, says the old woman, Gyozals mother-in-law.

We havent met Gyozal yet, but realize shes the chief commander of the family, trying to solve all its issues. Even the husband, who pronounces words with difficulty, mumbles about the necessity for Gyozal to come. All of us are waiting for Gyozal.

There are three big issues for the family. Their 20-year-old son has a third-degree disability after being injured. The husband has a brain tumor. On top of it all, the familys financial condition is quite worrying, with many loans to be paid and Gyozal being the only one working. Shes out somewhere, working the land, and is now being summoned just because some journalists have arrived from the city.

At other times, shes taking care of animals, followed by solving the unsolvable issues. The old womans analysis of events, diseases, disability and poverty, are so simple, that at some point you believe they deserve simple solutions. But there are none.

And somewhere in between our inarticulate words and inarticulate silence about the non-existent solutions, Gyozal appears. Gyozals body resembles an hourglass - classic, tight waist, wearing a dark red velvet skirt, a favorite of Yezidi women.

But the skirt is short and black tights appear beneath. Gyozal is tired. Shes been working in the field. But she moves and talks fast. We had gone to Houshakert to find out more about the soldier.

We leave with an article about Gyozal, the soldiers mother. Gyozal was married off at the age of 16. When asked about how she met her husband, Gyozal says Yezidis do not meet, they are simply taken to the grooms house. Their marriage is not registered.

The couples sons bear their mothers surname. Gyozal says its commonplace in Yezidi families. Gyozal has an eighth-grade education. Lifes hardships have turned her literate by default.

She, whod never been out of their village or visited Yerevan, now has a son at the hospital, a husband at the Center of Oncology in Kanaker, a sick mother-in-law at home, and another son serving in the army. Gyozal has made the trip from Houshakert to Yerevan and back every day lately.

She laughs, telling us about her initial fear that there was only one #67 daily to Yerevan. Shed run after the departing bus to catch it. Others later told her that there are other buses, so all she has to do is just wait at the bus stop for the next one.

Thats the way she learnt about the bus system. She then travelled so much that drivers started transporting her for free. Gyozal says that in Yerevan she would be sent from one hospital to another, from one ministry to another, to get the disability papers for her husband and son, and to take necessary items to her husband.

This happened several times a day. People told her that all the red tape and running around was a ploy to frustrate her to the point where she would give up on the disability issue. Gyozals answer was that it would be the other way around - the other side would eventually give up and provide what she needed.

Gyozal has been bounced around so often that shes no longer stressed when the defense ministry sends her to another ministry She now manages to put the official serving at the Red Cross, whos on the verge of declining her request, in touch with another official, serving at the ministry of defense, thus solving the issue of her sons recovery.

When I ask Gyozal what would be a real help in her opinion, she says, If only my two million AMD loan at ACBA Bank was closed, I would be happy. (Two million AMD is around US$ 4,125) She pays it, bit by bit, every month, by raising and selling animals.

Shes a strong, young woman, born to live. But shes a woman she stops in mid-sentence, getting emotional. She tries to calm her quivering lips. She repeats, out loud, Im strong, I am very strong. Gyozal then caresses her husbands head. Maybe its because shes embarrassed in front of us due to his speech, which gets more and more incomprehensible.

Dear Shamo, please dont get nervous, its bad for you, she says, sitting at the edge of the sofa next to her husbands feet. The scene is unbearably beautiful, so beautiful that it cannot be described in words. I just wish I was wealthy enough to help Shamo Qalashyan, this man with a brain tumor, this husband of Gyozal.

They are strong people, yet in an ordinary type of way. They dont do anything heroic, yet are in an unequal battle with life. They still love each other, and they want to live. Shamos old mother asks for assistance for her sick son. She asks both in Armenian and Yezidi. She asks with her unbearably kind eyes.

But the doctors said there is no hope, that he should be taken home. They put the diagnosis, written in Russian, in Gyozals hands and sent them home. I took all the brain scans, hoping well find a doctor who says, "We can save him." Yes, we will try to help the father of a soldier serving in the army, a father whose elder son became disabled.

Do Armenians offend you?  I ask.

No, why would they, they are our brothers and sisters, Armenians do not offend us. Its life that offends us.  The old woman answers.

Gyozal sees us out.

The black dog is lying in front of the door with a fierce look on its face. Gyozal says hes not tame. He appeared out of nowhere one day.

Gyozal was sitting outside, crying. She had given up on life. Suddenly, she felt a warm breath on her hand. Taking her hands from her eyes, Gyozal saw the dog with the wild eyes. It was licking her tired fingers. Gyozal hugged the dog, cried, and kept him.

As for Gyozals modest wishes? They all involve the family  the loans to be paid, her husband to get a lifesaving operation, and her son to fully recover.
Calcutta High Court Justice C.S. Karnan on Thursday refused to undergo any check-up after a medical team turned up at his residence following a Supreme Court order, saying he is mentally fit.

Karnan told the team of four doctors from a government hospital that a person's mental examination cannot be done without consent of his guardian, and his wife and sons were not in Kolkata. He said he could not allow the doctors from the Calcutta Pavlov Hospital to examine him, as it was legally wrong.



"Also, I am mentally in sound health," he told a posse of mediapersons and police officers at his New Town residence in Kolkata's north eastern fringes.



He termed the apex court order for his examination as a "mad order passed by mad judges".





A seven-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar on Monday directed the setting up of a medical board to examine Karnan on May 4 and submit the evaluation report on May 8.



Karnan has been engaged in an over three-month long confrontation with the apex court. He is facing contempt charges for degrading the judiciary and making allegations of corruption against several Supreme Court judges.
Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Thursday indicated Indian forces will retaliate following the mutilation of the bodies of two soldiers by Pakistan but declined to specify details.



"You are asking for a future plan. The Army never gives out future plan. It is said only after it is executed," he told reporters on the sidelines of an Army function here.



He was asked what the Army planned to do after the Pakistan Army mutilated the bodies of Naib Subedar Paramjeet Singh and BSF Head Constable Prem Sagar on Monday along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.



"Such responses keep happening. We also take retaliatory action. There is nothing new in it," Gen Rawat said.





He said the Army was taking steps to check cross-border infiltration of militants from Pakistan as summer had begun and snow had started melting.



"Terrorists are going to attempt infiltration. Summer months have started and snow is melting. Infiltration will commence. We are taking measures. We have beefed up our counter infiltration (steps) to take care of the situation."
A massive eight-hour search operation by security forces in around 20 villages of Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district ended on Thursday afternoon.

The operation, described by a senior police officer as "unprecedented", started early in the day and involved over 3,000 soldiers, paramilitary troopers and police personnel.

They carried out searches in some 20 villages including Turkwangam and Sugan where militants had been reportedly seen moving about freely in recent days.

The security forces searched for militants responsible for the killing of political activists and security personnel and those blamed for snatching of weapons as well as bank robberies, the officer said.

Government sources said helicopters and drones were also used in the operation.

The security forces faced stone pelting from villagers at three places. The crowds were dispersed with tear smoke.

There was no official word on any arrests made during the searches although Thursday's was the biggest search operation by security forces since last year's summer unrest.

A senior police officer earlier told : "The operation is part of a routine anti-militancy and area domination exercise in south Kashmir.

"Such operations will continue till we are able to completely sanitize (rid areas of militants) in south Kashmir."

Police have announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for anyone giving information leading to the arrest of Umar Majeed, a militant operating in south Kashmir.

Majeed allegedly masterminded the killing of seven people, including five policemen and two bank guards, in Kulgam on Monday.
The world's first "Ladies Special" suburban train completed 25 years on Thursday since its maiden run in Mumbai on May 5, 1992.

The milestone of dedicating an entire train exclusively for women helped the estimated one million-plus Mumbai women commuters to travel safety to and from their homes and workplaces.



The path-breaking event prompted other railways in India and abroad to emulate the Western Railway.



Western Railway Chief PRO Ravinder Bhakar said when it was flagged off, the "Ladies Special" was welcomed with great enthusiasm by women who were till then forced to travel in cramped regular ladies compartments of the suburban trains.



Initially run between Churchgate and Borivali, it was extended the next year to Virar following its immense popularity.



"The 1990s witnessed huge industrial and commercial boom towards south Mumbai with an increase in the number of working women commuting from the suburbs. The Ladies Special trains helped them commute more comfortably and safely," Bhakar explained.



Presently, there are eight Ladies Special services on Western Railway in the morning and evening peak hours. Women have adjusted their office and other timings to ensure they catch one of them.





The destinations covered are from Churchgate in south Mumbai to Borivali in north Mumbai, Bhayander in Thane district and Vasai and Virar in Palghar district.



Following certain incidents, the authorities have installed CCTV cameras in all the trains.



A new Talk-Back System was introduced on March 8 - International Women's Day. Now, any lady commuter can directly contact the train guard in an emergency.



The pilot project, once it succeeds, will be extended to all other Ladies Special trains, Bhakar said.



A regular women commuter, Kiran S.V., said she had been working since 1991 but her life improved drastically after the Ladies Specials were introduced.



"Now I make it a point to travel only by Ladies Special. The atmosphere is so homely in these trains," Kiran told IANS.



She said women not just discuss family issues but occasionally even celebrate birthdays or other festivals by distributing sweets to fellow commuters.



They also share cooking tips and recipes. Some chop vegetables on the train.



Over the years, the Ladies Specials have been featured in global print and electronic media and have in Bollywood films.
In a fierce attack on the BJP, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ' title=' Mamata Banerjee '>Mamata Banerjee on Thursday accused the party of "maligning" her state and using obscene language against her.

Se said if even one of her party workers is sent to jail, a lakh of BJP workers will be put behind bars in the state.

"I want to know one thing from the BJP. I want a clarification. I am a citizen of this country and I have every right to know. A BJP leader from Indore for the last two days has been saying that on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's instructions, (Trinamool MPs) Tapas Pal and Sudip Bandyopadhyay were arrested and others will be arrested. Is he God or Allah? Is he CBI chief or director? Or has the PM whispered these things in his ears," Banerjee said here in an apparent reference to BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya.



"I dare them... if you send anyone from Trinamool Congress to jail, then the people will send one lakh of your workers to jail," she said at a public meeting here.



The Trinamool Congress supremo lashed out at the BJP, which claimed on Wednesday that tribal couple Raju and Geeta Mahali were abducted and forcibly made to join the Trinamool.



"Yesterday (Wednesday), the party went on abusing us all day. Even their ministers are abusing us. They are saying there is 'reckless violence'. What words? I told (Trinamool spokesperson and Rajya Sabha leader) Derek O'Brien 'what is this?' In Bengal, people are at peace and are happiest; there is no injustice, no trouble; They (BJP) have no work and are slandering the state. I am telling the Delhi leaders, if anyone maligns the state then there will be no bigger enemy than me," Banerjee said.





"The tragedy is that for many years West Bengal is a victim of fear and violence under the Left parties. Now, it is a victim of fear and reckless violence of the TMC," Union Law Minister and senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad had said in New Delhi.



Banerjee also flayed a BJP leader who compared her to an "eunuch."



"I saw on TV. I am ashamed to say that he was saying 'Is Mamata Banerjee ' title=' Mamata Banerjee '>Mamata Banerjee a woman, or a man, or a eunuch?'. Just imagine. This is the language they are using. I am ashamed that I was born here. So much audacity and arrogance they have. How dare they question my birth, my mother, my father, my religion? How arrogant of them. Don't listen to a word they say... humble them," Banerjee said.



Addressing a street corner protest, Bharatiya Janata Party's observer for West Midnapore district Shaymapada Mondal said on Sunday: "Today, you cannot understand whether Mamata Banerjee ' title=' Mamata Banerjee '>Mamata Banerjee is a female or a male. Those who have been eunuchs in trains and buses, I will say our Didi (as Banerjee is called) has become an eunuch."
A huge cache of arms was recovered after the Central Reserve Police Force and the Jharkhand Police on Thursday carried out an anti-Maoist operation on the inputs provided by a CPI-Maoist commander who had surrendered.

Communist Party of India-Maoist commander Nakul Yadav who carried a bounty on his head, surrendered on Thursday morning and gave vital information to the security personnel.

Based on his inputs, the joint operation was conducted in Lohardaga area and 13 rifles, including SLRs, AK-47, machine guns and 3,000 catridges were recovered.





The police also seized army-style fatigues and literature.



The operation comes close on the heels of last month's ambush in Sukma in which 25 security personnel were killed.
Following complaints of broken glass being strewn on Goa's beaches, the North Goa district police on Wednesday ordered a crackdown on drinking in public places, especially on beaches, police said.

"We received a lot of complaints, both from tourists as well as locals, about people cutting themselves on broken liquor bottles while walking on the beaches as well as swimming in the sea. Therefore we have given instructions to the police to crack down severely on drinking of alcohol on beaches," Superintendent of Police Karthik Kashyap told reporters at a public interaction.



"A lot of people are facing inconvenience due to this nuisance of drinking in the open," he said, adding that anyone found drinking in open will be booked under Section 34 of the Indian Police Act.







Some of the popular beaches in North Goa are Calangute, Baga, Candolim, Anjuna, Morjim, Arambol, etc.



Drinking in the open is already banned in Goa, but action is rare.



Goa is one of the top beach tourism destinations in the country and attracts over four million tourists every year. The state is also popular for cheap alcohol thanks to a liberal excise regime.
Barack Obama proposed to a "serious" girlfriend before he met his eventual wife Michelle, according to a new biography of the former US President.

The book - "Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama" writtedn by David J. Garrow - shares for the first time the story of the woman Sheila Miyoshi Jager, with whom Obama lived in Chicago, The Washington Post said in a review on Wednesday.



Jager is now a professor at Oberlin College, Ohio.



Jager told Garrow: "In the winter of 86, when we visited my parents, he asked me to marry him".



However, her parents objected to the union, believing her to be too young, as she was in her early 20s and two years younger than Obama.



But they continued living together.



In early 1987, when Obama was 25, she sensed a change.



"He became. . . so very ambitious very suddenly...by 1987, about a year into our relationship, he already had his sights on becoming president," Jager told the author.



Obama eventually asked Jaeger to marry him again before he departed for Harvard Law School. He wanted her to come with him despite their "increasingly fraught relationship".



After his first year at Harvard, Obama returned to Chicago as an associate at a prestigious local law firm. There he met Michelle Robinson, the future First Lady and an employee at the firm. Their relationship quickly became serious.





In the book, Garrow also writes about how Obama lived, and explored the calculations he made in the decades leading up to his winning the presidency.



"Every step - whether his foray into community organising, Harvard Law School, even the choice of whom to love - was not just about living a life but about fulfilling a destiny."



Garrow, who received a Pulitzer Prize for his biography of Martin Luther King Jr., concludes this massive new work with a damning verdict on Obama's determination: "While the crucible of self-creation had produced an ironclad will, the vessel was hollow at its core."
Days after a commentary in a daily indicated that China could meddle in the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan, Beijing on Thursday denied it would do so, saying it was a bilateral dispute.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry told media that Beijing will not change its position on Kashmir because of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which cuts through the disputed territory between India and Pakistan.



"China's position on the issue of Kashmir is clear and consistent. It is an issue left over from history between India and Pakistan, and shall be properly addressed by India and Pakistan through consultation and negotiation," the ministry said in an email statement.



India has been opposed to a third party mediation in the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir, the northern third of which is held by Pakistan and the southern two thirds by India.



"Building of the CPEC does not affect China's position on this issue. We sincerely hope that India and Pakistan will properly handle differences by increasing communication and dialogue, and jointly uphold regional peace and stability."



"China is willing to make constructive efforts for the improvement of India-Pakistan relations."



On Tuesday, a commentary in the Global Times daily said China was ready to resolve the Kashmir dispute between because it wanted to protect the multi-billion dollar CPEC.



The $46 billion project, a key component of Beijing's ambitious Belt and Road project, connects China's Kashgar in Xinjiang with Pakistan's Gwadar port in Balochistan - restive regions in both countries.





India has opposed the route, saying it passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. New Delhi claims the region as its own.



China, which is hosting a mega Belt and Road Conference this month, wants India to be the part of the project.



India has been non-committal about its attendance, which is likely to receive participation by some 30 heads of state.
23-year-old Lousineh Poghosyan, a native of Arshalyus, a village in Armenias Armavir Province, gave birth to quintuplets yesterday.

Doctors examining the four girls and one boy say three are in stable but serious condition and the remaining two are in very serious condition.

The five newborns weighed 600, 820, 840, 840 and 880 grams. (600 grams = 1.3 pounds)

The five are being cared for at various hospitals in Yerevan.
Kansas governor's race remains too close to call

Results in the Kansas governor's race remained too close to call as Gov. Laura Kelly clung to a 21,000 vote lead over Attorney General Derek Schmidt.
The media in Samoa marked World Press Freedom Day with a celebration at Hotel Millennia yesterday.

The local commemoration focused on the global theme of World Press Freedom Day Critical Minds for Critical Times: The medias role is Advancing Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies.

Vice President of the National Media Association of Samoa (J.A.W.S), Rudy Bartley, said the day is extremely important in promoting the important role the media plays in advancing the principles of democracy.

He referred to Samoas 21st ranking on the Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index, saying this is excellent for Samoa.

Mr. Bartley said J.A.W.S is modifying the theme to focus on the impact, abuse and misuse of social media in Samoa.

We have had the violence and school fights last year, he said. The police are investigating the abuse of social media by nameless and faceless bloggers making serious and unsubstantiated accusations against individuals and their families.

These are critical issues and need the medias role to advance public discussion in order to promote peaceful, just and inclusive societies (as in this years theme) given the abuse when technology and social media offers countless positive uses to advance life and Samoan society in general.

The abuse of social media to incite violence and cyber bullying needs to be put in proper focus through public discussion so that we can focus on the positives rather than the negative use of technology.

Mr. Bartley went on to say that media freedom is a basic human right.

The extent to which individuals and nameless and faceless bloggers have abused this basic and noble human right must also be taken in the context of the law of which our democratic society exists through the arms of Parliament, the Executive, the Judiciary and the media as the Fourth Estate, he said.

As part of todays activities, J.A.W.S is launching its TV ads to create public awareness and promote public discussion on Media Freedom and Social Media.

J.A.W.S is also organizing a series of TV Panel discussions with various sectors such as the youth and college students, mothers, professionals and policy/decision makers.

The panel discussions will be aired on local TV stations that are media partners and will have interactive feedback from the public to promote further debate and discussion.

Director of U.N.E.S.C.Os Pacific Office, Ms. Nisha, said the media business is being shaken to the core with the rise of digital networks and social media.

Citizen Journalists are redrawing the boundaries of journalism and media accountability and credibility are falling under question, she said.

Online, the lines are blurring between advertising and editorial material, and we see private actors rising as key, intermediaries, accompanied by new forms of private censorship.

[And] these challenges merge with deeper transformations affecting societies.

All of this comes at a time when free, independent and pluralistic media has never been so important to empower individual women and men, strengthen good governance and the rule of law and take forward the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development specifically, Sustainable Goal 16, to build , just, peaceful and inclusive societies.

She reiterated that the media not only be a source of reliable information but it should provide a platform for multitude of voices.

We need original, critical, and well-researched journalism, guided by high professional, ethical standards and a quality media education, she said.

Combine with audiences that have the right media and information literacy skills.
Samoa has welcomed a first to its archives: a rare German coin collection.

The Coin Collection will soon be on display at the Museum of Samoa in Malifa in memory of Uili Saaga, who was a great friend to the donor of the collection, Michael and Patty Rhodes.

Mr. Rhodes left Samoa 54 years ago, but Samoa never left his heart.

Mr. Rhodes shared how the idea of bringing a coin collection came about.

About seven or eight years ago, I was mentioning this to a friend, Bob Roberts, a very famous coin dealer, he said.

I said to Bob that Id like to do something to remember Uili and perhaps something that can be a start of a collection that Samoa can build off.

The pair including Mr. Rhodes mother collected a handful of German coins to bring to Samoa. He said, weve assembled what we hope is the start of a collection that can become the memory for Uili and something for his family to look at when they come to the Museum. And for other people who have coins that are Samoan to add to this collection.

Michael Rhodes went to Samoa College as a young boy as and his parents taught at Avele College.

I left Samoa 57 years ago, I was a pupil at Samoa College and my teacher was Ms.Vaai. I always remember that she was quite a lovely teacher and I had happy times there, He shared.

We left and I went back to New Zealand and went to Wellington College for my Secondary education. I left there 51 years ago.

Back in Wellington, Mr. Rhodes shared dormitories with the only Samoan at the school, Uili Saaga

The two schoolboys bonded over past memories of Samoa.

We were in the same dorm,  Mr. Rhodes shared.

Wed sit on our beds early in the morning and hed help me practice my Samoan.

I would help him with some of his English. Wed talk about Samoa a lot. He was the only Samoan at Wellington College. Naturally, when youre away from your home country, you get homesick and need someone to talk to.

Mr. Rhodes shared that Mr. Saaga was a very good student in school and set out to become Samoas first ever librarian.

He was clean and he didnt swear. He was good at school and never got detentions. He never got out of sorts with the teachers. He was a very good student.

Uili was going to Auckland to be trained as a librarian and become this nations first ever librarian.

Unfortunately, Mr. Saaga never got to see his dream fulfilled as his life was cut short due to a tragic accident.

Sadly, he was killed by a bus two years later and never got to practice the career he wanted and the nation lost an asset. A wonderful man who couldve been of such service, because his life was cut short.

However, This (coin collection) is for my love and affection for my friend Uili and I give this to Samoa.

Mr. Saaga is from Malua and the youngest of his siblings.His legacy lives on through his nieces and nephews Mr. Saagas nephew, Trevor Saaga, said, I myself am a Wellington College Old Boy. That was because of Uncle Uili. Wellington College has a rule that if you have siblings that have been going to school there then theyll accept you.

Up until now, I have nephews that are going to school there.
The Samoa Ala Mai Team in partnership with Y.W.C.A last week, played host to three Leadership and Advocacy workshops in Savaii in the Itu o Tane and Itu Salega constituencies.

The objective of this project, funded by the Civil Society Support Program (C.S.S.P.) was to hold leadership and advocacy training with the view of identifying upcoming leaders who can make a difference to not only themselves, their families, their church and village but also to our country.

Samoa Ala Mais key message was to generate further awareness of women in leadership roles and how to capitalise on their existing skills through self assessment (S.W.O.T Analysis) and equip them with everyday tools to overcome risks and barriers to their growth.

Men and women from various villages and denominations including their pastors, matais and youths of all ages showed up in numbers and actively participated in insightful discussions on different topics like: What makes a good leader?

Good and Bad Leadership qualities, Leadership identification and most importantly, how can they, as individuals and a collective support and promote aspiring women leaders coming in their communities.

The groups exchanged views on how to break through the gender bias web, intergenerational barriers, risks of adopting change and its long and short term impacts on cultural values and principles i.e Faasamoa.

There were women vs men debate teams tackling the recurring question of whether women are adept enough and do they possess the intellect and understanding as men to be leaders in the political arena.

There were present in our midst, some enthusiastic and passionate male debaters who referred to biblical and customary folk lore to solidify their argument as the opposition, vehemently rejecting the notion of intellectual equality while the women tenaciously counter debated on their underappreciated roles as life givers to thousands of generations which included the very men opposing them at present.

Needless to say, it was a matter of which came first, the chicken or the egg with both groups relenting on the fact that men and women would not exist if it werent for the other. There was laughter and humour and lots of it. In the end, both debate teams walked away with a general consensus that

1) Women are a formidable force when united with a common goal

2) It is indeed time to embrace change and welcome women into the leadership fold.

There is no doubt Samoa has come a long way in embracing the changing tides of time. Our leaders have made conscious efforts to promote the roles and protection of women in our society as seen through the enforcements of domestic violence penalties, child abuse and protection of mother and child laws. We have also witnessed 10% of our female parliamentarians target achieved for the first time.

Yet, there is still more work to be done particularly in rural areas where the expected roles of women as mothers and life givers are woven so intricately into the very fibre of our traditions that there is little or no room for progression elsewhere.

It is the objective of Samoa Ala Mai to raise awareness about women who have broken through the proverbial glass ceiling and how with community support, educational tools and resources, a little girl from Satuiatua will realize her true potential and step out into the same leadership path.

It is also our responsibility to ensure that constituents are made aware of social issues affecting them and how to make informed choices to vote leaders who can bring about positive change, hold their representatives accountable for promises made during pre election and influence others to do the same.

As former president Mandela once stated  We must be honest and open about the role of men and women in our society. We must help build a more enabling and supportive environment that puts the role of women centre stage in this struggle. Each one of us, sister and brother, mother and father, teacher and student, priest and parishioner, manager and worker, president and prime minister  must add your voice to this call for action

Samoa Ala Mai will continue their leadership and advocacy workshops in Upolu covering Falealili and Safata constituencies in the coming months.
They say water is life.

But the question is, what is life without water?

Speaking to the Village Voice yesterday, 45-year-old Tasi Aiulu from Faleasiu-uta said that is the challenge for him and his family every day.

What is life without water? I tell you its hard, he said.

Of everything that we ever need to survive, the most difficult thing to get in Samoa is water and most people find it hard to believe, even myself sometimes but its really happening.

Life without water makes you appreciate every bit of water you get.

It makes you appreciate and thankful for the rainy weather.

And when you dont have enough water, you cannot sleep at night properly because your mind is too busy thinking where you can fetch water the next day.

Mr. Aiulu said all the people that are staying in the same area are experiencing the same thing

We havent had any water of our own for a very long time. None of our taps are on anymore.

Not only the fact that we cannot afford to pay our water bills because it was too expensive but the authorities also said that its impossible for the water to reach our area.

I must admit its our fault for not being able to afford the bills but what can I say, were just people who work in our own lands, we dont own much and we dont have savings accounts that can pay for everything that we need.

We fetch water and we store them in containers for our daily use.

Sometimes, months just pass by so fast without rain so what we do is to try and chip in for the water truck to deliver water.

I guess its the only way we can do things just so we can survive a life without water.
A U.S. company contracted to secure an air base in Iraq not only ignored reports about the involvement of its staff in human trafficking and alcohol smuggling but fired those who uncovered the wrongdoing, according to an Associated Press investigation published Thursday.

Sallyport Global had been awarded US$ 686 million in contracts by the US government to secure Balad Air Base, home to a squadron of F-16 fighter jets used in the fight against Daesh.

As part of the federal contract requirements, internal investigators Robert Cole and Kristie King spent over a year looking into potential misconduct at the base.

The two uncovered evidence that Sallyport employees were involved in sex trafficking, alcohol smuggling and numerous security breaches.

According to AP, managers repeatedly shut down the investigations and failed to report their findings to the U.S. government, who was footing the bill.

Staff allegedly routinely flew in smuggled alcohol in such high volumes that a plane once seesawed on the runway under the weight.

When a flight logistics employee, who had been pressured to sign off on fake manifests, aired his safety concerns to management, they were ignored. While on medical leave later, he was told his position at the base had been filled.

Cole and King found the smuggling scheme was run from the al-Burhan Hotel, five minutes from Baghdad airport. There, they also uncovered a prostitution ring frequented by Sallyport employees.

Four Ethiopian women working as prostitutes, believed to have been trafficked, were later hired by Sallyport as housekeeping, and investigators say they found evidence of prostitution on the base.

The prime smuggling suspect  a Sallyport employee  told King that a senior manager in Virginia, Roy Hernandez, had tipped him off about the investigations. They were later ordered to shut the investigation down on Hernandezs orders.

Numerous security breaches were also found, including the theft of three enormous generators worth US$ 1 million from the base by militia. The thieves, who used flatbed trucks and a 60-foot crane in the three-hour operation, drove past company security guards unchallenged.

Most recently, King and Cole had opened an investigation into allegations of time-sheet fraud. However, in March this year they were summoned to an emergency meeting and found themselves surrounded by armed guards, forced to hand over their pistols, detained and then fired without explanation.

"We knew too much," King told AP. "They want to cover it up and move on because its a huge amount of money."

occrp.org
Business Systems Limited (B.S.L) hosted a seminar for Permaset Paint yesterday at their Togafuafua headquarters.

The Permaset Paint is exclusively supplied by B.S.L Samoa.

Since 2012, the company has always held annual workshops for fashion houses and labels to attend to learn more about the paint and its benefit.

This year is even bigger because B.S.L has secured the support of the Permaset Supplier through having representatives from Colormaker Company to personally talk about the Permaset paint and to answer any queries regarding the paint.

David Stuart, the representative from the Colormaker Company in Sydney, Australia says this is a great opportunity for the Company to work with some of the local fashion designers in terms of the use of Permaset Paints.

We are very pleased to be working together with B.S.L. in distributing and selling Permaset Paint in Samoa. Samoa is very lucky is to have B.S.L. introducing the Permaset Paint because its one of the top quality brand paints in the world.

Marketing Manager of B.S.L., Leeroy Feaunati said by the end of this workshop the Company is hoping for the best for the buyers who use B.S.L. as their every day shopping center for Permaset Paint in Samoa.

B.S.L. celebrates its 40th Year serving Samoa this year and also its 40 years since B.S.L. has been selling Permaset Paint in Samoa.

This shows that Permaset paint in Samoa is very useful and very important especially for our local designers to make money and to develop themselves and also their careers.

This is mainly from Australia which is why it lasts longer and its good quality as well.

We want our customers to come in today and view other ways of using Permaset Paint for work even though its very expensive but what the Company wants is for the best quality for our customers.

Many Fashion Houses and Label designs were invited by B.S.L. to attend, aiming to gain something from the presentation and also to find answers to their questions.
Tourists last year contributed nearly $16 billion to San Diego Countys economy, a new high that mirrored similar record spending across California, says a travel industry report released Thursday.

Statewide, tourism was responsible for a record $126 billion in spending last year  an increase of 3.2 percent  even as spending by foreign visitors showed signs of slowing over the last two years.

The release of the annual report, a collaboration of Visit California and Dean Runyan Associates, was timed to coincide with the inaugural celebration of California Tourism Month.

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In addition to documenting steady growth in tourism over the last two decades, measured by metrics such as job growth, spending and tax revenues, the report also shows an impressive and relatively quick rebound since the Great Recession.

California, as did San Diego County, recorded seven consecutive years of travel industry growth following the steep economic downturn between 2007 and 2009.

This report shows that tourism is a powerhouse that generates community benefits and economic value for all Californians, said Visit California President Caroline Beteta.

SAN DIEGO BY THE NUMBERS

Local tax revenue: $543.5 million

Total jobs: 140,300

Spending growth, 2015-16: 2.6 percent

Spending on accommodations: $2.9 billion

Spending on food: $4.1 billion

She noted that Californias tourism economy outpaces, by far, that of all other states. Not only is it the No. 1 visitor destination among all other states, but were about 2- times the size of the Florida tourism economy and five times the size of the Hawaiian economy, she said.

Spending by California travelers grew 3.2 percent in 2016, outpacing the nation by nearly a percentage point, while San Diego Countys growth rate was slightly slower, at 2.6 percent, the report shows. Over the course of the last 22 years, though, San Diego Countys average annual increase in travel spending  4.6 percent  outranked all other regions in the state.

For this year, Visit California is forecasting a more moderate 2 percent increase in travel spending.

Even as the states tourism economy enjoys record-breaking growth, international visitation, which remains a key source of tourism revenue, is flattening, due in part to the strength of the U.S. dollar.

While the share of spending attributable to international visitors has grown to about 22 percent, it has flattened over the past two years following substantial run-ups in previous years, Runyan reported. In San Diego County, overseas spending accounts for a much smaller percentage of travel spending than in metro areas like San Francisco and Los Angeles where there is more robust air service.

Because the report does not cover travel trends beyond the end of last year, it could not have documented fallout, if any, from President Donald Trumps travel ban.

More recently, however, tourism bureaus are seeing a sharper drop-off in visitors to California from Mexico and Canada, said San Diego Tourism Authority CEO Joe Terzi. Visit California is concerned enough that it is leading a mission to Mexico City and Toronto at the end of this month to remind its travel partners that California is still very much a welcoming destination, Terzi said.

Visit California, which will be accompanied by other local tourism bureaus, including San Diegos, is contributing $1 million to the trip. San Diego, Terzi added, is chipping in $100,000.

We want to say, look, were California and were welcoming, which is a soft way of saying dont pay attention to whats happening in D.C., Terzi said. We planned this trip as soon as we saw what was coming out of D.C. and the concerns from our travel partners in Canada and Mexico. And because theyre two major markets for the state of California, we thought we should do something.

Beteta, who was asked during a conference call with journalists about any impacts she has seen since Trump was elected, largely sidestepped the question.

Its a very fluid situation, and there are many factors affecting a persons decision to travel: dollars in the pocket, safety and security, currency is a major issue, and the price of fuel, Beteta said. While theres a strong narrative from our leaders, every day is different, from when the state department issues a travel warning to other dynamic factors in the global environment.

It is difficult to pinpoint exactly what sway policy makers have on travel.

Business

lori.weisberg@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-2251

Twitter: @loriweisberg
Friday is Cinco de Mayo. That means its time for tacos, margaritas and mariachis. To help you get in the spirit of fiesta, here are some San Diego restaurants offering dinner and drink specials to kick off your weekend.

Casa de Bandini at The Forum will feature hourly specials on select margaritas and tequilas, including brands Casamigos, Casa Noble, Hornitos and Clase Azul. Guests will also enjoy music and folklorico dancing. Friday and Saturday. 1901 Calle Barcelona, Carlsbad. (760) 634-3443 or casadebandini.com

Casa de Pico will serve Enchiladas Banderas, a sampling of chicken, cheese and beef enchiladas served with red, green and white sauces. Guests will also enjoy margarita and beer specials, music and folklorico performances. Friday and Saturday. Grossmont Center, 5500 Grossmont Center Drive, La Mesa, (619) 463-3267 or casadepico.com

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Casa Guadalajara in Old Town will offer guests discounts on two Mexican dish favorites  Chile Verde and Chile Colorado  as mariachis and folklorico dancers perform throughout the day. 4105 Taylor St., San Diego. Friday and Saturday. (619) 295-5111 or casaguadalajara.com

Casa Sol Y Mar will offer a Cinco-style build-your-own nachos bar on the outdoor patio, $20 beer buckets and $15 Patron flights in the Cantina. Strolling mariachis and folklorico dancers will perform in the dining room as guests sip $5 house margaritas and Mexican beers. Friday. Del Mar Highlands Town Center, 12865 El Camino Real, Del Mar, (858) 792-4100 or casasolymar.com

Cafe 222 is serving Cinco de Mayo breakfast with its Tamale and Eggs ($12.25). The dish includes one big pork tamale topped with Mexican gravy and served with two eggs, potatoes, refried beans and toast. 222 Island Ave, San Diego. Friday. (619) 236-9902 or cafe222.com

Cerveza Jacks will serve day drink specials from 3 to 7 p.m., including $4 wells, $6 house margaritas, 2-for-1 Buena Cerveza, $3 off specialty cocktails/buckets and half off all appetizers. From 7 to 9 p.m., late-night imbibers can purchase $3 drink specials and $2 power hour-appetizers . Friday. 1165 Garnet Ave, San Diego. (858) 999-0158 or cervezajacks.com

Kitchen 1540 will host a Taco & Tequila Party. The menu features three first-course options, choice of three entree dishes and two kinds of desserts. The festive meal is $58 per person with an optional selection of a mescal tequila flight, sampling of margaritas or beer flight for an additional $28 per person. Reservations recommended. Friday. LAuberge Del Mar, 1540 Camino Del Mar, Del Mar. (858) 793-6460.

The Pony Room will offer margarita and Mexican beer specials, signature guacamole, chips and salsa and a build-your-own taco bar. Friday. Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa, 5921 Valencia Circle, Rancho Santa Fe. (858) 756-1123.

Puesto in The Headquarters and La Jolla will offer a fresh twist on Mexican street food with its Casa Noble Tequila specials, tacos, as well as shareable plates like guacamole and ceviche. At The Headquarters location, you can dance the night away with DJ Mr. mention playing from 4 to 10 p.m. Friday. eatpuesto.com

Del Sur Mexican Cantina will boast a menu loaded with culinary zest like the Jackfruit Taco plate, made with adobo-marinated jackfruit, cabbage, poblano crema and chipotle aioli served with rice and beans. Pair it with the Mango Chili Margarita, a mixture of 100-percent agave tequila reposado, mango, pineapple, lime, Triple Sec and house-made serrano. Friday. 2310 30th St., San Diego. (619) 501-0643 or delsurmexicancantina.com

This Cinco de Mayo, dine on Sauteed Lobster Tacos surrounded by ocean views at Pacific Beach Shore Club. Sip on a Green Machine, made with Olmeca Altos Silver tequila, jalapenos, cucumber, mint and house agave mix. Friday. 4343 Ocean Blvd., San Diego. (858) 272-7873 or pbshoreclub.com

The Duck Dive will serve Beer Battered Mahi Tacos, made with a flour tortilla filled with shredded cabbage, pico, radish, queso fresco and jalapeno crema. Pair your plate with the Verdita Margarita, mixed with Los Altos Plata Tequila, house-made verdita and agave. Friday. 4650 Mission Blvd., San Diego. (858) 273-3825 or theduckdive.com

The Taco Stand will offer patrons its Nopal Taco, made with flamed-grilled cactus, melted cheese, cilantro sauce, tomato and avocado. Friday. Three locations: San Diego, La Jolla and Encinitas. letstaco.com

Pacific Beach Fish Shop and Encinitas Fish Shop are celebrating Cinco de May with its TKO Taco, made with grilled mahi mahi, shredded cabbage, mixed cheese, house white sauce and tropical salsa. Wash it down with a cold Mexican beer. Friday. thefishshoppb.com; thefishshopencinitas.com

Soda & Swine at Liberty Station will sling Mexican fiesta favorites all day long, including a complimentary, educational tasting with Tequila Ocho on the patio accompanied by shots of sangrita. Munchables include meatball tacos, nachos, chips, salsa and guacamole, homemade churros and Mexican-inspired sliders. Friday. 2750 Dewey Road, No. 104, San Diego. (619) 501-9989 or sodaandswine.com

Looking ahead

Barleymash is celebrating the Kentucky Derby with Derby Day food and drink specials. Featuring Southern classics, the promotion includes Kentuckys trademark Cup of the Burgoo, made with pulled pork, braised chicken, braised short rib, black-eyed peas, okra and roasted veggies in a Woodford Reserve brown butter gravy topped with crispy tobacco onions; and the Open Faced Hot Brown Sandwich served on Texas toast with roasted turkey, garlic cream, bourbon roasted tomatoes and two slices of bacon all melted with a signature three cheese blend. 10 a.m. Saturday. 600 Fifth Ave, San Diego. (619) 255-7373 or barleymash.com

The Grill at Torrey Pines launched its new monthly dinner series, Playing with Fire. Chefs Matt Gordon (Urban Solace, Solace and the Moonlight Lounge; Monday) and Trey Foshee (Georges, Galaxy Taco; June 12) will team up with The Grills executive chef Jeff Jackson to create a slow-cooked, farm-fresh menu using the restaurants custom-built chimney pit-cooker/spit-roaster/oven. Each dinner is $40 per person and includes one draught beer. 11480 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla. Reservations: (858) 777-6641 or lodgetorreypines.com

Carnitas Snack Shack Embarcadero will celebrate its first anniversary with a $5 all-you-can-eat buffet (while food lasts) from 6 to 8 p.m. May 12. Happy hour starts at 3 p.m., with live music at 4 p.m. All proceeds will be donated to Standup For Kids. 1004 N. Harbor Drive, San Diego. (619) 696-7675 or carnitassnackshack.com/embarcadero

San Diego Air & Space Museum will host Eat.Drink.Read. A Culinary Event for Literacy to raise funds for San Diego Council on Literacys 29 literacy programs. More than 20 local chefs will create and serve dishes inspired by their favorite books, while local winemakers and craft breweries pair drinks with the dishes. Attendees can sip spirits and beer and meet celebrity chefs. 5:30 to 8 p.m. May 18. $75 per person. 2001 Pan American Plaza, San Diego. literacysandiego.org

Get your sweet-tooth satisfaction at Sprinkles Cupcakes with its Exhibitionism  The Rolling Stones cupcake. The cupcakery is paying tribute to the new Rolling Stones exhibit, which debuted at Chicagos Navy Pier in April. The sweet treat is topped with the bands iconic tongue-and-lips logo and guests can purchase one, or more, through May 18. 8855 Villa La Jolla Drive, La Jolla. (858) 457-3800.

carolina.gusman@sduniontribune.com
Its been 2 years since word came down from Red O corporate headquarters in Newport Beach that a branch of the upscale Mexican restaurant family would be opening in La Jolla.

Not surprisingly, the news caused a stir because Rick Bayless  the Chicago chef who is considered one of the preeminent authorities on regional Mexican cuisine  was attached to Red O as its culinary director.

But 2 years is an eternity in culinary time and  also not surprisingly  the wait took the sting out of Red Os buzz. The refrain went from, oh, that should be good, to oh, yeah, whatever happened to that?

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1 / 14 This is the Shrimp Ceviche with Plantain Chips by Corporate chef Marc Johnson. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 2 / 14 Red and Fluffy. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 3 / 14 This is the Alaskan Halibut by Corporate chef Marc Johnson. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 4 / 14 Alacran Margarita with Tajin. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 5 / 14 This is the Lamb with Mole Negro. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 6 / 14 Corporate chef Marc Johnson works in the kitchen at Red O. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 7 / 14 Mexican Mai Tai made with Mescal. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 8 / 14 This is the Short Rib Barbacoa Torta. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 9 / 14 Corporate chef Marc Johnson. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 10 / 14 Decorations at Red O restaurant in UT area. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 11 / 14 Patio views to waterfalls. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 12 / 14 Lighting. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 13 / 14 Corporate chef Marc Johnson works in the kitchen. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune) 14 / 14 Signage at entrance to Red O restaurant in La Jolla. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Well, oh, goodie, Red O is finally opening this weekend, with construction delay drama giving way to renewed anticipation for San Diegos latest big-ticket hot spot.

Earlier this week, we got a an early preview of the menu and gorgeously stylish space. Heres what we learned at our sneak peek:

From the taste of things, it will be have been worth the wait. Corporate chef Marc Johnson described the menu as upscale, yet approachable Mexican cuisine, with dishes representing the traditional cooking of Oaxaca, Puebla and Yucatan, as well as the dynamic, cross-border cookery of Baja and Tijuana.

Johnson prepared four dishes for us and despite that limited sampling, were comfortable declaring that Red Os kitchen will be turning out authentic, yet elevated, Mexican fare.

The shrimp ceviche is light and pure, with plump, sweet Mexican white shrimp enlivened by lime juice, shrimp stock, serrano, micro cilantro and a dash of Tapatio hot sauce. The pretty bowl comes with crispy plantain chips, but I found the wafer-thin house tortilla chips to be superior ceviche scoops.

Delicate, perfectly cooked Alaskan halibut is given the restraint worthy of such a righteous piece of fish, with mild adobo verde sauce, grapefruit and cara cara orange supremes, toasted farro, pomegranate seeds and pea tendrils aptly serving supporting roles.

Johnson went from understated to powerful nuance with his preparation of grilled lamb chops in mole negro. Regional Mexican restaurants are only as good as their mole and Red Os  smoky, silky and slightly sweet  shows that the skilled hand of Bayless isnt far away.

The moles take up to 12 hours to make, so theres a lot of love and passion that go into them and they come out incredible, Johnson said. Well give him that.

And unique to the menu in La Jolla is the lunchtime torta of short rib barbacoa with queso fresco, avocado, pickled red onion. Add some of the pickled carrots and serrano from the accompanying escabeche for a soul-satisfying sandwich that just may rock your world.

From the looks of things, Red O will be the next It destination. With soaring ceilings, clean lines and a modern Mexican aesthetic that hints at Moorish, Red Os 9,000-square-space looks like an airy luxury resort straight out of Tulum.

The striking main dining room, with a central tree, mod-ish tiles, massive chandelier, hanging lights, warm woods and teal mid-century chairs, is made more intimate by floor-to-ceiling, billowy curtains. (The action in the kitchen can be seen through glass panels, but thankfully not heard.) An outdoor patio area, with three fire pits, is connected to the lounge through an indoor-outdoor bar and is likely to be a big draw for the happy-hour or late-night cocktail set. The elegant front veranda, with a towering fireplace, will be used for dining or closed off for private events.

Situated across from Westfield University Town Center on the site of the former Donovans, which was razed, Red O is sure to add to the areas already-congested traffic situation.

Youre going to need a designated driver. Red O has over 200 tequilas and a cocktail program befitting the glamorous bar space.

The signature Alacran margarita gets a kick from serrano syrup, sliced serranos, VeeV acai liquor and a Tajin rim, making it an early contender for the list of San Diegos best cocktails of 2017.

The Mexican mai tai is a multi-layered play of smoky, sweet and tart, with mezcal, chipotle pineapple syrup, fresh lemon juice and bitters.

And  chick drink alert!  the Red and Fluffy tequila-ginger-pomegranate concoction is as pretty as it is drinkable. Which is very.

Also look for prestige-label red wines to pair with the menus steak selection, as well as two unlikely blends from Tres Valles Bajas Valle de Guadalupe, both of which result in exceptional wines  the white 2013 Jala with sauvignon blanc, chenin blanc and French colombard and the the red 2012 Kuwal, with tempranillo, cabernet sauvignon and grenache.

Youre more likely to see Rick Bayless on TV than in La Jolla. The celebrity chefs role is to train the chefs and oversee menu development at all Red O locations  the others are in Santa Monica, Newport Beachs Fashion Island and on Melrose in L.A.

And while hell likely make an appearance at the newest restaurant soon, his influence in the kitchen is mostly indirect.

In Rick, as our culinary director, we have an unbelievable tool, Johnson said. We get to travel with him annually, in fact we just got back from Mexico City last week. Hes a guiding factor with answering questions and helping with recipes. Hes an encyclopedia with a wealth of knowledge.

If our visit is a good indication, San Diego will be the richer for it.

Red O

Address: 4340 La Jolla Village Drive, San Diego.

Phone: (858) 291-8630

Online: redorestaurant.com

Twitter: @sdeditgirl

michele.parente@sduniontribune.com
The Village Church in Rancho Santa Fe is staging a musical production this weekend and will host a luncheon next week for the community.

The Village Church Community Theater presents Alice@Wonderland - The Musical from tomorrow May 5 through Sunday May 7.

The musical is a modern twist of Lewis Carrolls original tale Alice in Wonderland with Alice texting and tweeting and still meeting the old favorite characters, such as the Mad Hatter, White Rabbit and Queen of Hearts.

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The production is based on the book by Jonathan Yukich, music by Bill Francoeur and lyrics by Scott Deturk, with additional lyrics by Francoeur.

The performance will be in the churchs fellowship hall, 6225 Paseo Delicias. Showtimes are 7 p.m. May 5; 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. May 6 and 2 p.m. May 7. Tickets are $10-17.

Email amyz@villagechurch.org or call (858) 756.2441, ext. 128.

For information or tickets, visit villagechurchcommunitytheater.org

The Village Church will hold its Womens Spring Potluck Luncheon on May 10.

Guests are asked to bring a casserole or salad along with $5 or $10 Target gift cards for the churchs outreach project at the Elma Barnett Childrens Center in Kenya. Dessert will be provided.

The luncheon will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the churchs fellowship hall, 6225 Paseo Delicias.

RSVP for the lunch at the church or call (858) 756-2441, ext. 129.

Visit villagechurch.org
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin is mulling whether to shutter more than 1,100 facilities nationwide as the agency moves more of its health programs to the private sector.

Appearing Wednesday before the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies, Shulkin told lawmakers the VA had compiled a list of 1,165 vacant or underused buildings that could be closed, saving the federal government $25 million annually.

Shulkin didnt specify which facilities would close. In San Diego, VA spokeswoman Cindy Butler said there were no local vacant or underutilized facilities for the approximately 232,910 veterans in San Diego  83,000 of them enrolled for health care services.

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We are very busy and actually have plans to expand facilities over the next few years: new Spinal Cord Injury building, and new, larger clinics in South Bay (Chula Vista) and Mission Valley areas, she wrote in an email to The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Shulkin, a deputy holdover from President Barack Obamas administration whom Congress then unanimously approved to run the VA earlier this year, said Congress needs to determine how the facilities would be closed. He suggested the Pentagons Base Realignment and Closure  or BRAC  process might be a good model.

But Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Nebraska, urged him to never use the term BRAC because it brings up a lot of bad memories and sets up the VA for a lot of controversy.

President Donald Trump seeks $78.9 billion in discretionary funding for the VA, a 6 percent increase from the 2017 fiscal year level. Trumps budget plan requests $3.5 billion to expand the Veterans Choice Program, which enables veterans to receive certain kinds of treatment outside of the VA system.

If enacted, Trumps proposal also would add $4.6 billion in funding to spur better patient access and greater timeliness of medical services for the agencys more than 9 million patients.

Shulkin said the VA authorized 3.6 million patient visits at private-sector health-care facilities between Feb. 1, 2016 and Jan. 31, 2017  a 23 percent boost compared to the previous year.

With more than 370,000 employees, the VA has the second-largest workforce in the federal government. Shulkin said it must become more efficient at delivering services to veterans. Some of the most entrenched problems are in the appeals process for veterans who have lodged disability claims following their military service.

Currently, the VA has nearly 470,000 such cases pending appeal. For cases awaiting action by the Board of Veterans Appeals, the typical wait time is six years for a decision. The ranking Democrat on the subcommittee that hosted Shulkin on Wednesday, Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, termed the appellate system an absolute mess.

Shulkin conceded that it undoubtedly needs further improvements and urged Congress to legislate reforms and streamline the process into a modernized system. The longer Capitol Hill waits to fix the process, he said, the more appeals will enter the current broken system.

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cprine@sduniontribune.com
The budget deal reached in Congress this week penciled in $10.2 million for an earthquake early warning system for California and the rest of the West Coast for the budget year that ends in September.

The funding represents an increase from the last fiscal years federal budget, which allocated $8.2 million for the system. The network is being built under the leadership of the U.S. Geological Survey, with development from scientists at Caltech, UC Berkeley, the University of Washington and University of Oregon.

Three dozen members of Congress earlier this spring had urged their fellow lawmakers to increase the federal funding level for the warning system to $16.1 million a year, which is the estimated annual operating and maintenance cost of the system once it is fully built. Officials estimate it will cost $38.2 million to build the system, according to a statement from Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), an advocate for fully funding the system.

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The system is in development and is still being tested.

Negotiators in Congress reached a bipartisan $1-trillion deal to fund the government through September.The House approved the bill Wednesday, and the Senate is expected to follow suit in the coming days.

Last year, California lawmakers and Gov. Jerry Brown separately approved $10 million for the earthquake early warning system, which includes seismic stations, GPS equipment, telemetry and microwave nodes.

Officials have needed more money to build out the entire network.

Too few sensors, for instance, would mean that San Francisco could see slower warnings from a large San Andreas fault earthquake that starts in Humboldt and moves toward the Bay Area. Los Angeles could also see warning delays in an earthquake that starts in Monterey County and barrels south along the San Andreas fault.

An earthquake early warning system would be able to give as much as a minute of warning before shaking from a big, distant earthquake reaches urban areas. Other countries have implemented earthquake early warning systems with success, such as Japan, which programs its high-speed trains to slow or stop if the warning system detects an earthquake is coming.

As the system gets built, officials have talked about allowing places such as classrooms, offices, shopping malls, amusement parks and police and fire stations to have ready access to alerts that would give seconds, and perhaps more than a minute, of warning before strong shaking comes in a big earthquake.

Even seconds of warning to drop, cover and hold on would save many lives in an earthquake. Beyond that, alerts would give doctors time to halt surgery and would instruct trains to slow down, preventing deadly derailments. Eventually, bigger benefits are expected: technology to open elevators at the next floor, sparing occupants from being trapped, and warnings that could halt the flow of natural gas through major pipelines, preventing catastrophic fires.

The early warning system works on a simple principle: The shaking from an earthquake travels at about the speed of sound through rock  slower than the speed of todays communications systems. That means it would take more than a minute for, say, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that starts at the Salton Sea to shake up Los Angeles, 150 miles away, traveling on the states longest fault, the San Andreas.

The prototype system has had some early successes. When a magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit Napa in 2014, the system gave researchers in San Francisco about eight seconds of warning before shaking began. Last year, 30 seconds of warning reached downtown L.A. before the ground shook from a magnitude 4.4 quake centered near Banning.

ron.lin@latimes.com

@ronlin

ALSO

Santa Monica seeks to pass the nations most extensive earthquake retrofit plan

Notorious L.A. earthquake fault more dangerous than experts believed, new research shows

Earthquake on the beach: Scientists think a 7.4 temblor could reach from L.A. to San Diego

UPDATES:

May 3, 9:35 p.m.: This report has been updated to reflect that the House on Wednesday approved the spending bill.

This was originally published on May 2 at 6:55 a.m.
In a compassionate speech to health industry leaders at Fortunes health summit here, former Vice President Joe Biden spoke candidly about how he was going to run in the past presidential election until life intervened.

Ill be perfectly honest with you...I had planned on running for President before Beau was diagnosed (with Stage 4 brain cancer). His son, Beau Biden, former attorney general of Delaware, later succumbed to the disease.

Biden said he thought he was the best qualified person to be president at the time, and his family members, including Beau, still urged him to run.

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Emphasizing that a candidate needs to give all of his attention and effort to the job, Biden confessed, I didnt have the strength to say, I guarantee I can do that. When his son died, Biden said, I lost part of my soul.

Instead of running, he focused on traveling to every major cancer center in the world to learn as much as he could about the disease.

I was stunned at what wasnt being done, Biden said. The lack of cooperation, the lack of sharing data.  It was ... mind blowing.

As President Obamas appointed leader of the White House Cancer Moonshot Task Force, and since leaving office, he has dedicated himself to changing the culture and encouraging medical researchers to talk to one another. Biden noted that Hillary Clinton had asked him to continue his task force role if she won the 2016 presidential election.

Yeah, Id like to be President, Biden candidly admitted to those attending Fortunes Brainstorm Health gathering, but it was the right decision for me not to run.

When asked by conference co-chair, Dr. David Agus of the University of Southern California, if he would make a bid for the White House in 2020, Biden responded, I dont plan on running.

While indicating hes not absolutely nixing the idea, he emphasized: I am doing nothing to run.

He says he plans to be deeply involved in efforts to rebuild the Democratic Party and to try to affect policy.

Biden also stressed the overlooked plight of the middle class who are struggling to make ends meet: Theres a hopelessness out there, yet were not speaking to it.

Lynn Schenk, then chief of staff for Gov. Gray Davis, shared a laugh with him as she expressed her thanks for the opportunity to work with him. They were at a cabinet meeting at the state Capitol in Sacramento in 2003. (Dan Trevan / U-T)

In the audience: Among conference attendees was San Diego attorney and former Democratic Congresswoman Lynn Schenk, who was invited as Bidens guest.

Of course, I re-arranged my schedule to be there, chuckled the San Diego attorney who got to know Biden in the 1980s when she was co-vice chair of a Democratic Senate campaign committee.

After her late husband, University of San Diego law professor C. Hugh Friedman, was diagnosed with leukemia, Biden called to show his support. When Schenk visited with Biden Tuesday evening, he asked her to get involved with his Cancer Moonshot effort to accelerate research.

As for a future White House run, Schenk says she gave up her crystal ball long ago but he certainly has the energy and the passion to do it, she said. He was like the Joe I knew 35 years ago.

Steve West in 2007 when he was a deejay at 91X and also running a webcasting radio station called Radio Nigel via his laptop. He was sitting outside a Starbucks in the Costa Verde shopping center in UTC. (Peggy Peattie / U-T)

Call to action: Friends and fans are stepping in to help local radio deejay Steve West, who was the voice of 91X for nearly three decades, pay his mounting medical bills.

West, who beat prostate cancer in 2004, once again has been diagnosed with cancer, and a friend launched a GoFundMe account to help pay for surgery.

He and I worked together in alternative radio for over 25 years, says Chris Cantore, who recently founded digital YEW Media. He was a mentor to me.

While not a GoFundMe type of guy, Cantore says he previously set up an online fundraiser for a Normal Heights ice cream shop whose owners were struggling financially.

West, who parted ways with 91X in 2014, now has a part-time gig at radio FM 94.9 but hasnt had a full-time radio job for some time, says Cantore. After spying a mountain of medical bills at Wests home when they worked together on a podcast, Cantore started the GoFundMe campaign.

This legendary figure holds a special place in San Diegos heart, says Cantore in his GoFundMe appeal, noting that the former Brit introduced his listeners over the years to Oingo Boingo, U2, The Cure, The Smiths and Depeche Mode.

As of Wednesday, the site had raised $3,800 of its $20,000 goal.

Charger Girls: Preliminary Charger Girls auditions are scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday in Los Angeles at the UCLA Pauley Pavilion.

Proving its hard to take San Diego totally out of the picture, though, candidates are directed to mail applications to a San Diego post office box or drop them off at Chargers Park here or at StubHub Center in Carson, the L.A. Chargers temporary home.

diane.bell@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1518

Twitter: @dianebellSD

Facebook: dianebell.news
A young man who had been drinking alcohol with friends before causing a crash in Mira Mesa that killed a 19-year-old motorist was sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison.

Christian Evangelista, 22, had pleaded guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and felony DUI causing injury, stemming from the Aug. 21 collision.

Tutam Le suffered fatal injuries when the Acura she was driving was T-boned by a Honda sedan about 1 a.m. She died at a hospital.

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Evangelista, the driver of the Honda, and two friends who were passengers in the Honda also suffered injuries in the collision.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Michael Groch sentenced the defendant to the low prison term as prescribed by law.

A defense lawyer had argued that Evangelista be placed on probation.

Deputy District Attorney Andrew Aguilar argued for the upper term of 10 years in prison, noting that Evangelista had been speeding just before the crash and that his blood-alcohol level was well over the legal limit.

Citing evidence presented at a preliminary hearing, the prosecutor said the defendant had been drinking with friends at his home before driving to a 7-Eleven store to buy more alcohol.

The group was headed back to Evangelistas home when he blew through a stop sign at the intersection of Zapata Avenue and Camino Ruiz and hit Les car at 64 mph.

The speed limit on Zapata is 25 mph, the prosecutor said.

According to Aguilar, the defendants blood-alcohol content measured 0.14 percent about two hours after the crash. The legal limit for drivers in California is 0.08 percent.

When he pleaded guilty, Evangelista admitted his blood-alcohol content likely measured more than 0.15 percent at the time he was driving, the prosecutor said.

dana.littlefield@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @danalittlefield
A woman accused of hitting a teenager with her car in Tierrasanta and then speeding away pleaded guilty Wednesday to felony hit and run, causing death.

Jessica Medsker, 20, was arrested on March 15, a few days after the collision that killed 16-year-old Alex Funk.

Medsker, who remains out of custody on bail, is scheduled to be sentenced in San Diego Superior Court on June 6.

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The victim had been walking with another teenage boy on Santo Road on March 9 when he was struck by a speeding car near Antigua Boulevard, according to San Diego police.

The second teen jumped into a nearby median to avoid being hit. He was not injured.

Funk, who attended Serra High School, died before he could be taken to the hospital.

dana.littlefield@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @danalittlefield
Only one in four Americans has written down their end-of-life wishes in case they end up in a hospital bed unable to communicate  despite high-profile cases over the years that have plainly shown the emotionally painful, expensive and sometimes lawsuit-ridden consequences of not making those wishes known in advance.

A group of UC San Diego nurses and doctors is engaged in an effort to increase that ratio, building a wide-reaching campaign that started with just five letters and a question mark.

Operating like a guerrilla marketing group, albeit with the approval of two key hospital bosses, they began posting signs at both UC San Diego hospitals and its seven largest clinics. The signs simply asked: WGYLM?

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At first, they refused to explain to others what those letters meant.

We considered that a great victory to hear, that we were irritating people with our message. It totally primed them to be on the lookout for the answer, said Dr. Kyle Edmonds, a palliative care specialist.

In March, the letters expanded from a five-letter bloc into the question, What Gives Your Life Meaning? There were small signs spelling it out and seven chalkboard-size whiteboards with the question written in large letters at the top. A bucket full of Post-It notes and pens was attached to each whiteboard display and very quickly, people wrote and pasted up their responses.

God has figured into many of those messages. There also have been plenty of first names, heart outlines and attempts at humor  including a note that said, cheese biscuits.

Some have been quite dark. Politics have been mentioned as well, including President Donald Trump and his proposed border wall.

The next step for the project group, after thousands of notes had built up, was to add the kicker question: Have you told anybody?

Its not enough to answer the question for yourself, said Edmonds and colleague Cassia Yi, a lead nurse at UC San Diego. They want people to tell their loved ones  in writing  what matters most to them, including how they want to be treated upon death or a medical emergency.

The campaigns organizers hope that getting people to think about the best parts of their lives will provide an easier entry point for end-of-life planning.

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization recommends that everyone fill out an advance directive to make their wishes known in writing. Also often called living wills, these are witnessed legal documents that confer medical power of attorney to the person you designate if two doctors certify you are unable to make medical decisions.

Each state has its own form, and Californias asks people to specify whether they want a doctor to prolong their life if they have an irreversible condition that will result in ... death within a relatively short time or if they become unconscious and, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty  not regain consciousness.

This has been fraught territory, with many high-profile cases in the courts of distraught families wrestling over the decision to remove life support without any knowledge of the patients true wishes.

That includes the case of Terri Schiavo, who was left in a persistent vegetative state after a heart attack in 1990 caused severe brain damage. Her parents clashed with her husband, Michael, who asked the court to order her feeding tube removed in 1998 on grounds that she would not have wanted to live in such a state. Because she had no living will, it took years of very public legal wrangling before life support was disconnected on March 18, 2005.

Yi said she and other nurses feel this type of gut-wrenching stress every time a Code Blue page sends them scrambling for a patient who needs immediate resuscitation. Most of those patients dont have wills or other written indications of their wishes in place, even though every patient is asked if they have an advance directive upon admission to the hospital.

Advanced care planning wasnt happening until people were coding out. There is nothing advanced about that, Yi said.

Even before the current awareness campaign, Yi and her colleagues had worked with computer experts to add special categories to UC San Diegos electronic medical records system that provide a single collection point for this kind of information. Previously, such details could be entered in dozens of different places, depending on the whims of whoever was taking notes at any given moment.

The project team also got the computer programmers to add a shortcut that allows caregivers to quickly access an advance-directive template.

Since the revamped system went live in February 2015, Edmonds said there has been a 469 percent increase in the number of patient charts that include some sort of information about end-of-life care.

But the project was not reaching every patient  or enough of the universitys medical staff.

Yi recalled a trip that some UC San Diego nurses took to the CSU Institute for Palliative Care at Cal State San Marcos. There, they saw WGYLM? signs and learned what the acronym meant. At the time, Cal State San Marcos was in the early stages of creating the What Gives Your Life Meaning? project.

The nurses thought: Why not adopt that program for UC San Diego as well? They liked that the operation could be rolled out in a provocative way and that it didnt simply ask people to fill out advanced directives.

It just makes an introduction in a more positive, intriguing light, Yi said.

So far, nearly 1,300 employees in the UC San Diego Health system have taken the pledge to prepare their end-of-life documents and talk with their loved ones about these issues.

Sharon Hamill, faculty director of the palliative care institute at Cal State San Marcos, said the WGYLM? campaign has been held on that campus for three years in a row and has spread to sister campuses in Fresno and Long Beach.

She said the signature question was created by Helen McNeil, who directs the California State University systems multi-campus palliative care institute, which is also housed on the San Marcos campus.

Hamill also said the message resonates strongly with people of multiple generations, including college students taking care of ailing grandparents or even parents.

I love it when one of them stops me somewhere and tells me they saw one of the signs and were thinking about it all the way to class, she added.

For more information about advance directives, go to nhdd.org.

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Those opposed to giving automatic U.S. citizenship to those born on U.S. soil  even if their parents are not in America legally  often refer to the children as anchor babies.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, wants to end that birthright status. King has tried for years, with little success, and he introduced new legislation early this year.

King and those who agree with him gained far less traction before the administration of President Donald Trump.

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Under Trump, King celebrated with a toast on Twitter after a dreamer  a child immigrant granted immigration leeway by former President Barack Obama  was deported by Trumps Border Patrol.

Kings legislation would restrict automatic citizenship at birth to those with at least one parent who is a citizen, permanent resident, or active duty military member. Kings bill reflects concerns that unauthorized immigrants  and, in some cases, pregnant tourists  come to the U.S. to give birth so that their children will be U.S. citizens.

A debate over the term anchor babies, and the underlying issue that it represents, has existed for years. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was criticized in 2015 for using the term during his unsuccessful bid for the presidency.

Raoul Lowery Contreras wrote in the North County Times in 2007 that the term anchor baby is as derogatory as someone using the N-word.

These children are natural-born United States citizens, Lowery Contreras wrote. They are because the Constitution of the United States says so, and says so unequivocally. Those who use anchor babies are ignorant of the Constitution or cant read and understand it or reject it for specious reasons.

Those who use the term fear that U.S. citizen children born to unauthorized immigrants facilitate more immigration by family members.

The lure of getting free prenatal care, delivery and follow-up care is huge, wrote Stephen Bustanoby of Vista to the Union-Tribune in 2010. Now, youve got more family members lured to sneak in to take advantage of the new citizens status. Remove the enticement to sneak in the country (along with jobs), you remove the motivation.

Americas citizenship policy for babies born here is not the norm, internationally. Only about 20 percent of countries in the world automatically grant citizenship to those born in their borders, according to data from the CIA World Factbook.

Thats 40 out of 196 countries in the Factbook. Most countries with birthright citizenship are in North and South America, including the U.S. and Mexico. In Europe, Ireland is the only country that automatically grants birthright citizenship. Luxembourg will do it only if the person is not able to obtain citizenship from another country through descent.

These are places that wanted to populate their territories with people, with the right kind of people, not the people who were already here necessarily, but the people who were immigrating, said John Torpey, a professor of sociology at The City University of New York, when asked why countries with birthright citizenship laws are so heavily concentrated in the Americas.

Historically, citizenship laws have been based on one of two ideas: citizenship by birth, known as jus soli or law of the soil, and citizenship by descent, known as jus sanguinis or law of the blood.

Torpey said some consider jus soli to have an advantage because its more focused on civics than ethnicity.

I think theres something to that, Torpey said via phone.

The country is not conceived of as a big family, he added. Its conceived of as a nation of fellow citizens wherever their roots may lie.

While a countrys laws are generally based on one of the two models, over time many countries have taken on elements of both, according to Everard Meade, director of the Trans Border Institute at the University of San Diego.

The foundation of Mexicos citizenship laws is jus sanguinis, but today anyone born in Mexico is considered a citizen. Germany, another country whose system is based on citizenship by descent, now has a law allowing the children of noncitizens who have been permanent residents for at least eight years to automatically get citizenship at birth.

Most countries, including those that grant citizenship by birth, have laws that give citizenship based on descent, though they vary extensively in descent requirements, according to the Factbook.

Some require that one parent was a citizen of the country while others require that both parents were citizens. Some countries, including Bahrain, Iran and Somalia, specify that the citizen parent must be the father. Two countries, Algeria and Djibouti, only grant citizenship through the mother.

Only one country  the Holy See, home of the Vatican  does not allow citizenship by descent, according to the Factbook.

When the U.S. was formed, its founders did not include a definition for citizenship in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights.

Thats really important because it was a very intentional oversight, Meade said. European constitutions of the time and European notions of what it meant to be a subject or citizen were very codified and stratified. That founding generation of the United States wanted to reject that.

The first naturalization law, passed in March 1790, allowed for children born abroad to U.S. citizen parents to be considered natural born citizens. It also allowed any Alien being a free white person who lived in the U.S. for two years to become a citizen.

The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, clarified that all those born or naturalized in the U.S. are citizens. That amendment made it possible for recently emancipated slaves to be considered citizens, though many were denied privileges associated with citizenship for the century that followed.

San Diego immigration attorney Regina Knoll grew up in Austria, which doesnt automatically grant citizenship to those born in the country. She said most people living in Austria have citizenship somewhere, but that there are people born in Austria who are not citizens of any country. Theyre called stateless people.

Knoll said via email that is a difficult situation to be in.

Knoll estimated that there are between 2,000 and 3,000 stateless people living in Austria, which had an overall population of about 8.5 million in 2013, according to data from the Austrian embassy in Washington, D.C.

Stateless people really have no voice and arent represented politically in any meaningful way, she said. Those who manage to get work authorization and are legally integrated in the labor market are still impacted because their status is uncertain and they cannot travel outside of the country.

People born stateless in Austria usually have to wait until they are 18 years old to apply for citizenship, Knoll said, and they are not guaranteed to get it.

Austria has ongoing political debates about whether to change its citizenship restrictions, Knoll said, and those debates are highly partisan.

Those who advocate for keeping strict jus sanguinis laws like the idea of the country being able to tightly control who can become a citizen and who cant, she said.

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The San Diego Unified School District is investigating a hostile, anti-Muslim Facebook post that included the telephone phone number and home address of a school board member.

Were looking into an online post that mentioned one of our board members that included his home address as well as some derogatory comments, school district spokesman Andrew Sharp said.

A member of the school board called police about 9 a.m. Thursday to report the post, San Diego police said. An officer responded, but it was later decided the districts police department would handle the investigation.

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The school system did not identify the board member or the exact contents of the post, but early on Thursday morning a Washington state man made a statement on Facebook about board Vice President Kevin Beiser that fits Sharps description.

The post was related to the boards decision last month to mention (but not celebrate) Islamic holidays on school calendars. Students will also learn more about the faith in their social studies lessons about religions. The policies also seeks to prevent Islamophobic discrimination and bullying.

MUST SEE. This is what is happening in San Diego schools now to your kids, the post said.

The man is not being identified because of the threatening nature of the public Facebook post, and because the hostile message includes Beisers home address.

The Washington man included a video clip from a YouTube channel linked to Roger Ogden, a San Diego man who is behind a network of anti-Muslim and anti-Latino and immigrant network of websites and social media accounts. The video included testimony against the policy in front of the San Diego school board, including statements from a man who wore a shirt with a white supremacy symbol.

In case anybody is interested in that lead board member, his name is Kevin Richard Beiser followed by the Beisers home address and phone number, says the Facebook post.

Have at it boys, the comment continued before ending with a smiley face emoji.

The school systems new policy was opposed by some parents, including a few who believed that the policy implemented Sharia law at schools, which it does not.

Board members, who voted unanimously in favor of the policy, said it would make schools better for all students, giving them a better understanding of different cultures.

Islam, Christianity and other religions already are mentioned in school curriculum in the context of evolving world history.

When we create a climate where its OK to celebrate diversity and difference, then it makes all of our children safer, Baiser said at a school board meeting. Not just the children who happen to be Muslim.

The Washington mans other posts portray immigrants as criminals, claim that Sharia law is replacing public policy in the United States, and links to videos and content made by white supremacists. His profile picture is two crossed Confederate battle flags.

In April, San Diego Unified enacted a policy intended to prevent Muslim students from being bullied because of their faith, which includes discussion of Islam in curriculum.

The decision follows a 2015 study by the Council for American-Islamic Relations that determined that 55 percent of Muslim students in California schools said they were bullied because of their faith.

Twitter: @jptstewart

joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1841
At a candlelight vigil Wednesday evening outside the University City apartment complex where a gunman shot seven people last weekend, 200 mourners prayed for peace and honored the life of Monique Clark, the mother of three who was killed.

We are here to stand together for peace, said Archie Robinson, a Lemon Grove pastor.

Standing in front of Clarks immediate family, Robinson read their statement, which said in part: No family should have to experience this type of loss and pain that is indescribable. The loss of Monique is a loss ... for the community, too.

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San Diego Councilwoman Barbara Bry, whose district includes University City, spoke directly to Clarks family and offered her condolences.

Im horrified by what happened here, she said after the vigil. I think its important to come together to show support for the family. I cant even imagine the hurt theyre feeling.

The San Diego City Council will adjourn in honor of Clark at a future meeting.

Bry said she was moved to see a diverse crowd  which included people of all ages and races  embracing and consoling each other.

Among the crowd at the vigil was Sarah Fallin, a La Jolla Crossroads Apartments resident who said she was home feeding her 10-week-old son when the shooting occurred. She said she showed up Wednesday to support the victims families, but also to help her deal with her emotions.

I want to process what happened, she said. To be at home with my baby and to hear the gunfire and to know that lives were taken and people were hurt in my home definitely affects me, especially more so now that Im a mother.

People lit candles as several pastors prayed for those touched by the violence. At the end of the vigil, organizers asked those in the crowd to look for someone who looked different from them and give that person a hug.

Two prayers services were also held nearby in response to Sundays mass shooting at the apartment complex on Judicial Drive.

Jenn-Jenn Marshall and Brian Westpoint embrace Wednesday before the start of a vigil Monique Clark, 35, who was killed when Peter Selis, 49, shot her and six other people attending a poolside birthday party Sunday. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Peter Selis, who lived there, took a gun to the pool, and shortly after 6 p.m. started shooting at a group of people celebrating another residents birthday.

Selis was shot and killed in a shootout with police. The San Diego Police Department on Wednesday identified the officers involved in the shooting as Sgt. Michael Mcewen, a 20-year veteran; and Officer Luke Hammond and Officer Jonathan Ferraro, who have each been with the department for a year.

Selis is white, and all but one of his seven victims were black or Latino. Clark, 35, was the only person who died.

The day after the shooting, San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman told reporters there was zero information indicating the crime was racially motivated and pointed to Selis despondency over a breakup.

However, those who attended the party and some black community leaders have voiced frustration in recent days that police so quickly ruled out that the shooting was racially motivated. Some at the party said they believe they were targeted because they are black and that Selis didnt fire on white people at the pool who were closer to him.

Homicide investigators on Wednesday said they still have not found any evidence that Selis acted out of racial animosity, but that the investigation is far from over.

Our belief at this time is this group was targeted because of their proximity to the suspect, said San Diego police Capt. Brian Ahearn. Were left with trying to piece together what happened without being able to ask him.

He said if the investigation shows a racial motivation, police will make that public.

Im very sensitive to the fact witnesses feel race was a factor. I know people are saying he chose only minorities to shoot, and that he allowed Caucasian people to leave.

However, Ahearn noted that Selis shot one white woman, and refrained from shooting more than one African-American person who was directly in range. And he said a black man told investigators he believes he was not shot because Selis recognized him as a former co-worker.

Detectives are continuing with interviews and still have to search Selis cellphone and computer for anything that would speak to motive.

Said Ahearn: What we dont have is any statements (about a racial motive) made be the suspect, any gesture made by the suspect, any note left, any writings, text messages, social media postings, or propaganda in his home or car. (There arent any) phone calls to any witnesses who have said, he told me he was going to do this to African-Americans, or Hispanics, or any other group.

Ultimately, Ahearn added, investigators may never know if Selis targeted his victims because of their race.

Were left with trying to piece together what happened without being able to ask him.  San Diego police Capt. Brian Ahearn.

According to court records and his attorney, Selis was under a lot of financial strain. He had filed bankruptcy in 2009 and in 2015 and owed substantial amounts of money to medical groups, credit card companies, and creditors.

Attorney Steven Houbeck, who handled Selis 2015 bankruptcy, said he had come under new financial pressures in the past two months when he was sent a letter seeking to collect money and threatening him with jail.

Selis had filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in 2015 and had worked out a payment schedule for debts, including $25,000 to Snap-on Credit of Illinois, which manufactures tools.

He owed a lot of money to Snap-on, Houbeck said. He was really stressed out. He had all these payments to make and he told me he had all these mouths to feed. He could not make ends meet.

Selis received a letter in February demanding payment of $3,542 that he owed to Snap-on  or he would face criminal prosecution.

He was told if he wanted to avoid being arrested and prosecuted he had to pay in full, Houbeck said. They started calling him afterward. He was freaking out.

Houbeck contacted Snap-on on Selis behalf, and he said the company was looking into the demand letter.

We were in the process of doing that when the shooting happened, Houbeck said.

Representatives for Snap-on did not immediately respond to a call Wednesday.

On Facebook, family photos paint a happier picture of Selis life.

At a dinner for a sister-in-laws birthday, he sits with a smile, his baby niece at his side, in a photograph posted in January. The table at the Venetian Restaurant in Point Loma was crowded with family members.

At the end of March, Selis went to Mission Brewery to celebrate his younger brothers birthday. He and six of his seven siblings posed for a series of photos. In one shot, Selis and his two brothers made silly faces.

The Selis family got together for holidays and other special occasions, social media accounts show, suggesting the clan was tight-knit.

The family released the following statement: Our family feels the unbearable pain caused by Petes senseless acts. We cannot understand what would have caused Pete to do this. Words cannot express our profound grief and sorrow for all the victims and their families. On behalf of our family, we are so sorry that this happened. We ask that you please respect our privacy. We will miss our beloved Pete forever.

Staff writers Karen Kucher and Lyndsay Winkley contributed to this story.
A 54-year-old man was seriously injured after his motorcycle smashed into a car in North Park Wednesday night, San Diego police said.

The man was riding eastbound on El Cajon Boulevard when a driver in a westbound car turned south onto Ohio Street, across the path of the rider, police said. The motorcycle struck the front-end of the Plymouth Neon sedan about 8 p.m.

Paramedics took the motorcyclist to a hospital with a serious leg injury that was not life-threatening, police said.

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The driver in the car was not hurt.

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Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com

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Richard Figueroa still shudders at the memory of the calls he fielded as enrollment director of Californias special health plan for sick patients whod been rejected by insurers.

Desperate callers pleaded to get off the waiting list as cancer or other illnesses worsened. Enrollees struggled to understand why the plan would not cover all the treatment they needed.

Most heart-wrenching were the quiet, polite calls from those whod received a letter that a sick relative could finally get on the plan. They would say, Thank you, but you can give our slot to someone else, because my brother or my wife or my daughter has died, Figueroa recalled.

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Californias high-risk pool  like similar overstretched state plans around the country became obsolete when the Affordable Care Act established a new federal system to guarantee coverage to Americans even if theyre sick.

Now President Trump and congressional Republicans are trying to shift responsibility for overseeing health protections back to states. This approach, including re-creating state high-risk pools, is a cornerstone of the GOP healthcare bill that Republicans are laboring to get through the House this week.

GOP House leaders announced late Wednesday that they plan to hold a vote Thursday. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy predicted they have enough votes for passage, despite earlier struggles to win over moderates and conservatives.

But Californias experience underscores the limitations of what states can do on their own.

The nations most-populous state tried repeatedly over the years to plug the many holes in its healthcare system. Yet even with a huge economy, extensive medical system and committed advocates, including in powerful industries, California came up short, again and again.

We did all these things as stop-gaps, said Figueroa, who now works at the California Endowment, one of the states largest foundations. None of it was enough.

When President Obama signed the federal health law in 2010, nearly 20% of Californians  about 6 million people  lacked health coverage.

Today, by contrast, the states uninsured rate is below 9%, as California has used the federal funding and insurance rules enacted through the Affordable Care Act to extend health protections to hundreds of thousands of previously uncovered Californians.

Once we had that framework and the federal funding, we were off to the races, said Anthony Wright, the longtime head of Health Access California, one of the states leading consumer advocates. But without it, it was very, very hard.  We have the experience to show that if health reform was easy at the state level, California would have done it. We couldnt.

The states healthcare struggles are hardly unique.

In the decades before Obamacare, some states  including Arizona, Washington, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota and New York  tried to expand health protections for their residents by bolstering safety net health programs or rewriting insurance rules to ensure sick customers could get coverage.

But most states  including many with the highest uninsured rates, such as Texas, Florida and Georgia  never undertook serious efforts to guarantee coverage.

And although there were some modest successes, mostly in expanding Medicaid coverage, nearly every state effort to guarantee coverage failed until Obamacare made such protections possible nationwide.

In fact, in the last two decades, only Massachusetts successfully crafted a healthcare overhaul that provided all of its residents with insurance protections. That 2006 initiative  which was heavily subsidized by the last Bush administration  became the model for Obamacare.

We have the experience to show that if health reform was easy at the state level, California would have done it. We couldnt.  Anthony Wright, head of Health Access California

California elected officials labored for years to build their own system of health protections. The state long had among the highest uninsured rates, despite being a hub of healthcare innovation whose leading medical centers have been international destinations.

Medi-Cal, the states Medicaid safety net, was perpetually overburdened as it struggled to care for millions of poor Californians.

And insurance companies worked aggressively to exclude sick, costly customers, in many cases rescinding policies after customers got ill by alleging they misrepresented their medical histories.

The market was a disaster, said Tom Epstein, a former senior executive at Blue Shield of California, one of the states leading insurers.

Among other things, California tried to require large employers to provide health coverage to their workers, though that effort was defeated in a statewide referendum just months after it was enacted.

The state adopted insurance rules to give consumers more power to challenge decisions by health plans, though state leaders were never able to make insurers cover all sick patients.

In 1991, the state set up the Major Risk Medical Insurance Program, commonly called Mr. Mip, a high-risk insurance pool to offer a lifeline to patients whod been turned down for coverage on the commercial insurance market.

By the late 90s, the plan, which was funded in part by premiums and in part by a voter-approved tobacco tax, was serving 22,000 people.

But as premiums soared because insuring sick patients was so expensive, the program became increasingly difficult to sustain. Enrollment was capped, as were benefits. The plan would only cover $75,000 of enrollees medical costs per year.

By 2010, when Obamacare was signed, the cost for a 50-year-old consumer in the Sacramento area who wanted a PPO plan had soared to $878 a month.

It was a nice little program for a few thousand people, said Lucien Wulsin, former head of the Insure the Uninsured Project, a state advocacy group. But we never got close to reaching the hundreds of thousands of Californians who needed help.

Finally in 2007, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, launched a sweeping campaign to push through a major healthcare overhaul to extend coverage to millions of uninsured Californians.

The landmark effort, in which Schwarzenegger partnered with Democrats in the state Assembly, picked up critical support from hospitals, patient groups and even some insurers and leading businesses.

But the effort ultimately collapsed amid opposition from advocacy groups on the left and right, and questions about how the state could pay for extending health coverage.

Engaging in comprehensive reform is not for the faint of heart, said Kim Belshe, who served as health secretary under Schwarzenegger. You are talking about nearly 20% of the states economy. You are talking about issues that affect people in the most personal way. And you are dealing with the pocketbooks of a diverse array of healthcare providers, each of which have their own interests.

Belshe and others credit that effort for helping setting the stage for the states aggressive implementation of the Affordable Care Act, which Schwarzenegger and other state leaders enthusiastically embraced.

California has undertaken a massive expansion of its Medicaid program and runs an insurance marketplace  Covered California  that is widely seen as a national model.

The state has recorded among the largest drops in its uninsured population, and though costs remain a challenge, most California consumers can still shop among many health plans that are required by the state to offer lower out-of-pocket costs for some medical care than the federal standard.

Doctors, hospitals, insurers, patient advocates and elected officials now worry that progress in California will be reversed if the federal law is rolled back and the state is once again left on its own.

Said Figueroa: Its so odd to think that we would even consider going back to the bad old days.

noam.levey@latimes.com

Twitter: @noamlevey

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This article was orginally published at 11:40 a.m.
To conclude National Donate Life Month in San Diego County, Palomar Medical Center Escondido held a flag lowering ceremony.

During the April 28 event, Vista Firefighter of the Year Mike McFadden presented a Donate Life flag to San Diego Police Sgt. Rich Metz, a Poway resident. Metz accepted the flag on behalf of the family of the late SDPD Detective Tim Williams, a Poway resident and 30-year police officer, who as an organ donor saved the lives of three people after he died in a 2015 bicycle accident.

Almost 10 years ago McFadden received a heart transplant. Palomar Health officials said he is the first heart transplant recipient in the U.S. to return to active duty as a firefighter.

Officials said that in 2016, organ donors saved 363 lives in San Diego County, including 49 patients at Palomar Medical Centers in Poway and Escondido. Currently there are more than 2,200 people, including 25 children, in San Diego on organ waiting lists.

Anyone who would like to register as an organ or tissue donor may do so at the Department of Motor Vehicles or online at www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org or doneVIDA.org.

email: rbnews@pomeradonews.com
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In 1862, the U.S. was embroiled in a Civil War, but there was also an entirely different battle going on in North America, as France fought Mexico at Puebla.

The French emperor, Napoleon III, saw Mexico as an ideal acquisition that would give France a foothold in the western hemisphere. French General Charles Lorencez decided to attack Mexican troops entrenched at Puebla.

It should have been an easy win, as 6,000 French soldiers attacked 2,000 Mexican troops on May 5, 1862. But the French assaults were repeatedly thrown back by the Mexicans, who inflicted heavy losses. The French lost 462 men, the Mexicans just 83.

American newspapers must have assumed what seemed the most likely outcome: That the Mexican government had fled Puebla and the French were advancing on Mexico City.

Not until May 31, 1862, was the Post able to set the record straight with this item under the heading Mexican Affairs.

Semi-official advices from sources favorable to Mexico, with dates from the City of Mexico to the 12th, from Jalapa to the 8th, and from Vera Cruz to the 12th inst., received at Washington, show the falsity of much that has been published. The Constitutional Government has not abandoned the City of Mexico, nor is it likely to do so. The French and Mexicans had a battle at Humbres de Aculzingo, the result of which is not clear. [The French captured the first line of Mexican defenses, causing the Mexicans to withdraw to Puebla.] The French claim a victory, but would seem to have lost more men, especially in officers, than the Mexicans. Up to the last dates indeed the French had not occupied Puebla, which is only an easy two days march from Humbres. General Zaragoza, the Mexican General-in-Chief, had defeated Marquez on his way to join the French, and was preparing to fight the French before Puebla. Great preparations were making in the City of Mexico for resistance to the invaders in case Puebla was lost. Gen. Ortega had arrived there with 6,000 volunteers from the state of which he is governor. Forces from other states were rallying to the defence of the capital. As soon as the French left Soledad and Cordova, both places were occupied by Gen. Llave, the Constitutional Governor of the state of Vera Cruz, within the limits of which they are situated. He had cut off the invading armys communication with the coast. Gen. Llave was also marching upon Orizaba. Almonte had vainly expected pronunciamentos [public declarations of opposition by troops, usually the preparation for a military coup] in his favor in the interior, in places not under French bayonets. Mr. Corwin in the treaty which he has negotiated offers a loan from the United States to the Government of [Benito] Juarez of $10,000,000. Mr. Allen, our Consult at Minatitlan, had brought the treaty to Washington.

This item was followed in the next issue with this brief but important notice.

Mexico. The steamer Orizaba brings news from the city of Mexico, via Acupulco, to the 8th ult. On that day the French army commenced retreating from before Puebla towards Amesa. It appears that there had previously been some fighting. The following is the dispatch announcing the news to President Juarez: Puebla, May 8  Word was received at the city of Mexico on the 7th p.m. that we have triumphed. The French has since commenced retreating. We offered them battle this morning, forming our troops in front of their camp, but they refused to accept our challenge, and have turned their backs to their foolish hardihood and unpardonable credulity. Please receive the compliments of General Sara Gasa [Zaragoza] and myself. Yours, forever (signed) Ignacio Migl.

Americans would have welcomed the news. They dreaded the possibility of France establishing itself in the New World and involving itself in American politics, especially since the French government sympathized with the Confederacy and were ready to exchange military aid for southern cotton.

President Lincoln personally supported Mexicos struggle for liberty, and he didnt relish the idea of confronting both the Confederacy and a French colonial force. This probably explained the federal loan of $10 million to Mexico.

In time, that initial victory at Puebla was undone. The French rallied their forces and moved beyond Puebla to occupy Mexico City and install a puppet government. Napoleon III installed Mexicos first emperor, Maximilian I.

But by 1866, Napoleon III realized he couldnt suppress the continued Mexican resistance  and, with our Civil War ended, ongoing pressure from the U.S. He withdrew his troops and, within months, Maximilian I was led before a firing squad.

It is Mexicos determination to remain independent, demonstrated to the world in 1862, that is celebrated on Cinco de Mayo.

Featured image: The Battle of Puebla (Wikimedia Commons)
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/04/2017 -- Latest Research Report entitled "Global Solar Glass Market: Trends & Opportunities (2014-2019) "provide an insight into the market dynamics and various trends and challenges associated with the solar glass market. The report gives a detail insight into volume demand of solar glass over the past five years. A separate section on China solar glass market has been provided that discusses production capacity and market players. Major drivers and challenges are also covered in detail in the report. The competitive aspects of the market are also highlighted and key players namely Xinyi Solar, Asahi Glass, NSG Group and Saint Gobain are profiled with their main business strategies.



Geographical Coverage



Global

China

Company Coverage



Xinyi Solar

Asahi Glass Co.

NSG Group

Saint Gobain



Get The Sample Copy Of This report : http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/198335



Executive Summary



Solar or photovoltaic glass is generally used to cover the front sheet of solar modules to protect the solar cells. It minimizes light reflection and absorption thereby allowing more sunlight to pass through the protective glass to the solar cells. The demand for solar glass has grown at a remarkable pace over the past few years. Factors driving this demand include recovery in global economies and Government subsidies provided to encourage solar power generation. Although the percentage share of solar glass out of total flat glass produced globally is very minimal, its share is estimated to increase driven by rising solar panel installations.



China has the largest manufacturing base for solar modules in the world. In 2012, the solar glass production capacity in China accounted for 90% of the global solar glass production capacity. As of 30th June 2013, there were 58 solar glass manufacturers in China of which 38 produced ultra-clear photovoltaic raw glass. Xinyi Solar (XYS) is a leading global solar glass manufacturer in China and currently operates 4 ultra-clear PV raw glass production lines with an aggregate daily production capacity of 2,000 tons.



Get More Details : http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/analysis/198335



Factors like steady demand growth of photovoltaic modules especially in emerging markets like China, Japan and India, growing environmental concerns and rising feed-in-tariffs will drive the solar glass market in future. Initially the industry was dominated by leading glass manufacturers like Asahi Glass, Saint-Gobain, and PPG but at present many new players have entered the market that solely produces solar glass.
Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/04/2017 -- According to a recent study by Transparency Market Research (TMR), the molded plastics market in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is highly fragmented, with ten of the leading companies collectively accounting for merely one-third of the shares in 2014. The report detects that more than 60% of these companies are located in Saudi Arabia and there is still high scope of capacity expansion. Investors are focused on acquiring machinery for producing a variety of molded plastic products with world-class quality. Moreover, expansion of product portfolio is the potential way forward to accelerated growth. Most of the leading market players are focusing on export markets as these offer higher margin and better bottom-line growth.



The report evaluates that the GCC molded plastics market was worth US$5.5 bn in 2014, and estimates the valuation to reach US$14.2 bn by the end of 2023, increasing at a robust CAGR of 8.3% during the forecast period of 2015 to 2023. Major molded plastics manufacturers such as Al Barsha Plastic Product Company LLC have developed the capability for plastic molding as well as manufacture of molding machinery. This gives them a competitive advantage and equips them with fast adaptive capability aligned with market shifts.



Browse Market Research Report @ http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/gcc-molded-plastics-market.html



Cost-effectiveness Maintains Injection Molding as Key Segment



Application-wise, the molded plastics market in Gulf Cooperation Council is segmented into consumable and electronics, packaging, building and construction, consumable and electronics, and others such as toys and furniture. Among these, packaging was rated as the most attractive application in the molded plastics market in GCC. The packaging industry is witnessing rapid growth as a result of increase in trade activities and growth in the industrial as well as consumer goods markets. Increasing population is the most significant stimulant for increase in sales of goods.



Technology-wise, the molded plastics market in GCC has been categorized into injection molding, thermoforming, blow molding, and others such as casting and rotomolding. In 2014, in terms of volume, the injection molding market for molded plastics in GCC stood at 1,384 kilo tons and is estimated to reach 2,727.6 kilo tons in 2023, as it is most frequently used technology employed to mold plastics into a wide range of shape and sizes, and is cost efficient.



Fill the form to gain deeper insights on this market @ http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=9779



Country-wise, the TMR report bifurcates the GCC molded plastics market into UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain. In 2014, Saudi Arabia contributed 62.0% of the demand for molded plastics in GCC, and is expected to remain most profitable country throughout the forecast period. UAE is rated as the second most lucrative region, although the demand is anticipated to decrease in comparison to Oman.



Packaging Industry Augmenting Demand



Rapid growth of the packaging industry in the Middle East and rapid construction are the two most prominent factors driving the GCC molded plastics market. Apart from the increase in trade activities in GCC, domestic consumption of packaged consumer products is rising with increase in local population and thereby providing a thrust to the market for molded plastics in the Gulf Cooperation Council. Molded plastics are mostly employed in rigid packaging of food and beverages, cosmetics, consumer goods, industrial items, and medical supplies. As far as the demand from the construction industry is concerned, increased government spending on new projects, both for commercial and residential purposes, is expected to boost the market for molded plastics. Conversely, unpredictable demand patterns in Europe and the Middle East owing to economic and political instability is expected to hamper the growth are during the forecast period.



According to the author of the report, "investments in research and development activities and product portfolio expansion is will open new opportunities for the players in this market."



Key Segments of the GCC Molded Plastics Market



GCC Molded Plastics Market  Technology Analysis

-Injection Molding

-Blow Molding

-Thermoforming

-Others (Including Rotomolding, Casting, etc.)



GCC Molded Plastics Market  Application Analysis

-Packaging

-Consumable & Electronics

-Automotive & Transportation

-Building & Construction

-Others (Including toys, furniture, etc.)



The information presented in this review is based on a Transparency Market Research report, titled, "Molded Plastics Market (Technology - Injection Molding, Blow Molding, and Thermoforming; Application - Packaging, Consumables and Electronics, Automotive and Transportation, and Building and Construction) - GCC Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015-2023."
A new species of an invasive Asian clam is threatening the Lake Michigan. While there are several invasive creatures that are inching toward the Great Lake like the Asian carp, scientists confirmed that the clam is a whole new threat to the lakes' balance. Further, the Asian clam found an unusual entry pint - the Illinois River.

If taken into the general perspective, the Asian clam is going to end up in the Lake Michigan with short notice. From then on, experts will have a hard time controlling their spread over the waters that are not naturally their home. The Asian clam might join with the carps, mussels, bivalves, goldfish, and even invasive plants. The growing problem of invasive species in the Great Lakes escalates out of species that are supposedly native in Africa, Asia, and Australia.

The Asian clam is thought to have been brought in the North America by immigrants who grows them for food. The clam eventually colonized several waterways in the past decades. To make the matter worse, these clams are preying on the native scale shell, according to Science Daily.

Meanwhile, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warned that the proliferation of invasive species like the Asian clam in Lake Michigan or the Great Lakes, in general, can damage the ecosystem. The invasive species out-competes the native species and short-circuits the natural food web. To date, there are about 180 invasive species listed by NOAA under its GLANSIS project.

The Great Lakes Aquatic Non-Indigenous Species Information System aims to halt the spread of invasive species. It is a collection of records of species like the Asian clam and their respective are of concentration and spread. GLANSIS provides technical information about threats in the Great Lakes so that the natural resources manager can react accordingly. However, it has been noted that the invasive species are colonizing rapidly before any concrete measures can be taken up.


Google's highly anticipated upcoming flagship smartphone, possibly dubbed as Google Pixel 2, is already making headlines despite it being officially announced. There are numerous reports speculating how the next Google smartphone might look like or what specs and features it will come packed with. Notably, the search giant has not revealed anything about Google Pixel 2's specs, release date or price details.

According to The Christian Post, there are high chances that Google might release three Google Pixel 2 variants this year. Notably, SlashGear recently uncovered code commits from the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) that suggests Pixel 2 is already in development.

As per the report, the upcoming Pixel 2 has been codenamed Walleye, Pixel 2 XL as Muskie and the third Pixel 2 XXL variant as Taimen. It is to be noted that the three codenames are in line with Google's tendency to code name their upcoming devices after fish. The current generation Pixel and Pixel XL were reportedly codenamed Sailfish and Marlin, respectively, when they were in the development stage.

In another set of Android Code Commit, David Zeuthen, a senior software engineer at Google, mentioned about a "real device" and also noted "Finally got around to manually testing this on a walleye device," Slash Gear reported. The upcoming handsets will reportedly be manufactured by HTC that has inked a two-year manufacturing deal with the tech giant to develop the Pixel phones.

Talking about possible Google Pixel 2's specs, all the three handsets are rumored to come powered by the Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 835 processor. The Google Pixel 2 XXL or Taimen is expected to flaunt a larger display, possibly a 6.2-inch screen, as compared to the other two Pixel 2 variants.

No specific Google Pixel 2 release date has been announced yet. However, it is expected that Google might throw some light on the devices at its Google I/O developer conference that is scheduled to begin from May 17, Wednesday, at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California.
Scientists discovered a gigantic wave of hot gas swirling near the Perseus galaxy cluster based on the data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. It is located 250 million light-years away from the planet Earth and could have likely formed billions of years ago.

A Cosmic Tsunami Twice the Size of the Milky Way Roils Perseus Galaxy Cluster https://t.co/gkHBdISHaC pic.twitter.com/4H2fCwA29c  Alton Parrish (@nanopatents) May 4, 2017

Stephen Walker, the lead author from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said that the wave they have detected is linked with the flyby of a smaller cluster that shows the merger activity that generated these giant structures is still ongoing. The researchers theorized that billion years ago, a smaller galaxy cluster merged with the Perseus cluster. This has caused Perseus' supply of interstellar gas discharged around. It resulted to a tsunami-like wave that could be seen glowing in X-ray, according to Gizmodo.

Scientists Find Giant Wave Rolling Through the Perseus Galaxy Cluster https://t.co/vKl3XlH40a  Craig Brownell (@tarotcards) May 4, 2017

John ZuHone, an astrophysicist from Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, explained that galaxy cluster mergers signify the latest stage of the formation of structure in the cosmos. He further explained that hydrodynamic simulations of merging clusters allow them to create features in the hot gas and tune physical parameters like the magnetic field. With this, they could attempt to match the detailed characteristics of the structures they observe in X-rays, as noted by Space.com.

Meanwhile, Walker said that the bay feature they see in Perseus could be a part of a Kelvin-Helmholtz wave. This could be the largest ever detected that shaped in much the same way as the simulation shows. They also identified the same features in the two other galaxy clusters, namely the Abell 1795 and the Centaurus.
It seems like the South Korean tech giant is not done launching its flagship products for this year. Recent reports claim that Samsung might be launching the controversial Galaxy Note 7 successor soon. The fire-prone phone dragged the company's name down, but is it a right move for Samsung to release a Galaxy Note 8?

According to Trusted Reviews, Samsung might probably launch the Galaxy Note 8 around August or September 2017. The device is expected to have dual-lens camera just like the Apple's iPhone 7. Dual-lens cameras can zoom in and out objects up to double the distance without loss of image quality. This new feature is perfect for users who love taking pictures.

The Galaxy Note 7 made a lot of fans and Android users disappointed. Tech critics suggest that bearing the brand name "Galaxy Note" is a bad idea for the company. Critics are already expecting that the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 would have low sales, just because people have not forgotten the issue of the previous model.

According to a Mashable report, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 might also have an S Pen. The S Pen is a staple tool for Galaxy Note line device. The device would also have an amazing 6.4-inch infinity display screen. The Galaxy Note 8 might also come in four different colors: maple gold, orchid gray, arctic silver and midnight black.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8's three-speaker layout would also bring stunning sound quality. The recently launched Galaxy S8 is considered the best Android device at present. The company needs to add more impressive features for the Note 8 to compete with the Galaxy S8's sales.

Fans do not need to worry for Galaxy Note 8's future issues. DJ Koh, Samsung's mobile chief, assured that the company will be launching a safer, better and innovative Galaxy Note 8 this year. Previous rumors and speculations say that Samsung would kill the Galaxy Note brand name, but it seems that the rumors were not true at all.
4 & 20 Bakery and Cafe at 306 N. Fourth St. opened in 2012. Following the recent death of baker Mandy Puntney, the business has decided to close.
'Destination Immersion is the heartbeat of our brand, so naturally we wanted to deliver authentic experiences in Cuba from new ports to unique land discovery offeringsthat truly bring the countrys rich history, culture and people to life,' said Larry Pimentel, president and ceo, Azamara.

Beginning January 2018, Azamara Quest will visit Cienfuegos on Cuba's south-central coast and Santiago de Cuba, the country's second largest city.

The newly added Cuba stops are on the Jan. 4 'Panama Canal & Costa Rica Voyage,' 11 nights, from Miami to Costa Rica and 'Cuba Intensive Voyage,' March 9, a 10-night Miami to Havana program with two overnights in Havana. 'Cuba & Grand Cayman Voyage' sails March 19, seven nights, round-trip Miami, and 'Cuba Intensive Voyage' departs March 28, a 10-night round-trip Miami program with two nights in Havana.

Azamara offers a number of people-to-people shore excursions for activities from sunup to sundown. Passengers can explore historic sites by day, followed by mojitos and Cuban music in the evening. Multiple overnights enable travelers to hear music at salsa clubs and sample the local food.

Excursions include a visit to the open-air Tropicana cabaret, a Nelson Dominguez art gallery tour, Havana by classic car along the Malecon (waterfront) and Hemingways Havana, with more experiences coming soon. All tour programs offered by Azamara are designed to meet US requirements for travel to Cuba.
Sonia Acosta.

Ever since a young age, Sonia Acosta has enjoyed helping people live happier, healthier lives, first in Mexico and now in Pontiac, where she's the president and CEO of Centro Multicultural La Familia , a non-profit that takes a holistic approach to assisting the community with social support services."It's satisfying to help others have access to things like health equity and equal opportunity to advancing their lives," says Acosta. "We want all children to do well at school so they can be happy and productive members of society. We want them to say, 'Yes, I can do this just like anybody else.'"Sonia Acosta got her bachelor's degree in psychology in Mexico. She'd then be awarded a scholarship from the Rotary International Foundation, bringing her to Western Michigan University for her masters in psychology. She'd also receive her Ph.D. in psychology from WMU. She got married at that time, and had her daughter here, too.When Acosta joined Centro in 1992, the agency focused solely on mental health treatment. Under her leadership, Centro has expanded services to cover a wide range of issues, including health and wellness assistance, citizenship education, and English as Second Language classes. Centro also helps other agencies engage with Pontiac's Latino community, improving residents' access to additional services.In 2007, Acosta helped split off Centro into an independent non-profit. Today, Centro is offering more services to more people. Acosta believes her role with the non-profit is to develop programs based on the feedback she receives from the community, to respond to people's experiences."There's been an increase in immigrants feeling unwelcome, these past few months. We're working to help reduce those levels of anxiety and help children feel safer here. We want people to go beyond prejudice, and not be so quick to judge," says Acosta."That's what motivates me."Metromode asked Sonia Acosta more about her motivations and her Pontiac.This was the first city I came to where I found a job that I love and continue to love. It allows me to work with people of different backgrounds that are very interested in making Pontiac the Pontiac that they knew before. I got here in 1992, but I understand from talking to people that it was a very prosperous city and I feel that we're moving in the right direction. I've participated in events with the mayor and faith-based leaders, the nearby universities, the Pontiac Business Association; they're all interested in making Pontiac a better place to be. We're one of the oldest tenants in the Riker Building, and I've always felt very safe here. With all the restaurants opening and the music, food, and culture happening--it's the right place to be.This is the city where my job is and the people we serve live here. I think it's a great place to be from. Lakes and parks surround us, and there are lots of great businesses in the area. To me, it's surprising that there are not more businesses here because of the geographic area that we're in, all these natural resources, the people that love this city. For all the businesses that have moved away, others are coming back because they see the potential here.I feel that some people that have been here for a long time have become complacent. There's still a lot of disagreement between people because they're focusing on their own interests and that's what stops progress. People don't get along because they're not focusing on our common goals. But I assume that happens everywhere. Bureaucracy, red tape are things I've never liked. At Centro, we're working to remove that. What we can do is at the community level, try to be there and offer solutions, give input, and make some changes. We're not on a political level but a community level and focus on a healthier and happier Pontiac.That it continues going in the right direction. Here, when a business opens, you feel more support for the small business owners. People are meeting about concerns, especially in the downtown area. The building we're in, the new owner is making a lot of improvements, and you can see it help the economy. I want to see more of that happening. The work with schools, the police department and its relationship to the community--there has been a lot of that happening and hope it continues to happen. I hope people put aside competing interests for the benefit of the city. There's a lot of potential and no reason it shouldn't be that way.That Pontiac is in a renewal state where it welcomes people from all over the state and beyond so they can come and be a part of the rebirth of the city. And that we see the changes that cause prosperity, not only financially but where people feel more connected. We don't want to be an island. We want to be a place where people from other places come and take part in cultural events. The mayor seems concerned about all the residents, regardless of their backgrounds, and listens to the needs of the community. Those who used to be down on Pontiac are now promoting it to their friends. You can come here, have fun, and engage with all the different activities happening.Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet @mikegalbraith
When Abbey Thompson tells people she is opening a cat cafe this summer the response is often, Ooh. My cat would love that. Thompson wants you to know that her cafe will come complete with its own cats, so she respectfully asks you to please leave your beloved kitty at home.What she is creating is a place for people and rescue cats to mingle. And maybe enough bonding that the people will want to adopt the kitties. All her cats will be adoptable through Cat Nap Lodge in Richland. Kzoo Cat Cafe will be a first for the city, but there are several others in Michigan and a growing number of cat cafes have been operating across the United States for about two years. The original cat cafe opened to customers in Taiwan in 1998, then the first Japanese cat cafe opened its doors in Osaka in 2004. The idea took off in Japan where pets often are not allowed in homes. Since then cat cafes have opened around the world.In Japan, where reportedly there are more than 150 cat cafes, the cats often stay in a single cafe for many years. In the United Sates, the concept has morphed into a way to introduce people to cats who need a home. The concept arrived in the United States in 2014 at the Cat Town Cafe in Oakland, Calif.Thompson, a lifelong cat lover with two rescue cats  Gus and Ollie at home, learned of the idea through a YouTube video of a young boy finding a cat that would become his pet at a cat cafe. She became determined to experience one for herself. After a disappointment in London, she finally visited one in Australia (It was like heaven) and became convinced that opening a cat cafe of her own was what she wanted to do. She went on to visit a few closer to home, including one in her previous hometown of Madison, Wisc., one at a conference she attended in Texas, and a couple of those now open in Michigan.She says that since her Australia visit, opening the cat cafe has been all shes talked about. Visits to already opened cafes provided her with the information she needed on how to run a cat cafe that is good for both people and cats, plus she got to spend time with cats. She has spoken with consultants and has researched food laws, health codes, and animal shelters. The challenge is that there is not a lot of precedence in this kind of business.She is currently working with the city building inspectors and Michigan Department of Agriculture regulators to make sure all the requirements will be followed in order to have a space where beverages and snacks are available along with the cats. Meetings with the health department and the Michigan Department of Agriculture are all part of the work that has to be done before the cafe can open its doors.Doing it right is our No. 1 priority, Thompson says.Thompsons idea to bring a cat cafe to Kalamazoo got closer to reality with the success of a Kickstarter campaign . She raised $15,721  $721 over her goal. Another milestone was reached with the location of a space for the cafe, next door to Jimmy Johns on West Michigan Avenue and within walking distance of both Kalamazoo College and WMU campuses.Thompson says that once the business gets up and running she expects to have about 10 cats at the cafe and, with time, may have as many as 20. The goal is that the cats will be adopted quickly as they will be getting more exposure than they currently do at the rescue. Ultimately, more cats will be able to be rescued if cats are adopted more quickly.The cafe also wont have fancy coffee drinks served by baristas. Patrons will pay a fee as they enter and select their snack and beverage. It will be self-serve, probably from a Keurig machine. And it will be open for limited hours, evenings and weekends, in the beginning. Thompson will be keeping her day job as a residence hall director for the department of student affairs at Western Michigan University while the business builds.She will be seeking volunteers to help with kitty care and also those who will be willing to help out at Cat Nap Lodge , working with owner Joni Kelley. As Thompson explains on her Kickstarter page the cats and kittens have all been rescued from unsafe or unhealthy situations, treated by Dr. Ruey Stocking at the Red Barn Cat Clinic, loved and socialized by devoted Cat Nap Lodge Volunteers and made ready for forever homes of their own.Thompson and her business partner Rob Towner estimate that the money raised through the Kickstarter campaign may be enough to make the renovations to the cafe and pay rent for about six months, though how far the money actually goes depends on the final cost of the renovations.The success of the Kickstarter campaign was encouraging to Thompson as it showed there was interest in the concept. She envisions students studying and hanging out with the cats. And she plans to build the business with events designed to bring people to the cafe, such as game night and cat yoga, where people do yoga as cats climb around and on them.With so much to do, so far there is no firm opening date, so those interested in hanging out with the cats should watch the Kzoo Cat Cafe page on Facebook.Kathy Jennings is the managing editor of Southwest Michigan's Second Wave. She is a freelance writer and editor
Realizing there was a need for more networking and collaborative growth opportunities for IT professionals in the region, Daniel Jeffries, founder of Kalamazoo-based Newmind Group took a page out of the entrepreneurial playbook and came together with his team to hatch an event-driven concept, Build IT Together.Now in its fourth year, and growing rapidly, Build IT Together , or BIT, is hosting events in Kalamazoo, as well as the Greater Detroit Area to promote community and idea-sharing within the IT community, the next of which will take place May 31 at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in Kalamazoo.Dan was seeing the energy and excitement that was happening in the entrepreneurial community here in Kalamazoo and in Michigan and as a whole, says Daniel Proczko, director of marketing with Newmind. We looked at the IT community and realized there arent many similar events or outlets out there.So we decided to create one where IT professionals and executives could come together to share their experiences and insights in running their businesses, and how technology plays a role to make them better. It gives IT professionals an opportunity to talk about the challenges they currently have, what they see as potential challenges in three years, what their successes are right now and how they use those to propel their organizations.What started as an initial half-day conference in Kalamazoo has evolved into an annual event in Kalamazoo, another in Detroit and monthly meet-ups that rotate between the two communities, fostering cross-pollination between two major IT corridors in the state.This Mays conference in Kalamazoo will be a single-track event, allowing each attendee the opportunity to attend the same four hour-long sessions over the course of the afternoon. The sessions will focus on data security, goal setting and key performance indicators, how to effectively use data analysis and utilizing remote work forces in todays business climate.One key thing to note is that our sessions arent talks, they are either panel discussions or workshops, designed so that you can gain insights and share with those right at your table, Proczko said. Its a very collaborative, interactive event where attendees are able to interact with our moderators and panelists and all the other experts in the room to pull out those insights that are right and are going to work for them.A prime example of that is the approach Matthew Mace, founder and CEO of Kalamazoo-based Blue Granite, Inc. , will bring to his data analytics discussion.Mace, whose company focuses on system integration and builds data models for companies dealing heavily in analytics, will help facilitate a panel that will focus on how companies of different sizes and makeup use data on a daily basis to help both employees and clients. Joining Mace on the panel will be by representatives from the university, large corporation and small business sectors.For me its a chance to hear what other people are doing and are excited about beyond the bubble I live in, and then share that, Mace says. Its nice to maybe get a couple client referrals at these events but it is really more about being a part of the vibrant IT community that Newmind is helping to build.Listening to the IT community is what has really allowed Build IT to grow, at a rate of 30 percent annually in the Detroit area and even faster in Kalamazoo.We surveyed over 500 business and IT leaders in Michigan to see what these organizations are looking for to help improve their businesses and based on their responses we create a curriculum for the year for BIT that includes webinars, the meet-ups and the two half-day events in Kalamazoo and Detroit, Proczko says.One topic that keeps coming up, and one of the four that will be addressed in Kalamazoo this May, is data security, everything from preventing hacks, preventing fishing attacks, training staff on being more savvy, protecting vendors.Another focal point of the event will be the increasing role remote work forces have in the IT world.There are more open positions for tech jobs in areas like Kalamazoo than there are qualified people in the region to fill the positions. So one strategy is looking beyond the region, Proczko says. Technology allows us to stay in touch so easily. So the question becomes, how do we create these work forces that arent located centrally where our headquarters are? Do we create a satellite office in a place like Seattle where a lot of those people are or do we have individuals scattered around?Either way, the issue becomes how do we export our culture to those people and how do we get them to feel like they are part of our team and import culture from them to make them feel like they are an integral part of the team.There will be a panel of local leaders who have experience working with remote work forces to lead the discussion on what tools are available to stay synced on tasks, maintain communication and work together on project management.The keynote presentation, delivered by Wendy Pat Fong, Director of Talent and Operations at 7Geese in Vancouver, BC, will hone in on goal setting, and how to use key performance indicators to help build a motivated and positive culture.Fong, who has grown her team from five employees to 26 in four years, said the key to internal growth at 7 Geese has been understanding what the organization wanted to do and finding people with the same mindset who have a desire to help the company achieve its goals.She says she hopes the main takeaway people have from her discussion is the shift in how people are talking about goals and how with more frequent goal-oriented meetings, as opposed to once a year HR-mandated sit downs, businesses are able to hold individuals more accountable and ensure everyone shares the same ultimate vision.There has been a trend of more and more companies to not just focus on the leadership team, but work on individual goal setting, moving outside of silos to set goals with the same vision in mind, making sure that all departments and individuals are working toward the same end goal, she said. Thats a real key to growth, and one thing we will be focusing on. Click here to register for this years event. All tickets include lunch, dinner and a post-event networking reception.
Dr. David L. Roberts is known as Michigan State University's Tree Doctor . But he could be the inspiration for the lead detective role in "CSI: Forest," if CBS would like to pick up a procedural on the exciting world of plant pathology.The subject might not be for everyone. But the case that brought Roberts fame could be dramatized for TV:The timeframe, 2001-2002. Ash trees are dying mysterious deaths around Michigan.Low-angle shot: Roberts and an MSU entomologist are looking up at half-dead trees. He peels bark to find tracks in the wood, from some kind of worm. The entomologist points to D-shaped holes in the bark. "Clearly this is a chestnut borer infestation," the entomologist says."If they're chestnut borers," Roberts says, putting on aviator sunglasses , "then why have they developed a taste for ash?"Roger Daltrey screams and The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" plays over opening sequence of Roberts hiking in old-growth forests, examining herbicide containers, looking concerned over mulch piled up too high around a homeowner's maple.In the real world, there's more persistent toil than made-for-TV drama in Roberts' work. But it was pretty dramatic the day his ash investigation caused little green bugs to infest his lab.Roberts discovered that the mysterious die-off of ash trees in Detroit suburbs in 2001-2002 was not caused by ash yellows disease or the native chestnut borer -- two theories at the time -- but by the invasive emerald ash borer, the Asian bug that has since wiped-out most of Michigan's ash and has spread as far as Colorado, Texas, and Quebec.He became concerned in 2001 when investigating a condominium's complaint that all 80 of their mature ash were dying. Then, suburban Detroit communities were using up budgets to cut down dead ash. "They wanted answers."Roberts drummed up grants to conduct DNA tests on ash around the area to see if disease was the problem. In short: It wasn't.He collected worms from dying trees. MSU entomologists told Roberts the larvae were from the two-lined chestnut borer, a dark brown insect native to Michigan. They sometimes bored into non-chestnut trees. But it was "weird" that they would be infecting so many ash trees, Roberts says.The only way to know for sure was to see what the larvae became. So he took samples of sick ash to his lab, sealed them in plastic bags, and waited. The fierce bugs "could actually chew their way through the plastic bag to get out."The vivid green insects "were flying around my lab and everything." Roberts had oak and maple samples in his lab, but "they would always fly back to the ash logs because that's what they recognized."Farm boy to tree doctorThese days, especially in the spring as trees come out of winter dormancy, Roberts is busy with calls and emails from around Michigan and the country.He laughs when people tell him he's got a reputation for solving any dead or dying tree mystery. There are others who have his knowledge, Roberts says. "I don't know how many are as diverse as I am, because of my diagnostic clinic background.... I'm a pretty broad generalist."Roberts grew up on a self-sufficient farm in central Ohio, raising chickens, pigs, dairy cows, and crops.He went into ag studies at Ohio State. He was also a generalist in college, too much of one. "I got a letter from the dean saying you've got to declare a major sometime here, before it goes on much longer. I figured that horticulture and agronomy were just too easy, so I chose the most difficult subject that I could find, which is plant pathology," or, what makes plants sick.He eventually earned his PhD at MSU, became the director of the university's plant and pest diagnostic clinic (1984-1998), and worked at investigating sick plants from pines to soybeans to houseplants. He then took the role he holds today, a senior academic specialist focusing on arboriculture.While professional arborists charge for diagnostics, Roberts is generous with his services."That would be pitch mass borer, an insect," he says when this writer describes the sick spruce in his yard, dropping needles and covered with gooey, sappy lumps. "You can actually dig into it, take the pitch off, and you can find the larvae in there... get a knife or something and just dig in there. It's awful messy, you'll get resin all over...."Though he has to raise grants and find other funding to cover his costs, it's part of his duties to travel around the state to investigate arboreal problems. "I try to get around as much as possible. There's very few people that I turn down."Roberts can diagnose what ails a tree, but some problems have no cure, yet.Like the ash borer. There've been efforts to introduce the EAB's natural Asian enemies, such as wasps that kill the larvae , but Roberts isn't "real excited" about using other foreign bugs as a solution.He thinks the issue is that Asian ash trees are genetically resistant to the EAB, and North American ash are not. MSU planted both native and Asian ash at its Tollgate Farm in Novi. "The emerald ash borer didn't even attack those (Asian) trees, much."Roberts doesn't know how to fix the problem of invasives. "I don't think anybody does, except maybe limit our intercontinental trade."What are Michigan trees' biggest danger -- native pests and disease, invasives, or humans?"You want me to select one of those?"Roberts continues, "The invasives are definitely the biggest problem, but the humans as well -- after all, we've transported the invasives here, so that combination is both deadly to our native forests and urban forest."The urban forest: It's not easy to picture a tree surrounded by parking lot pavement, or that sugar maple in your yard, as a forest. But that's what it is, and humans are its biggest threat, Roberts says. "The urban forest, where some of the major (problems) are pesticides, over-care -- too much water and so forth."People assume that a tree is a mighty, strong plant. Nothing can kill it -- certainly not an innocent mistake by a homeowner. But Roberts has seen otherwise. Chemicals, bad arborists, pruning at the wrong time of year -- he's seen it all. (See sidebar.)His basic advice to homeowners is, treat your trees "as nature would. If we tend to water them or fertilize them, do things around them such as grow dense turf under them, we're essentially violating nature's laws, or God's laws, whatever your leaning is. Trees are designed to live in forests with other trees.""Because they have been there so long, people take them for granted. They put most of their landscape finances into lawns... They figure this big tree is always going to be here, and they never have to do anything for it."Mark Wedel is a Kalamazoo-based freelance journalist whos covered a bewildering variety of topics since 1992. Before that, he worked with plenty of trees on his familys nursery farm.
Press Release

May 4, 2017 Nancy urges DOT to launch responsible tourism campaign, promote caring for PH natural attractions Senator Nancy Binay on Thursday suggested that the Department of Tourism promote responsible tourism through a campaign that will teach tourists about the values of caring for the environment. The proposal came following reports of complaints from residents and environmental advocates about the trash left behind by revelers of "Laboracay", a Labor Day weekend event held in Boracay Island that draws thousands of party-goers every year. Binay noted that it is within the DOT's mandate to protect, maintain and preserve natural endowments and take appropriate actions if there are acts that would lead to the destruction of the environment, disturb nature or bring negative impacts on communities. "The Department of Tourism and its attached agencies should not only be concerned with the promotion of the country's tourist spots but also their protection. Commercialization of nature coupled with unethical practices and irresponsible tourism are ingredients to 'ecocide' that have an exploitative impact on the environment and communities," said Binay, who heads the committee on tourism of the Senate. According to Binay, there is a need for an information drive that would encourage tourists to take a second look at the exploitative impact of mega-events on tourist destinations such as Boracay. Boracay Island is a top tourist destination in the country and has been ranked among Asia's 2017 Top Islands in TripAdvisor's 2017 Traveler's Choice Awards. Tourist arrivals in the island was up by 11 percent last year, reaching 1,725,483, compared to 1,560,106 in 2015. But the island's main attraction, a 4-kilometer sliver of coastline known as White Beach, has often been photographed littered with discarded food wrappers, cigarette butts, plastic bags and bottles. Littering has marred the once pristine beach enjoyed by thousands every year. And while a number of cleanup efforts are organized every year, the island's trash woes still continue to plague its communities. Without intervention, Binay lamented that the same thing could happen to other destinations in the country that have recently been cited in international travel publications. She also cited Puerto Galera and Baguio City's trash problems. "We know that tourism campaigns work because hyped up and greatly commercialized events have managed to draw thousands to these shores. But this time, I hope that we can work together in calling for the promotion of responsible tourism. We must convince organizers and tourists alike to choose to be responsible for their actions and comply with the conditions set by LGUs," said Binay. "Sayang ang potensyal natin bilang isang top tourist destination kung hahayaan lamang nating masira ang ating kapaligiran. Tayong mga Pilipino ay likas na mapagmahal at maalaga, ito po ay maaari rin nating ituro sa ating mga magiging bisita sa pamamagitan ng isang makabuluhang information campaign na magpapakita ng magandang maidudulot ng pangangalaga sa kalikasan para sa turismo ng ating bansa," she added.
Press Release

May 4, 2017 Cayetano, Guevarra to lead PH Delegation for Universal Periodic Review The 16-man delegation team from the Philippines, led by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano and Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra, attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva, Switzerland on May 8 (Monday), left early Thursday morning. The team will present the human rights-based development programs of the Philippines and the measures adopted to fulfill its obligations to the eight (8) International treaties ratified in the past years. The delegation includes representatives from the Presidential Human Rights Committee, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the Philippine National Police (PNP), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the National Economic Development Authority (PDEA), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples. The Universal Periodic Review happens every three to four years, where the states present their human rights records to the United Nations Human Rights Council. The last Universal Periodic Review (UPR) participated by the Philippines was in 2012. Cayetano clarified that the period under review covers five (5) years of the Aquino administration and ten (10) months of the Duterte administration. "Human rights issues were raised by various sectors not just in this administration," Cayetano stressed. The senator added that the UPR would be the perfect opportunity to dispel serious concerns of the international community about the alleged human rights violations of the present administration and other challenges in the law enforcement and judicial system in the country. "There are a lot of facts that need to be clarified and put in proper context so our friends in the United Nations and the international community will understand the extent of problems of corruption, illegal drugs, and criminality in the Philippines," he said. "We want to share the overall picture of our human-rights based development programs, especially our gains, priorities in the coming years, as well as the major challenges at hand," he added. Besides the state of human rights in the country, the Philippine Delegation will also present the state's policies on labor; the environment; and vulnerable sectors such as women, children, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and the elderly in the country.
Press Release

May 4, 2017 GORDON SEEKS SENATE SUPPORT FOR CALL TO MAKE THE WORLD NUCLEAR WEAPONS-FREE With the North Korea's state-controlled media warning that America's "military provocations" risked triggering nuclear conflict, Senator Richard J. Gordon has called on the Senate to support the International Red Cross and Red Cross Movement's bid to achieve a world without nuclear weapons to protect humanity and as an obligation towards future generations. Gordon filed Senate Resolution No. 349, expressing the full support of the Senate of the Philippines in the appeal of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement for the global prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons. "WHEREAS, given the real and serious threat and the catastrophic global consequences of any use of nuclear weapons, whether deliberate or not, and its general incompatibility with international humanitarian law, the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons is a humanitarian imperative," he said in the resolution. As of early 2017, there are approximately 14,900 nuclear warheads existing worldwide, according to the Federation of American Scientists, an organization dedicated to reducing the number and spread of nuclear weapons. During the United Nations' Conference on the Prohibition and Elimination of Nuclear Weapons held in Nagasaki, Japan in April 2017 that Gordon attended, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement appealed to all the states to participate in the next phase of the negotiations to prohibit nuclear weapons. "We have witnessed the past devastation and heard of the ongoing physical and psychological suffering of thousands of atomic bomb survivors seventy-two years on...By negotiating and adopting a treaty that recognizes the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons and contains a clear and unambiguous prohibition, States have the opportunity to ensure that Nagasaki is the last place in history to have suffered the effects of an atomic bombing," the Red Cross Movement appeal read. The Red Cross pointed out that the destructive capacity of nuclear weapons in arsenals today is many times greater than the bombs used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. "The risk that nuclear weapons will again be used by intent, miscalculation or accident is higher than most people realize and ever increasing. The threat to humanity is beyond imagination," it added.
Rallies and protest events are a part of political life in the Bay Area. Heres a roundup of whats happening:

Friday

Immigration discussion: A presentation by the Party for Socialism and Liberation on defending immigrants rights. The event is from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at 2969 Mission St. in San Francisco. For information: https://www.facebook.com/events/1917646978471340/.

Saturday

Travel ban: 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., San Francisco. Contact Chinese for Affirmative Action: (415) 274-6750.

May Day assessment: A report on the impact of May Day protests, hosted by the Peace and Freedom Party. The discussion is from 2 to 4:30 p.m. at the Starry Plough Pub, 3101 Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley. For information, contact (510) 332-3865 or cuyleruyle@mac.com.

Sanctuary cities: A panel hosted by the Freedom Socialist Party Bay Area on how unions, religious groups and schools can defend immigrants. Doors open at 1 p.m. and the panel talk begins at 2 p.m. New Valencia Hall, 747 Polk St. in San Francisco. For information, call (415) 864-1278 or email bafsp@earthlink.com.

Health care film: Now Is the Time: 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.

Sunday

Health care film: Now Is the Time: Healthcare for Everybody will be shown, followed by a health care discussion on proposals for a single-payer system in California. The event is from 2 to 4 p.m. at the San Lorenzo Library, 395 Paseo Grande. For information, contact aruchlis@gmail.com.

Town hall: Hosted by Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Fremont, at 2 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center of Santa Clara High School, 3000 Benton St. in Santa Clara.

Tuesday

Town halls: Hosted by Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove (Sacramento County), at 9 a.m. at the McBride Senior Center, 91 Town Square Place in Vacaville. Garamendi also will host a town hall at 1:30 p.m. at the Fairfield Senior Center, 1200 Civic Center Drive in Fairfield.

May 11

Town hall: Hosted by Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, at 3 p.m. at the Alameda Free Library, 1550 Oak St. in Alameda.

May 13

Art show: A resistance-inspired show hosted by Indivisible Alameda County. The event is from 3 to 7 p.m. at 37275 Niles Blvd. in Fremont. For information, contact kidniles@aol.com.
The earthly convention of paying taxes may soon extend into outer space, if California regulators have anything to say about it.

The states Franchise Tax Board is seeking public comment on its proposal for computing taxes on commercial space transportation companies.

The private spaceflight industry remains small, despite grand ambitions to shuttle everything from tourists to 3-D printers into space. But the board says it created the rules to give entrepreneurs the confidence that once their businesses really start to take off, Californias tax code will be ready to handle them.

The rules are designed to apply to any company operating in California that generates at least half the money it takes in from space transportation  defined as the movement of people or property 62 miles above the surface of the Earth. Thats the internationally recognized line that separates our planet from the rest of space. It would apply to companies that use California as a launchpad, not California companies launching from other states, like Texas or Florida.

Thomas Lo Grossman, a tax attorney at the Franchise Tax Board, said the proposed rules are designed to mirror the ways taxes are levied on terrestrial transportation and logistics firms operating in California, like trucking or train companies. Those rules are based largely on the way California and other states calculate taxes when goods are shipped from one state to another.

In whats known as a market-based approach, companies tally sales  and then the taxes based on those sales  in the state where the good or service is received. But in the borderlessness of space, precisely where a product gets delivered is difficult to define.

According to the proposal, California will collect tax from space transportation companies based on a formula factoring in how often a company launches spacecrafts out of the state, and, most importantly, how far a commercial spacecraft travels from California soil. Between May and mid-October, there were eight launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base, in Santa Barbara County about 50 miles south of San Luis Obispo.

In short, the amount of tax on commercial spaceflight companies will decrease the farther the spacecraft travels from California. More mileage will mean less tax, and less mileage will mean more tax, Grossman said.

If a company cant reveal the specifics of its mission due to confidentiality concerns  common with contracts with the military  a launchs mileage will be presumed to be 310 miles under the proposed rules. (For reference, the International Space Station is about 250 miles above the Earth.)

The Franchise Tax Board says it received input from the private space companies on the proposed rules, which largely resemble a draft submitted by SpaceX, perhaps the industrys most recognizable company. SpaceX, which is headquartered in Hawthorne (Los Angeles County), declined to comment.

The federal government already has its own system for taxing commercial spaceflight companies, Grossman said, but California was the only state he was aware of working to create a framework for taxing commercial spaceflight.

That may not last long, according to John Logsdon, a professor emeritus at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and a co-founder of the schools Space Policy Institute. States across the country are already competing to craft the most enticing regulatory regimes for the burgeoning commercial spaceflight industry.

States that dont levy taxes would have that competitive advantage over states that do, Logsdon said. If California puts in a tax and Florida or Texas doesnt have a similar tax, Im not sure that helps California in a competitive way.

The Franchise Tax Board proposal said certainty about tax treatment will lead to increased activity in the industry and will foster an atmosphere of growth and prosperity once present during the golden age of Californias aviation industry, thereby creating jobs as the industry thrives in this state.

At least one company has already been lured away from California for the promise of greater financial incentives  though of a more earthly variety. Moon Express, a company working to mine the moon for natural resources, moved from Mountain View to Florida.

In an email, the companys CEO and founder, Bob Richards, said the company relocated from California to Florida in part due to the State of Floridas progressive economic development incentives designed to attract commercial space companies.

We are happy to be reaching for the moon as Space Coast residents now, thanks to the proactive efforts by Floridas aerospace economic development agency, Space Florida, Richards said.

Californias Franchise Tax Board is accepting comments on the proposed rules until June 5. The rules will be up for adoption at a public hearing on June 16.

Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter @dominicfracassa

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Meanwhile, on the ground ...

You might read stories online about Californias out-of-this-world taxes  but some are pretty spacey.

TRUE

If you buy a live animal for the purpose of killing it and eating it, the purchase is not subject to sales tax. If you buy an animal for nonfood purposes, it is subject to tax.

If you buy food for an animal, it is taxable if the animal is a pet, but not taxable if the animal is going to become food.

If you have a wedding dress altered by a dry cleaner, the alterations are taxable if the dress was purchased new, but not taxable if it is a used dress.

If you are in a place where admission is charged (like a theme park, county fair, concert) and you buy an ice cream cone, it is taxable. If you buy a quart of ice cream, it is not taxable.

FALSE

Fresh fruit sold from a vending machine faces a 33 percent tax rate. In fact, two-thirds of the gross receipts from cold food products sold through machines are exempt from sales tax.

Dry snuff is taxed at 256 percent. While the powdered tobacco was briefly taxed at that rate for a few months in 2001, prompting an outcry, it now has the same tax as other tobacco products.
Airlines that charge baggage fees can be sued for refunds for failing to deliver a passengers bags when the plane lands, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.

Individual damages would be modest  in this case, a $15 recovery sought by a US Airways passenger whose bag was delivered a day late  but would be multiplied in class actions on behalf of other customers.

In an indication of the potential financial consequences to the industry, the Air Transport Association of America joined US Airways, which merged with American Airlines in 2013, in arguing for dismissal of the suit, under a 1978 federal law that largely deregulated airlines. But the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said the law does not shield airlines from lawsuits for failing to keep their promises to passengers.

Most airlines charge fees for checked luggage. According to one recent survey, American Airlines, United, Delta, Frontier and Hawaiian Airlines charge most customers $25 for the first bag. JetBlue carries the first bag for free but charges $50 for the second bag, and Southwest Airlines offers free rides for two bags and a $75 fee for the third.

The lawsuit was filed in San Jose by Hayley Hickcox-Huffman, a resident of Atascadero (San Luis Obispo County) who said she paid $15 to check her bag on a US Airways flight in May 2009 from Colorado Springs to San Luis Obispo but did not find the bag on the luggage carousel when she arrived. The airline delivered it to her the next day.

US Airways Terms of Transportation, provided to passengers, include a statement that it was committed to ... provide on-time baggage delivery and that if a bag was not delivered on arrival, the airline would make every effort to return it within 24 hours.

Hickcox-Huffman sought to file a class action on behalf of all US Airways customers whose baggage was delivered late. But a federal magistrate said the suit was barred by the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act, which prohibited states from enforcing laws related to a price, route or service of an air carrier. The 1978 law also prohibited airline customers from filing suits that relied on the forbidden state laws.

In Wednesdays ruling, however, the appeals court said Hickcox-Huffman was relying on the promise the airline voluntarily made to its passengers, and not on any state regulations of transportation services.

By committing itself to on-time baggage delivery, US Airways offered Hickcox-Huffman a contract to deliver the bag when she landed, Judge Andrew Kleinfeld said in a 3-0 decision reinstating the lawsuit. Based on the facts alleged, he said, US Airways did not do what it promised to do and yet has kept her money.

Justin Karczag, the passengers lawyer, said the ruling provides some degree of protection for airline passengers.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

The airline here wanted to provide near-blanket immunity for breach-of-contract claims, he said.

Lawyers for the airline and the Air Transport Association could not be reached for comment.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko

Online

Get tips on avoiding fees and charges while booking low-cost fares: http://bit.ly/low-cost-airfares
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Heineken now owns all of Lagunitas Brewing Co. The Dutch brewing corporation purchased half of the Petaluma craft brewery in 2015, and on Thursday announced that it had acquired the rest.

The price was not disclosed. The 2015 deal for half the company was estimated at around $500 million. Acquirers normally pay a premium for complete control of a company.

Tony Magee founded Lagunitas in 1993 and built it into one of the most successful craft breweries in America  and the second-largest in California, by volume, after Chicos Sierra Nevada. The company has breweries in Petaluma and Chicago, and its facility in Azusa (Los Angeles County) is due to open next year.

Heineken, by contrast, has 165 breweries in 70 countries. According to its annual report, it produced more than 5 billion gallons of beer in 2016. Lagunitas current production capacity isnt even 1 percent of that.

Magee will remain executive chairman of Lagunitas, continuing to oversee culture, brand and recipe creation, according to a statement. He will also be a Heineken International consultant.

All 781 employees will keep their jobs, said director of communications Karen Hamilton. She added that there will be no changes to the brewerys production of experimental beers, such as Waldos Special Ale, a cannabis-inspired beer it describes as dank and resinous.

For Heineken, the appeal of a prestige brand like Lagunitas is obvious. Its hoppy IPAs can reach a different  and fast-growing  type of market from other Heineken brands, such as Tecate, Amstel and Red Stripe.

The craft market is a significant and well known trend in the U.S. and Europe, but it's also happening in emerging countries like Brazil, Mexico and China, said Bjorn Trowery, Heineken USAs director of external communications. There is appetite for other tastes and for diversity, and our strategy with craft is to satisfy those customer tastes.

According to the brewers association, U.S. beer sales overall did not grow in 2016. Craft beer, which held 12 percent of the market, grew 6.2 percent last year.

Since the 2015 partnership, Heineken has introduced Lagunitas beers in France, Italy, Mexico and Spain for the first time, and significantly expanded their presence in Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden and Japan.

Growth in international markets had seemed to be Magees main impetus for forging the 2015 deal. But now, in a lengthy  and surprisingly candid  Tumblr post, Magee suggests that his recent decision was also due to a desire to alter his own role.

I am, at 57, entering the third act, he writes, and says he is excited to help Heineken embark on new adventures in small brewing in every time zone.

Some who dont fully understand it all may say it is selling out, Magee writes. Truth is that we did (in 2015), and are now buying in. He notes the genuine autonomy that Heineken has granted Lagunitas since the partnership began, but says theyve reached the limit of how much it can grow without even more help.

Magee wants to see his beers on tap handles as far away as South Africa  a goal that requires extensive resources. Nodding to Anchor Brewing, he writes: The revolution in brewing and in beer culture that began at 1705 Mariposa Street in San Francisco has metastasized to every corner of the world.

Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicles wine, beer and spirits writer. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley
Five San Francisco agencies, including the fire, port and parks departments, could start flying drones under a set of rules that a city committee is expected to approve Friday.

The Committee on Information Technologys proposed drone policy focuses on privacy rights, spelling out how how any city agency or employee can use a drone even for seemingly benign flights like search-and-rescue missions or pier inspections.

The 15-member committee began studying the issue two years ago after one of the Recreation and Park Departments nine drones was stolen from a city vehicle after just one test flight.

The crime alerted privacy-rights advocates to the fact that the department even owned a fleet of camera-toting drones to assess trees, parks and facilities. That fleet was grounded while the city developed an overall drone policy.

Departments must have an authorized purpose to collect information using a drone, or use drone-collected information, according to a draft of the policy. The policy advises city departments not to maintain archives of raw, unprocessed drone data once its mission is accomplished, and says that any incidentally collected information that could identify a person or private information must be deleted.

We were making sure we are using them in a responsible way, said City Administrator Naomi Kelly, one of the city officials on the committee.

Drone-law expert Steven Miller of the Hanson Bridgett law firm said privacy concerns are driving adoption of such public drone policies.

Connor Radnovich/The Chronicle

Those agencies who desire to use drones without such policies in place have run up against considerable public anxiety over how the government plans to use these drones, Miller said.

But he said only time will tell whether a city agency flying a drone might be brought to court for infringing on someones privacy rights. A drone surveying treetops, for example, could snap a photo of someone who isnt doing anything criminal but doesnt want to be seen at that moment, he said.

If approved, the San Francisco policy itself doesnt mean the skies over the city will immediately be filled with small unmanned aerial vehicles. Each department will have to draft its own specific policies and reasons for using drones, and the technology committee retains the right to revoke the departments permission to fly.

In the last two years, consumer drones have become so popular that the Federal Aviation Administration has issued regulations governing their use. More than 347 police, fire and other public-safety agencies in the U.S. use the same type of consumer drones, according to the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College in New York.

In the Bay Area, the Alameda County Sheriffs Office, the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, the Fremont Fire Department and the Moraga-Orinda Fire District have active drone programs. But community concerns over potential privacy infringement have so far kept drone programs in Berkeley and San Jose from taking off.

In San Francisco, the drone policy covers five departments that sought permission to fly: the Fire Department, the Port of San Francisco, the Recreation and Park Department, the Public Utilities Commission and the Office of the Controller.

The Police Department is not included. It didnt even ask, Kelly said. Theyre dealing with body cameras right now.

The technology committees policy spells out different specific uses, although all five departments can fly drones after a disaster or in an emergency.

The Fire Department, for example, can conduct reconnaissance flights over building fires, fly search-and-rescue missions and use drones to shoot video during training sessions.

And if theres a person in the water in distress off Ocean Beach, wouldnt it be nice if you could have a drone drop a life jacket over the person? Kelly asked.

The port wants to use drones for marketing photos and videos, as well as inspecting portions of piers that are hard to see from land, she said.

Rec and Park applied to use drones for numerous purposes, including construction management, inspecting properties, mapping, marketing and environmental monitoring of flora and fauna, the policy said.

The PUC plans to use drones only outside of San Francisco to survey city-owned water and power transmission lines that are in remote areas on the Peninsula, the East Bay and along the Hetch Hetchy watershed, said Mary Ellen Carroll, the PUCs emergency planning and security director.

Using drones instead of sending workers into those sometimes hazardous areas would be extremely beneficial, Carroll said. The PUC hopes to begin using drones by the end of this year.

Nicole Ozer, technology and civil liberties policy director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, was not aware San Francisco was about to publish a drone policy. Speaking generally about such policies, Ozer said cities needed to be fully transparent to citizens about potential surveillance technologies.

Drafting a policy is just one part of the process that needs to make sure the right kinds of questions are asked and answered, she said. Whenever youve got a drone used purportedly for one purpose, there needs to be a very thorough conversation about how you are going to make sure its not going to be used for another purpose, especially given the current political climate.

Benny Evangelista is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: bevangelista@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChronicleBenny
The health care bill passed by the Republican-led House of Representatives on Thursday could lead to millions of Californians losing health insurance, paying significantly more for coverage or receiving less generous health benefits. Heres why:

MEDI-CAL: Nearly 1 in 3 Californians, roughly 13 million people, receive health insurance through the states Medicaid program  including 4 million who enrolled after 2013 because California expanded the safety net program using billions of dollars from the federal government under the Affordable Care Act. The GOP bill would cut federal funding to Medi-Cal by $24 billion over the next 10 years, according to Health Access, a consumer advocacy group. Unless the state could make up the difference on its own, many Medi-Cal recipients would likely see their benefits reduced.

The biggest impact on California would be the cuts to Medi-Cal, said Daniel Zingale, senior vice president at the California Endowment, a nonprofit health care foundation. We have the most to lose because we covered the most people in the last few years. It would be a major hit to us.

EMPLOYER-SPONSORED HEALTH PLANS: Almost half of Californians, nearly 18 million people, receive health insurance through their employer. Although the House bill does not explicitly seek to change the employer insurance market, policy experts say workers here may nonetheless see their benefits scaled back. This is because under the bill, states could seek a waiver to opt out of some ACA requirements  allowing insurance companies in that state to roll back coverage of essential health benefits, which include hospitalization, prescription drugs and maternity care. Such a waiver would also allow insurers to charge sick people more than healthy people  a change from the ACA that would affect the entire population, including those receiving insurance from employers.

Essential health benefits are standard across the market, said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access. If you start to undo that, that could have ripple effects not just in the individual market but in employer-based coverage as well, which is how half of the state and the country get their coverage.

Policy experts say its unlikely Californias Democratic leaders would seek such a waiver. But the House bill would allow large employers to pick benefits requirements from another state that did choose a waiver, some health analysts said.

COVERED CALIFORNIA: About 1.2 million Californians receive federal subsidies to buy health insurance on the state exchange. The House proposal would change the structure of these subsidies, which currently are based on income  the poorer you are, the more assistance you receive  and instead allot a flat subsidy based on age. Such a change would hurt many older people in their 50s, who would likely receive smaller subsidies, according to a recent analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Younger people in their 20s, though, may benefit by receiving larger subsidies. This is because older people generally pay more for health insurance already, and the GOP bill would allow insurance companies to charge them more than five times what they charge young people.

Catherine Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: Cat__Ho

Attention readers

If you feel your health coverage will be affected by the new GOP health bill, wed like to hear from you. Please email Catherine Ho, who covers health care for The Chronicle: cho@sfchronicle.com
A green 1994 Honda Accord stolen from a parking lot in San Leandro almost two weeks ago had more inside than the thief bargained for  its owners 14-year-old Scottish terrier.

The dog named Koda was still missing Wednesday, 11 days after the car disappeared April 22 just before 8 p.m. from the Marina Square Center at 1201 Marina Boulevard, police said. Kodas owners are offering a $500 reward for the dogs safe return.
Undeterred after AAA refused to tow a classic car from a Santa Rosa Safeway parking lot that a duo of would-be thieves couldnt prove was theirs, two men from Concord were arrested Wednesday after the pair tried to abscond with the vehicle on a stolen trailer, police said.

Arrested and booked into Sonoma County Jail were Francisco Velez, 52, and Damon Casparian, 46, both accomplished thieves with extensive criminal histories of theft, according to the Santa Rosa Police Department. Police did not specify the make or model of the car they allegedly tried to steal.

Velez was booked on suspicion of two counts of auto theft, possession of a stolen vehicle, having a prior conviction for auto theft and conspiracy. Casparian was booked on suspicion of two counts of auto theft, possession of a stolen vehicle, conspiracy and an outstanding warrant.

Their plan, hatched around the parking lot of the store near Calistoga Road and Highway 12, went awry when the owner of the car spotted Velez and Casparian trying to load his car, for-sale sign and all, onto the trailer as he drove by on his way to work, police said.

Driving a truck, the cars owner tried to block the two in, causing the suspects to unhook the vehicle from the trailer and flee in their own truck, intentionally ramming the victims truck as they passed, police said.

As the victim called police, Velez and Casparian allegedly drove into a nearby neighborhood before ditching their car and running. The man gave chase, and the two suspects were later apprehended by police nearby, authorities said.

Velez was held Wednesday evening under $10,000 bail, and Casparian under $5,000 bail, records show.

One of the two suspects had tried to get AAAs to tow the classic car from the parking lot Tuesday evening, but the tow truck driver declined after the men couldnt produce proof they owned the car, police said.

At the end of their investigation, police said they discovered the trailer Velez and Casparian tried to use had been stolen in Contra Costa County in March.

Michael Bodley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mbodley@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @michael_bodley
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San Francisco police were working Wednesday to identify a person who fatally shot a 15-year-old former Daly City high school student in what appeared to have been a targeted incident, officials said.

Reajon Jackson was shot and killed around noon Monday in the Outer Sunset District when someone opened fire on a white Pontiac he was driving, police said.

Police are searching for the driver of another car that witnesses reported seeing in the area at the time of the shooting, said Officer Giselle Talkoff of the San Francisco Police Department.

Reajon was driving near Sunset Boulevard and Kirkham Street when he was shot in the lower body, police said.

His car, punctured with bullet holes, was visible at the scene.

At this point, we dont think its as much of a public-safety issue. (Police are) maybe leaning more toward a targeted incident, Talkoff said.

A 16-year-old boy was also in Reajons car at the time of the shooting, but he was not injured. Police are not releasing how Reajon is related to his passenger, Talkoff said.

Reajon was a 10th-grader at Jefferson High School in Daly City, but he left school in the fall, said Dan Burns, the superintendent of the Jefferson Union High School District.

Burns noted that Reajon did not drop out of school.

This young man had many friends and family connected to Jefferson High, Burns said in a statement.

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Since the fatal shooting, counselors have been on campus to give grief support to students and staff at the school, Burns said.

Part of the grief-counseling process at schools include having opportunities for students to write messages on poster paper, Burns said.

Students are planning to deliver their messages of support and condolences to Reajons family, he added.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
To understand Anina, the new bar on Hayes Street, consider first its owners adjacent bar, Brass Tacks.

Brass Tacks has always been something of a Hayes Valley anomaly. Though perched at the neighborhoods prow, crowning Patricias Green, the bar is not upscale enough, not expensive enough, to be its tony districts flagship.

At nearby bars like Smugglers Cove, the Riddler, the Linden Room or Absinthe, youre not getting a seat, but at Brass Tacks theres somehow always space. Though its got a short list of simple, spirit-forward cocktails, for many folks Brass Tacks is fundamentally a spot for ordering beer in a can.

Turns out that Brass Tacks, which opened four years ago, was never meant to stand on its own. This year, owners Matt Conway, Anthony Healy-London and Josh McAdam are launching two more bars: Anina and an as-yet-unnamed project on 24th Street, in the former Jacks Cocktails space.

Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle

Anina is like the blonder, peppier younger sibling of the brooding, mumbling Brass Tacks. But theres still a family resemblance. And their shared core elements  simplicity, service, accessibility  become clearest when considered together.

Superficially, the two bars have little else in common, except a landlord: Brass Tacks is profoundly dark, Anina bright and airy. Brass Tacks is unadorned, bare-walled; Aninas walls are plastered in a loud, floral mural. Brass Tacks comes alive late at night, and sells more whiskey than anything else; Anina is a place for day drinking, with a large patio and a drink menu nearly devoid of dark spirits.

But both practice a cocktail style that is aggressively unfussy, delivered by bartenders of unusually high caliber. And Anina, though more stylized in both drinks and design, shows that you dont have to keep the walls bare in order to keep it simple.

Aninas cocktail menu, excluding wine and beer, has five sections, three of which deal in low-proof libations. First, a section of Sherry and vermouth ($8-$9)  a condensed, rotating selection of the extensive stock the bar keeps. Next, aperitivos ($10), including a revival of the Knife in the Water, which Brass Tacks devotees will recognize from the first bars opening menu: a Millennial-pink concoction of manzanilla Sherry, Dolin Blanc and the gentian liqueur Salers that tastes much greater than the sum of its parts. Then a section of spritzes ($12), including a St. Germain-based version whose floral element is enhanced by lemongrass, and an Aperol spritz riff whose bitterness is made more flavorful by grapefruit and lemon.

You might not even get to the higher-ABV stuff, so easygoing and agreeable are these drinks. You might not want to, anyway, if youre pacing yourself over an entire afternoon on Aninas sunny patio. Then again, the picnic tables may demand one of the fruity, fizzy, citrusy punch bowls ($55).

The bars visual aesthetic feels very 2017, recalling the teal-toned geometrics of Tawla and the floral wallpaper of Leos Oyster Bar. Those walls are the work of Argentine muralist Lucila Dominguez, whom designer Sayre Ziskin (shes also behind Bernal Heights bar Holy Water) found on Instagram. An idiosyncratic hodgepodge of sketches and paintings  all depicting women  decorate the end of the room.

Just as Brass Tacks dark, simple drinks reflect its physical space, so do Aninas. In form and content alike, its light, bright, easy on the liver. In fact, Conway says Dominguezs mural shaped the drinks: Her paintings are a big part of the identity of the bar.

The Lucila ($12), named for the artist, is Aninas most popular drink. Created by bartender Nehil Nazzal, it mixes mezcal with pineapple gum and the red grapefruit liqueur Pamplemousse rose, a deft balance of smoky, sweet and bitter.

If this all sounds too spritzy for you and you just want some whiskey, well, you should go to Brass Tacks. Barring that, you should order Aninas Brigadier cocktail ($12). I was skeptical of combining Calvados with pommeau de Normandie (i.e. apple juice mixed with Calvados) but the pommeau adds an element of brightness and a touch of sweetness to the earthy apple brandy, whose flavors are deepened by Cardamaro and amontillado Sherry, both nutty and lightly oxidative. Its a great nightcap.

Neither Brass Tacks nor Anina serves food, though chefs have been popping up in Aninas patio  Richie Nakano serving fried chicken sandwiches, for instance, and Vannessa Gonzalez offering Mexican-Basque fare.

Conway, Healy-London and McAdam hope to have their third bar, at the corner of 24th and Utah streets, open by September. No details yet on what that much-larger bar will be like, but theyve added a fourth partner to the mix: David Ruiz, responsible for the venerable cocktail menu at Padrecito.

That 24th Street corridor is a neighborhood in a different sort of flux  with a completely different set of questions around development and identity  than Hayes Valley, which rests comfortably with its cadre of boutiques and bistros. Conway, Healy-London and McAdams third bar will surely be an anomaly in that area, too. Just what sort remains to be seen.

Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicles wine, beer and spirits writer. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley Instagram: @esthermob

To order: Knife in the Water ($10), Logroni ($10), Brigadier ($12), Lucila ($12)

Where: Anina, 482 Hayes St., S.F. www.aninasf.com

When: Monday-Friday 2 p.m.-2 a.m., Saturday-Sunday noon-2 a.m. Patio open until 7 p.m. Sunday-Monday, until 8 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and 9 p.m. Friday-Saturday.
When Michael Selden and Brian Wyrwas, two biochemists who met at the University of Massachusetts, arrived in San Francisco last month, they not surprisingly found the search for an apartment to be quite difficult.

However, they found it much easier to find their new lab bench in a basement in the SoMa district.

The two originally planned on a university setting to develop a method to culture fish fillets from animal cells. But they realized that they could move a lot faster, and tap into more resources, in the private sector, says Selden. Their fledgling company, Finless Foods, landed an investor in IndieBio, a San Francisco biotech accelerator  and then settled into its lab space beneath IndieBios offices.

The current goal of Finless Foods: to produce a simulacrum of bluefin tuna fillet to help relieve the pressure on the prized, but severely overfished, species.

Animals have little to do with the future of meat, milk and eggs, argue Selden and Wyrwas  and similar new companies and their funders. Instead, that future belongs to scientists who can hack yeast cells to produce egg whites, torque plant proteins into musclelike fibers and grow slaughter-free duck or chicken in factories.

If this future comes to pass, the global hub for innovation will be here in the Bay Area. The region that popularized farm-to-table cooking is now rethinking factory farming.

The money flowing toward alternatives to animal agriculture in the past four years has been notable: Impossible Foods, the Redwood City company that makes plant-based burgers, has raised north of $180 million from funders that include Bill Gates. Modern Meadow, a New York firm that cultures leather cells, has taken in $53 million.

Those are just the marquee companies. Operating on funding in the six-figure and low seven-figure range are newer enterprises like New Wave Foods (high-tech plant-based shrimp), the aforementioned Finless Foods (cultured seafood) and several meat breweries, including Clara Foods and Geltor, which ferment yeast cells to express egg whites and collagen, respectively. Most are based in the Bay Area; in fact, several, including Geltor and New Wave Foods, share office and lab space in San Leandro.

One of those San Leandro companies is Memphis Meats. To get an idea of how fast-paced  and well-funded  the alternative-meat industry is, consider Memphis Meats. In June 2015, Uma Valeti, a cardiologist in Minnesota, emailed his first venture capital firm with a proposal for a business making cultured meat. The technology had been proven to work in a laboratory setting, but bringing cultured meat to home cooks was  and remains  years away.

Within an hour they were on the phone, Valeti says. They really loved the idea and wanted us to move to the Bay Area.

Valeti and co-founder Nicholas Genovese moved to San Francisco just three months later, in September 2015. Since then, Memphis Meats has attracted more than $3 million in seed funding, according to Crunchbase, a business information site.

The very company that lured Memphis Meats to San Francisco, SOS Ventures, has been a major factor in turning the Bay Area into the hub for animal-free animal products. Sean OSullivans $150 million fund operates six accelerators around the world. One of them is IndieBio, and 25 percent of IndieBios participating companies, says chief science officer Ron Shigeta, are working on food.

Among the technocrat billionaire set, Bill Gates isnt the only one to invest money in high-tech meat alternatives. Google co-founder Sergey Brin helped fund the Dutch research that produced the first lab-grown hamburger in 2013. Obvious Ventures, backed by Twitter co-founder Evan Williams, bought into Beyond Meat, a Southern California plant-based meat company. Alphabet CEO Eric Schmidt told a group of investors at the Milken Institute, a Santa Monica think tank, last year that replacing livestock with plant-based meat is No. 1 on a list of technologies he predicts will change the world.

The payoff that they are chasing is almost unfathomably huge. Almost everybody eats meat, says Bruce Friedrich, executive director of the Good Food Institute, an advocacy group working to end industrial animal agriculture. Its a $200 billion market in the United States alone.

At the moment, plant-based meat represents one quarter of 1 percent of that. Even if it reached parity with plant-based dairy (soy and nut milks), sales would be $20 billion a year  in the United States alone.

Russell Yip/The Chronicle

The scale of the endeavor to reinvent the meat supply  and the profits it promises  are enormously enticing to Silicon Valley, or at least the valleys idealistic view of itself. (These) venture capitalists are interested in making the world a better place through the allocation of venture-capital resources, says Friedrich. And plant-based meat are the solution to the two big questions in agriculture. The first one is: How do we feed 9.7 billion people by 2050? The second one is: What do we do about climate change?

When Uma Valeti comes out with phrases like This is one of the biggest technological leaps for humanity, it sets the eye a-rolling until another part of the brain freezes it mid-rotation: What if hes right?

After all, raising animals for meat and dairy accounts for 14.5 percent of all human-produced greenhouse gas emissions, according to a recent U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization report on livestock and climate change.

Perfect Day Foods, which is developing what seems like an oxymoron  animal-free milk based on yeast-fermented cow milk proteins  says it has the potential to use up to 65 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and 84 percent less energy, 98 percent less water and 91 percent less land than traditional dairy production, according to an analysis by the University of the West of England.

Memphis Meats claims that its cultured meat eliminates the risk of e. coli contamination on the slaughter floor, as well as widespread antibiotic use on farms, which has been shown to contribute to antibiotic resistance.

British financial executive Jeremy Coller, now the worlds biggest investor in new meat alternatives, argues that scandals involving tainted meat, animal-welfare abuses and antibiotic resistance have already destroyed hundreds of millions of dollars of capital for those who invest in the conventional livestock industry.

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Coller says that investors like him, as well as companies like Memphis Meats, are flocking to Silicon Valley because of its record in starting groundbreaking industries. Incubators like IndieBio, accessible and affordable lab space, and networks of angel investors and venture capital (all) provide an infrastructure for all these startups, he says.

Talent, Shigeta says, is another draw. Stanford University, UC Berkeley and UC Davis are all located in or near the Bay Area. The size and breadth of the biotechnology sector here, anchored in part by Genentech, offers companies the intellectual bricks on which to build a company.

Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

Tim Geistlinger, chief technology officer of Perfect Day Foods, agrees that each job opening attracts candidates from the worlds top universities. They realize its their future theyre fighting for, he said in March at the Future Food Tech conference in Burlingame.

For now, most of the products remain a futuristic abstraction. Its very difficult to get even a taste of them, and the companies are highly secretive about the specifics of their research. Visits to the lab are forbidden, even to journalists.

The secrecy may be attributed to intellectual property issues but also the aesthetics: The future that many of the Bay Areas faux meat producers envision  meat grown in a lab, gelatin made in a tank from genetically engineered yeast  is exactly the opposite of the pastoral idyll the sustainable food movement has been pushing for four decades: Small family farms where chickens and pigs cavort in the sun until the moment they are given a merciful death. Wild fish allowed to prowl the oceans until theyre snatched out of the water.

That vision, says the Good Food Institutes Friedrich, may be a beautiful one, but its too limited, at far less than 1 percent of total meat sales. The vast majority of industrial animal agriculture involves confinement and giant manure lakes and stockyards that can be smelled for miles.

With factory farming, says investor Coller, weve been treating animals as objects. To those in the meat-alternative market, cows and pigs will soon become an outdated technology.

Tara Duggan and Jonathan Kauffman are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: tduggan@sfchronicle.com and jkauffman@sfchronicle.com

MORE TOMORROW: Will consumers accept faux meat? And how will the government regulate this new industry?
I quickly spotted my grandfather in the black-and-white photo: the diamond-shaped head, the thick shock of hair and the long earlobes: my grandfathers features, my fathers, my brothers  and more and more, its starting to seem, the twins too.

We were gathered in Colorado, attending the wedding of my cousin Gs daughter  the same cousin whose wedding our family had attended in the 1980s. I dont remember much except for dancing, standing on my fathers feet as we moved around the floor and hanging out with my cousins who had driven in from Chicago.

Now it was the next generations turn. The night before the wedding, my cousin G had us over for dinner  me, my husband, the twins, my sister, my brother and his girlfriend, and my mother  joining her parents, as well as my cousins brothers and their children.

It had been a few years since wed seen each other, not since my fathers funeral. Other relatives I was meeting for the first time.

Over plates of barbecue and salad, we started talking about old family history. A cousin from Seattle mentioned a photo of my grandfather as a young man. My fathers father, whom I dimly remembered as a taciturn and elegant presence before he passed away.

You mean my father, as a boy, I said. In that photo, taken in 1947 in Nanjing, everyone is dressed in thick knit clothes. A rare photo, one of a few mementos that survived the journey across oceans and continents. Decades later, when my father applied to bring over his parents and his siblings to the United States, hed presented the photo to immigration officials as evidence of their relationship.

No  the one of our grandfather as a boy, my cousin K said.

As a boy? Until that moment, the earliest photo Id ever seen, the earliest photo I thought existed, had been the wedding portrait of my grandparents: my grandfather dashing in his naval uniform, and my grandmother ethereal in a beaded headdress.

Are we talking about the same photo? I asked.

From a manila envelope, my aunt pulled out a photo taken in a courtyard, everyone dressed in silk tunic jackets with frog closures. I spotted my grandfather, his expression serious but with a hint of a smile, in his late teens or early 20s. At that age, who did he dream of becoming? What promise did the world hold, before years of war engulfed his country? The patriarch in the photo is dignified, in a round cap with a snowy beard and goatee, with the look of a scholar in watercolor painting.

I pointed at him. Is that our grandfathers father? It must be. Or his grandfather?

My cousin K had immigrated to the United States in his early 20s and was fluent in Chinese. With his help, we determined the photo had been taken on my great-great-great grandfathers 70th birthday.

My cousins careful and deliberate manner and the shape of his face reminded me of my father and in that moment, I missed him keenly. Later that night, my sister agreed with me  my cousins manner reminded her of our father, too.

Another photo stunned me: my grandfather, in a pale elegant suit, one son riding a hobby horse, another on a tricycle. A hobby horse! Earlier than I had realized, starting in the late 1920s, my family had faced west.

At the wedding reception, I shyly approached my cousin K, the one whod translated the captions. I wanted to tell him he reminded me of my father, but didnt know if he might think it strange.

Its an honor, he said.

He told me hed picked up my father at the airport during the winter years ago, and since then, hed heard about my fathers various engineering projects, which were a source of pride.

More than a half century ago, a world away, his mother and my father had played, survived the war, made their way to America and started their own families. The years spun by until that weekend brought together our family. What might seem scattered, what might seem lost, could be found again. My cousin tilted his head, reminding me of my father once more.

Our familys story is one of the many Ive been thinking about as we begin Asian Pacific Heritage Month  a month chosen to commemorate the entry of the first Japanese immigrants to the United States and to mark the completion of the transcontinental railroad. Many of the workers who blasted through rock and laid tracks were Chinese immigrants.

Then and now, many immigrants have taken tough, dangerous jobs. Then and now, theyve come under attack and turned into scapegoats. And then and now, we must remember their stories.

Vanessa Huas column appears Fridays in Datebook. Email: datebook@sfchronicle.com
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A Santa Clara County jury began deciding the fate Thursday of a 26-year-old man charged with capital murder in the high-profile disappearance five years ago of Morgan Hill teenager Sierra LaMar.

The jury started deliberations after a more than three-month-long trial, in which prosecutors argued that Antolin Garcia-Torres kidnapped and killed the South Bay 15-year-old.

Santa Clara County deputy district attorney David Boyd called the defendant cold, calculated and evil during his final statements before the jury was sent to examine the heap of evidence.

The prosecution, though, faced challenges from the start. With no body, crime scene, weapon or other direct evidence, Boyd built his case with circumstantial evidence that he said, when examined as a whole, leaves no doubt Garcia-Torres is a killer.

Look at not just one piece of evidence, but all of it, Boyd told the jury. Do they make sense in totality? See all the improbabilities that have to be true in order for him to be innocent.

While the evidence was largely circumstantial, prosecutors presented compelling physical evidence at trial. Garcia-Torres DNA was found on Sierras clothing. Her DNA was discovered on the defendants car and on a pair of gloves inside the vehicle. Investigators said they found Sierras hair on a rope found in the trunk of the defendants car.

Prosecutors said Garcia-Torres and Sierra had not previously met.

Security video shows Garcia-Torres leaving his trailer park in his red Volkswagen Jetta the morning Sierra disappeared on March 16, 2012. The home is approximately 7 miles from where Sierra vanished.

Garcia-Torres told investigators he had been driving on Palm Avenue near where Sierra disappeared around the same time she would have been catching a school bus.

He told the same detectives he had been fishing alone that day at the Uvas and Chesbro reservoirs in the opposite direction of Palm Avenue from his home.

Garcia-Torres attorney argued in a closing statement on Wednesday that the prosecutions case was built on shame evidence, and his client is no killer.

The heart of his defense focused on Sierra. Without a body, defense attorney Alfonso Lopez said, prosecutors could not prove Sierra is even dead.

Shes not communicating with her family, thats all that it is, Lopez said.

Lopez said prosecutors overstated the other evidence and were asking the jury to make unproven assumptions. He attempted to cast doubt on the physical evidence, arguing that the DNA and hair may have been corrupted by investigators and crime lab technicians.

Garcia-Torres is also charged with three counts of attempted kidnapping stemming from three separate attempted carjacking incidents at Morgan Hill Safeway stores in 2009.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky
Lawyers for Waymo and Uber traded explosive revelations about clandestine dealings during a packed San Francisco court hearing Wednesday about whether Uber stole key technology from Waymo for its self-driving car project.

Waymo, formerly Googles self-driving unit, is seeking a preliminary injunction to halt Ubers work on self-driving cars, which the ride-hailing company sees as key to its future. Waymo alleges that its former star engineer Anthony Levandowski stole a proprietary way to build lidar, which helps autonomous cars see the world around them, and brought that to Uber.

The case pits two of techs biggest stars against each other in the race to develop robot cars, a once-sci-fi technology thats now widely acknowledged to be the near future of the multitrillion-dollar auto industry.

Eric Risberg/Associated Press

In court, Waymo attorney Charles Verhoeven alleged that Otto, the self-driving truck company that Levandowski started last year soon after abruptly quitting Waymo, was nothing more than a shell game to let Uber get its hands on Waymos intellectual property.

Uber and Levandowski created a cover-up scheme for what they were doing, Verhoeven told U.S. District Judge William Alsup. They concocted a story for public consumption.

Uber attorney Arturo Gonzalez defended the San Francisco ride-hailing company. We are adamant that we did not use any of (Waymos) secrets, he said, characterizing the dispute as something between Waymo and Levandowski. Theres no evidence Levandowski brought Waymo files to Uber.

Verhoeven claimed that Levandowski secretly negotiated with Brian McClendon, Ubers vice president of mapping, in October, while he was still working at Waymo. He presented documents indicating that the two men discussed a long-range laser that corresponds exactly to a product Waymo had developed. McClendon, who previously had spent 10 years at Google, left Uber in March.

While Mr. Levandowski was still working at Waymo, Uber and Mr. Levandowski were planning to have Mr. Levandowski build a custom lidar for Uber based on his experience with Waymos efforts, Verhoeven said.

According to Waymo, in December 2015, Levandowski spent eight hours downloading 14,000 proprietary documents from the Mountain View company, then tried to cover his tracks by reformatting his laptop and wiping clean what he had done. Forensics revealed the theft however, the companys attorneys said.

The following month, Levandowski quit Waymo with no notice.

Verhoeven showed documents indicating that Levandowski was awarded 5 million shares of Uber stock, worth $25 million, in a grant dated Jan. 28, 2016  months before Uber acquired Otto for $680 million in August.

Uber representatives said out of court that Levandowski wasnt granted the stock until August. The grant carried an earlier date to give him credit for his time at Otto, which they characterized as a typical arrangement in acquisitions. The vesting is based on meeting technical milestones over time, so Levandowski has no vested Uber shares yet, the company said.

Uber has blocked the release of 3,500 documents related to its acquisition of Otto that Waymo requested as evidence. Verhoeven said Uber decided to cloak those documents, which include all its communications with Levandowski, two months after he quit Google, long before Uber acquired his company. An Uber email said the documents were being shielded in anticipation of litigation, Verhoeven said, providing circumstantial evidence of bad intent.

Those documents are key, Waymo said  and Alsup agreed.

To me, thats a treasure trove that would say what really happened in this case, he said.

Levandowski has asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination throughout the case, and extended that to his personal laptop.

Alsup said that Levandowski appears to be culpable. You have solid proof he did all that downloading under suspicious circumstances, and Uber has not denied it, he said. (In fact, an Uber attorney later replied to a direct question about whether it disputed the downloading had occurred by saying: We dont have any basis for disputing that.)

Later, Alsup speculated that Levandowski could have simply taken his personal laptop to work at Uber and consulted it to use Waymos trade secrets without telling Uber. Waymo has not shown strong evidence to prove that Uber knew about the trade secrets, Alsup said.

What if it turns out Uber is totally innocent, and the worst thing they did is pay a lot of money to hire away a brilliant guy from a competitor without realizing he was downloading all this information? he said. That would turn the case into an arbitration claim against Levandowski, he said. (Google and Waymo, like most companies, mandate arbitration for employee disputes in hiring contracts.)

Much of Waymos arguments hinged on the adverse inference to be drawn from Levandowski asserting his Fifth Amendment rights.

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.

Absent Levandowskis testimony and Ubers 3,500 withheld documents, Verhoeven said, Uber might get away with it  meaning stealing Waymos technology.

Gonzalez, the Uber attorney, noted that the company voluntarily had Levandowski step down from working on lidar development and would consent to a preliminary injunction on that, telling him, No more lidar for you until this trial is done.

Levandowski may be refusing to testify, but everyone else at Uber wants to tell their side of the story, Gonzalez said, dangling the prospect of company CEO Travis Kalanick submitting to a deposition.

No one is hiding at Uber, he said.

In a moment of courtroom theatrics, Gonzalez and his associates trotted out a bulky hardware device called Spider, a form of lidar under development at Uber, and took pains to paint it as a piece of garbage  undesirable for use in Uber vehicles  making the point that it couldnt possibly have been copied from Waymo.

Alsups ruling on the preliminary injunction is expected in a few days. The case will go to trial in October.

Los Angeles employment lawyer Dan Handman, who followed the hearing but was not involved in the case, said he wouldnt be surprised if Alsup issues a temporary injunction barring Levandowski from further work with Uber.

Similarly, it is entirely reasonable to think that Uber will be ordered to turn over the so-called treasure trove of disputed documents or face a major adverse inference at trial, he said in an email. What remains unlikely, however, is Alsup granting a broad injunction keeping Uber out of the autonomous vehicle business.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid
Almost exactly a year after starting the process, the Madison Area Technical Colleges Board of Trustees Wednesday approved a development team to turn the colleges Downtown campus into a hotel and office tower.

Trustees voted unanimously to begin negotiations for a ground lease with Hovde Properties and hotel developer Drury Southwest on a $132 million project that would renovate Madison Colleges Downtown Education Center into a 197-room hotel and construct a 10-story office tower that would have retail and a grocery store.

As part of the plan, the college would move many of its programs to Madisons South Side.

I know the work is just beginning, said trustee Shawn Pfaff. This will be, I think, just another gem to (the Downtown).

MATC President Jack E. Daniels said he hopes to vacate the Downtown campus at 211 N. Carroll St. by early 2019 to open the land up for the lease. But several approvals are needed before that can happen:

The Board will need to approve a finalized lease agreement, which Daniels said could happen sometime next summer.

College officials will also seek the approval of a draft agreement from the Wisconsin Technical College System Board this summer and a final sign-off on the project by the technical college system board between nine and 18 months later.

The development team would also need to seek land use approvals from the city and possibly tax incremental financing (TIF) approval if public funds are sought.

The college narrowed down a field of 11 interested developers to five finalists in January.

Of the finalists, the lease for the Hovde and Drury project would give the college the most revenue, starting at $750,000 annually and rising incrementally to potentially $4.5 million per year by the end of the 98-year lease.

Drury initially submitted its own proposal but teamed up with Hovde, of Madison, after the Missouri-based hotel developer was not a finalist.

We thought this really makes for a great partnership, said Larry Westrich, vice president of Drury. We felt there was some really great synergy between the two of us.

The project calls for remodeling the existing buildings and adding two floors to the now five-story section of the structure facing North Carroll Street for the hotel.

Westrich said Drury has done 13 historic renovations of buildings, but this will be the companys first project in Wisconsin.

The 202,000-square-foot office tower would replace an existing parking lot and feature a grocery store on West Johnson Street, with retail on West Dayton Street. Three levels of underground parking for 392 vehicles would also be built below the building.

Mike Slavish, Hovde president, said the developer has experience in constructing new buildings and renovating historic structures, adding that the company has a passion for both types of development.

The old Madison Central High School arch would be moved to a shared courtyard between the buildings.

Daniels called it an excellent proposal with two companies that are outstanding.

Trustees unanimously voted on May 4 last year to begin the search for developers, but not without concern from students and faculty about the loss of the campus.

MATC is continuing to search for an appropriate building as it expands its presence on the South Side. But it will stay at its current location in the Villager Mall on South Park Street until at least 2019 after a two-year extension on the space was signed, Daniels said.

He said the process of vacating the Downtown site and expanding on the South Side do not need to happen concurrently.

One is not dependent on the other, and so the tracks that theyre working may be simultaneous, but the dependency is not there, Daniels said.
Sonny Perdue, the new U.S. secretary of agriculture, has made his first big policy change: rolling back former first lady Michelle Obamas healthy school-lunch standards.

The Agriculture Department released an interim final rule postponing further sodium reductions for the national school-lunch program for at least three years.

The announcement also allows schools to opt out of serving products rich in whole grains, and to serve 1 percent chocolate and strawberry milk. Previously, schools were required to carry only nonfat milk options.

Perdue said the change was so schools would have more flexibility. He also said he didnt think the kids were eating the healthier options.

If kids arent eating the food, and its ending up in the trash, they arent getting any nutrition, Perdue said in a statement.

Nutrition experts greeted the announcement with consternation, and with good cause.

The healthy school-lunch law for which Obama lobbied so hard required the national school-lunch program to use recommendations from the Institute of Medicine.

They pushed schools to offer children a wider range of fruits and vegetables, more whole-grain foods, less meat and less sodium.

By all measures, the law is working. About 99 percent of U.S. schools are at least partially compliant with the new standards, and theyve largely adapted without enduring any long-term negative financial impacts.

Politically, the healthy standards are also popular with parents. And contrary to Perdues argument about food waste, researchers found that kids in the program are actually eating more fruits and vegetables.

Given the nations problems with obesity and weight-related health conditions, theres every argument to be made for strengthening, rather than weakening, the lunch standards. One in every three American children is on track to have diabetes, a chronic condition that creates plenty of individual suffering and has huge costs for public health.

Los Angeles Unified, the nations second-largest public school district, already has said it plans to stick with its healthier menu plan. In the health-conscious Bay Area, this decision shouldnt be difficult, either. We urge Bay Area school districts to maintain the current standards.

Food is political; the health of our children shouldnt be.
WASHINGTON  President Trump and House GOP leaders leaned hard Wednesday on undecided Republicans, including vulnerable Californians in swing districts, in a last-ditch effort to pass their proposed repeal of the Affordable Care Act this week.

By late in the day, Republican leaders expressed confidence they had the support they needed to repeal former President Barack Obamas signature legislative victory, and said the House would vote Thursday.

Do we have the votes? Yes. Will we pass it? Yes, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield told reporters.

Members said Trump was making calls to wavering center-right Republicans, holding long chats that included thinly veiled threats that he would support potential primary challengers if they dont vote for the bill and send it to the Senate.

The Houses failure to pass an earlier version of the repeal-and-replace measure was one of the biggest defeats for Trump in his first 100 days in office. The new version, crafted to win over far-right conservatives who see little or no role for government in the health care market, would allow states to apply for waivers from Affordable Care Act requirements that insurers offer coverage to everyone in an age group at the same price, regardless of whether they have pre-existing health conditions. Such states would have to set up high-risk pools to help people with pre-existing conditions pay for coverage.

House Republican leaders said Wednesday that the legislation would be amended to add $8 billion for these pools over five years. That was enough to win over some Republicans, including Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan, a key swing vote who had earlier said he would vote no. But others in the GOPs center-right faction were wavering.

Groups opposing the bill said the extra $8 billion would do little to enable everyone with pre-existing conditions pay what would probably be exorbitant premiums. Rep. Mike Thompson, a St. Helena Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, said the additional money would provide sick people with an extra $200, which does not buy health insurance for somebody with pre-existing conditions. Its laughable.

Critics also pointed out that like an earlier Republican repeal-and-replace bill that stalled in March, the new bill would gut federal funding that has allowed millions of people to obtain insurance through Medicaid since the Affordable Care Act was passed.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated that 24 million people who now have coverage would lose or drop it under the original bill. The nonpartisan office has not yet analyzed the latest measure.

In addition to the Medicaid cuts, the GOP measure would let states waive Affordable Care Act requirements that all insurance policies cover certain essential benefits, such as emergency-room visits and maternity care.

With no Democrats expected to back the new bill, GOP leaders can afford to lose no more than 22 votes in their 238-member House majority. Various media counts put the Republican no votes at around 19, with two dozen undecided.

The measure presents an ugly choice for many California Republicans, especially those representing districts that voted for Hillary Clinton over Trump in November.

California enthusiastically embraced the Affordable Care Act and used it to provide coverage to nearly 5 million people, largely through Medicaid. Repeal of the law could cost the state an estimated $160 billion in federal funds.

There are 14 Republicans in the California House delegation, seven of whom represent districts that Clinton won. Five of the seven say they have not made up their minds on the new bill, despite the heavy lobbying by Trump and GOP leaders.

The undecided members largely made themselves scarce Wednesday. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista (San Diego County), who narrowly won re-election in November, rushed past reporters and declined to comment. A day earlier, he told a reporter for the Hill online news site who asked how he intended to vote that it was none of your business.

Rep. Ed Royce, R-Fullerton (Orange County), also ducked reporters Wednesday.

Late Wednesday, Anthony Wright of Health Access California, said that two of the undecideds, Rep. David Valadao of Hanford (Kings County) and Steve Knight of Lancaster (Kings County) are now supporting the bill. And one who had said he was opposed, Jeff Denham of Turlock (Stanislaus County), now says he is in favor of it, Wright said.

Valadao has said people in his largely poor rural district are worried about potentially losing health coverage they gain under the Medicaid expansion.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Costa Mesa (Orange County), said he was still waiting to see the final legislation. I have to see whats in it before I can say, he said.

The White House and GOP leaders are eager to hold a vote this week. The House is scheduled to begin a weeklong recess Friday, and if members leave town without voting, whatever momentum the new version has generated is likely to evaporate.

California Democrats predicted that many of their GOP colleagues would be jeopardizing their seats by voting for the bill.

Its not hard to identify California Republicans who would be in deep, deep trouble  I believe career-ending trouble  if they support this bill, said Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael. It is so out of step with our state, and so harmful to the state and their constituents specifically.

Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, called it a suicide vote for Republicans. She said repeal of the Affordable Care Act would have repercussions far beyond those gaining coverage under the law, to those who get health care coverage through their employers.

Repeal would totally undermine health care for tens of millions of Americans, and its not just Americans who didnt have health care before, Speier said. She noted that in addition to letting states opt out of essential benefits coverage, the GOP measure would waive the Affordable Care Acts ban on coverage caps for some types of care in states that dropped those essential benefits.

This is all about the president being able to wave a win and show his signature on a major piece of legislation, Speier said. Which hes not going to be able to do because its never going to be able to get out of the Senate. Its the showman at his worst.

Carolyn Lochhead is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. Email: clochhead@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @carolynlochhead
Whether its a Giants doubleheader, Hamilton at the Orpheum or the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love, Bay Area residents have plenty of reasons for a mini vacation in San Francisco this summer. The citys not-yet-crested wave of new or newly transformed hotels offers additional enticements, including discounted weekend rates. Here are some highlights.

 Jeanne Cooper, travel@sfchronicle.com

Union Square

Hotel Alise: The first San Francisco property of Seattles Pineapple Hospitality, this 93-room hotel heralds its first summer season with the addition of a 10-foot crochet pineapple to the marble lobby, home to the tempting Pineapple Bistro and Bar. Similar whimsical touches and bold splashes of yellow await in the posh guest rooms. 580 Geary St. From $169. www.thealise.com

Hotel Nikko: The Japanese-inspired, 533-room aerie reopened in March after $60 million in top-to-bottom renovations that, among other changes, brought plush new furnishings and swaths of rich blue to guest rooms. Dont miss the large atrium-covered pool and terrace, updated in 2016. 222 Mason St. From $209. www.hotelnikkosf.com

Hilton San Francisco Union Square: The West Coasts largest hotel recently capped an eight-year, $130 million overhaul that includes noise-canceling windows and doors in its completely redone 1,919 guest rooms. Nonguests can also enjoy the newly welcoming lobby and bar, regional fare at redesigned Urban Tavern restaurant, and the Cityscape lounges 46th-floor Instagram-worthy views. 333 OFarrell St. From $192. www.sfhilton.com

Inn at Union Square: Just 30 rooms and suites, this boutique hotel took its cues from San Franciscos classic Victorian homes for comprehensive renovations that ended in January. Tufted headboards and velvet lounge chairs adorn guest rooms, while each floors public parlor features a wood-burning fireplace (also found in the sumptuously residential Alma Spreckels Suite.) 440 Post St. From $269. www.unionsquare.com

South of Market

Hotel Via: The all-new, 12-story hotel in South Beach overlooks AT&T Park, but the harbor and city views from some of its sleek (and occasionally petite) 159 rooms are equally compelling. The independent inns soft opening, which includes a ground-level restaurant and rooftop lounge with fire pits and cabanas, is set for June; reservations are available now for stays from July 1. 138 King St. From $279. www.hotelviasf.com

Hotel Zetta: The former Hotel Milano underwent extensive remodeling with playful modernist touches as part of its 2013 rebranding under Viceroy Hotels. In January, a new partnership with Well+Away added yoga and mindfulness classes; healthful, local snacks in all 116 rooms minibars; and five Well+Away Pure guest rooms, featuring Muse meditation headbands, Dyson air purifiers, organic cotton robes and other rest-focused amenities. 55 Fifth St. From $229. www.hotelzetta.com

Coming soon: Not yet accepting reservations, the 196-room Virgin Hotel with public rooftop bar will become the second in Richard Bransons hipster brand, which debuted in Chicago in 2015. The hotel at Fourth and Folsom streets plans a summer opening. www.virginhotels.com

Mid-Market

Coming soon: Across Market Street from one another are two hotels set to open in 2017. The crowdfunded Yotel San Francisco, a tech-driven spin on capsule hotels that refers to its 200 rooms as cabins, is a makeover of an office building at Seventh and Market streets and opens late this year. The 131-room Proper Hotel is an artful transformation of the former Renoir Hotel at 45 McAllister St. and opens Aug. 1, but is not taking reservations yet. www.yotel.com, www.properhotel.com
MINNEAPOLIS  Catcher Bruce Maxwell was up so early Thursday, at 3:30 a.m. after a long night game at Round Rock, Texas, that he had to make sure he let the flight attendant know he was sleep deprived.

She thought I was delirious or something, he said. I was like, Nah, Im just sleepy.

Maxwell estimated he got about 45 minutes of sleep. His Uber ride to the airport in Austin was at 4:15 a.m., and he arrived in the visitors clubhouse at Target Field at 10:15 a.m. for Thursdays noon game.

Still, no complaints. Maxwell is happy to be back with the As, though the circumstances arent ideal. Josh Phegley was placed on the seven-day concussion disabled list.

Obviously, its an unfortunate situation, Maxwell said. Thats not something you want to see.

Manager Bob Melvin said Phegley was feeling better Thursday after taking a foul ball off the mask the night before, and his condition is much better than it was last year when he dealt with a concussion, but teams must strictly follow the concussion protocol.

Maxwell and catcher Stephen Vogt are both left-handed hitters. Maxwell was batting .275 at Triple-A Nashville and Vogt is hitting .222 and has had a tough time defensively, but Melvin said he is unsure how playing time will break down.

Well take a look at that a little bit later today, Melvin said, noting that the As face a left-hander, Daniel Norris, on Sunday. Bruce has been a guy who has handled lefties pretty well, and Vogter has at times when hes swinging the bat well, too. So well take that into consideration.

Manaeas return delayed: Pitcher Sean Manaea, who is on the 10-day DL with left shoulder tightness, did not throw his planned bullpen session Thursday. Instead, Manaea threw long toss, and the team will play it by ear when it comes to scheduling a bullpen session.

Reliever John Axford (shoulder) did throw a 23-pitch bullpen session Thursday and it went well, Melvin said. Axford will throw one more bullpen session before throwing to hitters and then likely going on a rehab assignment.

Chris Bassitt had his first rehab outing at Stockton: four shutout innings, two hits, one walk, four Ks.

Susan Slusser is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

On deck

Friday

vs. Tigers

7:05 p.m. NBCSCA

Fulmer (2-1)

vs. Triggs (4-1)

Saturday

vs. Tigers

6:05 p.m. NBCSCA

Zimmermann (3-1) vs. Hahn (1-2)

Sunday

vs. Tigers

1:05 p.m. NBCSCA

Norris (2-2)

vs. Gray (0-1)

Leading off

Homage to King: Before Fridays game, the As will unveil a Holy Toledo sign in center that will light up after highlight plays  a nod to late broadcaster Bill King, the Frick Award honoree at the Hall of Fame inductions in July.

 Susan Slusser
Evan Sernoffsky / Evan Sernoffsky / San Francisco Chronicle

A man killed by police Tuesday night in San Jose in the first of two fatal officer-involved shootings in the South Bay city this week was identified by authorities on Thursday.

The man, 28-year-old Joseph Tourino of San Jose, allegedly charged at Officer Mario Martinez with a knife held over his head when Martinez responded to a family disturbance call on the 1500 block of Mount Frazier Drive about 11:35 p.m. Tuesday, according to Officer Albert Morales, a spokesman for the San Jose Police Department.
Rallies and protest events are a part of political life in the Bay Area. Heres a roundup of whats happening:

Friday

Immigration discussion: A presentation by the Party for Socialism and Liberation on defending immigrants rights. The event is from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at 2969 Mission St. in San Francisco. For information: https://www.facebook.com/events/1917646978471340/.

Saturday

Travel ban: 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., San Francisco. Contact Chinese for Affirmative Action: (415) 274-6750.

May Day assessment: A report on the impact of May Day protests, hosted by the Peace and Freedom Party. The discussion is from 2 to 4:30 p.m. at the Starry Plough Pub, 3101 Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley. For information, contact (510) 332-3865 or cuyleruyle@mac.com.

Sanctuary cities: A panel hosted by the Freedom Socialist Party Bay Area on how unions, religious groups and schools can defend immigrants. Doors open at 1 p.m. and the panel talk begins at 2 p.m. New Valencia Hall, 747 Polk St. in San Francisco. For information, call (415) 864-1278 or email bafsp@earthlink.com.

Health care film: Now Is the Time: 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.

Sunday

Ethics: A conversation on how to Live Ethically in an Unethical World and cope with the current political climate. The free event is from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at Grace Cathedral, Gresham Hall, 1100 California St. in San Francisco. For information: https://www.gracecathedral.org/events/thomas-plante-living-ethically-in-an-unethical-world/.

Police forum: A presentation on the lawfulness of police shootings, led by attorney Christopher Boscia. The event is from 11 a.m to 12:15 p.m. at the Humanist Community in Silicon Valley, 1180 Coleman Ave. in San Jose. For information: https://www.meetup.com/humanistcommunity/events/239404521/

Health care film: Now Is the Time: Healthcare for Everybody will be shown, followed by a health care discussion on proposals for a single-payer system in California. The event is from 2 to 4 p.m. at the San Lorenzo Library, 395 Paseo Grande. For information, contact aruchlis@gmail.com.

Town hall: Hosted by Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Fremont, at 2 p.m. at the Performing Arts Center of Santa Clara High School, 3000 Benton St. in Santa Clara.

Tuesday

Town halls: Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove (Sacramento County), hosts two town halls: at 9 a.m. at the McBride Senior Center, 91 Town Square Place in Vacaville; and at 1:30 p.m. at the Fairfield Senior Center, 1200 Civic Center Drive in Fairfield.

Thursday

Town hall: Hosted by Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, at 3 p.m. at the Alameda Free Library, 1550 Oak St. in Alameda.

Nuclear weapons: A talk by former Defense Secretary William Perry on how to end the threat of nuclear weapons. The event is from 7 to 9 p.m. at Menlo School, 50 Valparaiso Ave. in Atherton. For information: http://bit.ly/2pJIL8D.

May 13

Art show: A resistance-inspired show hosted by Indivisible Alameda County. The event is from 3 to 7 p.m. at 37275 Niles Blvd. in Fremont. For information, contact IndivisibleAlamedaCounty@gmail.com.
A man who was fatally shot by San Francisco police at a Subway sandwich shop on busy Market Street was identified Thursday by the city medical examiners office as a 26-year-old Texas native who had lost contact with friends back in that state.

Nicholas Flusche was killed Wednesday after two police officers confronted him as he stabbed another man  a Subway employee  at 11:22 a.m. on the 900 block of Market Street, officials said.

The officer who shot Flusche was identified by two sources as the same one who shot and wounded a man in the Oceanview district in January.

Officer Kenneth Cha shot and killed Flusche, according to a lawyer representing the man shot in January and another person with knowledge of the matter.

Deputy Public Defender Brian Pearlman, citing his own police source, confirmed that Cha was the officer who shot and killed Flusche.

Pearlman added that during a Thursday court hearing for the victim in the January shooting, he told the judge that Cha also shot and killed Flusche.

Though Cha was previously assigned to the police departments Taraval Station, he was transferred to the Tenderloin after the January shooting.

Flusche was pronounced dead at the scene Wednesday, said Police Chief Bill Scott. The stabbing victim, who was not identified, was taken to a hospital, where he was treated and released.

Police officials said they would hold a town hall in coming days to release more details. The shooting is under investigation by police, the district attorneys office and the civilian Department of Police Accountability.

Though Flusches last residence is unknown, he graduated from Muenster High School in Muenster, Texas, in 2008. His family declined to speak at length about the incident.

We are still kind of in shock, said his father, Phillip Flusche.

Cade Archer, a 26-year-old Austin resident, said he lived with Flusche in 2011 when the two were students at Texas State University in San Marcos. At that time, he said, Flusche was an amazing person, never confrontational, never angry.

He was always the person to go to for advice, Archer said. He got along with everyone and had so many friends.

Flusche didnt finish his studies, and he ended up working in sales for a surveillance company in San Antonio, Archer said. Flusche was fired from that job three years ago, according to a company manager who asked not to be identified.

He fell off the grid among his group of friends, Archer said. The two hadnt spoken in about two years, and it wasnt immediately clear how long Flusche had been in San Francisco.

A GoFundMe Web page was set up for the family to raise funeral costs and to transport Flusches body back to Texas.

Gumaro DeJesus, a 28-year-old manager at Shiekh Shoes, directly across the street from the Subway shop, said Thursday that he had been standing behind the cash register in his store Wednesday when he heard the pop of one gunshot.

He said detectives who came to Shiekh Shoes to check the stores surveillance cameras said Subway employees had called police when Flusche began stabbing one of the workers. The sandwich shop was closed Thursday, with white paper covering windows.

DeJesus said he had seen the stabbing victim many times behind the counter preparing food.

Another witness, Kevin Ramsey, told KNTV that he had intervened after seeing Flusche behind the counter of the sandwich shop, stabbing a clerk who was covered in blood.

I grabbed his arm and held it, and we fought for (the knife) till the cops came in the door to do what they had to, Ramsey said. The cops came in and told us all to get down.

Ramsey said that because Flusche didnt comply, he couldnt follow the order to get down either.

So I pushed him away from me and got out of the way, he told the television station, and he came after the cop, and the cop did what he had to do and shot one time.

It was the citys first fatal police shooting since Scott, a former Los Angeles deputy chief, took command in January.

The January shooting took place after a confrontation between Sean Moore and Cha and another officer that began with reports of a restraining-order violation. Video of the Moore shooting shows that a second officer tried to subdue the man with baton blows moments earlier but was knocked to the ground.

San Francisco Chronicle staff writers Michael Bodley and Vivian Ho contributed to this report.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
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Rapidly melting snow caused the Merced River at the Pohono Bridge in Yosemite Valley to lap over its banks on Thursday morning, but national park officials reported there was no major flooding of roads or trails.

Officials said the peak of the flooding isnt expected to occur until early Friday.

A flood warning has been in effect for the Merced River since Tuesday morning when water levels hit 9.4 feet, dangerously close to the flood stage of 10 feet.

As of Wednesday night, water levels reached 11 feet, a foot above flood stage, and was expected to continue rising to 11.5 feet by 2 a.m. Friday, said Brian Ochs, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in the San Joaquin Valley.

Youre just flooding part of the campground close to the river (at 9 feet), but when you get to 11 feet, youre starting to see a little more flooding, Ochs said, adding that some water might spill past the campgrounds and head downstream into the valley.

The flooding is due to warm temperatures after an unusually wet and snowy winter season, Ochs added. The temperature in Yosemite is forecast to reach a high of 87 degrees on Thursday, which is above average for early May, he said.

We are looking at more June or July temperatures, Ochs said of the recent hot spell.

High temperatures drive the snow melt, Ochs said, and temperatures wont start to cool down until after Thursday.

He said the snowpack is at about the 8,600-foot elevation, where the temperature is expected to reach 63 degrees Thursday  causing even more runoff.

Park officials had prepared for high water and have been monitoring the river to see whether swells would approach roads and trails. Low-lying campsites were shut down as a precaution.

Visitors were warned to keep their distance from rivers and streams for the next few months, park officials said.

VIDEO: Merced river floods in January 2017

Temperatures in Yosemite would start to decrease to a more usual forecast on Friday with a high of 77 and dip into the 60s on Saturday with a chance for light rain. At the higher elevations, temperatures are expected to cool down to 58 degrees on Friday and 46 degrees on Saturday, with up to five inches of snow potentially falling above 8,000 feet.

We are not expecting very much, said Jim Andersen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Joaquin Valley.

The forecast would drop even lower by the end of the weekend with a high of 56 on Sunday and 39 degrees where the snow is, Ochs said.

A statewide campaign to caution California residents of high water, which is responsible for several deaths every year, has already been launched by the National Weather Service.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. (KCRA)  Parents at three Sacramento County schools have been told to pick up their children Thursday due to an illness that broke out in the school district, according to school officials.

Thirty-three students, five teachers and several parents in the Elverta Joint Elementary School District have become infected with norovirus, the district superintendent told KCRA 3. Most of the sick cases came from Elverta Elementary School.

Parents of children at Elverta Elementary School, Alpha Middle School and Alpha Charter School are being asked to pick their students up immediately, the superintendent said.

As a precaution, all three schools will be closed until Monday as janitorial crews work to clean the schools.

Below is a note that was sent out Thursday to parents in the district:

"Hello Parents and Families,

"Yesterday afternoon and today we have had many students and adults become ill with gastro-intestinal symptoms. This includes nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

"We are taking this situation seriously, and have been in contact with the Sacramento Public Health Department. As a precaution we will be closing Elverta Elementary, Alpha Middle School and Alpha Charter High School the rest of the day and tomorrow.

"We will deep clean and sanitize our schools, and will reopen on Monday, May 8.

"Thank you for your patience in this matter."

Norovirus is a very contagious virus that causes infected people's stomachs or intestines to become inflamed. It can lead to stomach pain, nausea and diarrhea, and can cause vomiting, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

No additional details have been released.

KCRA 3 has a crew on the way to the school.

This story originally appeared on KCRA.
Deborah Braswell, a university administrator in Alabama, is a member of a dwindling group  people with a landline phone at home.

According to a government study released Thursday, 50.8 percent of homes and apartments had only cell phone service in the latter half of 2016, the first time such households attained a majority in the survey. Braswell and her family are part of the 45.9 percent that still have landlines. The remaining households have no phones at all.

More than 39 percent of U.S. households  including Braswells  have both landline and cell phone service. The landline comes in handy when someone misplaces one of the seven cell phones kicking around her three-story house in a Birmingham suburb. You walk around your house calling yourself to find it, she said.

Its also useful when someone breaks or loses a cell phone and has to wait for a replacement.

Renters and younger adults are more likely to have just a cell phone, which researchers attribute to their mobility and comfort with newer technology.

The in-person survey of 19,956 households was part of the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions National Health Interview Survey, which tracks landline use to assure representative samples in ongoing health studies. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus one percentage point.

Cell phone-only homes have other common traits. Wireless-only adults are more likely to drink heavily, more likely to smoke and be uninsured, even after factoring for age and income, said Stephen Blumberg, the studys co-author (and a landline user himself). There certainly is something about giving up a landline that appeals to the same people who may engage in risky behavior.

Why that is so will require further research.

The survey doesnt get into why people ditch or keep landlines, though landline users cited a number of reasons for hanging on in phone interviews and email exchanges with the Associated Press.

Plenty of people would get rid of their landlines if they could. It goes beyond complaints about cellular reception at home.

Joe Krkoska, a supply chain director, needs a traditional copper wire for his home security system in Zionsville, Ind. Getting rid of the line would require crews to drill holes in his home and put batteries in the bedroom. No thanks, he said.

Chris Houchens, who works in sales and marketing, said his phone company forces him to get a landline with Internet service. Theres no cable TV alternative where he lives in rural Smiths Grove, Ky.

And those who could drop phone service might pay more after losing package discounts. Martin Axel, a retired hospital administrator in Seal Beach (Orange County), said dropping the landline would increase his cable bill by more than $40 a month.

Traditional phone lines have their own power supply, so they still work during blackouts. Internet phones through the cable or phone company arent true landlines, although the CDC counts them that way. The modem for these phones still needs power.

Both kinds of landlines are more dependable for 911. Even if you cant give dispatchers your home address, they would often have that already. Cell phones primarily use GPS for location, which means the dispatcher might know which building youre in, but not the specific apartment.

For that reason, Trey Forgety of the nonprofit National Emergency Number Association recommends landlines for those who live alone and have a disability or medical condition. He says cell phone location accuracy is improving, but theres still work to be done.

One big problem with landlines: Theyre a magnet for telemarketers.

We never use the landline, and the only calls I get on it are from someone looking to sell me something, said Matt Lawrence, a management consultant in OFallon, Mo.

On the other hand, its comforting to have a device just for calls  without all of the irritating bells and whistles of smartphones, said Brad Cooney, a Navy veteran in Brandon, Miss. I can shut the (cell) phone off and still have a landline if someone needs to call me.

The landline harks to an era in which a number is tied to a family and not an individual. You can call your parents home and not play favorites in choosing Mom or Dad. Children can talk to Grandma at once from separate phone extensions.

My parents had landlines, as did their parents, said Axel, the landline user in Seal Beach. Its probably a habit. It just feels more comfortable to me.

Cynthia Dibblee, a retired teacher in Merced, said her parents cant remember our cell numbers, but know the landline by heart.

USTelecom, a trade group for traditional phone companies, estimates that true landlines  the copper kind  now connect fewer than 20 percent of households. The group says companies have adapted by offering other types of services, including video and, for some, cell phones.

Even so, phone companies get new landline customers now and then.

Shawn Fisch, a 37-year-old teacher in New York, got his first landline after becoming a dad. When his son is old enough, he said, hell need an extra way to phone home.

Anick Jesdanun is an Associated Press writer.
Warranties and money-back guarantees, long used to entice buyers of products like hand tools and kitchen gadgets, are now being used to sell something more crucial: pricey new-generation drugs for diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and cancer.

Deals being negotiated between drugmakers and the insurers who buy medicines now sometimes include extra rebates  or even full refunds  if drugs dont help patients as expected.

Its part of an effort driven by insurers and government health programs to align the cost of care with the quality of care, and slow the relentless growth of prescription drug costs.

Were spending less money on drugs that are less effective, said Dr. Michael Sherman, chief medical officer for not-for-profit insurer Harvard Pilgrim, which has several of these deals and is negotiating more. Sherman says one-fourth of the money it spends on patient care goes to prescription drugs.

For the patient, it doesnt mean a check in the mail if cancer comes back after a round of treatment. But it does mean patients could get a drug that an insurer might otherwise be unwilling to pay for and that might help them. And insurers, who now can track how patients fare through electronic medical records, will be reducing wasteful spending and making at least a dent in overall health care costs.

Its going to be part of the solution to soaring drug prices, predicts Roger Longman, CEO of Real Endpoints, a company that assesses the value of medicines for drugmakers, insurers and other clients.

Many drugs now top $100,000 per year or course of treatment, even though their benefits are unclear or only marginally better than cheaper, older drugs. Buyers of the new drugs, usually insurance companies, are hesitant to pay without assurance that they will help patients. Not only is that bad for patients, it makes insurers spend even more on complications and hospital stays if the drugs dont work.

As a result, insurers often restrict access to expensive new drugs. Sometimes thats achieved by making patients pay more out of their own pockets, or making doctors wade through red tape to get authorization. Sometimes patients have to try cheaper drugs first, and only when they fail  and the patients health has deteriorated  are they allowed to get the pricey new drug.

Pharmaceutical companies have an incentive here, too: These deals may help them sell more of the new drug theyve spent hundreds of millions of dollars or more developing.

For example, a new generation of injected cholesterol drugs does an impressive job of reducing bad cholesterol. But the drugs, Amgens Repatha and Sanofis Praluent, cost $14,000 a year, while cheap generic pills do a good job of lowering cholesterol for most people for $300 a year or less.

Predictably, insurers often reject prescriptions for these drugs.

So Amgen, trying to boost disappointing sales for a drug expected to be a huge seller, is offering full refunds to insurers if patients have a heart attack or stroke while taking its drug. On Tuesday, Amgen announced its first deal to do so, with Harvard Pilgrim. Sanofi has a contract with Cigna to pay extra rebates if patient cholesterol doesnt fall as much as expected.

It demonstrates the fact that we are standing behind the value the product has, and were willing to put some money behind it, said James Borneman, Sanofis head of strategic pricing.

Some insurers are now demanding these deals, which are expected to become standard for some drugs: super-expensive medicines for cancer and rare diseases, and others that are used widely enough to cost insurers millions. In addition, the drugs must have a benefit thats easy to measure, such as keeping kids with asthma out of the emergency room or preventing growth of cancerous tumors for a certain period.

Cigna has been pursuing more of these types of deals after finding that some of its earlier efforts met or exceeded expectations in terms of benefit to our customers, patients, said Chris Bradbury, who heads Cignas prescription benefit program.

One of its early deals, with Merck for its diabetes pills Januvia and Janumet, dates to 2009, with rebates pegged to how much patients lower blood sugar.

We keep re-signing that agreement, so I think theyre pretty satisfied, said Bob McMahon, head of U.S. marketing at Merck, which also has such contracts with insurers and hospital systems covering an asthma medicine and is negotiating contracts for an infection drug.

Other companies with such deals for one or more medicines include drugmakers Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Novo Nordisk and Roches Genentech unit; insurers Aetna and Priority Health, and prescription benefit manager Express Scripts.

On their own, these deals are unlikely to reverse the persistent rise in medical spending, experts say. But they improve the chance that the money will at least go to treatments that work best  by making sure insurers and drug companies have something at stake along with the patient.

Theres a risk on both sides with these contracts, said Dr. Mark Fendrick, director of the University of Michigans Center for Value-Based Insurance Design. Both want to make sure theyll get the outcome they want.

Linda A. Johnson is an Associated Press writer.
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Forty-five minutes after parking his car in a San Leandro shopping center, a man returned to find the green Honda Accord stolen. Inside of the vehicle was the victim's dog, a Scottish terrier named Koda.

Law enforcement officials have been combing San Leandro for Koda and the car since the robbery took place on the evening of April 22, according to a press release. Surveillance video from the shopping center at 1275 Marina Blvd. indicates that the suspect arrived in a white 1994-2001 Acura Integra.
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San Francisco police were working Wednesday to identify a person who fatally shot a 15-year-old former Daly City high school student in what appeared to have been a targeted incident, officials said.

Reajon Jackson was shot and killed around noon Monday in the Outer Sunset District when someone opened fire on a white Pontiac he was driving, police said.

Police are searching for the driver of another car that witnesses reported seeing in the area at the time of the shooting, said Officer Giselle Talkoff of the San Francisco Police Department.

Reajon was driving near Sunset Boulevard and Kirkham Street when he was shot in the lower body, police said.

His car, punctured with bullet holes, was visible at the scene.

At this point, we dont think its as much of a public-safety issue. (Police are) maybe leaning more toward a targeted incident, Talkoff said.

A 16-year-old boy was also in Reajons car at the time of the shooting, but he was not injured. Police are not releasing how Reajon is related to his passenger, Talkoff said.

Reajon was a 10th-grader at Jefferson High School in Daly City, but he left school in the fall, said Dan Burns, the superintendent of the Jefferson Union High School District.

Burns noted that Reajon did not drop out of school.

This young man had many friends and family connected to Jefferson High, Burns said in a statement.

Since the fatal shooting, counselors have been on campus to give grief support to students and staff at the school, Burns said.

Part of the grief-counseling process at schools include having opportunities for students to write messages on poster paper, Burns said.

Students are planning to deliver their messages of support and condolences to Reajons family, he added.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani
Over Proof, the reservation-only, pre-ticketed bar-within-a-bar at ABV, tonight launches the second in its series of rotating themes. This one's called Double Back, and it's all about whiskey; it follows the rum-centric Flip Flop, which ran from January to April.

ABV partners Ryan Fitzgerald, Todd Smith and Erik Reichborn-Kjennerud designed a complete overhaul of their bar's upstairs mezzanine over the last couple of weeks, transforming the Caribbean-inflected room that housed Flip Flop into a space that Fitzgerald describes as an "izakaya saloon," complete with swinging saloon doors. Nodding to two of whiskey's homelands, it's a little bit Tokyo, a little bit bluegrass. Wall decorations include a samurai sword, taxidermy, shotguns and cowhides.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  Its being called gray death  a new and dangerous opioid combo that underscores the ever-changing nature of the U.S. addiction crisis.

Investigators who nicknamed the mixture have detected it or recorded overdoses blamed on it in Alabama, Georgia and Ohio. The drug looks like concrete mix and varies in consistency from a hard, chunky material to a fine powder.

The substance is a combination of several opioids blamed for thousands of fatal overdoses nationally, including heroin, fentanyl, carfentanil  sometimes used to tranquilize large animals like elephants  and a synthetic opioid called U-47700.

Gray death is one of the scariest combinations that I have ever seen in nearly 20 years of forensic chemistry drug analysis, said Deneen Kilcrease, manager of the chemistry section at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Gray death ingredients and their concentrations are unknown to users, making it particularly lethal, Kilcrease said. In addition, because these strong drugs can be absorbed through the skin, simply touching the powder puts users at risk, she said.

Last year, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration listed U-47700 in the category of the most dangerous drugs it regulates, saying it was associated with dozens of fatalities, mostly in New York and North Carolina. Some of the pills taken from Princes estate after the musicians overdose death last year contained U-47700.

Gray death has a much higher potency than heroin, according to a bulletin issued by the Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. Users inject, swallow, smoke or snort it.

Georgias investigation bureau has received 50 overdose cases in the past three months involving gray death, most from the Atlanta area, said spokeswoman Nelly Miles.

In Ohio, the coroners office serving the Cincinnati area says a similar compound has been coming in for months. The Ohio attorney generals office has analyzed eight samples matching the gray death mixture from around the state.

The combo is just the latest in the trend of heroin mixed with other opioids, such as fentanyl, that has been around for a few years.

Fentanyl-related deaths spiked so high in Ohio in 2015 that state health officials asked the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to send scientists to help address the problem.

Some communities also are seeing fentanyl mixed with nonopioids, such as cocaine. In Rhode Island, the state has recommended that individuals with a history of cocaine use receive supplies of the antioverdose drug naloxone.

These deadly combinations are becoming a hallmark of the heroin and opioid epidemic, which the government says resulted in 33,000 fatal overdoses nationally in 2015.

Andrew Welsh-Huggins is an Associated Press writer.
1 Mass shooting memorial: The owner of the Pulse nightclub says the site will become a memorial and a museum to honor the 49 people who were killed during the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Pulse owner Barbara Poma said Thursday outside the Orlando nightclub that the memorial and museum will serve to comfort the bereaved now and educate future generations about the importance of tolerance. She says the design and content of the memorial will be decided by survivors of the massacre, family members of deceased victims, first responders, and the doctors and nurses who treated the victims, as well as the greater Orlando community.

2 Seeking trainers: The U.S. Army is authorizing $5,000 bonuses to woo top-performing troops into a new training brigade as the service once famous for shouldering the burden of Americas wars works to meet the growing demand for advisers in places ranging from Iraq and Syria to Afghanistan and Africa. The plan recognizes the new reality of America at war: Army soldiers are more often training and building local security forces rather than doing the fighting for them on foreign soil. It replaces what has been a hodgepodge of programs over the past dozen years with projections for five new, permanent, fully trained brigades that can be deployed around the world as professional advisers.
Wisconsins U.S. representatives toed party lines Thursday in a historic U.S. House vote to undo much of former President Barack Obamas health care law.

Meanwhile, advocates expressed concern about the direction the House would take health care.

All five Republicans from Wisconsin, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Reps. Sean Duffy, Mike Gallagher, Glenn Grothman and Jim Sensenbrenner voted for the bill.

The three Democrats, Reps. Ron Kind, Gwen Moore and Mark Pocan, were opposed.

Pocan, of Black Earth, assailed his GOP colleagues for rushing to pass the measure before its financial impact is known.

To not know how its going to directly affect your constituents is really political malpractice, Pocan said.

Grothman, of Glenbeulah, said he voted for the bill because the current system is unsustainable.

With our vote today, the House has ensured that individuals and families will no longer be forced into expensive, inadequate Obamacare plans they do not want and cannot afford, Grothman said.

Sensenbrenner, of Menomonee Falls, called the bill an important first step in fulfilling the promise we made to the American people to repeal and replace Obamacare.

This bill is a free-market solution that works for the people, not the government, Sensenbrenner said.

Wisconsin health care advocates said they were especially concerned about the bills Medicaid cuts, which include a per-capita spending cap for many enrollees and are estimated to total $800 billion over 10 years.

The Medicaid cuts will gradually result in rationing of care and threaten services for 460,000 children on BadgerCare, said Jon Peacock, research director of Wisconsin Children and Families.

The Medicaid changes would also harm people with physical and developmental disabilities, according to the Survival Coalition, which represents people with disabilities.

A cut to federal Medicaid funding is a cut to the Wisconsin programs that help people with disabilities get out of bed in the morning, go to school, work and lead independent lives in the community, said Beth Swedeen, a co-chair of the coalition.

By preventing people on Medicaid from using Planned Parenthood for birth control, cancer screenings and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, the bill would make it harder to prevent unintended pregnancies and have healthy pregnancies, said Nicole Safar, government relations director for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin.

Lisa Lamkins, advocacy director at AARP Wisconsin, said 2.1 million people estimated to have pre-existing conditions in the state would find insurance unaffordable or unavailable. The bill would significantly increase premiums for the 132,000 Wisconsinites ages 50 to 64 who get their insurance in the individual market, Lamkins said.

One part of the bill, creating high-risk pools for people with pre-existing conditions, is not new to Wisconsin.

The states Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Plan, or HIRSP, insured about 21,000 people whose medical conditions prevented them from getting insurance on the individual market until the federal health laws exchanges started under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, in 2014.

While Wisconsin had the second-highest per-capita participation among 35 states with high-risk pools, HIRSP was too expensive for many people and left more than half a million residents uninsured, said Donna Friedsam, health policy programs director at UW-Madisons Population Health Institute.
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The suspect in three Greenwich, Connecticut robberies arrested early Wednesday near San Diego was a beefcake model and a fitness fanatic.

David Byers, 34, of Solana Beach, Calif., managed to evade pursuers in Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and Arizona after a series of robberies in Greenwich, but he was eventually led away in handcuffs in the San Diego area, according to police.

The arrest came as a surprise to those who worked with Byers in the modeling field, where he enjoyed some success.

I know hes an unusual guy, but bank robbery doesnt seem like his thing, said Michael Stokes, a California photographer who did a modeling shoot with Byers earlier this year. Hes always been so decent and respectful with me.

While his modeling was gaining him some notoriety, Byers career as an alleged gunman brought him a different kind of attention  that of numerous law-enforcement agencies around the country. FBI agents and members of the San Diego County Sheriffs Office apprehended him without incident, following a cross-country manhunt.

Greenwich police are seeking to have Byers extradited to Greenwich, where he will face one count of first-degree robbery, a charge that includes robbery with a gun, two counts of third-degree robbery, two counts of larceny and a felony count of reckless endangerment.

Byers reportedly has a girlfriend in the New York area and a daughter in Southern California. He is accused of holding up a Chase bank in Riverside, Connecticut last week. He is also being charged with the robbery of a Citgo gas station in Cos Cob, Connecticut last Monday night.

Greenwich Police said they, working with other law enforcement agencies, developed leads on the case that put Byers in the San Diego area.

He escaped an extensive manhunt Friday evening stretching from Stamford to Port Chester, N.Y.  a search that began after police tracked him to the JHouse hotel and bar in Riverside. He took off from the JHouse in a stolen Range Rover before ditching the car on Interstate-95, and running into a residential section of Old Greenwich near the highway. He was later pursued in Pennsylvania, but again thwarted law-enforcement trackers.

In Yuma City, Ariz., according to authorities there, he was wanted in connection with stealing a vehicle and felony flight. He was last seen there at 7 a.m. Monday, near a Holiday Inn.

A series of photos taken of Byers for his modeling career show off a well-sculpted physique and numerous works of body art. When police gave out a description of the wanted man, they noted he had a neck tattoo.

The robbery suspect has a prior arrest record.

According to a judicial data base, he was arrested in March of this year in San Diego and charged with burglary, resisting arrest, grand theft and driving while intoxicated. He was also arrested in June of 2016 by San Diego police on charges that were not immediately available.

Greenwich Police Lt. David Nemecek said other agencies involved in the investigation included the Connecticut State Police, Stamford Police, Westchester County Police, the Metropolitan Transit Authority Police, Port Chester Police and the FBI.

Nemecek said it is likely that other law enforcement agencies will be filing criminal charges against Byers.
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Well, at least it was gluten-free.

A man on a nine-hour flight from Tokyo to Sydney says he was served a single banana, adorned with a sticker that said "GF" for gluten-free, as his breakfast meal. The banana also arrived with the usual packet of cutlery, complete with salt in case the gentleman had unconventional banana-eating preferences.

The Telegraph reports that Martin Pavelka, who suffers from celiac disease, received a perfectly nice gluten-free dinner on his ANA flight. But when it came to breakfast, the staff had limited options.

"All other passengers were served a full breakfast meal consisting of eggs, sausage, mushrooms, bread, and yogurt," Pavelka told the Evening Standard. "This was a nine-hour flight. Although definitely gluten-free, the banana did not keep me full for very long."

Pavelka seemed to have a good sense of humor about the episode and said he didn't blame the flight attendants for the gaffe.

"The fault must be somewhere in management," he told the Evening Standard.

ANA issued an apology to the customer and are now "reviewing [their] policy" on gluten-free meals, although they clarified that the second meal was a snack, rather than a full-sized meal.

"ANA takes great pride in providing an exemplary customer experience for all passengers, and for this one passenger we did not meet his expectations," the company said in a statement emailed to SFGATE. "We have apologized to him personally and as a result of his experience we are reviewing our policy on gluten free options and how they are served."
LISBON, Portugal  Deep inside the Rock of Gibraltar is a room known as the Vault. Dug by the British army in World War II, it now houses servers that power the websites of dozens of international online gambling companies.

Those companies were lured to this speck of British territory on Spains southern tip by its low taxes and its unimpeded access to the European Unions single market of around 500 million people.

Its a flourishing and hugely important business for Gibraltar, accounting for around 25 percent of the economy, some 40 percent of corporate tax revenues and almost 3,000 of its 26,000 jobs.

And the European market is only set to get bigger. According to market data company H2 Gambling Capital, it could be worth around $32.5 billion a year by 2021, nearly double current levels.

Britains looming departure from the EU, therefore, has cast a cloud over Gibraltars future because Brexit could see it shut off from the rest of the EU. That possibility is already having an indirect impact on Gibraltar, by magnifying the appeal of other low-tax jurisdictions such as Malta.

Nobody is panicking yet, and no gambling company has said it intends to leave Gibraltar while EU and British officials negotiate Brexit. In March, before calling an early general election for June 8, Prime Minister Theresa May formally triggered the two-year Brexit process.

Senior executives of 888, which runs one of the worlds biggest online casinos, have already sounded the alarm about potential dangers, however.

Earlier this year, they warned that 888s reach into the EUs other 27 member countries could be limited in the event of a so-called hard Brexit scenario whereby Gibraltar, like the rest of Britain, sees trade disrupted by the imposition of tariffs, and businesses potentially become ineligible for regulatory licenses in some EU countries.

In its full-year financial report, 888 said it would reconsider the appropriateness of remaining registered, licensed and operational in Gibraltar in these circumstances and added that Malta may be considered as an alternative dot com licensing jurisdiction.

Malta, a small island nation in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, stands ready to attract Gibraltars gambling firms. The Maltese government is another champion of the online gambling sector, which represents 11 percent of the nations gross domestic product and employs 8,000 people.

Barry Hatton is an Associated Press writer.
LONDON  Buckingham Palace announced Thursday that Prince Philip, the 95-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth II, will retire from public life starting in the fall.

Prince Philip will attend previously scheduled engagements between now and August, both individually and accompanying The Queen, said a Buckingham Palace news release issued after a night of frenzied speculation prompted by emergency meetings by palace staff.

Thereafter, the Duke will not be accepting new invitations for visits and engagements, although he may still choose to attend certain public events from time to time, it continued.

The announcement said that the prince, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, had the full support of The Queen.

It added that Britains longest-reigning monarch, who turned 91 last month, will continue to carry out a full program of official engagements. The queen still attends roughly 300 official events annually.

The prince, who has been attending ribbon-cuttings, state banquets and other high-ceremony events on behalf of the royal family for more than half a century, has long been expected to curtail his role as his health has gradually declined.

Thursdays announcement came hours after news of an emergency all-staff meeting at Buckingham Palace leaked, prompting a flurry of unfounded speculation that one of the royal familys most senior members had died.

The Sun, the mass-market British tabloid, even accidentally published online news that Philip had died  only to retract it minutes later.

Prince Philip dead at 95, how did the Duke of Edinburgh die, etc etc, ran the headline.

The queen is generally believed to be in good health, though a heavy cold over Christmas last winter kept her away from her usual church attendance.

Philip, who turns 96 next month, has suffered a variety of ailments in recent years.

Philip started his career in the navy. After his wife became queen in 1952, he supported the monarch in carrying out engagements around the world.

But Philip is often better known for his colorful language.

He once told a group of British exchange students in China that if they stayed much longer, theyd become slitty-eyed. During a 1995 visit to Oban in Scotland, he asked a driving instructor: How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?

Griff Witte and Karla Adam are Washington Post writers.
TEHRAN  A coal mine explosion that struck northern Iran killed at least 35 people, semi-official news agencies reported Thursday, as rescuers worked a second day to reach those trapped inside after the blast.

The Fars, Mehr and Tasnim news agencies all carried similar reports Thursday morning. State media did not immediately report on the rise in the death toll in the disaster Wednesday at the Golestan province mine. In a live broadcast by state television, Sadegh Ali Moghadam, the provincial director general of disaster management, said 22 dead bodies had been recovered.

The province will observe three days of mourning after the explosion, Iranian state television reported.

Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed deep sorrow over the heartbreaking and disastrous incident at the mine, state TVs website reported Thursday.

Khamenei said, It is required that all possible measures are taken to rescue the stranded people.

Meanwhile, President Hassan Rouhani issued an order demanding his government use all available resources to rescue those still trapped, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

Provincial spokesman Ali Yazerloo said the blast happened at 12:45 p.m. Wednesday. Several officials blamed the explosion on an accumulation of methane gas and said it was affecting rescue efforts. At least 25 people were hospitalized from inhaling the gas during the rescue efforts.

After the blast, ambulances, helicopters and other rescue vehicles raced to the scene as authorities worked to determine the scale of the emergency.

There was confusion about how many miners had been trapped inside, with numbers ranging from dozens to up to 80.

Semi-official Iranian news agencies posted images online from the scene, showing ambulances and emergency workers gathered at the mouth of the mine. Some showed dazed workers, covered in coal dust, being helped by bystanders or laying on the ground as rescuers rushed to assist with oxygen canisters.

More than 500 workers are employed at the Zemestanyurt mine, which lies 9 miles from Azadshahr, according to IRNA. Golestan sits along Irans northern border with Turkmenistan and along the shore of the Caspian Sea.

This is not the first disaster to strike Irans mining industry. In 2013, 11 workers were killed in two separate mining incidents.

Amir Vahdat is an Associated Press writer.
1 Battle for Mosul: Iraqi forces opened a front in western Mosul on Thursday in a major shift intended to accelerate an operation that had slowed to a crawl, leaving hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped on an urban battlefield. The attack began Thursday as Iraqi troops who had been pulled from another combat assignment started pushing into Mosul from the north, according to an Iraqi military statement. The Iraqi Counterterrorism Service has been clawing its way from the south, and the goal of the new operation is to force the Islamic State to fight in multiple directions and collapse its defenses.

2 Kashmir crackdown: Thousands of Indian government forces cordoned off at least two dozen villages in southern Kashmir on Thursday while they hunted for separatist militants believed to be hiding in the area, police said. The operation, launched after a spate of rebel attacks and anti-India protests, was the biggest in recent years in the disputed Himalayan territory. Rebel groups have been fighting since 1989 for Kashmirs independence or merger with neighboring Pakistan, which also claims the mountainous region. Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the fighting and the ensuing Indian crackdown. India has accused Pakistan of arming and training the rebels, which Pakistan denies.
PARIS  Paris prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation Thursday into whether fake news is being used to influence voting three days ahead of Frances presidential election.

Centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron sued hours after his far-right adversary Marine Le Pen suggested Wednesday night during their only one-on-one debate that the former banker could have an offshore account.

Le Pen said: I hope we wont find out you have an offshore account in the Bahamas.

She appeared to be referring to two sets of apparent forgeries, published just hours before their heated showdown, that purported to show Macron was somehow involved with a Caribbean bank and a firm based on the island of Nevis.

Macrons camp said the former investment banker was victim of a cyber-misinformation campaign. Speaking on France Inter radio, Macron blamed Le Pen for spreading fake news and said he never held a bank account in any tax haven whatsoever.

All this is factually inaccurate, Macron said.

Le Pen quickly backed away from the suggestion Thursday as those rumors were debunked. But prosecutors soon after opened a probe into suspicions of forgery and the spreading false news in order to divert votes.

Le Pen and Macron face off in Frances presidential runoff Sunday, with the latest opinion polls showing the pro-EU Macron holding a strong lead over his far-right rival.

In the alleged documents, the M in Macrons purported signature didnt match his genuine sign-off, and whoever wrote the documents appeared confused as to whether the firm in question was a limited company or a limited liability corporation. Metadata embedded in the document suggest it was created just before being posted online  undermining the anonymous posters claim to have circulated the documents to hundreds of French journalists who had all sat on this.

The provenance of the latest conspiracy theory isnt clear, but there are hints tying the faked documents to far-right circles in California.

The documents first appeared on Mixtape, a relatively new Northern California-based file-sharing service.

The Macron campaign identified the first tweet referring to the documents as coming from the Twitter account of Nathan Damigo, a far-right activist and convicted felon also based out of Northern California Damigo, a Cal State Stanislaus student, is known on social media for punching a female antifascist in the face at a protest in Berkeley.

Samuel Petrequin and Raphael Satter are Associated Press writers.
Speculation was rampant after Queen Elizabeth II's most senior aides called an emergency meeting for Thursday morning at Buckingham Palace, according to multiple reports.

According to the UK Daily Mail, staff from royal residences as far away as Scotland have been asked to attend the meeting, which has been called highly unusual by multiple sources, one of whom said:
BEIRUT  Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed to establish de-escalation zones in Syria, signing on to a Russian plan under which President Bashar Assads air force would halt flights over designated areas across the war-torn country.

The agreement, which a Russian delegate said would go into effect on Saturday, is the latest attempt to reduce violence in the Arab country. But the full details of the proposal were not made available and prospects for its success appeared bleak.

As officials from the three countries  Russia, Iran and Turkey  that back rival sides in the conflict signed the agreement at Syria talks in Kazakhstan on Thursday, some members of the Syrian opposition delegation shouted in protest and walked out of the conference room in Astana, the Kazakh capital.

The opposition is protesting Irans participation at the conference and role as a guarantor of the agreement, accusing it of fueling the sectarian nature of the conflict that has killed some 400,000 people and displaced half the countrys population.

Iran is a country that is killing the Syrian people and the killer cannot be the rescuer, said Abu Osama Golani, a rebel commander who attended the gathering in Astana.

The walkout and the comments underline the huge difficulties of implementing such a deal. The Syrian government has said that although it will abide by the agreement, it would continue fighting terrorism wherever it exists, parlance for most armed rebel groups fighting government troops.

A previous cease-fire agreement signed in Astana on Dec. 30 helped reduce overall violence for several weeks but eventually collapsed. Other attempts at a cease-fire in Syria have all ended in failure.

Sponsors of the deal hope that safe zones would bring relief for hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians and encourage refugees to return. But officials have expressed skepticism, stressing that safe zones have not had an encouraging track record.

Asked earlier this year to comment on the idea of safe zones after it was raised by President Trump, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pointed to tragic examples such as Srebrenica, a U.N.-protected enclave in the Bosnian war where 8,000 Muslim men and boys were massacred in 1995.

However, U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura described Thursdays agreement as a step in the right direction, expressing hope that the deal would boost U.N.-backed Syria peace talks in Geneva.

De Mistura said details of the Astana agreement would become clearer in the next two weeks, adding that the United Nations was very supportive of the deal.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Washington has reason to be cautious about the chances for success of the deal, though it appreciates the efforts by Russia and Turkey to help lower violence in Syria. She added that U.S. has concerns, including about Irans guarantor role.

Bassem Mroue and Zeina Karam are Associated Press writers.
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BHUBANESWAR: India on Thursday successfully test fired its medium-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile Agni-ll off the Odisha coast.

The trial of the surface-to-surface missile was conducted from Launch Complex-4 of Integrated Test Range (ITR) in the APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Balasoredistrict, said Defence Ministry officials.

The Strategic Forces Command (SCF), a specially raised missile-handling unit of the Indian Army, carried out the test at 10.20 am.



Agni-II has two solid fuel stages and a Post Boost Vehicle (PBV) integrated into the missile's Re-entry Vehicle (RV). The 20-metre missile is a two-stage, solid propelled ballistic missile.

It has a strike range of more than 2,000 km, is 20 metres long, weighs 17 tonnes and can carry a payload of 1,000 kg.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Breakfast "Slams" and buttermilk pancakes are on the way from the griddles of Denny's in Eltingville. The restaurant takes the place of a long-running Perkins location which, served its final meals on January 29.

Denny's opened Monday at 8 a.m. for breakfast. It will now serve meals 24 hours daily and stay open 365 days a year.

One afternoon last week, the staff attended training meetings with workers fussing over last minute tweaks to the kitchen and decor.

Operator Javaid Syed and family are the franchisees for this Denny's, a small part of the biggest full-service family restaurant chain in America. In fact, over the newly constructed door are the words "America's Diner."

"We are excited to finally bring Denny's to the Staten Island area," Syed said. "The community has been very supportive, and we look forward to finally unveiling our new location and welcoming guests into our booths."

The restaurant kept the floor plan from its days as Perkins with a side room and larger, main dining room with booth seating and a partially open kitchen. Red and orange pendant lights illuminate a counter with room for eight patrons to belly up.

"Good food, good friends and good times" mark a massive wall mural at the back of the main dining room. The Denny's signature signage is held up by a fork and an amalgamated New York City harbor view features the Statue of Liberty.

While this is Staten Island's first Denny's franchise, it is the fifth to open in New York City and one of 54 locations in New York State.

Passers by of the restaurant peered in through the glass. One man who took an image of the exterior with his cell phone said he lived "right around the corner. He joked, "I feel like I'm in Florida with 'America's favorite diner' down the block!"

The restaurant is located at 4370 Amboy Rd., Eltingville.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- There will be a partial closure of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge on Sunday due to the 40th annual TD Five Boro Bike Tour, a 40-mile ride that winds its way through each of the city's boroughs, ending on Staten Island.

The Staten Island-bound lower level of the Verrazano Bridge will be closed from 12:01 a.m. to 6 p.m. One Brooklyn-bound lane on the bridge's lower level will be closed from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The upper level of the bridge will remain open in both directions throughout the event.

The MTA is warning motorists to expect delays and allow extra travel time.

Other closings at the bridge will include:

-- The Bay Street exit, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

-- The BQE approach (I-278 West) to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

-- The 92nd Street entrance ramp to the Staten Island-bound lower level from approximately 12:01 a.m. to 6 p.m.

-- The Belt Parkway entrance ramp to the Staten Island-bound lower level from approximately 12:01 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Bike New York, the nonprofit behind the event, estimates that 32,000 riders will participate in the Five Boro Bike Tour.

The route begins in Lower Manhattan, heads north through Central Park, and continues to Harlem and the Bronx before returning south along the East River on the FDR Drive. Cyclists then cross into Queens, and from there into Brooklyn, riding over the Verrazano Bridge and onto Staten Island. The event ends with a festival at Fort Wadsworth.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- NYPD officers were honored with "Cop of the Month" awards for acts of bravery, including finding a suspect hiding in a freezer in the Berry Houses, handcuffing an armed perpetrator during a fierce struggle and nabbing an alleged pistol-packing gang member.

The six recipients were lauded for their in-the-line-of-duty heroics during the first three months of the year at a ceremony hosted by the NYPD's Patrol Borough Staten Island and the Staten Island Advance.

The NYPD has "the best cops in the world," said Assistant Chief Edward Delatorre, the borough commander who presided over the awards ceremony, held at the Advance's offices in Grasmere.

"We don't always get to tell our stories about the great work that our officers do day in and day out," Delatorre told the Advance. "The 'Cop of the Month' creates a venue where we can get these stories out there."

Honored police officers, their precincts and the months of their outstanding law-enforcement efforts are:

--Christopher Brook and Asmir Dragovic of the 120th Precinct for January;

--Stephen D'Amico and George Aguilar of the 122nd Precinct for February;

--Robert Martino and Craig Spataro of the 120th Precinct for March.





FIRST GUN ARREST OF 2017 IN CITY

Brook and Dragovic were praised for the year's first gun arrest in New York City, which ended when one of the officers handcuffed the suspect after a six-minute physical altercation. The incident began as a car stop for excessively tinted windows in the vicinity of the Park Hill Apartments in Clifton early in the morning on New Year's Day.



A strong odor of marijuana wafted from the vehicle, police said. While Brook was frisking an occupant of the car, the officer felt a gun in the suspect's waistband. The suspect then pushed the officer away and ran, according to police.



Brook gave chase and, although the suspect was allegedly "violently resisting arrest," the officer single-handedly handcuffed the culprit. Cops recovered a loaded firearm that Brook saw the suspect discard, polices said. The suspect was identified by police as Joshua Lumsden, who had nine prior arrests.





SUSPECT FOUND IN FREEZER

D'Amico and Aguilar were assigned to the Berry Houses in Dongan Hills on the afternoon of Feb. 13 when they received an email from the 122nd Precinct Detective Squad with information about a suspect, Troy McGlaughlin, sought on criminal possession of a weapon charges.



The officers then searched the stairs of a Berry building at 30 Dongan Hills Ave. At about 8:30 p.m., they found McGlaughlin on the roof landing above the sixth floor. While attempting to take the suspect into custody, McGlaughlin escaped to an apartment on the sixth floor and locked the door behind him, police said.



When the suspect wouldn't come out, the Emergency Service Unit responded and officers made their way into the apartment.



McGlaughlin was found hiding inside a freezer, cops said.





ALLEGED GANG MEMBER CAUGHT WITH FIREARM

Martino and Spataro responded as backup to a dispute with a firearm involving a gang member, Derrick Boone, on the morning of March 3 at a deli at 1138 Castleton Ave. in West Brighton, according to police.



The officers began a search for a suspect who allegedly simulated a gun in his pocket while threatening to shoot the victim. During the canvass, the victim identified the alleged perpetrator. Officers Martino and Spataro then stepped out of their patrol car and ran after the suspect.



The officers caught up with the alleged culprit on the fourth-floor stairwell at 1075 Castleton Ave. After pushing and shoving the officers, the suspect reached into his waistband and pulled out a black firearm and tossed the weapon to the ground, police allege. Spataro picked up the weapon that turned out to be a loaded, .22-caliber semi-automatic Ruger.



Boone is an active member of the "TNO" street gang, police said, who had 10 prior arrests, including one for discharging a firearm.

More on the officers honored during the ceremony will be posted on SILive.com in the coming days.

---

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Dr. Ralph S. Musco, former long-time Susan Wagner High School principal, has died.

Musco, a resident of Wycoff, N.J., died Tuesday in Villa Marie Claire Hospice, Saddle River, N.J. He was 74 years old.

He served as Susan Wagner principal for 14 years, from 1980 to 1994. Regarded as a law-and-order principal, Musco was widely credited with bringing stability to Susan Wagner during a time of student unrest.

Under his leadership, Susan Wagner saw a jump in attendance and graduation rates, and a decline in dropout statistics.

Academically, he instituted Susan Wagner's Scholars Program and opened up programs in the arts, performing arts and humanities. He also was an early proponent of technology in the schools, opening one of the first high school computer labs and having teachers incorporate computer research in the classrooms.

Under Musco's leadership, Susan Wagner was named a national "Blue Ribbon School of Excellence" by the U.S. Department of Education. One of his proudest moments, he said, was traveling to Washington, D.C., to accept the honor on behalf of the school faculty, staff and students.

Musco was also the recipient of the Staten Island Borough Educator of the Year Award and had been designated a ''mentor principal'' by the city.

"My father was defined by his unflinching desire to do what he felt was right and what was honest -- whether or not it was a popular decision, whether or not it was a decision that would work to his advantage. He was a man of true integrity," said his son, John Musco.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Musco met his wife of 50 years, the former Elisa Caserta, while both were undergraduates at Brooklyn College. They were married in 1967. They moved to Wyckoff a few years later. Mrs. Musco is a retired teacher.

Musco earned both his bachelor's and master's degree in history from Brooklyn College. While at Brooklyn College he earned a Fulbright Scholarship, which allowed him to spend a summer studying in India.

He began his career in education in 1963 as a social studies teacher at Franklin K. Lane High School, Brooklyn, where he also served as a dean and administrator until he was appointed to Susan Wagner.

Musco completed his doctorate degree in education from New York University in 1992. At NYU he received a Dansforth Foundation Scholarship that allowed him to observe schools in Buffalo, Philadelphia, South Carolina and Washington, D.C.

After he left Susan Wagner, Musco embarked on a new career as principal of -Northern Highlands Regional High School, New Jersey. Musco ran a single high school with 700 students, about a quarter of Susan Wagner's enrollment. He retired from that position in 2000.

A life-long learner, Musco never stopped reading and writing. He maintained a large collection of books, and enjoyed writing essays on various subjects, as a way of keeping up with current events and trends.

He also enjoyed working around the house, and treasured the time spent with his grandchildren, family members said.

In addition to his wife, Elisa, and son, John, Musco is survived by a son Ralph; a daughter, Elaine Ietto, and three grandchildren.

The funeral will be Friday, from the Vander Plaat Funeral Home, Wyckoff, with a 10:30 a.m. mass in the Church of the Nativity, Midland Park, N.J. A private cremation will follow.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - New York City is at a "disadvantage" with the passage of the GOP's American Health Care Act Thursday, the bill to repeal and replace Obamacare, said Rep. Daniel Donovan, who voted against it.

The House bill passed with a 217-213 margin, with all Democrats and 20 Republicans voting against it.

Donovan (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) campaigned for a repeal and replacement of the previous president's signature achievement because of high deductibles and premiums, and costly fines from the individual and employer mandates, but said there were too many flaws with the bill.

An amendment added in March relieves upstate and Long Island counties from their share of the Medicaid tax, transferring the $2.3 billion every year to the state to pay.

But New York City is still required to pay its $5 billion annually in Medicaid taxes.

"To ask the people of New York City to absorb a larger tax burden to relieve people in upstate and Long Island of their Medicaid burden ... is simply unfair," Donovan told the Advance shortly after voting in Washington, D.C.

The bill prohibits federal tax credits from going to plans that cover abortions. Since New York requires its plans to cover the procedure, New Yorkers will be ineligible for the tax credits that the bill centers on.

"They're good for the rest of the country ... but they're certainly not useful to the people in New York," Donovan said.

Seniors will pay more for their plans, and people with pre-existing conditions will also see their premiums increase.

Hospitals, including the four in his district, expect to lose a large chunk of their Medicaid reimbursements that help pay off costly bills.

"They're going to have a difficult time," the congressman said.

With the elimination of the coverage mandates and associated fines, and maintaining coverage for people until age 26 on their parents' plans, Donovan said, "There are some good things about it." But on the whole "there's such a disadvantage in this bill to people of Staten Island and south Brooklyn and all of New York City."

The bill heads to the Senate, where its passage is uncertain.

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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Former New Jersey police officer Pedro Abad explained to reporters Thursday why he didn't testify during his trial.

"I always wanted to [testify]," Abad said outside state Supreme Court in St. George in an interview with NJ.com, the Advance's sister website. "The issue is... I don't remember any of it. That's the main, big issue."

Abad said he suffered severe brain damages after the crash, where, prosecutors allege, he drove drunk the wrong way on the West Shore Expressway and plowed into a tractor trailer, killing two passengers in his car in March 2015.

Abad added that he didn't remember having dinner with his friends before the crash. He also added he doesn't even remember driving.

"The people, I remember," Abad said. "I pray and talk to them [crash victims Frank Viggiano and Joseph Rodriguez] every day. God bless their families."

Wearing a dark brown suit and a purple tie, Abad said he feels "sorry that all this happened," adding "this is sad."

"I don't even intentionally fully know that this is my fault," he said, adding that he tried to reach out to the family and he wishes to speak to them.

The former police officer said he admits to be "slightly worried" as he awaits for he verdict, but he is confident God has a plan and a purpose for me.

"If it is in prison I don't know what I will do there, but I will try to be a pastor if that's possible of some sort in there," Abad said.

--

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CHICAGO - Eric Scheidler , a Chicago-based national director of the #ProtestPP ( Protest Planned Parenthood) Coalition is applauding the passage of the American Health Care Act by the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday.

Since the new Congress was sworn in this year, Scheidler and #ProtestPP have organized nearly 400 rallies throughout the country in support of defunding Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion chain.

"With today's vote in the House, our leaders in Congress have taken a giant step toward keeping the promise they made to voters last year to defund Planned Parenthood. Now it's time for the Senate and President Trump to get the job done."
The Canberra director of development company Knight Frank has raised concerns as to how his company's name ended up sending a submission to an inquiry panel supporting the proposed waste plastic to fuel facility in Hume.

Greg Cummins said the company has no records as to who sent in the submission backing the controversial proposal to the inquiry, which is also word-for-word identical with submissions from three other Canberra businesses.

Foy's Bevan Dooley and Stuart Clark at the site of the proposed plastics-to-fuel factory in Hume. Credit:Rohan Thomson

Businesses including law firm Meyer Vandenberg, Affinity Electrical and construction company Nikias Diamond all made submissions to the panel in support of the plan.

However, while the companies all made submissions at different times during the submission period, all four contained word-for-word identical statements in support of Foy Group, the company behind the proposal.
Rio Tinto chief executive Jean Sebastien Jacques said he has no real concerns about China's iron ore demand in 2017, and the indications for 2018 are positive.

"The only concern I would have - which is not about China by the way, it's more a geopolitical issue - is if there was to be a big shock in the system," he said after the company's annual general meeting in Sydney.

China is the biggest market for Rio Tinto's commodities, and Asia accounts for around 70 per cent of its sales, but demand for its iron ore has been expected to taper as China's steel production plateaus.

Mr Jacques said it is absolutely clear that the Chinese government will take whatever action is required to maintain economic stability.
Another branch has appeared in a huge crack on one of Antarctica's largest ice shelves, and scientists fear it's only a matter of time before a huge chunk - potentially containing 5000 square kilometres of ice - breaks away.

That massive ice chunk is more than twice the size of the ACT.

A crack in the Larsen C ice shelf, which grew 17 kilometres in December. Credit:FDC

If this happens, the ice shelf may become increasingly unstable and could even fall apart.

Scientists have been closely monitoring the Larsen C ice shelf, located on the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, where a large rift in the ice - now about 180 kilometres long - has been advancing in rapid bursts in recent years.
A group of university students protesting against the federal government's proposed higher education cuts blocked traffic outside Malcolm Turnbull's electoral office in Sydney.

About 20 students tried to occupy the Prime Minister's office in Edgecliff but were stopped by half-a-dozen NSW police officers.

Police officers remove students protesting at Malcolm Turnbull's Sydney office. Credit:AAP

One student was dragged off after drawing devil horns on a window in front of a poster of Mr Turnbull, but was released within minutes after receiving a police warning.

The students then moved to the intersection outside the office, blocking traffic and chanting: "When education is under attack what do we do? Stand up fight back!"
GoFundMe has frozen access to funds raised for a Canberra man jailed in the United States after overstaying his visa for 90 minutes.

Baxter Reid was arrested at the Canadian border by US immigration officials on April 24.

Mr Reid was jailed in upstate New York after overstaying his visa for 90 minutes.

His American girlfriend Heather Kancso set up a GoFundMe campaign to fund his legal defence.

GoFundMe spokesperson Kelly Galvin said funds had been placed on hold until additional information could be provided about the campaign.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has made an emotional apology to the victims of the 1977 Granville train disaster, more than 40 years after the event took place.

Speaking in the NSW Parliament on Thursday, Ms Berejiklian expressed her profound sympathies to the victims of the tragedy, their families, survivors and the first responders who tended to the dead and wounded.

"I express my genuine heartfelt sorrow for the terrible trauma you suffered at the time and the devastating pain and loss that you've had to live with for many years since."

Eighty-three people lost their lives and a further 213 people were injured when a commuter train crashed on the morning of January 18, 1977.
The NSW auditor-general says increasing class sizes is one way of coping with a surging student population, but the Premier says it's not an option the government will consider.

Acting auditor-general Ian Goodwin has released a report which backs the education department's reforms to overcome under-investment in school but highlights the need for greater cost-cutting measures.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian in Parliament on Thursday. Credit:AAP

The Planning for School Infrastructure report said further significant savings were only likely "if the department changes some operational policies" and noted "class size is a key determinant of the number of classrooms needed".

But the Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, says the government is "not about increasing class sizes".
Residents are still being urged to avoid eating seafood caught in waters near Brisbane Airport following a firefighting foam spill more than three weeks ago.

The latest water sample results, released by the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection on Wednesday night, confirmed the toxic substance containing perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was clearing from the area.

About 2000 litres of toxic chemicals leaked from a Qantas hangar. Credit:Glenn Hunt

But Queensland Health has maintained its advice that seafood caught in the area should not be eaten.

About 22,000 litres of toxic chemicals leaked from a Qantas hangar on April 10, with about one-third of that amount believed to have made it into local waterways.
Around 72,000 vehicles pass through the intersections at Marmion, Hepburn and Whitfords Avenues in Perth's northern suburbs every day - and they clog up worse than a portaloo at an oyster festival.

To help speed things along Main Roads has been upgrading these congestion hot spots, adding extra (and much longer) turning lanes, better pedestrian and cycle access as well as CCTV systems to improve security and help traffic flow better in peak times.

The works cost taxpayers $12 million and the state government said the projects were completed two months ahead of schedule.

CCTV has been installed to improve incident management and for Main Roads Western Australia to make traffic signal adjustments that will advance traffic flow during the busiest times.
The Queen's royal staff have reportedly been called from across the UK to an emergency meeting at Buckingham Palace but the BBC says the meeting is not about the health of the Queen or her husband, Prince Philip.

The news of the meeting, from "sources", has sent the internet into meltdown as the monarch's aides and team members from as far as Balmoral in Scotland to her Sandringham Estate in Norfolk and Windsor Castle head to the city residence for a meeting mid-morning.

The BBC reported the meeting was not believed to be a cause for concern and such meetings happened about once a year. BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt said he understood the meeting was not about the health of the Queen or the Duke of Edinburgh.

According to the Daily Mail, the staff will be addressed by the most senior officer of the royal household, Lord Chamberlain, and the Queen's private secretary, Sir Christopher Geidt.
Beijing: The Taiwan government says it will write to thank Australia for its invitation to a 'conflict diamonds' meeting in Perth, despite Taiwanese "observers" being ejected at the request of China.

Chinese media has reported the Perth incident as part of the escalating diplomatic tension between China and Taiwan, and has claimed Australia should have been aware that Chinese tolerance of Taiwan's international participation had changed.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop speaks at the opening of the Kimberley Process in Perth on May 1, where Chinese delegates protested against the presence of Taiwanese representatives.

The behaviour of the Chinese delegates, who interrupted an indigenous 'welcome to country', was described as "disgusting" by some attendees at the Kimberley Process meeting. The foreign ministry swiftly raised concerns with China's ambassador to Australia.

But Beijing has responded by saying the expression of China's objections was "perfectly reasonable and fair".
Rome: US President Donald Trump will meet Pope Francis at the Vatican on May 24, senior sources said on Thursday. Trump will stop in Rome before going to Brussels for a NATO summit and to Sicily for a meeting of the Group of Seven rich countries.

Reuters
To judge by the tone adopted at this year's annual White House correspondents' dinner, most American journalists do not seem to hold Donald Trump's presidency in very high regard.

Relations between Trump and the media elite have been under strain since last year's presidential election, when Trump, with some justification, accused many outlets of having a pro-Democrat bias.

Relations between Donald Trump and the media have been under strain since last year's presidential election. Credit:AP

This no doubt explains why Trump decided to boycott this year's jamboree in favour of attending a rally of his supporters in Pennsylvania, a choice that will do little to improve his media profile.

The problem with the President's fractious relationship, though, is that it means most of the coverage, both in America and around the world, is so negative, even when, as has been the case with Trump's early forays into the complex world of foreign policy, he deserves a degree of credit.
PHILIPSBURG:---The Tax Administration (Receiver's Office & Tax Office) within the Ministry of Finance hereby informs the general public that the offices will be closed on Thursday, May 4th. The closure is to allow staff members to pay their respect at the funeral services of Civil Servant, Head of the Inspectorate Department Ms. Maria Bass.

On behalf of management and the entire staff of the Tax Administration, Sherry Hazel expresses her condolences to the family and friends of their former colleague. Ms Maria Bass was a hard and dedicated senior worker at the Tax Administration and her faithful service will be missed by all.

The Tax Administration apologizes to the general public or any potential inconvenience this closure may cause.
GREAT BAY:--- The St. Maarten Small Properties Association (SMSPA) hosted a lunch meeting for visiting tour operators, travel agents, and a travel reporter from the Netherlands last Thursday, said Nzinga Lake, SMSPA president.

The tour organizers of the Carnival Fam-trip, Marlon Beauperthuy of Le Beau Riezen and Suzette Moses-Burton of 721 Hub Marketing, also attended the meeting at Carls and Sons Lounge on WJA Nisbeth Road.

At the meeting, the SMSPA board members and the representatives of the travel agencies and media discussed the opportunities that might be available to St. Maartens small hotels in the Dutch market. Information was also exchanged about how to network our small properties with travel agents and operators in the Netherlands, said Lake.

The SMSPA board would like to thank Kenrick Housen and his staff at Carls and Sons Lounge, and Sjaoel Richardson, for making the luncheon as enjoyable to all involved as it was informative, said Lake.

Small hotel properties that are interested in joining SMSPA can contact the association at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , said Lake.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Parliaments role is to supervise government, which includes pointing out failures and offering suggestions but also applauding when government takes the right decision. In fact, psychology tells us that reinforcing good performance has a more powerful and lasting effect than negative criticism. Hence, it is important that parliamentarians also look at the positive things that government has done or is doing and commend them for this. In our society, we tend to only focus on the mistakes, failures and on the bad or negative. My pastor, the late Rev. Alwyn Lake, would always say: there is always some good in the worst of us and some bad in the best of us. So when the executive branch does things right, parliamentarians should also commend the government or a minister for such. In this regard, I would like to suggest to our parliamentarians that they should commend the Honorable Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports, Ms. Silveria Jacobs, for the stand and the decision that she took to have the Youth Extravaganza Show stopped due to the sexually explicit and vulgar content of the program. As I was not at the show my knowledge of the event is based solely on what I have read, heard and seen of Minister Jacobs passionate plea to restore a level of morality in our society. I couldnt agree more with the honorable Minister. We have reached a point in our society where respect for God, authority, women, peoples property and even life is in a rapid downward spiral. Unfortunately, we are quick to blame the youth for their disrespect and negative behavior. But the first people to blame are the adults, the parents and the authority figures in our society who should be leading, not only by talking but also by example!

I believe that our parliamentarians should publicly support the stand and decision of the Honorable Minister. It would send a strong message, to our society, that the highest supervisory body in the country embraces and promotes certain moral standards in our society. According to Minister Jacobs, an investigation into all that transpired on the night of the Youth Extravaganza is being conducted. I propose that when the report is ready, the Minister should send it to Parliament who in turn should invite the Minister to present the findings as to what went wrong and offer solutions to avoid such a disrespectful display by our youth at such shows in the future. After the Ministers presentation, parliamentarians should continue to promote an awareness of what is acceptable behavior as they carry on the conversation via the media and with groups and individual members of our society. I also believe that the church, as well as social organizations in Sint Maarten, should also come out publicly and support the Honorable Minister on this issue. To effect change, it is going to take a concerted effort by all concerned, to raise awareness in our society regarding the decline in respect, ethics, standards and morality and to try to restore these virtues in our society.

I also strongly suggest that parliament requests our Minister of Justice to investigate and report to parliament, as soon as possible, on the incident that transpired, where one of our youth lost her life during carnival. The Sint Maarten Christian Party would hereby like to extend condolences to the family and friends of Rachelle Thomas whose life was snatched away from us so prematurely. We are all shocked that something like this could have happened to one of our youth. Parliament should press upon the Minister of Justice to leave no stone unturned until this case is solved. Sadly, the solving of this case will not bring back Rachelle but it can surely help to prevent such an incident from happening again. During this tragic incident, it was admirable to see some of our youth take on the responsibility to reach out to their peers, the community, and even the world, via Facebook, as they called on people everywhere to pray for Rachelle. Spearheading this movement was one of Rachelles close friends, Theodore DeWeever who must be commended for the tremendous role that he played in reaching out to the community and requesting prayers for his friend. Theodore and friends, you have given the adults in this community hope that all is not lost among our youth.

Another area where our parliament and government can show positive support is when groups in our community come together for a positive cause. This past weekend, some fifteen to twenty evangelical churches came together for the annual Believers Connection Convention. The governments of both sides of the island were invited. The government of the French side sent a representative who addressed the congregations on behalf of the Collectivite. Regrettably, not one representative from the government on the Dutch side took the time or made an effort to attend the opening ceremony or one of the other services. I know that several of our public officials attended or participated in Carnival. Yet, not one official from the Dutch side showed the churches any form of respect. I am pretty sure that if elections were imminent many of these politicians would have attended the Convention.

Wycliffe Smith

Leader of the Sint Maarten Christian Party
MARIGOT/PHILIPSBURG:--- The 15th edition of the Sint Maarten / Saint Martin Annual Regional Tradeshow SMART is, amongst others, to host workshops of CHTA, Google 360 technology, Expedia, and MasterCard. Organizing parties LAssociation des Hoteliers de St. Martin (AHSM), Saint Martin Tourism Office and the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau and St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association (SHTA) are honored to have confirmed workshops of these names of repute, with several more to be announced shortly.

The workshops are announced halfway Early Bird Week, providing for discounts as well as preferences for early bookers.

In total, 10 workshop requests have been done to the four organizers to find a stage at the largest regional trade show of the Northeast Caribbean. Last week 8 were selected to be most beneficial to the large variety of tourism organizations visiting the event.

Aligning with the ambition of organizing parties to make this edition the best of the past 15, the amount of 8 workshops exceeds by far the amount of an average SMART event thus far.

One of the reasons for choosing such an amount is not only because of a large spontaneous offer for this years event but as well the fact that all partners involved want to stress the value of providing educational opportunities for visiting parties next to doing business. As the 21st century is marked by rapid development of the sector, new tools become available to use data and insights for the betterment of Sint Maarten / Saint-Martin tourism product.

First and foremost, organizing parties are honored by the confirmed contributions of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA). CHTA represents Caribbean lodgings worldwide, amongst which many on both sides of the island of Sint Maarten / Saint Martin.

CHTA Executive Director Frank Comito will present the workshop "Today and Tomorrow: Regional Tourism Insights, Intelligence, and Initiatives". Mr. Comito will share figures on the current performance of the Caribbean region regarding tourism, as well as an outlook and a presentation of trends that will be impacting the regional tourism industry. Next, to that, CHTA's executive director will provide insights how to improve marketing and marketability of tourism destinations by leveraging local resources.

MasterCard will provide attendees global and regional insights from their large resource of users. Anonymized data will be used on looking into the tourism ecosystem by MasterCard use, helping visiting tourism players to understand inbound markets and tourist spending behavior patterns. Next, to explaining the use of MasterCard on the island of Sint Maarten / Saint Martin and beyond, the multinational credit card will share how custom audiences can be actively targeted by spending analysis.

Amongst other topics, Expedia will provide an understanding of SMART's host island's success over 2016 in adding over 30 % more stay over bookings by the world's largest hotel booking site, but also how large growth can be consolidated and expanded. Expedia will provide individual regional hoteliers and activity providers tips how to improve online performance.

Google 360 is a relatively new method used worldwide to open up hotel look and feel and to connect lodgings to Google Street View technology. Hospitality locations can show future visitors a 3D idea of design, look and feel of their public spacings as well as a variety of hotel rooms. Next, to better visual insight for the guest, it allows for increased visibility in Google. This masterclass will be hosted by official Google services provider AltaVista Communications (US).

SMART will be hosted by the Westin Dawn Beach Resort Casino and Spa from June 14th-16th. An invitation movie can be found at https://youtu.be/RAFGr3axPFc.

Early Bird Registering for SMART can be done at www.Shta.com/Smart until May 8. More information and answers can be requested by sending an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Penal Code will not be used to identify possible suspects of money laundering.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prosecutors Office (Chief Prosecutor Ton Maan) in conjunction with Minister of Justice Rafael Boasman will meet with department heads and Secretary Generals of the Government apparatus on Thursday afternoon at Rhythm and Blues in Simpson Bay to inform the civil servants that the Prosecutors Office will be launching a new team called the Assets Recovery Team. Spokesman for the Prosecutors Office told reporters on Thursday that the Council of Ministers signed off on a decision to establish the team which is already active in Curacao, Aruba, Bonaire and the Netherlands. Serphos said that team which will consist of personnel from the Prosecutors Office, KPSM, Customs, Tax Department, and the Coast Guards.

The sole responsibility the Asset Recovery Team will have is to seize properties and other assets such as homes and other buildings, vehicles, boats, and anything of value from persons the prosecutor office deem as suspects.

Asked how would this team function without the Court Serphos said that the penal code will not be applied therefore the Prosecutors Office would not need the court system to make someone a suspect and the court also do not have anything to do with the assets seized.

He said that the team will investigate persons that have acquired wealth over the years and those persons will then have to prove how they acquired their wealth. He said that over the years criminals have become wise and they often times use other persons to register the properties they acquire to escape the long arms of the law.

However, a person that are not working and are not paying their taxes but have huge assets would be the ones that the team will investigate and subsequently seize the assets.

The spokesman for the Prosecutors Office said that the Public Prosecutors Office will accuse these people with money laundering to start their investigation prior to seizing assets.

Serphos said that persons that are working and acquired their assets will not be targeted, he said that people will be fully checked out before they are accused of money laundering.

Serphos said that those that the monies that are derived from the assets will go into the Crime Fund, and the monies will be used for meaningful projects.

The spokesman for the Prosecutors Office said the team has been working for the past four months. He said all vehicles that the members of the team drives around with will be marked and they will not be arresting anyone.

Serphos said he could not say all the laws that will be used but he does know that the tax laws will be used. When questioned Serphos said that no one will be taken court to face money laundering charges. However, he also admitted that when the Team started up in Curacao a lot of lawyers became confused and have questioned the actions of the team. He said courts in Curacao, Aruba and the Netherlands already approved the actions of the team especially when suspects cannot prove to how they acquired their assets.

Ladies and Gentlemen, As a Minister of Justice I find it important to continuously look for new approaches to make our society a safer place. To seize illicit generated money is an example of such a new approach while tackling organized crime. The Government of country Sint Maarten takes the tackling of organized crime very seriously. It is important that citizens feel safe in their country, and understand that crime does not pay. It cannot be that while upright citizens are busy earning an honest living, others are making money by being involved in criminal activities. That sends a wrong message to our society. Our youth has to realize that crime does not pay, If you are involved in earning a living in partaking in criminal activities, it should be realized that the Asset Recovery Team will seize the illicit funds. The focus of most forms of criminal activities are geared towards generating money. Therefor it is logical to deter the motive to partake in criminal activities by seizing the illicit funds, subsequently, the motive to commit crimes. In general, criminals assess time in prison as a business risk, however, seizing their illicit funds hits them harder. Therefore, I wholeheartedly support the establishment of the Asset Recovery Team. This team will comprise of civil servants of the Sint Maarten Police Force, the Coast Guard, Customs, the Tax Office, under the supervision of the Public Prosecutors Office. I like the idea that this team is comprised of local agencies. Sint Maarten finds it of utmost importance to tackle crime with the aforementioned agencies.

I am pleased with the cooperation of these agencies. The investigative capacity of the different agencies is limited. Choices has to been made whether or not investigate a particular case, and by which means to do so. With the cooperation within the Asset Recovery Team, we as a Government, can utilize all our administrative, criminal and fiscal capabilities. This is very effective! Only by making maximum use of all the resources that are at our disposal as a Government, we will be able to deal crime a heavy blow. However, I would like to warn that cooperation is harder than it seems. This is due to the respective agencies having different goals and ways of doing things. Cooperation is to comprise. The Department Heads play an important role in ensuring that this cooperation is effective. This makes your contribution very important. You play a role in building bridges between the agencies. I would like to take this moment to emphasize that the Asset Recovery Team will not seize houses, yachts, cars or money without a legitimate cause. Persons with a clear conscience should not have anything to fear. We live in a democratic state governed by the rule of law, where citizens are protected by rules and legislations. This also applies to this new approach to tackle crime. As previously mentioned, criminals have something to fear in that their illicit funds will be seized, and be distributed to the community. The money can be used to initiate projects to make society a safer and therefore better place. In a nutshell, this is a win-win- situation. Our society will become a safer place and funds will be available within the justice chain.

In conclusion, I wish the members of the Asset Recovery Team lots of success, but also pleasure in their work and to make this new working model effective. You have an important task ahead. A task that bears a heavy burden and will demand a lot out of you. You have been chosen by your heads for a reason to be a part of this special team. By having a good cooperation, using an integral work approach, being result oriented and being creative, this new approach will succeed. I therefore conclude with the theme of my ministry; Impetus, a force that causes an object to begin moving, or to continue to move.

Thank you for your attention!

Minister of Justice Rafael Boasman
Claim: A man named Thomas Crapper invented the flush toilet. Rating: About this rating False

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Thomas Crapper is an elusive figure: Most people familiar with his name know him as a

celebrated figure in Victorian England, an ingenious plumber who invented the modern flush toilet; others believe him to be nothing more than a hoax, the whimsical creation of a satirical writer. The truth lies somewhere in between.

Much of the confusion stems from a 1969 book by Wallace Reyburn, Flushed with Pride: The Story of Thomas Crapper. Reyburn's "biography" of Crapper has often been dismissed as a complete fabrication, as some of his other works (most notably Bust-Up: The Uplifting Tale of Otto Titzling and the Development of the Bra) are obvious satirical fiction. Although Flushed with Pride is, like Bust-Up, a tongue-in-cheek work full of puns, jokes, and exaggerations, Reyburn did not invent the person of Thomas Crapper (as he did with putative brassiere-maker Otto Titzling).

In Flushed with Pride, Reyburn's satire rests on the framework of a real man's life. Thomas Crapper was not, as Reyburn wrote, the inventor of the flush toilet, a master plumber by appointment to the royals who was knighted by Queen Victoria, or an important figure whose achievements were written up in the Encyclopedia Britannica, and one searches in vain for evidence that authorities of the time took any notice of Thomas Crapper, for mention of him in biographical dictionaries, or for his obituary notice in the London Times. But although Thomas Crapper may not have been a man of importance to his contemporaries, he was indeed a real person, a sanitary engineer in 19th century London who ran his own plumbing concern, who owned several patents on plumbing-related devices, and whose name can still be spotted on manhole covers around London.

Thomas Crapper took out nine plumbing patents between 1881 and 1896, but none of these patents was for the "valveless water-waste preventer" he is often credited with having invented (although he did manufacture and sell such devices). The first patent for a siphonic flush was taken out by Joseph Adamson in 1853, eight years before Crapper started his plumbing business. Many types of siphonic systems were patented in the 1880s, but none by a Crapper until George Crapper, Thomas' nephew, was awarded an 1897 patent for "improvements in or relating to automatic syphon flushing tanks." Thomas Crapper may have sold and installed water closets, but he didn't have much to do with their development.

Alexander Cummings is generally credited with inventing (or, at least, patenting) the first flush mechanism in 1775 (more than 50 years before Crapper was born), and plumbers Joseph Bramah and Thomas Twyford further developed the technology with improvements such as the float-and-valve system. Thomas Crapper, said an article in Plumbing and Mechanical Magazine, "should best be remembered as a merchant of plumbing products, a terrific salesman and advertising genius."

A related legend has it that U.S. soldiers stationed in England during World War I (some of whom had little or no experience with indoor plumbing) saw toilets marked with the name 'CRAPPER' and brought the word home as a synonym for 'toilet' or 'bathroom.' Although the word 'crap' (used in a scatological sense) antedates Thomas Crapper and is therefore not derived from his name, the origins of 'crapper' as a synonym for 'toilet' are unknown, other than that it is a particularly American term whose earliest print citings come from the 1930s.
Italy Telecommunications Market Analysis Highlights Expected Growth at a CAGR of 0.8% with Revenue Reaching USD 32.2 Billion by 2021

Albany, New York, May 04, 2017: According to the present European market situation, the Italy telecommunications market is booming due to the growth in the mobile data sector. Also, related sectors like mobile services, fixed services and pay-tv rely heavily on this industry for their own growth. Market Research Hub (MRH) has recently added a new study to address the sectors analysis for gaining deeper insight. This report is titled as Italy: Competition Set to Intensify Following Wind Tre Launch and Iliads Market Entry on Horizon, which explores the possibilities within the Italy telecommunications market, service providers and key opportunities using a simple format to help clients create profitable growth plans, for the promising forecast period from 2016 to 2021.

Request Free Sample Report: http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1064515

According to this informative report, the global data in Italy telecommunication expects its revenue to reach a value of $33.2 billion, growing at a CAGR of 0.8% over the forecast period of 2016-2021.

In 2016, Italy acquired the fourth largest place in the telecommunications sector of Western Europe, along with huge revenues. The report initially begins with the executive summary, along with the products application, classifications, and definitions. Future investors can hence learn about the growth of the market and the competitor overview analysis from this study. Later on, in this section, the economic, demographic and political context are also introspected for the readers benefit. The study also executes a careful evaluation of the regulatory environment of the sector.

In the next section, the report focuses on the regional context of the business in detail. It also analyzes the overall competitive landscape to allow new entrepreneurs understand this business better. The assessment also evaluates the leading manufacturers in this industry, to help clients get accustomed to this sector. The research study later offers information related to the many product segments from this field. Some of the prime segments evaluated are mobile services, fixed services, and the pay-tv. Besides this, the report helps buyers identify the many opportunities in this market.

Browse Full Report With TOC: http://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/italy-competition-set-to-intensify-following-wind-tre-launch-and-iliads-market-entry-on-horizon-report.html

Finally, this research study identifies the segments that will perform the best in this sector. The report also predicts that the mobile data sector will be making almost 38.9% of overall service revenue by 2021, which is higher than 33.4% noted in 2016. The report provides the market growth assessment and growth forecasts to help clients become up-to-date. The study also describes the key drivers and assumptions, along with ongoing and upcoming trends. These parameters are studied in terms of Italys mobile communications, fixed telephony and broadband markets. The studys broad perspective along with comprehensive and instrumental details will help vendors succeed in this challenging sector.
Tricentis to Unveil Zero-Touch Business Process Testing at SAP Sapphire Now

LOS ALTOS, CA  (Marketwired)  05/04/17  , leader in , will be featuring their latest innovations for business process testing at SAP Sapphire Now (May 16-18 in Orlando, Florida). Featured advancements will include:

The industrys most comprehensive SAP testing solution for SAP Fiori (including Android and iOS support for testing mobile apps)

SAP Solution Manager 7.2 certified support and extension with risk-based testing and change impact analysis

Additionally, Tricentis and will be unveiling the industrys first technology for zero-touch, scriptless testing.

Even a small SAP update can bring critical business processes to a standstill. Without a fast and trusted way to detect change impacts, upgrading SAP or optimizing processes can expose the business to significant risks. With the industrys most advanced SAP business process testing solution, Tricentis helps enterprises effortlessly detect the impact of change to their critical business transactions  across and beyond SAP (including APIs, web UIs, mobile interfaces, custom back-end systems, packaged applications, and more).

In SAP environments, over 72% of companies rely on manual testing to verify changes in critical business processes, explained Wolfgang Platz, Tricentis Founder and Chief Product Officer. However, manual testing is costly (representing over 30% of the typical SAP project budget), time-consuming, and not thorough and accurate enough to guarantee that critical risks will be exposed. Tricentis is committed to providing enterprises the technology they need to reduce risks while accelerating the pace of business process innovation.

Details regarding zero-touch, scriptless testing will be released immediately before SAP Sapphire Now. To learn more about this technology or additional capabilities featured in the upcoming Tricentis Tosca product release, or register for the webinar .

Tricentis provides a Continuous Testing platform that accelerates testing to keep pace with Agile and DevOps. With the industrys most innovative functional testing technologies, Tricentis breaks through the barriers experienced with conventional software testing tools  achieving test automation rates of over 90%. Our integrated software testing solution, Tricentis Tosca, consists of a unique Model-based Test Automation and Test Case Design approach, encompassing risk-based testing, test data management and provisioning, service virtualization, and more. We are established as a reliable enterprise partner, helping to deliver significant performance improvements to testing projects.

Prominent analysts have recognized us as a Leader in both Software Test Automation and in Functional Automation Tools, with Model-based Test Automation as our standout feature. Tricentis 400+ customers include global names from the Top 500 brands such as HBO, Toyota, Allianz, BMW, Starbucks, Deutsche Bank, Lexmark, Orange, A&E, Vantiv, Vodafone, Telstra and UBS.

Tricentis has offices in Austria, Australia, Germany, India, Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland, United States and the UK. To learn more, visit:

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Jessica Chao

Tricentis

+43 664 883 76 899
Global Navigation Satellite System Market Highlights Growth Driven by Surging Demands, Forecast till 2022

Albany, New York, May 04, 2017: In the current business scenario, navigation satellite systems are required to a great extent due to the growing global demand for the navigation feature in vehicles. The fresh report created by the expert analysts has been added to the enormous database of Market Research Hub (MRH) titled as Global Navigation Satellite System Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022. It provides new investors with major data connected to market growth during the forecast period 2017-2022.

Request Free Sample Report: http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1066836

In recent times, navigation satellite systems are a vital functionality in all transport related products and services, especially vehicles using air, water, land, and space. The report initially starts off with the industry overview of the market performance. Later, the study evaluates the profitable scope for the products in this sector. The buyers learn about the market status and outlook, in order to develop better business plans. Furthermore, the report assesses the navigation satellite system market by the different types. The main types introspected in this study are, the core satellite navigation systems, the regional satellite navigation systems; along with the satellite-based augmentation systems or the SBAS.

In the next section, the report analyzes the navigation satellite system market by end users and application. The study then shifts the focus over the market size and analysis by regions. The main regions used for this market evaluation are the United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. The investigation of the application of this sector in location-based services or LBS, helps the clients identify the huge scope of this business. Accordingly, the report specifies the potential of the market in the aviation, road and rail travel. Moreover, maritime, agriculture, surveying and time and synchronization applications are also studied in this intelligent report.

As the report proceeds, the reader can gain knowledge regarding the global navigation satellite system competition by players. Buyers can learn in-depth about the leading manufacturers assessed in the report such as Qualcomm, Trimble Navigation, Broadcom, CSR, Laird, Furuno Electric, Rockwell Collins and Texas Instruments. The clients can assess the company profile, main business, business overview, products, services, and solutions from this useful report. Using this highly functional data, the new investor can create improved business plans for their upcoming projects.

Browse Full Report With TOC: http://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/global-navigation-satellite-system-market-size-status-and-forecast-2022-report.html

Furthermore, the analysts have evaluated the market value in terms of the players, to give investors better advantage over this market. The analysis of the competitive status and trends, keep the buyers up-to-date. New investors can also take advantage of the analysis of the market concentration rate to create better business models. Thus, the report summarizes valuable data on recent developments, technology trends for future along with revenue value, which is quite beneficial for the buyers.
Iskratel celebrates 70 years of modernizing telecommunications with ambitious new targets

Ljubljana, Slovenia, May 4, 2017  Iskratel, the leading European infocommunications vendor and solutions provider, has kick-started its 70th anniversary celebrations, announcing it aims to double its sales revenues by 2020 and expand ambitiously into new markets.

The company will widen its offerings both in terms of vertical markets and geographical reach, targeting industries such as transport, public safety and energy. With 500 million end-users of its technology, Iskratel has performed strongly in its core market of telecommunications since it was founded in 1947 and is present in more than 30 countries worldwide.

To mark its 70th anniversary, the company held a celebration gala at the Brdo Congress Centre to highlight its achievements and length of service to the telecoms industry. The event featured speeches from Deputy Prime Minister of Slovenia Karl Erjavec and the Russian Ambassador Doku Zavgayev. A book titled Iskratel 70 Years  and a video animation have also been published to commemorate the occasion.

In the last 70 years, Iskratel has prospered in the face of many different political and economic shifts because we have invested in people, expertise and research and development, said Iskratels CEO Zeljko Puljic. Throughout its history, Iskratel has built strong partnerships and become a trusted and loyal vendor, even in tough times. Faced with new challenges, we are encouraged by our tradition of success as we move into the future.

At the event, the lasting impact Iskratel has made on the generations of people across continents over the last seven decades was highlighted, along with the foundations of the company. These are innovation, modernization, growth and development which Iskratel combines with its experience in its technology to improve peoples quality of life.

Iskratels employees have always shown remarkable team spirit and commitment and it is this strength which has helped us successfully navigate the last seven decades, said Puljic. Iskratel is a legacy of the generations who have built, enriched, developed and strengthened it over the years to create one of the leading companies in infocommunications in Europe, with a clear strategy for future development.

For a full photo gallery of the celebration gala, visit: flickr.com/photos/iskratel/albums/72157680685355882.

For more information about Iskratel, please visit www.iskratel.com. The video commemorating 70 years of the company can be found at: youtube.com/watch?v=0vmLoXadWlY.
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Police are appealing for witnesses to an assault which caused actual bodily harm in Bridgwater.

According to an Avon and Somerset police spokesman, the incident took place in St Mary Street at around 11pm on March 16.

He added: Detectives want to speak to a man captured on CCTV who they believe may be able to help with their inquiries.

He is believed to be of Portuguese descent and around 5ft 8in tall.

The images show a group of people, some who have had their faces blurred out, the police believe may have information appears to be wearing a yellow jacket and dark coloured trousers.

If you recognise the man, contact Crimestoppers immediately on 0800-555111, quoting reference 5217059296.
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A man has been remanded in custody after appearing before magistrates following a burglary and vehicle theft in Paulton.

Avon and Somerset Police say officers were alerted by a householder on Saturday, (April 29) at around 6.30am who woke up to find their car - a blue Subaru Impreza had been stolen.

About 30 minutes later according to police the car was found crashed on a minor road off the A37 near Stowey and a man was arrested in the village soon afterwards.

A spokesman said Jamie Lye, 39, of Turtlegate Avenue, Withywood, appeared before Bristol Magistrates on Monday (May 1), charged with driving offences and the following:

 Burglary in Spring Ground Road, Paulton on Saturday 29 April in which keys, three cameras and two mobile phones were among the items stolen

 Aggravated vehicle taking of a Subaru Impreza

 Burglary in The Street, Compton Martin on Monday 6 March in which items including a clarinet were stolen





Magistrates remanded him in custody to appear before Bristol Crown Court on Friday, June 2.

Neighbourhood Inspector Sarah Treweek said: With improvements to vehicle security systems we are now seeing thieves taking keys in order to steal cars.

"We'd recommend that you never leave your keys in the back of the door or in view from a window or letterbox.

"Thieves have been known to reach through letterboxes and even cat flaps to take keys. Our advice is to put them safely out of sight.

If you see anyone acting suspiciously around a neighbours property, call the police straight away. Its 999 if a crime is in progress, otherwise ring 101.


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Releasing paper lanterns and helium balloons into the sky could soon be banned in Dorset.

West Dorset District Council will hold a full council meeting in Dorchester next Thursday (May 11) where the proposal will be discussed.

But is this local government being a killjoy, or actually quite a sensible policy? Here's everything you need to know:

What exactly is the council proposing?

The motion which is coming before the full council has three elements:

That releases of sky lanterns and helium balloons should not be permitted on land owned by WDDC

That releases of sky lanterns and helium balloons should not be permitted at any events which the council licenses

That this motion also be considered by North Dorset District Council and Weymouth & Portland Borough Council, which are part of a partnership with WDDC

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In essence, if the motion if passed you would not be able to release paper lanterns or helium balloons on any publicly owned land in Sherborne or anywhere else in West Dorset.

What's the problem with paper lanterns?

Paper lanterns - often called sky lanterns - may seem harmless enough. They usually consist of a paper and wire structure with a naked flame, and are often released around Chinese New Year.

However, the lanterns have been banned in 29 of the 50 US states, along with several European countries, because of the risks they pose to wildlife, property and aviation.

A spokesman for the pressure group Balloons Blow said: "Sky lanterns can travel for miles and always land as dangerous litter. They have caused huge structure fires and wildfires.

"This flaming aerial trash has caused serious burns to humans and killed animals who eat them or become entangled in their fallen remains."

The RSPCA has also campaigned against the lanterns for many years, stating that they "cause injury, suffering, and death, through ingestion, entanglement or entrapment."

In the UK the lanterns are not illegal per se, but guidance was issued in 2014 while puts certain limits on how and where they can be released - specifically:

You cannot release lanterns under the influence of alcohol or drugs

You must notify air traffic control if you release them within ten miles of an airfield or airport

You must notify the Coastguard if you release them anywhere near the coast

Two people must be involved in the release of the lantern - one holding the lantern, the other igniting the fuel

You cannot release them near crops, haystacks or power lines

What about helium?

You'd think that releasing helium balloons wouldn't be so bad. Helium is an unreactive gas, which is often used by scuba divers (as well as comedians).

But while helium is the second most abundant element in the universe, there's not an enormous amount of it on Earth - less than five parts per million in the air that we breathe every day.

Helium has many industrial applications, such as in MRI scanners and arc welding. It's also used within the Large Hadron Collider when experiments are being carried out.

The helium on Earth is mainly found in deposits of natural gas, and it makes sense to save as much of it as possible.

However, the market price of helium - the price you pay to inflate those foil balloons - has been very low since the early-2000s, leading to large quantities being wasted.

Because helium is lighter than air, balloons which are released into the air float to great heights before they disintegrate - and then the gas inside them will be lost forever.

It's possible to artificially synthesise helium by bombarding either lithium or boron atoms with high-velocity protons, but this is not economically cost-effective and is hard to do on an industrial scale.

Is this unprecedented?

No - a number of other councils have chosen to ban the release of lanterns within their area.

Four councils in the Greater Manchester area banned their release in 2015, citing a risk to traffic from Manchester Airport and advice from firefighters.

Because there is no UK-wide law banning the release of lanterns, it is down to individual councils to decide whether to enforce such a ban.

If WDDC does vote in favour of a ban, it is not clear at this stage how soon it could be enforced.
If you're one of the many who voted absentee this year in Michigan, the Secretary of State has an online tool to track the status of your ballot, and more.
By Herman Thind,

Special to The Post

Growing up in rural Saskatchewan and Alberta, I always had a sense of what is fair, just, and decent.

Raised in a liberal home, we embraced values of tolerance, equality, and evidence-based policy.

As I became more involved in the political process, my small l liberal ideological side weighed heavily. I was part of the founding group of campus Young Liberals in university in the late 80s. I held several elected party positions in Saskatchewan, Alberta, and BC. My latest involvement was as communications director for the Liberal Party of Canada in BC (not to be confused with the BC Liberals).

Along the way, I stood up for minority rights at every conceivable junction. I was involved in the RCMP turban debate against some very unpleasant Reform Party (i.e. Federal Conservative) activists on campus. I opposed the war in Iraq. I also stood as first speaker in support of the Liberal Party of Canadas same-sex marriage resolution (it was adopted as policy).

As someone with a background in science, I have always favoured evidence and policy based on evidence and expert opinion. Show me the unbiased research first. Dont gloat about reports done by industry insiders, or partisan think-tanks. As such, Ive always favoured parties with a liberal ideology.

As an adult, Ive worked in the tech sector, service sector, as well as in the oil and gas industry in Calgary, the heart of the new west. Ive worked in middle management positions in the corporate world, AND served as a union shop steward as a communications worker. Im currently a small business owner, working exclusively with small businesses. I also work in the alternative energy sector, serving as a communications liaison for a green tech startup.

Like many of my generation, I have a family. My wife and I have a 5 year old daughter. Through her weve had the fortune of working with incredible teachers, and amazing recreation centre staff. We've also met some of the greatest doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff anywhere. As parents, these things make up the core of our existence. They matter.

What drives our generation's discussions, are affordability, healthcare, and education. These are not just important issues for us, but for all professionals and members of what author Richard Florida calls the creative class. We are the thinkers, innovators, researchers, social activists, artists, artisans, and other creators. We write the apps you use daily. We build the websites you browse. We design the buildings you live in. We plan the parks your children play in. We brew the craft beers you sip on. We fuel the worlds most dynamic urban power centres.

Regions like New York, Boston, the SF Bay Area, and Cascadia succeed for specific reasons. They succeed because they have the services, planning, and infrastructure to attract and engage people like us. They have affordable housing options, and urban plans that encourage creativity. They have great centres of research, progressive neighbourhood and workplace planning. They have access to the best accessible education anywhere.

In the past 10 years, and longer, people like us have not seen this in the Lower Mainland, and to be honest, anywhere else in BC. Rather than fuelling the economy and jobs of the 2020s, we seem to be stuck in a time-warp pitching the economy of the 1920s. While we sit pat, the world has been passing us by. Many American states have adopted more progressive approaches to policy. They have managed to shore up entire new sectors for employment and GDP growth.

Our rush to fund one industry has seen cuts to education - the exact place you want to spend the most, particularly when planning for the future. As parents, we are forced to organize fundraisers for textbooks and field trips. We also have to live in fear of the next earthquake, since there are over 180 schools in BC deemed seismically unsafe, which have yet to see any upgrade work.

Our myopic future planning seems to be based on the whims of a single industry. We need a serious look at what we can offer with our strongest resource - our people. Our proximity to Seattle and Silicon Valley have resulted in some growth in the local tech sector. The election of Trump has provided companies with a few more skilled staff, yet we fail to engage local companies on major projects. As one industry insider put it, the tech sector has grown by itself, with little government leadership. She added, the government seems to prefer awarding contracts to American companies, ignoring the local shops. Local tech workers end up focusing on short-term contracts for small projects working with local businesses, while the Oracles, IBMs, and Microsofts swoop in and take long-term, good-paying government contracts. Many of these contracts end up employing foreign workers - not locals.

BC has generous wind, solar, geothermal, and tidal resources, yet we fail to include these in any discussion of resources. The green tech sector are left to feel like a third-wheel. They end up working directly with municipalities that see a real need for the technology. The opportunity to employ thousands of welders, electricians, general construction workers, engineers, and other labour in green tech is completely untapped. In the 80s and 90s we emerged as a global leader, with companies like Ballard. Since then weve fallen far behind. We chose to run with the last remnants of the fossil fuel sector instead.

Not only are we focused on the wrong industries, but our preference for boom & bust economies has led to unaffordable living conditions for most of our generation. Constructions jobs are great, but they just dont offer the salaries required to live in Metro Vancouver affordably. Workers end up couch-surfing, or living in their trucks. Based on the average salary in Greater Vancouver, the average home price is technically out of reach for most of us. Without affordable living space, we simply wont attract the creative class, the builders of great cities. BC has focused on the boom economy, and when it busts, our generational cohorts are just expected to pick up and move to Alberta or Ontario to chase the jobs as weve done for decades.

Weve also ignored the needs of young families, when it comes to childcare. A family in Metro Vancouver has to ensure they have $2000 or so kicking around for childcare services, just so parents can work to pay their mortgages. Many choose to live with parents in large homes, to avoid the cost of childcare. People complain about mega-homes, but lack of affordability and childcare is just one of the reasons why inter-generational mega-homes exist. In Vancouver we have friends who are forced to find nanny-shares to mind children after school. Nannies are also getting hard to find, since they cant afford to live here either.

As a parent, an owner of a tech-based business, these shortfalls are troubling. My kindergartener has a passion for science. She has built a solar-powered robot. Shes started programming in Scratch. Shes studied laminar flow and tidal power (okay, shes spent a lot of time on a particular Science World display). Shes ready for the new economy. So are all our kids.

The foundations laid out by progressive governments in Ottawa in the 1970s and 80s led to the ability to handle the growth of the 90s and beyond. Education, universal accessible healthcare, and affordability were policy mainstays. We became a better society for those ideas, but weve lost our way.

My liberal convictions seem to have become stronger since the birth of our child. I not only want whats best for her, but also for the greater society around me. Classic liberalism is not just a brand or label that one can affix to a party. It is an adherence to principles and ideology that works to benefit all society, the environment, and the economy.
Breakdown of Indiana Statehouse races across South Bend area

The 2022 election is a midterm election. Voters will come out to to vote in various Indiana statehouse races Nov. 8 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
There is a major reason why many flock to the Grand Strand to play 18 holes on our various golf courses. Many options are available which include scenic, challenging or even courses that the beginner would enjoy. Read moreTee off: Plan your next golf outing along the South Strand
An artist's impression of the nearby Epsilon Eridani system with an asteroid belt-like debris disk scattered with rocky and icy bodies, along with the gas giant Epsilon Eridani b in the lower right.

A young planetary system located only 10.5 light-years away has a structure remarkably similar to Earth's solar system, a new study shows.

Using NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)  a modified 747 jet equipped with a 100-inch (2.5 meters) telescope  researchers studied the planetary system circling the young, sun-like star Epsilon Eridani.

This system boasts an asteroid belt-like ring of debris, much as Earth's solar system does. As one of Earth's closest stellar neighbors, the Epsilon Eridani system is "a prime location to research how planets form around stars like our sun," said a statement from the SOFIA Science Center. [10 Exoplanets That Could Host Alien Life]

In previous observations of the Epsilon Eridani system, scientists detected an undefined debris disk consisting of leftover gas and dust, along with a huge planet that got the name Epsilon Eridani b. This gas giant orbits at the outer edge of the system, at a distance comparable to that between Jupiter and the sun, according to the statement.

The recent study, led by astronomer Kate Su of the University of Arizona, confirmed that the warm material of the debris disk surrounding Epsilon Eridani is concentrated into at least one narrow, asteroid-belt-like ring, closely resembling the structure of Earth's solar system, researchers said.

Using the Faint Object infraRed CAmera for the SOFIA Telescope instrument, or FORCAST, the researchers studied the strong infrared emissions from the warm material of the debris disk. This allowed them to further understand the structure of the Epsilon Eridani system, according to the statement.

Illustration based on Spitzer Space Telescope observations of the inner and outer parts of the Epsilon Eridani system, compared with the corresponding components of Earth's solar system. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC))

"The high spatial resolution of SOFIA combined with the unique wavelength coverage and impressive dynamic range of the FORCAST camera allowed us to resolve the warm emission around Eps Eri, confirming the model that located the warm material near the Jovian planet's orbit," Su said in the statement.

"Furthermore, a planetary mass object is needed to stop the sheet of dust from the outer zone, similar to Neptune's role in our solar system," Su added. "It really is impressive how Eps Eri, a much younger version of our solar system, is put together like ours."

The new study was published April 25 in The Astronomical Journal.

Follow Samantha Mathewson @Sam_Ashley13. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
It was a good week for astrobiology. Within days of NASAs announcement that the necessary ingredients for life likely exist in the Saturn moon Enceladus' subsurface ocean, scientists gathered at Stanford University to discuss discovering life outside the solar system.

Noting how "the search for life in the universe has been transformed from speculation to a data-driven science," speakers like Stanford physicist Peter Michelson offered detailed plans for finding life on exoplanets.

Over the course of two days on April 20-21, dozens of scientists attending the Breakthrough Discuss conference contemplated options for exploring planets in other star systems. These options include using a new generation of powerful telescopes for long-distance observations, as well as advancing a first-of-its-kind technology to visit other star systems  all within the next generation. [10 Exoplanets That Could Host Alien Life]

What these strategies have in common is a focus on observing habitable-zone planets in our local stellar neighborhood. In this neighborhood alone, within 30 light-years or so of our solar system, astrobiologists have already identified several potentially Earth-like exoplanets and dozens of systems that may harbor Earth-like worlds.

These exoplanets, identified by the effects they have on their parent star, are rocky and roughly the same size and density as Earth. They orbit their stars at a distance that would allow liquid water to exist on the surface, given the right atmospheric conditions. There is, however, at least one major difference between our planet and these potentially-habitable exoplanets: They aren't circling stars like our sun.

The diagram shows how new technology developed at Caltech will help astronomers search for molecular bio-signatures on exoplanets. Coronagraphs block a star's light, making orbiting planets easier to see. High-resolution spectrometers would help further isolate a planet's light, and could reveal molecules in the planet's atmosphere. (Image credit: Caltech/IPAC-TMT)

On the spectrum of stars, our sun is what's known as a yellow dwarf. It's bright, and not terribly large compared to the largest stars in our galaxy. Yet, even middling stars like our sun aren't all that common. Our local stellar neighborhood  and probably the universe as a whole  is filled with many more low-mass stars. There are 20 yellow dwarf stars like our sun nearby and 250 M-dwarfs, a variety of star so small and dim that, despite their abundance, they can't be seen with the naked eye. Over the last three to four years, every single low-mass star we've studied appears to have at least one planet. Usually, they have more than one.

"How common are planets orbiting low-mass stars? Very common indeed," Courtney Dressing, an astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley, said during a presentation at the conference. "For a typical M-dwarf, there tends to be 2.5 planets. One in four of the stars has a planet the same size and temperature as Earth in the habitable zone."

Dressing's point was that, given the number of M-dwarfs in the local region, there should be at least 60 potentially Earth-like planets in habitable zones within 32 or so light-years from here, and perhaps many more. To date, most of our exoplanet data comes from NASA's Kepler spacecraft, which has focused its search for planets on large M-dwarf stars. In the near future, when the small and medium-sized M-dwarfs are studied, we may discover that closer to one in three stars have an Earth-like planet in the habitable zone.

Apart from their abundance, these low-mass stars offer other advantages to researchers who study potentially habitable exoplanets. M-dwarf planets have tight orbits around their stars because the habitable zones are close in, giving scientists opportunities to view their transits every few weeks. It is during these transits, when the exoplanets pass in front of their stars, that we have the best opportunity to study their atmospheres for signs of life. [5 Bold Claims of Alien Life]

Artist's impression of NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, which is scheduled to launch in 2018. (Image credit: NASA)

Many conference attendees, including Mercedes Lopez-Morales from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, explained how we will be surveying the atmospheres of the closest habitable-zone planets for signs of life dwelling on the surface or in an ocean. "We're going to look for oxygen," she said.

Because the rise of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere corresponded with the appearance of life, we frequently use that particular molecule as a marker for the presence of life elsewhere. Also, oxygen likes to interact with other chemicals. If we discover a planet where oxygen is still hanging around in the atmosphere, something, possibly life, is actively making it. So, the search for life will focus on elements and molecules like hydrogen, oxygen, and methane. However, as Lopez-Morales explained, there is a downside to this approach.

"A planet's atmosphere is only 1 percent the size of the planet," she said. "The size of the signal is tiny. You need to collect at least one trillion photons to be very certain that you are truly looking at oxygen."

The good news is that a new generation of telescopes designed for planetary exploration and astrobiology will soon be coming online to help us gather those photons. Around this time next year, NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will be getting ready for launch. During its two-year mission, TESS will survey 200,000 stars, including the brighter ones in our local systems.

The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) in Chile, slated to be operational by 2022, will have a resolving power 10 times greater than NASA's famous Hubble Space Telescope. The GMT will feature a device called the G-CLEF spectrograph, which will be able to see molecules like oxygen in far-off planetary atmospheres. Finally, when the ground-based European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) opens in 2024, it will have more light-gathering-power than all of Earth's current 8- to 10-meter telescopes combined. Astrobiologists are counting on these large telescopes coming online between now and 2024 to identify the prime candidates to look for oxygen and life in our stellar neighborhood.

Even as we anticipate a treasure trove of atmospheric data from these missions, scientists are discovering species that live quite happily without oxygen, light, and other features that we used to believe were required for life. These discoveries highlight how atmospheric biosignatures like oxygen are an imperfect, if tantalizing, way to look for life from afar. The question then becomes: Could there be there another way to look for extraterrestrial life beyond studying exoplanet atmospheres?

Ideally, to definitively identify life on other worlds, we would visit nearby planets like Proxima b, only 4 light-years away, either in person or with a spacecraft. This is the goal of the Breakthrough Starshot initiative. Announced a little more than a year ago, Starshots goal, according to its founder, is to "literally reach the stars in our lifetimes." The plan to accomplish this feat involves launching a fleet of very small spacecraft. Starshot will then accelerate these craft to about 20 percent the speed of light using powerful ground-based lasers. This strategy should allow scientists and engineers to slash the time, cost, and weight required to gain an up-close look at planets around other stars, project representatives have said.

"The goal is to fly a probe very close to a planet and figure out if it has life," said theorist Avi Loeb, chair of Harvard University's astronomy department. "What is the color of the planet? Is it green? Does it have vegetation? Is it blue, are there oceans? Or is it desert-like?" [Laser-Sailing to Exoplanets: Images of the Breakthrough Starshot Concept]

At the conference, NASA engineer Ruslan Belikov premiered simulations of what an exoplanet might look like from Starshot's point of view. Even if the craft were moving at 90 percent the speed of light, the onboard cameras should still be able to pick up signs of large oceans, clouds and land masses that an exoplanet might have, Belikov said.

The hope is that, someday, by combining laser acceleration of these very small craft with cameras and other sensors, we might finally be able to take a firsthand look at habitable-zone planets circling nearby stars, and, in so doing, perhaps definitively find life elsewhere in the universe. Combining data from our new generation of very large telescopes with atmospheric observations of nearby exoplanets around M-dwarfs may help us choose the best targets for small Starshot craft to fly by.

"We are going to be the generation that is remembered for finding exoplanets. That's a fact," Lopez-Morales said. "Are we going to be also the generation that will be remembered as the first ones who found life on those planets?"

That, indeed, would be the breakthrough of a lifetime.

This story was provided by Astrobiology Magazine, a web-based publication sponsored by the NASA astrobiology program. Follow Space.com @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Story posted on Space.com.
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"It would be crucial for the Europeans to inspect the camps to guarantee humane conditions," says Martin Kobler, head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya. But nobody is willing to do so. It is simply too dangerous.

An alternative to improving Libya's coast guard would be that of monitoring the country's southern border to prevent migrants from entering Libya in the first place. Recent media reports have indicated that some in Brussels have begun mooting the establishment of a mission to do so. But the idea has not found widespread favor in the EU capital and Berlin, too, is opposed. "I don't think a European police mission is realistic at the present time," says one German official.

One reason, to be sure, are the challenges associated with doing so. Libya's southern border runs for 1,500 kilometers through an extremely hot desert controlled largely by local clans. But Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn believes that, despite the difficulties, exactly that strategy should be pursued. "Europe has to help Libya control its southern border," he says. "That is the gate for migration to Europe. It isn't just when the refugees head out to sea."

"The refugees must be stopped before they reach the Sahara," agrees Monika Hohlmeier, a member of European Parliament from the Christian Social Union, the Bavarian sister party to Merkel's CDU. "It's all a vicious circle: The more people we save in the Mediterranean, the more refugees end up in the migrant smuggling apparatus or die on the way." A strategy paper produced by the European Political Strategy Centre, a think tank under the authority of Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, reaches the same conclusion. By limiting itself to merely saving migrants in maritime distress, Europe has "unintentionally encouraged smugglers to adopt new strategies enabling them to reap more benefits, while placing migrants even more at risk," the paper, published in early February, reads.

Brutal Treatment

Frontex has noted that migrant smugglers have recently become even more unscrupulous. They have, for example, begun packing up to 170 people onto inflatable rafts that can only safely transport 15 passengers at most. It isn't possible for such an overloaded vessel to make the entire trip across to Italy, nor is that the intention. The engines generally only have enough fuel to make it out of Libyan waters, with smugglers relying on the migrants being picked up by a passing ship. If not, well that's just bad luck. More than 1,000 migrants have already lost their lives trying to reach Italy this year.

Migrants who have been saved have told Frontex officials about the brutal treatment meted out by the smugglers. Those who refuse to board the overflowing boats in Libya are often forced to do so at gunpoint. Some are even shot or murdered. Frontex spokeswoman Cooper says that the border agency has repeatedly discovered migrants with gunshot wounds among those who have been saved from the Mediterranean.

It is a dilemma: The Europeans cannot simply stand by as increasing numbers of people drown in the Mediterranean. But the more active NGOs are in pulling people out of the water, the more cynically the smugglers take advantage of the help they provide. It has become something of a "taxi service to Europe" that has increased the incentive to risk the journey, complain high ranking German officials.

The Italian judiciary has gone a step further and accused some aid organizations of abetting human smuggling. "We have proof that individual NGOs maintain direct contact with migrant smugglers in Libya," claims Public Prosecutor Carmelo Zuccaro, based in Catania in Sicily. "Telephone calls from Libya are made directly to these NGOs. The direction of travel to their ships are illuminated with spotlights."

For years, Italy has been among the European countries most affected by the refugee influx. The government in Rome, led by Paolo Gentiloni, is under extreme pressure. The hostels are overcrowded and there have been violent protests against newcomers in some Italian communities -- and populist politicians have been highlighting the issue ahead of upcoming mayoral elections. The head of the right-wing populist party Lega Nord says that "the invaders must be stopped and the illegals should be sent away." His party currently stands at around 13 percent in nationwide polls. Meanwhile, Senate Vice President Luigi di Maio, of the Five Star Movement, the strongest political party in the country, has been blasting away at the NGOs who save drowning refugees at sea.

Solidarity in Name Only

The Italian government has launched a variety of measures in an effort to regain control over the situation, but the number of new arrivals continues to climb. Shortly before Easter, Rome quickly issued a decree allowing for the more rapid deportation of asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected. In addition, Prime Minister Gentiloni and Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano are seeking to sign agreements with the most important countries of origin and transit countries in Africa. The president of Niger, for example, was recently promised 50 million euros during a visit to the Italian capital in exchange for tighter controls on the country's border with Libya.

The Italians do not believe that there will be a rapid breakthrough on the distribution of refugees throughout Europe. Recent years have shown repeatedly that solidarity exists in name only. In 2015, other EU members promised to take 160,000 refugees from Italy and Greece. Thus far, however, only 16,000 have been resettled.

During a breakfast meeting a week ago Wednesday, EU ambassadors from the 28 member states studied a six-page compromise paper presented by the Maltese council presidency: "The Solidarity Component of the Dublin System Reform." The paper envisions a system whereby Europe will classify immigration levels into three categories: normal refugee flows, strong increases and massive inflows in a crisis. Talks have focused primarily on the second category, with the third being classified as a "serious crisis situation."

Germany is insisting that as many European countries as possible accept refugees. To encourage countries like Hungary and Poland to accept such a plan, a compensation mechanism is under discussion which would include financial incentives for accepting refugees. Countries that accept more than their quota would receive 60,000 euros per refugee within five years, whereas those who don't meet their quota would have to pay the same amount.

As a further concession, the proposal envisions the suspension of the distribution mechanism when more than a certain number of refugees per year need to be distributed -- the number 200,000 is currently under discussion. The measure, though, remains bracketed in the paper, which is EU diplomats' way of indicating that the debate has not yet been settled.

No Solution in Sight

In the case of a "serious crisis situation," the paper calls for "simplified legal procedures," which likely means that only the minimum standards laid out in the Geneva Refugee Convention would apply.

The proposals in the paper will not provide relief in the immediate future, which is why the Commission is urging EU member states to speed up deportations. Officials estimate that around 1 million people who sought asylum in 2015 and 2016 saw their applications rejected, meaning they were required to be sent home. But since 2015, not even half that number have been deported. Repatriations to African countries are often unfeasible, says one EU diplomat. "Either the countries refuse to take their citizens back or the refugees who are to be deported have long since disappeared."

Meanwhile, demands are growing in Berlin for more intense monitoring of the German-Swiss border. Germany's federal police force recorded 1,880 illegal entries through the border during the first three months of this year. It's not a huge number, but it has more than tripled relative to the same period in 2016 despite the lack of stationary border controls of the kind seen on the German-Austrian border. In other words, the true number of illegal entries is likely much higher.

"If the number of migrants coming across the Mediterranean continues to rise, we won't be able to avoid controls on the German-Swiss border," says Armin Schuster, a German parliamentarian with the CDU. Fellow conservative Stephan Mayer is demanding that the border be "tightly controlled, unilaterally if necessary, without EU permission."

Rigorous repatriations to source countries, border controls, measures to fight the causes of flight: Berlin and Brussels are deploying a broad variety of steps to prevent a new refugee crisis. The deepest crisis of Merkel's tenure taught the chancellor an important lesson: When a large influx of migrants begins pressuring Europe's external borders, Germany cannot look away. "We Germans," Merkel said in late August 2016, "ignored the problem for too long."

Today, government officials speak of the crisis as a "time when we weren't sufficiently aware of the problem." They say, however, that "we have learned our lesson." That seems to be the case. There is no lack of awareness for the problem this time around. But there is nevertheless no solution in sight.
In her four years as a member of AfD, Weidel has also maintained her position opposing a "centralistic EU." The same applies to her revulsion of Islam and her contempt for poorly educated refugees. Although Weidel may respect top bankers from Pakistan, she has far less sympathy for refugees from Afghanistan who lack high school degrees.

And it was Weidel, who canceled a planned meeting at the last minute in May 2016 with Aiman Mazyek, the head of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany. She announced at the time that she wanted to have nothing to do with "confessed supporters of Sharia" law who had never distanced themselves from the "Stone Age practices" of their religion. Whereas party head Petry at least dared to contact Mazyek, Weidel still maintains today that there is no point in conducting dialog with Muslim organizations. "As a woman, I also want to be able to take the last train home at night without fear," she announced at the party's recent convention in Cologne. It was obvious from her statement that she was referring to foreigners and not white-skinned and Christian passengers.

Despite her own sexual identity, Weidel has never rejected her party's homophobia. She knows that would only serve to make her unpopular.

'Dominant Character'

So far, Weidel has only miscalculated once. As a member of the party's national committee, she was one of the driving forces behind unsuccessful efforts to ban Bjorn Hocke from the party. Hocke, a member of the party's far-right from Thuringia, drew international criticism in recent months for his neo-Nazi-tinged statements.

Her involvement in that effort derailed her attempt to get elected as the chair of AfD's state chapter in Baden-Wurttemberg. She learned her lesson. From that point on, she kept a low profile and didn't speak out publicly against Hocke or about a possible run for national parliament as the party's lead candidate. Instead, she left it to conservative party member Gauland to discreetly promote the pair within the right-wing of the party. "Ms. Weidel and I are only available as a team," Gauland said at the party conference in Cologne. In the end, both got the nomination, garnering 67.7 percent of the votes. Weidel didn't wait long before extending her gratitude to the party's extremist right. At her first press conference as the party's lead candidate, she announced she would no longer exclude the possibility of joint appearances together with far-right Hocke.

Even people who knew her back in her high school days, in the small town of Versmold in North Rhine-Westphalia, recognized her ambition and determination. In her senior class yearbook, they wrote that "Lille," Alice's nickname, was a "dominant character" and hd an "extreme ability to assert herself," that came across to some as "arrogant." "That, of course, doesn't always make being friends with you easy," one classmate wrote. Nevertheless, the classmate was convinced that Lille would go far - perhaps to Sydney, Zurich, London or New York. "On that note, see you later, on the career ladder."

The rungs of that ladder are not easy to reconstruct, given that AfD's lead candidate would not grant an interview or provide a copy of her resume. Yet like Petry, her qualifications are impeccable. After finishing with the best grades in her graduating class at the University of Bayreuth, she took a job as an economist at Goldman Sachs. Weidel stated through a spokesman that Goldman Sachs was a "dream employer" for her at the time.

The other jobs on her way up the career ladder were equally prestigious, but she only stayed at each for a relatively short amount of time. Be it Goldman Sachs or Allianz Global Investors, she seldom stayed in one place for longer than two years. There's something unsettled in the way her life has progressed so far. Weidel spent the longest stint in China, where she worked on her Ph.D. thesis until 2011 and worked for the Bank of China.

Weidel's last position as an employee was in 2013 in the small town of Bad Rothenfelde, near where she grew up, at the firm Heristo, a company specializing in meat refinement and animal feed. A junior manager at the firm had gone to high school with Weidel. But she didn't stay long. The local Haller Kreisblatt newspaper reported that the company parted ways with her in 2014.

A Life in Switzerland?

Since then, she has worked as a freelance consultant for startups and is officially registered as a resident of the town of Uberlingen on Lake Constance. But Weidel never truly shed her international lifestyle. As the Swiss newspaper Der Bund revealed, she has a second residence in the city of Biel, Switzerland, about 200 kilometers south of Uberlingen.

Weidel has been registered with the authorities in Biel as a resident since 2014, and locals are familiar with the AfD politician, her partner and their children. It was only in October 2015 that Weidel registered with the German authorities as a resident in her parents' home in Uberlingen - just in time for the state election in Baden-Wurttemberg.

The question of where she spends the majority of her time has no legal bearing on the election for Germany's federal parliament. But the question of where she has been paying her taxes in recent years could indeed become an issue. The AfD politician did not answer a request for comment on the issue.
Triumph, bred in New Zealand by PGG Wrightson Seeds, is a yellow-fleshed mid-maturity variety with good leaf holding characteristics. In the average of six yield comparison trials, Triumph recorded a 21% total dry matter yield advantage over the market-leading variety.

Swedes are a good homegrown forage option, ideal for feeding sheep during the winter months as a way of reducing bought-in feed costs, says Germinal National Agricultural Sales Manager Ben Wixey.

Apart from being very high yielding, this new variety has a medium dry matter bulb that will make it particularly suitable for ewes.
Plugging The Gaps is a new two-year programme being led by the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Partnership and funded with a grant of 69,900 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, (HLF), thanks to money raised by National Lottery players.

The project, which will be rolled out across Northumberland, Cumbria and County Durham, aims to boost the number of rare wildflower meadows which have been in serious decline since the 1950s.

Botanist Dr Ruth Starr-Keddle, Project Officer with the AONB Partnership, said:

Our objective is to work with communities to help restore this incredibly important habitat. We need volunteers to help us collect seeds of wildflowers this summer, starting in mid-June and sow them into trays. Training in seed collection, propagation and meadow restoration will be rolled out to volunteers. And we need people to then help us to look after the growing plants over winter. The wildflower plugs will be planted back into the meadows after a year of growth.

As well as ensuring iconic meadow species such as great burnet, globeflower and wood cranes-bill remain in the North Pennines, the work done by Plugging The Gaps will also provide a food source for insects which are dependent on pollen. The new plug plants will be planted into areas in order to link up with existing flower-rich sites and create an unbroken network of nectar.
Conducted by Kivells in Exeter Livestock Centre on behalf of the Dorset Horn and Poll Dorset Sheep Breeders Association, the sale saw almost 2,000 pedigree and commercial breeding sheep sold.

One of the largest sales in the UK for commercial early lambing ewes as well as pedigree rams and ewes, it provides an early barometer for the years forthcoming breeding sheep sale trade.

Association chairman James Royan, who lives near Berwick, said:

Im delighted with both the quality of the stock forward and the level of interest which reflects an increasing interest in the Dorset breed. It was good to see the sale get off to a flying start with the first ram in the ring making 2,000gns.

There was also strong interest from commercial breeders as well as in sheep from recorded flocks, he added.

Kivells auctioneer Russell Steer said:

I was anticipating prices being up with the current sheep market - but only by around 3 to 5 a head but we have had increases of 25 to 30 a head in the commercial pens.

Despite concerns about Brexit, there is still confidence in the sheep industry. Those selling cull ewes are still replacing them and there are new entrants. we had plenty of interest around the ring.

Averages for 122 rams sold were 757.56 a head with 24 leaving the ring unsold (2016 averages for 137 rams sold were 660.04, with only 30 unsold).

Accredited ewes averaged 208.41 for 105 sold (89.32 for 22 sold in 2016) while ewe lambs and hoggets levelled at 187.80 for 199 sold (170.00 for 359 sold in 2016). 1292 commercial and cross bred hoggets and ewes averaging 137.78 up almost 30 on 2016.

A total of 1,776 pedigree accredited and non-accredited and commercial breeding rams and females went under the hammer.

The three top priced rams were sold to Northern Irish breeders. Once again there was strong representation representation from Northern Ireland both in the numbers of rams and ewes exhibited and in the leading purchases.

There were 16 different exhibitors who brought with them 49 sheep.

West Wales breeder David Lewis, of Llangwathen, Narberth, Pembrokeshire had his best May Fair in seven years of exhibiting there, taking both the top ram price of 2,500gns as well as leading the individual female section.

Purchasing the poll lamb ram Pembroke Zest is Best were brothers James and Craig Robson, of Burn Road, Doagh, Co Antrim.

The family has been breeding Dorsets both commercially and pedigree since 1980 and James and Craig took over running the registered Ballyhammage flock in 2009, first selling at the May Fair in 2014.

He looked a big, strong lamb and he was long and stretchy. He was vey correct and alert, said James. The brothers run 50 pedigree Dorsets which the purchase will be used on, as well as 500 pure commercial Dorsets which lamb three times in two years. They also have 400 finishing beef cattle.

The September-2016 born ram is by Ballytaggart Upstart out of a Pembroke dam.

The flock also had the champion female lamb Pembroke Zara by Richhill Wallace which made 600gns but it was Pembroke Zest by Downkillybegs Xchequer which topped the sale of individual females at 620gns. This price was matched by the flocks first prize shearling ewe, Pembroke Xeter by Downkillybegs Picasso.

He established his flock with purchases of commercial in-lamb ewes at the 2009 May Fair. Two years later he returned to sell at the event .

I had done a lot of homework and decided to go for the Dorset. I registered the flock in 2011 and now I have 280 Polled Dorsets, half of which are lambed in September and the remainder in the spring. We have plenty of grass on out lowland farm. Finished lambs are sold to local butchers.

The Dorsets fit in well with our herd of 30 Charolais cross suckler cows, 250 commercial ewes, 40 Ryelands and 15 Texels. We are thinking of setting up our own meat business and the Dorset flock will probably be expanded and the commercial numbers reduced.

The second highest price at 2,400gns was again paid by a Northern Ireland breeder for the horned champion.

Cornish brothers Matthew and Adam Care doubled their previous best at the May Fair when they sold their ram Burhos Xtravagant by Sandy Lane Ultra which also topped the shearling trade to Gary Henderson, of Old Mill Cottage, Bushmills, Co Antrim, and his friend Norman Hammond.

The Cares run 300 ewes, which includes 60 horned females, in their flock at Burhos Farm, Burras, Wendron, Helston where Dorsets have been bred for three decades but have been registered since 2003. They also have 60 commercial continental suckler cows and 400 commercial ewes which North of England Mule ewes lambing in March producing replacements for the January lambing flock. The pedigree Dorsets lamb in November to produce shearling rams.

Each of the Irish breeders runs small flocks of Dorsets - Gary is area manager for an AI company. Norman runs purely horned ewes while Gary has a mix, partly because of his son Gareths interest.

Gary, one of the early Northern Ireland Dorset breeders who established his Sandelford flock in 1982, began breeding the horned sheep in 2010.

It was the first ram into the ring from Les French which made what was the sales third top price at 2,000gns. It was the best sale yet for the Wilsey flock which goes back more than 40 years at Higher Scarsick, Treneglos, Launceston, Cornwall for Mr French and his wife Heather.
You'll probably want to celebrate National Taco Day after work. But Southwestern Connecticut has so many good Mexican options, that it can be hard to choose.

We took to Yelp to find some of the best-reviewed Mexican spots around. Bartaco, with locations in Stamford, Westport and Port Chester, has the most reviews by far.
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STAMFORD  Stamford Health, the citys largest private employer, laid off 20 employees Tuesday as it grapples with a projected $25 million revenue shortfall.

The group that runs Stamford Hospital announced the layoffs Wednesday morning, citing challenges including fewer elective surgeries and inpatient services and problems unique to Connecticut hospitals.

Namely, a state hospital tax and a new proposal to allow municipalities to levy property taxes on hospitals.

The Connecticut Hospital Association has been in a bitter battle with Gov. Dannel P. Malloys administration over the tax, which would generate $212 million in new revenue for cities and would later be offset by $250 million in supplemental payments.

Though the announcement from Stamford Heath specifically identifies the hospital tax as a factor in its workforce restructuring, Stamford Health Chief Financial Officer Kevin Gage said politics wasnt the driving force behind the decision to eliminate positions.

Our financial results are not political, he said. Its the reality of health care today, and were adjusting to that.

The privately owned company said revenue was $5 million less than expected in the first quarter of its fiscal year, which ended Dec. 31. Gage said the existing hospital tax, which has steadily increased since its implementation in 2011, plays into the higher cost of operation.

The layoffs exist based on the current tax, and if its expanded, then that will create additional problems, he said.

The other factor contributing to lower revenue is one felt nationwide. The rising cost of insurance and deductibles associated with the Affordable Care Act are curbing demand for inpatient services and surgical specialties at Stamford Health  a trend reported by hospitals all over the country.

What we hear from our patients is postponement of preventative care, said Stamford Hospital Chief Operating Officer Kathleen Silard.

There has also been a noticeable dip in elective surgeries, Silard said.

Cost savings

Tuesdays layoffs are part of a larger initiative to offset what Stamford Health projects to be a $25 million revenue shortfall in fiscal year 2017-18. A total of 60 positions were eliminated  40 of which were vacant  leaving the health group with 20 layoffs and a sum of $6 million in savings.

Other cost-saving measures include renegotiation of contracts with vendors and diminished support to community agencies, Silard said.

The layoffs come less than a year after Stamford Hospital opened its new 13-floor, 650,000-square-foot complex that includes a new emergency room with a pediatric care unit, private patient rooms and highly advanced technology.

The hospital recently announced partnerships with the Hospital for Special Surgery and Dana Farber Cancer Center/Brigham and Womens Hospital, deals that should lead to additional income.

We are growing in areas where we know there is demand in the community and there are opportunities to grow, Silard said.

Michele Sharp, a Connecticut Hospital Association spokeswoman, said Stamford Heaths financial struggles are similar to those felt throughout the state.

This is a time of turbulence in health care nationally, and hospitals are ... confronted by changes that affect both providers and patients, Sharp wrote in an email. Here in Connecticut, hospitals pay $556 million each year in taxes  nearly 30 times the corporate tax rate. Were grateful for Connecticut legislators who are standing up for hospitals. We need them to keep fighting for health care policies that are sustainable ... not more taxes that are just bad policy.

Severance

The layoffs and eliminated positions were spread throughout Stamford Health, a network that includes 100 affiliate locations in lower Fairfield County, but most were concentrated at Stamford Hospital.

Management positions were targeted in Tuesdays layoffs and did not affect nurse-to-patient ratios or other important aspects of care, Silard said.

This is the first time Stamford Health has implemented layoffs since 2015, when an increase in the state hospital tax posed a financial threat.

While the layoffs are not ideal, the 20-position elimination Tuesday is a small portion  less than 1 percent  of the hospitals workforce of almost 2,700. All laid-off employees were given severance packages, which vary based on years of service, and most are given an opportunity to apply for other positions within Stamford Health.

By taking these painful steps now, we position ourselves to preserve the financial health we need to meet our commitment to maintaining the health of our community, Brian Grissler, president and CEO of Stamford Health said in a statement. We regret the impact this will have on our colleagues and we thank our employees, physicians, volunteers, donors, patients and community for their understanding and support.
R oyal Bank of Scotland has been attacked over the staggering costs of its Rolls-Royce legal team by the judge overseeing its battle with investors over the firms 12 billion rights issue in 2008.

RBS has already racked up legal costs of more than 100 million so far in the case over the fundraising which occurred months before the bank received a 45 billion bailout from the taxpayer. The bank has settled with 87% of claimants but the hold-outs include 9000 retail investors and institutions including Wells Fargo.

RBSs lawyers at Herbert Smith Freehills are pushing the claimants to put 11 million into an escrow account to pay the banks costs if it loses. But the litigants have complained about the size of RBSs legal team  including 13 barristers  on the case, which is due in court next month.

It is understood that RBSs barristers will not cross-examine any of the 22 witnesses scheduled  including disgraced former boss Fred Goodwin, who takes the stand on June 8.

In a case-management hearing Mr Justice Hildyard said RBSs costs were staggering, staggering, adding that he was extremely worried about proportionality. Im not saying for a moment that Rolls-Royces arent expensive to maintain. I m saying that it would be an odd impetus for the court to give, that you can charge that to the other side, he said.

Hildyard has reserved judgment on the costs for now. RBS said the case was substantial and complex.
A n ugly live TV debate last night provided a huge boost to Emmanuel Macrons ambition to become the 25th President of France.

His snarling rival  the far-Right candidate Marine Le Pen  was widely criticised for trying to portray him as an establishment stooge who would bring their country to its knees.

Le Pen said the clean-cut 39-year-old former finance minister and Rothschild banker stood for savage globalisation and disastrous economic liberalism. In fact, plenty of people believe France is already close to rock bottom and that it needs someone with integrity and experience of the real world to sort out its endemic problems, from sky-high unemployment to terrorism.

Macron, who just three days before his head-to-head run-off with Le Pen leads all opinion polls by as much as 60 per cent, will certainly be expected to unify and reform. His polished performance during the debate saw him outline the need for institutional changes to improve public services and promote business.

Macron wants France to embrace the EU while protecting French lifestyle measures such as the 35-hour working week. Most of all, he will call a halt to the civil war rhetoric of extremists such as Le Pen, who seeks to divide the French people, he said. Instead, he advocated a reconciled France.

Further showing his disdain for the grinning, sniggering Le Pen, Macron accused her of lying, saying she did not propose anything positive at all.

Despite such tough talking, Macrons immediate task will be to secure seats in the National Assembly for his En Marche! movement during crucial parliamentary elections in June.

He has even mooted the idea of bringing in a system of proportional representation aimed at ending the Left-Right confrontational politics that have dominated in France for decades.

This will infuriate both the Socialists and the conservative Republicans, the traditional parties of government that performed so poorly in this election.

Macron will also face plenty of enemies abroad, especially in Britain because of his anti-Brexit stance. He has already indicated that he will try and attract French Londoners back home and that he does not want the UK to retain any special privileges when it cuts itself off from the EU.

The boyish independent has led a charmed life until now, prospering at all times thanks to the ineptitude of his opponents. Macron is seen as being like Canadian PM Justin Trudeau  a telegenic nice guy whose showbiz sparkle has never really been tested in adversity. When  as is now almost certain  Macron does become Frances youngest ever President at the weekend, the pressing challenge of reversing decline will really begin.

Nabila Ramdani is a French freelance journalist
F eminism can sometimes seem like an ouroboros, eating its own tail. Rival factions fight. The debate doesnt necessarily spread beyond our borders. And when it does seep out, the impression it gives isnt always edifying. A friend  a signed-up member of Team Woman but not the kind to wade into online wars waged in capital letters  once observed a social media spat that left her feeling so alienated, she joked she wanted to burn her This Is What A Feminist Looks Like T-shirt. It was all too Big Endian vs Little Endian, too The Peoples Front of Judea vs The Judean Peoples Front.

Which is why, when I disagree with fellow feminists, I tend (or try) to bite my tongue. Theres too much friendly fire in a world where the enemy tanks surround us. So when the Womens Equality Party, set up to campaign for greater political representation of women and whose ranks include a number of my friends, announced it was fielding four candidates in the general election against Labour MPs  two in seats held by female MPs  I kept shtum about my misgivings.

And Im glad I did, because Ive changed my mind. The WEP had already announced its leader, Sophie Walker, would stand in Shipley, against Conservative Philip Davies, a man who thinks the Fifties  the 1850s, that is  had the power balance between the sexes about right. Even taking him on, though, sparked complaint. Local feminist campaigners said the WEP was using Shipley as a political stunt. Well, of course it is! Its a stunt to highlight that a caricature of a mens rights activist  one who tried to filibuster a bill to ratify the Istanbul Convention on preventing domestic violence  won a place on the Commons Women and Equalities Committee. If he is allowed political stunts, why cant women turn his methods against him?

The reason for standing in the four other seats is different. In Hornsey and Wood Green  theoretically a Labour/ Liberal Democrat marginal  Nimco Ali, an anti-FGM campaigner, will be up against two women (Catherine West and Dawn Barnes). In Vauxhall  a safe Labour seat that Nigel Farages Brexiteer buddy Kate Hoey seems determined to turn into a marginal  Hoey will be challenged by the WEPs Harini Iyengar. In both seats, the WEP has strong local support, and this is about steering the debate. When I interviewed Ali last week, she rightly said that in the run-up to the EU referendum, there was little discussion of the impact of Brexit on women, even though an assortment of equalities legislation is guaranteed by the EU.

The WEP will also be targeting SNP and further Tory seats  these just havent been announced yet. It all helps to ensure that issues that affect half the population are taken out of the niche box marked womens matters and thrown into the mainstream. Putting a nakedly feminist party on the ballot paper normalises it. And if the unlikely worst scenario happens  the WEP vote prevents a female candidate from winning a seat  it is worth remembering that political representation isnt a pure numbers game, it also matters what is discussed.

No other party deserves an A* for equality. In Labour leadership contests, no female candidate has ever beaten a male one. And the Tories may have given us two female prime ministers (including one who wore the aforementioned T-shirt) but the party remains a testosterone zone.

There are signs of hope here, though. Labour has picked 10 women to contest seats where an MP is standing down and party insiders say the next leader has to be a woman, while the Tories keep naming impressive female candidates, too. But this is a slow game. The WEP is a party that wants not to have to exist. Lets hope it doesnt need to for much longer.

The UK is on The Handmaids tail

The TV adaptation of Margaret Atwoods novel The Handmaids Tale must be the most talked about series that you cant actually watch (well, legally). It was streamed in the US on Hulu, which isnt available here, and the only hope for a UK broadcaster came from Atwood, who tweeted in March: News coming soon, I trust.

The cast includes Samira Wiley, pictured, who made Orange is the New Black fans weep with that fourth-wall-breaking goofy smile to mark her departure from the prison drama last year (I am still mourning the death of Poussey Washington).

In an interview with Elle, Wiley talked about how The Handmaid story  which sees womens rights rapidly eroded under a new US regime  now has extra bite with Donald Trump in the White House: We all were all very surprised when we came back [after the election] and realised: Oh gosh, this is going to resonate even more.

Perhaps unsurprisingly then, the series has a high-profile fan  one Hillary Clinton, who used it to make a cri de coeur this week for women to fight for their reproductive freedoms.
Known for hosting some of the hottest fashion collaborations, H&M looks set to be adding Nicki Minaj to their assemblage.

Stepping out at Monday night's Met Gala in a red and black custom designed piece with tulle inserts and crystal embellishment, the rapper shocked many by revealing that it was created by the high street stalwart.

Minaj was not alone however, with the megastore having also dressed six other big names that night.

Jourdan Dunn, Stella Maxwell, Ashley Graham, Joe Jonas, Sasha Lane and Future all stepped out in custom H&M, while Ciara, Hailee Steinfeld, Jennifer Hudson, Amber Valetta, Lucky Blue Smith and Pyper America Smith all wore the brand to last year's ball.

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But while H&M ;proved a popular choice, Minaj's sartorial move may have been indicating more than a mere affinity as she hinted at a "special collaboration" with the label during an interview on Monday's red carpet.

Responding to a question regarding how the look came about, the 34-year-old said: "I have a special collaboration coming out with H&M this Fall, and so they are dressing me for the night and they nailed it."

Although unclear whether the collaboration refers to a campaign or a collection, it would not be unlike the brand to collaborate on an entire line with a big name.

Announcing their collection with Balmain in May of 2015 and revealing a collab with Kenzo exactly one year later, it would be fitting for H&M to announce their next partnership imminently.

Both the Kenzo and Balmain launches were infinitely successful, with the latter attracting such unprecedented numbers it forced the Oxford Street H&M store to close on launch day due to 'health and safety'.

Balmain x H&M launch closes for health and safety

Other collaborations with the brand include Isabel Marant, Alexander Wang, Matthew Williamson, Marni and Karl Lagerfeld.
A Sardinian man been accused of stabbing his neighbour to death after claiming the woman had taught her parrot to abuse him.

Ignazio Frailis, 46, is alleged to have murdered married mother-of-two Maria Bonaria Contu, 60, as she was walking with friends on the Italian island.

He is accused of stabbing her 11 times and wounding a friend who tried to protect her.

According to Sardinian newspaper LUnione Sarda, he was allegedly driven to kill his neighbour as her parrot was trained to insult him whenever he passed.

Mr Frailis, who is unemployed, would reportedly spend much of his time playing video games within earshot of the parrot, which an investigating magistrate said became an obsession.

Arresting officer Eugenio Fatone said: He was very cold, very calm and full of rage.

Officers had tried to talk to both sides and had suggested putting the parrot in a different room, not facing Mr Frailiss house.

Mr Frailis uncle Dario Serra called his nephew a good person who has never hurt anyone.

In 2014, police in Italy seized two African parrots from a group of drug dealers in Naples, who had trained the birds to act as drug pushers over the phone.
A Zelda-themed escape the room challenge is set to arrive in London this summer.

The Defenders of the Triforce game will come to the capital from July 14  16 at the Islington Assembly Hall, with only five sessions available each day.

Tickets for the 90 minute session start at 29. Unlike usual events of these type, in which small teams work together to break free of a room before the time is up, Defenders of the Triforce will see up to 160 players all competing in a giant hall. However, organisers say groups will be working by themselves and not competing with others teams.

Game players will encounter Zelda-themed puzzles and characters from the series, including members of the Goron, Zora and Kokiri tribes and will work in an effort to save the Hyrule Kingdom.

The challenge is currently touring across the globe, having stopped off in LA, San Diego, Seattle and Chicago. Its set to head to Vancouver, Paris, Barcelona and Cologne.

For more information, visit uk.scrapzelda.com
D iners can turn detective during London Food Month, at a supper club inspired by Sherlock Holmes.

The Literary Hour is hosting its latest chapter in honour of the Standards month-long celebration of food.

Guests at the immersive supper club will try to crack a murder mystery over dinner, which will feature dishes inspired by food mentioned in the novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The Literary Hour, now in its second year, is run by housemates Jude Skipwith, 28, Helen Oakley, 31, and Simon Lindsell, 30. They host the events in the sitting room of their home in Manor House  which on this occasion will be transformed into 221b Baker Street, home of the great detective.

After a welcome drink, the scene will be set and guests will learn about the crime as they sit down for the first of five courses inspired by, or taken directly from, the Sherlock Holmes tales.

There will be a reading between each course, allowing the mystery to develop. Clues will be hidden on and around the dining table and even in the food  with other surprises also set up along the way.

Some of the dishes will give away details of the plot, so the team are keeping most a secret. But Ms Skipwith, a graduate from Leeds University who works in the development team for Somerset House, did reveal that the menu will be full of Victorian specialities, ranging from steak and oysters to grouse and foie gras.

She said the supper club strives to recreate not just the food, but the worlds from within our favourite books. She added: Were delighted to bring to life a new Sherlock Holmes-inspired case in all its edible glory. Theres no better way to nourish the mind and body after cracking a big case.

The trio launched their supper clubs in September 2015. The first was inspired by Roald Dahls novels and featured dishes including the pea green soup from The Witches  a Thai green curry soup served with lemongrass scones  and the bird pie from The Twits. Others have included Dr Hannibals Dinner, inspired by the character in Thomas Harriss books and featuring blood soup and bone marrow on toast.

The Sherlock Holmes event will cost 45 including a cocktail. There will be three supper clubs, taking place from June 28 to 30.
O ne of the stars of Jez Butterworths hit new play has revealed how the disappearance and murder of her uncle inspired the Troubles-era story.

Laura Donnelly was just a child when her uncle was taken away by the IRA, shot dead, and his body dumped in a bog  a story Butterworth retells in The Ferryman.

She plays a woman whose husbands body is accidentally uncovered a decade after he was secretly buried  sparking a wave of violence and stirring up almost forgotten memories.

The Belfast-born star said telling the story of the victims, known as the Disappeared as usually no bodies were found, had been extremely cathartic.

She said: My uncle, Eugene Simons, was one of the Disappeared. He was my mothers brother and disappeared the year this play is set, 1981.

He was found by accident in 1984 in a bog by a man walking a dog. My mum and many other members of my family are just grateful that it didnt go on as long as some did  most other families had 10, 20, 30 years. Its a very, very cruel thing.

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Butterworth, who previously worked with director Sam Mendes on several Bond films, said talking to Donnelly about her uncle was central to the drama, which also stars Paddy Considine.

He said: When somebody disappears for 10 years time stops, which is what I really think the play is about.

Donnelly said her family when asked urged her to accept the part. She said: I witnessed growing up in Northern Ireland the curse of silence and it was very important for me for this story to be told.

Critics raved about the play. The Times and Daily Telegraph gave it five stars and said it was crackling with life and a drama of mighty magnitude. Other five-star reviews came from The Stage and The Guardian, which singled out Considine and Donnelly for praise.
A new play by Jerusalem playwright Jez Butterworth, starring Paddy Considine and directed by Sam Mendes was always going to be an exciting proposition. With a West End transfer already announced before audiences had seen a single performance, the hype was high.

Now, the reviews are in, and according to our critic Henry Hitchings in his five star review, its a triumphant show that fully justifies the hype. He describes it as a feast of intricate storytelling which is absorbing, soulful and ultimately shattering.

A swathe of five star review elsewhere agree that one of 2017s hottest tickets has lived up to expectations. Heres what the critics had to say about it.

The Guardian, Michael Billington 

Despite some reservations about the plays ending, Billington describes the play as engrossing and haunting, with performances invested with intense detail. He praises its Hardyesque love of rural rituals and its compassionate exploration of unspoken love as what gives the play such shattering force.

Read the review

Ann Treneman, The Times 

You would think it might be something special and you would be right, Treneman says, acknowledging the hype that preceded the plays opening. This is a serious, seriously good, grown-up play, she writes. The three and a half hours do not drag.

Read the review

Time Out, Andrzej Lukowski 

The Ferryman is a play thats formally conventional but has an ambition thats out of this world, writes Lukowski, who says its climax left me genuinely stunned. It wants to be about everything and insofar as is realistically possible, it succeeds.

Read the review

The Telegraph, Dominic Cavendish 

Butterworth has done it again, writes Cavendish, describing him as British playwritings king-pin. He says that there is a new warmth about Butterworths writing, and whilst it may not quite live up to his mega-hit Jerusalem, he warns: miss this and youve missed a marvel.

Read the review

WhatsOnStage, Sarah Crompton 

Crompton declares The Ferryman to be massive in its capacity to hold an audience rapt, in silence, telling them a story. She describes the acting as so realistic that it seems to spring from the very soul of people, in an old-fashioned play full of life and heart and passion.

Read the review

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The Stage, Natasha Tripney 

In her five-star review, Tripney praises the handsomely designed show, its pretty spectacular acting, and Sam Mendes command of a production of abundance. She suggests it doesnt entirely justify its mammoth running time, but adds that it is compelling even in its quiet moments.

Read the review

Buy tickets for The Ferryman in the West End with Evening Standard Tickets
L ifestyle influencers are way ahead of the curve - posting the creme de la creme of lifestyle tips and tricks on Instagram packed with #inspo for us all.

Living in the city, it is hard to branch out of your routine and these influencers are here to help.

From travel to style here are the 25 London lifestyle influencers you need to start following now (in no particular order):

Estee Lalonde / Estee Lalonde

Number of followers: 724K

Why should you follow her? If you feel you are unsure of what to buy in general her Instagram page will artistically hand out some tips. A look at scrumptious desserts is just the cherry on top.

USP: A fresh perspective on London - she just moved here from Canada

Jim Chapman / www.jimchapman.co.uk

Number of followers: 2.3M

Why should you follow him? As one of the most seen faces on the front row at men's fashion week in London and a contributing editor for GQ - his feed is the epitome of the latest men's lifestyle trends.

USP: His style is fit for your inner model

Lily Pebbles / Lydia Collins

Number of followers: 373K

Why should you follow her? Aside from her casual style that is perfect for everyday, her beauty collection is so vast youll always come across a new find that you are yearning for.

USP: Fun and super casual clothing mixed together

Pandora Sykes / Frances Davison

Number of followers: 141K

Why should you follow her? As co-host of The High Low podcast and a journalist, her idiosyncratic style is mixed with substance as she shows off her wardrobe - the perfect mix of high street, vintage and designer pieces.

USP: Her vintage collection

Liv Purvis, What Olivia Did / Joseph Galvin

Number of followers: 140K

Why should you follow her? If you want to find the prettiest cakes married with super feminine style - and every pink wall in London - Liv is your girl. She has showcases the best in beauty too.

USP: Super girly feed with everything pink

Kelly Eastwood, The London Chatter / Moeez Ali

Number of followers: 82.9K

Why should you follow her? Bright colours, nature and pattern come together exquisitely on Kelly's account as she shows off her outfits and beautiful backdrops from her adventures both in London and abroad.

USP: Her quintessential British style

Mpho Lebajoa / Mpho

Number of followers: 69.9K

Why should you follow her? Who says you cant wear black in spring? Mphos super sexy outfit choices are almost always monochrome and she pairs these with delicate accessories that match everything.

USP: Has an equally talented twin that is also a lifestyle blogger

Peony Lim / Peony Lim

Number of followers: 82.3K

Why should you follow her? Her collaborations with Chanel and Jenny Packham are absolutely dreamy. It is a realm of fantasy where food looks perfect, make-up is flawless and bags are timeless.

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Number of followers: 16.3K

Why should you follow her? The PR girl, travel blogger and fitness fiend shares upbeat daily snaps from her fast-paced life whether it's inspiring post-workout snaps, mouthwatering restaurant dishes or the latest fitness gear.

USP: Links to delicious recipes that are easy to make at home with the pictures to match

Bonnie Rakhit, The Style Traveller / Chris Ison

Number of followers: 37.2K

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USP: Her black schnauzer Luna is her biggest fan

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Why should you follow her? This red-headed style icon is also the queen of #foodporn. Delicious sweet and savoury treats mixed in with the most stunning designer shoe collection is goals.

USP: Takes the most impeccable photos

Kavita Donkersley, She Wears Fashion / She Wears Fashion

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USP: Creative flatlays for the ultimate lifestyle inspiration

Sandra Hagelstam, 5 inch and up / 5 inch and up

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USP: Dreamiest shoe collection

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USP: Secret spots in London and around the world

Adam Tanous, The Dapper Chapper / Valentina Valdinoci

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Followers: 5,7k

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Followers: 22K

Why should you follow her? Angie has the best wine, latte art and most fabulous locations on her feed. From islands to city skylines  there is always somewhere serving up the best food and drinks.

USP: Best wine recommendations
F or years after its invention 11 years ago, Twitter seemed a natural ally of liberalism and even political correctness, appealing as it does to a social consensus on the topics of the day, offering virtuous things for admiration and approval and offensive things for ridicule and contempt. It has taken the rise of Donald Trump to demonstrate that the very nature of Twitter also makes it an even more brutally effective weapon for everything the politically correct, or just fair-minded, abhor.

As Peter Oborne notes in his incisive introduction to this carefully annotated, chronological anthology of Trumps tweets: Twitter allows a candidate to appeal at a personal level to anyone who is against anything and make him or her feel like part of a vast shared community without having to meet or even acknowledge any of its other members.

Trump viscerally understood the power of this new medium to simplify complex ideas, to remove nuance and subtext and, above all, to remove any boundary between assertion and fact. He is the first politician to have grasped that it can create a world of belief impervious to reality.

There have been derisive collections of Trumps blurts before (easy to gather, copyright free), including one arranging them as haikus and one, forthcoming, turning them into a coloring book  all good for a scoff. But reading through this para-scholarly presentation of his texts, apparently the idea of the publisher Neil Belton, changes your perception of them. They dont seem merely preposterous any more.

The editors themselves say, We were inclined to dismiss Donald Trump as a buffoon when we embarked on this study. But their book reveals his use of Twitter has been a game-changer. By giving these yelps the context they otherwise lack, they show us how they evolved, from Trumps initial naive delight in the mediums power to reach people directly to the point where he could proclaim nearly everything apart from his own utterances to be FAKE NEWS.

The editorial annotations patiently explain the vindictiveness, the inconsistencies, the baseless claims, the way Trump never answers challenges but instead attacks the challenger. But they also note the development of his style, arguing that it was in summer 2011 that he discovered the unique Twitter voice that would take him to the White House six years later, with such imperatives as: Wake up America  China is eating our lunch.

Sometimes they allow their disgust to appear, as when Trump claims to have had a wonderful relationship with Nelson Mandela (the most repulsive example of Donald Trumps ghoulish habit of claiming a strong connection with famous people when they die). At other times, though, they fairly concede Trump has been proved right, on such matters as the outcome of the Arab Spring, or reconstruction in Afghanistan.

In an appendix they analyse Trumps primitive style through statistics, his favourite put-downs being bad, crooked, failing, failure, losers, haters, while his most used terms of praise (usually self-reflexive) are great, greatest (4,400 occurrences), big, amazing, nice and the best! Waggishly, they record there are zero examples of written regrets.

More book reviews 1 /24 More book reviews Recovery by Russell Brand Will Russells brand of self-help prove quite so addictive? By Nicholas Lezard. Read review A Life in Questions by Jeremy Paxman Paxo refuses to answer all the really good questions, says David Sexton. Read review Politics: Between: The Extremes by Nick Clegg The basis of this book makes it impossible not to warm to Clegg, says Melanie McDonagh. Read review Serious Sweet by A L Kennedy Thank heavens for London in this tale of self-obsessed lovers. Read review The Last Royal Rebel: The Life and Death of James, Duke of Monmouth by Anna Keay Born a kings b****** and destined for a traitors death. Read review Man Up: Boys, Men and Breaking the Male Rules by Rebecca Asher Getting to the bottom of why boys will be boys. Read review The Course of Love by Alain de Botton A philosophical novel that does run smooth, says Johanna Thomas-Corr. Read review The Tree Climbers Guide: Adventures in the Urban Canopy by Jack Cooke How I gave this book a proper test and ended up with a broken ankle. Read review Reader, I Married Him: Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre Brontes classic tale in the imaginations of other writers, says Claire Harman. Read review Moranifesto by Caitlin Moran Caitlin comes clean about politics  the world according to our funniest feminist. By Rosamund Urwin. Read review Spark Joy An Illustrated Guide to the Japanese Art of Tidying by Marie Kondo Theres no messing wih Marie, says Katie Law. Read review Cockfosters Stories by Helen Simpson After 50, a womans life gets better not worse. By Katie Law. Read review Stalins Englishman: The Lives of Guy Burgess by Andrew Lownie Joker in the spying pack. By Richard Bassett. Read review Even Dogs in the Wild by Ian Rankin The darkness that lies at the heart of the novel is offset by a lightness of touch, says Mark Sanderson. Read review Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink by Elvis Costello Elvis proves not quite so lyrical on the page, says Nick Curtis. Read review The Importance of Elsewhere: Philip Larkins Photographs by Richard Bradford His poetry paints better pictures than any camera, says David Sexton. Read review Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith Morality wins out over macabre murders, says Melanie McDonagh. Read review The Grownup by Gillian Flynn Calling all Flynnies: the con girl whos like gone girl. Read review

What they dont really investigate is the way the restrictions of Twitter itself have removed syntax, that fundamental ordering of language, from its users, so that everything tends towards labelling (crooked Hillary), a stance taken, an assertion, allegation or exclamation, never towards argument or reasoning. For if Twitter has revealed all too much about Trump, it is equally the case and hardly less interesting that Trump has revealed much about Twitter.
H ere's a trivia question for you: can you name all five of the most valuable companies in the world? If youre struggling, Ill give you a clue. Theyre all US technology businesses, not oil companies, which tells you something about how the global economy has changed over the past few decades.

Movie producer Jonathan Taplin certainly knows the answer to the question (its Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon, by the way), and his entertaining new book is all about the damage he thinks these digital behemoths are doing to our economy and society.

Taplin (who is speaking at my social enterprise Second Home on May 9) is angry as hell about the immense size and power of the tech giants, and has a compelling pitch for why we should all be worried too. Lets start with the numbers. Facebook owns 77 per cent of mobile social traffic, Amazon has a 75 per cent share of the e-book market, while Google has a whopping 88 per cent market share in search advertising.

For Taplin the implication is clear: In classic economic terms, all three are monopolies. He argues that musicians, film-makers and other creative people are getting screwed because YouTube, Facebook and all the rest allow users to publish content online for free. One example he cites is that if a million people buy a new music single, the performer and the record label will earn around $900,000 in royalties  while a million views of the same song on YouTube will generate a measly $900.

According to Taplin, its not just the artists who are getting a raw deal. He also points to newspapers and the publishing industry as proof of the negative impact that the biggest tech companies are having. As he puts it, profits at Amazon, Facebook and Google have rocketed in recent years, while the revenues of media businesses have fallen by 70 per cent since 2001.

But thats not even the worst of it. Because Taplin is convinced that Google, Facebook and the rest are monopolies he concludes that theyre bound to stifle innovation across the economy. Buying up the competition  as Facebook did with Instagram, or Amazon did with Zappos  and using their huge scale to crush rivals means consumers will lose out.

Like any smart polemicist, Taplin deliberately chooses not to present any facts that contradict his worldview, or get in the way of his witty invective. For example, theres nothing on the way that Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook are making it easier and cheaper for small companies to reach a global market or sell to customers on the other side of the planet. Theres also nothing on the real human benefits that have been created by open access to online information  and the way we can communicate instantly and easily via email and social messaging apps, completely free of charge.

But it would be unfair to criticise the author for failing to present a balanced picture  that would be like having a go at Marx and Engels for neglecting to mention the benefits of entrepreneurship in the Communist Manifesto. As with a prosecutor in a courtroom, Taplin has an argument to make, and he does a brilliant job of making his case.

More book reviews 1 /24 More book reviews Recovery by Russell Brand Will Russells brand of self-help prove quite so addictive? By Nicholas Lezard. Read review A Life in Questions by Jeremy Paxman Paxo refuses to answer all the really good questions, says David Sexton. Read review Politics: Between: The Extremes by Nick Clegg The basis of this book makes it impossible not to warm to Clegg, says Melanie McDonagh. Read review Serious Sweet by A L Kennedy Thank heavens for London in this tale of self-obsessed lovers. Read review The Last Royal Rebel: The Life and Death of James, Duke of Monmouth by Anna Keay Born a kings b****** and destined for a traitors death. Read review Man Up: Boys, Men and Breaking the Male Rules by Rebecca Asher Getting to the bottom of why boys will be boys. Read review The Course of Love by Alain de Botton A philosophical novel that does run smooth, says Johanna Thomas-Corr. Read review The Tree Climbers Guide: Adventures in the Urban Canopy by Jack Cooke How I gave this book a proper test and ended up with a broken ankle. Read review Reader, I Married Him: Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre Brontes classic tale in the imaginations of other writers, says Claire Harman. Read review Moranifesto by Caitlin Moran Caitlin comes clean about politics  the world according to our funniest feminist. By Rosamund Urwin. Read review Spark Joy An Illustrated Guide to the Japanese Art of Tidying by Marie Kondo Theres no messing wih Marie, says Katie Law. Read review Cockfosters Stories by Helen Simpson After 50, a womans life gets better not worse. By Katie Law. Read review Stalins Englishman: The Lives of Guy Burgess by Andrew Lownie Joker in the spying pack. By Richard Bassett. Read review Even Dogs in the Wild by Ian Rankin The darkness that lies at the heart of the novel is offset by a lightness of touch, says Mark Sanderson. Read review Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink by Elvis Costello Elvis proves not quite so lyrical on the page, says Nick Curtis. Read review The Importance of Elsewhere: Philip Larkins Photographs by Richard Bradford His poetry paints better pictures than any camera, says David Sexton. Read review Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith Morality wins out over macabre murders, says Melanie McDonagh. Read review The Grownup by Gillian Flynn Calling all Flynnies: the con girl whos like gone girl. Read review

Whether or not politicians will agree that US tech companies are monopolies that should be smashed, only time will tell. In any case, if youre interested in how technology is shaping the world around us, this book is well worth reading. But whatever you do, just dont buy it from Amazon. The author would definitely not approve.
D ouglas Murray hopes his new book, The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam, wont be seen as incendiary.

Given that it opens with the line Europe is committing suicide, its hard to see how it wont. Murray is a gay, English Right-wing journalist who has written books about Lord Alfred Douglas, Neo-conservatism and Lord Savilles Bloody Sunday Enquiry. More controversially, he is an overt critic of Islam and of mass migration into Europe who does not mince his words. You only have two options: to say what you think or be quiet. The second has never come naturally and what people dont want to say is often the most interesting thing to write about, says Murray, taking a sip of his cappuccino.

Broadly speaking, his thesis is that the unprecedented levels of migration into Europe coming at the same time as the continent has lost faith in its beliefs and identity will result in its downfall. The combination of guilt about our past, declining birth rates and the demise of traditional Christian values, together with the abject failure of multiculturalism, means Europe as we know it will cease to exist within the lifespans of most people alive today.

Murray contends that by being a tolerant society that is inviting in the whole world we risk welcoming in millions of people from other cultures, some of whom hold less liberal views than the majority of people in the countries they have come into.

This might not matter if they were coming into a strong and assertive culture but theyre not. Theyre coming into one that is guilty, jaded and dying. I find it such a galvanising subject because I think its the subject, he says.

Murray, 37, writes regularly for The Spectator, is a prolific debater and a director of Right-wing think-tank the Henry Jackson Society. He chooses his words carefully, and comes across as a clever, rather dapper, young fogey.

The younger son of a civil servant and a schoolteacher, he grew up in Hammersmith and won scholarships, first to St Benedicts in Ealing, then to Eton before reading English at Oxford.

Matt Writtle

Drawing extensively from census and poll results, government reports and academic studies, from writers as diverse as Rousseau, Stefan Zweig, Michel Houellebecq, Oriana Fallaci and Salman Rushdie, and from interviewing refugees in camps across Europe, his conclusion amounts to a devastating indictment of the state he believes Europe is in.

Cities like London have made the assumption that the more people we have, the more diverse we are, the more liberalism will thrive, he says. But, he insists, this isnt necessarily so. What if when youre gay and you find that religious sensibility trumps sexual rights? A 2015 YouGov poll showed that something like 14 per cent of people across the country think homosexuality is morally not legitimate, which by the way is OK  you can disagree with somebodys life. But whats interesting is that in London it was double that. Londoners say were so proud of our diversity and tolerance, but what if that diversity ends up making us intolerant? Fifty-two per cent of British Muslims in a poll last year said they thought homosexuality should be illegal. I dont mind if people are not on board with gay marriage, but illegal, today..?

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Has his own sexuality coloured his opinions? Ive been out for my whole adult life so its not something I think about, but I cant say that I like Islams attitude towards it. He recalls being invited in 2009 to debate on sharia versus British law with radical Islamist Anjem Choudary. The police told me not to turn up, but in the end I thought: To hell with it, its my city. The crowd, from the [now banned] Al-Muhajiroun, were shouting in the street, Get back in your filthy closet, you dirty kuffar. Ive had worse, but they did us a favour; its why freedom of speech is a good idea because people say what they really think.

Female genital mutilation is another case in point. What by now, in the era of diversity, should be easier than an agreement not to mutilate young girls genitals with knives? Thats a slam-dunk. Its been illegal since 1984 but there hasnt been a single conviction.

He cites many other examples of an intolerant culture getting the upper hand, from blasphemy laws to honour killings, not to mention womens rights.

Meanwhile, he claims that Western European governments continue to brush the migrant problem under the carpet. I was in Paris last October where thousands of people were living in tents in an underpass. Two days later I saw that the police had put up wire mesh to stop them going back and they had simply set up a few hundred yards down the street instead. This is Europe. Its what the Greek authorities do, the Italian authorities and the Germans. You cant blame them. But we all flatter ourselves that its not what were doing. The reality is that these people do not become nice European citizens with a good job and prospects.

Brexit: Article 50 Triggered - In pictures 1 /26 Brexit: Article 50 Triggered - In pictures Britain's ambassador to the EU Tim Barrow delivers British Prime Minister Theresa May's formal notice of the UK's intention to leave the bloc under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty to European Council President Donald Tusk in Brussels AFP/Getty Images Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Common PA Britain's ambassador to the EU Tim Barrow delivers British Prime Minister Theresa May's formal notice of the UK's intention to leave the bloc under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty to European Council President Donald Tusk in Brussels AFP/Getty Images European Council President Donald Tusk holds a news conference after receiving British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit letter in notice of the UK's intention to leave the bloc under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty to EU Council President Donald Tusk in Brussels, Belgium Yves Herman/Reuters Prime Minister Theresa May takes her seat after announcing in the House of Commons PA The time 12:20pm shows on Big Ben on March 29, 2017 in London, England. The British Prime Minister Theresa May addresses the Houses of Parliament as Article 50 is triggered and the process that will take the United Kingdom out of the European Union begins Carl Court/Getty Images D-day: pro-EU protesters outside of the Houses of Parliament today as Theresa May prepares to trigger Article 50 AFP/Getty Images EU Council President Donald Tusk holds British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit letter which was delivered by Britain's permanent representative to the European Union Tim Barrow (not pictured) that gives notice of the UK's intention to leave the bloc under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty in Brussels, Belgium Yves Herman/Reuters PMQ's in The House of Commons PA Jeremy Corbyn speaking at PMQ's in The House of Commons Sky News Theresa May leaving for the House of Commons Jeremy Selwyn Mayor of London Sadiq Khan at the headquarters of Vivendi in Paris where he took part in TV interviews to discuss the imminent triggering of Article 50 by the UK to leave the EU Stefan Rousseau/PA Britain's permanent representative to the European Union Tim Barrow arrives at the EU Council headquarters for as meeting before hand delivering British Prime Minister Theresa May's notice of the UK's intention to leave the bloc under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty to EU Council President Donald Tusk in Brussels, Belgium Yves Herman/Reuters Britain's ambassador to the EU Tim Barrow arrives at the British representation of the European Union in Brussels Aurore Belot/AFP/Getty Images A giant headed Theresa May in Parliament Square, London during a protest by Avaaz after PM signed a letter to trigger Article 50 that starts the formal exit process by the UK from the European Union David Mirzoeff/PA British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson walks down Whitehall Jack Taylor/Getty Images Britain's PM Theresa May signs the official letter to European Council President Donald Tusk, invoking Article 50. AFP/Getty Images

This is not of course what anyone wants to hear. Its a huge problem. There are people on the far-Right who say odious things like let them drown. But if youre on a Greek island and a boat packed with young men comes along, of course you give them a hand. Its the human response. On the other political side theres this fantasy that we will make them all Europeans. There are campaigns and actors and politicians who can afford to say we must take them in. But they dont pay the consequence any more than the person who says let them drown would.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, who took in a Syrian family last year, was an exception. No one points out the moral absurdity of someone saying I would take people in during the crisis and then, a year later, you ask them: Where is your Syrian family, your orphans? Murray snorts.

Still, talking to refugees in camps from Lampedusa to Calais has made him more compassionate. It tests your views all the time, which is a reason you have to do it. Personally, thats the point. Its hard, particularly if you get on well with them. You think maybe we can make an exception for this person or that family.

At the end of his book Murray suggests potential solutions, from leasing land in Libya so that asylum applications can be processed there, to making more concerted efforts to deport illegal migrants. A mild Brexiteer himself, he doubts whether leaving the EU will have any impact on migration.

Our fates are intertwined and were not going to be able to cut ourselves off. Maybe if we were a sovereign nation outside the EU wed stand a chance but we suffer from the same thought problems as they do. Im sure the migration issue will come up in the election but it wont be dwelt upon because theres no party with an answer. Everyones in the same fudge.

Does he ever fear for his own safety? Up to this point Murray has been a model of articulate fluency but here he falters. I cant talk about it easily. Ive not had an easy time because of what Ive said, he pauses. And Ive had to be very careful about where I go.

He describes friends in Paris who have to wear bullet-proof vests, others in Sweden who are under full-time police protection. Nor will he talk about his partner, except to say that they have been together for eight years.

Im wary of naming people in my life because people who arent tolerant of me can sometimes extend that intolerance to others, he says, wearily. You just get used to it. There are nutters across every political and religious spectrum, it goes without saying. But we all know theres a clear boundary on one issue and most people wont go near it. If there was any other religion apart from Islam that posed the societal questions that I think Islam does, we would be able to deal with it. Its one of the themes in the book: that we arent able to because we dont understand it. We dont understand what it means to the people in question. We talk about it as a set of liberties or rights and these are people for whom it is their everything. Heaven, hell, death, life, love, God  everything.

The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam by Douglas Murray is out today. (Bloomsbury, 18.99)
W hen hes not busy greeting his adoring public or reading his favourite book The Gruffalo, Prince George is busy brushing up on his linguistic skills.

Proud mum Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, has revealed that her three-year-old son can already count to ten in Spanish.

The revelation was made during a four-hour visit to a charity farm project in Gloucestershire, where she helped to bottle feed lambs and collect fresh eggs with George and little sister Charlotte.

The Duchess spoke to a group of schoolchildren who were learning about the daily running of the farm, telling of how she has been busy helping to teach her brood to speak another language.

"She said she is trying to teach Charlotte Spanish and said her son George can count up to ten in Spanish already," Sayana, a nine-year-old girl who was volunteering at the farm, told reporters.

And its no surprise little George has taken to the language so quickly, as the children are rarely without their Spanish nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo.

Studies have found that learning a second language from a young age can be greatly beneficial for the mind, which is likely something that encouraged doting mum Kate to sign her children up for lessons.

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The CLAL found that children who can speak in more than one tongue can maintain attention despite outside stimuli better than children who know only one language.

Psychological studies have also found that speaking a foreign language improves the functionality of your brain by challenging it to recognise, negotiate meaning, and communicate in different language systems.

If youre keen for your own flock to follow in the footsteps of George and Charlotte, research suggests there's no better time to start than now.

Two and three-year-olds increase their vocabularies on a daily basis, and begin to start to recognising the speech patterns they've been hearing since birth.

So the earlier you introduce a second language, the easier it will be for your child to pick up its unique sounds.

Prince George - In pictures 1 /10 Prince George - In pictures Having a ball Prince George makes little friends on tour Playtime Prince George mixes with the baby masses Family portrait The Cambridges are snapped in an informal setting Standing tall An adoring Kate helps Prince George get up on his own two feet Touchdown The Duchess of Cambridge is a hands-on mother William in 1983 Charles and Diana were surrounded by staff Going solo Prince William keeping himself occupied during the royal tour in 1983 William in 1983 Prince William was often in the arms of his nanny

Here are a few tips for getting started

Make it accessible: The best way for a child to learn to understand a new language is for them to hear it spoken around them casually. If they are exposed to conversations, they're more likely to pick up the sounds and phrases. Choose a language that is spoken in your area, you can watch on the TV or you are willing to learn alongside your child at the same time. If you can afford it, hiring a bilingual babysitter, like Kate Middleton, can also be beneficial.

Go slow: If you don't want to do weekly lessons, you can introduce the basics of the language by telling your child that objects have different names - one in each language. As your child learns basic new words, teach them what they're called in a second language too.

Have reasonable expectations: Everyone wants to say their child is a genius, but remember that children won't learn to speak another language fluently overnight. But simply exposing your child to a new language will build the foundations for a better understanding. So even though they won't be ordering fluently from the menu at a Spanish restaurant, simply saying 'buenas noches' before bed can encourage their new vocabulary.

Prince George outfits - in pictures 1 /13 Prince George outfits - in pictures Our pick of the best baby boy clothes inspired by Prince George... Prince affect: George was the fourth most popular name for baby boys born in 2015 AP Petit Bateau Baby Boy's Striped Dungarees Easy to wear and super comfy, these short dungarees - crafted from striped cotton cloth  are almost identical to those worn by the little Prince on his first birthday. Team with a t-shirt for a casual look (like young George, pictured) or smarten them up with a crisp shirt. From 36.50, Petit Bateau, Buy it now AFP/Getty Petit Bateau Baby Cardigan in Peps Red Tiny tots up can steal Georges style with this essential red knit from French childrens wear brand, Petit Bateau. With seamless shoulders, the cardi is perfectly tailored to babys shape and is ideal for keeping the spring chill off. Its made from 100 per cent cotton and is finished with 3 little buttons. 36, Petit Bateau, Buy it now Getty Images/Chris Jackson Rachel Riley Sailboat Smocked Dungarees Once this picture of the young royal wearing Rachel Rileys super-cute dungarees was released, the outfit sold out within a matter of hours. The classically-tailored overalls are currently available to purchase online  so snap them up for your own tot while you still can. 75, Rachel Riley, Buy it now Getty Images/James Whatling-Pool Early days Navy Classic T-bar Pram Shoes These traditional pram shoes for boys, similar to a pair worn by the royal toddler, are just the thing for special occasions and are specially crafted with soft materials. This pair features a classic T-bar design and is finished with Italian leather uppers. From 24.50, Audrey Mansell, Buy it now The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge/PA Wire/Getty Rachel Riley Traditional Smocked Set Prince George's retro style simply rules. On the christening of his little sister Charlotte, he charmed the nation in this adorable white-and-red smock  which is an almost an exact replica of an outfit his dad Prince William wore in 1984. The same 2-piece set is still available to buy from Rachel Riley. 85, Rachel Riley, Buy it now Chris Jackson/Getty Images Rachel Riley Cord Short and Shirt Set Young George posed with his little sister, Princess Charlotte, for her very first portrait in 2015 wearing this classic white-and-blue shirt. This set comes complete with matching babycord turn-up shorts. 59, Rachel Riley, Buy it now Duchess of Cambridge/PA Wire Olivier Baby Cashmere Boys Cardigan with Small Star Who could forget how handsome the royal looked playing with his mother at the Gigaset Charity Polo Match last year in June. Little lads can copy his outfit with this pure cashmere V-neck, which features a subtle star on the back. From 64, Olivier Baby, Buy it now Getty Images/Chris Jackson Kids Crocband in Navy Complete the look with these water-friendly Crocs, which are the exact pair Prince George wore at the Polo. A convertible heel strap ensures a secure fit, while the lightweight yet durable material will support whatever adventure your little one has in store. 26.99, Crocs, Buy it now Getty Images/Chris Jackson My 1st Years Baby Personalised Prince Gingham Robe Pictured meeting former US president, Barack Obama, Prince George knows how to wear pyjamas with style. This embroidered bathrobe, crafted from luxe cotton towelling, is the exact design the royal tot wore for the occasion and can be personalised with your childs name. 27, John Lewis, Buy it now

Teaching in the capital

London-based project Olekids run private Spanish classes at home for under-fives, or can teach groups of children in a community setting such as a nursery.

There are also plenty of app-based classes that can keep tech-savvy tots entertained. Stories by Gus on the Go prompts children to play their way through games and lessons based on timeless story tales such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears or The Three Little Pigs while learning a new language.

Or theres Rosetta Stone which offers a Kids Lingo Letter Sound app, where kids can practice early reading English language skills, while learning Spanish at the same time.

They'll be saying 'uno, dos, tres' in no time.
W hether youre a driver with a full licence, or you applied for a provisional licence mostly just to use it as a cheap form of ID (guilty!), chances are  if you're a woman  you may not have noticed a glaring example of everyday sexism to be found right at the top of it.

On the first line sits your surname  no problems there. The second line, on the other hand, contains your title. Mine is Ms, which I chose as a feminist protest, believing I was outsmarting the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) by withholding my marital status. (What is it to them, anyway? I thought.)

But it turns out my protest was fruitless, because the DVLA doesnt include mens titles on their licences at all. Womens titles are automatically included, with most opting for Miss, Mrs or Ms, while only honorific titles are included on mens licences, such as Doctor or Reverend.

The utmost importance is placed on a woman's marital status, it seems, but a mans isnt even worth asking about. Not only does this suggest our gender affects our ability to drive (nope, those sexist driving jokes still arent funny), it also arguably breaches section 19 of the Equalities Act 2010, as The Guardian pointed out.

So why are men's and womens licences printed differently? Zoe OConnell, now a Lib Dem councillor for Cambridge, raised the issue with the DVLA seven years ago in a Freedom of Information request. There is no reason for any form of gender identification on official documentation, she said, adding: When it comes to titles on driving licences, why should someone need to know if Im married? reported The Guardian. The response, however, was pretty unsatisfying in that the DVLA referred to its recording of titles rather than their inclusion on the licence in the first place.

More recently, in March 2017, another woman, Emma James of Guildford, reportedly wrote to the DVLA questioning the system. The DVLA does not print Mr on licences but does print Miss, Mrs, Ms or other," the organisation confirmed, before clarifying that you can ask for your title to be removed from your licence by sending your current one back to the DVLA with a covering letter.

In response to questioning, the DVLA said anyone could opt for the "No Title" option on its online application form, but this is seventh on a list of eight options highlighted. (The Guardian asked both the DVLA and the Department For Transport why men's and women's licences are printed differently, but both refused to comply.)

However, even if you plump for the "No Title" option, it doesn't necessarily guarantee that your licence will be printed correctly. In March, two women accused the DVLA of sexism after they received licences saying "Mrs", despite electing to have no title included.

Colleagues Ashley Kent and Elin Roberts, both of whom are scientists from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, complained about the mistake on Twitter, tweeting the DVLA's official account to ask if it could be corrected. And the DVLA's response was predictably disappointing.

The DVLA explained away the practice, adding, "I'm afraid it can't be removed." Roberts followed up by saying she wanted to issue a formal complaint, and the DVLA responded by linking her to the complaints procedure.

Kent said she was shocked when she initially noticed the difference between her and her husband's licences. "I would really hope that people wouldn't discriminate against me because my title is shown on my licence," she told MailOnline. "I would hope they'd treat me the same whether I am a married or unmarried man or woman.

"I can understand that there is a case for businesses or organisations knowing if they are complying with equality regulations or not, so they can say 'we know that we are employing people who fit into certain categories' but the fact is that the DVLA don't require this information for a man, leads me to question why they need it for a woman."

Roberts said the fact that men don't have titles on their licences while women "must" is an equality issue. "Why do they even need to know my gender? It doesn't affect my ability to drive. It is something that is, in my opinion, irrelevant," she told MailOnline.

If your title was incorrectly included on your licence, or you're as incensed as we are by the DVLA's apparent interest in our marital status (but not men's), you can write to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BN. Pens at the ready.
M ove over Hatchimals and loom bands, because theres a new craze taking over the capitals playgrounds.

Fidget spinners are the ubiquitous new toys that are on the wishlist of every boy and girl under the age of 16.

Confused about what they are and where they came from? Read on...

What are they?

The plastic palm-sized toy consists of a tiny bearing in the middle of a three-pronged device which can be spun around at fast speeds while held between the users fingers.

The momentum of the toy provides a satisfying user experience, according to the hundreds of YouTube reviews and instructional videos that have popped up over the last few weeks.

Where did they come from?

The toy was originally created as a stress relieving device, and was marketed as an aide for those with ADHD.

The spinners gained popularity this spring, seemingly out of nowhere. LiveScience reports that Google searches for the words fidget spinner were barely existent at the end of last year.

Now teachers are taking to the internet to voice their frustrations over the addictive toys. There is even a dedicated forum for fidget spinners on Reddit.

The Guardian reports that the Florida-based designer of the spinners, Catherine Hettinger, designed the toy over two decades ago, but was forced to give up the rights in 2005 because she could not afford the 310 patent renewal fee.

I just didnt have the money. Its very simple, she told the newspaper.

Subsequently, Hettinger hasnt earned any money from the tens of millions of global fidget spinner sales from this year alone.

Best toys and books for children with anxiety- in pictures 1 /14 Best toys and books for children with anxiety- in pictures Take a look at our favourite books and toys to help children with anxiety Cloud B Tranquil Turtle With a glowing shell, this cute soft toy will be the perfect bedtime pal for any anxious sleepers. Projecting water effects onto the ceilings and walls, it also emits ocean wave sounds to help your child drift off into a peaceful sleep. This is a good tool if youre trying to wean them off needing mummy or daddy in the room until they fall asleep. 40, Baby Curls, Buy it now Interactive Worry Plaque Worries can be offloaded to the fairies with this interactive plaque. Children place their hand on the plaque, which will grow red and think of their worries. As soon as it glows green, they know that the fairies have heard them and carried their worries away to make wish dust: a simple but effective concept thats great for children who find it hard to voice their concerns. 30, The Irish Fairy Door Company, Buy it now Calm Down Kit Several things can cause children to descend into a tantrum or heightened angst, leaving adults feeling helpless. A calm down kit just for them could help the child to overcome this with minimal adult intervention. This one comes with multi-sensory activities including putty, a kaleidoscope and spiky ball. Using the tips that come with the kit, children can independently learn to control their emotions, rather than the other way around. 20, Etsy, Buy it now Roald Dahls Marvellous Colouring Book Adventure Something as simple as colouring can be a great calmer for busy minds. The focus and attention-to-detail needed for such intricate work is totally absorbing, helping children to escape negative thought spirals. This Roald Dahl version is full of images based on his beloved books, which always focused on the power and magic of the imagination. 7, Amazon, Buy it now Worry Monster Sometimes we just need a friend to share our worries with. Choose from two different Worry Monsters and give your child the sidekick they need. All they have to do is write down their worries on a piece of paper (or get an adult to help them) and feed them into the zippered mouth of their mate. After all, worries are Monsters favourite snack. 8, Amazon,Buy it now Under the Love Umbrella by Allison Colpoys & Davina Bell Captivating neon illustrations add even more charm to this already delightful story. Under the Love Umbrella reminds children that comfort and love is ever-present, even when you are not near your family. As it is quite abstract, it allows you to explore what the love umbrella might mean to different people. If your child suffers from separation anxiety, this could help you explore that. 12, Waterstones, Order it now What to Do When You Worry Too Much by Dawn Huebner, PhD Psychologist Dawn Huebner has created a guide full of practical advice that children can use to control their own anxiety. Its written in kid-friendly language, so can be read together or by the child alone. Putting worries in a strong box and having designated worry time rather than letting it affect them all day are just a couple of the tips included. Its also very informative about what causes worries, so can help you to understand your childs thought process. 12, Amazon, Buy it now William Wobbly and the Very Bad Day by Sarah Naish With descriptions of what worry actually feels like in the body (wooshy and tippy tappy), Sarah Naish helps children to identify anxiety. This is a book that helps children to understand that theyre not alone and that others have the same worries too. This, along with the other books in the series, is a great one for children who are fostered, adopted or live with autism as it tackles the feeling that arise for children who are put into new situations. 9, Amazon, Buy it now The Lion Inside by Rachael Bright The rhyme and rhythm in this book make it a delight to read and listen to, meaning youre likely to be asked for it over and over again. With a strong moral thread, it helps children to understand that no matter how small we sometimes feel, there is courage inside all of us. Stunning illustrations by Jim Field add humour to the message of self-acceptance and children will love predicting what rhyming words will come next. 7, Amazon, Buy it now Its Okay to be Different by Todd Parr Brightly coloured with simple text, Todd Parr proves that less can be more when it comes to a great story book. Suitable for children aged four and up, it inspires children to accept both their own and others individuality. Tackling everything from race to gender, all sorts of differences are explored in a way thats easily accessible to young children. 7, Amazon, Buy it now

Why the controversy?

Fidget spinners made headlines this week after a school in Somerset decided to place a ban on the toys.

A Year 7 pupil wrote a heartfelt letter to Churchill Academy in Somerset, asking them to ban the spinners after she claimed they were distracting her from work.

Headteacher Chris Hildrew shared the letter to Twitter, explaining why he would be confiscating any toys spotted in his school.

In the letter, the girl explains how roughly seven spinners could be spotted in her classroom at any one time, causing a distraction, because of the noise they make when they spin around.

She wrote: This means that I am not doing my hardest on my work so I get less done.

How much do they cost and where are people buying them from?

Like most toy crazes, fidget spinners are flying off the shelves fast.

If you've been lumbered with the seemingly impossible task of getting your hands on one of these gizmos, you'll probably have most success heading to Toys R Us.

The toy retailer is selling the spinners for 2.99 each - but be prepared to drive from store to store.

The toys are completely sold out on their website as suppliers struggle to keep up with demand.
W hen planning a trip to Germany, most would predictably settle on Berlin or Munich; however Cologne ticks a surprising number of boxes as a great city break destination. Just one hour from London by plane, it is quick and easy to reach, and thanks to the lack of mass tourism you will quickly feel immersed in the culture of the city.

Here are 10 reasons to visit:

1. Altstadt (The Old Town)

Altstadt / www.thoroughlymodernmilly.com

Much of Cologne was destroyed in World War II, leaving just a tiny area of historic streets remaining. The colourful old town is wonderful to wander round, especially when you consider what it has survived. Relax with a beer by the river and join the Instagram queue to photograph the picturesque houses near St Martin's Church.

2. Stylish (& Cheap) Accommodation

Stylish accommodation / www.thoroughlymodernmilly.com

There is stylish accommodation to be found all over Cologne, from design hotels to cosy Airbnb lodgings. Die Wohngemeinschaft is a well-known hostel in the heart of the trendy Belgian Quarter, nearby to the main attractions of the town centre. The rooms are each designed in a different style, with quirky antique furniture and lots of natural light. All the rooms are extremely well-kept and equipped with modern facilities. It is so clean and comfortable it feels more like a hotel, but with such low prices this hostel is suitable for any travellers budget.

3. Cafe Culture

Cologne is a popular student city and consequently offers a diverse range of cheap and hip restaurants and bars. Whether you are in need of a vegan brunch or full three-course dinner, they have it all. Head to Salon Schmitz for a light lunch in the cafe before heading next door for dessert at the ice-cream parlour, or if you are feeling really decadent opt for a piece of their famous cheesecake.

In the evening enjoy a long and lazy dinner at lively tapas bar Meister Gerhard, be sure to accompany your meal with a glass of German Reisling. For something really special, head to the only 2-Michelin star restaurant in Cologne, Le Moissonnier, for their exquisite French cuisine.

4. The Cathedral

Kolner Dom / www.thoroughlymodernmilly.com

Colognes giant cathedral (Kolner Dom) is the citys most recognised building. The magnificent twin spires rise high above the city, and the interior is filled with precious art and religious treasures. For a work-out, climb the 533 steps up the Dom's South Tower to see panoramic views of the city down below.

5. Thriving Cocktail Scene

Some delicious cocktails / www.thoroughlymodernmilly.com

The cocktail scene in Cologne is growing at speed and the choices are plentiful. Toddy Tapper seems to be popular with locals in the know. The bar is barely signposted, but once inside youll be well looked after by the attentive staff and it is impossible not to have a good time. Sit at the bar and order a Perigord Paradox, made from Whisky, Walnut bitters and orange syrup.

6. Galleries and Museums

Ludwig Museum / www.thoroughlymodernmilly.com

Cologne hosts the annual Art Cologne fair that ensures it is very much involved in the international art scene. There are plenty of wonderful galleries and museums to satisfy culture fans, whether you are interested in historic classical works or cutting-edge modern exhibitions. Museum Ludwig is one of the largest museums and is dedicated to modern art. Many visit for the impressive collection of Picasso paintings but they also host exciting temporary exhibitions showcasing the work of artists from Germany and further afield.

7. Independent Shops

Utensil shop / www.thoroughlymodernmilly.com

Creatives are opening up inspiring shops all over Cologne. Head to the hipster Ehrenfeld area where youll find Kornerstrasse Street with its cluster of appealing shops and cafes. Utensil is a design lovers heaven. The shop is run by Cologne designer Anna Lederer who collects and sells simple but beautiful everyday products. It is also worth visiting the modern Van Dyck cafe while in the area. For Scandi inspired homeware and stationery head to Gold Kant or How We Live.

8. Speciality Coffee

Ernst cafe / www.thoroughlymodernmilly.com

Much like the rest of Europe, speciality coffee is a growing trend in Cologne. There are a few small businesses worth seeking out who are making their mark roasting high quality delicious coffee. Ernst Kaffeerosterei should be any caffeine-lovers first stop. Ernst roast their own beans and pour it to perfection, serving smooth and rich coffee with a delicious flavour. This quiet, hipster cafe is always full with students working and friends catching up. The Coffee Gang is also worth visiting, a tiny cafe ideally located in the centre of town.

9. Spa Heaven

For an afternoon of blissful relaxation head to Claudius Therme, Colognes thermal baths. Located in the heart of the Rheinpark and surrounded by lush greenery, this spa is a real refuge after busy city sightseeing. After resting in the soothing hot pools, head outside to the (all-naked) saunas and let go of your inhibitions. The honey and salt sauna is particularly good for revitalising and refreshing your body.

10. Bonn

Bonn / www.thoroughlymodernmilly.com

The charming city of Bonn is just 20 minutes away by train, making it the perfect day trip from Cologne. Bonn was once the capital of West Germany and is remembered best as the birthplace of Beethoven. Wander round the old town before stopping off for a Kolsch beer overlooking the Rhine River.

Milly Kenny-Ryder is a freelance travel writer and food photographer and editor of thoroughlymodernmilly.com. She writes travel guides with her company Weekend Journals. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @millykr
A rmed police who shot and injured a woman during a dramatic anti-terror raid in north London were not wearing bodycams, the police watchdog has said.

Officers fired at the 21-year-old as they swooped on the Willesden home to foil what is said to be an active terror plot last week.

Key police witnesses inside the terraced property were not equipped with the body-worn cameras, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said on Thursday.

The watchdog, which is probing the operation, added that no officers are currently under investigation over the incident in Harlesden Road.

Terror: Harlesden Road where the raid happened / Jeremy Selwyn

Elite armed officers carried out a "specialist entry" into the property shortly before 7pm last Thursday.

Police fired CS gas into the address, which had been under observation in a current counter-terrorism operation.

The injured suspect was eventually discharged from hospital and taken in for questioning.

Woman shot and injured as police foil active terror plot

A total of 10 people have now been arrested in connection with the alleged plot, including three teenagers held after a series of raids in east London.

Witnesses reported hearing screaming and shots as armed police in gas masks burst into the address.

A mother-of-one said: We were just about to go shopping when we heard bang, bang, bang, bang. We went to the window and saw a number of armed police there with their guns pointing at our next-door neighbours window.

The IPCC said they were continuing to gather evidence and had spoken to the officers involved.

Deputy chairwoman Sarah Green said: "Our investigators have been working hard over the last few days to secure evidence to help us understand the circumstances surrounding this incident.

"As well as gathering physical evidence and accounts from those officers involved we are also looking to establish details around the planning of the operation and in particular the briefing provided to the officers prior to their deployment to the address.

"We have not yet spoken to any non-police witnesses many of whom are linked to a counter terrorism operation being conducted by the Metropolitan Police.

"We remain conscious that the operation is ongoing and fast-moving and must be allowed to run its course.

"The position remains that no police officer is under investigation as we continue to establish the details of what happened."

A 27-year-old man, named as Khalid Mohamed Omar Ali, who was detained in Whitehall just hours before the raid in a separate counter-terrorism operation also remains in police custody.

Terror suspected detained at Whitehall / AFP/Getty Images

Armed police swooped on Ali, who was allegedly carrying a rucksack of knives in Whitehall, a stones throw from Downing Street and yards from the scene of last months deadly attack by Khalid Masood in Westminster.

Believed to be a British national born overseas who went to school in Tottenham, north London, Ali reportedly joined a humanitarian mission to Gaza in 2010.

Following his dramatic arrest in front of crowds of tourists, he was taken for questioning at a south London police station.

Tackled: Armed police surrounded the man / Twitter/@3213dev

Scotland Yard said following a warrant of further detention being granted at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Saturday, he can be questioned until May 4.

Giving an update on both counter-terror operations on Thursday, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, Senior National Co-ordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing, said: "Due to the arrests made, I believe we have contained the threats that they posed.

"With the attack in Westminster on 22 March so fresh in people's minds, I would like to reassure everyone that across the country officers are working around the clock to identify those people who intend to commit acts of terror.
T he family of a young father stabbed to death in north London say they are desperate to smash the wall of silence protecting his killers.

Jonathan McPhillips, 28, died in hospital three days after he was attacked during a night out in Islington on February 25.

The father of two, known as JJ, had tried to shield a teenage friend from a gang who ambushed them outside the Assembly Hall in Upper Street.

His mother Michelle, who saw her son being treated by paramedics, said: I dont believe in gangs, I dont believe in bullies, and I brought him up like that. I said to JJs mates  I do not want revenge on the streets. I want his killer in prison.

She added: There is a wall of silence, people think theyre being clever  but by not talking, are you the next victim?

Five men have been arrested on suspicion of murder and bailed.

Anyone with information should call 020 8345 3775, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
T hree men have been jailed after anti-terror police discovered a horde of guns in south London.

Brothers Abdullah Ali, 30, and Adam Ali, 21, from Norbury, and Roman Nikolajevs, 21, from Sutton, were tracked down by detectives following reports the trio had a live firearm.

Adam Ali had attempted to buy a gun from the dark web while his brother possessed a reactivated Llama pistol, Croydon Crown Court heard.

Nikajlevs then tested the gun for the brothers, the court was told.

Jailed: Roman Nikolajevs / Met Police

Terror police raided the Alis home, in Ederline Avenue, and found the loaded 9mm pistol in Abdullahs bedroom.

A Hungarian FEG 9mm pistol, pars of an AK47 assault rifle and 54 rounds of ammunition were also discovered.

Alongside the weapons haul, police found potassium nitrate and sulphur  used to make gunpowder  a bulletproof vest and books about making guns and ammunition, the court heard.

Deadly weapon: A Llama pistol found at the Ali brother's home / Met Police

A laptop, USB sticks and discs, containing a US Army survival guide and instructions on making guns and explosives were seized from the house.

All three men pleaded guilty to possession of firearms on November 2 last year.

Each man was sentenced to five years behind bars at the same court on Thursday.

The Ali brothers were also found guilty of possession of ammunition.

Commander Dean Haydon, of the Counter Terrorism Command, said: "These men had a working firearm and ammunition which, in the wrong hands, could have endangered lives.

Counter terrorism officers have ensured that these firearms, components and gunpowder chemicals are now safely off our streets and that the men have been brought to the courts to face justice."
T wo women were sexually assaulted in an early morning attack near a playground in south-east London, police say.

The attack happened on Plumstead Common, near Plumstead Adventure Play Centre, at about 1am on Thursday.

Residents said on social media that a huge area of the common was taped off by police as forensic officers combed the area for evidence.

Scotland Yard said no one has been arrested following the incident.

A police spokesman added: A crime scene is in place at this time while an investigation is carried out.

Specialist officers are supporting the victims. Enquires continue.

The age of the victims are not currently known.

Last week a teenager was rushed to hospital after a he was stabbed outside a convenience store on Plumstead Common Road, a short distance from Thursday's attack.
A primary school teacher stepped in to help two medics being threatened by a patient as others stood and filmed the scene on their phones.

Katy Sams, 35, who is 5ft 3in, was heading home in east London when she saw a man trying to smash his way into an ambulance. Medics Laura Barrett and Elaine Levescount had locked themselves inside for their own safety.

Ms Sams said: The medics looked so frightened. I had to do something.

There were lots of people around filming with their phones but no one calling for help.

She rang 999 but the man heard her describing him to the police.

In the middle of the chaos he just looked at me and said he was going to kill me, she said. I tried to run but he rugby-tackled me, pushing me on to the Mile End Road.

He was on top of me with a knee in my back. He grabbed my hair and started smashing my head into the road. The blood was dribbling into my mouth. I could see the tyres of cars as they drove past me.

The attacker, Kieran Duggan, was stopped when a male paramedic from another crew arrived and pulled him off Ms Sams. Last week, she was given an award for her bravery at a London Ambulance Service ceremony, where she was reunited with Ms Barrett, 46, and Ms Levescount, 53.

Ms Sams, assistant headteacher at Northwold primary school in Hackney, said: Every day I teach how important it is to be kind and to look after others. I dont feel brave. Paramedics are brave. They put themselves in danger to help others.

The ambulance staff had gone to Duggans aid after he had a fit but he became aggressive. Ms Barrett, a paramedic, said: We were trying to get him to hospital when he started threatening us. We ran to the ambulance and locked it but he tried to smash the windows to get to us. We were in a busy area but only Katy stopped to help us.

Ms Levescount, an emergency medical technician, said: She was so brave. She is one of a kind.

Duggan, who attacked Ms Sams in April last year, pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm and was jailed for 18 months at Snaresbrook crown court.
A private health care patient has been convicted of manslaughter after stabbing a hospital volunteer to death.

Jimi Jedson, 40, was sentenced to a hospital order after pleading guilty to the charge on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Police and paramedics were scrambled to Southleigh Community Hospital, in Croydon, on May 12 last year.

Officers found Patrick Clarke, who after retirement volunteered at the hospital, had been stabbed by Jedson.

Mr Clarke, 68, died at the scene. His cause of death was determined to be a stab wound to the chest.

Jedson, of Brighton Road, south Croydon, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder and charged on Saturday, 14 May.

He was sentenced at the Old Bailey on Wednesday.

Detective Inspector John Massey, who led the investigation by the Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: "The violent death of Patrick Clarke - a hardworking man who dedicated his life to helping others - is tragic.

I can only hope that today's verdict goes some way to bringing closure to the victim's family who have behaved with the upmost dignity throughout this very harrowing ordeal."
T hree young men have been jailed for 60 years after being convicted of beating and stabbing a teenager to death in a pre-planned attack in south London.

Rodney Mukasa, 20, and Ali Zahawy, 19, were both handed life sentences at the Old Bailey on Thursday for the murder of 19-year-old Andre Aderemi in Croydon last August.

Fabio Cela, 19, was sentenced to 16 years after being convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

The three men, all from Croydon, carried out their attack on the aspiring rapper following a long-running feud between him and Cela.

Teenage killing: a picture of victim Andre Aderemi, 19, taken from the GoFundMe page set up by his sister Sheniqua Shenz

There were several violent confrontations between them in the months leading up to the murder, police said. Andres family had even moved out of the area over fears for their safety.

However, Andre, a former John Ruskin College pupil, was targeted by the group in the Monks Hill Estate after they discovered he was visiting the area on August 16.

Mynewsdesk (1)

The group, carrying knives and a metal pole, chased him down the street before catching up and launching a brutal attack. They then got into a white vehicle and drove off.

Andre, who had been living in Chatham, Kent, died in hospital from his injuries later that evening.

A knife found thrown from the car following the murder / Met Police

Meanwhile, Cela attended Croydon University Hospital with knife wounds to his head. When asked by police how he had sustained the injuries, he was uncooperative. Cela was subsequently arrested.

Police investigating the murder found three knives near the scene which had been thrown from the car, while a metal pole was found with Andres blood on it and Celas DNA.

Three knives were found by police near the scene of the crime / Met Police

CCTV footage and clothing comparisons also led police to tracing the three suspects.

Cela and Mukasa were arrested the day after the incident and charged with murder. Zahawy was arrested on Sunday, August 21.

The third knife used to kill Andre Aderemi / Met Police

Mobile phone footage filmed by Cela has emerged which shows Zahawi holding a large knife while behind the wheel and talking about shanking.

Detective Chief Inspector Sam Price, the senior investigating officer from the Met's Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: "This is a good result and I am pleased that these three dangerous offenders will now serve substantial sentences.

"I would like to commend Andre's family for the way they have endured the trial, and been totally engaged with the police investigation throughout.

"I would also like to thank the community on the Monks Hill Estate, especially the young witnesses, who made statements and testified. Without their support and trust in police we may not have achieved this positive outcome for Andre."
T he mother of the young man who planted a home-made bomb on a packed Jubilee line train has blamed YouTube for poisoning her son's mind.

Former altar boy Damon Smith was found guilty on Wednesday of leaving the device  made using a 2 Tesco clock  on the busy Tube train.

The 20-year-old, who suffers from Aspergers Syndrome, built the bomb at home after Googling an al Qaeda article on how to make one.

He also told police he was inspired by watching a bomb prank video on YouTube channel Troll Station.

CCTV image of Damon Smith on the tube / PA

His mother Anotonitza Smith said she blamed the website for influencing her son and called for it to be banned.

How to make a bomb - that shouldn't be on YouTube because people copy, especially vulnerable people, she told the Telegraph.

They talk about terrorism, beheadings. That shouldn't be on YouTube so young kids could see it. It's wrong.

"The government should ban it so it might save another child from what my son has gone through."

Damon Smith police interview

The discovery of Smiths rucksack, packed with explosives and ball bearing shrapnel, on a Tube train in north Greenwich on October 20 last year, sparked chaos on the capitals transport network.

A search of Smith's home in Rotherhithe, south London, revealed his fixation with guns, explosives and other weapons.

Guilty: Damon Smith, 20, posing with a BB gun / Metropolitan Police

Smiths mother said that people with learning disabilities, like her son, can start copying weird topics on the internet.

The 47-year-old added: "I think YouTube is poison. They talk about terrorism, beheadings. That shouldn't be on YouTube so young kids should see it. It's wrong."

Damon Smith is facing years behind bars / PA

Police seized a blank-firing self-loading pistol and a BB gun from Mr Smith, both bought legally, as well as a knuckleduster and a knife which he showed off in an online video.

Pictures were also recovered of Smith with guns, including one on a laptop labelled "2016 an Islamic State fighter".

Smith watched YouTube videos on explosions and posted a picture of himself on Facebook in a Guy Fawkes mask holding handcuffs and a knuckleduster, jurors were told.

He professed to be interested in Islam as it is "more true" than Christianity, but denied being an extremist.

Damon Smith in police custody / Met Police

He posed next to an image of the Islamic terrorist alleged to have masterminded the attacks in Paris in November 2015, the court heard.

In his defence, extracts of a psychiatric report were read out in court confirming an autism spectrum disorder.

A police photo of one of the components which Damon Smith used to make his home-made bomb / Met Police/PA

He had been interested in bomb-making since the age of 10 and said that it was "something to do when he was bored".

Smith denied possession of an explosive substance with intent but admitted the lesser offence of making a bomb hoax.

A jury rejected his explanation and found Smith guilty of the more serious charge after deliberating for two hours.

YouTube has been contacted for comment.
A teenager has been knifed during a broad daylight attack in a busy north London high street.

Police and paramedics rushed to High Road, Wembley, around 3.30pm on Thursday to reports of a stabbing.

A 17-year-old was found suffering stab wounds and rushed to a central London hospital.

His condition is not yet known.

Witnesses described how the victim fled into a nearby cash and carry after being attacked by a gang of youths.

Knife attack: The victim stumbled into a nearby shop / Twitter/@BoRichA305

Ghanshyam Boricha, 26, who works nearby, told the Standard he saw a group of teenagers attack the youngster before he fled into a shop for help.

He said: The guy who got stabbed was a teenager.

He tried to run from there into Malar Cash and Carry and then the police arrived.

Five people, believed to be in their teens, have been arrested on suspicion of affray.

They are currently being held at a north London police station, a Met Police spokesman said.

Enquiries continue.
J eremy Hunt found himself caught up in red tape as he was ambushed by a protester during a campaign visit to a south London Hospital.

The health secretary visited staff at St Helier hospital on Wednesday ahead of next months general election, but was cornered by a woman shouting that he was demolishing the NHS as he headed for the exits.

Mr Hunt hurried to his car and avoided the campaigners questions, getting his wing mirror caught in tape as he drove away.

Campaigners in the area have become concerned that acute services at the hospital, which includes A&E, critical care, and maternity wards, are set to be scrapped as part of NHS plans to make 22bn-worth of cuts across the country by 2020.

Jeremy Hunt was cornered as left St Helier's hospital on Wednesday / Sandra Ash

A sustainability and transformation plan (STP) has been drawn up for south west London and states services in one of five hospitals in the area could be scrapped.

Mr Hunt has since pledged his support to St Helier and stressed there were no plans to close the hospital, but improvements have to be made.

Jeremy Hunt's caught tape on his car as he tried to make a swift exit / Sandra Ash

Sandra Ash, a member of campaign group Keep Our St Helier Hospital, cornered Mr Hunt after hearing he would be visiting the hospital.

The campaigner shouted that the health secretary should be ashamed of himself, before asking how does it feel all those people dying because of those actions.

She told the Standard: He is the figurehead of the NHS and I thought it would be a good opportunity to confront him.

They are clearly targeting St Helier. I dont think its in any doubt.

It would have a major impact on the other hospitals which are at the moment at absolute crisis point themselves.

People on the maternity wards tell me that they are actually at crisis point. There is no way they can cope.

South west Londons STP covers five major hospitals - Kingston, Croydon, St Georges and Epsom and St Helier.

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt reiterated his backing to St Helier.

Jeremy Hunt has faced criticism during his time as health secretary over last year's junior doctors strikes / Neil Hall/PA

He said: St Helier has made huge strides in recent years and I was delighted to hear more on my visit about progress and plans for the future.

There is no question that St Helier Hospital is here to stay, but we do need a plan for improving the facilities and the services on which local people rely.

Ms Ash said she was not surprised Mr Hunt ignored her questions outside the hospital.

She added: I didnt expect him to answer my questions. Its frustrating that they dont speak to the public who will be affected by the decisions that they make.

Its definitely an election ploy. I think they are concerned about Tories in the area.

Mr Hunt thanked staff for the warm welcome in a tweet following the visit.

A spokeswoman for the NHS in south west London said: We are not proposing to close any hospitals.

"We know we will continue to need all the hospitals we currently have. We have said previously that we dont think every hospital has to provide every service."
A cancer sufferer with only months to live was left devastated last night after her VIP tickets to see Ed Sheeran turned out to be fakes.

Dion Yates, 18, was bought the tickets off Gumtree as a bucket list treat, but was turned away at the gates by security who spotted they were fake.

Her mother Kerry today told how terrible it is to see her dying daughter deceived by crooks.

Mrs Yates said: "Its just terrible to see her this way."

Cancer sufferer Dion was told in March that there was no more that doctors could do for her. Up to the day of the concert she had been too ill to go out.

Both mother and daughter had made a special trip to London from their home in Lossiemouth, Scotland for the Ed Sheeran show.

But they were left distraught when they reached the O2 Arena and found the tickets would not scan.

The teenager was diagnosed in 2014 with Ewings sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, but despite treatment it has now spread.

Mrs Yates, who owns a business providing cosmetic laser treatments, found four tickets last weekend on Gumtree, where the seller said he said he couldnt use them since hed be away for work.

She described the seller as lovely in his messages to her.

When he heard that Dion was confined to a wheelchair, the seller offered to exchange the tickets for VIP passes claiming he worked for a record company," said Mrs Yates.

She said the tickets appeared authentic when she collected them as they were in a VIP envelope with receipt and bank statement.

Mrs Yates's post on Facebook about their plight has been shared more than 7,000 times, attracting more than 800 comments from well-wishers.

People were so moved that they offered her their own tickets for free.

I have a ticket (not VIP sadly) for the 22nd June at the O2 I would like to give to you, a Facebook user commented.

Mrs Yates said that since her Facebook post last night, a management company has also offered them tickets for the Ed Sheeran gig on June 22, which was added to a previously 14-date tour after concerts quickly sold out.

A Gumtree spokesperson said it was "heart-breaking" to hear of Kerry and Dions experience.

They added: "This was an elaborate scam from a sophisticated fraudster who went to great lengths to make the scam convincing. We encourage anyone that comes across any type of scam to report it to us immediately.

"Our dedicated safety team can take action such as blocking users from the site to prevent scammers from operating. We also recommend that anyone trading tickets on Gumtree follows the safety advice on our website, such as insisting on seeing the tickets serial number. Millions of people use Gumtree every day and the vast majority have a safe and successful experience.
T he first wave of residents at Battersea Power Station have moved into their apartments more than 30 years after the vast generators boilers went cold.

About 100 pioneers are living at what is still one of Europes biggest building sites, with neighbours  who will eventually include Sting and Bear Grylls  arriving at the rate of up to 30 a week.

They are in Circus West, the first part of the 9 billion new town, featuring homes, offices, restaurants and shops, to be finished. The block is situated between the power station and Chelsea Bridge.

When 860 homes went on sale in 2013, studios were priced from 338,000, one-bedroom flats from 423,000 and three-bed apartments from 894,000.

Developers described the occupations as a massive milestone for the regeneration of a building left derelict after it was decommissioned in 1983. Three bids to save it foundered until a Malaysian consortium bought the Grade II* listed structure and 42 acres of land in 2012.

New resident Isabel Kiddy / Alex Lentati

Rob Tincknell, chief executive of the Battersea Power Station Development Company, said: Its been 33 years since the power station stopped, and personally, 10 years on the project. To see it actually c oming together to forge a new community is really exciting.

However, it comes at a tough time for the new-build market with demand for luxury central London apartments hit by stamp duty hikes and Brexit uncertainty. Earlier this year Mr Tincknell said he might reduce the number of flats and increase office space at the site  where Apple will base its new London HQ  by up to a million square feet because of the shift in the market.

Building work is still ongoing at the site / Alex Lentati

The first residents to pick up their keys said they were thrilled to be making history. Hilary Rowland, 36, and husband Robert, 34, founders of Boom Cycle, will be close to their new fitness studio.

Robert said: When we finish work at 9pm we know we havent got far to get home. You see the chimneys and get this great feeling that you are part of it.

HR consultant Isabel Kiddy, moving in with miniature schnauzer Lola, said: Being so close to the power station is the most amazing thing.

"Every time I go past I am astonished at how big it is. I love seeing it when I wake. So many friends are hoping for an invitation.

Lighting designer Patrick Woodroffe, 62, and wife Lucy, 60, moved into an 11th-floor apartment overlooking Chelsea Bridge. Weve had a boat on Cadogan Pier for 20 years so changing it for a flat on the river seems a natural step, he said.

I used to live in Battersea when I was first married and the power station has been a part of my visual vocabulary for as long as Ive lived in London. Its great we finally have it back.
W hen a community fridge opened on the Dog Kennel Hill estate in Camberwell, the food  all 35 kilograms of it  was gone within five hours.

About 50 of the 800 families on the estate came to pick up the free produce, which was near its use-by date and supplied by the local Sainsburys.

On the second day, as word of mouth spread, another 30 people came. This time the food was gone within three hours.

Jackie Mustoe, manager of the estates Albrighton Centre, where the fridge is located, said she knew families were struggling but was stunned by the demand.

London families are taking part in a trial that helps to reduce their shopping bills and to boost their health / Matt Writtle

I just cant get over it, she said. I have never seen so much food. There were 100 loaves of bread, a mountain of bananas, every kind of fruit and vegetable. We opened at 3pm and by 8pm there was nothing left.

Every banana, every loaf of bread. Gone. It wasnt as if people were greedy. In fact, just the opposite. One man had food bank vouchers for later in the week but had nothing to eat in the meantime. I said, Take what you like, but he said, No, Ill just take what I can eat tonight.

"One elderly woman in her eighties who has two teenage boys in her care took food to feed them because she didnt have enough. It was heart-breaking.

It shows what a brilliant idea this is, but also how much people are struggling.

The community fridge is part of a pilot by Sainsburys to help consumers, especially in low-income families, reduce their food waste and food bills.

Research by the environmental charity Wrap has found that the average family throws away 700 of food a year.

The supermarket chain was the first to back the Standards Food for London initiative which seeks to redistribute surplus produce to tackle food poverty.

The Camberwell scheme follows a year-long trial by Sainsburys in the South Derbyshire town of Swadlincote, in which more than 600 houses were randomly selected to have their food waste independently weighed by Wrap, both before and after food-saving initiatives had taken effect.

Sainsbury's has invested 50,000 in the pilot and is working with Southwark council and Veolia / Matt Writtle

The Swadlincote results, which will be independently evaluated by Wrap, are due to be published this month.

In the meantime Sainsburys is seeking to repeat the trial in Camberwell, on a smaller scale, as part of its five-year, 10 million waste less, save more campaign.

As well as the community fridge, it will target the local primary school and 200 families, while a group of 40 families living on and around the Dog Kennel Hill estate will take part in an intensive trial dubbed the zero-waste kitchen challenge.

Lynda Shelley, 49, who lives with her 10-year-old daughter Mary-Ellen on the second floor of the estate, has a long-term illness and said it was her visits to the hospital that prompted her to volunteer for the trial.

I see the astronomical amount of food they throw out at the hospital and it made me think about what I am wasting in my own home, she said.

Weve had a tough time and money is scarce, yet we always seem to be tossing out strawberries and bananas, and I am keen to learn tips that could save me money.

Lynda and the other 39 volunteer families have been given 50 worth of free equipment  choosing at the local Sainsburys from an array of blenders, Tupperware, resealable freezer bags, banana hangers, scales and measuring spoons  to help reduce food waste in the home.

They will also get cooking workshops and advice on how to better plan, cook and store their food, as well as tips for turning soft fruit into smoothies or stale bread into bread-and-butter pudding, so barely anything is wasted.

Sainsburys says the estate, which is 55 per cent black and minority ethnic, together with the affluent surrounding streets, where houses sell for 1 million, offers a microcosm of the capital and a snapshot of which food waste lessons might work here.

The supermarket chain has invested 50,000 in the pilot and is working with Southwark council and Veolia.

The latter is charged with measuring the waste of targeted households both before and after the experiment to see if behaviour can be changed enough so as to effect a measurable reduction in food waste.

Southwark councillor Richard Livingstone said: This is the first time something like this has been done in London so we all feel like pioneers, but we also have to ask: what will success look like? I am hoping to see a significant cut in food waste, peoples food bills going down and improvements in peoples health.

What I like about this is that it will run over five years. For us, as a council, this is attractive because we will have time to learn lessons as to what works and then roll them out.

At Dog Kennel Hill School, the local primary where children speak more than 20 languages between them, a group of keen nine- and 10-year-olds have been appointed as the schools first food waste warriors.

The pupils will be responsible for measuring the amount of food wasted at breakfast club and school lunch.

They will be taught tips to waste less which they will be encouraged to pass on to their friends and parents.

Julius Sporidis-Kapp, nine, said: We sometimes get served food we havent tried yet and we throw it away because we are not used to it. Like fish.

We are learning to appreciate different types of food. Were pioneers. The first pupils at the first school in London to do this. Its fun.

Headteacher Lorram Black said: We started a breakfast club because we had a significant number of children coming in hungry, unable to concentrate and learn. Ten per cent of our 471 children attend breakfast club and many, you might be surprised to hear, are from working parents in low-income jobs.

His deputy Sarah Jowett said: We are interested in the environmental impact of wasting less food, but also the impetus for us is economic, to help families. Some of our families have no recourse to public funds and are highly susceptible to food poverty, so embedding good practices will really help them.
F ire fighters had to use a grinder to slice through a metal penis ring after it got stuck around a mans testicles for a couple of days.

The crew from Ilford were called to King George Hospital at 2am on Thursday after the unfortunate man was taken in.

A fireman told the Standard they had to use a hydraulic pedal cutter more commonly used to cut people out of crashed vehicles to slice through the metal ring.

He said: To put it in laymans terms, he tried to put his veg in the ring as well but it stopped the circulation and became stuck.

It had been like that for a couple of days. I think it must have got to the point where he knew he needed to do something about it.

It was swollen and a funny colour.

The fireman said the man had tried cutting through the ring himself but gave up and contacted the emergency services.

Crews were called to the hospital emergency room and managed to safely free the man after a short struggle.

Earlier this year, the London Fire Brigade blamed the explicit Fifty Shades of Grey series for a rise in bondage accidents across the capital.

Figures showed the number of people who had to be released from handcuffs almost doubled in two years, from 15 in 2014-15 to 27 in 2015-16.

The 2015-2016 number included nine cases of men with rings stuck on their penises.
A man has died after being hit by a Tube train in west London.

Emergency services rushed to Ladbroke Grove Tube station, in Kensington and Chelsea, just after 8pm on Thursday.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene, British Transport Police said.

Horrified passengers travelling on the Hammersmith and City Line train took to social media to discuss the incident.

David Tomaz said: Tube is stopped and something is seriously wrong at Ladbroke Grove station.

Chloe Thomas described the area as swarming with ambulances.

While Christopher Opie shared a picture of an air ambulance on Twitter.

A BTP spokesman said the death is not being treated as suspicious and added that a file will be prepared for the coroner.

The fatality came just hours after another man was hit by a Bakerloo line train at Warwick Avenue, in north London, just before 6.30pm.

Officers said he had been rushed to St Marys Hospital, in Paddington, with serious injuries.

The Hammersmith and City line and Circle line were suspended for several hours while emergency services dealt with the incident.
T his is the moment a Mercedes driver is involved in an extraordinary Mexican stand-off with another car, blocking a narrow London road for up to 15 minutes.

Resident Kelly Newcomb filmed the scene as the drivers refused to budge from the road in Deptford, as a succession of frustrated fellow drivers beep their horns behind.

The 21-year-old marketing manager told the Standard the driver of the silver car had stopped for just a couple of seconds on Wednesday afternoon to let his child out of the vehicle.

But she claimed he was then blocked off by the driver of a black Mercedes, who refused to budge.

Stand-off: The cars refuse to budge / Kelly Newcomb

She said: His kid got out of the car while she was coming down the road. She should have given him right of way. He wasnt stopping for any length of time.

She just started coming down the road anyway. It was clear to me that he was ready to pull away.

Ms Newcomb said the altercation lasted for up to 15 minutes, with at least five other cars having to back-up and drive off because she had blocked the road in front of them.

Video: Kelly Newcomb took the footage / Kelly Newcomb

She said: This guy in a red car came up behind and he was honking and honking his horn. Then he started shouting.

He got out his car and went round to the woman and was shouting move, I just want to go home.

Ms Newcomb said the driver of the silver car remained polite throughout but eventually left his vehicle to get help from a council worker at a nearby playground.

Frustration: Other cars are left waiting / Kelly Newcomb

Both men tried to reason with the other driver before she eventually backed up, not before creating a small traffic jam behind her.

She said: I think she was massively entitled. I dont know why she didnt just back her car up. She obviously knows the roads round here.

Its a very busy road but everyone else manages Im completely shocked by how long she stood her ground.

The footage sparked a lively debate about exactly who was in the wrong.

One user claimed it was her right of way because there were no cars on her side of the road.

Another chimed in: If the guy on the 'wrong' side is already half way down when she arrives it is HIS right of way.

Simon Edmund said: Technically she could claim in theory it's her right of way - but in reality in these situations common sense is the only way to resolve it.

If the fella coming the other way was already long committed and would have further to reverse, then she's just being daft.

The Highway Code states that drivers should give way if a car coming in the opposite direction has already committed to overtaking other parked vehicles.
U KIP has backed Boris Johnson in the General Election in a major move to endorse Tory Brexiteers.

The party have decided not to stand in Uxbridge & South Ruislip where the Foreign Secretary has a 10,695 majority.

This is the second time UKIP has decided not to run against Brexit-backing MPs following their election pact with Tory MP Philip Hollobone in Kettering.

Deputy leader Paul Nuttall said they would not seek to target seats where a pro-Brexit MP has a slender majority and could lose to a Remainer.

This is to avoid splitting the vote and give the pro-Brexit candidate the best chance of winning.

He said standing aside for MPs who are fully committed to Brexit would happen in tens of seats, not hundreds across the UK.

Last week Mr Hollobone welcomed UKIPs decision not to run against him. The two parties share views on Brexit, HS2 and foreign aid.

Labours General Election campaign coordinator Andrew Gwynne, criticised the decision.

General Election 2017: What you need to know

He said: You cant put a cigarette paper between UKIP and the Tories now.

A Lib Dem spokesperson said: Boris Johnson is now the UKIP candidate in Uxbridge. The Conservative Partys relentless push towards a hard Brexit is everything UKIP could have wished for.

A Conservative spokesman said: Only Theresa May and her Conservative team will provide the strong and stable leadership needed to take us through Brexit and beyond. A vote for any other party, whether its Labour, the Lib Dems, or UKIP, will just lead to the chaos and confusion of Jeremy Corbyn in Downing Street, dropping his tax bombshell on the family homes of ordinary Londoners.

The Greens, Labour and the Lib Dems have all chosen their candidates to challenge Mr Johnson, who took the seat at the 2015 General Election after his spell as mayor.

UKIP came third in the seat with 6,345 votes compared to the Tories 22,511.
T heresa May made a grab for Labour voters as she unveiled her first General Election manifesto.

The Prime Minister aimed to pitch herself as a unifying figure when she launched the manifesto entitled 'Forward Together'.

It included a major 8 billion funding injection for the NHS for the next two years, as well as a pledge to build a million new homes by 2020.

Here is what you need to know about the Conservatives' General Election manifesto:

Standout policies:

8bn to be spent on the NHS

One million new homes by 2020, with another 500,000 by 2022

Net migration to be reduced to below 100,000 a year

Continue to increase the national living wage to 60 per cent of average earnings by 2020

Put executive pay packages to annual votes by shareholders and force listed companies to publish pay ratios.

Abandon plans for part two of the Leveson inquiry into media standards

Hold a free Commons vote on bringing back fox hunting

Means test the winter fuel allowance, meaning it will be taken away from wealthier pensioners

Include the value of peoples homes in the means test for whether people are liable to contribute to the cost of adult social care

Theresa May has vowed to slash net migration to tens of thousands / PA

Tax and spending:

Personal tax allowance to be increased to 12,500

Higher rate tax threshold to rise from 45,000 to 50,000 by 2020

Corporation tax to fall to 17 per cent from 19 per cent by 2020

Eliminate the budget deficit by 2025

Pensions:

Scrap David Camerons triple lock on pensions after 2020  meaning pensions will rise in line with earnings or inflation, whichever is highest.

Consider a new criminal offence for company directors who "deliberately or recklessly put at risk" a pension scheme's ability to meet its obligations.

The Prime Minister promised a vote in the Houses of Parliament on the terms of Brexit / Virginia Mayo/AP

Brexit:

Exit the European single market and customs union

A vote in both Houses of Parliament on the final agreement for Brexit

Agree terms of future partnership with EU alongside withdrawal, both within the two years allowed under Article 50.

Convert EU law into UK law and later allow parliament to pass legislation to "amend, repeal or improve" any piece of this.

Remain signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights for the next parliament.

Theresa May promised a budget boost for schools / Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Education:

Increase overall schools budget by 4 billion by 2022.

End universal free lunches for infants, but launch free breakfasts for all primary children.

Lifting the ban on grammar schools

Every 11-year-old expected to know their times tables off by heart.

General Election leadership poll

Other policies:
F rench presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron was the winner of last nights heated live TV presidential debate with rival Marine le Pen, polls say.

Independent centrist Mr Macron and the far-right Front National candidate Marine Le Pen traded blows for more than two hours in a bruising head-to-head just days before the final vote this weekend.

Both candidates accused the other of taking French people for imbeciles and they argued over terrorism, the economy and Europe.

The French broadcaster BFMTV found voters had a more favourable view of Mr Macron, 39, than 48-year-old Ms Le Pen in most categories. He was the most convincing of the pair in the opinion of 63 per cent of viewers.

Head-to-head: French presidential candidates Marine Le Pen (L) andEmmanuel Macron / AFP/Getty Images

With both talking over each other, the debate quickly became a shouting match at times, with no common ground between the pro-European Union centrist candidate and the anti-EU Ms Le Pen.

During the debate, Mr Macron, who set up his neither left nor right movement En Marche! (On the Move) a year ago, had branded MS Le Pen an ill-informed, corrupt, hate-filled liar who fed off Frances unhappiness and would bring civil war to France.

At one point the former banker and economy minister snapped: Im sorry Madame Le Pen, France deserves better than you.

Ms Le Pen hit back at Mr Macron, calling him a smirking banker who was a servant of business and finance and complacent on terrorism.

The candidates were attempting to win over the estimated 18 per cent of undecided voters ahead of Sundays election.

The two went into the debate with opinion polls showing Mr Macron with a strong lead of 20 percentage points over Ms Le Pen.
S tarting a new series examining claims made by politicians on the campaign trail.

Key quote:

Reported crime is rising under the Tories almost every police force in the country recorded an increase in crime over the last year.

Labour party press release, 2 May 2017

Analysis:

We cant be sure about whats happened to crime over the past year but it looks like certain kinds of crime might have risen. That said, crime generally has been falling for the past few decades.

There are two main measures of crime in England and Wales: the Crime Survey and police recorded crime. Labour has specified crimes recorded by the police, which have risen nine per cent in the past year and been trending upward since 2014.

But just because the numbers are going up doesnt mean that crime is doing the same in reality.

There are longstanding problems with these statistics, which have tended to tell us more about police recording practices than about trends in crime. Theyre not currently considered a reliable measure of trends in crime for most crime types, according to the Office for National Statistics.

That said, the ONS say some of the recent rises are likely to be genuine, including in homicide (hard to miscount), knife crime, and theft offences.

And Professor Marian Fitzgerald of the University of Kent told the BBC recently that any rises that we are seeing now are genuine. Improvements [to police recording practices] stabilised a long time ago.

But the headline measure of crime is still the Crime Survey for England and Wales. This involves asking people if theyve been the victim of a crime, whether or not they reported it to the police. Its not perfect, but it picks up many more crimes.

Crime has been falling for more than two decades according to the Crime Survey. In the past year the figures are basically static.

The Crime Survey is best for long-term trends. Its less reliable for providing an indication of emerging trends because of a time lag.

So its possible that it will show a rise in the years to come.

Even so, the big picture is that crime is much lower than in the Eighties and Nineties  as is the case in many developed countries.

Verdict:

Crimes recorded by the police have been rising since 2014, but thats partly down to changes in recording practices. Crime in England and Wales is falling over the long term according to the more reliable Crime Survey.

Full Fact is the UK's independent fact-checking organisation. For sources and more fact checks go to fullfact.org
T he Liberal Democrats are preparing to release the party's full election manifesto as they bid to gain dozens of seats in the snap poll on June 8.

Opposition to Brexit is set to dominate the Lib Dems' election campaign strategy and the party has already said a commitment to a second EU referendum will be included in the manifesto.

The party has also already hinted at a series of other pledges on the NHS, ending rough sleeping and a crackdown on the gig economy,

The manifesto document outlining the partys key policies is expected to be published in the next fortnight.

Here is a preview of what we know and what is expected to be in the Lib Dems' election manifesto.

Brexit

Nick Clegg said on Tuesday that the Lib Dems manifesto would include a commitment to another EU referendum where the party would campaign for remain.

The former deputy prime minister said that once talks are complete, voters should get two choices  accept the Brexit deal or stay in the EU.

The party will also argue that Britain must remain in the single market.

Housing

Tim Farron has announced that the Lib Dems will include a pledge to place long-term homeless people straight into independent homes rather than emergency shelters in a bid to end rough sleeping.

The policy would mean increasing grants to local authorities in order to fund homeless prevention services more effectively.

General Election 2017: What you need to know

Mr Farron said his party would also reinstate housing benefit for 18 to 21-year-olds which was abolished just weeks ago.

Student tuition fees

The Lib Dems faced heavy criticism after it previously abandoned its flagship pledge to oppose any increase in tuition fees and restore free education. Performing a drastic U-turn, the cap on fees trebled from 3,000 to 9,000 under the coalition.

It is rumoured that the Lib Dems could include a pledge in its manifesto to slow the rate at which students have to pay back tuition fees in a bid to appeal to student voters again.

Employment

It is believed the Lib Dems are poised to unveil plans to stop employers from forcing staff to identify as self-employed with policies aimed at regulating the so-called gig economy.

A party spokesman told the HuffPost when it comes to employers seeking a flexible workforce freedom cuts both ways and that loopholes allowing bosses to tie staff to exclusivity deals should be closed.

Health

The Lib Dems are expected to reveal a series of policies to address funding and capacity challenges in the NHS including making the case for increasing tax to guarantee the future of the health service.

The party has repeatedly said it is committed to additional investment in health and care services and improved mental health provision.

The Lib Dems also support the introduction of a regulated cannabis market in the UK and believe that legalising and regulating cannabis delivers significant health benefits to public health.
M any parts of the UK will head to the polls on Thursday for local elections, with 4,851 council seats up for grabs.

From 7am until 10pm, registered voters were able to cast their ballots for 88 councils.

They include all of those in Scotland and Wales (32 and 22) and 34 in England  including 27 counties.

There will also be eight mayoral elections in England, six of them brand new positions created under devolution deals.

Where theyre being held

Almost every seat is being elected in all of the councils, including 126 in Durham, 98 in Wiltshire and 84 each in Cumbria and Norfolk.

Cornwall Council is electing 122 of its 123 councillors, and the Council of Isles of Scilly, which has a special status, is electing 16 councillors.

Labour majority councils in Nottinghamshire (66 seats) and Derbyshire (64 seats) are seen as particularly vulnerable to the Tories.

Doncaster and North Tyneside will be voting in mayoral elections, and the first directly-elected mayors will be chosen in the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, the Liverpool City Region, Tees Valley, West of England and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

Those elected will oversee new combined authorities, groups of existing councils working together to make use of devolved powers, wielding power over issues ranging from policing to housing.

When the results are announced

Some results will be declared in the early hours of Friday but most will come in later in the day.

Those counting overnight, straight after polls close, include the West of England mayor and councils for the Isle of Wight, Warwickshire, Dorset and Essex.

However for most of the results counting will not take place until Friday morning.

Most councils will declare results on Friday afternoon, with the West Midlands and Greater Manchester mayors expected to be announced on Friday evening.

What the results mean

While being a big test of Jeremy Corbyn's popularity - and an opportunity for the Tories and Lib Dems to show their strength ahead of the General Election - the local elections will also indicate the future of UKIP, which will contest 48 per cent of council seats.
N ever before have the annual local elections been held in the middle of a General Election campaign.

The results will not foretell the outcome on June 8, but will provide a clear indication of the direction of travel of the various parties.

With contests across much of England and throughout Scotland and Wales, it is Labour that seems to have most to lose.

Although the English county councils are hardly natural Labour territory, the party retains a significant local presence in the Midlands and north in counties like Derbyshire, Lancashire and Nottinghamshire. It must now fight not only to retain council seats it won in 2013, but to show it can also defend the 10 or so key Westminster marginals like Chorley and Mansfield in those counties alone which are in Tory sights. Labour could lose close to 100 councillors overall.

The other big losers in England are likely to be UKIP who suddenly stormed into contention four years ago winning almost 150 seats. Now that intake  many of whom have already defected or lost by-elections  could be almost wiped out, with the Tories being the prime beneficiaries in counties throughout east and south east England including Cambridgeshire, Essex and Kent.

Recent polling in Wales suggests Labours losses could actually exceed those in England, with its overall control of Cardiff council under threat.

In Scotland, the proportional electoral system limits the scope for big gains and losses for any party, but the SNP have their eyes on ousting Labour from Glasgow City Hall for the first time in over 30 years. Any advance by the Tories  in the south and north east of Scotland in particular  might also point to possible parliamentary gains next month.

Much attention will focus on the elections for the six new metro-mayors. Labour should win in the Liverpool and Manchester regions (where ex-MPs Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham fly the party flag) and in Tees Valley, with the Conservatives a banker in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

In the West of England, centred on Bristol, the Liberal Democrats could snatch victory from the Tories if they manage to get to the final count and garner the second votes of those who initially plumped for Labour or the Greens. Such a coalition of Remainers is precisely the strategy party leader Tim Farron hopes will help win back seats in the south west of England both today and in June.

Labour should be favourites in the West Midlands, but ex-John Lewis MD Andy Street has fought a high profile campaign for the Tories and could pull off victory in a region which voted almost 60 per cent Leave in last years EU referendum. That would certainly put a spring in the Prime Ministers step as campaigning begins in earnest.

Colin Rallings is the co-director of the University of Plymouth Elections Centre and co-author of the Local Elections Handbook series
B uckingham Palace has eased fears over the health of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh ahead of a special "all staff" meeting this morning.

Royal staff across the UK have been called to the Palace, but officials would not say what the meeting is about.

But sources from inside Buckingham Palace have moved to assure people that it does not concern the health of royal family members amid fervent speculation.

Her Majesty turned 91 last month and her husband, Prince Philip, will celebrate his 96th birthday in June.

Lord Chamberlain, the most senior officer of the Royal Household, was set address staff from across the royal household, but no announcement has yet been made.

The Queen fulfilled royal duties yesterday by meeting Prime Minister Theresa May at the palace to formally dissolve Parliament ahead of the General Election.
A Labour frontbencher has come under fire for a shameful tweet about Prince Philips retirement.

Chi Onwurah was slammed when she wrote that the Duke of Edinburgh would be retiring in financial security at a time of his choosing.

Her tweet came as Buckingham Palace confirmed the 95-year-old prince would be stepping down from his royal duties.

Ms Onwurah, standing again to be MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and the former shadow minister for business, congratulated him - but what she said next sparked outrage on social media.

Chi Onwurah posted the tweet after the announcement on Thursday morning / Getty Images

She wrote: Congratulations to Prince Philip on retiring in financial security at time of his choosing from a job he enjoys #forthemanynotthefew #waspi.

The "waspi" hashtag refers to the Women Against State Pension Inequality campaign.

Many took to social media to vent their outrage at Ms Onwurahs response to Thursday mornings news.

Some people accused her of being "bitter" and asked whether or not she would still be working at the age of 95.

Prince Philip: The Duke of Edinburgh - In pictures 1 /90 Prince Philip: The Duke of Edinburgh - In pictures Getty Images 2020 The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in the Oak Room at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, looking at their homemade wedding anniversary card, given to them by their great grandchildren Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, ahead of their 73rd wedding anniversary PA 2020 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh arrives for the transfer of the Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles ceremony at Windsor castle AFP via Getty Images 2020 The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in the quadrangle of Windsor Castle. The Queen in the 70th year of her reign PA 2017 Prince Philip, in his role as Captain General, Royal Marines, attends a Parade to mark the finale of the 1664 Global Challenge on the Buckingham Palace Forecourt Getty Images 1947 Princess Elizabeth (The Queen) and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at their wedding in 1947 1969 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh painting at Buckingham on 15 June 1969 Joan Willams/Rex Features 2008 Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh laugh as they watch the games during the Annual Braemar Highland Gathering on 06 September 2008 Getty Images 2019 The Duke of Edinburgh talks to the Duke of Sussex as they leave after the wedding of Lady Gabriella Windsor and Thomas Kingston at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle PA 2019 The Duke of Edinburgh watching Lady Louise Windsor in the Adelaide Arena during the Royal Windsor Horse Show in Windsor, Berkshire PA 2019 Prince Philip stands with other guests as he as they leave following the wedding of Lady Gabriella Windsor and Thomas Kingston at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA 2018 The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh wait for the carriage carrying Princess Eugenie of York and her husband Jack Brooksbank to pass at the start of the procession after their wedding ceremony at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle on October 12, 2018 AFP/Getty Images 2018 The Queen, Prince Philip and other members of the royal family wave, after the wedding ceremony of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle AP 2018 Prince Philip waves as he is driven away from King Edward VII's Hospital where he underwent hip replacement surgery Reuters 2017 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh gestures as he is followed by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry with Meghan arriving to attend the Royal Family's traditional Christmas Day church service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk AFP via Getty Images 2017 Prince Philip, in his role as Captain General, Royal Marines, attends a Parade to mark the finale of the 1664 Global Challenge on the Buckingham Palace Forecourt Reuters 2017 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Honorary Life Member, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is shown a cricket bat which belonged to West Indies batsman Eveton Weekes, by former England cricketer John Stephenson during his visit to open the new Warner Stand at Lord's Cricket Ground AFP/Getty Images 2017 The Duke of Edinburgh talks to school children from St Edwards Catholic Primary School, during a visit to Lord's cricket ground PA 2017 The Duke of Edinburgh, The Queen and the Duchess of Cornwall observe from a balcony during the annual Remembrance Sunday Service at the Cenotaph PA 2017 The Queen and Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh (C-R) attend the Royal Maundy Service in Leicester Cathedral EPA 2017 Prince Philip prepares to sign the guest book during the Royal Maundy service at Leicester Cathedral Reuters 2017 The Queen and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh leave the National Army Museum in London Reuters 2017 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 2017 The Queen watches Prince Philip feed an elephant during a visit to Whipsnade Zoo Reuters 2016 The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at Royal Ascot Getty Images 2016 The Queen's Speech as Prince Philip listens during the State Opening of Parliament in the House of Lords on 18 May 2016 AP 2016 The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh leave St Paul's Cathedral in London following a national service of thanksgiving to celebrate the 90th birthday of Queen PA 2016 The Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke of Edinburgh and Peter Phillips in the Royal Box during the Patron's Lunch in The Mall, central London, in honour of the Queen's 90th birthday PA 2016 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh leaves a service of thanksgiving for the Queen's 90th birthday at St Paul's cathedral Getty Images 2016 The Queen ccompanied by her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh greet well wishers during a 'walkabout' on her 90th birthday in Windsor, west of London, on April 21, 2016. Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images 2015 Prince Philip leaves after attending the British royal family's traditional Christmas Day church service at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham on 25 December 2015 AP 2015 The Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke of Cambridge during the Rugby World Cup Final at Twickenham, London PA 2015 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh smiles during a visit to the headquarters of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force's (RAuxAF) 603 Squadron on July 4, 2015 in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images 2014 The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visit the Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red poppy installation at the Tower of London on 16 October 2014 2014 Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Princess Eugenie, Queen Elizabeth II, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, Prince Harry and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge look on from the balcony during Trooping the Colour - Queen Elizabeth II's Birthday Parade, at The Royal Horseguards on 14 June 2014 Getty Images 2014 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh attends day two of Royal Ascot at Ascot Racecourse on 18 June 2014 Getty Images 2014 The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh attend the Thistle Service at St Giles' Cathedral on July 3, 2014 in Edinburgh, Scotland on 03 July 2014 Getty Images 2014 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh speaks with guests in the Great Hall as he attended a commemorative service for the Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle on 03 July in 2014 Getty Images 2013 Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, have an audience with Pope Francis, during their one-day visit to Rome in Vatican City Getty Images 2012 The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh look out from the Spirit of Chartwell during the Diamond Jubilee Thames River Pageant on 03 June in 2012, Getty Images 2011 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh meets female Chelsea pensioner Majorie Cole during a visit to the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey Getty Images 2011 Queen Elizabeth II poses with U.S. President Barack Obama, his wife Michelle Obama and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace ahead of a State Banquet on May 24, 2011 Getty Images 2010 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh attends a reception at the Ambassador's residence in Muscat, Oman Getty Images 2009 The Queen and HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh arrive in the parade ring in a horse drawn carriage on the first day of Royal Ascot Getty Images 2007 The Queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh walk at Broadlands AFP/Getty Images 2006 The Queen and her husband The Duke of Edinburgh ride out of Buckingham Palace towards Horse Guards Parade AFP/Getty Images 2006 The Duke of Edinburgh speaks to Prince William and Prince Harry at Sandhurst Royal Military Academy after The Sovereign's Parade that marked the completion of Prince Harry's Officer training PA 2005 The Duke of Edinburgh rides on his mini motorbike during the Royal Windsor Horse Show at Home Park, Windsor Castle Getty Images 2003 HRH The Duke of Edinburgh at the dressage event of the International Grand Prix in the Royal Windsor Horse Show on 16 May 2003 at Home Park, Windsor Castle Getty Images 1997 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince William, Earl Spencer, Prince Harry and Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales walk outside Westminster Abbey during the funeral service for Diana, Princess of Wales AFP/Getty Images 1991 Kuwait. British forces homecoming parade. The Queen wiith Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Associated Newspapers 1989 The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh watch the fly past of The Trooping the Colour in 1989 Associated Newspapers 1986 The Queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, on the Great Wall of China at the Bedaling Pass PA 1977 The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, wave goodbye at Heathrow Airport today, as they embark on the Queen's Silver Jubilee Tour of Canada Associated Newspapers 1976 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh drives a team of bays owned by Queen Elizabeth II whilst competing in the Marathon event at the Royal Windsor Horse Show, Berkshire on 15 May 1976 Getty Images 1975 M.C.C. president Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh looks on as West Indies captain Clive Lloyd raises the trophy after his team won the final of the Prudential World Cup against Australia on 23 June 1975 Getty Images 1967 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (centre) meets Kumara, a 7 month-old elephant, during a visit to Whipsnade Zoo, Bedfordshire on 19 July 1967 Getty Images 1958 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh playing cricket at Highclere Castle, Highclere, Hampshire on 03 August 1958 Getty Images 1958 English boat designer Uffa Fox sailing at Cowes with Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Charles, Prince of Wales at Isle of Wight in 1958 Getty Images 1957 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on television, broadcasting from Studio 2 at Riverside, Hammersmith. Prince Philip, making his television debut as lecturer-entertainer in BBC Children's Hour, overran his time by 12 minutes eight seconds on 17 May 1957 1951 Princess Elizabeth and Philip, wearing formal dress as they attend a concert at Festival Hall, London in May 1951 Getty Images circa 1951 Princess Elizabeth and Philip with their two children, Charles and Anne AFP/Getty Images 1950 Philip at polo on 1 June 1950 Getty Images 1949 Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh hold their first child Prince Charles (aged six months) in April 1949 PA 1949 Philip climbing a ladder as he visits Aberdovey Training Camp, Wales in July 1949 Getty Images 1949 Princess Elizabeth talking to Philip at the Royal Horse Show at Windsor, England on 12 May 1949 Getty Images 1948 Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, taking an oath as he receives the Freedom of the City of London, watched by Princess Elizabeth and the Mayor of London (right), Guildhall, London on 8 June 1948 Getty Images Circa 1927-1930 Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, as a boy PA

Another said: Id imagine hes done more for the UK than most MPs ever will.

Others wrote that Ms Onwurah was a fool for taking a cheap shot at the prince, and that she had a chip on her shoulder.

Among those who took aim at the Labour MP was Conservative candidate for Stratford-on-Avon Nadhim Zahawi.

He wrote on Twitter: That is shameful & wrong. I am truly shocked by your comments.

"The Royal family should be kept out of politics. I hope you will apologise.

In response, Ms Onwurah said: I have huge respect for Prince Philip & the Royal family, but also want others to enjoy same freedom of retiring when & how they choose.

Prince Philip: 10 memorable quotes from the Duke of Edinburgh

Buckingham Palace on Thursday morning announced the Duke of Edinburgh, who turns 96 next month, will retire in the autumn.

The Queen called an unexpected meeting with senior staff before confirming the news.

A statement from Buckingham Palace read: "The Duke of Edinburgh is Patron, President or a member of over 780 organisations, with which he will continue to be associated, although he will no longer play an active role by attending engagements.

"Her Majesty will continue to carry out a full programme of official engagements with the support of members of the Royal Family.
P rince Philip has joked he cant stand up much longer after it was announced he will stand down from royal duties this year.

The trademark off-the-cuff remark came after a guest at St Jamess Palace told the Duke of Edinburgh he was sorry to hear he was retiring from public life.

The Queens husband, 95, has gained notoriety for such witty ripostes throughout his royal career, occasionally landing himself in hot water.

His retirement was announced by Buckingham Palace on Thursday morning, before he joined the Queen, 91, at an Order of the Merit service.

Prince Philip has become known for his off-the-cuff remarks / PA

Photos from the event show him smiling and waving form the car, and laughing with guests.

One guest told him "I'm sorry to hear you are standing down" - to which he immediately replied: "Well, I can't stand up much longer."

The surprise decision - taken with the full support of the Queen - was not taken due to deteriorating health, officials said.

But it came amid global speculation around the royals' health, with the Palace calling in staff from across the country for a secret meeting this morning.

The Queen will continue to carry out her full programme of official engagements with the support of her heir Prince Charles, his sons William and Harry and the rest of the royal family.

Prince Philip: The Duke of Edinburgh - In pictures 1 /90 Prince Philip: The Duke of Edinburgh - In pictures Getty Images 2020 The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in the Oak Room at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, looking at their homemade wedding anniversary card, given to them by their great grandchildren Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, ahead of their 73rd wedding anniversary PA 2020 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh arrives for the transfer of the Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles ceremony at Windsor castle AFP via Getty Images 2020 The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in the quadrangle of Windsor Castle. The Queen in the 70th year of her reign PA 2017 Prince Philip, in his role as Captain General, Royal Marines, attends a Parade to mark the finale of the 1664 Global Challenge on the Buckingham Palace Forecourt Getty Images 1947 Princess Elizabeth (The Queen) and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at their wedding in 1947 1969 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh painting at Buckingham on 15 June 1969 Joan Willams/Rex Features 2008 Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh laugh as they watch the games during the Annual Braemar Highland Gathering on 06 September 2008 Getty Images 2019 The Duke of Edinburgh talks to the Duke of Sussex as they leave after the wedding of Lady Gabriella Windsor and Thomas Kingston at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle PA 2019 The Duke of Edinburgh watching Lady Louise Windsor in the Adelaide Arena during the Royal Windsor Horse Show in Windsor, Berkshire PA 2019 Prince Philip stands with other guests as he as they leave following the wedding of Lady Gabriella Windsor and Thomas Kingston at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA 2018 The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh wait for the carriage carrying Princess Eugenie of York and her husband Jack Brooksbank to pass at the start of the procession after their wedding ceremony at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle on October 12, 2018 AFP/Getty Images 2018 The Queen, Prince Philip and other members of the royal family wave, after the wedding ceremony of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle AP 2018 Prince Philip waves as he is driven away from King Edward VII's Hospital where he underwent hip replacement surgery Reuters 2017 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh gestures as he is followed by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry with Meghan arriving to attend the Royal Family's traditional Christmas Day church service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk AFP via Getty Images 2017 Prince Philip, in his role as Captain General, Royal Marines, attends a Parade to mark the finale of the 1664 Global Challenge on the Buckingham Palace Forecourt Reuters 2017 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Honorary Life Member, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is shown a cricket bat which belonged to West Indies batsman Eveton Weekes, by former England cricketer John Stephenson during his visit to open the new Warner Stand at Lord's Cricket Ground AFP/Getty Images 2017 The Duke of Edinburgh talks to school children from St Edwards Catholic Primary School, during a visit to Lord's cricket ground PA 2017 The Duke of Edinburgh, The Queen and the Duchess of Cornwall observe from a balcony during the annual Remembrance Sunday Service at the Cenotaph PA 2017 The Queen and Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh (C-R) attend the Royal Maundy Service in Leicester Cathedral EPA 2017 Prince Philip prepares to sign the guest book during the Royal Maundy service at Leicester Cathedral Reuters 2017 The Queen and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh leave the National Army Museum in London Reuters 2017 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 2017 The Queen watches Prince Philip feed an elephant during a visit to Whipsnade Zoo Reuters 2016 The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at Royal Ascot Getty Images 2016 The Queen's Speech as Prince Philip listens during the State Opening of Parliament in the House of Lords on 18 May 2016 AP 2016 The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh leave St Paul's Cathedral in London following a national service of thanksgiving to celebrate the 90th birthday of Queen PA 2016 The Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke of Edinburgh and Peter Phillips in the Royal Box during the Patron's Lunch in The Mall, central London, in honour of the Queen's 90th birthday PA 2016 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh leaves a service of thanksgiving for the Queen's 90th birthday at St Paul's cathedral Getty Images 2016 The Queen ccompanied by her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh greet well wishers during a 'walkabout' on her 90th birthday in Windsor, west of London, on April 21, 2016. Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images 2015 Prince Philip leaves after attending the British royal family's traditional Christmas Day church service at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham on 25 December 2015 AP 2015 The Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke of Cambridge during the Rugby World Cup Final at Twickenham, London PA 2015 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh smiles during a visit to the headquarters of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force's (RAuxAF) 603 Squadron on July 4, 2015 in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images 2014 The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visit the Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red poppy installation at the Tower of London on 16 October 2014 2014 Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Princess Eugenie, Queen Elizabeth II, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, Prince Harry and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge look on from the balcony during Trooping the Colour - Queen Elizabeth II's Birthday Parade, at The Royal Horseguards on 14 June 2014 Getty Images 2014 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh attends day two of Royal Ascot at Ascot Racecourse on 18 June 2014 Getty Images 2014 The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh attend the Thistle Service at St Giles' Cathedral on July 3, 2014 in Edinburgh, Scotland on 03 July 2014 Getty Images 2014 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh speaks with guests in the Great Hall as he attended a commemorative service for the Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle on 03 July in 2014 Getty Images 2013 Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, have an audience with Pope Francis, during their one-day visit to Rome in Vatican City Getty Images 2012 The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh look out from the Spirit of Chartwell during the Diamond Jubilee Thames River Pageant on 03 June in 2012, Getty Images 2011 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh meets female Chelsea pensioner Majorie Cole during a visit to the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey Getty Images 2011 Queen Elizabeth II poses with U.S. President Barack Obama, his wife Michelle Obama and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace ahead of a State Banquet on May 24, 2011 Getty Images 2010 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh attends a reception at the Ambassador's residence in Muscat, Oman Getty Images 2009 The Queen and HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh arrive in the parade ring in a horse drawn carriage on the first day of Royal Ascot Getty Images 2007 The Queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh walk at Broadlands AFP/Getty Images 2006 The Queen and her husband The Duke of Edinburgh ride out of Buckingham Palace towards Horse Guards Parade AFP/Getty Images 2006 The Duke of Edinburgh speaks to Prince William and Prince Harry at Sandhurst Royal Military Academy after The Sovereign's Parade that marked the completion of Prince Harry's Officer training PA 2005 The Duke of Edinburgh rides on his mini motorbike during the Royal Windsor Horse Show at Home Park, Windsor Castle Getty Images 2003 HRH The Duke of Edinburgh at the dressage event of the International Grand Prix in the Royal Windsor Horse Show on 16 May 2003 at Home Park, Windsor Castle Getty Images 1997 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince William, Earl Spencer, Prince Harry and Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales walk outside Westminster Abbey during the funeral service for Diana, Princess of Wales AFP/Getty Images 1991 Kuwait. British forces homecoming parade. The Queen wiith Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Associated Newspapers 1989 The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh watch the fly past of The Trooping the Colour in 1989 Associated Newspapers 1986 The Queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, on the Great Wall of China at the Bedaling Pass PA 1977 The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, wave goodbye at Heathrow Airport today, as they embark on the Queen's Silver Jubilee Tour of Canada Associated Newspapers 1976 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh drives a team of bays owned by Queen Elizabeth II whilst competing in the Marathon event at the Royal Windsor Horse Show, Berkshire on 15 May 1976 Getty Images 1975 M.C.C. president Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh looks on as West Indies captain Clive Lloyd raises the trophy after his team won the final of the Prudential World Cup against Australia on 23 June 1975 Getty Images 1967 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (centre) meets Kumara, a 7 month-old elephant, during a visit to Whipsnade Zoo, Bedfordshire on 19 July 1967 Getty Images 1958 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh playing cricket at Highclere Castle, Highclere, Hampshire on 03 August 1958 Getty Images 1958 English boat designer Uffa Fox sailing at Cowes with Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Charles, Prince of Wales at Isle of Wight in 1958 Getty Images 1957 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on television, broadcasting from Studio 2 at Riverside, Hammersmith. Prince Philip, making his television debut as lecturer-entertainer in BBC Children's Hour, overran his time by 12 minutes eight seconds on 17 May 1957 1951 Princess Elizabeth and Philip, wearing formal dress as they attend a concert at Festival Hall, London in May 1951 Getty Images circa 1951 Princess Elizabeth and Philip with their two children, Charles and Anne AFP/Getty Images 1950 Philip at polo on 1 June 1950 Getty Images 1949 Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh hold their first child Prince Charles (aged six months) in April 1949 PA 1949 Philip climbing a ladder as he visits Aberdovey Training Camp, Wales in July 1949 Getty Images 1949 Princess Elizabeth talking to Philip at the Royal Horse Show at Windsor, England on 12 May 1949 Getty Images 1948 Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, taking an oath as he receives the Freedom of the City of London, watched by Princess Elizabeth and the Mayor of London (right), Guildhall, London on 8 June 1948 Getty Images Circa 1927-1930 Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, as a boy PA

Philip, who famously follows a few steps behind the woman he married in 1947, will attend previously scheduled engagements between now and August, both individually and accompanying the Queen.

However, the man once described by the monarch as her strength and stay will not be accepting new invitations for visits and engagements. He may still choose to attend certain public events from time to time, the Palace said.

The Duke of Edinburgh is patron, president or a member of more than 780 organisations, with which he will continue to be associated, although he will no longer play an active role by attending engagements.

The Queen and Prince Philip pictured arriving at the service (John Stillwell/PA ) / John Stillwell/PA

In response to the news, Theresa May said: On behalf of the whole country, I want to offer our deepest gratitude and good wishes to His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh following todays announcement that he will stand down from public duties in the autumn.

From his steadfast support for Her Majesty the Queen to his inspirational Duke of Edinburgh Awards and his patronage of hundreds of charities and good causes, his contribution to our United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and the wider world will be of huge benefit to us all for years to come.

When Philip asked George VI for Princess Elizabeths hand in marriage, the king confided to a friend: I wonder if Philip knows what he is taking on.

"One day Lilibet will be queen and he will be consort. Thats much harder than being a king, but I think hes the man for the job.

Prince Philip Retires From Royal Duties

Within five years the king would be dead and it would fall to Philip to break the news to his young wife.

Throughout his long and extraordinary life Philip has certainly lived up to George VIs expectations  and has proved he was the man for the job.

He has become founder, fellow, patron, president, chairman and member of hundreds of organisations and charities, and has enjoyed other, private pursuits too.

Prince Philip and the Queen with members of the Order of Merit (John Stillwell/PA ) / John Stillwell/PA

He is a talented artist, was a passionate polo player, still enjoys carriage driving and proved skilled at the running of the Balmoral and Sandringham estates. As Ranger of Windsor Great Park, he oversaw the restoration of parts of Windsor Castle after the fire in 1992.

Almost 96, he has been carrying out more public engagements than William and Harry and the Duchess of Cambridge combined. But he was already steadily curtailing his commitments, having stepped down from a number of patronages when he turned 90.

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Todays landmark announcement comes as the Queen, slowly but surely, also hands over some of her more onerous duties, including all those involving long-haul travel, to her heir and other senior royals.

After the Queen turned 90 in April last year, the Palace also announced that she would step down as patron of some 25 national organisations in favour of younger members of her family. Charles, William and the Princess Royal now carry out many of her regular investitures.

There was also concern for the Queen and Philips health over Christmas, when both developed what were described as heavy colds.

In 1997, the Queen paid tribute to her husband in her golden wedding anniversary speech at Londons Guildhall.

He is someone who doesnt take easily to compliments, she said. He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim or we shall ever know.
T he Duke of Edinburgh has been the Queens steadfast companion for almost 70 years.

Known for his no-nonsense approach and acerbic wit, Prince Philip is the longest-serving consort in British history.

The husband of one of the most famous women in the world, he is defined by his relationship to Elizabeth II and gave up a promising naval career to support his wife in her royal role.

While the Queen takes centre stage, Philip has always been one step behind, ready to lend a hand. He has had a profound effect on the development of the British monarchy and has been a moderniser of the Firm.

Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh wave at the crowds from the balcony at Buckingham Palace in 1953 (Getty) / Getty Images

In private, he is head of the family. To the public, he is the irascible figure who speaks his mind despite the consequences  famed for his outrageous gaffes.

Hard-working and inquisitive, Philip has dedicated himself to national life for decades. Even after he gave up some of his charitable associations when he was 90, he has been associated with more than 800 charities.

Philip was born on Corfu on June 10, 1921 to Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Alice of Battenburg. His early years were marked by upheaval after the family went into exile following a military coup in Greece which overthrew his uncle, King Constantine I.

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George V, the Queens grandfather, ordered Royal Navy cruiser HMS Calypso to evacuate the family and Philip was carried to safety in a cot made from an orange box in December 1922, aged 18 months.

His childhood lacked stability and he moved between relatives in France and Britain, starting his studies at Cheam Prep School in 1928. After spending a year at school in Germany, he attended Gordonstoun in Morayshire.

Philip later joined the Royal Navy and, while a cadet, caught the eye of a 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth, a distant cousin, when she visited the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth with her parents, the King and Queen.

During the Second World War he saw active service from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean, and by 1945 was in Tokyo Bay as Japan surrendered.

His friendship with Elizabeth grew and blossomed into love. In 1947, two years after the end of the war, they were married in Westminster Abbey. Philip renounced his Greek title and became a naturalised British subject, and was made Duke of Edinburgh by the King.

The Duke and Princess had their first child, Charles, in 1948 and Anne in 1950. But their lives changed forever when George VI died on February 6, 1952 and Elizabeth became Queen.

Prince Philip gazing in wonder at a Maori with a painted face during The Queen's Tour of New Zealand in 1970 / Getty

Philip, whose naval career had come to an end, had to a define a new role for himself as his wife took up her duties as head of state. He accompanied her abroad on Commonwealth tours and state visits, and on UK engagements.

He undertook many solo royal engagements, becoming involved with hundreds of groups, often as hands-on president.

He set about modernising Buckingham Palace after being told to keep out of the Queens official duties, and reorganised the Balmoral and Sandringham estates, as well as becoming ranger of Windsor Great Park.

Prince Philip: The Duke of Edinburgh - In pictures 1 /90 Prince Philip: The Duke of Edinburgh - In pictures Getty Images 2020 The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in the Oak Room at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, looking at their homemade wedding anniversary card, given to them by their great grandchildren Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, ahead of their 73rd wedding anniversary PA 2020 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh arrives for the transfer of the Colonel-in-Chief of The Rifles ceremony at Windsor castle AFP via Getty Images 2020 The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in the quadrangle of Windsor Castle. The Queen in the 70th year of her reign PA 2017 Prince Philip, in his role as Captain General, Royal Marines, attends a Parade to mark the finale of the 1664 Global Challenge on the Buckingham Palace Forecourt Getty Images 1947 Princess Elizabeth (The Queen) and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at their wedding in 1947 1969 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh painting at Buckingham on 15 June 1969 Joan Willams/Rex Features 2008 Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh laugh as they watch the games during the Annual Braemar Highland Gathering on 06 September 2008 Getty Images 2019 The Duke of Edinburgh talks to the Duke of Sussex as they leave after the wedding of Lady Gabriella Windsor and Thomas Kingston at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle PA 2019 The Duke of Edinburgh watching Lady Louise Windsor in the Adelaide Arena during the Royal Windsor Horse Show in Windsor, Berkshire PA 2019 Prince Philip stands with other guests as he as they leave following the wedding of Lady Gabriella Windsor and Thomas Kingston at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA 2018 The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh wait for the carriage carrying Princess Eugenie of York and her husband Jack Brooksbank to pass at the start of the procession after their wedding ceremony at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle on October 12, 2018 AFP/Getty Images 2018 The Queen, Prince Philip and other members of the royal family wave, after the wedding ceremony of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle AP 2018 Prince Philip waves as he is driven away from King Edward VII's Hospital where he underwent hip replacement surgery Reuters 2017 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh gestures as he is followed by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry with Meghan arriving to attend the Royal Family's traditional Christmas Day church service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk AFP via Getty Images 2017 Prince Philip, in his role as Captain General, Royal Marines, attends a Parade to mark the finale of the 1664 Global Challenge on the Buckingham Palace Forecourt Reuters 2017 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Honorary Life Member, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is shown a cricket bat which belonged to West Indies batsman Eveton Weekes, by former England cricketer John Stephenson during his visit to open the new Warner Stand at Lord's Cricket Ground AFP/Getty Images 2017 The Duke of Edinburgh talks to school children from St Edwards Catholic Primary School, during a visit to Lord's cricket ground PA 2017 The Duke of Edinburgh, The Queen and the Duchess of Cornwall observe from a balcony during the annual Remembrance Sunday Service at the Cenotaph PA 2017 The Queen and Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh (C-R) attend the Royal Maundy Service in Leicester Cathedral EPA 2017 Prince Philip prepares to sign the guest book during the Royal Maundy service at Leicester Cathedral Reuters 2017 The Queen and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh leave the National Army Museum in London Reuters 2017 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 2017 The Queen watches Prince Philip feed an elephant during a visit to Whipsnade Zoo Reuters 2016 The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at Royal Ascot Getty Images 2016 The Queen's Speech as Prince Philip listens during the State Opening of Parliament in the House of Lords on 18 May 2016 AP 2016 The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh leave St Paul's Cathedral in London following a national service of thanksgiving to celebrate the 90th birthday of Queen PA 2016 The Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke of Edinburgh and Peter Phillips in the Royal Box during the Patron's Lunch in The Mall, central London, in honour of the Queen's 90th birthday PA 2016 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh leaves a service of thanksgiving for the Queen's 90th birthday at St Paul's cathedral Getty Images 2016 The Queen ccompanied by her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh greet well wishers during a 'walkabout' on her 90th birthday in Windsor, west of London, on April 21, 2016. Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images 2015 Prince Philip leaves after attending the British royal family's traditional Christmas Day church service at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham on 25 December 2015 AP 2015 The Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke of Cambridge during the Rugby World Cup Final at Twickenham, London PA 2015 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh smiles during a visit to the headquarters of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force's (RAuxAF) 603 Squadron on July 4, 2015 in Edinburgh, Scotland Getty Images 2014 The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visit the Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red poppy installation at the Tower of London on 16 October 2014 2014 Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Princess Eugenie, Queen Elizabeth II, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, Prince Harry and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge look on from the balcony during Trooping the Colour - Queen Elizabeth II's Birthday Parade, at The Royal Horseguards on 14 June 2014 Getty Images 2014 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh attends day two of Royal Ascot at Ascot Racecourse on 18 June 2014 Getty Images 2014 The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh attend the Thistle Service at St Giles' Cathedral on July 3, 2014 in Edinburgh, Scotland on 03 July 2014 Getty Images 2014 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh speaks with guests in the Great Hall as he attended a commemorative service for the Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle on 03 July in 2014 Getty Images 2013 Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, have an audience with Pope Francis, during their one-day visit to Rome in Vatican City Getty Images 2012 The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh look out from the Spirit of Chartwell during the Diamond Jubilee Thames River Pageant on 03 June in 2012, Getty Images 2011 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh meets female Chelsea pensioner Majorie Cole during a visit to the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey Getty Images 2011 Queen Elizabeth II poses with U.S. President Barack Obama, his wife Michelle Obama and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace ahead of a State Banquet on May 24, 2011 Getty Images 2010 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh attends a reception at the Ambassador's residence in Muscat, Oman Getty Images 2009 The Queen and HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh arrive in the parade ring in a horse drawn carriage on the first day of Royal Ascot Getty Images 2007 The Queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh walk at Broadlands AFP/Getty Images 2006 The Queen and her husband The Duke of Edinburgh ride out of Buckingham Palace towards Horse Guards Parade AFP/Getty Images 2006 The Duke of Edinburgh speaks to Prince William and Prince Harry at Sandhurst Royal Military Academy after The Sovereign's Parade that marked the completion of Prince Harry's Officer training PA 2005 The Duke of Edinburgh rides on his mini motorbike during the Royal Windsor Horse Show at Home Park, Windsor Castle Getty Images 2003 HRH The Duke of Edinburgh at the dressage event of the International Grand Prix in the Royal Windsor Horse Show on 16 May 2003 at Home Park, Windsor Castle Getty Images 1997 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince William, Earl Spencer, Prince Harry and Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales walk outside Westminster Abbey during the funeral service for Diana, Princess of Wales AFP/Getty Images 1991 Kuwait. British forces homecoming parade. The Queen wiith Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Associated Newspapers 1989 The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh watch the fly past of The Trooping the Colour in 1989 Associated Newspapers 1986 The Queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, on the Great Wall of China at the Bedaling Pass PA 1977 The Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, wave goodbye at Heathrow Airport today, as they embark on the Queen's Silver Jubilee Tour of Canada Associated Newspapers 1976 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh drives a team of bays owned by Queen Elizabeth II whilst competing in the Marathon event at the Royal Windsor Horse Show, Berkshire on 15 May 1976 Getty Images 1975 M.C.C. president Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh looks on as West Indies captain Clive Lloyd raises the trophy after his team won the final of the Prudential World Cup against Australia on 23 June 1975 Getty Images 1967 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (centre) meets Kumara, a 7 month-old elephant, during a visit to Whipsnade Zoo, Bedfordshire on 19 July 1967 Getty Images 1958 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh playing cricket at Highclere Castle, Highclere, Hampshire on 03 August 1958 Getty Images 1958 English boat designer Uffa Fox sailing at Cowes with Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Charles, Prince of Wales at Isle of Wight in 1958 Getty Images 1957 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on television, broadcasting from Studio 2 at Riverside, Hammersmith. Prince Philip, making his television debut as lecturer-entertainer in BBC Children's Hour, overran his time by 12 minutes eight seconds on 17 May 1957 1951 Princess Elizabeth and Philip, wearing formal dress as they attend a concert at Festival Hall, London in May 1951 Getty Images circa 1951 Princess Elizabeth and Philip with their two children, Charles and Anne AFP/Getty Images 1950 Philip at polo on 1 June 1950 Getty Images 1949 Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh hold their first child Prince Charles (aged six months) in April 1949 PA 1949 Philip climbing a ladder as he visits Aberdovey Training Camp, Wales in July 1949 Getty Images 1949 Princess Elizabeth talking to Philip at the Royal Horse Show at Windsor, England on 12 May 1949 Getty Images 1948 Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, taking an oath as he receives the Freedom of the City of London, watched by Princess Elizabeth and the Mayor of London (right), Guildhall, London on 8 June 1948 Getty Images Circa 1927-1930 Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, as a boy PA

In 1956, he set up the Duke of Edinburghs Award  inspired by his time at Gordonstoun and his mentor and headmaster Dr Kurt Hahn.

After a gap of 10 years, the Queen and Philip welcomed two more children  Andrew in 1960 and Edward in 1964.

The Duke witnessed the troubles faced by the Windsors in the Nineties  from the scandal surrounding Sarah, Duchess of York to Charles and Dianas War of the Waleses. When Diana died in 1997, Philip joined Charles, William, Harry and Dianas brother Earl Spencer behind her funeral cortege.

The Duke helped the Queen through the deaths of both her mother and sister in the Golden Jubilee year of 2002.

When he turned 90 in 2011 he insisted on no fuss, but the Queen bestowed on him a new title: Lord High Admiral, titular head of the Royal Navy. It was a touching tribute to a man who gave up his military career to support his wife and devote himself to royal service.

A symbol of continuity in the monarchy and public life, Philip is the person the Queen relies upon above all others.

His first private secretary Michael Parker, a Navy friend, revealed: He told me the first day he offered me my job that his job, first, second and last, was never to let her down.
T ime is running out to spend your old 5 notes  with the paper currency set to become worthless on the High Street tomorrow.

The old-fashioned note will no longer be considered legal tender as of Friday, May 5, meaning anybody with any of the old fivers lying about needs to take them to the bank or Post Office.

The Bank of England has estimated there still about 165 million notes in circulation across the country.

Luckily for those who still havent cashed them in, all legal tender keeps its value even after the notes have gone out of circulation, meaning if the local bank will not accept them then the Bank of England will.

The new 5 polymer note / Getty Images

Old notes given back at the banks are set to be recycled.

The Bank of Englands website says: All Bank of England notes retain their face value for all time. If your bank, building society or Post Office is not willing to accept these notes they can be exchanged with the Bank of England in London by post or in person.

The new durable polymer note, featuring Sir Winston Churchill, was issued in September last year, causing a stir with vegan protesters as the note contains small traces of animal fat.

But some of the notes have also fetched tens of thousands of pounds in auctions, with the first batch of notes proving hot property for collectors.

Watch: New 5 note plays vinyl records

The new Bank of England fiver is stronger than its predecessor and boasts new security features making it harder to counterfeit.

The Bank is also pushing ahead with plans to introduce a new polymer 10 note featuring Jane Austin, to be followed by a new 20.
A British man jailed after attempting to grab a policemans gun and shoot Donald Trump during a campaign rally has quietly returned to the UK via Heathrow airport.

Michael Sandford, 20, attempted to snatch the weapon at a Las Vegas casino where Mr Trump was addressing supporters in the run-up to the US election in June last year.

Sandford, who has autism, was jailed for 12 months in December.

But he flew back to the UK on Thursday, months before his sentence was expected to end, according to the Independent.

Family photo: Lynne Sandford and her son Michael / PA Wire

It is believed he was met at Heathrow airport by his parents Lynne and Paul shortly after 11am.

Sandford, from Dorking, Surrey, told officers after his arrest that his plan was to shoot the now US president.

According to court documents, Sandford told a policeman at the rally that he wanted Mr Trump's autograph before he attempted to seize the officer's gun.

He was tackled by officers and frogmarched from the venue.

During a police interview, when asked why he attempted to grab the weapon, Sandford replied: "To shoot and kill Donald Trump," court records show.

Speaking before his sentencing, Sandfords mother Lynne, said her son feared Mr Trump may "choose to make an example of him".

She said: Michael is terrified. He phoned me 15 times through the night with severe anxiety over what the judge is going to say to him and the sentence he will be given.

"Michael is afraid that because Donald Trump is now president-elect, it may have some bearing on the judge's sentencing."

She also told reporters that her son had been on suicide watch prior to being sentenced.

The family launched a crowd-funding campaign to raise 10,000 to pay legal costs to bring their son back to the UK.

A Home Office spokeswoman told the Standard they could not comment on individual cases.
D e Beers, the worlds largest diamond producer, has revealed plans to introduce carbon-neutral mining within five years.

The companys scientists announced plans on Thursday to improve mines in South Africa and Canada within five to 10 years.

The changes could see emissions slashed by up to 10 times that of a typical mine.

Researchers are looking into ways of storing large volumes of carbon through the mineralisation of kimberlite tailings  the material that remains once diamonds have been removed.

De Beers Group CEO Bruce Cleaver said: By replicating this technology at other mining operations around the world, this project could play a major role in changing the way not only the diamond industry, but also the broader mining industry, addresses the challenge of reducing its carbon footprint.

We have the real potential to leave a positive, long-lasting legacy for the global mining industry.
A tourist was rushed to hospital by military speedboat after she was attacked by a Komodo dragon in Indonesia.

The 50-year-old victim, identified as Singaporean Lon Lee Alle, had reportedly ignored warnings not to get too close to take pictures in East Nusa Tenggara province.

He was then severely bitten on his left leg and is currently receiving treatment.

Native to a small group of Indonesian islands, Komodo dragons are the worlds largest lizards and have venomous bites.

Indonesias Park rangers said the incident was the first in the past five years.
A fireball engulfs a protester as angry crowds clashed with police at an anti-government rally in Venezuelas capital, Caracas.

Violence broke out as demonstrators were blocked from approaching a rally where president Nicolas Maduro addressed supporters on Wednesday.

Thousands of Venezuelans had taken to the streets in protest at President Maduros plan to rewrite the constitution.

The man caught fire as masked protesters hurled petrol bombs and stones at police, who responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and batons.

Thousands protested President Maduro's plans to rewrite the constitution / AP

According to local media reports he was set alight when a police motorcycle exploded.

Fellow protesters helped extinguish the flames and have him first aid.

Opposition activists and National Guard personnel clash during a protest / AFP/Getty Images

One person died in the violence, bringing the death toll to 34 during a month of unrest, amid shortages of food, medicine and basic goods.

Another protester was apparently run over after charging at a National Guard armoured car and two opposition politicians were also injured.

Opponents are angry that the socialist president wants to bypass the National Assembly to push through constitutional reforms that would strengthen his grip on power.
S enior US Republicans claimed they were confident they would win a vote to repeal Obamacare today in what would be President Donald Trumps first major legislative victory.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Were gonna pass it ahead of a vote in the House of Representatives to replace former president Barack Obamas Affordable Care Act.

Called the American Health Care Act, the Republican bill would repeal most Obamacare taxes, including a penalty for not buying health insurance. It would slash funding for Medicaid, which provides insurance for the poor, and roll back much of its expansion.

Mr Trumps two earlier attempts at healthcare reform collapsed, underscoring the difficulty of rallying together Republican factions.

The party controls both houses of Congress but moderate Republicans feared that overhauling Mr Obamas 2010 healthcare law would leave too many people with pre-existing medical conditions unable to afford health coverage.

On Tuesday, the Associated Press had counted 21 Republicans saying they would oppose the bill - one short of the 22 defections that would kill it if all Democrats voted no. Many others were undecided.

But several Republican sceptics got behind the bill after they met with Mr Trump to create a compromise proposal that is still expected to face unanimous Democratic opposition.

The legislations prospects improved after members of the Freedom Caucus, a faction of conservative lawmakers in the House who played a key role in derailing the original version of the bill last month, said they could go along with the compromise.

The bill has been criticised by medical groups, including the American Medical Association, who say millions of Americans will lose coverage or face higher costs.

Millions more Americans got healthcare coverage under Obamacare, but Republicans have long attacked it. They view it as a government intrusion into the healthcare system and blame it for driving up costs.

Mr Trump has thrown his weight behind the new health care bill meeting and calling members of his party.

Even if a narrow majority in the House approves the bill, it still faces obstacles in the Senate. House Republicans are going to tattoo this moral monstrosity to their foreheads, and the American people will hold them accountable, said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

It came as Mr Obama unveiled pans for his presidential centre and library complex on the South Side of Chicago where he raised his family and launched his political career.

He told the audience: We want this to be is the world premiere institution for training young people and leadership to make a difference in their communities, in their countries and in the world.
M ichael Fassbender accidentally dropped an F-bomb as he worked the green carpet for the premiere of his latest film, Alien: Covenant.

The actor, 40, let slip the expletive as he recalled his struggle to learn to play the recorder for his role in the next Ridley Scott instalment.

Speaking to Edith Bowman in Londons Leicester Square he said: I was practising that damn flute, a whistle or whatever you want to call it. It makes an awful sound.

I had two teachers and I was practising this thing and I could hear the neighbours going I hate it when people learn instruments its f****** infuriating. He quickly added sorry before continuing: So I had to put tissues in the air holes.

'Sorry': Michael Fassbender accidentally drops an expletive / Facebook/ Alien Covenant

Fassbender was joined by his co-stars Katherine Waterston and Danny McBride who both opened up about the challenges they faced on set.

Waterston said she hated her onscreen running, while McBride said he came to realise that he suffers from claustrophobia.

Leading roles: Michael Fassbender and Katherine Waterston (Ian West/PA ) / Ian West/PA

Paul Thomas Anderson kept sending me e-mails going the girl in the new Star Wars movie is running really well  dont screw this up, Waterston said. He was haunting me so I was really paranoid about it. I feel like I look like a fraggle. Its scary to be chased especially when youre in a space suit that has magnets sticking you to the floor.

Good pals? Noel Gallagher and Michael Fassbender hang out at the afterparty / Dave Benett

Speaking about his struggles on set McBride said: I learned quickly that Im claustrophobic, especially when putting on helmets. So I learned how to take deep breaths.

Director Ridley Scott was also in attendance and spoke about his love for the horror genre  and warned filmgoers that the movie may leave them unable to sleep.

TODO: define component type brightcove

He said: I like making people laugh, but scaring people when it really works is fun. People here will get a very stressful evening and a sleepless night.

Speaking about why he chose Waterston for the leading role he said: Shes very tall, very smart, very beautiful, and a great actress. What else could you want?

The film follows the crew of the colony ship Covenant which is bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy. The team discover what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dangerous world. They are forced to attempt a harrowing escape after uncovering an unimaginable threat.

Other stars in attendance at Thursday nights premiere included Nathaniel Dean, Tess Haubrich, Keith Lemon, Kenneth Branagh, Brian Cox, Billy Crudup and Dakota Blue Richards.

Alien: Covenant is slated for UK cinema release on May 12.
A rnold Schwarzenegger decided to make his presence in Paris known by photobombing unsuspecting tourists.

Instead of keeping a low profile, the Terminator star posed in front of the large group of people as they were trying to get their photo taken at the Eiffel Tower on Wednesday.

The 69-year-old actor interrupted the photography session by zooming right up to the camera on his bicycle, wearing a green camouflage jacket.

The Thai tourists later admitted that they had no idea who their famous photobomber was until one of the group shouted Arnold.

I thought to myself, 'Hey, what a badass! a member of the group later posted on social media site, Pantip.

Schwarzenegger posted a photo of the moment on his official Instagram account, alongside other snaps from his Parisian adventure.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Miley Cirus party together

He wrote: Fantastic bike ride through Paris. I cannot say this enough: to truly appreciate a city, get on a bike. Thank you to the tourists at the Eiffel Tower for letting me crash your photo!

The superstar also shared pictures of himself posing with policemen and outside famous monuments including Notre Dame.

Schwarzenegger was in the French capital to be honoured at the Elysee Palace by French President Francois Hollande.

He was awarded the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur for his environmental work.
M adeleine McCann has been missing for 10-years after she disappeared from the Portuguese town of Praia de Luz on May 3, 2007.

Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann have vowed to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to find her.

Tragically, little concrete evidence has come to light in the intervening years to help find Madeleine, who was three years old at the time, despite police forces from two countries working to track her down and a media frenzy surrounding the case.

New BBC Panorama documentary Madeleine McCann: 10 Years On takes a look back over the disappearance in an attempt to find out what really happened.

Heres everything you need to know about the show:

Whats it about?

New leads: Richard Bilton interviews the Deputy Head of Portugals Policia Judiciaria / BBC

The programme will re-examine evidence gathered over a decade of police investigation, focusing on the contradictory conclusions reached by the British and Portuguese teams.

Panoramas Richard Bilton will also return to Portugal to interview officers involved in the investigation, including the Deputy Head of the Policia Judiciaria, as well as some of the men questioned by the police.

Whos presenting it?

The programme follows journalist Bilton, who has reported on the case for the BBC since the first days of Madeleines disappearance. He has covered other high profile crimes for the broadcaster including the Shannon Matthews case and the Soham murders.

When is it on?

Madeleine McCann: 10 Years On will air on BBC One tonight at 9pm .
SCOTTSBLUFFThe Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is offering a mandatory boating safety course in Scottsbluff in May.

Nebraska law requires any motorboat operator, including drivers of personal watercraft such as Jet Skis, born after Dec. 31, 1985, to complete one of the two types of boating safety courses and be in possession of a course certificate. Operators must be 14 years old to drive motorboats and personal watercraft in Nebraska.

Home-study format, in which participants study materials online before attending a three-hour review and test-out session will be offered in Scottsbluff May 13.

Scott Eveland, boating safety officer for the Commission, said the course covers a wide range of topics including equipment requirements, safe boat operation and accident prevention  valuable information for both new and experienced boaters. Boat owners who complete the class may qualify for insurance discounts. Parents are encouraged to attend with their children and boaters of all ages are welcome.

Students must be at least 14, or turning 14 this calendar year to be certified. There is a $10 fee for most courses. Preregistration is required and the courses must have a certain number of students to avoid cancellation.

Participants may register for the classes by contacting Eveland at scott.eveland@nebraska.gov or 308-289-0017.

Courses are available at other locations across the region. For the most updated listing and for classes at other locations in Nebraska, visit the Boating Education calendar at www.BoatSafeNebraska.org. The site also has other information about boating safety.
Over the last five years, Nebraska hospitals have lost out on $18.3 million due to a one-sentence Obamacare loophole. Ensuring access to quality care in rural areas is challenging enough without the federal government erroneously diverting needed funds.

This week, I introduced a bill to undo this misguided Obamacare provision, dubbed the Bay State Boondoggle, and help hospitals continue to serve our seniors.

Medicare hospital wage reimbursements are adjusted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as required to reflect the geographic area where services are delivered. Prior to Obamacare, if a hospital transitioned from a critical access hospital, to which the CMS wage index does not apply, to an acute care facility in which it does, the necessary funding reallocation would take place within the state.

However, Obamacare included a provision requiring Medicare wage reimbursements to come from a national pool of money rather than state allocations.

So why is it called the Bay State Boondoggle? The issue centers on a 19-bed hospital in Nantucket, Massachusetts, which was purchased by a large health system soon after Obamacare was signed into law and redesignated from a critical access hospital to an acute care hospital. Because this facility transitioned from a program in which the wage index does not apply to one in which it does, its wages set a new floor for all 81 traditional fee-for-service hospitals in Massachusetts.

Allowing Massachusetts to artificially inflate labor costs based on a single hospital with unusually high wages drove up the wage floor on the CMS index. The result was far more Medicare dollars flowing to Massachusetts hospitals  and away from hospitals in most other states. By now, more than $2 billion dollars has been diverted from hospitals nationwide. My bill would end this boondoggle and return financial responsibility to the states.

To bring further relief to Nebraska health care providers, I also continue to work on reducing arbitrary and burdensome regulations on rural hospitals. For example, the 96-hour rule requires physicians at critical access hospitals to certify at time of admission Medicare and Medicaid patients will not be there more than 96 hours. Otherwise, the hospital must transfer the patient or face non-reimbursement. I introduced the Critical Access Hospital Relief Act to remove this provision and ensure rural Americans are not placed at a further disadvantage.

This week, CMS announced it is beginning the process of updating its guidance on enforcement of the 96-hour rule. I am eager to hear from Nebraska hospitals and patients on the proposal but also pleased to see the Trump administration agreeing with the need for changes.

Too often when the federal bureaucracy gets involved, it makes situations worse rather than better. We are seeing prime examples of this problem in rural health care, and I am glad to have the opportunity to propose legislative solutions for patients and providers.
Malanpur, Madhya Pradesh, May 4 (IBNS) - Diversified conglomerate Punj Lloyd and its JV Partner, Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) today inaugurated the countryas first Private Sector Small Arms Manufacturing Plant at Malanpur in Madhya Pradesh.

Presided over by the Honourable Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, ShriShivraj Singh Chouhan and Honourable Minister of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Drinking Water & Sanitation, Narendra Singh Tomar, the inauguration was attended bypersonnel from the Indian Armed Forces, State Police, Coastguard, Paramilitary, the media and dignitaries from the Indian Administrative Service.

The joint venture company, Punj Lloyd Raksha Systems (PLR) will be manufacturing small arms for the Indian Defence Forces and also for export.

Speaking on the occasion, Samy Katsav, Chairman, SK Group said, We are indeed fortunate to have in Punj Lloyd a reliable and knowledgeable partner. It is after a lot of due diligence in the Indian market that we identified Punj Lloyd for this partnership. Through this collaboration, we offer the combination of battle proven combat technology of IWI and the proficiency of a renowned Indian business partner.

"I am extremely upbeat about the opportunities in the sector and confident of contributing to the Make in India programme.

Punj Lloyd Chairman, Atul Punj said, This is the first opportunity for the country to get its own Made in India Small Arms.The need of the hour is to replace the countrys defence weapons with sophisticated and high precision products and Punj Lloyd Raksha Systems is the answer to the countrys immediate need. Further Mr Punj said, These are tried and tested battle proven products already being used within the country. It is the first time in India that we are coming together with the complete technology to manufacture these products as Made in India.

Present on the occasion, Michel Ben-Baruch, Head of SIBAT, Israel Ministry of Defencesaid, Israel's Ministry of Defense fully and wholeheartedly supports this cooperation and will continue to support the transfer of technology and information also in the future, for the betterment of improved advanced tools. Israel and India consider their defense industry cooperation as a monumental step forward, towards a future of immense potential. "

Daniel Carmon, Israels Ambassador to India said, Now celebrating 25 years, India and Israels growing partnership is multifaceted and ever expanding. The relationship is built on the strengths of each country, contributing to the security and prosperity of both peoples.

"I applaud the establishment of joint cooperation ventures, such as between Punj Lloyd and Israel Weapons Industries, taking up Israeli President Rivlins call for Israel to Make in India, Make with India. I hope to see many more such joint endeavors ranging from Security to Food Security, Water to Cyber, Start-up to Space. 
Every Democrat who has occupied the White House since World War II (for that matter, every progressive since Lincoln) has proposed legislation to make life better, more fair, and more just for all Americans, while their conservative counterparts in state and federal offices have either opposed these initiatives or tried to bias them to benefit the few.
Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Melescanu stated on Thursday that he is in favor of a high level meeting between the European Union (EU) and the US, in which to be discussed the effect of the US foreign policies' changes over Europe.

"I am in favor of a high level meeting between the EU and US, in which to discuss about what will be the effect of changes of US foreign policies over Europe, and particularly over Romania. For Romania the most important thing is the status of Romania-US relationship in the future. Let's not forget NATO's presence through the US in Romania," the Minister said.

He mentioned that Romania, part of the EU, wants to strengthen the relation with the US.

"Romania also is part of the EU, but, at the same time, it's a distinct country and it's not by chance the fact that we want to strengthen our US-Romania relation and we are doing it. [...] Romania committed to spend 2 percent of the GDP for the endowment of the Army. And this reveals that we want to handle our responsibilities," Melescanu stated within the Good Governance Summit organized by Strategikon, that is taking place at the National Bank of Romania (BNR).

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London, May 3 (IBNS): On May 20 and 21, the British Library will be transformed like never before as the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival animates its iconic spaces for the first time in celebration of a significant cultural partnership here.

ZEE JLF@The British Library will present a sumptuous showcase of South Asias literary heritage, oral and performing arts, music, cinema and illusion, books and ideas, dialogue and debate, Bollywood and politics in the context of this broader view of India and its relationship to the UK.



2017 marks the fourth London edition of the Festival, which is rooted in the Pink City of Jaipur, India. Held every January, this year commemorated the 10th anniversary of the flagship event.

Festival co-directors Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple have programmed JLF@The British Library to provide UK audiences with a taste of what is frequently referred to as the greatest literary show on Earth in celebration of 70 years of UK-India relations.

Programme highlights include Oscar-winning British director Stephen Frears who will be in conversation with journalist and writer Shrabani Basu to discuss Basus book Victoria and Abdul which is soon to be released as a major motion picture directed by Frears and starring Judi Dench as Queen Victoria, Youve Got Magic from illusionist and new-age mentalist Neel Madhav whose tricks include criminal psychology and neuro-linguistic programming.

The Beatles in India: The Rishikesh Trip will see writer, playwright & music historian Philip Norman in conversation with leading Indian journalist Ajoy Bose in a fascinating session that explores the magic and mystery of the Beatles in India nearly 50 years since their trip to Rishikesh and an evening of vibrant musical celebration with Kabir Cafe.

Festival co-director, writer and publisher Namita Gokhale will be in conversation with panellists; Tahmima Anam, Sarvat Hasin, Amit Chaudhuri and Kunal Basu as they share their insights on the art of the novel in The Reading Room: Reshaping the Novel.

Literary exiles and migrants Amit Chaudhuri, Meera Syal, Prajwal Parajuly and Lila Azam Zanganeh compare notes on whether emigration positively affects the writing of an author in Migrant Words.

Panellists including Indian MPs Swapan Dasgupta and Shashi Tharoor discuss the enduring mystery of Indias fascination with P.G. Wodehouse one of the most popular English language writers in India and broadcaster Anita Anand and festival co-director William Dalrymple will discuss their book Kohinoor which explores the many mysteries which shroud the worlds most famous diamond alongside many more events which make up a packed programme of literary debate and social dialogue.

ZEE JLF@The British Library is the first of five cultural strands which form part of the Year of UK-India of Culture in 2017, celebrating the deep cultural ties and exchange in what is a year of great significance for the worlds largest democracy as India marks 70 years as an independent democratic republic.

The year-long programme also includes India@Edinburgh in August, The Independence Gala@Southbank Centre in October, a season of Dance & Theatre and the UK Premiere of the Bharat Symphony by Dr L. Subramaniam and the London Symphony Orchestra in November.

ZEE JLF@The British Library is part of a wider partnership between Teamwork Arts and The British Library which included the presentation of a facsimile of the 1215 Magna Carta at the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival in Jaipur this January, and will include the presentation of the Indian Constitution at the British Library during the two day event in May.

To mark the UK-India Year of Culture, The British Library is also digitising 1 million pages of its South Asian Archives. Two Centuries of Indian print is a major programme to digitise the vast wealth of Indian printed books held by the Library dating from 1713 to 1914.



Namita Gokhale, author and ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival Co-Director said, "Delighted that the fourth edition of JLF in London will be hosted by the British Library. London is a uniquely cosmopolitan and literary city, and we look forward to celebrating diversity through a series of vibrant sessions that reflect the special spirit of Jaipur. "

William Dalrymple, author and ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival Co-Director said, In only a decade the Jaipur Literature Festival has grown from 14 lost tourists to third of a million people and its now the biggest festival of literature in the world. We cant wait to bring its energy and colour to the British Library: our Jaipur-on-Thames."

Sanjoy K. Roy, Managing Director of Teamwork Arts and producers of the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, said, Our collaboration with the British Library is reflective of the shared history between the sub-continent and UK. The festival will continue to be a platform for diverse voices and will celebrate 70 years of Indias independence.

Jamie Andrews, Head of Culture and Learning at the British Library said, The British Library is delighted to be hosting the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival this year as we celebrate the UK-India Year of Culture. The exciting programme reflects the richness of this new cultural partnership.

Meanwhile more events were added. They are:

An Unsuitable Boy

Karan Johar in conversation with Rachel Dwyer

Venue: Theatre

Date: May 20th

Time: 12:45-1:45pm

Karan Johar's frank and riveting memoir, An Unsuitable Boy, lays bare the soul of Bollywood. In conversation with Rachel Dwyer, the talented and charismatic director, producer, actor and television anchor talks of his life and learnings in the dream machine of the Indian film industry.



The Theft of the Raj: The British Empire in India

Roy Moxham and Shashi Tharoor in conversation with Alex von Tunzelmann

Venue: Theatre

Date: May 21st

Time: 4:30-5:30pm

As India celebrates 70 years of its independence from colonial rule, this session debates colonialisms claims of benefit and development despite evidence of its fundamental nature. The panelists discuss if this period  from the time of Vasco da Gama's arrival to the final emergence of the English as the principal colonisers of the Indian subcontinent  was one of acquiring as much and as many of India's riches as each European power could lay their hands on.



Session co-hosted by the South Asia Centre, LSE and The British Library, as part of the series Colony as Empire: Histories from Whitehall
Romania's Minister-delegate for European Affairs Ana Birchall is starting today a two-day official visit to Madrid, Spain, Romania's Foreign Ministry (MAE) reported in a press statement on Thursday.

In Madrid, Birchall is scheduled to meet Chair of Spain Parliament's Joint Committee on the European Union Soraya Rodriguez; senior official for European affairs with Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Jorge Toledo Albinana; as well as Director of the EU Satellite Centre (EU SatCen) Pascal Legai. Also featuring on the agenda is a meeting with Christian Orthodox Bishop Timotei of Spain and Portugal.

Part of the visit will be working meetings with Spanish officials on various European affairs themes of shared interest, such as the reflection on the future of Europe, the stakes and European approach of Brexit negotiations, the prospects for the traditional EU policies in the future post-2020 financial framework, EU internal security and the operation of the Schengen Area.

Also discussed will be the latest developments in and the outlook for cooperation between Romania and Spain in the area of European affairs, with emphasis on the Romanian community of Spain, which continues to be a main marker of the development of a solid bilateral partnership, says MAE.

Before leaving for Madrid, Birchall pointed out that "my meetings scheduled in Spain are opportunities to reassert Romania's commitment and determination to actively participate in debates on the future of the EU and the part of common polices, as it continues to be with the member states supporting European integration as part of the efforts to revive the European design."

"It is important for the process to be grounded in consensual objectives and principles shared and followed by all the EU member states and institutions, a reason why consultations with Spanish partners are essential," said Birchall.

The Madrid meetings are also part of a recent series of events conducted by Birchall to intensify consultations and cooperation with officials of the EU member states in an attempt to complete a congruent approach of topical European themes amidst the ongoing challenges against the European agenda.

agerpres.
A protest took place on Wednesday evening in Victoria Square, where hundreds of protesters have gathered around 21:00 hrs being unsatisfied with the amendments to the pardon law that were voted in the Senate's Judicial Committee.

The protest took place outside the Victoria Palace, on the central square, on the same place were the protests in February took place.

Over 500 persons protested while waving tricolour flags and flags of the US, chanting slogans against the political class.

They displayed placards reading messages such as: "You stole and sold 23 million people," "Enough with 27 years of criminals."

The traffic police stated that the traffic in the Victoria area was deviated, even interrupted from Romana Square towards Victoria Square and between Iancu de Hunedoara Boulevard to Aviators' Boulevard.

Judicial senators have voted on Wednesday an amendment to the draft law for pardoning some sentences and educative measures depriving of freedom, through which persons who were convicted for bribery, influence peddling, buying influence are pardoned. Moreover, also pardoned are the crimes committed by members of arbitration courts or connected to them or crimes committed by foreign clerks or connecting to them.

The pardon decision of these acts was voted in the committee with five votes "in favor" and "three" against.

This amendment was proposed by Senators Traian Basescu (People's Movement Party - PMP) and Liviu Brailoiu (Social Democratic Party -PSD).

In the initial version of the Government's draft law these crimes were exempted from pardon.

agerpres.
Kolkata, May 4 (IBNS): How well do you know your the law? Well, before we start taking a little guilt trip of our own, conclusive data has revealed that 9 out of 10 people around us do not know their law and rights very well.

But, what really is shocking is that our law-makers and government bodies, who are in charge of knowing and enacting the laws, are not very well-versed either with the sea of Acts that the Indian constitution consists of.

Even more shocking is the fact that around 6,610 Acts were enacted under the British colonial hegemony.

Out of them, only a handful are being utilised by the various government sectors.

But, here is some comforting news.

Power Publishers newest release, 'The Act That Wasnt', by Dr. Bobby George covers all the facets of various Acts that exist (especially in the healthcare industry) and how they can benefit us in all walks of life.

Writes the author in the Preface, I have been deeply concerned with the erosion of social values, and the dominance of anti-social, unethical market forces in the field of health sciences."

He added that he has not only included certain suggested improvements in the healthcare sector that can be brought in through the implementation of several mentioned acts but also drawn comparisons between India Acts and those existing in developed societies to ensure future scopes of improvements.

We are hoping that readers will not only be enlightened about the various kinds of lawlessness existing in society but also define for themselves a more responsible path for widespread well-being.

Beside imparting essential knowledge, the book also praises the present central governing body for retrieving 1,741 Acts and working on their effective enactment in liaison with the present social and economic scenario of India.

Also, India might be lagging quite behind in the arena when compared to its Western counterparts, the rise isnt very steep for us and there is definitely immense scope of improvement.

Priced at Rs 345, this book might just be the perfect healthcare law guidebook you might want to keep for safety reasons.

Grab your copy from power-publishers.com, ebay.in, flipkart.com and snapdeal.com.

(Reviewed by Anupriya Dutta)
Self-publishing is one of the key supports offered by Power Publishers. Some of their self-published titles from April have secured a lot of attention from book lovers. Come back to Leave me.. Again, penned by first-time author Sohil Ashvin Shah, is one such title from April.

A story of love and loss that unfurls in Dubai with curtain calls in Ahmedabad, Come back, at first glance, is a typical urban romance with the usual boy-meets-girl moments or pretty girl-fat guy dilemmas. Although a light read that tends to tug at your tear ducts, it is a lesson for young girls about the upsides and downsides of taking the leap.

Hritisha and Siddhant meet in Dubai and hit it off after a few casual workplace meetings. What follows is all the mushy little endearing moments till the time the girl finally agrees to start a steady relationship. But distance, the real villain of many urban love stories, rears its ugly head here too. Even though, they manage to prove the belief that long-distance relationships do not work wrong eventually, families and the ego versus self-respect wars threaten to tear them apart.

Shah uses a simple narrative techniques and does not go on philosophising for the greater part of the novel. The premise is interesting with frequent use of Hindi and Gujarati dialogues lending it an earthy touch that always appeal. However, the liberal use of B-word and C-word may cause a few readers to blush. The book cover design done by Maurvi Shah is refreshing and also gives a faint idea of what the book conceals.

It wont be wrong to state that the book is quite a handbook about the Gujarati way of living. Being a Gujarati himself, Shah accurately pens down the dialects, the description of the households, the food and the sentiments associated with them.

If you are fond of reading Chetan Bhagat or Durjoy Datta, or you are looking for a light weekend reading, Come backmight just be the thing for you. Priced at Rs 230, the book is quickly catching up with the bestsellers of the month. Readers can get their copy from power-publishers.com, flipkart.com, amazon.com and ebay.in.
Image: www.botherland.com

Amritsar, May 4 (IBNS): The Punjab Police has sounded a high alert after three men jumped a signal and sped away under suspicious circumstances near Baharampur sector, reports said.

Later the men abandoned the car and fled on foot in Bamiyal sector, few kilometres away from the Pakistan border.

The alleged incident took place on Thursday night.

The Times of India quoted Narot Jaimal Singh SHO Bharat Bhushan as saying that the vehicle, a Mahindra Scorpio SUV was coming from Gurdaspur.

Following inputs from the signal guards, the police chased the speeding car but the men ditched the SUV and was able to fled the spot, the police added.

Meanwhile, Pathankot SSP V S Soni has said that they have identified the absconders and will soon arrest them, stating it as a case of car theft.

The stolen SUV had fake registration number and actually belonged from Jammu and Kashmir.

The BSF too has been alerted and is on the lookout for possible terrorist infiltration.
IHeartMedia Inc., the largest owner of U.S. radio stations, said Thursday it may not be able to continue as a going concern.

IHeartMedia, which said it has more than a quarter of a billion monthly radio listeners in the United States, is struggling to find a solution that would significantly slash its debt pile outside of bankruptcy court.

As of March 31, the company had debt of $20.37 billion and total assets of $12.27 billion. It had $365 million of cash and cash equivalents on its balance sheet as of March 31.

IHeartMedia indicated in a regulatory filing on April 20 that it would issue a going concern warning.

IHeart, formerly known as Clear Channel Communications Inc., was taken over by private equity firms BainCapital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners through a leveraged buyout in 2008 for $26.7 billion, piling up the company with huge debts.

The company hosts the syndicated shows of celebrities such as Steve Harvey, Ryan Seacrest and Rush Limbaugh.

Separately, the company reported a first-quarter net loss of $388.2 million, compared with $88.5 million a year earlier.

In St. Louis , IHeartMedia owns KATZ (AM 1600), KLOU (FM 103.3), KMJM (FM 100.3), KSD (FM 93.7), KSLZ (FM 107.7) and KLLT (FM 104.9).
Time stands still on Weber Hill.

That was the sentiment Emilie Hayes posted to Twitter on Tuesday as she stood on high ground looking down at her flooded Sunset Hills home. For the second time in 16 months, the house on Weber Hill Road where she and her husband, Steve, had raised their children was almost completely under water.

Christmas lights from 2015 still dangle from the gutters. The family never moved back in after the last flood. They received a flood insurance settlement, but it wasnt enough to do what needs to be done: tear the house down and rebuild in a new location.

So they lived with relatives for more than a year. They tried unsuccessfully to get either the Federal Emergency Management Agency or Sunset Hills to buy them out. Now they rent a house in the county while their old property sits as a monument to the regions broken flood-plain development policies.

Hayes is angry. Shes heartbroken. She sees a wide swath of the St. Louis region  mostly in the Meramec River watershed  devastated again after a few days of rain, and she knows something has to be done. This cant be the new normal.

Twice in two years, Pacific, Eureka and Arnold have been under water. Twice the southwestern region of St. Louis was virtually cut off from the city as water topped Interstate 44 and part of Interstate 55.

Hayes is not alone in knowing that something must be done.

A climate-change-infused, water-weary nation agrees.

Just a month before the water rose in St. Louis, the Pew Charitable Trusts released a nationwide survey that found 75 percent of voters support policies that would mitigate flooding, including such things as better development standards, buying out flood-prone properties and protecting wetlands and flood-plain areas that give oversaturated rivers room to roam.

The results showed overwhelming support for strong mitigation policies, said Laura Lightbody, the project director of Pews Flood-Prepared Communities program. For the past couple of years, Lightbody and her colleagues at Pew have been trying to raise awareness over the direct connection between poor public policy and constant taxpayer bailouts every time a massive flood hits, whether its in Missouri or Texas or North Carolina.

Part of the problem is a local one. Cities chasing development dollars allow building in flood plains, sometimes even encouraging it with tax incentives. They build up levees  like in Valley Park, Chesterfield and Maryland Heights  and then when the water gets pushed somewhere else, faster and higher, well, thats somebody elses problem.

Meanwhile, the National Flood Insurance Program is literally under water. Its $24.8 billion in debt and set to expire by the end of September if Congress doesnt do anything about it.

This week, as much of Missouri builds towers of sandbags, Lightbody is in Kansas City along with dozens of other flood-plain planners for the annual conference of the Association of Flood Plain Managers. The conferees would have done well to cancel their panel discussions and drive to St. Louis, where they could see a fragmented region offering a case study of how to mismanage flood plains.

The Pew poll on voters attitudes toward flooding points to a path forward on some solutions to the flood problems that plague not just the St. Louis region, but plenty of other places in the country, too.

Among the findings:

 64 percent of voters support the idea of local governments taking action to protect repeatedly flooded properties, including creating more wetlands in floodway areas to reduce flood risk.

 75 percent of voters approve of buyouts of repeatedly flooded properties.

This isnt an inexpensive proposition. Its why government officials told people like the Hayeses no after the last flood. But in 2016 alone, there were 2,918 repetitive-loss properties in Missouri, according to Pews research. These are homes or businesses that have received flood aid at least four times, and in which the total amount of that aid is more than the property is worth. That aid adds up over time. Its why floods have become the most expensive natural disasters in the U.S.

Over time, however, those mitigation investments pay off. A FEMA study that tracked buyouts in Missouri after the 1993 Missouri River flood found more than $100 million in savings by 2008 by avoiding disaster, a more than 200 percent return on investment.

What does that mean today?

It means a levee (Valley Park, perhaps?) might need to be lowered. It means houses behind that levee will need to be bought out. It means new development in flood plains is avoided at all costs. It means spending money now to save it later. It means (gasp) regional planning rather than all 90 municipalities in St. Louis County making decisions in a vacuum.

Or, as the flood recedes, St. Louis can do what it has done so many times in the past.

We can throw our hands in the air, express exasperation that there is nothing we can do, and wait for the water to rise again.
Srinagar, Apr 4 (IBNS) : Security forces on Thursday morning cordoned off more than 20 villages in Shopian of South Kashmir as part of a major crackdown following spurt in militant activities, police said.

According to a police official, the search operation has been launched to neutralise suspected militants in the district. .

20 villages, including Sugan and Turkuwangan which are base camps for militants, have been cordoned off and we have orders from the higher authorities to flush out them from South Kashmir, the army official told India Blooms in Srinagar.

"We will not harm any civilian during the search operation and our priority is to save public property, the official added.



(Reporting by Saleem Iqbal Qadri)
ST. LOUIS  Area highways began to reopen Thursday almost as quickly as they were closed by flooding earlier in the week.

Eastbound Interstate 44 was back in business by 10 p.m. Thursday. The westbound lanes had reopened in the afternoon, just in time for rush hour.

The Missouri Department of Transportation had said that getting the eastbound lanes reopened depended on water receding and engineers finding no damage to roads and bridge structures.

If its a little bit of mud, we can take care of that pretty fast, Tom Blair, assistant district engineer for MoDOT, said Thursday. But if theres damage, it may take a little longer.

The interstate had been closed to through traffic for a 25-mile stretch from Interstate 270 to Gray Summit since Tuesday. Some local traffic has been allowed through to Bowles Avenue, but the closure had pushed most traffic onto a long detour along Highway 100/Manchester Road.

The exits from I-44 to Soccer Park Road and Highway 141 remain closed. Highway 141 will likely remain shut down at I-44 through the weekend.

Earlier on Thursday, Interstate 55 was the good news.

MoDOT had predicted that Interstate 55 would close in both directions as the river crested at Arnold, and that the bridges carrying Jeffco Boulevard/Lemay Ferry Road and Telegraph Road over the Meramec River might also have to close, cutting off the southern part of the region.

In the end, only the southbound lanes of I-55 were closed, starting about noon Wednesday. Jeffco Boulevard was narrowed, but the crossing there and at Telegraph remained open.

Closure of northbound lanes of I-55 was postponed, and in the end wasnt necessary. Southbound lanes reopened early Thursday.

Still, the closures of various other roads caused snarls and logistical problems in the area. MoDOT on Thursday thanked area residents for their cooperation and patience.

Thank you to everyone in St. Louis, Blair said at a midday press conference. Theres so many of you that adjusted your schedules. Businesses, the hospitals, the schools, its been hard. Were getting close to the end, so keep it up.

Blair said he hadnt seen any estimate of how much extra money MoDOT has been spending to deal with the flood, but he said its likely in the millions statewide. He said MoDOT hopes it can recoup some of the funds with state emergency dollars or federal aid.

Were not focusing on the money, Blair said. Were doing the job that we are expected to get done. The money will have to work its way out.

Other routes reopening

Dozens of state routes remained closed Thursday in the metro area, but some were beginning to open. Highway 21 (Tesson Ferry) reopened late Thursday. Highway 109 north of I-44 had opened earlier but remained closed south of I-44 Thursday because Highways W and FF were under water.

Further south, Highway 141 at Romaine Creek in Jefferson County reopened Thursday morning.

Its unclear when other routes, such as Highway 30 (Gravois), will reopen. Blair said the agency hopes to have those paths open by the weekend. Meanwhile, the main way in and out of the Fenton area remains Bowles Avenue via Interstate 44.

Most Fenton residents are still going to be stuck on Bowles, Blair said.

In St. Louis, flooding closed the Alabama Avenue bridge over the River Des Peres Thursday. Broadway remained open.

U.S. 67 in northeast St. Charles County continues to have long travel times because the road is restricted to one lane each way. Highway 94 remains closed from Augusta to Defiance in southwest St. Charles County.

Highway 47 was closed Thursday in Warren County north of Washington, Mo. That exacerbated the delays on 100/Manchester Thursday morning, Blair said. He warned that similar delays could occur again during the Friday morning rush if I-44 eastbound and Highway 47 dont reopen by then.

Blair urged people to obey the barricades on closed roads, even if the water has receded. If a barricade remains, the road is still considered unsafe for some reason.

He said MoDOT workers are reporting that drivers are getting a little bit more aggressive in going around or removing barricades when they dont see any water. He said that puts MoDOT workers and emergency responders in danger of being hit.

When the barricades are up, the roads closed, please obey that, he said.
ST. LOUIS  The citys new minimum wage of $10 per hour for most jobs will take effect Friday, Mayor Lyda Krewsons office announced.

The ordinance for the new wage  which is well above the minimum of $7.70 in the rest of Missouri and $8.25 in neighboring downstate Illinois  passed in 2015 but was held up in court until now.

Under the ordinance, the wage will rise again on Jan. 1, 2018, to $11 an hour.

The City of St. Louis is mailing notices to employers and expects employers will voluntarily comply with the law, said the statement from Krewsons office. Noncompliance  is subject to prosecution in Municipal Court, and also may be subject to revocation of business licenses and occupancy permit.

Information and resources, including frequently asked questions and instructions on filing a noncompliance complaint, are available at: stlouis-mo.gov/minimum-wage.

Questions also can be emailed to: minimumwage@stlouis-mo.gov. Further information is available by calling 314-589-6735.

The new minimum wont apply to businesses that gross under $500,000 a year or employ fewer than 15 workers. It doesnt apply to employees who work less than 20 hours per calendar year.

The change will put St. Louis minimum wage well above that of most states, and on par with many larger cities that have set their own rates. Chicagos current rate is $10.50 an hour and is set to rise to $11 on July 1.

St. Louis passed its minimum wage increase in 2015, but business groups sued, saying St. Louis shouldnt be allowed to set a higher rate than the state rate because it would cause regulatory confusion. A St. Louis Circuit Court agreed, and approved an injunction preventing the new rate from going into effect.

On appeal, the Missouri Supreme Court recently ruled in the citys favor. With that, all that was needed to put the new minimum into effect was for the circuit court to lift its injunction, something the court announced Thursday morning that it would do that day.

Supporters of St. Louis increase say it will provide a living wage to the lowest-paid workers.

Today 35,000 St. Louis workers received a long overdue raise, National Employment Law Project General Counsel Paul Sonn said in a statement, noting that some 40 other U.S. cities and counties have adopted local minimum wages. The extra $1,800 a year the average St. Louis worker will earn will help tens of thousands of struggling families  and help the economy as workers spend their paychecks at local businesses.

Opponents say it will drive businesses and jobs out of the city, hurting the very workers its intended to help.

This move will raise labor costs up to 25 percent for some St. Louis City employers, Missouri Chamber president and CEO Dan Mehan said in a statement. In the short run, it will require businesses to scramble to comply with the new law. In the long run, it will cost jobs and set an already struggling St. Louis City economy even further behind.

Earlier this year, lawmakers in the Missouri House acted quickly on a proposal to nullify the minimum wage increase before the circuit court could lift the injunction. But the bill, which would require all Missouri cities to stick to the statewide standard, has stalled in the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, said he had expected the Senate to take up the measure this week, echoing concerns that a patchwork on minimum wages throughout the state would hurt local businesses. It would be a nightmare, Kehoe said.

But the Senate hasnt acted on any bills beyond the state budget, after a group of senators vowed on Monday to block Senate business until ethics reform is addressed. Should they take up the minimum wage bill before session ends on May 12, its likely to be a nonstarter with Senate Democrats, who argue cities have the right to set a living wage for their residents.

Celeste Bott of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
EUREKA  Elizabeth Arway, owner of Creative Entourage, has designed a line of T-shirts and tank tops her company is selling to raise funds for the Society of St. Vincent de Pauls efforts in Eureka, Valley Park and Pacific.

Ive been very inspired seeing the community rally together during these recent disasters and wanted to come up with a creative way to celebrate the Eureka Strong motto, while also doing something to support flood victims, Arway said. We live here, we work here and were very proud to be part of the Eureka community.

So far, Arway said, more than $4,000 has been raised through the sale of more than 200 shirts. (The shirts, which range in price from $20 to $28, can be ordered at squareup.com/store/creative-entourage).

As the water recedes, the T-shirt sale is just one example of how the effort to assist those affected by the flooding is growing.

Elswhere in Eureka, at Central Baptist Church, 601 North Central Avenue, items are being collected and distributed, including food, clothing, bedding and cleaning supplies. Non-Eureka residents are welcome. About 50 families had come to the church center as of Thursday afternoon. The center is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. but may extend hours based on need. On Thursday, ammonia was an item volunteers said was needed. To find out more, call 636-891-5734.

Arnold

On Thursday afternoon, employees of the Arnold Recreation Center, 1695 Missouri State Road, turned the outdoor pool area into a distribution center for cleaning supplies.

The center will be open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. through Tuesday drop off and pick up.

Lt. James Jones of the Arnold Police Department said the city is also hoping to rally volunteers to help clean up homes. The citys Facebook page will be updated about the needs of local residents as they come in.

The hardest-hit area in Arnold is along the north side of Starling Airport Road. Some houses in that area are still condemned from the flood in December 2015.

Valley Park

Circle Of Concern Food Pantry, 112 St. Louis Avenue, is seeking online donations to help those affected by flooding. The pantry is in the evacuation zone of Valley Park, which the citys mayor said will be open at 8 a.m. Friday. To find out more about pantry operating hours, call 636-861-2623. The website is www.circleofconcern.org.

We certainly expect to see an influx of new clients as a result of the flooding, said Cyndi Miller, executive director of Circle Of Concern, in a statement.

Manchester United Methodist Church is asking for volunteers to assist in flood cleanup efforts on Friday in Valley Park. All ages are welcome.

Meet at Bobbys Place, 108 Meramec Valley Plaza. Tentatively, the time is set at 9:30 a.m. but check the church Facebook page, manchesterumc.stl, for updates. Ask for Beth Elders, pastor of missions, upon arrival. Dress in work clothes, bring work gloves and wear closed-toed, sturdy shoes. The church will distribute buckets filled with cleaning supplies.

Among other efforts

St. Louis Blues  Fans can help raise money for area flood victims in several ways during Friday nights playoff game against the Nashville Predators.

Fans can buy 50/50 raffle tickets, official pucks used during Fridays pregame warmup and limited edition Blues Skate Koozies. Blues autographed memorabilia is also on sale. To bid, visit blues.myab.co or text blues to 52182. Bidding will close at the end of the second intermission.

Fundraiser  CycleBar Chesterfield, 1657 Clarkson Road, is hosting a Ride for Flood Relief at 1 p.m. Sunday. The cost is $25. For ride information, register at: chesterfield.cyclebar.com/class-detail/?apptid=2315014.

Free lodging  Airbnb has offered to help displaced residents as well as emergency relief and volunteers in flooded areas find free accommodations with local hosts who are members of the online lodging service. For more information, go to: www.airbnb.com/disaster/missourifloods.

Emergency assistance in High Ridge  Feed My People, 3295 Ottomeyer Road, 636-677-9885; Ladies of Charity, 2406 Gravois Road, 636-677-1167; Fellowship First Baptist Church, 2735 High Ridge Boulevard, 636-677-3014.

Red Cross shelters

First Baptist Church of Arnold

2012 Missouri State Road, Arnold

Manchester United Methodist

129 Woods Mill Road, Manchester (Humane Society Mobile Animal Shelter on site)

Tri-County Senior Center

800 West Union Street, Pacific (Humane Society of Missouri and Pacific Animal Shelter are partnering)

Hope Lutheran Church

3715 Wabash Avenue, Granite City (Call Metro East Humane Society at 618-656-4405 for help with pets)

The Ridge Church
WEST ALTON  With the Mississippi and Missouri rivers continuing to rise, local officials Thursday afternoon urged area residents east of Highway 67 who plan to evacuate to do so now!!

That warning was included in an update posted on the Rivers Pointe Fire Protection Districts Facebook page about 1 p.m.

The city was still under a voluntary evacuation Thursday night, but neither river had risen above its levee by about 6 p.m., firefighter Tony Emgee said.

Were keeping a close eye with emergency weather officials and keeping an eye on the levees, he said. Were still under voluntary evacuation to make sure everyone has a plan in place.

Fire district Lt. Chris Redd said in an earlier interview that the predicted crest in the area for the Mississippi has been increased to 35 feet, a foot above what the levee is designed for.

Sometime later today, the water will start flowing over Riverlands Way and will start filling in the area we all refer to as the point, the district said in the Facebook post. If you live along the line of Highway 67 and east to the Confluence Point, water will start filling in the low lying areas.

The district also advised residents east of the highway who are planning to remain in their homes because they are raised to make sure you have provisions needed now.

Meanwhile, the fire district urged those living west of Highway 67 to reconsider evacuation.

Both of the levee systems will have water to the very tops of the levees, the Facebook post said. Right now our area is at the highest risk that we can be. With the amount of water on both levee systems, the risk of possible failure increases.

The Facebook post went on to say that this is not a time to second guess or wait and hope that river predictions will change. This is the most important time to take action while there is plenty of time to do so.

The Missouri River crest also may exceed the height of that rivers levee system in the West Alton area, officials said.

Highway 94 between Harbor Point Road and Dwiggens Road remained closed Thursday night due to flooding.

Officials on Tuesday night had issued a voluntary evacuation order in the town of about 500 people. In 2015, a levee near West Alton failed, affecting dozens of homes.

Nassim Benchaabane of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
Guwahati, May 4 (IBNS) : Security has been beefed up along the Indo-Myanmar border following intelligence reports about probable militant attacks on security forces.

Intelligence Bureau (IB) reports said that more than 100 militants of ULFA (I), NSCN (K) and UNLF with huge quantity of sophisticated weapons and explosives have taken shelter along the Indo-Myanmar border with Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur, waiting to sneak into the north eastern region.

A top IB source said t the outlawed groups of North East India led by ULFA (I) and NSCN (K) have planned to conduct massive attacks on security personnel in the region.

"The militants, equipped with huge quantity of sophisticated weapons and explosives are trying to enter into the north eastern region," the source said.

Following the IB inputs, the Union Home Ministry y has asked security forces and agencies to beef up security along the international border with Myanmar and to launch massive operations against militants.

In the past six months, the region witnessed several militant attacks on security forces.

Meanwhile, the Assam police has sounded high alert in all five districts in upper Assam.

A top official of Assam police said an alert has been issued against probable militant attacks in upper Assam.

"We have ordered all police stations and head quarters to take appropriate measures and to launch massive operations against the militants in all probable areas. We have also asked to identify the ways such attacks could be carried out," the top cop said.



(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)

Image: http://www.e-paolive.net/galleries/images/misc/2011/12/map_india_northeast.gif
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pais plans to loosen controls on big telecommunications corporations would be a setback for internet content providers and consumers. Both have benefited from regulations that keep powerful broadband companies from raising prices and squashing small companies.

Obama administration regulations were put in place to check the power of broadband giants such as AT&T, Verizon and Comcast, prohibiting them from throttling small companies by blocking or slowing down consumer access to internet content. The rules have spawned innovation and a broader array of choices for consumers. The resulting marketplace competition is something conservatives have typically embraced. So why would the Trump administration embrace changes that would smother it?

Internet-based companies and video streaming services, such as Netflix, Google, Amazon and Hulu, have benefited from the rules. The major telecom and cable companies hated the rules and lobbied hard in Congress to change them.

The regulations provide vital consumer protections that should not be rolled back. Along with requiring providers to treat web traffic equally, the rules prevent them from charging customers extra for such things as keeping personal data private, viewing certain websites or using specific apps. If the regulations were eliminated, providers would have life-and-death control over apps and services. They could charge website owners extra fees to reach consumers screens and provide favorable treatment to their partners and corporate subsidiaries.

A federal appeals court upheld the rules in June and on Monday refused to rehear the landmark case looking to overturn them. The decision paves the way for opponents to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Im super excited, said Daniel Berninger, a critic who sued the FCC in 2015. When we get to the Supreme Court, we want to be saying this is a severe case of government overreach.

Meanwhile, Pai, appointed by the anti-regulatory Trump administration, is planning an end-run around the court, saying that he intends to rework the rules. Pais supporters say that means he will protect open-internet principles but get rid of the utility-style regulatory framework the FCCs previous Democratic majority approved.

The regulations classified internet providers as common carriers, which allowed the FCC to regulate them more strictly and to investigate potential anti-competitive business practices. Consumers have grown accustomed to open internet and streaming TV. This opening has led to economic growth, revitalizing television content and allowing internet start-ups to make the U.S. high-tech industry a global leader.

Whos hurting from the existing rules? Even the squawking telecom companies are making huge profits and multibillion-dollar acquisitions. Changing the rules might not affect giant internet businesses like Amazon and Facebook, which have the revenue to cut deals with the service providers. But it would likely kill smaller firms and start-ups, resulting in fewer choices and higher fees for consumers.
New Delhi, May 4 (IBNS) : Nearly ten days after 25 CRPF jawans were killed in a deadly ambush by Maoists in Chhattisgarh's Sukma, four people, believed to be involved in the attack, have been arrested, media reports said.

A report in this regard has been sent by the CRPF to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The suspected Maoists, who have been arrested, include a juvenile.

CRPF's report said that the four suspects were arrested after a joint operation with Chhatisgarh police from Chickpal and Phoolbagri villages in Sukma district.

The suspects were later handed over to the state police.

"At least two of those arrested are believed to be hardcore PGLA members. Investigation is on to ascertain the role of the other two," CNN-News18 quoted a CRPF officer as saying.

PGLA or People's Guerrilla Liberation Army is the militia wing of CPI-Maoist and its Sukma wing is believed to be headed by one Hidma.

Eyewitness accounts had said 300 Naxals, mostly women had attacked the 74th battalion of CRPF on April 24.

Meanwhile, according to a report by The Times of India, security forces have recovered more than a dozen rms and 3,000 rounds of ammunition during anti-Naxal operations in neighbouring Jharkhand's Lohardaga district.

In the joint operation by CRPF and state police, a light machine gun (LMG), a semi-automatic US made rifle, an AK 47, a self loading rifle (SLR), three INSAS rifles, six other guns and some communication gadgets were seized from a hideout.
Hyderabad, May 4 (IBNS) : Telangana police on Thursday registered a criminal case against AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh following a complaint on his tweets that Telangana police hosted a fake ISIS website to radicalize Muslim youth, The Hindu reported.

The Jubilee Hills police of Hyderabad, which received a complaint in this regard issued the First Information Report (FIR) against the Congress leader who was also in-charge of partys Telangana wing.

The police invoked sections 505 (1) (a) and (b) (making statement to cause any officer to mutiny or otherwise disregard or fail in his duty and cause fear or alarm among public) and 505 (2) ( making statement causing feelings of enmity, hatred) of Indian Penal Code against him.

Singhs tweets triggered controversy as he claimed that Telangana police hosted the fake website luring Muslim youth towards ISIS. He criticized that the police action was not justified.

Ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi party leaders have condemned Singh's remarks and demanded an unconditional apology from his biased tweets.

However, the Congress leader stuck to his statement saying that he had evidence to substantiate his remarks.

Image: digvijaya singh twitter account @digvijaya_28
New Delhi, May 4 (IBNS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday congratulated the top 10 cleanest cities in India, hours after the list was declared by Union Urban Minister M Venkaiah Naidu.

"Congratulations to the top 10 cities. #SwachhSurvekshan2017," the Prime Minister's tweet read.

"#SwachhSurvekshan2017 offers an extensive picture on where our cities stand on cleanliness and the roadmap ahead,' an ensuing tweet read.

Earlier, Naidu had call it the 'citizen's verdict' while posting the result on Twitter.

"Happy to announce results of #SwachhSurvekshan2017 survey. I would call these results as Citizens Verdict on sanitation in Urban areas!,' his tweet read.

Indore in Madhya Pradesh has been adjudged the cleanest city in India while Bhopal from the same state comes second in a survey conducted under the Centre's "Swachh Survekshan 2017" programme, Naidu announced on Thursday.

The third best is the port city of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, while Surat in Gujarat has come down by one notch to be on the fourth place and last years winner Mysuru in Karnataka has dropped to the fifth spot.

Making the announcements, Naidu said, "Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are the movers and shakers of the ongoing drive, observing that there has been remarkable improvement in the cities of Gujarat and Chhattisgarh.

The rankings were determined on the basis of citizens' votes.

At least 18 lakh citizens across the cities gave their feedback about the sanitation in their respective cities and towns.

Tiruchirapally in Tamil Nadu gets the sixth rank, followed by New Delhi Municipal Council at number seven, Navi Mumbai at eight, Tirupati of Andhra Pradesh at nine and Vadodara of Gujarat at tenth place.

Naidu expressed concern that the condition is so bad in Uttar Pradesh, the countrys most populous state.

Gonda in Uttar Pradesh has the dubious distinction of being the dirtiest city followed by Maharashtra's Bhusawal.

Cities in West Bengal have not been ranked as the Mamata Banerjee government did not participate in the Swachh Survekshan.
Opposition Leader in National Assembly (NA) Khursheed Shah on Thursday has said that Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif is busy in derailing the system.

Talking to media outside Allama Yousaf Awans residence, Khursheed Shah said that Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar has taken revenge of tweet in Dawn leaks case.

On the other hand, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is going to protest against loadshedding with handheld fans in Lahores Nasir Bagh. PPP has completed the preparations for its camp in Nasir Bagh, and will demand the government to fulfill its promise and provide electricity.

Convoys from different districts of Punjab including Lahore will join the protest. PPP Punjab president Qamar Zaman Kaira has said if government tries to stop the attendants, it will face the consequences then.

Syed Khursheed Shah, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Aitzaz Ahsan, Manzoor Wattoo and others will address the camp.

As per sources, the agenda of PPP leaders will be to criticize the policies of government, particularly unannounced loadshedding. Resignation from Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif will also be demanded in order to ensure transparent investigation of Panama papers case.
Mumbai, May 4 (NITN): Commemorating its 24th anniversary, Jet Airways has announced special anniversary fares on both domestic and international sectors, an official release stated.

As part of the One-day offer effective May 5, 2017, Economy and Premiere travellers will be able to enjoy a flat discount of 24 percent on base fare*, applicable on all destinations on the airlines international network.

For travellers travelling domestic, an identical offer is applicable to everyone travelling Economy on select sectors from the airlines extensive network of 45 domestic destinations.

The special fares will be valid only for individual bookings for travel on direct flights on Jet Airways domestic and international network.

Available on a first come-first serve basis, bookings for travel can be made across all channels.

Reservations made under the offer will have a travel validity with effect from June 16, 2017 and bookings made under the offer cannot be combined with any other offer/promotion.

Jayaraj Shanmugam, Chief Commercial Officer, Jet Airways, said, Our 24th anniversary special airfare promotion is our way of thanking the travelling public for their 24 years of patronage. We are proud to celebrate over two decades of service excellence. This milestone would not have been possible without the support, trust and confidence of the millions of guests who have flown with us.

*excluding fuel surcharge, statutory and applicable Govt. taxes
New York, May 4 (Just Earth News):In a apost-trutha world with afake newsa on the rise, and media accountability and credibility falling under question, free, independent and professional journalism has never been more important, the United Nations on Wednesday said.

We need leaders to defend a free media. This is crucial to counter prevailing misinformation. And we need everyone to stand for our right to truth, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a message to mark World Press Freedom Day.

This year's theme highlights media's role in advancing peaceful, just and inclusive societies and builds on the theme 'Critical Minds for Critical Times.'

The 2017 commemoration comes at a time when free, independent and pluralistic media has never been so important to empower individual women and men, strengthen good governance and the rule of law, and take forward the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural (UNESCO) said in a statement.

The agency is also tasked with defending press freedom and the safety of journalists, and is spearheading the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity.

Far too often, murder remains the most tragic form of censorship, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova said in her message on the Day, noting that 102 journalists were killed in 2016.

She noted that facing a crisis of audience identity, journalism stands before a horizon where old challenges are merging with new threats, which include the Internet's blurring of the lines between advertising and editorial material, businesses pushing for profits and private censorship.

In her message, Bokova cited Guillermo Cano Isaza, a Colombian journalist assassinated in 1986, whose name was lent to the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.

He wrote: Only the independence, the character, the objectivity and the good judgment of the journalist and the media can overcome the terrible storms of the new world that threaten freedom of information everywhere.

Bokova noted those words, written two years prior to his death, continue to resonate on Wednesday, 33 years later.

She called for original, critical and well-researched journalism, guided by high professional, ethical standards and a quality media education and for audiences who have the right media and information literacy skills.

Press Freedom is marked annually on 3 May. UNESCO's main celebration of this year's edition of the Day will take place in Jakarta, Indonesia, from 1 to 4 May.

The programme of the four-day conference has been designed to raise awareness of the importance of free and fact-based journalism in promoting peace and justice, and supporting the efficiency, accountability and inclusiveness of institutions, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs). The event is organized with the Government of Indonesia and the Indonesian Press Council.

During the event, Bokova will award the 2017 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize to Dawit Isaak, the imprisoned Eritrean-born journalist who will be represented by his daughter, Bethelem Isaak, during a ceremony hosted by Joko Widodo, the President of Indonesia.

In Geneva, a UN human rights expert welcomed the granting of the prize to Isaak, and urged Eritrea to free him.

The Eritrean authorities should stop the practice of arrests and detention carried out without legal basis instantly, said the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, Sheila B. Keetharuth, in a new release from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

A special event will be held at UN Headquarters in New York on Thursday.

UN Photo/Violaine Martin

Source: www.justearthnews.com


New York, May 4 (Just Earth News):I The head of the United Nations emergency food relief agency on Wednesday appealed for aregular, unimpeded and sustaineda humanitarian access during meetings with senior government officials and partners in Lebanon and Syria a his first official visit since assuming office.

David Beasley, the Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) on Wednesday wrapped up a three-day trip to the two countries to assess the growing needs. According to a press release, he spoke first-hand with Syrian refugee families in the Bekaa Valley and Beirut, and met with displaced women and children at a WFP distribution centre in Damascus.

I am touched by the stories of the struggle and resilience of the many Syrians I met who are living away from home and loved ones, Beasley said.

The UN agency provides monthly life-saving food assistance to more than four million vulnerable people each month inside Syria through regular deliveries as well as cross-border, cross-line and air deliveries to areas not reachable through regular means.

In his meetings, Beasley appealed for regular, unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access to deliver urgently needed food assistance to people in besieged and hard-to-reach areas across war-torn Syria, WFP reported.

He also commended Lebanon for its generosity in hosting over one million Syrian refugees.

During the trip, Beasley also visited warehouses, food distribution centres and WPF-contracted supermarkets where some of the most vulnerable refugees redeem monthly electronic vouchers.

In Lebanon, almost 700,000 vulnerable Syrian refugees receive food assistance through an electronic voucher (e-card) system. The e-cards are replenished each month with $27 per person, which can be used to buy food at one of 480 WFP-contracted shops across Lebanon.

Photo: WFP/Abeer Etefa

Source: www.justearthnews.com
New York, May 4 (Just Earth News): A senior United Nations mediator on Wednesday urged the continuation of talks on a Syrian ceasefire being held in the Kazak capital of Astana.

The current round of what has become known as the Astana talks between the Syrian conflict parties and led by Russia, Turkey and Iran, kicked off on Wednesday, but, according to media reports, the Syrian opposition side walked out of the meeting, citing a new barrage of airstrikes in the area they hold.

The United Nations is very concerned at the reports of escalation in Syria, including, allegedly, reports of air strikes, particularly in this delicate moment in the Astana discussions where actually proposals to de-escalate the conflict are under very serious discussion, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, told reporters, following the suspension of the meeting.

We are calling, therefore, for the immediate investigation and for immediate institution of measures to ensure that now no strikes are taking place and are halted, de Mistura said, urging all participants in Astana to press ahead on Thursday with de-escalation discussions and confidence-building measures.

Asked if he is confident that the opposition will come back on Thursday, he said that there have been some incidents produced by one side or the other, but the important thing is to make sure that those incidents stop but also do not kill the opportunity for good news related to that.

Positive outcomes from the Astana talks  which aim to bolster the ceasefire regime brokered by Russia, Turkey and Iran in late December 2016  would help de Mistura with his role of facilitating the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva, the latest round of which wrapped up in late March. The discussions are guided by UN Security Council resolution 2254 (2015), focusing on matters of governance, a schedule and process to draft a new constitution and the holding of elections as the basis for a Syrian-led, Syrian-owned process to end the conflict.

UN Photo/Violaine Martin (file)

Source: www.justearthnews.com
Tauranga businesses will have the opportunity to discover the latest innovative technology to transform businesses and grow operations next week.

Its the 2017 Technology for Smarter Business Expo at the Baycourt Exhibition Hall in Durham Street, Tauranga from 12pm to 5pm, next Wednesday.

The free expo provides a one stop shop for business people to discover new technology that can reduce overheads, increase productivity, lift company profiles and help build staff knowledge.

Its organised by the economic development group Priority One on behalf of the Western Bay ICT Cluster.

Its the sixth expo which is specifically focused on technology to support business growth.

Technology has long been recognised as having the ability to lift productivity and enable businesses to work smarter, not harder, says Priority One project manager Annie Hill.

Twenty companies will exhibit, all with a strong focus on products and services to maximise business potential.

It includes latest solutions to manage information, enable better decision making, streamline business processes and work remotely.

The flexibility offered by open source software will also be covered, as well as systems to facilitate remote working and sharing information, and maximising business and sales opportunities.

The software development company Think Ltd has exhibited at the last two expos.

The bottom line is we won business directly from being there, says director Adam Hughes.

It was a fantastic opportunity for us to meet potential clients that we would not otherwise have met. Businesses came along with problems to solve. It was a great experience for both the exhibitors and expo visitors.

At this years expo a number of exhibitors will showcase the latest Cloud computing solutions and demonstrate how to integrate different systems.

The latest tablets, laptops and desktops will be on display, and experts will be on hand to ensure you are making the most of SharePoint and Office365. You can also find out about the roll-out of ultrafast fibre in Western Bay towns and undertake an assessment of your companys digital requirements, says Annie.

Local ICT companies will showcase their products and services to businesses in the Bay of Plenty. In particular, it is to encourage small and medium sized businesses that currently access ICT goods and services from outside the region to give local suppliers a chance to provide the same.

The support of the regions larger businesses will increase the opportunities for local ICT businesses to grow.

The free expo will be open to the public from 12pm to 5pm on next Wednesday, May 10, at the Baycourt Exhibition Hall in Durham Street.

Visit http://eepurl.com/cJlxoD to fast track registrations for this event or register on the day at Baycourt.
Three crashes today on the top of five on Wednesday, including a head-on crash between a truck and motorhome, have police repeating driving warnings.

The driver of the motorhome involved in the crash on the Te Puke Highway, near Pah Road, remains in Tauranga Hospital in a critical but stable condition.

Police are still investigating the circumstances of the crash, which forced officers to close down the highway for several hours.

On top of the crashes from yesterday, Western Bay of Plenty road policing manager Senior Sergeant Ian Campion says police responded to three this morning  two of which resulted in minor injuries to the drivers.

On SH29, in the Lower Kaimai area, a vehicle travelling towards Tauranga lost control, struck the Armco barrier and ended up blocking the Tuakopai Bridge, near Soldiers Road. There were no injuries.

Preliminary indications are, too fast for the conditions, says Ian.

There was also a three car nose-to-tail on Hewletts Road at 7.24am. One driver sustained minor injuries.

At 7.45am, a car police believe was driving too fast for the conditions, lost control on a bend and struck a power box beside No1 Road near Te Puke. The driver suffered a minor injury, says Ian.

I cant stress enough how important it is for drivers to take care out there.

Already this morning weve had three reported crashes on the back of five yesterday and all of those crashes are preventable.

Please just take care out there, concentrate on driving. If driving first thing in the morning make sure your windscreen and all the windows are clear and you have got good visibility.

And with the damp conditions and autumnal conditions in the weather make sure your tyres are up to scratch. And bear in mind at this time of year that sunstrike can be a problem.
UPDATED 5.10PM: NZTA reports the highway is now open to traffic.

Earlier, the Trustpower TECT rescue helicopter was dispatched to evacuate the injured victim, landing on Pyes Pa Road.

Motorists were asked to avoid the area for at least an hour while this takes place.

4.30PM:

A section of State Highway 36 has been closed due to a crash near the intersection of Pyes Pa Road and Te Matai Road.

NZTA recommends delaying travel, or taking an alternative route.

Last month 63-year-old Nelson Hei Hei of Rotorua died after crashing his truck and trailer unit on the same stretch of highway.

In that instance the highway was closed for several days due to potential contamination from the spillage of 84, 200 litre drums of resin and ferric chloride that fell off the vehicle during the crash.

According to the NZTA website, the road currently has a temporary 30km/h speed restriction in place.

EARLIER:

Emergency services are currently responding to a crash at the intersection of Pyes Pa Road and Te Matai Road.

A police spokesperson says they were called at around 3.35pm by a member of the public who drove past.

"The car was reported to have a lot of damage to the front."

It is believed the car crashed into a bank.

"A female driver is currently trapped, with moderate to serious injuries."

SunLive will bring you more information as it becomes available.
The Bellamar catering college was founded in the 60s, during the tourist boom, to answer a need for properly trained kitchen staff to tend to the hordes of visitors that were already descending on the Costa del Sol.

The hotel businesses in the city organised two institutions, the Sindicato de Hosteleria and the Cofradia Santa Marta. They had detected the need to channel many of the youngsters from the Serrania de Ronda area, who were unable to find jobs in agriculture, into catering. The first stumbling block of these entrepreneurs was to overcome the fears and prejudices of the families who were also unable to provide the wherewithal needed to send their children to work in the town.

The answer was to create an institution that not only professionally trains, but also welcomes, protects and takes responsibility for the present and future of these young people. A reliable institution, protected by the State and financed with public funds, explained Antonio Flores, director of the Bellamar catering college between 1989 and 2014.

The entrepreneurs presented the Ministry of Labour with an unprecedented project in Spain: a training centre with a hotel open to the public so that the students could practise. The idea convinced the government to form the then Programme of Professional Promotion of Workers (PPO), which opened the centre in the spring of 1967 by renting the small San Nicolas hotel with 50 rooms in Marbella.

Success came quickly and somewhat unexpectedly. The students were supervised by the teaching staff 365 days a year for 24 hours a day, which meant that they were also holding classes during the night.

After several years, and although the problem of unemployment had been considerably reduced in the region, the tourist pull demanded more and more professionals. New applicants began arriving from all over Spain.

The San Nicolas Hotel soon became too small so bigger premises were needed. In 1969 the college moved to the Hotel Bellamar. The hotel on Calle Pintor Pacheco had 70 rooms and an annex was added for use as a classroom and student residence with a capacity for 150 people. It is this annex that remains today as the hotel was closed in 1986 for a renovation that was never carried out.

Over the fifty years a total of around 35,000 professionals have been trained at the Bellamar catering college. The current director, Carmen Sanchez, recalls that among the alumni list, of which about 500 are foreigners, there are some well known people such as top chefs Diego del Rio and Alvaro Arbeloa, co-owner of Ta-Kumi Restaurant.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines quality of life as the individuals perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals. How, then, is quality of life affected when someone becomes a carer to a family member who has cancer?

There has been very little international research into the quality of life, satisfaction and stress levels of non-professional carers (in other words, family members) who are looking after cancer patients in the palliative phase, says Jose Castilla, the nurse who deals with cases of this type at the health centre in Arroyo de la Miel.

He is now carrying out pioneering research with the help of doctors at some of the health centres on the Costa del Sol, which aims to monitor the effects on these carers when their relatives condition worsens. The results will help the Andalusian Health Service to design new strategies which can be put into practice to improve the quality of life of people who look after very sick family members.

The project, which also involves professionals from the Costa del Sol health authority and the collaboration of Cudeca and the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC), is being carried out via the health centres in Arroyo de la Miel, Torrequebrada and Benalmadena; Carihuela and San Miguel, in Torremolinos; and Leganitos and Las Albarizas, in Marbella.

The study focuses on analysing and evaluating the changes which have occurred in the quality of life of 180 people through questionnaires and the carers own medical history every time they go to their health centre.

The idea came from one of the many training courses I have done. My nursing coordinator at the time, Eugenio Contreras, suggested that I should take this idea forward and I thought it would be a good way of putting the theory into practice. Thats how it all began, and we have been preparing for this for four years now, explains Jose, who says the project has received support from the regional governments Progreso y Salud foundation, which has helped us develop the research project, individual doctors and health experts at Malaga University. The research team comprises 16 people, who monitor each of the carers who have volunteered to take part in the project.

Procedure

It is this direct patient-researcher contact which will determine the effects of caring for a patient from the time the period of palliative care begins.

The carers quality of life and stress levels will be evaluated at the start, then one month later, and then after three months and six months. At the same time, the number of times the carers use the health services themselves will be noted, and they will be asked how satisfied they are with the services they receive.

Another variable to be taken into account in the analysis is the socio-demographic profile of the people who are participating in the research project.

When the researchers have all the data collected during a six-month period, they can look at the effects that changes in the patients condition have on the carers quality of life. This will enable them to design a plan of action which is adapted to the specific needs of these carers, to improve their wellbeing.

The hypothesis from which we are starting is that the carers stress levels are going to increase as the cancer patients condition worsens, and that means that their quality of life will decrease. We also believe they will need more health care themselves, as a result of this, explains Jose Castilla.

One of the first changes in quality of life originates from the psychological impact of the situation, which can in turn manifest itself in physical health problems.

The first phase of the research has focused so far on designing computer tools which will be used for the data collection, but within 15 months the first results should be available. It is hoped that this study will shed light on a new aspect of health care and will have important national and international repercussions.
A group of British residents in the Axarquia area attended a Brexit seminar hosted by deVere Spain at the Villa Frigiliana hotel on Wednesday.

Representatives from the financial advice company were joined by members of the organisation Brexpats in Spain, who provided an update of their activity as well as a reminder to participants of the importance of making sure that residence and padron papers are up-to-date.

British solicitor, Victoria Westhead, who helps Brexpats in Spain with legal matters, spoke about making wills and gave advice on inheritance tax.

Milada Fitzgerald spoke on behalf of deVere about tax in general and the different laws that apply in Spain and the UK. She highlighted the fact that in a digital world, it is easy for banks and governments to trace people, wherever they are, suggesting that even those foreigners who have not taken up residency in Spain may still be tracked by the tax authorities if necessary.

Although no one knows exactly what the final outcome of Brexit negotiations will be, neither globally nor on a bilateral basis, the main message coming from the meeting was that Britons living in Spain should take the opportunity now to make sure that their house is in order, meaning that all legal and tax paperwork is up-to-date.

The key concerns from the mainly retiree audience were pension rights and healthcare post-Brexit. Despite this, of the residents who attended the meeting, none said that they were considering leaving Spain. Craig Webb from deVere commented that he believes far more people are moving to Spain from the UK than the other way round and added that he hadnt heard of any cases of people selling up and returning home.
The former head of the Madrid region has resigned her current role, as leader of the PP opposition on Madrids city council, following last weeks arrest of her former number two in the regional government, Ignacio Gonzalez. He was held over a suspected black hole of 60 million euros in public finances.

Esperanza Aguirre led the Madrid region from 2003 to 2012, and during some of that time Ignacio Gonzalez was her number two. Her resignation comes after days of pressure, even from her own party, to make a political gesture. Aguirre, in her resignation speech, said she felt betrayed by her former protege.
Jordi Pujol Ferrusola, son of the former leader of Catalonia, Jordi Pujol i Soley, was held indefinitely without bail on Tuesday after a judge decided that he was at risk of continuing to commit offences and destroying evidence.

With so many large corruption scandals rumbling on in Spain, it has been easy to forget about the case started in 2014 against the Pujol family in Catalonia. However this weeks detention of Jordi Pujol junior has brought the web of allegations back into the national spotlight.

After being held, Pujol junior was whisked off to Barcelona to be in attendance while properties linked to the Pujol family were searched.

Jordi Pujol senior ruled Catalonia for the nationalist CDC party for 23 years from 1980 to 2003 and is an iconic figure across Spain.

In July 2014, Pujol senior admitted that the family had hidden a vast fortune in neighbouring Andorra. He claims the base of the fortune was an inheritance, however prosecutors believe much of the money was acquired through political corruption. Pujols wife and seven children have been drawn into the investigation with Jordi junior, the eldest son, accused of managing 30 million euros of money hidden outside Spain.

The investigation is ongoing, however the decision to remove bail from Jordi junior comes as investigators claim that a network of fake companies is still operating worldwide to help hide the family fortune.
New York, May 4 (Just Earth News)Survivors of sexual violence in war zones need to be recognized as legitimate victims of conflict and terrorism, and not blamed, stigmatized or shamed, the United Nations has said in an annual report to be presented to the Security Council.

Shame and stigma are integral to the logic of sexual violence being employed as a tactic of war or terrorism: aggressors understand that this type of crime can turn victims into outcasts, thus unravelling the family and kinship ties that hold communities together, according to the latest report of the Secretary-General on conflict-related sexual violence, which is prepared by the Office of the UN Special Representative on the issue.

The report calls on traditional, religious and community leaders to address harmful social norms and help to redirect the stigma of rape from the victims to the perpetrators. If not, the victims may face lethal retaliation, honour crimes, suicide, untreated diseases, unsafe abortion, economic exclusion and indigence.

Of particular concern in the report are children born of rape, which may themselves face a lifetime of marginalization, owing to stigma and uncertain legal status.

Unless those who have suffered sexual violence and the children born of rape are reintegrated into their societies and economies, they will remain susceptible to exploitation and recruitment, the report cautions.

The report calls for national legal and policy frameworks to ensure that survivors of conflict-related sexual violence can benefit from reparations and redress, and have access to urgent support and services, such as sexual and reproductive health care including measures for the safe termination of unwanted pregnancies.

Protection from sexual violence and access to sexual and reproductive health care was also pledged at the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit last May.

The annual report reviews 13 conflict settings, four post-conflict countries and two additional situations of concern. It also lists government and non-government actors who are credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence.

This year, for the first time since the Security Council created the position of the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, there has been a delisting. The Ivorian armed forces (FACI) have been removed after the Government adopted measures in accordance with resolution 1960 (2010) and 2106 (2013). These measures include issuing orders through chains of command and adopting codes of conduct prohibiting sexual violence, or investigating alleged incidents.

The measures taken by the Government of Cote dIvoire have resulted in the first delisting pursuant to this mandate, namely that of the Forces armees de Cote dIvoire. Continued monitoring and technical assistance will be required to consolidate these gains, the report noted.

The report is due to be presented to the Security Council on 15 May.

Photo: UNAMID/Albert Gonzalez Farran

Source: www.justearthnews.com
The Spanish Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (Pintores con la Boca y el Pie), a group of artists that have used their creativity to overcome their physical limitations in creating art using their mouth and feet, are now exhibiting their work in Malaga. Art fans will be able to visit the display at La Sala Moreno Villa, in Malagas Mercado de la Merced.

EXHIBITION Place. Sala Moreno Villa. C/Merced, 1 (in the Mercado de la Merced building). Date. Until 23 June. Hours. Monday to Friday, 10am to 1pm and, in the evening, 5pm to 8pm.

The exhibition displays more than 30 pieces made by the group, some of which were created by Malaga artists Mavi Rodriguez, Virginia Polo and Alejandro Pinazo.

Their work is also joined by paintings by Manuel Parreno, the artist responsible for founding the Spanish branch of the association six decades ago, after it was created in Germany by Erich Stegmann, a polio sufferer, for people that were unable to create art with their hands as the result of an illness or physical handicap.

Each case is different, one cant establish common patterns or criteria. Each artist has to adapt to their individual situation to be able to paint and develop their creativity, said Ricardo Charfole, the associations current director. It gives the artists a sense of pride because they feel of use thanks to their efforts, he added.

From pastime to profession

The association also encourages its members to become professional artists by granting them scholarships. In this way, something which perhaps started as a hobby can become a profession. This can change the artists life significantly, because not only do they feel that their work is being recognised, but they are also receiving an income from it. Charfole said.

The director also pointed out that the association, which now has counterparts in more than 40 countries, does not receive any grants or donations from the government or public institutions, but funds itself through the sales of the artists paintings.

The exhibition will be on display until 23 June.
Kabul, May 4 (IBNS) : Two suicide bombers and a child were killed during a brief clash between the assailants and the security forces in southern Kandahar province, Afghanistan's state-run news agency Khaama Press said.

The report quoted local Government officials as saying that the incident took place late on Wednesday evening in the central Kandahar city.

Provincial police spokesman Zia-ur-Rehman Durani said the militants had disguised in Burqa and managed to take position near a bakery in the vicinity of the 4th police district of the city.

He said the suicide bombers started fire on a check post that lasted for several minutes before they were shot dead.




Image: architectureimg.com

Irving, May 4 (IBNS): At least two people have died following a suspected murder-suicide at a Texas college, reports said.

The incident took place on Wednesday morning at around 11:32 am at the Central campus of North Lake College, Irving Police Department tweeted.

The deceased have been identified as Janeera Nickol Gonzalez and Adrian Victor Torres, aged 20 and 21 respectively.

Police further said that Adrian shot Janeera and later killed himself.

No other casualty has been reported from the scene of the crime.

"We have what appears to be one victim deceased & the shooter has committed suicide," the IPD tweet read.

"There appears to be no continuing threat but police will continue to search to make the campus safe," the department said in an ensuing tweet.
Entschadigungen fur Afrika "Wir wollen nur, was uns zusteht"

Kaum ein Kontinent leidet so stark unter den Folgen des Klimawandels wie Afrika - und hat dabei im weltweiten Vergleich so wenig dazu beigetragen. Afrikanische Politiker fordern deshalb auf der Klimakonferenz finanzielle Entschadigungen. Von Antje Diekhans.
Toronto, May 4 (IBNS): India's Consul General in Canada, Dinesh Bhatia, released the book aOotamini Ageekarinchanua, which is a Telugu translation by Prof. Lakshmi Prasad Yarlagadda of the book 'Haar Nahin Manunga: Ek Atal Jeevan Gatha', media reports said.

'Haar Nahin Manunga is a biography of Indias former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee written by Vijai Trivedi, a press release said.

The book was released on May 2, 2017 in Toronto, in the presence of a large number of book lovers.

Bhatia stressed the importance of languages and thanked scholars and writers for bridging the language barriers by translating different works in various languages.

This was a great step to enhance exchange of different perspective and ideas, said Bhatia.

Lakshmi Prasad Yaralagadda said that the key to overcome the barriers of region and language lay in the exchange of ideas and understanding of different perspectives which were rooted in diverse socio-cultural settings and this could be done best by translation of books in other languages.

Translation of books into other languages is the key to attain wider audience and readership, he said.

Porf. Yaralagadda was awarded the Padmashri in 2003 and Padmabhushan in 2016 for his contributions to literature.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)
The local elections for the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority Mayor and the Cambridgeshire County Council will be held today (Thursday, May 4). In the running for one of the 12 positions on the County Council is Cambridge University student Connor MacDonald, who stands as a representative of the Conservative Party.

MacDonald, a Canadian undergraduate reading HSPS at Emmanuel College, will be making a bid for the Chesterton seat. The incumbent East Chesterton Councillor is Liberal Democratic candidate Ian Manning, who, aside from MacDonald, will also face Labour member Kelley Green, Peter Burkinshaw for UKIP, and Green Party candidate Stephen Lawrence.

The Cambridge Student spoke to MacDonald, who observed that local politics matters enormously  it affects the bread and butter issues of every resident and a good council can vastly improve quality of life in an area.

On his decision to represent the Conservatives, he added, The Conservative Party has a stellar record on Councils across the country, and we have delivered strong public services while keeping costs low. I am also really proud to be supporting Theresa May as she tries to secure the best Brexit deal for Cambridge and the United Kingdom.

Although Macdonald is representing the Party in Chesterton, he will be running as a paper candidate  because the area is unlikely to vote Conservative, being instead a battleground for the Liberal Democrats and the Labour candidates, Macdonald has been campaigning instead in areas where Conservative support is more likely. A vocal supporter of Mayoral candidate James Palmer, he notes that Palmer is campaigning on a platform of infrastructure reforms to alleviate congestion in the city.

The idea of a Cambridge Underground is radical and promises to unlock an enormous amount of potential, he adds.

Despite being an international student, Macdonald asserts that there is really no difference whatsoever when it comes to the impact of local politics. Local issues  though many students may not know it  affect all of us! The recent street lights issue is a perfect example.

His interest in politics has long been evident elsewhere, being the current Emmanuel Student Union President, and having recently been the campaign manager for CUSU Presidential candidate Jack Drury. Although he notes that Cambridge offers ample opportunities for students to be involved in political activity, he also suggests that our generation has fallen prey to clicktivism a bit.

My rule is that I dont post anything too political unless Im willing to go out and campaign for it in person!

MacDonald is not the only Cambridge student running in the local elections  Henry Mitson, an undergraduate at Caius College, and James Mathieson, a student at Churchill, will be running as Conservatives in Market Ward and Cherry Hinton respectively, while Joe Dale, who is currently studying for an MPhil in Planning, Growth and Regeneration at Clare Hall, is making a bid as Labour representative for the Newnham seat.

There will be 49 polling stations open across 37 sites in Cambridge today, and residents will be able to cast their votes between 7am and 10pm. Counts for the elections will begin at 9am on Friday, May 5.
For years, the National Security Agency routinely collected personal information on millions of Americans and their phone calls. They began this program following the September 11th attacks and it was largely discovered and made public following Edward Snowden's leaks.

The American people were justifiably upset at the massive breach of privacy, so Congress enacted legislation to limit the NSA's ability to collect bulk phone records. Unfortunately, this didn't really end up changing much according to the annual report issued by the Director of National Intelligence.

Congress passed the Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ending Eavesdropping, Dragnet-collection and Online Monitoring Act, better known as the USA Freedom Act, back in 2015 to more tightly regulate the NSA. Despite these new laws, the NSA still collected more than 150 million phone records in 2016. Also revealed in the report was that the NSA only had warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court to track 42 terrorism suspects that year.

Officials argue that the 151 million number is small compared to the numbers collected before Snowden and the USA Freedom Act. This number also includes multiple calls to or from the same person so the real number of suspects will be less. That said, this is still a massive number considering the NSA is supposed to now be limited in its authority to collect bulk data.

On the bright side though, the fact that we even have this number is a positive sign. The NSA, while remaining one of the most secretive agencies in the world, has been on a track towards greater transparency in recent years.
The ongoing licensing dispute between Apple and Qualcomm was already getting ugly, but things could be about to get a lot worse. According to a Bloomberg report, Qualcomm is planning to ask the International Trade Commission to ban the import of iPhones from Asia.

Citing an anonymous person familiar with Qualcomm's company strategy, Bloomberg writes that the chip maker is threatening to block all handsets from entering the US ahead of Apple's anticipated new devices this fall.

The legal dispute began at the start of this year when the FTC filed a complaint over allegations of Qualcomm's anti-competitive practices. Apple then sued Qualcomm for about $1 billion, claiming it had been "charging royalties for technologies they have nothing to do with."

Last month, Qualcomm countersued Apple, denying the iPhone maker's allegation in a 134-page filing, while accusing it of breach of contract and interfering with agreements Qualcomm has with other companies.

Qualcomm recently revealed Apple was withholding royalty payments as a result of the dispute, forcing it to cut revenue outlook by $500 million. Speaking about the case, CEO Tim Cook said he's always hated litigation and is open to settling Qualcomm's lawsuit, but expects a lengthy legal battle.

"They were insisting on charging royalties for technologies that they had nothing to do with, and so we were in a situation where the more we innovated with unique features like Touch ID, or advanced displays, or cameras, the more money Qualcomm would collect for no reason, and the more expensive it would be for us to innovate," said Cook.

Whether the ITC really would do something as extreme as ban iPhone imports remains to be seen, but there's no doubting that such an action would hit Apple very hard in the pocket.
A lot of people today complain about the state of public education. They are concerned that student outcomes are getting worse over time. Thankfully, there have been some major improvements in digital technology that have made education a lot more accessible and simpler than it used to be. This article discusses ways to get a quality education using technology.

Online Schools

Online schools have greatly expanded in size in the 21st Century. It is possible now to get a full quality education from the comfort of your home. This allows workers to prioritize their work life and reap the benefits of having more certifications in their chosen profession. Many major universities have caught onto the trend and offer very reputable programs entirely online. An early concern was the quality. Is an online degree really worth the same as a traditional degree? The fact that major universities like USC and Arizona State University agree with the concept helps alleviate that concern. It is important when considering an online program that the degree is highly accredited and that it is from an academic institution that employers like.

Open Source Academic Content

Many textbooks are expensive. This is hard for low-income students, who must pay large amounts of fees to keep up with their classes. Many instructors and college boards are having compassion for this reality, and they are beginning to use open source academic content. It is now common to have class instructors referring students to free websites like YouTube or Khan Academy to practice their homework. Some instructors prepare free material or even textbooks that all the students can use cheaply.

Gamification

Suzanne, writing for Top Hat, notes the increasing popularity of adding game design methods to the classroom. This has really taken off with Khan Academy's free point system for completing videos. Some instructors are using this method as well. Having voting clickers for lecture questions increases audience enjoyment and retention of material. Gamification is a term that refers to adding game methods to a non-game context like work or school. Systems like Apache Kafka or Kafka on AWS (Amazon Web Services) can be used to digitize connection of apps and tools used during a gamification process. Knowing what employees are achieving or scoring is made easier this way.

Remote Laboratories

Remote laboratories, like a business conference, allow students to learn concepts that are hard to learn outside of the lab. The Australian Engineering Institute of Technology has a good setup for classrooms wishing to start a remote laboratory. Giving students and teachers the flexibility to learn concepts without actually having to attend the lab can save time and money. Sometimes, being present in the lab is useful, but at other times, it is optional. Students can do their homework while watching the demonstration at home.

Smartphones and Tablets

In the past 10 years, smartphones have gone from almost science fiction to an essential communication tool that most people have or want. Smartphones and their larger cousin, tablets, make it easier to do computer and Internet tasks while on the go. This is very helpful in an educational context. Students can learn about a subject while riding on the bus. Many teachers are using school applications to host their classes. Learning is not as compartmentalized as in the past. A fun educational trick that smartphones can be used to help with is a 3D hologram projector.

Conclusion

There are lots of great technologies that researchers are developing to make classrooms more interesting. Sometimes, it takes a while for new innovations to get into traditional education institutions. However, many tools that were only recently invented have become commonplace at major colleges. Soon, public schools with lower amounts of funding might see technology improvements as well.

Edited by Alicia Young
Fossils of Last Dinosaur That Lived in Africa Discovered in Northern Morocco

By KM Diaz, | May 04, 2017

Abelisaurs were known to be two-legged predators with a shorter, blunter nose, smaller arms, and were slightly similar to T. rex and other tyrannosaurs. (YouTube)

One of the last dinosaurs that lived in Africa before they went extinct 66 million years ago has been found in a phosphate mine in northern Morocco.



The study led by the researchers from Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath examined the fossils and suggest that a distinct dinosaur evolved in Africa during the Cretaceous period.



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In 2016, Dr. Nick Longrich from University of Bath analyzed the rare fragment of the jaw bone found in the mines at Sidi Chennane in the Oulad Abdoun Basin, Morocco. Dr. Longrich along with colleagues from Spain, Morocco, and France classified the new species to belong to abelisaur.



Abelisaurs were known to be two-legged predators with a shorter, blunter nose, smaller arms, and were slightly similar to T. rex and other tyrannosaurs. Tyrannosaurs dominated in Asia and North America, while the abelisaurs were the major predators at the end of the Cretaceous period in South America, Africa, Europe, and India.



The new species was named "Chenanisaurus barbaricus," is the smaller African counterpart of the North American T. rex. It is believed that the creature was one of the last dinosaurs on Earth before an asteroid hit the planet 66 million years ago.



Only a few dinosaurs that lived in Africa following the Cretaceous period are known. Sea levels were high during this period, that's why most of the fossils are found in marine rocks. Among these are the phosphate sediments of Morocco, laid down 66 million years ago.



Dr. Longrich says that their finding is significant because the fossils were recovered in marine rocks, and believes that the creature was possibly hunting for lion or whales. Additionally, it is the first dinosaur fossils found in Morocco and one of the last dinosaurs in Africa before the mass extinction.


While it is possible that the Democrats will lose both chambers, the Republicans did not sweep the elections as most surveys expected. | Read More
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Some legal experts are saying that in laying out the difficulties in making federal civil rights case against the two Baton Rouge police officers involved in the shooting death of Alton Sterling, acting U.S. Attorney Corey Amundson on Wednesday may have also pointed out the path for a state criminal investigation that now falls to Louisiana State Attorney General Jeff Landry.

After a nearly 10-month investigation, Amundson said, prosecutors and FBI investigators were not able to meet the high bar set in federal law: that Officers Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II acted willfully and unreasonably and with a specific intent to shoot and kill Sterling July 5.

"Being reckless, escalating a situation that may have been de-escalated, those things are not a basis under the law for federal criminal civil rights prosecution," Amundson said in a news conference.

Pauline Hardin, a white collar criminal defense attorney in New Orleans and former state and federal prosecutor, said that unlike the federal willfulness standard for federal civil rights cases, state homicide statutes require differing levels of intent, ranging from first- and second-degree murder to negligent homicide.

Negligence, recklessness, overreaction, bad judgement  all are covered by the state homicide statutes, she and other experts noted.

"There is no willfulness, but there may still be recklessness and negligence. I think he was hinting at that," LSU criminal law professor Ken Levy said of Amundson's statements Wednesday.

"I think that's kind of where state investigation is going to go: Was it reckless or negligent," Levy added.

In a statement issued after Amundson's news conference, Landry said he would not comment on federal prosecutors' findings but said he has directed the U.S. Department of Justice to turn over their Sterling investigative materials, has appointed a prosecutor in his office to handle the case, and has asked Louisiana State Police to investigate.

Landry noted State Police already has a team that investigates officer-involved shootings, including the shooting of Christopher Few and slaying his 6-year-old austic son, Jeremy Mardis, in Marksville in November 2015.

"There is no other unit in the state with more experience or more expertise in the use of lethal force by law enforcement agents," Landry said.

Hardin added that Landry could ultimately bring the case to the East Baton Rouge Parish grand jury to review for possible charges, though no one in District Attorney Hillar Moore III's office could be involved. Moore recused himself and his office from the case last year because of his personal ties to Salamoni's parents.

Prem Burns, a former longtime lead prosecutor for former East Baton Rouge District Attorney Doug Moreau and for Moore, said federal prosecutors don't end up bringing charges in the vast majority of criminal civil rights cases involving officers' use of force because of the difficulty in meeting the willfulness standard.

Prosecutors would have had to disprove officers' explanation for their actions  that they believed Sterling was going for the .38 caliber revolver in his right pants pocket  and also shown that the officers intended to break the law and kill him.

"This is the highest standard in federal criminal law, willfulness," Amundson said.

At the news conference and in a statement, federal prosecutors went into detail about how a lack of evidence at critical moments stymied their ability to prove the elements of a civil rights violation.

They noted that at the second when Salamoni was struggling with Sterling's right arm and shouted Sterling was going for the gun, video recordings that have been publicized and that investigators have not made public do not show where Sterling's right hand was located.

Prosecutors added that the statements of two witnesses who claimed Sterling's right hand was not in his pocket are insufficient proof because of other inconsistencies in their statements and because parts of their accounts were contradicted by the video that does exist.

"In other words, we cannot establish that Mr. Sterling was not reaching for a gun or more accurately that the officers did not believe he was reaching for a gun and, therefore, cannot establish that the lethal force that was used was not unreasonable," Amundson said.

Because prosecutors can't show what the officers were doing was unreasonable or against the law, they also can't prove willfulness.

Some civil rights activists argue that the willfulness standard is too tough and is often the downfall of civil rights cases.

In a statement Wednesday, Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc., called the willfulness standard "deeply flawed" and one that frustrates the meaning of federal law "designed to protect against the deprivation of rights by officers of the state."

Burns, however, noted the U.S. Supreme Court set the willfulness standard in the mid-1940s and it has remained in place ever since.

Under state law, though, that standard doesn't apply.

Negligent homicide, for instance, would require a showing of just criminal negligence, Levy said. Manslaughter does require a showing of a specific intent to kill  Sterling was shot six times  but also that the slaying happened in a moment of passion, or what's called "hot blood."

Burns noted that hot blood can arise from a provocation.

"It would be like a person resisting arrest who is provoking them (officers). As a result, their blood did boil, and they get hot headed," Burns said.

Federal prosecutors Wednesday went through the series of events in which they said Sterling repeatedly refused to follow the officers' commands.

The experts suggested that if there is a state criminal case, the officers are likely to argue self-defense but even with the deference officers are normally afforded in split-second situations, a criminal case could be made.

Burns pointed to the recent conviction of Derrick Stafford, a former Marksville police officer and deputy marshal who also claimed self-defense, on manslaughter and attempted manslaughter counts. Stafford shot and injured Christopher Few and killed his 6-year-old autistic son during a confrontation stemming from an attempted traffic stop in November 2015.

A second law enforcement officer is facing charges in that case.

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Federal prosecutors announced Wednesday that they will not seek charges against two white police officers who were involved in a deadly encounter with a black man in Baton Rouge last summer.

Alton Sterling, 37, was shot to death on July 5, 2016, as two white officers pinned him to the pavement outside a convenience store where he had been selling CDs. The killing was captured on cellphone video and circulated widely online, sparking demonstrations across Baton Rouge.

+10 Alton Sterling decision: Feds not bringing charges against Baton Rouge officers Federal prosecutors will not bring criminal charges against either of the Baton Rouge city p

Here is more information on some other high-profile killings by police:

___

WALTER SCOTT

Prosecutors are recommending decades in prison for white South Carolina police officer Michael Slager, who shot Scott in the back as the black motorist fled following a traffic stop.

Slager pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a federal charge of violating Scott's civil rights. A judge will determine his sentence, which could range from probation to life in prison without parole.

A lawyer for Scott's family said justice was served with Slager's guilty plea. But attorney Chris Stewart also said Tuesday that verdicts are rare in officer-involved killings. The possibility of such a stiff sentence in killings by police is even more unusual.

Scott's shooting in April 2015 was captured on cellphone video and seen worldwide.

___

ERIC GARNER

The 43-year-old black man died in July 2014 in New York City after a white officer placed him in a chokehold during an arrest for selling loose cigarettes. A grand jury declined to indict that officer, nor any others involved in the arrest. The city agreed to pay a $6 million civil settlement.

___

JORDAN EDWARDS

This black 15-year-old was fatally shot Saturday by a suburban Dallas police officer while a passenger in a car that was moving away, not in reverse toward officers. Balch Springs Police Chief Jonathan Haber said Monday that police video contradicts his department's original statement about the high school freshman's killing by officers investigating an underage drinking complaint at a house party Edwards was leaving. The officer, identified as Roy Oliver, was fired on Tuesday for violating department policies in Edwards' death. Oliver is white, according to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.

___

TERENCE CRUTCHER

Tulsa, Oklahoma, police Officer Betty Jo Shelby's manslaughter trial begins Monday in the shooting of Crutcher, an unarmed man. Shelby, who is white, shot the 40-year-old man on Sept. 16, shortly after she arrived on a street to find Crutcher's SUV stopped in the middle of the road. Crutcher was seen without a weapon and with his hands up on videos from a patrol car dashboard and a police helicopter before Shelby shot him. Police Chief Chuck Jordan has said Crutcher did not have a gun on his body nor in his SUV. Shelby has pleaded not guilty.

___

PHILANDO CASTILE

Castile was shot and killed July 6 by officer Jeronimo Yanez, who is Hispanic, after being pulled over as he drove through a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota, with his girlfriend and her young daughter in the car. Livestreaming on Facebook moments later, his girlfriend said Castile, 32, was shot while reaching for his ID after telling the officer he had a gun permit and was armed. Ramsey County Attorney John Choi concluded that Yanez wasn't justified in using deadly force. Yanez is charged with manslaughter and is free ahead of his trial scheduled to start later this month.

___

REKIA BOYD

Chicago police officer Dante Servin resigned in May 2016 after the police superintendent said he should be fired for killing an unarmed black woman four years earlier. Servin was off-duty when he shot 22-year-old Rekia Boyd. She had been walking down a street with her friends when he told them to be quiet, and he fired when he thought he saw a gun. Prosecutors charged Servin with involuntary manslaughter, a judge acquitted him in April 2016, saying he'd been improperly charged. The city settled a wrongful-death lawsuit in 2013 with Boyd's family for $4.5 million.

___

LAQUAN MCDONALD

Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder in November 2015, on the same day that the city, under a judge's orders, released dashcam video showing McDonald, a 17-year-old black man, being shot 16 times on Oct. 20, 2014. Van Dyke, who is white, has pleaded not guilty. The video prompted local and federal investigations; The Justice Department determined in January that Chicago police have a long history of civil rights violations and excessive force.

___

MICHAEL BROWN

The 18-year-old black man was fatally shot by a white officer, Darren Wilson, in August 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. A grand jury declined to indict Wilson, and the U.S. Justice Department opted against civil rights charges. Wilson later resigned. The death of Brown, who was unarmed, led to months of occasionally violent protests and became a catalyst for the Black Lives Matter movement, which rebukes police treatment of minorities.

___

AKAI GURLEY

Rookie New York City police officer Peter Liang was convicted of manslaughter last year in the November 2014 death of 28-year-old Gurley. Liang, an American of Chinese descent, said he was patrolling a public housing high-rise with his gun drawn when a sound startled him and he fired accidentally. A bullet ricocheted off a wall, hitting Gurley. A judge reduced the conviction to negligent homicide and sentenced Liang to five years' probation and 800 hours of community service. The city settled with Gurley's family for $4.1 million.

___

TAMIR RICE

Twelve-year-old Tamir Rice was fatally shot by a white Cleveland police officer near a gazebo in a recreational area in November 2014. Officers were responding to a report of a man waving a gun. The boy had a pellet gun tucked in his waistband and was shot right after their cruiser skidded to a stop, just feet away. A grand jury in December 2015 declined to indict patrolman Timothy Loehmann, who fired the fatal shot, and training officer Frank Garmback. The city settled his family's lawsuit for $6 million. The officers still could be disciplined or fired by the department.

____

FREDDIE GRAY

The 25-year-old man was shackled but alive when he was put in Baltimore police van in April 2015. He came out with severe neck injuries, and his subsequent death led to rioting. Six officers were charged initially, but prosecutors in July dropped all remaining charges after acquittals and a hung jury. Gray's family agreed to a $6.4 million settlement with the city in September 2015.

____

ERIC HARRIS

Former Tulsa County volunteer sheriff's deputy Robert Bates, 74, was sentenced in June to four years in prison for second-degree manslaughter in the April 2015 death of Harris, 44, a black man who was unarmed and restrained. Bates, who is white, has said he confused his stun gun with his handgun. That shooting led to the temporary suspension of the reserve deputy program after a report found poor training of the volunteer officers, a lack of oversight, and cronyism. Bates is appealing his conviction.

___

WILLIAM CHAPMAN II

Former Portsmouth, Virginia, Police Officer Stephen Rankin was sentenced in October to 2 years in prison for fatally shooting this unarmed 18-year-old while responding to a shoplifting call outside a Wal-Mart on April 22, 2015. Prosecutors allege Rankin killed Chapman "willfully, deliberately and with premeditation." Chapman's body was reportedly delivered to the medical examiner with handcuffs still bound behind his back. Some witnesses said Chapman was combative, and one said he knocked away Rankin's stun gun. Rankin, who is white, was fired.

___

SAM DUBOSE

Prosecutors plan to retry former University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing this month in the killing of an unarmed black motorist during a traffic stop near the campus in July 2015. The jury deadlocked after his first murder trial. He faces 15 years to life if convicted. Tensing's body camera captured much of the encounter, although the two sides dispute what conclusions can be reached. Tensing's attorney says DuBose was using his car as a deadly weapon. The university fired Tensing, restructured its public safety department and reached a $5.3 million settlement that includes free undergraduate tuition for DuBose's 13 children.

___

JEREMY MCDOLE

McDole, 28, was sitting in his wheelchair when he was shot and killed in September 2015 in Wilmington, Delaware, after police received a 911 call about a man with a gun. A bystander's cellphone footage showed officers repeatedly telling McDole to drop his weapon and raise his hands, with McDole reaching for his waist area before shots erupted. The Delaware attorney general's office decided against criminal charges against four Wilmington police officers involved, although investigators concluded one officer showed "extraordinarily poor" police work. In January, a federal judge approved the city's $1.5 million settlement with McDole's family.

___

RICKY BALL

Former Columbus, Mississippi, police officer Canyon Boykin, who is white, was indicted in September for manslaughter in the shooting death of Ball, 26. Boykin said he fired because Ball appeared to point a gun at him during a foot chase in October 2015. The city fired Boykin, saying the officer violated policy by not turning on his body camera, by inviting his fiancee to ride with him and by making derogatory social media posts about African-Americans, women and disabled people. Boykin has sued the city, claiming violations of his constitutional rights. Ball's family has sued Boykin, the city and other police officials for wrongful death.

___

JAMAR CLARK

The November 2015 shooting death of 24-year-old Clark sparked weeks of protests in Minneapolis. The officers, Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze, were trying to arrest Clark when he was shot once in the head. He died a day later. Some witnesses said Clark was handcuffed when he was shot, but federal and state probes concluded that he was not. Investigators said Ringgenberg felt Clark's hand trying to grab his weapon and shouted to Schwarze, who then shot Clark. Prosecutors decided not to charge either white officer, and an internal police investigation cleared them.

___

KEITH LAMONT SCOTT

A prosecutor cleared a black Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer in the fatal shooting of Scott, 43, who was killed while sitting in his vehicle in the parking lot of his Charlotte apartment complex as officers sought another man. A police review board decided last month that Officer Brentley Vinson followed proper procedure. Police video showed officers shouting for Scott to drop a gun numerous times as he slowly backed out of an SUV. Scott's family said he did not have a gun and was reading a book. Charlotte-Mecklenburg District Attorney Andrew Murray cited evidence that Scott was armed, including a store's surveillance video, DNA recovered from a handgun and a Facebook conversation from the man who said he sold the stolen gun to Scott.
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Earlier, the Supreme Court had questioned the government for making Aadhaar Card mandatory for filing of income taxes.

By India Today Web Desk: The Supreme Court has questioned whether a tax payer can file the income tax returns the way he liked, and not through the mechanism set up by the government.

"Can you say that I will pay taxes in the manner I will pay" and not follow the tax regime put in place by the government, the bench of Justice A.K.Sijkri and Justice Ashok Bhushan asked senior counsel Shyan Divan who argued against linking Aadhaar with permanent account number (PAN) under Section 139 AA of Income Tax Act.

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The court query came even as for the second successive day, the central government defended inserting Section 139AA mandating linking of Aadhaar number to the permanent account number (PAN) for the purpose of filing income tax returns.

Defending the linking of Aadhaar with PAN, counsel Arghya Sengupta told the court that biometric was the best system for person's identification at present and it is what PAN was earlier.

He said that as of today, technologically Aadhaar was "protected system" with all sophisticated safeguards and there was not a single leak from Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

Addressing the privacy issue being raised on the linking of Aadhaar with PAN, Sengupta, Founder & Research Director, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, told the bench that understanding of privacy has to be in Indian context and its laws and not in the western concept.

Taking exception to Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi describing the challenge to linking of Aadhaar number with PAN an elitist challenge, Divan said that his client is a major general and may not have contributed as much as the Attorney General might but did something in his service.

Telling the bench that both Aadhaar Act and IT Act's Section 139 AA were in clash, Divan said the former says Aadhaar was voluntary and the latter makes it mandatory.

"Everything from enrollment to its use is voluntary and its could not be made mandatory by Section 139 AA.

Appearing for another petitioner, senior counsel Arvind Datar told the court that it was a frightening scenario that the Attorney General gives an undertaking to the top court and the government acts contrary to it by bringing a law.

It is shocking that parliament can pass a law contrary to what the Attorney General undertook in the top court, he said, pointing out that if AG gives an undertaking, the government in majority can't act contrary to it.

Senior Communist Party of India leader Binoy Visman, former Indian Army officer S.G. Vombatkere and Safai Karamchari Andolan founder and convenor Bezwada Wilson have moved the court challenging the validity of the Section 139AA.

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(With inputs from IANS)

ALSO READ:

Aadhaar mandatory to avoid fake PAN cards, government tells Supreme Court

Aadhaar data of 130 millions, bank account details leaked from govt websites: Report

Aadhaar will soon be aadhaar of your existence: Why you cannot afford to live without the 12-digit number

New Digital India: All PAN cards not linked to Aadhaar card will be cancelled

--- ENDS ---
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu speaks in his office in City Hall in New Orleans, April 27, 2017.
Mitch Landrieu has his supporters and his detractors, but they'd surely agree on this: the New Orleans mayor is not one to wallow in self-doubt.

Landrieu has never backed off his forceful defense of the city's decision to remove four monuments to the Confederacy and a white supremacist uprising, for example. Nor has he given an inch on complaints that his administration is taking them down in the dead of night without advance notice, or shielding the names of contractors and donors from public view.

So it was kind of remarkable to see Landrieu issue an apology to a longtime supporter who's now on the other end of the controversy.

In interviews with various media outlets last week, Landrieu sharply criticized some of the city's wealthiest citizens for not supporting the initiative and playing a productive role in helping the city move forward  a reasonable complaint, I argued in a recent column. He didn't name names in speaking to the Advocate, but he apparently named one, Frank Stewart, in his separate meeting with nola.com.

To say that Stewart didn't take it at all well is an understatement. He bought a harshly-worded two-page ad in Wednesday's Advocate lambasting Landrieu for going after the monuments, and also for supposedly referring to him as a "high-rolling investor." That phrase, nola.com later clarified, was the reporter's, not the mayor's.

Here's what Landrieu actually said, according to nola.com: "It would be a shame if all those folks who didn't want it to happen, like Frank Stewart, right, if they don't come and say I'll help you because I'm one of the wealthiest guys in the city and now I'm mad at you because you took my uncle down," Landrieu said. "That would be nice. But we haven't had that kind of input from them. And you can think of all the other people in this town with a lot of money."

Stewart's criticism went a lot further than how he was characterized, of course, and Landrieu did not give any ground on the larger issues. But the mayor did say he regretted calling Stewart out, and said he knows him to be a "good and decent man."

"As you can see from the rest of his letter, we have a strong and principled disagreement on this very important issue. I hope our longtime friendship can stand," he said.

Actually, it would be nice to think that a lot of friendships will survive this episode The city decided to remove the monuments a year and a half ago. The more people who work toward moving on and healing  no matter their take on the monuments' merits  the better.
Llewellyn Series: Cello. Canberra Symphony Orchestra. Llewellyn Hall, ANU. May 17 and 18 at 7.30pm. Bookings: 6262 6772 or cso.org.au/tickets.

Berlin-based maestro Stanley Dodds returns to Canberra to conduct a very different program from the Opera Gala that he directed for the Canberra Symphony Orchestra last year. This time it's a varied symphonic program of works by Haydn, Peter Sculthorpe, Schumann and Brahms. Joining him as guest soloist in Schumann's romantic Cello Concerto in A minor is Italian-born cellist Umberto Clerici.

Cellist Umberto Clerici will perform the Schumann Cello Concerto. Credit:Ivano Buat

Newly married to an Australian wife, Clerici is now resident in Sydney, teaching at the Conservatorium of Sydney and playing as principal cello with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

"The cello that I'm going to play in Canberra is a Matteo Goffriller made in Venice in 1722," Clerici says. "The best types of celli in the world were made by Stradivarius and Goffriller. The Strads have an amazing, refined, bright sound and are more complicated to play than Goffrillers which have a big, broad sound but are very gentle to play. Pablo Casals started with a Stradivarius but then moved to Venetian celli because with them you are more confident of doing what you want. Sometimes a Strad does what it wants!"
Residents of a Symonston caravan park are concerned new ownership will see their rent rise as infrastructure continues to crumble.

The incoming owners of Sundown Motel Resort, Gateway Lifestyle, have signalled to residents they would be raising the rent after they take over on Friday, which makes $600,000 a year in rent from tenants.

Symonstons Sundown village permanent residents (from left) Barbara Airs, Tania Anthes, Ros Kealy and Tony Airs have concerns over what the change owners of the complex will bring. Credit:Karleen Minney

Barbara and Tony Airs bought their caravan, but pay utilities and rent for the land it sits on.

Walking around the park on Monday, Mr and Mrs Airs pointed to crumbling roads and underused facilities.
A pedestrian was hit by a car on Barry Drive near Northbourne Avenue on Thursday morning.

Emergency services said a man had been taken to Canberra Hospital for assessment following the incident, but he did not appear to be seriously injured.

Police said they were attending the scene after receiving reports a pedestrian had been hit by a vehicle.
Compliance action would be considered against Adani in respect of water released under a temporary emissions licence after a full report on its investigations which will provide the basis for decisions on what, if any, compliance action will occur.

By Press Trust of India: Adani Australia could face a multi-million penalty for possible environmental breaches over floodwaters released from the Indian mining giant's Queensland coal port after Cyclone Debbie which wreaked havoc in the country.

The Queensland government said it was probing and considering a compliance action on the issue of possible breach by Adani in respect to water released from its Abbot Point facility that had eight times more sediment than allowed limit.

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Jim Reeves, the Director General of Environment and Heritage Protection (EHP), said Adani Abbot Point Bulkcoal was authorised to release water under the licence, for the period March 27 to 30, which was granted to assist with site water management during and after the cyclone Debbie.

There are serious penalties for corporations whose non- compliance with their environmental authorities or temporary emissions licences caused environmental harm, including fines of up to 3.8 million dollar if the non-compliance was wilful or 2.7 million dollar if the non-compliance was unintentional.

ADANI REFUTED CLAIMS

Meanwhile, Adani Australia refuted the claims that its Abbot Point coal handling facility discharged contaminated water in the wake of Cyclone Debbie.

"The results of the test are not expected until next week, three weeks after the samples were taken. However, DEHP officers have confirmed to Abbot Point management that there was no evidence of environmental harm post Cyclone Debbie," it noted.

The EHP said it would consider compliance action against Adani in respect of water released under a temporary emissions licence after a full report on its investigations which will provide the basis for decisions on what, if any, compliance action will occur.

Adani Abbot Point Bulkcoal provided a report to EHP on April 24 saying it had a water discharge on March 30 from a licensed point on the northern side of the terminal, containing 806mg/L of sediment.

Under its environmental authority, terminal management is required to monitor all water releases and report any non- compliance to EHP.

"In this case, Adani Abbot Point Bulkcoal advised EHP that the non-compliant release from the licensed point on the northern side of the terminal did not enter the Caley Valley wetland, with further investigations by port management indicating that no coal-laden water entered any marine environment.

EHP INVESTIGATION

Reeves said EHP was continuing to investigate water discharges and possible environmental contamination from the Abbot Point coal handling facility.

This follows aerial imagery provided to EHP by the State Disaster Coordination Centre on April 6 that suggested there was sediment-laden water flowing from the port into the wetland.

"I want to assure all Queenslanders that as the environmental regulator EHP takes these matters very seriously. EHP will prepare a full report on its investigations which will provide the basis for decisions on what, if any, compliance action will occur," he said.

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Cyclone Debbie struck the northeastern Australian coastline with devastating force on March 28, forcing tens of thousands to flee and leaving at least 48,000 homes without power.

ALSO READ:

High-profile Australians unite against Adani's plan to build massive coal mine

Adani commissions multimodal logistics park in Punjab

--- ENDS ---
Student protesters disrupted a speech by federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham on Wednesday, as he pushed the case for the Turnbull government's plans for higher university course fees and an overhaul of national school funding.

"No cuts, no fees, no corporate universities," the protesters chanted as security staff removed them from Canberra's National Press Club.

Education Minister Simon Birmingham announced a needs-based funding model. Credit:ABC

Under the plans announced by Senator Birmingham this week, all Canberra Catholic schools will face a 10-year funding freeze, expected to leave them with less funding in 2027 than received in 2017.

A further nine ACT private schools currently funded above the school resourcing standard may also face cuts.
National Arboretum Canberra chairman John Mackay has paid tribute to horticulturalist Adam Burgess, one of the key driving forces of the arboretum, who died this week aged just 43.

He leaves behind a devastated community of loved ones and friends - wife Danielle, daughters Tenielle and Jemma, parents Mick Burgess and Joan Feiner, stepmother Anita Burgess and a wide circle of friends and colleagues who had the utmost respect for him.

The National Arboretum's Adam Burgess planted the first tree at the arboretum, a gum tree. Credit:Rohan Thomson

His loving siblings were Kylie Kovak, Trent Hindle, Janelle Jack, Simon Pill, Troy Pill and Brad Burgess.

Mr Burgess was the curator of the living collections at the arboretum, and had been a part of the growing institution since its inception, working first with his father Mick in the family company, Urban Contractors.
I always wanted to go to university but never did. Instead I enrolled in the university of life and it seemed to work.

But I envied those who left my little country high school and got a tertiary education in the city.

I started thinking about universities in the middle of the 1970s, when I first visited the US. It was a terrible time: the Vietnam War, Nixon's impeachment over Watergate and the Savings & Loan scandal.

America was in trouble. But over the next decade the United States reinvented itself via Silicon Valley with the beginning of the digital age. San Francisco was at the heart of it all with flower power but, more importantly, Stanford University.
In a glass case in the modern conflicts and Middle East galleries at the Australian War Memorial hangs a gold-plated assault rifle, an AK47 issued by Saddam Hussein to one of his personal guards.

It was "discovered" among a cache of gold-plated weapons (the explanatory plaque says) by the United States 101st Airborne Division in Kirkuk, and given to an Australian brigadier-general visiting US headquarters in Northern Iraq.

Major-General John Cantwell hands the gold-plated assault rifle to then War Memorial executive Nola Anderson in 2007. Credit:Graham Tidy

Patrick O'Hara says it's "war booty". He is a former volunteer guide and before that a long-time education officer at the memorial who has resigned in disgust. "Charles Bean designed the memorial to allow people to try to understand what Australian soldiers went through during war. It was designed to show the ugly reality of war. It wasn't meant to be political, gloating or a trophy cabinet," he tells me.

O'Hara loves and respects the War Memorial "and all that it is meant to represent" but he sees the display of the AK47 as "a betrayal of a willingness of the then Australian character to put suffering and courage above politics".
Accused drug mule Cassandra Sainsbury is reportedly receiving psychological treatment in a Colombian jail.

The 22-year-old Adelaide woman's lawyer Orlando Herran has told the Nine Network there are serious concerns for Ms Sainsbury's state of mind and a psychologist has begun visiting her at Bogota's El Buen Pastor prison.

Cassandra Sainsbury with her fiance, Scott Broadbridge.

Mr Herran also said his client was distraught and speaks a lot about her family in South Australia.

Ms Sainsbury's fiance is due to speak to the media about her detention on Friday.
Before Barbara McCulkin disappeared with her daughters 43 years ago a neighbour met Vincent O'Dempsey at her Brisbane home and frequently saw his distinctive, "fancy" car parked nearby, a court has heard.

Mr O'Dempsey has pleaded not guilty in the Brisbane Supreme Court to the murder of Mrs McCulkin and her children - Vicki, 13, and Leanne, 11 - who were last seen at their Highgate Hill home on January 16, 1974.

Barbara McCulkin (right) and her daughters Vicky (left) and Leanne (centre) disappeared from their home on January 16, 1974.

Neighbour Peter Nisbet told the jury on Thursday while he couldn't put definite times to events, he had met two men at the next door McCulkins' home.

But he only remembered one name - Vincent O'Dempsey.
A man was shot during a violent burglary on the Gold Coast early Thursday morning.

Police said two men wearing balaclavas broke into a home on Rutledge Street, Coolangatta, about 2.05am.

A man has been shot in the leg during a violent home robbery at Coolangatta Credit:Steve Cassell

Once they were inside the home an altercation between the men and a 32-year-old man who lived at the home broke out and the resident was shot in his left thigh.

Intruders then took a safe that contained cash and a set of car keys before fleeing the scene in a stolen Audi.
In yet another incident of suspected racism, two African woman got into a brawl on the Delhi metro following which one of them took off her shirt.

By India Today Web Desk: Ever since the racial attack on Africans in April in Greater Noida, several such incidents have come to light.

Also Read || Attack on Nigerian students in Greater Noida: Hundreds booked, 5 arrested ||

In a recent incident, two women got into a feud on a Delhi metro train. Following the feud one of the women took of her shirt.

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Also Read || Caught on camera: Mob attacks African students at mall in Greater Noida, CM promises impartial probe ||

The entire incident was caught on camera and later went viral. The women were seen in a fix, while many other passengers were seen hurling abuses.

One of the African women stripped in the packed metro and protested against the passengers who were quarreling with her and another woman.

In the video, it can be heard how a few passengers shouted 'bahar nikaalo (throw them out)'.

As the row picked up further, the women who stripped said, "You wanna fight, come let's fight!"

REASON BEHIND THE FIGHT

The reason behind the incident is still unclear. However a news report quoted some eye-witnesses, saying that the verbal spat started because of the seats in Delhi metro.

Watch the video of African woman stripping in Delhi metro:

ALSO READ

--- ENDS ---
Lewis Warria hugs a supporter after leaving a Mental Health Court hearing into the deaths of seven of his siblings at the hands of his mother, Raina Thaiday. Credit:Jorge Branco "All the furniture from the house was taken outside and put in the yard," she said. "Inside the house was cleaned, in a most unusual way, including scrubbing the ceilings and the walls and a lot of Mrs Thaiday's possessions were thrown away. Family pictured in the aftermath of the death of eight children in Cairns in 2014. "And a lot of them were quite valuable."

Things deteriorated still further the night of December 18. Her eldest daughter, niece and godchild had gone out shopping and did not return at 10pm as she had requested. 'Psychotic at the time of the killing': Raina Mersane Ina Thaiday. Mrs Thaiday walked up and down the street, "preaching" to neighbours about their use of drugs and alcohol. Agitated, she slept outside on a mattress dragged out in the cleaning. Justice Dalton said with the benefit of hindsight, the things neighbours heard as Mrs Thaiday walked up and down the street, talking to herself or on the phone, were "clearly psychotic".

"She was saying things like 'I am the chosen one'," the judge said. "'I have the power to kill people and to curse people. You hurt my kids, I hurt them first. You stab my kids, I stab them first. If you kill them, I'll kill them'." At 11.40am on December 19, Mr Warria arrived home to find his mother slumped on the front verandah, covered in approximately 35 self-inflicted stab wounds that included a punctured lung. His siblings and cousin were dead inside. Nearly two-and-a-half years later Mr Warria was in the courtroom inside Brisbane's Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law as a judge heard the opinions of six psychiatrists who had painstakingly analysed his mother's mental state. The court heard when police and paramedics arrived Mrs Thaiday immediately admitted she had killed the children inside. "Papa God" had been speaking to her, she told psychiatrists, describing herself as the "anointed one" at risk from demons, who had to rid her Cairns home of an evil presence.

Psychiatrist Dr Angela Voita treated Mrs Thaiday from the day she came into The Park, one of Australia's largest mental health facilities, on Christmas Eve 2014, five days after the mass killing. She assessed her more than 50 times and, along with three other psychiatrists who gave evidence to the hearing, unanimously agreed she was mentally ill at the time of the offences. After examining reams of evidence and interviews, Dr Voita said her patient was not capable of telling right from wrong or being able to control her actions at the time of the killings. Assisting psychiatrist Dr Frank Varghese described the "unique" crime as "a horrendous case, the likes of which I have never seen before, and hopefully will never see (again)." "This is not ordinary schizophrenia," he advised the judge.

"This is schizophrenia at its very depths and at its worst in terms of the terror for the patient as well as for the consequences for the individuals killed as a result of psychotic delusions." Mrs Thaiday had no psychiatric history or previous contact with mental health services outside of counselling at a local indigenous health service. Independent psychiatrist Dr Pamela van de Hoef said there was some evidence that in 2007 she was also very disturbed. "She had cut all her own hair off and threatened to kill one of the children with an axe." In 2011, she had ideas to drown herself and similar thoughts two weeks out from the 2014 killing, the psychiatrist said.

The court heard cannabis was commonly linked to the onset of schizophrenia in those already vulnerable to the illness. Ms Thaiday kicked a 10-20 cone a day habit in the months before the slaughter, leading psychiatrists to question whether her "psychosis" was a form of withdrawal, before mostly rejecting the notion. Instead, Dr Jane Phillips and Dr Donald Grant agreed it was more likely the illness began to affect her while she was still using cannabis, causing to her to develop "religious delusions" that "forced her to live a clean life". "Altogether it amounts to a very convincing body of evidence that Mrs Thaiday was psychotic at the time of the killing," Justice Dalton said. She ruled Mrs Thaiday had the defence of unsoundness of mind available to her and issued a forensic order for ongoing mental health treatment.
A cyclist has died on Melbourne's bayside after crashing into a parked car.

The cyclist was riding north on Marine Parade, Elwood, just south of Meredith Street, when it is believed he crashed into the back of a parked vehicle at about 7am, police said.

The scene of the accident on Marine Parade in Elwood. Credit:Luis Ascui

The 51-year-old cyclist from South Yarra died at the scene.

Acting Sergeant Peter Shrimpton said the cyclist was in a group of eight to 10 riders travelling towards the city when the crash occurred.
A teacher at Mount Scopus Memorial College has been charged with making and possessing child pornography after his previous employer, Bialik College, allegedly uncovered disturbing inappropriate images on the hard drive of his former laptop.

Victoria Police confirmed that a 52-year-old Noble Park man has been charged on Thursday "following an investigation into child pornography and upskirting incidents at an eastern suburbs school. It is alleged the incidents took place between 2014 and 2017."

Images were discovered by the schools IT department on a recovered hard drive Credit:Michele Mossop

In a letter to parents, Mount Scopus said the man had already been suspended. The Victorian Institute of Teaching has also suspended him.

Meanwhile, the teacher's previous employer, Bialik College, also wrote to parents. According to a copy of the letter cited by the Australian Jewish News, the images were discovered after a hard drive that had been locked away since the teacher left was "restored and audited" by the school's IT department.
Three people have been taken to hospital after a car smashed through the glass doors of the Westfield Geelong shopping centre.

The driver of the Toyota sedan and two pedestrians suffered minor injuries in the crash which occurred near the RACV outlet at the shopping centre about 10.45am on Thursday.

Three people were injured in the Westfield Geelong crash. Credit:Courtesy of Seven News

Paramedics have taken a man in his 60s and an elderly couple to Geelong hospital in a stable condition.

The woman was taken to hospital with back pain, while the man was treated for neck and chest pain, an Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said.
A worker has been found safe and well after a building fire in Melbourne's north.

The building on Alexander Avenue in Thomastown was reported to be alight just before midday on Thursday, and it took 34 firefighters 10 minutes to get it under control.

The scene of the blaze in Thomastown. Credit:Nine News

Firefighters in breathing gear were searching for the worker who was initially unaccounted for after the fire in the 40 metre-long building.

"He has since been found safe and well. We believe he may be the owner of the business," a Metropolitan Fire Brigade spokesman said.
The first commercial shipment of medicinal cannabis products to be legally imported to Australia has arrived in Perth.

Curtin University's Professor Marco Falasca told 6PR's Oliver Peterson while medical cannabis was effectively the same as recreational cannabis, the purpose and use was very different.

Plants growing at a medical marijuana dispensary in the USA. Credit:Adam Glanzman

"Different diseases can be treated [with medical cannabis] from epilepsy to multiple sclerosis to cancer.

"You have many side effects from chemo therapy for example that can be treated with medical cannabis.
The WA Police Union has described the working and living conditions for officers at a Mid-West police station as "unacceptable" and "disgusting."

The union has called on the new government to "urgently provide funds" to address the situation at Cue Police Station, 620km north-east of Perth.

The holding pod used at Cue station.

But given WA's current financial situation, that appears unlikely, with Police Minister Michelle Roberts telling WAtoday that it would "take years and years to repair" the the state's finances.

A police union director and field officer visited Cue Police Station recently.
Kansas City: The family of a 10-year-old boy who was decapitated on a waterslide in Kansas City will receive almost $20 million ($A27 million) in settlement payments.

Caleb Schwab died in August last year while he was riding the Verruckt waterslide, which was touted as the world's tallest.

The slide at Schlitterbahn water park was 17 storeys, and got its name from the German word for insane, the Washington Post reported.

Three people were aboard the raft at the time of Caleb's death, with Caleb sitting in the front seat. Caleb suffered a "fatal neck injury" while two other women sustained facial injuries.
As soon as the SSP Dr. Pritinder Singh was transferred, all grievous sections of attempt to murder, arson, dacoity etc. were removed from the activists and they have now been released on bail.

By Siraj Qureshi: The mob violence at the Fatehpur Sikri and Sadar police stations of Agra that rocked the whole state of Uttar Pradesh has become a prestige issue for both the BJP and the police these days, with the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government bent on defusing the whole incident, while the police personnel injured in the incident are demanding justice.

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On 16 April, a large group of activists belonging to several Hindu outfits attacked the Fatehpur Sikri and Sadar police stations of Agra, torched a police bike, attacked and injured some police personnel and looted away a SI's service pistol. They also tried to break into the station lockup and spirit away four Hindu activists who were in police custody for beating up two Muslim grocers Muveen and Rizwan in Fatehur Sikri.

When the incident was taken up by the national media, the police arrested 14 activists of various Hindu outfits in various grievous offences and sent them to jail creating inviting angry reaction from the local BJP leadership who began pressurizing the police and district administration to get them released.

The Senior Superintendent of Police Dr. Pritinder Singh was transferred and placed in the waiting list when he resisted to the attempts to deaden this case against the activists. As soon as the SSP was transferred, all grievous sections of attempt to murder, arson, dacoity etc. were removed from the activists and they have now been released on bail.

A senior police official told India Today that the 75 vehicles of the rioters that were left in the police station, could also be handed over to them pretty soon as there is a lot of pressure to do so. A total of 69 vehicles are with the Sadar police station while 6 are in Fatehpur Sikri police station. The police had been planning to trace the vehicle owners and make them accused in the violence and attack on the police stations, but now the political pressure has made that exercise futile.

Notably, Agra has 2 MPs and 9 MLAs of BJP and the combined pressure of all these leaders who met the UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath immediately after the charges were framed against the activists by the police, made the release of all these activists possible.

At present, the entire case is being investigated by the Mathura SSP Mohit Gupta and according to the information, all serious offenses are being removed from the chargesheet before filing it in the court, so that the rioters may walk away free.

A total of 29 people, 24 from Sadar and 5 from Fatehpur Sikri have been named in the chargesheet out of which 15 have not been arrested. The police are not even seeking warrants from the court to arrest them now.

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Three inspectors and Agra SSP have faced the wrath of the ruling BJP in this case, so no police official is ready to take the BJP head-on in this case.

A sub-inspector posted in the Fatehpur Sikri police station said that the police had made video clipping and taken pictures during the violence in both the police stations, but the Mathura SSP who is investigating the case, has not even asked for the video evidence, which clearly meant that the case was being watered down so that none of the Hindu activists get prosecuted.

Samajwadi Party leader Mohd. Akbar said that the UP CM and DGP claim that anyone who violates the law will be strictly punished, but the Hindu activists are terrifying the entire state with their activities.

Groups of masked men riding motorbikes and wearing a saffron scarf, with a large Hindu Yuva Vahini flag in front of the bike can be seen roaming around Agra and the police do not even dare to stop them, where as ordinary citizens who cover their faces due to the harsh sunlight are being stopped and interrogated.

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He said that since the time BJP came into power, Hindu organizations have become anarchic and if this situation is not controlled soon, these organizations will wreak a reign of terror in the state, aided by the ruling BJP.

Also read:

Agra: Violence breaks out as police arrests Hindu activists for attacking Muslim grocers in Fatehpur Sikri

--- ENDS ---
if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi...
Sources in the EPS camp have told India Today TV that Team OPS has been given enough time for the merger, but it does not seem to be interested. The EPS camp also feels the government is functioning well and has the numbers in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

By Pramod Madhav: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswami's camp has lost interest in the merger of the warring AIADMK factions and feels it doesn't need his predecessor and head of the rival camp, O Panneerselvam, since the government already has the numbers it needs.

Sources in the EPS camp have told India Today TV that Team OPS has been given enough time for the merger, but it does not seem to be interested. The EPS camp also feels the government is functioning well and has the numbers in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

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"We have the numbers and the strength. There is nothing to worry about. We are going ahead with government work," a top-placed source in the EPS camp told India Today TV.

After the death of Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa last year, the AIADMK split into two factions - one led by party General Secretary V.K. Sasikala now in jail for corruption and the other by Panneerselvam.

The Panneerselvam camp wants Sasikala, AIADMK Deputy General Secretary T.T.V. Dinakaran and their family members ousted from the party and a CBI probe into Jayalalithaa's death before the merger talks begin.

The Sasikala faction has said there was a petition in the Election Commission challenging her election as the General Secretary. And it was for the poll panel to decide. The Election Commission, meanwhile, has frozen the party's "two leaves" symbol.

In Tamil Nadu, no one seems to know when the merger talks between the two factions will start.

"The merger talk is like a Tamil movie song... It will happen some may say but won't happen. It won't happen some will say but will happen," a leader in former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam's faction said. "The talks will surely happen. But it may take some time. The talks may not happen soon," he added.

Watch Video: End of road for AIADMK merger? EPS camp loses interest, says OPS not needed

Also read

AIADMK merger done deal? OPS party chief, EPS to continue as CM; camps wait for Dinakaran's arrest

EPS vs OPS in RK Nagar: Poll panel to decide who gets AIADMK's twin leaves symbol

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Young Bengals grow up to provide special season in Blythewood The feeling amongst the team is sky high right now, Seidel said. We knew we were young last year and had a lot coming back this year. You dont know...

Falcons fall to Lucy Beckham Find these pictures and many more here! One of the most prolific eras in A.C. Flora Falcons girls tennis has come to an end. With a 4-3 loss on...
By India Today Web Desk: Akshay Kumar is one happy man. After 26 years in Bollywood, his hard work has paid off as he finally won his first National Award for Rustom. The 49-year-old was in Delhi last evening to receive the award from President Pranab Mukherjee.

And one person who is happier than Akshay for his achievements is his wife Twinkle Khanna. Mrs FunnyBones, who accompanied her husband to the ceremony in Delhi, is ecstatic over Akshay's win and jokingly said that now he can refer to him as a 'trophy husband'.

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As soon as Khiladi Kumar received his award, an overwhelmed Twinkle took to Twitter to express her feelings. She wrote, "So now I can officially refer to him as my trophy husband :) #NationalFilmAwards."

So now I can officially refer to him as my trophy husband :) #NationalFilmAwards https://t.co/VlZhkAN6c0- Twinkle Khanna (@mrsfunnybones) May 3, 2017

Akshay was more than happy to receive the award in the presence of his family. In an interview to Hindustan Times, he said, "To finally take my last few steps towards the President of India to receive my National Award felt almost unreal. I've never felt so light and so humbled at the same time. When one works day in and day out, as I do, something like this isnt just an honour, its a moment in time where everything makes sense. No matter how hard the journey may have been, to stand here now, in front of my family, is the cherry on this almighty cake we call life."

No words can do justice to the joy I feel at this moment...sharing with you all my first ever #NationalFilmAward!Thank you for the love ????? pic.twitter.com/DdK1FvuK4i- Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) May 3, 2017

On the work front, Akshay will be next seen in Toilet Ek Prem Katha.

ALSO READ: Akshay Kumar receives his first National Award for Rustom

ALSO READ: This is what Akshay Kumar has to say about his National Award win

ALSO WATCH: Akshay Kumar is the real Khiladi of Bollywood

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Melissa Mays hasnt had clean water in her home for more than three years. She drives from Flint, Michigan, to a nearby town to do her familys laundry, her family exclusively drinks bottled water, and her children have stopped showering on weekends.

Last Friday, she received a letter informing her she could lose her home if she doesnt pay her water bill.

This amount must be paid no later than May 19, 2017 at the City of Flint. Thereafter, all outstanding balances will be declared delinquent and a lien will be placed against the property on the next tax roll, the letter read.

Mays and more than 8,000 other Flint residents received these letters because of past due water bills, a local NBC affiliate reported. Mays outstanding balance is $2057.17, and if she doesnt pay the city at least $891.60 by May 19, a lien will be placed on her home.

JuAnn Marshall, another Flint resident, told The Daily Beast shes received multiple letters telling her she owes the city $1,200 despite having purchased her homewhich she described as a fixer upperfor just $8,000 in March.

Marshall said she hasnt had running water in her home since moving in this March. I had a leak, so I had the water turned off at the main line so it wouldnt run into my home. I didnt know I was getting billed $84 and some change every month even though the water wasnt running, she said.

Flint began sourcing its water from the contaminated Flint River in 2014, then switched back to using Detroits water system in October 2015 after high lead levels were detected in childrens blood and the Genesee County Health Department declared a public health emergency. Federal officials deemed the citys tap water safe to drink if point-of-use filters were used in June 2016.

The state previously provided Flint residents with credits for their water bills, but Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder announced the state would begin phasing out water subsidies in February. Shortly afterward, the city began shutting off water service for households with unpaid utility bills.

I said, fine, shut off my poison and Ill just live on bottled water, Mays told The Daily Beast. Ill pay the sewer fee so we can flush our toilets, and thats it. But they can also shut off your water, take your sewers, and take your home. They can condemn your home!

Although the lead content in the citys water dropped below the federal limit in January and the state government plans on replacing 18,000 contaminated water lines over the next three years, Mays and other activists say lead is just one of Flints many water troubles.

Researchers from the Flint Area Community Health and Environmental Partnership recently found that the free filters provided to Flint residentswhich successfully filter lead out of tap waterare a breeding ground for dangerous bacteria.

Last year, Genesee County saw 76 confirmed cases of shigellosis, which is caused by drinking contaminated water. Symptoms include diarrhea, fever, and abdominal pain, but more severe infections can lead to arthritis, seizures, bloodstream infections, and even death.

Flint families should not have to pay for water that they still cannot drink, and they certainly should not lose their homes over this ongoing water crisis that was caused by the callous decisions of state government, Congressman Dan Kildee, who represents Flint in Congress told The Daily Beast in a statement.

City officials maintain they need Flint residents to pay up.

We have to have revenue coming in, so we cant give people water at the tap and not get revenue coming in to pay those bills, Treasury Department official Al Mooney told a local NBC affiliate. If all 8,000 Flint residents being served with lien notices pay their bills, Mooney said, the city could stand to make $6 million.

Despite local officials claims that Flints water is safe to drink, Mays, Marshall, and other Flint residents rarely drink tap water.

I dont really trust it. We used bottled water daily to brush our teeth, to wash our face, Marshall said. She has lupus and arthritis, and says the citys water causes her symptoms to flare up. I dont know exactly what it is, but something in the water burns your skin. I have ulcers now. Its just one thing after another, she added.

Marshall said her chronic illness makes it difficult to work and she has little income left after buying her children healthy groceries to mitigate the effects of lead exposure and paying her own medical bills.

My last water bill was $99, and out of that, only $25 was for water, she said. The rest was service charges. She plans on paying the first $28 toward her $1,200 bill this week.

You need to just about kill yourself to be able to live here, to live decently, she said.
At this point, Zombie Trumpcare has been reanimated enough times to warrant its own Night of the Living Dead franchise.

But by midweek, a new amendment had breathed new life in the decaying bill and the House Republicans inched ever closer to making the American Health Care Act someone elses problem.

On Wednesday evening, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters that yes, he believed that congressional Republicans had finally secured the 216 votes they had long sought. McCarthys office then sent out an official advisory to members confirming that the House is set to consider the AHCA on Thursday. One House Republican aide simply messaged The Daily Beast a Ron Paul ITS HAPPENING GIF shortly before McCarthys announcement was made.

House GOP leadership was itching for their voteeven though the final legislative text had not yet been made public and the Congressional Budget Office would not be able to score it until after the scheduled vote.

The renewed momentum picked up after Republican Reps. Billy Long and Fred Upton announced on Wednesday morning that, following meeting with President Donald Trump, they had switched their Trumpcare votes from no to yes.

The president had assured them that he would support an amendment committing $8 billion over five years to try to prop up high-risk pools and go toward sick, vulnerable people with pre-existing conditions.

The additional dollars thrown at the bill dont actually fix the problems and concerns that Upton had been publicly cited earlier this week, but regardless of that fact, the secured votes of the two prior, short-lived no-votes, giving the battered House leadership hope that somethinganythingwould pass their deeply divided, skittish conference.

But, as is the curse of the undead, this bill may never find peace.

Because even if House Republicans do manage to pass Zombie Trumpcare, every single Republican on Capitol Hill knows that the Houses hard, uneven labor since March will be very likely torn to shreds in the Senate.

Its not our job to write bills that pass the Senateand its not the Senates job to write bills that pass the House, Republican Rep. Tom Cole told The Daily Beast on Wednesday afternoon.

It was just a month ago that many House Republicans had been all but openly wishing that they could pass something in the hopes that it could languish in the Senate and becoming the upper chambers mess to handle.

Rep. Mark Sanford, a House Freedom Caucus member who Trump has threatened over his prior opposition to Trumpcare, plainly acknowledged that its a political reality is if we get a much softened version [from the Senate], its going to be difficult for conservatives to support it when it gets shot back to the House.

The current incarnation of the AHCA has been a major PR victory for the hardline-conservative Freedom Caucus, which had drawn ire from the president and fellow Republican lawmakers for leading the dramatic intra-party fight in March to tank Trumpcare the first time around. However, after Freedom Caucus chairman Rep. Mark Meadows negotiated a deal late last month that pushed the deeply unpopular health-care bill even farther to the right, his caucus officially endorsed the revised AHCA. This shifted the blame for Trumpcares first failure off of the hardliners and onto the more moderate or centrist-leaning members who already hated the legislation and saw it as a political liability that would destroy millions of Americans health coverage.

Were already working on potential amendments with both moderate and conservative senators, a smiling Meadows told reporters on Wednesday.

His Republican colleagues who were still skepticalif not downright afraidof what the latest AHCA would do to vulnerable constituents and patients with pre-existing conditions were less amused by the progress leadership had just made.

Whether they need my vote or not, I want to do the right thingIm not going to reach a decision til I get [more] assurances, Rep. Carlos Curbelo said on Wednesday late afternoon.

House Democrats could barely hide their giddiness.

I think the Republicans are playing Russian roulette with this vote, Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly told Politico. Theres no question in competitive districts where youve got a potentially vulnerable Republican incumbent, this could make or break you.

Democratic aides and members of Congress who spoke to The Daily Beast on Wednesday all had the same message: they dont want House to keep any form of Trumpcare on life support, but if Republicans want to wade into the attack-ad hellscape of going on-record championing Zombie Trumpcare, be our guest, one progressive congressman said.
Zombie Trumpcare has risen from the dead. On Wednesday night, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy informed reporters that he believed the GOPs American Health Care Act (AHCA) had finally secured the 216 votes necessary for the bill to pass the House and move on to the Senate, where it will likely be shot down.

An AHCA House vote is expected sometime Thursday.

The AHCA is, of course, not without controversy. Its MacArthur Meadows Amendment would allow states to abolish Obamacare protections preventing insurance companies from denying coverage to patients with preexisting conditions, ranging from asthma, diabetes, and pregnancy to postpartum depression and, yes, even sexual assault. If that werent enough, as MSNBCs Chris Hayes noted, The bill cuts about a trillion dollars in funding for health care while cutting taxes for the top 2 percent by about the same amount. Yikes.

Over in the House, Republicans were frantically racing to cobble together the votes for their latest attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare, said Seth Meyers on Wednesday night.

Meyers dedicated his latest Late Night A Closer Look segment to the health care battle in Congress. As the comedian noted, President Trump seems particularly motivated to push through his health care bill because he hasnt been able to get any of his major legislative priorities through a Congress controlled by his own party.

Of course, Speaker Paul Ryan and the Republican-controlled Congress had seven whole years to come up with a decent plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, but their idea well appears to be completely dry. The whole thing is like the suitcase of a kid who says hes running away from home: It looks like he has a plan, but if you open that suitcase up, all youre going to find are some loose Legos and a sleeve of Ritz crackers.

So now, in a scramble to come up with somethinganythingthat would pass, Trump and the GOP have actually made the bill even worse to appeal to hardline conservatives, Meyers continued. This new bill would allow states to waive out of Obamacares ban on preexisting conditions.

A recent study by the Center for American Progress found that Trumpcare would increase insurance premiums for people with preexisting conditions by staggering amounts, including $4,270 for those with asthma; $5,510 for people with diabetes; and pregnancy by $17,060. Trump, as is his wont, claimed falsely that the GOPs new health care bill guarantees coverage for preexisting conditions, which it does not.

This led Meyers to draw a disturbing conclusion about the Republican Party with respect to health care: As muddled as the GOP message is on health care, I do think theres one theme that is starting to come through clearly: You see, part of the problem for Republicans is that theyre trying to hide a core truth about their billas well as a core truth about Republican ideologywhich is that they simply dont think its governments job to ensure that people get affordable health care. Normally they dont admit that openly, but on Monday, Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks, a hardline conservative, admitted in a moment of honesty that he has no problem with people with preexisting conditions paying more for their health insurance.

Cue Rep. Brooks: My understanding is that [AHCA] will allow insurance companies to require people who have higher health care costs to contribute more to the insurance pool that helps offset all these costs, thereby reducing the cost to those people who lead good lives, theyre healthy, theyve done the things to keep their bodies healthy. And right now, those are the people who have done things the right way that are seeing their costs skyrocketing.

People who lead good lives? So what does that mean? People who are sick lead bad lives? asked an incredulous Meyers. If that were really how it worked, Donald Trump would have died three years before he was born.
By Anvita Singh: Acclaimed author Neil Gaiman's beloved book American Gods has finally been adapted into a TV series (thank God), and it is just as well that it wasn't made into a movie, because the mystery and the magical aura of the script, of the book, would have failed to excite the viewers the way it has in form of a television series. What will happen in the next chapter, the next episode?

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Opening scene. A man is seen writing about the history of Gods. He writes about plundering men, blood, and about pleasing old Gods, sacrificing flesh to appease the Almighty.

The man in question runs a funeral parlour. The man in question himself is an old God. Mr Ibis.

American Gods is about many things at once. But one main plot of the story is about the dirty, sometimes good, and mostly gory and strange fight between a set of old Gods and new Gods.

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

Old Gods are the ones people still worship, in form of idols and scriptures. New is the one that we perhaps worship more than the old ones---Technology.

American Gods is a complicated, but compelling narrative of this fight, and its many-layered undertones of violence, negligence, and love.

Also read: Neil Gaiman's American Gods to air soon; 5 book adaptations we want to see on Indian TV

Ricky Whittle is Shadow Moon, our hero, who gets drawn into this supernatural and unbelievable battle of the Gods, as soon as he is released from his prison cell. Upon his release, he learns that his wife had died in car crash, but not before cheating on him with his best friend. Shadow is already having a bad day as it is, but things take a dramatic turn when he meets a man called Mr Wednesday, who hoodwinks him into doing a service for him.

Ian McShane is convincing, and charismatic as Mr Wednesday. The visuals are surreal, as they are supposed to be. And we shudder in delight and anticipation of how our favourite book is going to be represented by the makers of the show.

Which brings us to another point---Hannibal. Bryan Fuller, writer of Hannibal is also responsible for writing American Gods. Yes, making comparisons is unfair as the two shows couldn't be more different from each other. But the grandeur and the goriness of it all reminds you of the former.

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It looks like American Gods has promised its fans of 'Only the good things.' And God knows we all need that now more than ever.

The show is available everywhere on Amazon Prime Video, and on Starz in America.

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When she was 10 years old, Sandra Uwiringiyimana said goodbye to her life. Her people had been forced from their homes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo because they belonged to a minority tribe. When they made it to a refugee camp across the border in Burundi, rebels came to kill, carrying machetes, torches, gunswith one rebel holding a gun to Sandras head. As fate would have it, she got kicked to the ground in the chaos and managed to flee, but her six-year-old sister, Deborah, did not. Three years later, in 2007, Sandra came to America with her surviving family members through a United Nations resettlement program and faced a strange new world, starting with middle school in New York. Now 22, she describes her personal journey in a new memoir, How Dare the Sun Rise, coauthored by journalist and former Daily Beast editor Abigail Pesta. Here, in an excerpt from the book, she recalls the grueling interviews her family endured to get refugee status.

In 2006, my dad went to the first two interviews in Burundi alone.

After the interviews, he rounded us all up, including my reluctant mom, to travel to Burundi for the next round of interviews. Dad convinced Mom to go by telling her, If it doesnt work out, well come back. But if it does work out, then our kids deserve a better life, dont they? We should give them that opportunity. Why not try?

At the UN office in Burundi, we sat in a crowded room with other families from the massacre, our first reunion. It felt good to see my people, but sad too. Everyone had lost loved ones, and no one looked quite the same as they had in our happier years in Uvira. It was like an eerie dream, seeing faces of ghosts from the past. People looked older, although not much time had passed.

The workers in the office were all white, and I saw an obese woman for the first time. I had never seen anyone so heavy. An American, she wore a blue shirt and black pants, and she spoke in a no-nonsense tone. She rattled off a list of questions with the help of a translator.

How many people are in your family?

How old is everyone?

Tell me everyones birth dates.

Then she asked, How many people did you lose?

This question seemed so matter-of-fact, so emotionless. We had lost our beloved Deborah. Her violent death had left a hole in our family that would never be repaired. We had lost cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends.

I understood that the woman was doing her job. She was resettling people from our massacre, and she needed to make sure the right people were being relocated. But she did not seem to understand that we were grieving. Our world had been turned upside down, and now we had to retell our horror story. I saw no empathy; she was recording facts. My mom was having a difficult time talking about Deborah as if she were a statistic. After that, Mom said she didnt want to go to America.

My dad, however, said we should keep trying. We went in for another round of interviews, and this time, we were all separated in different rooms, with officials asking us questions individually. Since I was young, my mom was allowed to sit with me during my interview. I feared that if my answers didnt match up precisely with those of my family, we would not get to go to America. I didnt want to blow it for my family, although I still found it hard to believe that any of this was real. I didnt know how to feel about moving to the StatesI just knew that I needed to say consistent things and not mess up. But people dont always recall the same details from traumatic situations. I had noticed this from the members of my own family: We were in the same massacre, but we sometimes had different recollections.

An official asked me a long list of questions.

Where were you born?

Who are your parents?

How many siblings do you have? How old are they?

What are their names?

When did you go to the refugee camp in Gatumba?

Where were you the night of the attack? Who were you with?

Who survived?

I was nervous as I answered, even though I knew the answers well.

My mom was nervous too, and she managed to mix up some of our birth dates. I was born on June 22, but in her anxiety-ridden state, Mom said it was June 1. Because of that, my birthday is now officially June 1.

During this time, most of us stayed with relatives or friends in Burundi so we would be available for the interviews. Mom and Princesse stayed in Rwanda, traveling back and forth for the interviews. Mom wanted to spend as little time in Burundi as possible. Sometimes the UN officials would pay the rest of us a surprise visit in Burundi and ask questions about our family, again checking that we were who we said we were.

Where is everyone sleeping? they would ask. There dont seem to be enough beds.

We would explain that when you lose everything, you cant afford much of anything. This went on for months. We waited, answered questions, waited some more. You really have to want to get to America to put yourself through the process. Anyone who thinks its easy to get to the States as a refugee has no idea.

Excerpted from How Dare the Sun Rise by Sandra Uwiringiyimana with Abigail Pesta, HarperCollins (Katherine Tegen Books).
Shortly after Donald Trump won the presidential election last November, reports surfaced that he was considering extending an offer to Dr. Ben Carsonthe former neurosurgeon-turned-rivalto serve in his forthcoming administration as secretary of Health and Human Services. As it turned out, there was no offer. And in disputing this speculation, Carsons business manager Armstrong Williams said that, even if there was, it wouldnt be accepted, because Dr. Carson feels he has no government experience, hes never run a federal agency. The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency.

Which naturally raises the question: If Dr. Carson believed himself too inexperienced for federal employment, what was he doing running for president in the first place?

PACmen sheds considerable light on that conundrum, by focusing on the two organizations determined to get him elected to the nations highest office. Premiering at Torontos Hot Docs festival this week, writer/director Luke Walkers non-fiction film is a behind-the-scenes peek at the inner workings of Super PACswhich, for those not in the know, are independent political committees (allowed under law by a January 2010 U.S. Supreme Court Decision) that, so long as they dont directly coordinate with a political campaign or party, can raise and spend as much money as they like, from whomever they like, on behalf of a candidate. Theyre the financial muscle behind todays men and women running for office, providing the economic and logistical support necessary to turn contenders into winners.

Except, of course, that in this case, Dr. Ben Carson was not a winner, despite the best efforts of the two Super PACs trying to stick him in the White House: 2016 Committee (aka Run Ben Run) and Extraordinary America. These organizations agreed to work in tandem for Carson, and Walker was granted considerable access to both of them as they endeavored to first get the word out about their candidate, and then to fight mounting media criticism about the viability of their man, and their cause. The result is a documentary portrait of the countrys horrifying 21st century political realityone thats rife with money men enlisting, and conning, true believers into backing would-be politicians who are unfit for the job in just about every respect.

The world is going to hell in a hand basket, and its up to us to stop it, says 2016 Committee mastermind Philip Souza IV during one of the many moments throughout PACmen in which Super PAC members predict an impending doomsday unless Carsona man wrapping himself in religiosity, and running on the basis of his inspiring personal rise from poverty to neurosurgeon prominenceis inaugurated. As Extraordinary America chairman Jeff D. Reeter mans teleconference calls with his staff to see how they can best improve Carsons odds in Iowa, South Carolina, and beyond, Souza rallies his troops by asking them to imagine how good its going to feel when Carson wins, and they can all sit back and know, We put him there. Even Carson himself initially drinks his own Kool-Aid, telling Extraordinary America acolytes by phone, I believe that this is Gods will. Absolutely I think we can win I think theres very little chance that were going to lose.

As PACmen elucidates, these Super PACs chose Carson as their savior largely on the basis of both a National Prayer Breakfast speech that saw him criticizing President Obama to his face, and his stirring backstory, whichas immortalized in the cornball Cuba Gooding Jr. made-for-TV movie Gifted Handswas highlighted by his teenage embrace of Jesus Christ after angrily trying to stab a man to death, the knife miraculously breaking on the victims belt buckle. Even Trump, at a rally, responded to that yarn by asking: How stupid are the people of the country to believe this crap? While Trumps own subsequent election suggests a depressing answer to that rhetorical query, when it came to Carson, no one was fooled. Before long, media outlets were shredding his biographical tall talesan enormous problem, given that he really had nothing else to sell.

Whats revealed, first and foremost, by PACmen is the wholesale emptiness of Ben Carson the candidate, a man with scant knowledge about policy or the political process. He comes across as a genial, sleepy speaker prone to platitudes and awkward turns of phrase, and his dire warnings of impending catastrophe lest we the people rise up to alter humanitys course are of a stock, generalized sort. Even when reading a script, he barely seems to comprehend what hes saying, as in his infamous mispronunciation of Hamasthe Palestinian terrorist organizationas hummus (a gaffe mocked by Stephen Colbert, among others). Even without direct access to Carson, Walkers film solidifies the impression that he was out of his depth and thus, that his crash-and-burn in the primaries was an inevitability.

More eye-opening, however, is the shameless amorality of the Super PACs, which are funded by men (such as Extraordinary America founder Terry Giles) who are brazen about their desire to maintain their own wealth and powerno matter the ethical compromises it might entailand populated by delusional activists convinced that praying hard enough (via prayer lines) will somehow bring about their preferred outcome. That the former are exploiting the latter to keep themselves rich is difficult to miss in PACmen. Yet the final lesson imparted by Walkers film is less about the haves using the have-nots for their own personal ends, and more about the way in which our current political system is being hijacked by wealthy donors and their third-party groups, which seek to install puppets who, owing their fortunes to these Super PACs, are then beholden to their will.

It may not have completely worked in the case of Carson (although his current role as U.S. secretary of Housing and Urban Development says something about its effectiveness). But as PACmen makes clear: Hes merely the start of a truly terrifying new world order.
Life, and politics, can be complicated. But sometimes things really are as simple as they seem. And sometimes, cliches are true.

The cliche about Republicans is that theyre heartless and cold and dont care about the weak and the poor and the defenseless. And today, in passing this abomination of a health-care act, Republicans in the House of Representatives proved that life is simple and the cliche is true.

But waittheyre proving even more than that. Because the legislation they passed wont merely hurt the weak and poor and defenseless. Its going to hurt plenty of middle-class people, plenty of people theyd call good, normal Americans; people who voted for them.

But lets start with the weak and the poor and the defenseless. Try this one on for size. The Times posted a great story Wednesday about one particular impact of the crippling Medicaid cuts, which would slice spending by 25 percent over 10 years. One victim: special education students.

You see, Medicaid pays for things like speech therapists, behavioral therapists, and certain types of equipment that physically handicapped children need. Physically. Handicapped. Children. Read it again.

States receive about $4 billion from Medicaid that they pass along to school districts. Under the Republican bill, states would no longer have to consider school districts to be eligible Medicaid providers. Poof. But hey, listen. Its these damn kids fault, according to Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks. Why couldnt they just live the right way and do the things they needed to do to keep their bodies healthy?

I could write 10,000 words on the draconianno, outright cruelfeatures of this bill. But you can read that in a lot of places, from people like Jonathan Cohn of HuffPo and Matthew Fiedler of Brookings who are more expert than I. The summary is simple. If you have someone with mental health issues in your family, youre going to lose. If you are old, or sick, or poor, youre going to lose. And if youre all three, look out. And on the main point, this alleged pre-existing conditions fix in the Upton amendment, its a joke. It waves $8 billion at $200 billion problem.

Oh, and lets not forget this point. The bill is also a $1 trillion transfer of wealth from the poor and middle class to the rich, and it sets the table for more future tax-cutting.

But leaving the policy summaries to others, what I want to devote my little piece of real estate to is two points about this Republican Party, points that too many Americans still dont know or wont acknowledge.

First, it is now so consumed by slicing the world into Makers and Moochers that this divide dictates nearly every policy choice the party makes. This view of the world has animated conservative thought since forever, and sometimes conservatism has had a point and provided a useful counterbalance to liberalisms more generous impulses.

But that last clause describes a Republican Party of 30 years ago. Todays GOP has been completely overtaken by rage at the people Republicans feel arent pulling their weight. So much so that sick people are now basically seen as Moochers  its their fault for getting sick.

The Mo Brooks quote above is one example of this thinking, but there are numerous others, most famously from Speaker Ryan himself, who called it the fatal conceit of Obamacare that healthy people have to pay for sick people.

Fatal conceit?! Thats insurance!! Healthy people pay for sick people. Safe drivers premiums pay for the repair bills caused by unsafe drivers. Yes, everyone would be a safe driver in a Panglossian world, but everyone is not. Insurance recognizes this sad fact about la condition humaine. But to todays Republicans, this basic concept and practice of society that has existed since the 14th century if not before is now part of some evil liberal plot to take from Makers and give to Moochers.

Second point: The Republicans have no respect for institutional norms that once upon a sweet old time restrained both parties from doing things like this. The rush to get this through with virtually no committee hearings is an enormousand no-doubt precedent-settingdeparture from norms. Obamacare, despite what Republicans said, underwent dozens of committee hearings. I think Ryancare had three, and those only because committees that had jurisdiction over different parts of the bill had to hold those to move it to the floor. The hearings were brief, and the legislation advanced along party lines untouched.

Then theres this business of rushing to do this before the Congressional Budget Office could look it over and score it. Youll recall the March fiasco: CBO said that bill would mean 24 million people would lose their coverage, and premiums for some elderly would triple. Ryan and company know very well that CBO numbers on this bill will be even worse. So shove it through before CBO can say anything.

There are things wrong with Obamacare, and there ways to fix those things if people want to in good faith. But thats not what this Republican Party wants to do. It wants to punish people. Im sure a lot of them dont really think this way; certainly not in their personal lives, when a loved one or friend gets sick. But they legislate this way.

And for the rest of us, that is all that matters.
Imagine a world where President Donald Trumps dream to change libel laws, as he recently tweeted, comes true.

Lets say the Supreme Court overrules several of its past First Amendment rulings, stripping away strong protections for free speech and a free press.

It would be open season for Trump to be sued for his inflammatory tweets.

Trump might have even lost the $4-million libel lawsuit filed against him by political consultant, Cheri Jacobus, after Trump tweeted that Jacobus begged for a job for the Trump campaign, has zero credibility, and is a major loser. The New York judge in that case dismissed the lawsuit against Trump in January, ruling that Trumps tweets from his personal account are protected by the First Amendment as non-factual hyperbole. Jacobus is appealing the dismissal.

The judge explained that Trumps tweets are not given serious consideration as factual reports because Trumps tweets were rife with vague and simplistic insults such as loser or total loser or totally biased loser, dummy or dope or dumb, zero/no credibility, crazy or wacko and disaster. (PDF)

Perhaps Trump hopes the Supreme Court also will weaken the First Amendment protections for heated political speech so he can sue his political opponents.

But if the Supreme Court weakened protections for political speech, then Trump might lose a lawsuit filed against him by three protesters who claim that he incited violence against them by shouting to his supporters get em out of here at a March 2016 rally in Kentucky.

Trumps lawyers might have to stop arguing that he was not inciting a riot but was rather exercising a core First Amendment freedom when he said get em out of here and dont hurt em, as his lawyers argued in a recent motion asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit.

So far, the federal judge presiding over the Kentucky lawsuit has rejected Trumps First Amendment arguments, refusing to dismiss the case in a March 31 ruling. But it is early in the case and the court could accept Trumps First Amendment arguments.

The libel rule that Trump hates the most and wishes the Supreme Court would change is the actual malice rule.

The actual malice rule was created in 1964 by the Supreme Court in its New York Times v. Sullivan decision. The court said that state libel laws must conform to the First Amendment, and to win a libel lawsuit, powerful public officials and public figures must prove that any false statement was published by a person who knew it was false or had serious doubts about its truth.

Trump has filed seven libel or other speech-related lawsuits in the past 30 years, and two of those cases were dismissed because Trump could not prove his critics published with actual malice.

But Trump should think twice about hoping that the Supreme Court would dump the actual malice rule because he might want to rely on the actual malice rule to defend himself against a libel lawsuit filed against him by Summer Zervos, a former contestant on NBCs The Apprentice.

Zervos alleges in her January 2017 lawsuit that Trump defamed her during his campaign by calling her a liar after she publicly alleged that Trump had groped her during taping of The Apprentice.

So far, Trumps lawyers are not relying on the First Amendment, but arguing instead that the Zervos lawsuit must be put on hold until Trump leaves office.

Trumps dreams that the Supreme Court might change libel laws are just that, media attorneys say.

The president cant change the law, certainly not constitutional law that has been in place for over 50 years; only the Supreme Court can do that, George Freeman, executive director of the Media Law Resource Center, said in an upcoming column for the Center.

Freeman said that he did not believe that a Supreme Court majority would vote to change First Amendment law governing libel, even with Trumps pick, Neil Gorsuch on the bench.

The Trump administration also has looked at a constitutional amendment to weaken the First Amendment, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said on Sunday. But he quickly admitted that how that gets executed or whether that goes anywhere is a different story.

That would require two-thirds of the vote in both the Senate and House of Representatives, plus ratification by three-quarters of the state legislatures, i.e., 38 states.

There was a brief moment after his election when Trump recognized he needed a strong First Amendment to protect his own speech.

When asked about his plans to change libel laws during a New York Times interview on Nov. 22, Trump said, Actually, somebody said to me on that, they said, You know, its a great idea, softening up those laws, but you may get sued a lot more. I said, You know, youre right, I never thought about that. I said, You know, I have to start thinking about that. So, I, I think youll be O.K. I think youre going to be fine.

Too bad Trump cant keep that idea in his head.
PARIS  Barring an act of God or ISIS, or a massive vote for the mysterious Monsieur Blanc, 39-year-old centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron now looks certain to be the next president of France. He emerged from the one and only one-on-one debate against far-right nationalist-socialistic candidate Marine Le Pen on Wednesday night largely unscathed and indeed, according to instant polls, a clear winner.

If he is elected Sunday, the effect on European and global politics could be enormous: a definitive end to what had seemed a wave of nativism and populism sweeping across the West; a huge setback for Russian President Vladimir Putins designs to divide and weaken European (and American) democracies; and a much tougher, more united European Union position as London tries to negotiate Brexit.

Macron, a wunderkind banker and political neophyte who briefly served as economy minister in the current discredited government of President Francois Hollande, did not, as some of his supporters feared, fall on his face in the debate, even though Le Pen called him the prostrate candidate who grovels before international financial interests.

The heiress to the legacy of the National Front party founded by her irascible race-baiting father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, is anti-immigrant, anti-Islam, anti-euro, anti-European Union, anti-American, pro-Trump, and pro-Putin and would like to close Frances borders. A victory for her would turn the post-World War II order upside downa proposition many frustrated and angry French, especially young ones, have flirted with on the left as well as the right.

Le Pens strongest suit with many French voters is her position on Islamist terrorism, which she blends with her partys traditional hostility to immigrants, especially those from Muslim countries. Her vow to deport immediately any foreigners suspected (not arrested or convicted) of connection with jihadi groups sounds plausible and tough to a nation that has suffered horrific terror attacks in the last two years.

Macrons policies are hard-line as well, even if less strident. And his riposte in the debate was memorable, calling Le Pen the high priestess of fear who would take the country to civil warwhich is just what the jihadis want.

Still, it is conceivable a major terrorist attack in the remaining days before the vote might sway the electorate in Le Pens favor. (One precedent would be the Madrid bombings in 2004, which resulted in a stunning upset for the incumbent Spanish prime minister.)

On questions of economic nationalism, Le Pen repeatedly fell short as Macron, a policy wonk, demanded specifics that she was hard pressed to deliver. Her key pitch to withdraw from the common currency, for instance, became a muddle of francs and ecus and euros that might have evoked nostalgia in some, but provoked a sense of incompetence and chaos among others.

When Le Pen felt herself stumbling, she tried to goad Macron, laughing at him, shaking her head, and tossing out thinly veiled insults and allusions to his private life. At one point she accused him of playing student and professor, a smug reference to the fact he married his high-school drama teacher, who is 24 years older than he is. (Yes, there are some amorous anomalies floating around Macron, but this is France: His wife is very attractive, he jokes about his rumored homosexual liaisonswhich the Russian press wrote about at length but without substantiationand few people care.)

Indeed, Le Pens Trumpian penchant for nastiness, which plays well with her traditional base, served her very poorly in the debate. The French polling service Elabe, questioning more than 1,000 respondents online immediately after the two-and-a-half-hour verbal slugfest, concluded 63 percent thought Macron more convincing, compared with 34 percent for Le Pen.

This roughly parallels what the polls have shown as the likely outcome of Sundays vote, which Macron has been favored to win by a 60-40 margin. Days earlier, one Macron adviser told The Daily Beast flatly, if privately, its decided.

But another member of Macrons team, Laurence Haim, makes the point that its not enough for this man with a year-old movement called En Marche! (Onward), but no organized political party, to defeat Le Pen with 50 percent of the vote plus one vote. I think the goal for us is to make sure we massively defeat her, Haim told me after the first round on April 23, when Macron and Le Pen emerged from a field of 11 candidates with only a few percentage points separating them as finalists.

The French legislative elections are coming in mid-June. Without the momentum of a huge popular mandate, Macron may have big problems drawing enough supporters from the traditional parties of left and right, the Socialists and Les Republicains, to cobble together a majority.

And that mandate may be very hard to come by. One recent poll shows that 41 percent of those who voted for Macron in April did so by default. Many supporters of the two candidates who nearly tied for third place in the first roundformer center-right Prime Minister Francois Fillon, a darling of conservative Catholics and moneyed interests who espoused Thatcherite economics, and far-left former Trotskyite Jean-Luc Melenchonremain bitterly disappointed and intensely hostile to both candidates.

While most see Le Pen as utterly unacceptablea fascist or, as one snobby Fillon supporter put it, a fishwifethey well and truly hate Macron, regarding him as nothing more than a front for the failed and phenomenally unpopular Socialist Party establishment.

As a result, among the almost 20 percent of voters who say they are undecided, many may abstain or drop blank ballot papers into the urns on Sunday, in which case there would be three candidates: Macron, Le Pen, and Monsieur Blanc, as we might call him. The latter might not win, but there remains a slim chance he could tilt the final count in Le Pens favor.

Its not a done deal until the deal is done, as Macron spokeswoman Laurence Haim told me. But in the debate last night, as wed say in vernacular American, Macron done good.
Join The Daily Beasts Drink + Food editor Noah Rothbaum (@NRothbaum) and its Senior Drinks Columnist David Wondrich (@DavidWondrich) as they discuss the greatest bartenders of all time and how they changed what the world drinks. On this episode, learn about the history of Midwestern bartending centers Chicago and Detroit.

Edited by Alex Skjong

Download and listen on iTunes.
Several States, Not Everywhere, Vote to Ban Slavery

WHAT YEAR IS IT?

One former slave-holding state rejected a ballot question on outlawing involuntary servitude as a punishment.
By Press Trust of India: Ranchi, May 4 (PTI) Security forces today recovered a cache of over a dozen arms and more than 3,000 rounds of ammunition as part of an anti-Naxal operation in Jharkhands Lohardaga district.

Officials said a joint operation was launched by the CRPF and state police in the district after which a light machine gun (LMG), a semi-automatic US made rifle, an AK 47, a self loading rifle (SLR), three INSAS rifles, six other guns and some communication gadgets were seized from a hideout.

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Over 3,000 bullets of different calibre and magazine pouches were also seized by the team, they said.

The operation is being conducted by the 158th battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and district police and it is still on, they added. PTI NES AJR

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"We do not talk about future plans beforehand. We share details after execution of the plan," Gen Rawat said.

By Press Trust of India: The Indian Army does not reveal plans before executing them, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said today, indicating possible retaliation to the Pakistan military beheading two Indian soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir.

Replying to a volley of questions on whether the army will respond to the barbaric act, Rawat, without giving a direct reply, said the armed forces effectively respond to such actions by the neighbouring country.

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"We do not talk about future plans beforehand. We share details after execution of the plan," Gen Rawat said, refusing to elaborate further.

Pressed further, he said "When this kind of action takes place, we also carry out retaliatory action". He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event.

Vice Chief of Army Staff Sarath Chand on Tuesday had said the army will respond to the dastardly act at "a time and place of its choosing".

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley had said the "sacrifice (of the two soldiers) will not go in vain" and the Indian armed forces will react "appropriately" to the "inhuman act" of the Pakistani troops.

Sources said the army is weighing various options to respond to the beheading of a Naib Subedar and a BSF head constable by a Pakistani Border Action Team on the Line of Control on May 1.

Asked about the reactivation of terror launchpads across the LoC which were destroyed by India during the surgical strike last year, Rawat only said the "counter-infiltration postures" have been beefed up.

"Terrorists are trying to infiltrate. Snows are melting, summer months have started. Like each year, infiltration will commence. We are taking measures. We have beefed up our counter-infiltration postures," said Gen Rawat.

On security forces launching a massive anti-militancy operation at multiple places in south Kashmirs Shopian district today, the army chief said it is being carried out to bring the situation under control.

"The combing operation is going on as some banks were looted and some policemen have been killed. It has been launched to ensure that the situation is brought under control. These operations are carried out regularly," he said.

Also read:

Krishna Ghati mutilation: Despite access to thermal imagers, Indian Army failed to detect movement along LoC

Krishna Ghati beheadings: Pakistan Army chief Qamar Bajwa authorised attack on Indian soldiers

Krishna Ghati beheadings: Indian Army prepared to give befitting reply to Pakistan

WATCH | Krishna Ghati mutilation: A ground report

Watch the video here: We are prepared: Army chief says infiltration will gain momentum with onset of summer, but fear not

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Today on my blog is a guest post by Diane. Diane is the co-writer of The Luggage List and currently lives in the Philippines. Equally, in love with both tropical and mountain life, her travel plans are fueled by the obsession of finding the best possible views at sea or on mountaintops.



Thailand is a country that has captured my heart, for many reasons, time and again. Ive returned to the Southeast Asian gem several times in the past for the culture and the food, but when I finally visited Chiang Mai it was a game changer.



Chiang Mai is unlike other Thai cities. In Bangkok, Thai culture is overshadowed by massive skyscrapers, notorious traffic, shopping malls, and busy train stations. Head over to the north, and everything changes  for the better.



If you havent visited Chiang Mai, let me tell you why you should.



The Art Thailand is a country that has captured my heart, for many reasons, time and again. Ive returned to the Southeast Asian gem several times in the past for the culture and the food, but when I finally visited Chiang Mai it was a game changer.Chiang Mai is unlike other Thai cities. In Bangkok, Thai culture is overshadowed by massive skyscrapers, notorious traffic, shopping malls, and busy train stations. Head over to the north, and everything changes  for the better.If you havent visited Chiang Mai, let me tell you why you should.







In Chiang Mai, Thai culture is everywhere but its predominant mostly in the art. One trip here will tell you just how talented the Thais are  it seems almost spiritual to them to want to make everything more aesthetically appealing. From stunning graffiti to beautifully decorated barbershop signs, Chiang Mai is chockfull when it comes to art. Its a feast  both for your belly and the eyes!



The Food



Northern Thai cuisine is exceptional. Youd be hard-pressed to find even a mediocre meal in Chiang Mai. Even famous American chef Andy Ricker relocated to Chiang Mai, and Im pretty sure part of his reason for moving was to make sure he had easy access to the amazing food the region is known for. We followed Andy Rickers top food recommendations when dining out but even the street food is exceptional. There are several northern Thai specialities to try in Chiang Mai that you cant find in Bangkok or other places. My most memorable meals were khao soi gai (curry soup with egg noodles and chicken), rotisserie chicken done the Thai way, sai ua (Chiang Mai sausages), and delicious pork leg from the world-famous cowgirl fronting the Chang Phueak gate.



The Markets









Chiang Mai is a shoppers paradise. Unlike Bangkok, there are no big malls but street markets are where its at. We spent many afternoons and evenings exploring the maze of markets found around the city, although the Sunday night market at Walking Street was definitely the best. From dried herbs to art and outrageous Thai knick-knacks, the market was perfect for finding lots of unique finds at great prices. Dont forget to bargain, though  Chiang Mais markets are the perfect opportunity to exercise your negotiation skills.



The Temples







The city is literally built around ancient temples. There are dozens of temples to discover as you walk or bike around the city. While Chiang Mai has several popular must-see temples, even the less popular religious buildings are always worth visiting because of the beautiful, intricate details. Thai spirituality is truly evident when visiting Chiang Mai, but the temples are open to all and also make for wonderful photo ops, so dont forget to bring your camera.



The Elephants







The mountains and forests outside Chiang Mai are home to numerous elephants, but even in the city proper it seems that the local Thais venerate these majestic giants. Elephants are revered, and they are everywhere: from statues to paintings, there are several images of the gentle creatures that seem to remind us just how small we are, and that animals must always be respected. In fact, historically, white elephants are actually status symbols and were viewed as representations of wealth and power.



The Views







Chiang Mai is set against a backdrop of mountain ranges, which can be seen in certain streets especially in the Nimmanhaemin area. The views are magnificent, and visiting rooftop bars and restaurants is highly recommended. On our last day, we had sunset cocktails at Hotel Yayee, a spectacularly designed hotel with a breathtaking rooftop bar. (Tip: Order the Chiang Mai martini!)



The Nightlife



If you enjoy a good party, you cant go wrong with Thailands legendary nightlife. Chiang Mai has several great bars, but what I love about it is the neighbourhood feel. You can walk or bike everywhere and there arent any many big buildings except in the city centre. The bars are laid back and friendly, and its so easy to meet new people. We visited several different establishments  from the touristy watering holes to those frequented only by the locals.



The Plumeria







Ive never seen as many plumeria trees as I did in Chiang Mai. In my opinion, I think its the most beautiful tree that can adorn any city. Not only do they look gorgeous but they also smell great! There are white flowers as well as a dark fuschia, and they are equally truly a sight to see!





Pin for later









*guest post
A Bryan man was arrested early Wednesday, accused of threatening to shoot his fiancee with a handgun.

According to College Station police, an officer responded to an apartment complex in the 3600 block of Wellborn Road just around 12:30 a.m. on the report of an argument that possibly involved a weapon. The officer found several people inside and outside an apartment.

A woman told police that she and Justin Joel Hopper, 26, argued earlier in the evening and he left. When he returned, she opened the door, and he pushed her to the ground, a police report states.

The woman says Hopper pulled a handgun and pointed it at her head, threatening to kill her, police said. Police spoke with Hopper, who said he did push the woman aside when she blocked the door but said he did not threaten her with a gun.

Hopper is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.

Hopper was being held in the Brazos County Jail on $25,000 bond.
A College Station teen who was shot in the chest in December has been arrested after police say he falsely told officers he was shot by a group of men at Bee Creek Park, setting off a search that lasted more than two hours and involved 25 police officers.

Jimmy Gaona III, 17, is charged with making a false report to a police officer, a Class A misdemeanor. According to police reports, Gaona was accidentally shot by a friend who was playing with a handgun at a College Station apartment on Dec. 12.

According to College Station police, that afternoon an off-duty officer was visiting a family member at the College Station Medical Center when a teenager -- later identified as Gaona -- was wheeled into the emergency room with a gunshot wound to his upper right chest. The officer called in on-duty police, who arrived to interview Gaona and his friends and family.

One boy in the emergency room told officers Gaona had been assaulted by a group of men at Bee Creek Park -- information that was given to dispatchers, which launched a search for the suspects. The search spanned several locations throughout the city, including two parks and two housing complexes.

Officers also spoke to Gaona, who said he and a younger friend were walking at the park when they were approached by three or four men. Gaona told police one of the men shot him without saying anything. Another friend told police the same story, but later said the attack had actually happened in the parking lot of The Rail Apartments on Dominik Drive.

Police say they then took the boy to the apartment complex so he could show them where the shooting took place. He pointed to a grassy area, but police found no blood and no shell casings. The apartment manager told investigators she believed the shooting had occurred at a particular unit, which belonged to another member of the teen's group of friends.

A police report states Gaona eventually told authorities that he and his friends had been playing video games and smoking marijuana at the apartment, and the boy police had taken to The Rails accidentally shot him while playing with a pistol.

The boy told police he had accidentally shot Gaona but was scared of getting in trouble, reports state. The boy said while at the apartment, he took his gun out because "his song came on." The boy was dancing and thinks he may have accidentally hit the hammer of the gun, which made it go off and hit Gaona, who was standing across the room. The boy told police he did not have his finger on the trigger, so he is not sure how the gun fired. According to police reports, the boy said it was his gun and he had bought it from someone off the streets in Houston.

Police say they found blood drops inside the apartment, and the other teens who had been there said there had not been any type of altercation between the two. A police report states that when officers talked to Gaona again, he said he didn't tell the truth because he did not want his friend to get in trouble.

"The vast amount of resources and time that were used to investigate [what was] in reality an accidental shooting from a known shooter was extraneous due to Gaona and [the boy]'s lack of honesty and cooperation with the investigation," the reporting officer wrote in Gaona's probable cause statement.

Gaona was arrested Tuesday and was released on a $10,000 recognizance bond. If convicted, he faces up to a year in jail and $4,000 in fines.

It is not clear if the boy who shot Gaona was charged, as he is a juvenile and his case is not public record.
Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has announced that the old GS Road of Guwahati will now be known as Mahapurush Srinmants Sankerdev Path while the Guwahati Club Circle will be called Pt Deendayal Upadhyai Road.

By India Today Web Desk: All the major roads of Guwahati have been rechristened. The Sarbananda Sonowal government has changed the names of all the major roads of the most important city of Assam.

Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswam Sarma announced the government's decision to rename the Guwahati roads.

The roads have been given new names after either the local leaders from the past of the BJP ideologues.

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The complete list of the major roads of Guwahati is given below:

Old Names New Names GS Road Mahapurush Srimanta Sankerdev Path AT Road Mahapurush Damodardev Path VIP Road Mahapurush Madhabdev Path Ganesh Mandir to NH Via Hatigaon Mahapurush Haridev Path Guwahati Club Circle Lakshminath Bezbaruah Chowk Ganesh Mandir via Kahilipara to Lal Ganesh Pandit Deendayal Upadhyai Road Kharguli-Noonmati Road Dr Bhupen Hazarika Road Hengerabari-Chachal Road Khagen Mahanta Road Beltola-Khanapara Road Peer Azan Fakir Road

The decision to change the names of the roads comes close on the heels of the report that the Sonowal government is considering to bring some changes in the dress code for official purposes.

The government is mulling if tradition Assamese attire - dhoti and kurta for male and mekhela chadar for female - can be made optional on certain days.

Also read:

Install statue of PA Sangma & rename roads after him: NPF

History being meddled with: Scholars on road renaming

--- ENDS ---
A 69-year-old College Station man took the stand in his defense Wednesday and spoke of his long-running feud with former neighbor Chad Glasshoff, who was shot twice in October 2014.

John Wesley Vaughn, who is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, is accused of firing several rounds from a .380-caliber Smith And Wesson into Glasshoff's truck as Vaughn stood behind it. According to police reports, Glasshoff was hit in the hand and shoulder.

"My client was afraid of Chad Glasshoff," Rick Davis, Vaughn's attorney, told 85th District Judge Kyle Hawthorne while the jury was out of the room.

Vaughn -- who told the court he has "a head problem" as a result of being dropped and therefore has trouble remembering things -- testified that he and Glasshoff had a long-running feud, and that Glasshoff had fired rounds from a rifle at him and another neighbor, killed Vaughn's dog, struck Vaughn with one of the mirrors of his truck while driving in reverse and attacked Vaughn with sharp sticks in previous aggressive incidents.

Police reports state Glasshoff tried to talk with Vaughn shortly before the Oct. 24, 2014, shooting about surveying land that had been left to Vaughn by his deceased father, the defendant testified Wednesday. Afterward, Vaughn parked a Gator ATV behind Glasshoff's truck and allegedly began firing bullets from a handgun into the vehicle.

Vaughn testified Wednesday that he fired at Glasshoff because he thought he'd seen a revolver in his neighbor's hand and had fired at the weapon in self-defense.

Glasshoff testified Tuesday that he had taken out his phone to record Vaughn because "in the past, if I've recorded him, then he leaves me alone," he told the court -- which may have explained why Vaughn thought Glasshoff had been pointing a gun at him from inside the truck.

Authorities did not recover a revolver at the scene of the shooting, according to the police report, but Vaughn testified Wednesday he had seen a gun in Glasshoff's pocket once he got out of the truck after the shooting, a statement authorities did not record him as saying in the probable cause statement.

Asked why he didn't tell police about seeing a gun in Glasshoff's pocket, Vaughn said "they didn't ask" and that it had been a "stressful situation."

Over the two days of testimony, the former neighbors -- both of whom testified that they owned guns -- told the court they feared the other, and that each man had been aggressive and confrontational to the other in years past.

"I thought he was going to kill me," Glasshoff testified Tuesday about the shooting.

"I was shooting at whatever he was pointing at me," Vaughn testified Wednesday.

If convicted, Vaughn faces up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Both the state and defense had rested by the end of Wednesday, the trial's second day. The trial resumes at 9 a.m. this morning.
Two Texas A&M faculty members from the College of Science made history this week as the first standing faculty members for their respective departments to be named to the National Academy of Sciences.

Marcetta Y. Darensbourg, distinguished professor of chemistry, and Ronald A. DeVore, distinguished professor of mathematics, were among the 84 new members to the academy announced Tuesday.

They were selected alongside 2016-2017 Hagler Institute visiting faculty fellow Christopher C. Cummins, who is the Henry Dreyfus professor of chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Simon North, professor and head of Texas A&M's department of chemistry, said membership in the academy is widely considered the "highest honor you can bestow upon a scientist."

"It's a great honor for the university, the department and for the College of Science," North said. "It's a tremendous boost to the departments. ... To have a faculty member in this elite group reflects very well."

North said he "couldn't be more delighted" for Darensbourg, a 35-year veteran of the department, saying she is "so deserving" of the honor.

For her part, Darensbourg said she was "shocked" when she received the call Tuesday informing her of the news.

"I was overwhelmed," she said. "It is such an honor to be added to that list of scientists. I'm just going to need a few days to process all this."

Department of mathematics head Emil Straube echoed North's enthusiasm for the selections and said it goes a long way toward boosting the visibility and esteem of the departments. He said given that DeVore has brought high-caliber work to the department over the past decade as a longtime "leader in his field," his membership in the academy is no surprise.

"He makes large contributions to the exciting atmosphere of research and inquiry we try to foster in the department," Straube said. "In many ways, I expected this to happen sooner or later. He is certainly someone you would eventually expect to be elected to the academy."

Texas A&M University System Chancellor John Sharp told The Eagle the announcement is proof of the university's commitment to creating an attractive environment for the nation's brightest minds.

"First and foremost, I'd like to congratulate our distinguished faculty members on these well-deserved honors," Sharp said. "This is further evidence that our work to establish Texas A&M as a beacon for the country's top researchers and scholars is paying off."

Officials said the last faculty member to receive the honor while still at Texas A&M was distinguished professor of physics Marlan O. Scully, who was elected in 2001.

The National Academy of Sciences is comprised of 2,290 active members, including the recent inductees. Members are elected by peers for their contributions in the field of research.

With its two inductees, A&M stands in the company of several well-regarded universities around the country. Johns Hopkins University and Princeton University both had two inductees each, Stanford University had three, Harvard University and Harvard Medical School each had four, and Cummins was one of six chosen from MIT. The only other scientist chosen from the Lone Star State is a researcher at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

The prestigious nonprofit society of distinguished scholars was established in 1863 under President Abraham Lincoln with a mission of "providing independent, objective advice to the nation on matters related to science and technology," according to the academy's website.

For a full list of the 2017 inductees, visit nasonline.org.
The Texas Senate on Wednesday voted 20-11 to accept the House's version of Senate bill 4, legislation that would ban "sanctuary" jurisdictions in Texas and allow police to inquire about the immigration status of people they lawfully detain.

The bill now heads to Gov. Greg Abbott, who declared the legislation an "emergency item" in the early days of the legislative session, and is widely expected to sign it.

The legislation makes sheriffs, constables, police chiefs and other local leaders subject to a Class A misdemeanor if they dont cooperate with federal authorities and honor requests from immigration agents to hold noncitizen inmates subject to deportation. It also provides civil penalties for entities in violation of the provision that begin at $1,000 for a first offense and climb to as high as $25,500 for each subsequent infraction. The bill also applies to public colleges.

But the final version also includes a controversial House amendment that allows police officers to question a persons immigration status during a detainment, as opposed to being limited to a lawful arrest. Democrats and immigrant rights groups argue this makes the bill "show-me-your-papers"-type legislation that will allow police to inquire about a person's immigration status during the most routine exchanges, including traffic stops.

Before Wednesday's vote, some lawmakers were still hopeful the bill would go to a conference committee where lawmakers from both chambers could strip the amendment from the bill. But during a floor debate Wednesday before the measure was approved by the Senate, the bill's author, state Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, said that the bill doesn't require that officers ask a person's immigration status. However the language does leave the door wide open for officers to make such inquiries if they feel the need during routine stops.

"We certainly dont want 'walking while brown' to lead to reasonable suspicion," said state Sen. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston. "It will happen. And in some parts of my district, it already is happening."

The amendment to allow local police to ask about immigration status during a detainment was added during a 16-hour House debate by Tyler Republican Matt Schaefer, who told the Tribune last week that he had been willing to pull the proposal if Democrats had agreed to limit the debate of the bill on the House floor. But whatever deal was allegedly in the works fell through and Democrats could only sit and watch as the amped up version of the bill passed the lower chamber.

Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have said the bill is about rule of law and making sure that criminals who are also in the country illegally should be deported before they are able to commit more crimes in this country.

Patrick praised the Senate's move late Wednesday in a news release, saying, "I have been working to end sanctuary cities in Texas since my days as a state senator. This legislation will eliminate a substantial incentive for illegal immigration and help make Texas communities safer."

But several law enforcement leaders have said the bill will erode the public's trust.

"Officers would start inquiring about the immigration status of every person they come in contact with, or worse, inquire about the immigration status of people based on their appearance," David Pughes, the interim chief of police for Dallas and Art Acevedo, chief of police for Houston, wrote in an op-ed for the Dallas Morning News last week. "This will lead to distrust of police and less cooperation from members of the community. And it will foster the belief that people cannot seek assistance from police for fear of being subjected to an immigration status investigation."

Abbott's signature on the bill will cap his quest to ban "sanctuary" cities that made national headlines after Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez announced in January she would limit her jail's cooperation with Immigration and Customs and Enforcement. Hernandez later amended her policy but not before Abbott withheld state grant funds from the county.

Late Wednesday, Abbott celebrated the Senate's vote.

"The Texas sanctuary city ban wins final legislative approval. I'm getting my signing pen warmed up," he posted on Twitter.

It's unclear however, if Abbott's signature on the bill will be the end of the conversation. Several lawmakers have said a lawsuit to stop the implementation of SB 4 is very likely and cite several reasons, including legal questions surrounding the federal preemption of immigration laws and whether ICE detainers are voluntary.

Before the final vote, Perry seemed to acknowledge as much.

"We will let the court systems figure this out," he told state Sen. Jose Menendez during a lengthy back-and-forth about probable cause.
The Asian Development Bank's (ADB) annual meeting in Yokohama Japan this week marks its 50th anniversary. Yet there is little to celebrate.

ADB operations around the world have left a trail of destruction; people displaced and negative impacts on farming lands, rivers, forests and the climate.

The bank claims to finance development with the aim of alleviating poverty in the Asia Pacific region. Despite this noble vision, the ADB fails to provide a better future for Asia's poorest. Its neoliberal policies are grossly inadequate at addressing perhaps the greatest threat to Asia's poor: climate change.

The ADB actually recognizes climate change as a fundamental threat to poverty alleviation. Climate change will hit the poorest the hardest as, to use ADB's own words,

"they encounter more intense tropical storms, more severe and more frequent droughts and floods, accelerated melting of glaciers and rises in the sea level, higher frequency of forest fires, shortages of freshwater, threatened crop production and aquaculture, higher incidence of heat-related and infectious diseases."

Yet despite this, the bank has repeatedly prioritised the financing of coal projects over renewable energy alternatives. Coal is the biggest single contributor to human induced global warming.

The ADB even recognises the role of coal fired power in exacerbating climate change. But in the last decade they have invested over $3 billion in coal projects. They are the world's third largest multilateral public financier of coal infrastructure.

India: 'damage to local communities' health and livelihoods'

Perhaps their most controversial project to date is the $450 million investment in the 4,000-megawatt Tata Mundra Ultra Mega Coal plant in the Indian state of Gujarat.

The bank's own compliance review panel exposed a lack of consultation with local communities and a failure to comply with waste and pollution management strategies. Shortcomings that resulted in significant harm to the local environment and damage to local communities' health and livelihoods.

The Tata Mundra plant is estimated to be India's third largest emitters of greenhouse gases. Coal dust from conveyor belts feeding the power station threaten human health and contaminate agriculture. Infrastructure has damaged groundwater systems, polluting local communities' drinking water sources.
Making a return to our two favourite summer locations, Mount Maunganui and Nelson in early January 2023, we've got whiff of the first release lineup and me oh my, yes boy
By Press Trust of India: (EDS: With additional inputs)

New Delhi, May 4 (PTI) The Congress today appointed Avinash Pande as the new General Secretary incharge of Rajasthan Congress, while also bringing in new chiefs for its Uttarakhand and Punjab units.

While former minister Sunil Jakhar was appointed the new PCC chief for Punjab, replacing Amarinder Singh, who became the chief minister; four-time legisltor Pritam Singh was made the new Uttarakhand Congress chief, replacing Kishore Upadhyay.

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The party also appointed Vivek Tankha, a Rajya Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh as the new AICC Secretary incharge of Legal and Human Rights department, replacing K C Mittal.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice chief Rahul Gandhi appointed a total of 17 new office-bearers to the party, including 10 below the age of 50 years, and giving adequate representations to OBCs, SCs and other sections.

Announcing the new appointments, AICC incharge of Communications department Randeep Surjewala said the changes herald new leadership, respect for senior leadership, utilisation of experience of seniors, giving youthful energy and role and responsibilities to the young, which is part of Congress evolutionary process.

"We do not reject people with credibility and experience and send them to Kop-Bhawan or as Margdarshak Mandal," he said, taking a dig at BJP for appointing its senior leaders like L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi to advisory groups.

Jakhar, a Hindu face, has been a CLP leader in Punjab and is considered close to Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

Jakhar, son of former Lok Sabha Speaker Balram Jakhar, has been a minister in the Congress government in Punjab, but lost in the last assembly elections.

The newly appointed Uttarakhand party chief Pritam Singh has been a former state minister and was elected as a legislator from Chakrata assembly seat recently.

AICC Secretary Avinash Pande, a former Rajya Sabha member and former legislator from Maharashtra, will be the new general secretary incharge for Rajasthan, which goes to polls next year.

He replaces Gurudas Kamat, who was earlier removed as incharge of Gujarat and had urged Sonia Gandhi to free him of all other responsibilities as well.

Pande will be assisted by a team of four new AICC secretaries including Vivek Bansal, Qazi Mohammed Nizamuddin, Devendra Yadav and Tarun Kumar. While Bansal is from Uttar Pradesh, Nizamuddin is an MLA from Uttarakhand and Yadav and Tarun hail from New Delhi.

Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot was made the general secretary incharge for poll-bound Gujarat recently.

Surjewala said Gehlot was appointed PCC chief by late Rajiv Gandhi for 33 years.

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"So, generational hand holding and continuation of a mixture of young and old has been an ideal mix presented by the Congress party from time to time," he said.

With the latest appointments, the party leadership has initiated restructuring in the states of Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Goa in two rounds.

Changes in some other units like Himachal Pradesh, which goes to polls later this year, and Haryana are underway and could be done anytime soon.

The partys organisational election process is also underway.

Asked about Rahul Gandhis elevation as party chief, Surjewala said whenever the party leadership takes a decision in this matter, the media would be informed.

He recalled that even prior to independence, Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose or other leaders became party presidents at a young age and that organisational changes and building leadership was a continuous process. PTI SKC SRY

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By India Today Web Desk: TV actress Mahhi Vij showed exemplary courage when she was molested by a lecher in a night club. Mahhi was partying at a Mumbai night club with husband Jay Bhanushali and a friend, when the incident took place.

The man tried to grope the actress from behind but she didn't take it lightly and got back at him by slapping him hard. The actress opened up about the incident to The Times of India and said, "I had gone to the washroom. On the way back to the table, a man groped me. I was so furious, I slapped him twice. However, there was no remorse on his face. I then rushed to Jay and asked him to confront the guy, but he had vanished by then. I couldn't even lodge a police complaint as he couldn't be identified."

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Also read: Tinaa Dattaa to Pankhuri Awasthi: TV actresses who stood up against harassment

Mahhi was brave enough to retaliate but the only thing she regrets is that the guy was able to flee from the place. "They pollute our society. I am glad I could give it back to him. My only regret is that he got away before we could nab him," she says.

She is absolutely right, as such lechers shouldn't be roaming free.

Recently, actress Pankhuri Awasthy opened about an incident when she slapped a guy who tried to touch her inappropriately. It's quite brave of these actresses to speak up about such incidents and not take it quietly.

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Bilkis Bano, who was six months pregnant, was gangraped during the communal violence that hit in Gujarat in 2002.

By Saurabh Vaktania: The Bombay High Court today dismissed the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) appeal for granting death sentence to 11 men in the March 2002 Bilkis Bano gangrape case in Gujarat.

A total of 17 accused have been convicted for raping 19-year-old pregnant Bano and killing 14 members of her family, including her three-old daughter during Gujarat riots in 2002.

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The court also convicted five police officers in the case while rejecting the central investigating agency's appeal to enhance punishment of certain convicts.

The Bombay High Court had recently reserved its order in the case. The 11 convicts, who were sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court in 2008 for the gangrape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of her family members in the wake of the Godhra riots, had moved the high court against their conviction.

WHAT IS THE CASE

Bilkis Bano, who was six months pregnant, was gangraped during the communal violence that erupted in Gujarat in 2002. Fourteen members of her family were also brutally murdered by a violent mob.

During the Gujarat riots of March 2002, Bano witnessed 14 members of her family being massacred by a violent mob, when they were trying to escape from their riot-struck village Randhikpur, 250 km away from Ahmedabad.

Six months pregnant at the time, Bilkis survived the slaughter, but not before being subjected to gangrape by a savage mob.

The trial began in Ahmedabad but the Supreme Court transferred the case to Mumbai in August 2004 after Bano expressed fears that witnesses could be harmed and the Central Bureau of Investigation evidence tampered with.

ALSO READ:

Probe reveals Gujarat riots were not spontaneous and sudden

Bilkis Bano case: Bombay High Court rejects Bano's intervention application

Bilkis Bano's lawyers to show provisions on why she can be heard by Bombay High Court

--- ENDS ---
The Bombay High Court on Thursday rejected a CBI plea for death sentence to at least three of the 11 convicts -- Govind Nai, Sailesh Bhat and Jaswant Nai -- who were earlier sentenced to life terms by a lower court.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Gang-rape victim Bilkis Bano on Thursday hailed a Bombay High Court verdict that upheld the life terms given to 11 convicts in the 2002 incident and quashed the acquittal of five Gujarat policemen.

"I am very grateful that this verdict has, yet again, vindicated me, and upheld my faith in the judiciary," Bilkis Bano alias Bilkis Yakub Rasool said in a statement issued through her lawyer.

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"My rights, as a human being, as a citizen, woman, and mother, were violated in the most brutal manner. But I have trust in the democratic institutions of our country. Now, my family and I feel we can begin to lead our (normal) lives again, free of fear," she added.

The Bombay High Court on Thursday rejected a CBI plea for death sentence to at least three of the 11 convicts -- Govind Nai, Sailesh Bhat and Jaswant Nai -- who were earlier sentenced to life terms by a lower court.

Bilkis was gang-raped in Devgad-Baria village near Dahod on March 3, 2002 during the Gujarat riots.

Bilkis and around a dozen of her family members were attacked by a mob, leading to killing of around a dozen of her family members.

She said she was happy that Gujarat and its officials now stand charged with tampering of evidence.

"For state officers, whose sworn duty it is to protect the citizens and ensure justice, this should be their great moral shame, to bear forever," Bilkis said, in reference to the quashing of acquittal of five policemen.

She urged Indians to help people under attack and thus reaffirm their faith in the country's secular values.

"This verdict does not mean the end of hatred, but it means that somewhere, somehow, justice can prevail. This has been a long, seemingly never-ending struggle for me, but when you are on the side of truth, you will be heard; and justice will be yours in the end," Bilkis said.

She expressed gratitude to her husband Yakub, family members, close friends, her lawyer and Central Bureau of Investigation officials for their unstinted support throughout her long battle.

Also read:Gujarat riots victim Bilkis Bano's rape case: No death penalty for convicts, rules Bombay High Court

Probe reveals Gujarat riots were not spontaneous and sudden

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Race between Cohoon and Rinker heading for recount

An issue with the absentee votes will require a recount to determine the winner of the House District 99 race between Dennis Cohoon and Matt Rinker.
Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media

Heading into key New Hampshire hearings on a $1.6 billion proposal to tap hydroelectric power in Canada, Eversource Energy reported a slight decline in electricity consumption in the first quarter.

Eversource transmits electricity and provides natural gas for 3.7 million customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, with dual headquarters in Boston and Hartford. Across Eversource territories in the first three months of 2017, electricity consumption was off 0.4 percent from a year earlier, while natural gas sales were up 4.6 percent.
After 15 years of gangrape of Bilkis Bano and murder of 14 of her family members, the Bombay High Court has held all the 20 accused as convicts. The trial court had acquitted seven accused for want of evidence.

By Prabhash K Dutta: On March 3 in 2002, 14 people - including four women and four children - were killed while 19-year-old Bilkis Yakub Rasool was gangraped and left to die. But she survived the brutality and fought for justice.

The Bombay High Court today ruled that 11 of the accused deserved life sentence. None of the convicts was sent to the gallows for a crime that shocked the conscience of the nation.

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Significantly, the Bombay High Court set aside the acquittal of seven accused including doctors and policemen, who were held guilty of tampering with the evidence.

THE CRIME: GANGRAPE, MASS MURDER

It was the fourth day after Godhra incident, in which 59 people - mostly karsevaks returning from Ayodhya - were charred to death when the Sabarmati Express was attacked by a mob on February 27, 2002.

Communal violence spread across Gujarat after the Godhra incident. Thousands of families - of both Muslim and Hindu communities - were moving to safer places. One of those families was of Bilkis Bano.

The family was moving in a truck. There were 17 people in it. They suddenly found themselves under attack from a mob of about 30-35 rioters near Randhikpur village in Dahod district not very far from Ahmedabad.

The attackers descended on the truck and in next one hour or so, 14 people were killed. Among the deceased was the two-year-old Saleha, the daughter of Bilkis. Saleha's head had been smashed.

Bilkis was five months pregnant and signs of pregnancy were visible. She was gangraped and brutalised. Govind Nai, Jaswant Nai and Shailesh Bhatt were named as perpetrators. They left Bilkis Bano for dead.

THE FIGHTBACK BY BILKIS BANO

Bilkis Bano got her consciousness about three hours later. In her statement, Bilkis Bano said, "I found myself naked. I saw dead bodies of my family members lying around. I got frightened. I looked around for some cloth to cover myself. I found my petticoat and covered my body and proceeded in the interiors of the hills nearby."

Bilkis Bano took refuge with a tribal family. Bilkis is an illiterate woman who was not well off economically. But, she gathered courage to approach the police and lodge a rape complaint.

One year later, police cited inconsistencies in her statements and the magistrate closed the case for want of evidence.

Bilkis Bano now approached the National Human Rights Commission NHRC) and also petitioned the Supreme Court. The apex court heard the matter and also sought response from the NHRC.

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TRIAL IN BILKIS BANO CASE

The NHRC backed Bilkis Bano's petition in the Supreme Court, which, in December 2003, ordered a CBI inquiry into the case. In January 2004, the CBI arrested all the accused named by Bilkis Bano. The CBI also exhumed the bodies of those killed for examination.

As Bilkis Bano intensified her battle against all odds, she kept receiving threats forcing her to change her residence as many as 20 times in two years. She later filed a plea in the Supreme Court for transfer of the case outside Gujarat.

The Supreme Court in August 2004 shifted the trial of Bilkis Bano case from Gujarat to Mumbai.

After four years, the trial court in Mumbai found 13 of 20 accused guilty. The court awarded life sentence to 11 of the convicts.

Jaswant Nai, Govind Nai, Shailesh Bhatt, Radhyesham Bhagwan Das Shah, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Pradeep Mordhiya, Bakabhai Vohania, Rajubhai Soni, Mitesh Bhatt, and Ramesh Chandana were awarded life sentence for rape and murder.

With this judgment, the Bilkis Bano case became the first case of rape linked to riots in which conviction happened since Independence.

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APPEAL IN HIGH COURT

The CBI challenged the trial court's verdict in the Bombay High Court seeking enhancement of punishment to Jaswant Nai, Govind Nai and Shailesh Bhatt for rape and murder and acquittal of seven other accused.

Delivering its verdict today, the Bombay High Court rejected the plea to enhance punishment from life sentence to death penalty. It further quashed the acquittal of seven pronouncing them as convicts.

The trial court had also sentenced Somabhai Gori of the Limkheda police station, which Bilkis Bano had approached to lodge complaint. The court awarded three-year-imprisonment to Gori for framing false records and refusing to lodge Bilkis Bano's first complaint.

Gori had spent four years in jail when the trial court judgment was pronounced. So, he was set free. The CBI told the Bombay High Court that Gori is since dead.

ALSO READ |

Gujarat riots victim Bilkis Bano's rape case: No death penalty for convicts, rules Bombay High Court

ALSO WATCH | Modi should not apologise for Gujarat riots, says Salman

--- ENDS ---
The entire village of Cairo is now considered blighted and substandard.

The Regional Planning Commission voted 7-0 Wednesday night to approve the study. Commission members Derek Apfel, Judd Allan, John Hoggatt, Hector Rubio and John Sears were absent from Wednesdays meeting.

According to information provided with the meeting agenda, the village commissioned the study as a way to make redevelopment tools available throughout the community.

The village of Cairo is looking at doing some things in the north and south parts of town and did the industrial park, Regional Planning Director Chad Nabity said prior to Wednesdays meeting. So theyve got a number of different things that they are doing to create momentum within the community and would like to have the blight study done so they have some additional tools to encourage that momentum.

The primary qualification for a structure to be considered blighted and substandard is that it is 40 years old or older. Nabity said this applies to the majority of Cairo.

Commission member Les Ruge asked Nabity if the proposed blighted and substandard study would be a brand new blight study that encompasses the areas in Cairo that have already been considered blighted and substandard. Nabity said it does.

It reaffirms the other blighted areas, he said. It also shows the property, that has not been declared blighted and substandard, does meet the requirements to be declared blighted and substandard.

Joe Johnson of Olsson Associates, who prepared the study, agreed saying it complements all of the previous approved blighted and substandard studies.

The planning commission also voted 7-0 to deny a request from Riedy Enterprises to rezone all of lot 10 in the Northview Ninth Subdivision at 4072 and 4074 North Point Circle from an RO residential office zone to a B-2 general business zone to help with parking in the area.

Rob Riedy owns the property and he has built a number of duplex units around the circle in the RO residential office zone, Nabity said prior to the vote. He intends to build some garage there to support his duplex units to give additional parking and storage space for the people who are living in those units. In the RO zone, you cannot build storage, but in the B-2 zone, you can.

After questions from Chairman Pat ONeill and Ruge, Nabity said the lots across the street from lot 10 in the Northview Ninth Subdivision is currently zoned as B-2 general business zone.

Marty Schmidt, who lives near the Northview Ninth Subdivision, spoke against the proposed zoning change. He said, as a neighbor to the property, he did not want the area zoned as a B-2 general business zone because it would allow for storage units to be built on the site. Schmidt added he owns Grand Island Mini-Storage and knows firsthand that storage units bring a lot of trash and did not want this next to his house.

If people need more storage units, they are already two blocks away, he said.

ONeill asked Nabity if he could confirm how far storage units are from the lots on the Northview Ninth Subdivision.

Two minutes? ONeill asked. Nabity said this was correct.

I could ride there in two minutes, ONeill responded.

After discussion from the commission members, Ruge made a motion to deny Riedy Enterprises request due to the nearby storage units.

For the record

In other action, the Regional Planning Commission:

 Heard an R-5 zoning district presentation from developer Amos Anson on the creation of a narrow residential lot district for construction of affordable and sustainable homes. Anson presented this to the Rotary Club on April 4 and was reported by The Independent.

 Voted 7-0 to approve blight and substandard study for 1.25 acres on lots of the Memorial Place subdivision. The subdivision is located south of Memorial Drive and east of Vine Street.

 Received an update from Hall County engineer Steve Riehle on the Grand Island Northwest bridge project located three miles northwest of Highways 281 and 2.
Rogene Stone feels Americans have become too busy to pray and focus on God due to their schedules. She hoped to give Grand Islanders a time to pray over the noon hour on Thursday in front of City Hall as part of National Day of Prayer.

"I think it (Thursdays event) is just getting people to focus on God and understand who he is," said Stone, a member of the Grand Island National Day of Prayer committee. "He is a loving God, full of grace and full of love. It is to get people in the mindset to pray every day, not just once a year."

Stone said there were also other countries, such as Australia, praying as part of National Day of Prayer. If it was important to other countries to see "America being strong and keeping our godly values," she said, it should matter to Americans as well.

During Thursdays National Day of Prayer event, prayers were made for eight key areas: business, churches, education, family, government, the media, military and youth.

Hall County Supervisor Scott Arnold prayed for local government and thanked God for giving Grand Island a government that "makes our lives peaceful and stable." He also thanked God for the freedoms America has and that government "sees to it" that these freedoms are protected. Arnold concluded his prayer by asking God to give government leaders knowledge and wisdom to protect these freedoms.

NTV News meteorologist Kent Boughton prayed for the media at Thursdays event. He told those in attendance that a head-on collision eight years ago changed his life forever.

"If it was not for prayer, I would not be standing here today," Boughton said. "I spent a week in critical condition and almost three months in the hospital. I am able to walk, talk and do my job."

In his prayer, Boughton said there was once a time when the public could trust the media to inform it about the world around them. He added that newspapers "had more facts than opinions," newscasts were never questioned, and the public got both sides of the story. On a national level, Boughton said, those days are gone, and prayer is needed in the media "now more than ever."

Kent Koch of Allen Capital Group prayed for Grand Island businesses and asked God to give guidance to the local business community.

"Please guide our businesses, and businesses across the nation, to be pleasing in your sight and guide thoughts of our business leaders and workers so we may reflect your love and grace every day," he said.

Koch also prayed for business leaders to be "Christ-like," being filled with generosity and kindness for their customers.

Karen Newcomb prayed for education and that God would give teachers insight, passion and love. She also prayed for teachers to be willing to turn to God for guidance in their careers and in their everyday lives.

Stan Davis, pastor of New Life Christian Church, prayed for churches in Grand Island and hoped they would "be more unified in a common mission."

"I think of our churches right now and realize how influenced by culture they are, instead of the other way around," he said. "I pray the leaders within these churches would not isolate themselves but would seek relationships with others in the field of churches. I pray that, as churches, we would not have a spirit of competition but a spirit of common mission."

Stone said there will be two additional National Day of Prayer events, both at 7 p.m. Thursday. One will be at the Chocolate Bar, 116 Third St., and the other will be at the Senior Center in Cairo.
A letter to the editor in Thursdays Grand Island Independent from Kelsey Gay of Chapman expressed concerns about the "future of our schools."

A parent of three children in the Northwest school district, Gay wrote, "We have had the pleasure of sending our kids through Lockwood Preschool and have received nothing but the best from our teachers. However, with recent events within the district, we fear the future."

Gay, part of the group who fought to keep the Chapman School open, said, "Now we have to fight to keep our preschool in the right hands."

"Before this year, the Chapman principal ran Lockwood Preschool, and the students all loved him," Gay said. "Now the superintendent and SPED (special education) director have taken over the preschool with no warning or reason given to parents."

Gay suggested that "the changes seem to be for the SPED directors own benefit."

According to Gay, Lockwood Preschool has gone from always "full with a waiting list to barely being able to fill one classroom."

"A $75 monthly tuition charge was recently implemented, which dramatically cut down the number of applicants, and is now restricted to district residents only," she wrote. "Now that these two men are seeing the repercussions of their actions by adding this tuition, they are trying to make up for it by changing the entire structure of the preschool."

Gay said they are proposing to change the school into an all-day program for 5-year-olds.

"I was personally approached by the SPED director regarding these changes, yet none of these changes have even been discussed with the school board," she wrote. "I believe these changes will ruin the preschool and will negatively impact enrollment at Chapman after we fought so hard to keep it open."

Northwest Superintendent Matt Fisher said the district did put in place a fee this year for both residents and non-residents with children attending Lockwood Preschool.

"When we went through the whole restructuring process this past year, one of the questions that did come up was what are we charging for our preschool, and if we have non-residents coming to our preschool, are they paying anything to come to preschool," Fisher said.

He said the district reviewed what other school districts were doing with their preschools and whether they were charging a fee.

"It is kind of a mixed bag out there, but the majority of them are charging something for preschool," Fisher said.

When the district started the preschool, he said, grant funds offset most of the operational cost.

"But after a few years, those grant funds went away," Fisher said. "Then you are paying for the majority of your preschool."

The Lockwood building was once an elementary school, but the building sat vacant for several years after that school closed. The district turned it into a preschool about four years ago.

Fisher said he took on the responsibility of running Lockwood Preschool this year.

He said the preschool was set up to serve special-needs students.

"It was to be able to have special-needs students and not have to pay for them to attend a preschool somewhere else."

Because there are a number of special-needs students at Lockwood, Fisher said, he had Special Services Director Ryan OGrady helping to run the school.

Fisher said he decided to oversee Lockwood because he didnt want the Chapman principal to split his time between the Chapman and Lockwood schools.

"I think between Dr. OGrady and I, we will continue to oversee the preschool," Fisher said.

Fisher also said Lockwood is open to all children and not just students who reside in the district.

He said the idea of making Lockwood an all-day school is still under consideration and no decision has been made.

If a decision is made to implement an all-day instruction at Lockwood, Fisher said, it would likely be an item addressed by the school board "because that would be a significant change from what we are doing."

This year, Fisher said, there are 38 students at Lockwood, but the numbers for next year will "be off."

"It seems like we have been in a cycle where we have a pretty big group one year and then it drops off quite a bit and then a pretty big group the following year. I think next year our numbers will be in the low to mid-20s range."

Fisher said he doesnt believe the $75-per-month fee impacted the number of students attending the school next year.

"We set criteria as it is not a flat everybody is going to pay $75," he said. "We based that criteria on income and a number of other factors. We have been able to work with the people who have been interested in attending to be able to create a workable situation for them in pretty much every case."
GENOA  It has been 140 years since the Ponca tribe was forced out of its Nebraska home to Oklahoma. Historical record tells of the long journey the tribe, including Chief Standing Bear, had back then as they were plagued with death, disease and despair. Now, in 2017, the Ponca tribe is retracing its ancestors footsteps of that dark journey.

A core group of about 50 tribe members and community members plans to travel by foot and bicycle from Niobrara to Barneston from April 29 to May 11. The path is thought to be the same as, or very close to, the path the tribes ancestors walked. The group stopped in Genoa on Tuesday to give a presentation to the community about its culture and to spend the night before heading out again Wednesday morning.

Randy Teboe, the tribes director of cultural affairs, said the group had traveled about 100 miles total before stopping in Genoa. Tuesdays journey went from Newman Grove to Genoa, which is more than 20 miles. Teboe said an Eagle Staff group is the official timekeeper. The Eagle Staff leaves at 8 a.m. and aims to make it to the next stop by 5:30 p.m.

He said people bike, run and walk to relay the journey. For example, one kid might run a few miles and then be picked up by the groups trolley-type wagon to relay to the next person.

He said the youngest person on the journey is 5 years old. Especially in last weekends not-so-pretty weather with wind, rain and snow, the youths were instrumental in helping the group get to the next stop. During the rain, he said, the youths didnt hesitate to run the distance in order to remember their ancestors and help their tribe.

Theyre our future leaders, and they showed a lot of strength, Teboe said.

The idea of doing the remembrance walk stemmed from a conversation between Teboe and Tribal Chairman Larry Wright. Both men said theyre glad the idea grew into something bigger than the two of them.

Its not about any individuals, Wright said. Its about the tribe, both Northern Ponca and Southern Ponca.

Alyce Tejral of the Genoa U.S. Indian School Foundation helped organize the Poncas visit to Genoa. Tejral said Teboe emailed her about the opportunity, and she was honored to respond.

Its a great honor for them to choose us as a stopping spot, Tejral said.

She said the whole community stepped up to welcome the Ponca to Genoa by providing supper and breakfast for the group. City workers also helped ready the Genoa Park, where the group camped.

When the group came over the hill into town, Tejral said, they were singing.

To me, that was pretty inspiring, she said.

The group stopped at the Genoa Indian School. Every tribe member present had an ancestor who attended the school, Wright said.

When people think about Nebraska, he said, he hopes they think about Chief Standing Bears life story and how he kept a promise that he would bury his father in his original home of Nebraska, though the tribe had been forced out.

With the Keystone XL Pipeline issue, Wright said, some farmers may feel like their land is being taken away. He said his tribe, like the Nebraska farmers, has a special connection to the state and the land. The Ponca tribe can relate to those farmers because they also had their land taken from them.

Of what it means to make this journey to remember their ancestors, he said it gives him a sense of pride. Its an honor to be able to make the trip, but he wishes it wasnt a part of the tribes history because it was a dark and hurtful time. However, those before braved the journey, and the tribe wants to honor that.

For me, theres a huge sense of pride for myself to be able to be here with all of our tribal members. Its humbling to be here and to do it. But its even more so, when I stop thinking about myself and when I watch all of our other members, Wright said. He referenced the perseverance the tribe had as they came together as one for the purpose of honoring their ancestors.

That for me is even more humbling to see, he said. Its not easy, but there are smiles on their faces, and theyre coming together as a tribe.
By Press Trust of India: acquittal of seven

(EDS: Updating with reaction of Bilkis)

Mumbai, May 4 (PTI) The Bombay High Court today upheld the conviction and life imprisonment of 12 people in the Bilkis Bano gang rape case while setting aside the acquittal of seven persons including policemen and doctors.

The court also dismissed an appeal filed by the CBI seeking death penalty for three of the convicts.

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Bilkis, who was gang raped in March 2002 at a time when she was pregnant, said her rights as a woman, and mother were violated in the most brutal manner and the verdict "vindicated truth", and "upheld" her faith in the judiciary.

Seven of her family members were also killed in the aftermath of the Godhra riots

A division bench of Justices V K Tahilramani and Mridula Bhatkar said, "The appeal against conviction filed by the 11 convicts (one of them is dead) is dismissed. The conviction and sentence is upheld."

"The appeal filed by the prosecution against the acquittal of seven persons (in the case) is allowed. The acquittal is set aside," the court said.

The seven persons, who include five policemen and two doctors, are convicted for not performing their duties (sections 218) and tampering of evidence (section 201) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the bench said.

"We will consider the period undergone in jail of these seven persons as their sentence. But we will impose a fine amount on them," the court said.

Each of the seven persons, who was convicted, has been directed to pay a fine of Rs 20,000 within eight weeks.

The convicted policemen and doctors are Narpat Singh, Idris Abdul Saiyed, Bikabhai Patel, Ramsingh Bhabhor, Sombhai Gori, Arun Kumar Prasad (doctor) and Sangeeta Kumar Prasad (doctor). Now 18 people stand convicted in the case. In a statement to the media, Bilkis said, "My rights, as a human being, as a citizen, woman, and mother were violated in the most brutal manner, but I had trust in the democratic institutions of our country. Now, my family and I feel we can begin to lead our lives again, free of fear.

"I am happy that the State and its officials who emboldened, encouraged, and protected the criminals who destroyed the life of an entire community, are no longer unblemished, but today stand charged with tampering of evidence. For officers of the state, whose sworn duty is to protect citizens and enable justice, this should be their great moral shame, to bear forever," she added.

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The court had last year reserved its judgement in the appeals filed by 11 persons convicted in the case and also the appeal filed by CBI for capital punishment to three of them.

A special court had on January 21, 2008, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment eleven men in the case.

They later approached the High Court here challenging their conviction and sought for the trial courts order to be quashed and set aside.

The CBI had also filed an appeal in the High Court seeking harsher punishment of death for three of the convicted on the grounds that they were the main perpetrators of the crime.

According to the prosecution, on March 3, 2002, Bilkis Banos family was attacked by a mob at Randhikpur village near Ahmedabad during the post-Godhra riots and seven members of her family were killed.

Bilkis, who was five months pregnant at the time, was gang-raped while six other members of her family managed to escape from the mob.

The trial in the case began in Ahmedabad. However, after Bilkis expressed apprehensions that witnesses could be harmed and CBI evidence tampered, the Supreme Court transferred the case to Mumbai in August 2004. The 11 convicted are Jaswantbhai Nai, Govindbhai Nai, Shailesh Bhatt, Radhesham Shah, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Pradeep Mordhiya, Bakabhai Vohania, Rajubhai Soni, Mitesh Bhatt and Ramesh Chandana.

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The convicts had challenged the order on three main grounds -- that all evidences in the case were fabricated by CBI, that Bilkis gave birth to a child after the incident proving that she could not have been gang raped, and the failure to discover the bodies of some of her family members proved that they were not killed.

The CBI had sought enhancement of punishment for three of them- Jaswantbhai, Govindbhai and Radhesham Shah? on the grounds that they had raped Bilkis. PTI SP DK NM DV

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On May 21, 1986, President Ronald Reagan issued a formal proclamation designating May as the official month to heighten public awareness about hearing loss and speech disorders. Ronald Reagan is one among many famous personalities with hearing loss. One other famous person is Helen Keller who once said that while blindness kept her separate from things, hearing loss separated her from people and human connections.

Thus, it is that time of the year where audiologists try to bring attention to a crippling silent condition-hearing loss that goes undetected for many years. About 35 million Americans have hearing loss-that is 11% of the population. Further, the number of Americans with hearing loss has doubled over the past 30 years as younger generation of children experience hearing loss due to noise exposure, and our baby boomers experience age related hearing loss.

According to the National Health Interview Survey, 15% of the 45-64 year-old age group and 27% of the 65-74 year-old age group have significant hearing loss. Sometimes patients will mention hearing loss to their primary care doctor only to be told that if they can pass the whisper test they are fine. This type of informal hearing evaluation is subjective and frequently does not identify someone with hearing loss, particularly when the hearing loss is confined to higher frequencies (2000 Hz and above).

Despite its high prevalence, hearing loss often goes undetected-at least by the person with the hearing loss. Family and friends usually become aware of the communication problems first. Although many individuals are unwilling to accept their hearing loss because of the connotation of old age, there are also good reasons why the individual with hearing loss is often the the last one to know. The following are the four most common reasons why hearing loss goes undetected in adults:

1. Gradual: Hearing loss usually develops so slowly that the individual is not aware of any change from year to year. Hearing loss might develop at the rate of one decibel a year. Thats a daily change of about .001 percent of hearing, so its not surprising the change is not noticed. But 10 or 20 years (or even 30 years) of this gradual change in hearing can lead to a very significant hearing loss.

2. Painless: Rarely is any pain or feeling associated with adult-onset hearing loss, although tinnitus (a ringing or buzzing in the ear) is sometimes present as a symptom of hearing loss.

3. Partial: In the early stage of adult onset hearing loss, hearing for low-frequency sound is usually not affected, even as the ability to hear the high-frequency speech clarity sounds diminishes. The individual may report, I can hear speech-I just cant understand it.

4. Invisible: There are no physical signs of the hearing loss.

Hearing loss isolates us from friends and family and makes our world smaller and smaller. The individual in many cases may stop going to certain restaurants, to church, avoid certain television shows and social gatherings. These communication problems may cause significant stress to the family members. To some degree, anger, frustration, embarrassment, and depression are most commonly associated in individuals with hearing loss.

In addition to the psychological implications of hearing loss, there is now research data supporting that hearing loss speeds up age related cognitive decline. Individuals with hearing loss are at a greater risk for dementia (Lin, et al., 2013). Furthermore, individuals with a mild 25 dB hearing loss are nearly three times more likely to have a history of falling than those with normal hearing (NIH, 2013). Even after controlling for other factors such as age, sex, race, cardiovascular disease and vestibular/balance function, the NIH study clearly indicated a strong link between hearing loss and increased risk of falling. Every additional 10 dB hearing loss meant an increased risk of falling by 1.4.

Treating hearing loss has immediate benefits. It reduces social isolation, anxiety, stress, can increase energy and even promote better sleep. Detecting hearing loss early will allow individuals to take care of proper steps to improve their quality of life and help them enjoy more years ahead.

It is reasonable to suggest that physicians inform patients to get their hearing tested annually as a routine part of overall medical care and to encourage patients to early hearing treatment plan when recommended such as hearing instrument amplification, counseling and aural rehabilitation.

In conclusion, if you or the loved ones have any hearing concerns, consult with your primary care physician and make sure to receive a complete diagnostic hearing evaluation from an audiologist to find out the exact type of hearing loss, degree of hearing loss and a customized hearing treatment plan. There is more hope than ever for those who have this crippling silent condition-hearing loss.

Dr. T.K. Parthasarathy, Ph.D., FAAA, former Professor of Audiology at SIUE with 30 years of experience in helping patients with hearing loss. He is an ASHA Certified Clinical Audiologist with 3 offices at the Better Hearing Clinic (www.betterhearingclinic.com) in Alton Memorial Hospital (618-433-7961), Glen Carbon (1-866-696-5958), and Saint Louis/SSM Medical Group (1-866-696-5958). As a part of the Hearing Wellness Program in the community, all patients 50 years and older are eligible for a complimentary free hearing consultation.
Whitleys Wishes is now looking for local artists to join its cause.

The month of May is known as Brain Cancer Awareness month, and Whitleys Wishes is searching for local artists to create unique artworks for display in downtown local businesses in Edwardsville, including Mojos Music, Metro Hair, Gori Julian, Henderson & Associates, Eakers Barber Shop, Restore Decor and 222 Artisan Bakery. Columbus Elementarys Mr. Canadas fifth-grade class is also participating.

Participants in the fundraiser can vote for their favorite art pieces through donations. The top three winners will receive a cash prize.

The deadline to submit entries is Saturday, May 6, and all artists of any age are welcome to participate. Voting will be open Sunday, May 7 through Wednesday, May 31.

Founder of Whitleys Wishes Christy Jennings said with this being the second time Whitleys Wishes has hosted the event, it all started with a way to honor her daughters memory.

We started this event last year. I was trying to come up with a way to spread awareness and raise money for research at the same time while including the community that Whitley loved as much as possible and honoring her memory. We live very close to Main Street and spent many evenings walking and admiring the window displays in the businesses downtown when Whitley was with us. It was one of our favorite things to do, Jennings said.

Each dollar donated by the public counts as a vote towards their favorite artwork. The artwork that raises the most money wins. The first place cash prize will be $200; second place is $100 and third place is $50.

There will be two ways to vote for the favorite art pieces, according to Jennings.

To cast a vote in-person, please go to Eakers Barber Shop. We may add more voting spots at a later time. Watch Facebook for updates. You will also be able to vote online at a GoFundMe page that we will create at a later date. Voting information will be available at each location as well as on Facebook, she said.

Following the fundraiser, Jennings said the funds will be donated to the UCL (University College London) Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health.

We plan to donate all money raised in May to The Cure Starts Now/ DIPG (Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma) Collaborative for Dr. Karin Straathof at UCL Institute of Child Health toward her research on T-cell based Immunotherapy for DIPG, she said.

Jennings started the 501 (c)(3) Whitleys Wishes in her daughter Whitleys memory after she passed away two years ago of DIPG, a type of pediatric brain cancer.

Jennings said one of the goals of Whitleys Wishes is to support research toward DIPG for future patients.

(DIPG) is 100-percent fatal. It is said to be rare, however, we have lost three children in our area to it in the last two years. It is a devastating disease. The children lose their ability to walk, talk, sit up, eat and eventually breathe, all while being fully aware of what is happening to them. There have been no new treatments for DIPG in 30 plus years. One of our goals is to help change that, she said.

Another upcoming fundraiser, DewMore Giveback Night, is also in the works for Whitleys Wishes, and will take place from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., Tuesday, May 23, at Deweys Pizza in Edwardsville. Up to 20 percent of all food and beverage purchases will be donated.

Jennings said she hopes for a great turnout and participation for this months fundraiser.

I know first-hand the anguish these families endure (with DIPG). There is so much hopelessness knowing that only 4 percent of government funding goes to all of pediatric cancer research and very little of that goes specifically to DIPG. It is up to groups like ours to push forward and raise money to fund cutting-edge research like Dr. Straathof is doing, she said.

For more information about Whitleys Wishes, visit its Facebook page by searching, Whitleys Wishes, Inc. on Facebook.
On April 18 Gilang Kembara published a commentary in this newspaper critiquing the purchase of the Sukhoi Su-35 on a basis of human and economic costs, and argued for buying drones instead. His framing is entirely correct: even the fighter with the lowest per flight-hour cost, the JAS39 Gripen, is almost triple the amount of a MQ-9 Reaper drone. Simply put, drones keep the platform cost, flight-hour cost, and the risk to pilots down.

However, and where I disagree with Kembara, is his preposition that instead of buying new fighters the Air Force should buy drones. Both his argument and the Air Forces purchase of the Su-35 betray a misunderstanding of the trajectory of the technology and organization of modern and future airpower.

To choose a platform on cost alone is a red herring  a distraction from deeper questions that need to be addressed by any air force trying to enter the 21stcentury. First, it neglects the fact that fighters and drones fulfil vastly different roles.

Second, while it rightly lifts the issue of costs of flight hours and platforms, it does not consider the massive shifts in infrastructure that would be required to support such a force.

Third and last, it commits a fallacy in the future development of air forces, namely an overreliance on specific platforms instead of larger systems. If the Indonesian Air Force wants to be a serious fighting force in the 21stcentury, it needs to adopt a systems approach instead of platforms, containing a mix of different capabilities and aircraft, both manned and unmanned.

There are four roles that air power today is required to fulfil that are relevant to the problem that Kembara brings up. There are air-to-air and air-to ground missions, or to shoot down planes and bomb enemies, which are the core of modern multi-role fighter jets. There is also air policing, which becomes increasingly relevant as the amount of planes trafficking Indonesias airspace grows and the hopes of gaining full control of their airspace continue. Finally, there is also the issues of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) over both land and sea.

Today, drones only operate in ISR and ground-strike roles, and cannot replace fighter jets with the current technology  air-to-air and air policing remain out of the capability of drones for the foreseeable future. Strike missions have increasingly been conducted by drones, most famously targeted strikes against militants in Pakistan.

They have also been conducting close air support to forces on the ground in Afghanistan, but this deserves a caveat: in these cases the drones were already overhead, and are simply too slow to be dispatched to support forces in a firefight on short notice, nor do they carry a lot of munitions. This stands in contrast to the fast moving F-16s, which will not be replaced by drones anytime soon.

The other core mission that Kembara hopes drones will take over in Indonesian service is maritime surveillance, and rightfully so. In the US Navy, the venerable P-3C Orion is being replaced by a manned-unmanned team of new P-8 Poseidon manned aircraft and unmanned MQ-4C Tritons. While the MQ-4C cannot replace the payload capacity and endurance of the P-8, which is a derivativeof the commercial Boeing 737, they are instead used as scouts and surveillance platforms for the larger and more expensive manned aircraft, increasing overall efficiency.

But using drones this way requires a large infrastructure behind the scenes, primarily seen by the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper as suggested by Kembara. While the ground control stations that control the drones are not cheap, nor are they prohibitively expensive.

The truly expensive part is the communications network required to actually talk to the drones. To operate over widespread oceans and ranging landscapes, such as thearchipelagic Indonesia, the most effective way to control the drones would be through satellites. Free-riding off the Americans would be impossible  the Americans hesitate giving even their own allies access to their networks, much less Indonesia. Alternative methods of creating the network would be cheaper, but more limited in their effectiveness.

Despite the need for more and costly infrastructure, it remains necessary for the Air Force  and the Navy  to obtain more drones for maritime surveillance. If they want to use them effectively however this would not be through replacing manned aircraft, but rather through a manned-unmanned team.

Discussing if new fighters are worth getting or arguing if drones should replace them is a fallacy: they are both necessary, but the platform itself is not the key.

For a 21stcentury air force, it is the larger system of networked platforms that is crucial for the future. This system includes fighter jets, airborne radars, and maritime patrol aircraft, as well as drones. The system would also integrate attack helicopters such as Indonesias new Apaches and Sigma frigates from the Army and Navy.

The networked system might sound like something out of science fiction, but is the standard in the most modern air forces around the world today. These systems enable sharing of information between platforms through tactical datalinks  massively multiplying combat effectiveness.

The American F-35 is designed from the bottom up as a crucial element of such a network, sharing all its radar and target information to its wingmen and other planes, and thus spotting and destroying the enemy before they even knew they were there.

The Su-35 in contrast does not utilize these datalinks, as Russian air doctrine and design have not yet recognized the advantage of networked warfare. Meanwhile, the main competitors of the Su-35, the F-16V and the JAS39, have. The Royal Thai Air Force recently integrated their JAS39s with Navy ships, and American allies and buyers of their newest equipment have been doing so for at least 20 years.

If the Indonesian Air Force wants to enter the 21st century and to fly, fight, and train with the best, it needs to reassess the guidance that the Minimal Essential Force has given. Buying new fighters by themselves, without airborne radars and datalinks, becomes a waste of money. Replacing the Su-35 with drones would be a mistake. The Su-35 will neither move the Air Force into the 21st century.

Instead of being stuck with planes fit for the 20th century, the Air Force needs to adopt a networked system, combining a force of fighters with airborne radars, maritime patrol aircraft, and drones in an integrated manner. The Air Force needs to plan for and buy a networked force with integration in mind rather than individual platforms  including both fighters and drones.

***

The writer works at the Military Studies Program of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, where he lectures on airpower. He also researches on the future of airpower, military innovation, and the role of culture in decisions to adopt new technology.

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Linkedin Masajeng Rahmiasri (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017 15:02 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec223b6 1 Art & Culture art-stage,Art-Stage-Jakarta,Art-Stage-Jakarta-2017,arts,exhibition,#artstage,#ArtsandCulture,arts-and-culture Free

Art Stage Jakarta is set to return for a second time to Sheraton Grand Jakarta Gandaria City Hotel in South Jakarta from Aug. 11 to 13.

The contemporary art fair will feature both local and international artwork from up to 50 participating galleries.

The event's founder and president, Lorenzo Rudolf, said half of the space would be occupied by Indonesian galleries, while the other half would host international galleries, especially those from Southeast Asia.

I think there are a lot of relations between all the Southeast Asian countries and we have to bring them together to understand and cooperate with each other and step by step grow into a global art world, Rudolf said on Wednesday.

Indonesia, as strong as it is, is too small to compete alone. What this means is that we have to put Indonesia in a context. [..] But at the same time, we also have to support Indonesia within the country itself to let it grow," he added.

Read also: 1.5m euros painting 'forgotten' in Paris taxi is returned

A post shared by ART STAGE JAKARTA (@artstagejakarta) on Jan 27, 2017 at 3:48am PST

Several Indonesian galleries, including Nadi Gallery, Semarang Gallery, ROH Projects, D Gallerie, Rachel Gallery and CANs Gallery, will reportedly exclusively exhibit their artwork at the event. Visitors can also expect to see various items from foreign galleries, such as Japans Mizuma Gallery, Singapores Gajah Gallery, the Philippines The Drawing Room, and Australias Sullivan+Strumpf.

Similar to last year, Art Stage Jakarta 2017 will also feature a collectors show section.

Rudolf hinted that the upcoming event also sought to expand into a larger scale, or more than a three-day fair. We want to position Jakarta, Indonesia, not as one fair but as a scene. This means you are going to have a lot of events happening in the city around the fair; not only in this venue, he said, adding that details would be announced at a later time.

Last year, Art Stage Jakarta featured an art market section that showcased artwork from Indonesia and overseas, a collectors show as well as an exhibition featuring maestro Affandis unseen works. (kes)
Chairman Sanjay Jhunjhunwala, who was facing a red corner notice issued by the United Arab Emirates, was arrested after he returned from abroad while promoter Sandip Jhunjhunwala was arrested by CBI in New Delhi.

By Atir Khan: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested the chairman of REI Agro Ltd along with a promoter of the company in connection with an alleged bank loan fraud of Rs 3,871 crore.

Chairman Sanjay Jhunjhunwala, who was facing a red corner notice issued by the United Arab Emirates, was arrested after he returned from abroad while promoter Sandip Jhunjhunwala was arrested by CBI in New Delhi.

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A case was registered against the private firm and its promoters, directors; other executives and other unknown persons under Sections 120-B r/w 420, 467, 468 & 471 of IPC on a complaint of UCO Bank relating to the allegations of cheating 14 consortium member banks (led by UCO Bank) to the tune of Rs. 3871.71 crore.

It was also alleged that the accused had defrauded 14 public sector banks through diversion of funds, showing high cost of false capital expenditure, suspected investment in related companies, falsely inflating debtors, sale at higher price to related /doubtful parties, fraudulent high sea transactions, non compliance with fund utilization, corporate guarantee without permission of consortium members etc.

More than 150 shell firms were allegedly arranged through a group of brokers against fixed commission, for obtaining false invoices and diversion of bank funds. It was also alleged that some of the suppliers were non-existent and some other firms were having no genuine business with said firm and had routed the funds of said private firm through their accounts.

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Linkedin Katya Kazakina (Bloomberg)  Thu, May 4, 2017 18:58 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec2b67c 2 Art & Culture art,domain,#art,technology,Internet Free

For $25 million, investor Ulvi Kasimov could have bought a decent Picasso to enjoyor flip in a few years. Instead the London-based businessman has spent that amount on something much less tangible: an internet domain.

Kasimovs company, UK Creative Ideas Ltd., outbid nine rivals to win the contract to operate ".art, a new, top-level domain he hopes will create digital infrastructure for the international art community: individuals, organizations and eventually, art objects. Starting on May 10, when the general availability period begins, anyone will be able to acquire a domain name with an .art extension for as little as $15.

"I am convinced that the future is at the intersection of art, finance and digital space, Kasimov, 47, said in a recent interview in New York.

The pitch is that .art instantly creates an identity aligned with the art world; you can see plainly why Apple Inc. rushed to register iphone.art and facetime.art, among 36 domain names. During the preferred access period, which launched in December, more than 2,000 domains were purchased on .art by cultural organizations, as well as tech companies, luxury brands and banks. Instagram.art, Rolex.art and Beyonce.art were all snatched up. Ditto: .art domains for the Louvre, Tate and Centre Pompidou. Mega-gallery Hauser and Wirth celebrated its 25th anniversary with a special .art micro-site.

Chinese choreographer and painter Shen Wei said that acquiring shenwei.art allowed him to differentiate from others because his name is not uncommon in China, he said in a statement. It also could help you distinguish yourself in the field. "The most common mix-up when Googling my name as an artist is with another artist of the same name who is a photographer, said Shen.

Read also: Agency shuts down tens of illegal music and film websites

Is It Necessary?

Not everyone is on board. Mega dealers such as Larry Gagosian and David Zwirner havent registered yet. Others, who did buy domains, are unsure theyll need to use them.

New Yorks Metro Pictures Gallery, which represents star artists such as Cindy Sherman and Robert Longo, had to buy its current domain name, metropictures.com, from a speculator years ago. So when .art version became available, it pounced, even though it has no immediate plans to switch to the new site. It seemed like a good thing to do, said Janelle Reiring, a co-founder of the gallery. It was a very practical decision.

The Dash for Domains

Kasimov is part of a hot new trend in the domain universe. Traditional domain extensions.com or .netdont express a personal vision or institutional mission. So when the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) launched a special program to expand the domain name system, it received 1,930 applications during a brief window in 2012. More than 1,000 extensions, also known as strings, have been rolled out, resulting in some 28 million new domain names registered worldwide, according to the Domain Name Association.

You will find .law and .bank, as well as .mom and .shop. Some names have sparked bidding wars, selling for millions of dollars at special auctions. For example, .web fetched $135 million at auction, while .vip sold for $3 million, according to ICANN.

Now you can have meaning on both sides of the dot, said Jeff Sass, chief marketing officer at .Club Domains LLC, which registered 800,000 domain names in three years. Its an important part of your online identity, marketing, and branding because it makes it easier for people to find you.

Read also: New W. Java museum celebrates motherhood Sunda style

Tracking Provenance

For Kasimov, who was born in Azerbaijan and owns a large collection by Azeri artists, .art is about much more than marketing.

"The art market lacks basic infrastructure and standards that exist in any other business, he said. "Its hard to create cash flow.

He knows from experience. In 2010, Kasimov paid about $4.4 million for a portfolio of 32 works on paper by 19th century Russian artist Karl Bryullov. He then set up a mutual fund whose asset was the collection. The fund was listed on the Moscow Stock Exchange and investors could buy shares for as little as $10,000, Kasimov said. He didnt sell any.

Part of the problem was that people didnt understand, or trust, what they were investing in. With an .art domain name, Kasimov hopes that a level of public certainty will be brought to provenance, ownership, and value. Each domain name registrant has to provide basic information (name, address, email, phone number, and so forth) that effectively creates the title for the owner. Similarly to liens and real estate deeds, this WHOIS data leaves a public trace.

Opening Doors

Thats where things get interesting. The data list information about an individual or an entity behind the domain name. But the form can be amended, and Kasimov decided to add parameters describing the physical characteristics of art objects such as size, year of creation, medium, name of the artist, and potentially, price historywhich effectively amounts to a digital provenance.

This new set of data could be built upon and used by auction houses, galleries, and collectors to determine the value of an object.

"You can use the title technology in connection with cultural objects, Kasimov said. "It will remain there forever.
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Linkedin Rob Lever (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States  Thu, May 4, 2017 11:12 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec11230 2 Science & Tech Facebook,Mark-Zuckerberg Free

Facebook said Wednesday it is hiring an extra 3,000 staff to remove violent content like the gruesome killings and suicides broadcast on its video platform.

The move ramps up efforts by Facebook to filter content amid growing criticism of the social media giant for allowing the platform to be used to promote violence and hateful activity.

"If we're going to build a safe community, we need to respond quickly," chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said on his Facebook page.

Zuckerberg's announcement came a week after a 20-year-old Thai man broadcast live video on the world's most popular social media platform, showing him killing his baby daughter before committing suicide.

The previous week, a US man dubbed the "Facebook Killer" shot himself to death after three days of a frantic nationwide manhunt.

The murder and a video sparked outrage across the world and renewed scrutiny of the growing number of grisly videos being posted on social media.

Facebook removed the footage hours after the attack. Zuckerberg acknowledged that the world's largest social network had a role to play in stemming the worrisome trend.

"We're working to make these videos easier to report so we can take the right action sooner -- whether that's responding quickly when someone needs help or taking a post down," Zuckerberg said.

The 3,000 new recruits, added over the coming year, will increase by two thirds the size of Facebook's community operations team, which currently numbers 4,500.

Read also: Google Docs phishing scam doused after catching fire

'We can do better'

"We've seen people hurting themselves and others on Facebook -- either live or in video posted later," Zuckerberg said. "It's heartbreaking, and I've been reflecting on how we can do better for our community."

The additional reviewers will "help us get better at removing things we don't allow on Facebook like hate speech and child exploitation," he said.

"And we'll keep working with local community groups and law enforcement who are in the best position to help someone if they need it -- either because they're about to harm themselves, or because they're in danger from someone else."

Critics say the social network has been too slow to react to online violence, and questioned whether Facebook Live -- a strategic area of development for the company -- should be disabled, after several cases in which it was used to broadcast rapes.

Zuckerberg said Facebook has been working on better technology that can identify violent or inappropriate content -- and that its efforts to screen for acts of violence appeared to be paying off.

"Just last week, we got a report that someone on Live was considering suicide," he said.

"We immediately reached out to law enforcement, and they were able to prevent him from hurting himself. In other cases, we weren't so fortunate."

It was not immediately clear how and where Facebook would deploy the new monitors.

As Facebook approaches a global user base of two billion, it has been grappling with its role as a platform for sharing news as well as calls to violence and political propaganda.

The company has insisted it is not a "media company" that manages content seen by users, but it has faced growing calls to weed out "fake news" that may influence elections as well as "hate speech" barred in some European countries.

Last month, Facebook stepped up its security to counter efforts by governments and others to spread misinformation or manipulate discussions for political reasons.

Facebook also recently unleashed a new weapon in the war against "revenge porn" at the leading social network as well as the messaging services Messenger and Instagram.
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Linkedin Ian King and Susan Decker (Bloomberg)  Thu, May 4, 2017 18:01 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec2ac08 2 Science & Tech Qualcomm,iPhone,#Apple,Apple,ban,imports Free

Incensed over Apple Inc.s decision to stop paying it billions of dollars in licensing fees for smartphone chips, Qualcomm Inc. plans to retaliate by asking a U.S. trade agency to ban the imports of iPhones, according to a person familiar with the companys strategy.

Qualcomm is preparing to ask the International Trade Commission to stop the iPhone, which is built in Asia, from entering the country, threatening to block Apples iconic product from the American market in advance of its anticipated new model this fall, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.

The ITC is a quasi-judicial agency in Washington that has the power to block the import of goods into the U.S. and processes cases more quickly than federal district courts -- the venue in which the companies are accusing each other of lying, making threats and trying to create an illegal monopoly.

The escalating legal dispute revolves around patents Qualcomm holds that let it to charge a percentage of the price of every modern high-speed data-capable smartphone, regardless of whether the devices use its chips. Apple argues the system is unfair and Qualcomm has used licensing leverage to illegally help its semiconductor unit.

That spat worsened late last month when Apple cut off technology license payments to San Diego-based Qualcomm. The blow to the chipmakers most profitable business spurred the company to intensify the fight to improve its negotiating position.

Read also: Apple ceases iPhone payments to Qualcomm, escalating feud

They have to do something, said Kevin Cassidy, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus. The bigger risk is other companies or countries say were not going to pay, too. Thats the danger of letting Apple get away with this.

Spokesmen for Qualcomm and Apple declined to comment.

Qualcomm hasnt offered fair terms as required under rules governing the licensing of patents, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said when asked about the possibility the chipmaker could try to halt iPhone sales anywhere in the world.

Thats both the price and the business terms, Cook said Tuesday during a conference call with analysts. Qualcomm has not made such an offer to Apple, he added. I dont believe anyones going to decide to enjoin the iPhone based on that. Theres plenty of case law around that subject. But we shall see.

The iPhone is built in Asia by contract manufacturers. A successful appeal to the ITC could potentially lock it out of the U.S. market, which accounts for 40 percent of Apples total sales. Apple generated $86.6 billion in its Americas region last year. The iPhone provides more than 60 percent of sales for the Cupertino, California-based company.

Read also: Qualcomm to bring 4G to feature phones

Qualcomm has already shown the price of its fall out with Apple. It cut its revenue outlook this quarter by $500 million citing the likelihood of not receiving licensing fees from Apple. If that carries on for the rest of the year, almost one-third of its lucrative licensing revenue, most of which is profit, will disappear.

The current iPhone uses a mixture of Intel Corp. and Qualcomm modems to connect to networks. Up until the iPhone 7, Qualcomm was the exclusive supplier of that crucial part. The companys patents cover the fundamentals of how data and voice is encoded and transmitted between networks and phones. By stopping payment to contract manufacturers who make the iPhone -- who, in turn, pay Qualcomm -- Apple is interfering with contracts that predate the debut of the iPhone, Qualcomm argues.

The trade commission in Washington is the obvious choice of venue for a next round in the fight. Both companies are familiar with the agency -- Qualcomms chips were briefly blocked from the U.S. during a patent fight with Broadcom Corp. that it settled in 2009, one of the few legal disputes it has lost. Apple was threatened with the ban of some of its iPhones during its fight with Samsung Electronics Co. Nokia Oyj is pursuing a case at the agency to try to forge a new licensing agreement with Apple after the two were unable to renew a contract that was struck after an earlier patent dispute.

The ITC has the advantage of speed, judges with experience in patent law and the ability to get an import ban, said Alex Hadjis, a patent lawyer with the Oblon law firm in Alexandria, Virginia, who specializes in cases before the agency.

Read also: BlackBerry wins $815 million in dispute with Qualcomm

The rules about how patents contributed to industry standards are a bit murkier, but the ITC may turn out positive for patent owners, Hadjis said. There have been some agency rulings with reasoning that can be viewed as friendly to a patent owner like Qualcomm with standard-essential patents, he said.

Qualcomm may even go further afield, testing courts in the U.K., Germany and China, said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Matt Larson. Each is known for being faster than U.S. courts. A U.K. court, in an unrelated case, in April made clear that patent owners on standardized technology can block companies unwilling to take licensees.

And in China, where Apple gets about one-fifth of its sales, Qualcomm negotiated a settlement with regulators that established what kinds of rates it can charge. It used the decision to end a royalty battle with Chinas Meizu Technology Co. in December.

Under the current circumstances, there seems little prospect of settlement.

We strongly believe were in the right. And Im sure they believe that they are, Cook said of the dispute with Qualcomm. And thats what courts are for. And so well let it go with that.
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Linkedin Asmara Wreksono (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017 10:55 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec0eb4f 1 Food jamu,Suwe-Ora-Jamu,The-Dharmawangsa-Jakarta,coffee,mixologist,mixology,mixology-classes,traditional-beverages Free

Indonesian traditional drinks such as jamu and coffee have always been popular among locals. However, jamus popularity is rising among Jakartas younger crowd, who are jumping on the healthy-living bandwagon. Here are two places in which you can actually learn how to brew or mix your own traditional beverages:

Suwe Ora Jamu

Suwe Ora Jamu, a jamu and coffee shop-slash-restaurant located on Jl. Petogogan, South Jakarta, has set a mission to popularize jamu since its establishment in 2013. Nova Dewi co-founded Suwe Ora Jamu with her husband, Uwi Mathovani, with the aim to introduce jamu to the younger generation and preserve the traditional drink.

Jamu brewing class, hosted by Nova Dewi.(JP/Asmara Wreksono)

I see young Indonesians, mainly in Jakarta, hang out in coffee shops, drinking coffee or tea, and I start to wonder why arent they drinking jamu? And then I started asking around whether there is a place where you can drink jamu instead of coffee. I found out that jamu was only sold at traditional warungs [road-side stalls] and that people dont necessarily hang out while drinking jamu, Nova said.

Read also: Mixing books with herbal drinks

She also discovered that jamu has somewhat of a bad reputation among the younger generation.

They say jamu is bitter and it can ruin your kidneys. Jamu had such a negative image, but I think its because some jamu makers add chemicals to the supposedly fresh ingredients, Nova added.

Suwe Ora Jamu's traditional bottled home brews.(JP/Asmara Wreksono)

Coming from a family who relies on natural remedies when struck by sickness, Nova has been accustomed to drinking jamu since she was little.

My grandma used to make jamu for our family. We didn't do it commercially, but if neighbors or friends asked for our jamu, wed gladly give to them, she reminisced.

Apart from its cafe, Suwe Ora Jamu welcomes those who want to learn jamu basics by appointment. There are nine course modules offered, encompassing jamu basics using specific ingredients (turmeric and ginger), wedangan brewing, herbal healing, detox and slimming, jamu mocktails, and health and beauty, in which participants are not only taught how to create healthy drinks but also boreh, or body scrubs.

The jamu-making courses are held twice every month with a maximum of 10 participants in one session, which normally starts at 10 a.m. and ends at 1p.m. at Suwe Ora Jamu Petogogan. Expatriates are welcome, as the classes are also held in English. For more information and registration, you can reach Popie at +62811 160 253.

Majapahit Lounge at The Dharmawangsa Jakarta

Known for its famous James Bond martini collection, as well as Indonesian-inspired range martinis, Majapahit Lounge at The Dharmawangsa Jakarta is currently infusing more local wisdom into its sophisticated martini mix. The newly-added cocktail is entitled Espresso Gayo Martini, inspired by Indonesias favorite drink Kopi Tubruk, which serves as the foundation for the selection of Aceh Gayo coffee beans that work as the base of this classic yet exotic beverage.

Espresso Gayo Martini, the newly-added beverage to The Dharmawangsa Jakarta's martini series.(The Dharmawangsa/File)

Arnold Rozacques, the hotels mixologist said, I was inspired to create such a unique beverage that is in-line with my personal philosophy of utilizing as many local ingredients as possible to put forward the refined flavors of Indonesian produce. This martini is also a perfect fit for the identity of The Dharmawangsa Jakarta as an Indonesian luxury hotel.

Aside from its celebrated martinis, The Dharmawangsa Jakarta is also known for its mocktails, which incorporate traditional ingredients into the mix. Its tantalizing Roejak Mercon" beverage, which is served with a dash of Tabasco and red cayenne peppers as a garnish, is a must-try for those with adventurous taste buds, while the warm and comforting "Kunyit Secawan" drink, which features turmeric, boasts health benefits.

The Roejak Mercon mocktail at The Dharmawangsa Jakarta.(JP/Asmara Wreksono)

Read also: Coffee guerrillas fighting for the perfect cup

Utensils for a mixology class at The Dharmawangsa Jakarta.(JP/Asmara Wreksono)

The Dharmawangsa Jakarta welcomes those who are interested in taking a group mixology class. The course typically features two or three beverages and is taught by the hotels resident mixologist. For a maximum of 10 participants, the course normally takes place in the Majapahit Lounge; for more participants, it can be held in other available spaces at the hotel.

For more information, you can reach The Dharmawangsa Jakarta at +62 021 725 8181.
Barely heard of a decade ago, media influencer is becoming a household name and a promising profession among Indonesian millennials. Unlike conventional jobs, making it big in this one requires the new media proficiency of business-minded kids from the smartphone generation. by -

Barely heard of a decade ago, media influencer is becoming a household name and a promising profession among Indonesian millennials. Unlike conventional jobs, making it big in this one requires the new media proficiency of business-minded kids from the smartphone generation. ...
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Baghdad  Thu, May 4, 2017 09:03 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec063f9 2 World #WPFD2017,#IraqWar Free

Eleven journalists died covering conflict or were assassinated in Iraq during the past year, a Baghdad-based watchdog said in a report released Wednesday to mark World Press Freedom Day.

"From May 3, 2016 to May 3 (this year), 11 journalists were killed and 44 wounded across Iraq, including the Kurdistan region," said the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory.

Some were killed accidentally covering military operations against the Islamic State group, some were murdered by the jihadists and others were assassinated in yet to be elucidated circumstances.

The watchdog said it had also recorded a total of 375 violations of journalists' rights during the same period.

The group's head, Ziad al-Ajili, urged the Iraqi security forces to do their utmost to protect media workers and also called on journalists to follow security procedures.

Iraq is ranked 158 out of 180 countries in the Paris-based organisation Reporters Without Borders' 2017 press freedom index.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017 13:23 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec1b395 1 City river-restoration,ahok Free

Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama has promised to continue restoring the function of rivers in the city by demolishing buildings erected on riverbanks until the end of his tenure in October.

He said he would insist on continue the program because his presumptive successor, Anies Baswedan, had signed political contracts with residents stating that he would not evict them.

"I care for the new governor who has signed political contracts, so I will finish it [river-restoration project]," Ahok said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Ahok said earlier that river restoration was crucial to mitigating flooding.

During the election campaign period, Anies signed political contracts with a number of residents, including those in Tanah Merah in North Jakarta, Bukit Duri in South Jakarta and with the Jakarta Urban Poor Network, stating his commitment to manage slums instead of demolishing them.

Ciliwung-Cisadane Flood Control Office (BBWSCC) head Teuku Iskandar said officers would continue with the construction of a tunnel in Bidara Cina, which was recently delayed.

"There are 211 families that will be relocated due to this project. Eighty-nine families have already been relocated," Iskandar said.

The restoration program in Bukit Duri will also be continued, in which 246 families will be relocated to low-cost apartments, he said.

Iskandar said he expected the project to be finished by September. (cal)
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Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017 10:30 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec0ce92 2 National #WorldPressDay,journalism Free

In a year described by many as a critical time for quality journalism, Indonesia has raised calls for the media to stay objective and use freedom of the press to help advance the countrys development, justice and peace.

Amid boiling sectarian sentiments heated up by the recent highly divisive Jakarta gubernatorial elections, there is no better time for the press, as the fourth pillar of democracy, to be more attentive about protecting its freedom for the sake of inclusiveness in society.

Todays global challenges brought by technological advancement and the rise of social media that lower the barriers preventing information sharing, but at the same time open the gates for fake news and misinformation, must not hamper journalists from providing critical checks and balances for governments, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said.

We hope that freedom of the press takes into account an important matter, namely that justice and peace are above freedom of expression. Press freedom without peace will instead create conflict and media would be responsible for that, he said in his opening remarks for a 2017 World Press Freedom Day event in Jakarta on Wednesday.

If there are injustices and conflicts, media should play a better role to take sides and clarify the matters to ensure that justice, peace and development of the country continue, he added.

The Indonesian press has enjoyed relative freedom since the reform era when it was unleashed from the restraints that once tightly controlled the media under the New Order regime. Kalla claimed the government no longer censored or intervened in the media. However, he warned that freedom combined with the rapid development of social media could become negative should media companies not conduct internal censorship.

This year, Indonesia, the worlds third-largest democracy, which has guaranteed press freedom since the enactment of the 1999 Press Law, hosted the 2017 WPFD, co-organized by UNESCO, the Indonesian government and the Press Council.

Held from May 1 to 4, the event, which presented the theme of Critical Minds for Critical Times: Medias Role in Advancing Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies, was officially opened on Wednesday.

The event focuses on strengthening the freedom and quality of journalism to advance peace, justice for all and the rule of law, as well as inclusiveness, so that the media can remain strong amid current challenges and threats against the press.

Declining audiences for traditional media, the proliferation of fake news as seen in the coverage of several major political events in the past years and extremism, including violence against journalists, are the latest challenges to the media, UNESCO noted.

Quality journalism combined with critical thinking is important for bolstering freedom of the press and expression that could contribute to inclusion, gender equality and human rights, UNESCO director general Irina Bokova said.

I believe a free, independent and pluralistic media is essential not only for individual rights, but also for inclusive society, democracy, rule of law, sustainable development and peace, Bokova said.

(Read also: Violence against journalists remains worrying: AJI)

The medias role in helping create inclusive societies could be done by portraying exactly what worries citizens, Press Council chairman Yosep Adi Prasetyo said. He added that newsrooms should also have political agendas in terms of seeing the condition of society.

Media now has a tendency only to follow big news without having a political agenda toward the societys situation in the future. What I mean by political agenda is not about the practical, but media has to be aware of the context, he said.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017 14:58 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec21b58 1 National press-freedom,press,Press-Freedom-Awards Free

Bethlehem Isaak, daughter of Dawit Isaak, the recipient of the Guillermo Cano Freedom Press Award, has expressed the hope that the protracted conflict in Syria will end soon.

In the spirit of human rights and freedom of speech, I hope the conflict in Syria and other conflicts in the world will end soon, she said representing her father while receiving an award at World Press Freedom Day celebrations in Jakarta on Wednesday evening.

Dawit Isaak is an Eritrean journalist and writer who has been imprisoned since 2001 by the Eritrean government without trial. His whereabouts remain unknown until now.

It is very important to maintain dignity and tolerance and support the work of journalism, Bethlehem said.

She said journalists could fight for freedom and act as benchmarks to show where freedom was an illusion or under threat.

Bethlehem also recounted her last memories with her father before he was captured. Isaak, said Bethlehem, was optimistic and always hoped that Eritrea would become a peaceful and democratic country.



"One day, I hope to see you again and hold your hand and become your daughter again. I hope you come home soon and be with the family," Bethlehem said. (rdi/dis)
By Press Trust of India: From K J M Varma

Beijing, May 4 (PTI) China today held a security cooperation dialogue here with officials from more than 20 countries on the Belt and Road (Silk Road) Initiative.

Enhancing international cooperation to tackle risks and safeguard security for the Belt and Road Initiative is the common task for all countries, said Meng Jianzhu, head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

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Meng called on participants to make full use of the dialogue to enhance exchanges of information and deepen security and law-enforcement cooperation.

Twenty-eight heads of state and government confirmed their participation in the Belt and Road summit to be held here on May 14-15.

India which has raised concerns over the multi-billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is yet to name its representative as the corridor is part of the Belt and Road initiative.

"Cooperation in trade, investment, and infrastructure have been growing, thanks to the Belt and Road initiative," Meng said, adding that the forthcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will push for further cooperation.

"We hope that all sides would foster the concept of common and cooperative security, and establish a sound security cooperation mechanism for the Belt and Road Initiative," Chinas Public Security Minister Guo Shengkun said at the opening ceremony of the dialogue.

Guo called for stepping up pragmatic cooperation in such areas as public security, anti-terrorism, and protecting overseas interests.

Participants attending the dialogue pledged to strengthen security cooperation with China for the Belt and Road Initiative. PTI KJV ZH

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin Stefani Ribka (JP) MALANG  Thu, May 4, 2017 22:10 2014 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec2fa76 2 Business Greenfields,milk,dairy,Australia,innovation,cheese Free

Dairy producer PT Greenfields Indonesia kicked off on Thursday operations on its second milk factory in Malang, East Java.

The new factory, located in Palaan subdistrict, was built with an investment of Rp 335 billion (US$25.18 million). With an annual production output of 70 million liters of milk, the new factory will support another production facility in Babadan, another subdistrict in Malang, which produces 40 million liters of milk annually, or 5 percent of total national demand.

The firm, a subsidiary of Australia-based AustAsia Dairy Group, said the facility will strengthen its position as a major integrated dairy producer in the country.

We see lots of opportunity to bring out new fresh innovative dairy products using really good-quality milk. The consumers want better products, so this factory will help us fulfill the demand, said AustAsia managing director Edgar Collins after Thursdays launching ceremony.

Collins said products from the new facility, ranging from milk, yoghurt to cheese, will be more focused to fulfill domestic demand.

Seventy percent of the firms sales comes from the local market and the remainder from exports to Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Philippines, Myanmar and Cambodia. (hwa)

Topics : Greenfields milk dairy Australia innovation cheese
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017 12:00 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec15ed2 1 City North-Jakarta,fire Free

A domestic worker has been killed in a fire that erupted at a house located in Pantai Indah Kapuk, North Jakarta, on Thursday morning.

North Jakarta Police spokesperson Comr. Sungkono said the fire started at 2:20 a.m. and was allegedly caused by an electrical short circuit in the house.

He added that the fire was first noticed by Atmi, a neighbor, who then called for help.

She was also the one who called the police and security officers nearby, Sungkono said as quoted by tempo.co.

However, while three other people managed to escape the scene, 40-year-old Tumirah was trapped in the house. Sungkono said the victim could not be saved as the fire had burned out a large part of the houses ground floor.

The police are still questioning several witnesses in relation to the tragedy. (idb)
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Linkedin Winny Tang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017 10:00 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec0bee5 2 Business flight,#flights Free

The government is aiming for a significant increase in international flights, which it is confident will account for 40 percent of all flights at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport by the end of 2017, up from the current portion of 15 to 20 percent.

The ambitious target comes after the countrys largest airport launched operations at its new Terminal 3 for Garuda Indonesias international flights on May 1.

International flights provide the opportunity to attract tourists. This is the instant way to increase the countrys foreign reserves and thereby contribute to economic growth, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said on Monday.

Garuda Indonesia president director Pahala N. Mansury said that as of May 1, all of Garudas international flights had moved to Terminal 3. The transition from Terminal 2 to Terminal 3 had gone smoothly without any hassle.

This is also part of our efforts to improve our services. Previously, we only had 13 check-in counters [at Terminal 2], but now we have 26 check-in counters [at Terminal 3], he said.

(Read also: Terminal 3 to open Garudas international flights in May)

The national flag carrier was the first Indonesian airline to serve international routes. It currently operates 17 direct international flights to countries in Asia, Australia and Europe.

Eight airlines from the SkyTeam alliance, including ANA Airlines, Japan Airlines, Delta Airlines and KLM Airlines, would also move to Terminal 3, Angkasa Pura II (AP II) president director Muhammad Awaluddin said. After the Idul Fitri holiday, the state-owned airport operator aims to move the remaining 24 international airlines to Terminal 3 in a process it hopes to complete by August.

By concentrating international flights at Terminal 3, AP II aims to increase the capacity of Terminal 1 from 9 million passengers to 18 million passengers a year. Likewise, the airport operator also plans to double the capacity of Terminal 2 to 18 million passengers per year. Terminal 3 currently has a capacity of 25 million passengers per year. With the reposition, the burden at each terminal will be distributed well, Awaluddin said.

Terminal 3 is equipped with 65 immigration counters, 30 autogates in the departure and arrival areas.
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Linkedin Tama Salim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017 19:10 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec2b86d 1 World #Indonesia,united-states,Pence,#bilateral,bilateral-cooperation,#ASEAN,ASEAN,US-ASEAN,#USTies Free

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi will seek to strengthen Indonesia's existing strategic partnership with the United States, following heartening signs from the White House regarding its ongoing commitment in the Asia-Pacific.

"Indonesia is ready to fortify its [ties] with the US through mutually beneficial cooperation," Retno said in a statement upon her arrival in Washington DC, late on Wednesday local time.

The minister is in the US capital for two days for bilateral talks with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and to pay a reciprocal courtesy call to Vice President Mike Pence who came to Jakarta last month.

Indonesia was the only Southeast Asian country visited during Pence's recent maiden tour of the Asia-Pacific, a move which looked to dispel fears that the new US government plans to pivot away from the region.

Retno is also expected to meet US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan and engage in discussions with Trump's homeland security and counterterrorism advisor, Thomas Bossert, afterwards.

Besides delving into possible concerted efforts to combat terrorism and radicalism through a soft power approach, other issues that will likely be raised in bilateral talks include economic cooperation, the Palestine agenda and efforts to maintain regional peace and stability.

In addition to bilateral consultations, Retno will also meet her regional counterparts for a special ASEAN-US foreign ministers meeting with Tillerson, the first of such meetings since the Trump administration took office more than 100 days ago. (ipa)
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Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Malang, East Java  Thu, May 4, 2017 15:10 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec23ab7 1 Business milk-production,imports,dependency,Airlangga-Hartarto,comments Free

Indonesia aims to increase its national milk production to 41 percent of national industrial demand by 2021 from 23 percent at present.

In 2016, the dairy industry needed 3.7 million tons of milk powder to process various products, but only 23 percent, or 852,000 tons, of it came from local producers, while the remaining 2.7 million tons were imported from various countries such as Australia, New Zealand, the United States and members of the European Union, according to data from the Industry Ministry.

"This dependence on imports needs to be tackled by increasing local milk production both in quantity and quality," Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto said in a press statement on the sidelines of the launch of a new PT Greenfields Indonesia factory on Thursday.

The government is urging more dairy producers to partner with local farmers to take care of cows and increase the cow population.

Currently, there are 58 milk processing firms, but only eight out of them have partnered with local farmers.

"The majority of farmers only have two to three cows, the minister said, adding that rampant early culling of cows had caused a drop in the cow population and milk production. (bbn)
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Linkedin Viriya Paramita (JP) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017 21:59 2014 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec2f588 2 Business Freeport-Indonesia,IUP-data,energy-and-mineral-resources-ministry,ignasius-jonan,Papua Free

The government intends to speed up negotiations with gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia, aiming to reach a win-win solution regarding the companys future operations within the next one or two months.

The subsidiary of the United States-based mining giant Freeport-McMoRan has recently obtained a temporary special mining permit (IUPK) by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry that allows the company to export 1.11 million wet metric tons (wmt) of copper concentrate for a year. On the other hand, both sides have a period of six months, until

Oct. 10, to settle various issues, including on investment stability, divestment and smelter construction.

However, [Energy and Mineral Resources] Minister Ignasius Jonan hopes it can be settled within one or two months, the ministrys secretary-general, Teguh Pamudji, told reporters on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Freeport-McMoRan president and CEO Richard C. Adkerson said the key issue for his side was the governments assurance that the company would be able to operate in Indonesia after 2021.

Through the assurance, he said, the miner could have the confidence to continue developing an underground mine in Papua with an investment value of around US$15 billion.

So, were going to deal with those issues in a way that is acceptable to the government and the people of Indonesia, as well as to Freeports shareholders, Adkerson said. (hwa)
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Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017 14:23 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec1eae7 1 Business Indonesia,Ethiopia,textile,challenge Free

The government's effort to lure textile manufacturers away from China to the archipelago is facing a rising threat from East African country Ethiopia, which is offering companies a competitive cost structure.

Under an agreement with the United States, namely the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), Ethiopian exports are not limited by duties and quotas, said Indonesian Textile Association (API) chairman Ade Sudrajat in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The country also has cheap labor and cheap electricity, as low as 4 US cents per kilowatt hour, he added.

"Chinas textile manufacturers are shifting their production overseas due to increased labor costs and air pollution. We want to attract them here. But some are already moving to Ethiopia," Ade said during a discussion on the textile industry.

According to data from the Ethiopian Investment Commission, 124 foreign investors have expressed an interest in the Ethiopian textile sector, 71 of which are from China.

Meanwhile, according to data from the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), investment realization in the Indonesian textile industry in 2016 decreased by 7.3 percent to Rp 7.55 trillion compared to 8.14 trillion in 2015.

Foreign investors only contributed 42.5 percent in 2016, the lowest in six years.

"Some of our members are actually already invested in Ethiopia," Ade said. (bbn)

Topics : Indonesia Ethiopia textile challenge
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017

Be critical and knowledgeable of what you read online.

That is the key to combatting fake news, often dubbed the cancer of democracy, and preventing it from reaching Indonesias 129 million active social media users, according to panelists speaking at a commemoration of World Press Freedom Day.

The country has seen a growing wave of fake news polarizing opinions since the 2014 presidential elections, when divisive political campaigns sparked an allout war of words  and memes  across social media platforms.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017 11:00 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec0f735 1 City jakarta,#Islam,#Jakarta Free

As Jakartans are still reeling from the most divisive gubernatorial election the city has ever seen, which exacerbated sectarianism and fanned anti-Chinese sentiments, some citizens have called on the government to protect the capital from any threat from radicals.

On Wednesday the State Palace, as well as the headquarters of the National Police, the Jakarta Police and the Indonesian Military (TNI), were adorned with dozens of flower boards bearing messages calling on the government to curb radicalism.

We are ready to support the military and the police to eradicate radicalism and maintain the unity of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia [NKRI], read one flower board that had been put on the front yard of the Jakarta Police headquarters in Senayan, South Jakarta.

Save the NKRI, curb radicalism, read another flower board.

The two flower boards were among more than 20 flower arrangements set up at the polices headquarters.

To be honest, we have no idea who put all these flowers here, said Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono on Wednesday.

He appreciated the act and deemed it to be part of the nations democracy.

Certainly, this is a form of citizens showing their aspirations. They address their appreciation and motivations toward the police. They will encourage us to continue safeguarding Jakarta, Argo said.

Flower boards were also sent to the State Palace as a token of gratitude to President Joko Jokowi Widodo for his role in maintaining Pancasila as the state ideology.

The senders, however, also pointed out that the police and the military were still an important part of guarding Jakarta from the threat of disunity and radicalism.

The gesture came a few weeks after the Jakarta runoff election, described by experts as the countrys most polarizing election with racial and religious issues overshadowing the citys most critical problems, including education and infrastructure.

Riding a growing wave of religious conservatism, former culture and education minister Anies Baswedan won the election, beating incumbent Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, who was dogged by allegations he had committed blasphemy while seeking election.

Some political experts said Anies owed his success in the runoff election to Muslim voters who decided to throw their support behind him, mobilized by Muslim groups, including the hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI).

Following Ahoks loss in the election, thousands of people showed their support for the governor by turning City Hall into a jungle of colorful flower boards last week.

Admirers sent flower boards to express their sympathy, sadness, or support for Ahok and Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat, who conceded defeat in the April 19 election ahead of the official announcement of the results.

A political analyst from Indo Barometer, M. Qodari, said that the flowers sent to the military and the police headquarters were a clear sign that there were some Jakarta residents who were worried about the impact of the election.

Qodari described the flowers as a cry for help from Jakarta residents, besides being a token of gratitude to law enforcement officers.

Some people are worried that recently conservative groups have gotten a bigger stage and have taken control of the public sphere, he told The Jakarta Post. Therefore, they ask for help from the police and the military.

Messages on other flower arrangements called for the police to arrest FPI leader Rizieq Shihab and to disband his organization.

Responding to the messages, Argo said, There is nothing wrong with sending messages through flowers. Deciding whether to say something has broken the law is up to the police.
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Linkedin Indra Budiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4 2017

As Jakartans are still reeling from the most divisive gubernatorial election the city has ever seen, which exacerbated sectarianism and fanned anti-Chinese sentiments, some citizens have called on the government to protect the capital from any threat from radicals.

On Wednesday the State Palace, as well as the headquarters of the National Police, the Jakarta Police and the Indonesian Military (TNI), were adorned with dozens of flower boards bearing messages calling on the government to curb radicalism.

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The Chinese government won't interfere on the Kashmir issue, expects both India and Pakistan to find an amicable solution to the dispute.

By Indo-Asian News Service: China on Thursday said it won't meddle in the Kashmir row between India and Pakistan, calling it a bilateral dispute, days after a commentary in a daily indicated that Beijing is ready to resolve the issue because of its "vested interest".

The Foreign Ministry told IANS that Beijing will not change its position on Jammu and Kashmir because of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which cuts through the disputed territory between India and Pakistan.

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"China's position on the issue of Kashmir is clear and consistent. It is an issue left over from history between India and Pakistan and shall be properly addressed by India and Pakistan through consultation and negotiation," the ministry said in an email statement.

India has been opposed to third party mediation in the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir, the northern third of which is held by Pakistan and the southern two thirds by India.

"Building of the CPEC does not affect China's position on this issue. We sincerely hope that India and Pakistan will properly handle differences by increasing communication and dialogue, and jointly uphold regional peace and stability," the ministry said.

"China is willing to make constructive efforts for the improvement of India-Pakistan relations."

On Tuesday, a commentary in the Global Times daily said China was ready to resolve the Kashmir dispute between because it wanted to protect the multi-billion dollar CPEC.

"Given the massive investment that China has made in countries along the One Belt One Road, China now has a vested interest in helping resolve regional conflicts including the dispute over Kashmir between India and Pakistan," said the commentary.

PRINCIPLE OF NON-INTERFERENCE

"China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, but that doesn't mean Beijing can turn a deaf ear to the demands of Chinese enterprises in protecting their overseas investments," it said.

The $46 billion CPEC project, a key component of Beijing's ambitious Belt and Road project, connects China's Kashgar in Xinjiang with Pakistan's Gwadar port in Balochistan - restive regions in both countries.

India has opposed the route, saying it passes through Pakistani Kashmir. New Delhi claims the region as its own.

China, which is hosting a mega Belt and Road Conference this month, wants India to be a part of the project.

India has been non-committal about its attendance in the conference, which is likely to see participation by some 30 heads of state.

Also Read: China should stop CPEC if disputes rise: Top party academic

Also Read: India cannot stop Silk Road plan, warns Chinese media

--- ENDS ---

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017 09:00 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec05252 2 Business Jokowi,#Jokowi,oil,oil-and-gas Free

Entering the second half of his leadership tenure, President Joko Jokowi Widodo has approved various development projects that will become final additions to the current administrations list of national strategic projects.

Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution claims that President Jokowi recently approved 55 new projects and one program to the existing list. The addition brings the total to 245 strategic projects and two programs needing an estimated investment of more than Rp 4 quadrillion (US$300.4 billion) to complete.

A little over a year after his inauguration as the countrys seventh president in October 2014, Jokowi issued Presidential Decree (Perpres) No. 3/2016 and Presidential Instruction (Inpres) No. 1/2016, which identify a list of 225 national strategic projects that include, among others, 47 highway projects, five national non-toll roads, 12 railway projects, 11 airport revitalization works and construction of four new airports.

Both regulations serve as legal standings for public officials to revise or replace rules that hamper development, and to accelerate land acquisitions.

Since then, 20 projects worth Rp 33.5 trillion have been completed, while 15 projects worth Rp 40.5 trillion have been cut out of the list of national strategic projects.

New additions to the list consist of 45 multi-sectoral projects, seven toll road projects, three railway projects and one aircraft construction program. Darmin confirmed that the new projects would be the final batch added onto the list, as instructed by the President, whose tenure expires in October 2019.

This is the final [addition] for this administration. One of the requirements for a national strategic project is that it has to start construction before 2018. This means that we cannot add more until this administration finishes in 2019, he told reporters following a closed-door Cabinet meeting at the State Palace in Central Jakarta on Wednesday.

Infrastructure development has been an important feature of Jokowis administration, with a majority of the projects intended to increase connectivity and create added value.

Since the beginning of the year, the administration has buckled down to review its projects and President Jokowi has held 22 meetings to discuss projects in each province with his relevant ministers and other stakeholders.

In his opening remarks, the only part of Wednesdays meeting in which reporters were allowed to cover, Jokowi said that the infrastructure developments were on track, with more than 40 percent of the national strategic projects planned by his administration undergoing construction. Another 37 percent of the projects, meanwhile, are still in the planning stages, he claimed.

Moreover, Jokowi also emphasized that the projects on the list must be able to contribute to the local economy, lower the poverty rate, increase welfare and create jobs.

I always underline that the national strategic projects must have a significant and real effect on the regions economy, he said, adding that the government must also ensure that the non-government infrastructure project funding scheme was managed transparently in order to pull in more investment from the private sector.

While land acquisition has remained a large issue faced by Indonesian authorities in infrastructure development, the Finance Ministry through its State Asset Management Agency (LMAN) launched last month a new scheme to fund land acquisition for the national strategic projects.

As part of the new scheme, two public bodies, the Indonesia Toll Road Authority (BPJT) and the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with 23 toll road companies (BUJTs).

Under a 2016 presidential regulation, LMAN should plan for funding and the utilization of land banks as well as pay compensation for land acquisition to support the governments infrastructure development programs. The government allocated for the agency state capital worth Rp 16 trillion and Rp 20 trillion in the 2016 and 2017 state budgets, respectively.
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Linkedin Haeril Halim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017

Spearheaded by outspoken Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti, the far-reaching and ceaseless war against illegal fishing has gone on for more than two years now, garnering praise domestically and internationally for its triumphs.

However, the war has taken a toll on an unintended victim: small fishermen along the northern coastline of Central Java and East Java  the nations second and third most populated provinces.

As many of the fishermen are supporters of the largest Islamic party in the House of Representatives, President Joko Jokowi Widodo has caved to accommodate their demands, rather than risk losing support for the simultaneous presidential and legislative elections in April 2019.

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Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017

For Japans Inpex Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell, Indonesias abrupt policy change to make them rewrite their multi-billion-dollar business plan last year may not be their last hurdle, even after more than six years of negotiations aimed at getting the project running.

The companies, at risk of losing the US$1.6 billion they already sank into gas exploration in the Masela block in Maluku, were forced by President Joko Jokowi Widodo in March last year to alter their plan to extract gas from the block using offshore facilities. They must now use onshore facilities instead.

While the companies have finally agreed to move forward with the $19 billion onshore project, the biggest ever in Indonesia, a recent deadlock in the negotiations with the authorities over preliminary facility design have made them the apparent victims of bullying-like tactics.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017 09:02 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec06230 1 Business MMI-Mandiri-Manajemen-Investasi,AUM-asset-under-management Free

Bank Mandiris investment management subsidiary PT Mandiri Manajemen Investasi (MMI) expects its assets under management (AUM) to reach Rp 50 trillion (US$3.75 billion) this year amid a surging demand for protected funds.

The companys president director Muhammad Hanif said the amount of AUM reached a total of Rp 42.17 trillion at the end of the first quarter, 2017, an 8.49 percent increase from Rp 38.86 percent at the end of 2016.

We hope that our assets under management will reach Rp 50 trillion, exceeding our target of Rp 47.5 trillion, he told the reporters during a media briefing in Jakarta on Tuesday.

In order to achieve the target, the company will boost the sales of protected fund products, which are now in high demand amid the relatively low growth in investment returns of equity and balanced funds.

We are more selective in selling equity fund products because demand for them is now declining, Hanif said. As an impact, we will focus on selling protected fund products which are suitable for Indonesian investors, he added.

The companys protected funds grew by 21.6 percent to Rp 12.57 trillion in the first quarter of 2017 from Rp 10.34 trillion in December 2016. Meanwhile, equity funds increased by 4.4 percent to Rp 10.82 trillion in the first quarter of 2017 from Rp 10.36 trillion in December 2016 and balanced funds grew by 2.6 percent to Rp 316 billion in the first quarter of 2017 from Rp 308 billion in December 2016. (ecn/bbn)
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Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017 11:06 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec10991 1 Business Sritex,profit,Q1,textile,clothes Free

Publicly listed textile manufacturer PT Sri Rejeki Isman (Sritex) saw its first quarter net profits grow by 7.8 percent year-on-year (yoy) to US$17.7 million in 2017.

The main factor in this growth was a 6.8 percent yoy increase in sales to $180.2 million compared to the $168.7 million recorded in the same period last year.

The increase was mostly generated by sales of ready-to-wear clothes, which grew by 150.3 percent yoy.

(Read also: Textile maker Sritex raises $150m from global bonds issuance)

"We recorded $180.2 million in sales in the first quarter of 2017, president director Iwan Setiawan Lukminto said in a press statement on Wednesday.

The contribution of exports to sales figures reached 53 percent in the first quarter compared to 49 percent in the same period last year.

The company targets exports to constitute 56 percent of total sales by the end of 2017. To do this, the firm will try and expand production capacity.

"As our production capacity increased in 2017, we target exports to contribute 56 percent to total sales. We will also develop new export markets by adding more global customers," Iwan said.

For 2017, Iwan has set a growth target of 8 percent to 12 percent. (bbn)

Topics : Sritex profit Q1 textile clothes
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017 21:10 2014 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec2d892 1 City child-molestation,Tangerang,victims Free

The number of victims of an alleged child molester in Tangerang, Banten, has increased to 13 as police have identified more girls who fell victim to him, police said on Thursday.

Most of the victims of the 53-year-old man, identified only as K, were his step-granddaughters friends who played in his house, South Tangerang Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr Fadli Widianto said.

The suspect has been molesting the girls since December 2014. Their ages range from 3 to 10 years old, Fadli told reporters during a press conference.

(Read also: Middle-aged Tangerang man arrested for allegedly molesting nine girls)

The police arrested K in April after one of the victims told her parents about some health problems she was experiencing and then about the molestation. Her angered parents reported it to the police.

According to the police investigation, the suspect initiated his crime by scaring the children with horror movies so that the girls would come and hug him. When he was holding these girls, he molested them, Fadli said.

He said the police would set up a crisis center to help victims and their families in filing reports should any similar case happen in the future. Apart from the crisis center, we will work with public order officers to resolve the matter. (kuk)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017 15:09 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec22e30 1 Business The-Greater-Jakarta,houses,preference Free

Almost half of the people living in Greater Jakarta  Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi -- still dream of owning a house in Jakarta despite the daily traffic congestion they would have to contend with, a study shows.

The survey, conducted by online housing portal Rumah123, shows that 42.46 percent of respondents want to live in the capital rather than in its satellite cities.

Tangerang in Banten is the second preference, with 22.46 percent of respondents interested in owning a house there, followed by the West Java cities of by Bogor with 12.01 percent, Depok with 11.76 percent and Bekasi with 11.31 percent.

(Read also: Houses worth Rp 2 billion or less to be freed from tax)

Rumah123s country general manager, Ignatius Untung, said a lack of quality housing complexes in Bekasi led to a reluctance to live there.

Compared to Tangerang, Bekasi has fewer housings developed by prominent developers, Untung said, adding that traffic congestion was another reason people did not prefer Bekasi.

None of the respondents who live in Depok intend to buy property in Bekasi, he announced at a media briefing in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The survey, called Sentiment Survey, was held from March 15 to April 5 and had 4,134 respondents who mostly live in Greater Jakarta. (ecn/bbn)
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Linkedin Grace D. Amianti and Viriya P. Singgih (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4 2017

The government has said it is still working to formulate new biodiesel price caps for companies distributing the product in an effort to extend the outreach of subsidies to those operating outside the public service obligation (PSO) program.

The government and industry players are currently discussing proposed price caps for biodiesel distributed under PSO and non-PSO programs, which are expected to stand at a maximum of Rp 4,000 (30 US cents) and Rp 2,000 per liter, respectively.

We need to discuss the figures further because we must follow the rules. As we revise the presidential regulation [for the new formula], well stay with the existing scheme until the new one is ready, said Musdhalifah Machmud, deputy for food and agricultural coordination at the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister, on Tuesday.

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Linkedin Grace D. Amianti and Viriya P. Singgih (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017

The government has said it is still working to formulate new biodiesel price caps for companies distributing the product in an effort to extend the outreach of subsidies to those operating outside the public service obligation (PSO) program.

The government and industry players are currently discussing proposed price caps for biodiesel distributed under PSO and nonPSO programs, which are expected to stand at a maximum of Rp 4,000 (30 US cents) and Rp 2,000 per liter, respectively.

We need to discuss the figures further because we must follow the rules. As we revise the presidential regulation [for the new formula], well stay with the existing scheme until the new one is ready, said Musdhalifah Machmud, deputy for food and agricultural coordination at the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister, on Tuesday.

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Linkedin Viriya P. Singgih (The Jakarta Post) Tempilang, Bangka Belitung Islands  Thu, May 4 2017

Singapore-listed palm oil producer Kencana Agri Ltd. plans to build a new crude palm oil (CPO) mill in Luwuk, Central Sulawesi, in the second half of 2017 with an investment value of at least Rp 75 billion (US$5.62 million).

At present, Kencana Agri operates five CPO mills in Indonesia with a total processing capacity of 275 tons per hour, including one in Bangka regency, Bangka Belitung, and two in Kutai Kartanegara regency, East Kalimantan.

The firm, controlled by the Maknawi family, also operates two kernel crushing plants with a total processing capacity of 435 tons per day.

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Wang Yiwei, Professor at the School of International Studies at Renmin University said that while China was open to India's involvement in the CPEC, Pakistani's view was that since "all projects are being built in Pakistan" there was no need to do so.

By Ananth Krishnan: China is appearing to back Pakistan's position on controversial projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) ahead of the key May 14 Belt and Road Forum in Beijing.

A top China's academic said in Beijing on Thursday that while the country was open to India's involvement in the CPEC, the Pakistani view was that since "all projects are being built in Pakistan" there was no need to do so.

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"In Kashmir, the CPEC projects mainly go though the Pakistan-controlled Kashmir region. This is what the Pakistani people tell us," said Wang Yiwei, Professor at the School of International Studies at Renmin University, who has recently visited Pakistan. China refers to PoK as Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

"We must pay a lot of attention to the concerns of India about the CPEC," added Wang. "We are now inviting India to take part in it. We are ready to discuss and talk to India but maybe Pakistan is not willing to do it, as [they are saying] all projects are being built in Pakistan. So the China's government is also confused. These are the problems," Wang told journalists.

While he suggested China was "confused", in fact China has appeared to buy the Pakistani argument, as it goes ahead with the $55 billion corridor. China hasn't relented in the face of India's strong opposition to parts of the CPEC that passes through PoK. China shares a border with PoK and not with Pakistan.

INDIA AND PAKISTAN SHOULD GET TOGETHER

"Of course we should persuade Pakistani people to talk to Indians," Wang added. "Because of lack of mutual trust between Pakistan and India, it is also difficult for us, so I guess it is up to India and Pakistan, the two brothers, to make a joint consultation because the CPEC has become a regional arrangement. The initiative will bring benefit to a lot of countries so there should be no worry and suspicion. President Xi said the One Belt, One Road are two wings for the Asian economy to fly. China and India should deepen mutual understanding and carry forward more cooperation."

Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is among 28 world leaders attending the Belt and Road Forum on May 14 and 15 in Beijing. India hasn't yet confirmed its attendance.

China is billing the CPEC as a key segment of the One Belt, One Road, which envisages a land economic belt to Central Asia and Europe and a Maritime Silk Road.

CPEC AS A STRATEGIC PLAN

Wang admitted that the CPEC might not be economically viable but there was a strong strategic rationale. "Some projects like the CPEC are strategic and has long-term strategic considerations, such as addressing the energy shortage and industrial shortage, and building ports. It is hard for such infrastructure projects to make money. When I visited Pakistan they asked me whether the projects will bring them a lot of debt. We also take into consideration their ability to pay off loans."

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Wang said there were "lots of rumours" about the CPEC, and that some reports were off the mark, including of plans to build a bullet train from China to Pakistan - unfeasible at high altitudes, he pointed out - or of turning the Gwadar port into a military facility, which many experts suggest may be a long term plan. China last year opened its first overseas naval facility in Djibouti near the Gulf of Aden.

He also acknowledged there were problems with the CPEC plan and its implementation, including political considerations in Pakistan that forced changes in alignment and led to some objections that Punjab province was being excessively favoured.

"To be frank, the government is not well governed and there is corruption problem as well," he said. "Prime Minister Sharif says they want to change the alignment and design, since we have the plans we have to ensure design is well carried out, otherwise projects would be negatively impacted. It will not bring benefits to China otherwise. We have reminded the Pakistani side through various channels. The cost has increased because of change in alignment, and we cannot change the main line."

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Wang also defended China's close cooperation with the Pakistani military in pushing the CPEC. "Without a strong military it is hard to resist terrorist forces," he said, and praised it for raising a special security division of more than ten thousand troops to protect Chinese personnel. "China will not simply support the military. Pakistan is a civilian government. We will urge the Pakistani government to improve its capacity to govern but generally speaking it is a problem between friends," he said.

Also read: Not changing position on Kashmir because of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, says Beijing

Also read: China has vested interest in mediating between India, Pakistan on Kashmir, says Chinese daily Global Times

Watch video here:

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin Markus Makur (The Jakarta Post) Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara  Thu, May 4, 2017 17:08 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec2a623 1 National komodo,Komodo-Island Free

A tourist from Singapore who was bitten by a Komodo dragon in East Nusa Tenggara is in stable condition while being treated in a hospital in Labuan Bajo.

Singaporean Lon Lie Alle, 50, has been undergoing treatment at Siloam General Hospital and has shown improvement, according to the hospitals public relations officer, Aris. He was able to communicate with the medical team after being treated, Aris said.

He is in stable condition, conscious and able to communicate well, he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

"The medical team continues to monitor the patient's progress and observe him until he is in good condition," he explained.

Separately, the head of Komodo National Park, Sudiyono, said he was also monitoring the condition of the Singaporean tourist.

Alle suffered severe injuries on his left leg after a Komodo dragon in the National Park in bit him on Wednesday. When visiting the park, he approached several feeding Komodos. He intended to take pictures, ignoring locals warnings that he should not go too close.

The incident marked the first case of human being bitten by the giant lizard in at least five years. (dis/rin)
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Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017 09:05 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec073cd 1 Business So-Good-Food,exports,Myanmar Free

Dairy and food producer PT So Good Food Indonesia has exported packaged milk to Myanmar for the first time, setting up a spring board to expand sales to ASEAN in the future.

"This is a milestone for us to penetrate the wider international market," said Roy Heru Wibowo, the firms head of manufacturing, in a press release issued on Wednesday.

The first export batch of the Real Good liquid milk brand, worth US$15,000, comprises a total of 27,000 liters in 180,000 small Tetrapack pillow-shaped sachets with six months until their expiry date. The first batch was delivered on Apr. 26 and the next ones will be dispatched monthly.

The milk is produced in the firms factory in Boyolali, Central Java. The firm claims that most of the milk production is done in partnership with local dairy farmers.

So Good Food's maiden milk export was proof that local milk could compete with that from internationally recognized milk-producing countries like Australia and New Zealand, and in Europe and the United States, said I Ketut Diarmita, director general for livestock and animal health at the Agriculture Ministry.

The firm is a subsidiary of Singapore-listed agriculture and dairy firm Japfa Pte Ltd, founded by Indonesian tycoon Ferry Santosa. (bbn)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Depok, West Java  Thu, May 4 2017

Stepmothers are often depicted as vindictive toward their husbands children but a recent incident in Depok may prove the other side of the coin with a 70-year-old woman reportedly being victimized by her stepson.

Ronih had to be admitted to a nearby hospital after allegedly being stabbed by her stepson Kosasih, 35, who was infuriated after finding no food on the table, Pos Kota reported on Tuesday.

He rushed to the kitchen and is reported to have stabbed Ronih. Neighbors expressed their sympathy for Ronih and showed abhorrence for the alleged culprit.

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Linkedin Haryo B. Rahmadi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4 2017

If we look through the macro lens, the development of jet fighters is moving at a speed nearly comparable to the advancement of smartphones. The Cold War legacy, which was marked by size, speed and destructive power, has been gradually replaced by more maneuverable, smarter and more efficient capabilities; packed in a multi-role platform corresponding to wider duty calls. This way, quantity builds up and arms races become irrelevant.

For Indonesia today, the concept that should prevail is technology parity or having the latest technology coupled with a better man behind the gun. Indonesia recognized this call 71 years ago, when it established the Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU).

Our visionary founding fathers were aware of the need to have a separate air force less than a year after independence. It even came a year earlier than the United States, which only decided to turn the US Army Air Force into the separate US Air Force in 1947.

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Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Malang, East Java  Thu, May 4, 2017 10:09 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec0c380 1 Business CEPA,Indonesia,EU,palm-oil Free

The Trade Ministrys international trade negotiation director general, Iman Pambagyo, has denied rumors that Indonesia will freeze negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the European Union (EU) due to a recent palm oil resolution issued by the EU parliament.

Theres no such plan. We want to bring that CPO [crude palm oil] issue into the context of trade and sustainable development under the CEPA platform, he said via text message.

On April 4, the EU parliament issued a resolution to only import sustainable oil palm products after 2020. The resolution also called for a single sustainability standard despite Indonesia already having its own Sustainable Palm Oil standard.

(Read also: CEPA expected to boost EUs low investment in Indonesia)

The resolution sparked controversy and disappointment among Indonesian stakeholders. Local businesspeople grouped under the National Palm Oil Board even asked the government to pause CEPA negotiations to respond to it.

CEPA, the ministry has stated, is important to jack up trade, services, investment and sustainable development between Indonesia and the EU.

Total trade between Indonesia and the EU is considered small, at just US$25.1 billion, smaller than Vietnam at $53.6 billion, according to TradeMap. (bbn)
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Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017 21:24 2014 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec2daef 1 National Wiranto,Pancasila,university Free

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto has called on universities to tackle the spread of ideologies that are opposed to the nations founding principles of Pancasila.

Universities are expected to take part in countering ideologies that are not in line with Pancasila, Wiranto told deputy rectors on student affairs from the Greater Jakarta area on Thursday.

It was important that academics use the freedom they had in academia to build the nation in accordance with the principles of Pancasila, he argued.

If there is another ideology existing besides Pancasila, that would create chaos and instability, Wiranto said.

Meanwhile, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University deputy rector Yusron Razak, who attended the meeting, acknowledged that many types of discourses that are anti-Pancasila had emerged in his university. However, he said, the university could not just ban such discourse because it was essentially a place where anyone was free to express his or her thoughts.

Yusron said the thing that should be avoided and anticipated was potential conflict arising as a result of the ideological differences.

It is the police that should step in to prevent any possible conflicts among students or members of society, he added. (saf/rin)

Topics : Wiranto Pancasila university
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Linkedin Grace D. Amianti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017 11:07 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec10ce0 1 Business Sri-Mulyani,state-budget,management,essay-and-photo-competition Free

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has addressed college students on the necessity of being aware about how the government handles state money. The minister said this issue would affect their lives and the countrys welfare in the future.

You should care [about how the government spends public money] because when you reach my age, or even when you become a finance minister, you will see the results yourself, she told hundreds of college students at an award ceremony for a student essay and photo competition on Wednesday.

More than 70 undergraduate students in their final year of study from colleges across the country joined the competition, titled Public Financial Management as a Driver of Economic Growth.

The competition was hosted by the World Bank in partnership with the University of Indonesia and the Finance Ministry.

The Public Financial Management Multi-Donor Trust Fund, a trust fund managed by the Finance Ministry and World Bank, along with support from the governments of Canada, the European Union and Switzerland, provided the prizes for the contest.

Adinda Rizky Herdianti from the University of Indonesia won first place, while Akhmad Faisal Lutfi and Erikson Wijaya from the University of Jember, East Java, and Jendral Soedirman University in Central Java, respectively, were the runners-up.

Meanwhile, Hendry Octafianto (The Institute for Information Management and Computers in Pontianak, East Kalimantan), Eben Ezer Nadeak (Malang State University, East Java) and Deslyane Rambu Leki (The Institute of Health Science Citra Husada Mandiri Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara) were awarded honorable mentions. (bbn)
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Linkedin News Desk (Inquirer.net/Asia News Network)  Thu, May 4, 2017 06:15 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdebfaea1 2 News adventure,most-adventurous-country,travel Free

The Dutch, Australians and Swedes have emerged the most adventurous travelers in the world in a new ranking that aims to identify which countries are more likely to sign themselves up for running off a cliff or jumping out of a plane and embodying the spirit of adventure.

For the Global Adventure Ranking, analysts looked at eight popular adventure activities like skydiving, bungee jumping, surfing and rock climbing on Google.

For each country, findings were calculated based on the search volume of keywords associated with these activities in the last 12 months. An average was made per 100,000 citizens in each country.

The results show that the Netherlands ranks highest for total searches of adventurous activities per capita, followed by Australia and Sweden.

The ranking was compiled by ShareaCamper, a peer-to-peer motorhome rental platform based out of Australia, New Zealand and Germany.

The report also breaks down the adrenaline-pumping activities that are most popular around the world.

Read also: Norwegian's Singapore-UK route a boon for Changi Airport

For example, per capita, the French are most inclined to hit dirt roads on their BMX bikes.

Hiking is the most popular activity in India, while the Swiss are most interested in the idea of free-falling off a bridge or bungee jumping.

And per capita, Aussies topped the ranking for expressing the most interest in skydiving, surfing and rock climbing.

Rounding out the activities is caravanning.

A second list was also compiled to reflect a ranking of countries by the overall number of searches, which is led by the United States, Germany and France.

Here are the top 10 most adventurous countries in the Global Adventure Ranking:

1. The Netherlands

2. Australia

3. Sweden

4. Germany

5. France

6. Denmark

7. Norway

8. United Kingdom

9. United States

10. Austria

Topics :

This article appeared on the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017 14:30 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec20747 1 News tourism-promotion,Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,bali,Asian-Games,tourism,#tourism Free

2018 could well be a banner year for Indonesian tourism.

Bali has been appointed to host the 2018 Annual Meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank slated for Oct. 8-14. For this event, the island expects to welcome 15,000 participants from across the globe. Thus, at least 30,000 people, including tourists, are expected to travel to Bali in October next year.

Read also: Bali named world's best destination by TripAdvisor

Prior to that event, the country will also host the 2018 Asian Games between Aug. 18 and Sept. 2 in Palembang, South Sumatra, and Jakarta.

2018 is going to be a really busy year with 171 regional elections, said Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said during a limited preparation meeting for the 2018 Annual Meeting of the IMF and the World Bank on Wednesday.

Read also: Bali to get new underpass before IMF meeting

To prepare for the event, an underpass will be constructed at the intersection of the Ngurah Rai Monument in Badung regency to ease traffic congestion on roads connecting Ngurah Rai International Airport, Nusa Dua and Denpasar.

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya has also prepared several packages that will be promoted through the travel website TripAdvisor, such as a one-day cruise package to islands near Bali, a Beyond Bali travel package to destinations that can be reached from Bali via direct flights, such as Lombok, Labuan Bajo, Jakarta, Joglosemar (Yogyakarta, Solo and Semarang) and the iconic Borobudur temple in Magelang, Central Java. There are also travel packages to Toraja in South Sulawesi and Lake Toba in North Sumatra. (kes)
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Linkedin News Desk (Bloomberg)  Thu, May 4, 2017 17:12 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec2a81a 2 News China,tourism,Hainan,medical-tourism,#tourism Free

On the hilly and tropical island of Hainan, local officials and companies are investing billions of dollars to transform a string of riverside villages into a medical tourism destination.

Their aim? To lure wealthy Chinese patients, who might otherwise venture overseas, to this province in the South China Sea known for its beach-front resorts. To do so they are making an unusual promise: The hub will bring in cutting-edge treatments for diseases like cancer that are available abroad, but dont yet have regulatory approval in China.

Theres plenty of demand. The travel site Ctrip.com estimates about half a million Chinese traveled abroad for medical services last year. Millions are dying from cancer and heart disease, but regulatory bottlenecks have slowed approvals for the newest international therapies. Chinese hospitals are overflowing, and affluent jet-setters prefer Japan for physical check-ups or the U.S. for genetic screenings.

In 2013, the provincial government of Hainan, often known as Chinas Hawaii, earmarked more than 1,600 acres of fertile farm land along a river flowing to its eastern coast for a medical tourism hub. Since then fishing villages and rice paddies are slowly being replaced by palm-tree-flanked driveways. The zones first hospitals are opening their doors this summer, the effective beginning of this medical experiment.

Local officials say businesses have already committed to spending 23 billion yuan ($3.3 billion) for 27 projects ranging from hospitals to plastic surgery clinics, with dozens more awaiting approval. The mission is partly to "retain domestic consumption," the government body managing the Hainan Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone said in e-mailed comments.

Read also: Indonesia seeks Saudi Arabias support to develop Sumatra tourism

New Medicines

Among the investors are Beijing-based Ciming Health Checkup Management Groupand Guangzhou-based medical services firm Evergrande Health Industry Group Ltd., which is being advised by Bostons Brigham and Womens Hospital, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School.

In an early example, the zones Chengmei International Health Center imported 24 vials of the Merck & Co. cancer drug Keytruda for six patients under the special access channel last October, the government says.

The medicine is approved in the U.S. and elsewhere, but remains unavailable in the mainland. The special permits by the Chinese regulator only allow for a small amount of the drug to be used in the tourism hub, and it cant be distributed elsewhere.

Merck in a statement said its conducting clinical trials on Keytruda in China and doesnt sell the drug in the country. The China Food and Drug Administration and Chengmei didnt respond to a request for comment.

Ghost Towns

By 2025, the hubs managers want to draw more than one million tourists a year on health-related visits.

Still, China has a patchy record of managing specialized economic zones. Centers like Shenzhen, the fishing-village-turned metropolis, have thrived. But others have had a quick boom and bust, like the Caofeidian industrial zone in the northeast, which ended up as a ghost town.

The Hainan medical hubs relatively remote location and the countrys shortage of qualified doctors make it harder to draw patients. Competition for medical resources is fierce, said Chen Bo, associate partner at consultancy McKinsey & Co.

Read also: Interactive map shows safest, riskiest destinations to visit

Building health-care capabilities there will require attracting excellent talent to work and live in the pilot zone, and good doctors are already badly needed in Chinas major cities, said Chen.

On a recent visit, the area still had the feel of an underdeveloped backwater, showing the challenges to transforming it into a flourishing tourist center. It is dotted with semi-finished hospitals that remain under construction, without medical equipment inside and prefabricated homes outside for construction workers. By the end of March, five facilities had begun operating on a trial basis, local officials say.

Evergrande has said it plans to spend 5 billion yuan on its cancer hospital there. Brigham and Womens hospital in an e-mailed statement said it is serving as a strategic advisor as Evergrande expands its health-care network in China, helping the development of clinical programs and other aspects like training.

The hospital was slated to start operating by the end of June, according to a press release on Evergrandes website. In late March, balloons and banners adorned the hospitals front gate to celebrate a soft launch of the facility while a quick glance inside the bronze-colored building from a back entrance showed dark rooms with bare concrete walls, unpacked crates and cement piles.

Off the main street, behind the hospital pilot zone, was a side road yet to be paved with plywood and empty barrels of asphalt scattered around.

Evergrande didnt respond to a request for comment on the new facility.

Read also: Scientists race to prevent wipeout of world's coral reefs

Li Peijuan, an analyst at Forward Industries Institute, a Chinese research firm, said the area can benefit from Hainan islands environmental beauty, but the quality of service, the standard of medical technology as well as costs will ultimately be key to its success.

Foreign medicines have in the past taken longer to reach the Asian country partly because the regulator has been understaffed and so struggled to shepherd surging numbers of drug applications through its complex review process.

The China Food and Drug Administration is now in the midst of dramatic reforms to its approval system to reduce the so-called drug lag on the mainland. If that succeeds, Hainan will need to find other selling points.

It was very appealing a few years back when approval of innovative drugs was relatively slow, but if the pilot zone cant build full-fledged medical teams and business models in the next two to three years, its attractiveness will be greatly weakened, said McKinseys Chen.

 With assistance by Hui Li, and Jing Yang De Morel
By Press Trust of India: From K J M Varma

Beijing, May 4 (PTI) China today slammed a US commission for organising a hearing over the implementation of the one country two systems policy in Hong Kong, saying the American agency has always been biased on issues regarding Beijing.

"The hearing is an overt interference in Chinas internal affairs. China is strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposed to it," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang.

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The hearing of the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), Will the Hong Kong Model Survive?: An Assessment 20 years After the Handover, was held yesterday.

Geng said over the past two decades, the policies of one country, two systems, Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong and a high degree of autonomy had been implemented in effect.

"This is a fact accepted by anyone without prejudice," he told a daily press briefing.

The spokesman said the CECC has always been biased on issues regarding China.

"The hearing, which said the one country, two systems model met encroachments, and press freedom and judicial independence were threatened, disregard the fact and has ulterior motives," Geng said.

Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China, and Hong Kong affairs are purely Chinas internal affairs, the spokesperson said.

"We strongly oppose any foreign country interfering in Hong Kong affairs through any means," he said, adding that it is futile for a handful of Hong Kong people collaborating with foreign forces to intervene in its affairs.

In March, China-backed bureaucrat Carrie Lam was elected as Hong Kongs first woman Chief Executive who quickly pledged to heal the "divisions" in the gleaming territory which has seen unprecedented demands for democracy and protests at the Communist giants growing influence.

Hong Kong merged with Chinese mainland in 1997 under the one country two systems principle worked out between Britain and China. The principle grants certain degree of autonomy from Beijing to Hong Kong which is officially called the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. PTI KJV CPS

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin Stefanus Ajie (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017 16:53 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec29b5b 1 Activities tourism,#tourism,tourists,travel,spiritual,Central-Java,Yogyakarta,Borobudur-Temple,traveling Free

A group of 17 French travelers led by Gorka Etxarri visited several places across Yogyakarta and Central Java in a rather unusual journey. The trip kicked off with historical destinations like the Borobudur and Prambanan Temples, followed by a trip to a remote village on Mount Lawu named Anggrasmanis, not far from the Cetho Temple complex.

At the village, the group stayed at one of the locals' houses to meet and learn from a Hindu-Javanese religious leader named Mangku Jito.

Gorka Etxarri pays respect to Javanese spiritual teacher Mangku Jito.(JP/Stefanus Ajie)

"This trip is more than just for tourism, where we explore, make recordings and take pictures," said Etxarri, adding that they came to Anggramanis to learn and truly immerse themselves in the world of Javanese spiritualism.

At night at the village's Buana Agung Temple, Mangku Jito led a prayer and meditation ritual that was accompanied by various offerings and incense. Afterwards, he shared his knowledge of Javanese spiritualism with his French guests, many of whom later consulted him regarding their own spiritual issues.

The next day, the group meditated again while welcoming the sunrise at Menara Dewa, a bamboo tower that sits at the top of a hill not far from the Buana Agung Temple. The trip later continued to the other side of Mount Lawu's slopes at a village named Pablengan. The travelers visited a sacred site called Sapta Tirta, a seven-water springs that used to serve a fortress and as a praying place for Raden Mas Said, the first Mangkunegaran King.

Read also: Ministry promotes religious tourism in Tasikmalaya

One visitor practices the ritual of purifying the chakra at the sacred Sapta Tirta site.(JP/Stefanus Ajie)

At the springs, the group was welcomed by Sugeng, a spiritual teacher who maintained the sacred site. Sugeng shared his knowledge of Javanese spirituality, also known as kejawen, especially regarding nine chakra (points of spiritual power located along the body) purification rituals done through a water-based meditation. Afterwards, the visitors practiced the rituals one at a time. They included bathing and soaking in the seven water springs.

Etxarri told The Jakarta Post how he was really impressed with the journey, especially their visit to Mt. Lawu. "It's more than tourism; it's a spiritual journey. Almost everyone experienced enlightenment. When we return to France, we will be different people than we were before," he said, adding that Javanese spiritualism basically offered universal lessons about good attitudes toward life, such as humility, humbleness and harmony with nature.

"We cannot simply describe these things to other people. They have to experience them themselves," he added. (kes)

A group of French travelers stay at one of the locals' houses to explore Javanese spiritualism. (JP/Stefanus Ajie)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017 12:53 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec19621 1 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,foreign-tourists,tourism,#tourism Free

Around 1.02 million foreign tourists entered Indonesia in March, a 6.68 percent increase from February, according to a report from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

The number is 11.64 percent higher compared to the same period last year, which recorded around 915,000 foreign visitors.

Based on the data, the highest percentage of tourist arrivals was to the Sam Ratulangi International Airport in North Sulawesi, followed by the Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta and Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport in Riau Islands.

Read also: Batam's Tour de Barelang to return for 6th year

Batam had the lowest number with 1.58 percent, said BPS chairman Suhariyanto.

Meanwhile, the number of tourists who visited Indonesia through border posts is said to have reached 40,320 in March, a 40.15 percent increase from a similar period last year, which saw 28,770 entries.

As for the room occupancy rate (TPK), the BPS recorded an average of 54.7 percent across the country, a small increase compared to the March 2016 figure, which was 52.88 percent.

According to the BPS, the highest TPK was found in North Sulawesi province with 68.16 percent, followed by Central Kalimantan with 65.50 percent and DKI Jakarta with 64.25 percent.

Meanwhile, North Kalimantan recorded the lowest percentage with 25.96 percent. (kes)
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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Paris  Thu, May 4, 2017 11:37 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec14e8e 2 News love-locks,France,tourism,travel,Paris Free

Amorous couples, here's your chance to own a piece of the world's most romantic city: Paris is selling off the "love locks" that lovebirds attached to the city's bridges before officials cracked down on the practice.

For years tourists inscribed their initials on the locks and hooked them to the railings of bridges, most famously the Pont des Arts near the Louvre, throwing the key into the Seine to express their undying devotion.

But the tradition turned into a menace -- one section of the Pont des Arts collapsed under the weight of thousands of locks -- as well as an eyesore for many residents.

The city began removing the locks in 2015 and replaced the metal railings on the Pont des Arts with acrylic glass panels to ward off the public displays of affection.

A placard reading "our bridges won't resist your love" is seen on the footbridge of Leopold-Sedar-Senghor in Paris, on August 4, 2016. Love may know no bounds, but Paris intends to instill some: authorities are going to take a tougher line with swooning couples attaching "love-locks" to city bridges as a sign of their undying devotion. In June last year authorities removed hundreds of thousands of such padlocks from the city bridges, notably the Pont des Arts which had a section collapse under the weight of the locks.(AFP/Jacques Demarthon)

Read also: Most adventurous countries in the world revealed in new ranking

But on May 13, the Credit Municipal de Paris will sell 150 bunches of the locks mounted on displays of wood or recycled paving stones, or hanging from acrylic stands.

The artworks are expected to go for 150 to 200 euros each ($165-$220).

Fifteen sections of the original Pont des Arts railings mounted on wood will also be auctioned, estimated to fetch 5,000 to 10,000 euros depending on length, with the longest stretching 3.2 meters (about 11 feet).

Proceeds will go to three associations helping to accommodate the influx of migrants into the city: Solipam, the Salvation Army and Emmaus Solidarite.

"We selected the locks that seemed the most beautiful, the ones that were colorful, full of fantasy," said Mathilde Belcour-Cordelier, the auctioneer who is overseeing the sale.

"It's a way to have a small souvenir of Paris."
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, May 4, 2017 11:50 2015 a291276806121264c0bd211cdec153bb 1 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,tourism,transportation-ministry,#tourism Free

The Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) held its second national working meeting of the year in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on April 26 to discuss ways to further develop tourism in Indonesia.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said at the meeting that the ministry had four policies that supported the development of tourism. The first is improving airport and seaport infrastructure at tourist destinations, which included easing regulations on entry permits for cruise ships.

Read also: 24 cruise ships slated to visit Lombok throughout 2017

Second, the ministry is pushing national airlines and shipping companies to serve routes to tourist destinations. Third is improving bilateral aviation partnerships with popular inbound countries through airports as part of the ASEAN Open Skies agreement.

The last is to increase involvement with the private sector in providing transportation that meets safety and comfort standards.

Read also: Five lush accommodations across Indonesia for millennial travelers

The ministrys director general for air transportation, Agus Santoso, added that specific policies had been introduced to increase the number of foreign arrivals. The first is giving permission to foreign airlines to increase flight frequency from countries such as Australia, Britain, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, the United States and Middle Eastern countries to tourist destinations, especially the 10 prioritized locations.

The ministry has also eased restrictions on obtaining approval for domestic and foreign airlines to increase flights during peak seasons.

Meanwhile, the Tourism Ministry stated that it would provide incentives in order to increase flight frequency by giving discounts for destinations with low demand. (kes)
Karnan who has been barred from attending office refused to undergo the medical test alleging harassment and terming the entire episode an insult to a Dalit judge.

By Indrajit Kundu: Facing contempt of court proceedings, defiant Calcutta High Court judge CS Karnan today declined to undergo a medical test to ascertain his mental health condition, as ordered by the Supreme Court.

On Thursday, a four-member medical board formed by the West Bengal health department reached Karnan's residence escorted by the state police to execute the apex court's order.

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However, a belligerent Karnan who has been barred from attending office refused to undergo the medical test alleging harassment and terming the entire episode an insult to a Dalit judge. The medical team from Kolkata's Pavlov Hospital was subsequently handed over a written reply by Justice Karnan stating his reasons for not undergoing the medical examination.

"I declined to avail the medical treatment since I am absolutely normal and have a stable mind. Further, it's my strong view that the Supreme Court order amounts to an insult and harassment to a Dalit judge," he stated.

Earlier in the day, even before the medical team arrived at his residence, Karnan ridiculed the Supreme Court order for the medical test to establish his sanity. "It's a mad order by mad judges, highly illiterate judges," Karnan told media persons, adding that no one could force him to undergo a medical test against his wish.

PUBLIC HAS NO TRUST IN JUDICIARY: KARNAN

Continuing his tirade against the seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court, which has initiated the suo-moto contempt of court proceedings against him, Karnan stated that the public had lost confidence and trust in the judiciary. "I request the Hon'ble 7 judges to do the right thing by resigning from their judicial posts since it is too obvious that all the 7 judges are rendering judicial service only for personal gain," he said.

Earlier, on Tuesday Justice Karnan had passed non-bailable warrants against the 7 Supreme Court judges, including Chief Justice of India JS Kehar. The seven-judge Supreme Court bench had initiated contempt of court proceedings against Karnan seeking his explanation after he wrote to the Chief Justice of India, the Prime Minister's office, the Union Law Ministry and others levelling corruption charges against several top judges without providing due evidence.

The Supreme Court, in an unprecedented move, had earlier issued a bailable warrant against the sitting Calcutta High Court judge in March to ensure his presence before the court after his repeated non-appearance.

Also read: 'Mad order by mad judges', says Calcutta High Court Justice CS Karnan after refusing medical test

Also read: Justice Karnan issues non-bailable warrant against CJI Khehar, 6 Supreme Court judges

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A few months have passed since the US elected its new president, but for Hillary Clinton its evident that the 2016 race to the White House is still weighing deeply on her mind.

Speaking to CNNs Christiane Amanpour at the Women for Women Internationals annual lunch in New York, she said she has been going through the painful process of reliving the 2016 contest while writing a book.

Clinton also revealed what she believes to be some of the reasons behind her loss to Donald Trump.

Herself

(Charles Sykes/AP)

Clinton doesnt cite just one reason for her loss, as there were many contributing factors  including herself.

It wasnt a perfect campaign, she said. There is no such thing.

Russia

(Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP)

She highlighted claims over Russias role over the hacking of her campaigns internal emails and subsequent release on WikiLeaks. US intelligence agencies are investigating whether Russia coordinated with Trump associates to influence the election, something Russia has denied.

He (Russian President Vladimir Putin) certainly interfered in our election, Clinton said. And its clear he interfered to hurt me and help my opponent.

FBI director James Comey

(Kevin Hagen/AP)

Clinton said that James Comeys letter on October 28 in combination with the WikiLeaks incident raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me but got scared off.

In fact, she went as far as to say: If the election were on October 27, I would be your president.

However, these claims havent best pleased Trump, who has hit back on Twitter.

FBI Director Comey was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds! The phony  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2017

Trump/Russia story was an excuse used by the Democrats as justification for losing the election. Perhaps Trump just ran a great campaign?  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2017

Misogyny

(Charles Sykes/AP)

When asked by Amanpour whether she was a victim of misogyny, Clinton said that she thought sexism did play a role.

She said that misogyny is very much a part of the landscape politically, socially and economically.

"To all the little girls watchingnever doubt that you are valuable and powerful & deserving of every chance & opportunity in the world."  Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 9, 2016

Later Tuesday evening, while accepting an award from Planned Parenthood, Clinton told a crowd of more than 1,000 that there is still much to do to advance the rights and opportunities of women and girls.
Favourite in this Sundays second run of the French Presidential election and supported by most of the political elite, here is all you need to know about French newcomer Emmanuel Macron.

Macron is expected to win the Presidency with 59% of votes this Sunday

Born in 1977, Macron is a French politician, senior civil servant and former investment banker. After working as an Inspector of Finances in the French Ministry of Economy, he was hired by Rothschild group, where in 2010 he became associate manager, causing much criticism from his current opponent who has nicknamed him "The Banker".

In 2012, he was appointed as deputy secretary-general, after which he became Minister of the Economy under the second Valls Cabinet in August 2014.

Resigning from the government in August 2016, speculation of his potential presidential candidature made the front pages. His intention to run was confirmed several months later, in November, with an announcement speech.

A member of the Socialist Party from 2006 to 2009, the candidate founded his own independent political party, En Marche!, in April 2016, receiving criticism from the government because of his ambition.

Even so, he won first place in the presidential elections first round, with 24% or about 8,650,000 votes - a first for a non-traditional political party, created merely a year ago.

While he has often been blamed for his lack of clear political guidelines, or on the contrary for his movements strong resemblance to the Socialist Party, the social liberal defines himself as a progressive above obsolete political cleavage and an icon of political renewal.

However, his lack of experience has been seen as both an advantage and a liability in his attempt to convince voters of his capability and presidential charisma. Indeed, he would be the youngest ever president of the French Fifth Republic, if he were to win againsy against far-right Marine Le Pen.

Macrons policies are in complete opposition with Le Pen. Indeed, whereas the far-right candidate is known for her intense desire to leave the European Union, En Marche!s leader has claimed several times his pride as a European citizen. French and EU flags are always waved during his meetings.

More than the polemical EU issue, his other policies includes strong educational reforms in sensitive geographical areas, the hiring of 10,000 more police officers, the improvement of cyber defence, the cancellation of the housing tax for 80% of the French population, and a modernisation of the French work environment to reduce the unemployment by offering more training, and changing unemployment laws, such as the removal of unemployment aid after refusing three decent job offers.

Even though currently the favourite for Sunday's second run, Macron will still have to face the legislative elections, in which he will introduce 50% of public members as candidates, to have a majority and pass his reforms. If he was to lose, the candidate will still have achieved a huge political stunt and changed French Fifth Republics history.

Images via Wikimedia Commons


A party spokesperson has confirmed Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk will not be allowed to stand as a Labour candidate in the upcoming election.

In a statement released on Monday, Labour said:

After considering the case of Simon Danczuk in detail and speaking to him in an interview, the Labour Partys NEC endorsement Panel today unanimously recommended that he should not be endorsed as a Labour candidate. He will not be able to stand as a Labour candidate in any constituency at the General Election.

Mr Danczuk was first elected to the Rochdale seat in 2010, however, he has been representing his constituents as an independent MP since his suspension in 2015 following a sexting scandal which involved a teenage girl.

Last month Mr Danczuk made it known that he wants to stand for Labour in the election, rather than continuing as an independent MP.

In 2015 he increased his majority from 889 to 12,442 - the largest in the constituency history. He highlighted this as a factor that gave him a huge mandate for representing the town, and therfore a reason why he should stand as a Labour candidate.

On official website, he said:

"I am a life-long trade unionist and Labour member, and I have devoted my life to fighting for Labour values. I believe my strong track record of fighting for Rochdale proves that I am the best placed person to fight this election for the Labour Party. I've fought and won two General Elections for Labour, and I expect to fight the next as a Labour candidate."

The Manchester Evening News has reported that Katy Clark is potentially being lined up to represent Rochdale for Labour, which could lead to a split in Labour votes between Clark and Danczuk.

Despite being banned from standing as a Labour candidate it's belived that Mr Danczuk has not been expelled from the party.
"95% of the scientific community across the world are saying climate change is caused by human activity... and were doing nothing.

Protestor Dianne Edwards told me: I am protesting as a very concerned individual at steps that are being taken not to address climate change.

Edwards believes Prime Minister May is not doing enough to move away from fossil fuels and unto renewable energy, which would make a tremendous difference.

She believes we are taking a step backwards and notes that renewable subsidies have been slashed for solar and wind, criticising the governments decision to override local councils on fracking.

Diane told me: I am horrified, I am shocked, I wonder what future generations are going to say, (in) 50 years' time theyre going to say, you knew about climate change.

"95% of the scientific community across the world are saying climate change is caused by human activity, so we know its not ignorance - and were doing nothing.

She says: There are some good things happening such as Sweden, Denmark... Denmark are going to be giving up their reliance on fossil fuels and aiming to be self-sufficient on electricity by 2030. So, its possible, its the will.

She also points out: Theres no Plan B - weve only got one planet.

Edwards also believes more protests and more engagement with local MPs can encourage positive action from policy makers and that technology is there. A New Scientist report suggested it may be possible to use photosynthesis to generate solar energy.

Edwards visited the Arctic during the winter to see for herself the damage of climate change on the ice caps.

To be frank, it was an amazing experience - but I was also horrified," she says. "So I went out on the tundra in the morning with my guide, we saw the sea ice was indeed advancing as it should be at that time of the year.

"By the time we returned on the same route eight hours later, at evening time, the ice had melted. My guide was horrified, he said hed never seen it happen so quickly.

The case for divestment

I caught up with John Hunter of Divest London on Westminster Bridge.

Hunter believes Trump is taking America backwards, which concerns him due to the USs importance in the world.

He is also concerned with Mays policies. He says that whilst shes not a full climate denier like Trump her policies are getting increasingly moribund and feeble, indeed shes using Brexit now as an excuse to side-line effective climate action. He accuses Trump of not recognising the issue.

He also discusses his organisation, Divest London: What divestment is in very simple terms is that fossil fuels are bad and renewables are good. We need to take money out of fossil fuels and put it into renewables."

He says "huge amounts of money are needed, to be taken out of the former and into the latter.

Hunter adds: There are huge funds all over the world. Investment funds, pension funds; everyone has some money somewhere." If that money is put into renewables, it can make a positive change because if we dont act quickly in the next ten years, itll to be too late.

He believes divestment helps speeds things up. Between 2011-2015, $1 trillion was invested in renewables, by 2030, $13.5 needs to be invested to meet the Paris Agreement targets.

However, to keep to two degrees, which he believes is a much more sensible target, more ambitious, this figure has to be $16.5 trillion. To keep to just a degree, this must be $20 trillion.

He believes all the worlds financial institutions need to start playing their part to produce this huge colossal financial chip. Whilst he points out neither me or him have the money, the New York State Pension Fund has got $400 billion in it that could be invested in renewables.

Divestment may not be the only solution but its a strong mechanism to speed the process up.

Regarding Trump and May, he says: In basic terms, Trump needs to be replaced. His polices on fossil fuels are borderline insanity.

He accuses Trump of forming a paranoid fantasy on climate change not being real. He accuses of him being a hypocrite for not actually leaving the Paris Climate Agreement. Trump has given coal a little bit of a boost but its on its last legs, its not financially viable in the United States, as only 65,000 out of a population of around 300 million work in coal.

Renewable investment is increasing, but the threat according to Hunter comes from oil and gas and his continued supported of pipe lines.

Hunter concludes: Trump is a genuine disaster; nothing can be done apart from to remove him, but hes a hypocrite because he doesnt really believe what hes saying and what hes saying is nonsense."

As for May? He replies that May is an opportunist. So, she could potentially be persuaded to change and adds that Labour and the Green Party have better climate plans.

Under current Tory plans, Hunter says: We will make very slow progress towards climate change mitigation, but weve got to go very fast - thus Britain will make slow progress and America will go backwards under Trump, who he describes as a nutter.
Over the past week 'stealthing' dominated headlines, with many articles referring to is as a new sexual trend.

A new study by Alexandra Brodsky, of Yale Law School, has created a discussion around the issue.

Stealthing is when a man removes his condom part-way through sex without the consent of their sexual partner.

But non-consensual condom removal isnt a lighthearted joke and shouldnt be frivolously labelled a trend. So lets call stealthing what it really is - which is rape.

The way some media outlets and people on the internet have been talking about stealthing is disgusting and wrong.

why u making rape sound like a partytrick smh https://t.co/TqWWxEX3Jm  tom harlock (@tom_harlock) April 24, 2017

In her study Brodsky says stealthing is now "a common practice among young, sexually active people and is experienced by many as a grave violation of dignity and autonomy.

She also argues that stealthing is a form of sexual assault and should be treated as such. This is clearly a very serious issue and should, therefore, not be treated as a joke.

Speaking to the Huffington Post Brodksy said:

One of my goals with the article, and in proposing a new statute, is to provide a vocabulary and create ways for people to talk about what is a really common experience that just is too often dismissed as just bad sex instead of violence'."

It's both affirming and terrible to write about an under-acknowledged form of gender violence and hear a chorus of "me, too" in response  Alexandra Brodsky (@azbrodsky) April 24, 2017

Stealthing wasn't a term I had heard of before last week, and although I was aware of non-consenual condom removal, I was unaware the practice was so commonplace. It's very important things like stealthing are discussed openly so that we create a culture which condemns this sickening act and encourage victims to speak out and seek support.

People who commit stealthing can be reported to the police, because it is a crime.

As reported by the Indpependent, Cliona Saidlear of Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI) says that stealthing "would be defined as an assault under Irish law". In Switzerland, a court recently convicted a man of rape after he took his condom off mid-way through sex, without the knowledge or consent of his sexual partner.

It's sad that in 2017 we still have to make it clear to some people that taking off a condom without your sexual partners knowledge or consent is sexual assualt.

Huffington Post In an article discussing Brodksy's study, thenotes how there are some online communities who defend stealthing as a male right.

The fact that communities like this even exist should be proof enough that the conversation surrounding stealthing should not include words like "trend."

It doesn't matter if an article refers to stealthing as a "trend" and then goes on to condone it. There must be no doubt that stealthing is wrong, that it is a serious issue, and that the way we discuss it and the language we use sends out a clear message of this.

Referring to stealthing as a "trend" makes it sound positive. Sexual assault is not acceptable and the language we used must convey this.
AAP shared a picture of all the top leaders standing together however, party insiders claim that the crack is still not patched.

By Mail Today Bureau: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) shared a picture of all the top leaders standing together in unity after averting a major internal crisis.

Senior party leader Kumar Vishwas agreed to not quitting the party after he was placated with the suspension of its MLA Amanatullah Khan who had targeted the former.

However, party insiders claim that the crack is still not patched as decisions taken during the party's Political Affairs Committee (PAC) meeting appears to be a temporary measure to resolve the infighting.

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The decision to suspend Khan was taken after an over three-hour-long meeting, a day after Vishwas had threatened to quit the party if stern action was not taken against Khan. Besides accusing Vishwas of plotting a coup in the party, Khan also alleged that he was an RSS-BJP agent. Khan had quit the PAC on Monday after Kejriwal expressed his displeasure over his comments.

Amid growing demand from a section of MLAs for a greater role for Vishwas in the organisation, Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said the PAC has entrusted him with the responsibility of Rajasthan which goes to polls by the end of 2018.

Party members and volunteers claim that this is a moral win for Vishwas but it's not certain if the move will bring lasting peace within the party as the AAP leadership didn't expel Amanatullah from the party.

KHAN'S SUSPENSION PERIOD NOT CLEAR

A party insider claimed that Khan's suspension period is yet not clear. "There are very few Muslim faces in the party and Khan is an MLA with considerable following and his removal from the party will have huge repercussions. His suspension is a small cost to pay to stop the storm within the party," said a senior party leader.

Sources added that the senior leadership was forced to take the decision to suspended Okhla legislator Amantullah Khan after over 40 MLAs demanded action against him. The move has clearly created two camps in AAP, which are broadly pro-Vishwas and anti-Vishwas.

Emerging from the PAC meeting, Manish Sisodia said, "PAC has formed a three-member committee comprising the party's national secretary Pankaj Gupta, Atishi Marlena and Ashutosh to look into the statements given by Khan."

"I stand by my party and all the people who've supported me. I don't want to be CM or deputy CM. I don't have that desire.The party needed a course correction and that is now going to happen like I said it should," Kumar Vishwas said.

According to sources, Vishwas reportedly put forward four demands including strict action against Amanatullah, no compromise on corruption and nationalism and better connection with volunteers.

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Party sources also claim that Kejriwal may soon bring in structural changes in his cabinet and the party.

ALSO READ | Kumar Vishwas placated by AAP: Amanatullah Khan suspended, poet-politician given charge of Rajasthan

ALSO READ | Arvind Kejriwal on Aam Aadmi Party rift: Will convince Kumar Vishwas

ALSO WATCH | Rift within AAP: Will Kumar Vishwas bid his farewell?

--- ENDS ---
The son of a Times journalist, Eton and Oxford educated, people might expect Jacob Rees-Mogg to fit the perceived stereotype of a privileged Tory.

Jacob Rees Mogg at the Cambridge Union

But he doesnt.

Rees-Mogg, 48, could easily be a character from the Harry Potter or Doctor Who universes, and hed be a good, popular character too. Hed probably have plenty of fan fiction written about him.

Sketch writers refer to him as the Honourable Member for the 18th Century. Its not hard to see why. Rees-Mogg is a bit old fashioned and he knows it.

His appearances on Have I Got News For You, Newsnight and Question Time are the thing of legend.

He always come across as a sweet and a polite man as well too. In HIGNFY, the Hammersmith born MP stuck up for a much maligned Corbyn stating: "I don't agree with him on this [subject], but I rather admire his courage in saying something that is so deeply unpopular, but which he profoundly believes."

Corbyn had been taking a hammering from his own Party MPs over his views on shoot-to-kill, but Rees-Mogg, despite not agreeing, defended his right to speak what he believes.

Hes very mild mannered too. He doesnt get angry and tends to avoid the hyperbole of his contemporaries.

Charlotte Edwardes, in the Daily Mail, wrote: In 17 years of knowing Rees-Mogg, 46, Ive never seen him nettled, let alone cross. Hes one of the most polite, kindest people Ive ever met.

Hes not out of touch either; in an interview he still knew the cost of a pint of milk and a first-class stamp. In fact, Rees-Mogg clearly knows his stuff. In his debates, he is coherent and articulate. Recently he took on former Tory Chancellor Ken Clarke and was able to hold his own very well; he had a response to every point and didnt just give non-answers.

David Dimbleby once threw an Eton jibe at the North East Somerset MP only for him to coolly reply: Thats right - I was at school with your son.

He can be a bit passive aggressive too: he told Andrew Neil he used couldnt give a straw rather than couldnt give a dam as he wouldnt be so rude.

He holds the record for the longest word recorded in the House of Commons  floccinaucinihilipilification. The habit of estimating something as worthless, he did this to criticise the decision of ECJ judges to increase their own salaries. When the decision was reversed, he was modest about it, saying he wouldnt claim his actions and the decision equated to cause and effect.

On top of this, he is a nice man. He has great pride in living in the Somerset countryside.

For Channel 4 News, he visited South Shields, talking to voters who mainly absolutely hated his party. Yet he was polite, he listened and he read out the numbers in a bingo hall, it was quite entertaining. He enjoyed the experience and acted like he wanted to learn, rather than partaking in a pointless gesture.

On top of all this, hes quite the rebel too. Hes opposed and help stopped numerous bills passing, such as the Fixed Terms Parliament Bill, the 2011 EU Referendum motion, The House of Lords Reform Bill in 2012, the Daylight Saving Bill 2010-12 and Sustainable Livestock Bill 2010-12.

He loves the fact that hes traditional, but hes a rebel too - and in the same way he has a certain swagger about him despite being rather mild mannered and humble.

This makes him a cultural icon.
In a school yearbook filled with smiling faces and names, one student made sure she stood out from the rest with a truly memorable message.

Savanna Tomlinson, a 17-year-old student at Treasure Coast High School in Port St Lucie, Florida, chose to submit an unconventional quote to sit alongside her graduation photo, writing: Anything is possible when you sound Caucasian on the phone.

(Savanna Tomlinson)

Savanna explained: I just wanted to leave a lasting impression on my class with something that was comical but still included a bit of truth about American life.

Savanna said the quote was mainly inspired by a post shed spotted on Instagram a few months earlier of a guy whod apparently been given a free plane ticket and attributed it to being able to sound white on the phone.

This is that post:

She added that it was also inspired by some experience of her own: I realised that it actually does work when I was trying to find an after school job lol.

The response to the quote from her friends was mainly shock that shed actually done it, but her mum wasnt so impressed.

UPDATE: My mom is furious that I put that as my quote LMAO  Savy (@TRILLAAXX_) May 2, 2017

She asked me why I would choose that and told me she would talk to me about it later, she said.

My mom didnt bring it up when she got home but she told me to tell my dad when Im ready to let him see the quote.

The reaction to the photo has been massive, with many agreeing with the sentiment.

@TRILLAAXX_ I don't even know you and I'm ready to write yu a letter of recommendation just from this statement  trel (@trelbythepound) May 3, 2017

@TRILLAAXX_ @papertimelady OMG as a very pale white girl I will totally admit that this is true! Love that this was your quote. Good luck post-HS!  Megan (@lehewww) May 3, 2017

Someone also commented on the contrast between the smiling image and the cutting quote.

@TRILLAAXX_ I read this in the most polite, pretty voice, and once I finished saying the quote I realized and died laughing pic.twitter.com/Inyevi2oj7  TheSimAisle (@TheSimAisIe) May 2, 2017

Messages of good luck for the future have also come flooding in.

@TRILLAAXX_ Congratulations on your graduation and best of luck with the future slay-age. <3  Elizabeth Cotignola (@LaDiavolina) May 3, 2017

@TRILLAAXX_ @laprofe63 Mom should be proud she raised such a strong minded lady with courage and humor!  Jami Craig (@jami_craig) May 3, 2017

When I tweeted it I had an idea in my head  what if this goes viral  but I must say I never expected this much attention, she said.
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Delhi Police have identified 80 colleges and examination centres across the country hit by the racket following confessions of the accused.

More than 200 people with medical degrees and doctors are suspected of being involved in a massive test-rigging scam spread across the country. (Representative image)

By Ajay Kumar: Authorities suspect the involvement of over 200 people with medical degrees as well as doctors in a Munnabhai MBBS-style massive test-rigging scam spread across the country, sources told Mail Today on Wednesday.

Delhi Police blew the lid off the racket constricting the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) with two arrests a month ago and are looking for the touts and the impostors who appeared and wrote the exam for aspirants.

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India's medical education system is one of the largest in the world with nearly 400 medical schools - both government-run and private-associated with universities. More than 70,000 students turn out for undergraduate and postgraduate exams every year. The country produces some 30,000 doctors a year.

"We have identified some of the fake candidates (degree holders) who used to charge Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh from touts to crack entrance examinations," an officer said. "They are well-qualified with some of them having MBBS and postgraduate medical degrees from countries such as China, Russia, Ukraine, and practising here in private hospitals."

NEET replaced the All India Pre Medical Test (AIPMT) and all individual MBBS exams conducted by states or colleges themselves in 2013. It was declared illegal and unconstitutional by the Supreme Court that year. However, the exam was restored in 2016 by a five-judge Constitution bench.

According to a senior Delhi Police officer, the impostors are well-connected with the arrested duo - identified as Atul Kumar and Abhishek, both natives of Bihar. They generally chose examination centres that did not have CCTV surveillance.

TOUTS CHARGE UP TO Rs 1 CRORE

The touts would charge Rs 25 lakh to Rs 1 crore from candidates seeking admission in government-run medical colleges. The impostors would then take the test in place of the aspirants and crack it.

Observers say rigged examinations taint the image of Indian doctors in the country and abroad: about 47,000 of them are practising in the United States and about 25,000 in the United Kingdom.

According to sources, the racket has been running for several years and big money is involved. They added that the members also have good contacts with college officials who provided them support on the ground and helped them slip through biometric identification systems.

Delhi Police have identified 80 colleges and examination centres across the country hit by the racket following confessions of the accused.

Malpractices at a massive level were discovered by a Delhi-based NGO, which filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Delhi High Court seeking a court- monitored investigation or CBI inquiry.

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Following the high court's direction, Delhi Police registered an FIR and carried out raids in the Capital and Bengaluru.

ALSO READ | Munna bhai M.B.B.S. style: RTI expose nails 50 applicants who sent imposters to write Haryana clerk exam

ALSO READ | Delhi accepts NEET as only medical entrance exam, President seeks clarification

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: Hyderabad, May 4 (PTI) The Hyderabad police today lodged a criminal case against Congress leader Digvijaya Singh over his alleged remarks that the Telangana police has set up a "bogus" ISIS website to radicalise Muslim youths and encourage them to join the terror outfit.

Based on a complaint by TRS MLA M Gopi Nath from Jubilee Hills constituency, accusing the AICC general secretary Singh of defaming the police through his comments, a case was registered against him under the relevant IPC sections, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Banjara Hills Division) Uday Kumar Reddy told PTI.

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Inspector S Venkat Reddy of Jubilee Hills police station said Singh has been booked under IPC sections 505(1), (1)(b) and 505 (2) for making the alleged statements, intended to cause or likely to cause public fears or alarms and inducing people to commit an offence against the state or public tranquillity or to create or promote ill-will between the two classes of people. Earlier this week, Singh, in-charge of the Congress affairs in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, had kicked up a row with his comments on the Telangana police, drawing sharp reactions from the ruling TRS and Telangana DGP Anurag Sharma.

On May 1, Singh in a post on his Twitter page, had said "Telangana police has set up a bogus ISIS site which is radicalising Muslim youths and encouraging them to become ISIS modules."

"The issue is whether the Telangana police should be trapping Muslim youths in becoming ISIS modules by posting inflammatory information?

"Is It ethical? Is it moral? Has KCR (Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao) authorised the Telangana police to trap Muslim youths and encourage them to join ISIS? If he has, then shouldnt he own up the responsibility and resign? If he hasnt, then shouldnt he enquire and punish those who are responsible for committing such a heinous crime?" Singh had said in a series of tweets.

Following Singhs remarks, the Telangana government had asked Singh to either prove his allegations or tender an apology. The government too had warned Singh of actions "as per the law" if he failed to apologise.

While denying Singhs allegations against the police, the Telangana DGP had earlier said the Congress leaders comments would demoralise the police force and lower the image of its personnel engaged in fighting the anti-national forces.

Complaints were also lodged against Singh at Saroor Nagar police station in the city and at another one in Karimnagar district of the state.

Earlier in February this year, the Dabeerpura police here had registered a case against Singh under section 295 A of the IPC allegedly for committing a deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage the religious feelings of a class of citizens by insulting their religion or religious beliefs.

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This case was registered over his alleged post about the madrassas (seminaries) and the RSS-run Saraswati Sishu Mandirs.

In his post on a social networking site on February 22, Singh had allegedly equated the schools run by the madrassas and RSS, saying both spread "hatred". PTI VVK DK RAX

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Digvijaya Singh had alleged that "Telangana Police has set up a bogus ISIS site which is radicalising Muslim youths and encouraging them to become ISIS modules".

By India Today Web Desk: Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh has been booked by Hyderabad Police for his controversial tweets accusing the Telangana state police of running a fake ISIS website to trap Muslim youth.

The Jubilee Hills police has registered an FIR against Digvijaya Singh under Section 505 of the IPC (statements conducing to public mischief).

Digvijaya Singh, a former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, alleged: "Telangana Police has set up a bogus ISIS site which is radicalising Muslim youths and encouraging them to become ISIS modules".

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TRAPPING MUSLIM YOUTH

"The issue is whether Telangana Police should be trapping Muslim youths in becoming ISIS modules by posting inflammatory information," Digvijaya Singh had tweeted. The Congress leader is currently the in-charge of party affairs in Telangana.

"Is It Ethical? Is it Moral? Has KCR authorised Telangana Police to trap Muslim Youths and encourage them to join ISIS? If he has then shouldn't he own the responsibility and resign? If he hasn't then shouldn't he enquire and punish those who are responsible for committing such a heinous crime?" Digvijaya Singh said.

ALLEGATIONS UNFOUNDED

Telangana minister K T Rama Rao hit out at Digvijaya Singh for this comments on Telangana Police. "Most irresponsible and reprehensible thing coming from a former CM. Request you to withdraw these comments unconditionally or provide evidence," tweeted the minister who is the son of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

While asking Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to condemn Digvijaya Singh's tweets, K T Rama Rao said that the Telangana Police had not only lowered the crime rate in the state but earned praise from the Central government for cooperating with other states in tackling terrorism and extremism.

Telangana's Director General of Police Anurag Sharma called the allegations made by Digvijaya Singh unfounded. "Unfounded allegations from a senior responsible leader will lower the morale and image of police engaged in fighting anti-national forces," the officer had tweeted in response to the Congress leader's tweets.

(inputs from Ashish Pandey and IANS)

ALSO READ:

Digvijaya's MP brother slams Congress high command: Delhi darbar culture won't work

Digvijaya Singh claims Telangana police encouraging Muslim youth to join ISIS

Digvijaya Singh removed as Congress' in-charge of Goa and Karnataka

ALSO WATCH

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Claimed to be the world's heaviest woman, Eman Ahmed flew to Abu Dhabi from Mumbai today after a successful treatment where she lost 324 kgs.

By India Today Web Desk: Eman Ahmed, the Egyptian woman, who lost a whopping 324 kgs at Saifee hospital in Mumbai in less than 90 days, was flown to Abu Dhabi today for rehabilitation. Eman, considered to be the heaviest woman on earth till a few days ago, reached Mumbai in February on a special cargo aircraft. As per the sources, a cargo plane, converted into an air ambulance flew Eman today.

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She was taken in a special ambulance by Mumbai police in green zone from Saifee hospital to Chatrapati Shivaji international Airport as they had very less time frame, of 1 hour and 20 minutes, to take her safely to the airport. According to Mumbai Police's schedule, a specialised medical team will arrive at the hospital, at 9.30 am. Eman underwent treatment for extreme obesity. She will be transferred to a customised bed which could possibly take two hours.

Doctors hope that the ambulance will comfortably accommodate Eman. The ambulance is arranged by Abu Dhabi's VPS Burjeel Hospital, where she will be headed for rehabilitation. Eman will then head straight from Saifee Hospital to the tarmac at the T2 terminal of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. She will be under the supervision of five members of the VPS team inside the flight.

Doctors at Saifee Hospital provided a detailed medical briefing to the doctors from VPS Burjeel and Ms Ahmed's sister Shaimaa, on Wednesday.

Saifee Hospital's staff who were there with her for almost 3 months gave an emotional farewell to her. Eman who weighed approximately 500kg is now close to 178kg, said the hospital authority. It's one of the successful surgery which Saifee undertook, and was a major challenge for Dr. Lakdawala and his team.

Speaking to media people about Eman a and her further treatment on Wednesday Dr Lakdawala said " My only fear throughout has been whether she will go back. There is reference in medical literature of two patients her size who have been operated on. While one passed away immediately after surgery, the other is lost to follow. We have carefully recorded Eman's treatment as it is a medical marvel."

Interestingly, a few days ago controversy erupted after Shaimaa alleged that Eman had not lost half her weight, as per the hospital's claim. She said that the hospital wanted to send her sister back without providing her the full treatment. However, the doctors at Saifee Hospital dismissed her allegations, and called it a "complete hogwash".

Also Read: Maharashtra health minister praises doctors, says Eman Ahmed's family 'ungrateful'

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Also Read: World's heaviest woman Eman Ahmed not to be discharged today

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Last month, the poll panel had said it may invite experts, scientists, technocrats, and representatives of political parties to hack the machines, which it claims are tamper-proof.

By India Today Web Desk: Amid criticism and even scepticism from various quarters over the functioning of the electronic voting machines (EVMs), the Election Commission has decided to hold an open hackathon for people to try and hack the voting machines in the last week of May.

Last month, the poll panel had said it may invite experts, scientists, technocrats, and representatives of political parties to hack the machines, which it claims are tamper-proof. The Election Commission had announced a similar challenge in 2009 and no one could hack the EVMs.

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A number of Opposition parties, including the Congress, have alleged tampering of the EVMs after the recent Assembly elections. A delegation of 16 parties recently met President Pranab Mukherjee and submitted a memorandum on the alleged tampering of the voting machines during the February-March elections.

Earlier today, the Election Commission also said it is likely to convene an all-party meeting on May 12 to discuss the issue of reliability of EVMs flagged by the Opposition parties.

The parties have urged the Election Commission to revert to ballot system, claiming that the faith of the people in EVMs has been "eroded".

Also read:

Electronic Voting Machine: Here's all you wanted to know about India's EVMs

Hack an EVM challenge: Election Commission dares anyone to tamper voting device successfully

Also watch:

MCD election 2017: EVM tampering limited to AAP's performance?

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The EC meeting with all the parties comes in order to convince and assure them that the EVMs cannot be hacked.

By India Today Web Desk: The Election Commission of India has called an all-party meeting on May 12 to discuss allegations of the tampering of the electronic voting machines (EVMs) made by a number of Opposition parties, including the Congress.

"A meeting has been called on May 12 of all the political parties over the alleged charges of EVM tampering in the recent polls," official sources said.

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The poll panel's meeting with all the political parties comes in order to convince and assure them that the EVMs cannot be hacked. Towards the end of the last month, the poll panel had said it will throw an "open challenge" to prove if the voting machines could be tampered with.

RECENT MEASURES

The Election Commission, to make things transparent and boost confidence of people in the EVMs, has proposed to use the Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) technology in future elections. A VVPAT churns out a paper slip confirming the party and candidate a person has voted for. This slip is kept in EDC records for future reference.

Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi last month said by doing that, India would become the first country in the world to have the VVPAT for elections. At least 16 Opposition parties, alleging tampering, had recently urged the Election Commission to stop the use of EVMs and revert to the paper ballot system in elections.

The parties, including the Congress, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and others, levelled tampering allegations after the BJP swept Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The government last month sanctioned funds of Rs 3,173.47 crore to buy 16.15 lakh VVPATs as sought by the poll panel, which has already placed an order for the same with Bharat Electronics Ltd and Electronic Corporation of India Ltd and expects to get the machines by September 2018.

Also read

Electronic Voting Machine: Here's all you wanted to know about India's EVMs

MCD debacle: AAP leader Kumar Vishwas slams Arvind Kejriwal, says open to change in leadership

EVM wave, not Modi wave: AAP on losing MCD election

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The final round of the French presidential polls are just two days away and Emmanuel Macron looks in a comfortable position to sail through.

By Santosh Chaubey: Just three days before the second and final round of the French presidential polls, centrist Emmanuel Macron of the En Marche (EM) party have emerged as the clear winner of the televised debate between him and far-right Marine Le Pen of the Front National Party (FN).

A survey on the televised debate by Elabe, a research and consultancy firm, for the largest French broadcaster BFM TV, also a CNN affiliate, found that Macron who was already running ahead of Le Pen with higher ratings, further consolidated his position after the debate.

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In the debate, watched by over 16.5 million people, that lasted for two-and-a-half hour and has been described as the ugliest one in the French presidential election history, Macron emerged as the clear winner with 63 per cent of viewers finding him more convincing than Le Pen.

According to a The Guardian report, the French media termed it a "dirty debate" with its criticism targeted at Marine Le Pen for her 'permanent aggression' and unconvincing words. The consensus read that Le Pen tried to avoid a serious debate with her "multiple attacks and provocations" and therefore, made the debate "unworthy of a presidential election campaign".

Invective, smirks, insinuations and personal insults had a free run. Macron described Le Pen as corrupt, ill-informed, hate-filled liar and said that her ultra-nationalism and her contempt for globalization and Islamism will be detrimental for the French society. Le Pen is a known European Union hater and has vowed to crackdown on Islamism. Le Pen, in turn, found him "an arrogant, spoilt, cold-eyed, "smirking banker" who was colluding with Islamists, complacent on terrorism and intent on "butchering France" in favour of "big economic interests", the report said.

POLLS GIVING MACRON A LEAD

The final round of the French presidential polls are just two days away and Macron looks in a comfortable position to sail through. Majority of polls before the Sunday's final round are giving Macron a 40-60 lead. An Elabe analysis says Macron is expected to get 65 per cent of the final round votes.

The first round of the French presidential polls were held on April 23 and the top two contenders from the 11 in the fray moved to the second and final round run-off. Emmanuel Macron was on top with 23.8 per cent votes in the first round and Le Pen was a close second with 21.5 per cent votes. The polls go to the second round when no candidate is able to secure 50 per cent of the votes in the first round, something that has never happened. Since April 23, Macron has firmed up his position and he is also expected to corner left-leaning, centrist-right and other anti-Le Pen votes in the final round.

Emmanuel Macron is just 39 and his political career is just five years old. He was the Minister of the Economy, Industry and Digital Affairs before he resigned in August 2016 to form the EM party. So his party has no political representation but he has an opportunity as the French legislative elections are due in June 2017 to elect the next French National Assembly.

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Marine Le Pen, 48, is a lawyer and career politician and has inherited her party FN from her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, the highly controversial and polarizing figure of French politics who is known for his extreme far-right ideology. Though she has tried to distance herself from her father's extreme views, in order to widen her base, going by the ratings so far, and her radical views on issues like globalization, Islamism and terrorism and immigrations, it seems see has failed to make a genuine course correction.

Also read: What if Marine Le Pen wins and France decides to leave the EU?

Also read: France votes in presidential election today; New York French consulate evacuated over bomb threat

--- ENDS ---
Indore has been declared as India's cleanest city. The list of country's cleanest cities was released on the basis of government's Swachh Survekshan 2017.

By Brijesh Pandey: Indore is India's cleanest city while another Madhya Pradesh city capital Bhopal was ranked second in the government's list released today. Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu released the list of top ten cleanest cities as per Swachh Survekshan 2017.

Mysuru which topped the list in 2016 was placed fifth this year as Indore made it to the top of the list.

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"Nearly 37 lakh citizens have responded this year by providing valuable feedback on their municipalities' performance," Venkaiah Naidu said while releasing the list in New Delhi.

TOP TEN CLEANEST CITIES ARE:

1. Indore

2. Bhopal

3. Vishakhapatnam

4. Surat

5. Mysuru

6. Tiruchirapalli

7. New Delhi (NDMC area)

8. Navi Mumbai

9. Tirupati

10. Vadodara

Congratulations #Indore on being awarded the Cleanest CIty in India at #SwachhSurvekshan2017. pic.twitter.com/65JbOulqHN- Swachh Bharat Urban (@SwachhBharatGov) May 4, 2017

According to the survey, four of the dirtiest cities are from Uttar Pradesh with Gonda finding itself at the bottom. Two cities from Bihar and Punjab and one each from Uttarakhand and Maharashtra have been named in the dirtiest cities list.

In order to foster a healthy competition between cities for improving cleanliness standards, the Ministry of Urban Development had started the Swachh Survekshan survey, ranking of cities on cleanliness and other aspects of urban sanitation, in 2016 which ranked 73 cities across the country.

On the same lines, the department initiated Swachh Survekshan 2017 which was conducted in over 400 cities across India. The performance evaluation of the Swachh survekshan is conducted by Quality Council of India (QCI).

Haryana's Faridabad has been named as the fastest moving city in India.

ALSO READ:

Cleanliness ranking for 73 cities is out. Mysuru cleanest, Modi's Varanasi among dirtiest

Safaigiri Awards: India Today Group honours Clean India champions, here are the winners

--- ENDS ---
It was a matter of pride for Madhya Pradesh on Thursday as two cities, Indiore and Bhopal featured in the list of the top 10 cleanest cities in India with Indore claiming the numero uno spot.

Based on a massive pan-India survey, Swachh Survekshan 2017 rated cleanliness efforts put in by the municipalities in 500 Indian cities and the winners were announced by Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu.

While Indore bagged the top spot, Bhopal came second, Vishakhapatnam was placed third and the fourth position was held by Gujarat's Surat, Naidu told reporters at the National Media Centre here.

Mysore, which was first in the previous list of clean cities, was pushed down to the fifth place.

Tiruchurapalli was placed at sixth followed by the New Delhi Municipal Council area at seven, Navi Mumbai at eight, Tirupati at nine and Vadodara at 10.

The 'Swachh Survekshan-2017' ranked Gonda as the dirtiest city and Bhusawal in Maharashtra stands second-last in the ranking.

This was the second edition of the survey conducted since the launch of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet cleanliness project to map it's success rate.

(With inputs from agencies)
Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi on Thursday met his British counterpart Patsy Wilkinson in New Delhi and pressed his demand to speed up extradition of liquor baron Vijay Mallya.

The meeting comes just two days after a joint team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) had reached London to hold talks with British prosecutors for the extradition of Mallya.

As per reports, Indian agencies are working on a two-fold strategy to counter any possible move by Mallya seeking a political plea to halt his possible extradition both in London and New Delhi.

The 61-year-old Mallya, who has been living in Britain since last year, was arrested by the Scotland Yard last month on the extradition request of India.

Mallya had sneaked out of India in March last year, a couple of days before Indian banks moved Supreme Court with a plea to pass an order banning the former Rajya Sabha member's movement outside the country.

Reports suggested that despite the extradition treaty signed between India and the UK in 1992, only one successful extradition of Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel has taken place. Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel was sent back to India in October 2016 to face trial over his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.

(With inputs from agencies)
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, May 3 (PTI) The government today announced signing ofMemorandum of Agreements (MoAs) for purchase of 1,000 MW wind power under its first wind auction scheme.

"MoAs for purchase of 1000 MW wind power under MNREs first wind auction scheme were signed here today between PTC India, the trading company, and discoms of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Delhi, Odisha and Assam,"Ministry of New and Renewable Energy(MNRE) said in a statement.

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The signing ceremony took place during the two-day Conference of Power, New & Renewable Energy & Mines Ministers of States and UTs.

"As per MoAs, the discoms of UP to buy 449.9 MW, Bihar 200 MW, Jharkhand 200 MW, Delhi 100 MW, Assam 50 MW and Odisha 50 MW wind power for meeting their non-solar RPO (renewable powerobligation)," it said.

The Letter of Award (LoA) to the successful wind power developers under the scheme has been issued by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) on April 5 and the projects are to be commissioned within 18 months from the date of issue of LoA, it said.

This was the first time such auction process was done in the country for wind power through e-reverse auction and its success can be seen from the fact that a record low tariffs of Rs 3.46 per kWh was obtained.

With the success of first wind auction scheme, MNRE today launched the scheme for another round of wind auction for 1000 MW capacity wind power projects, it said.

The scheme is open for all obligated entities purchasing wind power for compliance of their non-solar RPO.

The differentiation between windy and non-windy states has been done away with. The SECI will sign Power Purchase Agreements with selected wind developers and back-to-back Power Sale Agreements with buying utilities.

Further, provision of 10 per cent additional capacity for Central Public Sector Entities (CPSEs) has been kept under the Scheme without participation in the bidding, however, they have to supply wind power at lowest discovered tariff through bidding process.

TheMinistry sanctioned a scheme for setting up of 1000 MW ISTS connected wind power project on 14 June 2016, with the objective to encourage competitiveness through scaling up of project sizes and introduction of efficient and transparent e-bidding and e-auctioning processes.PTI SID ABI

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India on Thursday test-fired its medium-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile Agni-II off the Odisha coast, but the test failed after the missile deviated from its trajectory, sources said.

The trial of the surface-to-surface missile was conducted from Launch Complex-4 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in the APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Balasore district, said officials.

However, the missile went off its path after around half-a-kilometer and the test had to be aborted, they said.

The Strategic Forces Command (SCF), a specially raised missile-handling unit of the Indian Army, carried out the test at 10.20 a.m.

Agni-II has two solid fuel stages and a Post Boost Vehicle (PBV) integrated into the missile's Re-entry Vehicle (RV). The 20-metre missile is a two-stage, solid propelled ballistic missile.

It has a strike range of more than 2,000 km, is 20-metre long, weighs 17 tonnes and can carry a payload of 1,000 kg.
Calcutta High Court judge Justice CS Karnan on Thursday here refused to be examined by a medical team, as ordered by the Supreme Court, terming it a "mad order passed by mad judges".

Karnan said he is mentally fit.

A seven-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar on Monday directed the constitution of a medical board to examine Karnan on May 4 and submit the evaluation report on May 8.

Karnan has been engaged in an over three-month long confrontation with the apex court. He is facing contempt charges for degrading the judiciary and making allegations of corruption against several Supreme Court judges.
Buoyed by the comprehensive six-wicket win over defending champion Sunrisers Hyderbad, which provided a lifeline to their faltering campaign, Delhi Daredevils are hoping for an encore to further boost their chances as they take on sluggish Gujarat Lions in a crucial Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Feroz Shah Kotla here on Thursday.

After five successive defeats, Delhi tasted a win to keep their campaign on rail with six points from nine outings, while Suresh Raina led Gujarat Lions are battling it out for survival, having lost seven of the ten matches they have played.

Both the teams need a win to keep afloat in the league, hoping against hope for some miracle, but a defeat will certainly knock out the losing side from the race.

Delhi are likely to be without their regular captain Zaheer Khan, who is yet not fully recovered and Karun Nair is expected to lead his side for the third match in a row. Under Nair, Delhi suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Punjab in Mohali but roared back with a big win against Hyderabad.

In their match against Sunrisers, though their bowlers got good hammering but Delhi Batsmen took sweet revenge as they also pummeled visitors bowling to overhaul a daunting target of 186 with ease. Sanju Samson, Karun Nair, Shreyas Iyer and Risabh Pant contributed in their team's victory in which Corey Anderson and Chris Morris provided the finishing touches.

This fact was even acknowledged by seasoned Yuvraj Singh, who attributed his team Sunrisers defeat to aggressive Delhi batting. "I think we gave a lot of runs in the first six overs. The dropped catch (of Karun Nair) was crucial. If we could have taken early wickets, would have been key. It wasn't a great start by our bowlers and we did not pick wickets in the middle. All of their guys got 30-40 runs," he said.

In the bowling department, pacer Mohammed Shami came up with a good spell and was well supported by veteran leg-spinner Amit Mishra. Off-spinner Jayant Yadav and Morris also held their own against the Sunrisers batting onslaught but South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada was wayward as he conceded 59 runs in four overs.

According to Amit Mishra, Delhi is still in reckoning for the play-offs. "We are very positive from now, we will go step by step. We have a very good team and we clicked today. We did well in batting and bowling but are still struggling with our fielding. It was not up to the mark," Mishra said.

"Our bowling is good, if we bat well we have a chance to get good result against Gujarat," he added.

On the other hand, Gujarat will be looking for change in their luck which deserted them twice at crucial moments against Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiants. The match against Mumbai went into super over while Pune snatched a victory from Lions jaw with the help of Ben Stokes quickfire century.

On paper, Gujarat batting line-up looks impressive as it includes some of the worlds best T20 players in Brendon McCullum, Aaron Finch, Dwayner Smith and Suresh Raina. Youngster Ishan Kishan has been impressive with his power-hitting at the top.

Wicket keeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik and all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and James Faulkner are there to strengthen middle-order, but like RCB, Gujarat batsmen have failed to live up to their reputations.

Gujarat bowling, which has left a lot to be desired so far, has got further depleted after the injury of Andrew Tye.

Their all-Indian pace attack comprising Basil Thampi, Pradeep Sangwan, Ankit Soni, Nathu Singh, Irfan Pathan and Praveen Kumar have performed well with their potential.
A giant dinosaur species that lived around 160 million years ago could be the earliest relative of Brachiosaurus, depicted in the film Jurassic Park, according to new research.

Researchers from Imperial College London and their colleagues in Europe discovered the new species, named Vouivria damparisensis, after re-examining an overlooked museum fossil.

When the fossil was first discovered in France in the 1930s, its species was not identified, and until now it has largely been ignored in scientific literature.

In their study, published in the journal PeerJ, researchers suggest the age of Vouivria to be around 160 million years old, making it the earliest known fossil from the titanosauriform family of dinosaurs, which includes better-known dinosaurs such as the Brachiosaurus.

The new analysis of the fossil indicates that Vouivria died at an early age, weighed around 15,000 kg and was over 15 metres long.

It had a long neck held at around a 45 degree angle, a long tail, and four legs of equal length. It would have been a plant eater, according to the study.

"Vouivria would have been a herbivore, eating all kinds of vegetation, such as ferns and conifers. This creature lived in the Late Jurassic, around 160 million years ago, at a time when Europe was a series of islands," said the lead author of the study Philip Mannion from Imperial College London.

"We don't know what this creature died from, but millions of years later it is providing important evidence to help us understand in more detail the evolution of brachiosaurid sauropods and a much bigger group of dinosaurs that they belonged to, called titanosauriforms," Mannion said.

Titanosauriforms were a diverse group of sauropod dinosaurs and some of the largest creatures to have ever lived on land.

They lived from at least the Late Jurassic, right to the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, when an asteroid wiped out most life on Earth.

A lack of fossil records means that it has been difficult for scientists to understand the early evolution of titanosauriforms and how they spread out across the planet.

The re-classification of Vouivria as an early titanosauriform will help scientists to understand the spread of these creatures during the Early Cretaceous period, a later period of time, after the Jurassic, around 145-100 million years ago.
Britain's Prince Philip, the 95- year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth II, will step down from carrying out royal engagements, the Buckingham Palace said on Thursday.

The Duke of Edinburgh will no longer carry out public engagements from September this year, it said in a statement.

The Duke of Edinburgh has decided that he will no longer carry out public engagements from autumn this year. In taking this decision, the Duke has the full support of the Queen, the statement said.

The palace said the royal will continue to attend previously scheduled engagements between now and August, with the monarch and individually.
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By Press Trust of India: Mumbai, May 4 (PTI) The Bombay High Court today upheld the conviction and life sentence to 12 people in the Bilkis Bano gang rape case and set aside acquittal of seven others including policemen and doctors. The court however rejected the investigating agency CBIs appeal seeking death penalty for three of the convicts. A division bench of Justices V K Tahilramani and Mridula Bhatkar in its 430-page judgement said while the probe conducted by Gujarat police was "flawed with a dishonest investigation", the evidence and statements given by Bilkis Bano were "completely trustworthy". Bilkis, who was gang-raped in March 2002 during the post-Godhra riots in Gujarat when she was pregnant, said in her reaction that her rights as a woman and a mother had been violated in the most brutal manner, and the verdict "vindicated truth" and confirmed her faith in the judiciary. Seven of her family members had been killed in the riots. "The appeal against conviction filed by the 11 convicts (one convict is dead) is dismissed. The conviction and sentence is upheld. The appeal filed by the prosecution against the acquittal of seven persons is allowed. The acquittal is set aside," the court said. The HC convicted seven persons -- five policemen and two doctors -- under section 218 IPC relating to public servant framing incorrect record or writing with intent to save person from punishment or property from forfeiture and 201 for tampering with evidence. "We will consider the period undergone in jail of these seven persons as their sentence. But we will impose fine on them," the court said. Each of the seven persons were directed to pay a fine of Rs 20,000 within eight weeks. Those convicted are policemen Narpat Singh, Idris Abdul Saiyed, Bikabhai Patel, Ramsingh Bhabhor and Ramanbhai Bhagora, and doctors Arun Kumar Prasad and Sangeeta Kumar Prasad. "We are convinced that all these accused persons in a mob on account of the Godhra incident were moving in search of Muslims," said the High Court. "This is a case where the police wanted to help the accused by suppressing their names. The police were not passive towards investigation but they were very active in destroying the case of the prosecutrix (Bilkis)," it said. Officers at Limkheda police station, where Bilkis first went to lodge FIR, "wanted to suppress the fact of rape committed on the prosecutrix", said the court. "They (police) wanted to screen the perpetrators of the crime for the reasons best known to the police. This is how they gagged mouth of the prosecutrix so that her cry for justice would not be heard by anybody," the judges said. Bilkis was the only witness on whose testimony the entire case of the prosecution stood, the court noted. "The case in fact suffers at the starting point with the first major flaw of dishonest investigation," the bench said. In a statement to media, Bilkis said, "My rights, as a human being, as a citizen, woman, and mother were violated in the most brutal manner, but I had trust in the democratic institutions of our country. Now, my family and I feel we can begin to lead our lives again, free from fear. "I am happy that the state and its officials who emboldened, encouraged, and protected the criminals who destroyed the life of an entire community, are no longer unblemished and today stand charged with tampering of evidence.

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"For officers of the state, whose sworn duty is to protect citizens and enable justice, this should be their great moral shame, to bear forever," the statement said. The HC heard appeals filed by 11 convicts and CBIs appeal demanding capital punishment to three of them. A special court in Mumbai had on January 21, 2008 convicted and sentenced twelve men to life imprisonment. One of them died subsequently. According to the prosecution, on March 3, 2002, Bilkis Banos family was attacked by a mob at Randhikpur village near Ahmedabad during the post-Godhra riots and seven members of the family were killed. Bilkis, who was five months pregnant, was gang-raped, while six others of her family managed to escape. The trial began in Ahmedabad. However, after Bilkis expressed apprehension that witnesses could be harmed and evidence tampered with, the Supreme Court transferred the trial to Mumbai in August 2004. The 11 men whose conviction was upheld by the HC are: Jaswantbhai Nai, Govindbhai Nai, Shailesh Bhatt, Radhesham Shah, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Pradeep Mordhiya, Bakabhai Vohania, Rajubhai Soni, Mitesh Bhatt and Ramesh Chandana. The convicts had challenged the verdict claiming CBI had fabricated the evidence, that Bilkis gave birth to a child after the incident so she could not have been gang-raped, and investigators failure to find the bodies of some of her family members proved they were not killed. The CBI had sought death sentence for Jaswantbhai, Govindbhai and Radhesham Shah on the ground that they had raped Bilkis. PTI SP KRK SK

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By Press Trust of India: (With additional inputs)

New Delhi, May 4 (PTI) India today asked Britain to ensure early extradition of all wanted persons, including fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya who is an accused in a bank loan default case of over Rs 9000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, who met his British counterpart here, assured the UK of all assistance in extradition matters including that Mallya to allow the Crown Prosecution Services (CPS) to present water-tight cases before the courts there.

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The issue was raised by Mehrishi during talks with his UK counterpart Patsy Wilkinson, the second permanent secretary in the British Home Office.

"We have discussed how to remove the bottlenecks in processing extradition requests. The process involved in matters of extradition and the need to further improve it were also discussed," Home Ministry Adviser Ashok Prasad said.

Though Prasad maintained that no specific case was discussed at the meeting, official sources said Mallyas case was "alluded to" by the Indian side. Prasad just said the extradition case is subjudice.

He said all specific extradition matters will be discussed extensively between agencies concerned of the two countries.

"We discussed the issue of Khalistani militants based in the UK and they have promised to look into it," Prasad said.

Both sides agreed to address the challenges of illegal migrants and resolved to work together to ensure trouble-free return of Indians overstaying in Britain after proper verification.

Prasad said the Indian side brought up visa-related difficulties faced by Indian students, skilled professionals and dependents of Indian diplomats which the British official assured would be looked into.

"Both India and the UK laid emphasis on cooperation on anti-terrorism mechanism and to strengthen mutual support to check cyber crimes. Both sides agreed to finalise these arrangements," he said.

The first home-affairs dialogue between India and the UK was held as a follow-up to British Prime Minister Theresa Mays visit here in November 2016 during which she had wide- ranging talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two PMs had then decided on such a dialogue.

On criminal data sharing and strengthening cooperation in tackling serious and organised crimes, the two sides expressed their satisfaction over the existing level of cooperation.

They also agreed to enhance and strengthen further bilateral cooperation and work towards formalising the arrangements.

The British side conveyed that it has been theirconstant endeavour to improve the visa process to promote people-to- people exchanges that exist between the two countries.

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Prasad said the visiting delegation also briefed about the progress regarding theregistered travellers and other schemes that were announced during the British PMs visit in 2016.

Counter-terrorism cooperation between India and Britain, besides a host of other issues figured during deliberations.

Matters relating to the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, strengthening of the intelligence sharing mechanism and visa- related issues were also deliberated upon, the sources said.

61-year-old Mallya, who has been living in Britain since last year, was arrested by Scotland Yard last month at Indias request for his extradition.

Within hours of his arrest, Mallya, who is accused of cheating and fraud, was released on bail by a London court.

The UKs Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will argue the case on behalf of the Indian authorities when it comes up before the court.

Mallya, whose defunct Kingfisher Airlines allegedly owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016. He has since been declared as a proclaimed offender by a Mumbai court.

India and the UK signed an extradition treaty in 1992, but so far only one person has been sent back under it. Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel was extradited last October to face trial for his alleged involvement in the post-Godhra Gujarat riots of 2002.

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However, unlike Mallya, Patel had submitted to the extradition order without offering legal challenge. India had made a formal extradition request for Mallya through a note verbale, a diplomatic communication, on February 8.

Mehrishi lauded the UKs effort for helping in the Mallya case and offered New Delhis help to the prosecution in pursuing the case in London.

The sources said India told the British delegation if one-on-one contact could be established between the prosecuting agency in India and the Crown Prosecution or Department of Prosecution, it would be speedier and easier to present evidence before the judge concerned.

The Indian side said authorities here will inform the UK about the proceedings or court hearings happening in cases of criminals wanted by Britain living in India and wanted it to be reciprocated.

Both sides agreed to sign an MoU in July on reworking the agreement on security cooperation.

India also offered to drop cases registered against a Bangladeshi national, who is lodged in Assam, so he can be extradited to England.

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Sources said India expected reciprocity from England. If people wanted here are facing criminal charges in Britain, those should be dropped and their extradition facilitated, they said.

Asked whether the issue of funds being provided to Pakistan-based terror groups by some individuals and organisations based in the UK was raised, Prasad said both the sides agreed to improve security cooperation in all relevant issues.

On fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim getting support from some groups based in the UK, Prasad said the issue was already taken up at earlier meetings between investigating agencies of the UK and India. PTI ACB SKL SC

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By Divyesh Singh: The Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh ATS in joint operation arrested two suspected ISI agents working on terror financing and supply functioning in the country. On Wednesday, the UP ATS arrested the first suspect Aftab Ali and seized incriminating documents, maps and literature from him. Following Ali's arrest, UP ATS got details about a person in Mumbai who had recently transferred money to his account.

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The UP ATS team contacted Maharashtra ATS and reached Mumbai after which by late evening some suspects were rounded up at Pydhonie police station in Mumbai. Around midnight, Maharashtra ATS arrested the second person name Altaf Qureshi alias Dorajiwala (33) from Yusuf Manzil building in Agripada.

Officers from Maharashtra ATS said that, Qureshi during interrogation revealed about his employer and kingpin on whose orders he had sent the money to Ali's account. The person who ran the money laundering (hawala) racket was identified as one Javed Navivala (31) who was Qureshi's employer. Navivala was commerce graduate from Sydenham College in Mumbai and had been running the money laundering racket since 2009.

ATS officers said that Navivala had been on radar of intelligence agencies but no action could be taken against him due to lack of evidence. By Thursday early morning ATS team picked up Navivala and started questioning him and he finally succumbed and revealed about his handler in Pakistan. Navivala revealed that he worked for his ISI handler who was based in Pakistan and time to time transferred money to agents based in the country. Few days ago, Navivala's handler contacted him and sent him a message.

The coded message said "Dava ke liye paisa bhej do".

The message was decoded by Navivala who then ordered his associate Qureshi to transfer Rs 15000 to Ali's bank account. Ali had been on radar of intelligence agencies since his number was intercepted during his communication with his Pakistan handlers. The transaction blew the lid over Navivala and Qureshi's involvement in the module. Navivala and Qureshi are natives of Doraji village in Rajkot district of Gujarat and have a large number of relatives staying Karachi. It is suspected that the ISI handler could be their relative based in Karachi.

ACCUSED APPLIED FOR PAKISTAN VISA

According to UP ATS, Ali had applied for a visa to visit Pakistan but was rejected thrice after which he came in touch Pakistani spy Meherban Ali who was working for ISI while being posted at the Pakistan high commission. Meherban Ali asked him to work for him as a spy and reportedly processed Ali's visa.

Ali travelled to Pakistan in 2014 for the first time through Wagah border and returned and underwent terror training for three months. In 2016, he again went to Pakistan and underwent another three month training.

Ali was passing crucial information regarding Army's movements, recruitments, deployment and armaments from Faizabad and Lucknow to Meherban Ali. For every information he passed, he was being paid by Qureshi through money transfer which was done on orders of Navivala and his ISI handler.

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Qureshi and Navivala have been booked for cheating , forgery and conspiracy under sections 420,468 and 120 B of IPC while some serious charges under the Official Secrets Act sections 3,4,5 and 9 have been applied against for spying, communicating with foreign intelligence agents, attempted incitement. They have been remanded to custody till May 7 after which they will be taken to Lucknow on transit remand.

Also read:

India sends back Pakistani students to Lahore amid dispute over mutilation of Indian soldiers

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The government will shortly come out with an ordinance to empower the Reserve Bank to effectively deal with the problem of mounting bad loans in the banking sector.

A proposal to amend Section 35 A of the Banking Regulation Act through the ordinance route was approved by the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sources said.

The amendment will empower the RBI to issue direction to banks to recover non-performing assets (NPAs) from loan defaulters.

The Section 35A empowers the Reserve Bank to issue directions to the banks in the public interest and depositors.

Briefing reporters about the Cabinet meeting Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the government has taken some important decisions in respect of the banking sector.

"There is a convention that when some proposal is referred to the President, then details of it cannot be disclosed till it is approved. As soon as approval comes, details will be shared," he said.

PSBs are saddled with non-performing assets or bad loans to the tune of a staggering Rs 6 lakh crore.

Bad loans rose by over Rs 1 lakh crore in the first nine months of last fiscal to Rs 6.07 lakh crore by December 31, 2016.

Gross NPA of PSBs stood at Rs 5.02 lakh crore at the end of March 2016, up from Rs 2.67 lakh crore at the end of March 2015.

The amended law will also empower RBI to set up oversight panels that will shield bankers from later action by probe agencies looking into loan recasts.

Banks have been reluctant to resolve NPAs through settlement schemes or sell bad loans to asset reconstruction companies for fear of being hauled up by investigation agencies.

Once the law is amended, RBI will be able to give specific solutions for specific cases and also, if required, look at providing relaxation in terms of current guidelines, said a senior government official aware of the deliberations.

Last month, Jaitley had said NPA resolution mechanism was being worked out with the RBI which will put enough pressure on borrowers to settle dues.

"You see, the amounts are large, but the amounts are restricted. It's not that hundreds and thousands of businesses have created this problem. The problem of big NPA is confined essentially to 30-40, at best 50 companies, and therefore, those 40-50 accounts need to be resolved," he had said.

During resolution of NPAs, several issues like finding buyers and strategic partners come up, the minister had said.

Jaitley had gone on to say, "If you look at the whole structure, there are enough instruments available for settlements as far as the banking system is concerned. There are different legislations where action can be taken".

According to sources, the joint lenders' forum (JLF) is expected to be overhauled to facilitate quick decision making.

Instead of being a resolution mechanism, the JLF has become a delaying tool for big defaulters because as per the guidelines, restructuring needs approval of 60 per cent of consortium lenders which more often than not eludes, sources added.

As per the existing JLF guidelines, if a restructuring package is approved by 75 per cent of creditors by value and 60 per cent of creditors by number, other banks have to go along with it.

Besides, the sources said there could be provision which will make wilful default a criminal offence.
Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) has been ranked number one among the cleanest cities of the country. The state capital Bhopal ranked second. Madhya Pradesh has made a record of sorts by getting 20 cities in the list of top 100 among the cities which participated in the Swachchta Sarvekshan -2017 contest conducted in 500 cities across India.

Eight cities of Madhya PradeshBhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Ujjain, Khargone, Sagar, Rewa and Pithampurfigure in the top 25 cities and towns in the country.

Indore, along with the other top cities, who got the ranking, were declared open defecation free (ODF). Indore got the maximum 1807 marks out of 2000, while Bhopal got 1800 due to its system of solid waste management. The door-to-door collection of garbage in the two cities fetched maximum marks. Indore has one of the best solid waste management systems.

Indore municipal corporation ran an extensive awareness programme before launching the solid waste management programme. A special two-day campaign was run to educate people about storing soaked and dry waste in separate polythene bags to achieve the 100 per cent target of segregation of waste at the source.

These bags were collected by municipal sanitation workers and transported to trenching ground at Devguradia. At Devguradia, a power plant of 11 MW is being set up to use the 300 mt tonnes of waste, out of the over 800 metric tones produced.

In order to achieve the target of waste collection, the body increased the number of vehicles collecting garbage from houses and also placed many new garbage bins in the city.
The Bombay High Court on Thursday rejected a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) plea seeking the death sentence for at least three of the 11 convicts in the March 2002 Bilkis Bano gangrape case in Gujarat.



In its plea before the court in 2016, the CBI had said that this fell under the category of 'rarest of rare' cases and the life term awarded by a lower court to three of the prime accusedGovind Nai, Sailesh Bhat and Jaswant Naishould be enhanced to death penalty.



The court also set aside the acquittal of five policemen in the same case by a trial court and directed the CBI agency to probe them.



The probe agency said that according to the evidence, the three prime accused had gangraped the (then) 19-year old five-month pregnant Bilkis Bano, her mother and her sister.



Bhat had also snatched Bilkis Bano's three-year-old daughter, and pounded her head with a stone, resulting in instant death, the CBI said, seeking death penalties for all three to "send out a stern message" to the society.



The horrifying incidents occurred in Devgad-Baria village near Dahod on March 3, 2002, at the height of the Gujarat riots following the Godhra train burning, when Bilkis Bano and around a dozen of her family members were attacked by a riotous mob, killing many of them.



Bilkis Bano and two others managed to survive and escape the mob fury.
The Defence experts on Thursday urged the government to take punitive action against Pakistan which has been lying over its involvement in the mutilation of two Indian soldiers.

Defence expert P. K. Sehgal told ANI that Pakistan was in a denial mode over its involvement in the barbaric act despite all the evidences against it. We have clinching evidence and same has been conveyed to the Pakistan high commissioner, but we must not waste time in focusing in this area as Pakistan will remain in denial mode. The sooner we teach them a lesson it would be better from both Pakistans point of view as well as nations point of view, he said.

Sehgal said considering the nations mood, the government must take swift and solid action against Pakistan. The entire nation is looking forward to a very swift and a very solid and punitive response from the Indian Army. If the government doesnt give a go ahead in a meaningful time frame, the governments credibility would be severely degraded, he added.

Resonating similar sentiments, another defence expert Praful Bakshi said it was obvious that Pakistan will deny the heinous act. It is obvious that Pakistan will deny carrying out a heinous task of mutilating our soldiers bodies. But, the blood trail is leading across. The matter stands still and Pakistans denial is very serious, he added.

He said India should change its policy of not to attack first as Pakistan was taking advantage of it. Pakistan is showing aggression all along the border. Pakistan is taking advantage of Indian policy of not attacking first. We have to change our policy from reactive to proactive. Our intelligence tells us where the terrorists are coming from. India need not wait for the attack but should take pre-emptive action, he said.

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley had on Wednesday said Pakistan's denial of any cross Line of Control movement by its troops and mutilation of Indian soldiers' carries no credibility. "The denial itself carries no credibility because the entire gambit of circumstances clearly indicates that this barbaric act of first killing two of our soldiers and then neutralising their bodies has been carried out with the active participation of the army."

New Delhi had summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit and lodged a protest against the killing and mutilation of the two soldiers.

"Foreign Secretary summoned Pakistan High Commissioner, conveyed India's outrage, demands action against Pakistan soldiers and commanders responsible," Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Gopal Baglay said in a tweet.

The Pakistan Army has denied New Delhi's charge and described itself as a highly professional force that never disrespects any soldier.

"Pakistan Army did not commit any ceasefire violation on the LoC or a BAT action in the Buttal sector (Indian Krishna Ghati Sector) as alleged by India. Indian blame of mutilating Indian soldiers' bodies is also false," the Inter Services Public Relation (ISPR) said in a statement.

However, the Indian Army in its statement said, "Pakistan Army carried out unprovoked Rocket and Mortar firing on two forward posts on the Line of Control in Krishna Ghati Sector. Simultaneously, a BAT action was launched on a patrol operating in between the two posts. In an unsoldierly act by the Pak Army the bodies of two of our soldiers in the patrol were mutilated. Such despicable act of Pakistan Army will be appropriately responded."
Another feather in ISRO cap as it prepares itself to transfer the highly sophisticated high energy lithium-ion battery technology to the automobile industry.

By Rohini Swamy: India's premier space research organisation has done it again!

ISRO has developed a high energy lithium-ion battery which will be used in spacecrafts! But the best part is yet to be revealed. ISRO is all ready for a technology transfer of this innovation to the automobile industry, especially for the manufacture of solar hybrid electric cars. Sources at ISRO told India today that, the use of the lithium-ion battery was demonstrated in a Maruti Omni car. It displayed how it can not only cut down cost, but also be eco-friendly at the same time. This homegrown technology is expected to create ripples in the automobile sector worldwide.

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How does it work?

ISRO has develop the high energy lithium batteries which are placed on a solar panel. The panel will also control the electronics of the vehicle and will ensure a steady power supply to deliver a smooth ride. The road transport department had requested ISRO to share technology to help in improving efficiency in vehicles developed in India.

'We are ready to transfer this technology and make our automobile industry one of the most technology advanced in the world. Our prowess in space technology has been proved time and again, and with this new innovation, the space organisation is now set to take the country to a new high! Quite literally, the source said.

The hurdle which is being faced by ISRO right now is how to reduce the cost of the car.

The technology was tested at the Vikram Sarabhai space centre ( VSSC) Thiruvananthapuram.

Also Read: ISRO to launch five communication satellites by year-end

Also Read: ISRO to increase frequency of launches to 12 per year: Kumar

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Telangana police on Thursday registered a criminal case against Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh following a complaint against him over his recent tweets that the state police had hosted a fake website of the Islamic State to trap the Muslim youth to join the terror outfit.

The complaint was filed by Telangana Rahstra Samithi (TRS) legislator M. Gopinath. The Jubilee Hills police booked Singh under IPC sections 501 and 505 (for printing defamatory matter and provoking breach of peace).

We have registered a case and we will examine the contents before proceeding further, the Jubilee Hills station house officer S. Venkat Reddy said.

The Congress leader had triggered a controversy by alleging that the Telangana Police had created a bogus IS website to post inflammatory information to trap Muslim men. He went on to add that the website was radicalising Muslim youths and encouraging them to become IS modules. In a series of tweets, the ex-CM of Madhya Pradesh further said that "It was on their (Telangana police) information that the MP police arrested the accused in the bomb blast in train in Shajapur district of MP. It also resulted in Saifulla encounter in Kanpur the same day.

Singh also had demanded that the Telangana chief minister order an investigation and punish those responsible for the heinous crime.

If the police were following his (chief ministers) orders, then he should take responsibility and resign, he had said.

This extraordinary charge evoked strong reaction from the state government and the police. The Telangana Minister for Information Technology and Industries K.T. Rama Rao, who is the son of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, demanded that the Congress leader withdraw his comments unconditionally.

Most irresponsible and reprehensible thing coming from a former CM. Request you to withdraw these comments unconditionally or provide evidence, he tweeted.

The Telangana Director General of Police Anurag Sharma refuted Singhs charges and said I dont know on what basis he has made such wild allegations. They are utterly baseless and we strongly deny his comments, he said.

Sharma said the Telangana police had never said they were behind the arrest of those responsible for the bomb blast in Madhya Pradesh. We are doing our duty sincerely. We are offended with his comments, he said.

But Singh, who is the AICC general secretary in-charge of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, stuck to his statement, saying he had evidence to substantiate it.

The Telangana Home Minister N. Narasimha Reddy demanded an apology from Singh saying that the Congress leader was deliberately trying to malign the image of Telangana police.
Justice C.S. Karnan of Calcutta High Court on Thursday refused to undergo a medical examination ordered by the Supreme Court to check his mental balance.

Justice Karnan asked the medical team, which was accompanied by police, to sit at his office-cum-residence in Kolkata's Newtown, offered them tea and asked them to wait for 30 minutes. He gave them in writing his unwillingness to undergo the medical checkup which he also read out to them and to the waiting media persons.

"Sorry I can't help them because I cannot accept the Supreme Court order. The SC cannot ask for medical examination of any person without the permission of his or her family. Has that been got?" asked Justice Karnan.

Supreme court had asked West Bengal government to set up a medical board and asked the police to help the medical team.

Justice Karnan, had, in February lashed out against apex court for issuing contempt order for calling a section of judges of Madras High Court judges corrupt.
A day after the Kerala Congress won the President seat in the Kottayam district panchayath with the support of the LDF on Wednesday, party leader K.M. Mani on Thursday once again cited the oft-repeated theory of equidistance from all fronts.

But 'Mani Sir'as he prefers or rather insists to be calledalso said it is no big crime to hold hands with the Left and said, Even senior leaders like A.K. Antony has done it.''

He attributed the reason of joining hands with the LDF to the bad manners'' of the Congress unit in Kottayam.

The Congress is constantly slinging mud at the Kerala Congress. The local party was very upset. This development is just a result of that,'' said Mani while meeting the press.

When asked whether he supports this move, Mani said it was unfortunate. But when asked whether he will disown the local leaders who entered into the tie-up with the LDF, Mani said: I can't disown them considering the local sentiments.

Interestingly, the latest developments happened amid the Bharatiya Janata Party trying desperately to woo Mani into the saffron fold. Mani could be indeed a big catch for the BJP which is determined to become a big political force in the state. Apart from the fact that the Christian character of the party will give the BJP a secular tint, it will also help in depriving the Congress its assured Christian votes. Mani has for long been hoping for his son Jose K. Mani to be made a minister.

Meanwhile, Manis move to lean towards the LDF has created fissures within the party. Senior leader P.J. Joseph has come forward opposing the alliance with the Left. Terming the tie up with the LDF unfortunate, Joseph said no discussions were held in the party forums regarding this. He further said that the decision taken at the Charalkunnu camp was to cooperate with the UDF in civic body institutions.

Monce Joseph MLA of Joseph Group responded that Mani had betrayed the Congress.

Later in the day, Kerala Congress district president E.M. Augusthy resigned from his post protesting against Manis alliance with the LDF.

Mani had left the UDF after it bit dust in the last assembly elections. Now, the six party legislators sit as an independent block.

Interestingly, the bar bribery case involving Mani was one of the major reasons for the pathetic performance of the UDF in the elections. The bribery allegations had really hurt Mani, who was packing his bags to join the LDF at that point of time. However, the LDF closed its doors on him and Mani had a tough time during the elections which he barely scraped through.

Mani's party had won six seats, out of the 15 they contested and had secured four per cent votes, making it the sixth largest party in terms of vote share in the state. Currently his party has one member each in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce its verdict on Friday on the appeals by four accused in the December 16, 2012, Delhi gang-rape case challenging the Delhi High Court verdict upholding their death sentence.

The Delhi High Court had upheld the conviction and death sentence of Mukesh, Pawan, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur who were accused of brutal gang-rape and assault on a 23-year-old paramedical student inside a private busthat led to her eventual death. The incident shocked the nation and grabbed headlines.

The bench of Justice Dipak Misra, Justice R. Banumathi and Justice Ashok Bhushan will pronounce the verdict, on which orders were reserved on March 27 this year.

Hearing on the appeals by the four accused was spread over for almost a year.

The hearings had commenced on April 4, 2016.

Mukesh, Pawan, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur had moved the top court challenging the March 13, 2014, Delhi High Court verdict upholding the death sentence of all the four.

In the case of Mukesh and Pawan, the Supreme Court had stayed their death sentence on March 15, 2014 and that of Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur was stayed on June 3, 2014.

Mukesh, Pawan, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur and late Ram Singh along with a juvenile were accused of gang-rape and assault on a 23-year-old paramedical student inside a private bus.

The juvenile accused has since been released after completing mandatory probation period in a remand home.

The victim and her friend were thrown out of the bus after the crime.

Ram Singh allegedly committed suicide while in incarceration.

The victim died of grave intestinal injuries December 29, 2012 at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital.

While upholding the conviction and death sentence of the four, the High Court had said, "Society's abhorrence to atrocious crimes perpetrated upon innocent and helpless victims has resulted in the death penalty being retained on the statute book to remind such criminals that human life is very precious and one who dares to take the life of others must lose his own life."
Modis sets another maiden

When the prime minister visited Kedarnath shrine and performed rudrabhishek (a pooja for Lord Shiva) on Wednesday, he became the first prime minister to visit the sanctum sanctorum of the temple after PM Vishwanath Pratap Singh in 1989. He was there on the first day the doors opened and was the first devotee to seek darshan, which is another first for a PM. Kedarnath temple remains open only for six months in the summers for darshan. Its doors are opened on an auspicious day in the first week of May every year. After the pooja, the PM met pilgrims thronging the shrine. Later, he visited Bhimshila, a massive rock that had come down when deadly deluge had taken place at Kedarnath in 2013 , killing thousands of pilgrims. It is said that this rock protected the temple from damage.

Students as district magistrates

The district magistrate of Tehri has come out with a novel experiment, where children of various schools in Tehri will act as district magistrates for one day in a week. The new DM of Tehri, Sonika initiated this practice to hone the leadership qualities of meritorious school students. The students from Class X and XII will sit with the DM in the collectorate and learn administrative affairs. Their opinion will also be sought on different issues. The students will be selected by officials of education department. This practice will begin within the next two weeks.

BSNL's gift to Kedarnath pilgrims

Communication has always been a problem in the high altitudes of Kedar valley. Hostile weather often compounds the problems for pilgrims visiting the shrine. But this year the situation may be different as BSNL has come out with a special gift for pilgrims visiting Kedarnath this season. BSNL has started its 3G service in the mountain area from last Tuesday. This will make communication easier for devotees. BSNL General manager (mobile service) Suryakant said though the department faced many issues in introducing 3G service at this altitude, it was necessary as 2G service was facing connection issues and had caused lot of inconvenience to visitors.

Nelong to be permit free soon

The tourism minister of Uttarakhand Satpal Maharaj has said soon Nelong valley will be inner line permit free. This will be done to promote adventure tourism in the area. Nelong Valley, part of the Gangotri National Park in Uttarakhand, is located at an altitude of 11,500 feet. After the 1962 Sino-Indian war, it was closed for tourists but was reopened last year. Deep gorges, narrow roads and snow-clad mountains adorn the valley, which offers an enchanting view of the Tibetan plateau. Animals like the snow leopard, blue sheep of the Himalayan region and musk deer can be seen here. A trek further up from Nelong, takes tourists to the temples of Lal Devta and Gauri Kund located at an altitude of 13,000 feet. Nelong is 300km from Dehradun. The valley is open to tourists only between May and November as heavy snow and extreme cold make it inaccessible during winter. Visitors have to obtain permits from various administrative authorities like the sub-divisional magistrate and the Local Intelligence Unit to come here. Only six vehicles are allowed to enter the valley a day. No foreigners are permitted. Satpal Maharaj has been trying to do away with these permits and in this regard he has said that he would soon send a proposal to central government. He also said that the Uttarakhand government would ensure better facilities to tourist coming here.
With so many controversies surrounding his government, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is having a tough time. Recently, a minister in his cabinet made some salacious remarks about a woman labourers group in the state. If that was not enough, the Supreme Court pulled up the state government some days ago for not boosting the morale of honest police officers, after the court ordered the reinstatement of director general of police T.P. Senkumar, who was removed as the chief of the Kerala Police after Vijayan assumed office last May. Also, two ministers in the state cabinet had to resign over different reasons. Even the CPI, an ally in the ruling Left Democratic Front, has been critical of the shortcomings of the government. One year since he took over as the chief minister of Kerala, it seems time is not at all good for Vijayan.

Said the famous astrologer Kanippayyur Narayanan Namboodiripad, Pinarayi Vijayan was born on May 24, 1945, in Pinarayi town in Kannur district of Kerala. He was born in Chitra nakshatra and is currently passing through the ketu dasha. It is a very bad time for him. In fact, till September, he needs to be extra careful and needs to think twice before taking any decision. Things look favourable for him only from January 2018. Namboodiripad said that Vijayan needs to seek divine help to tide over the crisis. But being a communist leader, it cannot be expected from him. So, his family members and all blood relatives should pray for him and undertake rituals till the year end, said Namboodiripad.

Parappanangadi Unnikrishna Panicker and Kanippayyur Narayanan Namboodiripad

Astrologer Parappanangadi Unnikrishna Panicker has predicted some sort of problems for Vijayan till he completes 72 years next May. His horoscope, taken from his place of birth and date, is a good one with all the essential traits. But he is going through a rough patch now, as a particular dashas closing period is causing him problems. He needs to be careful for some time. I dont see any of the current doshams surrounding him affecting his stature as a leader or causing problems to the government. He would eventually come out as a winner.

Former Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa used to consult Panicker frequently.

When THE WEEK contacted Vijayan, his press secretary Prabha Varma, who is a well-known poet, said that the CM was not interested to know what the stars predicted for him. He doesnt believe in astrology. So, there is no point asking him such questions, said Varma, who was keen to know what the astrologers had said about Vijayan.

Last week, writer and former bureaucrat D. Babu Paul had said to THE WEEK that the time was not good for Vijayan. Said Paul, If we talk on astrological terms, it seems the time is not good for Vijayan. The government is getting into unnecessary controversies, although Vijayan is a man of good intentions and has great plans for the state.
Two people died on Wednesday in an apparent murder-suicide at a Texas community college, prompting an active-shooter alert that instructed students and employees to barricade themselves into rooms.

It was the second deadly attack on a Texas campus this week.

Irving police spokesman James McLellan said it doesn't appear anyone else was hurt in the shooting at North Lake College, a two-year school in suburban Dallas. The college said classes were canceled for the rest of the day.

Irving Police said on Twitter : "There appears to be no continuing threat but police will continue to search to make the campus safe."

A math tutor at North Lake College, Nasrin Nanbakhsh, said she saw a man shoot a woman three times in a hallway. "I saw a guy standing and there was a girl sitting on a chair.

I saw him shooting her three times," Nanbakhsh told reporters.

Nanbakhsh said she ran back to a room, locked the doors, turned the lights off and waited for help to arrive. She said she also emailed her supervisors to let them know what was happening.

"I just saw the gun, as soon as I looked at it. I saw the gun, and he shot her three times, and it was too close," Nanbakhsh said.

North Lake College had issued an alert to students late Wednesday morning telling them to barricade themselves in the nearest room and wait for further instructions from police. Irving is about 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of Dallas.

On Monday, one person was killed and three others injured in a stabbing attack at the University of Texas in Austin. Police said the suspect in that attack was suffering from some mental difficulties. He has not been charged.
President Donald Trump vowed on Wednesday to do whatever is necessary to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians as he hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House, but offered no sign of how he could revive long-stalled negotiations.

In their first face-to-face meeting, Trump pressed Abbas and other Palestinian leaders to speak in a unified voice against incitement to violence against Israelis but stopped short of explicitly recommitting his administration to a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict, a long-standing foundation of US policy.

Despite what many experts see as a long-shot bid, Trump told Abbas: "I will do whatever is necessary. ... I would love to be a mediator or an arbitrator or a facilitator, and we will get this done.

Abbas reasserted the overarching goal of a Palestinian state, saying it must have its capital in East Jerusalem with borders based on pre-1967 lines. Israel rejects a full return to 1967 borders as a threat to its security.

Trump has faced deep skepticism at home and abroad over his chances for any quick diplomatic breakthrough, not least because his administration has yet to articulate a cohesive strategy for restarting the moribund peace process.

Abbas White House talks followed a February visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who moved to reset ties after a combative relationship with the Republican president's predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama.

Trump sparked international criticism at the time when he appeared to back away from support for a two-state solution, saying he would leave it up to the parties themselves to decide. The objective of Palestinian statehood has been the position of successive US administrations and the international community.

The meeting with Abbas, the Western-backed head of the Palestinian Authority, was another test of whether Trump, in office a little more than 100 days, is serious about pursuing the kind of comprehensive peace agreement that eluded his predecessors.

Trump said during a joint appearance with Abbas that he was ready to seek the toughest deal" of Israeli-Palestinian peace. But as he later sat down to lunch with the Palestinian leader, he said it was maybe not as difficult as people have thought over the years.

Trump, who said he decided to start a process but offered no new policy prescriptions or timetable, may be underestimating the challenge when trust between the two sides is at a low point, analysts said.

You cant just pretend you only have to handle a few key issues and thats it," said David Makovsky, a senior member of Obamas negotiating team during the last round of talks, which collapsed in 2014. "It's very hard."

Still, plans are being firmed up for Trump to visit Netanyahu in Jerusalem and possibly Abbas in the West Bank, targeted for May 22 and 23, according to people familiar with the matter. That has sparked speculation about a meeting among the three. US and Israeli officials have declined to confirm the visit.

Abbas under pressure at home

Trump and Abbas appeared friendly but businesslike as they stood at side-by-side lecterns. But it was far less chummy than the way Trump and Netanyahu interacted in February.

Abbas promised that under your courageous stewardship and your wisdom, as well as your great negotiating ability, the Palestinians would be partners seeking a historic peace treaty.

But under pressure at home to avoid major concessions, the 82-year-old leader said: Its about time for Israel to end its occupation," referring to Jewish settlement building in the West Bank.

He called on Israel to recognise Palestinian independence just as Palestinians recognise the state of Israel. He did not repeat in public his demand that Israel freeze settlement construction on land Palestinians want for a state as a condition for a return to negotiations.

Trump was expected to press Abbas in private to halt payments by the PLO to families of militants jailed by Israel, US officials said.

But Abbas, who governs in the West Bank while Hamas militants rule Gaza, was likely to resist, especially with an ongoing hunger strike by hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

After his two-hour visit to the White House, Abbas was upbeat in a speech to diplomats, think tank experts and reporters. "We have hopes for President Trump," he said.

In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the promises Abbas made at the White House "don't obligate anyone.

Questions have been raised about Trump's choice of son-in-law Jared Kushner to oversee the peace initiative, along with Trumps longtime business lawyer, Jason Greenblatt, as envoy.

In addition, efforts to enlist Israel's Sunni Arab neighbors, who share Israeli concerns about Shi'ite Iran, to help rejuvenate peacemaking have yet to yield tangible results.

Trumps national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, described his boss foreign policy approach as "disruptive," saying his unconventional ways could create an opportunity to help stabilise the Middle East.

But Trumps unpredictability has even at times rattled a close ally like Israel.

His pro-Israeli rhetoric during the campaign suggested he might give Netanyahu free rein. But Trumps promise to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv is on the back burner, and he caught Netanyahu off-guard by asking him to put unspecified limits on settlement activity.
By Press Trust of India: stable mind

(Eds: Adding more details)

Kolkata, May 4 (PTI) Calcutta High Court judge Justice C S Karnan today declined to undergo a mental health checkup as ordered by the Supreme Court, telling a team of doctors he is "absolutely normal" and has a "stable mind".

Justice Karnan, who is on a warpath with the apex court in connection with a contempt case he is facing, also told the doctors that for holding a medical examination with regard to a persons mental health, the guardians consent was required and he had none in Kolkata.

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A four-member team from Calcutta Pavlov Hospital, a state-run mental health hospital, accompanied by around 20 policemen visited his residence to implement the court order but was turned back after remaining there for about two hours.

The Supreme Court had on May 1 ordered medical examination of Karnan by a board of doctors to be set up by a government hospital in Kolkata to evaluate his mental health with police support.

The order was given after the defiant judge failed to appear in the apex court which took note of the "tenor" of his press briefings and orders.

"I declined to avail the medical treatment since I am absolutely normal and with a stable mind," Karnan gave in writing to the doctors after refusing to undergo a medical check-up.

"Further, it is my strong view that the Supreme Court order amounts to an insult and harassment to a Dalit Judge (myself)," he said in a communication addressed to the chairman of the medical board from Calcutta Pavlov Hospital.

Justice Karnan also raised the issue of no guardian being present with him.

"As my family members are not here, there is no such consent. So any such medical test cannot be held," he said.

He said that his wife, a professor, and a son, an engineer by profession, are in Chennai while his another son, also an engineer, is working in France.

A seven-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar, on May one had also directed the Director-General of Police of West Bengal to form a team of police officers which could assist the medical board in carrying out the medical examination of the high court judge.

The medical report of Justice Karnan has to be submitted "on or before May 8" and the apex court would take up the contempt plea, initiated suo motu (on its own), for hearing a day after, it said.

A four-member team of doctors, headed by Pavlov Hospital superintendent Dr Ganesh Prashad, along with police officials led by the deputy commissioner (headquarter) of Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate, had gone to Justice Karnans residence in New Town, Kolkata in the morning. The team was at the judges home for about two hours.

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In the communication, Justice Karnan said he was of the "firm view/opinion that the Supreme Court issuing orders/ non-speaking orders, shortcoming and irregular orders, illegal orders and having lacuna (sic)."

"I urged the 7 judges to close the contempt proceeding and restore my judicial and administrative work in order to maintain the decorum, dignity and sanctity of the courts.

"If a genuine man commits an error knowingly or unknowingly or inadvertently, but later on the said person rectifies his mistake, he is known as a perfect gentleman, after all we are human beings and not infallible," he said in the note.

Claiming that "the seven judges judicial services are not suitable for the Indian nation," Justice Karnan said, "My deep request on behalf of 127 crores of our Indian people is to keep the welfare of the nation as a general requirement."

"After issuing suo motu contempt proceedings, now the public have lost the confidence and trust with the Judiciary, therefore, once again I request the Honble 7 Judges to do the right thing by resigning their Judicial posts," he said.

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The apex court has taken suo motu (on its own) cognisance of various letters written by Justice Karnan against judges of the Madras high court and the Supreme Court and restrained him from exercising administrative and Judicial power from February 8.

Justice Karnan appeared before the Supreme Court on March 31 in connection with the contempt proceeding, becoming the first high court judge to do so in the history of Indian Judiciary. PTI AMR MD GSN GSN

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Justin Bieber's demands for his concert in India are so bizarre, we're actually feeling bad for the organisers.

By India Today Web Desk: You're not a true celeb if you don't make uncalled-for demands. If you're an international pop star, these bizarre demands turn into status symbols--there's no other explanation for the demands Justin Bieber has made for the Indian leg of his Purpose Tour.

For the uninitiated, Justin Bieber's concert is being held on May 10 at DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai. From a Rolls Royce to a chopper on standby, Bieber needs king-size arrangements for it. Yesterday, music journalist Arjun S Ravi posted on Twitter images of a press release from Bieber's people, which stated the prerequisites for the popstar's stay in India.

Justin Biebers India tour rider includes a Indian Yoga casket??, a jacuzzi and a press release that lists all his demands out for you. pic.twitter.com/afwHpMJHJM- Arjun S Ravi (@arjun_s_ravi) May 3, 2017

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Justin has apparently asked for a private Rolls Royce for himself, and will be provided Z security by Maharashtra Police. Here are some of the other demands Justin has made for his tour:

1. Justin would like to switch between being driven around in the Rolls Royce hired for him, or flying in his private jet. Also, Justin will any way fly to the stadium, because not flying is so non-celebrity. The 120-member crew of the pop star will be provided luxury sedans and two Volvo buses. Now you know the reason behind the concert tickets costing a bomb.

2. Bieber is bringing along his necessities, and no, we're not talking about his clothes and toiletries. His basic needs for the five-day tour include a ping-pong table, a Playstation, IO HAWK, a sofa set, washing machine, refrigerator, cupboard and a massage table. We wonder if he would even have the time to make use of these things!

Picture courtesy: Instagram/justinbieber

3. Two 5-star hotels have been booked for his accommodation, and a few 'customisations' have been asked for--MUGHAL interiors in the room. If you're in India, your hotel suite has to have Mughal antiques and signature linen, because that's what the country is about. Justin wants the room to be decorated with purple carnations, and lilies are a strict no-no.

Also Read: Justin Bieber also plans to visit Jaipur, Agra during his India visit

4. Amidst the touring and travelling, Justin might want to pratice yoga, and has asked for his room to be supplied with aromatic oils, incense sticks, and books on chakras and yoga asanas. Like this wasn't enough, a masseuse is being called in from Kerala for him.

5. His demands also include wildberries and vanilla room-fresheners, Dove body wash and hydrating lip balms--we know the secret behind that glowing skin, finally.

6. The popstar wants the dressing room to be draped in white curtains, and must have a glass-door refrigerator. The refrigerator must have these few thing at all times--twenty-four bottles of still and alkaline water, each, four energy drinks, six vitamin water bottles, six cream sodas, four natural juices, four vanilla protein drinks and half a gallon of almond milk.

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7. This is only a part of the menu--vegetables seasoned with ranch sauce, diced fruit, organic bananas and seedless grapes, a deli platter of organic turkey, lettuce, Colby and provolone cheese, black olives and green and banana peppers.

8. The backstage requirements include white sliced bread, potato chips, mint and watermelon gum, white cheddar popcorn, Ghiradelli dark chocolate with sea salt and almonds, menthol and watermelon gum, vinegar chips, organic dried fruit, peanuts, and all berries cereal. He has also listed some special treats like large pack of Swedish Fish, boxes of Ritz Bitz peanut butter and cheese sandwiches and multiple packs of Haribo Cola Gummies--let's just hope that's all.

Picture courtesy: Instagram/justinbieber

Also Read: Ed Sheeran thought he'd never win a Grammy, reveals Taylor Swift in TIME Magazine tribute

9. Apart from the glass-door refrigerator loaded with food items in his dressing room, Justin requires two packs of plain white crew-neck tees (in sizes XS and L), two packs of white tank tops (sizes L and XL) and three packs of white low-rise socks (sizes XS and L). He also needs a boombox with an iPhone battery.

So, if you have burnt a hole in your pocket to get backstage access at the event, just remember that you'll be like a mannequin there--talking or taking selfies will NOT be permitted (that's what you bought the ticket for, right?). Slow breathing, however, will be allowed.

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We do hope you enjoy breathing-in the same air as Justin Bieber!

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Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo is promoting his plan to combat gang activity in upstate communities.

Cuomo on Tuesday visited both Albany and Rochester to announce support for programs aimed at community safety and gun violence prevention.

Cuomo says federal and local law enforcement will have more access to state intelligence and specialized equipment, and New York State Police will add additional troopers for expanded patrols.

Cuomo also announced slight funding increases for the Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) program to provide resources for training, equipment and personnel to aid law enforcement in reducing shootings. Another program called SNUG that promotes violence-reduction for high-risk individuals will also receive funding in both regions.

Last week Cuomo announced initiatives to crack down on deadly MS-13 gang violence in Long Island.

(AP)
North Korea on Wednesday confirmed the detention of another American citizen for alleged acts of hostility aimed at overthrowing the country.

Kim Sang Dok, an accounting instructor at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, was intercepted at Pyongyang International Airport on April 22, according to the Korean Central News Agency. It said he was being detained while authorities conduct a detailed investigation into his alleged crime.

The schools chancellor Park Chan-mo and the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang earlier gave the information about Kims detention but couldnt provide the reason for his arrest. The schools report used a different spelling of Kims name, Kim Sang-duk. Kims English name is Tony Kim.

He is now the third American being detained in North Korea. The other U.S. detainees are Otto Warmbier, serving a 15-year prison term with hard labor for alleged anti-state acts, and Kim Dong Chul, serving a 10-year term with hard labor for alleged espionage.

Analysts say North Korea often attempts to use foreign detainees to wrest outside concessions, which in the past have sometimes involved high-profile American missions sent to secure the release of detainees. Animosity between Pyongyang and Washington has spiked in recent weeks amid a game of brinkmanship between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump.

Park said Kim, who is 58, was detained as he was trying to leave the country from Pyongyangs international airport. A university spokesman said he was trying to leave with his wife on a flight to China. Park said he was informed that the detention had nothing to do with Kims work at the university but did not know further details.

The U.S. State Department said last month that it was aware of the report about a U.S. citizen being detained, but declined further comment due to privacy considerations.

Kim previously taught Korean at the Yanbian University of Science and Technology in Yanji, China, not far from the North Korea border, according to the schools Communist Party Committee secretary.

The Pyongyang University of Science and Technology is the only privately funded university in North Korea. It held its first classes in 2010. It is unique in the North for its large number of foreign staff.

(AP)
The House on Wednesday approved a $1.1 trillion spending bill, with Democrats and Republicans both jockeying to claim at least partial victory as the measure goes to the Senate for final approval.

The package, which would avert a government shutdown at the end of the week, passed with bipartisan support, 309-118.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi claimed victory for blocking several of President Trumps proposals  including funding for a U.S.-Mexico wall and cuts to popular domestic programs like community development grants.

However, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., assured conservatives that the bill is a win for Trump and Republicans controlling Congress, citing a really good down payment on rebuilding the military and the biggest increase in border security in a decade.

Minutes before the vote on the five-month spending bill, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer made similar arguments.

When you look at what the president came forward with a month ago, saying these are my priorities, I think he got what he asked for, Spicer said during the daily briefing.

He also said the money gets the presidents priorities jumpstarted and argued that Trump can build on that success in the upcoming full-year budget.

Spicer touted increased military spending and money to extend a Washington, D.C., school voucher program through 2019 being included in the bill.

The White House has said Trump would sign the measure.

Democrats are touting as victories parts of the bill that protect popular domestic programs such as education, medical research, and grants to state and local governments that Trump wanted to cut.

Every member of this House has a victory in the bill, said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla.

The White House won $15 billion in emergency funding toward Trumps promise to rebuild the military and an extra $1.5 billion for border security, which led the president on Tuesday to boast, This is what winning looks like.

The opinions of top party leaders were not shared by everyone in the rank and file, some of whom feel that GOP negotiators too easily gave up of conservative priorities such as cutting funds for Planned Parenthood and punishing sanctuary cities that fail to cooperate with immigration authorities.

From my point of view, we pretty well got our clock cleaned, said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

One of Trumps biggest campaign promises was to build the wall and have Mexico pay, a plan Mexican officials have rejected.

Republicans were surprised by tweets from Trump on Tuesday that suggested he was initially unhappy with the temporary spending measure and that he might provoke a government shutdown this fall in hopes of getting his way on the wall and other demands.

The measure also includes money for foreign aid, grants to state and local governments and protects the Environmental Protection Agency from cuts sought by Tea Party-backed Republicans. The measure provides $2 billion in disaster aid money, $407 million to combat Western wildfires, additional grants for transit projects, and a $2 billion increase for medical research at the National Institutes of Health.

The White House, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., won a $1.3 billion provision to preserve health benefits for more than 22,000 retired coal miners. Pelosi was the driving force behind an effort to give the cash-strapped government of Puerto Rico $295 million to ease its Medicaid burden.

(AP)
The entire royal household staff has been called into an emergency meeting at Buckingham Palace today, it has been reported.

The Queens most senior aides reportedly ordered all staff from royal residences across the country to London, sparking frenzied speculation as to the reason behind the sudden request.

Servants will be addressed by the Royal Households most senior office Lord Chamberlain and Her Majestys Private Secretary Sir Christopher Geidt in just hours.

The meeting, called suddenly at 3am local time (12pm AEST) and described as highly unusual by royal watchers, has sent Britains rumour mill into a concerned frenzy.

There is speculation that the announcement is to do with either the Queen or her husband the Duke of Edinburghs health.

Social media has erupted in panic with many offering theories about the announcement, from abdication to far more serious issues.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
UNESCO on Tuesday, the day Israel marked its 69th Independence Day, once again passed a historically distorted decision, this one denying Israels claims to Yerushalayim. UNESCO, which has become a spokesperson for the enemies of Israel and the Jewish People, have passed similar resolutions in the past, which also deny Israels claims to Jerusalem, Har Habayis and the Kosel.

The latest resolution was submitted by Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar and Sudan, a resolution addressing Occupied Palestine. The vote passed with 22 in favor and 10 opposed with 23 abstentions.

The countries that opposed the resolution are Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania,

Netherlands, Paraguay, Togo, UK, Ukraine, and the United States.

Condemnatory messages were issued by US and Israeli officials, but the real question remains is when legitimate democratic nations like Israel and the US, will make the decision to break away from the UN and is associated agencies, which by and large to not serve the interests of Western democratic nations, but has instead become a forum for Islamic radicalism and its associates.

If the US, EU nations and Israel leave, this would be sufficient to delegitimize the international agency. The funds could be used far better in many other areas and the headquarters on NYCs 42nd Street is a valuable piece of property. Leaving the UN would leave the Islamic bloc without a legitimate vehicle to operate as they do in the international forum, albeit against the United States and her allies.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Justice CS Karnan of Calcutta High Court today fumed at the order of Supreme Court which directed the constitution of a medical board to examine and check if he is suffering from any mental disorder.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Calcutta High Court judge Justice CS Karnan today here refused to be examined by a medical team, as ordered by the Supreme Court, terming it a "mad order passed by mad judges".

Karnan said he is mentally fit.

A seven-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar on Monday directed the constitution of a medical board to examine Karnan on May 4 and submit the evaluation report on May 8.

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Karnan has been engaged in an over three-month long confrontation with the apex court. He is facing contempt charges for degrading the judiciary and making allegations of corruption against several Supreme Court judges.

Also Read: Justice Karnan issues non-bailable warrant against CJI Khehar, 6 Supreme Court judges

Also Read: Revenge of the Karnan: Calcutta HC judge orders medical test of 7 SC judges who ordered same for him

Watch the video here: Only patients require medical treatment, I'm healthy: Justice Karnan to India Today

--- ENDS ---
Following the passage of the Occupied Palestine resolution by UNESCO on Israel Independence Day 69, denying Israels claims to Jerusalem, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat issued the following statement.

I am outraged by the UNESCO resolution that was passed today. Several weeks ago, I hosted a delegation of UNESCO ambassadors on a tour of the City of David. With a Bible in our hands, we walked on the very stones where kings and prophets walked 3,000 years ago. We saw the undeniable connection between Jewish history in the city of Jerusalem and the words of the Bible- a connection that is indisputable.

The resolution that UNESCO passed today demonstrates once again the ludicrous and anti-Israel nature of the organization. Rather than support Jerusalem, they choose to side with our enemies. Our response is to continue to develop and advance the city of Jerusalem, the eternal home and capital of the Jewish people. We will not allow these unfounded declarations to discourage us from our mission  protecting Jerusalems 3,000 years of history while leading Jerusalem into the future. Happy Independence Day to the State of Israel and to Jerusalem, which is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the citys reunification!

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
From his home in the quiet Israeli town of Yavneh, one man is designing an approach he believes can change how Israel and even the world integrates people into the workforce.

With decades of background in government and public service, Rafi Gelbart stresses that if not addressed proactively the world may just be in for the greatest wave of global unemployment since the onset of the Industrial Revolution.

Gelbart is the founder and Director of Machon Shipour, an organization that has worked with many different communities and locales designing programs to encourage greater involvement in the workforce. He is quick to say that the Institute he runs is by no means an employment agency.

I dont get people jobs, he says. That is their responsibility. My goal is to give them the tools to know how to find those jobs.

The Institute opened its doors in 1995 after a gradual effort to achieve success that began as early as 1987 when Gelbart returned from the US after serving as a professor in Market Economics. The late 1980s was a time of large-scale unemployment in Israel which became exacerbated with the arrival of hundreds of thousands of immigrants from the Former Soviet Union in the early 1990s.

Gelbart devised a program called Self-directed job search, whereby we would help people to help themselves, he says, quoting Maimonides teaching as that being the greatest form of charity.

The program grew and within a short amount of time, he was seeing success rates of 75-80 percent of those who used his method were reporting that they were holding down jobs for multiple years.

Following successful engagements with the Municipality of Jerusalem, in 1995, the program went national with a partnership with the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption which has remained in effect until today. He believes that the tools that worked for other immigrant groups are just as relevant for North American immigrants, acknowledging that for many, fears of where to find a job are a lead factor precluding greater aliya.

Often the greatest challenge facing a job seeker is that they dont have the tools and confidence to go out and find the job. Our goal is to give them those tools and then they can achieve professional success.

The Institute has also found evidence that one of the greatest and potential-filled demographics for entering into the workforce is the community of people aged sixty and over. To date they have worked with some 800 people in this age bracket and 68 percent are now gainfully employed.

Some one million people in Israel over the age of 60 are living in poverty and the rate of unemployment in this sector is the highest of any country in the OECD, Gelbart says while pointing out that Israel also has no decent comprehensive national insurance available for retirees. His approach is to encourage those over 60 who might have been let go of their previous jobs not to think that they are aged out of the employment market. There is still a great deal that you can achieve and there are many jobs that are appropriate for all people in this group. As a result, Machon Shipour offers special training programs to reenter high quality jobs and according to OECD, Israel is now number 4 in the quality of jobs offered to the 60+ age group in that organization.

In a country where there is wide-spread discussion of unemployment amongst the Arab and chareidi communities, Gelbart is equally committed to addressing those groups. Because of cultural differences, I dont try to teach them but rather we teach their community leaders how to use our tools and we are seeing a trend towards greater inclusion in the workforce.

But while Gelbart is encouraged by the success and believes that it can continue when discussing the macro issues facing unemployment in the future he says that the perspective is going to change. Pointing to issues like automation of vehicles which would take tens of millions of professional drivers off the roads he says we need to be prepared.

It is critical that we not wait until its too late to prepare for what would be an employment disaster, he warns. These people need to be trained now for different jobs because if we think creatively these types of challenges can be overcome.

But looking back on an extensive career that has helped thousands of others realize the dream of gainful unemployment, Gelbart says he is sure of one thing. We will need to be creative. But weve faced challenges in the past and this too can be overcome if we recognize the scope of the problem and are ready to respond in advance.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, 7 Iyar, along with Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, met to discuss the recent High Court of Justice ruling permitting supermarkets in Tel Aviv to open on Shabbos. They met with heads of chareidi Knesset factions.

Prior to meeting with PM Netanyahu, Yaakov Litzman, Aryeh Deri and Moshe Gafne met to discuss the matter in an effort to get on the same page ahead of the high-level meeting with the prime minister.

It appears the chareidi faction leaders are going to use the leverage available to them. That is to say, they will not support the new fiscal reform package sponsored by Finance Minister (Kulanu) Moshe Kahlon until there is coalition support for legislating a law that will prevent the implementation of the High Court ruling to open stores in Tel Aviv. It is noted that Kahlon has already announced his party will not become partner to any legislation which circumvents the High Court ruling.

Without actually placing an ultimatum before the Prime Minister, the chareidi lawmakers are signaling that failure to prevent implementation of the courts ruling in Tel Aviv will indeed lead to a coalition crisis, possible early elections.

The head of the Shas Moetzas Gedolei Hatorah, HaGaon HaRav Shalom Cohen Shlita, has instructed Deri and other Shas lawmakers to wage an uncompromising battle to maintain the Shabbos status quo, to the point he is willing to instruct Shas to leave the coalition in response to failed efforts.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
While his name dropped from the media for a brief period of time, Elor Azariya is back in the news as the first session of his appeal of his manslaughter conviction got underway in the Defense Ministry on Wednesday, 7 Iyar.

The case deals with Azariya validating the kill of a wounded Arab terrorist in Hebron in March 2016 a short time after the same terrorist wounded IDF soldiers in a stabbing attack. In the appeal, defense counsel explains that a plethora of evidence brought on behalf of the soldier was simply ignored in his trial. Two of the three members of the original defense team have stepped down, leaving attorney Yoram Sheftal as the lone attorney in the defenses corner.

Adding to the defenses pressure is the fact that after an appeal was filed, the prosecution followed with its own appeal, asking the court to increase the 18-month prison term to 36-to-60 months.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Under fire from Democrats, FBI Director James Comey insisted during repeated questions Wednesday he was consistent in disclosing information about an investigation into Hillary Clintons emails before Election Day while keeping quiet about a probe into possible contacts between Russia and the Donald Trumps campaign.

Comey, in his most impassioned public defense of how he handled the case, also said it made him feel mildly nauseous to think his actions in October might have influenced the race won by Republican Trump over Democrat Clinton. But he told the Senate Judiciary Committee the FBI cannot take into account how its actions might benefit or harm politicians.

I cant consider for a second whose political futures will be affected and in what way, Comey told the senators. We have to ask ourselves what is the right thing to do and then do it.

Persistent questions from senators, and Comeys testimony, made clear that the FBI directors decisions of last summer and fall involving both the Trump and Clinton campaigns continue to roil national politics and produce lingering second-guessing about whether the investigations were handled evenly.

On Tuesday, Clinton partly attributed her loss to Comeys disclosure to Congress less than two weeks before Election Day that the email investigation would be revisited. But Trump tweeted a bit later that Comey actually was the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds!

Speaking at times with a raised voice, Comey said he faced two difficult decisions when agents told him in October that they had found emails potentially connected to the Clinton case on a laptop belonging to former Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., who separated last year from top Clinton aide Huma Abedin. Weiners laptop was seized as part of a sexting investigation involving a teenage girl.

Comey said he knew it was unorthodox to alert Congress to that discovery 11 days before Americans picked a new president. But he said he decided it would have been catastrophic to keep silent, especially when he had testified under oath that the investigation had been concluded and had promised to advise lawmakers if the probe needed to be reopened.

I sat there that morning and could not see a door labeled, No action here,' Comey said.

The FBI obtained a warrant to search the laptop and sifted through thousands of emails, Comey said, including ones with classified information that had been forwarded to the laptop by Abedin to be printed out. Though officials found many new emails, there was nothing to change the FBIs decision from July not to recommend charges, Comey said.

He also said he had not intended to harm the Clinton campaign with his unusual public announcement in July that Clinton and her aides had been extremely careless in their handling of classified information though there was not evidence to support criminal charges.

He said he had been concerned for months about how to report the investigations findings to the public, and because of Justice Department actions including an impromptu airplane meeting between Bill Clinton and Attorney General Loretta Lynch he had concluded he needed to make the announcement himself.

My goal was to say what is true. What did we do, what did we find, what do we think? And I tried to be as complete and fair as possible, Comey said.

He said he himself had been interviewed by the Justice Departments inspector generals office as part of the watchdogs investigation into the Clinton email case. He said he welcomed that review and continues to believe he did things the right way.

Under questioning from Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Comey said he did not treat disclosures about investigations into Clintons emails differently than potential connections between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The FBI began a counterintelligence investigation last July into whether Russia had coordinated with Trump campaign associates to influence the American election, but he did not disclose that until a hearing in March, after Trump had been elected and taken office.

That prompted Democrats to complain of a double-standard in the way the investigations were treated.

But Comey said that other than confirming the Clinton investigation existed, he did not discuss it until after it concluded last year. And he said the FBI does not expect to have anything to say about the Russia investigation until that one was over.

He declined on Wednesday to discuss that investigation or to say which Americans the FBI was looking at.

(AP)
Two suburban Chicago men accused of seeking to provide material support to terrorists and who posed for photos holding an Islamic State group flag have pleaded not guilty to federal terrorism charges.

Joseph D. Jones and Edward Schimenti calmly told Judge Andrea Wood Wednesday that they understood the gravity of the allegations. The 35-year-olds from Zion face 20-year maximum prison terms if convicted.

A prosecutor at their arraignment in Chicago called it a complex case involving classified evidence that will remain sealed. The next hearing is July 6.

A complaint unsealed after their April arrests in an FBI sting says they agreed to provide cellphones that could be used as car-bomb detonators in Syria. It includes photos of them holding a black IS flag at Illinois Beach State Park.

(AP)
Three persons were arrested by Israel Police on Thursday, 8 Iyar as the primary suspects in a money laundering operation, including one chareidi suspect. Police report the operation involved millions of shekels and the suspects are residents of both Jerusalem and Netanya and they are in their thirties.

It appears that they obtained funds from abroad fraudulently and they laundered the money here in Israel. The operation has been going on for a number of years. During the predawn hours of Thursday however, the clandestine investigation went public as police moved in to make the arrests. Armed with search warrants, police carried out searches of their homes at the time of the arrests.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Dr. Muralikrishna of Anekal General Hospital has been suspended for dereliction of duty. India Today had reported how scrap dealer Sarphan was forced to carry his son's body home from the hospital after being denied an ambulance.

By Rohini Swamy: After India Today reported how a man was forced to take his three-year-old son's body home on a scooter from the hospital on being denied an ambulance in Karnataka's Anekal district, the administrative medical officer has been suspended.

Dr. Muralikrishna of the Anekal General Hospital has been suspended for dereliction of duty.

According to an India Today report, scrap dealer Saphan, who hails from Assam, rushed his son to the hospital after the three-year-old was mowed down by a two-wheeler on Sunday evening.

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The child, who had sustained critical injuries, was declared 'brought dead' by the hospital.

FATHER NOT INFORMED ABOUT POST-MORTEM

It is alleged that the hospital authorities did not even inform the father that a post-mortem needed to be conducted.

Saphan was found pleading for help to take his son's body home. The heart-wrenching visuals shown by India Today were taken note of by the expert committee on preventing sexual violence against women and children, which subsequently visited the hospital.

It then came to the fore that the administrative medical officer was not discharging his duties as expected and in doing so, had brought disrepute to the hospital.

Health Commissioner Subodh Yadav said that there was a possibility of Dr Muralikrishna trying to destroy the evidence if he continued in his present post and so they had suspended him from service pending enquiry.

This is not the first time the callousness of medical authorities has come to the fore. It has been either their inability to provide ambulances to the needy or their sheer disregard for the concerns of the poor.

Only last month, in Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal's constituency Majuli, a man was forced to carry his brother's body on a cycle home from the hospital for want of an ambulance.

Last year, Dana Majhi, a tribal from Odisha's Kalahandi district, was forced to carry his wife's body for over 10 kilometres on his shoulder due to no hearse facility.

Also read | Karnataka: Denied ambulance, man forced to take son's body in a scooter

Also read | Assam shocker: In CM Sonowal's constituency Majuli, man forced to carry brother's body on cycle for lack of ambulance

Also read | Dana Majhi all over again: Odisha man forced to carry daughter's dead body

Also read | Odisha's Dana Majhi, who carried his dead wife on his shoulder, receives Rs 9 lakh from King of Bahrain

WATCH VIDEO

--- ENDS ---
Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras has good reason to be thankful for Brexit. Normally at this time of year, as Greece's latest debt repayments to creditors fall due, the country is enveloped in crisis.

Yield on Greek bonds soar, bank shares plunge and extremists take to the streets and burn cars in blind fury.

But the 2017 talks with its masters in Brussels and Frankfurt have passed off almost without hitch.

With so much political effort going into embarrassing Britain over Article 50, Grexit has become unthinkable.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has won support for a 72.9bn bailout package

On Tuesday, Athens won continuing support for its 72.9billion bailout package by agreeing to a broadening of the tax base, further cuts in pensions and legal changes so businesses can write-down debts.

Athens looks to have won assurances that its burden of 269billion of debt, 181 per cent of output according to International Monetary Fund data, will be rescheduled.

The IMF has been at odds with the EU about the best way of dealing with Greece. It has argued that the debt will never be repaid and Greece can never fully recover unless some means of easing debt repayments is reached.

Brussels, having held out against any debt forgiveness, fearing other Club Med nations might demand the same, has changed its mind.

The remaining obstacle is Angela Merkel, who may not want to sign off on a longer term Greek bailout until she is safely through elections in September.

German taxpayers have never been too happy about bailing out profligate Greeks, although in better days they were not so reticent about flogging its citizens BMWs.

Greece has been punished severely by the EU. As a result of austerity, output has shrunk by 25 per cent, unemployment reached 23.1 per cent of the workforce and the jobless rate among youth 45.2 per cent.

Greek banks are weighed down by 45 per cent bad loans which means business finds it hard to get the credit it needs to invest.

Recent improvements in unemployment are put at risk by output shrinkage in the final quarter of 2016.

A nasty process has been avoided with the next 6billion loan repayment set to be forthcoming from creditors. Finally, the bungling bureaucrats of Brussels are starting to see the political error of past harshness.

Brexiteers can take some credit for that.

TV times

There can be few complaints about Adam Crozier's seven-year record at ITV.

He took a bombed-out terrestrial broadcaster, forever moaning about restrictions on advertising revenues, and refocused on production which drove up revenues.

The result was a quadrupling of the shares and a rate of return of 24 per cent against 7 per cent for the FTSE 100.

ITV has made great dramas for the UK, such as Downton Abbey and Broadchurch, and ITV Studios' hits, including Hell's Kitchen, have gone worldwide.

The answers to ITV's past problems was to close studios. Crozier moved in the opposite direction, focusing on high production values. That's been good for investors and for Britain's reputation as a hub for creativity.

The big question Crozier leaves behind is whether the ITV model of mass UK market advertising and British production values is durable.

Bears would say that, in the digital era, it is outdated and ITV cannot possibly compete with the production budgets available to Amazon, Netflix and the like.

Wrong. Fast-moving consumer goods companies need large-scale audiences, and ITV has shown it can deliver them directly to the sofa.

The skills necessary for good programmes are built up over generations and are not easily replicated. Money, as Hollywood producers of epic flops could testify, does not guarantee a hit for general viewing.

Would an overseas bid be welcome? Regulator Ofcom's answer should be 'no'. Does Crozier deserve a 'golden goodbye'?

The answer to that is also 'no'. He already has been rewarded handsomely for his efforts, including a peak earning year when he took home 8million. Enough is enough.

Sainsbury's slippage

There was some stock market disappointment in Sainsbury's third profits decline in as many years.

Investors (including this writer) shouldn't despair. Sainsbury's switch to online through Argos and its grocery service are significant steps in the right direction.

And, encouragingly, it is working to make sure the supposed squeeze on household incomes is mitigated by being robust with its supply chain. The direction is sensible, but patience will be required.
I'm back: Derek Sach is working at private equity giant CVC as an 'industrial adviser'

Fred Goodwin's trusty lieutenant, Derek Sach, has resurfaced. Sach, 68, was head of Royal Bank of Scotland's Global Restructuring Group, a ruthless division that squeezed struggling firms for profit.

He's now working at private equity giant CVC as an 'industrial adviser'.

Cruel-mouthed, with an unpleasantly patrician air, Sach and his colleagues were described by eagle-eyed Treasury Select Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie as 'wilfully obtuse'.

Barclays boss Jes Staley's future is much discussed after backing his brother-in-law in a legal battle with his bank's client KKR. Staley's tribe are a colourful bunch.

Grandfather Edward ran department store WT Grant, whose 1976 bankruptcy was the second biggest in American corporate history.

Brother Peter, 56, is an Aids activist who once chained himself to the New York Stock Exchange. Should Barclays give Jes the bullet, he could pen a lively memoir.

Some 40,000 people are expected to descend upon Omaha in Nebraska this weekend for Berkshire Hathaway's AGM.

The issue of who'll succeed founder Warren Buffett, 86, is likely to be discussed. Buffett refuses to disclose who it is, though most predict it'll be publicity-shy head of insurance Ajit Jain.

He's regarded as 'unbelievably smart' and, aged 64, probably a more viable long-term choice than Buffett's 93-year-old deputy, Charlie Munger.

Sailing in the America's Cup is a costly business. Britain's Land Rover Bar team, led by oil trading tycoons Chris Bake and Ian Taylor, have spent 100million.

Current holder, show-off Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison, 72, has spent 90million.

Legendary financier JP Morgan, who won the trophy in 1899 and 1901, opined of the costs: 'If you have to ask how much, you can't afford it.'

RBS chairman and self-appointed gourmand Sir Howard Davies recommends to Management Today readers a dish he recently tried during a stopover in Warsaw called Erich's Pork Knuckle.

The delicacy is named in honour of East Germany's brutish Communist leader, Erich Honecker, who, Davies says, 'liked knuckles both in his tummy and other people's face.'
Big wins for punters on the Grand National and the US Masters overshadowed a strong start to the year for bookmaker Paddy Power Betfair.

The company said profits jumped 114 per cent to 91million in the first three months of 2017 after a successful Cheltenham Festival.

Revenues rose 23 per cent to 416million.

Paddy Power Betfair said profits jumped 114% to 91m in the first three months of 2017 after a successful Cheltenham Festival. Revenues rose 23% to 416m

Cheltenham has proved costly for bookmakers in recent years, but Sizing John's shock victory in this year's Gold Cup was the icing on the cake for the industry as the majority of races went the bookies' way.

Breon Corcoran, chief executive, said: 'Since then, however, at high-profile events, results favoured customers.'

This included the victory for wellfancied One For Arthur in the Grand National followed a day later by a costly Masters for bookies as the popular Spaniard Sergio Garcia beat England's Justin Rose.

Paddy Power Betfair shares yesterday fell 4.3 per cent, or 380p, to 8395p.
ITV has revealed it is carrying out a boardroom shake-up that will see chief executive Adam Crozier step down after seven years.

Broadcaster ITV could fall into foreign hands after the boss credited for turning around its fortunes announced he would be stepping down after seven years in charge.

Adam Crozier, who has led ITV since 2010, will leave at the end of June, potentially paving the way for a swoop by American telecoms giant Liberty Global.

The 53-year-old is credited with steering ITV through the recession and reducing its reliance on advertising by building up its production arm.

Under his tenure, the company invested heavily in making its own content, producing runaway hits Broadchurch, Downton Abbey, Poldark and Vera.

Crozier, who has pocketed 25.5million since joining ITV, will be paid the balance of his one-year notice period, as well as a bonus amounting to about 2million.

Crozier's departure was first rumoured in December when it was claimed that chairman Sir Peter Bazalgette had asked head-hunter firm Spencer Stuart to find a replacement.

However, Bazalgette insisted it was 'normal' succession planning and denied Crozier had any intention of leaving.

Today, bosses said the company 'has a well-developed succession plan in place and a longer-term successor to Adam will be announced in due course'.

For now, finance director Ian Griffiths will add the role of chief operating officer to his duties, while Bazalgette becomes executive chairman.

Success: Under Crozier, ITV invested heavily in making its own content, producing hits Broadchurch starring David Tennant and Olivia Colman (pictured)

Bazalgette said: 'Adam has been talking to me and the board for some time now about his plans. He has made a fantastic contribution to ITV and the board is deeply indebted to him.'

But news of Crozier's resignation sent shares down 1.8 per cent and reopened speculation of a possible takeover.

Analysts at Liberum said his departure could see a bid by Virgin Media owner Liberty Global, which controls 9.9 per cent of ITV, or a joint takeover with Discovery, another media business.

Both companies are effectively controlled by John Malone, which bought UK TV production business All3Media, the maker of shows including Midsomer Murders, Skins and The Only Way Is Essex, in 2014.

Jasper Lawler, senior market analyst at LCG Market Rundown, said: 'It could be that Crozier is clearing the way for a takeover of ITV, possibly by Liberty Global.

The market's reaction of sending the shares lower was more bemoaning the loss of a good leader rather than acknowledging a step towards a takeover bid.'

Adam Crozier said last night: 'Having spent 21 years as a chief executive across four very different industries, I feel the time is right for me to move to the next stage of my career.'
The UK's biggest technology company, Sage Group, jumped towards the top of the FTSE after revealing software subscriptions rose by nearly 50 per cent in the six months to the end of March.

The global accounting and payroll firm said it is 'very confident' of beating full-year growth expectations and had taken in more than 1.2m software subscription contracts over the period.

Profits rose 32 per cent to 180mililon, while revenue rose 5.7 per cent  just under its 6 per cent full-year target.

It marks a change of pace for the Newcastle-based firm, which saw its shares crash in January following a disappointing performance in its US payments business. Shares yesterday rose 3.4 per cent, or 23.5p, to 707p.

Tech boost: Sage Group said it is 'very confident' of beating full-year growth expectations and had taken in more than 1.2m software subscription contracts over the period

Shares in education business Pearson were up 1.7 per cent, or 11p, to 656.5p, a welcome respite for the firm which has struggled to recover since tanking almost 10 per cent last month after being downgraded by broker Liberum.

Yesterday's rise came as bosses announced an expanded partnership with a US university which will see it launch three new graduate degree programmes.

The day before they unveiled a tie-up with another US university to launch three new online master's degree programmes.

But the company is unlikely to rest on its laurels. It is due to hold its AGM later this week against a backdrop of criticism over its decision to give chief executive John Fallon a 20 per cent pay rise for 2016, to 1.5million, despite the company's 2.6billion annual loss.

The FTSE 100 fell 0.2 per cent, or 15.52 points, to 7234.53, weighed down by miners which were hit by falling copper prices.

Centamin was crowned the FTSE 250's second-biggest loser after reporting a 28 per cent drop in profits over the first three months of the year.

STOCK WATCH - OSIRIUM TECHNOLOGIES Cyber-security firm Osirium Technologies sank after revenue growth for the 14 months to December 31 was slower than expected. The business makes technology which prevents gadgets and software from being hit by cyber-attacks. Chief executive David Guyatt said revenues suffered as recruitment took longer than expected after the firm listed last April but that it is now seeing signs of significant progress. Shares fell 12.9 per cent, or 16p, to 108.5p.

The gold miner reported profits of 22.9million for the first quarter, with production down 13 per cent on the same period last year.

As previously highlighted by the firm, it has spent the past three months digging out an area of its Sukari gold mine in Egypt, sacrificing part of its first-quarter production to increase the rest of the year's output.

As a result, full-year production estimates were held at 540,000 ounces.

Panmure Gordon analysts said the figures should not shock investors as Centamin had already warned of a drop in profits. Shares fell 5.9 per cent, or 10.3p, to 163.2p.

Card Factory edged up after Peel Hunt rewarded its strong performance this year with a 'buy' rating. Analysts at the broker said the business is likely to see 'much more' momentum due to a commitment to keeping prices lower than competitors.

This comes despite it revealing strong full-year profits of 398.2million at the end of March, up from 381.6million the year before.

Peel Hunt said the firm is in 'great shape' and called its 8 per cent dividend yield a 'gift'. Shares rose 0.2 per cent, or 0.6p, to 332.1p.

InnovaDerma's shares continued to storm forward as the life sciences firm announced a distribution deal with online retailer Asos for its Skinny Tan product.

The self-tan product went on sale in Superdrug in February last year.

In January, Innova said the product was largely responsible for its 80 per cent year-on-year sales growth.

The deal will see Skinny Tan sold on Asos's website from June and marketed and distributed globally.

InnovaDerma has seen shares rally 45 per cent over the past month.

This has been helped in part by its acquisition of Ergon Medical, the manufacturers of Prolong, the world's only FDA-cleared medical device used to treat premature ejaculation.

Shares rose 17.4 per cent, or 35p, hitting a four-month high of 236.5p.
A complaint has been filed against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah with the Lokayukta office. Siddaramaiah has been accused of corruption in transfer of police officials.

By Nolan Pinto: A complaint has been filed in Karnataka Lokayukta's office against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah accusing him of largescale corruption.

The complainant is Shashidhar Venugopal - the chief of Karnataka Police Mahasangha.

Venugopal approached the Lokayukta against Siddaramaiah and 28 ministers of his cabinet.

Venuagopal has alleged that largescale corruption took place in transfer of police officials on the new year eve.

COMPLAINT AGAINST SIDDARAMAIAH: THINGS TO KNOW As many as 41 IPS officers were transferred in a major reshuffle of the police force in Karnataka on December 31. Besides CM Siddaramaiah and his ministers, Venugopal has also named 21 police officers in his complaint. Shashidhar Venugopal alleged that police officials paid money to ministers for favourable transfers and appointments. Venugopal urged the Lokayukta to launch a probe against all named in his complaint. The Lokayukta is currently looking into the merits of the complaint filed by the chief of Karnataka Police Mahasangh. Shashidhar Venugopal was previously in the news for 'instigating' police constabulary to go on mass leave in protest. Charges of sedition were slapped against Shashidhar Venugopal for instigating police personnel to skip work. In the major reshuffle of the police top brass, CM Siddaramaiah had transferred several prominent names in the state police force in order to 'remove them from their comfort zone'. Some reports had then said that Siddaramaiah had tried to bring up a mix of old and new faces in Bengaluru and other places keeping in mind the 2018-Assembly elections. Those who were transferred from their posts included the then police commissioner of Bengaluru city, NS Megharik, who was made the chief of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). The incumbent ACB chief K V Gagandeep had been shunted out.

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ALSO READ |

How netas across India have found a way around PM Narendra Modi's VVIP red beacon ban

ALSO WATCH | Siddaramaiah publicly lashes out at top cop, lets ex-MLA clean his dhoti

--- ENDS ---
MBABANE  Trending local artist Sandziso Sands Matsebula tasted the bitter side of fame when he was engaged in a heated argument with a promoter on air.



The argument was over a show in Middleburg where the Tigi fame artist was expected to perform.

Sands did not pitch up at the show scheduled for last Saturday. And Rise FM presenter called Sands promoter Mabhodo to find out why the Swazi artist failed to honour his invitation.



It was during the interview with the radio station that the promoter blamed Sands for not pitching up for his show. He said as hosts of the show they had met all the requirements needed to bring the artist, only for him not to pitch up.



After the promoter was interviewed, Sands was called as he had to state his side of the story.

Sands said that in as far as he knew, the promoter had not fulfilled their demands and therefore it was impossible for him to attend the show.



While he was explaining, the promoter was then asked if what Sands was saying was indeed true. That is when Sands realised that they were both on air.

The promoter seemed to have been infuriated by the artists comments as he went on to pass unpalatable expletives at Sands saying he was disappointed that he did not attend his show and would make means of disturbing his music career.



Seeing that the argument was becoming a serious one, Sands then mentioned that he would no longer address the matter publicly saying his management would handle all the concerns.


Tear gas shells were used the security forces to stop the students protest which led to clashes in Sopore. Few students have also sustained injuries.

By Shuja-ul-Haq , Ashraf Wani: Clashes erupted between students and police in Sopore today as students from Boys Higher Secondary school, Degree College Sopore and Government Girls Higher Secondary school took out protests against the recent student arrests.

Tear gas shells were used the security forces to stop the students protest which led to clashes in the area. Few students have also sustained injuries.

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According to the local residents students, including girls in school uniforms, were seen coming out from the Government Boys Higher Secondary School towards the Degree College through Iqbal Market.

The students raised various slogans and hoisted flags of Pakistan in the college premises.

There have been clashes between students and police for the last few days in the Valley, as the student community hit streets in solidarity with the students of Pulwama Degree College, where 50 students were injured.

Colleges and some schools witnessed massive protests on April 17 after students hit the streets and clashed with forces, demanding action against security forces who thrashed Pulwama students. Ever since then, there have been protests in various parts of the Valley.

Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered suspension of internet services in the trouble-hit valley for a period of one month or till further orders.

As per the government directive, social networking sites to be suspended include Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, QQ, WeChat, Ozone, Tumblr, Google+, Baidu, Skype, Viber, Line, Snapchat, Pinterest, Telegram, Reditt, Snapfish, YouTube (Upload), Vine, Xanga and Flickr.

The government has said that the continued misuse of social networking sites and instant messaging services are likely to be detrimental to the interests of peace and tranquility in the state.

Also Read:

Internet suspended in Jammu and Kashmir for a month over student protests

Kashmir: Students clash with security forces in Srinagar's Lal Chowk

Stone pelters on hire in Kashmir: India Today nails Valley's insidious villains

NIA digs out ISI's terror funding plot in Kashmir Valley, questions suspected traders

Internet suspended in Jammu and Kashmir for a month over student protests

Watch Video: Kashmir: Students clash with security forces in Sopore

--- ENDS ---
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By Mark Hallum

Clyde Smith has lived a good life since his service in World War II and at 92 he is modest about the experiences he had while assigned to the famous Red Ball Express. The Bayside resident will be recognized for his part in the struggle against fascism Saturday in an Honor Flight from MacArthur Airport in Long Island to Washington, D.C., to pay tribute to fallen soldiers.

In 1944, as Gen. George Pattons army pushed into Nazi-held territory in Europe a contingent of the Quartermaster Corps., mostly African-America troops, pressed in from behind to keep the men at the front well-supplied. This was dangerous work in which trucking outfits emblazoned with red balls would speed through enemy territory and brave bad whether at all hours to keep the advance moving forward.

Smith cannot remember which day he and his fellow soldiers landed on Omaha Beach in France just after the major part of the Allied battle to take the beach had died down, but he recalls watching the skies in anticipation of air strikes.

His tour through Europe on the Red Ball highways, as the army called the routes, would take him through France, Luxembourg, Germany and Czechoslovakia, up and down the highways, he said.

You had the German Luftwaffe attacking with the V2s and the V1s, thats a silent bomber, he said. You never knew when those were going to hit. It would just come over and come down.

Smith remembers the Battle of Bulge when the Germans were attacking from behind American troops.

The Red Ball Express would be made into a film in 1952.

I was young and had just finished high school. Segregation was a way of life, I had no gripes, Smith said about serving in a segregated fighting force.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Smith would begin looking for a new place to settle after the war away from the South and the segregation that came with it . He and his wife Mamie, whom he met in New Orleans, made New York their home in 1947 and bought their house in Bayside in 1956 where they would raise their 10 children.

The couple became prominent members of society in the developing community, which was farmland and unpaved roads when they arrived.

In New Orleans, it just was the way of living, Smith said, explaining how life was different in New York. I didnt like the segregation. They treat you inferior.

Smiths daughter Maria said getting his children a good education was important to her father and public schools in Queens were crucial to their success later in life. Eight of their 10 children would go on to have college degrees.

Smith worked as a civil servant with the New York City Transit Authority and was able to provide well for his family while his wife was involved with Community Board 11, where she served for over 20 years. She was president of the Roosevelt Democratic Club for a time.

The French government gave Smith a certificate of recognition for his action in World War II and thanked him for the part he played in the liberation of France.

In May 2002, Clyde was honored in the Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade as a division marshal.

Daughter Janice Smith said her parents are often referred to as the mayor and the governor of Bayside by people in the community.

He was able to give us a fortunate life because of where we live, Janice Smith said. We werent exposed to the same kind of discrimination and racism that he suffered through because he decided to raise us here in Bayside. The only time I saw a glimpse of it was when wed go down South.

To the family, preserving the stories of their fathers life is important but no easy task.

Most veterans of war dont talk about their story. Its very hard to pull them out. Weve been working at this for years now, so when [the Honor Flight] came about hes humbled, Janice Smith said. Hes always done what he has to do and I guess thats the bottom line that got him through the war and raising 10 kids and where he is now sitting comfortable in that chair at 92.

Mamie Smith jokes she does not know how many grandchildren they have when asked, but in reality there are 22 total.

Hes been there for all his grandchildren, especially the ones here in Bayside, Smiths granddaughter Sequoia, 21, said. Hes non-stop still.

The Honor Flight Long Island is a non-profit which takes aging veterans free-of-charge to various war memorials as well as Arlington Cemetery. A dinner will be held following the tours.
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By Naeisha Rose

Civil rights leader Al Sharpton, state Sen. Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) and Assemblyman Clyde Vanel (D-Cambria Heights) will be among the many mourners expected at the funeral Saturday for four of the five victims who died April 23 in a fast-moving house fire in Queens Village.

Managing the funeral is family member Sheener Bailey-Briggs.

Everything happens for a reason, but I dont know about this one, Bailey-Briggs said.

A three-alarm fire took the lives of four family members and a friend on a quiet Sunday afternoon in Queens Village when the frame house at 112-16 208th St. burst into flames. No calls were made from the house and the Fire Department was alerted by a passing motorists six minutes after the fire first broke out. The cause of the blaze was still under investigation.

Bailey-Briggs chose to have the funeral service at New Greater Bethel Ministries at 215-32 Jamaica Ave. in Queens Village not just to accommodate many family members, but because it was a place close to her heart, like her nephews and cousins who perished in the blaze.

Bailey-Briggs was related to all four victims who will be remembered Saturday: Jada Foxworth, 20; Destiny Dones, 16; Rashawn Matthews, 10 and Chayce Lipford, 2. Sisters Jada and Destiny were her first cousins, once removed. Rashaw was her great nephew and Chayce her great-grandnephew.

Bethel Ministries has served the extended family in difficult times before.

I joined over 20 years ago, Bailey-Briggs said. When my mom died, and my cousin died in a motorcycle accident, I used this church.

Planning this funeral has been the toughest thing she has ever done in her life, she said. For the past 12 days she has barely been sleeping or eating.

I dont believe that it is true, Bailey-Briggs said. Everyday I drive past just to see if its true. I dont let my sister (Gwen) know. I drive pass the house. What a nightmare. Just pray for us to get through this.

As she reads through the obituaries for her four relatives, she recalls her fondest memories of them.

Chayce, his smile. That baby was too cute. Destiny, from the time that she was a baby, that girl walked with joy. If you think that God takes the best, he really did. That kid right there  all four of them where joyful. They were rays of sunshine. Im not kidding.

Despite the tragedy that has befallen her family, Bailey-Briggs is working diligently to put on a funeral that befits the family.

This is going to be a beautiful funeral. It is going to be excellent. Just pray for us. Its a lot.

The wake will be from 9 a.m. to 11.am. followed by the funeral from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. A repast will be held at 4 p.m.

The four young people will be buried at Pinelawn Cemetery in Farmingdale in L.I.

The fifth victim, Melody Edwards, 17, was laid to rest Wednesday at Mount Moriah AME Church in Cambria Heights.
A private SUV carrying jawans of 62 Rashtriya Rifles was on way from operation area when militants ambushed them and indiscriminately fired at the vehicle resulting injuries to three jawans and a civilian driver who died later on.

By Ashraf Wani: Three Army jawans were injured and a civilian driver killed after an army patrol, part of a massive combing operation underway in 20 villages of Shopian district, was attacked by militants.

A private SUV carrying jawans of 62 Rashtriya Rifles was on way from operation area when militants ambushed them and indiscriminately fired at the vehicle resulting injuries to three jawans in and the civilian driver who succumbed to injuries later on.

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The injured were shifted to hospital the area was cordoned off. It is believed that the militants had fled from the area after attack.

Two Army personnel and a civilian injured after terrorists attacked an Army patrol party in Shopian(J&K) (visuals deferred) pic.twitter.com/C5Y7IkeCr9; ANI (@ANI_news) May 4, 2017

Helicopters and drones circled the air and more than 4,000 troops today fanned out across south Kashmir's Shopian district in a massive operation to flush out militants holed up inside homes.

The operation targeting militants who have been hiding in the area and striking against security forces began in the early hours of the morning with security forces, comprising army, police and CRPF, marching into more than a dozen villages in the district, army sources said.

The operation in Shopian, about 55 km from Srinagar, was perhaps the biggest in more than a decade in the troubled Kashmir Valley, an army official said on the condition of anonymity.

Door-to-door search of houses, a practice stopped in the late 1990s, was re-introduced today. The troops asked all villagers to assemble in a common area so a proper search of their homes could be carried out.

Also read:

After terrorists loot arms, banks, security forces launch massive search operation in Shopian

Shopian: How apple bowl turned into hotbed of terrorism in Kashmir

Also watch:

Chetan Cheetah to India Today: Ready to serve in Kashmir again

--- ENDS ---
Times' Game of the Week Preview: No. 4 Mapletown vs. No. 5 South Side

No. 5 South Side gears up to stop the top-scoring No. 4 Mapletown Maples and star running back Landan Stevenson in the quarterfinal Class 1A matchup.
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QUEENSBURY -- For three weeks, they have listened to devastated family members recall the horrific death of a child, experts explain the intricacies of boat terminology and 20-somethings talk about their use of cocaine and "dabs" of hashish oil.

On Friday, the jurors hearing the Lake George boat crash trial of Alexander West

will start listening to each other  and before the end of the day, possibly decide West's fate on charges that carry 7 1/3 to 22 years in prison.

West, 25, of Lake George, is charged with manslaughter, felony assault and drunken boating in the July 25 death of 8-year-old Charlotte McCue of Carlsbad, Calif., who was killed in a collision with West's 21-foot Larson motorboat near Cramer Point while on a peaceful cruise with her family on her grandfather's 28-foot Gar Wood boat.

At the time of the crash, the third-grader was asleep on the lap of her mother Courtney McCue, who suffered serious injuries. The grandfather, Robert Knarr, Charlotte's father, Eric McCue, her sister Madison, 9, brother Cooper, 4, and step-grandmother, Christine Knarr, were also on board.

Warren County prosecutors say West fled the scene in his boat, ignoring screams that could be heard across Lake George, and hid.

On Thursday, County Judge John Hall instructed the jury about the 12-count indictment facing West following closing arguments by attorneys. He sent jurors home around 5 p.m.

Deliberations will begin 9 a.m. Friday.

In her final words to the jury, West's lawyer Cheryl Coleman said the prosecution lacked any evidence to show her client was intoxicated. She portrayed West as a "dumb kid" who panicked after crashing the boat his father, Martin West, had bought in 1997.

It was an "unspeakable tragedy," she said, but one her client did not cause.

"There's a difference between an accident and a crime," Coleman said.

Coleman reminded the jury that Knarr, the girl's grandfather, who was driving her boat, drank two glasses of wine and later, while distraught over the crash, refused an alcohol test from police when they spoke to him at Glens Falls Hospital.

Coleman accused police of a shoddy one-sized investigation that focused on her client and ignored Knarr's consumption.

"I'm not saying he's drunk," she told jurors, with Knarr watching in court. "I'm saying there's a myopic view. Tunnel vision. (Police) only focused on Alex West."

"For God's sake, don't just do a half investigation," she said.

In a line she would repeat upward of 10 times, Coleman said, "What's good for the goose is good for the gander."

District Attorney Kate Hogan immediately seized on Coleman's line.

"What's good for the goose is good for the gander? Are you kidding me?" she asked incredulously to begin her summation.

Hogan said Knarr, who recently underwent open heart surgery, received approval from his doctor to have two glasses of wine.

"You're trying to compare THAT to what he did?" Hogan said, pointing at West. "Where (West) wakes up on the morning of July 25 and his sole purpose for that day is to party all day? Good for the goose, good for the gander? People couldn't be further apart."

On July 25, Hogan said West spent eight hours at Log Bay Day, an annual alcohol-filled party on the east side of Lake George. She said West drank beer and spiked juice, sniffed cocaine and smoked dabs of hashish oil (concentrated marijuana).

West later drank two Moscow Mules, a vodka-laced drink, she said.

In closing arguments, Hogan highlighted a video of the crash a man took from his dock. Her focus was West.

"At that moment," Hogan said, "he is killing an 8-year-old child asleep on her mother's lap."

Hogan said if West was not drunk, why did he not drive his truck home, which was parked at the Marine Village hotel, where he worked.

Coleman stressed to jurors West does not have a burden to prove anything.

West faces charges that include second-degree manslaughter, felony assault, vehicular manslaughter, vehicular assault, boating while intoxicated and leaving the scene without reporting.




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COLONIE -- An arrested woman in the back of a Bethlehem police car tried to strangle herself with shoelaces in the parking lot of the Albany County jail when officers left her alone to go to a booking window, Sheriff Craig Apple said.

Apple said the officers parked in a fenced-in area at the jail about 11 p.m. Wednesday and left the car to go to the window of the booking facility. When they turned around, the prisoner was down, Apple said.

The woman was unconscious, shoelaces wrapped around her throat, the sheriff said.

A jail nurse was able to revive the woman, identified as Barbara Kubisek, who was taken to a hospital for medical treatment. Apple said she was back in the jail by Thursday morning.

The Bethlehem Police Department released a statement about the issue early Thursday afternoon.

They said Kubisek, 46, of Hudson was brought to the jail after being charged with petit larceny after an incident at a local supermarket.

The department said she was "restrained with leg shackles, belly chain and seatbelt, which were still intact upon arrival at the jail."

Bethlehem police said the officers "immediately noticed" the laces were around Kubisek's neck, insisting "at no time during the transport was [Kubisek] left unattended."

The sheriff initially said Kubisek was left in the car when police went to get a nurse to give her a medical examine before Kubisek was allowed into the facility, but later said the officers were at a booking window in the yard when she allegedly tried to strangle herself.

Jail rules require all prisoners to undergo an evaluation by medical staff before they are let inside the building, Apple said.

The Bethlehem officers were acting on that rule but "nobody stayed with her," Apple said.

It was unclear how long Kubisek was alone. Apple said jail staff initially feared she was badly hurt.
HADLEY  An autopsy on Sherry Norton, the woman found dead in her Hadley home's living room on Wednesday morning, was completed Thursday by Dr. Michael Sikirica at Albany Medical Center, according to the Saratoga County sheriff's department.

The sheriff's office said Thursday afternoon it is awaiting the doctor's report so it can be included in the investigation of the death, which the authorities are calling suspicious.
Saratoga County Sheriff's Office

MILTON - A 77-year-old Northline Road man cast two ballots - one in Milton and one in Florida - during last year's general election, according to the Saratoga County Sheriff's Department.

John Maier Jr. was charged with a felony count of illegal voting on April 26. Lt. Jeffrey Brown said he does not know what party Maier was enrolled in. Brown said that they have never arrested anyone on this charge before.
ALBANY  Police may scan license plates of vehicles even if they do not suspect that the motorist has committed a crime, the state's top court ruled Thursday.

Such scans are a regular practice among police, but the Court of Appeals ruling affirms its legality.

"To ensure the safety of our roads, a police officer may run a license plate number through a government database to check for any outstanding violations of suspensions on the registration of the vehicle," Chief Judge Janet DiFiore wrote in a unanimous decision. "We hold that such a check, even without any suspicion of wrongdoing, is permissible, and does not constitute a search."

The court further ruled it is lawful for police to use information about vehicle registration violations found during such scans as probable cause for an officer to stop a vehicle.

The case stems from the stop and arrest of Andrew R. Bushey, who drove past a Buffalo State University police officer in the early morning hours of Aug. 10, 2014. While the officer didn't see Bushey commit any traffic violations, the officer did manually enter the car's plate into his police computer, which is linked up to a state Department of Motor Vehicles database with information regarding registrations.

The cop saw that Bushey's vehicle registration had been suspended and, after pulling the car over, found that Bushey's driver's license also was suspended. The motorist was booked for driving while intoxicated and for the license and registration violations.

But Bushey asked to have the evidence suppressed, claiming that the traffic stop was unlawful because the officer's scan of his license plate was an impermissible search. A lower court ruled the officer had no cause to run the plate and no reasonable suspicion to justify the traffic stop, dismissing the charges. But an appellate court reversed that decision.

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The Court of Appeals took up Bushey's appeal.

"Because the purpose of a license plate is to readily facilitate the identification of the registered owner of the vehicle for the administration of public safety, a person has no reasonable expectation of privacy in the information acquired by the state for this purpose and contained in a law enforcement or DMV database," the Court of Appeals decision states.

"An officer's observation of that which is publicly displayed and the use of the information relative thereto contained in the DMV database does not violate defendant's Fourth Amendment rights, nor any provision of our New York State constitution," the decision states.

DiFiore wrote that while state law bars arbitrary traffic stops, Bushey wasn't stopped by police until after the officer ran his plate, giving the officer probable cause.
20 villages have been cordoned in Turkwangam area to nab the militants who attacked a police station in Shopian and took off with five service rifles.

By India Today Web Desk: A massive search operation has been launched by the security forces in Shopian district of south Kashmir after the recent terror attacks in the Valley.

20 villages have been cordoned in Turkwangam area to nab the militants who attacked a police station in Shopian and took off with five service rifles on Tuesday night.

Suspected terrorists barged into a police post guarding the court complex of southern Shopian decamped along with five service rifles including four INSAS rifles and an AK-47 rifle.

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Clashes also erupted in the area after the cordon. Some youths assembled in the villages and started pelting stones on the security forces.

On Wednesday four armed militants stormed the Wahibugh branch of Elaquai Dehati Bank in Pulwama and took off with at least Rs 3 lakh in cash. Just over an hour later, a second armed robbery occurred at Jammu and Kashmir Bank's Nehama Branch.

Bank robberies and weapon snatching incidents have been on the rise in the Valley recently, triggering an alert.

It is clear that amid intense unrest and a police clampdown in Jammu and Kashmir, desperate militants have found with a new way to terrorise Kashmir and fund their activities: stealing money from banks and ATMs and looting guns from security personnel.

According to reports from the past seven months, militants have looted more Rs 1 crore from banks and ATMs in 13 such incidents -- all of them concentrated in South Kashmir. Most robberies have occurred in the wee hours of weekdays, and the most common targets have been banks in Pulwama (4) and Kulgam (3). Other districts targeted by militants include Anantnag (2), Shopian (2) and Budgam (1).

According to latest intelligence inputs, terrorists have been deployed along the LoC in small groups of 10 to 12 and are waiting to be pushed to our side from Pakistan occupied Kashmir as a new strategy of their Army.

In a ceasefire violation, the Pakistan Army had on May 1 opened rocket and mortar firing on two forward posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Krishna Ghati sector of Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan's Border Action Team (BAT) attacked an Indian joint patrol team and mutilated its two soldiers.

J&K: Security forces cordoned off more than 20 villages of Shopian after recent terror attacks in the valley, search on. (Visuals deferred) pic.twitter.com/ClI37cgXl7 ANI (@ANI_news) 4 May 2017

FUNDING THE TERROR MACHINE

While cases of weapon-snatching were on the rise, Hizbul Mujahideen commander Zakir Rashid Bhat, who was reportedly close to Wani, went on to record a video message urging Kashmiris to snatch weapons and join the terror outfit. "Anyone who wants to join us, he should snatch a weapon and join us. We welcome them all wholeheartedly," Zakir was heard saying in the video in October last year.

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Days later, another Hizbul video surfaced, showing 12 militants brandishing stolen police rifles. Of these 12 militants, 9 appeared to be fresh recruits.

Then, on November 25, five alleged Overground Workers (OGWs) of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) were arrested from Pulwama as police claimed to have busted a module responsible for looting nearly Rs 14 lakh from a bank in Budgam.

Despite multiple such arrests and raids on terror hideouts, cases of weapon thefts and snatching and bank robberies have continued to pile on. In March this year, Jammu and Kashmir Police even had to issue an advisory to its units to prevent weapon snatching.

NEW TERROR VIDEO

A new terror video appeared on social media showing armed terrorists marching at an unknown location. However, some reports say that the video was shot in a Shopian orchard.

The video is said to have been posted by Hizbul Mujahideen. The video has been uploaded on the social media despite a ban in the Valley.

The terror group has supposedly managed to bypass the ban on social media through some discreet software. Armed militants can be seen patrolling in an orchard.

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Timeline: J&K bank robberies

When terrorists turn robbers

The cash crunch after demonetisation seems to be turning terrorists in Kashmir into robbers. Or is it about poor security and easy money?

The crunch

November 8, 2016

Demonetisation announced and high value notes of Rs 500 & Rs 1,000 withdrawn

Target 1

November 21, 2016

Target: Jammu & Kashmir Bank

Where: Malpora branch in Central Kashmir's Budgam district

Loot: The robbers took Rs 13 lakh - Rs 11 lakhs of it in demonetised currency

Target 2

December 8, 2016

Target: Jammu & Kashmir Bank

Where: Arihal branch in Pulwama district

Loot: Rs 13.3 lakhs - Rs 11.1 lakhs in new currency notes

Target 3

December 15, 2017

Target: Jammu & Kashmir Bank

Loot: Rs 10 lakh, Rs 16,000 in demonetized currencyWhere: Ratnipora branch in Pulwama district Target 4

Feb 16, 2017

Target: Jammu & Kashmir Bank

Where: Turqwangam village in Shopian district of South KashmirLoot: Rs 3 lakh

Target 5 Feb 19, 2017

Target: Jammu & Kashmir Bank

Where: Magam town of Budgam district in Central Kashmir

Loot: Rs 0; unidentified men attempted to break into the branch but failed to get past the iron grilles at the door

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Target 6

April 19, 2017Target: Jammu & Kashmir Bank

Where: Harmain branch in Shopian district

Loot: Rs 5 lakh cash

Target 7

April 21, 2017

Target: State Bank of India

Where: ATM in Anantnag district

Loot: The ATM had Rs 12.18 lakh

Target 8

April 28, 2017

Target: Jammu & Kashmir Bank

Where: TP branch in Anantnag district of south Kashmir

Loot: Attempt foiled by security forces & one militant arrested

Target 9

May 1, 2017Target: Jammu & Kashmir Bank

Where: A bank van carrying money south Kashmir's Kulgam district

Loot: The van had no cash

Target 10

May 2, 2017

Target: Ellaquai Dehati Bank

Where: South Kashmir's Kulgam district

Loot: Rs 65,000

Target 11

May 3, 2017

Target: Jammu & Kashmir Bank

Where: Neehama branch in south Kashmir's Pulwama disctrictLoot: Exact amount not yet known

What's next? If bank branches in remote areas become such easy target of terrorists, the consequences can be severe

Success rate: 8 /11 = 73%

Cash looted: Rs 45 lakh

Also Read:

Jammu and Kashmir cop, who decamped with four AK 47 rifles, may have joined LeT

Video: A look at major terror attacks that took place in the Kashmir Valley

India hits back after jawans mutilated on LoC; Army kills 7 Pakistani soldiers, destroys 2 enemy bunkers

Robbing banks and stealing guns: Kashmir militants have found a new way to fund terror in the Valley

Months after surgical strikes, 55 terror training camps come up along LoC

Krishna Ghati mutilation: How Pakistan army sneaked past heat scanners put up by India

Kashmir: Armed militants ransack another branch of Elaqi Dehati Bank within 24 hours

Hizbul militants kill 5 policemen, 2 J&K Bank employees in Kulgam while looting cash van

Gunmen loot bank in south Kashmir, flee with Rs 65,000

--- ENDS ---
This year enjoy Cinco de Mayo with free chips and salsa, happy hour margaritas or a free rock show. These are a just a few of the local options you'll find on Friday, May 5 to kick off a holiday that's been celebrated in America since the late 1800s.
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Saranac Lake

Environmental groups are alarmed by a conceptual proposal floated by the Cuomo administration to establish lodging facilities near Boreas Ponds  in an area they believe should be classified as "untrammeled" wilderness.

The groups say they would fight any such proposal vigorously, contending that it would violate both the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan and Article 14, the section of the state constitution mandating that the Forest Preserve "shall be forever kept as wild forest land."

State officials have not released details of the proposal, but they have discussed it with the park's green groups.

Environmentalists say the idea is to designate an "Intensive Use Area" along a five-acre stretch of an old logging road leading to Boreas Ponds and erect semi-permanent structures such as yurts or walled tents with amenities like cooking stoves, tables and chairs and beds. There is even talk that the state could furnish meals. The structures would be removed part of the year.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo alluded to the proposal in his State of the State speeches in January, saying the state Department of Environmental Conservation "will construct infrastructure at Boreas Ponds in the Adirondacks and build trails as part of the 'hut-to-hut' system that links state lands to community amenities."

In mid-April, DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos described the Boreas Ponds proposal as merely conceptual. "It's not anything that's in front of the Adirondack Park Agency," he said during a recent visit to Lake Placid.

Seggos said the state was looking at the idea as part of a larger initiative to establish hut-to-hut hiking routes in the Adirondacks. "The Boreas property might not be appropriate for it," he added.

North Hudson Supervisor Ron Moore, whose town includes Boreas Ponds, had heard nothing about the lodging proposal when contacted by a reporter, but he said he likes the concept.

Neil Woodworth, executive director of the Adirondack Mountain Club, has little doubt that environmental groups will sue if the state tries to implement the proposal.

"I don't think we're making a mountain out of a molehill," Woodworth said. "This is quite a substantial departure" in the management of the Forest Preserve.

Intensive Use is one of the Adirondack Park Agency's seven land classifications for the Forest Preserve. The designation is usually used for state campgrounds and ski areas. Several years ago, the state classified a stretch of dirt road in the Moose River Plains as Intensive Use, but that road is open to motor vehicles and its only amenities are primitive campsites similar to those found throughout the park.

Woodworth, who is a lawyer, and others point out that the State Land Master Plan declares that Intensive Use Areas "will not be situated where they will aggravate problems on lands already subject to or threatened by overuse, such as the eastern portion of the High Peaks Wilderness." The Boreas Ponds Tract borders the High Peaks Wilderness and may be added to it.

The State Land Master Plan also says Intensive Use Areas "will be adjacent to or serviceable from existing public road systems or water bodies open to motorboat use." The stretch of road in question (less than a mile from the ponds) is not open to motorists, though the state could make it so.

Environmentalists argue that the proposal also would violate Article 14. Woodworth pointed to a 1934 opinion by John Bennett Jr., then state attorney general. That year, the Conservation Department (the predecessor of DEC) wanted to build shelters and serve food in remote parts of the Forest Preserve. Bennett advised that the scheme was probably unconstitutional. "It would lessen ... the solitude and wildness, which many consider lends charm to the north woods," he wrote.

Woodworth noted that several proposals to amend Article 14 to allow cabins in the Forest Preserve have been voted down by the public over the years.

Peter Bauer, executive director of Protect the Adirondacks, questions whether Intensive Use Areas  anywhere in the Preserve  accord with Article 14. "Intensive Use Areas are managed within the guidelines of the State Land Master Plan," he said. "I don't know if they're legal or not."

Asked about the legal questions raised by environmentalists, Seggos said, "Since it's not an actual proposal, it would be premature to speculate on its legality."

Last fall, the APA held public hearings on four classification options for the 20,758-acre Boreas Ponds Tract, which the state purchased from the Nature Conservancy a year ago. Because none of the alternatives included an Intensive Use Area, environmentalists argue that the APA cannot approve the new proposal without more hearings. However, the APA is expected to vote this spring or summer on the classification  too soon, presumably, to schedule hearings and analyze feedback.

One idea is to leave the proposed Intensive Use Area unclassified for the time being while making a decision on the rest of the tract.

ADK, the Adirondack Council, Protect the Adirondacks, Adirondack Wild, and Adirondack Wilderness Advocates all want Boreas Ponds and the stretch of road in question classified as motor-free Wilderness. The master plan defines Wilderness, in part, as "an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man  where man himself is a visitor who does not remain."

Local towns want Boreas Ponds and lands in the immediate vicinity classified as Wild Forest, which would allow mountain biking and greater motorized access. Even under their proposal, though, more than half of the tract would be wilderness.

A few years ago, the state hired Leading Edge, a firm based in Saranac Lake, to prepare a conceptual plan for hut-to-hut hiking routes between Adirondack communities. One of the proposed routes passes by Boreas Ponds. In most cases, hikers would stay at existing hotels and inns on private land, but the plan does contemplate the use of temporary lodging on the Forest Preserve.

"Our directive was to think out of the box," said Jack Drury, the co-owner of Leading Edge.

"To have the first experiment of this sort of camping in the middle of the Boreas Ponds Tract is very troublesome," said David Gibson, a partner in Adirondack Wild.

This story appears in the May/June issue of the Adirondack Explorer magazine. Learn more at adirondackexplorer.org.
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QUEENSBURY  The father of manslaughter defendant Alexander West testified Wednesday his son was stunned to learn his boat collision on Lake George the night before claimed the life of an 8-year-old girl and injured her mother.

"What was his reaction?" defense attorney Cheryl Coleman asked Martin West in Warren County Court.

"Utter disbelief," West responded.

West, 54, of Lake George testified on behalf of his 25-year-old son as the final witness in the nearly three-week-old trial before County Judge John Hall. The jury is expected to begin deliberations Thursday following closing arguments and the judge's instructions to the jury. He told the jury Wednesday it should take as much  or little  time as it need to reach a verdict, saying it might take a week or just an hour.

Warren County prosecutors allege West was drunk and stoned after spending eight hours with friends at Log Bay Day, an annual booze-filled party on the east side of Lake George. They contend West imbibed beer, snorted cocaine, smoked "dabs" of hashish oil (concentrated marijuana) and later consumed two mixed drinks at dinner in Bolton Landing in the hours before his 21-foot Larson motorboat struck a 28-foot Gar Wood vessel near Cramer Point about 9:22 p.m.

Charlotte McCue, 8, was instantly killed. She had been asleep on the lap of her mother, Courtney, who was seriously injured. Also on board were the child's father, Eric McCue, her sister Madison, 9, brother Cooper, 4, step-grandmother Chrstine Knarr and grandfather Robert Knarr, who was piloting the 1928 boat. District Attorney Kate Hogan and her first assistant, Jason Carusone, allege Alexander West struck the boat, then fled the crash scene. He faces 7 1/2 to 22 years in prison if convicted of charges that include second-degree manslaughter, felony assault, boating while intoxicated and leaving the scene.

The defendant's father, who said he works in information technology, explained his son grew up on the lake, piloting boats since the age of 12. As a child, he said, Alexander West would sit on his lap steering on lake rides. Martin West said he purchased the Larson his son was using in 1997.

The father said he first learned of the boat crash watching television on July 25, but he did not know it involved his son, who he said he could not reach. He said he and his wife Cassandra received a phone call from police late on July 25. Maj. James LaFarr of the Warren County sheriff's office later showed up at his home, telling him his boat had been seen operating erratically. The father said he asked LaFarr if his boat was involved in the crash. LaFarr would not say yes or no.

"I got the sense they were checking me out," the father testified. He noted LaFarr shined a light in his face.

Martin West said he told LaFarr his son could be staying with friends in Bolton Landing, Kingsbury or Lake George. He testified his son was home between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. on July 26, showing disbelief the crash had killed the child and severely injured her mother, Courtney, who was in court Wednesday.

The defense team has acknowledged he was in the crash, but argue Alexander West was unaware of it and had the right of way.

"Was there a discussion about what to do?" Coleman asked Martin West,

"Yes," the father testified. "I told him to get in the shower and we need to get in the car and go."

They went to the sheriff's office which, the father testified, was his son's idea. Martin West said he waited in the lobby of the police station as his son was interviewed by investigators.

"I told him to tell the truth," the father testified.

In that police interview, Alexander West told Investigators John Maday and Terri Jeffords he drank two Coronas at Log Bay Day and consumed no other alcohol or substances for the rest of the day. A blood test revealed the defendant had cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana in his system, but investigators drew the blood without first obtaining a warrant, rendering it inadmissible at trial.

Had the defendant testified, which he chose not to do, he risked the blood evidence coming into the trial, Coleman told reporters.

"I think at the end of the day, no prudent lawyer would have made the decision for him to testify knowing that those results loomed very large in the background," she said.

During cross-examination of Martin West, Carusone seized on the opportunity to reveal the father's lack of knowledge of the events of July 25. Carusone highlighted a photo of the defendant holding a beer at Log Bay Day was on a screen.

"You weren't there when your son was drinking whatever he was drinking on that boat?" Carusone asked Martin West.

No, the father replied.

Carusone asked Martin West if he would have any idea if his son had snorted cocaine or smoked hashish oil on the boat. Again, the father said no.

"You weren't there when that Larson went over that Gar Wood?" the prosecutor asked.

Martin West acknowledged he was not.

"If there were screams, you wouldn't be able to hear them from where you were?" Carusone pressed.

"No," the father answered.

Coleman told reporters she hoped the judge would have allowed Martin West to testify about her client's anxiety condition. She said Alexander West has been under the care of a therapist for the condition. She did not subpoena the therapist to testify, she said.

Coleman is conceding one count in the indictment charging her client with misdemeanor drug possession for cocaine on the boat. She has previously admitted the drug was on the boat, but said her client did not use it.
Bloomberg | Getty Images

If you received an email from someone in your contacts list today in which the sender appeared to be sharing a Google Doc with you, don't click it  it could be malware or a phishing scam.

The email appears innocuous enough; the subject line reads that someone you likely know "has shared a document on Google Docs with you." However, if you click "Open in Docs," you're redirected to a page where you're asked to enter in  yep, you guessed it  your password.
Washington

James Comey, the FBI director, sharply defended his rationale for notifying Congress about new emails related to the Hillary Clinton investigation less than two weeks before Election Day, saying Wednesday any suggestion he affected the vote's outcome made him "mildly nauseous."

Comey's comments at a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing were his first public explanation for his actions, which roiled the presidential campaign in its final days.

Comey said he went public Oct. 28 because he believed that the emails found by his agents might provide insight into Clinton's reasons for using a private server as secretary of state and might change the outcome of the investigation. Failing to inform Congress, Comey said, would have a required an "act of concealment."

"Concealment, in my view, would have been catastrophic," he said, adding later that he knew the decision would be "disastrous for me personally."

What Comey viewed as concealing, Justice Department officials viewed simply as following the rules. The FBI does not normally confirm ongoing investigations. Senior Justice Department officials urged him not to send a letter to Congress informing them that the bureau was examining the new emails.

Unlike a House Intelligence Committee hearing in March in which Comey took the extraordinary step of confirming the existence of an investigation into Russian meddling in the election, the hearing Wednesday was supposed to be a more routine congressional oversight proceeding. But little has been routine for the FBI over the past 10 months.

The tone of the opening statements from both the top Republican and the top Democrat on the committee made clear that they wanted answers from Comey on a number of issues, including Clinton's emails, the Russia investigation, leaks to the news media and the use of wiretapping as an investigative tool.

"We need the FBI to be accountable because we need the FBI to be effective," said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the committee.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the ranking Democrat on the panel, immediately pounced on Comey, saying he took an enormous gamble in sending a letter to Congress on Oct. 28 informing them that the FBI was examining new Clinton-related emails without knowing how the messages might shape the Clinton investigation.

She demanded to know why he treated the investigations so "dramatically different."

Comey rejected her assertion.

He said that the FBI had confirmed the existence of an investigation into Clinton's emails months after the bureau began it, and that it said no more until after it was closed. Similarly, Comey said, the FBI revealed there was an investigation into Russian efforts to influence the election months after it was opened in July, and only after it had been widely reported in the media.

And as in the Clinton investigation, the FBI has refused to talk about what it has found.

"We're not going to say another peep about it until we are done," Comey said, acknowledging that the inquiry into Russian meddling is ongoing. "And I don't know what will be said when we're done."

Comey's handling of the Clinton email investigation continues to shadow him. Not even President Donald Trump seems keen to forget the decisions the FBI director made during the election. On Tuesday night, the president criticized him in a Twitter post, writing that Comey was "the best thing that ever happened to Hillary Clinton in that he gave her a free pass for many bad deeds!"

Trump also played down the FBI's investigation into Russian efforts to help his campaign.

"The phony Trump/Russia story was an excuse used by the Democrats as justification for losing the election," the president wrote on Twitter, apparently in reaction to Clinton's comments Tuesday in which she heaped blame on the FBI and Russian-backed hackers for her election loss. She also said Trump was unprepared for the presidency.

Comey was also pressed Wednesday about leaks to journalists and whether FBI agents in New York revealed information during the election to former federal law enforcement and elected officials, including Rudy Giuliani, the onetime New York City mayor. Three days before Comey's announcement in October, Giuliani, an adviser to Trump's campaign, said on Fox News that the campaign had "a couple of surprises" in store.

After Comey's letter was made public, putting Giuliani's comments in a new light, a Trump campaign spokesman said the former mayor had been "having fun." But Giuliani later undermined that assertion, saying he knew in advance that the FBI had found new emails related to Clinton. His comments reinforced suspicions that some FBI agents were out to get her.

"If I find out that people were leaking information about our investigations, whether to reporters or private parties, there will be severe consequences," Comey told the questioner, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
A Rotterdam teenager who police say threatened to harm his school was arrested Wednesday.

Rotterdam police said the 14-year-old student of the Mohonasen school district posted the threats on a social media account. The teen was immediately located, interviewed and charge with making a terroristic threat, a felony.

The case was then turned over to Schenectady County Probation for prosecution.

The Rotterdam Police Department "treats threats of this nature with the utmost seriousness and will continue to work in conjunction with school staff to assure the safety of our local schools," police said in a statement.
COLTON -- A Quebec man was killed when his plane crashed Wednesday night in this St. Lawrence County town, State Police said.

St. Lawrence County 911 received a call about 8:30 p.m. reporting a plane crash near 327 Windmill Road in Colton in the foothills of the northern Adirondacks.
ALBANY  A woman was rushed to Albany Medical Center after a fire broke out in her Madison Avenue apartment complex late Wednesday afternoon.

The condition of the woman, who is in her mid-50s, was unknown Wednesday night. though Albany Fire Department officials said she was unresponsive when she was rescued from her apartment at 755 Madison Ave.
Katrina Kaif is looking sizzling hot in these latest bunch of photos clicked by Mario Testino.

By India Today Web Desk: Katrina Kaif is where the definition of hotness stops in India. And like fine wine, she seems to be getting better with age and yes, she is flaunting it.

Katrina made the country go breathless with her thumkas last year in Baar Baar Dekho's Kala Chashma. Just recently she shot for celebrity photographer Mario Testino's Towel series and the results were simply full of hardcore oomph.

Photo: Mario Testino

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Well Katrina Kaif once again went behind the camera for Mario Testino and the results are simply fantabulous. Katrina Kaif is seen posing in a variety of costumes, depicting various moods and fans surely won't be able to have enough of her after they take a peek at these pics. Here they are.

#KatrinaKaif for #VogueIndia | Photographs by #MarioTestino #Bollywood A post shared by Heroine Katrina Kaif ??? (@kkaifc) on May 3, 2017 at 3:08am PDT

#KatrinaKaif for #VogueIndia | Photographs by #MarioTestino #Bollywood A post shared by Heroine Katrina Kaif ??? (@kkaifc) on May 3, 2017 at 3:05am PDT

katrina kaif for vogue india. she'll be featured inside the collector's edition Issue || A post shared by Katrina Kaif Turquotte ? (@bestofkatrina) on May 3, 2017 at 3:04am PDT

Ive always been a fan of #MarioTestino 's work and admired the way he captures women" - #KatrinaKaif #Vogue A post shared by @katrinakaifonline.me on May 3, 2017 at 2:36am PDT

Katrina Kaif recently made her debut on the social media platform Instagram and instantly, she got over 1.5 million followers. Soon enough, the actor was welcomed on Instagram by her Ek Tha Tiger co-star and ex-boyfriend Salman Khan who called a 'tigress'. Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra followed suit.

ALSO READ: Did you know Katrina Kaif was bleeding while dancing to Chikni Chameli?

WATCH: Katrina Kaif talks about her experience being a superstar

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Hundreds of cyclists arrived in the Cathedral Town this evening as part of the nationwide Cycle Against Suicide event rounding out the twelft day of the charity cycle.

This year Rockwell College and the Ursuline Secondary School Thurles were both successful in their bids to become anchor schools to host hundreds of cyclists from across the country.

Over 100 homes in the Thurles area will provide homestays on Thursday night to the cyclists who arrived en-masse from Fermoy this afternoon after completing the latest leg of the 14 day journey around Ireland.

Meanwhile students from the Ursuline have been working hard to raise awareness of mental health in the town and spread the message that its okay not to be okay" and that "its okay to ask for help.

Last week students at the Ursuline surprised each other with 'positivity notes' which decorated the lockers of each pupil at the school while the Ursuline's Cycle Against Suicide ambassador team got to grips turning the school grounds and classrooms into 'a sea of orange.'
Election results: Check out results from various races across the state
By Press Trust of India: Los Angeles, May 4 (PTI) Party drug ketamine and Botox - used cosmetically to treat wrinkles - may help alleviate the symptoms of depression, scientists claim.

Researchers from University of California, San Diego in the US looked at a database containing over eight million patient records for depression symptoms in patients taking ketamine for pain.

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The team focused on patients in the database who received ketamine, narrowing their study population down to about 41,000.

They applied a mathematical algorithm to look for statistically significant differences in reported depression symptoms for each patient.

Researchers found that the incidence of depression symptoms in patients who took ketamine in addition to other pain therapeutics dropped by 50 per cent compared to the patients who took any other drug or drug combination for pain.

Patients who took ketamine less frequently reported pain and opioid-associated side effects, such as constipation, as compared to patients who received other pain medications, researchers said.

"It is possible that another factor common to patients taking ketamine was driving the antidepressant effect, such as the fact that ketamine also relieves pain," said Ruben Abagyan professor at University of California San Diego.

"That is why they compared ketamine patients with patients taking other pain medications. That control group eliminated the possibility that people who take ketamine have less depression because they have less pain," Abagyan said.

Researchers also found three other drugs with previously under-appreciated antidepressant effects emerge from this analysis.

These are Botox, used cosmetically to treat wrinkles and medically to treat migraines and other disorders, diclofenac, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), and minocycline, an antibiotic.

The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports. PTI APA MHN SAR MHN

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Sooner than later Kumar Vishwas is likely to part ways with Arvind Kejriwal because he is a misfit in Aam Aadmi Party.

By Kumar Shakti Shekhar: It may well turn out to be the lull before the storm. A truce was called between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and poet-politician Kumar Vishwas on May 3 but it may not long last. Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was occasionally called a right man in the wrong party. Similarly, sooner than later Kumar Vishwas is likely to part ways with Kejriwal because he too is a misfit in Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

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While coming down heavily on the humiliating assault by the local youth on the security forces in Kashmir, Kumar Vishwas released a video on April 14 critiqued personality cult in the political parties. He criticised BJP, Congress and AAP for revolving around Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal respectively.

?? ???? ?? ???! We, The Nation!Watch, Listen and Share if you feel for Nation! ??????; Dr Kumar Vishvas (@DrKumarVishwas) April 14, 2017

Coming shortly after AAP's drubbing in the Punjab and Goa Assembly elections, it was seen as a direct attack on Kejriwal.

A war of words followed in AAP. Party MLA Amanatullah attacked Kumar Vishwas. He demanded action against the MLA, saying he would have been expelled had he spoken against Kejriwal or Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. A split in AAP looked imminent forcing the leaders to call truce.

A photograph purportedly clicked during AAP's Political Affairs Committee meeting on April 3 told the tale. While all other leaders were seen smiling, the only serious and frowning face was that of Kumar Vishwas.

In any case, it was not the first time that Kumar Vishwas has criticised Arvind Kejriwal. He had done it even after AAP's near dismal show in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections when the party had won just four of the 400-odd seats it had contested.

In fact, Kumar Vishwas' views generally are at variance with that of Arvind Kejriwal and AAP.

1. PRAISE FOR PM NARENDRA MODI

Kumar Vishwas and Arvind Kejriwal are diametrically opposite to each other in the manner in which they treat PM Modi. The Delhi CM has spared no opportunity to hot out hard at the PM and has used foul language such as "coward and psychopath" to address him.

On the other hand, Kumar Vishwas believes a PM is a rival till elections. But after elections, a PM is for the whole nation. Everyone has the right to praise the PM for his or her good work and the right to condemn him or her for any step which was not in the interest of the nation.

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So far since the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Kumar Vishwas has not used any filthy language for PM Modi.

On the contrary, he has admired Modi's foreign policies and lauded his response to the Jammu and Kashmir floods and spending of Diwali amongst the security forces.

2. MODI VS MANMOHAN

As usual, Arvind Kejriwal has been highly critical of PM Modi. But Kumar Vishwas has been on record to say that Narendra Modi is a better prime minister than his predecessor Manmohan Singh and that India was coming out of policy paralysis. Vishwas believes that Modi should be given a chance.

3. SURGICAL STRIKES

A large part of the nation lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Army's surgical strikes against terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on September 29. The public sentiment was also in favour of the military exercise against the neighbouring country. However, Arvind Kejriwal demanded its proof. The Delhi CM was widely criticized in the country for his move. Conversely, he was praised in Pakistan.

As against his own leader, Kumar Vishwas sang paeans on the country's security forces. He also criticised Kejriwal for demanding proof of the surgical strikes. He unequivocally said Kejriwal' stand on the issue was wrong.

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4. EVMs

The Delhi chief minister has been running a campaign against the EVMs, calling them tamper-prone. He has alleged that EVMs were hacked in the recently held Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. Arvind Kejriwal has gone to the extent of casting aspersions on the Election Commission, calling it biased. He claimed that the EVM's software can be hacked and demanded handing over EVMs for 72 hours to prove his charge.

Exit polls for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections held last month predicted victory for BJP in all the three corporations. Arvind Kejriwal got furious at the exit polls and said he would launch a movement against EVMs if the actual results also went against AAP.

However, taking an opposite stand, Kumar Vishwas feels it wrong to blame EVMs for AAP's losses. Instead of finding fault with the EVMs, he wants AAP leaders to indulge in introspection and do away with the company of yes men.

5. DEMONETISATION

Arvind Kejriwal was among the few Opposition leaders who had launched an aggressive campaign against PM Modi's demonetisation move. Along with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he had demanded roll back of the initiative. He and Mamata had warned of a revolt if the Centre did not withdraw demonetisation.

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However, Kumar Vishwas did not protest demonetisation. At best, he posted a humorous video caricaturing PM Modi and Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani.

The whole thing is that ki bhaiya 'Sabse Bada Rupaiyya'#DanceOfDemocracy pic.twitter.com/JHbpuW4pn2; Dr Kumar Vishvas (@DrKumarVishwas) December 9, 2016

NO VAJPAYEE

On many occasions, Vajpayee's views were not in line with that of his party. He had praised the then prime minister Indira Gandhi after the 1971 Bangladesh War and called her "Ma Durga". Some leaders of BJP's rivals referred to Vajpayee as the "right man in the wrong party". However, Vajpayee never quit BJP. He never even threatened to do so.

Kumar Vishwas' stand is similar to that of Vajpayee. He too eulogises the prime minister who is his own party chief's bte noire. His nationalistic tone and tenor are not reflected in the stand taken by Kejriwal or other party leaders.

However, Kumar Vishwas is no Vajpayee. He has already threatened to quit once. The truce seems temporary. The fault lines between him and Kejriwal remain and they may broaden and deepen any time. Amanatullah has been suspended to placate Kumar Vishwas but no timeframe has been given for the inquiry to be completed against him.

Moreover, by making Kumar Vishwas in charge of Rajasthan elections, an attempt has been made to erode his popularity. AAP hardly has any base in the western state which goes to polls in 2018. An AAP loss will make Kumar Vishwas' position untenable.

But Kumar Vishwas' disillusionment with AAP may come much before the 2018 Assembly elections.

WHAT NEXT FOR KUMAR VISHWAS

Which political party will Kumar Vishwas join if he quits AAP?

He may quit politics. But if he doesn't, he is unlikely to join hands with former AAP colleagues Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan. The latter is as vociferous in criticising PM Modi as Kejriwal. His views on Kashmir and security forces also do not find resonance with those of Kumar Vishwas.

Congress will also be no destination for the poet-politician. He too, like PM Modi, believes in a Congress-mukt Bharat. For him, Congress has introduced corruption, nepotism, dynasty, casteism and parachute-dropping in Indian polity.

Being an avowed nationalistic, Kumar Vishwas' views match with those of ruling BJP. Hence, in most likelihood, he will join BJP.

Also read: AAP leaders in a single frame, but is all well now?

Also read: Kumar Vishwas placated by AAP: Amanatullah Khan suspended, poet-politician given charge of Rajasthan

Watch the video here

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Attacks like the Google Docs phishing scam that swept across the internet for an hour yesterday (May 3) will likely happen to other online services, thanks to a common login mechanism that is used by hundreds of websites.

The scam exploited the OAuth (for "open authorization") protocol, which Google, Facebook, Twitter and many other services use to log users into multiple websites at once, and keep those users logged in indefinitely.

(Image credit: dennizn/Shutterstock)

"[The] functionality of this campaign seems to be a modern incarnation of old e-mail macro viruses, such as the ILoveYou worm," said Alex Heid, chief research officer at SecurityScorecard in New York.

"It is highly likely that the use of OAuth will be a common theme in future phishing campaigns," Heid said. "This method is both effective from the standpoint of social engineering the victim, and the robust functionalities of OAuth apps allows attackers to expand the attack surface area."

MORE: Best Antivirus Software and Apps

When you log into a service that uses OAuth, you create a "session token" that can be transferred to other sites and services, and log you into those as well. That's how you can log into TweetDeck and Twitter at the same time, or log into hundreds of websites with your Facebook password.

"OAuth phishing isn't going away," said Jordan Wright, a research and development engineer at Duo Labs in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in a blog posting today (May 4).

"The success of this campaign suggests that we are likely to see more of this type of phishing moving forward," Wright said. "These attacks are easy to automate, are cheap to set up, and, as we saw on Wednesday, are very effective."

What You Need to Know (and What You Can Do)

The silver lining in yesterday's attack was that there was no malicious payload, nor any theft of usernames or passwords. If you were affected, you do not have to change your Google password.

But you do need to go to https://myaccount.google.com/permissions and check to see if Google Docs is listed as a service that has access to your Google account. If so, remove it. (The real Google Docs has built-in access and won't appear on the page.)

This isn't OAuth's first brush with infamy  an OAuth flaw disclosed almost exactly three years ago could have let anyone hijack your Google, Facebook, Twitter or Microsoft accounts.

Session tokens do have a finite lifespan, but it's often weeks long, as anyone who keeps themselves permanently logged into frequently used websites can testify. Every once in a while, you'll have to log back in again, which is how you know your previous session token has expired.

However, logging out of such services will kill a session token. The catch is that you must log off on all the desktop or laptop computers you may regularly use. (Apps and browsers on mobile devices are at less risk.)

One way to avoid OAuth abuse is to log off Facebook, Twitter, Gmail and any other online service as soon as you're done using it on a computer. You'll have to log back in next time, which is kind of a pain, but at least you'll know that no one else can steal your token and log in without your permission

Why the Attack Worked So Well

Yesterday's attack tricked its victims into generating an OAuth token for a fake Google Docs service, and deceived the user into granting the fake Google Docs access to their Gmail accounts. With that OAuth token, the phony service could hijack Gmail.

The phony service automatically sent emails to everyone in a victim's address book, asking them to view a Google Docs document. If a victim clinked on the "View in Docs" button in the email message, he or she was presented with a pop-up windows asking permission to give Google Docs permission to access Gmail, and the cycle repeated itself.

Whether you had enabled two-factor authentication on your Google account made no difference  OAuth presumes that you're fully authorized already, and blows right by 2FA.

"Because OAuth phishing avoids the typical red flags users have grown accustomed to with email phishing (that is, unfamiliar or spoofed URL link, sign-in request, or attached file), it is likely to have a higher rate of success and may even confound more experienced and competent users," wrote Greg Martin, CEO of Jask, a cybersecurity firm in San Francisco, on the Dark Reading website.
Police officers in Shawnee are searching for a man who hijacked a person at a drive-thru and then ran from the scene of an accident on Wednesday morning.
The story of drunk rats infuriated SSP Maharaj so much that he issued orders of conducting breath analyzer test of policemen in each and every police station in the district.

By Rohit Kumar Singh: Bizarre as it may sound, but is true! This week, few police officers in Patna narrated a story to their SSP Manu Maharaj of drunk rats. The story which came as a shocker to Maharaj infuriated him so much that he issued orders of conducting breath analyzer test of policemen in each and every police station in the district on a random basis. However, what is curious is the story about drunk rats.

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On Tuesday this week, Patna SSP Manu Maharaj had convened a meeting of Station House Officers (SHOs) to review the law and order situation and the crime graph in their respective areas ahead of the upcoming Patna Municipal Corporation elections. During the meeting, Maharaj queried the SHOs about the status of liquor seizures in the "maalkhana". To his surprise, several police officers informed him that liquor worth crores of rupees had gone missing and they reasoned that rats present at the "maalkhana" have perhaps consumed the missing liquor.

It is notable that ever since prohibition was imposed in Bihar on 5th April, last year, excise officials and police have confiscated more than 5 lakh litres of Indian Made Foreign Liquor and approximately 3 lakh litres of country-made liquor from across the state in last one year. These liquor seizure worth crores of rupees have been stocked in various "maalkhanas" in different police stations across the state.

Sensing foul play by police officers of secretly selling the liquor in the market or consuming themselves has triggered Patna SSP to conduct breath analyzer test done randomly. Following the diktats from the Patna SSP, many police stations have begun with the exercise of protecting liquors bottles from rats by sprinkling rat poison at the "maalkhanas".

"We have been instructed by our SSP to protect the liquor bottles from rats and therefore we are ensuring this. Conducting breath analyzer test of policemen is also a welcome step," said Ravi Bhushan, SHO Kankarbagh.

Also read:

Over 150 cartons of IMFL seized in dry Bihar

Bihar: Police seizes over 5000 liquor bottles from Fatehpur

WATCH VIDEO: Patna: Cops to take breath analyser test after they blamed rats for missing alcohol

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Disgusting Johnson County allegations offer another look at why the bookstore is better than other far more celebrated public hangouts for hobos and other suspects. Take a peek:The suspect is "a registered sex offender who was convicted of aggravated indecent liberties with a child in 2004 and sexual exploitation of a child in 2012."You decide . . .
Kansas City Area Forecast

First Alert: No rain in sight for next several days WEBVTT GOOD INFORMATION. LOOKING BEHIND ME, THIS IS OUR LAST GASP OF THE HEAVIER RAINFALL WITH FIRST ALERT LIVE RADAR. YOU NOTICE FROM RICHMOND ON THE MISSOURI SIDE, TO THE SOUTH TO THEREINGTON AND HOLDEN, MISSOURI, THAT IS THE BACK EDGE OF THE LIGHT SHOWERS WITH MIST AND DRIZZLE A POSSIBILITY.

Final Chapter In Tragic Tale

EXCLUSIVE: Surveillance video shows relative lived in home during tortured KCK boy's abuse A 41 Action News investigation into who failed Adrian Jones reveals another adult lived in the Joneses' home during the course of the 7-year-old's abuse.

Local Bus Diesel Danger

Diesel technician concerned with company that makes engine in school bus that caught fire in KC KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Is your child safe on the school bus? One metro diesel technician says maybe not - depending on the make of the engine. The question arises after a school bus with dozens of Pathway Academy students burst into flames on Tuesday on East 55th Street near Swope Parkway.

Rock Chalk Democratic Party Folds On Tax Fight Like A Cheap Suit

Kansas lawmakers cancel $1 billion tax debate Kansas lawmakers cancel $1 billion tax debate Legislator says measure didn't have enough support to override a veto Kansas lawmakers have cancelled debate on a $1 billion-plus tax increase Wednesday because leaders didn't think it has enough support. House Taxation Committee Chairman Rep.

Show-Me Singalong

Missouri senators sing Kumbaya After weeks of discord in the Missouri Senate that has paralyzed the chamber, Democratic Sen. Kiki Curls of Kansas City and Republican Sen. Bob Dixon of Springfield sing "Kumbaya" during debate on May 3, 2017.

For our late night denizens we offer a quick tribute to hottie Helen back in her glory days along with these local links. Checkit:And this is thefor tonight . . .
Eurogroup could endorse the policy package and the terms of the next disbursement and address the sustainability of Greek debt

BRUSSELS (ANA/C. Vasilaki)  The Euro Working Group (EWG) welcomed on Thursday the preliminary agreement reached between the institutions and Greek authorities on a policy package basis for concluding the second program review, an EU official said.

The EWG met to take stock of the developments in the review.

Following the implementation of the prior actions by Greece, the Eurogroup could endorse the policy package and the terms of the next disbursement and address the sustainability of Greek debt in the near future, on the basis of May 2016 agreement, the official added.

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 Commission is recommending that Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway phase out the temporary controls currently in place at some of their internal Schengen borders over the next six months.

Whilst the overall situation continues to stabilise, there are still a significant number of irregular migrants and asylum seekers in Greece. That is why, as a precautionary measure and whilst alternatives are put in place, the Commission is recommending that the Council prolong controls for the last time, meaning they will have to be lifted in six months' time. During this time, as in the previous periods, controls should only be carried out in a targeted and limited manner and only as a means of last resort. At the same time, the Commission is calling on Member States to increasingly make use of alternative measures that can provide the same level of security, such as proportionate police checks in border areas and along main transport routes. To that effect, the Commission has today also presented a Recommendation on proportionate police checks and police cooperation in the Schengen area.

First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said: "Thanks to our joint efforts, our external borders are now stronger and more secure. By working together it is possible to have both security and freedom of movement. This means that in six months' time we will get back to a fully functioning Schengen area without internal border controls."

Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs, and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos said: "The time has come to gradually return to a fully functioning Schengen system, and today we propose the concrete steps to do it. We recommend that temporary Schengen internal border controls be prolonged for one last time but call on Member States to phase them out, at the same time as compensating with proportionate police checks across their territory."

Commissioner for the Security Union Julian King said: "The security of one Member State is the security of all Member States, and this includes exercising their police powers, where needed and justified. We encourage Member States to cooperate together as much as possible in operational police work, using all available tools to enhance security within Schengen."

Securing the EU's external borders

Important progress has been made in better securing the EU's external borders and limiting irregular migration over the past months. The full roll out of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency is progressing steadily since its launch on 6 October 2016; following the EU-Turkey Statement, irregular arrivals in Greece have decreased by 97%.

However, despite this progress, all of the conditions of the "Back to Schengen" Roadmap allowing for the lifting all internal border controls are still not fully in place today and the Schengen States concerned are still exposed to a risk of irregular secondary movements. An important number of irregular migrants and asylum seekers are still present in Greece and more efforts are needed to accelerate the processing of asylum applications, increase relocation and to ensure the resumption of Dublin transfers to Greece. Further efforts are also needed to make the European Border and Coast Guard fully operational (see today's progress report on the progress achieved and the work still needed in making the new European Border and Coast Guard Agency fully operational). The Commission therefore considers it justified that the Council allows the Schengen States concerned, as a last resort measure and only after having examined alternative measures, to prolong the current temporary internal border controls one last time for a limited period of six months.

In parallel, the Commission is also today recommending that all Schengen States make more effective use of proportionate police checks, including in border areas to remedy threats to public policy or internal security. The Commission considers that proportionate police checks could prove more efficient than internal border controls as they can be applied in a more flexible manner and are easier to adapt to evolving risks. While in some circumstances (for example following a terrorist attack) it may be evident from the outset that police checks alone are not sufficient, in other cases, similar results to those of internal border controls can be achieved by stepping up police checks in border areas. Member States should give precedence to police checks before introducing or prolonging temporary internal border controls.

Member States should also strengthen cross-border police cooperation, for example through joint police patrols in cross-border trains, joint threat analyses and enhanced cross-border information exchange. To effectively prevent irregular secondary movement without having to reintroduce internal border controls, the Commission recommends that Member States fully apply existing bilateral agreements that allow for the swift bilateral return of third-country nationals.

Next Steps

The Council now needs to take a decision on prolonging controls, based on the Commission's recommendation. This is the last time a prolongation of these controls is legally possible under EU rules.

Looking to the future, the Commission is committed to ensuring that the tools already in place are fully used and that the situation is further stabilised.

Background

The combination of serious deficiencies in the management of the external border by Greece at that time and the significant number of unregistered migrants and asylum seekers present in Greece who may have sought to move irregularly to other Member States, created exceptional circumstances constituting a serious threat to public policy and internal security and endangering the overall functioning of the Schengen area. These exceptional circumstances led to the triggering of the safeguard procedure of Article 29 of the Schengen Borders Code and the adoption of the Council Recommendation on 12 May 2016 to maintain temporary proportionate controls at certain internal Schengen borders in Germany, Austria, Sweden, Denmark and Norway for a period of six months.

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
Pavlopoulos spoke extensively of the universitys long history noting it follows that of the Greek state

The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens is a "beacon of intellectual life" in Greece since its establishment, president Prokopis Pavlopoulos said on Wednesday, speaking at an event to mark the 180th anniversary of its founding.

"The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens is a real beacon of our intellectual life in the difficult times we are living in. Its emblematic contribution to the intellectual life and the general political, economic and cultural life of the country consists in the timeless service of the double values of tradition and renewal," he said.

Pavlopoulos spoke extensively of the universitys long history noting it follows that of the Greek state.

"The course of the new Greek state is parallel to the history of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens [?] It was the first and only university in the country until 1926, when the Aristotle university of Thessaloniki was founded," he added.

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
Lotteries are banned in more than half the states of the country. But, in states where lotteries are allowed, they hugely popular.

By India Today Web Desk: Two years ago, the Supreme Court allowed the state governments to ban sale of lottery. It refused to recognise the right to sell lottery as fundamental right.

Now, barring 13 states, sale of lottery is banned at other places. Lotteries are hugely popular in states like Maharashtra, Mizoram, Kerala, Nagaland and Sikkim.

LEGAL STATUS OF LOTTERIES IN INDIA

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There is no blanket ban on lotteries across the country. But, only 13 states allow lotteries. These are Kerala, Goa, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Sikkim, Nagaland and Mizoram.

Mizoram state lottery result or lottery samvad result is keenly awaited in the state. Same is the case with Nagaland state lottery result, Sikkim state lottery result or Kerala lottery result.

Former key centres of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have completely banned lotteries. The ban on lotteries began around the turn of the century, when social activists raised concerns with people getting addicted to gambling leading to ruin of families.

Though lotteries provided good revenue to the state governments, the social cost was considered too high to keep the practice going.

IS BAN EFFECTIVE?

The ban on lotteries is not very effective as they operate online and the operators have introduced several tricks like 'single-digit' matches that fetch small prizes announced daily. Big weekly prizes are announced separately.

There are also many illegal lotteries, being operated by anonymous players. They have wide reach as they are run online.

For example, Kerala lottery result was announced yesterday. Its Akshaya lottery AK 291 draw was held yesterday in Thiruvanthapuram. People can check Kerala lottery results live.

Prizes for all the winners of the Kerala lottery results are:

1st Prize- Rs 65,00,000

Consolation Prize- Rs 10,000

2nd Prize- Rs 2,00,000

3rd Prize- Rs 10,000

4th Prize- Rs 5,000

5th Prize- Rs 2,000

6th Prize- Rs 1,000

7th Prize- Rs 500

8th Prize- Rs 100

Similarly, people in Mizoram can check Mizoam lottery result or lottery sambad result online.

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Hip-hop lovers can now sail the seas with DJ Khaled, after the rapper announced he will host his own cruise this summer. The Summerfest Cruise will set sail from Miami June 30 onboard Norwegian Sky.

While music-themed cruises are nothing new, often featuring everything from jazz to classic rock, Summerfest is unique in that it is geared toward the millennial age group, featuring electric music with a heavy emphasis on fashion and pop culture. The cruise also marks the first at-sea performance for DJ Khaled and the other featured artists, such as Future, A$AP Rocky, Lil Wayne and Migos.

Guests can enjoy everything from music and fashion to sports, gaming and interactive technology, as well as ports of call including Nassau and Grand Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas, before returning to Miami July 3.

They dont want us to be on a cruise  so we are going on the most major cruise the world has ever seen  hosted by me and my roster of superstar friends, said DJ Khaled. But dont get it twisted  Summerfest Cruise 2017 is more than just a cruise, its a movement. A movement of good vibes and creative energy. A movement that connects the worlds of music, fashion, culture, technology and design. Were going to give you everything  the dopest live concerts, spectacular fashion pop-ups, enlightening panels and presentations  this will be one for the books. Dont play yourself. Reward yourself.

Cabin prices for The Summerfest range from $721 to $1,279 per person and are available to book.
After the closure of the existing TASMAC shops that were close to the highway, new TASMAC outlets have been built. However the Madras High Court has said that the ten TASMAC shops will remain closed till the next order.

By Akshaya Nath: Looking at the recent developments regarding liquor shops in the state of Tamil Nadu, it seems that the state is fast moving towards prohibition. The Madras High Court (MHC) today ordered for stop on opening of 10 new TASMAC shops in Ariyalur and Salem district.

After the closure of the existing TASMAC shops that were close to the highway, new TASMAC outlets have been built. However the Madras High Court has said that the ten TASMAC shops will remain closed till the next order.

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In the last few months there have been widespread protest by the general public against TASMAC shops. In Coimbatore and regions closer to Salem and Ariyalur, repeated incidents of protest by women against the opening of TASMAC shops have been reported.

The Tamil Nadu government makes large revenue from the sale of liquor in the state. In the last fiscal year, the state government earned Rs 25846 crore in the form of excise revenue and sales tax from liquor sales. Also, with Edappadi K Palanisamy announcing the closure of 500 TASMAC shops in Tamil Nadu, the state's earning will go down by Rs 60 crore. Earlier, while signing the order CM Palanisamy had said, "Total prohibition is Amma's motto and we are taking forward her principle."

Prohibition was a poll promise that was made to the people of Tamil Nadu by the former CM J Jayalalithaa during her election campaigns and this move by the MHC now is welcomes by many across the state.

Also Read:

More elite TASMAC shops in Tamil Nadu?

Mob vandalises TASMAC liquor shop after it opened in a residential area

Tamil Nadu: 7-year-old stages sit-in protest against TASMAC liquor shop near school

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He was active in the border areas of Bihar and Chhattisgarh, and is accused of forcibly inducting children into the CPI-Maoist group.

By India Today Web Desk: A Maoist zonal commander who carried a bounty of Rs 15 lakh on his head surrendered before the Jharkhand Police today.

Another Maoist sub-zonal commander also surrendered in the presence of DIG (Ranchi) Amol V Homkar.

Based on the surrendered Maoists' inputs, security forces recovered a cache of over a dozen arms and more than 3,000 rounds of ammunition from Lohardaga district.

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More than a week ago, a CRFP battalion was ambushed and 25 security personnel were killed by Naxals in Sukma district of neighbouring Chhattisgarh.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE MAOISTS WHO SURRENDERED: Nakul Yadav, a zonal commander of Communist Party of India (Maoist), surrendered along with his aide Madan Yadav before additional director general of police (operations) R K Mallik and Ranchi range Deputy Inspector General (DIG) A V Homkar in Ranchi. Maoist zonal commander Nakul Yadav is wanted in more than 70 cases, including killing of policemen. He was active in the border areas of Bihar and Chhattisgarh. He is also accused of forcibly inducting children into the CPI-Maoist group, a charge he denied saying "children are joining our organisation voluntarily". Based on the information provided by Nakul Yadav, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Jharkhand police carried out a joint anti-Naxal operation in the jungles of Lohardaga district. A light machine gun (LMG), a semi-automatic US-made rifle, an AK 47, a self-loading rifle (SLR), three INSAS rifles, six other guns and some communication gadgets were seized from a hideout. Police also seized army-style fatigues and Maoist literature. Police sources said the joint operations, based on the inputs of the surrendered Maoists, are still underway in two other districts of Jharkhand.

ALSO READ:

Gadchiroli Naxal attack: Cop injured in landmine blast dies, count of those wounded rises to 19

10 days after Sukma, CRPF claims to have arrested 10 Naxals involved in the attack

Sukma attack: Why Naxals succeed attack after attack in Chhattisgarh

ALSO WATCH

--- ENDS ---
Tribune News Service/PTI

New Delhi, May 4

Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali is looking at a two-fold jump in sales at over Rs 20,000 crore this fiscal as it plans to double its distribution network to 12,000 across the country. Besides, the company is aspiring to further strengthen its presence and lead in most of the product categories.

The Haridwar-based FMCG firm had clocked a turnover of Rs 10,561 crore in the financial year ended March 31, 2017.

We would grow more than double this year... By next year, Patanjali would be in the leading position and in most of the product categories, it would be number one, Ramdev said.

The company is in the process of setting up mega production units at several places, including Noida, Nagpur, Jammu and Indore, which would take its production capacity to Rs 60,000 crore from the existing Rs 35,000 crore.

Our Noida facility will have a production capacity of Rs 20,000 crore, Nagpur 15,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore and Indore Rs 5,000 crore, he added. The company is also strengthening its distribution network to reach more consumers across the country.

We will double our distributors network to 12,000 from the present 6,000, Ramdev said. He claimed that Patanjali was set to emerge as the largest brand in India within two years and wipe out the multinational companies from India.

He said the company also intended to set up a Sainik School around NCR to provide free education to children of martyrs.

When asked about the allegations of his company using gaumutra (cows urine) for manufacturing various products, he said it fulfilled all FSSAI norms.

This fiscal, the company is looking to enhance its focus on categories such as spices, pulses, vegetable oil, biscuits, confectionery and juices and add more products into these segments.

In FY 2016-17, Patanjali Ayurved contributed Rs 9,634 crore to its turnover, while Divya Pharmacy that manufactures ayurvedic medicine had clocked Rs 870 crore sales.

Patanjalis CEO Acharaya Balkrishna said the company will invest Rs 5,000 crore to set up five manufacturing facilities across the country.

When asked if the company is looking at entering any new product category this year, Ramdev said: This year we will focus on our growing existing categories. He also rubbished criticism that the company outsources manufacturing, he said: 99% of our products are manufactured in-house. People try to spread rumours about Patanjali. We have production capacity of around Rs 35,000 crore.
Karthik Venkatesh

THE recent acceptance of the recommendation of the Committee of Parliament on Official Languages that speeches are only to be delivered in Hindi by government functionaries, including the President, if they can read and speak the language is a curious decision. Besides reopening the language debate, it also raises questions of practicality. One wonders what the President will do in Tamil Nadu or Nagaland where most people dont speak or understand Hindi. Will he insist on following the letter of the law by speaking in Hindi or will he speak in English so that he can be understood? Also, does the Constitution not mandate that English is also an official language of the Union, making this recommendation unconstitutional?

Then, there is another matter. What sort of Hindi will government functionaries speak? Will they speak the hybrid Hindi (with generous Urdu borrowings) that has been popularised by Bollywood films or will they speak the Sanskritised Hindi that the Hindu right prefers?

German-American sociolinguist JJ Gumperz, doing his field work in UP in the fifties, came across a curious phenomenon. He was in the habit of riding his bicycle in and around the villages and talking to people. At one spot, he would be complimented by a Hindu family for his mastery of Hindi. A few hundred yards away, a Muslim family would compliment him on the excellence of his Urdu. Gumperz states that in both places he was speaking the same thing!

What is today referred to as Hindi and spoken in many parts of the country is more or less the same as Urdu, Pakistans national language. The scripts are, of course, different, but the spoken language is similar. When one sees that Hindi films are extremely popular in Pakistan and Pakistani TV serials are very popular in India, it should be apparent that the line that separates Hindi and Urdu is so thin as to be non-existent.

Sanskritised Hindi is also present in India. It is found in government documents and the misguided missives of the Hindu right that is currently at the helm of affairs. It is not the language of the people and few can claim to understand its peculiar turns of phrase. Now, the stage has been set for this Sanskritised Hindi to receive the full backing of the government to try and displace spoken Hindi (as it now exists) and also reduce tongues like Punjabi, Tamil, Bengali and others to second-class status. Equally, it might sound the death-knell of English, a source of competitive advantage for India in international commerce. This move is being justified in the name of nationalism.

That the Hindu right has for long been enamoured of the European one nation, one language, one religion mantra that saw the creation of Germany and Italy as unified entities in the 19th century is well-known. The one religion project has been their obsession for a hundred years or more. The one language slogan i.e., Sanskritised Hindi is the new project on the anvil. If this were to succeed, it would be a dream come true for them  their Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan project would have been accomplished.

Around the time of Independence and for the decade after, Hindiwallahs of the Congress attempted to enshrine Hindi as the national language. Resistance from non-Hindi speakers put paid to these efforts. The creation of linguistic states in the fifties, the language riots of the sixties and the sobering influence of the breakup of Pakistan on the language issue in the early seventies ensured that the Hindi project remained dormant for a long time. Now it has been revived, buoyed, no doubt, by the sweeping success that the ruling party has enjoyed in recent elections.

To insist on a prime position for Hindi in the national discourse is to by default devalue the other languages of India and cause untold harm to the harmony that, to a great extent, has held India together. It is also to do a disservice to the Hindi language itself.

Hindi as a language is subject to peculiar pressures. It is propped up as the vehicle of nationalism, a Sanskritic vocabulary has been artificially appended to it, attempts have been made to purge it of its Arabo-Persian words and now, yet again, it is being rammed down the throats of those who are happy to learn the language, but dislike the chauvinism that has come to be associated with it. A language that is subject to such demands cannot but become a symbol of hatred. Its organic growth and natural popularity is bound to be affected. Eventually, the ill-will towards Hindi will transform itself in many parts of the country to separatist tendencies.

During the freedom struggle, the need to create linguistic states after Independence was a matter that many minds agreed on. Post the trauma of 1947, the ruling dispensation did a rethink. It dithered on this crucial matter. It suspected that linguistic division would breed separatist tendencies. Potti Sriramulu then went on an indefinite fast for a Telugu-speaking state. In Bombay, pitched battles were fought for the establishment of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Punjabi-speaking Punjab too was denied for a long time. The Congress government at the helm then had to eventually concede all of these demands. In time, it wisened up and dropped its insistence on prickly language issues. It saw the wisdom in being more broad-minded in this matter.

A nationalism that does not follow the European model of one language and religion now exists in India. Prior to Independence, opposition to the British had united the Indians. Post-Independence, Indians have remained united in spite of doomsday predictions by Western experts. True, this nationalism is a problematic one as Kashmiris and people from the North-East would argue, but nevertheless, it exists in the hearts and minds of a substantial part of the population. It is not posited on either language or religion. Instead, people have found a variety of creative ways to being and feeling Indian.

Why would a sensible mind upset this applecart? Clearly, no thought has gone into this matter. It is as if the ruling dispensation is armed with a checklist of things to do and is hell-bent on ticking all these boxes without stopping to think about them. Sanskritised Hindi is the current obsession.

The language battles of yore are still remembered by many. Insistence on Hindi being the sole official language is a misguided step that must be resisted at all costs. The idea of India was, and should, remain inclusive.

The writer, an editor with a publishing firm, is a freelance writer
Vikas Singh

IN Mahipal Singh Rana vs State of Uttar Pradesh, wherein the Supreme Court while hearing a criminal contempt for intimidating and threatening a Civil Judge (Senior Division) by an advocate had expressed its concern over unsatisfactory regulatory mechanism governing the advocates and observed that there was an urgent need to review the provisions of the Advocates' Act, 1961. Pursuant to the judgment of the Supreme Court, the Law Commission started its deliberations and invited the objections of the stakeholders, including the comments of the Bar Council of India, to the amendments which need to be brought in to better regulate the legal profession. One of the premises of the Law Commission, while deliberating on the issue of the need for change, was that other professional bodies like the Medical Council of India have non-doctors in their governing set-up. Accordingly, there is a need for involving non-lawyers also in the governing set-up relating to the legal profession. Clearly, the said premise was wrong as in the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956, there is no provision for bringing in any non-medical professionals in the Medical Council of India.

As far as the need to regulate the legal profession is concerned, I feel that the legal community instead of objecting to these reforms should rightly accept the same. The day is not far when consumer complaints would be entertained against the legal professionals also for deficiency of service. I am associated with the Medical Council of India and represent them in most of their legal matters. I was also associated with the Medical Council of India (MCI) about 25 years back. At that point of time, the medical professionals were not yet covered by the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. A debate was going on within the MCI that grievances against the medical professionals should be also adjudicated under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 itself. At that time, I had suggested draft regulations so that a disciplinary committee could be constituted under the aegis of the Medical Council of India, headed by a judicial person and in the disciplinary committee a general doctor as well as a specialist would consider the complaints of patients for redresssal of their grievance. A committee was also constituted to look into the draft regulations. Somehow, the committee never sat and later on judicial pronouncements came that the medical professionals were amenable to the Consumer Protection Act. Medical professionals have faced acute harassment in defending themselves before persons who have no knowledge of the methods of treatment. That is why the Supreme Court in a large number of decisions had to intervene to say that normally a deficiency of service should not be entertained till a team of doctors opined.

Some of the suggestions being mooted by the Law Commission need further deliberation so that a complete mechanism is evolved within the Advocates' Act. This would enable dealing with all complaints that a litigant may have with regard to the legal services provided to him by a lawyer or by a law firm. An in-house procedure conceptualised within the Advocates' Act would in my view safeguard the legal community from being subjected to frivolous cases as an adjudicatory body consisting of legal professionals would better understand as to whether a deficiency of service, if any, has been committed or not in a given case. The reactions that the legal community so far has been against the proposed amendment and the same in my view are not in the larger interest of the legal profession.

Protesting against any change into the Advocates' Act is not desirable as legislations should evolve with time and should address the needs of the changing environment. Instead of merely protesting the amendments if the legal community were to sit together and give suggestions to the Law Commission, in all probability a better draft amendment could be proposed. One of the amendments proposed by the Law Commission concerns the recognition of foreign lawyers within India. In my view, the same should not be permitted because firstly there is no level playing field between the legal professionals registered in India vis-a-vis legal professionals registered outside India. In India, under the Bar Council Regulations, a lawyer is neither permitted to advertise his service nor is he permitted to charge fees as a percentage of the sum likely to be awarded in the litigation. Both these limitations do not exist insofar as lawyers registered in most other countries are concerned. To permit such lawyers to be registered and recognised by the Bar Council of India would definitely disturb the level playing field. In India, the legal profession has always been considered to be a noble profession and not a business whereas the same is not so abroad. In my view before deciding to register or recognise foreign lawyers in India, a more comprehensive debate needs to be initiated.

As far as the move to debar advocates from resorting to strike is concerned, I think the same is no more a matter of any debate in view of the judgment of the Supreme Court on the subject. It is high time that some amendments are incorporated in the Advocates' Act to debar strike by lawyers. The only way in which lawyers who are supposed to belong to the noble profession could be allowed to protest is by taking the suffering upon themselves rather than making the clients suffer who have no stakes in the issues which the legal community want to raise by the strikes. The very concept of resorting to strike is to gain the attention of the authorities for a particular issue which the legal community feels is harming their interest. The legal community can take recourse to filing PILs on every issue concerning the nation. If there is a genuine issue concerning the legal profession, their PILs are invariably entertained and judicial orders passed to redress their grievance. The strikes that normally take place are the ones in which there is no chance of the lawyers getting any redress from the courts and hence also the justification for the strike is questionable.

The writer is a Senior Advocate and former Additional Solicitor General of India.
The BJP has involved Dera Sacha Sauda led by Gurmeet Singh Ram Rahim whose nearly 1.5 lakh volunteers will lead a massive cleanliness drive on Sunday.

Civic bodies have involved social organisations to clean the city in four months. Ram Rahim's (above) Dera Sacha Sauda is one of those who came forward.

By Rakesh Ranjan: The BJP-ruled municipal corporations will soon have a strong team of volunteers to help getting the city rid of garbage in four months. The BJP is roping in social organisations and spiritual leaders and with them their lakhs of followers to carry out sanitation drive in the national capital. To begin with, the party has involved Dera Sacha Sauda led by Gurmeet Singh Ram Rahim whose nearly 1.5 lakh volunteers will lead a massive cleanliness drive on Sunday.

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The move assumes significance in wake of BJP's promise to make Delhi free from garbage and mosquitoes in four months. A senior BJP leader said all three civic bodies will extend resources to these volunteers so as to carry out the work smoothly.

"We have received great response for the noble cause. We will begin the cleanliness drive on Sunday with the help Dera Saccha Sauda volunteers. We want the result to be seen on ground. Mere announcements won't serve the purpose," Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari said.

Interestingly, the sanitation drive will also be supported by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) which has assured the municipal corporations of all logistical support for garbage disposal.

"While the volunteers will assist sanitation workers in cleaning the city, the civic bodies will deploy all machinery to dump the garbage to the landfill sites," an official said.

Soon after the municipal election results, Tiwari had announced that the priority was to make Delhi garbage-free.

GARBAGE-FREE CAPTIAL

Elaborating further, Tiwari said priority will be to remove garbage from streets in residential colonies and popular markets that are frequented by a 'Messenger of God' to wield broom for swachh Capital large population of Delhi. "Our target is to clean 80 per cent of the city and the civic bodies have been told to deploy its resources for the same," Tiwari said.

He added that meetings have been held with officials of all civic bodies and a blueprint has been given to execute the plan.

"Our aim is to engage maximum social groups and individuals with the 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan'. Once the streets and markets are cleaned, the civic bodies will have to ensure its upkeep," he said. Earlier, Mail Today had reported that the Delhi BJP told MCD babus to motivate the sanitation workers in three corporations and involve them in the process.

They have been told to address the financial and personal needs of nearly one lakh sanitation workers - failing which the four-month target of garbage-free Delhi would not be achieved. Tiwari has told the municipal commissioners to motivate sanitation workers by involving their families through cultural events and get together. A committee is also likely to be formed to look into the welfare of the sanitation workers.

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The committee will interact with workers and their families to understand their grievances and accordingly suggest measure to address them.

ALSO READ | Manoj Tiwari eats with slum dwellers; takes jibe at Kejriwal, says work is done here, not in AC rooms

ALSO READ | BJP's first focus after MCD victory; sanitation workers

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Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 3

Australia today allayed the fears in India over the recent changes made in the visa regime, popularly known as the 457 visa programme, and said most Indians in Australia will be able to qualify under the new regime. It also deeply condemned the recent events on the Line of Control (LoC) and said the parties should try to resolve the Kashmir issue peacefully.

Australias High Commissioner Harinder Sidhu, while speaking to The Tribune, said Australia has a successful migration programme and the way it works is that it has to be credible and there has to be high integrity. They have to be credible and for that we periodically review our visa programmes. What has just been announced is the outcome of the review of the 457 visa regime, she said.

Sidhu explained that a decision has been taken to replace the single 457 visa with two classes of visa  short-term and medium-term visa  and also to tighten some of the requirements for those visas. The intention, she said, is to make sure people coming on these visas are genuinely qualified for those jobs and not exploited.

Many Indians, in fact most of the Indians in Australia, who qualify under the 457 visa programme will also qualify for the new programme, she said. Most of them are in the IT sector, she added.

Sidhu is headed to Punjab tomorrow for a two-day visit where she will meet members of the new Punjab Government as also the Haryana Government. She will also hold discussions with Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

I would like to meet the new Punjab Government and reinforce Australias interest in working with Punjab, particularly in areas such as sports, agriculture and education. I want to take each of them forward. I will also meet members of the Haryana Government on similar issues, she said.

On the mutilation of bodies of two Indian soldiers on the LoC, she said: Of course, we are deeply concerned at the developments in the region. We deeply condemn the recent events, the violence we have seen, particularly on the border. Our thoughts go out to the families of the soldiers.

The envoy said Australia has been very vocal and supportive of Indias bid to enter the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and has been reaching out to other parties also. India entering the NSG can only strengthen the non-proliferation regime, she said.
Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, May 4

The city has secured the 65th rank in the Swachh Survekshan 2017 (Swachh Bharat survey 2017) that was conducted in 434 cities and towns of the country in January and February. It was ranked 123rd in 2014. It is also the cleanest city in Haryana. The position shows good solid waste management practices and improved sanitation habits of the city residents.

Besides, the city has got a special award for being the cleanest city in north India under the category of population 2 lakh to 10 lakh by adopting several measures. These steps include installation of CCTV cameras at the solid waste management plant to assess adequate waste disposal, functional e-toilets, intensive awareness programmes conducted at schools, colonies and government offices, and involving community leaders, social and religious bodies in spreading the message of cleanliness.

Union Minister for Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu felicitated Mayor Renu Bala Gupta and Municipal Commissioner Dr Aditya Dahiya in Delhi today for their commendable work in achieving this rank. He appreciated their efforts for the improvement in the rank.

The Quality Council of India and the Ministry of Urban Development jointly carried out the survey. The technique involved giving cities a score out of 2,000 marks based on 900 marks for Municipal Corporation activities and documentation, 600 for citizens feedback and 500 marks for the field survey by independent observers, said the Mayor.

Karnal with 1,348 marks has secured the 65th rank in the country and remained first in Haryana. The second cleanest city in the state is Faridabad that is ranked 88th, followed by Gurugram at 112, Panchkula 211, Sonepat 243, Thanesar 253, Jind 265, Sirsa 274, Kaithal 282, Hisar 291, Rohtak 295, Rewari 303, Ambala Sadar 308, Panipat 335, Bhiwani 345, Yamunanagar 346, Bahadurgarh 353 and Palwal achieved the 397th place.

Dahiya said the city would try to achieve higher level of sanitation in the Swachh Survekshan 2018 by introducing 100 per cent source segregation of biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste and effective functioning of the solid waste management plant at Shekhpura, which is functional since March 2017.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 4

The Assembly today passed a resolution to request Parliament to effect an appropriate amendment to the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, to provide for the creation of a separate High Court for Haryana in the capital city of Chandigarh.

The resolution, presented by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, was passed unanimously in the special session of the Vidhan Sabha today.

Though the resolution was passed unanimously, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda told the House that effects during his regime could not meet much success because of the issue of the territorial jurisdiction of people living in Chandigarh.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, however, said that the issue could be resolved either by having a separate Bench for Chandigarh or giving people living in the city an option of filing their petitions and appeals before any of the two high courts.

Congress MLA Geeta Bhukkal wanted the fact of a similar resolution passed during Hooda regime to be mentioned in todays resolution.

The resolution states that while Haryana has completed 50 years of its existence as a separate state, a separate High Court has still not been provided to the state. During this period, people of Haryana have suffered in manifold ways, including through delays in disposal of their cases due to heavy workload in the common High Court.

Ar present, there are only 18 Judges from Haryana against a total sanctioned strength of 85. There are 13 Judges from Haryana under direct quota drawn from the Advocates of the High Court, against a sanctioned strength of 23, leading to under-representation of the Advocates from Haryana.

When Haryana was carved out as a separate state, the Vidhan Sabha, MLA Hostels as well as the Secretariat were shared on 60:40 ratio between Punjab and Haryana, Sharma said.

Notably, the Haryana Vidhan Sabha had earlier adopted resolutions recommending the bifurcation of Punjab and Haryana High Court and setting up of a separate High Court for Haryana on March 14, 2002, and December 15, 2005.

Khattar informed the House that he had urged the Prime Minister to accord top priority to the setting up of a separate High Court for Haryana during the ongoing Swaran Jayanti Year of the state.
New Delhi, May 4

The Income-Tax Department has seized Rs 8 crore in cash and jewellery worth Rs 2 crore during raids on the premises of an agri-processing company, allegedly owned by an MLA, in Haryana's Jind district.

Officials said the department has issued a summons to Independent MLA from Safidon in Jind, Jasbir Deswal, asking him to appear before it after raids were conducted on the premises of a group of companies linked to him in the last week of April for alleged tax evasion.

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The searches were conducted following allegations that the group was making "unaccounted cash sales and purchases, booking of bogus expenses and showing unaccounted income in the books by using shell companies".

Efforts to reach the MLA on mobile phone did not fructify.

It is alleged that the firm, also involved in poultry business, accepted scrapped currency notes during the demonetisation period last year in violation of rules.

"Over Rs 8 crore in cash and jewellery worth Rs 2 crore have been seized from the office and residential premises of the MLA," a senior officer said.

While the Haryana legislator is yet to respond to the summons, his son has been cooperating with the sleuths, the department said.

Statements of some of the directors of the company, a chartered accountant and an another employee have been recorded and the I-T Department will soon file a prosecution complaint before a court on charges of tax evasion and generation of black money, they said.  PTI
Mewat, May 4

Haryanas Muslim-dominated Mewat district has the lowest immunisation rate among children under the age of 6 years, which is a matter of concern for the authorities who are now trying to rope in clerics to address the situation.

The immunisation rate here is 13 per cent, much lower than the state average of 62.2 per cent, according to the National Family Health Survey.

Officials say the rate of immunisation in Mewat is low mainly because of rumours which started spreading more than 3 months back that the vaccines being administered under the Central governments Indradhanush programme would have a sterilising effect on the children.

With an aim of addressing the situation, top officials of the district and National Health Mission (NHM) yesterday held an interaction with the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and the clerics, who agreed to render their help by negating the rumours.

Maulana Yahya Kareemi, president of Al-aman Islamic Centre, Mewat, said he would speak about the misinformation related to the immunisation during the prayers at the mosque, including on Fridays when the number of devotees swell.

We have 400-500 youth coming to our institute every day and the number rises to over a thousand on Fridays. If the administration wants, we can spread the word quelling misinformation related to immunisation, he said.

The Indradanush programme is aimed at guarding children against diseases like polio, BCG, pentavalent (diptheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis b, haemophilus, influenza type-B) rubella-measles.

Officials said the immunisation rate had risen to 30 per cent but it started sliding post-February after a video went viral on social media, claiming that the injections being administered would make the children sterile and check the population of the minority community.

As of now, no such injection or tablet has been invented which could render children sterile, asserted Mewat Deputy Commissioner Mani Ram Sharma, while rubbishing the rumours.

He told the gathering, which included several clerics, that the region has several people affected by polio as the Meo community had skipped the polio vaccination drive 15 years back, again due to unfound apprehensions.

I see 15-20 physically disabled youngsters coming to see me at my office every day to seek assistance in the form of employment or finances, the IAS officer said.

We can tell only you (the ASHAs and religious leaders), but it is for you to spread the word among the stakeholders and raise awareness at grassroots level, Sharma said.

Director of the National Health Mission in Haryana Amaneet P Kumar also rejected the rumours and said, They are wrong. We should have faith in science.

On their part, the ASHA workers highlighted the reasons, like vehement denial by some people, for the low immunisation rate.

People hurl strong words at us, they shut their doors at us but we still make an effort to go back to such houses to ensure that no child is left out, said 48-year-old Rehmani, ASHA at Karedi village in Nagina block.

Raziya, ASHA coordinator at Mewat, highlighted the insufficient number of ASHAs and Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery (village level health workers) in the district.

At present there are 874 ASHAs in Mewat as against a stipulated requirement of over 1400, said Raziya.

As per the guidelines, she said, one ASHA is required for every thousand people.

Also one Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery (ANM) is needed for every 5,000 people but in the district it is an ANM per 15- 17,000 people.

Another Islamic scholar, Hakim uddin, told the gathering of Muslim clerics and government officials besides Haryana Waqf Board CEO Hanif Qureishi, that any rumour must be checked.

He also asked the community members to shun any negative mindset about government measures and instead verify reports/rumours.

Qureishi, who is also the Commissioner of Police, Faridabad, said it was sad that health indicators in Mewat were the lowest.

Its ramifications would not appear now but after 15-20 years, he remarked.

Appealing to the community members for support in the immunisation drive, Qureishi underlined that in a democracy, the government has a social responsibility to look after the welfare of the people.

But the people have a freedom of choice, no decision can be imposed on them, he said.

This is your (religious leaders) responsibility to spread the message for welfare of the children, both for their safety as well as education, he added.  PTI
Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, May 4

National president of the BJP Amit Shah, whose two-day visit to Kangra concluded here today, reportedly warned the leaders against factionalism in the party.

Reliable sources told The Tribune that at a meeting late last evening, Amit Shah warned party leaders that he would not tolerate infighting and any leader, resorting to factionalism, would be dealt with strictly.

Sources said Shah gave this warning when a leader from Kangra contended before him that in Himachal, the party could not rely on the wave like other states and had to put up a face as the leader in the coming Assembly elections. Amit Shah stated that for the time being, the party had not decided on any CM face.

In Kangra district, the BJP was strongly marred by factionalism that also led to debacle of the party in the last Assembly elections.

Amit Shah met RSS workers and leaders from the state who briefed him about the situation in the party. Later, he held a meeting with the core group of the party at Budha resort.

A meeting of the intellectual cell of the party was also held. Many former bureaucrats, professors from Palampur Agriculture University and Central University Himachal Pradesh (CUHP), doctors and advocates attended the meeting. VC of CUHP Kuldeep Agnihotri also attended the meeting.

Most of the intellectuals were the supporters of the BJP. During the meeting, some senior BJP leaders found it hard to find chairs for themselves as the hall was jampacked.

Amit Shah, during his address to workers and leaders of the party, was terse and straight. His answers to most of the queries were short and crisp and the message straight that central leadership was strong and would dictate its terms during the coming elections.

The statement of Amit Shah that the BJP might introduce many new faces has many sitting leaders worried and concern was writ large on their faces.

Shah failed to consolidate BJP cadre: Cong

Shimla: Taking a jibe at the visit of BJP National president, the Congress leaders said that even Amit Shah failed to consolidate the cadre to reach a consensus on chief ministerial candidate.

In a joint statement issued here today, general secretaries of Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee Ram Lal Thakur, Ravi Thakur, and Ajay Mahajan advised Shah to first decide the Chief Minister candidate and then dream of winning the Assembly polls.

They said every MLA in the divided BJP wished to be Chief Minister. There is infighting within the party. The BJP is planning to go with Modi face in the elections. The Congress leaders asked the BJP to give an account of Rs 20 crores spent on buying land for party offices in Shimla, Hamirpur, Mandi and other places before demonetization. TNS
Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, May 4

National BJP president Amit Shah today said the Congress was a patriarchal party. There were just two parties in the country, the BJP and the Communist party that have internal democracy. Can anybody tell who would be the next president of BJP, but everybody can tell who would succeed Sonia Gandhi as Congress president, said Shah.

Shah further said that it was only BJP which can make a tea vendor Prime Minister of the country. The party had thousands of workers who have no families and have dedicated their lives for the organization and the country. The political parties that are not themselves democratic cannot strengthen the democracy in the country. In BJP we think about the next generation of the country while the other parties think about their own next generation, the BJP national president said.

He was addressing a meeting of intellectuals from across the state, who came to meet him at the conclave today.

Shah said the Congress was not a party but a special purpose vehicle (SPV) before independence. People from different ideologies joined the Congress for the freedom of country. However, after independence the SPV had lost its relevance and became a political party. Leaders like Shyama Prashad Mukherjee left Congress due to ideological differences. The leaders in Congress at that time were not corrupt. However, the Congress was moving towards the policies of western countries. The Congress wanted reconstruction of India after totally dismantling the old whereas leaders like Shyama Prashad Mukherjee, who founded Jan Sangh, wanted Indian culture and civilization as base of development of the country, he said.

Amit Shah said that people of the country should compare the performance of the BJP governments in various states and governments of other parties. West Bengal, Bihar and UP had sick state stigma under governments of other parties. Bihar also came out of sick state stigma when the BJP came in power in the state in coalition, he said.

He said the BJP had started with just five permanent workers but now had 11 crore workers across the country, 1,387 MLAs and 325 MPs in Parliament. The BJP had its government in 14 states and consecutive victories of the party in different parts of the country illustrate that the policies of the party were being accepted by the people.

He also praised the working of the Narendra Modi government and said that just by transferring the subsidy of LPG cylinders online union government had saved Rs 14,000 crores. Accepting the appeal of the Prime Minister 1.25 crore people in the country had given up LPG subsidy. The benefits of money saved were passed by the government to the poor of the country. Two crore new LPG connections have been given to the poor women across the country. Besides, 7 crore new toilets have been built for the poor, he said.

During the conclave of intellectuals Amit Shah also honoured N K Kalia father of Kargil martyr from Palampur, Saurabh Kalia.

He said that Himachal was the land of martyrs since independence and the Prime Minister had special love for the state. He had given several benefits to the state but the government here was not passing them on to the people.

Shah was accompanied by the senior BJP leaders, including Kangra BJP MP Shanta Kumar, former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal, union minister for health JP Nadda and state BJP president Satpal Satti.
Dinesh Manhotra

Tribune News Service

Jammu, May 4

Six people were killed in two different accidents in Doda and Poonch districts of Jammu province on Thursday.

At least five people died and 10 injured when a minibus they were travelling in plunged into a gorge in the mountainous Bhaderwah area of Doda district.

Five passengers died and 10 others were injured when a minibus on way from Bani to Bhaderwah on Thursday morning hit an ice block as the driver lost control on the vehicle and rolled down into 800-feet-deep gorge near Dandi Nalla, a police spokesman here said.

He said police teams had been rushed to the spot and rescue operation is in progress. The death toll may rise; details are awaited, he said.

The snow-bound Bani-Bhadewah road was opened on Thursday for the movement of traffic.

In another mishap, one person was killed and 45 others were injured, five of them critical, when a bus in which they were travelling skidded off the road in Mandi area of Poonch district on Thursday morning. A police spokesman said rescue teams had been deputed on the spot.
Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 4

On Wednesday, when two banks were looted within 12 kilometres in Pulwama district in a span of two hours, it showed the level of confidence with which gunmen can strike.

After PMNarendra Modi announced demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, bank robberies by militants have seen a rise in Kashmir.

The looting of banks in broad daylight by unidentified gunmen reveals the loopholes in the security grid following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in July last year.

The first bank heist after demonetisation took place in Budgam district of central Kashmir, when militants barged into a J&K Bank branch and fled with nearly Rs 13 lakh on November 21 last year. Since then, eight banks have been looted by militants in south Kashmir, taking away over Rs 50 lakh.

A section of the security forces claims that militants are facing a cash crunch as they have been badly affected by demonetisation.

The modus operandi of the bank robberies has, however, almost been the same. The gunmen appear at a bank branch, mostly in a far-off area, fire a few shots in the air and take away whatever cash they can collect.

The latest series of attacks on banks began on Monday when militants fired at a J&K Bank cash van and killed five policemen and two bank guards, besides decamping with four rifles at Pumai village of Kulgam district. A day later, pistol-borne militants stormed a branch of Ellaquai Dehati Bank in Kader Yaripora, Kulgam, and looted cash.

Of the nine bank robberies after the note ban, five took place in south Kashmir this year. Four bank robberies took place in Pulwama district, two each in Kulgam and Shopian and one in Budgam. Seven branches of J&K Bank and two of Ellaquai Dehati Bank have been looted since November last year.

The police have blamed the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Hizbul Mujahideen for the bank robberies and attacks.

They (Lashkar and Hizb) are a combo, said DIG of Police, south Kashmir, Swayam Prakash Pani. By looting banks, militants want to primarily make their presence felt. They also want to distract forces by carrying out looting or snatching rifles at vulnerable places. We are professionals and know how to deal with such situations, the DIG said.

Militants have, however, blamed Indian forces for the robberies to defame them.

Another senior police officer said militants required money and looting banks was the easiest way to get it. Militants are spending lavishly and they have to also run their vast overground network for which they require money. The militants are riding on a wave and society does not question the wrongs they do. So, they think whatever they do is right,said the police officer who has worked in south Kashmir.

The police claim that they have identified militants involved in many robberies, but most of them are still at large.

Last month, a Pakistani militant of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, Abu Ali, and his local accomplice were killed in a gunfight in Budgam. The police said Ali was the prime accused in the bank robberies in Pulwama and Budgam.

So far, security men have managed to foil one bank robbery. On April 28, militants opened fire on CRPF men at a bank in Anantnag. The CRPF men overpowered one of the two attackers and later handed him over to the police.

A senior J&K Bank official said the bank had deep penetration in rural pockets which was the reason that seven of its branches had been looted since November last year. We are following the security guidelines of the RBI. But, we wonder how these militants come inside banks. It shows the failure of the security establishment, he said, adding that they have issued directions to the employees to ensure their safety first in case of such incident.

Bank heists after demonetisation
When a large piece of rock falls to the Earth as a meteor, it not only creates huge holes called craters on the surface, but also triggers explosive volcanic eruptions.

By India Today Web Desk: The meteorite which hit the Earth 1.85 billion years ago dug a deep basin which was about 1.5 km-thick. When meteorites hit the Earth, the large impacts can be followed by intense and long-lived explosive volcanic eruptions.

The impact of the meteorite does not just create craters but also triggers volcanic eruptions on the Earth.

Reuters

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The researchers studied rocks filling of one of the largest preserved 'impact structures' on the planet, located in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.

They found that after the impact of the meteorite, the rocks had melted. There were also volcanic fragments.

It is the second-largest known impact crater or astrobleme on the Earth. Not just that but it is also considered to be one of the oldest.

Twitter: Canada in SA/@CanHCZA

VOLCANIC FRAGMENTS AND VOLCANISM

The research which was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, showed that the composition of the volcanic fragments changed over the course of time.

FYI || The 10 worst disasters in space travel history ||

Right after the impact of meteorite, volcanism was directly related to the melting of Earth's crust. However, with time, volcanism appeared to have been fed by magma coming from deeper levels within Earth.

Reuters

"This is an important finding, because it means that the magma sourcing the volcanoes was changing with time. The reason for the excitement is that the effect of large impacts on the early Earth could be more serious than previously considered," said Balz Kamber, Professor at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland.

EARLY EARTH AND METEORITE IMPACTS

On the early the Earth there was a relatively brief period during which roughly 150 very large impacts occurred whereas only a handful have hit Earth since then.

"The intense bombardment of the early the Earth had destructive effects on the planet's surface but it may also have brought up material from the planet's interior, which shaped the overall structure of the planet," Kamber said.

FYI || 'Look at that you son of a b***h': First space protest against Donald Trump goes up in sky ||

--- ENDS ---
Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 4

Hours after forces concluded a massive anti-militancy operation is south Kashmir's Shopian, militants on Thursday ambushed an Army patrol in the area, leaving two soldiers injured and a civilian dead.

Sources said an Army patrol was attacked at Killora by militants this evening when they were on way to their base after concluding the daylong operation. The attack took place at the area that was not combed during the operation.

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"The operation against terrorists is underway," Army spokesperson Col Rajesh Kalia said.

The critically injured civilian, who was driving the vehicle, later succumbed to injuries.

Forces have cordoned off the area to trace the militants.

Earlier, security forces launched the anti-militancy operation at multiple places in south Kashmirs Shopian district but their efforts were hampered by stone-pelting mobs.

Read more: Encounter breaks out in south Kashmir's Kulgam

The operation was launched in six villages falling under Zainapora area in Shopian after security forces received information about movement of militants there, a police official said.

South Kashmir has seen a spate of attacks on banks, especially in southern districts of Shopian and Pulwama this month.

The police official said a large number of security forces were involved in the search operations which started in the middle of the night.

However, the operations were hampered by small groups of people pelting the security forces with stones in these areas, the official said.

He said additional security force personnel had been rushed to the area to chase away the stone-pelters.

So far, no casualties have been reported in the clashes between stone-pelters and security forces, he said, adding that the operations were in progress.

Recently, videos of large groups of militants--in some cases as many as 30--have surfaced on social media, despite the ban imposed by authorities on 22 such sites and applications.

Security agencies believe these videos were shot in south Kashmir area, especially in Shopian district. With agencies
Rifat Mohidin

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 4

Fresh clashes erupted at Government Degree College, Sopore, between students and policemen today, resulting in injuries to 27 students, mostly girls. This is the third massive protest by students in Sopore after April 17, days after many students were injured in police action at Degree College, Pulwama.

The clashes erupted this afternoon after students, who were protesting on the campus, started throwing stones at policemen deployed outside the college gate.

Students of Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Sopore, and Government Degree College, Sopore, were protesting inside the college. We locked the gate but they marched out and started throwing stones at policemen. We resorted to lathi-charge and teargas shelling. Four of our men suffered injuries in stone-throwing, said Superintendent of Police (SP), Sopore, Harmeet Singh.

Medical Superintendent of Sub-District Hospital, Sopore, Dr Sami said more than two dozen students, mostly girls, were treated at the hospital. We received 27 students today who were injured in the clashes. Most of them were girls. They had minor injuries and were discharged after treatment, Dr Sami said.

The Sopore SP said they were trying to identify the troublemakers and would take required action.

We are also in contact with the college principal and the civil administration as we are trying to counsel the students, he added.

A student from Government Degree College, Sopore, said some girl students fainted due to teargas shelling. The clashes also erupted at Government Polytechnic College, Gogji Bagh, Srinagar, today after students threw stones at police vehicles and personnel deployed outside the college.

A police officer from the Raj Bagh police station said the protests were contained immediately and no one suffered injuries.

The student protests erupted in the Valley after the April 15 incident at Degree College, Pulwama. The protests have failed to die down and have continued intermittently in the Valley since then.
Jasmine Singh

Ask Punjabi filmmaker Anurag Singh whether he has managed to get some new pictures of himself clicked yet and he says, Why do I need to get my pictures clicked? It is the same question and the same answer when he shot to fame with the cult Punjabi film Jatt & Juliet!

Even after the huge success of Jatt & Juliet and Punjab 1984 (the film won a National Award), Anurag would let his work be seen rather be talked about. This artist from Jalandhar, now settled in Mumbai, is credited for taking Punjabi cinema to the national level. As Anurag dons a new role by turning producer for his upcoming Punjabi film, Super Singh, we talk to him about the camaraderie he shares with actor Diljit Dosanjh, acceptance from Bollywood, challenges of turning into a producer and another full time duty that he has to comply with...no matter what!

Babysitting...tough job?

He laughs, Definitely not; our son, Shivaye Anurag Singh completed his half birthday (my wife Madhurjeet Sarghi likes to celebrate small moments), which means I have a new role to handle  that of a father. And nothing can hold me back from babysitting!

New role  producer

It is a creative process; also it is about ownership of this creative process, where you do not want to take your pay cheque and walk away but see the entire film through. This is the reason why I came up with our production house, Brat Films.

A big challenge

Yes, to some extent because I am not cut to be a produce. I do not have a heart and mind to for it; neither could I handle both the jobs of direction and production, which is the reason that I needed a partner. So, Pawan Gill stepped in. Pawan is a Canada-born Punjabi, who has produced films earlier.

Diljit & me

I have worked with Diljit bhaji in 4-5 films. We both know each others strengths and weaknesses; there is no formality between us.

Bollywood calling

Bollywood is a success-driven industry. If you are successful, you are accepted. As to feeling like an outsider, since I am not from the industry, I would always be one. And there is no harm in it because this will help me preserve my unique identity. But yes, I owe a lot to Punjabi cinema.

Home front

Punjabi is my mother tongue and theres a sense of homecoming that I feel when I am making a Punjabi film.

Stories to share

Loads; there are so many stories from the 80s and 90s. I would like to do a story on Partition; then there is another story on Guru Nanak Dev that I have always wanted to tell.

jasmine@tribunemail.com
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, May 4

A delegation of 43 bicycle manufacturers owing allegiance to the United Cycle Parts Manufacturers Association and another comprising 106 members of the Federation of Industrial and Commercial Organisation (FICO) today left for Shanghai to participate in 27th China International Cycle and Motor Fair.

Members of both the delegations will get know about the latest high-end bicycle technology. The delegations will also visit Chinese cycle companies to update their knowledge on latest technology of manufacturing bicycles.

The FICO president, Gurmeet Singh Kular, said they had to visit this exhibition every year to keep themselves abreast with international bicycle standards and technology. He said, China is the largest manufacturer of bicycles and its parts in the world. By visiting exhibition in China we get a good exposure to the latest technology used in manufacturing of bicycles.
New Delhi, May 4

The Indian Army does not reveal plans before executing them, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said on Thursday, indicating possible retaliation to the Pakistan military beheading two Indian soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir.

Replying to a volley of questions on whether the army would respond to the barbaric act, Rawat, without giving a direct reply, said the armed forces would effectively respond to such actions by the neighbouring country.

We do not talk about future plans beforehand. We share details after execution of the plan, Gen Rawat said, refusing to elaborate further.

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He said, When this kind of action takes place, we also carry out retaliatory action. He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event.

Vice Chief of Army Staff Sarath Chand on Tuesday had said that the army would respond to the dastardly act at a time and place of its choosing.

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley had said that the sacrifice (of the two soldiers) will not go in vain and the Indian armed forces would react appropriately to the inhuman act.

Sources said the army is weighing various options to respond to the beheading of a naib subedar and a BSF head constable by a Pakistani Border Action Team on the Line of Control on May 1.

Asked about the reactivation of terror launchpads across the LoC which were destroyed by India during the surgical strike last year, Rawat said the counter-infiltration postures had been beefed up.

Terrorists are trying to infiltrate. Snows are melting, summer months have started. Like each year, infiltration will commence. We are taking measures. We have beefed up our counter-infiltration postures, said Gen Rawat.

On security forces launching a massive anti-militancy operation at multiple places in south Kashmirs Shopian district on Thursday, the army chief said it is being carried out to bring the situation under control.

The combing operation is going on as some banks were looted and some policemen have been killed. It has been launched to ensure that the situation is brought under control. These operations are carried out regularly, he said. PTI
New Delhi, May 4

India on Thursday asked the United Kingdom to ensure early extradition of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya who is facing cases of bank loan default of Rs 9,000 crore by his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi raised the issue of early completion of the extradition process of Mallya, during his talks here with his UK counterpart Patsy Wilkinson, the second permanent secretary in the British Home Office.

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The issue of presence of certain Sikh militant elements in the UK, sharing of intelligence inputs on a real-time basis, particularly with regard to the ISIS--both from ISIS-held territories, and modules being busted in the UK and Europe, were discussed at the two-hour-long meeting, official sources said.

Counter-terror cooperation between India and Britain besides a host of other issues figured in the parleys.

Matters relating to the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, strengthening of the intelligence-sharing mechanism and visa-related issues were also deliberated upon, sources said.

The 61-year-old Mallya, who has been living in Britain since last year, was arrested by Scotland Yard last month on Indias extradition request.

Within hours of his arrest, Mallya, who is accused of cheating and fraud, was released on bail by a London court.

The UKs Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will argue the case on behalf of the Indian authorities when it comes before the court.

Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines allegedly owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016.

India and the UK have an extradition treaty, signed in 1992, but so far only one extradition has taken place under the arrangement--that of Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, who was sent back to India last October to face trial for his involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.

However, unlike Mallya, Patel had submitted to the extradition order without legal challenge. India had given a formal extradition request for Mallya as per the extradition treaty between India and the UK through a note verbale, a diplomatic communication, on February 8.

The Union Home Secretary lauded the UKs effort to extradite Mallya and conveyed that New Delhi would help London to pursue the case in the UK court.

Sources said India told the UK delegation that if one-on-one contact could be established between the prosecuting agency in India and the Crown Prosecution or Department of Prosecution, then it would be faster and easier to put up evidence before the judge concerned.

India will inform the UK about the proceedings or hearings happening in the cases of wanted criminals by the UK in India and wants the UK to reciprocate in similar cases.

Both sides agreed that India and the UK would sign an MoU in July on reworking the agreement on security cooperation.

India also offered to drop cases registered against one Bangladeshi national, who is lodged in Assam, so that he could be extradited to the UK.

In return, sources said, India expects reciprocity that if people wanted by New Delhi are mired in any British case, those should be dropped and extradition facilitated. PTI
Balasore (Odisha), May 4

India on Thursday test-fired its medium-range nuclear-capable Agni-II missile having a strike range of more than 2,000 kms from an island off the Odisha coast as part of a user trial by the Army.

The test, however, did not meet all the desired parameters, official sources said.

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The trial of the surface-to-surface missile was conducted from a mobile launcher at the Integrated Test Range (ITR) on Abdul Kalam Island at around 10.25 am, they said.

Agni-II has already been inducted into the services and todays test from Launch Complex-4 of the ITR was carried out by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) as part of a training exercise.

Logistic support for it was provided by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), they said.

The two-stage missile equipped with advanced high- accuracy navigation system was propelled by solid rocket propellant system, the sources said.

Agni-II, which has a length of 20 metres, weighs 17 tonnes and can carry a payload of 1000 kgs over a distance of 2000 kms.

It is a part of the Agni series of missiles developed by the DRDO which includes Agni-I (700-km range), Agni-III (3,000 kms), Agni-IV (4,000 kms) and Agni-V (more than 5,000 kms).

The last user trial of Agni-II conducted on November 9, 2014, from the same base was a success.  PTI
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 4

Indore in Madhya Pradesh has emerged as the cleanest city in the country, while Gonda in Uttar Pradesh has been found to be the dirtiest, the government said today.

Bhopal, also in MP, occupies the second best spot among 434 cities and towns, followed by Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Surat in Gujarat, Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said, announcing the results of an exercise he described as a citizens verdict.

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UT Chandigarh, which was ranked second in the previous survey, has slipped to the 11 spot.

Overall, 37 lakh people responded to a set of six questions about the city they belonged to in the survey of 434 cities, which account for about 60 per cent of the total urban population in the country. The response of 18 lakh people was taken into consideration for the survey after the elimination of duplicate feedback.

Prime Minister Narendra Modis constituency, Varanasi, has soared up the cleanliness scale, occupying the 32nd position in Swachh Survekshan-2017, which is part of the Modi governments flagship Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) or Clean India Mission. It ranked 65th last year and 418th in 2014.

Mysuru in Karnataka, which bagged the first spot in the last two surveys, has slipped to the fifth position.

No way it meant that cleanliness has declined in the city or the city government scaled down its efforts... Other cities have scored over Mysuru, Naidu explained.

Gujarat, with 12 cities in the top 50, has the best score among the states, and Uttar Pradesh, which accounts for half of the 50 dirtiest cities, is at the bottom of the list.

Madhya Pradesh, with 11 cities in the top 50, and Andhra Pradesh, with eight, follow Gujarat.

West Bengal did not take part in the survey. Tiruchirapally in Tamil Nadu is the sixth cleanest city, followed by the New Delhi Municipal Council area of the national capital.

Bhusawal in Maharashtra is the dirtiest after Gonda, the survey states. Bagaha and Katihar (Bihar), Hardoi, Bahraich, Shahjahanpur and Khurja (UP) and Muktsar and Abohar (Punjab) are in the bottom 10.

The Urban Development Ministry had commissioned the survey for 434 cities and towns with a population of 1 lakh and above in January and February this year.

Naidu described Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as Movers and Shakers for having significantly improved their rankings since 2014.

The first survey in 2014 was launched before the announcement of the SBA in October, 2014. The 2016 survey covered 73 cities with over 10 lakh population each and capital cities.

The minister said all cities surveyed in Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand had substantially improved their rankings since 2014. Gujarat has done so in every city, barring Rajkot.

Likewise, every city in Chhattisgarh, except Bilaspur, has shown an improvement, he said.

Two cities have fallen in Telangana, and four in Andhra Pradesh.

Naidu said UP, Bihar, Rajasthan, Punjab and Kerala needed to substantially step up efforts to improve sanitation standards in urban areas.

In Bihar, 19 out of the 27 cities surveyed have ranks beyond 300. The cleanest city  at 147  is Biharsharif.

In Rajasthan, 18 of 29 cities are ranked beyond 300 with 13 in the bottom 100. Bundi, at 171, is the best ranked city in the state.

In Punjab, seven of the 16 cities surveyed figure among the bottom 100, with SAS Nagar at 121 getting the highest rank in the state.

Faridabad in Haryana, which improved its rank from 379 in 2014 to 88 this year, has been recognised as the Fastest Mover among cities with a population of above one million each.

I think this is the largest-ever such survey to be conducted by the government on any issue of public importance, the minister said

The survey aims at capturing the outcomes of ongoing efforts to stop open defecation in urban areas and to improve the door-to-door collection, processing and disposal of Municipal Solid Waste.  PTI
Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 4

Eyes on the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress today appointed Sunil Jakhar, former minister and a staunch Capt Amarinder Singh loyalist, as the new president of the Punjab unit. Jakhar, 63, who lost the Assembly election, will replace Capt Amarinder, who took oath as Chief Minister this March 17.

Jakhar was Capt Amarinders choice for the post. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi both endorsed it.

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Jakhar said he would act as a bridge between the government and the party and ensure the grassroots connect of the Congress stayed intact.

Jakhars appointment is strategic as the central leadership wants complete coordination between the government and the organisation to ensure a strong footing in the state where the party has only three Lok Sabha seats (Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar) of 13.

We have challenges ahead. The LS poll of 2019 are just two years away. The organisation has to be strengthened. I will endeavour equally to ensure that election manifesto promises are fulfilled, Jakhar said.

He said he had sought an appointment with Rahul Gandhi for tomorrow. A former minister in the Amarinder Singh cabinet, a three-time MLA from Abohar, and until recently Congress Legislature Party Leader in Punjab, Jakhar has been a diehard Amarinder loyalist.

On the eve of Punjab elections, he was the one to consistently urge the Congress leadership to replace Partap Bajwa with Capt Amarinder as state chief. When that finally happened a year before the state polls, Jakhar was dropped as the CLP leader and Bajwa as state chief.

While Rahul Gandhi sent Bajwa to Rajya Sabha, Jakhar was left in the cold only to be unsuitably placated later by being named partys chief spokesperson in Punjab. In between, on poll eve, Jakhar was sour with his mentor Amarinder Singh, who today redeemed his friend politically.

In Congress circles, Jakhar is known for his straight talk and is someone who has always spoken his mind frankly even in meetings chaired by Rahul Gandhi. His appointment, sources say, indicates that the Congress wont ignore regional satraps anymore and will value their opinion. Besides, the move is important as the Congress has given Hindu leaders a pride of place in its Punjab scheme. The state has 45 per cent Hindus, who backed the Congress to victory this time.

Jakhar, when asked how he saw his appointment, said, I have received the affection of all communities. Its up to you to analyse my appointment politically. As the son of former LS Speaker Balram Jakhar, he realises he has a lot riding on him. His acid test will be organisational strengthening ahead of the 2019 LS poll.
Shubhadeep Choudhury

Tribune News Service

Kolkata, May 4

A team from Calcutta Pavlov Hospital, a government-run hospital for mental health in the city, failed to clinically examine Justice CS Karnan after the Calcutta High Court judge refused to undergo any such test.

Can you carry out a psychiatric examination of me without approval of my guardians, Justice Karnan asked Dr Ganesh Prasad, psychiatrist and superintendent of the hospital who was heading the medical team.

Justice Karnan said while his wife, a professor, was in Chennai, his two sons, both engineers, were elsewhere.

Dr Prasad had to concede that without the consent of the family members, a person was not supposed to be subjected to psychiatric evaluation. Besides Dr Prasad, the medical team comprised two more psychiatrists and a psychologist. The Supreme Court had recently ordered the examination of the state of Justice Karnans mental health by a medical board set up by a government hospital in Kolkata.

The medical team was escorted by heavy police force led by DCPs C Sudhakar and K Sabari Rajkumar.

The medical team is supposed to submit their report to the Supreme Court on May 8. Dr Prasad refused to answer when asked about their next course of action.

Sudhakar, responding to questions about complying with the SC order, said the police were asked to assist the medical team. Justice Karnan also gave the health professionals a letter explaining his defiant stance. In the letter, addressed to the head of the medical team, Justice Karnan said the seven SC judges who initiated the contempt proceedings against him and later passed the order for his psychiatric evaluation must resign.